How a 19-Year-Old From the Bronx Built a Luxury Empire From One Handshake

0:00This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human Ernest, what's up? Look, when you think about discovering small brands what store pops in your mind? Well, it should be Walmart Seriously, Walmart has thousands of small brands and they're all in one place Just go online or in store, discover and shop It could not be easier Every one of these brands has a real story and real people behind it They're true American success stories and you can find them all at Walmart Discover thousands of small brands at Walmart.com today.

0:58You worked hard for your money. Now make sure it's working hard for you. Download the Empower personal dashboard or visit Empower.com. Not an Empower client paid or sponsored. When traveling for events or festivals throughout the country, every dollar matters. We compare flights, prices, hotel rates, and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check lift before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day depending on traffic, weather, and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert, out to dinner, or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check lift could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience.

1:37Save money. Check lift. They don't realize smart people use smartphones, huh? Seeing through BS they thought was going to slide. Download TextNow because it cuts out clownery. You can literally activate it from your couch. Nationwide 5G with the same towers the other companies use. Pay what you want or not at all. You're in control. Show these ridiculous carriers we ain't paying for stupid. Because we're way too smart to pay dumb. Free app-based talk and text via the TextNow app requires Wi-Fi or data connection. Data plans sold separately. 5G where available. So, you know, you spoke at a school that we was at in the Bronx a few months ago.

2:17and it was such an impressive story from an entrepreneurial standpoint and just going to InvestVest and how that's actually altered the trajectory of your life that we was like, man, it's just, A, we want to, you know, highlight young entrepreneurs, some people that are doing well in the community, our form of give back. But I also just want you to just kind of tell your story if you can, as far as how you got to Market Mondays. yeah so this is completely crazy because i envisioned this literally the first time i went to invest fest because i was watching guys before even going to invest fest but first year at invest fest i want to thank um kevin rightly for you know sponsoring our atlanta trip um council member from the bronx he invited us and about like i think it was 70 other students completely free five-star hotel and I was able to actually go I was invited and that first year I had nothing to show for I had no business I was 17 years old fresh out of high school class of 2024 and I just wanted to go and just be around the environment of entrepreneurs high-level individuals and actually learn so being there I was just shaking hands with everybody like I was you know I was telling you guys earlier um I was trying to schedule calls with people i was trying to get on zoom calls schedule this try to see how could i learn from somebody or get a mentor etc and that alone just led me to create connections and actually interact with certain people but at invest fest like i said i wanted to give a thanks to sherman brown because he has a larger network as well and being there i actually met somebody who was involved in a business i was interested in which i now run jacks out of rentals and ever since then we just did well connected his name is pj he's a mentor of mine and ever since then it's just been on since there came into invest fest the next year this is invest fest 2025 and i was actually able to pitch my business to you guys you know i was able to pitch to troy um mg and i was actually a winner of the youth scholarship pitching jacks out of rentals showing um my vision with it what does i actually want to do what's my plan how i actually want to scale and ever since then i've just been well connected with the people around me like i said i want to give thanks to kevin rightly thanks to sherman brown and as well as my high school principal miss bray from bronxville preparatory academy for bringing on sherman brown to lead me to meet kevin rightly so it was just all a bunch of steps and just time time in the way and now we're here going into invest fest 2026 and i'm gonna market mondays with you guys somehow you know so it kind of mind boggles me like i don't even understand it you know so so just to just to so just to put it in perspective before trey goes so you how are you 19 yeah i'm 19.

5:13so you're 19 years old you're coming out the bronx you come to invest fast you meet a mentor essentially you start an exotic car rental business and then you get, how much money did you get? $5 ,000? It was$1 ,000. $1 ,000, okay. You got the$1 ,000 and then you parlayed that, but now you actually have a successful exotic car rental business. And we actually used you because somebody, I'm sure Troy will tell the story, but somebody needed a car. So you pretty much straight out of high school and you're up and running and you're like a real entrepreneur that's out here moving. Thank you so much.

6:01I appreciate it. So yeah, it's like we're actually serving real clientele. We're actually providing these vehicles, chauffeur services, daily rentals, weekly rentals on exotic cars, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls Royces. any vehicle you can name we have access to and we can put you in whether it's a daily rental or a chauffeur you know you got a date night you want vacation airport drop off you want to live that luxury lifestyle sometimes people just want it for the moment you know so we're here to provide that service and it happened like this yeah it's an incredible story and again this this isn't just like some theoretical like story we're telling this year we have some kids that were in our neighborhood going to the prom they called us day of no joke we day of hey guys can y 'all help i need a car i was like i know the person to call we we call xavier he gets a card this is probably how many hours maybe three hours four hours yeah probably five hours max four hours yeah you get the job done this is the the idea of networking across prom season is a big season for you.

7:11You just came out of prom season. First question is most people thinking like, wait, this is an 18 year old kid, 19 year old kid. How was he able to get these cards? So talk about the process of having your mentor explaining to you the game and how this was on your vision board. This wasn't something that came out of nowhere. You were on your vision board and saying, I'm going to get there when I'm 30. You didn't know you'd be at 17. Not at all. So yeah, like I said, when I actually met my mentor, once again, his name is PJ at invest fest me and connected and i was telling him yo look at my notes i literally have in my notes from about maybe 2023 or 2022 saying i will own an exotic rental business or it was under it was labeled as future businesses and under it was exotic rentals and this is something i thought i would have to scale into like later on in the future and he was just like wow there's no way etc and then as me and him continued talking i was like wait i think i know your your your business and me and him actually had a convo because what's crazy is this such a full circle moment i try to book with him for my prom so i actually try to get a rental vehicle for my prom i was trying to get a lamborghini huracan but i was 17 years old so you know i didn't meet the requirements i had no full coverage insurance no no 21 plus license and then you know he didn't let it happen you know i was a little tight but i had to go in my mom's car but that was cool so i mean but um so yeah meeting um meeting the mentor like i said he was actually able to show me the game and tell me you don't even really need to own these vehicles there's people out here that have Lamborghini Uruses that they don't even drive them and they're just paying that monthly car note and it's just sitting there it's a depreciating asset but a lot of people do say vehicles are depreciating assets but when it comes into the rental game we can actually make them appreciating assets as in dealing with the expenses and then everything profit from there so just to sum it up investors having a broad network and you can also you know own the vehicles yourself as well but there's a lot of like you know using investors etc where it's like there's no risk on the table source the client you manage the vehicle you're able to get the job done quick question for you can for the parents who may be watching with the kids tonight can you talk to us about the power of youth uh mapping out a vision plan and telling parents not to limit the beliefs on their children because you started incredibly young and most people think you have to wait till you're 30 but talk to the importance about getting started early as an entrepreneur and what advantages the youth have over people that are older yes most definitely so i always said i always felt like i was behind even now i'd be like i wish i started when i was 13 14 instead of playing fortnight like i wish i was it's a crypto i could have been one of these crypto kids you know but i mean it's it's all guys time you know but yeah you really have to do emphasize youth financial literacy in general because simply just plant them the seed and a young individual could just blossom the whole entire generation so like my whole mojo and i get this from sherman brown is i want to um break generational curses and create generational wealth you know because i'm from the bronx i was born and raised in the projects but the ambition and the the vision that i have for myself being that people that had more or people that learned more or was experienced poured into me at a young age i've now opened my mind to something completely different from let's say the average 19 year old whereas i can vision my life being completely different from, let's say, the average Joe, like, you know, let's say a nine to five or corporate, you know, I actually see life from a different perspective now that I zoomed out when people were able to pour into me from a young individual, I mean, from a young age.

11:05And that just goes to show how much, literally just a conversation, a conversation where a person could completely change their life. And that's pretty much all it took for me, going to these events, being partnered to aim high and just shaking hands, meeting all these high-level individuals, show you there's so much more to life if you just put your head down and work for something greater than what is normal to everybody. Ernest, what's up? Look, when you think about discovering small brands, what store pops in your mind? Well, it should be Walmart. Seriously, Walmart has thousands of small brands and they're all in one place.

11:40Just go online or in-store, discover and shop. It could not be easier. Every one of these brands has a real story and real people behind it. They're true American success stories, and you can find them all at Walmart. Discover thousands of small brands at walmart.com today. Before you sign off, you tuned in for ways to help teams move faster, make sharper decisions, and turn scattered context into work they can use. ChatGPT for Business can help. ChatGPT for Business gives teams a shared workspace with admin controls, permissions, and access to work and codecs in ChatGPT. This means your business can move from question to answer and code to rollout quicker.

12:21Join over 10 million business and enterprise users worldwide already using ChatGPT for work. Download the ChatGPT desktop app or contact sales to learn more. Earners, what's up? Look, building wealth isn't just about making money. It's about knowing where your money is working for you. That's why we partner with Empower. empower is all about helping you invest well so you can go out and live a little their free empower personal dashboard gives you a complete view of your financial life in one place track your net worth monitor your budget analyze your investments set retirement goals and more you've worked hard for your money now make sure it's working hard for you download the empower personal dashboard or visit empower.com not an empower client paid or sponsored when traveling for a events, or festivals throughout the country.

13:12Every dollar matters. We compare flights, prices, hotel rates, and restaurant options. So why wouldn't we compare rides? Personally, I always check Lyft before booking a ride. Prices can change throughout the day depending on traffic, weather, and what's happening in the city. If you're headed to a concert, out to dinner, or catching up with your friends on a Friday night, taking a few seconds to check Lyft could leave you with more money to enjoy the experience. Save money. Check Lyft. This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human.