Everyday Entrepreneur - Paul Tembunde - Premiere Destiny - S2 E14

Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of The Everyday Entrepreneur. I'm your host, Paul H. Flowers Jr., and this is the Popery Place podcast show. Today I'm amazingly excited and you'll learn why in just a moment. And of course, when it comes to hosting, as a host, when you bring on a guest When you've got things in common and you just click, it's like magic happens. Not only do this gentleman and I share the same name, his name is Paul H. Flowers Jr. and he is the CEO of Premier Destiny Incorporated, also operates the Visiting Angels franchise with his wife as a COO. I am super excited to bring on somebody from the great state of, as my friends and I used to call it, Money Making Maryland, right? Paul, again, my namesake, my brother, welcome to the show. How are you, my friend?

Fantastic, brother Paul. Thank you so much, brother. Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here, an honor. Thank you for inviting me, uh, to your wonderful show, and, uh, and I look forward to sharing with you, uh, my story, my journey, and some insights with you and the audience. Absolutely. Thank you.

And listen, you're more than welcome, and we don't have to wait. I know the audience is ready to hear this one, and we just get to hop right in. So Paul, tell us about where you are and talk about that journey of, again, bringing Premier Destiny to fruition, as well as where Visiting Angels came from. You know, we've got a lot to talk about, so you pick where you want to start, but let us know, you know, again, where you at and definitely where you've been, so we can have— just grow the conversation from there.

Thank you, Paul. Again, it's an honor, Paul. Thank you so much. I'm delighted, uh, glad to be on your show. Yours is the, I think, the third one I've been on, brother, doing this. And I'm proud of you. Proud of you for doing this.

Thank you.

Because you give us a stage, if you will, platform, if you will, to share our message, you know, which I think is a message that not just belongs to us, but I think us especially, but to humanity. Because when you make the world better, you know, for your people, you make it better for everyone, right? I mean, you know, we all get to breathe the same air, right? We all get to travel the same, you know, journeys and whatnot. So that's why I love this. Thank you again for this, for inviting me over, Paul. Paul, where I've been, where I'm at, and where I'm going. That's a fantastic question, by the way. And if you have not trademarked that, I would say trademark that, brother, because I like that. I like that. Paul, I came here many years ago. I came to the United States seeking to better my future. My wife and I, my wife Joan and I, I was high school sweethearts, and when I left my home country of Cameroon to come to the United States, she went to England to pursue college studies. And so I came here, and after graduating college, I decided to get into the entrepreneurial route. So I got into, uh, joined Amway years ago, if you know what Amway is.

Love it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Selling soap. Well, that's what it was known back then, selling soap. I thought, man, I said, you know, because that's all this, we're getting rich, right? I mean, getting, you know, making money, you know, doing real well. So I want to try that. So my cousin invited me. I signed up, got my kit. My kit was, I think it was slightly under $100 at that time.. And, um, and I went to work. I thought I was gonna make it big, you know? Uh, but I didn't make much money.

I didn't—

in fact, I don't think— I think the products I bought were mostly for my own use, right? And I gave some away too. So I didn't really make much money, but I learned something, Paul. I learned personal development.

Come on.

I was introduced to books. I was introduced to inspirational books. They told me that if I wanted it, I could make it if I was willing to work for it. Okay. I started meeting people who had made it, man. I learned some things, started reading books. Think and Grow Rich was an important book to talk about. So I bought Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, started reading that. And fast forward a few years, my wife came and joined me from England. She had just finished her master's, so she came to join me. And man, we couldn't find any job, man. No corporate jobs were open to us. We— I was still doing my security guard job I was doing when I was going to college.. And, and then I moved up to leasing consultant for, you know, apartment buildings so I could lease apartments and whatnot. I did that. And my wife was, at one point she was a cashier. Okay. Think about a cashier with a master's degree, right? And then she became a certified nursing assistant working with seniors, right? And, and so we just kept moving, man. I mean, it was, it was hard, man. Times were hard. I mean, I remember one time we had a one-bedroom apartment and to pay our rent, I had to wait for my check and my wife's check to add to pay the rent. One bedroom apartment. Okay, it was hard, you know, but we're persistent, you know. We just felt that we— God put us on the earth to do bigger things. That's what we thought. We believe that. And, uh, you know, like I said, we shopped in the poor side of town, you know, no money, right? And, uh, the clothes we wore were kind of, you know, cheaper clothes. I mean, it was, it was hard, but, um, we're persistent. You know, a few years later, we got into IT. We got some IT training, you know, and it was interesting because I had never had a computer, man. No computer. I was in IT. Okay. So I learned, got in there, and, you know, my wife became a database administrator and I became a Microsoft Systems Engineer. You know, working on computers. And boy, I tell you, that was the— we thought when we got those positions, we thought we had arrived. Okay, because we— I could finally— when I got paid, my check could pay the rent, you know. So it was a big deal for us, right? So we decided to buy a townhouse, invest in a home, but try to get part of the American dream, right? Yes, sir. So we got our own, and, um, and we started having— trying to have a family. So, um, it was, it was very exciting. We saw the possibilities again. We saw what it could do. We saw that if we worked hard, we could make it happen. But, you know, Paul, we were limited because remember, working with somebody, okay, I mean, it's no wrong to work for somebody. We all got to— it's a journey, right? I mean, we all have to work with somebody. So, uh, but we got to a point where it was like, it was, it was a lot of month left at the end of the money. So bottom line is we're not making enough. We had these two good jobs, right? We raising our family, It was, we're going to get our kids to the best schools, want to go on vacation, do the things we want to do, is support our family members from overseas. This money is not going to add. It was not going to be enough, right? So we started thinking here, being people of faith, you know, Junot went to God and prayed about it and meditated and thought, what could we really do? And I would say, well, this is America. This is America. This is the beacon of capitalism. This is where it's at. You know, you can't be part of the system without owning some of the system. Right? You know, you know, you have to participate, you have to show— you don't just show up, you have to be a part of it.

Right?

So, well, listen, we need to get— we need to go into business. You know, that's what we need to do. So we start looking around again, being people of faith, we put in the Lord. And it was interesting that Joan had worked— remember, I told you she had worked as a certified Nursing assistant, taking care of seniors. So she said, well, honey, you know, I think this, this home care business thing, taking care of seniors might be the way to go. I had no experience owning a business. Paul H. Flowers Jr. had no experience. I mean, Amway was a networking thing. So to me, it wasn't really a real business, right? And I didn't have to invest as much money. So to me, it was not a business in that sense. So what is that? So what else? So she did some research. And we decided to sign up with this franchisor. It's a nationwide franchise, franchise, a franchisor. We decided to purchase our own agency is what we decided. Now we had no money. We had a credit card. Remember, we're making more money at this point, but we had family and all those. So it wasn't enough money around.

Money in, money out.

Exactly. So we decided then purchase— we decided to use our credit card. We had a credit card. This was interesting. We had one credit card. And I think we had about $13,000. It was the max on that credit card. So we decided to get a cash advance, about $12,000 and some change to invest in this small agency. That's what we did. And with no business experience. But the franchisor told us they were going to train us how to operate and all of that. So that's how we got it. Paul, I'll tell you, it was interesting because once we got it, a few months later, I lost my job as an IT assistant. I lost my job. And my dad too just passed too. He passed, you know, a couple months later. But we felt that this was a calling from God. We finally got our own business. Let's give it a shot. I did not— I got to tell you, I did not believe in this business. I got to tell you right now, Paul, I did not. My wife did, you know. She's like, Paul, I think we can make this work. So, okay, honey. All right. So I started, you know, because I had no job, right? I went to work. I was— my wife kept her job and I was the— I was everything. I'm talking about office manager, the HR manager, absolutely, accounts payable person, the bookkeeper, the— I mean, everything we did, you know, you know, so we just, we just went to work. We started the business, matter of fact, from the basement of our townhouse, because we couldn't afford an office.

Yeah.

And then it was— so we just started from there and grew it and grew it and grew it. End of the year, I saw the tax returns. I told my wife, wait a minute, you think so? You said this thing could make this kind of money? My wife was like, I told you so. Then on, Paul H. Flowers Jr. just took off. We just put our heart and soul into it, went to work. Next year, my wife quit her job. We became full-time business owners and we just ran it and just kept growing it and growing it. From there, we bought a second franchise, a third franchise, a fourth franchise. We're on our fourth now. And I told my wife, so now we can't do this anymore. We can't, we can't be buying anymore. Let's, let's stop that because it's taking so much time and effort for us to manage it, you know, people to do that. Well, I said, now let's, let's stop at 4 and kind of grow this and serve people. So that's what we do at this home care company and agency we have. We own a bunch of them under one umbrella. So we always— right now we are— I think we have about North, 300 to 400+ folks working for us or working with us. Amazing.

Yeah.

You know, team, we call them team members. I mean, they're not really our— they're not our employees. We call them the team members, part of the team. Yeah. And then we serve— we've served thousands of clients over the years. We've been in business 22, 23 years plus right now, Paul, is what we've been doing. And it's been a labor of love, man. I think that the biggest thing you can do is serve. Okay, when you serve, you help other folks be better. I think you're a better person. I mean, and I think that's what you do here. So that's what we do. We're just loving, you know, and we've just been doing, just pouring our hearts into serving people, you know, just being folks that can help their own, you know, the seniors. Like I said, some of them don't have family members around them, Paul. We are their family, right? I mean, some of these folks, I mean, and I'll tell you some of the stories down the road, but it's just, it's so It's so fulfilling when you're doing something that is about caring and serving people and you're getting paid for it. So we fall in love with it. It was a business that, like I said, you know, initially I didn't know it was going to work out, but then when I saw what was happening, I just thank God for it every day, you know, because it's given us a chance to care for other people in time of need. So that's where we've been and that's where we're going. So where are we today? Paul H. Flowers Jr.: Paul, we'll continue to grow our home care business. Continue to serve people. And then a few years ago, after I would have been in business about 10, 12 years thereabouts, I felt a calling again on my life. Yes, God was telling me to do something more. Now, I was appreciative, and I still am appreciative of what we've done in the home care space. And I thank God for it. But God just put in my heart that there was something I could do. I became restless. Um, and so being a person of faith again, I went to God. I said, God, I don't know what you want me to do. I mean, I thank you what you've given me, me and my wife, you know. Uh, but I don't know, I just, I'm so bored. I feel tired. I feel that I don't love what this— what we're doing. I still want to do what we're doing, but I just feel like there's something. I mean, I want to do more. Please lead me. And you know, when you ask God, he does respond. You gotta be willing to listen though, right? Absolutely. And so one day I was walking, going out in the mornings. I usually go out for walks. So I was walking and I was listening to something on YouTube. And this gentleman came on. And this gentleman came on from Canada, one of the— one of my mentors, he became my mentor. And he said that a lot of us don't succeed in life because we don't know where we're going. We don't have a goal. We don't know. We don't know. He says we're ignorant. So what do you mean ignorant? He said, yeah, ignorance is not a bad thing. It just means you don't know. Right? Everybody's ignorant of something.

Exactly.

I said, okay, okay. He said, no, ignorance is not a bad thing. It just means you don't know. What drives ignorance away? Knowledge. Wow, Paul H. Flowers Jr. I was like, okay, okay, that's my man right there. And then he went on to say that it's like darkness. We have darkness.

What drives the darkness?

Light does.

That's it.

Okay. So Paul, long story short, I signed up for his course, his year-long coaching program. And I was hooked. He told me that you could— I could be anything I wanted to be, I was willing to work for it. That most of the work was internal. It was on me.

Yes.

That I had to be more so I can do more so I can have more in my life. That changed. That changed the whole story for me, Paul. In fact, this gentleman became my second father.

Okay.

I mean, because the first, my first mentor in my life is my dad. He's of late now.

Absolutely.

But this gentleman become my second because he made such a difference in my life. You know, he expanded my mind and I realized I could be anything I wanted to be if I could, if I was willing to work on me. Because it was the way I showed up in life determined everything that happened to me. You know, Paul H. Flowers Jr., when I give my talk, sometimes I talk about determining factors. And contributing factors. You have contributing factors are things like, you know, where you were born, you know, the weather, the economy, you know, you know, and we get to give you a job or not, whether Paul invites me to podcast or not, whatever, those are contributing factors. Determining factors, Paul, are integrity, what you want. You know, the fact that you show up, okay. Okay, your desire to make things happen, your desire to take responsibility, those are determined because those determine how far you're going to go. They're not the fact— I mean, determining factors are the final story. Contributing factors are not because you could either choose to ignore them and go around them, go under them, or go through them. Come on. So, so Paul, so that's what happened. So this gentleman just changed my life, Paul. He changed my life. And so I took his course after his program, his coaching program. Which lasted a year. Matter of fact, when I took it, Paul, my wife did not know. I signed up for his program, Paul, unbeknownst to my wife. But she started to see the change in me.

Okay.

Yeah, the transformation began. All right. I was talking to her differently. I was showing up differently for certain things. I was responding differently. And this gentleman told me something, Paul. He taught me that there's a big difference between responding and reacting. 100%. He said that when you react, you give your power away.

Come on.

When you respond, you keep your power, your control. I said, okay. So that's the kind of language I wanted, Paul, because it just helped me change who I could be internally. Remember the work I talked about, the internal work we have to do? The be, do, have?

Absolutely.

So I could do more. So I could have more. And so essentially, Paul, after this program, I just told my wife, join me in the course of this program too. My wife did join. And she was like, okay, this sounds good. This is something, you know, I like this, because, hey, I told you, she's— I mean, she got a master's degree in international finance. She's not dumb, right? So she knows what she's doing. So she joined me and liked it. And eventually, you know, got into another program. And then she was able to write her book, Which is, it's on Amazon, Paul. It is an international bestseller. Money. Bring it up.

Bring it all the way close to the camera just so that the blur doesn't.

Is it there?

Is that Money Locates You?

Yes.

Okay. Perfect. Perfect.

It is. It is on Amazon, Paul. It's on Amazon. Matter of fact, Paul, this is what I'm gonna do for you. You and your listeners. I will give you, um, a free e-version of the book for you and your, you and your audience.

Oh, amazing. They can download it. Thank you.

I'll get you that. But anyways, Paul, so she was able to write that book. It was because of what we had become. Hence, we could do this. So there's, you know, we, you know, and then so we decided, you know, eventually decided to start our own coaching company, helping other people just like us, because we figured, hey, if we had this void in us, this ignorance, if you will, right, that was that this gentleman helped me to, you know, get rid of because of knowledge. How many of us need this kind of guidance out there? Period. That's why we launched a coaching program called Premier. It's a company called Premier Destiny LLC. Okay. And, uh, you know, it's easy to get us. Just go askjohnandpaul.com. You can get to us, but I'll, you know, I'll give you all that information. Paul, you'll be able to put it in the show notes. So that's always— yeah, so we went there, we started there. We've been working with other folks, we've worked with some folks that are in the home care space, some folks that just want to— so just business owners, and just some visionaries out there, folks out there that want to just be more, they want to bring out the best versions of who they are, we serve them too. Because I think the most— I think, you know, we believe in a couple of things, Paul, at Premier Destiny. We believe that there's greatness in in each and every one of us. And our mission is to enlighten people, empower them, and inspire them to bring out the greatness that we know resides in each and every one of us so that they can lead and live a life of abundance and fulfillment. Because that's what we're called to do. We all have greatness in us. If you don't know you have it, I always say this, Paul, it's almost like, you know, it's almost like the president, you know, I mean, it could be this one or the one before, invited to a state dinner, but you never got an invitation. Well, they invited you, but you know, if you don't know you invited, you ain't gonna show up. Absolutely.

Exactly.

I mean, and then think about a connection you could have made if you were there. Think about it. Exposure. Think about— but that's what I'm talking about. We have so much in us, you know, that, uh, and we don't— oftentimes we don't know. I mean, like I said, my wife and I were ignorant of that. Until this gentleman was able to guide us to bring it out. We were ignorant. We did not know. You know, we did not know. But then when you find somebody that can say, hey, you know, you're great, you can be great, the potential is in you, which the potential is in everyone of us. How do you bring it out? And so Paul H. Flowers Jr., that's where we went. And we grew our business, our home care business to over 8 figures. Okay. Yeah, over 8 figures, what we're doing. And But our goal, our mission, we believe, is to serve. And we think that— we believe that with the coaching business we've started, you know, that just takes that service to another level. You know, it gets us to talk to folks like yourself, Paul, and really beautiful people like you, fine people like you that also open doors for other people and just serve people. Because, you know, at the end of the day, Paul, I don't want to die with my music in me.

Come on.

I don't want, you know, I don't want to do that. I want to be loving. Put it out there, sir. I want to put it out there, Paul, you know, because I think that is in the service of all of us that you discovered the joy that's in you. And we all have that. We all have that, Paul. I could not sing as well as Barry White. That's his gift. But what is my gift? What do I bring to the world? I think we all have it. Let's support each other so we can bring that greatness out, because at the end of the day, it's what you do for others that count. Because I think in, in doing that, you discover your happiness. And I think happiness is what we all want at the end of the day.

Oh man, I'm thrilled, I'm thrilled. Um, Paul, we are definitely two peas in the proverbial pod. Thanks. You share your story, I realize even more similarities. I didn't realize that you'd gotten your start in Amway, the direct sales space. And oftentimes people are turned away from direct sales, network marketing, because of the whole pyramid thoughts and not realizing that, hey, you're, you're in a pyramid whether you know it or not. Hey man, I'm serving someone else's.

Yes.

Or you're at the top. So let's talk about that. You know, you transitioned from that entrepreneurship— well, you transitioned directly into entrepreneurship, if I heard that correctly. So yes, you worked in security, um, but you'd come right out of school and you went right into entrepreneurship. Like, weren't there some, some hesitations? Like, didn't you think that a secure job should have been the first step? Or, you know, what really was the, the driving force to go the entrepreneur route right away?

Thank you, Paul. Great question, brother. Great question. Paul, it was a bunch of things. I felt that I was in a country, in America, where I could do whatever I wanted to do. Okay. I was hungry, brother. I was hungry. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired, man. I was sick. Matter of fact, let me tell you what happened. One time, Paul, I was being a security guard, remember, when I was going to college. And the local NFL team, the Washington Redskins, used to be the Redskins back then. They won the Super Bowl. Okay, this was in the early '90s, Paul. And this gentleman came in, you know, because I was working on weekends. He came in and said, and I was excited, man, you know, do you know the Redskins have won the Super Bowl? I was all excited, all jacked up. He looked at me and he said, Paul, this is Antonio, Paul, do you own some Redskins stock? I said, excuse me? He said, do you own some Redskins? Do you stand to win or lose if they, do you You starting to make some money off of this? They win or lose? I mean, what, what, you got some skin in the game? Why are you all excited? It's okay. Oh, okay. I get it now. Oh, okay. Somebody making the money, but I'm excited. So you see, what am I saying, Paul? See, these were all nuggets, if you will, that God absolutely was sprinkling on my path. Okay, that do more. I mean, this is not, you know, you gotta be part of it, you know, you know. So to ask your question, Paul, like I said, it was a bunch of things. It was— I was just sick and tired of being sick and tired. I wanted more for my life. I knew that I was called to do more than a security guard or leasing consultant. Okay. I mean, or engineer, computer person. I was— I wanted to do more. I was— matter of fact, I mean, I used to work— I was a dedicated employee like a lot of us are. Okay. I showed up for work on time, did my work, even stayed over, worked overtime. But, you know, I realized I was making less than half of, less than a quarter of what my employer was charging. And I don't fault my employee, I'm grateful.

That's the model.

I got a job. Okay. I'm grateful I had a job, but I'm just saying that I said, wait a minute, why don't I try to get 50%? Well, you gotta be a partner to get 50%, you know, if you, so I was, you know, I wanted more for my family. I wanted more for me. I wanted more control of my own time. I want a situation where if I want to take some time off, I want to ask the boss for the time. Exactly. Okay. And matter of fact, Paul, to be honest with you, because I was getting such a low pay, I did not take any time off. In fact, they paid me for my vacation to keep on working. Okay. I didn't take much time off at all. Okay. So especially on holidays, I worked extra because, you know, you got overtime for that, for that time, holidays, right? That's what happened. Double time. That's right. Hey, I did, and I worked. I didn't have— but I realized that that was not the way it was going to be forever. I wanted more, okay? I was in a country where you could have more. I saw other folks on TV having more, and that's— well, if they could have more, what about me? But I needed someone to help me bring that out, you know? Now we have failures. We, like I said, like I told you, everything did not work for us, but I learned some lessons. Okay, to me, challenges or failures, you want to call it that, failures to me, I call them challenges, you know, it's just, it just sounds better, right? I call them challenges, I don't call them failures. To me, I look at them as tollgate, the toll you pay on your way. I look at challenges and failures as feedback. What did I learn from this situation? How am I going to do better? You see, Paul H. Flowers Jr., it's all about our philosophy. How we look at life, right? I mean, hey, hey, getting out of bed is a challenge. Think about it, Paul. I mean, getting across the street is a challenge.

It is, right?

You're gonna get on a plane to a wedding, you know, in a couple, you know, in a couple days, right? I think tomorrow, whatever you're gonna— that's a challenge, right? I mean, but should that stop you?

No, not at all.

It shouldn't. How do we get around this, this waste? I mean, And I believe this, Paul. If others can do it, so can I.

100%. 100%.

We got, we got to figure out how. So our philosophy is going to be one of growth, one of aspiration, one of getting over things, you know, overcoming. Because it is like, if Paul can do it, if Paul H. Flowers Jr. can do it, or T can do it, everybody else can do it. But we need to, we need, we, we need to buy into that though, because you see, I believe in one thing, Premier Desmond, what we believe is that, what we believe in is that you're one decision away. One. And Paul, you got, and if not now, when? If not you, who? You gotta bet on yourself, Paul. You gotta bet, ain't nobody gonna do it for you.

This is true.

Nobody's gonna do it for you. You gotta do it. Give it a shot.

That's the truth.

The worst that's gonna happen is that if it don't work, guess what? You didn't learn lessons. Think about it, Paul. How many experiments did Thomas Edison do, conduct to make, to come up with the electric bulb?

Was it 10,000?

There you go. There you go. There you go. You see what I'm saying? I mean, do we remember him for the failures or do we remember him from the success?

Definitely for the success.

Hello. Hello. So that's my message to your audience and to us, Paul. We have to fail forward, right? The guy, I mean, you know, I mean, that's the only way you're gonna make it. I mean, like I said, listen, hey, you and I, I mean, we know this. I mean, this is what we should tell everyone else. Ain't nobody coming to save us.

Not at all.

It's gonna be us. So I believe strong that it's got to be, it's up to me. That's what I learned from Amway. If it's got to be, it's up to me. And I think that, and I think that we're blessed with the health, wealth, knowledge, people around you, Paul, what you do, the media, the platform you provide us, other folks who have done it, Oprah Winfrey and all these other people who've done it. If they can do it, how about us? We got to start somewhere. We got to start somewhere. But the biggest thing that stops a lot of people, I believe, is the mindset, which I look at it as your mindset can either be your beacon or your burden. How are we using it? It goes to philosophy. It goes to philosophy again. How do we look at life? I mean, other folks can do it. Why not us? Why not you, man? The biggest investment, Paul, is in us. We have to learn to invest in ourselves because that's where you get, that's where you get the most return. Because as you know, like my mentor told me years ago, he said, do you know that the most important part of you you can't see, can't touch?

You're absolutely right about that one, and that definitely brings up a really interesting thought. We have so much in terms of opportunity that is here for us, and we'll just talk specifically in the country of America, North America, and United States specifically.

100%.

There are so many people that get stuck and They want to take that next step.

Yes.

But for whatever reason, something stops them. Now, you mentioned mindset. So if you would, let's talk about how a person that is maybe that has a desire, right, but has a little bit of trouble getting started. Again, you coach executives, you're in this space of transformational leadership and growth. How would you suggest that a listener that's out there that might just be on the cusp of greatness, and greatness for them might just be getting started, So for that person that's on the cusp of greatness, how would you guide and direct them in taking those first steps?

Fantastic question, Paul. As usual, fantastic question. Uh, Paul, I think that, um, as, uh, the former coach of the Miami Dolphins used to say, it's a start that stops most people. It's a start that stops most people. Um, I think that you've prayed— I'm a person of faith, I'm I'm sure you are too, Paul. And what I think is that once you've prayed, you've meditated, and God has led you to a passion of yours, something you want to do, there are a lot of resources out there. The first book I recommend someone reads, you know, someone like that, is try to just get Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I have copies here in my home office. Think and Grow Rich. Yeah, there you go. That— yeah, you're right, you got it. That's right, that's right, that's right. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. Read that book. Start watching YouTube, um, messages. Paul's messages of the— his podcast is inspirational. Listen to what Paul H. Flowers Jr. has to say. You're gonna get guidance over there.

Watch—

get on YouTube, man. Look at the inspiration. You get so much knowledge in there that you're not gonna believe it, you know. Start trying to set some goals. What do you want to do? Get into habits. You see, success leaves trails. Okay, you can tell. So you want to have some habits that are helping you move the needle. You want to have a regular time for reading. I spend at least half an hour, at least an hour a day reading, just improving your mind. Because once you grow your mind, once they say when you stretch your mind, you know, it can never go back to where it was before. Right? You want to grow your mind. I would get into, like I talked about, regular reading program. I would spend time every morning just in meditation asking God, what do you want from me? How can you guide me? Because the answers are all within, Paul. Oftentimes we're not asking, oftentimes we're not listening. Or we may not want to hear. But you know, I believe that it's not in our timing, it is in his timing. We have to keep showing up to receive that. So reading is important. Get around the right people, okay? You may not physically be able to be there, but you can sign up for Paul's podcast. You can listen to Paul's podcast and listen and get some inspiration that way. You don't have to— we have all this available to us. Read. Like I said, I talked about the YouTube podcast. Get away from people that are negative, people that don't believe in you. People that are going to support you, people that will not inspire you, get away from them. I tell you, Paul, one of— and that's a big one too. It could be somebody right in your family, matha, right in your household, right, Paul? We've all been there, right? And so—

inches away.

Exactly. So I think the most important thing is, like I talked about before, determining factors and contributing factors. Okay? You want to limit those contributing factors as much as you can. And don't worry about it. Everybody's got to pass. I mean, like they told us in Amway, do you know why this windshield is larger than the rearview mirror? Because where you're going is more important than where you've been.

More important than where you've been. Come on. I love it. I love it. So you know, you've had some great mentors in your life. And apparently, it's taken those mentors, like you've mentioned before, to help you grow, to help you expand your way of thinking. Now, you did take one of those courses without the knowledge of the missus, and apparently that's right, it worked so well. She could see the differences in you. So let's talk about that because, you know, I like to talk about all of what makes a person a person.

Yes.

Talk to us about how your high school sweetheart, right, how having that support system in the home has also led to you all's success.

Thank you, Paul. Again, she— I, I would say, again, you know, I've known her for I'd say 40 years.

Okay.

And my wife, my lovely wife, Joan. And, you know, it's not all been, you know, you know, we've had challenges along the way, just like any marriage has been, right? I mean, you know, we're two different people, right? And when you get together, there's some things that we don't see eye to eye on. But I got, I gotta say this, I'm blessed because on the important things in life, we do see eye to eye. And I think that makes— that's made all the difference in the world. She supports me, I support her 100%, who believes that both of us have values, that we have gifts, if you will, that we're allowed to shine on our lives. Okay, the things that she's great at, the things that I'm great at. I'm a great visionary. Okay, that's who I am. And she knows that. And so, you know, she allows me that space. I think the most important thing Paul H. Flowers Jr. has helped us is that we value each other, we respect each other, we honor each other's growth, each other's contribution to what we do. We, um, we don't try to outshine one another, we don't try to shame one another, right? I mean, we try to lift up each other most of the time. Now, I'll be lying to you if I said it was 100%. No, you know, but then the point is, is that, uh, because of the love, because of the respect we have for one another, we seek to highlight the goodness in each one of us, because we all have it. We have our challenging days too, you know. So that's a big thing. But anyways, to your point, she's a person that's about success. She's about doing more. She's very entrepreneurial, you know, very smart. I married up, Paul. I married up.

I married up. Okay, that's good advice.

And yes, yes, I did marry up.. And I'm thankful for it. Thankful for it. She does not boss me around. You know, I'm the, you know, we're Christians, you know, people of faith. So believe that I'm the head of the household. And that's, that's, hey, it ain't my calling, it's God's calling, right? Right. I'm the head of the household. But I don't, I don't do things without consulting my wife. She's a very important part of what I do, a very important part of my journey, my success. And we've been blessed with 3 wonderful kids that I learned learned these lessons, you know, because we believe that once the home front is taken care of, that you can face whatever challenges out there, you know, but the home front is, is, is not taken care of, you know, boy, you walking out of there, man, you know, you confuse anything, any, anything that you could have taken care of would, is liable to destroy your day. So we try to from the get-go from the home, we try to just make sure that we're on the same side, you know, on the same team, if you will, right? And then so we can then be able to face the rest of the world out there. And it's always for good. You know, she's a person of faith I talked about before. She believes in the goodness of all of us. She believes in helping folks bring out the best in themselves. And that's what we do. We walk our talk, Paul, is what we do here. And like I told you, I showed you her book. You know, I don't have mine out yet, but it will be. I mean, you know, like I said, I'll start with it. It will be out there. But I, you know, I support her. I promote her because, you know, I mean, I often say that with us, it's like a pants with two pockets, right? I mean, hey, if you put in the right pocket or left pocket, it's same pants, same pair of pants in it. You know, that's how I look at life, you know. And so she's been a support. She pushes me to excel. I push her to excel. We have challenges, we may have misunderstandings, but at the end of the day, we try to just meet, you know, we choose the best option that works for us, you know, which is about promoting us as a unit. Okay. I mean, it's like I said, we work, we've been running the business together. She's the CEO of a home care company. I'm the CEO of a coaching company, but we work together because we've realized that, I mean, it's possible. You know, if you have your mindset right and you want to do it, because, you know, everything comes from desire, Paul. I think everything comes from desire, man. You know, I mean, nothing's impossible to them that believe it. Okay. Nothing is. If we believe it, we can make it happen, you know. But if it's about ego, getting all the credit, that's kind of where the challenge comes in, you know. You know, but I highlight her for her greatness and she highlights me for my greatness. And that's how we do it.

Man, that compatibility is key. And on a side note, I will be launching another segment to this podcast called Author's Alley. So author's alley segment, I would love to have your wife on to discuss the book specifically. And for that, you know, I'll make sure that I get the link. You'd mentioned sharing the ebook link so that we can all take a read. This way I'll be able to read it and have some good notes and some intelligent questions to ask her about that process, about the journey, about all things within the book. And then of course, again, give the readers the opportunity to capture that as well. Uh, so with that.

And I was gonna add, I was gonna add this, Paul, thank you. Thank you. I'll let her know. And Paul, I think you're gonna love this. I think you and your audience are gonna love this book because it's very spirit, it's very, it's very, it's very God-centered. Okay, it's about, you know, it's the word she felt, and she will tell you that when she gets you, when you're able to get on that. She felt like she was just, it was inspiration from God coming out of her. She wrote this book in less than, I would say, less than 6 months.

Okay.

Okay. Which was, I mean, it was shorter than that, but it was just, she was inspired to write it. So you're going to, when I send it to you, you'll be able to, and then you see that and you'll be able to talk to her and bring that up. But sorry.

Perfect. And you know, you led me into the next question that I had, which you mentioned several times and it's, it's kind of a given at this point. We all know this of you just from your conversation and how it comes out in your character, but I'd love for you to speak directly to the audience in regards to how important faith has been and how you've had to lean on that faith in trials and tribulations, like those tough times as you were building both of the respective businesses?

Paul H. Flowers Jr.: It's been everything. It's been everything. My faith has been everything. You know, I believe that— I believe in the goodness of God. I believe that every challenge that he puts me through, or anyone else through, is to make us better. You know, I'm a regular churchgoer. You know, I don't just go to church, but I practice my faith.

Okay.

And so when I see things come up, you know, we pray on a regular basis. We believe in His greatness, His goodness. We believe in that He's there to support and guide us. And even before this session with you, this interview with you, Paul H. Flowers Jr., I prayed. I asked for divine guidance so that the words from my mouth and the exchange we have should be impactful. Because, you know, Paul, I believe that we should be about the business of building one up, which other, and building society up, you know, and that's his word. That's God's word. Right? I mean, I think that once you, you get yourself out of the way, your ego out of the way, okay, then you, then you, I think the goodness of what you, the message that you try and put out comes out because it's not about you anymore. You know what, go ahead.

Let's stay in that vein for a second. And, uh, you know, just a couple quick questions because we know we're nearing the top of the hour, and I definitely want to extend this further. So I think, you know, we might go past my usual time.

Okay.

But again, you've got so much value that you bring to the listeners that I'd be remiss if I didn't continue to pull a little bit more, right?

Thank you.

You can pour a little bit more into these listeners. So on the topic of faith, you know, tell us about one of the unexpected moments that God used to actually shift the entire trajectory of your life?

Uh, I'll tell you, Paul, um, let me give you something that was very recent to us. Um, COVID. Okay, Paul H. Flowers Jr., COVID, um, almost knocked our home care business, you know, out. We were this close. Okay, you know, as you know, COVID folks not want you coming to the home, right? I mean, we're in that business of going to people's homes to take care of them. They did not want us to come there because they thought, you know, because of what was out there, we could bring illness to the homes. And perfectly right. That was the thinking out there. A lot of folks couldn't go out, so they took care of their parents or whatever at the house, right? I mean, so we couldn't go out. We lost a lot of business. We almost shut down the business. Matter of fact, We had let folks off for a period of time.

Okay.

We prayed about it, prayed about it. And then God opened up some doors for us financially. That helped us overcome that, this, because God knew the good work we were doing. That writer could have knocked out everything.

Right, right.

And then secondly, Paul, I told you about the the gift of getting into this coaching business. I was guided, you know. I don't think things just happen, you know, like that. They don't. When I was going through my period where I was wondering what I could do, what God had in store for me, you know, and I went to him, I said, Lord, lead me, show me the way. Because I was, I was not, I was not 100% up in our home care business at that time. I mean, I was showing up, But my mind was someplace else. He led me to this gentleman that spoke some words into me that changed the trajectory of my life today. That's God. We had a contract, we had a contract that we were working on for the county in my state, and the person that was in charge of that contract quit. Okay, she quit. Right. And that could have— we could have lost that whole contract. This is a multi-million dollar contract we have. God sent us somebody else. We prayed about it, you know, said, God, this is where we are. This— I mean, we— what are we going to do? He sent us someone else that came. In fact, this lady was working for us, but we offered that position. No, she's— when we talked about this, She saw what was happening and she offered to take on this new position to save the contract. Paul, it's not about me, it's not about Joan. I mean, this is bigger than me and Joan. This is God's calling. I mean, we don't— if I don't recognize that, I'm a fool. It's God, it's not me. It's not me, Paul. I mean, me be on your show today, Paul, I mean, you and I had to cancel the last time because you were not feeling well, if you remember.

Absolutely.

You said, Paul, listen, come on again, we'd like to talk. That's God's calling. Me being on podcast, I was led, someone led me to do podcasting. This is not something I'm gonna— Paul, just so you know, I'm a very— I don't like, I don't like the word introvert because it's kind of negative, but I'm a very private person, Paul. I'm very private. I don't like to get out there and talk about me. I don't like it. But you know, God said, well, Paul, you need to do this. 'Cause some folks need to hear your story. It might inspire somebody.

Oh, absolutely.

Somebody inspired me. I mean, I'm just paying it forward. Someone inspired me, Paul H. Flowers Jr., to do what I'm doing here today. I'm not here because, I mean, I'm, I love to do what I do because I see the impact it's having out there. But that was initially, I'm a very quiet, reserved, I don't wanna be out there, do my thing. Just that's, but God has called me to even season. You talk about season in your show. This is a new season for me, Paul. And I think that part of the greatness of us, you know, part of our growth, if you will, is recognizing that our life has seasons.

That's right.

Right. I mean, you know, not just age-wise, but, you know, we change in thought, you know, we change in what we do, we change how we show up. So God has always been a part of my life. I mean, I'm Christian, born Christian. But I think I'm seeing him even more now. Because I'm more aware. I'm more aware, Paul, because of my growth.

Excellent. So with that, you know, we're going to, um, again, start to land the plane here. A lovely question I like to ask— what are the few questions I like to ask? I want to get to my, my usual staple question of the show in just a minute, but before we go there, tell us what's next, right? What's next for you, Paul, uh, personally, prophetically, entrepreneurially? What's next for you?

Great question, Paul. Great question again. Uh, Paul, I, uh, I lead by the law. I lead— I follow what the Lord leads me to do. Right now, what the Lord has put in my heart is to serve. June and I have a commitment to serve and help through our Premier Coaching. We want to be able to serve a million people within the next 10 years so that they can share—

share—

want to be able to share a message of hope. A message of inspiration, a message of overcoming. We want to let folks know that they can be who they want to be, so they can do what they want to do, so they can have what they want to have. Folks, you know, Paul H. Flowers Jr., this world is about abundance. It's an— we live in an abundance universe. If we don't know that, how are we going to be able to take advantage of it? How are we going to take advantage? Think about it, Paul. All the humans in the world, Do we ever run out of fish? You ever heard that? I never heard that. Do we run out of air?

I never heard it.

I mean, you, you, you, when you plant one seed of corn, you don't get just one apple, you get bushels, don't you? Absolutely. We live in an abundant universe, and our message at Premier Destiny is that we— there's greatness in each and every one of us. Greatness. There's greatness in each and every one of us. We have to— let's bring it out so that we can enjoy this universe and be a good force in life. Because if you have more, you can do more. You can be more generous with your time, you can do more for other people. But if you don't have, you struggle to survive. Exactly. If you struggle to survive, how can you help somebody else? We've heard this thing about charity begins at home. But I mean, hey, listen, if I'm still trying to take care of me, how am I going to be able to help you? I can't. And that's what we are about at Bizness. That's our charge. That's my mission. You know, listen, Paul, this coaching is not just a call. It's not just, it's not just coaching for us. It's not just a career. This to us is a calling. This is to us is the ultimate calling. Because when you inspire somebody to be the best they can be, you've not just helped that person, you've helped generations after that person. And who's, how many people is that person going to touch? It's immeasurable, right? Who they're going to touch out there. I mean, what you're doing, Paul H. Flowers Jr., you don't know the impact. You cannot count the impact, right? You're gonna have out there. As some preachers have said, you know, anybody can count the seed in an apple, but only God can count the apples in the seed. I love it.

I love it. You know what, that with that one, let's, let's go ahead and bring it home for our listeners. Paul H. Flowers Jr., I just want to thank you so much for taking the time with us today. Again, I'm looking forward to, uh, more great works for you. I've got a few questions, a few things that I'd like to end the show with. First and foremost, it's amazing to have such a distinguished gentleman such as yourself on our show. And in my research, there were some things that I could find and there were some things that I couldn't find. Okay, so a question I like to ask our guests is one that is to me, something that opens us up, something that connects us as a part of our story. And as I've come to learn, sometimes the answer to this question is no answer, and even that is a story. So it's a very straightforward, really simple question, Paul.

Okay.

And again, I'll talk about the context once you respond.

Okay.

Tell us, what's your middle name?

Oh, middle name is Nkechi. Okay. It's called— it's pronounced Nke. That's my middle name.

Yeah. N-K-E-H.

Yes. Okay.

And it's pronounced Nke.

Okay. Yes.

I love it. Is there a story behind that? What can you tell us about the origin?

No, it's actually my dad's— it's my grandfather's name.

Okay.

And you know, in African culture, we tend to name folks after parents or grandparents and things of that nature. So it is my grandfather's name. Yeah. And my dad decided to bestow upon me., and I'm grateful for it.

Excellent, excellent. Well, I appreciate you sharing that with us. And again, the reason why I bring that question up is because we're in business world, right? Absolutely. That, that first and last name, right? First name, last name. Every document, first name, last name. You might get a middle initial, but you typically only know the middle names of the people that are closest to us— our correct spouses, children, parents, and some best friends, maybe a good close cousin. Typically it's somewhere between 5 and 10, and I've been researching this for a while and that's been holding up pretty true. So I use that question as a way to both connect personally— interpersonally, I should say— and as far as this show on this platform, it's a way for those listeners out there to really connect with you on a level that most people wouldn't be able to in just a usual exploration of your sites. So with that, how can our listeners reach you? What's the best way for them to connect with you again, on and offline?

Paul H. Flowers Jr.: Paul, it's easy. They can just go to Premier Destiny. In fact, I'll put— I think I'll put the— you probably put our, our website in the show notes, I suppose, premierdestiny.com, or— and it's Premier with an E— or it's easy, just go to Ask Joan and Paul, it's all together, at www.askjoanandpaul.com. And paul.com. Like I told you, if you go there, they go there, just sign up, they'll be able to get access to my wife's book, which I talked about, the international bestseller, Look Money, Look at You. They'll get it for free, the ebook version, they'll get that free. And we have a bunch of affirmations in there that will help them rewire their mind for success, for prosperity, for abundance.

Excellent. Excellent. So for this last minute or two here, Paul H. Flowers Jr., I don't necessarily want to prompt— I don't have a question per se. It's more or less an offering for you to simply share whatever is on your heart, whatever God's calling you to share, for about a minute or two, if you would just talk to the listeners and, and share a message with them.

Thank you, Paul. Uh, thank you again for this wonderful opportunity to be on your platform. Uh, you know, you're a blessing to all of us, and I don't take this lightly at all. So thank you very By the way, folks, I believe there's greatness in you. Let's bring it out. You know, we believe there is a more powerful version of you waiting to come out. It's in there, a version that's free of limitations, full of purpose, and ready to impact the world. At Premier Destiny, we help with home care owners and other business folks, professionals, and everyday visionaries harness their God-given gifts to be more, do more, and have more. This isn't just coaching for us, folks. It's not. It's a calling, and we're ready to walk with you. If you're ready to stretch your thinking, grow your impact, and live abundantly, let's talk. Folks, you're one decision away. One decision away from the life you truly want. If not now, when? If not you, who? No one's going to come to save you. You are going to do it. And you have— we believe strongly that you're equipped to do it, but you have to— you need guidance, and we're there to help you. Folks, I encourage you to bet on yourself. It's the surest way to win and the biggest way to win. If you bet on yourself, you can change and improve your situation. Let us help you make it happen. Folks, if June and I could do it, so can you. You're one decision away. Let's make it happen because there's greatness in you. Thank you, Paul.

Excellent, excellent. And again, Paul, thank you so much for joining us on today. Uh, listeners, this has been another episode of The Everyday Entrepreneur here on the Pope Replays podcast show. Again, I'm your host, Paul H. Flowers Jr. And again, I want to be thankful to each and every ear heart, mind, soul that is hearing the sound of our voices. Because again, you can spend your time doing anything else and you choose to spend it with us. So for that, we're grateful. We love you. We care for you. We appreciate you. And until next time, bye for now.

Bye for now. Thank you so much, Paul. Appreciate it.

Absolutely.