WEBVTT - Breaking Up with Corporate ft Chris Corinthian & Marc Russell 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.599 I am officially well, Mark, welcome to the Brown Table, 0:00:20.040 --> 0:00:20.800 the Brown Table. 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:25.320 I'm very happy that I helped you to discover that 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:26.279 that working. 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:29.360 I just want I just want my money, that's all. 0:00:32.040 --> 0:00:32.880 I even made a. 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:37.879 Sign I want my money, and I even had the 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:40.760 brown shirt all to remind you that. 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:44.479 I got it. And like, how much money do you 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:49.120 think that you deserve for that little nugget of wisdom? 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.519 We'll contact your people figure that stuff out. 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:54.640 Well, I know you don't got no people. You're over 0:00:54.680 --> 0:00:57.360 there just doing it all yourself. Is you ain't got 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:01.680 no people? So yeah, I think if you maybe hadn't 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.199 spend so much money on like custom outerwear, uh and 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:10.840 that obnoxious uh logo behind you hanging up on what 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:11.759 do we even call that? 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:16.160 Your your hoodies in the mail? By the way, is it? Yeah? 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.440 I really have never been more grateful to know that 0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:23.560 federal workers are being furloughed and that maybe, just maybe 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:31.480 it won't find its way here. Courier vision not career vision. 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:36.640 All right, Well, if y'all have not heard of Mark Russell, 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:39.399 what's wrong with you? I think you? Have you ever 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:40.200 been on the show before? 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:40.480 Mark? 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:43.080 I have no? 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:50.000 I lied, I lied, no me and. 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:49.640 Oh, I brought you on for like a yeah, a 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:54.360 bonus like Halloween episode. That's right, I was just trying 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:56.080 to probably appease you, like I don't have throw on 0:01:56.120 --> 0:02:01.760 a bone, get on the Halloween episode. Well, Mark is 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:05.600 the founder of Wow, I wonder what it's called better 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:08.200 What was that again? Ah, there you go, thank you 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.080 Better Wallet, which tell the people about better Wallet and 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:12.919 what you do. Mark. 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:18.160 Mandy's like my older sister, so she just teases me 0:02:18.200 --> 0:02:21.160 for everything that I do. But sometimes people will need 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:23.360 to be humbled. So I have a couple of people 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.560 like that in my life. Thank God for people like Chris. 0:02:27.680 --> 0:02:32.480 But Better Well, it's all about teaching first generational investors 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:34.480 how to invest, how to make money work for them, 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:38.959 and it came from my time working in personal finance 0:02:39.320 --> 0:02:43.120 financial services, working for companies like Vanguard and Blackstone, where 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.560 I found that our people were not represented in the 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.680 clientele that they were trying to go after. So over 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.760 some time, I wanted to take what I've learned from 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.440 the school of hard Knuts, in addition to everything that 0:02:55.480 --> 0:02:59.240 I've learned from me getting my finances together, as well 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:02.120 as being a financial advisor and stockbroker to provide that 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:06.480 information to the people. It really started me talking about 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:09.560 on social media what any other millennial would do, and 0:03:10.080 --> 0:03:12.920 it became the brand that you can see now. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:14.799 Now. 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:19.120 I'm I'm privileged enough to work with so many people 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.240 and helping them build true train additional wealth for their families. 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:25.920 So it's it was a hobby that became a mission 0:03:26.280 --> 0:03:27.760 and became the business that it is. 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:31.000 What year was that that you that you left Vanguard 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:32.200 and went full time. 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.200 Full time twenty one earlier? 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:40.080 But I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:43.800 people were entrepreneurs and they didn't have to rely on, 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:47.240 you know, someone else to uh to provide a living 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:48.760 for their their family and everything. 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:50.280 So it took me some time. 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:52.560 But after a couple of conversations with people who have 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.520 already done it, I was like, Okay, well I'm going 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:57.000 to make the jump and went back home after a 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.400 conference where I was talking to people about it and 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.320 put in my two weeks and haven't looked back. 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:03.840 Let's go. Yeah. 0:04:04.080 --> 0:04:04.800 Was that fin Con? 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.120 It was? Yeah? 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:10.960 Won in Austin and you and I met for the 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:12.880 first time at fin Con twenty twenty two, which was 0:04:12.880 --> 0:04:15.240 like my return to finn Conn after many years of 0:04:15.320 --> 0:04:18.200 not having been there and like you know, having been 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:24.559 completely out of the loop. Wow okay, wow right yeah, 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.120 but we got the chance again to like sit next 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.679 to one another out of dinner in Atlanta at finn Con, 0:04:29.800 --> 0:04:32.279 and that's when I knew, Like I'm like, oh, instant, 0:04:32.720 --> 0:04:35.720 I want I want a new new brother, new brother 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.920 to my collection because you're just like you have such 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:42.600 great energy. But tell people, mister Chris, this is not 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:45.120 this is other Chris. Okay, so the BA fan is 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:46.040 used to Chris Browning. 0:04:46.120 --> 0:04:49.680 This is Chris Corinthians popcorn finance Chris, who was an 0:04:49.720 --> 0:04:54.680 awesome guy. Awesome you know, I don't know special thing 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.200 for Chris's but I mean Chris, yes it, I mean, 0:04:57.240 --> 0:04:59.600 you give it to him. It's all love. But he 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:03.640 just miles through it. So I was like, come on, Chris, 0:05:03.720 --> 0:05:05.560 you're representing for the Chris Is. When I listened to 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.479 him on the show, it's just funny to me, Oh. 0:05:08.360 --> 0:05:11.679 You're like in that, oh Chris, Like Chris is a victim, 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:12.880 you know. 0:05:12.960 --> 0:05:15.400 Chris, Chris is have to stick together that kind of thing. 0:05:17.560 --> 0:05:20.120 Do you You're safe here? 0:05:20.200 --> 0:05:20.479 Okay? 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:25.599 But yeah, all right, well yeah, tell us all about you, 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:27.520 mister finlack guy. So we got to know. 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:30.000 My name is Chris Corinthian. I go by the finlack guy, 0:05:30.520 --> 0:05:34.000 and I worked in higher ed for almost twenty years. 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:36.320 Most of that time was spent in the areas of 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.919 financial aid of financial literacy and I'm coming up on 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:45.600 a year actually doing this full time. So I was 0:05:46.040 --> 0:05:49.719 working at different universities for adult educators, at vacational technical 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.400 schools and traditional four years. And during that time I 0:05:52.480 --> 0:05:55.120 used to see students that would drop out for lack 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.560 of finances or you know, going to massive amounts of 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:02.039 debt and still drive out or finished, but then still 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.560 had this burden on them when they graduated. But there 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:06.359 were other students that I saw that would actually go 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.760 to school debt free. And then I just started studying 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:11.520 over the years what were the specific habits that they 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.560 had which allowed all of them from various backgrounds to 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:17.800 graduate debt free. And so that was my focus on 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:21.520 that along with personal finance, you know, helping students and 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.479 parents with the building blocks of personal finance, right just 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:27.880 basic budgeting and how's credit established and how is it built? 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:30.760 Things like that. But my focus now is just working 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:33.880 with parents of students that are going to college or 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:35.919 planning to go to college, and showing them how to 0:06:35.960 --> 0:06:39.520 go to school without taking out student loans, without debt altogether. 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:44.839 Damn Okay, Like what would tell us what's the secret? 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.680 I mean, especially at the time latest when you don't 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:50.800 know if you're going to have federal aid at all 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:51.760 for education? 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:57.840 Right, absolutely, So I'll give the broad overview strategy and 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:00.000 then if we want so, we could dig deep into it. 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:03.840 But there are certain there were several data out there 0:07:03.880 --> 0:07:06.479 saying that there's hundreds of millions of dollars over one 0:07:06.520 --> 0:07:10.400 hundred million dollars of unclaimed scholarships each year. So it's 0:07:10.440 --> 0:07:12.840 not that people are applying for scholarships and get denied, 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.840 but it's just free money sitting out there for people 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:19.080 to go to college, and nobody's applying for it. And 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:23.000 so that's the main foundation. So now that we have that, 0:07:23.400 --> 0:07:26.040 now what's keeping people from applying for these scholarships? And 0:07:26.080 --> 0:07:28.160 most of the time is they don't know what to 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:30.240 write about when it comes to essays, They don't know 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.600 where to find these scholarships, right, and they don't have 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.560 a real strategy on how to apply for it. Because 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.320 some will apply for maybe five, ten, fifteen scholarships, get 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.960 burned out and they'll say I didn't win anything. It's 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.760 not going to work for me, right, or some people 0:07:44.800 --> 0:07:47.360 think that I have to have little to no money 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:50.480 or be of a certain demographic in order to get scholarships. 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:52.480 But there are several types, and there are you know, 0:07:52.560 --> 0:07:55.760 merit based scholarships, which is a lot of the focus 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:57.520 that we have when we work with our parents and 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:01.560 students as well as other scholarships. But we don't even 0:08:01.600 --> 0:08:04.120 focus necessarily on the federal funding. So if it's here, 0:08:04.160 --> 0:08:07.640 if it's not, that's just a bonus when it comes 0:08:07.680 --> 0:08:09.960 to the type of money. So we look at institutional funding. 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:14.800 We look at local scholarships where your least competitive scholarships 0:08:14.800 --> 0:08:17.520 will lie, so with the school district, with your school, 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:21.440 with different organizations and businesses, rooting for the hometown heroes 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.040 or rooting for those students that are in their local community. 0:08:24.320 --> 0:08:26.360 And then when you have those specific majors that are 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.760 your tied to, then it just brings down that competition 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:33.880 barrier much lower and increases the chances of success. Now, 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:37.120 the other thing is it's a numbers game and a 0:08:37.200 --> 0:08:39.800 law of averages game. Right. So, if you apply for 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.320 five scholarships and expect to go to schools that free, 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:46.040 most likely you won't get any scholarships, right, And so 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.080 one of the things I talk to students and parents 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:50.439 about is applying for ten times the amount you need. 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:54.240 So if you need fifty yeah, right, exactly, And when 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:56.679 you think, let's say you need fifty thousand dollars to 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:59.280 go to school, you need apply for five hundred thousand 0:08:59.320 --> 0:09:05.400 dollars in order to get the odds in your favor. Right. 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:08.480 So if ninety percent of the scholarships, which most of 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:11.000 the scholarships you apply for, will reject you, you'll get 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.679 denied for most of the scholarships you apply for. And 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:16.320 so we shoot for ten percent success rates. So if 0:09:16.360 --> 0:09:19.000 ninety percent of them say no, you're still good and 0:09:19.040 --> 0:09:21.480 then apply for at least one hundred and so we 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:23.679 do this thing where we do to today and then 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:25.520 that's the focus. If you have your. 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:29.080 Essays, Chris, that sounds cherable. 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:32.480 Yeah, I know, I know, I know the money that 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:34.280 you get back end. 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:36.400 But if you're there, so you're like there to hold 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:40.240 their hand and like, yeah, coach them through that process, right. 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:42.079 Absolutely, But the hardest thing is just having your five 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.600 essential essays because you usually use just the same five 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:47.560 over and over again and just tweak a little bit 0:09:47.600 --> 0:09:50.080 of your story. And once you have that hardest part 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.480 out the way, then all you're doing is wash rents 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.480 and repeating. You don't have to look for scholarships because 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.719 you have them all there. Now you have your five 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:00.560 essential essays, so all you have to do is copy paste, tweak, 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:03.440 and so you might spend twenty thirty minutes a day 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.640 just click, click send. You have everything in the drive 0:10:06.720 --> 0:10:09.040 for you. So now you can spend twenty to thirty 0:10:09.040 --> 0:10:11.280 minutes a day and it's not overwhelming. 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:14.600 As how many of your clients are like, well, can 0:10:14.679 --> 0:10:16.600 I just get chat GPT to write this week? 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.960 So what's interesting is that because I look, when chat 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:24.400 GPT first came out, you could just put that in 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:27.080 say hey, I'm going for the scholarship and boom boom boom. 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:30.840 But now Chat has this failsafet where if you put 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:33.560 it in there, it'll say, no, we can't respond for 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:38.520 scholarship things. So now, because what some people used to 0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.840 do is they say, okay, here's my information, here's a 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:44.760 scholarship prompt, write me an essay so that I can 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.679 win this. Yeah. Right, But now most of the organizations 0:10:48.679 --> 0:10:51.120 are doing their AI check to see if you're using 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:54.200 any type of AI to write your essays. So if 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:56.240 you do that, they'll catch you. And a lot of 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.440 professors everybody's starting to see if you use any of 0:10:59.480 --> 0:11:03.400 those AI AI southward to get. 0:11:03.240 --> 0:11:07.720 It ooh okay, all right, hmmm, I mean that sounds 0:11:07.720 --> 0:11:10.679 incredibly useful. But like, as a business, how are you 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:12.640 making money off? Because you got to you said, you've 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:14.480 been in this for like a year. How are you 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:15.600 supporting yourself? 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:19.840 So glad you asked. So when I bring parents and 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.160 students in, I assigned coaches to them. So one of 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.520 my coaches, she went over a million dollars in scholarships, 0:11:25.120 --> 0:11:27.760 and so she helps them find the scholarship. She just 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.559 uses a lot of the same procedures and spreadsheets and 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:32.600 everything that she does, and then she's assigned to him. 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:34.439 I have another guy, as a matter of fact, I 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.720 met him in Fincon two. I have another guy who 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:41.400 actually created a course specifically for writing scholarship essays. He's 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:43.720 an English teacher, and then he says, there's a difference 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:45.720 for writing an English paper than it is for telling 0:11:45.720 --> 0:11:48.000 a story. And then he tucks them through the hero's 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.280 journey and all these other things. And then he's assigned 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:54.160 to him too, right and so, and then they have 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:56.480 these modules and everything that they go through. But if 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:58.840 they have questions, they meet with me weekly in a 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:01.560 group coaching call and then I answer any of your questions, 0:12:01.600 --> 0:12:04.560 find out update statuses along with the other two coaches. 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:06.960 So that's how I get money. 0:12:07.200 --> 0:12:09.080 And then they pay for the group coaches. 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.160 They pay for the coaching and the individual coaches. They 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.719 just pay for everything, and I walk them through and 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:15.320 then I give them guarantees. So I say, if they 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:17.120 don't go to school debt free and they get one 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:21.160 hundred percent of their money back, well damn yeah, because 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.400 that's veryous, right, because up to a certain amount. So 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.360 it's not like they said, okay, well my school's gonna 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:29.400 be two hundred thousand dollars a year. I'm like, okay, 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:30.160 well no. 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:35.040 Yeah, which is like not I mean, maybe not per year, 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:39.560 but certainly like four years, absolutely yeah, that's not unheard. 0:12:39.440 --> 0:12:43.280 Yeah, but no per year, per year, yeah, absolutely so. 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:46.480 So so I take on all the risk, you know, 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.360 as long as you do what you're supposed to do, 0:12:48.920 --> 0:12:50.240 and there are a number of things that they need 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:51.960 to do to me, because it's not like, Okay, I 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:53.680 don't do anything and I'm just gonna go to school 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:55.240 for free. But as long as they do the things 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:59.359 they're supposed to do, then we take on all the risks. 0:13:00.120 --> 0:13:03.200 To keep your number for when I'm sending my kids 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.120 off the car, I got you, I got you. 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:09.280 So normally you're talking to the parents directly and then 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:11.640 they basically tell their kid, hey, do this. 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:12.440 Yeah. 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:15.480 So during the coaching call, is it with the parent or. 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:18.600 The it's with the parent and then and the students 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:20.760 sometimes so sometimes a parent and the student are on, 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:24.240 but a lot of times it's the parent that's going 0:13:24.280 --> 0:13:27.080 to make the student do it right because the students 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:28.480 trying to pay for coach and they're like, I ain't 0:13:28.480 --> 0:13:32.959 gonna money. Yeah, they were like, I ain't really doing this, 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:35.720 or but the parent is just like, oh, no, you're 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:38.560 doing this because I ain't got the money. I don't 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:40.320 have the money to pay for all of this, and 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:42.560 you're gonna need to do it. And so far, the 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:44.160 students that have worked with us, that have done the 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:46.040 work got to get scholarship. 0:13:45.600 --> 0:13:47.800 Like I mean, in Georgia, I had the Hope scholarship. 0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:51.520 Did you go to school in Georgia, Chris, Yes, yes, okay, yeah, 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:53.760 so we had. I had Hope, but then my brother 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:57.160 who's five years younger than me behind me, he had 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.320 Hope too, but it wasn't as generous by the they 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:02.440 had like made it tougher to qualify for the full 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.520 benefit and like, so he graduated with like fifty K 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:07.520 of student loans and I graduated with eight. 0:14:07.960 --> 0:14:12.160 So I it was only eighty percent of tuition, whereas 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.839 Hope paid for everything. It's like, okay, we'll cover all 0:14:14.880 --> 0:14:17.240 of that for you versus eighty percent of just tuition 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:18.120 and not the fees. 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.800 But thank goodness, I did not have like that much debt, 0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:25.280 because it really is like you're starting off your life. 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.600 And the way that they talk about student loans too, 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.600 it's almost as if well, this isn't really debt. This 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.680 is like it they really do, and so you almost 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:36.280 feel like, well, it's fine, it's totally fine, but no, 0:14:36.360 --> 0:14:37.800 it's it's real debt. 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:40.320 Yeah, no, it truly is. 0:14:40.440 --> 0:14:43.320 I mean I came out with about twenty five thousand 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.960 and student loan debt. No, I lied, No, it's my 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:50.200 car payment. It was fifty thousand. It was fifty thousand 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:53.000 all together, and then my car was about twenty five. 0:14:53.840 --> 0:14:56.680 But it was it was brutal. I was living paycheck 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.760 to paycheck in the beginning because I had all those 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.760 debts payments, and if you have multiple like I had 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.320 one that came directly from Penn State. Then I had 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.760 my federal debt as well, and both of them were 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.920 due like around the same time. So I it was 0:15:11.000 --> 0:15:13.400 crippling initially. 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.400 Damn yeah, I mean it really start off as a 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:17.920 young kid. 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:20.600 I mean I grew up in a very small town 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:22.960 and no one around me really had any money. I 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:25.440 didn't really get like an allowance or anything of that nage. 0:15:25.480 --> 0:15:27.840 I didn't want to do the things that my friends 0:15:27.840 --> 0:15:31.200 were doing that they didn't have to pay taxes on, right, 0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:35.880 So I did everything I possibly could wink wink. So 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:40.920 I've always had that entrepreneurial spirit, and even going off 0:15:40.920 --> 0:15:43.960 to college, I had to work odd jobs in order 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:47.400 to pay for school. I was selling plasma, which I 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:49.760 don't recommend unless you're really in the donation. 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:51.080 Make sure you. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:54.200 Consult your doctor. But I was an ra I was 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:58.160 a referee. I was handing out like flyers. So I've 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:01.480 always had that in my blood. And going to corporate 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:04.680 was the first time where someone told me, hey, you 0:16:04.720 --> 0:16:07.800 only have to work nine to five, and I'm like, okay, 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:08.960 what do I do after five? 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:11.200 Like do I do I have to like I don't 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:12.080 have any kids, like what? 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.760 And I always remember just working so hard for van 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.800 Guard and all these other companies, and then I just 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:21.480 got to the point where I said, you know, like, 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:24.320 what if I could do is myself, What if I 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:26.320 could do with myself and I can work with the 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:29.320 people I truly want to work with, because as I mentioned, 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.200 they didn't really care for anyone that came from where 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:33.960 I came from, where they didn't know what a four 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:36.120 to one k or on ira or a broken's count was. 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:41.120 But yeah, over time, something that was a hobby, I 0:16:41.280 --> 0:16:45.360 found ways to monetize the brand. And I mean the 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:49.680 jump came in twenty twenty one, but it took me 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:53.120 some time to actually realize that people can live off 0:16:53.200 --> 0:16:57.760 the money that's coming in because for some reason, even 0:16:57.800 --> 0:16:59.320 though I was making let's say I was making a 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:02.880 hundred thousand dollars at a vanguard type of company and 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:04.920 the business is bringing in one hundred thousand dollars. 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:06.200 It just felt different. 0:17:06.680 --> 0:17:10.439 It felt as if that money wasn't guaranteed and the 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.240 money in corporate was guaranteed. And then on top of that, 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:15.600 I worked so hard to get there. You know, I 0:17:15.680 --> 0:17:17.960 was one of the only black execs at the firm 0:17:18.040 --> 0:17:21.680 that I end up leaving. So you take all that 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:25.080 and you say, Okay, why why me? And I learned, 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:27.560 you know, why not me? Why can't I take that jump? 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:30.080 And then I had to also redefine in my head 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:33.120 what true success is as. 0:17:32.920 --> 0:17:35.760 A black male or anyone in general. 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:37.160 Right, And it. 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:41.280 Wasn't just getting that executive position or becoming a CEO. 0:17:42.080 --> 0:17:44.359 Beyonce said, like pay me in equity, right, So, like, 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:48.320 I wanted to make sure that I owned whatever I 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:51.760 was working so hard on, because if I'm working, you know, 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:56.320 sixty hour sixty hour weeks, and I'm doing it for 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:59.119 a set salary, why can't I just do it for 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:02.639 my own business? So when I made the jump, it 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:05.399 took me about two weeks to realize that I was okay. 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:08.280 Like I was, I was swimming, like I was doing well. 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:10.120 And then now in this. 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:12.240 Point where I don't really have to worry about it 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:16.560 as much. But it was definitely nerve wracking in the beginning. 0:18:17.040 --> 0:18:20.480 But you find out different ways, you create different systems, 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:23.879 you hire people, and that makes you feel more comfortable, 0:18:23.920 --> 0:18:27.080 but you know, jumping from one company to another. Luckily 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.400 I was able to build up the company enough where 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:31.800 I had the record keeping, the bookkeeping. I was just 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:34.399 basically moving from one company to another, but I just 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.760 happened to have my name on the other one, so 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:38.840 feel way more comfortable. 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:43.280 Yeah, I mean, listening to that, Chris, You're a year 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:49.400 into this full time entrepreneur journey, and I feel like Mark, 0:18:49.640 --> 0:18:51.959 we actually started our businesses around the same time. I mean, 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.800 I've been doing brand ambition since twenty fifteen, but me 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:59.480 leaving corporate and like launching going full time solopreneur that 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.640 was also like summer twenty twenty one. And I experienced 0:19:03.640 --> 0:19:06.600 my first like really challenging year in twenty twenty four, 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:10.199 twenty twenty three, and twenty twenty four, where sort of 0:19:10.240 --> 0:19:14.000 like business challenges and personal challenges like could you know, 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:17.320 just like swirled together and then I was like, wait 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:20.280 a minute, maybe I should just go on LinkedIn and 0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:23.440 get me one of them good old jobs again, just 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:26.159 because it was so overwhelming when you're really struggling. And 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:30.520 then so for Chris, I just wonder what am I 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:32.760 trying to say. I could tell you A are you scared? 0:19:33.280 --> 0:19:33.840 You scared? 0:19:34.359 --> 0:19:38.320 So so for one, are you sure you want to 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:42.359 do this right? Exactly? It's my biggest reason why. So 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:45.399 my oldest son, Chris Junior. He's on the severe end 0:19:45.400 --> 0:19:49.720 of the autism spectrum and he's nonverbal, and so everything, 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.399 my whole focus, my drive, everything is centered around that 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.480 because I'll go to too much detail. But there are 0:19:56.520 --> 0:19:59.760 times when when I was working full time, I'd have 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:02.280 that my supervisor, Hey, I know, I just asked yesterday 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:05.520 and I know it's eleven am, but they're holding Chris 0:20:05.600 --> 0:20:08.679 down and he's and they're having difficulty with him. I 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:11.080