The STUber Podcast
Take a ride with STUber! Every other week a new roadtrip will feature special guest interviews and good ole' backseat bantor! On this journey we will explore a variety of topics around sacrifice, service, and spirituality. Hop in, buckle up, and let's take a ride!
The STUber Podcast
S1 | EP 1: Jumpstarting Your Entrepreneurship Journey
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In this episode we explore what it means to be productive, to set healthy boundaries, and to overcome disadvantages.
My co-pilot is Martin A. Briggs from Birmingham, Alabama. He and his wife, Dr. Kayla Briggs, are business partners and they've worked together full-time as investment entrepreneurs for nearly two decades. Their investment portfolio Ulecx includes ownership shares, several companies, and real estate holdings.
Special Guest // Martin A. Briggs (Ignite Podcast): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ignite-birmingham-by-ulecx/id1441993093
Sponsor:
Lorraine's Cafe @lorraines.cafe on IG // 10% DISCOUNT PROMO CODE: STUber
Success in Business and Personal Life
Speaker 1How you doing bro .
Speaker 2I'm glad to be on the ride with you . What kind of car are we driving ?
Speaker 1That's a good question . Thank you for stopping by the Stuber podcast . I am your host , stu Briggs , slash driver . Today we're going to take a road trip and explore how to jumpstart your entrepreneurial journey , and joining me is my co-pilot , martin A Briggs . He and his wife , kayla L Briggs , have been investment partners for the last two decades . Their investment portfolio , ulex , consists of companies and real estate holdings . That being said , he's also my brother , so you're in good hands . Hop in , buckle up , let's go for a ride .
Speaker 2Oftentimes , when we talk about business success or organizational success or professional success , I think the world believes that you have to be really great at the business . And so you meet a lot of people really , really good at business and they're very , very successful , maybe financially , maybe they have a large team , but then when you look at their personal life , oftentimes it's in shambles . My perspective of production is different than most by a lot . Something always suffers when you're in business . Typically this thing called quote unquote balance in my mind doesn't actually exist . One suffers because of the other . Either your business is going to suffer because of your personal life or your personal life will suffer because of your business . So I choose to actually make my business suffer , as my personal life is much stronger . I really believe that your personal character and your personal habits mean more than anything For me .
Speaker 2Production starts with a morning routine . Production starts what I have called the big six . They all start with a W . So worship the word , workout , Wheaties or what am I eating , the wife , and if you have children , it'd be wife and the kids . After all of those things , I then begin to work , if you will , but I always make sure that my worship goes first I'm praising the Lord in the morning . I talk to Lord first before I do anything . Secondly , I always make sure I get some word in where that's reading the scripture or I'm reading a book that has something to do with scripture . And then I make sure I get a workout in try to do these things every day and in my what I'm eating .
Speaker 2And now , as we're getting older , we just can't eat whatever we want and we have to be intentional to make sure that we plan our eating schedule out , which for me that can be difficult . Otherwise you end up going to restaurants or eating out more than you should . So after that I then make sure that my wife is good . I check in with Kayla and make sure that all of her needs are taken care of and listen to her and talk to her . We have a good conversation and , again , if I had children , I would include wife and the kids . That makes sure that I'm starting my day in order . And then I begin to work , which also for me , includes cleaning up the house every single day . That way I don't have to clean up a whole bunch at one time , because every day I clean up the house , which means it's not such a big thing . And then I begin to work .
Speaker 1Wow , the six W's .
Speaker 2The big six .
Speaker 1We talked about having a personal life that you know is on the up and up and then starting the day off a certain way , which definitely puts you in the right frame of mind . Then when you get to work , are there any productivity protocols that you have for yourself or for others ?
Speaker 2Yes , for sure , and again , I think my viewpoint is from an entrepreneur's perspective , and so if you're an employee , it may look a little bit different and it's challenging because when you're an entrepreneur or investor , no one is there to tell you what your day is going to look like . You start the day when you believe you start the day . You end the day when you believe you just end the day , which means I have to make my own rules , encourage myself . There's no penalties if I don't show up to work . I have to set my own perspective . So what are some principles I use at work to be successful ? First is by not having a whole bunch of stuff that I have to do . If you want to be great , then have fewer things that you have to do . So I don't have a large list of obligations and the goals that I have . I have very few goals . I have very few tasks that I have to complete in a day .
Speaker 2The one amazing thing about the Lord Jesus when he came to the earth , he literally built the church within three years . He never needed a whole life , he just learned . For three years he worked , then he left . For someone to accomplish what Jesus accomplished , they would need an entire 80 years , 90 years to make that happen , and so production starts with having fewer needs , fewer tasks that have to get done and working on very large goals . If you look at the ministry of Jesus , arguably he built the largest organization . I look at it from the business perspective . There is not one person who has more land under ownership than Jesus himself , because he has all of the money stored in the church as well as the land . He is the wealthiest person in the world even though he's not here . What's more pimp than that he's building without even being here and that's the basis of investors is how can I increase without doing the work ?
Speaker 1That's a pimp , I'm sorry . No , that makes a lot of sense . How can I increase without actually doing the work ?
Speaker 2And that's what he's doing .
Speaker 2Yeah , I like that , and then probably the last thing I'll say is you have to know what I call your big rocks and I have to give a lot of credit to this to my pastor , chris Hodges , at Church of the Highlands . When I'm at my most productive , I always know if I can get these three things done today , I will have moved all heaven and earth . If I can just do these three things and if I get these three things done , whatever else happens in the day , I was maximally productive . Let me say it another way Most people define production by how many hours or minutes that I put into something . An entrepreneur or an investor has to define on what things that I accomplish that move the needle .
Speaker 2Jesus spent his time on really just three things . He spent time on healing , time on really just three things . He spent time on healing , he discipled and he built relationships , mm-hmm . So you tell me what he did outside of those three things . He already knew what his assignment was . He knew that he had to heal , he knew that he had to build strong relationships and he discipled . And so those are three things . He spent most of his time every day being productive . Mind you , he also did his big six . He started the day in prayer . He discipled himself first and then last he had to jump on the cross in order to make all this thing work .
Speaker 1He did very little outside of that Deep insights , kingdom insights , you asked .
Speaker 2I wasn't planning on getting this deep . I wasn't planning on it you asked man .
Speaker 1that's why I said we're going to dive deep . So let's look at another aspect of being a successful person entrepreneur and that is the importance of setting boundaries . What are some ways that you set up boundaries for yourself and for others that you work with ?
Speaker 2I'm going to steal a page from Doc Rivers . Oh really , oh yeah , doc Rivers . Yeah , 76ers , 76ers . Yeah , he's coaching the 76ers right now .
Speaker 1right , I think they just let him go , but we'll still take tips from his book Doc Rivers . I think I'm going to check that right now , but I think Wait a minute .
Speaker 2I just watched him lose the playoffs just the other day to Boston . Yeah , oh , okay , I didn't know he got fired .
Speaker 2Literally just watched that game last night or the night before , but I will say one of the things I love about Doc Rivers Doc Rivers loves trust . That's one of the things he talks about all the time with his players . We have to trust each other and you have to think about it .
Speaker 2Kayla and I my wife , your sister we have been working together literally 24 hours a day . We see each other every day , we're in each other's face all the time , and we've been doing that for nearly a decade . We are 50-50 partners , not just in marriage , but literally . She owns half the company , I run half the company , and oftentimes even in work , she's doing half of the work and I'm doing half of the work . And we also have several employees as well that work for us . And I think , if I had to really narrow it down is you have to trust each other . You have to know each other's lane , what you're gifted at , define it really , really well , and then let that person run in that lane , and then that obviously means let me run in my lane . In order for that to happen , you have to have trust . You have to trust each other , and I can go on and on about that , but that's probably the greatest way to create healthy boundaries is to trust each other and to respect those boundaries .
Speaker 1How do you communicate that without having a fallout ?
Speaker 2A lot of that has to do with the level of influence of the person you're butting heads with , like how much influence do they have over you ? How much influence do you have over them over you , how much influence you have over them ? Many entrepreneurs are solo entrepreneurs or solopreneurs , or they may work on a small team , and the advantage of working on a small team or working for yourself is you can get stuff done the way you want it . Get it done . You can move , boom , get it done . But as you start to expand which is kind of where my life is going right now get it done . But as you start to expand which is kind of where my life is going right now it's very difficult to expand and not delegate , and so you have to learn how to delegate . And then , going back to your point , well , what happens if you can't trust each other ? You've got a person on the team and they're not being as productive as you like them to be , or perhaps their behavior isn't good for team culture .
Speaker 2What do you do ? First of all , god can work miracles on a team and he can work miracles in someone's heart . Moreover , like you said , healthy communication you have to set the standard of communication in advance and get permission . That's why the beginning of a relationship matters . I love a great orientation . That's where you really win in tough conversations is what were the rules before the problem came ? Do I already have your permission to get in your face ? Have a candid conversation ? I don't care how healthy the work office is If I don't have permission to be candid , whether it's to my subordinate or someone who's above me . It's hard to have a healthy culture without the ability to be candid .
Speaker 1Wow , you really hit the hammer on the head , or whatever they say , the nail on the . You really hit the hammer on the head , or whatever they say the nail on the . Yeah , the work that you are spearheading to level the playing field for folks that feel like they're at a disadvantage . No-transcript .
Speaker 2That is such a deep question . When Moses asked for God's presence in his life , he asked it in fourfold . Moses asked for four things , and I'm only going to focus on one of them . He said I cannot go without you . And he said will you teach me ? Will you give me favor ? Will you give me glory ? Will you give me glory ? And then he asked for rest while doing it , rest from his enemies , the ability to do it in peace and glory . Is that victory , glory is that winning . We got this . Whatever me , will you give me something I don't actually deserve , nothing I've earned . Give it to me .
Speaker 2No matter who you are or what disadvantage you have , you have some level of favor on your life and at some point along your life we have to use the favor that's on us to help somebody else . It doesn't matter how disadvantaged you are . Right now , there's always somebody around us , and it can be as little as if you're siblings and there's five siblings in a house , for example , and the smallest one's always being picked on , or something like that , and you're the older brother or the older sister . You have to stop the bullying within the house or even used to it . As a school teacher , you probably see it all the time . You've got 18 , 20 kids gathered together and there's just some that are favorite with height and stamina , and there's others that are always overlooked .
Speaker 2Just what if one of the more popular children were to take it upon themselves and say you know what ? I'm gonna roll with you , man . I'm gonna roll with you , man , I'm gonna make you my friend . I'm gonna see what's special about you and add you in my in-group Now because you're hanging , associated with me . You're now in the in-group and now you're the cool guy . So we all have some level of ability to create an inclusive space . It starts with that . First Look at what you are advantaged with and then share that with the world . And then , if you are disadvantaged and feeling that disadvantage , god will bless you . But stop looking at your own disadvantages . Start looking at what God has favored you with . Start sharing that with others and the world will always bring it back to you , for sure .
Speaker 1Wow , sweet . Well , I want to touch upon uncertainty . As an entrepreneur , you've had to deal with lots of uncertainty , so how do you advise folks to deal with uncertainty ?
Speaker 2Well , I've had the privilege of being an investor through multiple economic cycles . By the time Kayla and I got out of college and really entered into the workforce in Kayla Fadich's graduate school , my first real step into the business scene was like 2006 . And it was a very strong economy . Unemployment was so low , everybody was working , all the tech was doing this thing . And then two years later 2008 , 2009 , maybe for some all the way through 2013 , we hit what we call the Great Recession , for some all the way through 2013, . We hit what we call the Great Recession so pretty quickly . Within my first decade of business life , I'm seeing like money is like growing on trees , to unemployment tripling , almost double digit unemployment rates , to bankruptcies , banks folding , people losing their houses . That was the first time we started seeing stimulus checks and government literally handing out money for people to keep their house or buy their house and all kinds of other things . Then we had some stability and now who
Starting a Successful Business Today
Speaker 2we are ? I don't answer the question in a bleak way first and then go to the positives .
Speaker 2The uncertainty we face now is inflation . For the first time , the economy is slowing down , but unemployment is super low , everybody's working and everybody can work . If you want to work , you can work . Unlike the great recession , it was hard to find jobs . Here we are right now . We have stagnant economy . Inflation is going , things are getting more and more expensive which was not the problem in the great recession but you can also work . So everyone's working . But the dollar's not going as far . You can't buy as much as you used to . That problem can be attached to food , and so food insecurity is going up right now . Inflation will probably continue to go up . We have the interest rates going up as well , which is going to be harder to borrow . Here's some hope .
Speaker 2Number one is to know the rules of the game , and if you know the rules of the game , then you can react accordingly . According to the Bible , there will always be the poor among us , which means the exact opposite is also true . There will always be the wealthy among you too . You cannot have a poor person . Poverty is always defined by what someone else has , which means someone else has a lot , and then we compare it to that . So the goal is how can you stand on the side of the wealthy and be wealthy , so that you can help the poor and not become the poor ?
Speaker 2One thing I can guarantee you is there will always be wealthy people , no matter what economic conditions are . The people who are winners are the ones who know the rules of the game . With that being said , the best advice I can give you is the people who are going to win in this economy that is going to come are the people who own a company and , under that company , have land or real estate company , have land or real estate . Real estate will always be a successful play if bought with the right price and it's affordable for the person buying it . Real estate's always a great play , especially if that real estate is tied to a company that has a great , competent service and you're really good at hiring people and keeping a strong team , mixing real estate with a competent company with a service that's really needed , with great people . Now you're on the side of production . People who have the side of production will always win and they're going to be very , very , very wealthy .
Speaker 1Wow . So that kind of leads me to my final wondering . You've given a lot to empower us through scripture and through just practical advice , but you just described something that's pretty far out of reach for a lot of people . So what tips would you give someone who hasn't reached CEO status that you're at , but has a dream , has an ?
Speaker 2idea . This is the greatest time to start something new because God works in seven year schedules . Every seven years , the Lord is on a new cycle . We're on , basically , year one of this new cycle . I can tell you , right now is the best time to start a new business . The energy is there for it . So , number one no matter how big or small your idea is , I'd say start it now . Don't wait , because your idea is only going to get more and more expensive to actually do . The longer you wait , the more expensive that idea is going to be .
Speaker 2Now , to help the person who's like man . You know , I don't have any money , I don't have any influence . You know , I don't have anything . Here's what I can tell you is there's so much capital in the world right now . Banks will lend . There's a lot of people who have a lot of money in pocket . So what you have to take off the table is a lack of money . That's not the issue . People will invest into an idea that's investable , so we can eliminate that Flop .
Speaker 2Told you two things . Number one God is for you . He's ready to do something . Secondly , there's more than enough money in the world right now between banks and between investors . More than enough money in the world right now between banks and between investors . So , really , what's missing ? Really , what's missing is what idea you have . What is it that's in your head and your heart ?
Speaker 2Take your craft seriously . It is not easy to be an entrepreneur and be wishy-washy about it . You have to be very committed and I encourage you to learn how to be an entrepreneur . Learn your craft , take it seriously . And the last thing I'll say is you and I both love sports . We love sports figures . Almost every person who's been successful in sports by and large had two things in common . Many of them were very disadvantaged and had nothing . But the thing that they did well is they were very committed and they were focused at doing something great and doing that one thing great , and they spent a lot of time on it . Stuart here I love your Stuber Road Trip podcast . I'm looking at your investment of equipment . You know what I'm saying . You're taking your craft seriously and that's what it's going to take . Whatever you're doing , be serious about it and it will prosper . If you to take Whatever you're doing , be serious about it and it will prosper . If you're competent , if you're great and you're focused , people will buy it Nice .
Speaker 1That is enough to carry us for the next 10 years or so , and I really Play it over again . Yeah , exactly , man . So many soundbites there and so many good takeaways . Tell people where they can find you and how to connect with you .
Speaker 2Yeah , sure , if you want to hear more of my perspective and my company's perspective , we also have a podcast called Ignite Birmingham . It is top 25% of all podcasts nationwide . We go into economic advice , we go into business advice . We bring other entrepreneurs on . Stuart's actually been a guest on our show some time ago . We're going to have to bring you back on again , so I'd probably start you there . If you want to go to my website , you go to uxcom . That's U-L-E-C-Xcom .
Speaker 1And remember when you first started that idea , you had that dream of it being like the Facebook of business right .
Speaker 2Yes , and here we are now . We have over 2000 what we call community partners . We have 130 market partners . We have several companies under investment . Now We've grown quite a bit .
Speaker 1So we're going to have to do another episode , and I'm thinking it would be , nice if we can get Kayla on and try to convince my wife , jane to come on .
Speaker 2Oh man , put all four of us on . Oh , we love that . I think we should probably do one focused on marriage . If we get all four of us on , that'd be great . Let's do it . Let's do it . Marriage and family .
Speaker 1Sweet Well . Thank you . Thanks for stopping by . Remember , keep your head up and your eyes on the road . Thanks for listening to the Stuber podcast with your host , stu Briggs , and my guest , martin A Briggs . We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into all the tips and tricks you can use to jumpstart your entrepreneurial journey . I'm interested in knowing how you apply these ideas in the real world . So please follow me on Instagram at stuber underscore podcast and , as always , check out the links and resources in the show notes . That's all for this episode , folks . See you next time . Today's episode was brought to you by Lorraine's Cafe . Homemade fresh , not frozen family recipes from her kitchen to your plate .
