She Runs A $100M Company At 30 Years Old... Here's How

When you think about meteoric growth, getting fast results, going from nothing to an incredible amount of success, Leila Hormozi certainly comes to mind. This is a woman who just a few years ago was working full time and Today is the CEO of a portfolio of brands that do $100 million a year. How the heck does that happen? That's what I wanted to find out in this company conversation with Leila Hormozi. We've been doing this mindset series here on the channel where I've been interviewing the peers and entrepreneurs that I admire who have created amazing results. And yet they credit their mindset and their thought processes to being the biggest contributor of their success. Laila is no different. In this conversation, we talk about the strategy that she's following, how she manages her mindset, and the biggest shift that took her from building a small business to having one that is the most respected portfolios in our industry. And the most amazing part of it all is this is a woman who is only 30 years old. How do you accomplish so much in such a short amount of time? That's what we'll unpack in this conversation with Laila. Anyone who has been really successful in business will tell you that it all comes down to people. Who you are in business with trumps everything else that you are doing. But Layla told me about the mindset that she takes when hiring and creating partnerships that really change the way that I think about building teams and change the mindset that I have around attracting quality talent and building partnerships that create a lot of value. So here's what she looks for when she's advising a company and shifts the way that they interact with the people.

On their team depending on the business. When I first look at a business, I'm doing diligence on a business. I'm whatever we've acquired and we've partnered with them, I'm looking at what are the strategic areas of opportunity in the actual org chart, right? And so depending on the type of business, that will be different. So let's look@acquition.com for example. So what we do is we partner with these businesses, we do US minority work, we do this strategy. But a huge piece of what we do is we not only help them structure how they run, meet, you know, how they organize their organization, you know, grow their organization, structure their people, manage their people performance, all that. We also help recruit their leadership team. And so I was like, okay, for acquisition.com, we need somebody who's a fucking killer when it comes to people Right. And obviously I know a lot about that, but I need to find somebody who is even better at that than me to then be in that specific role, because that's so important to our business. Now, if I were to look at a business like a business that sells online courses, do I think that they need like a crazy strong head of people? Probably not. They probably need a crazy strong head of sales and marketing and then head of customer success to balance that out. Somebody who's an E commerce business that runs very slim margins, probably a strategic hire would be a very good controller, cfo. However, that CFO wouldn't be relevant to a business that has really high margins, has great cash flow, and doesn't have any inventory. And so I think the biggest piece that people have to understand when they're hiring is that not every hire needs to be like a complete A player. But I think that it's looking at your business understanding what, what roles in the organization strategically align with the actual strategy of the business. Like, if you look at your strategy like, where do you need to be strong and then hire those people that are very strong in those specific areas? A lot of founders, this is what I have learned is that I lead typically through encouragement. And so most of the time I will encourage them. And that is what works with some of them, is I'm encouraging them. Like, you're so good at growing the business, you're so strategic, you're a great leader. Like, we need to offload everything you're not amazing at. And this is what that looks like. And that works for probably 20% of them who are absolute beasts, right? Like, they're just absolute executors. They get it, I can say that, and then they go do it. And they only need encouragement to move them forward. What I have found is that a lot of founders are very different because I'm used to having a big team of employees. Right now I have a huge pot of founders. A lot of employees are more recognition, reward based. That works really well. A lot of founders, like I said, it's only 20, 30% that are like that. The rest of them actually is. It's a lot more like, you're gonna fuck this up. And I have had to learn how to change my style to accommodate that, which is, I'll tell them, hey, this is what I think you need to do. So, you know, encourage you, your time would be better spent here. So we need to bring this person in. And then they're like, yeah, I get that, but I just don't you know, I just don't, I just don't agree. So I just don't think we're gonna do that. Cause like, that's just too much money and this and that. And I'm like, oh, well, fuck me, why are we partnered then? And they're like, what? And I'm like, you wanted to partner with me to save you time to grow your company. Why wouldn't you take my advice? I'm not someone who over inserts my opinion, but when I do insert my opinion, I make sure it's very well thought out and it is right. And so I have had to use more of that, which has been new to me, to show people and to also show them case studies. So, like, I luckily have, you know, a handful of businesses that we've had for the longest amount of time, and I can talk to them about the behavior of those businesses and explain that they are acting out of accordance with that behavior. Like those businesses who have the highest performance of our portfolio, you know what they've done? They've let me bring in their leadership. You know what you're not doing? Letting me bring in your leadership. Like, I don't think that there's. I think people are worse at hiring than they give off. Like, I think people expect from me, even, like, people come on our team, they're like, I think, I don't know if this is the right person or not. I'm like, well, we're going to have to find out. Because we all think they're good. There's no other way than hiring. So. But I think that what happens often is we abdicate that responsibility and we don't do some of the basic things that can protect us from not hiring the right person. It's easy to say, oh, hire, you know, you just have to learn how to fire. Just bring in everybody. That degrades morale, you know, it deteriorates your brand. It doesn't make you look good. And so there's easy things we can put in place in terms of a hiring process, brand values, decision making, filters to at least ensure that we put things in place to that it's more likely for us to discover they're not a fit than it isn't. And I think that what happens a lot with like certain companies that promote, like just bring them all in and cut the bottom 20. I'm like, good luck attracting talent. Because like, you might get, only you might get executive level talent. But I can tell you that the moment that they need lower level talent, like those people are just going to be. I literally want to create a company because I love creating a place where people get to work, love their work, and, like, coming to work every day. So for me, that just does not mesh with who I am or what I want to do. Like, having to fire people I hate. I think it's a huge. I mean, it's a huge life change for them. You know, like, they had a job and now they have to go. Like, that is their whole life. They have no control. You have all the control. And so I think that often as employers, we don't take enough responsibility in terms of how do we protect them from making the wrong decision as well. That's.

That's a great question, Layla. So how do you know when it's time to fire someone?

When you know it's time to fire someone? When you have clearly set expectations, verbally written, you have held those expectations, you have documented and measured if they have met or not met them and communicated that measurement to them and told them what will happen if they continue not to meet that measurement. And if they do not, after you have communicated it to them, you've told them, you've measured it, you've showed them the measurement and you've communicated the feedback. What will happen if they don't meet the measurement and it's not getting any better? Then it's probably time to let that person go. Maybe they're not a skill fit, maybe they are not a culture fit, whatever it is. But most people don't do that, so. Right. Right. They're like, no, I. I told them and I'm like, did you tell them? And they're like, why? I told them that, like, that thing. I didn't like how they did it that way. And like, they. She knew what I meant. You know what I mean? Like, that's what most people do. Rather than. I'm like, no, you need to be like, hey, Sally, this wasn't done how I need it if you don't keep hitting. If I want you to understand that hitting this KPI is very important to the role. It's so important that if you don' this KPI, then you're not going to be able to work here. And so how can we make sure that you hit this KPI? Like, I think people are afraid because it's a fine line of scaring people. But you know what's scarier than telling somebody, hey, you might get terminated firing them out of nowhere. Yeah.

When Layla talks about firing someone, notice how much responsibility she puts on you. The founder rather than the employee. This is a huge mindset shift compared to where most entrepreneurs are coming from. They put the blame on the other person. They put the blame on the person who's not performing. But did you notice how much attention she gave to the clear instructions, to the clear expectations, to you working with them to try and draw out their best performance. Only then do you get to fire the person. That amount of extreme responsibility is one of the reasons why I think Layla has seen so much success. I've made the mistake in my businesses of complicating our products and throwing a whole bunch of stuff together because I was trying to create more value for the customer. But instead it confused them and it distracted them and it started to feel like I was just selling a big box of shit rather than giving the customer a clear result. Layla comments on this and she talks about how simplicity in production provides more value than throwing a bunch of stuff into a box. I had to experience this in order to learn this lesson. I wish that I had gotten this piece of advice earlier in my career. So listen to what Layla has to say about this.

It's just meeting them where they're at. And I think that what we learned with Gym Launch was we used to have this like huge portal with like all this stuff in it and starting and they're newer, that's just too much. So for them we made a new portal that's very simple, very straightforward and a lot less. And our success went up when we took away a lot versus if somebody's experience, they come in, they've owned a gym for four years, they want that whole portal and they'll do better with it. I think I learned a lot through this. Through having a SaaS business, which is a joke in the SaaS community is like everyone wants to become a CRM because you know, once you build a product then you realize, oh wait, it needs to integrate with this product and this and they want this. And then all of a sudden they're like, maybe we should build a CRM. And that's a joke because like every SaaS founder kind of goes through that and it's a joke, like never be the CRM. And I think that that's, it's a really good analogy for just any business because the way that they get feedback is serving customers, you know, surveying customers and watching their behavior. So for us, for example, like in Gym Launch say that you're a, you know, you have a knowledge based business and uh, there's coaching back to it. Like I'M going to see like on average, how many modules do people even get through before they, you know, at this certain point in the program I'm going to look and then I'm going to ask them. And I think that's a lot of it. It's just serving your customers. Where do you derive the most value? So if you go to profitwell.com they talk about surveying your customers. So I've taken a ton of their surveys, put them into our companies and basically surveyed customers on if you could get rid of one thing, what would it be? Right? If what's the one thing that provides you the most value in our product or service? And then what's the one thing that if we took it away, you would be happy with it? There's surveys like that that we conduct a lot in Gym launch and in any companies that we have, we try putting those in place so that we can get the feedback from the customers in real time. So I'll give you an example. We had a business that helps people publish books and they were thinking about some kind of ascension which was maybe we teach you how to write like a expert book, which is like, positions you as an expert and you have this audience. And I was like, well, I feel like maybe they wouldn't want that because most of these people who are writing books are just writing books because they want to make money, not because they want to be an expert. And they were like, I don't know. And so I said survey the audience and say if we came out with this thing, would you rather just have more hands on help building your, you know, publishing your book or would you rather learn how to write like an authority? And, and it was just like overwhelming. Would rather have more help learning how to write my book. Like nobody wanted to write like an authority. And so I think a lot of the times this data is just sitting with our customers and we just don't even ask. And so like a page that we could all take out of private equities, you know, the first thing they do when they come into a businesses and you probably know this but like they survey the customer database and they do, they survey the crap out of it and they pull so much data that often founders don't even know. But you could know because you could have been asking them all along. And so I use a lot more of that and listen to the customers more than trying to guess or ask outside advisors or any of that. Like, I think your customers are always going to tell you more than anybody else.

Layla Works with a lot of successful entrepreneurs, and she serves as an advisor to them. So I asked her what she looks for in a founder to let her know that that person is going to be successful. And she told me about two character traits and mindsets that a person has to have and how to cultivate those in order to be the type of person that is worthy of success.

The biggest thing that we look for in founders is people who are resilient and not emotionally reactive. And this is how I define emotionally reactive. People who have emotions but don't act upon every emotion. It doesn't mean you don't have emotions. It just means you don't act on all of those emotions. And so that is what I try to teach them, because that is honestly one of the hardest parts of it, is they are very reactive. Some of them, not all of them. We have a lot of great people in the portfolio, and I'm not saying this makes someone not great. It's just. It's tough to get stuff done if they're very reactive. Yeah. Is, you know, you have a low sales week, and then they're like, we've got to change everything. The business is fucked. We're going under. I'm like, whoa, this is gonna happen again. It's completely normal. To be expected. I look at myself as reassurance, which is.

Like, when a kid gets hurt, right? And they fall on the ground. When I see a parent who's like, oh, baby, are you okay? They have, like, tiny little scratch. The mom's like, oh, my God. Are you okay? Jesus. Oh, let's take you right now. Let's go get that right now. Let's get it cleaned up. I'm so sorry. She teaches that kid that. That hurt. That little scratch is a big deal. And so when someone comes to me and they're very upset about something that's happening in their business, the worst thing I could do is say, oh, my God, I'm gonna drop everything right now because this is such a huge problem. And I feel so bad. I'm gonna be like, I don't even think we need to hop on a call. And they'll be like.

What? I'm like, dude, this is. I'm like, this is normal and to be expected. This is part of business. Like, I would be surprised if this didn't happen. Surprised this hasn't happened sooner, Normalizing it. And so I think often the reason that founders have a hard time managing their minds is one, if it's new, if it's their first time in business, everything is new. And so your brain is just looking for danger and it identifies all these things as danger when they're not. And so you need somebody from the outside to completely contradict your belief. Like, I can't just. I'm not gonna negotiate with their anxiety and say like, oh, I'll hop on the. Yeah, let me get on with you. I'm gonna, I'm gonna smash the anxiety. I don't fucking negotiate with your anxiety. Just like, I don't negotiate with my own. If I have a terrible thought about something, I'm like, you shouldn't do that speech because this is what's gonna happen, then you're gonna die, right? I'm like, I'm gonna do that speech because otherwise I'm just reacting to fear. So just like, I do that with my own mind, which is like, the best way to change your mind is to change your behavior, right? Just act completely opposite of what you think. Because our Brian Brain's office just spitting out fear, trying to keep us safe. I just am like, I can think that I can feel terrible, but I'm still gonna act in accordance with logic. And I do the same with them, which is, I just don't negotiate with that behavior. I'm like, I won't go in that direction with you. I won't go down that path with you. It's not gonna help. And I think a lot of the times people that are mentors and advisors think that's not encouraging. That's not empathetic. That's. I think, I trust me, I am a very empathetic person. That is the most empathetic thing you can do to help that person. Because what you're doing is teaching them that it's okay. And I think that's often what it is, you know, Like, I have founders that come to me like, I can't believe. Like, all I can think about is my business. I feel obsessed with it. I can't. I'm so stressed day and night, you know, I'm just like, I'm ripping my hair out over this thing and I'm like, that's totally normal. It's your first time in business. Like, you probably feel like a psycho. I've been there too, and sometimes still feel that way, like.

It'S okay. And I think that's often one of the hardest things because they don't want to talk about it. But that's. That's. Dude, I. I was having this conversation with a very, very well known person the other day, and I was saying, you know, it's just like I've come to the realization like it's a hundred percent the founder, all. And he was like, oh my God. And he has, he's worth like 7 billion. He's like, of course it's only the founder. There's literally nothing else that matters. And I was like, oh. Because it, it does come down to that. It's the mindset of the founder. And I think that I often suggest to them, you know, like self books to study and research and like, you know, some of them gotten like stoicism or they've researched a lot of like older psychology and things like that. Because I always try to encourage people like, go learn how to understand your mind yourself. Like, I think therapy is great and stuff if you can find a good therapist. But I'm not going to be in the business of suggesting therapists. I'm in the business of suggesting tools that they can learn to help themselves. So I suggest both books, podcasts, and then I just share my own experiences with them of like the things that I've gone through and learned.

Most entrepreneurs start their careers wanting to make more money, wanting to have more cash flow. And that's great. That's how most of us start. But at some point you need to make the pivot from thinking about short term cash flow to building long term value, enterprise value, building something that you can scale and sell. Layla made that transition in a very short period of time and she helps founders make that same transition. So in this part of the conversation, I asked her how did she go from having her back up against the wall and thinking about bankruptcy to now building businesses that can be sold for millions and millions of dollars.

You know, like you're, you basically every day I feel like you're making a decision which is like, do I go by faith or fear? Which is like all. I have no evidence to support that I can succeed, yet I'm going forward anyways and I'm terrified.

And.

Man, I just like feel emotional thinking about it because like, I am so glad because I think our minds like my mind and that that's how the brain works. It's like you've never had that success. It shows you that you're never going to. Right? Because it doesn't know it. It's not familiar. And so it's like there's nothing wrong with you for not being able to picture. Cause I, I used to buy all that. Like you got to visualize success, motherfucker. I never visualized that success. One day I hear that. And they're like, did you do visualization? I'm like, never. But I can tell you how much I thought about failing.

Wow.

You know what I mean? Like, it was complete negativity. But all it was was that I didn't let that dictate my behavior. The only thing I can say is, like, I felt terrible. I had. I was scared. I had a lot of thoughts that were just clouding my mind of, like, what could happen. But I kept moving forward. I didn't stop acting, despite how awful it felt. And that's what I try to encourage people. I'm like, listen, if you're trying to get through that right now, like, I felt no better than you. I felt no better. I felt just as shitty as you. And I just kept moving forward anyways. I didn't let my feelings dictate my behavior. And I think that that's. Everyone feels terrible in the beginning when they're just trying not to go bankrupt. Like, when you're at that stage where you're like, I just need to make some money. Like, you just can't stop moving forward. The only way you fail is if you stop moving forward. There is no fit. It is inevitable that you will succeed and you will make money and you will get. You will create something if you don't stop. But if you stop, that's the only way that you do. And I think that's the only thing that kept me moving forward. I just.

Have the unwavering belief that despite how I feel or what I think, it is possible. Like, I think if I act a certain way and I do certain things, I can achieve my goals. Whether I have limiting beliefs. Like limiting belief, you can act despite a limiting belief, you can out act. In limiting belief, you can out act a thought. Behavior is everything. And so I have always liked when I started gym launch and the company was like 120 people and I'd be running meetings, like, I would sometimes be like fucking ill before a meeting because I was so nervous. Like, even now doing speeches, like in the last year, people are like, oh, Layla speeches. I'm sure she's done so nervous. One stage I got up on, I crushed it. But like in the beginning, I remember I told Caleb, when I got off, I was like, I thought I wasn't able to talk. Like, my mouth went completely dry. My heart was like 200 beats per minute. Like I was about to crap my pants. Like, I was so nervous because I care. And I think that's what it is at the End day is like, I try and I try to understand, like, what it is, you know, because people say, like, what is it you think that, like, contributes to the brand or the success? I'm like, I don't know. Except that I. What I do know is I really care about this. I really, really care about founders. I care about doing a good job. I care a ton. And so does Alex. And, like, that's the only thing I could dissect is like, this is what we do all day, every day. Like, this is why we do everything. Is like, we want to do this. Like, this is not work. This is our life's mission. This is what we want to dedicate our lives to. And I think if anyone puts in that amount of volume of work, then, like, you're going to get a good outcome.

I think something has to happen. I love how Layla answered this question. It reminds me of how Trevor Blake talked about overcoming doubt in my episode with him in this mindset series. He talked about how he still feels doubt, but he goes through the action anyway because he's just following what he believes to be science, the science of crafting the mindset that brings the results that you want. And Layla is saying something very similar. She has doubts, she has limiting beliefs. She just doesn't act in accordance with them. It's easy to look at somebody like Layla or her husband Alex, and to think they're just crushing it all of the time and they never have doubts. But in my time with them, and I've spent a lot of time with these two individuals, I've noticed that they actively cultivate the thoughts and the mindsets that they want to be true, and then they act in accordance with them and that's why they're high producers. It's the practice of the mindset that determines where we focus and where we put our energy. If you haven't seen the other episodes in this series, I would encourage you to subscribe to the channel and go back and watch the other interviews with founders in this mindset series. And if you want to hear the full, unedited version of this interview, it's on our podcast, which is called capitalism dot com. Just search for it in Apple Podcasts or on Spotify and you can hear the full unedited version with Laila. My name is Ryan Daniel Moran. I run capitalism.com I help entrepreneurs build compelling brands, get to 100 sales a day, and have a multimillion dollar exit. And if you want some help doing that, there's free resources in the description of this video. Thanks for watching. I'll see you next.

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