Sal Frisella - Scaling 1st Phorm & Building A Culture

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Listen, man, if success was fucking easy, everybody do it. You know, it's like if having abs was easy, everybody have fucking abs. When you look at business or life in that matter, it's supposed to be fucking tough. It's supposed to be a struggle. And that's what separates the great from the good.

All right, what's going on, everyone? Casey Adams here. Welcome back to the Rise of the Young podcast and on today's episode. I know I've hinted at it for a while now, but I'm very excited to bring on this guest. I know this has been someone I've not only followed for the past year, but I've really learned to love his content and his story. So thanks so much for being here, Sal. This is Sal Frisella for everyone listening.

What's going on, Case? I appreciate you having me, man.

Absolutely. Yeah, I appreciate you as well, man. I just want to start it off with this because I've been following you guys and you, Sal, for a while now, obviously from first form and everything that you and Andy have built. And one of the biggest things that I wanted to sort of start off with because I'm sure a lot of people listening know who you are just in the sense of what you've been able to build in terms of being the president of FirstForm, but doing it with your brother. I come from a background, I have two older brothers and we always played sports growing up. So I just wanted to start it off on this note of what's it been like to really build and scale a company such as first form with your brother?

Well, I mean, just like. I mean, I think, you know, just like anything else, you know, it's been. The highs are. The highs are high and the lows are low and the lows in this situation. And I think what make it dynamic versus most business situations is you don't have two guys brawling in the lobby or breaking doors or motherfucking each other. So, yeah, the passion that comes from the bloodline, you know, it makes our environment a little bit different, you know what I'm saying? So. But the cool factor is you're sitting there and two little fat kids that grew up on a gravel road in San Luis, Missouri, and we're trying to help people change their life really through diet and exercise and supplementation plays a role, but just have the blue collar mix with passion and then taking something that we both struggled with. The highs are quite a bit of fun because you really get to take a look, even though they're quick looks, when you, when you see a little bit of success and realize that, you know, what, like what we're doing in the world matters. And I think, you know, for me personally, that's what I, you know, that's what I live for. Changing lives. Not necessarily just making money, for sure.

No, absolutely. And one thing too, I want to really, for those who may have stumbled upon this podcast and may be unaware of really what you've built in terms of what first form is and really how long you've been doing it, I'd love for you to just give some context into where you guys currently are. I know before we started the podcast, you were talking about your expansion and how you have this huge 180,000 square foot facility you're building out. And I want you to really just bring people up to speed on where you guys currently are and overall how long you've been building first form for those who may not know.

Yeah, well, I mean, I think that's an important, important lesson because, you know, I talked about this today in my sales meeting. You know, the younger generation is compare it against, you know, they see everything through social in a one minute clip. You know, it's like it goes from A to Z in one minute. And I think, you know, when guys are out there in the grind, you know, and they're, they don't see success, after year one or year two, they quit. And you know, for us, you know, it hasn't been an overnight success. You know, it's been a lot of struggle. And you know, when we started, I worked out of my house and we used to really quite honestly keep product in my brother's garage and yeah, you know, driving across the country and you know, the first couple years I spent 90 plus nights on the road and we were just doing what we could to get by at the time until, you know, until we kind of found our way. And that wasn't really until even like year three or four, you know. And it was, you know, the struggles, the ups and the downs and trying to figure out, you know, what are we going to spawn into? You know, we thought we'd be the biggest, the biggest sports nutrition brand in distribution America, like, meaning in direct retail where you go to like GNC or local shop. And when social media came around, we had an opportunity to really tell our story because through a GNC distribution channel, we weren't allowed to tell our story. We were another product with a package, I think with social. Just as it's evolved, it's allowed us to relate to people and let them know that there are people on this side of the company that care about them and we understand their struggles. And it's not about selling a pill or some magic rap that's going to help you lose weight. It's parallel with success. You have to have a game plan. You have to attack the game plan. You have to make sure you're working the plan and be really fucking honest with yourself. And I think that's where a lot of people struggle. And understanding that equation takes time. Both in fitness or changing your life, losing £100 or in success in business, you know, you have to attack the plan consistently for a long period of time and make sure you're not telling yourself some bullshit fucking story, you know, like, oh, I'm working a plan when you're not really working to plan.

Yeah.

And social, you know, the last five, six, seven years has allowed us to advance and you know, we went from, you know, in the short, really in the last, I would say six years, we've gone from, you know, a sub 5, 7 million dollar company to, you know, north of $200 million. And you know, we employ, we got 10,000 independent reps across the country and there's 100 plus people that work here at corporate and we're building out 184,000 square feet new distribution facility. So you, you know, and the thing is, is it's built off, it's built off of fucking hard work and determination. And I, you know, for the young guys out there and girls who are listening, like, you know, it's gonna take time, man. Like you don't get. There are very few people that win the lottery. You know, success is, is, is a marathon of life and making sure that, dude, you do it with good intent. You fucking do good by people and you work your fucking ass off.

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. So I, I want to bring up something as well because I really want to say, because I obviously you said regarding the last six years has been a massive upswing. Just what was the year you guys started and really what was the intent? Because you said that you were planning on being the biggest like direct to consumer in the GNC and all these different things. Like when you guys started it, where were you guys at in your life? And what was the, I would say, driving point to do so?

Well, it's been 10 years for me personally. My brother's been at it for 20. So my brother was in the, he still owns 22 retail stores, but he was in the retail business. And at the time Amazon had kind of come into play, Internet bodybuilding.com had come into play and people were getting comfortable shopping online. Well, our industry can be very shady at times. And so what companies were doing is they were making inferior products that they were selling basically on Amazon so they could lower the price and the consumer didn't know because they weren't educated enough. And so these companies were taking advantage of the consumers. They were selling one product to go on the store shelf and at a different product at a much lesser price point to sell through Amazon.com and they were making killer margin on those transactions. So my brother was on the store side and he constantly had to battle this conversation like, no, they're selling you two different products. No, it's not the same. And so he had the mission that he wanted to build the best product line that he possibly could that was map protected. It was price controlled on the Internet and price controlled in the stores. So the brand continuity, whether it was online or in the store, it spoke a similar message. And when we first started, our goal was to attack the retail industry and get on the shelves of the Moms and Pops stores all over the country. And just like life, dude, sometimes plans change. And for the young business people, young entrepreneurs out there, sometimes you set out to be a concrete guy, you might end up paving asphalt, right? You might stay in the same lane, but just shift a little bit. We went from our goal being in thousands of retail stores to social media allowed us to go direct to consumer, where we could sell product on the Internet. And we learned just by educating people and telling them the truth, I think when you can help somebody change their life, you can gain a customer for life. And that's a huge transaction. So our model, like what I teach my sales Guys all the time is, you know, education, trust, loyalty, and what happens in our industry specifically. And really a lot of industries, people try to, you know, kind of, they lie to you to kind of get you into their system, especially in the diet game, you know. And so we said, hey, let's just teach these people for free how to change their life. Let's teach them and educate them how to change their life and how to eat right and exercise properly. And if they continue to be successful down this path, supplementation can play a role. So we were placing supplements as the last transaction, not the first. And we created a movement through being honest with people and teaching people how to change their life, getting them the results, which is our goal is to help them change their life, both physically and mentally. But we weren't leading with product, we were leading with our heart. You know, these people need help and it's our mission to help them. And so as one of the early brands to Instagram, we were able to spawn that message and create a small movement which is basically helping people change their life. Because I mean, you guys, the younger generation is smarter than kind of the older generation in the Internet world, but there's a lot of clickbait linking that happens on the Internet and they're all auto bills to buy a weight loss product that's going to get billed and it's a scam. And our job, our mission is to help those people once they get tired of being scammed and sold the shortcut, which doesn't work, that if you really want to change your life, come to first form. I think my brother does this from a podcasting standpoint, from business, and I think it's really what's helped us be successful is just helping people change their lives. And what happens when you change somebody's life, they tell a friend and it's the best way to grow your business is word of mouth, is driving results and making sure that you over promise and over deliver.

Yeah, I love that. And I want to bring up something too, because I know I recently saw a clip on your Instagram regarding your sports injury and I know that was a huge part of your life. And looking at your office, I see a lot of the football helmets and just sports related items. And I wanted to touch on that because I know, like I said, I watched that video and I saw this leg injury that you wrote a long caption about and I reposted it because it really hit me and I really wanted you to, to touch on this because I think obviously it was A point in your life that you said was like that pivot point or a huge defining moment. But I want you to go in depth on how really sports crafted your mentality or it really aligned you with how you go about your day to day mentality nowadays. So to answer the question directly, to say, how has sports been a part of your life that it's really impacted you to be who you are?

Yeah, I mean I, yeah, it's really the only thing that I know and I just parlayed my experience there and brought it into leadership and management over here. There's only one way to lead and it's by example. And the best way that I've always understood that was really through the physical sense of sport. Whether it's playing or practicing or competing against each other. You learn a lot about yourself and you learn a lot about your teammates and you know, baseball or football. I played baseball.

Okay. Yeah. I was about to say, what did you, what was like your go to?

Well, so I played baseball in college and I was drafted and I played professionally and you know, baseball taught me camaraderie and taught me basically a locker room mentality, you know, is the forge. The actual union of team is created in the struggle. And you know, when you look at the great teams, it's not the great talent that wins, it's the great atmosphere, it's the culture, it's the bond that happens that you're not going to quit on the guy to your left or right. And it's all designed through struggle. And you know, when we were building our team over here at first form, the only thing I knew was physical struggle. So we've always worked out together, we've always struggled together and it builds this alliance where you trust the guy to your left and right and you're willing to go a little deeper, a little harder. Now my guys make fun of me because I say it in the paint. You know, you're going to go because of the guy to your left and right. And usually that's created from physical, from a physical. And you know, when I bring all the guys to my house and work out in my basement and we call it Run the hill, I have this death hill in front of my house, okay. And the goal is to like look and look inside their soul. Like I want to see what they're made of. And so when you're running up that hill and it's 95 degrees and it's hotter than fuck and I just put you through a 40 minute workout, like what you Got in the tank, son.

You know what I mean?

That piece of that culture for us has just parlayed into our business where we bring our customers in, we do philanthropic workouts with 30 for the kids, bonding people through fitness and the struggle of the journey. And through that, we create loyalty. When you change somebody's life from a physical standpoint, when you help them lose 20, 30, 50, 100 pounds, there's a physical struggle that creates that union in the community. And I always tell people all the time, like, I speak fast, like that's, that's one of my talents is I can look at somebody who's getting ready to go through a struggle and I can, I can look them in their soul and I can speak to them. And I know the physical journey that it's going to take to get there. And I understand the struggling moments. But I can tell you if you follow the plan and you attack it, it's worth every motherfucking day of it. The same thing that I can go through with success for, you know, for the young audience is like, listen, man, if success was fucking easy, everybody do it. You know, it's like, if having abs was easy, everybody have fucking abs. When you look at business or life in that matter, it's supposed to be fucking tough. It's supposed to be a struggle. And that's what separates the great from the good. And you know, there's a lot of moderately successful people who take their talents and maximize them kind of. But the difference in that good to the great is maximizing your talents, executing consistently over time, and holding yourself fucking deathly accountable. And the best way to do that is to surround yourself with people that will hold you accountable and then you can all push in the same direction. And that was always our goal, is to create that piece. And I think we've done a pretty good job of creating that fun, competitive, fuck you mentality where it's like, I don't give a fuck, let's fucking go harder. Yeah, yeah, that's the, that's the piece for us that I think is our little special sauce that we love for sure.

No, I love it. So I, I want to know. It's like on a day to day basis, you're saying a lot of like, it's the culture, it's the. You learn from the struggle and working, working out with your employees and also working with your employees, like it's, it translates. Right? So what would you say at first form has been one of the accountability tactics or how do you just keep the whole Team accountable on a day to day basis. Like what are some of the routines you put people through? Daily schedules? Because I'm sure it's hectic. Right. You guys are opening 184,000 square foot facility and you guys are scaling. So how do you remain accountable not only to yourself and your personal life, but maintain that through the team, through the company?

It's tough, man. I'll tell you that. One of the struggles with scaling a business is taking the culture and doubling it without you being in it as much as possible. And I think that's where developing, like Jocko Willink's bookstream ownership, being able to gift that gift or gift that power to somebody else in your organization who can replicate that energy is very important. Because now you can give them that piece, they feel special to you, you have a bond. And then those people, there's an affair. Infinity chain up the line.

Yep.

The scaling of culture is really tough, man. It's a tough, It's a tough business. It's tough to stay on track. You know, there's a lot of things going on. You know, as a business grows, it's gonna, you know, it only gets worse. It doesn't get better.

Yeah.

You know, making sure that you maintain that culture is the toughest piece. And, you know, trying to communicate with everybody on a. On a daily basis, as simple as saying hello. You know, I try to take two laps around a building every day and say hello to everybody in the building to let them know because I want to, I care about them, I want to voice, I want to hear that, you know, because we're a brand about people.

Yep.

And if you look at our mission, our culture is designed to help people change their lives. And there's a lot of people out there that need a lot of fucking help. And when you look at it from that sense, and it's not just physical help, you know, it's not just somebody struggling to lose £100. You look at the world, there's a lot of room to help. And you know, we sponsor an orphanage in Haiti. And like when you start thinking about how fortunate we really are, you. I mean, we're talking on a computer across the world and these kids don't have basic needs, food, water, shelter. You know, we start thinking about how fortunate we are to be born where we're at, to be able to have the freedoms and the access to things that we have. You really have perspective of life and it keeps you moving in the right direction because that means that this is our opportunity to Feed to make the world a better place. You know, if you want a life that's worth fucking living, you got to build. You got to build something that, that's worthy of them showing up at your funeral. That's kind of like one of my mo's to my guys. Like, my job on this planet is to do such a great job that when I die, the community that we have built will take care of my kids. And when they show up to my funeral, I want them to constantly tell stories to my kids about how I helped change the world, how I helped them change their life. And for me, that's a motivator. For me, that's what it takes for me to get my fucking ass out of bed and go. Because I understand the value of my name to live on as something that's worthy to me. And so it's a way to keep me accountable along the ride, no matter how much quote, unquote success we're having.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. And so I want to dive into something too. So you're talking about in terms of just kids. And one of my older brothers, 25, he had a kid a couple years ago and that really changed my perspective of like being an uncle towards my niece now. So what would you say? How has having kids impacted your business life or your mentality on a not only a day to day basis, but just now you're saying legacy. You're talking about how your community can help raise your kids. And I'm sure that's had a massive transition on you. But what would you say has been the biggest upside to not only having kids, but having. How has it transformed your mentality as a father?

Now life's bigger than just you. And I think we're all very selfish by nature, and that's okay. It's a very narcissistic world that we live in, which is great. It's like when the airplane mask dropped. They say, oh, you got to put your mask on first before assisting others. You've got to take care of yourself before you can take care of them. Having children for me has given me a deeper purpose for what really taking care of myself means. It means my priorities are straight. It means making sure that I'm giving it everything I have from the 9 to 5 standpoint, so that when I come home, I can be a father. But in order for me to give it everything I got, I gotta have good balance. It means I gotta take care of my fucking self. But to be a father to me matters, you know, because you See, successful people who don't have. Who don't have that relationship with their kids. And, you know, when I look at somebody, especially like, young men, that's kind of like my jam. You know, young dads who are overweight and they're struggling with life, maybe their marriage isn't happy. And I'm thinking about, you know, like, they have to take care of themselves first so that they can be the father that they want to be to their son. And the only way that I can portray that message is to lead by example. And I try my best every fucking day to give it hell in every single area of my life. So when I'm at work, I focus on fucking work, and I'm giving it fucking hell. But when I'm at home, I give time to my kids and my wife, and I let, you know, I let them experience their dad.

Yeah.

And as soon as they go to sleep, I'm right back into fucking work mode. So I understand that I'm attacking my legacy, but still living life for them.

Yeah, for sure. For sure. So I want to reference something, too, just regarding. From a sports perspective. So that day that you had that injury, like, what was your mentality? Because I bring this up because, like, how I got into everything I'm doing now. Three years ago, I had a really bad neck injury while playing football, and I was in a neck brace for six months, almost paralyzed, diagnosed with inner spine ligament damage. And I tell a lot of my viewers that all the time. And that was a pivoting point for me where I couldn't play football again and I couldn't play lacrosse and all these things that I've been doing for years. So. And that sort of detached me from the old version and my old identity. So on that field, I know that you posted that video recently on your Instagram page, and people can go check it out and I'll make sure to link it here. But what was your mentality on that day that that injury happened, and how did it really leave an imprint on you moving forward?

Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, that day was very interesting for me because your whole fucking world smashes you in the face, right?

Yeah.

But I think it's very. It's a very life moment. And the reason I consider it a defining moment for me, because at that point, you have two options. You can play the poor me card, like, oh, my life was going great, and then this happened, and you could be like most. What most people do is they say, well, success isn't meant for me. I'm just gonna go fucking cry my way through life and talk about how great I used to be. Or I had another option. I was like, well, fuck this, man. Like, I'm wired to win. I'm win. And I quickly parlayed, you know, went through rehab for quite, you know, quite a bit of time. I battled some mental struggles for me, personally, because, dude, I mean, you go from being, you know, this young professional athlete.

Yeah.

City every night, you know, we had.

A lot of fun.

You're on the road with 30 guys. You know, it was like. It was. It was fucking wild.

Yeah. Yeah.

Then I had to transition back to, quote, unquote, normal life. And that's. That was a struggle for me, you know? And then, you know, quickly, I'm. Before long, I'm wearing a suit and selling copiers, you know, and I'm like, what the fuck is going on? So, you know, you have two options in life, always. You can bitch about it or you can be about it. And that's the only way you can fucking live. You can be part of the problem or part of the solution. And I was young, man. I was fucking 24, 25 years old. I was like, fuck this. Like, I got a lot of life to live. Yeah, I'm gonna go give it hell. And I started competing with my. I'm a competitor by nature. So that's like, you know, I started somewhat. Figured out who. Who of my buddies was making the most money. He was selling copiers. So I'm like, all right, I'm gonna go sell copiers. Yeah, for a little bit. I did. I did really well. Then I got a job at Med Device because one of my buddies got. So I got hired into Johnson and Johnson, and quickly in that game, I was fucking hustling and I did my thing, and the opportunity came up to work with my brother and Chris, and it's been fun, man. And had I played the poor me card, I'd be a drunk giving fucking hitting lessons, talking about how Great I was 1999, when the truth is, God gave me an opportunity to go out and fucking live life. I think at that time in my life, I was so worried about me and my success. When I realized life is about helping others be successful, and then they will, in turn help you be successful. That pivotal point for me is made my life matter versus making my life insignificant, at least for sure.

I know you brought up, too, about just regarding social media, how you guys were early adopters too. That and even yourself in terms of personal branding. Mr. Vercella on Instagram. And I want to ask you, when did you personally get on social media to attack, like, building your brand and telling your story? Is that more new? When did you do it? Why did you do it? And what was that transition point like?

Yeah, I've always been kind of up until, like, the last. I don't say 18 months. I've always. I don't know if I'd be the same as silent Worker, you know, but, yeah, yeah, my role in the team was I was a quarterback.

You know what I mean?

That's what I did. I'm a pretty good doer. Like, give me a list. Give me something to go do. I go, knock it out. And what I started realizing as I was getting older is we were developing a community of millennials, really is what it comes down to. And by nature, I'm actually a millennial. After they just moved the guideline, you started seeing I have two strengths. I have a culture strength, and I know what it's like to be fat and help these people transition. So I have two stories that I tell, and the one that I think. I think they're both very meaningful. But one that I kind of found an affinity to is the young millennial is they get shit on. People are like, oh, they're millennials. They don't want to work. And the reality is that's the leader just being a fucking. Being a bitch. And it's like our parents used to tell us, oh, walk uphill both ways in the snow, to school. And it's like, the story that you hear now about millennials is the same. Yeah, Millennials want to belong to something. They want to be in a culture. They want to know that their life matters. They want to know that what they're doing is important to not only them, but to the world. So, like, giving a platform and helping hold people accountable, people want to fucking win. I don't care if you're 21 or fucking 41.

Right.

So making sure that you allow them the opportunity to go out and fucking make their life matter and hold them accountable matters to millennials. And so we've kind of spawned that piece of culture out. And then, you know, the personal branding from the helping people take control of their physical self, that's been a big piece for me personally, because it's therapeutic, you know, Like, I know what it's like to be fat, and I know what it's like to be uncomfortable in your own skin, and I know what it's like to not be happy with Your life. But on the flip side, I know the other side of those, too. Like, I know what it's like to gain control your physical self and have fucking confidence. And you can only have earned confidence, you know, confidence that you have because you have paid your fucking dues. Like, when I walk into a fucking room, like, hopefully they know who the fuck I am. You know, when you look at the personal branding side, you know, I think helping people achieve their best personal self is something that I'm passionate about, something that I think I'm decent at. And then helping young millennials and helping young leaders figure out how to make these guys work, and they're both beneficial to. They're both talents that I could spawn with a personal brand. And so I'm trying to work my.

Got it. No, no, I love it. I love it. So in terms of just social media, like, do you. In terms of, like, the first form on social media, did you play a part in just attacking that side of it? Or in terms of, like, socially, what do you think allowed you guys to build a culture on social. When it comes to, like, the early tactics, but I'm sure it's a lot different today. But early on, what was it?

It's crazy. So, like, we were, like, back. Back in early day, you only got 15 seconds of video. You know what I mean? So it had to go quick. Yeah, we were all too scared to put our faces on.

Yeah, yeah.

I have somewhere. It's probably one of these. We used to wear these lucha libre wrestling masks. If you go back in our early days of Instagram. No way. We would put them on, so nobody knew who we were. And we would go out in the warehouse and do these funny, stupid tactics. And then people. People started, you know, they would like it and they would laugh at it.

Yeah.

And then we just kind of slowly started introducing ourselves. Like I was the guy in the black mask. And then we would make stupid videos. Like, we went hipster hunting one day. Andrew and I were in the top rafters, and we were shooting the hipster in our office. We made stupid fucking spoofs off videos. They had nothing to do with our business. They were just allowing us to be culturally. Like, hey, we're fucking funny guys. This is what we do. Like, just normal people, just like you and people. People gravitated towards it. And so we've. You know, we've. We've built a culture around just being fucking regular dudes. Yeah, that's. That's the truth, you know, Like, I struggle. You know what I Mean, just like you, you struggle, you have good days and bad days, but being fucking honest about it, you know?

Yeah.

So whereas in the early days of social too, like everybody's so worried about being fucking cool versus just being fucking real. In fact, you deal with it now. Like now you're seeing everybody, you know, listen, there's a lot of things about social media I love. One of them is making fun of fucking some of the douchebags on social media.

Yeah.

You know, it's being you is the best fucking gift you got. You know what I mean? There's no reason, if you're living with a great heart and a fucking great mindset, be unapologetically you. As long as you're not a fucking raging dickhead dude, the world will love you for it. You know what I'm saying? Like, you don't have to go out and be. That doesn't mean you have to be polarizing. You have to, if you like Trump, you don't have to wear a fucking, you know, go out in the Trump suit and go fucking punch people who are liberals in the mouth. That means wear a Trump hat. Wear a Trump hat.

It's alright.

Nothing wrong with it, you know, and so understanding that being you, there's nothing wrong with it and you can learn to embrace it. People will fucking. People will fucking appreciate you for having the balls to be you.

Got it? Got it. So just real quick too on regarding social media, I want to touch on something because I believe there's this, there's a stigma around, like for example, I believe I spend probably too much time on social media and I'll justify, oh, I'm networking, I'm doing this right. And that's allowed me to. And it's opened up a lot of doors for me. But what would you say to young people listening that are spending time on their phone and whether that they may be getting distracted because there's so many, so much information out there. And I know you guys say this as well as about like being disciplined for what you do and what you like bring into your mental. So what would you say if people are watching 18 to 25, that's the general audience member. And how do you remain not distracted when there's so much out there on social media, on podcasts and there's so much different conflicting opinions, what would you say to them that has allowed you to really stay focused? But what would you give advice to these young Gen Z millennial entrepreneurs?

Yeah, I got you. So there's two things here, right? One Is discipline. Okay, so we'll talk discipline and then we'll talk. How do you filter the shit? Discipline you need to treat your day. And this is something that I didn't understand until I was about 34, 35, but I can tell you has parlayed my success in making sure that I attack what's in front of me. And that goes from scheduling my day out. Like when I wake up, work out. From 6 to 7am, I work out. You don't fuck with me during the workout time. Like, that's my fucking workout time. Don't talk to me. I don't text anybody. I don't fuck with anybody. I work out. Yep, nine, I'm Dad. Same thing. I don't play with my phone. I'm not on social. I'm dad. From nine to five, I'm businessman. Very, very, very rarely will I answer DMs in the middle of my day. But if I do, it's built into my schedule. So I am fucking very schedule regimented. It keeps me focused on what I need to do. So like, let's say for you, you were interviewing from whatever, 8 to 10am From 10 to 11, you schedule social. Like, that's your fucking social time. You schedule it from 11 to 12, you're listening to a podcast that is business oriented. You're educating yourself. From 12 to 1, you're eating lunch, whatever. From 1 to 3, say you're a student. Like you're studying at that point. From three to five, you know, like, we all have the same 24 hours in the day. It's how you schedule those times out. So I think social is important because just like you've said, in your sense, it allows you to network. But making sure you control the fucking reins inside those walls will allow you to stay micro focused. And when you can stay micro focused and you can attack that plan, you can actually attack areas of your life versus just spinning your wheels like you're just going through the fucking motions. And that's what a lot of people do is, yeah, they're downloading all this information, but they never have any time to use it, or they never apply it, just fucking consuming it all. They become a keyboard warrior because they know it all, because they heard it on a fucking. On a podcast. But the truth is they have no practical application because they've never applied it to their life. The second part of your question is, how do you filter through fucking good information? Okay, this is where you need to look up the chain. And when I say look up the Chain look to guys like myself or my brother for experience. I've learned more through books that have saved me times and years of my life on how to apply or how to manage people or how to set goals and simply asking people who are in front of me guys that I like. This is where social media is very powerful. You don't bite off on the fucking guy with the most likes or the most fucking bullshit. You bite off on the person that relates to you the most that where you can find trust and you ask that person for snippets of advice. Do you have a book that you read? Do you have a series of books that you read? Like I have an Amazon link with books, books that I read and I recommend to Everybody. It's like 12 fucking books. That's it. These books have helped me along my life. And so instead of going out there and you trying to filter all the information because you don't have the experience to do it yet, why don't you just find somebody that you trust, lean on for some advice. It'll save you fucking years and years of your life and it'll likely make you millions and millions of dollars.

Got it. Where's that link? If people are wondering, I just It's.

A I'll send it to you. All right. For sure.

Sure.

Amazon has like their little, you know, you can set up like youe know, they're designed to be like an affiliate page, right? That's how he made all his money. I don't give a fuck about making money on Amazon. If I'm doing, if I'm doing what I'm for good at. I'm not trying to make some, you know, side $100 on Amazon. Yeah, I'll send It is an affiliate link, just so you know. But this is the books that I recommend to everyone.

For sure. 100 no, I'll make sure we get that so I can give them the list. But yeah, I have a couple more things I want to go over and one of them being not only like from a company perspective, but just if people are listening. At 18 years old, what were you doing? I like to kind of bring people back into you into, into their shoes so that they can be they could relate, they can figure out what, what someone that's successful, that's built a massive organization was doing at their age in a sense. So I'd like for you to kind of bring us back. I'm 19 now, so what was Sal Frisella doing at 18? 19 years old?

Yeah, being an asshole. Which I think all 18, 19. I mean, I was an athlete, right? So like the 18, you know, I just signed to go play college baseball, you know, So I went the college route, but I went the college route because traditional college for you guys is different than it was 15 years ago for us. And I know it sounds ridiculous. I would still be an advocate of college because of my personal experience in college. However, I don't think it's applicable for every single person. But I did traditional business school just like everybody else. But the truth is, the piece of paper, I don't hang it in my office, it doesn't really mean anything to that. Everything I really learned about life in college, I learned through sport, you know what I mean? I learned through playing. I learned through practical application. Now, I did learn some very fundamental fucking skills along the ride. Like if you go out and fucking party your balls off till 2 o' clock in the morning and you have an 8 o' clock class, guess what? You got to go to class. Yeah, yeah, very much like that. At work. Like, if I want to get drunk on a Tuesday night, I still got to go to work on Wednesday, right? So, you know, there are some practical applications. So, I mean, I was, I was newly enrolled as a college student and I was going down to. I was still in, en route to be a professional baseball player, you know, like, that was my goal. And, you know, it's kind of crazy, man, because like, you know, you know, I never realized, like, I'm old.

What did you say?

I said I'm twice as old as you. Okay, But I mean, use that to your advantage in the sense where you start really looking and leaning on people in front of you for advice, you know what I'm saying? Like, you made this connection, like, dude, typically for an hour for. I mean, this is just the truth. For an hour consultation Now I'll charge $2,500. You have built a network that allows you to fucking social network and information essentially for free. But in return, you're doing me a favor, right? So it's a. You're building a great process of how to bank information and then go utilize it to build something that you want to do.

I appreciate that. I appreciate that a lot for sure. And it's funny too, because I think I want to bring that up as well, because I'm sure you get a lot of people asking you to do podcasts and just to be on their shows. And obviously, like you said, I've been doing podcasting for two years now, and I've Interviewed hundreds of people. And it's something that if people are listening, I always tell young people, and just to go over that statement you just said to Having a podcast for me allows me to network and gain access to information. But for someone like yourself, how do you filter? And I would say answer to people that are looking to get you on a podcast or to get on shows like is this something you often do? Or is this something that you're very selective with? Because I just want the people to understand your mentality when looking at it.

I get asked every single day. Single day.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And the truth is, it's like because of my discipline and prioritization, you can't always have people taking from you because then you don't have the ability to ingest. I always tell people your life is very much like a tree. You're either growing or dying. And if you're never growing, meaning you're adding information to the top of the funnel and people are constantly taking, eventually you're going to die. Because the world is moving, it's evolving. So times have changed, which is why without social media, our business wouldn't exist. But I wouldn't have the opportunity if my head was in the sand. We wouldn't have evolved into the business model that we're in. So I have to constantly continue to evolve. Otherwise we die understanding that concept. If I can't continue to evolve, young people like yourself, they don't want my information, they don't want to consume my information. Because now I'm starting to die, not continue to be successful. And so I filter now. I filter based off. And I didn't, because, you know, I know who you are. I didn't, I didn't typically say, hey, how many downloads you get, how many episodes you have? You know that type stuff.

Yeah.

You know, because the audience is important to me too. If you for sure is a 60 to 80 year old females, like, I'm probably not your fucking guy.

Yeah.

But the 18 to 24 year old males, like that's in my wheelhouse.

Yep.

I got young guys from 18 to 35. Those are my guys. Those are who I relate to. I know the struggle you're getting ready to go through. I know relationship problems. I mean, I love my fucking employees. I mean, I fucking love. Those are all 18 to 25 year old guys. And they have girlfriend problems, they have money problems. And I have fun helping them through that journey. And that's part of my I know legacy's cool. Everybody talks about it now, but I'VE been talking about it for 10 fucking years. You know, when I die, that's what's gonna force those guys to tell my kids stories about me.

Yep.

If I help them through the times, you know, and help them with the relationship and help them, you know, fuck. I loan money three days and four days a week to my guys. I'm fucking pushing money, you know, like, yeah. Through those tough times and being a fucking pillar in their life and so. And a confidant in their life, like, that's what makes somebody show up at your funeral. Being rich. You know what I mean?

Being rich.

They show up when it's time to divvy up the fucking will.

Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. No, I love that too. And I have like two more things I want to touch on real quick. So 30 for the kids. I know that in your Instagram bio, I took a look at it. I was. You met, you briefly mentioned it earlier, but what is that organization that you're building? Because I know that you mentioned it and I'd love for you to just give some information on that for the people listening.

Yeah, of course. Something I'm super passionate about. So I appreciate.

Yeah, for sure.

30 for the kids. So I have a great, I have a great deal of passion for. Literally, I mean, I know a lot of people. I want to change the world. No, but like, I fucking mean it. You know what I mean? Like when I say that, like, it comes from my heart and understanding that there are people in the world who don't, who don't have the same opportunities that we have on a daily basis. They don't have clean water, food, medical attention. And ideally that stuff happens or not. Ideally, excuse me, you know, that stuff happens here stateside as well. That's not just in third world countries. And so I think my affinity and why I started 30 for the kids is, you know, understanding that kids often get the short end of the stick. You know, when you're three, four, five, six years old, like you're subject to what's around you and the environment that you've been born into, you're not subject to like, you know, you're 19 years old. Yeah, you want to, if you want to go to the, you know, you want to smoke weed today, you smoke weed, you want to drink, drink, you want to get better, you can get better. That's your decision. When you're a six year old kid, you're product of the environment and, you know, taking. So 30 for the kids is a fitness initiative that we have developed, which is 30 minutes of fitness for 30 days and run it a couple times. So you pay $30 to get in. Catch the 30 here. So you pay $30 to get in, and the idea is that you work out for 30 days. We're using fitness as a tool to raise funds and build awareness around kids, kids around the world. And so by getting in for 30 days, it allows you the opportunity to hold accountability to yourself. So if you miss a workout, we ask that you pay a $5 honor system. So if you miss a workout, one workout, it's only five bucks. But the idea is that you should be holding yourself as the game. The competitive side of me, it's like, I don't want to pay the five fucking dollars and use that 30 minutes of the day to be able to reflect upon the kids and reflect upon how good your life really is. Because, you know, we all get caught up in the poor me shit, right? You have. I have. I have days like that. Fuck, I was having one of those mornings today. And, you know, understanding that we still got it pretty fucking good, man.

Yeah.

Like, you've been blessed with. I don't know anything about your history in the sense of, like, childhood, your life, but the fact that you're in this pot, like, we're both pretty fortunate motherfuckers. And. Yeah. Do you not have seven Lamborghinis and you have $20 million in the bank yet? No, but don't forget that the fundamental aspects of life, food, water, shelter, medical attention, somebody loves you, there's a roof over your head. That's a big blessing, and that's a lucky. You won the sperm race just like me. You just as likely could have been born in the inner city or in Haiti. The odds are the same. And so take the initiative not just to always put money in my own. I can sure that we're making the world a better place one day at a time. And for me, like I said, that's super important to me. You know, like, when I die, like, it's not just St. Louis, it's not just my guys, it's the fucking world.

Yeah.

You know, we've been able to take care of an orphanage in Haiti for the last three years.

And that's so sick.

Yeah, that's cool, dude.

That's so cool. That's so. So how often do you go out there? Because I'm just really curious on this, because this is something that I want to do later on in my life. So it's like, when did you. When did you Start this.

Yeah. So a friend of mine, some guys that I played baseball with, actually.

Okay.

Own an orphanage or support. We all kind of fund the orphanage through various needs. And so we always take care of the kids. Like, that's my jam. Like, some people build facilities. They build schools for me. I want to make sure they got food, water, clothes, and shelter. That's my jam.

Yep.

And so we always ante up to take care of those kids. But locally, we do things, you know, like Christmas drive, like, where we. You know, we'll fund 50 families for Christmas and, you know, and random family Christmas, so. Making sure that we're touching pieces all over the world. But to answer your direct question, because I get off on a fucking tangent, I go to Haiti once a year, okay. And I take a men's group down there. So I try to take men from all customers, employees, and I try to plug them together and I create. Dude, I mean, it's like the most epic fucking you.

Yeah.

I say this all the time. I've been to some of the coolest places in the world. I mean, the coolest fucking places I've been. Private jets, race across country, Lamborghinis. Like, I've done everything you could. Like, when you're 19, the shit that you think I've done. Yeah. And I can tell you that's not what it's all cracked up to be. I've been to some of the shittiest places in the world with the greatest people, and I've had the best fucking time. The best fucking time. Like, hiking the hillside of Haiti with 20 fucking guys, sweating, fucking, you know, appreciating life. Like, dude, that's what life's about, man.

Yeah.

So I always tell people I've been to the shittiest places in the world with the best fucking people and had the best fucking time. People, not things. And I know, and I understand that from the fundamental aspect that I have things, you know, like, I spent. I like nice shit. You know what I mean? Like, I don't stay in a fucking motel 6 so I can donate all my money. I mean, I still live a very nice life, but you need to make sure that, you know, inside your. Your perfect life, you got to make sure that you. You're making a life around people, not just material things.

Yep, for sure. For sure. So really, just. Just to wrap it up in. In terms of. Just, like we've talked about multiple times, networking and people. I know that's been a common theme throughout this podcast. Like, in your life, what would you say was the biggest change of association at what age when reasoning? Because I know when I was 16 years old and cut off all my old friends and just looked on social media to network, that was my pivot. And I'm curious to know from you, just networking and advice to young people today because I know like, like you always say your association is powerful and you can go to the shittiest places but have the best time because of the people. And it's the people in your life that I always say as well that allows you to level up. So to really wrap it up. Just the association for young people listening. How did you change it in your life? How do you recommend you stay on track with the right people? And overall, how have you been able to build this network of world class people along your journey?

Believe it or not, it's this simple and I know this is going to sound ridiculous. Learned to stop lying. And you know, when I say over promise and over deliver, I mean that because like, you know, my early sales days, it was like all about how to, how to like trick people into doing your thing. You know, how to, how do you trick them into your system? And you would feel, you know that used car stigma. Yeah, that's a real fucking thing. You know what I mean? It's like the hustle of the deal. And I never felt good about that, you know. And when I learned, and I'll tell you, I'll share a story with you, when I learned to stop lying, I started telling the truth. And when I started telling the truth, I started really having people's best interest in mind. So I learned that when I told them the truth, they valued my opinion more because nobody else would tell them the truth. Everybody else would kind of tell them the truth, but I'd just be like, hey man, you're asking me my opinion? This is what I think. It was scary, it was hard, but, but now I know in business, like if you ask me a fucking question, I tell you the fucking answer and you go find the answer to be true that I told you. You find my, my information valuable.

Yep.

And the lesson that I learned, this is kind of interesting. You guys are, I'm assuming, young male.

Yeah. Yeah. Yep.

So I used to, so when I played I had a ton of girlfriends. Right.

Okay.

We didn't have social media so you know, you didn't have to worry about.

They don't gotta, they can't, they can't look and see what's up.

We didn't have Swipe right or any of that shit.

Yeah, yeah, dude.

We'd be in a different city every fucking three nights in a different bar. So guess what? I had a different girlfriend. And I'd have a girlfriend at home, and I'd have a girlfriend where I played and have a girlfriend, you know, in Miami. And I'd have fucking all this shit going on. And, man, you had to call them all and talk to them all. Yeah, it was like constant hustle, fucking bustle. But at the end of the day, like, you know, I was just, I was trying to get laid, right? Like, that's what, 18 to 24 year old guys, that's what you revolve around.

Yeah.

And I was like, dude, finally, I just, I had so many things going on, it was like, God, this is fucking tiresome. And so one day I just literally I told myself, I'm just gonna fucking start telling them the truth. And because I broken. I basically ended all relationships. I was like, I'm. Because this is right after I kind of broke my leg in a sense. And I was like, dude, life was changing. And I was like this, like. And the real reason is because they all wanted to come visit me in the hospital. I was like, well, I can't have my cup.

Got a line out the door.

Well, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, no visitors. I was like, here I am. I'm still in this lie. And so, you know what I realized is I said it. I'm just gonna tell the truth. So I go out and I'd be like, hey, my name's Sal. How are, you know, you know, you kind of, you know, buy him a beer, you know, put down your little fucking week game. Yeah, I'd just be like, hey, listen, I'm interested in, you know what, maybe what you're interested in. I'm not looking for a relationship. I'll go to the movie with you. Like, I like going to movies. I'll even go to dinner with you every once in a while. If you need a date to a wedding, call me. But I have zero interest of being in a relationship. And you know what happened? I had fucking a Rolodex of Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, Like, with no headache.

Yeah.

I had no guilty conscience. I had no bullshit. I was just able to be me. And I was like, holy fuck. Like, this is great. Like, this is the secret. Like, I could just be me. And it helped me out. And I'll tell you what, it helped me in business. It's helped me in my relationship with my wife. Like, I have a fucking phenomenal marriage. And you know what? We have a very open, honest relationship in the sense, like, I just like, hey, man, this is who I am. This is what I like. This is what I don't like. And that's how my life is. And so I don't live with a guilty conscience because I never lie about anything. And so that piece, for me, man, was pivotal, because when I look at all of my friends who are in the sales realm, they're trying to portray this image that they're not. And for me, I don't have to do that. I'm me. I've already learned that lesson. I wear cowboy boots and drive a fucking pickup truck.

Yeah.

I'm just as likely to shake your fucking hand as I am to punch you in the fucking mouth. And I'll never change. Now I got a little bit more money in the bank. I drive a pretty nice fucking pickup truck. But that doesn't fucking define me. This is me, motherfucker. Take it like it, love it, leave it.

Yeah.

That's how I live my life. And it's been the best fucking thing that's ever happened.

I love it. I love it. Well, for everyone listening, Sal, if they were to want to go follow you or learn more about your story or just stay. Stay in tune with what you guys are building at first form, where is the best place that they can follow you? Follow your journey and obviously make sure to link everything down below.

Yeah, of course. So I'm actually getting ready to change my social handle. This is gonna be terrible timing, Mr. Frisella. Yep. I'm gonna change it to Al Forcella.

Okay.

I'm also launching my website here. Soon it'll be sal4seller.com@firstform, the number one S T P H O R M. And I offer this to your listeners. Like, if you guys are struggling, you guys have questions or need help, email in. We can help you. I know what it's like to be uncomfortable in your own skin. For a lot of young guys, gaining that self confidence comes through physical push and comes through physical drive. And if you guys are struggling and need help, there's people out there that will help you, and there's people out there that care about you. Like I fucking care.

So.

If you're listening to this podcast and you're not happy with your physical self, know that there's a company and there's somebody out there that's willing to have your back. And so that's my story, man.

I love it. I love it jam for another hour for sure man. I appreciate it Sal and for everyone listening I definitely like you said I'll link everything down below and with the social changing I'll let them know so if they listen to it now or in three years that they'll they'll have they'll have an update. So Sal I just want to say thank you so much for tuning in everyone listening make sure you subscribe go follow Sal follow first form I know that they've changed my life from all the content you guys have put out so thanks so much for coming on.

The show man Appreciate you having brother. Appreciate you guys.

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