I was bullied badly.

I was standing on a stack of books on the top row of every school photograph.

And yet I could run like the wind, and I captained our school rugby team to the Auckland Championship.

My teacher hated me, and once put my desk in the school corridor for the whole week.

And yet, I was also a straight-A student.

I had an extremely conservative upbringing, and yet I had the filthiest sense of humor.

If there were a set of boxes to put kids in when they were growing up, I truly did not fit in any of them.

Not a day goes by that I am not extremely grateful for all of this.

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Being different is the most remarkable gift that can be bestowed upon any person.

Being different allows you to see the world from an angle that most people cannot even imagine.

Being different gives your voice the kind of resonance that carries across all circumstances.

Being different is the key to having a personality that stands out.

Being different fills you with compassion for others who also don’t fit in a world where everyone is clinging to some homogeneous idealized version of normality.

And finally...

When you truly embrace the unique and unusual things about yourself.

You become wonderfully and beautifully free.

To live.

To soar.

To simply be.

To abandon yourself to the incredible lightness of just being.

And so today, I just want to say this: If you’ve ever felt strange, unusual, or like you don’t fit?

I love you.

Be fully you.

Geoff..x

I was a tiny boy 😂 from the ass-end of the world, lost in one of the world’s busiest cities.

2007. London. Yeah, that’s me in this photo.

Fresh-faced, way more hair and embarking on a journey of a lifetime.

I was completely overwhelmed.

London was massive.

I had never ever been on a train before 😂

Okay, that’s a lie, but it’s funny to me.

I dunno about you, but sometimes when you are scared, overwhelmed or worried that the worst thing might happen to you, the best thing you can do is embrace failure.

In my case I was terrified of getting lost is such a busy melee of people and culture.

I did not want to end up on a milk carton 😂

So for my first 3 days in London, I did something crazy…

I tried to get lost.

I would hop on the subway with zero plan.

Get off at whatever spot had a nice name. Like Stanford Bridge or just anywhere really.

I’d wander around aimlessly, but myself a nice pint and then try and find my way home.

This was before I had a smartphone.

I embraced my fear of getting lost in a big city by deliberately getting lost.

By doing so a few things happened…

One, I developed a huge amount of self trust. No matter where I am, I will always find my way home.

Two, I turned the trains in London into my playground, i absolutely loved riding them, watching people, writing poetry and even making friends.

Three, I learned to wander through the world with a kind of abandonment that has made me the fearless man I am today. I became brave.

Self trust, a playful spirit and a brave soul.

These things are only made possible when you embrace your fears.

I miss London a lot, but I still carry the story of it in my bones.

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I felt the excruciating rip of my hamstring as it tore from the bone in my pelvis.

It was 2020, Slide Rock, Arizona, and I slipped 😂 ironically, on a rock and collapsed into a snow-fed stream.

Clearly, my gymnastic days were over.

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I remember sitting on a bag of ice on an eight-hour drive all the way back to Los Angeles, still not sure what I had done, but pretty convinced it was something major.

Two weeks later, surgery to tie my hamstring back onto my pelvis.

Six more weeks on crutches, and a surgeon that doubted if I would ever run again.

Here’s the truth.

Life is pain, and we all hurt ourselves in many different ways all the time.

Sometimes that pain is emotional.

Sometimes it’s a wound in our business.

Sometimes it is in a relationship.

Other times, it’s just flat-out physical.

This one was physical.

This one spoke over my life that my athletic days were over.

This one sent me into a depression that caused me to eat my feelings and believe that running was simply something I used to do.

Crash forward to 2026, and the lesson is obvious.

Here’s me squatting 110 kilograms for the first time in my life. Not just healed, but stronger than I’ve ever been.

Whatever is broken, however you’ve hurt yourself, in a relationship, in your work, in your body…

The lie that you’ll be tempted to listen to is that everything is fucked.

That’s a lie, but if you believe it, it will become your truth.

But the actual deeper truth is this.

Anything can heal.

Anything can get stronger.

Anything can become new again.

So whatever you’re struggling with today, however you’ve hurt yourself, whether it seems lame, funny, or just plain sad, know that your injuries don’t have to define you.

Your healing can.

G.x

The rent was due at 4 pm, and I had one single sales call for the day.

I was doing my calls and all my work with a cheap headset over GoToWebinar from a Starbucks in the Los Angeles Foothills.

Yeah, I was that guy (see pic from 2015)

I had to find a way to close this sales call and get all the money up front to pay the rent.

It felt like crushing pressure.

An utterly terrifying place to be.

I keep this photo on my phone to help me remember the miracle that occurred that day.

It was not so much a divine miracle… it was more a miracle born of flesh and blood.

I am far from the only man who has ever fought to save his family.

Millions and millions of men and women in different countries and cultures are forced to do this every day.

And yet I realised something profound as I turned on my camera and started that sales call.

I had only had one enemy…

And that enemy was me.

I must remain calm. I must set aside my own personal pressing needs. No ounce of perspiration or stress would be permitted to slide down my face.

I would put all of my attention on the needs of my potential client.

I would make the entire call about them…

That was the miracle of flesh and blood.

To surrender one’s own needs.

Two hours later, the client paid me $5000, and I went off and paid the rent.

I don’t know who needs to hear this right now.

Whatever you are going through, you have the strength inside of you to overcome all of it.

You may be feeling weak, or you may be trembling with fear.

And yet despite those feelings…

You are also extremely brave.

I believe in you

Geoff. X

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What would your occupation be if you followed your childhood dream?

Geoff.x

With my strong Baptist roots, I was a cheap drunk.

It took just a couple of vodka shots to loosen me up.

As I looked out onto the balcony, I saw that the room was made of money.

It was 2008, and I was at the New Zealand film commission's Cannes Party that overlooked the Croisette and the southern Mediterranean.

I was as nervous as hell.

No one there knew who I was.

I had been working on a high-concept screenplay, and I was there to pitch it to high-level producers.

I wish I could have done it sober, but back then, I felt like I lacked the courage.

I heard a voice in my head whisper…

“Talk to everyone in the room. Leave no stone unturned.”

And so with the coolness of a man who is afraid but stubbornly refuses to let anyone see… I sauntered out onto the balcony on that warm French night.

And I did indeed talk to nearly every person at that party…

I made them laugh.

I was genuinely curious about who they were.

I got the business cards and the phone numbers of some of the best producers in the business.

I swear you’ve never seen anyone work that room like I did that night.

Until one person remained, aloof, looking up at the fireworks that shot across the harbor into the black night…

He was a tall gentleman, nearly 60, and I noticed how all the others in the room treated him with great deference.

Like he was a giant in a room of kings…

Perhaps it was the vodka, but I had no fear of this man or knowledge of who he was.

So I moved up alongside him… staring at the same fireworks, saying nothing for a breath of time…

“Hey, I’m Geoff”, I said, stretching out my hand.

“Barry, he replied in a slow Californian drawl, shaking my hand, almost relieved to have someone treating him in such a normal manner.

We watched the fireworks for a bit longer.

“What are you doing here?” He asked casually.

“Oh, I’ve written a screenplay. It’s about a man who throws his wife’s cat out of the window of a high-rise apartment in New York City. It lands in the head of a very important person, and it starts a war.”

“Oh that sounds funny!” He chuckled.

“Well, I sure hope so,” I laughed. “Want me to tell you a bit more about it?”

“Sure.” He said genuinely interested.

And so Barry and I talked about my screenplay for 15 minutes on that balcony in Cannes.

He gave me his business card, and I gave him mine, and he asked me to send him my script when I finished it.

As I walked away from our interaction, I realized that everyone at the party was staring at me.

Not because I was drunk, I was still pretty sober.

There was admiration in their eyes, like I must be somebody.

There was another man there, whom I had talked to early that evening, and as I ordered another vodka from the bar, he came rushing over.

“Geoff,” he said urgently, “Do you not realize who you were talking to?”

“Sure, that was Barry,” I said plainly.

“Yeah! Barry is the head of New Line Cinema and the Executive Producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.”

I shook my head in disbelief. He had seemed so ordinary, so normal, just a human being happy to talk to another human.

It’s been many years since that evening on the balcony at Cannes, and I don’t drink vodka anymore…

But I learned a lesson that night that I will never forget.

It was the first time I understood what a real conversation can do.

No one is greater than anyone else

No human being deserves to be feared or needs to be revered.

We are just people.

And if we could find the courage to simply talk to one another as equals…

Anything would be possible.

Geoff.x

P.S: Every good thing in life always comes through the doorway of a conversation. If you want more… talk to people. I’ll help you do it here - Working Together

Or at least I thought he did.

That was way back in 2009, when, as an independent filmmaker in Los Angeles, I posted on Twitter:

I posted this tweet on a whim.

Without really having much of a strategy or a plan.

I had written a screenplay that starred a 3-legged street dog called Scrap… and someone had told me that this dog would be almost impossible to find.

That person, as it turns out, didn’t know their ass from their elbow.

I opened my laptop the next day, in some dodgy digs on the outskirts of Hollywood…

I swear my Twitter account was smokin’

People from all around the world were sending me pictures of their 3-legged dog…

There was Red, a farm dog in outback Australia

Rocky, a boxer in LA.

Torpedo, an amazing Bull Terrier tripod in Kingston, Jamaica.

Within a week, I had 111 3-legged beauties from all around the world applying to be in my film.

I put pictures on my free WordPress site, and I had 50,000 people vote for their favorite in a single day.

News items on KXAN, MSNBC, and Channel 7 in Australia all followed.

Here’s the really crazy thing?

It was just me, a boy with a dream, sitting on a free WordPress account and running my mouth off on Twitter.

For a minute, I felt like I had cracked the code.

I had gone viral.

But the reality was far more sobering.

I had found my canine movie star, but I did not have the people.

It was a tough lesson.

All the attention in the world will never be enough.

Because I did not have the people, I never got to make my movie.

I learned so much in the process, though…

That 3-legged dog never used his missing leg to gain attention; he just hopped around looking to make friends wherever he went.

The attention game is fleeting, the people game is real.

So I transformed my approach with social media and built out an entire system that didn’t just get people attention and then leave them hanging.

Instead, it’s a whole new way of using social.

One that starts conversations and builds real relationships.

Because once you have the people, anything is possible.

Geoff. x

If the story resonates, then I’ve put together a page on how I am helping people do this - Take a look here

Standing at the sink, washing dishes in our tiny two bedroom Los Angeles apartment.

Trying to be strong for my family. Man up, ya know, don’t let the weakness show.

It was about 8 years ago.

I was home alone with my daughter who was a few months short of her second birthday.

The fires had been ravaging the Los Angeles hills and they had been burning up the inside of our family, and my business too.

I was beyond stressed.

And I was alone in the ways that perhaps only a man can feel.

And yeah, I was doing a fucking good job not to cry…

And then I heard her voice behind me…

“Daddy.”

She had been talking in full sentences for months. She’s a gifted child.

“Yes darling,” I replied, not turning, lest she see the true state of the weak man in front of her.

I still cannot fathom this…

“You got a lot of love in you Dad.”

I dropped the fucking cast iron frying pan back into the sink and soap suds flew. I turned around in disbelief…

“What did you just say?”

A toddler should not be able to talk like this.

“Yeah, a lot of love, Daddy.”

She repeated herself and she was looking at me, dead in the eye.

I melted instantly. Could not put those tears back into my eyes.

So I genuinely thanked her and quickly returned to washing dishes.

But inside, I was transformed.

I was seen.

I was truly known.

And I was loved.

And in many ways I became a dish that would never need to be washed again.

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That’s the power of love.

To truly see people underneath their circumstances.

To dive down to their true nature.

So many people in our world need to hear words like this right now.

Imagine.

If just a few of us were as brave as my daughter?

If we built businesses and brands that were based on forging connections that transformed lives.

Every conversation counts.

Reply or comment “Convo” if you are ready to be brave and I will tell you about the thing I am building.

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Following an old railway line through an ancient gold mine in a desolate part of New Zealand.

It was pitch black.

The old track was drenched in fresh water that seeped through the solid rock cavern above me.

My boots squelched as I tentatively plodded through the darkness.

I was torchless. I was trusting the old track…

And…

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Walking in circles

Trying to get my head straight.

Thinking about our community of 300 completely sold-out solopreneurs that I’m growing.

Sometimes I struggle to find the right language to describe what I am doing, and it annoys the f*ck out of me.

So forgive me if I don’t make sense, and ask me questions if it tugs at your soul and you w…

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It’s easy to forget that life is good.

Far from perfect.

And yet very good.

And because it is good, you have important things to say and do with your time.

Don’t get hung up on all the negative shit. It will keep you from important things.

Like telling your kids that you love them.

Or sharing a joke with a stranger.

Or buildi…

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my thighs

bled,

underpants

red

from the constant

chafing 

from the sweat

and the battle,

unceasing,

never abating.

I stared

at this devil,

in his,

blood-stained scrubs

aloof to the 

chaos,

that rained down,

upon us,

like a flock 

of burned

black

doves.

something,

in me,

died,

that day,

as I looked

into

those,

icy blue,

cold gray 

eyes…

and

it needed 

to die

because I needed 

to see

into th…

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I walked so much, I rubbed my inner thighs so raw that they bled into my underpants.

In 24 hours, the best moment of my life, the birth of my child, had turned into an unfathomable nightmare.

I encountered the face of something that I knew existed but had never met before.

Racism. Prejudice on a systemic scale that still sickens me.

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10 years later and the PTSD still lingers.

The problem didn’t stop with bleeding thighs; it went on for months and months.

It cost me everything I owned.

I slept for less than two hours a night.

I was fighting a monster that few people see, an ignorant, greedy, ravenous beast that had no need for the truth.

I realize that I am talking in metaphor and deliberately so.

I won’t share the full details of this story ever.

However, I will tell you what I have learned from this story.

Never give up when you know that you are right.

Always persist.

Fight for those that you love.

And also this:

Huge personal growth comes from encountering great obstacles.

I am 3X the man now than I was before.

I am stronger in my character.

Wiser in my understanding of the world.

Kinder in the ways that I relate to those on the margins.

I think this is the key to understanding any tough time or challenge. If you persist through it, you will become more fully human.

The Key to Overcoming & How It Can Help Your Business

There’s a problem with never telling your story.

Other people will.

And they will own it, even though their narrative is incomplete and sometimes incorrect.

When you share your story, you take back your power.

How much you share is up to you.

Watch this video here:

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10 Tips on How To Share Your Stories On Social Media

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An opportunity to make a difference in the life of another person.

And through the act of making a difference, you’ll:

• Grow a life-changing brand

• Get a steady stream of clients

• Forge life-changing partnerships

If you are not talking to people on social media, you are missing out.

Our Conversation Collective…

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Summary: 13 Reasons to Use Social Media for Conversations (Not Broadcasting)

This talk reframes social media from a content platform into a conversation engine arguing that real growth (personal, relational, and business) comes from talking with people, not posting at them.

Core Idea

Social media should be used primarily to start and sustain conversations, not:

• Broadcast content

• Sell aggressively

• Perform or impress

Because everything meaningful — connection, growth, business — begins with a conversation.

The 13 Reasons (Simplified & Sharpened)

1. Keeps You Human

Conversations remind you that you’re speaking to real people, not data, metrics, or avatars.

2. Fastest Path to Understanding People

Instead of guessing what people want through content…
→ You can just ask and find out immediately.

3. People Want to Be Heard

Most people don’t feel listened to.
If you create space for them to speak → they naturally connect with you.

4. Conversations Create Impact

A single conversation can:

• Lift someone up

• Change their day

• Shift their life

This is where real influence lives.

5. Helps You Filter People

Through conversation, you quickly discover:

• Who is NOT for you

• Who gives you energy

• Who you resonate with

6. Expands Your World

You’re no longer limited by geography.
→ You can build meaningful relationships globally.

7. Finds “Co-Creators”

Not all relationships are equal.
Conversations help you find:

• High-alignment people

• Partners, collaborators, inner-circle connections

8. Makes Social Media Fun Again

When you let go of control and expectations…
→ Social becomes exploratory, surprising, and enjoyable.

9. Breaks Down “Stranger Danger”

Talking to strangers (wisely) makes the world:

• Warmer

• Less divided

• More connected

10. Sparks Creativity

Conversations generate:

• Ideas

• Insights

• Content inspiration

Creativity comes from interaction, not isolation.

11. Beats the Algorithm

Algorithms control reach.
Conversations give you direct access to people — which is real power.

12. Drives Personal Growth

Engaging with different perspectives:

• Challenges your thinking

• Expands your worldview

• Reduces bias

13. Helps Heal the World

The only way to bridge division is:
→ Talking with people you disagree with

Not easy. But necessary.

Subscribe now

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When the world you in habit is lacking compassion, hope, genuine humanity, when inspiration is hard to find…

Then understand that this is the time… for you to thrive!

If you want to grow right now.

Show up more fully

Show up more often

Show up more imperfectly

Be real, raw, fully human and 100 percent inspiring.

You will be a big bright light who is impossible to ignore.

Geoff.x

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Watch out for those little bastards late at night, left on the floor, smashed under the naked foot.

Oh, the agony.

Actually, there is another problem with the legos. We’ve lost all the instructions, and the pieces for each creation are all mixed together.

So it’s tough to build out the original creations.

It’s hard to build a…

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It was 2 am, and our little group found its way into a pub in my University town in the middle of New Zealand.

The air was thick with cigarette smoke. The music was unbearably loud.

People were squashed in tighter than a tin of sardines.

Good times on a Friday nite, right?

I still feel nauseous writing about what hap…

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