James Dumoulin: Authority Hacking & Growing Your Platform

24:02Maybe you need to kind of work on yourself more. Maybe you need to build up your credibility a little bit more. But I think that that's ultimately one of the things to do. Now, if you're somebody that has no credibility whatsoever, right, in our case, we started just attaching ourselves to the University of Texas. Hey, we started a channel here. Then it was, okay, now we could attach ourselves to millions of followers, X amount of billionaires interviewed. So we don't necessarily struggle with having to cling to that. But I always like to tell people, and I'll just use Tom Brady as the example.

24:30Tom Brady is the greatest football player of all time. Can I add value to Tom Brady's life to become a better football player? Absolutely not. But maybe there is something, maybe it's content. Maybe there is something that I could disproportionately do better than Tom Brady. Maybe it's somebody playing the piano. Granted, maybe Tom Brady has no interest in learning how to play the piano. I'm just trying to put it in perspective for people that if you have some sort of skill set that is like very, very unique and you can double down and become one of the best in the world at that, you can attach that to people.

24:58In our case, one of the reasons why we were able to attach ourselves to so many people is attention. That's one of the most valuable things in today's world. A lot of rich guys, like they have more money than they can do. Now they want to give back. Now they want legacy. Now they want attention. Now they want media. So that's kind of been our unique skillset that we've been able to add on to other people. And I think that this is very important as well because another one of my favorite interviews I've ever done is Robert Herjavec, the shark from Shark Tank. incredible interview and such a nice guy as well.

25:24And I remember asking him the question, Robert, what do you think is more important? What you know or who you know? 95 % of people are going to tell you who you know is more important. But he said the biggest piece of, and again, I don't like to cuss, but I'm going to say it verbatim with what he said. The biggest piece of advice that he's ever heard people say is that who you know is more important because you and I both know that if any, if you are on a high level at all cylinders, you're a busy guy, you have all the opportunity in the world. You are not just going to give your time to somebody unless they have some sort of like value that they can offer you.

25:53Now, maybe you do meet that, you know, young person, you can see the fire in his eyes and you can see that he's got a lot of potential. Maybe he just needs somebody to pour into him or her and, and, and you ultimately do that. But 95 % of the time, it's like, you're going to ultimately be with people that are going to make you better, you know, add value to your life and vice versa. You're going to do the same. Life gives to givers and it takes from takers. So big advocate in giving back and giving to other people. But the lesson there was that you have to be, if you become the brand, if you build it, they will come Right if you become super successful and great at something People are naturally gonna come to you and then it's like you don't have to worry about you know who you know So I know that was a bit long-winded.

26:31No, I actually think there was brilliance in there as frankly every answer you've given That idea of associative credibility University of Texas in the very beginning now it's your the size of the show But it could also be a cause you affiliate with you know that you're American cancer or whatever it might be or the make-a-wish foundation So if you have associative credibility, if you don't have it yourself and creating that we even do that in branding in my companies now When we get to a certain level we'll associate with the PGA tour or NASCAR. So our associative credibility You can do that on a small scale as well Authority hacking.

27:04It's this is such a this this is such a good Well, you've you've mastered this bro Like no one's ever said that on the show and it's actually one of the best answers ever because it is true This this idea of it by the way once you get one as you've said hey I've got a show with blah, blah, blah viewers. We interviewed Tom Cruise. We interviewed Ed, if I should put myself in that category. We've interviewed Gary Vee. We've interviewed whoever. So you're right, finding a way for that. There's another thing you do I think maybe you don't even give yourself enough credit for. Most people, including me when I was your age, I had an allergy to rejection.

27:36I mean, it just, I was afraid of it. And it destroyed me when I would get it. And I think if we were to cut out all the crap, why don't people post more on social media? Why aren't they starting a show why aren't they writing their book why haven't they started the business or why isn't the business growing why aren't they selling more if they're in a sales business it is fear of rejection endo story right full stop do you have that and whether you do or don't what have you done to mitigate that fear yeah i think it's important that everybody knows this right a lot of people they see our channel now they see that we've got millions of followers But what they don't see is I posted 400 times on Instagram and had 50 followers.

28:18Wow. I posted for now we have 3000 posts and 8 million followers on Instagram. But I posted 400 times on Instagram. I still have the screenshot of it and had 50 followers. How many people do you know would keep kind of posting after that? Most wouldn't. Most wouldn't. So I would say I definitely do not have a fear of rejection. You don't have the fear. I don't have the fear. Now, there have been times where like I've been rejected and it's been very discouraging and kind of like where I've maybe lost a little bit of sleep over it. to be completely honest with you. But I would say I definitely don't have the fear.

28:47Again, I go back to the worst thing somebody can say is no. You know, I interviewed a gentleman recently who just sold a roofing company for high nine figures in Dallas. And he said that you can't take rejection personal. They're not rejecting you. They're just rejecting your offer. And so I feel like if the more that you can kind of just not take the rejection personal. And again, I go back to that idea of like, there's been so many like countless times where there's people that had said no to an interview at first, or it went through and it was initially a no. I just, again, it just means you got to try a little bit harder it means you know doesn't mean never just means not yet and so I've really taken that uh to to my heart honestly and I think that this is one of the most important things that people need to learn how to overcome is that fear of rejection you know again I'll name drop him again because he's it's true he talks about this a lot but Gary Vee said it is literally an uh a pandemic as far as people worrying about what other people think about them It's crazy.

29:41You know, they're worried that, oh, they're posting content, they're wanting to grow their brand, and somebody from back home is going to see it and send it in a group chat and clown them behind their back. It's like, who cares about those people? Those aren't even your real friends. And oftentimes, especially once you start to kind of take off and become a little bit successful, that's when it gets the worst because people are like, because you're doing something that they know that they could never see themselves like ever doing. And that hurts them. And therefore, they're going to project their own insecurities and things on you as if you're a bad person or that you're corny or that you're a clown.

30:12So again, I love this idea that nobody else's thoughts ever paid my bills. That's so good. Which is so true. Bro, you know how you do in a good interview? When my guy's behind the scenes, I'm watching multiple times, they've gone, wow. Yeah. Seriously, that's so good. Yeah. I'm going to give you a hard question now. I've been so nice to you. So now I'm going to give you a hard question. Do you worry at all that you, by the way, I say this with respect when I say it, but do you worry at all that potentially you are projecting to young people or people watching your content? You know what I mean?

30:48That social media thing. It's every guy walking into a Lambo or whatever. Do you worry that people begin to think that someone like your father who served our country, who made a huge difference, who's clearly a stud and a leader and has major influence on people, but he probably didn't become a billionaire working in the military, right? Do you worry that content about rich people, and that's not all your content, begins to pervert or morph people's view of what success is in the world? Yeah. Do you ever think about that? It's a very, very valid question. I've never actually been asked it before.

31:22honestly. I can see it on your face. That's a really good one. Thinking about it now, I think it definitely does have the potential to do that. I think that it probably does a bit more good in the sense of like people can genuinely feel expired and they can be exposed to something like hearing the fact of like people that had come from rock bottom or had lost it all and were able to make it all back and what their mindset was in that moment, whether it was clinging on to faith, whether it was, you know, finding a loved one that was able to help them or just really grinding. So, look, I mean, I'm a huge advocate and believer that, you know, especially we're going to need people that go in the military.

31:59We're going to need people that ultimately work jobs. And I think every job is a great job ultimately. Like if you can, you know, make a living for yourself and your family, like not everybody's able to do that. So it's a really good question. I'd love to see you at some point do. But by the way, I asked that question, believing what you do is great. Sure. Just so you know. And I believe people want to be on the inside of watching people who have accumulated wealth, including somebody like me. That's why people probably listen to me a lot of the time as well. So I'm not saying that. I didn't mean to put you on the spot.

32:29I just wanted to hear your heart about it. And I wanted the audience to hear. I shook your hand when we first met. You have a ton of humility. I can tell you come from a good place. And I don't think you think wealth is the only means of success. And I just wanted to give you the chance to actually express that. That's the only reason I asked you. No, I appreciate that. Just so you know. Are they happier? So you're only getting these moments, but some of you've got to know. Tell us, is a guy worth$600 million or a lady worth$600 million or$800 million or$1 billion or$10 billion? Are they any happier than your dad or a schoolteacher, or are they less happy?

33:04Or would you say the money part's irrelevant, the people are people? I think it really comes down to the person. I've been able to meet and spend a lot of time with these people behind the scenes, and I can definitely tell that there is definitely a lot of emptiness in a lot of them. For example, Will Smith, per se, he talks about this idea of clifftop. There's rock bottom and then there's clifftop, right? And he says clifftop's the worst thing in the world because you can be at the pinnacle of success, but it's like you come to that realization that it's like, where else do I go from here? Especially for that person, that feeling of never, ever getting comfortable and never getting satisfied.

33:40You're always chasing something. It's a blessing and a curse because from a business standpoint, from a success standpoint, it's always great to have that mentality. Mike Rapoli, one of the favorite guys that I've been able to interview. I mean, that guy, just the way that he thinks is incredible. It's just a raw obsession about business and success. But he talks about when the big guy, when the big entrepreneur on top starts to get comfortable, the starving entrepreneur is going to come up and eat their lunch. And so that's why I feel like a lot of them, it's important for anybody that I think have that mindset.

34:09Like if you want to build a great business, you do have to realize that it's like, okay, when I get to a million followers, it's just the beginning. You have to keep on going, keep on going. But understanding that there is definitely a lot more to life than just the financial means of success. Like having that. I've noticed that the people that I've interviewed, when they do have a very healthy relationship with their family, a good relationship with their kids, like, again, you can't worship God and mammon, right? And I had an incredible conversation recently. uh it was actually yesterday i interviewed tim tebow recently and one of his business partners scott donnell just gave me a call just checking in and said hey anytime you need five or ten minutes to to kind of talk um i'm happy to and he goes he goes do you know what what what mammon is right and he was saying that how most people think mammon is just money and he's like no mammon is just the uh idea it's like wanting more of something constantly wanting more wanting more wanting more and so when he said that to me it kind of like just made me think a bit about that and it's like it's very true so this idea of like having to kind of like surrender yourself to god as far as that being the most important thing and kind of about like the humility thing the reason why i think that's so important is because even though we've had you know i say we because it's me my brother and childhood friend that are all partners in this thing together we've had tremendous success in our early to mid-20s i still have that realization that like i'm extremely insignificant in the sense of like there's ultimately a creator that's much bigger than me that is is running this whole thing and at the end of the day we don't take any of that money with us and that's the one thing that I would probably challenge a lot of these guys that are you know worth billions of dollars um and that are that successful it's like do they really think that like this goes on forever you know because it doesn't and so I think that the ones that do have that humility and that belief and understanding that hey this is great I'm gonna leave a legacy you know I've created a great company I did this but at the end of the day there is I think a lot more to life and from from a fulfillment standpoint that these people can have.

36:06So I think a lot of the happiest ones are the ones that actually have great relationships with God and have a belief in a higher power and a creator, honestly. I'm proud of you, bro. Great answer. Timmy's been on the show a bunch of times. He's one of my good friends. Tim Tebow? Yeah. He's a good guy. In fact, he was just on a few weeks ago. Yeah. And Gary's been on, and Rob is about to be on. We're about to interview him. What's it feel like? So take us inside. You had a dream and it started to happen. What's that feel like? I think a lot of people would just love to know, like, do you, when the dream starts happening, because I know how it was for me, but I'm not being interviewed right now.

36:47I'm asking the questions, but like, is it, oh my gosh, this is happening? Or is it completely different than you imagined it? Is it the pressure of not losing it? Like, oh my gosh, this could go away. What's the feeling like as a dream you have at one time starts to materialize itself in your life and then you're walking through your life is there part of you that's like I can't believe I just talked to Tom Cruise or or what's the whole process feel like as a young man going through it one of the things that I've really had to instill in myself along the way with my partners as far as with all these things that we've been able to do is to take time to celebrate the little wins I feel like oftentimes especially when you're building something great and trying to achieve something, oftentimes people forget to look back and feel a sense of, you know, proudness for themselves and just to really think about your blessings and be really thankful for like what's happened.

37:37So we've tried to be a lot more intentional of like we close a big deal or, you know, we land a huge interview and we do it and it goes well, then, you know, ultimately, like we try and take time to really take that in and think about it. I also think that one of the most important things for anybody is to understand this idea of momentum, you know like last like last year I was probably on 100 to 150 flights probably beyond the same amount if not more this year just continuing to go all over and the reason is because you know with over 20 million followers now like I want to and again it's it kind of does go back on some of the things that I just talked about but it's like I have the understanding that like if I if I do stop somebody else could easily come up and I'm like I want to continue to just build this moat I want to continue to just grow this thing as big as I possibly can and take advantage of the momentum that we do have.

38:32So if that means like, you know, I'm going to interview another huge NBA team owner out in New York next week and, you know, just continuing to do all these great things and awesome collaborations. It really does feel amazing. It does. And I'm very thankful and blessed for it. But I also do, I think, have that part of me that like feels like there's so much more to still do, honestly. Good. Yeah, you do. You were much as given much as expected actually after meeting you I'm glad you're one of the young people that has influence in the world. Thank you I think it's been you have a stewardship, you know, man There's a lot a lot of people that look up to you that are gonna continue to look up to you If you come back and do the show with me here in a couple years You're you're gonna have 50 million and you just will right because I don't think I think you understand momentum when it's a very fickle friend And if you don't keep feeding momentum It can go away momentum makes a guy like me who's pretty average seem a lot better than he is.

39:27And that momentum is a magnifier. And you want to do everything you can once you get it to feed it. Most people do the reverse. They get some success. They start to think it's them. They cool it. They start to sabotage themselves. And then it goes away. Sustained success is understanding momentum is a blessing and continue to feed it. So I'm really grateful that you said that. Okay, two more things. And I wanted to ask him in this sequence because I opened up with this. But you did something unique. I opened up with, he took something that could have been a weakness and he flipped it into a strength, which is your age.

39:59A lot of people think, I've got this, this isn't going to work because I'm middle-aged. This isn't going to work because I'm too young. It's not going to work because I'm not rich. It's not going to work because of my career or whatever. But I actually think if you were a 50-year-old dude who started this channel and started walking up to random billionaires, I think that part of a successful person who wants to pay it forward wouldn't exist. So I actually think your age, do you agree? in an odd way, was an advantage walking up to these more senior people because it was almost out of respect and looking up and looking for advice.

40:33Would you give someone advice to say, look at what you think your biggest deficiency is, and it might actually be the catalyst for your uniqueness as well? Yeah, I 100 % agree with that. I think our differences do make us stronger. And I do think that this idea of reverse mentorship is so powerful. And I learned this from a gentleman named Mark McLean. He sold a company to Oracle for hundreds of millions of dollars. And he now is, he started and is the CEO of a publicly traded company. I think they're called SailPoint. They're worth several billion dollars. And he's actually based out of Austin, incredible entrepreneur and a great leader as well.

41:06And, you know, he talked about this idea of like one of the most important things that they do with this company at his company's reverse mentorship, where he knows that, hey, even though I'm an older gentleman, a lot of these younger guys can actually come in here and teach me a lot about the new technology, about the new branding side of things. Whereas I have a lot more kind of skin in the game. I've been around for a lot longer and those years of experience in business can certainly teach them. So I do think that that idea of reverse mentorship is very true. And look, I've probably been turned down by a lot of people also because they didn't see enough gray in my hair.

41:40And that was probably definitely a very real thing. So I do think that it is important to understand where people have their strengths and weaknesses, but yes, those weaknesses, whether they think it's their age, whether they think it's their gender, some people think, you know, it may be color of skin for some people. Um, right. And I think that people can ultimately, you know, maybe utilize those two advantages in some ways. Find a way. Cause it actually may be true that it's, that your age was going to hinder you doing this, but you found a way in the way you approach university of Texas, the way you leverage that weakness into a strength.

42:11I think it's a key. I did it in business too. When I was very young and I was coming up in business, I thought no one's going to take me seriously. So I had to become so good at what I was doing that all of a sudden, oh, he's a prodigy. Prodigies aren't 60. Prodigies are young. So the fact that I was very good at what I did and very knowledgeable and young was an advantage. So I became a prodigy instead of just a young kid who didn't know what he was doing. So there's a way to flip that. What about AI? Do you worry about what AI is going to do to the influencer space, the branding space in general?

42:44Behind the scenes, everybody should know, my peers who are influencers or business people or self-improvement are concerned that they could be replaced by AI somehow or that it's going to change monetization or things of that sort. Virtual mentors, if you will, on social media stuff. Because you're at the cutting edge of this stuff. You're talking to everybody. What are your thoughts about that? It's also honestly a really great question, a very relevant question. See, we're talking about that culture right now, the packed platform algorithm culture. You're leaning into that, which I love. When it comes to AI and content and just kind of the future of that landscape, personally, I would first of all advise people that if you think that AI created content for a personal brand is going to do well, no.

43:26I'm not a fan of people using AI to duplicate and clone themselves and create content. Personally, I just don't think it's up to the standard in terms of like that being better than an actual person creating content. So let's first kind of dupe that and establish that first of all. Second of all, I think with AI coming up, it is going to make it incredibly much harder. And this is why this is a great time for you to ask that question and people to listen. Because if you think it's hard to go viral on social media now, you wait for the next three to five years. Because think about it this way. with ai you're going to be able to start posting 10 000 20 piece 20 000 pieces of content at once so think about how like when i think about it this way right i started posting on tiktok when pretty much since it's a couple months after its inception when it really started to take off like 2020 was the year tiktok just over over to google that's the number one search engine but 2019 was when i started to post so right before i would say most people started to get on it.

44:25And I would tell people then, you could post anything then and go viral. And I'm not kidding. Some of the stuff that even I posted or that went viral then, it was way easier to go viral compared to now. I'm being transparent and honest. You have to put out great content in order to go viral. Let's be very clear. Where social media is heading, it already has become, but I think it is increasingly becoming less about the amount of followers that you have. And I genuinely, genuinely mean that why because some of the biggest business creators in the world like i see they have thousands or millions of followers on tiktok and some of them are their last 10 posts are getting 20 000 views on tiktok i notice it too so which is crazy and that's the majority of them like let me say that like that's it's not like it's like one or two people it's like no that's the majority of them um i think instagram's done a bit of a better job of of where if you have the audience and community your stuff will tend to perform a little bit better on there that's why I think TikTok is like the best test of like a content that's like viral and like a great piece of content because TikToks, it's not necessarily about the audience that you have, it's about how great that content is.

45:33And that's why it's never been like a better time to focus on pouring into and building that brand because I do think that even three to five years from now with AI coming onto the scene, it is gonna make it a bit harder to build a brand and stand out with people being able to, where you know now and a year ago you're only posting one piece of content or two or three pieces of content at once for different channels now with being able to clone accounts like some people are probably going to be putting up 10 000 000 pieces of content a day on behalf of their brands and whatnot think about what that saturates the hell out of a you know social media feed and whatnot for people so i think it is very important uh to to get in now i think you're right i think also the other thing you said that's true is like it's more important how the content's good Oh, 100%.

46:17And the cream will always rise to the top. Yes. And a human being putting out great content organically, I think, will always do better than some AI-generated content. And by the way, when I see AI-generated content now, I know what it is when I see it. I can even tell when people are reading content that's AI-generated on their podcasts and stuff now, too. It's like it's made people very lazy to be creative, and I think the space is going to open up even bigger for creative people. Well, exactly. It's like you don't want to take the human element out of things. Right. Because you can tell. Like, nobody wants to listen to somebody who's robotic.

46:49Right. You know what I mean? And don't get me wrong. Like, I do think that using tools to your advantage to come up with creative ideas, strategy for punchy, bold things, sound bites and whatnot, like, absolutely big advocate in using it for things like that. But I think for the most part, it's like, it does make people lazy. For people that are writing copy for their ads, like, you can tell when somebody's using, you know, AI-generated stuff. You know, the other thing, too, is, like, humans evolve. And so right now, the stage of AI, it's still pulling from what already existed. So even when I ask AI, what would Ed Milet say about self-confidence?

47:23It tells you what I would say about self-confidence three, four, and five years ago. Not what I would say about it now as I've evolved and learned more and had more experiences. What is the biggest thing that you would change? Like three years ago, Ed versus now. Great question. How are you being the interviewer? Well, no, I want to know this. Well, I think that I used to believe that self-confidence was exclusively about keeping the promises that you make to yourself. I now think that self-confidence is stemmed a little bit more in my own case from intention Meaning my confidence doesn't always just come from my ability, but my intent to serve so like when you and I are done with this interview I'm about to go speak to I don't know seven eight thousand people right in this arena that we're doing this in I'm gonna want to go out there as a confident expression to myself I'm not gonna go out there confident because I think I'm the greatest speaker in the world I'm gonna go out there because I've attached my confidence that my intention is to make a difference for these people My intention is to serve them.

48:14And so I can't control the result of it. So Wayne Dyer said this to me when he was alive. I met him at one point and we became dear friends. But he said to me, Ed, you're going to change the world. And I'm sure he said that to tons of other guys. But to me, I was the only guy he ever said it to. And he said, and it's not because of your talent or the fact that, you know, God gave you a pretty deep voice or you're smart guy or whatever, of which I'm not. he said I just think you have a beautiful heart and you intend to serve people you intend to make a difference you're a good man it was the first time in my life James that someone gave me a compliment I believed because I didn't think I was very talented I don't think I'm that smart but I do think I'm a decent man and when he attached my ability to do something to my intent and not necessarily the skill I believed it and so he said all your life if you'd attach your confidence said when you walk in a room to your intentions that's what i picture in you james when you walk up to tom cruise even though that one was staged but whoever it is anywhere i don't think you're walking up there confident like i'm a badass i'm the best ever i think you're walking up there with an intention to learn about them an intention to learn yourself an intention to transfer that information to your audience so i think your confidence is stemming from i'm here to do good and i so i think confidence is more that than i used to i love that yeah i hadn't heard that before but i love the idea about it being from like an intentionality standpoint yeah well and then the reason that's important that i'm gonna ask you a last question that means anybody can be confident i'm not saying don't get great at what you do i mean i've worked very hard at being a speaker right that part's the that's the that's the little leagues but the question is how do i walk out there is the best expression of that practice so that the a game comes out not the c game i think when you watch a great athlete when they're expressing their craft they've put all the work in, but I think the confidence comes from I've put the work in, I've kept the promises I make to myself, and my intention is to win here.

50:12My intention is to dominate. My intention is to serve, if I play for the Red Sox, win for the fans, win for Boston. So I think intention matters. That's just my piece. But you're not interviewing me. I'm interviewing you. Last question. By the way, this has been a great interview. Thank you. Like a 10 out of 10. I just want you to know that. You don't need that acknowledgement, but I love when I'm doing something that I know is going to make a difference in the universe, which is what you did today. So thank you in advance because I'm going to have a last question. It's a simple one. Most people listening to us or watching us right now want to be happier, want to be wealthier, want to make a bigger difference, right?

50:46They want deeper relationships. Basically, they have dreams that they want to make come true. Most of them won't. Most of them won't. You are. So what advice would you give to them that currently aren't making their dreams come true as a place to begin to actually turn that around and be a little bit more like you've been? I love it. A couple of things. Um, number one, you're not a tree travel, go see the world. You can only grow to what you're exposed to. Um, I'm, I, I'm a big believer before the time I was 20, I went to 20 countries and what that did for my mind and my perspective, seeing the world.

51:21I remember when I was nine years old, I was in Cambodia. I got to travel to all of like the countries in Asia when, because my living in South Korea. And I remember, uh, I was nine years old, floating around on like a river in Cambodia. And I like looked out and I saw this little boy who was floating around in a trash can lid, arm cut off and a snake wrapped around his neck. And I was like, what that did for me then, seeing that at 10 years old now is like, I often think about that whenever I'm like stressed or worried about some big problem that I have. It's like, you don't have problems, dude.

51:52You don't have problems. And so that was healthy for me. I think traveling, being exposed to different cultures is very important. get out of your hometown. If you're not in an environment or a place that where you have like-minded people that are wanting to achieve more for themselves, I like to say that the best decision I ever made was moving from the Washington, D.C. area to Austin, Texas. Growing up in the D.C. Virginia area, I'm very thankful and blessed. It was a great community that I grew up in, you know, great schools that I went to. You know, my dad was at the Pentagon towards the end of his career, so that's why we were ultimately there.

52:22But all the people around, you know, D.C. is structured. It's centered around government jobs, contracting, politics, defense. Everybody's top level of success to them is going to get a$100 ,000 government contracting job. I didn't want that for myself. And so when I ultimately moved out to Austin to be with my brother at the University of Texas, I'm exposed to people that are authentic, people that are like-minded, that are young, they're building something great, and it causes you to want to do the same thing. And that was a very important decision. So I would tell people that if you're not in an environment, it's going to cause you to grow, you know, you talked about proximity and what the frequency that that leads to in yourself.

52:57But yeah, that proximity is power where you can go in a coffee shop and you can see a guy sitting down who just sold a company for$400 million and he's in a t-shirt and flip-flops. And so I think that that was very, very important. You know, people will take you places that money can't. I think that it is very important to, you know, build up a solid network of people from a, they can help you mentally, they can help you from a business standpoint, they can help you from a spiritual standpoint. I think that's very important. I think especially as you are starting to grow in your business, it's important to have, you know, people around you that can keep you, help keep you grounded and give you those insights that it's like, hey, when you start to feel this type of way, just remember this, go pray about this, go reflect on this.

53:33And they can relate to you and they can kind of instill in you and pour into you some of those lessons. And then I would, you know, kind of end by saying that we're in a skillset-based economy now. You know, I just interviewed, one of the random guys I interviewed out in London was a guy who was an investment banker, owns a hedge fund now and he was talking about how, again, it goes back to this idea of what you know versus who you know. And he's one of the few people that will tell you what you know is more important. And he said years ago, it was what you know. But he was saying that one of the governors of the big banks out in London is complaining that his daughter can't get a job anymore.

54:04Now, 20 years ago, that wouldn't have happened because of nepotism. He would have made a phone call and this person got a job. But if you have connections and you don't have anything of substance to offer those people, those connections are worthless. So I think that That's a very important thing. You know, find that skill set. In me, it was constant. I became one of the best in the world at constant. Was able to grow my own brand, then grow other businesses, and then kind of also help attach that to other people, which helped me build relationships with people. So become, you know, great at one or two things.

54:35You know, the wealthiest people, they, you know, I mean, some of them now they have a diversified portfolio. But like the myth that the average millionaire has seven streams of income, it's not true. you become great at one or two things. And then eventually, you know, you diversify. Like one of my favorite sayings is that concentration builds wealth, diversification keeps it. I just bought my first piece of commercial real estate right in the middle of Ohio State,$5 million building out there. It's like a kind of like a shopping center there. So it's right next to the highest grossing potbelly in the country.

55:03So and again, that was the byproduct of, again, concentrated so hard for a couple years, we're able to build businesses on the back end of what we were doing and monetize in a way where we weren't done with our money to where now it affords you to diversify and make those investments to where you'll be getting paid every month for the rest of your life. So I think that that's a good one. And last one, because I got to end it off with one more sound bite. I interviewed a gentleman out in Houston named Deal Woods. And I remember him saying this. He said, stay small enough, long enough, and you'll be big enough soon enough.

55:35I took that with me because when we were making$30 ,000 a month off of just Facebook ad revenue, That was our first stream of income on Hard Knocks. It was$30 ,000 a month off just Facebook. Didn't have any businesses at the time. But one of the commonalities that I've learned from hyper-successful people is this idea of reinvesting back into the business, reinvesting back into the company, back into the company. So when we were making$30K a month in profit, my partners and I were only paying ourselves$2 ,000 a month. And so, but that was important because even to this day, we still do that. Now, what's important about the lesson about the$30K a month is that$30K a month went to less than$5K a month because we got demonetized on Facebook.

56:12and that's why it's also important that as a content creator you do not own the content that you post once you post it on that platform instagram owns it tiktok own it they can decide at any time to ban you in your content that's why that diversification piece is very important because you again you can't control what happens to your content if you get a content violation or strike so you need you need to understand that and realize that you need to find a way to monetize like you can't build a business off of just ad revenue um but what that lesson there did was because we were so good and diligent during those couple months of making only 30 grand and paying ourselves two grand just to cover our expenses and put everything back into the business is it gave us a couple months to go back to the drawing board and then figure out an appropriate way to kind of like monetize that made sense and you know even to this day where our businesses do one to 1.5 million a month in revenue we do about seven to eight hundred can profit i still pay myself less than 20k a month you know and everything else is going back into the business hiring, expanding, buying, you know, investment, you know, cash flowing, appreciating assets.

57:10So that's it right there. You're an impressive young man. Thank you, sir. I, uh, please stay this humble and confident at the same time. Thank you. Yeah. That was a great conversation today. Thank you. I appreciate you having me. Oh, bro. I'm glad I did. Yeah. This is my pleasure. This is James Dumoulin, you guys. School of Hard Knocks. Go check him out. Share the episode today. This is one of those that'll go, go very viral. God bless you, everybody. Max out.

57:45To be continued...