From Foster Care to Financial Freedom | Mario Wilcox | S2 #2

In this episode of Founder Fumbles, we sit down with Mario Wilcox — Founder of Wilcox Wellness, Licensed Master Social Worker, Mental Health Consultant, Real Estate Investor, and Foster Care Alumni — to explore the intersection of mental health, entrepreneurship, real estate, and purpose-driven leadership.

Mario shares how his life experiences inspired him to build a business dedicated to helping others while navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship. We dive into the realities of building a mission-driven company, overcoming founder setbacks, staying resilient during difficult seasons, and why prioritizing mental health is essential for long-term success.

🔥 In this episode:

The story behind Wilcox Wellness
Mario's journey from foster care to entrepreneurship
What mental health means to him
His approach to real estate investing
The biggest challenges he's faced as a founder
The business skills he's still developing
How he stays motivated through difficult seasons
Daily habits and routines that keep him focused
Advice for aspiring entrepreneurs
What success looks like for Mario this year
What's next for Mario and Wilcox Wellness

📖 Connect with Mario Wilcox:
🌐 Website: https://wilcoxwellness.co/
📧 Email: wilcoxtherapy@outlook.com
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilcox.wellness/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mario-wilcox-lmsw-6080b2332/

🎙️ Podcast: Founder Fumbles
Hosted by Dahmari Taplin

🚀 Grab the Founder Fumbles Starter Kit:
https://ff-starter-kit.sender.site/

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Welcome to the Founder Fumbles podcast, where we go deep into real life entrepreneur struggles and comeback strategies. I'm your host, DeMario Taplin, and today we have the founder of Wilcox Wellness, a real estate investor, mental health consultant, a licensed master social worker, and foster care alumni. Ladies and gentlemen, we have Mario Wilcox.

unknown 0:52

Hello.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

For sure, bro. Appreciate it. So we met at the uh the Black Tech Saturday, it was Empowerment Summit? Empowerment Summit event. Um what brought you there? What you where did you go there?

SPEAKER_00 1:07

Uh I actually had a buddy who uh mentioned the event for me, and you know, we've kind of been networking and just trying to get out there and you know meet and connect with people. So we thought it was a good opportunity. So we stopped by and I had to work the first day, so I couldn't really interact much, but the second day I met you, so it was pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 1:27

You seemed like you was a little tired, man. Yeah, you know, I was like, this dude's tired. He was a busy man. Yeah, you know it. Yeah, yeah. So uh what did you take away from that event?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

You know, just a lot of the innovative ideas, you know. I just love being around uh creative energy and people who are really, you know, just out here doing the work. So it's good to be able to, you know, just hear some of those stories and just be able to keep up with what's going on. So um, where are you from originally?

SPEAKER_02 1:55

Because you don't got a Detroit accent.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Yeah, so originally I'm from uh Connecticut. Okay, I was born in Tacoma, Washington. Okay. Um, but I I was uh raised in Hartford, Connecticut, and then I grew up in Bloomfield. Oh, okay. Yeah. How long have you been out here? For about two years. Two years. Okay, how you like it? I love it. You know, I was in Lansing uh since about maybe 2009. Uh I went to MSU, was out there, and then I a couple years ago I bought a house out here and got into the real estate game in the Detroit area.

SPEAKER_02 2:28

Yeah, you are in the real estate too. Uh what kind of real estate investor are you? So I'm just a landlord.

SPEAKER_00 2:34

I started with just one house in Lansing, and now I have uh five properties. I'll be about seven doors. And yeah, a lot of Lansing or what? I have two in Lansing, and then I have three out here.

SPEAKER_02 2:46

Damn. You had to put me on, bro. I just moved out here. I'm trying to get in this real estate. Okay, let's do it. Let's chop it up. Let's definitely chop it up, bro. Because me and my wife, we're looking for locations out here. I'm trying to get my first home too. Uh so I've been traveling the world for like some years, bro. But I'm I'm finally settled down here. You settled back home. You know what I'm saying? I'm trying to, I'm trying to do something, you know? Yeah. And I I think I don't want a house to live in either. You know, I I'd rather uh become a landlord like yourself. So whatever you can, whatever you can uh share for sure. Yeah, we'll do. Yeah, so um tell us about Wilcox Wellness.co. Yes. That's your business. Yes. What uh what's you what does your business do?

SPEAKER_00 3:30

So Wilcox Wellness uh is a private practice. Um I'm a mental health therapist. And about three years ago, I um I started my own private practice. So prior to that, I was working for under a group practice, you know, as a therapist. I've been a therapist uh for about 10 years. So I got into the private practice world and yeah, just opened up my own private practice and been doing it for about three years and started with just seeing clients doing therapy and really just started seeing more of the business aspect, and so I've been trying to just grow that recently.

SPEAKER_02 4:08

Yeah, so what made you want to do like your own thing?

SPEAKER_00 4:11

Yeah, I mean, it was it was just you know, normal evolution. You know, I got in it and and it's it's pretty good. Like when you work under a group, they do all the administrative tasks. So they do the billing, they set up the scheduling, all you do is show up. So now you gotta do all that stuff. I gotta do all that. It's a 70-30 cut with you when you're under a group. Right. And it was just time. You know, I wanted to do my own thing and have my own brand, and that's where I wanted to start.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

Oh, okay. So um, so what type of people are you helping? You know what I mean? Like what type of mental health issues do they have? Or you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 4:53

Yeah, typically when people come to me, a lot of it is uh dealing with trauma. Um, so you know, a lot of people are dealing with grief, loss, you know, traumatic events that have happened, whether it's divorce, um uh anxiety, depression, we see a lot. And just a lot of environmental factors, you know, it's a lot going on with people, and um and it's it's been great to be able to see a lot of people reach out more now to get mental health, so wide range of of issues, but a lot of you know, a lot of people are struggling with the same stuff as well.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Yeah. I didn't take mental health seriously for years, man. Um, and then COVID happened. And uh I was just visiting here, United States, because I was actually living in China uh during COVID, and then I came home, you know, to visit my mom during COVID and I got stuck here. So I was like stuck in my mom's house. I'm 30, I think it was 32 or something like that. Um but I was stuck in my mom's house and just being that old, living in a room at your mom's house, and I was separated from my wife. Uh she was my girlfriend at the time, but I just got a lot of I got um I don't know if it was I think I was like I felt like I was in a hole that I couldn't get out of, you know what I mean? And I was just uh I was I became depressed and I got anxiety for the first time. I was having a hard time breathing before I went to sleep just for no reason, just because it was on my mind so much, you know. I probably should have seeked a therapist around that time, but I got through it and I ended up just having to move to a whole nother state. I moved to Denver, Colorado, and I just took no no lie, man. I bought me a car and I just started driving to Denver, you know, and the moment I started driving, all my anxiety went away. It was crazy. No more anxiety, no more depress, uh depression, it just vanished. Yeah. And I didn't I didn't know that, I don't know, I didn't know what was going on.

SPEAKER_00 6:59

Well, and sometimes we're just a victim of proximity. So sometimes you just gotta get out of there. And sometimes that's what it is. You right? You can go do all the therapy if you're in the wrong environment.

SPEAKER_02 7:12

You gotta change your environment. Yep. I just started driving and I was gone, man. It was just it was over.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

It was it, yeah. It was over. So what was it looking back at it? What was it that allowed that? Like, why were you able to let everything go by driving away?

SPEAKER_02 7:30

I just why was I able to let everything go? I mean, honestly, man, I just started looking like because so the hardest part is I planned on going back to China, you know, but they had closed all the airports and I just couldn't I couldn't get back there, you know? I couldn't get back and I wanted to go back. I had no plans on staying in the United States. And once I just said, I can't get back. I started like, you know, job searching and stuff, and I and honestly, I had spent a lot of money out of my savings for my business. Yeah, I spent a lot of money on savings for my business, and I just my savings was going down the drain. I didn't have a job, my business had technical issues, and I was staying in my mom's house during all that, and he was looking at me like oh, he's I felt like I was a bum after having such a successful life. I was bumming and out for like for like a year or two straight. And it was uh well, it wasn't a year or two straight, but during the whole COVID time, I was a bum. I felt like a bum. Yeah, I was like, what is going on? Like, I've been doing so great. I traveled the world, I inspired all these people, I got my business, yeah, all this type of stuff, and I was just I was hurt. You know what I mean? I think that's what I can't believe. And I was separated from my girl, yeah, that I planned on. I I had I I thought I was gonna be able to get back to. So you needed a fresh start. Yeah, I needed a fresh start, man. I was just dying on the inside, you know. But yeah, man, so um, how did you get into all this mental health stuff? Did you go to school? What made you want to get into all of this?

SPEAKER_00 9:05

Yeah, so I uh I grew up in foster care. So I was taken from my parents uh six years old. And, you know, I was raised in Hartford. It was a lady that took me in, and then I bounced around for a little bit and ended up um in Bloomfield. So that's you know, the family that that raised me, and I kind of stayed there until I graduated college. Um and so, I mean, I had two influential social workers, and I didn't know I was getting into mental health when I got into social work, but it just that's what happened. So I kind of got into social work, I started working with um adjudicated youth, so youth that were in the criminal in the justice system, okay, juvenile justice system. And um they, you know, the therapist would come get them. And I just started becoming intrigued, you know. And at the time I was like a group leader, so I would like talk with the kids. So I was kind of doing my own form of therapy, but I knew that there was something, you know, more, and I just wanted to see what that was.

SPEAKER_02 10:17

Okay. So um, so what's been your your biggest challenge, you know, as a uh mental health worker, therapist, and all of that? What's been like your biggest challenge? That's a good question.

SPEAKER_00 10:31

I think, I think right now, you know, the biggest challenge is to just help people understand the importance of maintaining our mental health. Right? I think that it we have we haven't had the fundamentals, right? And so nobody knows the language. Like people don't understand basic, you know, hierarchy of needs and stages of development. And so I think for me, you know, as just an expert, I just want to see more people understand these things so that they can understand how to just have awareness and then take more control of their mental health.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah. When do you think is a good time to start taking control of your mental health? You know, is it when you start having issues, or do you is it something you need to do to make sure you don't run into mental health, mental health issues, or you know what I mean? Is it a way to prep for it so something bad doesn't happen?

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Absolutely. We want to be proactive. And I tell people the brain, you know, and I I a lot of my research comes from Bruce Perry. He's a trauma expert. Um and, you know, he talks a lot about, you know, the brain develops from back to front. So we have you got the survival part, you know, the brainstem. That's like as a baby, they just cry, you know, when it's cold or when they need to get help. Right. They just all survival when they're hungry. And then you got the emotional brain, the mid-brain. That's when we start to develop our emotions, right? How we're how we feel. And then the last part of our brain is the frontal cortex, which is the logic, the thinking. And that doesn't develop until fully developed till 25. And, you know, and males, maybe a little earlier and and women, but uh, for the most part, it's developing. And so from a young age, when there's early childhood trauma, it can really impact us. So to be proactive is really just to, you know, protect our kids at that young age. Okay. So that they're not exposed to any kind of trauma. Um, so it doesn't manifest later on, if that makes sense. That does make sense.

SPEAKER_02 12:49

Yeah. So you get you gotta prep your kids. You know what I mean? Yeah. Wow. I I wish I wish uh I I wasn't prepped for for not having mental health problems when I when I got older. But um I feel like me not being prepped or me being like a being so such an independent, young, uh, young um, I won't say a teenager, but you know, when I was younger, I I was like kind of prepping myself, just being independent. So, but yeah, man, I I feel like um I just learned through all my life experience on how to deal with stuff. You know, a lot of people think that, you know, when it comes to like mental health or therapy, that they don't need to go to therapy. They can just go talk to somebody or or just just kind of talk to their wife or talk to their friends. What's your take on that?

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Yeah, I I think I think there is so many way forms to help our mental health. It comes in many forms, right? You know, just by real relaxing. Right, right. Right? Listening to the music that you like, you know, your environment, your space, right? We all know if you come into a clean room or clean house, you feel better. So I think that, yeah, family, friends can certainly support in our mental health and in our challenges. I think having a therapist gives you a neutral perspective. You know, our job is to be non-judgmental. And so it's it's difficult for our loved ones to do that, if that makes sense. So even me, when I have my own relationships, it's hard for me to be a therapist, right? To my friends, a loved one or something. Yeah, because I have that relationship, and you know, and so I think with a therapist, and I tell people the bottom line is, you know, my goal is to help them raise awareness of unconscious behavior. And so I don't have nothing clouding, I can get right in it from a neutral perspective, non-judgmental. And so I think professionally that is the benefit.

SPEAKER_02 15:00

No, that makes sense because it I I I have a friend, you know, who tells me all his problems all the time. And you know, and he's telling me, I don't know if he wants advice or what it is, but I can't give him probably the advice that you can give him because I know him and I know the stuff that he's been doing all his life. You know what I mean? I I'm judgmental because I'm like, dude, you've been doing this shit since you was a kid. Like you still haven't the same, and you like, you know, you ask different questions than I would ask. It just it that makes so much more sense. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 15:34

Yeah, it's it's a training, and you know, and and I always tell, we and we we meet people where they're at. So for instance, when it's if we want someone to change, we're you need to change now, right? You need to stop, you know, doing this or doing that. And you know, we kind of meet people where they're at, so they're not ready to change. We just meet them there, and we, you know, being trained to having the patience can help those move that stages of change versus trying to force somebody, and we know how that goes, right? When we try to force people to do some behavior change.

SPEAKER_02 16:12

Yeah, I'm just thinking about many people that could use your services. You know, I'm probably gonna be sending some people your way, bro. Yeah, yeah. Like for sure. Yeah. So um, you know, do you have a co-founder or anything? You doing this all by yourself?

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Yeah. Why? Why is that?

SPEAKER_00 16:28

You know, I it's funny because during the pandemic, I have uh a buddy, Christopher Robinson. He actually uh has a private practice as well, therapy by Rob. And we, you know, we started talking about this in the pandemic, you know, just really where we're going. I just had a vision, you know, because I wanted to help people on a bigger scale, right? And I think once I got into private practice, because it was hard enough just transitioning. Like when you got a group practice and then you go in on your own, yeah, it's a transition. Because the clients that I was working with kind of had to wait. I had to get everything set up, get paneling the insurance. It was a lot of work. When I got through that, I'm like, oh. And then it was trying to get, you know, build back up my click case load. Because I had intentionally reduced my caseload because I knew I was gonna do my own thing, so I kind of just set a threshold and didn't go above it. And then it was like, okay, I want to get full, I want to get booked. And then I got booked. And so now I'm I was booked, busy, which is great. But then I started thinking, okay, you how can you scale? You know, as I'm sure it's every entrepreneur's, you know, natural evolution. You know, you go the time for money, and then it's like, okay, how do I really get this out to the masses? And so since the private practice, which was the original reason why I started Wilcox Wellness, it has kind of evolved into me now going into the community and creating curriculums. Okay. I do speaking, engagements, um, and really just try to spread the awareness and give people the information they need.

SPEAKER_02 18:22

Why didn't you and your uh your friend partner up? Because y'all doing basically doing the same thing. Y'all should have just collaborated or just became part of the co-founders or something, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Yeah, I mean, you know, we we certainly work together. We do we do trainings together, but I think, you know, he has his own private practice. So we're in a good space to now where we do, when we do team up, we're gonna be much more powerful because we got those entities. So we're we're we're cooking stuff up in the background with being a partner.

SPEAKER_02 18:54

Okay, okay, cool. What do you think business skills uh you lack as a business owner?

SPEAKER_00 19:01

Oh, great question. So it's funny because I as a mental health therapist, I have an understanding of like how systems work. What I mean by system is just like bigger systems, like child welfare system, the criminal justice system, education system. Okay. And so I have a more of a macro lens. I understand systems, but in this business world, there is systems on the computer. It's like tech systems that's that's working with each other. And I don't have to do that. That's what you don't okay. Yeah, I don't have that lens. So I've been really, you know, learning from the best. I really, you know, um, and so I've been working with some people that can kind of help me, you know, just with that learning curve. And, you know, obviously I gotta rely on the the tech people, but um that's really it. And it's the struggle and you just gotta, it's time, yeah, you gotta learn this stuff and play around with it.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

The reason I'm asking that is because you know you catch your friend and that y'all doing the same thing kind of. Like, is he better with the business stuff and the business systems and you more with the world systems? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Yeah, so I got uh it's funny because I I partner, I actually have a buddy who I work with back home. Um my buddy Gary. He does websites and marketing, and he, I mean, he's a tech guy. He's been doing this since like high school. So he's kind of the guru. There's another guy I work with in Detroit. Yeah. So yeah, I I just kind of been working with more of the experts in the system area.

SPEAKER_02 20:42

So that's what you mean when you say system, you mean like marketing tools and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

High level, yeah. Go high level and I got high level. So just setting that back and stuff so it's automated and yeah, you got your go high level set up?

SPEAKER_02 21:04

Yeah. I'm trying to get somebody to set mine up. Yeah. You got a person or what?

SPEAKER_00 21:08

I there is one. Yeah, I do. Yeah. Hick me up. Yeah, I got you. Pick me up, bro. I'm trying to get high level where it's at.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

I hear that's where it's at.

SPEAKER_00 21:18

And it's one of them things where if you don't know how to use it, it it's just sitting there. And I had it just sitting there. And it just and it costs too. And it costs.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

So I'm like, yeah, I gotta get these systems working for me. So you need like a uh a CMO, yeah, a chief marketing officer. So, first and foremost, you should definitely try the Zega app, my application. Okay. Uh, it's a matchmaker app application. We help entrepreneurs find co-founders, uh, CMOs, CTOs, all that. So it's a matchmaking application for entrepreneurs. Go check it out, bro. Go see if you can find you a CMO in the Detroit area. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I appreciate that. Yeah, and it and it's growing here. Too in this in the Michigan area.

SPEAKER_00 22:01

That's exactly what I need.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

Yeah, yeah. Go check it out, bro. Go check it out. So I can tell everybody that you're gonna be on there, right? You know it. That's a bit. That's a bit. That's a bit. So have you ever questioned your purpose doing all of this stuff, this mental health, this wellness stuff?

SPEAKER_00 22:16

No. You haven't? No, I think early on, it's funny because I tell people, I'm like, you know, getting into social work. I think I graduated, I had my master's, I was like 26 maybe. And, you know, I was a I started as a foster care worker. And I did that intentionally because, you know, growing up in foster care, I wanted to go in and work in the system and be on the other side. Right. And my I mean, it was my first job was about $30,000, maybe $33,000 or something like that. It wasn't much. And so early on, I'm like, and this ain't paying me nothing, right? And so, like, but I knew early on, especially when I got my first therapy job, that I, as long as I could pay the bills, this is what I wanted to do. Okay. Like I was really fulfilled. Like I was helping kids, and it just felt good. It felt like no doubt that this was your. No doubt. I'm doing God's work. And so long as long as I can pay the bills and survive, I'm good. And so that's where it started. And like from there, I I obviously wanted to be more financially secure. And so that's kind of why I got into like the real estate and stuff, but never question a why and all.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

That's great, bro. You know, it's crazy. I asked that same question in every single episode, bro. And uh season two, this is episode two of season two. And season uh my in my first episode, I got my first person that says, I've never questioned my purpose. I'm living, I'm doing my um, this is the gift that God gave me. Uh and it's the second, you the second person in a row that that said that you never question your purpose. So this is I'm I got something going on here that's new, you know what I mean? Everybody in season one question their purpose. Wow. Season two, nobody has questions, nobody two for two. I have never questioned my purpose. So that's dope, man. That's dope. You live in, you got a gift from God, and you acting, you doing it, you're living in your life's purpose. So that's that's dope, bro. Like I I absolutely love that. So um, what's the biggest lesson that you learned being a founder?

SPEAKER_00 24:34

Ah, good question. Biggest lesson is, and I know people, the entrepreneurs, can, but you really, there's no role mat. You know, I mean, it was funny because my buddy C Rob, when he kind of got this going, he actually he really did, like as far as coming up with their private practice, because he he knew the steps, so that was helpful. Yeah. But after that, like, okay, what do I do with this now? I didn't even see that coming. So I get in this new space where I'm like, okay, what do I do now? Where do I start? How do I get it rolling? And that has been kind of, I mean, it's it's been chaotic.

SPEAKER_02 25:22

It is not no step-by-step process. You know, you think you you talk to somebody and you think you this person knows everything. You can get step one through ten, how to do it, but it's so many steps in between that, and it's like unlimited stuff that you can do. Unlimited. You know what I mean? So one thing I'm I'm working on right now is like just the packaging. You know what I mean? Yeah. Just the packaging of the stuff that you offer, the lead generation. Yeah. And uh, and just everything dealing with packaging. I feel like I've been doing that wrong.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

Um, since I first started. And I'm like, man, I'm just now worried about this. Now, you know I'm I ain't gonna say I'm just not. I knew it's been an issue, but I feel like right now I'm finally finding the solution to like packaging. Yeah. And it took me years to figure this shit out. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know, that's crazy, man. What you think about like packaging and stuff?

SPEAKER_00 26:15

Absolutely. I mean, you can have the best like play, like you can have the best entree. If you don't serve it on the right platform. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 26:28

Ain't nobody gonna buy it. Ain't nobody gonna buy it. If you don't know who you're serving to, yeah, if you don't know the group of people, yeah, you gotta find out a way to get a list of emails, list of phone numbers, list of names. You got to. And you gotta figure out how to wrap it up in the box and give it to them.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Yeah, it's the experience, customer experience. It's crazy, man.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

That's what I'm like dealing with right now. I'm like, I just had a whole meet with my team yesterday, like, yo, we gotta get this package and stuff together. Because we got stuff, and people are buying it, but they're buying it too slow. Yeah. We have to, it's like you gotta force people to buy. And people won't do, people won't do, they won't buy unless you tell them to buy. You can't just leave it there and then and expect them to pick it up and buy it. Yeah. No, you gotta say, hey, you should buy this because of this or anything. You just gotta package it right and give it to them. And I I just feel like I've been doing that wrong and I'm finally getting it together now. You know what I'm saying? So I'm happy about that, man. So uh what keeps you motivated as an entrepreneur? Because I I know that days get hard. Oh, yeah. So what's that thing in your head that's like, I need to keep going because of this? Do you have something?

SPEAKER_00 27:41

Yeah, I I just I guess I I re you know, I try to remember why I'm doing it. You know, look, you know, it's not easy. You're you know, you're paving the way. And I think I have realized, and that's one thing that I built tolerance for, I can say. Because early on, I would avoid shut down quick, right, you know, and just shy away from stuff and avoid the failure. Now I just I know it's gonna be hurdle and step after step. So I just it just come with the territory. Yeah. So I've kind of embraced it. Right. You got kids? No children. No kids. Okay. Are you married? No.

SPEAKER_02 28:29

Okay, no, you're not married, no kids. Yeah. Dang. Because it that's crazy because a lot of men's, their why is their kids. Yeah. Their wife. Yeah. Their family. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? So like I don't have any kids either. You know what I mean? But I'm still pushing. But kids is usually what gets entrepreneurs over their hump. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's just like, I even saw, uh, I think Gary V, somebody said this. I don't sorry, Gary V. But somebody said, like, you want to be successful, have a kid.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Because it forces you to do stuff. Yeah, especially if you want to pass it down. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

I don't want this to fail so they can have it. Yeah. But you know, for me, it's just like, I want to bring my kids into a successful life. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? I'm well into a good life. I don't want them to struggle along with me. You know what I mean? So that's that's my mindset behind it all. But you know, so your why again, like, it's you just tell me your why one more time.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

My why of doing the social work?

SPEAKER_02 29:35

Yeah. What's your what's your why?

SPEAKER_00 29:37

Yeah, it's just, you know, it was my calling. Like I said, just growing up in your social work field, you know, it I just wanted to help people.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:46

You know, and it just kind of started from there, and you know, it's just kind of a seed that just really grew. Right.

SPEAKER_02 29:54

And to, you know, just what about um daily routines? Do you have like something that that you have, do you have to like wake up and jog? You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 30:06

I am a jogger. Oh, you do? Yes. Okay. I definitely work out, I definitely jog. Yeah, and the routine it is, it's working out. I have, so I wake up, I, you know, get started really early. I have uh so I'm a mental health consultant for the state. Um and that's kind of my my day job. Okay. And so I do that, and then I take a break in the middle of the day. Uh after that, kind of work out, jog, you know, hit some weights, and then after that, I do the therapy. And then at night, I kind of just relax, settle down. And the weekends, I really I like to play basketball. That really, I look forward to playing basketball. Where do you hoop at? I hoop at the Northwest Activity Center. Okay. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 30:54

And we have to get that.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Yeah, we've been hooping outside, but it's, you know, it's probably too cold for that now. But yeah, I look forward to that. And on the weekends, just stay and continue to be creative. You know, that's why I appreciate this and you bringing me on because, you know, on the weekends I really have to, because I don't have much time during the week, so I gotta just really keep the business side flowing on the weekends.

SPEAKER_02 31:20

Yeah, yeah, me too. Like on the weekends, you have to schedule all your social media, do a couple, meet, do some virtual interviews and stuff like that. You nobody wants to on the weekend. You just want to sit back and relax, but you gotta do something, man. You gotta do something if you want your business to keep going. What advice would you give uh these new entrepreneurs out here trying to start a business? You know what I mean? Like if you can go back and tell yourself something, what would that be? You know what I mean? I that's kind of the same question. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

Well, yeah, I mean, I I think you gotta build yourself up. Okay. You know, I I think that I am I'm 40, I just turned 40 this year. So Wilcox Wellness was probably started when I was 37, 38. Um I look at everything that I did prior to that and how it built me and just the journey. You I couldn't shortcut it, none of that stuff. Like I I did, I was an Uber driver for six years. And even that, you know, it taught me how to be an independent contractor, make money on the side. I was able to, that's kind of how I got real estate going, because I used the money from Uber to get that going. And just kind of the ups and downs, and just being humble, like not making a lot of money, doing it for years just because you love it and not making money. And so I would just say don't cut that process.

SPEAKER_02 33:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

Take your time because then you're able, like I can see now where I'm able to hold the weight, even in the real estate. Like, I of course I wanted to start early on, but yeah, I don't think I would have been able to hold the weight. And so now I've kind of really developed, I've worked on myself, the discipline, all of that good stuff. And so now I'm in a good space where I can carry this thing.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

No, that's fire, bro. Yeah. Yeah, and um, I don't know, man. I feel like you you you got uh everything, uh everything is aligning with you. You know what I mean? You got things, you're moving in the right direction, that's for sure. That's for sure, bro. So uh if everything went right, when everything goes right next year, what is that gonna look like?

SPEAKER_00 33:44

That's a good question. You know, I right now I I'm finishing up a land bank property. So this is was my number house number four. So I gotta finish that up, and then I got a duplex I need to work on. So I need to really get those finished so I can get tenants in there. Okay, because, you know, I mean, just it's been a lot of work, and so I'm just waiting to get to the other side. Okay, I got you. With Wilcox Wellness, I just want to, yeah, I want to do more. I mean, I've last couple years, I I mean, I went out to Switzerland for World Economic Forum, spoke on mental health on a global forum. Um, I've done, you know, a couple talks for the aging out foster care youth in Michigan at a teen conference the past two, three years. I got a speaking event out in Green uh Grand Rapids. So I just want to really do more.

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 34:43

I want to really um set myself up where there's just more bookings and get myself out there, get the social media going, and just really, you know, just be out there more.

SPEAKER_02 34:55

Okay. You want you want to give yourself uh more of a presence, like social media presence, and I think you finding that CMO, bro, that marketing person is gonna take you to the next level as far as like doing more and getting more and stuff like that. Yeah. But you know, that's um that's yeah, that's good though, man. So I think that's all my questions, man. So man, good luck with all your real estate stuff, you know what I mean? And keep doing what you're doing with Wilcox wellness because I think it's great, man, that you focused on mental health and just everything wellness, and it seems like you really care about it. You know, you're living in your you're living uh in your purpose with your gift from God. So that's really dope, bro. But before we go, please let everybody know like where they can find you. Get your socials, website, LinkedIn, if you all that good stuff.

SPEAKER_00 35:47

Yep, so you can catch me on Instagram at Wilcox.wellness. Same with Facebook. You can go to learn.wilcoxwellness.co. Okay. Those are my online resources. My website is WilcoxWellness.co. And yeah, catch me on social media. You can uh on my website, there's a place where you can send a message. So reach out if you need anything. And I look forward to hearing from you all in the community, and it was a pleasure for you bringing me on here.

SPEAKER_02 36:19

For sure, bro. Yeah, uh appreciate you, Jake. Thanks a lot. For sure, for sure. Um, everybody, uh, thank you for watching this episode of Founder Fumbles uh season two, episode two. If Mario inspires you in any way, just please go. All his stuff is gonna be in the description. So click on his link, go to his socials, reach out to him, and please do not forget to like, subscribe, comment, share, all that good stuff, man, because I hear it really helps. So enough said, um, I'll catch y'all next time.