EP:47 - Entrepreneur Inspiration - Danny Calafell Packs a Punch in Sales, Leadership, and Startup Victory

Danny Calafell's journey from the sweat of the boxing ring to the sharp suits of the boardroom,is a knockout story of transformation and tenacity. With a record label to his name and a network that includes the Marleys, Danny's pivot from pugilist to powerhouse offers a playbook on leveraging relationships and rolling with the punches of business ownership.

This episode is a masterclass needed for startup success. From the humble beginnings of Danny's ventures to the soaring heights of corporate consulting, catch the stories of his strategic moves and sales savvines.

Contact Danny: Here
 
Three question that this episode will answer:
1. How can a former boxer succeed in business and entrepreneurship?
2. What strategies from boxing can be applied to business growth and leadership?
3. Can discipline in sports translate to corporate success and personal development?

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Transcript

00:00 - Jason Hill (Host)
Welcome to another episode of the OWL podcast. And we're going to get Danny. He's next to me and he's heard a lot about the OWWL app. He's a business owner and lots of times we get caught in our ways. Right, danny? That's right, everything's like OK, there's threads, and now I've got to go on there and get a million followers, then the next app and the next app. 

00:19
But sometimes, all sudden, you try this new technology, like, oh my god. It's like when calendar scheduling came out. It reminds me of one day. I'm like, oh my god, I finally understand why I could just send an email out. They click a button and they land in my schedule, it goes into Outlook and I'll go back and forth 25 different times with every person every week, like what time works for you, what time works for you? And then it disappears. So we're, of course, going to do some owl calls today on the show, but to kick the show off today, tell everyone a little bit about your background as an entrepreneur and how you use some other platforms currently to really pick up customers and clients. 

00:57 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
OK, well, let's start a little bit before that. So how I originally got into business. I come from an entertainment background. I boxed professionally 18 years before I got into business. Great career. Some things fell short, but for the most part I built a lot of connections and a lot of contacts in the entertainment space, mostly in music, just being around, just tremendous amounts of success. That was my life for 18 years and I had a very close with the Marlies, among other celebrities and so forth. That I built very strong connections Because it wasn't really just about hanging out. It was like we had family connections with everybody that I would come in contact with on that level Bob Marley, the singer oh cool. 

01:46
The sons, absolutely yeah, so they're like family. And just to give you a little bit of background on that, I've been on my own since I was 14. I come from the streets and drugs problems in and out just issues nonstop. And what saved my life was the sport of boxing. And the moment I stepped in the gym, which I was almost 18 years old, I fell in love with the sport and from there just my career took off. I ended up aligning myself with pros. I was still an amateur at the time and then that led me to start working with some world champions. And then from there I was just with nothing but the best in the world, where we had camps of maybe 13, 15 of us and everyone was in the top 10. We had ESPN, hbo Showtime constantly in the gym filming. Everybody was fighting on pay-per-view and big events selling out millions of tickets, stadiums and so forth. So that's where my background came from. 

02:49
And then, at the same time of that, I was also involved in the club scene. So we were doing promotions for clubs in Miami One of the hottest actually we were the biggest promotion company down here in Miami, bringing artists in, and that's what led me to build the relationships that I ended up building, and I wanted to build it with artists. I wanted to build it with a lot of the celebrities, just because I knew that that was the direction that I was going in and they loved the fact that I was a boxer. So it was just great synergy. And then, circling back over to the Marlies, I was backstage at one of the events and we were in RV. Mr Cheeks the rapper he's like a big brother of mine and we're there in RV and everything, and we have a photographer comes in and he's taking pictures. He's like oh man, I think I saw one of your fights and your box are right, and I was like, yeah. So he gave me his card. 

03:47
And then one thing led to another. He had a media company and he wanted to open up a record label side deal and that was actually my first business. And what year was that? 2010. So before that, I had no idea what I was going to do, because I was in the studio with Steven one night and it was just me and him. He was recording. I think it was Revelations part one, and we're there and for the first time, I didn't know how to respond to a question that was asked to me and he asked me he was like so what are your plans after the sport? And I was like, oh, I was 24, 25 at the time. 

04:22 - Jason Hill (Host)
Which is normal. Yeah, that's like most people in college, like what do you really want to do after college? And like, well, they're just taking a business degree, but they have no idea. They're like something in finance, something in accounting, something in the marketing world, right. And then you just you find your way, right, because you think you know. And then you find out it's not what it's all about, what they read about on the internet. Until you're actually doing that career and finding what your best skill set is, you have to fail a little bit or try a lot of things and then, all of a sudden, you find your passion or your love. Some people never find their passion or love. They stay and become an expert, get really good at it and then they take the money and then they use it for their passion, of course. 

05:01 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
That's right, but honestly, I didn't know how to respond. I didn't know what I was going to do. I knew I had a passion for music Because when I was a kid I played five instruments by ear before I learned how to read music. So music has always been a passion of mine and fast forward. That's when that opportunity came. I was like man, this is gold, like all I have to do is pick up the phone and I just make calls and I get in contact with all the people. I know we could really kick the label thing off, but what I didn't like about that is I had to rely on others in order to be successful, and that's where things started really. I started getting like a reality check. We put a lot of money and a lot of time into the label and nothing was coming from it, no matter who I mean I had relationships with. I mean we're talking about the biggest in the business, the A-listers yeah. 

05:49
And even the companies. I got a friend of mine out of Interscope he's named Ash's brother who, named Ash, discovered Jay-Z and Kanye and his brother Bobby. He was with Interscope at the time. He was like they used to call me champ, so he was like champ. He's like anything you need, I'm behind you, just get him to a certain point, we'll jump behind you full blast and I was like all right, but again, nothing really came fruitful from that and that's when I decided to make that shift into corporate business. My father was involved in mergers acquisitions. He's done huge deals. We're talking like between $600 to $800 million deals like big stuff and my uncle was VP of ExxonMobil. My other I heard of them. Are they big? My grandfather had medical centers and so I mean I come from that background. 

06:45 - Jason Hill (Host)
So then, where did it go wrong for you While you're in these areas where you have this family, but then you're that supporting you, or maybe it came later. 

06:56 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
That's the thing. I didn't have the family. So my parents split. When I was five, Gotcha and my father was traveling a lot for business, Like she was working, struggling to pay bills. And that's where I mean, what's a kid to do? I'm going to be honest, I'm making light of it. I mean I'm lucky to be alive. 

07:13
I died at one point in my life for about 45 seconds that I bring me back. I was in a coma for two days. I was 15 years old. I mean I went through it Like I just had a conversation with my father the other day. He was like most people that lived what you lived. They wouldn't be around right now. They either been in jail for the rest of their life or in a grave. 

07:33
So I'm thankful to be where I'm at and continuously growing and, like I said, I owe it all to the sport of boxing because that's what saved me. And then, later on, now I'm realizing all the contacts and all the momentum that I built from there. Even the drive has helped me tremendously in business, Shifting from that, making that shift from entertainment to corporate. In the beginning it was accidental. People were like, oh, I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I didn't know what the hell I was doing. I was getting my teeth kicked in, knocking on doors, making phone calls, getting hung up on. I was like this is the most frustrating thing ever, because I don't know how I'm going to take this business off, because I don't know how to get in contact with people like I was able to get in contact before, where I could just pick up the phone and just call somebody. 

08:19 - Jason Hill (Host)
It's exciting. When you're like, oh, come down to the club, we have a group party going there like, yeah, man, I want to come by. But when you're like, hey, I'm in the financial world and we want to, you know, maybe you know buy your business, or you know, or maybe it would be a good decision to merge with this brand, we could make one plus one equal four. Right, I get it's different, like those conversations like, uh, nah, call me a couple months, right. 

08:40 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
That's right. No, but at that time we only I only had two services. It was marketing and and consulting. And they're like what are you going to consult me on? Like you're like, let's like, what's your pitch, you know? And then and then all. Obviously, a lot of the connections that I built was not only entertainment, it was also on the business side. So you know, I dove straight in and I've always been big on studying successful people. So that's when I dove into sales and I was like, okay, well, I need to learn how to. I thought I knew how to sell. I don't. I don't understand sales as much as I thought. 

09:13 - Jason Hill (Host)
I did. I love that part because so often people are like that guy that's the number one sales rep, and I did it myself. My first job out of college was ADD security and I was like if those guys could do it, I could do it. And then you find out real quickly like holy crap. You know, when no one's watching them they're one on one with a person how good they are with their words and how they kind of, you know, positively persuade them in the right direction during the sales conversation. And then the close right, here's the pen, and just let that individual make a decision. Don't say a word, don't talk them out of the sale, and it's. It's a talent, you know. 

09:46
Obviously not everyone's born salesperson, but a lot of people could be a three out of 10 and then become a six or seven or eight out of 10. Once you get in that range like, you could do a lot of jobs right. That's why a lot of sales professionals you know are known for making a lot of funds. You could work with these big tech companies and pretty much make millions of dollars as a sales representative. At the end of the day 100%. 

10:06 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Yeah, and that's what. That's what allowed me to really like, dive in and really understand, because I was getting I was getting that rejection and I was like, why am I like? Why am I getting hit with this? So I'd get on calls with my father and I was like, what's like? What's going on here? And then I started and I didn't realize what I was doing at the moment, but I was actually codifying sales, like I would come back and I would review okay, I'm getting told I'm not interested. I'm getting told this, I'm getting told this by the receptionist. What do I? Why are they saying that? What do I need a say in response to that? To get a little closer to you know, speak to the decision maker and whatnot. But you know, in the beginning, again, I didn't, I didn't. I was getting an argument with the receptionist. I was like I'm going to get you fired, you're not doing your job right. And I was like, all right, that's not the way to do things. 

10:51 - Jason Hill (Host)
Horses, it doesn't work out too well. 

10:52 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Yeah, so that's that's. That's how my journey started. 

10:56 - Jason Hill (Host)
I agree with you, it's probably not the right time, but how about I call him tomorrow? Exactly Right, you know now, I know that but you know it's pops all in the business. Right now he's the VP of my company. Awesome, Awesome. Tell us a real examples of brands that you work with and, just like you know, they have a consultation with you and what happens next, or audience understands. 

11:14 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Yeah, so right now I own and operate three businesses. Let's just start with that. So Triworld is my consulting business, where we scale companies. I'm also partners with Grant Cardone, cool and that's what the TEDx 10. 

11:26 - Jason Hill (Host)
Yeah, you got the 10X. 

11:27 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
There it is, there it is so. 

11:29 - Jason Hill (Host)
Jared Yellen did the not TEDx, but the other one was at the incubator. The incubator, yeah, he was on the shrimp tank, my other podcast, so I learned a lot about it from him. On that end, you know how, trying to scale 1000 plus companies that are startups in the next X amount of years, which is cool, but TEDx is a different thing, of course. 

11:46 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Yep, Yep. So there's that. Then I have with my other partner in acquisition company where we buy companies, hand it to my consulting business, scale them up and then sell them, and then I have a workshop and seminar business. So right now I mean, like I mentioned before, like it was just me knocking on doors, and now fast forward 12 years from this was 12 years ago. About now we have 26 services, 108 people under me and growing. My father, like I said, he's VP of my company, Also also involved with the acquisition company as well. So brands we work with I mean Fortune 500 is down to companies doing about 2 million and everything from sales, training, marketing and business programs. 

12:30 - Jason Hill (Host)
So it's the hardest thing, learning all these companies. You know, a lot of times it's people problems. We're always putting out fires. People you hire have to lay off. You know, sometimes it's just, you know, finding the right companies to work with. It's hard to get those decision makers on the phone. Most business, you know, you don't unfortunately fail because they can't get enough, they can't get in front of enough people. At the end of the day, it's like they have the skill sets to sell, but if they can't get them to the table to even have the conversation, it's a different problem, of course. But what would you say is the hardest thing? Now? You know, at this level where you are in business right now, for me, or for business, yeah, for you, like right now, like what's the hardest thing, man? Everything's hard. 

13:07 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Everything's hard because if you're not, and the reason I say that is because if you're not growing, okay, then that's when things start becoming normal and average and easy, you could say. But if you're growing, things are always going to be hard. I would and that's where that boxing, you know, play to and still plays a significant role in what it is that I'm doing today. I've always pushed myself to higher and higher levels. So, like whenever I was in camp with you know, you name a fighter I was always like, all right, how do I outwork this person, how do I train harder, how do I train longer? And I just converted that over to business. So it's like now I'm constantly trying to push myself more and more and more, like I'm looking at the greats and I'm like, all right, how do I get there and how do I get there faster? 

13:55 - Jason Hill (Host)
So that's true. You know, you look at all these apps like clubhouse, where I went, jumped in. You've done a phenomenal job on clubhouse. You have a lot of engagement in the rooms when you're speaking, of course, and then you know it's just it's hard to do because a lot of entrepreneurs go everywhere and you consult them on this. It's like now they're jumping to threads, right, and a year ago it was clubhouse, now they're not even using clubhouse. Then now they're going to try LinkedIn. You know, I saw a guru on the 25 hour podcast this weekend. It sounds like maybe I should just sit to LinkedIn because there's higher earners on LinkedIn, right, yeah, and there's decision makers on LinkedIn. But it's kind of like scary because all this AI is coming out and I was like try email marketing, try Facebook ads, try LinkedIn ads, right. So when you consult a lot of these businesses, you know you, sometimes you got to be like, hey, focus on a couple, right? Well, we always focus on mall. 

14:38 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
We tell them to. You know, focus on what works. I love trying mall and you know a lot of people ask Grant. They're like you know, what's your favorite, what's your favorite social media platform? He's, like all of them, the one that works. 

14:50 - Jason Hill (Host)
I like that, you know so this is different because sometimes, like the one who send, who sells these teddy bears right now, like right here, it's like they Facebook ads, right, this. This works because there's enough margin that this thing costs like three bucks and then they could sell it for 20, you know, on their website or on Amazon and make enough profit. But it, but sometimes other services don't work so well on Facebook. 

15:10 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Well, there's also you have to know your audience. Yes, and that's another big thing, a lot of people they're trying to do that shotgun approach, but they don't know their audience, and that's you know. That's a. I mean, you asked what was the hardest thing. I can tell you what I see every day with businesses is that's one. Another one is employee engagement. 

15:32
That was employees yeah, Okay, most employees are not. That's the number one issue, with companies in disengagement of employees, Structure, productivity, all of the areas that we pretty much help with A lot of stagnants, a lot of companies we come in they've been around for, you know, 10, 15 years and they can't figure out why they've not grown in that amount of time frame. Cause that's the number one question I ask Okay, you've been around 15 years. Where what's your growth been the last three? Oh, we've, we've been, we've been coasting. That's a problem. 

16:05 - Jason Hill (Host)
Yeah, and it's trying new things, like last week, like let's do a 25 hour podcast and let's do hour week, where we do just stuff every single day and we have contests and everyone's going to be like what are you doing? And you just don't know until you give it a try and then when you try it, everyone's like they're onto something Cool. Well, I think it's time to call some people an hour. So one of the coolest parts about the Owl podcast show is literally Danielle's able to look who's live on the platform and give them a ring and bring them into a show where a lot of other podcasts let's be honest, we're talking about change. It's the old, boring interview, right. It's like the same story all the time and like a lot of podcasts are having difficults. Difficulty, right when? 

16:41 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
we say change. What do you mean? 

16:42 - Jason Hill (Host)
A lot of podcasts. Today are interview shows. 

16:44 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Yeah. 

16:45 - Jason Hill (Host)
And there's more and more being created than ever before, because you could easily buy a $20 microphone on Amazon and do it over Zoom. 

16:54
And it's free and you could hit the record button, then you could stream it to these services for free. And all of a sudden, like there's so much saturation so you have to really differentiate yourself. Like why is your show going to be different than others, right? So in our case, like, we did a 25 hour podcast and then we found a sponsor like Celsius and it really elevated us. And then we found LinkedIn creators to join forces with us on their LinkedIn live feed. So all of a sudden, there's hundreds of people technically involved throughout the show and on this show it's like we're about to call different experts on the blue and all of a sudden, like they're like that was so awesome. 

17:26
I got to ask Danny a question live on there, like back in the Z100 days, right? You're in the music business, right? How cool was it when someone got to call Z100 and be like you're live on Z100 right now and all the pranking stuff that would happen. That's right. I love that in the morning. My morning commute is like listening to someone get pranked and all that jazz. 

17:46
But we got to change because people's attention spans are so short today. Changes always. I mean just engagement overall. Just when you look at the saturation of Instagram right now because people are even moving to threads. When you look at Clubhouse, then people jump over to Twitter Spaces or LinkedIn Audio and other apps that came out after Clubhouse. When you look at just podcasts, how many people started a podcast when COVID-19? It was out of control. There should be a requirement to start a podcast, right, but all of a sudden it's like by allowing the whole world to have a podcast and throw it for free on all these apps, it just becomes like too much content at the end of the day. 

18:24 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
But that's what I was going to get at Is that there's always going to be saturation in anything, as far as you having to be different Absolutely. And I mean that's what I mean. I remember back when I mentioned as far as being in the music industry, I used to scout talent on YouTube. Now it's so saturated it's you know. 

18:45 - Jason Hill (Host)
But yeah, it is true, and at the end of the day it's also patience and just to know to keep going. Sometimes I see often people's mistake where they drive for like a month and they give up, but when you look at the best they just keep going and going and then they make small change after small change and then all of a sudden you get that old line oh, they're lucky because Right, it's also lucky because you were a boxer and you're lucky because you knew a lot of people in the entertainment business. 

19:16 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Ron, are you here? 

19:18 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
I'm here. 

19:19 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Great, you're live on the OWL podcast right now with. Danny. 

19:24 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Califel. 

19:28 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
And he is a business expert. He owns three businesses and basically, can you give us a little rundown on what you do? We're going to have him ask you a question or two. 

19:42 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Very good, well, happy to be here and thanks so much for having me and Danny shout out to you. As well as Danielle, I'm Ron Brooks. I am the president, ceo of River City Capital here in Memphis, tennessee. We are what's referred to as a CVFI or a Community Development Financial Institution, so we essentially provide loan funding and business support services for small business owners that are underserved by traditional vendors, and we've existed since 2010. And I have the distinct honor of leading our team of nine individuals in that mission every day, and that's actually what I'm doing right now, working on part of that with one of our bank partners on some funding for a much needed business. So very excited with what I do and hope that kind of helps give you a frame of who I am and what I do. 

20:42 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Cool, that's awesome. What's going on, ron? Yeah, hey, danny. How you doing. I'm great man, I'm great, so yeah. So what's? Some struggles you feel that you're dealing with in your industry and the advantages that you bring to the table. 

20:58 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Yeah, no, that's a great question, yeah, so some of the advantages that you bring is, of course, that in today's, a perfect example where the federal funds rate went up another 25 basis points, so we're able to provide low cost funding for a target audience here in Memphis, tennessee, that often just doesn't fit the underwriting criteria by the banks right, and so my background was in banking about 20 years. That kind of overlapped with the founding of this organization, and that's some of the things where we provide. A really interesting advantage is we're able to work with those folks and help them really develop their business, danny, such that they're able to quote unquote, graduate from us, so to speak, and be able to go to the banks and get the funding that they need. The other part of your question you asked about what are some of the challenges? 

21:54
Some of the challenges are particularly for us as a nonprofit lender. That's not a depository right, so we don't have branches and checking accounts and all those type of things. So we have to be good fiduciary partners and very responsible with the money that we have, and one of our challenges is always just raising enough funding such that we can deploy that to these business owners that are in need. Many of them are pre-revenue and have started their business and we're able to fund them. Or some of them have credit challenges or cash flow challenges that we're able to kind of overcome and structure something for them that makes sense and helps them grow. So that's some of our challenge that we're facing and that I face all the time. That's part of the math problem that I'm always looking to solve. 

22:46
Awesome Ron Jason here at the back, absolutely. 

22:48 - Jason Hill (Host)
Thanks for joining us on the show today. 

22:50 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Jason, that's my friend. 

22:51 - Jason Hill (Host)
What's up, man, what's up, what's up, all is good. Cool, was that, danny? It was good. See, that's the beauty of this platform. It's like let's do one more hour, call One more. 

22:59 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
call Jay, what's up? 

23:01 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Hey, what's going on how you guys doing. 

23:04 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Good, you're on the Owl podcast right now. 

23:07 - Jay (Caller)
Hey podcast people, how are you? 

23:09 - Jason Hill (Host)
What's up, Jay? I'm here with Danielle Nothing much, nothing much. 

23:12 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
I'm live with Danny. What's going on? 

23:14 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Danny is. 

23:15 - Jason Hill (Host)
What's up? 

23:16 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
You know, I know that you do a lot with mindset. Jay is a hypnotherapist. Do you have any questions that you want to ask Jay? 

23:24 - Jason Hill (Host)
Yeah, well, switch it up. 

23:25 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
I like that. I'm afraid, because you said he's a hypnotherapist. He's going to hypnotize me, he's going to put me to sleep and make me do things. 

23:32 - Jason Hill (Host)
Give us all your money. 

23:35 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Give us $100. 

23:36 - Jason Hill (Host)
He's swallowing his full right now. 

23:38 - Jay (Caller)
I tell people I always charge him a lot of money before I hypnotize him. Don't worry. 

23:43 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
What is it that you do Like? Just like give a, I guess, give like some background of what you do. 

23:50 - Jay (Caller)
I'm a firm believer that every problem is a thinking problem. I don't care if you wanna make more money. I don't care if you wanna a better marriage. I don't care if you want your body to look different. When you change the way you think, you change the way you feel. Therefore, you change the way you act. People try to jump to changing their actions. Changing your actions is hard work when changing the way that you think is a lot easier. So I'm actually work with a few boxers and MMA fighters right now, and a lot of people don't know this. Mike Tyson used to work with a hypnotist. Muhammad Ali used to work with a hypnotist. A lot of great athletes work with hypnotists. We know Mike. We know Mike. 

24:22
We know Mike, we know Mike. Yep, well, ask, what about his experiences? And how good is just hypnotizing and stuff like that? Man, what made you wanna, you know, hang up boxing and getting into entrepreneurship? I had. 

24:35 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
I mean, you know, eventually, you know your body takes its hold on you. You can't do it forever. You know it's not like anything else. I mean it's a sport. You know, when the time's up, the time's up. So, like I said earlier, you know on the interview that you know I had a lot of connections in the entertainment space and that's one of the questions that was asked to me what are you gonna do when you're done? And when I got stumped with that question, I was like all right, I need to think of something, because eventually that time clock's gonna run out and I'm gonna be left with nothing. So, yeah, I just I got into music and then transitioned over to corporate business, but not nothing. 

25:15 - Jason Hill (Host)
I always say your network is your net worth. They say, right, because no matter what you do, you have that. Right, you had all those connections and that's all principle behind OWL. It's just like more people you connect with, more people that you keep growing with and connecting with your network and scaling it. There's no different with podcasting, right? Danielle and I have done 40 podcasts while you're on the OWL show and you just look at all these connections right, you got their cell phone number, you got their email address right, you like their posts, you comment on their posts, they do the same on yours and then you could always reach out, no matter what business you're in After running. You know this podcast, the other one that I run as well. It's like 300 successful entrepreneurs, you know. You just learn a little piece from each one, that's it. And then that's what enabled me to then feel confident to launch OWL. 

26:03
Right, I wouldn't have been able to do that without doing all these interviews right, and they taught me that anything's possible, that if you take that same technique, that same knowledge and that same consistency over to to building a mobile platform, like, you could do it. And that's why I went down that road when there were people thought I was absolutely crazy. Like you're gonna do what? When people said that to you like three businesses, yeah. Like, stick with one. You're a boxer, right. Like how many critics did you get that told you? Like what are you doing? Like you're in the music world right. Why would you jump into the financial service world? Like you get a lot of critics along the way. 

26:37 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
I got, man listen, I've gotten critics since I stepped in I mean first time stepping in a gym. So you know I mean you're not gonna make it. It also comes back to my past. You know a lot of pain, a lot of anger, and that's that was my, that was my fuel in the ring. Like I became like what you, who, you guys, see in front of you today, like when I step in a ring I become a different person, like things just change and like the only thing I see in front of me is just destroyed, like that's what it was because of my past. And then you know, and going over to business, a lot of people play. I wouldn't say play, but a lot of people make it as business is nice and everything's great. And I look at it as I mean it's competitive, it's killer, be killed. I mean that's the truth. I mean you have a lot of businesses that go out of business because other businesses come in and take over, so it's like it's either you're gonna do something Exactly. 

27:38 - Jason Hill (Host)
The reds came out and Nylon and you saw that shit show online. 

27:41 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
It's not always. It's not always like people, you know. I mean, look at what happened with Amazon. Amazon came in, it started destroying businesses, every bookstore absolutely. 

27:50 - Jason Hill (Host)
You know you wear this, you know TEDx thing everywhere I noticed. So tell us a little bit about that collaboration and kind of how you kind of build it within your businesses. 

27:59 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Man, great question. So I had before, when I was telling you that I was basically codifying the sales. I got into sales training and I was up to about 463 courses and everything was in person. So I was thinking to myself. I was like, man, how do I ramp this up? Because I want to. I mean, it's gonna get to a point where it's like I can't travel everywhere and train people and the same problem that Grant had when he first started, when he was doing seminars and so forth. So I was like, who do I need to collaborate? Who do I need to like? And I don't want to collaborate. I want to partner with somebody that's already got things going, already has the momentum, and you know what do I need to do that? 

28:40
So I started searching and I looked everywhere. I mean, I'm very big on researching, so I don't care how big your name is. I've been around success since I was 17. So, like, none of that stuff impresses me. It was who matches my core values. I wanted honesty, I wanted transparency, I wanted straightforwardness. I didn't want to sit and trick customers and all that stuff that they talk about with salespeople. They use cart sales, they've been methoded. It was all that shit. Right, exactly, that was a scam, yeah. So like I was looking and I couldn't find and Grant I've been studying Grant nine years this year makes nine years and I mean studying and he was right in front of my face the whole time. 

29:17
So I took my father to one of his events. We went back in 2018. And I was like what do you think of this guy? He was like I like him. I was like great because I want to partner with him. He was like go for it. So once I got his blessing, one thing led to another and added that onto the arsenal that we have. We're up to 4,021 courses now and that's live and online training. 

29:40 - Jason Hill (Host)
That's absolutely awesome. 

29:42 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
So, when you look at the 10X concept so Grant wrote a book, 10x rule the 10X concept is understanding that it's going to take 10 times the amount of effort of whatever you think is going to be enough to achieve what it is that you want to hit. And it's not only financial. Okay, this comes for relationships, this comes from your, this comes towards your health. This comes financially, of course, spiritually, you know, mentally, like all the areas of your life, because most people we all hear these stories of all these people that have a tremendous amount of money but they're still unhappy, and it's because they got that part of their life taken care of but they're lacking in other areas their health, relationships. They're very successful, but they're lonely. They're very successful, but their health is falling. So you know what 10X represents is the ability to have everything, but understand it's going to take 10 times the amount of effort to achieve what it is that you want to hit. 

30:38 - Jason Hill (Host)
And if you build a mobile app, it's going to be 30X that day. That's why everyone's like be careful with mobile platforms and I've learned the hard way that you know it's so much more than I ever realized, and I'm in the heart of it right now. Just keep trying new things to get this platform to the next level. 

30:56 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Well, if you look at and just to spin off on that, like Grant was on Undercover Billionaire season two and they gave him I don't know if anybody's familiar with the way the show works, but basically they give you a hundred bucks, drop your name, we drop you off in the middle of nowhere like well, in a place that you've never been. Your goal is to hit in 90 days. You got to build a million dollar business and they give you a car tank full of gas, hundred bucks, cell phone, no contacts. If you're discovered, got to start all over and go out and do it. So you know he had to find a place to sleep. He was away from his family and the point is is they gave him a million dollar target. He was like no, I have a $10 million target. He ended the show with a five and a half million dollar business, excluding the real estate. 

31:50 - Jason Hill (Host)
That's awesome. 

31:52 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
So the point is is that he overshot to be slightly ahead of what his original goal was, and that's the concept of 10X. 

32:02 - Jason Hill (Host)
So we're doing here on the OWL platform where, when people say we're gonna impact a billion people, like they're like what a billion? I was like, yeah, it's not rocket science. Like people need to connect all this new technology coming out, you know, and we're making that easier for people at the end of the day. So what do you do a lot with Grant currently? Is it kind of more like on you know, the side where, like you kind of been implemented into his systems and now he's a busy guy, right, so do you can do things on a weekly basis, monthly basis, with him, would you say? Or kind of like you have a foundation. 

32:35 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
No, it's. I mean just. I mean we offer sales training. You know the business program side of things. On the marketing side, you know I have. I mean there's programs that we implement for companies with that concept, and then I have my teams that handle marketing for companies that don't have teams in place. But that's pretty much where the partnership comes in. It's an extension. I added that into the arsenal that I had to expand a lot more. 

33:06 - Jason Hill (Host)
It's important, because often businesses just say no no, I gotta do it myself, you know, and they end up doing that too much and then they can't scale and you learn that you're like I hit a wall where I'm doing well you know all my employees are doing well. I was like can we get to that next level, that 10? 

33:23 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Well, it's also aligning yourself with greatness Like and that's, and again I mean I've always wanted that. So I just put that into business and I put that concept into practice where I was like okay, I don't wanna deal with just average businesses. If I'm gonna partner with somebody like you gotta be doing big things. So, grant, for example, I have another company that I have a partnership with. They did three and a half billion last year. I mean, these are and it makes me level up. You mentioned Fuel. That's my Fuel. It's like if I'm aligned with a company like that, if I'm aligned with somebody like Grant, if I'm aligned with people that are doing massive things, then it requires me to have to step my. He's very, very hard on me. Our conversations are short. He's very hard on me and you know, and I appreciate that and you know it's needed. Again, I use that. That's my Fuel. 

34:19
It frustrates me sometimes and I'm like you need it sometimes. 

34:22 - Jason Hill (Host)
Often, everyone's your cheerleader and often, like you know, they're hiding from the truth what they really wanna say. And then there's always that one person in your life that just says it how it is and you're like F them, you know. 

34:33 - Ron Brooks (Caller)
Blah, blah blah, they're the best. 

34:35 - Jason Hill (Host)
If you go to sleep and then like, or a week later, like, yeah, they were kind of like while everybody else was just, you know, just ignoring the truth, right, I'm like yeah that was cool. That was cool, you're great, or this or that, and like, yeah, but they didn't point out the problem in something that was going on and just needing somebody there to be, like, hey, you know, this is the right direction. You know what I'm trying to say 100%. 

34:56 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
And then also the point of being around that level or having access to that level or having a partnership with somebody at that level, also comes from me understanding that when they tell me something, I trust that it's the right thing to do. Even though I don't feel that it's the right thing, even though I don't understand what it is that I'm doing at that moment, I trust that it's the right thing because they're where they are and that's why I always tell people I'm like watch where you get your advice from, because a lot of times we get advice from people that care about us and that love us and we trust them because they love us and care about us. But where is that advice really coming? Look, I haven't built a billion dollar company. I haven't built a hundred million dollar business. Grant has. So. 

35:47
A lot of times when I'm in meetings and like, okay, well, have you ever built a hundred million dollar business? Nope, but Grant has Any information. You wanna hear it come from me? Or you wanna pay him on her grant for an hour? Have it come from him? Oh, he's a hundred grand now. Yeah, okay, all right, I'll listen to you. Yeah, only difference is my voice, my face, and that's pretty much it Same information. 

36:06 - Jason Hill (Host)
It's completely true, because, building this app, you know how many people are like, hey, I would do the home screen like this. Or hey, have you thought about marketing it like this way? And then I have mentors. I've been through the FAU Tech runway, I've been through the Levan Center of Innovation and of course you know 99% of mentors have never built an app. Right, they have business sense, right, but they don't see the other side of like how long it takes to develop an item. Right, and how hard it is to just like pretest this. 

36:33
Before you start developing, you have to go with your gut to actually what you think is gonna work. And then sometimes they're wrong. Right, that's the time, like the way we think, like TikTok, when it exploded, like nobody thought TikTok was going to explode, Right, and everyone said, well, if they do explode, then Facebook and Instagram are just gonna figure it out and copy them. It's like, nope, they tried, they didn't work out, because people are loyal with that brand. They were part of the early adopter group on TikTok and they're staying there and they're not gonna shift over to Instagram reels that quickly. So at the end of the day, it's like you know all these technologies. It's just, you know, sometimes you're getting advice from everyone, but you gotta sometimes take everything with a grain of salt, especially parents. You know their risk tolerance changes. So what they're telling you to do, you know it's because they don't want to take risk anymore. 

37:16
They made the money they're in retirement. But somehow, when they were in their 20s and 30s, they took a ton of risk, right. 

37:22 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
And before that. 

37:23 - Jason Hill (Host)
Yeah, they jumped a lot around in their career. You know now they're like I wouldn't do that if I was you. But it's like, well, that wasn't you when you made your money, when you took those chances. 

37:31 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Think about the thing about kids. Absolutely, it's always. Do you have you always have to tell them no, don't touch this, don't do that. We're natural explorers. 

37:39 - Jason Hill (Host)
Absolutely. 

37:40 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
You know I mean so. And then on the other side of it, just you know, when you were saying, as far as, like a lot of these people saying to do certain things and so forth, I mean I stick to what I know, like that's what I have, that's what I have teams for, that's why I have teams in place, a lot of times people are like, oh, what do you think of this? I'm not gonna give my advice on that, cause I don't know anything about it. I know I know business, I know sales and I know the strategy as far as marketing, anything outside of that. You want to have me run ads? I don't know anything like that. You want me to build a website? I'll figure it out eventually, but you're not gonna pay somebody to figure out eventually. You want it done now. I'll put my team on it and let's roll. So you know I mean that's the straw. That's the other side that I don't. Really I'm not a big fan of, you know. 

38:28 - Jason Hill (Host)
And that's what it's all about. When you're growing a business, it's like just you know, hire the right people around you that support you and have that knowledge at the end of the day, that's a good leader. You don't have to try to figure everything out on your own and tell every customer and client like, hey, this is it and you don't have to be the go-to person. It's like, no, just you know, have a good network around you at the end of the day, yeah. 

38:47
Well, danny, thank you for coming on. The Owl Pocket Me and Danielle over here, thank you for having me. I know our audience, you know, took a lot away from today's episode For everyone listening. Of course, they're gonna be able to contact you through Owl, but what is your website? What is some of your social handles that they want to follow you? 

39:01 - Danny Calafell (Guest)
Man, just, I mean, I always like saying this because it took me a tremendous amount of time to be able to be reputable on there. Just Google me, wow yeah, now just type type. You know. Type my name, you know, search me. Danny Califel, imdchamp on social media handles DannyCalifelcom. 

39:23 - Jason Hill (Host)
You have a unique name so it's easy when they Google you Exactly, you Google Jason Hill. There's like 5,000 Jason Hills, unfortunately, but a lot of the homepage. I'm up against a bunch of professional athletes but thankfully, you know, I still get Googled and I'm findable, you know, against all the other Jason Hills. But thank you again for joining us on the show. Thank you, guys and everyone listening, of course, catch all these past episodes up on all the podcast apps. Take care everybody.