Better Together - A Man's Perspective!
This podcast will feature Men from all walk's of life that have been married for at least 10 years that have a story to tell about overcoming, perseverance and success in their life, business and marriage! The focus will be to highlight why despite challenges we all have determined its better with our life partners together than apart!
Better Together - A Man's Perspective!
Episode # 3 - 7/20/2023 - Featuring Former NFLer , Author & Top Podcaster Marques Ogden!
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This show continues in our movement to make men more transparent and discuss faith, family and business!
Sponsored by Redemption! Grace Extended & The Real Price of Success. Find it on Amazon or www.thebartbutlerstory.com. Proceeds to benefit my scholarship at my alma mater Virginia Tech.
Welcome to the Better Together from a Man's Perspective podcast with your host, serial entrepreneur, electrophist, and international best-selling author, Bart Butler, where we discuss faith, marriage, family, and business, along with today's relevant news. We also share practical tips from its book Redemption, the real price of success, and show you how to learn, overcome, acquire, and most importantly, never ever give up. So if you're ready to be part of this life journey, then here we go. Better Together is sponsored by Redemption, Christ Extension, and the real price of success. Buy it on Amazon or direct at www.thepartbutlerstory.com. Here's your host, Bart Butler.
SPEAKER_04Hello, hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to uh episode number three of my podcast, uh Better Together, a man's perspective. Um, we've had a lot of fun so far, and I think we're gonna have a lot of fun today with my special guest. Uh, some of you may know him in the Baltimore area, um, as well as other parts of the country. Uh, it's my uh good friend, Mr. Marcus Ogden. Uh, he's a former NFL football player, entrepreneur, author, and podcaster, top podcaster, I may add. And uh during our uh conversation today, we're gonna talk a little bit about what he's doing and so forth, as well as our usual topics of faith, family, and business, and um get into a little bit of um some of the struggles that uh that he's gone through and has overcome. He was just kind of sharing a little bit with me before we went live, and uh, it's a remarkable story. Uh so uh let's go ahead and get right into it. Um let me introduce Marcus Ogden. You may remember the name or the name may sound familiar. He is the brother of NFL Hall of Famous, all Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden, who played uh, I believe Marcus his entire career with the Ravens.
SPEAKER_02That is correct. 12-year career, that is correct.
SPEAKER_04And you know, I had the pleasure of uh uh, I didn't meet Jonathan, I met your mom, your great mom, uh, when uh you guys hosted me in uh Jonathan's box at Raven Stadium. I think it was, was it his last year?
SPEAKER_02Yes, that is correct. That was the two that was the 2008 season. That's correct.
SPEAKER_04Oh my god, it's been 15 years. Wow. That is a long time. You know what surprised me. I didn't realize you guys were fellow DC boys.
SPEAKER_01That is correct. We were both born at Columbia Hospital for Women. Yeah, we were raised in Northeast DC, uh in uh Washington, right in Brooklyn.
SPEAKER_04Is that why you you say Brooklyn Boy? Kern in your old email. I said Brooklyn Boy. Okay, from Northeast. Okay. Got it, got it. Well, look, let me uh um uh university. Yes, I know exactly. Yeah, yep, yep. We've got an investment property over there on uh Kearney Street. So I know exactly what you're talking about. Yeah, so you know the area. So look, uh let's uh let's start with this. Um tell me who is Marcus Ogden. So let's talk about that a little bit. Um I know that um you've always been a great orator, and and even when we were uh in business together for a brief time, you did a lot of speaking engagements. How did you get into that? And um what's the message that you give to some of the kids that you talk to?
SPEAKER_01So speaking to help others succeed where I fail. And what really has been the callous has been talking about the construction company, which I failed in in 2013 when I lost all of my money, I lost all of my assets, I lost my home, I lost my cars, all because of my ego. We built a very successful organization, but unfortunately, as the company grew, so did my ego. So as a result of that, I ended up losing everything. And that really was the beginning of me hitting rock bottom and turning my life around after that rock bottom moment. But like I tell everyone, without the uh construction company and without learning from those life lessons, right, Mark? Yeah, yeah, but not be where I'm at today on the scale that we're so blessed to be at at this time.
SPEAKER_04You know, I I I must um uh commend you for being so honest and transparent because as men, a lot of times we have a hard time with with doing that, to accepting our failures and our faults and our mistakes. And um uh, you know, I did that in my book. I know uh you do that every day. And I want to commend you for that because um, you know, especially when you talk about ego, and we all have egos. Uh I used to say uh uh people would tell me that, you know, you got quite an ego, and I'd be like, Me? No, I don't have an ego. And then, you know, I spent some time thinking about it, and I said, Well, you know, you can be pretty arrogant sometimes. You just don't realize it. But um, it does uh show itself in in different ways. So I I commend you for that. Um, so talk a little bit about before we get into to the family and faith and so much, uh what got you through that, you know, uh, because that was quite a time. I mean, you were you were at the at the top. Um, you know, everybody wanted uh a piece of Marcus Agda.
SPEAKER_01Right. Well, it's interesting, right? It's what I realized is that at that time, I was all about myself. I was all about what I wanted, what I thought was important. Money, money, money, fame, fame, fame. As a result of that, I made some really core decisions. And so what it took for me though, really, honestly, it took for me to get humble and see, you know what, Marcus, here's a slice of humble pie. If you actually want to be something worth something, you gotta actually appreciate your people, you gotta appreciate, you know, what you what you're doing within the community. It's not all about money, it's not all about you. And that really was the beginning of me learning that once I hit that rock bottom, I was being honest with myself and being losing you a little bit. Okay, can you hear me now? Yep, we got you. Okay, yeah, so so again, what the thing is that I learned it was about me being fully honest and being fully transparent with myself that I was gonna have to take the rain and actually make changes. And that's when things started getting better for me, Bart. It's when I say, you know what, Marcus, you're the one that screwed up, you're the one that made the mistake. And if you want to get your life back, accountability and responsibility have to become the two foundational pieces that you build your life off of.
SPEAKER_04You know, let me ask you this question. So um I know uh for my own story, which is very similar uh to yours, um, uh in terms of uh having to go through tough times and and and losing everything. And I think I actually went through it twice. I went through it in '98 when the mortgage market collapsed and I lost everything. And uh and then again in 2008, which was about 10 years later, and at that point we had built up quite a business, um, and we lost about four million dollars in assets in it. And and we went through a period of seven years, and that's where when my faith was really tested, and that's what got me through. And you know, in the Bible, they talk about seven years in the desert, and that's really what it felt like. So, how did that time feel for you? And were you able to lean on your faith?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's a great question, but oh yeah, I mean, faith pulled me through because there were several times where I tried to end my life with excessive drinking, with bad behavior, with poor habits, and as a result of that, I was just really defiling my body, anywhere you can think of from again excessive drinking, uh, you know, you know, you know, painkillers, you name it. And so what I realized is that I'm gonna get my life back. I'm gonna have to start right now saying, okay, Marcus, you made a mistake, it happens, but like you said, right, Bart, lean on faith, lean on God, lean on, you know, that ability. Because at the end of the day, right, it's so important that people understand that you, Marcus, are a human being that made a mistake and that you have belief in God and belief in a higher power, which I always have, grew up that way. And once I really got back in touch with my faith and said, okay, this is not, you know, it's gonna be God's will. I mean, of course, I have to do the work. I mean, he's not gonna change anything, but you know, I can do this with the right mentality, right, Bart? Yes, yeah.
SPEAKER_04I mean, and you have to you have to believe in yourself. And and one thing I had to fight through, and um, you can tell me if you can share the sentiment, I had to fight through um focusing on what other people thought and focusing on how they viewed me because um back when I had the limo and the 32-foot mini yacht and the three houses, you know, I never felt comfortable in my own skin, but I I felt good because of all that stuff. And when all that stuff went away, I started doubting myself and thinking, now what do they think of me? Or my you really find out who your friends are, you know, and that's that's what I I went through and uh I really leaned on family and and and my wife Monica and the and the kids. So uh talk a little bit um about that in respect to uh your family. And I know that um uh and you can talk it, you know, how much detail you want about the issues with your wife, but you know, this is a show about uh faith and family and um and hanging in there with your spouse. Um so uh I never really got, I don't think I got to meet your wife, but tell me a little bit about how that went down and and how um that uh affected you in terms of uh your spiral downwards and then your eventual comeback.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so basically my wife was with me when I lost the business, when I lost Caden, right? Yep. And we got engaged and got married. So what happened is as things were transpiring, we had a good marriage and things were moving along. And at some point in the marriage, I don't know when or where, there was just a disconnect. And you know, we started having some problems, you know, probably about a year and a half ago. And you know though, at the end of the day, I was never going to ever give up on my marriage because I really truly wanted to make it work, I believe, in family. I have a stepmother who's now 19 at college at my youth. I have my daughter who actually turns nine next Tuesday. Uh, we have a birthday party actually uh this uh on Sunday, July 16th. I just actually picked up the cake for her party, which I'm so excited about. But my point is, right, Bar, is that I had to learn that you know, once I realized it was a problem, I went to work trying to fix it. But unfortunately, Bar, there's sometimes in life where things just can't be fixed because it takes two. And when I found out some things last July, I made the decision that you know I wasn't getting the honesty and the and like you know, saying, you know, I made the mistake in that regard. It was kind of more like it was your fault, Marcus, a little bit of the blame and the shift, which happens when people don't want to take accountability. And I know that because I've been there, I've been the guy that lost everything, right, Mark? Had to start over, and I said, it was my partner's fault, it was the client's fault, it was my employee's fault. That's right. Everybody's fault. Yes, right. So when I saw that, I said, okay, I can't live like this when I had to file for divorce a week later. And it was hard. I mean, filing for divorce was not easy, and then I moved out in November of last year, and I hit a really, really dark time during that.
SPEAKER_04How did um um uh it affect your daughter? Um, and I know for you that was tough because you're you've always been um uh like your your nephew, Caden, who you named your company after, uh Jonathan's son. Um, you were one of the best uncles I've ever seen uh because of how you you treated them. And when you got your own child, I knew that you'd be a special dad. So how difficult was that?
SPEAKER_01Oh, it was very hard because you know what the biggest, hardest part, honestly, Bart was only seeing Vera still hard half the time. That's still hard to this day. I only see her half the time. So in reality, like I tell everybody, you know, that's the hard part about divorce, right? What that's been the hardest part for me is not having my daughter around me all the time like I used to. And what I tell you is that I the best I can with what I have to make sure that I'm there for my daughter and that she feels, you know, the love for me. But again, at the end of the day, right, man, it's something that takes work. I'll say this. It takes a lot of work. What was really hard, Bart, really hard, was living in that apartment from November of last year until May 15th of this year. Because when I left, I only had three weeks to get out of the house. And I had to find a fully furnished apartment, right, Bart, because I literally left everything there. I had nothing, I had no furniture, nothing. So I'm starting over from the ground up, from ground zero. And so what was hard, right, Bart? I had doing okay financially, getting myself back on track, but I felt like a lost.
SPEAKER_04Did you say you felt like a failure?
SPEAKER_01I I felt like a flaw. I felt like a flaw because I'm trying to inspire people how to have a strong mindset, right, Border? Yeah, but all the time, I don't have a strong mindset because I literally feel like I am failing in life because I am in a two-bedroom, dingy, dark, outdated apartment, right? And that's what I was living in. So God really, really, because God's gonna test us, right? I mean, that's just God tested me to say, okay, Marcus, can you do this? Can you maintain being a great dad, being a great business owner in this environment, right? And I don't know how long you're gonna be here, right? Well, because I had it in my mind to be there until November of 2023. My objective, my goal was to move out by November 2023. So one year. I close, I I closed on my home four and a half months ahead of schedule, and I did that part through two big things goal setting, well, three things. Goal setting, visualization, and spiritual focus. Right? Those three things.
SPEAKER_04What is the last one? We lost you for a second.
SPEAKER_01Spiritual, goal, yeah, goal setting, okay, visualization, okay, spiritual focus.
SPEAKER_04Okay, I got it. So you set your goals, um, and then you had to to believe in them and actually see them uh come to fruition, and then you had to have faith that it would happen.
SPEAKER_01Yep.
SPEAKER_04So how's your relationship uh today with uh with your your your your your wife, your ex-wife? Um, are you are you guys um because you're co-parenting? Um, how is that? Are are you handling that well? Are you you're working on building it up and getting it to a point where you guys can continue not only to co-parent, but uh to be in each other's lives because you are connected forever.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know what, Bart? I'm gonna be totally honest with you. Right now, I'm not there yet. And I'll tell you why. I'm not there yet because I can't get the honest truth from her about what happened, right? Okay. I tell her that all the time. You know, like she doesn't want to own, she says, well, there's different versions, all this fine, got it. But again, what happened is clear as day, and there's no accountability for what she happened, right? Now, again, I own or I own in the marriage, I did a poor job of communicating early on, well, midway through, right? About halfway through our marriage, I was really much I was stressed out all the time, anxious, hard times. So, could I have done better as a communicator in my marriage? You betcha. Did I have a problem, Bart, talking to too many people about my marriage outside of my my close network, right? Or outside of the people that really should have been told, right? Yeah, yep, I sure did. I mean, I own that, I own that. I wish I could have shut my fat mouth and not talk to people about stuff, right? I can own that, right? So I'll never ever say, Barb, I was perfect in our relationship. Because I wasn't, and I own that, which is what happened on her on her side, right, Barb, she hasn't owned it. There hasn't been, you know, she said, Well, I'm sorry for what I did partially, but she's not owning what we both know is the whole story. And I'm like, if you can't own your part in our demise, then I can't be friends with you.
SPEAKER_04Let me let me let me say this, because I I get exactly what what you're saying and how you feel. Have you thought about um what it feels like uh to extend uh grace uh to her and allow her the time that she needs to own it, as as you say, and uh come to a point where she can be fully transparent with you, but it may need to be, it may need to come from you. You may need to be the person to say, you know what, I forgive you. Um and and and I don't need to know whatever happened doesn't really matter, but but you can say, I forgive you. And what and and here's what I I look for and what I hope for, because we have to co-parent this beautiful little girl.
SPEAKER_01That's a great answer. The answer is yes. I told her, that's what I said, but I said, Bart, it's water under the bridge to me. But what it also has to happen, right, Bart, and you know this as a man, you have to also be honest with people, right? If you want somebody to have really have full grace towards you, yeah, you have to be real. You did I said, look, it's water under the bridge, it is what it is, right? I've I'm over that. But what I can't do, right, Bart, I won't open myself up to somebody and extend them into my life, right? And let them know about you know and be vulnerable and like all the type of things, right? If you can't be real with me, right? I can extend you grace and I can say, you know what, what happened, happened, move on, because I have moved on. But like, if you here's the thing, she's like, Well, I want to be civil. Well, I am civil to you, right? I'm not, I don't disrespect you, you know, I'm civil, but what I won't do, right, Bart, I think what she means by civil is just basically, you know, give out money. And if anything, right, I won't do that, right? And again, she's not a bad person, you know, she's you know, we make mistakes, and that's fine. And I get it, like I said, Bart, I take full responsibility for having a big fat mouth, talking to so many people. I take full responsibility for not being a great communicator because I was stressed out to the hilt, right? I'll own that. I'll always, Bart, own the mistakes that I made in my marriage.
SPEAKER_04Now, as a as an entrepreneur uh and as a as a fellow serial entrepreneur, um, I can relate to this, but how much did that business stress? Because um, you know, I I ran into uh um uh not to get into much detail, but a guy that um I referred to you for uh a surety bond, and and that's how I found out what had happened. And I know it was on the um on that Hopkins contract, which was a pretty big deal. How much did that cause uh I'm sure that was the the the biggest root cause of your stress and and and uh did that was that a direct contributor to your the failure in the marriage?
SPEAKER_01No, I don't believe so because that happened in 2012. I well, two end of 2012, beginning of 2013, I met Bonnie in 2012. Okay, yeah. So this this divorce part is recent. Like I filed in July of last year.
SPEAKER_04So you guys have gotten through the hard part.
SPEAKER_01So exactly, Bart. Exactly. We made it through the bankruptcy, the financial ruin, the the no home, the no car. Exactly. We made it through all of that.
SPEAKER_04Exactly. Wow. Wow. Wow. Wow. Now, uh, what would you say, you know, looking back, um, and and this is still fresh. I didn't realize it was that recent, but um, some of the things you could have done better. You talk about uh being a better communicator, um uh not uh spending so much time listening to others. Um what other things uh could you share uh for for brothers uh like you and I uh who may be going through the same thing? Because, you know, the obviously the purpose of this show is better together. My wife and I have been through a lot of uh tough times. We've been uh married for over 30 years. Um so we've had to go through a lot of the things that you're talking about, especially when you're a serial entrepreneur and you basically risk it all for the benefit of your family. And you put it on the line every day. Um, but talk about, you know, a few of the things that that you can share with uh some of the guys that that that are listening uh that may help them get through what uh what you're going through now on the on the back end and and the kind of things that that I've gone through in the past, but that we have overcome and that we've survived.
SPEAKER_01What they have to do, Bart, they've got to have a great support system. And people that are listening that don't have a great support system, it's gonna be hard. Like, for example, I have my one real brother. I have two women who are like my sisters, and they are awesome. They are they are just the absolute greatest. And what they do is they have helped me through this hard time all of this year, right? Since July of last year. I've had calls with them late. I remember when I found out what was going on, right, Bart? I called them at like, what was that? I mean, I called them late at night, early in the morning, weekends. I mean, you even to like this day, I mean, it's still hard. You know what I mean? You just don't stop loving somebody if you work for 10 years overnight. That's not gonna be happening. Do I still love my ex-wife? Yeah, you know what I mean? Am I in love with her? No. But I still love her, she's the mother of my child, right? I don't want anything bad to happen to her because again, I was in love with her for years, years. But what happens, right, or that support system I could lean on made it where I could actually get through those hard times that without their help, right, or I would have never, ever gotten through. Never.
SPEAKER_04Wow. And and when you're on the road doing um speaking events and um uh not so much being talking to the kids, but where uh do you share that story uh with uh some of your I would say more adult-oriented speaking engagements where you're you're transparent and you talk about your successes, your failures, and where you are today?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. Uh I don't get into as much detail as I do like on a podcast or someone's asking me directly. But will I share with them that I'm you know gone through a divorce, you know, last or this past year, and life was challenging and things were unexpected and times were hard, you better believe it.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. You know, as you as you alluded to earlier, it's those tough times when you're tested and when your faith is tested, um, that um um you really um build the inner strength and and that support system uh I I found was the most important thing. You know, I don't I don't know if you ever uh knew that uh so Monica and I opened up a men's grooming shop called Hammer and Nails in 2000, I think it was 16, and uh it was featured on Shark Tank, um, the producer of um uh you know the uh the movie Be Like Mike and Brown Sugar and Just Right? Of course, of course. Yeah, so Michael Elliott um actually started the first Hammer and Nails in uh LA and he franchised. He went on Shark Tank, and they didn't buy the idea. They said, uh, guys are never gonna go to uh uh a grooming salon and and get manicures and pedicures and and get their hair cut and all that stuff. It's too fancy. Well, fast forward, he's got hundreds of shops. Um, me and a couple of guys bought the rights to uh Maryland, and um uh we're gonna open up 10. So the first one we opened up at Metro Center at uh uh in Owens Mills, and uh we kept it going for about uh almost three years, I think. And it was a real test because um uh we ended up losing about half a million dollars. Um and um, but at the time we were doing great, you know, I just built uh a church and and I had all these other projects going. Um, and I used some of the lessons that learned from you know our time together and uh previously when when I was building hospitals and schools and so forth, and and so um, but but I never managed people. And I remember being at church and and uh um getting calls about somebody didn't show up or whatever. And and I remember to this day, uh my daughter saying, Dad, um, you will not be considered a failure if you shut this down. And and the family really is who I leaned on because it was a decision I did not want to make. It was like the shot was my baby, um, because really we birthed it from concept, you know, and uh we had everybody there. I mean, we had um Ravens players and basketball players and soccer players and and the media folks, and people were shooting um these um podcasts from there, and uh, you know, we had a bar and and it was just one of the most beautiful shops we've ever been in. I really didn't want to shut it down, but when my daughter said that and my son, they said, you are not a failure if you shut this down. And so I think as men, we have to realize that um there comes a time when we have to make tough decisions um for us to survive and to get through. And that was a pivotal uh decision for me to make because I didn't want to do it, but I knew that if I didn't do it at the end of the day, um the demise would be uh even greater and I could have lost even more. So, you know, I apologize for for making those decisions. I want to encourage you to to uh keep thinking about uh extending grace and working on um resolution with uh uh Bonnie. Uh that Bonnie's the name, right? Correct. Yep. Yep. So I want to encourage you to continue uh to uh to work towards that and and uh because you know you've got that beautiful little girl, and and and I know that you guys um uh want what's best for her. So uh let's talk a little bit in the short time we have left about what you're doing these days. Um, you know, uh uh you've got a again, a great story. Um I remember when I met you, I was like, man, this is uh Jonathan Ogden's brother, and then and then you were telling me about how when you played in the league, and and then um when I saw you in action um at the business events, and I was like, uh, this guy's a rising star because people were lining up to talk to you. Um and sort of go from there to where you are now, and so talk about what you're doing now. I know you got a great podcast. You're doing speaking events, you wrote a book. So talk about that a little bit because I want to promote what you're doing now and share it with with uh our listeners.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, great question. Thank you, Bart. So, right now we have a company called Ogden Ventures LLC. We are a professional services company, and I am a breakthrough specialist and mentor that helps people achieve massive breakthroughs in their personal and professional lives through keynote speaking, executive coaching, consulting, I'm a brand ambassador, I'm a person from businesses, and I also have a podcast to get authentic with Marcus Ogden show. And so what we really focused on, right, Laura, everything we had in our arsenal was built off of speaking. That's what started us in 2013. Didn't get my first paid job until um April of 2016. But in reality, right, Laura, that's what really got us started was the speaking. And then evolved from speaking to coaching to you know consulting to then you know doing some work, you know, with podcasting, and then now we even do a little bit of helping people that want to get like their uh selves like their PR or marketing, like getting on to the podcast or publications, all that kind of stuff, right? And we've been very fortunate in that regard. So in reality, what we do is we help people achieve massive breakthroughs in their personal and or professional lives, and we love it. And you can find us on our website, www.marcus with n a r-u-e-s, augmento-g-e-en- dot com. We also barked just this week, I think it's like July 12th or 13th, we actually launched the Marcus Ogden app. So if you have an Apple or Android phone, go to your app store and type in Marcus Ogden, and our app will pop up. And it's all about inspirational, educational, and very inspiring content driven and derived to help our subscribers achieve massive breakthroughs. Again, right, Bart, it's a free app, right? We're not charging for it, and what we're doing is we're trying to get out and market some more people that are trying to achieve success, right, Bart, but they're stuck. So they don't know how to go about it, or they don't know how to push through hard times, right? Most people, right, Bart would have been like me, $400 to my name, losing everything, right, Bart, they would not have been able to bounce back. So what we do is we talk about how we bounce back. We talk about how we've been able to really position ourselves through marketing, sales, ops, and finance. And like I said, right, Bart, buying this home on my own, right? And think about a certain part, I part. I literally lost half my assets, right? I lost my home, right? I had to move out of my home, right? I had to move into an apartment paying $2,800 a month for a two-bedroom, two-bath, fully furnished, small apartment, right?
SPEAKER_04In North Carolina? Yep, yep. Right, right. I thought it was cheap down there.
SPEAKER_01It is, but here's again, right? Bart, you know how it's rentals. Yeah, right. Yep, yep.
SPEAKER_04Especially last minute. Especially last minute.
SPEAKER_01Bart, I had three weeks to get out. That's it. Three weeks. That's all I had. So finding something that was fully furnished, Bart, that was gonna like take me in and all that kind of stuff, like you know, all that, that was almost, you know, that's that's almost impossible. So again, right, Bart, the whole thing is that regard. So last year, Bart, I was not doing well, right? I lost half my assets, I acquired a lot of debt from the mayors that you know, I had to mean it, I'll get it back to the home sale of the home. I didn't lose my home, but I had to leave my home, right? And literally, Bart, I was just, you know, hanging on by a thread, right? And I never, Bart, never wanted to be at the apartment.
SPEAKER_04Unless I what would you say? The one thing is that that um uh turned it all around because you're talking about a short period of time. So what was that?
SPEAKER_01The podcast.
SPEAKER_04Ah, okay.
SPEAKER_01The podcast brought us a lot connections, people, opportunity, business. We started to monetize the podcast, we started to create a PR media outlet to help people get onto the podcast and get out in front of other people, right? Or anybody that's listening, if you have a business, the key to any business is your marketing. Or exactly. Marketing is yeah, marketing bar is a broad net approach to get your brand in front of as many people as possible. Networking is more of a personal, more of a personal approach, correct? Right? Like right now, Bart, we're networking. I'm on your podcast, right? Now, once it goes out, right, Bart, that's marketing. I'm gonna need your help.
SPEAKER_04I want your help, Bart Exactly. Yes, that's what it, that's what it is. Because you know, you you you know this podcast, uh, real quick, this podcast uh which started uh because of uh it's like a ministry for me, and and in uh in hopes of um uh advertising the book to benefit my scholarship at Virginia Tech because uh like you, I have a real passion for helping black men from DC and Baltimore, which is where we we both grew up in Northeast DC. We built businesses in Baltimore, um, and we want to help others to achieve and grow and do the same thing. So I will be talking to you uh uh in the coming days offline about helping me to promote this. But um these the things that you're talking about, that's a great distinction because I'm great at networking, but in terms of marketing, as you said, it's a broad brush approach. Uh I'm not so good at that. I I'm great at talking to people one-on-one. Um but that's that's limiting, uh, I guess, in terms of getting that message out.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01It's limited in your reach. That's what's limited in, right? I'm gonna tell you right now, Bart, January of 2023, right, Bart, I literally, after putting that money on my home, I had about 50 grand cash, right? Once that happened, I also found out that I had to pay IRS debt down to my home. I was paying lawyer fees, all these things, right, Bart? Bart, I now have way more money by myself than I had with my with my ex when we've parted ways. I pay down over half of my IRS debt. The rest will be paid through the sale of our home, which goes on the market in uh next week, right? And we'll take care of the IRS debt, I'll get my money back, and right, Mark, I'm now and I bought I bought a home, right? I spent 36 grand to get into this home that I bought. And you have a place now where you can bring your daughter and uh you can take time with her and she had she had our first sleepover in our home in our home, like maybe two weeks ago. But Bart, in January of this year, I was close to losing my deposit, losing that that 18 grand I put down, not being able to pay my lawyers, not be able to take care of my IRS debt. Now here we are in July. I've spent between January and what was that, uh, and uh May to get into my home, $140,000 between lawyer fees, IRS, and paying to get into my home. And now I still have more liquid money than I did when we left the marriage in November. We parted ways, and Bart, my IRS debt is half down, and I'm able to what? Have a home that's mine, right? I moved in, I paid my first month's mortgage, right? We're way early to the mortgage company, they're happy, and Bart, we're very, very blessed that people love the business. But Bart, we have not we have grown and monetized this podcast through sponsorships, through people wanting PR media help, through helping people, you know, get to you know connected to other folks, and it's a huge blessing. Like I said, man, what's that five months ago? You know, going February, March, April, May, June. Yeah, six months ago, Bar. Six months ago, I was in danger of losing that money, and I was about to lose everything because I wasn't in a fightful position to take care of what I need to take care of. But brought us back.
SPEAKER_04You use a word uh that uh I I can see I've haven't heard you use in the past a lot. Um, blessing. So um, you know, it's it's been a real blessing to have you share your story. Um, like I said, I'm gonna uh touch base with you in the coming days uh to help uh spread the word of this podcast, and I'd love to come on yours as well. Um uh Marcus, I'm very happy, man, that uh you're in a much better place. Uh obviously, when we spoke about you coming on the show, I didn't know the full extent of the story, but you're definitely a survivor, and I hope my story has inspired you to hang in there as well because you kind of knew that back from when we were looking to do business. I had shut down Butler Classic Homes to kind of fold in with you to help build that up. And that's really what got me started uh in the uh commercial space. And so I went on from working with you at um Caden and uh built a couple of commercial businesses that eventually uh became multi-million dollar construction firms. And uh today we focus more on construction management, um, but uh we're still in that space, um, construction and real estate. So definitely want to get your help and spreading the word about what we're doing because I want to get this scholarship funded. So uh we're we're about out of time. Um, one more time, uh tell me the uh the website and your podcast where we can find you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, they can go to our website, www.marcus n-ar Q-U-E-S Ogden O-G-D-E-N dot com. They can also find us through emailing us, marcus at marcusogden.com. The name of our podcast is called Get Authentic with Marcus Ogden. We've been very fortunate to have great guests on, celebrities, business leaders, actors, um, you know, all types of people. And you can also find us on our new app. Again, we're on Apple and Android. Just type in Marcus Ogden, M-A-R-Q-U-E-S, O-G-D-E-N, up will come our app. Yep, it's very easy.
SPEAKER_04I did it uh a couple days ago.
SPEAKER_01Check us out. Excellent. Free content light bar to inspire, educate, and enlighten whomever's listening to that content.
SPEAKER_04We definitely need that as men. Um, so uh again, thank you, brother, for joining the show. Uh, and um, we'll be talking very soon. So until next time, thank you guys for tuning in to Better Together, uh, a man's perspective, where we talk about faith, family, and business, and uh all to benefit um uh to promote my book, um, Redemption, Grace Extended, and the Real Price of Success. Uh, you can find it on Amazon or my website, the Bart ButlerStory.com, and it's to benefit my scholarship at my Alma Mata Virginia Tech. Marcus, be blessed, buddy. Talk to you soon.
SPEAKER_00Thanks for listening to Better Together from a Man's Perspective. If you enjoyed this podcast, please follow or subscribe on your favorite platform so you can stay up to date on new episodes. Better Together is sponsored by Redemption. Grace extended at the real price of success. Buy it on Amazon or direct at www.thebarkbutlerstory.com. Until next time.