Overview

On this episode of Build Your Network, Host Travis Chappell interviews Molly Bloom an inspirational keynote speaker, entrepreneur, and best-selling author.

Topics Discussed:

• About Molly Bloom
  • She’s most excited about how different her life looks at the moment.
  • She hoped creating her book and movie would create financial resources where there were none.
  • She’s getting the opportunity to speak and working on another book.
• Give us a birds-eye view of your story.
  • She was a serious student and athlete skiing for the U.S. ski team.
  • She tripped on a stick at the olympic qualifier.
  • She moved to L.A. and became a waitress at a poker game that wasn’t just any game.
    • There were major famous players at this game and she saw a business opportunity.
  • 8 years later she was running the largest most successful poker ring and towed the line of illegality.
  • Eventually the Feds and the mob got involved.
  • She lost everything and at one point she was dealing with the FBI, the IRS, the department of justice, the Russian mob and the Italian mob.
  • She then decided to treat the story like a startup and used it to bail her out.
  • She decided to meet with Aaron Sorkin and pitched the story to him.
  • The movie came out and was nominated for tons of awards.
• Was it weird having someone play you in a movie and did you have any say in who that was?
  • Once Aaron signed on, all the big name actresses wanted to play Molly.
  • Jessica Chastain uses her platform in real life and she was excited.
  • She didn’t really get a say in who played her.
• Walk us through your emotions when your boss said he would no longer pay you for being an assistant.
  • She knew what she wanted to do with the game and she wasn’t going to give up that easily.
  • She was always trying to add more value and be the hardest working person in the room.
  • True failure is to not give it a shot.
  • She was making six figures in tips and that was a lot to be taken from her.
  • She then started her own game and invited everyone.
• What were you thinking when you started your own game and had to tell your boss.
  • She thought he was going to kill her, he ended up telling her he was proud of her.
  • That was a teaching moment for her.
• One of the celebrities decided that she was making too much money and took the game from her.
  • She decided to go make a Wall Street game.
  • She thought there was a direct correlation between traders and gambling.
  • She moved to New York when Wall Street was a mess and brought what she learned in L.A.
  • She was selling an experience, but this time she didn’t want to be replaced.
  • She decided to bankroll the game so she wouldn’t be expendable.
  • Minimum buy-in for the game was $250,000.
• What was the biggest pot you remembered seeing on the table?
  • It was common for them to get up to $5 million.
  • She saw someone lose $100 million in one night.
  • She was trying to grow the game and it wasn’t intelligent growth.
    • She was getting stiffed a lot.
    • She was in fear and allowing a massive game to go on happened out of fear.
  • How much of your story stemmed from the way you were raised?
    • She was raised as a competitor and that played into it.
    • Up until this point she never developed a sense of worth that was complete on the inside.
    • Her self-worth and self-esteem was being sought on the outside.
  • She started racking up a debt sheet.
    • She had collectible debt of $3 million and $2.5 in uncollectible.
    • This is where the mob gets involved.
    • They called her for weeks and then showed up at her apartment and beat her.
    • She had the New York Times delivered and she then saw the the mobsters who beat her were arrested.
    • She got ready to go to one of her games and then the FBI was there.
    • She tried to book a flight home and all her credit cards were declined because her accounts were seized.
  • What experience through all of this was the most frightening?
    • Having a gun in her mouth and then dealing with the Feds.
  • Can you talk about how the psychology of persuasion helped you control a room of powerful men.
    • She knew how to defuse bombs in the room when aggression showed up.
    • When people fought with each other, she could stop an argument before it happened.
  • What were some of the biggest networking skills you picked up?
    • The best tactic was truly caring about people and what was going on in their lives.
    • As humans we have an inherent curiosity, indulge in that because connections are really important.
    • When you make people feel important, it will get you everywhere.
    • You have to decide who and what you need in the world.
    • Meditation is important and she knew she needed to create a habit.
  • How well do you think Kevin Costner portrayed your dad in the movie?
    • Her dad was really tough on her, like a coach – it didn’t feel like he loved her.
    • Her relationship with her dad is great now.
  • Do you believe that what you know or who you know is more important, and why?
    • She’s always learned from other people.
    • She treats the people she meets as a graduate class, you can jump the learning curve.

The Random Round:

• What profession other than your own do you think it would be fun to attempt?
  • Lawyer
• If you could sit on a park bench with anyone for an hour who would it be, and why?
  • Einstein
• How do you like to consume content?
  • Books
• What is a book you would recommend.
  • Untethered Soul
• Give us a glimpse of your morning routine?
  • Wake up around 5am
  • Meditate for 20 minutes.
  • Go to a 12-step program
  • Does hot yoga.
  • Tries to spend the rest of the day in that head space.
• What is your go-to pump up song?
  • It varies, sometimes Eminem’s 8-mile soundtrack
• What is something that you are not very good at?
  • Cooking
• Have you been able to keep your network in tact?
  • She’s built a completely different network.
  • She’s more interested in impact.
• What is one place where we can find you the most?
  • Instagram or Twitter @immollybloom

Tweetable Quotes:

• True failure is to not give it a shot.
• I had to do some work to get some humility and return to reasonability.
• If you can sit and focus on your breath for 20 minutes in the morning, your life will change.

Resources Mentioned:

Buildyournetwork.co – Podcast website

BYN.media/fb – Facebook Group

Molly’s Game – Molly Bloom’s Book

Untethered Soul – book by Michael Singer

Headspace app