Manhood Matters Podcast

The Making of Entrepreneurs: Beyond Limits

Season 1 Episode 32

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What does it take to abandon the safe path and build a business from scratch in your early twenties? Vince Starrs (29) and Justin Bradford (22) reveal the raw truth behind their entrepreneurial journeys, from teenage side hustles to founding thriving tech companies.

These young founders share a refreshing perspective on success that challenges conventional wisdom. Rather than asking "what if I fail?" they've built their careers on the mindset of "even if it takes time, I'll succeed." Their stories debunk the myth that you need privileged backgrounds or extensive formal education to create wealth – instead, they emphasize the power of proximity to success, learning through action, and unwavering persistence.

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when they discuss their deliberate decision to remain single during these formative business years. "The best women are behind a paywall," Vince explains, suggesting that focusing on personal development first creates better relationship opportunities later. While potentially controversial, their perspective reveals a strategic approach to life planning that prioritizes long-term vision over immediate gratification.

Most compelling is their advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: isolation to hear your internal voice, learning to say no to distractions, identifying blue ocean opportunities, and embracing failure as essential education. Justin's insight that "we spend so much time listening to outside noises that we lose touch with our internal voices" serves as a powerful reminder for anyone feeling stuck or uncertain about their path.

Whether you're a young person contemplating entrepreneurship, someone considering a career pivot, or simply fascinated by the mindsets of successful founders, this episode offers practical wisdom and genuine inspiration from two individuals who've rejected conventional paths to create extraordinary results on their own terms.


RESOURCES: 

Essentialism by Greg McKeown https://a.co/d/eMIUz62

Blue Ocean Strategy by Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne https://a.co/d/73wJ8Rv


FOLLOW @vincestars & @justinthementor on IG

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Host: StéphaneAlexandre
IG: @stephanealexandreofficial
Music by Liam Weisner

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Speaker 1:

You have to be alone. You have to be comfortable enough with that voice in your head that just told you what to stop. To. Where now, when you get in a hard situation, you don't need to depend on your girlfriend, who can leave you, your friend, which can pass away. You're comfortable with self. You and the higher power, the divine intelligence, have a strong connection. To where, even in adversity, when the world turns their back against you, you still have the confidence that I'm possible, because you have calmed the voice to guide yourself out of any harm life can present you or risk life could present you. That's the seclusion with self that I would advise.

Speaker 2:

Whether you are 17 or 37 years old, if you've ever thought about starting your own business, I'm sure you've heard at least one person tell you to stop dreaming and to be realistic. Or maybe you're just confused about the first steps or you're terrified of failure. If that's the case, this episode is for you. This week, we sit down with two very successful entrepreneurs Vince Starrs, who just turned 29, and Justin Bradford, who is only 22 years old. Both of these gentlemen have founded successful businesses and are currently leading their respective companies, solving major problems for their clients, from their philosophies on what if versus even if, time horizons, what is possible versus what is probable, and why they are choosing to remain single for the time being. If focus, concentration and determination was a person, it would be these guys.

Speaker 2:

There's a lot to learn here, guys. Welcome to Manhood Matters. Let's get to it. So I want to kind of pick your brains about your successes and talk about your journey. What's led you here? Maybe talk about you guys 2.0 and 3.0 and what that looks like in the future. We'll start with you, vince.

Speaker 4:

I appreciate it. My name is Vince. I go by Vince Stars on pretty much all social media handles. As you said, you know being an entrepreneur for the better part of over a decade now, but I've also dibbled and dabbled in the corporate world, the job life, things like that, but right now running a tech company where we primarily focus on booking appointments for other entrepreneurs, other business owners who their businesses are dependent on appointments. So that's pretty much what I do now and I've been doing that for the better part of a year, cool.

Speaker 2:

What about you, Justin?

Speaker 1:

My name is Justin Bradford. I go by Justin the Mentor on my socials. I've been in entrepreneurship and business ownership for about half a decade, to where currently I sit as the co-founder and CEO for Telemark Tech, which is a solutions firm for roofers across the United States.

Speaker 2:

You know what's cool? The fact that you guys don't say three years, four years, it's a decade and half a decade. There's something about that in business that resonates more than it's almost like you guys have learned power phrases or power words that you use, as opposed to saying something like four years, almost half a decade so it makes a big difference.

Speaker 2:

Small word, big difference, yeah so how old were you when you started and what was the mindset behind it as to why you decided that the traditional college wasn't for you and you're going to pursue your own path? Or did you go to college?

Speaker 4:

Like most young men, I'd say, you get inspired by the girls, the watches, the cars, the luxury houses, all that good stuff. So I remember one day I was watching HGTV and it was Flippin' Vegas by this guy named Scott Yancey. Okay, and the car I always wanted was a Porsche 911. So I'm watching the end of the TV show and this guy pulls up to his house in a white Porsche. He's like oh yeah, we just sold this house and made $41,000. And I'm like that's pretty much what my parents made collectively a year. Wow, Collectively. Collectively, yeah, we immigrated here from Nigeria, okay.

Speaker 4:

So my parents had no decent jobs back in Nigeria but coming back here, their degrees and things like that weren't recognized, so they had to start all over again. And to start all over again with young children to go back to school, that's not really a possibility. So you take whatever job you get and you just figure it out. But watching that scene, he made $41,000 on one house. I'm 16, still in high school at this time. I told myself, even if it takes me an entire year to figure this out, I still do well. So thankfully that was my bar right, just got to do one flip and make $41,000. It wasn't. I got to get rich and make millions of dollars.

Speaker 2:

You know, I want to interject real quick because what's cool about what you just said? Because I don't want to forget it. I'm old, I will forget. What's cool about what you just said is that phrase right there, that sentence, even if it takes me a whole year to figure it out, because I think what a lot of young people are not willing to do is have patience for even a year. It's instant gratification If it doesn't work right this second, it's not for me. I'm moving on. I did one push up. I'm not sexy yet. What's up? What's going on? What made you think like that? Because, again, you're 16 and you figuring it out.

Speaker 1:

I almost want to also highlight the power word that he used right there, because it was a very easy substitute. He could have said he said even if it takes me a whole year, that's faith. He could have said what if it takes me a whole year to learn this? And been fearful and never even started. So I think that even if is the approach that he had that most entrepreneurs need to have, unless you just want to be another watch, a preneur.

Speaker 2:

Yeah Cause, no matter what is happening, even if it takes this long.

Speaker 4:

The time's going to come anyway. Yeah gotcha, so you might as well do something that's worthwhile. Correct, because my options were go to pharmacy school. So be a pharmacist or a doctor. Nigerian culture right.

Speaker 4:

Pharmacy doctor, engineer, or I could be the rebel of the family and go to the military. So I was preparing to go to the Marines. So I said, all right, do I want to go get shot at? Do I want to go be around blood my entire life, or do I just want to figure out this real estate stuff? So when all in on real estate, it took me eight months to get my first deal only made about $2,500.

Speaker 2:

Most people would have quit at five months.

Speaker 1:

I want to ask for the real estate people how did you source that deal? Bandit signs Trenches. That's what that answer said.

Speaker 4:

We buy houses Handwritten yellow letters, the old school.

Speaker 1:

Flyers sticking in doors Vacant houses.

Speaker 4:

I remember, you know, those postcards that people put on cars. I did that.

Speaker 1:

Going to Publix Kroger. He's going to the Home Depot, Like I know y'all got to flip, y'all are working on it, sell it to me.

Speaker 4:

Oh man.

Speaker 2:

So eight months later you get a deal.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, Like I said, even though the first deal was only $2,500 and I even take that principle to everything I did after that it was still the most impactful check I've ever made in real estate because that was the belief check. It was real, it could happen. And then within the next four months I collectively did over 100K, but it started with that one. This is real showing my parents. I made $2,500. And I went to the bank, got it all out in ones.

Speaker 1:

Of course you did, bought my shoeboxes.

Speaker 4:

So imagine coming to your parents with all ones in $2,500. Oh my. God, $2,500 ones. The bank teller's like really, oh my God, it was the most stressful thing in the world because, again, that's my first real check.

Speaker 5:

Yeah.

Speaker 4:

They go to the back, call the closing attorney's office. I'm like, oh man, about to go to jail Because my parents are telling me, like this real estate stuff it's not real, it doesn't happen that easily. I'm thinking who am I going to call? Do I remember my parents' number to bail me out? Like all these thoughts are going through my head. But it was the most challenging thing I had done in my life. But I learned so much and the fundamental principles I learned through that have carried me on to everything else I've done since then. Gotcha.

Speaker 2:

And Justin, you have a similar story because you started at 16 or 17 in real estate as well. Is that right yeah?

Speaker 1:

I started at 17 because I was in business at 12 and I was doing social media and tours and concerts and having like that whole social media empire. I was a part of Matty B Raps and his platform, but then at 17. Wait, wait, what?

Speaker 2:

Cause. Okay, so hang on. All right, for anyone my age listen. He's not going to know what you're talking about, and I don't even know if a 30 year old would know what you're talking about. Hopefully, not Hopefully, just to be totally fair and transparent. Did you have some kind of a leg up when it comes to that, just having had this? So you were a youtube star sensation or something at 12?

Speaker 1:

well, I was just an athlete, right. I was baseball, football, basketball, gotcha everything active kid. So I was on the baseball team and he ended up joining our travel team. And who's he? Matt? Matt morris is maddie b raps. That's his persona, gotcha. I don't know where the b comes from, but it sounds real good, right. So he joins our baseball team and he's like the talk of town in elementary school Cause I'm in fourth or fifth grade at the time Like Maddie B's on our team, maddie B's on our team, I'm like who is this so I Google his name millions of subscribers, hundreds of millions of views, justin Bieber boyfriend cover, but he's 11.

Speaker 1:

So he's not saying, if I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go. He's saying, if I was your best friend, I'd never let you go. So, parents, it's not about the kids, it's the parents feel comfortable showing this content to their kids because there's not a single curse word anywhere. It's not perverted, we're not taking our shirt off, we're not having girls in little skirts Like. We are doing things the right way as far as like kids content.

Speaker 1:

Empire empire just from being on his baseball team, I went over to his house one night. We're having a dance contest in his basement. I'm hitting the chris brown santa y'all heads like last moment. He's like, oh, get him in a video. Oh, wow. The next day I'm forming a heart across my chest and pumping my chest up, dancing. They're like, oh, the ladies love him. Next video I'm in. It's like a pop-tart challenge. They're like, oh, he ladies love them. Next, bearded all men, it's like a pop-tart challenge. They're like, oh, he's kind of funny. Next one it's a dance contest. Like, oh, he can move. Then they got me on the mic. I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be, I'm, I became will, will, I am for them, basically, basically, in a nutshell right. So that was my, my past life, my acting phase, and then I was like directing you're like 12 years old yeah from 12 to little, we were do touring the united states.

Speaker 1:

I mean it was awesome meet and greets and it was the most humbling thing ever because we did everything the right way and they like gave us so many valuable business lessons along the way. But also during their meet and greets they would have it to where, like anybody with a disability would come up first or like come up last so I cater to them but like just seeing the impact that you would have on a person you don't even know exist but you're like the the brightness in their day. And I'm also getting dms, because I never had anybody manage my social media so it's like I'm getting 20 000 followers overnight. I'm the only person that's checking my dm. This is the most rare thing ever. Right, I've never got hate because I was just a funny guy or the ladies man man or the country dude and I would act so many different characters where, even if you hated me this video, maybe you love me the next video, so you would never hate on me. That was just like my persona. So I learned all these different roles to play and how to play them. Well, that transitioned perfectly into business Cause.

Speaker 1:

Then, at 17, football players. Still the athlete getting ready to go to Yale, the traditional school that you would be like, that's the dream school. Every parent would be like, oh, it's going to work out. And I turned it all down and they were like, so you turned down the Ivy league, yeah, the Yale, princeton, like I had 28 division, one scholarships and obviously my dad going that route, university of Colorado or Colorado university and then playing at the NFL and coaching in the NFL. He's like my son's going to basically recreate the path. But I want to do it bigger, because I saw two levels of success. I saw the level of success from a high paid employee. Am I a father? Because even though you're in the NFL, you're at the peak of your niche. You're also reporting when they need you to and doing what they need you to, and you can't actually be the like present father you would prefer to be, but you can be the provider. So there's a substitute.

Speaker 2:

Hold on prefer to be, but you can be the provider, so there's a substitute Hold on time out. So how old are you when you're thinking this through? 17. You're 17 years old, all right. So this is not going to apply to a lot of people out there, because here's what I'm saying You're 17, 99.9% of 17 year olds, when they're looking at a path that's pretty much laid out for them. Hey, my dad's in the NFL, he's coaching, he's got all these contacts. I can take this scholarship and go to an Ivy League school. Worst case scenario I got an Ivy League education and I have all the connects in the world. Such a bad life.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it ain't bad, right so that's a worst case scenario.

Speaker 2:

You're able to think it through and rationalize and come up with. I don't want this because this is not good enough. I never thought of an NFL pro football player or pro athlete as someone who was reporting and checking in as an employee. But that's really what they are to have that mindset and have that presence of mind at 17. What's the foundation for that?

Speaker 1:

I think it's a balance between two things and like first I'll credit it to like divine intelligence, meaning it takes a certain level of awareness and effort to pry enough information out of the world, whether it's through a book, a person, a podcast, whatever. It took effort to learn the options I had available. Actually, having a grandfather in my life that was this businessman that took the risk that provided for his family, that was the employee that made the connections but also built the empire to have the freedom and be able to provide, be able to protect, do all the things my dad could do. But also he had his freedom. It just took a little bit longer. He didn't get it right at 21. He didn't become the millionaire like my dad instantly, but when he became the millionaire he had the freedom that people desire. When they talk about financial freedom, they set it as a number. Well, what if you hit that number and then you die right when you hit it? And you spent all your life working towards it? You never enjoyed the toil for it right.

Speaker 2:

So the foundation, then, is you're watching this businessman, entrepreneur, founder in your grandfather, who became very successful and he poured into you.

Speaker 1:

Not in a sense. No, he didn't pour into me. I learned by the blueprint in which he lived his life, by you know what I mean. There was no talking.

Speaker 1:

There was never like. I will say that, like the men in my life have never been, very, sit down, let's talk about X. It's watch how I do blank and I'm just like I will be confident swapping lives with you because you're that successful and like you're a good, respectable man, I'm going to do it like that too. I just learned from that. The second thing I'd credit it to is, like the logical justification as far as like choosing the path of let me not go to Yale, let me start this company that I don't know what it's going to do and I haven't made any money in three months in real estate. Four months in real estate. I'm working 10 hour days, right. Logical justification, cause I said best case scenario I go to the NFL and it's not for long. Nfl, right, I get my check. Great, I just went into a car crash the past five months to play the season. Right Now my head hurts. Or I can play a different game for 50 years and take my same work. Ethic, drive, leadership, ability to study, film, learn, not make the same mistake twice. I would do that in football because I was the most intelligent on the field. That's why I was the only young kid on our seven-on-seven team that would travel across America playing the best people in the world. Right, I was the only kid that had zero offers on our team, but I was our safety because I was the quarterback of the defense, calling every play. The year after that, I got 28 offers and I blew up on the scene. And now I'm talking to the georges and the us. Right, but it took them knowing he's smart because before I was playing the wrong position, I was at the wrong school. I played one good year. They saw how smart I was. They were like awesome, yeah, same exact thing applied to business. I logically justified okay, if I'm smart like that in football and I applied it to business and I played for five decades, compared to maybe one.

Speaker 1:

My dad was blessed to play for 12 years and I still see the impacts of it because he's super smart. But he didn't have the same opportunity to get the education that I'm getting right now. Right, he could only focus on football because you have a playbook that's fatter than an encyclopedia. You got to study that thing. Right, I didn't have that. Instead of having to study a playbook, I Instead of having to study a playbook, I could go study your life, then I can study yours, then I can ask you about this failure, then I can say what's the question you got for me and I can learn from other people's experiences rather than just a team's program. So I didn't want to learn and be boxed in my whole life to be some smart guy. I wanted to be known as like the intelligent guy that can help anybody with anything. Hence Justin the mentor.

Speaker 2:

All right. So I had to jump into the whole mindset thing, but I want to get back to your story. I listened to some other podcasts and I listened to very successful people. There was no way they could have failed. You know whether it was a dad that was like this guy, but you didn't. I want to express to the audience and younger people how possible this is by forging their own paths, At 17,.

Speaker 1:

I was playing football. Still, I had all my offers and then I picked up this job. This was like my first ever quote unquote job. Right To me it didn't feel like a job because it was a 17 year old CEO that was in my freshman class saying hey man, you want to come make some money? I was like sure, so we're over here. We're a social media marketing company for restaurants, telling them they're going to get more business BS Right? So we're doing this for like two weeks. Hey guys, now we're a real estate investing firm. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I'm just an athlete, I don't care what we're doing. Give. Yeah, I'm just an athlete, I don't care what we're doing. Give me the script and let me act. I was booking like 10 calls a day with those restaurants, with no script. I was just having fun. So I was naturally just charismatic, creating words, making people like me. And then all of a sudden we became a real estate company and I was doing the same thing and I had the potential to make $40,000. Life just got so different. I was like oh, I'm out here offering half a million dollars on a home and sending out a contract same day, and then I'm doing that four more times before the sun even went down. Then I stopped football, literally in the summer at 17,. I quit football, didn't even play my senior year, because I saw how much money was in real estate. I went four months making not a dollar zero, making about 300 to 350 phone calls a day, connected conversations, 300 to 350, burnt out. Can't even talk to my mom when I get home.

Speaker 1:

I'm that tired from speaking yeah, 350 calls a day yeah, at 17 too, while also playing football that summer, going to my practices, going to my weight training at six and doing all of this and you're in high school.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you have to have that vision to know this is what I'm doing. Everything in high school. You know what I was doing, not that you're like playing games, playing on the drums I'm not even in my head, I'm not even growing job. What's a job?

Speaker 1:

I've not been thinking about that yet and I'm not even seeing it like a job, I'm just seeing this fun. Like I'm out here hanging out with my friends, just calling people and I didn't know, hanging out with strangers, my friends having fun. Then at um at 17, still I was like dude. This company has ran so horribly because we just saw this guy make about two hundred thousand dollars in the span of two months and then pull up in a new mercedes and then all of a sudden buy a new tesla and then all of a sudden pull up in a lambo and have the pink slip and we're only getting six hundred dollars every two weeks as a salary. Left that company with three of the other guys from that team, because there was like like seven of us in total. It was a startup brand new, because now we started to touch some cash.

Speaker 1:

Me, jaden Thomas, started a company called Divestic Ventures who they're still active today, and I think Duluth or Tequila and I moved out to LA, so I just turned 18. I moved out to Los Angeles. I'm basically living with my drug dealing cousin trying to help him be like dude, start a legitimate business, like you're screwing around in life. He was like, okay, like, teach me ways of actually starting a business. I'm living with him. I'm the disciplined one, he's the one trying to get on track Right. All of a sudden my grandpa passes away. It's April 1st 2021. I'm 18, co-owning a company back in Georgia. We're four months into business. We haven't made a dollar. Grandpa passes away. I'm in California trying to run a company in Georgia. It's chaos.

Speaker 1:

And then I moved back to Georgia. In one month we made $103,000 from double closing. I was able to basically show my bank account from $50 to $20,000 overnight and my parents were like whoa, that's real. Because then I exited that company to where I just had them purchase out my equity, started Capital Homes Georgia and then I ran that firm for like four years, had Capital Homes Tennessee, capital Homes Colorado, capital Homes Alabama, to where we had a couple of different firms but we were literally just doing virtual double closing to where we'd buy properties and then sell them off to hedge funds to make a quick flip.

Speaker 1:

It's like what you're talking about. Instead of actually flipping the property I never watched HGTV I was flipping contracts, so we never had to step on site in the property, actually buy the materials Like dude. I can't even tell you how to color, match paint, like you know what I mean. But I was just over there flipping deals and then obviously from there I just developed the business building skill set to where. Coming over to Telemar Tech and trying to go build any business from this point forward, it's like give me a week and I can create the company.

Speaker 4:

One thing that's powerful about certain points of his story and I think it's relatable for anyone else is just the power of environment or proximity. For example, with Matty B it was the environment, the proximity that you had to him, even with your grandfather I'm assuming it's the same grandfather.

Speaker 4:

Yeah yeah, yeah, before he passed, like just the proximity of seeing what he was doing, like that's what inspired you. So I would say for anyone who's a little bit younger, to get around you know some of those things that you aspire to be, because there's just so much power in that proximity, in that environment, because it's a cliche saying you're the product of the five closest people to you right?

Speaker 2:

no, it's cliche, but you know what? Say that shit again, because that's exactly what they need to hear.

Speaker 4:

Say it again you are the product of the five closest people that you're around or the environment that you're in.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, but now also think about it like this who was I living with in LA? A drug dealer, literally a drug dealer. Every lesson doesn't have to be learned, like some can literally be burned. You can be like, oh, you're dealing drugs, understood, not going to do that myself.

Speaker 1:

So, power, proximity, I was around all these good people but I was plugging and playing what I like from people. I extrapolated the greatness out of every individual because everybody has something in them, whether it's your work, ethic or something, and there wasn't always a direct lesson to sit down. Let me teach you blank. I just saw how you did blank. So if you're around successful people, that law of exposure, once you know, you know. You see the way that they're disciplined, you see their schedule, you see their strictness, you see their ability to say no and turn down pleasure. You see their ability to have perseverance. I never had to ask because I would just watch and then watch and then watch, and then maybe one day I had the level of consciousness to go hey, when this happens and you do this, what makes you think that way? And then they give me such a profound answer, I'm like, yeah, pull it, never leaving that alone.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 4:

More is caught than taught.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Sometimes it's also watching people as you learn what not to do because you're watching their mistakes. And again it goes back to that foundation we talked about earlier, Vince, you had mentioned to me prior to recording here today. You had some crazy success story. What's your deal with that?

Speaker 4:

There are a few successes in real estate. I think real estate is what gave me the platform to go do so many other things. Because number one, my age right. So I closed my first deal at 17. I was interested at 16, didn't do anything for those first eight months. By 17, I closed my first one by the time I was 19,. I had bought 20 something properties and so by that shit, really.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, by the time you were 19, you bought 20 properties.

Speaker 4:

It was crazy and people started to come out to my projects and see again this child. Yeah, um, you know I'm posting it on instagram, which wasn't as big back then. And then I started getting invited to speak on stages across the nation and things like that this young bull, bull, who's doing?

Speaker 5:

X, y Z.

Speaker 4:

And parents are like oh, you should be doing this, you should be doing that Other people's parents yeah, other people's parents.

Speaker 2:

So it's interesting how people will be like oh, you should do this but if their kid was like going to break the mold? To do it. They'd be like, no, you're going to go to school. And that do it. They'd be like, no, you're going to go to school, this is what you're going to do and get a regular job. They will push you to do something that will limit you 100%.

Speaker 4:

By the time I was 20, we were doing over a million dollars a year, and then by the time I was 23, I think we were 4 million-ish, which in our world was a lot, I mean, in the grand scheme of real estate. No one notices that we had a team of 22 people here locally, and then we also had some, of course, some backend, admin support and things like that.

Speaker 4:

But, like I said, it took me from zero, never had any business experience, to then I lost money. I started losing money because I partnered with somebody. In our first eight months we were just losing six figures because we tried to outgrow our revenue right, we tried to be the show. So what Justin was talking about, you know, with the cars, with this, you know, thought that that would attract more success if I, you know, wear certain things, if I'm at certain places. It doesn't translate like that in business.

Speaker 2:

A lot of people think it does. Like that in business, a lot of people think it does. I know, for example, like guys in the insurance game, they will not advertise unless it's like this luxury car behind them or they're showing tons of cash. It's not just insurance, it's just any business where you're trying to recruit on. You guys like that in the solar world or in the alarm world. That would pretty much not post anything unless it was the most extravagant, luxurious thing that would attract these young college kids to come work with them. They'd go spend money, a lot of money, on these luxury cars. I know guys who were renting out luxury vehicles for like $2,000 a day just to have this Lambo or whatever.

Speaker 2:

It was some ridiculous amount of money right, just to go to a college campus and camp out for like a week and a half, trying to pull these guys to go come sell with them, because the idea was to sell this dream, the vision.

Speaker 4:

Sell this vision, sell this dream, and look what I'm driving, look what you guys can have but you don't know the real story and I hope the younger generation here like truthfully all that you know luxury brands, luxury cars, all that. When you sit back and really think about it, you're impressing the people who are on your same level or beneath you and I hate to say the word beneath you, but who aren't doing as well as you're doing, like those are truly the people who are getting inspired and impressed by that. But the people who are truly successful, who you want to rub shoulders with, who you want to learn from, they see that stuff and they laugh. It's not really important. They want to see your hustle, your drive. They want to see your hustle, your drive. They want to see your financial statements. Are you disciplined? Then they'll come, you know.

Speaker 2:

let me go hide behind my insecurities or wherever it is. Yeah, you know Alex Hormozy. He was basically saying how he drove this Prius and he was driving a Prius and he had a million dollars in the bank when he would go to meetings or do whatever. It wasn't about pulling up at a limbo or something impressive, because that never mattered.

Speaker 4:

My biggest thing that took my business and my personal income from six figures to the seven figure mark was my business partner and my mentor, having someone who's going to check you on certain things, check you on certain decisions. Like I remember I wanted to go buy a BMW, my business partner and mentor was like at this stage, I really wouldn't recommend it.

Speaker 4:

Like we're still building. We're still early. Yeah, we tasted a little bit of success. I wouldn't recommend it. But one thing I love about him is he's never told me. I told you, so so I go finance this BMW.

Speaker 4:

He's like no, I still went and got it All right, so let's put the down payment great, crazy interest rate 20 something percent interest rate, because again I'm a child you go a couple months of real estate not making any money. They still calling for that. You know monthly payment. And I remember one time I let him take the car down the street to go get some groceries and he calls me. He's like vince, you know the car was in the parking lot, it's no longer there. He's like do you want to call me the police? I'm like no, I know what?

Speaker 2:

it's not the police. It wasn't stolen, so it was like I stole it.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, exactly. So it was like him being able to create an environment for me to still scrape my knees but also still check me on. Hey, I wouldn't do this then. And so the next car that I wanted to go get, I had to go get Humble and go get $4,000 Honda and drive that for the next two, three years. But then, when I was ready to go get the Porsche 911, I asked him again hey, I trust your opinion, Is it time for me to go get it? And he's like, yeah, go get it.

Speaker 2:

You know, I think that the biggest issue for a lot of people is the lessons not learned. So what makes you transition out of that business? If it's working, you're making money, why transition out of that business? And then talk to me about what are you doing now.

Speaker 4:

Great question. The benefit of early success is you get a lot of things out, your system right. You have the opportunity to do whatever it is that you want to do. Get all the holes that you said exactly subtle way of saying it so by the time I was 23 ish, my friends had.

Speaker 4:

My peers in my peer group were finishing up college. So now you know, they're starting their lives. They got. Now you know they're starting their lives. They've got some money. You know, some of them are traveling, doing all those different cool things and I had a. It was just the time and I had to spilt your journey. It's like, all right, it's time. Right, you've spent the last seven years of your life, six, seven years of your life, you know, building this business, doing all these things, being a quote, unquote man. Go be a child for you know, for a season. So I walked away from that. The company still exists today, like now.

Speaker 4:

It's a family office type investment firm and things like that so you sold your equity, or part of my spiritual journey was god told me not to take anything with me so just walk.

Speaker 2:

This was a spiritual journey, yeah, for a company you co-founded. Yeah, and you said my spirit is saying you can have it, I'm out. Yep, nigga Woo Shit.

Speaker 4:

It was tough, no, it wasn't Okay.

Speaker 2:

So spiritual journey told you to go ahead and walk away and leave it all. Yeah.

Speaker 4:

And you did. Yeah, because the theme that my spiritual mentor saw was you know, right now I'm striving, not thriving, which was true. Everything was in my power. I became, quote unquote God, anything I touch I'm going to make money. It's because of my power, because of me, and so I had to release all of that. It was just perfect time because, again, my peers had graduated, worked jobs, covid had just happened, everything was shut down, so you can't even close on real estate anyway, because the courthouses were closed. So it was just perfect. It was just the perfect wind of events that happened. And then that's when I realized that I really wasn't God. I got humbled in god. I got humbled, um, that 2019 to 2020 was my most challenging year of my life. When I say anything I could lose, lost, I lost. You know people who get nervous about having no money in the bank. Imagine scooting past no money to negative eighty thousand dollars.

Speaker 2:

Whoa, yeah, like it was bad how do you even get to negative 80? Because they stopped me at, if you asked them in the moment, like how about you?

Speaker 1:

it's like so easy that interest that principle.

Speaker 2:

At some point they stopped paying shit for me talking about you know, overdraft man my god, yeah, like.

Speaker 4:

and then irs tax forms like hey, even though you left this company, you, you still got to pay the taxes on it, don't? Forget about that money. Yeah, so it was. It was just the lost family members, it was just a lot going on, and from there I got a job for a couple couple months to kind of get a quick win. To be honest, it was selling security systems. So which company you work for, vivint?

Speaker 2:

OK.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, so I worked with Vivint for a while. I became one of their top salesmen and I'm making over $9,000 a month on just commissions. Yeah, you have to remember. I went through a year I had all the success in real estate, lost my identity. Covid happened.

Speaker 4:

Everybody's doing whatever I'm trying to figure out, what am I going to to know, do I still have those skills that I learned in the past? That's why I went to go to Vivint, did well there and from there went and met our mutual friend, martin, who had an insurance agency, and all those skills I learned in real estate took it from there into the insurance agency we grew to over 200 agents, got to exit that and then I went to the tech corporate world again for tech. All this time, looking back, I was refining that technical knowledge that I had and now just being able to utilize all those skills and everything I've learned in business to serve other business owners on the AI level so anytime I talk to someone who's successful, I always hear there's a sales skill that had to have been learned.

Speaker 2:

There's this grit, resilience, entrepreneurship but it always goes back to I know how to negotiate, I know how to sell. You know, a lot of people don't see themselves as I'm not a salesperson or whatever it is. I'm just like you're selling 24 seven, everything that you do to promote your business, and it sounds like you kept refining those skills over the years, eventually founded this new company that you're running now Correct, Okay and which is we essentially sell AI infrastructures to business owners.

Speaker 4:

So we communicate with business owners, we figure out where can we implement AI to manage some of that human capital. You may have employees that are front desk receptionists, like just to make it pretty simple, and you're trying to scale, you're trying to grow your business, but you only have one front desk employee. Well, we can build an AI system that will handle all the inbound calls, that will triage it. So, if it needs to go to this department, that department, if they need follow-up for the next three months, and even for the salespeople one of the cool things that we've been working on now is having role play for salespeople. So if someone wants to not replace their salespeople, wants to make them better, now we can take their sales manager, upload all their trainings, all the call recordings, all the scripts, have their salespeople get on the calls and in real time, the AI is giving them pointers. And oh, this person may be concerned about X, Y, Z. Oh, this rebuttal may come up. So you know, try saying this.

Speaker 4:

And so that's some of the cool things that we're doing right now with the AI.

Speaker 2:

That's awesome. What's the name of the company In Leap In Leap? Yeah, so In In Leap's job is to get a shit ton of humans fired. Sounds like you're coming for my job, bro.

Speaker 1:

He got the receptionist fired. Sales rep, they're gone. Manager.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we still need a sales rep for some old folks who want to see a human being, but we don't need a manager. No, he's out. Yeah, no, I'm joking, I'm joking Because see, it's the same thing.

Speaker 2:

Right Back in the 90s, everyone was afraid of the internet because, oh my God, it's going to replace everything and none of us are going to survive. We're going back to the Stone Age and only five people are going to be rich and a billion will starve. Obviously, that's not the case. And AI is the same thing. You embrace it because it's here. There's nothing anyone can do about it. Any business owner wants it in some capacity in your business. So I think that you've got something that's obviously outstanding and congrats to you, bro.

Speaker 4:

I appreciate it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. So speak of that transition, because you guys, now both your business, are working together. So talk to us about your business, telmar Tech, and how it was founded. Again, you're 22 years old. You founded a company. It's doing amazing. Go ahead, I won't steal your thunder, so talk to us about it, brother.

Speaker 1:

Well, yeah, more French, you know we founded this great company. How is? Because, I think, in relation to Vince's like story on transitioning, the thing that real estate gives you that can't be taken away from you after you develop it is operational management. You can create something from nothing and organize a system around it to where it can be duplicated with consistency. Right, because I had that skillset and I had like access to softwares from real estate that I know. You can cold call people and access every homeowner in America and have 50,000 people with this specific parameter that you're reaching directly, why are we knocking doors? And so so I heard about a company terminus from JP. He was like hey, eric Young know that name grew up around that name. Billion dollar developer built the aquarium.

Speaker 2:

Hey, now, so you want to be around that.

Speaker 1:

Nope, I heard he's about to get him his GC license. Wanted to be around that. So I'm like whoa, cause, I'm in real estate too. I'm like dude, I want to get into luxury developments for single family residential long term. So why not start learning it when I'm 21? You come in as the manager, maybe three days, as I'm into that role and I'm like this isn't what I signed up for. They're trying to tell me I'm over here. I sold a roof. I'm like, dude, I don't know the first thing about roof. I'm things, I'm falling off these things. Man, screw this. So you come and you like, knock this neighborhood with me. We go to some nicer neighborhood dude. We maybe have like three people open a door.

Speaker 1:

I'm looking at him like this is modern slavery I was like when they say it didn't get abolished but just polished.

Speaker 2:

This is what they meant meanwhile, my background like you, I came from the vivid world right, but I'm a door knocker, so I'm like no, we're knocking doors we're going door to door. This is what we're doing, and I don't know any other way.

Speaker 1:

Right, he's complaining, but he's also saying the solution yeah, I'm not a problem talker, I'm like all right, so let's hear it. Yeah, and he's like show me. And so, and literally I wasn't complaining, I was like I'm cracking jokes, like you know, athletes, when you're going through the pain, when it's football camp and it's summer, you're suffering with your boys.

Speaker 1:

It's hot, yeah, it's hot as hell. It's hot as hell. I'm like dude, what are we doing out here? So he's laughing his ass off. And then we ended up sitting by my car for maybe like five minutes and I'm like bro, I'm never doing this again. He's like what? I was like dude. I could be in air conditioning calling 300 people a day setting more appointments than your entire team. I'm not doing this. You're like show me, yeah, right, well, cool, I can show you better. I can tell you right, it sounds good, it looks better. I do it for 30 days and I out competed their geed, their Georgia and Tennessee office combined by myself, dialing, no AI, yet Just me, 300 or 350 calls a day, using my real estate skillset, sitting there, creating a script, attaching it to the dialer, connecting it with Google sheet, putting everything in there. And then they made $98,000 is what Jabari said $98,700 from 30 days of work.

Speaker 2:

And I was like, oh, I'm charging To make it, to make this make sense. Basically, he started dialing and, instead of taking all the leads, sold leads to the company that he was working for. So I, since I was in leadership, then I take that over to the VP and I was like, hey, this is what we've got, and so the rest is history. Because then, from proving the concept, you were able to say, hey, I don't need to do it for just one company, let me do it for just about everyone out there.

Speaker 1:

So after a month of getting hired by them, I went back in there a month after and I said, yeah, now pay me eight thousand dollars. They were like happily, like sure, here you go, walked away with my check, drove back home, took a picture. I was like here comes Telemar Tech, opened up the bank account, pr everything, and I mean what? We're 11 months into business as of now and I mean, yeah, we've been doing pretty good, we built this company to exit and that's why I left real estate.

Speaker 2:

It's like it's a you know, we take it for granted that everyone understands these business terms. What do you mean? You build it to exit.

Speaker 1:

I'm building this company to be able to sell off for a large acquisition one time and then obviously maybe maintaining a couple shares in the company if they went public, or a little bit of equity would make sense. But I'm building this company to have a good enough just ebita, which is like your financial statements for your business, have a good enough financial backing to be bought out by private equity or I mean anybody who's just looking to acquire good cashflow and company timeline um three years like that was what we talked about three years from now or three years from when you started three years from when we started, so two years from now.

Speaker 1:

Um, me and you obviously talked about we wanted to sell for 75 million to where all we've already achieved in year one going into year two. It's like we are definitely getting on track. Like I always look business as two piece possibility and probability right Like, is it possible you can do a multimillion dollar exit? Yes, sure, you'd be lying to say no, but now is it probable. Well, what's your experience? What's your background? What's your product market fit?

Speaker 5:

What's your?

Speaker 1:

safety? How much can you repeat it? What's your overhead? What's the bottlenecks? How much can you scale right?

Speaker 2:

What do you learn all that from? Because you didn't go to business school.

Speaker 4:

Oh no, he went to school.

Speaker 2:

You're right, you're right, you're absolutely right, he did go to school, because there's the traditional conventional learning and then there's what you've learned in the field, working, your experience. But where do you pick that?

Speaker 1:

up.

Speaker 1:

If you want me to like genuinely honest and I'm saying it's like humbly I genuinely think it's like almost impossible, because I've lived a life of such extremes.

Speaker 1:

Like you know what I mean. It's like you don't get super successful in sports and you're billion of views and you're super successful company and you're able to like be liked by anybody, but in the sense of like I can like talk to you and relate to you and ask you questions and care and not just be like some stuck-up egotistical guy because I got success when I was younger, yeah, right, so it's like I'm with death, like that's seriously the reason why I've learned so much, because I've never said no to anything. Well, I've never been too good for anybody and I'm like I've never put myself in a box ever. I only like to speak off things I've done or learn from somebody else and what they've done. So like because I've asked so many questions about so many different topics and learned I've then been able to apply, see my own experience and then have good relation when I've tried to explain something or a new understanding of a concept that I probably previously didn't have.

Speaker 2:

Gary Vee talks about this. He says do everything. He says try it, you're in your twenties, go ahead and go for it. I think that what happens is we have a lot of people who stand on that cliff and they're totally afraid to jump because they're just like what if it doesn't work? What if?

Speaker 1:

versus, even if remember what I said.

Speaker 2:

Yeah that's the thing with events like that was my mindset.

Speaker 1:

I'm doing content. Dude, what if you go to school and they start bullying you because your face is everywhere? And you said a bad joke and it was cringy and it was corny and it it was. I said, listen, even if they judge me, I just got paid and bought some Jordans. I was like I don't care. So yeah, it's that mindset. It's the the same time you go to sleep. Your kids, your partner, they don't go to sleep. If somebody got stabbed, you're not going to bleed with them. I've never seen a two man casket.

Speaker 1:

If that's the case in the reality we live in, why would I base my next move off of society's judgment or boxes? That childlike mindset of freedom is like genuinely what I'm trying to chase to maintain the creative ability, because as you grow older, you become too analytical and those are the most beautiful processes in life creation and analyzation. But there are two separate processes that should never be combined. You should create out of flow and abundance, knowing that there's no such thing as failure, if it's not fatal, and then you should analyze logically yet again, thinking emotionally past future, but analyze logically present. What are we actually dealing with? If you want to have success in anything. Don't focus on analyzing. It Just fail, fail, fail, create, create, create, then switch, create, then switch hats at.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes I was at the heights of creating and sometimes I'd be at the heights of analyzing, but I would never mash them to where I didn't take action, because if you mash them, you don't take action. You're trying to do something, but then you're hyper analytical and then you're like what if I, what if I? And you're thinking about all the bad. You become a pessimistic person rather than just doing it, doing it, it, doing it, doing it, looking at it. And even if it was bad, you're optimistic because you still saw the good or the lesson that you got out of that experience, the wisdom that came from it. Dope.

Speaker 4:

I'll also add time horizons. Right, if you give yourself enough of a time horizon, you could take action on whatever. So even now, if I wanted to go to the NFL which I'm not if I wanted to go to the NFL which I'm not if I said, all right, I want to be an NFL player in a year that's not likely. But if I said, all right, if I give myself the next five years to prep and things like that, I could probably get a lot closer to whatever that goal is. So people just have to be a little bit more forgiving with the time horizons that they give themselves, especially when you're younger, because in the generation that we live in now, it has to happen tomorrow themselves, especially when you're younger.

Speaker 2:

Cause in the generation that we live in now.

Speaker 4:

It has to happen tomorrow, yeah, microwave generation. If it doesn't happen tomorrow, oh, you know, I want to do what telemark tech does, so I'm going to give myself a week a month whatever.

Speaker 2:

But, like you said, you're 11 months in, so you talk about time horizons. How realistic that is. It's one of my least favorite words, by the way. Being realistic because it always feels like someone's saying you can't do it. But if you're using it in a way that's supposed to be used, you're just saying be realistic in the sense that create a SMART goal with the acronym SMART, Specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and, finally, time specific.

Speaker 1:

If somebody says be realistic, they're basically saying, hey, lessen something about what you just said, because you actually should go do that. It's like be realistic. It's like, hey, that's very possible, but you probably just need to tweak one or two things and then you can actually achieve it.

Speaker 2:

That's what we should interpret it Be realistic To fuel ourselves and our dreams. But I think most people when they say that to you, hey, be realistic more than likely they're discouraging you. Usually that means, man, just get yourself a job, yeah, and what you?

Speaker 1:

talk about, with time horizons like Alex Mosley talks about. It's like people are going to tell you be realistic. People are going to tell you go get a job. People are going to tell you you're crazy Right, and they're going to tell you you're a failure.

Speaker 1:

They're going to tell you it's not going to work. They're going to tell you dude, this is going to screw up and they're going to be right. And they're going to be right the next week. They'd be right the next month, maybe even the next year. But the thing that they're wrong on is they're measuring your success in days. As a business owner, you measure in decades. So it's like sure, my business isn't worth a million dollars this week. It's not worth a million this month, this year, but then in 10 years, while they're still playing and having fun and laughing and pointing because the hate never comes from above, like you talked about it comes from below right.

Speaker 1:

I would never judge the entrepreneur. I would tell him be realistic. I would tell him to check out your possibilities and probabilities in your risk management. I would never be like, dude, you can't build a successful company, You're too young. Dude, you don't have any funding. Because I know it's possible. I've done it before and I've seen it to where I would never hate on somebody below.

Speaker 2:

And Vince, you talked about failure and being humbled and your story's incredible Talk to us a little bit about failure and what it's done, because obviously you've had many.

Speaker 4:

More than I can count. Perfect and counting.

Speaker 2:

It doesn't go away, it doesn't stop. No, I don't think you get to a point where you go. I've officially stopped failing. You know I'm done, I'm done, failing. This is it.

Speaker 1:

Hell. Look, even if you compare it to the gym you work out when you do certain reps, you go to failure, because that's what makes you grow. Can I add a frame on that? Yeah, With the actual exercise of freeing yourself from the spiritual ties that you had to money, success, equity, all that right, and having experienced so many failures just being in business, and that's the nature of the game. Now, what is like your newfound perspective on it?

Speaker 4:

So the biggest thing during that season was it was an identity shift. Now I know back then it was like why am I being punished? Right, it was just what I needed at that time because I was so tied to real estate and what the success from real estate came from. At the time I only thought that I could succeed in real estate, like everything outside the realm of real estate and houses, like I'm a failure Anything outside of having money. All people look at me differently, but what that taught me was I'm trying not to get too too spiritual.

Speaker 2:

It's okay if you do.

Speaker 4:

Okay so, but what it taught me is that I'm a son of God. It's not what gift that or what resources that God provide for me, it's what did he implant in me. I am a creator made in his image.

Speaker 4:

He gave me the ability to do whatever else I want to do, love it. So that, for me, was the most freeing thing that I learned, from just being able to let go and again, looking back, I could say that going through all if you looked at me wrong, talk to me job season like I'm just on fight mode that whole time I gained another mentor who gave me perspective throughout throughout that season. Right, so things saying things such as when someone tells you what you're about to do is impossible, he said well, in impossible there's I'm possible, because I heard that a lot.

Speaker 4:

You can't do it again, oh, it's impossible for you to go do something else. He just always told me I'm possible, right, so it's possible for you to go do X, y, z that you want to do, and just being comfortable with what people say about you, all right. So when you go through the identity shift and you fail and people, I tried to start e-commerce business. So when you go through the identity shift and you fail and people, I tried to start e-commerce business. I tried to start so many different things throughout the process that I didn't get off the ground, but knowing that I could do it again, that I'm possible, it's possible to do it again, I just kept on going, kept on going over and over again and then the last thing I'll kind of end on.

Speaker 4:

That gave me a lot of perspective is, though, the grass and the trees start at the same place. The trees leave the grass, and that's okay. So, though you may start at the same place, you may be at the same place as your peers, your family, whatever. Right now, it's okay for you to be a tree and go grow beyond them. It's part of nature, it's okay so be comfortable with.

Speaker 4:

there's going to be a change. They're going to look at you like oh, why is it taking so long for you to sprout? Oh, why are you growing so tall? Why are you covering up? It's okay, be a tree, let the grass be grass. Be a tree.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and that resourcefulness is something that's in you that cannot be taken away. These are the lessons that you've learned through hardship, through time, through patience, resources. However, if you were to talk to someone who's starting out right now, who maybe you're staying on the ledge and thinking about doing something, you can't impart resourcefulness in them. That's something they have to go and get. The best way to be an entrepreneur is just to go be one. You have to go fail, doesn't matter how much you read. You have to go, figure it out for yourself and you're going to get your teeth kicked in every once in a while, more often than not. 10,000 failures one success.

Speaker 2:

So the ratio is not exactly fair, but, that being said, the resources that exist today, the technology that exists today, what would you recommend that people do if they were to start? And whatever the idea is, we don't know what it is. It could be drapes, I don't know. It could be coffee makers. It doesn't matter what they want to do, what they want to sell, what they want to sell, what they want to create. It could be a service, but what resources would you recommend?

Speaker 1:

I got two books and then something to do.

Speaker 2:

OK.

Speaker 1:

Book number one, I'm going to suggest Essentialism by Greg McCown the power of saying no. Once you understand that you now can have better time allocation to start a business, you can't say no. You can't turn on the parties, the dates, the friends, the hangouts, you will never even be able to get the thing started. You need time right. So read essentialism. Know how to allocate time to something you prioritize. The second book will be Blue Ocean Strategy and that's going to be the book. You read it. That's going to be the book.

Speaker 1:

That's literally what created our company, because it talks about. Everybody fights for the same thing, because everybody wants the same finish line, but they don't realize you don't have to run the same race to where we created Telemark Tech. In a way, we have the most transparent appointments and roofing. We're the only solutions firm in the entire industry that has a TAM of like $87 billion just for the resources in this space a year and we're attacking this market with an offer that does not exist but a problem that everybody acknowledges. That's a blue ocean. That means you are going to eventually get to the success and you don't have to worry about all the blood getting shed in the middle of the fight.

Speaker 1:

The third thing I'll tell somebody to do is isolate right. Like I always say, seclusion with the Lord brings solution from the Lord, but that really just means get away from the outside noise, cause there was something I always told people was like we spend so much time listening to outside noises that we lose the touch of our internal voices, internal right. Think close your eyes. Close your eyes Seriously. What is the one stupid thing that I continue to do in my life that if I just stopped, my life would instantly get better? You can open your eyes because you didn't say anything. You didn't say anything. I didn't advise anything. There's no movie playing, song going and you just answered something. Yeah, and everybody listening answered something pornography, drugs, alcohol.

Speaker 1:

You just told yourself what you need to stop and if you stopped, stopped, your life would instantly get better. You have to be alone. You have to be comfortable enough with that voice in your head that just told you what to stop to where now, when you get in a hard situation, you don't need to depend on your girlfriend, who can leave you, your phone, which can be dead, your friend, which can pass away. You're comfortable with self. You and God, the higher power, the divine intelligence, have a strong connection to where, even in adversity, when the world turns their back against you, you still have the confidence that I'm possible, because you have calmed the voice, to guide yourself out of any harm life can present you or risk. Life could present you.

Speaker 2:

That's the seclusion with self that I would advise you always drop in dreams, brother. This is Wakanda's vibranium.

Speaker 5:

I know this is not some diamonds some dope as shit.

Speaker 2:

Same question For these guys coming up listening to you guys. They have to kind of see something where there is a clear horizon to where they can head to. So what is your advice for? Either the 13 year old coming up, 20 year old, who needs to get started yesterday, or the 40 year old who feels like maybe they've already? Man, it's too late for me. But listen to these guys, I'm newly inspired to go do this.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, my answer is a little bit easier for the younger guys because I've been a younger guy.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you don't know what a 40 year old thinks right.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, you don't know what a 40 year old thinks, even now, for the real estate development company I have, one of my friend's daughters is interning for us and she wanted to know that she wanted to be an architect, a designer, whatever it is. She's 16 right now and so part of her internship and the same advice I'd give to anyone is number one. I'm more on the practical side, like go be as close to what it is that you want to do as possible. So if you want to be in real estate, if you want to design clothing, if you want to be a musician, if you want to be whatever, my first thing when you're younger is go try to get an internship, go try to get a job, go try to be in that environment, because you'll learn a lot more doing that than you would.

Speaker 4:

You know, studying the best of the best books, then you will step. You know, reading all the youtube videos like there's only one way to learn how to ride a bike, like go get on the bike, go scrape your knees. So for the younger person I'd say try your absolute best to, yes, learn the fundamentals right, because it's a lot more challenging to teach someone at our levels to teach on the basics of the basics, like, hey, you gotta lean the bike up first, you gotta sit here, you gotta do that. So go learn the basics. But once you have the basics and you can have a conversation, go start applying to places, go try to do some freelance work. Just go start doing and understand that whatever it is that you're going to do is going to be messy, and be comfortable with it.

Speaker 5:

Yeah.

Speaker 4:

Because all you're doing is just gathering information. Do I like this? Do I not like this? All right, how can I make this better? So that would be my thing for the younger generation Just go do like you're in your doing season right now, especially now, life is moving so quickly that if you plan out for the next five years and, as you said, with AI or some other groundbreaking technology comes, your plan could be pretty much useless. So that would be for the younger person. For the older person and you mentioned this earlier, and even with your story of any new business that you want to that you were meant to start like you could do relatively quickly. That comes because you've accumulated skills. So when you're older, you've accumulated a set of skills that's gotten you to the place that you're at now. So you're not so much in your just go do whatever and internships and whatever. You have to be a little bit more calculated.

Speaker 2:

At that point, usually there's a family counting on you Responsibilities Exactly, exactly. Has a family counting on you? Exactly, exactly, yeah.

Speaker 4:

Exactly so. You've got to kind of map out shorter time horizons and milestones along the way. So if I was, you know, if I had kids, a wife, all that, you know all that and I wanted to make a career change from tech into call it, fashion, I would give myself four milestones within the year. All right, for the first 90 days I need to be well-versed in X, y, z. So let me go network for those first 90 days with other artists, other people like that in the industry. Next 90 days All right, now I kind of understand the fundamentals. What skills, what projects, what things can I do to add to my resume? And it doesn't have to be your literal resume, but my resume life skills, based on what I got the first 90 days. And I would transition like that if I was a little bit older.

Speaker 2:

One thing that I'm seeing as a common theme or a common denominator here is the fact that you're both single and not focusing on anything when it comes to a relationship. I'm not saying that you're not dating or I don't really care about your little sight lines. Aw, only girls.

Speaker 2:

Your little sight lines is what we do, but it seems like it is not at all a priority and the business is a priority 100% Okay. A lot of young men. When I talk to them, they'll be 21, 22, 19. And they're asking me questions and the questions have to do with relationships. How are you able to say I'm going to go and shield all this away from me and focus on what I need to focus on, because it's not an easy thing for men to do?

Speaker 4:

So for me, to your point, I do guide things, Because it's not an easy thing for men to do. So for me, to your point, like I do guide things. But the biggest thing that I realized with my business partner mentor when I was younger is I realized that the best women are behind. I call it a paywall. The best women in life are not at the free events. That's not where they are. The best women in life like you got to pay to play.

Speaker 2:

Golly, he said they're behind a paywall.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, and that price is going up yeah exactly so and because my business partner was a retired business attorney, I mean I met him, had the Bentley, had the house in Johns Creek and he was, he had a child but he was, or had, two children, but he was single at the time. And so I'm a kid around him, looking around like I just came out of high school. All I know is high school, college girls. So I'm looking around like and they just flock to you and so just seeing that and knowing that, all right, if I just hold off a little bit, I will get the best of the best women I get to choose based off a bigger pool of women versus but does that mean these women are attracted to your money, for your money?

Speaker 1:

I hope so, no wait wait, no, I'll repeat it too. No, I hope so too, really yes, so it's not for you.

Speaker 2:

You want them to be attracted to the money for them it's a plus so.

Speaker 4:

Because that's like the same.

Speaker 2:

I guess I'm a romantic, I'm like, no, I wanted to love me. But you know we've had the discussion and we disagreed on it.

Speaker 1:

Love versus respect.

Speaker 4:

You know so interesting but like that could be put back on you, like don't you want a woman for her beauty? Of course you want her because her peace and everything else like that, but her beauty is the main thing.

Speaker 4:

Yeah, yeah, that's what attracted you initially exactly for that even that, because a man looks to make a woman looks for security. Exactly so, as a man like I, would want you to utilize my resources. It's left to my discernment to figure out. All right, is she the one that's just there for just the resources and nothing more, or is she someone who may not be like wife material but can be around for some time? Like, that's left on my discernment, but I would want you to want me for my resources. Because if you're winning at a game and the game just has to be that man plays his money, his financial, and I'm at, let's say, level 80 out of 100, why would I want you to go after a guy who's at level two? We're not the same man, we're just not.

Speaker 1:

And then people she only likes you because you're at level 80. I earned it.

Speaker 4:

I was just at a dinner with a female friend yesterday, paid the bills, like doesn't have to worry about none of that, like I'm okay with that, I'm fine.

Speaker 2:

That's interesting.

Speaker 1:

When that's interesting, when you focus on elevating as a man, everything else attracts itself to you. But when you focus on everything else, it's like you lose the money chasing, or you lose bees chasing what is the thing?

Speaker 4:

50 cent?

Speaker 1:

yeah, you know you lose money chasing women. You never lose women chasing money. So when I'm going to events I'm going to like the all white party over here or the fourth of july event here or the cocktail attire thing over here. It's like now the paywalls that I'm behind, that I don't have to pay for the ticketing because I'm networked. Well, now I'm getting to meet like the upper echelon of women that are just more put together. They have good careers, good families, good balance. I'm not meeting like the scraps, walking out the club at 2 am Like, hey, shorty, I'm a woman that's never been me, never would I want it to be me. But yet again, it's from not being satisfied with that, only focusing on myself, and now it's like I'm literally being gifted opportunities to maybe be placed in front of the person that could become my wife. Have I met them yet? It'd be crazy to say yes, but am I getting in the right environments where that woman would more than likely be found Absolutely Interesting?

Speaker 2:

Solid philosophies Go ahead.

Speaker 4:

Also as a man. As a man we have the benefit of, it's okay for us to prolong that right. So there's no urgent need for us to get married, settle down at 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. Yes, even if we found that person between the ages of 30 and 35, when we're in our financial you know, physical and all those strides, it's okay.

Speaker 1:

And usually that's how it goes. It's like you see the older man with the younger woman. Cause, if I asked you, right, a man's usually valued for like resources, right? Like in our game, if we look at another man, we're going to judge them off resources, right? Would you more than likely have more or less resources when you're older? You have more as a man right.

Speaker 1:

So you would need more time. So the older you get, the better your dating pool is as a woman. Men value women as their what beauty hollow, we can say. Woman valuing a man for his resources is hollow. But we're on the topic. Well, now, as a woman and your beauty, doesn't that start to fade and you start to do enhancements and but? So if you're more beautiful in your youth, it's like that's when your dating pool is the best.

Speaker 1:

So I agree, as a man, if you're dude, if I see a 19 year old having a wedding, I'm not showing up because I'm not going to the divorce breakdown party three years later. You know what I mean. So it's like I believe men do have better access later on. So I don't believe in having young relationships and seeking love. Seek respect, build a good foundation, principles, network, routines to where, when your girl comes into your life, you tell her hey, I'm not looking for love Like I love my life, I love my friends, I love my hobbies, I love everything about what I do. I'm happy. I just want a woman that respects me and carries the last name with respect.

Speaker 2:

So what happens when you get there? You've got the wife, you got everything right. Three, four years into it, something crazy happens to where you do lose it all. Maybe you heard another voice in your head and you walk away. You give it all up. Is this wife coming with you?

Speaker 4:

Oh, absolutely. She's staying Absolutely.

Speaker 2:

What makes you think she's staying? If the reason that she was there in the first place is because she was attracted to what you had, well, it's not that.

Speaker 4:

So when I talk about resources and a woman wanted me for my resources and being comfortable with that, it's not just the she's with me because there's dollar figures in the bank account, not just the she's with me because there's dollar figures in in the bank account over those years or over that court in time that we've had. She's seen the man that I am. Again, the resources is like the beauty. So as a man we don't say oh, I love this woman just solely on her beauty, like we learn more about her character there's a million of them, yeah so the money's the equivalent of the makeup right.

Speaker 4:

So it's like the key to kind of get you in the door now, if you're in the door you get to really know each other, so she sees that I'm resourceful, all that you trust me enough to guide this family, that, even if we got into a place where we lost it all, yeah it's not that we lost all because I was just spending it on cars and whatever. I wouldn't jeopardize the family like that. Let's build it back yeah, okay yeah, mine's like a philosophy standpoint.

Speaker 1:

It's like nature-wise. Have you ever seen one tree fall and the entire ecosystem die? One tree no because the soil is good, the animals don't have to leave, there's more trees, there's more plants. It's going to grow. But sure, the foundation right, the money, the figures, the banks, it's not the amount that she's attracted to, it's the development and the characteristics that you had to get along the way to get that success that she knows can't be stripped, even if the money gets stripped. That's the tree that grew above the soil.

Speaker 2:

She knows the roots are so healthy in you it's not going to matter if you lost it all, she knows you'll get it back very well said, guy very well, and that clears up a lot, because I think that a lot of people when they initially hear, well, I want her to want me for the resources, but then there's more behind it. The story continues, gotcha. So have you heard the show? Yeah, so then you know what happens at the end of the show the voice we have to do the impersonation, so one of you two is gonna do it. It I'm not flipping shit. This is the state representative from Savannah Georgia.

Speaker 5:

Ladies and gentlemen, we just want to tell you one last thing to let you go. If you guys like this show the same way I like some gravy over biscuits we just ask that you support us.

Speaker 5:

You follow the show. You leave us a five star review, the same way I had five warrants out for my not-paid tickets. We want to thank you for listening. We'll catch you next week. Same way, I may catch a bass and if not, my wife may catch another case on me. Listen, when we share these conversations surrounding issues that matter, that are real realer than Bigfoot that's one son of a gun. We want you guys to listen to them every single day, share them, repost us and, at the end of the day, manhood matters.

Speaker 5:

Yeah man Yeehaw, yeehaw.

Speaker 2:

I might go with that one.

Speaker 3:

I'm telling you this country one Greetings. I'm Preston Stefan's youngest son, with a quick reminder that this show is intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. We are not financial experts and certainly not relationship counselors. If you need expert advice, be sure to contact a licensed professional. In the meantime, we send you our strength and our love. Thanks again for tuning in and we'll catch you next Monday.

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