Stay Tranquilo - Selling Sandwiches to Being An Artist w/ Custom Cleats & Kicks w/THE Soles by Sir - Stay Tranquilo

Episode Date: September 3, 2024

In this episode of the Stay Tranquilo Podcast, we are joined by Marcus Rivero, AKA Soles By Sir, who is the legend when it comes to custom kicks and cleats. Soles by Sir explains his journey into becoming an artist and how life has evolved for him after the FIRST cleat he ever made. Marcus explains his entrepreneurial spirit in high school and the growth of his business as an artist. We touch on: - what it means to be an artist and working with athletes - the mindset it takes to grow your business - overcoming adversity in life to become a better person - favorite stories working with athletes and celebrities - AND MORE Episode brought to you by: Vic Garcia World: https://vicgarciaworld.com/ Curaleaf FL: https://curaleaf.com/dispensary/florida Johnny Cuba Beer: https://www.johnnycuba.us/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I feel bad saying this, but I always tell people this all the time, like, never do something for the money. Yeah. Because today, if I told you what's that number that you need to do the shittiest job, you know what, Mark, if I make a million dollars a week, I will do the shittiest job in the world. Cool. There's going to be a day in your life when that million is not enough to do that job. So I always tell people, like, if you do it for the money, there's going to come that point in your life. We're like, I've got a million. I have $100 million in the bank.

What do I need to do this anymore? Yeah. I don't do it for the money. I mean, I charge for my job. Of course. When you start, like you said, I can be 70 years old. and I love what I do. I love the people.

I love the reactions. And that's what I do it for, man. Yeah. Yeah. It's a passion project and you just run with it and you kind of let destiny take its course after that. It's wild. I started with shoes. I've done so many other things and worked with brands.

And now it's like, it's expanded to these things. And I'm like, you want me to do what? Okay, cool. And all right, well, this is what we need and this is the paychecks. And I'm like, holy. All right, cool. It's almost like unbelievable. Yeah, man.

What is going on, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of the Stay Tranquilo podcast. We are here with the legend Souls by Sir, aka Marcus Rivera. Appreciate you for doing this. I know we've been trying to do this for a while, so thanks for making it happen, man. Thank you for having me. I know schedules have been crazy, but I've been dying to get on here. Yeah, so thank you.

Absolutely. So first time checking out the space, it's pretty sick. You see all the cakes everywhere. So obviously, if you don't know Marcus and what he does with Souls by Sir, He does a ton of custom kicks, and obviously you can explain it better than me, but a ton of custom kicks for a lot of athletes across football, baseball, pretty much every major sport you could think of, you know, you've done, I'm sure, something for that. Yeah, man, it's been lucky. It's been crazy hard work, but super lucky along the way. It started with, what was it? Football was my first one, Nolan Carroll.

16 years ago now, man, it started with him, and it just exponentially grew and grew and grew, group, baseball kicked in. One of my first guys was Logan Morrison, Shane Victorino, and it kind of just blew up to the point out where I have thousands of athletes and the weight in this room is about 400 pairs at any given moment. It's wild. It is crazy. Yeah, I mean, I've been following you for a while and the evolution of what you've done is awesome. It's inspiring as hell. So, yeah, I'm very happy for you and I'm excited for what's next. But I want to go back to the beginning, right? Okay. We have obviously a mutual in, uh, in, uh, in Columbus High School here in Miami, Florida.

And I remember sitting in one of those Columbus Connects conversations. I had known a little bit about you and just kind of like the person that you were, but I didn't know the entrepreneurial spirit that you really had. And I know a lot of people may have already heard this story if you want to this. And I know you've alluded to this story. But I really want this story to be exacerbated even more because I do think it's awesome. So tell them a little bit about the sandwiches in Columbus. Oh, man, this story.

This story has followed me. I graduated 2002. It's what, 24th? This is a while of me for almost quarter century. No, you're going to be telling this story until the day you die. It's wild. Some people don't even know my name and some people just knew of me. So, crazy story.

I was in Columbus, right? And anybody who doesn't know who's not from Columbus, we don't really have lunch until late. And there's a lot of guys. At that time of your life, you're growing boys, going through puberty, et cetera. So we were hungry. And there's no vending machines or there wasn't any vending machines on campus because there was a catering company that basically sponsored or had contract to the school.

So long story short, I was a freshman, then I was hungry, and I was like, I've always been that person that kind of like looks, hmm, was a problem, how can I make money doing it? And I was like, oh, I could fix this. I could bring sandwiches, sell sandwiches to my friends, make a couple bucks. Well, a couple bucks to me was never enough. Long story short, Cuban bread, cut it in three chunks. It was a nice size sandwich. American cheese, 99 cents ham.

God knows what was in there. Mayo. and then the secret ingredient that nobody ever figured out was honey mustard. And I sold them for two bucks. Day one, I bought like, I don't know, five or six loaves. Man, I sold out in like minutes. And I was like, oh, this is easy. And then I did it again.

And I kept upping it up and so I got to a point. I was like, all right, I can't do any more myself. I can't carry 500 sandwiches. Right. So I said, all right, let me come up with a way to figure this out. I was like, oh, this is easy. I'm going to hire my own friends to pay them. And when you're in high school, like, you know, your parents give you lunch money.

You go out on the weekend. You have like a little bit of allowance. And I was like, oh, this is going to be easy. If I pay these guys, their parents aren't going to know they're making money. I'm going to be able to scale my business. It's going to be a win-win for all of us. Sure not, that's exactly what I did. Long story short, when it was all said and done, company lasted three and a half years.

I had 15, 14 or 15 employees, two janitors. No, sorry, 14 and 15 employees. You had the janitors in and there? I had a janitor and had two teachers. And were they selling it to the students or who were they were selling it to teachers, whoever. I didn't care. I was like, but I had teachers on payroll. And I didn't realize how much.

money I was giving these teachers. So the way it worked, I would give you 20%. So Monday through Friday, Friday you got to keep your money. So for example, say you worked for me and your number was 40 sandwiches. So every day I would give you 40, and I'd throw two or three in there for your lunch or for you to, you know, make the extra money. So the system was, I'll give you a quick rundown. The way it worked was it was illegal to do this to school, right? So of course. And so the way I worked is I would drive to school, everybody had their own book bag. And for the most part, there was those Jan Sport bookbags with a little pocket in the front. So I'd have them in my trunk. And so to not do a a drug transaction.

I would sit in my car, which had a TV at the time. I'd be playing video games or whatever. You'd go to my trunk. When I'd see you walking by, I'd pop my trunk. You'd grab your bag, close it, and walk away.

Wow. At the end of the day, you'd put the money in the front of the bag, roll your bag up into a ball, and everybody had a designated spot in my car. So you were like driver's side front headlight, and you would get under my car and my body kit and put your bag.

I'd be in football practice most of the time. So after football practice, I would get under my car and pull bags of money out. That's the way it worked. And at this point, it was crazy. And we're talking about hundreds, some days, thousands of dollars. And I would do that every day. And then I got tired of making sandwiches.

My grandma used to live next to me. So I told my grandma, 10 hours a week, two hours a day, I need you to make these sandwiches for me. I'm going to give you $30 an hour. This is like in 2000. 300 bucks. She loved me. So it got to where I wasn't making it.

I was just buying the ingredients, dropping them off, picking them up a couple hours later. And that's how I went. And I stopped selling sandwiches myself after like six weeks. I never sold sandwiches. I didn't have to. I had everybody doing it for me. That's how I never got in trouble. I had teachers making three to 500 bucks a week.

I had my average employee made about $150 bucks cash. And because they were getting what, like a commission off of the sale or something? So you were getting Fridays. So for example, if you were that guy that took 40 sandwiches a day, that means you were collecting $80,

which you had to give me Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. On Friday, you got to keep that money. Plus, every day I was giving you two or three extra sandwiches. So yeah, you were making a couple hundred bucks a week easy and teachers were multiplying because I was giving teachers like big bags. Are there any teachers that are still there that were part of the I would never say,

I would never say they're great teachers. These people were influential in my life. And it was a win-win for both of us. And again, when I finally got roped, it was out of a movie, the way it went down, and they weren't even mad at me. The only reason I got in trouble was because the school was getting sued by the catering company.

They were losing 25% of revenue, so they had to figure it out because what they would see was all of us would go to the lunchroom. And there's no way in the heck that everybody's mom or grandma was making a sandwich in aluminum foil. So they were only buying Coke and fries. So I never forget that the guy, so many times they come out, didn't know who it was. And yeah, they were getting sued.

Holy God. And the best part about the story that a lot of people didn't really know about it was that if you got in trouble, if you got roped, your first time of offense was two days detention. Got to the point by the 10th or 11th guy getting in trouble, they knew there had to be like a kingpin. There was somebody on top. Exactly. So McKin, which was at the athletic director at this man, at time, he was like, hey, I know these aren't yours. I'll lessen your detention, and nobody ratted me out because I had come out with a severance package. The way the severance package was if you got in trouble and you kept my name out of your mouth,

I would give you two weeks prepay. You get four weeks vacation, so you get the heat off of you. You can come back and work for me after week four. So the whole time in my head for years, I thought that's why nobody was riding me out. Wow. That was not why nobody was writing me out. Because if you ratted me out, keep this in mind. There was now 13 other classmates, two.

teachers and a janitor that you just killed their revenue stream, so they were going to be pissed. True. So everybody was out of fear. I'm thinking this because I'm being an ass guy. No, nobody ever rated me out because you were going to screw over your own teachers and teammates or classmates. Exactly. But yeah.

God damn. No, that's a whole ass operation. You were running a Fortune 500 company within the four walls of Columbus. Man, I was in Columbus. My average, a bad week was $1,000. For me, after expenses. A bad week. A good week, $1,600 bucks.

I never missed a day of high school, ever. Sick, didn't matter. I was like, it's too expensive. So I was in high school, not knowing the value of money, really at the time, and making $1,500 bucks a week. That's pretty damn freaking good, bro. That's amazing. That was living fun.

So then you play football, you're running your sandwich business. When was it then that you got into the whole sneaker world? So my dad had been in the wheel entire world, right? So we had basically like a Pimp My Ride type of thing in Miami and had gone really good. We had any internet, sold it eventually. The sneaker thing, this is year 15 or 16. So like 15 or 16 years ago, I wanted to get somebody a certain gift for Valentine's Day that wasn't your typical chocolate and candies or whatnot. And, you know, as I got older and I started to get dispensable income, I started because I was that kid and my mom and dad would give me one pair of shoes that had to last the whole year.

So as I got older, I had my own money. I started to buy sneakers. And this particular person didn't like sneakers. So I said, all right, you know what? I'm going to give them sneakers. Except I couldn't find them in a color that I liked. So I was like, you know what? I could paint this.

How hard can this be? I spent 20 hours on that shoe. It was beautiful. It was glittered. It was ombred. It was gorgeous. Gave it to this person. They put it on Instagram. Next thing you know, friends of mine were like, oh, my God, I didn't know you know how to paint. My daughter's having an Elmo. My dad's a Yankee fan. Can you do this? Can you do that? I did about 10 pairs of those. And fast forward, a Miami Dolph player saw one of them breached out. And that's when it blew up for me and started with one. And the story of how we got to where we started from to where we are, it's just, it's wild.

That's crazy. Yeah. It's like almost like a by accident thing. Yeah, this story, I always say that there must have been not one, but like a dozen angels up there. Yeah, exactly. Well, I think it's when you look at it, right, and you always, you know, now you're 15 years into this and you kind of go back and you can reflect on where you're at right now and all the amazing things that have happened. I think you nail it on the head. Like, there's an angel up there, multiple angels up there saying, you know what? This is how we're going to get you started in this world. And this is going to be the kickstart because what I'm a big believer.

Like what's meant to be will be. And sometimes you don't even realize it that it's happening. And then all of a sudden you're knee deepening. You're like, holy shit. All right, I guess I'm doing this. Man, you know, it's fucking wild. I told my first football player no. Like seven days in a row.

Like this is when Nolan Carroll, he played for the Dolphins time. So he first reached out to me and said, can you do a pair of kicks, Statue of Liberty? Listen, typical Columbus fashion. I was like, oh, yeah, I've done this dozens of time. I didn't even know what the fuck that meant. Yeah. So I started Googling it. Long story short, there was no YouTube.

brilliant at the time telling you this stuff. So what it basically meant it was make his shoes look weathered, like the, you know, the Statue of Liberty. So I, at this point, I was brushing everything on. I didn't even have an airbrush gun. So I bought an airbrush gun, bought a whole bunch of paints, and I'm painting in my kitchen counter in my apartment in the beach. Long story short, I paint this shoe. I'm not liking this shoe. Like I am 30, 40 layers of greens and gold. I'm just not liking this. And he is blowing me up. Hey, can you send me this? Can you send him that? I finally go to a photo. And I'm not happy with what I'm looking at. I'm not done. Like, hey, I'm not done, but send a picture. And he writes back. And he writes back.

the worst two words, any man, any parent, any family members, especially any significant other can ever write to you. If you ever get these words, stop. It's okay. Oh, man. I remember taking my phone. Just like that. Just those two words, it's okay. It's okay. And I'm like, I knew it. And I took my phone and I went and I threw it down. And when I threw it down, I hit a jar of acetone by accident. Because that's part of like, and the astone falls on the shoe. So I freak out and I grab like a kitchen towel from the stove. And when I wiped the shoe, gorgeous. whatever I had done all the layers of paint had the chemical

reaction it looked like marble granito it looked gorgeous I snapped a picture and I was like ha ha just kidding sent that one and he's like oh my god I'm in love that story stayed under wraps for like seven years long story short I do the sneakers

fine this is the crazy part is like having to replicate that again well that was so I did exactly and I was so like dumber in the moment that I didn't even drop the jar of ass stone I took my phone through it again and like just let splash. Yeah, so that I stay quiet. And then this is the beginning of summertime.

So leading into training camp, he calls me, hey, Mark, I got a special project for you. And I'm like, yeah, what's up? He's like, I want you to do my game keys. And this is where I told that man, no. And I was so freaked out. And he's like, what do you mean? No.

And I was like, man, you know, with sneakers, you can be very careful how you walk. But in an NFL game, they're going to step on you. I don't know if it's going to hold, if it's going to crack. I told them no. We hung up the phone that night. And I remember, I can guess myself a million times. but he called me every night for another six nights

and I kept telling him no one, giving him excuses him. And I'm like, he became Tony Robbins on steroids. He was the most motivational guy. And mind you, we didn't really have a relationship yet then. And he said, Marcus, you got this. I believe in you. And this is like going on.

And I'm like, on a seventh day, I got so pissed. And I was like, you know what? Fuck it. I'll do it for you. But I'm not going to charge you because I don't even know if this is going to work. And he tells me, he's a great dude. He tells me, I'll tell you what,

if this works, I'm going to repay this favor to you one day in life. And I was like, all right, man, cool. So sure enough, he gets me the shoes. I paint him. So the plan was preseason, there was four preseason games at the time. And back then it was like the starters would play one drive, then the next game, one quarter, then the first half. So we said, let's wait until the end of the third game so we can give it like a full thing.

So I remember, I mean, we've had seen tickets to me and my family. So I would go to the two home games. And I'm just with binoculars staring at this man's feet, 50 yards. I'm not even looking at the damn game. I'm looking at the guy's feet. At the end of game three, I'm on my way home. My parents, I can picture it like it was yesterday. and he calls me and I'm like paranoid.

And my mom said, just pick up the call. Hey, Nolan, what's up? Hey, Mark, the shoes are perfect. There's nothing wrong with him. He's like, I'm sending you tomorrow 12 pairs of Jordan. They're only available in black. Do whatever you want. No rules.

Just make them match my uniform. I got you. And then for some reason I bullshit. I'm like, man, I got to slide him through. I got a lot of orders. I had no orders at time. I'll slide him through. He's like, yeah, man, I really need him for week one.

I was like, I got you. I'll figure it out to worry. Sure enough, he gets me the shoes. I have no orders at the time. So I'd get home from work at 6 o'clock and spray to four, five in the morning. The shoes were gorgeous when I finished. They were beautiful dolphin colorways, et cetera. So a couple days before week one, I'm, hey, Nolan, I'm ready to go.

Like, give me your address. I'll drive him up to Davey where you live. And I remember, no, no, no, I really want to go meet you, take photos. You know, in my head there was the Instagram thing. And he's like, no, he's like, ship him to this address. I was like, I remember again getting upset. Not saying anything out loud. And he was like, oh, okay.

He's like, remember that favor, I promised you. I was like, yeah, man, thank you so much for the business. He's saying, no, idiot. The favor is not that I gave you the shoes. Favor is where you're about to ship this box. Again, I freak out. There's FedEx next door. I don't even think to Google the address.

Run to FedEx. Overnight this package. It was a Dolphins training facility. At the time, I didn't know how athletes are. Now I can tell you. Of course. Athletes get boxes, especially big ones. They're little kids in preschool.

They get to open the package in everybody else. It is like, it's a shit show. All the other guys want to see what's in it. So Nolan was trying to do it to like brag. Hey, look what I got that nobody has. What turned into was, Mayhem. I remember he calls me, hey, Mark, I'm about to open the box. I was like, all right, I'm going to shower. Just come when you're done. So my phone's blowing up. I'm in the shower.

I get out of the shower. Pick up. Hey, what's up? He's like, bro, Marcus, I don't know how to tell you this. I'm so sorry. I was like, oh, my God, is it missing? Like, what happened? Yeah. Nah, man, like, I took them out to showcase them. And these guys, like, stole them from me. I said, what do you mean? He stole them from me? He said, what do you mean? He's like, yo, they threw me money. It's like, oh, they're like, seven or eight thousand dollars I want to give you. but I feel so bad because 10 of these 12 pairs they bought them from them or they stole them and gave me money money.

And I'm like, he's like, and I hope you really don't mind I gave your number out to all those guys. So when I'm looking at my phone, it's not Nolan blowing me up. It's all these numbers and I'm like, holy shit. That's how I went from one guy to eight guys.

Fast forward and they started to put it on their Instagram and now like if they went to Florida State or Boise, their old college roommate who now plays for the Washington commander or Redskins at the time is like, oh man, I need a pair of those. Who did them? Oh, this guy next. And next thing you know, my company is funny.

Yeah, spread like wildfire. Overnight. It was wilds. Holy cow. That's crazy. That's crazy. It is crazy how you say that. Like, you don't really know how the athlete's space worse.

So you don't even know what is to come in all of this. You're like, oh, this is cool. I'm not working with a pro guy. But you don't realize the capability that one guy had the impact to really spike that. Oh, man. It's funny. I have this running joke with my mom, right? So when I first started, my mom never, my mom has always supported me and everything I've done.

Right? So, but when this starts to kick in, she's like, Mark, I don't know how you're going to make money doing this. Right. That was her words to me. I always joke at her because it's just like, Mom, I don't know either, but I'll figure it out along the way. So it was like, she was always supportive of me, but she said that comment to me. I was like, I don't even know, Mom.

Fast forward. I never forget when I got my first deal, when I got the next big deal. And now it's like, we joke because when I get a phone call from any brand or any player that's like, hey, Mom, you know who just call me? Drew Brees. Hey, Mom. You know who just called me? Hyundai.

Hey, Mommy. And she like, we give each other shit about it. But it's, yeah, like, I didn't even know. It was a world. There was nuts to me. I didn't even intend to go down this lane. This lane was just open in front of me and I just kept running. Yeah.

But yeah. Because you were never an artist in school. You know, like that wasn't like something that was your trade. And then you're like, oh, you know what? I was a painter, but now I'm painting shoes. Like that, that was not even in the arsenal. No, I was the business guy. So I started with business.

My dad was an entrepreneur. I realized that's what I wanted to do in life. I was going to be either that or a lawyer and I didn't like to read at the time. So I was like, yeah. I'm going entrepreneur. Went to school, went to Case, and I transferred to the U.M, graduated from the U. and yeah, I was an entrepreneur with spirit.

Like, that's what I love to do. Figure out, find a problem, make money. The art thing, I loved it. But the only people in my life to that point who had ever told me I was good at my mother, which is her job to tell you're good. And my middle school art school teacher, Monsieur, that was it.

Nobody even knew I painted. Yeah. And I had painted like two things prior to that. That's it. And it just fell on my lap. And now it's funny because I always tell people, I didn't go to art school, but all my assistants did.

That's crazy. That's crazy. Hey, I mean, look where you're on now. It's a blessing, man. I'm thankful. It's a huge blessing. I've been able to meet amazing people. It's scenarios like this.

Absolutely. My assistants are great. And I'm just in a world that's like, I would have never imagined this. The little kid inside of me always like is screaming, like, losing his shit. So when when you, obviously you get that huge kind of spark between all these NFL guys now that are posting it on their Instagrams and then getting reached out by a bunch of guys. When was it for you that you were like, hey, shit. Like this is now I'm going to double down and I'm going to do this like full time. Was it in that moment that you're like, this is it?

Like I'm going to turn this into something a lot bigger. Or were you still kind of like in that, I'm just going to keep riding this wave. I'm going to see where it goes, see where it goes, where it goes. Like where it goes. Like, where it goes. You know, you're going to laugh when I tell you this. Like, I don't think it has yet to me. So this isn't my only job.

Like I own tire companies. Right. And it's not because it's necessary or anything because this is, this is, I do where I work for myself. Of course. But I've always been. that person that dreams like my dreams are on steroids and I always tell people I was like man like when they're thinking here for some reason I'm here and a lot of times I'm crazy and I know I'm crazy and it's like it's crazy and so I can make it work and I've always believed in myself more than

I think the average person so like when I started I didn't know the capabilities I didn't know how far I was going to make it but I knew there was no bound there was no there was nothing I had to like compare myself to because there was nobody in that space so it's not like oh well I can only get as big as X or I can only go as far as why I was like there's nobody in front of me So it's like, I'm running a race by myself. I have nobody to pace me. I have nobody to aim. So it's all right, you just got outdo yourself every single day.

And that's how I lived. I just kept doing it. And it's like, the name's got bigger. The companies got bigger. The projects got bigger. The checks got bigger. And I'm just like, holy cow, holy count. And I never put a ceiling on.

I learned a lot. I had a lot of valuable lessons. But like, I've never said, like, this is not a viable business. I think since the beginning, even when my mom asked me that, I was like, I'm going to turn this into, like, craziness. Yeah. And that's how I always believe in everything I did. I mean, I've been doing this too.

And it reminds me of like kind of like my journey and starting this too. It's like you have a little bit of like delusional confidence I guess in yourself, right? And your product and everything. Deep down you're like money's not being made, you know, at the time or whatever it might be. And you're like really, why am I doing this? But you look at it and like that's society's barometer to where you're at in that moment into what success is. Right. But here you are and you're doing all these amazing things and connecting with all these amazing people that you would

never connected with in your life, right? It all started with painting a shoe and then you've met, you know, some of the largest, you know, athletes and you've gone to some of the craziest sport venues and done some of the craziest things, the brands, all that, right? And to me, that is like, there is no value on that, right? And I was telling someone the other day, I'm like, I could be seven years old. This shit doesn't turn into anything and whatever. I think I would still be doing this because I just, I love it too much. Yeah. You know, it's, I tell people all the time, Like, when I started, she used to take me about 20, 25 hours. And I would charge 150 bucks.

So $6 an hour is how it started. Like, I sold three sandwiches and I made that in 30 seconds. But I loved it. And I've always, listen, I was this delusional kid too that was four, five, six, seven. Oh, I'm going to make Major League Baseball. I'm going to be the NFL. I realize I'm Hispanic and I stopped growing. So like, I've always been that kid.

And so when this happened, it was just like, this is my way in. This is my way to be that lawyer agent that I didn't end up to go to law school for. like this is my way in and now I look back I'm like I have just as much and sometimes even more access than some of these agents that are controlled by regulations that I get to do stuff I'm in rooms I mean I was at Super Bowl

I took my mom to a Super Bowl was like in rooms with people talking about stories and it's just like the people you meet it's wild because so many times you'll meet somebody and people from my past that I either went to high school with or people that I know or know of me or my family and all of a sudden they're like hey I'm the CEO

blah blah blah and Margus I'm a huge or I'm a Columbus alum, like Marcus Lomonas. Right. We worked together because straight because of Columbus. And he was just like, I love what you do. Oh, you're a, he found that I was a Columbus alum, I think, after the fact. Oh, and then all of a sudden, that fast-worded everything. And it's just like, it's a blessing, man.

And it's just like you said, like, it's not, if you're doing it for the money and it's, I feel bad saying this, but I always tell people this all the time, like, never do something for the money. Yeah. Because today, if I told you, what's that number that you need to do the shittiest job? You know what, Mark, if I make a million dollars a week, I will do the shittiest job. in the world. Cool. There's going to be a day in your life when that million is not enough to do that job.

So I always tell people like, if you do it for the money, there's going to come in that point in your life. We're like, I've got a million. I have $100 million in the bank. What I need to do this anymore? Yeah. I don't do it for the money. I mean, I charge for my job.

Of course. When you start, like you said, I can be 70 years old and I just, I love what I do. I love the people. I love the reactions. And that's what I do it for, man. Yeah. Yeah. It's a passion project.

And you just run with it and you kind of let Destiny take its course after. that. It's wild. I started with shoes. I've done so many other things and worked with brands. And now it's expanded to these things. And I'm like, you want me to do what? Okay, cool. Like, and all right, well, this is what we need and this is the paychecks. And I'm like, holy. Yeah. All right. It's almost like unbelievable. Yeah, man. What's been for you, right? You've obviously been extremely successful. But along this journey for you, like, what's been like the biggest challenge for you in this process? Man. So I suffer from like, never being satisfied.

So I work. Incredibly long hours. That's been the hardest thing for me. I don't sleep. So like I always joke when I was a kid, I used to go out and party a lot. And I go out and have fun with my friends. And it got me to like waking up

after three, four hours, going to school, running the companies. And now the same thing happens, except I don't go out so much. I'll get home and I can't sleep. So I was like, all right, might as well work. But my biggest thing is the work-life balance.

It's a struggle. It's the hardest thing I got to deal with now. I've gotten better. but my better is still not good. So, yeah, like, I'm the guy that can work 20 hours a day, seven days a week, and not feel anything about it. The problem when you do that is like,

it's not good in your body, it's not going to your relationships. It's just, it's tax you. So my biggest struggle is trying to get better at that, which I have. I definitely have, but so much more to go. And what have you done to get better at it? Like, what's some of the things that, you know, because I struggle with that too. And it's, you know, I'm very good at, like,

disconnecting, you know, I'll connect, you know, travel or go with my my friend, hang out with my friends, you know, be with my girlfriend, you know, things like that to just disconnect. But I'm not disconnected because my brain's still running at a million. I'm there sitting at dinner with my girl and I'm just like thinking about the, like, I'm thinking about the business 24. I wake up, I think about it. I go to bed and think about it.

I'm like, where is the, there is no disconnect. Like I might be physically disconnected, but I'm not mentally disconnected. And you know, and in a way it's good and bad. So I always tell people like, listen, I'm the same guy that I have a shower. I've always had a shower with at least like a glass door or a glass wall. I have one or two glasses in that. I will go in a shower and I will write math about the business every day. And if you like, I do it every day.

Like I'm in the shower for 45 minutes. Not shower. I'm showering for like 10 minutes. I'm 35 minutes like thinking about problems and writing on my glass because of steam. And I'm like, all right. So it's hard. How do I do it? Telling myself, yo, get the fuck up.

Yeah. Because you could like, my mom could tell me, you know, my girl could tell me, you my best friend can tell me, my assistants can tell me, sometimes you don't fucking listen. So I have been trying to tell myself, all right, bro, you got to get the fuck up. Just go harder tomorrow. But it's, listen, it's a battle that I know I'm going to face the rest of my life. And it's one of the downsides of the job. And, you know, it sucks.

And I always tell myself, I have a kid, you know, it's going to be different. And I hope it is. And I generally believe that. That's true. That will change the whole dynamic. It will. It absolutely. And listen, when I lost my father, it changed a huge.

huge amount for me. And I looked at so many things differently than I did before. Because my dad was, I'm a spinning image of my dad when it comes to that. So he was a workaholic. My dad was the guy that I always said, my dad can never retire. Because if he retired, he would pass away the day after. That's how my grandfather was. Yeah. And that's how my great grandfather was as well. It's like, so I was like, it's great to be that way, right? And it's a good thing. But at the same time it does it because he worked his whole life, saved, you know, did this other stuff. And there was so much left on table that he didn't get to do or enjoy because work. And he was providing for us as a family. So like, that's my thing. Luckily, we're in a better financial position.

Like my parents, you know, we progress and I'm hopefully progressing you're more. Of course. But it's a struggle. It's not easy and it's like sometimes you just got to tell yourself, you know, get the fuck up. And then in my head, I'm like, get the fuck up. And in my own head, I'm like, no, you got shit. And I'll have this internal argument. Nobody hears it. Exactly. And I don't have this internal argument

and stuff. And so like, all right, fuck it. I'm getting up. And I just get up and go. Exactly. I mean, the mental chatter that goes on in our head is, you know, it could be your best friend or your worst enemy. You know, you really have to kind of find a way to use that for your own personal power. Correct.

Because if not, that show will eat you up. Yeah, like, I try to use it to my advantage too. Because the thing is, like, I'm a perfectionist for certain things too. And, like, I'll look at something and I'll see the flaws in it. But at the same time, like, people around me, like, oh, my God, it's gorgeous. And I'm thinking of myself, but this and this and this and this and this. And I don't tell them. And, like, what I've released to people recently is like, if you look at my Instagram,

every single shoe that I put out has mistakes. Like, I know them. I can spot them out perfectly. You'll never know they're there. So I'm like, all, Mark, like, nobody's, seeing these things. It's art, so it's subjective-ish. So, like, you can get away with it. And I'm like, all right, cool. But it's hard because you have these battles in your own head. And entrepreneurs understand this. It's almost like you're a kid with imaginary friends.

But these friends aren't always nice. These friends are like telling you stuff. So it's a struggle, but, you know, you learn how to balance with it. Yeah, absolutely. So we talk about like kind of the lows and the challenges in this. What have been some of the amazing highs? I'm sure it's a long list, but if you can really kind of like pinpoint it to a few things, I can imagine the list is a very long list. It is. It's super long. But like, I would say one of the more memorable ones due to regret in my life. So I've had Super Bowl tickets, I don't know, many years now. You know, a lot of times I sell them, you know, et cetera. So two years ago, I signed my first NFL deal with, I mean, with the NFL directly, to be like a influencer, I guess you could say.

Okay. And part of the deal was that I wanted access. They were giving me two Super Bowl tickets and I wanted access to two more. The reason for that was because the year before, I was going to go to Super Bowl and I was going to take my father. And I didn't. I didn't. I didn't tell him. And I took somebody else.

And I never forget, it was like, I remember sitting there like, what am I doing? So when I signed this deal, it was super important to me to get two and two, right? So they basically told me, no problem, Mark. Like, we'll get you the two. we're going to give you as part of the deal package and we'll let you buy it two more. And that was, I don't know, July of 2022. And my plan, my dad, my father's birthday, September 4th. My plan was either to tell him on his birthday or for Christmas, like, here's your gift.

Like, me and you're going to Super Bowl, what you've never been able to do. Or you could have done, but you've never spent the money on, etc. I had access to it. My dad passed away. Two weeks for his birthday. Never got to give it to him. So it leads me to one of the most memorable ones where that year I told my mom, like, or fucking shine.

We're going to a Super Bowl. Like, I'm not living with this. And it's funny because we, we did a typical, what I call Marcus trip where I go in and out to these games. People don't realize, like, I have a lot of work. So the Super Bowl was a perfect guy up. But we flew in it, it was Arizona. We flew in maybe 10 in the morning.

We left here at like six. Flew in a ton of the morning. Didn't have a hotel room. We got a tour old car just so I can put our luggage is in. Went straight to the stadium. We're in the stadium the whole time. We left an hour after the game. Back to Miami.

Holy cow. We were back 22 hours. But the way it worked was, like, I was sitting there with my mom, my girl, and we were, like, five rows from the field. And this crazy, I didn't even realize what the tickets were. These VIP, like, celebrities on either side of us, our own chair, basically, chargers, everything was gorgeous. Private bathroom that my mom loves, private bar that I love. It was amazing. And I'll never forget.

One of my dad's favorite singers, wild was Rihanna. Don't ask me why. My dad knew every word to every Rihanna song. It was wild. Who performs a halftime? Rihanna. And there was a photo that my girl took

of me and my mom that hangs in my house. You can't see, we're in tears. Like, I remember, it's like, yes, because it was like, damn, like,

I didn't get to do this with my dad. And I was glad my mom was there. And we're hugging and we're just watching Rihanna. And yeah, that was probably to me, that's my number one.

Because I got to experience something with my mom that I wish my dad had gone. I know he was there. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. I wanted to do it and I regret not doing it.

So I'm not living with this shit again. So that, that to me was my number one. I was here with my girl and I had my mom next to me and then Rihanna, I don't know how people was singing and it was a good experience. Yeah. It's a bittersweet moment. Yeah.

Of course, I completely understand that. Your dad obviously was someone that was extremely special to you. What was, I guess, one of the lessons that you that he left for you that you kind of live with like on a daily basis? You know, it was a lot. My dad was the, I had a typical Cuban hard dad. My dad was hard on me. Great on the world.

And it made me who I am today, so I'm thankful for it. He was just like, my dad was a hard worker, good human. Like, he was a good person. But my dad was like, he was never going to be outwards ever. Like, there was no, like, he would have been outsmarted. He would have been outfunded. My dad was never outworked. There was nothing he couldn't do it.

He would lie to him and say, I could do it. And he'd figure out, like, whether my sprinkler broke on my house. He was there trying to figure it out. And, you know, God bless him, he was able to do a lot of stuff. So to me, it's just like, I'm never going to be outwork. Like, there's more talented artists. There's smarter people. there's more charismatic people there's richer people but i i just believe in like there's nobody like if

i need to get something done there's nobody at all outwork me and i can and i'll and i'll go i may not be the smartest guy in the room and i don't like to be ever but that i'm going to go into something whether i know what i'm doing or not and like all right if i put my head in it i was like i will outwork anybody at figuring this out and i get to the solution i want but that number one thing that my dad left me was like never like never be never and it's cool to ask for help etc but like don't be that guy like don't quit And I've never quit or anything. Like, if you don't quit, you don't lose.

If you don't lose, then you're good. It's funny because my grandparents are Cuban. And the revolving joke around, like, my mom's side of the family, like the Molina blood, right, is like, we don't quit. Like, you can knock us down. You can push us down to the floor. We're going to get right back up and we're going to keep on going. And we're going to keep on going if we get knocked down again.

And that's just like it's in our DNA, you know? And I think it is a little bit of a Cuban. thing, obviously considering everything that's happened in the history of being a Cuban American, but it's something you almost take pride in. I think as I've gone and older, I don't have a relationship with my dad. I haven't spoken to my dad in, I don't even know, 12 years. And as I've gotten older, you know, I younger, had two younger brothers. Parents went through divorce when one of my brothers was like three years old.

I had another brother that was like 10. I almost became like the man of the household that, you know, 16, 17 years old. And, you know, it helped me mature. I took a completely different perspective of life and I'm actually very grateful that I've gone through that. And, you know, I still have to figure out, you know, what is that relationship with my father's supposed to look like? And those are all things that you think about, right?

But I know, you know, the other side of why, you know, I haven't done that. And that's, you know, that's something that I will always be like my own personal battle to figure out. but in that process I've always like where's that where's that figure that I can kind of like look to

right that's what you look for you're a man and you're looking for that from somebody and you have your idols and you have your people but as I've gotten older

my grandfather who hasn't been alive for I don't even know 20 18 years or so something like that I feel closer to him than I've ever felt in my life and it's just like

him communicating with me in ways and always saying like I got you you're protected anything you need, you're going to be fine. And then it's always like, then I start thinking, like, how was my grandfather? My grandfather was selfless. He was hardworking, you know?

And then you just start kind of instilling that in your DNA because of how much you kind of like feel them. I guess is like the best way to do it. I'm sure you feel that with your dad. It's wild, man. Like, I had never really lost anything close, close like that to me. And, you know, obviously, you lose you. To me, it was two of my pillars. I lost one of my pillars.

And it's, I always, in my head, it's like a video game. You know, you play a certain way of video game when you have two lives. When you're down to your last life, you play it differently. And it sucks. And it's the most elementary way I can explain it to somebody because I'm just like, man, like you take it for granted. Like you do shit or don't do shit and like perfect examples. Like I don't know the situation with your relationship right now.

But I always tell people, I was like, but you know how much time I regret? Like so many. Like our last conversation was a fight. Our last conversation, me and my dad, I was here in this room on the phone with him and it was a fight. And but then I look, it took me time to realize like me and my dad were hard on each other. We were business partners. So, like, we had a very weird dynamic. Like, we could tell each other to fuck off.

Father, son, son, father. Ten minutes later, my dad's like, hey, what do you want for lunch? That's how we show love. It's not normal. It's not, or, you know, it's special. It's your guys relationship. It's a way it was. So I always tell people, like, man, like, especially with that, like, time's the one

that you can't get back. Yeah. And, like, you know, everything else in life you can get back, you know, minus your health. And, you know, it's a ticking time bomb there. And it's difficult because, like, time is, like, it's, There's millionaires who would give all their money up. And like, listen, I don't know, I'm a millionaire, but I would give up everything I had for five minutes on my life back.

And I'm never going to get that. Yeah. So that's a fact at the end of the day and whatever the relationship situation is or whatever you have. Right. It's just living a certain way where it's like, that's why the no quit shit to me doesn't like, you I never want to look back and regret this.

Exactly. If I lost, if I didn't make it, if I wasn't first place, I'm cool, but I can look myself in the mirror like, where you did everything, they were just better. Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with that. But if I left gas, like something in my gas tank, I'm like, shit.

Yeah, you're going to live with that regret. Bro, how do I just floored it a little bit more? Maybe I could. I make so many decisions off of that alone. Like, I rather not live with the thought of regret versus the going through the action and failing, you know? Because I'll accept failure knowing the fact that I actually tried and I gave it my best. Yeah. But if I'm going to go and I'm going to look back from five years, I'm not going to be mad at myself that I failed.

I'm going to be mad at myself that I didn't do it. Yeah, 100%. And listen, like, and then the what ifs always happened? Because it's like, what if you had been? got harder. Are you better than that person? Like, and that day, if I gave everything I got and you beat me in the race, you know what? Damn it. He was better than me that day. And it's cool. I'm going to work harder to, you know, try it again. But if I left somebody to tell you, I was two feet behind him, had I just given it, I could have, would have, should have, that's the shit

I can't live. Yeah. I can't live with that. And that's the complacency that I see so many people. And that's why the businesses, like, that's what takes me to, like, Mark, you could do so much more. Keep going. Keep pushing. So it's like, I'm in a constant battle with myself. Yeah. That's awesome. But that's awesome. Well, that's awesome. Well, You've obviously done an amazing job. You know, we're all rooting for you, as you know. And like I said, I've been following you for a while and love your journey. And the more I've gone into know you as a person, I definitely admire you and respect the hell out of you.

So keep doing what you're doing, man. It's awesome. It's cool to see. I appreciate you. Thank you for having me, man. I'm thankful to be able to be in moves, I guess, with people like you and talk and hear stories. And this is part of the journey that I love. Absolutely.

Me too. This is like the connecting with people and, like, the relationships that I build. And I'm like, man, I would have never met you. and maybe we went to school nine years different, no, 12 years? Yeah. You said you were at what class? 02. 02, yeah, 13.

I was class of 13. Jesus, crazy. My God, I'm old. But yeah, we would have never met each other, right? And behind the camera as well. So that's why I'm thankful for these opportunities because it's, life's funny sometimes. It is. It always, it'll connect you with the right people when you're doing the things that you're

supposed to be doing. I do believe that. I agree, man. So keep doing what you're doing because I'm excited when you're seven years old and you're, I'm like, I knew that guy. I knew that guy. It might be a little hard for me to get out of the chair, but it's okay. We'll roll right in, man.

We're golden. Don't worry about it. Appreciate it, man. It was fun. Awesome. Thank you, man.