You Can Make Today Legendary™

On a random day a few weeks ago, I was perusing Instagram and stumbled across a brand called Make Today Legendary. They sent me a message about their cause and what their wristband was all about. Skeptical at first, I have to admit I grilled the founder with some follow-up questions.

After discovering more about him and the movement behind MTL, I invited him onto the podcast so we could introduce the mission to all of you.

It’s an excellent interview, and I definitely advise you to order some bands of your own after you listen! [Subscribe Here]

Order your Make Today Legendary™ wristband today!

Show Notes:

What’s the story on MTL?

Founded in 2011 by a group of extremely motivated individuals, Make Today Legendary™ has helped thousands of people to realize the value of taking action in their lives – Every. Single. Day.

What’s the deal with the Purple Zebra?

People often ask them about the meaning of the Purple Zebra logo. It represents everyone’s unique place in a crowd. No two people are identical. Make Today Legendary believes that stories and individual journeys are what make people inherently great. Be proud of who you are, because it has taken billions of unrelated actions to get you to this moment.

While the past provides a roadmap and the future provides hope, today is a choice. You will either make the most of today or you won’t. They believe nothing matters more than today, because today can be the launch pad for something big…or it can be the same as yesterday. The choice is ultimately yours.

Let today be the day that changes everything.

Blake Hammerton [BH] – Greg, first of all, thank you so much for joining me.,. It’s an honor to have you here.

Greg Clarke [MTL] – Yeah, thanks so much for having me Blake. It’s a pleasure to be on the line and hello to all the listeners and viewers out there.

BH – I introduced a little bit of your story and bio in the opening of the show, but let’s hear it from you. What’s the story behind Make Today Legendary™?

MTL – Yeah, okay so the story, man, it’s been a cool ride. As this all came about many years back and it was something that came up and it was a cool phrase that really aligns with what I really believe in, and what my partners really believe in – about really maximizing the day.

I know a lot of time is generally spent looking at the past and figuring out what you did wrong or what you did right and the future of what you want to do and steps to work toward that, but we felt there was a bit of a gap in the present – in the now.

We genuinely believe that today is the most precious thing – thew most precious hours or precious day alive or out there. Tomorrow isn’t promised. There are lots of things that happen in a given day that can change your future so we really believe that today is the most important thing out there.

We really get behind our message. We don’t do it in an overly commercialized way. We just see it as, hey, do good. Your good can impart good on others.

BH – Yes, see that’s the real crux for me right there – the idea of making today, this hour, this day, this time the most precious thing. And it feels like the word present is to cool and apropos because it’s a present to you to be present here today.

I love the fact that your good can impact others. The impact that you have in those small, incremental moments during the day where you decide to do something powerful, has a huge ripple effect on the world at large.

MTL – Yeah, and that’s the key right there. Impact. What can I do sitting here in this small city or town where I live in rural America, or rural Greece or Switzerland, where I can still have an impact on, maybe not the whole world today, but at least impact my circle?

And my circle can impact a larger circle, and that circle impacts another larger circle… It just goes back to what we really believe which is impact and action. It starts with you and it can start small, but it has to start with action. IF you don’t make a concerted effort to do what needs to be done, nothing is going to change.

BH – Right. Exactly. So how did you get started with the band and the product? I know you and your partners wanted to make something that had an impact, but how did you land on the name, Make Today Legendary, and how did you take it to the next step and actually do this?

MTL – It all comes back to taking a chance. We all genuinely believe we have to take a chance on others and believe in others, right? I think sometimes you need to take a chance on yourself! This is something that came about –call it divine intervention or whatever– this term came to my head and I told my girlfriend at the time (now my wife), and I said I think it’s got some legs. I asked her what she thought of it and she said it sounded pretty good.

She’s by far my toughest critic, so I knew that if she cosigns this idea, it’s got some staying power. From there, we really just took a leap. We started looking at the best way to get this brand, this message, out to the people. This was back in 2011 before Lance Armstrong went through his whole ordeal and trials. We thought we’d just get some wristbands.

We took a chance, got some wristbands sourced from a great supplier overseas, and when they came in, they flew. We sold a couple thousand wristbands in a very short period of time. That lead us to the uniqueness off our purple zebra logo (everyone is unique and different and can be legendary). We started moving into t-shirts, and hoodies, tank tops, wristbands and more.

At one point, we looked at everything we offered and how we were trying to be everything to everybody. Look, we weren’t ever going to outsell the big guys -Nike Adidas, Reebok– so we needed to get really good at our message. We had to focus more on our message and out movement, rather than our product lineup. We decided to just offer the wristband (the best on the market in our opinion), and if people want it, great. If they don’t, great. As long as you try to make an impact in the world around you, great. If our motto and message helps you do that? Perfect. Mission Accomplished.

BH – Right on. I love that. It’s one of those things where if it’s very commercialized concept where we (the customers) need to eat, sleep, and breathe the brand, then it feels different, almost dirty to me. But when you come at it from the place of, “look, I would love it if you had the wristband to remind you to make an impact, but even if you don’t buy one, I would still love for you to find a way, yourself, to be reminded to do something or be someone every day that make an impact – makes today legendary.

MTL – Yes, and very recently we’ve been successful with this new iteration of wristbands, and we see photos and emails and posts on social media [especially our Instagram] showing people wearing it, some intrinsically and some extrinsically. Meaning, some wear it with the words Make Today Legendary facing themselves (readable / intrinsically), and others wear it facing outward for others to read (extrinsically).

So one of our next campaign ideas is to ask people to answer the simple question: how do YOU wear it? Do you wear it for the personal message to yourself, or do you wear it to put the message out onto the world?

BH – That’s awesome! I wear it facing me because I want to stay conscious of what I’m going to do to have an impact and Make Today Legendary. I use it that way because I have tattoos on my forearms in Latin that remind me Fortune Favors the Bold and things like that. The idea that you could wear the band to face others is awesome and I didn’t think about it that way!

MTL – Yeah, it’s all doable. In all we’ve been through, coming from our own childhoods, there’s never been a better time in my mind to be alive. Everything is so readily available. Taking a step back, I’m in my mid-30s and I’m looking at the opportunities my kids have now, things we couldn’t even fathom when growing up in the late 80s.

My daughter is only 3 weeks old, but my son is two-and-a-half and adept on the iPad. When I was his age, I was playing with G.I. Joe and maybe some crayons! The opportunity nowadays here is just so vast and so pure. Our thought is if individuals can harness their inner greatness and really step into their fear and see failure as really a lesson, they’ll step out and try to be legendary. They may fail, but they’ll try and that’s what we’re here to do, right?!

BH – Right. Exactly. Everything is about getting out there and trying. I heard something at a conference a few days ago that you know, we have access to more instantaneous knowledge than ever before in human existence, and yet we discover more and more people lacking knowledge today. It’s like they’re operating with complete disregard to the accessibility of knowledge and it feels like a huge disservice to themselves and the human race!

MTL – Yes. Exactly. There’s really no excuse anymore. The excuse we hear most often is ‘I don’t have time’ and it’s frustrating because we ALL have the same amount of time in a day. We’re all blessed with the same 24 hours in a day, and the chance to make it happen. It’s all about what actions you commit to. If you want something bad enough, maybe it means you wake up at 6am instead of 10 am on the weekends.

Maybe it’s less TV. Maybe it’s staying up later to craft your dream. Maybe it’s sacrificing a little more social time to focus more on building your hustle. Whatever it is, you have to commit and take action. Whenever we hear the excuse of time or not enough money… Listen, sometimes having less money is a good thing because it makes you more crafty. We’re very nimble in our brand and what we do because we’re crafty and think of new ways to connect with people and approach obstacles in a way some people won’t or can’t.

BH – Totally. It can be overwhelming to see others in business when we look around and fall into the comparison game. We find ourselves envious of those around us and want to emulate them, but we don’t take the time to get our hands dirty and start digging, learning to cultivate and grow things on our own.

The idea is the opposite! Get out there and get dirty! learn to cultivate and grow your own brand on your own so you learn through that process of what works and what doesn’t. It will make you better and smarter when that capital does arrive and you can hire someone.

Greg, I guess on of my big questions to you personally and in your company is, how do YOU define legendary. How do you Make Today Legendary?

MTL – Wow, okay, yes. Going back to an old Tom Cruise movie, Jerry Maguire, his client (Cuba Gooding Jr.) was looking for that life, that aura, that essence, that quan, that’s legendary. For me, legendary means just doing it all. Giving 100% effort. Doing everything at 100 miles an hour, and doing it every single day.

Up early every morning, take care of the family, take care of my career, my day job, take care of myself with my MBA and the gym, and you know, taking care of my brand, MTL. Legendary leads me to think of legacy and what kind of legacy I’m leaving when I’m gone. It leads me to really beat up every single day. I want to make sure I know I gave my all that day. I have nothing left. It allows me to lay my head down at the end of the day satisfied.

BH – Yes. There’s a part of this that feels you pouring 100% of yourself into everything you do, even if it’s not something you totally care about. If your job isn’t something that completely fulfills you, you still pour 100% of yourself into it to get through it because there’s something in it that does fulfill you. You’re giving your all and doing your best, no matter what.

You make the commitment that you’re going to give your best, Look, you can half-ass it and phone it in, but it’s not going to do you any good. You’re going to give everything you have because at the end of the day you’ll go to bed wiped, but satisfied.

MTL – That speaks to the authenticity of the move. If I can’t do something 100%, I just won’t do it. Even here at work a while ago, someone asked me to participate in a dart tournament and try to hit a bullseye. I was like, “listen, if I’m not going to win, I’m not going to play!  No chance!” There are so many other things I can be doing so if I’m not going to win it, I’m not playing.

I’m extremely competitive and want to make sure I can control everything I can. I accomplish more when I do it 100% in a space I can control. I make sure I’m busy doing things I love to do and avoid the things I don’t want to do. I’ve been able to get to a place where I know I’m really good, and I stick there.

BH – Right on. Okay, so what are the next steps for you and the brand, Make Today Legendary?

MTL – Next steps are more promotion. We’ve been promoting our band and have been featured and seen a lot of uptick from hockey players and athletes. Next step for us is to continue to strengthen our brand and parter with others to spread our vision and execute. We  want to continue to push to support our initiatives that are eventually coming down the pike.

BH – Okay, good. So leading into this next question is a big one. I know you’ve got a big dream or goal, so it’s not a yes or no – what is the BIG legendary goal for Make Today Legendary? What’s the one big thing you want to do with it?

MTL – Okay, there’s a big from two different angles. The first would be to get one of our wristbands onto a highly visible celebrity with millions of followers. Taking the commercial side out of it, it will help us get the message and the brand out there to more people. That would really help push the dream that much further.

On the other side of that, our dream is to be able to say, “Hey, send us a note or let us know the dream of yours of what legendary means to you, and we’ll try to help facilitate that.” Whether it’s a once per day thing, once per month, or once per year, we want to try and help. So if someone says they want to climb Everest, we’ll try to help with gear or training or something to help them make it legendary. Ultimately, we’d like to help others make their own days legendary across the globe.

BH – That’s awesome. We all want our days to be legendary, but we get wrapped up in the mundane noise of everyday life and discount what we really want. We can’t be, do, or have that big dream because we’re stuck or don’t have time, right? You’re saying, if they let you know what the dream is, you’ll help them find a way to make it happen. That’s putting your money where your mouth is!

So Greg, what’s the best way for listeners and readers to get in touch with you and Make Today Legendary?

MTL – We have a strong Instagram page and I say strong because it’s very much ours. It’s purely organic and filled with fans. Connecting on Instagram is a great way to connect. You can also get a band for yourself and learn more of our story at www.maketodaylegendary.com – we thank you all for your continued support.

BH – Okay cool, so for all your listeners and readers out there, get to the site, get yourself a band AND if you have a connection to a highly visible social media celebrity, your mission is to get us in touch with that person. Let’s spread the message and make some legendary things happen!

MTL – Yes! we’re all so connected nowadays! Forget the Kevin Bacon rule, we’re all connected to each other even more easily now. It really helps get the message out there and we really want people to feel like they can step up and kill it, you know. Really feel like they can beat up the day and conquer. Uf helping people focus on what they can do to make the day legendary, our job is done.

BH – Thank you so much for joining me on the show today, Greg. I support the movement and message of Make Today Legendary and I want to see great things happen! Thank again, my friend!

Are you ready to get out there and Make Today Legendary?
What do you think of the message and the movement? Are you ready?
Share in the comments below so we can connect!