MBA2508 The 10 year journey of this podcast and what’s next.

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Welcome to a very special episode of the $100 MBA show.

Nicole.

I'm Nicole, the producer of this podcast and today we're celebrating a monumental milestone. Ten years of sharing business insights, tips and real world lessons with all of you. But this episode isn't just another lesson in business. It's a rare behind the scenes look at the man who's been the voice and driving force of this podcast. Celebrate with us as we mark 10 years of the $100 NBA show. In this special episode, Omar Zenholm shares his reflections, lessons learned, and what's next for the PODC and our businesses. You'll get exclusive insights into his personal journey, hear untold stories of our highs and lows, and discover valuable lessons that can help you in your own entrepreneurial path. For a decade, Omar Zenholm has guided us through the intricacies of entrepreneurship, teaching us how to build and grow our businesses. But today, the tables have turned. I'll be interviewing Omar not just as my co founder, but as my husband and partner in this incredible journey. So so sit back and join us as we celebrate a decade of the $100 NBA show with the man who started it all, Omar Zenholm. Omar, welcome to your very own podcast. How does it feel to be on the other side of the mic?

This is surreal to be interviewed on my own podcast after 10 years.

Yeah, 10 years. Does it feel like 10 years?

It does, actually. It does. I do think that I do feel a decade has gone by, not only in the work that we've accomplished, but also just how much we've both changed over the last 10 years.

Yeah, it does feel like 10 years. And 10 years is a long time. So big milestone now, as our listeners have come to expect. When you sit down to interview one of our wonderful guests, present company included, you often like to uncover some of the early life experiences that have shaped the entrepreneur that is talking to you now. I know a lot about these early years and you've shared some of these stories with the audience throughout all the episodes that you've done. But I want to take it back to the kind of childhood that prepared you to face some of the challenges you've had in business. So are there any key moments that allowed you to get to this point?

Key moments? That's a tough one. I think just generally growing up in the family I grew up in, you know, as you know, mom and dad are immigrants from Egypt. All my siblings, me, my two sisters and myself grew up in the States. And I think just being the youngest of three, two older sisters, learning from my parents as immigrants, learning a new language, learning a new culture, learning a new way of life, trying to make ends meet and also just making sure that we stay out of trouble and have the education we need, you know, really early on instilled in us this concept of opportunities are not to be squandered. You should work hard for them and then when they come in front of you or they come presented to you, you shouldn't, umm. And ah, you should just take action. And that's really what I remember the most of just growing up in my family. And yeah, I think that's kind of the. I can't think of a moment in particular, but if I had to choose one, probably my first job, like working my dad's car dealership. He was the manager there and one of my first jobs was cleaning cars in the wash bay in the dealership. Basically we'd have to wash the cars that are being traded in or the loaner cars. I was 13 years old at the time and I would go to work with him on Saturdays and wash the cars with Julian, who was my boss. The funny thing is that I'm gonna spend some time with my dad, you know, soon, this month or next month. And I want to ask him about this story because I have my Suspicions that this was not like a real job. I think that my dad might have manufactured this job for me so I can learn how to earn a buck. And I got $35 that day of washing cars all day after my hands became prunes. But I think that story reminds me of just this concept of working hard and understanding how to earn money. Understanding that the funny thing is that like, I was a saver as a kid and I would save my $35 and every time I would make money, okay, I got $35 and I got $70. Okay, I have $105 and be like, well, if I spend it on something, then I won't have the money anymore. So it would really be a dilemma for like, okay, maybe I'll just keep saving and see something else I want. But yeah, that was one of my earliest memories of going to work with my dad and just earning my first dollar is really. That was my experience.

Yeah, I mean, we, we talk about this often behind closed doors, that we both have that experience of growing up with immigrant parents and growing up in a new. In a country that's new for them. Obviously we're born, you're born in, in New York. I'm born here in Sydney, Australia. So we have that experience that I think, you know, is very common for us. It's interesting though that you said that you saved the money that you were earning and no one really taught you that though, right? Did anyone tell you, did your mom or dad ever say to you, you should save that money or was that kind of a lesson you learned yourself?

No, actually the opposite. My parents told me, okay, whatever money you earn yourself, you could do whatever you want with it, like as long as it's safe and nothing wrong or anything bad. But like, you know, if I wanted something that was not, you know, a necessity, like a pair of shoes or if I wanted to buy like a video game system, for example, like, they'd be like, no, we're not going to spend money on that. That's a waste of money. If you want to earn your own money and buy that, that's up to you. Right? So that was kind of the lesson, but I think I learned from my mother. My mother is very thrifty. My mom is very good with her money. She's very long term thinker. She, you know, prepared for retirement when she was in her 30s. So she's one of those people that would probably be like a personal finance geek today. But I think I just learned that from my mom. My dad's the opposite. My dad lives in the moment and not much of a saver, but I think just being around my mom, I think, is where I got that from.

Well, your mom's a very special person, and I can attest to that. And I don't know if our listeners know that your mom bailed us out in the first year in New York.

Yes.

Do you want. Do you want to share that story?

When we started out, you know, freelancing, trying to do this full time entrepreneurship thing in 2012, you know, things were tough and our Runway was running out, and our gigs were few and far, and, you know, there was this gap between getting paid and paying our rent. And, you know, I had to reach out to my mom at 32 years old, asking her, hey, can I, you know, ask for a handout? Can we? I need you to bridge the gap here with my rent so I can just pay the rent. And it was a very low moment for both of us. You know, we could have easily just said, okay, let's just get jobs and forget this thing and just try to, you know, put the entrepreneurship dream onto the back burner. But I knew if we decided to do that and we decided to sort of give in, it's so easy to turn your back on your dreams once you get that rhythm of a paycheck and, you know, and that comfort again. So we're already in the discomfort. Just ride it out a little bit longer. And luckily we made it through. But, yeah, I think mom really did us a solid when we needed it the most.

Yeah, absolutely. It was a low moment. And it's interesting that in that moment you grappled with like, oh, could go back to the paycheck. I know that in probably the first few months that I was freelancing and we were still kind of, you know, getting things off the ground in New York, there was an opportunity where I thought, oh, maybe, you know, I should just go and get a waitressing job. And. But you did tell me it was. It was you. And I remember this very, very clearly. You said that as soon as you start focusing on something else, you won't give this our business, whatever, you know, whatever the project that we were working on, your full focus. And so, I mean, in all honesty.

That was very scary for me to say that to you, because I could be wrong. We could not make it. We could. We could have not succeeded or, you know, ran out of money, seriously, and not really able to kind of bounce back. So the truth is, is that there's just a Certain amount of hours in the day. You can't spend eight hours working at a job and then think you're going to have the energy and the focus to be able to build something that's going to compete with somebody else who's doing it full time. And that's really what I was thinking about now.

And we've got the 10 years now to look back and go, that was the right decision at the time. But someone who's in it right then and there, it's tough. And that was a low moment because of that, that, that intense grappling. Okay, so that was like 2012. 20, yeah. 2012, 2013. What was the initial inspiration for starting the $100 MBA? Because I was freelancing, you were building businesses on the side. We were helping each other out in our own respective gigs. But one day you came to me and you said, I've got this idea for the hundred dollar mba. I had just finished a course at New York Film Academy, so I had these freshly minted videography skills. You said, you can lend your skill set to helping me put these videos together. And I remember that day very clearly when you came to me with that project idea. But what was the initial inspiration?

I think it was two things. First reason was very practical, was both of us were doing gig work, both of us were doing freelance work where it's either feast or famine, and it's also tied to the amount of work you do. So the more work I do, the more I get paid. The less work I do, the less I get paid. You know, I was doing websites and branding and you were doing film work. And I wanted to get out of that business model. I wanted to get into a business model where we can create something that was a value that could scale and help people create it once, sell it many times. And that's kind of the business model of the $100 MBA. But then later we figured out with the podcast as well. That's the first reason. The second reason is this is 2013, when we came together and started working on this. And there was not a lot of alternative business education options. Basically your options were to go to business school, or you can buy a bunch of books and read them and hopefully you can understand them and extrapolate and have a game plan out of it, which is very, very hard, especially if you're not used to that kind of dedication and motivation. The third thing is you're gonna buy a 2000, $3000 course from somebody who would be considered like a scammer. These days, I'm gonna be honest with you. Like, there was a lot of Internet markety, schwarmy people out there scammed selling these kind of courses. You know, how to, you know, earn a million dollars in a year or whatever it might be. It wasn't all bad. I would say that there was some good content in there, but, you know, it's mixed with a bunch of, you know, sleazy marketing. So it was kind of hard to kind of use it as a role model or use it as a model to build a course. On top of that, you know, I went to business school for a semester and I dropped out because I realized that this is a lot of money being spent. And I realized this because I had a chat with one of my professors and he was asking me why you were here. And I was like, well, I want to be a successful entrepreneur. I had side hustles building businesses on the side, and now I want to go full time. And I thought getting an MBA would give me credibility. And I learned that MBAs are not for that. MBAs are for people who want to get a finance job at a bank like Morgan Stanley or something like that at the time. And I realized, okay, there is no monopoly on education. I don't need to spend all this money so that I can learn how to start a business. In fact, you know, being an educator for so long, you know, yourself, it takes so long for institutions to catch up with the real world because there's so much red tape around textbooks and curriculum and test testing bodies. And, you know, in order for them to approve something, it takes years. So it's. It's not really up to date. So I think thought there's probably a lot of people in my position who want to start a business that want to know the fundamentals of business and they want to learn enough so they can get started, learn enough so they can use this information to get the ball rolling. And that was kind of just the genesis of the idea. I knew that you were the best videographer I knew. So. And I thought it would be a great collaboration because also you're great with design and aesthetics, and I'm not so great with that. And I thought I needed somebody that can complement my skills. So that's why I approached you. I thought, okay, let's make something happen. We didn't have all the answers in the beginning, but we figured it out. No.

And I think that's right. And one of the lessons we learned too was using our complementary skills to move things along the way, I was reminded of, like, why it was also very appealing to me. And this again, lends itself to the two experiences we've both had in education, being formally trained educators, both with master's degrees. Like, we've been through that long route of education. We've seen what a formal, traditional world of education looks like, how many years it takes to get, you know, a certain skill set, to get certain knowledge. And it definitely, you know, has its place for certain industries and fields. But I think what was really appealing was, you know, what you were sharing with me was that. And I think one of the main drivers as well was that you wanted to inspire people to get up and running a lot quicker, a lot faster, to distill everything in a way that was practical, that was efficient, economical in a sense, so that people could get up and running. Would you agree?

100%. And I think one of the things that hold people back from starting a business is because they think it's this big ordeal. And they think about the big businesses that they see, like Apple or, you know, Walmart or whatever, and they think of these big corporations and really the best businesses start with just one transaction, one sale, one. One convincing one person that, hey, I have this thing that you might like, that might solve your problem. Would you like to buy it? That is the start of your business.

And added to that, too. Again, we're Both in our 30s at that time, right? So aging us now, moving on 10 years later, but we're both in our 30s and we don't have all the time in the world to get going. And so I think that idea of. And one of the bigger lessons I learned at that time was just in time learning. Just learn what you need to know right now, start implementing it right away. Case in point with the videography skills that I had just learned. Didn't spend, you know, spent just months putting it straight into practice and, you know, just taking the next step forward, next step forward. So, yeah, I think we didn't. We didn't have. I don't want to say time wasn't on our side, but it was different. I think it would have been different had we started in our early 20s.

I think there'd be advantages and disadvantages. But just on that point, I do think that. I don't know, I heard this before, but if you don't experience imposter syndrome, then you probably started too late. Like you. You. If you feel 100% confident and you got everything in order and, you know, ins and out and can Predict the outcome of everything. That's going to take forever. You know, that's. And your opportunity is going to leave. Entrepreneurship is, you know, jumping out of a plane and building the parachute on the way down is figuring out. Because you're really not going to have all the answers because you got to put the product out there and you got to ask your customers and get feedback and customize it based on what the market needs. It's really not about you or your idea or your skills. Is about being a servant, serving your. Your. Your audience. So I think that's what we learned. I think if we started younger, the advantage is obviously time, but I think we had a maturity about us. I think the experiences we had in education and teaching helped us tremendously in building an online program that teaches, helped us with the podcast, with teaching every day. So I think that that was a gift that we definitely used and wouldn't have it if we didn't have that. You know, that decade of experience in education.

Something that you and I talk about a lot and maybe don't share a lot with other people is that feeling of, we felt we escaped a nine to five. We left a traditional career. We left, you know, working for other people, working for other institutions. And it probably would be part of the reason why we didn't want to go back. But we talk about the feelings of what that feels like when you do break free and you do get out and why you wouldn't want to go back. Can you share some of those feelings?

It's like going to a new planet. I think it's like going to a new planet, really, when you change your life from a 9 to 5 job to creating your own life. With entrepreneurship, it's like you're opened up to this new world. You realize, oh, the rules are not the same here. What applies in my normal job doesn't apply here. I got to figure everything out myself. The people that I'm meeting are different. The circumstances that I'm meeting them in is different. I got to create my own circumstances. I got to create my own luck. It's just a different world. And as difficult and challenging as it is, it's thrilling as well. It's exciting. It's like everything is brand new again. It's like you're a child again. So you don't want to kind of that to end in a lot of ways. I also like the amount of investment that we made to have those careers in the first place, whether it's our education, whether it's the amount of hours we did in the classroom, all the other certifications we had to do so that we can be up to time and all that kind of stuff. It's a lot. So I think it was the idea of, like, okay, I'm starting a new life. I'm learning new things, I'm achieving new things, but also I feel the sense of, I want to make this worth the leap. I don't want to kind of, I've made a big sacrifice. I've left my job and my career. How do I make sure that this was worth it?

Yeah. The first year, though, that we launched, when we launched the 100 MBA, was the end of 2013. You know, it was a new business. What are some of the challenges that we had?

I mean, everything. Everything was new. I mean, how do we accept credit cards? And Stripe was very new then. And I was learning how to integrate it to the website, SEO, how are we going to sell, how we going to get our first customers, Email marketing. I mean, everything was absolutely new. This is why I think that what we're doing at the 100 LMBA with the podcast and the program is so important because there's so much you can do and there's so much opportunity for you to get overwhelmed. There's also so much choice, and now it's even more because there's so many options now to do whatever you want to do online. So I think the biggest challenge was just the amount of work we had to do, the amount of things we had to learn, the amount of things that we had to figure out. Yeah, I think that was the biggest one for me.

Yeah. And again, We've got this 10 years to look back on. Right. And sometimes, you know, you're kicking up all this dust, you're doing all these things, and you don't know what's going to work, what's going to lead to the next thing, what's going to unlock that next opportunity in the business, you know, to keep it sustainable, to keep moving and to keep it growing and to grow it to the point where we've grown it today. What were those key moments? If we look at, like, key inflection points in the last 10 years that kind of like these moments that unlocked the next thing and the next thing?

Yeah, I think there were some smaller ones and there were some big ones that come to mind. I think as we were starting the $100 MBA, we started it in December of 2020, 2013. We got our first few customers, we started to build our community. But then we Went to New Media Expo, that conference that kind of changed our life in a big way. We could barely afford getting there. Somehow we found some early bird tickets and went on Spirit Airlines or something to. To get there. It was tough and really, really low cost hotel, you know, off Fremont street in old Vegas. That's where the conference was. But I think that moment was, that conference was so pivotal for us because we met some of our people that we looked up to, our heroes, people that were kind of starting their entrepreneurial journey as well. At the same time, people like Nathan Barry, who started ConvertKit, and some interesting creators at the time, you know, Cora Barr and Chase Reeves, and, you know, met people like Lewis Howes at that conference, Amy Porterfield, John and Kate from Entrepreneurs on Fire. And I think it was a good chance for us to realize, oh, these people are just like us. And this is possible, like we can become successful in this world of business because these people are human. I made sure they're not robots, they're real people. Right. And I think leaving that conference, we also had the concept of starting a podcast. We did start a podcast. Not the 100 Ombay show, one that came before that, that didn't do so well. But through that failure, we learned. I think that moment was a big inflection point as us coming back and saying, okay, you know, almost like double downing on our commitment to build this thing.

And really inspired by those, by the people that we.

Oh, 100%. 100%. I think that we were just inspired, but also gained a little bit of confidence that, okay, this is possible. This is not something that you just saw online. Like, these people are real. Not that they weren't impressive, but, you know, they didn't seem out of this world. Like, you know, they're relatable. That was one inflection point. I think the other bigger inflection point for us was when we won Best of itunes. I think that was kind of the first, like, big validation for us that, okay, we've created something that's worth people's attention. And, you know, Best of Itunes is a. Is an award that comes out. It's called Best of Apple Podcasts now that comes out once a year. And awards, you know, the top podcasts. It's about, you know, I think, a dozen and a half podcasts or something like that.

It's the Oscars, let's face it.

It's the Oscars of podcasts. And. And we won it about six months into starting the Hunter NBA show in December of 2020, 2014. Sorry, 2014. And that moment was a big moment for us because we've. We. Somebody outside ourselves believed in us, and somebody recognized that this show was worth listening to and really was different from the other podcasts out there, especially the different pod business podcasts out there. That really helped us get on the map was really a moment where we felt finally some relief. We felt like, okay, maybe this is now we're turning a corner. Because up to that point, it was a lot of struggle.

That was my big I told you so moment.

Yes, you told me so. For those who don't know this story, prior to winning Best of itunes that year in 2014, we were. We became friends with John Lee Dumas and Kay Erickson from Entrepreneurs on Fire. And we would go to John Lee Dumas speeches and conferences and meetups, and every time he would be introduced or his bio would be read, they would say, you know, the winner of Best of itunes. And it just sounded so nice and it sounded like, wow, so much credibility. The funny thing is, is that every time you would hear that, you would say, we're going to win it, too. And I'll be like, what are you talking about? Like, we don't have control over that. And like, let's just get this podcast out there in the first place, you know, and, you know, I just saw this, like, as, yeah, maybe one day kind of thing. Maybe I get that from my mom. Just too much of a realist. But you were like, no, no, I'm going to show you. We're going to do it. And then when we did win it, you. You almost, like, you know, shoved me into the wall. I told you, I told you that you were going to win it. And it's true. You were right.

No one loves an I told you so moment. But in that moment, as much as you. Well, as much as me. But in that moment, that wasn't a bad I told you so.

That was, well, you know, worthy. I'll tell you some moment.

You got that image of Elaine. Yes, that's the shaman, that one. Yeah. I mean, that was. That was a huge moment for us.

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Yeah, but we'll be with family.

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I think one thing that you and I share in common and what allows us to continue to grow and learn and grow as people really and as a couple is our attitude to learning and being open to personal growth. Which is not something that came very instinctively to me. You know, in my, in my younger years. This is definitely something that entrepreneurship has brought into my life. Personal development, personal growth. And I mean I honestly, the first personal development book that I read was it was your old copy of Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. And that was huge for me. And so I want to talk about personal growth because that is a big, big part of your life. It's a big part of our life. What has this decade meant in terms of professional growth, personal growth, rather, what, you know, what, what lessons I suppose have been the most impactful.

The funny thing is that you learn more from your failures than your success. I think that's really the challenges of your life. The challenges of business, don't get me wrong, they're horrible and we don't enjoy them. But there are so many lessons and there's so many opportunities that come about when, when you, when you go through that. I think my personal growth journey kind of started maybe, I would say 20 years ago, maybe a little bit earlier that started listening to Tony Robbins CDs. Personal power, it's called personal power. And There was like 12 CDs and I had to pop them out and I would listen to one each time I would go to work, come back from work. This is maybe 2002 or something like that. And yeah, okay, the guy was known to be, you know, cheesy, big white teeth, all that kind of stuff. But a lot of great information in there. And it really opened up my mind to maybe I'm capable of more, maybe I can change my life. Maybe I can be one of those people that I see and all those guys are wealthy, whatever. And there's a lot of unlearning that happens when you are trying to change yourself. And interpersonal development, there's a lot of stuff that gets poured in when you're young and your upbringing and that's not your parents fault. They did their best and they had their own, you know, things that they got from their parents. And so I think there's a lot of stuff where you have to kind of convince yourself like, well, maybe there's another way to do this. Maybe I don't have to like work so hard every day until I die and then just settle for maybe, you know, a middle class lifestyle or something like that. And there's nothing wrong with a middle class lifestyle. But if you want. My personal belief is that if you want to reach your full potential and make the most impact in the world, it's very hard to do that without being financially independent because there's a lot of things that money unlocks and that's just the truth. And that's really my motivation to help people every day with a hundred MBA and the podcast is because I believe that if that part of your life is solved, that financial freedom part, there's so much good you can do in the world and for yourself and your family, whether it's for your health, whether it's your impact on your community, the causes you believe in, you know, your ability to improve yourself and therefore improve what you do for others. That is all a financial, just a financial element there. So I think that those early days listening to Tony Robbins and Tony Robbins led me to Jim Rohn, who he was his mentor. And Jim Rohn is somebody I really love and I listen to till this day, even over breakfast, over breakfast. Jim Rohn, start your day right a.

Little behind the scenes of what happens in the household.

Yeah, well, it's all basics that you need to hear over and over. You know, it's kind of those things. So that's kind of how I started. I think it takes repetition, whether it's a book, whether it's a cd, whether it's a course, you're watching a video. It's not just going to happen overnight. There was never like the switch, okay, now I am got the wealthy mindset. And like, no, it's just over and over that repetition of picking up a new book, reading this, chatting with somebody, interesting, reading something online over and over, over years. I think it's kind of like the erosion of your mind starts to form something new and you start to be like, okay, I'm getting closer to where I need to go. And the last 10 years, the personal growth has accelerated tremendously because of building two businesses, the 100 MBA and our software company, Webinar Ninja. That was an incredible ride, you know, because you learn really quickly how to hire somebody, how to fire somebody, how to deal with a disgruntled employee, how to, you know, change your prices and then realize, oh, that didn't really go so well. Customers are not happy about that. How do I deal with that? You know, that's where the rubber hits the road. And I think that's what really makes, I think the content that we create different is that we don't talk in theory, we talk in reality. I mean, I always talk, kind of say, as a joke, but if you listen to, like, today's episode of the podcast is probably a challenge I was dealing with six months or a year ago, and it took me that time to get over that pain, but also to. To create the lesson for. For the. For the viewer. So. And I kind of see that personal growth is a chance for me to improve the product. So if I get better, what I produce is going to get better, and.

You never know what it's going to be. That unlocks that. It could be a book, it could be an episode of the podcast. If I go back to that first book of Think and Grow Rich and never really having had the experience or exposure to personal development, the one thing that that book unlocked was the growth mindset versus a fixed mindset, and that just unlocked everything else afterwards. So, you know, the fact that you share all the books that you've read, it could, you know, it could be any of these books, any of these lessons that kind of opens up your mind to more ideas, to. Yeah, just different. A different way of thinking, and that can, you know, put you on the path to the next thing. And the next thing.

I do want to touch on that because I think a lot of people hear that. They're like, yeah, growth mindset, I'm with you, is important to learn and to grow. I think the thing that people don't really understand or really grasp is you can know ideas, but are you actually changing what you're doing? Or you can listen, read all the books, you can take all the courses, watch all the YouTube videos, and have all this information, but are you actually changing what you're doing? And a growth mindset, in my opinion, is you have to be okay and open and willing to change who you are. A lot of people ask me, what's the difference between a successful entrepreneur and somebody's not? Successful entrepreneurs are people that understand that in order for them to get results, they have to change. You as a person has to change. You can't be married to who you are today. A lot of people are like, oh, you know, I like who I am. I never change. You know, you ever see that in yearbooks? You know, but the bottom line is that whatever your situation is right now, like my situation when I was in teaching, when, you know, whatever I was, whatever I was as a person, you know, whoever I was as a person or whatever I did, is what got me those results. So if I like these results, I just continue to do the same things, same habits. I gotta continue to do the same work. If I want different results, I can't expect to be the same person. The same person. The person I am now got me these results, not the results I want. So if I want to go somewhere, I want to get to some other station in life or a different situation, you have to change in that process to get there. And I think that's the most difficult part of the whole idea of growth mindset is that, like, you have to become something you're not anymore. And that's going to upset a lot of people. That's going to upset your friends, your family. People, for maybe subconscious reasons or selfish reasons, want you to stay who you are. Because that's who I know. That's the relationship I have. Once you start changing, what does that mean about me? Do I don't want to change to, you know, stay friends with this person and everything in terms of your life, you know, it could be how early.

You have to go to bed because you decide suddenly that, like, it's actually really important to get up early in the morning and all of a sudden to your other friends, what, you want to have dinner at 6 instead of 7 or 8? Like, boring. But you're like, no, it's actually really important to me to get up early. And I love that you talked about the change, the things you being a different person, the doing of different things. I think as an entrepreneur, what I've seen and what I've experienced personally in these, over this, over this decade is a fuel, is a fire, a desire to, you know, to keep doing, to achieve more, to grow and to impact others. But that's all well and good, but you need daily disciplines in order to keep that going. Otherwise it's just misdirected energy, misdirected passion, whatever you want to call it, right? And we promised our listeners that they'd get a little bit of an insight into, you know, your little bit more of Omar every day. What are some of the daily disciplines?

It's a good question. I think that my daily disciplines there are A few that are, that are consistent and some change depending on the season or what I'm working on. In my business, if I'm sprinting, meaning I'm trying to accomplish a project at a certain period of time, maybe some of these things won't get done and that's okay, I can come back to them later. But one thing that I like to stay consistent with is my journal. And I like to write in my journal every morning. And a lot of people think journaling has to be one way. And I thought that, I thought journaling has to be like, dear Diary, these are my worries. And I wonder, how am I going to get out of this?

I could never keep one of those.

Yeah. And I realized at one point, oh, okay. I can make my journal whatever I want it to be. And sometimes it's just a to do list. Sometimes it's just notes about what I want to get done over the week or this weekend. Maybe it's just a thought or a quote that I heard from a Jim Rohn video that I was watching that breakfast and I wanted to write it down. It could be, you know, just an idea of like, hey, I need to do more of this. And it's just a one liner, but this idea of just writing down your thoughts. And I like this because. And sometimes I just write down my worries too. Like, you know, I'm worried about this, this, this, and it could be life things, business stuff. And I find it very helpful, once I would say a quarter or something is to go back and flip the pages back from the beginning of your journal and, and read what you wrote and see if there's any patterns. Am I saying the same thing over and over? This is a problem. I need to fix this problem. Because I keep saying I have this problem almost once a month. Or is there a progression? Is there a change? And it's a kind of a documentation of what's happening in your life. So that's kind of one habit I like to do. Think exercise is something that has been part of my life for a very long time. And I like to exercise somehow every day, as much as possible. Some days I miss because I'm working on something, but I just tell myself, myself, let's try again tomorrow. And I get up and I go, so whether it's the gym or whether it's playing basketball, which is my, my love in life other than you, so I love basketball. So that's something I, I looked forward to doing. Yeah. And so exercise is very important. I remember one time I Think it was Jerry Seinfeld who said that when he was working on being a professional comedian, he worked on two things is his craft, his comedy and his, his health. And he said if I just focus on those two things, I remember that for some reason because I'll be healthy and I'll be doing all right in life, whether financially or with my career, because I'm working on my craft every day and I'm, you know, working on my health every day. And it's kind of hard to go wrong if you just prioritize those two. So those are a couple things I would, I would add to the mix. What else? I would say one of the things I like to do as well is I like to get to work as soon as possible. Like, I don't like to check my email or do social media or whatever in the morning. I'm kind of person that almost feels like I can't be happy or something. I know that sounds strange. I can't be content until I get the most important things done. You know, it's kind of like a debt I have to pay. So if I have to record two episodes today and I have to get on a meeting and whatever it might be, I need to get those things done before I can allow myself to like, okay, have a break or go to the gym or whatever. Because I feel like if I've done that, then I've fulfilled my obligation to myself. And that's kind of. I kind of see those disciplines of the show and the work I have to do, the priorities of my work, very important. So I think I have a pretty good work ethic in terms of staying disciplined. So those are kind of the habits I have.

Yeah, yeah, I'll back you up on that one. I can attest to that for sure. Definitely a disciplined person. You wouldn't have the discipline. I mean, it would be very hard to record 2000 plus episodes if you didn't have the discipline.

Yeah, you can enjoy something a lot. I mean, anybody who has done something they love for a living knows that it becomes work at some point because you start working on the finer things. But yeah, I do feel a sense of obligation. People are waiting for the next lesson. I need to make sure that it's. It's great.

One of the disciplines, though, that one of the habits I suppose that you have that, that it's. No, it's going to be no surprise to our listeners is that you're an avid reader and reading is a big part of your life, your personal life. It's a big part of our life. You know, we're always. We've always got one or two books on the go. How did you develop your reading habit?

That's funny because I just shared this within a conversation with Matt Fidesz, who was one of Michael Jackson's closest friends and bodyguard, also the founder of the largest martial arts studio studios in the world. It's got over 1800. Can't wait for the episode to come out. But I shared the story when I was. I was never really a big reader as a child. Watched cartoons most of the time, actually. I loved, like Darkwing Duck and ducktales and all those kind of shows. Ninja Turtles. But when I was 11, I think it's my 11th birthday, as a birthday gift, my mom bought me the book Moonwalker, which is the autobiography of Michael Jackson. I'm a big Michael Jackson fan. It was kind of the first time I read a book cover to cover because I wanted to. And it wasn't like a book report from school because she gave me something that I enjoyed or something I was interested in. And therefore I was motivated to keep on reading. And, you know, I actually think that reading is an exercise. It's sort of like a. Your eyes have to get used to going back and forth on the page. It's not something that comes, I guess, second nature to most people over time, like reading 30, 40 pages at a time. So I think that kind of started it. I started reading some books, but when it came to business books, I have to credit my mother's brother, my Uncle Ash, who lives in Germany. And at the time I was living in Dubai. And he used to come and visit me maybe once a year or something like that because of work. And he was the first kind of person that exposed me to this world of modern entrepreneurship, growth, mindset. And the first book he gave me when he would visit was Rich Dad, Poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki. We talked about this book a million times. It's. It's a great book. Not the best written book. It's not a perfect book. Everybody's got their flaws, but it was the right book at the right time and unlocked a lot of things for me. And then the next time I would see him, we would chat about the book and he would give me a new book. And the next book he gave me was how to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. These are classics. So he got me in the habit of like, okay, these books can change your life. You could read a book and it could change the way you think about something you could learn, something that can really influence your future, which was, you know, usually people think of. At the time, at least I thought of novels. I thought of like, you know, things that were just to pass the time poolside or something.

You know, once the book report's done, that's it, it's done. You never have to look at that book again or think about that again.

Really what ignited my passion for reading and I, I primarily just read non fiction. I don't read fiction at all. Actually. I read maybe one fiction book in the last. Maybe two or three fiction books in the last three years or, sorry, last decade, maybe.

I was gonna say, if anyone has any ideas of how to get you into more non fiction, because I love to have both, you know, going at the same time. But it's been a struggle.

There's so much, there's so many good books out there. That's the thing.

Fiction, I meant.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and honestly, like, you know, we have this segment on the podcast called Must Reads. And in order for me to have a certain number of must reads to deliver, I have to read a lot of books. And some, many of them don't make it because it's not a great book and I wouldn't recommend it. But even the not so great books, I learned the one or two things that kind of stick with me. Yeah, I think that's what started it for me.

We've talked about habits, we've talked about disciplines, daily disciplines. Are there any personal qualities that you think you have that you can attribute your success to?

I don't know. You tell me. You know more than I do. It's hard for me to, to analyze myself. But you mean. You know me better than anybody else, so.

All right, you're throwing it back to me. No, that's a good one. That's a good one. I, I would say that a lot of. I can definitely think of some key personal qualities you have that maybe even our listeners might not realize about you. And humor is one of them. The ability to, to, to be funny, to not get easily offended, to see the, the humorous side of life. That is definitely something that I'm going to say I love about you. And, and I think it has a, it plays a huge part in, in being able to overcome the tougher days, the slumps, the lows.

I do think that in order for you to have a sense of humor or to be funny, quote unquote, or try to be funny, you have to have some level of not caring what people think. You can't be so self conscious because you won't try. You won't try to throw out a corny joke, oh, that didn't land. Whatever, you know, you kind of have not care so much. And I think that came from growing up as an outsider. I grew up in, I went to school mostly a white neighborhood. I was, you know, brown kid with a weird last name from Egypt and was just, I was different. So over time you start to realize, okay, I'm never going to be like everybody else and I shouldn't try and I shouldn't just care so much what everybody thinks of me. And that kind of builds up. And then you use humor to kind of break the tension and use the humor as a youngest child as well to break the tension with. There's arguments with my sisters or, you know, with my, you know, my parents or something like that. And it was just a way for me to, as a coping mechanism but also as a way to kind of lighten the mood. So I think that that's helped me a lot. I think life is too short too, life is too short for you to take yourself too seriously.

It doesn't come easily to everyone. So. But I definitely appreciate that about you.

Thank you.

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I think a sense of humor is definitely one of your personal qualities that is crucial to success. It might be a little bit counterintuitive, but I definitely think it's played a big part. I also think there are other character traits that, that you've demonstrated over the years. Humility, kindness, empathy. And I think these traits in particular can bring a lot of respect and admiration. And I think this is something that is probably not talked about enough. It might be a little. I don't know. Let's see what you think of this, because I don't know if even we've discussed it. I think entrepreneurship can fast track the development of these traits or can teach you lessons in humility, in kindness, in empathy. And I'm not saying that there's, you know, you can't develop or nurture these in other walks of life, but I feel like entrepreneurship makes you a better person by your own standards, not by comparing yourself to anyone else. But I feel that in many ways, the tests and the challenges that we go through, we feel we're a better person than we were a year ago, two years ago, 10 years ago. Do you see where I'm going?

I think so. I think that as entrepreneurs, as business builders, you're constantly pushing the envelope, which means you're always out of your comfort zone. And most people do everything they can to stay in their comfort zone. So when you're out of your comfort zone on a consistent basis, you're going to grow and you're going have challenges and you're going to develop new skills and you're going to change. Like I mentioned, you're going to change all the time, and you're going to become a better version of yourself because of those moments where you're like, oh, I'm not really sure I could do this. I've never done this before. How many moments have we had where we've said, I've never done this before? Like, countless. Like, you know, and it's important for you to do that because then you'll never do it. You'll never do something you've never done before if you'd never try. So I think that that has a lot to do with it. Being an entrepreneur, you're always out of your comfort zone, and you're always kind of stretching what is possible. Oh, maybe in the beginning, you're like, if I could just get 5k a month, I will be able to pay all my bills and I won't have to go back to my job. It'd be amazing. And then you get to 5K and you're like, okay, that's great. And you get comfortable with that barometer. And then you get to 10, and you get to 20, you get to 30, and then you get to 40. And don't forget, when you have 40, in order to get 40, you have employees, you have team members. You got to pay. So you're not actually keeping 40, so you got to make more. So those. Those Goalposts are always moving.

Right. And it gets you, gets you out of your comfort zone, but it also gets you out of a bubble is not the right. It gets you out of your world, whatever that world is. It could be an industry that you're in. It could be, you know, a circle of friends that you have this particular, that, you know, is affiliated with the, you know, the, the job that you're in. And, and so like that empathy piece really comes into play when all of a sudden the world becomes so much bigger when you're serving, you know, your mission is to, you know, create an impact to, to teach these lessons and, you know, to help people along their business journey in so many different countries in different, you know, different stages of their life. And so I feel like, yeah, those, you know, muscles, those traits are really. Yeah. Have it, have a chance to grow via.

Yeah.

Entrepreneurship via building a business.

I think it's also the nature of what we do. Like, I constantly have to tap into the different levels that I went through to be able to deliver a lesson with empathy, with, with a sense of understanding. I know how hard this could be. Let me show you how I did it. I'm. My memory is not very good when it comes to details of things that happened 10, 20, 30 years ago, but I have a very vivid memory about how I felt in the moment. So I can definitely tap back into and say I know exactly how it feels when your first employee leaves you and it's just like, oh gosh, like you invested so much into that person and they said they loved working there, but they got another opportunity and money talk and you can't match the salary they're getting and, or the, the offer they got. So now you are forced to kind of rehire somebody and you're overwhelmed because you already got too much on your plate. Like, I know exactly how that feels even though it happened like a decade ago. So. Yeah.

Well, we've reached the ten year mark of the hundred dollar MVA show. What are some of the things our listeners can expect from you and us in the coming months? What are you excited about?

So much. We've been working on so much. Just for context, after Proprofs acquired webinar ninja after 10 years of building that company, which was a great moment to celebrate and we're so happy that Webinar Ninja is going to such an incredible company. And for us personally, it was a great milestone because we were able to build a company of value and have a successful acquisition. But I think it also was okay where are we going to focus our attention, our efforts now? And it was not even a question. We both looked at ourselves like, let's take the $100 MBA further than it's ever been. We want to impact more people, want to reach more people, want to be able to help them faster, to get to what we call escape velocity, where they are able to leave their job and be able to build a business that they're proud of. In that process of kind of talking about it, we realize, okay, in order for us to mark this moment of full dedication, let's give the brand a new refresh, a new look. So we've been working on a rebranding, and you can check it out right now on our website, by the way, 100 MBA net, which is a whole new look and feel of the, of the brand, refreshed our logo, and the whole website looks brilliant. But we've hired the best to work on every aspect of the things I'll be sharing right now, all the aspects of the things that we're launching. We just basically found out who's the best at this, and we found them and we contacted them and we said, hey, we want to work with you. And we figured out a way to make it happen because at this point, after 10 years, we felt like we wanted this to be sort of like a, a gift, a love letter to our audience of like, hey, we want to, you know, double triple down on our commitment to you. So, yep, brand new website, brand new branding. We have some amazing features and amazing freebies for people to check out at the website. One of the great new features we have is that now you could search podcasts by topic or, you know, by area of, say, marketing or sales or team or product, and you can find all the episodes on that, given the fact we have over 2,500 episodes, so you can easily find the materials you're looking for. So very excited about the new website that's coming out or is out right now. I'm saying coming out because we recorded this earlier, but, yeah, excited for that to launch. The second thing that we're very excited about is from tomorrow, every episode is going to also be available on video. So you'll be able to watch the $100 MBA show on YouTube. We are publishing every episode. So three days a week, you'll get a fresh episode on YouTube. You can go to 1,000mba net YouTube, and you can subscribe there. And again, this is our commitment to reach new people, reach a new audience, reach our current audience. In a different modality, knowing that some people prefer video. So that's really fun that we're looking forward to.

You'll be able to watch Omar as well as listen to him.

Yeah. And you could see all the, all the investment we made in our studio, building our studio for this, for this project. Also super excited the fact that we're adding a few extra. I talked about freebies and tools and templates, but we're also adding some worksheets that go along with our episodes, some particular episodes that are going to be hands on and you can check those out from tomorrow. They'll be launched with the new episodes.

Really putting those teacher skills totally back into use. Right.

100%. And the other thing that we're really excited about is we are doing the $100 MBA program all over. Basically we have built it from scratch from the bottom up. Not only the content is going to be brand new and revised and updated to reflect the modern world, it's also the membership area is being rebuilt. It's going to be one of the most interactive membership areas ever. Uh, we're going to also include some interesting tools. They include some AI tools that are going to help people get some answers. Uh, but also we're very excited about just the, the curriculum that we're going to be rolling out some amazing courses on marketing, sales, finance and also different levels. So we're going to be offering courses for people just getting started, people that are looking to grow their business and take it beyond their first dollar and then scaling it so they can get to a million beyond. So that's really our mission with the 100 program which will be released later in the fall.

Lots to get excited about.

Lots. Yeah. For us.

I'm tired of being excited for us and for our listeners. Yeah, lots to look forward to. You know, I think if you think about it, we've had 10 years to look back on the next 10 years. Do you see it playing out differently in some way or 100%?

100%. I think that we've changed in the last 10 years. So what we're going to create is going to be different. I think really what we want to do. Nicole and I have really been fortunate enough to build a great business with open our Ninja, the software company, have, you know, a successful acquisition. Our job really is to get the 100 MBA out to as many people as possible with as much great content as possible. You know, through the podcast, through the YouTube channel, through our, you know, guides that we have on our, on our website. We're going to try through the social media channels that we're, you know, doubling, tripling down on to help reach new people. And we're trying to do this so that even if you don't have $1 to get started, you can get started through our content. And then if you want to go deeper, if you want a little bit more guidance, you know, we have the 100 library program, which is a hundred dollars a year, which is very inexpensive, but we wanted to just make it enough for you to have skin in the game, enough for you to feel like, okay, I should maybe watch these videos. I paid a hundred dollars for them. So that's really the, the, the game here. You know, you don't get, you're not going to get rich off that. But we're not really trying to do that right now. What we're really trying to do is just impact as many people as possible because we believe that if we do that, then we'll learn from our audience and come up with some new solutions for them in the coming 10 years. You know, and I think one of the things we learned is that, you know, you don't need to have all the answers right now. First help people, first serve them and you'll learn from them. What are some problems you can solve?

Yeah, if I think about how, you know, how drastically our life has changed in just over a decade from that taking the, after taking that leap from full time work and education being teachers to full time entrepreneurship, I'm just so passionate about giving people that opportunity as well, just to try it for themselves. And it could be that book, it could be that must read lesson that unlocks it. It could be, you know, any, any number of lessons, a course and you know, a lesson in one of the courses that just, you know, allows that person to take the next step and then the next step.

I also want to say that we spent 10 years building webinar Ninja, our software company. And to be quite honest, there's a lot of things that we Learned in that 10 years. A lot that was too close to the grain for me to share on the show. Especially the fact that it's, you know, it was still our business, you know, but now that we've been acquired and I've had some time to separate myself from that business, there's a lot of things I'm looking forward to sharing about what to do, what not to do, what are some of the mistakes I made along the way? What are some of the opportunities that I missed or some of the opportunities That I did hit and made all the difference. So I'm looking forward to sharing those lessons.

Get excited, folks. Something that we don't do, or I should say you don't do on this podcast is rounds of rapid fire questions. Okay, we're going to borrow this idea, and I'm going to put you through some rapid fire questions.

Ready?

Okay. Just to give our listeners a little more insight into you as a person. Are you ready?

Yeah. How much time do I have to answer the question?

Well, you basically have to answer right away. So no thinking, just. Okay, whatever comes out. And try to keep your answer to one or three words.

Oh, one or three words. Okay.

Yeah, these are just.

Okay.

I think you should be able to do it. All right, you ready?

I'm ready.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be?

Flying.

Morning person or night owl?

Morning.

What's your guilty pleasure snack?

Chocolate, probably, or ice cream or both? Yes, chocolate ice cream.

Cats or dogs?

Cats.

If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?

Oh, Japan.

Speaking of Japan, what's your go to? Karaoke song?

New York, New York by Frank Sinatra. Because he doesn't sing, he talks.

Coffee or tea?

Coffee, but I do like tea.

What's a hobby you've always wanted to pick up but haven't yet?

I've picked up the piano a few times but dropped it. So I'd like to commit to it in the near future.

If you're an animal, what animal would you be and why?

I don't know.

You said you wanted to fly.

Maybe an elephant.

Okay.

I feel like elephant for some reason. I relate to them. Yeah, yeah.

Beautiful. Last question, and I think I know the answer to this one. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?

Oh.

Come on.

Weirdest thing. I've eaten cat food before.

I was gonna say yeah.

Yeah. My sister Mona dared me, and I did it for $5 when I was 9 or something, but it was well worth it. Didn't taste too bad.

You heard it here first. Omar ate cat food for $5 on a day.

That would go a long way in 1989. Come on, guys.

Wow. Well, Omar, thank you, thank you, thank you.

This is an interesting experience. Yeah. Being on the other side on my own podcast. Yes. That's a really interesting one. But hopefully it was valuable for those who are listening. And thank you. And I have to say that all throughout this journey last 10 years, you've been with me, you've been by my side, we've helped each other luckily, throughout those 10 years were never down at the same time. Either I'm having a tough one and you pick me up and. Or vice versa. So this would not be possible, you know, without having a good partner with you. I mean, I'm very lucky. And I think that anybody looking to start their entrepreneurial career and make their lives a little easier, find a good business partner. It doesn't have to be your wife. It could be. Or your husband. It could be anybody. But I think that sharing the journey with somebody is like sharing a trip. Like you go on holiday with somebody and you, you can, you know, call them up and say, oh, I remember when we experienced this. That was crazy. Oh my gosh. You know, and we have those moments all the time. So the adventures was, Was. Has been great, you know, with you on my side.

At the risk of sounding cheesy or corny, I think we're pretty lucky to be able to do this together.

Yeah, lucky in a lot of ways. I think. A lot of ways, you know, we didn't have it easy. It was tough. We. We took advantage of the opportunities we had. And, you know, I think that through the journey, I think we realized that, yes, there are journeys tough, but a lot of people have it tougher, and it's not always easy. And you don't always want it easy. You know, making the tougher it is, actually the more satisfying it is. So I have to say that's. That's something I remember the most.

And happy birthday to the $100 MVA show. Happy 10th birthday.

Time to grow up. No, 10 years is great. To the next 10 years.

To the next 10 years.

Well, there you have it, guys. Thank you so much for listening to this very special 10th anniversary episode of the $100 NBA Show. Remember, from tomorrow you can listen to this show. You can watch this show as well on YouTube. So go ahead and check us out over at 1 00. Of course, you can check out our brand new website as well with all our amazing goodies. And you can search the podcasts by genre, by topic. So go ahead to 100 MBA net. I want to thank Nicole for taking the time to prepare that interview. And it was really fun to kind of sit down with her in person and go back to old memories and old times and stories that really, I almost forgot about, didn't completely forget about, but I almost forgot about. That was a lot of fun. Thanks so much again, guys. And if you want to say thank you, if you want to give us a 10th anniversary gift, the best gift you can give us is to subscribe. Subscribe to the show whether on Apple or Spotify or now on YouTube. Thank you so much. I'll check in next time. Gas, snacks, tolls. This trip is draining my wallet.

Yeah, but we'll be with.

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