Digital Social Hour - Being a LAPD Officer, Growing up Alcoholic & Growing Quest Nutrition | Bruce Cardenas DSH #261

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

Bruce Cardenas comes on the show to discuss his time as a LAPD officer, what it was like growing Quest Nutrition to a $1B valuation and overcoming a tough family environment growing up. APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://forms.gle/qXvENTeurx7Xn8Ci9 BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: [e-mail] SPONSORS: Stop wasting money on things you don’t use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to https://www.RocketMoney.com/DSH LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

dictate really how the, you know, we're just there to enforce the law. Right. And I remember many, many times I let people off for just, I figured, you know what, this is going to ruin their life because I stopped a kid that has a little bit of or a little bit of whatever, you know, if I could guide them in the right way and they avoid prison, why not? Wow. And a lot of people don't think like that.

No, I would say most police officers do not think that. Wherever you guys are watching this show i would truly appreciate it if you follow or subscribe it helps a lot with the algorithm it helps us get bigger and better guests and it helps us grow the team truly means a lot thank you guys for supporting and here's the episode welcome back to the show guys i'm your host as always sean kelly got with me a very special guest today he's worn a lot of hats in his life. I can't wait till you hear his story. Bruce Cardenas, how's it going? It's going well. Thank you for having me. Absolutely, man. So I'd love for you to give your story because I think you'd do a better job than I would. You've done a lot of stuff. I've done a lot of things. It's

interesting. So I won't bore you with everything, but I was just a middle-class kid from New Jersey, one of five kids, middle child. And I always aspired to be a police officer, but I never knew how I was going to get there. And I was a daydreamer in school, CD student. When I got out of high school, I did pretty well in sports, worked a bunch of different jobs. And I went to the police chief, which was a little hometown USA, and said, hey, I'd really like to join the police department. And he said, listen, you're young, you're immature, in his own kind way, but if you go in the Marine Corps, I'll hire you and get out. So I grabbed my best friend

and said, hey, we're going to the Marine Corps. No other option, no other branch. Got, you know, went in the Marine Corps, went to Parris Island, I realized there was a big world out there. You know, when you grow up someplace, you think that's it. And I thought New Jersey was the entire world. I don't think I've ever been on a plane before that. Wow. So the Marine Corps, you know, I grew up pretty quickly and traveled the world and was on some cool detail, security detail for the commandant. And I still wanted to pursue that dream of being a police officer. And I ended up being in California at Camp Pendleton for a powerlifting meet. It's funny, we were talking about Mark Bell off camera. I always, you know, followed guys like

that and friends with guys like that. So there was a career day in Camp Pendleton and I saw a bunch of police departments were hiring and I just started processing and joined LAPD. Wow. So you did Marines before LAPD. Which one was tougher you'd say? I think the Marine Corps for sure was tougher. It laid the foundation. I mean, I worked in an exclusive unit, so it was physically and mentally. You'd go from a kid in midtown New Jersey to force training and a lot of good things, mental conditioning.

So yeah, the Marine Corps was definitely much tougher. Yeah, and you grew up in Jersey, but in a very tough environment, right? A lot of alcoholism in your family. What was it like going through that? You know, I got to tell you, I guess I avoided that bullet. Grandfather, grandmother, mother, brother almost got kicked out of college for drinking. Wow.

My older brother died of alcoholism, basically. So I think subconsciously, I just avoided that bullet. I've never really drank. I mean, I've probably been buzzed a few times in my life. But I want to thank God that I just avoided that. So I mean, I've seen nothing, you know, it's interesting when people say, oh, you don't drink. That's kind of weird. I said, well, have you ever seen anything positive come out of drinking? You know, my friends are, you know, DUIs throwing up in the bathroom, sleeping until, you know, the end of the day because they're

trash. So I don't think I've ever avoided anything. And I know it's kind of weird because people think, am I sober? But I just, I've just avoided it yeah same way avoided it yeah and it's crazy because my brother was a big he went to prison for three years for for making and selling meth wow i've been around it and it's crazy because even when i wrestled in high school people took speed to cut weight yeah i just somehow just thought you know what it's just i thank god that i did i just never fell onto that sword wow because i because i have an addictive So it's just one I wanted to avoid. But you got addicted to the right things. Yeah, yeah.

Working out, nutrition, working hard work. I love working. Yeah. Back in the day, they probably called it a workaholic. Now you're called an entrepreneur. Yeah. I really like your story, man, because it's very rare to see a police officer go into business and become super successful at that, right?

And I got to tell you something. Being the police officer, I'd love to touch on it a little bit. When you're in the police academy, I went to LAPD, which was one of the biggest and best police departments in the world. All you learn is rules and regulations. And when you get out in the field, there's the real world. And I quickly learned treating people with respect and dignity was very important and living within the spirit of the law instead of the letter of the law.

And a lot of people, young person goes to a police academy, only knows I'm here spirit of the law instead of the letter of the law. And a lot of people, you know, a young person goes to a police academy and only knows I'm here to enforce the law. And I quickly learned that just how you engage people, how you treat them. And I had a couple of training officers who were pretty rough. They were rough dudes, old-timers. And I watched how they treated other people, and I quickly figured out they say 90% of Americans are a paycheck away from a crisis. Whether that's true or not, I looked at this.

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great product. So stop wasting money on things you don't use. Cancel your unwanted subscriptions by going to rocketmoney.com slash DSH. That's rocketmoney.com slash DSH. Link will be in the description below. Same way when I stop people that are violating the law. Maybe someone's in a crisis situation and how you treat them is going to dictate really how the, you know, we're just there to enforce the law. Right. And I remember many, many times I let people off for just, I figured, you know what, this

is going to ruin their life because I stopped a kid that has a little bit of or a little bit of whatever, you know, if I could guide them in the right way and they avoid prison, why not? Wow. And a lot of people don't think like that. No, I would say most police officers do not think like that. Yeah. And there's even a policy. I remember there was a period of time where it came out, if you had a suspended license, you shall impound a car. And I remember I stopped a couple of people. I stopped a single mom one time, had her kid in the car. License was

suspended. And my partner goes, hey, I'm going to call a tow truck. I said, well, hold on, hold on. Let's think about this. Single mom, working hard on a way to work. If you impound the car, it's going to cost her $1,000. She'll probably never get the car out of impound because they hold it for 30 days. So I basically went against the grain. But I think about the future of this person, what you're going to do to destroy someone's life. Yeah, because the universe, that energy might come back to you, right? 100%. I just realized I'm a servant leader, and I realize I'm there to serve people. And if I could help them avoid a bullet, why not? Yeah. And you were in some of the roughest

neighborhoods in LA, right? Oh yeah. I worked, you know, Compton Southwest, worked on the riots, the OJ trial, Rodney King, you know. You saw some crazy stuff. Crazy things. I mean, my second day on the job, I was standing at a crime scene. It was a, it was a related three, three, three bodies, three and two shot. And I'm standing at a crime scene, kid from New Jersey. I'm like, wow, this is a real city. That's nuts. Yeah.

So do you get flashbacks from being in the military and being a police officer? I wouldn't say, yeah, flash, but not PTSD, but some flashbacks of some things I've seen. You can't unsee things, right? Right. Tragic accidents or that I, you don't want to wish it upon anyone, but sometimes you have those process in your brain, like, wow. So you really built up your mental fortitude to be able to. You really have to have good mental fortitude and you also have to remain positive. A lot of cops become very cynical and jaded because they see it. And I've been on crime

scenes where people kind of making jokes. I'm like, Jesus, this is a victim. This is someone's brother, father, uncle. Right. And I always keep it in perspective and you really have to keep a strong mental outlook on things. What was that transition from being a cop into Quest was like the first thing for you, right? Well, it was the cop, and I started the bodyguard business while I was a cop. But the Quest thing just kind of happened. I was at the gym one day and met the founder of Quest, Shannon Penna. She goes by Quest Creator.

She was doing cardio, you know, gym friends. You know, you make small talk. And she gave me a couple protein bars. I think the second time I saw her, they just started the company a few months old, two flavors, and we became fast friends. And literally, I think I saw her the next week and said, hey, I'm doing this celebrity golf tournament.

I'm doing security at Riviera Country Club. And there was the likes of Jessica Simpson were there and Mario Lopez. And I said, if you want to get me some product, I'll get it in some people's hands. And got me some product. And quickly, I didn't even know what the word content meant. But my friend was doing publicity there. It was actually Facebook just started, so there was no Twitter or Instagram. She got some people to do some taste testing on video and got some blogs. And I got that all together and sent it to the founder. And they were like, holy cow, how do you know these people?

By the way, I'm protecting these people. So it was kind of an easy bringing them value. Why I'm protecting them, I'm bringing them snacks. And nine months later, they took me to lunch and said, hey, we're stealing from you. You're bringing us way more value than we're doing for you. I said, no, no, we're good. You're giving me product and I'm getting it in people's hands. So they said, we're putting you on the payroll starting Friday, which was a nominal fee, but it was still, they were paying me. And then that was in my mind a mental switch that once I started getting paid, I was like,

wow, now I really need to step up my game. And that started our relationship. And you worked your way all the way up to C-suite from there. Yeah, it was literally one of those companies where everyone had, you know, one of the founders was in charge of R&D, one was in charge of finance and production, and one was in charge of sales. And everything was like virgin territory. I created the events department, the ambassador

program, built all these relationships with GNC and VitamShop. And so I was able, I called myself, I became an entrepreneur inside the company because I had the latitude and freedom to do whatever I wanted. So I created all these departments, all these opportunities. We created the Wow Factory, which we coined after Tony Hsieh from Delivering Happiness. We carved our way. Nine years later, I'm the chief communications officer. We sold for a billion dollars cash to Atkins. It's insane to go from police officer to C-suite of a nine-figure company.

I tell people this. All I did was I brought value, and I really had no expectation. When I first met them, they gave me some bars. I remember when I visited their office, which was down near Compton, there was no sign of a future with them. They were in a little industrial park, crummy little area. No, it was literally, I walked in and literally thought to myself, they probably won't be in business in six months. You know you get that vibe when you walk into. So there wasn't like I was like, oh, I have this golden opportunity. I just kept helping them. Anything they needed. I remember one time they were talking about,

we move buildings to a nicer place and they say, we're thinking about building a studio. We had something not as nice as this, but a little studio for guests. Over the holiday weekend, I came in and all I heard them say is we should build a studio. Over the holidays, I came in and built a studio. Put it on my credit card, did everything. When they came back, I was out of town because I used to travel about 40 weekends a year for them. They said, Bruce must have been here over the holidays. They didn't even ask who did it. I always tell people this.

I wasn't the most qualified to be in a nutrition company. I had knowledge. I just worked hard at anything that the company needed, I just did. I think a lot of times people stay in their lane. I just do marketing or I just do sales, but I did whatever it took. People get complacent once they get a job, I just did. And I think a lot of times people stay in their lane. I just do marketing, or I just do sales, but I did whatever it took. People get complacent once they get a job, I feel like,

but you felt like you needed to keep doing more. Yeah, and people, I always wish that some people, I hope people find their why in life. That became my why. Because people started writing us blogs, hey, I lost 25 pounds over the last few months eating this. It was a go-to snack. And you started seeing the results of your efforts and that people were like these are clean and they're

delicious bars and it really became an exciting why yeah you know it almost became you know the bodyguard work was great i was still doing that but it was almost more like we're changing people's lives and it really became exciting you guys were so ahead of your time because back then it wasn't really a health trend no no it's. And they tasted so good, man. Yeah, and bars prior to that, if you had anything prior, so ours was taste, texture, ingredients, and that's what people, very few people that looked at the package, they just like, tastes great.

Amazing. Yeah. I didn't even know it was healthy when I first ate them. Yeah, they were like candy bars. Yeah, those cookies and cream one, oh my gosh. Yeah, that was our number two or three bar sales. Yeah, yeah. Oh, man.

So I want to dive into the security stuff because you were doing security for A-list celebrities. You could get into some of the people, but I want to learn about how you even grew that business because people try to do security, right? A lot of people try. A lot of people do it. I happened to start working off duty

for a retired sergeant from Beverly Hills. Like most cops, I needed extra money. I wasn't making a lot of money, whatever the salary was. Did a couple gigs, and after about a year of working for him, for other clients, I said, I could do this. I got my own. Went and took a test, got my insurance, got my license. One of my dear friends, his name's Charlie Horky. He was a founder of CLS Transportation. It's actually Slade here in LA now, in Vegas now. We became fast friends. And I said, hey, I'm starting a security business. He said, oh, I go back to this.

It's relationship capital that I continue to build like you do. It's just relationship capital. I knew him. I did him a couple favors. I said, I want to start this business. And he started referring clients to me. And literally, it kind of became like a waterfall. At the time, Tommy Mottola was running Sony Music.

He was married to Mariah Carey. Got me connected with them. And then it was Courtney Love. And then it was Courtney Love. And then it was Whoopi Goldberg. And then once I started building my own list of clients, then other people started coming in. I handled almost every Sony Music artist in one way or shape or form, whether it was just a weekend gig, whether I helped them just fix things up, whether it was when Mike Tyson split up from Don King and I temporarily did his security for about a year. Tyson needed security? Tyson had

his own guy, his own pit bull, but I was a peripheral guy. Still a powerful guy, but making sure there was no problems when he ingressed and egressed and making sure he stayed out of trouble. I think a lot of celebrities and talent, it's more about keeping them out of trouble and keeping on the neat and

safe and getting in and out of places without having a problem. So that was what I was really good at. I'm still good at it, yeah. What were some key moments in that business that you think you still remember to this day? Well, I got to tell you something. I always tell people in security business, it's social cues. I learned how to adjust myself and be in the corner

when I was speaking. And it's interesting because I'm a social, I'm an extrovert. But in the security business, you've got to be an introvert. You're not really engaging with people. You're just staying out of the way. But I think one of the things I learned going back to being served, I served, I not only met clients' expectations, but I exceeded them. So it wasn't just like I got them from point A to point B.

I started figuring out what they needed in advance. And I remember one time one of the biggest music persons in the world said to me, hey, you should think about starting your own management company. I said, why would you say that? She goes, you're doing more for me than my manager does. Because I was always thinking ahead of what they needed. Advancing the hotel room where the car is, just everything. And I think that was one of my big learnings.

And then I also learned human psychology. A lot of celebrities have stalkers, which I handled many. To this day, I handle many. And I think even now with social media, I think even the weekend we were at the conference, right? This past weekend, a couple of speakers I talked to said they have savory fans that become a little obsessed. Right. Because I think people live vicariously.

They see people on television, YouTube. Are you interested in coming on the Digital Social Hour podcast as a guest? Well, click the application link below in the description of this video. We are always looking for cool stories, cool entrepreneurs to talk to about business and life. Click the application link below, and here's the episode, guys. And that's another problem I deal with, people just showing up unwanted. So I learned how to really be a negotiator of human psychology, too, how to de-escalate things. I remember one time I took a bus from Alabama and showed up at Kim Kardashian's

house with his luggage, and he thought he was there to move in with her. I literally had to intervene and get a hold of his parents and get some psychological help. So that becomes way more than security, right? Now you're kind of becoming a therapist and helping. I've had three clients I've taken to rehab that their circle became so comfortable with the service. I was brought in and said, hey, we want to do intervention. And I was responsible for those, which is another thing. I never knew anything about intervention, but I learned quickly. So a lot of those things that I learned, and I always pass on to people in the security business, do more and exceed their expectations. Without interfering, by the way, you also have to be

the wallflower. So were you walking around armed? Yeah, yeah. Did anything ever get dangerous? Probably more as a cop. Dangerous? I mean, I've had a couple unsavory fans that have tried to scale walls, show up at their estates. But we'll usually call the police or detain them.

Never to the point where there's been bodily harm. That's good. But there are some people out there that have done some crazy shit. And the music industry gets dangerous out there. Yeah, and a lot of musicians. I remember one time, actually, it was during the grunge era up in Seattle, a woman rammed her truck into

Eddie Vedder's gate. Remember Eddie Vedder? So that was dangerous. There's people that go to extremes that do some crazy stuff. Yeah, man. It's scary that go to extremes that do some crazy stuff. Yeah, man. It's scary out there. And you also were a VP of a chauffeur business, right? Yeah, simultaneous.

My friend that owned the Slade service, I became the executive vice president of his company. So my security business was inside his business. So it kind of worked out hand in hand. Like his dispatchers are booking cars and they're like, oh, Bruce, by the way, we need a bodyguard this weekend. So what did you learn in that space? Because that's a very niche space.

Very niche and very customer service oriented. So imagine if you could afford to have a chauffeur, your level of expectations are really high. So it's everything from getting point A to point B, but how you do it seamlessly. And I started doing the motor escorts for them. And people have that expectation. Even the last two Super Bowls, I arranged motor escorts.

I think that became almost like, sometimes people become almost impossible to please. You're flying on golf streams. Your chauffeur's five minutes late and it's the end of the world. And sometimes, that's funny because when Quest started, I took a step back and thought, I'm dealing with these very wealthy people that you can never meet their expectations because they always want more. Instant gratification, right? And then I have this other world where it's like people are enjoying protein bars and having a good time.

But that level, but it's a service, like I said, I'm a servant leader, and you always have to exceed people's expectations. And we've done pretty good at it. We had the four seasons, like six of the four seasons, which are prime hotels. NetJets, which is a private jet company at Warren Buffett. I don't know if he still owns it, but he owned it. We used to service them.

And we did their annual conference every year at the Wynn here. That's huge. With all the owners. You're really good at forming partnerships with established brands and IP. Partnerships and getting in and then maintaining those relationships. I think sometimes people get relationships where they start a relationship and they don't know how to maintain it for years in and months out.

They kind of get comfortable, right? Yeah. And I always tell people, you're only as good as your last gig. So do you try to create win-win scenarios for both parties? For sure, 100%. Yeah, I think that's what most people don't think about.

They don't think about it. They're like, hey, I got the account. Great, now I can sit back. No, no, now you need to keep moving forward. Keep over-delivering. Over-delivering. There's always going to be a new executive assistant. There's always going to be a new executive assistant. There's always going to be a new chief communication officer in the company.

It's not even about the main client. I found quickly, because I very rarely deal with the actual main person, like the Warren Buffetts of the world, but you're dealing with all the lieutenants, as I say. They're always cycling through, so you always have to be on top of your game, impressing and doing great service for the next person. What have you noticed, noticed these billionaires and centi-millionaires, what do they all have in common?

Besides being eccentric? I think they're driven and they're focused. I have very limited contact because I almost feel like sometimes they're savants about they're thinking about the next day, the next deal. They may ask me, hey, Bruce, how long is it going to take to get to our next place? I'll tell them 30 minutes. They're already processing, okay, they're processing the next thing. They're not thinking, but they don't think in the past. They're just thinking about what I'm dealing with, what I'm working with. So it's an amazing talent I've seen, how people can put deals together and focus on so many things. But I think

that's also why they have such great teams to help them. You're working on a new venture now with the previous Quest founder, right? Yeah. He started a couple companies, Legendary Foods. Oh, that's him? I've seen that everywhere. Yeah, the pastries. Ron Penna, he's rolled that into that

and he started a ketogenic dog food company and then a science company called Bioship. More cancer research behind the scenes there's nothing to report right because i said to him we should start talking about that public and he said until i actually have an answer what's there to talk about so yeah cancer is one of those things right yeah to be definitive well people will spend millions in cancer research right yeah until you actually have an answer it's all white paper it's all's all noise. Do you think there'll be a cure one day? I hope in our lifetime. There's so many companies running to the finish line

to try and find the answer. Now the CPG space, which you have a lot of experience in, it's easy to spend millions. You don't know if it's going to pan out. What's your advice to people entering that space? I tell people this all the time. No different if we started another Quest or another cookie company. We started making the bars by hand at Quest in a commissary at night.

We flushed it out. We built a website. We actually built a website and tested it making fake orders and then refunding people just to see the traction and the engagement. What happens is people say, I'm going to start a water company. Let me go order a 50,000 unit run or whatever, put my name on it, and then realize, well, no one's buying it. You're better to start out small. Let's just use a cookie company. They'll make them by hand, start selling them at swap meets or go to the gym with them. People, CPG specifically, if people try it and they like it, they're going to buy it.

Now, imagine you spend all this money making a bar, a cookie, whatever, a drink if people try it and they like it, they're going to buy it. Now imagine you spend all this money making a bar, a cookie, whatever, a drink. They try it and they don't like it. It's all about the reorder and the commitment, a lifetime customer. So at Quest, we had lifetime customers. People spend too much money. First, you need to flush out the idea,

get some samples made, and see if your friends and family like it. Because your friends and family are going to be honest for the most part, right? Your kids, for sure. When it comes to a consumable item, kids are honest. Under 11 years old, they'll spit it out.

And that's what we found at Quest. Kids were very honest. Kids liked it, actually. So you were giving it to kids? We'd have moms write us, say, oh my god, my six-year-old loves your Quest Bar. Oh, nice. That's a good sign. Sometimes you've got to trick them. You can't say it's a protein bar. When I tell people that start a CPG brand,

just first test it out. I know friends of mine that have spent millions, literally, and they're like, hey, I'm going out of business. They tell me the story. I wish I knew you. Let's just flush it out first. It's one of those spaces where building that LTV is important. People are probably spending thousands on Quest Bars over time.

I'd say, we did a calculation, if you became a lifetime customer, it's about a $3,500 investment. A year? No. Oh, total? Because, you know, listen, people come and go, right? Maybe you're doing Quest Bars for five years, maybe you move on to something else.

That's still super high, especially for a $2 protein bar. Right, right. So think about that. You have millions of those people. Yeah. So you have one of the best networks I've ever seen. What would you say people looking to grow their network, what advice would you give them?

I will say this. I'll tell you the same thing that you do and Dan Fleischman does. Be out there. Dan Fleischman has become a good friend of mine. As you know, he hosts these elevator nights for free. Everywhere, and he says this, here's my blueprint. Go out and meet people. Look online.

Look at Facebook, Instagram. There's always some meetups somewhere, right? You do meetups, right? You have events. I tell people, it's great. You could be a keyboard warrior. You're not meeting people that way. No.

It's all fake. It's Instagram. It's messaging. Go be in person. We finally connected at the event this weekend. And the weekend before that was Lionsgate, or Lions, not sheep. This weekend coming up, I'm at the Andy and Elliot group. Just keep meeting people.

The more people you meet, the bigger your network comes. And I've got to tell you right now, your network is your success. Absolutely. And those relationships, like I say, I've always made more deposits than withdraws. But when I need something, I then can say, wow, I feel good about asking because I've made nine deposits in your bank. Absolutely. And I think relationships are deposits in your bank. Absolutely.

And I think relationships are sometimes better than cash. The relationship value. I agree with that, man. I mean, think about the calls you can make after you get to know someone. Hey, I'm doing this real estate deal. Let me help you with that. Let me save you $20,000, whatever, right? Because you're a friend.

People need to get out there. I have friends who are like, well, it seems like that event is a waste of time. Go find, you might meet one Dan, one Sean, one Andy Frisella, whoever. All it takes is one person for it to be worth it. One person, all of a sudden they're a million dollar client. I mean, just at the event we just went to Saturday, I met someone that owns a videography company.

He's now giving me free videographers whatever city I'm in. I met 10 podcast guests. That will lead to further connections. The connections I made at that event alone will lead to millions of dollars. Same thing with me. I met a couple people that I knew of

and I made a connection. I've met Tim Grover now a few times and he had a pretty candid talk with me. He goes, hey, when are you getting on the big stage? You told me a few months ago you were going to be on the big stage and now Tim's no joke. So I love meeting those kind of people because they inspire you to do more.

And sometimes, you know, it's interesting. I don't know if you feel like this. Sometimes I feel like, am I doing enough? And then you run into someone like that and say, shit, I need to step up my game. That's the good thing about conferences because it'll always humble you. Yeah, because there's people that you want. I was on Bradley's podcast a couple weeks ago and i just i'm around these people and i'm like man they are doing a lot like you know what i mean yeah there's a balance though because

you don't want to compare yourselves too much no i don't compare myself but sometimes i'm just like you know what if i think for a moment i'm working too hard i see other people are working hard yeah and i'm not saying working hard is just the answer but you know just they're out there yeah what's that balance like for you? Are you working weekends? Sometimes. Okay. It seems like the last few weekends

I've been going to these conferences and stuff, but there's no rhyme or reason. And I still have a client that I take care of. He's a billionaire. He comes in town. He's actually coming in town for a week coming up, so that'll be my week that I'm locked down. Right.

Security? Yeah, security. Oh, so you're still doing it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. Just but a handful of clients. You know, it's interesting. Years ago, it was a big deal to be a billionaire, right?

There was only a handful now. But so I only have a couple of clients and they're both billionaires. Yeah, I feel like it's more common. It's still very hard, obviously. Oh, for sure. Yeah, you could become a billionaire on equity. I feel like it's attainable these days.

Yes, for sure. Yeah, if you're making the right moves. Have you done anything with Grant Cardone? I've only met him a couple times. No, I've never worked with him, never done anything. Nice. So what keeps you going, man? I mean, you've got great energy at your age.

Yeah, the energy, I work out every morning at 7 a.m. I have a training partner, and I'm working. The podcast, to me, is just the first layer of starting public speaking. I finally set up a website for coaching, and I do want to be on the big stage. I mean, there's no reason I can't be. I think, you know what, for self-doubt's been it for years. It's been me just being weak. What's been the biggest audience you've spoken?

Me and you right here. No, no, I'm kidding. I've been, you know, maybe 50, 100 people. Okay. Yeah, we got to get you up to the thousands. Yeah, like this weekend I was envisioning me being up there. I thought, okay. Manifest it.

Whether it's 70 people or 7,000. That crowd was the biggest I've seen at a business conference. Other than 10X. You don't really want to take away from talking. I already knew about some of the speakers, but even some of the ones I talked about. Jen Gottlieb, she showed the video when she first was trying to do Facebook Lives

and fumbling around. Every one of those people started somewhere. Fumbling and nervous, anxious, and stomach nervousness. So everyone starts that way, and that's what I have to keep reminding myself. Yeah, I don't know anyone that... No one just got on stage and said, hey, I'm Tony Robbins.

Yeah, no, it takes time, man. My first time was quite the story. Yeah, and even when you actually had an event, you couldn't make it. You were stuck somewhere, but I attended one of your events at the library. I spoke in front. It was probably like 50 people.

One of your guys let me talk. But I realized the more you do it, it's like repetition. You just have to keep talking. As long as you're bringing a valuable message, people want to listen. Yeah. Dude, it's been super fun.

Anything you want to close off with? No, I appreciate everything, the opportunity you've given me, and I want to pass it on. To me, if could change one people one person's life every day that's what that's my goal perfect where can people find you uh i have a website brucecardenas.com and then obviously on instagram bruce e cardenas is for instagram love it thanks so much for coming on bruce thank you thanks for watching guys as always and i'll see you next time