As has been a longstanding tradition with all of Jason Hartman’s podcast shows, every 10th one goes off-topic to a subject or guest that normally wouldn’t be considered a good fit. For episode #60 of The Longevity & Biohacking Show, the globally recognized, John Tesh, drops in to talk about his career as a musician, television anchor, and, most recently, nationally syndicated radio show host.
Introducing the Legendary John Tesh
John Tesh’s highly successful and varied career path includes a 10-year run as anchor on “Entertainment Tonight,” six hit public television specials, including his landmark “Live At Red Rocks” in 1994, a string of #1 radio hits, his popular nationally syndicated radio show, “Intelligence For Your Life,” which draws 14.5 million listeners, and a high profile advertising and marketing company. His musical accolades since releasing his debut album “Tour De France” in 1988 include seven million units in total sales; a Keyboard Magazine Award; a 2003 Grammy nomination for “Best Pop Instrumental Album” for his double CD “The Power of Love,” and gold certification for his “Live At Red Rocks” album.
His advertising and marketing company, TeshMedia, handles clients such as numerous Fortune 500 companies. Tesh’s book “Intelligence for Your Life: Powerful Lessons for Personal Growth,” has spent time on the New York Times, USA Today, Publisher’s Weekly, Wall Street Journal and Amazon.com best-seller lists. The award-winning daily and weekly show he calls “purpose driven radio,” recently secured the trademarks for three more categories in their “Intelligence for….” family. “Intelligence for Your Health,” “Intelligence for Your Pets,” and “Intelligence for Your Love Life,” have been added to Tesh’s core brand, and will be developed into stand-alone content-rich websites with products designed around the “Intelligence” Tesh and his staff have gathered in the 10 years since they launched the show.
Now He’s a Radio Man
Though John Tesh first came into the public eye sitting opposite Leeza Gibbons for a decade on the pop culture television show Entertainment Tonight, he started out at college in North Carolina studying physics and chemistry, topics he soon discovered he had less an affinity for than radio and television classes. All these years later, it seems like the switch was probably a good idea.
As to what is the “main thing” for Tesh today, he doesn’t hesitate. It’s radio. He’s been doing it for the past decade and doesn’t plan to stop any time soon. But what is his secret desire? Not surprisingly, it has to do with music. According to John, he would like to write a Broadway musical someday. Considering his varied past, don’t count it out.
Why His Radio Show Works So Well
The self-deprecating Tesh doesn’t hesitate to tell Jason that, 10 years ago, he was lucky to have been one of the early adapters of the curation model, which is all over the radio, Internet, and even in podcasts today. For those who might be unaware, the curation model is one that sifts through the overwhelming amount of information available to us on a daily basis, distills it, and dispenses the best stuff in bite-sized doses.
The show, “Intelligence for Your Life,” has found a home, through Tesh’s self-syndication efforts, on 400 stations across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. And format is no obstacle. This two-minute daily dose of targeted information can be heard on everything from Christian to heavy metal radio stations. The staying power of “Intelligence for Your Life” might have something to do with the quality of information it provides. Tesh and his staff of 10 don’t rely or even make heavy use of the Internet as an information source. For example, any medical information imparted comes from places like the Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic. Credibility helps him stand out from the slush pile of unfiltered, unvetted online pablum.
Jason is especially interested in the self-syndication aspect of Tesh’s show. This means that there is no large media company footing the bill and doing the hard work of getting stations to carry it. In fact, Tesh says he still makes sales calls himself on a daily basis. Surprisingly perhaps, he turned to self-syndication out of necessity, claiming that he couldn’t find a corporate patron that believed enough in him or the concept to shop it around. 400 stations later, it looks like somebody was wrong.
What’s Next for the Tesh Media Empire?
Jason points out that media megastars like Howard Stern, Glenn Beck, and Oprah Winfrey have all opted out of the mainstream, for one reason or another. What does Tesh have in mind for the his still-growing brand?
In particular, he commiserates with shock jock Howard Stern’s decision to leave behind terrestrial radio and sign on with Sirius/XM satellite radio several years ago. Tesh believes that cases like this are simply that a person who is good at what they do tend to get bored after reaching the pinnacle of success, and start looking for the next challenge. Of course, the roughly $100 million annual paycheck Stern pulls in might keep him in the Sirius chair for a while to come.
Tesh says you have to figure out what makes you happy and stick with it. It’s his belief that the most successful people are those who remain focused. And, yes, he is painfully aware that his career has been a hodge-podge of leaps hither and yon.
Focus, Focus, Focus
But is it really all about focus? Jason points out that billionaire, Richard Branson, owns over 400 companies. Tesh responds that Branson’s skill is in picking great people to run each company, freeing him from dabbling in the details.
The Final Word
As the interview draws to a close, Tesh reflects on his philosophy that you might not make money at it but you have to create something every day. If you put a large enough volume of work out there, some of it has a chance to be great. Follow John Tesh at www.Tesh.com . (Image: Flickr | stevendamron)
More from Jason Hartman:
Hack Your Autonomic Nervous System by Breathing
Aging Intervention with Dr. Aubrey de Grey
The Longevity Show Team
