WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.279 Please share with me your first, last name, where 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:03.879 you're located, and the name of your business. 00:00:04.860 --> 00:00:09.460 Sure. Dennis Metter. I do go by DM, kind of friends, 00:00:09.539 --> 00:00:12.300 family, things like that. So if you're more comfortable 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:15.400 with Dennis, that's fine. DM is fine. I actually 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:19.679 live on an island in Belize. San Pedro is the 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.179 name of the town. Most people would know it as 00:00:22.179 --> 00:00:24.359 like there was a song in the 80s from Madonna's. 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:29.089 Last night I dreamed of San Pedro. La Isla Bonita, 00:00:29.230 --> 00:00:32.609 that song, right? So that's where I live. I've 00:00:32.609 --> 00:00:34.810 been here about two and a half years. My company's 00:00:34.810 --> 00:00:37.590 based out of Austin. I was in Austin for about 00:00:37.590 --> 00:00:40.130 a decade, made a lot of relationships there. 00:00:40.310 --> 00:00:43.929 But when you own a remote virtual company, why 00:00:43.929 --> 00:00:46.329 would I live someplace that I have to commute 00:00:46.329 --> 00:00:48.250 in different? If I run errands, it takes me five 00:00:48.250 --> 00:00:50.270 hours to get from one side of town to the other 00:00:50.270 --> 00:00:53.109 and back and forth. When I now live on an island, 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:55.689 I jump on the golf cart and a long trip is 15 00:00:55.689 --> 00:00:59.420 minutes each way. um so yeah that's that's who 00:00:59.420 --> 00:01:01.420 i am that's where i'm at my company is called 00:01:01.420 --> 00:01:05.159 the legal podcast network and essentially what 00:01:05.159 --> 00:01:08.420 we do is turn key podcasting for the legal industry 00:01:08.420 --> 00:01:11.359 both attorneys and people who market to attorneys 00:01:11.359 --> 00:01:13.680 because we have such a big marketing system we're 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:15.560 able to kind of work with those businesses as 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:18.599 well we have like certified financial planners 00:01:18.599 --> 00:01:20.780 that focus on lawyers we have a guy that has 00:01:20.780 --> 00:01:23.719 an ai company that is all for law firms things 00:01:23.719 --> 00:01:26.569 like that Where we work with individuals like 00:01:26.569 --> 00:01:28.290 that all the way to like your standard personal 00:01:28.290 --> 00:01:31.450 injury attorney, corporate attorney, whatever 00:01:31.450 --> 00:01:35.310 it is, anybody who their different differentiating 00:01:35.310 --> 00:01:38.849 factor is what's going on here. You know, if 00:01:38.849 --> 00:01:41.170 if what makes them different than their competition 00:01:41.170 --> 00:01:44.049 is what's here, then we want to take that and 00:01:44.049 --> 00:01:46.290 we want to put that into the place where over 00:01:46.290 --> 00:01:49.209 80 percent of people now use to solely find their 00:01:49.209 --> 00:01:52.829 attorney, which is the Internet. So so many attorneys 00:01:52.829 --> 00:01:55.390 will be like, listen, you know, if I can get 00:01:55.390 --> 00:01:57.030 them to sit in front of me and I'm like, listen, 00:01:57.090 --> 00:02:01.150 it's not 2018. 82 % are going to check out your 00:02:01.150 --> 00:02:02.329 website. They're going to do this. They're going 00:02:02.329 --> 00:02:03.870 to do that. They're going to see your review. 00:02:04.170 --> 00:02:06.430 They're going to do all of this. And then they'll 00:02:06.430 --> 00:02:08.909 decide if they're going to call you. And if they 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:11.349 call you, you're nothing but a commodity on a 00:02:11.349 --> 00:02:13.389 list. And their first question is going to be, 00:02:13.409 --> 00:02:16.189 how much is it? And that's just not a great dynamic 00:02:16.189 --> 00:02:19.150 for a lawyer. So that's who we are. In essence, 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:20.990 that's what we do is we help attorneys build 00:02:20.990 --> 00:02:25.430 authority and build thought leadership, establish 00:02:25.430 --> 00:02:28.610 authoritative positioning. That's really the 00:02:28.610 --> 00:02:30.569 key. And really with any business, if you can 00:02:30.569 --> 00:02:33.509 establish authoritative positioning where when 00:02:33.509 --> 00:02:36.990 people are coming to you as the expert that they 00:02:36.990 --> 00:02:39.930 want to work with versus coming to you and saying, 00:02:39.930 --> 00:02:42.030 well, how much and how are you better than that 00:02:42.030 --> 00:02:45.569 guy? it totally changes the dynamic. Your conversion 00:02:45.569 --> 00:02:49.530 rates will go from 10, 20 % to 70, 80%. Your 00:02:49.530 --> 00:02:51.750 time spent with people that you don't want to 00:02:51.750 --> 00:02:54.949 spend time with will reduce drastically. We also 00:02:54.949 --> 00:02:57.830 focus on helping them cultivate their ideal client 00:02:57.830 --> 00:03:01.729 profile. And so you're spending time only talking 00:03:01.729 --> 00:03:03.750 to people whose cases you would actually want 00:03:03.750 --> 00:03:06.949 to take instead of being like. Man, you know, 00:03:07.009 --> 00:03:08.889 I don't really want to take this case, but I 00:03:08.889 --> 00:03:10.669 got to, you know, I got to pay the rent. So let 00:03:10.669 --> 00:03:13.150 me take this case. So that's what we really focus 00:03:13.150 --> 00:03:15.210 on helping attorneys do. And eventually we will 00:03:15.210 --> 00:03:17.750 be branching out into other professional realms 00:03:17.750 --> 00:03:19.650 as well. But I've worked with attorneys for 21 00:03:19.650 --> 00:03:22.610 years. So it was a very natural thing for me 00:03:22.610 --> 00:03:24.629 to say, we're going to build this program for 00:03:24.629 --> 00:03:28.129 attorneys because I know what they need and I 00:03:28.129 --> 00:03:30.490 know what they think they need. And so I present 00:03:30.490 --> 00:03:32.469 them what they think they need while giving them 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:37.300 what they need. Got it. I love that. Need is 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:43.560 the specific word. So I just want to help myself 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:48.180 define this. You have a you have bring legal 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:53.439 individuals, lawyers. To create a podcast to 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.020 separate themselves from others that are down 00:03:57.020 --> 00:04:00.159 that list that allows people to get to know them 00:04:00.159 --> 00:04:02.840 by way of discussion like we're having and set 00:04:02.840 --> 00:04:05.479 them apart. Is that correct? Correct. But it's 00:04:05.479 --> 00:04:08.560 more of a FAQ sort of situation. So I like to 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:11.139 use this illustration if like divorce attorney, 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:13.560 let's just say divorce. I type in divorce attorney, 00:04:13.719 --> 00:04:16.560 Austin, Texas, and I get 100 attorneys. So the 00:04:16.560 --> 00:04:18.600 only point of differentiation at that point is 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:22.029 cost. But what if. I know a divorce is coming, 00:04:22.149 --> 00:04:24.269 maybe because of me, maybe because of my spouse. 00:04:24.410 --> 00:04:26.790 I could just feel things are fishy. I'm a high 00:04:26.790 --> 00:04:29.629 net worth individual. And so I go online and 00:04:29.629 --> 00:04:31.790 I'm like, listen, I know that she's probably 00:04:31.790 --> 00:04:33.589 going to get the house or he's, you know, whatever 00:04:33.589 --> 00:04:36.389 custody. But they might go, what happens to a 00:04:36.389 --> 00:04:39.110 second home during a divorce? What happens to 00:04:39.110 --> 00:04:41.709 a boat during a divorce? What is the difference 00:04:41.709 --> 00:04:44.209 between joint custody, split custody, blah, blah, 00:04:44.290 --> 00:04:47.329 blah. So they go in and they start most people 00:04:47.329 --> 00:04:52.170 who are. more on the intellectual side of things 00:04:52.170 --> 00:04:55.029 they research before they make decisions yes 00:04:55.029 --> 00:04:58.629 yes a lot of people just attorney you know austin 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:01.709 that's not research no that's just a list yes 00:05:01.709 --> 00:05:03.990 that's just like walking into the store and saying 00:05:03.990 --> 00:05:07.189 you know oh here's a cereal box aisle what kind 00:05:07.189 --> 00:05:10.029 of cereal do i want and you know they all have 00:05:10.029 --> 00:05:12.360 the same label And you're just and you know, 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:14.480 you have no doubt. What do they taste like? What 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:16.439 are they? You know, you know, what what what 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:18.319 are the ingredients? You know, none of that. 00:05:18.360 --> 00:05:21.319 You just see 50 cereal boxes that all look exactly 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:23.740 the same. Well, it's the same thing with attorneys 00:05:23.740 --> 00:05:26.540 now and a lot of professional, a lot of professions 00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:28.540 out there. You could say chiropractors, just 00:05:28.540 --> 00:05:31.639 anything where there's been a commoditization 00:05:31.639 --> 00:05:33.360 of their industry through the Internet. So now 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:36.100 what we're able to do is essentially take one 00:05:36.100 --> 00:05:38.920 of those box tops and say, OK, now this box top 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:41.800 says that. You're an expert in high net worth 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:45.560 divorces, and it has podcasts where you're answering 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.600 questions, and it has reels and shorts on all 00:05:48.600 --> 00:05:50.399 your social media where you're answering questions, 00:05:50.480 --> 00:05:54.279 and it has FAQ content on your website that answers. 00:05:54.939 --> 00:05:58.600 questions specific to that person's individual 00:05:58.600 --> 00:06:02.980 issue. So now you're cultivating your ideal client 00:06:02.980 --> 00:06:06.199 to come to you who's already know and like, and 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:08.100 all they have to do is confirm for the trust 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:11.319 and they're your client. So we're really, here's 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:13.040 what I tell my clients, because I mostly work 00:06:13.040 --> 00:06:15.740 with one to tens. So one to 10 in the office, 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.699 I say, listen, you got two choices in order to 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:21.540 get ahead in marketing. Number one, you can outspend 00:06:21.540 --> 00:06:24.339 your competition. Now, if you have three employees, 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:26.699 you're not going to outspend the guys who bought 00:06:26.699 --> 00:06:29.600 every billboard for 20 miles, every television 00:06:29.600 --> 00:06:31.740 ad for 20. You're just not going to do it. They 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:33.660 spend more in a month than your firm makes in 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:36.139 a year. So what do you do? Do you just sit back 00:06:36.139 --> 00:06:38.560 and go, well, I hope I get a referral? Or do 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.680 you say, okay, I can't outspend them, but I can 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:45.000 outposition them so that when somebody who fits 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:47.800 my ideal client. goes online and starts doing 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:50.759 their research now i've got all this hyper specific 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:54.839 content that shows my expertise my competence 00:06:54.839 --> 00:06:57.420 that answers their questions it provides clarity 00:06:57.420 --> 00:07:02.360 uh it assuages their fears and now i have an 00:07:02.360 --> 00:07:04.959 advantage that i just paid hundreds of dollars 00:07:04.959 --> 00:07:07.740 a month and a half hour of my time to establish 00:07:07.740 --> 00:07:10.459 versus all these big guys paying millions or 00:07:10.459 --> 00:07:13.220 hundreds of thousands of dollars a month Makes 00:07:13.220 --> 00:07:15.259 all the sense in the world. And it sort of brings 00:07:15.259 --> 00:07:19.480 me back to a lot of SEO, you know, like just 00:07:19.480 --> 00:07:22.199 system optimization, just making sure that that 00:07:22.199 --> 00:07:24.300 person stands out when they're searched for. 00:07:24.399 --> 00:07:26.519 And that's definitely different because I don't 00:07:26.519 --> 00:07:28.759 think that I've ever heard it in a legal perspective. 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:31.620 And I love the fact that you're saying frequently 00:07:31.620 --> 00:07:34.980 asked questions, because as you mentioned, sometimes 00:07:34.980 --> 00:07:37.759 when they're searching, money's not the problem. 00:07:38.189 --> 00:07:40.870 It's who's the specialist. It's like, what is 00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:43.069 your expertise? And I need to know that. And 00:07:43.069 --> 00:07:44.629 I'm not going to spend time on the telephone 00:07:44.629 --> 00:07:47.410 calling every office to figure out what your 00:07:47.410 --> 00:07:50.410 expertise is. Got it. Exactly. And you think 00:07:50.410 --> 00:07:53.509 about it this way, like no one goes, you need 00:07:53.509 --> 00:07:55.829 a heart surgeon. Well, let me go to the internet. 00:07:56.089 --> 00:07:58.250 Let me check them out. Let me look. They're just 00:07:58.250 --> 00:08:01.050 like, I need a heart surgeon. You tell me. It 00:08:01.050 --> 00:08:04.129 used to be that same way with lawyers. But it's 00:08:04.129 --> 00:08:06.370 not that way anymore. So how do they get back 00:08:06.370 --> 00:08:10.610 to that place is by using earned media, YouTube, 00:08:10.829 --> 00:08:15.209 Shorts, Reels, social media, website. And the 00:08:15.209 --> 00:08:17.329 good thing about doing all of these things, creating 00:08:17.329 --> 00:08:19.610 this ecosystem of content that's consistent, 00:08:19.790 --> 00:08:22.529 is it does help with search engine optimization 00:08:22.529 --> 00:08:26.930 and eventually AI engine optimization. So you're 00:08:26.930 --> 00:08:29.810 feeding the beast while establishing yourself 00:08:29.810 --> 00:08:33.399 as an expert and an authority. Absolutely. Because 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:35.840 as I learned, and speaking to guests such as 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:38.799 yourself, who's an expert in what you do, I'm 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:41.139 realizing that once that you put that information 00:08:41.139 --> 00:08:44.500 in AI and you specifically, as the example that 00:08:44.500 --> 00:08:48.659 you used, a divorce lawyer who specifically dot, 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:50.440 dot, dot, you could put that in there and it 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:52.740 starts pulling everything from everywhere. So 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:55.519 I get that. I like that. Interesting enough, 00:08:55.720 --> 00:08:58.139 I know you said you've been working with lawyers 00:08:58.139 --> 00:09:02.350 for 21 years. Were you a lawyer? Nope, never 00:09:02.350 --> 00:09:07.049 been a lawyer. Honestly, I have two years at 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:09.850 an unaccredited Bible institute in the middle 00:09:09.850 --> 00:09:12.970 of Ohio. I got into marketing when I was 19 years 00:09:12.970 --> 00:09:16.730 old. I had my first business at 14, got into 00:09:16.730 --> 00:09:20.289 marketing at 19. And I just learned like I thought 00:09:20.289 --> 00:09:23.029 it was intriguing. It made sense to me. I loved 00:09:23.029 --> 00:09:25.149 branding. It was kind of a natural thing for 00:09:25.149 --> 00:09:30.019 me. And so I just took and. Started, you know, 00:09:30.019 --> 00:09:33.080 I started a business at sort of like 2021, was 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:34.759 able to retire for four or five years, lived 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:37.519 in Europe. I've had three companies that I've 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:40.679 taken from zero to three to five million in one 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.120 to three years or zero or less than a million, 00:09:43.220 --> 00:09:45.320 I should say, three companies that I've done 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:48.899 that for. So I'm a serial entrepreneur. We were 00:09:48.899 --> 00:09:51.419 talking in the in the green room beforehand and 00:09:51.419 --> 00:09:53.360 you're talking about like people don't get where 00:09:53.360 --> 00:09:57.350 they're at overnight. Right. And it's like. I 00:09:57.350 --> 00:10:01.029 have a company right now. We're a little over 00:10:01.029 --> 00:10:04.409 10 months old. 10 months ago, there was me and 00:10:04.409 --> 00:10:07.470 two people. I now have 25 or so people on my 00:10:07.470 --> 00:10:09.190 team. We're bringing on three more, so we're 00:10:09.190 --> 00:10:14.029 going to be closer to 30. I have about 100 clients. 00:10:14.809 --> 00:10:16.809 And I literally come in every day and we have 00:10:16.809 --> 00:10:18.610 a list of people just, hey, can we talk to you? 00:10:18.629 --> 00:10:20.309 Can we talk to you? I have three sales guys and 00:10:20.309 --> 00:10:22.870 I just shit this off to them. Whereas even three 00:10:22.870 --> 00:10:25.190 months ago, I did all the sales and I ran the 00:10:25.190 --> 00:10:27.250 company and I did all that. But where did that 00:10:27.250 --> 00:10:29.110 come from? That didn't come from me waking up 00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:32.049 at 47 years old with a brain full of knowledge. 00:10:32.429 --> 00:10:35.649 It came from learning lessons about partnerships 00:10:35.649 --> 00:10:38.309 and how to structure them so you don't get burned 00:10:38.309 --> 00:10:40.889 because I've had that happen a few times. how 00:10:40.889 --> 00:10:43.289 to manage people in a remote environment, which 00:10:43.289 --> 00:10:45.950 I've done for the majority of my career, how 00:10:45.950 --> 00:10:49.490 to build teams, how to recognize character, how 00:10:49.490 --> 00:10:52.649 to get people to buy into the vision of the company, 00:10:52.809 --> 00:10:55.870 how to get people to be emotionally invested 00:10:55.870 --> 00:10:58.950 in the success of clients when they're just all 00:10:58.950 --> 00:11:01.669 they do all day is make shorts and reels. But 00:11:01.669 --> 00:11:04.889 I do things like, for example, everybody in my 00:11:04.889 --> 00:11:07.590 company. When we have a client, everybody who 00:11:07.590 --> 00:11:09.669 touches that client through the process, so if 00:11:09.669 --> 00:11:13.070 they're the editor for the long form, they make 00:11:13.070 --> 00:11:15.269 the short form videos, they make the social media 00:11:15.269 --> 00:11:17.809 posts, they make the social media distribution, 00:11:18.149 --> 00:11:21.529 they do client follow -ups with them, they do 00:11:21.529 --> 00:11:23.830 the FAQ stuff, they place it on the website. 00:11:24.230 --> 00:11:26.490 Every person that touches that account through 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:30.009 their four -month cycle, when they renew in the 00:11:30.009 --> 00:11:32.250 fifth month and shoot their first podcast for 00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:34.919 the next cycle, Every single one of those people 00:11:34.919 --> 00:11:38.740 get a small bonus. Now, it might not seem like 00:11:38.740 --> 00:11:41.779 a lot, but when you have 100 people that you 00:11:41.779 --> 00:11:44.220 do that for, now all of a sudden you're getting 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.620 a nice little $400, $500, $600 bonus just for 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:52.039 doing your job right. But that gets buy -in because 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:54.789 to them, like – If they screw up because they 00:11:54.789 --> 00:11:57.590 also have to have like 90 percent accuracy on 00:11:57.590 --> 00:11:59.730 this, they can't be behind like, you know, certain 00:11:59.730 --> 00:12:02.549 benchmarks to be eligible for that. But, you 00:12:02.549 --> 00:12:05.090 know, realistic benchmarks, not 100 percent this 00:12:05.090 --> 00:12:08.230 and but, you know, 90, 95 percent where, yeah, 00:12:08.269 --> 00:12:09.509 every once in a while something's going to slip 00:12:09.509 --> 00:12:11.129 through. But for the most part, we're doing a 00:12:11.129 --> 00:12:14.490 good job. They have those benchmarks, so they're 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:17.529 watching those benchmarks because they know once 00:12:17.529 --> 00:12:20.090 things start rolling around every month, there's 00:12:20.090 --> 00:12:24.039 500, 600 dollars on the line for them. So it's 00:12:24.039 --> 00:12:26.480 things like that, running a remote company. And 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:29.139 you talked about a lot of solopreneurs in small 00:12:29.139 --> 00:12:32.779 companies. Listen, I've been a solopreneur. I've 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:35.159 had companies of two or three people. I've had 00:12:35.159 --> 00:12:38.779 companies of 75, 100 people. I've had companies 00:12:38.779 --> 00:12:44.940 of 30, 40 people. In this day and age, there 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:47.940 should be no such thing as a solopreneur. If 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:51.179 you're doing everything, you're doing everything 00:12:51.179 --> 00:12:55.490 wrong. And the reason I say that is that stuff 00:12:55.490 --> 00:12:57.870 that you're spending three hours answering emails 00:12:57.870 --> 00:13:00.769 and filtering out and building spreadsheets, 00:13:00.769 --> 00:13:02.809 there is somebody in the Philippines that you 00:13:02.809 --> 00:13:05.009 could pay $3, $4 an hour, which is two to three 00:13:05.009 --> 00:13:07.250 times what all of their neighbors are making 00:13:07.250 --> 00:13:10.330 for other work. So you're not – some people are 00:13:10.330 --> 00:13:12.110 like, oh, I don't like the OSHA. It's like, listen, 00:13:12.169 --> 00:13:15.649 I've had the same VA for four years. She knows 00:13:15.649 --> 00:13:19.570 me. She knows what I do, how I do it. She manages 00:13:19.570 --> 00:13:21.629 my email. She does all this. She does all that. 00:13:21.830 --> 00:13:24.370 When I first hired her, she was making $3 an 00:13:24.370 --> 00:13:27.509 hour, which was double what the average income 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:31.049 in her city, Manila, was. She now, after four 00:13:31.049 --> 00:13:35.610 years, makes $9 an hour with me. She literally 00:13:35.610 --> 00:13:37.490 will get on the line and say, you have no idea 00:13:37.490 --> 00:13:40.600 how much you've changed my family. You know, 00:13:40.620 --> 00:13:42.259 like her parents live with her. She's got kids. 00:13:42.419 --> 00:13:44.980 She's got she's just like my whole like our whole 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:47.480 like we went on of it. Literally, I've had employees 00:13:47.480 --> 00:13:49.220 in other countries tell me this is the first 00:13:49.220 --> 00:13:50.899 time I've ever been able to go on a vacation 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:56.379 in my life. And so you can impact people. And 00:13:56.379 --> 00:13:58.779 it's like, oh, well, I got to hire American. 00:13:58.779 --> 00:14:01.919 Sure. Hire somebody that's 30. that makes $30 00:14:01.919 --> 00:14:04.440 an hour that's going to be irritated and say, 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:06.320 that's not in my job description. If you want 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:08.039 to do that, that's fine. And listen, half my 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:10.240 team is in the U .S., so I'm not disparaging 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.679 U .S. workers. Yes. But when it comes to certain 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:18.470 types of tasks. that can be done offshore, you 00:14:18.470 --> 00:14:21.070 should not be spending time doing that. You should 00:14:21.070 --> 00:14:24.450 be offshoring that. You should be handing that 00:14:24.450 --> 00:14:26.809 off. And if you're great at sales, you need to 00:14:26.809 --> 00:14:28.750 be selling the shit out of your stuff. Sorry 00:14:28.750 --> 00:14:31.610 if you don't allow me to say this. You should 00:14:31.610 --> 00:14:37.710 be selling like crazy. And I'm of the opinion, 00:14:37.929 --> 00:14:41.429 especially for the founder, the more that your 00:14:41.429 --> 00:14:47.080 best people, are only doing the things that only 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:51.519 they can do, the stronger your company is. Because 00:14:51.519 --> 00:14:53.759 so many people, it's like, I'll have somebody 00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:55.039 be like, I've been working on this spreadsheet 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:58.179 for three hours. I'm like, why? Why didn't you 00:14:58.179 --> 00:15:00.299 hand that off to so -and -so and let them do 00:15:00.299 --> 00:15:03.919 it? You are good at this, and that job I pay 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:07.700 $40 an hour for. That other job I could pay $3 00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:11.100 an hour for. Why are you doing that? So in today's 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:14.389 day and age between AI, And between offshoring, 00:15:14.470 --> 00:15:17.129 there's really should be no such thing as one 00:15:17.129 --> 00:15:20.450 person doing everything because it is extremely 00:15:20.450 --> 00:15:24.090 affordable for you to find alternate ways for 00:15:24.090 --> 00:15:25.909 even if you just start off with things like motion 00:15:25.909 --> 00:15:28.529 app or I use a thing called side coach dot AI, 00:15:28.730 --> 00:15:31.710 which is a it's like a coaching for business 00:15:31.710 --> 00:15:35.470 owners. And I literally just speak into it. It's 00:15:35.470 --> 00:15:38.149 I speak into it and it literally has everything. 00:15:38.940 --> 00:15:41.340 that i need to do it has timelines it has the 00:15:41.340 --> 00:15:44.639 steps and all i do is i say i need to build a 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:49.259 onboarding five uh series a five video series 00:15:49.259 --> 00:15:51.399 onboarding with three action items at the end 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:53.580 of each so when a client comes on they get five 00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:56.460 days of automated videos and so every step is 00:15:56.460 --> 00:15:58.860 there i go through the step it disseminates it 00:15:58.860 --> 00:16:01.659 it's done and i move on to the next thing yeah 00:16:01.659 --> 00:16:06.220 so that's where we live so if you're small maybe 00:16:06.220 --> 00:16:09.039 you just want a job And there's three kinds of 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:11.019 business owners, right? There's people that wanted 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:12.620 to create their own job because they didn't want 00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:15.179 to work for anybody. Those people aren't looking 00:16:15.179 --> 00:16:17.620 to hire people and have struggles and be frustrated. 00:16:17.799 --> 00:16:20.879 They just want enough to make money and live 00:16:20.879 --> 00:16:23.299 their life. And that's fine. I don't disrespect 00:16:23.299 --> 00:16:26.179 that. Then there's people who want to build a 00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:29.360 business. Now, business has them at the center 00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:31.940 of it. It has X amount of people around them, 00:16:32.019 --> 00:16:34.720 and it'll do a certain amount, probably top out 00:16:34.720 --> 00:16:38.240 one, three, five million. but then there's people 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:40.799 that want to build a company and people that 00:16:40.799 --> 00:16:42.740 want to build a company understand the company 00:16:42.740 --> 00:16:45.080 isn't about what i want it's about what the market 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:48.039 wants and what my people need so how do i build 00:16:48.039 --> 00:16:52.740 an ecosystem a a mechanism for success not just 00:16:52.740 --> 00:16:55.740 for me but for the people that work with me and 00:16:55.740 --> 00:16:57.960 it bought into my vision and for the people that 00:16:57.960 --> 00:17:01.820 we serve most importantly and so i think most 00:17:01.820 --> 00:17:04.279 business owners need to sit down and ask themselves 00:17:04.839 --> 00:17:07.380 Why did I start this business? Did I just start 00:17:07.380 --> 00:17:08.960 it because I don't want anybody to tell me what 00:17:08.960 --> 00:17:11.599 to do and I want to be my own boss? That's fine. 00:17:11.700 --> 00:17:14.559 You're going to make your $150 ,000 a year. You're 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.559 going to work for yourself or whatever the dollar 00:17:16.559 --> 00:17:18.180 amount is. I'm just throwing that out there. 00:17:18.339 --> 00:17:21.039 And that's fine. I don't disrespect you for that. 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:24.140 Did I want a business where I have to be involved 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:26.180 in everything and I'm in the middle and I feel 00:17:26.180 --> 00:17:28.299 important and I drive up to the office and there's 00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:31.859 this sign that says president only? Some people, 00:17:31.940 --> 00:17:33.559 that's just what they want in life. They want 00:17:33.559 --> 00:17:38.799 that. bravado hey no i just i i and i built both 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.279 of those first kinds of businesses yeah so it's 00:17:41.279 --> 00:17:43.440 not like i don't know where i'm coming from but 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.119 now i've said listen i know from mistakes and 00:17:47.119 --> 00:17:50.980 from victories how to build a company from scratch 00:17:50.980 --> 00:17:53.519 and that's what i'm doing is building a company 00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:56.740 where so we do this all the time in my in my 00:17:56.740 --> 00:17:58.619 company and my team and tell me if i'm running 00:17:58.619 --> 00:18:00.960 over your time because i literally talk an hour 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:04.359 straight but I share the vision of the company 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:06.480 with, with people. I'm like, okay guys, in the 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:08.059 next six months, we want this, this, and this 00:18:08.059 --> 00:18:09.740 initiative done. We want this, this, and this 00:18:09.740 --> 00:18:11.720 many clients. We want this, this, and this margins. 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:14.259 And then I'll say, and for myself, this is what 00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:16.240 I want to accomplish. And I'll have like what 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:18.720 I call vision casting meetings. And then I just 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.839 get like random texts from people or random. 00:18:20.859 --> 00:18:23.380 We use a discord server that we have built for 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:26.259 inter. And it's, I spent a hundred bucks and 00:18:26.259 --> 00:18:28.779 it's way more fun than Slack and all that dry 00:18:28.779 --> 00:18:31.740 corporate stuff. We have all kinds of gifts and, 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:35.430 and, GIFs, if you don't know what a GIF is, and 00:18:35.430 --> 00:18:38.430 memes, and we just all day bouncing back and 00:18:38.430 --> 00:18:40.809 forth, having a good time, but getting shit done, 00:18:41.069 --> 00:18:47.769 right? So creating that culture of connectedness, 00:18:47.829 --> 00:18:50.630 even in a remote environment, but understanding 00:18:50.630 --> 00:18:54.490 that I'm building a company, and I'll have them 00:18:54.490 --> 00:18:57.089 literally be like, hey, my goal this year is 00:18:57.089 --> 00:18:59.420 I want to move here. I want to make X amount 00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:01.259 of money. I want to put this much money in the 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:03.440 bank. In order to do that, I need to earn this 00:19:03.440 --> 00:19:06.200 much money. I didn't ask for that. That wasn't 00:19:06.200 --> 00:19:09.640 me. That was them saying to me, hey, we're all 00:19:09.640 --> 00:19:11.940 about goals here, and I wanted to be accountable 00:19:11.940 --> 00:19:15.539 to you for my goals. Yes, yes. Unsolicited because 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:19.940 of the culture that we create. Dennis, you know, 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:22.759 you've you've said and not in a negative way, 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:25.900 you said you've said an awful lot that I believe 00:19:25.900 --> 00:19:28.460 the listener can really, really take from you. 00:19:28.539 --> 00:19:30.740 And that's determining what type of business 00:19:30.740 --> 00:19:33.180 you want. Right. Do you want to just be the head 00:19:33.180 --> 00:19:35.720 honcho or do you want just a business with a 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:37.640 few people that makes, you know, six figures? 00:19:37.700 --> 00:19:40.940 Or do you want a company that also says a lot 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:43.960 about if you're going to do this and it's just 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:47.099 your little small business? the exit plan is 00:19:47.099 --> 00:19:49.079 a little bit different so there's an exit plan 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.740 to everything else i think you also made a great 00:19:51.740 --> 00:19:54.759 point about um togetherness and the camaraderie 00:19:54.759 --> 00:19:58.279 and and being able to have a business where you 00:19:58.279 --> 00:20:00.380 guys are all on the same page but one of the 00:20:00.380 --> 00:20:04.059 things that i really really love to hear my guests 00:20:04.059 --> 00:20:07.339 and people such as yourself talk about is not 00:20:07.339 --> 00:20:12.210 worrying about spending the money Right. If that's 00:20:12.210 --> 00:20:14.569 not your strength, then it's going to take that's 00:20:14.569 --> 00:20:16.329 going to you're going to spend most of your time 00:20:16.329 --> 00:20:19.549 doing Excel spreadsheets. But if you can do that. 00:20:19.630 --> 00:20:21.750 So it's almost like the word delegation. Right. 00:20:22.109 --> 00:20:25.309 Delegating and being OK with knowing that that's 00:20:25.309 --> 00:20:27.490 not your strength. But a lot of people don't 00:20:27.490 --> 00:20:29.849 do that. So, again, that comes back, Dennis, 00:20:29.950 --> 00:20:32.869 to the fact of why are most businesses failing 00:20:32.869 --> 00:20:35.910 is because I believe it's my strongest belief 00:20:35.910 --> 00:20:38.529 that we're all wearing too many hats and not 00:20:38.529 --> 00:20:41.049 really trying to give it up. or delegated to 00:20:41.049 --> 00:20:43.450 the right people that have the right strength 00:20:43.450 --> 00:20:45.970 for the right job and the right duty. And I'll 00:20:45.970 --> 00:20:49.130 even say this. It's not even about that's not 00:20:49.130 --> 00:20:53.769 your strength. It's not your best strength. So 00:20:53.769 --> 00:20:56.369 like me, sales process development, marketing, 00:20:56.589 --> 00:20:59.890 I'm a brand evangelist. I tend to come off as 00:20:59.890 --> 00:21:01.710 having pretty high energy. I hear that a lot 00:21:01.710 --> 00:21:03.210 on the shows where they're just like, man, I 00:21:03.210 --> 00:21:07.849 didn't expect that. you know being a brand evangelist 00:21:07.849 --> 00:21:11.690 branding systems uh we always talk about better 00:21:11.690 --> 00:21:13.970 faster less friction everything we do we want 00:21:13.970 --> 00:21:15.789 to do it better we want to do it faster and we 00:21:15.789 --> 00:21:17.430 want there to be less friction whether it's for 00:21:17.430 --> 00:21:22.589 our clients uh internally whatever but one delegation 00:21:22.589 --> 00:21:25.849 is probably the biggest reason that most companies 00:21:25.849 --> 00:21:29.450 stop at building their own job or getting to 00:21:29.450 --> 00:21:33.450 two or three people i'll i'll raise you from 00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:36.759 saying don't do it if you're not good at it. 00:21:37.140 --> 00:21:40.579 And I'll raise you to say, if you can train somebody 00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:44.480 to be 75 % as good at it as you are, then you 00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:47.680 need to delegate that off as well. Because everyone's 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:49.759 like, I just don't have time. And it's like, 00:21:49.819 --> 00:21:52.119 so you don't have 30 minutes to train somebody 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:54.940 one time. So you're going to take two hours every 00:21:54.940 --> 00:21:57.960 week for the rest of your life to do it. Tell 00:21:57.960 --> 00:22:00.599 me how that's logical, Mr. Business or Miss Business 00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:03.759 Owner. Like, it doesn't make sense. You know, 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:08.279 so so if you can train somebody to do as well 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:10.640 as you can at a 75 percent mark and that's everything. 00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:13.039 Look at that. Oh, if I did it, it's like if you 00:22:13.039 --> 00:22:14.420 did it, then you wouldn't have done the other 00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:16.779 thing. You just landed a thirty thousand dollar 00:22:16.779 --> 00:22:18.900 a month client. If you'd have been fucking around 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:21.579 with spreadsheets the whole time, that that client 00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:23.140 wouldn't be there and no one would be getting 00:22:23.140 --> 00:22:26.680 paid. Yes. So what are you doing? Yes. So and 00:22:26.680 --> 00:22:29.220 I'm not trying like. I love that. I got a background. 00:22:29.339 --> 00:22:31.319 I got a background as a Baptist preacher. I was 00:22:31.319 --> 00:22:34.019 a Baptist preacher for about 20 years. So I try 00:22:34.019 --> 00:22:36.559 to stay out of that, like, what is wrong with 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:40.640 you? You know, so I'm trying to get, you know, 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:42.980 I try to have that like positive, like energy, 00:22:43.059 --> 00:22:45.759 but still be able to say hard things. They say 00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.519 hard things with a smile. Yeah. I'm passionate 00:22:48.519 --> 00:22:51.000 about it. Yeah. And I, and I, and you could, 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:54.160 I swear I could. feeling, but what's so cool 00:22:54.160 --> 00:22:56.839 about it is knowing that you have experience 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:00.299 in so much that that's where the passion comes 00:23:00.299 --> 00:23:04.440 in at. It's not like you just said and you intervened 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:06.319 and said, hey, I have the experience. That's 00:23:06.319 --> 00:23:09.500 why I'm saying what I'm saying right now. Successful 00:23:09.500 --> 00:23:11.680 people are people who have failed several times. 00:23:11.980 --> 00:23:14.920 Absolutely. I tell you that quote is everywhere 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:17.900 and people should look at it and realize that 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:20.440 they're not the only one. You're not the only 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:22.769 one. The other thing I would encourage people, 00:23:22.809 --> 00:23:24.650 because this was hugely encouraging to me, because 00:23:24.650 --> 00:23:26.650 I started my first business, like I said, early 00:23:26.650 --> 00:23:28.849 20s. I was making like $350 ,000 a year in the 00:23:28.849 --> 00:23:31.230 early 2000s. I thought, I'm going to be a millionaire 00:23:31.230 --> 00:23:33.990 by 30. There's no way I can't. 30 comes and goes, 00:23:34.089 --> 00:23:36.390 no millionaire. Another couple of businesses 00:23:36.390 --> 00:23:39.289 in my 30s took off. I could have franchised them, 00:23:39.430 --> 00:23:41.549 blah, blah, blah. Marriage issues, whatever, 00:23:41.670 --> 00:23:44.309 doesn't matter. Same thing. By the time I'm 40, 00:23:44.410 --> 00:23:46.069 I'm going to be a millionaire. I know it. I just 00:23:46.069 --> 00:23:50.119 know it. Not there yet. Now I'm 40. Now 47. live 00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:52.420 on an island. I live a life that most people 00:23:52.420 --> 00:23:55.099 wish they could live despite the money. Like 00:23:55.099 --> 00:23:57.599 I know that I'm privileged in the sense of like, 00:23:57.660 --> 00:24:00.720 but I built this life on purpose. I built a remote 00:24:00.720 --> 00:24:04.400 company. I built a group of people that they're 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:06.819 used to seeing me with different backdrops. You 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:08.759 know, when I'm traveling, I'm in Thailand, I'm 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:11.099 in Bali, I'm here, I'm there. They're used to 00:24:11.099 --> 00:24:13.059 seeing that. So to them, they're not like, oh, 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:16.099 our owner, he's just never like, that's the style. 00:24:16.509 --> 00:24:20.650 of leadership that we have. But like being able 00:24:20.650 --> 00:24:23.869 to come forward and just be like, listen, I failed. 00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:28.369 I've learned. I've grown. And now here I am. 00:24:28.450 --> 00:24:33.950 And I know what not to do. And that's much more 00:24:33.950 --> 00:24:36.349 important than knowing what to do. The other 00:24:36.349 --> 00:24:41.309 thing I will say is I foster an atmosphere that 00:24:41.309 --> 00:24:44.869 accepts failure. And not a lot of businesses 00:24:44.869 --> 00:24:48.519 do that. Yes. And when you do that, where you 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:53.799 foster the the high tolerance for failure, then 00:24:53.799 --> 00:24:57.319 that makes people where they're not afraid to 00:24:57.319 --> 00:25:00.799 make decisions. Absolutely. Like we had, you 00:25:00.799 --> 00:25:02.819 know, we started off with just a few clients 00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:04.440 and we start off in spreadsheets. And then we 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:06.519 went to Monday and then we went to teamwork. 00:25:06.599 --> 00:25:09.480 And now we're in ClickUp for all of our project 00:25:09.480 --> 00:25:11.859 management. It's been like a six month project 00:25:11.859 --> 00:25:13.980 where we tried it and failed and tried it and 00:25:13.980 --> 00:25:16.740 failed. I had two of my directors and I was like, 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:19.660 hey, guys, because they didn't they pulled me 00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:22.000 in for a question and I answered the question. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:23.920 And then I stopped and I said, let me go back 00:25:23.920 --> 00:25:26.240 in this meeting. I was like, guys, why did you 00:25:26.240 --> 00:25:28.519 need me to answer that? Did you not know the 00:25:28.519 --> 00:25:30.619 answer? And they were like, we actually did. 00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:33.220 And I said, OK, so help me understand. Have I 00:25:33.220 --> 00:25:35.960 done something that has put you in a position 00:25:35.960 --> 00:25:38.779 to be afraid to make decisions where if you fail, 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:44.130 it's going to cause some sort of, you know. circumstance 00:25:44.130 --> 00:25:45.829 for you that it's going to make you uncomfortable. 00:25:45.970 --> 00:25:47.829 And they're like, no, like we know you. And they're 00:25:47.829 --> 00:25:50.009 just like, and we all three work together. I 00:25:50.009 --> 00:25:51.549 had a different business partner before. And 00:25:51.549 --> 00:25:53.069 they're just like, remember, we work for so -and 00:25:53.069 --> 00:25:55.410 -so. And so we're kind of like afraid to make 00:25:55.410 --> 00:25:57.230 decisions because he would just come ream us 00:25:57.230 --> 00:25:59.230 and tell us the right way to do it. And I'm like, 00:25:59.250 --> 00:26:01.250 guys, you've worked with me now directly for 00:26:01.250 --> 00:26:02.829 a year because they were in a different division 00:26:02.829 --> 00:26:05.789 before working directly for my old partner. And 00:26:05.789 --> 00:26:10.349 I said, I said, listen, guys. I trust you to 00:26:10.349 --> 00:26:13.390 make decisions. I said, look at this whole thing 00:26:13.390 --> 00:26:17.470 of us being in ClickUp now. I led that whole 00:26:17.470 --> 00:26:22.890 thing. And I failed three times before I succeeded. 00:26:23.990 --> 00:26:26.950 Do you think that I'm going to give myself more 00:26:26.950 --> 00:26:28.630 grace than I'm going to give to you? And most 00:26:28.630 --> 00:26:30.309 people would, but I'm not that kind of person. 00:26:30.650 --> 00:26:33.490 I'm going to give you grace. As long as you're 00:26:33.490 --> 00:26:36.970 moving, I would. If you don't move, I have a 00:26:36.970 --> 00:26:39.089 problem. But if you're moving and trying and 00:26:39.089 --> 00:26:43.369 trying to figure it out now, you know, motion 00:26:43.369 --> 00:26:46.950 creates that centrifugal force where eventually 00:26:46.950 --> 00:26:50.029 it's like water, right? Water keeps going like 00:26:50.029 --> 00:26:52.910 this until it finds that path and then it goes 00:26:52.910 --> 00:26:56.130 smooth. And most business owners, they're just 00:26:56.130 --> 00:26:58.730 like, oh, the water's going crazy. Just shut 00:26:58.730 --> 00:27:01.250 off the spigot. We can't do it. It's like, wait 00:27:01.250 --> 00:27:04.930 a minute. The water's trying to find the riverbed. 00:27:05.369 --> 00:27:08.029 And now it's found the riverbed and it's flowing 00:27:08.029 --> 00:27:10.630 beautifully or the creek bed or whatever it is. 00:27:10.710 --> 00:27:12.470 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's the same thing in 00:27:12.470 --> 00:27:14.250 business. We have to be willing to be like, okay, 00:27:14.269 --> 00:27:15.869 we tried this. We tried it. It didn't work. We 00:27:15.869 --> 00:27:18.170 tried this. It didn't work. Always understanding 00:27:18.170 --> 00:27:20.670 that there's going to be failures, but failures 00:27:20.670 --> 00:27:25.250 lead to success. And with that mind frame, I 00:27:25.250 --> 00:27:27.390 read a quote recently. I think I put it up on 00:27:27.390 --> 00:27:29.710 my Facebook, but it was something like the difference 00:27:29.710 --> 00:27:32.529 between success and not success is how often 00:27:32.529 --> 00:27:36.890 you're willing to fail. And that's just really 00:27:36.890 --> 00:27:39.930 what it is. Absolutely. And I'll say one last 00:27:39.930 --> 00:27:41.609 thing. Again, we've probably gone a little over, 00:27:41.690 --> 00:27:44.210 but one thing that really encouraged me is I 00:27:44.210 --> 00:27:46.789 read a – I don't know if it was an article or 00:27:46.789 --> 00:27:49.390 a chapter in a book, but it was about the first 00:27:49.390 --> 00:27:52.450 -generation millionaire. And the first -generation 00:27:52.450 --> 00:27:55.930 millionaire is in their 50s. They've had three 00:27:55.930 --> 00:27:59.890 to five failed businesses. They've filed bankruptcy 00:27:59.890 --> 00:28:03.900 two and a half times. If you looked on paper 00:28:03.900 --> 00:28:06.180 and they give you example after example after 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:09.079 example of people who we know in society, think 00:28:09.079 --> 00:28:12.579 about the guy who owns – is it Alibaba? Is that 00:28:12.579 --> 00:28:15.920 the one out of China? I don't know. Alibaba is 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:20.079 like the Amazon of China. Okay, okay. That guy 00:28:20.079 --> 00:28:24.960 who owns that is like a billionaire. Well, he 00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:29.019 like had three like – normal everyday jobs failed 00:28:29.019 --> 00:28:31.759 out like until he was like 40 something or 50 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:34.140 he was literally considered like the family failure 00:28:34.140 --> 00:28:37.019 and now he's a billionaire because he just kept 00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:38.880 going and kept going and kept going and kept 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:41.160 going you can look it up if you're watching this 00:28:41.160 --> 00:28:43.440 i think it's alibaba probably there's some people 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:46.319 going it's not alibaba you idiot it's this but 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.140 i think you know the story i'm talking about 00:28:48.140 --> 00:28:50.460 he's chinese he came up with the chinese version 00:28:50.460 --> 00:28:53.720 of amazon if you look at his old life he he did 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:56.470 not have You know, he wasn't like CEO of Samsung 00:28:56.470 --> 00:28:59.930 and then CEO of Honda. And now he created this. 00:28:59.990 --> 00:29:02.069 He was a guy who failed and failed and failed 00:29:02.069 --> 00:29:04.750 and failed. And not until his late somewhere 00:29:04.750 --> 00:29:08.750 in his 40s or 50s. Yeah, it popped off for him. 00:29:08.990 --> 00:29:12.529 And so, you know, that was encouraging to me 00:29:12.529 --> 00:29:15.509 because I was like, it's OK. I didn't make where 00:29:15.509 --> 00:29:17.910 I wanted to make it at 30 or 40, because most 00:29:17.910 --> 00:29:21.029 people take as long as I'm taking to get where 00:29:21.029 --> 00:29:24.289 I plan on going. What was your most significant 00:29:24.289 --> 00:29:27.150 learning experience across the board since you 00:29:27.150 --> 00:29:31.710 owned your own business? It's about picking partners, 00:29:31.769 --> 00:29:35.549 but it's also about what happens when things 00:29:35.549 --> 00:29:41.170 don't go right. And I started a business with 00:29:41.170 --> 00:29:43.329 an individual, invented the product, trained 00:29:43.329 --> 00:29:45.170 the company, built it to where I didn't need 00:29:45.170 --> 00:29:47.029 to be there. He was cool with that. I'll run 00:29:47.029 --> 00:29:51.200 the day -to -day. He convinces me. you should 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.500 open up another office so i open up another office 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:55.880 i'm using that income to open this new office 00:29:55.880 --> 00:29:59.400 i get about three months in and no check in my 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:01.140 bank account and i was like what's going on and 00:30:01.140 --> 00:30:03.359 he goes oh well you've reached our non -compete 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:05.700 clause and i was like our non -compete clause 00:30:05.700 --> 00:30:08.519 we have the same company name we use the same 00:30:08.519 --> 00:30:11.180 website we've split up the states in which we 00:30:11.180 --> 00:30:13.380 work and he was just like yeah my lawyer told 00:30:13.380 --> 00:30:15.380 me i don't have to pay you anymore and i was 00:30:15.380 --> 00:30:18.460 like okay so i went and got a lawyer um you know 00:30:18.460 --> 00:30:20.369 and now i'm out probably a couple million dollars, 00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:23.930 whatever. But here's the longer lesson. Yes. 00:30:24.789 --> 00:30:26.829 How many people have you heard tell you stories 00:30:26.829 --> 00:30:29.430 like this? You know, I did this and this and 00:30:29.430 --> 00:30:31.390 this, and then so -and -so ripped me off, and 00:30:31.390 --> 00:30:33.670 now they're like a mechanic, and nothing wrong 00:30:33.670 --> 00:30:35.490 with being a mechanic, but, you know, they just 00:30:35.490 --> 00:30:38.210 have a normal everyday job because somebody burned 00:30:38.210 --> 00:30:41.910 them and hurt them, right? I've always said I 00:30:41.910 --> 00:30:44.900 refuse to be bitter. So I'm back home visiting 00:30:44.900 --> 00:30:47.500 and I drive by our office. We have like a eight, 00:30:47.579 --> 00:30:50.200 10 ,000 square foot office. I see his Mercedes. 00:30:50.420 --> 00:30:54.180 I see his Tahoe. I see all of this stuff. I see 00:30:54.180 --> 00:30:56.559 all the employees there. Most of them know me 00:30:56.559 --> 00:30:58.640 because I wrote the script, trained them, blah, 00:30:58.660 --> 00:31:02.019 blah, blah. I said in my heart, I could kill 00:31:02.019 --> 00:31:06.119 that man. Literally, I said that. As soon as 00:31:06.119 --> 00:31:10.799 I did, I swung into the parking lot. I parked. 00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:14.900 I walked in. The receptionist was like, oh, my 00:31:14.900 --> 00:31:17.420 God, because she knew what had happened, right? 00:31:18.099 --> 00:31:22.700 And she's like, Al, TM is here for you? And we 00:31:22.700 --> 00:31:24.799 hadn't talked in like a year and a half, two 00:31:24.799 --> 00:31:27.480 years. He's like, okay, send him up. So I go 00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:28.940 up to his office, and I look at him. I said, 00:31:29.140 --> 00:31:32.880 Al, I just want you to know, and you might not 00:31:32.880 --> 00:31:35.839 even think that you need this, but this is maybe 00:31:35.839 --> 00:31:39.160 more for me than for you, but I want you to know 00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:40.740 that I forgive you for what happened between 00:31:40.740 --> 00:31:43.779 us. Yes, because I can't live with this anger 00:31:43.779 --> 00:31:47.019 and bitterness. You made decisions. I don't understand 00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:49.259 why you made them or why you did what you did. 00:31:49.420 --> 00:31:52.960 But I need you to know that I forgive you. He 00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:56.539 looked across at me. He started bawling. He said, 00:31:56.579 --> 00:31:59.200 ever since I did to you what I did, my life is 00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:01.480 in shambles. My son is in jail for life for a 00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:04.180 drive by shooting. My wife caught me cheating 00:32:04.180 --> 00:32:06.799 in the home. So I lost my marriage, lost my home. 00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:11.660 The company is not doing well. I'll sign over 00:32:11.660 --> 00:32:13.519 the company to you right now. Now, I knew that 00:32:13.519 --> 00:32:15.480 he was doing some shady stuff. I won't get into 00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:18.259 it. That's not really part of the story. But 00:32:18.259 --> 00:32:20.420 that was the biggest lesson that I learned is 00:32:20.420 --> 00:32:25.319 when you have failures, don't find someone else 00:32:25.319 --> 00:32:28.259 to blame them on. Yes. Or even if there is another 00:32:28.259 --> 00:32:32.119 person to blame them on, do not harbor the anger 00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:34.440 and bitterness that will fester inside of you 00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:37.799 for years to come if you allow it. You must forgive, 00:32:38.140 --> 00:32:42.819 adapt. and overcome and move forward, or you're 00:32:42.819 --> 00:32:45.680 going to be stuck at, I'd be a millionaire if 00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:47.799 Al hadn't ripped me off the rest of my life. 00:32:47.980 --> 00:32:51.920 Yeah. You know what I mean? And so that is the 00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:54.579 biggest lesson I've learned is when the failures 00:32:54.579 --> 00:32:56.960 come and when people disappoint you and let you 00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:01.960 down, let it go, move forward, forgive yourself, 00:33:02.339 --> 00:33:05.980 forgive them, forgive the universe or whatever 00:33:05.980 --> 00:33:08.920 you believe, and just keep going until you get 00:33:08.920 --> 00:33:10.359 where you're going to get. And it might take 00:33:10.359 --> 00:33:12.900 another year, it might take another decade, or 00:33:12.900 --> 00:33:14.940 in my case, another couple of decades, and I'm 00:33:14.940 --> 00:33:16.980 still not quite there yet. Thank you for being 00:33:16.980 --> 00:33:18.940 here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in 00:33:18.940 --> 00:33:21.579 to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing 00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:24.619 your reactions as these episodes continue to 00:33:24.619 --> 00:33:26.319 move forward. This is going to get more and more 00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:28.640 fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. 00:33:28.680 --> 00:33:30.579 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:32.759 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 00:33:33.079 --> 00:33:35.700 Have an excellent time building out your vision 00:33:35.700 --> 00:33:37.059 and becoming a vision pro yourself.