Marketing Secrets with Russell Brunson - When You Follow the Framework, This Happens… Ryan Lee’s Inspirational Story and Strategies Revealed! | #Success - Ep. 79

Episode Date: October 15, 2025

In this episode of The Russell Brunson Show, I sit down with Ryan Lee (My buddy from elementary school that I’d lost touch with for over 20 years!), who built a wildly successful coaching business around landscape lighting (Yes… Landscape lighting!!) by following the Expert Secrets framework exactly as it’s taught. From posting his first awkward Facebook Live while locked in a hotel room, to closing high-ticket clients and building recurring programs, Ryan’s story is a real-world INSANE example of what happens when you take imperfect action and trust the process!! He went from running a service business and undercharging for his work to finding confidence, raising his prices, and turning his niche expertise into a movement. We break down the mindset shifts, the marketing strategy, and the business model behind it all…And how these same principles can work in any industry. Key Highlights: The moment he stopped waiting to be confident and started publishing anyway. How going live on Facebook every day built a loyal audience and filled his first beta high-ticket program that ultimately catapulted his business to success. Why charging more created better results for his clients and freedom for him! The exact framework he followed to turn one ‘niche’ skill into a scalable, purpose-driven business that truly is his calling! If you’ve ever wondered whether your idea is “too small” or your audience “too niche,” Ryan’s story will show you what’s possible when you take consistent action and follow the right playbook! See what Ryan’s built and how he teaches his craft at lightingforprofits.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://sellingonline.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://clickfunnels.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you're with Amex Platinum, you get access to exclusive dining experiences and an annual travel credit. So the best tapas in town might be in a new town altogether. That's the powerful backing of Amex. Terms and conditions apply. Learn more at Amex.ca. do you have a funnel but it's not converting the problem 99.9% of the time is that your funnel is good but you suck at selling if you want to learn how to sell so your funnels will actually convert

then get a ticket to my next selling online event by going to sellingonline.com slash podcast that's selling online.com slash podcast this is the russell brunson show what's up everybody this russell brunson and i'm here today with uh a podcast episode interview i'm actually really excited for so uh growing up in elementary school i had a friend named ryan lee and we went to elementary school together and high school or middle school together and high school together and then i didn't see him for like i don't know what 15 20 years something like that and then one day got a message from him and uh he was like hey man look what i'm doing I'm doing this lighting business.

And then he came to Fun Locking Live. And like just today's the first time we actually had more than like five seconds to talk to each other. I was just on his podcast. And now we're doing mine. And what's cool is what he's doing is he's built this really cool business teaching people who do landscape lighting, how to grow the companies and their businesses. And so I want to talk to him today about his story, what he's doing, a whole bunch of other

really cool things I think will be valuable for you guys. But mostly I'm just pumped to like how to reconnect with him and get to catch up. with him. It's been kind of fun. And I didn't realize that him getting into this world started with the TV show The Prophet. So, anyway, Ryan, how are you doing today, man? I'm glad to have you here. Dude, I'm stoked to be on here. It's kind of crazy because I literally, I was watching TV one day and I'm watching The Prophet. I mean, who doesn't like that show if you're an entrepreneur, right? Watching that and I'm like, uh, there's Russell Brunson. What, what's Russell Brunson doing on the profit? Like, he shouldn't be on the Prophet. I don't know someone on TV. Do I know someone on TV?

I literally go to Google and I'm sure I put in your name Russell Brunson the profit right and it's like click funnels whatever I'm like what the heck is a click funnel like that was this the weirdest name at the time you know and then all of a sudden a couple clicks later I'm pulling my credit card

out it was the 108 split test I'm like that thing got me man I was like that's cool because I was you know I owned a lighting business at the time and I was trying to figure out marketing I was testing Facebook ads Google and I was always trying to figure out how I could get more stuff. So I saw that and I was like,

heck yeah, take my money. And then the rest is history, man. I've been brainwashed ever since. How many years ago was that been? How many years have been doing this now? Do you remember when that was?

I think it was like 2017, 2018, because I sold my lighting business in 2019. And I know it was a couple years before that. So maybe 18. Okay. That's crazy. Six, seven years ago.

And then I heard about you had a funnel hacking live. but I hadn't, again, I didn't even know what a funnel was, so I'm not going to go to funnel hacking live yet. So there was one in Dallas, which I missed. And that's right when I found out about you and your company. And then I started like implementing it. And I was like, oh, this is cool. And then the first funnel hacking live I went to was in 2020, right before COVID.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, that, that happened in COVID is like a week later. It's crazy. Yeah, I think there was some controversy. They were saying, did COVID happen at funnel. We were the super spreaders. We spread it around the world. Yeah, we'll take credit for that.

It was awesome. Well, yeah, it's crazy because, like, again, for everyone, like, we went to elementary school together, middle school, high school, and then, and then, you know, so I'm curious. I want to know, like, post high school, it's last time we connected. And then you, like, walk us through like that to, like, you starting the actual landscaping business. That's the first part of the stories. You actually came out and learned this business became an expert and did that stuff before

you ever transition to other stuff. So walking through that part of the journey. Yeah, so actually when I went to, I went to Utah State, you know, and I got a marketing degree and just mainly because I was like, what do you get a degree in? And I had to pick one after like two years. And I'm like marketing. Sounds nice. Is that the same as sales? I think I like sales. So I didn't even know. Continued on with the, my father-in-law was like, so when are you getting your MBA? And I'm like, right now. So I decided to get my MBA. Oh, really? I didn't know that.

Yeah, I just went straight on, like, no work experience. You know, I just literally was like, okay, father-in-law, is this acceptable? So did that. But while I was in my MBA classes, I got married in college as well. And to get married, I didn't have any money. I was making like, you know, seven bucks an hour in college. My wife and I cleaned windows for the summer. We knocked doors at my mom.

I lived in my mom's basement. We knocked doors. And we made like 10 grand, which at the time I was like, holy cow, we made 10 grand. get married. And so I thought, yeah, I was like, we're going to take over the world. And so I thought that like, okay, like maybe I should be an entrepreneur. Maybe I could do this. But let's face it, it wasn't a business. It was a, it was a summer job that I had made some money. I moved, had to go back to school. So I stopped doing that. But while I was in my marketing classes, while I was doing my MBA, I, my brother had moved down to Texas from Utah. And he was trying to,

he was actually running from the law. Like, that's not a joke. He was literally like into drugs and all crazy stuff and he cleaned up his life and i said you should you should try window cleaning so he had started this little window cleaning business him and one other person were you know kind of doing all the work and i'm thinking man how could we blow up this window cleaning business like now he's got street smarts i've got the book smarts like let's do this well we i convinced my wife we're going to do this window cleaning business we go down to texas and we make an offer on a house we buy this house while we're like there we're sitting in his hot tub i'm not kidding all good ideas happen in a hot tub He goes, hey, when you get down here, we should talk about lighting as well.

And I'm like, what, what do you mean? And he said, yeah, I just did these two landscape lighting jobs. And they were $4,000 each. And I'm like, four thousand, like, who pays $4,000 to put lights on their house? You know, we went to East Sandy Elementary. People don't spend $4,000 to put lights on their house. That was insane. And he's like, yeah, I guess it's like, that's not even like a very big job.

I'm like, dude, if what you're telling me is true, I'd much rather sell a $4,000 lighting job, then a $250 window cleaning job, maybe we should do a lighting company. He goes, serious? I'm like, yeah. So we go to GoDaddy that night and we buy the domain. We tried to buy a bunch of domains. They were already taken, but we bought Majestic Outdoorlighting.com. And that's how we got into the outdoor lighting business.

Dang. What year was that? Was that? 2007. Okay. And then how many years did you run that business for? So I went through all the phases. The first two years sucked, but I lied to myself.

It's the honeymoon phase. I'm like, hey, this is awesome. I'm an entrepreneur. Work for ourselves. Yeah. I talked to my friends back at home in Utah, and I'm like, yeah, you guys aren't making any money and you have to work till five every day. And I'm like, I have to work till 11 at night.

Like, I was working crazy hours, not making any money. But we went through the ups and downs, went through all so many painful learning experiences growing that business. Because even though I had a marketing degree in MBA, I didn't learn about how to build culture. I didn't learn about all the things. that you're going to experience as an entrepreneur. But it was cool because I actually got paid

to build that business and learn all those experiences. So I had that business for 12 years. My brother and I actually were partners, and he bought me out mainly because it wasn't working the way I wanted. See, I wanted to, like, he wanted to go left to the lake. We were like wake surfing, like, whenever we wanted. And I was like, but I think there's more out there.

Like, what about if we go to Houston and Austin and then we do world domination and get 20, locations and sell the private equity for 200 million you know like that was where I was thinking he's like dude you work too much like why do you want to work so hard so he wanted to go left to the lake i wanted to go right to the promised land and what happens we go down the middle and no one's happy he works he thinks i work too much i think he doesn't work enough and i learned these lessons the hard way but um there was a book i read called traction which really breaks down like visionary and integrated and all these things. And I knew at that moment that something was going to have to

happen. And again, he's super street smart. He's not the business guy. So it just made sense for him to buy me out. And we moved back to Utah and been here since 2019. Is your brother still still run the business now? Yeah. Yeah. Actually, you know, people were like, so like, did it grow when you left? Like, were you holding him back? You know, or did it crash and burn? It's pretty much maintained. I mean, he's had some up years. He's had some down years. But it's pretty much where it's at. And luckily we had good enough systems and branding and advertising and stuff in place. So yeah, he's still running that business. That's cool.

Before we get to like the new coaching business you end up building, I'm going to go back to like what were like the, as you were building that business and growing up, what were the unique things that you like, you learn that now you're coaching people on that, you know, like typically when someone goes through a process, that's when they're learning and discovering and it becomes the success story for your future like coaching business. But I'm curious what things you discovered or figured out that nobody else was really doing that, that, you know, gave you the ideas for this future stuff. It's crazy when you ask that, because I had no idea that God was preparing me for all of this, right? Yeah.

I thought I was so, so cool, you know, I was like, hey, why would these people charge so much? We're going to go into this market. And people at the time, when you talk about lighting, it's kind of charged per light. And so people were charging like $225 per light installed with why. and transform all the stuff. And I was like, dude, we could do this for like 175. And so that was our strategy. I'm like, this genius, like we're going to give them the same thing, but less price.

Well, that ended up being the thing that held me back for years, why I couldn't afford to grow. And I'm like, how do these people do it? How do they afford to get a shop? How do they get an admin? How do they have 12 trucks? And I'm like, duh. They charge the right price to be able to afford to do it.

So that was kind of like learning moment, number one. It took years to figure that out, unfortunately. It's like, oh, yeah, I have to start acting like the company I want to be, not like who I am today. And the company that I want to be that's doing millions and millions of dollars a year is going to have multiple salespeople. It's going to have a shop, it's going to have an admin. It's going to have a secretary. It's going to have all these things. And what does that company, how much does that cost to run?

I figured these things out. And again, a lot of this, I didn't know what mentors were. I didn't know what coaching was. I would ask my clients because in lighting, your clients are successful people. They don't need landscape lighting. They're buying it because it makes them feel. And so these are CEOs, business owners. And I would ask them, I'd say, hey, what do I do here?

And they go, have you thought about this? I'm like, no, I've never thought about that. So they became my mentors. And luckily, again, I got paid mentorship. They were paying me to mentor me, which was really, really cool. So pricing was the number one thing. Then it became the challenge of growing the business. And it's like, okay, how do we get more leads?

We did all the traditional stuff, direct mail, social media, all the stuff. I wanted to go more. And I realized at some point, I'm like, how do we get into the nicer homes? I would see, like, how did that lighting company get that $5 million house? And because our marketing wasn't working. And I realized it came through. We got a referral one time from a landscaper into a project. It was like a $25,000 lighting job.

I'm like, dude, I just wanted to do $25,000 lighting jobs all day. And it came from the landscaper. So I'm like, light bulb, you know, no pun intended. Like, there's probably other landscapers that could refer us. and other home builders and pool builders. And so we really doubled down on that strategy. So that was the second thing was like, okay, how do we scale this business and get high qualified leads?

So number one was premium pricing. Number two was qualified leads. And then the third one, I didn't really realize this was a big thing until I started my coaching business is I'm kind of lazy. Like I don't like to follow up. Like if I go and meet with you and you want lighting, I'm just going to be like, hey, do you want lighting? And you're going to say, I don't know.

I got to think about it. it. And I'm going to be like, what do you got to think about? Like, I'm going to call overcoming objections. Like, I'm just going to help you make a decision because I don't want to follow up with you. I know you're not going to answer my phone call anyway, you know? And so I just literally because of my like, I don't want to follow up with you and play that game. I'm just going to get a yes, no, or the police called on me when I'm at your house. Okay. And so those three things kind of became the pillars of, of like our coaching business. Like, it wasn't the design. It wasn't the installation. Most people in business don't start businesses because they're good business

people. They're good technicians. They're good at building funnels. They're good at installing lights. They're good at design. They're good at whatever. But they lack these business kind of fundamentals. And so those three items kind of became the pillars of of landscape lighting secrets. That's so cool. I love it. Um, okay, so then fast forward. So then you, you sell a thing, you move back to Utah. You watch a TV show The Prophet. Was the first thing, like, I'm going to go start a landscape coaching business? Or was like, that directly went to? Or I'm curious like, where that kind of evolved.

If it was like me, we're like, I'm going to make potato gun DVDs. Or if you like, what was the next step in the process? Dude, that was not on the agenda at all. And in fact, I didn't know it was on the agenda. People were like, what are you going to do? You're going to start another lighting business? I'm like, I think people in Utah are cheap. I grew up there.

I don't want to start a lighting business there. I started doing digital marketing because I had, I had ran my own marketing before. So I had friends that are like, hey, we saw how you built that lighting business up to millions of dollars a year. Could we hire you to build our site? Could we hire you to do this stuff? And I was like, sure. So I literally just kind of on the side started this digital marketing agency. And I remember watching some of your videos and you'd be like, you know, what are you called to do? And I'm like, I'm not called to do anything. Like, I don't even know what you're talking about, you know? And I go to funnel hacking live. This is my first one in Nashville. There was a guy,

I can't remember if he was like one of the speakers on stages or I met him, but I remember he, he had a course on how to raise goats. And I was like, how is this guy doing like a million dollars a year on a course on how to raise goats? And so I was like, is my calling to teach people how to raise goats? Like, could that be my calling? I could do that. And so I remember thinking of all the things. They're like, and you would be like, what are you an expert at? What are you good at?

And I'm like, I'm not that egotistical. Like, I'm not that I like to ride dirt bikes. I mountain bike, I surf, I do stuff, I snowboard, I know lighting, but like, I'm not better than you. Like, who am I to say that I'm better than you and that I'm going to like be the leader? Like, I really struggled with that, Russell. I was seriously just like, I'm no, I'm no better than anyone else at anything. But I kept meeting person after person after person at Funnel Hiking Live, just, you know, because you guys have us like hugging each other and high fives and running to be the first one in and stuff like that.

So I'm meeting these people, and I was, and they would, and they told me, they're like, dude, when you, when you talk about landscape lighting, like, you light up. That's your thing, man. I'm like, it is. Like, what do you mean? That's my thing. And like, and I didn't listen. I didn't listen at the time, but that's what they were saying. And I realized that through that moment, I was like, okay, maybe I, maybe I've got something here, but I think landscape lighting's too small. I was like, I'm probably, there's probably two people. I'll build this funnel. I'll build this funnel. I'll, Like nine months later, they'll hire me and then I'll be broke and I'll go back to digital marketing. I'll do an agency, you know? So I decided, I was like, you know what, I'm going to do home service. Like if you're a painter, an HVAC company, like all these things. If you're dealing with a homeowner, my pricing, my sales, my marketing strategies will help. And I really felt like that's what I was going to do. So what I did is I launched a funnel right after a funnel hacking live.

and I did a I can't remember exactly what the offer was but I did something like give me your email for free if you want or I think I sold a seven it was a seven dollar thing PDF and then their upsell was 47 and then the up then I did an upsell to that was 300 for like the super course you know what I mean and I'm not kidding dude I must I can't remember how much I spent on Facebook ads but I spent money I drove traffic to it we're driving from Utah to Idaho and I'm telling Lindsay I'm like I just turn this thing on like this is pretty exciting I don't know what's going to happen you know and like an hour goes by money we could yeah I didn't tell her that part but we're driving and all sudden thing and I get a

notification from Stripe and I'm like I just made $7 like holy cow I'm driving on the freeway and I made $7 I didn't talk to anyone I didn't do anything this is crazy and then all sudden like an hour later I get $47 and then like 10 minutes later 47 and 47 I'm like we're going to be rich like this is crazy we're driving now the freeway making money and it was about like four days later I got I got a 300 dollar purchase and I was like oh my gosh like this is insane and then what happened was a couple things I started to do the math and I was like okay I spent $2,000 on ads and I made 450 or whatever it was like like the math didn't math you know yeah and i remember um thinking i need help like i definitely need help

and um i literally remembered all these conversations i had with people at funnel hiking live they had hired coaches i had never hired a coach like i almost thought a coach at this time was a scam because like if they're so good at it like why aren't they doing it yeah like i didn't i didn't hate on coaches but i didn't love on them you know what i mean and i'm i'm kind of like i can figure this out you know like you don't know who i am but i just couldn't and so i actually hired a coach and the thing that they told me they go dude with what you have right now you could keep doing it and you're already you're already doing this and you just math doesn't work right now but you will but why not just go high ticket and i was like i don't know what that means and i just sell

just sell it for 6 000 and i'm like just sell it for 6 000 okay and so i did i literally followed like their whole blueprint step by step you're going to do this you're going to do this you're going to DM these people are you can do this and the goal was to get one to 10 people to be my beta clients and really have a proof of concept before i spent years building it all out and the craziest thing i got i got four people to commit to i told him hey it's a $5,800 offer i'm giving it to you guys for half price but i got four strangers to give me 2,900 bucks and we launched landscape lighting secrets that's so cool you just recall deemming people to get those leads or how What was the possible?

Yeah, I basically, so I joined all the Facebook groups that had to do with landscape lighting. There was like two or three and then even some landscaper ones, which landscape lighting, a lot of people are like, what the heck is that? It's a thing, guys. It's like the first time I heard about a funnel. I'm like, what the heck is that? It's a thing.

So there's actually, should I explain it? Like, so I, so was crazy. One of Ryan's students actually did mine. So 10 years ago, uh, when we bought our new house, um, we're kind of like this back street and the side of it, like just kind of like off the beaten, path and our street's really dark because there's no street lights everyone's on five acres and all the houses are spread out and so when we come in at night our house is just like dark and you're like uh and then um we saw there there had been lights at one time somewhere but they

they didn't so the lights like they light at the trees and so every tree like like would pop up and glow right but we tried to we tried to get him to work we couldn't and so then i was like googling like how to get landscape like i don't know what was even called it lights for your yard and eventually this guy's ad popped up somewhere i clicked on it he had pictures of like like houses that like all the lights were lit up at night and I was like oh that's like so we called him he came out and um he actually went through and he asked me he's like he's like so do you opinionate do you want to tell us where you want lights or or he's like I'm kind of an artist I can figure it out for you I was like oh please like yes do your art so he went and like I mapped out our whole yard

and then drew all the lights and everything and like we're gonna lie this tree and this tree and this tree and back here and like friend yard backyard everything and um and after she showed to us like that's insane yes we're in and then I can re quote it I think it was like, in my head of things like $40 or $50,000. It was not cheap. It was like, oh, and then he came and did it. And then, you know, a week later, they turned lights on and like, it was insane. You walked our yard.

It's just like, this is amazing. So that's what landscape lie. I wouldn't have known that's what it is, but it's, yeah, it goes in like, like, they strategically pick all the spots in your yard, so it just looks insane. So it's super nerdy. I forget that people aren't into it, but yeah, like, we're like analyzing the tree and the height of it and the width of it and like what color temperature. which is going to be right and it really like some lights that go up from the ground somewhere

in the tree that you pop down for other aesthetics and different things and yeah they're insane look at you you're a lighting designer it's funny because like so just guys over right prior this i was on ryan's podcast talking and then scott who runs the lighting company in boise who haven't talked to in five years he texted me like i saw your man ryan's uh ryan's uh podcast he's like i'm in his coaching program done it all stuff that's so awesome he's kind of crazy but so cool so i interrupt you i can't remember we were at but i got excited there. Where were we? Yeah. I was like, that's what landscape lighting is. So I seriously can't remember. $6,000 are offers. So you just crushed a bunch of $6,000 are offers. You were DMM,

DM people from the Facebook groups. All I said was I said, hey, I help people. And again, I got this from my coach. Like everything I teach now, I'm like, guys, I hired a coach. It literally collapsed time. It would have taken me 10 years to figure this stuff out. I figured out in like a month, you know. So I use the script. I join all these groups. I say, hey, I help landscape lighting business owners, gain freedom from their business by helping them double their profits. Do you need help with this? And I just use his framework, you know, like, what do you help them do? How do you help them do it?

And it was like, I help them get more freedom. That's what they wanted at the time. They wanted freedom from their business because they were stuck in it. And I help them doing this by doubling their profits. Half the people were like, you're an idiot. Yeah, you can't double my profits. You know, like rejection, rejection, rejection. Some people were like, yeah, how would you help me make more money?

Like, let's hop on a call. And I hop on a call and I start selling these people. and they were like this is amazing and this is this is the craziest thing russell i get these i get these people like engaged the very first person to commit he and i'm a i'm a big time like clothes on the spot kind of got like what do you got to think about let's you know like do you is your wife really going to help you make a better decision here all this stuff but the guy's like not going to decide he goes let me make a couple of calls and no one knew who i was i didn't have a brand or anything like that and um which i do got to tell you about facebook lives um he he he he he he

He ends up calling his best friend who happened to live a town over from where my lighting business was in Texas. And he goes, Cameron, do you know this Ryan Lee guy? He says he's like a big shot and he's going to help me grow my business to millions of dollars and he did all this stuff. And he goes, yeah, I know Ryan Lee. I can't stand that guy. And I'm like, he's telling me the story. I'm like, oh gosh, here we go. He goes, yeah, I can't stand that guy.

He's like, I'm not kidding. Every single time that I went up against him or his company. company, we never got the deal. He beat us out every single time. He goes, I'd sign up for his program in a heartbeat. And so he called me back and he goes, send me the link. Let's do this. My very first client, like that doesn't happen. So, you know, God is in everything. Like, he totally directed this thing. And then all of a sudden I have that story to now share with others as they're coming and joining the program. So we got our first four beta clients, told them what the what the plan was. And I told him. I was like, guys, you might lose all your money. You know what I mean? Like, to be clear,

I've never done a coaching business. I taught my wife how to snowboard. And that didn't go well. We almost got divorced on the mountain. So just because I'm good at lighting doesn't mean I'm good at teaching it. We're about to find out. You're probably my best. That's too cool. So that was the first four. That's crazy. So then what did it look like after that? You do the beta group that does guys have success with it and everything? Oh, yeah. They got they got success. And it was me teaching those fundamental things, I realized I need to get them a quick win. Like, I need that 2,900 back in their pocket ASAP. And so I narrowed it down to like, I got to help them raise their price, which they can do that without spending any more money.

They don't have to like buy a new truck. They don't have to do advertising. I go, I literally just coached them up like confidently. Like on your next deal, just add like $2,000. And worst case, you don't get it and you can lower it down. And they're like, okay, they come back. They're like, they're just made extra $2,000. They're like, yes. It worked. Huh, sweet. Yeah, like next one, do $3,000. So the ROI was like instant, right? And so I knew I was on to something. The thing I wanted to tell you to at that funnel hacking live,

you were on this kick of telling everyone do Facebook live, do Facebook live, do Facebook live. Dude, I had never done, I mean, I had posted like two times ever on Facebook before, okay? But I, in that freaking hotel, the Gaylord Hotel, with all the waterfalls in the background, I go and hide in my room. I wasn't, I didn't, I see, you know, at your event, there's people, what's up, man, I'm so-and-so, and like, they got their camera crews and everything else. Oh, no, I'm not walking around.

I locked the freaking door so no one could come in the room. I turn on my camera. Someone gave me this idea because I'm terrified. They go, create a fake Facebook group and go live in that so you can get used to seeing yourself because it's awkward. So I do that. I hit live.

Hey, guys, this is Ryan Leam. I'm going to share my origin story. because uh because that's what you called it you know i'm like trying to like follow your your teaching to the tea and i'm like sure i'm not supposed to say origin story but i'm like uh origin story and heroes journey and all this stuff it was so awkward all of a sudden i see and at the time you see this like little human icon like pops up like says one i'm like is that that that must be me like one because i'm in a private group it's just me all of sudden it goes to two then it goes to three i'm like oh shit i'm on a i'm live what like i'm not in a private group i'm

I didn't know how to go live in a private group. I didn't select it. So I'm live on my, I'm on my real feed. Your mom's like, hey, Ryan, what's happening? Yes, heart, you know, heart emoji. You are the best. And I'm like, stop commenting on my stuff. Yeah, it was super awkward.

I was like, why am I doing this? I kept talking. And someone was on there. They're like, oh, I'm at funnel hacking live or something. I don't know, like how all the stuff worked, but they're like, you got this. I think we had just, friend. I think we had just connected that day. They're like, send me your Facebook or whatever, you know?

And I'm like, thanks for the kind words. And I just decided, no, I'm sticking with this. I did 30, it was 30 days. I was like, I'm a new Facebook live every day for 30 days. I would always hide. I never did it in public, even with my family around. I'm like, hey, guys, go somewhere else. I need to like talk to my phone.

And after 30 days, I felt like, hey, I'm going to go. So I did 60 days. And then I did 90 days. I kept going. And that was the backbone. So that started like in the event was like end of February. So that was the backbone for these people. when I would reach out to them, I didn't know this because the only time, the only person watching

literally was my mom. It's funny you mentioned that, but like she was the only one. Well, I found out that like I would get on the phone with some of these people and they go, hey, that's really cool. We saw you took your family to Moab. And I'm like, you saw it. When did you see my family in Moab? What?

Like, oh, yeah, that video. And I'm like, huh? And like, oh, that was really cool what you said about the pricing thing. I'm like, what are you talking about? And they're like, I didn't know that people watched Facebook lives later. You know what I mean? There was zero. people except for my mom commenting and all of a sudden I go back and look I'm like whoa this got like 50 views oh this got 100 oh this got 200 like

I didn't realize but I was building an audience and I was just trying to be like obedient to the the structure like marry the process divorce the result like I'm okay with that so I was just doing that and so I didn't realize when I was DMing these people they already did know my name like they had seen me contribute online they'd see me contribute in the Facebook groups I went added value I never made an offer I would someone want to know what light to use I'd tell them. If they wanted to know how much to charge, I'd tell them. I mean, I was so active in those groups answering everyone's questions. So, yeah, that was huge for me. It was doing those Facebook lives. So cool. That's crazy.

So what does a business look like now? Do you have other products, courses, event? Like, I love a screen, like a picture, so people understand kind of where it's involved to now. Yeah, it's so cool. I mean, I hope I can admit this to you because you did tell me to model what works, okay? So if we end the recording now, but like, I literally, just try to model what you what you've taught you know and we have awards now so we have a hundred

k club when someone you know makes our first hundred grand after joining that we give them an award and a t-shirt uh lmc the lighting millionaire club we have a ton of people that have won that we have our pent a million and then we've got one person that just earned their uh lmcx which is 10 million after joining our program so it's like we're gonna have to we're gonna have to create a 50 million we're going to create a hundred million dollars um and now we do events so So we do like, we have our own in-person events and things like that as well, not only just for our community where we have members-only meetups, but we launch like Lighted Up Expo where we're doing that as like a, not like a fulfillment event, but like a recruiting event. So people come to that and they're there to, you know, just like funnel hacking live. Like we give away so much value.

But then we did our first, my first ever, I actually messaged you after this. This was in March. I did my first ever lighted up expo, okay? And up until then, the largest crowd I'd ever, like, pitched to was about a crowd of 50. And you know what's funny? I started doing these events called Lanescape Lighting Live. We had anywhere from 20 to 50 people there. Josh Latimer, who I hired is a big fan of yours.

It's been in your programs, all that. He goes, how many people do you, how many people do you sign up at these events? I'm like, zero. He's like, what? why don't how many do you do you not pitch and i'm like no i'm like they bought a ticket to an event i'm just going to give them what he's like what like why would you not make them an offer yeah and i'm like it took me a while to realize that like i was doing them a disservice you know and so my very first one i had like 25 people and i made a pitch i was so nervous i got three people and i was like

oh my gosh i got three and josh is like you need to get like 12 you know like that's terrible i'm like okay i'll get i'll get 12 but i you know confidence all these things i'm watching videos. I'm doing the perfect webinar. I'm trying to figure out all this stuff. So light it up Expo. Fast forward. Light up Expo. We had like 120 people in the room. The very first one, I'm making this pitch. I literally made in a one-hour presentation. This was insane. I still can't believe this happened. I can't remember the exact number, but it was at least $225. It was probably $250,000 off a one-hour presentation. So cool. It doesn't even make sense. I'm like, How did that just happen?

I messaged you right after. I'm like, you won't believe this, but I just made this pitch. And I just modeled everything that you do. Oh, cool. And I'm sure you would have gotten a lot more if you probably would have sold two million on it. But for me, it was a win. Oh, quarter million bucks from, from present. It's so cool, man.

I know. So crazy. So, yeah, the momentum just keeps building. You know, like, yeah, I mean, we do do different offers. Now we created a low ticket one. it's $97 a month it's a lighting academy so the people that aren't quite ready to invest or maybe they're a little skeptical of a coaching program we just give them an awesome like course that comes with like accountability and also like design training and install training so that's been good

for us you know we get people into that funnel and then we obviously make them an offer to be like hey now that you know how to design and install you need to make a lot of money so you need to join the fast past to success, which is landscape lighting secrets. So cool. Dude, I love it. I told you, I think on your podcast, but for everyone else, it's like, there's some people who are entrepreneurs coming to my world and then do this stuff. And then there's my normal world of my friends, family, people into school with who see

my Facebook posts and they always, either they ignore it all or once in. They're like, what are you doing? I'll tell them. And then they never, you know, crickets. So it's fun for me to see that's crazy. You came in and like, you saw it, figured it out, modeled it, had success. So it means a lot to me because it's just fun to watch it. And especially to see it in an industry like landscape lighting, which I wouldn't have,

if you would ask me at the time, I think this is a big market, I'm like, I don't have any idea. Like, I don't know how many people are doing it. It's so cool to see you like take it and in this little ecosystem, like to blow it up and have so much success with it. It's really cool. No, thanks for saying that. And it's kind of funny because I, on my podcast, I was asking you questions. Like, if you were a landscape lighting company, what would you do? And I told Lindsay before, I'm like, it's going to be interesting to see how he answers this

because he's not a landscape lighting expert, obviously. But you actually in real time gave some like really, really great advice. And I would say, well, people want to hear that podcast interview. How do they subscribe to your podcast to hear it? Go to lighting for profits.com and you can get on any platform there. I know some people on Apple, Spotify or YouTube, but lighting forprofits.com will get you there. And I would say, man, the old saying is true. riches are in the niches um and at first i i was doing this for money i was like i got to provide for

my family i mean i sold my lighting business but i didn't it was not a nine figure exit you know what i mean so it's like yeah i still got to produce for my family but um i didn't know what was going to work i i just knew that like you you you would say like what you're calling what do you call do and i'm like i called do anything and i realized okay maybe there is and now i know my calling like i know this is it there's so many i meet people every single day pretty much now and they they are in the position i used to be in and that's what you're calling is it's not about being better than someone it's not about being smarter or wealthier anything it's just like are you are you one page ahead like are you a little bit further along than someone else and it is it is not about the money it is so

rewarding now that i get to help these people and they're telling me dude i found your podcast like get changed my life. I'm like, tell me more. Like, that feels good. Like, that's crazy that that I get to do this. And it's landscape lighting. Like, it's the, it seems like the dumbest thing. Like it's lighting has truly changed my life. And, uh, it's just, it's magical that I get to do this. So it's surreal that I literally like reconnected with you this way because I think that gave me maybe some more confidence. Because again, I was kind of skeptical of coaches, but I'm like, I don't. Russell, he wasn't that talented at all. He's actually not. that I mean he's kind of good looking you know you're you're aging well let's just say that

thank you I went to the 20 year reunion I was like did they bring their parents like some people did not age well I was like did we graduate the same year some people did not age well so congrats russ thank you but but it it truly is just like I don't know I'm really grateful um I think just knowing that like dude I know you came from like east sandy elementary you came from Sandy like if and I don't want I don't really don't want you to take this the wrong way but like if you can do it anyone can do it you know and I definitely am not putting myself on the same level of pedestal or anything like that but I think we all have these callings within us and you help me find that you really did to be like man I can't and I just truly love it I get to nerd out on landscape lighting

and I get to help people at the same time like this is pretty epic yeah I love this I love the whole story and hopefully for everyone listening like like I'm big and like I'm big and like like seeing the patterns and how you're replicated but like your story's interesting because it's like you did a thing and you had success in it right and then but because it was like it was simple for you because you'd figure it out then when you're trying to figure your calling you didn't make sense like oh this is the common sense I was the same way like doesn't everyone understand what I'm doing but like that actually is your superpower and you take that and then it's like the more you serve the more you make and it just it it's it's uh it's such a cool path and I hope

anyone who's listening who's like somewhere in that journey or now maybe you're stuck in the job or the thing that the thing you love but you're you're great for the next thing like you're in that training ground right now where you're learning the skill set you need to eventually be the expert right or maybe you're you're exit that or you're on the next part of your life and you're trying to figure out your what you're calling is like it's probably that thing that seems so simple to you that just seems common sense yet it's the thing that's so unique for other people and you could change their lives and be willing to do it and then when you figure that out then it's like okay you don't have to reinvent the will like you said like model the things that work like

do facebook lives do a high ticket do an event do like like the the past been been figured out it's just like plugging your version of that thing into into what works and then it just works so it's really cool so powerful i i literally can't understand like why someone wouldn't be able to do it i'm i'm no i'm just that shy guy in the back row of funnel hacking live that's hiding in the room doing facebook lives to now i do a weekly podcast and i get to do all this stuff just because i took action and it's like there is even people ask me i name my company after your i mean landscape lighting secrets like do you are you not seeing this right like yeah i hope that's okay i love it you but you tell people you're like model what works model what

works do all these things and so i'm like that's all i keep doing i'm not i'm not i'm not i'm not better i'm not smart than anyone else like if i can do it you can do it i i can assure you you're probably overthinking it and i think most people are trying to get everything perfect and i'm just a fan of like imperfect progress like let's just go yeah so cool well man first off great to reconnect. Thanks for being on the podcast and sharing this with everybody. I hope they all do go, even if you're not going to be a landscape lighting person, you should go listen to the podcast because that would be kind of fun for them to hear to that side. But also like you're teaching marketing principles and sell like they apply to other

businesses. Like, you know, I still, I study. I remember back in day I bought Joe Polish's carpet cleaning marketing course and people are like, why would you buy, you don't know a carpet cleaning company? I'm like, dude, Joe Polish is really, really smart. And I studied and I learned I got so many things from that I could apply. So yeah, people can go connect to you and just like start learning the things that you do and how they can apply to their business too. So anyway, so fun to connect, man. Thanks for being on the podcast. Thanks for doing all this stuff.

And hopefully we have a chance to go hang out again. So I'm in real life. It would be fun. Sounds good. Thanks, Russell. Really appreciate you, man. Yep. All right.

Thanks, man.