How a Prison Cell, a Horse, and a Hill Changed My Life 🙏

Hey everyone, welcome to my home and my life at Elysium Hill. Well, it doesn't look like it now, but a few months back I sat right in this spot when there was grass and there was sheep and it was a sunnier time of the year, and I shot my Farmer Wants a Wife video, to which I never sent it anywhere because I was a little bit embarrassed. But I've still got it, see what I make of it. Uh, but over there is the glamping tent which I set up. This is actually important, you— I'll speak about it later on, but in 2023, in the start of 2023, I chose to do something. So I set up just in the distance there, a glamping tent. So it was something different, get me out of the house. I know it's weird, but I wanted to be outdoors, and I was a bit too precious to camp, so I decided I'd glamp instead. After you. Well, we're going up now to the top of the hill, which is the most iconic place, I think, on the farm. When I bought it back in 2017, I was looking at 20 acres And then by the time I'd made my choice that I would take the option, which is I'll speak to her later, that time doesn't wait for anyone, that 20 acres was gone. And so I called the agent, he goes, I've got 100 acres left up the road. And I'm thinking, okay, like what the hell am I gonna do with 100 acres? I come up and see it, it was way too expensive and way too big. Then he says, well, how about you come to the top of the hill? And so I go to the top of the hill, which is where we're going now. And I see what is a beautiful view. And I hope this will clear up later, but it's foggy. But I see the city to one side, the township to another, and then there's a huge national park at the back. And he just sees me like beam with this stupid smile on my face that I couldn't get rid of, like a child, just dumb grin. And he says, uh, what, what are you so happy about? I said, oh shit, I think I found my home. He goes, are you gonna make it happen? I said, yeah, give me a few months. And so sure enough, I go back, work some magic, work extra hard. And then that was in July. And then in December I was settled in, had Christmas here, and now we're here to tell the story of Elysium Hill. For anybody who's not Australian watching this, they're kangaroos. We have a lot of them, maybe like more than 200 a night. Actually, there's heaps. But that's home for me. This is the hill that makes Elysium Hill awesome. Down that way is 100 acres of amazing farmland. Now, right now it's being very dry, But typically on a good season, we'd have 50 cattle, around 100 sheep. And just up there in the distance, there's my horse who is Smarty and the donkeys, which we'll go see. This is where I come to run away from the world, where I hide at times when I've got a lot of work to do. Yeah. The question I always get asked is like, why do you live on a farm? Like, you don't look like the kind of guy that we think lives on a farm. I guess curiosity. So again, 8 years ago, I just wanted to try something different. I was living in 100 square meters above a showroom for 3 years. I was like, the worst thing I tell anybody, I was sleeping on a little tiny mattress. I always promised myself one day I was going to sleep on the biggest bed and then have a big place. So curiosity and just working hard led me to be on the farm. I never really intended it to be that way. It happened over time. And then I'm finding as you get better at something, you actually start enjoying it. So you'll see just here in a minute, there's some donkeys and my horse. Typically we've got animals that I love spending time with. It keeps me really, really grounded. It's great for the tech work that I do. There's something really uniquely weird and beautiful about running a tech startup for the most part and building digital workflows and talking about AI and then doing it from your home office and you look up and there's just a cow walking in front of you. So it's the complete juxtaposition. I love it. It keeps me balanced and grounded. And for the most part, it's been a saving grace. It's a sanctuary for me, which is really dear to my heart. I got no carrots for you. No, don't run away. So obviously really creative with my naming. He's white, so his name is Colors. Uh, the little fella out the back who's spotted became Blue because Empire Blueprint, because why not? The team got to name him. And the horse's name is Smarty because the guy who taught him how to be a horse thought he was just the smartest horse he ever seen. So really original in how we name things at the farm. One thing I get asked is like, why Corporate Cowboy? And it's like, well, the job that I do for work is quite corporate in, in the work that we do. And then cowboy because I live and work on a farm. Now there's that horse over there that makes me a cowboy. But there is a downside to this at times because I work so much and all I do is travel for work at the moment and build our company and others. It means that I'm not always getting to spend time here at the farm or time with him. So I'm gonna go and try and make my way towards him. There's a high likelihood, like any other human, he'll be like, where are you? You've forgotten me and now you want to come and say g'day because I'm on camera? So everything in life, it's a humbling lesson. Everything in life—partner, friend, animal, pet—no matter what it is, needs time, wants time. And that's a lesson that I've learned time and time again here at the farm. Even my animal, even my horse, if I've been away for a long period, will take a little bit of warming up because he almost feels like, where were you? You left me. So juggling farm life, corporate life, and somewhat cowboy life at times is really challenging just because there's so much to do. Would I have it any other way? No way. Also, people ask me like way too much about my outfit, why I dress like this, if I always dress like this when cropping anyone. No, the bottom part's always the same because I can be in any environment and it's, it's, I think it's neat and clean, and the top is just comfortable. And if I'm working, I just change the t-shirt. So I'm all about functionality, which you'll quickly learn. I want to be able to go from my horse or from the barnyard to the boardroom. I want to be able to walk the same boots through the field if there's shit and it's just messy and dirty and it's farming, and I can quickly shine them and I can go inside to a boardroom. I did the other day, there was 2 CEOs and, and 12 people on the board. I just want to be able to do that literally right off the farm, walk straight into that room, be like, that's pretty cool. I get to live the best of both worlds. Both the best of both worlds. And for me, it's like, well, who said you can't have everything that you want as long as you're willing to work for it? Although rabbits might be cute to some of you, on a farm they're a real pest because they go with the water Then the rabbit gets in, then the fox get in, that becomes worse, and then the wombats come in, which is even more Australian. And then you have like these holes in the ground because they've come through, and a cow will be running what looks like land and then there's nothing underneath, so then it falls through, and that can be dangerous. Anybody who has anything to do with animals knows that a broken leg on a big animal is a real problem. So rabbits are cute, but on a farm they're absolute pain in the arse. Kind of like kangaroos, I know, unpopular opinion. One kangaroo's cute, 200, pest. Hot take: never ceases to amaze me in life that everything's the same. People, animals, in this case a horse, everything wants your attention, wants your time. It is the most scarce resource. Spend it wisely. Have you ever had that time in life where you think things just can't get worse? I did, and I was wrong. It got way worse. 5 years ago, I was in a prison cell. It was cold, alone, dark, and I guess what I thought at the time, at my lowest. During that time, I made a commitment to JP that when I got out of there, I was going to live my life differently. I was going to change for the better. And then if God would give me the ability, I was going to help others along the way. I thought getting out of prison would have meant that everything would have got okay. But 2 years after that, I find myself back on this hill where I was with you before, at the top of the hill under one of my favorite trees with a rope in my hand. In any case, when I get to that hill and I look up at the tree, I'm like, not today. So I pray my little heart out and I say, God, please It's either the end of life or the end of the way that I used to live life. So something beautiful happened that moment when I said that out loud and prayed that prayer. Something switched. It's cliché enough. It's like somebody flipped the switch. I choose to take those lessons and I decide that I'm going to document the process. So when I got stuck, when I wanted to reflect, I could go back and look on what I'd done. When other young men who would come to me and say, JP, why did you do that? How did you do that? What are you doing now? I'd have somewhere to point them and say, hey, I was like you. I am you. This is why this channel exists, because at many times in my life I did great things, bad things, good things, things that I thought were impossible, and I made so many mistakes along the way that I just wish I'd remembered or somebody had told me. And that's why I do it, because I want to and I need to, and I feel as though there is so much that has come out of it. It has been such a rewarding process to sit through this. It has been extremely humbling, and I can't wait to keep sharing this with you all. Emma. Emma is the one person or the one being I get to see all the time, unequivocally, unconditional love. I've had her since she was a pup. She is the one constant that I've had in my life through all the ups and downs. So she's heard it all. Lucky for me, she doesn't get the talk back. Come on, girl. That's good. For those who don't know, I, 2 years ago, I co-founded a digital consulting firm called Empire Blueprint, and we work predominantly with manufacturers. It first started 2 years ago with just an idea, just myself, and it was only Australia. Fast forward to 2 years, there's 12 of us. We're growing way faster than I ever imagined was possible. We now work in Australia, Canada, USA, New Zealand, and possibly Great Britain. We work with manufacturers, who is our niche market, and we make them more profitable than they ever imagined that they could be. We've now done this more times than I care to remember. The most interesting part in all this process is when I began, I was on my own and it was just one simple thought. What if? What if there was a better way? Acting on that and just getting up and making it happen has now led to me traveling the world. I was in Sydney last week, Queensland, Bali, America, and I'm back off next week. I get to travel to these places. I get to meet business owners who are going through things that They've been trying to solve problems for 20 or 30 years, some of these people, and then we rock up on the scene and they say, holy crap, we didn't know that was solvable. We didn't know it was that easy. We did not know what was possible. So we make the complex simple, and in doing so, by solving those problems, we make businesses profitable again. But anyway, enough about me. Let's go back to the homestead so I can give you a tour. So when I was 24, people always ask, what were you doing? As I've said in other videos, I ran a really small successful business which I sold for a good multiple. That's because I was good with my time. Since then I've gone on— sorry, it's loud— I've gone on to found a tech startup. And what that means is for a lot of this stuff, a lot of our work is workflows for the digital things that we do for manufacturers in particular. So this is a huge-ass whiteboard where I do lots of my lessons. I ditch the dining table, I get up on this whiteboard and I share with you everything that I've learned. Here is what's going to become— we've already done a few— our podcast area. It's a very relaxed, warm, cozy environment where I get to speak to guests. And if you'd so kindly walk with me this way, this is where the magic happens and possibly my favorite place. Yes, it's real. It's not Photoshopped. This is the home office. Here is the fireplace that keeps me warm in the winter. And behind you, ladies and gentlemen— and no, I'm not an alcoholic for anybody who was going to ask. Is the bath. It's very funny getting on video on a Teams or a Zoom meeting, making sure my camera's working, and then sometimes I don't put on my background and people are like, where are you? And then I say I'm at home. They're like, what home is that? So I show them the bath. They've obviously seen that it's an interesting thing, and then I turn the camera around and I show them the view of the city. And so it's been interesting just to see people's reactions. But this is what makes me the Corporate Cowboy. I obviously, as I said before, I work in Melbourne Airport, and then I've got a home office here, which is awesome. So great place to run away from the world, just to put on music, headphones, block out the world, put some wood in the fireplace, stay warm, and just get shit done. Having too many options for anything in life can be really confusing. I remember when I started Empire Blueprint, there were 6 other good things I could have done, but I remember telling myself, if you're going to do something that's going to be with you for life, you're going to want to put 100% of your effort in. Having 2 things or 6 things would have meant not 100%. So I chose the one path. In 2 years, because of that one decision of sticking to one path, I now have a team of 12 and I travel the world doing what I love. That's a wrap, guys. Thank you so much for watching. I hope that you now know who JP is, where he lives, what he does, but more importantly, why I do what I do and why I feel so passionate about what I do. As always, till next time, think your hardest, work your best, and truly know that God will take care of the rest.