REAL AF with Andy Frisella - 974 Qaf Forgiveness Vs Permission Handling Too Much Holding Employees Accountable
Episode Date: January 11, 2026On today's episode, Andy answers your questions on whether it's better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission when fixing problems as an intrapreneur, how to handle the feeling of carrying "to...o much" in your business, and how to keep employees accountable inside a multi-role team environment.
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On the floor
Now my jury box froze
Fuck a pole
Fuck a stole
Count it millions
And I got a on
What is up guys
It's Andy Fersela
And this is the show
For the realists
Say goodbye to the lies
The fakeness and delusions
of modern society
And welcome to
Motherfucking Reality
Guys today we have
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That's where you submit the questions
And we give you the answers
Now DJ is going to tell you
How you can submit your questions
Yeah
Guys you can do this a few different ways
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Atandi forseller.com
You guys can also
click the link in the description below and submit your questions for an opportunity to be on the call-ins.
You can also drop your questions in the comments of the Q&AF episodes.
All right. So that's how we do Q&AF. Now, if you're new to the show, which lots of people always are,
we have shows within the show. Okay, today, Monday is usually Q&AF.
The rest of the week we're going to have CTI. That stands for Cruz, the Internet.
That's where we talk about current events, what's going on in the world.
We put topics on the screen. We discuss them. We laugh at them.
We talk about, you know, what we think is going on and how we, the people, have to solve these problems going on in the world.
All right.
Then we have occasionally real talk.
Real talk is just five to 20 minutes from me giving you some real talk.
Some of you guys might call it a rant.
But, yeah.
And then we have 75 hard verses.
75 hard versus where people who have completed the 75 hard program come on the show.
They talk about how they were before, how they are now, and how they used the 75 hard program to try.
transform their lives. If you're unfamiliar with 75 hard, it is the initial phase of the
live hard program, the boot camp, so to speak. You can get the entire live hard program, which happens
to be the most famous mental transformation program ever. You can get that for free at episode 208
on the audio feed. It's not on YouTube. Again, 208 on the audio feed. You can also get the
book. The book is available on my website, Andy Fursala.com.
It's called The Book on Mental Toughness.
It's not free, but it is much more in depth than just the podcast.
All right.
So with all that said, we do have a fee for the show.
The fee is very simple.
If the show brings you value, if it makes you think, if it makes you laugh, if it helps you,
do us a favor and don't be a ho.
Show the show.
All right.
What's up, man?
We got live tonight.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I'm going to wear something special for you tonight.
Are you?
You are, huh?
I can't wait.
Yeah.
You guys share the show out right now.
DJ will wear something very special for Andy tonight.
Yeah, man.
How you doing, man?
You're good?
I'm good.
I'm good.
You know, we just launched the return of the MFCEO project.
And if you went to my website, Andy Furcellar.com, you will see how to get that.
And it's going well.
That's great.
It's cool.
Yeah.
I'm really excited about the phases of what we've built.
You know, this is just the initial phase.
The next phase is incredible.
And I'm really excited to get back to, you know, really helping people change things.
Because, dude, here's the thing.
You know, when we started real AF, people were asleep at what was going on in the world.
Now everybody's awake.
Culture has shifted.
We are moving back the other way.
In some cases, I think, a little bit too far.
But that's the nature of the beast.
And eventually we're going to find our place, you know, where we're all going to feel good.
culture is going to be in the right spot.
And as that starts to happen, people are going to have to start understanding how to win
because winning is the ultimate insurance against oppression.
All right.
When people are highly disciplined, smart, healthy, fit, intelligent, good human beings,
the oppression that happens through the government is almost impossible to feel
because you're not able to be controlled.
So, you know, when we talk about personal excellence being the ultimate rebellion, I'm just excited to be able to pour what I know and this incredible technology that we built into people to really help them move down the path.
Yeah, I think it's the biggest thing.
It's the biggest thing I've ever done.
Yeah.
No, for sure.
I think the other thing, too, that's really cool to see because it's not like you just started working on this last week, right?
Yeah.
Like, this has been a long process.
And to see it come out, dude, it's awesome.
Yeah, every, you know, now you guys understand, you know, everybody's been like, where is it?
Where is it? Where is it? Well, dude, we've had to redo it like 15 times because it kept evolving and it kept evolving and it kept evolving.
And now we're at a point where we can launch the first phase.
And then over the next 12 months, the second phase has become very apparent.
And, you know, I think it's going to be one of the, I think it's going to be one of the most important companies ever built.
and I think it's going to be one of the most successful companies ever built,
and it's definitely going to be the most impactful company ever built.
You know, I spent my whole life helping people, you know, in one way or the other,
with supplement super stores, you know, it was working with people face-to-face to help them transform.
And then we built first form where we did that at scale across the world.
Then MFCEO project where, you know, we've helped, you know,
hundreds of thousands of people get their shit together.
And, you know, five, six years, seven years later now, those people are now successful.
So, and then we just, you know, live hard and 75 hard.
And what we do here on Real AF, everything I've ever done has been about trying to help people win.
And that's my wheelhouse, dude.
I love that.
It's my favorite thing to do.
And I'm excited to get back to it because the reality is, is we can talk about this stuff that's going on in society.
And we will continue to do so because we have a great thing.
time doing it, but the solution isn't to just talk about. The solution is to become, create, and
build yourself into the ultimate version of what you can be. And that doesn't necessarily mean
you have to be a billionaire or 100 millionaire. That might mean something else for everybody else.
But the tech that we created is impressive, dude. And whatever that goal is is going to help you
get there. Yeah, for sure, dude. I'm excited. I love it, dude. I love it. Would Andy, you know,
In the in the spirit of helping people and making people better.
I have some, I have three good ones for you.
Oh, do you?
Yeah, I do.
You almost fumbled that line.
I did.
I almost fumbled the bag.
Yeah, no, we got some good ones, guys.
Let's, let's go get the Q&AF kicked off.
Question number one.
Andy.
Andy, is it better to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission when it comes to fixing a problem as an entrepreneur?
Oh, it depends.
I mean, it depends.
Can you fucking fix it?
Yeah, are you really fixing it?
You know, look, here's the thing.
There's never been a time in the history of me being in business where someone has corrected
something without me telling them to where I thought that was a bad thing.
In fact, it's a great thing because it shows that someone's paying attention.
It shows that they care.
It shows that they're willing to take initiative.
And as we talk about, there's three things that make someone valuable as an entrepreneur.
Well, actually four.
One, can you sell?
Two, can you lead?
Three, can you replicate your own skill set and other people?
And four, can you handle problems before they become problems?
And so we're talking about the fourth thing here.
Yeah, yeah.
All right.
And generally, you know, when that happens,
happens, it's a great thing. Now, sometimes you're going to think you're correct in the problem.
And, you know, maybe that was happening for a specific reason that you're unaware, or maybe
there was something that you're missing, or maybe you don't know the whole picture. So there has been
times where people have quote unquote corrected problems that weren't actually problems,
but they never got in trouble for that. That would be something that, you know, you would still value
because they took initiative, but you would then coach them on, you know, hey, look, I appreciate
that you went and you tried to solve that problem. You did a good job, but here's how it was,
and next time we're going to put this in, you know, just come run it by me or whatever, right?
But the truth of the matter is, dude, is like, you know, the things that you're afraid of
being an employee, you know, getting in trouble because you're doing something proactive,
if you're doing something with the proper intent for the company to get better,
for the team to get better, for the organization to get better,
and you're fixing a problem, that's not a bad thing, dude.
That drives your stock up.
That drives your value up.
So when a company or a team and organization has someone that's willing to identify a problem,
take an initiative to fix it, and then come in and say, hey, Andy, I found this problem, dude.
But don't worry about it because I already fixed it, but here's what it was and here's what I did.
Okay.
And then you're either going to say, fuck, dude, thank you.
That's a great job.
You did awesome.
Or how'd you do it?
Okay, well, you did it 90% right.
Let's go tweak this, right?
There's never, if you work for even decent leadership, they don't even have to be great.
They're going to recognize your intent that you were working to make the company better.
and you as an entrepreneur have to take those steps
even when they scare you
or especially when they scare you
because most people,
just like most people that never like build anything
or do anything in life,
the reason they don't is because they're fucking afraid, dude.
They're afraid of, well, what if this happens?
What if that happens?
What if this happens?
Eventually you just got to go.
Otherwise, you're going to stay in the same spot.
So if you're an entrepreneur and you see shit going on
and you don't fix it, you're part of the problem.
Okay. So you have to understand. These things take a little courage. You've got to step outside your comfort zone. You have to, you know, take initiative, take ownership, fix the problem. And you're not always going to fix it perfect, but you'll learn how to fix it perfect by doing that. And people who really, you know, get stagnant in organizations, it's not that they're not great. And it's not that they're not skilled. It's that they don't ever display the greatness or the skill set because they're afraid that they might get in trouble.
All right. So you have to understand that intent matters a lot. And if you really think that something is a problem with something needs to be addressed, this is not a, you know, ask for forgiveness situation because you're going to be celebrated for fixing the problem. You know, I, you just have to make sure that you're fixing it with the interests of everybody in the company and mine, not just for your own convenience. And that's a big thing too. You know, I've had to make sure that you're fixing it with the interests of everybody in the company and mine, not just for your own convenience. And that's a big thing, too. You know, I've had situation. You know,
situations in the past where people have quote unquote fixed problems, but the problems that they fixed were not really problems.
They were just ways for them to make their life easier.
And that is the opposite of a good thing.
Okay.
And does that include problems that they also create?
What do you mean?
Like if I, if I, I, I fixed this problem, but I created the fucking problem just to fix it so I can get this like, you know what I'm saying?
Yeah.
I mean, I'm sure there's people that do that shit for sure.
But I mean, I would say that's the, you know, that's a small, small, small percentage.
Like that's like saying, I'm not going to go outside because I might get run over.
You know what I'm saying?
Like it's such a, it's insignificant talking point.
Yeah, yeah.
So, yeah, man.
I mean, look, dude, if you want to be a valuable member of an organization, your job is to
identify problems and fix them before being told.
And if you can do that, you're going to be that much more valuable.
Yeah, can we also touch on this too because, you know, if you're, let's say you saw a problem,
an employee saw a problem, they fixed it, they brought it to the owner, hey, look, this was
it, followed the exact plan.
What should they be expecting after leaving that conversation, right?
Because I look at this and I'm like, well, all right, cool, but like now the ownership
is probably going to look, okay, cool, what else can this guy fix?
Right.
Like, so you have to say, as an employee.
You mean, what is it raised?
No, no, no, dude, the conversation that happens on the backside that nobody sees.
Yeah.
Is that what you're asking?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay.
So that conversation, and I understand, that's a great question.
I can tell you 100% of the time what that leads to on the back end that you don't see amongst
your supervisors or your boss or the owner or the founder.
You know what they say?
Say that motherfucker gets it.
I like that guy.
I like who that guy is.
Okay.
I have a really good, we here at first form have a really good example of that.
We have a guy who moved here.
from out of town who, you know, started doing card writing and, you know, our entry level
positions and then saw a path, decided to take ownership, but that path has now has created
his own little, you know, area of, of promotion.
We're talking about Mitch.
Yeah.
Oh, bro.
Yeah.
So.
Yeah, but, but see, like, and don't let this go to your head, Mitch, but like, does it
ruin you?
But what, but what, no, don't.
He deserves the credit.
But one of the things that Mitch does very, very well is that he handles things that he thinks need to be handled.
And if they're handled improperly, he will say, I did this.
I'm not sure if it's the right thing, but I got this done.
Right.
And now he's one of the main guys that handles, you know, all of our community events and promotion events for form energy.
He's built himself, you know, the beginning of what's going to be a very good career as long as he keeps going and not, you know, not let this little plug go to his head.
But he's not like that.
He's not that kind of guy.
So I don't have a problem praising them.
So by simply doing that, he literally created a role that didn't even exist.
Correct.
Yeah.
But that's what pushes a company forward.
And that's what people don't understand.
That's why one of our core values inside of our companies is take initiative.
Exactly.
Right.
Because we want people to do that.
And if you own a company, you should want your employees to do that too.
Because if everything bottlenecks around you and your decisions, then the company can't grow.
It chokes out the fucking momentum.
So, you know, and that's where trust is earned too.
Right. Like our leadership that any of the leaders I deal with in any of our companies, they all have this same quality.
They are willing to identify a problem, take the initiative fix it, and, you know, handle shit.
They've actually fixed them. Yeah. And with that trust. I mean, dude, but dude, most people are very uncomfortable doing that because at some point in time, they dealt with a shitty leader or a shitty coach or a shitty parent who, you know, they did the right thing.
and they still fucking got fucked with, right?
And as an employee, if that ever happens, you know, you just want to explain yourself.
You want to say, hey, I didn't mean to fuck this up.
I'm sorry, but like, look, man, I was doing what I thought was right.
And I'm trying to help the company grow.
And, you know, that's that.
And, you know, explain yourself that way.
But I honestly, dude, I personally think that if you work for a leader that punishes you,
for doing what you think is right with the proper intent,
you have a terrible leader and you should probably look to fucking remove yourself from that.
Yeah.
Because that same leader, when you start to step up, is going to see that as a threat.
And that's where people fucking fuck up, okay?
Like leaders really fuck up.
They don't, the reason most people can't lead is because they feel threatened when other people
increase their skill set and become great.
But in reality, dude, the,
definition of a leader is to make people fucking great.
You know what I'm saying?
So you can't be, you know, pounding somebody's, you know, confidence into the ground because
they're working to improve.
And, you know, this is a, I think this is a dynamic that a lot of leaders really
fuck up.
And this is why a lot of companies have terrible culture and terrible performance because
they have a leader somewhere along the line that has no nuance and no ability to understand
anything outside of a system.
And, you know, procedures.
and policy take precedent over what the outcome is and you know they can't build a team yeah
so yeah dude I love it man yeah I love it guys let's uh let's get going to question number two
hi Andy Andy Andy I'm 27 I've been in business for four years and I'm having trouble balancing
caring too much for my clients I have a hard time shutting it off when they text or call me
on the weekends at 8 o'clock at night.
I don't know how to say no,
and I don't know how to turn that off.
Need some advice on this.
Do you want to win?
Do you want to win or do you want to lose?
I hate to say it,
but since you don't understand this,
you signed up for a certain kind of life.
And you're a certain kind of life as an entrepreneur
has no business hours.
There is no personal time.
There are no boundaries unless you want to lose.
And the reality is that you are blessed
to have the opportunity to serve these people at 8 o'clock at night on a Saturday night
because all it does is build the positive word of mouth that you're creating around your
company and your brand and yourself.
So if you think that you're going to be an entrepreneur and you're going to set these
boundaries, which is so, you know, the talk of the town these days and you're still going to
win against somebody who is all in.
You're sorely mistaken.
All right.
So this is the nature of the game.
The nature of the game 40 years ago was you walked out of the door, you shut it, and you went home and everything was perfect and you had a life.
That doesn't exist anymore.
That's not the game we're playing.
The game we're playing now is fast, quick, convenient all the time, solve it now, no matter what that fucking takes.
Okay.
And if you're an entrepreneur and you think that you have the, I'm,
opportunity to say no to people, especially when you're getting going, you're going to fucking
lose. That's the truth. So, and if that's not cool for you, then maybe be an entrepreneur isn't
the right move. And I don't say that to be disrespectful, but I say that as a matter of what your
priorities are, because having multiple priorities as an entrepreneur is the nature of the game,
and you have to do the best that you can do in each situation. All right? There's been times over my life,
lots of them where I had to miss things and not little things, big things, because I was dealing
with things going on in the business.
There's been times where shit, man, I'm on vacation, which is not very often, but most
the time when I leave, I end up having to solve some shit.
All right.
Now, don't stop.
Now, now, now where I'm at after 27 years, I have very competent team.
But in the beginning, it was all in all the time, right?
Now if I get a call on a Saturday night, it's a fucking problem.
It's a big problem.
Yeah.
But that was...
Systems came way later.
Those systems are to take care of that.
That's right.
That's right.
And the better that you can make your systems in the early days, the faster you can get to that position.
But that still takes time.
It takes training.
It takes building an amazing team that understand what you're trying to do and how to do it the proper way.
But at the end of the day for this question, the answer is this.
stop looking at those things like their hindrance and start looking at them as an opportunity.
Because if that motherfucker calls you at 8 o'clock on a Saturday night and he needs a fucking pepperoni pizza,
you better go get it and bring it over to his motherfucking house and bring him some, you know,
chicken wings too, just as a little extra.
That's what it takes to be successful.
And this is why I always talk that most people's concept of what it takes is not in line with what it actually takes.
And I don't think it's even close.
I don't think that most people truly have an understanding of how much more it takes to get something built.
So we have to understand, dude, this is going to take way more than what you think.
And the reason that you think it's not is because you grew up in a fucking different time.
You grew up where you could talk to all your friends all over the world with a click of a button.
I didn't grow up like that.
Okay.
You grew up where everything is instant.
You know, you order something from Amazon.
It could get there the same day.
I didn't grow up like that.
I grew up in an era where you had to order some.
It took six weeks to get.
Okay?
No, for real.
You're bad to them now.
No, but that was normal business, bro.
Crazy.
So when you don't have that sense of time,
you don't understand there's certain things you can't rush through.
Okay?
You can't rush through building trust with the client.
can't rush through building loyalty with the client. That takes time and it takes repetition
and it takes validation. But you can accelerate it by being available at inconvenient times,
which is perceived by the customer as way more than what anybody else is willing to do. So
if I were this person, I would stop looking at that as something that's bothering me. What the
fuck is it bothering you? Like, what are you doing? Playing video games, watch a TV. What the
fuck you doing, okay?
And look at it as an opportunity.
Yes, sir, I'm on it.
Let me handle that for you right now.
Okay?
And eventually as you start to have systems and you build teams, that will eventually
kind of settle down.
And that has its own set of challenges because, like I said, when you start to build
the systems and then you get that call on Saturday night, it's usually a big fucking
problem.
It doesn't happen as frequently, but when it does happen, it's a lot more severe.
100%.
So yeah, man, it's you got to reframe how you think as an entrepreneur and the idea that you're going to have the life that everybody else signs up for is is an absurd thing.
Okay.
And there's a trade off.
All right.
You're putting the risk in.
You're putting the time in.
You build the company.
You own the asset.
You're likely making the most money.
And then, you know, people that work inside of these structures typically have more boundaries, more family time, more.
more ability to enjoy their lives.
And the more money you make, the truth of the matter, like there's a lie.
Here's the lie.
The more money you make, the more free you are.
The more money you make, the more obligations and responsibility you have.
And the more you're expected to be able to handle situations that are inconvenient.
So there's a trade between income and convenience that people seem to miss.
Yeah.
You know?
Yeah.
What, you know, the thing, like, you know, hearing you respond to this, it also makes
me think, too, it's like, and you say this all the time.
I see it on a daily basis in here, but it's one, one customer at a time.
That's it.
Right.
And you know who I immediately thought of, you know, talking about this, uh, was, was Adam,
your boy, Adam.
Like, bro, it doesn't matter what time it is.
Adam?
Yeah.
Jet Adam?
Yes.
Oh, yeah.
Fuck yeah.
I mean, like, this dude's doing, this dude's doing, you know, $100 million in business.
I call this dude.
He, he brokers all my jet.
It doesn't matter
Three and more
He could be in fucking Africa bro
It does not matter
And by the way
You don't ever hear an attitude
It's the opposite of that
He's very grateful
For the opportunity
To build his business
Which is why he's one of the biggest
Jet Brokers in the fucking planet
Okay so
And I'm sure Adam's a little bit more
than four hours four years in right
Yeah
You know I've been flying with him for
Shit
Probably seven, eight
Maybe 10 years
Yeah
You know like
And by the way
I would
never fucking use anybody else because if I call him I get shit fixed immediately hey bro like
I got to get out of here today all right stand by that's his fucking answer for everything
stand by what time it's never no it's always yes always yes and that's why he fucking
wins yeah yeah I love that it is I mean you should be looking at this as a privilege I love
that it is it is a fucking privilege what if nobody was calling you who what's what's a what's a
What's a bigger problem?
You being mildly inconvenience or are you having no customers?
You see what I'm saying?
I love it, man.
I love it, man.
Guys, Andy, let's get to our third and final question, man.
We got question number three.
Andy, how do you hold employees accountable?
We are running a machine shop and we have nine employees.
We run lean and people wear multiple hats to cover multiple job titles at once.
But how did you do it in the beginning days?
How were you able to hold employees accountable?
Well, I mean, when you only have nine people, it's pretty easy, dude.
I mean, I know that's probably hard for someone that's never done it.
But try doing thousands of people or hundreds of people, okay?
Now we're talking about systems, which, by the way, part of the tech that I built is going to address this problem for commercial applications.
But anyway, that's neither here nor there.
But when you have fucking five or ten people, it's real easy, dude, especially when you're on the same location.
Okay, you got a shop.
I just give you an example, okay?
When we were building first form, all right, when we had the old building over on Green Park, the one that I had when I met you.
At the very beginning of that, we had myself, Sal, Jason, and like a few guys in the warehouse.
and then like maybe three or four other people that came down to help.
Okay, Will and Aaron.
All right.
Let's say we had 15 people.
Okay, we would gather them in the fucking lobby.
Literally every morning.
And we would say, okay, here's what the fuck I need you to do today.
Here's what I need you to do today.
Here's what you're doing.
What are you doing today?
Guy tells us, right?
Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
We're all doing multiple shit.
And then at four o'clock, we all,
me, Sal, everybody went in the back and fucking pack boxes. Okay. And while we're packing boxes,
I'm asking them. Sal's asking them. Jason's, okay, what got done? Did you call this guy? Did you get
that done? Did you do this? Did you do that? And so there was consistent assignments and then
accountability in the same day. All right? And that's super easy to do when you have everybody kind of
in the same physical location.
It's even easy to do if you're doing it remote.
You hop on a call in the morning, game plan,
hop on a call at night for 10 minutes and make sure that everybody's doing it.
But in the early days, it's a day-by-day accountability structure.
The idea, this kind of goes back to the last question too.
The idea that you could just kind of set it and forget it is that's a fallacy.
That's not how that works.
You have to be on top of it for long enough to where all,
of your employees and everybody that's working with you, everybody on your team starts to understand
the direction that we're moving and then they will start to move that direction autonomously
over time. Then you will back that up with systems and then you will scale. All right. So in the
beginning, it's a it's a day by day thing, you know, and it should be, by the way. If it's not,
you're really missing opportunities to communicate, build culture with your team, bond with your team.
that brings them in and makes them feel like they are owners of the company,
which is ultimately what you want.
You want everybody that works for you to feel as if this is their fucking baby.
And sometimes people can't do that because they haven't created a big enough vision for the teammates
to understand that there's something worth working for.
And we see this a lot with little operations, okay?
If you have an operation, let's just say,
shop okay he said he's got nine guys yep and your goal is just to have that shop and that's
your goal your goal is to have the shop make a few hundred thousand bucks a year you know get a bass
boat fucking live your life on you know do the you know what i'm saying like hit the leg on the
weekend yeah like if that's your goal you're going to have constant turnover it's going to be constant
and if you don't have constant turnover the only employees that you're going to attract are the
people who are going to be there forever with no ambition, no skill, no drive.
And that's not what you fucking want.
Because when people have no ambition, no skill, no drive, and they're not committed to the
vision of the company, then what is service are they offering the customers?
You see what I'm saying?
It's not very good.
It's kind of like a take it or leave it thing.
We see this every time we go to the DMV or we go to a government building.
Government people don't have a upward mobility opportunity in the way that an entrepreneur
or people inside entrepreneurs may have,
which is why they behave the way they behave.
There's no accountability.
There's no upward mobility.
They don't give a fuck, okay?
You don't want that in your business.
So if you're an entrepreneur that is going to stay right where you are,
you have to understand what you're going to get.
Okay?
You could do that.
There's lots of people to do that.
But you're going to get,
you're not going to have a team that's operating at a high level that's kicking
an ass that's building and pushing the the company down the pipe making things better making things
bigger servicing customers on top of what you know they should go in the extra mile
these things only happen when a big vision is included and people believe in what you're
doing and they can believe in what you're doing for a lot of reasons okay there's people
in our organization that just love fucking helping people which is awesome bro there's also
people that want to make a fuck ton of money
Okay. So those people are motivated by different things. But either way, we're going to help way more people. And by the way, if you do, you're going to make more money.
You're right. Okay. So a lot of the staleness and the stagnation that people have with their employees comes from them not being clear or even having a bigger plan at hand or thinking that they shouldn't share it because I don't want anybody to know my vision.
motherfucker you don't have a special vision you didn't think of anything new everything's been done
tell your team what the fuck you're trying to do the bigger the better and then you have to follow
through okay if you paint the vision and you don't follow through people are going to think you're
full of shit this happened to me a few times um not because i was full of shit but because it took
longer than i wanted to all right so you know when you paint a vit like i can remember sitting
back in the back of um our manchester supplement super store in two
2000, uh, fuck, nine, given a meeting and telling everybody what we were going to do with
first form. I have my buddy, uh, Tom Young draw up a, which by the way, he created the first
supplement superstore logo. Um, yeah, and he charged me 50 bucks and it took me three years to
pay him the 50 bucks. I didn't have any fucking money. Um, but I went back 10 years later, Tom,
has always been a good family friend. I said, hey man, can you draw me a, uh, a sketch?
of what a headquarters would look like
and I kind of like
thought it out and
showed them and
it actually looked very much like this building
it had a big runway up top
and the offices up top
that overlooked the gym and the floor
and I mean it's very close to what we have
which goes into another topic of
making sure that you're very clear
about what you're envisioning
and what you're pursuing
because those things do materialize
especially if it finds out
if we find out that we live in the fucking matrix
like what if we're
No, I'm serious.
That's true.
What if, what if, this is how you should behave.
What if we really do live in a matrix?
And what if everything that you imagine for yourself will actually materialize if you see it in detail for long enough?
And then you put the application towards that.
Okay.
And you could see that as biblical because it is.
It's in the Bible.
You could see that as the law of attraction, which, you know, a lot of people argue, well, that's not, that's not in line with God.
Well, it actually is if God created the universe, he created laws of the universe, okay?
Or you could choose to see it like we live in the fucking matrix and we're all computer programs.
And what we think of actually comes to fruition in reality.
And however you think about it, you have to get real clear on the vision.
But the point of what I'm getting at here is I stood in front of the meeting and I said, hey, we're going to do this and this and this and this and this.
And yeah, I mean, they thought I was fucking nuts.
okay and these are all hardworking good people but the vision was so fucking big that from where
we were to where that was was very hard for them to believe in so we lost a few people right we
gained some new ones we paint the vision again the vision starts to materialize we move into
we go from the back our warehouse being in the back of the chesterfield store to a 12,000 square
foot warehouse to a 60,000 square foot warehouse to the two buildings that we had in green park to this
And as that vision starts to come to fruition, people believe more and more and more.
So in the beginning, when you paint the vision, you know, I guess what I'm saying is it's going to take longer than you think.
And some people are probably going to think you're full of shit.
But the right people will stick and the right people will help you build it.
And when those people fucking are there, they will be there forever and they will help you crush.
my guy my best guys our best guys
Sal's best guys I always say I'm not CEO anymore
but um you
I still feel like you know
I still feel like they are
um our best guys
yeah right all right um
they were all there in the early days
for the most part talking 10
yeah because they fucking have seen
they came later
than the first set of guys
and they came in at a point
where things were moving and when things move people start to believe right and this goes into the
the thing that we always talk about the work has to come before the belief you have to do the work
okay you're going to work work work work work work work work work work work work work
then you're going to see a little bit of a result which is going to encourage you it's going
to encourage the team then you're going to work work work work work work's going to get a little
bigger that installs more belief then you're going to work work work work work work work work
it's going to get bigger than that which installs more belief and then you don't have a problem
convincing anybody of belief. Like when we walk into the Monday meetings that we have here and we say,
hey, motherfuckers, we're doing this. There isn't people in there anymore that say, oh, I don't know
if that's going to happen because we followed through on everything that we said we were going to do.
So, you know, sometimes things do take longer, but it's a very crucial important thing that
founder CEOs have to understand, dude, in the early days.
If you paint a big vision, you better fucking do it.
Okay, because you don't want to be the guy who everybody says,
oh, he's full of shit.
That guy's making bullshit promises that he's not holding up.
Okay, that's, and by the way, that's not cool because maybe some of the guys on your team
have bigger ambitions than you might have and you're lying to them to get them to stay.
That's not fucking cool, bro.
You're fucking up their lives by saying, oh, yeah, we're going to do this and this and this.
and then not doing it.
Okay?
So whatever vision you paint,
it needs to be big.
It needs to be big enough for the people inside your company
to see themselves progressing inside of it.
And then you have to do it.
And if you do all those things,
you're not going to have a problem with belief.
But if you don't,
you're going to get what you get,
which is you're going to get stagnant employees.
You're going to get people that don't care about your customers.
You're going to get people that show up there,
take their check, go the fuck home.
And it's going to be a constant headache for you.
dealing with this situation over and over and over again.
But Andy, like, okay, I do just want the lake at the, you know, the boat.
That's okay.
The boat at the lake.
Yeah.
And I got my night.
And they're killing it, dude.
So, I mean, do I really need to paint it bigger?
Like, I mean, we're good, right?
Like, they're killing it.
Okay.
What happens when those guys get hired away from some other company and get promised a bigger job?
Because you're stagnant right now.
Because you're not growing.
To think that people are going to continue to stay in a situation when they have high ambition,
just because you've employed them for X amount of years,
that's not reality, bro.
At the end of the day, people have to take care of themselves.
They've got to take care of their families.
And your job as an entrepreneur,
if you're ethical, is to create a pathway
for those people to achieve that.
And by the way, it's not an option
if you want to build something big.
It's not an option.
Now, you can do that.
You can do.
I'm not here to tell people
what they should and shouldn't do in terms of what they want.
But you have to understand the tradeoff.
Okay, if you do run,
an operation and you're the guy says, hey, I want to make, you know, 200 grand a year.
That's enough for me, which is not, by the way.
Ask anybody who makes 200 grand a year if they feel wealthy.
They don't.
And you're going to get a bass boat and you're going to go to the lake and you're going to, you know, go to Wally World and all this shit.
That's okay.
That's okay.
But you've got to understand what you're going to get.
You're not going to get the cream of the crop.
You're not going to get an amazing culture.
You're not going to get this environment that you enjoy going to work.
It's going to be pulling teeth all your fucking life.
So there's a tradeoff, dude.
The bigger you get, the easier it gets.
And that's the thing that people don't understand.
And not easier from a standpoint of stress or, you know, investment of energy or your
skill set having to approve.
It's hard.
But easier in the fact that you will build a supporting cast that is very fucking
capable and very strong.
And I've got to be real, dude.
Like, you know, in the early days, it was all about me.
I wanted to fucking make money because I was poor, bro.
I didn't have any fucking money.
Okay.
And when you don't have any money, the only thing you could think about is having a little money, right?
But the thing I am most proud.
Okay.
I interviewed Steve Wozniak.
All right.
Steve Wozniak's co-founder of Apple.
First of all, one of the smartest men I've ever met.
one of the probably the nicest man i've ever met real talk the nicest man i've ever met i asked them i
said hey hey steve um what are you most proud of you know you've invented all these things this guy has
done so much shit dude it's not even funny like it's not just the apple computer he's done all kinds
of stuff with technology that people use all over the world and i said what are you most proud
of dude you've done all these incredible things that have changed culture and society you're one of the
most important people that have ever lived. That's the truth. When you consider all the things he's
created. And he said to me something, I'll never fucking forget, dude. And he said, you know what I was
most proud of? He's like, when I drove out of Apple headquarters, there was a big housing development.
$5 million house, $5 million house, $5 million house. And it was all Apple employees. He said,
that's what I'm fucking proud of. And dude, I got to be real, man. Like,
as you get mature and as you start to grow and you know when your finances are in a good spot
the thing you're going to be most proud of is what you did for other people and the path you gave
them and how you help them even if they don't stay forever even if they you know go into other places
like there's this big misconception that you know because i'm a hard person to work for meaning i
demand a lot that somehow like when people leave like i don't want them to win motherfucker you
better fucking win bro because if you don't win with the shit I teach you that's I hate that okay so
like I want my people even if they don't stay to win and um I think I out of all the things I've
accomplished dude you guys see all the shit man you know I've done some amazing things you know
and I'm not saying that to brag it's just a matter of fact the thing I'm most proud of is
is the careers that we've created and seeing the people that have helped us build things,
build their lives through it.
That's the coolest fucking thing ever, man.
Yeah.
Yeah.
That's the thing you'll be the most proud of.
That company name on that resume means something.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love that, dude.
I love it, man.
I love it.
Guys, Andy, that was three.
All right, guys.
We will see you tonight.
Don't forget to go to Andyfercella.com forward slash MFCEO.
Check out the new project that we have going on.
Yeah, and I guess we'll see you tonight.
Don't be a ho.
We're from sleeping on the flow.
Now my jury box froze.
Fuck a bull.
Fuck a stole.
Counted millions in a cold.
Bad bitch, booted swow.
Got her on bank row.
Can't fold.
Just a no headshot case closed.
