In this solo motivational monologue, Richard Milligan shares his personal story of growing up in poverty, the vow he made at 19 to break that cycle, and how that commitment fuels his current work. He describes his relentless pursuit of wealth‑building knowledge—reading a book a week—and the statistical reality that 89% of children born into poverty remain there, underscoring his drive to be among the 11% who escape. Milligan explains that his purpose is twofold: (1) to empower and equip recruiting leaders—whom he views as having the most demanding role in any organization, juggling 15‑17 critical “balls,” many of them “glass” and potentially disastrous if dropped—and (2) to create a legacy for his four children by teaching them wealth principles and breaking generational poverty. He stresses the importance of being "all‑in" with a clear why, continuous growth, and a commitment to serve at all costs. The talk ends with a call for listeners to clarify their own why, adopt an all‑in mindset, and recognize the high‑stakes nature of recruiting leadership.
Chapters
Hey everybody, it's Richard Milligan here with 4C Recruiting. Hi. I had to jump on the mic, and here's why I had to jump on the mic. I was in my office last night at 2:30 AM. Okay, uh, long day yesterday. A phenomenal day, but long day. Okay, my first meeting was at 6 AM. I guess I would have said the next day, but, but it was the current day. Okay, so I was— I got a couple hours sleep, back up, back at them. Next day, very similar. That hap— that happens to be this moment that I'm recording this message. Look, for those of you that are all in on where you are, there are reasons why you're all in. Why I am all in where I am right now is because I'm very clear on why I'm doing what I'm doing. Let me tell you my story. So I was raised in poverty. We— I remember getting electricity shut off. I remember getting— being moved from place to place, having to leave because we couldn't afford the rent. I remember eating government food. Some of our best moments are where people actually bought groceries for us and filled our pantry. I remember looking in the pantry as a kid and nothing being there. When I left home at the age of 19, one of the things that I vowed is I would never live like that. And part of that was based out of like being angry because I had to grow up in that environment. But what I want to tell you today is this: over my journey the last whatever— I left home at the age of 19, I'm now 48— so in that journey of almost 30 years, one of the things I've been clear on this is that legacy to me is being able to give someone a platform to stand on that removes this ceiling for where they could go. It's empowering. Part of it's empowering them. Part of this is equipping them. And one of the things that I vowed in my generation that I would do is equip my kids to build wealth, equip my kids to understand wealth. And I have pursued knowledge at a high, high level. I take in About a book per week through Audible. And, and I do that because when I arrived on the scene basically on my own at the age of 19, I had no wealth-building knowledge. I had no success knowledge. I only knew what I'd seen at that point. And what I realized as I began to study data is that 89% of kids that are born in poverty live in poverty their entire life. They never break that cycle. Only 1 out of 10, approximately 11%, will break that cycle. When I became aware of that and I was determined to not be that, I realized this would be extremely hard for me. The reason why I am so driven is because when I look in the faces of my 4 kids, when I look in the faces of my wife, what I realize is that doing what I'm doing in a first generation of breaking a cycle is extremely hard because I'm accomplishing more than just building wealth, right? I'm having to educate myself. I'm having to find the people that actually have good information that I can actually take and use in my own life. I'm having to find mentors. I'm having to build people around me, right? We say that we are the— we become the sum of the closest 5 people around me. I had to go find 5 people that I would actually want to become the sum of. And so all of that, right, coming to this place where like all of that is where I am today. The reason why I work so hard is because I realize I'm still today breaking a cycle. Okay, even where I've made it, and I think if I at the age of 19, I would have thought at the age of 48 I was here, I would have arrived. I would have been like, that's the peak, the pinnacle. Okay, what I realize is that I'm in this process right now of teaching my kids how to handle wealth. Okay, it's very difficult to teach an 11-year-old some wealth principles, but I'm doing it. And so I challenge each one of you in a couple areas. One, Be clear on why you're doing what you're doing. The reason why I'm so freaking passionate about what I do, which is what I do is I serve the recruiting leader community, is because I'm clear on that why. There's 2 big pieces of that why. One, I believe the recruiting leader has the most difficult job in any organization, and that's saying a lot, okay? Because I started this organization, right? And I know anyone who starts an organization has a difficult difficult road to build the organization. So the first person has a very difficult job. But what I would say is that as a recruiting leader, what I know about you is that you've got 15 to 17 balls in the air at all times. 3 of those balls are probably on fire right now as you're watching this video. You know, a couple of those are rubber balls, they'll bounce up, but most of those balls are glass balls. And if you drop them, they will break and something disastrous will happen. Okay. So the reason why I serve you is because I was in that role. Inside one industry for 15 years. I know how hard it is to juggle all those balls. And then, oh, by the way, if you aren't growing, you are dying. Because if you are in an industry like real estate or mortgages, almost 30% of your top producers could churn every single year. That's what the industry— an industry average says. Well, you arrive on the scene in 2021, 52% of Americans said they were going to change jobs this year, and you're sitting here trying to build something. With these 15 to 17 balls in the air. And now that's something that is a glass ball too, because if you're not growing, you're losing people. And so you always got to be growing. So now you've got another role, another responsibility that you have. So the reason why I'm super passionate about serving this community is because I'm clear on that, on why I would serve you. The other part is this, is that I look in the faces of my 4 kids and, and I owe them— okay, I really believe this— I owe them an opportunity. to have something more. And so what I believe is my responsibility as their father in this generation is to break the poverty cycle and to give them a platform of equipping, to give them a platform of empowering, which is that I will have something to hand to them. Proverbs says that a wise man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, not just to his kids, his first generation, but to the generational, you know, this, this wise man would pass generation on to the next generation. So not only can I have to give them something, but I have to educate them with something. And so because of that, I'm all in here. I just am. If you spent an hour with me in my coaching, you would know, like, I'm all in here. Why? Because I'm clear on those 2 things. So get clear on your why. Okay, get clear on why you would do what you would do, why you would be the best, the best at what you do. Those things will drive you. The clarity around those things will drive you. What I found is that most people Have no clue in this space, and so you know it's a it's a J O B. It's a career. They show up; they want to do well, but at any moment they couldn't be all in at all cost. And I love that framework: at all cost, okay? To be all in on something at all cost. I will break generational poverty that's attached to my my last name at all cost. I'll serve my recruiting leaders and the ones that I have the opportunity to serve. will be the best of the best in the industries that they are in. That's why I do what I do. Hope this brought some value to you. It was a rant. I'm super excited this morning. I'm passionate this morning. Coming out of a coaching session, transferring some of that energy to someone. Have a great day. Look forward to seeing you on video soon. Bye.
