BONUS #169: What 11 Years in Prison Taught Us About God And Money: Behind the scenes conversation with Kevin Trudeau

Episode of The Dylan Gemelli Podcast · October 3, 2026 · 47 min

Dylan Gemelli and Kevin Trudeau discuss prison, accountability, wealth mindset, credentials, the medical system, and why the self-help promise that you can have anything is false.

Summary

In this bonus episode, host Dylan Gemelli spoke with author and entrepreneur Kevin Trudeau in an informal conversation about money, mindset and their respective prison experiences. Trudeau argued that the brain transmits and receives frequencies, that wealthy people broadcast on a "wealth wave" between alpha and theta, and that one's income is shaped by the people one spends time with, illustrating mentorship through his friendship with pool champion Mike Sigel. Gemelli agreed that environment shapes outcomes and criticized people who rely on what he called built-in excuses.

Gemelli recounted how, after a modeling stint in Italy, he began selling cocaine to fund a lavish lifestyle, received a 15-year state sentence in Iowa, served about two years, and was paroled to Maui on July 4, 2011. Trudeau said he served eight and a half years of a ten-year federal sentence for contempt of court, which he attributed to his book Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About and to opposition from drug companies, and told a story about a fellow inmate who embraced responsibility. Gemelli described accountability as the main lesson of prison and his practice of speaking to himself in the mirror; Trudeau claimed that speaking aloud activates the whole brain and described his own constant self-talk.

The two then discussed credibility. Trudeau recalled demonstrating his memory skills to a skeptical reporter and argued that performance matters more than degrees. Gemelli said experts who respond to questions with anger should not be trusted. Both criticized the medical system: Gemelli said doctors rarely examine factors like gut health or sleep, while Trudeau claimed drug companies shape medical education and described three orthopedic surgeons recommending a hip replacement without diagnosing the cause of his pain.

In closing, Gemelli said he became most miserable when chasing money and most prosperous after focusing on faith, gratitude and impact. Trudeau called the claim that anyone can be, do and have anything the biggest lie in self-help, citing what he said was Napoleon Hill's original qualifier "within reason," and urged people to dream big while pursuing achievable next steps.

Chapters

0:00
Cold open and life credentials
After preview clips, Trudeau asks why anyone should listen to them, and Gemelli argues lived experience outweighs academic credentials.
2:06
Lies about making money and the wealth frequency
Gemelli criticizes get-rich-quick shortcuts, and Trudeau describes his theory that wealthy and poor people broadcast different brainwave frequencies.
6:37
Environment, mentors and modeling
Trudeau argues income mirrors one's five closest associates and describes learning pool by imitating Mike Sigel.
9:17
Excuses and the champion mindset
Gemelli condemns built-in excuses, and Trudeau tells a story from the U.S. Open Pool Championship about never assuming defeat.
14:38
Mind over body
Gemelli and Trudeau discuss mental toughness, with Trudeau citing George S. Patton and a Mount Everest climber he met on a hike.
17:10
Gemelli's path to prison
Gemelli recounts selling cocaine to fund a lavish lifestyle, his 15-year Iowa sentence, and his July 2011 parole to Maui.
22:11
Trudeau's prison time and redemption
Trudeau describes his contempt-of-court sentence and an inmate friend who took full responsibility for his crimes.
24:17
Accountability and self-talk
Gemelli explains accountability and talking to himself in the mirror, and Trudeau explains his theory of spoken affirmations.
28:49
Credibility versus credentials
Trudeau recounts answering a skeptical reporter with a memory demonstration, and Gemelli says angry experts should not be trusted.
35:11
Criticism of the medical system
Gemelli and Trudeau criticize medical training and incentives, with Trudeau recounting repeated hip replacement recommendations.
40:42
The biggest lie about success
Gemelli says chasing money made him miserable, and Trudeau argues the promise that you can have anything is false.
45:10
Keys to success
Both close by emphasizing realistic goals, overcoming adversity, accountability and persistence.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau says he did $20 billion in business before ever lecturing on success.
“I did $20 billion in business before I ever gave a lecture on anything”
Listen from 3:15 · Credentialism
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau claims wealthy people broadcast a specific brainwave frequency between alpha and theta.
“Wealthy people broadcast on a very specific frequency, as you know, right? It's right at the bottom of alpha and it's at the top of theta”
Listen from 4:28 · Brainwave frequencies and wealth
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau argues, citing Aristotle Onassis, that a person's income reflects the five people they spend the most time with.
“Your income is going to be the average of the five people you spend the most time with, listen to the most, and watch”
Listen from 5:30 · Mentorship
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau argues that people surrounded only by those at their own income level cannot earn more.
“if you are hanging around people that are at your income level, you cannot make more. It's virtually impossible”
Listen from 7:12 · Mentorship
Linked moment · 9:17Skip to 9:17 using a listen link in the info box.
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli argues that blaming factors like gender or race is a built-in excuse for personal failure.
“When you live with built-in excuses, it's my gender, it's my race, it's this, it's this. No, no, fucker, it's not”
Listen from 10:05 · Personal accountability
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli describes his cocaine dealing as a disastrous plan with no exit strategy.
“business plan of mine to sell as much cocaine as I could and make as much money as I could with no exit strategy of any kind”
Listen from 18:08 · Drug trafficking
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli says that in Iowa a prison sentence is immediately cut in half upon entry, and that he served two years of a 15-year sentence.
“So in Iowa, when you get a sentence, it gets cut in half the second you walk in the door”
Listen from 20:59 · Incarceration in the United States
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau attributes his contempt-of-court imprisonment to his book and to exposing drug companies.
“I was charged with contempt of court because of my book, Natural Cures They Don't Want You to Know About. and exposing the drug companies”
Listen from 22:23 · Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli rejects the idea that he overcame prison, saying he caused it and only got through it.
“I didn't overcome shit. I caused it. You can't say I overcome something I caused. I got through it”
Listen from 24:17 · Personal accountability
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau claims that speaking aloud activates the whole brain, which is why spoken affirmations are effective.
“But when you speak, the whole brain is activated. So that's why an affirmation or saying something, I'm a winner”
Listen from 26:16 · Self-talk and affirmations
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau argues that qualification comes from performance rather than degrees.
“because it's not a degree. It's what you do. Yeah. It's what you do and how you perform”
Listen from 33:26 · Credentialism
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli criticizes doctors for not examining factors such as mitochondrial health, gut microbiome, mold or sleep.
“You ask me one doctor you've ever been to that says, well, let's look at your mitochondrial health”
Listen from 34:05 · Pharmaceutical industry influence on medicine
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli says experts who respond to questions with anger cannot be trusted.
“But when they get mad and they get angry, that's when you know you can't trust them”
Listen from 34:43 · Credentialism
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau claims drug companies fund medical schools and dictate textbook content and prescribing.
“The colleges are paid for by the drug companies. The drug companies... dictate what the books say and what drugs are supposed to be prescribed”
Listen from 36:01 · Pharmaceutical industry influence on medicine
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau recounts orthopedic surgeons recommending a hip replacement after briefly viewing an X-ray, which he regarded as insurance-driven.
“The guy looks at the x-ray for two seconds, turns around and goes, you need a hip replacement”
Listen from 38:21 · Hip replacement
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli says he earned the most money of his life after he stopped chasing money and focused on impact.
“When I stopped chasing the most and I cared more about my impact and what I was doing, I've made the most money I've ever made in my life”
Listen from 42:25 · Manifestation and goal setting
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau claims Napoleon Hill's original phrase included the qualifier "within reason" that was later dropped.
“And then Napoleon Hill's original phrase said at the end, whatever the mind of man can conceive and bring itself to believe it can achieve within reason”
Listen from 43:11 · Think and Grow Rich
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau calls the promise that people can be, do and have anything the biggest lie in success teaching.
“i would say that the biggest lie being perpetrated perpetrated out there is the bs line that says you can Be, do, and have anything and everything you want”
Listen from 43:26 · Manifestation and goal setting
Kevin Trudeau
Trudeau argues that motivational speakers promising limitless achievement keep people broke by setting unattainable targets.
“They are lying and they're keeping people broke because people then are shooting for things that they have no chance of ever achieving”
Listen from 46:01 · Manifestation and goal setting
Dylan Gemelli
Gemelli names overcoming adversity, accountability and refusing to take no for an answer as the keys to success.
“the real way to teach people to be successful is to know how to overcome adversity, to have accountability, and to never be willing to take no for an answer”
Listen from 46:35 · Personal accountability

People

In the conversation

Dylan GemelliPodcast host with a sales and entrepreneurial background
Kevin TrudeauAmerican author, entrepreneur and infomercial personality, author of Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About, who served federal prison time for contempt of court

Discussed

Mike SigelAmerican professional pool player and world champion, described by Trudeau as a close friend
Irving CraneAmerican world champion pocket billiards player
Earl StricklandAmerican professional pool player and Hall of Famer
George S. PattonU.S. Army general in World War II
Napoleon HillAmerican self-help author of Think and Grow Rich
Aristotle OnassisGreek shipping magnate
Gordon RamsayBritish celebrity chef
Albert EinsteinPhysicist who developed the theory of relativity
Elon MuskEntrepreneur behind X, xAI and SpaceX, discussed in AI competition
Steve JobsCo-founder of Apple
Tiger WoodsAmerican professional golfer and TGL team owner

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From the publisher

There are some things powerful systems would rather you never question and THIS behind-the-scenes conversation gets into exactly WHY. This is not a traditional interview. It’s a conversation between two men who have both made serious money, lost years of their lives to prison, rebuilt themselves, and learned some of their hardest lessons through experience. Dylan and Kevin get into money, prison, success, medicine, mindset, credibility, failure, faith and the uncomfortable truths most people would rather avoid. Because money is not about chasing shortcuts. Success is shaped by your environment more than motivation. Failure gets worse when you keep making excuses. Credentials mean less than real-world performance. Prison can either break you or force you to take accountability. Medicine should make you question incentives and authority. Mindset is shaped by the way you speak to yourself. Wealth means very little if chasing it makes you miserable. And because one of self-help’s biggest promises “you can have anything you want”, might be complete bullshit. Kevin Trudeau is a bestselling author, entrepreneur and personal-development figure best known for books including Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About. His career has included massive commercial success, major controversy and years spent in federal prison. Today, he speaks about success, wealth, mindset and the lessons he says came from decades of experience at both extremes. Chapters: (00:00) They Don’t Want You to Know (01:58) The Biggest Lies About Making Money (03:15) Building Billions Before Teaching Success (04:29) The Wealth Frequency (06:38) Your Environment Controls Your Income (10:01) Stop Making Excuses (12:17) The Mindset Difference Between Winners and Losers (15:08) Your Mind Is Stronger Than Your Body (17:27) Prison (24:18) Every Saint Has a Past, Every Sinner a Future (24:23) The Lost Art of Accountability (28:49) Credentials vs Real-World Experience (34:19) Why Angry Experts Should Make…

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 5, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Self-Improvement·Medicine·Entrepreneurship