Right About Now with Ryan Alford - American Values Guide Business Dominance with Bedros Keuilian

Starting point is 00:00:00 You're listening to The Radcast, a top 25 worldwide business podcast. If it's radical, we cover it. Here's your host, Ryan Alford. Hey guys, what's up? Welcome to the latest edition of The Radcast. We say if it's radical, we cover it. Well, it's as radical as it gets today. Talking to Bedros Kilian, founder and CEO of Fit Body Camp, author of Man Up, How to Cut the Bullshit, and Kick Ass in Business and Life.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Kilian, my brother. What's up, brother? What's happening? I'm doing well. I'm doing well, Ryan. Thank you for having me, man. I appreciate the opportunity. Yeah, man.

Starting point is 00:00:41 Pumped to have you. We know a lot of the same people, and I've been following you for a while. Admirer from afar. opportunity. Yeah, man. Uh, pumped to have you. We know a lot of the same people and, you know, I've been following you for a while. Admire her from afar. You got to be pumped up all the time. Your book's awesome. Uh, I think you're a great inspiration for what we need in today's world. Motivation, positivity, but a little kick in the damn ass. You know, it ain't all sunshines and flowers and roses all day. That is true. What's going on in your world these days?

Starting point is 00:01:10 Well, I've got to tell you, man, I'm just intrigued in watching the downfall of our great country and wondering when the most capable men who can exercise their voice will decide to actually stand up and be men and exercise their voice so that we can win back our country. It is the last free country, thanks to our constitution, but it is also being radically eroded away, pun intended. And so with that in mind, when are the men going to stand up? Because one thing I always say, and you asked this question, it already

Starting point is 00:01:45 triggered me so i'm just going to jump into this real quick is that if i were to see i come from a communist country i escaped the soviet union as a kid my dad was a member of of uh the the communist regime and his whole thing was we're going to go to a country that affords us freedom and opportunity so long as you serve that country and he said it's backed by this document called the constitution cool so we escape in 1980 i was six years old and we come here and in that time we've seen the slow erosion of the constitution of our freedoms of our liberties uh and of course of that first amendment the freedom of speech, which is backed by the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms. And we're seeing a constant attack on that.

Starting point is 00:02:30 And I share this with you because when our rights are being encroached and people think, well, someone else is going to go and do something about it, I'm sure someone else is working on it. That's what happened when, during World War II, when Germany killed millions of Jews. Everyone else thought that someone else would stop it. And so I'm just here to maybe message to people that we are that someone else. Yeah. I mean, we're just going to get hard and heavy, quick and fast, that's what I love about it. So where did this, where did it all start, man? Where did this erosion begin? I don't know where, there's this fine line with me personally where we can't all personally attack every single issue in life. fight and we need to fight some battles and maybe maybe fight some wars not too many battles i don't know where the structure falls but and then there's the common sense that there's this erosion

Starting point is 00:03:30 of the things that you're talking about and accepting things that shouldn't be accepted as americans i don't know where that started to fall but i also don't know how many how many things can we take all in at once am i just being you know a puss about that or like how do you find which battles do you fight yeah well like you have kids i'm sure you got yeah i got four boys there you go so you got four boys and so you know this with your boys you have to pick and choose your battles yeah if you can't battle everything like uh my son is 17 years old uh two years ago at 15 he said um he hey, mom, dad, I think I want to get my ears pierced. And apparently he had been working up to that for two weeks, thinking about how he's going to pitch us, et cetera.

Starting point is 00:04:13 Now, I immediately was like, what do you want to get in your ears? He's like, just a couple of studs. I'm like, cool, done. I knew that wasn't a battle I'm willing to fight. Now, if he said, hey, mom and dad, I'm 15 and I want to get a back tattoo, that might be a battle I'm willing to fight. Now, if he said, hey, mom and dad, I'm 15 and I want to get a back tattoo, that might be a battle I'm willing to fight. So you're absolutely right, bro, in that we can't fight every battle. Just like in business, we need singularity of focus if we want to accomplish the outcome. And so there's a lot of small battles that are common sense battles. Like, am I going to fight the battle of people's pronouns right now? Probably

Starting point is 00:04:43 not. Like, I can care less. Call yourself a bookshelf if you want. But I will fight the battle of people's pronouns right now? Probably not. I can care less. Call yourself a bookshelf if you want. But I will fight the battle of the erosion of the dollar. I will fight the battle of the inflation that's taking place. I will want to fight the battle where we've got a commander in chief who I believe has some cognitive dysfunction. And we've all turned a blind eye to all of that. Those are all battles worth fighting. I will fight the battle of censorship of our First Amendment. It's the First Amendment for a reason. I will fight the battle of the erosion of our Second Amendment. So we do need singularity of focus. And then, you know, given Jocko Willink a shout out for his book, Extreme Ownership, he talks about prioritize and execute.

Starting point is 00:05:26 So if those were the five or six big battles to fight to be able to save our country, like during the pandemic, man, I run a franchise, Fit Body Boot Camp. We had over 700 locations worldwide. And during the 10 months of 2020, we lost over 200 franchise locations. I had to pick and choose the battles I needed to fight to be able to save locations, to be able to save certain states that were more friendly to letting us run our gyms and maybe let others die. And so you have to prioritize and execute, but it's not impossible. It's just we have to have that conversation as a nation. And until that happens, and I think it will, it's unfortunate that it has to get so bad, almost like when someone's like an alcoholic in the family and they're crashing their cars or getting arrested,

Starting point is 00:06:18 but it reaches a point where the whole family gets together to have that intervention. I feel like we need to have a national intervention. And I feel like we might be coming up to that sooner than later. I think the only way we can get there is if we can somehow figure out that it's not a left and right decision. This is a common sense American discussion. You know, like, this isn't about right. This isn't about left.

Starting point is 00:06:41 This is about fucking American rights and about the american way of being able to speak our minds have freedom of speech carry guns perhaps what the second amendment is you know but everything is so fucking left and right you can't it's so polarizing and so like you can't just have a fundamental discussion and that's the shit that just drives me crazy. Yeah. Well, here's the thing on that, though. If you and I decided that we're going to team up and we're going to invade, oh, I don't know, let's say we're going to invade Canada.

Starting point is 00:07:15 They're pretty laid back and chill. We're going to get that done. Right. We're fine. You and I are going to build this massive army and navy, and you and I are going to invade Canada and take over, and we're going to call it Ryan and Pedro's land. land and now as you and i are planning over your kitchen table we're probably not we're probably gonna go all right uh dude are we worried about the elderly people of canada uh no no we're not are we worried about the children of canada to attack us and fight us

Starting point is 00:07:38 back no not worried about them are we worried about the women are we worried about the no no we're not about the word we're worried we're worried about the women? Are we worried about the, no, no, we're not about the word. We're worried about the capable, able-bodied men. All right. So then before we go to Canada, what should we do? Well, hey, Ryan, why don't we take the next 15, 20 years and create an erosion of the fiber of masculinity, create this dysfunction in men, weaken them, make them docile, make them dependent, confuse them, separate them by class, separate them by left and right, separate them by black and white, separate them by the jab or no jab, have so many elements that separate them so that they can't come together as a tribe, as an army, to stand up against our opposition. And so it kind of seems like, I'm not a tinfoil hat kind of guy, but it kind of seems like

Starting point is 00:08:24 they've done a damn good job separating the country from left to right to black and white to all those different things. Because when you do, you don't have unity, which is why we need to become a family again and have that intervention to get old cousin Joe out of that seat. Yeah. You read The Art of War? Yes. With a better, better, better strategy than what you just described you know it almost seems intentional right yeah yeah yeah exactly but again i'm not here to be political and all that stuff man i'm a free markets capital uh capitalist i want to make a ton of money and do a lot of good with it um so i certainly want to keep the

Starting point is 00:09:02 conversation positive but we do need to have these conversations so people do start thinking for themselves and not being told how to think. And I think that's the takeaway, Bedros, right there. For everybody listening, we've gone heavy and hard right at it, but you need to hear this because you need to think for yourself and think clearly and not be leaned or pointed towards one direction because of popularity or whatever. You need to be convicted, and I think that's what it's about. Bader, I do want to give some props and some attention to your background and history. Obviously, people can pick up your book, and they can do enough Googling.

Starting point is 00:09:38 I don't want to wear that out, but I think you're such a good storyteller. I think you're just having such an amazing foundation. I do want to do some justice to that for the audience. We're talking a little bit about that story, building up one of the fastest-growing franchises in the country. So let's talk a little bit about that background. Sure. So the background of how I came to that,

Starting point is 00:10:01 it's it for the background of how I built the franchise. Yeah, let's start. You know, let's do justice to both of those because i think that's an important story because about what we're we started down this path of american way in the american country i think your history is what matters in in that foundational of really what sets your mind where it is yeah yeah i agree so so so really when you when you just imagine my dad through the sky so he's like he's 89 years old today uh alive and well and in his 40s he came to the conclusion well building up for that but in his 40s he decided that i'm going to pull the

Starting point is 00:10:38 trigger and i'm going to escape the soviet union so we're armenian armenia was under soviet control russian control my dad was one of the 18% of the population that was actually a member of the Communist Party. So he was a card-carrying Communist Party member. And people always go, well, my choice, right? Yeah, but if you said no, when they ask you to be a Party member, you're shipped off to Siberia and never to be heard from again. So long story short, this dude left his communist passport at home all the time. Never take it out with him, never exercise his right to be able to question people and to be able to check businesses. All the businesses were run by the system.

Starting point is 00:11:16 Everybody worked for the state. And so part of being a communist party member is you can do surprise inspections in the region that you're in. My dad was just like, hey, live in that thing. And he's the guy that wore Jordan Ash, wore Ray-Bans, listened to Elvis. He was full-on Americanized. And so he decides that we're going to escape. So he does a lot of side gigs, collects about 25,000 rubles, which is enough to bribe the

Starting point is 00:11:44 people that needed to bribe to allow us to escape ancient Italy, 10 days into Italy. And my dad always demands that I tell this part of the story exactly as it happened. We went to the American consulate in Italy. We said we declared ourselves as political refugees. We said we wanted to

Starting point is 00:11:59 legally enter the United States. And so after 10 days of pumping my dad for information, after all, since he's a party member, they entered us into the United States. My dad chose California, of all places, because hey, why not? Beautiful weather,

Starting point is 00:12:16 great photography, and you never have to see snow again. And I love this state, and I will say in the state, and for as much as people shit on it, you'll never find a better state, climate, and geography. I can guarantee you that. I've traveled the entire world. But anyway, that said, the difficulty, he said, is this country offers you freedom and opportunity so long as you serve the people in it. Find a solution to serve people. Do good. Add value. And so I just, being the youngest of the family, believed that wholeheartedly and decided that's

Starting point is 00:12:45 what we're going to do. Now, I got to tell you, we grew up in sex-shade housing, which is government-assisted housing. My dad worked three or four jobs at any given time to be able to make enough money to pay for our shithole apartments that we lived in. One of the times I got lice because the apartment that we lived in was so filthy, my mom had to have my dad siphon out gas loops on the car, wash my hair with gas, and he couldn't even afford my stream. So I didn't speak English.

Starting point is 00:13:11 I didn't understand the culture. All I knew was add value and serve humanity. Add value and serve humanity. As I grew up, I just took a liking for fitness and decided that I was going to go into the personal training space, and I wanted to help people transform their bodies and their minds. You know this. You're in great shape. When you transform your body, your mind follows. You become more optimistic, more positive, more focused, more disciplined, mental toughness, all those things. Confidence soars through. I love seeing my clients

Starting point is 00:13:38 do that. So I kept asking myself, how do I scale my personal training business? Thankfully, one of my personal training clients, this older gentleman, Jim Franco uh very true he goes you'll never be able to scale unless you know how to sell and you're a horrible salesman kid uh i was like shit and i he said jim i vetted what i sold you a six month training program three times a week okay seven grand that you paid man he goes i came in wanting a six-month program three times a week you just took my order and no one had ever spoken to me that directly before he was during order taker not a salesperson and until you can learn to sell you're never going to grow and so he really could get her as we make it multi you multi software company in the automotive industry, and he brought me Zig Ziglar cassette tapes, uh, briny Tracy books,

Starting point is 00:14:28 uh, Hopkins, uh, like I was introduced to all these sales people and I would listen to the cassette tapes. I would read the books and I started to develop the skill of persuasion and influence sales, overcoming objections. And before I knew it, there was four or five, six trainers working with me underly before i knew it there was four or five six trainers working 100 before i knew that he looked for money eight percent interest to open up a little studio that led to four more that led to coaching and consulting gym owners that led to starting this giant empire of the body group care so as the housing market crashed back in 2008 i knew that

Starting point is 00:15:02 one-on-one personal training was not going to be a thing anymore at that point. And so I had learned from Jim Franco that anytime there's a disaster, there's people capitalizing on a disaster. Like when the stock market crashes, housing market crash, anytime there's a disaster, not everyone loses their money. He taught me that money doesn't just go away, it exchanges hands. And the example he gave me was, he goes, even at the worst of economy, you can see people driving Mercedes, Land Rovers, Rolls Royces, Bentleys, et cetera. And so he goes, you just have to find who's got the money and end up adding value to their life. With that in mind, housing market crashed in 2008. I knew people weren't going to be able to afford one-on-one expensive personal training. So I said,

Starting point is 00:15:40 we can take that outdoor bootcamp that personal trainers do outside group training, bring it indoors with equipment, a system and legitimize it. I can create a franchise system where it's one trainer, many clients and bring down the cost of personal training because it'll be a group environment, group personal training. That's how Fit Body Bootcamp was born. Within the first two years, we had hit 100 locations. And as we grew to 200, 300, 400, 500 locations worldwide and beyond, we were hitting the Inc. 5000 list, Entrepreneur 200 Fastest Morning Franchise list. And what I had realized at that point is whenever there is a disaster, you can become a solution and therefore create a new product to serve humanity. And so that's how Fit Body Bootcamp grew. And through there, as we grew beyond 500 Fit Body

Starting point is 00:16:32 Bootcamp locations, and the average location has 300 to 500 paying clients, they'll pay about $249 a month. I realized, all right, what else do our clients need? So here's another great opportunity for entrepreneurs. It's like, all right, if you're serving people who are trying to get fit, lose weight, what else do they need? Well, they probably need supplements. They need protein. They need hydration supplements. They need something to help them with their immune system and inflammation. So I said, well, why not create a supplement line as well? So we created Trulene, a supplement company that serves our clients throughout Fit Body Bootcamp locations worldwide. And here's the crazy thing about that.

Starting point is 00:17:11 You fast forward all these years in 2020 when the pandemic took place and nobody was buying a gym franchise from me because everyone thought that gyms were, well, gyms were struggling. Gyms and restaurants took them in the shorts. You know that. And so it actually surprised me that in 2020, we actually sold six new franchise locations. And I was like, every time someone would buy one, I'm like, are you sure you're buying a franchise location from me right now? They go, yeah. I go, you know, I'm not going to give you a refund. That was very transparent. At that point, I'm doing sales because we had, you know,

Starting point is 00:17:43 we didn't have much, We have a thin skeleton staff. Yeah. And I said, listen, I know things will turn around with the economy. And when they do, you're going to be in a good opportunity. But just to give you some contrast, we would normally, before the pandemic, we would sell six to eight new franchise locations per month. And now all of 2020 sold six locations. And so I was just grateful for those six because, you six because in that time, we also lost over 200 franchise locations.

Starting point is 00:18:09 But here's a beautiful thing about it is when the pandemic happened and gyms had to shut down, our supplement company started to hockey stick. And our immune system product, because everybody was really into building their immune system, trying to fight off the virus, that thing went on Amazon and just started blowing up. So there's so much to be said about creating multiple income streams because when one stream dries up, you've got another stream that might hockey stick and really keep you afloat. And so I've had the good fortune, obviously, over the years to build many income streams by investing in companies, apparel companies, software, et cetera. But my two core companies, Fit Body Bootcamp, the international franchise, and Trulene, thankfully continue to thrive. And they're in an industry where I love serving people,

Starting point is 00:18:53 making them better, building their immune system, building their health and confidence. And so that's always the industries that I like to play in. Yep. Pedro, it's a lot to unpack there and really appreciate you going backwards from the beginning. I mean, the biggest, you know, there's a lot to unpack there and really appreciate you going backwards from the beginning. I mean, the biggest, you know, there's about 12 takeaways. Let me start with the first one. We talk about the American dream and we talk about the opportunities as Americans. Then, you know, I see a lot of people, they talk all the time about like how blessed you are, like to wake up if you're born in America and the opportunities that are at your feet,

Starting point is 00:19:26 no matter like how bad it is, but you know, you're an immigrant, you were not born in America, but came over, had the opportunity, but saw the American dream and how you took it by the balls and let, you know, like have become what everybody wants to. Like, where is that? I don't know that it's been lost, but where did that, is it just hoods, is it nature or nurture? Like I hear guys like you, Bedros, that I just wanna like man hug and like high five, you know, in the best possible way, you know?

Starting point is 00:20:03 I'm like, but where does that come from? Is it nature or nurture? Like, is it just because you wanted it more? I don't know. When you've eaten out of dumpsters, when you've lived in Section 8 housing, had your hair washed with gasoline, when you've seen people yelling at your parents and telling them to go back to your own fucking country, you're taking our great American jobs, which by the way, my dad had a, when we first came the first two years, he had a newspaper route at 2 a.m. I don't think anybody wanted that job. And he was a bus boy at a pizzeria. And then he pumped gas at an Arco in the middle of the night. So that wasn't necessarily the great American dream that he was living, but he knew that the

Starting point is 00:20:37 sacrifices we're going to make. But so I got to see a contrast, right? And I really believe that So I got to see a contrast, right? And I really believe that if every American, when they turn like 18 years old, have to go and either go into the military to see the world and what real racism is, what real criminals other countries' governments are, they would come back and they would love and defend this great country of ours so much because they wouldn't want it to change and erode. come back and they would love and defend this great country of ours so much because they wouldn't want it to change any road. And if it's not the military, then at least we should be made to go out and serve another country, build a well, build a school, build homes, build something in third world countries so that you can have a contrast when you come back and can appreciate it. But

Starting point is 00:21:19 if you grew up in a great country like this, where you could literally have your face in your phone, walking down a parking lot at 10 o'clock at night, feeling safe that you're not going to get mugged, like, come on, that doesn't happen. You go to Armenia, bro, you have your face in the phone, someone's clubbing you over the head right now, today, and taking your shit. And so I share that with you because I don't know if it's nature or nurture. I think it's just a contrast because the American dream is not dead. It's completely changed.

Starting point is 00:21:44 I think it's actually the barrier to the American dream, and I. It's completely changed. I think it's actually the barrier to the American dream. And I think you'd agree with me is lower because today you've got, you've got the internet. So if I was broke, if I was broke when I had some bad news, my goofy little iPhone to create how to videos and put them on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, and Facebook. And the algorithm would help me build an audience. And then I would go get a free WordPress site, and I'd make a sales page, a website. I'd use PayPal, which is free, and I could take payments. And all of a sudden, I've got now PayPal. I've got a list, social media. I've got a list, social media. I've got a platform. I can course and sell it or have a coaching program or maybe leverage some money from somebody and say, look, I'll do the sweating

Starting point is 00:22:34 and you give me $30,000. I'm going to create a supplement line and we're going to sell it. The barrier is so much lower because you've got access to social media. You've got access to a free website. You can take money for free. What is happening though, is we've been conditioned to be comfortable. We are too, everything is too convenient. You can order on Grubhub or DoorDash your burrito and watch it come down your neighborhood streets and people get huffy and puffy when it's stopped at a red light and you're just wondering where your burrito is motherfucker get out and buy your burrito go out build a burrito make a burrito when you get so complacent and comfortable doing all this shit then why would you want to even make a free website make a how-to video people have just gotten so lazy they expect money to roll in but many years

Starting point is 00:23:21 ago Tony Robbins said something I was sharing the stage with him at Joe polish's event at the genius network event This was 2016 and he was clapping his big giant hands and I was getting mic'd up to speak next and I was very Intimidated by Tony Robbins like how do you follow that giant event? And he's clapping his big grand hands on stage and he goes winter is coming prepare for winter Anybody can thrive in in and spring, but winter is coming. You should be built for winter. And I was like, that motherfucker's right. We could all do great when the economy's thriving, but sometime the economy's going to shit, whether it's an active war on our country, like in 2001, whether it's a pandemic, whether it's a stock market

Starting point is 00:24:00 crash, housing market crash, winter will always come. And what's happening now, winter has come and it's getting colder and you're seeing people die literally and metaphorically, financially, emotionally, mentally. But it's going to be a thinning of the herd. And those of us that have what it takes are going to thrive out of this. I'm going to ask you a question and it's not, it has, it's nothing to do with anything I thought I was going to ask you, but based on what you just answered. So the next thing I'm going to ask you a question, and it has nothing to do with anything I thought I was going to ask you, but based on what you just answered. So the next thing I'm going to ask is your ability to pivot. And I think people don't appreciate exactly what that means or the power of that, which you have a true strength in. I'm going to come back to that, but I'm going to seed that with you right now. as an immigrant and as being someone who believes in American trade,

Starting point is 00:24:45 sees all that, how do you, where do you, where do you fall in the open borders situation? Like, is that a, is that a, is that a tough one for you or an easy one for you? No,

Starting point is 00:24:57 that's an easy one for me, man. Lock down the borders, period. Yeah. I came in legally. I entered the country legally. We did the paperwork that was necessary.

Starting point is 00:25:05 We entered legally. And when you come to a country legally and you pay your dues and you're going to be paying taxes and putting into social security, you are going to value the place more. And no, no, nevermind that. And it's not to say that anyone comes in illegally, isn't going to value it. Obviously people are risking their lives to cross the Rio Grande. They're risking their lives to go over those walls, walk through the desert. I get it. But also amongst those people are really bad dudes that are bringing in fentanyl, really bad dudes that might be bringing in dirty bombs. Because I also have dear friends like Tim Kennedy and others who are great Americans, great patriots, connected to the military and have a lot of access to information.

Starting point is 00:25:46 And when I get to hear from them what they're catching at the border, I wonder what's not being caught that's coming in. That's going to be a dirty bomb, more drugs or some kind of child abduction. Like what is going to happen? Because we're not betting who's coming in. All I'm saying is let's bet who comes in. You would never let, open your doors and just let strangers come into your party, would you? Absolutely. You'd have an imitation. Yep. Right. It's the same thing. Let's just bet people out. That's all. Ding, ding, ding. Listen, folks, you know, you have to have a system and process in place to know who's coming in your front door

Starting point is 00:26:19 or your back door. And look, if there's not a condition for it to happen, then there needs to be, because you've got to be able to appreciate it. You've got to understand our ways and cultures and values. So boom, there it is for people that don't understand why. There has to be some protections there. Now let's talk about some business. Pivoting.

Starting point is 00:26:39 You talk for, I don't know, 15 minutes. Who knows how long it was? It doesn't matter. And you know all I heard? This fucker knows how to pivot. He knows, and and it is a skill because everybody gets so locked in this is my baby this is my business it's going nowhere no you got to pivot that and that's what you are brilliant at i see it i hear it you've done it in a million ways we even talked about some of your coaching stuff but talk to me about is it just smart how does this get back this nature versus nurture when i talk to guys that i like that are successful but tell me about pivoting

Starting point is 00:27:11 because that's what you did you know like understanding and the nuance of what's happening so so in 2020 the the term pivot was just like overplayed right you saw on a fox new cnn everyone was talking about pivoting and and people think think it was exclusive to 2020 2021 about 2008 when you pivoted right you're the master pivoter group fitness you were you said literally yourself you were talking about it and i don't know i'm like did it sky coin group fitness because that is essentially what happened when personal training took a dive it was group fitness that became the word pivot in fitness, but that was it. And so what happens is most people pivot. They just don't, entrepreneurs pivot.

Starting point is 00:27:51 They just don't realize it because it happens slowly over time. Technology comes, marketing gets more sophisticated, consumers become more educated in the way they buy. And so businesses evolve in terms of transparency. Like Edmunds.com was created back in the day. And now you could see what the sticker price of a car is. And so there's more sophisticated buyers. And so dealerships have these little window stickers that said, hey, this is our best price we're going to offer you.

Starting point is 00:28:14 We don't haggle. No slimy sales guys. Just buy it or not. Right? So things do slowly change. That is a pivot. It just happens slowly over time. And in 2020, I developed this little term here at our headquarters.

Starting point is 00:28:27 I was like, guys, we either pivot or we perish. Like everything was pivot or perish. And because when changes happen quickly, like on March 16th, 2020, I announced to all of our franchise locations, I said, guys, close down your locations for two weeks. We're all going to flatten the curve. Because all we knew at that time, Ryan, was that this is some kind of a death virus, right? And so they said two weeks, but I come from a communist country and I've been taught to never trust big government. So while I said, we're going to shut down for two weeks, I also, when the video turned off,

Starting point is 00:28:57 I turned to the CEO of my company, Bryce, and I said, Bryce, prepare to be shut down for a few months. And so let's start building online coaching models, workouts, videos, Facebook pages, YouTube, Facebook groups, et cetera, for all of our franchise locations. So that if this goes beyond two weeks, we can move all the clients online because I knew one thing we were not going to do. We were not going to shut down our franchise brand like Orange Theory did and say, well, sorry, figure it out. We're not going to charge you a franchise royalty. That means I have to fire all my employees. You might have to fire your employees. That's sad, man. So sure as shit, we went well beyond the two weeks. And so by week number four, we pivoted to online coaching and all of those clients kept paying our franchise locations. Our franchise

Starting point is 00:29:40 locations kept paying their royalties to us. So we were able to support them and we just continued to pivot as we went creating different coaching programs and models and if you don't pivot you will perish sometimes pivots happen slowly over time and sophistication other times a dramatic life event will force you to pivot and if you don't if all these motherfuckers take the wait and see approach they end up dying which is good for the rest of us because we take on more market share boom love it what what's the bedros personal brand when you hear that word you do you cringe when you hear personal brand like it's become like a bad word you know like it's overplayed and look as a marketer and as a writer like and i've written you know can you hear me now like you know like it's overplayed and look as a marketer and as a writer like and i've

Starting point is 00:30:25 written you know can you hear me now like you know coming up with some some creative lines in my history i struggle with what to call paid personal branding that's not personal brand because it's gotten such a bad rap but when i hear the badress name like you know that's a personal brand like what's your feeling on that so if you had asked me this 10 years ago i would have been like bro shut up you know like shut up i come from the dan kennedy gary halbert direct response world right and like you know oh i know the world i know exactly shit you say those names i know exactly what that means yeah and so like for me and especially you're into direct response if you were you know broke because you go i got one dollar i got to turn this into two dollars like i can't

Starting point is 00:31:04 put up a billboard like coca-cola or gatorade and the bus bench and they go well you know, broke because you go, I got $1. I got to turn this up to $2. Like I can't put up a billboard like Coca-Cola or Gatorade and the bus bench. And they go, well, you know, it's branding. And one of those billboards or bus benches are going to get me a client. I got to know, I got to hold every dollar accountable. So I grew up like locked on to direct response. And that was my Bible. But up until about five years ago, when I started watching what the rock does, I'm also very observant. And I think, you know, going back to what you said, nature and nurture, I am factory installed by nature, very observant. I learn more by watching than by being taught. And so I was like, dude, I like The Rock.

Starting point is 00:31:41 I watch WWF. I'm a hillbilly somewhat of a, you know, I grew up very blue collar. And so how did this wrestler become an actor and not even a great actor, but then create a personal brand? Like, what the fuck does he know about tequila? What does he know about shoes? What does he know about water? What does he know about ice cream?

Starting point is 00:32:00 What does he know about movies? What does he know about football that he just bought the XFL? him what does he know about movies what does he know about football that he just bought the xfl when he became a personal brand people knew him liked him trusted him connected with him saw him as the everyday guy they very quickly began to buy everything he sold and i said this motherfucker's onto something he's not the best actor he's not the best athlete like if you read his story like he didn't even make in the canadian fucking football league, bro. Right. And I love the rock. Like, and I love him. In fact, I think six months ago he started following me and I texted a mutual friend and I said, Hey, I think the rock accidentally followed me. You might want to tell him to unfollow me. Just being facetious,

Starting point is 00:32:38 uh, Phil heat, uh, seven time Mr. Olympia and, and, and Phil's like, no man, uh, he doesn't actually follow anyone. So, you know, but I realized very quickly he knows how to connect, which is what you do as a marketer, which is what I do as a marketer. I connect with people, and that is a personal brand. So I think when you develop a personal brand where people know you, like you, trust you, see the dark and the light side of you, get to meet your family, your dog, what your lifestyle is, you show transparency.

Starting point is 00:33:09 They have such a deep connection that if I started promoting fucking, I don't know, cough drops, I could start selling cough drops. And so because of that, I started wearing Fuel Hunt shirts just because I liked the brand. I liked the brand. I was a customer. They reached out to me and said, hey, every time you wear our shirts on your podcast and on stage, you move the money needle. I said, well, can we jump on our shirts on your podcast and on stage, you move the money needle. I said, well, can we jump on the phone? They thought we're going to jump on the phone so they can start sending me free clothes and I could wear it. I'm like, hey, how much can I invest to take 20% of the company? I made an investment to take 20% of the company because I'm a brand. And when the brand wears it, the money needle moves.

Starting point is 00:33:42 That's the exact conversation of the day. I love that. yes right so so there you go man uh i may i may convert to personal branding even though i hate that term myself i do too i i hate it and i but i use it because people know what it is but bedros is definitely a personal brand that's why you're sitting here on the radcast but it's just amazing i just don't understand why people don't get it it's like i it took it took me a while to get over the cringe worthiness but i don't know what the the block is you know like what's that roadblock is it just you just i am worried about other people's what they think about me like i mean is that just what it is they think you know

Starting point is 00:34:23 i i do wonder that because social media has done it where people have become so worried about how many people like and share and engage. People have become hyper, hyper sensitive to that. And so, you know me, I can give two shits. I'll post a piece of content and

Starting point is 00:34:39 I'm like, wow, this was going to pop off. I'm like, oh, that did nothing. Oh well, maybe tomorrow's will pop off. I never know what episode on my podcast or what social media post is going to pop up i just listen to my gut my radiance whatever the source tells me to write i write or i i orate and then if it pops off i'm like well look at that they wanted to learn you know the seven things that men do to to ruin their lives here i thought they wanted to make a build a 200 million dollar empire like i did the 200 million dollar empire show like flopped the seven things men do to ruin their lives popped off if you had asked me to bet on that i would have lost a lot of money well yeah you just never know you

Starting point is 00:35:19 gotta it's uh educate and entertain and entertain a lot. Or just be human, man. People want humanity. You got to be human. You know, people say, what's your shtick? It's not B to B. It's not B to C. It's B to H. This is a human.

Starting point is 00:35:33 Like, we're all human beings. We relate to one another. You know, like, stop eating. Yeah. You know, that's the formula right there. So what's our biggest threat today? What's like, we talked, I think we may have started at the beginning.

Starting point is 00:35:50 We end at the beginning with literally, but maybe from a business standpoint, you got AI, you got GPT, everybody gets scared about shit. I'm just like, that's a tool, man. But what do you see is what's the what are the gray clouds and the and the uh blue sky like what for for bedros yeah so i'll start i'll i'll hit you with three categories our biggest threat to our country

Starting point is 00:36:17 right now is the debt that our country is in and the in china and who we're in debt to yeah and we need a great lead our greatest threat is that we're as a country we're in we're in debt to. And we need a great leader. Our greatest threat is that. As a country, we're in too much debt. We're in debt to China, and China has become a very large superpower, and we have a very weak leader in power. So that is the threat to our country. In terms of threat to businesses,

Starting point is 00:36:41 it's not chat, GPT, or AI. I think just like the internet, people that were like in the beginning back in 1998, 99, man, the internet, the internet's the whole thing. And then when they had that whole bubble burst in 2000, people were like, oh man, the internet's just a fad. It's going to go away. There were headlines, New York Times, LA Times, internet's a fad. No, we just figured out how to use it to become more efficient ai while it sounds scary when you hear headlines like oh my god two computers started to talk to each other and what if and one of them

Starting point is 00:37:09 said they want to come alive and feel emotions listen do i do i just water my mind as i'm going shifting from one meeting to another like what would happen if chat gpt and that boston dynamics robot ended up like connecting uh you know I do wonder, what would happen? What would happen? Then I go, oh, we just need to make sure that motherfucker can't plug himself in, and as soon as the battery dies, we're good. But then I move on, because humanity typically leans towards pessimism. We go, it's going to be bad for us,

Starting point is 00:37:39 when in reality, AI is making shitty copywriters better copywriters. It's really helping people understand and search for things better. There's always a benefit to it. Gary Vaynerchuk, many years ago, a couple of, five years ago, posted a black and white photo from New York. People were in subways back in the 50s. Everyone's got a newspaper open and they're facing the newspaper. And the modern version of that is people are on buses and subways on their iPhones. So when people go, well, the good old days, people would talk. There was a picture from the 1950s where the entire subway was packed full of people with their face in there.

Starting point is 00:38:17 Information is king. And that person who can give information,ate information feed information with humor with entertainment uh in a way that's easily digestible will always win uh so i'm not threatened by ai i think we just need to figure out how to use it in our favor and over time we figure things out and then finally what's the biggest threat to humans to individuals while we all worry about hey who's our president um you know ai all that stuff, the biggest thing you got to worry about is the conversation that takes place right between your ears, man, the inner self-talk. That is it. The story that people tell themselves, that I was broke, I was molested. Look,

Starting point is 00:38:54 I was molested as a kid. I'm a foreigner. I came to this country. If I list off all the things why I should be drunk and hopped up on drugs and suicidal, bro, there's a million reasons why I should. But if I don't tell my story to myself and feel sorry to myself, instead go, all those things made me more resilient, more resourceful, and therefore, I'm more compassionate towards humanity. And I'm just going to keep creating solutions to problems people have, and I'm going to charge money for it and be able to put that money to good use. The story that we tell ourselves, the story that we tell ourselves the conversation that we have the biggest threat to an individual and if they can control that narrative between their ears they will control their life boom there it is it is our egos are

Starting point is 00:39:37 the biggest liar that ever existed amen and if you with adult know that you need to know it bedros i'm to ask a favor. I'm going to ask a favor. Can we do this again in like three to six months? We need a part two with Bedros because there's so many things, ladies, I want to get in, but I value your time, and our audience likes to snack on these things, and we're going to give them a few snacks of bedros because

Starting point is 00:40:05 i feel like there's you got so much knowledge to tell you got so much and look i consider you like one of those one of our real modern leaders right now and and i think people need to understand your perspective and growing men and some of the stuff you're doing behind the scenes with that and i really want to go down those channels with you if you'll do me that honor in the next few months brother i would be honored to do that and i would again thank you for that opportunity yeah bedros the bk podcast author of man up how to cut the bullshit and kick ass in business how can everybody keep up with you brother best way to find me is on youtube and instagram at bedros coulian bedros coulian i tell you guys, if it's radical, we cover it.

Starting point is 00:40:47 Bedros is fucking radical, and you need to go buy his book. You need to listen to his show, and you need to follow him on Instagram, all his content, whatever he says, what the algorithm says. I don't give a fuck what the algorithm says. It's good shit. Bedros, appreciate you, brother, for coming on today. Thank you, man. I appreciate you, Ryan.

Starting point is 00:41:04 Hey, guys, you know where to find us, theradcast.com. Search for Bedros, and every highlight clip from today will come up, and there's going to be a plethora, let me tell you. And I'm at Ryan Alford on all the platforms. I'm verified on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter. You know where to find me. We'll see you next time on The Radcast. To listen or watch full episodes,

Starting point is 00:41:26 visit us on the web at theradcast.com or follow us on social media at our Instagram account, the.rad.cast or at Ryan Alford. Stay radical.

Right About Now with Ryan Alford - American Values Guide Business Dominance with Bedros Keuilian

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.