The Untold Podcast
UNTOLD Podcast is where business, family, and life collide—raw, unfiltered, and brutally honest. No fluff, no fake success stories—just real conversations about the highs, the struggles, and everything in between.
The Untold Podcast
Episode 6 | Risk It All or Play It Safe? The Truth About Taking Chances in Life and Business
This episode is for anyone standing at a crossroads… wondering whether to take the leap.
In Episode 6 of the UNTOLD Podcast, Ash and Des go balls deep about the uncomfortable but powerful topic of risk—in business, in relationships, and in life. From leaving a stable career in the police to launching an Amazon business... to shutting down a 25-year-old family company to chase a dream... this episode covers the real fear and real freedom that comes with taking a chance.
No fluff. No fake motivation. Just honest talk about:
- The risks that change your life—for better or worse
- Why most people gamble on the wrong things
- What to do when you're scared to make a move
- Why some people risk their marriage but won’t risk chasing their dream
- The difference between a calculated risk and a dumb one
- The hidden cost of playing it safe
💡 Whether you’re stuck in a 9–5 you hate, scared to start something new, or worried about what people think—this episode might be the nudge you need.
🎧 New episodes drop every Tuesday at 5AM
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Take the risk… or lose the chance.
If you hadn't taken that risk, where do you think you'd be sitting today?
Speaker 2:If I had seen that post even two weeks earlier, I would have laughed it off and gone. He don't know what's he talking about. At that point in my life, it was exactly what I needed to hear.
Speaker 1:It's easier to find the excuse not to do something than it is to do it. The risk comes from not taking the opportunity.
Speaker 2:You've got to help yourself. No one's fucking coming, no one's coming. You have to be unapologetically you.
Speaker 1:The Untold Podcast is proudly sponsored by Aura Surfaces, specialists in luxury surfaces for extraordinary spaces. Like creating dream homes, building a dream life takes work. That's why we had to get behind this podcast Real stories, real challenges and real success. Let's get into it. Welcome to the Untold Podcast. Now, today's a little bit different because Chris is doing his hair somewhere and he's having a day out, so it's just me and Des the best two. Today. I'm going to talk about risks, because I know that Des has had taken quite a few risks over the past couple of years and we feel like it's a good topic, because you've got to take risks in life.
Speaker 2:Eh, this week I cancelled my charting podcast.
Speaker 1:That feels like a risk yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But we're doing this one and there's three of us involved and we'll push it, so don't worry, that's right.
Speaker 1:That's not a risk you need to be worried about. So I've got a couple of questions here so to try and keep us on the track, but it's quite important. I think that we set this right. So what's the first big risk that you remember taking in your life? Oh, wow, what in my career or in my life? In your life, what's the first big risk? You remember Something that you thought you look back on now and think, oh God, I was panicking so much about doing that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't know why right.
Speaker 1:In my head.
Speaker 2:It's a bungee jump in Falaraki. Three big bungee ropes, I know right, this was something like 1999. And I remember signing the waiver. If I die, it's not your fault. I remember signing that. It was a drunken promise and we talked about this earlier. I'm a man of my word. A promise is a promise. The next morning I jumped off this crane and you they measured it, so you went headfirst into the swimming pool and then out again. So I'm bungee jumping what looks like a fucking matchbox from up high so my head gets dunked in the thing and comes out. Yeah, that I don't know why. That's always struck as one of the big ones for me that?
Speaker 1:how do you remember how that felt? Do you remember how that felt before and after?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, it was. And it wasn't necessarily scared of the jump, it was the fact you know uh penalty shootouts for the football.
Speaker 2:They don't say it's the penalty that freaks you out, it's the walk from the centre circle to the penalty spot. It's the same thing going up in this crane, up and up and up and up and up. And there was people all around this swimming pool and you sort of you stepped out. It wasn't the jump, it was the bounce. I didn't want the bounce to go up and then unclip. You know, that's what I had in mind. But the feeling afterwards, mate, just the relief, the joy, and, yeah, it's the fact that I did that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so now we move on in your life. A few years ago, you took a risk to quit your, to leave your comfort blanket which was the police force to start an Amazon journey.
Speaker 2:Oh no, I didn't leave the police for Amazon. I was a civil servant. Yeah, okay. Actually, that was a big risk in itself, leaving the police to go to be a civil servant. The police is one of the most secure jobs you could ever have, yeah, and you sign up knowing it's going to be a 35 year career. But the way the police went downhill and the civil service sorry, the public service went downhill, and this is just towards the end of the tony blair government. When they went you know what we're skint let's take it out on.
Speaker 2:The old bill gutted the police top to bottom and everyone marched on parliament and I decided no, I'm going to quit. I was the first one to quit to join this other company that were recruiting general enforcement people. I was the first one. Within a year, that team that I joined had built to over 50 ex-coppers. That was a big risk because all of a sudden I was subject to redundancies. I was subject to disciplinaries of things, because in the police you just don't get sacked, you just get moved. You know what I mean. Nobody leaves the police because the pension's so good and all that crap.
Speaker 1:So when you left the civil service then would you say in your career, leaving that comfort blanket of a job that was paying you to go on your Amazon journey, yeah, was that a big risk? Did that worry you when you took that leap?
Speaker 2:When I took the leap, no, a few weeks later. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:When reality kicked in Because the Amazon business was going so well, I built it. I built it, built it and it started as a side hustle and we did it to get rich. You look back at my first TikTok post I'm going to get loaded. And even though I said a hundred thousand pound, I knew that a hundred thousand pound isn't loaded, but I knew it was enough to then really really kick on. So when I did leave the job, I'd built up enough that I thought, yeah, we're doing really well, we're living really comfortably here, we've got this money in the background and everything's going well.
Speaker 2:But of course, I did the thing that we're all guilty of. I was taking my monthly salary for granted, and it's one thing to lose your monthly salary, but when you start replacing that salary from your own business cashflow, you're wiping out so much of your growth. It's not two steps back to go four steps forward, you're going back a hundred steps. You know what I mean? Yeah, and it was. It was brutal. It was only when I received my last ever pay slip. It was a case of shit. Me and Claire had to sit down and go through the forecast and saying, right, we need to find this money somehow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but that risk enabled you to think outside the box, I would say. And you were put in a position where you had to find that you had to find that money every month. It wasn't a case where it was coming in every month and you were comfortable. You were now in a position where shit, we've got to find it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, mate, I'll tell you what I saw a post. It was from Jack Jack's Amazon Club. He yeah, mate, I'll tell you what I saw a post. It was from Jack Jack's Amazon club. He was a good mate. He's a good mate of mine now, but at the time didn't know each other. I saw a post from him and he said exactly that. He went right.
Speaker 2:Best advice I can ever give you and Jack was 23 at the time right, quit your job, because in your three-month notice period, your three month notice period, you will find ways to make more money than you've ever dreamed of in your life. And I remember looking at that. And if I had seen that post even two weeks earlier, I would have laughed it off and gone. He don't know what's he talking about, but at that point in my life it was exactly what I needed to hear. This is why the universe is so freaking amazing. That post landed on my phone at the exact time I needed to hear it Because I was thinking, yeah, it's time to kick on.
Speaker 2:Two weeks later, him and I are in conversations and we're meeting in London. Yeah, mental how it all played out. But it is true, it all comes to your periphery. Right, yeah, we talk about this. You're driving down the road, you're looking for parking spaces. One pops up oh, that's the parking fairies, is it? Or is it because you're looking?
Speaker 2:Yeah, now, all of a sudden, three months later, I've gone through all of these different avenues of how I can really maximize my time, because I'd made a boatload of money in my spare time. The whole gambit was look, look, what I can do in my with all the time. But I needed to then walk the walk, yeah, but then I was looking at these opportunities that weren't there before. So I thought, right, let's meet Jack, let's partner up with Luke. Luke and I have been pals since I got started on the challenge. Let's partner up with Luke. Let's start building the community and putting a monthly subscription on it. Let's go out to brands and say, look, I've got much more time. We're about brand deals. Let's start putting some more stock in my public speaking. Let's go out and do a roadshow. Yeah, and it all just built mate, it's amazing.
Speaker 1:All just came together. And if you hadn't taken that risk, where do you think, if you hadn't taken that risk, where do you think you'd be sitting today? What do you think you'd be doing? I know this is a difficult question, but if you didn't take that risk and say, right, I'm leaving this corporate job, I'm leaving the civil service, I want to go out on my own, where do you think you'd be today? Do you think you'd still be doing it?
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, I think I'd still be in hustle mode though. Yeah, right now, and this is the beauty, so it's only the last week or two that I've stepped into the shoes of CEO, now director, agency owner, whatever you want to call it. I would still be full on in hustle mode, and not just on the outskirts either. I'd be knee deep in it. So I'd still be Amazon selling, which is straight up hustling, and I would still be running my Amazon mentoring, which is straight up hustling, and I would still be running my Amazon mentoring.
Speaker 2:I knew now, knowing what I know now, I knew I needed to grow out of that for my own journey, one of the things I always wanted to do. I wanted to be this connector. If somebody comes to me and says, des, I want to start Amazon FBA, I can send them somewhere. Someone says, des, I want to start a podcast, I can send them somewhere. I can send them somewhere. Someone says, des, I want to start a podcast, I can send them somewhere. I'll send them to you now. I'd send them somewhere. I've always wanted to do that, but I needed to be able to be free to be able to build that network. That way, if I still had my day job, I'd be doing it in my spare time, which basically would. It would put limits on my ceiling.
Speaker 1:Yeah, limits on your ceiling, and you wouldn't be where you are today. No, you might be still aiming for it, but I don't think you'd be there. So taking that risk has paid off for you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, mate. Well, I wouldn't have met you, we wouldn't have been doing this podcast. I wouldn't have met Jack and Luke, we wouldn't be doing the TikTok agency.
Speaker 1:Mate, scary, isn't it? Has there ever been days where you sit back and you think oh, I wish I hadn't done it.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no, no, never, no, no. And again every month we do sit down and we think, right, how much have we got? How much can we take out of the business Because we don't want had when I got started they've still got the same problems now with the loft and the car and the crap and stuff like that. But I won't have for long. Yeah, if I'm still in my day job, mate, I'm treading water, yeah, and I'm stressed because I'm throwing every hour god made at this thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so do you think there's ever a right time to take a risk or do you think it's worth just jumping? From your experience, is there ever a right time For someone listening now? Is there ever a right time to take a risk or do you just jump?
Speaker 2:I'll tell you why. It sounds like the same sort of question. How many times has someone said to you is there ever a right time to have kids?
Speaker 2:It's the same, isn't it right? Because ultimately, we're talking about our time and we're talking about our money. If you're quitting your job or if you're having a kid, you're saying goodbye to both of them. It's the same thing, the only thing with your job. And this is where the risk kicks in, because I didn't really take it on. For me, claire had already quit her job and she was a 20-year career-driven secondary school teacher, like second in her faculty, for maths as well, and she was. She was duke of edinburgh and she would go on to other sort of primary schools that are having maths problems and help boost them up. She had quit because of me, because hang on, that sounds bad, doesn't it?
Speaker 1:because of the opportunity she quit because you told her I've got to do this Get in the kitchen quit your job.
Speaker 2:That's the clip. And then when it came to me quitting and I can't talk about this yet, it's such a shame there's another episode down the line. I can't talk about the reasons and the story behind why I quit my job. Yeah, but when I did quit, all of a sudden, I had the responsibility of not only my career that. I'd been 25 years regulatory enforcement, you know. On top of that, benefits are gone, pension's gone, sick pay's gone, annual leave's gone, claire's pension's gone, sick pay, annual leave all of that all because of me, yeah, and I was responsible not just for me but for her and then for our kids and for the upkeep of the house. But not only that as well. I had literally brought thousands of people along with me. So many people had started side hustles because they saw what I was doing. So if I had gone wrong in whatever way, or if things had fallen down, that is a shitload of people that I'm responsible for.
Speaker 1:Do you feel responsible for those people though?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I know I shouldn't, but I do.
Speaker 1:Because that's quite a powerful thing as well, isn't it? You've taken your telling people your journey and the risks that you took, and they're following along on the path. Now, I guess it's not for everyone, though, is it? That's it? It's not easy. I think you said before it's a side hustle. What did you say Side hustles are for?
Speaker 1:For the broken lazy For the broken lazy yeah, and we hear this term a lot side hustles and risks. Now, the way I see it is if you're sitting comfortably at the moment but you're not happy, look at what you can do as a passion, as a way to do it. Now, there's a way of calculating the risk. Isn't there? So you could have left your job. You had a bit of a nest egg to keep you going for, I don't know, three months, six months, and then you were relying on this new business to take over. But if the new business and the new venture didn't, how easy would it have been for you to have walked back into your world that you was in before?
Speaker 2:when I was in my day job. I could have gone back, I could have taken a career break. My plan was because it was public sector, my plan was always right. I'm going to stop. I'm going to go from five days a week to four days a week, to three days a week. I'm going to slowly, slowly whittle it down and then I'll do some sort of career break. There was a guy I worked with who runs a travel blog. Lovely, lovely guy, really good guy. He and I were growing our sort of socials and we were chatting with each other all the time. He took a career break to travel the world, but of course, what he's actually doing is vlogging it and building his YouTube. That was what I wanted to do, but again decisions were made and circumstances changed and I had to leave there, and then I've forgotten the question.
Speaker 1:But you could have walked back. If your venture maybe not into that company, but you could have walked back into a very similar role pretty easily.
Speaker 2:No, not really. This is the crazy thing. So my niche was really specialist. I worked on a very specific piece of legislation that only one company regulates. Oh, okay, I could have gone and found another financial investigator role, but it certainly wouldn't have paid as well, never in a million years. I probably would have been a good 20 grand less, yeah, so it was all or nothing.
Speaker 2:It was all or nothing yeah, yeah, and, but you're right, one of the things I always talk about, I hate the phrase side hustle. I hate it. I hate it, but I have to use it because it's what my target audience tracks. You know, it's the key word. So I can't help people without using that phrase and it drives me mad. But I can sit here and say anyone can get started, and they can. I believe it. The model you choose, the side hustle you choose, the secondary income you choose, is vital to your personality and it needs to be everything.
Speaker 1:Not everyone can podcast.
Speaker 2:No, not everyone can stand up on stage and rattle out a five hour show. Not everyone could do a tick tock. My people don't want to do tick tocks. That's fine. That's where Amazon FBA is so good. Yeah, it's so good Cause it teaches. It teaches you everything you need to know about retail.
Speaker 2:The barrier to entry is low. You can do it. I did it with 200 quid a couple of years ago. The goalposts have changed. Now it's got I think you're looking at about 500, but on the grand scheme of things, 500 quid to start a business, learn everything there is to learn about Amazon. And it opens the door for so many bloody things, especially if you build it up with personal branding many bloody things, especially if you build it up with personal branding.
Speaker 2:Content creation at the back of it, if you can. But again, content creation might not be for you, but everybody has an opportunity these days with the internet to make money. I don't care who you are, what background you've got, what your educational levels are, whether you're even able-bodied, it doesn't matter. You can make money using, using amazon fba, and if you wanted to, then you've got e-commerce that you could dip your toe in in other ways. Yeah, I swear by that. It comes back to the same thing, mate. If you're determined, you find a way. Yeah, if you're not, you'll find an excuse. Yeah, so many people quit. And to anyone that's listening, if you've started a side hustle and you've quit, if you're blaming someone else, I'm sorry but you're wrong. You have to look at yourself, don't you?
Speaker 1:yeah, oh yeah, 100 you've only quit because of you. Really yeah, and I've. It's easy to. It's easier to quit. It's easier to find the excuse not to do something than it is to do it, and I think a lot, lot of people do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think you sort of the risk comes. The risk comes from not taking the opportunity. Yes, if you want to do something, I think the risk comes from not trying it but not giving it your all. It's all good and well, I'm going to start a side hustle. I'm going to do this with the plans in a year's time that that replaces my income. So you do it on the side. You put as much effort in as you can. It's a year of your life. Yeah, a lot of people see these posts. Take the risk, quit your job. Quit your job, go and start your own business. Take the risk. Now, that's not. My advice would be to not quit your job and go and do it. My advice would be to find something that you enjoy, that you can do, that you can grow at, and then, once it starts bringing in money, then you can make a plan as to move forward with taking the bigger risk. That's it.
Speaker 2:Mate, exactly that. I was 18 months into it before I even told my work. Yeah, because I agree with you and I said it from the start. I didn't even want to quit. I liked my job. Yeah, it was nice, the people were great, I had no problem with it at all. It's only when things started getting real when I realised, right, okay, if it carries on going this way, I'm going to reduce my hours by 20 hours. Yeah, and I'll see what. That was always the plan. Yeah, but you're dead right, mate, you're dead right.
Speaker 2:The thing that I find the most inspiring is I've had people that have been following me along now for the best part of two years and some of them haven't had the success that I've been able to get. Some of them have flown past me yeah, but it's the ones that haven't. But they're still there and they're still trying and they still understand that whatever that route they've taken hasn't been the one yet, but they, they've taken accountability and they said, right, well, I tried too many at once. I didn't go all in, I didn't go 80% on one, not even all in kind of you want to 80, 20, didn't you? Yeah, those people inspire me so much because they're still in it.
Speaker 1:They're still in it and they're still learning, and I guess, with the way that the marketplace changes, especially with Amazon FBA, you said the goalposts have changed. You started with 200 quid, now it's 500 quid. Yeah, the barrier to entry is easy, which means that you've got to be slightly different. You've got to be willing to put in the legwork and you've got to be willing to learn along the way. That's it, mate, and I guess you've still got to be learning because you're teaching other people. I bet you. Amazon moves the goalposts like Google moves the goalposts, like everybody moves the goalposts, definitely.
Speaker 1:I think, you've got to still be learning, haven't you? You've got to be willing to take on information.
Speaker 2:You really do, mate, you really do. And this comes with the risk that we've taken, so that the Amazon mentoring was probably my second. So I had Amazon itself and the mentoring. They were both equally my biggest earners every month. And I realized when I switched well whistled, when I switched to TikTok shop, I wanted to carry on selling on Amazon. So we do, but not nearly as much. Not nearly as much. We've kind of automated a few bits here or there. So we've kind of got things going on the time.
Speaker 2:But the mentoring program we didn't have the time to adapt it, to evolve it, to put new videos out. So I pulled it. Yeah, I basically went this isn't fit for purpose. I and again, this is one of the reasons why I think it's gone so well for me, because I would openly stand up and say there's better courses than mine out. Don't waste your money on a subpar course like mine. So I pulled it and what I have done since is I've collaborated with a bunch of guys, five guys, they're called the Navigators. They're coming to Manchester Brilliant, brilliant guys. Their program is amazing. So what I've said to those guys is look, come into my Facebook group, I'll make one of you an admin, help people with amazon fba and send them to your program, so I know that these people are being looked after.
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, because sorry, hold on, let me what's happening in manchester oh, I've got a road show, ash, are you?
Speaker 2:yeah, another one second one it is the 30th of may, friday, the 30th of may, in manchester, both of you, both cameras here, three cameras, and we're taking it on the road as well.
Speaker 1:You're coming we're gonna do a live podcast Friday, the 30th of May, in Manchester. Both of you, both cameras here, three cameras, and we're taking it on the road as well. You're coming along. We're going to do a live podcast on the stage somewhere in Manchester.
Speaker 2:Somewhere in.
Speaker 1:Manchester Venue will be sorted very soon, very soon when?
Speaker 2:do people get tickets, des? They get them from the link that we're going to put in this show. We'll put the link in the show. Come to my TikTok. There's a link there as well 35 quid, amazon, fba, tiktok shop, content creation, live podcasts. But, most importantly, mate. It is a room full of people that are all following the same dream.
Speaker 1:That are ready to take a risk that are ready to take a bleeding risk, that are ready to take a risk.
Speaker 2:And the sad thing is is that these people are changing their lives and they're taking the leap into the complete unknown and they don't tell their friends and family about it because it's embarrassing. That's the sad thing, mate, and I've found with these roadshows. It's a room of people that not only took the same bleeding risk but support you a stranger in yours, it's lovely, mate.
Speaker 1:Community is nice Community. We've said it before your network is your net worth. Now, I've learned that a lot in my business, what I do, because these people are doing these things and we're hanging around with these people, so we're getting involved with this stuff, and it's the same with you hosting these events. You're going to meet people there that might say, oh, let's have a look at your videos. I help you out, mate, because everybody's here to help each other. I think that's the most important thing in the current day is that you need to surround yourself with a community of people who are going to support you. That's it, mate, and that's why that's another reason why we did the podcast.
Speaker 2:That's it. It's the one thing that's got me to where I got to be. Yeah, if I was an Amazon seller doing my 200 to 100,000 pound challenge, there's loads of them out there. Loads of them got started after me, but they didn't network the way that I did and they're still in that little zone, which is fine. I'm not no judging, because some people don't want to network, they don't want to put themselves out there. I'm naturally extroverted, but the podcast I did instantly grew my network and instantly put me in the eyes of others up there, which is ridiculous. I had millionaires coming to me and I was making thousands. They were making millions. They're coming to me. Des, can I come on your podcast?
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, yeah, yeah, Well, that's it and that's the thing. And that's like taking a risk and rolling with it and running with it Like we're taking a risk. You're taking a risk because you're getting rid of that podcast. To go all in on this one. Yeah, focus on Toptic, because you had to weigh up what you felt had more clout moving forward.
Speaker 2:I guess.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, I guess. And what you enjoy more.
Speaker 2:All of it, all of it. So Toptic has got the ability for me to help more people and earn more money. Yeah, I mean, what the hell that? What the hell? That's the dream, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I had to shed the skin of the person that was in the community.
Speaker 2:Again, I lived my life through bleeding music and football metaphors, mate. So basically I was the captain of the team. It was a couple of steps ahead of everyone else saying, look, do this, do this, and you will get this, this, this and this, just like I did. Now I've had to step out from that, so I can't be the player manager anymore. I need to be the director. I need to be that sort of person. Yeah, but in being yeah, so in being the toxic, we get to do all of that. But I understand that I need to leave an awful lot behind. And the podcast, mate, that's just a no-brainer. I freaking love this one.
Speaker 1:I think this has got such potential it's good fun as well, and what we said is the day this turns into work is the day we stop it. The day we don't want to turn up and record is the day we stop it. But let's go back to risk now. We've spoke about risk in business now. When I was doing a bit of research on this, I was thinking about like risks in life as well. So people take risks in life, like do you think that some people are addicted to taking the wrong risks, like gambling, drug taking? Yeah, and that could all go wrong. It's it's a really, really interesting conversation because I think I like a bit of gambling and I like the risk of I don't after I've lost money. I like the risk of putting, not stupidly, but I like the risk of going to the casino. It builds up a bit of adrenaline, yeah mate.
Speaker 2:So I like the horses, yeah, football and the horses, mate, I love a bet. I love a bet, but I also know that all of these things, they're shortcuts. Yeah, and this is what people thrive on. And not only do people thrive on it, but people that sell you stuff they know you thrive on it, yeah, and they exploit you for it. So drug taking look again, no judgments whatsoever, but it's a shortcut to feeling better in a world. That's shit. It's the same with booze. It's the same with gambling. Gambling's a way to make money. Yeah, put a fiver on this accumulator, you can win a thousand pounds.
Speaker 1:You're right, dude, that's why people buy the fucking lottery tickets.
Speaker 2:It's a shortcut to getting rich. It took me a long time to understand that, because there is no better growth. You said it yourself in that post which was brilliant, by the way from what your life coach said if you're not growing, you're not moving.
Speaker 1:Yeah, persistence and consistency it is, mate, it is, and I think that's the same. Going back again to to take in the risk. If you want to be a TikTok seller, you've got to have a thousand followers first. Yeah, now you've got to be consistent and persistent and put the effort in to get to the thousand followers, which I think. I look back on it and I think actually that's quite a good thing that TikTok have done yeah, because it's going to stop everybody just picking up and buying this guitar.
Speaker 2:That's it, mate. Sort out the crap. Yeah, tiktok, don't want you to go on and see post off the post off the post of shoppable stuff. They want a mix of the entertaining and the shoppable. You know what I mean? Yeah, and they've had to do that. You're dead right. You're dead right. In america it's 5 000. I reckon that'll be coming. I reckon that'll come over soon.
Speaker 1:Well, that's hard what have we got on the podcast now?
Speaker 2:500 503 I think we're up to yeah um podcast Instagram hates us.
Speaker 1:Instagram hates us. Gives us three views for real, for now. For now, yeah, sorry, right, I think we've answered this, but have you ever taken a personal risk that's changed your life for the better or for worse? Oh, mate, is there any that you can really remember?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, mate, I live by this stuff. I live by it. It was when I read my book on manifestation, on the law of attraction. It was called you Are a Badass, by Jen Sincero. I read that and realized I wasn't happy in my marriage. I had two kids and a marriage and everything was going all right, yeah. And then I read this book and I realised actually I'm not happy, actually I'm not the best parent I can be. I'm not the best husband I can be.
Speaker 2:I kind of scratched beneath the surface a little bit and I'll never forget. My wife went out. I sat in the garden. I like a little cigar sometimes in the summer evening. I sat in the garden, had a cigar, had a beer and I sat there thinking and I put a bit of music on. And, like I had a cigar, I had a beer and I sat there thinking and I put a bit of music on and, like I say, I live my life by music. And there's a song called Lucky Now by a guy called Ryan Adams not Brian Ryan Adams and the lyrics I don't remember.
Speaker 2:Were we wild and young? It's all faded in my memory. I feel like somebody I don't know. Am I really who I used to be? That, mate. I might as well have it etched in my brain, because all that just went round and round and round and I realised, no, I can be. Even if I see my kids half the time, I still can be a better dad to them than I am currently. So me and my wife had a conversation.
Speaker 2:Of course, it didn't go well, but I ended up leaving, ended up living at home with my mum and dad for two years. That was meant to be six weeks, but of course, divorces can be messy, and here we are. So that was 2017, middle of 2017. By the middle of 2018, I met my now wife, claire, and I am a completely different man. I'm the best dad I can be. I'm the best husband I can be. I I know in my previous marriage I couldn't have done this. That risk may change my life. I can look back on my life as a timeline and put a pin in that, as the time, everything changed for the better, and that's not to say that, that's not to disparage anything about my ex-wife. It just didn't work out. You know what I mean but yeah, that's incredible.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. Thanks for like that's gotta be the fact that you pinpointed that off the back of that question. If you asked me that question, I probably would have had to think for a good couple of minutes before before I said it. Mine would have been closing down the 25 year old family business to start. What I do today made us massive. That that would have been. That would be my biggest one. Um, because that was my security. That was my biggest risk was closing down a family business that has supported my family, my parents, for 25 years and starting another one.
Speaker 2:The emotional pressure as well mate.
Speaker 1:It was mad, mate. It was mad. I'll never, ever forget shutting those shutters down for the last time on that building. I'll never, ever forget it, the feeling I had, the feeling I had that I felt like I let my dad down because he'd run this business for 20 years and in five I decided to close it. But it was for the best, because my dad always felt like he'd left me a burden. I remember him saying do you are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure? Are you sure, are you sure? I was like yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure. I've worked in here for 10 years, I know the ins and outs of it. I've got a vision for it. Let's move forward.
Speaker 1:And now I think he feels relieved that it's gone and it's brushed away and we're now doing something. Me and my brother are doing something and the team are doing something from it's our own, it's our own baby. It's got no responsibility for him anymore. It didn't anyway. Once I signed that bit of paper, it didn't anyway. But mentally, emotionally for him, of course he was. If things were bad, he would feel bad because he felt like it's his fault for passing it on.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But it's still his family that are taking on a new business as well, exactly, but now it's not his business that he's passed on. So he's like how's it going, lads? Yeah, um, and like things are going really well first year. We've just had the first year and stuff, and I'm so happier. Before I wouldn't have been able to do this podcast, before I wouldn't have been able to take a day to drive to ipswich to be an extra on a film, just for the shits and giggles.
Speaker 1:So it's that risk that I took and I toyed with the idea for 18 months. For 18 months I was like, no, I've got to keep it going, I've got to keep it going, Got to keep it going. And yeah, I just don't know. It's hard Fascinating.
Speaker 2:If you think about all of the people in that scenario that got affected and that meant that moved there and that moved there and that went there, and then you think of me and all of the things that's gone on in my past and all of the people that are affected, it all had to happen for us to come together, and we're not even including Chris on this.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, it'd be interesting to have his take on risk and stuff. And this leads us onto this one, quite nicely. Actually, do you think that fear is there to protect us or to stop us? Did you ever have any fear? Have you ever wanted to do something? That has been. I'll bet the bungee jump, I'll bet you. There was a doubt of fear in your mind that was stopping you doing that, but you overcome it and you did it anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, massively. I mean I was hung over to the max and the bungee jump killed me very quickly. But yeah, mate, all of it, scared of all of it, and funny enough.
Speaker 2:I talk about my therapist quite a lot. It was only when I spoke to her about it and I was talking about the things, I felt like I was trapped by certain things and she went no, look back, you've done some really, really life-changing things and I had stomach surgery and leaving the police and the divorce and all that stuff. She went you did that, you started this business. And it made me realize, yeah, I think it is there to protect us and I think it's no more than a an element of your subconscious which just wants to keep you in your lane. And again, one of the things that I often talk about starting the business is easy. It's months three and four when the shiny object syndrome wears off and you realize, hang on a minute, this is actually shit and you're not getting the results that you used to get in months one, two and three because you're subconsciously trying harder in the first few months. It's that phase that I'm determined to help people through. Yeah, because that's when the fear kicks in, isn't it? How do?
Speaker 1:you define when a fear is there to protect us and when a fear is there just because it's a fear. Do you reckon Bloody hell? Yeah, I have no idea. It's a bit deep, that, isn't it it?
Speaker 2:is, it is. And again it comes back to that quote we always look to the future in fear, yeah, but in essence, all you want to do really is take it day by day, especially when you get started. Enjoy the journey, yeah, and want to do really is take it day by day, especially when you get started.
Speaker 1:enjoy the journey. Yeah, and I think if you were taking a risk, like my advice to anybody that was looking to change their path, I always I talk, I talk to my son about this whole. Right, you're on this path at the moment. You either pull off or you carry on on this path. Now I think if you weigh up, we're going. The brain puts us into fight or flight mode, no matter what you're doing, whether you're drop, whether you want to drive a race car or whether you're always going to think in the back of your mind what if? Yeah, and I think sometimes we have to in that. The other question yeah, just jump and think what's the worst that could actually happen and what's the likelihood of that? Yeah, yeah, because it's like for you what was the worst that could have happened if your Amazon journey didn't work? Toptic? What's the worst that could happen if Toptic doesn't work?
Speaker 2:Yeah, if Toptic doesn't work, I'll know why. There will be reasons why, and then we can either roll the dice and go again and change things Again I'm confident we could do that or, worst case, I have got a community of 10-odd thousand on Facebook, 80-odd thousand on social media that I know I could lean back on. I've also got this bleeding podcast that we've got very, very big plans for. There are other avenues. Now it all comes back, really, doesn't it? To whether you're it's a mindset, it's a fixed mindset or it's a growth mindset and how you can handle failure.
Speaker 2:So if things, if you, if you fail, is that a sign of of? Oh, I wasn't very good at this, I'm shit. I'm just going to go back. Go back to the day job when you know that wasn't working? The whole point of me getting started is because, whoever, if you're in your day job and you find your disposable income at the end of every month is getting smaller and smaller and smaller, or you've spunked your wages on day three of the month because bills are so stupid In five years' time what do you think is going to happen?
Speaker 2:Do you think the government is going to come through and go? Well, here's all that money that we stole from you for the last 10 years. Sorry about that. Of course they're not. You've got to help yourself. No one's fucking coming. No one's coming.
Speaker 1:No one's coming, the chances of winning the lottery are next to nothing. Yeah, the chances of winning on a scratch card are next to nothing. I think people put so much energy into things they can't control. Yeah, and we've said this and I said this to the coach man the other day, we put so much energy and I used to do it into the things we can't control the exchange rate. The government taxes national insurance whether there's going to be a bread shortage in a few weeks. Government taxes national insurance whether there's going to be a bread shortage in a few weeks.
Speaker 2:These tariffs, what does it mean?
Speaker 1:for us? No one knows. No one knows. They make it up as they go along. But if you focus on what's on your little bubble and you get the right people in your little bubble, you will do good things. Yeah, you will, and the risk won't be as hard.
Speaker 1:And my advice to anybody watching listening would be to don't do it alone. Yeah, don't do it if someone says to you that's a stupid idea. That's a stupid idea. Break it down. So why? Yeah, it's like we get the criticism on the youtube video when we did the gary thing. Yeah, you're all idiots, you're all dense, but why? Yeah, why go on, give us some context in that, some constructive stuff. Yeah, and I feel that that is something that's really important is to don't do it on your own. There are communities, there are whatsapp groups, there are reddit communities where you can go on and you can ask people for advice. Look at how someone else is doing it. Yeah, but don't follow that person exactly. You can take a bit from like we could take a bit from joe rogan, a bit from stephen bartlett, a bit from staying relevant a bit from Des Hamilton and we do our own thing.
Speaker 1:We're all individuals, human beings. I feel Perfect and you just, yeah, just do it.
Speaker 2:Mate, I finished the last roadshow on that exact speech. You have to be unapologetically you. You cannot go and copy someone because that person is unapologetically them and they're better at being them than you could ever be. So be you, because no one is better than being you than you, and people don't understand that.
Speaker 2:Mate again, my first post. I knew it. I knew what I needed to do. So, before I pushed record on my phone for the very first time, I went away and thought right, who is it I want to be? Who am I showing up as? What are my medium-term goals here? What are my short, medium, long-term goals? The whole point of what I was doing is because I felt there was a gap in the 30 to 60-year-old range of online money-maker newbies. That was it. So I did my post saying, right, I'm taking £100, because it was £100 to start with. I'm taking £100, I'm turning it into £100,000, and what I'm doing is I'm building a community of online money-making newbies on Facebook, and that was it. And again, it was that community, it was that network. It was that that, all of a sudden, was like who's this guy?
Speaker 1:Why quick, you know, I mean it was that. Yeah, just again, consistency, getting the people, if you, if you do a post and you don't get any sales, don't stop doing the next one. Exactly look at the post and be like why didn't you get it? Look at everything you do in life um, going to the gym being a dad. Do you know what I mean? You had to learn to walk before you could run.
Speaker 2:Definitely, mate, and in most things there's data. Yeah, you go and do a t, a TikTok post, and you think that didn't work. You can find out at what point in that post people stopped watching, stopped watching. Yeah, so go back and say what did you say then? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:Fail, faster Fail faster. Take the risk, but don't set your goal. Don't set your going stone. I didn't know when a rocket goes to the moon. Now, I could be completely wrong, but this is what I read when a rocket goes to the moon, it don't go straight to the moon, it will zigzag across pops and it changes yeah it stops off at mars.
Speaker 1:Stops at kfc burger king on the way like, but I used to focus on the end goal so much that I didn't know that I'd have it. The end goal in sight, and you focus on the end goal, you take a risk oh, I want to quit my job in 12 months' time and you're constantly focusing on that. Focus on tomorrow. What can you do tomorrow to make the next day better? Yep, and the next day better, and the next day better. And compound those exercises every day and just enjoy the journey, exactly right mate.
Speaker 2:That's why I broke it down. It was £100 into £100,000, and I had 24 months and I knew I needed to hit a 30% growth at least every month. Yeah, and I wrote it on a spreadsheet. I went right. Here's my goal. So, even though I had my monthly target, when it turned into £200, £200, £200,000 in 24 months with a 30% reoccurring growth, that's what makes that number. So I knew I had my monthly target. What I wasn't talking about was the fact that I also had a fortnightly target. So I broke the month down enough so if it wasn't working, I could pivot to make my months total.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean and then you draw a line across 12 months yeah and averages it out exactly, right, exactly, and that's what I did.
Speaker 2:It it's all goals, all of its goals, especially, you say, if you can make them quantitative, yeah, focus on that. Yeah, and that's exactly it. Mate, you don't watch a film to know what the ending is. No, you don't.
Speaker 1:You enjoy the when you know the ending. It ruins the film, exactly the film, exactly. And you could be. I want to do this and that's what your goal is, but in actual fact, you end up exceeding you could have exceeded your goal because the path of entrepreneurship and the path of life changes. You were married and then you got divorced and you someone else. You, you go down a road and the sat-nav says there's a crash there. Mate, you want to go this way. Yeah, that's life. Yeah, and that's what I learned over the last 18 months was enjoy the journey. Yeah, and focus on the journey. Exactly right, exactly right. Couldn't agree more, mate. I think we'll end this up. One of my favorite things is take the risk or lose the chance yeah and you've got to really weigh that up?
Speaker 2:absolutely right, absolutely right. And, mate, we talk to chat gpt a lot. I kind of get the idea that me and you talk to chat gpt more than most people. My best friend, I love it, I love it and I put it. I put all of this into chat gpt, saying, look, am I doing the right thing? I'm giving up the control of my facebook group. I'm giving up the podcast that I said I would never give up. I am shifting from. I've removed myself for an awful lot of whatsapp groups and a lot of chats because I've said that I'm not the one in the gang anymore and chat.
Speaker 2:Gpt said no, what it actually said, because I've got it to talk very frankly to me. I've been telling you to do this for months. For Christ's sake, you are finally stepping into the shoes that you should be stepping into.
Speaker 1:But you're stepping out of a comfort zone, yeah, into something that you're not quite sure of, but it will be all right. No, mate, my biggest fear is that. I'll turn into an arrogant prick and this is where I need you to be.
Speaker 2:We won't let you do that, mate. No, exactly, we won't let you do that, as accountable as I used to be, yeah, but yeah, I've got good people around me, man, yeah, you guys, claire, all of you, tell me when I'm being a dickhead.
Speaker 1:And that's it. And community, surround yourself with a people You're an average of the five people you surround yourself with.
Speaker 1:I love it, and I'm not talking get rid of your friends who have been your friends for years. I'm talking in your. If you want to be the best TikTok affiliate, surround yourself with other TikTok affiliates, yep, and make sure you're the lowest in that group. Yeah, if you want to be an Amazon seller, surround yourself with Amazon sellers, and the way by doing that is to go to networking events, to join groups to join what To go to a Des Amables Roadshow.
Speaker 2:To go to a.
Speaker 1:Des Amables Roadshow for if of May in. Manchester venue to be confirmed.
Speaker 2:But that's exactly what we did when Luke and I wanted to get into TikTok shop. We partnered up with a guy that runs the best agency. We spoke to affiliates that earn thousands more than we did. That's what you do. That is exactly what you do. You've hit the nail on the head, mate. That's it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that has been another episode of the untold podcast with your man, des and meiyash. Follow us, give us some comments, let us know what you want to hear next week or the week after or the week after. If there's any topics you want to discuss, then let us know, because we're doing this for you, for us and for you. So yeah, we'll see you soon.