Joe Apfelbaum Presents at Employee Appreciate Dinner

And the highlight of the evening, of this event, I would like to call upon my very special friend, President and CEO of Ajax Union, Mr. Joe Apfelbaum. Ajax Union, a little history about Ajax Union, is one of the fastest growing companies in America and competed with me on the Inc. 500 this year again. Congratulations to Joey and his company. Joey is a master strategist, a certified Google trainer, and a popular motivational speaker. Joey has spoken over to over—

hear a number—

10,000 CEOs and business owners and has inspired millions online through his social media.

and his speeches.

So get ready for our motivational motivation— is that called motivation? The one and only, Joe Apfelbaum!

Thank you, thank you, Ido. Let's give Ido a round of applause. So amazing, so amazing. I love the energy in the room.

Everybody!

On the way here, I was thinking to myself, what should I talk about? What is there to say? Wouldn't you rather just speak between yourselves? Wouldn't you rather just have a nice little conversation with your friends? And then all of a sudden, a song came on on the radio. And the song had the lyrics, you are amazing. And I thought to myself, how apropos. You know, our vision as a company, as a digital marketing agency, is amazing clients, amazing employees, amazing synergy. But what does amazing mean anyway? Does anybody know what amazing means?

Amazing.

Who wants to throw a shout? What does amazing mean?

Ordinary.

Ordinary? No, it's not ordinary. Extraordinary?

Ido Falkowitz.

Ido Falkowitz? Okay, that's a good one. Here you go, you get a key to success. I'm gonna throw— I'm gonna throw a key at you. You ready? There's gonna be prizes here, so get ready. So amazing, when I looked it up, it means impressive. And I wasn't always an impressive person. I was a person that had many secrets that were not so obvious. I was 265 pounds.

Whoa!

And I was on my way to 300. Although I was 178 on the Inc. 5000, I was eating my face off because of all the things that were going on in my life. And slowly I was getting fatter and fatter. and fatter. And I was scared of public speaking. I was scared of networking. I was scared of writing. And as a matter of fact, when somebody said, can I take a photo of you to put you on my social media? You know what I said? I said, I'm a private person. I don't put myself online. Don't take a photo of me. I'm a private person. That's what I said. And if you go back to 2009, 2010, 2011 and look at my social media, you'll see pictures of cats. You'll see my logo. Very proud of my logo. I'm not putting my face there. I put my logo there. I'm for the people. But the reality was I was deeply, deeply scared. I had a tremendous fear and I wasn't willing to own up to it. When somebody said, Joe, why don't you write a book? You have so much experience. You were able to do what so many entrepreneurs can't do. Did you know that 96% of businesses in the United States— there are 32 million businesses in the United States— 96% of them are doing less than $1 million a year in annual sales?

Yes.

96%. There's 32 million. 96% are doing less than $1 million in annual sales. I was shocked because every time I drove by a store, I always thought that the person that had the store was wealthy. Look, they have a store. In the meanwhile, most of the people are doing under $1 million. And if the average business does 5% in profit, they barely could pay themselves a salary. So how— what's going on? How come they couldn't make it? And then I looked at my mother, and my mother had a store on the Lower East Side. She's from Argentina. She had a store on the Lower East Side, and for 10 years, for 10 years, she tried to grow the business. And I'm very, I'm very for women empowerment. Because I see my mother as a strong woman that was the leader, and that's why I hired a president that's a woman for our company. And that's why I love working with QFS, where your CEO is a woman. Give her a round of applause. And 2018 is the year of the woman. They say for all those listening, talking over there, having a really great time, they say Mashiach, when Mashiach comes, Did that get your attention? It's going to be all about the women. You hear me over there? When the Messiah comes, it's going to be all about the women. The women are going to bring Mashiach. I know you guys like that. That's a little controversial. So what does that mean? What does it mean that most businesses are doing less than a billion? Does that mean that most people are just not successful people?

No.

What does it take? People say, Joe, how did you lose all that weight? How did you grow a business in 18 months from zero, from scratch, from no clients to $1 million in sales, and then double, and double, and then double again? How'd you do that? And I said, there are 3 secrets. And I want to share those 3 secrets with you, because when I tell you these 3 secrets, you're going to realize something that you've never seen before. I'm gonna make you see something today that you've never seen before. They say a lot of people have sight, but few people have vision. People are so busy in their conversations, they're so busy in their voices in their head, they miss out on the opportunity to be able to see what's going on around them.

That's right.

Because the chatter in our head doesn't stop. It doesn't stop. We're just not aware. Most of us are not aware that we're missing out major opportunities in our life by us just opening up our eyes. Because they say if you wear blue glasses, guess what color everything looks? If your lenses are blue, what color do you see? Does anyone know? Blue. Everything looks blue when you wear blue glasses. So some people are walking around thinking that the world is blue That life sucks, that there's no opportunity. But the reality is there's plenty of opportunity. They're just looking at life through their own personal experience. They think that the past equals the future, and they're just not aware that you can create anything you want. Does anyone here know Yiddel's story? Does anyone know how he started this business? Raise your hand if you know his story. I know his story. Okay, only about 10% of you know his story. The rest of you, if you don't know Yigal's story— Yigal had told me, he personally told me that he has an open-door policy. I want every single person in the next week, in the next 2 weeks, to walk into his office and say, Yigal, tell me your story. But I guarantee you most of you won't. You know why? Because you're scared. Because you're scared he's gonna fire you if you walk into his office and ask him for advice. You're scared he's gonna fire— how do I know that? Because I worked for a company that had 500 employees, not quite 1,500, before I had this— before I grew my own company. And I used to walk into the CEO's office all the time, and people were like, you're crazy, you're gonna get fired, you can't just walk in there, you're nuts. And literally every single person said I'm crazy. I said, what do you mean? He's my mentor. I tell him about my side hustles. I have 7 businesses on the side that I run. And he's like, what? You tell him that you're doing stuff on the side? He's gonna fire you. I said, no, he advises me. He's the one that told me to do that stuff. As a matter of fact, I'm about to walk into his office right now to tell him that my partner wants me to quit because my business is about to do half a million in revenue and we're gonna do a million the next year. So I went asking for advice 'cause I don't wanna quit. I'm managing 200 people, I don't wanna quit. I helped grow the company from $3 million to $40 million, I don't wanna quit. So I walked into the CEO's office and I said, what should I do? I have this side hustle. He's like, yeah, how's your partner doing? Great. He's like, wow, you already have 30 people, you already have a bunch of stuff going on, great. So I said, my partner wants me to quit. I can already get a 6-figure salary from my business. What should I do? You know what he said?

Quit.

He said, go be the CEO of your own business and I'll be your biggest customer. How about that? I was like, oh my God, this is a dream come true! Because I had the courage to walk into my CEO's office and tell him my dreams, to tell him my aspirations, to learn about his story. So I challenge every single one of you to become a little more aware and realize that you're not just in a regular company. You're in a company that last year on the Inc. 5000— how many people saw the Inc. 5000 profile of this company? Raise your hand if you saw the profile. Look around you. Look around you. 7 people out of 70. 7 people. If you look at the Inc. 5000, Inc. magazine takes 100,000 companies out of the 32 million, takes 100,000 companies that submit applications. They say, Who are the fastest growing companies in the United States? Who are the most successful companies? Who are the companies that are making it? And out of the 100,000, they pick 5,000.

Yeah.

And you guys were 2,231 last year, and— which is a massive accomplishment. And guess how much revenue you did? If I said, how much money does this company make? Top line sales. How much money does this company make? Top line. Does anyone know? Raise your hand if you know, if you saw the profile and you know. Tammy knows, but you've been cheating. Who knows? It's public information. Whoever knows gets the key to success. How much?

$15 million.

It's more. You get the key anyway because you tried. It's over $18 million last year, and if they qualify for this year, they're going to do much more. And it's all public information. They're gonna do over 30— what? Over $30 million. Do you know what that means? That's amazing. Do you know what that means? Hang on a second. Do you know what that means, guys? That means that you're not just in the top 4%. You're not just in the top 1%. You're in literally one of the fastest growing companies in America, and you have unlimited opportunity. But guess what? Most of you are busy having a conversation Whether it's with the person in front of you or in your head. And you're not aware because you're wearing blue glasses and you don't see it. You don't take a moment to log on to the internet and Google your own name. I tell people, Google yourself. Don't do it in front of me because I don't want to see that. But Google yourself. Google your company. Google your CEO. See what comes up. We'll work on your results. But think about it. There's so much opportunity in this company. I heard there was a woman that worked here. Listen to this. There was a woman that worked here that started off as an admin assistant, and now she's the director of—

Accounts receivable.

Of accounts receivables. Let's give her a round of applause. I also heard there was a person who started off cleaning the floors like Eagle. When Eagle started this business, he cleaned the floors. He cleaned the floors, and somebody started off cleaning the floors, and now he's managing 50 to 100 people in this company. Three people? Three people are Carlos, Marcel, Luis, Santiago. Let's give them a round of applause. Now, every single person in this room. This company is a tiny, tiny, tiny company compared to where you can be. Microsoft was once this size. Apple was once this size. Google was once this size. Google once had people sitting around at a table having a conversation. Facebook was once this size, and they went on to be a multi-billion dollar company. And it's very likely that with the leadership that you have, with the leadership that you have right here, next level, that you guys are going to do that as well. But you have to open your eyes. I had a client that called me up. He said he was stressed out. Does anybody here ever get stressed out?

Yeah.

Anyone? Isaac, do you ever get stressed out? So I used to smoke 2 packs a day when I get stressed out. I used to smoke like a maniac. Smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke, smoke. I was overweight. I was fat. I had a terrible relationship. A terrible relationship with myself, with my spouse, with all the people around me. And suddenly one day I said enough. I suddenly said enough. And I said I need to find a better way. And within a few short years, I lost 95 pounds. I went from a size 42 waist. I'm wearing an Express suit right now, size 31.

Woo!

How did I do that? Thank you. How did I do that? I went from a person that was afraid to take a photo of himself online to doing 1,000 selfies with 1,000 CEOs every single year. How did I do that? I went from a person that did not know how to write, 'cause I went to yeshiva, just by the way. I did not know how to write. I had no education. I was born— I went to the streets of Brooklyn. Me and Biggie Smalls were chilling back in the day.

What?

Yeah. Yo, yo, yo, my name is Joe. I'm the B2B to B2B sales pro. I do 10x conversions. I make it rain. You should hire me so I can solve your pain. Yeah, yeah. ¿Qué piensas que no hablo español? De repente te lo saco. De verdad, de verdad. You'll be surprised the things that I've been through in my life. But where does it come from? When you're frustrated, when you're in pain, what do you do? What did Pitbull do? You know how he grew up? I saw him talk on a stage at Tony Robbins, and he's talking about him listening To motivational speeches with his mother in his little crappy car, and he's trying to turn it off, and his mother smacks his hand. He's like, this is not your car, this is my car, don't touch my motivational tapes. And because he listened to that, he went on to believe that he could become Pitbull, and now he's Mr. Worldwide. He went from being nothing, from being homeless, to being a person who is literally one of the top singers in the world. And every single person in this room could be amazing. I was average and I became amazing. I went from having a company that had 75 full-time people, 1,100 clients, to a company that has 15 amazing people and only 30 clients. And I'm making more money now.

Including QFS.

Including QFS, an amazing client. So we have a very specific amazing criteria. So to be amazing, you have to learn how to overcome frustration. There are 3 simple steps. No matter what happens to you, there are 3 simple steps that you could overcome your stress like this, without cigarettes, without drugs, without alcohol, without any of this stuff. You guys know what the 3 simple steps are? The 3 simple steps to— no matter what happens in your life, you could overcome your stress. Number 1.

Awareness.

This has to do with awareness. Number 1. Your body. How are you sitting right now? I'm gonna watch people start shifting quickly. How are you sitting right now? Are you sitting in a small state or in a big state? Are you sitting up and ready? Do you own it?

Attentive.

Attentive, leaning in? Or are you kind of like small, closed, with your butt a little far from the back? How's your butt? How's your feet? Are your feet on the floor? Your legs crossed? Are your hands crossed? What are you feeling? What does your body feel like? Most people don't know they have a body. You have a body. Hello, you have a body. And your body— It's not a statue. Your body dictates your mood. So if you're standing powerful, you put your chest out, and you're ready to own it like nobody else's business, you're gonna feel that way too. When you walk into a sales presentation or you walk into the office and you walk in like you own it, like this, let me show you. You walk in like this, like this. You own it. You feel my energy. You feel it. And you can feel that way too. You pick up your head a little higher. Within 2 minutes of picking up your head high, guess what happens? You get a shot of serotonin. It's a hormone that your body shoots to up your confidence levels. You know, people take Prozac for that. They take drugs for that. But really, you can shape your body. You can change your body and you can change your life. The second thing is your focus. A lot of people are so unfocused. I once walked into a CEO's office. I'm not going to mention his name, but I walked in and he's looking at his phone. And I'm like, what the hell are you doing? I'm in your office now. You don't look at your phone when I'm in your office. And he freaked out. He's like scrambling. Okay, I gotta put my phone away, but I can't. I'm so addicted. I have no focus. Not gonna mention any names, but guess what? He wasn't aware that he was addicted to his phone. How many people here are addicted to their phone? Raise your hand. Everyone's addicted to their phone because your phone drives your life. Thank you. Give him a round of applause for being honest. He gets the key to success: awareness. There you go. Think about that for a minute. What are the things— write down what are the things that you haven't noticed? Here's the third thing to overcome stress like this. You want to overcome stress like this? Step number 1, your body. Step number 2, your focus. Step number 3, your language. Your head is always talking. Your mind is always talking. Are you your voice? The voice in your head. Yeah, that one that just said, what voice in my head? That one in your head. There's a voice that's always yapping and yapping and yapping and yapping and yapping, and that's not you. That's your voice. It's not you. You might think this is really, really weird, but this is something that if you realize that the voice in your head is not you and it's something else, your entire life can change. Because you can reprogram the language in your head to get you different results. Have you ever had a moment in your life when you decided to make one decision and then all of a sudden your whole life changed because you selected that, but you could have made a different decision?

Right.

You could have decided something else. You could have decided not to take the job. You could have decided not to go out with that person. You could have decided not to make the phone call. And then because you made that one decision, your entire life changed. Has it ever happened? I know it happened for Ido. He started this business. He could have not borrowed the money to get the cleaning machine. He could have not decided to, you know what, I'll just take a job instead of working for that hardware company or whatever. Instead of doing that, I could have just done something else. But he decided to do that and take a risk because he had somebody's amazing support.

Yes.

Yes. And then he took that risk, and because of that, all of you have jobs. That's crazy. One person's decision. Insane. And then there are other partners, right? Is that what you're like pointing to me? I should go here. I should stand here. You like oh oh you guys want some attention. You want some love over here. I'm giving all the ladies a love. I'm gonna give okay fine. I'll give you guys a love. So if you're stressed out about anything in your life, there's a way to get out of it, but you don't know what it is. And because you don't know how to get out of it because you haven't mastered it, you're stressed. And when you're stressed, you're feeling something called fear. Does anyone know what fear stands for? Go, what does fear stand for? You know what it is, but do you know what it stands for?

Afraid of?

Afraid of? Write this down, write this down. You have a pen? Write this down. This is crazy. Fear stands for false evidence that appears real. Fear, false evidence that appears real. Whenever you're afraid of anything, whenever you're afraid of spiders, whenever you're afraid of cockroaches, whenever you're afraid of anything, whatever you're afraid of is not really real. It's a figment of your imagination. Because what's the cockroach going to do to you? What's the mouse going to do to you? It's going to do nothing to you, but you're scared as shit from that cockroach, right? I'm scared of the cockroach. I know, like, honey, kill it! And she goes and gets it. She's like, I got it, get out. Think about it. For you, it's the other way around. But think about it. Any fear that you have— and you know what fear does? Fear is really amazing. What fear does is it stops you. It stops you in your tracks. It's called fight or flight. You either run, you either fight, or you run away, but you're frozen first. And when you're frozen, you don't take action. When you don't take action, you don't get results. There's a saying, you either have results or you have reasons. You either have reasons or you have results. I'm sure you came up with an excuse of why you can't lose weight or why you can't have a better relationship. It's what he did or what she did or what he said, right? You either have reasons or you have results. So sometimes you just have to act unreasonable. You just have to do. And when you do, when you act unreasonable, then you start getting unreasonable results. You know that most people that win the lottery— do you know what happens to people that win the lottery? Does anyone read the statistics on lottery winners? They lose it. How quickly do they lose it? 80%. Hear this. This is a statistic. 80% of people Who play the lottery lose it within three years. Eighty percent of people who become millionaires and win the lottery, they lose it. Why? Why does that happen? What? Of course you go for it because they suck at money because they lack awareness. They're not ready for it. They don't understand. They don't understand. They don't have that aha like oh my god. I could be happy right now, but I'm not happy right now because I have these issues. Awareness is so important. Awareness is so important. I remember that suddenly when I became aware, when I became suddenly aware, my life completely, completely changed. I want to ask you a question: What do you really want? Do you know what you really want? Most people don't know what they really want, and they haven't written down their goals. Most Harvard graduates haven't written down their goals. If you want to be ahead, you got to build your vision. You got to write down what you want. So right now, in your paper, just write down: "I need to write down what I want," because when you write down what you want, you're much more likely for you to get what you want. So if you want a thirty million dollar business, write down: "I want a thirty million dollar business." Do you want a $100 million business by the end of 2018? Write that down. Write it down right now. Write it down. Write it down. It's called the law of attraction. You attract to yourself what you focus on. If you're focused on your problems, what are you gonna have? If you focus on what you don't want, what are you gonna have? You're gonna have what you don't want. You're gonna have something It's gonna be crap because that's what people are focused on. People are living in fear and they're focused on what? On what they don't want. So many times I ask people who are in a negative state, they're in a small state, and I say, where do you want to go eat? And they say, I don't know, I just— do you want to go here? No. Do you want to go here? No. Do you want to go here? No. I know what I don't want, I don't know what I want. So when you focus on what you don't want, you get more of what you don't want. They say whatever you resist persists. You got to focus on the possibility, on what you want, on your desires. If you focus on that, on your goals, on your desires, and your aspirations, and you build a vision for yourself, you'll be able to hit your goals. And I teach people goal setting because goal setting is one of the most important things that people can have, because people don't set goals. If you have a goal in this room room right now and you, and you didn't share it with the person next to you, you're missing out on an opportunity to make your goal a reality. So I want everyone to think about this. Think about how important you are. I'm gonna finish off with a quick story. I decided to start interviewing the CEOs of the fastest-growing companies in America. There are 5,000 CEOs. I can't interview 5,000. So I decided to interview 60 and ask these CEOs, hey CEO, tell me what'd you do? How'd you grow? How were you one of the fastest growing companies? And I made a list of 15 questions to ask them. And I said, how did you grow? What did you do? And every single CEO— I interviewed 60 in one month. I made this a big project for myself. 60 in one month. Every single one said, it's my people. It's my— none of them, not one said it was me. Not one said it was my leadership team. They said it was my people. So I want to leave you off with this. However successful you feel right now, however amazing you feel right now, realize that this is just a tiny penny in the bucket compared to what your capability is, not just in the world, but in this company. You can do 10x whatever you're doing right now. You have to become aware. You have to have a vision. and you have to clarify your goals and bust into Yeedle's office and tell him what you want because you're going to get it. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.