REAL AF with Andy Frisella - 1022. Q&AF: Fitting In While Growing, Finding Purpose In Success & Hiring Your First Employee

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

On today's episode, Andy answers your questions on how to grow without drifting away from friends and family, how to find fulfillment after achieving major goals, and what to know before hiring your first employee.

Now my jury box old, counted millions in a... This is up, guys, it's Andy Fricela, and this is the show for the realists. Take a goodbye to the lies, the fictness, and delusions of modern society, and welcome to motherfucking reality. Guys, today, we have Q&AF. That's where you submit the questions, and we give you the answers. DJ's going to tell you how you can submit your questions.

Yeah, guys, we want your questions. Please email them in to Ask Andy at Andyficella.com. That's one way to do it. You can also check the link in the description below. Submature questions there or just drop them in the comment section of the Q&AF videos on the YouTube Now guys, this is your first time listening we do have other shows within the show we have crews the internet We call a CTI That's where we put topics up here on the screen we talk about what's going on we speculate

And then we talk about how we the people have to solve these problems going on in the world Sometimes we also have real talk real talk just five to 20 minutes and me giving you some real talk and then we have 75 hard verses 70 high Hard Verses is where people who come on the show who have completed 75 hard and transformed their lives. If you're unfamiliar with 75 hard, I don't know where you've been, but it is the initial phase of the Live Hard program, which is the world's most famous mental transformation program ever. And you get that for free at episode 208 on the audio feed. It's only on audio. It's not on YouTube.

You can also get a book. The book is called The Book on Mental Toughness. You get that at Andy Fursala.com. It has everything that is inside the Live Hard program, plus a whole bunch of extra content about mental toughness, why it's important, how to cultivate it and use it in your life. Now, the book is not free, by the way. But if you're someone who likes to know the ins and outs and all the details,

like I am, it's a hell of a book. With that being said, we are the biggest show in the world that does not run ads. And we do that for a very simple. reason. I never want you to think that what I'm saying is being forced or paid for me to say. I'm going to give you my honest takes. And so in exchange for that, I ask very simply that you help us grow the show. If the show makes you think, if it makes you laugh, if it gives you a new perspective, if you learn some shit, do us a favor and share the show. All right. So don't be a ho. Share the show. What's up, man?

Salutations. Greetings. Greetings. Fine shitschitz. Kenizhua. Mitsubisi, soy sauce. I speak. Kamasaki Toyota.

That's right. That's right. Dave's like, I can understand them. What's going on, man? Nothing, dude. Yeah, beautiful day, dog. Yeah, beautiful day out here. It's great.

It's been good the last two days. It's been all right. You know, I wasn't planning on it being great because we called for, like, storms and shit. But it's been perfect. Perfect. It's coming tomorrow. Is it? It's coming tomorrow.

Hey, it can come on Monday and Tuesday, man. I will take the weekend. Yeah, weekend tonight. You know, we're both out riding today. This is Sunday, by the way. We're recording this. It is. A lot of people have been asking me.

They've been asking me about all the bike content I've been putting up. And they think that, like, that's new to me, right? I'm getting a lot of, you know, it's okay. But a lot of people saying, hey, be careful. Wear a helmet and this and that. Wear your seat belt. Yeah. Look, guys.

I've been riding bikes since I was eight years old. All right. Dirk bikes. I've had a street bike literally since I was 17 the entire time. And I have multiple bikes. And that bike that you guys have been asking about, that's not a new bike. I've had that for over a decade. The reason that you've never seen me post about it is because for a while I took a hiatus from riding motorcycles.

And the reason that I took a hiatus from riding motorcycles. cycles is because I have a lot of people who depend on me and we are to a point now where the companies are pretty much self-sustaining. I'm not the CEO anymore. I do help with things. But if something were to happen to me, we'd be okay. So I'm back to doing shit that I actually want to do. And so I just want to let you guys know that because I've been getting lots of questions about it. Um, not a midlife crisis. No, yeah, no. It's something I've always, been into and for a while there it was just something that uh you know we had to start taking precautions you know um things that people don't think about like my brother and i never fly on the same airplane

my business partner and i never fly on the same airplane these are things that we do to ensure that if something were to happen everything would be okay and uh you know i got to live a life too man and these are things that i enjoy so i just wanted to mention that because a lot of people are been asking me about it. It has been a minute, but how's it feel? You know, the first day I was out, it felt a little, it was, I was a little wobbly. I got, you know how like when you first start getting, it felt like when you first start riding kind of on the road where you're like, you're, it's kind of not relaxing because

you're like, you're nervous. Yeah. But really after like 30 minutes, dude, it all went away. Everything came back. Yeah. And I feel good. There's nothing else like it. There really isn't.

I mean, I'm still a car guy. I love cars. I'm always going to love cars way more than bikes. But, uh, it is. a totally different thing. It's something about just strapping a fucking powerful engine between your nuts. Well, there's just something there.

I'm used to that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. There's something there. No, I'm just saying, dude.

Like, uh, there's just nothing. Like, yeah, it's a different thing. And, you know,

I think for all of you guys that ride, you know, my, recommendation will always be, you know, try to stay out of traffic, dude. I think,

you know, riding is an amazing thing. It's very fun. Um, But riding through the city and on the highway and in traffic and lane splitting and all that shit, bro. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when. And, uh, you know, just, just be smart.

Oh, yeah. So. Oh, yeah. I know there's guys that are listening right now. I'd be like, you're a pussy if you don't lane split and ride it every day and ride it all. Okay. Well, then I'm a pussy. Like, you know, whatever you say.

But it ain't worth being stupid. Dude. I've had a number of friends over the years who have passed away from bikes. Same. Yeah, dude. And it's something that, you know, the minute you don't use your fucking brain, you could be a fucking mark on the asphalt. And, you know, people are wearing a t-shirt with your fucking face airbrushed on it.

That's right. You know what I'm saying? That's right. That's right. I've had to mature a lot from riding. Yeah. Especially with kids. Yeah.

You got kids and should be like, when I first started riding, the amount of side mirrors that I fucking punched off. Well, just from being a fucking, you know what I'm saying? Sometimes people deserve it. Some people do. That's the other thing. You guys that don't ride, you don't understand what you're doing when you get close to a bike or you're riding its blind spot. All it takes is one fucking time of a slight mistake. It's not like a car where you're like, oops.

You motherfuckers that text and drive and don't pay attention. You are fucking assholes. And on top of that, give them their space. Don't ride up on their back. you know, give them plenty of room and, you know, be courteous and watch out, you know, like, I got cut off like twice just on the way here. I know, dude. You know what I'm saying?

People just pulling out. It's way more dangerous than it used to be. Before texting, it was so much easier to ride because people were paying way more attention. Yeah. But now you got all these cars were not as fast back then either, right? Oh, yeah. We have buggies actually. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, we had buggies. It was a lot easier when it was horse and buggy. That's right. Yeah. Model T's, man. It's just annoying how unaware and how disrespectful drivers are to riders. You know?

It's like, dude, fuck you guys. Yeah. No, for sure. So unless you're on a road bike, then fuck you. That's right. Yeah. Well, that's a whole different conversation. Yeah, road bikers.

Cyclists. I'm talking about motorcycle. The road bikers, there's something wrong with y'all. You know, you don't. You know what I'm saying. Is that the next stage? I guess. Like is that where we go next?

I guess. You know what I'm saying? No, I'll fucking remember. We get the skin tight suit, the helmet. That will never happen. Fucking clicky shoes. Yeah. They own the road.

That's right. That's right. Fuck, man. Hell yeah, dude. Guys, listen, it's going to be a great show. I got three good ones for you. All right. Make some people better today.

Guys, Andy, question number one. Hey, Andy. DJ, the team. I'm about to turn 21 here in a few weeks. And I've been working on myself a lot the last couple of years, getting ready for the real world. My mindset, my fitness, et cetera. I'm finishing school next semester with a degree in accounting. I have a good place to work lined up.

Things are going really well. What I am struggling with is when I'm around certain friends or even family, I feel like I don't fit in. I don't feel like I fit the same. I came from nothing. Most of my close family is slightly overweight and they continue to make bad decisions. I just chose not to. Thanks to your help and all that you do. I don't want to think I'm better than anyone, but I also don't want to shrink back and stay comfortable.

How do you handle that without becoming arrogant? What is arrogant? Errogant is a label that they're giving you because you're trying to improve yourself. Trying to improve yourself and be better and build and create and become what you see inside of you is not arrogant. That doesn't make you better than them. That's just how they perceive it because they're not doing fucking anything. Okay. So when they say that to you, you have to understand that it means nothing.

Okay. It means nothing. Nothing. You should give it zero energy. You should think about it zero percent. You should really just understand. that those people are going to be the exact same place, the exact same people doing the exact same things

when you are 41 that they are now when you're 21. You have to understand that. So anything that you take from them, that is anything other than, hey, man, I really, you know, whatever I can do, I know I don't know much, but I'll help you anyway I can. I hope you make it, let's make it. And they cheer.

Anything other than that is probably terrible information. Terrible information unless, which is rare, they are willing to tell you why they haven't been able to be successful and be honest about it. But most people aren't. Most people make up stories. They talk about, you know, how they got screwed over or the, you know, the challenges that they weren't able to overcome or the victimhood that the world has bestowed upon them. and these people are cancerous to the mindset and the drive and the ambition that you have. Anybody out here listening,

if you have goals and you have dreams and you want to be better and these losers call you arrogant, you have to understand that that means fucking nothing. Arrogant is when you're overestimating your own importance and your own abilities. And dude, all you're doing is trying to be better. That's not arrogance.

Okay. Come to me in 10 years or five years when you're making a few million bucks a year and you think you're Elon Musk and I'll tell you you're an arrogant fuck. But that's coming from me. That's coming from someone who's further down the road. You should never listen to people who are not further down the road with you when it comes to criticism because their criticism comes from a place of insecurity. It does not come from a real place. Okay. And you have to understand these people.

will sell themselves on these stories that are total bullshit about why they never became who they wanted to become. And they will sell themselves so hard on that story. They will eventually pretend that's what they wanted. They will say they will take pride in being the same. I'm the same motherfucker I was as I always was. Well, dude, that's pretty terrible. It's not good. The whole point of trying to go through the journey of life is growth.

improvement and progression and tapping your God-given potential that you were gifted with and bringing that into the world. And if you're bragging about being the same as you were five, 10, 20 years ago, your mind is fucked up. You don't understand what's going on. Okay. So you should give these people zero percent of your thought and your energy. Zero.

Pop, man. Yeah, I never switched up. Oh, bro. I've always been the same. That's your whole fucking problem, dude. Like, have you figured that out yet? You're drinking the same place. You're talking to the same people.

You're living in the same town. You're working the same job. You're fucking exactly the same. In fact, all this changes that you've gotten fatter and dumber and grayer and older and worse. So you're not actually even the same. You're worse than you were. And then they'll brag about it. Like it's some sort of, you know, badge of honor.

Oh, I'm the realest motherfucker out there because I'm the same. No, you're a dumbass. Okay, you're a dumbass, and you don't understand, and you've sold yourself and manipulated your own mind into believing that somehow doing nothing with your life is some sort of thing to brag about. There's nothing about you that's cool. Like, that's not cool. No, man. So stay on the path. Yeah.

Stay with it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I love it, dude. Oh. Is it interesting to it? I don't, like, do you see it?

I feel like that culture, especially with the young guys, right? Like, it's kind of like they're getting it. You know what I'm saying? Oh, yeah. Listen, the American ambition culture, the hardworking culture, the want to win culture is back in full swing with the young men and young women. It's fucking awesome. It's coming back. And, you know, you got to understand the reason that they don't, like the reason that young people struggle with this at 21 years old is because they don't have the perspective of someone who's 40.

They don't know Someone who's 40 Who has gone down the path that they wanted to go down that they were intended to go on That person Literally watched Their best friends The people they at one point Care the most about

Waste their entire lives They've seen it Okay, but when you're 21 you can't see that You don't understand where these people are going But I'm telling you that's what happens. And those people that are saying that same shit, I'm sure a lot of what I just said resonated with a lot of people, right?

Man, that's true. People do brag about staying the same. They do say it's real. No, that's not real. Real is saying, hey, I'm where I'm at and I'm not where I want to be, and I'm willing to do whatever the fuck it takes to get there. And I'm going to do it.

That's some real shit. That's real man shit. Okay. Real man shit is not living the same life over and over and over again for 60 fucking years and then, you know, struggling your whole life, bitching your whole life, complaining about your whole life, and then acting like you chose it. Okay? Like you wanted it.

You didn't fucking want that. You're a liar. You're lying. I love it, dude. Yeah, it's just weak-ass shit, bro. I love it, bro. I love it. Hell yeah, man.

Guys, Andy, let's get another question in me. Guys, Andy, question number two. Andy, I'm 29. I work in tech sales. And I've had a couple really good years financially. way better than I ever expected this early. The weird part is the things I thought would make me feel accomplished, money hitting my numbers, the recognition.

They don't hit the way I thought they would. It's like the high is shorter every time. And then I'm right back chasing the next thing. It makes me wonder if I'm chasing the wrong stuff, but I don't really know what else to chase. Did you go through that and were you technically, where you're technically winning, but it doesn't feel.

the way you expect it. A thousand percent. Oh, man. Okay. A thousand percent. Okay. Every single wealthy person, if they have any kind of introspective ability goes through this. All right.

In the beginning, when I was young, when I was 19, when I started in business, bro, I wanted boats and hoes and money, okay? Like, that's what the fuck I wanted. I wanted to make a lot of money. Right. I wanted to have cool shit. I wanted to have hot girls. I wanted all the shit that all the young men want.

Okay. And that's what I wanted. All right. So I worked to work to work to work to work to work to work to work. And eventually I got to a point where I made a lot of money. All right. And that was about for me, as you guys know, my first three years I made $0. My next seven years, I made $695 a month for a total of $58,380.

In my 11th year, I made $180,000 and I thought I was rich. And then the year after that, I made seven figures and I've never made less than that since then. Okay. So in 2000, this was so that would be 2011, 12. In 2014, 15, I had more money than I ever could imagine having because of what I had just been through being broke. Right. Yeah. That's a big change.

Huge change. Huge change. And I also hadn't like really upgraded my lifestyle. So I was like I was stacking cash. Oh, yeah. All right. So I got sick. I got pneumonia.

And for the first time in 14 years, I missed a significant amount of work. I missed 17 days of work. Okay. Work days, not just weekends like Monday through Friday. So it was like, you know, two weeks, two full weeks, right? Or three full weeks. Yeah. And I was so sick, dude.

I had pneumonia and it was really bad. And anybody who's had pneumonia knows like it is terrible. And I was laying on the couch and I was watching movies and, you know, just sitting there. And I watched, you know, I could pull up my banking app on my phone and I could see the money going in. And I watched my money keep going up. Everything was going good. But I was fucking miserable because I'm, I was at home pretty much alone for all that time.

I didn't see anybody at work. I didn't, I didn't get to socialize. It was bad. And like I was very depressed and it like clicked. Because up until then, money was the focus of the reason I started for the most part. Around 2010, I kind of had a, you guys know the story where I had this deal where my intent really switched. And that's when we started making money. But that's not, that's not part of this conversation.

So I never understood like you know you hear about these people that have everything and then they like blow their brains out and you're like what the fuck dude you had everything why the fuck would you do that? You have to understand they didn't have everything because everything they were used to everything. So it's like when you go somewhere and it's brand new you know if you go to Disneyland the first day you're like oh shit this fucking amazing right? The next day, Disneyland is probably a bad example. But the point is, if you go there for 200 days in a row, it's just what it is. All right. When you buy a new house and you go to the new house, you're like, oh my God, I love my house. It's so amazing.

Two, three years later, it's just home. Just home. Yeah. Yeah. So you get acclimated to the things around you. And this is why these wealthy people who have no goals, no ambition, no, no purpose past the point of making money gets so depressed. All right?

Because, dude, let me tell you something. And I've seen this shit. There's nothing more depressing than going to these rich people parties and seeing everybody wear the big jewelry and the nice watches. And by the way, I like the shit. It's not my fucking purpose in life.

You know, and they're taking all the group watch shots. And it's like, dude, aren't you guys tired of this shit? Like, like, and you know,

like they're drinking the expensive champagne. and everybody's hobnobbing. And dude, it's just like honestly, it's just fucking gay. Like, it really just is. Like, that's the only way I can say it. And it's very sad. It's very sad because a lot of these people are very empty. But it doesn't have to be that way.

It doesn't have to be that way. And it's not supposed to be that way. So when I was sick, I had this revelation. I'm like, oh, this, even though I wasn't the wealthiest guy, I was wealthy for me. Yeah. And, you know, I had out earned, you know, anybody that I personally knew, anybody in my family. And for me, like, I was like, dude, this is what you're, this is what I always, you know, what was supposed to do.

And it dawned on me like in a really, like, hard way. I said, fuck, this is why they kill themselves. This is why. and I realized that I needed to figure out how to make that go away. And so what I realized is that there are three things that you have to do in order to continue to feel what you're looking for, which is fulfillment, your ambition, your drive, not complacent. Yeah. Okay. So the three things.

Well, the first thing I figured out was. I had a bunch of people who had worked very hard for us that had helped us build this business. And I said, okay, they help me, I got to help them. And that was like the first thing I thought. Okay. So it changed my purpose from me to them, just like I did in 2011 when we changed the purpose from me to the customer, which is what sent the business on the track in the first place. So I did the same thing for my employees.

I said in my mind and in my heart, I said, okay, this isn't about you anymore. It's about them. All right. And so I switched that focus, which gave me more purpose. And there's three things that you have to have. Okay. You have to have. There are actually four things.

One, you got to have the right intent. Is the intent on yourself or is it on others? Okay. And if your intent is on yourself with your customers, you're going to lose. If your intent is on yourself with your employees, you're going to lose. Okay. It's a two-way street.

And if you focus on them, they will give to you and vice versa. That's how it works. So you got to have the right intent. Where's your intent? Is your intent on you? I would bet if I'm talking to you, your intent has been on just getting you some motherfucking coin.

That's what it's been. So audit your intent. All right. The next thing is there's three things that you have to have in order to feel happy on the process. Okay. And that's something that's very important for people to understand. Yes, the money's cool.

Yes, the success is awesome. But you know what I love the most of anything that I do is coming in here and being around the team. I love it, dude. I'm here every single day. I was just talking, I think out of the days that besides the times I've been out of town, I've probably, in six years, I've probably missed less than a week of days here. Okay. And that's Saturday and Sunday.

So I'm here every day because I love being here. And that leads into what I'm going to talk about here for a second, which I think you all need to pay very close attention to. All right. There's three things that you need to have that will bring you fulfillment and happiness. One, you have to have a purpose. Humans are meant for a bigger purpose. They're not just meant to trade some of their life for some money and then go spend some shit. That's not what it's about.

Now, I love all the shit. I've got all the cars. I've got cool, you know, I've got cool properties. I do whatever I want. I love this shit. That's my lifestyle. That's my standard. Okay.

And I'm not changing it. But it's not, it's not anything more than life experience. It's just, it's how I choose to want to live, right? I'm talking about real purpose, okay? What is your purpose? What are you building? What are you creating? What are you, what do you, what do you,

pursuing, who are you becoming, all right, and why. All right? So you have to have a real purpose. And if your purpose is just to make some money, eventually when you get it, you're going to feel how you're describing, all right? And everybody who makes money feels this way in the beginning and some never correct it. So this is very important for you guys to hear because I'm sure you're going to get to a point where you're making a lot of money if you listen to the shit that I tell you.

If you don't, you might not. But I'm going to tell you, if you listen to the shit, I tell you're going to win. So you got to have the purpose. Okay. The second thing is you got to be grateful and have gratitude for where you are at the moment. All right. Understand you may not be where you want to be, but you are a hell of a lot better off than a lot of other people. And you're a hell of a lot better off than the worst case scenario. And it doesn't matter how bad things are for you right now. It could be a lot worse. Okay. So even if you're at rock bottom, you're not really at

Rock bottom, bro. It could get a lot deeper, all right? Be grateful for where you are and grateful for the opportunity to move forward. And look at the small things. Even when I was broke, dude, and I didn't have shit. Part of my daily prayer at night was always, thank you, God, for making me who I am. And I wouldn't trade places with anybody on the planet. I love who I am and I love who you made me.

And I love the people in my life. and I would never, and I mean this, dude, I would never trade with anybody. I wouldn't trade with anybody on this planet. I like being me. I love the people in my life. And I've always felt that way, even when I didn't have any money. Okay. So you got to be grateful.

And the last thing is you have to practice discipline. You got to be able to cultivate the ability to control the things that you are in control of. These are very simple things that dictate. most of the outcome of our life, okay? This is what you eat. This is what you drink. This is what you put in your mind. This is who you associate with.

These are simple things with a few other things that you are in control of that dictate most of your reality. All right. So you have to cultivate the ability to be disciplined. This is the whole point of 75 hard and the live hard program. It's about teaching you that discipline is. not a trait that people are born with. It's a skill and it's also a perishable skill that you have to continue to invest in over time. If you can do these four things together, audit your intent, figure out what your purpose is and make it bigger than yourself, much bigger. And by the way,

you're going to have to redo your purpose many times over the journey because you're going to get to the point where you're at again, where you're going to feel like, well, yeah, I'm doing this, but it's, you know, I'm kind of, I'm kind of, well, then fucking make it bigger, bro. All right. You got to continue to make the purpose bigger as you go. This is why these wealthy people fucking are so miserable because they don't do that. They get to the point where they're, they buy a $30 million house and they got an airplane and they got a boat and they got all this shit. And, and they and they, and they fuck, what do they do?

They fucking drink all day. They drink started 11 o'clock in the morning. They, their life becomes a wreck and, you know, it's, that's no way to live. Okay. And by the way, that's not all wealthy people. That's just people that don't figure it out. There's plenty of people that figure it out.

So this whole fucking idea that all the fucking brokies say about, oh, rich people are so unhappy. Like they'll say this shit on Instagram. Yeah, but are you happy? Well, are you fucking happy? Right?

Like, oh, are you happy eating fucking ramen and driving a shit box and living in your shit, whole apartment. Are you happy? Right. Like you're not you don't have to have one or the other. You don't have to be poor to be happy. You can be very wealthy and be happy if you understand that that's not the focus of your entire life. And actually the way that you become wealthy is by having a big enough purpose that changes enough people or serves enough people that they trade you the money for it. You just don't understand the game. All right. So you got to have the purpose. You got to be grateful

for where you are, like I explained, and then you've got to be able to be disciplined. And if you could combine those four points, it will remove the feeling that you are having, which is very common amongst people who be, when they start making real money. Yeah. Dude, I want to ask you this, too, on the point of being grateful and practicing gratitude, right, did you mention, like, you did it when you were, when you were poor, when you didn't have anything. Is it harder to be grateful when you're poor versus when you're rich?

You don't know what it's like to be rich. It's just you're grateful. You know what I mean? Like when you're poor, you don't fucking know. And when you're rich, you know, and you're like, yeah, this is awesome. But I got it. You know what I'm saying? I got it.

Okay. No, it's not harder. It's, it's, it's not. No. No. The answer is no. The thing is, is sometimes when people get rich, they forget to be grateful because they get immune to the life that they have, which is exceptional.

So when things go wrong, they get angry. and then they bitch and they cry and they forget about what it used to be like. Yeah. Right? So, and dude, I want to drive this point home before we move on to question three. But dude, you do not have to be poor to be happy.

That is a poor people thought process that justifies their own inaction and their own willingness to go down the harder path. And that's why they say things to people who are doing things like this man is doing where he's out building his life. becoming who he wants to be and then you know those he'll go out and buy a nice house and buy a nice car and do the things that you do when you get some money and people are going to say oh i bet he's not happy i bet he's not that's just them like discounting what they could have been so it doesn't hurt them as bad you know you know so real yeah that's the truth yeah they're full of shit dude's fucking true they're full of shit bro listen you cannot i would argue you can't be happy when you're poor if you're being real bro you're No, you can be.

It's fucking hard. You can be because someone don't have. Here's where you can't be happy. Okay. You can't be happy when you have ambition and you have goals and you're poor. If you are poor and you don't have like bigger goals and your goal might just be to, you know, do your life. You know, some people, listen, man, not everybody's ambitious. Not everybody has big goals.

This show isn't for those people, okay? those people should go listen to music and just be happy, dude. You could be happy, but you can't, you can't have goals and ambitions and be poor and be happy. Yeah. You see what I'm saying? Yeah, you got to pick something. No, no. They don't even, dude, listen, man, some people have never, ever, ever had anyone in their life tell them that they could have anything more than what they have.

Okay. I was talking to my buddy Parker. and Parker owns a business. And he's a young man. He's he's under 30. And he has an employee that was like in his 40s and they were doing like he was doing one-on-ones. And he said, okay, well, what do you want? And he's like, what do you mean what I want?

And he said, what do you want out of your life? And he's like, well, you know, I don't know. Like, what do you mean? Like he could not comprehend what Parker was asking him. And finally, Parker got him to say, well, I'd like to have a nicer car. Yeah. Okay, which is a great start. That's a good place to start.

And then the guy paused and looked at him and said, nobody in my whole life has ever asked me that. Nobody has ever asked me that. And we have to understand that there are a lot of people that have never had anyone make them believe that they could be fucking anything more than what they are. And a lot of times those people go through their whole life. And dude, to be completely honest, those people are happy because they've never been told they could have more so they don't desire more. So they just do their life. And that is okay. But if you have ambitions and you have goals and you stay poor, you're going to be in fucking agony your entire life.

That's so real, bro. It makes me think too. It's like, you know, they're fine with like, I mean, this goes into CTI. You guys hear that tonight. But like, I mean, it's easier to fucking, they have no problem convincing a kid. they can be, you know, opposite genders. You're convinced them that they can go fucking achieve some shit. Yes, sir.

That's all about control, bro. It's all about control. They don't tell us what we're capable of because if they teach us what we're actually capable of, we become too powerful to control. It's the same reason that taxes are the way they are. They can print as much money as they want. So why the fuck are they taxing us? Right.

Well, they tax us because if they don't, we will become too financially powerful. to actually be controlled the way they would like to control us. So you have to understand that the system that we live in is in complete contrast to what they tell us America is actually about. This is the whole reason we do CTI, by the way.

Okay? What they say America is about and what it actually is are two different things. Our job is to wake enough motherfuckers up and get enough people aware and dedicated to becoming personally excellent in all areas. that it shifts that culture back to what America's supposed to be.

Yeah, absolutely, dude. Absolutely, guys, Andy, let's get to our third and final question here. Question number three. Andy, I created my flooring business about two years ago, and I'm starting to get really busy to the point where I need to start hiring some guys. My question is, how did you handle the pressure of hiring people for the first time? Your first hire, how long ago was that? Oh, I mean, we had to have people help with the store, I mean, immediately.

Yeah. Like our first people that helped, they were like our good friends. These are people that just came in when they could. They worked shifts. I'm very grateful for those people. You know, they came in. They helped us. They believed in us.

We didn't have any systems. We didn't know anything. But they stood there and did their best. And we wouldn't be there without those people. So we had to have those kind of people. the beginning. Sometimes we couldn't even pay them, dude. You know what I mean? Sometimes pay was taking them to dinner, you know, like, and the dinner was free because we knew the guys. So like, so we had a lot of people, you know, as much as we talk about like most people didn't

believe in us, we had a handful that did. And I'll never forget those people. And they were just our friends. Okay. So, but hiring our first real employee, a lot about so my business. So my business biggest lesson in business came from opening our second store. All right. We, it took us five years to open store number two. All right. And the reason, it wasn't because we couldn't do it financially. We could have made it work.

The problem was is that we didn't like, we did not. We were so terrified of all of the things that could go wrong. We were terrified that they would steal. We would. terrified that they wouldn't show up for work. We were terrified that they would, you know, do all kinds of crazy shit that you're scared of right now, right? You're like, oh, well, what about this?

What about that? What about this? Listen, man, get in your fucking car and drive down the fucking road. And look, look how many businesses they are. Look at all the business. There's thousands of them in your fucking city. do you really believe that you're the only motherfucker that can't fucking hire someone and get them to work for you? Do you not, you see what I'm saying?

It's an irrational fear. Okay. Now, are you going to be great at it in the beginning? Probably not. Are you going to get some good people by accident? Yeah, you will. And here's the thing you have to understand. Most people want to be part of something.

Most people want to win. most people want to feel fulfilled far more people leave their jobs because they don't feel like they're contributing than they do for pay all right people want to do things your mission is to figure out how if you want to be good at it okay now you can hire people and they will come in they will work for you and then when the next opportunity comes they leave and all this shit like That's what normal companies do. If you want people to come in and you want them to care and you want them to dedicate themselves and you want them to get better and help you build something special, you have to paint the vision in a way where all of their hopes, all of their goals, all of their dreams are possible under the umbrella of this vision. The big vision can't just be, you know, Steve's construction.

It can't be that. Like, hey, you guys are going to work for me. I'm going to make most of the money. and, you know, then you can fuck off and go home drink beer. That can't be what it is, all right? What it needs to be is, hey, we're going to build the best construction company ever. We're going to go, we're going to start here, and then we're going to go to this next place, and we're going to go to this next place.

We're going to start building decks. Then we're going to go to concrete. Then we're going to go to houses. Then we're going to go to this. And you have to see this vision out in front that is so big that these first key guys, Especially and really all your people can see themselves living their life inside of that. And then you got to do it. Okay.

Because if they figure out that you're just fucking blowing smoke, they're going to leave and they're going to fucking hate you. All right. So you have to understand people want to be a part of a team. They want to win. Most people are good. Most people are not bad. We've had thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of

employees and the number of bad ones out of thousands is probably like a hundred it's it's a very it's a very fractional number yeah over the now i'm talking about over the years 27 okay now have everybody stay no but my goal has always been if they leave and they go somewhere else i want them to look back and say hey that was a very critical part in my career where i learned the most that i could learn and then they take those skills and go be some some great at something else okay and if you have that attitude if you have a big vision you care about your people you help them win you're you're helping them grow their dreams bro you're not going to have a problem man but if you just try to do this thing where you're trading their labor their labor for money it's going to fucking suck

and you're going to hate having employees everybody tell like we you know in artee syndicate we get a lot of people and they come in like when they're in the beginning and they're like fuck it was so much easier running to have employees i fucking hate having employees well yeah they probably hate having you as a boss too if you think that you know what I'm saying no shit like real talk dude I love our people like they're my fucking friends I don't know maybe they maybe maybe maybe they're fucking smoking blowing smoke to me but I feel like they're my friends you know and uh it gives me it gives me you know fulfillment and I enjoy it and I love being around the team and and I think that's I mean dude

you're going to spend so much of your time doing this business why would you not want to be surrounded by a great culture of great people that you enjoy being around where you're helping them win and you're grateful for them and they're grateful for you see that's that's that's that's good leadership bro that's how you build things you know we talk about ethical entrepreneurship and unethical entrepreneurship like like these people who are like these far left communist people like the the way they think of entrepreneurship they're actually correct okay and what I mean by that is this when they look at a company, let's say,

you know, a big giant global corp, Amazon or whatever, just for example. And they see, you know, 14,000 people get replaced by robots in the, in the warehouse.

And, you know, they're cutting people off. I'm not saying, I don't know if Amazon does this, but they're cutting people off before their benefits kick in or whatever. And they say,

fuck capitalism. Well, yeah, they're correct. Okay. But ethical capitalism and ethical capitalism, and ethical,

entrepreneurship works really good. Okay. Because those companies, those are the companies like what we do, where we're sponsor and local teams. We're building buildings in the community. We're doing what we can for the city. We're being a part of the culture. We're trying to make things better.

And the big companies that don't do that, though, you know, while I do not agree with these fucking people, I don't want to make it sound like that. They only understand that part of the, of the, of, you know, I don't know. of the capitalism and entrepreneurship. And then they get fooled by the people that fucking lead them into thinking that's people like us. It's the mid-level people. No, we're talking about the richest motherfuckers on the planet.

We're talking about the five or ten, you know, kings of the world right now that own everything because they own all the money. You want to be mad at people? Be mad at those fucking ten people. Don't be mad at your local guy who's trying to make it and create jobs and do the right thing and sponsor your teams and your communities. those are the people that create the fabric and the support of the actual community.

So when you run the company that way and you do it for real, you don't just talk about it, you have zero problems finding great people. So like, dude, back to the original thing. You have an irrational fear because you lack the confidence because you haven't done it yet. But I want you to get in your car right now, drive down the road, and look at all the fucking companies. And then remember, what one man can do, another can do. Okay.

You're not the only person in the history of business that's going to have a hard time getting employment like you come on, dude. Yeah. It's not real. It's not a real concern. They're going to fuck up the floors. It's not a real concern. Yeah, they're going to do that.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. By the way, all the things you're afraid of, they're going to happen anyway. Yeah. Okay. But every time it does, you get better and you learn how to avoid that next time, which is investment in your skill set, which allows you to move to a bigger and better place

over the course of time. Yeah. So look, guys, you know, I understand it. It cost me four years. Okay? That fear, that's why I said it was the biggest lesson I ever learned because it cost me the most time. It cost me four years of my life. That means I could be where I'm at now four years younger.

What's that worth? So that fear cost me that. And that's how you have to think about it. Follow up on this because you actually ask. an example I know first one for sure the the mail room to CEO story right and one of

your longest employees now who started I think when you opened up that the next set of stories he's not like the president of company right yeah and then like so how how how how was that buy in belief I guess day one with him you know what I'm saying like how hard was it to kind of convince them it wasn't hard because

we set the big vision and we worked our fucking ass off to make a And we did it together. So like that's the other thing. You got to participate. Yeah. If you're leaving it, you know, if you're leaving on Thursday and coming back on Tuesday and going to fucking fish, they're going to fucking hate you. You're not going to have any. You can't do it that way.

It won't work. It won't work. You got to participate. What would you say the percentage of businesses out there that are visionless versus the ones that are that have a solid vision in place? It depends on where they are in the life cycle. Yeah. Okay. In the beginning, when it's founder run, founder led, and those people built the company,

those people have big vision. And they actually really care. And what happens is two things. One, those companies either get bought out or acquired and their new leadership comes in. It starts to become a machine that they try to milk everything out of and then eventually destroy it, probably. or the founder passes it down to their kids. Okay.

And when you're in a second generation or third generation business, those people don't have the understanding of what it took to build it the same way. And it gets further and further removed for, to where you go. Okay. So, you know, if they pass it down to their kids and their kids were able to like see them work and they maybe they were there and they were around it when they were a kid, they will care, but they won't care like the founder cares because they fucking haven't gone through it.

Okay. But then when it gets to the third generation, those motherfuckers are clueless. Okay. And like, yeah, there's a real example like that out of there. Like I see fucking dudes online that are third generation entrepreneurs and they're talking about how big their company is and they're pretending trying to act like they built it. And it's like, dude, I can fucking smell your inexperience and your dumb ass. entrepreneurship fake bullshit through the fucking cell phone like you know what I'm saying like you're not fooling anybody that knows better

so you know you gotta be careful man like when these people tell it when you see their airplane you see their house and you see their lifestyle and you know and then they're telling you some story about how they did it man look that shit up because a lot of times what you're going to find is they didn't do shit they just got it handed to them and those are the people that end up ruining

and degrading and becoming visionless as you describe. So always in the beginning they have vision. They have to to become what it is. They want. But the way that you lose it is through acquisition. Now, sometimes you get acquired and it gets way better because they pick the right partner to partner with or acquire the company. Sometimes they pick one and that company's total, their total intention is to milk it dry.

All right. But all I I have I'm not saying always But I would say 99% of second and third generation businesses They don't have they don't have vision the way that you need to have it to actually build things now sometimes you do okay Like there's there's there are examples of this But they're just very few and far between yeah you know if you are and by the way if you're listening right now and you happen because like dude those people can't help you can't help that you were born into a successful family yeah for sure

okay for sure but the great ones those people and this is what I encourage you to do is if you're someone who who inherits something or handed the reins to something you have to understand that you are getting that not to destroy it or take it for granted you are getting that to as a steward of something that really wasn't yours but is now yours and so the way you make your mark and one of the biggest things that second and third generation entrepreneurs struggle with is like they feel like nobody respects them well nobody respects you because you're sitting on your ass milking the shit out all right but if you take the company from one place and it fucking skyrockets into the next, you know, stratosphere under your leadership,

you're a fucking hell of an entrepreneur. And there are people like that. But it's just, it's just, it gets rare the further you go. Yeah. I mean, there's definitely examples of that. Yeah. For sure, dude. I know, look, I'm friends with some guys.

I have a number of friends who were, you know, they were born into business. They took over the business. And then they see it as a very. serious obligation to honor their family that took it from there to where they took it over. Honestly, dude, like, that is, I think that's the coolest shit in the world. You know, and then they do their thing and they get the respect and they get the fulfillment. They know what they've done. And, you know, a lot of those guys, you know, I have a number of friends, you know, I probably

got 10 or so 12 business owners that I'm friends with that are in different places in that situation. And when you talk to them in private, one of the things they really struggle with is like they always feel like, you know, well, I, you know, insecure almost like because I didn't do it. And they think everybody's judging them. But you guys got to understand. Like when you take something, like if it goes from zero to 10 million and then you take it from 10 to a billion, you're fucking great.

Okay. Like you should feel great. Even if you took 10 to 100. Or 10 to 50. You did your part. You took something and you were a great steward of it. And you should feel good about that. And those of you that have never, you know, like there's a lot of people say,

oh, these guys were born in this situation. You know, they were born on third base and they hit a fucking, and they think they hit a triple. Not the great ones. The great ones have something to prove. The great ones want to earn it. And that's why those guys win. And sometimes those guys are actually the best operators,

because they paid such close attention to the person in their family that came before them that they have a lot of skills that they really shouldn't possess at their age. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's a big chip. Yeah. So you have to, you know, there's nuance to everything.

For sure. Yeah. For sure. Love it, man. Well, guys, Andy, that was three. Yep. Hell of a way to start a week. Yep.

We will see you guys on CTI. Don't be a ho. Yeah. Went from sleeping on the floor. Now my jury box froze. Fuck a pole. Fuck a stole. Counting millions in a cold bad bitch booted swow got her on bank shot case