S3:E9 Mike Ficara talks state of the school system and entrepreneurship

This is the 100% Dad Podcast, interviews with dads. We got Mike Ficarra.

Ficarra, Ficarra, Ficarra, it's all the same. Tomato, tomato.

As long as it's spelled right. Uh, you were a teacher?

Yep. Yeah, yeah, taught for the better part of a day.

High school teacher. What part of the country?

Uh, South Florida area. So taught, uh, 9th and 10th grade ethics and Bible, actually.

Okay, so it's a Catholic school or Christian school?

Yep, yep, absolutely.

And you were on the, uh, what, West or East?

Uh, East Coast, East Coast, Fort Lauderdale, Miami area.

Got it. Know it well. All right, cool. And then, uh, do you still teach and you're an entrepreneur on the side, or did you completely bail on teaching and decided to do your own thing?

You know, my wife still yells at me about that because I, I call myself a teacher, but I've been out of the classroom for the better part of a decade now. So my career was really split into 10 years in the classroom and 10 years as an entrepreneur. But I think once you're a teacher, it's one of those things that a label does not leave you. Sure.

Did you ever teach in the public school system?

No, no, I didn't. I didn't. My wife did. Um, I did not. I kind of, uh, accidentally got into teaching, so that's kind of why I was in Catholic school. I just started out as a substitute teacher because, um, I went to Catholic high school and they needed a substitute, and I still didn't even have a real degree yet. And I finally finished it in psychology and got a minor in theology, and the rest is history.

What are your opinions as a parent regarding, uh, the school systems?

You know, I think it's— and, and I still believe this— it starts at home, right? I think it doesn't matter whether you go to school private, public, homeschool, no matter what it is. I believe schooling starts at home, right? And the attitude towards school and the direction towards school all starts at home. Um, so I think that's, that's step one, right? I think if you go in knowing that it doesn't matter what the schools are teaching or how they're teaching or what they do, you know, of everything you believe as a parent starts at home with your child. Uh, I believe that's where true success starts. I will say, I think there's a lot of people that lean on the schools to raise their children a little bit. They send their kids there and almost see it as like daycare. Um, so, you know, even before even approaching how we teach, um, I think, I think that's the first thing. I, I don't think there's enough education. Um, you know, everybody's about what we don't teach kids. I don't think we teach kids how to send kids to school as they become adults, or how to raise them, or how to do that stuff. I don't think there's enough direction. So I think when you look at how schools are teaching nowadays, it's funny, someone even said to me, well, they, they got rid of all the programs, art and PE and all this. And I work with a lot of public schools still with some of my clients. I'm like, no, all that's still there. They still have art and PE in a lot of schools. They said some did, but a lot of still have it. So I think it's tough. I think they've got a tough job. I think they're too big. I think when you look at the education system as a whole, I think some of the districts have become too big. And should be a little bit smaller. I think that our kids will be better served. That's why you see charter schools are so successful, I think, because of a smaller education. I think that's why homeschools are so successful. Be— you know, homeschooling has become so big because you sort of take control of your kids' education and give them a little more direction. Um, but I, I definitely think there's opportunity there to personalize education a little bit more and personalize learning paths that we don't take advantage of. I think that was pretty well said in a nutshell.

Yeah, the parents being involved, um, is big. I, I think you're right. I think it's become a thing where, where parents are upset with the school systems, the school systems for not teaching their kids things, for not, I don't know, watching their kids well enough, for not this and that. And it's the most popular one that almost universally everyone agrees with is our schools should be teaching personal finance. Why aren't they teaching personal finance? It's a real thing that everyone needs to know, and the schools don't teach it. And, you know, it's easy to get on board with that of, yeah, they should definitely have that. And then if you just think for about 3 seconds longer, like, why the hell are these parents not teaching that? That's a parent thing. We don't need to teach your kids everything. Yes, that's— there's a lot of that that can be said. And, um, you know, for me, the school systems, there's so much wasted time Mm-hmm. That kind of stuff drives me crazy. So we ended up pulling our kid out of private school and going homeschooled, and it was just gonna be for a year, and we'll play it year by year. And now I just can't see us going any other way because the amount of efficiency, the amount of customization, the amount of freedom it gave our family is drastic.

Oh yeah, yeah, I can imagine. And I think, you know, and It's easy to be negative about the school system. I think, I think we go in that, but if you look at it too, isn't it great that we do have all these options nowadays? You know, isn't it great that we have— you could, you could homeschool your kid and it's not like the old days where you had to homeschool them and try to find— there's so much online resources, there's so much, there's so much to pull some. There's charter schools, there's private schools, there's, there's all sorts of— like you said, as a parent, it's like instead of like looking at schools and saying what do they offer, go find what you want to offer your kid. There's probably— you want a kid that you know, you want to learn more about personal finance, there's probably a school out there that's focusing on that right now. You know, it's a matter of finding that need, I think.

And the internet makes it easy.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. As the saying goes, just Google it, right?

Right. It's on YouTube and you can figure out what's good. And, and the whole, um, I mean, even with homeschool, like, the whole thing is used to be kind of like, hey, that's where the awkward kids go, they're not going to be socially socially accepted in society, things like that, because they're isolated. And it's— it is so far the opposite nowadays, especially. So we, we live in St. Johns County, Florida, which has been long the number one school district in Florida, and not all that impressive. And those kids are more isolated in public school, in those elementary schools, because there's so much time. There's one school, the elementary school that we're zoned for, they eliminated talking in the cafeteria. During lunchtime. So now you have to— now you have to sit quiet in school, you have to sit quiet in line in between classes, and you have to sit quiet while you're eating. They are generally— they are genuinely less social in a public school than they are in these homeschool— I mean, yeah, they're done. I mean, our kids are done within a few hours. I mean, it's, it's remarkable how efficient we can be. Um, and then they go to the beach with 50 other boys that are up, and they go on nature hikes, and they go on— then, uh, groups of homeschoolers will get because it's such a big thing now and there's such a large community around that you end up spending so much time with other families, with other kids of your same values, you know. And you'll learn from parents who are really good at art, from parents who are really good at music, from— and some of those, um, you know, maybe non-core essentials. But man, a whole lot more exercise, so much more social activity. It blows my mind, like, the— what the reality is versus what I thought it was going to be are Two totally different things.

Yeah. And I think when you look at COVID, you know, obviously there's a negative thing, but you look at the acceleration, I think a lot of people saw that opportunity with homeschooling. It's funny because I always say, living in Florida as well, you know, Halloweens and hurricanes are like ant piles in Florida. All of a sudden these kids show up that you never saw before. I'm like, where are all these kids? Because when I was a kid growing up, like on the weekend, Saturday and Sunday, you're out in the neighborhood riding bikes, playing. You don't see any of that anymore. But like Halloween, and if there was a hurricane, you see kids everywhere. But you know, and working from home, I work from home, and when I go out a lot, you you see these homeschool families, you see them out, you see more of the kids playing outside, you see them at the parks, you see them doing different things. I think it's— and to your point, I don't think there's that much more socialization at school. The fact that they're all together, they're not really carrying that over outside of school. Whereas I think I've seen some of these homeschool kids, they learn how to carry that, that almost work-life balance that we talk about all the time. They, they're learning that in the process, which is a new world you and I are kind of working in. And this is what our kids are going to go work into.

COVID caused— I think the last study I saw was a fourfold increase in homeschooling. So they quadrupled in the course of a year or so. It's, it's growing massively. That's the thing, it's good, and that's parents taking control of the education. Um, and I think it's so easy for, you know, you know, we're getting into a tangent now, uh, but you know, there's a lot of fear. There's usually two main causes is, you know, I don't feel that I can be a teacher. The curriculums are kind of already established and you get to pick from those. So it's not like you just have to know everything about grammar in your head and you're the one relaying it to your kid. You're being guided through a curriculum and you have a teacher's guide just like the teachers have in schools. And so there is, it's, it's honestly a little bit easier, uh, people think. And then the other thing is if you have a two, uh, a two-income household, you know, are we willing to go to a single-income household? Are we willing to rearrange work schedules to where a parent is home all the time? Uh, or things like that. My personal opinion is, yeah, I'd rather make less money and spend a whole lot more time with my family, um, and maybe adjust my life and get a smaller house or not drive the Beamer, uh, or the nice brand new cars and get a couple beaters than, than, uh, you know, work that hard and not see my kids and not be as involved and be complaining about the school system.

Yeah.

Then of course you have the— yeah, because I do think there is— people obviously excel in the public school system.

Right.

Oh yeah, there's kids that are just— they're, they're natural learners and they do really well and they know how to guide themselves through that school system to always be challenging themselves. And there's parents that are really involved in the school system making sure, uh, things are going smooth. Uh, so, you know, it can certainly be done, but I think majority— what I think if we had to pick one or the other, like we have to send every single student in America in public school or every single student in America to homeschool I would say the 100%— the better solution would be 100% of the kids to homeschool. Yeah, that would be— that would be a much more impactful solution.

Oh yeah.

Which of course will never happen. Okay, so how many kids you got?

Uh, I got 4 that I know of, so 4 in total.

Not a great way to phrase that.

I, I said ethics and Bible, those that can't do teach. But no, in all kidding around, on the side, um, I got 4, 4 beautiful children, 3 boys and, uh, one girl.

What are the ages?

So 14 and 11 are my oldest boys, and then I have a 5-year-old son, and then my daughter just turned 4 last week.

So, okay, 4, 5, 11, and 13, did you say?

Yeah, 14, 11, 5, and 4. Yep. So my wife and I made the cardinal sin of saying we were done, and then all of a sudden, uh, lightning— lightning does strike twice.

That's allowed. Uh, how long you been married?

15 years. So we're coming up on 15 years.

Okay, you're living in South Florida, and what do you do for a living?

So it's a great question. I kid around and say I really didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. I taught for the better part of a decade, um, ended up, you know, uh, like you kind of mentioned, being in the educational system. Well, I want to move up, I got to get my master's degree. So I went and got my master's degree in educational technology. And, um, in getting that degree, I was like, wow, this was expensive, and I have to pay for it now. My wife was also a teacher at the time, and we were pregnant with our second child. So I got a job as an assistant principal of curriculum at a K-8 Catholic elementary school. And it turns out they were running— you talk about homeschooling— they were running an online school out of this, you know, small Catholic school. I was like, that's perfect. I've just got my degree in educational technology. They're like, you're going to manage all the curriculum. I'm like, that's even better. So I go in, I take the job. My wife had my son May 29th. Um, and I was supposed to have June and July off to be home with her. And, and I ended up interviewing for that job May 28th, and I drove to the interview and the lady said, how serious are you about the job? I'm like, well, on the way over here my wife called me and said she's going into labor, but said go ahead and take the interview, I'll make you some food for the hospital and then you can come take me in. So, uh, needless to say, I got the job and, uh, went in and kind of freaked out because they were running this startup out of there that I, I didn't know that. Um, but I, you know, long story short, I kind of dug my heels in. I'm like, okay, I guess I got to do this. I just had a new baby, I couldn't afford to get my other job back because they gave it to someone else at the previous school I was teaching theology at. And I really, um, helped grow this company. We worked with Catholic schools all over the country. We ended up going to 38 different states, worked with a lot of homeschool families. This is back in 2010. It was a complete online curriculum, and we grew it to 38 states. And it turns out we caught the eye of someone down here in South Florida, local billionaire. His name was Wayne Huizenga, uh, which if you don't know who he is, I was corrected by this, he is not the founder of Blockbuster, but the guy that really grew Blockbuster, um, throughout the state of Florida. He's our local South Florida billionaire. He used to own the Miami Dolphins at one point, and WastePro.

Yeah, it was the other one.

Yeah, Waste Management. He, he founded that down here. He, you know, just really nice guy. He put about $14 million in the business, and then they really just— we went private, uh, you know, not private anymore, but to the more public sector. Started to work with schools all over the country, private and public. Um, but I was promised a lot of things. Stock options, equity, my own private plane. Um, and of course, being a young naive teacher at the time, I, I didn't know any better. You know, all I had done was be an educator. I wasn't a business person. Um, and I never got any of that. They ended up selling the company. I never got any of that. And once the company sold, I had two options: go back to the classroom. I'm like, wait a second, I learned something here. And I said, I really believe educators were starting to really make an impact as entrepreneurs. So I started consulting for educational companies with my experience and what I learned. And even though I didn't really, uh, make the millions, if you will, that I thought with that, I learned a lot and was able to create this business where for the last 10 years, both public and private, I've been working with, you know, small business entrepreneurs. I'm kind of like an outsourced COO. Uh, we focus a lot on business strategy and marketing, but those are really the two areas. I work with large companies like Purina, Nestlé, NEC, Conica Minolta. I did a project in Israel with an oil and gas company where we did training for them. So I'm still in the education field. I feel like it's just now I'm teaching people how to grow and scale their businesses.

Okay, and what method, I guess, are you using?

So it, it varies based on the industry. Um, I think, I think everyone's got a little something different. We focus a lot on three key areas: sales, Sales, marketing, implementation. And when we come in, I, you know, most of the companies we work for, uh, that, that need growth, uh, we look at those three areas and say, okay, how do we impact those? Where are you doing well? Where are you not doing well? You'd be surprised, there's large companies out there that are, that are, you know, with one salesperson, and you would think, but that, that seems like a really big company. And then I've seen small companies with like 6 sales guys that aren't doing anything. So we try to even that, you know, those different levels out. Um, we look at the marketing strategies that people are using, you know, both organic, uh, and public on social.. And then we also, uh, we really focus on what happens afterwards because I think your reputation is key. So many people are really good at selling and marketing, but they're not really good at sort of that impact of afterwards, and that's where a lot of people fall off. So we really look at those 3 areas. Um, like I said, with some of those larger companies I mentioned, we've been brought in maybe just to do training or training or teaching aspect because we've been really good on the implementation training side. So we've been on, you know, been brought in to do smaller projects with that. But that's really the, the sort of methodology that we look at and that we work in. Within those 3 areas. Because if all 3 of those are firing, a business could tend to be successful of any size.

Interesting. So you had 2 kids, uh, while you were— while you were in the teaching industry, and then 2 kids after you left the teaching industry, right?

Yes, sir.

How old were they when you kind of made that jump? Um, and I guess when you made that jump, was it from— you had a salary position to— hey, you had zero and to go do a complete startup and figure a way to generate income? Or were you— did you find a way to blend the two and work while working on maybe a side job while you get this thing off the ground?

Yeah, when I, when I really got that job at the first startup, they got the big investment. I mean, that was an easy transition because it was kind of like salary job to salary job. There was no, there was no gap. When I— when that, when that ended, it ended rather abruptly because we didn't know the company was going to sell. We didn't know there was going to be movement there. Um, and when that happened, it's funny, the 2 weeks before it happened, I told my wife to quit her job because I'm like, I'm gonna make enough money, we're gonna be good, and everything's gonna be fine. Um, and that wasn't the case at all. So like, I literally went from, you know, having this great— looked like a stable job company I was gonna be forever— to like, they had an opportunity, you know, and, and that was over.

So when they sold, did they eliminate your position?

Yeah, they eliminated our, our leg. We got absorbed into another, into another organization. So we got, we got eliminated pretty much completely. Um, they kept a few key management people, and, and, and at the time the kids were— I believe my oldest was right around 5, uh, and my little one was 3. And it was like, yeah, you know, let's go ahead and do this. And then my boss, who also was above me, like, oh, you know, we kind of partnered up together and combined forces. And it was scary though, because like I said, I told my wife to quit, quit her job. Um, she wasn't going to go back because she was going to take the year off because I was traveling a lot. So she ended up having to go back and say, no, I'm not going to leave. And fortunately enough, um, like I said, she was teaching at a public elementary school at the time. They kept her on. And then just went out and generated a book of business and, and really went out and searched that. The cool thing was is that, um, my kids I think really grew up— even though when I taught they were very young, so they've always seen me kind of doing this, um, being in the entrepreneurial space, you know, working from home— and, and they've kind of seen the, the both pros and cons that come along with that. Um, the thing I like about it is, especially for, for my oldest ones, they see the hard work, you know, and I think they see that, um, they're, they're always very involved because I do work from home, you know, especially in the summers and things like that. And they know that like, hey, you know, Dad just doesn't go somewhere. And, you know, they hear the stresses, they hear the calls. When things go good, they hear the wins. When there's a loss, they hear the struggle. So it's really a good combination, if you will, of, you know, kind of that ability for both me and sharing the experience.

So you're at home with your kids. For a lot of guys, me included, That is a difficult proposition, especially with younger kids, because they just don't— they have a hard time understanding that, hey, Dad's in work mode, Dad's at work, we really can't bug him. I know he's behind that door. I know he just came out to use the bathroom or went to go to the kitchen to get a drink, but that doesn't mean he's there to play. Or, you know, throwing a fit right outside the door while you're on a sales call or something like that isn't the most efficient way to— how have you found, I guess, best practices to make that efficient and make that a, uh, a win-win.

You know, it's like anything else, you just got to set the precedent, right? And let them know, hey, you know, Daddy's working. And, um, fortunately I've been doing this for a while, so they've kind of, like I said, they've grown up on it. The other thing is too, you try not to stack too much, you know, like, you know what, they're, you know, even with the kids when they're in school, um, you know, they go to school outside of the house. So when that happens, you know, I try to schedule all my meetings in the morning. I try not to be on calls in the afternoon because then I know they may be coming in and out. There may be things that I need to do to sort of be there with them. So I was gonna— in the summers and on breaks, that's another story. Um, but like I said, I kind of try to go with the rhythm of the morning. They tend to be a little more quieter, a little more peaceful. Um, and I try to schedule less in the afternoon so that I can break that time up. If I want to stop working at noon, I stop working at noon and spend the afternoon with them. And I think third, it comes down to my wife, right? She's just super supportive and, and, you know, make sure, hey, Daddy's in the meeting, you guys gotta stay in here. She tries to keep them occupied. So I think it's those, those have really been the keys to it. But it's also been, you know, part of, I think every kid wants to be a little bit like their dad. So, you know, even my 5-year-old, he built a little, one of the kids, he took all the Tupperware out of our Tupperware cabinet and he made that his office. And he goes in there with his iPad and he goes, "I'm in a meeting, I can't be disturbed." So they understand the culture. And, you know, instead of getting mad about him taking all the Tupperware out, I'm like, cool, he gets it, you know, like, and you just kind of let that stuff ride.

So tell me about this, uh, this book you have.

Yeah, so, um, you know, I think you wouldn't be a cliché millennial if you didn't write a book nowadays, and a cliché entrepreneur. So, um, although I think I'm on that line of Gen X and millennial, but, um, I, I wrote the book because I, I saw a lot of people putting content out there on kind of overcomplicating entrepreneurship and, and like you mentioned, kind of Um, you know, in some situations you got to make a decision. Do I, do I want to leave my job and become a one-income household? And I think you could become a one, one and a quarter income household, you know, with entrepreneurship, right? There's always the opportunity to start a business or do different things. I called it like socks on a rooster because I feel like people, though, put a lot of entrepreneurial clichés out there about what entrepreneurship is and what it could be. Um, and I think it's different. Like, your network is your net worth. Well, that's only true if you're around the right people and you're leveraging that and asking questions and learning. You know, or this hustle and grind. I mean, I think some people overcomplicated things, and I called it like socks on a rooster because when I was a kid, my father always used to say that, like when we move a piece of furniture around or we, you know, do something difficult and we succeed, my dad would say, oh, it's like socks on a rooster. But I started saying it as an adult and as a teacher early on in my career, and people looked at me like I was crazy. So I really, you know, wanted to name it something that A, would be catchy, and then B, has a little bit of story behind it. Because if you say things in the wrong context, you're going to look silly. So we really broke down in the book, you know, the, the best ways to look at starting a business, the simplicity of it, leveraging, um, some of those entrepreneurial clichés for the things that, that can allow you to be successful, not simply just saying them. Because I think a lot of people, like anything else, get on the treadmill. Like you said, you mentioned earlier, um, people talking about, oh well, they don't teach personal finance in school. If you're a parent and you went a little bit further, you could do that. And that's what the book is about, you know, looking at things that are there at surface level but going just a little bit further and finding the secret sauce in order to be successful.

So what are some of those, uh, tidbits in the book? What are some of those clichés look like?

Yeah, so like I said, one of my favorite, favorite ones that I like is, uh, you know, get comfortable with being uncomfortable. I, I don't think that you actually do that. I don't think you ever become comfortable with being uncomfortable, but I think you learn how to work through the adversity. Um, you know, so scheduling and time blocking, we talk a lot about that, about putting the things you don't like to do first, you know, going in that direction. Um, the idea of, of organic marketing and just explaining who you are on social media, why all that's important, things you're like— you're doing with the podcast. Um, sure, your network's your net worth, but, but if you're not leveraging it, if you're just, you know, guesting on people's podcasts, or if you're just, um, you know, going to a networking event and you're not communicating and doing the proper follow-up and asking the right questions, uh, we put a lot of things in there about, you know, what are the things you want to, you know, talk to someone about, how do you follow up, how do you learn if there's synergy, how do you know if there's signs You know, one of the things that I always say is a lot of people will be piquing an interest in you, but sometimes people just want to talk so much that they're not asking questions and listening. It's stepping back and seeing if people are asking you those buying questions. You know, we talk about the things I talked about earlier, marketing, sales, and implementation, and the key things in those areas, like listening, like follow-up, you know, like keeping it simple and being consistent. We talk a lot about some of those little tidbits in there, obviously woven in with some of the stories and the experiences that I've had. Like I mentioned, you know, going in from that startup all the way to back in my childhood when I used to sell candy on the bus. Um, you know, what did I learn from those things and why did I do those things? And more importantly, um, there's a lot of stuff I put in there, kind of stories from my childhood, because I wasn't a good student in school. I was a bad student. I was always told I'd never do anything in life because I was a bad student. You know, it's now— it's a cliché entrepreneurial story, but when I was a kid, those stories weren't out there, you know. Um, so I felt important to sort of tell mine because you never know who's going to sort of click onto that. And link onto that and go in that direction. So, um, really, like I said, really simple. Everyone, uh, the feedback that I've gotten— I've always said I've written it, wrote it because of what I thought needed to be out there, but I've always been impressed with the feedback I've gotten from people that have read it and say, hey, yeah, just gave me this simple approach to all this stuff I thought was really complicated. It really gave a simple, clear direction. Um, I think it's for that, you know, early to mid-stage entrepreneurs is kind of, you know, who the book looks out for. Um, but it, it really was, you know, kind of a passion project of mine. And like I said, for someone who was never the good student it's kind of neat to have a book and be out there and be able to tell your story.

Do you think everyone is a good fit to be an entrepreneur? Like, it's something anybody can do, or do you feel like it's, it's for a certain maybe segment of the population, a certain traits?

I think if you look at, you know, the word, I think like anything else has gotten overused, right? I think the word entrepreneur is extremely overused today. I think it's like a diet, right? Anyone can go on a diet. Like, and all diets work in a sense, and you're successful at it if you stick to it. So I think there, there's a certain— I don't think it is for everybody, to be honest with you though. I don't think, you know, you, you have to be, you know, I always say you have to be, you have to kind of be smart, dumb, and lucky all at the same time, right? You have to be smart enough to go into business, you have to be dumb enough not to worry about failing, and then you have to be lucky enough to hit the right, the right thing. I've seen some very I've seen a lot of people just trip into entrepreneurship, like, oh, I started a side hustle and started selling one little thing for $100, and then someone bought it, so then I, you know, use that money to make two things, and then two more people bought it, and now they've got like a multi-million dollar business. There was no strategy. It was just kind of like, like I said, they had a smart idea, they, they really weren't trying to do anything else, and then they were lucky. So I don't think it's for everyone. I think, I think more people fail in entrepreneurship who actually go into entrepreneurship itself than people who accidentally go in as like a side hustle, or they're just trying to fulfill a need or do something. So I don't think it's for everybody, and I don't think there's any shame in, you know, I think some people get in the entrepreneurial community and try to shame other people. Well, they're working 9 to 5, they're doing this, they're doing that. I'm like, listen, you know, I've gone to some people that have very nice houses that work a 9 to 5 job for a major corporation, have their own, you know, private movie theater in there. So don't knock 9 to 5. Sure, like, or, you know, is it not always the path to success, but it's also— it could be a path to a good life. So I think it just varies on what you want and who you are, you know.

And it's not always— I was interested— it's not always about wild success of getting that movie theater or having the big house. It's almost about, you know, how happy are you in your life, you know. You can work that 9 to 5, maybe not make a ton of money, and be genuinely happy in your life because things are kind of set, things are expected. It's good it's a good— what— it's a good match for your skill set. I used to think entrepreneurship, and I almost never used the word in relation to myself. I just say I'm a small business guy, I'm a small business owner, like that, because that's what I know. I don't know how to scale you to $100 million a year business. That's not what I did. I know how to do small stuff. I know how to execute almost more owner-operator kind of stuff. Than, you know, than getting much bigger. Um, but I used to think everyone, like, the key to, you know, success is just taking control, which really entrepreneurship is. It says it's all on you. There is no, there is no one else to blame or lean on other than you can try and blame the customer, but it's not their fault they didn't buy your stuff. Um, uh, I used to think because it made so sense, it made so much sense to me that the ROI on go to a yard sale, buy a lawnmower for $50, and you're gonna make a fortune on that if you just get behind it, put some gas in it, and go door to door with some flyers. I mean, it's just, there's so much ROI in investing in yourself. Um, but I quickly realized, uh, not that quickly, it probably took me a good 7 or 8 years, and not everyone has that mentality. Not everyone's okay with failure. Not everyone can juggle handling 400 things at one time. Not everyone's okay with, you know, kind of eating dirt for a while. And not everyone's okay with the extreme— I don't know if it's an emotional roller coaster or anxiety roller coaster of like, you know, every win just feels like a huge win and like you're doing great. And then every time the customer calls disappointed, it's like this huge letdown and like you're gonna lose everything. And what's going wrong, or a supplier doesn't show up. And like, you're almost in this constant exhilaration and panic mode, you know, 3,000 times a day. And that's a wild ride that some people just, I feel like they can't handle. It is just too much.

Yeah, I just did a social media post on that and I said, you know, you really shouldn't be an entrepreneur if you've never worked in a restaurant, because I think if you worked in a restaurant, you understand that level of chaos, that level of like start and stop, that level of crazy. Um, it's one of those things where I think not a lot of people are ready for that, that rhythm. I mean, I remember working in restaurants, it's like you come in, it's quiet, and then all of a sudden just all hell breaks loose, like out of nowhere, and you got 8 tables sat and the kitchen's backed up and there's just all these other things. I think most, most people don't know how to operate in that chaos without direction, and that's really what entrepreneurship is. And, and I think if you look at the restaurant industry, I feel that, um, you know, if you look at waiting tables, it's like that too. And even teaching was like that in a lot of ways. I always thought I was going to get so much more resources when I was teaching. And they just kind of throw you in the classroom like, well, no, figure it out. And then even that, you know, one of my clients, she's same thing. She was told she needed to teach writing. There was no resources for writing. Um, she created her own curriculum, and now, now she has this huge company. Um, it comes from necessity, right? And I think it— in, in what's your desire to be an entrepreneur is— there's not that necessity or that desire to do something greater than yourself, you're not, you're not going to succeed, right? Because if it is, to your point about the material things and about the you know, just whatever you're gonna have. I wrote about that in the book. Like, the worst day of my entrepreneurial career was somewhat when I bought my dream car, because I was like, well, it was, it was nothing fancy, but it was like, it was my dream car. I was running, and then I was like, okay, but like, what next? And I was like, okay, well, like, I realized the material things don't mean anything. You think it's going to fulfill you. It was more about the mission and the work. And I was like, wait a second, you mean I could work this hard and then not work hard and hire someone to do all that work, and now I have all this much more time to spend with my kids? Oh, that's the value, you know what I mean? Like, that That started to be a shift. It really wasn't— I— it wasn't about the material things anymore. I always thought it was, but once I realized it wasn't, it was a whole different shift for me in my entrepreneurial career.

Yeah, no, it's a good way to put it. Um, I enjoyed the life— same, same, almost the same exact reason I like homeschooling so much, because the freedom of time. That's why I liked, uh, owning my own company. Was just because I could leave the warehouse or the office, and I always kept them— my furthest, uh, commute was like 7 minutes. And I moved our warehouses twice, a, because we needed to for size, but we always got closer to the house. To— at the end of it, it was about a 3-minute drive from warehouse to house. It was very simple. Um, but I could be home when things were running smooth. Now, when things were crazy, sometimes I just wasn't home, Uh, but in the good times when everything was going smooth, I was home for breakfast, you know, uh, I would leave before everyone woke up, come back, be home for breakfast, go back to the office, uh, usually be home for lunch, you know, go back to the office, come home for dinner. Uh, it just gave so much time when the kids— and then when you factor in homeschooling with that, you know, they would go to the beach or they would go to, you know, um, maybe the town over and do a hike or something, or they want to go leave on Thursday to go to Legoland, you know, with the whole homeschool group. Can any of the dads come? Well, yeah, I can. I'll just, you know, if there's still a lot of work to do, I can do that on Saturday or Sunday, or I can go in from 9 PM to, you know, 2 AM to get it done. Uh, it just gave a lot of freedom and control, which, uh, was probably my favorite part about it. And just, you know, and also every win and every loss is on you, so I, I enjoy that accountability and that responsibility.

Yeah, yeah. And I think it's like I said, and I, I always get an entrepreneur knocking the 9-to-5ers. I enjoy giving people a job that like working a 9-to-5, right? Part of the cool part about being an entrepreneur is like there's people that are dependent on you, right? And it becomes— it's a different experience, I think. And it becomes— it's one of the things where— and I kid around and say like I always still like, I feel like I'm still teaching because that's what it's about. It's like finding that inspiration, other people finding what's great. When I taught, I would always tell kids like, listen, it's not about the grades you get or the college you go to. It's about the things you do, you know. And, and so many— I think kids nowadays, and I even saw when I was teaching, the parents put pressure on to go to this school or go to this college or do this or do that. It's like, listen, can we just get to a point where like being happy is what's most important? Like, don't we have enough technology and enough things in society now that like— and, and that's why I tell you, it's not hard to replace the $40,000, $50,000 a year income as an entrepreneur, right? Like, that's very doable. Um, you know, you want it— you want a multi-million dollar business, that's a lot of work. But you want to replace your, your $50,000, $40,000, $60,000, $70,000 a year salary, that's doable. A little bit more hard work and a little bit more structure, you could turn into a six-figure business and hire people now to take all those stresses off that you were dealing with. You want to go a little bit bigger, and I think that's just the option. I know I could be making more money on the day-to-day, but I'm overstaffed, and I love it because it's like I get stuff, I just delegate it out, and now my time is mine. Could I make more money by not hiring as many people? Sure, but To me, the value is in, you know, creating a team that allows you to have the freedom to do the things you want. The goal should be to work less, and I don't think enough people talk about that.

Yeah, um, I don't know, because then you go to that other extreme of like— gosh, there was a book out there, I never even bothered to read it because I hated the title. It was something like A 3-Hour Workweek or 10-Hour Workweek or 4-Hour Workweek.

Yes, yeah, I have a, I have a buddy of mine that won't read that book because he's worried it's going to make him want to quit his corporate job.

Uh, yeah, I think I saw it on like— I think I was watching The Prophet or something. I think he did a business because he had invested one up here in Jacksonville. Yeah, like a candy company. Like the landlord of the building or something read that and just was never around. I can't quite remember the story, but just to me, man, that was just a dumb book. The title, it just— and it wouldn't appeal to me because I genuinely like work. I'm probably an addict if I didn't Uh, if I wasn't very conscious to make my family a priority, I would be the guy— especially if I was single— I would build a loft in my office or my warehouse and I would live there 24/7. Like, I don't get people who want to go home and just— I want to work all the time. Like, I enjoy it. Like, it's an addiction to me almost. Um, and so I almost had to, you know, family very important to me, and so I almost had to be very conscious to remind myself that, hey, I know work's an addiction here too, but the family is an addiction as well. So I have to like be able to give in to both addictions.

Um, yeah, and that's tough. I, I had the same kind of— and that was the crossroads I had with my wife when I could have gone back to fighting. My wife turned to me and she says, you work just as hard when you taught. She's like, when you were a teacher, you stay up from like 6 to 10 o'clock at night planning these like insane lessons to teach your kids and then teach all day. She's like, and then you work in after-school activities. She's like, why not stick with the entrepreneurial thing and do that for yourself and grow something. So it wasn't— and I think we're always in that mindset, right? And I'm the same way. I, I love working, but I, I learned to outsource the things I didn't like and focus on the things I do enjoy because it gave me that, that time freedom. And I think, you know, to me, The 4-Hour Workweek, and in having— it's one of those books that I think entrepreneur— once again, entrepreneurs will say you got to read that book because it teaches you how to manage time. It just teaches you how to put a segment. So like, oh, now I could work 4 hours on one business and another business and have 8 hours. Like, to me, now it gave me that, that time freedom of like, oh, I learned how to consolidate and time manage better. So I can do 4 hours on one business and then 4 hours on the second business. That really allowed me to have multiple streams of income. And I think when you look at— and especially today with entrepreneurship, so many people want to go after multiple streams of income, but they haven't even solidified one yet. Solidify one, get that right, get that system working, then go on to the second, and so on and so forth. Everybody wants to be a mogul in real estate, cryptocurrency, owning their own business like within a month. It's like, it doesn't work that way, guys.

Yeah. And so, well, another one of those hot topics is, uh, passive income.

Yes.

I, I, I just genuinely like work, so I don't chase that. I mean, it's, you know, we're— we do investments now, and so it still takes work and everything, but You know, I just, I wouldn't call that stuff passive, but a lot of people— so I was in the vending machine industry, that was one of our companies, and everyone, that was kind of like one of the things at the workshop seminars was like, hey, this passive income, you don't do anything, you stick a machine out there and it just makes you money while you're sleeping. And I think there's a lack of awareness of just how much work it actually takes to A, sell, B, buy product, fill things, repair. Like, that was a full business. That was all the time, you know, we had to have employees that filled them, we had employees that were able to repair them, we had be able to sell and continue to grow. We had to negotiate with suppliers, and you know, it's not as— maybe not quite as easy now. Gumball machine's a lot easier. My kid did one of those. He visited every 3, 4 months. That was probably pretty passive. Um, but yeah, a lot of seminars out there teaching— I don't know, I, I don't know if it's teaching smart people how to be efficient with their money or if it's just trying to teach lazy people how to stay lazy. But make money. I just don't think there's anything— my default's always been just get a lawnmower and mow. Of course, we're in Florida where you can do that, you know, 365 days a year. But man, if you're up north, like, grab a shovel and shovel snow, you know, rake leaves, then mow lawns. Like, works well.

Yeah, and that's the real conversation. I think there's a lot of people now— you make a great point, it's not that difficult, right? But there's a lot of people waiting to pay, willing to pay an entry fee to learn about entrepreneurship when it's just that simple, but they're not willing to do the work. So I think there's a lot of people out there scamming people out of their money, saying, come to my seminar for $97 or $997 or whatever it is, and they're giving them the basics which are right in front of their face, but they're not taking advantage of it, but they're not willing to do the work even after that.

I hate them when they're— I hate them when they're the upsell to the next course.

Oh yeah, to the, to the weekend seminar, to the 3-day event, to the weekend seminar, to the online recurring income course where they teach you how to do the same thing. That's not fair. That's the reason why I never call myself a business coach. I feel it's almost dirty, right? Like people are just teaching people how to, you know, help other people to help other people. That's a Ponzi scheme.

Yeah, that kind of stuff drives me crazy. Trying to think, the other thing that drives me crazy is the whole minimum wage argument.

Yeah.

Which everyone complains. I get the logic of the money scenario. I don't understand the people that are in that money scenario. Uh, where they're actually working for minimum wage. Like, don't. Yeah, there's other jobs. Like, yeah, apply somewhere else, do something else, and improve your skills. Go work for yourself is always an option. Um, there's just— sometimes you just have to look at people. And I said, I said this to a lady once and she got really upset. There's 12-year-old girls that make more than you an hour babysitting.

Yeah.

And you're in your 30s complaining. Just take control of it and find another business. You don't have to work for that company.

Yeah, yeah. And it is, and it gets to the point where, and then you'll complain why you're paying $10 for McDonald's hamburger. Well, you want— or there's computerized things there and they eliminate the people, right?

You—

they want—

oh, and that's the way it's going to go. I mean, it's going to be You're going to self-order, just like the grocery stores where it's self-checkout. You're going to self-order. The stuff's going to be mostly mechanically made. There's going to be a few— just less people there. And McDonald's has career tracks. Like, if you're in there, and they all do, like, they have paths for you to work up into management and corporate. Uh, and so take advantage of those. But yeah, to work for it and then just complain, I, I just don't get the complaining. Do something about it besides—

I think it goes back to what you said in the beginning. You know, one of the things that's really wrong with the educational system, and I'm sure we go off on a whole nother tangent on this, I know we're coming up on time, but We don't— we teach that college is the only path, right? We don't teach enough about vocational and career schools and that there's other options besides college. And I think it's like, you're either going to be successful or you're going to be failing, and you have to go work this minimum wage job and hope you survive. And then people are like, well, shouldn't that minimum wage job pay me more then? Like, it's like, no, like, show people all the options they have. I know plenty of people that went to college that are, that are not that bright and not doing that well. I know plenty of people that didn't go to college and doing really well and are really bright people. You know, so it's not always the litmus for success. I don't think we paint that picture enough for people early on.

Yeah, the, the trades. Well, yeah, hey, in the school systems, um, it is 12 years of training you to follow, training you to stand in line, training you to, you know, not necessarily be as critical of a thinker. They're training you for those 9 to 5, sit here, do this quietly, drone-type jobs. Which is what the world needed for a while. And I guess there was a place for it, you know.

I, I get excited for my kids and everyone's like, oh, well, don't you have like a Florida prepaid for your kids in their college? And I'm like, no, listen, like, I don't know what that's gonna— I don't know what the world's gonna look like when it's time for them to go that, you know, to college and all that's happened. So I've left the door open for them to choose different avenues. And, you know, I think it's— and, you know, it's one of the things I talk about. Everyone's like, well, don't you want to create generational wealth? It's like, well, not really, because like I kind of want them to go earn their own way. I don't want— you know, everyone has seen the inherits their own money um, it doesn't tend to do well in life. So I said I really like for them to earn it and then to have the opportunity, you know, be able to provide the opportunities that they, they can go to Harvard. I'd love to be able to provide that to them, but I don't think that's a litmus test for my success as a parent, you know. And I, and I think too many people hang their hat on that nowadays.

Yeah, well, yeah, so we don't do the prepaid, we do a 529. So it's basically an investment vehicle, um, and yeah, and, and there's contingencies for that. A, you can always pull it out if your kids don't go to college. It can be used for any higher education, not necessarily college. So, you know, those trade schools you were talking about earlier, um, which are incredibly lucrative now. If you're in the trades right now, you name your price, you get whatever you want. I mean, just because it was such a knocked-on thing for so long, now there's not a lot of skilled trades— electricians, carpenters, plumbers— because, hey, you know, that's a bad way. And those guys are making a mint now, laughing to the bank, because there's not enough of them. And so that's a great way. Of course, that'll shift again as everyone— they'll probably start up all the schools again promoting, hey, come here, you'll make the fortune. And then, then there's going to be an overabundance of them and it's going to shift again. Yeah. So, but you can use the 529 for those higher— any sort of higher education. And then you can also transfer it between siblings or you can save it for, you know, grandkids or things like that. So it's not necessarily lost or you can always just pull it out. You just have to Uh, I think you have to pay taxes on the growth.

Yeah, I think it's just on that part.

I think, I think there's some penalties if you don't use it for education, but it's not the worst thing in the world. You're still prepared. And then worst case scenario, you had an investment that, you know, you have to pay some taxes on.

Florida prepaid for me was just the worst. I'm like, why am I going to lock my kid into going to some Florida college in 18 years? And I don't know, they're like, oh, lock it in when they're born. I was like, yeah, no, I'll do a 529 and call it a day.

No, we've got— so I just did a podcast on college stuff that hasn't come out yet, but I've already recorded it. There's a lot of interesting tactics, the, the paying for college and things like that. And in Florida, we have— you, you know this— we have the Bright Futures thing. So if you do well in school, um, you have decent GPA, you know, they'll pay for some portion of your tuition based on— I think it's GPA-based. And then as long as you're, you know, you're continuing to do well in school, I think it's all GPA-based. I'm not sure if it's has any other, uh, factors, but just hours or something like that. But yeah, then they'll keep paying for your tuition. And so that makes— I think when you have like— I can't remember the numbers, but University of Florida, which is like the public school, the public, uh, university, uh, was like incredibly cheap when you factor that kind of stuff in. Yeah. So, uh, there's— I mean, there's methods to it, and we just— that would be a whole separate tangent of, uh You've got the 4 kids, you work from home most of the time. Uh, you got the book, you're promoting the book, uh, that's for entrepreneurs. Um, you help companies, I guess the company you work for. So you're not working with entrepreneurs then, that was just kind of like a side thing. You're working with more bigger companies to kind of streamline their sales, marketing, and execution.

Typically we work, usually the larger companies, we're like the NECs, the, uh, Purinas, the Nestles of where they contract us out from, you know, on project need basis because those ships are much bigger to move. And then I have like, it's, it's pretty much split. And then the remainder of my other clients are smaller size companies. You know, we have some people in telecom. I have one lady, she's a chef. I mentioned Lisa, the educational company. Um, it's just a variety of different industries. So like I said, it's fun because I'm always working in sort of a different space in the different industry and learning about it. Um, so it's exciting. We have software companies, telecommunication companies. So just a variety of different groups that I get to work with.

Okay, so the whole company that you have now, is it— are you just— well, you said you hired a bunch of people, so I assume it's not just you.

Yeah, we're about 18 deep. I do have a marketing company that I partnered with someone on because that was a big thing that I had missing, um, on, on my side. We were doing a lot of, uh, the sales strategy when it came to marketing. That's not my area of expertise, if you will, skill-wise. Um, so I was always trying to find right marketing companies to contract with, and I couldn't find one. So I ended up sitting on a board with someone, and she wanted to leave her corporate job as a chief marketing officer, and asked me to help her out on that transition, and then she's like, well, do you want to partner with me on this? So now I own a piece of a marketing company as well, um, which is Brand Ethos, and my partner Alicia there. So that's the marketing company for the majority of my clients. They work on that. And then Mags, which is my company, um, it's kind of really become like a holding company, uh, and that's where I have my team, uh, you know, that, that manages sort of all the processes and everything that we do. And then we have a team with Brand Ethos as well.

Okay, uh, and so like, I guess, what's the What, clients are coming to you saying, hey, we need to grow, or we just need to become more efficient?

It's, you know, it's so funny. A lot of times, uh, I do a podcast as well, and I put a lot on social media. People like, I don't know what you do, Mike, but I feel like we need to talk to you because I feel like we're unorganized here. We're unorganized, and, you know, maybe our marketing's not right. So we'll come in and I'll help them with that. Or, hey, we're looking to grow. Um, like I said, I'm not the guy to take you to $100 million, but I'm definitely the guy to take you from, like, if you're doing, you know, under a million and you want to get to that $2-3 million supplier. Um, you know, I get a lot of people that come in with that, or they want to transition out and start their own business. We get a lot of people in that space as well. Um, so usually it's, it's somewhat word of mouth. Um, like I said, I've been really good about putting content out there, and I just believe that that kind of works. And then we get referrals from clients we're currently working with. Um, and some of it is, is just, you know, stuff that I seek out. Like, I was really interested in doing some stuff in the cigar industry, um, and, and saw someone I knew that was in there and just started asking questions, and now we're working on a project together. So it just varies on where the clients come from, variety of places.

All right, cool. Is there anything else you wanted to, uh, jump on?

Important for dads like us to get together and just talk about things that are going on. Like I said, I believe a lot of this stuff is just putting it out there so that, you know, sometimes it's like a buffet. You take what you need and you leave the rest, you know. So hoping that somebody got some value out of this. The book, if anyone's interested in it, my website's mikeficarra.com. The book's there. Uh, if you enter in the code podcast, uh, the book's listed at $19.99, but if you enter in podcast in the store, you get it for 99 cents. And shipping and handling. So I always do that for anyone who I'm on a podcast with, um, so that you guys can get that, uh, kind of, you know, almost free of charge, if you will. Um, and, and just really appreciate you taking the time to have me on. This has been fun.

Absolutely. I appreciate that. Thank you, boss. That was fun.

All right, sounds good, man. I appreciate it.

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