Coach Carroll

We are live. Coach Carol asked me, you guys, if I got his media stuff. I'm like, wait, I don't, I don't prep. No prep needed means, doesn't mean like, wait, with colonoscopy? No. Where you can go in the box and there's no prep needed. Actually, that's kind of where I got the name from, is the idea that, you know, you know, there's no prep when you do it in a box. Anyways, let's get off that subject. Welcome, welcome, welcome to this brave man, Coach Carroll. I have no idea who he is, but I do know that when you go to like find him, type in coachcarroll2rs2ls.com and ignore everything with, uh, Peter Carroll, who doesn't really matter in this world. It's all about Coach Carroll. Coach Carroll, introduce yourself.

Yeah, I appreciate you having me here, uh, excited to, uh, be on live with you. So, uh, shout out to all your listeners, followers, and fans. Uh, my name is Coach Carroll. I'm from Louisville, Kentucky. I'm a author, a motivator, a speaker, entrepreneur, and I'm on a mission to educate and elevate entrepreneurs all across the globe to make a billion-dollar impact. So I'm just fresh off of my book tour for my book The Hunter Head Game, and so I'm sure we'll talk about that a little bit. But jam-packed right back into the studio and excited to be here with you.

I love it, I love it. What does it mean, a billion impact? What does that impact mean?

So yeah, so I want to make a billion-dollar impact. I want to help 100,000 people put 100 grand in their bank account. Um, and so that'll be a billion-dollar impact. And, uh, yeah, I had a guy come up to me after one of my seminars I did, uh, down in Florida last month, and he said, you know, Coach, I could get you to your goal a lot faster. Like, instead of 100,000 people, $100 grand, you could just put a billion in my bank account, like, you'll be there, right? And I was like, well, if it worked that well. So, uh, but yeah, that's, that's the mission, that's the goal. Um, so yeah, we're excited to, uh, be doing it.

All right, so yeah, he missed the word impact, which is really funny because that's, that's the point. One person is not an impact. But okay, so how are you going to go about and do this?

Uh, so, you know, it's about, uh, creating, uh, content that helps, uh, educate entrepreneurs. Uh, you know, I, I have been doing this my entire life. So my senior year of high school, I turned down 8 football scholarships and, uh, basically passed on a traditional career path of being a chemical engineer, started my first business, which was a lawn care company with $300. I was a Walmart weed eater, Walmart push mower, and I say the ugliest beat-up F-150 in all of Kentucky. And, uh, as I like to say, an entrepreneur was born. And so grew that business about $3 million in revenue, sold it, and then since then I've bought, built, and sold other companies and ventures, uh, syndicated real estate transactions. I've got about 70 units here in the Louisville market. And so, uh, and then, you know, now I'm writing books and, uh, being a dad. You know, I've got a 2.5-year-old daughter and 8-month-old son. And so we're, uh, we're living our best life out here on the farm. They went with me on tour, which was really fun, uh, and to have them, um, with me so I didn't have to miss any milestones. But, uh, yeah, that's, that's the idea, is that if I can help energize, motivate, and educate entrepreneurs. You know, I don't know about you, but I've never had any government entity show up and save anybody that I know of. Typically, it's the entrepreneurs that create the solutions in this world and provide the jobs and the opportunities. And so I'm a big fan of small business, I'm a big fan of entrepreneurs, and those are my people. And hopefully there's a few of them tuning in today.

I absolutely love that. We're live, by the way, on Chatter Social. Leah's in the room, the community manager. Leah, take a second, say hi so people hear the voice if you can.

Sorry it took me a second. I was sharing. Hi, everybody. Glad you're here. So happy Coach Carol is here. Just ready to hear this interview. Let's go.

Thank you. I love that. I love that. I love being live. So, Coach Carol, what do you mean, a book tour? A tour? Like a book tour?

Yeah, yeah. So I mean, my new book just came out called The Hunter Head Game. So, uh, you can buy it at thehunterheadgame.com, Amazon. We just got picked up in Barnes Noble as well. Um, so it's out on bookstores now. The, uh, this project was 10 years in the making. So it was a 500-page manuscript is what I started at. And let's face it, I'm dyslexic. Uh, you know, I never went to college. And I, I did— I went to community college for like 3 semesters and then dropped out. And it just wasn't for me. I was trying to make my mom happy, right? She was like, you know, you didn't go to any of these big you know, schools, like, can you at least try a community college? I was like, yeah, I'll go take business classes. Um, you know, oddly enough, my third semester, I was like, hey, I want to take business finance. And the lady that was registering me for classes, she was like, oh, you don't have the prerequisites. And I was like, what's that word? Right, it's a $9 word. She's like, well, you haven't taken the right classes to be able to take business finance. And I was like, all right, well, what do I need? She's like, well, you need accounting. I was like, that makes sense. And she was like, and you need a humanities credit. And I was like, to take business finance? And she's like, yeah. And unfortunately, the only class we're offering this semester for that humanities credit is History of Rock and Rock and Roll. And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, timeout. I can't take business finance to learn how to better run my company because I haven't had freaking history of rock and roll. Are you kidding me? And she was like, sorry, this is how it works. And I was like, well, it doesn't work for this guy. And so I dropped out shortly thereafter. But this was a 500-page manuscript. Uh, we went through multiple editors, and after like painstaking, like, Zoom meeting after Zoom meeting of like, you know, uh, DJ, you said They were there. They were going to be there. Which one? I'm like, I don't care, man. Let's just get the book out. Right? And like, and so for me, I use ChatGPT and Claude to basically edit every other chapter in the book. And so I want to be very, very clear. AI did not write this book. It helped me edit the book. And so the stories, the lessons, everything that are in here are from my actual real life. And I learned a ton utilizing AI to write this book. I just think it's one of the cool superpowers that are out there, man. It shows you like even a dyslexic kid from Kentucky can, uh, you know, edit and publish a 260-page hardcover, uh, book with a dust jacket. So, uh, yeah, that's— we've been on tour. We did, uh, Tampa Morning Blend News Show. We— I just got back from Vegas. We did their, uh, morning show out there on their ABC affiliate. I just got off a Dropping Bombs podcast with Brad Lee. Uh, that thing should come out in a couple of months. And so, uh, we did seminars and sold thousands of copies. So it was a good time.

Okay, I have a question. I have a question. Okay, so The Hunter Head Game. So without knowing what the book is, um, I'm going to say that I'm going to get this completely wrong. My first thought was that it would be like people that are looking for, um, like hunters, like, uh, that are looking to hire someone and they're looking like what's in their head. But I'm like, no, but I can't because this is your story and The Hunter Head Game. And then I'm thinking maybe you're, um, Maybe. No, see, I don't even know what it's like. You want to take a guess? Hi, James. Come on up. That is really funny. I literally have no idea what your book is about.

So, yeah, I'll tell you this.

And I guess, oh, yes, we're game players here. Something about a headhunter.

She's so clever.

I guess I'm wrong.

No, it's not about a headhunter. So the idea is that we've kind of lost our way as hunters. You know, the saber-toothed tiger doesn't come to the village and steal little kids anymore. Um, you know, nobody really hunts for their food anymore. Maybe it's because I'm from Kentucky, right? And most— so it's like I still hunt every season, but it's like, uh, you know, Uber Eats is at the push of a button. You don't really hear about a kid ever starving to death in America, right? Like, life has gotten pretty good for us, uh, and I think it's made us soft. And so I, I saw this especially coming out of like the post-COVID world that I think that we've kind of lost our edge a bit. And so my battle cry in this book is that the old world rewarded obedience, meaning go to school, get a job, stay in a career for 30 years, get a pension. The new world that we're going into that is currently being disrupted by artificial intelligence is going to demand killer instincts, meaning that you're going to have to learn how to hunt. Um, if you're 55 years old right now and you get your walking papers and they say, hey, thanks for playing, but we're eliminating this entire department because AI is going to do it now, you're not going to be able to go across the street or across town and get a job at another company that's doing the same job. Because guess what? They've eliminated all those jobs with AI as well, right? And so I think entrepreneurship in the next 36 months is going to go from a nice-to-have to a means of last resort. It'll be the last door that's open for a lot of people. And so, uh, you know, for years you've heard guys like myself and Bradley and Grant Cardone and like these thought leaders say, hey, Go be entrepreneurs, go build the thing. It's great, right? It's awesome. Like, it's not easy, it's hard, but like, you should try it. And I think a lot of people are going to wake up over the next 36 months and go, holy crap, I can't find a job anywhere. And they're going to realize that the only means for them to control their income is to take that into their own hands. And when you do decide to make that change, you'll quickly learn that being an apex hunter is 80% a head game. And only 20% skills, tactics, and execution. And so I talk about the frameworks that I use to keep my head game sharp over almost the past 20 years of being an entrepreneur.

Wow, that's so interesting. First of all, I do want to say to you that I can tell you kids are starving because I do Debate the News: True Crime. I'm a host. We go live on Chatter Social, which is really interesting. And then you could— you guys, it's on every platform. Debate the News: True Crime with Joseph Loasco. Adrian Barker. But so yeah, and then when you mentioned killer, I'm like, oh yeah, there's a lot of killers too. My algorithm tells me every child that is out there being starved and locked in some room somewhere. It's so sad. But we're not here to talk about that, but that's what was the first thing on my mind. So the Headhunter. So is it a little difficult when you have a name that you have to explain for your book, or does it flow?

No, it's the Hunter Head Game. So as long as you're not dyslexic like me and read it backwards, it's not Headhunter, it's the Hunter Head Game. So it's Pretty self-explanatory.

That is interesting. I know I like where you're going, actually. And I have, I have a couple books that I've written, but they were with an AI program, pod2book.ai, where the episodes turn in and I could do an anthology book, which Leah is in one book and she'll be in the next book too. So I get that. Okay. So now, now your coaching part of it, where does that come into your business?

Yeah, I don't really do any one-to-one coaching anymore. Uh, I actually talked about this on Bradley's podcast, Dropping Bombs, uh, the other day, is that, you know, 10 years ago I was out there visiting with him and he was like, yeah man, I mean, if you want to be a coach and like travel around, live in hotels, and, you know, have to eat out every night and like be on the road, like sure, go ahead, have fun. And I was like, oh, it doesn't sound as cool when you put it that way. Um, and so, and then, you know, one-to-one coaching, like I mean, it's great, but it only scales so far, right? Um, there's only so many hours in, in a day. And so, uh, for me, like, I'll, I'll take on high-level consulting clients, but, uh, for, for the main focus that I have right now is my AI software platform that we're building. The Coach Carroll name is just like what I created in 2015. And so for the last decade, I've been building my personal brand as, as Coach Carroll. And, you know, as I, I like to think, like, you know, I don't need people to pay me to be their coach. Like, I I put out content every single day. Like, you can— all it costs for me to be your coach is to follow me on Instagram or YouTube, right? Um, and then I'll be able to deliver information that'll help you.

I love it. Okay, wait, you had said something about— I can't remember what you just said. Shoot, I really need a pen. Okay, hold on, let's share your screen. Okay, okay, I like that though, that you're, um, that, that how you do it. Okay, guys, I'm sharing the website. So if you are listening on the podcast and you won't see it, but so tell me about like your website and what your goal is. Is this right now all about getting the book out there? Just trying to get a better idea and how as listeners we can support you.

Yeah. So, you know, obviously the book's available everywhere. I built an AI companion to go along with it. So if you're not a reader and you just want to be able to like chat with an AI companion that's trained on the book, that's there. Um, and so yeah, you've got that on the screen now where you can click on that and pick that up. Um, obviously I've got some online resources and stuff at coachcarroll.com, and then you can find all my socials there as well. But, uh, you know, from a business perspective, my main focus right now is building Allie, which is our front office AI agent. Um, I hopped on ChatGPT super early, so November of 2022, as soon as it came out, um, I hopped on and I was like, holy smokes, you know, I've been making content for a long time, and I was like, if this thing can help me make graphics or images or whatever, like it was called DALL-E back then. Uh, and so I said, make me an image of a family standing in front of a house. And so like, as it loaded down the screen, their faces were melting and their like fingers were real long and skinny. And I was like, all right, uh, it's not there yet, but a mantra that I live by is technology is undefeated, meaning that eventually I knew that the technology was going to be there. And so, um, we're to— we're there now, like absolutely, right? Uh, fast forward almost, uh, 4 years later. And, uh, so yeah, I saw this as being the future, and I realized quickly about April of 2023, I said, hey, you know, I think in the future, I really do think that in the future small businesses are going to have human employees and they're going to have AI employees. And so what we were able to do is kind of create Allie. And so she runs 3 main functions in the business for the front of office. These are high-impact jobs that typically require training, onboarding, and skill, but often are low pay, which makes it an absolute pain in the ass to hire for, right? Super important job, but you can't pay a lot of money for, so you typically have turnover. So build, manage the website, engage with your social media, and then answer your phones. And so we think we have one of the best voice agents in the game right now. She is a true streaming audio AI voice agent, and so she can hear voice inflection, tonality, things like that. And don't take my word for it. You guys can all call her. We don't, we don't set up demos. You can just call and talk to Allie. We call it an interview. Most software companies have demo meetings. We have interviews. So you can call Allie. It's 502-401-1234. So 502-401-1234. Give her a call.

Wait, wait, wait. Let me put it in the chat. Wait. You're killing me. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I'm enjoying this so much. I— wait, wait. I can't. I can't. This is like too much fun for me. Okay. Hold on. All right. Hold on. I gotta put that number. I wanna get that number. Well, I can get that number afterwards. I'll share the number. I'll be, I'll be generous. Alright, that is really cool. Now, what is this? What is this? I see.

Yeah, you're in the Notebook LM. That's the, that's the Hunter Head Game campaign.

Why is it not coming out? Wait, hold on. Why is it not? I'm like, no, don't tell me I'm stuck here. Hold on, share this tab. Uh-oh, I can't even get back to you.

Did you break it? No. Oh, no.

Yeah. I think I did. I literally think I did. Let me— okay. Oh, wow. Okay. You saw that, and I asked it a question. I wanted to know. I had a question. I love— first of all, I have to say, you and I, dude, we are, like, so much alike because I created a— I created— I have a podcast, a YouTube video, a book, and then I created a companion website, too. Mine is called Mannershift, and it's teaching young— it's actually a course putting young professionals in the workplace because they have no training. And so I have the book, but the course, but then I'm like, I want to do a companion site that's already preloaded with everything so they could be like, oh, man, I gotta, I gotta call in sick. And then I'll write the, you know, like, write the, the emails for them and help them with different scenarios. But that is the craziest thing that I am stuck right now.

And I'm a little—

I don't know what to do because I can't. So sorry. So we've got you. We can hear your voice, which is beautiful. I just can't. Move. So I'll let the computer go. So, okay. So then tell us about the Notebook LM. Is that— what is that whole goal? Is that your communication where I could put in any question? Because I was asking it what the fa— your favorite concept was, and I wanted to see what the answer was.

Yeah. What did it come up with?

No, we're stuck. I can't seem to— I don't know what's going on. It's the weirdest thing. I'm— I've never had this happen where I literally can't— like, I don't This is crazy. Let me see. Okay, wait, maybe I, I got it now. Hold on. It's okay. So I got your resources. I signed up. I love, love, love that when I signed up for your resources, I immediately was able to access it and I didn't have to wait for a download. I did the same thing. So see how much we're alike? Okay. And then Notebook LM is right here. Okay. So I asked it, what is your favorite concept? And it gave me one of the most transformative concepts in the text. Is a foundational shift from the hunted to the hunter mentality, coupled with its practical execution through the power of small wins. And then it goes on to share more information about that. So tell us about this. Let me share the tab. So very, very cool.

Yeah. Yeah.

What did you create?

Small wins are a big part of long-term success. And so people overestimate what they can do in a year. They underestimate what they can do in a decade. And, you know, I was, I was very close to family members who, instead of playing the long game, opted for quick wins. Um, and a lot of them spent time in, in the penitentiary. And, uh, one of my cousins, it even cost him his life. And so, uh, for me, you know, trying to encourage people, especially if they're in situations or environments that are not, uh, well-formatted for their success. Maybe, maybe you're around entrepreneurs but they're doing entrepreneurial things in the wrong space, right? If you're tracking with me on that. And, and to me it's like, if you can just stack small wins, man, um, one of them— one of the easiest ways to explain this is on cold calling, right? And so for me, uh, most people when they set out to make cold calls, which I'm a huge fan of, especially because like the Gen Z-ers like just absolutely hate being on the phone. So like every day there's less competition of people actually calling, especially if you're US-based, right? And so essentially what you have is like you have a list of people that you're going to call. Well, most people set their expectation like, I got to sell somebody on this list. My whole objective when I make cold calls is I just need to make contact, right? And so like if I make contact, that's a win. And so the idea is that you, you set your expectations for small wins, and eventually those small wins stack on top on top of one another. So if my expectation, if I'm going to dial 20 people this hour, is like, I just want to make contact with half of the people on the list, well, cool. If I just so happen to set an appointment, that's even better. And who knows, if I could do a call close, hell, that was awesome, right? And so it's about having the mindset. And that's again back to the hunter head game. It's the head game that you play. But if your whole objective is, I'm going to call 20 people and I got to sell 3 of them, and every single one of them tell you to go kick rocks, you're like, you know, you feel super defeated. And that's one of the challenges that I see a lot of times with entrepreneurship is people don't, don't structure their goals in a proper way that can give them, you know, small victories to pave the road to success.

I love that. Okay, that, that is key. James, I wanted to just say, if you would like to have a question, or Leah, please chime in. And we'll just give it— okay, James sort of gave me a thumbs up, so he's enjoying the conversation. Okay, so Coach Carol, I love this. So you— so now what is your— I know your impact that you want to make with a book, and you did your tours and your book is selling. So, but I'm not 100% sure I've got the, the grip on that. Your $100,000 in my bank account, account number 0052378, routing number 210— 1967856, just in case you want to send me the money. But seriously, like, what, what does that look like? So you're going to be teaching me. So the book is a manuscript, a how-to, and then you're going to share this right now with the audience. Like, well, that, like, maybe have my mind like a 5-year-old.

So yeah, I think a lot of times, like, you can make lofty goals, but if you don't reverse engineer them into, like, what it actually means, and like, okay, cool, like, I want to make a fucking billion-dollar impact, so who cares, right? So for me, like, I remember the first time I looked at $100,000 in my bank account. Like, that was the first time I was like, holy shit, like, there's six figures in my bank account. Like, I've— like, we've really crossed a threshold, right? Like, I, I felt like I could breathe for the first time. And I feel like that's like one of the first major unlocks that I had. And so I'm like, hey man, if I can help entrepreneurs grow by getting their mindset right, improving their sales and marketing skills— because most small businesses, their biggest problem is not enough people know who they are and what they sell, right? One of my favorite sayings is, if I don't know you, I can't you. And so it's like, if I can help entrepreneurs get more attention, close more deals, and operate out of a better mindset, then they'll be on their pathway to eventually achieving that first milestone that I think is like one of the biggest ones in entrepreneurship. Because honestly, like, at $100,000, and then you go to $200,000 or $300,000 or $400,000, like, it's like, it doesn't feel the same. The first time you open your banking app and you see six figures in your bank account, it is, it is a very very big milestone on your entrepreneurial journey. And so I've just said, hey, that's a way that I can do, you know, that I can measure my impact on the world is, um, I've, I've had people for years, you know, they'll tell me, Adrian, they'll come to me and they'll say, hey coach, I saw you at a seminar and like I used that thing you taught me and then I went and made $20 grand with it. I'm like, sweet man, I'm happy for you, like keep fucking crushing it. Uh, but like, like how am I measuring this, right? So like now This is like the lifetime mission where it's like, you know, hey, how many people are like, yo, Coach, I finally got $100K in my bank account, right? It's like, it's like the, the reverse of Dave Ramsey where like instead of calling and hopping on the Sales Factory podcast and saying I'm debt-free, it's like I got $100K in the bank. Um, and so that's where, uh, that's where the idea came from and that's where like the mission now has a North Star that I can track to because up to this point it's like, man, I just make fucking content because I love it, I enjoy it, I think it's my gift from God. I think it's why I was put here, to help elevate and educate other entrepreneurs. But like, now we have an actual milestone that we can index against, which is super important if you've ever read anything about goal setting.

I love it. Absolutely, absolutely, Sparkles. You know, I love it. I love the fact that, that you swore twice that the cost is $50,000, so I just earned $100,000 without having to do anything. What is it? I'm just kidding around. But that is funny. Okay, so now—

sorry if I wasn't supposed to cuss. I get a little fired up every once in a while.

Oh no, you're fine. It's, it's, it's, it's totally fine. Welcome, uh, Keisha and, uh, Sunshine. If you want to come up, you are welcome to come up. So this is interesting. So, all right, so then you could hire you to— so, so this is where you're hired, and I love this, but I'm going to jump to this. I love, love, love the student development. I was just telling you about my program Mannershift which I love because I think that students really need to understand. I'm lucky my parents were true entrepreneurs starting a business in the promotional products industry in 1955 and still going strong. So like, I, I, you know, I just, I love business myself. That's like my favorite conversation to have with anyone. But this is so important. Tell us about your student development.

Yeah, any opportunity I ever have to speak to kids, I prefer high school seniors just because like I have a special place in my heart for them. Because I just remember how difficult it was to bet on myself when I had an idea. It was almost like, it was almost like at 18 they looked at me like, well, you're too young to be a business owner. Like, it may be after college if you don't want to go to corporate, then you can start your business. But I tell people all the time, man, one of the biggest benefits that I have for me is that I literally can, you know, lose multiple times over and over and over and over again in order to be able to achieve success. And I did that early in life, right? Like, if I had a fitness center at 27 years old that I grew 300% in 18 months and then lost it all, half a million dollars worth of real estate, 6-figure business, that happened at 27. If that would have happened at 47 when I had a mortgage and 2 kids with braces, right, like, that would have been devastating. But But because I did my ventures early in life, and so when I failed, there were— it was okay. It wasn't that big of a deal, right? I was able to get around it. I just would encourage entrepreneurship earlier. And you're super creative when you're young, man. Like, I even feel it now. Like, I'm not— I don't have the fire and gusto that I had at 27 like I do it like at 37. And so I think when you're 18, man, like Yeah, if you want to be a freaking astronaut, like people say, sure, go be an astronaut. But like, you want to start a business? They're like, oh, I don't know, that's a little risky. It's like, oh, so I can go like among the stars and that's totally okay, but like if I want to start a business, that's scary. Uh, you know, and I just— the other thing that I've just learned with entrepreneurship is it's really hard to lose. Um, you'll take L's, you'll take losses, and you'll learn lessons from those. But if you don't give up, like, it is really hard to beat the person that just like keeps showing up and eating shit sandwiches every day, right? It's like, if you just show up every single day and just take it on the chin and keep coming back, like, eventually the world will find somebody else to pick on. They're like, you know what, I think coach is just like in it for the long haul here, let's go find somebody else to mess with, right? Um, but again, that comes back to this— the head game, right? Uh, is, are you mentally tough enough to stay focused, stay resilient, and continue to march forward?

I love this. I, because, you know, I always go back and I say this often that I wish I had a coach or had the coaching or the lessons that you're sharing now. Uh, you know, back in my day it was a therapist. You didn't talk about mindset at all.

Well, and it's like my chemistry teacher and my guidance counselor, and like, God bless 'em. Like, I, I know they're just like, they probably were like, you wanna mow grass? Like, you're a really smart kid. You should probably go to college. Right? Like, I, I know that. In their mind, they thought that they were encouraging me in the best way possible. But I also know that the traditional schooling system is over-indexed through funding to send kids to college and not start entrepreneurship, right? I think we need to fix that. The other piece is what they should have done is they should have picked up the phone and called Herb Kinman, who was a 60-plus-year-old guy that had been an entrepreneur his whole life, dropped out of high school, owned the Chevy dealership in town, owned a Dodge dealership in the town next over to us, lots of real estate, lots of rental properties. And they should have said, yo, Herb, her, I think we got a special one down here. Like, can you come be his mentor? Like, he's, he's hell-bent on being an entrepreneur. Like, we can't convince him otherwise, so we don't want to leave him out in the wilderness on his own. He's only 18 years old. Like, he's going to need a mentor. Can you come mentor him? And so, like, for me, uh, the, the long-term awesome, like, would just be, like, amazing, is if, like, you know, if I could get this book into high schools. And we've actually— I've started talking about this more publicly, and what I've had is, like, people that have bought a copy, they're like, hey, I'm gonna buy another copy and I'm gonna like take it to the high school in my town and like make sure it's in the library, uh, because I think there's a lot of stories from like my early parts of my career that if a kid was thinking about starting a business— and let's face it, now with AI, like, this is the best time to be an entrepreneur. Like, it is the great— you have access, right? The internet is widely available. You can get a T-Mobile hotspot for $50 a month and you have internet, right? You have access to all the information in the world and all of the customers. You have attention, which is social media. You now can talk directly to your customers. You don't need to pay radio, TV, billboards. You now have AI, which can do heavy lifting work inside your business so that you can do the work of 3 or 4 people, which is the most, like, hard spot in business is, like, when you gotta make those first couple of hires because oftentimes you're hiring them before you can actually afford them. And so now you can, like, leverage an AI agent to do some of that work. And like, you, to make $100,000 to $150,000 a year, um, as a solopreneur is actually pretty easy. Like, we all see the Alex Hormozis and the Grant Cardones are like, man, I need 5 private jets and 6 villas and, you know, 7 Rolls-Royces and a gazillion dollars. Uh, but not really, man. Like, this is why I say we gotta have more conversations around Happiness. Like, what makes you happy?

You.

Not, not me. Not the guy you will follow on social media. Not the Instagram influencer. Like, what makes you happy? And that might just be, dude, my bills aren't behind. I get to make every single dance recital with my daughter. I get to see every ball game with my son. I'm always home for dinner. And like, I'm raising a good family. Like, Holy shit, dude, you won the lottery at that point, in my opinion, right? And I think if we had more family cohesiveness like that, the world would be a better place. And you can argue with me in the comments if you want, but statistically speaking, the fatherless home is one of the worst things that could possibly happen, uh, to any community anywhere in this country.

Welcome to Consuelo. Let me just say welcome to Consuelo. And, uh, did you want to mic Consuelo and say hello? And if it's okay, sometimes it takes a second. Oh, a thumbs up on Consuela too. Okay, so I find this is fascinating.

I'm not hopping on this mic right now. They don't want to get roasted. I'm fine, I'm friendly. Come on in, let's chat.

You know, so I love what you're saying, and I think it's really important, and I think that there's too many teachers out there and mentors that do say Oh, you know what? You're not ready. You don't need to start your business. You're too young. And all that nonsense that they put in and change the mindset. But I also— part of my goal is— so it's funny, we kind of align— is teaching our seniors, you know, you graduate and now you're going into the workplace, whether you're starting your business or not, and how to communicate effectively under, you know, you know, what's considered like corporate etiquette, doing things the right way. But what advice would you give to a, a manager or leader, let's say a good leader, to make sure that they understand because they also have to— a leader has to really be a good leader to really make sure that that young professional, whether they're an employee or an entrepreneur, that they are watching and witnessing the best in like mentorship, the best behavior, the best ability. So, you know, like in our daily lives, we see it all the time. We see— we go into a restaurant and we see the manager not being nice to the employee or talking down or not allowing an employee— you have children and they come home and they explain to you what happened at work today. I want you to share some lessons to give to leaders on the importance of growing a young professional, having them maybe serve on a committee so they could eventually serve on boards, and how to make sure that you're mentoring them. So that they could be successful in their business and career?

Yeah, one of, one of my very first mentors was my insurance agent, Mark Smith, and he would meet with me twice a month for breakfast and we would have coffee. And I always say he taught me the business fundamentals, right? Like, do what you say you're going to do, show up when you say you're going to show up. How do you know? I wouldn't say how to act. One of my very first sales coaches really polished me, I would say, from a standpoint, especially just, you know, being from Kentucky. You know, the— I, I have a hard balance on this because like one of the things that I think have— has served me very well is just truly being authentic, um, being myself no matter the room I'm in. Now that's gotten me kicked out of some rooms, um, that's gotten me, uh, removed from some environments or, you know, associations. And, you know, I'm okay with that long term. Net-net, uh, in the, in the short term, uh, in the sprint of it, in that 90-day window that had happened, I was like, man, DJ, you screwed up on this one. Uh, but in the long term, it's like, you know what, I never sold myself out. Um, I literally just— I literally just had a guy message me the other day and he was like, hey man, I want you to come on my podcast. Now I'll tell you, this guy acted, uh, very inappropriately to, at my time, my girlfriend, now my wife, and the mother of my children, right? We were at a conference, he had me come in and speak, and you know, everyone's at the bar for like the networking after hours, and he— and he was very inappropriate to my wife. I'll leave it at that. And so I told him— my wife didn't say anything while I was there. Once we got in the car, we're leaving, she told me. I was like, what? I'm gonna turn the car around. She's like, this is why I didn't tell you while we were there. Uh, and so I, I very, um, bluntly told him where he could, uh, go. Uh, and, uh, and I said, you know, I'll never do business with you again. So this guy has the audacity to reach out to me here just a couple weeks ago. He saw— he sees me on the book tour, I'm on TV now, and he's like, hey, I'd love to have you on my podcast, blah blah blah. And I was like Hm, uh, no, I think I'm good, man. Uh, I, I'm not, uh, I'm not interested. Well, you know, I would put you on, it'd be more beneficial to you than me. And I was like, yeah, you know what, you know what wouldn't be beneficial to me is violating my ethics, violating my integrity. And if you're a young person right now and you're hearing this, that is one of the best things that you can learn early on. I see so many older businessmen violate their integrity. They cheat on their wives, they cheat on their business partners, um, you know, they don't act in good faith. Like you said, they're terrible leaders. They scream and yell at their team members. Uh, you know, be the example that you want to set in the marketplace. And so Mark Smith, you know, he, he allowed me to— he, he encouraged me to get on Rotary, right, so I could see like how meetings were ran. He actually got me on the board of the Chamber of Commerce. Uh, he— I was appointed. He was the He was the chamber president, and so he got to appoint a non-voting seat. So he appointed me to that seat so I could see how that operated. And at the time, I didn't think anything of it. Now I look back, I was like, holy smokes, man, I was 24 years old, I was on a board of the Chamber of Commerce. Um, but you know, all of those things, like, I would tell you, when you're, when you're young, man, that, that first decade out of high school, like, take it all in, man. Live full throttle, just all the way to the max. Um, and, and, and try to find you good mentors and always look to upgrade mentors. Like, I'm never mad when somebody outgrows me, like, you know what I mean? Like, I've got clients that I helped them when they were doing a couple hundred grand a year, and now they're doing a couple million bucks a year, and I'm like, fantastic, dude, good for you, right? Um, I, I just think that as a leader, I'll share this framework that I have. I call it a heading adjustment. I do it with all of my team members every month. So I fly airplanes. When you're flying an airplane, if you're one degree off course for an hour that puts you 5 miles off your destination. The same thing happens to team members if you don't talk to your team member for a month, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months, 5 months, 6 months, right? That's how all of a sudden they come in and they quit one day, and you're like, whoa, where did this come from, right? And so we have a heading adjustment, and we go through our core values, uh, which spell out an acronym: GIVE. So it's Growth, Innovation, Velocity, and Excellence. And so I say, hey, tell me how you grew this month. Tell me how you innovated. Talk to me about your velocity, which is speed in the right direction. And then did we operate with excellence? And if they're like, yeah, I did, this is my opportunity now to coach them. If there were areas that they didn't do well in, I'll say, well, here's where I think we could improve some of your excellence, right? Uh, and then at the very end, I have them give me a job satisfaction score. I want them to rate me and this job that I give them every single month, right? And so that is probably one of the biggest things that I ever came up with to do in my business. Um, it takes me about half a day once a month But man, it's like 15-minute meetings back to back to back to back to back. It's amazing. It's, and it's a great way for you as a leader, if you're a leader listening to this, to get the pulse of your organization, to hear from your people. And they're really going to enjoy that time with you.

I'm just smiling because I love everything that you're saying. I hope that people listen. No, because, because at the end of the day, we do share that same goal of growing our students. The only, Advice that I would also share on my end of it is every time that I have had a bad leader, I have said to myself, that's exactly who you do not want to be, Adrian. That is exactly the reminder of how not to behave. And then if the person is really horrible, I'm like, I'm glad I'm not married to them. I don't have to, like, sleep with them. I don't have to. I, you know, I just have to see if they're doing it. It's like sometimes you just have to put it into that box. Like, you know what? Not everyone's going to be great. But imagine, imagine 20 years from now, your student or your employer or your— however that leadership relationship looks at— they're going to say, oh, Coach Carol, she was the best. Because I wouldn't want them to say, oh, Adrienne, my gosh. Oh, I hope that she's not even around training anyone because she was stinky as can be. So I love this conversation. Is there anything before we end? Is there anything that I did not ask you? Because I did zero prep. Remember that I should have— that you would like me to ask you?

No, I think we're good. You know, I just encourage people, you know, reach out on, on socials if I can help you in any way. You know, this has been great. I appreciate you having me on. If you guys are listening to this on the podcast format, make sure you go, you know, give Adrienne a subscribe and a review so she can get, get in front of more people. And, you know, happy to take any questions if there's anybody in the room. I love doing Q&A. You know, one of the most dangerous things in business is the unknown unknown, right? So like, you don't know what you don't know. And so what I love about Q&A is oftentimes somebody on this side of the room will ask a question, they'll get the answer, the person on the other side of the room is like, shit, I didn't even know to ask that question, right? And so now they got— they got— they— I was able to remove the unknown unknown from their equation, um, which is how you, how you can catapult yourself. And that's why I say, man, you just got to get around smart people. Audit your circle. Make sure you cut out, as I talk about them in the book, the laughing hyenas, right? Laughing hyenas look like apex predators because they got the teeth and the claws and like they could be apex predators, but they lack the courage to hunt on their own. Um, all, all they do is they run in packs with apex predators, uh, to clean up the scraps. And so you want to make sure that you're always getting those laughing hyenas out of your circle. Cool.

Oh, that is— that, I love it. And if you don't know who that is, obviously you need to watch Lion King. Okay, so Leah, first of all, I'm gonna be saying names and you're— and if you're listening, you're like, what is she doing? We're live on ChatterSocial. Come download the app at your app store, ChatterSocial.io. Coach Carol, come into, um, if you— if you're okay with a little debating, Grant tends to come in at nighttime and they debate the news, and that's exactly what we do is debate the news. So just enjoy some debating. That's the fun part about it. And you can say hi, and Leah's got her hand raised, and then anyone else wants to go and ask a question, please let me know or come on up. Leah, take the mic.

Coach Carol, the best thing you said was about authenticity is kind of like your thing, because I can totally see it. Like, I can tell the way you're talking to Adrian right now, the way you're talking to us, would be exactly the same way if we were sitting having dinner somewhere or at a seminar or whatever. So I, I love that.

You're—

I can tell you're like a calming— not calming— I can— I feel like you put people at ease.

Yeah, I'm easy to be around. I think that's one of like my superpowers. I'm, I'm super energetic, so like, um, you know, I always try to be the light in the room. Um, I also know that you're, you're at your highest attractive frequency, um, if you're in heavenly energy and like you're, you're attracting people to you because if you're just happy, right? Like, that's like joyous is like one of the, the highest frequencies we can be in. And so I always try to bring that to any room that I'm in. But one of the beautiful things, Leah, about being truly authentic is I don't ever have to pretend, man. I don't have to go, oh, oh, this is Adrian. Okay, how did I act last time I was with her? Like, and that's why, like, I probably honestly— like, Adrian, kudos to you for helping kids, like, try to make it in, in corporate America. But like, I wouldn't last freaking 2 weeks, man, because like, if I had an asshole boss, I would tell him in the meeting. Like, I would have no problems with that, and they would probably be like, you can go now. Uh, and so for me, it's just, you know, I I am who I am. You get what you get. Like I said, I've lost deals because of that. I've been kicked out of rooms in the past, but like, I'm okay with that because I've also got invited into rooms and into deals because people are like, man, I like you. Uh, you know, it's like, I, I, you, what you see here is what you get. You're exactly right. If, if we were at dinner, I'd be exactly the same way. So I take that as a compliment that you can see that, Lee. I appreciate it.

It was meant that way. And it, one of the things that, um, Grant says, and also Cindy Stumpo is that some of your best deals are ones you don't even get. Just like you said, like, if it doesn't work out, there's a reason for it. And so absolutely, I've had, I've had lots of deals that I've passed.

I mean, you know, buying and building and selling businesses, like, I mean, I literally just turned down a deal yesterday. It's like most of them are not going to work out, right? And so I think I've also just learned, man, the older that I'm getting, when you're young, you're just like, you're pushing. And pushing and grinding. And like, maybe it was having kids, maybe it was getting married, it just put me in a different speed and a different frequency. But it's like, now, man, I'm like, if I have to push something too hard, God probably is making that happen, right? Like, you know, the— I'm no theologian, but the good book says that he has plans for us to prosper, right, and not harm us. And so for me, I'm like, hey man, if I gotta push this deal too hard to get across the the, the line, it's probably not the, the direction that I'm supposed to be going in anyway, right? Um, it's sometimes the path of least resistance is exactly the path that you're supposed to be on.

I love that. Thank you so much.

Yeah, appreciate you, uh, chatting up.

I love that. By the way, guys, look down in the others, uh, there's Coach Carol, so you can, uh, like him right here on the spot. He joined the room. You see him right here? So I'll Follow him, he's down in the others because he hasn't joined my Podcast Connection Lounge.

I don't know, I don't know how to— tell me, Adrian, how do I do that?

Make your own. You'll learn. Aaliyah's right here, connect with Aaliyah. So if you have any questions for— all right, I'm losing my microphone, I can tell I'm having a bad signal. I'm gonna let you go, Coach Carol. We will see you come on into the room. You have wonderful. And the room is really fun too. And that is the only podcast I know of that all timeline of that, like, whatever the freaking monster story is, because they're all monsters. And then we go into the debate, and we have some good debate on that too. So thank you, Coach Carol, for today. You are awesome. You're brave. I can't tell, you look bald.

I'm bald and beautiful, baby.

Are you bald? Awesome. All right, thank you so much. I'll talk to you later. Have a great night.

Thank you so much.

I'm gonna end this stream.