Hey guys, welcome back to the Homework Summit podcast. I'm your host. Actually, I said I
was going to stop saying that the last podcast. I'm not going to say this time, but thanks
for joining us today. We're really excited. We have a coop, the one and only Cooper Brooks
here with us. I told you guys a little bit about him in our last podcast and we're really
excited to have you man. Thank you, sir.
So Cooper is one of the world's best barbers and he cuts all of our hair here at our office.
I met him randomly and one of the was a quick barber shop or something right. You used to
work at and I was, I think I was late or the appointment didn't like show up online or
something. I pull up and he's sweeping. He wasn't even expecting me and you're like,
dude, I'll take care of you. Come back and that was, you got that first haircut. I'm
like, you know, I went home. My wife was like, I just fell in love with you all over again
over this haircut. I'm like, bet I'm going back to Cooper every single month and the
rest is history, man. Yeah. Right. Yeah. So dude, welcome. We're really excited to have
you. Why don't you tell us who you are and why it is you cut hair. Let's start there.
Well I'm Cooper Brooks. So the reason, so in the beginning I would say I, that's a hard
question because I don't know if I want to start out like in the beginning or if I want
to start out like why I cut hair now. Well, let's let's back up. Well here, well, let's
let's stop real quick. Here's something really important. What's the biggest award you have
currently won? What's the biggest word? Award. Award, right? North American hair selling
awards. Yeah. Okay. So what is that? The North American hair selling awards is an award show
that consists of like several candidates, like well, several applications, then several
candidates, then top five, then one winner. So it's like American Idol for barbers. Sure.
That's a good way to put it. Okay. And you won that. Yeah. Correct. Okay. So ranked what?
Number one barber in the nation. Yes. As per last year, I didn't do it this, this around,
but yes. Yes. But that was when I had met you, you had just one. Yeah. I think I had
just like made top five or I just like either top five or one in that, in that. I think
you had just one. I think you had just one. It was really awesome. I was stoked. I came
back to office and my guys, I found the nation's best barber literally at a mall and he's going
to start cutting hair for us. I was stoked. I was absolutely stoked because one it's like,
you know, I lived in Chile and in South America and I got my haircut by so many barbers and
it was always the best cut I'd ever had and coming back to America, I couldn't find that.
I've been to so many different barbers literally and then went to you and I was like, dude,
I'm crispy. I'm crispy. Yes. So you won that award. What does it mean to have won that
award and what did it take to actually get there?
Man, I, I think about this moment a lot. So I, I did the application, got accepted,
went and made the collection, but so between application accepted in building the collection,
it was like a four month period of just like waiting, did the application I'm waiting to
see if I got in. Oh my God. Whenever I got, it was so stressful. And I told myself it
was so funny. I was like, I'm not going to be stressed. Once I like, if I, if I get
it or I don't like that's going to be the end of the stress.
Yeah. Then I got it. I remember this. I remember this. I left the salon that I was working
at. I said, by Melissa, she's this salon owner hop in my car and I pull up and I was
like, man, I'm hungry. I'm going to get some subway. And then, uh, man, like I'm no kidding.
Well actually there's a sad story behind that and I can't believe like it came back to me
right now, but the reason I'm still doing hair is because I got accepted because I was
in beauty school. I was being beauty school, working at the salon and working at Quicks.
So I was doing like so many things all at once. And just before I got accepted, I had
thought to myself, I was like, I was like, tomorrow's the day I'm going to quit. I'm
going to drop out of school. I'm going to, I'm going to find something else. Hair isn't
for me. And that's really what like I like, I was so down on myself. Like I can't believe
I was so down. Like after everything, like I was so down on myself. Like I had, I had
so much and then, um, I had so much going for me and I was like still like losing my
mind, but that was all the stress. That was like the all the stress eating me alive.
And I got, then I'm like, I'm so back to the story. I pull up into this subway and I get
an email. Oh man, the email was awesome. The email I got accepted and I'm, and I, and
I threw, I'm sitting in my car. I looked at the email. I got accepted. I threw my phone
and I got out of my car and I started running. Like I just started running. Like I didn't
know what else to do. Started running. Um, the first person I called was Brandy, which
was, so she's my fiance. It's funny now, but, um, yes, she's my fiance. She wasn't then.
Yeah. And she was the first person I called and she didn't answer. And I texted her. I
was like, I got accepted. She goes like, congratulations. Like I knew you would like
whatever. And then, um, so I ended up going to the bar and I just kind of like partied
and celebrated. And then I woke up the next morning at like six a.m. and I remember this
from six a.m. to like two in the afternoon. I just cried like all day. Like it was like,
it was like the work hadn't even been started. Like I just got into it. Was it like emotion,
like happy emotion or was it overwhelming? Um, overwhelming happy. And I was like, I
was just like pissed off. Like almost that I was so down on myself. Like just the idea
of like leaving hair was just like, like almost quitting right before you got accepted. Yeah.
Yeah. Like almost quitting. Like I can't believe like I really was like so set. I was going
to quit at the barber shop. I was going to quit at the salon. I was going to drop out
of school. Like who knows, I might have just done construction. I might have just restarted
life. I don't know. But then moving forward, I started, I built the collection and I was
like, I'm not going to be more stressed out. I said, I'm not going to be stressed. Then
moving forward, I was even more stressed now that like the work actually started. Yeah,
I'm sure. And then, um, then I go out to Utah. I build this collection. What's a collection?
So the collection is the three photos. So the three different models that I did for the
contest or the contest. Right. Yeah. And then I was like, once they're submitted, I'm not
going to be stressed out. Like, and I was like, that's cool. I won't be stressed out. Oh man,
once they were submitted, I was so I was 10 times as stressed because like, oh man, I
was so stressed out because I was like, now I got to wait to see if I make top five. Yeah.
And then, um, so your question was what did it do for you? Yeah. And top five happened.
One of my, one of my really great friends, hopefully you're watching this, his name is
Jack. He was the bartender at a sandbar. And so it's me, Giuseppe and Sebastian. We're
just sitting around my phone watching the YouTube video or the Facebook live or whatever
it was just to see who made top five. So then it's all three of us and Jack says my buddy
and he was like, he was like, Oh, I'm going to, I'm going to bring you drinks. You win.
If you get it, like if you get it, I'll bring the around. And I was like, sweet bro, thanks.
And then it finally hit and I was top five and it's all three of us just jumped up, started
screaming. And Jack goes, what are we drinking? So, so unfortunately the two were underage.
So I was the only one who had a drink and he bought me, he bought me like a mixture.
Hey, you know, they had some off the record, off the record. But yeah, so then that happened
and within 10 minutes, man, I think I got like 50 to 100 text messages of just congratulations
from like all the big, big names. Like hair product people. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. All the
hair product people. Yeah. Like a crap load of brands. It was crazy. And then
like that must have been cool because like, you know, we everybody's gone a hair go before
you go when you see all these brand names like what Johnny B like the hair product,
all that kind of stuff. And then you have all these companies literally congratulating
you all these products you see in the stores. Dude, congrats. That's freaking awesome. Oh,
it was that must have been a great experience. It was insane. It was really, really crazy.
Yeah, that makes me curious. So like, obviously, you're going through this moment and you're
waiting to be for the announcement, whether you're in or you're out, like, you still aren't
thinking that all these people are watching it, like especially a big names.
Yeah, you're just like, you're honed in in the moment. You don't know who else is watching.
You're probably thinking it's like, who knows if this even gets seen and then you get all
these texts. That's probably a crazy moment for you. Now that you mention it, like, I
think like, like, when you break it down like that, that's the truth, honestly. And that
was the that was like one of the cool, like the coolest moments that I've ever had was
like, so many, so many brands were trying to like get me on really. And it was awesome.
Like what an experience. So cool. And then after that, called my mom called my dad, my
sister, my family and they elated just like, really, really awesome. And my dad was like,
what's next? And I was like, I don't know. Like I had no idea what was next. So yeah.
So then I made top five and then like a couple months later, even though even though I did
leave quicks, I viewed my boss, my previous bosses, like one of my like best friends,
he came out to California with me. So Aveda, the company, they put me in like the rooftop
like overlook the entire city of LA like like props to Aveda. Thank you. Like, like, you're
sweet or something like that.
For my hotel for my hotel and so awesome. It was the hands down, the greatest hotel
I've ever stayed in for one for two coolest room, three like best time ever. Whenever
we got to LA, Randy and I went there prior, like a couple like like a day or two early
just to have a little vacation. And that was fun.
That was fun.
That was so much fun.
I'm sure it was.
Such a blast. And then like, what was it? It was like an hour or two before Mike, like
Mike and I had planned this. So he gave me a haircut. He texted me because he couldn't
get up to the room because he needed the key.
So I went down there.
I say, you know, it's a nice hotel. You need a key for the elevator. No, you need a key
for the top floor, which was even cooler, which was even cooler. So, um, so I went down
there and Mike brought like a bottle of champagne. He gave me a haircut inside the hotel room.
I've never experienced that. That was one of the coolest hair cutting experiences I've
ever had. So he gave me like a haircut. There's like pictures of it on my Instagram. That
was the coolest thing. And then he sat right next to me. So moving forward, we had like
the red carpet. So I was on the red carpet. Red carpet was awesome. Yeah, that was an
experience.
I'm sure it was.
That was it. That was an experience. I've like, um, was it like you see, um, like on
TV and stuff, like you come out out of the car and there's a bunch of paparazzi pictures
and stuff, type red carpet. Really?
It was so sick.
That's so cool.
It was so cool.
It was exactly that. And like the, uh, that was overwhelming. I decided how to have been.
Oh, that was so overwhelming. And then after, after, after the red carpet and everything
we go, we go take our seats, they call announced and it's, it's that this part was super weird
where they only, they, they call your name, but you're in the, you're in this, like the
stands, you're in the stadium. Yeah. And you just, you just go through and walk all the
way.
Just walk all the way out. It was so weird. It was so weird.
Everybody just sitting there waiting for you to finally get up there.
Then I ended up. So like we all sitting, we're all sitting there, my mom and dad and everything
like that. I remember this. I was so ill. I, I literally had gone to the bathroom and
then I sat down in my seat and I, I knew my category was coming up and, um, like I tell
Brandy, I was like, I'm so sick. I'm so, I don't know, like I'm going to throw up.
Like I, I gotta go to the bathroom and all the anxiousness and she was like, you're fine.
You're fine. They're, they're, you're fine. Just sit. Like, and I was like, I was like,
fine. Like I was like, I remember that dude. So embarrassing.
Just like butterflies for a football game. Yeah. And then I put my, uh, um, once I saw
my photos up there, I put my head down like, and I closed my eyes and I was like, I don't
know what's going to happen. Then they say like, they say Cooper Brooks. And in my head,
I was like, Holy shit, this is happening. I was like, that was what I set out in my
head and I jumped up.
Were they announcing like the winner of the top five?
Yeah. The winner.
Oh, they were announcing the winner and they call my name and I was like, and I was like,
Holy shit, I won. And then I was like, game time. And then I like jumped right into it.
And it was just like a boost of dopamine. Um, there's a, there's a video of me like
Mike had, Mike had the best thing ever because the only part of the video was like Cooper
Brooks and it was like paying to me and I'm over here screaming my head off.
The whole YouTube video like shows me tripping over some chairs, which is wildly embarrassing.
And then I'm on stage and I'm the only person in all of history to get like kicked off this
stage because I kept talking. I didn't know how to stop talking.
They started playing the music. They started playing the music. I was like, Oh, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
That's funny.
Yeah. And then we had the champagne toast and that was the night that they made me a
global stage artist.
That's so cool.
And then so I won. I said my speech. They kicked me off stage and then I go to the champagne
toast and creative director. Her name is Hage Gonzalez and she says, um, she was like,
you have to be there. There's a champagne toast. You got to be there. And I was like,
she goes, where are you going to be? And I was like, the champagne toast. And I was
like, so I ended up going to the champagne toast prior to that. I left my trophy in the
bathroom and I remember that and I just like ran back. Like I was just so overwhelmed.
Oh, of course, man.
So we get to the champagne toast and then they're like, Oh, they were like, do you want to be
on stage? Like what's the chances like you'd be on stage and like, wait a Congress. And
I was like, oh, good. Like in my head, I was like, I was like, of course I will. But also
in my head, I'm like, Oh, I'm going to be assisting the big names, the people who know
what they're doing.
Yeah, I surely don't. I surely don't know what I'm doing. So then like, so I say yes.
And eight months later, we're having all these meetings and the whole time I'm like, Oh,
I'm going to be assisting the big names. And then they're like, no idiot, you're the main,
you're the main stage. And I was like, I was like, that's scary. I was like, that's scary.
So like a month before I get onto the main stage for the for the Vita Congress, like
I remember waking up just feeling like the same exact way. Like I was like, I was about
ready to throw up like I didn't have any I was so scared. And then I ended up going out
there and just doing my thing. And I loved every second. What is it? What is it then?
Like what's the Vita Congress Vita Congress is a is the largest hair show in the world.
Oh, it's a hair show in front like so like 30,000 attend 40,000 45,000 like watch online.
It's like a Super Bowl of hair, bro. And it was so nuts. And wow, it was cool. It was
so cool. And I just went out like I remember like 10 minutes prior to me being on stage,
I told everybody to stop talking to me because I was just like, like I don't I wasn't having
any thoughts. I was just like, nope, I got a zone in. Yeah. And whenever I was out there
on stage, I think we played it off really, really well. But they missed placed our um,
there was me plus like two others on stage. And they misplaced our baskets, not our basket
like a rolly cart. So they misplaced. Were you cutting hair on stage? Yeah. Okay. Yeah.
I was using the razor on stage, which was crazy. And I actually was like,
uh, I told myself like, if I was shaking on stage, that I wasn't going to use the razor.
And I wasn't shaking. So I was like, fuck it. But then it's a fashion show. Yeah. So I was on
stage doing my thing. There's a lot of music and everything like that. And I exited. Oh,
I'm sorry. I meant to say about the rolling carts. They misplaced a rolling cart. Like
everybody had him like wrong. So I had to fix it. And I start talking and dude had my microphone
like this, like off of my face. And I was like talking and it just, oh my God, like you couldn't
hear a word I said for about, I don't know, 30 seconds. And I think we played that off really,
really well. I think it turned out like an amazing show. Good. But it was, it was, it was
outstanding. And from that point on, something I do remember was like, in this whole place,
like I just got off stage. I'm walking around where there's after parties and everything like that.
And like, man, oh man, I announced my engagement on stage. So everybody knew that I was like,
so cool, engaged to Brandy. And we're walking around me and Brandy are holding hands. They're
like, Oh, great show, great show. You did awesome. Congrats on the engagement. Like, like full blown
celebrity. It was awesome. That's so cool. It was the coolest thing ever. It was awesome. Like,
what a what an awesome time. Isn't that crazy how like literally, like kind of going back a little
bit like, Hey, you're cutting here, then you're going to quit you submit your photos. You're at
the bar with some friends, you know, all the hope in the world out of thousands and thousands of
contestants, you're yourself can get picked for top five, you get picked top five, you go crazy
with the bro's and next thing you know, you're literally in front of 30,000 people like that's
it's just crazy how quick it actually happens. You know what I mean? Just kind of think it about
it. Well, let me ask you this because I know, I mean, we've had number one barbers like therapists,
I think everybody know that right, you know, we talk. So I mean, we've had quite a few conversations
and I've heard of some of the struggles and like that moment, there's like wanting to quit like,
what was it like when you first started like, Hey, I did I want to be a barber, I want to go
do hair right? I want to go do style. Did you think you were going to get to where you ended up?
Yes. Why? I had a five year plan. I had a like that was the quickest yes, I could possibly tell you.
And I had a five year plan. And I wrote it out and it was a joke. It was a it wasn't a joke. It was
me in barber school. I was a bum kid who just wanted to pass the cut hair and work at a shop.
That was what I was. And so I remember working with one of my friends, his name is Eddie. So
love Eddie. Eddie's a great dude. Eddie. Hopefully he hopefully hopefully he sees this but um,
so I called him because at the beauty school, so I went to barber school and then cosmetology
school. So at the beauty school, they asked us to do a five year plan. And I was like, haha,
I already have one done. And I'm like, that's kind of what I thought. So I looked back at it.
And and and I was like maybe like two years into my five year plan, which I had to redo it obviously,
but it was wild. According to my five year plan. Everything was falling into play.
Interesting. So there was two things this year one or two. I was two year two into it. Okay.
Like I said, graduate barber school, go to cosmetology school done. The chair that I wanted
to use was the exact chair that I had it quick. Yeah. The one in the back. I loved that we were
behind like everybody like like if for you just for you guys to know like you walk in the door,
they have like on the side, there's barber chairs on the other side, there's like barber chairs,
then there's this big wall or like the register is and then behind it, there's just one chair back
there and I thought it was the sickest thing. Yeah, one chair with one over that light just right
on you. Yeah. So cool. Like private. It was like a private haircut. Yeah. That was pretty cool. And then,
so what so I was in my like in my year two. So down to the chair, then I said that I wanted.
So there was two differences. One, three. One difference was I said that I wanted to use Suave
cito. I ended up using Johnny B and I ended up working for Johnny B, which was crazy. Then
I said that I wanted to be a platform artist. So a platform artist is like a local Arizona kind of
vibe. Like I ended up being a global artist. Like I shot that shit out of the water. So
obviously global meaning world. Yeah. Yeah. And a platform artist, you're doing like work teaching
on stage in front of like 50 to 250 people, which is like a big deal. Like don't get me wrong. If
you do that, you're an awesome person, you know what you're doing. Like that's great. But I did it
on a global stage. So I blew that shit right out of the water. Yep. Then I said I wanted to have a
shop by year five and I did it in year four. So you saw your five year plan right now.
Is this year four right now? This is your five. This is the end. Yeah. This was my five year plan
is over. That's crazy. And I told myself that I wanted to have a shop before I was 25, but that
didn't actually work out because I turned 25 and then I got a shop. But that like, it is what it is.
I mean, who cares? I still got one like it's that's it's dude, it's crazy. The story that the ride
this is literally awesome. And I think the biggest thing I mean, so like, hey, yes, because you had
a five year plan. But what people don't understand, like I feel like a lot of people have plans like,
oh, I'm gonna, you know, here's my plan. This is what I'm going to do. But a lot of times it falls
through the cracks and never gets executed because people aren't consistent with it. Right. So like,
what are some key points during that five year plan where you can recall yourself just literally
like, man, this sucks, but I'm going to keep pushing through. I think fear is powerful.
You know, and I think I think the fear of failure like drove me so far. I think that's like crappy
to say because I think I think I should have a larger drive than just fear and fear of failing
out like you go to school fear of fear of failing business. You work twice as hard you learn, you
know, like fear, like there's like, there's uncontrollable fear and then there's fear.
And like that, like a little bit of fear, I think if you can train yourself to teach yourself that
fear does not exist. And all it is is like ambition. If you can change that fear mindset
into ambition, you're going to get a lot further. And that's kind of why I think
to answer your question, that's,
well, that's interesting. Because, you know, well, one, yes, I am on the same page fears
extremely powerful. I mean, literally people kill over fear, people create great things and
accomplish amazing things due to fear. But it's very interesting because I feel like a lot of
times when you're creating something great or you're on a path to success, a lot of people let
the fear kind of destroy them. You know what I mean? So you were just like kind of touching
base on it, like being able to actually control that. And like, how did you control like because
you had the fear like before you even got on stage, like, you know, how are you able to control
that fear during their throughout this entire ride? Did you have any techniques? Like what did
you do? Yeah, there's a lot of there's a lot of breathing breathing techniques that I like to do,
especially whenever I get like super duper overwhelmed. And I like give myself five seconds,
like five seconds to flip out. Just like if you let it go, just let it go just five
seconds and then do it five seconds, do it. You got you got five seconds to freak out.
You got five minutes, you got like the rule of five, like so you got five seconds to freak out,
you got five minutes to figure it out. Just take five. And then you're going to do it.
There's no negotiation. You are going to do it. If you just there's at the end of the day,
there's no negotiation. If you say you're going to be there, be there. If you say that you're
going to do it, do it. Right. If it's if you say, okay, listen, it'll get done, just trust that it
will get done. Yeah. And you can't like have a negotiation with yourself. That's that's stupid.
That's that's the way you're allowing the voice to talk or giving the voice room to talk like
so this is this is a poor statement for you and I because we're business owners.
But for like an employee, if you're like, why does an employee whenever the so the boss says,
take out the trash, you take out the trash, the boss says, go, go for a coffee run. You're going
to go for the coffee run. But if you say, I'm going to wake up, I'm going to wake up, go to the gym,
I'm going to go for a run. I'm going to go, I'm going to go to breakfast with my boys. Like I'm
going to do anything in the morning and you're like, nah, not going to do it. Why are you negotiating
with the only person that matters? Yeah, you are literally the only thing in the world that
matters. Everything else is bullshit. You are the only thing that matters. That's it. Stop negotiating
with yourself. And people like to negotiate with themselves. People like to have like this, this
ideology that they're not thinking, they're not thinking. Nobody wants to think anymore. Everybody
wants to get told what to do. No, use your use your head. Like that's like that. That's something
that really like makes me super mad is how people don't think anymore. Stop asking questions and
figure it out. Well, dude, first of all, literally a golden nugget right there. I, so I'm part of a
coaching program and on Monday they're talking about basically how to handle like stress and high
stress environments and stuff and like what people do to get there. And they asked me like, Hey,
RJ, what do you do? I said, well, first, I give myself a second to realize, holy crap, this sucks.
And like, if something bad happens, I take it in this sucks. It's freaking terrible. I give myself
a little bit of time and then it's done. It's over. Now comes figuring out and finding the solution.
And so many people get caught on that first step they get, you know, we talk about that victim
mentality that mindset kind of the world that has adopted over time like, Oh, poor me. And they
stay in that poor me category like, Oh man, my life sucks. Why did this happen? And then they get
stuck there and nothing ever happens. But if you can, yeah, if you can control it, if you can be
like, Hey, this sucks. Wow, cry, do whatever you got to do. And then be like, Okay, good. Now let's
get it figured out. Let's get it done. And then you progress like nothing can hold your back.
Literally. Yeah, this is like a known statement. I didn't make this up. But one of my favorite quotes
is was it was it a bad five minutes? Or I'm sorry, I'm sorry, was it a bad day? Or was it a bad five
minutes that you milked the entire day? And that's my favorite thing. Because, oh, dude, sometimes,
sometimes and I do it, I milk it like sometimes. I mean, that's we all do we all do. But at the end
of the at the end of the day, like, you and I could have an argument like me and Brandy could
have an argument, but like, it's settled. But why am I thinking about it all day? We don't need to
be thinking about it all day. That's if we just stay in that loop of just being like, helpless
loop, just to tap into what you just said, pretty much just the helpless loop, the victim mindset,
like you will never get anywhere. Yeah. If you're so focused on the negative, you can't move forward.
Yeah. Yeah, that's like, I tell my son, someone on my team today, like, Hey, you have a million
things to stress about. Like there's he's like, there's so much going on. I'm stressed about x
through or a through z. It's like, Okay, well, what do you need to stress about now? He's like,
Well, what do you mean? I got stressed about all of them. Like, well, give me an example. Oh,
I have this coming up in two weeks. And I'm really worried about it. Okay, well, why are you stressing
about that now? Can you do anything about it now? No. You have to wait for that person to get here
before you stress about it. Yeah. Okay, well, then just put that energy towards the stuff you can
handle now that you can figure out now and wait for that part. And instead, when you take it all in,
you crumble, you crumble. Everybody's the same. We have thresholds, right? And if you if you can't
that prioritize that stress, which sounds crazy to me, everybody talked about prioritizing
priorities and people and life, but nobody talked about prioritizing stress, you have to be able
to know what to deal with in a moment and what not to deal with in that moment. And then what can
wait and what can't wait, you know what I mean? So that's, that's a great point. That's phenomenal.
Dude, your your journey number one. So like, I knew about like all the like your award and your
title, all that kind of stuff, never really asked you about that story. Because I think when I was
as we were going through the months, well, one, we saw each other like once a month, because I
would get hair cut sometimes it'd be like six weeks, to be honest. But every time I met you,
you'd have something new to tell me. I didn't realize that all that was happening as you were
like cutting my hair over that year. Like literally, like when you're like, I didn't know you engaged
to, or do you ask brand new to marry you on stage? No, no, no, I announced it on stage. Oh,
you announced it. Okay. So it's actually really funny. So there's actually a backstory to that too.
So I, I called the Heggy and I said, what are the chances I could propose to Brandy on stage?
And it's so funny. She was like, let me call Kyle, let me see what I can do.
She was like, I love the idea will help you. And I was like, great, I got, I don't know, I was
everything happened for the better, because I ended up proposing that night. And then Heggy called
me the next day and was like, Kyle's in. You're impatient. But like once I was on stage, like I
was like, there's a zero. So I proposed. And what guys don't talk about ever is how hard it is to
propose. Because I was like, oh, like we all do this. Like we all do it. It's so like in your
head, you're like, you're about to propose. You're like, I got this. And then it's just like the
hardest thing in the world. Oh my gosh, bro. And then I was like, there's not, I'm so happy that
I ended up not doing it on stage because that would have been ridiculous. That would have been so
hard. Yeah, it looks so easy when you see people doing on TV. I remember my proposal, I took my
wife to a lantern show. I thought it would be really cool. And like, I had it planned. I was
literally pumped up, super excited. And then when I, she was standing at the lanterns and I got down
on one knee and I'm like, anxiety attack. I stand up. I did that like four times. I'll get on my
knee stand up and the whole time she didn't turn around once she's staring at the lanterns.
And then finally on the last time I was about to get up again, literally, but she turned around so
I could and I was like, hey, it was dude, it is terrifying. You're getting 100%
like it is one. Yeah, it's Kyle. It's terrifying. Oh yeah. Wait to you. Wait to you take it.
Wait to you take the leap man. It's hard man. It's crazy. It's so funny. Nobody wants to talk about
it. Nobody wants to talk about how genuinely hard it is. Yeah, that's true. It's good. Because you're
just thinking about it. You're super excited and that happens and what I have happened. Well,
the other thing is, is like, I'm definitely someone that's very like methodical. I want it to be so
special. And so I put a lot of planning in. Yeah. And I'm not looking forward to the stressful
anxiety part at all. But compare that to like everything else, right? Like everything that's
amazing, great. Everything that you want in life is hard. Like it's hard to get. Like and it may
seem easy, but the ride is never what it seems to be. It's never like proposing. Seems so easy on
TV and stuff. You actually get there is literally the hardest thing ever. Yeah. Like it's scary,
you know what I mean? And so it's like, I feel and I don't mean to talk so much on this because
like we're interviewing you, but like so many things are coming to mind. Like I feel like so
many people, they don't talk about the journey, like the emotions that we deal with on the road
to success. Everybody sees where you started probably and where you ended up, but nobody
sees that like, dude, the anxiety, the fear, the stress, the, you know, all these negative
emotions that we deal with not just on the ride, but like now that you own your shop,
you're dealing with those same emotions again, am I going to be able to build this? Am I gonna have,
how do I get more clients? How do I do, you know what I mean? Like it never stops. And even when
you are making filthy money, if you're on a road to progress, you consistently have those negative
emotions and we need to understand that, learn that they come with the territory and embrace them
and learn how to manage them rather than trying to avoid them. You know what I mean? So I'm sure
you dealt like literally, I think you named every single emotion on that on that roller coaster of
just getting to where you ended up. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like so, all right, fast forward,
you have your shop now. How is that going? You got your own like, any of your five year plan,
you accomplished everything you set out to accomplish. Now you're probably gonna, you probably
have other stuff you're trying to accomplish, right? Where you at currently? What I truly,
this is something I think about all the time actually, what I love about you is you've been
a mentor to me, whether you think so or not. But like you really have and you asked me that it was
like, I think it was like the first or second time I came and cut everybody up. Hair guys, not.
Yeah, hair. Clarify. So you asked me, you were like, what are your goals? And I had no clue.
Not a clue, not a single one. And it like, what are your goals? You asked me, you just asked me
like three or four like extremely hard questions. I think now if you asked me those same questions,
I would have answers on that. That's awesome. And like, and what it made me realize is I was like,
dang, like, I've done, I've gone this far. And I was like a little bit lost. Because everybody
who starts a business, it's Instagram is liars full of lies. Like, yes, you know, you know,
I just made I just made $50,000 and four hours by my program. I hate you guys. I literally hate you
guys. It's all a bunch of crap. That's why. Yeah, it's all a bunch of crap. And entrepreneurship
is not, it's not glamorous. It's hard. It's like the hardest thing I've ever done in my whole life.
Agreed. So the first what the first three months were so beyond stressful and difficult that I just
like is the thing that I that I cherish is I didn't explode. The thing that I know that sounds nuts.
But like, I'm sure you felt the same way. But my first yeah, my first two weeks were pretty,
the first week were was awesome. Like my first week was the coolest week of my life.
And then because I made like so much money, all my new clients like are not new clients,
all my clients that followed like came in my first week, all my people that were really like,
um, cherishing me and what I do for a living and how I service them. So everybody else was,
everybody that came was a really happy. It went well week two went well week three. It was like,
it was like the end of week two. And it was Wednesday. And I remember this. I went to the golf
course while I was actually super duper slow. I'm just sitting there. I had like one appointment
and then I had one appointment. I had won a nine a.m. appointment and won five o'clock appointment.
And I was just sitting there the rest of the day and it sucked. Brandy was like,
why don't you just go golf? So I went to went golfing and I'm looking around and that was what
I needed. I know it sounds crazy, but I needed to look around at the golf course. And I remember
being on the fifth hole and I looked and I was like, damn, I'm a business owner. I can't be doing it.
It's like, if I continue to do this, like I'm going to fail. And it was just like,
I knew, I knew that that was the wrong move. And I made so many wrong moves in my first month.
And like looking back now, like, man, I made who cares about that first month? Like the first
month was a trial period. Yeah, because I made a lot of wrong decisions. And then like
the fear of just like, I mean, the rent was paid, the lights were on, everything was cool. But I
would just wasn't like, I mean, I was making a little bit of money, but you know how it is. You
have to you have to buy all the stuff in it and your profit and loss sheet, you may make $10,000
of profit, but you your loss was 11 and you made no money. But it's that first that first month was
painful. Bro, what a great real realization. I always have a hard time saying that word. But
that's so true. Like, if you if you would have kept doing that, like, okay, hey, you know,
two days a week, you have those days where it's just like, hey, you have one or two people and
you just go golf, you wouldn't be where you are right now. How many clients you currently have?
A lot. Hundreds, right? Yeah. So I would say close to 300. Yeah, I would say like,
very, very close to 300. I haven't checked in a while. Yeah, which is which is phenomenal. And
it's like if you spend that like people, I hate seeing this online, I don't know if you guys
have ever seen it, but it's like the Oh, here's how I talked about last podcast, here's how you
maximize your off days, like, you know, like work days, right? Like if there's more and like,
everybody's going through and they're like, Oh, yeah, I want to maximize all my work, you know,
off time as possible. And it's like, that's why people don't succeed. That's why it's like,
the road to success, it needs to be so consistent. So consistent. So it's so nonstop and people really
don't realize that like new entrepreneurs, they don't realize that it is a 24 seven grind and not
a nine to five grind, literally. Right. So I'm sure that you're realizing that was absolutely
game changing for your business. Yeah. And it really, really was. And it wasn't even my off day.
I just left in the middle of the day and blocked it out and went golfing. And I was like, what are
you doing? Like that was that was like the turning point I needed I needed that realization. I needed
that so badly. Thank God it happened so early. And that was just stupid. And then like, so month one
made so many mistakes. I think you were you were there. You were there. So you were there when I
came and got my haircut. Yeah, you were in the first space. Yeah. So for those of you don't know,
we had like one initial space and we upgraded to even larger and far better space. So that being
said, RJ was there like on her first space. That's when I actually come cut hair for the
yeah, yeah, that was like the first and last time. But that was during that moment where I just
thank God we had like, we had enough profit to expand. So it was good. We were able to expand
very, very quickly. And then now we have a very, very large space. Me and my fiance just cut hair
side by side businesses going well. The first three months were learning because we were only in
that first space for like a month. And thank God, because it sucked. But then I'm so I took that as
a learning period you have no idea. So my first my biggest mistake was having like knickknacks and
BS and just like having like a luxury feel to it. But the knickknacks don't matter. You know what
matters my tools, my chair, that's it in a cape. That's all I need period. That's all you need in
some hair product. Yeah. And my biggest problem was oh, we need this bullshit this that thing.
Tell me what was in it in the first thing.
I mean, a couple pictures and some chairs and get a TV.
I don't think you're I don't think you remember you you got you got the gist but there was like
the back shelves and so we had like so many extra shelves. Yeah, just knickknacks and BS.
That was not okay. I mean, sure it was it looked kind of cool but yeah, it took up so much space
for no reason at all. So like nope, that was biggest mistake one was do essentials and then
knickknacks but only have like one or two. You don't need to have like oh my gosh, I
you know that you know like you know your your junk wall. Yeah, in your closet where you keep all
your BS knickknacks that you have. Yep. Yeah, that your wife doesn't let you put out because I feel
that. Yeah, like my Yoda star wars. You're right. Okay, so like imagine that BS wall was at my shop.
Like that's not worth it. That's not worth it. Like no way. So that was a beautiful learning lesson.
So I had a lot of really good learning lesson. Bro, what's exciting is like putting in perspective.
Okay, five year plan. You had you had a five year plan to basically or I guess four year plan
technically to become a global artist blow everything out of the water become literally
one of the best in the world, right? You did it. Now you're on phase two, business owner.
Now you want to grow that be the best there. So like you are just doing what you already did once
all over again in a different in a different region or a different part, right? And that's what
entrepreneurship is all about. Wait, I got a funny thing to say. Tell me you play Call of Duty.
Of course. Okay, Call of Duty. Yeah, of course, man. You know how you prestige. Yes. So I told
I told I told I said I was like, dude, it's just it feels like I just prestige. I have all the knowledge.
I have everything. Awesome way to put I'm gonna use that. I'm being an entrepreneur is
prestigious. And you know what he says? He goes, okay, it was like, whatever the hell that means.
And I was like, you don't play Call of Duty broke my heart, bro. Bro, prestige, your prestige one now.
That's awesome. First prestige. First prestige, dude. That's that that's a game changer. I just felt
like a competitive like a rise in my soul right now. Yeah. Like putting it in a presenter that way.
Shoot, because you were on top. But now you're on the bottom. But with all the knowledge, you're
like you're at the bottom with every with all the last bit of knowledge you need. But now
second prestige is growth. Yeah. And third in fourth and fifth is all growth. And I sound like
such a nerd. And I love how we're having this nerd out. But like, swear, dude, it's that's the
truth. You know, prestigeing in life, you know, one step, one step, one step. Here's the deal, man.
Your business is going to be very successful. It's already succeeding. How long have you had this?
What is it? Like eight months? What's today's date? Today is July 10. Yeah, 11th. 11th. Oh,
tomorrow makes tomorrow literally makes nine months. Nine months. Okay. Yeah. Sweet man. So like
first year of business. And we all know there's so many different lessons. I mean, being a business
owner is so different than, you know, cutting hair. Like it's just a whole different set of skills
to run a company. And you realize a bunch of that in the first month. You know what I mean? Like
was a punch in the face. But those are the good months. So that's when you look back like,
if I were to look back on my first month right now, I would, I wouldn't be able to stop laughing.
So I'm not going to think about it. Dude, I was an absolute turd. I was a fool. I thought I was a
cool. I'm going to go frickin build a shower, bro. I'm surprised I haven't hurt people on
accident. Like with some of the stuff I actually built because I knew I was a new dude, these
these gamer slaying. I love this. I was a new but now I'm prestige, baby. Let's go. Let's go.
But that's I'm a little envious of you right now. You get it just like you you did it.
Now you get to do it again. And it's that's fun. I've been waiting to be able to like get this
thing to be my economy like just so well oiled to where I can have a sign like, all right,
now I'm going to duplicate and just get it do it all over again because the adrenaline, the rush,
the, you know, the, the ecstasy of just doing something great and building something is the
best. It's the best. Like, I love that you said building it because building it from the ground
up was like such an interesting we we had we had put everything in the in the space in the first
space and we were tripping because we were like, Oh my God, it's not it's all not going to fit. We
made it fit. It was beautiful. Like whenever you just see all of your all of your stuff in one area
and you're like, Oh my goodness, how do I do it? Then you do it. It's just like it's just like a
little it's like a win. Yeah, just taking it's just taking a win. The beautiful thing. You know,
I think about like I had a I used to have a mindset like I used to watch friends that, you
know, growing up, they always put in perspective like when I got back from my mission. So four
years ago, I got back from South America. And I had missionary companions that came from very
wealthy families. And so when they came home, all I saw on Instagram were like, they're brand new
f 350 that dad bought them and this and stuff. And like, Hey, you know, he had a scholarship for
rugby, for example. And so like, they were doing stuff. But like, I saw a song like, dude, I wish
I had that. I wish I had that. Now, I don't wish I ever had anything like that. And I had great
stuff growing up to more than some of my friends that like, but what I've learned the amount of
growth and lessons I've had from literally starting something from absolutely nothing
is irreplaceable, irreplaceable. You just can't get anywhere. Like I feel like if I were to go up
against someone twice as big as me, but they had a huge cushion of a head star funding friends,
family that helped them and and they built in these, you know, they're still successful because
of them. But I guarantee that the things that I know and I learned go even further beyond them,
because to not have anything and to have nothing to lose changes people when you actually do stuff,
in my opinion, you know, yeah, money is not here's the here's the fine line because money's not
always the answer. Yeah, because if you shower your kids and they never know how to work,
they will. I've just seen like a lot of people, a lot of people really, really, really, really,
really successful men and women have kids give them everything and those kids end up in end up in
jail. Those kids end up just not feeling fulfilled. And it's not even the parents fault, it's not the
kids fault, it's just like life. You can't just if I had if you if I gave you the whole world and
you had nothing to work for like what are you going to do? Like working is working is kind of
like fulfilling. Yeah, working is really fulfilling. I can tell you I've made a lot of money and I've
made like a little bit of money. But there's there's the feeling of fulfillment is just price
you know, because my favorite days even like whenever I was at Quicks are the days that I
have really amazing conversation. It's not about the money. I don't give a shit about the money.
The money the money will come. But those days I didn't make the most but I was like excited to
have like 10 extra minutes like with RJ like you know what I mean? Like I was like excited to have
like 10 extra minutes so we can like really really just get get down with it. You know,
have fun like who cares like life life shouldn't be so difficult. It's more in my opinion like
success is so solely based off of just like enjoyment. Why are you doing it? To be a billionaire?
Wish you the best of luck. You know, well, you know, there's there's different forms of compensation
and everybody when they hear compensation, they think green money, you know, something you can
spend right but compensation comes in so many different forms like for me like something I
base like yeah sure $300 in my hand is great. That's you know, that's rewarding but a week at
you know, Newport with my daughters on the beach watching them run around and have the absolute
best time of their lives. That is so much more rewarding than getting $6,000 in my hand. You
know, I got here and I mean like I was the last year I went to Disneyland and Disneyland's great.
I love Disneyland and went there and we were there two full days and we did some other stuff on the
side but out of that entire trip out of everything we did every ride I went on the most memorable
part that I remember and I'll never forget is the first 10 seconds my daughters walked in and
their jaws just dropped because it was the most magical thing they've ever seen and I'll never
forget that it's like there's there's so many fruits and rewards and everything and if you
focus on the money money's great and that's a drive and like hey I would love to be a billionaire
and I'm gonna strive to make as much money as humanly possible but those are so awesome those
rewards along the way you know what I mean? Yeah it's so great. The little things the little things
and in like something I seriously value is driving with the windows down. Yeah either either like
first thing in the morning when the sun's not up. No even even when the sun's not up like even when
the sun's not up like that's my favorite thing blasting music and that's how I wake up or like
at night whenever I'm driving home and it's dark out and it's windows down. Those are my favorite
times yeah and like that's just a beautiful thing yeah just the little things like not even like
work related just like like those are the most fulfilling moments and having like those moments
the little things that actually drive you to be successful people don't even talk about what you
need what do you need I need I need that 15 minutes every morning with my windows down music
blasting maybe not during this heat but like I need that that's that's how I get fired up like
so we will talk more about it but I got some crazy good news we'll talk more about it after
this podcast but crazy crazy crazy amazing news and I'm super happy for my... Are you having a kid?
No no no I'm saying no I'm like yeah I'm like super happy for my kid. I can't take another one of
those honestly it's in the water at this point. Like I'm like super duper happy for my friends
that's like a fulfilling thing for me you know like just like an amazing I I love to see my friends
win I love to see you win I love coming here like I feel like every time I come in here I feel like
I'm winning because I'm there's not many you get my opportunity yeah very you know like I've never
heard of anybody doing what I'm doing right now for those of you don't know I come to um RJ shop
give everybody haircuts once a month or so cool as thing this is awesome for us never experience
something like that and um he was still kind of getting me a barber chair and it was awesome so I
have a little barber chair there's a table over there there's a refrigerator there's everything I
need truly and that's that's an excellent opportunity. I feel like I'm Rick Ross when he comes over you
know just like yeah my barber's coming over it's coming to me like it's so sick but it is and and
he don't even smile like that because when I told everybody in the conference room that we were
doing this everybody was like yeah dude that's awesome that's sick you have to thank your brother
for that because yeah I keep really having my brother really wanted it yeah and then I also just
I like it because I get to DJ yeah and get some music going on like talk about like an experience
like I just you know I think this is cooler than the time that I cut hair and like next to a Ferrari
like I think this is cooler than that moment you know that's flattering thank you you know
it just a minute ago you reminded me of a movie I can't remember what it's called but this movie is
about the photographer or it's the main character is about his life or whatever but there's a
character in this movie who's a like a photographer who captures photos of like just he's a professional
photographer who captures the most beautiful photos of different animals and stuff and there's
this one animal he had been hunting like some type of snow lion or cat or something I can't
remember but anyways and so this guy they ended up he ended up finding this photographer for some
other reason that doesn't relate and this photographer's on my mountain he was like hey look
over there I've been hunting this for years it's like the one picture he's wanted his entire life
and he's like oh yeah and so he has a camera up he's looking and you know the Spencer's there
we're waiting for him to take a picture and then he just puts the camera down and then the cat walks
away and the guy goes why don't you snap that picture you've been literally hunting this for years
it's like your light like your life goal to get this picture he goes because if I took the picture
I wouldn't have really enjoyed the moment of actually being here and that stuck with me hardcore
like going back to like the the beautiful things the little things in life sometimes like if you
know when you're stressed out and you have a million things going on and or you're hitting
goals and you're not feeling satisfied because you're still not where you want to be even though
you're making a little bit of progress you'll be able to step back and just enjoy the moment
just enjoy the moment that's what keeps us sane I think that's what really keeps us sane from
crumbling from the freaking stress of just having a hustle 24-7 you know so I I this happens to me
a lot and I want to know if it happens to you but sometimes I'll get so stressed out like just
overwhelmed literally on the verge of a panic attack and I'll quite literally just break out and
laugh or like it's not me it's not it's just like an involuntary action where I'm just like
I start laughing and it actually calms me down that's where I'm like damn this freaking sucks
and I just start like hysterically laughing like literally five seconds makes it easier to take
and then you're just like damn all right I think we've all done that I was like this is this is
what I gotta do so like I gotta do x y and z like this is just what it is you know what I mean I
think I do that when I get bad news like hey man we actually burnt this client's house down
oh man that sucks we we've never we've never had any fires at clients houses nothing like that but
like literally hey boss that uh the house is
hey boss we just lost uh million dollars oh shoot it does take the edge off I'm not gonna lie for me
I just I have moments where I'll just like break down and cry and then like after I cry I feel so
good like I had someone in here just before you came and he was talking he's like he's so stressed
and I've been kind of coaching him on how to scale his business he was like yesterday dude I just I
cried for like 30 minutes in my car just because I'm just there's so much going on I'm so stressed
I don't know if I'm gonna be able to do this and I'm like how do you feel he's like I feel great
I was like yes you do so you gotta have those moments whether it's laugh like something just a coping
mechanism almost you know what I mean like it's a necessity it's a necessity yeah and I and I
it's so funny to hear like you say that like you cried because I felt so much better like so
every time I cry I feel so much better yeah even whenever I was telling you about whenever I wanted
to quit like barbering and I like broke down for like hours like it just wouldn't stop like I felt
like like heavenly like almost you know you feel it's just such a release it's your release yeah
you get released this stress it's it's like working out feels good yeah it's good love it love it
dude awesome coop this was a great podcast love this episode this was this was a fun one I really
enjoyed you being here guys we are going to have his links to his social media and stuff down below
click it check it out if you're local az are you taking on new clients yeah he's taking on new
clients okay he's out in Chandler Arizona correct yeah yeah yeah place that you went to like yeah
minutes away it's like Gilbert on the two or two yeah yeah so um if not you can come stop by my
office check our office I don't get a haircut on Tuesday because you're gonna be here Tuesday
actually they probably won't even hear this on Tuesday will they don't need people come into the
office I'm chilling but then also check out our links follow our company check out what we're
going what we're doing and what's going on we really appreciate you guys following us remember
to drop questions down in the comments for our q&a's so if you guys have anything you're going
through whether it's in your marriage or family your business this podcast is literally for all
of us to really share all the differences and and the things that we do to you know find solutions
get through life and and really just share share everything so we appreciate you guys join in we'll
see you next time dude that was so much fun