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Shine On Success
Shine on Success is a dynamic, story-driven podcast where extraordinary entrepreneurs, visionary leaders, and resilient change-makers share their journeys to success, revealing both the challenges and the strategies that led to their breakthroughs. Each episode offers a unique blend of inspiring personal stories, practical business insights, and actionable advice, allowing our guests to connect with an engaged, growth-oriented audience ready to be motivated and uplifted. By joining us, you’ll not only have the opportunity to showcase your expertise and inspire listeners but also to be part of a powerful platform that celebrates ambition, innovation, and the courage to turn dreams into reality.
Shine On Success
From Strikeouts to Standouts: Reinventing Leadership Through Learning
What if your biggest setback was actually your greatest setup? In this episode, host Dionne Malush dives into a story of unexpected pivots, powerful mindset shifts, and the kind of leadership that’s built on humility, curiosity, and never giving up.
You’ll hear how a childhood dream gave way to a mission-driven company that’s helped millions grow and how the journey from imposter syndrome to impact is paved with deliberate learning, adversity, and asking better questions. This one’s for anyone who’s ever had to start over or lead through tough times. If you’re rebuilding, reimagining, or just ready to grow, this conversation will light the way forward.
Connect with Damon here:
Website: https://www.learnit.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damonlembi/
Connect with Dionne Malush
- Instagram: @dionnerealtyonepgh
- LinkedIN: /in/dionnemalush
- Website: www.dionnemalush.com
- Facebook: /dmalush
- LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/dionnemalush
Is this a good time for you, Because what we're about to unpack could change how you think about leadership, learning and your legacy. Today's guest is Damon Lembe, a two-time bestselling author, the host of the Learn it All podcast and the CEO of Learn it, a live learning platform that has helped over 2 million people upskill, evolve and grow. But Damon's story didn't start in the boardroom. It began on the baseball field, chasing a dream, with everything he had, until life called him in a different direction. What followed was a reinvention story, one that blends sports, leadership, personal setbacks and building a company that believes everyone can grow if they stay curious. He's not just leading a company, he's leading a movement, teaching people why being a learn-it-all is the new competitive edge. Hi, Damon, it's so nice to meet you. How are you doing?
Speaker 2:Dionne, it's an honor to be here and that was a pretty cool intro, so thank you.
Speaker 1:I try to make them cool. I always want people to feel that way, because I definitely take some time to make sure that they're cool. So I always like to start with this question, because it's really important. What is one thing you wish more people knew about you that never shows up in your bio?
Speaker 2:I think one thing that I wish people knew about me that doesn't show up in my bio is you know, I've had a lot of situations where I dealt with imposter syndrome or limiting beliefs and you hear some of the great things that have happened, but you don't see all those missed opportunities I had early on because maybe I was too afraid to get out of my comfort zone and try something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure a lot of people are afraid. Right, that's a very safe space, your comfort zone, and I know for me like I feel like I'm always wanting to jump out it calls me back in again, kind of like remember that movie, the Mafia? Like once you're out, they keep calling you back in again. Yeah, it's kind of the same idea.
Speaker 2:So you spent your early life chasing a professional baseball dream. What parts of that athlete mindset do you still carry into your leadership style today? I think all of it. I didn't realize at the time that what I learned from playing baseball was going to help me throughout my entire career, because I never had a job a real business job outside of baseball until I was 22 years old. But what I learned from playing sports were how to be more collaborative. You know how to persevere. You know dust yourself off when things don't go well, learning agility, having to adjust and learn quickly. And also another thing I think that athletes do really well well, most athletes is learn how to receive feedback, which I think is super important.
Speaker 1:That is really important because a lot of times, feedback is such an important part of how you move forward. Right, if you don't know, then how can you fix it? So I love that and you know, I remember the beginning of my career where feedback would bother me much more than it does today. Today, I can't wait to hear it, because I know that there's something on the other side of it that I can fix and be the best version of our company or myself. So that's great feedback. So was there a specific moment where you realized that LearnIt was your new field to play on?
Speaker 2:That's a good question. I don't know. I mean, learnit's my only job. I've been here 30 years. I started off as a receptionist and we're it's kind of a nice time or a fun time because we're having our 30th anniversary party this month and so it gives you an opportunity to reflect. But I'm kind of one of those guys where I just kind of dove in headfirst, found something I was passionate about and I would say so relatively early on, maybe my first two years into it, I really enjoyed what I was doing. Never thought I would be in the learning and development field. But you know, fast forward 30 years and here I am still.
Speaker 1:For 22 years, you invested into baseball right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:So how did you emotionally navigate stepping away and stepping into the world of business? There had to be a transition of sort there, right, it was very hard.
Speaker 2:My identity was a baseball player. I only looked at myself as a baseball player and when that went away and my baseball career ended again, I was 22 years old. Like, what do I do now? Are my skills transferable? I went through, you know, I'd say a depression in a sense, where I just felt am I even good enough at something else? But I knew that look here, I am a young guy, there's got to be more. So that's where I dove in and jumped in to learn it and worked really hard. Now, with that being said, going to a Giants game that year and seeing my best friend, jacob Cruz hit a home run against the Dodgers at Candlestick Park was hard. I mean, that was my dream, my whole life. That was my dream to do that.
Speaker 1:But that's just the way it goes, and everything happens for a reason. Yeah, that would be very difficult to go through. So you talk a lot about learn it all culture. So now I would like you just to tell the audience a little bit about what exactly does your company do?
Speaker 2:So learn. It is a live learning platform and we help companies. Companies turn to us when their employees are being promoted, let's say, from an individual contributor to a new manager, and so it's a completely different skill set, so we help ramp them up with new skills. Or companies come to us when they're frustrated because they're struggling with communication and they want to get people out of silos and work better together. Or if employees are complaining that there's just not enough learning opportunities, so we help design learning programs that help them meet their business goals or overcome some of the challenges they have. And we do that through live learning classes, mostly over Zoom, but sometimes in person.
Speaker 1:So what's the biggest difference between the learn-it-all cultures and the know-it-all organizations?
Speaker 2:So let's take a know-it-all, for example. It's somebody who has all the answers, they have it all figured out right. They're not open to ideas In an organization. I was just talking to a friend who works for this organization, where he likes the people and everybody around, but it's a 300-person company and the CEO you have to agree with him at all times. It's a yes-man organization, so you kind of put your head down and you just go along and where there's not any opportunity to share ideas or give feedback and eventually people end up leaving because they want growth opportunities and they want to be heard and feel like they belong.
Speaker 2:On the flip side, you take a learning culture, a learn it all culture. That's where, let's say, starting off with the C-level, people are humble, they're open, they're not afraid to say look, I don't have all the answers, but we're going to figure out how to work this out together. They have a beginner's mind. They're very curious to see is there a better way to do things? What are the possibilities? And, especially these days with AI, is there a way we can leverage AI to make this better? So I think that that's really the difference. One other big difference in a learning culture is that people feel the safe space to make mistakes so they can go out and they could try something, and if things don't go well, they don't get reprimanded or, you know, pointed at. They feel like that their bosses, their leaders have their back and support them and help give them feedback.
Speaker 1:And so maybe they still make mistakes, just not the same ones over and over.
Speaker 2:But that's how you can really learn and grow and get better.
Speaker 1:So you've helped upskill over 2 million people. That's a lot of people. It's a lot of people, that's a lot. So what patterns do you see in the people and organizations that grow the fastest?
Speaker 2:I think the ones that grow the fastest and that's a great question, by the way it's people who are open, who are curious. Learning is hard because there's a couple of things. One it takes work and being consistent. You know it's not going to. You can't just go come take one class at learn it, then all of a sudden be a better manager, you know so there's hard work that goes along with it. The other thing that's really difficult is change. People don't like to change. So if you're in an organization where people are stuck in their ways and they have that know-it-all mentality, and you come in and you want to offer them classes or mentorship or coaching, and they give pushback to it because they like that comfort zone that you and I spoke about and they like the stability of being in this place where, look, I know how to do my job. I don't want to change. We're going to continue to do this the same way as we've always done it. I think that's recipe for disaster.
Speaker 1:That makes a lot of sense. And you know, when I originally started this podcast, it was to help people get through adversity. And my next question is what role does failure play in becoming a great leader? So how does adversity in your own life Can you? Let's go there. Let's go personally and then professionally. What kind of adversity in your own life has helped you to become a better leader?
Speaker 2:I think adversity had a great role in helping me become a better leader. I've gone through personal adversity and professional adversity, and for one it humbles you a little bit, and for two, if you work your way through it, you also know that you don't have to go out of it alone, that you can tap into your network and there's people who will support you and they'll help you. And when you make it through that adversity because here we are, we're still all here you realize that you can do that. So I think adversity is critically important and it just helps you get that drive as well to just keep moving through it.
Speaker 1:And picking up the pieces right, because failure, I think, is such an essential part of success and you may fail multiple times until you get to your next level, whatever that looks like, but it's important because you learn something from every single time, and so, for me, I've you know, I've had a lot of failure in my years of growth and you know I feel like I'm going to have even more. But I want to because I know that I learned from everything and I'm really good at that looking at the situation and saying what did we do wrong, what did we do right. Let's take the right and even make it better, and the wrong, we can work on it. So I don't know, I think, damon, I think there's so much about what you're doing that is incredible and learning up, it's so upskilling. I love that word upskill.
Speaker 2:Well, I think you got a great attitude. You know, and not everybody does A lot of what I'm hearing you say is like it's okay to fail. Let's get comfortable with failure, because even if I do well, maybe there's a way I could even do it better next time. And if I completely fall on my face which, by the way, if you're an entrepreneur, it's never a linear path You're going to have a lot of ups and downs. It's a roller coaster ride. You can't beat yourself up. You got to just give yourself a pat on the back that you're even out there trying, because so many people just don't even try, you know, because they're, because they're afraid of looking bad or embarrassing themselves. And I think after a while you realize who cares what other people think. Let's just figure out what can I do to continue to grow and get better along the way.
Speaker 1:That's really good. When someone said to me the other day about, like when we were growing up, no one told us about like doing all the things and going out and living your life and having a good time and so much stuff is coming at us all the time we don't think about our own lives. What do you do to keep yourself grounded? Is there something outside of work that you love?
Speaker 2:There's a lot of things outside of work that I love and, with that being said, I love my job and I love my work, which I think is, you know, I'm very blessed to have that. I mean, I'm 52, but I got a three-year-old and a seven-year-old and so they keep me. They keep me super busy and, by the way, super grounded, right, because you talk about all this leadership stuff. You have to, you have to implement a lot of this, whether it's patience or clear directions or whatever. It is Right. So they, they help me keep me really grounded. And the other stuff I like to do I love to read, but go to the movies, live music, but really spend time with my family, my wife and my kids they help keep me grounded and humble, that's for sure.
Speaker 1:Those are little kids, for you know, being in your early fifties.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I'm impressed. So you do learn. I bet you do learn a lot of business lessons from those kids, and patience is so important. So you're two times bestselling author and a podcast host. How is sharing your story help shape your personal growth?
Speaker 2:Well, for the first 27, 28 years of my career, I was mostly inside a CEO, meaning that I would. I wasn't out giving public speeches or podcasting or sharing a lot on social media. I mean, that just really wasn't my thing. I was working with my team, going on client calls. My wife pushed me to write my book, the first book, the Learn it All Leader. I jumped on the podcast track of being a guest.
Speaker 2:Another host convinced me to become a host of my own show and I absolutely love it, just like I can tell you love it because you get to meet so many great people and podcasting. I did a solo episode on this the other day. It's helped me become a better communicator, a better listener my wife kind of laughs when I say that, but it's true A better storyteller and it's like 10x my network and every time you come on an episode, a lot of times you can get the raw footage or whatever and you can repurpose it into all this different content which, if you go out there and you post on social media, whether it's LinkedIn or Instagram, and you make it about wanting to help other people, like some of your learning lessons or what you've experienced, I think there's just so much value in that for your community as well as for yourself.
Speaker 1:I love that and that is what I love about the podcast.
Speaker 1:It's like the biggest networking group I've ever been in, with people all over the world that I never would have met if I didn't just take that leap, that one day and say I'm going to have a podcast to share my story and everyone else's story too, because I needed to know that I wasn't the only one that was going through grief and anxiety and pushing through adversity all the time. In fact, it's happening still. Adversity is still part of my. I don't think that I don't know why I have so much of it, but I assume that so I can teach other people about it and help them get through it. That's my assumption and I think that that's why a lot of it comes to me. And I'm strong, but sometimes I get tired too Right, it's tiring when you're just constantly getting beat down, but this podcast has allowed me to meet so many cool people like you and learn all these different businesses and lots of entrepreneurs and the excitement that they get. I've had so many people just oh, I love this. I do love this.
Speaker 2:I'm with you, I'm with you, I, I, I. You sound like me talking to my friends. I'm trying to convince everybody to start their own podcast.
Speaker 1:Everyone could have their own, it would still be a thing.
Speaker 2:And you know, a lot of times people will say, well, I don't have a story, I don't have a point of view, nobody cares what I have to say. Well, you're wrong. We all have stories, we all have adversity, we all have experiences with bad managers or great managers or coaches or parents or whatever. And there's somebody out there who could benefit from your story, you know, and from your lessons. And even if, like I love it when I get a text message not a text message but like a LinkedIn message from somebody saying, hey, my kid, I sent him your four step framework for overcoming imposter syndrome and so thank you for putting it out there. It just makes you feel, makes you feel great.
Speaker 1:I love that. Can you share a step or two in that imposter syndrome story, sure I?
Speaker 2:mean I'll share all the steps and I'll do it quick. And I developed it through playing baseball. I got to a point where I got to, you know, in college I'm like, am I even good enough to be here? Everybody else is awesome. And I struggled and I left one college and I went to another one and I decided this is my last chance, so I'm going to give it 100%.
Speaker 2:And the four step framework is number one, like first of all, what are you afraid of Now? For me, in this case, I was afraid of not making the team, like embarrassing myself and not making the team. If I'm somebody who's looking for to be promoted, what am I afraid of? Not getting the job I heard no. Well, step number one is labeling your fear. Okay, if I don't make my team, so what Life goes on? If I don't get promoted or somebody else gets a job, so what? So understanding what your fear is is number one.
Speaker 2:Number two is work hard. There's no shortcuts for hard work. There's no hacks. You just got to put in the effort and go for it. Go all in kind of like we're talking about. Number three is deliberate practice. It's easy to go out there and work, but you got to really focus in on where you need to get better In baseball.
Speaker 2:At the time I had a hard time hitting curveballs, so I would be the first guy at practice, last one to leave, and whenever possible, I'd have the coach throw me curveballs for practice.
Speaker 2:When I started doing keynotes, I had a hard time with different transitions, but I just focused and practiced over and over and over again until you got a little better. Then you move on to something else. And then the fourth step is, whether you step into the batter's box or on a stage, it's learn and let go. Stop thinking about techniques and everything you're working on. Just know that you've put in all this work and effort and give it your best shot. You might knock it out of the park, you might fall flat on your face, but, like you and I said, every opportunity is a learning opportunity. You're going to learn from that and don't beat yourself up over it. Give yourself a pat on the back because of all those people out there who don't have the courage to go out there and stick their neck out there and try. And so that's the four steps Label your fear, work hard, deliberate practice and then learn to let go.
Speaker 1:Thank you for sharing this. That was great. So let's get back to the podcast for a second. What is the best lesson you've learned from interviewing other people on your podcast?
Speaker 2:The best lesson I've learned from interviewing people on my podcast I think one of the biggest through lines is I don't come across a lot of people with victim mentalities. You know they all, like you mentioned, had adversity, but nobody's a victim for all these highly successful people. They all take accountability and ownership of what they do. It's seriously, they're not blaming or and a lot of times they're super humble to go along with it. So I think that's across the board is take ownership and don't be a victim.
Speaker 1:So how do you personally stay on edge of growth when you're the one that's leading so many?
Speaker 2:That's another very good question and I think part of it has to do with paranoia when and being paranoid I look at it, learn it. Let's say, we have 100 total employees. If you put everything together between the or team members, between the contractors and the staff, you put everything together between the or team members, between the contractors and the staff. And for me both for my family, but also for my team members I feel like I owe it to them to be on top of my game. You know, to be ahead of the game, and I'm always kind of a little afraid we're going to get disrupted from somewhere, especially these days with AI.
Speaker 2:So all along, like when I got into this role and this is important for your listeners I didn't have a Harvard MBA or an Ivy League degree. There's nothing wrong with that. I think those are fantastic. But when I moved into a leadership role, I just dove into learning, reading books and working hard and talking to mentors and things like that, and I still kind of do the same thing today. I feel like I have to stay ahead of the game because I don't want to see somebody come in and create something that would completely disrupt, learn it and put it out of business, and leadership in itself is changing. We have five different generations of people in the workforce, so how you led, how I led, 10 years ago, doesn't cut it for today. And that's what's so great about podcasting, too, is you bring in all these different perspectives and you learn from them, if you're curious enough on how you can become a better leader.
Speaker 1:That's great. I feel the same as you because right now I've been teaching about mindset and adversity. For years I've been studying Napoleon Hill personal development. So the adversities that I'm going through. I always say this if I didn't push through, then no one would ever believe me. If I didn't learn more and be the best version of myself, then why would you listen?
Speaker 2:What's your favorite? What's your favorite, your one favorite thing you learned from Napoleon Hill.
Speaker 1:Seek expert counsel.
Speaker 1:OK, OK I just fill myself in rooms with people that know more than I do, and you know I never feel like the low man, right, I'm in there learning. I'm a sponge for good information. So I think for me that there's always a seed of opportunity in every adversity. I think it's a golden opportunity that's in the adversity is, if you can just take the time to find it, it's life changing. So I think the two of those are my favorite parts of Napoleon Hill, and it actually goes all the way back to the Bible. You know there's those same things, just said differently.
Speaker 1:Napoleon Hill had a way with word and it made it easier. He had a cool title to a book, right, if that book was you know how to be successful in 1920, people would have been like, oh, whatever the thing is, you're rich, it's like the greatest name ever. So you know, I just think that the way he described things and gave these principles from interviewing. Could you imagine today, damon interviewing 500 of the most successful people in the world? What would you be like on the other side of that?
Speaker 2:I know it's awesome. I mean I read it. I mean just the learning lessons that you get from individuals. And you know a lot of us don't have that opportunity, even with our podcasts. But you know what I always tell new leaders and everybody they should do? They should read biographies, because it may not be the same as interviewing the person. The people aren't even alive anymore. But think about you get to learn from their experiences what they did well, what they failed, what they thought about. I'm just a huge fan of being able to read biographies.
Speaker 1:I love that and I hope that you'll continue to. As I get older, I feel like I can't get through a book now. I'm like OK, start, stop, start, stop. That's what. What do you think it's like with a three-year-old and a seven-year-old? No, no, no. I just got a new dog and she's about. We've had her for three months and that's experience. I can't even imagine a three-year-old. I just turned 57 last week, so that's just a crazy life, all right.
Speaker 1:So this I think this is a really important question what do you hope your children now?
Speaker 2:they're so young or your team see when they look at the way you live and lead. What do you hope for them? Well, let me start with my children. So my idol was my dad, and absolute idol, and a lot of people will tell you I'm a lot like him, was a lot like him with my mannerisms and everything I do, and he's the one who came up with the idea for learning. He never worked at learning. We had a big real estate company.
Speaker 2:I lost him to cancer in 2011,. You know, and so what I want my kids? At only 63 years old, I want my kids to be to look at me the way I looked at him and as the kind of leader I am, the kind of person of how I treat people, because he treated everybody fair. He was bigger than life and he was just a good guy with a big heart. You know, a little crazy, you know, and to say, you know outgoing and goofy, but I just want them to look at me the way I looked at him.
Speaker 2:And my mom's absolutely awesome too, but she's still alive. But, yeah, that's what I want. That's why I want my legacy to be with my kids. My dad never pushed me to go into baseball, but he always supported me and I just really wanted to make him proud, but for the right reasons and for my team. I just want to say, hey, you know what? Damon's a real person. He's got integrity. He makes mistakes, but he actually cares about us and wants us to have the best lives possible for as long as we're at Learn it and with the goal to help just make better leaders for the future.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that makes so much sense. And my dad, too, was my hero and he passed away about a year and seven months ago, eight months ago yeah, it's so new still. You know, father's Day is so tough and I sat there and think about some things. Last week, something came out of my mouth that he used to say that I haven't said since he passed, and I was like, oh, dad said that, you know, but, man, I miss him a lot and he was, he was such a cool guy and but you know, I I am honoring him and I'm not sitting here being depressed every single day, and I don't mean I don't have minutes of it because, you know, no matter what, I'm still human.
Speaker 1:But I'm trying to push through that and, you know, just make him proud and every day, just do things to be the best version of myself. My husband, my husband, had a liver transplant nine weeks ago. So I've been working at home for nine weeks taking care of him too, and so the challenge with that is extreme. It's a lot, but you know what, I'm still waking up positive every day and working through it and knowing that the other side of this, when he's fully healed, we're going to have another 10 or 20 years together where we only 20.
Speaker 2:You're going to have 20 and your husband is. I knew that he was going through this because I listened to some of your episodes. But you know what? He's incredibly lucky to have you as a partner to go through times like this. Thank you, you know it's being there, being supportive. You know it's okay to you don't have to be happy all the time. I think people who are happy all the time they're faking it anyways.
Speaker 2:I know it makes sense it anyways, you know, but you got to have it. It makes a huge difference to go through something very difficult like that to have somebody like you in this corner, so he's very fortunate to have you.
Speaker 1:Thank you. It's been difficult. I didn't even imagine some of the things we went through in the last nine weeks and you know losing my dad and now him being sick. My mom moved in with us. We've had a lot, you know, and it just keeps piling up, but I keep pushing through and you know, I do believe, like I told you, there's there's reasons for it and the reasons are so I can help many other people, not just one person every day, like it used to be.
Speaker 2:It's to impact more people, so and you know, another thing about it is, too, is like what other choice do you have? I mean, do you want to give up? No, I mean no, you're not going to give up. Right, I could see that in just getting to know you. So what other choice do you have then? To just keep going full force through it and doing the very best you can, and people will learn from you just by that example and being humble and open enough to share it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with you so much, so I have one final question for you, and I think, of all the questions I've asked today, this one, I think, has the most impact. If you had 30 seconds to give advice to someone who's just lost the dream they've been chasing for years, what would you say?
Speaker 2:You just lost the dream that you've been chasing for years. I would say okay, there's something else out there for you, because everything happens for a reason, Just like with me and baseball. That dream went away. Look what I've done. If I can do it, you can do it too. You just got to put in the hard work and continue to go for it and go all in.
Speaker 1:I'm with you on that. There's always a reason for everything. And I want to say one more thing before I go and finish up is that my thought is always that if we could put Think and Grow Rich in the school system at seventh grade and teach the kids principles of success from seventh grade on, do you imagine what we could do to change the world? I'm just going to say that out loud.
Speaker 2:Well, I think that's a great point. I think that part of the problem with these kids is, you know, they start off so young and they're open to do things and they're not afraid to make mistakes and we beat it into them that you know this is wrong and that's wrong. If we just reverse that trend and we taught things like think and grow rich to these kids and we gave them this inspiration and looking at the world a different way, I mean, I think it would all benefit from it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree. So, damon, I know you just didn't pivot from baseball to business. You transformed the playing field. That's the way I look at it. Your life reminds us that the best leaders never stop being students. So whether you're building a business, building yourself or rebuilding after a detour, there's wisdom in every inning, if you're willing to learn. So go check out, learn it, grab Damon's books and don't miss the Learn it All podcast for even more insight from the front lines of leadership. And if this episode made you pause, reflect or think bigger, please share it with someone who's ready for their next season. And, damon, thank you for showing us that leadership is less about having all the answers and more about asking the right questions.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me. I had a great time.
Speaker 1:Me too. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. I loved meeting you today.
