1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,360 I need to fight. We're grateful for the order we have, but that's, I think it's important, 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:09,380 you know, visionaries if, you know, starting right in with that alone, like visionaries, 3 00:00:09,380 --> 00:00:15,400 if you got a bunch of tabs open, you know, and different systems for your tabs, you have 4 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,520 far more order than most people give you credit for. 5 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:23,320 Exactly. And it's bizarre because more often than not, I know where certain tabs are. Like 6 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,480 you build muscle memory. It's like, well, the ones that I've been saving for there are 7 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:33,480 there and it's interesting. It's almost a different kind of like loyalty metric to certain 8 00:00:33,480 --> 00:00:36,440 products or brands or whatever you keep on there, you know. 9 00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:40,720 I love that. I love it. So you were just talking to me about, you're teaching me about how 10 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:45,560 the order of your tabs is really in essence, the priority of the relationship. And because 11 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:49,200 we were talking about hang tight, I've had hang tight open since we met. When was it 12 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:50,680 two weeks ago, three weeks ago? 13 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,040 Give or take. It feels like a long time. 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:01:00,520 It feels like years. Yes, it does. And so like, I'm glad you validated that, you know, 15 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,680 like a lot of people would be offended. Like, man, like, well, one, why do you have so many 16 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:10,400 tabs open? Two, you know, like really? Like you didn't get to my stuff. You know, like, 17 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,280 what do you do with your time? You know, and you know, as somebody who's run companies 18 00:01:14,280 --> 00:01:24,520 with 175 team members, like every day, there's a presentation of tons of priorities. And 19 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:30,800 so we don't always get to the things that we want to the most. And what do you, I guess 20 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:36,440 as a leadership, let's dive in a little bit prematurely. What, how do you advise your 21 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:43,000 executives when they're feeling, you know, like they're drowning and like they've got 22 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:47,080 so many wonderful things that they need to get done. They can't get to it all. What do 23 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,440 you tell team members like that? 24 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:56,160 I think it's a great question. And I think you're the first person asking that. I think 25 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:00,720 it's my approach is more about why are we even doing this? Right. It's going to the 26 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:06,600 core, the North Star, the why. And I think if you, if you happen to find yourself in 27 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:13,360 a leadership role, let alone an executive role, you're there for a reason. Right. Like 28 00:02:13,360 --> 00:02:21,080 there's, it's not like, well, I guess we backfilled it with you. Right. No, because you're a leader, 29 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:28,920 you have potential and someone typically the co-founders, the CEO, the board had that instinct 30 00:02:28,920 --> 00:02:34,840 that you're the right person for that job. And a lot of hope and faith was put into that 31 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:40,080 job. I just tell them like, remember why you're here in the first place. Right. I didn't bring 32 00:02:40,080 --> 00:02:46,120 you on board because I knew that you could fix everything. That would be naive of me 33 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,360 to expect, but I brought you on board because I know you can figure it out and you know 34 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,320 how to bring the right resources. You know how to ask the help, you know, how to rally 35 00:02:54,320 --> 00:03:00,520 the right team around it. And I think the whole swim or sink culture, right. It's, it's 36 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:06,880 too standard. And I guess regretfully, I don't think it's going to go away. It's just the 37 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:11,760 fact of life in any aspect, even beyond the C-suites and the boardrooms and all that in 38 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,640 life. Right. But I think we just have to keep going back to that core. Why, why are we doing 39 00:03:16,640 --> 00:03:22,960 this? Why, why this job? Right. Of all the different things you could be doing in life, 40 00:03:22,960 --> 00:03:27,120 you choose to be here. And more often than not, that will bring that aha. Like you're 41 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:32,520 right. Like it's not about making my numbers. It's not about improving this metric. It's 42 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:37,720 about the big picture. And when we can tie it to that, that vision, right. I think it 43 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:42,640 changes the paradigm and it just realigns the conversation. It's like, that's why we're 44 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,360 here. Now let's get to it. You know? Oh my goodness. I love that. Um, one of the things 45 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:52,000 that I love that you said too is while we're not going to eliminate the sink or swim culture 46 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:59,120 that's out there, we can't eliminate it from our home. Oh yeah. Yeah. Right. We can eliminate 47 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:04,560 it from our brand. Um, and that's, that's the beauty of knowing like, you know, you 48 00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:10,000 don't have to follow the grind or hustle culture. We don't have to do things one particular 49 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,720 way. We can find people who gravity towards the ground. I love that you said they are 50 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:19,360 here for a reason, right? Executives, you know, that question themselves, you know, 51 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:24,360 our hope is that you stop questioning yourself, right? Right. That's, that's already toxic 52 00:04:24,360 --> 00:04:29,280 in and of itself. You end up becoming a self fulfilling prophecy by eliminating, you know, 53 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:34,400 your own value, but to you double down, he said, remember why you are here in the first 54 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:39,080 place, right? Like if you can remember that initial interview and all the obstacles that 55 00:04:39,080 --> 00:04:43,320 you pass through and you're working with somebody who appreciates you, not because you get everything 56 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:50,880 done, but because of, well, one for who you are to for the reality of that you are being 57 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,400 productive to your max or your best capacity. Like that's something to honor, not something 58 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,520 to feel like you fell short just because there's a bunch of things that couldn't get done. 59 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:03,600 We can't get everything done in a day. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, I fundamentally agree. And I 60 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:10,800 think when it comes to the reason you're here, what is working for someone at its core, right? 61 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:16,400 You are an extension of that person's track to success. So like if you're a, you find 62 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,400 yourself in a leadership role, you're there because the person carrying the biggest burden 63 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:27,120 and responsibility knows that you are going to help them reach their goals and justify 64 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:33,200 the reason for them to be there in that job. So I think it's all about reframing the situation 65 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,800 and realizing that you do play a big part in that mission. 66 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:41,680 This is huge. Okay. We're going to talk about three books or three resources right now that 67 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:46,160 you recommend for visionaries. I'm going to ask you to be super concise unless it's one 68 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:50,720 you created, right? Just book name, author name or whatever, because there's so much 69 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,800 value that I know you're going to be able to give the audience. And I got it to the 70 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,800 audience of who you are and where you came from and why I'm so excited to have you on 71 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:59,240 the show, but go, let's hit it quick. Let's hit it fast. 72 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:04,160 First one, start with why, right? Simon Sinek. I think that one fundamentally shifted the 73 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:11,080 way I think. It forces me to ask why in any given situation. I was going to say I'd be 74 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:18,080 remiss if I didn't see it on your show twice. I need to have multiple copies that I just 75 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:24,080 give to people as it comes in the moment. The second one would absolutely have to be 76 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:32,340 the alchemist, Paolo Coelho. And that's fiction. But at the end of the day, I mean, what better 77 00:06:32,340 --> 00:06:37,840 book about having a vision, about trusting in the universe, about taking those steps 78 00:06:37,840 --> 00:06:42,120 in the proverbial desert, right? I guess in the book they are in the desert. But moving 79 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:47,280 forward with that conviction and that confidence that it is written, there is a path forward. 80 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:52,040 Even if you can't see it, you have to trust that you are taking those steps forward. And 81 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:55,880 I read that one years ago when I stepped into the real world after college and the corporate 82 00:06:55,880 --> 00:07:01,820 world and finance, and I needed to read that to believe that every single minute and second 83 00:07:01,820 --> 00:07:07,480 of drudgery working for the big corporation would lead me somewhere. I look back now and 84 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:12,200 it's like, yeah, hindsight, right? It all made sense that it would get me to where I 85 00:07:12,200 --> 00:07:15,800 am today. I just had to have that faith that I would get there. 86 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:22,800 The third book is called Backable. I forget his first name, but it's like the last name 87 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:31,020 is Gupta. Amazing, phenomenal book. Backable. I read this about two years ago. The key takeaway 88 00:07:31,020 --> 00:07:38,080 about it is figuring out why certain people get backed by the big leagues, by the big 89 00:07:38,080 --> 00:07:43,640 investors, by the big production companies, by whomever takes a big bet on someone. And 90 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:49,640 it tells a very compelling story, very geared towards startup founders, what it really takes. 91 00:07:49,640 --> 00:07:56,040 And not to spoil it, but conviction, right, is a big part of it. You may not know what 92 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,640 it is you're doing, but if you have the right vision and you have the right amount of passion 93 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:07,920 and love for that vision, you can move mountains in a very magical way that defies logic for 94 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,320 most people. I love that. Sunil Gupta. Sunil Gupta. There 95 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:20,120 you go. There you go. I cheated. I looked it up. But it's, again, somebody who, as somebody 96 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:26,080 who has helped hundreds, if not thousands of businesses scale and grow and get off the 97 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:31,520 ground Armando, I can see the power in the recommendation of that book. It will be on 98 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:36,120 the shelf soon enough. Visionaries, be prepared for an amazing episode. We will be right back. 99 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:41,400 All right. Welcome in to Vision Pros Live. With Jackson Calame, I'm your show host. We'll 100 00:08:41,400 --> 00:08:46,480 be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs and guest leaders who are building fantastic 101 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:59,440 visions out there. What is up, Vision Pros? I'm so excited to be here today. Welcome to 102 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:03,000 another episode of Vision Pros Live. I'm your show host, Jackson Calame, founder and CEO 103 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:08,560 of First Class Business. I am so blessed to have my new friend and brother, Armando Vera 104 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:16,400 Carvajal. Oh, I did it, man. I was going to get it. Carvajal. He is on the show today. 105 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:21,680 Two times founder, co-founder, one of those companies growing from he started within the 106 00:09:21,680 --> 00:09:27,400 first five employees, took it over 175 employees. Even more impressive with that, there's two 107 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:32,160 factors that I'll, and I think it's just two that I'll really hit on. One is they scaled 108 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:41,400 within 3.5 years from zero to 2.5 million dollars in monthly recurring revenues. And 109 00:09:41,400 --> 00:09:46,800 he has the least presumptuous personality I've seen in a long time, meaning he is like 110 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:52,600 your everyday awesome person who cares tremendously about people. And it's funny, a lot of these 111 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:56,860 great companies, a lot of these great success stories come with people who you would never 112 00:09:56,860 --> 00:10:02,080 know how relatable they are. And he's just been an absolute delight to get to know. 113 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:08,080 The, the company that he was scaling, by the way, is a company that was helping startups 114 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:16,000 and businesses get funded, get finances, understand the process of scale. So I've scaled some 115 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:21,920 pretty cool companies and with some great leaders, but we weren't focused on 100% driving 116 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:27,160 the foundation of those businesses forward. We were assisting with marketing and we were 117 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,240 doing something here or there. We were helping with really cool video ads and stuff like 118 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:37,320 that. But there's a huge difference in somebody who's dedicated their life and time to learning 119 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:42,840 all about like how to help businesses succeed from different angles at the very foundation 120 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:46,840 of what matters. And it's not about the love of money. It's about the appreciation that 121 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:53,000 the resource of finances and money is what will be the vehicle that ultimately most of 122 00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:56,680 the time determines your success. In addition to what he already shared in terms of wisdom, 123 00:10:56,680 --> 00:11:01,800 your conviction, your passion, your tenacity, and then book packable. Before we bring Armando 124 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,480 back on stage, we're going to talk a little bit about these sponsors too, because they're 125 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:08,160 also incredibly helpful sponsors for people that are out there. Number one is the law 126 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:12,640 spot with Melissa Gray. Melissa had a show with us as well. You're welcome to go and 127 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,640 see that. I'm going to, I'm going to skim past that a little bit because I know that 128 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,440 I'll have the chance to introduce Melissa and Armando later as well and see what they're 129 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,280 up to. It's really cool. But if you don't have proper legal counsel or you're worried 130 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:27,120 that you might be paying a higher return than you should be, or you don't really know how 131 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:31,260 your legal protection works, I highly recommend listening to her episode. And I highly recommend 132 00:11:31,260 --> 00:11:35,720 checking out her program for the Spot on Business Blueprint that she's coming out with right 133 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:39,560 now as well. And just getting to know her as a person, it's so important that we're 134 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:43,320 wise stewards of our ventures, which means protecting ourselves. In addition to that, 135 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:49,620 taking care of our mentalities and understanding where we have needs and vulnerabilities, I've 136 00:11:49,620 --> 00:11:53,880 also got Recovery Unplugged on here now as a sponsor. I've been super impressed with 137 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:58,960 Andrew Sosin, who's the founder of Recovery Unplugged. He also had an episode with us. 138 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:03,640 He's not a paying client. He's not necessarily a friend. I'd call him a friend. But we've 139 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:08,100 only, we've met a couple of times and I'm just so impressed with what he's done to create 140 00:12:08,100 --> 00:12:11,860 addiction recovery programs for people that are out there and need help. And a lot of 141 00:12:11,860 --> 00:12:17,320 entrepreneurs suffer with pretty extreme addictions. I'm going to throw that out there. I'm also 142 00:12:17,320 --> 00:12:22,160 going to own, I have an addictive personality myself. And I've had to learn lots of things 143 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:27,240 throughout my life to help put me in a position to where I pursue the most wonderful things 144 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:33,040 in life. That could be an addiction to drugs or alcohol. It could be an addiction to Netflix 145 00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:38,680 or apps on your phone. There's all sorts of things that can distract us. What Andrew has 146 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:44,520 put together and in terms of also going to Tony Robbins program, 22 years in a row and 147 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,320 driving more than a thousand people to that, I've just been absolutely impressed with his 148 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:52,800 project. He's scaling this nationwide. He's now scaling it virtually as well. And if any 149 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:59,720 of you have, could use some benefit from understanding more tools that can help you stay on standpoint 150 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:03,480 with your greater purposes out there and avoid any type of darkness or distractions that you 151 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:06,920 have, I highly recommend looking and seeing what he's doing. I hope that helps at least 152 00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:11,720 one of you. If it does, it was worth my time to talk about that. The water project is the 153 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:16,760 next object. I don't have my water bottle on me. I usually do for this segment. But that's 154 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,560 also the reason why I talk about the water project. We are so blessed. Those of us listening 155 00:13:20,560 --> 00:13:24,600 in to have access to clean drinking water, I can walk downstairs to my kitchen. I can 156 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,280 get it and go to my bathroom sink and get better water than most people have access 157 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,200 to in life. And I don't ever want to take that for granted. So if you have it in your 158 00:13:32,200 --> 00:13:36,760 heart to share the message of the water project, please do. If you know somebody who might 159 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:42,640 be interested in it, tag them. And if you're inspired to give back to then please do. The 160 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:45,560 cool thing about giving back to the water project is you get to select the community 161 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:48,960 that you're going to help. You get to see how many people are affected by it. And you 162 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:52,280 get to watch it come to fruition because they social media track. They show you the 163 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:57,960 posts of what they created. And you get to see these kids' lives change. And the generational 164 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:02,600 impact that we can have on our world, on our earth, by helping people get access to the 165 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:08,540 resources they need is something that is absolutely worth meditating and pondering. They specifically 166 00:14:08,540 --> 00:14:14,520 pick remote areas of Africa that are also very, very hard to get to. And so our future 167 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:18,680 dream and ambition as a company is we would love to go to one of these sites where this 168 00:14:18,680 --> 00:14:24,240 is happening, take a filming crew with us as well to further promote and showcase what's 169 00:14:24,240 --> 00:14:29,760 happening with the resources, how are we creating change and bringing the people with us too. 170 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:34,640 I want my kids to come to that, my oldest kids specifically, my 12 year old. I want 171 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,760 her to see things like that because that will inspire her as well to look at life through 172 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:45,720 a new lens and say, you know what, what visions can I help produce results for while she also 173 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:50,760 helps us with that project? So lots of great opportunities there. And with that said, Armando 174 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,680 Vera Carvajal is going to be here to help us do the exact same. Dude, thank you so much 175 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,640 for joining us in the midst of South by Southwest for heaven's sake. 176 00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:03,640 Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's such an honor and pleasure to be here, Jackson. And yeah, I 177 00:15:03,640 --> 00:15:09,040 mean, South by Southwest is finally here in Austin. Just so much jumping from thing to 178 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,120 thing to thing to thing. But I have to admit, this is the one thing that I've been looking 179 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:18,240 the most forward to this week. So I'm just very happy to be here with your community. 180 00:15:18,240 --> 00:15:24,480 Oh, dude, that's so big and huge. And as we talked about a little bit beforehand, I'm 181 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:29,600 looking forward to launching a very similar style event in San Antonio. It's one of my 182 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:35,680 big ambitions to pull off is an event aligned with passion pro dot org, which will allow 183 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:40,520 all the passionate people to come in and participate and create the whole fun vibe and music style 184 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:45,560 event and all that. But also in combination with the Academy of First Class Business and 185 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,520 vision pros will be a part of it. And I, yeah, I look forward to sharing that vision with 186 00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:54,000 people like you. So Mike, you just have people that can help bring those types of realities 187 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:55,000 together. 188 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,440 Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I'm in Austin, right? So you can always count on me. I'm more than 189 00:15:59,440 --> 00:16:03,800 happy to be a part of that. Let me know how I can help. I love that. So yeah. 190 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:08,880 Absolutely. So those of you who aren't familiar with South by Southwest SXSW, go ahead and 191 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:13,400 look that up and go find like a highlight reel of what it is. It is the world's largest 192 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:21,120 music video business festival expo. And over 2000 musicians like famous musicians come 193 00:16:21,120 --> 00:16:25,640 into Austin, Texas and perform at the same time, you know, all in different different 194 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:31,040 restaurants, bars. Like it's just not as a huge party with a ton of production and startup 195 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:35,000 and bidder capital stuff all built around it, too. That's that's my synopsis of anything 196 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:36,600 else you would add about it. 197 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:40,880 I mean, I think it's when we have South by it's like two weeks of the world coming to 198 00:16:40,880 --> 00:16:48,640 town. And like you mentioned, it's a it's a syncretism of music, film, tech startups. 199 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:53,520 It's something for everyone. Right. And I think if you're if you're an entrepreneur, 200 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:58,280 you're in a business like this is the place to be to meet the right connections, to enter 201 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:03,800 doors to rooms that ordinarily would be very difficult to access online. You just meet 202 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:10,320 a lot of key decision makers in a very casual environment. So it's always an amazing event. 203 00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:13,080 And being here in Austin, it's it's right there. 204 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:19,200 Absolutely. Now, everybody is listening. I hope you take the sincere time to learn about 205 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,840 Armando's background. You'll be able to do that on your own as well. Go to his LinkedIn 206 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:27,720 and see that. I have great conversations with him about his dad and his dad's ventures and 207 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:33,080 what they did to go from Mexico City to the border and crossing that and integrations 208 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,080 of new cultures and all that, too. And of course, his background in business. Just know 209 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:42,760 that when I named this episode, when wisdom scales, I did that extremely intentionally 210 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:47,440 based on the wisdom that I got to learn from so fast just by spending about an hour with 211 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:52,960 Armando. So Armando, what is your vision right now for those that you serve? 212 00:17:52,960 --> 00:17:57,760 Yeah, I mean, I think you're one of the first people to ask me that question in general. 213 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:03,560 And it really stood out to me. And the vision that I have is to help humanity heal. Right. 214 00:18:03,560 --> 00:18:09,240 At a top level, I think for many years, I've wanted to make a difference. I've wanted to 215 00:18:09,240 --> 00:18:14,920 make an impact in the world. I want to leave my mark for the better and help humanity achieve 216 00:18:14,920 --> 00:18:20,760 that. But it's this discovery and exploration process where you don't really know how you're 217 00:18:20,760 --> 00:18:25,080 going to go about that, how you're going to eventuate it into people's lives. I think 218 00:18:25,080 --> 00:18:30,480 for me, it's come down to what do I have to offer to people? Right. I think I have experiences. 219 00:18:30,480 --> 00:18:35,960 I have unique perspectives. I've been through a lot. I've taken crazy risks, not just in 220 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:42,680 startups, but also in hobbies, right? Mountain climbing and doing very, very crazy things. 221 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:47,980 And through that, I've learned that it's the power of that story, the power of showing 222 00:18:47,980 --> 00:18:54,640 people that someone as ordinary as myself, right, can achieve things if you believe it. 223 00:18:54,640 --> 00:19:00,400 I think you look around, right? We're seeing a very sad reality with a lot of people everywhere, 224 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:05,120 right? Where people don't believe in themselves. People don't think that they can heal and 225 00:19:05,120 --> 00:19:09,600 they don't think that they have what it takes to save themselves, let alone those around 226 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:15,000 them and their communities. And I think the answer is quite simple, right? The answer 227 00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:21,520 is usually within us. And if we take the responsibility and the duty to help ourselves out, it becomes 228 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:27,960 a lot easier to help others. And once I started internalizing that mentality, it became very 229 00:19:27,960 --> 00:19:35,280 clear as day and night that helping humanity heal my way is through my talents, right? 230 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,760 Tech startups, entrepreneurship is one of the things that I've had a calling for for many 231 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:47,640 years. It comes naturally. And I think startups in particular have an inordinate amount of 232 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:52,920 potential to really make an impact, like really, really make an impact and structurally or 233 00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:57,840 fundamentally change the way people lead their lives. You can obviously do that through government, 234 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:03,360 through institutions, albeit a little bit slower, but tech in today's day and age can 235 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:09,440 really change the paradigm. And that's why I'm going about it with what I'm doing. 236 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:13,320 I love it. And hang tight, by the way, if you guys want to look at the app while we're 237 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:19,240 talking about this at the same time, what what Armando is building with, and I don't 238 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:27,760 want to disrespect the buzzword AI with the reality that when AI is done right, you know, 239 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:31,680 that's where you get the series and Alexis and the things that like have monumentally 240 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:37,360 changed the way we do basic things in our life and beyond. Armando's got the background 241 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:41,400 to be able to implement this in a way that most people don't. So that tool in the right 242 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:47,240 hands is amazing. And in this program for Hang tight, I haven't dove into it. And I'll 243 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:55,120 explain exactly why I am so blessed and fortunate to belong in a strong community already, where 244 00:20:55,120 --> 00:20:59,800 I already have a ton of events with a ton of people that I absolutely love, very well 245 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:04,960 organized and assistant to help me maximize my schedule for kids that I take care of. 246 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:10,520 You know, there's there's so that I get to be with as well. There's so many reasons why 247 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:16,240 the app isn't a necessity for my life. But there are many people out there who don't 248 00:21:16,240 --> 00:21:20,840 have that infrastructure of support who feel alone or who don't have the organizational 249 00:21:20,840 --> 00:21:25,360 capacities as well and beyond. Like I know the value of what you're building with this 250 00:21:25,360 --> 00:21:31,320 solution. And that's why I can't wait to eventually like, OK, I want to I want to have the time 251 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:36,520 for this. Because once I see it, too, I'll probably have an effect on me, too, where 252 00:21:36,520 --> 00:21:42,080 I'm like, oh, this will still make everything easier. But so before we dive into your personal 253 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:45,520 vision, talk to me about Hang tight. Let's take a look at it. 254 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:51,720 Yeah, absolutely. So Hang tight is that it's core and AI powered mobile app that is transforming 255 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:57,600 the way people come together. And we're very, very focused on helping communities come together 256 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:03,120 faster, right? Boosting engagement, simplifying that event planning process, really, really 257 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:08,460 removing a lot of the guessing work from how groups come together. In the very beginning, 258 00:22:08,460 --> 00:22:14,120 when we launched Hang tight, we wanted to kind of just go after a broader vision of 259 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:20,160 making it easy for people to hang out. I think that still remains part of our long term vision. 260 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:24,920 But we realized that because of the cold start problem and the need to achieve liquidity 261 00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:31,840 in the network effects, it was better served targeting groups and not just any kind of 262 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:36,360 group, but the particular groups that are currently trying to foster better engagement, 263 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:41,320 better relationships within their communities. So we've focused a lot in the university 264 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:47,060 ecosystem. It's a place ripe for disruption. It's a place where the new generations, Gen Z 265 00:22:47,060 --> 00:22:53,120 and so on and so forth, they really want the tools to strengthen their relationships to 266 00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:57,200 better engage with their communities, also discover new communities to which they can 267 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:02,680 belong and also meet people in a much more intentional manner. That's a big part of what 268 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:09,600 we're doing. We've been around for give or take almost two years coming up in late April. 269 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,840 And it's been it's been a journey, right? But it's been one that I'm very proud of and 270 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,240 one that is very much aligned with my personal vision. 271 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:21,320 Yeah, that's amazing. And let's let's dive into that too. Let's dive into your personal 272 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,280 vision. What what are your personal vision? 273 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,640 I think at the end of the day, I mentioned and alluded to earlier, I think helping community 274 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:33,480 heal. I think that that translates across everything I'd like to do in life. Startups 275 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:40,360 are a very big part of it professionally. But personally, I I'm a visual creative. From 276 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:45,240 a young age, I've had I've been told that and I didn't say others have told me I have 277 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:51,520 an eye for photography. I have an eye for art. I like to paint art abstractly. I also 278 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:59,080 like to write a lot fiction, nonfiction. I think all of that creative process ties into 279 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:05,500 my desire to to help humanity heal. And I think I can do that by telling the right stories, 280 00:24:05,500 --> 00:24:13,080 by helping bring people the right kind of content that is relatable, that is not just 281 00:24:13,080 --> 00:24:18,680 designed to drive clicks and conversion, but that will actually help them push through 282 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:24,680 whatever is holding them back in life. I love that. It's it's interesting. I had a gentleman 283 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:31,160 on our show. Golly, he was he was an amazing leader. I'll have to think back on his name 284 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:33,920 because you know, you like you meet amazing people. You're like, man, I just want to spend 285 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:38,720 the rest of my life talking to that person. And then you got you got different paths. 286 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,560 You got different missions to go on. But he taught he almost apologetically said that 287 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:48,400 his focus was on on ending the suffering. And I like that you're not apologetic about 288 00:24:48,400 --> 00:24:52,720 it, too, though you realize and value the fact that, you know, many people out there 289 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:58,480 are suffering. In fact, I would I think most of us in some regard are suffering, you know, 290 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:04,200 or have something to heal from. And having that as a vision and a mission, you know, 291 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:11,160 to me, it it shows in your demeanor that that's your focus, because I see somebody who is 292 00:25:11,160 --> 00:25:18,160 centered, who's present, who values relationships. And sometimes leaders of businesses lose sight 293 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:22,680 of that. I don't think it helps them with the growth of their business. Diving into 294 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:27,960 a little bit darker version of that that conversation. What would you say your worst leadership 295 00:25:27,960 --> 00:25:32,720 experience ever is, meaning one that you've had one that you've seen, one that you've 296 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:38,680 been a part of? Yeah, I mean, I think, wow, no one's actually ever asked me that. And 297 00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:47,400 I love how you always ask these questions. That's my job. Thank you. I think I am. I'll 298 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:54,560 put an interesting twist on my answer here. When I was working at my spouse company, not 299 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,480 to brag, but a lot of people wanted to work with me. They wanted to transfer to work under 300 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:05,440 me. I want to work with you. I get that. Yeah, they're and, you know, through the sort of 301 00:26:05,440 --> 00:26:10,640 the the water cooler, I try to figure out why I like why do they really want to work 302 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:15,720 in one of my teams? And it came down to me trying to foster the culture that I never 303 00:26:15,720 --> 00:26:21,640 had. Right. And and I would say this if people are like, how is it that you're not, I guess, 304 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:27,080 the terrible boss that is so proverbial out there in the real world? And I said, well, 305 00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:32,280 I've never had the boss that I actually wanted. I always had pretty bad leaders, pretty bad 306 00:26:32,280 --> 00:26:39,880 managers. And for good measure. Right. I think it showed me it gave me a lot of that perspective. 307 00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:48,280 People that in some regards did not see my potential whatsoever. And oftentimes, the 308 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:54,880 worst part of it was that that wasn't tied to some external factor that we could perhaps 309 00:26:54,880 --> 00:27:01,320 control like performance. Oftentimes, it was tied to assumptions, prejudice, the way I 310 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:08,840 look, the way I talk, where I'm from, what I intel. How do you control that? Right. Especially 311 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:15,280 when you're in a situation where you need the job, you need the opportunity. I remember 312 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:20,160 at a young age, my dad told me, like, when you're young, you need to be in a position 313 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:23,960 where you let people use you. Right. You need to earn your favors. You need to work your 314 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:29,760 way up and earn your spot in in that organization, that structure. And I think it's right to 315 00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:34,160 an extent. But then it comes to a point where you have to draw the fine line and say, what 316 00:27:34,160 --> 00:27:41,200 is right for me? And how am I going to be a part of the solution, a part of the change? 317 00:27:41,200 --> 00:27:50,560 I want to say the worst leadership experiences I've had were all the past ones. And obviously, 318 00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:57,080 there's good to everything, right? There's always ups and downs. But at Hang Tide, right, 319 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:02,160 I want to foster a place where people genuinely, they're here because they believe in it. And 320 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:05,560 if they believe in it, they believe in me. Right. And they believe in who I am and what 321 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:11,680 I bring to the table as a human, not just as a guy who signs paychecks, right, as somebody 322 00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:19,440 that they feel they belong. I didn't get that a lot. I got a lot of prejudice, a lot of 323 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:27,120 racist remarks, a lot of discrimination. But hey, you learn from that. And you use that 324 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:32,280 as the motivation to be the change in others' lives. 325 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:39,040 Absolutely. You know, there's sometimes those realities come full circle in the best of 326 00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:44,080 ways. It doesn't always happen. You know, sometimes two people are stubborn, you know, 327 00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:48,720 and they stay different. But I've had so many occasions in my life where it did come full 328 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:54,760 circle, you know, and it would have been easy to be like, screw you, you sucked. You know, 329 00:28:54,760 --> 00:29:01,080 you were awful. And because I didn't, a lot of those relationships have restored. Sometimes 330 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:04,840 I was the one who would go in and say, hello, look, I just want to apologize because I know 331 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:09,080 it's difficult. You know, at that time, and I know that I had a lot to learn. And, you 332 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,000 know, there's things I was frustrated about, but I also know you had every right to be 333 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:16,520 frustrated with me, blah, blah, blah. And then next thing you know, we're having a very 334 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:23,640 wonderful conversation. Or one of those managers is like, you know, one of them was like, oh 335 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:30,640 my gosh, you were hell to deal with. And I was like, I laugh. I was, I know. And they 336 00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:34,480 didn't necessarily gravitate towards, you know, oh yeah, let's be buddies or let's build 337 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:41,040 something again together. But a mutual respect was established. And did they do things wrong 338 00:29:41,040 --> 00:29:46,240 in their set? Yes. But some of those have become some of my like long-term partnerships 339 00:29:46,240 --> 00:29:51,480 again, where I like, I know for a fact, we're meant to work well together, but the discrimination 340 00:29:51,480 --> 00:29:56,920 I faced wasn't the same as, as a racist discrimination. One of the ones I got often was you don't 341 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:01,480 have a degree. So, you know what, you know, like we always have to take like Jackson, 342 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:05,160 you know, they got a good point. Like why should they follow your strategy? You know, 343 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,680 you didn't finish schooling. It was like a constant like, oh my gosh, like I hate being 344 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,280 right. You know, but. 345 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:20,240 You brought up an excellent point that is so understated. And I think it's the one about 346 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:26,180 not burning bridges. I learned that one not late in life. Fortunately, I learned it earlier 347 00:30:26,180 --> 00:30:32,160 on where in those moments where it feels so unfair, when the scale is not balanced and 348 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:36,760 you're getting the end of the stick all the time, you want to burn those bridges. You're 349 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:42,160 looking, you're fantasizing that you're leaving and throwing the F you and F you. And it's 350 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:45,840 like, I didn't do that, but we all want to do that. 351 00:30:45,840 --> 00:30:50,160 Right, right. There's a part of us that's like, oh, we feel justified in doing it. 352 00:30:50,160 --> 00:30:54,880 Yeah. But the thing is like to your point, you never really know when those relationships 353 00:30:54,880 --> 00:31:00,680 will come back. And then I've found myself in that situation where like, you know, on 354 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:05,560 either side of the table where I need someone that I might have burned a bridge with or 355 00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:09,280 they need me. Right. And it's one of those situations where it's not like, well, there's 356 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:14,440 a large pool of options. They might be the only option for what I need in that moment. 357 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:18,960 And that's where you really have to appeal to the human side of humans. Right. 358 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:24,080 It could not be more timely of a conversation either, because last night I had one of those 359 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:29,440 exact moments and the weirdest of ways. So here I am. I drive the wrong way because I 360 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:34,000 just moved apartments. So I drove to my old apartment, 25 minutes out of the way, you 361 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,660 know, and I realized, oh crap, I have to drive all the way across the city. I get a phone 362 00:31:38,660 --> 00:31:43,380 call that at like 10 PM and I can't get off the phone. It's like 11. The guy's talking 363 00:31:43,380 --> 00:31:46,840 like crazy. And I enjoyed the conversation, but like, I'm trying to get off for 30 minutes. 364 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:50,280 Finally get off and I'm parked in this gas station wanting to go home. I decided to go 365 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,560 in and get a drink. I don't even want to drink. I just like, I feel like I had to go in at 366 00:31:53,560 --> 00:32:00,320 this point. You know, so I go in and literally my ex boss is walking out of this random gas 367 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:05,160 station in the middle of San Antonio and Dallas at 11 PM. He lives in the far Northwest side 368 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:09,000 of San Antonio. And, you know, I'm like, Hey, you know, like, it's great to see you, Natech. 369 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:13,960 And I give him a big hug. And he's one of the best CEO leaders I've ever worked with. 370 00:32:13,960 --> 00:32:19,200 And when we started working together, our, my main condition was, you know, if you throw 371 00:32:19,200 --> 00:32:23,640 the degree in my face, we're done. You know, like it's, it's not happening. And we, you 372 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:28,560 know, his team had a challenge and they wanted the blog post to be 900 words. You know, it's 373 00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:33,520 like, no, we want our blog post to be valuable. Oh, I mean, a lot, it's not a trick game for 374 00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:37,120 Google. It doesn't work the way people think. And well, what does he know? He doesn't have 375 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:40,760 a degree, right? It became a challenge. And I ended up at video power marketing because 376 00:32:40,760 --> 00:32:46,520 of it. Thank goodness. But that, that separation that occurred was a difficult one for, for 377 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:51,360 him, you know, for me leaving, I did team up with two project managers that worked with 378 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:55,240 him for like a year and a half, but there was always this kind of like, ah, like we 379 00:32:55,240 --> 00:33:01,840 didn't like how it ended. And at the same time, to be able to acknowledge those realities 380 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,880 and still maintain the friendship and the respect for the virtues that are there and 381 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:10,040 be able to potentially build on in the future, you just never know what you're going to see. 382 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:14,200 And he works with my best friend, my best man, continues to develop software with him 383 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:21,200 and stuff. So, um, it's always helpful to have the, the leadership attitude of, of being 384 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:26,200 able to restore being, being the person who restores. And I know that Natasha would have 385 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:30,660 done the same thing. Um, and I'll like, regardless of whether it was me or not, let's dive into 386 00:33:30,660 --> 00:33:34,960 more best leadership experiences. Um, what, what would you say your best leadership experience 387 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:40,320 has been? Yeah, I want to be a model because I'm going to, I'm going to give you credit. 388 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:43,480 I'm going to give you a trophy right now for best leadership experience, because you are 389 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:49,400 creating that you are actively making that the goal of your mission to lead by being 390 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:54,280 the best you can for those that you serve. What's an external opportunity where you've 391 00:33:54,280 --> 00:33:57,360 seen that done pretty well. 392 00:33:57,360 --> 00:34:06,600 Mm hmm. I think, um, and thank you by the way. Um, I think an example of it where I, 393 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:12,200 I lived it directly was, you know, when you're in a leadership position, you have to make 394 00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:16,920 very difficult decisions and you have to make them fast. Right. That's I guess why they 395 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:23,880 paid big bucks. But I think, um, I was in a situation where in my past company where 396 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:28,540 we were scaling rapidly, right. You mentioned five to 175. It actually was a little bit 397 00:34:28,540 --> 00:34:34,520 closer to 200. Um, and you know, it's things like a million month, you recurring revenue 398 00:34:34,520 --> 00:34:39,520 within three and a half years. That's crazy. Yeah. I mean, if you told me at the beginning 399 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:43,200 of that journey that we would be there and give or take three ish years, I'd say you're 400 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:48,920 crazy. Right. But that's how you're doing 36,000 a month. The recurring revenues within 401 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:55,520 three years at restaurant connect. Yeah. But I think, um, in that scenario, there were, 402 00:34:55,520 --> 00:35:00,280 you know, there are these, these have been flows where you have the possibilities, but 403 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:03,920 then you need to constrain them to like stay within budget and so on and so forth. And 404 00:35:03,920 --> 00:35:09,520 I think there were points where, you know, inevitably like you have to make cuts, right. 405 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,600 And it comes down to like, well, can we justify people and so on and so forth. And I think 406 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:20,200 for me, it always came down to a little, well, can you take these people on? Can you like 407 00:35:20,200 --> 00:35:23,960 give them a second chance that I guess no one else at the table sees a chance for them? 408 00:35:23,960 --> 00:35:29,520 And I think I always look at the potential of the person. And that makes me think about 409 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:36,480 what you were just sharing the credentials. I will admit, and as unpopular as this opinion 410 00:35:36,480 --> 00:35:41,880 is, I don't really care about your resume. Um, I, in the past, you know, I get tons of 411 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:46,720 resumes. They're nice to have. They're nice to skim. I really do just skim them very fast 412 00:35:46,720 --> 00:35:52,320 to be like, what is the pattern that I'm seeing? Is this person technical? Is this person biz 413 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:56,320 dev? Is this a relationship builder? Do they make mistakes on their presentation? 414 00:35:56,320 --> 00:36:02,480 Is it too good to be true? Right. I just want to get sort of the reason for that. And, but 415 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:07,880 what is the potential? Where can we go from here? And I think that mindset helped me a 416 00:36:07,880 --> 00:36:13,320 lot in those situations where it's like, well, this person does not have the skillset for 417 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:19,080 the job that could save them from getting laid off. But they certainly have the potential 418 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:23,400 to learn it fast. And I've seen them in other projects and initiatives, not mine, but I've 419 00:36:23,400 --> 00:36:29,600 heard about it. And I think having the ability to quickly discern the potential in someone 420 00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:35,280 is a very key trait of leaders. Um, it's at the end of the day, what you have to do, right? 421 00:36:35,280 --> 00:36:39,800 Leaders at the end of the day, they lead, right? They can't just lead to an empty room. 422 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:45,520 So being able to figure out, can this person do it? Have they done it? Will they do it? 423 00:36:45,520 --> 00:36:51,800 Is something that I learned a lot at that time. And at the end of the day, the people 424 00:36:51,800 --> 00:36:56,420 that I was able to give a second chance and effectively repurpose in different jobs, they 425 00:36:56,420 --> 00:37:00,880 succeeded in those tremendously, right? Because I took a bet and a risk on them that no one 426 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:06,360 else was willing to do. And they're in great places now in life. 427 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:12,680 It's mind blowing how the opposite of advice, right? Can often be the best and the best 428 00:37:12,680 --> 00:37:16,680 advice you ever receive. And I know so many people like their mind blows on that. They're 429 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:20,080 like, I don't want to hear that. Like the book by Daniel Pink, I think it's by Daniel 430 00:37:20,080 --> 00:37:23,360 Pink. It's the think fast and slow, thinking fast and slow. 431 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:31,400 It's like, whoa, wait a second. You just say that. And Gary Vaynerchuk taught me right 432 00:37:31,400 --> 00:37:37,520 through YouTube, my little YouTube mentorship. I heard one video where he said, I am not 433 00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:41,360 allowed in the HR department because I see the potential in everybody. 434 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:42,360 Oh yeah. 435 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:46,280 And so I'll give a job to anybody. And then next thing you know, we got people who aren't 436 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:52,480 doing the job because I saw what they could be, not who they are. And again, it's not 437 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,720 to be taken and saying, well, okay, good. I better just hang on to the word yes and 438 00:37:55,720 --> 00:38:01,140 never use the word no, right? There's a balance to be had. And so I love that you bring that 439 00:38:01,140 --> 00:38:11,040 up because the potential is possible to fulfill. It might take a little bit longer or the process 440 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:16,440 of unlocking it might take a little bit of a unique path to figure out. But once you 441 00:38:16,440 --> 00:38:22,720 do, the trajectory is often phenomenal if you have that gift to help people do that. 442 00:38:22,720 --> 00:38:28,280 We're running out of time. And I want to make sure that this question gets hit, Armando, 443 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:31,800 because it's my favorite question when people actually internalize it. And that's if this 444 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:37,080 was your last chance, open your mouth, last chance to teach something, what would the 445 00:38:37,080 --> 00:38:42,680 powerful lesson be for other visionaries that they can learn from your experience? 446 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:52,160 I would say have the courage to believe that it's you, right? Have the courage to believe 447 00:38:52,160 --> 00:38:57,720 that the shoes that you're filling right now are meant for you to fill. And I think I was 448 00:38:57,720 --> 00:39:03,240 at a panel at my alma mater, University of Texas the other night, I got invited by the 449 00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:10,480 alumni network to give a talk with a handful of other select alumni and students bushy 450 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:15,600 eyed, right? They're like big, big questions about life, about picking a path, et cetera. 451 00:39:15,600 --> 00:39:22,520 And they asked me, Armando, like, what's the one thing that you wish you could have learned 452 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:28,060 sooner? And I would be like to believe in myself, right? And I think it's such a powerful 453 00:39:28,060 --> 00:39:33,720 lesson for visionaries because we are our worst enemy. At the end of the day, we see 454 00:39:33,720 --> 00:39:39,440 the world, we experienced it from the vantage point of our limitations, of our ideas or 455 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:47,680 biases. It's all fabricated in here. And I think if you knew me as a kid, as a student, 456 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:53,320 as a newbie, a rookie in the corporate world and startups, you'd know for a fact that Armando 457 00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:58,440 is always the person that is doubting himself. Overworking himself to death, working harder 458 00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:03,480 than everyone, trying to do it as best as possible, quality, quality, quality, but still 459 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:07,280 don't feel like it's good enough. Still feel like I'm an imposter and I shouldn't even 460 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:11,240 be here. And why am I even here? And why are people applauding and saying that I'm doing 461 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:16,000 good when I don't feel it's good enough? And I think it comes down to that belief that 462 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:20,640 maybe I don't belong here, right? And that's the biggest lesson that I think visionaries 463 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:26,200 should have is that you do belong. You do belong and you have to believe in yourself 464 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:31,040 because more often than not, it's not even about yourself. I think the biggest impact 465 00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:36,000 to make in people's lives is not about who we are. It's about the opportunity, the insight, 466 00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:41,280 the realization that we deliver them. And we are the conduits of that message on this 467 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:50,520 planet in this lifetime. How many lost opportunities are wasted every single day because people 468 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:56,440 just don't believe in each other, right? Because people are so swarmed and bombarded by false 469 00:40:56,440 --> 00:41:00,520 narratives on social media telling them that you should do this, you should do that, you 470 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:04,240 should be this, right? When in reality they should be listening to their gut and saying, 471 00:41:04,240 --> 00:41:11,600 I could do this, I could be that, right? And I think it's a very sad waste of potential 472 00:41:11,600 --> 00:41:15,880 on this planet. People don't believe in themselves and this world would be very different if 473 00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:16,880 they did. 474 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:24,320 I clap for your change, not the sad world that we're in. No, guys, I'm not a narcissist, 475 00:41:24,320 --> 00:41:30,480 but visionaries, you are the visionary of your life. All of you listening in, like Armando 476 00:41:30,480 --> 00:41:35,040 believes it, I believe it. That's what it's all about is being able to unlock that truth 477 00:41:35,040 --> 00:41:40,000 within you and be able to follow it. And my hope too, I've never shared this with the 478 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:45,980 audience, but we do have a group called First Class Businesses. Now our Facebook group is 479 00:41:45,980 --> 00:41:49,720 pretty much limited to people. We only tell people who come to the show experience about 480 00:41:49,720 --> 00:41:54,440 it, that hey, we have this group and it's a designed process to bring visionaries together. 481 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:57,240 We have about a hundred people on there now that people have been on the show that actually 482 00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:01,840 use Facebook, they're in there and we're quiet. There's not a lot of noise that goes on in 483 00:42:01,840 --> 00:42:06,720 there because we're also all producers. We're all producing on our own journey and our own 484 00:42:06,720 --> 00:42:11,480 path and we're not consumers of content. We produce results, but being able to go back 485 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:17,280 to that hub and find my little black book of people who are actively believing in themselves, 486 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:21,000 people who are actively producing, being able to go to some of those and say, guys, today 487 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:29,400 I don't feel like I can do this. Today I feel crushed by the world and what's going on. 488 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:33,880 Brad Powell of Awesome Video Makers calls it the seven minute call. That call where 489 00:42:33,880 --> 00:42:39,680 you can just call and say like, dude, help me. I feel stuck. Formulating friendships 490 00:42:39,680 --> 00:42:46,760 like that, a network of people like that. That is one of the most powerful assets I 491 00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:54,000 would add to support that belief that you don't have to build that belief alone if you're 492 00:42:54,000 --> 00:43:01,480 there right now and that's your network. And consider the wise words of Gary V to build 493 00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:07,960 your inner circle of five and 10 of people who truly believe in you and want to see you 494 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,180 be your best self. Look for those people. 495 00:43:10,180 --> 00:43:14,680 Adam Skelter You are the average. You are the sum of the five people with whom you spend 496 00:43:14,680 --> 00:43:19,560 the most time, period. So you can either sink or swim with those people. So if you're going 497 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:24,100 to be the average of those five, pick wisely, pick people who believe in you and have the 498 00:43:24,100 --> 00:43:26,520 courage to keep propelling you forward and upward. 499 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:32,280 Brad Powell I love it. So those of you who are looking for mentorship, mentors love to 500 00:43:32,280 --> 00:43:37,800 have mentees too. So don't hesitate to reach out to Armando on LinkedIn and on other platforms 501 00:43:37,800 --> 00:43:41,800 as well. If you have comments, leave them in the, you know, if you're busy, just leave 502 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:45,920 a comment right here so we can get back to you. You know, if you want to be on the show, 503 00:43:45,920 --> 00:43:49,280 then as you go to the landing page and you certainly you'll see the action steps. You 504 00:43:49,280 --> 00:43:53,560 can see hang tight and download it and see what Armando is building with that. If he 505 00:43:53,560 --> 00:43:57,120 has other action, if you have other action items, Armando, things that you want to reference 506 00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:01,400 to people, then let's certainly leave them a path to where they can go for that. We'll 507 00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:05,160 put all that on the landing page. In the top right corner, there's a button and it says 508 00:44:05,160 --> 00:44:09,680 be our guest. If you have a vision to help and serve people, it doesn't matter if you're 509 00:44:09,680 --> 00:44:14,100 Richard Branson, doesn't matter if you're Ed Sheeran, doesn't matter if your vision 510 00:44:14,100 --> 00:44:20,120 is local and based on a smaller community, if it's virtuous, we want it on this show. 511 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:23,600 We want to be talking about it with the world. But Ed Sheeran and Richard Branson, we'd love 512 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:27,800 to have you too. Don't forget you can come and join us. But Armando, thanks for joining 513 00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:32,320 us today. Any final, any final things you want to leave with the audience? 514 00:44:32,320 --> 00:44:41,840 I mean, I think if you're an entrepreneur, if you're a business owner, I think you have 515 00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:48,440 to take advantage of the resources you have, like this community, right? I think the, the 516 00:44:48,440 --> 00:44:54,140 entrepreneurship process is a very, very lonely one. It's something we hear a lot. It's something 517 00:44:54,140 --> 00:44:58,680 you actually get to experience when you're doing it. Very, very few people can relate 518 00:44:58,680 --> 00:45:05,840 to what you face day to day. We love to hear about the fairy tale resolution, right? The 519 00:45:05,840 --> 00:45:08,760 happily ever after when the company's been acquired. 520 00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:12,080 $2.5 million in month of recurring revenues. 521 00:45:12,080 --> 00:45:18,040 Everyone, everyone, everyone believes in you when they believe in you. But in the beginning, 522 00:45:18,040 --> 00:45:23,240 no one believes in you. And it's very hard pill to swallow. And I think you need to surround 523 00:45:23,240 --> 00:45:28,440 yourself as you were just saying, with the people who believe in your potential. And 524 00:45:28,440 --> 00:45:34,680 as a founder, it's very hard. So I would say, don't, don't do this journey alone. Find more 525 00:45:34,680 --> 00:45:41,720 people, find the mentors, a support network to do it. Because every success out there 526 00:45:41,720 --> 00:45:46,480 went through a very similar journey where it was dotted with failures. It was dotted 527 00:45:46,480 --> 00:45:51,040 with setbacks. It was dotted with moments where they thought there's no better option 528 00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:56,360 to just give up and turn around. But behind every one of those critical decisions, there 529 00:45:56,360 --> 00:46:00,280 was someone who said, no, you got to keep going. So find those people. And I think this 530 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:02,640 is the right place to start. 531 00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:06,680 Thank you, Armando. That's right, visionaries, come and join us. Come be part of this, this 532 00:46:06,680 --> 00:46:10,000 movement, these movements, all of these. Feel free to reach out to any of our past guests. 533 00:46:10,000 --> 00:46:15,680 Of course, let's go hang tight with Armando as well. We'll put that link in there. Everybody 534 00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:18,480 have a fantastic rest of your day. We'll see you on the next episode. Peace. 535 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:22,960 Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 536 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:27,760 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. 537 00:46:27,760 --> 00:46:31,640 This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll 538 00:46:31,640 --> 00:46:35,280 invite people to participate in the show. And thank you for giving us your time and 539 00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:53,680 attention. Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a vision.