Stop Lying to Yourself! Tanner Chidester Shares Harsh Truths That Will Improve Your Business

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The only way to really make more money is you have to become valuable to the marketplace, which means you're gonna have to pay for it. And so I wish in hindsight, if I paid for help sooner, I probably would have made another $20 million and I probably would have saved myself from a lot of struggle and kind of heartache. Because two years doesn't sound like a long time. But when you're doing it 16, 18 hours a day and you live in a shithole and you have a terrible car and girls are laughing at you, it doesn't feel like it's not a big deal, like it feels like the world's ending. And so I almost quit five times over five years. And the only reason I didn't is I had a mentor that told me not to and I'd figure it out. But most people are not built that way. I know the average person would have quit. And so you got to move quickly because if you don't and you extend this timeline of success, every day you go past that, you increase the chance you're going to quit. And that's also probably why I'm so passionate, because I just like people. They don't get it and they think by not taking action they lose nothing. But you are losing something. You just don't know what it is. And that's what scares me now, because I actually know if I don't do this, what would I miss out on that I could have had? And the answer is, you will never know, right? Until maybe you meet your maker.

If you're struggling with your business, sometimes the answer isn't the latest tool or someone to hold your hand and tell you it's all going to be better. Sometimes you just need a wake up call. Today's guest, Tanner Chidester, founder of Elite CEOs, is here to give you the sobering truth that you need to grow your business. This is the Launch your business podcast because we know starting a business is challenging, but it doesn't have to be confusing. Each week we'll give you the tactical advice and the necessary tools to scale your business without feeling burnt out. Terry I'm Terry Rice, business development consultant and staff writer here at Entrepreneur magazine. Let's dive in. When I was in college, I had a job selling home refinancing offers by phone. I'd call random people, ask if they had a moment, then ask if they want to make a major financial decision that another random person was presenting. As you can imagine, it usually did not go too well. Some people hung up on me, some were kind of rude and some were kind of funny. I remember this one guy told me to hold on to because his dog just ran out the door. And I waited for a while before realizing he probably wasn't coming back. And I'm fairly certain he did not have a dog either. So it was a tough job. But over the course of my shift I got enough yeses to stay employed and I can't remember how much I was making. It was probably like 10 bucks an hour or so. But I did it because it paid the bills. So fast forward to when I started my business. I took the same approach. I would message people knowing the majority would not give me the time of day. But enough people said yes and that's how I paid my bills initially. So why am I telling you this story? It's because I saw someone else share a Similar story on Instagram. And it resonated with me. The title of their video was, if you aren't willing to send DMs, are you sure you want to own a business? And that video was posted by Tanner Tegester, who joins us today. Tanner provides training to help business owners like you make money online immediately. And he owns a few businesses, including elite CEOs, where he works with business owners and fitness pros to help them scale their business to seven figures. And fortunately, he knows a thing or two about that since he's already built a $50 million business. But here's what I like about Tanner. He's focused on telling you what you need to know. And he does so with a largely unfiltered, unapologetic approach. But he's not just doing it for attention. It's not just a flex. It's who he is. And it's the clearest way for him to help you overcome roadblocks so you can reach your full revenue potential. So that's what we're going to talk about today. And by listening, you'll learn the hard truths that you'll need to succeed as an entrepreneur, the not so obvious traits that can help you push through challenging times, and how to avoid miserable success. I'll say that again. Miserable success. And by that, I mean being miserable, even though you appear to be successful on the outside by getting clear on what really matters to you. Tanner, thanks for being here today.

Yeah, thanks for having me, man. Super excited.

Awesome. And can you just tell our listeners about yourself and your. And your background?

Yeah. So, shoot, man. It's always a tough question. So I'm a family of seven kids, one of seven. I got two brothers, four sisters, grew up in a very conservative household. My dad is probably like the equivalent of a pastor, I guess you could say. Was bullied a lot as a kid because I played dress up and tea party. And so I don't think I had an older brother to kind of help me out. So around sixth grade, I started seeing, hey, this doesn't make me very popular with the guys. And that's when I started getting very into sports. Specifically, I got into weightlifting. About three months go by, I start getting compliments. People, stop messing with me. I'm killing it in football. I'm like, man, this is amazing. So I spend the next probably 10 years of my life dedicated to getting to the NFL. I got all the way to the Division 1 level. Got hurt a lot. Also probably wasn't good enough. Just being realistic. I played with some first round draft picks. And so that really opened my eyes to the level of talent between first and second place. It's just insane. I was going to school as an engineer. I had good grades. I took care of them during football, luckily. But I realized, hey, this isn't what I want to do. And I met a mentor who convinced me to drop out of school and caused my girlfriend to break up with me. Her mom was pissed. My family thought I was stupid. I was, you know, halfway thought I was stupid. And I started an online fitness company that didn't make any money for two years. I was working probably six to seven hours a day at a job as a server part time. And then I would do the rest of the day on my business and I also go to the gym. So I was working very hard. I did door to door sales and I just wasn't making any traction. Finally saw an ad online that said how to build an online fitness company. I didn't know what high ticket was. I never heard of coaching. I wouldn't even cross my mind. And I was desperate to where I said, I'm willing to try anything. I got on the call and they charged me five grand. I had $2,000 in my bank account. I put the rest on a credit card and then I made $10,000 in the first week. And I was like, oh shit. I think I figured it out. I moved home to my parents, did a million dollars that year pretty much by myself. And then the next year I had a bunch of people ask me for help because they started seeing some of my accolades. I got some awards, I got some magazine publications, and then we did 10 million. And then that's kind of what brought about my company, my main company, elitecos.com. and since then it's just gotten bigger and bigger. And so this year we'll probably do around 20 million, give or take. And that's kind of my long story short.

When did it take? How long did it take for your parents to not think you were stupid for dropping out? Like, when were they? Like, okay, maybe it was a good idea?

I, yeah, I think, I think like when I moved home. Which sounds weird, but I remember people asking my parents, you know, hey, why know is Tanner okay? Like, he moved back home and they're like, oh yeah, no, he's, he's doing better than we are. And so I think it's when I was hitting, you know, 30, like thousand plus months and I was doing that organically. So when I first started, I was making, you know, up to 50,000amonth organically. I was working my whole life. I mean, don't get me wrong, I was working my whole day. But that's when I knew that I kind of made it, per se, and that I'd figured out a path that was sustainable. Because until that point, I'd only made $2,000 in a year for my business. I mean, it was terrible.

Yeah. But let's go deeper, because you're this D1 football player, right? So you're a big man on campus and everyone's proud of you and whatnot. You drop out and you start your own business. Did you have some kind of identity crisis or go through any kind of personal challenges at that time? Because it seems like a huge leap.

Oh, yeah, Yeah. I. I became. I was very sad. I was very sad because, like you said, you spend 10 years. I mean, it's like a business. Imagine having a business for 10 years. You sell it. It's a similar feeling when that's all you've known and that's all you've done, and you spent blood, sweat, and tears in your whole day. So I went through. I think the first three months is. They felt nice because I was so used to working so hard, and so I had that kind of, hey, I'm a normal person. I just go to school, then I go home. But after three months, I really felt, man, like, I can't do this the rest of my life. I. I just felt so unproductive, and I felt. I just felt like I wasn't doing anything. And that's really what drove me to drop out and start something, because I just had this lack of a better word, like this fire inside me that I just felt like I was meant for more. And one of my mentors kind of pushed me off the ledge. I was like, all right. And luckily, I had him to do that, because if he had it, I don't know if I would have.

Yeah. So I think indirectly, you're mentoring other people who have that same feeling. You know, they're frustrated with their job or even with their business, and they know they should be doing more, but they need that. That mentor and that encouragement to make that leap. And that's why I want to reach out to you. I enjoy your content, especially on Instagram, but I know it's not for everyone, because some of the comments you make, and they can be inflammatory, and I want to unpack those today in this. Let's call it a no holds bar session here, and unpack some of what you said. And in some cases I might not agree, in some cases I will agree. But either way we'll keep it cool and move it forward. But the first one that I want to call out is one where you said, if you aren't willing to send DMs, why are you in business? And I like this because people want to be an entrepreneur sometimes, but they don't want to put the steps in necessary to make it work. And it's like you go to the gym, right? You've seen that sign before. It's like everyone wants to be a beast until it's time to do what beasts do. And a lot of people when it comes to entrepreneurship, they don't want to do that. But what prompted you to create this video saying, hey, if you're not willing to do this, it ain't going to work out for you?

Well, it's just like people want the benefits of a business, but they don't actually want a business. So people will say, I want a business that does this, this, this, this. And it's like, great. What skills do you have? None. What team do you have? None. What money do you have? None. What are you willing to do? Not much. And so for me, people forget I did door to door sales for eight months, six days a week, 12 hours a day. I got one day off and it was the worst experience of my entire life. I can't even, I've told people doing that was harder than building a $20 million per year business. Like it was, it was so hard. And so when I was able to start making sales just using my phone and just, just DMing, you know, just talking to people, yeah, it wasn't like fun. I'm not sitting here like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. But I was making 10 times more just sitting on the couch. And before I was sweating all day. I mean, I would like chafe on my legs, I have guns pulled on me knives. So I just think people, they, they don't really understand what it takes to be successful. And then for most, like I thought that's easier, you know. So the comment comes from a place of man. Like there's so many other things you could go do and make so much less that are so much harder in terms of just work and effort. And all you have to do is send a DM and you won't do it because they'll say, well, I'm scared to or I don't want to or I'm too busy. And so a lot of my comments just come from. You know, people say they want certain things, but they're not really willing to do anything. And so when they say that, I just kind of roll my eyes and laugh like, you know, you should have a job. Like, entrepreneurship is not for you. And it's tough. Like, even staying on top is tough. Like, I've been in the game five years now, and I'm just looking at people who've been in the game 20, 30, 40. Like, my respect level is just goes up every year because getting to the top is one thing, and then staying on top, it's. It's a whole nother thing. Like, you got to consistently just keep innovating and hiring high talent, and it's just tough. So I guess it just comes from more frustrations, those comments, because, like, people just don't understand what it actually takes. Like, they don't get it.

I can relate to that because when I was in college, I went to undergrad and I went to business school, and I was a bouncer at bars the whole time. So I'm working at these clubs and bars and everything, and stuff got real sometimes. Like, there were shootings in the parking lot of where I worked, and I'm like, oh, man, I got a psych test tomorrow.

I gotta.

I gotta make it home for that, you know? So I've had to go through a decent amount of adversity on my end to get where I'm at, too. So to your point, when you say to someone, oh, just DM100 people today. And they're like, oh, and I want to do that. Okay, well, go stand out in the cold in Buffalo, New York, while people are shooting in the parking lot and see how that feels instead.

So I hear you there, especially when they say, I'll do anything, and then you start telling them what they have to do and they go, oh, well, besides that, but besides that, but besides that. I just think it's so easy. Like, I don't think sending someone a message. And maybe it's because I did door door sales, but, like, door door sales was so scary because you can see their facial reaction. I mean, they're looking at you like you're scum. And then when you're behind the screen, it's not that big a deal. Like, you're never going to see them in your entire life. So what do you have so much to be scared about? Or, like, what's so hard about? And it's just a skill. It's talking to people and persuasion, you know?

Yeah. One more thing. On that, I had another job where I was doing telemarketing for home mortgages. So I would call you while you're just sitting on the couch and say, hey, by the way, you don't know me, but do you want to remortgage your home? And people are like, no, dude, get off my phone. So I know you're saying dming is a lot easier than that because you get some interesting comments as well. But let's talk about another one of your posts that I saw that really stood out to me. And essentially you're telling a story about you made your first million dollars in a month. You bought this brand new Lamborghini, you had this amazing place out in Miami, but you still were unhappy. So why. Why were you feeling this way afterwards?

Yeah. So when you're poor or you're broke, you know, you tell yourself the story that the reason you're unhappy is you're poor, which to an extent, is true. Right. Like, if you're making $30,000 a year, like I was, or less, I mean, life sucks. It's pretty miserable. But they do have studies, right, that say after a certain amount, I think it's like 100 something thousand or whatever the number is might be a little lower. Is, you know, it's. It has very little incremental value to your happiness. And so I think when I hit a million dollars a month, that was just my goal. Like every second of every day. I was hell bent on it. I remember I actually feel embarrassed now a little bit, but I was so focused on it that my girlfriend's birthday came around and I forgot and I took her out to dinner. And then I came right back and I said, hey, I'll be in the. You know, I'll be in there in a second. And three hours later, I went in and she was asleep because I was just so focused. So when I got there, it just. It was fun for about 24 hours. And then I had the feeling of, like, all right, like, what's next? And that kind of impacted me in a negative way at the time because you start realizing the bigger you get, the smaller you are, Right? Like, you look at Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk or whoever, and you're going to. I'm not even close to them. And will people remember them? And then you go, well, if they may not remember them, are they gonna remember me? And then if they may not remember me, is. Does what I do have any value? And so you start asking these very deep questions where some people Turn to religion. Some people are more of like, nihilists, I'd say, like, I'm closer to that. I'm not saying that's right or wrong. I just think, like, it's helped me deal with stuff better. And so I started going down this, like, really dark rabbit hole of trying to like, figure everything out, like, what's the meaning of life? And like, does anything matter? And like, why don't I feel more fulfilled? Or, you know, whatever, whatever. And one of my buddies just helped me and he said, hey, dude, like, instead of trying to figure everything out, I think something that helped me is I just stopped trying to. And it just is what is. And I think that helped me a little more because I came from, like a very religious background. And sometimes, you know, I was like, hey, just pray about it. And I'm not saying that's wrong, but, you know, if you pray and you don't like, quote unquote, get the answer you're looking for, sometimes you're just kind of like you're uneasy or you're like, man, I didn't really get anything out of that. Or I don't, I don't feel like I got the answer. So I think it. I did kind of like this six month to a year cycle of trying to just be content with, hey, maybe everything I do doesn't matter that much. And it's. And it's tough in a sense. And I still, I still struggle with it sometimes because, you know, you'll be killing yourself for this goal and then someone who maybe doesn't understand or doesn't align, they're like, you know, well, why are you doing that if it doesn't matter? And then you kind of like, oh, you know. So I don't know if that made sense. It's just the fact that a lot of what we think matters. I don't. It doesn't. It doesn't matter that much or it doesn't matter in the grand scheme other than the value we place upon it.

No, it does make sense. And there's two things I want to say. First of all, the whole, like, money can't buy happiness. Well, if you're saying that you've never been broke, because if you have bills to pay and you get money to pay them, that's going to make you happy, right? Yeah. But I think to your point, like, once you hit a certain amount, then you have to be internally happy. And then money can just help you find other opportunities to be happy. You know, going on vacation or spending time with your family. But that makes sense on my end. And what you're saying in regards to this, acceptance is really important too, because often it's the pursuit of a goal that's more enjoyable than actually achieving it. And if you can find ways to enjoy the pursuit, then you don't have as many highs and lows. But people don't realize that sometimes until they've had those highs that that's the, the case. So let's, let's go deeper here. Not to go down like a dark rabbit hole, but you had another post where you essentially said that kindness is overrated. And, and just for background, my son Trevor just celebrated kindness week at his school. So that's been the theme around the house recently. But you said kindness is overrated and there are some other traits that you'd rather be known for.

Man, I'm trying to, I'm trying to think back to the post, but I think probably where I was coming from is I just don't really understand the point in people not telling people what they need to know. And it's ironic because when I got in the coaching industry or like, I started trying to build a business, I really struggled to build a business because people just wouldn't tell me the truth. Like, oh, this is pretty good. Or this is that I'm like, okay, well then why, like, why isn't it working? If it's so good, why doesn't it work? And so what I think I meant probably by that post is just people, like, they don't tell people what they need to know. And so some people will look at me and say, man, Tanner's so mean, or he's rude or he's angry, but it's just the most frustrating feeling in the world is giving 110% effort and getting no results. In fact, it's ironic. You know, Terry, you were saying something. I kind of like your post. Like, I had a literal meltdown with my team yesterday because I don't feel like my content is doing as well as I want it to do. And I'm just trying to put out stuff that actually tries to help people. And I don't feel like it always resonates. And so I just always try to tell people the truth versus just tell them what they want to hear because there's not a lot of people to do that. And so, you know, this is an extreme example, but sometimes, you know, Andrew Tate obviously has gotten a lot of publicity, but the one thing I respect about a guy like him is not like you said everything he says, I don't agree with, but he just says what he actually thinks, and he doesn't worry about the consequence, which, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe he should, right? Maybe he should. But I think there's something to say to respect people who. They just say, like, what they think, regardless of. Oh, man. Is people gonna agree with that or are people gonna shut me down? Are they gonna cancel me? So for me, the mentors I appreciate the most are the ones who, like, have those hard conversations with me, and they're like, hey, man, you're not good enough. Like, your stuff sucks or, you need to redo this. And I just don't think enough people get that. And then if you say that to people, they think you're the devil or you're mean, but the reality is those are. The people are gonna help you the most. So that's. That's what I'm assuming I probably meant by that, but I probably wrote a while ago, so I don't have full context.

Yeah, and I think you're making an excellent point, though, because let me know if this happened to you before, where someone will reach out to you for consulting or mentorship, like, on a paid basis, and you don't feel confident in their ability to maybe get the job done. And what I've done in the past, and this is immature, is I would lie and say, oh, sorry, I'm booked. Then they see me the next day on LinkedIn saying, if you need help growing your business, DM me right now, it's like, bro, you're not booked. Right. So I just. Now I'm just honest with people. Like, based on what you've told me, I don't see a path to success based on my abilities and what I'm seeing from you. And they appreciate that because I'm not going to take thousands of dollars from you just to go pay my daycare bill or whatever. I want to make sure you're getting the most out of it. So have you had that experience, too, where you had to turn down people who wanted to pay you money?

Yeah, and I think it's usually mostly beginners. Like, something that I'm actually trying to transition my business to is like, I like. And it's like everyone. I mean, they're the best clients. But, you know, someone who. Let's just say the number is 30 grand, could be higher. But typically, if I see someone who's doing at least 30 grand, it's like, okay, they got a little persistence, they got a little Bit of determination. They've made some progress. They're making a little bit of consistent money. They're full time in the business. They got a couple of people. The hardest people to help are beginners, but there's more. That's biggest audience. And so, yeah, to your point, we do have to do that to some people, and we do have to turn some people away because it's like you said, they just don't have the it and they fight you on everything. Right? Like, hey, do this, do this. I don't want to. Is there an easier path? You know, I've had people offer me equity. I'm like, equity of what? You make nothing. Why would I want to run your company? I, you know, your. Your ceiling's my floor, and I say that respectfully. But, you know, they don't get that. Like, you would never go. I would never go to Jeff Bezos and say, hey, you know, if you split it 50, 50 with me, you know, and you do the operations and I'll be the face. He'd be like, how about. No? That's kind of how those conversations feel to me. So to your point, I just think it comes down. Typically it's a beginner, right? Because if someone's doing, you know, multi. Six a year, you know, seven at least, I just feel like they've got a little bit of, you know, gumption and they actually implement because it matters to them and they understand how hard it is.

Yeah. What? I. I used to work at Facebook, and eventually I did, like, independent Facebook consulting. And when someone came to me, I would say, well, how many sales have you had in the past 30 days? Oh, three. 300. 3,000. 3 million. No, three. Okay. It's. You're not a Facebook ad away from success. Like, I cannot help you with this because there is something else going on with your company that ads are just going to amplify the negative impact of. So. So I hear you there.

What's funny is people think, especially with ads, they think like, ads is this magical solution. I'm like, all ads does is bring more eyeballs. You're going to have to do the same work. The exact same work. You got to call, text, email, dm, follow up, retard. Like, I always laughed at that because people go, oh, my ads suck. I get all the worst leads. And I go, you haven't sent a single message. You haven't done a single text. You haven't called anyone. And I always find that ironic, as if someone else is getting all the best leads and they're getting all the worst leads. It's like, it's equal. Like they get good leads and badly. It's just like you, it's just how much you're working on.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Another one. This is going to be a bit inflammatory. I'm just going to say it without context, but one of your, the titles of your videos was Depression Isn't Real. Yeah.

So I went through, I. I went through what I thought was depression and maybe it was. And, and like, I'll give context to the story, but like, during that time where I did a million a month and I had a Lamborghini and I was dating a bu. Beautiful women and, you know, seemingly had everything, I felt terrible and I went to a therapist and therapist, you know, was like, oh, this is wrong with you. You know, take this, do this, come to therapy. And you know, like, after six months. And again, I always take full responsibility. So maybe if someone's listening this, like, hey, this guy didn't commit. I'm totally open to that. But I felt after six months, it just felt like a waste. Like, I didn't really feel like I had any of the things answered that I wanted, which maybe is my fault, but I was like, hey, I'm going to all these combos. I'm spending a bunch of money. I don't feel like anything that I wanted to get answered got answered. I'm taking some of these medications that, like, for me, if anyone hasn't taken depression medication, it just, it kind of numbs you. So it makes, for me, it makes it feel like it's not as big a deal. So like, if you got your toe stubbed, it's kind of like, ah, like doesn't hurt quite as much. But emotionally. And I was going through a really rough time. And then I almost got to a point where some things went down at the same time with my girlfriend. And she was a very important person in my life. And then I felt like I had no one. And I did some very drastic things that could have altered a lot of people's lives, where I almost committed suicide and I went and bought a gun. And just, just very, you know, hindsight, it's very reckless. You just look back and you're almost embarrassed. But in the moment, you know, it's rational, right? You're like, oh, I'm being completely rational. This makes sense. And again, I had a conversation with one of my buddies and he just said, hey, man, look, what you choose to believe or what you choose to think about becomes your thoughts. And your thoughts become your beliefs. And so what I mean by that post is not debating if depression is real or not. Like, I don't really care. It's just for me that if I choose not to believe in it, it becomes easier when bad things happen to not let them get me down. Because I'm like, oh, yeah. Like, I'm sad because something bad happened in my life. And I think some people blame that. Terry. So a guy's like, I'm depressed. It's like, no, you're 100 pounds overweight. Like, right? You can't get a date. Like, you're not making any money. That's why you're depressed, because your life actually sucks versus doing something about it. So I think for me, like, I didn't feel fulfilled. And so I start. I started, like, looking for all these problems. Like, well, maybe, like, what's the point of life? And maybe I need this. Maybe I need that. And I think if I had just been like, hey, like, you're human. You're having a struggle. It's all good. It's no big deal. I think that advice for me would have been more helpful than a therapist being like, oh, yeah, like, you need this medication. These things are wrong with you, because it almost makes you go, oh, well, oh, okay. And then you start trying to address all these things that I think, in hindsight, it was just like, I think entrepreneurs struggle with that stuff. Like, guys who sell their companies, they struggle with it. Like, their purpose and meaning has almost been taken from them. And so if your whole life is making a million bucks a month, which it was for me, and then you get there and it doesn't feel anything like you thought it would. That's tough. It's tough. And. And so hopefully that makes sense from our context. Like, I never try to offend anyone, but I do think there's better ways of thinking that are more beneficial to you than, like, against you. And I think a therapist telling me all those things for me was not the right thing. Like, I think it actually hurt me more than helped me versus someone else. Was like, tanner, look, you make a million bucks a month. You talk to beautiful women, you got a nice car. Like, shut up, dude. You're fine. Like, nothing's wrong. That. That is more helpful for me. And maybe that's just because I'm more of a, like, type a person. But, yeah.

Yeah. I think what you're saying to an extent is depression might be a symptom of a bigger problem. And if you just put it on Being depressed, then there's still a bigger problem there and you can kind of numb it with, you know, with, with medication or whatever, but it's still there. And attacking that head on would be another way to resolve it. But when. Because I saw the post you put up about, and thanks for your transparency about, you know, contemplating suicide. Right before you pushed post, were you, like, I don't know about this. Were you kind of hesitant to put that out there? Because that's, that's a real thing to put out there on social.

I don't know. Maybe. I don't think so. I think, like, people close to me knew it happened. Like my company. Like, people knew something was going on. Like, people couldn't get a hold of me. And like, so I think part of it after is, like, I felt a little bit of embarrassment and I felt like I, you know, maybe need to, like, address it, like, in a public format. I think the other thing too is, like, when you have enough money, it doesn't really matter. Like, it doesn't really matter what someone says. And that's actually funny because I think if you think about a lot of what people do and say, you could probably tie it back to money, especially public figures. You know, people are getting canceled left and right. Can't say this, can't do that. And that's why I'm not a fan of it. That's why I don't agree with that, because it makes people maybe act in a way they wouldn't otherwise. But for me, you know, I'm not at this, like, celebrity A level, but I didn't feel like, I don't feel like I'm at a level now where someone can, like, hurt me. Where, like, if someone was to stop one of my businesses or they canceled me or whatever, I feel like I'd be fine. Like, it's not that big a deal. So I think it was more just like, I'm genuinely trying to, I'm generally trying to help people. I, I, as you get to higher levels, there's less people you can relate to. It's harder to get in circles. Like right now, like, I'm, I freaking applied to ypo and I, I'm like, I can't get an answer from them, yes or no. I'm like, guys, like, I want to get in. I make enough money, let me in. I can't get an answer. But I just think there's a lot of people who, as they get higher and higher, they get more isolated. And there's not, there's Not a lot of people to talk to, especially you know, like young males or young females. I know a lot of guys doing a lot of money, but they're 20 years older than me. And that's, that's fine. But I think sometimes, you know, you just, it's human, right? You're like, oh, he's older or like, oh, like he doesn't get it because. And, and so I just think sometimes telling your story and like trying to help people relate I think is helpful. And that's really my only intention. Like I don't even think I post. I, I really don't post much that's like DM me or shoot me a message. Almost all of it is like zero. Call this action. And, and it's just because there's two parts. One, I do want to help the people who want to help themselves. Like that 1% of people who's willing to do the work. And then two, I think no matter what, like if you can like be yourself and be vulnerable and like in this day and age of social media, like you're, it's a, it's a long term play for whatever you do because people start to know like, and trust you and it's like, you know, anything you turn after that turns to gold. And I've seen it over and over again with like Logan Paul, what he's doing and Mr. Beast and one of my buddies, Alex from Ozzi, he came up out of nowhere and it helps. So those are the real two honest reasons.

I mean, on my end I appreciate it because you're saying what a lot of people are feeling, they're just not bold enough to say it. So I appreciate your transparency with that. I think it's helping a lot of people. But let's pivot a little bit. One post you had essentially said Americans are lazy as shit. And I know you're traveling abroad right now. That's where the perspective came from. But unpack that one for me as well, please.

It's just the entitlement. It's, it's sad because you travel to these countries and they just have not a lot or they're just not anywhere. I mean they're just not in as good a position. When you're in America. Yeah, we have our problems, don't get me wrong. But we just have so much opportunity. Like you can, literally anyone can come there and just make stuff happen. And I feel the attitude of like a Gary Vee or Patrick David bet they're immigrants and they come in here and they're just. There's some of the top producers in the whole country, and they're not even from here. And then you have people who are like, you know What? I want 40,000amonth. I want eight hours of work, maximum. I need a couple of lunch breaks and a coffee and a cheese sandwich. And I want full benefits, and I also want all the leads provided for me. And I'm just like, why would I hire you? You have the worst attitude ever. And then I'll be in these countries where they're making 10, 10 times less. Like, the Argentinian peso is a joke. It's like 6,000 bucks for a sandwich, right? Or pesos. And they're just the. The service is better. They work harder, they. They complain less. And so I just think, you know, like, my dad was a teacher, and we had seven kids, and I saw my dad work harder than anyone. I thought that was normal. And then I got into the real world. I said, wow, people are really lazy, and they. They really are not willing to push through anything. And so I just. Obviously, there's Americans that work hard, right? Like, obviously. But I think on average, if you stacked up, you know, someone from an international country or their parents immigrated, and then someone who's born in America, it's different. And some of the people on my team, they're so grateful. So grateful for a couple thousand bucks. I mean, so grateful. And then you got someone who's making, you know, multi sticks a year, and they're like, I should get more for less. I should get more for less. And I think that's kind of the disease in America right now is nobody wants to work, but everyone wants to be making CEO money. So that's where that came from. And, you know, I always say in emotional moments for context, so when people see that, like, something just happened.

Yeah. No, I think that's the best content, though, because what I see from you is, is it's not personal branding. It's character branding, which is different because personal branding is like, oh, look at my logo. Look at my cool video look. Stuff's moving around at the bottom. Character branding is you just saying, these are my values, my ethics, my morals, and I'm unapologetically sharing it with you, even though not everyone's going to agree. So, again, that's why I respect what you're saying so much. And there is overlap between my beliefs and yours. And one that stood out to me was you were talking about the benefits of dark energy. And on my end, like, I'm a huge Kobe Bryant fan, right? So I'm reading all his books about the mama mentality. And whenever I need to, I can go to a very dark place of focus. It drives my wife crazy, but I can say, look, I know there's all this stuff going on. I can't be perfect today, but I can be perfect for the next hour. And I just murder whatever task I have to get done. Then maybe another hour, another hour. And she's like, how do you do this? And I'm like, the only way is through. Like, this is a bad situation. I get it. But you have a finite amount of energy. You can spend it complaining or feeling bad or moving forward and making progress. And I think people like you and I, we just switch quicker to making progress as opposed to being upset about it. But you can use, in my opinion, that dark energy as fuel to move forward. So I believe we're aligned on this. But I'd like to hear you unpack. Like, what made you want to make that video too? And your theme behind it?

You know, it's really usually sales guys, because sales guys. And again, like, this is just my experience, but you know, we have a done for you closer agency where we hire trained place people and we bring them in. And so I think it's the best sales job in the world. I'm like, guys, like, I've already built an eight figure business. This thing's going to the fricking moon, like, strap on and hang on. And a guy came in and you know, being a CEO or founder is tough. So I'm not directly running that company, but the CEO, I think they made some comments that the guy didn't like. And essentially his comment was, I can't work here. You guys use too much dark energy. And my thought process is, man, anytime something bad happens to you, you're going to fold. You can't handle a comment, you can't handle a bad day, you can't handle the CEO getting mad. The reality is guys like me want to win and it's not even for the money. I don't know how to describe. I just want to win. And I hate having a company that I feel is half assing it or giving a shitty service or I could have done better. Like this podcast. Like, I want to show up, I want a fricking podcast. Like, I don't want to come here and waste your time and waste my time. So I think people look at that as negative. Or oh man, he wants to win at all costs and he expects, but it's like, yeah, I expect a lot of you, but you should want to expect that from yourself. And I think a lot of people are content to just get a job and put in enough work just to get paid and that's it. And I just don't align with that at all. And I don't agree with it. And even when I was working at Olive Garden, man, I was a badass server. I'm telling you. Like, I was. I was amazing. Like, I remember every employer I worked for was like, bro, you work hard, and I just take pride in doing my best. So I think when people say that, there can be too far, Right? Gary Vee talks a lot about this stuff, and I actually like a lot of his content where he's like, hey, dude, like, you can't expect them to work as hard as you if you're CEO and you need to, like, try to align with him. And I get all that, but I think a lot of times, like, when I hear those types of comments, I'm like, man, bro, like, I just want someone who's, like, made a steal and just is, like, gonna get done whatever we gotta get done and not fall apart at a little comment or, you know, a bad day or someone custom out on the phone. Like, you just kind of push through. And so I think that's the dark energy, right? Like, you just got to do whatever you got to do to get it done. And over time, I just realized that's just a hiring issue. Like, I just hired the person who didn't fit my culture, and there's no right or wrong way. But hiring people for culture is far more important, I think, than skill. You want both, but I'd rather hire someone who's just got that culture trait I'm looking for versus all the skill in the world. But they're like, well, I only do stuff if it's like this and like this and like this. I. I just won't hire for that anymore.

Yeah. That's why I often argue that grit and curiosity are often more valuable than experience and education because you're going to have to learn new stuff as it is as you go along. And if you're not gritty and curious, you're just going to fall back to what you've done before as opposed to being innovative and moving forward. But as people are listening right now, I know they're thinking, okay, this guy's amazing. How can I learn from him? So can you explain a few different ways that you do help entrepreneurs?

Yeah. So I currently own five companies the main ones where we help entrepreneurs is, it's called elitecos.com and we really have two tiers. So we have the one for beginners, right, which we've probably, for the last five years that's probably been, I don't, I don't know all the companies, right? I mean it's, it's hard when you say one of the top in the industry, but we've been an eight figure company and I feel like we've been one of the top in the industry. Every competitor I remember has either dropped off or gone out of business. So I'm proud of that. And then the next one is called Next Level. And those are really for entrepreneurs doing at least 100,000amonth. And I, like quite honestly, Terry, the, the reason they say 0 to 100 is as hard as 102 million is most entrepreneurs, the number one thing they lack is team building. I mean it is, it is horrendous how bad some people are at leadership. And so I think part of the reason I am a little bit hardened is it's that dichotomy of leadership from that book Jocko Willnick, where if you're too nice to people, they don't respect you. If you're too mean, like, you know, they don't want to work for you. So it's a very delicate balance. And I say I'm like, you know, too mean, like I'm probably like here. But I feel, I feel you kind of need it a little bit to really grow a team and scale because you got to set standards and you got to get yourself out in management. So anyways, let me go on a tangent, but it's either if you're starting to scale a business, right, or you're at the 100,000, you're like, hey, I want to get to a million plus a month. And, and that's when you really have to learn how to build a team. And it's not easy. I mean that was besides door to door sales. That's the hardest thing I've ever done. Because getting others to do your job at a high level and keep them motivated, man, that's a, that's a whole thing. And that's why everyone's so excited for these AI robots that are coming out because they're like, hey, maybe I could just get the robots to do it. But that's a huge skill that I feel people lack. And so that's part, probably the most important part of like what we do in that program.

Awesome. And I'll have the links in the show notes so we can all learn more about that. But I want to be conscious of your time here. So one question that I love to ask everyone is this. What is one lesson about entrepreneurship that you wish you learned sooner?

You know, I say the same thing almost every podcast. I wish I had learned to fail sooner. And the reason I didn't is because, first off, most everything I kind of done to that point, I felt like I'd been successful. So I had straight A's, good at sports, you know, girls liked me. I was like, yeah, awesome. And then when I got to business, I thought the same thing. Yeah, I don't need help. I'll do it on my own. Which is very naive. And then adults would tell me, hey, man, you got time. No worries, dude. You got time. And then I was 25, and I didn't have any time left. That's how it felt to me. So the point I'm trying to make is, fail faster. Hire someone sooner. Spend all the money you have to to learn skills. Because I was raised, hey, save money, save money, save money. But the only way to really make more money, like, really make more money, is you have to become valuable to the marketplace, which means you're gonna have to pay for it, because the. The top dogs, the guys at the top, the girls at the top, they ain't gonna work for free, and you gotta pay for it. And so I wish, in hindsight, if I had paid for help sooner, I probably would've made another $20 million, and I probably would have saved myself from a lot of struggle and kind of heartache, because two years doesn't sound like a long time. Like, on the podcast, like, oh, two years isn't that long. But when you're doing it 16, 18 hours a day, and you live in a hole. I'm sorry. And you have a terrible car, and girls are laughing at you. It doesn't feel like it's not a big deal. Like, it feels like the world's ending. And so I almost quit five times over five years. And the only reason I didn't is I had a mentor that told me not to, and I'd figure it out. But most people are not built that way. I know the average person would have quit. And so you got to move quickly, because if you don't and you extend this timeline of success, every day, you go past that, you increase the chance you're going to quit. And that's also probably why I'm so passionate, because I just like people. They don't get it. And they think by not taking action they lose nothing. But you are losing something. You just don't know what it is. And that's what scares me now because I actually know if I don't do this, what would I miss out on that I could have had? And the answer is, you will never know, right? Until maybe you meet your maker. So anyway, sorry I was a little, a little drawn out answer, but I just, I just want people to win, Terry. Like, and I just know what it feels like to lose. So I just want people to win.

Awesome. I appreciate that, man. Thank you so much for your time today. I do want to be aware of that, but this has been great. So I appreciate you.

Thanks for having me, man. I really appreciate. And you've done this a while, so I appreciate the questions. They were. They're good. It always makes it more fun for me.

And that's our show for today. You can learn more about Tanner and how we can help you by visiting tannerchidester.com I'll spell it for you. It's T a n n chest e r c-h I-E-S-T e r.com and be sure to give them a follow on social media at Tanner Chidester. Thanks again for listening and I'll catch up with you next time. Apply what you've learned on today's show. You'll find the show notes and more resources at Terryrice Co. Podcast. Again, that's Terryrice Co Podcast. And the best way to support this podcast is by subscribing, telling a friend and leaving a review. Also, you can get more tips by following me on Instagram terryrice or follow me on LinkedIn. This episode was produced by Josh Wilcox of Brooklyn Podcasting Studio and edited by Dan Lardy. Special thanks to my wife Dominique, for keeping our kids relatively quiet as I recorded. Thanks again for listening. I'll see you next time.