WEBVTT - EYL #160 Millionaire Mindset feat. TJ Millionaire Mentor 0:00:00.400 --> 0:00:04.280 You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:09.520 How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy? Just use Indeed. 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:12.680 Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:16.439 job sites. With Indeed sponsored jobs, your post jumps to 0:00:16.480 --> 0:00:19.000 the top of the page for your relevant candidates, so 0:00:19.120 --> 0:00:22.119 you can reach the people you want faster. According to 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:26.120 Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed have forty 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:30.040 five percent more applications than non sponsored jobs. Don't wait 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:33.519 any longer, speed up your hiring right now with Indeed, 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.200 and listeners of this show will get a seventy five 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:39.440 dollars sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility 0:00:39.600 --> 0:00:45.320 at indeed dot com slash pod Katz thirteen. Just go 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:50.120 to Indeed dot com slash pod Katz thirteen right now 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.040 and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:57.400 on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:58.040 all you need. 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:05.400 My graduates from my school being forced bad drop bag 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:18.640 drop mic drop bad drop drops. 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:19.800 What's going on? 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:20.199 Ernest? 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:22.440 Look at twenty six I made one of the most 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:23.960 important decisions of my life. 0:01:24.040 --> 0:01:24.520 That's right. 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.080 I didn't have family at the time, but I did 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.640 have a life insurance policy a wise man told me, 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.440 life assurance isn't about the people who die, It's about 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:34.480 the people who live. It's one of the best ways 0:01:34.520 --> 0:01:38.319 to secure generational wealth for your family's future, and it 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:41.720 makes perfect sense why people get life insurance, especially term coverage, 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:45.119 which surprisingly is affordable. Why not pay a little bit 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:47.600 each month to secure the future of the people you 0:01:47.640 --> 0:01:50.920 love long term. If you're asking yourself that question, I 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.680 want you to check out Ladder. Ladder makes it impressively 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.240 fast and easy to get coverage. You just need a 0:01:56.280 --> 0:01:58.720 few minutes in a phone or a laptop to apply. 0:01:59.200 --> 0:02:02.480 Ladder's out rhythms work instantly, so you'll know right away 0:02:02.520 --> 0:02:05.280 if you're approved for coverage. No hidden fees, and you 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:08.760 can cancel any time. And since life insurance courts more 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:11.520 as you age, now is the time to get started. 0:02:11.560 --> 0:02:13.359 So check out Ladder to day to see if you're 0:02:13.400 --> 0:02:17.520 instantly approved. Go to Ladder Life dot com slash e 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:21.400 y L that's l A D d e R Life 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:25.160 dot com slash e y L that's latter life dot 0:02:25.160 --> 0:02:26.240 com slash e y L. 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:27.160 You know how this works. 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:30.480 Don't wait, don't hesitate, secure your family future right. 0:02:30.280 --> 0:02:32.920 Now, all right, guys, welcome back, e y L. This 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:35.840 is a special special edition. So there's a lot of 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:39.680 backstory behind this. Todd Johnson a k A. T J 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:43.560 and the Millionaire Mentor. So we are at his lovely home, 0:02:43.880 --> 0:02:50.560 thank you, let's not go to home mistake. So so 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.480 we're in California right now, and we were here. 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:55.240 A couple of weeks ago. 0:02:56.040 --> 0:02:59.639 So shout out to our guys cheat Code and they 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:02.280 actually he told us that there was a white party 0:03:02.320 --> 0:03:04.480 going on, the all white party, and they're like. 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:05.200 Yo, you should come. 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:07.560 Like, well, we wasn't really invited, so I don't know, 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:10.600 but he was like no, no, I'm sure they know. 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.239 He wouldn't have a problem with you coming. So I'm like, 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.600 all right, the long story show. We came, and I 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.519 didn't know what to expect. It's like it's a party 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:19.480 that we're all white. 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:20.280 Whatever, show up. 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.799 So we show up and it's like the best house 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:27.200 I've ever seen in my life. And I'm like, where are. 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:27.840 We at right now? 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:31.880 Like waiting for Lebron James to come out of side, 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:37.840 And as I'm walking out, I see a Ferrari, which 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.280 I come to find out, is like worth like a 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:41.600 million point. 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:45.080 Two million something like that one point two millions. 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:48.400 That that Parri is not the other. You know, there's 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.720 two other cars here. 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:56.480 So when I when I came in TJ, it was, 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:59.200 you know, a bunch of people around and he was 0:03:59.240 --> 0:03:59.760 given like. 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:04.600 Ted talk about the car, right, go it into the 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:05.640 details of the car. 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:08.880 So it was it was it was his birthday gift 0:04:09.280 --> 0:04:13.200 for himself, right, and he gave a speech and so 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:14.800 it was a whole I'm trying to paint the picture. 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:17.000 It was like a whole vibe going on, and I'm like, 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:20.600 where am I at right now? And then lo and 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.520 behold who do we see on the other side? Kick 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:23.800 a wi. 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:27.800 So if you watch Eyl you're loyal, you know that 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.320 she's somebody that we interviewed early on a couple of 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:35.360 years ago. She had a unique business where she franchised 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.480 stretching studios, and we put her. 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:39.760 On the episode was Dope. 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:42.600 She talked about the process of franchising, how to be 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:46.719 a franchise or so I saw her and I'm like, 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:49.800 this is interesting because she lives in Jersey. So you know, 0:04:49.839 --> 0:04:51.720 I went to go talk to her after and I'm like, hey, 0:04:51.760 --> 0:04:54.600 what's up. She's like, you know, there's a backstory to this. 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.680 I'm like, what's the backstory? So there's a sticker on 0:04:57.720 --> 0:05:01.960 the Ferrari that says keek A, why Stretch Studios. So, 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:06.919 come to find out, TJ, you know, watched ey l 0:05:07.040 --> 0:05:10.880 episode with Kika. I guess he was impressed and ended 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:12.599 up becoming an investor in her company. 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:14.320 And now you're a business partner. 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:15.279 That's right, that's right. 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.640 So that was a full surface, full circus moment for me. 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.960 And I'm like, okay, we got an interview, tej A 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:26.279 just off for the household, gave you instant credibility in 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:29.919 my book. But then that story and then actually just 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:33.160 getting to know you, you know, just a wealth of information. 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.560 So this is going to be a legendary episode. I'm 0:05:36.560 --> 0:05:38.279 sure a lot of information, a lot of gym. So 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:40.200 first and FuMO, thank you for having us. 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:43.120 Man appreciate you guys coming man, It's awesome. It was 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:45.480 a surprised to see you guys, you know a little 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.160 bit over. I saw you guys, and I saw you 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:50.239 with Kika, and I was like, wait, they like Keika 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:54.240 must have invited them, And so the story I got 0:05:54.240 --> 0:05:57.040 to tell you the story about like Kika, right, So 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:00.640 you know, so I coach. I hope people I help 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.080 entrepreneurs grow their business, and so I do one on 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:06.760 one thing and we do some group coaching stuff. And 0:06:06.880 --> 0:06:09.440 so at the time, I was really interested in enfranchising 0:06:09.680 --> 0:06:11.560 because I just thought it was a good opportunity for 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:14.840 people to come up and build a business and I'd 0:06:14.880 --> 0:06:18.479 have to go through the struggles of starting from scratch. So, 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:20.920 you know, I was just in the middle of that. 0:06:21.040 --> 0:06:23.440 I was just thinking about that and like studying some stuff. 0:06:24.000 --> 0:06:27.200 And then I got this message from Kika. Right. I 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.919 didn't know Kika, but I got this message from her, 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.800 and it was like so I saw the message and 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.200 then I sent a message back and she sort of 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:37.520 said something ambiguous. I was like, okay, cool. So I 0:06:37.520 --> 0:06:40.080 went and looked and I saw the interview that you 0:06:40.120 --> 0:06:44.599 did with her, right, and I was impressed by her. Right. 0:06:44.680 --> 0:06:49.120 She was authentic, she was smart, you know, you know, 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.320 she was straightforward, you know everything. And then I thought 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:55.640 she had a good business and assisted stretching. Hadn't heard 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:57.040 of it, and I thought, you know, we started doing 0:06:57.040 --> 0:06:59.200 some research. So I started doing some research trying to 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.680 figure all this out. And then I asked Kika. I said, 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:03.840 Kika Why did you send me this message? How did 0:07:03.920 --> 0:07:06.520 you find me? She said, I sent the message by mistake. 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.360 I was sending it to a different teacher different so 0:07:11.760 --> 0:07:16.480 so so it's like this happened chance that I saw, 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:19.080 you know, her message. 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:21.280 I knew who you guys were because you got are 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:23.800 killing it, you know, doing all that, you know, great 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:28.160 content interviewing entrepreneurs. So obviously you know, like check you 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:32.160 guys out. But specifically I saw this episode and that 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.000 episode got me to talk to Kika, and then we 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:38.240 started talking right away, and then you know, uh, there 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:42.200 was all types of synergy connected made the investment in 0:07:42.240 --> 0:07:45.600 the business, and now we work day every day, you know, 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:48.760 at building that business. So so I'm excited about that business. 0:07:48.800 --> 0:07:51.240 But we got him together. We came together because of 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:51.679 you guys. 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:52.360 Yeah, you know. 0:07:52.480 --> 0:07:55.200 And when I saw the logo on the car, yep, 0:07:55.440 --> 0:08:00.320 I said, the next car, we shall have a cigarette. 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:03.120 I love it. 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:03.720 I love it. 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.000 I love it. I love it. 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:07.760 So let's get into this. It's a lot of things 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:08.480 I want to talk about. 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:12.040 But you were in the tech space at first, right, 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:15.400 So you started off as a computer programmer. 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:19.560 But yeah, yeah, so so I basically from seventeen years old, 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:22.080 got out of high school, went in the military, and 0:08:22.120 --> 0:08:24.360 started going to school a night, and went to school 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:30.280 night to study computer science and uh and I, you know, 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:32.199 took a lot of programming classes and all that sort 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:37.320 of stuff and was getting out of the military, and 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:40.240 and uh yeah, so I got out in the military, 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.200 you know, and uh, you know, I had this early 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:45.280 out sort of situation where you can get out early, 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:47.400 and so it gave me a chance to like test 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:49.360 the waters, to go out and go, you know, I'm 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:51.760 gonna get out. So when I figured I was going 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:53.920 to get out, I went and started interviewing with people. 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:56.400 And while I was in the military, I figured out 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:58.960 that I couldn't become a general. I went in and listed. 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:01.200 You know, that's not the. 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:03.120 You got to go to like school to become a general. 0:09:03.200 --> 0:09:05.680 Yeah, and it's also very political. You got to go 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:08.240 to the right schools, you to use more air force 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:13.320 air force, and you have to have U war experience 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:15.920 and all this sort of stuff, and you know, so 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:18.680 it's very political things. So you can't like just progress 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.040 and get in as an E one and then become 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.160 like an officer and become a general. Even if you 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:25.600 can switch over and become an officer. You're not going 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:28.920 to progress up to become general. So once I figured 0:09:28.920 --> 0:09:30.439 that out, I was mad. It was like, I can't 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.400 get to the top, you know. So what I did 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.640 is I figured out what the top guy I made 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:39.560 in the military, and I went out and interviewed and 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:42.880 I asked for that salary, right, which was ridiculous at 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.360 the time, but I asked for that salary because I 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.640 still had a job. And when everybody told me no, 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:50.920 I was like, well, what do I need to do 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.960 to make that kind of money? And they would say, well, 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:56.480 you need to have done this type of coding, you 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:58.280 need to have written this kind of program and been 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:03.040 successful anything down, right, And then I updated my resume 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:05.960 and I created what I call a Ford looking resume, 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:08.920 and then that became my roadmap. Right. So I went back. 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.440 I started doing all that stuff to get that experience. 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:15.240 So then a year later I got out. I still 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:17.720 didn't quite get the money I wanted, you know, but 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:21.000 I started programming and all that sort of stuff and 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:24.280 working and doing all the stuff. But that gave me 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:28.760 the foundational stuff I needed to get the skill that 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:30.800 I was able to use to build my company. 0:10:31.679 --> 0:10:35.680 So at that point you're just finding the skills, listening skills, 0:10:35.720 --> 0:10:39.199 and then knocking them off because I read at one 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:43.720 point you started building computers. Yeah, which is not a 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:45.920 typical thing that people to do. So back in the 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:50.719 day at what time period is just late nineties or. 0:10:52.400 --> 0:10:54.559 So, it was like, uh, so I got out of 0:10:54.559 --> 0:10:59.480 the military and like, uh like ninety one ninety two, So. 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:01.120 What was it time I've got a military making at 0:11:01.120 --> 0:11:01.679 that point, So. 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:06.040 Like a six thousand all that's how they made a 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:07.760 whole lot of like it got a lot of benefits, 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:09.560 but that's what they made. So I was like eighty 0:11:09.600 --> 0:11:11.800 six thousand eighty nine. It was like eighty six eighty nine. 0:11:11.880 --> 0:11:13.200 So when I got out, I was like, that's what 0:11:13.240 --> 0:11:16.360 I want to make, you know, And people thought I 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:19.600 was crazy, you know for asking for that, But it 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.800 taught me a lot because you know, the ask for it. 0:11:22.720 --> 0:11:25.000 It didn't cost you anything to ask for it, you know, 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.880 And then you can find out what you need to 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.520 do to get there. People are going to tell you know, 0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:35.680 you don't qualify, Well, you can't stop there if I 0:11:35.679 --> 0:11:38.120 don't qualify. Now what does it take for me to qualify? 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:41.000 And so that was That was a huge key to 0:11:42.160 --> 0:11:45.760 me having a path to getting the skills that I 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:47.840 need to build, because that was a huge that was 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.720 really important to me as building skills, you know, because 0:11:50.760 --> 0:11:52.480 if I built skills, it didn't matter what kind of 0:11:52.520 --> 0:11:54.559 job I had. If I built skills, then I was 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:55.800 going to be safe. I was going to be good. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.360 What did that level of ambition come from? That's something 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:01.120 that was taught to you. You watch somebody like maybe 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:03.640 your parents or somebody that just instilled that. 0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:04.960 Where did that come from? 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:05.720 You know? 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:11.680 I think my mom was My mom always was ambitious 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.559 from a standpoint of you're supposed to win, You're supposed 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:16.960 to be successful, you're supposed to win, even though she 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:20.720 wasn't necessarily all that commercially successful. Right she was fourteen 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:23.720 years old when she got pregnant with me and my dad. 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.559 You know, I remember meeting my dad on the street. 0:12:26.640 --> 0:12:29.760 My dad was a his passion was boxing, so he's 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:33.160 a professional boxer, but not a successful boxer. So, you know, 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.120 not being a successful boxer you don't make a lot 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.720 of money. But I think just the environment that I 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:40.200 grew up in, you know, it was a lot of 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:42.640 in the South. I grew up in the South, and 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:45.840 there was a lot of racism during the time that 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.080 I grew up, and for me, I just wanted to 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:53.040 beat you know, everybody around me that said I couldn't 0:12:53.080 --> 0:12:56.120 do it, you know. So, you know, so the white kids, 0:12:56.120 --> 0:12:57.360 I wanted to beat him. I mean, that was the 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.240 bottom line. I wanted to beat them. And so I 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:04.640 think that spurred my competitive spirit and the fact that 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:08.240 my mom, you know, you know, she was we kind 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:11.080 of grew up together, right, you know, she's fourteen, you know, 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:12.920 so we kind of grew up together a little bit, 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:15.360 you know, and wanting to help her out and make 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:18.360 sure her life was easier, you know. So that also 0:13:18.679 --> 0:13:24.000 spurred you know, ambition in me. I think way in 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:27.760 the South Columbia, Columbia, South Carolinia. Yeah. 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:31.520 So all right, so you learn computer skills, you become 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.800 a computer program Yep. There's a lot of people that 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.959 have computer skills, but there's not a lot of people 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:39.959 that have computer skills that become entrepreneurs. 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:40.400 I noticed. 0:13:41.000 --> 0:13:44.280 I don't know why, but it doesn't really happen a lot. 0:13:44.480 --> 0:13:47.200 Sometimes it happens, but not a lot. How did you 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:51.959 transition to becoming a CEO and actually, you know, running 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:53.080 a company. 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:58.040 Yeah, so I think. So I work for this company, 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:03.480 and I remember getting passed over for a job, and 0:14:03.720 --> 0:14:06.320 it didn't make sense when I got passed over, because 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:09.600 I was so big on gaining skills that I would 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.280 go to work at So I had a job where 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:14.760 I worked from three to eleven at night, So I 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.120 would go in at ten in the morning and work 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:20.720 from ten in the morning until three and other departments, 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:23.480 and I would gain skills in those other departments, and 0:14:23.480 --> 0:14:26.800 then I would go work in my department. Right. I 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:30.480 was volunteering at other things, right, and so and people aren't. 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:32.440 People don't want to do that, which doesn't make sense 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:34.880 to me because we'll go to school and pay to 0:14:34.920 --> 0:14:37.600 go to school, but we won't volunteer to get skills. 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:41.280 And that doesn't make sense to me. Right. But for me, 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:44.600 I was always on, let me get the skills because 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:46.640 you can never take that away from me. Right. So 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:51.600 I did that, and then I started using those skills 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:55.480 to improve my department. And do you know, do do 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.400 things in our department that other people couldn't do or 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:00.880 didn't want to do. Right. So there was a particular 0:15:01.000 --> 0:15:07.640 system that existed that wasn't really doing well, didn't give 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:09.480 us the results that we wanted. We paid a lot 0:15:09.520 --> 0:15:12.160 of money for it, and I volunteered to take over 0:15:12.200 --> 0:15:14.880 the system. So I volunteered to take over the system, 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:16.840 and I would just spend a lot of time running 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:19.800 this thing, and then I would start getting good results 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:22.920 out of the system. So at some point there was 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.920 a promotion announced. So at the time there was a 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.360 promotion announced, everybody gathered around. Everybody the old TJ you know, 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:32.960 congratulations bro, blah blah blah blah. And then Mike ends 0:15:33.040 --> 0:15:37.240 up getting the promotion. I was devastated, right, everybody like 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:39.920 when the when the promotion was an now, they were like, 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.360 oh you know that kind of thing, you know, yeah, 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.320 And so at that time I was like, man, I 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:49.520 was like disappointed. So I called my mentor told him. 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.120 He laughed at me, right, and he was like, well, 0:15:52.280 --> 0:15:54.160 sounds like it's time for you to go, you know. 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.320 And so he started put my name out in different places. 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.520 And when he did that, you know, I started get calls, 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.960 you know. And so I got a call from what 0:16:04.000 --> 0:16:08.120 we call the Beltway bandit around DC, right where it 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:12.400 was a government contractor kind of thing, and it was 0:16:12.480 --> 0:16:14.920 kind of a sweatshop. You go, you work all these 0:16:14.960 --> 0:16:17.360 stupid hours, and then I got a job at I 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:20.000 think Fanny mayor Freddy Mack or something like that, a 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:22.960 really good, solid company where you had sort of a 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:24.880 nine to five. You go work and you know, you 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:27.239 do your thing. So I went and worked at the sweatshop, 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:30.280 and I wanted to compete with those guys. So I 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:34.360 worked at the sweatshop, worked all these hours, and as 0:16:34.360 --> 0:16:37.160 a result of doing that, I learned to be very 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:42.840 competitive in this particular tool. And with that the company 0:16:42.880 --> 0:16:45.120 went in a different direction with their tools. They got 0:16:45.160 --> 0:16:48.240 sold to Wang, and I ended up going off and 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:53.400 building a company supporting that tool. So that's how I started. 0:16:53.520 --> 0:16:56.600 You know, it was based on my knowledge of this 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.800 one particular technology, and I just leveraged that to say, hey, look, 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:02.920 you know, let me help you do this. And I 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:05.080 think the biggest thing that I did that was a 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:11.120 benefit was I didn't become like a lot of times 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:14.560 people start a business right and they think because they're 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:18.560 getting paid as an independent contractor, they're in business for themselves, 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.040 and that wasn't That's not what I did. What I 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:24.040 did is I would go in I would start a business, 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:25.960 and I would say, I got these other people that 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:28.439 can help me, do you know that do this work? 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:30.800 Even though I only had one other person that I 0:17:30.800 --> 0:17:34.439 would hire, you know, to do this stuff. So so 0:17:34.520 --> 0:17:37.440 I didn't get caught up in doing the work all 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:40.160 the time. I would always hire someone and teach them 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:42.240 to do the work. And that helped me build a 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:44.760 business as opposed to just being an independent contractor. 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:46.840 So let's let's let's talk about that for a little bit. 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:52.000 So you really were an independent contractor, but you was 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:55.399 contracting somebody else. Yeah, yeah, so instead of you actually 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:59.280 doing the work, you would take less money to hire 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:02.320 somebody else, and that the theory is just free up 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.720 your time and allows you to grow the business absolutely. 0:18:04.840 --> 0:18:06.520 And you're training that person and the skills. 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.480 I would train that person, and even though it was 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:11.920 a very proprietary thing and that person had no skills 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:15.320 and I was better at that particular thing than this person, 0:18:15.640 --> 0:18:17.480 I would always tell the customer, this guy. 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:18.000 Is the expert. 0:18:18.280 --> 0:18:21.360 He's really really good, right, So he would come alongside 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.280 me smile and grin and you know, and then we 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:26.120 would go back to the hotel at night, and then 0:18:26.119 --> 0:18:28.520 I'd be doing the work and showing him how to 0:18:28.560 --> 0:18:31.240 do it. And I did that onesie tuessies, and then 0:18:31.680 --> 0:18:33.800 you know, we got some momentum going and I could 0:18:33.880 --> 0:18:34.520 hire more people. 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:36.240 This is a prime example of one of the things 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.160 I've heard you say before about smart work and hard work. 0:18:39.280 --> 0:18:39.480 Yeah. 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:42.240 People think, oh, we just have to work smart, not hard, yeah, 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.600 to get ahead. Yeah, but this story shows an example 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:45.960 of both. 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:47.320 Yeah, right now, you. 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.360 Did the hard work, yeah yeah, and then you did 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.080 the smart work, like I'm gonna you're gonna come in 0:18:51.160 --> 0:18:52.200 and I'm gonna hire. 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:53.760 You and just smile and he's done. 0:18:55.040 --> 0:18:59.200 Is that something that you learned from the internship and 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:03.240 the volunteering, combined with obviously now with the government contract 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:03.680 and job. 0:19:04.160 --> 0:19:07.119 I think it was just being hungry, right, just being hungry. 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:09.479 You're going to find a way, right, and you're going 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:12.119 to find a way. And for me, it was, you know, like, 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:14.159 first their safety, right, let me make sure I have 0:19:14.240 --> 0:19:16.919 a have the skills that's going to take care of 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:20.320 me no matter what happens. Right, So that was part 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:22.000 of it. And then you want to be successful and 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:24.720 you don't know what that means, you know, but you 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:26.440 know it means that you had to make a lot 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.359 of money. You know, if you make a lot of money, 0:19:29.400 --> 0:19:31.520 then you know everything else to take care of your self. 0:19:31.760 --> 0:19:35.040 And so when people say work smart not hard, I 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:37.600 believe that you got to do both. I don't believe that, 0:19:37.640 --> 0:19:40.000