Meet The Man Who Went From Dirt Poor To A Top 1% Earner (Here’s How He Did It) W/ Guest Akbar Sheikh

Hey, how you doing? Yeah, I think this is the first time I've done an interview with the headphones on.

It's better because you hear my voice.

It's very soothing, too.

It's my deep, sultry. Hey, guys. What's up? Matt here. Welcome to the episode of Coffee is for Closers. We've got Akbar Sheikh here today, a man in the coaching consulting industry. We're going to talk about coaching consulting, what's right, what's wrong with the industry. Maybe have a few rants and just see what happens. So if you like the kind of content, like subscribe, notification, but all that kind of good stuff. And we'll see you after the intro. If you listen to this podcast, you will make your first million within three years. We're here to make podcasts. You really want this? You listen and review. What's up, bro?

Hey, man, thanks for having me.

No, pleasure. Good to have you in Australia.

Yeah. Yeah. My second home. My wife is married to me. I'm pausing because I think every time we come back, she wonders, why did she get married to me? Why do we live in America? She convinces me to try to move down here every single time we come.

Yeah. To Sydney. Yeah, it's a great place.

I love Sydney, honestly, I really do. But for me, it's like, you know, home is where, like, my family's over there.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, my mom, my dad, my brother, everyone. So it's just like. I just wouldn't be happy without them.

It's fair enough. Yeah, we. We. Yeah, we moved around a fair bit, and Sydney's the place that we always come back to, so we thought about moving to the States because obviously, for my business. No, I'd make more money if I was over there, to be perfectly honest.

You know, it's interesting you say that, man, because I found, with the exception of this trip, for various reasons, but every time I come to Sydney, I find I get a bump in revenue.

Yeah, right. Just happier.

You know, I used to think it was. It was like more fresh air and oxygen and the food's a little healthier because, you know, like, in America, most of the foods like that are outlawed in America are. That are outlawed here. They're legal. So it's like, you know, it's healthier, more vitamin D and this and that. So I used to think that was it. But you know what I realized? I think that might be a part of it. But you know what I think it is? By the time it's like 10am here, like America shut down.

Yeah.

So it's like I'm not interrupted with like meetings and like people talking to me, which I can actually work more like on the business instead of in the business. Yeah, I think that's what, what it might be.

So my day is like 7 to 7am to 12 meetings.

Okay.

And then after that is content like podcasts, YouTube videos, and then like the Australian stuff. So like our headquarters is mostly Australian. A lot of the planning is done here. CEO of Sales Sniper is Will. He's over in the US which is like it needs to be over there.

Yeah.

But like a lot of the headshed planning is here, which actually makes it easier for us because we don't, like you said, we don't get interrupted. But in terms of like networking and getting clients, I mean we have a pretty long list of people who want to work with us anyway. But I could probably grow up more aggressively over there. But why? But what I ask you, we've been having a good chat on the couch. Why'd you get into coaching, man?

Why did I get into coaching? Well, we got to take a little step back from that, I guess. I was, you know, for so many years. Completely. Well, okay, let's take a bigger step back. I. Years ago, so I was born. I was born. Yeah.

I saw a bright light.

I saw a bright light. San Francisco, California, a while ago. I was 50 pounds overweight, crippling anxiety disorder, addicted to anything you can think of. Had no why. Didn't, didn't pray, Wasn't spiritual, completely broke. What else was effed up about me? Anything you could think of? I mean, totally just an effed up person, that lifestyle.

Why?

Great question. I was conditioned my whole life by my dad who's an entrepreneur. I come from nine generations deep of entrepreneurs.

Okay.

My parents born in Africa. They conditioned me. You're going to be in business. You're going to be in business. You're going to be in business my whole life?

Yep.

When I was a kid, I just went to my kids kindergarten graduation and it was so trippy because the, the teacher's like, hey, what do you guys want to be when you grow up? And I was like, I want to be a doctor and I want to be a, a fireman and a policeman. All these normal, right? One probably I want to be a dinosaur. When I was in first grade. Same thing.

Yeah.

What do you want to be? And I go up there, so I want to be a businessman. Everyone starts laughing at me because I never heard that before, but I was conditioned from like birth. Okay, business again. So I graduate college and I go into the family business and my dad was in retail and it was like somebody slapped me in the face with a cold wet fish and I'm like, this sucks.

Okay?

I hate this. Yeah, I hated retail.

I felt like retail specifically.

Yeah, okay. Yeah, well, to me that was business. That was business, right? It's like the customer's always right, but these customers are maniacs. And then I felt like it was a self man made prison. This like box that you're in all the time. And I'm just like, dude, this is like my jail. Like, I hate this, okay. I'm like, I. There was never any plan B. There was never any thought of like, what am I going to do with my life? It was always business from day one. So then I was, I just like.

All the build up to get there and then it was like, this is it.

It wasn't holy. I was like, now what do I, I just went down a spiral. That, that, that boom. Just like downward married the totally wrong person.

Right? That was a good move.

I mean, to be honest, I was, I was intoxicated when I proposed. I mean that was the state I was in. I was in such a bad state. So, you know, life is just a total mess. Ended up in the hospital, half dead from partying too much, trying to numb the pain. And God saved me. I survived, as you can see. And immediately management organic. I lost 50 pounds. I got rid of my all my bad bad habits, cold turkey. Got rid of all my bad friends, got rid of, you know, became spiritual, started doing yoga, started praying, just totally redid myself, just totally did a holistic cleanse as a brand new person. So I'm happy, I'm healthy, I'm doing much better. Still broke. I have no why. So now I need to fix that part.

Okay.

Okay. Have you ever heard of Craigslist?

Yeah.

Okay, for those of you who don't know, Craigslist is like, it's like a job posting website or it's a community website. Yeah, yeah, it's like whatever. Anyway, for some reason I'm searching on Craigslist every day for my why.

Must have found some weird. Yeah, definitely there's some weird people on Craigslist.

Yeah, I've almost been killed several times off of Craigslist experience. That's a true story. But one day bump in this thing and it's kind of funky that the red lights are here because it was like, it was like. It was a network marketing thing and I Was my first exposure to it. I was like, oh, I know this. There's this lady smiling with cash. And I know why it says like 200 but buy now and it'll be 100. And it's like the cheesiest network marketing shit out there. But I was like, I saw the psychology of it and it felt like Neil from the Matrix. I'm just like, wow, this is so, like, it was so cheesy. I'm like, this is so brilliant. So I went, what a broken, desperate people do, all due respect, they get into network marketing. I went down that rabbit hole because I was so fascinated with the psychology. And even my dad told me though to be interesting story when I was a kid and I would drive to my dad's different retail stores, like I must have been, I don't know, 10 years old, whatever, five, 10 years old. And I'd make very in my dad would said, make very interesting deep psychological remarks about like the billboards that we drive by, like you know, market. So I was interested marketing psychology. But I went down to network marketing and I became a top 1% earner. But by the time I figured out what the industry was, I hated it. I'm like, this is not me. Like this is.

So are you selling at the time.

They were digital products. And I go like. And I'm doing parentheses because it's like, it's just like, it's just a bunch of digital. It was just a bunch of digital knowledge, I suppose. And the problem, it was just a cheesy industry, bro. Because it was that the premise of a lot of these things is like, oh, anybody can do it and like your grandmother can do it.

So like network marketing is, it's an interesting arena. I haven't dabbled in it myself, but I have, I did help some, some people from a sales structure standpoint sort of before I knew what it was. To be honest. When I got in there I was like, oh, well I said yes now. But anyway, yeah, so I kind of redo the sales process. But yeah, it's a very interesting community of people. But it really is like, is the most pyramid thing I've ever seen. Like you got some really smart entrepreneurs who are in my opinion, taking advantage of an awful lot of people. Yeah, because if you're a good business mind that's good at sales and marketing and you have like a sort of semi charismatic personality, you can be super successful in network marketing but like you've got to step on some people along the way.

One the, the straw that Broke the camel's back for me was when one senior citizen came up to me, he says, you know what this. And he explained it to me because I was younger at the time, he said, you know what this is? I went into a room full of people and there's Some, there's some 25 year old charismatic kid on stage and a bunch of senior, hopeless senior citizens who just like, life went wrong for them and they ended up with no money at the end of their lives. And that millennial dude promising you everything's about to change. The Internet, you're all going to make millions and selling the dream. And meanwhile these senior citizens can barely check their email, you know, they just don't know how to do that.

Yeah.

And it's just like so icky.

That is one of the things that, that shits me the most about, I guess the sales industry in particular. But like, I hate when people say, come, learn a skill, make 10 bucks, make 10 grand a month from your living room, you know, learn it in four weeks. It's like, man, do you know how hard it is to be good at? Like, it is a, like, it is a difficult skill set. It's a phenomenal skill set, but it takes years to become good at. Like no one's going to know. Not many then. The thing is, it can happen, right? Like it does happen to some people. They get into sales out of nowhere. Like we have one guy on our, on our guy Tallis, never done sales before, came in within three or four months, was crushing it. But he's just really, really good and he has studied really hard, did all the right things, had no bad habits, came in and crushed it, you know, and then people saw me coming to the coaching consulting space, coming to high ticket closing, making 50, 100 grand a month in comms, people saying, well, it came out of nowhere. It's like, man, I was a full time salesperson for 13 years before I ever did a high ticket sale.

Wow.

You know, like full time. Like I've been selling fitness for flat out, right? I own gyms. I sold all day, every day. It's my entire job. It's like I was the chief sales officer for trainer gyms.

So what's your opinion, man? Do you think people are born entrepreneurs or do you think they can be cultivated into one?

Well, entrepreneurs are different. Anyone can become a salesperson, right? Anyone can sell because it's a process driven activity. It really is. Like obviously everyone's starts at different levels of the ladder and some people's ladder goes Higher than others. Right. But sales is true. Process driven. Entrepreneurship is, is different. Right. So like, and just because you're a good entrepreneur doesn't mean you should run a business. So I'm, I'm very entrepreneurial, but I'm also like, I think one of the things that I've done well is that I've surrounded myself with people who are not yes men. And I know what I'm bad at. And so I'm like a true entrepreneur. But like, I'm really good at like, not being selfish, not hoarding money, spending money on people.

Yeah.

So that I can surround myself with the people who are going to like actually run the business. Because I'm not that good at running a business. I'm good at setting up a business. I'm good at making sure it scales and answering the questions. But the people who are really good at running, like, they're not going to be the ones that will scale it. You know, like, they're different personality types.

Yeah.

And so you got to kind of fall into your lane, I think, and then surround yourself with the right people. So, no, I don't think people can become entrepreneurial. That really is because, like, the risk ratios I think that entrepreneurs are willing to take is very different. Right. Like, I'm willing to do large risks.

Yeah.

My risk tolerance is extremely high.

Yeah.

Way higher than most. And the. And that has allowed me to grow my business far faster than what most people could because I was willing to do it with basically making no money in the process.

Right.

Having $2,000,000 come in and having 1,999,000 go out.

Yeah.

Right. Like, yeah, buddy. And seeing that as a great thing. Look how much fucking money I spent this much. Right, Right. But knowing that there's a. Having enough business acumen to be able to know that there's a light at the end of that tunnel. It's all intentional. So that when it's intentional, it's fine. When you just wake up and you have no margin, that's a bad thing.

Yeah.

But yeah. So I think sales. Anyone can be decent at sales or good at sales. Not everyone can be amazing at sales. Entrepreneurship is, I just, I think, a totally different thing. Like, where do you think you sit in that? Like, are you just like that real already entrepreneur, or do you think you run somewhere else?

Yeah, it's a good question. You know, we were jamming about that a little bit where it's. There's a lot to entrepreneurship and I think people really use that word very loosely. Entrepreneur. Oh, I'm an entrepreneur. Well, what's your business? Well, it's me and I haven't sold anything yet, but I want to, you know, there's, I think, a lot of different definitions of it. Am I a traditional kind of like, you know, operator that's good at, you know, setting up different structures and managing multiple teams and, you know, a lot of spreadsheets and a lot of that kind of like hardcore, you know, gritty entrepreneur stuff? No, that's not. Definitely not the kind of entrepreneur that I am. I definitely feel like I'm more the creator.

The visionary.

The visionary dancing monkey kind of.

But that's a good place to be. So, like the visionary role, it's very coaching and consulting. Right. But in reality, it's basically. Yeah, it's sort of like a chairman. Right. So it's. The person who is creative is responsible for the overall feel and direction of the business. Right. Like this is like this. The business needs to be a reflection of you.

Yeah.

And then from that, like, your mission, your vision, your values need to be handed down.

Yeah.

The operators are then responsible and accountable for making sure those things are hit.

Yeah.

You know, and so like that. I think it's a. It's a great spot to be. I think most businesses need one. I think the problem with coaching and consulting is that people take the piss out of that and they refuse to put operators in.

Yeah.

And they think that they can run a business at five or six hundred thousand dollars a month.

Right.

And they can just do some wild shit and get away with it.

Yeah.

And I don't think that that doesn't benefit their staff. You know, if you're running like, we're talking about guys running a 70% margin. Jesus, mate, what are you not doing?

Yeah.

That's terrifying.

Well, it's like, it's like, it's interesting to take a step back. Right. Because like, how many people do you know, Right. That are in the coaching consulting business that this is. They've had like two other successful exits. You know, maybe they exited. Maybe they launched a software company. They exited it. Maybe they, they had launched, I don't know, a supplement or a retail thing. They exited it. And now they want to launch a coaching or consulting business. I personally, I mean, I have to really think about it. But off the top of it, I don't know any of them. So my, my, my point is, I think most people in this business, this is like kind of their first business is there for. So, so it's not. I mean, it's More of a fake until you make it hustle. Like we're figuring it out. We're still young. Let's see how it goes. And, and here's the big thing. They've never seen this, anything close to this much amount of money.

Yeah.

And then that pollutes you a little bit.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? Where it's like, it's kind of like one of my biggest problems with the medical industry in America is that it's so lucrative. And I just feel like that's wrong. You know, some. An industry that has to do with your health should not be that lucrative because money is going to make you do things that you. For example, there's doctors in jail right now because they have told their patients you have cancer and you need chemo. But they don't have cancer because they're making millions off the chemo. It shouldn't be that lucrative. So the problem is that you have all these like super young coaches. They're seeing money that they've never seen before and, and now they've lost track of the essence of the youth of.

The industry is a problem.

Yeah, exactly. So it's interesting we're here in Sydney. Do you know that like I think it was in the year 2000, was the first time ever coaching or consulting was ever mentioned in an educational structure in a university. And it actually happened here in Sydney in the world. The coaching industry is extremely, it's extremely brand new.

Yeah, yeah. And the leaders, like a lot of the, like a lot of the people have programs and they're a week ahead of their clients.

That's true.

Like that we were talking about before, guys claiming to be eight figure sales experts and they can't afford $100 program. Their credit cards bounce. I think, I think that is the problem is, you know, but it's a reflection of the youth of, of the industry.

Yeah.

You know, I train a lot of salespeople, you know, because we have a lot of sales people. And you know, one of the things that I tell them is a guy, it's like time takes time. Like I'm 38 years old.

Yeah.

Not old, but I'm a fuckload older than those kids. Right. And they come into me and they're like, I want to make 100 grand a month. I'm like, all right, cool, man. Well, it took me 13, 14 years of full time selling to hit that marker myself. Like I did that. If you did it in half the time I did, would you be happy? Yeah, like fuck yeah. I was like, sweet. You've been selling for a year, champ. You got, you know, like, you'd be fine, man. Like, just give yourself a fucking break. And the problem with the industry is there's so much bullshit results out there. You know, people not telling half truths and screenshots and all that stuff.

Well, here's. Here's a big common misconception, right? People, like, say, for example, oh, yeah, I just did an event, Just did a small event, and guess what I made a hundred thousand dollars. Okay.

Yeah.

All right, cool. Can I see that on paper? Well, yeah. So here's what happened. I made an offer, and it's a thousand dollars a month and 10 people signed up. So I got. I collected $10,000 cash at the event, but they all have a contract that it's a year contract. So at the end of the year, I'll have $120,000, right. So good. Cool. Can I see these numbers next month? Okay. Next month. Oh, yeah. People don't really like the program, so all. All of them except for one dropped off. So I actually only made 12 grand. Yeah, but I. Oh, but wait a minute. Last month, they should just tell everyone you made 100 grand. Now, here's the after part about. Here's the after part about it, and I'll include press. So another problem is that right now, for those who don't know, you can go to, like, any website. I'm not going to tell you the name, but you can buy press for 200 bucks, literally 200 bucks. And you can have this as featured on CNN Foxes. And it's some backlink Fox News slash 8 million digits. And no one can ever find it. If they go to the website, cnn, Fox News. And what people do is they say, mark, Gino, whatever. I'm just making up names as seen on cnn, Fox News, whatever, right? Here's the problem. Your average person, sweet and innocent, have no idea that you just paid 100, 200. And all you need is a pulse.

Hey, you get the 30 under 30 for Forbes. Congrats. What's that, eight grand now?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. Someone tried to sell it to me, too. Here's the problem. They're like, oh, okay, well, you must know what you're talking about. Therefore, that builds a trust. Here's the money. But wait a minute. That person's not quite in reality, that person not qualified at all.

And the post like, oh, my God, so honored to be featured in Forbes. Like, mate, that's a $5,000 feature.

I've sold that offer, right?

Like, oh, two pages, 10 grand. Phenomenal job, man. You may pay 10 grand. Well done. Yeah, there's a problem. There's a lot of bullshit in the industry, but I think, like, you know, to be honest, I, like, I fell into that. So, like. But when I was that age, I was a little bit older. I was probably like 26 or 27 at the time.

Yeah.

But I was newer to business because I just got out of the army.

Yeah.

So I was somewhat fresh when it comes to business. Right.

Yeah.

And I remember like I was, I owned gyms and I went off and I joined this business coaching program and they were like, how much did you sell? And I was like, you know, they're like, oh, we're selling twelve hundred dollars packages. Oh, hey everybody. Matt made eighty grand this month. This week.

Yeah.

You know, because I sold fucking, you know, a bunch of twelve hundred dollars packages, but they're paying fifty bucks a week.

Yeah.

You know what I mean? But then like, I got caught up in that and like, it actually fucked me up a bit because I started to think I made that much money. Yeah, right. Like when you start talking in terms of revenue versus cash or contract value and you start thinking that way as a sales rep or a business owner, it's really damaging to you because you start living that way. Yeah, right. And like, I remember going through that when I was very new to business and I was going through these. I was like the bright eyed kid in the candy store of business coaching. And I signed up to every business coaching course on the planet. And when I walked away from it, like, I know I said I'd never sign up to like another one of those coaches again. I was like, no, I'll just sign up to learn from individuals that I feel are really good at what they do. Right. Because like, at the end of it it was just all these, it was just bullshit and there was no one telling me, hey man, like, don't, don't think like that. Yeah, like if you sold those people bank on the money in which you collected and run your business accordingly. And don't start to like live outside your means. Make sure you're doing the right things.

Yeah.

And I think like, to me the biggest problem in coaching consulting is the fact that like these people are, you know, let's just say you go get these guys making 500 grand a month, like, oh, I'll teach you how to make 500 grand a month. It's like, yeah, but your 500 grand a month business is a Fucking shell of a business which is not sustainable for the individual, it's not sustainable for the people within the business. And like it's not an actual business, it's just of an entity that makes money.

Yeah.

You know, and so like, you know, people call themselves like, I'd much prefer to people like I'll teach you sales teacher marketing and I'll teach you like how to have a really good delivery.

Yeah.

But I'm not going to call myself a business.

Yeah. This has already given me a bunch of great marketing ideas. Right. Where I'm just like, guys, guess what? This is not a business. This is a one man show. You're going to be in content for a couple hours, you got a little, you got one or two people doing delivery. This is, this is really 100k by side income. You know, I mean it's like you, you anti business position. Like this isn't a real business, this.

Is just a great, I mean and the great thing about coaching consulting is you really can grow a phenomenally profit profitable entity quite quickly if you're charismatic, if you know your stuff and you know what I mean. And if you have the right hooks. Right. The problem is when people then try and translate that without like a foundational underpinning.

Yeah.

That becomes problematic.

So you know what I, I find fascinating to study is, you know, we're talking about like how these things kind of repel people from the industry. Right?

Yeah.

But if you take a look at the opposite, like I'm a Muslim and there's a, I don't know, over a billion Muslims in the world. Do you know the country with the most amount of Muslims in it?

I wouldn't have a clue. Guess just for fun, I mean, I would say, I would say China. Good.

I mean great guess. It's definitely one of the top ones. But it's actually Indonesia.

Oh yeah, that makes sense.

Yeah. Because that's actually a really small country. That's pretty fascinating because China is massive and Indonesia is really small. Went to Bali for our honeymoon. But there's over 200 million Muslims in America. In, in Indonesia started off with zero. So how the hell did that happen? How the hell did like Indonesia, this really small country, get over 200 million Muslims? Well, it turns out that back in the day a small group of Muslim merchants migrated there. They just set up shop, they started doing business and just regular merchant stuff. But they did, they conducted business in such a way like, you know, like network marketing. All due respect, in all due respect, there's good people in every industry. But, you know, it's kind of like. Oh, like people. But it's like they did business in such a respectable way.

Yeah.

That everyone just kind of fell in love with them and just kind of like converted based off of, like, them being such, like, kind of role models in the way they conduct.

The Mormons just being so damn nice.

Like, the Mormons are so goddamn nice, right?

Yeah. Why not?

So. So it's like I like to study that and I haven't. I've actually been working on for a couple of years. I'm gonna. My goal is to write a book on that because I've been studying the way that, you know, like a pure and honest and like. So, like on podcasts like this, people ask me, like, man, what's. What do you think the best book out there is on business? And you know what I always say, dude, any one of the holy books, go read the Bible, the Quran, the Torah. Like, dude, like, that tells you really how to do, like, fun. A TikTok ad. But it's going to tell you how to do, like, the fundamental. How to treat people right.

Yeah.

And actually all those three books talk about writing contracts too. Like, how the importance of writing a business contract and stuff like that. But it's like, I think it'd be cool for people to go back to the purity of business. And like you said, man, we're in this, like, startup stage where people just don't know what the hell they're doing. The blind leading the blind. But it'd be cool for people to, like, take a step back and study the way the business was done in the pure way. Because at the end of the day, man, it's, you know, from a religious point of view, it's considered a holy thing. Businessmen, merchants are considered a holy thing that they do a great service to humanity and. And it's a big responsibility. You know, we shouldn't be taking advantage of people. You know, we need.

Yeah.

Businessmen are actually here to serve, you know, we're here to serve the community and to, you know, uplift the quality of mankind.

Yeah.

And I think it'd be cool for more people to see it through that instead of a sort of a cash grab.

All right, so run me through the purpose of your business you're in. Coaching, consulting.

Yeah.

I know you donate a ton of money to charity and all that kind of stuff. Like.

Yeah, we. I mean, we try, you know, we, We. We're blessed to say last last year we built eight schools. We've built countless Water wells. Given the gift of vision to a lot of blind people by paying their surgery. Sponsored a lot of orphans. I only reason I say that, by the way, is to some people don't like that. Like, you're not supposed to talk about, like, your charity work, and I respect that. But the only reason I mentioned is because I keep getting people, like, approaching me back, dude, you know, thank you so much for sharing. That really inspired me. I sponsored an orphan, so that's the only reason I share, is to, like, inspire other people to this. Because I'll tell you something, man. Like, you know, I've. I've been dirt poor. I used to live in an electrical closet on a bunk bed. Yeah. Like an actual electrical closet. It's four poor. Yeah. In a bunk bed. You know, and then I've been. I've been rich. I was happy both times. But the reason I was happy is because I've always. My foundation's always been giving because you see all these people in Hollywood and stuff, man. My wife, we were just looking at yesterday just for fun. She was looking at Eddie Murphy is worth 600 million. This. You know, we're looking up all these. She was looking up all these actors for fun. Hundreds and hundreds of millions. But they're like miserable, depressed, divorced alcoholics. It's like the foundation's been giving. So. Yeah, we have a coaching business where we teach entrepreneurs how to make more, to give more to their families, communities, and favorite charities. Hence making the world a better place.

So it's a very unique value proposition. Yeah, usually it's to make more to give more back to me. Right. Like, that's the standard, you know, coaching funnel.

It's cool. Look, like, I tell you what, I had a bent. Like, I bought a Bentley. It's fun. A lot of fun. Guess what?

Which one?

Continental gt.

Yeah. Nice one.

Yeah, it.

Beautiful car.

I love it. Oh, guess what? Completely responsible. Beat the shit out of it. Treated it like a rental. Guess what, engine stupid. Just pure stupidity on my part. But guess what? It was a lot of fun. Now I don't have anymore. Guess what? Life's still cool.

Do you think you're an extremist as far. That's as far as, like, just in life in general. Like, I know I am, right? Like, I've never been the same weight for longer than a week.

Really? What do you mean?

I'm either going up or down, brother. Oh, so, like, for me, you can probably tell the podcast people, like, that makes sense, right? Like, I'm an extremist. You know, like I, I don't do anything in halves. I will either do everything or absolutely nothing.

Yeah, I like to go all in. For sure. Yeah, I like to go.

I think we're talking about crypto. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I never lost multiple. Multiple six figures. But more so than the multiple six figures was all the time I lost. Yeah.

Yeah. It took me a long time to realize some of the Ponzi schemes. I was very enamored with, you know, some of the yield farming and some of the things out there, you know, and I was like, oh, this is great. And it sort of the, you know, I got swept up and not swept up because it didn't really distract me that much, but I was definitely into it.

Well, you're an army guy, man. You're a lot more disciplined. You know what I mean? You got, you got some.

In some ways, I'm very disciplined. Like when it comes to work, man, like, I'll all at work nearly anybody, right? Like, because. But it's not work. It's why, like, I don't really believe in burnout. Because you don't burn out if you love what you do. No, you can physically burn out. Like, I used to be on sales calls because like, when I, when I, when I had a goal of making 100k a month, I was like, I'm gonna make 100k a month as a sales rep. Yeah. Like, the reason why I did it, to be perfectly transparent, is because my two main competitors could not say the same thing. Right? So, like, Jeremy was a three million dollar a year earner as a sales rep, commission only. Right.

Made 3 million a year. He. He put in his pocket 3 mil.

Commissions from sales like, like 20 years in a row.

What?

Yeah, he's like one of the top most. He's one of the top highest earning sales reps in U.S. history.

I didn't even know a salesman can make that much.

Yeah, he was averaging about 250 to $300,000 a month in personal income.

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you missed 3 million a month.

Oh, no, it's. In person. Yes. $3 million a year.

Okay.

It's a lot of money to put in your pocket.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Yeah, yeah.

And so, and I knew that most of my competitors had never really sold much more than about 25 to $30,000 a month in commission. You know, guys who were placing sales reps or guys who are sales agencies and stuff like that. So I was like, you know what? I'm gonna fucking do 100k a month.

Yeah.

It nearly killed me because I wasn't selling things expensive enough. But like I did it and I started work at 2am every day.

It's a good time actually. What time did you go to bed?

Oh, like 11.

What? Yeah. You three hours of sleep a day?

Yeah, three to four. Yeah.

Huh.

So did that. But I did that for like months. Huh.

I didn't know you could do that.

Oh well, I would have like an hour, hour and a half nap in the middle of the day.

Okay.

Right. And then I would do like, I'm pretty good on no sleep, like ex special operations. I don't need that much sleep.

Okay.

Like I'm pretty happy on six hours a day. Like my body functions fairly well on that for a pretty long amount of time. We've got lots of practice.

Okay.

You know, as part of demarcation, which is your like final test, to be allowed to go to special forces, you have to do four days no sleep.

Oh wow.

Right. And like you have to. And you're assessed the entire time. They give you mental problems, they give you physical things to do. Like and you can't crack and if you do, you're out. Right. So it's 96 hours, no food, no sleep.

I went one day without food. I almost threw up.

Yeah. Yeah. So I, I function well on no sleep. Right. I would get up at 2, usually start work at 2:30, 3 o' clock and then I would have like an hour, hour and a half nap in the middle of the day, longer if I could, but then kind of go back, finish sales calls at like 10:30, go to bed, wake up at 2, you know what I mean? So like it was full on. But that's what I had to do because I was in Australia to have the time in the us So I had a US account and an Australian account.

Yeah.

So I was working two full time jobs.

Right.

But I did it two months in a row. Right. And the. But I, I was like on sales calls towards the end of it, I would turn my zoom off, I would turn the audio and video off, throw up into a bucket and then turn it back on and then keep talking.

Nice.

Because like I was just so physically burnt out.

Yeah.

From not sleeping, from just grinding. I put weight. It was not great. Like I wouldn't do it again.

Yeah.

But I needed to prove a point. Right. So I was like, I had it in my head like I must do this. Right. I told my wife what was happening. I told my business partner what was Happening Like, I cleared the decks, planned it out.

Yeah.

I was like. But, like, now I've got the proof that I did that. Like, good luck doing it, you know? So, like, I did it for a reason. It's the thing that I can hang my hat on that not many people can.

Yeah, I forgot, man. You get. You have kids or no?

Yeah, I got two kids.

Yeah, how old are they?

Three and six.

Okay. So I got. I got some other story. Let me ask you something, man. Because you're a disciplined guy and you're like, you know, special ops and all this stuff. How. How do you. I'll tell you a problem I have. Sometimes I find I'm too nice. I'll give you an example.

Like, I don't have that problem.

I'll give you an example, and maybe nice is the wrong word. You tell me. I'll tell you the situation. You tell me what the problem is. Okay, I'm getting ready to go to work. I'm going to work. Oh, my wife's babysitter called out for the day. My wife's now with three. My kids are maniacs. They're my best friends, but they're absolutely together.

Horrendous.

Yeah, they're just apart. Together.

Horrendous fact.

So I'm looking at my wife's face, I can already tell. She's like, oh, God, this is gonna be a nightmare. I'm like, ah, fuck it, I'm not gonna go to work. I'm gonna help you out today. Stuff like that. I'm just giving an example. Happens to me a good amount. And like my father in law, opposite, we were getting married. We're having a marriage dinner. Like, fuck it. Eight o'. Clock. Fuck it. Peace. I'm out. Everyone's partying. He goes to bed. 8 o' clock at night, rain shine doesn't. Your daughter's getting married. Peace. I'm out. Eight o' clock, upstairs. I mean, hardcore discipline. Eight o', clock, bed, four o', clock, boom. To the warehouse to work. He's got some textile company, you know, dyeing clothing, whatever. I. For me, it's God first, family second, business third. So it's like, anytime there's like a family issue or whatever, I find that I put my business kind of in the back. All right, cool. Let me go handle this. Let me go handle this. Like what?

Well, I think, like, you know, to be honest, you just have to have a setup that allows for that. Right. And as the visionary of a company, doesn't matter. Right. As long as you're supplying what you require. So I'm probably in between, right? Like my wife today. But I'm, I'm allowed that because I have a great team of people. I have a very big team. 150 people.

Yeah. Wow.

You know, so like this morning I had a training that had to be on 8 o' clock in the morning, my wife woke up, she's really sick. I said, hey baby, I'll do the school run this morning, right? I called up Anthony, I called up road, sorry, and I said, hey, brother, my wife's sick, I need you to cover the training. There's no problem, dude. Right? So that's fine. Now if she comes to me and says, hey, like I have these appointments at these times, I'll go call Emily, who's my assistant. I go, if she can move this stuff, I'll do it. But like, we have the agreement, like, hey, listen, if there's something that comes up that's urgent, I'll drop everything, right? But I was like, you know, we, me and my wife have a very open conversation about that. She's a stay at home mom, right? She gave up her business because we don't need the money. And we, it's just, I think better for the kids if she's a stay at home mom, right? So we have that agreement. My work has to be a priority for us because it's how we earn our living, right? So like that's, that's kind of the relationship. We have very traditional roles in that way. So, like, I'm sort of in the middle now when it comes to being like nice and kind. I think in that situation, I think you're just being a fucking good dad and husband. Do you know what I mean? But what you need to do is surround yourself with the right team of people to allow that to not be a big deal.

Like last night was a perfect example. Like I said, I love playing with my kids. Honestly, one of the things I really just don't enjoy doing is putting them.

To bed because it drives, because it's a fucking nightmare.

And it drives me nuts to lay there and look at the sky and wait for them to fall asleep. It drives me nuts. So I just don't like the process at all. So I told my wife last night, listen, I haven't been able to work much lately because we're traveling. Let me, you know, put the kids to better, let me work. So, yeah, totally cool. Then again, I saw it. I saw the three kids ready to like attack her, like a bunch of wild Great sharks, like, oh, fuck. I ended up helping him, putting it to sleep, you know, but then I missed out on some cool, you know, work that I could have done.

But I think like, that goes back to what you said before we were talking is like, you know, at the moment there's not a lot of like, pure, like, okay, where am I going? You know what I mean? You've been running the business for a while. It's doing well, supplying you with a great lifestyle. And now you're like, hey, I kind of want to ramp it up and scale it up. That's why you're in here, right? So it's like, okay, well, now we got to, we got to do the work now to set the goals. And it's like, for me, I can't run aimlessly. Like, I'm kind of like, like, I think entrepreneurs without a clear goal are a finless bottle rocket. A lot of activity, no direction. You put the fins on it, it fucking goes, right? And so that's where, like clear and concise planning. It's like, okay, I have this target to hit.

Yeah.

You know, like Marco, for example, is a fucking animal of a business operator. Animal, bro. If you give him a number, if you told him, if Akbar, if you go, okay, man, we're going to put Marco in your business. He needs to make 300k next month. That's his KPI and he said it that way. He would do it. And there is no amount of time, effort, energy, people, things that he wouldn't do to hit that number. And if he didn't hit it, he would fucking lose his shit. Right.

Sounds like a good guy to have on the tv.

He's so focused in that way that it's, it's like, it's, it's, it's sort of amazing.

Right?

So I think like, a lot of that comes from like, hey, let's set some really clear directions. Let's set some really clear goals. Like, I'm really goal focused, you know, like me and my wife, we have our personal financial goals, we have our business financial goals, we have goals for the kids. It's like, hey, I want my kids to be able to do this for my kids do this. You know, I want to be able to provide these things. And that, that allows me to like, just a pent up, like, I have to move forward. And so, like. And I have itchy feet, you know, if you've ever heard that.

Yeah.

So, like, if I don't have a direction to walk, I'm very, I'm very aimless.

That's a very good point, man. Because like, I remember a couple of years ago, the first time it's ever happened to me in my life, I couldn't, I couldn't get out of bed in the morning. I was like, you've heard the stories. Like, I'm depressed, I can't get out of bed.

Yeah.

First time ever happened to me, I can't get out of bed. I'm like, I don't understand what's happening. Like, I physically couldn't get out. Like, I don't want to get out of bed. I've never experienced that. And I, I just realized somehow, like, wait a minute, I know why this is happening. I had goals. I wanted to do a TedX talk. I wanted to get like a 2 comma club award, which is like a million dollars in the funnel. I wanted to have a number one international bestselling book. I wanted to give like talks on international stages, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I realized that, like, I hit all those goals and so like my body, it was as if it's like, what do you want me to get up for you? I did everything you told me you wanted to do. It's like, I don't even know what to do. So what am I, why am I gonna get up?

Really common, man. That's why. That's why they say when you retire, you expire, right?

Yeah. Or if your lover dies, a lot of times you die a couple of days later.

Yeah. So like, I think, I think a lot of that. Like I was talking to my wife because we just restructured our whole business. Not that we're going to sell it or anything like that, but like, I want to have an entity that is sellable because, like, that's, that's where the value comes. That's where long term wealth comes from. Right. Having entities of value. So I have no plan to sell this business, but I wanted to be, be in a position to where if somebody offered me a billion dollars, I would consider it.

Yeah, why not? Yeah.

You know, but I was talking to my wife and Bitcoin and I was like, no one can lose money like crypto. So. So, yeah, But I was like, I wonder what I would do if I did. And she was like, oh, you could sell the business, you'd be a fucking nightmare. I was like, yeah, you're right. I was like, I don't know what I would do because, like, I have to have like a purpose outside of, you know, like, I've got my purpose in my family and all that kind of stuff, but, like, I have to have something else.

Yeah.

Like, I remember, and I had a similar experience to you, I think when you. When you went into entrepreneurship for the first time, you were like, oh, this is. Yeah, right. When. When I. I didn't enjoy being a sniper, that's what I did. Right. I didn't really like the job. I. I appreciated the job and, like, the art of it and the science of it, but, like, when I got there, I didn't really enjoy it that much, but I had built up, like, everything that I like. I went in wanting to be it, and I did everything to do it. I kind of lost interest partway through because I was really enjoying, like, kicking doors in and kind of being that guy.

Yeah.

And then I was shooting on the range one day, and the head of snipers was like, hey, man, it's pretty good shooting. I was like, thanks, dude. He goes, what's your name? Was like, oh, man. He's like, cool. Anyway, next day they go, hey, Matt. I was like, what? They go, you're on sniper course. I was a good shot. Yeah. And so then I went on sniper course, did the whole thing, became sniper, and I was like, okay, cool. So I kind of achieved other dreams when I got there. I was like, I don't really like this. Like, I like kicking doors in. I like being active. I like kind of doing stuff. Sitting outside for four days at a time.

Sometimes you have to wait for four days.

Oh, dude. Weeks.

And what do you do into a.

Bag, have a terrible time of it.

And just. You just sit there.

Oh, it's miserable, bro. Like, doing. Doing old school sniper work is miserable. Doing some of the new school stuff in urban environments, that's fine. It's fun. You're in hotels and setting up and doing all the things. But, like, kind of terrorism stuff is fine. But like old school sniping in Afghanistan in the middle of winter in a hide surrounded by bad guys in negative two is no bueno. All right. Right. So, yeah. So yeah, so, like, I kind of had that, like, oh, this is a bit.

Why you gotta go in a bag, though?

In a bag? She don't leave any sign behind.

What do you do with the bag?

Carry it with you.

Ah.

Till you get back.

And then in your backpack. You got a backpack full of. In negative. Negative 2 degrees.

Yeah. Not in all environments. Just in some environments where, like, you're trying to sneak in and out, no one knows you were there, are there? Damn. We need to practice that Too is fucking training, carry shooter. It's fucking horrible, man. You gotta hold the bag for some.

Great training for like. Like, business. It's like, you can handle that. Like, what can't you handle?

Yeah, I literally did a video yesterday because I saw some video of some dude online going, like, when you're doing sales, you're going to battle. I was like, no, you're fucking not. Like, brother, it's not. It's not like business is. It's. It's difficult. Not hard, right? So, like, there's a. There's a big difference. Like, playing pool is difficult. It's not hard. Right. It's not physically demanding. It's not mentally demanding.

Yeah.

So, like, I think a lot of people, I think, put too much weight on kind of some of the things they have to do to be good at business, and they. And they rely, like. Not that I don't believe in mindset at all, like, because obviously, like. Like, I've seen depression. Yeah, it sucks, bro.

You were depressed?

No, I've never had it, but I've seen it, right? And, like, I've seen people be diagnosed with mild depression who are like, shells of a human. Like, moderate depression is you can't physically move. Extreme depression is you're about to kill yourself. Right. Like, it's. It's hectic, man. Like, actual depression is really terrible. Yeah. So, like, you know, any elements of that, like. And, like, I understand that, you know, people who are told their whole life that people with money are going to figure out a way to fuck up money, you know, so. But I think that a lot of people don't. Like, my fullback position is always on skill and process. Right. So.

Sorry, man. I'm just tripping on something you said. What, What's. It seems like you know a lot. It seems like you know a lot about depression. What. What. What's like, a sign of. Of. Would you say extreme? Extreme. What was it me and moderate. And what was it?

I. I don't know. The. I know. Mild and moderate and probably severe.

Yeah.

What's the sign of that? Oh, dude, it's like. It's horrendous. Like, you've, like, people who, like, can't get out of bed, like, like for days at a time, and, like, don't. Don't talk and won't do anything. That's like, moderate depression.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah. Severe depression is like, you are trying actively to kill yourself every day. Like, it's. It's a horrendous. You need to be heavily medicated. You need to be under watch at all times. Like, it's a really serious thing. I've seen lots of friends go through really, really difficult times in the military because they have severe ptsd. Guys who have been do. Asked to do things they, you know, reflectively didn't agree with. You know, and that's really difficult for a lot of people to deal with. So, like, I understand all that, but in terms of, like the doing of things, I think for me, I've always fallen back on process, you know, and like, to be perfectly frank, like, I struggle to understand some of it because I am. I am technically a functioning sociopath. Right. So you've got functioning and non functioning.

Okay.

Like a non functioning. A non functioning is like a serial killer.

Okay.

Right. Functioning is someone who has the ability to turn it on and off.

Okay, that's interesting.

So I. I am a. Like every single person in the Australian Special Forces is a functioning sociopath.

Huh.

It is a requirement to do it is you have to tick that box in your psychiatric testing in order to be approved.

Wow.

They don't tell you that. I found that out subsequently through talking to some people. So, like, I was born with the ability to become amoral. Like, I can go like that. I don't really have it anymore.

Meaning, like. Meaning like you. You can flip a switch, become emotionless.

Yeah, Completely.

Because you have to snipe people.

Yeah.

Okay, so you have. Okay.

But I was bo. I could do that as a kid. Really at that. I do it in arguments every now and then. If I get an argument, like, I just go completely dead inside.

Really.

Nothing anyone can say that will upset.

That's pretty fast.

It's completely neutral. Like, I'm neutral to all things. It's very. It's a very strange. It doesn't happen very often anymore. As I've had children. It is incredibly softening.

No.

Right. And as I've, like, my parents are incredibly good people and as I've got more and more like, employees and staff and people under me, like, I've become far more compassionate.

Yeah.

Me, like 10, 15 years ago, I was a. I was a kind of a man.

Yeah.

Like, all of us were, like, Pat, one of my best mates who's using the podcast with me, you know, similar personality typing and, you know, like, we were just different people.

Yeah.

When we were in our 20s and we were actually shooting people for a.

Living, like.

You know what I mean? Yeah. So, like, you know, as you grow up, especially when you have kids, like, when you have kids, everything changes. Yeah, it's one of those things, right? People tell you, oh, when you have kids, everything changes. And you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you have kids, you're like, oh, everything changed. Like your whole personality, your whole caring about everything.

Like, you know, so true. It's like, you know, I know everyone online's like, oh, you know, I made a million dollars today. Well, the truth is, like, everybody has slow months, right? And it's. Everybody has slow days and this and that. So I, you know, I've slowed days just like everybody else. But I have a son who's 8 months old. And honestly, when he smiles at me, I don't give a f. I don't care if I have negative 10,000. Like, it doesn't matter at all. Like, nothing matters. It just, it totally just melts you. You know what I mean?

Yeah.

And I think that's a really beautiful thing.

Yeah. But I think like for me, when my. I was really broke probably four years ago.

Oh, really?

Yeah. Like, we were really struggling because Sydney is a very expensive city, as you probably know.

Yeah. Shit. You spent 180 bucks on gas.

Yeah.

Fill up the car.

Super expensive.

You know, I don't know how people live here. Like a pack. I don't know how people smoke here. You know, pack of. I don't smoke, but a pack of smoke's like 50 bucks over.

Yeah. If you don't make 200 grand a year. Okay, that makes sense as a household. City is tough. It's expensive. Really tough. So like when I was running the gyms, I was only making about 130. Right. It sounds like a good wage. It was literally enough to poverty.

Right.

Without paying tax.

Yeah, yeah.

Because we had to live in a particular area because I had to get to work. So I could have moved really far out.

Yeah.

But that would have meant I had these giant. I would have spent no time with my kids. So we were like, I think at one stage we had like, we had $6,000 a month worth of rent. Just rent. Had $4,000 in the bank.

Yeah.

I had a three year old, a two year old and a pregnant wife at that. We had to borrow the money from my father in law to get the down syndrome test. My daughter, who's now three. Right. And so like it wasn't that long ago that we were really like, we used to argue over like $4 T shirts and stuff. Like four years ago. Yeah. Made a lot of less. Three.

You made a lot of progress in three years.

Yeah. So I always had businesses Where I was not in control. I was like an owner, but like, like a minority owner or like an even owner where I didn't have the final say. And like it never, like I had a lot of ideas but I didn't have anyone who could, like, who would back me to do them or people who would listen to me or I was part of a larger conglomerate and stuff like that. So when I like, I literally walked away from those gyms, like we had 18 of them and I just went, I'm out. Goodbye.

See you.

Like that I managed to turn the switch. Well, I had to, man. Like I was fat, I was unhappy.

I was working, fat, working at the gym.

Well, I was just doing sales all day.

Yeah.

And I was so unhappy doing what I was doing because I was not being listened to. They weren't running the gyms in the way I wanted to run. You know what I mean? I didn't have enough say what was going on. I was working, I was doing sales eight to nine hours a day, every day, just calling leads nonstop, getting really good at sales. Right. And then like I just wasn't making enough money and it was just getting over it. Right. And then I, like, I left the business and then I came back to my previous business, who I had gone over here as a partnership. So it was all planned and I got back to this business. He goes, I don't need you anymore, man. Beat it or we're gonna fire everybody. Legit. Legit. And I was like, fuck, man. Like I can't have everyone get fired. Like that's bullshit. So negotiated a paid little exit, which is basically a 12 month salary. Right. I think it was 60,000 bucks over 12 months.

Which isn't going to do anything in Sydney anyway.

No. So I moved, had to move to Perth.

Oh wow, that's the other side.

Yeah.

It's like a farmland.

No, no, it's a major city, but it's cheap. Okay. Right. Like, you know, I bought a house for 700 grand. You know what I mean? Like a big giant house.

Yeah.

Which is really cheap over, you know, in Australia that's cheap. It's not expensive. You know what I mean? Yeah. Because I had a, I had, I had managed to save a little bit of money before that. So like I had that. I got that out of what I had it in, put down like a 10% deposit and then from there like that 60k was basically enough for me to pay my bills.

Wow.

Right. So that's. And that's when I started sales Sniper. And that's when I started doing online selling. My first week of high ticket coaching, I made 12 grand.

Your first week you made 12 grand?

Yeah. Of high ticket sales. And that's kind of when I changed the whole business model. Because originally Sales Sniper was Fitness Sales Sniper and I was doing all fitness sales and that was a rough gig, but it was good. It got me and it got me in good sales shape, as it were. And then we kind of grew.

How long did you do your own sales until you stopped doing sales?

I stopped, I stopped doing like full time selling in December of 2020.

Damn. You were doing full time up until December 2020. So wait, so, so, so January 2021, you had a team. You were not doing any more sales?

I was doing. The only sales I was doing was sales selling people into Sales Sniper.

Right.

Before that I was like, this was, this was the big handoff for me. Right. So I'd built a team.

Yeah.

We were making good money, but I, as a sales rep was responsible for 50% of the income because I was a very high producing rep. Mm. I was not taking any of that money.

No.

So like that hundred K a month in commission that I was earning, I took zero.

Wow. You put it all back.

All back in the business because I had that 60k here. Right. That paid my bills.

Wow.

It wasn't until March of 2021 that I took a salary.

Wow.

Right.

It's quite a story, man. You've done quite a lot in the past 18 months or whatever.

Yes, we've gone from 20k a month to 3 million a month in if in under three years.

I mean, you don't hear that every day.

Right.

I mean, that's quite unusual. If I had to force you right now, like without thinking to tell me just like right now, without thinking, you've gone from 20k a month to 3 million a month in a very short amount of time. Without thinking, what's like one word that that's the reason why that happened.

People. Oh, yeah, straight up people. Like, I'm. I think I'm a fairly generous person. Like I don't own the majority share of the business. Like I am. I am, I am the majority stakeholder. But I've like, I have an employee share option program which costs a lot of money to set up to do it properly, where there's actually share options with vesting periods and it's done in the correct way. I reckon that probably cost me 200,000 in legal fees and accounting fees to set up. Right.

So most people in industry even spent $2 on. On accounting fees or anything or like set up with legal fees or something like that.

You know what I mean? So. But I, I have a team that will never leave, right. One, because I've got them in golden handcuffs, right? So like if you leave and your shares have invested, you lose them and the share price is here and it will be here one day. So you will have wealth in which you can borrow against or you can. And you could sell back to us if you wanted to in a few years time, whatever, right? So like this is actual wealth creation for my, for my key stuff. Like we have, we have an employee share option program. And then I've given people equity along the way as well. And so like, because I would rather be a smaller stakeholder, you know, like, Bezos only owns like, I think he owns like 14% Amazon at this point. You know, like, if I, if he's willing to do that.

Right.

And I want to get to a. A billion dollar business. It's ultimately what I want. Like, I believe we can get it to $100 million a year within the next three years.

Yeah. You know, it's funny. We have in our family, we have an E. Com company does well, it did like 50 million last year. And my brother did the same thing. He gave a high percentage to the CEO. And we didn't know because it's not really our expertise, our world. Like, yeah, we were all like, what the hell are you doing, bro?

Why are you doing the software if they're really good? Yeah, you just got to like, we got to keep this guy.

Yeah. And we're like, what the hell are you doing? But honestly, if it wasn't for that CEO, that company wouldn't be anywhere near 50 million. Yeah, that guy kicks ass and he's worth it. But it's like, you got to know to do that. Most people, no, that's because they're not, they don't know.

But it's also, it's youth and ego, right? Like, I think I am an arrogant person. Like, I would say like, that's probably a floor of mine, but I don't have an ego, right? So I would say that again. I, I have a level of arrogance, okay. But I do not have an ego.

I, I need to like stew on that. Can you, can you explain that for.

Like, I don't care. People think about me, okay? I general and that only arrogance.

No, no, no.

Is in like. But that's, that's the ego. I don't have one anymore. Like, I don't care how I'm perceived.

Well, well, do. Who do you. Well, but is that entirely true, though? Meaning? Meaning, not that you're lying, but, I.

Mean, like, by the people. So by the people who are outside, right?

Like, so you care, like, what, like, your wife thinks or, like, what God thinks about you?

Yeah, like. But, like, I am extremely confident. I'm a very good person.

But then I'm just trying to figure out, how is that ego or arrogance?

Like, well, I would think, like, my personality. If you saw my content, you probably.

Go, oh, that guy look a little cocky.

Yeah. Like, I would say very. I would say high on the cocky scale. I mean, I'd say you could say arrogance for cocky. I would say I'm very cocky. Right. I always have been as a kid. Always. Right.

Hockey. Meaning, like, hey, we just. We went from 20k to, like, 3 million.

Cocky, as in, like, I'm the best.

But I mean, like, I'm the best.

At what I do.

But, I mean, is that. Is that really cocky, though? If you are.

I would say a lot of people would describe me as cocky. My wife does.

Okay.

Hang out.

If she says it, that's good enough.

You know, like, when I talk to people in a room, I'm not afraid to kind of tell what happens.

All right, Right, Okay.

Like, I'll sit at the head of the table.

Okay, guys.

I'll sit down and go. This feels right.

Yeah. Okay, Right.

So. But, like, I remember, like, it wasn't. Like, I've always. I've known for a while that I've reached a level of, like, surety in myself where I was like, oh, sweet. Like, I'm cool. People don't like me. It happened about a year ago, I would say, and I had a good test of that because a setter, God bless them, went rogue in my account trying to do the right thing. Went into a bunch of Facebook groups and, like, tried to friend a bunch of coaches. Listen, I didn't say yes. We didn't know they did it. They were just trying to be proactive. Young people do silly things when they're trying to make a name for themselves. They just did it in my profile, Right. And a big coach kind of, like, screenshotted it and called me out in their group. Right. It's Taki.

Yeah, he's right cool. Really cool guy.

Yeah. I've never met him, but he's down the road.

Oh, yeah, right. I've seen him do that sort of stuff. Yeah.

And he sent me a message like, hey, Just so you know. And I was like, oh, yeah, cool, man. Do you think I just said, yeah, perfectly reasonable, man. Like, said, I went rogue, but I get it. Do you think, brother?

Yeah, but you explained it.

Yeah, yeah, but I just went, yeah, that's cool. I do your thing.

Yeah, you know me.

And then he did it in the group, and all these people commented. Most people commented, hey, you know that wasn't him, right?

Yeah, right.

Because I got a pretty good name in the industry. But I was like, oh, yeah, sweet. Like. And like, I was. Marco was freaking out about. I was like, oh, dude, don't worry about it. Like. Like, honestly, like, it's fine. It doesn't matter. My real problem with it was the messages were crap.

Like, how dare you think that's me? How dare you think such terrible messages.

I ended up going rabbit hole. And we redid the entire DM setting process. That's so funny because the quality just wasn't there. So. But, like, I was like, for the. Genuinely, like, oh, yeah, that's cool, man. Like, do your thing, brother. Like, it's totally fine.

Yeah.

Like, if you got a name and shame me, like, that's. That's your thing, bro. Like, I'm more than happy for you to do that because, like, I'm just confident in who I am as a person. I know I provide a great service for my clients. We really put a lot of effort into that because we really are partners with our clients. We can't make money unless they make money. It's a mutually beneficial experience for everybody. So I feel like I have a really deep seated need to provide for my sales reps. And we do a ton of training, and I'm very passionate about training these young people to be successful. And one of our guys was in a really bad situation, so we bought him a car and I paid for him to move states, and we helped him out with his rental bonds and all that kind of stuff. I'm more than happy to help people, people who are putting in the work and putting in the effort to better themselves. Like, that's a really positive thing. And so, like, if. If a couple people don't like me.

Yeah, that's.

That's cool, man. Like, there's plenty of people that do.

So can I ask you a question?

Yeah.

About what fuels you? Because I'll tell you some things that have happened to me in my. In my business. When we first helped. I've helped a lot of people generate seven figures.

Right.

When we first helped somebody hit seven figures, I was Bouncing off the walls. I calling my mom. Ma, you're not gonna believe this wheel. This guy has seven figures. Oh, my God. I don't believe that. Gave him a trophy, Going freaking nuts. I had the trophy. I'm doing, like, a whole Facebook live trophy and feeling going ape nuts. Like, top of the world. Okay. Helped another dude hit seven figures. Same thing. Oh, my God. Mom. Mom, you're not gonna believe this. We have somebody else. But then it happened again and again and again and again. And eventually I had a closet full of trophy boxes.

Okay, cool, man. Well done.

Yeah.

High five. Bye.

Yeah, and it's just, like, it became kind of numbing and unfortunately. So it's like. I guess my question to you is, like, what. What really pushes you to keep going? Like, what really motivates you?

Yeah, it's a good question, I think. I really like when sales reps do really well. We have a lot of them. Right.

So that never gets numbing to you. Like. Like, I'm sure, like, I've had people cry to me, boo. Dude, you help me buy my first house. You help me build my first car. Buy my first car. Like, all this stuff. And it's awesome. But then after I keep hearing it.

My guys, like, they're my stuff.

Yeah. So it doesn't get numbing for the.

Success of an account is. Yeah. I made a business owner. 500 grand that week. Fantastic. Like, well done. High five. Dude, I really don't care. Okay. Right. That means that my guys made a ton of money, which is fucking awesome because, like, I get messages. Like, one of our sales managers calls me up, and he's like, I just put my family, their dream home.

Yeah.

Like, fucking awesome, dude.

Yeah.

Like, I hope I can come see you next year. You know what I mean? So, like. But those are my guys.

So that's what keeps you going.

I think so. Yeah. Like, I like. I like. And that's why, you know, like, my board members, like, you're too generous with your share options or this or this or this or bonuses. Like, we did a bonus the other day of, like, 160,000 spread between the headshed. I took none.

You had some Rolex party or something, right?

Oh, so my staff gave me this.

Nice. That's beautiful.

Yeah, it's a sky dweller. It's like a $50,000 watch.

Hey, nice staff.

Yeah, and they. And they got together and they bought that for me.

That's.

You know, they presented it on the Christmas party, which is on a boat. Hey, I like having Christmas parties on Boats.

Yeah.

And like, you know, like I, I, like there's a. Because I employ my best friends. I employ my parents, I employ one of my aunties, I employ my cousin's wife, my, you know, my dad, like there's a lot of this thing has to keep going.

It's a family operation. Become a family. A bit of a family operation.

Yeah, for sure. And so like I have a.

How is that compared to when you were doing business without them?

Oh, shit, bro. It's so much better. Like. And all my friends are ex special operations, so I know they work. Yeah, right. And like my family's not gonna around.

Yeah.

Like there are some people I wouldn't hire, but like, you know, my dad is the staff guidance counselor. He keeps everyone on track. He kept me on track. I was a highly motivated rap scaling of a young man. Right. So he kept me on track. So like a lot of the people that come in, or I guess probably more broken versions of me, I had a great father, great, great family, great upbringing, but I had a personality that if that wasn't there, I would have been rogue. Yeah, right. But they say the difference between a bikie and a special operations guy is just good parents.

Wow.

You know, or just a ziggura zag. That's it. Right. Same person. Violent, like solves things with violence.

Yeah.

You know, you just do it for the government or you do it for money, you know, which is why a lot of guys go into that or they go into stuff like that. Whereas I kind of like let a lot of stuff go. I was like, I washed my hands with violence when I was a younger man.

The importance of like, of being like a good parent.

Yeah.

I mean, like literally change the world.

Yeah, absolutely.

That's really beautiful.

Yeah. That seems like a good place to stop.

Yeah, man. It is a very poignant and beautiful thing.

Yeah, it is.

I don't want to say I'm proud of you because I have nothing to do with any of this stuff, but I mean, I'm impressed. I mean, you run things the right way, you got your family involved, you're not greedy. I am impressed by you. I am honored to be here.

I appreciate that. I think that building eight schools is a pretty big deal. Oh, that's definitely not. Money is great, but education is more important. So if you guys like that content, make sure you, like, subscribe. Hit the notification bell. We will tag all of Akbar's socials down below.

Thanks, man.

And we'll send you this video and put out to where you want. All right. Peace, guys.

Thanks. Put that coffee down. Coffee's for closers only. It.