THE ED MYLETT SHOW - What It REALLY Takes To Build a Billion-Dollar Brand from Nothing Feat. Andy Frisella

Episode Date: June 14, 2025

👇 SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL - so this show can reach more people 👇 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIprGZAdzn3ZqgLmDuibYcw?sub_confirmation=1 Click the Link Below to Subscribe to my emai...l list to MAXOUT your life (all value, no fluff) https://konect.to/edmylett 💥 Get my exclusive Monday Motivation training in GrowthDay, the world’s #1 app for advanced mindset and personal development. Visit https://growthday.com/ed. This show is sponsored by GrowthDay. What separates those who dream about building a brand from those who actually do it? In this episode, I’ve pulled together some of the most hard-hitting moments from conversations with true builders—people who didn’t wait around for perfect conditions, they made things happen. You’ll hear from Andy Frisella, Jesse Itzler, Tom Patterson, Codie Sanchez, Bedros Keuilian, Barbara Corcoran, and Gunnar Peterson. Every one of them started from scratch. No shortcuts, no handouts—just a relentless commitment to making their vision real. Andy kicks it off with his straight-up truth: no one's coming to save you. Jesse Itzler jumps in with what it really means to create moments that matter—personally and professionally. Tom Patterson walks us through betting on yourself when nobody else does, sharing how he turned rejection into drive and built Tommy John from zero. Codie Sanchez gets tactical about ownership, explaining why buying boring businesses might just be the smartest path to financial freedom. Then Bedros Keuilian talks about how trauma can either chain you down or become your greatest weapon. Barbara Corcoran breaks down the power of rejection and what it takes to stand out in the face of doubt. And Gunnar Peterson reminds us that how we train our minds and bodies sets the standard for everything else in life. Each of these guests shares real lessons from the trenches—what it actually looks like to do the work, to fail, and to rise anyway. This isn’t about inspiration. It’s about responsibility. These voices are proof that you don’t need a perfect plan. You need a decision. You need action. You need hunger. And you need the mindset that says, “Why not me?” This mashup is a call to all the underdogs, builders, creators, and fighters who are ready to stop watching from the sidelines. If you’re serious about becoming the person capable of achieving the dream—you’ll get everything you need right here. Key Takeaways from This Episode - Andy Frisella on building 1st Phorm and setting an unbreakable standard - Jesse Itzler on creating meaningful life chapters through bold decisions - Tom Patterson’s journey from rejection to retail disruptor - Codie Sanchez’s approach to buying cash-flowing businesses most overlook - Bedros Keuilian on rewriting your identity through pain and discipline - Barbara Corcoran’s mindset on turning “no” into next-level growth - Gunnar Peterson’s insight on how physical discipline fuels success everywhere Success doesn’t respond to your excuses—it responds to your execution. This is your moment to stop playing small and start building what you were born to create. Thank you for watching this video—Please Share it and get the word out! 👇 SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL👇 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIprGZAdzn3ZqgLmDuibYcw?sub_confirmation=1 ▶︎ Visit My WEBSITE | https://www.EdMylett.com #EdMylett #Motivation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 So hey guys, listen, we're all trying to get more productive and the question is how do you find a way to get an edge? I'm a big believer that if you're getting mentoring or you're in an environment that causes growth, a growth-based environment, that you're much more likely to grow and you're going to grow faster and that's why I love Growth Day. Growth Day is an app that my friend Brendan Burchard has created that I'm a big fan of. Write this down growthday.com forward slash ed. So if you want to be more productive, by the way, he's asked me, I post videos in there every single Monday that gets your day off to the right start. He's got about 5,000, $10,000 worth of courses that are in there that come with
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Starting point is 00:00:46 You're gonna get a free, tuition-free voucher to go to an event with Brendan and myself and a bunch of other influencers as well. So you get a free event out of it also. So go to growthday.com forward slash ed. That's growthday.com forward slash ed. ["The Admirals Show Theme Song"] head. Hey everyone, welcome to my weekend special. I hope you enjoy the show. Be sure to follow
Starting point is 00:01:15 The Ed Mylett Show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way. So today's a really special day for me. I get to share with you one of my best friends in the world if not my best friend. He's one of the most influential people on the planet and he's my partner in the Arte Syndicate that we coach entrepreneurs together. And we're going to have a remarkable conversation today with Andy Frisella. Welcome brother. Thanks bro. What happened? Like what's gone on with you the last seven years that's caused this stuff to explode like this by the way real af Go to the top podcast in the world. Yeah, I mean the MF CEO project before that which may or may not resurface
Starting point is 00:01:53 Yeah, it is coming back. I know but I don't know they have right it's coming back. It's coming back So like what's been some of the keys to you doing what you've done the last, say, seven, eight years? What's happened? First of all, I'm surrounded by killers, dude. Like, that's the thing we gotta understand. You know what I'm saying? I've got tremendously successful,
Starting point is 00:02:15 smart, intelligent people around me in every direction. So my brother, who is the CEO of First Form now, my executive team, the people who show up there every day, these are incredible people. And they do the rowing of the boat, right? And the truth is what happened was, is everybody developed, everybody leveled up, everybody got better, and I don't think
Starting point is 00:02:43 there's anything magical about it. I think it's basically what we talk about all the time with people, which is executing day in and day out, day in and day out for years. And as things, the more days you execute, the more they compound, and they compound and compound and compound,
Starting point is 00:03:00 and eventually the growth goes from gradual to steep. And I think over the course of our business life, if you own a company, you go through many of these phases where you go very slight growth or even flat for a while and then you go up and then you go very slight growth and then you go up and you know, when people think of entrepreneurship or growing a brand or business,
Starting point is 00:03:21 a lot of times they think it's just a straight line or it's just straight up and dude, as we know, just lot of times they think it's just a straight line or it's just straight up and dude, as we know, just kind of like the meme, you know, it's like this. And I think we just, you know, I think we figured out a lot of things on how to really get good at what we do and really what it comes down to is great people doing great things to help people with what they're coming to our business for,
Starting point is 00:03:46 which is in my case, they want to get more fit. They want to get mentally better. And, you know, with our affiliate program, they want to make some money. Yeah. So we do a good job at all three of those things, serving the need of the customer in an obsessive way. The thing I think of the most of with you is culture. You're a culture builder and that culture's allowed it to grow exponentially even without you driving it all the time. But you've been the driver. You're giving it to Sal, and you're right,
Starting point is 00:04:12 in your businesses. But the truth is, the brand has been you. The driver's been you. I think one of the things that you talk about better than anybody is, because of social media and most of the BS that's out there, is I think people underestimate. First, we're going to have a real conversation, me and you, about what do we talk about behind the scenes? BS that's out there, is I think people underestimate, if we're just gonna have a real conversation,
Starting point is 00:04:26 me and you about what do we talk about behind the scenes? Because that's what I get asked, what do you and Andy talk about behind the scenes? Here's the truth. We don't talk usually when things are going great. We talk when things are not going great. And I think if we're gonna have a real conversation that helps entrepreneurs or just humans today,
Starting point is 00:04:41 we need to let them into our lives, like the real lives. I'm sitting in a room right now that's just a mind blowing room. There's 30 cars in here. Yeah. Collective value of these cars is what in this room roughly, probably. Around, around between 30 and 40 million. 30, 40 million dollars of cars plus the building, the house that's attached to this, a former president of the United States lived in, Grant. Like it's crazy, right? It's way harder than people think. Yeah. It's way harder. It's way more debilitating to be an entrepreneur,
Starting point is 00:05:07 mentally taxing, emotionally taxing. I sent you a video a few weeks ago of a very successful guy who got asked in the interview, hey, if you had to do it all over again as an entrepreneur, would you do it? Or what advice would you give yourself? And he says, I don't think I would do it. And we both went, I don't know that I would either.
Starting point is 00:05:24 If we're being really real. Yeah. Talk about that just from your perspective. How the real stuff of being an entrepreneur, mentally, emotionally and physically, the toll that it takes on somebody, not the pretty stuff that they see, everyone's in Turks and Caicos,
Starting point is 00:05:39 everyone's tan and partying and in nightclubs, but the real stuff of building something great, how hard is it on all those aspects? I think it's harder than anybody could possibly imagine. That hasn't done it. And this is why I get so frustrated with the current state of the environment of entrepreneurship on the Internet. Yeah, because we have a lot of people who haven't really built anything.
Starting point is 00:06:00 They've maybe built a little cash flow, but not any asset or not a real company. And they tell everybody that entrepreneurship is for everybody. And unfortunately, entrepreneurship isn't for everybody. It's statistically only for seven to 8% of the people and only 1% of those people actually ever become millionaires. And when we statistically break that down and we look at the way it's marketed,
Starting point is 00:06:22 it bothers me a lot because I think a lot of people get sucked in who would be tremendous intrapreneurs tremendous contributors? what's an intrapreneur somebody who is a part of a brand who takes ownership of the brand who operates at a high level and cares and and Helps to build whatever it is that's being built. So they work inside a company. Yes. Okay. Yeah. And I'm blessed to have just unlimited amounts of those kinds of people. And I think when we talk about the mental toll, and this actually leads into why the book was written,
Starting point is 00:06:56 and why 75 Heart was created, a lot of people are confused. They think I'm out here trying to be David Goggins. Right. The fuck I am. I'm trying to survive. And that takes a certain level of toughness. I'm out here trying to be David Goggins. The fuck I am, I'm trying to survive. That takes a certain level of toughness. And as you know, contrary to what a lot of people think, I struggle a lot.
Starting point is 00:07:12 I have real struggles. I struggle mentally, there's a lot of pressure, it's a lot of pain, it's a lot of frustration, and it's extremely difficult. I feel an obligation to be honest about that with people because I feel like, because everybody looks at it on the internet as it's such an easy thing for everybody to do,
Starting point is 00:07:34 what happens is, is that a lot of young people get sucked in and then they can't get it done or they can't win with what they're being told. And because they're being told a false reality of it, they have a false expectation. And so when they get in and they're like, holy shit, this is actually really hard, they blame themselves, they think it's them.
Starting point is 00:07:53 And I see this every day, I see this in my DMs, I talk to people and they, you know. So I just feel like it's better to be honest with people about how hard it really is and what it really takes so that you can prepare yourself for the journey. And I think that's the proper way to present entrepreneurship, which is why I'm so big on mental toughness.
Starting point is 00:08:12 Because as entrepreneurs, we are actively choosing to walk the unbeaten path, right? Like we are actively choosing to do a life that most of our friends, most of our family, most people are never gonna understand and they're gonna attack you for it. They're gonna say, oh, you know, why do you think you're too good for everybody?
Starting point is 00:08:36 What more do you need? Like, you know, remember where you came from? Are you still messing, like, the amount of negativity that comes with doing things outside the norm of society as an entrepreneur is so fucking hard to deal with that you have to be prepared to deal with it. And then not only deal with it,
Starting point is 00:08:53 but also learn how to leverage it. And you know, the truth of the matter is, man, and I talk with Emily about this all the time, and I talk with you about this all the time, it's hard as fuck, and it beats the shit out of me. And like dude, 25 years in business, first form's only 14 years old, but I've been in the same line of business for 25 years
Starting point is 00:09:15 with something, super stores. I feel like an old man sometimes. Me too. You know what I'm saying? Like I feel like, and then when I do the math, how many hours I've worked, I've worked a full lifetime. Many lifetimes. Yeah, already.
Starting point is 00:09:28 Many. So it's, you know, I get a little frustrated, actually I get highly frustrated with the way that it's presented in real life. There's a lot of fake. And it really doesn't bother me from an aspect of people are cheating. People are gonna cheat in everything that they do.
Starting point is 00:09:43 That's the nature of human beings. But what bothers me is the good people who are honest that want to build something that gets sucked in. And then, you know, what I think about is like how many good ideas, how many good businesses, how many cures, how many good solutions are lost because the expectation of the... Nailed it. Yeah, the expectation of the path is painted to be something that it isn't. And people who would otherwise succeed if they just knew what to prepare for, quit.
Starting point is 00:10:08 And then us as human beings in business lose out on a lot of good things. Yeah, we're cheated out of their greatness because they've been presented a picture. Brother, you're exactly right. The value of what you're talking about is immeasurable for everybody listening to this because being an entrepreneur is so difficult
Starting point is 00:10:24 mentally, physically, emotionally. By the way, I think it's worth it. Yeah. But, and sometimes I wonder whether it is. I do too. So, I mean, I really do. And, but, but I think this is the real talk because when an entrepreneur begins
Starting point is 00:10:38 to experience these things, they're like, well, this isn't what I see. I must be doing it wrong or I'm not cut out for this or my business doesn't work because I'm feeling all these things and we're one of the few two people, maybe the only two. There's probably somebody else that's like, actually, if you're experiencing all of this heat setbacks, financial catastrophes, emotional catastrophes, people stealing from you, suing you like they shouldn't, you're probably on their actual right path as an entrepreneur
Starting point is 00:11:04 and all stages are difficult one thing most people don't see with you because the story becomes dated because you're so successful now Is I want you just to tell the audience because they may not realize this because yeah, we're in here with you know I don't know you have hundreds of millions of assets now you built a company that's a billion dollar plus brand and Even at this stage, it's not roses and bubble gum most of the time. But the first decade for you. It's harder now.
Starting point is 00:11:28 Really? It's harder now than it was in the beginning. It's harder than when you were living in the back of a supplement superstore? No question. Okay, tell them about that and then tell me why it's harder now. Well, that's how we started.
Starting point is 00:11:40 Chris and I started in 1999. This is so good. With $12,000 from painting the stripes on parking lots. We had a buddy who had a striping company who was gracious enough to give us a job, and at that time it paid very well for a couple of young kids, right? We were making like 20 bucks an hour,
Starting point is 00:11:54 which back then was like making like 100 bucks an hour. So we were able to save a little money and start this business. The first store, we bought the shelves at home, we literally bought the shelves at Home Depot. We built the counter out of particle board from Home Depot and like metal roofing and shit. Like our friends and family helped build it
Starting point is 00:12:15 and that's how we started. Our first day we sold seven bucks. Our first inventory order was $10,000 that we financed on credit cards, which we got totally screwed on. I thought we were getting a good deal. That was my first business lesson, you know? And dude, like we just started and-
Starting point is 00:12:32 And you slept in the store. Yeah, on and off for the first three years. Slept in the business. What'd you make the first five years? The first three years I made nothing. Like we didn't make anything. And this is the other thing. We both worked other places to kind of keep the business open.
Starting point is 00:12:48 Stay on that. Yeah, before we move off. I think that's another thing entrepreneurs need to hear. So did I. I stock shelves at night the first two years. I don't think enough entrepreneurs are hearing you may need to have a job outside of your business to stay in business. Well, you know how like the young guys now they talk about side hustles, right? Yes. Like so. So like for me. The side hustle was the thrift store? Well, you know how the young guys now, they talk about side hustles, right? Yes. So for me, the side hustle was the store, right?
Starting point is 00:13:09 If you were, if you were, if you're today, in today's language, you would say the side hustle was the store, my main deal was doing these other jobs, and then I took the money there, Chris took the money there, and we kept reinvesting in the store. And the first time I got paid was three years in. I got paid $695 a month, and then for seven years, that's all we made, $695 a month.
Starting point is 00:13:32 So for the first 10 years I was in business, now remember, this is a different era. No social media, no way to get your word out, none of that. The first 10 years I made $58,380. Combined. Combined for 10 years. Not a year, total. Yep, and by the way, the reason that matters,
Starting point is 00:13:51 and the other thing you said matters, just I love how our brains think similarly. I think for a real entrepreneur, that's still a three to six year window. It may not be a decade if you're doing things right, but you're gonna go through two, three, four, five, six potential years of no profit potentially in order to build something that is profitable for a while
Starting point is 00:14:09 and it's not get rich quick. In fact, if you got rich quick, I see these guys getting rich in two or three years, I'm like, that's someone who won't be rich in a decade. Correct, because you don't learn the lessons along the way. If the delayed gratification and the beating that you take when you first start something is actually necessary because that's where you learn most of your skills.
Starting point is 00:14:27 Most of the things that we teach these guys that you talk about in your show, that I talk about my show and that we teach in our day are to whoever would come ask us. Those are things we learned in the beginning. Those are things we learned when it was really hard. How's that harder now that someone's looking at you, they're like, dude, you slept in the back of a supplement superstore for a few years. You made 58 grand the first decade.
Starting point is 00:14:50 And then first form starts to grow. You become a brand, MFC. Now that part was fun. That part felt easy. You know, like the part where everybody's kind of seen me in my life, that part felt easy. When I say it's getting harder now, the reason it's harder, a couple reasons it's harder now.
Starting point is 00:15:10 One, we're entering a phase of quote unquote big business, right? It's no longer 10 of us in a room, or 20 of us, or even 50 of us, and we can say, all right guys, this is what we gotta do, and everybody goes and does it. Now we have to coordinate a massive amount of people to go execute, right?
Starting point is 00:15:27 And as you know, coordinating a massive amount of people to execute is very difficult. And so there's that, that part is very difficult. The other part is, you know, when you get to this level of business, for me, it's almost like you're starting over because you don't know any of that shit. Like you don't know, I don't know, I do now,
Starting point is 00:15:48 but I didn't know the financial lingo. I didn't know how to, and the reality is to get to that next level, that big business level, you have to create partnerships and you have to work with people because there's, like we talked about when we did my show, you know, the 20 year room, right? You have to start playing ball with the bigger players, otherwise they, you know, the 20 year room, right? Yeah. There's you have to start playing ball
Starting point is 00:16:05 with the bigger players. Otherwise, they keep you out of the game because these people own the market at the top of the game. So it's just different, dude. Isn't it also the pressure of having the responsibility of having? That's what I was going to get to. Yeah. It's the amount of these guys who are all sitting in the room with us.
Starting point is 00:16:22 I love these guys. Those people at HQ, I love those people. And like, knowing that you're responsible and that they've invested in their lives into my project that we've started so long ago, our project, is a tremendous amount of weight to bear. You know what I'm saying? These people have families, they have kids,
Starting point is 00:16:43 they have people to provide for, and if, like if we don't, if I make the wrong call, or we make the wrong move, or we do something wrong, there's consequences that are outside of us. Exactly. And that's a lot, I think also as you get older, that becomes more of the forefront. Like dude, you know, when you start getting,
Starting point is 00:17:04 be able to take care of yourself, and you know, you're not starving anymore, and you get to the point where you can do some cool like both of us have been able to do, you start to like look around and you're like, well, man, all these people, they got to win too. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I want to tell you something about you, okay?
Starting point is 00:17:21 That's the thing I'm most proud of you. Is that right there? Is that, no, no, no, wait, let me just say it. It's real. Because people don't, people see a side of you that's like this just in crazy intense, he's pissed about what's going on on social media, he's pissed about what's going on in culture.
Starting point is 00:17:35 They don't understand the nature of where it comes from. And I'm one of the few people that can give people context. Very few entrepreneurs, they don't care. They get to a point, I'm just gonna be in real, they build their company up, then they just decide to exit, who cares what happens to everybody else, and you have this thing about you,
Starting point is 00:17:53 which is probably why you've been successful. You're really hard on people. You're a hard dude to be around. You're a hard dude to be in business with. I'm in business with you. You're not. I'm a hard dude to be friends with. You are.
Starting point is 00:18:02 But by the way, you're also, if my car broke down in the middle of the night I just said this is somebody yesterday about you that whole analogy. I know for sure who I would call Yeah, I know be you yeah, and and so you're also a great friend to have but you're hard because you set incredibly high standards yeah, right and you care deeply and The thing I admire most about you I just want to say this you, is that the challenge is
Starting point is 00:18:25 if you're one of those people and you're nodding, you're like, I care about people too, you're in for a difficult ride once your business gets big too. Because now you've got your customers you care deeply about, you've got the people that work with you, you care deeply about,
Starting point is 00:18:35 you've got society you care deeply about. And this stuff wears on people. And it's the thing about you that I admire the most, it wears on you. I think it's almost like any great leader has that, right? But I want people to know that about you. The other thing that I want, I want you to, I'm gonna ask you this in real time
Starting point is 00:18:51 and I want you to answer it honestly. For me, my greatest strengths are my greatest weaknesses. When I harness them, they're great. They've also been the things that have hurt me the most in my life. And then for me, I would say one of my great strengths is my intensity level I Run real hot. I Thought I ran the hottest of anybody I've ever met until I met you and then there's I don't know
Starting point is 00:19:11 Maybe I handle it differently than you I think I've been good for you. You're you're you've gone through that maturity process I haven't gone through yet. Yeah, but I see you doing it Yeah, but to talk about that from it so you're you're one of your great gifts It's not people don't know it's actually your brilliance in your marketing mind and your branding which we to talk about that for a minute. So you're, you're one of your great gifts. It's not, people don't know. It's it's actually your brilliance and your marketing mind and your branding, which we'll talk about in a minute, but from an emotional personality trait, you, you got to run hot. Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, Andy, Frisella, whoever myself at my level, whoever it is, Alon Musk, you, you, you cut open these humans. They're a little bit crazy.
Starting point is 00:19:46 Yeah. And if you're a little bit crazy, I like you. But for you, I want you to be, probably no one's ever asked you this before on camera. That is one of your great strengths. It is also one of the things that is hard for you in your life, too. This is the truth.
Starting point is 00:20:05 Like, so how do you feel about that sincerely? Like, do you sometimes you wish you could just lose it? Sometimes you just go, I want to throw my hands up, man. And like, I don't want to care anymore. I don't, or if you have accepted, like, I'm going to be crazy and you're going to see me at 65 years old and I'm still going to be nuts because I mean, you look at these guys that are
Starting point is 00:20:25 Who are you like politically? It doesn't matter There's like 70 80 year old dudes trying to run the world still right like there's just some people that are just wired for crazy Yeah, and maybe they just need to accept that's who they are and I ask you that because there's a lot of people listening this Because in their family, they're the crazy one. Yeah. Their version of it in their family they're the unreasonable one, they're the crazy one. They may not yell and scream like you do but in their family they're like everyone's like what is wrong with you? Yeah. Right? And maybe there is something slightly unhealthy about it. Right or wrong? I had an interesting conversation with Zoltan who's the from Five Finger Death Punch. He's a brilliant man. I told you about this. And we were sitting, he was sitting exactly where you're sitting.
Starting point is 00:21:07 We were talking and he brought up, we were talking about some of the issues I have with running hot, because he runs hot, but he's very calm. And one of the things that I've been working on is trying to accept that as reality. Because when you look around, when you're wired that way and you're wired for winning, which is the truth,
Starting point is 00:21:33 I hate fucking losing, dude. I hate not being competitive. I hate being bad at shit. And it's not about winning. Like to me, it's about I fucking hate losing. And I would say that the fact, the combination of me being wired with hating losing and me being as tense as I am
Starting point is 00:21:50 is the reason for the success 100% personally. But it's also the reason for a lot of failed friendships. It's also the reason for maybe when I was younger, I would deal with people the wrong way and actually hurt them. for, you know, maybe when I was younger, I would deal with people the wrong way and actually hurt them. So there's some regret that comes with that. And there's also a lot of self-analyzation that comes with that, that basically, you know,
Starting point is 00:22:18 you look around at everybody else, man, and you see, especially right now with victim culture, right, like you see all these people getting attention off of the things that have gone wrong in their lives. And I don't talk about those things that have happened to me. I don't talk about the bad things in my life. Like we've all had bad things. I'm looking at one.
Starting point is 00:22:35 There's a scar on the left side of his face. He was stabbed. Yeah. And most people don't know that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and I think the underlying truth is that, yeah, it creates a lot of wins, but it creates a lot of difficulty too, and a lot of mental anguish because you're not like everybody else.
Starting point is 00:22:55 You know, when you're built different than everybody else and you have this desire for more and this desire for achievement and this desire to win, everybody else looks at you like you're fucked up. And they'll tell you that too. You know, what the fuck is wrong with you? Like, why can't you just relax? Why can't you just do this? Why can't, because I'm just not built that way, man.
Starting point is 00:23:13 And as I've gotten a little bit older, I've gotten better at accepting it. And it's sort of embracing the fact that this provides a lot of good, but there's a lot of things and they make That you have to deal with it that come that aren't so good It is interesting because sometimes when I'm with you I'm like I wish I could get them to wind down a little bit Yeah, you know and then there's this other part of me brother that I'm like I I have friends that are like different than me politically
Starting point is 00:23:41 like you and I don't agree on everything politically or socially or The personalities are different. I have other friends. That's okay,. Cuz like it's it's you can be wrong once in a while Well, I appreciate that But I but like I wouldn't I wouldn't I don't think I think unreasonable people change the world. Yeah, they do And I like that there are unreasonable people, no matter what form that takes. And the unreasonable people change families. Unreasonable people are the one.
Starting point is 00:24:11 And so however that manifests itself for you in your life, if you're listening to this, I think weird equals rich and normal equals poor. And I don't mean that just financially. I mean in life. Like, bro, you're a damn roller coaster. Yeah, I know. You're a roller coaster. And you know what? The ride is worth it because life would be boring without you and the world will
Starting point is 00:24:31 be boring without unreasonable. What would the world be like without Steve jobs? What would the world have been like without Henry Ford? Right. What would the world have been like without some of the great leaders we've had, you know, geopolitically around the, around the planet, the great entrepreneurs, advanced culture, right. And they change families. And so if you're listening to this, stay unreasonable, but have some grasp, have what I think you've had happen the last three or four years. And I take credit for this. Some of it is you become a much more self-aware person. Yeah for sure and I think self-aware That's a fair comment to like you should take some credit for that like real talk because being around you
Starting point is 00:25:11 Like you're one of the only people that when I do get upset Mm-hmm you you help me work through it as opposed to just reacting and that's something that I I truly appreciate Thank you, bro You know like there the one thing I could say about the people that are around me is that they have a lot of race. Yeah, they do. They also have a lot of gratitude, Andy. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:25:32 And that's important. Look, there's certain people in the world that just shake things up all the time, and they're hard to be around, and they win championships. OK, that's what Belichick does. That's what Phil Jackson did. That's what great leaders do. You saw Jordan talk about it in his documentary. Yeah. Okay. That's what Belichick does. That's what Phil Jackson did. That's what great leaders. You saw Jordan talk about it in his documentary. I mean, he was crying about it. Perfect. Because like he's out here on the court demanding the best of all his teammates and they hated him for it.
Starting point is 00:25:55 That's right. And that bothers him. Now, you know, it bothers him. And by the way, some of them to this day still don't get it. But you know what they got from being around him? Rings, championships, wealth, notoriety. Which is now their whole identity. Correct. That's right. Do you, you say something that I love and it goes to 75 heart.
Starting point is 00:26:13 You've then created things in your life though to give you some mental peace and fitness. So not only is it developmental toughness for you, but like we'll put it up on the screen right now. If you're watching YouTube and if you're not, I'll describe it up on the screen right now. If you're watching YouTube and if you're not, I'll describe it. What did you weigh at your heaviest? Well, I don't know, but the heaviest I ever saw on the scale was 350. 350. So probably a little bit heavier than that.
Starting point is 00:26:34 Yeah, that was once I got the courage to get on the scale. Okay, so you had been heavier than that. And now just so you all know, like this is a 245, something like that. Yeah, 250. And he's a big dude and he's shredded and he's in great shape. So you've not only just changed your brand, you've become wealthy, you've built multiple big brands and you've changed your body, okay? And so you've created a catalyst for change in your life.
Starting point is 00:27:00 How? Is it 75 hard? Is it doing hard things? Is it cold plunges? Like what's the stuff? Is it all of that crap? Like what has changed you? Because here's the other thing about you I'm just gonna say I'm watching your face You never spend any time taking any credit for it You you do not allow yourself even as we sit here to look around here and where we're sitting is the most impressive room
Starting point is 00:27:24 I've ever sat in in my life. Okay, and you've done some remarkable things in your life. My frustration for you as your friend is I wish you'd enjoy it more. Same time, same time, success leaves clues. Very few humans have changed their body, their finances, their brand and their businesses to the extent you have the last decade. On the planet. Listen to me. On the planet.
Starting point is 00:27:50 Okay? And by the way also, even though, also the way that you treat people is, you've always been kind behind the scenes. You're great with people, bro. Off camera, you literally said to him, I heard you, you just, I want everyone to hear this, then I want you to answer the question.
Starting point is 00:28:09 We were lighting up these really good cigars, and he asked about them, and then you handed him a cigar, right? This is someone that works with you that is behind the scenes on the camera. And I heard this just so you know. And you literally, because people that see you screaming on TV all the time,
Starting point is 00:28:23 okay, and you literally said to him, hey bro, anything you ever want or need, just ask me and I'll give it to you Yeah, you just said that off the camera to this guy just so people know so give yourself a little bit more grace and credit Okay, but how have you changed all these things someone said Andy? How have you changed these things your answer would be? What? I'm a systems person in business I operate on systems in personal life I'm a systems person. In business, I operate on systems. In personal life, I operate on systems.
Starting point is 00:28:48 And I got very successful in one area of life on systems alone, mainly the powerless system that I talk about. Powerless system. Yeah, the powerless system is, I believe it's episode 16 on Real AF. If you wanna go listen to it, it's just a systematic way to work through your day.
Starting point is 00:29:06 Most, all successful people, people think there's magic to it. There's not magic to it, dude. If you win the day, if you win one single day, if you can win one single day, you have exactly the amount of magic needed to achieve anything that you want. And I believe that every single person can win a day.
Starting point is 00:29:25 And all I did was figure out a system to where I could track my days and see how much I was winning. And so I was able to build good company and a couple good companies and financial success and things with that system. But what I realized is that, you know, I wasn't gonna be able to get to that next level
Starting point is 00:29:44 without handling this. The body. He's pointing to his body. Mind, body, being. And some things happened to me around the time that I discovered and started thinking about this. One of them was I was really sick. I had pneumonia and I missed work for like, this is like 2014, 15.
Starting point is 00:30:03 And this is just a first realization of how I came about this. I realized that I was sick, I couldn't go to work, and I was checking my bank account, my bank account's going up, and at that time, I thought I was rich. And by most people's standards, I was. But I was miserable, dude, I was. But I was miserable, dude.
Starting point is 00:30:26 I was sick. I was watching the same movie on TV every day like 10 times a week. I had this massive realization and it was very simple. It was like, f***. This is why rich people kill themselves. And that's what came onto my being. And I thought about it for a second.
Starting point is 00:30:45 I'm like, dude, you have a much bigger mission ahead of you. It's not just take care of you. It's build something that other people can have their dreams in as well, and which is something that you talk about a lot. And so that got me started, and I was always mystified by people who were mentally tough.
Starting point is 00:31:04 I never had mental toughness. I wasn't like I was an athlete in high school and I was I was good gifted athletically but I was soft you know what I'm saying and I looked at people who could stick to a program or follow through or people who could you know stay keep in shape and I always thought why did they get that gift and I didn't get that gift and I thought of it wrong I thought of it as a gift or a trait that they had when in reality mental toughness is an actual skill that we need to develop. And once I figured out, and I got my mind kind of
Starting point is 00:31:33 on the track of like, okay, this is not a trait, this is something I need to develop, that's where like the pieces started coming together for 75 Hard and Live Hard. And you know, I worked a couple years really hard, like the pieces started coming together for 75 hard and live hard and You know, I worked a couple years really hard I lost a hundred pounds, but I was still soft and And then I met James Lawrence the Iron Cowboy Okay, and he came on my podcast the MSCEO project and he said one sentence to me that kind of made it all go together
Starting point is 00:32:06 And really kind of made 75 harder come to fruition. He said, you know, to develop mental toughness you have to intentionally put yourself in hard situations on a daily basis and overcome them. And that intentional hard, that part of the intentional, intentionally do hard **** is the part that kind of made me, the pieces come together. And then 75 Hard was born because I picked all the things that I had done over the course of my life when I was operating at the highest level. I thought about them for a long time, right?
Starting point is 00:32:36 And then I just did the 75 Hard myself. I got on the podcast, I said, hey, I'm doing this thing. 75 Hard, who wants to do it with me? And a ton of people did it with me. And they had incredible Transformations and uh and that's kind of how it was born and so for me, dude Like when I started thinking of it as a mental thing and not a physical thing the game switched to me because dude You know how I am competitive right like I don't want to like it's it's one thing to say like okay
Starting point is 00:33:01 I'm not in the best shape It's another thing to say you're not in the best shape because you're you're you're mentally soft as and you're not You're not competitive in that area and so that flipped it for me when it became a mental test as opposed to a physical Altering that I'm trying to do. Yeah, that's what switched the perspective for me I think that's what switches for most people because we're told in diet culture You know get in shape so you can look good at the pool or put your clothes on or go buy normal clothes switched the perspective for me. I think that's what switches for most people because we're told in diet culture, get in shape so you can look good at the pool or put your clothes on or go buy normal clothes.
Starting point is 00:33:29 When you're 350, bro, you can't buy much clothes. And when I started looking at it, I didn't have control. Someone could set a beer in front of me no matter what time of day, no matter what I had going on, no matter what I told myself I was gonna do that day and I'm drinking it. And someone, I could walk into a
Starting point is 00:33:45 restaurant and I would have in my mind the Meal that I should eat but then as soon as the waitress comes over dude, I'm ordering pizza I'm ordering wings. I'm ordering beers and I'm telling myself this lie in my head, which is hey, don't worry, dude We'll start tomorrow. You know, you work hard. You've been successful you deserve this and I started becoming aware of my internal dialogue around these things, and then I got pissed off that these inanimate objects have control over me.
Starting point is 00:34:15 Like, when I started thinking about it just at that level, like a fucking beer or a piece of food has fucking control over me, that offended me. You know what I mean? Like that pissed me off. I started making those things the enemy mentally. And that's where I connected it all. And that, and like, dude, I've been able to maintain it pretty, pretty good, you know, for the last seven, eight years.
Starting point is 00:34:37 So you're onto something I want to ask you about, by the way, the first off that you became aware, like I said, you're more self-aware. So here we go. This is kind of the root of what I think you became aware, like I said, you're more self-aware. So here we go, this is kind of the root of what I think you stand for in your work. And I know you mean this in a kind way. I think when people see you yelling at everyone, I think if they don't know you well,
Starting point is 00:34:55 they'll think this dude thinks he's got everything together and he's arrogant. But what I know, and I mean this as a brother, I'm trying not to get emotional when I say this, but like I know all your insecurities. And I know that a lot of times you're still looking at this stuff like a fat dude. I'm a fat dude, right?
Starting point is 00:35:12 And so I want to go to this work, because this contradicts most of what everyone's going to hear in personal development. And here's the truth. You're right and they're wrong. And here's what it is. You just got to love yourself as you are. It's a big thing in personal right now. You're perfect as you are. Yeah, you're amazing as you are self love.
Starting point is 00:35:30 Okay, now, you and I both know the what that means. I mean, self loathing and self hatred is not a healthy thing. Right. But but self delusion is a more unhealthy thing. To tell yourself everything about you is perfect and you're okay. So you don't say this in an unkind way. You say this as somebody, I want everyone to hear this before he says it.
Starting point is 00:35:54 He says this is someone who has lived way overweight. Who has lived with not being proud of himself. Who has lived with being ashamed of himself and angry at himself and heavy and been suicidal many times since I've known him if you might be Frank, right? Yeah. So What do you say now that I've set the context to this notion of? self love yourself as you are you're perfect as you are show up as you are as opposed to being Self-aware and allowing yourself some pain and discomfort
Starting point is 00:36:24 Because that causes you to want to move away from things about you that don't serve you that make you unhealthy mentally or physically. So speak to that. Well first off, I think anybody that watches my content, no matter what I'm saying, you should understand I'm talking to other people like me. I'm talking to the past version of me. Yeah. I'm talking to the past version of me. And I'm not for everybody. Not my message isn't for everybody. It's for people who are wired hot, who want to f***ing win, who are having a hard time.
Starting point is 00:36:51 And the reality of life is this. The world's f***ing relentless. And it will not stop beating your ass until you wake up and start beating it back. And you know, when I see self love and all this shit, I do understand where they're coming from. Those people are talking to people who are on the brink, right, and they think their entire world's crumbling, and they're telling them it's okay.
Starting point is 00:37:15 But I actually think that's the wrong message. I think the right message is this. Hey, this is how it is if you don't go hard. This is what you're going to get if you do not try hard to develop yourself and get off the bench and get in the game. And I say that out of a place of love and caring for people because I want them to feel better
Starting point is 00:37:35 and I want them to do better and I know what's not going to get them better is just accepting themselves and all their behavior and all their vices and inaction and procrastination and low standards is creating the way you feel. And so when we tell people that self love is just accepting ourselves who we are when who we are is a combination of unacceptable standards and bad behavior. I personally I believe we're violating our covenant with God.
Starting point is 00:38:07 I look, I don't have kids, but if I did, I would want the kid to be the best version of themselves. And if I were to give that kid all of his gifts and all this ability and all this upside, and they were to just say, well, I'm perfect the way I am, I would feel insulted because I put you here for a reason and that's how I feel like God looks at us when we don't capitalize on our gifts and I feel like that's what I feel like. I feel like God put me here, gave me some tools. I think the journey's supposed to be hard but for me to do what I'm supposed to do when I'm here is required. It's
Starting point is 00:38:41 part of the deal that why I'm here. And I think that's for everybody. And I think if we all live like that and we thought about that just a little bit, the world will look completely different. Cause we have a lot of people who are just coasting, who are hearing the self-love talk, right? And then they're hearing it in the toxic way, which is just accept yourself and your standards.
Starting point is 00:39:02 And that's denying the world of gifts and solutions and inspiration and stories. And I mean, do we have a whole generation of people coming behind us? They gotta have something to look at. You know what I mean? Like we did. And I just take that very seriously.
Starting point is 00:39:21 And I think it's real. And when we break down the meaning of life, you know, a lot of people just see it different than me. They see the meaning of life as being a fun, enjoyable journey. And maybe that can be for some people, but I know that's not what I was here to put. So when I speak and people hear me and they might say, what the f*** is too much? Well, dude, I'm too much because I f***ing love you, man. I'm too much because I know you got more in you and I know you can do better and it takes a certain kind of person to really
Starting point is 00:39:47 resonate with who I am and you know unfortunately because of the tone that I have you know if people I find that here's what I get a lot of bro when I first heard you I hated you yep but I listened like three episodes yeah dude you're just a good dude that wants more for people and that is it. It's one of the best answers in the history of the show. Everyone should go back to the last three or four minutes of what he just said. And the first off with you,
Starting point is 00:40:12 the reason is it comes out intense, comes out with a lot of F bombs. And so that immediately, some people hear a certain way. You look a certain way, but the truth is I know what's inside there and I know your heart. Very handsome, unbelievable. More handsome with more of that smoke around your face
Starting point is 00:40:25 because it's a filter. But I gotta tell you what he just said is true. When you really love somebody, self-love is belief. People that really love you believe in you. And so accepting a lower standard of yourself, that's not love. That's some other perverted weak emotion. And the truth is real love comes with belief
Starting point is 00:40:45 and knowing that someone can rise to a higher standard and do better in their life. It's not judgment of where you are. It's love and belief of where you could be. And so when someone says you get up and work or get in better shape or improve your life or start a business, it's not judgment as to where you are. It's belief in what you could be.
Starting point is 00:41:03 And that's the difference in the two things and that's what? He's describing right now. Let me ask you a question. Yeah, I ask you a question Okay, so you played sports at a high level just like my brother did just like a lot of our friends did a lot of our Friends do who was the best coach you ever had? Coach Dennis Paul was was Dennis was Dennis Paul good to you and nice to you so hard on me, bro I just posted about it a few weeks ago to the point where, I mean, I went home some nights in tears. Like just he pushed me so hard.
Starting point is 00:41:30 And the truth is that I ran into him. I hadn't seen him in 30 years. He came to a speech of mine and he was standing in the picture line. And I saw him down in the line and I immediately almost fell to my knees and tears because next to my dad, I'm most grateful to coach Paul for where I am in my life, because he got me to accept a pattern of my life of high standards, of believing I could do more, that if I actually put work in, that eventually there's a payoff for it,
Starting point is 00:41:55 and if he'd have held me to a lower standard and accepted me as the dude that I was, I would be a miserable human being right now. And by the way, I've only had three or four, five of those people, and you're one of them. In my life it's like no bro you're better than that you can do better. I don't want friends that accept me as my are. I want I want friends that see me as I could be. Well that's the other
Starting point is 00:42:11 context of where I'm coming from. Like you know I said earlier in the show I'm hard to be friends with. The reason I'm hard to be friends with is not because I yell and scream at people. Not at all. It's because I demand high standards from you. Yes. Like if you're in my circle, bro, you're gonna get all you can out of yourself or you're not gonna be in it. And that's reality. I cannot, dude, one of the, you know this, dude.
Starting point is 00:42:33 I am such a hot wire competitor that any level of mediocrity or apathy about not caring, it literally, dude, I can't tolerate it. It drives me insane. And so this is why my circle's so small because like dude I'm really incapable of sitting around. I mean I am capable, like you get a couple smokes in me. I like to smoke guys, all right, that's what it is.
Starting point is 00:42:54 He likes to smoke all kinds of things. Yeah, not crack, all right. Anymore. Not 100 Biden shit. I'm not smoking Parmesan cheese, man. But here's the deal. Once I got some of my buddies to come in for the podcast, I do my podcast a little different than you.
Starting point is 00:43:14 You have the names on. I just have buddies on. They always come over here after the show and we smoke and drink and f***ing hang out. And in that environment, I can be a bro. But dude, any other time, like I'm here to do. Yeah, I think some people look at you like, I don't I don't know that I want to be that hard, which is OK. Some guys look at Goggins.
Starting point is 00:43:35 I mean, you and Goggins are different. But yeah, but there's this thing Grover talks about. I love Goggins. So do I. We brought David into our group, I think a couple of times. We've done it twice, I think. And we both love David and we both love Goggins, So do I. We both do. We brought David into our group I think a couple times. We've done it twice I think and we both love David and we both love Goggins which there's two different people right. There's Goggins and then there's David and there's two different people but we love. He calls himself Goggins. Right well the Goggins dude is the dude. Very short intermission here folks I'm
Starting point is 00:43:59 glad you're enjoying the show so far. Be sure to follow the Ed Milett show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. Here's an excerpt I did with our next guest. So everybody, this is Jesse Itzler. Jesse, thanks for being here. Thank you so much, man. I appreciate it. Success isn't being good in one bucket. It's not about like, I made all this money, you know, and I know, oh, it's easy for you to say. No, success is not about being good in one bucket. It's about being good in all the buckets. All the buckets. It's about being a good dad.
Starting point is 00:44:29 It's about being good to your employees. It's about giving back in the charity bucket. It's about doing the right thing when you do it. It's about standing up for something that you see is wrong. That's success. When I see people that are mega wealthy, they're just fucking wealthy. No, they're just wealthy.
Starting point is 00:44:45 Yeah. That's not what it looks like. And you don't have to be wealthy. If you're struggling in one area, you can still be good in all the other areas. So true, man. You can't spiral down because success, the way you look at it, isn't happening.
Starting point is 00:45:00 Well then go be successful in the other buckets and fill up your plate. And then what it does too, by the way, I can feel you coming at me with that because you feel so strong about it. Your physiology changed too. But what also happens is when you, and you talk a lot about this,
Starting point is 00:45:12 but when you get wins in other areas, you get life momentum. And people just, I did a training on this the other day, but like you're, to me, I look at you, I go, okay look, the thing you said about associating with these people and their habits, I didn't have a jet card company, but I joined the club where I could meet these kinds of guys. What is your schedule?
Starting point is 00:45:29 What's your workout routine? How do you eat? What do you think about? How do you talk? I'm sorry to interrupt you. You're getting me all fired up. Everything comes around your day. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:45:38 We're talking about all these successes. They took years. Yes. Years. Yes. I remember walking into the president of Coca-Cola about the Zico thing. He's like, it takes eight years to build a brand in this country. Of course,
Starting point is 00:45:49 there's get rich quick things and now it's a little faster, but it takes time. But what the foundation of that is your daily habits. It's creating winning habits, winning routines and a winning mindset. That's, that's It is. There's no way around it. It is. It doesn't happen without that. One of the unique things for me, because I completely agree, one of the things that's unique about you and I
Starting point is 00:46:14 is we both will be creating this content for a while and then when we looked at each other's stuff, we're like, my God, we so believe the same things. We say it a little bit differently, but we so believe the same things. One of the unbelievable things about social media or podcasts like this is that you kind of can peek in to what you had at Marquee Jets doing this.
Starting point is 00:46:32 If someone follows you on Instagram or follows myself, you get access nowadays to something you and I never had. You can get access daily to some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world or fitness people or, or parents, or people of faith, or whatever your area is, through digital connection now. It's not the same as live, but it's incredible the information you can tap into now. You are my virtual mentor.
Starting point is 00:46:56 No, you are. I mean, I'm in tune to what you say. It resonates deeply with me. You're in it for the right reasons. Like, there's a lot of reasons why the things you say really have stickiness with me. But to millions of people, you're a virtual mentor and that's exactly your point.
Starting point is 00:47:11 And we didn't have that growing up. Our mentor was like my dad and anyone in my small town. Yeah, me too. Don't you think part of your life, Jesse, that you got some life momentum going though, right? I mean, the journey is, I think it's the most, I mean, you're a young man, but I think it's the most remarkable journey
Starting point is 00:47:29 that I've, of anybody I've talked to, because of the breadth of different areas. It's just bananas to me. So let's even move out of one for a minute. Let's go to another thing, because I just would love the formula, because you talked about the formula. So you have these wins in business,
Starting point is 00:47:43 which we'll talk about more of them in a minute, but then you like go, like I'm gonna go run like ultra marathons. These guys run a hundred miles in a day. There's some stat like 36,000 miles you've run in 25 years. Is that right? Yeah. What?
Starting point is 00:47:59 Like, do you hear that? It's just consistency though. I know the number is big and I'm proud of it, but it's, cause you know what Ed? It's just consistency though. I know the number's big and I'm proud of it, but it's, cause you know what Ed? It's just part of my lifestyle. So again, we talk about daily habits. Yes. I have a very, very unique lifestyle that's worked for me.
Starting point is 00:48:16 I only fruit until noon. I've been doing that for 27 years unwaveringly. Happy to talk about that. I run every day. Why? Because it's all about energy. Okay. And you use more energy to digest food than everything else you'll do in your life combined.
Starting point is 00:48:32 You'll eat about 70 tons of food in your lifetime. And to digest all that food takes a lot of energy. So if you could streamline your digestion and use less energy for digestion, you'd have more energy to have a vibrant life, to deal with infection, disease. And I have boundless energy. I mean, knock on wood. You have boundless energy.
Starting point is 00:48:53 And by the way, here's how real this is. When he showed up at my house today, he's like, someone's dropping off food, right? Like, he's that meticulous about what he's going to put into his body. I also enjoy on your social, by the way, the tips he gives on Instagram about the different things that are in some of the foods we eat that harm us so badly too. Think about this. I'm gonna tell you why it's so important to me. Let's say you're a billionaire. You have a billion dollars, you got the helicopters, the farm, Laguna, you got all this stuff, you own sports teams and everything and you're on a beautiful island in Hawaii with nine Victoria's Secret models feeding you grapes ahead and
Starting point is 00:49:26 Massaging your feet and life is good except you got a sore throat And every time you swallow It kills The house the plains the lasso says the grapes none of that matters All you want to do is get rid of your sore throat Yeah, that's how important health is. And there's a famous quote, if you have health, you have hope.
Starting point is 00:49:48 If you have hope, you have everything. So nothing means anything if you don't. So I take it very, very, very, very, very seriously. I don't play games with that. So I don't think you play games. Well, actually, it's funny. I think you actually, life has sort of been this game to you that you're winning, but like you, I just gotta understand something, man. Like you do things now, and I just think you actually life has sort of been this game to you that you're winning But like you you I just got to understand something man
Starting point is 00:50:06 Like you do things now and I just think you you kind of take them for granted like it's same for me Like if someone repeats back to me some accomplishment I've had or something I've done it just I don't even know how I feel about it It's weird. I'll tell you how I feel about it. I don't care about it I mean, I we have an audience. They want to know the story and I'm happy to share it if there's value. But the way I look at my life, I'm 50, I'm about to be 51. You talk about this all the time, the average American lives to be 78. So that means I have 27 summers left if I'm average.
Starting point is 00:50:36 All the past stuff, that's done, man. My life is this window, 51 to 80, that's it. And I wanna do this much shit in this much amount of time. So I have to be mega efficient, I have to focus on the things that I wanna do with the people I wanna do them with. And I gotta eliminate the other stuff. So like the past, when people talk about it,
Starting point is 00:50:58 it's like, okay, but who cares? Do you care that the Dallas Mavericks won the championship a couple years ago? I could care less. No, this is the window. Yep. I am very, very excited about today's program because I've got a legend with me here in the fitness industry and in the personal coaching industry as well, and that's Bedros Koulian. So Bedros, thank you, brother.
Starting point is 00:51:18 Thank you, sir. Thank you for having me. I feel like even prior to you going to therapy, though, you feel to me like someone who's really worked on themselves. And so I think if I were betting, had I met you even the three or four years ago before this, I still would have met one heck of a higher identity guy who'd worked on himself who had kind of this mark on his identity. I don't think that you can- That's a really good way to define it. Yes, exactly.
Starting point is 00:51:41 Okay, that's what it seems like to me. So talk a little bit about even your journey because I know guys like you, right? I have lots of friends, several who grew up as immigrants, really rough backgrounds. Santa Ana, for those of you that don't know, the parts of Santa Ana, it's a wonderful place, the parts of Santa Ana that Baderose is from is not white picket fences and, you know, rosy, you know, perfect families all around him. The good news is we did eventually move to Anaheim, which was a lot nicer.
Starting point is 00:52:06 That is that, that is that, that is that, right? But so you had that environment you grew up in, learning the language, immigrant mentality, so probably a stricter upbringing in your household and other people, some cultural differences too, lots of friends like that. If you grew up in Southern California, you have friends like that, right?
Starting point is 00:52:22 And so I'm curious, was part of you becoming you like a ferocious dedication to personal development, self-improvement, like talk a little bit about that piece of your life and how important it has or has not been for you. Yeah, yeah, well as we were talking about earlier in the other room, I was a personal trainer, right after high school I decided
Starting point is 00:52:40 to become a personal trainer. And one of my personal training clients, his name is Jim Franco We're still dear friends to the state one day. I asked him. I said Jim I'm a personal trainer and a fry cook and a bouncer at a gay bar and the reason I was at a gay bar Because they paid four dollars more per hour and I needed the money Okay As it turns out the reason they paid a lot more is because skinheads would come every weekend to gay bash and it was our job
Starting point is 00:53:03 Wonderful, right? They didn't tell you that before they hired you? No, no. So the good news is that by this point I'd gotten so many fights that You were equipped. I was equipped to fight but I was starting to learn that I don't think I want to fight anymore because Jim Franco gave me a cassette tape from Tom Hopkins. Me too. I love Tom Hopkins.
Starting point is 00:53:23 And he goes listen to this Tom Hopkins cassette tape so you can learn to sell so you can get rid of your side jobs. And Tom Hopkins leads to Brian Tracy, Brian Tracy to Zig Ziglar, then to Dan Kennedy and Jay Abraham and Tony Robbins. Before you know it, I'm learning sales and marketing and personal development and influence. And so I was building this side of my life really well. I was doing everything I could where personal development was concerned to become a better entrepreneur. I chose to put what happened to that little boy into a box and put it far away. And I still, till this day, I still have the gift of compartmentalizing, which is probably...
Starting point is 00:53:58 It is another strength. It is another strength. Yeah, it is another strength, but I use it for good. I mean, if someone crosses me, I don't just put them in a box and put it away. These days, I like to communicate, hey, Ed, why were you late? What can we do about it? another strength, but I use it for good. I mean, someone crosses me, I don't just put him in a box and put it away. These days I like to communicate. Hey, Ed, why were you late? What can we do about it, et cetera, right? See, I'm nicer.
Starting point is 00:54:11 You guys are good. For the record, you weren't late. It was just a hypothetical. Yeah, no, I was early. But anyway, all that said, I was very fortunate that Jim Franco helped me become a better entrepreneur soon. I didn't have my side jobs. And before you know it, I had five personal training gyms and I
Starting point is 00:54:27 was successful with those. And at a time this company came through and bought out my five gyms and it was the first time I'd sold something for six figures. Okay. It's like holy cow like you can build and sell a business. Yeah. Like I didn't even know that. I thought business is just being self-employed. Right. Owning a job. And so I started coaching and consulting personal trainers and I really loved coaching and consulting trainers because I can teach them and give them the shortcuts that I never had.
Starting point is 00:54:53 And so I would hear these trainers, man, I'm making now 8,000, 9,000, 12,000, 15,000, $30,000 a month on reoccurring income because most personal trainers sell five, 10 sessions at a time, they've gotta come and resell you. My whole thing was we're going to put you on EFT, electronic fund transfer and build the reoccurring revenue. So before long I've got 43,000 customers over a 10 year period who buy my courses, come to my workshops and live events, etc.
Starting point is 00:55:19 And in 2010, 11 came up with the idea of FitB fit body boot camp and franchise it by 2012 And so I was able to go to all these Customers and say hey look I've created this franchise brand. Do you want to be a part of it? So it's everything about fitness, but all the systems are built in and boom it took off now There was a lot of work involved and I had to evolve into become a leader to be able to build a team around me Yes, and that was a work in progress. Yep. But holy smokes. How many of them are there? 612? 619 fit body boot camps worldwide. Yeah. Yeah. Growing. I mean all the time you tell me every other month in here you've got 20 to 40 people coming in here that you guys
Starting point is 00:55:57 are training. Yeah. We're adding an average of 15 to 20 locations per month. Unreal. Yeah. I mean unreal. And those of you that are in the fitness industry, if you want to build any sort of fitness practice, this is the Mac Daddy right here. This is the guy. Either getting involved with the FitBody Bootcamp or just getting coached on how to grow your practice, right? You've got all this content, all this material. This is the guy.
Starting point is 00:56:14 But let's talk about all entrepreneurs for a second. So you built this environment here, right? You're the leader here. What's unique when I walk around here is what I would consider to be the energy level. There's a positive energy in here. There seems to be a mutual inspiration or affection that you have for them and that they have for you and creating a culture.
Starting point is 00:56:32 So all of these entrepreneurs are listed. By the way, most people that are listed that think they're entrepreneurs are actually still only self-employed. I'm so thrilled to have this woman here today. You would know her best probably from Shark Tank, which airs on Friday nights. She's got an awesome podcast called Business Unusual. Barbara Corcoran, welcome to the show. Thank you for being here. Thank you so much. All your compliments are a little bit premature. Ed, why don't you
Starting point is 00:56:54 wait a little bit on it? Well at the end of the interview, if it's not very good, I'll amend my remarks, but I'm pretty sure we're going to crush. You see it on your face when you talk about, you said wired earlier and then you said these traits and I think that's an important I get asked this too and I don't know that I answer it very well so I'm curious what your answer is. What are some of those traits? I'm sitting here I'm driving in my car I'm on a treadmill I'm watching this on YouTube wherever I am listening to this I'm like you know I want to be an entrepreneur or I am one
Starting point is 00:57:18 but I'm still not totally sure I should be. What are a couple of those traits in your mind that are just you must have these or you shouldn't be one? I believe front and foremost is competitiveness. Wow. I have invested in a lot of businesses. I have to tell you there's not one really successful one where the principle isn't fiercely competitive. You know and I don't mean competitive like I want like Saban and Jim of Cousin Maine Lobster is equally competitive. It's not like I don't wantan and Jim of Cousin May and Lobster, they're equally competitive. It's not like I don't want to be the biggest lobster brand in America. Not that kind of competitive, but Luke's did what? Luke's Lobster? Oh, they're out of the shop. Their horns come out. Whether they wanted the shop there, whether they wanted the city there, whether they even
Starting point is 00:57:59 had an interest, but they're competitors there. It's like a fast fuse. My most successful entrepreneurs are sickly competitive. I know for myself, I used to compete for things in my field that I had no interest in just to show them that I could get it. That's sick. I needed a shrink, not a job, right? But it's a wiring that you're, that growling, you know, that you want to be competitive. And I think that's the number one trait. I think the number two trait, and if I only had an hour or two, and there's so many things you tap into
Starting point is 00:58:30 and you're an entrepreneur, you've got all guns blazing, but the second one I would say is that you have to be able to get back up fast. Everybody, you know, gets a hit and feels badly and you have a lot of excuses to rest a bit and stay low or make yourself right. He told me he was right. Whatever. But I think it's the ability to just like get in the habit of getting up.
Starting point is 00:58:54 I am such in the habit of getting up. I'm almost not really almost at the point now where somebody slaps me around. I don't feel it because I'm so much in the habit, the good habit of getting back up. And the interesting, if I could add, even though that wasn't your question, I'm going to throw it in here. It's interesting how often I'm asked by parents how to build a child's confidence, if only they find something they're really engaged in, if only they're really, if only, you know, I believe parents can very much help children find their thing by getting them in the habit, trying things,
Starting point is 00:59:25 failing and getting back up. And you can control that. Force your kids to go back out and try. Back up at bat, try at that sport if you're not going to try at that sport. Or you can't do your homework, try harder, go do it again. I think that kind of building a habit of trying is where all children get their confidence from. And as dumb as I was in school, man, I was not allowed to coast. I was shoved out back and back and back and back and back. So I didn't think that lying down was an option. I got in the habit. And what an asset that was as an adult to have all that practice as a kid.
Starting point is 00:59:58 I had an advantage, you see? So that's, I think I answered your question. Maybe not. You asked it again. I think I dropped a piece of it on you or something. It's so good and it's interesting. I have to tell you, because I've asked that I don't, I would like to have a different answer.
Starting point is 01:00:12 I got asked that a couple months ago at a speaking engagement. I have an I said the word competition. Oh, there you go. Because when I was done though, I wasn't so sure I, but that was the one thing. But I actually, I just, we just did this new podcast deal on a, you know, starting new businesses and somebody asked, I asked the other day to my friends, why am I still, I'm like, I'm doing all these things. I said, what is, do I need to shrink? Like what you said, you do need to shrink. Yes. Don't get one. You won't be as profitable.
Starting point is 01:00:38 That's what he said. Almost verbatim. He said, he goes, Eddie, listen, dude, here's the deal. You're competitive. You want to, you, dude, here's the deal, you're competitive. You wanna, you just, you wanna, and also you're competitive with yourself. You wanna see how much you can expand, how much you can contribute. And he said, you'd be dead just sitting around, man. Like I told him, I said, I live here on the ocean, I'm looking at the beach.
Starting point is 01:00:56 I said, I have not put my feet on that sand in like four weeks. He goes, you get out there, you find a way to do it, but you're competitive. And I actually enjoy doing this more than I do just sitting there. It doesn't mean I don't like to rest. It doesn't mean I don't like to, you know, recuperate, but I like expanding. I like contributing.
Starting point is 01:01:14 I like growing. I want to compete. And so I completely agree with your answer. And this has been a trend with you. So now I'm like, okay, how's she got on Shark Tank? You have the exit in 2001, bunch of money. And then you're, I think you think you're going to get the show. Yes, I have the show. They hired me. Yeah, I signed the contract. They hired you. And then it was like, maybe not. You got it. This is
Starting point is 01:01:36 amazing. I mean, think about this. What's happened to your brand, to your reach, to your influence. I mean, this one decision, we're one decision away from altering our life, right? One little competitive psycho streak in you. So tell them what happens. You get the show and then what? Then I get the call from the Mark Burnett's assistant and same one who called me in the first place saying, I'm sorry, the show's changed its mind. They've hired another woman for the lone female seat. I couldn't believe my ears. You know, you have to remember at this point, I had already bought Hollywood outfits, just gonna sign autographs. Oh, I had done my movie going. I had new leather luggage,
Starting point is 01:02:14 wasn't gonna be plastic in Hollywood, it's gonna be leather matching luggage. And so I was already there, told my friends, I'm going to Hollywood, I'm going to Hollywood, I'm going to Hollywood. So I was mortified more than anything. I honestly, the first thought I had is what will my, what will my friends think? What will I explain? I hate to be that shallow, but I really thought of that. And then I hung up the phone. I couldn't believe it. I had to shake my head. But then I did the thing that's more important than anything else in life, which I had learned to do, get back up. So I got back up and I typed out a very brief email to Mark Burnett, whom I hadn't met, and called the assistant to promise she would deliver it to him, because I didn't think he'd read it. And she said she'd
Starting point is 01:02:58 walk it over and promise that he'd read it. And I told him I considered him to be my lucky charm. All the best things in my life happened on the heels of rejection. When Sister Stella Marie told me I'd never learned to read a right, she was wrong, I learned when the big boys in New York said I couldn't compete, I became the number one rival. When Donald Trump said I'd never see penny of the four million dollar commission, I collected every penny in federal court. I just went right like that. And I said, I'd like you to invite both women out to compete and I expect to be on that plane on Tuesday.
Starting point is 01:03:29 And what do you think happened? He invited us both out and thank God that was 13 years ago. To pointing again to the power of not being so smart and not working so hard or all the rest of the stuff you have to do in life, but the power of getting back up, you know, just take another swing. By the way, Ed, what was shocking to me, well, I was not so shocked I turned it around because
Starting point is 01:03:51 I was used to turning things around. What was shocking to me is my, Clay, my producer, two weeks after that we were on Shark Tank, he said to me, you know, we hired four times more business owners than we needed and we rejected three out of four. He said it not one wrote an email. I was like, what? No one objected. So I got the seat purely for writing that email, not because I earned it or I had good luck, but that email got me that seat. No doubt. That is just amazing story. And by the way, not only did you respond, I was gonna give
Starting point is 01:04:23 you a little, everyone just a paragraph of the email. Not only did you respond, I was going to give you a little everyone just a paragraph of the email, not only did you respond but you did it in such a way that just had a level of certainty. I think certainty. I love that though but see but certainty is influence. Listen she says Mark I understand you've asked another girl to dance instead of me. Yeah great opening line even I laughed at that one. It's so good it It would get your attention. You would laugh at it. And he says, although I appreciate being reserved
Starting point is 01:04:48 as a fallback, she says, I'm much more accustomed to coming in first. Yeah, that's another good line. I might say so again. It is. It's so, it's just, I got to say, guys, I mean, these, there's moments that define our lives. And do we get back up?
Starting point is 01:05:05 Do we compete again? Do we dig deep? And these things may seem sort of hokey. They're real world things that end up deciding whether or not you've had a pretty successful life or you're one of the most influential entrepreneurs on the spinning earth, which is what Barbara's become. Isn't that amazing?
Starting point is 01:05:21 And it's just remarkable. Now, someone pitches on the show. I'm curious, what are you looking for? In other words, is it the business model itself? Are you evaluating the jockey or the horse? Or is it both? And how do you end up reaching a determination like this is at least one I may be in on?
Starting point is 01:05:40 Or can they say one thing and you're like, I'm out? Is there something in particular you'll notice where you're like, I'm out is there something in particular you'll notice you're like I'm out with these a few hot buttons uh first of all I really form a first impression before they ever say a word based on how they look they're standing in front of sharks lower than us the intimidating come through the doors they're standing there they had told not to talk until they're asked to start so there's this long silence while they set the camera shots up close in their face, very intimidating. And I watch how they handle the pressure, okay?
Starting point is 01:06:12 So when somebody's falling apart, looking at the ground shifting, can't handle that pressure, I just am out right away. I mean, I can't say I'm out, but I know I'm out. No matter what they say, that it would be digging out of the hole. I just can't really believe that this would be a strong business partner. That's one. I do pay attention to the model to the degree that I say, hey, will enough people buy this service or product?
Starting point is 01:06:35 Is there a need for it? And will enough people buy it? And if it seems yeah reasonable, I'm okay with the business model. All the details that we go into, the margins and blah blah blah. I'm honest to go as a dyslexic, almost sleep on the wheel. I'm often making a shopping list while it's going on because I can't hide in there to pay attention. Okay. But I already have formed my opinion on the very important piece. Hey, does it make sense when enough people buy it? Now I'm just watching at the person and just thinking myself, could I picture them as my business partner? Do I like them? Do I trust them? And if I do, there's one last question.
Starting point is 01:07:09 Do they have enough energy to make it to the finish line? Because I've never met a successful entrepreneur who didn't have a ton of energy. So if they don't have that energy, I think they're going to run out of gas. Now I could be wrong, who really knows? But I know in hiring people my whole life, thousands of people, when people don't have high energy, they're never great. So that's like a breathing test almost. So that's kind of the summation of it. And then you have to hang in there for another 45 minutes before you can say, I'm out and make up another reason why
Starting point is 01:07:39 they're out. Cause you don't want to say to everybody, I don't like your energy. You're not competitive. You know, I don't like the way you look. You have to come up with something more businessy. And I spend the rest of my time trying to come up with something more businessy that makes sense for the show. You know, Businessy. I love that.
Starting point is 01:07:54 I do that all the time on this show. Let me sound more businessy so I can just fit in. I know exactly what you're talking about. Very short intermission here, folks. I'm glad you're enjoying the show so far. Be sure to follow the Ed Mylett Show on Apple and Spotify. Links are in the show notes. You'll never miss an episode that way.
Starting point is 01:08:11 We've been doing ads for Tommy John forever. They're my favorite ads to do because I'm a raving fanatic, not just a client, because that's what they have. And I want to pick his brain about that and life in general. So Tom Patterson, welcome to the show. Thanks, Ed. It's an honor. I'm so grateful to be here. In building this business, you know, you had to give up a lot of different things as well. But if someone
Starting point is 01:08:30 was to start right now and said, hey, I think I'm gonna become an entrepreneur, this is sort of an open-ended question, I want to become an entrepreneur, but I'm not really totally sure where to start. This thing you said earlier in the interview about solve a problem, that type thing do you think everybody is an entrepreneur or do you think that that's reserved for a certain type of person that's a great debate I mean I I think I have a different answer at five-year periods hmm I think everybody has a million dollar idea I think some people are struggle with the discomfort and the uncertainty and being an entrepreneur is all about uncertainty. You have to be
Starting point is 01:09:12 ready to move and pivot and change and I again I'm gonna go back to sports like sports and being that Roomba vacuum and failing and I had this coach that said to me Tom you're never gonna increase your capacity to grow unless you fail. And if you don't fail, you're going to be an underachiever in life. So by not failing, you're not reaching your potential. And I think for me, I always got pushed and wanted to drive more and more and more. And I think seeing entrepreneurs and seeing the type of family and the type of life that they were living, it was really inspiring for me. I wanted more.
Starting point is 01:09:48 I wanted to do more. I wanted to travel more. I wanted to be around different personalities. So for me, I think, it's a question are entrepreneurs born or made? I think for me, it was probably born. I had lawn mowing businesses. Dude, I shoveled sidewalks and snowblowed sidewalks
Starting point is 01:10:07 before basketball practice in high school. I would knock on doors and ask to do the mowing for the summer. So I always worked and I was always curious about making, learning ways to make more money. But I would say for anybody here, I didn't have the perfect network. I didn't go to the perfect school.
Starting point is 01:10:24 I didn't have the perfect connections. I didn't go to the perfect school. I didn't have the perfect connections. I didn't get the right internship. It was really people. I have LA cars in Scottsdale when I went to college. I sold cell phones at a kiosk in Fashion Square Mall in Phoenix. But those people skills and interacting and understanding how to read nonverbal cues, that EQ part, I think, really prepared me
Starting point is 01:10:45 to be in a position to see the signs or opportunity to start a business. And I think that there was a preparation through my childhood and through things I was involved in that allowed me to see those signs. Yeah. But I didn't grow up in an environment of entrepreneurs. My parents weren't entrepreneurs.
Starting point is 01:11:05 And you say this, middle class, I would say we were middle class, maybe at times lower or upper, but middle class is the hardest one to get out of. It is. And I oftentimes wonder how did I get out or why did I get out? I wouldn't say, I don't know if I have the perfect answer. I don't know either in my case. I'm thinking about it, I'm thinking of listening to you. You just said some more real brilliant stuff
Starting point is 01:11:27 that I wanna unpack there. But like, I think, like my dad wasn't an entrepreneur. I don't know any entrepreneurs in my family. My grandfather worked in a union, right? My grandfather was a printer. So, what does this come from? I remember when I was a little boy, I used to sell sodas at the golf course
Starting point is 01:11:44 and candy bars through the fence. I had that little business when I was young. Then I had a baseball card business. Then I had an auto detailing business. So somehow as a little guy, I was experimenting with being an entrepreneur and wanting to make money and wanting to expand. And then one thing I always had, and I think you have too,
Starting point is 01:12:00 I've always been fascinated with growth. And I think sports, to your point, sports gave me that competitive thing you talked about earlier. Sports gave me and you both the ability to deal with and accept failure, almost like of course I'm gonna strike out, I'm gonna get out seven out of 10 times.
Starting point is 01:12:15 Of course you're gonna miss a jump shot, right? You always miss something, right? Of course I'm gonna drop a pass. So I think that helped. But you said something earlier, man, that I have never thought of before which is this notion I'll probably say it wrong but that to be successful you actually have to become comfortable being uncomfortable but then you said the reverse and it describes me very well and you I'm uncomfortable being comfortable now I got all the way the
Starting point is 01:12:43 other way it wasn't my problem is not being comfortable now. I got all the way the other way. It wasn't, my problem is not being comfortable being uncomfortable. My problem is I'm uncomfortable being comfortable. Or content. Yes. Yes, yeah. And I think that it's like, man, I want that to be on some speech I give
Starting point is 01:12:56 because that's a really profound thing that you just said right there and super describes me. What was the, what's a hidden huge benefit? I ask hard stuff. What's a hidden huge benefit of making your dream come true most people wouldn't know about? Forget just the wealth or you could travel. I mean, he could live anywhere in the world.
Starting point is 01:13:14 This dude lives in South Dakota. Like, so he's not like, you know. So what's, no offense to South Dakota. Some of my really good friends are there, but it's not. I invited you, there's parts you'll like. There are parts I'd like, but I'm not going, I can tell you right now, I will not be there in January. But I will go there with you.
Starting point is 01:13:30 But, and especially the golf place that you described, we need to go do that. Having said that though, what's a little, give us all, you know, what's a little thing that happens, and I'll give you mine after you give me yours, that you didn't think would be cool about making your dream come true that now is? I think you know there's I'm still always surprised about how many people are aware of the brand. Right it still
Starting point is 01:13:53 blows my mind, blows our mind that people are so familiar with it and wear it and the types of people that we meet that are wearing it that have not met us that didn't know our brand values or beliefs and just found the product. It's connected. And it's just, one, it creates a lot of fun conversations, which we've had of just the underwear category by nature. But it's got us in a lot of rooms that I would have only dreamt of being in.
Starting point is 01:14:20 And it's one thing to get in the room, but it's another thing to stay in the room. And I think there's, Jim talked about this where we were, like everybody in this room fought to get in this room. Right? Jim Roem. Yeah, Jim Roem. There's this mutual respect for some of the rooms
Starting point is 01:14:36 because a lot of people don't understand what it took or the sacrifices that were made to get in there. And it's like, man, it's not lonely. There's other people that have been here. Yes. Right? And I think when you're running man, it's not lonely. There's other people that have been here. Yes. Right, and I think when you're running a business it's really lonely. There's not a plan.
Starting point is 01:14:49 There's not a playbook. And for me, that's been one of the most exciting things to meet, honestly, like you, meeting your heroes. Meeting people that have impacted you in so many ways. And just not it being awkward. My grandpa taught me, he's like treat everybody the same, whether it's the front desk receptionist, the janitor, they're all people at the end of the day.
Starting point is 01:15:11 And I think for me, one of the gifts I've realized I have is I'm not intimidated by people, but I have a lot of respect for people. And people are like, how is you get to this level that you're at? I'm like, I've never been scared to ask questions. I've never been scared to send Kevin Hart some product and talk to him on the phone.
Starting point is 01:15:29 At the end of the day, there are real people that wanted to be treated just like anybody else. Nothing makes you more uncomfortable than being treated like you're this, fanning out. And I think being around people and just getting to know them, who they are behind closed doors, there's been I think one of the really cool exciting things about building a business, but it wasn't the intent. Yeah, that's just I think a side surprise benefit of it. By the way, I think you're right about that.
Starting point is 01:15:57 And the thing is is that I think what everybody I want everyone to hear and the reason I asked you the question is there's lots of side benefits to use use your term, to making your dream come true that you can't imagine right now. And there will be lots of things. There will be an experience or a moment. Or I think for me, it's all the stuff I didn't calculate as I was doing it. Because I think when you have a dream, you kind of picture you in the dream. But for me, it was when I got to the other side of it and live it now.
Starting point is 01:16:21 It's all the things I never dreamt of doing for other people or moments I could be there for somebody when they need me that I didn't calculate that. And if you would have told me back then, the reason I want everyone to hear this is if you would have told me back then that you'd be able to do this, that, or the other thing for another person, I'd have worked even harder. I'd have taken more hits. I'd have gone through more pain if I knew that the dream wasn't just about me But it's about all these other people these lives you can affect and you can impact in small and big ways if I'd have known All that was gonna come with the package of winning. I'd have gone for it even harder and faster. I've gone bigger
Starting point is 01:16:55 I'd have I'd have done more so there's I want everyone to know this There's more that comes with making a dream come true that you can even possibly imagine and as good as you think it's gonna be in Many ways it's it's a thousand million times better, but maybe not even in the way like having lots of money It's cool, right? But it's probably I don't think it's quite as cool as I thought it was gonna not being broke is super cool Right, but being super rich I don't it's not quite as cool as I thought it would be, but other parts that come with it are for me. Is that the same for you?
Starting point is 01:17:29 Yeah, I think once you've been poor and struggled, you wanna do everything possible not to be there again. But I think you brought up a good point, and it's something I wanna talk to you a lot more about after this, is this success, this significance transition that you've made, how do Had you made that earlier, right? I think as you go on, how do you make sure you're impacting others?
Starting point is 01:17:50 And I think they always say the people that you can help, you probably said this, the people you can help the most are the ones who are walking through the path that you walk through. And I think if there's one person I can reach today or 10 people, or you can send this to someone that has a story that resonates with what we're talking about,
Starting point is 01:18:04 that's really what people wanna hear hear and I think anybody that's listening That's the beauty about podcasts and YouTube today. They're like these master classes and in like Blinkist cliff notes on the stories. Yes, and I think a lot of people get caught up I read this one I heard this one I listened this one, but they're not taking any action And the hardest part is people know what to do. The hardest part, I think, I keep seeing is just getting started. Yeah.
Starting point is 01:18:31 Well, they did it this way. How do they do that? Let's talk about that for a second, because you're right. If I could figure that out, we'd have way more millionaires, way better marriages, way more parents raising wonderful kids, whatever it might be in life, way more people creating cures for diseases.
Starting point is 01:18:46 What is that thing that got, like you just started, like if we go all the way back to the beginning, I'm thinking to myself, this dude has no fashion background. He's walking around selling these medical devices, all of a sudden he wakes up and goes, I think we should have better undergarments, like what the, and then you go to the fashion district and I know where that place is.
Starting point is 01:19:07 That's not the most comfortable place to go. You make a couple freaking shirts with the Donald Duck thing on there. And now you're sitting in my studio with a brand that everyone that's listening to my show has heard of before. Like there's gotta be a part of this, like on the spinning earth, your existence on 2008,
Starting point is 01:19:24 the dude you were flash forward 15 years later BAM like it's got to be unbelievable to you but you did get started right do you think it's because you were naive and you didn't know how hard it was gonna be what do you think it was that got you started that holds other people back is that they want to be perfect like what is it I just didn't want to be perfect? Like, what is it? I just didn't want to play it safe. You know, I wanted to play it big and go big or go home. And for me, I wanted to take a big swing
Starting point is 01:19:52 and see if I could do it, right? I like getting out of my comfort zone and doing uncomfortable things. So I think when we started, that was really the mindset really to do it. But I don't know, I think everybody's different. I think some we started, that was really the mindset really to do it. But I don't know, I think everybody's different. I think this uncertainty or how it's going to be perceived or I don't want to live a
Starting point is 01:20:11 life in downsize and go from two cars to one car. But if you're not comparing yourself to the others, like the keeping up with the Joneses mentality, I don't know anybody that's made it that didn't struggle. It didn't go through the tough times and there are very, I think, more exceptions than aren't. So I think for us that was really just the mindset that we had. I think there's something in you, bro, and I want to ask you this last. So I think you're stepping into it. You know, I think you all probably know a lot about Gunner. There was a lot of kind of anticipation about the show here today and I don't want to go down this
Starting point is 01:20:46 direction so I just want to get this out of the way in the beginning. If you don't know, Gunner trains some of the most successful business people that walk the earth, some of the most successful entertainers and athletes, anyone from J-Lo to the Kardashians to Sampras to NBA players. But I'm also in the right zip code in fairness. I'm in the right space for that. I get people reach out at trainers, I want to do what you do. I live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I live in Scotland.
Starting point is 01:21:10 I'm like, those are great, wonderful places, but the demographic of the potential clientele is just not there to do what I do. You're a trainer, but you approach the business. I just, I thought this was awesome because it's true of almost any business we would describe. What business are you really in? So you're a trainer but you what business would you say you're in above all? I'm great at connecting people. I can't monetize it for shit. I wish there were
Starting point is 01:21:39 a way to say let me introduce you. Oh you need a contractor? Well oh you're looking for a car? Oh your wife needs a new OBGYN? Oh, you want... I can connect to so many things that have nothing to... And we all, in our trade, we develop certain go-to lines. And I always say, I can't get you into any restaurants or clubs, but anything in health, wellness, medical, I got you. I know the top shoulder surgeon. I know the top knee surgeon. I know the top nutritionist, the top dentist. Dentist, I got dentist, I got orthodontist, and then I have just-
Starting point is 01:22:11 That's amazing. Yeah, so, but it's being years where I am, and I can also call them on their cell and connect you like that, right? But I'll tell you, clubs, I don't even know what clubs are hot now. Restaurants, I got a couple go-to restaurants, but it's nothing that you'd probably want to go to.
Starting point is 01:22:26 And it makes me happy. Nothing makes me happier than someone, I had a call two weeks ago, yeah, a couple weeks ago, somebody said, I chipped my tooth. What can I do? And it was a Friday afternoon, I go, stand by. Yep, and they were in the chair within two hours
Starting point is 01:22:43 getting the video, and I thought, yeah, that's what I can do. Because you approach it like a, I've never heard this before. You approach it, this is such a lesson because a lot of trainers watch this, how do I grow my practice, right? But that goes both ways.
Starting point is 01:22:58 If that dentist gets someone who's lying there going, you know how I feel so fat when I lie in this chair, it makes me really see my stomach. Well, I mean, the analogy I would use is a restaurant analogy, right? It's you pull in, you pull into the gym, you pull up to a restaurant. Is there a place to park?
Starting point is 01:23:14 And I goof about parking, but in LA, parking's a very real thing. Is that difficult? How much of a headache was that? Getting into the place, you walk in, is there someone who stops you, greets you, do they remember you, is there a rhythm and a flow to what you do when you get there, or is it a whole check in, who are you again, I mean, little things like that can slow the roll,
Starting point is 01:23:36 and it's a lot less fun overall, and the next time the person has to go to that, they go, I'm not going, and then to me, then your cancellation rates goes up. Even if you're charging for cancellations over time, that goes away too. You won't go back to the same restaurant if, forget the food, the food I take for granted. If the whole experience that preceded the meal was a pain in the ass.
Starting point is 01:24:01 Bro, I had one of those last night, the food was great, the experience was crap, we'll never go back. And the experience can be bad on either end. Yeah. Right? Usually we tend to, selective amnesia, we tend to forget what happened in the middle if the food was good, right?
Starting point is 01:24:16 But if you ask for the bill and it's 20 minutes, puts you in a bad mood on the way out. You get to Valet, 20 minutes, and Valet is a real thing in LA. Every restaurant is Valet, or a lot of them. Right? It kills the whole vibe. Yeah. Right?
Starting point is 01:24:32 Yeah. Or the waiter just disappears and you can't even ask. You're like, we've been here 15 minutes. You were at my dinner last night. All of those things. No, but I think, as you're an entrepreneur, if you are one watching this, how conscious are you from the entire experience the client has with you?
Starting point is 01:24:46 Are you in the service from the minute they got there? Cold water or room temp? Some of my clients like cold, some like room temp. We have water and towels out for every person. That's a service. Well, I don't provide it. Well, you should. And if you don't, we can't afford it.
Starting point is 01:25:00 But raise your rates. If I ran a hotel, the minibar would be free. Now the room would cost a lot more, but the mini bar would be free all the time. Yes, you're gonna get a couple of jerk-offs who empty the mini bar out as they leave, okay fine, but you're also gonna get people who don't touch it. And you need to find that sweet spot in your price point
Starting point is 01:25:18 to make that work for you, because nobody at the higher end of any service wants to be nickel and dime. I 100% believe that. And I think you entrepreneurs, listen to this, I don't care if you have a bakery, a dry cleaners, or you're a software engineer. All of these things are so important as an entrepreneur.
Starting point is 01:25:37 See, these are the things like, and I mean this with respect, you know this, it's not just the zip code. Because for someone, they have to want to come back. They have to want to keep coming back It's like it's their disposable income. Watch this. It's their disposable income their limited free time for
Starting point is 01:25:54 Something that is arguably painful How are you how are you making that? Hey, we're gonna come back, right? Right, you have to make it as fun or as positive as it can be. There should be so many, and in fact only, positive associations with their experience with you that when training comes up, when cold water comes up, or room temp water, or your name comes up, there's a positive association that happens.
Starting point is 01:26:21 That is the best PR machine you could ever create. You're saying earlier, we were talking, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you don't, you're very well known that you don't have a publicist. And I think, and I think the reason you're so well known is what you just described. When your name comes up, there's a positive association and your clients are raving fans about you. Cody Sanchez, welcome to the show. I'm excited to be here. I've been a fan of yours for years and I think it's really cool what you do online. Theoretical business sounds really, really good. Day-to-day business, if we're really being candid, we sort of share, I'll call it like a misery amongst company
Starting point is 01:26:53 almost to some extent. Like when you meet another real business owner, I think the stuff online is really good or kind of, you know, you hear certain conversations. But most of my conversations with real operators or real business owners is most of the time dealing with the emotional burden of the stress of it. And I don't think that part of it's Andy and I talk about that a lot for Sola and I. What about that? Like the real of business, like how much of it day to day, even today, the last week for you,
Starting point is 01:27:25 is like, woo, this is bliss and enjoy and we're making deals and I'm closing and I'm a deal maker and we're growing and top line's awesome and the bottom line's good too. Or like, what is it really like? Like really, really. Yeah, well, I think, you know, there was a line from Michael Jordan that I loved
Starting point is 01:27:40 where he said, there is no I in team, but there is in win. And that always resonates with me because when you are in charge of a business, when it's yours, there is an I in team, because the only person at the end of the day that is on the line is you. And so you have to work harder than everybody else. You have to work longer than everybody else for a period past what you want to, at least in the beginning. At some point, you get people that are more competent than you, but that takes a long time. Long time. And so, I do think that there will be a point in every business owner's life where you're like, what am I doing with my life? And would you like to hire me, Ed? For sure. And if you want to know
Starting point is 01:28:19 if this is true or not, go talk to a business owner. And if you want to cuddle up to them pretty quickly, say, I'm running a business right now, but it's definitely hard. There are days when I might ask you for a job, how about you? And I guarantee you, no matter if they're a billionaire or not, they're going to say, oh yeah, I thought about that before. Never seriously, but that little twinkle. And so- And that's by the way, why most businesses are buyable. Because you catch an entrepreneur on the right day or the wrong day, they may want to take an exit from it. I just, I always want people, like, I'll ask you this, like, who do you think should be an entrepreneur?
Starting point is 01:28:51 Like if you were to describe the woman or the man that should be an entrepreneur, there's certain characteristics that are invisible. They're not visible to people typically. What are some of those things? Like for the real, real thing, what is it? Because by the way, one thing about you that I've noticed, I don't think it's talked about enough.
Starting point is 01:29:10 Because then people think, well, then I can't do it. You're a very smart woman. You're very well read. So I'm not naturally intellectually bright. I'm not. But I've overcompensated for that with really being well read. I read a lot.
Starting point is 01:29:23 I've updated my knowledge base about a lot of different things so that I can have conversations and dialogue with people that do a lot of different things so that I'm valuable to them. And that's one trait knowing you have to have grit and resilience. Okay, yep, you do. I think that's been covered. But what about like knowledge, like real knowledge about business, like I, I surround myself with attorneys and accountants boring people, because I learn a lot from them, and you're going to need them as an entrepreneur. So yeah, what are your thoughts on all that?
Starting point is 01:29:53 Well, that one, you know, for sure, I think if you want to make money, surround yourself with the people who understand money, and people who understand money are attorneys, accountants, bankers, investment bankers, people who understand real estate and financial advisors. Those are the people. If you hang out with enough of them, it's wild how contagious money can be. True. I do think though that you're right on the well-read part. I was at a friend's ranch this weekend. Her name's Wink. Wink?
Starting point is 01:30:21 Wink. She's 85. She runs a ranch that is 30,000 acres. Some of it is government leased land in Arizona. She had this line that was so incredible to me. I was talking to her, I'm like, Wink, you're like 85, you're on this horse, you're running this land. What's going on? I was talking about the fact that business was tough.
Starting point is 01:30:43 She goes, well, at some point, it's that bootstrapping thing, right? I'm like, oh yeah, it's that bootstrapping thing. And she goes, but we have a saying, because wolves are a problem here. Where they are, they eat their cows. She's like, we got a saying about wolves. And I'm like, well, you're not allowed to shoot wolves,
Starting point is 01:31:00 wink. What do you mean you got a saying about wolves? And she goes, well, yeah, we know you're not allowed to shoot wolves. We got the three S's. I said, what are these three S's? She goes, well, you shoot, you shovel, and you shut up. She goes, and that's business. You shoot, you shovel, all the ****, all the nonsense, all the difficulty, and you shut up and you keep going. Sometimes I remember those three S's, and I think real business owners know that that's there.
Starting point is 01:31:28 The last thing I'll say though is, I think too many people tell other people that they can't be entrepreneurs, and that actually bothers me, because there are a bunch of people online like, Cody must be nice for you and Ed, you know, and like, you know, all these people aren't actually doing it.
Starting point is 01:31:44 And I think think show me somebody Who tells you that you shouldn't go become an entrepreneur? Because it's too hard for you fine, but watch what they do not what they say Are they an entrepreneur but they think you can't do it and I think for most people there is an ability to have some ownership It does just suck sometimes and you got to deal with that. I do too. I am amazed by how many people will take advice from somebody who's not successful in the area you're seeking the advice.
Starting point is 01:32:14 Right. Meaning, it doesn't mean they're a bad person or that they're unsuccessful. They may be an incredible father or mother, but they're not an entrepreneur. They shouldn't be giving you advice on that or they're like an amazing person of faith, but they've never made any money. Why are you taking money advice from them? Yeah, vice versa. Yeah, they can faith advice from someone who's got no faith just because they have a bunch of money This is the end

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