The Hidden Advantage: How Entrepreneurs Stay Ahead by Never Leaving the Weeds

Every word you and I are saying right now is going to be indexed on ChatGPT. Every single word. ChatGPT will be able to reference the question you just asked me and my answer 1,000 years from now.

Welcome to Big Hitters. I'm Larry Weidel, and this show is for people who are done playing small. Each week we break down what it actually takes to win at a high level, the decisions, the discipline, the adjustments that separate those who almost do it from those who do it. No theory, no fluff, just straight talk from someone who spent 50 years building winners. If you're serious about momentum, you're in the right place. Let's get into it. Hello everybody, we're talking with Joseph Shalabi, and what a treat it is. The, uh, creator and host of Coffee for Closers. I hear you got about 2 million people plug into that thing. Does that sound about right?

Yeah, yeah. Well, 2 million people total, over 2 million people aggregate on all socials for my, my personal socials. We got like 5, 600,000 on, on copies for Closers as well.

Fantastic. And so congratulations on all the things you've done. The mortgage company from startup to over national powerhouse with over 900 loan officers and 40 branch locations. And the fact that you've gone on there and you built a— you got multiple recognitions, but went on there and, you know, you just can't sit still, can you? You know, you start a philanthropic foundation and, you know, we want to talk about that. But you got a lot of things that drive you, Joe. So congratulations on your achievements. And I think I've been in financial services for a long time, and I think at one time or another, everybody gets gets the idea of starting a mortgage company, but then you find out how much work it is, and then you wind up finding something else to do.

It's a lot. It is a lot of work.

Yeah. Well, congratulations for figuring it out.

Thank you. Yeah, we're doing really well. We're a national powerhouse. We're one of the biggest in the country, one of the top 5. And our goal in 2026 is just to get much, much, much more market share. And we're willing to go as far as possible to serve our broker owners, our loan officers, and help them attain more business. So I like to say I'm in the business of making businesses. So I help more people scale their mortgage company.

Fantastic. And that business is not going to go away as they figure out how to make it more affordable. But people are always going to be, you know, looking for those mortgages. It's a great great niche that you have found. And so we know your future is unlimited just in that alone. But talk about where you got such an interesting background. We should touch on that where, you know, you came over at a young age and how your family had to start at the bottom. You know that. I think we need to touch on that.

Yeah, absolutely. Well, I immigrated when I was 5 years old. We came from Cairo, Egypt. I moved from a place called Helmait el-Zatoun, which is one of the poorest parts of Cairo, Egypt. And, you know, we came over because we were persecuted for our faith. We, you know, obviously, you know, that Egypt is about 93% Islamic. But at the time when we immigrated, you know, the tension between Christians and Muslims was pretty fierce. A lot of Christians were getting killed. And my parents decided, you know, they don't want me to grow up in that kind of hostility and danger. So, you know, we took a one-way ticket and moved straight to the Valley in California. At the time was a rough part too, but nothing compared to how bad Cairo, Egypt was because Khaled Meiteh Zetoun is like the one of the poorest parts of Egypt. And Egypt, as you know, is a third world country already. So, you know, I like to, I like to multiply that. I'm from the third world of a third world.

And, and the key word there is from, uh, so in the rearview mirror, but you appreciate, you know, it causes you to appreciate things and to take advantage of it at a much higher level.

It's like appreciation is multiplied. It's like exponential appreciation comparison. You know, I look at Sadly, like, you know, my kids, I wish, I wish I could just show them the poverty that, that I came from, or, you know, the level of, you know, appreciation I have for the success, because it was all earned, you know, from blood, sweat, and tears. And that's something I struggle with is teaching, teaching that, you know, level of appreciation to my kids who grew up in more of abundance, right? And a Newport lifestyle, which is like, oh yeah, already. Oh yeah, really, really right.

And so, but your father came over, says that he started in a working at a convenience store, like, you know, it's the only thing, uh, yeah, gas station.

And, uh, uh, as a doctor, as a doctor in Egypt, and then mind-blowing came over and, you know, started from the bottom. And he's a big inspiration to me, still 76 years old, and, uh Retired 3 times, but never really retired. Works every single day.

Yeah. Well, you know, coming from that kind of background, I noticed that you, you've got your degree. Is that University of California at Santa Barbara? Is that where you—

Yes.

Yeah. Goleta, Isla Vista.

Yeah. Yeah. I live there in Isla Vista.

Yeah. I've got a lot of friends there over the years. We've been in and out of there right now. Got my— one of my nephews is over there working in the big Silicon Valley South down there, working with a quantum computer with Google. Yeah, yeah. So, uh, I've never gone from Isla Vista too long, you know. I find a reason to go. My brother lives north of there, and, uh, uh, in and out of LA quite a bit over the years. So yeah, very familiar. I don't really meet I don't meet people from that have spent time in Alavista and Goleta much, so I had to mention it.

But, you know, that place, you know, when I, when I graduated from Santa Barbara, I was trying to find a way or a reason to stay there because, you know, that place is like a vacation town. You got the beach in front of you, got the mountains behind you. It's just so scenic.

Gotta be tough to be a student, to keep your mind on studies there.

Yeah, I mean, it is the number one party school for a reason.

A lot of the students there don't worry about keeping their mind on business. They just let nature flow. But you went out there, so where did your, what, as you're growing up now, when did you start to get a clear idea in your mind of your own identity, you know, your own identity, things you like, things you didn't like, things that you, you know, that, that you thought were worth pursuing, that grabbed your curiosity. What, what motivated you? Were you into sports, music, creativity type things?

I was a creator. I was into sports, but more, I was a very creative kid. So I actually started high school at 14. I left high school. I took an exit exam at 16. But in high school, I discovered my entrepreneurial spirit and I started my first business, Human Body Entertainment, as a promotional company. I was throwing events and my first event that was a success was called, was at a hookah lounge. I used my cultural influence along with my creative influence and I created like a you know, a new nightlife effectively, which is now very, very popular, um, at hookah lounges. It was a, so I kind of combined club culture and hookah culture. And at 14, I just like brought, you know, belly dancers and fire breathers and, you know, through this event at a hookah lounge. And they were like, you know, I convinced them to let me throw this party at their place. I'm 14 years old. Like, you know, I don't know how I did it, like, but they believed me. And sure enough, like, I worked my butt off. I, you know, created all the, the design framework and the marketing framework, hit the pavement and started, uh, started throwing, uh, throwing events at the Hookah Lounge. And it was pretty consistent. And now, weirdly enough, you know, those kinds of parties still exist till this very day. And I'd like to think like I started the, you know, a movement in, uh, hookah culture because they still, you know, they still have those kind of parties at hookah lounges now till this very day. And I was one of the very first originators of that. So, um, so I discovered I wanted to be an entrepreneur at 14. I didn't do it really for monetary reasons. Um, I just liked, uh, the, you know, number one, just the way it made me feel because I brought so much joy to other people. And I still have that mentality and ideology with my leadership style till this very day. As the CEO of my company, you know, I just like to bring joy to other people. I don't care about the money. I just care about putting smiles on people's faces.

It's a funny thing. I'm gonna waste 30 seconds telling this, but when I changed majors at Georgia Tech to get out of architecture because I figured out how long it was gonna take And I said, what's the fastest way out of Georgia Tech? They gave me a quiz. You had to take a quiz, which I had, you know, no, no respect for, you know, you can't tell what's in the heart of a man, what, you know, what they're interested in. But anyway, you have to take an aptitude quiz to see what major they'll let you switch into. And, uh, they said, here's what they said with me. They said, you got two things. He said, you can grow up and your, your aptitude is to be an events coordinator on a cruise ship. Or to be— and now I've just come out of architecture— or to be the recreation director at the YMCA and to put on the parties at the YMCA. And all these years later, you know, I go into financial services and I look back and I said, that's what I turned into. You know, I'm putting on events, 3-day events all over the country, you know, bringing people together.

You know, that's what I turned into as well. Like, I put on these events and You know, and now, like, because I'm a quote unquote social media influencer, I got to use my theater minor as well. So I'm out in the streets doing content, you know, just performing in front of a camera. I spend most of my day in front of a camera now. So I like to think that, you know, all of my skills from promoting parties were just breeding me for being like a great salesman, a great leader. And then all my— all the things that I did, you know, as a, you know, a young entrepreneur, as a young actor, all let, you know, led me to where I'm at now. It was all part of the groundwork that allowed me to be successful.

What attracted you to this, this industry? You know, was that— was the first, you know, the mortgage business? What— how did you wind up there of all places?

I had a friend in the mortgage space at the time. I was in I was in Santa Barbara and I didn't want to leave Santa Barbara. So I would always, you know, I'd always want to just continue down academia. I went, I was a sociology major. I left, uh, Santa Barbara. They forced me out to leave after graduation because they didn't allow you to get your PhD in Santa Barbara. You had to leave and then come back. So I was like, okay, fine. I'll leave for 2 years. Go get my master's in sociology, come back and apply for my PhD. Well, anyways, things changed when I got to Orange County because my friend told me, he's like, there's no way you're going to be able to live in Newport Beach in academia. You know, I like beach. Santa Barbara is the beach. Newport Beach is the beach. And you cannot live in Santa Barbara or Newport Beach on a professor's salary. You just, you just can't. And he was in the mortgage industry. He was telling me how much he's helping people. you know, buy their home and making the American dream come alive for them and doing things to really, you know, bring joy to people's lives through homeownership. And I was like, okay, that's cool. That sounds really interesting. But then it's like, oh, and I'm making a great living that's going to allow me to stay in Newport Beach. Like, okay, now you got my attention.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, A professor's salary is not going to enable me to live in Newport. All right. I'll look at— I'll look at other options and see what else is out there, because I always wanted the nicer things in life, you know, nicer real estate in life, which— because I got used to that living in Santa Barbara.

Yeah. And so now, as you, you transition, it's a different world outside the protected academia world where you have to go out and prove yourself, and especially in sales and commission and things like that. What was the, what was the biggest transition that you had to put yourself through and how, what kind of a challenge was it?

The biggest transition for me was really just like starting my own mortgage company, starting my own brokerage, because initially the reason why I got in the mortgage industry was for success. The reason why I started my own mortgage company was just because I was fed up with what other mortgage companies were doing, how other mortgage brokers are running their business. And the brokers at the time that I was working for were just ripping me off all the time. They were taking advantage of my work. They didn't care. It was like the Wild Wild West. You know, the crash of 2008 was due to these brokers that were just doing funky loans, right? So these brokers, they were they were con men, a lot of them. So I was just sick of working with people like that. And I started my own mortgage company as a big leap of faith. Terrifying to start your own mortgage company, especially because the people I had worked for prior to me were already— were taking advantage of me and had held my income. So I didn't have much income. I just got robbed so many times that, you know, they bled me out.

The mortgage, kind of like the general agency setup and life insurance thing with independent agents where there's really no override structure. You just pay everything out to the general agent and he just kind of decides how to dole it out to the people underneath him.

Yeah. So, so the mortgage company structure, you have a bunch of independent loan officers just like insurance agents, and they're all, you know, a lot of them are 1099 or now in California or certain states or W-2. But, but yeah, they're basically responsible for their own book of business. We help, you know, a lot of our LOs here with leads and tech and the things that you need to become successful. But they're very similar models. Financial services, independent. You got to be an entrepreneur, have that entrepreneurial mindset to win.

Well, a lot of those things are set up almost to make the people in it crooks because, you know, the thing is that people can go out and get their own contract. And so, you know, if you're good at recruiting and training, you just multiply your competition. And so what you try to— the model for success is you lie to them as long as possible and keep them in the dark. You know, the— especially the energetic people, until eventually the light bulb goes on and say, wait a minute, you guys are all con men. And then they lose you.

That's right.

Now, most guys will go out and get a contract with another company. But you started your own company.

I started my own company after kind of exploring other options, and I felt like This was the best way is for me to kind of have my own platform where I can grow it the way that I, I feel will help other originators grow. Now, um, unfortunately 2008 happened. I went through the crash. It just demolished my business. And I, uh, you know, I had to, I had to pivot into a completely different industry also in mortgage. From the years 2008 through 2011.

How deep were you into it when 2008 rolled around?

I mean, that's all I had. I only knew the mortgage industry.

But I mean, but here's what was that—

the first questions comes in.

You just starting it in 2008 or was it the second year, third year?

What? No, no, I started in 2005.

Oh, okay. So you were 3 years in. You should have been building momentum, you know, the bad times behind you. And then the, the the bottom gets pulled out from under you. That, that's not good.

It was tough, but I mean, I, I, I made it over the hump.

So how did you, how did, how did you pivot? How did you pivot? By the way, if you're still listening right now, you're different. You don't just consume content, you're actively looking for an edge. And that's who I built the Big Hitter Community for. Not people chasing motivation, people chasing momentum. Not theory, proximity. Proximity to operators who are actually in the arena into making real decisions and winning at a high level. Inside Big Hitter, you get conversations we don't have on the podcast, direct access to people who build what you're trying to build in a room that holds you to a higher standard every single week. This isn't a hype group. It's not networking for the sake of networking. It's where serious people go to sharpen their thinking and compress their timeline. If you're done just listening and you're ready to be in the room where it actually happens, head to joinbighitters.com or click the link in the show notes. The right room changes everything. I'll see you inside.

I got into, so I've been, one of my biggest attributes, and this is why I love podcasting, is I'm just a really good networker. I can open a lot of doors. At the time I was able to open a lot of doors. There wasn't podcasting, there wasn't social media. So I was just a very social— I was like a socialite, right? And I got to always keep— I always kept my ear to the ground to what are the latest and greatest in moneymaking industries. Orange County, Newport Beach, Irvine, we're always coming up with like the latest and greatest in, in, in industries. You know, everyone's an entrepreneur, so they all have expensive lifestyles, so they all have to make a lot of money. So someone turned me on to an industry that was in the mortgage industry but it was a different vertical, which was called loss mitigation. So we're basically now all the mortgages you did, you're going back to the investor and saying, I need you to cut these rates down, you know, or else this foreclosure. So I went into that industry. I, I got really knowledgeable, you know, with, you know, I became like a, like a designated securitization auditor. So I was able to really like audit people's notes and, you know, understand like if they were taken advantage of when they got the mortgage, did they know that it was a, you know, adjustable mortgage? And then I would go back to the banks and, and start negotiating a lower payment for these homeowners. And I built a massive company doing that. I had, you know, over 150 people. We got approached by private equity at one point, turned it down because I was young and arrogant. And I just, you know, I built another big company and guess what? 2010, 11 hit, my industry got hyperregulated. Boom. My industry literally imploded as well. And then I went back to mortgage.

When you set up your company, you had the advantage of basically having been screwed and tattooed and abused by the existing industry. So you knew what was out there, but you learned what people who want to make a career in that business would want, you know, what would make it better for them. And so you obviously set yours up to be a better experience for them and where it was much more magnetic and attractive for people in that industry. And so what were some of the things you set up that made it more attractive? Uh, 'cause for people that are looking to grow their businesses and, and, you know, and, and learn how to speak to their, uh, their people, because your people are what make you.

You know, one thing I noticed, and it's still an issue, it's like the industry's just not very innovative when it comes to marketing, lead generation, data acquisition, and now social media and, and just kind of branding yourself, personal branding. Now those elements all didn't exist at the time I started my mortgage company. What did exist was marketing and lead gen, and that was fundamentally flawed. And I really put a heavy emphasis on those attributes. And, um, when I started my company, because that's what allowed me to grow. Whereas most companies are scared to market or don't want to invest in lead generation or don't want to deal with marketing. So they just tell their loan officers to rely on their book of business and, you know, pound the pavement. I call that just sitting on a prayer and waiting on a prayer to be answered. That's not my model. My model is like, get after it, grind the phones. Let's get on. Here's all these leads. Here's the data resources. Here's the marketing resources. Here's a call center solution, whatever it takes to make sure that you're front and center with your clients. And you're always originating new business and you're hitting daily benchmarks and quotas to make sure that you're attaining that business. So, you know, just kind of like coaching people up in that framework so that they're, you know, hitting peak level performance.

Yeah. So let's talk about coaching them up to peak level performance and putting them through that transition. When you get people in, what What do you usually find the way they think, the way they act, the way they go about their business and how you, you know, how they are once you get through with them?

Well, number one, I like to call myself like a Phil Jackson. Like I'm always looking for the, the, the newest talented originators. So what I look for is right now is someone who's coachable. A lot of the older guys in our industry aren't coachable, kind of arrogant. And they don't want to accept that their lives, their livelihoods are on the line if they don't adopt new marketing strategies, especially when it comes to the personal branding space. I've been a big advocate of personal branding last couple years. I'm the biggest personal brand in the world in the mortgage industry now. And I will, you know, really, really toot that horn. As long as I'm around, because it's imperative in the world of AI. So when I meet someone new, immediately what I'm looking for, like, I'm looking for creative people who are coachable. Now, the reason why I say creative is because the creative people will get in front of a camera and are not apprehensive to want to create content or be funny or get outside of their comfort zone. So I'm really looking for creative people, people who are comfortable with being uncomfortable, and most importantly, that they're coachable.

Yeah, but now talk about where they get— where they, they get the most out of their schedule in terms of prospecting and getting in front of people and making that a way of life, you know, where they're, they're going through the numbers on a regular basis. How do you coach people up for that and what kind of schedule do you put them on?

Well, let me give you an example of someone I just met with yesterday. She's like, well, I've done the TikTok thing. She showed, she pulled up her video on TikTok. I'm like, oh, cool. 1,141 views on this video. You got 25 likes, 4 comments. What? This is the real stats on the video. I'm like, 1,141 people saw your video. How long would it take you to talk to 1,141 people with your message? Talk about time efficiency there. You just broadcasted your message to 1,141 people. Now, maybe 50 of them are homeowners. 50 of those people saw your video. You know, the other 1,100 might be looking to buy at some point, you know. But the point is that if you want to be efficient with your time, broadcast your message. Social media is the tool to do that.

Yeah. And talk about brand. Where did you learn the importance of brand and how to explain the importance of brand to people?

Well, right now, personal branding is everything in the world of AI. And the reason for that is because of something called AI indexing. If you were to compete against a competitor and they, and the, and everyone right now, you, me, everybody is going to Grok or ChatGPT or Gemini or whatever to decide for them. Should I work with Joe or should I work with Larry? Should I work with this guy or should I work with that guy? And guess how AI makes their decision. They use a reasoning model, right? We hear about, well, the reasoning model is what? It's all of the data that's aggregated on not just social media, on the entire internet. So they aggregate all of the data that you've ever said, that you've ever done to make that re— to reason that decision. And most financial professionals, 99% of them have nothing on the internet. They might have a couple reviews, but most of them have nothing. Every word you and I are saying right now is going to be indexed on ChatGPT. Every single word. They will re— ChatGPT will be able to reference the question you just asked me and my answer 1,000 years from now. Like, think about that. Think about that. Like, that's crazy. Every word we say is getting indexed forever. Now the next play is like, we need to own our words and own our own avatar. And there's all this other tokenizing this podcast and all this other crazy stuff that we're going to be talking about probably in a year from now that's emerging, you know, because now ChatGPT owns this data technically. We own it too, but we didn't tokenize it. So, you know, it's technically not ours, but that's another thing that's emerging as The world of AI is, you know, broadening. Um, but, you know, AI indexing is the future. It's mandatory, uh, for any entrepreneur to, to index themselves on, on all the AI algorithms. And the more you index yourself, the higher the probability that the reasoning model is going to decide for you as the person to work with. And you, you have an advantage the big companies as an independent is because all these big— these individuals that are riding under these big companies' coattails are not branding themselves. They're relying on the company's branding. And guess what? People don't want to work with the big company anymore. They want to work with the person.

Yeah, absolutely.

So all the brand— we're a big company, we're a massive company, but people are starting not to care. They don't want to work with the big company. They want to— they want to know who they're working with. They want to work with the individual. That's the 2026 play. Brand yourself. You become the brand. You become the person the individual wants to work with. People are over the big corporations. They want to work with the individual because what delivers, because that's the AI is going to reason. They don't care about the reputation of the company. They care about the person and what that person could deliver.

When you say indexing, explain what you mean by that. If someone says, I like this, I want to start doing it, what does he mean?

Every word we're saying right now is getting uploaded to the cloud or getting uploaded to ChatGPT, every single word. So this is, so if you ask, you know, ChatGPT about any of my political opinions, any of my decisions, any of my, you know, any question about anything, AI will, has all this data indexed and it will spit out my opinions, my reasons, my, the words, all these words that I said, it'll give you an exact context of all the words that I said that are published. That's, it's all getting indexed up on AI, all of it, every single word I'm saying right now.

How are you, how have you over the years stayed on, like you say, you know, that, you know, Newport Beach, that, that area is a hotbed for new ideas and entrepreneurial conversations. How do you stay plugged in to the latest and greatest trends, techniques, ideas? What, what are, what are you, what's your go-to source to stay on the cutting edge of technology, ideas, trends?

I love that question because that is a question that I'm hyper-focused on. So I am obsessed with going to masterminds, events. I'm obsessed with collaborating with other entrepreneurs outside of the walls of the mortgage industry. I have my own podcast. I collaborate with other entrepreneurs. I go to, I attend masterminds. I go to conferences. I, in my, and by the way, I'm CEO of my company. but I have 950 people that all do what I do. They're all just other, the 950 other entrepreneurs, you know, that are in the mortgage space. So even my own community. So I'm big on community. I'm big on collaboration. I'm big on attending conferences, mastermind events. And, uh, and, and, you know, I, I'm fortunate enough to live in Newport Beach where everybody is a mover and a shaker and usually a a really high income earner. So they're typically entrepreneurs. So even in my social settings, whether I'm like the tennis club or whether I'm at, you know, the gun club or all these private clubs that I'm part of, they're all people I get to— all the people— I'm a big networker, so I'll talk to people anyway.

The lesson, the takeaway people need to learn from that is like, if you're in, you know, there are dead zones in the country where nothing is happening. And if you want to be a mover and shaker, of course you can live out in, in Timbuktu and, you know, live out in the country and then just travel and go to these events. But it's sure a lot more convenient, you know, if you're in an area where things are popping. That's why I spend half of my year in Aspen and Palm Beach, Florida. And, you know, West Palm, you know, there's always You know, the clubs, the people you run into, there's always, always things happening. And, you know, it's never far away. But in Miami, I just got back from Art Basel in Miami Beach. You know, Orlando's always got big events. You know, we're going to have, you know, there's shows of every kind in these places and people are coming and going and that, you know, it rubs off on you, you know, in spite of yourself. Because the tendency, I think, for everybody, even especially an entrepreneur, business person, where to get overwhelmed with what you're doing, you have your head down, you're solving problems, and then you don't go out and you get— before you know it, you're old. You know, you, you've got old people, old idea, you're old.

You know, you got to be innovative and you got to be collaborating. And, you know, yes, I can't comment on someone who lives in Alabama and Timbuktu, because it is hard for them to connect. It is hard for them, very successful entrepreneurs. They got to really be outside the box thinkers. And they probably have to work a lot harder, you know, creating relationships. Whereas you and I can just go out to dinner and make a relationship. Absolutely. Those people can't do that. You know, I could have a beer and, you know, and the guy sitting next to me will be, you know, an owner of a sports team. I don't know.

Right.

Yeah, absolutely.

Or down here you go around a— you're around a golf and the guy's the head of the Federal Reserve in Chicago or something. He's down here on vacation. And yeah, exactly.

So it's a different— you got to be— there's a reason why we pay extra for the— it's not just the weather. You know, it's the people, the people really, iron sharpens iron and I'm held to a higher standard because I'm around these level of people and, you know, I don't drive a fancy car. I don't drive like a, you know, you know, I just, I invest in real estate and that's my, my, my, uh, vice, I guess. But, uh, but, you know, I keep it low pro for the most part, just a, just a grinder. Everybody in Newport Beach just to live there has to be a millionaire just to, just to live there. We're just talking like guys that live in apartments.

Absolutely. Now let's talk about how long you've been doing the Coffee for Closers.

How am I doing it?

No, how long? How many years?

Oh, how long? I've been doing about 2 years now. January will be 2 years.

I mean, that's a, that's, that's a definition of explosive growth.

Coffees with a Z. Coffees.

Coffees. Yeah.

For closers.

For closers. Well, that's got to be the definition of an explosive growth podcast. Uh, yeah, we've done really well.

Um, we've done really well. We're a top 10 business podcast, you know, top 5 entrepreneur podcast on Apple. It's growing also on Spotify. We're also on Amazon. Um, you know, we air it also on Twitch. We air it on Kick. We air it on LinkedIn, Facebook. We put it on all these platforms live as well. And, you know, I'm a big marketer at heart. Uh, my whole gauge has always been how many people are viewing or downloading or commenting or how many fans do we have. You know, I'm always trying to gain more eyeballs on the, on the platform, the brand, and just get more attention.

Where did the idea come from and what's your, what's your aim with the, you know, I'm sure to meet people and to network and all that. Where did it come from?

A movie called Glengarry Glen Ross. And ultimately, like, I'm the CEO of the company, but really what I am is I'm just a really good sales guy. You know, I'm just the best sales guy. I would argue one of the best in the world. And, uh, you know, that's my gift. I'm not like a very good operations guy. I'm not a technical guy. I'm just a really good sales guy. And that movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, really highlights salespeople. And, uh, you know, I feel that—

are you saying you're Alec Baldwin? Is that what you're saying?

Yeah, I feel— yeah. The title of the show really embodies my personality. You know, I'm drinking a coffee right now. I'm a closer, you know, like I'm always closing deals. I, if I'm not here, you saw I was right before I got on this podcast. I have this headset attached to my ear and I'm working pretty much everywhere I go remotely. Right after this, you know, a podcast, I got a guy coming to sell me a Kobe Bryant signed basketball that I'm going to grind him down to a great deal that I'm going to give as a gift to my partner. You know, I'm always closing that. I'll be closing him on a deal, you know, like I'm closing everywhere I go. And I've embodied, I've really, you know, instilled that mindset of just, you know, the art of the deal in my kids. Well before, yeah, always be closing is my mantra, right? And I'm still, you know, that's still my mantra. Well before Donald Trump was president, I was a fan of Donald Trump as a boy. In the first book, one of the only books, You know, I, yeah, one of the first books I read, you know, at 13 was The Art of the Deal. I really loved Donald Trump way before he was president. Like now that he's president, I'm like, man, you got the best sales guy to ever walk the planet as our president. You know, he's the best closer in existence. So when he's over all over a deal, I'm like, that deal is happening. You know, I know the Russia-Ukraine deal he hasn't closed yet, but he's really, Putin's a hard guy to work with. Um, but pretty much anything he gets his hands on, he closes it, you know, outside of the Russia-Ukraine situation. I mean, he's gonna, he's taking care of the Gaza. I mean, everything, he's handling everything because he's just the ultimate sales guy. And that's what it takes to be a great leader is just the ability to relay your message over in such a way that, you know, really gets the other party to align with, uh, your reasoning. So, and he's the best at it. So, okay.

So since we're on that, what would you—

Trump's doing the Paramount deal right now. So we'll see what happens with Paramount and Warner Brothers.

That's right. Sticking his nose.

He made it clear that he was paramount.

Yeah, he made it clear he was sticking his nose in there.

Trump's signing off on that deal. You know, that's a deal that's going to change history. So he wants his hands on it. So now that he's stepping in to that transaction, one of the biggest transactions in American history, I mean, we know it's going to be right. It's going to be right for the American people. And it's, you know, he's going to outline it in a way that serves all of us.

Well, when you get to go back to the— let's say, what do you say distinguishes a closer? Like, if someone, you know, you want to get them to help them to move over to the closer mentality, what do they— what do most people miss?

Well, I'm going to start with one thing that is God-given. It's just you just got to be sincere and charismatic and charming, you know, and, and sometimes people are just— that's going to give you that extra edge is if you can, if you're charming and charismatic, you know, then you, you come, then it's the stuff that you can work on. But charm and charisma are kind of like, you know, they're God-given attributes. A lot of people have it. Some people don't.

Another word for that is likability, right?

Yeah. You got to be a very— simply put, you got to be a very likable person. People really don't care how much you know until you— they know how much you care. So one thing I'm really good at is showing that I care. And I care about them. I care about their opinions. I care about their feelings about the situation. So, you know, really showing that you care, really showing love. You can't fake that stuff. That stuff is not fake. It's gotta be real and it's gotta be genuine. So I show how much I care. I show how much, you know, I'm really enthusiastic about my message. So I personally am always convicted about my subject matter. When I sell, I sell with complete conviction. I sell with complete certainty. So I'm laser-focused on delivering value. I'm laser-focused on making sure that the person knows I care. And, you know, I'm a great communicator. So I got the gift again.

If I were to ask you to put your mission, you know, you're bringing new agents on your team and you're saying, you know, this is what we stand for. This is our mission. We don't just sell mortgages. We have a mission to provide value. And this and the other. What is your mission? Why would you put that into—

I'll put it— I say this to everybody. It's very basic.

I'm going to give you a chance to recruit people right now that are listening. If they want to go in the mortgage business. Yeah.

E-Mortgage Capital's mantra is very simple. You do God's work first, serve the people first, and then God will do your work. That's it. Do God's work and the money always follows. And in this business, we have the blessing of serving and doing God's work first and foremost, and then the money follows. So my whole thing is, do God's work. Doesn't matter, the paycheck doesn't matter. You make sure that that person closes escrow, gets into that home and, and, and, and sell them on the feeling of what it's going to be like in that new home. The memories that we're going to share. The wealthiest people don't chase money. What do they chase? They chase memories. They chase moments. And convincing people that those memories are the reason why they're going into the house. Those memories are the reason what we're chasing for them. We want them to have these incredible moments. So, you know, it's not about money. It's not about, you know, building this crazy status, about doing God's work first. So that's the mantra I have for loan officers coming in. I've had so many people on the other side of the Coffee for Closers chair, billionaires, so many people that I've talked to, and it's the most successful billionaires I've met with are always doing God's work first.

Absolutely right on the money. I couldn't agree more. And the— but it plays out in practical ways in the sense that as someone who's gone through the process of fighting the battle to get a mortgage, it's almost like the mortgage industry is set up not to give you the— get the mortgage. It's almost like, you know, you got 14 papers, you got another 25 papers, and like, give me the list, give me the checklist. I can't tell you how many times in trying to close a deal is like, give me the list of things you need. I don't care how long it is. Give me the list. I'll get it for you and let's close the deal. And then you get all of that to them and they come back 2 weeks later. We need another 17 things here. It's like, who's making up this? I mean, it's like a Chinese torture thing to get, get a mortgage through. That's why, like, I I have so much admiration for you fighting your way through it, but you went in there and streamlined the thing to, you know, to where you could even say 10-day closing, 90-day rate locks and things like that. I mean, you know, this idea of serving the customer, it's not just pie in the sky. I mean, it's practical solving problems for them.

Well, I'm going to start with— I'm going to say this jokingly about you, but you're probably self-employed and it's much harder for you to get a mortgage. So most entrepreneurs have to jump through some extra hoops because they got to find tax returns and they got all these random deductions and they got to provide extra bank statements and they got to like verify these big deposits. So there is some extra hoops to jump through if you're an entrepreneur. I'm not going to lie about that. However, they have made it significantly easier on entrepreneurs to get mortgages. They actually absolutely have. There are new products. I'm an entrepreneur, you know, I stay in the weeds. I still figure out, I still do you know, 3, 4 mortgages a month. I still do a couple million a month in business because I want to stay in the weeds and figure out what's working, what's not working. And, you know, weirdly enough, like, I'm still one of the biggest producers in my whole company out of 950 loan officers. And I jokingly say, like, that I spend maybe 2.5, 3% of my day doing mortgages. Like, the rest is like, I'm podcasting, I'm recruiting, I'm doing business development, I'm doing videos, I'm doing content. Put out 7, 8 videos a day, but I have to, I, people are like, why do you still do mortgages? That's crazy. Like I do it literally for free. I have to figure out what's working, how to help people. What are the, what's the latest and greatest in products and, and product knowledge. I keep my ears to the ground so that I can properly inform those that I lead. I don't lead by just like exaltation. I lead by being in the weeds. And figuring out what's working and what's helping people, what's getting people to the next level.

Yeah. Fantastic. And let's, let's talk real quick about the foundation. And, you know, of all the things that you've done, how early in your career did you say, I want to start my own foundation? And what's your aim for your foundation?

So the Shalabi Foundation just aims to serve like the needy, you know, I like to serve the impoverished, I like to serve Coptic orphans, I like to serve, you know, just those that are just not as blessed. We do a lot of work with, you know, just my thing is poverty, my thing is like homeless, my thing is the widows, the orphans, the sojourners, strangers, you know, those that are suffering. So I just try to never forget where I came from as a, you know, pretty much I would— absolute poverty-stricken. So my thing is, you know, trying to serve those that are broken, those that are, you know, again, those that are just much less fortunate than I am. And I realized at around 25, 26 years old, I really just Really? You know, I started serving the poor really, really young and started going to, um, these midway houses where right before people were homeless, uh, they would go to these like motels that were subsidized. And I started going there every week on Sundays and just serving the poor there. And then, uh, it just— Focus, um, fellowships— Fellowship of Orthodox Christians United to Serve. And I just, you know, really was drawn to it. So, so that's where it started and that's where, you know, keep my heart.

Yeah. Congratulations on that. And so as we bring this, this public part of the podcast to a close, I'm going to give you a chance to, you know, people can find you very easily. Where would you send them to first if they wanted to, to, to find you to follow up with you?

Social media, Joseph Shalaby. I'm everywhere on every social media. I got millions of followers. I put out a lot of great content, a lot of very, very helpful content, whether you're in leadership, whether you want to learn about what's happening in the financial sectors, or you want to laugh. You know, I do comedy, I do leadership, and I do fighting. It's kind of like, I think, to keep you engaged in all verticals, just because I can't talk finance all day. That's not super engaging. I make you laugh, right? I make you and I make you think.

I think you, you know, I, you know, I, I think you and I think a lot alike in some ways. In fact, I've been doing this for 50 years, Joseph. More than, you know, 50, 50, 50. Podcasting or no business working with people, you know, recruiting, training, developing, building, you know, leaders and independent people, you know, teaching winning. And the thing is that what happens is it's like we're professional athletes with no offseason because when you get in this business, it's not like, you know, I'm thinking of, you know, I'm waking up at 2. It's still— I'm 77. I'm waking up at 2 in the morning like, okay, this is— we need to word this this way. You know, it's like the way we need to answer that is this. And if you don't get up and write it down, then it's gone for, you know, so.

I love it. I love— I could tell you're in great health. 77 years old, doing a podcast, still sharp.

And the thing is, though, I think the way you do it, like, I've got to— if I can keep it interesting for myself, you know, this is the way I do talks on stage or whatever. If I can entertain myself, I know I'm going to entertain everybody else because I'm thinking about this stuff morning, noon, and night. They're just hearing it for the first time. And so if I can find a way to keep myself entertained talking about it, I know what I'm going to be entertaining for them. And, you know, that's, that's the main thing. You know, you got to keep their interest, otherwise you can't make an impact, you know. And so I really love what you're doing. Couldn't, couldn't congratulate you enough and just want you to stay strong. And I know you've got a great support network around you to keep you from the flaming darts of the people always going to try to bring down the heroes out there, and you're a hero. So what would you say in parting for this public part of the podcast? One takeaway that you would want people that have stayed with us the whole time, what would you like to say to them to wrap this up?

Well, Larry, before that, I want to thank you. God bless you. You're a great man. I can tell you're a man of faith and you're doing a lot of good things. you know, for the community at large. So, you know, blessings to you, blessings to your audience. What I want to tell the audience is, you know, do God's work first and the money will always follow. That's my mantra. So I'm gonna live by, you know, and as long as you find a life of purpose and you want to serve, there will be blessings that follow it. And it seems tough and it seems doubtful, but as long as you know, you're putting God first and that is embodied in your work, you will flourish. I can guarantee it.

Absolutely. Thanks. I, I couldn't say, add anything to that. And folks, you can find Joseph's— told you where you can find him. Joseph Shalabi on all platforms.

Koffees for Closers, Koffees with a Z as well. Anywhere, just type in Koffees with a Z. Koffees plural, but use a Z and it'll pop up on anywhere you listen to your podcast. Apple, Spotify, YouTube. Instagram, wherever you find your, your socials on any of your social.

I do have one question. Do you feel like all of your, uh, uh, all of the other videos you put out help funnel into your, uh, the podcast growth, or is it all, all working?

No, none of my videos, podcast. Some, we are starting to add some of my collaborative content to the podcast, uh, Instagram, but all my videos are building my personal brand. Yeah. Okay. I have like d— different faces of my, my brand. The podcast growth is separate, sole and separate of my personal brand growth.

Fantastic.

We are starting to infuse my personal brand cuz it's so big and it has such a big voice with some podcast content.

Okay. Well, thanks so much, Joseph. This has been a, uh, been a blast and I, I wish you the best and, uh, uh, appreciate you making the world a better place for all of us. Thanks so much.

Hey, God bless you. Thanks. Thank you, Larry.

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