Evan Carmichael's biggest inspiration is A.P. Giannini, founder of Bank of America, who lent money after the 1906 San Francisco fire with just a handshake and financed Walt Disney and the Golden Gate Bridge. Giannini believed in the little guy when banks wouldn't, shaping how Carmichael approaches helping entrepreneurs today.
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Who inspires me the most? So I got a great question from one of my YouTube viewers. Love you guys. Kids Karate wrote in to say, Evan, I really look forward to your videos, but I had a thought. If you had to pick one person who inspires you, who would that be? Thanks again. So I love all the creative questions that I get on YouTube. I don't think I've ever been asked this question before, so I'm happy to answer it. The person who inspires me the most is actually A.P. Janine. Now, he, he died years ago. He was He was the founder of Bank of America. And you might be thinking, E.P. Giannini, a banker? Dude, Evan, come on, what are you talking about? But he was a different kind of banker, and he's my favorite entrepreneur of all time. And why I loved him is that he really believed in the little guy. He believed in the entrepreneur. So two of my favorite stories. One, when he was first getting into the banking industry, he was on the board of a bank called Columbus Savings and Loans. And he saw all these immigrants coming to the country who wanted to apply for a loan, but the bank said they're too risky, we can't give them money. And he said, these guys will work hard, you know, they'll pay us back, we should— this is a great opportunity. And they said no, you know, you don't know what you're talking about, we're not going to do it. So he went and he decided instead of just letting this happen, right? Like a lot of people, they see injustice and they just let it happen. He said no, you know what, I'm going to open up my own bank. I'm going to take action on this. I'm going to be the change that I want to see in the world. And he opened his bank right across the street from Columbus Savings and Loans just to put it in their face. And he started getting all these entrepreneurs and people who are hardworking, who didn't have tons of collateral, because he believed that they would pay him back. An even more powerful story is when there was this huge fire in San Francisco and it destroyed a lot of the city. And a lot of the banks closed down because their banks were burning, right? And people needed money, right? They needed money to buy food and to support themselves, and they couldn't go to any of the banks because they were closed. And so Ippigenini saw this and he said, this isn't right. And so he went to his bank, which was totally burnt down, and he set up two barrels and put a plank of wood on top of it. And he opened up shop. And he sat there and he lent money to people who came out, and he lent money to people based on a look in their eye and their handshake. And he believed them that they would pay him back. Are you kidding me? A look in their eye and a handshake? Who does that? What kind of bank? Imagine going to a bank and saying, I would like a loan. I will pay you back. It doesn't happen. But he became this figure that was supporting entrepreneurs and supporting hardworking people, that just believing in the little guy was a story that, I don't know, resonates with me. It's part of why I started this company to help entrepreneurs. And he continued that throughout his entire career. And when Walt Disney was this unknown, crazy lunatic entrepreneur that nobody wanted to support, to create movies and create Disneyland? Are you nuts? This is stupid. Nobody would want to go to this. A.P. Giannini was the guy who financed him. When people wanted to build the Golden Gate Bridge, everybody said, this is crazy, this will never work, it's a stupid idea, you're gonna lose tons of money. A.P. Giannini was the guy who financed it, right? And he continued to take bets on people. And just that philosophy really resonated with me, and I loved his story. And even though he's He's passed away for years and years. It's something that I try to remember and had a major influence on me. So he's my favorite entrepreneur. If I had to pick a number 2, Steve Jobs would be my second, but Deepak Chopra being my first. So great question, thank you so much for asking it. For those of you watching, who inspires you? I'd love to see it in the comments. Leave the— you got one person, the one person who inspires you the most. Leave it in the comments below. I'd love to see what comes back. And, uh, you guys like this video, thumbs up below. Click on my face, subscribe to the channel. Thank you so much. I'll see you soon.
