BILFPOD - Cards, Chaos & the Comeback: Todd Speciale on Making Sales—and Life—Great Again

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

In this powerful episode of BILFPod, Mara Dorne sits down with Todd Speciale—motivational speaker, best-selling author, sales trainer, and CEO of Make Sales Great Again. Known for his no-fluff mindset and commitment to integrity-driven strategies, Todd gets real about the struggles that shaped him and the bold decisions that built his empire.Tap in for:Todd’s raw journey from rock bottom to industry leaderThe card hand that flipped his entire trajectoryThe real story behind Make Sales Great AgainHard-hitting guidance for aspiring entrepreneursInsight into building a culture of integrity—and never selling your soul to scaleTodd has trained more than 5,000 sales professionals and helped companies generate over $800 million in revenuethrough his values-based leadership approach. He’s also shared stages with icons like Les Brown and Ashton Kutcher—and now he’s pulling back the curtain for a convo that’s part wake-up call, part blueprint for leveling up.Follow & Connect:Todd Speciale — toddspeciale.com | @toddspecialeMara Dorne — @maradorne |www.maradorne.comSubscribe, comment, and tag a boss who needs this energy. 🎬🎧This is BILFPod—where the real ones rise. ✨#BILFPodcast #MaraDorne #ToddSpeciale #MakeSalesGreatAgain #LeadershipUnfiltered #SalesWithIntegrity #BossTalks #EntrepreneurLife #ResilienceStory #PodcastInterview #HighPerformanceHabits #BusinessUncut #FromTheGroundUp #BoldLeadership #MicDropMoments #BuiltDifferent

Most people are afraid to step out in entrepreneurship because they're like, well, what if it fails? What if it does? Right? Like, what if it does? But I'll tell you this. You want to be about to blame. Welcome to the BILF pod. We're authenticity trumps authority.

And for those of you that are tuning in for the first time, I bet you're wondering what a BILF is. And it actually stands. for boss, I'd like to follow. Just kidding. Our show is really centered around bosses and bosses of any kind, bosses in their own right. So I am super excited about today's guests because really it reminds me that our past, a lot of the times we spend so much time reflecting on what we could have done, what we should have done, and really believing that our past defines what our future would look like.

When in reality, our past is really just building blocks or I like to say our superpower to building character and ultimately allowing us to propel forward. And that's why I'm so excited about today's guest. Our guest today is Todd's special. He is the hot. Oh, I'm sorry. This wrong show. He is not only a business partner of mine, but he is also someone that I call a very near and dear friend. And so for those of you that don't know who Todd is, which you should know, I'd like to introduce Todd.

I think it's so important that you tell your story about your past because so many times I think people get caught up in reflecting on the past and, you know, what they could have done, what they should have done. And I know your past has been one heck of a ride for you. But what I love about it is that you're so open and you've used that really to become such an incredible business person as well. well as an amazing husband and father. So for people that are listening and, you know, a lot of people just kind of just reflecting having that moment of, you know, is my past really going to follow me? What did, you know, let's talk a little bit about your past. So can you tell everybody about your past? Yeah, sure. I don't know you're going to try to make me cry on the podcast. Sorry. I just want to make you uncomfortable. That's part of this. It's being comfortable.

You know what's funny. It's like, you know me and like I don't think anything gets me real uncomfortable anymore. You know, I first want to say this, I'm so beyond honored to be here with you because what you've done over the past, like, several years of your life has been fantastic. Like, you've been a boss for like a while. But I remember you came down to my office. We had a conversation about how you wanted to write a book. And then I would kind of nag you a little bit and then you wrote the book. And it went bestseller. And you're crushing there. And then you said, well, I want to speak more on stage. And then you did that. And you said, well, I want to have a podcast. Then you did that. And I just want everybody to know before getting to my story that,

I not only respect you, but you are an inspiration of so many people. And just like you said, people should be following me. I think people are absolutely insane if they don't follow you and they don't watch your journey because I only, this is literally the tip of the iceberg. I'm not saying that because you're like my sister and I love you dearly. But I've seen it. I've seen what you guys have done. I've seen the direction you're going, the support you have from your family,

your husband, your loved ones, your kids, everything. But like you just get something in your mind and you just do it. And I think that is so hard for people to do because a lot of people talk and they don't move. So true. That's absolutely. You move and talk, which gets you into places that people only like dream of being in and you're just doing it. So I want everybody to know first and foremost, for the love of God, follow Mara and like everything in your journey. Because from the bottom of my heart, it like seeing you win. And I think that's what we'll talk about a little bit like today. But seeing you win is a gift for me. And every time like I share your stuff or I see it online,

like I can feel how like truly happy I am because I know how much you want to actually. impact lives. Like you don't need the money. You don't need another business. Like you just care. This isn't for like the fame for you. This isn't for the cool bill thing and all that. Like honestly you want to pour into people's lives. And I think having a luxury of being one of the first people on your show, I just think people need to know that so they can follow you and they know how genuine you are. And I just want to say that before I got to my stars. I love that. Or did you just the fleck because you don't want to talk about your past? Oh no, no, no. I'm going to get into my past for sure. But I just honestly like I love you and it's just so much fun watching you.

Oh, thank you. Yeah. So, yeah, my past is, yeah, it's a rocky one. And I think that, you know, I was doing a training, to be honest, I just got off the plane, as you know, I came right here off the plane from a training I did. And, you know, I was sitting there talking to a team. And this guy asked me, you know, he's read my books.

And he says, what drives you? And I'm sitting at a dinner table with a bunch of leaders. And he says, because when I see you online, I see you a little differently. And I said, what do you mean? He goes, well, you put a post out there one day. And you pretty much admitted every single mistake. you've ever done. And I was just like, well, yeah. I was like because, you know, in today's world, IG and Facebook and, you know, whatever the Snapchat thing is, I've never had tool for that shit,

but that was TikTok and everything else, Marley, it's the highlight reel of people's lives. Yeah. Right? It's like everything is like, look at me, the 190 million filters and I changed my nose and I changed my chin. And, you know, it's just like, look at all the money I have and the cars I drive. And you know, a long time ago, I realized that like, or I was actually afraid to come to the realization that it's okay to make mistakes and that the people that actually judge you and they're not your friends. They were really never your real friends and supporting you to begin with anyways because we all make mistakes.

So I didn't really share a lot of the heartaches and stuff that I've gone through. And, and I'm sure I'll get into more detail on that. But the reason why I shared that post that day was because as you know very well, when you're scaling and you're growing and you're becoming a stronger human and you're accomplishing big things. Haters come, right? And they're going to come regardless. For sure.

Always going to have them. And I used to say, you know, fuck the haters. Like get rid of them. I don't care. Whatever. And I've changed that from like taking what people say and it drives me. Some people it doesn't. But it's like you can't do that.

Well, and I'm like, watch me. I can. Right? Or, you know, you're not going to last. Okay, well, watch me that I will. And when you trans like change a hater from someone who hates. you into actually like they're like okay shit I can't stop this person and they're going to win regardless and they transform into someone that's like a follower and someone that actually like respects you now

they become gladiators by your side and I wasn't building enough of them and I started wondering why and a lot of the haters are just like oh you're you know you're fake and you do this and I see this stuff online all the money's bullshit you don't have this you don't have that I said to myself why would they think that because they don't even know me well it's because everything was the highlight reel like people want real. Like they want to know the struggle because all the shit that I've done, a lot of bad shit, like people are afraid to share. Like that when I, that post that day, we don't have to get into every detail.

But, you know, I ran illegal car games for a limit of a robbed of gunpoint. I stole a toilet when I was like rebuilding a home because we were that broke. Someone broke in, stole all the AC units out of a house that we were rehabbing at the time, our only home while I was living with my wife's parents to build that house. I got arrested for that, right? And how embarrassing is that? So broke, you had to steal toilet. This is like crazy stuff.

Yeah. You know, obviously, so drugs when I was younger. I've cheated before, you know, I filed bankruptcy in 1998. I've had two cars repossessed. Like all this crazy stuff. And I feel like people are so afraid to talk about it because they're like, oh, they're going to think differently of me. Well, I finally changed my mind.

I'm like, fuck them. Because at the end of the day, it's like if I can't take all the hard and struggle that I've gone through in my life. And as long as I'm learning and growing from it, which it took me, way too long to learn and grow from it. And I wish you would have done it sooner. But I feel like I could have done it sooner. Had someone like me said, it's okay.

And they were honest about the mistakes. And I saw this person going, it's okay that you did drugs. It's okay that you were an addict. It's okay that you cheated. It's okay that you were a thief. It's okay that you did this. As long as you're trying to maximize yourself

and learn and change from it. And there wasn't anything out there like that. Everybody was a highlight real. So my story is one of, you know, coming from very, very humble beginning. beginnings, knocking doors selling vacuum sleepers at 15 years old, and then, you know, learning how to sell on the art of negotiation of pool hall and, you know, watching and reading people and, you know, playing cribbage and talk and watching where people picking up cards

and putting in their hands and seeing how their facial expressions were in their body language, and then negotiating a good game when I'm playing pool because that was really good. So all that and those skills came from there. But the struggle was way past that. So I learned how to sell, learn how to negotiate. But then after we made all these mistakes, I'm like, if if someone doesn't do what I'm going to do, then everybody's going to think that if you have the highlight reel, you're cool, but you're really not. Honesty is cool.

And that's why I really shared everything that I've done all my mistakes. And it's impacted a lot of life so far, so ungrateful. I love that. You know what? Honestly, you know where really that superpower for me came from? And you're going to laugh. I mean, I think I've always been brutally honest.

But you ever see the movie The Eight Mile? Oh, yeah. You know, like, at the end, he's like, forget it. Like, he throws down the mic and he's like, you know what? He's like, I am broke. I am poor. My girl did get bad. And you know what?

at the end what happened everybody got up they gave him kudos they gave him they applauded him and just kind of put the reality that you know in life you're going to mess up that's that's just what it is it happens but it's when you take those lessons and I know you personally and you use those lessons but I think that's so powerful is that yeah it happened you don't dwell on it like what was me but you've taken those lessons and you've created such an amazing life for yourself and I think those lessons, you had to go through that. Don't you feel like you had to go through that? For sure. Right? Yeah, for sure.

You have to do that. Yeah, you have to. And I think that like, you know, you bring a very good point up because, you know, it's always cliche. I literally said this to the leaders last night. It's, it's a cliche statement to say you have to fail to win, right? Because everybody says it. They see all it online. And the problem is so many people say the same shit. Like, I don't blame people for wondering if it's like not true, right? Or is everything people saying true?

because there's so many people saying shit out there. It's like, who do I believe? Right. But if you watch someone go through hard, you kind of realize that a lot of people have gone through stuff that you have and like I have. And they're just afraid to admit it. And they're scared to kind of put this persona out there

because people would judge you, number one. But that failure is what builds you. And if I didn't fail and I didn't get beat down and I didn't get people talking shit about me 24-7 when I was, you know, making a lot of money and got out of the timeshare business because people were robbing people and I couldn't do it anymore. It's like, I remember when I wanted to open up my own company, they're like, dude,

you're insane. Like, what are you doing? I mean, it's like, I can't live, like, caged in. And I feel like that's what people, the lives they live. They feel, I feel like everybody's caged in if they're so worried about the opinions of others. And I just let go. And I was like, it's okay, because the failure will build you. And I think another thing that people are afraid of is, like, people can't talk shit about you if you're open about what you've done. If you talk shit about yourself. That's what it happened in the eight mile. Yeah. I'm telling you. Pop a dog, baby. Yeah. I mean, it just worked out for him. But it's so true. I think failure,

yes, it's inevitable, but it's how you fail and then how you take what you take from it. And then you take the setback and you use it as the comeback. Amen. And that's, yeah, you're right. It is very cliche. We all say you have to fail before, you know, and then they gave you all these quotes and Michael Jordan did this and Kobe did that. But I think the real struggle is when they failed, did they sit there or did they get right back up again? Because if you know the real reality is once they failed, they hit the court a million more times and they were sitting there until they got it and they missed lunch in time with their family. It's like everything in between, the intentionality. And I think that's what happens for a lot of people is that they fail and they're like,

okay, I failed and now it's time to succeed. But it's what did you get from that lesson? Yeah. You know, what important, what came from that that really like ignited that fire inside of you And just like you, I mean, for me, it's the naysayers. I love the haters. Me too. Like, I have learned those haters, I mean, I just want to give a shout out to all the haters out there because they have ignited the fire in me. My favorite is, like I told you before, the unsolicited.

I love the unsolicited haters and their advice. I love those people because those are the ones that really make me want to not only talk about it, but be about it. Like, I can't do this. Oh, I'm going to show you. I can definitely do this. You and I are a lot of like that, though, because remember we talked about it in our podcast with Brandon where Brandon and Seth are a little different when you know they're very analytical

very brilliant minds and you and I are kind of like we're going after we're going to run through a fucking wall together it doesn't matter what anybody says we're very you and I are very aligned that oh 100% because I do care what people think yeah but I'll use that to my advantage you know and then I love it because once I know that it's out there I like to make everyone feel uncomfortable so I'll dress the elephant in the room so I do have to I have to make you you know it wouldn't be me if I didn't make you uncomfortable yeah so you so we went out one night and and I are hanging out. And Todd tells me this, like, bizarre thing that you have this, like, fetish about haunted houses and being in haunted places. I love it. So what is, I have to ask you,

I have to, before we go further, what is your deal with this haunted stuff? Like, I don't even understand it and it freaks me out. Yeah. So, you know, the thing about it is, is like, I've always been intrigued. I do believe, you know, my dad passed away in 2017 and he's my hero in heaven. And, you know, I always had believed in spiritual stuff before, right? And I'm always like, if my dad goes, he's not really ever gone, right? That's what we love to believe. Because, like, I don't think anybody really knows. They say they do, whatever.

It's what you believe in your faith, whatever, right? And obviously, I believe in higher beings. I believe in God. That's my thing. That's fine, right? But, like, I've always had this, like, super intriguing thought that if it happens to me, then I can prove to myself that it is real. So like every time I go overseas, which we fly overseas, like we stay for a couple weeks every year.

We like try to stay in the most haunted castle and like the most haunted hotel rooms. And the Stanley Hotel in Estes, Colorado, my wife's father and I went there together. And we stayed in what's called the cowboy room. And it's the most haunted room in Stanley Hotel. It's the place that Stephen King wrote the book, The Shiny, right? Insane. So, but yeah, I've always had like this crazy like, and I've never seen anything, though. So I want to be very clear.

I've never seen anything happen or anything, but something has happened because there's a thing called, and I think we told you that story that it would be happy to share, but it was with the spirit box. It plays like white noise backward. It's like it's like it sounds like it's a, it's like it sounds like it's crazy. So one night, my wife and I and some friends of ours were at the house and my dad's ashes are in my office and I said, I'm going to try the spirit box out. And this is 100% because Michelle, she'll tell you. She'll be like, Todd's lying, right?

You know Michelle. She'd be like, he's lying. And Michelle could not believe it. like we were shocked. Like it was insane. So me and a friend of mine were in my office. I turned the spirit box on, playing white noise backwards.

And I put my hand on my dad's ashes. And I was like, Dad, if you're here, if anybody's here, please say something just so I can know you're here. First time I'd ever used it. There was like nothing for like three minutes. Kept asking questions. And I was like, fine, Dad.

If you're not here, whatever. And you heard Todd clear his day out of this spirit box. And there was so crazy. Dude, it is. So crazy. It is. But it was like, I kept telling myself, I'm like, that just didn't happen.

And then Michelle's freaking out. The couple of those, they're freaking out. And I'm so glad there was more than one person could have proved to me like, you can't just, it can't just say Todd. If it said some random name, whatever or something, like, it might be different. But it said Todd, clear his day. And then I asked some other questions for like another 10 minutes. Nothing happened.

And like literally 15 minutes later, you could hear like a little girl's giggle laugh. And then it like shut down. And I went to my pastor at my church and he goes, dude, you're a maniac because obviously they believe, and he's, you know, Christian pastor, and he's like, the believes in spirits and, you know, the Lord, double, whatever. And he's like, that could be a demon,

you know, faking the voice like it's your dad. And it was really crazy stuff, which Michelle made me toss out of the spirit box, but I still had this thing, like I love watching ghost adventures. I'm still going to stay in the most haunted places I can find. And I just love it. It's just adrenaline for me, I guess. Sorry, I had to ask.

But, wow, that is insane. But, you know, switching back years. So you, so. you know, your past, you have this like crazy insane past of like illegal activity, running card games. This all happened really young. Yeah. At what point did you finally decide that you're like, okay, I'm putting the illegal activity behind and I want to do something better with my life? When did that happen for you?

What age? It was twofold. So honestly, like 2012 is when I ran my last card game. And I've been robbed at gunpoint three times. You know, I was like anybody else. I was, you know, younger, full of steroids, you know, I did them for 10 years. I was mean.

Blood pressure was always high. I was a drunk guy fighting people downtown. I thought I was living this great life, making $5,000 to $10,000 a week cash. You know, I hadn't filed taxes in 10 years. And one night it got robbed at gunpoint. And I lost my card game. Well, that was the third time I got robbed at gunpoint where people were like,

dude, I'm not doing this shit in Orlando anymore. I'm just going to drive the Tampa and go to the casino. It's way too risky, right? And we had the vice president of Walt Disney. were playing our games. We got like a lot of high-end people playing at the game. And we had, you know, I ran it like a business. We had a, you know, waitress and we had catered food. And I don't know if you ever seen the movie Molly's game, but it's a lot like that. And if you have some of you watch it now, if you've never seen it, watch Molly's game. That's me. It's just

on a much smaller level. They were betting millions. We weren't, you know, but we'd have 50 to 100K on the table late at night, late at night. But by the third time I got robbed, the security guard got pistol with. We knew it was an inside job. It's like, come on. You know, like, we got armed guards now. It was like crazy. Yeah. And they robbed, they took everything out of my safe. I was single at the time. My daughters were very young. You know, my old or my middle daughter at the time was 10 and every was like 15, my oldest daughter. And I remember like when as I'm getting like literally sitting there getting, you know, robbed at gunpoint and it's a cold barrel of my head. And

they're like, Todd, we know you. And if you move, you're dead. Right. And I remember thinking to myself like, God, like, I'm a single dad right now and my ex is already insane and my kids are going to grow up with that instead of a father that's there for them. Like, is this really the life that I want to live? Right. And I thought to myself, well, hopefully they won't find my safe on my bedroom. And they did. And they took the safe. And I had like 60 grand cash in the saves. Every dollar had to my name. Um, this happened in your house. They came and got you? I was actually living in a room of somebody else's house at the time because I recently kind of split up and I stayed there the past few years.

And they kicked in the door of where I was living at the time because we just, and this is why we knew it was an inside job. It was a random card game because it wasn't. My card games had always been like Penthouse's downtown.

We were out at the top floor or everything. There's just like a random card game when they were like, let's put it together. And there was like 50 grand in the room. So it was definitely an inside job. Like somebody told someone for sure or whatever. But they took all the cash that I have.

And in poker, you know, if you came to the game and you're gambling and you were like, you know, I brought, you bring 5,000 cash and you lose that cash, well, I know you. If Marr says, hey, Todd,

give me $5,000 until next week. I'm like, cool, whatever. It's called credit, right? It's putting it on the book. Like, no problem, Marr, give you $5,000. You pay me next week. Everything's good.

So the same people I used to lend thousands and thousands of dollars, knew that poker was my only form of income, knew that no one wanted to come back to card games after getting robbed three times. And I ran the best card game in Orlando. And I tried to borrow $100, $200, $300 for where they would turn me down. So it's, like, I spiraled into a really deep depression

and I was living in a, room that's half the size of your podcast studio. And went to deep depression for a year. And I don't think I've ever even told you this. But like for about a year, I was sleeping 12 hours day and crying the other 12. And there was a really bad turning point to where my daughter, as my brother dropped my daughters off because I couldn't afford gas to drive from literally downtown Orlando to Lake Mary, where my kids were.

And he drops him off. And I remember my daughter's coming over. I got wasted the night before. and my daughter, God damn, get emotional. She's telling you this. So, like, Avery comes over, and Addison was a little younger at the time, so she didn't really, like, know what was going on. And I was wasted the night before I'm laying in bed.

And I remember Avery coming to me and, like, kind of waking me up. My roommate was there at the time. And she's like, Daddy, it's okay if you're too tired to play with us. And I hadn't seen him, like, whatever, right? And, of course, I was, like, still kind of drunk, whatever. And, like, you know, I fall back asleep. And I wake up, like, three hours later. And they're leaving.

They're coming in and say goodbye. Like, I slept. the whole time that they were there. And my roommate at the time, his name was Alex, took him out. And Alex took him out and, like, bought him sand. I'd look in the kitchen. And there's sand all over for, like, he had a ball with my daughters, right? And thank God for him, right?

Because, like, I was a loser, right? Like, completely depressed out of whatever. And I wake up and I remember him look at me. He goes, after they left, he was like, well, you know, I try to make it as fun as possible for your kids. He goes, but get your life together and clean that fucking sand up. Right? And, like, it was like a really big turning point for me.

And obviously I cried and got even more drunk. and I remember getting so wasted. Like I hate throwing up like when I'm drunk, just like a thing of mine. And I was like running around the house as fast as I could. It was raining out. And this is going to sound like super cliche,

but it's true story. I'm like screaming. It's like pouring raining out. I'm getting to waste of drunk. I'm like, God, like, why me? Why are you doing this to me? Why me? And then all of a sudden, I'm like sitting down.

And I was like, I'm just like sitting down on the stairs on the door back in. I was like, man, like fuck this. Like, this is not okay. I walk in the room. I grab a piece. picture of my daughters and I hold it tight to my chest. And I said, this isn't the life that I promised you. And the very next day, tomorrow, I don't know if you ever heard of Labor Ready, but the very

next day, labor ready is basically construction temporary like workforce. I went there, got a job laying bricks for about like literally like this is 2011, 12-ish, like this is 2024 now, right? It's talking only 12 years ago. Yeah, not that long ago. And so I was literally like started like laying bricks for like three months. And then a buddy of mine asked me to deal a car game and I was really fast at dealing. So I got back into that because he had a different card game. And I started making like, I don't know, 4,000 week dealing cards again and thought I was on cloud nine. And I was playing poker one day. And this was the final straw because that put me in deep depression. I was playing poker one day. And I moved back in with my parents

because I didn't have any money. I was literally, I mean, think about it now, 36 years old. Like what a loser. You know, like back living in my parents' bedroom, 2012. And I started saving up money dealing cards. And then I played one night. And a guy said, Todd, you've been literally running car games for 10 years like a business. Now, I know you've gone through some hard shit, but you're the, you know numbers better than anybody. You run this like you're an entrepreneur and a business person. I've been telling you to get in a timeshare for the past seven years. And he's like, if, and he's like, you need to do it. And I was like brushing him off. And so we got in this huge hand. I had $2,600 in front of me and he had $3,800 in front of him.

I flopped the nuts. Don't have to get in poker, poker, technical. but I had the best hand on the flop. And as I shoved all in, he snapped called, which means he called me and put all his money in. And he says, here's the deal. And he told the dealer, do not deal the next few cards. Todd, if you lose this hand,

you have to quit dealing and running card games ever again. Never again, we run a car game. And he goes, and you got to go get your real estate license and you have to start in the Timeshire business. And I'm like, dude, fuck off. If I win the hand, you're never going to mention Timeshire ever again

and let me live my life, bro. right? Like I knew he was trying to help me. And I didn't really know if you could make that much money in time sure, but he was losing three to five thousand weeks. I was like he's got to be making money from someplace, right? Sure. So long story short, I lost the hand. He had a big drawing hand and he literally won the hand. Like I went bust to that hand completely broke. I got up the very next day. I stopped dealing cards. I stopped running card games at that time. I went out to get my real estate license. And I know that you know this. But like, you know, you can only take the real estate license and state of four to five times in one year. Otherwise, they penalize you

you have to wait another year. I passed it on the fifth time because I'm not like super book smart, but I'm a lot smart. I used to be self-deprecating. I'm not anymore. I'm super smart when it comes to business sales and leadership now.

But back then, not so much, right? I passed it on the fifth time and then I got in a timesure business and we broke every record in that business for like three to four years, became a very well-known name and did very what made a bunch of money.

And then I just got tired of people lying to people, which then spawned and makes sales great again. But that's how I lost. So when people asked me, like what's the biggest? hand you've ever won in poker. Well, it's the eight, seven of spades I have on my arm. It was $25,000 a pot in Las Vegas when I was actually in the thick of it.

I was like going to Vegas four or five times a year. But the biggest hand of ever won, Marr, is when I lost $2,600. And people go, no, but I asked the biggest hand you've ever won. I said, yeah, it changed my life. Because otherwise, who knows, Mar wouldn't be here with you. It'd probably still be dealing card someplace. That's how I got out of poker. And that was the turning point.

Depression and losing a bet got me into the business world. And that's really what failure is. It's not just failing, but your story is so, deep. I mean, I think everybody that becomes successful has this, what I call it, the aha moment. It's the moment that everything is kind of staring you in the face. I mean, I had the same thing, same exact thing. You know, I always won my entire life. I go to this appointment, long story short, I walk away, completely deflated, thinking, you know, my life is over and I fell hard because I was a failure. I wasn't making any money. I had a baby at home, you know, had lost everything. And it was like this

finally defining moment, but that was the moment that lost everything that gave me everything back. Yeah. That where you have that moment. What a good way to say that. Right. And then you have this moment of introspection and that's what happens. And you're like, I am worth so much more than this. And then you use that obviously not knowing. You're not doing this. Any of this you're knowing. And you use it for a greater purpose than yourself. And for you, I think for both of us, it's our kids. It's our kids. That's, I mean, that was what it was for me. For you too, underlying, your kids and then all of a sudden, you know, you use all of those lessons and that's what we talk

about failure because all of everything you had endured, you know, they say, and I'm not really religious that God doesn't give us anything we can't handle, but they give you that in order to give you a greater lesson. And that lesson ended up taking you into timeshare where you crush sales, right? You were head of everything. How far up the ranks did you get into times? Yeah, I was executive vice president over entire East Coast and like as I was growing, it was like, it was hard because, you know, when you come from running illegal card games for a living to making 700K a year and then you wake up one day and you can't look at yourself in the mirror anymore because you know people are getting completely robbed. Like it's the shadiest business

on the planet. Like people talk about insurance or they talk about car sales or they talk about door to door and solar. Hell no. Time sure to me it has the biggest thieves in any business. Like they're blatantly lying when they sell. And, you know, I was making so much money and I just remember going like, dude, I wrote a guide, like it's called the bathroom guide for closers for time share a book, a little small guide and to teach people how to do it the right way. And what I realize is that most VP's, executive VP, CEOs, CEOs, the CMO at the time, they're fine with people like lying because their bonuses are predicated on volume of sales, right? And so when you talk about it with them, they hear you, but they're not really listening because they don't care.

They're like, dude, I don't care. But when Marr, I'm telling you, like, I walked into a room one day where this girl literally, well, she said, I got this deal is a $90,000 time share deal. She's like, going there and just buttoned up. And I was just, I was a T.O. at the time. I was like, yeah, sure, whatever. So I walk into the room and there's these two 80-year-old people, 80-year-old people. And they're in tears.

And I'm like, shouldn't they be happy? Like, they're going to buy a vacation. She'll be pitching vacations, whatever, right? They were an owner in this resort. And for a legal purpose, won't mention any names, of course. but they were owners at this resort. And the people were like in devastation of tears. And I look at the lady, the missus,

and I was like, man, are you okay? And then I look at the man and the man, veterans had on crying his eyes out. I'm like, guys, what is wrong? It's like, please help me. This is before I signing documents before they signed documents, whatever. Well, the salesperson lied to them and told them that the time sure that they own is going to get forced onto their kids and their grandkids and their great, great

grandkids. if they don't do something about it. And the maintenance taxes at the time were $15,000 a year, right? So, and to them, that's like a ton of money. You're talking about people who are barely making it on retirement. So she, and what she tried to sell them was an $80,000 gig. And they're basically saying, if you spend $80,000 today, it'll cover the maintenance of taxes forever, which is not true, right?

Blatently lying. And they go, and they, well, we don't have any thousand. What do you have? And she goes, well, we only have our home that we were going to leave our kids. And they, the salesperson talked them into calling their business. bank and getting a home equity line, a HELOC loan against the only thing they were going to leave their kids, which is why they were in devastation of tears. They're like, we don't have any money. Like, that's what we were going to leave our kids so we could lay our head to rest knowing that we left

them something. Wow. Made them call, get a HELOC loan right then and there. They put $22,000 on an Amex that they had applied for there at 12 months, no interest, that money they didn't have because they were such good people. They didn't want to put this burden on their kids and their kill, which was a blatant lie. So I took the contract. I tore it up. I fired the person. I called my boss's boss and boss. I said, look, I'm done with this shit. And they begged me to stay.

And that's how I got out of the times share. So that's okay. So for people that are watching, right, I think a lot of times when we're in sales, we come into this moral debate, right? This moral conflict. So I'm assuming you're making a lot of money in timeshare, but you're doing really.

Over 700K at that time. So a ton of money, close to a million dollars. And now you're at this like moral, you know, deficit. What do I do? Because you're making all this money. You're accustomed to a lifestyle. So how do you, like you already talked about like what the defining moment was. So now did you have a backup plan or did you kind of already or you were just like I'm leaving and I'm out and I'll figure it out from here or or I had no plan which was the craziest thing.

And my wife Michelle's like what are you doing? And especially like we've talked a little bit about my story like, you know, coming from like the most humble beginnings like equals like section eight, right? Very humble beginnings. Right. And then I've created this life through sales with I have no college education. I have done anything. And I'm thinking, I'm like, I know how to speak. I know how to negotiate.

And I'm very honest. This isn't a sales training thing, but I always sell from the negatives. I think that a lot of salespeople try to, like, pitch all the features and benefits. And I always talk about what the product or service won't do. So I can get that out of the way and just be honest with them up front, which I know you know very well. And I made a great living doing that. But the problem is you can train other. You can train other people to do it.

But behind closed doors, they're going to say whatever they want to say to get the sale, right? But I had no backup plan. So think about that. Like I come from where I was like, literally hustling in the streets at 15, right, to like just keep the electricity on to scaling this beautiful life and this home and this income and drive the cars and have this. And I was just like, this is insanity to me. Right. And then I gave it all up. And I had no backup plan. All I knew is that I had a, we saved a little bit of money at the time. And I was just like,

I can probably float for a while right now. But I know I'm good at sales. If I have to go back and just sell, I'll sell. Because you and I both know like sales is, you're going to make more money in sales you do anything like better than a director or leader or whatever you go out and sell you can get you can make money so I bet on myself I I think that's important I love what you said sorry I mean yeah no please yeah but it's so true I think that that is like you said two really important things number one you bet on yourself and the other thing that you said is when you were um wait where were you were you were saying about going back and scaling and really understanding as a salesperson I love that advice like I think this is the best advice.

Address what it's not going to do up front. Oh, yeah. Selling from the negatives. Yeah, I always do. Address the elephants in the room. So this way, I mean, two huge pieces of advice is, you know, just address the elephant. That way it takes like the pressure off of you, you know, and the client. You already are up front.

I love that. You know, and then being moral about what you're doing. You have to. Yeah. And people expect it because like my dad, you know, I would say he's born 1931. The handshake was your bond, right? Like he's an old school Italian guy, right? And like, if he said he was going to do something and he was going to sell you this house,

you could shake his hand back then. And his word was his bond. Nowadays, you can't do that. You need to sign 478 pieces of paper to prove that you're going to do what you say you're going to do. Right? So like, yeah, when we talk about selling from the negatives, it's like, it's so nobody does it. And it's refreshing for a prospect, right? They're like, wait, so most salespeople pitch to the feature and benefits 24-7, like, look at this

great, shiny object and look at what's going to do for you, right? How much money? is going to make you. It's going to make your life better. Health insurance, car sales, all these shiny things. And then when they get home, they realize, well, there's some limitations to these products and services. But what if you were like this? What if you're like, these are all the negative things, okay? And most people look at me like, dude, are you trying to, are you supposed to be trying to sell me something? And they literally stop me and I'm just like, yeah, I am. But here's the thing. I'm not going to get into the features and benefits until you guys know the limitations about the

product, because if it's not for you, I'm actually going to tell you, don't buy it. I love that. You know what I mean? That is how I see. sold when it came to insurance. I would start with the same thing. Listen, there's no such thing as perfect insurance. There's not. And if you think it's going to cover everything, that's not true. That's right. Let me just be really upfront about what it's not going to cover. I love that. I mean, most people are scared to do that. I don't know why there, it's not. It takes a strong salesperson, though, and I think you need training. Like, you are such a strong personality. And I know your store. and I know what you've overcome. And you've not always been great at sales. I wasn't always great

of sales. We kind of built ourselves that way, right? But it takes a strong person to do that, Marby. And I know that you know that, but like for the people listening, it's like, if you start there, you have to be really strong on what the product can do. And that's really just building trust in that relationship up front. Because to me, it's like, if you can get rid of all the bad shit to when they get home, they go, Omar told me that. On this thing, Omar told me that too. This can, Omar told me that too. Your cancellation rate is going to go way down. The retention goes way high. And guess what? They're going to refer you to everybody without even asking because they're like, dude, it was the first salesperson that told me the truth. And that's what we do now. We go

to these organizations and we teach that. The problem with many organizations is that how you get paid is when you make and like you make a lot of money. Like when you make a lot of money running a sales organization, you can literally pour into the lives of people. But as you grow and your empire that you have and I know that you know this Marr, you have hundreds of sales reps working with you. And you're not there on the phone call every call. And you can train a manager to be there. And you can train their manager to be there. But they're still going to be able to say whatever they want, all right? And they're going to do things and try to manipulate some sales sometimes to get to just line their pockets.

And then you have real life world problems. You've got, I have bills to pay. Right? We've been there, right? Can't make your car payment. Can't make your rent payment. Don't do this. Well, man, if I get this sale, everything will be covered.

So let me just stretch a little bit. And then they stretch and they get paid. Then they get the taste of the commission. And then all of a sudden the manager, they become a manager because they're good at sales, which is the worst thing for any company do. You and I both know, just because you're good at sales does not meet you're a good manager. And you could be a good manager and bad at sales. It's an anomaly to find people that are both.

But then you get a person that's good at line that is teaching other people to be good at line. And that's what Timeshire did. That's what a lot of insurance companies is. It's what car sales does. Yeah, a lot of sales people. That's why we have such a bad rep, but it doesn't have to be like that. It doesn't. And I think that's a huge misconception because you can make a ton of money, right?

They say the top earners in the world are entrepreneurs in sales. But you can do it the right way. And the best quote I ever heard was actually from the CEO of the company that I work for, he said income is the outcome, not the objective. And if you live your life like that, then that's the results, right? You always do the right thing first, no matter what. You do what's right for the client. You do what's right by your agents or, you know, the people that are working for you, by your family. I mean, it's the same thing when it comes to your kids. I mean, if you teach them morally what to do, then the end result, it will be the income. For sure. All the time, every single

time. You don't have to be a sleazy salesperson. You don't have to do that. There's just too, there's so many of them out there. And that's really what, spawn the name makes sales great again. It wasn't political. It was before Trump was in office. You know, it was like, to me it was like, I got so tired of companies. And that's where they, that's where I really, like the idea spawned to me. Like, there are companies that need this help. They need training because most sales trainers are bad trainers. Wait, so you left. Okay. So now you leave. You have no plan B. And you make, you go ahead and you come up with this idea, make sales great again. So can you give me, give me a jingle. Give me your elevator pitch on what is

make sales great. Yeah, no. I mean, at that time, the jingle was different than it is now, because as you know, we do business deep dives now, but back then it was literally sales training. It's like, let me teach your reps how to sell the right way without lying, which will keep your retention high and your cancellation low. And the idea was in that pitch was like, it just imagine if you had 30 reps, and this was kind of the pitch, right? Imagine you have 30 reps on your sales force. And you could teach them to be better closers and do it honestly, right? You don't have to hire any more people, right? Your cost per high. higher stays the same or goes down because your retention is much higher. Your efficiencies go up,

right? And I will teach them how to get referrals and increase. So I said, do this favor. You have a flat line of where you're right now. Let's say you're doing a million dollars in sales. Anything above that I want a percentage of. Don't even pay me a fee yet, right? I was brand new. I was like, I'm going to prove you what I can do. So I was like, because a lot of people talk shit. It's like a resume. I always say everybody has a resume. Look at my resume. It's amazing. Harvard business did a study. 81% of all resumes in 2024 aren't verified. I can say I went to Harvard, right? I mean, they look at me like, yeah, you're, no, if I could do it. But whatever, you know, but I could say that and people don't verify it. And for me, I wanted to, when I

created makesales great again, I was like, people don't know me, dude. I was a time share guy. I ran illegal car again for a decade. Why would they hire me? So I said, well, I got to prove it to them, right? My resume doesn't mean anything. I could be the best in timeshare. Right. It doesn't mean I know how to sell everything. I'm not good at sales. Maybe I was just good at that, right? For sure. So I created a flat line where basically it's a baseline of sales that they had done a million I said, I don't want a retainer. I don't want a monthly fee. I don't want anything.

Who did you pitch to? It was timeshare business at the time. I was going into companies that were really struggling. And then my next client, a year later, was an insurance client, right? With 2014, my first insurance client. So it just like, and I, and to get back to the timesure thing in the sales, I said, I know you guys are an X amount of business. You have a VPG of X, which is volume per guest, right?

And it's like, it's like average sales size, whatever. I said, I'll increase your closing percentage. I'll increase your retention. I'll keep your cost per higher down. And anything above this line I want a percentage of. Well, the first client, I increased their revenue by 31% in the first 90 days. So in this one resort, that was $12 million. And my cut was 3%.

So if you think about it, it's like you go into a place like that. There's $306 a grand. I was like, holy shit, there's something to this like consulting gig, right? So it's called a rep share at the time. So then I started doing more training. So a lot of companies are asking, well, can you come in and just train the teams? I said, sure. So I come in and charge them $10 for a day to do a training, whatever.

And then I made a very big name for myself. but I realized Mara, they're like, it didn't matter in Timeshure. If I trained people the right way, just how their comp plans were based because I knew them very well. And how they were created was to reward volume, not honesty. Reward, you know, like to get as much money from these people as you can so that'll line our pockets. So I really haven't done any Timeshire sales training in about a decade because I vowed not to do it.

And I actually took a personal client on Brandon and I did like about a year ago. And it felt so grimy because it's like, I would tell him what to say. He started getting more sales, but his T.O. and his manager goes, why are you saying that? And he's like, dude, I just doubled my sales. He's like, yeah, but you're screwing up everybody else's pitch because you're telling them the truth. They literally said that to him.

Wow. So I got him out of that, got an insurance. Insurance was great because they're not near the thieves at times here people are. Started learning the insurance. Got my 215 license. Started doing really well with that. I don't know you had your 215. Yeah, I still do.

Still active today. Need a job? Yeah. What's that? Need a job? No, because I already work with you. So that's a good thing. I got the higher end of that stick.

But I've had my 215 for a while. We took an agency from six agents to 145 agents in six months. It was a really good thing. Did some car sales stuff. We've done, you know, we actually did a deep dive and some training for a law firm. People are like, what do you do at a law firm? I'm like, well, they're lawyers. They're in sales.

Yeah. They're negotiating, right? Sure. There's two sides to the coin, right? This is debate, right? It is what it is. And we just, I kind of, I finally realize Marr, like, everybody needs to know how to sell and negotiate because everybody's in sales.

And that's what really elevated. And it's something I'm so passionate about that I was like, I'm never going to stop this because now I love doing what I do. And so I started replacing the money pretty quickly, kept doing it. And then it scaled to leadership. And now, funny enough, we have companies like Lavelle and Thrive, who are a part of our client list as well. And they're a billion dollar multi-level marketing company.

They have no sales training. So the lack of sales training is what really got me into this. but also most companies will take someone that was bad at sales and make them the sales trainer. It's insanity because if you think about it, if somebody's really good at sales, why would you become a fucking sales trainer? Like you're good at sales. You'd make way more money selling, right? But most companies do that.

And it's horrible to me. So they needed the help. Yeah. I mean, you're, I use you for my business and you really are incredible. I love it. You're thorough. You really took so much time to understand not only me and my husband will be. do, but you went and you took intentional time to really getting in there and understanding all the

intricacies. But, you know, what really fascinates me more about you every time I talk to you, always talk about giving back. And that's such a big piece of like what I believe in, is servitude and giving back to the community, giving back, you know. So can you just talk to me a little bit, like where does this come from? Were you always like this, like the giving back part of you? Or is it just something that goes hand in hand because you took so much money before? I mean, is that like what part of that? Like, how does that work? for you and and the like the results of giving back does that does that correlate with your business or help you in any way. Yeah. So you know it's funny you ask that. I mean, you know, by the way,

not shocking, but you are amazing at this and you ask great questions. But I can tell you that like for me the biggest part of giving back was was I was trying to fix the mistakes I'd made in the past. It was such a horrible way to look at giving back. That was the first thing. Like I've stole, I've cheated, I've robbed. Like let me just like reclaim my life. I'm trying to repent. I'm trying to to like balance. Yes, repent. Yes, perfect way to say it. And it was like such a wrong way to do it because I was doing it to try to make myself feel better about all the mistakes I've made in the past. And it was just the wrong way. And I wasn't really getting anything out of it because I was like, yeah, I did that and it feels good. But I'm still the same piece of shit who made mistakes. Right. I's like, how do I, I got to convince myself I'm not the piece of shit at first, right? But then I kind of realize that I didn't have money growing up. So now that I do a lot better for my. myself, I wanted to pour back into the people that were, I think it stems from my childhood. Like, you know, many Christmases with no gifts and like many Christmases where, you know, my parents were on antidepressant pills their entire life. So like to see my mom and dad struggle like

mentally for so many years because they were always depressed because it couldn't do enough. I mean, think about it, right? As a parent, we want to give our kids and our family everything they ever want in life. And my parents, because they, they didn't have like my mom was the hardest worker ever, but she worked at Longcombe in Dillard's, you know, retail department for entire life and my dad was always depressed or a new get rich quick scheme his whole life, you know, and just really never made any money. So my mom was really the breadwinner at $500 a week. Like that was my family's entire income. You know what I mean? So like to see her work so hard and then to see her on her feet all day long and like like trying to provide for us as a family

on her own when my dad's massively depressed in the home. I see her out. It was like I don't, I know what kids, because I know what I felt like are feeling when they're in an environment like that. And I thought to myself, if I could help just give these kids any hope at all, give families hope at all, then, and I'm a prime example that you can change your life. And you're, you're not a victim of your circumstances, right? And if I can do that, it'll make a difference. And then so I started really taking on personal clients at the time for free was helping them, like, and they're always asking me, how'd you navigate this? How'd you write this book? How'd you do that? And something you said resonated with me earlier, something traumatic in my life had to

happen in order for me to pivot. Always, it's always that way. It's kind of like you talk about going through hard. Everything was traumatizing when I made the change. It wasn't like I woke up one day I was like, I want to be a really good sales trainer or a leadership villain. No, something traumatizing up. I got robbed at gunpoint, right? I was a piece of shit that was drunk on a bed when my daughters came over. Wasn't a great father. Went through bankruptcy, re-possessed. All these traumatizing things. Well, the traumatizing things that have happened when I look back at like the horrible things that I've done in my life, it was something that always catapults me to the next level. And so I made up this thing and I said, well, I'm just going to give back.

And since I want to try to help every year, I want to do it at a premier time, which is like Christmas, right? And so for the past eight years, at Christmas Eve, my daughters and I, it was eight years ago. So Avery was 18 when I started it. Abriela was one, right? My middle daughter was 13. And so, like, we used to go. we used to. We still do. Every Christmas

we go into families homes that are less fortunate. We got names from either churches or from like communities that said these families don't have any money. They're just completely dilapidated homes. Like we go in like it smells like cat pee. The ceilings falling down. All this shit was like horrible. And we would put up Christmas trees and put up Christmas gifts while the kids are asleep at night. So they wake up to a Christmas.

So we did that for like a couple families one year and then four families the next year. And then 10 families next year. It's like it's just gone up. So we've helped like almost 80 families for the past eight years. Not maybe not that many. six, like maybe like 60, 65 families over the past eight years. And even this year, Christmas Eve, but that's how we spend our Christmas Eve. So my mother that likes to have Christmas Eve dinner says you can have it at three or four

o'clock now, which we started at eight because I know you guys have so many, you know, homes to go to you. I know and I cannot wait. I'm really committed to it. I love that year coming. I think it's fantastic. And you guys donated. Thank you.

He asked me, Seth, sat you. Like, are you really going to do it? I go, yes, 100% I'm going to do it. Well, get prepared to cry like a baby. I'm coming. Because like I cry like a baby every year. One year, there was a guy who had an extension cord from another home that was living in this like shack on a farm, no electricity. And the only light they had when we left.

Oh, God, it's talking about it. I get emotional now. The only light, we walk in this place. There's no furniture. There's mattresses on the floor. The wife had a blanket over her head because she was so embarrassed when we came in. She just didn't want to, she didn't want us to see her face. I was talking to a husband.

The kids are in the other room sleeping on one twin size mattress in a sleeping bag. and just because I had a roof on them. It was like you walk through and like the floor you could almost fall through that's how like shitty this house was. And so there's shack they were living in. So we had a 70 foot long extension cord that we put a Christmas tree up

and the only light in the house when we left was this beautiful Christmas tree. God, it's hard. Wow. It's crazy. It's crazy. And then to like see all these gifts under the tree and then to know that the very next day,

you know, the guy calls me from his like his, you know, he had the wick card to get food and they gave him a cell phone and he calls me and he was just in tears and I just got done reading writing the things I do know he went out the very next day he got a job he works at home depot now still stay in contact with the eyes like you literally changed my life and I remember seeing these pictures of these kids in the morning is like if if I don't do anything in my life if I made 40 grand a year I'm setting aside $100 a month 200 dollars a month to make sure I do this every year because the reason why you see the emotion to me now because like that was me dude like

I know what these kids are feeling. I know what the embarrassment is. I know that you're, you know, it's just like, it's so touching. So I'm so grateful you're coming this year. I'm grateful for your donations. But now this year I wanted to raise a couple thousand bucks. We reached $4,000, which is so cool. And I'm just so grateful for people like you that allow us to keep doing this.

It is so amazing. And I think it goes hand in hand. You know, if you're doing well and where I come from, you have to give back. And it's not out of obligation. It's because you want to give back. And I think that, you know, for people that are out there listening, if you are in an entrepreneurial space. And it doesn't matter if it's $4,000 or $4.

Giving back is just something that should be incorporated into your business. Because I think your results in the end. And you do it because you want to, not out of obligation or to make yourself feel better. You don't do it. You do it because you truly feel that in your soul. And that's exactly how I feel about being a servitude type of person in general, not just a leader, but a person in general. And I think that it's shaped my business so well, too.

And a lot of people don't understand that. But I'll tell you this. Like what intrigues me about you is that your past is your past, but you own it. And you, that's your truth. Like, and you're proud of, you know, maybe before you weren't, but you should be proud. And so many people are not proud of where they come from. And, you know, both of us have suffered loss, loss of a father, both of us. There's something that I never spoke about until very, very recently.

But, you know, another, those are all things that have shaped us to be who we are. And when you are an entrepreneur, which is hard in itself, right? It already comes with this, like, who in their right mind would ever want to be an entrepreneur. But I think the risk, the reward is so much better than the risk. And, you know, you do, like we said, you know, you do have to fail, but it's not those failures of just, you know, ultimately falling. It's what you learn from it and what you gather from it. And I think that your story is absolutely so compelling.

And you have so much to offer. I love watching you. I love seeing your sales training. Your energy is infectious. Like every time I'm around you, I'm like, who's going to talk more? Me or you, you know? I always feel like that. But more importantly, you know, there's 8 billion people in this world and just know that, you know, nobody is like you.

Nobody in this world. And from one bilf to another, if I can leave, I want you to end this. I want you to do the ending. And number one, give a good piece of advice to an entrepreneur that wants to be, or that's contemplating becoming one or someone that is just the best piece of advice that you have. And where can people get a hold of you? Yeah. Well, first and foremost, I mean, yeah, we, look, I can tell you, we, we both, you know, talk a lot because we're passionate about, like, things that mean something to us. And I think that it's easy to be transparent and have good conversation. You and I've never had a bad conversation, you know? It's like we talk. We, we are very understanding of what we've gone through. We respect each other very much. And there's so much there that I'm always said, you're going to be my sister for life and I love you, dear. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, you know? But it's like, you know, for me on an entrepreneur side to cut kid people advice you can always go back to what you were good at right

most people are afraid to step out in entrepreneurship because they're like well what if it fails what if it does right like what if it does but i'll tell you this don't ever be the what if person what if i met someone that could completely pour into me as a human and change me in my family's life forever what if it was that one client right where we just collaborated with like i'm such an i'm so honored to be able to run with you. But like, what if it would. So just don't be the what if person because people die more from regret than they do from anything else, like ever.

Like you could be perfectly healthy. If you literally look at these like nursing homes, they'll tell you people die more from regret than anything. It's a very true thing. One thing I'll never do is I'll never, ever, ever die with regret. That's a promise. That's a promise on my soul. So for all the people that like want to be entrepreneurs, don't be the what if person.

And it sounds simple, but it's very hard because you do have bills to pay. You have things, you have obligations. But what if, dude, you took that one meeting? What if you said, fuck it, I'm going to go after my dream. I'm going to go after everything I want. And then it doesn't work. Who gives the shit? There's so many jobs out there.

Go back. Like, if I had to go back to Timeshare right now because I knew I could make $500,000 a year and there was nothing else available, I would. I do it the right way. But I would because I know I can fall back on that. I'm never going to do it because I believe in myself not to. But I was the what if guy. and I took a chance on myself.

But if you don't, life goes by so fast, I'm almost 50. And I can tell you that it goes by so fast, one day you're going to blink your eye and you're going to go, I wish I would have. So don't say that. Just don't be the what if person. So I can tell if all the entrepreneurs who want to go out there, don't be the what if person,

take a shot on yourself. If you fail, who gives a shit, go back and do what you were already good at in the first place. And there's just absolutely nothing to lose. But if you don't do it, that pain is going to hurt more than anything. finally I'll just say you, this is my favorite quote ever. I say, be you and people adjust.

Like, be you, they'll adjust. That's what I say. Be you, they'll adjust. Because my life changed when I started not only serving more people. When I started, like, I used to get all the awards. And I would say to myself, I love being the shiny guy. I love going up there, look at me, I'm number one. I'm better than everybody.

That was like the young Todd. Growth in Todd was teaching other people to be better than I could have ever been. And my started, it wasn't the things like the donation and all that stuff. like, yeah, you don't do it to expect anything back. I know why we do. We do it because we're passionate about giving, right? But it was funny when I started helping people be better, like, and I started helping people elevate and trying to make them better than me.

Like, I want them to be better than me. I started making more money that I can ever imagine, but people's ego and pride gets in the way so bad. So don't be the what-off person. Be you, they'll adjust, and just go after everything because you can always fall back on some bullshit job and then try again. Just don't give up. I love this.

So I leave you with this. Don't ever let your path to find who you are and be you and they'll adjust. Amen. Until next time. What is this?