S1 E14 - You Got Served!

Welcome to the Broke to Woke podcast. Our mission for this podcast is to help each and every person out there in the world not only become a force for good, but also uncover those micro magical mental moments that help you become an absolute cerebral pyromaniac. You just heard about Brittany's first real estate deal all by herself, made $40,000 of profit. And now she's going and starting to hustle, and she's put in, got four more properties, and she's asking me what's happening now with my lawsuit and my company and getting everything started. Let's go ahead and talk about that in this episode of Broke to Woke.

First, lawsuits are a lot like your first love, right?

Is that a quote?

I mean, it's that important in your life. I mean, this is one of those things that change everything. It does rips your heart out worse than anybody else. Very similar to the first love.

Yeah.

So tell me about this. You just started borrowing money from your nephew, your poor nephew. Why are you. Hadn't you just lost everybody else's money at this time?

Yeah, yeah. He took a little bit of a leap of. A little bit of a leap of faith on this one.

Why did you talk him into this?

Well, because, again, he knows my dad. I mean, obviously. And so they know the whole story. He knows the whole story. And.

I just like, hey, man, give me a shot. Right? So I showed him my trading record since then, because again, at this point, I'm 25ish and I'm getting it. I understand it. I know how to trade. I'm following my rules. I have a plan that's actually written down. And I more or less show him. And, you know, he says, okay, let's make it happen.

All right. How much did he give you?

We start out with a quarter million.

Oh, my gosh.

So his annuity was worth about 1.9 at the time. And so he sold pieces of it.

Okay.

Because you can sell an annuity. And he sold pieces of it to, I think, Peachtree Annuity, I think, is the name of the company. Anyway, so he sold some of the pieces of the annuity early and got a quarter million dollars and gave. Gave me that cash to just start trading.

Wow.

So I learned a lot about bank transfers and things you can and cannot do with cash. Like, I had no idea that banks didn't keep more than $50,000 of cash. If you just walk to a bank and go, hey, I want 60,000 of cash. You need to call ahead to do.

That kind of thing.

It's really Interesting.

Did you ask for it in ones I should have?

Huh. So there was a lot of really cool things I learned with that and figuring out how much you can take out and put in. Like, if you take out a certain amount of money or put in a certain amount of money, they start, like, putting notes on you and keeping tabs on you. And that was really fun. But what happens is, as I'm trading and we're doing pretty well, him and I start doing other businesses as well. Because he is a machine. He just loves to hustle, he loves to grow, he loves to prosper. Him and I are very similar, and we start a few different companies. So what I'm doing is I'm trading, creating cash flow and taking that cash flow and providing it to him for liquidity for these businesses. So we start a pecan wholesaling company, which is really random. We start a cardboard recycling company. We start to buy farm equipment. And he loves farming. It's one of his favorite things he loves to do. So we start buying land, and we start farming. And I'm sure you know this, but there's something called a commodities market. So a commodities market is actual physical things. Soybeans, corn. Right. Grain, sorghum, cotton. Things that actually are grown in the ground. And so he's growing these things. And he calls me one day and is more like, hey, man, how can we make money trading these commodities? So as he's growing them, I'm able to look at the charts to determine when he should buy and sell the contracts for all of his grain.

His own stuff?

Yeah, his own stuff.

Oh, that's fun.

Yeah, it's really, really cool.

He's taking it from, like, the stock feels like intangible to tangible.

Yeah.

Interesting.

It was really, really fun. And so he's. He's doing amazingly well because he knows the time of when to buy and sell these contracts on all of his physical items. So we start making money that way as well. And then we say, hey, man, let's start a recycling company, right? So we get into a recycling company, and we just start really just boom, boom, boom. So this is a course over a nice year, year and a half. We just really start stacking it. We're doing well. And I'm like, man, I'm getting this trading thing down. Like, I'm actually doing it. We're making money, tens of thousands of dollars a day. Like, we're doing well, and we're just siphoning money back and forth and wiring up. And he's coming to Nashville. And I'm giving him cash. And we're just, we're paypaling and all. Money going everywhere.

Yeah, right.

A lot of transactions.

So I'm currently working at this stock market education company. Right. They teach other people how to do what I'm doing, more or less. And they don't do it as passionately as I do. And I'm like, hey, I want to go create my own company. They go, fine, cool. Sounds good. And all their clients liked me a lot.

So I'm like, what? Yeah, they liked me. I was a likable guy.

You're like, yeah, I see that.

Remember that primary question? Question, right? How can I get people to like me? I was doing very good at it. And so I had a lot of their clients that liked me. I wanted to create my own company. And so I was like, cool, I'm gonna go do that.

Oh, no.

So you already know where this is going. And I create the company. I create the name. So the name of the company is Real Life trading.

Yeah.

And I create the logo, I create the website. Like, I go through that whole process not knowing anything about how to start a business, but knowing that I want to. Knowing that I like doing education. I love teaching people, I love the stock market. I want to blend all this together. And.

I create the company, launch it while I'm still working at this current company and go, hey guys, we're doing this. I'm going live. And so I go live the exact same time. I'm working for this particular company, which has a splash of illegalness to it.

Yeah.

Just a splash though. So my non compete had run out. Right. So I did. I was under non compete and that had expired and I was planning on leaving that particular company anyway. Everyone already knew it. I had given a four month notice. Right. Because I was pretty prominently placed in that company. And I knew if I had left, it really would put a hurt to the company. So I gave him a four month notice.

Yeah. So.

So we're talking three and a half months into that notice. I launched the company in two more weeks. I'm like deuces. So bottom line, I did just a little early. And so they sued me.

How many people did you take with you?

137.

Oh, yeah.

And so they had 300 and some change. So half of their clients followed me into my new venture.

I. I understand.

I get it. Yeah, I get it. I didn't want to be sued, but I knew that was worst case scenario. And I was like, hopefully they don't but we'll see if they do. And they did.

Oh, man. How did it end up?

Well, it was. I got the. I got served on Halloween day.

Oh, ironic.

Yeah. So I was going to go celebrate Halloween.

What were you dressed up as?

I was going to be. I was going to be Michael Phelps that year.

Oh, okay.

Yes. I was gonna wear very small shorts. Nothing up here, nothing down there. My camera guy was laughing at me. I still did not have abs at the time. I still don't have abs, but I was gonna do Michael Phelps.

Well, before we started this, we discussed the option of doing this episode with you shirtless.

It came up, and you said that would be an early Christmas for women everywhere.

I think those words came out of a mouth.

So on this particular Halloween, were people confused that it was Christmas? Women specifically confused.

All the ladies were upset on the holiday? Yeah. Well, the thing is, I didn't actually end up doing it.

Oh, my.

Because I got this lawsuit and I'm just like, I don't you think worst case scenario. But when worst case scenario actually happens, you're like, oh, man. Because they sued me for 2.9 million.

Describe the feeling of getting served for the first time, because I want to know if your feeling was the same as mine.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So the guy who served me, I didn't know who he was. He ran him knock on my door. It's like three in the afternoon on a Friday, I think. And so I think the holiday was Saturday, Friday night, something like that. Anyway, three o', clock, knock on the door. It's this older gentleman, totally bald, a little overweight, wearing overalls like country.

Just a little overweight.

Just a little. Okay, he's overweight. And I expect. I don't know who he is. Yeah, who are you? And he goes, my name is. Whatever his name is. And he goes, you're being served. I was like, served for what? And I grabbed the paper.

Oh, no.

And he just turned and walked away.

Oh, man.

I was like, what is this? You know, I don't understand what's going on. And then my head went, you just got sued, bro. I was like, oh, no. And then everything just went.

The gut, this crazy. Like, I'm feeling it now, right? Like this cold. Your whole body gets cold. Everything shuts down. You become terrified. And you're like, I have no idea what is happening. No clue. And then all the fear comes in. You're not good enough. You're not smart enough. You're not rich enough.

You blew it.

You blew it. You don't Know what you're doing? You're an idiot.

You're never gonna make it.

You're never gonna make it. You're a failure. Yeah, everyone's right. God is punishing you again.

Yes. You must have fallen off the path.

You've fallen off the path. You're greedy. This is your. This is your responsibility for being greedy. You're getting suited.

There it goes. You're just another story.

And so this is all in my mind immediately, right? This happens immediately. So I'm holding this paper, and I open it up and. Yep. So there is what's called an emergency injunction against me. You probably know what that means. But for those who are listening, emergency injunction. Is this person so detrimental to my business they have to be shut down as soon as possible? So the lawsuit had emergency injunction, meaning I had to be in court in seven days. Right. So you have to go to court. Because I'm such a travesty to their business, they can't operate, which is untrue. They cannot. They can't operate without me. They can't operate without me. I'm taking all their clients. They can't make any money as long as I'm in business. That was pretty much the injunction. So I have seven days to get a lawyer, which did not work.

So.

Which means what? I had to represent myself in court.

You didn't get a lawyer?

I did not get a lawyer on.

A 2.9 million dollar lawsuit.

I was.

Oh, my gosh.

What happened is I had seven days to get this. To get everything together. I reached out to two or three law firms, and all of them were like, in order to do that much research in that amount of time, we're gonna need a $50,000 retainer. That was the cheapest I could find. Oh, yeah, that was the cheapest retainer. And I was like, 50,000.

I can't do that. I was like, I don't think I can do that.

What year was this?

So this is 2015. 2015. Yep. And so we're talking October, late October, early November, 2015. And so the whole Donovan episode, this is still almost kind of happening. It's working its way up. I just. I didn't have either that amount of money or I was scared, I was afraid. I didn't know. But I definitely did not get a lawyer at that point. So I was like, wait a minute. I think I can do this myself. I've watched Law of your movies.

Oh, my gosh. Man's confidence.

This weekend, instead of going out to party and get real Drunk and having a Michael Phelps party. I go and watch every law movie I can think of. So Lincoln Lawyer, Rainmaker.

No, you did not.

All the Matthew McConaughey films. All movies. I watched Catch Me if youf can with Leonardo DiCaprio and he like impersonates the lawyer. I watch all these law films.

This is hilarious.

12 angry men. I'm just. I'm watching them all.

Did you watch them in your Speedo?

No, I did not.

That would have been more fun.

Ladies, again, I'm so sorry, but I'm watching all these films and I'm like, I got this. I'm gonna do this myself. So I just stayed up for hours and I read through these injunctions and I learned the rules and I literally go represent myself in court. And I won. No, I won case one. I won the very first case because as you know, on lawsuits, a lot of times they'll throw a bunch of stuff wall. And you have numbers of lawsuits, right?

Yeah.

So I won the first injunction case against me. And that was pretty cool.

And that was mostly because your non compete had burned off.

That was mostly it. Yeah. Now, there was one thing that did burn me. The only thing that burned me is there is a clause, and I'm relatively sure it's still in situational effect in Tennessee, specifically this state that we're in. If you create a company under certain types of companies, if you take more than 25%. Sorry, if more than 25% of your current company's revenue is derived from your previous clients, then you have to pay them a certain amount of stipend, more or less. And those industries are very clearly spelled out. It's like attorneys, CPAs, insurance agencies, and day trading firms.

Wow.

Random, right?

Random.

Super random.

Of the four, of all the ones.

I'm like day trading firms.

That's hilarious.

And to convince the judge that I'm not a day trading firm. Did not work out. Because she's like, you're day trading, aren't you? And I'm like, well, I am. She's like, you're teaching day trading, aren't you? I'm like, yeah, but I'm not a firm, though.

Yeah.

She's like, no, you are. So that was the one that pinned me down to I do eventually have to pay this lawsuit. I know I'm gonna have to pay something. That was the one that got me. That was the only thing we had.

There's always one stupid word.

Yeah, that was it.

One stupid clause.

Random page.

Which started my paranoia about reading. Yeah, it Has.

Yeah.

It makes you more worried before you sign anything.

Agreed.

Messing around.

Agreed. So that one got me. And so I did win the first case, and then I did hire a lawyer because I was like, this is a lot of work and this is going to drag out for a while. So I did eventually get a lawyer, but that was the. That was the lawsuit.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.

You did come to the game three years later than me. Yeah, three years later than. Oh, I'll have to get into mine in a bit. It was scary. I can't believe you represented yourself. Which movie taught you the most and helped you the most?

I honestly think it was Rainmaker. Rainmaker is one with Matt Damon, if I'm not mistaken. And it's a phenomenal, Phenomenal law film.

Great law film. It's so funny. And you just walked in. Were you confident? Were you scared?

I was a little scared, yeah. I put on Pandora. I was listening to Mozart. Pandora radio station before I went in there. Just really calm myself down. And I was very courteous to the. To the. What's it called? The lady who sits the judge.

Yeah.

So I was very courteous. I was very nice. I was doing my Jeremy thing, making her like me.

Yeah.

And that worked, right? The charm. I was cranking it up, and charm worked, information worked. Everything I was saying was valid, it was accurate, and I went through all the legalese, and it worked out in my favor. In that particular instance, I think being.

Kind and organized, it helps. It's the key.

It helps.

Kind and organized.

Yeah.

It's hard because all you want to do is beat everybody up in the room. You know, you feel like you feel trapped and scary, but kind and organized. Wow.

So that was my first lawsuit. And again, it carried out for a while, but eventually it came down to a spot where the judge. We met on one other occasion, and the judge was like, listen, this is like a divorce, Right. It's a very he said, she said situation. There's not a lot of hard evidence. It's very emotional. You're mad at them, he's mad at you. We get it. But he's not doing anything wrong. He created a business. He did it correctly. Yeah. He took some of your customers and you're mad about it. So wrap it up and settle this out in mediation.

Wow.

So we, you know, so she banged the gavel. That was it. And we did the whole mediation process and then ended up settling out of court.

Oh, my gosh. So, yeah, that's crazy. So you did have to pay something Yep.

I did end up paying. And so I had, I did have some interesting injunctions against my business. Some things I could not do and, you know, don't have to go into all that, but more or less some really specific, very, very interesting criteria kind of came down on me. But I did have to pay some. And over time, we're able to split out and kind of make some payments, so.

But it didn't stop you.

It did not stop.

That's what has stopped most people. It's your very first venture.

Yeah.

By yourself. And yay. How many weeks after you had started did you get that? What did you get served?

Oh, good question.

Days.

No, it was days until you're like, yay. No.

Yeah, we're talking three or four days.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah.

That's amazing. You had the courage to keep going.

Well, so did you. And I want to hear more about that in the next episode. We're going to talk through a little bit about some of the over the other things you overcome what you do after you have these four houses you put on contract. Let's go through these steps as well and hear how you became even more woke over here.

Time.

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