From Compton To Credit Fixer Through Code

Somebody offered Khabir “KB” Muhammed $50 million for his company and he said no. That moment is just the headline. The real story is how a kid from Compton turns pressure into discipline, uses sports and computer science to build a career, gets hit with corporate politics, and decides he will never let someone else control the ceiling on his life again.

We talk through KB’s tech path from software engineering to web application penetration testing, what getting fired teaches you about power, and why “failing fast” is a skill you can train. Then we get into the messy middle most entrepreneurship content skips: what he actually learned from MLM, how reading Rich Dad Poor Dad flipped his thinking, and why documenting your build creates trust before the product is even finished.

From there, we go deep on Credit Fixer and the credit repair industry. KB breaks down what a credit score really measures, the core credit score factors, and why credit literacy matters more than flashy promises like “100 points in 24 hours.” We connect credit to leverage: lower interest rates, better approvals, business funding options, and how to treat credit like a tool instead of a status symbol. Finally, we unpack leadership lessons about pricing strategy, product market fit, building the right team, protecting your reputation, and when relationships become the real growth engine.

If you care about DIY credit repair, financial literacy, building credit, entrepreneurship, and generational wealth, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs better credit and better strategy, and leave a review with the biggest lesson you’re taking from the conversation.

Transcript

Welcome And Meet Kabir Mohammed

SPEAKER_02 0:03

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 today. Let's get into it. Hey guys, thanks for joining us on another episode of the You Can't Afford Me Podcast. It's it's not too often that I, or I think people in general have a conversation with somebody, and it's like, yeah, I think I just met one of my brothers. Like we started chatting and we couldn't shut up about like entrepreneurship, building, uh, generational wealth, like all those things. Um, and this is our first guest this season that has hit the road and come from out of town. So you're you're hailing from DC area, DMV. Uh so today we got one hell of an entrepreneur on the show. We got my man Kabir. I'm gonna call him KB for the rest of the show, so I don't butcher his name. How you doing, bro?

SPEAKER_00 1:00

I'm great, man. Pleasure to be here, man. It's a beautiful office, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

I appreciate that, man. Blood, blood, sweat, and tears all over these walls, man. Yeah, yeah, we're worth it. So give us a give everybody a quick rundown of who you are and what you do.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

Yeah, yeah. My name is Kabir Mohammed. I'm the creator and founder of Credit Fixer. Um, Credit Fixer is an ecosystem to help people with the ability to fix, build, leverage, and maintain their credit. And uh, man, from Compton, California, by way of DC. Compton! CP CPU.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

So y'all went crazy when NWA came out.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

You know, I was actually young. I was really young then.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

So no, the movie that released with Ice Cube and then like everybody had the Compton shirts on. That was an era.

SPEAKER_00 1:41

Amazing movie, man. Yeah. And Ice Cube's son, he went to USC and he's a hell of an actor, man. Oh, yeah, yeah. You saw it in that film. Yep. You know, it took him about three years to actually get the like really train himself and get the proper training, but he's an amazing artist, amazing uh actor. So yeah, man.

Growing Up In Compton

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Let's jump into it, man. Let's get and he does more than what he just uh said in that intro, but we're we're gonna dive into all that. So let's talk about your upbringing. So you said grew up in Compton.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:09

What was that like growing up in Compton? Because from our perspective, if you've never been to Compton, I've never been to Compton. Uh those look like some mean streets, man.

SPEAKER_00 2:16

It was honestly, it was stressful uh growing up. You know, honestly, I didn't think that I would live till 21. And that was on my mind since I can remember. It's like, man, I'm gonna, I hate to say it, like I'm gonna die. You know, but um, yeah, man, it was cool though, overall. Like, learned a lot. It's a it's a place that made me who I am. You know, I'm the I'm the second oldest of eight children. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

Your parents ain't play about that, man.

SPEAKER_00 2:43

Man, man, my dad, man. But yeah, yeah, they did. They definitely had uh eight of us, and you know, beautiful family. Uh we didn't have a lot growing up, but we we had good hearts. Yeah. You know, my parents, that's what they, you know, establish in us. They wanted to make sure that we were good people regardless of situation, you know. And so, man, I I grew up playing sports, baseball, basketball, football. Nice. Um, I was a hell of an athlete, you know. Um all the way up to college, I played, um, had an uh offer to play in Germany. Uh sport. Basketball. Nice. Uh-huh. But I decided. Point guard. Uh shoot, I could dunk. Oh. Yeah, man. I was I'm 5'9. I was windmilling. Yeah. I was a blur on the court. It was, I mean, man. Let's put it like this. One game in college, we were down by, I think, eight points with like a minute and 30 to go. Yeah. Got five steals. Won the game. Our first playoff game. Yeah. So uh, yeah, man, I was a blur on that court, man. And defense was like my my my favorite thing to do in any sport.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

So now this next question is gonna tell me a lot about you. Okay. Who's the go to basketball?

unknown 4:00

Ooh.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

Kobe. I'll take Kobe is an acceptable answer. As long as you don't say Braun, we're cool.

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Man, no disrespect to Braun. No disrespect.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

You know, you gotta have great athletes we've ever seen touch an NBA court. I don't think there's anybody more athletic, bigger. Like that guy has taken care of his body to the tenth degree. He's the Tom Brady of basketball. But for me, it's always MJ, man.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

MJ, yeah. We know what area you was in.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Yeah, ain't nobody touching MJ.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

But it's Kobe.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

I put Kobe above LeBron. So I because Kobe got everything he learned from Jordan, and he openly admitted to that. Like, man, any you can't hate me and and hate that guy too, because I got all my stuff from him.

SPEAKER_00 4:43

You know what it is? It's it's the dog mentality dog mentality, but it's just that Mamba mentality he had. He was just so lethal. And if he lost, he still won. In his mind, he's like, man, because I'm going to win. I'm going to work harder than you. No matter what you do, I'm going to continue to learn from what I what happened and get better.

SPEAKER_02 5:04

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

So that's what I loved about Kobe.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

What got you away from the athletic side? So you you got you said you got offered to go play in Germany. Did you take it?

SPEAKER_00 5:13

No. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Why'd you pass that up?

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Um, just like how I grew up, man. You know, I had to figure a lot of things out on my own. You know, being the second notice of eight, you know, you don't really get that too much attention. Yeah. You know, and so like even with me getting, you know, scholarships to play in college and stuff like that, I didn't really have the support.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:32

You know. Um, and so when Germany, I'm here in Germany, I'm like, Germany, like, I don't know. No one there.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

You're like, ain't no black folk there, man.

Sports Mindset And Morehouse Pivot

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah, you know, and it's cold, and you know, but in the way that it happened, the guy, the agent came to me after a playoff game that we actually lost. And he was like, Can I speak to Mohammed? And I'm just like, yeah, like I had a horrible game. He's like, hey, listen, man, we love the way that you play. Yeah. He was like, man, we want to offer you to play overseas. Like, we we can send out the contract info, you know, once you get back. And you know, they did, and I was just like, uh, nah, I'm good. I'll pass. And I ended up transferring because I was at the JUCO at the time. Yeah. Ended up transferring to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Oh, nice. And uh just finished out here. Finished college there.

SPEAKER_02 6:21

What'd you what'd you major in?

SPEAKER_00 6:22

Computer science.

SPEAKER_02 6:23

Nice. All right, so let's make that transition. So from Compton to ATL, which by the way, I love ATL. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's one of the greatest cities. Um graduate, what happens next?

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Graduate, uh, a lot happened while I was in college, but I graduated and ended up getting my first. What happened in college? I mean, I did a lot of I did a lot of research in college, uh University of Chicago, um, mapped out the verbal speech process in the human brain there. I did um research at uh UW and uh Oregon. No, yeah, Washington, sorry. Yeah, Washington and uh Washington State and uh where we it was born, but we mapped out the um flight path of moths and why they are able to you know fly and know where they're going in the dark even though they're blind. So it was just interesting.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

I think on that note, man, I've I didn't realize I was doing this, but like in my earlier years as a kid, I was obsessed with animals, like studying their behaviors, different species, and all this stuff. I thought I was gonna be a zoologist when I when I grew up. Um and recently, probably over the last like five months, I've gotten back into like National Geographic and watching safaris and stuff like that. There's a lot of stuff that we can take as entrepreneurs by learning from animals, as crazy as that sounds. So here's here's a fact I didn't know. The buffalo is the only animal in the animal kingdom that when a storm is coming, it runs into it. Every other animal runs away. I was like, yo, that's the most gangster stuff I've ever heard in my life. I don't have any tattoos. I might get a buffalo tattooed on me, man. I was like, that's gangster, that's my new spirit animal.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

Bro, I I've read it's funny I read that and I read more into it, and they said that the reason why they do that is because it's it's calmer in the middle of the storm.

SPEAKER_02 8:12

Yeah. And I think it was like something with the distance, like it's a shorter distance going directly through the eye of the storm versus like going around it and all that kind of stuff. Like, it's insane how like other species and stuff like that can act and communicate and stuff like that. Like it's wild. So you're you're kind of dabbing your hand in a little bit of everything. Uh what ended up now after college? Did you stay in ATL?

Boeing Career And Corporate Politics

SPEAKER_00 8:34

Uh no, no. I actually once I graduated, I moved to DC.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Why DC?

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Uh well, I met my wife. Uh okay. I actually got married uh while I was interning for Boeing in St. Louis. Oh, nice. And so she's from here and so moved here. Because I had the option. Boeing hired me while I was in college to either work at Washington State uh in Bellevue, um uh St. Louis or DC. So it only made sense to, you know, just go ahead and move to DC. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:07

So that that fur what was the first job then?

SPEAKER_00 9:10

That was my first job.

SPEAKER_02 9:11

Well break down that job. What are your responsibilities? What are we doing?

SPEAKER_00 9:14

Yeah, so I was hired as a software engineer, but what I did was the first like few months was uh what do you call it? Um what it what's the role? It's basically just testing software. So testing code, basically. So I wrote edge cases all day, every day. You know, I could do in my sleep. And so, you know, I quickly rose to a role to where I was managing, you know, not managing software, but you know, coding. Yeah. And so um after about a year, year and a half doing that, I was uh considered one of the top, you know, new employees in the in the in the company. And so Boeing had moved from um they had moved from Bellevue, Washington, their headquarters, to Chicago. And so they wanted to get gather all their best talent. And so I was considered one of their you know best employees or new talent. And so I ended up moving to Chicago for about a year. And um just to rewind, after about that first year of coding, um, they actually wanted to try me as a you know, hacking. They gave me some options of things I could try out, you know, and so I chose, you know, web application penetration testing. So went around.

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Hold on, let me lock my phone real quick. All right, go ahead.

SPEAKER_00 10:33

Yeah, so I went to a lot of SANS conferences um and just learned, you know, the other end of technology. And that's when I started, you know, I became a web application penetration tester. And so when I moved to Chicago, it's perfect. And so they hired me and I was there for a year, man, made the most money I've ever made as an employee. It's about like 17,000 a month.

SPEAKER_02 10:56

True.

SPEAKER_00 10:57

Yeah, I'm just like, wow.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

But Yeah, you was balling. How old were you at this time?

SPEAKER_00 11:01

I was 26, maybe or 26.

SPEAKER_02 11:03

Oh, yeah, you balling. 26, you got you got rent and what else? That was it. That's it. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:10

So I, you know, I've always been a frugal person, though. I never really was into, you know, the the really expensive things. Like that doesn't really drive me. But um, yeah, man. But along with making that type of money comes with a lot of politics. So that's something that you don't learn at 26.

SPEAKER_02 11:28

No, you do not. That's that's that's what we call a life lesson. Right. You learn that along the way. When did the thoughts of entrepreneurship creep in?

SPEAKER_00 11:36

A little bit after work getting getting fired from Boeing.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Okay. Yeah. They were just downsizing and nah, they weren't downsizing.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

I was making too much money. I was making the same amount of money as these managers. And, you know, you show up, you know, a minute late, maybe one or two times. Yeah. And now you start, you know, getting written up in the email, and they're creating a uh what do you call it? Paper trail. Paper trail. And it's like, wait, I just saw you in the elevator. You could have just told me, like, hey, what happened? Why you ah, okay. So now they were politic. And so I got fired. So once um that happened, I ended up moving back to DC. And um I after getting fired, some a fire lit up in me. I was like, man, I'll never let anybody, you know, control like that. You know, and I my dad always told me, he said, hey, one day, man, there's gonna come a time where they're not gonna have enough jobs for everybody. So you should try to figure out how to do something for yourself. Smart man. And um, he's always taught me that. And so that was a point to where it just when he it clicked back in my brain, like, oh, okay.

MLM Lessons And Failing Fast

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Every entrepreneur has that moment. Like, mine wasn't as extreme, but similar story where I knew they were about to eliminate my position, and instead of just being a dead man walking around, I went to dust off my res man. I said, Let me go ahead and beat these streets up. And then something just stopped me at that moment and said, you know what? I've always wanted to be an entrepreneur. If I don't do it now, when in the world am I gonna do it? I don't have a wife, I don't have kids, I don't have any of those major responsibilities. I have roommates, so like my rent at the time was maybe three, four hundred bucks a month or something like that. I'm like, this is literally the only time you do it. But like every entrepreneur has that one moment. It's almost like the superhero story where like uh you look at these Marvel movies or something, the moment that villain, the villain always starts out as a good guy, and then something happens and they switch and and take on that role. Um, so in that moment, realizing like, man, I don't like this feeling. Like, what was your first thought in terms of like how can I do something on my own? What what direction am I gonna go?

SPEAKER_00 13:41

First thought, you know, when you're in that in that space for me, it was like, okay, how do I make the same amount of money that I made, right? So you start thinking money is the solution, right? No. Um, so I ended up uh getting into one of these tele um, what do you call it? Multi-level marketing. I did this. Oh my god. Thank God, man.

SPEAKER_02 14:01

Hold on, before you even go any further, this is what I tell people about multi-level marketing. You're not gonna make the kind of money that they're talking about. That's first.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:11

But the most valuable thing I got from network marketing was um the education. Yeah. So the first I you couldn't pay me to read books before this time. And a mentor of mine put Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki in my hand.

SPEAKER_03 14:27

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

And I tell everybody all the time, it was like my entire life I've been seeing in black and white, and after reading that book, it was like I saw in color for the first time. I was like, yo, there are people out here living? I thought it was just only the Bill Gates and then you mean there are everyday people out here that just doing their own thing, they're generating their own. Oh yeah, we gotta move up out of here. We need to figure something out.

SPEAKER_00 14:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

Yep, yep. So, you know, and funny enough, I had always been into, you know, self-improvement books. I've always, you know, read those books, Augman Dino books, uh Rich Dad, Poor Dad, um John Maxwell. John, oh man, John Maxwell. Uh man, a lot of great books out there. You know, Outwitting the Devil, you know, it just got popular in like the entrepreneurial space more recently, but man, I had read that years ago.

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Um, but only about 10 books every entrepreneur needs to read. It doesn't expand much past that.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:16

After that, I'm like getting sentences out of a whole book. They're like, okay, that sparked an idea of going down.

SPEAKER_00 15:21

Yeah, you got that from. Yep. Yeah. So it's like now it's like, okay, I'm more about action. After reading so much, it's like, okay, you gotta put the action in. And you gotta go through those phases of failure to really get to where you want to get to because that's where the real lessons are.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

Yep. A lot of people don't understand failure is a part of success. Ah man. You do you do not become successful without failure. It's a it's a step you can't skip.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

You know what? You know, I'm trying I try to fail so fast. Yes. And the and the beauty about it is like it's built into software engineering in such a way that whenever you write a piece of code, it fails.

SPEAKER_02 16:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

So you know, oh, that was wrong. It lets you know that it wasn't correct.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

It never works the first time.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

Right. And so that's that's the beauty about um writing code is that the uh cycle of, you know, uh what's the term? Um uh response cycle is such it's it's so much faster. Um and so that's what I love about coding, but that's what I appreciated about it. Helped me along the way in entrepreneurship is that man, you're gonna fail, and that's not the that's not a problem. Yeah. It's actually something really good.

SPEAKER_02 16:32

And it's just getting to those no's as quick as you can. Once you're in it for a while, you realize, all right, I'm sending a notice notice of pattern here. For every 20 no's I get on the 21st one, there comes a yes.

SPEAKER_03 16:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:43

So at that moment, I'm just trying to get to 20 no's as quick as I can because I know that yes is right around the corner.

SPEAKER_00 16:47

There it is.

SPEAKER_02 16:48

So what what was the business that you ultimately went into when you first kicked your entrepreneurial journey off?

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Uh it was an online business. I can't remember the name, but they ended up being sued because they took everybody's money. I I paid like 15,000 or maybe 10 or 15,000.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

This is like the network marketing piece or yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Um I can't even think of the name, but you weren't I I did Quickstar. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

I was like, I don't remember hearing them in the news for something like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Oh no, it's been I'll tell you after the after the I I said the main. And then it was it's another problem. I can't remember. I I I have such di I don't have disdain for, but it's just like I feel like I got played.

SPEAKER_02 17:32

What what do you think the biggest thing was that you learned in network marketing? Because everybody gets something out of it.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Um team building.

SPEAKER_02 17:38

There you go.

SPEAKER_00 17:39

That's the the best thing that it does, you know, team building for me because um you realize that your network marketing, you're the one that's getting marketed to. You know, you're the one that's being marketed. But the team building aspect of it, I love, man.

SPEAKER_02 17:53

Yeah. Um yeah. So after after that, you're like, this MLM stuff ain't for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:58

Went back to a job.

SPEAKER_02 17:59

Yeah. Oh, so you went back to another job.

SPEAKER_00 18:01

Yeah, I started working for private companies in the government, got a secret clearance to work as a software engineer for some uh contracting companies. Gotcha.

Building Credit Fixer After Getting Fired

SPEAKER_02 18:10

Um, let's pause right there for a second. Because number one, I want people to understand there is nothing wrong with having a job. At all. There is nothing wrong with it. At all. Number one, if everybody in the world was an entrepreneur, this world wouldn't function correctly. Like some people need to be in that role. And not everybody has the heart or the stomach for it. Because this is this is literally a roller coaster. Like, right now, we've been having a great week. I'm up here right now. Like, I'm just waiting for the contracts to close. Like, I'm gonna take this team out and we are celebrating, man. But I know those highs don't last forever. There's gonna be something around the corner.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

They don't, man. And and I try to tell newer entrepreneurs like, hey, you need to quickly learn what's your summer, your winter, your spring, and your fall. Because you're gonna go through those phases in business. Yeah. And you need to be able to expect them and appreciate them. But prepare for them. Because you're not gonna wear a uh a coat in the summer.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

But when that when that winter comes, you're gonna start preparing, like, okay, I need to, you know, put to get this coat, you know, because winter's coming. Or it may potentially come. You don't know the exact date, but there are those times where business is slow due to the economy or whatever, things that you cannot control. And so in any business, that those are things that you gotta look out for. And so uh man, any any good business knows those parts of it.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

Well, I know every winter is the worst quarter for us in this field. Just because it's holidays, people like between Halloween through Christmas. It ain't till New Year's people are thinking of us again.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Because it's like you're you're caught up in the family dynamics, all this stuff going on, people taking off of work, dah, dah, dah. The last thing anybody's thinking of is marketing. But my best quarter of the year is the first quarter. Because it's like new year, new me. I need to take my business to the next level. And this is our Super Bowl is the first quarter. So that's why I'm up here right now because we're in we're in that mix of it. Um, but yeah, a lot of people just don't understand that. But going back to work a job, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. That that's part of the journey. At the end of the day, money's a tool and we need it to survive. Yeah, poor. So you gotta do what you gotta do. But a lot of people don't understand that you can get a paid education going to work for somebody else. Um, so what was the what was the comp I don't you don't need to name the company, but what was the type of work that you went back to?

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Uh really just software engineer. You know, um, you know, I I probably can't say the name on here, but there's a platform where I was a lead architect for redesigning that software, and that software actually is the accounting platform for the entire government.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

All right, we're gonna talk when the California cameras go off. I need that tough.

SPEAKER_00 20:46

So that would tell you like the level of ability that I have as a software engineer, and you know what I, you know, could do. Because billions of dollars go through there every day. Like if it's a piece of if it's some tissue that's going overseas, it has to go through that platform. So, you know, um, yeah, man, just being able to, you know, update that technology was was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Sounds like you all the places you went, it number one seemed like you were open to the opportunities that were presented to you. And number two, it just sounds like you absorbed as much as you could with any company you were at.

SPEAKER_00 21:17

For sure. For sure, man. I think that's what you should always try to do when you you know, in any business, you know, whether you own a business or working for somebody, uh you got to try to add as much value as possible and learn as much. And the only way you can learn, I mean add value is learning what needs to be done. Yeah. And being proactive and, you know, you know, taking care of it without even being without being told.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

So how long were you there before you said, all right, it's time to do me?

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Um, I was there for about a year and a half. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:47

And then what sparked the exit? Was it a firing? You quit?

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Oh, I got fired.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

I always get fired.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Why you got fire? And then it's funny, I always get fired by Indian women. Boeing was an Indian woman and this job was an Indian woman.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Your wife ain't an Indian woman, right? No. I was about to say you got a divorce coming around the corner then, bro.

SPEAKER_00 22:08

Knock on woods. But yeah, man, like it funny enough, like it was funny because I was like, man, oh, we got a new manager. And I was just like, I seen her, I seen her, and I was just like, oh shoot.

SPEAKER_01 22:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

And she just out of nowhere, she was just like, you know what, I think you might need um to need to work with a senior developer. I didn't tell her that, like, I'm actually architecting the platform, yeah. The one that's running it. But okay. But funny enough, I was already working on credit fixer at the time. And um, and so I got fired on the day after my birthday. So this was like May 28th, right? And um I'm on a family trip with my family, and I get the the the email. And um it's like wow, damn.

SPEAKER_02 22:59

Always an email, never a call.

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Yeah, it's like, okay, cool.

SPEAKER_02 23:03

So you know what I hear from your story so far? That's God trying to show you, man, this is not what you're supposed to be doing. I agree. Every time you kept trying to go back, he's like, no, get your butt out of here and go do what you're supposed to do.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Yeah, yeah, man, because you know, I've always been a person that was I get the job done, and I've some things that don't make sense, you know. I'm just like, we can make this go better. We can make this more efficient, we can make this, you know, and being in like the government, it's uh working contracting for government jobs, it's it's very boring and it's very, you know, we gotta do it like this, you know.

SPEAKER_02 23:47

We can't innovate certain parameters and fences or no.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

I don't care if I'm paying you$250,000, we just need you to show up to a meeting and then make a check on the Excel sheet.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Yeah. Not not getting your soul fed. You weren't being fulfilled.

SPEAKER_00 24:04

Yeah, but you know, um, I think that because I don't just I just it's something in me that just doesn't agree with certain things because I just know that we could do things more efficiently, more much better. You're a man with vision.

SPEAKER_02 24:18

That's all once you have vision, you can't turn it off, man.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

You can't, man. It's almost impossible. And so it didn't fit me, and I never did anything that was wrong in any business, any company that I work for. I just think that my perspectives were not in alignment with other people's perspective, and that that creates, you know, um friction. Friction. And that, you know, they want people to think exactly like they think.

SPEAKER_02 24:41

No, absolutely. So you're you're building your side hustle while you're currently working, you get let go.

SPEAKER_00 24:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

You just go, do you go dust off your resume again and say, Let me apply for another job, or do you say it's time to go all in on one?

SPEAKER_00 24:53

It was time to go all in. I had um sent her actually uh uh uh the link to the software. And uh You're on my level of pettiness, man.

SPEAKER_02 25:04

I I love being petty. I love being petty. I'm Captain Petty over here, man. I forgive, I never forget.

SPEAKER_01 25:11

Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

So starting that business. So first off, let's talk about it being a side hustle. I one of my favorite sayings is uh you know, go, I'm about to butcher this, but basically go work your nine to five for someone else, or work five to nine for yourself. Right. Go give that man his time, earn your paycheck, but when you come home, you need to get focused on your own thing. Um so what what was that that thought that kept you from going back and applying? Because this happened to you before in your story, and then you went and applied for another job. What was different about this time that made you say, you know what, this isn't the path I'm supposed to be on. Let me at least try my hand as a business owner.

SPEAKER_00 25:51

Well, I I think that the problem that I was solving, you know, was was I had product market fit, right? And so it it kind of took off pretty fast, relatively fast, right? So I was I was well when I first launched, like only maybe like 10 people purchased, you know, and it was at like$29 a month. And so um I was just like taken aback, like, damn, am I am I did I make the right decision? Is this gonna work? You know, and so I ended up upping the price because I thought that you know a lower price would be better.

SPEAKER_01 26:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

So I ended up raising the price to$79.99 and$125. And sales started coming in. I'm just saying.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

Now hold up, that's that's a nugget right there. Because so many of us is on one of the scariest things for me as an entrepreneur is every time I've had to raise prices in any business that I've the first thought in my head is man, are my current clients gonna keep messing with me? Is this gonna deter any new potential clients coming to me? And every and this is over the last 11 years between multiple companies. Yeah, every single time I raised my prices, not only did I end up getting more business, but it attracted the type of clients that I wanted to work with.

SPEAKER_00 27:11

Man, that right there is so key and so important because you they there's a saying, you you get what you pay for, right? But you also get the type of people that will pay that.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

Right.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

And you know, uh sometimes when things are cheaper, you get people who have limiting mindsets, right?

SPEAKER_02 27:30

And you don't value something as much if it doesn't cost that much.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

Man, when you pay, you pay attention, right? And so I think that it doesn't take away from, you know, you know, people who can't afford certain things, but you you know, generally there's this idea that cheap is better.

SPEAKER_01 27:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

But it's relative to the thing that you're selling because you can make a lot of sales, but you can get a lot of uh uh chargebacks.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

Yep. Or, you know, you just get customer service ain't gonna be on point. The product or service may be shoddy, like there's so many, but when I go, we can use restaurants as an example. I go to McDonald's and get a burger. Even McDonald's most expensive burger right now, the new one that that CEO could barely eat on camera.$12 for that new burger at um at McDonald's. Uh there are restaurants in America that serve burgers that cost$100.

SPEAKER_03 28:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 28:26

Do you think that$100 burger came with the same level of service, the same level of presentation, uh, the same taste, the same ingredients as that$12 McDonald's? Hell no, I didn't.

SPEAKER_00 28:37

Not even close.

SPEAKER_02 28:38

When you when you pay more, you expect more.

SPEAKER_00 28:40

That part.

SPEAKER_02 28:40

And that's what people to me, we're in a culture where people want to save not only money, more people probably want to save time than they want to save money. And I know I've used this example several times on the show, but um, for the longest time, I always thought people that hired some guy to cut their grass, I'm like, how lazy is your ass? You can't go out on a Saturday and cut the grass for two hours. But then at the more I started growing, the more I started to learn, I'm like, wait, hold up. If I can go out and earn$150 an hour, why am I doing a$20 an hour task? I'm not saving anything. It cost me$150 an hour. I didn't save anything. So the moment people can flip that switch and understand how valuable their time is, the price of things becomes very relative.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

And I'll give you an example because um in in in in it just reminded me of a story that I was just uh uh talking about with a neighbor of mine. So he has nice cars, right? He has uh has a pass to flagship, this, this, this, I do that. Yeah, right?

SPEAKER_02 29:38

Yep, the unlimited car washing. Unlimited car wash.

SPEAKER_00 29:40

He has the top tier, everything. He was like, so I'm outside with my son and I'm washing my cars. And he was like, hey man, you want to use my car to go over there and just wash your cars? I was like, nah. I told him no because I was trying to teach my son how to wash cars. Yeah. But I wanted to. I'm like, what? Heck yeah. You know, because you know, if I wasn't trying to teach my son, you know, just you know, how to, you know, clean cars and stuff like that, I would have done that because I'm trying to save time. I'm busy, you know? And so, yeah, man, you know.

Pricing Confidence And Time Value

SPEAKER_02 30:10

And you think about that time, even that time, and let's say it's a Saturday, like I'm generally not working at this level on a Saturday. That's normally my family time. But me going out to cut the grass for two hours, that's taking away time that I could have spent with my wife, taking away time that I could have spent with my kids. I could have gone and done X, Y, and Z, could have gone and see my mom, we could have hit the road, could have gone and saw a movie. There's so many other things that I could have done. It's taken away from something. Anytime you say yes to something, you're saying no to a thousand different other things. So you have to be so conscious in terms of what am I saying yes to. Um, now let's talk deeper about this software that you develop. So, what does this actually do for people?

SPEAKER_00 30:47

So, yeah, credit fixer is designed to empower people to fix, build, leverage, and maintain their credit. It used to be just fixing your credit.

SPEAKER_01 30:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:57

But from the beg from the inception of me creating the platform, I knew credit repair was just the foundation. You know, because it touches every aspect of our country, really. Yep. You know, anything that you want, you need a good credit score. And so um, I built the software that literally at this point can about 90% automate that process for you. But the thing about it is like automation is cool, but education is more important.

SPEAKER_02 31:21

And so we need the literacy.

SPEAKER_00 31:23

You definitely need the literacy. There's a there's been so much uh information being pumped out where people even the expectation of fixing your credit is has been stripped down to 24 hours.

SPEAKER_01 31:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:38

Hey, I can fix your credit for in in 24 hours, hey, I can do this in three days, yeah, but they're doing illegal methods, right? And so the industry of credit repair has been just usurped by just phony people who just you know sit on their couch or just learn some information on TikTok or something. Now they got a credit repair business.

SPEAKER_02 31:57

And news alert for anybody. If somebody's promising that they can anything worthwhile takes time to do.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 32:03

You can't, when I've repaired my credit, it was like eight to twelve months before that score got where I got really excited. Um, but yeah, if somebody's trying to sell you on something, hey, I can do this, I can take your credit score up a hundred points in 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 32:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

I'm running away from that.

SPEAKER_00 32:16

And and and the thing about it is like some of them can do that.

SPEAKER_02 32:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:20

But you'll find that back on your credit report in about three months.

SPEAKER_01 32:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

Once they the CFPB do their investigation, because a lot of times they're doing CFPB complaints. In fact, the CFPB just changed their rules. You have to dispute with the credit bureau and the creditor first before you can send in a CFPB complaint.

SPEAKER_01 32:37

Jeez.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

Because people were just outright doing CFPB complaints and experience uploads, and that's it. And that's credit repair.

SPEAKER_02 32:45

Break it down. I want to break this down elementary level. First, I want people to understand, give us your definition of what is a credit score.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Well, credit score essentially determines how credible you are, how you handle debt, how you maintain debt, and they they they rank you based off of that. There's an algorithm that FICO generated that between 300 and 850 that will determine like your credit worthiness, right? And so everybody thinks the credit score is just the value, right? But no, it's more so the five factors of your credit score. I guess payment history, the length of credit, how many, how often you're uh applying for credit, which are like inquiries, yeah, uh payment history, you know, uh those things, right? And so understanding that is so much more than just a number, yeah, right? It affects the it affects how much interest you pay. It affects, you know, uh how much you have to put down on a home. So it's it's it's credit to me and that that credit score is is so much more than just that number. Yeah. It's it's knowledge that we were never taught. And that's why I built credit fixture in the way that I built it, is because I wanted to not only give you the tools, but I wanted you to provide you the knowledge along with that. Because, like you said, like people will fix your credit, now you got good credit, now you go get funding, but now you got this funding, now you're actually in more debt than you can even get yourself out of. Now you're locked into seven years because debt doesn't you know just get removed from your credit, you know.

SPEAKER_02 34:25

I've seen so many people get out of debt, but they didn't get the knowledge during that process, and then they end up going right, but they got all the credit cards paid off, all the student loans, all this is done. They're free.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

And then they start racking it up again, and they're right back in that same hole. So like that mindset shift has to happen. Um, talk about what is what is having a good credit score do for you? Because people need to wake up. So like I always reference uh Jay-Z's last album, 444. He's talking, Jay is screaming in the microphone, yo, I'm trying to tell y'all you need good credit, you need investments, you need property, you need to own stuff. Um he basically even said, I felt like the whole album was basically saying, yo, forget what I told y'all in the 90s and 2000s. I was just trying to get you to shake your ass so I could get a few bucks. Now I'm putting y'all on game. Like, this is the things that the propaganda that we were feeding you back in the 90s and early 2000s, I'm telling you now, that's not what balling is like. Yeah, this is what balling looks like.

SPEAKER_00 35:23

Yeah, yeah. Hey, Jay-Z. Hey, boy. Holla at me, man.

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Hofi, baby.

SPEAKER_00 35:28

Oh. Hey, y'all tag Jay-Z. No, um, but yeah, um, what was the question again?

SPEAKER_02 35:35

So now I forgot the whole thing. Uh the importance of having good credit. What that can do for you when you have a good credit score.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Man, like I I I briefly hint on hinted at it, you know, lower interest rates, right? Access to no money down on cars. Like, my I've gotta Which is crazy.

SPEAKER_02 35:53

When you don't have the money, they want you to put all the money you got in the world down. And when you finally have the money and a good credit score, they don't want you to put nothing down.

SPEAKER_00 36:01

Man, I I walked out of Mercedes and uh a couple years ago, I bought an E53 AMG cool for Mercedes. And I told them, I don't want to put no money down. They said, Well, you I was like, Well, there's Mercedes or Arlington I can go to. Yeah. So it's either you want this or not, you know, but you walk around with more confidence, you know, you can ascertain more credit. Like, you know, I know a lot of people are, you know, getting a lot of funding through credit cards. I mean, I mean, it just gives you more access.

SPEAKER_01 36:34

Yeah.

Credit Repair Myths And Industry Scams

SPEAKER_00 36:35

You know, and you have control over whether you want to, you know, take advantage of that access. So it just gives you a lot of power. That's what I think good credit does for you. And, you know, you can leverage it in so many ways, man. I remember um, like I got, you know, a bunch of credit cards, right? And, you know, there's there's a lot of people need to be added as authorized users. Yeah. You know, I've I've charged people in the past to add them as an authorized user on my credit card.

SPEAKER_03 37:03

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 37:03

You know, to help them. So it's it's it's just a it's a tool, man, that you can leverage in so many facets.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

Yeah. You know, so cred credit's just like having cash on hand.

SPEAKER_00 37:12

Oh, man.

SPEAKER_02 37:13

Like it gives you, and cash ain't nothing but a tool. It is we we give money too much power. Like at the end of the day, it's a tool we all need. But if you look at it in that manner and say, how can I utilize this to get me closer to where I'm trying to go? And it's not just like, let me buy this to impress this person, and you really start getting serious about the thing, it's a game changer. Now, how long have you had this business?

SPEAKER_00 37:35

I've had credit fixer. I started building credit fixer in 2018.

SPEAKER_02 37:40

Right now, that was a great year.

SPEAKER_00 37:44

Yeah, man, listen. I I was writing the code day and night. So when you talk about working in nine to five and then working five to nine, I was more like working like five to six.

SPEAKER_02 37:56

Get about two hours of sleep and go back and do it again.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

Every day for two years. Yep. And so the cool thing about it, I was recording like what I was doing. And that's kind of also how I, you know, got notoriety. Yeah. People were expecting the software to come out. And so that's another.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

Now you built some anticipation that y'all catch that. Before the movie comes out, you release the trailer.

SPEAKER_00 38:21

That part.

SPEAKER_02 38:21

You don't you don't just drop the two-hour movie, you gotta get in the 30-second trailer. Documenting your journey as an entrepreneur is probably one of the most undervalued assets any entrepreneur could ever have. You go to my YouTube page and you will see videos from 11 years old where I'm driving my beat up Honda Court cross-tour and throwing laundry and bubble soccer and video equipment and all these things. But I was able to document the whole thing. And a lot of people that work with us now or that are coming our way is because they've witnessed the story and the journey of me all along the way. So they feel a sense and a need and a desire to want to support me. If they need the services I offer, they don't want to go anywhere else because they've watched this guy come up from the gutter and build it to where it is today.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

Man, I literally have people till this day tell me, like, man, I've been watching you for years. And I'm just so grateful because that that people actually was watching me. Because I I wasn't doing it for, you know, for cloud or anything. I was doing it because, hey, this story, I know somebody's smarter than me, better than me, that can do it, do what I do. Yeah. Right? And so that that was the energy by me recording that. I didn't even know the value in it. But I just saw a guy who launched an AI software, and he he made, he's making$10,000 a month already. And it's not even out. So I said launch, but it's not even out, but he's already making money. But what he's doing is he's doing something similar where he's sending out emails letting people know about the updates. Yeah. What's going on? And people are like, hey, I can, you guys can pay now and get access for a lifetime and stuff like that. So I'm just giving you guys gems right now on what to do like. If you're trying to launch something, people gotta know, like, and trust you. And a part of them knowing you without me even knowing this information as an entrepreneur, because I wasn't one then, but because of me, you know, recording my actions and recording myself at 2 a.m. in the morning and showing like, man, I'm having difficulty connecting this credit monitoring service to my platform, they're them seeing that they're going through the story with me. And so they feel like they know me, they feel like they're part of the process. And so that was like one of the beautiful things that happened with Credit Fixer. And so when I launched, you know, you know, I didn't get all the people that I wanted to sign up, but then once I changed that price, yeah, man, it it just started going, changing the game, and then I ended up getting on podcast, and and no, well, not podcast then, but I got on stage. Um, and uh man, it just was So let's talk.

SPEAKER_02 40:50

That that leads me to my next question. And let me know if you're not comfortable sharing this on the show. But when we talked prior to you coming on, um you had an offer at one point for this business.

SPEAKER_00 41:02

Man, I wish I had this phone.

SPEAKER_02 41:04

I wish I had this phone. So let's talk to people about this. Share with us a story. You had a company approach you about buying your your software.

Credit Score Basics That Matter

SPEAKER_00 41:11

Yeah, so um, at the time I was living in Atlanta. I had moved, uh told my wife, I said, man, I'm moving to Atlanta for a year because that's where all the entrepreneurs are. Yeah. And um before I moved, a buddy of mine is named Henry, Henry, and um, I just thought about something. Because the last time I told this story, I told there's a Henry that actually works at um Atlanta Tech Village. Yeah. And so, but the friend of mine, and they both went to Tuskegee, but my friend Henry, he uh recommended that I go and apply at Atlanta Tech Village. So prior to me getting to Atlanta, I got accepted into the uh incubator there. And so I'm there. Um I moved to Atlanta for, I'm doing my thing, working out of WeWorks every day. Yeah, um, still 2 a.m. in the morning, just grinding, right? And so I meet a guy who I thought was actually um one of the like, I don't know, like the educators there. I don't know what they what you what they call him, but um, I meet a guy and uh I'm pitching, right? I'm pitching. And so I meet him and he was like, man, I like what you're doing. I didn't know that this guy has sold his software for about like 18 million back in like 2008 to like uh car dealerships. And so basically he created a software back in the day where car dealerships could manage their inventory and he sold that.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

Yeah. I was like, damn, that was a great idea.

SPEAKER_00 42:42

So that's how he became like an angel investor, and so he, you know, ended up making a lot of money. But um he sees the software, and I'm in the barber shop, and he sends me a text. He was like, Hey, can you come to the office? I'm just like, this is like on a weekend.

SPEAKER_01 42:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:59

And so I I come and he come to the office, and he's like, he's like, man, I want to I want to buy your software. And mind you, at this time I'm making like 20,000 a month. Yeah. You know, I just read what Credit Karma sold. They sold for$8.4 billion to Intuit. So I'm like, man, I studied this software, I studied their business. And you know, he's like, he's like, I want to buy your software. I was like, okay, what you he said, I was like, what shit would you want to offer? He said, 50 million. My stupid self. Now that I'm, you know, mind you, this was like uh six or eight months after I launched. True. So I'm new to this. Like, I'm thinking I'm about to make 50 million in the next three years. What you mean?

SPEAKER_02 43:47

Well, that there's a lesson in that. Whatever they offer you, whatever the first offer is, probably multiply that at least by three. Fact. That's the true value that your company is at that moment.

SPEAKER_00 43:58

What I knew, I knew what. One thing I did know is that he knew more than I knew. So when he said 50 million, I was like, no. And keep in mind, remember, I'm looking at credit karma. And I'm basing it off of that, right? And he was like, Well, what's your name? What what okay, what what would you want? I said, 8.6 billion. He said, boys, you don't get on. He said, where the f you get that number from? And I said, well, man, credit karma sold to Intuit for 8.4 billion, and my software is gonna be better than theirs. And you know, you know, he's like, Well, I'm gonna tell you something, man. He said, You got something here. And I'm just like, he said, keep doing what you're doing. And I'm gonna tell you, I I had I have his information in a phone that I gave to my all-pair.

SPEAKER_01 44:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:53

That lives in uh South Africa. And man, when I tell you I wish I had that phone, because throughout these years, there's been times where I'm just like, man, 50 million you'd be nice right about now.

SPEAKER_02 45:07

So let's walk through the mentality, because first off, man, I mean, you gotta have some of the biggest balls in the world to walk away from a table where somebody's offering you 50 million.

SPEAKER_01 45:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 45:18

But there's a reason why you did that, and that was your first reaction. Like looking back after you've jumped in the vehicle, did you feel secure in your decision at that moment?

SPEAKER_00 45:28

Well, yes and no, because I was still, I was climbing in my business, you know, and I just I knew that I hadn't finished all the things that I wanted to do with Credit Fixer. And for me to make this amount of money, I'm just like, well, shoot, man, I can get there. Like, I'll make 50 million.

SPEAKER_01 45:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

You know, I hadn't launched. So what I did with him is prior to this, I had shared with him my vision for Credit Fixer. Like I had Credit Fixer, DIY, and Credit Fixer Family done.

SPEAKER_01 45:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:59

I was working on Credit Fixer Business, which is the CRM for credit repair companies.

SPEAKER_02 46:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:04

To leverage.

SPEAKER_02 46:05

You knew that was gonna be the big piece.

SPEAKER_00 46:07

That's the B2B.

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:08

Like I was working on B2C because I knew, forethought that B2C is gonna be where it's at. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now people are realizing, like, especially with AI now, they're like, damn, we probably don't need people to fix our credit for it. I can just do it myself. Yep. So I had enough foresight to know, like, man, I'm telling y'all, this is gonna be it. But so then I was building that. I was telling them about debt fixer, fund fixer, like all these ecosystems that I was building, yeah, you know, or planning to build.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

Yeah, because you knew you had a whole suite of services that were gonna be coming out.

SPEAKER_00 46:42

And he knew he was a software engineer. That was the that's the difference between him and other people, other investors.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

They just look at money.

SPEAKER_02 46:48

Yeah, he understood the back.

SPEAKER_00 46:49

He understood, like, whoa, you got an ecosystem. Yeah. This is perfect.

SPEAKER_02 46:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 46:53

You know, and that's what a lot of these investors don't understand. All they look at is numbers, which make they're really dumb. I mean, I don't want to call investors dumb, but it's just like they're just they're they're just front and centered, money, money, money, money, money, number, number, numbers. When that don't make sense all the time.

SPEAKER_02 47:10

You were building, you were building uh an MB, they thought you were building an NBA team. What you were really doing was creating the NBA. Facts. You were like, I gotta have so I I get that, but damn, bro, we're gonna stay here for a minute.

SPEAKER_03 47:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:23

50 million dollars. I I know myself-worth and I know where my company's going. That's a hard, hard number to walk away from.

SPEAKER_00 47:31

But you're looking at it from somebody who is aware now. Now that I'm aware, I would have taken that in like that. But then you gotta understand, and you gotta understand like software engineers. We so in focused on code and creativity, we don't think about money like that. Yeah. We think 50 million, we're thinking about Google. Yeah. We're trained to think about like big exits. Yeah. You know what I mean? So like I ain't leaving for less than a billy. You know what I mean? But we don't even realize like what it is to be an entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_01 48:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:02

And all the things that come along with that. You know, so once I phased, got away from, you know, I started, you know, bringing other developers on my team and training them up and replacing myself, I had to become a CEO.

SPEAKER_01 48:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 48:14

Now it's like, oh man, this takes a lot of work. Now I gotta manage you. I gotta think about, oh, you just got married. Oh, you got children. Oh, it ain't no just getting rid of people because they do something wrong. It's like, it's it's about growth, it's marketing, you gotta hire these people, it's time that goes with everything, every decision you make. So now it's just like you think about that 50 million, you're like, oh, I should have taken that.

SPEAKER_02 48:42

But see, I love, I love the because you look at a company like BET.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:47

BET was sold. BET, black entertainment television is not even owned by a person of color at this moment. And I've often struggled with this with my business because I look at those things. Like, a lot of people don't know the backstory of YouTube. YouTube came about because this is exactly how YouTube came about. The two kids who invented YouTube. Um, you remember the Super Bowl where Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing?

SPEAKER_00 49:10

Oh, what that meant.

Credit As A Tool For Leverage

SPEAKER_02 49:10

And and the booby popped out. Yeah. There was no YouTube. There was no place that you could go online. Because like if you turn around for a second and you got yourself a snack during the Super Bowl, somebody's like, oh, Teddy. And you're like, what? What? By the time you look at it, it's gone. Right? And you're like, and the guys were thinking, man, there's nowhere, like, with all of this content that's on TV and all over the, there's no one place that you can come to. So the whole concept came because they were like of the Super Bowl moment. Hey, we want to be able to give people a place that they can come to and relive these moments. There should be a place where all the video in the world is just ultimately uploaded and captured there. Um, and I think they ended up selling for like one billion or something like that. Um, but you again, I say whatever the number is, because Google owns YouTube now, and YouTube's probably what I I don't even know the evaluation of YouTube, but it's it's with the B for sure. Yeah. But looking and having, that's the problem that I've had I've struggled with, where because as entrepreneurs, there is no retirement plan. Yeah, there's no pension plan, like it's on us. Yeah, like we gotta make our money grow, we gotta be doing the right things. And I struggle with the fact, especially after BET sold, I'm like, man, as soon as black people build something great, we sell it off. Yeah, we sell it off to a whole completely other culture. Um, and we don't get to claim ownership of that. So, like when I first started in, I was like, that ain't never gonna happen here. Now I'm like, I see why people be selling. This is not an easy gig. Plus, as entrepreneurs, we got a thousand ideas in our head, man. Dude, there are so many more things. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do. Monday is my favorite day of the week. I cannot wait to come to the office. This is my playtime. I love it here. But there's a lot more to life than just the grind. There's there's a period for that where you're building, you're grinding. I'm now at the point where I've said, you know what? I don't know if I'll ever start a business from scratch again.

SPEAKER_03 51:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 51:00

This is I've started 10, 11 companies from scratch. Some solo, some with a co-founder. It's hard starting something from nothing. It's a lot easier when you got good credit and money to just go to somebody else. Oh, your business is making five million year. Yeah, I'll pay you that.

unknown 51:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:16

Ray Sale, get out of here, man. It's retirement. Look, Florida's calling your name, man. Just get out of here. I'll run this business for you. Let me give you this five million and get up out of you.

SPEAKER_00 51:23

I'm starting to become friends with older people.

SPEAKER_02 51:25

Yeah, dude, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 51:27

Older entrepreneurs.

SPEAKER_02 51:28

How do you feel about that now? Even past the offer. Are you, and I assume this in tech companies, I think this happens a lot more. I think a lot of tech entrepreneurs, you found a company understanding the fact that, oh yeah, I'm gonna sell this one day. It's not like I want to do this for the rest of my life. Where are you mentally with that now?

SPEAKER_00 51:46

Um, right now, I'm if you asked me about a month ago, I was selling. You know. Um In fact, I had a friend who wanted me to put it out there uh because he and I would talk, he was like, let's just see what the market is talking about. And um, you know, I just didn't get the numbers that I was looking at. So I was like, nah, but now that I've and it wasn't I didn't wasn't selling because I wanted to. I was selling because wanted just to see what it was like, but also just exhaustion. Yeah. Dealing with people in this space. The credit space is very um.

SPEAKER_02 52:22

Yeah, because y'all got government regulations and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

No, that's the problem. It's not regulated. Oh. And that, and that's you know, and that's why you get a lot of these, you know, phony credit repair experts, quote unquote. Um and not everybody that just that teaches credit repair is like that, but you got it they far outweigh the the good ones in the industry. And you know, for me, I had ran into like some people who kind of negatively affected what I was doing. And I'm known for doing things the right way and just being an honorable person. Yeah right. But um, yeah, you asked me where I'm at. Um, man, with this, with these new things that I'm releasing.

SPEAKER_02 53:03

You you excited now.

SPEAKER_00 53:04

Oh man, I'm it was I just had to get rid of certain people that you know were bringing my business down.

SPEAKER_02 53:10

So let's let's pause right there, let's talk about that. Because, man, I'm gonna see if I got a copy of this book. I'm gonna give you this book if I got a copy here before I leave. It's a book called B.E. 2.0, Beyond Entrepreneur 2.0. The guy who wrote this was an advisor of Steve Jobs. So this guy was like, you know, who's the guy that was uh is it Tim Grover? The guy that was trainer for like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryan, Dwayne Wade. I think it was Tim Grover, Tim Grover. I'm pretty sure it was Tim Grover. Y'all, y'all correct me if I'm wrong in the comments. Um, but this was the guy, he wasn't like if Michael Jordan hurt his knee, he called Tim.

SPEAKER_03 53:45

Okay.

The 50 Million Offer And Ecosystem Vision

SPEAKER_02 53:45

Tim was the psychological guy. And Tim ain't take no crap. Either you're gonna do exactly what I tell you, and I'm gonna get you out back on the court making money, or you we can do things your way, and I'm just gonna part ways, and you can figure this thing out on your own. So he was the cleaner, this is what they ultimately call him. Um, but Steve Jobs brought him in when he came back to uh the guy who wrote BE 2.0. Um Steve Jobs brought him in when he came back to Apple the second time. Because I remember uh he got kicked out of his company the first time. When he came back, he was like, tell me what I need to do to take this thing to the next level. And this was that guy.

SPEAKER_01 54:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 54:20

Um and that book just opens up my mind to so much. But the big thing it did for me was the team. It wasn't until, and this is no disrespect for anybody who's ever worked for me, but this by far is the best team I've ever had. And it was now my eyes and my ears are tuned where I know what I need from key players. So, like originally when I started this company, I co-founded it with a buddy of mine that we're uh college roommates and friends. Um, and the thing that he didn't get, I was like, dude, if you just let me be Michael Jordan and you be Scottie Pippen, we're gonna get the ring. But both of us can't be Jordan, dude. I need you need a Dennis Robin, you need a guy cleaning the Windex out there. Like everybody has to play their role. And now this train that I'm on now, the team, not only do all these people excel at a high level at what they do specifically, but they understand their roles. So it's getting the right people on the bus, but not just getting them on the bus, it's putting them in the right seats. So, on what you just talked about, establishing the right relationships within your business. The reason why, and I'll I'll go into across the board, um, the reason that's why the business partnership didn't work out is because we're both trying to go for the like we both can't be Jordan. Best business partners I've had are the guys that were the complete opposite of me. Yeah, I love being in front of the camera. I love the marketing, I love being the face of the company. My best business partner ever, those guys, two in particular I can think of, they had no interest whatsoever in putting that half the time they didn't even want people to know that they were affiliated with the company. They're like, I don't want to know, I don't want people to know that I own the company. I just want to be the guy in the background. Those are always the best guys because like uh they love doing Excel spreadsheets. I can't stand that crap, man. I barely know how to work an Excel spreadsheet. They love doing that stuff. So it was that yin and yang that we found. So, one, did you have a partner in this business at one point?

SPEAKER_00 56:14

I did. I had a CEO back in the day as female.

SPEAKER_02 56:17

Yeah. She was actually really good. So what what was it that caused that? Because a lot of people don't understand, dude, it might be harder if just as hard as a marriage. Like when you go into business with somebody, you are tied at the hip, right? And what they do is a reflection on you, your company, all these things. So what was it that ultimately, I don't know how this transpired, but what was it that made you say, we need to find something else here?

SPEAKER_00 56:47

You know what it was? I can tell you exactly what it was. I ended up bringing two individuals into my business and they caused ruckus. They call they were causing gossip, and that's what got her removed, actually. Because it was just a lot of bickering and a lot of just, you know, sneer remarks, and it's like, hey, I I don't think she's working when she gets off Zoom and just stuff like that. And it turned out that she wasn't really, you know, working, but she was getting certain things done. Yeah. So I was like, you know, I'm like me, I'm type of person. I don't need you to be on the clock all day. We getting the mission done, then you we good.

SPEAKER_02 57:31

If clients happy and the checks are still rolling in, uh if you can get your if I'm paying you for 40 hours and you can get it done in 20, bully for you.

SPEAKER_00 57:38

Good for you. You do an amazing job. See you next uh team call. Yep. Yeah, but um, yeah, man, they you know, you talk about somebody wanting to be Jordan, you know, one of the individuals he wanted to be Jordan when he really didn't have any talent. Yeah, but you know, and it was, you know, the other person, she had some skill, but you know, again, like that's how she ended up getting, you know, let go. But she also did something that I didn't approve of. Like she started working with somebody that I brought into the business on a side project and then, you know. So it was just things like that. It's just like, you know, that I had to deal with over the span of like the past two years that kind of affected the business. And so that's when you ask me, like, dang, would I take, you know, 50 million? Yeah, I would take it. I I I know what this platform is capable of and will do once, you know, I finish launching all the rest of the platforms. Like it's already doing great with just credit fixer, but man, the ecosystem, fun fixer, credit fixer, I mean, uh, debt fixer, credit fixer GPT, which we're launching, you know, um shoot, next week probably.

SPEAKER_02 58:52

Nice.

SPEAKER_00 58:52

Um, but it's just you know, again, learning how to be a CEO, learning how to put the people in the right seats. And, you know, I just wasn't skilled at that enough. And again, this is me failing.

SPEAKER_01 59:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 59:07

Well, we talked about earlier, you gotta fail fast. Like, I wish I had known this earlier.

SPEAKER_02 59:11

You know. But that's that's also part of why I think some companies choose to sell is because you gotta recognize your own weaknesses and strengths and understand, like, hey, I have a vision for where this thing can go, but I've reached my max. Yeah. Like, I can't take it any further. If I want to see this thing continue to build, the responsible and the right thing for me to do is to sell this to somebody else. Like, sometimes you just get to that point in your business where, like, and then we all have imposter syndrome as entrepreneurs. Like, there are times, I'm sure as you were learning your role as CEO, I've dealt with this my entire career. Man, am I really the dude that should be telling everybody what to do around here? Am I really that smart? Am I this and am I that? Uh, and you have this imposter syndrome. Um, but then you realize a couple things along the way, and you're like, nah, I'm that dude. I'm him. It's on me. It's on me.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:02

And it's funny you say that because I had I had paid an advisor about$20,000 to, you know, advise me. You know, and one of her recommendations was putting somebody else in the CEO role. That was the worst decision, advice I probably could have taken.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:18

Another was like, uh, you know, you're trying to make this a billion dollar company, you can't be the face of it.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:25

That's what built the brand.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:28

Like people are like, where you been?

SPEAKER_02 1:00:29

And I actually put out a video the other day. More businesses now, I think this is where the true value is when you're branding a company. Brand the founders first. People don't fall, like, I know I've told this a thousand times. I'm such an Apple fan, a Steve Jobs fan, because we got to meet the owner. We've followed the journey, like the biographies, the movies. Like this guy built one of the greatest companies in world history, not American history, world history. And he started in his grand in his parents' basement and his in their garage. I'm like, that's something that you can attach to. So like I can play that that may have been true a couple years ago. I don't think it was as prevalent, brand the uh the founder, but nowadays, oh yeah, I think every founder should be brand because guys like us, we're going to do something else.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:17

So you might as well go ahead and build the brand around yourself so that way no matter what you do next, your angel investors follow you. Yeah, team members follow you, like customers follow you because they're like, I'm in the business of that guy. Yeah. I want to follow whatever he's doing.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:31

Yeah, man. And and you know, I'm I'm I'm appreciative of all the the things that are happening now, but it because it just tells me, like, yo, you're about to do something big. You need these experiences right now. Because if you don't get them, you get them while you're all the way up there, oh, the the fall is is much greater.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:50

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:51

And you dealing with uh people with way more experience than you currently have.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:56

We eat you for lunch. Man, what? I think about now some of the clients that we serve, these are all the things that I pray for. I I made this post, I think this morning was something like uh I constantly have to remind myself that I'm living the life that I was once praying for. Yeah, I'm living in that. Now our dreams and the goalposts is always changing. But understanding, understanding that piece, man, like this is a hard game, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:22

Hell yeah. It's drastically changing. Yeah. And I'm I'm here for it because I I love I love adapting. I'm so great at it. You know, AI, I was the first to implement AI in my in in the credit repair software. Now all of them are trying to catch up. Like, listen, all these big softwares are trying to do DIY now. Yeah. I'm so far ahead of these guys, they they gonna I mean AI is it's moving fast, so they can catch up. Oh, that's true. If they know how the infrastructure's right, yeah, but you know, a lot of times, you know, let's just say that. I'm I'm I I didn't already put things in place to where it's like, okay, I'm gonna do that, I'm gonna do that. Yep. Do this, but I'm already doing it anyway. So, you know.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:06

And it's having that vision for what's as CEOs, we have to see miles down the road. Yeah, yeah. Our team, we're the ones driving the bus. They're just seeing as far as their eyes can go, like past this sign, or here's this exit.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:18

Oh, yeah.

Becoming A CEO Through Team Lessons

SPEAKER_02 1:03:19

We gotta look 10 miles down the road to see what's coming. Because we're con like the day I walked in the office, told my I'm I'm sure they get sick of me with this sometime. I was like, hey guys, I got an idea, we're changing everything. Yeah. That was a problem I had as a CEO in the early days was I couldn't get my vision from here to here. Like I couldn't convey to them what was going on up here, so they're like not understanding. So I think a lot of the previous teams, a lot of that was on me because I wasn't able to get my vision across.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:51

Now that I've learned how to share my vision, paint that picture for my team, they're like, oh, well, if that's what he's doing, yeah, I'm on board for that. Versus like if you're just keeping it up here and not expressing that to your team. Uh, but though that piece is so important in terms of that building process. It's like find the right people, dude. Yeah. Because a wrong person, you you mentioned it. I I've had some cancerous people in my organization. Dog, I don't play that. So one of my I don't play that now. I used to play that back in the day. One of my favorite entrepreneurs right now is lady Cody Sanchez.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:22

And the biggest thing I learned from her, number one, when she lets somebody go, I used to have these long exit interviews. We'd be getting arguments with ex-employees for like three hours. Like they're supposed to be out the door and we still sit in here and have a conversation. All she says to somebody when she lets them go is, appreciate everything you've done. It's no longer a good fit. Well, what did I do? It's no longer a good fit. Well, I thought it was it's no longer a good fit. There is nothing I can say that is gonna make that person feel better walking out the door. It sucks being can. There's nothing I can say. And they're looking for tip. You can pick up on some people that are like, dude, I really want some constructive criticism. Can you please tell me what I need to improve on because I don't want this to happen to me again.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:58

I may slightly open up the door on that end, but for the most part not.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:03

I feel like I got somebody to let go.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:05

And when you're thinking about letting someone go, probably means you should have done it months before. But people don't understand how diff because what you said earlier, that's what I I kept people on my team for years that were cancers in my organization. And I know it's ultimately cost me millions at this point. I kept them in the organization because I was like, well, dang, he just bought a house. Man, he just got married. They're about to have a baby. That ain't my responsibility. If you're not getting the job done, nobody is bigger than the program, including myself. And I'll never forget this. I shared this with uh one of my employees that's currently on the team. Um there was a guy that we had out in the field that was kind of screwing some stuff up. And she is the sweetest girl you've ever met in your life. And she's like, you know, I keep coming back to him trying to get him on this, uh I was like, Abby, let me put it to you this way if he screws that account up and we lose it, it affects. Us all as a whole. Are you ready for your salary to be cut in half because of the foolishness that he's out here doing? Oh, so just put it like that, we need to get rid of this dude because ain't nobody messing with my check. Like, it affects everybody. And when I started looking at things from that perspective, it's not about what they have going on in the lives personally, because at the end of the day, we all grown people. You're always going to find another job. You can go start your own thing. I encourage everybody on my team here. Yo, you're an idiot if you don't have a side hustle. Don't rely solely on me. You need something else on the side. And now there are some team members that I'm now partnering with in other ventures. Because I'm like, you've shown me that you can go out and do it. You're doing stellar work here. I'd be an idiot not to partner with you and give you a piece of this pie moving forward. So, like, a lot of times now I'm looking at that equity piece. I may only be able to do so much for you right now financially, but hey, it's your birthday. Let's stop by the Apple store. Let's get you an Apple Watch. Let's get you some metaglasses. Let me let me take you out and do X, Y, and T. It's just those little things. And there are a couple people on the team. I've had private conversations with them. Hey man, this is the track you're on. If you keep this up, I'm gonna give you some ownership. Yeah. Because I'd rather have 50% of a watermelon than 100% of a grape.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:06

That part, man. Listen, I man, I'm I'm in some talks right now with some very, very important people right now. And I'll tell you after I don't want to put it out there yet, but man, I'm talking partnerships with someone who has like 1.5 million people on YouTube, and we're working on some stuff where it's like, man, he's like, Man, you already did all the groundwork. How do you how do I become a part of this? You know, man, I'm gonna tell you. And that's that's the thing.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:40

When you when you build something of value, the right people are attracted to that.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:45

Like, you don't have to go like the early days when we used to go out and hunting, we're first starting this thing. You're hunting for everything you can get. When you're building the brand right, when you're building the business the right way and it's developing the right reputation, you ain't out there hunting, man. It's like before you had a little stick with some twine and a little hook on a paper clip that you're using for a hook.

SPEAKER_01 1:08:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:05

Once you build a brand and you have those things coming to, now you got a net. You just throw that thing out in the water and you pull it back in, you got barrels of fish.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:12

Conversations are so different now because I've went through the gauntlet, you know. I've, and when I say the gauntlet, I mean like I've over the years, like I've I've established myself in the space, right? And respected in the space. You know, I might not be the biggest, but I'm still respected and I've created a name, right? The credit fixer name, people know about it. Oh, I've heard of that. You know? Um, and so funny enough, like the the guy, one of the guys that I'm that I'm I'm you know partnering with, he was looking for a platform that was established and you know, works. And he could put his name on and and stuff like that, or around, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:08:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:54

Um, and he looked at us, he looked at them all. Just like, no, that. And so it ended it turning it turning because he's created another platform. And um, you know, he because he has a lot of his people are really focused on financial literacy.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:10

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:10

And uh like legit. So that was that was important to me as well. It's like, okay, yeah, you can have millions of followers, that don't mean nothing. No, no, no. But um, what are they what is the focus of it? And are they really in tune to that type of content? And they are actually, and so um that that not only that, it's just like his business acumen and his relationships is through the roof.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:35

Dude, that's where it's like I was like That's where it's all at. I realize you get to a certain point where the knowledge is kind of capped. Like you're gonna learn some things here or there, but for the most part, you know what the hell you're doing, and it ain't gonna grow much beyond that. Beyond that, man, it's the relationships.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:50

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:51

It is uh one of my boys showed me one of his homies back in the day. This guy was filming uh videos for the Green Bay Packers and the Arizona Cardinals. And he sent me the homeboys Instagram page and I'm digging through it. And the first thought in my head is like, why the hell did he get to work with the Cardinals Green Packers? I'm just as good. Like, da-da-da. I went to jealousy mode. And then I went and looked, I started digging in on his pictures on Instagram, and I'm zooming in and I'm seeing the gear he's using, the lenses he's using, I'm watching his editing style, all these different things. He had the exact same cameras I used, he had the exact same lenses. He shot in a format I thought at the time I shot better. But his stuff was good, let me say that. And then I start to realize, man, I ended up talking to his brother and getting his backstory. Maybe half of it is your skill set.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:40

The vast majority of it is, man, who do you know? And it's just like, I tell my team all the time, I I don't need anybody to set a place for me at the table. I just need you to crack the door, man. I'll find my way to that table. Just give me a little crack in the door, and I'll make that work. But the relationships, I think once you get, once you truly embrace that CEO role, you understand that like a big part of my job is the politicking piece. Like today, I got two networking things I gotta go to this evening. I would much rather be at home playing with my kids, watching Netflix, chilling, doing something else. Like, there are some times, man, I just don't feel like going out and kissing babies and doing all this stuff. But guess what? There's not a time I go out and do those things that it doesn't yield return for me. I meet someone that you are one handshake away from your life, absolutely changing.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:29

Definitely.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:29

Everything that you've dreamt of may be on the side of one handshake. So I'm like, I know everybody in my house. I'm not gonna get more value there. I need to be out here developing these relationships and doing these things. But I want people to really understand that like a brother from Compton, California, and a brother from Lynchburg, Virginia, like we ain't nothing special. I dropped out of college, this guy got more degrees than a thermometer. But we did nothing special but keep going, working hard, and like make those connections. Yeah. So touch on how those relationships have opened doors for you.

Relationships Reputation And Reciprocity

SPEAKER_00 1:12:01

Yeah, you know, when I talk about getting on stage, I gotta give a you know, huge, you know, shout out to my uh a friend of mine. His name is uh Umar Clark from the Bureau Bullies.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:10

Oh, I thought you said Dr.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:11

Umar, like the Oh no, no, no, not Umar Johnson.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:15

Stay away from them snow bunnies, brother.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:19

Right. But no, man, uh man, I got on stage, man, and um in uh in Atlanta, and man, when I tell you I got a stand-in ovation, man, it was credit fixture was on from there. Nice. You know, and um just relationships, man. Like, like you said, man, every every time I've gone to an event or paid to go to an event, you know, uh I've built those types of relationships. So like another I I like see when I'm on podcasts, I love to shout people out too because I think it's so important. And uh to to as you climb, you you you build pre people around you. I think it's there's a law of reciprocity when that happens. Yeah. And they fun being rich by yourself. I want everybody to come to the party, man. Funny, funny, funny enough, like uh I I had bought a booth at uh Investfest. Oh, yeah. Cost me like 17.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:14

Wait, the stage you're talking about being on is a is an Investfest?

SPEAKER_00 1:13:17

No, no, no, no, no, no. I was like, holy crap, dude. No, no, no, not that, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:22

That'd be I could totally see you on an Invest Fest stage too much. Oh, yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:26

You know, but uh it was a guy, his name was Carson. Carson and um young, he's a young kid, he was 20 at the time. He said, Man, can I film for you? I was like, man, I don't really need it, but he was like, go ahead. He did a little film for me, and then the next day he reproduced it and showed it to me. I said, Man, I'm gonna hire you. And I hired him, I said, What's your what how much you wanna you wanna get paid? And he told me the number. I said, Okay, cool, I'm gonna pay you that. And um, he didn't have all the tools and all that stuff then, you know, young kid. Um, and so a year, it's been a year and a half. It's due 100 and something thousand followers on IG, you know, running his own business now. But he used to work for me as my editor. And, you know, his content, he was learning as he was working with me, building, learning, building relationships. You know, and you know, uh now it's full circle, and now we're gonna be, like you said, like partnering on some things as far as like editing and stuff like that, and like for like credit repair businesses. Yep. I got a uh school community. Well, I'm not gonna put it on school, but I have a community where you know, not only do you learn how to run a credit repair business, but you could you have the software, but you also have you know how to market. And you'll be able to get, you know, editing through him and stuff like that. So love it. Um yeah, man, it's um well well editing rather, but but um, but yeah, man, like it's just like things like that, man. You built those types of relations. That's one relationship that I saw just just really grew because nobody gave him really a chance, you know, and you know, being able to give somebody an opportunity where you know they can become what they were meant to become. And it's not necessarily you, but you had a vehicle that they can, you know, hop on and present what they have.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:21

And it's fulfilling just to be just to know, and I know you're not saying that and taking credit for this success, but it's like, man, even if I'm 1% of that story and I gave this dude the opportunity because somebody else wouldn't have done that for me, I'm glad that I was at that spot in my life where I could give this kid an opportunity and now look at him. Like to me, that's that's part of success to me. Is that if the other people around, I look at to me, and let's go back to LeBron. The one thing I can say about LeBron is the way he rolled with his crew and what all those brothers are doing individually now. He it wasn't like, yo, I'm the gravy chain, y'all just roll with me, like hold my weed, hold my piece, and stuff like that. It was like, nah, what y'all bringing to the table? What you building? All right, you want to do sports man? All right, cool. You want to be a movie? All right, cool. Let's let's figure this out. Same thing with Kevin Hart. Like with his crew, with uh Classic Cup Boy. Yeah, Classic Cup Boy. They're all doing something, and like he's used his position to help them leverage, but he didn't hand out anything to him. It's like, yeah, we have an opportunity, you guys figure out how you're gonna fit in this mix. So for me, that's what I'm always looking at is like, I want to build the people up around me. Because I've always said, like, if I make everybody that's on my team rich, well, what the hell does that make me? If all them making a quarter million dollars a year, what do you think I'm making? So it only benefits you to lift others up. Like this concept of like, in order to have the biggest building in the city, I gotta tear somebody else's down and then build from there. Like that's an idiotic approach to me.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:52

If you just treat people right, give, show people the love and respect that you want, um, and you provide certain opportunities, dude, the the universe will reward you for that, man. Hands down.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:03

Yeah, it it and it has, man. And you know, the reason why I'm that way is because I've had people in in this space that really never wanted to see me be what I am because of money, or because I didn't pay to be around them, or things like that. And that's one thing that I despise is people who you gotta pay to be their friend. Yeah, you gotta pay to be here, and it's just everything's money driven. Yeah. You know, I think that's a mentality.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:32

Those are most empty people.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:34

Oh, very much so. You know, they only live through their jewelry, their cars, their money, but when it comes to integrity and character and just, you know, just being honest with people and just, you know, giving people opportunities. No, you don't get opportunities unless you got money with them. Nah, man. You never know. You might be looking at the next, you know. Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs. Yeah. But because you they didn't pay to be there, you looking at them like, oh, you broke.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:02

I can't stand it that type of energy and that mindset in this space, but you know, it's there. And, you know, time will tell, you know, who will, who will be, you know, the ones that will be the leaders in the end. But, you know, like I said, man, like it's just for me, it's a blessing. Rejection is a blessing. But when you you, for me, I've never been one of them type of people that I'm just it's gonna change like who I am.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:29

I'm gonna always, if I can lift people as I climb, I'm gonna always do that. And I think it's so essential, and it's there's a lot of reciprocity out there. And you know, you give without seeking gain.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:40

You re put yourself.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:42

Because I'm gonna tell you the guy that I met that that we're gonna be partnering, um, it's because of something that I did for somebody else. Yeah. And it came back to me. It was like, hey, you be great for this. Like they, I talk, he wants to meet you right now. You know, and you know, that's just you know, law, reciprocity, and just doing things without seeking gain, because I wasn't expecting it.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:06

But it came right on time.

Lowest Moment And Protecting Your Name

SPEAKER_02 1:19:08

That's it. You know, so plant the seeds. Last question I got you, because you and I can talk forever, man. Um I ask every entrepreneur on the show, what was your lowest moment as an entrepreneur and how did you overcome it?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:21

Lowest moment is when it was about a year ago now, with those two individuals coming into my company, um, disparaging my company in the industry, them going to events. So they are recognized, they're getting notoriety because of my platform through my platform. Yeah. And now that they're around certain people or involved in certain meetings, they're now, you know, at these events, and now they're disparaging my name, and now people looking at credit fixes because when you talk about being a team player, I didn't mind taking a step back. Yeah. You know, I whatever's gonna get the job done, but I gave them, you know, positions that they didn't deserve and didn't earn, and um that kind of hurt my business in in the space. And I had people come to me, they say, Man, you know, I I loved your software, I love what you're doing, but I didn't join that, I didn't want to be to use your platform solely because they were there.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:22

I was just like, wow. You know what? That is wild, because the exact same stuff has happened to me. Where my original co-founder of this business, as soon as we parted ways, there were so many people that came out the woodworks and be like, dude, I've been waiting for you to cut that dude. That's why I haven't worked with you. Let's go now. And I'm like, and because you can't see it when you're in it. You don't realize, like, everybody thinks they got the cutest baby in the world. You don't know that your baby is ugly. It's really one of those moments where you're in it and you can't see what's happening around you, but everybody else is in. My first response to everybody, why the hell did y'all say something to me, man? Why did you come to me and be like, yo, this dude sketch? Like, why are you doing business with him? Like, I would have listened if you guys had said something. Nobody said anything. Yeah, they were like, we don't want to offend you or whatever. I'm like, man, I ain't in the feelings business, man. Like, tell me the truth. Like, I don't need people patting my back and raising pom-poms. Like, tell me where I'm screwing up because that's how I can improve.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:17

Um, but it's crazy that so many entrepreneurs have that happen to them, where it's people have to go around tearing down your name. And that's that's what also helped me understand who the true people are in my circle. Yeah, like I had a guy, I've made me known, maybe have known this guy, I want to say about six months. Um and somebody was talking slick about me in a room that I was not in. What they were saying was 1,000% completely false. Um and this man protected my name while I wasn't in the room.

unknown 1:21:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:21:47

And that's what I've learned to surround myself around people who will protect your name when you're not even in that room. Like, man, don't you talk about saying, like, do you know what that brother did for me? Do you know the opportunities he's giving people over here? Don't be slanting that man's name.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:59

And another thing to that is when somebody's speaking about you, and you're in a room with somebody speaking negatively about you, and you come tell me, but you didn't say nothing while you were there, yeah. That also makes me wonder, like, why didn't you defend me while you was listening to all that, you know? And, you know, I appreciate you telling me, but why didn't you tell, you know, represent me while you were there? Yep. And so, you know, I don't give people full kudos for not doing that. Like, if you see somebody talking bad about somebody you know and you know it's not true, then you should speak up. But, you know, like I said, man, I've always been somebody that's been honorable in this space. Honorable to anybody that ever worked with Credit Fix or work with me, they know that if they're not there now, it wasn't because of me.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:45

And, you know, they can they can't honestly say I did anything wrong or disparage them or hurt them or, you know, was it didn't live up to what I said I would do. Yep. You know, and obviously all of us come sh up short in any anything that we do. Oh, but you know, the goal is always, you know, set and you try to meet that goal. But you know, for me, man, that was probably the most difficult time for me because I realized, like, man, I don't, the vision for this company is not what it was ever since they were here.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:20

Like, but the vision is back, the vision is shining, man. Everything is the sun just came back out.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:27

That's the face of an entrepreneur that's rejuvenated right there, baby.

Where To Find Credit Fixer

SPEAKER_00 1:23:30

That man ready for chapter two right now. Man, this is the first podcast that I've been on, you know, uh since um now that I'm ready to launch a new version of Credit Fixer, AI. Uh man, there's just so much happening right now, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:44

That's what's up. Well, let's not keep the people waiting, man. If they want more information on your software, the services you guys are offering, where do they go to find you?

SPEAKER_00 1:23:52

Yeah, so you can find me on all social medias at at creditfixer, and that's credit F I X R R. No E. Nice. So at Credit Fixer, um, you can go to creditfixer.com, you can go to creditfixer GPT.com, you can go to creditfixer AI. I mean. So we got a lot of platforms that we have, um, but yeah, man, like we're we're building. We intend on being the best DIY credit repair platform in the industry, and for the time moving forward. Um, man, we got man, we're going on tour soon across the nation. Oh, man. And uh next year we're gonna have the credit fixer conference. You guys heard it first. Ooh. The Credit Fixer Conference.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:41

Yeah, so uh Yeah, I need my ticket for that. I need VIP to that, man. You got it, bro. And I'm paying, listen, let me tell y'all something right now. If you have a friend in business, don't ask them for free stuff. If your friend is in business, you support them with your dollars. Get free stuff from strangers, spend your money with people that you know that own businesses. That's the most backward way to think. Sorry. That just sparked something in me. I'll say that. Let me say that, man. People gotta stop doing that stuff, man. Well, dude, this has been awesome. We will 1,000% be having a part two. Maybe part two, me and my crew come up to your area and we do a part two uh after the tour and everything is has concluded, man. But brother, I appreciate you being on here today, man.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:22

Man, I'm a nickname.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:23

I know a dude like you, but like I said, we just met less than a month ago, but like I know me and this brother are gonna be talking for a lifetime, man. Because I got some ideas running through my head, man. We we gotta talk about. But uh appreciate you being here today, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:37

Appreciate you, Sam.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:38

Absolutely, man. And we will see you guys on the next episode.