The KEY SIGNS You're Going To Be SUCCESSFUL In Life | Josh York

One of my clients came in late one day and said, josh, I wish you'd come to my house. I just don't have any equipment. And I was like, wow, this is like one of those ideas where it's just so simple. Why didn't I think of it? Yeah. I'm going to get a vehicle, stock up with all the necessary equipment, go out to clients, provide them with our three Cs, convenient, customized and creative workouts. Service them anywhere. Right. We're going to bring the workout to you. Home office, pool park, place of worship, hospital, senior homes, corporations. And literally we came up. I came up with that. I got a van, wrapped it red, and here we are today. We're the fastest in the fitness space and the number one largest in home personal training franchise in the world.

Welcome to Stuck to Unstoppable, where we interview the world's foremost thought leaders to break things down in order to help you get past your hurts, habits and hangups and finally level up and move forward. I'm your host, Stephen Scoggins. Now let's go ahead and get into today's guest and our featured conversation. You're not going to want to miss it. Hey, guys, welcome back to the journey principles. As always, we are here to take you from stuck to unstoppable in any single area of life. We have a special guest. We're talking about a definition of unstoppable, definition of perseverance. That's right. Josh York, CEO of Gem Guys, one of the fastest rated companies rated by Inc. Magazine. Not 2019, but also 2020. Also the best selling offer of fuel. That's right. Strategies to help you become a successful entre and survive what it takes. Josh, what's going on, man? How you doing, dude?

Oh, listen, I appreciate you having me on the show, Steve. Thank you so much.

Oh, man. Dude, I'm loving it. So, you know, so I was. I had a chance to like, dig up a little bit and found out you're also a fellow skater, too.

Every week, man. Every single week. Every week.

Yeah. So New York looks like they're still in it.

Yeah, it's a little. It's a little strange how they're doing it now. You can't know. You can't play full ice. It's half ice. You can only do three on three with one sub. You know what? I'll take it.

That's right. It's better than. Better than watching nothing, right?

Absolutely.

Yeah. My team got. Already got eliminated. But you know what? You know, I think it would be kind of cool. You know, one of the things that we talk about a lot on this particular show for a lot. Just not just business owners, but just people in general.

Yep.

Is what it takes to grind your way forward.

Right.

I think a lot of people, you know, will get stopped right there at that beginning level of just kind of getting, you know, just like, if they kind of hit a roadblock and they won't move forward or push through, how did you find it in yourself to kind of do that?

So, you know, it's very simple. You know, business is all about mindset. Life is all about mindset. The problem is sometimes people are just so close. Like, I mean, they're so close. And what do they do? They quit.

That's right.

You know, and then what I usually do is I take them to the aisle in a supermarket where they sell marshmallows.

Yeah.

If you're going to be soft like a marshmallow, you're never going anywhere. Pain equals growth. You know, look, you know, people work out, okay? And they accept, you know, that when you work out or you're, you know, you're running or whatever you're doing, you're going to experience pain, you know? Yes.

For sure.

There's a fact. But when it comes to business or when it comes to life, people just think very differently. And, you know, business is very, very, very dirty. It's very. It's very challenging.

Yeah.

And. And obviously, you and I spoke briefly before we started this. I've done this bootstrap so I could tell you stories that will literally turn your stomach inside and out and give you ulcers instantly of what I've been through. But it all starts with believing. You have to believe in yourself. You have to have a vision. And so many people are going to tell you you can't do it. And this, See, I don't focus on anything. See, I developed a problem a long time ago, my man. I can't turn my neck. See, I just look forward. That's it. I don't look backwards. I look forward. You will make mistakes. Failing is a great thing. You know, I look at losses as victories. Yeah. Just have to, at the end of the day, use that loss and figure out what you did and make it better and don't do it again, you know?

Now, do you think this is like a DNA trait? Like, this is something that, I mean, obviously, I built mine from sleeping in a car. You built yours from on a car table. Right. So we both. We both have that. That grittiness to just keep Fighting it out. But is this, is that a trait you think that anybody can develop or.

You know.

It'S a very, it's a very good question because DNA. No, you know, I just think, you know, you know, for me, growing up was challenging. I had a rough life growing up and I wouldn't change it for anything in the world because obviously who I am. But then I do know very successful entrepreneurs who had very good lives and great families and they're very successful too. So it's not, it's not DNA. You just have to develop and understand, you know, to continue to perfect your craft over and over and over again. People like to always say practice makes perfect. I like to say practice makes permanence. You have to do things over and over and over again because it's impossible to be motivated every day. It's called discipline. You have to be disciplined.

Yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, one of the things that I think that drives all entrepreneurial success or success in general in life, no matter what you're aimed at, is the willingness to fight through the next day. Right. So because not every day is my purity pretty. Not everybody's that every day is going to be awesome. You know, there you're gonna have different adversity, you know that. It's funny, everybody has the idea that about being an entrepreneur, everybody wants to have like most the lifestyle without the work behind it. I mean, I'm sure, I'm sure you're like, you're waking up 3, 4am Every day, you know, you're taking care.

I am so to the t, like I'm so calculated that I take the same step at the same time every day that you could literally have a sniper outside my house and they would get me every single day. Let me tell you something, I don't play with any type of flu. I don't, I don't. It doesn't matter. Nothing, nothing literally stops me. Nothing when I tell you nothing. I've never taken a sick day in my life and I never plan on it. I never will ever.

I do. I mean, that's what it takes though. That's what it takes. The crazy part is now that you've experienced quite a bit of success, you know, with the business, you know, and best selling author and doing some of these other shows and things of that nature that are coming down the pipeline, all this different exciting stuff, but yet your personality hasn't shifted. You haven't gotten lax, you're still grinding, you know, where are you now grinding towards what do you think your. What do you think your end goal is?

Look, I love helping people. I gotta tell you, I love helping people. And, you know, I have, I have a folder, actually it's a couple folders now of just thank you letters that I've gotten personally from my clients of whether someone's son was bullied or someone who was trying to lose 200 pounds. We work very heavily now in the autistic community. We've done some great things with them. We just doing great things, you know. You know, we just entered into our third country. We're in the United Kingdom now. We're live and open and actually offering sessions now. And we're about to enter into two more countries. So we're going to continue just expanding and continue changing lives all over the world. So, you know, I'm never going to stop. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning a couple times than me. Very simple.

That's awesome, man. Well, tell me this, you know, you know, so I was very fortunate. I've been very blessed. None of my businesses have been directly affected by Covid. You know, I think one of the geniuses behind the model that you invented. Right. We're bringing, by bringing workouts to you. I would assume that that actually probably exploded and blew up rather than, you know, my gyms in my area have been on lockdown. They still haven't opened yet, you know, so how does Covid affected your business? How has it affected kind of how you pursue business and pursue people, etc.

Yep. So, you know, obviously, without sounding insensitive to the situation, because I did lose a very good friend of mine and one of our best franchise owners who was 30 years old with no pre existing experience conditions, Dan Spano, which is. Which is a horrible, horrible thing. But sorry to hear that. Yeah, no, it's okay. It's been very beneficial to our business. But, you know, the way I look at this is very simple.

You have two options. Okay. You pivot.

Yep.

Or you die. Yes, okay, yes, it's been beneficial. But there's always a way to make it work, you know, like. Yeah. So many people have so many excuses and they sit there and just say, oh, you know, Covid killed me. Listen, I've been mentored by some of the best in the world. That's why I am where I am today. And my mentors told me I need to furlough everybody. And I lay off everybody. I didn't lay off or furlough one person. Was it painful? It was extremely painful. And I had to do some crazy things that I had that I haven't had to do in years. Yeah, we lost. You know, we lost a couple million dollars from. From. From the whole. Yeah, sure, right now we're in a better position than we were pre Covid, but, you know, life has seasons. Yeah, but you better be built for the winter. It's very simple. And if you're not built for the winter, you're gonna get eaten by someone like me. See, let me tell you something. I'm the guy that runs through the wall. I eat the Sheetrock, the studs, and the nails, and I go on the other side, and I don't care. Even if there's brick in that wall, I'm the guy that's going on the other side, and no one's gonna stop me. So it doesn't matter who's sitting in the presidency. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what's going on in the world. There's always opportunity, but it comes here. And that's why I talk about mindset. You're going to be tested many, many times if you're an entrepreneur, over and.

Over again, over and over again, 100%.

But do you have the ability to adapt? You don't think my routine was shaken up and thrown in 700 directions? Yes, I adapted, and I figured it out. And let me tell you something. My routine didn't change. After a couple weeks, I got a new routine. I figured it out, and. And now, pretty much to some degree, I'm back to my normal routine. But you have to adapt. I always put myself in very uncomfortable situations. I do a lot of things that most people would never do. I jump in an ice bath every single day, 29 degrees. I jump in that damn thing like a hot tub. Let me tell you something. I literally. It doesn't even bother me anymore. Just like if you want to drink a certain shake or, you know, and it's like, oh, it tastes horrible. But if you keep drinking it, after a couple times, you obtain. You know, you got to get a taste for it. You have to be willing to do things other people won't do. If you want to have things other people won't have.

I'm so glad you said. My very first mentor, when I. When I started my first company, I was still homeless. Gave me a shot. And that was a. That was almost verbatim what he told me. I sat in his car. He said, steve, let me tell you something. Remember this. For rest of your life, be willing to do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can have what others don't.

It's very true.

You know, and it has guided me, dude, through so much stuff. My. My. One of my companies is a larger construction company, and it guided me through storms of housing downturns right now through Covid. And it's the same principle you're talking about. It's. You don't give up. You don't. You don't. It's not in your vocabulary.

It's almost crazy. And I know this might sound, like, totally twisted, but I know you're going to understand this. Yeah. It's almost like a game. Yeah. Like, it always works out, but you have to really believe it works out. So it's almost like success gives you, like, it leaves, like, clues for you. Yeah. There's been so many times where literally my back has been against the wall. And, you know, like, you ever see those. Like, those movies were, like, the spikes start coming in and they start closing, and then it stops right there.

Yeah.

I've had so many of those moments. Like, I've gotten hit by, like, Mac trucks at, like, 500 miles an hour, and then I got up and then I got run over them because they went in reverse. Yeah. I can tell you stories. Like, we don't even have enough time, like, to share all these stories. But I've always believed in my mind. And, like, it's funny, you know. You know, my head of my accounting department, she's been with me for a very long time, and she always like to say, I'm not a big person in cursing, but she always likes to say that, you know, we ship gold bricks because it's absolutely crazy, the things that we pull off. Yeah. And she always says, I don't know how you do it. She's lost every nail she's ever had because she's kind of been. But you just have to kind of believe it's gonna work out. I know it's kind of sound like, like, what are you saying? But it's really true. You kind of have to just believe it. I've always looked at money as water.

Yeah.

And I've just kind of, you know, because I've lost a lot of money over the years and making mistakes. But you have to really. And I'm sure you have as well.

Yeah.

You have to just kind of look at it as like. Like, water runs. Because it's a part of growing your business. You know, it's an expense to grow.

Yeah. I mean, the two things that came up my mind. So I've got this young man, his name's Connor, that works on my team for the journey principles. So that particular business units. Brilliant kid, future entrepreneur, no doubt about it. He's got the. Like, he's got. He's got the give. He's got the won't quit. He's got all that. And I remember this one time we were. We were strategizing on a whiteboard about, you know, because, you know, obviously in this side of things, there's a lot of time, energy, and resources that goes into just reaching people, just letting them know, hey, look, I'm here to help you kind of thing.

Correct.

We were going through that, and he was like, well, the dot here, the dot here, the dot here, the dot here, the dot here. Hey, we're missing this big gaping hole. And he's like, what do we do about it? I'm like, it'll work out by the time we get there. He's like, what, are you crazy?

There's no way.

I'm like, it'll work out by the time we get there.

True.

And it worked out by the time we got there.

You know, it's true. It's very. You just have. You have to. You know, and again, people are gonna. People think I'm weird when I say this kind of thing, but, like, it's like. It's almost like if you believe in it enough, the universe brings it to you. Yeah. You have to believe it enough. You have to. Absolutely. Like, when I tell you how obsessive I am over the things I think about in my mind that run through my mind 7 million times a day, it's like, not even normal, but you have to learn these qualities, really indulge in them and stare at them. And let's say you really want to get a brand new pair of shoes and you can't afford it. They're like 500 bucks or some fancy designer shoes, Okay? I would print out a picture of it. I would put it in the places you look at every day, and I would stare at it every single day and write that I. I am going to own these shoes. And literally every single day do it. Yeah, you'll get those shoes. I guarantee it. You'll get those shoes.

Yeah. It's funny. I wrote myself $100,000 check. Gosh, I was barely living in someone's mobile home, renting a room. It took me five years to cash that check. But I did cash that check.

Good for you, man. It's funny, I have something similar written out to me, that sits on top of my cabinet. It's already signed by me. It's dated out for 2025. It's a very big, very, very big check.

All right, I'm calling you in 2025 to make sure you're ready to cash it.

Oh, I will be. I wrote that check out in. No joke. 2008.

Still sitting there. Same spot.

Yeah. You know, it's funny, the other thing, I think that comes out of perseverance and just this fight. There's two things. First of all, I think that's where wisdom comes from.

If you think about all that, Think about all the stuff that we're using to help people and the stuff that we're using to try to build businesses and the things that we're going after and they won't quit mentality. Every single adversity, every single time something doesn't work, you know, there's. There's not. It's not a failure. It's a learning. It's a. It's a way to teach yourself what not to do. What was it Thomas Edison said, what it was that I just learned a thousand ways not to make a light bulb or something like that? Yep. You know, kind of thing. And the second thing I think is similar to that. It's almost like now I'm a person of faith. So one of the things that I. That I see there is, is it's almost like the higher power wants to know you're serious.

I agree.

He wants, you know, that there's. They want to know your. It wants to know you're serious. It wants to know, are you willing to pay the price? Because I haven't seen one single entrepreneur go from zero to success without paying a price. Not one.

I don't know one of them. If you know anyone, please introduce me, because I've never even heard of this. Listen, you were going to go. You know, the problem is people always look at the finished product. People never look at the journey of what it took to get there.

Yeah, yeah. And they. And take that back. They all. Not take that back. But add on to that, they. They judge their middle to somebody else's end.

And that's the problem with social media nowadays. I always tell people, focus on yourself and stop worrying. Everyone's journey is going to be different. Don't worry about everybody else. You. What they did in five years might take you 20. Just focus on yourself. But the payoff is well worth it.

Well, how did you discover your concept, man? I mean, this. This concept is Completely disrupting the entire economy and the entire marketplace. I mean, how did that even come about?

I've always been in fitness and I love helping people. The problem is I used to always say to myself, how do I make money when I'm not working? Like, I used to always say, man, it'd be great if, like I was like sleeping right now, making money. Yeah. And now I actually sleep and I make money because I'm, you know, operating in other countries. Yeah. One of my clients came in late one day and said, josh, I wish you come to my house. I just don't have any equipment. And I was like, wow, this is like one of those ideas where it's just so simple. Why didn't I think of it? Yeah. I'm going to get a vehicle, stock up with all the necessary equipment, go out to clients, provide them with our three Cs, convenient, customized and creative workout. Service them anywhere. Right. We're going to bring the work out to you. Home office, pool park, place of worship, hospital, senior homes, corporations, and literally we came up, you know, I came up with that. I got a van, wrapped it red, and here we are today. We're the fastest, you know, in the fitness space and the number one largest in home personal training franchise in the world.

Yeah, I do. I've heard nothing but fantastic things about it. I mean, you, what you guys have put together and the amount of excellence and time and energy you guys put into that just to get, not only get the concept off the ground, but then to replicate it over and over again with absolute consistency. Was it the Ray Kroc you said? I need to make sure my burger tastes the same here as it does there. Being able to do that, I think shows to the level of gifting and favor that essentially is part of what you've been building.

Listen, came with a lot of mistakes, my friend, as you know, a lot of mistakes. But, you know, it just got to sharpen your tools every day to get better and better and better. And that's what we've been able to do. And obviously everything, you know, when you want to grow, you have to be able to learn how to scale. You want to work on your business, not in your business. And it takes time and you got to surround yourself with great people. You know, I like to always say eagles fly alone. I don't have many friends, maybe one or two. And I just, if I'm. If I'm not, if I'm the smartest person in the room, then I'm in the wrong freaking room.

Yeah, I like to be.

I like to only be around people who have. Have more money, more success, or just high level people. I like high level people.

I think one of the biggest ones that I learned a long time ago was just making sure that I had people to backfill what I wasn't good at. I suck at details. Like, literally, if I screw, if I mess with my calendar, I break something every time, you know, But I'm really good at strategy and stuff like that. I mean, do you find that to be the case with you, with building your business as well?

Oh, 100%. You know, the problem is, I think it's. I think it's like the stupidest thing in the world when people say, need to focus on my weaknesses. No, you delegate your weaknesses and you focus on your strengths. You triple down on your strengths. I don't listen. I'm bad at a lot of things, but I got rock stars that are in place to handle those things. And that's why you have to get the best of the best and put them in the areas that you're not strong in. And that's how you build a great team.

Yeah, well, how did you, I mean, with the scalability, especially going overseas, like when you start open up other countries. What kind of hurdles did you guys run into when you guys are, you know, building it that direction?

Oh, my God.

We'D be here for hours. I made so many mistakes and got fined in certain situations because I wasn't aware of, like, duties and taxes and just all types of crazy things. You know, you got, you got to be connected within, wherever your, you know, your field of, you know, expertise is. Because when you're growing, you need to make sure you're reaching out to other people and ask. I ask everyone. I ask everyone. Like, ask everyone. I always ask for help. I always ask for advice. I liked. I like constructive criticism. I'm a sponge. I absorb it and that's how I get better.

Yeah.

But I like to sharpen my tools every single day. But I've literally reached out to the best of the best. And, you know, I say, hey, how did you get into this country? And I learned how to do it. And then, you know, like, do you know someone who can help me with this? And they make an introduction. You help me with this, make an introduction. Everything in the world is about relationships, right? Like you and I are doing this right now. I just created a relationship that could open up doors down the road because someone might reach out to me. I'm like, listen, you Got to reach out to my man or vice versa. That's how the world works. Everything is about relationships and this is the number one most important thing. And you never learn this in school. They don't teach you how to build relationships?

No, they don't teach you that at all. No. They teach you to take a test, but they don't teach you how to take care of yourself. They don't teach you how to take care of your friends. They don't teach you how to even pick your friends. Dude. I think my biggest struggle in getting to the place I'm now sitting in was actually the wrong relationships, being connected to the wrong people. People that were trying to hold me back. People who were trying to disrupt what I was doing. The toxicity, you know.

So show me your friends and I'll show you your future.

That's right.

Very, very, very simple.

That's right. Well, how do you, what's your selection process like?

Oh my God. It's gotten really crazy over the years. I'm a big believer in, you know, personality, you know, emotional intelligence, understanding people. My interviews are definitely very unique. And I'll give you an example. Like one question I always ask is, I'll ask, you know, like what, you know, what their father did for work.

Yeah.

Let's say that person's married, for example, you know, what does your father do for work? Chances are, you know, or you know, and this could be, you know, and you could obviously play this in many different ways. But the chances are if you're hiring someone and you know, well, let me answer, let me ask it this way. If they're married, I'll say, what did the wife's father do for work? Okay, now let's say they were just a nine to five person, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with that. And this person is now getting involved in our business and it's not a 9 to 5 job because, you know, I don't care about what English says. Work, life, balance is non existent. You have to figure out how to balance your life. But you're on all the time. I am always on 24, 7, 365 online. Yeah, I know there's going to be challenges there. If, let's say this person says, oh, you know, oh my, you know, my father was a teacher and you know, he was home every day at 3 o'. Clock. They're never going to get it. They're never going to get it. It's not going to be the right fit, you know. But I also dig in Deeper where, you know, almost create like, almost like a friendship with this person prior to even meeting them. Almost at a point where it's like, man, this guy Josh is so cool. Like he's, wow. I never like had an interview like this before. It's like, next thing you know, so many crazy start coming out and you're like, red flag, red flag, red flag. You know, I always hire attitude over skill. Skill can always be taught. Okay, let me tell you something. I don't care what degree you have from what college. Yeah, okay. Hard work and the ability to never ever quit will destroy. I mean literally crush and smash up any diploma out there. It's about obviously grinding. Hard work always goes through and goes over that every single time.

Yeah, I mean, one of the things that my dad, my dad missed a good chunk of my early part of my life, but one thing he did teach me when I, we finally started reconnecting when I was a young teenager was work ethic. That dude was up before the sun and then go bad before, before the sun was out like every single time. And to your point, that's what it takes. And I've also learned that people only do about 75 to 80% of what I will do. So if I'm. If I'm only partially committed, they're only gonna be part less partially committed. If that makes any sense.

Makes a lot of sense. Look, leaders will always treat other leaders, but you gotta lead by example. I work three work weeks in one week. Usually. Yeah, literally. I'm non stop. I'm not. I'm literally up. I'm working all the time. Like all the time. So when you actually look at that over a course of five years. Yeah, I'm just gonna eat you. Very simple.

Well, it's also why you've made so much traction, dude. It's precisely why you've been able to get as far as you've been able to get is because it, because it's been relentless.

Sounds gotta be the only way to be. The problem is, you know, I can't stand when someone says, oh yeah, you know, I tried it once, I tried it twice. Do you know? I'll tell you a story. In the early days of starting gym, guys, I needed to get the website. We spelled it with a Z, but someone owned it with an S. And I knew before I build the brand, a lot of people are going to go to the website with the S, So I need to own that. Some guy in Colorado owned it. Long story short, I'm still friends with my man, out this day, he was selling it for $48,000. I was lucky if I had 48 cents in my pocket. Okay, long story short, after like 60, 70 phone calls, whatever it was, I literally just booked a ticket and flew out to Denver to go to his house to only find out that he was actually on vacation and wasn't even home that week, and I had to leave him fly back. Long story short, on the 71st attempt, I got the website for free. It took me 71 times to get the website, but I literally put in my mind and I said, I'm going to get that freaking website. I will not stop till I get that website. And I got the website.

Most people never would have gotten on the plane to go out there to begin with. They'd be like, oh, it's not for sale. It sits, or I don't have enough or whatever.

Of course, there's always a way, you know, look, you know, like, you know, I think about how many red eye flights I've taken, landed, barely slept, still went to go work out, and then worked the whole. There's been times I've been up almost 72 hours without any sleep.

Yeah.

Your mind is your most powerful thing you have, but you have to train it. You have to train it, you have to develop it. It's just like, you know, like, people get anxiety over certain things. I've been able to train myself to control that anxiety.

Yeah.

If anything happens nowadays, like lawsuits, because that happens too, in business. I honestly, like, almost smile and laugh at it. And people in your office are like, what's the matter with you? Like, doesn't that bother you?

We're supposed to be scared.

Yeah. I say, no, nothing bothers me. I fear nothing. I literally fear nothing. And if I do fear something, because one thing I do fear is jumping out of an airplane, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it.

You gonna do that when you get through to cash the other check?

Gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. I always like to put myself in those situations, because when you put yourself in those uncomfortable situations and you actually do it, you grow. And a great way to compare this to is, let's say there was some girl or guy you really liked back in the day and you wanted to take them out, right? You just wanted to go out to dinner with them, and they were at a table with all their friends, and you're like, okay, okay, I can do it. I can do it. No, I can't do it. No, I can't. Do it, and you finally talk yourself into doing it. Then you do it and you feel great that you did it, and you end up getting a number, and next thing you know, you end up going on a date.

Yeah.

There's so many people that won't do it. They say, ah, you know what? They probably have a boyfriend or girlfriend that's not gonna work. Whenever in doubt, you just do it.

Yeah, dude, I love it. I love it. You know, it's funny, I think of another example where your relentless pursuit of not giving up actually benefited you in a big way. If I'm not. If I'm not mistaken, you were just recently on with Gary Vee. Not long ago, one of the things that he was talking about, it was like, this dude straight up will not quit. This dude will straight up not quit.

Pretty much.

Pretty much, you know, so that's. I don't know, man. It's. It's really hard.

But. But. But also, let me just. You know, he talks about this too. And now Gary and I have actually become good friends. So we have something that I can't really discuss it that we're working on. But, yeah, it's all good. You know.

That guy gets a lot. He gets people sending him messages all the time. Yeah.

Yeah. All day long.

But why was I. I'm the first person who's ever done that's been on this podcast, just so you know. Yeah.

Yes.

So why me?

He made that very clear on the podcast.

So why me? Yeah. And I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I'm the special one or I'm the trouble. I'm. Let me tell you something. I knew it was going to happen. I knew it. But I was also very smart and very strategic about how I did it.

Yeah.

Most people don't have that skill, and I can't teach you that overnight. That takes time. You got to be very, very tactical in how you do things. And when it comes to that, honestly, no one's better than me. I'm very, very good at that.

Yeah. I mean, one of the things that I've noticed about everything you've been building is not just a relentless pursuit, but it's also. It's already finished in your head. Like, it's already finished. So it kind of removes all the chances of quitting and all the chances of falling apart or the. Oh, the fear moments or whatever. You've already completely finished in your head.

Exactly.

How long did. I mean, is this a. Is this a trait that's been there as Long as you can remember, was this developed over the adversity that you faced when you were younger? I mean, what do you. What do you think all this came from?

You know, I just. I don't know. I've always been different, you know, like, let me. Let me explain something as, you know, normal doesn't work.

Yeah.

People can say I'm weird, and that's great. I think that as a guy, when people say I'm absolutely out of my mind crazy, that is, like, the highest level compliment you can give me. Like, I love hearing that. Like, I love it. I love it. I don't want to be like everyone else. When everyone goes left, I go right. I don't want to. I don't. I don't want to be like anyone else. I want to be like me. And, you know, I just. I don't know. I've always had drive, you know, but I guess, you know, some of my childhood obviously, you know, kind of molded me to some of that. To some level. But then again, people in my situations also go down a route where, you know, they go into drugs or drink. You know, I've never. I've never been drunk. I've never had a drink. I've never taken a drug. I'm just. I'm as clean as they come. I just never had desire to do it. And I've always wanted to never put myself in a situation where I wasn't able to control. Be in control. But, you know, over the years, I've just, you know, kind of just learned things about myself and figured out that, you know, I can do anything I want to do.

Yeah. Well, what's it like nowadays? You know, obviously, you know, there's the whole work, life, balance thing, which we've already touched on that. You know, that's.

That's.

You either do or you do not. Was it Yoda, I think, said that? Something like that. Do or do not. What's it like now, having, you know. You know, trying to balance family life with. With Also with a business, especially at your level of execution.

It's challenging, but there's always a way, and I make it work. I get my kids baths every night. Get every night, give them a kiss every single night. You know, when I travel, obviously I haven't had to have too much travel recently, but now it's gonna start happening again, my travel. But, yeah, obviously have the. You have the luxuries of FaceTime now, Zoom, whatever it is. So you. And obviously, I'm not gone for weeks and weeks, but there's always a way when people say there's not enough hours in a day. That's the biggest, weakest excuse I've ever heard in my life. Why do I get up at 3 or 4 every single morning? Because I make time. That's it. I take an 18 minute nap every single day. That 18 minute nap is fantastic. It gets me literally charged up. I can go another freaking 10 hours like an animal.

I've trained my body to do this. I've put myself through this. It takes a long time to train yourself to do this. It's not something that happens overnight. I've been doing this for, my God, 20 years. It takes a long time. You know, it's. People want instant, instant, instant. This is not like one minute oats. All right? It doesn't work like that.

Yeah, I mean, one of the, you know, I mentioned that young man that's working for us, working with me, with Journey, Principal Connor now is one of the things he keeps trying to understand. He's like, I don't understand how you come in and you just don't stop until you go home. Because I don't understand that. How are you able to focus for that long? And I said, man, I put in the, I've put in the reps, I've done the push ups. Like I've been doing this so long now. A second nature.

It's true. You just create. You just, you know, I'm a big believer in routines. If you have no routine, you're never going anywhere. I'll tell you that right now. I will tell you that right now that I'm 100% believer in that. Routines are very, very important. They get you structured and they get you disciplined. But yeah, you just gotta keep at it. It's just very simple. You just never quit. You never ever, ever quit.

Yeah, for sure. Well, let me ask you this, obviously, other than never quit, because I know that would be a trait that your kids are gonna pick up from you for sure. What do you think the top three things are that you want them to take away from watching you kind of go through life and execute?

I'll tell you, I've already been brainwashing them for a long time. My oldest son is wild. You know, I take him to the office every weekend. He knows every single one of the vans, the numbers. He knows how to turn the van. He's six, by the way. My oldest, he knows how to jump a van. And I ask him the same three questions every day. I say, who is the most smartest Boy ever. He says, me. I said, who is so handsome? He says, me. And I say, who never quits and always stays focused? And he goes, me. And I give him those same three questions every single day. What I also do is he likes to drive around in a van. So I drive in a van. I have his own little business cards I made up. I'll show you.

So. Really? That's awesome.

I made him these own cards. I made them out of plastic.

So cool.

Because I don't want him to rip them, but I will literally will drive around and I tell him, we're doing marketing.

Yeah.

And he's always like, all right, daddy, let's go. Marketing. I go, all right, buddy, let's go. And I bring him in the office. I got this little fake, little, like, punch in thing. Like old school.

Yeah, Yeah.

I make him check in. We put on his uniform. It's the cutest thing ever. It just makes me melt. But, like, we'll go into a shopping center. I'll be like, all right, you got to give this person your card. He doesn't want to do it.

Yeah.

He's like, no, no, no, you do, you do. You do it. You know, And I will not leave until he does it. Now what am I teaching him? Yeah, that it's okay. Because it's gonna be fine. He can do it. I'm building his confidence.

Yeah.

So we worked over the weekend. You know, I like a list of people. I'll just show up. And one person gave him $10. Another person gave him $20. We ended up making like $50 for the weekend. Okay. And I'm saying, as a six year old, as a six year old, he's.

Gonna have the bug then for sure.

He knows how to say thank you. He's so polite. He's so respectful now. He's so comfortable. He says, here's my business card. Please call the number if you're interested in our service. But you gotta train. You gotta train. And what I'm doing is no one ever did this for me. I had to learn this on my own. So I'm training nice and young, and he already knows the deal. Like, I had one of my gardeners come over a couple of weeks ago. I did this little project in my backyard. He's literally with the wheelbarrow, like, helping the gardener. And this guy Jocko calls me up. He goes, josh, your son is a workhorse. It's out of control. And. And then he actually gave my son $10, which I, you know, I called him. I Thanked him so much. He's like, yeah, he really helped us. It was crazy, but like that. But, like, he sees what I do, and I lead by example, and I also instill these values in him. And that's very important, because the problem is nowadays, most people just, you know, teach their kids that, you know, you get. You get a job, you work a 9 to 5, you support your family, you pay your bills. Yeah, most people just too scared. And that's why people need to be rewired, because you can have anything you want, but you have to understand that it is possible, and you have to understand what it takes to get that.

Yeah, for sure. I love that story. Absolutely love it.

Thank you.

So he's going to have the entrepreneurial bug, for sure. He's already learning one of the. I think the. One of the biggest lessons you can learn, which is if you serve enough people and serve them well, you get rewarded with Benjamin's faces.

Soon. What I'm going to do, I already planned it out. I'm going to set up a table, start selling lemonade out. That's what I used to do. I used to pull things out of my garage back in the day and sell them at the end of my driveway. Like, these are things I used to do back in the day. And I'm gonna do the same things with him, and he's just gonna. He's just gonna be wired like that. But my son's not gonna be no quitter. My son's not gonna be scared, have fear. He's gonna be the most confident individual ever. And one thing I always do, every day, sometimes I tell him I love him and kiss him so much that he just pushes me away from him. But you got. You have to give love. That is the number one most important thing. And I make sure I do. I do that every single day.

Love it, dude. So affirmation, confidence, and resilience.

That's it.

Love it, dude. Love it. So what's next for you, man? What do you. What else you working on? I mean, that you could talk about? I know there's some secrets, but.

Yeah, no, I'm working on a lot of big things. You know, we're about to enter into two new countries, which is very exciting. You know, the growth has been off the charts. You know, even during the pandemic, we brought on 25 new locations. You know, everyone else has been crying and saying, oh, Covid, I can't cope. I don't stop. Like, we sold franchises during the pandemic. Like, think about that you can do whatever you want. And now these people who have bought in, best decision they ever made in their life. These people have already started and launched, and they're ramped up. Their businesses are growing, and they're scaling, and they're bringing on tons of clients, which is very exciting. So for me, you know, I'm gonna continue to build my personal brands. I like helping people, number one. Number two, yeah, for sure. I am gonna be starting a coaching program because I get messages all the time for people coaching, so I'm gonna do. But I just. I want to be like, you know, a resource for people because, you know, so many people have slammed the door in my face over the years and laughed at me and told me I can never do it. And I tried to, like, you know, tell people, I'm going to be just like you and be successful. People laugh at me and be like, oh, you don't have the experience, or, you know, you didn't go to a great, you know, a good enough school. That's all nonsense. So, you know, you got to kind of. I want to kind of flip the script and let people know that you can do anything you want, but you kind of know, you got to be patient. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I think your claim. I think your claim is you basically take the impossible and make it possible.

That's actually the name of my keynote speech every time I speak. Like, you know. You know. So that right there is Phil Knight. Yeah, he's actually a friend of mine now. And is he really?

That's awesome.

I'm having dinner with him in October, and you would think that's not possible, but I do make the impossible possible.

Yep. And he. And he did a heck of a job. I was watching a YouTube video on creating Nike and all that kind of stuff and everything that went into that dude.

That man. That man. Listen, I'm not in, like, Listen, I think LeBron James is great. If I saw him, I throw him a pound, I wouldn't get too crazy. He'd come to my office and sit down. I would just talk to him like, you and I are talking. Yeah, but Phil Knight, let me tell you something. Phil Knight, I've never, honestly ever read a book except that book. I just listen to audiobooks. I read that book 10 times. Whoever has not read that book, I'll implore you to read that book. It's the greatest business book of all time. And what he's done is out of control. And that guy is an icon. And Shoe Dog is the greatest Book. And you know, people say bootstrapping, I like to always say shoe dog in it because that's what I've done from day one. But that guy literally has suffered for like more than half his life. He's lived in debt more than half his life. And tonight, today, the guy's worth $39 billion. The point is, you just do it.

Yeah.

Just like Nike says, right? Yeah.

I mean, and you're right. And you're right. You simply won't know unless you even, unless you even go after it. Like, what's, what's the good of having a dream in your head or dream in your mind that you never actually take an action step towards? Then it becomes a nightmare.

As soon as you have a plan B, you're done. Just don't even start. As soon as you put that in your mind, you're done. Yeah, when I started this, I said, this is what I'm gonna do the rest of my life. And that's it. Soon as you have plan B, just throw your towel and I promise you, you're going to fail miserably.

Yeah, dude. Enjoy the time, man. I really have. I really have.

It's gonna be the best episode you've ever done. I promise you that.

I have no doubt.

I'll bet my life on it.

I have no doubt. Let me ask you this. So how can everybody stay connected with you and learn more about you?

You can follow me online, you know, Instagram, big on Instagram, Josh York. Gg. You just Google Josh York and I'll come up, you'll see a very handsome individual. And that's me.

Bald head, right?

Bald head. Always bald and beautiful. But yeah, you know, LinkedIn, Josh York. Everything else is Josh Yorkgg. And obviously, if you want to learn more about the business or obviously opportunities to be a franchise owner, which is a possible opportunity for you, you know, just visit jim guys.com.

Well, if you got like two, give me, give me a two minute rundown what a franchisee looks like for you. So number one, who is your ideal franchisee?

They got to be driven, they got to have some sales experience, marketing experience, and honestly have that will to win. And I like to say if you, if you're not willing to grind, you're not going to ever hit the numbers of where you can really hit, you know, because, you know, you could run a successful business at a half a million dollars, but if you want to be seven figures, you want to be eight figures, you've got to be a totally different animal. And it's just very simple. I'm looking for people who are driven. I'm looking for people who have great, great, great personalities. Because building a team is not easy and being a leader is not easy. You have. You have. You have to obviously have those skills and be willing to understand because, you know, the first thing I say when I speak to people on my CEO calls is I tell everyone they could fail. Yeah. And people who are looking at other brands always say to me, I never heard anyone say that before. I was like, well, I'll be quite honest. You. This is not a sales call. Yeah. You can love this and want to come on board. I have to say. Okay, because if I don't feel like you're going to be a good fit, we're not bringing you on board. It's got to work for both of us.

Yeah.

You know, people get into Harvard and fail because they decide to party too much. They don't. Yeah. Nothing is guaranteed. Even McDonald's fails. They have many. They have hundreds of locations that close a year. You have to put in the work. The systems and tools are there for you, but you have to put in the work. You have to follow the system. You want to stay in your lane, Great. You'll be successful. You want to think that you can do something and go outside your lane. Well, it's going to hurt for you.

Yeah.

Dude, I think your next book should be called war stories.

Possibly volume 1.

2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Listen, I got a lot of great stories, man. I'll tell you, we'd be here too long telling these sort of stories that some of the things over the years, just crazy. Like a movie. I can write. I can literally put a movie together, some crazy stuff.

And we'll catch up in the near future. We'll actually share those war stories because I've got a lot of. It almost took me out several times myself. So I appreciate.

There's one thing you understand when you meet a fellow entrepreneur that has built something from nothing. There's an intangible knowing you can sense it.

Yep.

You know, you can totally, totally sense it. Well, dude, man, I enjoyed the time. I know the audience is gonna love this. And I can't wait to see more about where Jim guys is going. I can't wait to your. Your. Your personal brand continue to explode like it's been doing. And I guess stay in touch, man. Love it.

Absolutely, man. I appreciate you having me on. Thank you so much. And anything I could ever do for you, you let me know.

Will do, man. I appreciate you again. We'll talk to you soon.

Okay, take care.

It doesn't get much more amped than my buddy Josh York. Now, if you love this interview, you got to check out this one right here. It's going to keep you moving forward. During the Willamette swim, I would stop. I had to stop every 30 to 45 minutes, get out on the riverbank because I was going into deep core throttle hypothesis.