The Ryan Hanley Show - Mark Koehler's EXPERT Analysis Of Trump's Tax Cuts Plan

Episode Date: February 17, 2025

How can we take advantage of Trump's tax plan? Mark J Koehler is here to explain several key tactics, and it's not what you think. 🧐 Mark J Koehler is the founder of Main Street Tax Pro, and brings his decades of expertise in tax and legal matters, as well as Main Street business operations, to the show. He delves into the implications of Trump's proposed tax cuts, providing insights into their impact on small business owners and everyday operators in the U.S. Mark and Ryan also unpack the contrasting narratives presented by various political sides and discuss ways to navigate through the often polarized information landscape. Donald Trump's latest tax relief proposal has sparked intense debate about the future of income tax policies and their impact on everyday Americans. The internal revenue service (IRS) guidelines could see significant changes, while tax preparation experts weigh in on potential implications. Dive into this comprehensive analysis of how financial literacy plays a crucial role in understanding these proposed changes. 🎯 Takeaways: The Trump tax cuts aim to benefit Main Street America and are backed by tariffs and efficiency. Small business owners should think globally and seize broader opportunities. AI enhances human-driven business activities by automating routine tasks. 💬 Sound Bites: "We're gonna use tariffs, and we're gonna use Doge... to create efficiency in the government." "AI is like your superpower because now all of these other tasks that take away our resources and energy can now be automated." "The American dream is still alive and real... Let's be patient, let's not just jump on every rhetoric statement that's out there." 🔗 Connect and Discover: Website: https://markjkohler.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/markjkohler 📌 𝗙𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗪 𝗠𝗘: Website: https://go.ryanhanley.com/ Course Page: https://masteroftheclose.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryan_hanley

Hello everyone and welcome back to the show. We have a tremendous conversation for you today with Mark J. Kohler He's the founder of Main Street Tax Pro where he has trained tens of thousands of tax professionals as well as Main Street business owners to become certified and understanding how to Maximize their activity around their taxes how they pay the least and get the most back, right? How you do it right, how you build a business properly set up for taxes. And Mark's expertise goes so far beyond that. While he's kind of come out of the tax and legal environment, his expertise has expanded well beyond just tax and legal into Main Street business operations in so far as

This year he was invited to Davos for the World Economic Forum to speak to the international community about Small business in the United States We dig into the Trump tax cuts or the proposed tax cuts and how they can impact us as Main Street business owners and Everyday operators here in the US, as well as so many other topics. You're going to love this one. High energy, lots of enthusiasm, tons of impact. Get ready.

Buckle up. Here comes Mark J. Kohler. in a crude laboratory in the basement of his home. Mark, dude, appreciate your time. Appreciate you coming on the show. I'm excited to have this conversation today. No, it's my honor. Seriously, I really appreciate opportunities like this so we can both impact more people. It's just it's wonderful. Yeah. So I want to get right into the meat and potatoes of something that just came out.

Trump just released his proposed tax cuts. There's a ton of stuff in there, right? And then there's all this information coming from we we'll call them, people who don't agree with Trump or tend to not agree with him. And there's a lot of information that I think, and I'm getting people reaching out to me, and I don't know anything about taxes, but buddies are like, hey, how does this impact us? Is this what he promised, etc.? So you know, I guess maybe let's start with the extension of like the tax cuts in jobs act in terms of like what he had in place before.

He's kind of bringing back like and maybe just in general breakdown for us. You know, is this really tax cuts for the labor class, for the middle class, for Main Street as he promised and as it seems? Or is this as we're kind of being told from the other side, a back door into tax cuts for billionaires and all his oligarchical friends? Yeah, it's, now I'll, thank you, it's a wonderful question and I don't want any of the listeners here to think I'm just out on the Trump campaign trail. I am not, I am all for Main Street America

and if, whether it's Democrat or Republican, let's pass good tax legislation to help small business owners and real estate investors. Because that's the backbone of this country. It's not the big corporations. It's 90% of our economy are small business owners with less than 100 employees. And so I'm with you.

We are going to hope that this new legislation this year will have the best and the most impact on that segment of our of our country and that economy. So, well, what's kind of fun here is we've got Terminator one. Now we get Terminator two. So what did we see in the first movie? You know, in the first movie, that's exactly what we got. We got bonus depreciation for equipment and real estate investors, the Opportunity Zone provisions,

better deductions for autos and mileage, better tax rates. We simplified the tax rates and lowered the tax rates across the board for the wealthy and the middle class and the low. Everybody got a tax cut. And so that Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was about 500 pages, I used to carry it around with me for a year or two as I was on the road explaining it, wrote a second edition of my book to explain it. It was packed with a lot of stuff. But here's the interesting point. The guts of it was, we're gonna offer all these tax incentives for the middle class, lower tax rates,

and these tax strategies. How in the hell are we gonna pay for it? He brought foreign corporations, US corporations doing business abroad, they had to bring their revenue back to the US. He slammed all the foreign bank account issues going on in Switzerland and multiple countries. He was tough on the corporations.

He said, bring your money back to the US, and in turn, I'll give you a 21% corporate tax rate. But I want all this money brought onshore. So that's what a budget has to do. So when he passes this bill, last point, when you pass a budget like this, or bill, it's got to balance in 10 years. It's legislative required. So it's got to balance in 10 years.

So where the government giveth all these great, cool tax strategies, he's got to show how we're going to pay for it. And I'll tell you how we're going to pay for this round. But your first question was, did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act really do that? It did, and we saw it. And we saw the economy flourish. Will he do it again? We're all crossed in our fingers. And the promises he made this week say he is. So we can get into how he's

going to pay for it. Hopefully, it's going to work. Before we get to how he's going to pay for it, one of the things I'd really like to, with each topic that we addressed today, I would love to get into kind of the, almost like, how are people who are fighting this, right? Because, you know, I follow along with what's going on. You hear Elizabeth Warren, you hear Chuck Schumer, you hear Bernie Sanders, and everything they say, you know, AOC, these guys stand up or they go on on social media. And it's just this drumbeat of this is this doesn't help anybody but the elite. This is just him glad handing his friends, you know, how, how are they like, is that argument just completely based in false narrative? Like, like, how do if you're sitting here, and you're not educated, right, you

don't follow along with what these things are going on. you just pop your head in and you hear these two sides How is someone supposed to start to really make up their own mind? Like how do we sort through all this? conversation and to me feels so often like a very intellectually dishonest take on what's happening Ryan your a very intellectually dishonest take on what's happening. Ryan, your skepticism is completely valid, and millions of Americans are frustrated by this. They turn on mainstream media or listen to a C-span cut hearing thrown out on social media, and they're like,

what the hell? Trump just said he's not going to tax tips. He's not going to tax social security. He's not going to tax overtime. We're going to keep our tax rates up. That's what he campaigned on. He's not going to tax social security. He's not going to tax overtime. We're going to keep our tax rates up. That's what he campaigned on. That's what he followed through before and he says I'm going to do it again. Then how in the hell can I turn on my social media feed and

Bernie Sanders or some other congressional senator or congressman says Trump's evil. He's really going to get no give breaks to billionaires. You're like how how do I reconcile this? Yes. I, it frustrates the hell out of me. Someone that's read tax legislation my whole career from the left and the right side. Here's the only way I can make sense of it, Ryan, and I, two years ago, I'd sound like a conspiracy theorist. Now, you're like, holy crap. Maybe this is true. And that is, and look at the USAID issue right now.

And when we see the USAID budget funding mainstream media, not only in the US, but all over the world, sending out disinformation, wanting to censor so that they can control their narrative, so they can keep spending this money however the hell they want. And we're just getting the tip of the iceberg. Maybe, maybe the left and some of these folks

running all of these NGOs do have an agenda to villainize Trump and make him look stupid. Maybe they are so brainwashed as well and these NGOs and others have have lobbied these political representatives on the left to just say Trump is crazy, Trump is bad, the syndrome of this focus that he everything he says is evil. Maybe they are doing it unconsciously, unknowingly, but there's some evil stuff going out there and maybe that's the message we have to go, let's just see what Trump does. And when he pulls this off and we see tax savings, maybe for once, some of these

folks will wake up and go, all right, I was fed a bunch of bullshit. So I've been in sales marketing my whole life, leadership negotiation positions. And so I'm always kind of analyzing the argument that people make. And I'm always I'm very intrigued by how the left makes arguments because one, I often disagree with their core argument or most of the time. However, they still make these arguments and they're politicians or they're talking heads. So this is what they do for a living. So intelligent.

Yes. And they're and they're not dummies. Right. So like like I was listening to Elizabeth Warren as she was grandstanding about the Treasury or the Federal Court Circuit Court judge blocking Doge's access to the to the Treasury information or limiting their access, right? And she's standing up there and claiming this as a win for the American people yet this this organization in a very short period of time in this case Doge has found all this incredible waste and and also in I'm like okay if I'm trying to make this argument and I'm just interested in your take as someone who's also in in the business space and have done all the deals that you've done right like if I'm going to make this argument that Trump is evil how like the proper way to argue this would be to concede the small points in which he is making wins, right?

There is obviously fraud happening in the system that cannot be like at this point. It can't be denied Yeah, they will stand up there completely ignore that and make this argument that it's all about the oligarchs So is it truly that they're just so I mean your belief is it is it that they're so captured? And I'm trying to get to how we work these things out in our head if we're not as involved as maybe you and I are, right? Is it just that they're so captured? Could it be that the corruption is so deep they don't want to lose their money train? Or is it honestly that they've just lost the narrative because they live in this tiny little

bubble and they just simply don't see or that that these things that the American people, the boots on the ground, American people are looking at, you know, eight million dollars for DEI studies in some other country that's not here. And they just can't relate to that. Like, like, I think I think it's a little there's never one thing, right? You're smart enough to get that. I love the way you're analyzing this, but I think it's a combination of both of those. And then you blend in their lobbyist money, the cyclical rotation of the unelected officials

that are in Washington on the left as well. And that's a big money train for them. And they're gonna feed Elizabeth Warren and others, the narrative that benefits them. And I have to believe, I think some of those political representatives have been bamboozled, tricked, fed so much information. They are literally in that little bubble

of a different reality. And then I have to believe I think some know exactly what they're doing. They're scared to death that when any ID or when USAID comes out with the real story of who got paychecks under the table, it's going to be ugly. It is going to be crazy. And I think there's going to be Republicans as well on that list. For sure. So why is Elizabeth Warren can get up? How she can get up and say, we don't want Doge to forgive us. Why? Why not?

He doesn't have check writing ability. Holy crap. He just wants to go in there and go, let's see where all the money went. I love that James Stewart was doing an interview the other day. And even the Democrat talking heads are like, let's get to the bottom of this. Holy crap.

What's there to fear? And I just think it's unauthentic, absolutely. Or just they're brainwashed. Continuing down the USAID path and Doge, how does the work that Doge is doing, finding these things, how will that trickle back down for someone who is Main Street you know they own a

coffee shop they own some rental properties in town how does that work in all these stories how does that trickle down and actually impact us on Main Street okay this is probably my biggest message and I held alive on this last week and it blew up and I this is so super important okay so let's just just for a minute if if you can folks, let's assume whether you love Trump's style or not, we can go there and all that crap, but with the Tax Cups and Jobs Act,

we all kind of felt some cool stuff. If you're a business owner or a real estate investor, man, it was, that tax bill had some sweet provisions in it. Okay, let's say he's gonna propose this again, which he is up at the Hill right now. that tax bill has some sweet this again, which he is up or crafting a bill. It's I'll be breaking it down b when it comes out, man. Be

be sweet. Okay. How in the already cut. He's already How in the hell this gets to the payment? How is he gonna pay for it? He's already got so much of the corporate revenue back on shore, how is he gonna pay for it? Well, he said, this is super cool, we're gonna use tariffs and we're gonna use Doge. It's kinda like we all have a house,

we all have a household. And what are we spending our money on? I spend way too much money on DoorDash. I mean, I should not spend as much as I do on DoorDash. I think it's the coolest app ever. In two or three minutes, I can get whatever the hell I want. I'm like, I'll pay the 10 bucks. That saves me an hour.

I don't want to drive over there. I'd love it, but it is way too bad on my budget. It is not good. It is inefficient. Now, no one's, I'm not ripping off anybody, but there's some inefficiency there. So if we can create some efficiency in the government, and so that's how these USAID issues really play out. Because if we can find billions of dollars over here that's

being wasted or spent in areas we don't want it, and we can turn around and pay for a tax cut for not taxing social security, because it's going to cost us. Yeah, there's a couple billion dollars a year that comes in on tax revenue by taxing social security. So if we say we're not going to tax it, we got to make up for that 200 million. So how do we do it? Well, we're going to tariff a country that has an unequal trade balance with us. And we're also and I love this was in his proposal and I'm going to give a tax cut to us made product So yeah, you might go to Walmart and your favorite razor just doubled in price because it was made in China, but then

The the shave club theirs just went down 20% Yeah Well, maybe we start buying us made benefit those companies and if the country out there wants to push their crap in our country and they won't take our goods, then we're going to tax it and we're going to take that revenue and give it back to Main Street America. That's the plan. Now, whether you like Trump or not, and there's a lot of disinformation out there that our tariffs are bad. By the way, I was just in Davos at the World Economic Forum three weeks ago. We can talk about that. But the countries that are worried about this are the ones that are upside down with us. Germany, they don't take our cars, but they're going to push their Mercedes and BMWs on us.

And so we're like, what you OK, let's make this a little fair here. The countries that have an equal trade balance with us, they're not worried. They're like, that's cool. We're not on Trump's radar. And so we're going to use that revenue to help our economy. Anyway, no, it's supposed to happen. We'll see how it goes. Yeah, no. And I think you just made a wonderful point.

And I think a lot of people are unaware of is, you know, taking Germany as a use case, taking China as a use case, right? There are a lot of countries that we import a tremendous amount of their goods. And it's not that and I think this is what maybe someone who doesn't spend as much time in this in this information wouldn't realize. It's not that they just don't buy our stuff. They don't allow our stuff in or they're terrifying us to sell our our materials, whatever those be in in their country. So it's it's this idea in the push back around the tariff. And I get that it scares people, right?

It's different. It's not what generations of Americans today are used to, etc. However, it is a tool that is actively used against us around the world. Yes, they're all completely used to it. It's how they make revenue is tariffing goods that would come in from the United States. We just haven't done it in return. So it's it's not like we're this bully who just decided to all of a sudden start pushing tariffs on everyone. This is what's been happening to our manufacturers in our country,

which is why so many of our manufacturing plants moved. I mean, it's not the only reason, but it is part of the reason is if they then move their manufacturing operations into foreign entities, now they can actually sell at a reduced rate in those countries. So it's it's and then we wonder where the jobs go. Right. It's like but there's so many layers to this that I think it becomes very confusing for people.

And I want to get to I want to get to the world economic forum in a minute because I did not know you went there and I'm incredibly interested. But I guess my last question on this topic before we move is like, if you're a if you're a Main Street business owner, or you know, you're just interested in your trying to become more informed. Besides coming and following your content, which guys I would highly, highly recommend. I am not just stroking Mark's ego. It is incredible. Tax, general business, business formation, all this kind of stuff. Wonderful, wonderful content. So we're going to direct everyone to you. Where else, how

else do people start to set up information filters in their life so that they can get information that isn't necessarily biased one way or the other, or maybe has the least amount of bias that they can start to download and understand these issues on their own. Well, here's what I a great question. Here's what I'd offer to your listeners. And please hear me out here. Let's take the NFL for a moment. Let's say Jalen hurts. You're like, don't really.

Let's just hypothetically say you're like, I really don't like him as a quarterback. I took you to the Super Bowl. Cool. But early in the season, he was getting a lot of heat. He was letting a lot of heat for the way he'd run the ball or not or pass the ball or not. I mean, Stephen A Smith beat the crap

out of it. I just love that. I love that guy. Okay. So, but you're an Eagles fan and you're like, you know what? I'm going to get behind Jalen because holy crap, he's all we got. He is our quarterback. So, I mean, I love the guy but he might pull it off for us.

And he did. All right, so here's my offer to all of you out there. Yeah, Trump's style, it can be a little abrasive. He may not have the personal lifestyle choices that you would like or whatever the case. And there's a lot of accurate information and misinformation out there. You go find a politician

that's lived a squeaky clean life, but besides JD Vance and good luck. So, I mean, so go out there and find that perfect politician. You know what? Why don't we find a politician that's gonna go kick ass for us? May not like him.

And you may have not voted for him, but guess what? He's your quarterback now. And you know what? So here's what I'd offer to those listening. There is a lot of rhetoric out there. There's a lot of people afraid of what he's uncovering. He's going in there kicking ass and it was like too big to rig. He's like, hey, the majority of

the country said, alright, Trump, go for it. We're good. Many people voted for him. They're like, I don't really like the guy but I love his like, I don't really like the guy, but I love his message. He didn't blow up the country before. So, let's get behind him and I think we just all need to take a chill pill.

Let's just give him the shot and he's not doing anything now that he didn't campaign on. There's no, there's been no big surprise except he's just doing what he said. So if Elizabeth Warren is freaking out maybe because she's worried about something or someone's telling her to be worried about something. So I would just offer people worry about your own economy, worry about your own entity,

your own bookkeeping. What's your market mix? What's your sales mix? What are you doing this year to expand and grow? The economy is looking so good. Real estate markets are starting to climb again. I just bought two parcels of real estate in the last three months. I'm in crypto. I'm doing small business. I'm hiring employees. I'm like, game on, you know?

Let's get behind our quarterback. And so I just think that's what I'd offer people is getting caught up in all the rhetoric isn't healthy. It's not worth it. I'm gonna watch the news. I wanna see this train crash. I think USAID train wreck's coming. But watch it for fun and just be patient.

I really, really believe it's gonna be a hell of a ride and we're all gonna come out on the back end of this blown away of how stronger our country is going to be whether you're a democrat or not. It's okay. Just let's win the Super Bowl. How about we do that? Let's get behind your quarterback. Yeah, I think that's a really good point. It is okay to not like him, not have voted for him, but still engage in his economy in a way that's productive for everybody. Like it's it's the way that it is. And I agree with you. I mean, I just look at the Super Bowl advertisements, the the the the way that it was displayed. I mean, you have, you know, Kendrick Lamar out there with red, white and blue everywhere. You know what I mean? Like it was a very different Super Bowl than we've seen.

They were playing YMCA in the crowd and chanting USA. I'm like, yes. Where are we? Yeah, it was like freaking awesome. Yeah, it really it really was fun to like. I mean, I just remember I'm sitting there with my kids and some friends and I just go and I just kept whacking everybody like, are we back? Are we back? Like I just said, it was like, are we? Is it OK to like, you know, be pro America again? I mean,

I always have weird that we have to like, but it's true. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's funny. I, I'll give you this anecdote. I want to get to the WEF, but so I live in New York state, very, very well, my area, I live in upstate. So it tends to be more red, but it's blue in general. Right. Yep. Right. And during the first Trump presidency, if you had a Trump's or Trump campaign in 2016, if you had a Trump sign out, there were people driving around ripping them out, etc. So in August of this year, I put out two signs. I put out, you know, Trump sign and then I put out presidents

are temporary, but Wu Tang is forever and I spaced them about 10 feet apart. And the best part was even my Democrat friends that were walking by my house and they're walking their dog or whatever like. Oh, I like your signs. They're like, I wish I could, you know, I wish I could put them out. But like no one ripped them down.

No one no one stole them. And like that was like a sign for me very early that I was like, something is changing because there was so much energy. I think people are starting to realize that being America first, focusing on Main Street, coming back to our communities You know really dialing into our day-to-day lives and and getting out of all this this kind of you know Except we're focusing on these exceptions instead of what what really the core of growing our country is it's an exciting time And I'm with you

I think it's time to you know if you got capital on the side You know now's the time to have your antennas up, be looking to deploy, be looking to see what's going on, because I think opportunity is going to be everywhere over the next four years. So coming off of that, let's talk about the World Economic Forum. One very cool you're there like, tell what is it like? Like for someone who's obviously never been, I'm very interested. What's it like? And then maybe why you went and what you took away.

Oh, you bet. Thanks for asking. And it was kind of unexpected about four or five months ago, one of the houses that sponsors some of the presentations and panels and events asked me to come speak and represent small business. But can you do that, Mark, and come on your own dime? See, so many people there are

sponsored by governments or big corporations and you know big NGOs like we're trying to deal with climate control and AI and I mean if I hear the word sustainability and AI in the same sentence again I'm gonna like punch someone in the face but but anyway it was a really unique opportunity because I got to speak on behalf of America Small Business and really world small business. So many other countries, you walk into a little pizza shop in Italy and it's a mom and dad trying to pass on a legacy to their kids.

And it's everywhere. Every country is built on that small business mindset and they get forgotten. So that was my opportunity. So I talked about having a family office, having your own family business, having your own board meeting with your little family offices three doors down the hallway on the left with a couch in it. You don't need to be a billionaire. And something I speak about all the time in love. And so I go over there and I expected you

know, to like have be invited to crazy parties where they were planning black swan events or you know, what's going on? You know, am I going to get on a jet and head to some island in the Caribbean where what's going to happen here? Bunker. You get your bunker assigned to you at that time. Yeah, it's like here's your card. If you ever call a jet, we'll call and pick you up. So anyway, I you know, you have all these conspiracy. And the biggest shocker was. And of course, I knew we were going to go to Switzerland in this beautiful

little town with snow and and all these little Swiss villages. It was just gorgeous. But I got there and oh, my gosh, everybody I met, just another business owner. Yeah, there was some corporate representatives and some diplomats and this and that, but everybody was like, hey, you got a card, what's going on? And the biggest takeaway, you'll love this, Americans don't think big enough.

I would be talking to a young couple that just invented a new gin, or another couple that was selling some caviar, or another food product of some sort, another couple that was doing some automotive parts, or this or that, doing some music, any business I would bump into, they're like, yeah, I'm trying to scale this globally,

I'm in five countries already. I'm like, what? And I'm like, we just, as America, we just, we get in our bubble and don't realize there is a whole economy out there worldwide for us. And I was like, wow. And that was very empowering for me because I think there's so many people in the U.S. that do have products and services they could sell worldwide or expand a little bit for some of that. And there may not be a tariff where you want to. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's really interesting. What this idea that, you know, that's contrary to, I think, what most people are listening to. I think most people listening were probably like,

oh, we're Americans. We're, you know, Wild West, gunslingers, you know, the frontier. Like, we think big, you know, everything is, everything's bigger here. And I can see that, you know, so I I come out of the insurance industry. My my home industry is the insurance industry, property casualty. And, you know, it's it's so the regulation, the way people think, it actually has compartmentalized it down to where most people can't think outside their state, right? Because the states are individually regulated for insurance, et cetera.

And, you know, it's a big deal for someone to go from one state to two states, to multi-state, et cetera. And the idea of thinking that you can take an American insurance product or insurance company and expand it internationally is also very foreign. So in my own industry, I can kind of see that. But I would expect like tech or, you know, B2C products, you know, brand products that that would almost be a natural fit. You know, how from your conversations, how would you recommend someone who listening start to think a little bigger about what's out there? And how would you actually do that? I love it. And I want to circle back. I just had a thought to an A.I. you're going to love because it was a big theme. AI is a big issue or opportunity. So we'll cut. But here's the thing.

I tell businesses to first start with, how can you sell your product or services scale? I love to talk about scaling and there's going to be breakpoints. How many employees you need, how much infrastructure software? There's going to be breakpoints to get you to different levels. But the first thing is looking at your product mix and saying, how can I duplicate myself if it's service driven? If it's product driven, what are the ancillary ways that I could make money doing this?

Quick example, I have clients that are, let's go with music. So I had a kid that was very talented and he was a drummer in a band. So, I had a kid that was very talented and he was a drummer in a band and he was in this little town doing drum lessons for kids for 25 bucks an hour, you know, and but he was on he'd go on tour here and there and they were trying to make their break but he being in a band and a drummer was his passion. Alright, cool. So, I'd be like, well, how are you making money? Well, the band makes a little bit of money. I'm working down at a restaurant serving and I give some lessons. I go, that's it. He's like, well, yeah, what else can I do?

I'm like, sit down, bud. Number one, we're going to start doing drumming lessons online. You can do lessons online with live YouTube or live links and start selling, do some riffs on the YouTube, start building a channel and offer drum lessons for fifty dollars an hour live around the world. People can book a lesson with you on how to do the riff you just did. Number two, we're going to start making videos of you teaching kids how to drum 10 lessons, $199. And then we're going to create an ongoing membership to be a part of your drumming community

where they can get together and practice and do online. I call a notes would hold their little drum sessions in the basement and you're going to do that. Number four, you're going to get an Amazon link and start selling drum kits to your students worldwide and make three to five percent on every drum pack you sold. You don't have to have a storefront. Next, you're going to start teaching classes on this online to groups. So not only are you going to have individual lessons, you're going to have group lessons. I don't want to just go on and on.

And you can do that from your basement in Duluth, Minnesota. And he was like, yeah, you can make millions. Become an online marketer for your passion. And so that could be a worldwide opportunity. I just think now sometimes our business is not going to be Yeah, you can make millions, become an online marketer for your passion. And so, and that could be a worldwide opportunity. We just, I just think now sometimes our business model doesn't allow for that. I get it. But sometimes we can think about what are we passionate about?

What do we love? What's, what are some options to sell my product or service that are outside of the box? The world is our oyster now. Yeah, I love that. And I, so I work in AI and insurance now. I had my own commercial insurance agency that I grew and sold. And when I exited that, I became the board member of an AI company that eventually sucked me in because I was so interested in the tool and what we were doing that now I'm the chief growth officer. But I look at it and there's a

lot of hand wringing around AI and what what it's going to do. Particularly our product is focused on the insurance industry. So there's a lot of insurance pressels that are now thinking themselves, well, I used to have to stamp 10 TPS reports and slide them across my desk. And then I'd file them over here. And now all of that can be done digitally and all of it can be done digitally without me having to input it. So like, what the hell do I do? And what I find, you know, what I've been advocating and where I see us going is we start to, you know, all tasks, all non expertise driven tasks are going to be, we'll

call them AI ties out of the system. It's just it's just coming. However, what that does allow us to do is move into fields that are more human to human oriented, like what you just described, right? that could be a sales position. It could be phone position because while I do know AI can do voice I still believe that most consumers with problems beyond just maybe like simple credit card changes or whatever they're going to want to talk to a human they're going to want to connect and I actually had a woman on the show recently and she's talking about how most brands are going to move from their why to their who. And it's starting to become I want to do business with Mark because I like his style.

I like the way he dresses. I like the energy that he brings. I like his take on things. And you know, now I'm not necessarily interested in why you're here, but I really like you. I like you the person. I like the way you deliver it. I like how you talk to me that I believe you care, etc. And there is what the beauty of that move. And this is where I'm interested in your take, if you agree or not, is. It gives every single human the ability to offer their max value. Because no longer is it my value as I show up, I punch in at eight, I slide TPS reports across my desk for eight hours and then I punch out and I go home, right?

It's, what is the unique thing that I can bring to this company, to this set of customers, et cetera, and I can start to, I can deliver that in a way that is unique to me that cannot be replaced And I I think it's going to be difficult It's a culture change for a lot of people particularly those that have been in big organizations but the amount of opportunity that it creates is so immense and so exciting that You know regardless of what the conversation is around AI. I

Can't be more optimistic about where we're headed with it included in our marketplace. So that's kind of my take. I'm super interested in yours. No, I love it. And I oh, so I want to answer it this way, because it is a unique situation where it kind of went full circle. So we get to Davos. And of course, there's AI here, there robots walking on the streets. I mean, it was pretty trippy. Yeah. And my course, there's AI here, there, robots walking on the streets. I mean, it was pretty trippy. Yeah. And my wife, Patty, she's amazing.

We are freaking a power couple together. She makes me such a better man. She was asked to speak on a panel with the ambassador to Switzerland and a real estate developer in Dubai about relationships and about emotion and connection. Because the one, and this was refreshing, is that even the people that were promoting AI said, they can't, it can't replace the human spirit. And so when she was able to talk about emotion and relationships, people were like, bam,

we needed that on the stage because everybody was getting so down that rabbit hole, going so far down the rabbit hole of AI, they forgot, oh, we're humans. So what happened was is through those conversations that started to occur wherever we were going was, if you don't want to innovate, if you don't want to be creative, if you don't want to show creative, if you don't want to show emotion, if you don't want to build relationships,

and you're kind of a task-oriented person, you should be nervous. Yeah, a robot can freaking do your job. If a robot, if you can envision a robot doing your job, you got something to worry about. But if you want to leverage this energy you've got, these ideas, this power, and you want to leverage this energy you've got, these ideas, this power, and you want to build relationships and communicate and build something,

AI is like your superpower because now all of these other tasks that take away our resources and take away our energy can now be automated and taken care of. So we can take our internal spirit to the next freaking level. And that's where AI can be so powerful. And it was just a revelation. And I love your optimism that you're not afraid of it. You're seeing it as a way to blow up your life and make it better.

And some people, they're going to have to make some changes if they want to stay relevant. Yeah, I follow Naval Ravicon on Twitter and he's just an amazing follow wherever you can get his content and he posts these like one sentence things that just like grab you, right? He's got this way of being very succinct but also very powerful and this wasn't revolutionary, but he he's huge into the space and technology. He's been an investor in all these things. And he he had this simple tweet that was I'm paraphrasing a little bit.

It was basically like, if you think like an entrepreneur, AI will never be a problem. Right. And that you just highlighted the one place where I see the most pain as AI becomes a deeper part of our culture is the individuals who they're willing to or have succumbed to just showing up, transacting, whatever widget or TPS report is part of their job or the company they're with and then they go home. And I think if they're doing that in an effort to support say a side hustle or a passion

or whatever, well then there's still opportunity there because now AI brings the potential to bring that passion to make it a full time career. However, if you're the, you know, wake up 30 minutes before the alarm go to work, you know, take your lunch break your two 15 minutes Come home, you know order door- throw on Netflix go to sleep do it again the next day It's gonna be a very painful transition for those people and if you you know My almost my recommendation for anyone listening is if you if you are that person Although if you're listening to the show, I'd be surprised if you are, but if you know someone like that, there's someone in your company like that,

and you feel maybe that sense of wanting to help in some way, starting to have these conversations with friends or you're in your mastermind groups or in your guys night out bowling or drinking or whatever, starting to have these conversations with your friends that you care about to wake them up because it's coming and it's coming faster than anybody. Anybody who's not involved,

it's coming faster than they could have ever imagined. And it's scary. Dude, I've got one for you and you're gonna love this. We're running out of time here, but I'll say it quickly. I came back with a lot of action and some opportunity, but the one I'm really jazzed about, so I went in, I got with this, there were several AI houses that were focused on AI innovation

and with different sectors and different industries and la la la. And so I was networking with a bunch of them, and here's what I'm doing. This is my next little project and I'm so stoked about. So, you know how you go on your Instagram, whatever, and you're verified. Blue, blue check mark. I know that's right. I can, I can trust in that. It's been verified. It's not some other Yahoo trying to be your voice. Well, the technology is, is close. It's really close. Where I'm going to create Mark Kohler number two. So I'm gonna have Mark Kohler number two verified by me.

And I have written thousands of words. I've got five books, I've got over 200 blog articles, 400 podcasts, I've got so much content that I can drive into an AI platform and say, I mean to the T that I say, how would Mark Kohler say this? I can go to several chat GBT and go say, how would Mark Kohler explain the home office? And I am blown away how close it is to even the fluctuation

of my voice. Yeah, I can create this virtual robot that's verified by me to be Mark Kohler number two and I can put him on my website. Ask Mark Kohler a question and I can even charge for this. Say you you can pay X and you're going to get Mark Kohler's answer right here. This is the Mark Kohler number two. Mark's busy out there building relationships, innovating, leading teams out there talking, shaking hands, kissing babies. Oh, but you just need his brain to answer this question. you're not just innovating, leading teams out there talking, shaking hands, kissing babies. Oh, but you just need his brain to answer this question

and you want to hear it the way Mark Kohler would say it and have that verified by him that it wouldn't be bullshit. Go here and ask him a question. So Mark Kohler number two, dude, that's the one. He's going to look kind of like Brad Pitt. I mean, I'm going to go for that. I know I'm growing on my hair from Matthew McConaughey because I love him but I don't I'm not sure what my AI

is going to look like but he's out there out there and he's going to be my partner. I'm so stoked. Yeah. Yeah. You got to bring back the Eagle scene that we got the Bradley Cooper look going to there. No, the reason I love that idea and I've and I've been looking at some of those tools and just researching them a little bit as well is that what it frees you up to do is go have more experiences, more conversations, think deeper about topics.

You can spend more time digging in and getting your hands around your understanding of topics like what we started the conversation about the Trump tax cut proposals, right? And really dig in, give that information to the AI and then go back and spend more time out in the world interacting with people learning, right? So it's like if you also had to deliver all that information it takes away from your time learning, experiencing, growing, gathering more. So it's like it creates this repository that will not go away. That is the accumulation of what you know, and it frees you up to go expand and become even deeper in your understanding so that you can feed the thing more and deeper and richer information.

I mean, to me, it's the future of how content is delivered. I think it's fantastic. Mark, I can't wait to have you back on the show, man. You have free, you know, open invitation anytime you want. I could talk to you for another hour and it would be easy. Obviously, the YouTube channel I want to drive people to. But where else if they want to get deeper into your world, should they go? Oh, thank you so much.

And this has been just delightful as time flew by, dude. You're so I get interviewed. And for those that do follow podcasts, you just kind of know when you're when you're listening to s really is thoughtful and knows their stuff. And tha I really appreciate you h website is a great jumpin a consult with one of my

IRA or 401k over to my tr crypto. And if you're a t financial planner, I'm ce a tax advisors so they can level up in any industry. It's a great community. It's just been blowing up. So markjkohler.com, check it out. I got all this markjkohler.com and I've also got all the social media platforms and YouTube and go live there once a week helping answer questions. But I just want to say the American dream is still alive and real. Let's be patient.

Let's not just jump on every rhetoric statement that's out there. We've got a quarterback on the field. Let's let him move the ball a little bit. He's going to make some mistakes. But holy crap, the ball's moving. And it's crazy that we actually have a press corps and a press secretary. And there's a president out there communicating and doesn't need a teleprompter. And let's have some fun.

Let's build this incredible place we call America and think bigger and be a better neighbor to these countries around us and ask for fair play. I think it's okay. I think it's gonna turn out. I'm optimistic. America's back, baby. Thank you, Mark.

Woo! Thanks, man. Awesome, dude. That was great. In a crude laboratory in the basement of his home. It is 3 AM.