Episode 97 – Unstoppable Israeli Football Coach with Charlie Cohen

In this episode, I would like you to meet Charlie Cohen. I met Charlie on LinkedIn and, after examining his profile, felt his story would be an interesting one to bring to Unstoppable Mindset. When we first spoke, Mr. Cohen said that he felt that he did not have an interesting story. I explained that I believed everyone has interesting and inspiring stories that only needed to be discovered. As you will see, Mr. Cohen does have a story worth hearing.
 
Charlie grew up in Sharon Massachusetts. He received his bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and then went into sales. That’s only the beginning of his story. I am going to leave it to Mr. Cohen to tell you about his history in his own words.
 
However, along the way he moved to Israel and married. He now owns his own sales company, and he also is the coach of an American Football team in his town.
 
There is much more to Charlie’s story. He demonstrates an unstoppable drive in his work, his play activities and in his home life. He is inspirational and his story is very much worth your time to hear.
 
 
About the Guest:
My Name is Charlie Cohen, or Chaim Matisyahu HaCohen. I live in a City located in Israel called Beit Shemish, married for 20 years with 6 wonderful children.  Currently I have my own sales company called Onbase Sales, working nights, during the day I teach at a Yeshiva and teach Talmud.  My hobbies include coaching football, where I am head coach of the Beit Shemish City team the Rebels in the American Football League in Israel.  
 
I grew up in Sharon Massachusetts, graduated from Purdue University with a C+ average.  I was a social chairman for the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity which explains the C average.  With my C average and my experience being social at college, I knew that I was a born salesperson, getting my first job at Pitney Bowes Copiers, class of 93.  From Pitney Bowes rather than the straight path to Pharma Sales, I went to start ups, having the incredible experience founding one of the first cloud/SAAS companies in the World-Softscape.  
 
In my spare time in my 20’s I coached youth sports.  One year I had a life changing season taking a team who never won a game, beating a top team, with a girl leading the way as the captain, and heart of the team-on a boy’s tackle team.  From the lessons learned from that season-I discovered my unique path and desire to attend a prestigious Torah Institution in Israel, not knowing how to read Hebrew and Aramaic.  My classmates were lifelong religious Jews who grew up reading and writing Hebrew, and 20 years old as well.  I was 32 newly married, many years behind, and had to support our starting family working in sales.
 
Today I have finished almost 75% of the Talmud, learning successfully under the greatest Torah teachers today, I still sell, and coach football and enjoy helping people, professionally and personally, and spiritually. 
 
Ways to connect with Charlie:
 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-cohen-onbase-sales-686498195/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CungggFSMT8
 
 
 
About the Host:
Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.
 
Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards.
 
https://michaelhingson.com
https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/
https://twitter.com/mhingson
https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/
 
accessiBe Links
https://accessibe.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe
https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/
 
 
 
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Transcription Notes

Michael Hingson  00:00
Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I’m Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that’s a c c e s s i  capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we’re happy to meet you and to have you here with us.
 
Michael Hingson  01:20
Well, hi, everyone. I’m Mike Hingson, and you are listening to unstoppable mindset. Today we have a guest who I find extremely fascinating for lots of reasons. And I’m going to tell a story on him a little bit here. When we first chatted, it was because we had met on LinkedIn. And he wasn’t sure he had a story to tell or was in a position to really tell stories. And I kind of disagreed with that a little bit because my belief is that everyone has a story to tell. But you know what, as we progressed, and as I asked him to prepare for the podcast, turns out there are lots of stories. So Charlie Cohen, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Thank you very much for being here.
 
Charlie Cohen  02:03
Thank you. It’s quite an honor.
 
Michael Hingson  02:05
Well, I’m I think the honor is all mine. And one of the things that I learned about Charlie, and we’ll get to it is that Charlie now lives in Israel. He used to live in the US and in Massachusetts, and I’m anxious to hear all about that story. But let’s start kind of at the beginning, maybe while you were over here and going through school and anything you want to tell us about growing up and we can proceed from there.
 
Charlie Cohen  02:33
Yeah, sure. I mean, I grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts. My parents got divorced when I was young, four. So I was like your typical, you know, 70s latchkey kid. I grew up in Shannon, which was a Jewish neighborhood. I lived in an area that wasn’t so Jewish. And, you know, it’s kind of an awkward kid, I think I would describe myself very not good at sports. As a kid growing up, my father brought me to this thing called out Lipski sports club for kids that were athletically challenged. And I quickly caught up. And no, by nine years old, I was decent in basketball. And, you know, in my school that was like, you know, it was saving me from being bullied and picked on, I found myself getting a lot of fights and picked on that as an awkward, easy target. I think, as a kid growing up. I was actually my mom got married to a wonderful man when I was 10. And he allowed my mother to convince me play football. And football, for me is a kid growing up that wonderful, wonderful things for me, because I had absolutely no confidence, you know, I just really did not feel good about who I was strong, was picked on as a kid, it bothered me tremendously and bullied. And I think football gave me a certain self esteem, and also allowed me to pick on bullies back. So as a practice that I’d get so those kids have been picking on me and I get to hit them. And I was like, there was a movie called The Waterboy. And so I think I kind of imagined myself back like that, like just letting all that rage go. And it was a good outlet for me. Yeah, like we’re pretty standard. You know, I strive to be popular like everyone else watched all the movies. You know, I was prom king, which was a quite a surprisement, dorky, 10 year old kid to you know, go to the gym lifting weights being a footballer and, and getting to be prom king and going to college at Purdue University, which is a big school and it was in fraternity their social chairman, doing everything I could have a good time have fun. I was pretty much probably a c plus student, I had a motto which was, you can always retake a party that annoys you take a class but never retake a party. And that was kind of like my life and you know, growing up, trying to be an average, you know, the fun, whatever. I don’t think it’s too you know, nothing too spectacular. One thing I did do decently during that age Um, as I coached sports is kind of a hobby. So 18 years old, I coach, one of my first teams, I was also a camp counselor. And I was younger too. And I just My father was a coach myself, I’ll excuse me was a coach, you know, the family around him were coaches. And I just really, really loved it. And so I started to at 18, and had some amount of fun with it. And just kind of continued.
 
Michael Hingson  05:22
I’m curious, you said, if I understood your right that you started doing basketball at like, nine and you impart did it to stop being bullied? Yeah, what what do you mean by that? Why did that happen?
 
Charlie Cohen  05:36
Why was a bully, you know, it looked back, you know, first of all bullying is, to me, it’s one of the saddest things, you know, if there’s one thing I could ever change in this world, is stop bullying all types of people. It’s tremendously horrible. And, you know, kids are weak, you know, kids come off as weak or socially awkward or weak. They’re easy targets. So I was just an easy target. And just that, click that plane. And you know, this gave you kind of like a way of being, quote, unquote, socially acceptable, God. And I think that’s what it was. I was also I should mention, I was throughout Hebrew school, too. I went to Hebrew school, like an average kid. And I had some hard times in school. And you know, I worked very hard, you know, just not to fall behind in school and the Hebrew school on top of it, I was just the worst student there. And the self esteem problems and everything else. I was just a troubled kid in the class. And they asked me to leave, or I quit, depending on the ask, but I was actually thrown out of Hebrew school. So I was actually a reject from Temple Israel, something I’m very proud of today, because you never know you’re thrown out of school.
 
Michael Hingson  06:43
Yeah, well, you never know how things change and how you evolve over time. Well, you went to Purdue so you spend time in Indiana. Yeah. So from from cold Massachusetts to cold, Indiana.
 
Charlie Cohen  06:57
Yeah. And that’s where I lost the Boston accent. Like I was completely miss Charlie from Boston. And they said that the summer out there, an extra summer at Purdue, and I came home when I heard Hey, Charley, I had been Charlotte, how would it be? And I heard the accent. I heard it was gone. Boston accent
 
Michael Hingson  07:15
Yeah. So you don’t do Paki a kind of Harvard Yard anymore?
 
Charlie Cohen  07:20
I haven’t done it since my 20s You know, I stopped doing it just once you’re here and it’s over. Once you hear the accent, a little dry sound like that?
 
Michael Hingson  07:30
Yeah, well, it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with having having those kinds of of accents either. There’s nothing wrong with being proud of where you come from.
 
Charlie Cohen  07:39
That’s true. You should be inclusive to all accents even Boston accents
 
Michael Hingson  07:42
as well. Yeah, there’s nothing wrong with that my my memories of living in Winthrop for three years and being associated with Massachusetts for some other times around that are very fond. I loved being there and love the accent. And I always found sports fans in Massachusetts. Incredible. Oh, yeah. You know, the if, if the Sox lost the opening game of the season, you immediately heard wait till next year.
 
Charlie Cohen  08:12
I told my kids I was a big fan before 2004. And I don’t care so much. But
 
Michael Hingson  08:18
yeah, it’s it’s a different world today. And I was just gonna say I wonder if people say that now since they’ve had a couple of, of successes in the 2000s. But, you know, nevertheless, they are they’re very avid fans back there. And that’s okay. It’s it’s fun.
 
Charlie Cohen  08:37
It is fun. It’s a good healthy outlet. Yeah.
 
Michael Hingson  08:41
So you went to college and Purdue and all that. And then what did you do with your your life?
 
Charlie Cohen  08:46
Yeah, so I was a sales guy started off in sales and 93 went back to Massachusetts. After graduation, I took a job selling copiers with Pitney Bowes. And you know, the idea was to be a good pay your dues and get a pharmaceutical sales job, but, you know, get yourself a car, a nice, expensive car. And I traveled with a few different companies and found that wasn’t for me and went to startups, which was surprised everyone because I was like, 1984 you know what, I did that. I love the creativity. I love the freedom. I love the honesty within. So I just fell from a salesperson. I just enjoyed it much better than a corporate gig.
 
Michael Hingson  09:23
Yeah. What? So what kind of startups Did you participate in? Or did you start up?
 
Charlie Cohen  09:29
Yeah, so I was in a whole bunch of you know, as a kid, I got into the unit. These guys introduced me to. I met some guys that were very into computers. You know, I don’t want to stereotype but they needed a salesperson and I I needed someone who knew something about computers. And we made a really cool team and put young guys and they introduced me to email and internet and all this incredible stuff and like 93 or 94 and it bounced around. If you’re trying to start a company. We work for companies on the side and I know had two brothers and a father. And we kind of hit it off. And I was getting, you know, I was working for one company that worked for another. And we developed a lot of business together. And they ended up hiring me as a deferred sales guy and in their side of the house and act in Massachusetts in 1984. And we ended up building probably one of the first cloud and SaaS companies in the world, which was really cool. was really that was
 
Michael Hingson  10:26
escape net softscape. Soft substrate rather not escaped.
 
Charlie Cohen  10:31
All right, yeah. So in what
 
Michael Hingson  10:32
in what did it do?
 
Charlie Cohen  10:34
So So basically, what happened, it was their software guys, they made real software that was working, you know, sold in boxes. And one company in the area asked them to build a database version of the old ones, the old days were flat file that was slow. And these guys wanted a nice, big, fast version of it. So they built this task pad calendar on a database. And we tried to capitalize and sell it, and no one really understood what it was and how to how to use it. And I figured out that you could use it for performance reviews. So you have a huge company, and you say you have 26,000 worldwide employees. And you know, why don’t you use instead of paying Iron Mountain $10 and $50. For paper? Why don’t you use us for $5, you have a database and query it and do all sorts of cool stuff. And you’re like, wow, that’s really neat. And no one at the time knew how to host a web server, they didn’t know didn’t know how to deal with routers, or firewalls or any of that stuff. So we would say, Hey, do you want us to host it for you until you’re ready? And they say, Sure. So they pay us a few extra $1,000 to host it. And that’s where we got the that’s, that’s it. That’s how we had it. That’s a cloud. That’s our cloud SaaS company. Wow. Yeah. It’s really cool. It’s really, really cool.
 
Michael Hingson  11:47
So how long did you do that?
 
Charlie Cohen  11:49
So we were there. I was here for a few years, you know. And I kind of from there at the same time, or a little bit before that. I had a hobby and which I was a coach, Coach, I coached football or coach to the sports. And so we did that for three years. And what interfered with that was it’s kind of like distorted the football thing. You know, the coach, Hey, you
 
Michael Hingson  12:12
gotta keep your priorities straight.
 
Charlie Cohen  12:14
Yeah, so my life and I had that I had an experience that really changed changed my life.
 
Michael Hingson  12:22
My brother in law is a contractor and Bill’s homes, remodels, homes and so on. But as I said, you got to keep your priorities straight. In the winter. He lives in Sun Valley, Idaho, but for many years, in the winter, he would go over to France and was a licensed mountain ski guide in Europe. And so he took people and did off piste skiing. So as I said, you got to keep your priorities straight. And the winner, at least for Gary. Yeah, he doesn’t. He doesn’t do that anymore. But now he’s talking about retiring. So there you go. That’s awesome. So you, you, you coach football. Yeah. And obviously, that, that kept you busy. And that, that in a job probably kept you out of trouble.
 
Charlie Cohen  13:14
That was the idea. You know, I suppose my mom married a wonderful person. And he was always involved in sports and giving back and, you know, it was something he just did. And I always appreciated that and I love coaching. And it was a lot of fun. I got a call. Like, I think in 1995, from from from the Sharon, you know, head of the Pop Warner team asking me to coach saying that there’s a team that never won a game, they give up 350 points a game, they never scored in the best play. It was it was a girl. And they said if I was a last resort, if I didn’t take this team, they weren’t playing this year. And I just thought it was so cool. So I said I’ll do it as the best thing ever did. What happened? Well, the first thing I did is I had a coach named Jim, Jim Cummings. And it’s actually his son JJ. It was is a big, I think a commander in the Navy. And he was actually featured. He was actually one of the people that did the Top Gun, I guess Tucker, came out. And he was one of the people you know, you know, being a consultant in terms of flying and trying to make the experience in movies real as possible. But he’s the father, Mr. Cummings, and he was my coach and Pop Warner in high school. He was the line coach and the defensive coach. And first thing he did is he went to him and I said, Coach Cummings, he I know he retired. But I got a problem. I got a huge project and I need your coach, offense, our coach line, defensive, you have fun because he was never a logical Jonathan’s. So he thought it was funny. And I said, I’ll deal with the parents. I’ll deal with all the stuff. And he said, Okay, I’ll deal with you until we work together. And I worked with another person Steve Rabb who was a senior when I was a freshman. He’s a great guy. He coached with us and we put together a hell of a coaching staff. And we really gave it. We really, really coached our brains out. We really worked hard for these kids. And it was incredible, you know. So we basically tried our hardest to turn this team around that we were losing games like 14, six and 21. Seven. We had a game against this town called Hopkinton. And which was like two Oh, and six teams. And these guys, these kids have never won a game because they coach and they even call it the toilet bowl. And, yeah, that’s really not good, especially when you lose the game 14 to six. So we lost that game. And I was sad myself at the end of the game. I had them all come out, you know, in a circle around me. And I looked at their pants, nice yellow, bright yellow, I had them stick out their fingernails, and I checked their fingers and they’re all clean. I touched their foreheads. They’re all clean. And the parents all around us. And I said there’s one good thing about this game is that your parents don’t have to wash your uniforms for next game. That’s what I said. And I also said that he lost this game not because that you’re stinky, the worst team in the world, but because you have a combined heart of a field mouse, and that just came out of my mouth. But you know, I thought that was that just as I couldn’t believe I said that you have the combined out of the field mouse and we’re playing this team called North Attleboro and that that name sounds scary North Attleboro, and they were that good. This is like the perennial champions in Massachusetts at that time. And these teams are undefeated, they go to Orlando, and we’re planning playing them. The week coming up. And I say to these guys, if you play like this next week, they’re going to kill you. And you’ll be lucky to go home with your parents. And I made them all promise me that they’re going to play 110% And I don’t care what the jersey is the Patriots jerseys, a Jets jerseys of the championships. I don’t care who it is, you’re going to play your guts out, and they will promise me that. We showed up that game against North
 
Michael Hingson  16:59
Attleboro. And the girl was still playing, I assume. Yeah,
 
Charlie Cohen  17:03
girls, fantastic, fantastic. I didn’t I didn’t pick on her during that game. You know, she was she’s a fantastic player in person. And we won 13 to 12. We won 13 and 12 She scored two touchdowns. It was funny, you know this, they missed a field goal by an age when kid caught it. Ben Bradley who turned up being a veteran and I racked caught a ball fourth and when he hits times, like 10 years old, caught the ball fourth and one on his hip. You know to North Attleboro, puffiness ran into each other and ran into each other. And then Jesse ran for a touchdown. It was just like, ran out of a movie, ran out of a movie. And we went through to what was one of the greatest, you know, I’d say, before became, you know, this is one of the greatest days of my 20s Definitely, definitely a great experience winning that game blew me away, blew me out of the water. Wow.
 
Michael Hingson  17:53
You know, and it doesn’t get any better than that. But that also proves the value of a coach by any standard, you know, that it’s all about the coach, being able to really get the team to do the things that they’re supposed to do. Yeah. And there’s, there’s not enough that you can possibly say about the value of really a good coach. And did kids tell you after that game, that your comment about the amount of heart they have? Did anyone say that that made a difference?
 
Charlie Cohen  18:25
No, I don’t think you know, these are kids. You know. One of the coaches I wanted to grow today is the head coach of York, Maine at that small team. And she had she says, she’s doing a great job. I think they got the semifinals. And I’m glad that she’s doing well. She’s a hell of a hell of a person back then. And her. And her grandfather was a great legend in Shannon as a basketball and someone I looked up to tremendously and copied as a coach, I had the honor to coach his grandchild was just incredible honor for that. But you know, what happened was this like, after that happened, all these movies, these movies came out, like the Mighty Ducks came out. Little Giants came out. And people kept on come up to me laughing at me saying you hear that movie? Ha ha, you’re a Disney coach. I’m like, what to like, you know, girl, when it’s like, you, you’re like the real Disney coach. And everyone thought was funny. And and I thought and I guess, you know, it dawned on me. You know, it’s like, the first time I think I ever really made the make, maybe Association and hearing the call of God in my life. Because, you know, I realized that winning that game is a miracle. Like all the things I mentioned about the kid catching it up first and one on his hip, you know, the two players running into each other and the fact that they played so great, perfect. I mean, I couldn’t coach him that we couldn’t coach a better game. I mean, you can count the errors and mistakes that we made as a team and as a coach in a Pop Warner game, you know, an amateur like, you know, talking, we coach professionally. And that’s impossible. I’m not that smart. You know, we’re not that good. We’re not that we’ll practice Just and I realized it was an open miracle for me that the odds of us winning that game, I could play 100 times you lose. And if we’ve lost 2114, it doesn’t mean anything, I still would have been a great coach. And, and I really took it to heart, you know, the message of why God would interfere with the pop board game to make it win. And I think is what you said, there. If we’d lost 21, something, I think I would have told you it was in a great coach was a great team, this person did this dismiss, I wouldn’t have accepted it. I think when I realized that the team one I had to accept there was a great coach and I had a gift. And I realized that God had orchestrated all that for me to take home that lesson. And then I wasn’t a worthless person, I wasn’t someone just, you know, she could drink in or having fun. And my life is a bit more meaningful than that. And that I should take myself a little bit more seriously because I could do some good in this world. And I think that’s where it really started for me.
 
Michael Hingson  20:54
On the other side of it, or the other part of it is, you mentioned God interfering. And I kind of question God interfering in the game. Well, yeah, because was it that or was it you were finally listening to God. And I keep going back to the comment that you made about the amount of heart that they had, and whether they recognized it at the time. The point is that you struck a nerve. And you listen to God, who put those words, you know who, who gave you those words to use, and you had the choice to use them or not. And I think that the God gives us the opportunity and the ability to choose, and that’s one of the greatest gifts that he’s ever given us, which is the ability to choose, it’s up to us as to whether we want to listen or not, I wish more people would really stop and listen to what God tells them. Well, you clearly did that. Look what happened? Yeah, it’s
 
Charlie Cohen  21:55
interesting what you’re saying, because I think if I look at myself, I think if I didn’t have that, like, pat on the shoulder, look, you’re the one you have to fix. If you’re a great coach, you have value. I think without that knowledge that there’s a value to me personally, I would never even think of of trying to hit my potential as a God fearing person. It just never occurred to me, why not go to the Kentucky Derby? Why not party? Why not have fun? Wouldn’t does it matter if I hit my potential or not? I’m a good guy, it doesn’t really matter. And, you know, all the speeches that you gave the gifts of football team and everything that came out, and that kind of came back on the full circle. And you know, I look at people, you know, I think that’s the number one reason why people don’t listen, it’s because they think why should I try I can make a difference in this world and doesn’t matter anyway. Yeah, I hope if someone hears this, they hear that, that just the biggest lie out there. It’s not true. That people, you know, I certainly I believe this. And I’ve learned this that evil, evil exists only because there’s a vacuum, that we don’t achieve our potential. And when people don’t achieve their goodness that they could do. That leaves the room for evil people to be successful in our place. And I think that that’s, that’s something I took to heart that if I have a potential for good to do good and be good, I’m going to do my best for God and my world. And everybody you know,
 
Michael Hingson  23:13
and that is all you can do. Right? As long as you know, you’re doing your best you’re trying as hard as you can. What more can can you or God ask for?
 
Charlie Cohen  23:23
I hope I hope I hope I’m doing I hope I’m making God proud. I hope that my ancestors proud I’m making everyone proud, you know, but yeah.
 
Michael Hingson  23:33
You know, you as long as you’re doing your best, and you know you’re doing your best. And that’s the thing you can stop every day and think about did I do as good as I could today? Could I learn something from everything that happened today, there’s nothing wrong with that. I wish more of us and I wish all of us would take a little bit more time to think about that every day. Because that thinking and that opening oneself up really does make a big difference. And in our lives, if we allow that to happen.
 
Charlie Cohen  24:05
A huge thing he was saying, I tell you, you know, I have a whole I coach today in Israel, the TerraForm within my city. And there’s a huge lesson I learned with one of these kids that I that I you know back in that team. And that I realized something incredible that people perform where their self esteem is. So if I think I’m a loser, I behave like a loser. If I think a champion, I’ll get myself up there. And then I realized that it’s not going to change someone’s opinion of themselves. I’ll never change their, their their performance on the field. And it was an incredible thing to learn because I learned something about myself that if I thought of myself as nothing that why should we try, you know, one of these kids doing a drill and I’m like, Hey, I don’t want to mention his name because he’s a doctor today. You know, and you might listen to this. I don’t want to mention his name as a kid. One of my favorite players, but he looks at me I say why don’t you pick it up? Let’s call him Joe Joe making up his day. Why don’t you try a little harder? He goes, Why should I we’re gonna lose anywhere on Saturday. And the whole team looks at this kid goes, well, he’s right. And I was beside myself, you know, because we’re working hard to turn that culture chaser ideas around. And this kid just basically just declares mutiny says, Why should we try? What’s it matter? We’re going to lose anyway, you know what I do it? And I’m like, Oh, my gosh, my season’s over. So rather than lose my temper, I pulled them aside. And I said, you know, God, I’ve had it. We’re going to talk about this now. Jojo, either, either on right, or you’re right. But here’s your take on it. You think you’re doing a good job, and I’m nitpicking. I’m always on your case. What you do is never ever good enough. Is that right? goes no, go. Don’t lie to me. Because yeah. So you basically excuse me being a nitpicker. He’s doing a decent job. And I’m just really nothing like nothing he does is good enough. So he said, Is that how you feel? He says, yes. I said, Well, we both agree on one thing, what you’re doing. But here’s what we disagree. You think you’re doing okay? Because this is your potential, you’re hitting your potential. I think you’re much greater than that. And therefore you’re undershooting your potential. And the question is, is why don’t I believe in you more than you believe do? And the kid was stud stopped? And then I couldn’t. I said, whatever you want now, but it’s your choice. Do you want to be great, or you’re the average, if you’re great, I’m with you. If you want to be averaged and go home, watch Bugs Bunny. But it’s up to you now. And he says, I want to be great coach. I said, Okay, great. I put him back in a line, you know, the drill, and of course, 110% box on over. And I made a big deal about it that jumped up and down and shared and we made him a captain for the day. And it was it was a turning point individual. And I think that that lesson being brought to the whole team took that last game that I mentioned Hopkinton, to kind of get through to everybody. But it’s a huge, it’s a huge idea that why should I try? We’re gonna lose any way the world is going to be destroyed. People are too powerful evils too big. And I think that that’s that attitude that I find myself having to fight constantly like, it does matter. You never know if there is a God and He’s listening. Who knows what person can make a difference? You know, you did you know, did you win the game? No, that came we lost that story we lost. And that’s what the Hopkins Yeah, it took like three, four weeks the Hopkinton game where it’s at the heart of the field most iconic, given that same speech after I saw it worked to every kid, except for the girl, girl, the girl I need to give that speech to. But I gave that speech to a lot of kids. And you know, I think we finally got the metrics that week. And you know, when we beat that team, it blew my mind. And even years later, it blew my mind. And it still does to this day, just I just shake my head and say that we
 
Michael Hingson  27:35
were talking about that. But you talked about Joe Joe and telling him to really live up to his potential. What happened with him? You said he became a doctor?
 
Charlie Cohen  27:43
Yeah, as a doctor. I don’t know how he is in sports. But he’s a doctor. Yeah,
 
Michael Hingson  27:47
but But did he ever acknowledge to you? That your comment, your observation made a difference for him? Do you think that it did?
 
Charlie Cohen  27:58
I don’t know. Listen, when you coach, you don’t really? I don’t know. You know, I call back all my coaches and say thank you to them. I hope I did. But I probably didn’t. You know, I didn’t go back to coach Cummings. And I did ask him to coach with me. So that was a nice thing, I guess. But you know, you don’t coach for that. I hope so my parents, my mother tells me that people tell her and my father tells me that people tell them that I made quite an impact that they’re incredible thing. So with me because I went to Israel, but I get to my parents that people are happy with me.
 
Michael Hingson  28:28
Well, and ultimately you have to be happy with yourself. But you have to do that, in a way and for a reason that that really makes sense. And it isn’t just inflating an ego, you can still look back on what you did and listening to you. Right and talk about it. It certainly sounds like you recognize that you said valuable things to people and invaluable things to people and then it’s up to them as to how they want to use it. But you’ve done your part.
 
Charlie Cohen  29:03
Yeah, they’re also little kids. You know, they were little kids. Oh, yeah. Hopefully they remember something or had to put their degree, I hope they had a great experience. They look back on it with fondness and say I was a good guy. And you know, I wasn’t too hard on them. And if I was I’m sorry. But yeah,
 
Michael Hingson  29:17
so that story, really, but if it made a difference
 
Charlie Cohen  29:22
made a difference in my life. There you go. So I was going about this company thing, and I was going about my life and having everything in the way I wanted intrigued about when this you know, when this conscious attack hit me, you know, when I realized that, you know, I was really living out a dream that wasn’t necessarily mine, and that I wanted to pursue something what I thought would be greater. And so you asked me how well I this is trying to answer that question. How long were they selling software for? So it was about you know, a few years and about 1999 I had that change and I decided I was going to really pursue my dream which I remember Well as was my dream, which is to come to Israel to learn Talmud and to train to be a rabbi, but not a pulpit rabbi, not like a pulpit rabbi like that, but really become, you know, more of the classical, a teacher, you know? Yeah, but the classical sense, you know, the old school because like football in old school,
 
Michael Hingson  30:20
right? So in 1999, you
 
Charlie Cohen  30:23
left my job left by, you know, my girlfriend at the time, I left my life and declared myself a religious person, you know, and it was a was a hard, very difficult thing to do. Because, you know, my friends go on to Purdue for homecoming, meeting people on Friday and Saturday night’s event that was over for me, you know, and that was important, Israel, that was just a life change itself. You know, deciding to take it upon myself to learn something. That’s, you know, the book itself, that Talmud is like 2000 years old, it’s written in Aramaic and Hebrew, it’s not easy for someone who’s not good in school or good in foreign languages. So the idea that I wouldn’t go master that was kind of far out there. I would have asked yourself that, like, that was like, you know, definitely far out.
 
Michael Hingson  31:11
But you did it.
 
Charlie Cohen  31:13
And still do it. Yep. Still process. It’s your horses. Yeah.
 
Michael Hingson  31:17
Well, it is a process and there’s nothing wrong with it being a process. You know, it’s fun to, to hear the old joke about somebody practicing law or somebody practicing medicine, and why are you still practicing? Why aren’t you good at it? And the answer is that, if you’re really any good at it, you’re always learning. That’s true. It isn’t a static thing. And it shouldn’t be a static thing. And I think life is the same way. I think we should all be practicing living. And that’s because it’s an ongoing process. That’s awesome. You’re 100% right, which is really cool. So when did you move to Israel in what 2000 2000
 
Charlie Cohen  31:56
I broke up my girlfriend, I went to Israel for a month I went to, you know, I went back and then I went back to softscape, which is the company and I paid off my credit card debts, it got some really big sales, I got a huge sail from the state of Connecticut, that paid for me to pay off my debts in my car, and come to Israel to go to school. And I went to I went to go you call a Shiva for two years, got married, and then went to another issue and is really one, like a real is really a Shiva. You know, people speak Hebrew, little 20 year old kids 22 year old kids are 3232 when we walk around with these Israeli kids, you know, I don’t care what they think I’m not trying to, you know, be in class with them. I look at a funny, you know, imagine, imagine some 30 year old guy showed up in high school saying, Well, I want to be a freshman. Excuse me physics.
 
Michael Hingson  32:44
Yeah. But you didn’t.
 
Charlie Cohen  32:46
Yeah, I did. You know, it’s crazy. I didn’t do it. I did it. Yeah.
 
Michael Hingson  32:51
So tell us Oh, you know, what’s you’re still doing and and so what did you do from a job standpoint? Then you moved to Israel? You went to school?
 
Charlie Cohen  32:59
Yeah. So what I did is I worked part I worked at night, you know, I my, my like I stepfather’s father who was like a grandfather to me and wonderful man. He put himself through law school, he supported himself. So I had, I knew plenty of people who worked at jobs into putting themselves through law school. So I said, I’ll do the same. And I worked at night and sales, you know, so I continued my sales profession, I still have the sales profession. I still, you know, feed my family, I still work. And that’s my that’s my main, you know, job where I make money. Is it sales, corporate sales business to business, which I like, right? Because if I sold insurance, I would never stop. You know, everyone’s everyone’s a prospect. So I like this business, because you can shut it off.
 
Michael Hingson  33:46
Yeah. So when did you start your own company to sell?
 
Charlie Cohen  33:51
So I basically, eight years ago, we had our sixth kid, oh, my wife did. And you know, we need more money. And at the time, I’d worked part time for some Cisco resellers that nothing big and I needed another story because I had so copiers in the 90s. That’s great. And I had his awesome startup story in the 90s. It’s like 2017. I was like, Well, what have you done. And so I went up to a company in Israel, in Medina city out here, and basically took them from almost nothing to 120 million. And it was like a top four startup in Israel. So it was really cool. I had a team of guys, I got to coach again, and a great bunch of guys, and we really build that company. It’s awesome. And that was one thing I did. And after that, I did another company that you know, that’s another that we basically saved after two years of no revenue and turned it around. But I started my own company, which basically works with a lot of Israeli startups, helping them sell to America, you know, cheap, easy and, you know, successfully, you know, and so that’s what I’m doing today. I’m a pitchman by trade. That’s like my specialty.
 
Michael Hingson  34:57
Kitchen. Well, there’s nothing wrong with that. giving giving good pitches and being able to do it effectively, is really what it’s about, and telling stories and telling stories
 
Charlie Cohen  35:08
and being underage to my grandmother’s call me that. No, it’s Nick. You’re annoyed. Yeah, I turned it into that sorry, turn into a job.
 
Michael Hingson  35:15
Nothing wrong with nudging. I, I’ve been accused of that. And and I have no problem with it.
 
Charlie Cohen  35:21
So you’re a master salesman to you though. So thanks, man. You
 
Michael Hingson  35:24
got to do what you got to do, you know? Yeah, but it works out pretty well. So you’re coaching football over there?
 
Charlie Cohen  35:33
Yeah, so I have a real team of adults. And I love it. And it’s just so much fun. I just never thought in a billion years that I would come back here. But this to Israel. You know, Robert Kraft is the owner of the Patriots. Also, Mark wolf of the Vikings also helps out. And there’s an Israeli Football League here, American Football League. And this team came to beach initially, I heard that I was once a great coach. And they they had to come up with a team to coach that again. And then maybe the head coach has just been great.
 
Michael Hingson  36:04
There you are. Yeah, it’s
 
Charlie Cohen  36:06
good for my kids to my kids was really so they don’t understand what it was like they don’t understand what a coach is. They had no idea. So it’s fun for them. They can see the excitement, the games, and you know, the hubbub. And so it’s good for my kids just kind of see what I was like as a coach, what it is,
 
Michael Hingson  36:22
what really makes what really makes up a good coach.
 
Charlie Cohen  36:27
Oh, gosh, that’s the greatest question. I think I’ve heard a long time. And I say it’s great because I put so much thought into this. And I found out something there’s, there’s a thing called it and Hebrews called a meter. A meter is a character trait, a character trait. And one of the one of the schools of thought I belong to is one of these lifelong dedication to developing your positive character traits. And one of the most important character traits they talk about, or that my rabbis Rabbi Rabbi talked about, so the person you know, so imagine, you know, a coaching tree. And so this coaching tree goes back, and he’s one of the greatest Jewish coaches of all time, his whole thing was we call I until I until the media good, I seen the good things. And what I can tell you, as a good coach, a winning coach, a winning coach, you have to have a good eye. But it doesn’t mean I’m a nice guy could be the most selfish mean person ever, right and manipulative, allotted and corrupt. But if I have to have a good eye and see the talent, so you hear people say, I don’t know what he saw in me, but he brought it out. So all good coaches, I think winning coaches have the ability to see the talent, see the good, you know, and I obviously don’t want to use that in a corrupt way. I don’t want to use it to know to, you know, but I think that the number one thing to win is an eye and Toba a good eye and also from marriage to marriage to and it doesn’t mean necessarily a visual eye means a spiritual eye that you see the good.
 
Michael Hingson  37:59
Well, and you see where everyone fits into that mosaic into that pattern.
 
Charlie Cohen  38:07
Right, right, right. 100%. And I think that is the key to a winning coach. Because if you if you do that, right, there’s no politics, everyone’s united, everyone feels good. And you’re able to kind of harness different talents and get more together, because people aren’t threatened and they know their place. And they know that you recognize their place, and you see where they belong, and that they’re important. Like, one of the biggest lessons to me that I just can’t drill into other people’s heads is if I actually I actually hurt my Achilles, I actually put my Achilles tendon in the second game of the year, because I sprinted to get water for my team, there was a timeout, and I sprinted so fast, I put my Achilles heel, and I ran and God water. And then I did it a second time. And I was limping. And I looked at the guys on the sideline, and I threw the water bottle, left them with them, and they came off. And I said, What getting water for your team is not important. You know? Because it’s true. It is, you know, like, getting what you okay, you know, I’m not, there’s a defensive coordinator out, there’s an offensive physic you know, someone making the play, okay, I’m the head coach, and I’m not doing anything, but I have to sit there and look important, which I’m gonna get water. You know, I’ve got to get water, I want to do it, I’m gonna do it the best I can. And the water person is so important to me and my team. And I think everyone knows at the end of the year that, that anyone that’s on the team is important as a place, whether you’re cheering, whether you’re getting water, whether you’re a star, it doesn’t matter. And I wish that, you know, I could carry that away to my community that if I felt that everyone felt that way, I think the world would be a much better place.
 
Michael Hingson  39:40
Yeah, it’s everyone has a place. And it seems to me that the best value that a coach can bring to a team is helping everyone recognize not only their place and that every place is important, but Do you help bring out their desire? I won’t say ability, because the ability is probably there but their desire to do the best with that place.
 
Charlie Cohen  40:12
Yeah, that’s the whole. That’s the whole 100%. Yeah.
 
Michael Hingson  40:15
And that you’re able to then bringing out the best in everyone by helping them to recognize that they’re really probably better than they thought, which is what unstoppable mindset is all about. We love to get people to recognize that they can be more unstoppable than they thought. So I really appreciate the things you’re saying, because that’s exactly what this podcast is all about.
 
Charlie Cohen  40:37
That makes me happy because I first met you, I didn’t know what I have to offer. Shortcut my self esteem.
 
Michael Hingson  40:44
There you go see? Well, Coach, you did it. So it seems to me that, and I don’t want to oversimplify it. But in one sense, a rabbi as like a coach or a coach is very much like a rabbi in the in the sense that you’re, you’re clearly a teacher.
 
Charlie Cohen  41:04
You know, there’s, you know, my wife, when I first came to Israel, you know, I was a coach and Israel, they were behind, no one knew what it was. And afterwards, when he was able to cope, Jay was a life coach and was a psychologist, everybody. Some wife says to me, you know, time, everyone’s a coach now, and you missed it. And I said, Listen to us, you know, that it was a winning coach, when he coaches is still unique, you know, so like, a winning coach, a winning coach, a coach that knows how to win consistently, you know,
 
Michael Hingson  41:34
right. So Can Can everyone be a winning coach?
 
Charlie Cohen  41:39
I think everyone can be a winner. Yeah, I think everyone can be a winner, but you said, you know, maybe your skills aren’t to be a coach, maybe your skills are, or to be the best water person or maybe your skills to be the best, you know, quarterback, or the running back or lineman, or whatever I you know, that’s the thing, you don’t have to be jealous at my job, and honestly, be jealous of your job. You know, I think we all have our jobs, and we all should be the best at what we are at our jobs. And hopefully, we can fill this void, and Dr. Evil out by being so awesome. Yeah, that’s what I hope. Well, I’m
 
Michael Hingson  42:12
I agree, and I, I enjoy doing what I do. I’ve always enjoyed doing what I do. And I know that in my life, there are choices that I’ve made that I could have probably done better at, I think that’s the biggest issue, you can always still, I think, be your own best coach for you. If you really think about what you do. And that gets back to self analysis. But I think I think everyone can, in a sense, be a coach, but your job of coaching may just be you. Because I do believe that ultimately, yeah, we have to make our choices, and we’re the ones that can know best what we really need if we think about it and work at it.
 
Charlie Cohen  42:54
Yeah, 100%. And I think that for, for me, my own personal experiences, all the external things I was saying to everyone else came back on me, you know, all the things you have the heart of the field mouse, you know, you don’t have character, you don’t want to pay for your team. It all came back on me. You know, where’s my character was my fight? What am I fighting for? Where am I? Where’s my character? And it came back on me and that I’m worthy of a finding my character in my spot of honesty. And I think that’s what I hope that most people find, I think that most people suffer, suffer with tremendous pain that they don’t feel value in who they are and what they are building. What they do matters in the world that I think if I could tell anyone anything, please God don’t believe that. That’s the biggest lie out there. That’s the biggest fake news. I don’t mean to be political. Not No, I hear you though. But that’s that’s the biggest not truth. There is more. There’s more realistic consumption. There’s more to us than it there’ll be clickbait there’s more to us than vacations. You know, each and every human being has the opposite opportunity to change the world. And if they don’t believe that delivery, free trial.
 
Michael Hingson  43:58
Well, like Gandhi once said, Be the change you want to see in the world. I think we all so often, probably don’t recognize how much we probably are changing the world just by what we do. And sometimes that change may not be for the best. But then we have to look at ourselves to find out why that’s the case. If we even recognize that we’re changing the world.
 
Charlie Cohen  44:22
Yeah, it’s hard to see but you know, me personally, I think that the fact is that the world is here. You know, we’re the world is here. We are a lot of us alive. We have the potential for a great future. We have incredible innovations that could happen any day, diseases cured, food, water shortage, problem solved. And you know, waiting that error that corruption and selfishness aren’t important. You know, I think that’s what I’m waiting for personally, but a world that corruption and what’s in it for me is not the most important thing. Yeah, no, I think we’re there. I think there’s like people like you a lot of great people out there. And I think there’s more good than the newsletter. And I honestly believe that I see it. I believe it. I hear about it.
 
Michael Hingson  45:11
We look for way too much sensationalism rather than substance.
 
Charlie Cohen  45:15
Yeah. Before it arquivo always.
 
Michael Hingson  45:20
So you have six children? I think you said,
 
Charlie Cohen  45:23
Yeah, well, yeah. As they say, Yeah. Wonderful. Unbelievable. Yeah, I, I wouldn’t have probably been the worst, you are the most, you know, I could care less to being a decent good Jew. It’s It’s shocking to me that the life I live?
 
Michael Hingson  45:37
And do they all consider you a good coach.
 
Charlie Cohen  45:40
I don’t know. I don’t buy kids like me. You know, I try not to be so hard. You know, I, you know, I try to be more very mellow and very easygoing with them. I, you can’t coach your kids, because there’s too much emotional involvement. You can be there for your kids. But like, I can’t coach my kids, do what I’m saying. I can’t coach my wife. I wish I could.
 
Michael Hingson  46:01
Well, she probably thinks she can coach you. But you know.
 
Charlie Cohen  46:06
If I had half a brain, I would say she can. Yeah, I don’t know if I’m that. I don’t know if at that point, little video,
 
Michael Hingson  46:13
whether you listen, but you know,
 
Charlie Cohen  46:16
I should appear coachable?
 
Michael Hingson  46:19
How old are the kids?
 
Charlie Cohen  46:21
So my oldest is 19. And my youngest is eight.
 
Michael Hingson  46:25
Wow. Well, you know what, I kind of disagree that you can’t coach your kids. But coaching is different with kids is ultimately who you are and what you are. And the kind of example that that you bring to them. So you can’t tell them what to do. But hopefully you get them to establish a mindset that shows them that you are there for them, as you said, and they can come to you on, you’re going to do everything you can to help them with whatever they do.
 
Charlie Cohen  47:01
100% But what I meant as a coach is I can’t use I can’t say I can keep you under attack that you will start to cry, you know, you’re gonna
 
Michael Hingson  47:12
Yeah, you know, well, that’s, that’s some of the best coaching in the world is all about loving them.
 
Charlie Cohen  47:17
Yeah, that’s true. I hope I do a good job. Now, sometimes, you know, when I when when a discipline I’ll do is to defend my wife, you know, I have to be a hard, tough it’s not because of anything an insult to me. It’s because the kids act up to the mother, and I’m coming in as an enforcer to help her. And I’ll put my foot down, you know, and I think it’s those opportunities to be a tough guy. You know, you know, tell my kids that, you know, my job is to be a good father. You know, being liked, it’s not that important to me. You know, my job is to be good. And I’m only tough when it’s not personal towards me. You know, when it’s about my, you know, something disrespectful to my wife, you know, I say that to get angry, but two things lying and being disrespectful. And besides that, I have no other
 
Michael Hingson  47:57
lying and what was the other one is disrespectful. disrespect? Yeah. Well, that’s the, the issue is that, you know, parents can’t always be friends, but they can be parents and True. True. Hopefully, kids learn. Well, hopefully good kids. Well, any kid can learn that by the time at least they grow up when they have to go through it, that they recognize that there’s value in it.
 
Charlie Cohen  48:21
I have great kids. You seriously wonderful, wonderful, wonderful each and every one is so wonderful, uniquely wonderful. Easy. Yeah. Oh, the parent conversations I always have with teachers. It’s just like, two seconds that got one of them had to get up. One of the kids get out, you know. Does a great job.
 
Michael Hingson  48:39
Have we all been over and visited the states at all? Yeah, sure.
 
Charlie Cohen  48:42
We did. The Disney World thing was great. My mom and stepdad to Disney World. And it was wonderful. You know, we’ve been a few times my wife has family there. I brought my kids for his bar mitzvah to see a Red Sox playoff game and problem to a Patriots game and I had a blast.
 
Michael Hingson  48:59
So while they were there, so while they were up there in New England, they get some lobster.
 
Charlie Cohen  49:05
Nah, no, it’s not.
 
Michael Hingson  49:08
Yeah, that’s true.
 
Charlie Cohen  49:10
I didn’t know that. Oh, don’t worry about it. I don’t expect you to know Jewish law of costumes. It’s okay.
 
Michael Hingson  49:17
Yeah, well, I didn’t think about the fact that there’s the kosher issue that yeah, that
 
Charlie Cohen  49:22
works. No worries. It’s okay. Yeah,
 
Michael Hingson  49:25
well, you know, but but going to well go into a game that’s kosher. Just just don’t eat all the food.
 
Charlie Cohen  49:33
That’s true. You know, and there’s so much kosher food today in America. It’s just, you know, I used to not eat kosher food, and I don’t really miss much the other thing I miss his by pepperoni pizza. That’s the only thing I’d say it’s like something you’re just never gonna get in the kosher world. I never like lobster. So I don’t miss
 
Michael Hingson  49:50
I liked lobster. But what what my favorite Salami is kosher salami.
 
Charlie Cohen  49:55
Ah, see, there you go. The salt is awesome. Yeah, yeah.
 
Michael Hingson  50:00
That’s always been the best. I’ve never been a fan of Italian salami, like like kosher salami, I grew up with it. My mother is Jewish. So I count. And we we always the only salami we ever had was kosher salami. And what has always been one of my favorites?
 
Charlie Cohen  50:15
You said your mother’s Jewish? Uh huh.
 
Michael Hingson  50:18
Well was now she’s passed. But yeah,
 
Charlie Cohen  50:20
yeah. I don’t know if you know this, according to Jewish law that makes you Jewish.
 
Michael Hingson  50:24
I understand. That’s why I said I count.
 
Charlie Cohen  50:28
You do as much as me. That’s cool.
 
Michael Hingson  50:31
Yeah, and I. But I also think that from a religious standpoint, all of us need to recognize that all these religions come from the same place. And it’s just crazy the way people think that they’re the only one in town and it just doesn’t work that way.
 
Charlie Cohen  50:49
I hope I don’t I hope I don’t come across like that. You sir. Dude, I do yell at me. If you do I give you permission to be my coach and say to me that that’s not what I’m here for. I’m better than that. Don’t do that. If I come back, like that smell like
 
Michael Hingson  51:03
the habit and haven’t even heard that attitude once. But I see it as you do so much in the world.
 
Charlie Cohen  51:09
If I put my ego out there, you know, I always want everyone wants to be right and feel right. So it’s like, maybe, you know, I always think if I fell into that trap, you know, but you know, at the end of the day, it is trying to do good. You’re just trying to hope that the world survives, and, and that people hear your message about you know, that they can do unbelievably awesome things and grow. And so, you know, I read that book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. And I’m sure you did, too. You know, by criticizing, condemning complaining, it’s just not going to accomplish anything.
 
Michael Hingson  51:41
So I can tell just doesn’t it? It just doesn’t help having a book. I used to say, I’m my own worst critic, and I’ve been learning, that’s really the wrong thing to say. Because that’s, that’s still a negative thing. And so what I do believe is that I’m, if I learn to step back and be objective, I’m my own best evaluator. And I might, I can be my own best teacher, but I don’t need to be my own worst critic. It’s really a question of looking at things and deciding what I can learn. And I’m better at doing that for me than anyone else. If I allow myself to be that way. Wow.
 
Charlie Cohen  52:28
You’re an Israeli and be a big rabbi. Okay.
 
Michael Hingson  52:31
Well, I want to get over there and visit. You know, I worked for accessiBe, which is an Israeli company. Yeah. Makes products that help make websites accessible. We got to get you how far are you from Tel Aviv?
 
Charlie Cohen  52:45
Not far at all. Please, please look me up. That’d be great. I’ll be happy.
 
Michael Hingson  52:49
Well, we’re gonna we’re gonna have to introduce you to folks at accessiBe.
 
Charlie Cohen  52:53
Not really, it’s nice, I’d love to meet everybody. That’s wonderful. But one
 
Michael Hingson  52:57
of the things that I’ve noticed over the past year and a half is AccessiBe has a culture where it truly wants to make a positive difference in the world. And that’s why the company B began, well, the company began because three guys needed to make a bunch of websites that they created for people accessible, but they’ve expanded that. And I love the accessiBe goal, which is to make the entire internet accessible and inclusive by 2025. And yes, it’s a lofty goal. But, but it’s, it’s an appropriate goal. And I wish more people would buy into that concept. And accessiBe has worked very hard at it. And everything that I have observed about the excessive bee culture is all about being a culture that truly wants to serve. Yes, it’s a company that wants to make money. It’s a company that sells a product. But deep down, it’s a company that has a culture that’s servant based, which is really important. That’s
 
Charlie Cohen  54:02
awesome to work for a company that you love and feel that good about. Yeah, I’d be happy to help you guys. You know, I’m a sales guy. I love business to business. Maybe there you go some service.
 
Michael Hingson  54:11
Well, I’ll I’ll have to introduce you.
 
Charlie Cohen  54:15
Wonderful, wonderful. I hope when you come out Israel, I get a chance to see a person tour guides if you bring your wife or we can bring you some tours,
 
Michael Hingson  54:22
as long as you have wheelchair accessible places to take her. Yeah, we’ll figure it out. Not make it work. But we definitely want to do that at some point. And as soon as accessiBe wants me to come over, but we’re having a lot of fun doing the podcasts. So they must they must tolerate me and like me, because we continue to do it.
 
Charlie Cohen  54:41
I appreciate you having me on the show. What an honor. Thank you.
 
Michael Hingson  54:45
So you’ve been studying the Talmud for a long time. And I think that is extremely important and valuable. What’s the what’s a piece of wisdom that you can convey to us? What’s something that you’ve learned that you think people should really take? away from your studies.
 
Charlie Cohen  55:01
Yeah, I’ll tell you something you taught me for 20 years, you know, the Talmud refers an Aramaic, to someone that can’t see, so to speak. sygate and a whore, Tara make for great light, soggy, no whore, gray light in rough shape. This was one of those great rabbis of the Talmud, from what 19 years ago, that, you know, couldn’t see physically and that’s how they refer to him. And I always thought was like, like, like, trying to say something nice, you know, in a nice way. But you said something on one of your, your interviews, I think I saw you, when you said that, you know, those of us are like dependent, and I have a son who’s insulin dependent. So I understand what that means. I am blind dependent, and you’re not. And then it hit me wow, that’s the meaning of soggy, no more. You you make the most of your life. And because you make the most of your life, it is more than enough for you. And probably in reality, you have more life than most people on Earth. And now I got the meaning of that very, very cool phrase, which I always thought was like, a euphemism like, you know, trying to cover up something. But I think now that you gave me a direct, indirect meaning it’s literally true. Sagi no more. So that’s something I learned this week from you.
 
Michael Hingson  56:16
Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And I’m honored that you think that way? If, and I certainly want to contribute any way that I can can and that’s all we can, can really do. Yeah, is contributed as best we can.
 
Charlie Cohen  56:32
That’s it. I hope people listening here agree with me what I said about you.
 
Michael Hingson  56:37
Well, thank you. Pleasure, what do you think about SARP? Our potential for the future? You know, again, with all your studies, and so on, what’s what’s a positive thing that you can think of for the future? What Yeah, what do you want people to take away as a message from all this for? where we’re going? Or they’re our future?
 
Charlie Cohen  56:54
No, thank you. There’s one thing you know, there’s lots of prophecies out there, you know, and whether they’re, how do you say this? When you can see into something transparency? Like how old are they I producer, Thomas, this TV show? You know, people freaked out about the Nostradamus prophecies, blah, blah, blah. But like, Yeah, his prophecies here that are written they translated by the Greeks 1000s of years ago? And how close are they enacted? are they and how well do they describe today’s situation? And what are they for the future, and you hear a lot of people, a lot of religions, a lot of Armageddon, you know, catastrophic, Lottie da. And the one thing that I know, the Talmud is based on an oral tradition, like an alphabet, and alphabet has to be transmitted orally. You know, that’s how the book is alive, because there’s a tradition that teaches us. And that’s called the oral, the Oral Torah. And one of the traditions that I was looking for, you know, was their hope for mankind. And what I found out was, is that the prophecies that are bad, that didn’t happen yet, if it happens is a catastrophe. They’re not meant to happen. They’re meant to be boring, sick, if we don’t grow, we don’t change, we don’t take those warnings, to make ourselves better, or we don’t fight for it. That’s a catastrophe. It doesn’t have to happen. So linked to Armageddon, or whatever it is, whatever religion is, I don’t care, nuclear war. You know, the good, the great clearing out the great reset, it doesn’t have to happen. It’s a catastrophe if it does. And we should know that these things should scare us only enough to make us better, that that’s what I’m fighting for. When you want to ask that question, why should I try? Why should I believe you might go? Or why should I take what you say seriously, because, you know, this could happen and it shouldn’t happen. And if it does happen, it’s because we didn’t care enough and try hard. And I think that that’s what that that’s the message I took a very happily that the world does not do. Every human being is not doomed. Every human being is redeemable, every human being should stay alive. And you can talk about the most evil person that everyone has the opportunity to turn themselves around. And that’s what I took away that these prophecies are not set in stone.
 
Michael Hingson  59:16
Interesting, because, you know, in in the Christian religion, the Bible last book is revelations. It has and it’s the same sort of thing. It has a lot of prophecies in it a lot of things that revolutions revolution say is going to happen. And it should be scary that that we recognize that and say does that really need to happen?
 
Charlie Cohen  59:39
My version of is No.
 
Michael Hingson  59:43
No, I understand. That’s my point is that, that we’re given the information with the opportunity to change it. Yeah, if we truly want to it all goes back to listening to God it all goes back to listening to our hearts and not trying To, to just one up everyone and be someone who won’t listen to ways to improve the world.
 
Charlie Cohen  1:00:10
Right or try care or or
 
Michael Hingson  1:00:12
try out? Yeah, yeah. All we can do is well, I’m with Yoda Do or do not there is no try, you know, and we can do it. We can do it. It’s really a question of what we choose to do. Yes. And important enough to us. Well, you see, we did go through an hour of unstoppable mindset. And you did have stories and it all worked out really well, didn’t it?
 
Charlie Cohen  1:00:37
I appreciate that. And the you believing in that? I really do. Thank you. I didn’t know you got it out of you coach you through it. Thank you so much.
 
Michael Hingson  1:00:45
Well, it is really fun. And I’m honored to to have you on unstoppable mindset. And I hope everyone listening will feel the same way. And if people want to reach out to you and learn more about you or maybe people in Israel are looking for a great sales guy. How do they do that?
 
Charlie Cohen  1:01:05
Sure. So I have an email Charles Cohen. Charles is like Charles King Charles Cohen, C O H E N sales s a l e s@gmail.com. Yeah. Well, Charles in sales to anything, you don’t want to talk about anything. I’m cool.
 
Michael Hingson  1:01:27
football, football. I know there are some football enthusiast sent accessibly. So we’ll have to see what we can do.
 
Charlie Cohen  1:01:36
Awesome, because we need sponsors.
 
Michael Hingson  1:01:38
There you are. There you go. There you go. Well, I want to thank you again for being here. And I want you out there listening to realize that I thank you as well for listening and hope you’ve learned something today. Hope you’ve been inspired. I’d love to hear from you. I want you to please email me and let me know what you think about all this today. Feel free to email me at Michaelhi M I C H A E L H I at  accessiBe.com. Accessibe is spelled A CC E S S I B E. Then by the way, go to www.accessibe.com to learn about the accessiBe products that are available to help make your websites more usable and accessible for people with disabilities. Also, if you can’t want to, you can go to www dot Michael hingson.com. And find out about us there, or Michael hingson.com/podcast To learn about unstoppable mindset. But you’re probably listening to us in any number of different places where the podcast is available. So wherever you are, whatever you’re using to listen to us, please give us a five star rating, I would really appreciate that. And we would all be very grateful. But I want you to feel free to reach out to me. And please also if you know of anyone and Charlie applies to you as well, if you know anyone else who you think we ought to have as a guest on the podcast, I would really love it if you’d let me know. We will respond to anyone who reaches out. And we will explore having them on the podcast or having you help us get them on the podcast. So thank you very much for that and for listening. And Charlie one last time. Thank you as well for being with us today.
 
Charlie Cohen  1:03:20
Thank you very much.
 
Michael Hingson  1:03:27
You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you’ll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you’re on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you’re there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com. accessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.