How to Structure Your LLC + Get Grants You Don’t Have to Pay Back | w/ Joi Hunt

I've been going, going, going, going, going, going crazy.

Nope, you can't blame me. You haven't.

Gotta wonder how we.

Got Joy from Florida. She about to do a freestyle.

Hey, I'm Joy. I'm your business bestie. I teach entrepreneurs how to structure.

I'm talking about a freestyle rap. Oh yeah, bust a freestyle real quick.

My name is Joy. I'm Hhh. That's the hard hitting Hunt.

Hey. All right, come on, let's go. Welcome to the real estate newsroom. We got a very special guest today. Joy Hunt, the business bestie, the dancing phenom on Instagram and TikTok you. Yes, her stuff goes viral, but it's all for due cause because today she's going to teach us how to structure our business and how to get grant funding for it. Where in my. If, if I'm correct, some grants do not have to be paid back. Welcome to the show, Joy.

Thank you for having me.

All right, am I right in saying.

That no grants don't have to be paid back just period? They don't.

Period.

No question, no question mark, period.

All right, so Land bank team, y' all better pay attention to this one. All right, Joy, tell me this business bestie thing. And I think I know where it comes from just because I know I research your story and I feel like so many can relate, but where'd you get that little tag from?

I kind of just made up. I'm kind of, I'm trying to mix the legal, my legal background and then my business background together.

Okay, so let's get into it. You're an attorney, you help people structure businesses.

Yes.

And tell me about that. Because there's like legal zoom, there's swift filings, this North Star agent that where, where they say they could help you structure your business. Like 24 hours. What's the benefit of having you, an attorney, actually structure someone's business?

Well, your business structure is more than just an llc. So your business structure needs to comprise of an llc, ein operating agreement, business bank account. And then we need to what I call, run your business like it's Walmart. So we need to follow the corporate formalities. So filing your annual report, not mixing personal and business money, not taking the business card and getting your nails done, going to Fashion Nova, getting a haircut, like run it like it's a real business. So just getting the LLC filed, that's not actually your complete business structure.

Nice. So you don't just. And I like that because a lot of us are first time business owners and we don't know. We think we get money on a card and we think we can go do all of the things that they say like oh, you just, you know, have a business conversation and you can go straight shopping and do all this other stuff.

Correct.

So that's not true.

That's not true.

You actually teach them how to structure it to protect themselves.

Correct.

Which is most important? How does that relate or how can you help my real estate community in the sense that we just open LLCs before we buy a property and we put the property in an LLC name. Can you tell us what you think is the, are the best practices for opening up an LLC for the purposes of real estate?

I would say it depends on what you're going to do with the real estate. So if we want to have a real estate that we're going to buy it and then just sell it like we're done with it. I would have one LLC for that transaction to be on your like the most top notch protection. I would then do nothing else in that llc. So after you sell the property, if there is some kind of dispute later on, you don't have other assets now linked to that LLC that can be a part of that litigation.

Right, I, I understand that because if you were sued, you could lose everything that the LLC owns. But if nothing else is owned, you kind of capped at the, under the protection of the llc.

Correct. So if you're gonna, if you're gonna buy and sell, I would buy it in one llc, but I would maybe sell it in a separate llc. Whatever is the LLC that you sold it in. I wouldn't keep anything else in that llc. If you're gonna have, you're gonna buy it and keep it for like landlords or tenants. I would have the property in one LLC called a holding company and then I would operate the business in a separate llc. So the lease agreement, the LLC that's collecting the rent, the maintenance, that's a separate LLC than the LLC that owns the property. So if the tenant were to slip and fall, break their neck and sue you, you won't lose the asset. That's called asset protection. Separating the operation of the business from the owning of the asset.

This is very interesting because I have multiple properties under one LLC.

No, you do not.

No. I got 400 pieces of land that I own. A lot of them are under four different LLC based on their regions.

We need to change that quick, fast and hurt. You need to have one LLC that.

Owns the property for each.

For each. The note one that will own the property, all the properties, and one that operates one that operates them. So if you, what do you, you have tenants, what are you doing with the property?

Some houses I build, some of the land I sell and some I've built. Most recently I built houses that I rent. Airbnb that I do short term rentals.

Okay.

While I'm waiting for a group home, and most of them, so let's just say a hundred each. So in Birmingham, Alabama, I own 296 pieces of land and I'm building on maybe eight parcels of land right now. How do I structure that best?

The land that you're building on needs to be in its own llc. So if a contractor has a dispute, someone falls, it gets hurt on the property and they sue you. There's nothing else in that llc.

Okay. So they don't get access to. So like, like for insurance purposes, I have a million, over a million coverage. Right. That, those are, that's my liability coverage. So if someone gets hurt and they're suing me for. Typically, if the llc, if they research the LLC and they see I don't have assets that are over a million, they'll typically stop at the million. But if they see multiple assets in there, they'll go for way more.

No, they're going to go for the, they're going to go for the gusto regardless of what you have.

But the LLC will protect me and my personal assets because it's in the llc. Correct?

Your personal assets are separate from the business. So they're going to be fine as long as you run the business like it's Walmart.

Okay.

Running the business like it's Walmart is following the corporate formalities. You're filing annual report.

You do know we don't run no wall. We don't know how no Walmart runs either. Right.

You need to run it. So we're not commingling business and personal expenses or personal funds. Okay. So if you're taking that business card and paying your mortgage, you're going to get nails done, lashes, and there's a lawsuit. They're going to subpoena the last 90 days of your bank statements. If it looks like you're just taking their church's money and going to town with it, you, you don't have a real llc, they're going to, they're going to pierce the corporate veil, meaning you ain't got an llc. And now I'm coming after your assets that you own.

That's good. That's, that's valuable information. So just explain to the audience what piercing the corporate veil means, because I know what that means and I feel like I know some stuff, cuz I heard that before. Just because I have personal assets. But tell the audience what that means, please. Okay, maybe that camera.

Right, okay, so this is you, and you have your llc. Can I borrow that cup? Thanks. Your personal assets are going to be over here. Your house, your car, your boat. So if a lawsuit were to happen with your business, they can't touch your personal assets as long as you run the business like it's Walmart. If we are commingling business and personal expenses, if we're taking that business card and getting your hair done, your nails done, if you don't file your LLC annual report and your LLC is now inactive, if supposed to have certain licenses, permits, and you don't have them, they're going to pierce the corporal, meaning you don't. They're going to act like you don't have an llc. They're going to disregard your llc, so you don't have one. Now they can come get your personal house, car, money in the bank. You don't want that. So to keep the two separate, you have to run your business like it's Walmart or follow the corporate formalities. In the same, the, the same scenario, you don't want to do business and own property or assets in the same llc. If a lawsuit were to happen, you're going to lose anything that the LLC has. So you want this to only have minimal cash in there. That's enough to, you know, maybe operate business expenses. That's it. No property, Charles.

Okay, no, none is in my personal name. So I know that much. Right before I really action them, I will transfer them, so to speak. So when I sell them, I sell them the houses that I build. So let's just say I have team members that buy properties. They buy them in their name. For that they buy land in their name and then they build on it. So they'll come to you, get the corporation, get the structure, or they'll get the llc. And you recommend LLC over an S corp for the purpose of real estate.

So an S Corp is not a business entity. So you have an LLC or a C Corp. And S Corp is what's called a tax election. So an LLC pays the 15.3 self employment tax. A C Corp has double taxation. So both entities don't have the best tax structure. The IRS says, hey llc. Hey C Corp, if you want a better tax structure, ask us to tax you as an S Corp. So file a Form 2553 and your LLC or C corp will be taxed as an S corp for IRS purposes that's beneficial once your business is making about 60 grand in profit.

I love it. I love it. All right. We getting a real education. So I knew that, but I didn't know S corp you couldn't do an S corp. So you're doing an LLC or a C corp and then you're going to elect to file as an S corp.

Correct. So you're still an llc, just an LLC tax as an S corp or you're still a C corp, just a C corp tax as an escort. So at the state level, you're an LLC or a C corp. At the federal level, at the tax level, you're being taxed as an S corp. All.

Right, we're going to test my knowledge of this.

Okay.

Correct me if I'm wrong. The benefit of, of filing an S corp status is so you only get taxed once at the business level. Say yes.

Yes.

Come on, Come on. Give it up, Joy.

Yes.

I know some stuff. I could be structured wrong, but I know a little bit. Right. All right, so is that, that's the major benefit because at the C corp level, you get taxed twice and higher. And at the LLC level, you get taxed twice too.

You don't get taxed twice. There's two different taxes that you pay. You pay, you pay a self employment tax and an income tax.

Okay. All right. So I, I like to say, like, I'm pretty astute as a business person. Pretty well balanced. My portfolio is diverse with quite a bit. I still seem like, it still seems like there's a lot for me to learn.

Okay.

Right. Based on what you're teaching me now, it's like, I hear this stuff, I understand the meaning, but the dots aren't connecting for me. So I'm happy that you're here because now I feel like there's another layer of protection because you met one of my sons. But my portfolio has to get passed down to my sons the right way. And I want to make sure all that I've worked for, no one comes through a slip and fall and takes half of the portfolio. Right. Or takes half of what should be passed down in succession planning. So what you're doing, I always liked it. Right. I always liked that. And I always feel like in what you do, like, we have somebody who can help us protect our assets. We have somebody who can help us create and start our companies the right way. Right. There are some statistics that show that new businesses don't stay open past a certain amount of time. And a lot of that is because of structure and funding. Right. Taxes. We get hit with taxes the first year and then we're done. We're underwater. Right. And then we're not properly funded. So when we start our businesses, we can't really operate them like a Walmart because we're wearing 55 hats and we don't have the proper funding. And then I see you dancing online and doing all this other fun stuff where I'm like, yeah, man, I'm proud to know you and have you for our community as a person that we can turn to to really get the right advice. So I appreciate that.

No problem.

All right, so structure. Run your business like a Walmart, says Joy Hunt, right?

Yes.

All right, let's get into the, the grant, the grant part and the funding part. Like how do you help with that?

So I help entrepreneurs win business grants. I have a business grant bundle and it breaks down over a thousand business grants and I have training courses as to how to apply for grants. So a lot of times people think you have to have a non profit to get business funding. But you can have a. There are business grants around all day, every day to help businesses start and grow their business. You want to have an LLC ein business bank account, but you want to have a business email. Not gmail or Yahoo or Hotmail. So a branded email address infoyour business name.com. you also want to have a business website and social medias. When they google your business, things pop up.

Okay, what's the age limit on?

There is none of that. So the great thing about business grants is there's a low barrier to entry. So you don't have to have two years in $10,000 of revenue. No financials. Most grants even ask for tax returns or financials.

So new corporation.

New corporation.

How old do you have to be to start a corporation?

Depends on the state.

In New York, I don't know, some.

States will allow a minor, some states won't. But for a business grant, nine out of 10 times you're going to say you got to be 18 or 21 years and older.

Okay, so my son can start an LLC and apply for grant money?

Yes.

What's the youngest person you've helped get grant money?

An 18 year old out of college. They actually have like, they have like junior entrepreneur grants for like high school kids.

I wish I would have met you sooner because this can't be in my pockets.

Heavy so right now, Progressive is giving out a $50,000 grant for a commercial vehicle. So if you need a van to lug material around, if you need a car for your business, they're giving away a Grant.

You want 50,000. Okay.

He needs equipment, and he needs a van to lug all this podcast coming around.

Yeah, he does. And he's doing. Me has a music studio. So his plan for college is he wants to rent out the podcast studio and music studio and hire an engineer people to run it for him. So while he's playing basketball and traveling, he can just, like, wake up to bookings and money.

Can it also be a content creation studio?

Of course.

That'd be great.

Of course.

Yeah, that's me. A cash cow.

Yeah.

Because there's nothing like that. It's gonna be here in Mississippi.

New York. No, no. Yeah. He's doing everything in New York because if he needs help that might. Yeah, no, I don't want him distracted in school. Just collect. Do all the hard work now. Right? Do the work one time, which is a big model of mine, and then get paid for it repeatedly, over and over and over again. So, right, you set up the music studio, you do everything. Post it on all the places you have to go, get your llc. Right? And then are there grants for equipment? Like.

Yes. So what you want to. Well, you want to. You want to ask for a grant. You want to ask yourself, what does my business need to make more money in 30 days and ask for that. See, a lot of times we think we got to act like rapport. We're struggling. My door's about to close. That's not what they want to fund. They're looking for an entrepreneur that can basically flip the money. I have a plan for this. So if going to a conference would help you learn something new network to make more money, ask for conference freeze. If you're mobile and having a storefront or a brick and mortar will make you more money, ask for that. If you need more equipment, more inventory, whatever you need to make more money, ask for that.

Wow. And you have a portal that has all these grants. You know, like, where to go.

I have a grant bonus that has over a thousand business grants. I update the list every single month. You have lifetime access, so you always know every single month what free money is available.

All right, that's crazy. So tell me about the grant bundle. Obviously, I have to ask, right? Tell me about the grant bundle. What is it?

The grant bundle is where I give business miss owners a list of all the business Grants are available. They have business grants. We have grants for women, grants for vets, grants for restaurants. I even have felon friendly grants. Any kind of grant you need for your business is going to be in my grant bundle.

Where can one find the grant bundle?

On my website. See you@thebank.com.

See youatthebank.com how much is it?

99Amonth. Oh, one time fee. 99.

99Amonth.

I can get $99 one time.

All right, that's that. Joy, you. You really like helping people.

I purposely priced my grant bundle at an affordable rate because I understand the struggle of starting a business when you are robbing from Peter to pay Paul and Mary. And so I wanted to make sure that I had a way to give people access to funding that didn't cost them an arm and a leg because they need that money for inventory, for marketing. They need that money.

That's amazing, Joy. I'm getting one. I'm. I'm getting it. Like I'm. I'm getting it because I have four businesses, so it's like easy for me. There's a need in all four of them. And I actually hire local. I don't. I don't hire as many VAs as one would think. So I actually hire people and I have team. So I think grant funding would help because there's so much work that we do Right. In serving our community. I like that. I appreciate that you, you do so much online. I don't know if you waive that flag enough because I would have been bought that. All right, so thank you for having that too. Give me the top. What's the most money you ever got, one of your students or clients has ever gotten in grant money?

I had one client when a $50,000 grant and then backdoor the next month and got a $10,000 grant.

$60,000 in grant money. They do not have to pay back.

Don't have to pay back.

What was it a male or female?

Male.

What business was he in?

Are you ready for this?

I'm ready.

Are you ready?

I'm waiting. Trust me.

He owned a record store.

Okay. That's big.

It's mom and pop record store.

No, but I think that's a big industry that's coming back because I just released my book yesterday. The 14% rule. Let's build Birmingham. And is actually in Barnes and Nobles. But a big section of Barnes and Nobles is vinyl.

Really?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they have vinyl is. It's. It didn't disappear, but now I feel like it's coming back.

Okay.

Yeah, that's a. That's. That's a thing. Plus, there's something about the vinyl sound that can't be duplicated on Gotcha. The other stuff, I don't know. All right, so you got somebody. 60,000. Did you structure his LLC for him too?

No, he had. He had. He had his own llc. I don't apply for the grants. I give you the grants, and I break down how to apply. I wanted to make it so that it's. When you. When you hire a grant writer, it costs money. Right. So I want to teach an entrepreneur how to apply for the grant yourself. So I have, like, a little grant method, magic way that I tell you to how to structure things. And basically, once you answer these questions that I give you, you're really just copying and pasting the answers on the multiple grant applications.

Man, I love it. I love it. I love it. All right, so here on the real estate newsroom, we don't gatekeep.

Okay.

Do you use Chat GPT to help write your. Your grants?

So how I. Yes and no. I. How I. How I teach people to do is don't just type it into chat GPT because the grant reviewers have software that can detect chat GPT and if they. If they sense it, they're going to kick it out. So I teach you how to follow my formula. Come up with your answers, and then you'll put your answers in chat GPT and then that may give you a couple of more things to add. Change the wording a little. Kind of remix it. Right.

It restructures your answer. It's not giving you, like, a common answer. It's restructuring your actual information. Correct. That's pretty cool. That's smart. That's really smart. All right, Joyce, so you gotta. You have to tell us, how did you get into this? Like, what made you decide that you wanted to help people create businesses and then help them with funding because they go hand in hand. How'd you get into it?

So I kind of stumbled into this because I have owned brick and mortar businesses since 2000, and. Jesus. 7. And I was in a toxic marriage 10 years that turned abusive, and I needed to leave. And when I left. Well, when I left, my husband tried to kill me.

What?

By shooting at me in front of. And shooting at me in front of our son. When. Which then caused me to have to pick up and move to Florida.

Shooting what, A gun at you?

At our dealership. And then once I moved to Florida, he then took all the Money out of our bank account and locked me out of our businesses. And so February of 2022, my mom paid my rent.

So you've been shot at and you grabbed grab and just, just ran. Just.

My brother was in Florida so I went there and I thought I was gonna, you know, just, you know, I was still working from home for the business. All that got cut off and so I had to make something shake. So I just turned my iPhone on. I started giving out business tips on how to what it's really like running a seven figure business because online they're going to say take my course and be a millionaire the next day and then be on the beach. Like I'm like, let me tell you the real. So I started talking about business tips, how to structure your business. And then one day I, I was Talking about the FedEx grant, just you know, giving people knowledge. And my, that whole post went viral and I'm like, people don't know about business grants. I was like bet. And I just for like two weeks I found every single brand I could find, made this bundle and I started selling a digital product. My, my grand bundle.

That's an amazing story. I, I, I, I heard a little bit about it, but never like the details how you shared. Can you share with me like the mindset. So you went and lived with your brother?

No, I had my own place.

You, you grant got a place close to like family member.

Correct.

And you were still working for the businesses that you had, but just in a different state obviously.

So after he shot at me, we could not be in the same place because of the restraining order. And so my father in law was like, well since he's the salesman, you know, do you mind working from home so he can be here to sell the car? So I said sure. So I moved all my things to my home. I had already moved out the house. We were already getting a divorce. Okay. He's having affairs with employees. So I'd already moved out the house. After I was gone for about three weeks, that's when he tried to kill me. It's odd because we have, I've been going to work. Like I'm trying to keep everything as professional as possible, but you know, hey. So I have been working from home. So they're thinking I'm just up the street working from home. I'm really in Florida.

Okay. Okay. And then that stopped.

Yeah, they just took all my accounts and locking up the businesses and that was just it.

And you were thinking you're gonna just go through a Divorce settled, divide money or whatever and then move on with your life in your direction. But all the money got taken out.

Correct. And the crazy part is, then the night I was shot at, we're having a conversation, and I was like, I don't want any child support. I don't want any spouse. I don't want to divide.

I don't want.

I don't want to mess with the money. Because the business is for my son, Deuce. Like, that's for him to be able to run. He used to shoot commercial. Like, that's just for him. Once you start messing with that money, it's. It's a wrap. I mean, leave the money alone. Like, I'm good. When we sell the house, we can add that extra money to our salary. Like, I wasn't trying to touch anything, right? But I guess they had a. He had a whole nother agenda.

Wow. So you were like, at zero. Like. Like your account was empty. Your bank accounts were empty.

Because I had to pay for attorney fees for the divorce. And then once they locked me out the business, I had to hire a civil attorney to do a restraining order on the business. So I have attorney fees going out. So my mom was like, girl, I got you. So I'm like, God, I gotta pay my rent. They say you can make money online. I don't know how. So I just pick my phone up. I will go live every single day. I'm just gonna go live, talk about contracts, go live, talk about this every day. I'm going live talking about something about business.

Yeah. Was going live therapeutic for you?

No, going live was for me to have new people find me. I had maybe 10, 000 Instagram followers. I wasn't. I wasn't anybody.

Yeah.

So I. When you go live, like, a random person may just see you live and then just go on your live, and then they'll follow. I'm just trying to get as many people to look at me and hear on talking about either book a consultation, get an llc, or this grant bundle.

So you created the grant bundle and that you're going to struck structure LLC for someone. So you created products.

Yes, it did.

Then you started going live, and you just started, like, to get sales correct. No money wiped out, rug snatched from under you, and you just, like, had the mindset or the heart to do that, did anything. Did you ever think of going to work for someone at that point? Like, at least to, like, what year was this?

20, 22,000.

This is not far. This is not far away.

I'm still going through the divorce. We're three years in.

This is, this is kind of like recent. Yes, not recent, but like, so that. So 2022, you had 10,000 followers. Today you have 550 something.

89.

Sorry, excuse me.

You know who's counting? Who's counting?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. 589,000 followers. That is like, amazing. So how much was the Bundle back then?

99.

And you still haven't changed?

I refuse to change it because I know what it's like to not have.

Right.

I know what it's like to be bottomed out. I know what it's like to be like. I don't know. I don't know how I'm gonna get through this week.

Right.

And so part of me wanting to, Part of my business model is if someone is like me, who I was February 2022, if you go on my Instagram page, if you go on my YouTube page, I'm giving you the game now. My courses, my challenges. It, I, it's, it's. I give it to you in a different way, but if you, if you study good enough, I, I can get you from point A to point B. I can get you some rent money. I can get you, you know, some daycare money. I can get you out of your situation if you go through my page for free. So I purposely give good game. I've purposely priced my grand bundle at 99. I'm not changing it because I know what it's like to not have, but just to be drained, destitute, just out of there emotionally.

So you want to. You made it so that everybody could get help if they, Everybody situation similar to yours if they got fired.

Correct.

If they don't. If they don't, they got laid off. They don't have direction. You can kind of. You want it affordable for everybody.

Correct. I have a community for $9 a month. I have trainings in there. If a business went bad, you filed bankruptcy, don't quit, get another one. You know, we're going to just do a little differently, but I want to have, I want to be that. Be that resource to where if you got to get from point A to point B, I got you, man.

I love that. Kudos to you. Definitely. Very strong, very strong of you. Because a lot of people wouldn't have the mindset, the heart it takes to show up online with all that's going on and do what you do. Even if, even when I see you today dancing and like, making these fun reels and everything, it looks like, it's like so much fun. I understand a little bit more now because you can be someone's bestie because I feel like with what you went through and what someone else is going through, you understand, like, ain't too many been worse than like zero and shot at, right? So it's kind of like, girl, I understand where you're coming from. Like, less work, I can help you.

And then I've been in business since 2006. So I have my law practice, I've had. I started a hair salon franchise, Super Eve Express. Grew that to 10 locations. Texas, Louisiana. I saw that had a weight, weight loss company, car dealership, car rental, collision shop. I have seen everything in business, okay? So I say business bestie because I always said that if you've never contemplated filing bankruptcy, you've never really been in business. So I want to say I know, I know everything. I've seen almost everything in business. So if you're in a tight spot, you don't know how to zigger zag know how to get out of there. I got you. I can give you a solution to help you get through what you're going through.

And that's amazing because a lot of times when we get stuck and if we don't have people around us where those issues are normalized, we really think there's no, there's no way out.

Correct.

We think there are no options. So what? I have like a small network of entrepreneurial friends, right, that are really close and whenever we have a problem, whenever I have a problem, I could take it to that group and they'd be like, oh, oh, yeah, you just gotta do this. Oh, you just gotta do this. They'd be like, oh, yeah, I've been, I've been through that before. It's funny, right? You just gotta. If you just do this, you'll be good and then it's gonna take off. But I realized if I didn't have that correct, I would feel stuck. And stuck is a horrible feeling, right? Like zero options. It's just a nasty feeling. So you have a community as well where people can kind of work with you if you need it.

I had the C at the Bank University where it's a community of like minded entrepreneurs. So when you are going through that tough, you know, you're not going to go, you're going to have positive support. Now. I told you, don't quit that job. Like, they're like, girl, it's okay. Just do X, Y and Z. Yeah. I also have a mentorship Program where, you know, they are allowed to, you know, network amongst one another to, you know, kind of, you know, pick ideas off of, share clients, you know, get feedback. Because it's hard out here in these streets by yourself.

Yeah. And entrepreneurial ship can be lonely.

It is.

If you don't have a community, it can be lonely. That's probably sometimes why I be calling or texting you. And just our conversations about what we do are helpful. Sometimes they can kind of like justify like, hey, you're on the right track, you're doing the same thing Joy's doing or vice versa. Right. You could ask me. Because we don't necessarily have a blueprint in front of us.

Correct.

As entrepreneurs, we thought leaders, we come up with something, then we implement it. But a lot of us are doing the same thing. We're just not having those conversations. So you provide a platform for people to have communication conversations, get support and help in their businesses.

Correct. And I do a bible in business about three times a week. You know, talk about the word because you got to have the wording of business plan. A lot of motivation because, you know, it's. Business is tough, it's hard. You got to have always be pouring into you because it's a lot coming out.

Yes. All right, tell me about this because I feel like I know the answer. You didn't answer it, but I kind of know the answer already. Why didn't you think about going to work for somebody?

I, I think I am unemployable. I'm not employable. Like the, the thought of me going to get a job never crossed my mind. Like never. I, I couldn't even see myself walking to a job. I couldn't even see myself playing on the application. It's just that a job is not for me because I've been a full time entrepreneur since 2006. So me going to go work for someone like that isn't even an option.

Have you ever worked for someone?

I used to work for a law firm right out of law school.

So you have one job as a.

As a grown person? Yes. You know, like in college I worked at, you know, Copeland's restaurant, Longhorns, you know, like, you know. Yeah, the Longhorns. Texas. Tanya. Yep.

And Express is a clothing.

Clothing store.

All right, cool. So you, you've worked a few jobs before college, Big law law firm or.

Small medium sized law firms doing a asset protection.

What I'm talking about now, what got you into entrepreneurship?

Well, number one, the crazy thing is I never wanted to be an Entrepreneur. My dad was an entrepreneur. I was like, I'm not gonna work my. I'm working. I'm work for a company. When I saw them paychecks and I saw, wait, I know what they're billing me at.

Yeah.

And I know what I'm being paid.

Yeah.

And then it's like, no matter how much. No matter how much I work or what I do, I'm capped at my salary.

Yeah.

And in the beginning, you know, six figures is a lot. And then after a while, like, girl, how you. How am I going to live off of this? You know, like, it's not that much. So I said, I want to go out and see what I can kill on my own. Because there is no cap.

Right. I. I'm having you say some of the stuff that I want to say, but I don't want to. I don't want to be the one.

To say, I'll say it.

Yeah. Do you think so I could never work for someone either. Right. I knew you were going to say that too. Just because once you see that you can make your own money.

Correct.

And there's no limit.

Correct.

There's no way you would go work for some. Working for someone is like building someone else's dream.

Now, hold on, hold on, hold on. Charles, I got to interrupt. Everyone is not built for full time entrepreneurship.

That's my next topic.

And when people say working for someone is building someone else's dream, I will counter that and say, working for someone can also be building your dream. If your dream is just financial stability, like some people don't have the thought process of wanting to create something. But my dream is I want to make sure I'm affording a great lifestyle for my family. So working this job, getting this secure paycheck is fulfilling my dream. So we got to kind of pump our brakes on, you know, everyone's on the street.

My opinion.

Okay.

Right. It's unpopular. People won't like it.

Okay.

I feel the only people that should work are essential, essential workers. That's just my feeling because, like, you're doing the work unless you're doing something that's really fulfilling. Right. So teaching is fulfilling. Hospital workers, doctors. That's fulfilled your fulfillment. You're fulfilling doing those types of jobs. The concept of working for someone where there's no fulfillment, like you're just structuring businesses for other people to go get rich and go do all of that stuff. I don't necessarily understand. Like you said, how could I be paid a hundred dollars an hour? See a bill for $700 an hour. See the owner of the firm on his boat, on the golf course, at his kids games, soccer games, caring for sick parents, all the stuff you would do, traveling, vacation. But I'm doing all the work. Psychologically I could never do that. I would just structure my own company and do the same thing. And I've always from like day one been wired that way as like a camp counselor at like 15 years old. Really like they had summer youth employment, right? So I worked at a school. I was getting whatever minimum weight, whatever it was, right. But the people paying were paying like five times that much. And I was like, maybe I should open a daycare. And that's when I realized like the way that I'm wired, it's not for someone else to get all the money. Right. And I know it's a personality type, I think. Now for you, do you believe entrepreneurship is a personality type? Like the characteristics that go into entrepreneurship, like there's a separate mindset, characteristics that go into entrepreneurship? Or do you think anybody can be an entrepreneur?

How do you want to define entrepreneur? I feel like, I feel like anyone can make money doing something on the side or creating whatever they want to create. Everyone cannot be a full time entrepreneur. Everyone doesn't have the grit, the gut be able to take those losses and keep that going. It's, it's a lot to be a full time entrepreneur. Everyone is not built for that. But I think everyone could have a side business, their own business that they're running with their 9 to 5.

I don't even agree this should be a term as part time entrepreneur. Like when you say full time, part time, you, you go all in with what you're doing. Okay, Nothing, halftime works in my opinion. I don't know a part time rich entrepreneur, I don't know someone who's going to put in nine, nine to ten hours at work and then making a million dollars on the side.

Now you said entrepreneur. You, you didn't say they had to be a seven figure entrepreneur. You just said that's a song that this has a business, anyone can have a business. Now can you work that business full time? That's, that's a different type of entrepreneur. That takes a whole nother beast in you.

So do you believe that whatever business you're doing, you should do it with all your might, with everything you have?

I am a firm believer that you need to run your race, whatever is best for you. Because with being a full time entrepreneur, so I don't have my monkeys with Me, what's monkey? I have. I always have stuffed animal monkeys. And I wrapped around my neck because with entrepreneurship, because comes the monkey around your neck. The stress, the anxiety of dealing with being a business owner, everyone is not cut out to have that. So I think you can have your business and you can work your business. If you want to have a part time business and have your job, I.

Feel like you're walking in your purpose. Am I right?

I am.

So why do you feel like you have monkeys on your back? Like you're changing people's lives? Like, what if you don't mind sharing, like, what stresses come with what you do? Because I feel like when you're walking in your purpose, there are some things that you do have to deal with as you grow. But I feel like you're you. You were meant to help people in the way that you're helping them.

True. That doesn't mean that there's not stress that's involved.

Sure.

Now is the monkey gonna. Is the monkey gonna take me out? No. I'm at this point, I carry gorillas. I've been through so much. Like, I can handle a gorilla. Like I always say, if it's me and the bear fighting, help the bear, I'm good. But it is stressful running a business. Are you saying it's not stressful? So, for example, stressful meaning. Last week I was in Philadelphia, then Chicago, then Vegas, and my plane got delayed. I'm trying to get home and see my son. Like, just. It's just, you know, some. It's just stress entre. Correct.

But nothing like. And I also have a theory. Like, when you're walking in your purpose, I feel like it's easier than anything you've ever done.

Correct. Because this is what you were meant to do.

Yeah. So, all right, I understand. Like, Right. I put pressure on myself. Right. I released a book. So I gotta. There's so much that has to happen because I want it to be a bestseller. Right. My last book was a bestseller, an Amazon bestseller. I want this one to be a bestseller.

Come on, Charles. Come on, Charles.

So that you would equate to like, stress.

Correct.

The last conference I did packed house 500 people. The next one, there is some pressure for me. Right. I can't go from 500 to 300. Right. So that's kind of like. So when I say what you're saying.

No, when I say pressure, I mean, I mean, Charles just bought three homes. He's financing them. He had a. Maybe you got sick, you're in the Hospital. So you're not working and you're about to go belly up. And the question is, do I, Do I file bankruptcy? Do I weather the storm? What do I do? That's the monkey I'm talking about.

Okay?

Now, in your entrepreneurial journey, you've been somewhere where you was laid up at night contemplating, I don't know where I'm about to go. A tear may have. A tear may have come down. Anxiety, depression. That is the monkey I'm talking about. When you are facing like, oh, I think I made the wrong turn. I don't know what to do. That's the monkey I'm talking about. And if you can't handle that monkey, people will turn to drugs, alcohol, or jumping off a bridge. So everyone is meant for that monkey right there.

Yes, I agree. I. Now I know the monkey.

Okay. Okay.

You don't have that monkey today, though.

No, I don't have that monkey.

Those are far removed.

I won't say far removed because I just. I. Three. Three years ago removed. Okay. I mean, the gorilla is still here, right?

It's in the house.

It's in the house.

It could come out.

Could not exactly. At a certain level of entrepreneurship, you just get used to it. You. You just get better.

You perform.

Correct?

Right. Okay. All right, I understand now. So. So, yeah, I've been not knowing where my mortgage is going to come.

Okay.

Not knowing where rent's going to come from.

Okay.

Knowing where, like, stuff to pay for kids are going to come from. So totally that. Yes.

But everyone can't handle that. Either you buck, either you can buckle down and figure it out, or if that stress is just too much, I need to go get a job. That's what I promote. Everyone is not meant to be a full time entrepreneur. It's. It's a jungle out here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I feel like, though, today is the. The era of information. Do you feel like that? So when you first started businesses, right. Your super weave, how long ago was that?

2012.

2012. If you had access to all the information that you had back then, that line would have been wrapped around the.

City again and again. Yes.

That's why I feel like anybody can do it. You just need to adopt certain characteristics.

Here's the problem though, Charles, because there's so much information out there, it takes away the person actually going out and doing the work and bumping their heads and figuring out it's kind of like too much. It's like that microwave society, right? So they're just used to, oh, I can Just run a minute. Like mentorship now is a dime a dozen. Right. Back in my heyday, with no such thing as mentorship, you got to go out here and lose some money. You know, take, take two years to win again. And that was your mentor.

And the people that were making money, correct me if I'm wrong, didn't share at all.

If they share. It's a five step process. I'm going to tell you two and then you think you got those two. You keep like it's not working. Because that, that's what it was back then.

That's why I feel today entrepreneurship is easier than it's ever been because like look at what you're doing online. 588,000 people are able to see you learn how to get a corporation the right way with a small investment for 99 they can learn how to get funding from how many you say was in there? A thousand, A thousand grants, man. There's no way I could like. I would not encourage people to jump into entrepreneurship.

I used to spend $60,000 a month just advertising on the radio for my salons back in the day.

Really.

So social media for free.

For free.

To be in front of the world is like, it's a no Br. Why are you not maximizing this platform? You know what I'm saying? So I do think the, the barrier to entry for entrepreneurship is, is, is a, is a lot easier now. There's so many other resources. You can go just get in someone's class, get the whole blueprint and then start your business without the monkey around your neck.

That's what I was getting to.

Okay.

It's possible like with the information that that's shared today, I think it's easier and I encourage people more back then I would not encourage people to go through the things that I went to to get where I am today. Right. It's just a lot of figuring, a lot of risk taking. It's calculated. It's sleepless nights. It's. It's all the things that you don't want.

But now, but that is still. Now you have the information. Now you got to go execute it. That. So there, there is still those sleepless night there. That is still a factor.

I don't identify when people tell me they're scared of something.

I agree.

I just don't. Because it's like the fear is what's in your way. If you get over the fear and just go do, you'll be fine. Like some of my, I'm not good at like helping Other people, when they're scared of stuff. I'm good at helping other people. When they come in, they say, charles, I'm ready. Let's go. I want eight properties. I want nine this year. I want eight every. I'm like, let's go. Let's get it. This is what you got to do. Come with me. Matter of fact, just meet me here. Like, like, just, like, get on the bus and we're straight. Right? So.

But everyone. Charles is not built like you, so you have to kind of meet people where they are.

I know, I know.

So they may be a little scared. They may need a little hand holding and, you know, support them through this big decision.

That's why I got a team and I have a success coach, because I can't. I'm just not. So I'm not good at telling people that I'm not good at asking people, did they do the homework from yesterday.

Okay.

And why did it.

It should have been done.

I'm like, you got the opportunity to follow me, who owns half of Birmingham, Alabama, and does extremely well. Like, I'm not checking, like, home. Like, you didn't do what I told you to do. I already told. The fact that I told you what to do is worth so much, the fact that I shared. So I'm automatically assuming, like, you did what you're supposed to do, so. But I know everybody's not like that. So I'm smart enough to have success coaches that help my. My team members out and help them be successful. All right, so you're also known in our industry for these challenges that you do. Right. But I feel like now that I'm having this conversation, it doesn't surprise me knowing a little bit about your history, having a hair salon hair super weave line wrapped around the corner. Right. Your challenges have the most people that I've ever seen. I know we probably know a lot of the same people. We probably. Right. It's a handful of us that do really well online. How do you get so many people into your challenges?

I get a lot of people to my challenges because I keep it real. Like, it's hard out here in business if I'm going to show you how to structure, fund, and market your business. But I don't come out here with the fluff. Oh, get in my program, and it's going to be. It's not going to be great. That's why I have in my. When I do my. My class, like my. My webinars, I bring a monkey around my neck and I talk about the stress of what it is when you, if you structure your business wrong and then you get stuff sued now you're going to lose everything. That monkey's gonna come around that neck. That spouse may leave you. Now you're in divorce court and bankruptcy court because you didn't do, because you, you didn't want to form two LLCs because you didn't want to do X, Y and Z. So I, I give it to you so real, you're like, girl, let me go ahead and just get in this class because she's scaring me.

I love it. I love it. I think. Would you come back for a part two?

Of course.

Because another topic I want to discuss which I don't feel like is discussed as much. How important or not important or how much impact does your partner have on your business? Because some people break up when they start to level up, right? So the male or the female starts to just excel. It's some way somehow breaks up the home. Same thing with men. Some men, they excel at a pace that outgrows the spouse's capacity. And I see that breakup as well. So just give me percentage wise, how important is a good spouse to a.

Successful business person that's going to make or break you? Your spouse is going to be probably the number one decision that you make in life.

What about people that don't have one? Like how success. Now here's the, here's a question. Can you go further in business with a spouse or without?

It depends on the spouse. If you have a supportive spouse, whatever that support is for you. So a supportive spouse may be one that's in the business helping you, or maybe the one that's at home taking care of the kids. The home remind you your stuff to do so that you can go excel at work. If you have a ride or die team member, you're going to excel for faster. Because it's like two of y' all on the flip side. If you have someone who's jealous of you, envious of you, doesn't understand your vision, they are going to pull you down.

Okay, what about the single male or female that's out here as an entrepreneur with nobody at home, with nobody at.

Home, you should be at the top of your game because you have nothing holding you back. Forget about dating, forget about being on the scene. Go win and go win big while you have no other responsibility. Whoever God has for you, he gonna find you. You don't stop, stop worrying about the small stuff, right? Go win. Go become your best person, your Best person physically, mentally, spiritually, financially. Just go win. And as you're winning, your boo gonna walk up to you.

I got it. All right, tell me about this challenge you got coming up because I'm putting my son in it and I'm gonna be in there snooping. I'm hoping you asked me to speak if we just gonna buy, like we just gonna get in it.

Okay, so my five day business challenge is like nothing you have ever done. Okay, I am going to walk you through step by step how we're going to structure your business, how you're going to run your business correctly, how, what does it need to be like, right. How do you, how do you fix, how do you fix things that are wrong but more importantly you understanding how to properly run your business. Now those who have assets, how do we structure our business to protect us, we need to have layers. So that means multiple business structures. Things like parent companies, holding companies, trust. We need all of these tools in our toolbox to make sure when something happens, because something will happen in business, we don't lose it all. Then we're going to walk in and how are we going to get money for our business that's not tied to your social? If you've already started a business, you're probably max out on your credit from getting the first business started or why we don't want to always tie ourselves down to the financial debt. So I'm going to teach you how to get funding for your business that's solely in your business ein so you can get either free money coming in or established business credit. But the most important part after all of that is going to be marketing. How do you have more money than month? How do you find your ideal audience, your target audience and bring them to your brick and mortar or to your website? That is the hardest part in business, the most expensive part in business is getting someone to that door to that website to make a sale. And that's the part that most entrepreneurs miss. They get the logo, the inventory, the, the merch. They don't know how to get that client to their door. I'm going to teach you out of the box creative marketing techniques so you have more money than month. And then last but not least, what saved me is a digital product. One source of income is too close to none. So being able to sell a digital product so you make money in the carpool lane at school on your 9 to 5, having some kind of additional source of income is a must in 2025, especially in this administration. So being Able to be financially independent if you are stuck, if you are drained, if you have taken a loss, I am here for you. My challenge is super affordable. It's just 297 for five days. VIP. You get bonuses, you can ask me questions. This has been the most transformational thing I have done. I get immediate results in my challenge. It's not like a course you're gonna buy. It's gonna be in your, you're gonna be in your inbox. I give you homework. I'm fun. My foot's gonna be on your neck. But you're gonna grow. I'm gonna, I'm gonna change your mindset as to how much you can really accomplish out business. So the c at the bank challenge. I want to see you there. June 23rd to 27th.

See you at the bank challenge. So your website will have access to the challenge?

Correct. You got to see@thebank.com.

See you@thebank.com and I do them.

Except if this is airing later on, I will have another challenge. Because this challenge, when my people come in, they leave a whole nother way.

I see why you got lines wrapped around the door, wrapped around the corner, wrapped around the block. Why all those people standing in lines? Because it's a proven strategy, it's proven products and then it's proven marketing. I want you to. I will. Let me ask you this. Will I be able to learn how to pack my conference more than what I did last time if I attend the challenge?

How can you pack it more? I think you had a full. I think it was standing. It was standing room only. But if you go get a bigger venue, I can teach you how to pack that venue out.

I'm there. I'm there. I'm there. See you at the bank challenge. What's the date?

June 23rd to the 27th.

All right. How else can they find you?

You can go to see the bank.com that that's my website. I do consultations. I, I have a lot of digital products to help you with your business. How to tax planning, tax anything for your business. I'm like your one stop shop for your business resources. I have a community, I have a book coming out. You can go on my Instagram page for free. But if you are looking to level up your business and level up yourself as an entrepreneur, you want to go to see@thebank.com. what's your Instagram Joy Hunt. J O I H U N T.

Underscore ESQ they got to see you dancing and stuff. Definitely having fun. And definitely relatable. Give me the tick tock too.

Same thing. Joy Hunt underscore esq.

Any other social media that I don't know about? Because you viral in all of them.

No, just tick tock. YouTube.

Oh, give your YouTube channel, too.

Joy Hunt.

Across the board.

Across the board.

All right, got it. J O I J O I H U N T. All right, guys, that's gonna wrap up this edition of the Real estate newsroom. I hope you guys learned a lot because I learned so much. Make sure you, like, subscribe, follow Joy, and jump in the challenge. Here's what I'm going to do. For five people that comment the word grant, I'm going to sponsor five people into the challenge. So I'll see you guys there. Thank you.