Episode 082: Sebastian Ghiorghiu (Young With Ambition) - Growing Up Poor

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What'S going on, everyone? Casey Adams here. Welcome to the rise of the Young podcast. We have Sebastian Giorgio with us today here at the build you'd Empire studio. Pleasure to have you on the show, man.

Thanks for having me on.

Of course. So I know that we've been connected the last couple of months. We've been hanging out now a lot since we moved to Arizona. And I want to kind of catch people up to speed because I know we went out to dinner one night, you were telling me your story and I didn't really know the back end of really how you became successful. And now you're crushing it in the e commerce space, which I know you're known as. But just to catch people up to speed, what are you currently working on in this day and age?

So actually a lot of my focus has been not what I started out with, which was drop shipping. So I've been focusing on software, I've been focusing on real estate. I actually have some other things that I can't go into detail about, but I'll just say that I have another company. It's a legitimate brand. We're going to have our own warehouse, we're going to have our own manufacturer. And so that's going to be up in about four to six months and I can't talk too much about that.

Okay, no worries, no worries.

But yeah, I have a lot, a lot of projects in the works right now. So I'm pretty excited.

That's what's up. So regarding dropshipping, I know a lot of your audience that may be watching this, they may know you for drop shipping and putting a lot on YouTube now what are you out on YouTube right now? When it comes to that channel in particular, like, like subscriber count, just when it comes to like a personal branding perspective.

Okay. So at subscribers today, I think I'm at 62,000. Frick.

Yeah.

Yeah. I have about like two and a half million views. And then I have like 22 years of watch time on YouTube so far.

That's freaking nuts.

So I started my channel. I think it was like. Like September or August of last year.

2017.

Yeah, it's been about 12 months.

That's something we're trying to hear Village empire circle on YouTube. So for everyone watching that may not know how old you are, where you're originally from. I just want to kind of dive into your story because I know it's insane when you're talking at dinner. So where are you originally from? A man.

Okay. So I was born and raised in Detroit. Both my parents are from Romania. That's where I get my last name. Yeah, that's where I get my last name from and my big nose. So they moved here when they were 17. They got married. I have two older brothers and an older sister. My sister's a nurse. My older brothers are doing construction. And so I was actually. It all started like I was gonna go to college, I guess. Let me backtrack a little bit. I was born and raised in Detroit. Right. About eight years ago, I moved to Arizona. Cause my parents are divorced, so my mom has family up there. A lot of my dad's side of the family lives in Detroit. So she wanted to be with her side of the family, which is understandable. So eight years ago, I moved here, and then, you know, fresh forward a couple years. I was getting ready to go to college, and I was like. I always knew because, like. Well, maybe we'll get deeper a little bit later. Sure. My. My story is a little bit emotional. I don't know if I want to get deep too fast, But I knew I wanted to make a lot of money because of the way I grew up, which I like. We'll kind of go more in depth later.

Yes.

I knew no matter what I would do, I would make a lot of money because of the way that I grew up, because of the situation that I was in, and because of the way that my mom. I don't want to say treated me, because that sounds bad, but like, she. My mom did everything that she possibly could for me, but it was still tough. Like, I. Like, I'm. Like, I'm 19, but I'm old. Yeah. You know, like, I have an old soul because of the way I grew up. So I knew that no matter what I would do, I would always have a lot of money to very easily and comfortably Support my future family. That's what I wanted. So I was originally actually gonna be a neurologist. Okay. And then I decided cardiologist because, you know, doctors.

Yeah. That was the path. Like, go to college, become a doctor until what age was like. Was that like, 100% focused?

I wanted. I wanted to be a doctor since I was, like, about 12 years old. Eleven. Yeah. And I knew I wanted to make money since I was, like, six, seven. Yeah. Yeah. And then I realized as I got older that doctors make a lot of money, you know, and then that's. That's what I was gonna pursue. So I was actually. That's why I enrolled into college. My sister's a nurse. I was gonna follow behind her. Yeah. Become a nurse. You know, kind of enter there. And it's funny. It's funny because the reason that all of that stopped was because of one YouTube video. Yeah. So I can. I can credit some of what I am today because of a YouTube video, which is actually from Graham Stephan. You know who Graham is, right?

I've heard of. Yeah.

So Graham has about 200K. I discovered him when he had 7,000 subscribers on YouTube. Yeah. And he had a video. It was a video about passive income, how he makes $5,000 a month doing nothing. Yeah. I watched it, and he just explained, like, I just have a couple houses, and I rent them out every month. I make five grand. He's like. And then he broke it down, and this is what really attracted me. He broke it down. He's like, five grand a month is like. Like $8 every minute or something. Like, no, like $5 every minute or something like that. And he's like, I could be hungover. I could be swimming. I could be using the bathroom or taking a shower or doing whatever. Like, having dinner with my mom. Like, it doesn't matter. No matter what. Every hour, I'll make $5. Yeah. And I was like. I was like, yep, that's what I want. So that's. That's when, like.

And you were in college when you saw that video?

I wasn't in college. I was getting. Yeah, I was in high school. I was getting ready to start going into college. So I saw that video, and I was like, yeah, that's what I want. Yeah, that's what I want. Passive income. Residual passive income. You know, I don't have to do anything. And also, it comes in every month, no matter what I do. So I could be sick. I could have, you know, go to the doctors. I could be at the hospital if I Get an accident. No matter what happens, I'm still good. Yeah. So that's something that my parents didn't have, and I didn't really know that that's what I wanted until that video. So it's cool because I actually met up with him multiple times now.

Really?

We're good friends. Yeah. I've been on his channel. He's been on my channel.

Where's he from?

He lives in la.

Okay.

So, yeah. So then moving. Moving from there. I. Oh, man. What happened next? Well, I watched all this video.

Okay. Got attached to him and his content. Oh, absolutely.

I watched. I left a comment, and I was like, this was like a couple months after I discovered him, but I watched all of his videos. And then I made the decision that I would tried real estate for one year before college.

And you were how old at this point in time?

This was like 18. This was a couple months. Like, not a couple months.

It was like, you're 20 now, right? 19, like a year and a half ago. Yeah. Okay.

Yeah. So I. So, yeah, I decided, I think right when I. Right around then is when I, like, I was, like, getting ready to go to college.

Yeah.

So I think at that point I graduated high school, I watched all those videos following his content, and then, like, I was getting ready to go to college. I actually got my counselor and I got everything set up, and I paid 50 bucks to enroll. And then that's. I started watching more videos. And then I decided that I would try real estate for a year. So I would actually. I would actually spend nights. I wouldn't go to bed because I had an entire notebook. Man, I wish I could find it, too. I had an entire notebook where I wrote down, like, how much money I would need and how much I would gain in appreciation if. Two years. And I literally learned everything about, like. Yeah, exactly. Like, I would keep it for two years to avoid paying those taxes. Yeah. Into another property. And then I was like, okay, this. How much of making rental income plus vacancies, plus this and this and this and this. And I had it all mapped out like pages and pages and pages and pages. And I was like, mom, look. I was like, if I work now and save up ten grand and then invest it, I said, in the next five years, like, my net worth will be like 300 to 400,000.

Yeah.

In five years. Right. Just reinvesting and being smart and saving all my money and doing everything right. I told her. I was like, look, like. And that would be worth it and. Because then it's Like a snowball effect.

Right.

I said, and then five more years, I'll be worth, like, a couple million dollars, not 500,000, to be, like, 5, 4, or 5 million bucks. And obviously she didn't like the idea, but my mom never went to college, so for her, it's. She's just more like. I don't know, like, you know, she's a caregiver. That poor girl. You know, she's a caregiver, so she doesn't really know much or any better. And she didn't like the idea. She just wanted me to. To be safe and secure. Yeah.

Are you the youngest or what? Yeah, youngest. Okay.

So she just wanted me to be safe. And I was like, when I set my mind to something, nothing can get in the way for sure. So it's funny. It's actually funny, because you could see the. The counselor, my firm from my college, we were, like. We were texting back and forth, and I was like, okay, like, when do I go to my first class? And she, like, told me the dates and the. And where I would go and, like, how to get to that class. And then the next text was, hey, I'm gonna drop my own.

Before you went into college.

Oh, my God.

So you're applied. You got in.

I got it. I got accepted. I got all my class. I got my schedules. I did everything before my first class. So I was. I don't think I have the text with her anymore, but it was funny. And she's like, are you sure? Question mark, Question mark.

And you literally was like, I want to drop out.

I was like, hey, I think I want to drop out.

Oh, my gosh.

Like, are you drunk or something?

Yeah. Yeah.

I just don't think it's right.

And this is when you're still learning and you're trying to get into real estate, or you're already.

I wasn't establishing anything.

Got it.

Got it. I text her, and I was like, I don't want to do it. I know for a fact I'll be miserable if I win. Yeah. So I went, and I got my license. I learned everything. I failed my test. I think I failed because there's two. There's a school test and a state test. I passed my school test first try, and then I failed my state test four times for real estate.

Right.

And I think it's 75 bucks each try. So that actually took a big hit on me because I didn't have much money in the bank. So I failed my state test four times. And then in School. There was a girl, and she was older. She didn't really. It was hard for her to learn. So I helped her. And I found out that her sister was actually one of the top agents in Litchfield Park. This is making half a million dollars a year selling real estate. So I said, hey, like. Like, we kind of formed a friendship. And I was like, hey, let me take you guys out to dinner. With, like, I had, like, $400, like, $300 in my account. I was like, let me take you guys out to dinner. Wherever it is, I'll pick, like, you know, so got some lunch. I paid for it. Like, they both tried to pay for it, and then I paid for it. And, like, ever since then, like, they kind of saw something in me. Like, I told them my story, like, what I wanted and how I wanted to do it. And it was funny because she told me at the time, she's like, yeah, like, last month she told me. She was really open. Like, I made 60,000 last month selling four houses. And I was like. I was like, dude, If I made $60,000 in a year, like that. Yeah. So it inspired me. And, man, where do I go from that?

Like, so during this whole process, you said you're 19 now, and, like, so you got into, I would say, learning from that one guy. So this is this whole process, like, from now crushing it. E Commerce, doing all this software stuff. So what would you consider, like, your start of, like, educating yourself in real estate and then pivoting? Like, Was that at 18? That's kind of done head first?

Pretty much. That's where I'm gonna get right now. I was. I got my license. I was ready to go, so ready to start selling houses. And I was working with her. She was kind of like my mentor. She wasn't really my mentor. She was just like, hey, I'll help you sell your first house.

Got it.

And then I was like, how do I make money in the meantime? Yeah. So I literally was caregiving at the time I had my license. I was. I had a moment of spare time and on my laptop, and I went on YouTube and I looked up how to make money online. And I found Dan the Silva's video. Yep.

Shout out to Dan De Silva. He's been on the Rise Young podcast. If you ever heard him, go check him out.

Right? So I found his video. His entire video was explaining tri funnels. And, like, I think that's. I think that was his software at the time. He was just promoting it the entire time, but he was explaining like, hey, people add this to cart, and then you can sell them this and they buy more. And I was like, wait, wait. Like, I was like, hold up. What. What's going on here? Like, you can sell, like, shell sell shit to people.

Yeah.

What do you mean? So I found the drop shipping, and then I learned more and more and more about it, and then I set up my store, and it was like, my first store is completely trash. Absolutely trash. It was just like, I had, like, stupid towels. I had, like, sunglasses.

Yeah. Yeah.

No theme whatsoever. No.

So general store. Cause I think a lot of people that may be listening to this, like, they think, like, niche store, general store.

So like you said, I had no idea. So I started a general store. Okay. I. I just went on Oberlo, where they have all the products. I didn't even know AliExpress.

Okay.

I went to Oberlo and I just found, like, shit that looked funny. My store. And then I named the store, like, this is why I'm poor. My. My idea was people would come on and laugh.

Yeah.

And then buy something.

Yeah. So that's. Where did any sales end up happening? Through that?

No. No.

Okay. So I'm curious. So, like, when it comes to this, kind of bridging the gap with everyone listening, like, you started your story, didn't know what you were doing, you found Dan Silva to now, like, crushing it. Real quick question. Before, like, getting into it, like, what makes a store good and bad? Now that you've seen success with drop.

Shipping, what makes a store good and bad?

And what makes. What stops someone from having success? Like, bare minimum, like, simple tactics.

So I don't. I don't think it's so much about the store. I think it's the way that you give. I think it's the feeling that you give off. It's marketing. So marketing is giving off a feeling. It's being able to get an ad in front of someone and saying, hey, you should consider this, or you should buy this or you should sign up for this. And anytime that you can do that effectively, anytime you get underneath someone in 10 seconds, whether it be with copy, whether it be with product photos, inspiring them anytime, you can do that very well. It's. It's easy to make money. And I think that's what most people lack. I think most people think that Shopify is. You just put products on there and you run a quick ad, and then, you know, obviously people are gonna buy. But it's not so much as that. It's. It's. You really have to understand marketing. And I think that this is why I'm fortunate because I've. Ever since I was a kid I've always been very good at understanding humans and just like very just. I just like psychologists. Yeah. Naturally. Really, really understand very well. So I like just starting out out of nowhere. Like I understood like what people would want to see because I was good at taking myself out of my shoes and putting them like in somebody that has a dog or somebody that has a cat or somebody that's interested in watches. I was good at like okay, what would they like to see and doing that like being who they need to be for them and then selling them on products. So I've always been really good at that. And I think just being able to give off the vibe like it's.

I can't explain emotional triggering with marketing. In a sense.

It's, it's. I can't explain it on the podcast for sure.

No for sure.

I don't want to. If you want to go watch my.

YouTube video everything will be down below all of his YouTube Instagram. Make sure everything's down below that all you can connect with him. But I think. Next question, pivoting from that because I think for me like I don't really. I'm not involved in the whole drop shipping space but I obviously I know about it and I have good friends that are crushing it like yourself. But for the people that let's say are trying so hard to just get involved with drop shipping and actually make their first dollar, have their first winning store, what do you think separates someone from creating a store that wins? Obviously marketing plays a toll. But when it comes to like the tactics of just the store itself, like is there any back end plugins or things that you'd say make the critical difference or is it marketing? And that's all that's the feeling of marketing.

Yeah.

You're just, it's.

That's not even about it. Like somebody. If you think that installing an app on Shopify is going to be the.

Difference 100 I've heard that so much even though I don't even do drop shipping. People have reached out to me and they're like hey man. Because I guess some people may think I do. And I'm like nah man, I don't. And they're like oh man, I tried all these different plugins and all this blah blah, blah. Do you think a lot of people that are starting it are trying to do too much and yeah, they're way over complicated.

So this Is this will be drop shipping advice, but it'll be advice on anything. Anyone, I think anyone that is successful watching this can agree with me. Modeling success is all you need. So if you could find 10 competitors selling a product that you're interested in selling, you could find their store and find their ads. Yeah. What. What's stopping you?

Yeah.

Like, if you know they're making money every day and you know that, and you know where they're running ads and you know how they're running ads and you have access to everything because, I mean, it's all public.

Yeah.

What's. Why can't you. What's the difference? And there. There's no difference. People don't understand that. They're too caught up in and okay, I need to make sure that this is removed. I need to make sure that I have the right color scheme on my store. Yeah, it's like, dude, you need to stop thinking about that. You need to, first of all, get a good product and second of all, run a good ad if you don't know how. Well, go find people that are. Have good products and go find people that are running good ads and literally don't copy them, but take what they're doing and put your name on it. Like, change everything and make it yours. But model success.

Totally.

That is the absolute, absolute easiest way to do anything. Probably the easiest way to get up to 100k a month in terms of business. So really I want to just finish my story really quick, and then we're just like kind of Q and A style. But where I left off was like, I watched in Silver's video, right?

Yeah.

Okay. So I was watching his video and then I found Thaddeus Strickland, which is actually right now a good friend of mine. Yeah, Thaddeus Strickland was more. He was less like, start a general store and upsell and, you know, status was, hey, start like a little brand. Like have like a collection of products, maybe like three products and then different variants of them for a total of like 20 to 30 and start a store. And so I did that and I found a couple successful stores, which I didn't even know at the time that I was modeling success. But I found a couple stores and I was like, damn, this looks really, really good. And I made my store look like theirs.

Yep.

The first two weeks didn't go well because I promoted my products on saturated influencers, which I didn't know at the time.

Yeah.

And then I found my first good influencer. So this is nuts, actually. I was driving to work. I've told the story many times. It's like one of my favorite. I was driving to work. It's a 10 minute drive at 6 in the morning. I was caregiving 12 hour shift, so making 10 bucks an hour after taxes, I'll probably take home like 100 bucks for 12 hours. I was driving to work and I had a new influencer at the time that wasn't saturated, but I didn't know that. I ran my, my ad and on the way to work, I made $60 in 10 minutes.

Okay.

So that was nuts for me. By the end of the day, I made $100 for, from caregiving and I made 480 from dropshipping.

Oh my lord.

Yeah.

Is that your first winning day?

That was my first big day.

Okay.

Meant like the, the person that I was working with at the time thought I was crazy because I was like jumping up and down, not being professional at all. And I like screamed on the way home. But that month. So after the first successful day when I found my first good influencer, I was able to kind of distinguish good and bad by like comments and likes. Yeah, for sure. Like good, I was gonna say after that. And then my first month, I think I pulled in like 5,400, like first.

Month, like when you actually saw results.

And then double down on results, and I was like, okay, this is working. I pulled.

So question to touch up on that. What makes an influencer good and bad in your experience?

Okay. So the only difference really is, is how often they've been advertising. If there's been an influencer that's been advertising for years, they're most likely not gonna work well.

Got it.

Unless you have some killer marketing.

Yeah.

But most of the time, if you just have a decent ad, it's not gonna do well. So I've actually people say like, oh, do you need a million followers? Do you need like 10k followers? I had an influencer before with like 54,000 followers and I ran an ad and I was very, very, very profitable.

Yeah.

But they won't last as long because they don't have as much volume.

Totally.

But it was very, very profitable because it was the first ad that they've ever ran. Yep. And so basically everybody on the page was like, whoa, what is it?

Check it out.

It's an ad. Is it his store? Is it his product? So that I would say definitely that's one thing. Ask influencers how long they've been running ads for.

Got it.

And if it's Like a couple weeks or a couple months. And it's like, you could try it. If it's a couple years, probably no luck. But if it's cheap enough, for sure, we'll test it. Yeah.

So with finding influence, people that may want to know how to do that, is it just you, like, on your personal Instagram, reaching out to them, or do you have, like, a separate page that you're reaching out to these influencers?

I'll reach out on my business Instagram.

Okay.

So I usually. I'll create a separate Instagram account for every store that I have. Because that's the branding part, I thought. Yeah.

Because I know I've heard Thaddeus talk about that before. When I've seen him speak is like, I think the biggest thing, because I sat down with Jake from moving watches, and they've obviously crushed the whole movement watch. They just sold for over 250 million. Do you think in your expertise, like, the branding of the product is, if not more valuable than the product itself?

I think I think it's about 50. 50 on that.

Okay.

I think that a product is absolutely necessary, but I think that if you give the perception that you are a real brand, which is totally legal, by the way. Yeah. Question all the time I explain people what I'm doing. Like, is that legal? I'm like, absolutely. Walmart does it.

Yeah.

If you give off the perception that you are a legit brand in your marketing and the way you run your store and the way you have content and the way you, you know, then absolutely both of those things together will make you successful for sure.

Got it. That's what's up.

So people like that.

Totally, totally. So in the story of now, it's funny because you brought up Thaddeus and obviously you guys are like, great friends now. We've been hanging out at the Village Empire house. Spoke at the event together. So Thaddeus was someone that you came across after Daniel Silver. You started following him.

Right.

Was. Was Thaddeus the guy that sort of like helped you jumpstart to actually get your results or what was the. I was a catapult to actually seeing Success with the $60 day, then $480 day.

Nothing.

Just you grinding and testing different things.

I never reached out to people. I never. I never did anything. I just did it. I wrote down. I had a notebook, the same notebook that I wrote down my real estate stuff. And I had every single influence, influencer. The name, the product I was promoting the ad, promoting the copy, the time of day, and I'd write down every single order and how much profit I made. The whole book was filled. Yeah. I would just write down everything and just slowly optimize. I never reached out to anybody. I never actually. I never even bought a course on dropshipping until I made. I've already made, like, 10, 20 grand off of it. Yeah. And I bought a course and I was like, oh, shit. Like this. Like, I could. There was so much knowledge in there that I could have applied and made more money. Yeah. I was like, why didn't I buy this soon? Yeah, whatever, though. It's. You know. And then, yeah, it was just me. Just me just testing different things. Always testing, testing, testing. Just. If this doesn't work, what does? Trying. Finding. Slowly, slowly figuring out what doesn't work and then obviously using those more and more. And I don't remember.

I.

Obviously, I started YouTube too, because I. A lot of people, like, I was commenting on channels, and I became known in the comments, people were like, oh, Sebastian's gonna. I told. You know, I was like, commenting on Thaddeus channels like, yo, dog. Like, this is dope. Like, 600 bucks today. I was like, should I make a video, like, on how I did it? Because, like, a lot of people are kind of getting into this. And, yeah, you know, I think I could shut some light maybe. And I did in my first videos, like, people just really loved it. Like, my first video, I think it got, like 17,000 views.

Okay.

And people were just really like. They're like, oh, you explained this really well. Like, that makes more sense. And I just. I was like, okay, well, I'll post some more videos, I guess. Just try to help people out. Like, if I could make a couple hundred bucks a day and help people out. Yeah. And that's. It works with me, for sure. And people were. It was helping them off. Right off the bat, people were saying, yo, like, I actually did what you said. And you make it a lot simple. Yeah. And like, now, like, I made, like, 80 bucks today. Yeah, great. That's dope. And I kept on going, kept on going, kept going. And I was posting daily, actually.

On YouTube.

Yeah.

From the start or what?

Not from the start. Yeah. Once I started gaining momentum, I started posting daily, and I didn't like it. And I took a break for two weeks. I bought a new camera, I got some lighting, and I was like, all right, I come back, make a video. It does. Okay. And then I made another video, and that was the 991 in 14 hours, where I just explained how I made $990 in 14 hours.

Okay.

Seven minute video. And that one went, like, semi viral. I think it's at, like 380,000 views right now. So that was really the backbone, like, the support.

So with social media, as in, like, putting out content and impacting people, helping them make Money From a YouTube standpoint, when did that start? As in, like, now you have this huge influence online. You're helping thousands of people. When was that pivot from, like, you saying, all right, let me make money and crush it with this store to, like, all right, I actually think I can help people. What time of year? When was that?

So what's. Okay, so the time of the year. I don't. I don't remember. It was probably, like, late, Late last year.

Okay, so it's less than a year. Like, you putting out content from a personal branding perspective, you say, or what?

Yeah, it was probably just. Just. Just. Probably just under a year.

Okay.

Yeah. But I never even thought about it, like, that. I was never even like, I just want to teach people.

Totally.

I was never even like, I just thought, like, hey, like, if I can do it, like, I might as well. Yeah, you guys want to learn? Like, you guys want to help? Like, I can. Maybe I could shut some light on something. It wasn't like, oh, I'm a pro at this and. And I can teach it. And, like, I never, ever, ever said that either. I never claimed to be a pro. I literally. There's multiple videos where I'm saying, like, guys, like, I'm not. Like, there's people that know way more about me that don't have subscribers. There's people that know way more than do. I'm just like, I'm putting out content if you find it valuable.

So what was I would say from, like, an inspiration standpoint? Because I think a lot of people that I've interviewed where it's like, I asked them, like, when was the pivot when it comes to you putting out content? Not in the sense of, like, you're trying to be the best at this, let's say niche or whatever, but, like, when I said, I'm a grant cardinal, like, there's a lot of people that make a lot of money and they're crushing it behind the scenes. And it's a whole, I would say, different mindset to, like, pivot and build a personal brand and start putting out content. Was there any, like, inspiration or someone that was like, all right, like, you should put out content, or was it just you being on social media and Saying, all right, I know that social media is powerful, or where did that come from? Like, were you using social media in the past just for personal reasons and then pivoted to business, or was it just, like, casually, you just started putting out content and then it's kind of built this brand every time.

Well, I did always want to have, like. I did always want to have, like, a YouTube following. Like, I think that everybody, like, in our generation. Yeah. I feel like a small part of everybody wants to have followers or influence. So there was a small part of me that was like, oh, it'd be dope to have a bunch of subscribers and stuff like that. But that was really, like. Like 3%.

Totally.

I started doing it. It wasn't. And in terms of, like, inspiration, I didn't look up to anyone. I don't. Like, I don't even. Right now. I don't have any actual mentors that I pay. I don't have. I don't really look up to anyone. All I really do is I look at people that are where I want to be, and I follow right behind them in their footsteps very quietly. Yeah. And I just. I'm like, all right, I'm watching what you're doing.

Totally.

That's all I do.

Totally. That's what's up. So YouTube eyes content. What's an average week look like? How many times are you posting on YouTube or what's the schedule like nowadays?

Probably, like two, two to three times a week. But I want to try to start posting a little bit more. I've just been really busy with all my other projects, and I. I don't know. I think that my other projects are more important than YouTube. But I still want to help people because people do find my content really valuable, and I very. Like, one of the most commented thing I get is like, dude, your content is just way better than everyone else's. Not throwing shade at anyone. I'm sure that you guys have to.

Go check it out after this podcast.

But I knew it was, like, somewhat true because my, like, all of my videos, despite me having lower subscriber count or even just, like, the same amount, every single video I put gets more views. Okay. Every single one.

That's what's up.

They always get, like, 10 to 15,000 views or, like, like 8 to 15,000. That's always more than everybody else. Just because I know when people click on my video, they're expecting quality. Yep. And so I want to deliver on that.

That's dope. And I'm curious. I want to kind of jump back to your story, in a sense, when it comes to, like, this year, I graduated high school, and for me, it's like I had a mentor, whether it be Tyler Lopez or Gary Vee. So in high school, like, going 9th and 11th, 12th grade, what was your day to day? Like, were you into sports? Like, what was your passions back then? Like, do they have anything to do. Do with what was it now? Or just what was it like growing up in high school, like, before all this? Because I think a lot of the thing about people is, like, everyone has a story, and obviously you've touched on it. Well, I just want to condense this down, like, high school, because I think there's a lot of young people that listen to us that are either making money online or they're trying to. Or they maybe may follow yourself and Thaddeus or people that are just dominating that space and like, damn, like, I can never do that. What would you tell that kid that's in high school that may not know what to do, do or who to learn from? Like, what would you give to them?

Man, it's. It's so weird because I can't explain it because, like, I just wish that everybody listening to this right now could just literally just open up their ears. I thought the exact same thing. Like, I was literally, literally in your shoes. Like, I. You can't put into words because if you're. If you're listening and you think you know who I am or you know anyone that has influence in six, like, if you. If you look at me and you say, I couldn't be like him, that is literally exactly how I would feel. Like, if there was another kid with, you know, 2 million subscribers, I was like, there's no. Like, this doesn't make any sense. I couldn't do it. Yeah. But now I'm actually the complete opposite. Now I'm like, oh, I could do that too.

Yeah.

For anything. Yeah. If someone climbs Everest and they're, like, super athletic and it's, like, nearly impossible to do it or what? I don't know anything about it, but yeah, I would be like, I can do it too. I mean, he's human. I'm human. Yeah. And so anything I can do, anybody listening could probably do as well.

Do you think that mindset came from momentum of accomplishments or where do you think that forms from?

It came from success.

Okay.

Yeah, but that's. It's not a big deal. I'm telling you that right now. If I. If I tell people that, then they could do it, too. You don't need to experience, like, I'm telling you that you can do it now.

That kind of goes like. I interviewed this dude, Christopher Kai, one time, and he. He's interviewed Elon Musk, and he's like, this always stuck with me. He's like, never put people on pedestals because everyone's a human, you know? And, like, I think that sort of resonates with exactly what you. What you just said. It's just like, if you think you can't do something and you put someone on a pedestal, it's like you have to break that mental barrier of, like, they're better than me. And actually put in reality where it's like, they just may have more experience. They may have put more time into it. Now it's like, it's your time to actually put in the work, you know?

Yeah. Another. I don't know, kind of another way to think about it would be, obviously, nobody's life is more important than another person's. Right. My life. My life is not more important than. Than another stranger that we, you know, just met or anything like that. Everybody is just as important in terms of, like. Like, you know what I'm trying to say?

Totally.

Like, it's like, it's a life like 100. Everyone is the same on that level. Like, and everybody deserves, you know, that. That basic. Whatever what I'm trying to say, I can't believe.

Respect or just.

Yeah.

100%.

So humans, we're all, like. We're all the same in a sense. There's nothing that's that different about me or you or Grant Cardone or Gary V. There's nothing, like, drastically different except for the fact that they just wanted it really bad.

Yep.

And they just kept on going. Yeah. And I think that's everyone in that case. But I do want to touch on what you said about high school. In high school, I want to. After this, I want to take it back just a little bit, because I think that's where a lot of my motivation came from. You good? Oh, that's where a lot of my motivation came from. From when I was a child. That's why I'm like, everybody tells me I'm old right now, even though. But in high school, I partied a lot. I was really sociable. I had a lot of friends. I was pretty. I was really popular. I mean, I like the things that most people knew who I was. I always made people laugh. It's a really sociable person. Yeah. I'm not like that at all anymore. Actually, I'm a lot more lonely.

I can see that.

I'm a lot more lonely.

Lonely as in like, like purposely or.

Yes, of course. Of course. People. Yeah, very purposely. Because I really tried to. You people, you'll realize that you'll have a lot more enjoyment out of life with high quality people, even if it's five to 10 of them. Compared to having 200 friends that can't be there for you. Yeah, I'd rather have those people that I could text whenever, whatever, ask for anything and anything. And I know they could. They could deliver. Just high quality people that can count on. And there's not a lot of people like that. Yeah. So small circle of friends. But going back to when I was growing up, my parents were divorced, my father didn't pay child support, so my mom had to support all four of us, me and my siblings living in Detroit. Man, it was rough. Like, we'd get dinner at McDonald's. It would all be $1. You can't go over a dollar for dinner. My mom worked at Wendy's, actually, and we'd have to eat there a lot too, because she'd get a discount. But the roughest time was we. There was a. There's three, two, three weeks out of a month where my mom couldn't afford electricity, so we didn't have anything. Everything in the fridge went bad. We bought candles and actually cooked meals. With candles. Yeah. Because, like the glass candles and we would, like, cook eggs. Yeah. With candles. Because my mom couldn't afford to pay her electricity bill. And so that was pretty humbling. And I've heard, I've heard I don't have money or I don't have enough money probably 10,000 times in my life. I don't have money. I don't have money. I don't have money. And I hated it because I saw everybody else just living normally and I was incredibly, like, frugal. Like, for. For Christmas, like, we would get. I'd probably get like four presents. And like, like two of them would be like socks, and then like another one would be like a joke and it'd be like toilet paper. Yeah. Like, I would never actually get a real Christmas gift. Like, like actual real one. Maybe, like, maybe one. But my mom would probably spend on all four kids. Probably like a hundred to $200. So it just gave me like some serious perspective. Like when I was really young. Yeah. That's why I've always been like, old since I was, like, always been a soldier. Perspective. But always Like, I know that that's. This is not what I want for my kid. Like, I just want my kids to be happy and not worry. And I was always worried about my mom and always like, from being like 12, 11 years old, I was always worried about her. Like, I don't think 11 year olds should have to worry about their parents. Just living life, enjoy going to school, friends. But now, obviously, I take care of her. I've done a lot for my mom.

I was about to say, like, what's the mindset between, like, you and your mom, the relationship, if you don't mind me asking now, that's like, you've, you've been crushing in this scene and obviously you've had success. Like, how has that been fulfilling to you? But then her as well, so she.

A mom's love won't change for her kids at all. No matter who they become or who they are, it always stays the same. So my mom loves me the exact same way and treats me the exact same way. She'll be like, she'll yell at me, like, come, you know, come, come have lunch with me. Like, yeah, come, go take on the dress. You know, stuff like that. But I've done quite a lot for her and she's very thankful. And her entire life has been like, like, like walking on eggshells financially, like, always worried, always stressed. Always worried, always stressed. I think that I've done a pretty okay job kind of taking that off her shoulders. Yep. And that's more fulfilling than any jewelry or car you could buy.

Yeah.

So, yeah, I've, I've helped. Me and my brother have bought her car. I've paid off her. Yeah, we've paid off her credit card debt. I've helped my brother buy his wife a car. I helped my other brother pay off some debt that he was into.

Yeah.

And that's more fulfilling than anything I can imagine. Yeah, more fulfilling than any. I mean, the GTR's fast. It's fast, it's fun. But helping family out, especially because they go through a lot, is the best thing.

That's so sick.

Yeah.

So that's so sick though. Yeah. I'm sure there's a lot of people that when it comes to like, not even just financial ability to support people, but, like, that's what a lot of people aim to achieve in like helping their family, whether that be financially or mentally, just having that fulfillment. So that's so dope that you can do that so young. So when it comes to. I want to kind of catch them back up to speed to, like, now. It's like having. From going from cooking on candles now saying, like, bought your own car, helping her so much financially. When it comes to the current situation it's in today with, like, the softwares and the whole. Your brand and E commerce, what would you say, like, an average week looks like for you? Where are you spending your time? Do you have a schedule? Or, like, how do you operate? Cause I think a lot of people are different. And sometimes people look at that and think, like, all right, maybe that will help me, or maybe it won't. But what's your operation day to day?

So I don't. This is probably gonna be a very different answer than most people think. No, no, it's not good.

I know we were talking earlier today.

There will be days where I don't do anything at all. Well, it'll just be an off day, and there will be days where I. I work for a good majority of the day, but I don't do much. I would actually, right now, in this current state, I would say that I've lost momentum almost, because I had a lot of momentum when I was blowing up, but not right now. Actually, maybe like a month ago, I lost a loss a lot because I became really comfortable and I realized that. So that's why I started a couple new projects. Six months, and I'm gaining it back and I'm focusing a lot more on work. But an average week is just a couple hours of work a day. Unless it's like an off day. And I'm just not feeling. I just don't want to do anything. I'll hang out with friends. I really enjoy hanging out with friends. Laughing, going and doing things.

Like I said today, we went ice skating today. Shout out to the whole squad. But it's sort of thing of balance and like, balancing that. Is that super important to you?

It's important, but it's not difficult. It's not difficult. Like, I'll probably go work for the rest of the night after this. Yeah, tomorrow, who knows? I mean, I actually live day by day.

Yeah, for sure.

We'll see what happens tomorrow.

It's funny because this podcast is going on right now that you guys are listening to. He was like, yeah, let's knock it out today. I'm like, oh, maybe tomorrow. He's like, dude, let's do it today. Like, scheduling is not my thing.

No, no, no. You can't. You can't schedule anything with me over 48 hours. Okay, so if you say you want to get dinner it's either going to happen right now or like tonight at the latest. Dinner tomorrow. You have to text me tomorrow.

Yeah, in the morning.

Hey, let's get dinner today. Okay, we're doing it.

That's what's up. That's what's up. So I have a couple of questions to ask you. Like leading to this end of this podcast is number one, just when it comes to long term passion of just. You said the software stuff. Do you want to get into that or is that something private regarding just your current projects that people maybe can stay tuned on on your YouTube or Instagram? Like what do you want people to know more about what you have going on now just so you can catch people up to speed about like what should they be expecting from you in the near months?

Okay. So yeah, I've touched on software a lot, but I've never gotten detailed with it because I like to keep that private. My goal, I guess with software. I'll give you my goal with software and real estate, moving away from dropshipping. My goal is to build a collection of softwares that I could sell for multiple millions of dollars. And another goal is to build up a real estate portfolio of apartment complexes and to have residual income. So I think that my goal is maybe like a million a week.

Yeah.

And I think that at that point I'll probably, I mean I'll never stop working. I'll always look for the next thing.

That I can totally.

But I think that at a million a week I'll be like, I am at this point. You could probably do anything that you want. Yeah, maybe I'm wrong.

But we'll see later. The podcast in like five, 10 years, round two.

So yeah, that's, that's my goal with software real estate is obviously to build up a collection. I'll probably buy my, my first big apartment complex early to mid-2019, I think. So that's about five.

You guys love to stay tuned for that one.

Yeah, that'll be, that'll be interesting. So I'll probably do that. And then I have like the whole thing I was touching on earlier, the brand that I'm creating. Yep. I actually think that that has like, like, I don't like billboard potential. Like, like that, like that could be known, you know, across the entire country.

Creating a brand around a certain product.

Right? Yeah. So.

But you have to follow him on YouTube to figure out more.

I think that that's something because creation is really like fulfilling. Yeah. Building something and starting. Yeah. That's why people that have Kids, it's like. Like anything that you create in life and make and watch grow will just make you happy because it's your creation. So I think that that will be really, really fun. I think that I'll probably spend more time on that in the next year, even though it will probably generate less revenue for me just because it will be creation.

Like, that 100% creation is the way to go. Last question before we wrap it up is just what would you say is the biggest lesson you've learned from, like, succeeding from failing? What's something that has stuck in life with you that you've sort of, like, used as a leverage point to just keep going? Maybe you failed at something and you're like, fuck it, I'm just gonna keep doing it. Like, what would you say is a. Characteristics that. A characteristic that you have strength in that you may or may not know of when you were 17, 16?

I. Nothing is impossible. And I really hate one thing. My pet peeve is being very cliche. And I hate motivational speeches, and I hate, like, you can do it, you can do it. I hate. I hate that stuff. But I feel like when I talk, I do an okay job at getting to people and helping them realize what I'm saying and helping them kind of get on the same level that I'm at. But I really, really try hard to get people to understand that nothing is. Nothing is impossible at all. Literally nothing. Especially in business, literally nothing is impossible. Like, you could take any business and go and model that business and follow in the footsteps of what that person is doing and make money.

Even if you.

Even if you mess up, even if someone makes 50 grand a month, right? Or let's just say like a grand a day or five grand a day, even if you mess up and, like, you can only accomplish 50%, that's still, like, that's ridiculous. I think that most people listening will think that, okay, they're at a podcast, you know, they're doing this. They're doing this. Like, that's like, never gonna happen. Like, why?

Why not?

Why? Like, it totally could happen. I mean, there's. There's nothing. There's nothing special. Humans are all, on some level, exactly the same, right? They're all. There's all these basic qualities that all humans share, and I don't think that anyone can do. Like, it's not. It's hard. It's like, hard to put into words. But nothing. My whole point is nothing is important. Impossible. I'm just trying not to sound cliche.

No, that Makes sense.

Nothing. Like you could, you could actually do anything that anybody else is doing. You could actually do it. Yeah.

Because you were in that same position you said.

Right.

Like the mental transition of thinking that and now being where you're at, like just getting that message across, I think from our conversation is like super important to you. That's what you were in those footsteps that now you've been able to now inspire people. On the flip side.

Yeah, I just, I just don't, I don't want to motivate people at all in my life. I don't know. That's not my goal. I just want to like, like shake them. Yeah. And wake them up and be like, look, look what's in front of you. Like, yeah, if you want this, you can have it. Just go get it. Like. Yeah, like, it's like a dog, like sitting down. It's. There's a dog toy right in front of it and it's like, like, do I have to use my back leg first? Do I have to use my front leg first? Like, do I have to. Yeah. What do I have to do? Like, go, go get the toy.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? Like, nothing is impossible.

Yeah.

If you see another dog going and standing up and getting the toy, just go do it.

For sure.

That's a really weird example.

So that being said, I know everything that you're putting out content now. Where is the best people that people can stay in touch with you and actually learn more about what you're doing?

Definitely my Instagram and my YouTube channel. On YouTube, I give a lot of practical advice on drop shipping, which is what I got started and how I made my first bit of my first chunk of money. And then Instagram is more like my day to day life where you can see my content where I'm going and I kind of like post funny stories. So go follow me on Instagram. It's young with ambition.

Yeah. And everything will be down below. And last but not least, make sure you please check out Sebastian on YouTube. Give him a subscription, go follow his content. I know I've looked at it before and it's freaking phenomenal. And if you're into drop shipping, I know that you have a lot of content there. So if you want to learn more about what he's doing and how you can actually learn from him, make sure you go give him a follow up. Other than that, man, appreciate you coming on the show, bro.

Thank you.

Monarch Legacy of Monsters An Apple original Series the world is on fire. I decided to do something about it. On November 17th.

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Legacy of Monsters streaming November 17th only on Apple TV Plus.