Hello, my friend, and welcome to another episode of Negotiate Anything. Thanks for spending

time with us today. It's listeners like you in 181 different countries that have made

Negotiate Anything the most popular negotiation and conflict resolution podcast in the world.

I'm your host, Kwame Christian. I'm a business lawyer, mediator, professor, and the

director of the American Negotiation Institute. Before we get started, I have two quick questions

for you. Is negotiation a critical part of what you do? Do you need to resolve conflict and

persuade at work? If you answered yes to both of those questions, visit our website to learn more

about our negotiation workshops. We've traveled

the country working with professionals just like you, and we'd love to have the opportunity

to work with you too. Check out the link in the description to learn more. David, thank you for

joining us today. You're welcome, Kwame. Thanks for having me on the show. Yeah, it is my pleasure.

I know for me living out here in Columbus,

I'm always jealous when I see your mountain backgrounds living in Serenity. Yeah. So how about you

get us started by telling us a little bit about yourself and what you do? Well, I began life as a corporate

consultant. I was really good at left brain stuff and businesses

and systems and I became an actuary, which is someone who deals with risk management and

50 year financial projections. So I thought I had it made when I was on Park Avenue at the age of

23 consulting to Sony music and Ford and Exxon.

It was, you could say I had it made.

But then I discovered a self-help seminar.

And once I got past the name tags and the smiling faces and started to trust them a bit more,

I realized that, wait, there are people who really care about

...