Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Rising from the Trenches: John Huffman’s Journey from Struggle to Success on The Determined Society

Episode Date: December 9, 2024

In the latest episode of The Determined Society, host Shawn French interviews John Huffman, a local entrepreneur and CEO of Huffman's Construction Group in Naples, Florida. John shares his emotional journey from a troubled youth to a successful businessman and community leader. He speaks candidly about his struggles with addiction, the turning points in his life, and the role of faith in his transformation. The episode is a compelling story of resilience, hope, and the importance of community and mentorship. Shawn and John also dive into the significance of having systems and processes and how they can lead to personal and professional growth. Grateful for his family, John's story is a testament to the power of determination and the impact of positive influences. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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And that was some of my trouble that I got into. Was entrepreneurial in the wrong areas. But it's still entrepreneurial. But it's entrepreneur. I became everything I ever made fun of. I promised myself something as a child, even in detention centers. I always knew I was going to be somebody. Like, I just know.

I was just trying to take the shortcuts, right? I, like, wanted to play Scarface. And then before I got shot, just take all that money and invest it in a legal form. But obviously, that's a movie in Scarface. It's shot. So anybody that's trying to do that, you're going to die or go to prison. Just telling you. Don't do it.

Don't do it. I'm French, what else? I'm putting an over time. 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. What's up, everybody?

Welcome back to another episode of the Determined Society. I'm your host, Sean French. And I'm excited to bring it to you an amazing guest today. But before I introduce him, please, if you aren't already following the show, hit subscribe on follow it and on Apple or Spotify or even YouTube. Let us know what you think about it. The only way we're growing right now is by you guys showing us love. And I'd appreciate it.

Follow all of our socials at the Determin Society on Instagram and at the Sean French on Instagram as well. So about further ado, let me get to the meat and potatoes of today. I have my boy John Huffman here today. He's local here in Naples, Florida with me. He's a CEO of Huffman's Construction Group, completely, turned his life around. I think you're really going to enjoy his story, but, man, welcome to the show, buddy. Man, I appreciate it, man. Thanks. It's an honor for being here, bro. That's for sure.

It's an honor sitting in front of you, man. I want to publicly acknowledge you real quick. I just want to thank you for bringing me into your event at Speak Life a couple Fridays ago. Here in Naples, you didn't have to do that, but, you know, he had an event for the local entrepreneurs pouring into them for their business, and he let me in for free. And I just want to say thank you for that. That meant a lot to me. And just to get to meet you and just hear a little bit more about your story and get a little bit of the infectious energy. Dude, it was cool. Did you? Okay, hold on. I got to, I got to tell you this. I'm going to say this front of everybody now. So you guys listen to me. And it's true. And you're going to see it after

after I say it. Dude, you got like a white Kevin Hart energy. Bro. Like, like, dude, when you're like, you know, the stage, you're like, my little meep, meep. I'm like, come on, man. Come on. So, So my cousins and people that are close to me, I'll call me the white Kevin Hart. Dude, dude, you are. And it's funny. I need that Kevin Hart money, though. Bro, dude, come on.

Who doesn't? Who doesn't? Who does it? Jeez. Like, it's so funny because I was there and I was laughing when you did that. And my wife literally texted me a picture of Kevin Hart coming to town on December 17th. And I'm like, here I am plugging his ass. He doesn't need that shit.

But like, I'm like, buy tickets. now. Like buy him because I'm like looking at the white cap my heart right now. And it was just weird timing. So, but thank you for for having me there. I thought that's really interesting, man. That was interesting. Well, I wanted to invite you man. Somehow we, we cross paths on social media. I started following you and I, he's asking you like, man, what is it exactly that you do? And, um, you know, no one knows. He used the term. Like, bro, um, there's two heavy hitters in Naples, bro. Like, let's You believe that?

I'm like, let's get the freaking gather. Let's make this happen. There's multiple. It's wild, dude. It's wild. Social media is crazy. But to your point, it's like funny. Because when you ask me, like, what do you do?

Yeah. You know, it's like, that's something that people really ask me because I don't ever talk about it, right? Yeah. Like, yeah, I own a payroll company. Yeah. You know, I'm a show host, some mental performance. I probably should change that because really what I'm building is the biggest media brand on the planet. That's my.

Yeah, let's go. That's my goal. I claim that for you, man. I mean, to come on, man. And like, think about it. You look at Barstool Sports and no shade of Portnoy. I love what he's done with his brand. But, you know, I mean, to be fair,

it is a lot of, you know, drunk and sorority fraternity type slapstick humor. And me and my partner, Pat Sikens, we thought, well, what if we built something that would give people real value? Yeah, man. Like real value. So a long time ago, I wanted to change the name of my show.

It's like, no one gets the determined society. No one understands, but now it makes sense. Yeah. So I'm putting it out there. I'm speaking, I'm speaking life into it, because I truly feel that having a bunch of show hosts come under the umbrella of the Determent Society and spreading light. That's good, man.

That's what we're doing over here. Yeah, that's, yeah, I can connect with that. That's probably why we, you know what I mean, have them kindred spirits and had that cohesion because I feel the same way, man. It's like we got to connect, get with like-minded people and spread that hope, man. You know, it's funny. I think it wasn't you that said, you know, we need hope. Many people need hope.

Right. and it's such an interesting word, but what does hope mean to you? Man, hope is like belief, you know what I mean? Like, you have to, you got to believe in something. You know what I mean? And I believe like there's people that don't have hope. They're believing in fear, right?

So it's like to talk about giving somebody hope is changing their belief system about who they are and what they can achieve. And I believe like when, you know, God changed my life. You know what I mean? Like that's what he showed me was like, this is the plans I have for you.

You know what I mean? It's not about John Huffman and what John Huffman thinks he is. This is what I say you are. And it changed. It's like no matter how jacked up him, no matter how much faults I've had, no matter you were just, we were just talking about like your struggles.

No matter the struggles that Sean has, no matter the fears that Sean has, God says this about me. So everything that I say about myself or they say about me is irrelevant. when he says this. And to me, that's hope. That's hope.

Like, it's not who I am. It's who I'm going to become. And that's who he shows me. And that's where the hope is. It's so wild because my show that went out Monday, Travis Wallace, he sat there in that chair and said, who you are or is not who you are right now. It's who you're going to become.

And you just said the exact same thing. I just feel like I'm getting flipping goosebumps, bro. Because, like, he's just trying to say, hey bro, I'm here. You listen and pay attention. It's like, you know, there's so many people coming into my life now that know that where we are right now is not who we are. But who are we going to become is ultimately who we technically are.

And it's so funny, not funny, but you know, you're sitting here talking about how, you know, God changed you. Like, you don't come from, you know, you don't come from, you know, like a easy slate pass. Are you comfortable talking about things that you went through? Absolutely, man. Absolutely, man. because I want the audience to really dive into your story. Because again, it's all about stories, right?

Yeah, absolutely. Man, you know, if you see me today, man, you wouldn't see the struggle. But I believe everything's birthed out of discomfort, out of struggle. But everybody's struggle looks different. We use, there's a word that a lot of people use called the trenches. And what the God showed me about five years ago is we look at the trenches and we look at the trenches and we think dirty and ugly, right? But everybody has their own trench. right there can be a rich person that's wealthy that's his he's going through a trench too his trench just

might not look like yours right so same with wounds right like we look at somebody and go man why is he hurt why is he playing victim this is the life he had his wound might just be as deep as yours is your wound might took harder and deeper to get you that size wound his wound might have been easier to get to that size but the size of the wound is the size of the wound is the same, right? It doesn't matter how it got there, but it doesn't matter. It is there. It's there. It's there. Wow. So understanding that talks about your trenches and your upbringing. So it's like, yeah, I had a tough upbringing. My mom was Susie Homemaker. I remember her cutting my, you know, grilled cheese sandwiches perfectly down the middle and the little triangles.

Yes. And then one day my house was disgusting and my mom wasn't around and my dad was never around. and I come to find out around the age 11 that she was on crack cocaine. Because at this time, I was running the streets. So a couple of my buddies were like, hey, man, we've seen your mom on 46, which is right here in Naples back in those days in the 90s. You know, it was infested with drugs. Shout out to Don Hunter for cleaning that up for us.

There you go. But so like I had that, man. I spent almost four years of my life in juvenile attentions going in and out of juvenile attention. programs. I was the youngest kid to ever go through the Drill Academy, which was a boot camp in Amokaliki, Florida. It's a level six program, 180-day boot camp. I was 12 years old when I went to that. So I look at my daughter who's about to turn 13 and I think to myself like, holy crap, you know. My son just turned 11 and it's like, I caught my first felony at 11. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. So like I was off the chain. And it was because I had the freedom to be off the chain, right? Right? Everybody else went home when the lights came on. I was like, no, we're going to hang out with these guys and smoke blunts in the park. You know what I mean? This is much funner. So, like, that was the life, man. I had my child. I did, like, a juvenile prison, got out right at 18, immediately got a girl pregnant and had my daughter.

And I seen that dream of a white picket fence. I could see it. But that didn't work out. Went right back to doing what I always done. But I was an entrepreneur. Always was an entrepreneur. Sure. Always.

And that was some of my trouble that I got into, was entrepreneurial in the wrong areas. But it's still entrepreneurial. But it's all the basics. Yeah. But, um, best marketing job ever. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. And you realize product sales and yeah, there's a bunch to it for sure.

But around, I had my own softened face company. I got my own house. I'm 23. I'm filling myself. I used the term. I became everything I ever made fun of. You know, I promised myself something as a child, even in detention centers. I always knew I was going to be somebody.

Like, I always knew like, I just, I just know. Like, I was just trying to take the shortcuts, right? I like, I, like, wanted to play Scarface. And then before I got shot, just take all that money and invest it in a legal form. And, like, that was my mindset, right? Right, got it. Yeah. But obviously, that's a movie in Starface.

It's shot. So anybody that's trying to do that, you're going to die or go to prison. Just telling you. Don't do it. Don't do it. So 24, man, 24 years old, I became everything I ever made fun of. And what was that? Man, I was smoking crack, dude. Oh shit. You went down that motherfucking road. Right, bro. Like, dude, I went from just slang and powder. And then what happened, what my demise was, doctor shopping. You know, this 10, 16 years ago, I would go over to the East Coast. They gave, you know, they coached you along.

You got oxy, you know, code on, and we called them blues. And, well, I would take people with me and pay for all their, you know, scans and everything. And then I would take them monthly, pay for their scripts and give them 10. So I was able, I had bodies. So it was all a hustle.

It was all a hustle. It started out of it. a hustle. It's a good hustle. Yeah. But I started taking them jokers, man. And I hated Coke. I hated Coke because I'm, you can tell I'm energy. You're already on that. So if you give me Coke, I'm stuck. Like, I'm going to take that energy drink. Yeah, dude.

You know, so when I took the blues, it worked. Yeah, yeah. So I started getting high on my own supply. And that's what I tell people that I teach is like, do you think I woke up at 19-year-old that, man, I can't wait to be a crackhead? No, I had dreams and aspirations. That's why addiction's so scary. Nobody knows. they're about to walk into what they're walking into.

The enemy comes beautiful. He comes in a pretty red dress or a nice suit, and he dances. And one day he looks at you and pulls the mask office, says, you're stuck. Yeah. Right? Wow. And that's kind of what happened. So I found myself secluded, messed up.

I always had a pocket Jesus. I'd pull him out and negotiate. If you get me through this, you know what I mean? And I always believed in the fire insurance. And one thing that I believed is like, well, you said in your bird that if I confessed with my mouth and believe in my heart, you would forgive me. So about my prayer consisted of, if I, before I go to sleep, Lord, forgive me of all my sins.

That way, if I die tonight, at least I get to go to heaven. A lot of people are like that, though. They treat the relationship with God as transactional. Yeah. You know what I mean? And it's like, you know, for everybody listening, we were joking before we hop on the camera. I was like, dang, man, I'm going to clean up a mouth with you.

I'm a believer. I believe in Christ. Yeah. And, but, you know, sometimes I don't talk like it or I don't seek him out first. I seek the worldly things. And I think that's normal. And I think that what we have to do for all of you listening that may have this issue where you want all the riches,

you want that red dress, you want that nice suit. Just understand it comes with the price, but to do the work and have that hope and faith to continue to do the right thing, even when it's not in front of you. Yeah. That's the flex, man. Amen.

So 24. Yeah. The audience loves my tangents. No, I love it. They love it too. you know, that should be my nickname, tangent. There you go. Is, you know, 24, smoking crack cocaine.

And I are this amazing speaker, minister, business owner, husband, father, gets to work with his daughters. I just, I've only known you for a short period of time. And I know for the audience listen, I get messages like this all the time. How long have you known that, I guess? And sometimes the answer's 10 fucking minutes. And, but I see people's heart. And I just, man, dude, like, you don't need this from me, but I'm proud of you. Man, I appreciate it.

I'm proud of you because it's like, you know, I don't know how we connected on social media. Yeah. But I'm sure dang glad we did. Amen. Because I know if I ever needed anything, if I'm feeling a certain way. Yeah. I know I could just hit that, that checks button. And likewise, you know what I mean?

So how did you, there's a lot of people that don't get out from that hustle, man. Yeah. You know, what was the turning point for you to turn into this amazing entrepreneur and speaker in and motivate her, man. Man, you know, I prayed a prayer that night. That night, the Holy Spirit himself came to my house, and he showed me myself. And I think a lot of times we're running from ourselves.

That's why we can't get out of it. Because the Holy Spirit will show you you, but here's the kicker. He knows you can't fix you. And when we run, we think that we have to fix what we see. If we could do that, we would have did it a long time ago. The gospel is simple. You can't do it, quit trying. The more you give to him, the better off.

You just got to surrender. But he showed me, John, you swore you'd never be like your dad. When's the last time you seen your daughter? John, you swore you'd never be like your mom. Look where you're at right now. You can't see it. Dude, you need to stop it.

Right. You know? Yeah. And he showed me myself, and he reminded me of the promises that I made to myself. And what he said is, I'll help you get through this. And that night was the first time I ever prayed.

not the pocket drink. I just kept praying this over, take this from me, whatever it takes. That's all I kept saying. Just take it from me. I woke up in a cop car three days later. And that prayer went back through my head, take this from me whatever. And I was like, no, not like this. But I went all in, bro. Like the all in that I went in for myself, I went in on this Jesus, dude, man. I'm like, boom, like here we are. I got into my word and I realized that the same people that I don't like that represent Christianity are the same people Jesus called out. You know, he didn't like the self-righteous rule, point your finger. There were Pharisees, which were religious people.

So I begin to build a real relationship with God. And man, the answer is simple is how I'm here. I can tell you processes, systems, habits, all those things matter. But I can't pull them off. Because if I was able to pull them off, I would have did it 15 years ago. I surrender and say, Lord, give me a. enough strength to complete this habit this week. Lord, give me enough grace to get through this trial this today. Lord, give me enough grace to get through my, get out of my bed and put my feet on

the ground when I know that I got to make a $65,000 payroll on Friday and I got eight grand in the bank on Tuesday. Lord, Lord, you know, and what I've realized is he shows up every time. As long as I ask for the strength and take these two little feet of mine and I put him on the dang ground, he directs my path. He's the rainmaker. I didn't mean to get preachy on this, bro, but... Okay, so, no, I'm glad you did. I know this is hitting perfectly for me because, you know, in the audience, listening and watching,

I want you guys to key him one thing. He says, on Friday, he has a $65,000 payroll, and he's got $8,000 in the bank on Tuesday. If you think for one second, these massive entrepreneurs, like John Huffman, don't have the same fucking problems as you do, you are wrong. It's just at a different level. Amen.

Right? So, like, if somebody listened, like maybe they need to make payroll at, you know, five grand, but they got 200 bucks. Right. It's the same problem. Yes, it is. Standard deviation doesn't freaking matter, right? Because the product, the business, you know, getting a couple accounts receivable paid will make that up regardless.

But I just want everybody to understand that everybody's going through those trenches. Everybody's going through those moments. Like, damn, man, I don't know if I can make this. I don't know if I can make this happen. And it happens to me, too, with the show and production and, you know, the cost. of it is what I'm saying, right? And it's worth every fucking day. It's the Annie.

It's, it's, it's, yes. It's the freaking Annie. You have to, you have to buy in. You said it earlier, the cost. Count the freaking cost. Yeah. Do you want the cost of comfort and some guy who's going to take on the cost that we're talking about so that you get paid Friday?

And that's the thing. You're putting your faith in a person that's having the struggles me and you were talking about and you're getting paid every Friday thinking you're comfortable, not realizing that the guys took on the cost that you might almost not got that Friday. You might not have been able to pay you know what I mean? So you're putting your cost in someone else's hand. There's a cost to it.

Yeah, there sure is. There's a cost to everything. That's why Jesus said, count the cost. It's so funny because you talked about, you know, the Holy Spirit showed you to yourself about, hey, you know, say you never want to be like your dad. When was the last time you saw your daughter? It's funny because I talk about this all the time of my show. And I think my audience is tired of hearing it about I'm 25 pounds overweight. Yeah.

And, you know, I had a friend pass away about probably two weeks ago. And great fitness influence, just Jackson Tippett, just an amazing human being. Lived in Australia. He's Australian. Just such a charming guy. And he was one of those people, the who that you were talking about. He believed in me early on. Yeah.

And he passed away at 30 years old. He was on holiday and Turkey and he had a heart attack. and when that happened you know I started you know I kept kind of going on my same path and then one day I woke up in the morning and I and as the first time dude I said thank you God

thank you for waking me up because I'm sure not taking care of your temple right now yeah right and I got up I had an I'm gonna win this meal here come awesome buddy and I'm gonna win the next one and the next one and the next one and the next one and I've been doing that I've been doing that And what I learned about myself was, is like, I'm not being disciplined nor determined in my physical body.

And what's going to happen is eventually if I continue on that freaking path, my kids aren't going to have me. Yeah, that's real. And so that for me was a massive turning point. And I know it wasn't me. I know it had to have been God putting that on my heart because, you know, it was different this time. Yeah. Yeah. It was different.

It was like a switch. It's switch. Yeah. And I said to myself, like, you don't have to be all or nothing. Yeah. And my wife helped me out a lot with that too. Yeah. She was a lot of times when you get back on your kick, you think you got, you can never have, you know, any sweet.

You think you can never have a day where you don't work out. She goes, go Monday, Wednesday, Friday to start. Yeah, Jeff Delaney taught me that, man. Boy, dude. Yeah. Yeah. I've been on this. I just told you I was 265 pounds.

Did you do NIVA? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm fixing to start. Yeah. Yeah.

It's good. A lot of people are hated on it, man, but Jeff cares. How can you hate on anything Jeff Delaney does? Yeah, yeah. Clearly don't know him. Yeah. Yeah, dude's a gangster, man. I love me.

He's great. Yeah. So, yeah, we're going to be doing that with me, you know, and the goal is to get me down to 12%. Yeah. Let's go. Yeah. You get a little bit of help plus, you know, you eat right and do the right habits.

You're all good. And like last night, man, I did all good yesterday. Like, I'm the lowest I've ever been. muscle mass all like I I sparred last Friday I left I left the MMA gym feeling like on cloud and I'm 41 those kids do you go to evolution yeah I go to evolution I met those guys yeah they're great well and Levi I Levi's the man dude I coached at the high school he went to like he was playing football when I was the baseball yeah I seen you on the I think that's how we connected I think that was it was it because I've been helping Levi get ready for his fight I'm on the fight team no way

yeah I'm on the fight team I obviously I'm not getting in a cage yeah but I give the guys good rounds you know what I mean? Do you think? I don't know. I remember spotting you on there, though. I don't know. I think it was before. It could have been.

I don't know. But yeah, anyway, like, so, yeah, man. I had a damn mom. My wife came home. I had a salad with some chicken on it for dinner, good meal, right, for lunch, did my five meals. She brought home someone from church, Jesse, the worship leader at New Hope, made her homemade cinnamon rolls.

That's not cool, dude. Dude, so she brought him home, it's like 6.30. I look at him, I say no, I'm going to win this. Nine o'clock. Come about nine o'clock, dude. Nine o'clock, yeah? So I was like one spoonful. Yeah.

So I took a spoon and cut it and ate it. Next thing you know, the whole damn thing was gone. Yeah. But here we are. I was like, I'm jogging a mile in the morning. Yeah. But that's the thing that's like, but I also want people to understand to give himself some grace too.

Yeah. Like, you know, we had a friendsgiving at a really good friend's house last night. I had the turkey, the ham, and a small bit of the, potato casserole that I made, you got to do it, that I made, but I didn't have the sweets and I was fine with it. I was fine with it. Went home, you know, I wasn't extra tired. You know, this morning woke up at a good meal. My wife made avocado toast with some eggs and, you know, and then I had, you know, something at the deli, the salad place down the street and, and I feel good, you know, but I think it's all important. Like when we're talking about systems and processes, the things,

you know, you talk about that that helps you out of your addiction, helped you out of jail and helped you build the kingdom that you're building, you know, with your businesses and your, and you're speaking is systems and processes. How, how do you go about? Because I think, you know, one thing that I do know, man, is that everybody listening and, and people in general always start with the best intentions, but they don't know how to continue because they, they consistently look for that fucking win. Yeah. You know, when's that coming? When's it coming? I'm guilty of it too. but the reality is, if you just lived in your systems and processes, right?

Yeah. How have you become an expert in that? Well, it goes back to eating the cinnamon roll last night. I didn't wake up and go, while I messed up last night, might as well mess up today. Well, I'll start again Monday. Like, that's the biggest issue.

Like, no, I wake up tomorrow and I put my pants back on. I say the same thing to those I counsel an addiction. Oh, they'll go, I messed up. I effed up, John. Pastor, you're going to be so mad at me. I drink again. Okay. Tomorrow morning, you wake up,

put your big boy pants on, your big girl panties on. You don't drink. Brush your teeth and go back to doing what you did the day before you drank. We're getting back to it. We're not going to stay in that victim mentality.

You know, I was a million dollars. I shared with you. I was almost a million dollars upside down five years ago. Yeah. I'm wealthier than I've ever been today. I'm healthier than I've ever been today. I teach processes and systems. And I tell the people that are on my coaching call,

listen, I'm almost five years into doing this faithfully and consistently, and there's still things that I got to come back on and tighten up. And I get away from this and I get away from that and I got to come back and tighten it up. The mentality is that it's a journey and not just a goal. My goal is $1.95. No, it's a journey. When I get to $1.95, great. We'll make another one and we'll go on another journey.

And I think that's the key for me is like understanding it's a journey. again, not to get all preachy, Jesus accomplished everything that he wanted to accomplish and he never got in a hurry. And that's something I always got to remind myself because I'm always in a hurry. I'm always in a hurry. It's like, man, just slow down, enjoy the journey.

That's a lot about society though too, man, right? And again, you may completely disagree with it, but from my seat, right, I'm looking, and social media is a big contributor to that, right? Because you can feel like, okay, I'm good. Like, I'm moving, right? Not in a hurry, but then you see stuff and you're like, dude, I better go harder, man.

Bro, I was in tears the other night. You know, my wife's, and I'm getting personal now, I was like, man, I'm just focused. And she said, no, you're obsessed. You're obsessed. And I was trying to explain to her how I feel. And I'm like, I feel like the water's right here. And I just, I'm almost ready to breathe.

I just can't breathe yet. And she looked at me, she goes, do you think that's of God, though? I'm like, nah, man. man. Now. Because he says he'll give us rest and peace, right? So it's like, yeah, I think we're geared to go. But I also think that the world has taught us to glorify the grind, man.

You know? Dude, it's so funny, man. Like, I, not to interrupt you, but like I, that right there, man, to glorify the grind. And I think that when you have influencers like Jocko, Gaggins, Andy Fricela, those dudes, right? They're, they're, they're wired differently. And David Goggins can get up and go run a hundred and fifty. Where's his wife? Where's his kids?

And not a knock on him. Yeah. Not a knock on him. Yeah. But it's like, everybody started doing that. Yeah. It myself included. I did 75 hard like a thousand times.

Yeah. Not literally a thousand, but like, like, yeah. You felt like his life. Felt like, you know, like, Derek did it too. But dude, like we're, we're seeing things like, But if I just do this, if I just get extreme and be obsessed and like literally live for what that other person is doing and how they're doing it, I'm going to be okay. And yes, immediately you do feel a sense of accomplishment. But all they're really trying to tell you is stay disciplined.

Yeah. Amen. What Gagins does is what Gagin does. But there's people out there trying to do exactly what he does. And they are, I'm sorry, they're missing it. Yeah. Because they're going to get hurt. Right.

Like he's a different animal. He can break his leg and keep walking. Yeah. Yeah. And I respect. He did do that. I know. And he shit himself too.

Yeah. Like I, to me, like I respect David God. Right. I love David God. Who's going to carry the boats, bro? But, but dude, I'm not trying to be like that. Yeah. And that's what I figured out.

You know, I was, man, when I was 265 pounds, innovative was a $10 million a year company, I couldn't wait to hit that $10 million mark, right? I had 50 employees. I had trucks. I had the showroom. I had everything. Dude, I was crap in blood. My health was terrible.

It's 265 pounds, right? my wife was on the verge of divorce in me. My kids, I didn't see them, bro. And I was preaching. So I'm pulling sermons out of my dairy air every day, you know? And I kind of shared it at the event. Like I had made my accomplishments. My idol was so driven on accomplishing.

And now, like, dude, I'm a 60 hour a week. I, that is who I am. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, my Huffman's construction, I'm with my wife now, man, I might only work 15, 20 hours a week in that on the sales and then I run effective meetings. Now I'm out building Huffman Speaks

and hanging out with my man, Sean, and building the community and, like, doing things. And it's because, like, I put the priorities first. I'm wealthier than I've ever been. I've made four times now a year what I used to make because I was making, like, 230 to 280, right, with innovative design. And I was killing myself.

I make, right at quadruple that now sometimes. You know what I mean? Like stupid money. And I don't work as hard. So it's like sometimes when we learn to prioritize the things that really matter in life, again, Jesus says it, right? Seek first the kingdom of God and all his righteousness and all will be added, right? That added is different.

That added for David Goggins is different. That added for Jocko is different. That added for Sean is different. The added for each individual is different, right? And what I think is we're in a life of comparison where we want his provision. where we want his provisions from the provider instead of our provisions from the provider. And sometimes we're running in the wrong direction really fast

and we're mistaking, right? We're mistaken busyness for progress. We're mistaken movement for progress. That's how I feel. No, I like it, man. I think a lot of us, you know, like for me, you know, in my show, we're still in the come up, right? We're growing rapidly.

We hit a million in 2020. That's crazy. I think we'll finish about 1.2, 1. That's nuts. the way things are going. It's, it's crazy. We haven't put any marketing on it yet or anything like that. That's absolutely insanity. It's all, you know, and again, it's all because of the consistency, right? I've been very good. And you're where you're supposed to be. I think so, man. Like, I feel like, if I could do this every single, people ask me, like, here's the, here's the answer. You know,

like I told you, like, building the media brand. Like, this is all I want to do. I want to get paid to use my mouth. That's it. Yeah, I mean, that's why we get along. Exactly. It's like, I don't, you know, Look, look, man, I've done the tow truck thing, I've done the sales thing, done medical device sales. I've hustled payroll. Like, for me, this is the most authentic you will ever see me as behind a microphone. Yeah.

You know, and on camera. And I challenge people to seek what that is for them. Amen. But when you're on the come up, man, dude, it's, it is hard. Because it's like, I'm going to tell you right now, and contrary to a lot of people's beliefs and what they think they see from me is not actual, you know, complete reality.

is like, dude, I'm making a lot less money than I did when I was in corporate America. A lot less. For now. For now. But I know it's coming. Yeah. Because I'm starting to fidget. Yeah.

And I'm starting to feel this deep, like, pull inside my gut. And it's sometimes uneasy. Yeah. And it's like, dude, go back to corporate jump ship. Go back to corporate jump ship. And then it's like, this is it. It's about to hit. And you need to be ready.

you need to be ready Sean and like you know for the for the audience like there may be something right now in your life that you are worrying about and you think that it's time to abandon it but me and my boy John are here to tell you like no that's when you're on to something you need to keep going and if you have to find other things to do to make ends me by all means do it but don't let off the gas on what what your passion is amen well it's like I tell people all the time like Huffman's construction is the vehicle to do Huffman speaks I mean yeah it's costing me money to you You know, that event, I did, that cost me. Yeah, you know. Of course it did. And I think that people don't understand that that's the ante for your dream sometimes, man. Again, man, I said it, I said it and I say it a thousand times. Like, comfort is where you go to die, right? That's where you go to die, man.

What is the organization that you go to where they make you comfortable before death, right? Hospice, right? Hospice. That's what they tell you. I'm going to make him comfortable. Yeah. That's where you go to die. Yeah.

You look at anybody in retirement that went, retired, went and sat on the couch. They were dead. They were gone. All success and vision is birthed out of discomfort. In judgment, bro. How many friends did you lose when you started doing this stuff? Oh, man, I was talking to someone the other day,

and I was like, you know, I've got more followers than I ever. I've got them from everywhere now, but it's like I look back at some of the people that I started this journey with or like were my friends and, dude, they all unfollowed me, you know? And then I don't, I don't know. I mean, that happened to me the other day, John. It's me and my wife pretty much now. It's so weird.

You mentioned like somebody unfollowed me. Like it's, it. This one I took personal. Yeah. You know, because I see the, I see the dude all the time and I never knew it. I shake his hand. And the last time I shake his hand, I saw like this weird vibe. And then somehow I just saw that he like unfriended me on Facebook.

You know, unfollowed me on social. was like, you got an argument to it. I'm like, I guess it's suffocating you. Maybe I something I said, but for me it hurts because I know my heart, right? I know I'm not a bad person. And it's just like, and it's also kind of like, okay, Sean, drop the bullshit. Like if you don't like, if you're not for him, you're not for him. Yeah. And, you know, and this was like when I was, you know, like I told you I was eating bad and like I was just not doing what it's supposed to. All of a sudden I start exercising again. I started eating well again. And now it's like, Fuck it.

Don't care. Yeah. Don't care. Like, if he doesn't like me, you don't like me. But like that's the thing, dude. We lose people, but we gain so many more. And a lot of the people that, you know, that I, that are in my circle now, like, or even in the past, I know I can't call them. But I know I could call you.

Amen. Absolutely. It's strange how life works like that, man. And I'll tell you, you know, God showed me this recently. You know, the first thing I do in the morning, I, you know, I get creative. that's my creative time with the creator. You know, I always say that we were made in his image. He is a creator, which he's created us to create, right?

And the thing is, is he showed me, he said, I'm going to take you here. This is the vision that I've given you. But until you're okay with not being light, I can't take you there because you're going to take everything personal. And I'm on that journey right now, John. I'm not going to lie because it happened. I'm thinking about it, like as you're speaking like, It happened multiple times. Yeah.

And it's like, and I cared too much. Yeah. That's just the, you know, I think it's okay to care. You're passionate, man. But I'm still learning not to take it personal. Yeah, that's the thing. I'm there with you too. Because I feel like I'm ready.

I'm like, Lord, I'm ready. Let's take this thing nationwide. Let's go. And he's like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you're ready. Yeah, you're ready. I got to sharpen you a little bit and I got to mold you.

You're in training, baby. You're in training camp. It's crazy. I mean. And I think, I think we all are. man and we look at some people that may have success and stuff like that but you know we don't know what's behind the scenes too you know what i mean we look at man this little joker's 28 years old driving a Ferrari we don't we don't know we don't know what's really going on if you read that book um

thank and grow rich a long ass time yeah it's so good but one of the things that i found peace and rest in was he talked about that all the people that he interviewed really walked into their wealth in their 50s well that's good they created it in their 40s they they so so what it said I won't forget it because it gave me peace because I'm freaking Instagram yes

and I'm sitting here going I'm freaking late to the game yeah um you know and the only one that says that that speaks against that's Gary V but you know he said look you you run it in your 20s you create

who you are and this tools that you're going to use in your 30s you utilize those tools and capital lies on them in your 40s, and then you walk into your wealth in your 50s. We ride on time, baby. We're right on time.

You're on time. We're right on time. And he interviewed the richest and the coolest people of his time. And that's what he gained from it. That's interesting, dude, because I'm, like, thinking about this. I'm like, okay, what did I create in my 30s? Right? That was my sales career.

Yeah. That was my interpersonal communication. That was my ability to, I mean, for lack of a better term, be a chameleon, like, I could, you know, sell payroll to a construction, CEO, I could go to a dentist, I can go to an attorney, and it was all the same conversation. I was able to get on their level.

I'm like, what the fuck is this going to do? Yeah. Hi. Hi. Here we are. And I could sit, I bet you if they put a mass murderer right in that seat,

I'm having just the same conversation, open, loving and honest. Hopefully somebody ready to lock his ass back up. But my point is like, that's what I'm, I curated or crafted and I didn't know what I was doing. I was doing it. And then here we are.

I started this when I was 41. Yeah. You know, I'm 46. So no, no. No, I'm lying. I was 42. Yeah. That's 42.

And right. So now, 46. I'm like, hey, man, I think we're getting there. I think 60 months is the Annie. Yeah. That's what I believe. I believe anything, anytime you start anything, I think it's 60 months. That's what it takes to build a foundation.

It's 60 months. years. It takes that long for people to notice, dude. It's like now, like if I, you know, it was so funny because I remember doing the show early on thinking I was doing great work and it sucked

right? And no one, there's no feedback. It's crickets. Now I get like messages and I'm going to say this like my friend Tom, right? Just move from Alabama to Florida and about Chris. Yeah, right? He's in Orlando. I would have

a little hot there you can come back down here there's at least the coast right but I just you know he's like it was one of my guests Peter Jensen and you know he went to he went to prison

he went to this RDAP program for you know tax evasion and loaded like multi-level marketing companies like just crushed it and he was talking about discipline and you know he wasn't paying his taxes

and he said because I was drunk at the wheel. I wasn't, you know, in there for alcohol, but I was there because of alcohol, right? Because I was drunk at the wheel, and I wasn't taken care of the while else when you'd you not pay your taxes.

You're making the money. You're drunk. And my buddy's like, you know, your show. So I'm going to say it. You know, I'm listening to this guy and he's talking about discipline. I'm like, what in the world do you know about discipline?

You didn't pay your taxes. And he goes, I kept listening, and he kept listening. And boom. He goes, it was, all brought home. And it made me realize the gift of that conversation. And, dude, these stories, these people.

Like, it just, it, like, I never, and like, almost I'm like, dude, is this, I mean, is my boy? Like, he's emotionally feeling this. Yeah. And I'm like, my point is, when we start getting that feedback, we know we're on the right track. Amen. Because, dude, that's, that's the best feedback.

Yeah. No, that's awesome, man. Especially, like, people you know, and you know what I mean. Been on that journey and get to see where you came from. And it's a beautiful thing, man. He'd been there. He was listening when this show was in the car, I think, or had just gone into the extra room in my house called a den.

So he's seen the evolution in the progression. You know, too cringe sometimes when, like, a pop-up will come. Motherfucker, sometimes? Sometimes? times. Oh my God. Bro, like I started with construction videos when I had it. I got to go see. Dude, I was this little rolling poli with my shirt tucked in.

This is baseball. It goes on the floor, across the floor. Dude, it's so funny because I look at some of like, you know, Facebook gives you these awesome memories for you to go back to. Yeah, I want to like you're saying. And I'm like, I'm like, okay, let me. Let me click on this and I'm like, ew.

Like, you sock, Sean. But I think that, you know, what's so important, and I want the audience to understand this, you have to be so shitty at something. Because, you know, in that moment, you're giving it your all. But then you go back and you look

and you see how much you've grown. You're like, oh, damn, that was terrible. But you know what? Thank God for those terrible moments that you thought was terrible, right? Because now people can see that growth, that progress. and I don't mean that in an egotistical way,

but those, that's your audience, that is your people that have stuck with you because they believed in you. When you weren't at your best and you weren't on top of your game, and now you're hearing again, and I'm gonna tell you, I'm nowhere close to where I want to be.

I always, I believe in continuous improvement. No, up until the day he takes us home, man. Come on, man. We don't know when it's gonna. I ain't found retirement in the Bible yet. I've been looking for it. It's not there? It's not there?

No. You didn't give that? No. He didn't give that the right? No, he's at work. Is there anywhere in the Bible says to be continued? Because I feel like, yeah, there's you left that one out, huh?

There's no retirement. I cannot find it. Because, you know, I think we're always meant to serve in some capacity, right? In some capacity. And everybody serves in a different way. And it's up to us to listen to that intuition, to that voice, right? And it's usually coming from the higher power.

Yeah, for sure, ma'am. You know? Yeah. Unless it's telling you to steal some shit. Yeah. Is that? Not him, dude. Yeah. Well, dude, let's, you know, we're coming up on Thanksgiving week.

And I'm going to ask you this question, man. What are you thankful for mostly? Man, I'm in a new level right now, bro. Like, all my kids want to hang out with me. Oh, it's so awesome, bro. You know, my son, I took him fishing just yesterday, Sunday, him and his boys. Oh, that was with your kid? Yeah.

You crushed it out there. Yeah. And, dude, they let me pray over him at the end of the day. And I just, like, blessed, I like, got him in a circle. I said, man, I'm sorry. I just prayed and was like, prayed over the husbands they were going to be and the kingdom leaders. Heck, yeah. They just thought that was so cool.

And I'm cool with them. You know, they burn and stuff. You know what I mean? And I think that really helps them know what a man of God looks like because we're out here having fun. I'm cutting up with them. You know, I'm not, hey, watch your mouth. Hey, you know what I mean?

Like, I'm like, hey, what are you doing right now? Did you just lose that fish? Did you pop a gummy before you? Come on, bro. I told you that stuff ain't good for you. You know, I'll mess with them and laugh. And so I think they just see that real. authentic me and like, hey, man, I get to tell them my story.

They've been opening up, you know, about their insecurities and stuff like that. So it's really cool. My daughters both work for me. They're a little mad at me yesterday because both of them want to go to college. Jalen, who runs Huffman, she's been with me back in the Innovative Day since she was 15 years old. So when I tell you she's 23 years old and I'll put her up against any admin office C-O-O, any, do my daughter will crush them. That's awesome. Like, I don't want to lose her.

Yeah, I know. She wants to be a psychiatrist. Then my other daughter just came home last night saying she wants to be a teacher. So I messed up. I made them all mad yesterday. I met that we're about to eat dinner. And I go, what did I do as a father? Like, what did I do that y'all are okay with average?

And they're like, do you call it me average? They're all mad at me. But, like, I'm thankful for, like, I have that with my kids, you know, where we get real. me and my wife, you know, she runs the office at Huffman's and does real estate. And I just, I see God building this legacy. I've got friends that are coming in my life, Bryce, like, where we're not, it's not like this high school thing. It's like, bro, you didn't call me. It's like, man, we're just, we're doing life together.

And when we holler at each other, we holler at each other. When we make money together, we make money together. And it's cool. So I just see God just doing a new work, man. And I'm really thankful for all of it, man. my grandma's down here. I got to have lunch with her, so I'm really grateful for that.

So I got a lot to be grateful. Here's the main thing. I'm grateful that I'm able-bodied. Yeah, man. I think that's one of the biggest things that we discredit sometimes or we don't thank him for. We take it for granted, man.

We take it like your eyesight. Yeah. The function of your hands, the ability to work out, the ability to get up and go. Yeah. So I'm just thankful, man. That's awesome, dude.

It's so funny. You mentioned your kids. my wife and I, before I left, I was like, hey, I'm going to shoot my show with my boy, and I'm going to go to the store. What do you guys want for dinner? Yeah. And she goes, she goes, anybody want tacos? I'm like, oh, you want street, y'all want street tacos tonight?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And my tacos, dude, you can't go to a restaurant and get my tacos. They're fired. Dude, ridiculous. Okay, I'm coming to your house. I'm Mexican, I think. Like, no, I'm from California. I really do you think I'm mad.

I don't know my dad. I don't know my biological father. You kind of look at a little Hispanic, bro. I'm telling you, bro. I'm telling you. I need to start checking different boxes on those applications. Yeah, man. But dude, so I'm like, hey, I'm just going to go.

And when I get home, you know, I'll cook. Yeah. And my wife texts me when I pull up here. Hey, the babies really want to see you. They want you to come home. They want to go to the store with you. Oh, wow. Dude, that's gee, bro.

Bro. I mean, that's with that. That's success. I'm like, you want to cry right now. I want the audience to sit with that. Yeah. Like, what are your kids saying? What are your loved one saying?

That is your measure of true success. You can have all the money in the world. You can be Michael Jordan. You can be LeBron James. It doesn't fucking matter. But what does matter are your kids feigning for your ass to get home. Yeah. And to me, man, I already got everything.

Yeah. But when I reach the pinnacle of what we're doing here, than I'm able to give them more. I can take more time and do more cool shit with them. Right? That's what I want all the money for. I don't want it to flex, bro.

I don't already drive my dream truck. You saw, I drive a TRX. That's my dream car. I don't need anything else. It's a nice dream car. It's badass, right? Bad ass. I mean, it's fucking dope.

But like, I don't need a 50, you know, 50,000 square foot mansion. No. I mean, I'd be good with about 5,000 square foot. Just chilling, man. Just chilling. But my point is, I want all this money

so I can keep doing what I'm doing on a bigger level. Yeah. Right? Make it bigger and better and more impactful internationally. And then, I'm bored. Hey, you guys want to go to the Bahamas this weekend? That's why. Yeah.

And I'll tell you, man, it's a fundamental practice, man. It's better to give than receive. What you pay it in the ground, man. It's popping up, you know. God commands us. He commands us. It's not a request. He commands us.

He says, bless the poor. how the hell I'm supposed to bless the poor from poor? It says a righteous man, a righteous man, right? And the word says, our righteousness is like filthy rags. There's only two places where it says you're righteous. Abraham was righteous by faith.

It says a righteous man falls seven times and seven times he gets back up. So it says someone who fails is willing to get back as righteous. Then it says, a righteous man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. See, that's the key. that's a legacy there it is it's a legacy it's a legacy it's his principles so if you're thinking how do i

serve how do i give and how do i make sure my children's children are taking care of financially and spiritually you're passing on your characteristics the things that you spoke and sewn into their heart their beliefs that is the legacy it is man it's it's it's so simple and i say say it's simple, but it's not easy. Well, I mean, my buddy Matthew hadn't always like, I said simple, not easy. Yeah. Matthew, I'm not coining it, but dude. Yeah.

It's not original. I love you. I'm just kidding, buddy. Hey, truth is truth. But dude, like, yeah, like what is simple is never easy, right? It's working out simple. It's not easy. Yeah.

Diving simple. It's not easy. Everybody knows how to do it. Yeah. You say you don't know what to do. You're full of shit. Yeah. You don't want to do it.

Yeah. You eat less calories that you burn. And you, and you prioritize protein and healthy carbohydrates, not processed foods, it's not rocket science. Here I am fat right now, but we're getting there. Hey, it's easy. It's not easy.

It's simple. It's not easy. I appreciate you, man. You know, I want real quick, before we land the plane, for you to tell the audience, one, where they can find you on socials, and then also how can they work with you on Huffman's Speak, your coaching program.

Yeah, man. So, John Huffman speaks.com. You can go on there and fill out an application. Check me out, man. I do multiple things. Come in, train your teams. I have group coaching. Man, we talk about process systems.

Mine, it's a weekly call Wednesday, every Wednesday from 730 to 9. It's very affordable. In the morning? In the morning. Yep. Yep. Thank you for that. And yeah, man, at real John Huffman.

On Instagram, Facebook, John Huffman. TikTok, the real John Huffman. And John Huffman speaks.com. Yeah. And if anybody, your viewers are looking for a renovation, man, I have a construction company. This is what we do. We transform homes, man. So naplesconstruction.net's how you can look that up to. Okay, cool. Well, there you have it, guys. Again, reach out to my boy, John. If you have any needs, all of that information will be in the show notes.

So you can just click the links, go check them out. But definitely give them a follow and listen to his positivity. I just want to thank you guys so much, again, for listening and joining me today as I speak to my boy John here and always remember guys that you are one person away. And the one thing that I'll never forget that John said the first time I actually met him in person, he says, don't think about what you need. Think about who you need. So all to say is just remember that your success and your world is meant to be driven by people and the right people. So I love you guys. Again, share the show with somebody you know, love and trust. Until next time, stay determined. So I've tried a lot of protein, you know.

What I've always found is all the flavors, you can taste artificial flavoring in them. With raw, it's exactly that. I don't taste that. It's a clean protein source. Tastes great, and I'm not putting a lot of things in my body that aren't good for you. The biggest thing that I will say that I love about raw nutrition

and bum energy is they're all natural ingredients in the third-party tested. So what that means is an actual. lab test is to make sure what's in the product is actually what is stated on the label. And then you'll see on the website in Braw Nutrition that it is signed off on. So there's no banned substances in these products. Athletes can use them safely and not get tested and pop for a failed drug test for performance enhancing, you know, ingredients.

It's completely safe. Guilt free, baby. Shout French, what else. Let the pain inspire me. I put my all in everything I'm doing. Until it's done I meet for the entirety I'm putting 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 determined