The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex - How to Dominate Miami’s Yacht Industry Using Billion Dollar Nightlife Strategies in 2025

Episode Date: May 24, 2025

In this episode of The Level Up Podcast, Paul Alex sits down with Humberto Dominguez, a former nightlife executive, who helped launch some of the most iconic venues in Vegas—then took that operational genius and built a thriving yacht charter empire during COVID.💡 What You’ll Learn:How to scale a yacht charter business using nightlife playbooksWhy luxury experience + marketing systems = massive profitLessons from running 9-figure clubs like Tao, Omnia & E11EVENThe hidden goldmine in boat clubs & Miami’s post-COVID boomGrowth strategies: from lead gen and SOPs to SEO and paid adsThe mindset, resilience, and systems behind Humberto’s multi-business expansion📍 Whether you're in hospitality, real estate, or want to dominate Miami’s luxury scene—this episode gives you the blueprint for high-ticket success in 2025.🎙 Hosted by Paul Alex 📲 Follow Humberto: https://www.instagram.com/hdzhub/“Your Network is your NETWORTH!”Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:Instagram: https://jo.my/paulalex2024Facebook: https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024Youtube: https://jo.my/ytpaulalex2024Linkedin: https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024Looking for a secondary source of income or want to become an entrepreneur?Check out one of my companies below to see if we can help you:www.ATMTogether.comwww.Merchantautomation.comFREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold - The New American Dream”www.officialPaulAlex.com

Welcome to the Level Up Podcast. I'm your host, Paul Alex. I went from being a cop to an eight-figure entrepreneur that helps average people like you and me make money every single day. I created this podcast to help you get motivated and to crush your goals. Let's win together.

Remember, I have your six. Get ready to level up right now. Hey guys, welcome back to the Level Up Podcast. This is Paul Alex, and today I have a guest that defines leveling up, guys, welcome back to the level podcast. This is Paul Alex and today I have a guest that defines leveling up guys. Okay. Not only is man you did it all, dude. You did nightclub from Vegas to Miami. Now you're doing charters.

Now you're doing digital consulting. He's doing fractional CIO, chief operation officer operations guys. Man, what the knowledge Humberto Dominguez. Welcome to the podcast, brother. Thank you, man. Thank you for coming in. So, Humberto, brother, start from the beginning, man. How did you get into entrepreneurship?

What made you want to get into the fields that you're in right now? And tell us about yourself, man. What's your background? Sure. Well, originally I'm from Venezuela. I came to Las Vegas in 2002. And I came from a military background.

Excuse me. I came from a military background. I had no clue what I was getting into when I got to Vegas. And Vegas was such a social hospitality driven industry. So quickly I got into the the, the needs and grades of what happened in Vegas, how I could like really like become someone in Vegas and without really knowing anyone I got into my first nightclub run john rum jungle at the time at the Mandalay Bay. Dude, I remember the Rum Jungle.

That was like the pregame. It was insane. I mean, like the fire dancers, the congas playing. It was a really, really cool life. And it set the precedent for where I was headed in that industry. I started up as a boss as a bosser and eventually like made my way up to the bar eventually uh um 04 down the road now we open up all the wind bar back in bus and eventually bartending we open up a town nightclub in a 05 divination let's let's let's let's slow down this real quick because

Right now you don't understand dude like you're talking my time and you know you know i'm old school millennial right so it's just like you're talking about 2022 to probably like early 2000s dude it is like the era of nightclubs in vegas edm tiesto i mean you got like the hitters right there, right? You got me fist pumping like amazing. So number one, what made you pick Vegas coming from Venezuela dude? Like were you just like drawn to Vegas because of the nightclub industry or the hospitality industry? Like what was it about Vegas that you were like I want to go there instead of California instead of Miami? Like what made you make that decision? It was just a little bit of luck, I guess. I had second uncles in Vegas at the time.

Okay. Yeah. And was lucky enough to at least land there. Thinking, well, you know, I mean, like, I branch out that way. Maybe family helps. Yeah, family doesn't always helps that way. But it worked out at least to get my food down there. And in 2022, how old were you? In 2002, I was 19 going to 20. OK, 19, 20, dude. So so yeah. Oh, man. You're a kid. Yeah, just a kid. You're figuring it out. Enjoying life.

Yeah, I love that. I love that. So you get on there, you start going and getting your first gig, you sit as a busboy. And then is it true in Vegas, it's all about your connections? 100%. Really? So you knew somebody to get that job as a busboy? No. No. No, I mean like 100%. Like, yeah, it's all about connections. And if you don't have them, you really have to work hard to try to get somewhere and be something. Vegas will still give you a lot of opportunity if you're willing to actually put the work. And there are so many. Like so many different outlets, so many different venues and so many different

things happening all at once, there is always going to be some job to fill and something to show what you got. So that was an opportunity I didn't really think I would get, but it was given to me and it worked out fine to at least start that path into that industry. How long were you a bus driver before you got connected with, I guess, someone in the nightclub industry? As I started bussing, I started making those connections. I started meeting people. Started meeting promoters that eventually became VIP hosts.

Started meeting supervisors that eventually became managers, managers that became directors and so on and on. It's a whole cycle that keeps growing and as you actually come to see it years later, now you have all these people that at some point were just like little bosses that now are running entire venues printing $100 million a year revenue sets in Vegas and it's very impressive. So basically your friends, your connections, family members, associates, they ended up just getting these different jobs in the nightclub industry and then finally who is the one person that was just like hey Humberto I think you would do really

well with like helping us launch you know these, these these nightclubs dude, because you know, working with, you know, some of the big names that you're talking about, dude, that's massive. Like I tried doing that I was an I could promote her back in California. And I was thinking like, dude, how can I get in connect with these guys, you know, well, there was a this one manager, he nowadays is a vice president for tau. Jacob would and he was probably my my first angel in the industry. Who's your mentor? Would you call him your mentor?

I would say he had a lot a lot to do with it. Yeah. He was very, very open to giving me a chance. At the time I barely spoke English to begin with, horrible accent. And this is still back at the ROM jungle. I'm actually studying to keep the job because I had to pass all these tests and they were all in English.

I'm really trying to get it, but it's a lot of information. He left The place he set me at to actually take this test and I ran away to a locker room To try to like rewrite everything from the manual into the paper Not because I didn't know the information but because I actually couldn't couldn't quite remember how to write XYZ. Right. And he turned into this locker and he saw me there. He's like, what are you doing? Yeah.

He needed to fire me right then. I was like, hey, man, it's not what it looks like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm so sorry. Do you not know this? Oh, absolutely. I mean, you can quiz me verbally. I'm happy to tell you all this verbatim. And he did. And he was like, wow. I mean, you can quiz me verbally. I'm happy to tell you all this. verbatim like, and he did. And he was like,

wow, I mean, that you actually are not kidding that you actually know all the all, all this stuff. But then, okay, I'll help you out. Like, and he actually like took the the time do you like invest into you? Yeah. And from there, I mean, like that relationship grew when he went to the win is the one that actually like gave me an opportunity to come and work with him and and the group of the win How was it working for the win, dude? I love I love like the win hotel encore hotel I mean, I think it's one of the best, you know establishments in Vegas still it is in 2025 dude, you know opening up the wind was truly

on a whole different level, like the level of quality they wanted to imprint in all employees from the beginning was superb, like and it was actually going from the the line cook all the way to all the presidents and vice presidents and anyone in the top tier, you stopped here and you actually see executives or at least I went back when we open it you would see executives walking through the casino floor picking up little papers and like like tightening up chairs and like smiling and guiding people and it was very like very sophisticated at the time. And what year was this? That's 2004-2005. Then I mean, like, nightlife again, is a very, very competitive monster,

like the win at the time did not have that vision yet of how to how to reinvent themselves or how to incorporate nightlife into their their bloodline. It was a little too uptight for the industry. So same mentor, Jacob Wood, he had another opportunity and he goes now to open up a Tao nightclub coming from New York at the Venetian and he talked to me about it. He presented the opportunity. I took it. I came and worked with him and it was probably the best decision in that nightlife era. Okay, so at this time, you know, you're in your younger 20s.

Yeah. You're probably what, like 23, 24? About, yeah. Yeah, 23, 24. You get the opportunity to work with your mentor to go ahead and now open one of the biggest nightclubs town nightclub Over there at the Venetian dude, which I remember back in the day was super hard to get into Super hard to get into like I was telling you before the pod dude like bro Like me and my boys we used to go and like probably like give the bouncers like 200 bucks to get into there Because if you're not a girl in Vegas,

you're not getting in as a dude. That's just the way it is. That's how it used to be, right? It is. But yeah, man, it's amazing. So what did your mentor have you do when you launched it? What was your primary responsibilities

with that organization? I mean, back then it was still really very front of the house. Like, hey, I'm going to make you a barbeque. like I'm gonna make you a bar back I'm gonna make you a bartender like see we'll see where else we can groom you so like ancillary so you were like yeah like here we need help with this this this this this so you were like you were like a utility guy you were absolutely like dude I'm gonna do everything because I want to and I was very grateful at the time that's all this guy was actually giving me the opportunity So I had a I had a show for him, you know I had a like like really show like my the best qualities I could I could give the company and that's awesome

so I did and It was a great experience. I've been like back then like every Headliner wanted to be at tau Like all celebrities like dying to go into town Do you Paris Hilton at the time that I was gonna about to ask you the Kardashians like coming around like Scott? This actually had a big Little video

downstairs at the restaurant where he like tried to show of a hundred dollar bills on a on a server's a Mouth or something. I forgot exactly what happened there, but it was quite fun. It was all like a shed show of of mishaps, but it was great. It was it was very, very vibrant at the time. What would you say is your most memorable artist back when you were helping launch Town nightclub? Man, I can recall what years what year this was.

I want to say oh six. We had one of the wildest nights I remember still today, even if even in comparison to like bigger headliners. It was when we had Eric Morello. Probably like second run we had with him first First time he came to Tao was not all there was supposed to be there, but second time around, it was the craziest level of energy I've seen in a nightclub for the longest, longest, longest time. This guy kept playing till 9 a.m.,

very club space style. At a place that should have shut down at 4am and people were still dancing crazy. Pack, like managers, directors were like, hotel executives are coming up and everyone was just they were probably pissed. Yeah, no, at some point. At first they were and they saw the energy and they were like they're like we're gonna let it ride fuck it like I Love that. It was really really a Different back then like the only thing similar

after hours you had was drays and This was an attempt in to be an after hours and just so happened that the energy died like yeah It's the only time I've seen something like that. That was not a festival or something that of that capacity Yeah, cuz I remember back in the day dude like when I my nightclubbing days and yes, I used to nightclub guys I know I made you myself but No, yeah, dude like the nightclubs in Vegas. They would go to like 6 a.m. But usually they would die around 4 And then people start trickling to Drake's. Absolutely.

Right? But that's cool, man. I love that. So from there, what else did you build in the nightclub industry in Vegas before you really got into entrepreneurship for yourself? Well, that's all like front of a house, like little staff. Then eventually in 2011,

little staff then eventually in 2011 I got my first management setting now over at Chateau and Gallery. I remember Chateau at Paris. Yes sir we're not talking about Paris France guys even though it was legit I just came back two weeks ago we're talking about Paris and Vegas. It was nuts. It was really really a lot of fun. It was a very different vibe and a very different format. Bro you were probably living it up where you were like I'm never gonna die like what was your drink of choice? Oh man like whatever. You're a tequila guy? Yeah yeah I mean like it was like back then it was whatever people were drinking I had bro I had people drinking for me. I had drinking people drinking Jager Meister. I had people drinking

Yes, yes, I remember those days it was Rough. Yeah, it was rough because I mean like now I had like a lot of responsibility. Yeah The one part no one really prepared me for Responsibility. Yeah, and the one part no one really prepared me for Was the amount of hours? Yeah, I was gonna now be subjected to like work Yeah, yeah, it wasn't all that much fun anymore now. I actually really have to show and I have to Like schedule people and I have to like understand the dynamics of the venue and the ordering and the the bookings and the marketing and so many like different, so many different fronts that really go to run a

business, right? I mean, like, ultimately, like, nightclub or not, it's a sale, it's still a business. And it requires the same thing. It's the it needs people coming in, people spending money, and understanding and learning and understanding the dynamics of how to actually like how to make that profitable, how to make that like successful, how to actually keep people motivated to actually like want to like like be supportive to your to your your business.

It's all like in the dynamics of management that you really like start learning and earning as you actually grow in the dynamics of management that you really like start learning and earning as you actually grow in the industry. So what's the I mean obviously me and you know what's the main driver of revenue when it comes to nightclubs but for the people that are listening right now and they're probably like you know a college student or maybe they're our age and they're like dude I want to try it in the nightclub right there's a lot of people I remember back in the day they were like bro how'd you get into the nightclub I was like I just networked bro like I was just a friendly guy and one day I went to a nightclub, right? Because a lot of people, I remember back in the day, they were like, bro, how'd you get into the nightclub? I was like, I just networked, bro. Like, I was just a friendly guy.

And one day I went to a nightclub promoter, I was just like, hey dude, how do you do what you do? He was just like, well, you gotta start from the bottom, dude. You know, same thing, the come up story, right? And people don't understand. It's just like, your network is your net worth. I've been saying this all this morning, dude. Like, it really is.

Like, you might know one person who's gonna get you in just like your mentor, right? Mr. Woods. And when he moved to the other group, the Tau group, he brought you with him, dude. And that's usually what happens with people with change in management. So, you know, if you're trying to go to Vegas,

you guys got a network. That's just all it comes down to, you know? And same goes with, like, I mean, like the people you know, like if it's about party and like, like, you see so many high rollers and so many people like really well connected and then you see like their group with them and that group like with them, I mean, like some might see them as groupies,

some actually will be true friends, who knows, but like they're really the ones actually enjoying like the most out of a club at that point like yeah no absolutely man so what would you tell somebody who right now okay if they were trying to go into I guess the Vegas nightclub scene how would they get started like if you were to go ahead and break down to a beginner and I know when did you end up leaving Vegas to come to Miami? I came to Miami in 2017. Okay so it's been some time and you probably still have the connections you probably still know a lot of people but if you were to go ahead and tell a

beginner right now that's watching listening to this and they were like dude how can I do what Humberto did like I would love to work with Group. I would love to go ahead and open a nightclub over there or maybe be a promoter, you know? How would they get in? Build your network. Like, really, it comes about trying to build your network. Be sociable, like talk to people, like smile, like shake hands, like come to events.

So actually attend. Introdu to events, like, so actually attend, introduce yourself, like, introduce yourself with the intention and the mission. I mean, like, if that's the desire, yeah, I mean, I go, I'm gonna, this is what I want to do. This is how I'm gonna do it, like, have a plan, not just randomly go get drunk and like, hey, like, I tried, like, yeah, guess I'll try tomorrow again. Right? Yeah.

Like actually have the intention to go and network. Of course. I mean, like, yeah, like, depending on what you want to do. I mean, if you just want to be like work in the industry and have fun in the industry, like, all groups really have all types of fun auditions that people can go to. They're very overwhelming. There are thousands of people deep,

just to select a few hundred or less. But the groups, the community you build in those settings is very, very special. You create bonds with these people. Sometimes, I mean, as with any business, there might be a lot of a catenessa in between, like, who likes who or how certain things flow as it becomes a little bit of a high school all again.

Like anywhere else, any work environment. It's the same, yeah. As a whole, it's a very, very special community, and it really connects you with a lot of people environment. It's the same. Yeah. As a whole, it's a very, very special community. And like, it really connects you with a lot of people and opens up a lot of like later on opportunities. I love that, dude. I love that. No, and that and that's good, man. I mean, that's how I got into the nightclub scene. Like I

said, I had friends in it. Initially, I went to the events. Wasn't really a big time drinker back then. But you know, at the end of the day, I was able to get in and I was able to learn operations and all that and it was good times. So Humberto, from the nightclub scene, what was the transition that you did from the nightclub scene in Vegas and what was your primary reason to move to Miami?

Sure, so in Vegas, over time I had the opportunity to keep growing in the industry. I got to go back to Tao Nightclub. Now as a manager, eventually I joined Hacosan Group and got to go to the back end of the house into a more director-based role within HakaSan Group, now overseeing a lot more venues and doing a lot more things for the company. That was my first take at actually building more intricate systems. My main forte has always been a little more into

programming and building certain sets of financial analytics and things that can actually put data into action. So I started doing that for Hockeson Group and it became a bit of a niche for me. That opened up an opportunity here in Miami into a higher role, now more as a director. So I took that opportunity. I had a president of nightlife for SBE that offered up an opportunity to come and join them with Delano and SLS. And that was a very, very nice opportunity.

I flew to Miami, the concept made sense. I mean, like, hey, like you speak Spanish, you're Venezuelan, there is such a tribe in Venezuelan community. Huge, huge. In Miami, you're going to do great. On paper, it sounded fantastic. When I came here, at first it was a bit of a cultural shock. Like, I came from Vegas. I spent so much time in Vegas. My main Hispanic community was the Mexican community.

So I was probably a little more used now to eat tacos and eat a red bus. I was about to say that brother. You were right. I mean, you got Vegas, which is a few hours away from California. Absolutely. So you got a lot of Mexican people. I mean, I'm half Mexican, half Peruvian. OK.

So I'm originally from California. So I mean, you cannot beat the Mexican food over there, bro. 100%. You know, and it's a lot different over here. People love to eat Peruvian food. Yeah. You know, and there's so many other things that you can get down here. So I'm pretty sure it was a lot different over here. People love to eat Peruvian food. Yeah. You know, and there's so many other things that you can get down here.

So I'm pretty sure it was a big culture shock. It is. So what was, so was that the biggest difference between Miami and Vegas as far as the nightclub scene? Or like, how does the nightclub scene compare here in Miami compared to Vegas? Well, Vegas, you have like such a big format, like all a list or

settings everywhere you go like and they compete with each other in such a casual way. And you're actually talking about people making million dollar sets like like the the sets play for like, like cascade testo. You're talking about DJ. Yeah, they do Yeah, you're actually like seeing like all this big big formats where like this guys are being paid millions millions Like half a million a million like who like who knows? I mean they come back are all different but for like a two three hour set like and you actually have those

compounded into a Full year your contract agreement where this guys will come and play for two three hours and each time they play they're actually making Isn't that crazy isn't saying doesn't that blow your mind like anybody that's listening to this or watching this right now? I'm Berto's like there's like no way because people can't even think like that these DJs, these, I mean, they're famous, right? Like Cascade, Tiesto, Vichy, I mean, Afrojack, Stevie Yokey, like all these great, you know, EDM DJs back in the day. And they still are, they're still great DJs,

but like that was their prime, right? They'd fly in on a jet, land in freaking Vegas, get in a limo, get dropped off at the hotel and then at like 1 2 a.m. because I remember I was a clubgoer I'd be like hey they're supposed to be here at midnight they don't get there till 1 and then they show up and the whole house just goes crazy goes insane for the next three four hours it's great just like a festival. But yeah, yeah, nightly. And it takes a lot of energy.

It takes a lot of work. Here's a little more consolidated. I mean, like the only like true like big nightclub format here in my opinion is live. Found blue as a whole, like they try to run a somewhat Vegas format, which is cool. It's very nice. We have also there that I also opened up down the road here back in 2019. But the big big guns, I think, like really come down to to live and well, of course, 1111 really build like a whole structure of their own. Yeah, they did. And a lot of it with the Vegas mindset and like, or at least like a little bit

of Vegas infusion to it. And they made something phenomenal, something that doesn't really exist anywhere else. I think 11's concept is very unique because it's a mixture of, and if you guys don't know what Eleven is, Eleven is actually one of the bigger nightclubs here in Miami. And even, man, even in 2017 when I first came to Miami to actually just check it out as a tourist, I checked out Eleven, I checked out Olive, I checked out Club Space, all these famous nightclubs that people still go when you know

They're in their 20s 30s. I even had my younger sister. She came to visit me here like a couple months ago And they went her and her husband they went to club space at 9 a.m. In the morning And I'm like 9 a.m. In the morning, but she's like yeah We're waking up at 6 to get there at 9 and I'm like you are insane And there was still people going from the night before, bro. They were giving out orange juice. I was just like, this is insane. It's crazy.

Yeah. But anyways. Anyways, I came to, what was the question again? Yeah, so the question was, so Miami, Vegas, biggest differences you said in in Vegas. It's the sets. It's basically it's bigger. It's bigger It's I mean, I guess everything the promotions the the it's more grand. It's Like it's like nothing you find anywhere else I have too many different cities and I mean like I've found in every city something special but specific to Vegas like that grand element

like is unique to Vegas yeah you can't match it anywhere else you don't have thousands of people on on a week on a weekly basis to fill up like all these different clubs like it Like it's nothing. Yeah. I mean, I'm Vegas. I mean, I'm thinking of like venues I was involved with. I'll think of Omnia at Caesar's Palace when we first open it. It's a venue with 100 tables.

Venue with 100 tables printing a couple million dollars a night. Like, wow. I mean, like that's insane. That's a lot. What is the biggest night you have seen in your experience while at Omnia or any of these other clubs? Like, what is the most they've made in revenue? I want to say possibly New Year's at Omnia the the the two new years I spent at Omnia were both like around two three male and they were

Insane they were really really like something else there were some Special nights we had a marquee the cosmopolitan that we had a marquee, the cosmopolitan, that we had a very, very special wealthy guest that would come back in a day. Jolo. I don't know if you ever heard of Jolo Malaysian. Yep. And the amount of money he would drop was insane, insane. Like, I mean,

like, this is like the times like it was mentioned. Jolo would be traveling with the Caprio or we'd be traveling with the Kardashians and all that. And like now, like you have the entire champagne cooler, like millions of dollars worth of champagne ready to actually like go out. Like it was quite a different time. No, I can imagine, man. I mean, I feel with the nightclub industry, but then also how Miami is growing as a city.

And that's something that's been progressively changing here now. Like, it's really like Miami started to set its own tone, its own vibe that stands away from Vegas and makes its own piece of the puzzle. Yeah. Like Miami, like, of course, I mean, like early 90s, early to late 90s, early 2000s, you had like a lot of like the push of the boutique hotels, Ian Treger building all this boutique hotel concepts and then replicating all these concepts in Miami Beach. That was a very, very special time to Miami Beach.

Then the European bottle service in Vegas kind of like toned that down. It became more like that grand element now it's going back more again to the that boutique experience like what else is out there like not just a DJ but what else can we actually like can we find out of the the like going out element right yeah no absolutely man so you came into Miami and you're in the nightclub scene heavily here. When was the transition after you came from Miami to doing your own thing to actually expanding to what you're doing now? COVID. COVID. So 2019, 2020? 2019, 2020. In 2019 I had a little itch to try to I had a little itch to try to see how I could go about me doing my own thing, my own consulting. Unfortunately, I mean, like when you're working a nine to five to call it nine to five, you

don't really have all this much disposable time. You have maybe a little bit of disposable time, but is it really, because you still have a family, you still have things happening, so how do you balance that? When COVID happened, that nine to five eventually wasn't there anymore, because the entire hospitality industry in Miami shut down. Yeah.

And the world. The world shut down. The only thing really driving industry in Miami shut down. Yeah. Like. And the world. The world shut down. The only thing really thriving in Miami at the time was the boat industry. That's interesting. The boat industry. Okay, okay, all right.

I see where you're going. Yeah, the boat industry. So 2019, 2020, everything shuts down. You're like, holy shit, I'm in the nightclub industry. What am I going to do? So then how do you get into boating, dude? Well, COVID happens. No one knows what to do.

Like, literally. Like, hey, by the way, like, the world shut down. Like, how do we pay for rent or pay groceries, we have to like figure something out, like looking into what was still working in Miami, boats were actually working in Miami. So I decided to bring the the consulting idea I already had, like somewhat founded in 2019 into into action and I form a plan not the best one yet but like some sort of plan and like then polish it I mean like running

venues for this long like it was the same the same recipe no matter what like it was just a different industry now, right? So I'm thinking, so how am I gonna fix the problem? I'm actually looking for a problem I need to fix. In doing so, okay, this actually feels natural. I'm not reinventing the wheel here. I'm just gonna apply it. And I actually went out and I took a leap of faith.

And I actually started trying to, again, build a network and contact people just as many, many moons back in a whole different industry, in a whole different city. And started trying to make connections enough to place me or position me in front of someone that could have some interest in what I had actually pitched. And so it happened. I mean, like there was like in trial and error, I got to meet this one gentleman running a boat club for many, many years. This ball club had been in Miami since the 80s. And it had died down a little bit. He had other assets and other businesses and other things and he just didn't have the right tool set to to make his business something again.

And he didn't have't have the right operators. Correct. And I felt like the problem wasn't all that significant, it just wasn't being properly handled. And if implemented in the right solutions, the right tools, you could easily like... So at that time, Roberto, do you think it was his marketing? Do you think it was his fulfillment?

Do you think it was his sales? Like what think it was his fulfillment? Do you think it was his sales? Like what was going wrong that like you saw that you could fix? Well, it was a combination of everything. It was a combination of marketing, a combination of a logistics strategy operations, lack of SOPs, lack of like systems in place in general.

lack of like systems in place in general. I mean like from from invoicing to hiring to anything in between like I mean like the running a business, a small business, a big business like it still has a lot of the same logic behind it, you still want to, to achieve likely a way to generate leads, whatever those leads are. Some might be in a digital form, some might be in person, some might be to take a certain action.

What's the action that's going to happen? In this case, the pipeline was all broken. There was no head, no tails to... No funnel, basically. No process. Nothing. Wow. So, okay, well, this actually seems like a low hanging fruit

here. Like, hey, I can fix this. And then, Herberto, before you get into that, because I love this, how you're breaking it down, dude. It's awesome. For the viewers and then also the listeners that do not know what a boat club does in Miami what would you say a boat club does in Miami? So boat clubs came as a relevant as a relevant structure in different cities back, I want to say,

70s 80s. With the promise or premise to to allow people to take a boat out without owning the boat. I mean, they seem like Turo. Yeah, like Turo, like Uber, like, like Airbnb. Like the the the the the simpler format would be a boat rental. But I mean, like in a boat club, you actually are somewhat of a member of that community. Exclusive. It's more exclusive.

You have more, almost guaranteed accessibility to the boats. Different options. You have different options. You actually have someone that's actually up keeping the boats, that's maintaining the boats different options, you have different options, you actually have someone that's actually up keeping the boats as maintaining the boats, you, if you're in the right boat club, the boat club likely will be rotating this boats every so

often. So you always have like somewhat of a newer opportunity. And you don't have to like really, really worry about the hassle of finding slip. Like if you actually put dry storage, having the boat store up and down, the maintenance elements of the boat, all the safety equipment, the cleaning of the boat, the maintenance of the boat, all that actually like is a daily routine for a boat. The boat club eliminates that. Of course, you're going gonna actually achieve somewhat of a similar

reach if you actually just go ahead and rent a boat. But you rent whatever you can find. Like that's probably the main the bigger difference. And back in the day, of course, you don't have, you didn't have the technologies you have nowadays, like nowadays, you actually have so many tools, so many apps, so many, like, at the click of a button you can actually rent something very easy. And the industry itself changed drastically with that.

But back in the day, you had newspapers, you had maybe some Google search or something, maybe you found what you actually wanted, but it wasn't as simple So how okay so in the situation where you got your first your first boat clip? Okay, and you were gonna go ahead and help with the operations the marketing and the sales and the fulfillment How did you end up? I guess turning the business around well The the 2020 market was a very generous market.

Again, with everything shut down, because people were like looking for things to do. Yeah. boats happen to be the hot commodity in Miami. It was in the news everywhere. Everyone was. So that was that was the thing to do. Yeah, go on a boat. Yeah. And everyone, of course, was judging Miami like, oh, wow oh wow like look at all this Floridians are like look at all this like degenerate people like oh everyone degenerates on your boats Absolutely, but no one really cared like yeah, they're having a good time like Social distance I was social distance like the water didn't require social distance type of thing and I mean like of course I back then like, of course, like back then, like, no matter what, like, every

regulation that we could follow to, like, upkeep and actually like bring up like, like health standards and what have you, it happened. But it was a little more about building an opportunity for people to have fun and still like somewhat have something to do. Yeah. So what did I do back then? I mean, like, I look first at what was there, what was there financially, what was there, like assets wise, what was there in regards of structures and operations and anything in between. and then from there,

like okay, well let's see what's broken in this whole pipeline. The lead intake was horrible. It was actually just people calling the owner's phone number if he actually answered, fantastic, if not, oh well, that cell is lost. The booking process was almost like on a napkin. Or like behind an envelope, like I'm a whoa, okay, well, that's a problem. Like,

yeah, there are so many cool systems, like, why are we where why are we not using like, all the systems like, oh, like, never needed to. Now we do and we can actually like really capitalize that and make it a lot more efficient. And things like that. I mean, like then of course, marketing, like we actually need marketing, we actually want people to come. Maybe back in the day, the competition wasn't that great. Right now is a big, big competition. How are we gonna

compete? How are we gonna get in front of all these people? Like when we need it most like oh we go and check hands and talk to them oh like well like now like this might not be the right time to just go and shake hands it helps because of COVID. We can't do that no more we can't go shake hands man. So luckily for us we have tools that we can actually implement and actually make money oh but but that's gonna cost money Yeah, of course, it's gonna cost money

But it's gonna make us a lot more money and that's like the mindset like somehow some business owners might be a little afraid of when it comes to to market and right like oh well like like you're telling me to do a to use these tools some of the tools will cost money and like you're telling me to do advertisement and this advertisement will cost money. But all that's really like just a little fraction when you actually look at the big picture and that's what the one thing you need. You need to look at the big picture. The big picture is the ROAS, the return on of expand and you know, a lot of people and a lot of business owners, especially, you know, nowadays, I think, you know, what you're doing is remarkable. And the reason why is because you're

helping, let's say, baby boomers, you're also helping people that are not knowledgeable, what the technology that is out there right now to leverage and grow businesses, dude, and it's humongous. It's powerful, right? Especially since COVID, man, it changed the world. And it changed the world. And it was a it was a a beautiful opportunity because it was the only opportunity where I felt safe and comfortable to like get out of my comfort zone. Like, hey, like, I gotta make money somehow. How am I gonna do that? Like, so, okay, so breakdown and break down the day where you were like, bro, this is a game changer.

I got to do this full time. It's happening. I got to go all in. Of course. So 2020, it was a work in progress. I also had my wife and she has two kids and Miami is not cheap. It's not, it's expensive. And I'm just giving this idea a test run,

but I'm still not making money. And how long were you in it? Were like, were you in it like two, three months and you weren't making money or were you in it for like a month before making money? I want to say like six months went by and I wasn't still making enough money dude a lot of people would be like man I'm giving up on this I'm gonna go get a nine to five it is a lot of pressure because you again like you

have a family now like like how responsible or irresponsible am I now exactly if uh it's on you if I don't take action like what like but I trusted my system. I trusted my my approach I I I trusted the process I mean like I like the process is not something that happens overnight sadly like like I wish I actually had a Magic one right like to just tab and like wow, okay cool now fixed We're all rich, but it takes time and it takes takes effort and I put the effort I fine-tune things in between like even with the plan that you actually like need to also like It's like I've on your feet and actually know like recognize if you actually need to tweak things to to improve them

so I did for this project and The project And so I did for this project and the project within six months or so it really started actually turning and making money and money and money and money and grow and I'm like okay well fantastic this is exactly what I work for. So great. Was your customer like excited was he like dude what are you doing? I was like what scam are you pulling, bro? People always say, oh, scam.

Well, at that point, it became more of a very close relationship where we actually became partners in the business. Oh, wow. You know what? Be my COO and just run the business and like make the right decisions and like, like I don't I don't even want to think about decisions. You actually

obviously like know what you're doing. So you go ahead take the right decisions. Let me know at the end of the month how the like what what the numbers look like and we're all good. What a smart man. I see that I See that Emilio? His business partner delegated operations to Humberto and that's what an entrepreneur, when you develop yourself as a business owner, that's what you want to do. Exactly. You want to delegate, delegate, delegate, right? I mean, like, yeah, of course, at first I took a lot of the burdens of every piece of the puzzle. But on the same token, just as you're mentioning, now I actually had the opportunity to delegate

further down and actually systemize things and automate things. Now that I actually had a very full picture of what needed to happen and how we needed to make it happen. I could take that and actually replicate it. And that's exactly what what I decided to do at that point. Like, hey, like, you know what? Okay, this this worked phenomenal in this one project. So let me actually replicate it again. So what what was it that worked so well, I guess, for that first business? Was it, were you running ads to it? Did you build any custom funnels for it?

Did you focus on SEO, which has to do with Google, guys, for any beginners that is just getting into marketing right now. SEO ranks your websites. And if you're ranked number one on Google, when people are looking at boat charat charters in Miami boom you pop up and that's brings a lot of cash flow So like what was it that you were doing that was working so well for your guys company? Well, yeah, we we optimize marketing. That was a very very needed

position to make we try to identify where needed position to make. We try to identify where the leads were coming from. We try to like better utilize Facebook pixels and like anything that could actually give us like additional data. We try to like really really define our hone into what the right advertisement should look like. And ultimately, when it came to the SEO, try to expand it a little more from the traditional search engine optimization to search everywhere optimization and really injected everywhere try to inject it in like not just Google, Instagram and Facebook,

but injected in anything and everything that could actually like like touch a possible lead. And the the return the returns the results were actually very significant because now we actually went from seeing a company that barely had $2,000 in its in the bank account to having almost half a million dollars within a year. Like, and of course, as you actually like fine tune it, like it's just money growing and money that's really being made.

There were poor decisions being made before where like the company was not reinvested in itself and just assuming all the revenue was just profit. Profits and like. Fastest way to go bankrupt. And that was a horrible, horrible leak in the pipeline. Ultimately, we actually were able to fix it. Hey, like, you know what?

Like this is actually company's money and this is how we are gonna utilize it. And this is how we're gonna make now not half a million. This is how we are going to utilize it. And this is how we're going to make now not half a million. This is how we're going to make two million. And this is how we're going to make XYZ factor. And it worked out very nice. I love that, man. So you kept reinvesting the profits back into the business

to optimize your marketing and your fulfillment and absolutely everything else. So OK, so that happened in 2020. You got your first company. You flipped it around after about a year. So now we're going into the end of 2021, 2022. How many businesses have you helped thus far up to 2025 till right now? So in the same level, I want to say nine. Of course, I mean, it's not something that happens overnight, of course,

and it's a very, very well paid role. But I need to actually be present and I need to actually show myself and actually like be the CEO that the company needs. So it's demanding, it's long hours, like daily, like defining what the problems are and finding solutions. Like I work nowadays realistically with a multitude of businesses, not just in the hospitality,

but way outside of hospitality. I work with law firms, I work in the hospitality, but way outside of hospitality. I work with law firms. I work with real estate. I work with wellness. I work with health. And the one thing you see in the same circle is what we've been saying, like all along, like all these people, they need leads that turn into money. And they actually can see the value of this one company out of all

the companies that are out there, why this one is going to actually give them the right solution and, and the right, the right answer they need to, to, to get where they want to like be whatever they want to do, right? Like, if it's fitness's fitness, how is this gym going to make me lose weight versus all these other guys? Or wellness, how are these guys going to make my Botox work better than these other guys that actually offer the same thing for half the price? Yeah, no, absolutely. Especially in Miami, dude. I mean, it's Botox Central. But Humberto, quick question.

So you've worked with different industries, different CEOs now, especially being a fractional CEO for these companies, inserting yourself. I love that concept, dude. I think it's a really great concept. So what would you say, okay, is a common trait that you have seen with winners that they have in common I Would say a common trait within everyone That turn into a winning case study being being willing to actually learn, being willing to make changes, to not know it all and not be above the solutions. Sometimes you actually have solutions so simple, right in front of your face, and sometimes a doctor will actually feel

so above that level. They don't want to handle it. They don't want that, exactly. And at that point, it doesn't matter what solution you present, you're not gonna see a change. And the better outcomes I've had have been from, on the different levels of friction and different

levels of challenges that I've seen like they want one of the more standard sets I've seen that actually have been a common winning token have been that I actually like willing to be open and implement changes and. I love that. It has to do with your core values and your core values of, you know, being able to adapt, have resilience. If something doesn't work, you adopt. And no, I agree, dude. Some of the best people that I know, they know how to adapt very fast, you know, success, love speed. So let me ask you brother with that being said what role does mindset Play with what you do right now on your day to day. Do you have like a routine to get yourself prepared?

Do you think that you know, there's something that entrepreneurs must do like on a weekly or daily basis to prepare their mindset because mindset's everything All right The premises of this podcast is the level up, but a lot of it is motivation, self-help, to help people go ahead and go do and live that life by design. Right? So what would you say is something that you, you know, value in your life that you're like, you know what, this has worked for me from my mindset that can help others. Of course.

So for me, I mean, at 430, I have a nice bath ready where I know I'm joking. I thought you were about to pull like Andy Elliott, bro. No, no, no. For me, I mean, I try to like have a somewhat of a routine. Yes, I find if I don't follow that routine, my day can actually go to what's your routine? fit a workout a day, like try to fit in in the morning, try to fit it as early as I can in the morning, just to get it off the way. Like, if I don't get it out of the way early

enough, my day is likely going to get like very congested, very complicated, and I'm not going to get to it. And it really like gets my my mind clear, it gets my mind running. So that's one part I actually like try to do. I also try to do meditation. I heard so many people back in the day talking about meditation and never gave it enough respect or value. And I've learned over time, like, I mean, like, like your mind, your brain, your well-being, like, it's just as important to train as it is like training your physique, right. And I really like giving yourself five minutes of

mindfulness is very, very significant. It centers you. It actually like allows you to think better and answer better. Like eliminate anger, eliminate stress. I mean, is every day rainbows and butterflies? No. I mean, some days are very stressful. In dealing with different industries,

we deal with a lot of different challenges. Some challenges are easy to conquer and some challenges are just like ginormous. How do like how do we conquer it? How do we actually make a difference? And like it all starts with us and how we how we take care of ourselves like sleep. I try to actually like sleep is huge. I never actually like perhaps from the hospitality and nightlife industry. I never understood how important it was. As I was going to bed, usually at seven, eight am thinking this was normal. Like, Oh, yeah, what's the difference? Like, no, it actually makes a difference.

Huge. You want to rest, you want to actually feel energized, you want to wake up optimized. Like I wake up optimized like I try to like I try to ensure like my bed setting is solid like everything is actually like good I have a good like nighttime routine like take care of my skin like The past year alone, I've been working a lot with my wife into wellness. And in that, I mean, like trying out different things. I read like therapy, I go bath. We have a setup at home for both. And it's actually very, very nice. It re-energizes you as you go through it. Not to try to compare it to the meme, right?

Like, oh, I wake up and I prepare my water, all that. Oh, with Ashen Hall. Yeah. But hey, to some degree, it really makes a difference for the mindset you're going to carry the rest of the day. Absolutely. You feel good. You feel good.

You feel good. Exactly. Yeah. Yep. That's great, man. All right. Last question I got for you. What does leveling up mean to you right now

in this season of your life, brother? I want to say to me, stay in hunger. I say in hunger. I'm sorry. Stay in hunger. Stay motivated. I say hungry, I'm sorry. Staying hungry, staying motivated, always wanting to step it up. I think especially in the AI world, like not wanting to be involved,

not understanding the opportunities to actually be involved, is a very, very big missed opportunity. Right now, I decided, for instance, over the past year I've been working on getting a couple masters I'm getting right now a masters in artificial intelligence and digital marketing and smart dude getting a more I'm getting a masters in a global data I'm receiving a doctorate in July on marketing and organizational leadership in California. I try to like say as relevant and involve anywhere I can and like I try to stay hungry and it takes a lot of time.

Like not necessarily what I want to be doing right now. Like just be going to school or something. Yeah. And not everyone needs to do that. I mean, like you have a lot of resources and tools, like easy tools to actually access online on Google. Like you have 12-year-old kids that probably do like 10 times what I can do in so many ways, like so easily. But point to the story, like yeah,

you do have all that information and all that like acts like easy access to, to opportunities out there. If someone is not taking it, I think it's really like a shame because like, it's not not hard to not like it's not 2002 where like, you didn't have Anything other than I can say encyclopedias or something I may be like facts if you actually like try to use altavista.com or something maybe you could find something like you like eventually Google enter and But uh yeah, that's I think my my main Takeaway on that.

On leveling up. On leveling up. I love that brother. Good for you dude. Like I respect anybody that goes back to school, gets their masters or their doctorates. And dude, you gotta stay up to date because the next five years for AI is gonna be huge.

Absolutely. It's gonna be huge. So good for you dude. All right, so for the audience right now that's watching Humberto, tell them right now on the camera where they can find you. Drop your IG handle, your company's websites so they can come ahead and actually do business with you

if they wanna do business with you. And if you guys feel motivated like I do, you guys wanna go ahead and start your own charter, a yacht charter, man, in Miami. I mean, this is the guy, this is the guy. He was able to do it during COVID and was able to blow it up. So you gotta go pick his brain, man.

And we gotta talk more about the nightclub industry, bro, because I love that industry. It's awesome. It's awesome. Humble beginnings. So where can people find you, brother? Well, my personal IG is a HDC hub. I'm fairly accessible. There is a public profile. I don't have it

all that active. I'm usually a little a little more on the busy side. But that's but I mean that's my main handle and the company handle is a downtown consultant. Downtown as a DWN, TWN, downtown consultant. There you guys go. So you guys have access to downtown consulting. You also have access to Humberto Dominguez. Guys, he was in a multi-billion dollar nightclub industry with groups like Tao Group, the Wynn Group out in Vegas, now transitioning to Miami over here doing his own business

now with Yacht Charters and doing fractional COO work. Guys, so if you guys need any consulting, this is the man you guys got to go to. Once again, guys, this is Paul Alex, the Level Up Podcast, the number two business podcast in the United States right now. Guys, make sure to leave us a review. Make sure to share this with a friend that needs some inspiration, guys. All right, and we'll catch you on the next one. Thanks for listening up to the Level Up Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to share with a family friend and everyone I will catch you on the next one.