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You Can't Afford Me
Making the leap from employment to entrepreneurship can be a scary time. The biggest fear people have is the unknown. Here on the “You Can’t Afford Me Podast” we speak with hustlers and innovators on how to make the most of your journey. If you have questions we have answers.
You Can't Afford Me
When Machines Replaced His Job, He Chose To Learn Them And Built A Business
The moment machines rolled into the Netflix DVD warehouse, James had a choice: stay comfortable at the tables up front or learn the new tech no one wanted to touch. He chose the hard thing. That decision didn’t just save a job; it rewired how he approaches risk, skill, and ownership—and it led to building All American Pest Control and a franchise model designed to buy back your time.
We unpack the real journey behind that arc. James breaks down the streaming-era chaos, the painful lessons from selling stock too soon, and the mindset shift from “missing the window” to mastering financial literacy. He shares how government and private sector roles became a free university—CDL, pest control licensing, leadership training—and why “unsexy” essential industries like waste and pest control quietly mint resilient, high-margin businesses. If you’ve ever wondered where the reliable money hides, it’s in solving problems people can’t ignore.
From there, we dive into systems. James explains how his franchise offers territory protection, centralized advertising, CRM and design, full training, and AI-powered intake to compress the learning curve and keep owners focused on service and growth. We talk relationships too: being married to a fellow entrepreneur, trading strengths, and keeping the vision aligned when late nights collide with big goals. Parenting enters the chat with a fresh angle—time-rich conversations, college as an option rather than a mandate, and stacking certifications to build a defensible moat.
Pressed on his hardest moments, James points to fear and repetition: crawlspaces, unknowns, and choosing courage daily. The pattern repeats across his life—when most stepped back, he stepped forward. That’s the quiet thesis here: do the difficult work that compounds, and let your business pay you in time, not just cash.
Ready to turn essential problems into enduring profit—and freedom on your calendar? Tap play, subscribe for more real founder talks, and leave a review with the bold move you’ll make this week.
www.themrpreneur.com
Are you an aspiring entrepreneur? Our one-on-one coaching tailor strategies to your unique business goals. Dive into interactive workshops fostering skills essential for success. Looking for an inspirational speaker for your next event? Look Mr.preneur to elevate your gathering. Visit www.themisterpreneur.com to learn more and embark on your path to entrepreneurial success. Mr.preneur, empowering your entrepreneurial spirit. Welcome to the You Can't Afford Me Podcast, where we skip the fluff and dive straight into the ground. Real entrepreneur, real struggle, and the unfiltered journey behind success. Let's get into it. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on another episode of the You Can't Afford Me Podcast. Today we got an awesome guest on the show. Met this brother at a conference, which I think is one of the best places to meet people because then you know you're meeting somebody of like mind that they're looking to take their brand, uh their knowledge to the next level. So I love being around other learners. Uh so today we got James on the podcast. How you doing today, buddy?
SPEAKER_00:I'm doing great. How about yourself?
SPEAKER_01:Fantastic, man. So, real quick, give everybody a quick rundown of who you are and what you do.
SPEAKER_00:All right, so I'm James Harris. I am a local entrepreneur. I own and operate All American Pest Control. Um, we offer general service pest controls, repairs, water restoration, those type of things. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Nice.
SPEAKER_00:You got do you have some other things going on? You do investments? I do. So I do investments, I do a little options trading, um, some real estate. So I'm in the real estate right now. So, you know, keeping the uh portfolio balanced. That's it.
SPEAKER_01:Gotta diversify, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01:So talk to us about before all the entrepreneurial things, give us the the setup. Did you go to school? What did you major in? And what was your first line of work?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I did go to school. I graduated from Veronica High School near here on the east end of Hiraiko. Um I attended Virginia Union University at the HBCU experience, which I recommend for anybody.
SPEAKER_01:Man, did you go when uh when uh Robert Smith did we see you there? Yeah, yeah, we see there. I was like, yeah, if you're a VUU, you had to be there for that talk.
SPEAKER_00:Great, great experience uh meeting with uh Smith there. Um from there I began my career. I worked um for Netflix for some time.
SPEAKER_01:Oh wow. Hold on, hold on, pause, pause, pause, man. You worked for Netflix.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, but not the Netflix that you guys know. So before Netflix uh began streaming, DVD DVD. I remember the DVDs. I was in college and we get the DVDs in the mail. I loved it. So that's that's where I kind of I would say I began my career um there. Um Were you living in Richmond? I was for Nigga? I was so there were local hubs all over the US. Oh, okay. Because the consumer you just wouldn't know because there was no need to know. It just arrived in the mail. But yeah, I was a behind-the-scenes process, an operator there, um, where I kind of learned the I guess the employee aspect of things. Um it was a great experience. I learned the value of hard work.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um when I worked there, there was a sign on the wall that said opportunity is often disguised as hard work. And I kind of took that and that kind of led me to here. Yeah, I kind of took that and ran with it. It was a great experience. Um I got to see um machines when machines were introduced and replaced people, you know, things like that. So we'll get into that later. Um, from there I went to work for local government for some time where I received a lot of training, a lot of education through them, and kind of ran into that glass ceiling as you do with government jobs. It's kind of nowhere to go once you get there.
SPEAKER_01:And then um it was good you're out after all them layoffs, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's true, too. I I transferred over to um back to the private sector, did some time and waste management where I received um an immense amount of training once again, and from there I started my company.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. So all right, let's go back to Netflix, man. Because I I'm fascinated with that company. I was uh one of the original founders actually spoke at a local chamber here like years ago for like a chamber luncheon. And he the way he broke down that story of how things transpired, like Netflix originally was seeking Blockbuster to buy them out. They were like, We built this up, you guys want to buy us, and they were like, nah. And then obviously the tide changed. Blockbuster was primed to be, they could still be one of the biggest companies in the world right now. Absolutely. But they choose to chose to be that old man saying, I'm not gonna change my ways. Once it was evident that they were going down, Netflix came to them and said, Hey, we'll bail you guys out, we'll buy you out. And they were like, nah, we're going down like Titanic. We're just gonna we're just gonna sink down with this ship. Which I think there's actually a blockbuster in there's one blockbuster remaining in the entire country.
SPEAKER_00:I think I did read about that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's like in Ohio or something like that. Which I think would be cool.
SPEAKER_00:Like that's actually if you want to pay$99.
SPEAKER_01:Exactly. So talk about that transition for you with were you there when Netflix was transitioning from the DVDs to strictly online streaming?
SPEAKER_00:Um, yes, I was actually. Um, so I don't know if you remember, um, when they originally began the streaming, they um you had to buy a disc that you put into your device and you streamed from that. Yep. Um, and originally Netflix had decided to create a separate company for streaming, and that kind of sunk the stock price. It was a big chaos and all of that. Remember that? Yeah. I was there doing all of that.
SPEAKER_01:And I had stock prices all the way up here.
SPEAKER_00:Man, listen, that's a whole nother story. I was like, did you get shares when you were working for the company? I did, but I wasn't um as educated on investment in stock back then, so I didn't do everything I should have, which in hindsight motivated me to do what I do now with stocks because now I know. But um, yeah, so that was a big chaos when when they decided to separate the companies, of course, for the people who were working in the warehouse. But um then they made the decision to come back and put everything. I'm sorry about that. You good? They made a decision to come back and put everything. It's real life. Entrepreneurs, our phones ring. Listen, listen, let me turn this off because it will not stop for me. But um when they decided to bring everything back, that that was cool too. Um so the experience, where were we? I'm sorry. No, you good.
SPEAKER_01:So just that transition, like what did your job just dissipate once they were?
SPEAKER_00:Oh no. So actually what happened was um, this is a good story for anybody, any aspirant entrepreneurs. They um there used to be people that opened the DVDs and processed the DVDs, make sure they weren't scratched, damaged, make sure everything matched. One day they bring in some machines that did that work, right? And as an operator, you had the option to go back and run those machines and learn how to run them. And there was no uh add to your pay to do that. Yeah. There was no incentive other than just, hey, you want to run the machines? But your job's easier at that point. It was a little more difficult because you had to learn something new. So now you're going from kind of manual to kind of a machine operator. And so it was about 30, 40 people in there, and um nobody wants to go run the machines. But I'm uh I like to learn, I love to learn. You know, any any opportunity to learn, I kind of take advantage of it. Um so I said, hey, why not? It's something new, let's go do it. So I went back there to run the machines, maybe another two people went back there. So periodically. That's crazy. That's but that is the equation in life. That's the real life. You're gonna see that equation over and over as you chase success. Um I went back there, we started learning the machines. Maybe uh a month, six weeks go by. So at this point, now as soon as we come in, we go straight to the machines. Everybody's up front. Everybody up front's kind of like laughing, like, ah, they got them running the machines, they're not making any extra money. Uh-huh. One day they call a meeting for everybody in the front, right? You guys stay back there, you guys stay back there and run the machines, we gotta talk to them. And at the end of that meeting, everyone was escorted out. And that was the end of that. And the only people left were the people running the machines.
SPEAKER_01:So the two of y'all who stuffed that's it.
SPEAKER_00:That's crazy. And then the pay came, and then that's where you go into opportunity, yeah, is often disguise's hard work.
SPEAKER_01:Well, that's the funny thing, is like the the higher ups at Netflix put it on the wall and told y'all, yeah, this is the recipe for success. For sure. And 98% of the people that saw that sign every single day turned around and looked the other way and laughed at y'all. Yeah. But 2% of y'all were like, nah, this is the right move.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, let's go over here and see what's going on.
SPEAKER_01:That's crazy.
SPEAKER_00:It won't be easy. You know, for anybody aspiring to become an entrepreneur or to just improve in life, it won't be easy.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You have to add value to situations before they pay off. Yep. Especially the situations that are going to pay you the most. You have to step in front of it. The money will catch up.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:But you have to go out there and add the value to yourself. And that's that's the key in anything you're doing.
SPEAKER_01:I I tell people all the time, you you get compensated for the level of problems that you solve.
SPEAKER_00:That's for sure.
SPEAKER_01:The bigger the problem, the more money you get paid. That's for sure. That's that's all entrepreneurs are problem solvers.
SPEAKER_00:That's right.
SPEAKER_01:So going from well, let's let's go into your financial literacy journey there. So, just out of curiosity, did you sell all your Netflix? You did you hold on to something?
SPEAKER_00:Uh unfortunately I did, um, because I went to work for government. Yeah. And the pay from private sector and public sectors is a vast difference, as we all know. So I was in a financial situation where, you know, I just decided that I want to do some other things with the money, a cash thing. And um, not having that financial literacy at that time, I just I just didn't know. But now that's what kind of motivated me to stay into financial literacy and kind of talk to it and teach those around me about it because I wouldn't have made that mistake had I had that influence.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and a lot of people think like, oh, they missed the window. Like, so for me, for you it was Netflix. For me, it was Facebook. So I had never had a brokerage account in my life. I hear the news that Facebook is IPO and I'm like, okay, this is my time. Because I've always heard invest in the things you know. And I'm like, well, this is my life, this is my business, it's social media. I know Facebook better than anything else. Here's my time to invest. So I had scraped up like 2K, put it to the side, I was ready to go. Next day, Facebook was IPO and I do the dumbest thing I possibly can. I turn on CNN, I listen to Mad Dog, and he's like, Man, we don't know what this is. This is the worst. If you invest in Facebook, you're an idiot. You have no idea what you're doing. Now, looking back, I realize those people on CNN, they're telling you not to invest in stuff so that they as a whole can go gain these assets. So when they're like, stay away from this.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's a financial uh literacy joke. We do the opposite. Yep. So you know that now. We're gonna tell you not giving financial advice. It's a joke.
SPEAKER_01:But the same thing they said about crypto crypto is one of the worst investments you can possibly make. There's been no higher yielding investment in the last 20 years more than Bitcoin. For sure. Like sure. So think what you will, yeah, but now I know, okay, whenever they say this, I need to do the opposite. Um, so that was the painstake for me. I mean, I eventually got into Meta, but I could have got Meta shares for like four dollars or something instead of paying$400 some dollars per.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:So just for my just for my curiosity, I go back every now and then because I knew the exact number of stock or the number of shares that I would have bought. And time to time I'll do that calculation of like, man, this is what be sitting over. Did you do the math on that thing?
SPEAKER_00:I used to do it. I stopped doing it. It's too painful. I can't look back. It would have been life changing. Yeah. Let's put it like that. Because they also offered a share, I mean a match. And it also gave you a certain amount of capital just to bastard share. Shh. So I look back, I still, I still have my like check stub with it on there. It's in my files. Every now and then I just but these are the type of things.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you don't know what you don't know.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And you take these still those moments to motivate you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So it won't happen again.
SPEAKER_01:But there is probably some factory worker at Netflix that is now multi-millionaire.
SPEAKER_00:I hope so. I hope somebody got it.
SPEAKER_01:So talk about your journey on financial literacy. Like we just mentioned that we just saw you went to VUU and we just mentioned that we just saw Robert F. Smith. So those who don't know who Robert F. Smith is, number one, you don't know enough about financial literacy if you don't know a name like that. Um, if you know LeBron James stats better than you know who Robert F. Smith is, your priority is in the wrong spot. I've never been one, like I'm a big Pittsburgh Steels fan, but I don't know the stats and tackles and all stuff. Man, I ain't got time to study all that stuff. I I'd rather bone up on some other stuff. Um so obviously, a billionaire, one of the few black billionaires we have on earth, um, was speaking there for free. So obviously we heard of that, we jumped at the opportunity. Um but looking at that, like now those are rooms that you seek out. What was it that kind of helped you on your path to financial literacy? So obviously, like um what happened with Netflix and not being in the right position to understand and invest properly. After you realize what happened, talk to us about your journey of financial literacy. Was there a book that you went after? Did you seek out certain people? What did you do?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so I did all of those things. Um, once again, you know, I love to learn, so I kind of took advantage of all opportunities to learn. Of course, all the classics, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, uh, the Four Agreements, The Secret, all of those classics, but just anything. You know, and even when I wasn't reading, I would do audiobooks. Yep. So Audible while I'm driving, things like that, podcast. I just soaked it all up. Whenever I felt down, E.T. pulled out of Earth Thomas, they would keep that motivation.
SPEAKER_01:E.T. would make you run through a brick wall, man.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I was there from the beginning with E.T. So like just yeah, it's big.
SPEAKER_01:But it's funny, interesting note about him. A lot of people don't know this. Like that one video that blew up, I think it was an LSU uh football player, and he just had that motivational speech and it was kid training. He posted that video 11 years ago on YouTube before it blew up. So everybody was like, oh man, this guy E.T., like he's a nah, this brother has been uploading videos for 11 years, and just now he's popping off, and people are finding out about him. So anytime somebody brings up ET, I like to remind people like it's never too late. Just like what you're talking about with finances, it's never too late to get started with this stuff. And you think all these people popped up overnight, majority of people that you follow that have 10 million followers, they all have been doing this for years and years and weren't getting any attention. Then one day it just pops off.
SPEAKER_00:Right. You're putting that value in place once again. Yeah. Everything else will catch up as long as you're adding that value to yourself, your brand, whatever have you. So everything would catch up. And that's kind of you know what happened. Like I said, just kept on learning, kept on learning. Um I always knew the value of just ownership, period. So when we went back, when I go back to Netflix, you know, Reed Hastings was a big influence. Just his story, him doing that as a man, creating this monster, going to the other monster, which was Blockbuster, getting denied, then coming back and like that's that whole thing is just entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_01:It's gangsters, what it is. You gotta love that.
SPEAKER_00:How do you not love that? So I'm there, like part of the team. I'm in I'm in Netflix, part of the team. So, you know, this just you're getting that, I'm getting that motivation um the entire time. You know, we're kind of learning that story and living the story as it's going on, you know.
SPEAKER_01:How many people that that you work with, were there ever conversations? Because like I was reading, I'll never forget this. Uh I was reading Rich Dad Poor Dad, I was working at a factory, and we made like the soaps and lotions for like American, like Bath and Beyond and American Eagle and stuff like that. So I remember when somebody put me on to this, I'm waiting for these tubs to fill up and I got Rich Dad Poor Dad in my hand reading, and I'm speaking, it's like I'm talking Japanese to all the guys around me. Was there anybody else around you? Because I'm like, to be in the in the middle of that, I understand a lot of times you don't understand what's going on until you're past that period. But there was nobody else around you that was like, yo, man, you hear what they're talking about? We can go out and do X, Y, and Z.
SPEAKER_00:It's not like that. It's lonely. It's lonely. The journey is lonely until you get to the top, until you get closer up. Then you start to meet like-minded people. Yeah, but along the way, you're gonna feel alone. You have to understand that. And I always tell people there are far more seats in a bus than a Bugatti. So you gotta understand that. And success is shaped like a pyramid.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It's a lot of people at the bottom. If you want to have friends, you want to, you can be down there. But if you're trying to come up here, it's it's gonna be a few and far in between.
SPEAKER_01:I I'd rather have my, and this may just be with wisdom and time, but like I was a guy, because I'm an extreme extrovert. I was a guy that always had like a hundred different friends. Older I've gotten, man, that circle gets so much tighter because you know, when you're first coming up, you're trying to put your boys on, be like, yo, let's talk about stocks, let's talk about starting this business, da-da-da. And they're like, nah, I'm trying to go to the bar tonight and like chase girls. All right, cool, man. Well, I'm gonna lay back and do this thing. And then you're trying to put everybody on and they ain't listening, and then finally you get to that level, and I'm like, yo, man, like tell me how to do dog. I've been trying to get you on for the last 10 years, man. It's too. We're past that point now. But I can't be dragging people along. I gotta have people marching with me.
SPEAKER_00:For sure. I have things to do now. I'm I'm no longer in that position. And I I I informed a lot of people of that along my journey. Hey, one day you won't be able to come to me. You're gonna have to come to someone else to come to me. Yep. Now, while you're here, I suggest you take advantage of that.
SPEAKER_01:And most of them don't.
SPEAKER_00:They do not. Most of them don't. It is what it is.
SPEAKER_01:So I was reading uh the financial books, the staples, some of those that you talked about. What else did you do to start leveling up your financial literacy?
SPEAKER_00:Um, just that. Um, adding value to myself. Like I said, you know, gain gaining skills. Um any classes that I found I took. Um so once I left Netflix, um, for several reasons, I went to local government. Um when I got there, they had a lot of leadership classes, a lot of leadership training. And once again, I'm surrounded by 50, 60 people, two or three of us going to take these classes. And, you know, I mean they're offering classes on different computer stuff and a lot of leadership, pass control, different things like that. So I'm just taking advantage. And I had a manager, thankfully, who was um ahead of me and who kind of saw the glow. Yeah, and he gave me the space to grow. You know, that's that's key to finding, you know, good partnerships along that journey. Um, and we kind of sat down and talked, and he had been there for probably 20 years before I got there. And he told me, he said, Man, you just you motivated me since you've been here. Like you're driving your glow. And you know, we sat down and talked, and I told him, I said, Hey, look, we can go up together. I don't plan on leaving you, you don't leave me. I'm gonna make sure that you get all this new information. Yeah, I'm gonna push you as long as you pull, and we can make it. And that's what we did, man. It was a great guy. Ivan Cattery passed away um a couple years ago, but he was a great guy, great, great motivator, man. We just and we locked in. Yeah, we locked in. I took advantage of everything. I mean, I got a CDL, a pest control license, everything that was there, I took advantage of. To this day, I still have my CDL. I'm not driving, but it's just the type of personality.
SPEAKER_01:If somebody needs that 18-wheel or parallel parking, you know, you can you can jump in there and do your thing.
SPEAKER_00:If I need to, but that's the kind of drive you have to have. You have to almost be to me, be greedy in a sense. Yeah, right? You gotta be greedy. Um and that's why even when you know we went to conferences we go to, and I look around and see empty seats, I'm like, how can this be? Yeah, you can't tell me that you want all of these things and there's seats next to that. Yep. That's impossible. These two things can't coexist. And I try to explain to people all the time when we're dealing with people, we have to be cognizant of the fact that it sounds great to say you want to do better.
SPEAKER_01:It's easier to say that.
SPEAKER_00:It's easy to say that, and it's the anything to do, but we have to be aware of people who don't really mean that.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Find the people who do mean that and move with those those people, you'll be fine.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, rolling with that circle. And one thing I've taken away from your story so far is I've told people over the years, um, what's the worst thing that can happen if you become an entrepreneur? If it fails, you pick up and you start something else. But I said you're never starting back at zero.
unknown:No.
SPEAKER_01:Like, if all this that I've built so far burns down to the ground, I'm not starting at zero. I'm starting back with knowledge. I know how to grow a business, I understand marketing, I have the relationships and connections. So, like, what took me 10 years to build to this point, if I had to rebuild it, man, it's gonna take me 12 months now because you have the knowledge there. And for you hearing all that, man, you got your CDL, you were in the middle of uh working with a Fortune 500 company, like as they were on the come up and like getting this mentorship and things along the way. Going into government, getting your CDL, learning about pest control, all these different things. So, like, and now the financial literacy component. So it's like, man, I can always go back and rebuild. Like, because you look at you look at somebody like a Warren Buffett, if his entire portfolio disappeared, you don't think Warren would be rich again?
SPEAKER_02:Easily.
SPEAKER_01:If Mark Mark Cuban, if all his businesses fail, you think Mark can't figure something out? Elon Musk, like all these guys, like so. Once you have that knowledge, like it's easy to take it to the next level. Um, so yeah, we've we've run into each other at a couple conferences. So I met you the first time at the Big Dipper Summit. Yes, which that was one where I'm like, you and I were looking around, we're like, bro, are you serious? Like, all this knowledge for and I think we pay maybe like 200 bucks for that conference or something like that. Yeah, but it's like duh, I walked away with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of knowledge for that 250.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely, almost a degree.
SPEAKER_01:Uh and I had business convert from that from that summit. So it was wonderful to be at something like that. Um, all right, let's talk about the the pest control business. So I'm assuming from the government work, you were taking some of those classes. When did that entrepreneur gene kick in and you were like, all right, it's time for me to start making my move?
SPEAKER_00:So I mean, the entire time I was working, you know, doing these jobs, I had little side businesses, things like that, a couple different things going on. Um when I I did gain that pest control license with the government, um, then I ended up leaving and going back to the private sector for a while. Um, but I ended up not working out, and that's when that opportunity came. So um I wanted to spend more time with my kids. Yeah. And I was um I didn't like having to ask for permission to go to the assembly. I didn't like having to ask, can I go pick my son up if he's sick at school? I didn't like um having to work when they were off. You know, Christmas break and things like that. I wanted to be with my kids.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:So um that's that was really one of the motivating factors that drove me all the way into entrepreneurship head first.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And um It's just a crazy thought. Like, that was one of the things for me too. I'm like, I gotta ask another grown man if I can go to the bathroom or like I'm forced to eat at 12 o'clock. What if I'm not hungry till 1:30? Like, I got all these different things I'm asking permission for. Like, those are the little things that normally drives an entrepreneur.
SPEAKER_00:Right. And then so I went from once I before, you know, I had that that great manager who helped me along the way, went to the private sector, and I had the guy had to ask for this, and he was a horrible manager. Yeah. So that kind of was like, uh, you know what? I I don't want this for my future at all. I can't see this. This isn't life. Yeah, this is not I can't I can't end this way.
SPEAKER_01:Life ain't all about working 80 hours a week and paying bills till you die.
SPEAKER_00:No, not at all. So um then I went over to entrepreneurship and I took a leap, took a jump, and it panned out. It panned out. All of the skills came into play.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So all of those skills that I gained along the way, all of those certifications, all of those classes, they all culminated into what became a great entrepreneur.
SPEAKER_01:Nice. So, how did you go? So, talk to us about the launch of the pest control business. First of all, I've always heard that the dirtiest jobs are the ones that pay the best. Yes. Garbage man, pest control, like all those types of businesses that people don't want to do.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so when I say when I left government and went to private sector, it was actually in the waste management industry. So it was the garbage industry. And in that industry, we say it smells like trash to you, smells like money to us. Yeah. And that's the truth. Just like uh that guy on that dirty job shows the same thing. These jobs, once again, you're solving complex problems.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:And there's more of a need for people in those positions now, too.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And it's it's becoming becoming much more of a need. And just for instance, with the trash industry, you know, nobody pays much attention to the trash man.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But everyone pays attention if the trash man doesn't come.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah. Like those holidays where you're like, whoa, why is my garbage still full?
SPEAKER_00:And if those days continue to go, that trash, let's just say the trash stopped moving for three weeks, your life would change.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It would change drastically, swiftly.
SPEAKER_01:I'm not putting those dirty garbage bags in my in my uh third row as you need.
SPEAKER_00:We see it in different cities when there's strikes and things like that, or disruptions in the services. Several things come from that. And that's where you come, you know, you look for industries that have value like that. So pest control is one of those industries as well. You know, it may not seem important until you need it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that's where the value is.
SPEAKER_01:Keep talking. I'm gonna make an adjustment on your mic.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, drop down. But yeah, that's that's where you find the value. And once again, we talk about entrepreneurship, we talk about solving complex problems.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Oh, I don't get you right because I'll take it up. This conversation is too good for anything to fall off and not be heard.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no problem. Yeah, and when you you spoke about it earlier, you said um, you know, the money, you you make the most money in in situations where you're solving complex problems.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:And that's what I've always done. That's what I love to do. I love problem solving. I grew up that way. I'm gonna thank my grandmother for that. I mean, she had, you know, that living room full of encyclopedias. I was that kid. If we had nothing to do, I broke out the encyclopedia and I'm just reading. Nice. Just reading.
SPEAKER_01:See, it's funny, like in the later years, like you think in your early years, oh man, that kid's a nerd. But as an adult, I'm like, man, that's the coolest kid on the vlog. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00:So that's what I do now. On a side note, I look for that kid and I make sure he has the support that he needs. And I make sure he understands that now this is cool and this is exactly what you need to do. And I promise you, it'll pay off and make sense in the other end.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Because I tell the thing I hear all now in our community, we call them YN's.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01:The thing I see with this population is like, I'm like, as much as we glorify like in hip hop, as much as we glorify the movie Scarface, I'm like, Al Pacino gave y'all the code and y'all still ain't listened. Biggest line in that movie for me, first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women. All these young cats now, they want to reverse it. Let's get the money or let's get the women, let's get the power, then let's get the money. Nah, if you take care of the first two, the third comes into play. Yeah. And then we're gonna we're gonna touch on some relationship stuff too while I got you here, too.
SPEAKER_00:But you're right. Most men know that once you get especially once you get to that level, though. Yeah, everything follows the money. Yeah. Don't worry about, don't worry about that. Get the value. Once let's not say the must get the value, and everything else will come to you.
SPEAKER_01:Yep, absolutely. So starting the the pest control business, talk to us about like the industry in general. If someone starts a successful pest control business, let's just talk gross revenue, what potentially is out there per year to make, and how long did it take you to kind of get things rolling off the ground?
SPEAKER_00:So it varies. Um, as in pest control, there there are several um lines of business. So you have commercial, you have residential, you have termites, you can you can focus on certain things, stinging insects, it all varies. Um, for me, it took a little time to get going, and that's why right now we're just beginning to franchise my model. So right now, if you go to pestfranchise.org, you can actually purchase a franchise with all American Pest Control.
SPEAKER_01:Nice.
SPEAKER_00:So we have that open all across the country. What's that going for, a franchisee? Uh the initial franchise fee is$55,000. Oh, that's good. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Any franchise that I know has huge upswing and I can get for less than$100K, I think is an insanely valuable deal.
SPEAKER_00:It is a great deal. It is a great deal. You can't really beat it. It's a proven model. Yeah. It's integrated AI. So it's kind of it's expediting your process a lot.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:You know, what took me years to learn and years to implement is coming packaged for you. And you also come with an advisor, me, and other guys that'll help you out along the way. So it's a beautiful opportunity. Um, that kind of just it was a lot to learn for me coming in. It is a lot of people.
SPEAKER_01:You basically become a biologist having to learn about all these and everything.
SPEAKER_00:Listen, it's so much into it that you know you really have to understand, you have to understand gradual metamorphosis and all of these things and life cycles. It's a lot to it. So if you have someone that can kind of help you out and expedite your process, that's beautiful. And I would say this$55,000 initial franchise fee, I made more than that my first year.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Knowing nothing.
SPEAKER_01:So if you get a franchise and you can't do that, then when the models, because I've all I've often looked at that. Every I've started like nine businesses up to this point, but every business I've started has been something from scratch. Now that I'm in my 40s, I'm like, you know what? That's probably the last bit time I ever did something like that. Like, just take something that's already proven, pick it up, take it to the next level. Like, you don't have to reinvent the wheel on everything. Like, and you got all these baby boomers that are now retiring and looking for somebody to buy their business that you can get insane deals. Like now, I think we're seeing one of the largest transfers of wealth in our country's history. Right. Because of all these people that we have retiring from those spaces. Right.
SPEAKER_00:And that's kind of the same thing that you're seeing with me right now. I'm getting older, and versus me competing with you for this territory, no here. Yep. And this is your territory. We're not coming over there. This is yours, and I will assist you with it.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:Ten years ago, no, I need all of them. I'm coming. But now getting older, no, I would rather assist. I want to bring value to you so that you can do what you need to do, your children in your area, your family. This is your all American pest control. Mine is in Richmond. Yours is Charlottesville. New Jersey, Philly, Miami, wherever you want to take it to. Fantastic. I'm here to help you. And I can't wait to see your success. That's how I feel now. You know, as you become older, my mother says, as you become older, you feel more mortal, right? Drag that. That's a fact. Yeah, you start to feel the difference.
SPEAKER_01:Then 20 years old, I'll jump off a three-story building, and we're just gonna roll with me against the world. I don't want to jump out the bed. At all.
SPEAKER_00:Listen, we're very careful putting on it changes, and that's kind of where I am in life, where it's changed now. Now I want to do great for society. I want to see everybody else win. I want to sit back and see your success. It's not just about me anymore. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:So and I think too, elevating others, you naturally lift yourself up to the next level. Absolutely. Like I've always said here, like, if I make hundred thousandaires in my company, then they've made me a multimillionaire.
SPEAKER_02:That's true.
SPEAKER_01:And a lot of people don't necessarily have that ambition to man put seven, eight, nine figures in the bank. For me, I look at it, my perspective changed too, just like yours, where it's like, all right, now it's about me giving back. Because we had these mentors and these coaches along the way. And I tried to pay some of these guys when I was on the come up, and they knew my little$50 weren't gonna do nothing for them. They said, you know what, man, when you get to my level, you just make sure that you pass this information along. Do the same thing for somebody else that I did for you. Absolutely. So, like, yeah, being able to scale up and do that, that's a pinnacle. Let's let's talk about the relationship aspect. Because I I I love discussing the dynamic with an entrepreneur and being in a committed relationship. Um, and I've shared this several times on this podcast, but I'll just share real briefly for you because I'm not sure I've shared this portion of the story. First, first date with my wife was a blind date. And I told her at the end when the bill came, I said, Look, baby girl, here's what it is. I'm an entrepreneur before anything. I'm an entrepreneur before I'm a black man. This is what I was put on this earth to do. For sure. If you need a man by your side 24-7, calling you nonstop, I'm not your guy. And it was nice meeting you. I hope you enjoyed your meal. If you can roll with somebody, because a lot of women say they want a successful man, but they don't know what that looks like. And I joke with my wife when she's watching like real housewives or whatever. I'm like, have you noticed something? Why don't you see the husbands in the show more often? Because they're off making the money so that they can have this lifestyle. So, like, if you're cool, if you want this, I'll give you everything I can give you. But you gotta be able to make that sacrifice. And I was like, even when I become a husband and a father, that that's still not my prior. That's a reason why I'm on this earth, but it's not my primary reason. I won't, don't ask me to give up on my dreams for us to create a family. Like, I'll give you everything you want as long as you allow me to live out my dream. She was cool with that. So we've always had that balance in our relationship where it's like it's not a big deal when I have to work a little bit later, or this or that pops up, or hey, I know we were planning on doing that this weekend, but this job just came up and I got nobody else to do it. I can't let this money get past. I gotta jump in and do X, Y, and Z. What's the dynamic been like for you and your wife?
SPEAKER_00:Um, so it's funny. Uh I'll start here. Um my wife's wonderful, wonderful. Lauren Harris, uh, wonderful, one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life overall. Um We recently read a Facebook post um and it was a viral situation where um women were talking about acceptable and unacceptable first dates. And on that list were things like that. Oh, yeah, you can't go to friggin' Cheesecake Factory, Cheesecake Factory, can't go bowling, can't go bowling, can't go to the park, nothing free, nothing alone, no road trips, none of these things.
SPEAKER_01:But my first dates with blind dates, I always took them to the park and I get a loaf of bread and we just fed the ducks. Which is a beautiful thing. Yeah, but plus I'm not gonna buy a three-course meal if I don't even know I want to talk to you yet.
SPEAKER_00:Like And that's why I want to speak to the general public about this. My wife and I's first date, we were talking on the phone for a while. We had met um previously in life and reconnected and kind of were just talking. Um, I was a single father at the time, and she was a single mother, and um we were talking on the phone, and um she needed some business equipment, right? And I'm like, okay, if you need help, something happened and fell through, and she needed help. So I went to go help her, and that's kind of was our first day. We took a U-Haul, drove down to Hampton, picked up the equipment and had McDonald's. That was our first day. McDonald's. Our first meal was McDonald's. A lot of roof's Chris since then. Yeah, but it started with McDonald's, and that's why I kind of tell people you kind of have to like judge a situation and don't let social media judge your future. Because, like you said, you were in your position when you met your wife. Now look at her lifestyle. Yeah, it's a big difference. Same thing. Now look at her lifestyle, but you have to trust that person, and you have to be realistic. Everybody's not gonna meet a successful entrepreneur and get married. And most of the time, at this stage, if you meet a successful entrepreneur, they're already situated. Yeah, that's what comes to what you bring it to the table.
SPEAKER_01:That's why I love those videos that break down. Like you have every woman wants a dude who's six twos, yeah, got a six-pack, makes seven figures a year, lives in a multi-management, has all this stuff. And I love it when these guys will like break down and pull out this calculator. Yeah. When it literally will show them, hey, the percentage of man that you're going after, that's less than one percent of the population. Because even if you do have that man, half of them are married. Half of them are gay or live an alternative lifestyle, half of them are polyamorous and they don't want to just have one woman, they want to have six different women. So it's like by the time you break all this down, it's like the level of expectation that some of these people have in the dating world right now is not realistic at all. Because I think the percentage, the percentage of black men that makes six figures a year, I think it's something like 15% or something.
SPEAKER_00:It's less than that. Yeah. I think it's less than that. And when you and when you factor in the fact whether they're single, whether they have all the teeth, whether you're attracted to them, you know, like so whether they're gay and all of these things, the number gets even lower. So, you know, I say when it comes to dating entrepreneurs, you have to have someone who understands that. There are ups and downs. Yeah. Right? Our ups are drastically better than the average relationship, but you have to be prepared just in case your downs are worse than average relationship. You have to have someone who understands that. Now, thankfully for me, my wife is an entrepreneur. She owns a Harris Salon, Lauren Harris Salon and Spa on West Broad Street, 425 West Broad Street. So we have a great understanding of entrepreneurial lifestyle.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And we assist each other. You may catch me in a salon doing some things sometimes. Yep. You call me, she may answer my phone. You know, she may help me with some of the more. Wait, you know how to put that French bond together, man? But um, you know, she she may, you know, help me with some customer service things and things like that. Or, you know, I may say, hey, you know, we we have a quote um that works beautifully for us. And that is, I'll make it happen. She makes it pretty, right? That's what we do.
SPEAKER_01:That ain't facts.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's what we do.
SPEAKER_01:I I can put it together, but it won't look that that is my wife to a T because like we started implementing something where we put together like gift back, I don't want to say baskets, but like a welcome gift to like new clients. Okay. My wife will go on their Facebook page, learn everything about this woman in 15 minutes, find the right Stanley Cup with the right pattern, figure out what their favorite restaurant is, put the gift card in there. She does this whole thing, and then she puts a pretty bow on it, but she does bows that are the color of our company color. Okay, I would never think of something like that. So it's like I had the concept of, hey, we need to start doing something good for our clients when we first sign them. And she was like, okay, here's how we take it to the next level. She's just like, tell me the budget, say less, I'll I'll make it happen. So yeah, having that other counterpart that can compliment you that way.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that's that's what it takes, man. And that's that's key. And it's a beautiful thing when you have that. Yep. And it helps you to get to where you need to be, you know. My wife's tough. She's tough. She doesn't take any slam. And that's that helps me to stay motivated. Yeah, it pushes me. I'm the same way, you know. We kind of just push each other. We lay in the bed and our conversations are entrepreneurial, and it's about our future.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_00:And it's it's funny, you know. The conversations we have and the dreams we have, they just align perfectly. Yep. And if you don't have someone who has the same ambition as you, it can make it tough.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. Absolutely. Man. All right. So let's talk about like where you are in the process of franchising. Well, actually, let me take a step back. Let's because we just talked about uh the marriage, let's talk about uh fatherhood as an entrepreneur. So, how old were your kids when you became an entrepreneur?
SPEAKER_00:Seven and ten and thirteen.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so they they were at the stages where they were conscious enough to pick up on everything that was going on.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_01:My goal was always because I I became an entrepreneur right when I met my wife. Like we just started dating. And I was that week, it was like, yo, so I'm leaving this job, I'm doing XY and Z, da da da. Um so as a father, like my goal was always I want to get this thing built up so that when I do have kids, I don't have to miss a dance recital, I have to miss a soccer game, basketball game, whatever it is. Um having your kids at 7, 10, 13, and you're starting this new phase of life. What are the lessons that you think they've taken away and what they've seen from dad at this point?
SPEAKER_00:They understand the value of time. They really do. They they understand the value of time and what it means to show people that you love them. Um my kids are very loving. Um our conversations are just priceless because I had that time to have those conversations with them. So their their views on things are very intricate, very in-depth. We had the opportunities to have conversations where we could deep dive, right? They can ask me questions and I can be honest with them because I wasn't stressed about the job. I didn't have to rush and do this or rush and do that, and they were able to also have experiences.
SPEAKER_01:So Which is different from us growing up because when grown folks were sitting at the table and having a conversation, you asking. Come on, man. Boy, you stay at a grown folks' business, don't worry about this.
SPEAKER_00:This is grown folks' business.
SPEAKER_01:But today it's like if you open those things up because like the world is drastically different than when you and I grew up.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Like you even look at higher education, like the percentage of kids that are growing to college because it used to be back in the day, it was like you're a loser if you didn't go to college. Now it's like, eh, well, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00:It's an option.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's an option. I can go into a trade school for two years, be making six figures as a plumber without the debt. Yeah, or I could go to school for four years, being$100,000 worth of debt and find some jobs paying me$50,000 a year. Um, what's your thought process on as you're raising your kids and what they've seen? Have any of them go on the entrepreneur route? Are they all for college? Like, what's that layout been?
SPEAKER_00:Well, so I would say this college is important. Um, it's definitely important. Um, I think it's a uh a valuable aspect of any adult's a young adult's life if you do not know another path.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I wouldn't take my college experience back at all. It drastically changed me. Um networking you get from college. The networking, yeah. The people, I mean, 20 years later, I still have a lot of friends from college, a lot. Um and just the experience of that structured freedom is valuable. Um, being around people from all over the country, experiencing the same experience is valuable. And that networking, the opportunity to join fraternities, sororities, different things like that, different um collegiate organizations. Um, I think that's important. Um, we can't have, even though we can have entrepreneurs, we still need doctors and lawyers. Yeah. We still need someone to have certain other skills in those places. Yeah, absolutely. And um, so I'm open to my children doing what you know they decide. One of my well, I have a daughter in college, and my other daughter just graduated with her master's degree. So I'm definitely not against college, but they also have entrepreneurial spirit, yeah. And I tell them, you know, you can take these skills and apply it to entrepreneurship. So my daughter with a master's, which is gonna just open her own practice. So you still become an entrepreneur, but you now you have something to back it. Yeah, right. I'm not an entrepreneur without certifications. Yeah. This industry that I'm in requires certifications, and that makes also makes a difference in entrepreneurship when you can have a moat around what you're doing. Kind of like Apple or different companies like that. If you have that certification, it can keep your prices higher. Yep. Right versus pressure washing. There's a difference. There's a difference in what can be charged for pest control versus pressure wash. Absolutely. It's a great industry, but nonetheless, you're not gonna get high-ticket items because anybody can do it. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Last question as we wrap up, uh, this has become my favorite question to ask every guest. Describe to us your hardest moment as an entrepreneur and how you overcame that. I know it's a deep one. You might have to think for a second. And it could be, it could just be a time that you're going through as an entrepreneur. It could have been something with your marriage, something with the kids. Um, I know for me it was like those moments of like, I'll never forget scraping off spare change of the floorboard of my car to put$2.50 in the gas tank just to be able to get to the next spot.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, yeah. We we've been there. That's part of entrepreneurship. That's a tough moment. I'm trying to think because there are so many challenges because you deal with, and once again, as a founder of a company like this that grew so massively, you know, there's psychological challenges, financial, physical challenges that I had to go through.
SPEAKER_01:I mean talk talk about the physical challenges. I don't think anybody's ever hit on that.
SPEAKER_00:Well, you know, with pest control and with being a founder, there's a it's like you go into the dark a lot.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Um, and when I say the dark, I mean you're going into the unknown, right? I'm getting calls from people who have issues that I need to solve. Yeah. And sometimes the answers to these problems aren't black and white, it's not just in the book.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So, you know, you have to go into these situations where 99% of people are afraid. For good reason. And I'm telling you, if I see a rat, you know what I mean, coproach, none of that. So, so you, you know, it's not that I don't feel those emotions. Yeah. It's just that my entrepreneurial spirit is greater.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:My my will to solve the problem is greater. You know, my my just had this conversation with my spouse the other day. The ability to come home and ask my kids what they want for dinner and their choices not be limited, yeah, is greater than the fear I fear going into a crawl space.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. You know, I had to I had to do that when I one summer I was just like dead broke. And the only job I could get is was as a painter. It was this guy I knew. Um, had to go up on the third floor on the outside of the building painting the outside of this house. He had to run to another job. I call him, I'm like, dude, I'm scared to death. I can't get up on this ladder. He was like, Do you want to be scared or do you want to eat tonight? And I said, Well, dinner sounds pretty good. I'm gonna get up on this ladder. So yeah, you just gotta overcome some of that.
SPEAKER_00:Right, and that's key. And so that's why I look at, you know, when I look at a growth strategy for my company, that's why I chose the franchise model because I know that I've already experienced this and overcame it. And I want to help other people overcome it. So when you're looking at a typical franchisee as someone who's already had some life experience and decided that, hey, I need an entrepreneurial journey, but I don't want to start figuring out all this on my own. So it's kind of plug and play. I'm gonna handle your advertising, I'm gonna handle your CRM, I'm gonna handle your design and all your training. All your training is done for them and their employees. So it's kind of plug and play. You get an automatic introduction into entrepreneurship at a high level.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. Love it. So what what was the challenge physically for you, though, as an entrepreneur?
SPEAKER_00:So that would that would be it.
SPEAKER_01:It's too-breathing in some of those chemicals and stuff like that?
SPEAKER_00:It's just to do something that you may not want to do. Gotcha. Right? It's it's it's mind over matter consistently. Because everything in your brain is telling you don't go anywhere.
SPEAKER_01:But then once you do it, it's like, oh well, I got past that. I can get past anything.
SPEAKER_00:And it's and it's almost like the same story over and over again. 2% of people are gonna do it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I'm in the 2%. I'm gonna consistently be in the 2% because I see the reward of that 2%. I don't want to be on the bus.
SPEAKER_01:That's crazy that you've seen that so many times in your career where it was like the majority went over here, but just two or three of y'all went over here and seeing the dramatic difference in terms. I mean, I don't know where these people are at today, but like I can only assume based on the decisions that they made. That's all success ultimately is just making a short series of the right decisions, can end you up in the right spot.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And consistently doing it. You know, you got to have that consistency, you gotta have that belief, you have to have that drive. And if you have it and you can put it all together, even in those moments of darkness, you'll see the light. It'll come to the light.
SPEAKER_01:Amen.
SPEAKER_00:Every time. That's a perfect spot to end on right there. Yes, sir.
SPEAKER_01:So if people want to get a hold of you if they're interested in franchising, they're interested in your services. Where can they find you at?
SPEAKER_00:So if you're interested in pest control services, you can go to aapestpro.com um or you can call 804-489-7465. Um it is AI. That'll answer the phone and take care of you. Once again, the company is now integrated into AI, which is great for our franchisees. It makes your hiring process a lot easier, a lot smoother. It comes with six AI employees. Um, also, um, if you're interested in purchasing a franchise or just want to know more, it's pestfranchise.org, spell just like it sounds. We can't wait to help you out along your entrepreneurial journey, help you and your family, and just like I said, gain that freedom. Yeah. The freedom is worth it.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, how sweet it is, man. Every month. Sweet it is, dude. Yes, indeed. They got no idea. No idea.
SPEAKER_00:But I'm I hope I was able to uh bring some value to your viewer base and no, you definitely drop some gems, man.
SPEAKER_01:Appreciate you. Appreciate you. Thank you for the opportunity. Absolutely. We'll see you guys on the next episode. In the fast-paced world of business, your digital marketing strategy shouldn't be a burden. At Enzo Media Firm, we make it effortless. We specialize in empowering medium to large businesses with comprehensive digital marketing solutions, from dynamic video marketing and podcast production to advanced web development and social media strategies. Every client at Enzo Media Firm is paired with a dedicated account manager. Your guide through the digital landscape, ensuring personalized attention and tailored made strategies. And with monthly meetings with our creative team, we keep your marketing aligned with your vision, even if you're short on time. Enzo Media Firm, where marketing is just not simplified, it's personalized, effective, and designed for your success. Discover the ease of digital marketing with us. Visit www.inzomediafirm.com to get started.