Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - $115 Million Later: Why Risk Built Everything

Episode Date: June 16, 2025

Tanner Chidester built a $115M empire from scratch, no investors, no backup plan, just relentless drive. In this episode, he opens up to Shawn French about concussions, setbacks, online business, and how calculated risk is the only way to win big. From Division 1 football to leading Elite CEOs, this is a no-BS breakdown of grit, growth, and going all in. Subscribe for more raw conversations like this. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rinse takes your laundry and hand delivers it to your door, expertly cleaned and folded, so you could take the time once spent folding and sorting and waiting to finally pursue a whole new version of you. Like T-time U. Or this T-time U. Or even this T-time U. Said you hear about Dave?

Or even T-time, T-time, T-time, T-time U. So update on Dave. It's up to you. We'll take the laundry. Rinse. It's time to be great. For everybody watching and listening, there's one massive word that is hanging over this. It's risk.

Like, dude, I respect this shit out of you, man. Thanks, man. A hundred and 15 million dollars. Yeah. There's a book out there. If you guys have not read it, it's called Humu My Cheese. There's three mice in a maze. And every day, there's food that's dropped into the maze.

After a while, the food stops coming. They start to starve and they start debating what they should do. Two of the mice are like, hey, like, we should stay. Maybe the food's going to come back. And when the third mice is like, the food hasn't been here. few months. If we don't leave, we're going to die. And they're like, yeah, but what if we leave and we die? He's like, we're going to die anyway. It's like, we have to leave. It's an hour and ever, baby.

Shut, French, what up. The pain inspire me. I'm from all and everything I'm doing. Up until it's done, I'm me for the entirety. I put it in overtime. I'll be working. Just know I'm a go for mine because I earned it. They watch and I know it's time. I confirmed it. A whole society determined. Determin. What's up, everybody. Welcome back to another episode. This is the Determined Society. I'm your host, Sean French. Before I introduce today's guests, I want you to go subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple. Follow us on all the socials at the Determined Society and at the Sean French, S-H-A-W-N. And lastly, if you get something out of this episode, you know somebody that can gain a ton of insight or some inspiration from it. Please send it to them. So

today, I have an amazing, amazing CEO entrepreneur from elite CEOs. He's an author. And he crossed a hundred million dollars in sales in six years and he had a goal at 22 to become a millionaire by 27 and at that time at 22 he only had $2,000 net to his name and he absolutely hit that goal and he's an amazing individual Tanner Chidester welcome to show yeah thanks for the intro that was I should carry you around everywhere it was amazing yeah come on can you carry me around everywhere I mean I mean too I mean seriously I could be your hype guy I'd be like fuck man let's do this pretty good hype right that I appreciate that it's nuts man like I I, you know, we've had interaction over the years and, you know,

finally got to meet you in person today. And for me, it's really neat. Like, as I started my journey looking at people because, like, you didn't really know. I mean, I looked up to you, man. I looked at you everything you built. I'm like, this dude's dope, man. One day, maybe I can interview this guy. And here we are four years later.

Yeah, look at that. That's cool. You know? Appreciate that. Manifestation, bro. Yeah, there you go. And you're more handsome in person. You are on.

Yeah, a little fluffier than I usually am right now, but I appreciate that. Dude, that's fluffy dog. Like for me, it is like, I'm just usually super shredded. And so like I'm still trying to get rid of the Uber Eats demolishing. Interesting story. Well, good thing. So all, you're probably triggered by the XL I brought you today. It's like, damn, this bastard.

Oh, you're good. Oh, my God. So dude, so like you mentioned the Uber Eats, man. Yeah. Right. And you're a very shredded dude. You know, you build your business on the backbone of fitness, right? And always shredded.

So, you know, I think a lot of people can relate to set back. and gaining weight. You know, I've recently lost 30 pounds with the help of Jeff Delaney and my buddy Josiah Novak. And, you know, so I understand that. But you had an interesting reason why you got so fluffy, right?

Yeah. Why don't you share that story with the audience of what you're doing? So, yeah, very interesting. So usually I get up for the gym, you know, 5 a.m., sometimes 4.30, but like, you just 5 a.m. Give it or take. And I live in downtown Miami.

So where I'm at driving is, it's just pointless. And when I say pointless, I just think it's a waste of time. So I have three cars, got rid of those, was Ubering a lot. And then one of my buddies, who knows if he had it out for me, he said, hey, bro, you should get a scooter. You know, you get a scooter, drive it to the gym. And I was taking it to the gym, and it all was well. And then the gym moved locations. Okay.

And when it moved locations, there's this small set of train tracks that you have to go over. And so I was scootering super early in the morning, you know, no one's barely awake. I saw the train tracks and I... When did making plans get this complicated? It's time to streamline with WhatsApp. The secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans.

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That was a thought. And then I just said, ah, fuck it. You know, like, in my head, I'm like, ah, it's fine. So I'm going about 20 to 25 miles an hour. And next thing you know, I wake up in a hospital.

I mean, that's the first thing I remember. No, I don't even remember it that well, to be honest with you. And I had a massive concussion. So I fell, hit my head. It looked like I just went 12 rounds with Muhammad Ali. and I had about a two-week period, like January 10th to 24th, because people had to tell me where I don't remember anything. And they're showing me videos and pictures and all this stuff.

And I don't really have a recollection. And the doctor said that's partially what can happen. But what they did say is I was ordering Uber Eats every day for every meal. And so I actually looked at my Uber Eats app. And it's, I mean, I could show you. It's absurd. Let me live vicariously through you because this is very, this is exciting to me. What are you order?

I know you order a shit ton of dollars. That's, you know, fucking pull it up, dude. Yeah, pull, I mean,

it was bad. Let me, let me go in here and just like, with it. I mean, they haven't pictured me eating an ice cream cake for breakfast,

you know? So, let's go. For breakfast. Yeah, for breakfast. That's living life, bro.

Yeah, so let's go back a couple weeks. Okay. Chipotle, smash bros, Mama restaurant, salt and straw ice cream, May Crazy Bloom,

the salty donut, the meltdown, I hop, Duncan, LA, Social. That was right there. That was three days

what I just listed off. Do the salty donut in Midtown though? Yeah. So good. Skinny Louie, Fireman Derek's Bake Shop. And you got to remember, these are probably 50 to 100 bucks a pop.

Midtown Creamery, Papa John's, the salty donut, Baskin Robbins, Coldstone Creamery. I mean, dude, it's crazy what I was ordering. Yeah.

And so, you know, what was funny is, you know, two weeks go by. And then I finally start, you know, just having more of a memory, I guess you could say. And I looked in the mirror and it was fine, you know, but I was like, wow, like I'm 15 pounds heavier.

And I'm still trying to get that weight off right now because usually I'm like 190. I'm like 6-2-ish and I'm like 193-ish. Okay. And right now I'm probably 210. Okay. And so it's not, it's technically not bad, but just to my standards of what I'm used to. Yeah. And yeah, that was my, that was my Uber Eats journey and weight loss journey is I don't

remember it. And so it was the vacation that I don't remember, unfortunately. I didn't get, yeah, I had all that food and I don't remember. And they, my friends and family were telling me that they would say like, hey man, maybe you should have something healthy. And I was like, no, F you. Like, I was just like, I'm doing what I want. And yeah, they said what on the side effects of a concussion is you can just be aggressive and like you lose some inhibition. And so I equate it probably like if I was like severely drunk maybe. That's kind of how I was acting like, Yeah, whatever. Like, you know, and so longst or sure, I don't remember much,

but it was kind of funny to get that insight after. Yeah. It probably impacted the people that are closest to you, right? Oh, yeah. You know, they were worried. Yeah. And, you know, your girlfriend was like having a moment, you know, you guys had to. She, yeah, I feel bad for her because she said, she said I wasn't being very nice to her.

And I even recently, this was like a yesterday, is I've been really busy since. I got back, like, quote, unquote, in health. And I'm still recovering technically. So this week was crazy. Like, every single day this week, I've been working probably 16 hours. Like, I wake up, I work all day. I go to sleep, like, dead serious. And, yeah, she, she just said, like, I wasn't being as nice as I usually am.

And she said a comment where, oh, they said, like, some of the side effects can be, like, you know, longer term is, you know, your personality changes. And, like, I'm a little worried you're not going to get back to, like, your sweet self. So, yeah, like, for her. her, my mom, or like, even one of my friends, I think they just kind of got the worst version of me. And the funny part is I always tell them, I don't think I could handle the worst version of me. Because I'm pretty, I'm pretty belligerent.

Like, I'm going to say what I say. And it's like, if you don't like it, I don't care. And I'm not usually like that with people, but in those cases, I could totally understand. And they show me videos and pictures. And I honestly was like, yeah, I mean, if I was taking care of me, I probably would have type deal. But you know what, and I want the audience really tune in on this. Like there's going to be moments that you're not your best self, right?

And like, a lot of times, but a lot of times, like, I've been like that. And not, I didn't have an excuse. I just had a lot of trauma, a lot of depression and, and, you know, lack of confidence of that nature. Now I wasn't yelling at people, but like I wasn't my best self, right? So it's all kind of, I guess, I don't want to say relevant, but it's all kind of equal. I mean, you had a, you know, a severe head injury. And so the people that were taking care of you, like your friends, your mom, your girl, while that's hurtful, they know and they talk like, yo, this isn't Tanner. Yeah.

This is not him, you know. But, you know, listening to these stories and listening to your mom and listening to your girl, how have you dealt with those emotions of like, man, like, I was being an ass. Well, the first time I noticed is I took, I took my girl on a day and she was talking. me about it and I was like what are you talking about yeah you know and I actually I actually had no idea and she's like well you were like doing this you're doing this she's like do you remember I was like oh yeah and she started showing me stuff and it was just more shock I I I said I'm so sorry I just don't remember yeah yeah but I genuinely didn't remember and so it was more I remember when I had it I wasn't super upset at myself I was because I if I if I remember

sure but I didn't I was just more in shock that yeah yeah I've never experienced This is the first time my entire life, obviously, that I've done something that I don't remember. You know, it almost felt like short-term Alzheimer's, right? Yeah, dude. They were just telling me stuff, and I said, what are you talking about? And she even said that was the second time she told me.

She said, I've already told you this before. I said, when? Baby, you know, Mendolyn. Yeah. Yeah, I was like, when did you tell me this? So I felt bad from that sense because I think I was putting them through a lot more and I didn't realize it.

Yeah. And then when they show me, I just wasn't shocked because I didn't remember. And that shocked me that I didn't remember that I hit the ground so hard that I didn't remember my actions for a couple weeks. Yeah.

It was wild. We talked about this, you know, prior to recording, but like you literally are lucky to be alive. Yeah, they were saying that. We were talking about that today. In fact, you know, I don't know. I don't read too much into that in the sense of,

like, I live, so maybe I'm supposed to still be here. But I remember things. thinking, you know, I'm really proud of what I've accomplished. So if I had died, I would have been okay with it. Yeah. Which most people can't ever say. And so that actually, that is probably one of the most positive feelings I've ever had is to sit there and go, you know, you could have died.

And that makes you look back and reflect on your life. And I sat there and thought, like, obviously I'm not perfect. But in terms of my effort, my effort was perfect. And that's really all you can do in terms of, I think, how many of fulfilling life is, did you do your best at all times? And as far as I know, as far as I've looked back in my life, like I've tried consistently to just be the best version of my life. Dude, I can look back at, you know,

when I got my journey started four years ago, just like coming into an acquaintance of you, you know, seeing social media, I can see how you would come to that conclusion, man. Right? It's like, okay, like, well, you built everything that you said you were going to build. Yeah. You know, gentry even came along for the ride and you got him involved too, right? Yeah, yeah.

So, you know, you're a leader of leaders, you know what I mean? Like, this is truly. what you've done and you've helped so many people create sales in their lives so where they can be successful and change their whole outcome, right? I want to ask you, though, because like, I look at things and I'm like, dude, if I were to die today, I would not be okay with it. There's another, there's an added level, right? So like for me, I have three children, right? And why? Oh, God. So you know what I'm saying? Dude, so like for me, like, I'd be like, oh my God, my young babies are going to grow up without a dad. It's like, while you're super

content. It's a different perspective, right? Sure. But like, I oftentimes get so scared and paralyzed and sometimes honestly, dude, like I'll be driving down the road and thinking about this shit and I'll cry. Like a bitch, like I will be in tears dude. And I ain't afraid to admit it. You know, I've had

people look up or I'm like, oh, just don't look at me. I'm like fantasizing of myself dying and like, what is my youngest going to even remember me? When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life.

And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at good to know facts.org. No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for more than 140 beverage ingredients. Visit good to know facts.org. Yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, that makes sense because you're not just loving for yourself anymore you have other people to worry about.

I guess like for me, you know, I got siblings, I have parents, but overall, like I'm living my life. Yeah. They're in different cities and stuff like that. But I could definitely understand that. But I still think if, you know, if you don't have control over something, let's say I was in that situation,

I still would try to at least look at what did I do everything I felt I could do? Because I think where regret stems from is when we look back and go, I could have done better. I should have done this. I should have done that. I should have tried harder. I should have bought that.

thing. I should have done, you know. Yeah. And for me, like, I don't think I've had a lot of opportunities in life where I've really missed. I've made mistakes for sure. I've made, I've messed stuff up. Yeah. You know, not everything's gone perfect, but in terms of my effort, like, I've looked at my life and I feel like I've taken the risk that I've wanted to take. I've tried to do the things I've tried to do. I put it in the time. Like, I do the things I say I'm going to do. Like, I don't have too many regrets. I love that. No, it's awesome, dude. Like, hey, absolutely. Like, when you look at it like that it's uh you can only do what you can do in this life right so let's get into the shit so we we've covered everything that you're going through right now and this show is about overcoming obstacles and

turning him into opportunities oh there you go and no and dude like no doubt like this thing you went through yeah you know the shorts are memory loss you know the blurred vision you know the Tourette's towards the people that you love the most like you're gonna come out better for it right like you're it's part of your journey it's part of the things that we talk about that along the way that make you the person that you're going to be ultimately. Right. So it's going to serve you if you let it and you will. But let's dive into what the audience probably really, really truly also wants to hear is like,

dude, dude, you've built an amazing empire. Thanks. Like walk them through it, dude. Yeah. So I didn't grow up with anyone in my family, been an entrepreneur. So that was never something on my mind. In fact, I got bullied a lot as a kid. And then at 12 years old, my dad turned me onto the gym.

And so my entire purpose, from 12 to probably 22 years old, the same way I attacked business, I attacked athletics. Partially, that was because when I got into the gym and I started lifting, I excelled at sports. People stopped messing with me. I got compliments. And I said, man, like, this sport thing, there's something to it. And I pushed as hard as I could.

I remember I was 14 years old. I still look back and I'm amazed at some of the stuff I've done because I look back at a 14-year-old kid and I wanted to be on varsity so bad that year that I would do three hours of lifting, three hours of running, three hours of basketball because I was two sport athletes at the time.

And that's all I did the whole summer as a 14-year-old, which is not normal. And I remember I made varsity. And I just started, I had these things start happening in my life where I said, man, I can do anything. I can, you know, it's like, I know he's in trouble right now,

but Sean Colmes or P. Did he? He has a video out there where he's like on the phone. They cut stories on the phone. He's like, yeah, thank you, sir. Thank you, sir. And then he, like, slams the phone down. And he got some big deal done. And he's like, what's next?

He's like, what's next? He's like, I can do anything. Like, he's like, what's next? Like, and I kind of had that attitude at that age as a kid. So I played time 22 years old. I get a lot of injuries in college. High school was fine. But when I got to college, you know, being 225 in high school,

you're big. 225 in college, you ain't big. For what sport? Football. No, football. Football, yeah. And so when I got to, I played Division I football at BYU for a bit,

and the linemen there were 300 pounds across the board. So I shredded my shoulders. I have labrum surgeries. Your labor room is pretty much like a clock. So one was eight out of 12 was ripped. The other one was, I believe, six out of 12. So I had to replace both my shoulders. And then I rehabbed and I came back.

And the day I came back, I tore him again. And that was when I said, bro, like, this isn't worth it. This isn't going to happen for me. because it was six months of recovery, and I would train, I would train harder than any person. I put a candle to any person

that I'd train harder. There's no way. Dude, this is so dope. Because here's, you know, I didn't, I didn't know that you were a Division I, but what?

Yeah, yeah. Did you know, I played baseball at LSU? No, I didn't. It's a division one baseball. I played in college world series. That's, that's better, by the way.

No, it's not. Save your bodies. No, save your body. Yeah, seriously. I don't, yeah. But like, I also had shoulder reconcages. Yeah, it is. Baseball is super common.

But like for me, dude, in high school, I was bullied until everybody saw how good I could throw a baseball. Yeah, it's like, it's a, it's a little bit of a cheat code. And for me, when I saw that, and because I grew up in Texas as well, that's where I grew up, it's like, if you're king of the castle at football, you're the king. You're the man. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was captain in my high school football team. Like, I was, yeah. So when that was done, I started just going to school.

And I would say for three months, it was fun because 12 to 22, my entire life was sports. So the way I attacked business now, people might hear 16 hour a day, they're like, yeah, whatever. Like, I actually will do it. So in athletics, I was working crazy hours

because I was going to school and then I would usually do between four to six hours of athletics a day. And the reason was like, I just wanted to be the best I could be. And I thought, my dad told me, he's like, look,

you're an average white boy. He's like, you got to freaking bring it, bro. He's like, you don't have enough talent, you know? Wow. And that was my mindset, too, because I played with some first round picks. What position were you? Linebacker.

Linebacker. Yeah, I was even bigger. I was fluffy. Don't get me wrong, but I was like 235. Okay. I was big. And I played with Ezekiel Ansoff,

first round pick, fifth pick in the draft. I played with Randy Gregory. He went to the Cowboys. He actually would have gone higher in the drop, but he could have stopped smoking weed. And I played some very talented. Damien Williams.

He played for the Chiefs for a while. I don't know if he's still running back there, but some very talented guys who went in the first or second round. So these were very talented. talented athletes. And when sports ended for me, you know, I was doing petroleum engineering.

I had a 3.9 and everything was fine. But I just remember getting so depressed thinking, man, this is it. Yeah. Like this is the next part of my life. And I hated it. Yeah.

And so I remember one day I sat down at lunch with, uh, it was a mentor. And I, and he, at the time, I didn't even know he was a mentor. He was just a friend of my dad's and he asked me to lunch.

And his whole, reason he asked me to lunch is because my parents raised me very religious and I wasn't going to church so he was actually trying to get me to go to church and we just started talking though and he said hey dude what's your goals and I said I want to make a fric ton of money and he said why and you know I grew

my dad was a teacher not that my dad was one of the heart to this day I actually give my work ethic to my dad awesome but he was a teacher my mom stayed at home there were seven kids you know so there wasn't a lot of extra it was pretty much like hey like we're going to provide the basics for you you guys got to get everything else. And so when I said that, he goes, oh, dude, he's like, well, you know,

there's way better ways to make money than having a job. I was like, like, what? He's like, started business. And I, at that time, the mechanics of business didn't make any sense to me. I mean, I, I do, we were sitting at Subway. And I was like, I don't know how they get the stuff. How they get the worker? I had no idea how business were.

Yeah. So long story short, he said, hey, if you agree to go back to church, I'll mentor you at my home office. You can come in every day and quit school. And so for a couple of months, I wrestle with that because the semester was almost done. And so I wrestled with do I quit school or do I stay in school?

Because I had a year left to graduate. And pretty much everyone was against it. My family was against it. My parents were against it. Like they weren't, don't get me wrong. They weren't like, oh my gosh, if you do this, you're so stupid. But they were kind of like, it's probably not a good idea.

My girlfriend at the time threatened to leave me. Her mom was like, yo, like, we don't support this. So it comes down to the day and I was actually getting transferred to Texas A&M, which is one of the top engineering programs. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. And I remember I was talking to him and then, you know, they're like, so yeah, like, are you coming this semester? And I said, one second.

And I paused and I looked at my mentor and I said, like, I'm just going like this. And he knew like what they were asking. He goes like this. He's like, don't do it. Don't do it. And I remember, I got back on the phone. I said, I'm not coming this semester. And it was like, you know, that person didn't care.

But they were like, okay, blah, blah, blah. And then the call ended. Yeah. And I hung up the phone. And I remember looking at him and he's like, how did you feel at that moment? Oh, bro, I was scared shitless. I mean, because everyone besides him told me not to. The only reason I think I did it to is I wanted to believe him.

I wanted it. I was like, I so bad did not want to go to school. I was like, I was like, this gets me out of school. This is a, you know, get out of jail free card. Yeah, great. Yep. And so he started teaching me everything about marketing. In fact, he's married to one of Russell Brunson's cousins.

Get out of here. That's that. So he taught me all about the ClickFunnels where that's how I got in that. So he starts teaching about opt-in pages and websites and all the stuff. And I was trying to sell a very cheap fitness program. It's $47. It's the rapid muscle system now. it didn't sell, but everything to build a product and sell it, I learned. So, I mean, that's a huge amount of information in probably, it's probably like a year.

So at the end of the year, I'm not making any money. And so I make the excuse, I say, oh, well, like, if I have money, like, I'd make money. The reason I'm not making money is I don't have money, you know, the common excuse. Sure. So I said, look, dude, I appreciate everything done. I'm going to go up to Utah. My family's up there. I'm 24 years old.

I wanted me to girl, whatever. and da-da-da-da. So I go up there and I start doing serving and then I meet a guy who does door-door sales. And they start selling me on, you know, the door-door sells. Oh, you make so much money. That's not true.

That's not true. But I started doing door-door sales. I sold for a company up there called Alder, which is a competitor to Vivint. Vivant's pretty well-known. So many people know who Vivint is. And I was selling security alarms. Yeah.

And we went down to Alabama. And I sold security alarms six days a week, pretty much 12 hours a day including travel time, four hours of travel, two hours there, two hours back,

usually eight hours of work, and I sold for the next nine months. Wow. And I did the math, and I knocked on over 21,000 doors, probably. So I want to, can I back up?

Yeah, because I just feel like there's so many great things and the audience is listening like, oh my God, I want to bring this, I want to tie it up for them because it's all this shit's so fucking power.

Yeah, sure. So what I want you guys listening and watching is to latch on to this massive aspect of it. As a young athlete, he was working 16 hours a day doing whatever you could, right, to get the edge, whether it was lifting, running, et cetera. And he brought those principles into business now. And as a form of- I didn't have a college, just for everyone listening. Like, I didn't have a college life. So most of the athletes, the reason they fail,

this is my personal opinion, because I played with athletes and they get the you're an idiot stigma, is because after practice, which is six hours, and after you've been in a school for eight hours, the last thing you want to do is more work. And I would usually then go do two to three hours of homework.

Most of the guys would go hang out with girls. That's what I did. To be frank, to be frank, I would have rather hang out with girls. But I was so disciplined to the sense of I want to have straight A's and I want to be a good athlete. And so that's kind of the route I want. see that's it that's the point

thank you for interjecting that's the point I was the guy that went out with girls yeah yeah LHC baseball player yeah most of guys and we have tutors so the tutors would do the homework or pretty much like even if they didn't do it it was like they pretty much baby feed the answer but so what happens is most athletes is in college they get

A's on the homework they'll fail the test and the test is what gets them to see passing grade exactly dude and so like the point is you were able to take that discipline in the daily disciplines right in order to move that ball forward for you and you took that and you've done it inside your business because I've seen things from you man like I paid attention bro I've been attention over the years you know

it's like what if you sent 30 DMs a day what's the clothes what what's the what's the how many people do you get on a call what your clothes ratio could you make 10 grand probably yeah right but that's how it starts sure yeah it just starts with that first step and I think also just from a young age like my dad just worked so hard but he was a teacher. And like, so my dad, if I look at him and I was to describe him, my dad is one of the hardest workers I know. He just doesn't know how to make money in a better vehicle.

And I took that from him, though. Like the hard work ethic I really took. So long story short, after I start doing Nord-door sales, after nine months, I'm a savage. Like I didn't, this is a silver lining, right? Because at the time, I'm going, like, I've been out of school for two years now. I'm not making any money. I was calling my mentor saying, hey, man,

I think I'm going to go back. I was about to turn 25, and the worst thought I could think of was being a 25 or 26-year-old loser. And I'm like, bro, no girls want to date me. Like, I'm broke. I got no money. I have a shitty car.

I was like, and I wasn't dating at the time either because I didn't even feel like I had anything to offer. Sure. So, long story short, we finished the summer, and when we finish the summer, you take like a little break. I was going to do year-round sales because I didn't know what else to do.

So they moved out to South Carolina, and I see an ad that says how to start your online fitness business. Now, I was not familiar with online marketing or coaching. What year was this? I'm sorry, what year was it? Yeah, dude, this was, shoot, 2000, like 16 or 17. Okay. Like, I mean. At the inception of it.

Yeah, this is the beginning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. So I see an ad that says how to start online fitness business. And I was not big on social media. I was not big with, like, coaching or consulting. I didn't even know that was a thing, to be honest. I was just this whole industry, no idea.

So I click on the ad, I get on a call, I get high pressure sell, like, hey, if you don't buy today, you never can buy. And I'm just eating the whole thing. I remember, I put, I had 2K in my bank account. So I put $1,000 down. I had $1,000 left. I got a credit card.

I didn't have a credit card yet. So I was 24, 25 years old. I had never got a credit card for, it was literally $5 grand. And I paid the 4K and I got in the program. Okay. So I got in the program. and I just say,

hey, I'm gonna do this as hard as I can for the next two months before summer sales start and see if it works. And if it works, great. And if it doesn't, I'll either stick with summer sales or go back to school or whatever, right? So I get it.

And the guy, the guy's personality didn't really gel with me. Like, it was very hypey. And I'm not a hype guy. I'm like, tell me what I need to know. Yeah. Like, let's say Andy Elliott, like all respect to Andy Elliott,

but like the militaristic screaming, I'm just like, bro, I will kick all your asses Just tell me what I need to do. I don't need no height. I can't even go there with him. Yeah, right. So some people like that, it's just not a fit for me.

So long story short, I get annoyed and I say, guys, like I go to the coach. I'm like, look, just tell me what to do. Just tell me in basic terms what to do. I don't need all these freaking hype videos. Yeah. Okay. Raise your price from 47 bucks to $1,500 and then get them on a call.

And I said, that's it. And in my mind, $5,000 at the time was, you know, $50,000. Yeah, so I get it. I was pissed in the sense, man, you're telling me I paid you all this money. That's what you're going to tell me. Okay. But I said, I have nothing better to do. I have nothing to lose.

I already spent the money, so I got to figure it out. Yeah. So I start reaching out to people on my social media. I start booking calls and I get the person on. I close a 2K sell. I'm like, holy shit. I get another guy on. I close a 2K sell.

I'm like, holy shit. Then I raise the price. I'm like, I close a guy at 3K. I'm like, oh my God. I close another guy at 3K. So I make 10 grand. And this is like within a week. And keep in mind,

I'm going from summer hot, you know, door sales in Alabama, 98 degree heat, sweating like, you're sweating so much. I would actually, you start getting, like you couldn't even use baby powder

because you'd chafe. Yeah. Like you chafe on your legs and stuff. And so in a week, I make 10K in my underwear in AC. Like I remember closing this up. So I call my parents and I say, mom, dad,

I figured it out. I'm like, listen, I'm going to come home. Let me know what a fair amount of money is for rent. And I'm going to take all the money and put on the business. And my dad, just my parents were super cool. They've always been supportive of whatever. Even if they didn't think it was going to work. Like they still supported me.

Yeah, make your own decision. Yeah, they're just like, you're dumbass, right? But my parents are like, okay, like, as long as you're not, you know, pillaging and plundering and, you know, doing crazy stuff, doing drugs, you can live here. And they're like, well, let's just stay here for $1,000. of rent. I was like, okay, great. That's, that saved me two grand a month. So I drove across the country. I actually closed a deal in the car while I'm driving. I remember to, it was, it was actually probably the best deal I've ever done because I closed this guy, $2,500 pay in full. And I was driving, like, I was trying to get the PayPal thing. It was super dangerous. Like, I should. Yeah.

Anyone else thing, don't do this. But I'm trying to like get PayPal to work while I'm driving. I can't. So I pull over and I close him. And the second he hangs up, I'm just like, yeah, mother ever. Like, like, I just screamed. Yeah, you guys up. Yeah, I'm like, I cannot believe it took me two years to get to this point. And at the time, I almost felt, man, I wasted two years. I was this close the whole time. Yeah. But there were all those silver linings there because the reality is if I hadn't done door door cells,

if I hadn't learned how to build a product and the sales and all that stuff, when this moment happened, I wouldn't have been prepared for it. You can't even appreciate the success if you haven't gone through the shit. No, but it's also silver lines. Like people think, I used to think, oh, if I hadn't done that, I would have gone there faster. That's not how success works. Success, failure is the requirement to success. And so not figuring it out in the beginning, all those skills got me ready because when I got here, I think success is three things.

Characteristics, beliefs and skills. I was building character and beliefs. I just didn't have all the skills. So as soon as I had all the skills, it was game over. Because it's like I had all three. Yeah. Right? Yeah.

And so anyways, I go home and I just lock myself in the room. my dad would see me once every two weeks, if that. And I remember at the time, he was kind of like, oh, bro, like, whatever. But I was so determined not to go backwards that I would sit in there all day. And all I did at that moment is I would message everyone on my social media. When I ran out of that, I would reach out to people on IG hashtag. So I'd type in like Fit Mom, Fit Dad, FitSpot, whatever. And I would make sure that all I did all day was like set calls, book calls, handle my clients.

And before you knew it in a couple months, I was doing $50,000 a month. In fact, I was messaging so much. I actually, I don't know if you can see on camera, but I would get arthritis right here in my thumb. From the typing. And the doctors were like, yo, what are you doing? They're like, you got to get off your phone. I was like, no, like, I can.

I was like, I can. Like, this is how I make money. But because that was happening, I realized, yo, I got to figure out paid traffic. Like, I can't be doing this for those lives. This is killing me. It was actually, like, I was getting sick. I was working so much that the only time my parents would see me

is when I would eat. And my parents were happy in the sense that, man, this kid isn't causing us any problems. There would be some other parents I would joke with my parents. Like, man, I'm sorry your son's home. And they're like, my son's making money, dude. My son's killing. Yeah.

So long story short, when I got to $50,000 a month, I realized, okay, this isn't going to work for me long term. So I went back to $30,000 on purpose. Like, I just messaged a little less. And I used those hours to hire coaches and learn ads. And it took me, you know, 50 grand. and right before my fifth coach. So I went through four coaches and, you know,

for one reason or another, we can get into it. They didn't work. And it wasn't because of me, though, which is rare. Most people listening on this podcast, it is your fault. But in my case,

I was doing 10 times the work. And I'm going, man, like, if this isn't working, like, it's not me. It's like, it's something about the process. So I remember my dad sat me down. He goes, you know, son, you've made, you know,

hundreds of thousands of dollars. he's like, you'd actually be farther ahead if you just didn't pay these coaches. But I remember thinking, no, no, dad. Like, this isn't sustainable. Like, I have to figure out a better way to get consistently, Jen. So once we did that, or once I did that,

it took me, you know, that fifth coach. And I was running webinars and I was doing kind of the traditional marketing and it wasn't working. And I remember I texted that coach. I was pissed. And I just said, dude, like, mother, like, mother, F this.

Like, you told me you were, different. You were the same. And like looking back now, I think I should have given some grace. Because like now that I've consulted, it was like 50% my fault, 50% of their fault. Like they, they were doing, they like they were doing the work. But what they were showing me just wasn't working for me. And because I'd had so many coaches already, I was just like done. Yeah, I did. Come on, bro. Like yeah. Give me the juice. So he calls me and he basically said either like do the work or shut up. I won't refit. fun to you. And I remember when he

did that, I felt challenged. And you know, my personality and being an athlete, I was like, all right, F you mother. I was like, I'll show you. I was kind of like, all right, I'll show you. You got a chip on your shoulder. They yeah. So what had happened is a lot of the ads I had been running, I've been running through ManyChat. ManyChat for

anyone doesn't know at the time. Facebook Messenger wasn't what it is now. It was you couldn't really run ads to Messenger like you can now. So years ago, I used something called ManyChat. And that, just thinking in ManyChat as the activation tool. So someone would click on the mini chat link and boom facebook messenger open so all my leads that i've been running

ads to 20 000 worth of ads were in facebook messenger and i was like i just start following up with everyone i was like hey this is tanner what's your goal here in in that week i made 18 000 off three grand and i like before i was making a one-to-one ratio on my app this is pointless and then that week i made 18 000 off through that and then that was when i i actually sat my room and I went if you can watch on camera I was like holy shit I'm going to be rich like that was the moment I knew I was going to be rich because if you can run paid traffic profitably it's it's over no it's game over it's like going it's like being viral or being famous like mr. beast it's like it's over yeah you've won yeah so the second that happened I just doubled down and I doubled

down and at the end of the year I'd done over a million dollars so I got my click funnel so plaque, right? If you're familiar with ClickFunnels, Russell Brunson, yeah. So I get the plaque and I go to the award ceremony and I like stand on stage and, you know, and a flood of trainers start heading me up because they're like, oh, this Tanner Chittister guy, like he built a million dollar business that wasn't consulting. Right. And so because of that, um, I started consulting trainers and that year was great, because when I started consult these traders, it was like at first I said no. And the reason I said no is, you know, I didn't want to be scammy. I was like, oh, F business coaches,

they're just overcharged and most of them haven't built real businesses. It's true. So long story short, I start coaching people on this because there's a line out of the door. Like, you guys got to remember, I'm 25 years old.

I had 15 people and who would pay me 10 grand. So I was like, 150 grand for like, to just show you what I did. I was like, okay. So I started doing that. And I pretty much equal the businesses out because the fitness business was doing like 120. And this business got,

there pretty quick like almost instantly and i just said okay like i see more potential here so went all in on the consulting and that year that was to this day that was still the craziest year of my life i think it was 2018 2019 we did we went from one million to 10 million dollars that's insane it was like it was like grand car no one of them yeah he's like he's like 10 x 10x right literally happened it literally happened and because that went so well and we got more awards more people outside of fitness started asking me for help and then we went 10 to 15 million and then at 15 million we started adding in other divisions like elite ads which like because what we did is we said hey what do our clients want and it was a bunch of

done free services so we started adding those in and that added another 10 million so we went from zero to 25 million a year in four years and then um you know i've been doing that ever since and now i have more portfolio company and i have other ventures i'm doing now because i want to expand like this isn't i don't want to like die and people are just like this is what tanner's known for in my, this is just not what I want to be known for. And, but just looking back, what's crazy, and I'll end on this is just, I, to this day, I made $115 million, right? And if I'd been an engineer, I would have made in six years, $600,000.

And so the opportunity difference and cost is $114 million. And that is mind-blowing. Now, grand, not all of that's profit, right? Sure. But let's say it 30% profit even. it's like the amount of money that I made. It's so much different. It's crazy.

And I think a lot of people go through life. And that actually reinforced to me to keep working hard because I think a lot of people go through life and they don't work hard or they don't try or they don't try to go for their goals. And so when they die, then they find out, oh, if I had just done these things, maybe I would have had this life. But they never know what they're living because they never tried. I look as if I had gone down that path to be an engineer.

I'd be sitting here right now, maybe made $6,700, $700,000, have a decent family life, whatever. And I never would have known that the other life, an opportunity for me would have been what it is now. See, that's the thing, though. And for everybody watching and listening,

there's a one big outline, just massive word that is hanging over this. It's risk. You either risk what you risked and have that big outcome and that big payoff, or you risk not doing it and never knowing.

Like, and I just really feel that, like, dude, I respect this shit out of you, man. Like, now that I'm actually

sitting here in front of you in person, I'm like, damn, dude, I wish I would have made it work with you, like three years ago, four years ago.

There's still time. Yeah, there is. There's still time, right? Yeah. But the thing is, is like, you don't know

everybody's journey. You don't know what people are thinking about the fact that, dude, $115 million. Yeah. To answer your,

to go off your point of risk, something that really changed my perspective on it. And I think part of what helped me push is I didn't perceive it as risky and here's why there's a book out there. If you guys have not read it, it's called Humu My Cheese. I've never heard about that one, yeah.

It's a good book. And so the summary of the book is the whole book's about mice until the very end, right? And you find out right at the end what it's about. And so there's three mice in a maze. And every day there's food that's dropped into the maze. And like, as you're reading the book, you don't really know what's going on.

you're kind of like, okay, and it's kind of weird. But long story short, these mice are eating, and after a while, the food stops coming. And so these mice, they start to starve and they start debating what they should do. And like, two of the mice are like, hey, like, we should stay. Maybe the food's going to come back.

And when the third mice is like, dude, you know, the food hasn't been here in a few months. If we don't leave, we're going to die. And they're like, yeah, but what if we leave and we die? He's like, we're going to die anyway. Yeah. He's like, we have to leave. So long story short, that mice leaves.

that mouse, excuse me, leaves. And he goes through this like hard journey and eventually he finds food. Long story short, right? And then he goes back one day and those two mice are gone. It doesn't say they died or anything, but you can kind of infer. Yeah, sure. And then right at that point, the author comes in and goes, this is how stupid humans are. And I was like, fuck.

And the point he was trying to make is he goes, if you leave a job and it doesn't work out or you do a thing and it doesn't work out, you can always go back to the thing. that you hate. So like in those mice, it's like, let's say you go out and risk it. He's like,

you're probably going to die staying here. If you go out and you die anyways, like, or if you go out and you risk dying, he's like, you would have died here. And he's like, worst case, you can go back.

Like, you can literally decide to turn around and go back. And that really gave me a lot of comfort because I thought, man, if I fail at this thing, I can always go back to school.

And even though I'll be embarrassed that I'm 28 or 29 or 30, and my mentor said, he goes, you know, Tanner? He's like, you're the best part of your life. And I said, why? He goes, bro. He's like, when you start having a girl and you start having kids, he's like,

your tolerance for risk is going to go way down. It's hard, bro. Because he's like, now you're affecting other people. He's like, it's hard. Right now. He goes, if you go out and you get that job and you're doing 100 grand year and you meet a girl, there's a zero percent chance she's going to allow you or want you to go back and start a business.

Because they have a certain lifestyle they're used to. And so he goes, right? He's like, it's now or never, baby. And I just was like, I got, like, I just remember thinking I got to do it then. And so just to give that perspective for people listening, because I understand it's scary. I understand there's risk. But when you all think about it too, like one of my friends, you guys will probably know who it is, but he always says, you know, we're going to die. Like, one day you're going to die. Like, nothing's a big deal. You're going to die. And he's right. And so sometimes what happens, too, is when I'm having to be a lot of,

having a tough day or something's happened. I'm like, whatever, we're all going to die. You're all going to. It's fine. Whatever. And whenever he actually sent me a picture one time, he is a picture of the galaxy, and it showed Earth, and there was a little arrow, and Earth was like this big. Jesus. Yeah, it's just, that's just perspective. Yeah, and I remember when he said that, then it's like, if we're all going to die,

and it doesn't really matter, and in the grand scheme, maybe most people won't remember us or what we did, then it's like, there's no. nothing else to do than just let it all hang out. And that's given me a lot of perseverance. Because the bar still resets. Like, people will hear my story and they go, oh, Tanner must not get nervous anymore. I'm like, bro.

It just moves. It's like, if I want to start a tech company, I've never done it, then I get nervous. Or if I want to like do this thing, I get nervous. And so it's not that it changes. It's just that you get, I don't think feelings change that much. Yeah.

Sometimes they can, but I think a lot of times as you go through life, you'll keep feeling the same, you know, nervousness or anxiety or confusion or I don't know whatever but you just are like yeah like I'm gonna do it anyways it doesn't really matter and so I just say that for anyone listening that you like you have to have that mindset because a lot of us are so scared of what's going to happen if we fail and it's like what you're living right now is exactly what would happen like let it fail yeah it's like and if you're not happy with how your life currently is you have nothing

to lose that's So you're about to make a trade based on a friend's text. But which you do you listen to? Is it, we could buy a house in Tulum? Get optioning those options. We could lose everything. Or let's do a little research. Get your head in the trade and make the investment decision that's right for you.

Learn more at finra.org slash trade smart. The biggest fucking failure of all. Yeah. Living in a life where you're just comfortable. because you're scared to move. And I'll tell you I'll tell you I have personal experience from failure

and not being discouraged because when football ended, that was a very depressing time for me for a bit. And the reason was from 12 years old, I had a goal to play in the NFL. Like, I actually playing the NFL and I got all the way of Division I 1, right? I'm going to make it. I'm going to do it. I'm going to get there.

I'm going to fucking grind through college. And like, when I went into college, I wasn't highly recruited. but I was like, fuck it. It doesn't matter. All this stuff. And when I had those injuries, I had to, you know, the doctor's like, look, bro, you can keep playing. But he's like, realistically, like, you're running out of cartilage and your draft stock's going to be lower. Yeah.

And which is true. And so I thought, okay, like, I probably need to walk away. And so when I walked away, I didn't have this, like, shame or, like, regretfulness. And the reason is I felt I'd done everything I was supposed to do. I played with a guy. He was going to go 10th pick in the draft. And he went to the second round and probably lost $10 million. Like at that time,

it was probably even more now. But $10 million is because he couldn't stop smoking weed. And I'm thinking, you couldn't stop smoking weed. And I had major shoulder surgeries. I was like, where would I feel more regret? The weed. Of course. He's so stupid.

And in my opinion, I was like, he would show up to class every day. And this wasn't at BYU. this was actually when I was at a junior college it was called Arizona Western it was like one of the top jukeos. It was like last chance to use one of those colleges but they're it's actually they shut the team down I was actually surprised and he would just show up

all the time hi and you guys can find this guy Randy Gregory he's like he's had a good NFL career he's made good money and I just didn't have any regret because of that and that's given me a lot of I guess confidence to push for stuff

I want because if it fails, you won't, the thing is like, you don't want to have regrets. It doesn't really matter what the outcome is. Like, I used to think it did, but it doesn't really matter as long as you do your best. And most people won't see that and they won't know it. And society won't think that. But when you're on your deathbed, all you're going to be thinking about is like, did I do my best? You're not going to honestly give a shit what happened. And so, like, even the $150 million in sales, it's not that I made $150 million.

is that I did my best and that's the result of it so a lot of times when you actually do your best you can have great results but the result doesn't really matter. And a lot of people, I know that sounds cliche but you won't understand

for most people you won't understand that money isn't everything until you have a shit ton of money. It's just like I wish, I remember when I was younger, I'd hear people say that and I'd say, I thought you're poor. That's fine.

It's cool. And in some cases that, true, but it really, when I hit a million in a month, because I had my eye on that, we hit it 18 months. So when I started, I remember, I was like, I'm going to hit a million in a month. I remember Billy Jean was the guy I saw it. Billy Jean actually inspired me. I don't know if he knows this, but I saw it out with Billy Jean.

And I wasn't jealous. I just remember thinking, man, if this guy can do it, like I can do it. It wasn't, it was like a talkie way, but it was just, I was like, if this guy, like, who looks like this and talks like this can do it. I can do it. Yeah. And I remember I hit that goal and I was, I was living in Miami.

So I was still in Miami. I was paying $30,000 a rent a month. So stupid. By the way, don't do that. David Beckham lived there, Kardashian, David Gretman.

I mean, I'm talking the big of the big. Like you, this is the building, right? And I remember I had this party. So I invited my friends over and, you know, they invited a bunch of no buddies.

I didn't know. And I remember a guy came in and said, hey, bro. Like, what's your name, Tanner? yeah, cool, I'm John, whatever his name was. And he said, you know, what are you having a party for?

And I, you know, with pride, I was like, bro, I was like, I just hit a million dollars in a month, and I go on this like spill. And then he's like, cool, turns around. And that moment, to this day, I still remember, I remember thinking, I was kind of like, you little fucker. Yeah.

Like, do you understand what I just said? Like, I just said that I just made earth. And it was in that moment that I realized, nobody gives a shit. And then I realized if nobody cares and I did something that 99.99% of people will never do, hit a million dollars in a month. I started to think, man, like,

what does that say for Mark Zuckerberg? What does that say for Oprah Winfrey? What does that say? I started thinking of Barack Obama and Donald Trump, like all these big people. And that's where I, you know, I had to go on a little bit of a self-discovery journey and that's where some people get religious, whatever.

I don't think I got religious. I think I just got okay with that's just how it is. And so if that's how it is, then I need to do stuff that I want to do and stuff that's going to make me proud for no other reason than that. Love it, too. So anyways, I've learned a lot of lessons, obviously,

but that's some of the advice that I'd at least like to get out there for people to hear because a lot of people, it's not about the money. I really, don't get me wrong. I like making a lot of money. It does provide a great lifestyle. But outside of that, It's not the money.

It's just, it's, I want to do stuff that makes me proud. And it just so happens that a lot of stuff that makes me proud is super difficult. Yeah. Which makes sense. Like, extraordinary lives are built off difficult things. And so as I do them and I have success, I get what most people think life's about. And it's not, it's not that it's about that. It's nice to have it.

But doing difficult things is really honestly, like why I don't have regrets and why I'm proud of who I am. It doesn't have anything to do with the result. Dude, I love it, man. Thank you so much. That was the whole. No, dude, it was great. It was what it was supposed to be, right?

That's what the doctor ordered today. So audience, say everybody, you know, listen and watch and just please take these, these lessons from Tanner and apply them to your life. Apply them how you see fit. Push the envelope a little bit. If you get nervous, just know it's the right thing to do. But the one thing that you never want to do is look back at your life and regret staying in the same place. So go out there and get after your shit.

And until next time, stay determined. I'll be working, just know I'm a go for mine Because I earned it They watch and I know it's time I confirmed it A whole society determined Determinous a show Next up is a little song from CarMax

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