Leila Hormozi told me how to grow from $3M to $100M+

And then I realized that you're actually setting people up for failure. Baby people, you coddle people. And if that means that people don't like me too, that's totally fine. Like there's pieces of content where I see them and like, dang, I see them harsh and aggressive.

Let me interrupt there for just one second because you're now my, my therapist for next few minutes.

So the question that you have to figure out is of those two downsides, which one could you live with? That the girl that you love and want to marry doesn't want to be with you? Or that you lose half your business?

All right, well thanks for coming on, Leila. I really appre it. And for those of you don't know, Layla is a co founder of acquisition.com. they take three to $10 million businesses and scale them up. And I'll share more prior to this video, Leila, about kind of what you've done in terms of gym launch and Prestige Labs and Alan and all the rest of it. I was introduced to Alex and Layla a couple years back, a couple years into growing my franchise Anytime Fitness. And as a gym owner hearing about what's kind of new and going up in our industry of the gym gym lords as they called it back in the day. But now they've exited those. They have done multi eight figure acquisitions and really done so much in terms of the community adding to on YouTube and their content. But I really wanted to dig in today and really try to get some questions Layla that you have not maybe been presented because you've been interviewed quite often. So I didn't want to go through the whole like story of Jim launched and all that. I can cover that pre this interview. So I just wanted to jump right into a couple of things. I kind of wanted to take the interview in two different directions. One is the relationship side that is very interesting between you and Alex in terms of business partners as well as spouse and partners in that regard. And then also obviously the business side and you taking so much of the operational and sort of the integrator role in the company. So first off, I want to talk about actually something that happened with one of our franchisees recently I thought you'd have some great insight on. And that is, you know, for several years they had been married and the wife had a food truck and was really successful. And then he joined Augusta Lawn Care, really started to grow the company and felt actually some resentment from her in terms of him now making more money. The business really started to take off and they've actually now filed for divorce because there's so much contention over that. How do you, with Alex and everything that you guys are doing, not be that sort of competition because we even want to. I look over the past six, six to 12 months as both of you have now become more public, making more content. You know, he has these bestselling books and, you know, lots and lots of views and a much more of a wider audience. How do you kind of calibrate that not to allow the jealousy part to kind of get between the two of you?

Yes. I mean, how we do those things, I think it's just viewing it as, I think that everyone in any sort of relationship, like you have to have autonomy for yourself before you get into a relationship. Right. So you have to know who you are as a person, what you want for yourself. Right. So like what I've wanted for myself has not been to be public facing until maybe 10 months ago. My want and desire has always been I want to be the CEO. I want to be the one running the company as we build it. Like, I want to take this to a billion and say I was still the CEO. Right. And so Alex has always been more like, I want to write books, I want to make content, I want to do videos. Like, he's always liked that stuff more. And so I think first off is that that's the ingredient for any healthy partnership, right? Which is two people have complementary skill sets that they bring to the table. So the reason that I do content is not because I want to be market. Like, if you listen to, like our conversations with our marketing team, Alex knows how to market himself. Layla asks the team, what do I do? I don't know. Right. And I don't spend nearly as much time as he does on those things. And that's because that's his hat and that's what he likes. And so with that, if he spends more time on it, he's going to become more popular, wider than me, more public facing. And that's good. Like, that's what we want and that's what he wants. And that's not what I want right now. Like in the future I could see that when I have more time, when we have more of a team built out. But that's just not where I'm at right now with like my career. Right. And so I think it's first like identifying. Like, I think when we look at other people, like, jealousy stems from thinking like, oh, like I should have that, or that's not fair that they have that. And I'm like, well, if you haven't put in the work to have it, then why would you expect that outcome? Like, if I did a half of what Alex did for content, then I would think that I would be halfway there, right? But I don't. I do like a tenth of what he does. And so I think it'd be unreasonable to think that, like, we would be matched. And on the other side, it would be unreasonable for him to think that he'd be, you know, as good at running the company as I am when he's put a tenth of the time into it. Right. And that's just reality. And that's something that we talk about because he's like, you know, due to the nature of our roles, he's like, you're always going to be underestimated because one, he's like, I'm the public facing one. So people are going to assume that I do so much more than you, even though the reason that you don't do it is because you're running the stuff, right? And so that's just something that has to be accepted. And I think a lot of people tend to argue with reality in terms of what they're good at, what their role is, and then also what's required for the business. And so it's, it's this desire for self importance, right? It's wanting to think and feel like we're more important than we are. And I think if you lack that within yourself and you lack a sense of like, healthy self esteem that you get from within yourself, then you seek that from the outside and then you tend to be more jealous. When it comes to partnerships, I see it truly as like, we're a team. And so I think it's funny when people think, oh, like, well, Alex or Layla, who do I like more? And I'm like, we are so integrated in terms of like our partnership and our team dynamic that like, we look at those comments and we laugh or like, if people only knew, like, we see all of those things, like, we've talked through all this stuff and I think that because we want to win together, that's like the driving force behind everything. And I think that a lot of people just haven't had those conversations. In terms of your client, it sounds like their relationship started with one dynamic and then they transitioned into another dynamic. And when you transition, you have to reset expectations. And it sounds like maybe they haven't reset expectations. And also, here's the thing, you can reset expectations and say, this is what I now want of my relationship and of you. They don't have to comply. Like if a woman, for example, and this, I hear this a lot with women in business, right? She wants to then start doing her own thing. And then often the man is resentful. And I'm like, well, he never agreed to support you in this thing. And so as much as we could be, like, that's bad and wrong, that's also just reality. And so I think it's not arguing with reality. And then for us, you know, it just tends to work of like, we have complementary skill sets. We're good at different things, and we do support each other, like, indefinitely. You know, people have said, like, oh, what if Layla beat you one day in content? Alex always says, yeah, and Alex always says, he goes, I hope she does so that I don't have to do this all the time. Right? Like, he's just joking. But it's just. That's not the. We come at it from like, we're sitting at the same side of the table rather than across the table from each other.

Now I want to. I want to kind of dive into that a little bit more. Recently, Alex made a video about how there was a couple of interviews that he had done. I think it was with Bradley. And.

I forget. I'm forgetting the other name. Pineda. Yeah, Ryan Pineda. And he was saying that he felt like he had kind of come across wrong and then you had given him some feedback, Caleb had given him some feedback. What does that conversation look like when you are really in a partnership, both maritally and in a business, and you're like, hey, look, you're kind of coming across weird or different or like, you know, how did that come across? And how do you present that to someone as they are starting to get more public facing attention in a way that isn't demoralizing and you're not breaking that relationship?

Well, I'll tell you this, which is I wouldn't give Alex feedback on something if I didn't know what he wanted. So when Alex verbalizes his goals to me and says, I want to achieve these things, then I'm going to support him. And I'm also going to point out if I think that he's off track or if I see something and other people are telling me, hey, I think that this is off track or this, that. So I'm going to. I consider that to be how I support him as a spouse, right? Not just encouraging him, because I encourage him way more than I give him feedback. Like that, like, I'm like, these things are amazing. I listen to all his content, I watch all his content. I'm his number one fan. But then also, if I see that something's off track and I think that it's going to deter him from his goals that he has expressed to me, then I feel that I have the ability to tell him. And so it's a simple conversation. I just say, how do you think you came across in those videos? And he's like, I don't know, different than normal. Why? And I said, well, is your goal to come across, like, you know, smart and like this, or is your goal to come across like Alex, the authentic, like, funny person that I know and who everyone loves? And he's like. Like that. Why? And I said, I don't. I don't think. And based on the feedback I've gotten, it's come across like that on the last few. And I just wanted to tell you because maybe you didn't notice or you weren't aware, and that's the tone I tell him in. And, you know, like, I'm not hard on him. I'm not like, hey, you sounded like an asshole or something like that. Like, because he didn't. He just didn't sound as authentic as he normally does. And so I just want to make him aware of it. And he does that for me, too. He's like, hey, you were kind of off on that meeting. You seemed like you were distracted. Is there something going on? And that's what I said to him. I'm like, is there anything I can do to help? Right? It's not like I'm pointing it out and saying, like, go figure it on your own, and you suck. I'm like, hey, were you aware of this? And is there anything I can do to help?

For sure. When I've mentioned your name and Alex's to several different individuals and kind of shared your content, a couple of people, their first sort of response is almost that you seem out of touch, and it's a matter of, like, there's no emotion when it comes to interacting with the business or with employees. What. What's your response to that? Cause, like, my. My thought process, and I kind of come back to it is like, well, they've seen everything, so there's nothing new that they're going to react. Be reactive to and taking emotion out of it, they're able to deal with the situation. Um, but what's that balance for you to have the empathy of being a boss, being a manager, but Then also not, you know, you've seen it all. Like, you know, what else? Is there supposed to be some sort of reactivity when things happen?

Yeah, I mean, out of touch, I think. Yeah, I don't. I would say unfazed is probably a better word for it. Like there's nothing that I haven't seen. I don't think it's out of touch. I would say it's unfazed. It probably comes across as out of touch. I have a ton of empathy. I mean, I would say ask anyone who works for me, you know, if they like, like most people, this is the best job they've ever had. I care a lot. I send my employees gifts all the time. I call them, I text them, like, how's your girlfriend or boyfriend? I go to dinner with their families. Like, I'm extremely personable. That's not something that I think I overemphasize because. And maybe I should. Cause that's actually good feedback. I haven't heard it.

Because I think a lot of people are too emotional about how they run their businesses. And they think that being emotional is actually for the better of their business and that they are doing right. And that's how I was for the first two years. And then I realized that you're actually setting people up for failure because when you baby people, you coddle people, you basically are saying that you believe that they are unable to do a job themselves and therefore they need you as their boss. Right. And when you don't give people autonomy and you're constantly telling them what to do because you're. It's almost like it's, it's further than empathy. It's like empathy gone too far. And I see that a lot of first time managers and bosses and CEOs do that. It's. I see it all the time because we bring in the companies that do it right. They have so much empathy, they're so giving and generous that they realize that it's actually debilitating their team. And then what happens is that within two to three years they realize that and then they have to fire those people because they've set the wrong expectations for them. So what I want to get across to people is that coddling people and protecting them from the hard stuff, it's not doing them a service, it's doing them a disservice. And I had to learn that the hard way because I built a culture off of that. And then I realized it completely backfired because that's not how an operation works. On how you could build a company. Can you be kind to people? Yes. Should you protect people from the hard things in life? I don't think so. I think that if you protect people from the hard things in life, like you would protect a child. Like, yes, you want to protect them from dying, of course, but like protect them from getting their feelings hurt, protect them from making mistakes. The more that you protect them as a child, the less equipped they are as an adult. It's the same thing in business. The more that you protect them when they first come in, the less equipped they are to progress in their career later on. And a lot of people just have so much empathy and so much emotion around it because they've never done it before. It's new and they don't know what else to do. So they just like treat people so well. And almost it's not treat people so well, it's they baby people. And then they end up having to pay for that later on. And I've just seen that so many times that I just feel like I want to get that message across. And the way I also come off my content, you know, I think is probably different than how I am like with my company. Just because I'm newer at making content, I don't think that I'm like, I'm probably not like 100% authentically myself yet. I'm much lighthearted, like much more light hearted and much more humorous outside of that stuff. But when I'm making content, I'm just thinking about those people I'm talking to, probably talking to like my past self and thinking to myself, like, gosh, I don't want them to make the same mistakes I made because I thought that I was like going to revolutionize the industry and be like, I'm the best boss ever. Because I'm going to give them all these perks and all this stuff and I'm going to treat them so well. And then I realized I was actually setting them up for failure. And so that's why I feel passionate about it. In terms of the unfazed or out of touch. I really just think it's. Once you've had a certain amount of experience, like the first time that you experience anything, it like typically you think it's not normal, it's weird, whatever. Like, you know, the first time someone gets a lawsuit, for example, in business, it's like it consumes their life. If I get a lawsuit now, I'm like, whatever, I don't care. Lawyers will take care of it, right? And so it will probably come off as like, I'm out of touch. It's not that I'm out of touch. It's like I have low reactivity because I've experienced a lot in a short period of time. And so now I know none of those experiences are new, for sure.

I'm gonna take a bit of a turn because we have a little bit of a limited time. And that is about just the way that you all have built gym launch in the past. And now, even with acquisition.com where a lot of your leads, you might say, or incoming clients that you're now working with, even with acquisition.com are fans to begin with. They come to the channel, they love Alex, they love Layla, they're really fans. And then they. It evolves into this business relationship where now you're a partner, even though it's minority, there's a business relationship now, and you start to see sort of the. As you were of the individual. And now it's like, oh, like Layla had this quirk, or Alec is a little bit strange in the morning, whatever it might be. How do you deal with that? Because, like, you know, the selfless question, in part because all of my franchisees come to us first and foremost from the content. But as time goes on, they start to realize, like, oh, as a franchisor, they make mistakes. Like, Mike isn't going to make a perfect decision every single time. And it's a different lens when it's coming from partner versus fan, the same way that dating versus marriage is a very different lens as time goes on. How have you dealt with that, you and Alex, to set those expectations correctly as they become partners?

I think 100% one thing is like, one, I never claim to be perfect or to think I know everything. I do not think that about myself at all. I do not think I won't make mistakes. And I do not tell that to anybody. So when people come on, I always tell them the first thing. We have a very long onboarding process. It probably takes us a quarter to take on a company. And we have a lot of phone calls, a ton of diligence. And one of the things I express to them, because we have an entire setting expectations presentation, is that you know your business better than anybody. And oftentimes what I want to help you do is figure out, like, what is. What do you know that we don't know and how do we extract that out of you to get the answer of what we need to do with this business? Because I have expertise and I have Experience, but I don't know your business like you do. And so I try to more empower them to understand that, like, at the end of the day, if a decision doesn't feel right to them, even if I think it's right, I'm not going to ask them to move forward with it. Right? And so, like, everything at the end of the day is their decision. They have to maintain autonomy. I never want somebody who always defaults to me and Alex, because I don't think that that's me doing them. Like, they're not going to become a better entrepreneur or CEO if we just tell them what to do and they do it right. They'll become better if we teach them how to think and how to listen to their own intuition. And so that's the kind of expectations that we set. We're like, we are guidance, we're advisors. We're not going to. I mean, we can tell you what we would do, but we also would say, but because of your business, your mission, your values and who you are, you might tweak it this way, Right? And so we always try to figure out, like, the context of them, which is the most important part, and then also set the expectation. Like, we're not perfect. I don't set the expectations anybody. I mean, even when I hire people, I'm like, oh, they're like, how's this and that? I'm like, oh, that's f ed up over there. Like, you're gonna kill it, right? Like, I would rather set the expectations low and then over deliver, uh, than the other way around. So I think it's. I mean, I think it's just being okay with, like, if you're making content, especially for, like, the franchisees, like, I think to myself, like, there's been so many podcasts or pieces of content I've record, I've been like, I hate that so much. Don't post it. And I'm like, no, I should post it, because I want people to see that I'm not perfect. And if that means that people don't like me too, that's totally fine. Like, there's pieces of content where I see them, and I'm like, dang, I seem harsh and aggressive, and I'm like, put it out there. Because, like, sometimes I am that way, and then sometimes I'm really funny and kind, but, like, that's who I am and it's okay. So I would say for you, making sure that you don't, like, edit your content, let it all go out, and that's okay, because also they should know that you're a human. Because if they see you as this robot who doesn't make mistakes and doesn't make flaws, they paint you as their savior. And then when they make a mistake, you are also the villain who caused the mistake. And that's what I never want people to see me as. And so the more that you can kind of even purposely make, like, showcase those mistakes, I think the better off you'll be.

Awesome. Another business question coming. That same line of thought is as we have been growing. Something you talk a lot about in your channel is when to hire, how to hire. Obviously a big thing for us right now. We're in that transition period where, you know, you're getting 100 employees or so, and it's like, do I start to hire from outside of the business? Like, our Achilles heel, in all honesty, is we do with a call center. Like, we have a call center for our franchisees. All their calls come in, we manage their email, we do their payroll, all that stuff. That's my Achilles heel. And so when do I hire someone from the outside that's really good at that? But when is there, there's got to be a balance of losing the heart of the company, where the managers that have grown it with me from the beginning know the culture, know what we're trying to build, or completely bought in. And yet I go hire some outside.