Escaping the Drift with John Gafford - #98: The Brad Lea Blueprint: Innovating Across Industries

Episode Date: January 9, 2024

In this engaging episode of Escaping the Drift, host John Gafford chats with Brad Lea, a versatile entrepreneur renowned for his innovative business strategies. Brad shares his journey from focusing on his training platform, Lightspeed, to succeeding in diverse industries. He emphasizes the importance of building relationships and partnerships for business growth. Brad's philosophy centers around helping others as a key to success. He provides insightful advice for entrepreneurs, discussing the significance of personal branding, authenticity, and aligning personal values with professional goals. The episode offers a mix of practical wisdom and motivational stories, making it a valuable listen for anyone interested in business and personal development.Highlights:"If you see someone doing it, well then you know it's possible. So because it was possible.""If I can show someone how to get some confidence, realize that it's all mindset, skill set, and habits at the end of the day and then give them the avenue, dude, that's valuable.""If you seek to help people, you will get paid."Timestamps:02:56: Helping Others to Make Money19:14: Hierarchy of Business Elements24:09: Targeting Smaller Businesses for Greater Impact24:40: The Power of Social Media and Branding27:35: Focusing on Personal Branding Alongside Business42:40: Building Value in Relationships54:42: Mastering Three Areas for Success56:53: Understanding Personal Happiness in Business01:10:27: The Role of Insurance in Financial Security01:11:44: Pursuing Freedom through Business

When people say legacy, they think, what are you known for? What's your legacy? But that's not what legacy actually means. But in that regard, I would want to be known for generosity and kindness and impact. Like when I die, I want people to go, dude, that guy was so nice and so generous. And man, what a difference he made. And now, Escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are

to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford, and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. Back again, back again with another episode of Escaping the Drift, your favorite podcast. It gets you from where you are to where you want to be. And kids, I got to tell you, I got a banger. I know I always say that, and I think we always deliver. I think we do. We do.

So this is a guy in studio today who you may know as a star of the silver screen as Rooster from his movie, which I remember probably more. You remember from his awesome book, the hard way stages across America, his unbelievable podcast, dropping bombs, friend of the show, friend of mine, the one, the only, Mr. Brad Lee. What's up, buddy? How are you? Thanks for having me. Yeah, man, of course. So we haven't done this in a long time, dude. And I woke up the other day and I was thinking about you. And I'll tell you why I wanted to have you on. And this is what it is. And you're a dude that, number one, you're the guy that inspired me to do the podcast thing.

So thank you for that. You're the one that being on your show so many years ago, I realized the power of this, of what you can do as far as building relationships. So thank you for that. But more importantly, I was thinking, man, watching you kind of evolve from when I first met you, from what you were kind of doing years ago to where you are now with the stuff you have. It showed kind of there's some hard pivots in not just your mentality in business, but your mentality. That's what I want to come talk about. And what I mean is, is when I first met you, it was all light speed. It was all Brad. It was like we have our unbelievable training program or platform. And you were the hinge point of that whole company. And you were the one that made it

go. And in that time, since then, I've met you the last several years, you have pivoted that into what I've seen from the outside into some key relationship, some key relationships that have become partnerships into other businesses. So leveraging those relationships and not only that, but you found a way to take all of those people that you were listening to you, taking those coaching programs and listening to you, learning how to be a bad-ass closer and turning that into a massive army of people that could go out and work with you on an actual financial level. And so I kind of want to talk about that. Okay. So when you,

when you were doing Lightspeed, obviously we've heard that story, the car lot, everybody's heard that there's a million podcasts with that, but let's talk about that minute when you said, I need to turn this into something else, or I need to start pivoting into something else. What was that? You know, I didn't really think that no no not at all i thought how do i help people make some money because i started lightspeed coincidentally to help people make money and it worked out it seems like every time i look to help people it sounds cliche i know but it's true. So, so I didn't really think, you know, I got to leverage the, I didn't have a diabolical plan or some, you know, strategy and, you know, three-year goal or any of that. You know, I just said, man, how do I help

more people make money? And so I had a lot of people that were following me for whatever reason, whether it's, you know, cause there's not a lot of us that are on IG that cross over, I think, into entertainment. Like if you follow me, it's somewhat, it's somewhat for entertainment. It's what's he going to say, man, that guy's funny or that guy's a goof or whatever you think. But I'm more like into entertainment than just advice. Yeah. So at the end of the day, I think, um, I was sitting there thinking, well, how can I help more people? Cause every time I help people,

dude, I make money. Yeah. And I thought, dude, listen, I can help people make money by giving them a job. Cause a lot of times I was teaching them to close, but then they wouldn't make money cause they were selling stupid stuff. And so I said, man, what if I gave him the job too? Well, then I have to have companies to do that. And so I found people in, you know, industries that it wasn't very difficult to make two, $300,000 in a year. And I just started talking about it. And if you're not making two or $300,000 a year, reach out. I'll not only train you and get you dialed in to do it, but I'll give you the job. And then those companies started forming and growing. And then I realized, shit, I can do that over and over

and over, you know, just show me an industry where people are making that kind of money. And you'll figure it out. And I'll show, and I'll show you a thousand people that want to make that kind of money. And I have those people. So that's really kind of the, the, the crux of what started it. It wasn't a strategy. Okay. Well, let's talk about real financial. So let's talk about that, which is your insurance arm, which I love.

And when you first did that, I don't know if you remember me texting you. I was like, oh my God, that's so smart that you're doing that. Because I do know that business as well. So I want to talk about how you built that business. I mean, how you came to say, okay, did you seek out other people that were doing it? Did you figure it out on your own? Did you create the lead source? Did you find the good leads? Like walk us through that process. Well, originally I realized through people like Ed Milet, you know, he's very wealthy from that space, Patrick, but David, another one, very wealthy from that space. I know

a lot of people that were making a lot of money from that space. And I realized that again, it's very possible to make that kind of money. So I picked, I picked that industry because of the proof that I've, that I saw. So I knew people that were doing it. So if you see someone doing it, well, then, you know, it's possible. Yeah. So because it was possible, I picked that and, uh, I just decided, you know, Hey, listen, this is, this industry makes more millionaires than any other industry. So I'm going into this one. Did you pick a partner? Did you get a mentor? Did you? No, I picked someone that already knew the industry. Okay. You know?

So with that, it's one of the, it's like the great partnerships. Always. You brought some to the table that they didn't have. You were like, look, I have a lot of people that I'm teaching to close. They're all selling the wrong shit. If you've got a good product and you've got a good system there, we can put it together. 100%. That's what happened.

And see, again, you know, wow, that's pretty smart. Well, again, simple, really. Yeah. You know, I've got people that want to make a bunch of money and you've got a way to make a bunch of money. And what's crazy is they don't know how to get people. Yeah. You know, the hardest thing in that industry is to find other people to do it, which is crazy because it's the industry that makes the most millionaires. You would think it's easy. It's just not easy because you have to go get licensed. You have to get trained. You know, it takes a while and people always want immediate gratification. Yeah. So because of my social media, I had the reach and, you know, obviously they had the experience. I said, listen, I'll bring the people, you bring the experience. They said, cool.

So I went, obviously, got licensed and everything to be proper. And then I did a few swipe-ups on my story. And the next thing you know, I had 7,000 people. Wanted to get licensed. Getting licensed. Getting licensed and starting to sell insurance. And then we get, obviously, paid when they sell insurance as well. So the volume is what really makes it impactful. That's another thing.

You know, I don't want to make a million dollars from one person. I want to make $1 from a million people. Yeah. It's, it's, it's more likely to stick that way. One time I got a Lightspeed account with General Motors and GM said, hey, you want us just to collect the money from the dealers so you don't have to and we'll just cut you the check? And I'm like, yes, man. Thank you. There was like, let's say 400 dealerships.

I think it was 400 each. So it was a decent sized check. And I'm like, yes, that would be wonderful. But they were seeing the size of this check every month. And then they're like, you need to do this. You need to jump over this hoop and that hoop. And they were making me bend over backwards because they saw the size of the check. And when they decided that that was too much, that check stopped.

Well, had I just let all 400 pay me 400, that wouldn't have happened. So a lot of people think, oh yeah, I'd just rather have one big check. No, you don't. If you're smart and you're, and I say ethical, because again, dude, I don't want to make, I don't want to, I want value to be exchanged. If there's no value, I'm not interested. I don't want to screw you out of money. Well, you can, like they say, you can cheer a sheep a thousand times, but you can skin them only once. Yeah. So, I mean, like I'm really about that. So it's like, you know, to me, if I can show someone how to get some confidence, um, realize that it's all mindset, skillset, and habits at the end of the day, and then give them the Avenue, dude, that's valuable. Believe it or not, even though it's easy, it's still valuable.

So, so for that exchange, well, now I override, you know, this commission for the next 20 years, because this person is going to build a business. Yeah. So imagine having 7,000 businesses that you override every month. Dude, it's not, it's not, you know, too hard before you're making some loot. So, and then I did it. And then by the way, then I did it with another industry, solar. But it's not too hard before you're making some loot. And then I did it. And then, by the way, then I did it with another industry, solar.

Well, yeah, I was going to get to that. Because with solar, though, you took partners there as well. Sure. I take partners with them all. With them all. Yeah. I'm not going to go claim I know the industry. You've got to have someone that knows what they're doing.

If I was going to do real estate, I'd come in here and make you a deal. Say, Hey, you know, how hard is it for you to get agents? And you'd be like, you know, we can get them. I go, what if I had 3000 knocking on doors tomorrow? You'd be like, well, good, but you have to get your license. Well, whatever the, you know, requirements are, I'd go do those. And now we would create, you know, real simply Vegas, real simply or simply real, simply real vegas but simply real would be you know 5 000 people that i bring in that are all licensed realtors now selling houses for us which is really for themselves and would i be screwing them by bringing them around you and your network no no no no because if you're a realtor in vegas you probably would want to be with simply yeah so again i'm i'm helping them by introducing them to the best in the business.

And because I make money, dude, there's only certain people that hate on that. Yeah. If you seek to help people, you will get paid. It's the craziest thing. Because before, I mean, Zig Ziglar said it best. I'll even say it like he said it. If you help others get what they want, it's a great way to get what you want. Well, it's true. And I didn't realize it until, you know, I was 30 years old, but it's true. And so that's,

that's why I do it. And now I'm just looking for other industries. Let me ask you this. You were so focused in on Lightspeed for so long. Yeah. I know, like, and I know the business model of Lightspeed and I know the business model with insurance and I know the army you've built there. So I, you know, tell me numbers, but I'm guessing that insurance is probably out earning Lightspeed at this point. It would have to be. It's getting there.

It's getting there. Okay. So the question. Lightspeed's pretty, pretty big. I know it is. I know it is dude. But, but the point that I'm making is this is one of the things I think you can learn from this is people get so tunnel vision on one of the things they might be working on that they miss these bigger opportunities. You know, it happens in real estate all the time. You look at it, but I wouldn't have gotten the opportunity if you hadn't in life speed, I get it. I get it. Sometimes dude, you chase more than one rabbit. You're going to lose all the rats.

No, I get, I get that as well. But I'm talking about like, if you look at real estate, right? Like so many people that are realtors get so caught up in the, in the transactional side of the business, the commissions are chasing commissions. They don't understand the real wealth in this business is acquiring property. That's the wealth building. And so many people get tunnel vision on that. So the fact that you were, went out of being tunnel vision to a certain extent on, on, uh, light speed and open your eyes to all these other businesses. I mean, I, would you say you've taken a quantum leap in the last two years? Because it looks like you have. I think I've smartened up a little, matured a little.

But yeah, I think I see my perspective has definitely widened, which is crazy that you're saying this. Because in 2024, what do you think I'm doing? I'm focused back on Lightspeed. Are you? All in on Lightspeed? Yeah, because dude, there's so many companies that need a training platform. Yeah. There's so many.

There's 29 small businesses in the United States. I don't even have a fraction of those. Well, I mean, I have a fraction, but there's the markets that are huge. Yeah. And it's recurring, and it's SaaS, and it's a beautiful business model. Yeah. And it literally got me on the map. So I ignored it for probably the last six, seven, eight years because it's kind of on autopilot. But we've only grown 20, 30% year over year.

If you're growing 30%, you're ignoring it. What I like to call that's failing successfully. 100%. That's what you've been doing. I've been, dude, I've been succeeding in spite of myself. In spite of yourself. And it seems like that happens a lot. Like I just happened to succeed at everything that I do, except for now, right now, I bought, you know, uh, into five RV dealerships and those aren't doing too well. Yeah. Of course I like to say, well, I'm not running them. Well, even if I was running them, they might not be

doing too well because of the economy and the, you know, the interest rates, et cetera. So, and it wasn't really well funded to begin with. So those, those again, people are like, Brad, he wins at everything. No, no. Listen, dude, when you're a real entrepreneur, dude, you're, you're taking larger than normal financial risks than other people. And, and it, you know, you're going to lose some, but if you can win some, you're good. Yeah. Dude, I wired some money today. And it was like lightning on fire. I know I'm never going to see it again.

I had to make payroll at one of the companies. And yeah, it's just tough right now in some of those industries. Like you said, like RVs. I mean, mortgage is a tough business right now. It's hard. You know, I know a mortgage company that's doing extremely well. Right now? Yep. Good for them. You want to know what they're doing what are they doing they are focusing on i believe because

i'm not from the industry consolidating that so you might not want an eight percent interest loan on your house right now that's crazy business But what if you're paying 22% for all your credit cards? That consolidation through HELOCs because of the equity situation. Yeah. So why don't I go grab, why don't I go grab you a couple hundred grand at 8% and you can pay off the couple hundred grand at 20%, dude. And they are closing deals left and right. Well, again, that's, thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, well, there you go. Cause it's, go. Because if you look at our mortgage company, right, it's really heavy transactional because we do so many transactions through our real estate company that they feed to the mortgage company through vertical integration. But that really is heavy on our focus. And we probably need to pivot to focus on some other things.

Dude, I'm telling you. Listen. Like you, I can always say, I'm not running that company. So it's like, that's my excuse. When it comes to mortgages, all you're trying to do is get some loan docs going, right? Okay. Well, listen, if they're not doing it for a house, why would you do it for a house? It'd be crazy right now.

Well, listen, it makes perfect sense. If you got, you know, 20, 21% on your credit cards, I can get you a little loan for that off your home. And that's a mortgage. I can tell you, dude, you can feel it it you can feel that credit card debt mounting out there but when it have you know have you noticed like you go around like when you're out now it's a little slower oh these are a little slower not quite as many people around remember when there were lines out of louis vuitton yes and gucci yes janelle and all the and i'm like what the hell not anymore

dude now they're like freaking a couple of them keep the little stupid rope up, dude. I think, I think, dude, I love seeing it. Why? Cause they were being so smug. Have you been to New York lately? No. Okay, dude. I went for Christmas, took the kids. I am ruined from high-end brands from now on. Cause it used to be like, you go to Chinatown and some guy be like, yo, yo, come here, come here. And you go to some back room and they had the knockoff shit, right? Dude, from 4th Avenue to 8th Avenue, everywhere from 41st Street to 58th, everywhere around Times Square, that giant block, including all the high-end shopping, every 25 feet,

sitting on the sidewalk, there is every high-end bag, every purse, every wallet, every belt, every hat. They were selling the fake Gucci shit in front of the Gucci store everywhere. And it's like, and you're looking at it and you're like, this is everywhere. I can give you 25. Why am I going to do this? You can't tell the damn difference. And literally we got back, we got back the day before. You can't tell the damn difference. No, Brad, I'm telling you, I didn't pick it up. We didn't buy anything, but I got back. I went to crystals to buy my wife a Christmas present.

I went to crystals, walking around the mall with same shit I do every year, walking around all high and short. I couldn't do it. I called my wife. I go, I just, I can't fucking do it. I'm going to buy you some, I'm going to buy you some crazy hell shit instead. So we went with a different way, but I was like, I can't bring myself to buy this because when you see it fluttered out in the street like that, all the knockoffs, it's like, what the fuck? It totally diluted its value.

I'm a believer in quality. The quality is different. Now, not in all cases. Leather belt's a leather belt. But brand's a brand. See, most people don't realize that I call it six levels. So if you can just master the six levels in real estate or any of them, you're going to win bigger than most. Okay. The bottom of the six, they go up in seniority. The bottom of it is testimonials yeah if you can get testimonials

dude that's valuable what's more valuable than testimonials referrals see if you can get referrals dude those are valuable yeah sure what's more important than than referrals following up especially in the real estate game dude y'all y'all don't follow up worth a shit. Okay. Follow-up is senior. Okay. What's senior to that? Sales. What's senior to sales? Marketing. What's senior to marketing? Brand. Branding. So you go branding, marketing, selling, follow-up, referrals, and testimonials. Those six, all you got to do is check a box. Am I good at branding? Do I have a brand? Am I building my brand?

If the answer is no, and I don't know why I say real estate. I know this is outside that space now, but look at a realtor, dude. The most successful realtors are the ones you know their name. That's a brand. They build a brand. Yeah, but the point, okay, but the point is, if the market is flooded with that brand and it's knocked off, what's the point to me? It's like, I looked at my buddies used to love to date strippers, right? I'm like, bro, dating a stripper, the dances in an all new club where you go and your buddies go there.

That's like having a Ferrari that anybody can walk in your office and say, Hey man, give me the keys whenever they want. It's like window shopping point. There's no point to it. It's window shopping. I mean, dude, if I'm going to get something, I want want it to be my i want it to be unique to my situation i'm the same way all right there you go that's what i want but again to me like there's a lot of fake rolexes yeah doesn't decrease the value of a rolex no it does not so and by the way there's's many fake Rolexes out there. Yeah. Now the question would be, would you wear the fake ones? Because here's my rule. And all my shit's real. But when it comes to very expensive shit, like diamonds and crazy stuff, my rule is,

as long as you got the real one at home, you can wear the fake one. That's true. I get it. If you got the real one at home, wear the fake one. Then you're smart for doing that because then someone comes up, especially in California, and takes it.

Go ahead, bitch. But if someone says, hey, dude, this guy's a fraud. He's wearing fake watches. You bet him. Let's take it down to the jeweler and see if it's real.

Or do you? Yeah, you do. You say, if it's real, like a buddy or something. Oh, buddy. See, for me, I'm like, yeah, it's funny. Sky's blue.

Yeah, sky's red. But like I said, dude, that's fake. And you said, no, it ain't fake. No, in full well, yeah, it's fucking, sky's blue. Yeah, sky's red, whatever. Yeah, but like I said, dude, that's fake. And you said, no, it ain't fake. No, in full well, yeah, it's a fake. And then you go, no, it isn't. Let's go to the jeweler. If they say it's real, you can go to any jeweler you want. If they say it's real, you owe me a thousand bucks.

You just go home and switch it out with the real one. I still have fucking PTSD over that day on your podcast when you bet me a thousand dollars your brother lived in Lake City, Florida. And I'm like, nobody moves to Lake City, Florida. And he did. I forgot about that. I paid about that. Did you, did you, of course I did. I'm going to Welch on a bet. Come on, man. That's the way to start a relationship. But so, so, so again, I mean, you know, back to the conversation to me, the focus was, Hey, I need to help people make money if I can help people. And I'm doing it selfishly. I got it. You know,

I'm not an angel. I'm doing it somewhat selfishly because I realized helping people helps me. Yeah. So how do I help people? And the way you help people is you give them the right information and then you, that wasn't enough. And that's what made me realize now I got to go a step further and give them the right vehicle. So, and then I, then I did it with, you know, the biggest and best one so far i think merchant services credit card stuff yeah you talked about that processing processing number one you can sell those companies for 20 to 30 times ebita like candy like that's normal you can get 40 and 50 if you if your shit's dialed in.

It's very rare. How did you come to that? Again, I started looking at my own processing. And then I started meeting people in the processing space. And then I started seeing a lot of people in the processing space making stupid amounts of money. And then I realized, guess what? The processing space is, I don't want to say crooked. I'll say unregulated. It's unregulated.

I'll bet you if you send me any credit cards you guys take, you send me your statement. This goes for anybody listening, by the way. Realmerchantservices.com. But if you send me your statement, it takes two seconds. I'll bet you anything. I can either drastically save you money or, or significantly reduce what you're spending on processing. And people don't understand why, well, cause it was unregulated, dude. If I walked in here and you believe that 2.9 is the best, the feed you go, okay,

dude, but it's not. So, so I started looking at my processing and I started to realize, don't you have a Stripe account or anything? Yeah. Oh yeah. So how big is the business on, so how big of a business is Stripe? Huge, number one. Markups are just massive. But so is Square and all this other stuff. Yeah. But I started looking at the payments I'm processing through Stripe.

And at the end of the year, it's like, you know, you did $9 million and you netted, like, because you can see what you paid. Yeah, you got to pay the VIG. And what you got. And I'm like, dude. And so I started looking and investigating and realized that it was unregulated. And I thought, man, again, I want to help people not get whacked on processing. And not only that, Stripe's woke.

They're as woke as you can get. And they will shut your account down and freeze your funds and bankrupt small businesses that don't know any better. And so you shouldn't be on Stripe anyway. You should start Stripe because it's easy to get going, but then go get qualified for a real merchant services company and switch, you know, in a month or two. So again, I tell people, even with Lightspeed, I say, you know, I need to start making money now. We'll go get Stripe for a month. We'll get you approved over here and then you won't be at risk. But anyway, so that's how

I picked it. I was getting screwed. And then I started looking around to see how not to be screwed. And then I realized, dude, if you have the plug in at the top and that's all you need, then basically you can get in that business and help businesses. And there's so many businesses that are overpaying. And I'm not looking for the businesses doing billions in revenue. I'm looking for the businesses doing 100 grand in revenue because that's who can be helped the most. That's who's getting banged out the worst. They need the money. They need the same.

They need it. And they get whacked and there's reserves and whatnot. So I can help people. And, and again, that's why I did it. I can help people. Then I realized, Holy shit, man, you can sell your, your business for 30 times. And in mind, my business is already getting up there. I always do it to my set, my head 30 times. I haven't even done anything. Yeah. Like I got a partner president. I, you know, built a company handed her the equity and the keys and said, dude, you be the, you be the fricking. Where'd you find this person? She found me actually on social media. Got it. You know, that's, that's, that's why the power of social media.

Well, it's branding. That's my point. Like, dude, my brand has allowed me to build several companies instantly in all ways. So, so when you look, when I look back, when I was only focused on light speed is because that's all I realized, you know, I'm like, dude, this is, this is number one is working. Finally. It took me a long time to make it work. And then I'm like, man, this is, this is finally working. You know, I just need to focus on this and not get distracted. So it was all about light speed. If it wasn't about Lightspeed, I wasn't about it. But then I started building a brand. And then through that

brand, I started meeting a lot of people. And through those relationships, I started seeing a lot of opportunity. And now you start to realize, damn, I'm over here dicking with this. This guy's making $390 million. I got the wrong dream. Yeah. I'm over here dicking with this. This guy just bought a fricking island. Like what am I doing? And what do you do? What do you do? Well, we do insurance. We do financial services. How does that work? You mean all you need are people like I got that people, I got people. And not only that people trust me, you know why they trust me because of the way, because of how I am, I'm looking to help people. I'm not looking to screw anybody. Nobody's ever go read up on me. There's one thing that I did find one at one time. It said that they hired me to speak and all I did was walked around and drank and I didn't want to

speak. And I was such a prima Donna. First of all, that's total nonsense bullshit. That person that put that account up that showed me that it existed was trying to get me to give him five grand to get it down. But that's the only thing I've ever seen. I've been there with some reviews. That's the only, that's the only bad thing you hear about Bradley. Yeah. But my thing is, I think you need that one bad review because if you don't, if they're all good, people tend to say like, is this bullshit? You need the one out of nine dentists to say, this is not Bradley is not the best toothpaste. Dude, I need that dentist. There is nobody that can say Bradley is not pure of heart. There you go. Well, no, I love that. And one of the things you just

said too, that I'm going to dive back into, because I think it's a mistake that a lot of people make, um, whether you're coming up, whether you're a high level entrepreneur, I've seen people at all levels make this, which is when they're building a business, they focus on building the brand of the business and not a brand for themselves because people don't ever see a point in the future when they're not part of the business. And I remember, I'm going to give you two examples. I went to a meeting where the guy that was, it was a meetup and the guy that was the CEO of Chipotle that had built that company and recently taken a buyout and stepped away. And all of a sudden he's trying to do these, he wants to go on podcasts, wants to do things

because he's trying to build his own brand. He had like 175 followers on Instagram because he never thought about doing anything for himself. It was always all of his energy when it was Chipotle. One of my good dude friends. And see, it's Chipotle. Chipotle, whatever. Do you see what I'm saying? Yeah. People don't even know how to pronounce it. Tomato, tomato. I don't care. What do you say? But the other day I saw, I saw an article in a very big publication about one of my friends and it was talking about a project that he has coming online. And it was at the end of it, they said, how do we find you? And it was the Instagram handles for the business. And I'm like, bro, you got to start

building your own stuff. Cause then like you said, opportunity finds you when you build yourself and not necessarily, not only that, I mean, businesses change. Yeah. Like I follow John Gafford. I don't follow simply Vegas. No. Is there a simply Vegas? I'm sure there is. I don't run it. I don't, I don't have anything to do with it, but I don't follow that. Like nobody people run it. Yeah. I got, I mean, they're probably following out of courtesy to you, by the way. Yeah. But like, you know, I don't, if all you had was Simply Vegas, I wouldn't necessarily follow it unless I knew that that's just your, that's just what you're calling. That's your personal account.

Yeah. People should build a personal brand. Yeah. Now, that will help you build a brand brand. So like when it comes to Nike, by all means, build a brand like Nike, but that takes years, man. That's not an overnight thing. You can literally establish a personal brand much quicker. And then that personal brand will help you build a legacy brand. Do you find, let me ask you, cause here's a question. Cause I saw something there's,

and I won't be too detailed because somebody will think I'm being a hater, which I'm really not trying to be a hater, but there's a place where someone that I am in a competitive space with advertises, and they are literally just advertising the name of their company. There's no call to action. There's no measurable. There's no anything on that. I don't like to spend any money marketing any of my businesses unless I can measure the results. Do you like, do you see any like, because like you just said, unless you're Nike and you have a billion dollar ad spend, you can't build a brand that way. Agree, disagree.

What are your thoughts on that? I would agree that they should, that you shouldn't do that. Yeah. Because again, nobody, nobody follows companies, man. I don't follow Apple. I would follow Steve jobs. I wouldn't follow Virgin. I'd follow Richard Branson. So even though it was accidentally discovered, you know, at the end of the day, I don't know which company you're talking about, but if you ask me, Brad, who do you think here in Vegas is my competitor? I don't fucking know. They're not doing a very good job of it first of all and they might be spending a lot of money dude it costs a lot of

money to to establish your business's name in the in the hearts and minds of many oh sure it's very expensive yeah dude you could spend a fraction of that make yourself famous and then everybody would know what your company is. So it's, it's, it's almost like a reverse hack is all I'm saying. So I agree with you. I don't know who you're talking about, but I wouldn't promote or, or, or, or encourage somebody to spend a lot of money on their, on their company branding. And what you said is branding, meaning the name of the company, no call to action, no website, no phone number, just the name of the company. All that is, is long-term branding play. Yeah. And, and I wouldn't do it unless I was just loaded and just didn't care. It's just not measurable. I mean, it's just not measurable.

You won't buy a Louis belt either. No, well, no, no, no. Well, I have, I'm wearing a Gucci belt right now that did not come off the sidewalk from New York. What if your wife wants one? Just get, she gets whatever she wants. You the rule come on man exactly you know the rules i was just making sure that you don't you know yeah you don't you don't skimp just because just because there's fakes no no no no i mean no i tell you where i back to skimping what are your thoughts on what are your thoughts on lab diamonds and real diamonds? That's a great question. I believe in real diamonds. Why? Well, because they are hard to find

and they're real. Okay. And by the way, if you really look into it, diamonds aren't rare at all. No, they're just controlled. They're controlled very well. But at the end of the day,

a real diamond took thousands of years and a lot of pressure to to create a lab-grown diamond is the same way it's a synthetic fake diamond here's the only time i would change my mind because when they tried to sell me a lab diamond for my girl i'm like i had one question if i brought that to anybody that knows diamonds, would they know it was lab? Would they know that was lab? And they said, yes. And I said, well, then it's fake. Cause I can't sell it for what I want to sell it for. It's just fake. It's not a real diamond. Okay. And again, dude, I'm, I'm the real Bradley. My brand is real. Everything's real merchant, real this, real that.

How can I endorse fake or lab grown? Lab grown is literally another way to say fake. I know, but for me, I'm just for me, because the reason this came up was one of our guys here, young guys just got engaged. God bless him. We were so excited for him. And he was all asking us about ring advice and this and that. I was like, bro, you're a young dude. You're making good money. But I mean, I don't know that your young girl would rather not have a lab diamond that looks really impressive that, you know, she's happy with this. He went, he went, he went real. He went, he went real, but why lab? Why not CZ? I, cause CZ, I think that's not it. Cause that's because that's not a diamond. Neither is a lab grown. It's a lab grown diamond. It is not either.

That's just a marketing guy's way of saying fake. Dude, I'm telling you, I swear to you, it's not, if they can tell the difference, then it's not the real thing. There you go. Well, you've heard the real Bradley only buys real diamonds. Well, again, dude, I'm just like, I just endorse authentic, real, not only merchandise and things, but people, you know, I think people should be authentic as well. Why? Well, when people get married, especially dude, they'll, they'll put on some front for a couple of years and then you get married and it changes, especially like there's a lot of women that they'll do certain things to get married. If you know what I mean? And then it's different. And then as soon as they start, as soon as they're married, or I always say the wedding

cake does it, but as soon as they eat the wedding cake, they change their, their interests. Let's just say, well, why is that? Well, because again, they were putting on their best foot or their best face so they can get married. I don't, I don't like that. If you're a slob in real life and you're trying to get married, be a slob. So the person that marries you knows you're a slob. And guess what? There's people that will, that will love a slob, but they're probably a slob. And guess what? There's people that will love a slob. Yeah. But they're probably a slob too. So at the end of the day, be real.

And so I can't endorse fake. But if you're going to be fake, you might as well be the cheapest fake you can find. Like, dude, cubic zirconia. Yeah. If someone younger came to me and said, Brad, do you think I should buy my girl a real diamond or a cubic zirconia or a lab grown? I would say personally, if you can afford it by the real, why? Because dude, you should be real and you should be authentic and you shouldn't lie to her. But if you're going to buy the fake one, go all fake. If you're going to buy the fake, buy the CZ. Cause I don't know the difference between a CZ and a Labrador diamond.

Just go all fake. And not only that, dude, I would tell her. That it was fake. Yeah. I would say, hey, listen. Well, you don't ever want anybody. Yeah. I mean, that would be crazy.

You don't want somebody to walk into a situation where they think something they got on is real. You know how many fake rings are out there, dude? Lots. Dude, walk. Go get a diamond tester. Just walk around and put it on people's stuff just have it on you for fun and giggles when when when there's your friends are around and you know you see people at a bar you meet them at a bar say hey you want me to test that for you they'll go yeah

and go beep and you'll you'll start to i bet you anything be amazed at how many people are wearing fake shit and they don't know it's fake. They have no idea. No, because the dude gave him a fake diamond. Oh man. Could you do that? But that would be the, that would be the end of that. Well, let's talk about, let's talk about, cause you've also, um, just from what I've seen, which is interesting because a lot of times in business, you look to partner with people that compliment what you don't do, right? You look for people that compliment what they do. They have the knowledge you don't, you have the people,

this and that, but you and Andy Elliott have, have been doing a lot of stuff lately. It seems like, and you guys are very similar in skillset. I, are you, I, I, I, I think you are. I don't know. I don't, I don't necessarily think so. Okay. I don't know. I'm asking. So, well, Andy, again, dude, he's very intense. Yeah. He's really intense. You know, I'm not that intense. Yeah. You know, he believes that if you're not extremely shredded and jacked, you're not going to be successful. I tell him all the time, well, that's bullshit. Look at me. So, and I know a lot of fat, successful people out of shape, but his argument, which I agree with is, are you really? Cause again, depending on your perspective, you can't

be fat and successful. Well, it depends on how you measure success. He measures success 360 degrees. Apparently I only measure success financially. That's it. You know, and I'm making a joke because we, we, we don't see eye to eye on certain things, but he's got his skill set. I've got mine. He's got his personality. I've got mine. He's just a cool dude. And he's been, believe it or not, no matter who talks shit about him, the dude actually cares. Yeah. He's not like, he's not trying to be that way. He is that way. All the time. And I know people that I used to work with, and I still work with them, but I know several people that act the way he is. And his team tries to pretend to be like his team is. So like, dude, people are like, he's got a cult.

Yes, he does. He has a cult. And he loves it. And he loves them. He has a cult. And he loves it. And he loves them. And they love him. And it's real. So again, I like him because he's real, dude. I've watched him for a long time before I started endorsing him.

And I'm telling you, dude. People say, well, there's a thing against you. You can Google up a thing where he was in this federal thing. I said, well, dude, I'll ask him about it. i'll ask him about it so i asked him about it he was real about it so again like to me dude i like andy and you look at like stumann that was in prison i like to tell you all day about it i give shit but i like stumann too that's that's part of that's part of his that's part of his journey he doesn't care so so the the to say we're similar is almost a compliment and then then almost, no, I don't agree.

Why? Because he's bald, jacked, intense, and I'm not. Well, no, but I think what I meant was his skill set from the outside looking in seems to be really teaching excellence through sales. And that's kind of what I think of when I think of you is the same thing. Sales? No, excellence in sales. And that's kind of what I think of when I think of you is the same thing. Sales? No, excellence in sales. Really learning excellence on all that entails. I mean, I think people hear the word sales and they think immediately, you know, what do I have to do to get in this Hyundai? But, you know, as you've said many times, and so have I, we're selling all day. You're selling from the second you wake up. When you're a little kid, you're selling.

How do I get another bowl of Fruity Pebbles? Let me hustle dad. You know, how do I do this? We're all in sales. We're all in sales. So that's what I meant. What are you guys, what are you and Andy doing together? Well, then you're very similar to us too.

I agree. I'm not, I'm not taking, I'm not going to say no to that. What are we doing? What are you, because you guys are doing masterminds together. What is it? Well, I mean, we think things up as we're out hanging out and you know, we, our families are my kids and his kids are like exact matches. So, so like we hang out outside of the space and then we'll talk and we'll be like,

dude, what do people need? You know? So, so right now we're, we're starting this thing called the revolution and it's just a coaching group. We meet a couple of times. We're going to get people in the best shape. We got the best fitness coach and nutritionists and like the best in the world and you know we're going to get people in killer shape we're going to teach people how to make a bunch of money scale their business grow their business and how to literally build confidence and become a i call it it a high value individual. Male or female, it doesn't matter.

But mainly men. We're teaching men to be men again. Teaching men to be men again. I like that. I always think about that scene in, what is it? The movie with, shit, I'm terrible with movie names and everything else. Where the guy's, David Lindhagen, that movie, where his wife cheats on him, whatever it is,

with Steve Carell. And then Ryan Gosling takes him under his wing and he's like, yeah, you lost your manhood. Any, any idea where you might've lost, where you might've lost it? He's like, there could be a strong case from 1892. So yeah, I think there's, there's a lot of that. I think there is, there is, you know, talking about being a high value person. I wanted to ask you about this too, as a good segue for that, actually, but you posted a piece of social media that I thought was so interesting in what it was. And it wasn't one of your messages. It wasn't one of your one-offs. It wasn't an entertainment quip. It was you standing at an event backstage, offstage, wherever you were. And there was a kid talking to you. And it was just like, he was just, just this and this and this. And you kind of looked at him and

said, man, you ask a lot of questions, don't you? That was the question you asked him. And I thought in that moment, I thought what a perfect antithesis for this, how to be a high value person. Cause you were kind of like, you're doing it wrong. It was your nice way of saying you're doing this wrong, but yet you were still doing it in a, in a, in a nice way. It was your nice way of saying you're doing this wrong, but yet you were still doing it in a, in a, in a nice way. It wasn't like a dude, you're doing it. Do you remember the clip I'm talking about by chance? I remember the clip. I don't remember the point of that clip, but, but you know, I remember the conversation with the kid and you're exactly right. I was basically telling him like, you know, add value first. See when, when people always come up and

say, how do I get around all these players and, you know, influential people? Well, there's a couple of ways. Number one, you become one. As soon as you become one, then you're around them. You know, that's what I did, uh, to become one, you know, be successful in a lot of ways, you know, build a business, do something notable, you know, but, but the other way is to provide value. So most people walk up and they, and they say, Hey, John, you know, how do I provide value? Well, you're asking this guy for value before you give him any, don't do that. Asking someone, how can I be a value is asking them for value. It's creating a problem for them.

You're making them work. You're making them think, and, and you're asking them for value. It's creating a problem for them. You're making them work. You're making them think. And you're asking them for value. Yeah. Because it's valuable to know what I value. So if you walk up and say, what do you value? And I tell you that, I gave you value first. You don't do that. You provide value.

And I was just educating the young man. Walk up and provide value. He goes, how? Well, you can make some assumptions. You know, everybody wants more money. Everybody wants more time. Everybody wants more freaking attention. Status and love.

Yeah, adoration. Like you can assume these people want more money, time, adoration, you know. So just figure out how can I get this guy more business, more something. And what happens is, you know, if this guy came or you just met him today, if this guy more, more business, more something. And what happens is, you know, if, if, if this guy came or you just met him today, if this guy came around every day and just started giving you the, Hey, my buddy owned a hook you up here, hook you up there, hook you up there.

Yeah. You pretty soon. You're going to be like, Oh, I love this kid. That's how you do it. You build value. It's, it's so funny too. Cause people just do that. So incorrectly. What is that? That's the clip. That's the clip. There it is. Yeah. People can, uh, so often just walk up and like, man, how do I, how do I get in your circle, man? How do I get this? And I'm always like thinking the same thing. I'm like, bro, if you're asking me that question, you probably aren't going to be in my circle. Cause for me anymore, it's like, you got, you got three options to get in my

circle. You better be getting me excited about something you're doing. That makes me want to learn more about you and what you're doing. Like with credit card processing, holy shit, how do you do that? You better have a way to get me excited about what I'm already doing, which means you can plug in and get that. And even through conversation, we're just having a great conversation about what I'm doing. And it's opening my mind to more possibilities in my own business, or you better make me laugh. And I mean, belly laugh. And if you ain't doing one of those three things, or hopefully some combination of the three, I just don't have the time. I just, I think the older we get, you look back and I mean, dude, how much time in your life

have you wasted? I mean, if you could literally just go back. 95% of my life. Exactly. Dude, just a nonsensical bullshit that you wish you could go back and get it back. So I'm so guarded with my time anymore that you've got to be like, bro, if you're not checking one of these three, I can't help you. So you've evolved though. Yeah. I'm still kind of wasting time. Are you? I mean, not intentionally.

But what's your, okay. So what's your, what's your, what is it? I like Call of Duty. Okay. Is that a waste? I was going to say, yeah, it is. I like cigars. Is it or not?. But what's your, okay. So what's your, what's your, what is it? I like Call of Duty. Okay. Is that a waste? I was going to say, yeah, it is. I like cigars. Is it or not?

Well, okay, here we go. Is Call of Duty a waste? Let's get into that. Because here's my question. Personally, I don't think so. Why? Well, because dude, it's how I relax and unwind. That's what I was going to ask.

Does it bring your blood pressure down? Does it? It actually brings it up. You're screaming at 13 year old kids. God damn it, Billy. You get pissed when, yeah, exactly. See you play. I'm just familiar with the vernacular. That's it. Yeah. Like you get pissed off when some idiot fricking, you know, doesn't know how to play and you get killed. But no, dude, I think it, I think it, it allows me to just chill. So I just like watching TV. People are like, oh, you watch TV?

You don't listen to all these gurus that says you can't freaking enjoy life and still win because you can. The question is, is what's a waste and what isn't? I believe I waste a lot of my time because I could be doing things more productive. But I also choose to waste it. Why? Because, dude, you're going to die gonna die one day man you want to die frazzled yeah yeah it's just like just just like just like when i said andy believes you have to be shredded dude i would hate to go through life shredded and the whole world knows me as shredded

killer freaking jacked and i've never had a donut that aittest guy in the cemetery. Yeah, like, dude, I want a donut, man. I want to live. I want to eat. I want to have fun. I don't, I'm not round. I'm okay. Now, if I thought for one second being chiseled like that would actually improve my life drastically, well, then I guess I would do it, but I don't believe it.

You can't convince me. Well, I think there's a difference between waste. My definition of wasting time is when you look back, like you, you went and did something like somebody called you and said, Hey, we should go to dinner. And you were like, ah, I really don't want to go, but I'm going to say yes, just cause I'm going to go. And then you go and you sit through this dinner or you allow somebody to come in and give you a sales pitch. And you know, already you're not going to, gonna you're you already know i i don't want the shit but you know no just give me give me 10 minutes and then they come in and then they just you just look back at

that time as shit i just wasted that i don't look at time if you want you want to sit me on a on a beach with a donut in my hand that is not wasting time to me that is an investment in my hand, that is not wasting time to me. That is an investment in my mental health. I'm talking about when you just, you just, you're just not guarded with giving other people your time. Like I, I have in my evolution, as you just called it, I have, I've worked very hard to get rid of assholes. Like if you come and ask me like, what should I do? How should I do this? And then you go out and do the exact opposite. I'm never going to like, I'm not going to make that investment again. I told the story. I had some people that were coaching with me at one point and they called me up and they said, Hey, we need to reschedule. I need to reschedule. If something came up, we can't be there. I said, okay, no problem. You

know, I'm working around, I'm moving around. That's fine. They called me the next week and they said, Oh, you know, really sorry. This came up. I got to reschedule. I said, let me ask you a question. I said, what? I said, if you were had a meeting today with Tony Robbins, would you have canceled it? And this is not about me comparing myself to Tony Robbins. I get to the point a minute. I said, would you have canceled that? And they said, no. And I said, why? And I said, because Tony Robbins. I said, it's because you value his advice. You don't value my advice the same way. So you're never going to take it anyway. This is a waste of time for both of us.

That was it. That was the last coach. I need to do more of that. Yeah. I mean, I still take meetings. I don't know if it's YOLO or what, but someone will be like, Hey, you know, do you want, you want to meet for 20 minutes, make a billion dollars? I'm like, well, what's it regarding?

You know, I'll tell you when I see him. Like, all right i got 20 minutes maybe they're right maybe they're not this is the one they come with their come with rubber dog shit but we're gonna sell this in convenience stores no but but dude a lot of a lot of meetings that i've taken that i normally wouldn't have or someone wouldn't have have turned out to work well that's not a loss then you can't look at that as lost time because i'm saying i don't because you'm saying, I don't, because you got a batting, but because you, because you got to lump the good in with the bad, as far as a percentage of wins. Yeah. I think, I think personally, you know, I could be a little more focused and my 2024 dedication was to be a little more focused. How do you focus? I'm going to stop cussing on the podcast. Okay. I'm going to start doing more podcasts all alone by myself. Do you know, do you know that if you do some all

alone, I'll bet you people like them more. Brother, let me tell you, let me tell you, I'll tell you this. I, I had one for Tuesday to go out. Right. And we, I'd shot it. I did it over zoom because the guy was out of town and I didn't like the quality of what came through. He had a bad connection. It was, the audio was bad. I didn't like it and it bothered me. So I was like, you know what? I'm not posting it, but here we are. It's holiday weekend. Nobody's working. So I came down here by myself in the studio on New Year's day. And I did 45 minutes on business planning and we launched it up on Tuesday and it was the most downloaded single day I've had. By yourself. Same thing happens with me, dude. I do what's

called solo bombs every year. If you look back, my YouTube team, everybody says, dude, solo bombs are the most popular. And I'm like, but it's just me. And they're like, dude, that's what people want. How long are you doing them? How long is that hour? You're doing a full hour. Same hour. Like my latest one, man. Again, I might, I show you my text. My team just said, dude, I told you. Because again, for some reason, when I do them solo. So this year I said, I'm going to stop cussing. I'm going to elevate. I'm going to level up.

I'm going to start being more demanding on my expectations. I love that. Because I think it was you. I might have got four agreements from you. I don't remember where I got that book. I don't remember where I got that book. But be impossible to be misunderstood. You know, expectations. One of my big problems in life has always been being disappointed in the actions of others when they had no clue what my expectation of them was.

I've always, you're like, you just, I think that human age should just act the way they should, because I think they should act that way without me ever expressing to them, this is what I need. Oh, yeah. And so that's been one of my things this year is to be very direct about expectations and what I'm going to do. And, you know, I don't do it in a mean way. I don't do it in an angry way. It's just like, look, this is what I want. And they're allowed to say no.

Because if somebody says no, then that's fine. At least I'm not sitting around stewing in are they going to do it or not. And then when they to say no. Cause if somebody says no, then that's fine. The least I'm not sitting around stewing in, are they going to do it or not? And then when they don't do it, I'm mad. Foolishness. Yes. And I think that's fair. And I think that's fair and not just work relationships. I think it's fair in, you know, in romantic relationships and friendships. I think that's fair. You know what you call that? What's that? Authenticity. Yeah. There you go. Transparency. I agree with it. Yeah. A lot of people will call me abrasive. I don't think I am, but some people have said, Oh dude, you're, you're, you're a handful. What does that mean? Well, you know, you just kind of, you're a little blunt. You kind of

say it like it is. That's because that's the clearest, most concise way to say it plainly. I don't, I don't need to use big words. You know, a lot of people want to use big words, but the only reason they're using big words is to make you think they're smarter than they are or maybe that they are, but it's irrelevant. Like why choose big words when you know, some people don't understand them. I like to keep it simple, get to the point. And some people don't like that. Some people don't like poetry. Some people don't like the truth. You know, it's very similar, but to me, it's the easiest way to communicate and get understanding. And that's all I'm looking for. I believe that my superpower is to provide clarity in a world of chaos. Okay. Is that your personal mission statement would you say no my personal mission

statement it's a bumper sticker what is it yeah what's the personal mission what's bradley's personal mission statement if you got one my mission is to get the knowledge from the people who have it to the people who need it i believe the reason people fail is because they don't have the right information now some people say well it's the action, you know, knowledge without action is worthless. That's the right information. You see, that's the right information. So the right information includes, you got to take action. The right information understands, listen, guys, it's not rocket science to be successful. Dude, me and you, I don't know what you think, but I always look at me, you, whoever's quote unquote successful, dude, there's nothing special about us.

At least me for sure. Anyone can do this. They just don't think they can. They think it's tough. They think it's rare. They think, they think, they think. And the problem is, is that's the problem. It's what they're thinking.

Mindset. The next one is your skill set. Dude, there's people that aren't very good. There's people that work in Simply Vegas, I'll bet you, that aren't very good. And they don't understand why they can't sell like this guy and why ain't they getting results like that person. Because you're not very good. Tell the truth. You're not very good. Okay. The good news is everyone can get good. It just takes time. It takes practice. It takes repetition. It takes learning and development. And guess what? That's work. But you can get good. Everyone can get good. It just takes time. It takes practice. It takes repetition. It takes learning

and development. And guess what? That's work, but you can get good. Everyone can get good. Just some don't. Now that's skillset. The next one is your habits. If you have bad habits and you're very good and talented and you're positive, you still probably aren't going anywhere. Have you ever seen somebody passionately running in the wrong direction? I'm telling you, it's possible. Away from people, probably. No, but I mean, it's possible to have a real positive outlook and you're all freaking, you know, your mindset's positive and abundant and, you know, you're not very skilled.

Yeah. And then there's positive and abundant and you're talented, but your habits are in the toilet. You don't go anywhere. So all you need to do to succeed in life, money, and business, realize that there's three areas you have to master your mindset, your skillset, and your habits. If you can master those three, dude, you're done. You're guaranteed successful. Now there's people going to listen to this podcast and say, well, it's not that easy, Brad. That's your mindset. That's your mindset stopping you. That's your belief system stopping you. It is that easy. Okay. Skill set. Well, not everybody can be in the top 20%. Yes, everybody can.

Argue with me. Like you ever see those boosts on the memes that say, tell me I'm wrong or argue with me for $10 and tell me I'm wrong. Yeah. It's like, dude, listen, what I'm saying is real. It's fact. Everyone that's listening to this podcast can be successful. They need to focus on their mindset, their skill set, and their habits. If they master those three areas, John, there's no stopping you. I think there is one more key factor to that, though. And I will say this. As somebody that runs a lot of companies that I do, one of the things that I am very in tune with is making sure I have the right people in the right seats.

Because I don't believe- Wouldn't that be a skill set? It is. Well, no, no, no. Yes. Yes. No, yes. And no, no, yes. And no, it's called leadership. Hang on a second. It's a skillset, but people are also built certain ways. Like there are people that have personality types that love being accountants. They love it. I would, I could, I learned to be a great accountant. Could I practice to be a great accountant? Could I be the best accountant in the world? I'm going to give myself credit and say, yes. Would I hate that job every day? Well, yes, I would because I'm not built for it. But what are you built for? I'm built for what I do.

I'm built for leadership. You're built for speed. No, if you look at a disc, I'm very big on personality profiles when I place people in jobs. I'm very big on it. I am, if you look at a disc, I'm very big on personality profiles when I place people in jobs. I'm very big on it. I am, if you know the disc test, I am 99% D, 99% I. I have almost no S and no C, which means I am built for sales and built for leadership. But if I didn't have a great team of people behind me telling me where I need to be at three o'clock, I would not be there because I am not a cross the T's and dot the I's kind of guy. Yeah. That's not my skillset. So I surround myself with people that are, have those skills in the right seats to prop me up. Well, I would agree with what you're saying, but cause I don't think everybody can be

a great salesman. I agree. So your, your, your point is very well taken. However, you were going to, you, you, you were serving it up. Like you were going to add that, which is in one of those categories. Okay. So which category? It's in skill set. Okay. But it's understanding where you belong in the world and what makes you happy. Because just because you can get good at something doesn't mean you're going to be happy doing it.

That's my point. True. That I would agree with. That was my point. True. That was my point. That I would agree with. That was my point. Because I think like you said, like you said, so many people, you said there's probably people that aren't very good at Simply Vegas, right? There's got to be. Of course there is because the law of averages and we have 600 people that work here. And how many are in the top 10% every month? We have a 10%.

No, but surprisingly enough, my top 25 rotates pretty well, which makes me happy. Bottom line though is the top 10% is the top top 10%. But my, my thing is there's probably people that work here that just aren't built for this job from a personality standpoint. Could be. And they would be happier and doing something else. True. And there's been a lot of time.

They should. And keep in mind, I am one of the only, I think I might be the only brokerage in Las Vegas that we let people go. Like if you're not doing anything and you're not investing in yourself and you're not a good fit and you're not doing what you need to get better, we're not just a place where you can just hang a license. Like there's a million places to do that. This is not one of them. So we have over the years, it is, but I would say over the years, some of my best moves with people have been almost inviting them to leave the business and seeing them go on and do other things

that they're better suited for. And they're happier for it. That's good leadership. Yeah. They're happier for that. See, I got a poor grade in that department. I would wait and wait and wait and hope and hope and pray and pray and train and train and wish and wish. Yeah. Have you ever like shucked oysters looking for pearls? Never looking for pearls, but I've shucked a lot of oysters. Well, when you shuck oysters looking for pearls, you pop one open and look. And if there's no pearl, you throw it and grab another one and you shuck it.

And if there's no pearl, you throw it. And if you grab one and shuck it and there's a pearl, you get the pearl. And that's how you shuck oysters looking for pearls and in business it's like shucking oysters and what people do is they pop an oyster and they don't see a pearl so they hold it and wait for one to grow and pray that the next time they look in there, there'll be one. And so when you walk up to him, you go, how you doing? You know, and I'm telling you, trying to make some money. I'm, I'm, you know, you know, it's like, dude, next. And it might be the industry that you've picked because people say, Brad, you know, I had a guy tell me, you know, he was saying, you know,

Brad never gives up. I give up, dude. I've given up a lot of things. Yeah. And I've, and I've quit businesses that I might've won in, but I don't quit trying. That's for sure. But I'll quit doing things. You know, I listened to the market. If, if after 700 episodes of my podcast, no one was listening, I'd give up.

Yeah. Nobody wants to hear it. Why? Because I did 700 of them, dude. Now I'm not going to give up after six, but I'm definitely going to give up after 600. You need a sample size that's making sense. 100%. I always say the truth is in the math. Like anytime we have a, we have a problem with one of our businesses, I'm always like, well, what's the math? Let's look at the math. Let's look at the conversion rates. Let's look at the ROI. Let's look at the numbers that I always, I always look for the solutions in the math. And I think that people that work on a gut feeling and hope and man, I just, I feel like it's going to get better. No dude. You know, see me and you were a little opposite. Are you? Well, I love data, but dude, I believe my intuition is

strong and I believe that everyone's intuition is there. They just don't listen to it. Like, man, I got a feeling, dude, that's probably the right feeling. You talk business with a wife? Not really. Yeah. See my, my wife is my consigliere cause I feel like she's an empath. I feel like she's very, very in tune. Like when she meets people. Yeah. She'll tell you. She's got it. Like I like, and there's only been like two people. She's like, ah, and both of those people end up to not be good people. I talked to my wife in that way. Like I don't go home and break down everything that's happening and who should I fire and all this. But I do talk to her about that. And she, and she does tell me her feeling and she's always been right. I. But I do talk to her about that. And she does tell me.

Her feeling on people. And she's always been right. I know, how do they do that? How do they do that? Even with chicks, like one time, she was telling me about this girl that was nice and I was gonna hire her. And she said, you're not gonna hire her.

And I said, babe, you're not gonna tell me who I can hire and who I can't hire. Like, what are you talking about? She said, well, you're not gonna hire her. And I can hire and who I can't hire. Like, what are you talking about? She said, well, you're not going to hire her. And I said, why? Because she's cute. And she said, no, because she wants you. I said, oh my God, she doesn't want me, babe. And I swear to you, I had no clue. I said, she does not want me. There was no indication of it whatsoever.

And that night or a night very shortly thereafter, we're out drinking or something and I get a text and it's her. And apparently she does want some. And I'm like, oh my God, how did you know? I showed her. She said, I told you. So I delete, block, done. It was just a bummer because I thought she'd be a great salesperson. But at the end of the day, man, that's intuition. And people have it. And I think if you listen to your intuition more often, you're going to be more successful more often. Yeah, I think with the business. I think it's built in, dude.

With the business, I'm pretty good there. With people, sometimes I think, you know, my problem is I kind of, I always want to believe the best in people. Right? Yeah, me too. Sometimes I think, you know, my problem is I kind of, I always want to believe the best in people. Right. It's like, it's like, especially, especially in, in our circles, like you meet somebody and they're with this dude and that guy knows them and you're like, they must be okay. Right. And the next thing you know, dude gets arrested for, you know, doing some bad shit. And you're like, Whoa, didn't see that one coming. And it's just, it's hard. Cause you definitely, I think it's like, you don't want to be cynical

with people, but you almost kind of have to, especially when you, when you've worked so hard to build your brand, because who you, who you surround yourself with can tarnish you. Cynical. I think is the wrong word. Is that the wrong word? Cautious? Skeptical. Skeptical. Skeptical is fair. Like I, I preach it's okay to be skeptical, cynical. I just assume, just assuming everybody's okay to be skeptical. Cynical? I don't know about cynical. Just assuming everybody's a scumbag. Yeah, but dude, I'm a skeptic. I'm a skeptic all day long.

I think it's self-preservation. It's intelligent to be skeptic or skeptical. But I still have intuition. And a lot of times it's right. And I've not listened to it sometimes and every time I should have. Like I should have listened to it sometimes. And every time I should have, like I should have listened to it. And even again, lately, 2024, I said, I'm going to start listening to my intuition a little bit more, but it's tough, man, because you don't want to be wrong. And you know, you're worried and see, here's what happens when people start becoming

successful before we had anything. And I don't know if you were born with money or handed to you, but a little struggle, a little struggle. And by the way, for people out there in the world that were born with money or up in Lake city, man, come on. But I mean, I don't hate on those people. A lot of people do. Oh, it was handed everything, dude. Listen, I wish I was handed everything. You know, I wish my dad was a billionaire and gave it all to me. I wish, but Hey, he didn't. And I wasn't in that club. But if you were, I'm not mad at you like a lot of people are.

But if you were born with everything, you wouldn't understand. But when I'm starting a business and I don't have anything, I'm willing to risk it all. Why? Well, because, dude, there's nothing to lose. And when you take that approach and you realize what, what mindset is that really? That's a mindset of abundance. Well, that's what was it? Seneca would sleep outside on the ground in ancient Greece because, you know, he wanted to, he wanted to always be reminded that if he lost everything, it would be okay. He went on occasion to do that. Yeah. What you just said

was a, was a, was a pretty prominent stoic. Well, again, because dude, like when I, I go back and I study what I did when I, when I lose and when, and when I win and when I won, man, I was out there running a gun and I took risk and I didn't care and I was okay. And I was willing to risk. Yeah. And then you start winning and winning and all of a sudden you have something to lose. And all of a sudden you go, wait a minute, I don't want to lose this shit. Well, now your mind just went from abundant to scarce. Yeah. And people do that all the time.

You might be thinking in your head, should I do that? Because we all do it. And what happens is you start to get scarcity mindset. And all of a sudden you stop marketing and you stop advertising and you start worrying and you start thinking yourself into a fricking slump. Well, here's dude, I have a friend of mine that is in the middle of selling his company. I saw an exit and it's a, it's an eight figure exit. It's a good deal. And, um, it's a decent, it's a great cashflow business and it's, it's a good exit. And he didn't, he wasn't thinking about selling it, but all of a sudden this offer just kind of showed up. And all of a sudden my buddy's like freaking out because it's, it's going to

close soon. And he's all of a sudden like, you know, he went from having this, you know, more money than he could spend coming in every month and whatever he wanted, you know, he, whatever they want to do, he can do because of the cashflow coming in. And all of a sudden now it's this lump check that's coming to him. And he's like, Oh shit, what am I going to do with it? What if I lose it? What am I going to do? What if I lose it? What am I going to do with this money? Because it's not coming anymore. So even though he's selling the business, he's more scared of the lump sum now.

And he's going to probably have a little bit of a situation. Hopefully it's enough to where he doesn't have to worry. Yeah, it's eight figures. Well, that happens with businesses and business owners left and right. They'll start their business with abundant balls out. And then they start winning, and then they go, wait a minute. Don't want to play not to lose. I don't want to be broke again. I remember how it was.

So let me be more careful. Let me take less action. Let me take less risk. And all of a sudden, their business slows down. What's your current risk profile now that you're, I mean, now that we are becoming men of an astute age and you got three young kids and, you know, new baby. Congratulations again, by the way, to you and Melissa.

A new baby. How old is she now? She's eight months out? She's two? She's two. Two, yeah. I just congratulated you on having a two-year-old. Thankfully she's two.

Did you see the video on that? Yeah, she was in the pool. The Yahshua video? She was in the pool? She was in the pool. Wow. I didn't see that. Yeah, and it can happen in a second, you know?

I got a lot of comments on that video, and you always get the dipshits and one of the dipshit. Where were the parents? Am I the only one that's going to say something? Oh, God. Look, you can be the best parents on planet Earth. You can hover your children, and I guarantee you shit still happens. Yeah. It has nothing to do with good or bad parents.

We are great parents. But it could happen like this. And unless you are triple safe, and even if you are, I know someone who lost their child, and they put up the fence, and they did everything. And the fence didn't work. But anyway, thankfully, yeah, she almost drowned. So thankfully she was, she was a spared. And so now she's two, she just turned two, two, December 14th. What's the, what's your risk profile now?

It's pretty nasty. Is it? Yeah. I mean, because dude, I dude i number one i possess the skills to produce you just always believe even if i went to zero i'd build it back up in a week i know i would and you know i come the same way not only my wife hates it but i'm the same way listen i don't the same way personally other than a little bit more stress, it ain't that bad having nothing. Yeah. It's almost fun. Like it's almost the same as it is now. Like I wouldn't have a Ferrari, but I'd have a car.

I might not have my Raptor R, but I'll have a vehicle. You know, I might not have all my watches and all my clothes and all my fun and all my possessions. Which will be clothed. But I'll have enough. And my family will still be there. So to me, I guess, you know, I realize it's not that bad. Well, dude, you slept on the beach in LA. And it wasn't that bad.

It wasn't that bad. It was a beach, bro. So to me, it's like it's all perspective. And my perspective is I have the ability to get it back now that's why i don't worry so much i probably should worry more i probably should start thinking about well i'm getting up in my years and yuck yuck yuck and maybe one day i'll i'll think back and i'll be like damn, Brad, you should have listened to all those people. Well, again, why can't I listen to myself? Why am I wrong?

You know, the only thing that screws with me really bad, the only thing when I see like somebody that I went to high school with that died of natural causes, even though they were like terribly overweight and like probably smoked three packs of cigarettes a day or whatever it was, but somebody where you're like, holy shit, like I was in third grade with that person and now they're dead of a heart attack. Like that's the stuff that like scares me. Like, okay, you know, should I be doing all this? Like, should I be scared? You have no faith? No, it's not that I don't have faith. It's just, of course I do. Well then why would you be scared? Because that's when I hit the point, like, have I done everything right for the fam? Is the fam squared away?

Are the kids going to be okay? It's never about me. It's about the kids. Well, as much as you think they'll be okay, they're not because you'll be dead. Yeah. So they're not going to be okay, period. Yeah. If you mean financially, dude, that's a little bit of insurance.

Yeah. I can help you with that. Which we have. Real financials can help you with that. Well, we're going to talk off air on that because I got something there. There's an opportunity there. Well, dude, just get insurance. Like we tell people all the time.

No, not life. There's a real opportunity. Not an opportunity to sell me a fucking policy. I'm just saying, but people listening, you know, insurance will take care of that. How do they find your insurance, Brad? How do they find you to buy a policy? You don't find me. You find one of my guys or one of my agents. But at the end of the day, all I'm saying is a lot of people worry about that. And I don't think people should be worried

about that. Go get some insurance. It's very affordable. And now if you die, no other dude has to come in and save the day. Why? Because you were smart enough while you were alive to save the freaking day. It's called insurance. Now your family's taken care of and move on. Next problem is that's not a problem anymore. Now you can focus on bigger things. Like how do I win? How do I make, because what I'm really looking for, John, is freedom. That's ultimately what I want.

And freedom is I do whatever I want with whoever I want for as long as I want, period. I am free. And to me, that takes a lot of money. So I need to focus on how do I become free. Right now, you go, well, aren't you free? Theoretically, you could argue that I'm free. I could argue that you're free. But again, not to where I want to be free.

I have to come here every day and be the figurehead for my company. But I'm, I'm, I'm certain that in the next three to five years, I will have brick and mortar businesses that I can liquidate and never have to answer to another human being again. That's the goal. That's my goal. That's everybody. That should be everybody's goal. That's my goal. They say, if you don't, you know, what's, what's fuck you money worth. If you, if you can't say, fuck you, that's exactly right. I want it just so I can say, fuck you.

Then I probably got a list. I'm not going to do it now. Dude. I'm like, I always tell people, like I'm the most like kind individual on the planet deep down, deep down, deep down. If I could, you know, give someone the shirt off my back, I would, why I don't need it. You know, at the end of the day, well, why don't you give away all your money? Cause that's stupid. But at the end of the day, I believe I am a kind ethical individual. Well, let's finish with one last question. Cause when, when I was Cole Hatter just starting a new podcast and I was on that shocking, uh, and, uh, Cole asked me like, what do I want my legacy to be? Like, what do you want your legacy to be? And my answer was,

I don't give a shit. I'll be dead. Like I would rather make an impact on people every day that I'm alive than worry about what people say about me after I'm dead. So what is Brad Lee's legacy? What do you want it to be? When I think of legacy, I think of what it truly means. And it means basically money and real estate. Did you know that? If you look up the definition of legacy, it'll tell you wealth. So what do I want it to be? More than a billion. But when people say legacy, they think, what are you known for? What's your legacy? But that's not what legacy actually means. But in that regard, I would want to be known for generosity and kindness and, and impact. Like when I die, I want people to go, dude, that guy was so nice and so generous and man, what a difference he made. And with that, we will wrap it up boys and girls. So, uh, man, thanks, Brad. I enjoyed this. I,

and I know if you didn't, if you're listening to this, you had to have got some out of it. So I appreciate you coming by. If you want to find brad obviously it's the real bradley on instagram pick up the book book is still on sale on amazon everywhere books can be sold the hard way and you're what's your next you're speaking all over the place what's the next place they can see you live well um i think the 11th oh trafficking aversion yeah i'm keynoting with Richard Branson. The Trafficking Aversion. That's a big deal.

But you'll see me. Just go to bradley.com, L-E-A. Easiest way to find it, bradley.com. Thanks, Brad. Guys, we will see you next week. What's up, everybody? Thanks for joining us for another episode of Escaping the Drift. Hope you got a bunch out of it, or at least as much as i did out of it anyway if you want to learn more about the show you can always go over

to escaping the drift.com you can join our mailing list but do me a favor if you wouldn't mind throw up that five-star review give us a share do something man we're here for you hopefully you'll be here for us but anyway in the meantime we will see you at the next episode