The Journey to Freedom Podcast
Journey to Freedom serves as an exclusive extension of the Living Boldly with Purpose podcast series—a platform that inspires powerful transformation and growth. Journey freedom is a podcast hosted by Brian E. Arnold. The Journey to Freedom is an our best life blueprint exclusively designed for black men where we create a foundational freedom plan. There are five pillars: Identity, Trust, Finances, Health and Faith.
The Journey to Freedom Podcast
From $24K to Millions with Faith! Success leaves clues: How faith, family, & focus create wealth
Get inspired by Chris Johnson’s incredible journey from a $24,000 salary to building multimillion-dollar #businesses, including a Shark Tank success.
Hear how he balanced #entrepreneurship with family, instilled a relentless work ethic in his kids, and used faith and dream boards to achieve generational wealth.
This episode is packed with actionable insights on overcoming adversity, staying focused, and living with purpose. Subscribe for more stories that fuel your drive!
When Chris Johnson's former employer slapped him with a lawsuit demanding $400,000 or the closure of his fledgling business, he made a decision that would define his entrepreneurial journey: "There's no one in the world that is about to outwork me." Making 700-800 calls daily while using company proceeds to fight a three-year legal battle, Chris transformed adversity into the foundation of multiple multi-million dollar businesses.
This conversation with Chris Johnson – Shark Tank winner, Harvard Business School alumnus, and founder of multiple successful companies – reveals the mindset that propelled him from teenage entrepreneur to business titan. Starting with just $12 in his bank account, Chris created the viral Rapid Ramen Cooker (landing a deal with Mark Cuban), built a recruiting empire, and recently launched an AI company valued at $10 million in just eight months.
But what sets this episode apart isn't just Chris's business acumen – it's his revolutionary approach to balancing ambition with family, faith, and fulfillment. Rather than sacrificing family time for financial success, Chris maintained a "potent" presence in his children's lives while building his empire. His unique parenting philosophy – "you can have anything you want as long as you earn it" – cultivated entrepreneurship in his children from an early age, with his daughter running a successful marketing company at 14 and his son securing a major CVS deal for his joke book.
Perhaps most powerful is Chris's practice of documenting daily blessings (1,733 in the past year alone) and his approach to dream boards that celebrate both past victories and future aspirations. As he powerfully states: "The quality of your life only comes down to what you pay attention to most." This conversation isn't just about business success – it's a masterclass in intentional living that will transform how you approach both challenges and opportunities.
Ready to skyrocket your podcast game? Join The Podcast Challenge at www.thepodcastchallenge.com and master the #mindset, tools, and skills to create a #podcast that turns listeners into clients!
#Entrepreneurship #Motivation #businesssuccess
Http://theposcastingchallenge.com
I became the number one salesperson at this recruiting company. This was a $3.2 billion recruiting company. I was number one out of 3,000. I just had this tireless work ethic. I knew how to connect with people and I knew how to sell and know how to exceed their expectations. I just basically created a million dollar company in 11 months. Here's my wife. We just bought a house.
Speaker 1:I'm only 26, about to turn 27. My base salary was only $24,000. But in commissions I made about 200 grand as a top salesperson at that time. And I said to my wife I said I'm interested in starting my own company, but, man, I built this here, my wife without hesitation to me. She said Chris, since we were kids, you always told me you wanted to be a millionaire, not a 200,000aire. That was impactful for me. When I went to start my own company, this company was not happy that their number one producer started their own firm, so they decided to sue me. We want $400,000 or shut your business down. When I looked at it, I was like of the Journey to Freedom podcast.
Speaker 2:And I am Dr B, I am your host today, and I'm just oh man, I'm over the moon excited, if that's a word, and it's something you can actually say that you are Because I have Chris Johnson on today, and you may have seen Chris Johnson all over the place Shark Tank is one of them that he has been on. But, more importantly than that, when you think about where we come from and what we've been able to do and the people that we've been able to help, and especially when I think about Chris and his world and the people that he makes an impact for, somebody asked me the other day, chris, they said what does impact mean to you? And what I said is, when I walk out of my door and I interact with somebody, if I've changed their life, if I've made them in a little bit of way and I've made their life a little bit better just today, may I be a smile then I've had impact bit better just today Now I'd be a smile than I've had impact. Because if I smile with somebody and that person ends up smiling with somebody else and then it changes their day around, then the world's a better place, and so some of us make bigger impacts than other of us, and some of us, you know. But we'll never know how much impact we make if we just continue to do the things that we're supposed to do on a daily basis, if we continue to let go and let God, and God will do the impact part. It's not our job to figure out.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, this is how my impact is going to impact others. Because then you start deciding, well, okay, well, I have to do it this way. And then, if I do it this way, then they have to be, and then they don't respond to you the way that you wanted, you know. Then you just go oh gosh, all right, so God does the impact. You go out there and do what he's put you on this earth to do, and then you just wait and watch and let it happen.
Speaker 2:And so today I'm excited because we get to hear, you know, as we do on all of our guests. We ask them to tell us their story. We ask them to tell us how did you get to where you're at right now and how is that going to, you know, and how have you been able to move forward? You know, chris, I took a. I think I told you this I took a group of men down to Alabama on a civil rights tour in January and now I've been re-recording their stories and, because I don't know when you go there, I think this is what I want somebody to get out of this trip. This is what I want them to see when they're at the museum and this is what I want them to see when they're at the Pettus Bridge or wherever they're at.
Speaker 2:What I found out is the things that I thought, like the things that impacted me are totally different to the things that impacted them, because their experiences are different, their life is different. Some of them are younger, some of them are older, but I can say it was a transformational trip, because all of them so far have come back and said I cannot wait to go back and take somebody with me. So you know, you go on vacations and you go do stuff, but most of the time you're not going. I can't wait to go, grab somebody else and bring them here, because they got to see what I saw. It is just so neat that they want to go back. So we're going to go back in January. But enough about that trip. I can't wait to talk to Chris and I don't want to take his time. And so, chris, go ahead and tell us your story. The floor is yours, I can't wait to hear it and let's go.
Speaker 1:Awesome, awesome. Dr B, thanks for having me on. This is awesome, and one of the things that you said is something that is really important for me is that anybody that comes in my presence, I want to make sure that they leave off better, and so, you know, I'm very particular of making sure that I can be able to see someone's impact and everyone can do that is that if they enter your presence and they leave it better than they were when they started, that's impact. So I think that's awesome. So, yes, my story you know how did I get here which is absolutely an amazing story. I'm super grateful, super blessed. I'm living. I'm living a dream and at the same time, I'm living a dream. I'm in the challenge of going to the next level, and so I'll start.
Speaker 1:Grew up here in Sacramento, california. I was fortunate to, I'm married to my high school sweetheart, so we were together since I was 14 years old. I was a big time basketball player. I still love the game to this very day, and I remember my dad said to me he said, chris, listen, you're going. I want you to have two dreams, said you're, you're, you're going to be an NBA basketball player, but at the time you retire from basketball, you still got your life ahead of you. So I want you to have two dreams, and so I didn't know what those. That second dream was. It was all just I wanted to make it to the NBA, and a movie with Eddie Eddie Murphy uh, uh called a boomerang. Uh, was very impactful for me. Uh, because here Eddie Murphy you know he was a businessman and, uh, he had a corner office. Uh, he was sharp and he had Holly Berry. And I said, by God, I'm going to be a businessman. So that was like the seed that was dropped from me of like that was going to be my second dream.
Speaker 1:And when I was 16, I had a party where I invited just about almost the whole school came to my 16 year old party and it was for free and it started to get packed pretty quick and the garage filled up and so I had the idea. I said, you know what, I'm gonna start charging. And so I pulled out a five dollar bill and I said, hey, if you have five dollars, come to the front of the line. And people started, you know, pulling out their five dollars and I was collecting the money and I'm like, wait a minute, like this feels more exciting in basketball. And so that was my first, uh, feeling of entrepreneurship.
Speaker 1:And so then I started to the ideas start to come and I said, you know what, for high schoolers, they only have prom and senior ball, you know. And I said, you know, I'm gonna be the first to create teen dance club for people my age. So I rented a hall I went to. All of this is before influencers saw the basketball player. So I went to all of the major athletes in each high school, made them VIP, had them pass out my flyers, and it was $10 per person and I had over 400 people show up. I made $4,000.
Speaker 1:I was 17 at the time. I had $4,000. I paid the dj his 600 bucks, paid the security their 88 800 bucks, and I remember the hall was like only about 900 or something. So I remember going to my now wife's house with over 2300 in cash and this was me starting to build businesses. And so I started to do it every week. I had one in Sacramento, I had one in Stockton and then from there I went and I built a modeling agency. By the time I was 19 years old and I had 50 talents with a modeling agency called Elegance's Modeling Agency and I put over 50 people in the movie Training Day with Denzel Washington and then from there I had a basketball camp and then built more and more companies and that was my initial start and then from there I built a recruiting company and I started. I don't know if you want me to stop there for a second there.
Speaker 2:like the early age, I'm like this right now. I'm loving this.
Speaker 1:This is good, okay, awesome, awesome. So for each one of the businesses that I started, so for each one of the businesses that I started, I would learn and I would grow in the whole bit. And so then I worked for. You know, I graduated from UC Davis, I worked for a recruiting company and I became the number one salesperson at this recruiting company and basically, as a recruiting company, you help people find great talent. And this was a $3.2 billion recruiting company and actually the owner of that company owns the Baltimore Ravens, so it kind of gives you the scale of that.
Speaker 1:Well, I became the number one producer at that recruiting company. I was number one out of 3,000. And the way that I got to number one is that I just had this tireless work ethic and I knew how to connect with people and I knew how to sell and know how to exceed their expectations. And I became number one. And they had a called a contest trip where they take out the top producers from the company. And we were in the Bahamas and this was a time of celebration. But I was not in a mood for celebration, I was very introspective even at that time. And my wife she asked me Chris, what's going on what's the matter and I said I just basically created a million dollar company in 11 months. No one knew who this big company was and basically, in 11 months, I basically knew who this big company was and basically, in 11 months, I basically created a million dollar company.
Speaker 2:Hey, it's Dr B and let me ask you something just here real quick. Are you tired of doing the same thing over and over and not getting the results you want? Are you serious about making some changes this year that will impact you in a huge way? Maybe you're putting out content right now and it's not turning into customers. Or maybe you're uploading videos, but you're not sure why or how it's even going to help. You know, I've seen a lot of people that are making a whole bunch of cold calls to the wrong people and no one's answering. No one wants to talk to you. It might just be that you're just doing what you've been doing and crossing your fingers, hoping it finally works this year, but let me tell you what. That is not a strategy and it will continue not to work.
Speaker 2:That's why I created the podcasting challenge and it's coming up fast. In just a few days, I'm going to walk you through the mindset, the tool set and the skill set you need to create a powerful podcast. That's right, a podcast. You won't believe what a podcast can do, one that builds real value and creates new clients. And if you grab a VIP ticket, you'll get to join me for a daily Zoom Q&A sessions where I'll personally answer your questions and help you tailor everything to your goals. This is your moment. This is your year. Go to thepodcastingchallengecom right now and save your seat. The link is in the show notes and the description. Thank you for watching these podcasts. Now let's get back to the conversation.
Speaker 1:And I was considering stepping out on my own and building my own company from start, from ground zero. And we here's my wife we just bought a house. I'm only 26 years old, 26 about to turn 27. I made to kind of give you the scale, my base salary was only $24,000. But in commissions I made about 200 grand as a top salesperson at that time. And so I'm conflicted.
Speaker 1:I have built this company, built my territory up to where I could just make 200 grand in my sleep and I got two young boys. That as far as my family and I said to my wife. I said I'm interested in starting my own company, but, man, I've built this here. My wife, without hesitation to me, she said, chris, since we were kids, you've always told me you wanted to be a millionaire, not a 200,000aire, and so that was impactful for me. And a month later I launched and I started my company, and one of my mentors he says this I experienced that were right after intention, there's disruption.
Speaker 1:So when I went to start my own company, this company was not happy that their number one producer started their own firm. So they decided to sue me. And you know I had just. You know I had a small little mom and pop lawyer that just did my corporation and the whole bit, pop lawyer that just did my corporation and the whole bit. And we get this lawsuit and they're like hey, um, you know, here's a lawsuit, you know cease and desist, and the whole night we're like listen, you can have every single customer that I gave to you.
Speaker 1:I have no intention on taking any customers, I'm just starting brand new, and so you think that make it. Make it over with like I'm still willing to sign anything that you want. You can have every single customer that I gave you guys, and I'm only two months since to start my own company. And the company said no, we want four hundred thousand dollars or shut your business down, what? And? And I'm like are you kidding me? What? And? And I'm like are you kidding me? And there was this go in me. When I looked at, I was like are you? And I said you know what I'm going forward? I'm going to blow this company up. I'm going to build my, my, my dreams in the in this. And here's what I did. Dr Dr B. What I did is I said there's no one in the world that is about to outwork me. No one in the world, not in my city, not in my state. There's no one in the world. And so what I would do is I would challenge myself to make seven to eight hundred calls per day.
Speaker 2:No, one was out calling me Day Per day Per day.
Speaker 1:Because when I looked at it I was like they're not suing me, they're suing my wife and my children, like this is why I'm building this company. And so what I would do is I would just grind and I built it. I built a, I built a company and basically I was using the proceeds of the company to fight the lawsuit. And this went on and I fought Most people don't go. I went all the way and the trial was over. You know, the lawsuit was over a three year, three to four year time span and I won the case and I won the appeal. But what I realized is that in lawsuits, when you win, you lose, you lose, you lose. But there was something that was building to me during that time that this fortitude, this never give up mentality, this no retreat mentality was built into me. And, um, I end up taking that company, um, uh, into a multi-million dollar company. And uh, and now it's been 19 years and last month I celebrated 19 years in business, uh, with, with. So that company was the Johnson Group and in building that I also had an idea for a product and invention, and so many people have ideas for products and inventions.
Speaker 1:And you know, my grandfather said something to me that prompted me to go. He said, chris, what's the richest land in the world? And I said China. He said no. I said the US. He said no. I said, grandpa, give up. What's the richest land in the world? And he said the US. He said no. I said, grandpa, give up. What's the richest land in the world? And he said the graveyard, because that's where so many people died with great ideas in them that they never got out. And so I said you know what, no matter what, I'm going to get it out. I'd rather live with failure than regret. And so I had the idea.
Speaker 1:As far as ramen noodles like, I always made them in the microwave, but you never get that stove top taste. And I figured it out. And so I created the rapid ramen cooker and I mean that's a whole story in and of itself. And I built this invention and always had the dream to go on Shark Tank. And so I built this product, the Rapid Ramen Cooker. Went on Shark Tank. Three out of the five sharks made offers and I said yes to Mark Cuban.
Speaker 1:But more so than saying yes on the show, the exposure put us on a rocket ship saying yes on the show. The exposure put us on a rocket ship and I built that company to have been being in 50,000 retail doors nationwide. I took one product. I took it to 15 different products the rapid mac cooker, the rapid brownie maker, the popcorn maker. I was in Walmart maker. I was in Walmart, kroger, target, cvs, walgreens and number one on Amazon and eventually built that company and sold it in 2023.
Speaker 1:And so sold that company. And then, just about a year ago, I built a AI company called Passive Candidate Pro that has done over $1.5 million in ARR in the last eight months and is valued at a $10 million company. So that is a fast forward of where I was and where I started, and there was a ton of lessons all in between, a ton of celebrations, a ton of crying my eyes out, but all in all, it blessed me to where I am today and I'm living in the dream boards that I have created, you know, five to 10 years ago, and so that that is. That's a. That's a quick synopsis of my of my story.
Speaker 2:Wow. Well, thank you for sharing that, because I think so. So many of us think. You know that it can't be done, or you know I'm going to try this and I'm going to. If I don't succeed right away, you know. But how many of us are willing to make seven to 800 phone calls in a day? How many of us are willing to go through a lawsuit that takes three years and still keep moving and still stay positive?
Speaker 2:One of the things I want to ask you and I'm going to drop back because I want to get back into what you do, but one of the things you mentioned is you were able to marry your high school sweetheart, and so that means that she's been around this whole journey.
Speaker 2:There hasn't been this separation of oh. She came and found this person who was already a millionaire. She built it with you and then you guys had children, and so what I kind of want to know, what does it mean to be a husband and an entrepreneur at the same time? And then, when you have your kids, this is a double question what does it mean to be a dad? Because sometimes we talk about all the things that dads do, especially in our culture, and dads aren't there, and but, and I ask you, I believe everybody understands that the kids need a dad, but how much do we as dads, or we as husbands, need a wife and how much do we need our kids? Kind of talk about that a little bit, as your journey has gone through here through here.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, I will say this that God has blessed me so immensely and started with my wife. My wife is a gift I've outkicked my coverage with. She is as more instrumental of the success that I have built than any partner that I've partnered with, any employee that I've ever hired. My wife is the number one reason why the success that I have right now behind God, and so that says a lot. I think it's amazing with my wife and my kids. So we have two boys and two girls. I've always wanted to provide them an incredible blessed life, but at the same time, I wanted to provide them the tools and the know-how to be able to create a blessed life for their kids, and I'm super grateful because we have built. My kids are built, they are built, and I'll say their way that it was intentional, One of the things that we learned. I learned this from a very, very wealthy mentor and then I deployed it with my kids and I told them I said you can have anything you want. They're like anything. I said anything, anything you guys want, you can have it as long as you earn it. And they were like well, how can I earn it? Like, what can I do to earn it. I was like you can intern at my company, you can do work around the house, you just find something that adds value to your mom and I, and then we'll go ahead and pay you for it. And so my kids started to be creative of hey dad, the garage needs to be done, you know, you know how much for that? You know 80 bucks. All right, boom, and they would do that. Hey dad, can I come work for you? And and boom, they would do that. And you would see. Now, every ask, every desire came with it, the desire to earn it, it. And what happened is my kids never wanted anything without earning it.
Speaker 1:First, my son, my oldest son. He said to me, my wife and I we traveled to Japan and it was for one of my Harvard business school events. And I said hey see, I know your dream is to go to Japan. And I said why don't you come with your mom and I, like you know, be able to enjoy it? And he said to me he goes, dad. No, because that's not the way I envisioned it. I envisioned earning it and going myself. What I envisioned? Earning it and going myself. What?
Speaker 2:Here's a 26 year old that bypassed an all expense trip, because that's not the vision that he had to go earn it.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is so cool. Entitlement. Entitlement is such a prevalent thing, but it does not exist in my children. And here's this, coming from a multimillion dollar dad that you know. Like you think of it, I have it Okay, like it's. God has been so kind. I am so blessed. But I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you even more of what I've done, what it has turned into my daughter, who's now 17,.
Speaker 1:At 14 years old. I went to her and I said hey, I see that our product has gone viral on TikTok. You know, 10 million views like, and it was by accident. Like, hey, how can we do this on purpose? And I and she's like Dad, we could reach out to influencers and the whole nine. So I said you know, why don't you come help, help me do that. Well, let's do this together. So she came and we built this influencer marketing company to drive rapid brands, my consumer products company, and a week she was able to secure 14 influencers. That equated to 2 million views on our product. That equated to 2 million views on our product. By 30 days she had over 30 influencers and generated 30 million views for our product. Sales went up 327% by the end of the summer. She had hired both of my nieces on my side and my wife's side that were working for her. She generated 100 million views and created this company called Major Views at 14, 15 years old.
Speaker 1:When she went back to school, our sales declined. I had to hire a team of five for my 15-year-old daughter to train them while she was back in high school and middle school. I ended up selling that company. A company hired us for $100,000 consulting where my daughter led the consulting agreement to help show them how to build an influencer marketing company. Ok, that's all with earning it, dr B, I'm not done.
Speaker 1:Ok, my, my youngest Josiah. He said, hey, dad, you know he always loved telling jokes. And I said, hey, joe, why don't you put your jokes in a joke book? And I said I'll help you produce it. So he created the joke book. He started selling on Amazon and KCRA. The news covered him and the whole nine. He's selling it on Amazon. He's making money.
Speaker 1:And he hears me in a meeting just like this in this room. He hears me talking to CVS about the ramen cooker and the whole night. And he peeks in and he says, hey, dad, can you tell him about my joke book? And I said you know, I never thought about your joke book being in CVS. So I'm on the meeting with her and I said, hey, you know what? My son created a joke book. It's on Amazon. And she's like, hey, can he create one for Easter? I said, absolutely, so, he creates one for Easter. I give it to her. She said, perfect, we'll go ahead and put it in 7000 CVS stores. He made over more money in that one order for four years of college.
Speaker 2:Papers on college.
Speaker 1:Papers on college. Fortunately, he had an academic scholarship. But that is what I'm talking about as it relates to what it means to me of passing that on to my kids. I want to bless them with the skill sets, the mindset, the go get it, the determination to be able to do that, and that's what, uh, I've been able to do with, uh my kids and uh, in my, in my, my wife and kids, and they're my driving force of like. I want to bless generations I don't know and I want to bless generations I don't know, and I want to bless them not only just with tangible wealth that can finance their dreams. I want to bless them with the know-how, the determination, the faith in the Lord for them to be able to carry this thing on to the next, for generations to come.
Speaker 2:I kind of want to back up just a little bit, because when I think of personal development and, you know, when we talk to a business person, or when we think of a business person that says that I work my butt off, they think that they had to not have a family in order to do that. Like, I have to work 100 percent of the time in order to do, and I have to sacrifice my family to be able to do it. And what you're what I'm hearing, what you're saying is no, absolutely not. I'm going to include my kids in the process. I'm going to include them in learning about themselves and and growing and that kind of stuff. I mean, I'm looking at all the books behind you and some people put books behind them just because it shows that there's books behind them. I think you actually read all those books and there's something that you did, but I also think your kids have been part of that process. Maybe kind of talk to us. Well, you don't have to sacrifice, right?
Speaker 1:Well, listen, I'll tell you this I'm so fortunate that I've been a part of organizations. I'll tell you this I'm so fortunate that I've been a part of organizations, I'm in so many different CEO organizations and you know, a lot of times I had guys that were amazing mentors 20 year my senior and I remember talking with them and they had way more wealth than I did. But I would ask them, they would give me insights, and I could see that for many of them, their sacrifice of their family to attain the wealth was one of the biggest regrets, and so I was purposeful of never wanting to trade in that time with my family to go ahead and build the wealth. And I can tell you, there's no question that I probably would be five times more financially richer than I am right now if I had sacrificed my family. No question about it. I am right now. If I had sacrificed my family, no question about it, no question about it. But I would have been five times poorer in life. It's nothing that matters.
Speaker 1:So I found the way to do both. I found the way to do both, and the way that I did it was be potent. I was potent, I was like you know, like I was. I was so I wanted to be so potent to you know, being in my kids life, that when, when I'm with my kids and I'm coaching their basketball or I'm I'm being a part of the things that they're interested, that I'm right there, I'm, I'm in there, I'm being potent. When my oldest is navigating things as far as life of like what he should do, I'm dropping everything to help him create a dream board of like what he wants, to help him flush out what he's going after and then celebrating with him as he's checking things off, where there's my baby boy that I'm coaching in basketball and I'm talking to coaches. Where it's my oldest daughter where I'm showing up at her volleyball games, or my youngest baby girl where it's her art projects, and I'm in and I'm in tune.
Speaker 1:My kids feel like I was the number one dad that was there for everything and in my business you could see like the scale that I was able to build and the way that I was doing is there's times where I had to sacrifice, but the times that I spent with my kids I made it so potent that it felt like I was there for every single thing and I never lost my why of why I was building this in the first place, and it was to be a blessing to my family and to be a blessing to others, and so so I never I never lost sight of that, and I think so many people they lose sight of why they build wealth in the first place and why they build businesses in the first place.
Speaker 1:And for me, I never lost it. It was freedom of time and freedom of money. I wanted to be able to go where I want, when I want, with who I want and those who were primarily my wife and kids man, and I never lost sight of that, and so that was how I was able to do both.
Speaker 2:Thank you for that Because, like you said, five times more wealthy. But what does that mean in the end? Right, who's at their deathbed? Did you think that is more wealthy? But what does that mean in the end? Right, who's at their deathbed. Did you think that is like counting how much money is in the bank, because you can't take it with you, right, but the influence you have on your children, that goes for generation to generation to generation when they get to talk about oh, my gosh.
Speaker 2:So let's talk about identity a little bit, because identity in our community seems to be one of the number one things that hold us back, that stops us from becoming who God put us on this earth to do. And we have these influence and associations. You've talked about mentorship and the people you surrounded themselves with. But how did you were able to shape the identity that says I can do anything, that society is not going to keep me back? You know, I can imagine growing up in Sacramento that you weren't living in $10 million. You know communities, that all you grew up, just like everybody the rest of us grew up. You know these communities and some people made it out and some people are almost still there. What is in that? That culture and the things that you were part of that allowed you to move forward.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I, I, I would say, you know, I'm. I'm the oldest of 28 grandkids and I'm one of two that went to college and, out of if you had to vote who was the craziest, who was the most unlikely to succeed, there was no one crazier than me as a kid and, um, I attribute a lot of my success to my dad, who took all of that will and put it towards good. Um, uh, I never growing up, I never had limitations Like my. My parents didn't provide that. I don't provide that to my kids. Um, so they may exist, but I drew no attention to it.
Speaker 1:I cannot tell you, I cannot tell you, a racist encounter or anything. I never looked for that. My vision was so clear on what I was going to accomplish that nothing was in my way. God said I could have all of the desires of my heart and everything's available for those that believe, and so that's what I saw, that's what I went after. So you would never, ever see me in. Oh, they after us't. I never saw that. That was not my reality, that was not my consciousness, and I think, uh, so many people it's. They speak and they see the challenges that hold them back, and so there's going to be adversity in your journey, like, what follows intention is disruption and distraction, no question about that. But, man, I never had anything that was holding me back. I never even acknowledged, I even I never even acknowledged my starting point because I was so focused on where I was going. Like, are you, do you feel what I'm saying? I've never, I never even acknowledged my starting point. I've never acknowledged it because I was so focused on where I was going.
Speaker 1:Man, and I think so many people praise disadvantage or praise their starting point or praise the adversity. I praise the father and so I know I can do all things through him, and I think the enemy wants to have you be married with the adversity so you could stop. So I don't with my kids. There has never been uttered anything as far as adversity. It is just you go, get it, you give everything. Nothing stops you and you don't stop you and you keep God first and you can do all things with faith and work. You can do all things with faith and work. That has been our, that has been what I've lived by, that's what I told my kids with as far as what they do, and so there's nothing, nothing. Who can stop God? No one. Who's bad enough? No one. So why should I even acknowledge it? I see adversity. I understand that.
Speaker 1:All works work. All work work. It's going to work on me or it's going to work for me. All things work together for the good of those who love them. So let's go. I'm not going to quit, so I might as well go faithfully. Let's go. I'm not going to quit, so I might as well go faithfully. Yeah, so I might as well go, you might as well.
Speaker 2:That's my and I love that. What I want to ask you is when you say we put God first, what does that mean? How is that actualized in life? Because I think so many people have this different thought process of what it means to put God first man, I, I would say I mean it's it.
Speaker 1:It's real simple for me, like number one is when I wake up, I acknowledge him, I give thanks, give thanks, like, listen, I'm very, very talented, I like, I know I'm talented, I'm gifted. And there was a point where I didn't know what was me versus what was God, and he humbled me. Yes, he humbled me to show me what my talents look like without his favor and increase. So I'm very clear. So that's where so many people are shocked when they come to my home or they come to the accomplishments of what I say, because I walked with this, I walk with this humility, and people are so surprised of, like man, like you've accomplished this and then like you're so humble. And the reason why I can be so humble is because I know who provided it, I know where the increase comes from, and so that's how I put him.
Speaker 1:First Is that he provides me the blessing, but I give him the glory every single time. I never steal God's glory, and so I that's put him first, that, that that's seeking him first, and so that that that's. And he is the center of my marriage, he's the center of our family, like my, my. We give him the glory, we give him the praise we're thankful for him. He gives us power to get wealth. Says that in the Bible Like so. So I would say that that's how, that's how we make sure, that's how I make sure that I put him first.
Speaker 2:I love it, love it. There's a term that's being used a lot in our, in our world today the generational wealth term. And you know you have to. You have to provide and become this person who allows for generational wealth. And throughout the things you've talked about, you said well, I've told my kids you can have anything, but you have to earn it. But what is your plan? I mean, when you think about generational wealth, you know God tells us that we need to take care of our kids, kids, kids, right? What does that mean for how you live your life and the things that you're doing?
Speaker 1:It's it's so important to me, man Like I, it is. It's it's it's a thing that drives me and, um, what that means to me generational, generational wealth. What it means to me is not just in knowledge that I passed down, not just in knowledge that I pass down, but in wealth and resources. Like I want to have the ability to help finance my kids' dreams. They earn it. But I want to have the ability for Chris Jr to say hey, dad, I have this great idea, here's an AI product and the whole nine. Here's my plan, here's what I want to do. I want to make sure that he can go launch and he can go get it because he doesn't lack the investment or the resources. I got you, let's go. He's going to go earn it, but he has. He don't have to go run a go to a venture capitalist, he don't have to run a raise around the front and we got it Right. And so my goal is for his, for for his kids to have it, and so, like that's important to me, like one of the things we thank you, lord, we, we, I have my dream home. It's over seven and a half acres of land. It's I built a indoor basketball facility on it. It was always our dream. As a pool, it has what we call Johnson park. I share that, not as a flex. Ok, it took me so much pain, tears, struggle in God's bless me. Well, dr B, that's paid off. There's never a mortgage on that property, ever again.
Speaker 1:I did that intentionally of generational wealth. That is big enough and they don't want to, you know, make it a compound. They don't, you know, they. They want to do their own thing, but they have this asset for generations to come Right. And so generational wealth is important to me is that I want to pass down the mindset and the freedom and the financial freedom for my kids. And here's the thing I want them to do it even better. That seed that I put into Chris's business, to Josiah's business, to Chloe's business, to Jada's business, I want it to blow up even more than mine. And then I want them to do the same thing for their kids and their kids' kids.
Speaker 1:And guess what? This playbook has been done before. Right, it has been done before. So why not us? Yes, yes, why not us? Do you hear what I'm saying? Why not us? Like that is that's. That's something that's very important to me, and so it's a, it's a huge goal. Like if you look at my dream board right now, there's a big part that says generational wealth and at the top of it says give God the glory and it's a picture of my family and I look at it every single day. I'm very clear where I'm going and that's a big part of where I'm going of where I'm going.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I wanted to ask you about the dream board and the importance of the dream board and the type of things that you put on the dream board. You know I can remember back to the Amway days and you know, back when I was younger and trying to get into business and stuff and doing multi-level. They put me in this world of dream boards and I can remember doing like you know, beginning of the year and having my team come out and putting boards together. Those were the days we had magazines and stuff we could cut about, spent the whole day crafting it, but kind of the power that dream boards have had for you as you've been able to been for the last 20 years Without fail.
Speaker 1:Between Christmas and New Year's, I set my intention on where I'm going and what I'm going to accomplish. Going and what I'm going to accomplish and I don't just put things on there. I'm very intentional. So many people don't, I tell a lot of people have a personal retreat with yourself of knowing what you want, what you want out of this one life that you have on earth.
Speaker 1:So many people drift through life and they're not intentional of actually just doing the first part of the saying, of deciding, like, what do I want? So I'm super clear on what I want and what I'm going after, and so I've been doing that for years. And it's amazing when you see my dream board of 2012 or my dream board of 2018, uh, it's prophetic that everything that I had in that board I'm living right now. And so so many times we forget the miracles of what God did before. But if you look back, most people right now, even in the adversity that you have right now, you are living a life that you prayed and cried for and I realized that, like man, this is what I dreamed of, this is where I was, but what happens is that we're built with this appetite for more Mm hmm.
Speaker 1:And we're built with this appetite for more. But there's a bill, there's a, there's an ability to be content and ambitious at the same time. Absolutely yes, right and so so that's what I found myself in now. Like my, my, my dream board now is so cold-blooded. It is so amazing. It is, oh my gosh. It gives me so much energy and I'm going to tell you what it does, and I encourage this for your viewers. It's the best six years of my life and basically what it is. It's a recall, it's the images of the best thing that has happened in the past three years. So that's all on the left side, and it's very clear of, like the last three years, of the things that were such blessings. Every single person can identify what has happened in the past three years that were amazing, past three years that were amazing.
Speaker 1:And then I look at the next three years of what you're going after, and what happens is that you are in the middle of the best things that has ever happened and the best things that are to come. And when you think on these things, how can you not have joy and gratitude? When you think on these things? Do you understand what I'm saying? I'm thanking God for the things that have happened, and I'm thanking God for the things that are come, and I'm trusting and I'm thanking him for both that are come and I'm trusting and I'm thanking him for both.
Speaker 1:And I'm thinking on these things. And so, when the adversity, the things that the enemy wants to lure you to, the failure, the challenges, and all that stuff, I set my mind to think on these things the biggest blessings in the biggest breakthroughs that are, that are on the way, I set my mind to think on these things the biggest blessings and the biggest breakthroughs that are, that are on the way. And so, when my mind is at that level, the affliction, no matter how hard it screams, no matter how hard the sites tries to come, it cannot touch it because my mindset is set, and so that is the way that I utilize my dream boards now.
Speaker 2:Man, oh, I love it. I love it, yeah, because I think a lot of folks their dream board, like you said, a personal retreat of what you want out of this one life that you have. And I think so many people's dream boards are what they see others' life as being. And when you see TV or you see these professional athletes or whatever that are spending, you're living their dream life through you or you're living. You know they're enjoying this great life and you're trying to live through them. If I could just put their name on my back then I can have a part of their life.
Speaker 1:Instead of wait a minute, let me sit down and really put together what I want out of this life times when we're on this, we're just watching the reels of other people's dream life and you never even get in tune to your own. And so that is, you're at, you're spot on, and it's one of the things that I told my kids, because you know even even as much as a uh someone. That's not a hater. But if you're only watching the reels and the success of other people's great life and you never go in tune to your own, that's where depression and comparison and all those things seep in. But if you are fully consumed with the best parts of your life, the best things that happen in your life, and you're consumed with the expectation of what's about to happen next, it provides this perpetual joy and gratitude that just puts you on a whole nother level. Wow.
Speaker 2:Chris, how do you stay healthy? What is it you do to make sure that you get to be around for the next, however long it is, however long God wants us on, and because I think so, so many of us, we get into these habits, especially in the culture where there's just there's all this food and there's all this stuff that you know is not good for our bodies. And you know, the average black man lives to 72, which is just, I think that's yes, no, we. My dad's 86 and he's running track meets and he's kind of figured it out. But what is it that you do to make sure, other than all this dreaming?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, a hundred percent Dreaming and execution. I need to add on to that Cause you got to go ahead and do the activity.
Speaker 2:Dreaming and execution.
Speaker 1:I need to add on to that because you got to go ahead and do the activity. No, no, no, a hundred percent. Like no, you, you, you. You got to be active. You got to, you got to do the work. God's going to do his part. You got to do yours. So a hundred percent is you got to wake up and actually go execute that thing too.
Speaker 1:As it relates to health, that has been important to me over the last couple of years. Before it wasn't as important. I just wanted to be rich and wealthy and built. My health was a back burner, and being around very successful people, I saw how much priority they took in their health and I saw some people where that was taken away from them as well. So I got really intentional and I invested in my health.
Speaker 1:I invested in a fitness coach, a nutrition coach. So I lost over 30 pounds over in the last year, yeah, yeah. So I'm really blessed about that. So it's very, very simple for me 1,600 calories a day, 12,000 steps, 150 grams of protein and then hitting the weights, you know, two or three times a week. But that, had that formula, has taken the weight off of me and, um, when I'm not disciplined in that, that, with the weight comes back on. Um, so, uh, I I've decided, like Lord, you do not have to give me a health scare for me to get this right, and so that is, that's, that's the formula, and so that's very, very important to me making sure that I'm healthy.
Speaker 2:Thank you for making that simple, Because I think folks think well, in order for me to be healthy, I have to have all these things and all this money. No, it's simple. It's just you monitoring what's going in your body and then making sure you do something, engaging the activity around it that's it like, like it is.
Speaker 1:It's really that simple. Like you, you do, you, you do, uh, you do 15 to 1600 calories, uh, that that's your daily intake. And like you do, you don't. My my fitness pal, don't worry about the end, just how much you're taking in and and invest in a little scale, like you know, grams over guesses, grams over guesses. Measure by the gram and uh, get your 12 000 steps a day, okay, and 150 grams of protein, you're winning, you're winning, and you'll watch it. You know, watch it. Just drop up off you, uh. So that that has been a blessing for me.
Speaker 2:Well, and then I think the other important part is what we talked about before is that mental health portion, that part of where we go. Okay, our mind has to be in tune to God into what's going on, and when you're living with expectation, oh my gosh, that changes our health altogether. Instead of that depression that you were talking about before, instead of that that you were talking about before, Instead of that, I'm expecting it not to work. That will weigh on you and kill you and take away your life so fast, you know, if you don't have a dream or even look at to begin the process of execution of it, then you're existing.
Speaker 1:Listen, I'll tell you this. Is that so many people roll out of bed on neutral? Ok, and I don't. I don't go on neutral. There's way too many things going on with emails, the site that you want making sure that I start my day, and you call it mental health. I start my day to just making sure. Number one I'm seeking God first.
Speaker 1:I write in my blessing list so many CEOs I mean I got a hundred million dollar CEO. He stopped me of like no, can you show me this blessing list? And I've been writing down in my blessing list since 2012. And so every right now I have, let me tell you. I can tell you exactly how many blessings I have in my blessing list this year. Seventeen hundred and thirty three blessings I have written down this year 1733 blessings I have written down this year. That's up from. Let me tell you how many I have from in the previous year. That is up from 1283 in 2022, 802, oh, yeah, in 2022, 802. Oh, yes, I'm serious about this and so I don't mess around. Like, like, yeah.
Speaker 1:So here it is it's 1134 in 2024, 802 in 2023, 1283 in 2022, 2021, 888. Ok, like, and seventeen hundred and thirty three this, this, this year. And so, like I'm writing down, like man, what it was such a blessing last night taking the whole family to the movies, and dinner and ice cream with the family and my older boys got to come too. Lord, thank you for my family that we still enjoy each other. Then I wrote down the blessing Lord, thank you that play in the pool, lord, thank you. So I write these things down and I'm writing them down and I'm starting my morning right now of giving thanks, of thankful for all the things that I have. Because here's the truth that I realize is that if you just take an audit of the inventory of the blessings in your life right now, you would not trade them for what's missing.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that's so good. Well, and the one thing that I just got out of this right that you just told me is you write down your blessings every day, but there's 365 days in a year and, if I do the math, you're not talking about one blessing a day, you're talking about several blessings every single day that you're writing down.
Speaker 1:Oh my, God, let's look, just today I wrote down. Let's see, I wrote down 15 blessings today.
Speaker 2:So how can you not be excited about life?
Speaker 1:Come on, man, come on man and the opposite. How can you not hate life when you're watching the news, the bad news, and you're and you're watching all of this poison that comes into your, into your ear gates and your eye gates, and how can you not be down, how can you not be depressed, how can you not when, when all you are looking at is lack, so, so why not set it up to like I'll tell you? I tell a lot of people this they're right now in my life. Right now, like right now in my life, my life is not just roses and peaches and wonderful. Like right now I got enough blessings in my life for people to say, man, if my life could only be like that, like that they would love to have what I'm in my life. And at the same time, exact same time, right now, I have enough in my life that if I were to jump off a bridge, you would say, ah, I get it. Say, ah, I get it.
Speaker 1:So think about that, think about that dichotomy you have. There's no time in your life that you're going to have blessings only and there's no time in your life where you're only going to have burdens. So every part you're not going to out-success. This I've tried At every stage of your life. You're going to have blessings and burdens, so the quality of your life only, matt, only only comes down to what you pay attention to most.
Speaker 1:That is so good, that is so so that's the quality of your life, the quality of your joy, is what you pay attention to the most. So start auditing that as far as the people around you, you can tell what they pay attention to the most.
Speaker 1:You've seen someone where they come and they just suck the energy out the room. They're paying attention to the burdens the most. You've seen the people that oh my gosh just being in their presence. They give you energy. You can tell what they're paying attention to the most. The quality of your life is what you pay attention to the most and most people don't know this is that you have so much in your life right now Anybody that's listening to this show right now you have enough in your life right now that a million people would stand in line to live your life just one day, a million.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yes.
Speaker 1:Because they'd be so happy of all the blessings that you're ignoring yeah, of all the blessings that you're ignoring and they would pay attention to them so much that the burdens would not even comprehend, because their burdens are 10 times worse than yours. And what you see as burdens, they see as little specks, and what you're ignoring as blessings is their Super Bowl and what you.
Speaker 2:What you ignore blessings is their super bowl. Wow, oh my oh. And I was just thinking, as you were saying that, what if couples were to get together and do this daily and talk about what I mean? How would marriages be revolutionized if they just listed their blessings as a family, as a? Oh my gosh, what an amazing, what an amazing way to live life. I love it. Love it, love it, man. I can't believe we've been talking this long and this is so good. I want to keep going, but what didn't we talk about that? You want to make sure that that our audience gets to hear, that we get to put out there. It has been so rich. If you've been watching this, I hope you rewind and watch it again. I know I am.
Speaker 1:I'm watching like eight or nine times so good, oh my gosh yeah, I, I would say the last thing I would leave, uh, your viewers with and you know, I want to make sure you know that you're enough. You know so many people think that they have to get this together. I have to have this, You're enough. You know it's even in my start, you know, I had $12 in the bank account, but when I started my first business and in that I've lost it I've had success, I've had adversity and I just want to tell you you'll win if you don't quit. You'll win if you don't quit.
Speaker 1:And so, uh, so many people uh think because they've been so many, they've been scrolling and watching all of these highlights of of other people that what's happening is they never see the low lights. They never see the low lights. People don't share the low lights. I want to tell you that every person that you see has a low light. Don't let that stop you from going. You're enough, Go ahead and get it. That's one of the things that I want to leave you with that.
Speaker 2:Somebody told me not too long ago. They said is enough is not an amount, it's a relationship with where you're at right now and you are enough it is not an amount if you're trying to hit an amount.
Speaker 2:You'll never hit it because it'll never be enough, but it's not enough. Oh my, thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Like I said said, if we watch this, if this is the first, this first episode, you want to go ahead and subscribe, because there are so many more, just like this. Chris, it has been an honor, it has been a pleasure. I can't wait to have more conversations with you. I can't wait.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, you know the relationship that that I I'm just going to force myself onto you with me, just because there's so many good things that you have going in your life and I just appreciate you so much and just your willingness to come on and as busy as we know a lot of folks that you know. Here's what I tell you Busy people get stuff done, or also people have time to do stuff, you know, because they know the importance of time, and it's so amazing that you would spend that time with us today. And so, for those of you watching, I believe I want you to make sure that you know that you are God's greatest gift. He loves you, if you allow him to, so please allow him to do that. I can't wait to spend more time with you guys online, and I just can't wait to all the things that are going to be in your world and the blessings that are there.
Speaker 2:Go ahead and make yourself a dream board. Go ahead. If you don't have one right now, make sure that you're doing that, and we will absolutely look forward to talking to you. Chris, Do you have one? Just give us one last nugget, because I know they're just so incredibly good so I can't wait to hear it. So give us one more.
Speaker 1:I'll give this last one and this is one of my favorite verses is that no mind has imagined, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has imagined what God has in store for those who love him. And so what I can tell you is that on the other side of you going, on the other side of you going, it is greater of you going. On the other side of you going, it is greater, it is so worth it. It's going to bless you and everybody in proximity to you. Uh, for you to go. So I just want to just share that with you. Like it's, it's, it's not. It's not what you think, it's greater than what you think. So go out, go, make it happen, go get it. I love it, love it.
Speaker 2:Thank you again. You guys have an amazing day. We'll talk to you on the next one.