Rest In Peace, Ben Bader

This is not an easy video to record, but we lost a real one today in the community. If you're in the Internet entrepreneur space, people making money online, info coaching, or if you want to watch some stupid freaking Miami girl, tiktoks as to what girls going to pilates and, and going to the club. Ben was, I don't know how to say it. Like, I feel like I had to record this video. I don't record these videos for anybody. There's been many people that have passed in my life. There's many people that I've seen out there just like, you know, passed away. But Ben was special. We connected over his YouTube channel. I saw him start posting some of some videos. I think he had like 10 videos up on his own YouTube channel. I didn't know anything of this guy. I've always heard rumors about him in the sense of like, oh yeah, like he's legit. He came up on one of my feed and, and I showed it to some of my entrepreneur friends and they're like, dude, I've never met him, but I've heard great things about him. And I was watching his content and I was just so like confused. This man's story and his just message that he was sharing with the world was a message that needed to be out there, which was, you know, this man's gone through, you know, a few different weird setbacks in life. He was from like Cincinnati, Ohio. Looks like he was, you know, really into basketball and then had to came to the epiphany and the realization that like, basketball wasn't for him, but this is something him and I connected over when we eventually got lunch, which was that he was, in a way, he knew that there was something special for him. Something special like pre planned by him, by God, that he was meant to do more than just play basketball or to fit into this paradigm that everybody else had for him and came to the realization that he was white and five' ten and couldn't make it, you know, too far in basketball. But basketball was the vehicle that led to him learning how to, I think he was like, do photography with basketball or videography and then eventually making a course in the basketball community or a basketball course and then him learning how to make info and teach knowledge and sell knowledge online. He got into just the info space and making money online and. And that's where he flourished. And there's a lot of guys that it's like, it's all Lambos and Ferraris and inexpensive watches and flexing a lifestyle and A lot of it's for show, you know, But Ben actually lives a good life. And he was talking from like, such a different level of wisdom than anybody else. It was like, because he was in the present moment, he was in life like he was living life. And he was the, like, the freedom that everybody aspires to have out of building a business, out of making money, out of. Out of like the sole purpose, out of like, almost everybody out there in the world, at least for myself and most other people that are know, programmed in the current world that we live in, that we're supposed to live a certain set way of life. And it was like the last few years, he finally had breakthroughs. And not only did he have breakthroughs, but he saw the world through a lens, that there's more to life than just these things. As in more to life than just making money, More to life than just having clout on social media. More to life than just having a bunch of material things. But to maximize life and to enjoy it and to be present in the full moment. And so I saw this message that. The story that this guy had, and I was so shocked at how little views that he had on. On YouTube. And with his, like, what. With what he was getting on YouTube. So I reached out to him. I was like, how. How do we blow this up? And I was like, giving him all the game that I had. I think he ended up remaking a few of my videos, like people dumber than you were making millions and a couple others that were some of like, his best videos that he made. And it was just like, I love his angle. It is his like, you know, angle and copywriting world. But like, I love his. I love his perspective. I loved his wisdom, I loved his insight, I loved his storytelling. I loved his like, ability to just articulate things that most people just. Just miss. It goes unnoticed. It's like something that a lot of people in this world, in this time and then this transition and into AI, into this new world that just were. Everyone was missing. And so we ended up. I had a 24 hour layover in Miami. I was traveling from Puerto Rico to. To Cabo, and. And I had a 24 hour layover. I think I had a. Originally I could have booked a four hour layover, but I was like, you know what? I'm gonna go grab lunch with Ben. So I booked a 24 hour layover. Hit him up. Hey, I'll be in time. And he's like, dude, let's go grab. Let's grab some lunch. And he's one of those people where it's like, you see people online on content, and they act a certain way online, and then they're totally different in person. He was the exact person that he portrayed himself online as. He was what you saw, and that's how you know, like, somebody is real and, like, just a real person. Like, somebody who's, like, in the real moment, is comfortable in their own skin, and it's true to what they say they are. And I think we, like, ended up eating lunch for two hours, three hours. I don't know. Time just disappeared. Hanging out with him, it was just. I felt like we both had lived parallel lives, and we just got to, you know, collide into this moment of us grabbing lunch and, you know, pushing each other along the journey with content. So, yeah, that was like, a year and a half ago. And then I went through our messages, and I was like, wow, we really, like. I didn't realize how much we went back and forth over the. Over the past year, and honestly, it was, like, it was a good amount. There's a few times I sent them some big, huge text messages saying, like, hey, like, I love what you're doing, but it's just, like, you have so much more in you to like, to share and to give. And I was just. I just loved his ability to keep showing up, his resiliency. Like, everybody is friends with him, honestly, in the industry. Like, he's such a great dude, and he just. He would always listen, and he would take what was, like, some. He would take some of it and leave some of it that he felt, like, didn't apply. And I just. I don't know, there's just something. Some sort of gut feeling that, like, his message was meant for a lot. And it's just so sad to see the message that I've seen. Like, I had to text, like, some of his, like, close friends out there in Miami, just being like, is this real? I texted Sanjay, one of his really, like, good friends, like, is. Is this real? Like, is this real? What I'm seeing about Ben, and I didn't believe it. I don't think anybody really did. But Ben's message is the message of our generation right now is the message of if you're somebody who grew up knowing that you were meant for more, if you know that you have a purpose that you're called towards that's greater than your current situation, and you know that you are meant for more. Here's the person that was shouting it from the top of the mountains saying, come and get it. So the beauty of the world that we live in now is all of it's online. He lived a lot of his life online. There's a lot obviously offline, but his message is everywhere. It's on Tick tock, it's on YouTube, it's on Instagram, it's on X. He was an incredible writer who's an incredible storyteller, who's an incredible content creator and more importantly, hidden incredible message. So, yeah, he would have been a thousand times better at wording all this that I had inside of here. But go check it out. Go watch some of his videos. You'll see that he had to beautiful message all along that he was sharing. And I think a lot of people need to hear it. A lot of people need to live by it. A lot of people are called to do a lot more than what they've been allowing for themselves to live. Just as Ben did. You all can get to where you're living your best life. The top of the top. Not in dollars particularly. Yeah, you'll make a lot of money for sure, but the life that's meant for you in the sense that like you're present, living in the moment, making other people feel good whenever they are around you. You're passing the torch of light. You got that charm or the charisma that like that ability to make people realize, wow, life is good that we're living in right now. There's no better time to be present than now. So anyways, to all of his friends and all of his family. Love you guys. Sorry for the loss, but as much as I would say a loss, I'd say we all gained a lot out of all this. This was a blessing to everybody. Died at a young age, but that man said a lot for his age. Love you all. Thank you, Ben. Rest easy, brother.