FanPost

DDP's Entrepreneurship Path Exemplifies the Power of Positivity

Diamond Dallas Page was a special guest recently on Joe Rogan's podcast, and the first words out of his mouth when exchanging obligatory opening pleasantries were "I've never had a bad day in my life."

Page has been known to be an eternal optimist long before the success of his DDP Yoga fitness business. In fact, one of his last gimmicks before retirement was a motivational speaker like character that never stopped smiling.

He's smiling all the way to the bank right now, as his DDPY business has grown from a DVD exercise program to an app that features more than 250 workouts, including live workouts, and a fitness center just outside of Atlanta. When considering his success, you have to take a look at how he's used the power of positivity to grow his empire.

Page has said time and time again that without the mentorship, guidance, and teaching of Jake "The Snake" Roberts, DDP would never have been born. After years as a manager, Page decided to start training to become a full-time wrestler in his mid-30's so that he could see more camera time than he was getting as a valet.

When no one else believed in him, Roberts took time to teach Page the ins and outs of the ring. Page's psychology, charisma, and nuance quickly catapulted him to the top of the card, where he became a champ and bonafide main eventer.

So when Roberts finally bottomed out after years of alcohol abuse and drug addiction, he needed a friend, and Page answered the call.

Not only did he help Roberts get clean, he moved him into his Georgia home, which he dubbed the "accountability crib", and, like Yoda to Luke Skywalker, taught him the ways of DDP Yoga.

Call it friendship or call it karma, but this arrangement is what took the DDP Yoga brand over the top. Roberts was notorious in the wrestling world for his substance issues, to the point that many thought that he'd be yet another tragic story. So when Page and Roberts posted progress videos of a clean, lean Roberts that looked years younger and full of life, it went viral.

This led to Page's production company producing "The Ressurection of Jake the Snake", a documentary chronicling his recovery, and the rest was history.

While no wrestler as successful as Page has ever shied away from building a brand in the name of making a buck, it's clear that Page's business model focuses on giving first.

This is a way of life beautifully summed up by marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk. Vaynerchuk refers to this principle in his book "Jab, Jab, Right Hook." The philosophy refers to the need for businesses and branders to focus first on what they can give, then eventually making the sale or giving the pitch once value and relationship are established.

Most importantly, DDPs brand has been successful because he's put extensive research into the product and has plenty of professionals that put their brand and name on the line vouching for him.

Chris Jericho, widely considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time, starting using DDP Yoga to help heal some of the back issues he had been having. After training with DDP personally and trying out the program on his own time, Jericho has been able to heal up, tone up and get rid of the pain that he had been experiencing for much of his career.

From there, he's gone on to put together some of the best work he's done in his entire career, making appearances as a part-timer in WWE that is always incredibly over, putting together career-defining matches in New Japan with Kenny Omega and making a surprise appearance at the independent "All In" event. It's one thing for people who retired or battled addiction to use the program, and another entirely for a current performer to be betting his career on the fact that DDP Yoga gets great results.

The WWE has clearly taken notice, as DDP Yoga is now included to aid trainees at the WWE Performance Center. So while up and comers are learning the ropes and taking bumps, they'll be able to heal up and give themselves an edge by regularly participating in DDP Yoga.

Finally, there is no DDP Yoga success without Page's positivity at the forefront. His energy is electric, and this is a huge reason that people from all walks of life sign up for monthly to annual subscriptions to take part in his workouts on a regular basis.

When you watch an interview with Paige, he has one of those personalities that you can't help but like. He wears his heart on his sleeve and has been adamant about his desire to help people with his program. His passion oozes out, and he always speaks on the fact that people need to do what is best for them when trying out his program. Rather than being a pushy salesman, he lets the results speak for themselves and challenges people with an array of physical problems to try it out to see if they don't get life-changing results.

He also understands his crowd.

Paige is quick to correct an interviewer when they refer to his program as simply "yoga". The reason for this is that the stigma behind yoga kept DDP from engaging in it for years, much to his detriment. He's a self-proclaimed man's man, and in the past said he wouldn't be caught dead doing yoga.

His idea of yoga back then involved candles, wimpy stretching and a thousand "Namaste's". Though he would later learn that this was inaccurate and that yoga is the most beneficial and difficult activities that even a man's man could engage in, he doesn't want to trip up newcomers by pushing the dogma associated with the word.

At the same time, he knows that the yoga crowd will push it hard, perhaps to convert non-believers who also share those presumptions. Either way, knowing his brand has been working thus far.

By looking at these points, it's clear that Page's positivity is paying huge dividends for him, and that life after wrestling might be showing DDP his greatest purpose yet.

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