Have you ever played it safe because the bigger move felt too scary? Maybe you knew you could handle more, but you kept going for the smaller, easier deal anyway. I think most of us have done that. Sometimes it takes a conversation in the middle of the Montana backcountry to remind you that the big stuff takes the same effort as the small stuff.
In this episode of The Happy Hustle Podcast, I sit down with Rich Hanna, and we did this one a little differently. We recorded it on the trail, deep in the Montana wilderness, at the start of a five day backpacking trip with a crew of amazing entrepreneurs. There was no studio and no fancy setup. It was just fresh mountain air and a real conversation about curiosity, mentorship, money, and the people you surround yourself with.
Rich splits his time between northern Michigan and North Florida, and he works in a part of business most people never think about. He buys, sells, and trades petroleum and asphalt, and he’s also involved in real estate development and some tech ventures. He didn’t plan on any of it. In 2007 he got washed out of the mortgage backed securities business. His uncle had spent more than 30 years in the refining world and had just started a small trading book, so he called Rich up. Rich was 28. He started on a modest salary, and over time they grew it into their own thing. Today he’s one of only a handful of pure asphalt traders out there, working as a true middleman between refiners and customers. In his words, they operate in the shadows. They level inventory on huge volumes and scrape a few nickels off the top, and those nickels add up.
What makes this episode matter is that Rich didn’t need to know everything before he started. He knew nothing about petroleum when he got into it. What he had was curiosity, a willingness to ask questions, and a mentor who believed in him. If you’ve ever felt unqualified to take on something new, this one’s for you.
Here are a few of the biggest lessons I took away from our chat:
- Curiosity is a business strategy. “Always be curious” was Rich’s best business advice, and it was also his tip for better relationships. Jump in with both feet, ask a lot of questions, and learn to relate well with people, because everything is ultimately a people business.
- Mentors change everything. Rich credits his late uncle with opening the door to his whole career, and he’s deeply grateful for it. A lot of the time, it’s less about what you know and more about who you know.
- Stop playing too small. This is Rich’s biggest regret. Big deals take just as much work as small ones, and he wishes he’d figured that out and found the courage to go bigger much earlier.
- Measure your returns against sound money. Rich uses Bitcoin as his cost of capital and suggests measuring returns against some mix of gold and Bitcoin. If you make 10% a year but the money supply also grows 10%, you may not have gotten anywhere at all.
- Your network shapes your net worth. His parting advice was simple: keep networking. He firmly believes your net worth is determined by your network.
We also get into a fun rapid fire round. His favorite food is ribeye steak, his favorite movie is The Rock, his favorite book is Comanche Moon, and his spirit animal is the wolf. His health hack is cutting out carbohydrates. He connects to something higher by challenging his body physically, and his advice for dealing with loss and grief is to put one foot in front of the other, because that’s all you can do. He’s most grateful for his health, his friends and family, and his ability to connect dots and connect with people. And his billboard for the world? “This guy died smiling.”
Hearing all this while we walked through the wilderness hit different. Rich doesn’t chase attention. He barely uses social media, and he’s never needed to. He built something meaningful by staying curious, honoring the people who helped him, and showing up for his relationships. That’s a quiet kind of success, and I think it’s worth paying attention to.
If you’re ready to stop playing small, get curious, and invest in the people around you, this conversation is for you. Rich even shares how to reach him directly at the end of the episode, because he’d love to connect. Go listen to the full episode at caryjack.com/podcastin.
Connect with Rich
Find Rich on this website: http://www.adu-america.com
Connect with Cary!
Get a copy of his new book, The Happy Hustle, 10 Alignments to Avoid Burnout & Achieve Blissful Balance
Apply to the Montana Mastermind Epic Camping Adventure
“It’s time to Happy Hustle, a blissfully balanced life you love, full of passion, purpose, and positive impact!”
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