S1: Welcome back to Building Billions. This is an exciting episode
S1: because I got to spend 45 minutes talking with j.
S1: L d. That's what he goes by Jld. But full
S1: name is John Lee Dumas. He is a podcast. OG
S1: For those of you who don't know what an OG is,
S1: he's an original gangster in the podcast space. He started
S1: over a decade ago making daily content and to date
S1: has over 4000 interviews under his belt with entrepreneurs who
S1: have created massive success. And his total listens is over
S1: 140 million. He's averaging about 2 million a month in podcasts,
S1: views listens alone when they have a really cool things
S1: that I love about his content and what he's teaching
S1: people is financial freedom. Not enough people are talking about money.
S1: That is why I created building Billions. I want to
S1: make and normalize this money conversation and make it more
S1: prevalent and really get into the depths of, okay, what
S1: is financial freedom and why is this important? And how
S1: can people have this, which was a main topic of
S1: today's episode. So give this a listen. If you don't
S1: know who Jld is, you should also check out his podcast,
S1: because this man is full of incredible insights and wisdom
S1: around how to get started, how to be a beginner
S1: and become an expert in something and what it really
S1: takes to be successful. So let's dive in. I am
S1: excited to do this interview because you're good with talking
S1: about money and I think people need to be around
S1: more people who are willing to talk about money. I
S1: hear that one of your things is sharing the amount
S1: of money that your business is making. So we're going
S1: to dive into all sorts of things. But first, welcome
S1: to the Building Billionaires podcast and thank you for being here.
S2: I'm fired up to be here. We're gonna have a
S2: great conversation about a lot of really important things. Definitely
S2: money being foremost.
S1: So one of the tenants of your build of your
S1: business is talking about financial freedom. What do you define
S1: as financial freedom?
S2: To me, financial freedom is you get to wake up
S2: in the morning and not do nothing because nobody that's
S2: really acquired financial freedom wants to sit on a beach
S2: and sip some coconut and, you know, lay in a
S2: hammock and nap all day. That's just not the type
S2: of person that becomes financially free. What I say is
S2: I wake up every morning, I'm financially free because I
S2: get to do exactly what I want to do. My
S2: calendar says all the things that I want it to say,
S2: and I get to spend days with people like yourself
S2: having great conversations. I have been interviewing people for a decade.
S2: Right now I've interviewed over 4000 inspiring and successful entrepreneurs,
S2: and people say, John, you've been doing this for ten years.
S2: When is enough enough? And I say never because this
S2: is what I love doing. I love having wonderful, smart, intelligent, intriguing,
S2: interesting conversations with brilliant, smart, successful people. Why would I
S2: ever want to stop doing that? And people that don't
S2: get it? I say, you should probably stop listening to
S2: my podcast because you're wasting your time.
S1: How do you implement all of it or pieces of
S1: it without being so overwhelmed at 4000 conversations? There has
S1: to be a variety of different viewpoints that you get
S1: from people, and I would think that that would actually
S1: be a very difficult thing in the position that you're
S1: in with having amazing conversations all the time.
S2: It's shocking how, when you boil it down, how few
S2: things people are actually doing to achieve success. I mean,
S2: so few things. There's just not that many different unique
S2: ideas or concepts or strategies or tactics. It's just that
S2: people are doing it in this world that's full of abundance.
S2: So of course they're having success. You're having success. We're
S2: having success because there's so much opportunity and amazingness in
S2: this world. And, you know, in fact, that was kind
S2: of the inspiration for me two years ago. I finally,
S2: like kind of broke down and wrote my first traditionally
S2: published book because when people are asking me this question
S2: fairly often, I was like, Well, let me boil it
S2: down because is it really that many things? And it
S2: really naturally came down to 17 core concepts. I actually
S2: says it's kind of put it in the way of
S2: like 17 steps to financial freedom and fulfillment. Like that's
S2: literally the tagline of the book 17 Steps to Financial
S2: Freedom and Fulfillment. And every one of those chapters is
S2: just literally one step in that journey. That's one of
S2: those 17 core concepts and core principles that the 4000
S2: people that I've interviewed over a decade, that's the journey
S2: that they took as well. It might be in a
S2: different niche, in a different industry. They. Might do it
S2: on a different size and they might do it in
S2: a different way, shape or form. But at the end
S2: of the day, these are the steps they're taking. This
S2: is the journey that they're on at 17 core concepts.
S1: So as we were talking about a little bit before
S1: we started filming, one of the things that our business
S1: owners that we work with are really struggling with is
S1: figuring out how to create content while being a business
S1: owner and let's say the home services space, or they're
S1: running an agency. And so when you think about the
S1: fact that you created a piece of content where you
S1: boil down thousands of conversations into 17 steps, how did
S1: you overcome your own fear around, well, what if they're
S1: what if I find out that there's 19 steps? Or
S1: what if I missed the 18th step and now I've
S1: put this book out there and it's 17 steps and
S1: just kind of the mentality around being able to put
S1: out content that says, Hey, I'm saying that this there's
S1: 17 and I'm publishing a book around it.
S2: I think at one stage in most every entrepreneur's life,
S2: they look in the mirror and they say, Gosh darn it,
S2: like I'm a perfectionist. Like I am just a perfectionist.
S2: I want everything to be perfect. And then they realize
S2: the second thing, which I'm pretty fortunate that I feel
S2: like I realized this years and years ago, that being
S2: a perfectionist is another word for being a coward. Like
S2: you're using the word perfection because you're going to say, Hey,
S2: I'm going to hide behind this rock and not do
S2: something because it's not perfect yet. So I'm not going
S2: to release my content to the world. I'm not going
S2: to release my hopes, my dreams, my aspirations, my thoughts,
S2: my tactics, my strategies to the world because I'm a
S2: perfectionist until until this is perfect. I'm not going to launch. Well,
S2: you're not perfect. You're a coward. And that's what you're
S2: hiding behind. And I'm saying it to myself, looking in
S2: the mirror. I'm saying it to every other entrepreneur who
S2: has ever used those words perfectionism. And so that's kind
S2: of a longer way of answering your question of I
S2: don't care if there's an 18th or 19th step that
S2: comes along at some point because I did the best
S2: that I could with the content and the knowledge I
S2: had at that time, and that is the book that
S2: I was able to put out in 2021. If I
S2: could redo it in 2025 with things be different, most likely.
S2: And guess what? Maybe I'll put another book out then,
S2: maybe I won't. But I will be very proud of
S2: what I created at that moment in time. It's helped
S2: a lot of people and I think people need to
S2: release that worry of it not being perfect. Recognize don't
S2: be a coward. Get out there and impact the world.
S1: I love that because being a coward really does mean
S1: it stops people. It entirely stops them in their tracks.
S1: And I think oftentimes they don't even realize that they
S1: have all of this knowledge and then they could be
S1: of help. And instead of stepping into the help that
S1: is in the small things that they do every single day,
S1: all of a sudden it's like, well, who am I
S1: to say this? When there's this home services business down
S1: the street and maybe they're doing this other way and
S1: insecurity and self-doubt and all of that comes in. So
S1: it sounds like you didn't struggle too much with it
S1: from what you said, but have you had those issues of,
S1: you know, the imposter syndrome and comparing yourself to everybody
S1: else who's creating content? And if you have, how did
S1: you go through the process of really getting over that
S1: and still creating something that really has had remarkable results?
S2: The answer is yes. And the why behind that is
S2: because I am a human being and every single human
S2: being who has ever taken a breath on this earth,
S2: has had doubts, has had fears. They had anxiety and
S2: stress and felt the imposter syndrome in some way, shape
S2: or form. So pat yourself on the back when you
S2: have those feelings and say, Guess what? I'm a human
S2: being and every human being that has ever walked this
S2: earth has had those thoughts. So it's not like you're
S2: going to ever escape them. It's the individuals like yourself,
S2: like Jeremy, like grants, like me who have been able
S2: to embrace those fears and those doubts rise above them
S2: and continue moving forward that have achieved certain levels of
S2: success that other people haven't. And I would even take
S2: something a step further that you said earlier, that, you know,
S2: when people are scared to put out content like they're
S2: hurting themselves because they're not sharing that content with others,
S2: I think you're also hurting other people whose whose lives
S2: you would impact in a positive way if they were
S2: able to hear your knowledge, your expertise, your experience, your struggles,
S2: your obstacles, your challenges. And so by you being too scared,
S2: being so selfish that you're afraid of somebody saying something
S2: about you so you're not going to share something, you're
S2: hurting a whole other host of individuals that needed to
S2: hear that and now are not going to because of
S2: your cowardice.
S1: Beautiful. You know, I can't help but bring up ten
S1: in this conversation because for us around here, like ten
S1: X goal setting really is the starting point for taking
S1: whatever that action is that feels uncomfortable or or, you know,
S1: the imposter syndrome might stop you from. And so when
S1: you originally started this, did it start with some big
S1: different like lofty goal that you had that allowed you
S1: to start like chipping away at those pieces? Or was
S1: there a different journey for your path?
S2: My path was pretty simple. It was I identified something
S2: in this world that did not exist that I really
S2: thought should exist for me. I was really wanting to
S2: consume content on a daily basis that was inspiring to
S2: me and the content that I found that was inspiring
S2: me was hearing the stories, the journeys, the obstacles, the challenges,
S2: the struggles of entrepreneurs, of business, men, of business, women
S2: who are going through their lives. And I was drawing
S2: so much inspiration as well as like really tactical strategic
S2: knowledge from those conversations. And I said, Man, I'm driving
S2: to work every single day. You know, this is well
S2: over ten years ago. I'm hitting the gym multiple times
S2: per week. I'm walking my dog. I'm like folding laundry.
S2: I want to have like this in my ear balls
S2: literally the entire time I'm doing all these things because
S2: the more I can consume this content, the better. So
S2: I literally went on a search for that podcast that
S2: was a daily interview of successful entrepreneurs. And Natalie, the
S2: show did not exist. It just did not exist. And
S2: it was so weird to me. I don't know if
S2: you remember that movie. It was called yesterday where this
S2: guy wakes up and suddenly, like nobody had ever heard
S2: of the Beatles or like a band, like all these
S2: weird things. And he's like, How is that even possible? Like,
S2: that was my moment where I'm like, How does this
S2: not exist? And I said, I'm going to do it.
S2: I'm going to be the person that creates the first
S2: daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs because I want to hear more
S2: of those conversations. So I might as well facilitate those
S2: conversations so I can ask the questions that I was
S2: kind of wishing the host of the other shows that
S2: were coming out once a week or twice a month,
S2: we'll be asking them questions that they would wish they
S2: were asking or they should be asking. And I just took,
S2: you know, my reins and launched entrepreneurs on fire. And
S2: I was a really bad podcast host. I had no
S2: experience interviewing people. I didn't have any technical broadcasting, communicating
S2: knowledge at all. But guess what? I woke up every
S2: day and I did it. And I woke up another
S2: day and then I did it. And after a couple
S2: hundred episodes, I'm like, Wow, I'm not terrible. I'm just
S2: really bad. Then after a couple hundred more episodes, I'm like, Man,
S2: I'm just bad now. Like, this is getting pretty cool.
S2: And here I am 4000 episodes later. And listen, nobody's
S2: a bigger fan of Grant Cardone than me. Like, I've
S2: been friends with Grant Cardone for 8 or 9 years now,
S2: so I can tell this story and I know that
S2: he will know if he ever hears this, that it
S2: comes from a place of love, because I've told the
S2: story to him on a public stage before. So it's
S2: not like I'm just breaking this news now. But the
S2: first time that I interviewed Grant Cardone, I was like,
S2: This is 2013. You know, I'm like, Grant's coming on
S2: my show. Great book. The ten X was out there
S2: and ten X rule, and I was excited to have
S2: the conversation with him. And he was good. He was okay.
S2: You know, he was talking the talk and he was
S2: being Grant. And I was like, okay, he's he's, he's,
S2: he's good. He's doing his thing. And then he invited
S2: me on his show and it was so janky, like
S2: he had this setup where, like the lighting was terrible,
S2: the audio is terrible. He was just like and I
S2: remember that episode being like, Man, he's not he's not
S2: going to make it in that area of like producing
S2: a show, producing content. I'm sure he'll be successful in
S2: something because he's such a hard worker. He's not going
S2: to stop. But boom, guess what? This guy, he just
S2: woke up every day like I woke up every day
S2: and he just got a little bit better at doing
S2: the thing, the content, the production, the this. He hired
S2: the right people around him. And that's my evolution as well.
S2: And everybody who looks at anybody right now, anybody and says, wow,
S2: that person is great at that thing. It's because that
S2: person has gotten up 10,000 days in a row and
S2: done that thing. They're not better than you naturally than
S2: that thing. Most likely they're just 10,000 days ahead of
S2: you of putting in the work. And just to kind
S2: of end this point, I'm watching the show on Netflix
S2: right now. It just came out called Quarterback. And it's about,
S2: you know, three of the top ten quarterback in the
S2: National Football League, Mahomes, Kirk, Cousins and Mariota. These guys
S2: are unbelievable. And you're watching behind the scenes of them.
S2: And what are they doing? They're getting up every day.
S2: They're sore, they're aching, they're in pain. They have bruises.
S2: They have doubts. They have fears. They think they're terrible.
S2: They think they're a mess. They have the imposter syndrome,
S2: but they're getting up and they're doing the thing every
S2: single day. And it's just like what I'm doing. It's
S2: just like what Grant's doing, you know? I don't know
S2: much about your story, Natalie, but I'm sure you've gone
S2: to where you are because you've gotten up and you've
S2: just done the thing every single day.
S1: So true. And most people want to know, what do
S1: I have to do to skip that part of the process?
S1: And I'm sure part of the reason that you create
S1: content is so that you can give people tools, tips,
S1: resources to make it faster than your journey was. But
S1: there's this inevitable, which is they. Still have to put
S1: in the work. So with putting in the work. If
S1: we can give the audience like a couple of tools
S1: for how they can put in the work, but also
S1: shorten the time frame, what would be the the one
S1: thing that you would say that you've learned out of
S1: maybe the 17 success principles that you could share with
S1: the audience about just putting in the work? Plus this
S1: thing will be helpful and beneficial to you along your
S1: path of becoming great.
S2: Well, first things first. I'll say that everybody who's hearing
S2: our voices right now is already doing one of those
S2: things that I would recommend. You're putting in the work
S2: right now by consuming this content, by listening, by hearing,
S2: by understanding that, hey, whoever Natalie's interviewed before John and
S2: you know, he's she's interviewing John right now and we're
S2: talking about some mistakes he's made in the past, some
S2: successes he's had in the past. Like you can learn
S2: from my failures. You can avoid them. You can learn
S2: from my successes. You can emulate those, and you can
S2: apply it to your journey, to your story. So people
S2: are already doing that right now. So I commend them
S2: for that. But if I can say like the biggest
S2: thing and and the common path to Uncommon success is
S2: the name of my book, because I really wanted people
S2: to understand that to get to uncommon success, it's a very,
S2: very common path. You just need to follow these 17
S2: steps that I've seen 4000 successful entrepreneurs follow over the
S2: course of a decade of interviewing them to have achieved
S2: massive success. Like they've followed those steps. Now, for the
S2: individuals that are listening right now, to me it's very,
S2: very clear that there's one thing that most people cannot
S2: honestly say right now. They cannot look in the mirror
S2: and say the following sentence, which, by the way, if
S2: I was asked to sum up my book, which is
S2: like 300 pages into one sentence, the sentence would be
S2: become the number one solution to a real problem in
S2: this world. That entire sentence is very intentional. Every word
S2: is meant to be there, become the number one solution
S2: to a real problem in this world. And probably the
S2: most important word within that sentence is the word real,
S2: because a lot of people have become the number one
S2: solution to a problem in this world. But it's not
S2: that big of a problem. People don't care. It's not
S2: that painful of a problem. So people aren't willing to
S2: pay you for that. They're not willing to invest their
S2: hard earned money into your solution because it's it's a problem,
S2: but it's just not that big of a deal. So
S2: a lot of people are like, oh my God, but
S2: how do you become the number one solution to a
S2: problem like ecommerce? How do I beat Amazon? Well, you're
S2: not going to beat Amazon. Why should you even try
S2: like that? Shouldn't even be your your desire, your effort,
S2: your goal. In fact, that's why step two, which is
S2: also chapter two in my book, is Discover the niche
S2: within your big idea that is not being solved. And
S2: so for me, that was podcasting, which was a big idea,
S2: niching down into business, podcasting, which was a smaller idea
S2: but still a big idea with a lot of competition
S2: niching down to business, podcasts, interviewing entrepreneurs. And back in 2012, Natalie,
S2: there were nine of them, believe it or not. And
S2: I said, Well, do I want to be the 10th
S2: best podcast interviewing entrepreneurs? Know what's another niche Down Well,
S2: what about daily podcast interviewing business entrepreneurs? There were zero.
S2: So the day that I launched Entrepreneurs on Fire, I
S2: was the best daily podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. I was the
S2: worst daily podcast, interviewing entrepreneurs. I was the only daily
S2: podcast interviewing entrepreneurs. And so I won as a result
S2: because I was the only solution to what was a
S2: real problem. There weren't everybody in the world didn't want
S2: to listen to a daily podcast, but there was a
S2: big enough audience that wanted to consume what I was
S2: looking for a daily interview with successful entrepreneurs that allowed
S2: me to build a thriving business that's been rocking for
S2: ten years. It's brought in, you know, over $30 million
S2: in revenue since that, you know, 96% of which I
S2: get to keep because I live in Puerto Rico, which
S2: is another conversation that we could talk about at some point.
S2: But the reality is this if you can't right now,
S2: look in the mirror and say, I'm the number one
S2: solution to a real problem, you are going to struggle
S2: because nobody wants the second best solution, the 10th best solution,
S2: the 37th best solution to their problem. They want the
S2: number one solution. So they will beat a path to
S2: the door of the number one solution to their problem
S2: and they'll ignore all the other ones. So unless you
S2: want to be ignored, which a lot of entrepreneurs are,
S2: which is why it's so hard to succeed as a
S2: business entrepreneur, become the number one solution to a real problem.
S2: I didn't say to a. Big problem, I said to
S2: a real problem. And there are so many people out
S2: there that are creating amazing solutions to micro real problems
S2: and they're thriving Natalie.
S1: Okay. I want to duke this out with you or
S1: you can we, like spa something? Yes, let's go.
S2: The best way to do it.
S1: So one of the things that we talk to business
S1: owners about is that it is not that you are
S1: the best. It is that you are the best known example.
S1: Coca-Cola is not the best drink on the planet. However,
S1: it is the best known. When I think of the
S1: small businesses that we work with, some of them are
S1: the best plumber in their town. They're they're the best
S1: Hvac business owner. They're the best marketing agency for the
S1: thing that they market towards. But they so deprioritized getting
S1: known and they can't overcome that. So their business ends
S1: up going to their potential business ends up going to
S1: a competitor because they already they spend so much time
S1: and take so much pride in the craft of being
S1: the best that they don't spend much time on the promotion,
S1: on the marketing. So what would you say to the
S1: business owner that really has done a great job of
S1: niching down and is a great solution, but just nobody
S1: knows them and that they exist?
S2: It's a very worthy statement and something that is very
S2: worthwhile sparring over because it is a challenge because guess what?
S2: If it was that easy that you could, number one,
S2: just be the number one solution to a real problem,
S2: then it would it would that would be the only
S2: thing you'd have to focus on. Or if it was
S2: number two, you had to just focus on being the
S2: best known, then that would be the only thing you'd
S2: be focusing on. But it's neither or because, like you said,
S2: if you're just the best solution but nobody knows about you,
S2: like you're going to try it because there's no clients
S2: coming and there's no revenue coming in the door. But
S2: if you're the best known in your services or crap,
S2: especially in this world that we live in right now,
S2: I mean, you will get reviewed, you know, one star,
S2: you know, all the way down, word of mouth will
S2: be terrible. And before you know it, like you've just
S2: got a terrible reputation. So. So both so like, like
S2: blinders is not going to work on either strategy, which
S2: is why I like for me it's like, how do
S2: you create the number one solution to a real problem
S2: in this world? So you have this unbelievable opportunity and
S2: offer to give to the world. And then how do
S2: you find people like Grant Cardone, like Gary Vaynerchuk, like
S2: other amazing entrepreneurs and business minds that are out there,
S2: Learn from them to actually elevate your business in your
S2: brand into the limelight. So now you have both wheels
S2: working for you where you have this amazing, number one
S2: solution to a real problem, and now you're getting clients
S2: in the door who are loving you because of that.
S2: And then everything is going to kind of be this
S2: like all ships rise in a high tide and that's
S2: going to give you that high tide to allow you
S2: to succeed in that. So it definitely has to be
S2: a combination of the both. It's really not an either or.
S2: But I love the conversation.
S1: Beautiful. Well, I'm curious to know, you mentioned Puerto Rico,
S1: and I would like to have you maybe expound upon
S1: how Puerto Rico was potentially a solution for your own
S1: life around financial freedom and the sacrifices, the thought process
S1: that you took with this financial freedom piece, plus literally
S1: moving your life to a different country.
S2: So you need to live in a place that actually
S2: rewards and appreciates and loves business and entrepreneurs. And I
S2: was living in a place that despised them. It's called California.
S2: And they said, you know what? We're going to take
S2: the people that work the hardest, that employ the most
S2: people that bring the most revenue into the states in
S2: the most awareness, because we talk about it because, you know,
S2: we talk about where we're living, of course, and all
S2: these things, and we're going to tax the crap out
S2: of them and we're going to make them demotivated to grow,
S2: to add more revenue streams, to build a bigger team,
S2: to hire more people, to serve more people. And that
S2: was happened to me when I was living in San Diego, California.
S2: Like I was paying out $0.51 for every dollar that
S2: I was making. So I remember every single time I'd
S2: have like a $50,000 webinar in my mind, I'd be like, Well, okay. Like,
S2: after all my expenses, that's like 40,000. And then now
S2: I've got to cut that in half again because I'm
S2: paying taxes on that $50,000 webinar was like 18, $19,000.
S2: And that just gets pretty demotivating after a while because
S2: you're like, not that that's not a lot of money,
S2: but you know, we're putting so much time, energy and
S2: effort and having so much success in this. It's like
S2: you're taking two steps forward and one and a half
S2: step back every single day, week and month. And fortunately
S2: back in 2016, I was made aware of this unbelievable
S2: opportunity for entrepreneurs which will never again exist in our generation.
S2: For Americans specifically, which is moving to an American territory
S2: in the Caribbean called Puerto Rico, and you are paying
S2: a flat 4% corporate tax rates, no federal tax, no
S2: state tax. In addition to that, you're paying 0% capital
S2: gains on any investments. And listen, Grant Cardone looked hard
S2: and long above Puerto Rico because he knows that there's
S2: nothing better than that. But there's certain things that you've
S2: got to you got to live with. And, you know,
S2: that's one of the things. But the reality is I
S2: literally was able to move to Puerto Rico and give
S2: myself a 47% raise with a snap of a fingers.
S2: I used to work for the government until June 16th
S2: of every year because that's how long it took me
S2: to pay my tax bill every single year. Now I
S2: work for the government until January 17th, and the rest
S2: of the year the money flows to me, to my business,
S2: to my team, to my philanthropic causes, to the investments
S2: that I want to make, to the real estate that
S2: I want to invest in. And by the way, when
S2: I sell that real estate, I'm paying 0% capital gains.
S2: When I get paid for that company that I invested
S2: in that went public, I'm paying 0% capital gains when
S2: I sell my business, whenever that may be, I will
S2: pay 0% tax on the sale of my business, which
S2: will be an eight figure sale. So think of the
S2: taxes I'd be paying anywhere in the continental United States.
S2: So when people say, John, like but you live, you
S2: live in Puerto Rico, I'm like, hey, it's not for everybody.
S2: Living on a Caribbean island is not for everybody. And honestly,
S2: and I'm being genuine, there are pros and cons. It's
S2: not like Puerto Rico was this first world perfect islands. No,
S2: there's problems here. There's obstacles, there's challenges. But for me,
S2: it is an unbelievable Paradise of a life when it
S2: comes to running my business. And I absolutely love it.
S2: And so I tell people, listen, do not move to
S2: Puerto Rico until you are ready to keep the money
S2: you make. When you're ready to keep the money you make,
S2: then you move to Puerto Rico. Until then, somebody's got
S2: to fund the black hole of the government. And so
S2: please keep doing that.
S1: I have so many thoughts on this. I am a
S1: supporter of it. I think that it is really the
S1: entrepreneur putting back in their pocket what they deserve to
S1: be earning. And you know, I could go down this
S1: whole rabbit hole of how the government actually inefficiently uses
S1: that 51%, especially in the state of California. But we
S1: will save the audience from from that.
S2: But I want to just make one point to Natalie.
S2: Like I, I love the United States of America. I'm
S2: a patriot. I served as an officer in the US
S2: Army for eight years. I spent a tour of duty
S2: in Iraq as a tank platoon leader in charge of
S2: 16 men in four tanks. So, like, I fought for
S2: this country. I love this country and I feel like
S2: I've given back to the country. Like I really feel
S2: great about that. And and I've and I've paid millions
S2: and millions and millions of dollars in taxes to the
S2: United States of America. And now I'm keeping the money
S2: that I make as I as I enter my elder years.
S1: Well, first of all, thank you for your service. And
S1: so so the person who can't even think with. Moving
S1: their life to a different country for financial gain because
S1: they likely don't even think of financial freedom is something
S1: that's attainable for them in this lifetime. Like this. This
S1: concept that you described when we first kicked off the
S1: podcast Financial Freedom.
S2: Puerto Rico is America. It's it's an American territory. You
S2: don't even need a passport to come here.
S1: Well, I keep saying it's a different country because in
S1: my mind, it's like it's like a country, but it's
S1: not a country. It's a territory.
S2: It feels like a different country.
S1: Well, I believe.
S2: That you are not in Kansas anymore. And I can
S2: say that having lived in Kansas for.
S1: But you are in the US still. You're not in
S1: the US. But you you. I get the.
S2: Point. You're in the US.
S1: Yes, you are in the US. Technically. Just just a
S1: different kind of us. So for the person who is
S1: not thinking there, the person who isn't thinking that financial
S1: freedom is accessible to them, what would your your remarks
S1: be to that person?
S2: I don't think it's that I don't think it's that relevant,
S2: to be honest, only because nobody's listening to our words
S2: right now that doesn't think financial freedom is relevant for them.
S2: I mean, the people that listen to you and to
S2: Grant and to myself, they're listening because they do believe
S2: they know it's there. And it's just they're looking to
S2: us for the path. And that's hopefully part of what
S2: this conversation is helping them do, is saying it is
S2: possible I can learn from these individuals, I can apply myself,
S2: I can put in the reps, I can do the
S2: hard work, and I can make it happen. And again,
S2: at the end of the day, if you are able
S2: and willing to create the number one solution to a
S2: real problem and then learn from people like Natalie and myself,
S2: Grant and others how to properly market yourself so that
S2: you are exposed and seen to the right individuals. It's
S2: literally just a matter of time. I mean, that's it's
S2: an inevitable thing.
S1: When you say that. Why do you think so few
S1: people actually do it then if it's inevitable following the steps,
S1: the steps are available. They can find you, they can
S1: find Grant. They can find all these resources. What what's
S1: the gap between somebody even listening to this, but then
S1: not actually taking that next step and doing the work
S1: and making it happen and being relentless?
S2: It honestly comes back to something that we talked about earlier.
S2: It's them hiding behind that rock of cowardice because they're
S2: so concerned about what their parents are going to think
S2: if they jump out and do something that's nontraditional. They
S2: worry about what their high school and college friends are
S2: going to post on Facebook or send direct messages to
S2: each other about did you see what John's doing? And
S2: guess what? I felt those fears. I felt those doubts
S2: like so hard. Because you got to understand, I went
S2: from high school like the number one athlete in my
S2: high school to an Army ROTC scholarship. So right away
S2: I'm like, I knew I was going to be spending
S2: time as an officer in the US Army to being
S2: an officer in the US Army and being a decorated
S2: war veteran to then going to law school. And then
S2: it all kind of fell apart because I was in
S2: law school and I was like, This is the worst.
S2: I'm 27 years old. I've gone along this straight and narrow,
S2: traditional path that I thought was the path to follow.
S2: But I'm so unhappy. I'm so unfulfilled. I see nothing
S2: but unhappiness and misery in my future. What can I do?
S2: Which is when I started consuming content like the ten
S2: X Rule and Gary Vaynerchuk and Tim Ferriss four hour
S2: workweek and believing there were other opportunities. But I was
S2: still so scared to let anybody know that I was
S2: going to drop out of law school, which I finally did, and,
S2: you know, embarrass my family, which I did. They were
S2: embarrassed that I dropped out of law school because my
S2: dad's a lawyer. He had to now go and have
S2: that lunch with his lawyer friends. Oh, how's John doing?
S2: And second year contracts. He dropped out. And you just
S2: know what the look on their faces were at lunch.
S2: They probably felt terrible, you know, from my father, because
S2: now they're like, well, that's another, you know, son that
S2: you're going to have to take care of until he's
S2: well into his 30s and, you know, beyond and, you know, blah, blah, blah.
S2: He couldn't hack it for any reason, like, oh, we
S2: thought John was on this trajectory, you know, to be
S2: whatever someday. And it was like it was bad. It
S2: was scary, it was terrifying. But I just said, you know,
S2: my long term happiness is much more important than my
S2: short term shame because it was short term shame. Like
S2: I was ashamed. I literally left Natalie the country for
S2: four months. I went to India with a backpack and
S2: just traveled to India because I knew that if I
S2: didn't want to be in touch with anybody, I could
S2: use the excuse of like, there is no internet. Of
S2: course I could have accessed the Internet. I just decided
S2: not to and I just disappeared for like four months
S2: and I just backpacked the entire country of India. Now,
S2: looking back, it was a fantastic four months. I had.
S2: I had such a wonderful time, but I did it
S2: to escape because I was ashamed of what other people
S2: were saying because, you know, I just broken this perfect
S2: path that I had thought that I had created for myself.
S2: And then I knew when I came back from India,
S2: I was going to give my thoughts in hopes and
S2: aspirations a try. But it was a huge question mark
S2: if that was going to work. Now, of course, looking back,
S2: it's like it's easy to say in hindsight, I made
S2: the right decision because, you know, I built a multi-million
S2: dollar business, you know, for ten years running and lifestyle,
S2: freedom and fulfillment. And I'm living in Puerto Rico, you know,
S2: on the Caribbean. It's an amazing. But you don't know
S2: that at the time. You don't. You have no idea.
S2: So I feel for everybody that's listening right now. And
S2: I feel for those people that you're talking about, about
S2: how there are so few people make it or really
S2: even try, because that fear that dealt that shame is
S2: too much for them. And it was almost too much
S2: for me. And I'm telling you, if I hadn't been
S2: in war and like seeing death on such a regular
S2: basis and realize how short life actually was, I probably
S2: would not have had the courage to do that. But
S2: I was able to continue to go back and perspective
S2: and say, How bad could it really be if I fail?
S2: If I fail, I'll just try it again. And like
S2: I saw what the worst of the worst could be.
S2: But for some people, they don't understand that. And so
S2: it's tough.
S1: You are an incredible example of what people need in
S1: different points because it's not just like you had one
S1: phase of your life where there was trouble. You've walked
S1: through multiple and now the way that you have conversations
S1: that are inspiring with other people, I would love to
S1: ensure that these listeners get to know where they can
S1: spend more time with you. So where can you point them?
S1: I know this isn't your thing, but can you talk
S1: about that? This isn't your thing while still making it
S1: the thing, because this has been incredibly valuable.
S2: I just know when I have a great conversation with
S2: somebody like yourself that, you know, my my stories, my,
S2: you know, different value ads are going to come up
S2: naturally in the conversation which they have today. So that's
S2: just kind of who I am. I mean, my podcast
S2: is Entrepreneur Is On Fire. It's a daily podcast with
S2: over 4000 interviews of the world's most successful entrepreneurs, we've
S2: been able to amass over 150. Million listens since we launched.
S2: That's right now over 2 million listens every single month.
S2: So if you want to join a lot of people
S2: listening to a lot of cool content, check out Entrepreneurs
S2: on Fire and my website's fire. We keep things simple
S2: and free over there and it's just been great chatting
S2: with you, Natalie, and I love what you guys are
S2: doing over there. You know, like I said, I've been
S2: really good friends with Grant and Jeremy for some time
S2: and it's great to connect with you.
S1: Thank you for being on Building Billions. I look forward
S1: to continuing conversation. Guys. You have to listen to his
S1: podcast and look forward to hearing or talking to you
S1: on the next Building Billions episode.