1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,000 experience talking back and forth, you know, and answering questions. At first, with everything, you answer, you know, with an ah and everything, but after some time, you just be silent and pause and the answers are more better, you know, so with practice. 2 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:30,000 So these things, it's good also to ever exercise or to do all these things. So I hold my skill too. 3 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:40,000 Nice. So with the brands you've invested in and eSports being one of them, what's your favorite venture that you've been involved with so far? 4 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:57,000 They have different lessons. Everything has different lessons, but my favorite are platform businesses because platform businesses was you'll able to reach impact more user and you'll be able to help them or engage with them. 5 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:10,000 So platform businesses are my favorites, but you know, serving customers in a coffee or in a food and beverage restaurant is also nice, especially when you get to see them face to face. 6 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:22,000 Selling retail also with merchandises such as shoe is okay too. I mean, it's good to serve face to face too sometimes. You get the interaction. 7 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,000 When you say platform businesses, how would you define that? 8 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:32,000 Platform businesses are like in the app or websites. 9 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:56,000 So that's our platform business. 10 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:11,000 So I'm excited to talk to you about our sponsor, our sponsor is called ColdClick. 11 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:20,000 I think he's got a lot of visions and he's got a massive vision on the horizon too. So we'll be diving to that without further ado. 12 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:26,000 First, though, let's dive into some of these sponsors. So ColdClick right here, ColdClick.com. 13 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:37,000 TapMental.io same thing. David Goodall runs TapMental. He's a client of ours and he helps business owners bridge the gap between the psychology struggles they have and the systems they're striving to build. 14 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:48,000 And he does a great job of that. So I do recommend checking out his case studies over at TapMental.io, especially if you're in the general contracting space or more of a blue collar venture. 15 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:55,000 He's somebody you get along with really, really well. Good old boy reminds me of a Texan. He's not a Texan, but I'd claim him. 16 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:04,000 In addition to that, I'd like to give a shout out as usual to The Water Project. If you have not heard of The Water Project before, I highly recommend pulling it up and taking a look. 17 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:12,000 There's a lot of people in this world who don't have access to clean drinking water, even the basics of life that we take for granted on a daily basis. 18 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:18,000 If you do have access to that, then do me a favor. Just go ahead and give like a dollar to The Water Project. 19 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:25,000 Or if you have a better resource, something that you'd like to see us contribute to, don't hesitate to drop that in the comments. 20 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:31,000 There's a lot of people who need help in this world. We got 8 billion people out there, most of which need some pretty extreme help. 21 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:39,000 I never want to lose sight and forget of the importance of why we do what we do, which is ultimately being able to contribute to those who are less fortunate than us. 22 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:52,000 So, let's make sure to do that together. Bernard Chong is going to be my guest today. He is a multi-million angel investor with a background in e-sports. 23 00:03:52,000 --> 00:04:00,000 Any of you gamers out there will know what that is. And he's got a coffee shop concept. He's got a high-rise concept for Panama that he's working on. 24 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:10,000 He's got a nonprofit operation that he's also working on. We're going to talk about family lineage a little bit as well and where his roots probably came from. 25 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:14,000 But without further ado, I'm going to bring Bernard on and we're going to talk to him about his vision. 26 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:18,000 So, Bernard, thanks for joining me on Vision Pros Live today. I really appreciate it. 27 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,000 Hey, thank you for having me. 28 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:26,000 Absolutely. So, Bernard, to quantify our talk for those who are listening in, who do you think should be listening? 29 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:30,000 Who's going to benefit from this and why should they listen to you specifically? 30 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:32,000 What do you think they're going to get out of today's show? 31 00:04:32,000 --> 00:04:44,000 Well, everybody can benefit on anything with intelligence for some recall or some know-how or knowledge or input. 32 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:50,000 But people who will start the business depends on your set of questions. 33 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:57,000 I think I have more experience with starting businesses and supporting businesses too. 34 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:09,000 So, if those people are interested in starting or supporting their own business, I think that would benefit to our conversation because that's what my experience is. 35 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:16,000 Yes. I love the fact that sometimes life delivers trends to us. It delivers patterns, okay? 36 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:21,000 So, if you're listening to the show on a regular basis, you're going to catch that out of all the shows we've ever done, 37 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:32,000 nobody's ever said it depends on my questions until Bernard and my last guest this morning, the first two people out of 100 that have keyed in on that. 38 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,000 And I thought it was so cool. I was like, yes, you're absolutely right with that. 39 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,000 Just finding that two people back to back share that. 40 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:42,000 So, what our questions are going to be about today are about your vision. 41 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:49,000 How do you serve people? How do you show up? And you're going to be able to take us down any one of the directions of the many visions that you have. 42 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:54,000 So, what is the vision for those that you serve, Bernard? What do you want them to get out of it? 43 00:05:54,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Well, my vision is to be support to those people or businesses that I put money in or put resources in because every vision is, every journey is unique. 44 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:12,000 And I just teach what I know. I share what I know also. 45 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:21,000 And if there comes a problem that I don't know, I will help them solve it by researching it on my own or researching it with the people that I know. 46 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:25,000 So, my vision is also to learn while helping other people. 47 00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:35,000 Nice. And what qualifies a business for you to invest in them? What types of things do they need to have together? 48 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:46,000 To me, good communication is what I look for and the person must be dedicated or committed. 49 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:54,000 And they have to be doing it like I see them, that's their passion. 50 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:59,000 So, I know that they're happy doing it. It's not like they're being forced to, you know. 51 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:07,000 And you can see that the way they talk, the way they share it, the way they ask questions about it or the way they talk about it. 52 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:13,000 That's awesome. Okay. And let's talk about your vision personally now. 53 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:22,000 So, as far as your own vision goes, what's your vision for yourself over the next 5, 10, 15 years? What do you want to accomplish? 54 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:33,000 The next 5 years, I think my network has grown. I've studied more skills too because I'm taking courses too, lessons. 55 00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:47,000 I'm supposed to be...my business here grew too. I'm probably running some of the business that I started and I supported. 56 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:57,000 And it would be impacted by a lot of users and customers. So, 5 years, I think I would be growing a lot more than today. 57 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:00,000 That's what I expect. 58 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:12,000 Nice. Okay. So, as you take on the role of angel investor, you see business opportunities where you might actually also take on a role within the companies. Is that correct? 59 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:29,000 Well, I normally get the role of board or advisor. So, those are my role. I'm currently CEO of a foundation. So, my passion would be helping and teaching in education. 60 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:35,000 Nice. Awesome. So, you got the CEO of which company right now? 61 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:40,000 Brent Seed Foundation. So, it's a foundation for education. 62 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:48,000 Let's talk about that a little bit. I'd love to hear about the vision that you guys have for Brent Seed. I'll pull it up so we can take a look at the same time. 63 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,000 So, go ahead. Tell us about Brent Seed. 64 00:08:52,000 --> 00:09:06,000 It's a nonprofit organization for education. We're planning to help people get educated by helping them through resource. 65 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:20,000 This is still a start, but we're very dedicated and focused to make lives of people we touch better and eventually contribute to the society. 66 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:34,000 Okay. So, let's pull up to Instagram a little bit too. I think you got some posts on there as well. What made you decide to invest so heavily in education? 67 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:48,000 I feel like it makes good impact too when someone is fed knowledge. And from there, they're able to touch other people too. 68 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:54,000 They're able to touch their life and they're able to touch their close friends or family's life. 69 00:09:54,000 --> 00:10:05,000 So, helping someone by knowledge and wisdom, by helping them be educated makes a big difference. So, I decided to tackle that. 70 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:12,000 Okay. Awesome. I'm a big fan of education. Obviously, as a podcaster, that's kind of what we do. 71 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:19,000 But in addition to that, I've got an academy that I'm building out to help business owners with their education. 72 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:28,000 I had an international politics teacher who said Jackson, and he knew I was failing miserably in college, by the way. 73 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:34,000 I had a horrible GPA. And he said, Jackson, if you want to change the world, educate a mom. 74 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:44,000 That's very true, but that takes time too. All changes take time, but that's how it is. 75 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:50,000 It does. It really inspired me as I grew my path and started to build out different things. 76 00:10:50,000 --> 00:10:57,000 So, I appreciate the wisdom you share on that. I would love to also hear, you know, the audience would like to know, 77 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:03,000 what's your worst business experience ever? There's obviously pitfalls that happen in business, things that can happen. 78 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:06,000 What would you say your worst experience has been? 79 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:20,000 Well, my worst experience was trusting someone without checking and eventually finding that that person isn't trustworthy. 80 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:27,000 But it's because that time, I should have known better too. 81 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:36,000 You know, when you're learning, there are some things you miss out before you learn them as you experience anything, as anyone. 82 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:44,000 Like when you're trying to walk, of course you fail. So, when I'm starting angel investing, of course there are certain things that I missed. 83 00:11:44,000 --> 00:11:49,000 And then from there, we learn the lesson that not to miss it. 84 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:58,000 So, now I test people first before I put resources or I trust them. 85 00:11:58,000 --> 00:12:04,000 Sometimes I ask long questions, I deliberately test their character before committing. 86 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:09,000 Before, I just give you 100 and I trust you before anything else. 87 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:14,000 But of course, that's my resource or that's resource also going to someone. 88 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,000 Then if there isn't trustworthy, it hurts you. 89 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:29,000 Then again, in life, we all deserve what's coming to us because if it's either we made it properly so we get good results or we lack of something, 90 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:36,000 and it comes back to bite us because we didn't know better. 91 00:12:36,000 --> 00:12:43,000 So, it's just life, it's just experience. But you move on, you go on, and you bring those lessons to be better. 92 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:49,000 And I think that's the journey about life. We always get better, nobody knows it all. 93 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:57,000 And whatever age you are, even you can know someone who's 50, 60, 70, and I'm sure they will still say, this is new to me still. 94 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:03,000 I mean, there must be something that's still new to them because everybody should be learning and growing. 95 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:13,000 Yeah, absolutely. And I made sure to check with your publicist before mentioning anything about the allegations that came against you. 96 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:25,000 And I wanted to mention that because I think there's a lot of people out there who don't, who feel invincible to allegations. 97 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:36,000 I think there's a lot of people who don't understand what it's like to overcome a dramatic reality that can feel kind of dramatic. 98 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,000 I personally can relate to your story on many levels. Go ahead. 99 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:51,000 That's hard also. Character allegations is also hard, especially when people seem to believe what's written first in media, right? 100 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:56,000 It's like you're being destroyed first before you're able to get a chance to defend yourself. 101 00:13:56,000 --> 00:14:07,000 But I wish I could say something really smart about those, but when these things happen, all you have to do really is take the hit. 102 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:15,000 And then hopefully you can clear your name out of it. And you can't stop people from judging based on what they read. 103 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:24,000 So that's just how it is. Good thing I cleared my name now and there was zero evidence of it. 104 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:37,000 And I think some places, especially if you're a target or you can be a good target, they overwrite things just to get your attention. 105 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:46,000 And at first, my first experience was I overreacted too. I was angry. I want to show them proof. I want to fight back. 106 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:54,000 But I don't think the media is the right way if you're being alleged to just talk about it. 107 00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:01,000 The right way is if you're being alleged in the legal stuff and with documents better, you fight them legally too. 108 00:15:01,000 --> 00:15:09,000 But that's my opinion, my take on certain stuff. 109 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:14,000 Because I believe once the papers come out, once I cleared my name and once it's there, then that's it. 110 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:21,000 There's nothing to talk to because it's it. They said zero evidence and it's like no shred of evidence that I did such thing. 111 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,000 Right. That makes sense. Go ahead. 112 00:15:23,000 --> 00:15:33,000 Also, I told them, as anyone who knows me, anyone who dealt me personally, I never do such things and they would speak for me also. 113 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:41,000 But again, when you have a bad write-up, people tend to believe it. 114 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:54,000 So you just have to be patient about it and let people speak for you and sometimes let the system clear you and then you can post something too with it. 115 00:15:54,000 --> 00:16:04,000 Right. Well, listen, I know that's not your primary vision. I speak on behalf of a lot of people who will appreciate this lesson from you. 116 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:15,000 I've gone through similar things in very small categories. For instance, a divorce. When you go through that, there are their side, my side, etc. 117 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:20,000 Right. And so learning how to go through that, navigate that is super helpful. 118 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:28,000 A lot of people end up opening their mouth and getting angry and causing more problems rather than finding solutions. 119 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:31,000 So you nailed some very important wisdom down. 120 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:39,000 I also had a friend who got sued on a non-compete and I owned 15% of his company at the time when he got sued. 121 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:45,000 And he lost the battle. So we had to shut the company down, which hurt everybody. 122 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:55,000 Some of our team members turned around and sued him for their losses. And I was like, wow, like this is how do you do that to your friend? 123 00:16:55,000 --> 00:17:02,000 You kick your friend while they're down. But what it showed to me is it can happen to anyone at any time. 124 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:12,000 But the great leaders, they bounce back because they stick to their virtues. And I see you doing that. And I really appreciate you letting me talk about it. 125 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:19,000 Yes. Yes. We can talk about anything actually. And if there's some curious questions also, just ask them. It's okay. 126 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:29,000 I did my research. So I did. I dove in pretty deep. And I'm content with what I saw. I'm very happy with the man I see in front of me, your friend, man, if you ever need anything. 127 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,000 Don't hesitate to say hi to me, okay? 128 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:33,000 All right. All right. Thank you. 129 00:17:33,000 --> 00:17:41,000 We're gonna move to the next question though. I want to dive on the opposite end of the spectrum. What would you say your best experience in business has been? 130 00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:58,000 Well, successful stuff. And when you bring recognition to a country, even though it's like, you know, we bring world champion team on Mobile Legends. 131 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:15,000 And we made Philippines a champion team in M2. So Mobile Legends M2 series. And that one, not on the monetary value, but the recognition of, hey, this is our country. 132 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:35,000 We put gold on it and it's written forever. That's like something I know in my belt or in my name that we did it for the country and everybody knows. So that's something very, you know, you cannot put value to it, but it's valuable. 133 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:46,000 It's something I'm very proud of. And I think I would be saying this to my home country too, or to people like, hey, we were the champ. We made the country champion. 134 00:18:46,000 --> 00:19:00,000 Oh, it's like being Olympian, you know, that gets to represent your country. I can't personally imagine what that feels like to the full extent, but you get doses of that and what a really cool experience, you know? 135 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:15,000 Yeah, yeah. And that was the first gold medal of the Philippine country for a team, for a team competition. So we get gold medal for single person to person competition. 136 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:27,000 But for a team competition in Philippines, that was the first gold medal in, that's the first world champion title, team world champion title in Philippines. 137 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:39,000 That's so cool, man. That's got to be an amazing feeling. So I guess I'll ask another question. And when you get to that top gold medal point, what do you do from there? 138 00:19:39,000 --> 00:19:58,000 Well, hopefully you repeat. But you know, the universe has a say to those things. When we are talking about world champ, I mean, all you have to do, all you can do is do your best, you know? 139 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:10,000 But you have to live with the result. And that's just how it is. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes you get, some people get repeated, the spurs gets, you know, win, lose, win, lose. 140 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:19,000 You know, there was no ever back to back by the chance. But you know they're doing their best, right? And that's just how it is. 141 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:33,000 So that's, when a world champ title is what you're up to, all you have to do is do your best and hopefully you pray too because the outcome, I think the big guy has some say to it too. 142 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:52,000 Well said, man. I'm so happy you said that. I think some people steer away from talking about spiritual concepts when they have a public microphone. But I would say the same thing. If there's one secret power, like what is my secret to any success I've ever had? Prayer. 143 00:20:52,000 --> 00:21:04,000 That's it, man. It's prayer. And sometimes you get that prompting in your heart and in your mind and you're like, that's it. But you also said being your best self. Combining those two things is important. Go ahead. 144 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:23,000 You do your best and you pray, right? But you learn also in winning but you learn also when you don't win. You learn why and everything. And I believe sometimes there is more valuable lesson when you're short of winning because in a way you know you got a room for improvement. 145 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:41,000 Other than when you win, sometimes that's dangerous too because you feel like you're perfect, you feel like you got it. So you just have to accept that everything that happens is for your improvement and then just move life. 146 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:54,000 And then you got to share something. Sometimes there's a lot of also when you study, example in basketball, good players that have never been champed like John Stockton, Patrick Ewing. 147 00:21:54,000 --> 00:22:11,000 And for us to have world champion title, it's like you really have to be happy and thankful for the universe or for it was given to you. You were blessed by it. 148 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Yeah, that's awesome. I'm glad you mentioned that. And you know, it's true. We want to stay balanced on that. One man that really impressed me last year was, well, there was two. The first one was LeBron James. He became the scoring title champion. 149 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:48,000 I love that we're on basketball right now, by the way. That's my sport. So LeBron James, he became the scoring title champion, but there was an underlying story that was happening because of it. And that was Shaquille O'Neal was starting to really regret the fact that there were years in his career when he did not take his conditioning seriously. 150 00:22:48,000 --> 00:23:03,000 And he knows, he feels very strongly in his heart that he could have been the scoring title champ had he just taken better care of his health. And I thought it was awesome to have both be able to learn from the person who's actually been able to do it, 151 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:24,000 but also have a leader with the humility to admit that they didn't do what it took to get to that level, but they've still made such a great life for themselves. They're still a great icon. He's still done amazing things. Shaq has. And these principles just remind me a lot of, rather your story reminds me a lot of those principles and those people. 152 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:42,000 So I gotta ask, what powerful lesson can other visionaries learn from your experience, Bernard? Well, I'll go back to Shaq. I love Shaq. He's my idol also. He's a good person. I never met him, but I just read about him, watched him. 153 00:23:42,000 --> 00:24:03,000 Hopefully someday I meet him. Anyway, if he said that, then maybe he didn't give it all, you know. So that's why. And I think one of the lessons when you're doing your journey is, I think we should give it all at that moment. 154 00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:22,000 So we can say that whatever the result, you gave your best. So that's one. Second also, I realize that our daily routine will say what happens in our future. We'll see what will happen tomorrow. 155 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:38,000 And if you want an easy life, you have to do the hard part now so you have an easy life later. If you're doing the easy part now, I guarantee you, you will have a hard life later. 156 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:53,000 That's just the law. Everybody reap what we sow. So it's a cause and effect. So again, our daily routine will dictate what's happening in our future. So we have to be mindful of it. 157 00:24:53,000 --> 00:25:08,000 Absolutely. For anybody who wants to study more on that, the law of the harvest is ultimately what Bernard's talking about. And cultivating the seeds you plant today are going to grow and bear the fruits of what you receive tomorrow. 158 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:30,000 I'm a big fan of the concept as well. Bernard, I'm going to pull up your bio real quick. There's some elements of your vision that I think would be awesome to talk about. Anybody who's watching right now, you're welcome to pause the screen and take a look at this and see what all's in this amazing bio of what Bernard's chosen to plant through life. 159 00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:43,000 Some of the elements that I wanted to dive into though were this high-rise opportunity that you have in Panama as well as the coffee shop and the coffee business. Are those two things you want to talk about? 160 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,000 Yeah, we can talk about that. 161 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,000 Okay. Which one do you want to start with? Your pick. 162 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:52,000 Well, the coffee. The coffee and then the housing business. 163 00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:54,000 Let's talk about the coffee brand. 164 00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:14,000 Yeah. So the coffee, we're bringing the coffee experience, the drinking with good quality beans. So our beans is from Panama. And Panama is a good source of coffee beans. It's between two oceans. 165 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:26,000 And it was harvested on top of the mountain where the soil is very fertile and there's lots of volcanoes. 166 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:42,000 So among, I think it's in Google also that one of the best coffee beans is a Geisha bean coffee in Sin, Panama. I think the record is sold $10,000 a pound. 167 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:44,000 Whoa. 168 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:58,000 Anyway, those are good sources of coffee beans because the soil is rich, the temperature is okay, and we're bringing that to the customer so they can experience good quality coffee. 169 00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:04,000 Interesting. And does Mendo Coffee have a website yet? 170 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:15,000 I have to double check on it. I'm sure we discussed it, we are working on it, but I didn't get to know it right now. But I can go back to you later. 171 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:25,000 Yeah. Well, we might reproduce the episode with some visuals from some of these images, these visions. That way the visual people have the chance to see what this looks like. 172 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:35,000 One, what the coffee fields look like, that'd be cool. Also, what the brand is going to look like and how that works. Are there Mendo Coffee shops open right now? 173 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:46,000 In Panama, there is one about to open. And in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, we're about to open too. We're just hiring the staff. 174 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,000 When are they opening? 175 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,000 Hopefully December. 176 00:27:50,000 --> 00:28:01,000 Alright, cool. That's coming up. Right in time for Christmas. So that'll be fun. Good season to be opening a coffee shop. And then what about the high rises? Tell me about those. 177 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:23,000 Well, we have a 180 acre land in Panama. And I'm just part owner. I don't own everything. I just put money on a company. And we make houses. It's like a small city for people who don't have houses. 178 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:39,000 We make it in a good quality. We studied everything. And it's very low cost also. Very good value for the price. It's a good price for the quality. It has good value. 179 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:56,000 So we're able to deliver 80 to 100 units already sold and delivered. And we're making more. So that's what we do there in Panama. But it's like, I think, 7 years, 10 years plant. 180 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:09,000 And it's gonna go a long way to them as we improve ourselves too. I'm sure we will learn to do it more better as we do. 181 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:24,000 Sure. But I love that you're not letting the newness of it hold you back. It would be common for people to just say, I'm not qualified to do this. I don't have the skill set so I'm not gonna try. But you guys are making it happen. 182 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:38,000 That's mind-setting. Once you think you can't, you're right. And once you think you can also, I think you're right also. So whatever you think you're right, better think you can and try it and learn something harder than not trying. 183 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:59,000 That's right. Go Henry Ford. I'm a big fan of the quote. Awesome. So I wanted to ask a little bit more about your investing. So you mentioned you invest in people who are good communicators and people who are happy at what they do. They have that passion, that drive. 184 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:21,000 If somebody were one of my vision pros, let's say somebody came on this and they saw that you're an angel investor and they wanted to gain your attention to invest in their brands, would you invest in somebody like that? Or is there a specific niche or background that you want somebody to have that pre-qualifies them for receiving investment? 185 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:41,000 Normally, we have to check on the stuff and I have to talk to the person like we're talking now. And then I get to ask more questions about the business once I see it. Then I will get to know if he's equipped to do it. 186 00:30:41,000 --> 00:30:53,000 Sometimes if I really like the person, I would re-equip him. I would say, I like you, we're gonna do this journey and I feel like you need this on certain angles and stuff. 187 00:30:53,000 --> 00:31:12,000 Which I believe I have a very good intention also of helping and I want good things to everyone. So what I suggest is a good thing rather than a bad thing. But I have to look at it because resources is scarce. 188 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:27,000 Once you commit, you have to follow through. I can't be committing just to everyone. Especially when you say, we're gonna do it. When you say you're gonna do it, it's like you're gonna do it for life. 189 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:37,000 It's not like you're gonna do it for 10 months because when you commit something, you commit for life. So there. That's how we do it. 190 00:31:37,000 --> 00:31:47,000 I'm gonna share my screen one more time. I would love to talk a little bit about your genealogy. You mentioned it in your bio. I thought that was fantastic. 191 00:31:47,000 --> 00:32:14,000 Back to your bio. It says, a sports model, entrepreneur and global investor Bernard Chong comes from the prestigious Chong family lineage, which owns several businesses in the Philippines including the popular sportswear and apparel brand World Balance. Chong immediately entered the family business as soon as he finished his education and took his business expertise to the industry he's most passionate about, international gaming. 192 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:24,000 So World Balance, is this a family owned company? Yes. Is this the right one? Yes, that's the right one. Awesome. Do you mind talking a little bit about the brand? 193 00:32:24,000 --> 00:32:38,000 Yeah, that's the most famous local shoe brand in the Philippines. The biggest shoe brand in the Philippines. That word, Balance. It was founded by my grandfather and my father at the same time. 194 00:32:38,000 --> 00:33:03,000 That's awesome. How many years has your family been running this? Well, the factory started officially in 1965 but the brand World Balance was 1976, more or less before the 80s. So it's like almost 50 years or close to 50 years. 195 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:14,000 Hello. Wow. Yeah, yeah. That's awesome. You said, and I'm sorry, the internet kind of cut us off a little bit. Did you say your grandpa and grandfather? They started together? 196 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:33,000 Yeah, my father and grandfather. We started it together. It was supposed to be a factory of making shoes and believe it, we started, when Nike brand, we started producing Nike brand in Philippines, our factory. 197 00:33:33,000 --> 00:33:55,000 And Mr. Philip Knight himself went to Manila to talk to my father and from there, he gave my father options to continue it with them or buy the brand because we licensed the Nike there for ourself and we create our own. 198 00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:06,000 And my dad said, we better start our own brand for, you know, we have the liberty to do everything because that's our own brand. So that's the path that we choose. 199 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:25,000 Sometimes I joke around that if you partner with Philip Knight, Mr. Philip Knight, and maybe we're part of Nike also in Philippines, but you know, decisions are made and that's the path made father took and we're happy about it. We learned so much also by having our own brand. 200 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:31,000 Absolutely. Now, was that before the Air Jordan shoe came out or after? 201 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:47,000 Yes, because I believe the Air Jordan was when Michael Jordan was a rookie, right? And that was something 80 plus, 87, 86, 84, 85. I'm not sure about the dates. 202 00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:48,000 Sure, somewhere in there. 203 00:34:48,000 --> 00:35:00,000 Something like that. But the word balance brand was started 1970 plus. So it was 10 years before Michael, 10 years before Nike became big. 204 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:04,000 Right. That's cool. I just watched that movie a few weeks ago. 205 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:05,000 Yes, yes. 206 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:20,000 That's fresh on my mind. Man, that's awesome. And so your family business and your family ties, how much has your family had an influence on your path as an entrepreneur? 207 00:35:20,000 --> 00:35:32,000 They have big influence. They shaped me a lot. Most person, kid, childhood experience has big impact to how they grow up. That's for sure. 208 00:35:32,000 --> 00:35:54,000 And I was blessed again that my father and my mother was business people and they made me see what's in-store experience is when you're the owner of the store, where you're behind the cashier desk, counting change, making sure that the change is right manually, you know. 209 00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:13,000 And seeing customers and able to safeguard the stocks, no tap, and stuff. Customer service too. When they ask for sizes, they check if there's defects, you know, and stuff, how you communicate with them. 210 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:27,000 I think a lot of my sales experience has got to do with how I deal with people. And I'm very blessed that that's a good training for me. 211 00:36:27,000 --> 00:36:45,000 I believe people who are successful one with another is having a relationship skill, you know. Because when you're doing business, your source of money is in your relationship. 212 00:36:45,000 --> 00:36:58,000 People who like you, people who you like too, that's where you sell. You sell to people who you like and people who like you. Your supplier would be someone you like too. They can be suppliers if you don't like them. 213 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:11,000 So your customer, your supplier, the money coming in and the money going out to and also your employer are all relational stuff. And you learn relation skills in sales. 214 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:21,000 So I can say that if you meet people who are successful, most probably they have good relation skills also. 215 00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:33,000 Yeah, I agree with that. And so what roles did your mother play in entrepreneurship? Did she have her own business as well outside of that or was she part of the world balance? 216 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:45,000 My mom was a support. My dad was the one who's leading the shoe brand before and my mom support my dad. And it wasn't like a very good journey. 217 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:52,000 Like any business you have up and down, up and down. But my mom supported my dad all the way through thick and thin. 218 00:37:52,000 --> 00:38:07,000 Oh, that's amazing. And it's a good thing also now that if you're looking for a partner, you're looking for someone like your mom too who supports you when you're up and when you're down and who's always been with my dad, whatever my dad did. 219 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:26,000 It's like you're the leader, you're the breadwinner, then I support you whatever the result is too. So it's good. Again, it's a blessing that I got my both parents alive and I get to witness how they live and the results of it. 220 00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:29,000 So dad, mom, thank you. Appreciate this. 221 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:44,000 That's awesome, Bernard. So I got to ask a question for the younger folks out there. Maybe for those who are also on their second or third try, what do you look for when you're trying to find somebody who will support you like that? 222 00:38:44,000 --> 00:39:00,000 Well, normally you have to be in line with what you believe in. So I mean, generally I think all people are good people. But there are some certain stuff where, for example, they believe in fast growth. 223 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:14,000 So they believe that culture should adjust to fast growth. And that's just an outlook of a certain individual. And there are certain individuals too also would say, no, culture is the main thing and you grow slow. 224 00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:34,000 I can say that both are correct. It's just their preference, right? But then again, if you're not aligned, you'll have arguments with this. And sometimes it's good if you can prolong also that you have growth and culture and you can maintain the relationship of their sticking on you. 225 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:49,000 So you maintain balance and that's good if you can, if you have that skill. But if you don't, then you'll be siding with just all growth, which is eventually you really have to get back and fix your culture too. 226 00:39:49,000 --> 00:40:05,000 Because that's how it is. It has to be growth and culture at the same time. But if it's just all culture too, then your business will be slow as turtle and it will not grow because culture sometimes prevents speed. 227 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:22,000 So the way I look at it is you really do left and right, left and right. It's like, all right, we're the team, we're gonna do growth now and culture has to adjust. And then later, all right, we're growing now, we have to make our foundation solid again. 228 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:33,000 So we gotta implant this culture and stop growth first. And then once it's solid, we grow it again. It's like a switch between all right, growth, all right, then culture, all right, growth, and then culture. Then you find balance in it. 229 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:45,000 Nice. I like that. It's a lot like walking. You're left and then you're right, you're left and then you're right. You can't just do one or you're hopping along less effectively. So that's cool. I hadn't thought about it that way. 230 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:51,000 So your dad, what roles did he play in the company? What types of hats did he wear? 231 00:40:51,000 --> 00:41:12,000 Oh, my dad was the problem solver. He was the really head of the company and he raised us three children, raised us well, and he takes care of his siblings also. So he has brothers also who depended on the brand. 232 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:28,000 And right now, we're still okay. I think we were in better shape than before. So I think my dad laid good foundation out of it. And I think all my dad's friends are still his friends, so they speak good about him. 233 00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:46,000 When I was starting also my career outside the shoe, because I did sales also in some stuff, my dad's friend helped me a lot. And that one really helped me grow also. 234 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:59,000 My training, also one of the training I got from my dad was in people skill. Always read so you learn something. So when you talk to people, you got to share something that they might not know and they might appreciate it. 235 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:20,000 That came from my dad. And until now, it's in my core that I get time to read stuff and when I talk to people, what I learned I share. That's what my dad. But also, I want to build a good relationship too with everyone I come across with because I got kids. 236 00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:33,000 And I want my kids to, you know, when they talk to my kids or my kids reach out to the people I know, they will say, let me help you. I know your father and he's probably a decent person or a good person. 237 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:45,000 It's not like I'm doing this because I want them to help back or everything, but it's just how life works. You do good. People want to do to give it back to you. 238 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:50,000 I have about 20 more questions for you, but we've got about two more minutes. 239 00:42:50,000 --> 00:43:16,000 I want to go into what are your strengths and weaknesses as a CEO. I want to go into what have you learned as an investor. There's a lot, but Vision Pros, Bernard has honored us tremendously with his time and I hope that you've taken good notes and just seen opportunities to connect. Some of the lessons that he's talked about as well as some of the familial strengths that he's had. 240 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:25,000 If you don't have that familial strength or that background, then my invitation is to you to look for people who can start to supplement that role. 241 00:43:25,000 --> 00:43:33,000 You know, they don't have to necessarily, my dad wasn't quite in the picture and if he had been more in the picture, it probably wouldn't have been a good thing. 242 00:43:33,000 --> 00:43:47,000 But I drew on the strength of parents, dads at my church and I was very grateful that my mom had that cornerstone for me and neighbors also, their dads became important to me. 243 00:43:47,000 --> 00:43:57,000 So you've got a lot of opportunities out there to find people to learn from and if you happen to have a family of your own, be your best self. 244 00:43:57,000 --> 00:44:06,000 Rely on prayer. Do some of these things that Bernard's talking about and Bernard, you're welcome to share one final thing. If you had one final thing you could share with the Vision Pros audience, what would it be? 245 00:44:06,000 --> 00:44:18,000 Always your mind. Always make it active. That's your greatest weapon. So you observe people you hang out with by what they say, what they do, how they act. 246 00:44:18,000 --> 00:44:32,000 And also you can see where they're going through. You can envision that and if you like them, do the journey with their life. And if not, then let just let them be and find yourself people who's in line with where you're going with life. 247 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:49,000 That's very important to kids. That's very important to us people. That's also very important. So we just have to keep our senses open, observe and make decisions that we're giving time to people we like and we like to become. 248 00:44:49,000 --> 00:45:00,000 Awesome. Vision Pros, definitely check out the progress of brinceedfoundation.org. And Bernard, if they want to get in touch with you, if somebody wants to reach out, what's the best way to do so? 249 00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:08,000 There's the website of, you know, the Foundation website and I have my social media also. 250 00:45:08,000 --> 00:45:10,000 Where are you on social at? 251 00:45:10,000 --> 00:45:12,000 I have Instagram and Facebook. 252 00:45:12,000 --> 00:45:26,000 That's right, the Instagram, of course. So, Graham, him, and of course you can try to reach out on Facebook as well. Bernard, it's been a pleasure. Thanks for being on Vision Pros Live. And hopefully we will have you back soon. It'd be fun to follow up on some of these visions. 253 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:27,000 Okay. Thank you, Jackson. 254 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:44,000 Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate in the show. And thank you for giving us your time and attention.