From Immigrant Kid to 48-Hour Jiu-Jitsu World Record Attempt 🇺🇸 | Charles Gomes Interview

What kind of person pushes their body to the edge for 48 straight hours with no sleep and no quitting?

Meet the inspirational Charles Gomes — Navy veteran, Brazilian immigrant, jiu-jitsu black belt, and a man on a mission far bigger than himself.

From growing up in a poor fishing village in Brazil to stepping onto a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier to working for Lamborghini. Now he’s attempting something almost no one on earth has done:

👉 48 HOURS of continuous jiu-jitsu rolling

But this isn’t about records. This is about honoring fallen veterans and raising money for those who sacrificed everything. 

⚡ In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The moment he knew he was “American” 🇺🇸
• The REAL reason he joined the military after 9/11
• Underground fight nights on a Navy ship 👀
• What 35+ hours of nonstop jiu-jitsu actually does to your body
• Why most people THINK they can fight but can’t
• The powerful mission behind his 48-hour challenge

💥 This episode isn’t about being “special.”

It’s about discipline, purpose, and refusing to quit.

🎯 SUPPORT THE MISSION

Charles is raising money for veteran organizations.

👉 Follow & support: @GBLeesburg

#MentalToughness #JiuJitsu #Veteran #NeverQuit #NotSpecial

Transcript

“I’m Not Special… I’m Just Relentless”

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Charles, why are you special?

SPEAKER_00 0:03

To be honest, I don't think I'm special per se. I am just persistent. If I want something, I'm gonna go for it. Everyone's special in their own ways, right? But it's uh, you know, what is your drive? What is your mission? Uh, for for me, that's like how I kind of look at life.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

I mean, we think you're special.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

Uh you wouldn't be but my mother thinks I'm special as well.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Uh well, add us to the list with your mother. No, I think the audience will too. Navy veteran, uh jujitsu black belt and professor. Is that the proper term? Now I don't want you to break break my arm right now. And it's soon to be attempting a world record to roll 48 straight hours doing jujitsu.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Yeah, I'm I'm super excited for that. I've uh done it actually two times. So I've the first time I did the roll, it was tough just because I didn't have the right nutrition, and I just basically went just whimmed it. You just winged it. And then uh then the second time I kind of a little bit more prepared. I had Jocko Fuel sponsor, so they sent me a lot of product, and that was for 35 hours. So this year we're doing 48.

SPEAKER_01 1:04

I'm Herb Thompson, a green brain resolutionist.

SPEAKER_03 1:07

And I'm Corey Thompson, Herb's Less Hairy Half and Branding Expert.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

Our guests come from various backgrounds, but one thing is true they are special.

48-Hour Jiu-Jitsu World Record Attempt 😳

SPEAKER_03 1:18

I have to ask, after the 35, what was it that compelled you to say, you know what, that wasn't long enough.

Growing Up Poor in Brazil

SPEAKER_00 1:25

One of our students, she's a nurse, she took my vitals afterwards and she was like, You're you're still normal. Like it doesn't actually you're you're not you haven't done anything. So basically, once I woke up from my my nap after I went to sleep, which it was really hard to sleep, which is really tough. I thought afterwards afterwards, I thought I was gonna fall asleep right away. I did, and then I woke up and then I was up for the rest of the night. Yeah, but uh I think for me it's it's always about pushing myself to the next limit, and not just pushing myself, but for me, it's never about like Charles Gomes as the individual, right? It's like what is the mission? What is the purpose that we're trying to do? And the purpose for the 35 and the 24 hours and the 48 hours this year is for our veteran community, right? That is the purpose. So we're doing it on Memorial Day. So, what greater honor than to do something so special on Memorial Day for our fallen heroes?

SPEAKER_01 2:20

I do want to back it up a long time ago, though. Do you remember coming to America as a kid?

Moving to America Without Speaking English

SPEAKER_00 2:25

I do. I was uh I was seven years old when I came here to America from Brazil. From Brazil. I I mean, obviously, like the memories I have of Brazil like are negative memories, especially when I was a child, because you know, we're poor. But I remember getting on the plane. I remember like running up and down the aisles of the plane, like all kids do, seeing like cars everywhere and buildings everywhere. And I'm like, where am I? Like, I'm in a whole new world. Because your village was just a little fishing village, just a very small fish fishing village, like very poor. So, like going from it's like a 180 transition from like being super poor to like a middle class family automatically in the United States. Like, that's like unheard of. Like, I didn't speak any English. Um, my mother didn't speak English, my brothers didn't speak English. The only one that spoke English was my dad, and he's my stepdad.

SPEAKER_03 3:14

So you're the oldest. So did you become the translator for the family?

SPEAKER_00 3:17

Yeah, I did. Well, and it's funny because, like, especially in the early 1990s, like speaking in a different language wasn't was very fraunapound. It was always pushed, like, hey, you guys can't be speaking Portuguese at home, you gotta only speak English, and it makes sense, right? Because you want to simulate as much as possible. Sure. Because my mom doesn't speak, my brothers don't speak, I don't speak, so you know, you have to kind of learn as fast as you can to kind of be able to live and be like a normal kid. It can be tough on a kid, yeah. But one thing I remember vividly when I thought, like, okay, like I've made it as a kid trying to learn the pledge of allegiance. And I don't know what the words mean, right? Like at all. But all the kids stand up at a, you know, right at the bell, we say the pledge of allegiance, and I'm just there crossing my hands, like, what do I say? Like, I don't know what I'm doing. And I remember vividly working with my dad, like to learn the pledge of allegiance, and remembering the first time I was able to like recite it from start to finish, like I felt so much joy. Yeah, because I felt like I was just another kid.

SPEAKER_02 4:25

Oh right.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

I might have not known what the words meant, sure, but uh in its full context, but being able to do it from start to finish, I think it was it was you can fit in. It was how do you fit in? But that's that's when I feel like I became like a true American, right? Because I I'm I'm I'm an immigrant, but sure. I felt in my heart, like in my in my body, I'm like, okay, I've I'm an American because I've I'm able to do this.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

What was it like growing up? That transition after you learned the language, was it still tough with your family having come from Brazil?

The Moment He Felt Like an American

SPEAKER_00 4:56

I remember having fond memories of my of my childhood. You know, my dad did a lot for us and for our family, and uh a story I love to tell, and which is a little bit embarrassing. So in in Brazil, like all the women like will basically use makeshift brooms to clean like the dirt from the floor. And we live like in a condo in in the United States, and my mom every morning would go out and like be like sweeping like the sidewalk. Like, what are you doing? And my my dad just let her do it day out. I mean, and she was just like having a whole a good old time just sweeping, and I'm like thinking now, I'm like, dad, what were you doing? Like, why would you let mom do that? Like the neighbors probably thought, these weird family.

SPEAKER_01 5:52

That reminds me of there's a guy in your town that rakes, just rakes leaves, rakes the grass around town uh where I grew up in it. You see him say, hey, buddy. I don't remember his name, but he always says, Hey buddy, he's gonna be raking.

SPEAKER_00 6:06

Yeah, I'm sure the neighbors probably thought she was crazy. Like because like in America, like the street.

SPEAKER_03 6:13

The street side of it.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

Yeah, like whenever I I won't talk to my dad later on today. I'm like, I'm gonna ask him, like, what were you thinking?

SPEAKER_01 6:19

As a married man. As a married man, go he said, Hey, I know if I tell her not to do that, it's gonna be a problem. So I haven't learned where I'm like, hey, that's probably not a good idea.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

And then I'm gonna be your mom's or something. So yeah, that was uh a fond memory, but like I've I remember having just like a standard middle class American family. You know, we had dog, you know, our neighbors. Um we we played soccer, you know, like just a normal American American life. I don't I don't think anything was special per se. Obviously, like learning English was was tough as a as a kid, but you pick it up faster than we do as adults. Yeah. But I always because I'm the oldest, I was always like trying to protect my siblings, right?

SPEAKER_03 7:03

So that's how you got good at fighting.

SPEAKER_00 7:05

Uh my I got plenty of stories of my dad. Yeah, one time I was probably in middle school, and my dad, my brother, my middle brother and I were just bickering back and forth. He just grabbed some big boxing gloves. He's like, put them on. Yes, and he's like, I don't want to hear you bickering, let's go. I was like, Okay, let's go.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Yeah, it is.

SPEAKER_03 7:29

No general bickering in that general.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

No, and I mean, I think you see the success that comes from that. So from that childhood, you joined the Navy.

9/11 Changed Everything

SPEAKER_00 7:39

I did. I think most of the guys in like in our generation, you know, obviously September 11th had a huge impact. Um, I remember I I I slept on I think I was watching TV and I slept on the couch just because I I was watching TV the night before. And I woke up and I was uh listening to Steve Harvey, his morning show in California. He had a morning show, and I remember them talking about, and obviously by that time I woke up here, because I was in California, it already happened in in the East Coast. That had a huge impact because up to this point, like I was living the normal American life, but I always knew like as an immigrant specifically, like I had to do more for this country than it's done for me. And that was one point where I said, okay, well, America's giving me so many opportunities. I'm I'm able to go to school, uh, I'm able to live a good life. Now it's the time for me to give back to my community and my country that have given that's given so much to me. So obviously September 11th was a huge turning point. I was a senior in high school uh when that happened. Basically, two months later, I went right into the recruiter office uh with my mom, and she thought I was crazy. And I I joined I joined the Navy.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

That is such a pop MAGA goosebumps right now, thinking about it. Just that moment in time for our generation. But I wish more people who were born here have that mindset that you just spoke about.

Why He Joined the Navy

SPEAKER_00 9:08

A lot of it had to do because I was an immigrant, right? I felt like I had to give more, but I knew that if I wanted to be like a a true American, it's it's living past you and it's giving it to the country that's gonna be able to give your kids and your grandkids and your and your the future generation.

SPEAKER_03 9:29

So many more opportunities to give back to your country and give back and then it turn around and reward you.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Yeah. And I think for for us, like the military, uh my personal opinion, uh, and again, it's my personal opinion, is that I think if you're not going right away right into a a four-year college uh per se, or you don't have a job lineup right away, I think you should go to the military, right? For at least four years, because it allows you to grow up faster, uh especially as a young guy.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Because you were 18, so I was 18 years old, you know, when I went in. It allows you to mature faster, it allows you to build new skills and gain new knowledge that yes, like I'm sure the the college life is is real fun, but at the other end, like those kids are learning different different life skills, yeah, right, than we were. We like after some of them well life skills. Yeah, yeah, your brothers and sisters next to you, right? Like they might get hurt if you don't do your job correctly. It's not like, oh, can I pass my test today? That's important for for future things, but I think just different responsibilities, right? For sure that we're we were afforded to learn because we're able to.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

I wouldn't say everyone should do the military, should do something, whether it's Peace Corps or military, there's other stuff around the community. I did mission trips. Or mission, yeah. No, that I think serves another one.

SPEAKER_00 10:55

At the end of the day, like we should serve.

SPEAKER_02 10:58

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Because I think that's what we're made to do. We're made to serve to help those that are less need in those that are in need.

SPEAKER_01 11:06

What were you thinking the first time you stepped on an aircraft carrier?

Life on an Aircraft Carrier

SPEAKER_00 11:10

Yeah, so I mean, it's you know, over 5,000 people that are on board. It's it's a small city, like whatever you need, barber, dentist, uh, surgery, whatever you need, it's it's on that ship. But yeah, so when I stepped on the carrier, it was it was massive, right? I remember the walk up all the way to the top, and I was like, if I fall, I'm gonna die, you know. Like almost at times I wish I can go back, right? Like we leave and then we miss the BS that we used to hate. Right? Yeah, yeah. So that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

For my experience, like being in the woods in a foxhole or in a perimeter, there's just stuff that happens. Yeah. And I gotta imagine being on the ship, there's just shenanigans.

SPEAKER_00 11:52

Oh, for sure. I mean, I mean, so I I actually started jujitsu when I was a sophomore in high school.

SPEAKER_03 11:58

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

And I hated it. Like I absolutely hated it. So in high school, I was probably like 110 pounds. I remember this guy was in side control and his hairy chest like on my face. And I was like, this is dumb. Like, why would anyone want to do this? But then when I got on the Navy, I got when I got into the Navy, my DC one, so he trained. So he's like, You're Brazilian, you don't train jiu-jitsu? Like, what is it?

Secret Fight Nights on a Navy Ship 👀

SPEAKER_01 12:20

It's big time in Brazil, right? That's that's it's called Brazil, Brazil Jiu Jitsu.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Yeah, we used to have Friday night brawls in the app shop, you know, where basically close the manhole, right? And then don't let officers come down, and then the women come down. We have we did have we had lookouts, we'd have boxing nights, we'd have jujitsu. Movie producers, we'd be we'd be boxing, rolling, wrestling, whatever it was, MMA fights down there. Oh wow. People would leave bleed bleeding, and then you go to you go to medical, what happened?

SPEAKER_03 12:55

Oh my head hit the Did you ever sleep underneath your bunk?

Shipboard Firefighter Life

SPEAKER_00 13:00

No, so did you know anything? I was on the top bunk, I was never gonna be underneath anybody. So in the Navy, there's the coffin we called it coffins, right? So it looks like you're you're in a coffin. So there's three lunges bottom bunk, middle bunk, and then the top bunk. So I never wanted the two because somebody would always be stepping on your stuff, right? So I was always on the top bunk, so I'd step on everybody else's stuff and not mine. Now, on the ship, were you a firefighter? I was so shipboard firefighter. We dealt with um basically anytime there's uh fire, obviously, uh any type of uh flooding, chemical biological warfare, right? Gas masks and things like that. So I was responsible for for those things like that. So yeah, obviously, if like a torpedo hits or something like that, so um different compartments will be flooded, so you had to make sure it's not compromised.

SPEAKER_01 13:47

And then you decide to leave the Navy.

SPEAKER_00 13:49

I did. So after four years, I decided to leave. And I um I went to school to be a firefighter, finished my fire academy. When I joined, and then I went to the fire academy. I uh I knew I wanted to be a firefighter, but just like as we're growing up, you go to the fire academy, you're trying to find a job, and it's tough.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

I started working in in sales, um, software sales, make a little bit of money, and like, uh Yeah, that's 30 grand a year for a firefighter role doesn't look so appealing after software fire.

SPEAKER_00 14:23

We transitioned to a sales and uh and then kind of went from there.

SPEAKER_01 14:28

And then you end up working for Lamborghini for a while, right?

SPEAKER_00 14:31

I did, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:32

It sounds really horrible. Yeah, so unfortunately.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Not a bad job for a young guy. So yeah, so I work for Automobile Lamborghini, but our headquarters for the United States is it's actually in Herndon, Virginia. But they're part of the Volkswagen Group. So the Volkswagen group owns Lamborghini, Bentley, Bugatti, Decati. In 2012, um, I was working for the software company in Southern California, and Lamborghini wanted to use their software for their customer relations management side because they didn't have a CRM. Basically, if you called custom relations, like it just went to like a phone number that nobody picked up. And if you emailed, like nobody emailed you back. But to be fair, it's like it's such a big brand. But when I joined, there was there were 12 of us that ran all the Americas. Finance, I owe 12 of us that ran all the Americas, right? So it's a big company, but at that time it was like a startup, startup company. I had like an hour and a half interview. The guy's like, All right, you start in about 20 days. I was like, What? Like there's no round two, right? Like that opportunity came up, and then I decided to pack all my thing in my in my car, drove across country, and here we are.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Did you drive it in your Lamborghini?

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Yeah, I had a ma at a Mazda 3 at that time.

SPEAKER_02 15:47

Did you roll up?

SPEAKER_00 15:49

But impressed them all. Well, I had and then I bought an Audi TTS, which is my current car now. So, but you got to drive Lambo stuff. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

You were telling us about one that got crashed. Are you okay to share that?

SPEAKER_00 16:01

Yeah, so that one was a$500,000. We had a client that was driving, and we would drive with the client, and he lost control, went over a cliff, and thank goodness, like it rolled like two or three times and it got stuck in a tree. And man, like so. Then obviously it was a new policy afterwards. Like, no one drives with a client, like they gotta drive by themselves. So if they're gonna go, they're gonna go by themselves, they're not taking us.

SPEAKER_01 16:28

Dude, that's crazy to wreck a$500,000 car.

SPEAKER_00 16:31

Like, but as you're doing this, were you still doing jiu-jitsu then? I started jujitsu basically right the day after I got out of the Navy uh in 2006, um, May 2006, and I've been doing jujitsu. Uh, this may be 20 years that I'll be doing jujitsu. So uh at that time I was still doing jujitsu and competing. And my boss uh for Lamborghini, uh Renee, hey boss, how you doing? He uh he's this old German guy, right? Old German guy. He's like Gomes, he's got long, he's like here, like he's got long blonde hair. And he's like, don't go out there and lose and make us look bad. I was like, because if you lose, I'm gonna take you down. Like, okay, boss. He's like, he'd probably be blown away knowing that like 20 years later, I'm still doing jujitsu. I have two schools, right? And all right, internet, do your thing. This is your moment. Find him with DC1 Rosetti, Tom Rossetti.

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Let's let's find it. The the man now owns two jujitsu gyms. So you leave Lamborghini to open up a gym in 2019.

Opening a Jiu-Jitsu School (Then COVID Hit)

The Kid Who Beat His Bully (Life-Changing Story)

SPEAKER_00 17:31

I knew I was gonna open up jujitsu school. I decided to leave because I got another opportunity with a different brand. They were starting a brand new um, so Genesis North America. So Genesis is the luxury side of the Hyundai group. Well, they weren't a brand at that point, they were trying to split into its new brand. So they went after like guys like me, guys from Ferrari that came from like the luxury. Because obviously, like they're trying to sell$90,000 cars, but you know, in a space where that's$20,000, right? So um they need somebody that had to cut in luxury experience. So I did that for about uh nine months, and then I just knew that wasn't wasn't for me. And at that time, my school's already open. Yeah, we opened Gracie Baja Ashburn and is was doing really, really well. So I was like, okay, well, this is my time, I gotta go full in, right? So anytime we kind of half ass anything, like it never kind of goes our way. So just jump, jump in with both feet. And then COVID happened, and then COVID happened about six months later. Yeah, worse business idea during COVID. One thing I'm so thankful for is like within that first six months, we've we built such a strong community. I think we lost maybe six total people stop training jujitsu. They kept supporting us, and uh, once we got over that hump, then it's it's just been amazing. Now you have two gyms. I do. I we uh I own well, I'm a co-owner uh myself and my my my business partner, Professor Dana. She's one of my black belts. She uh manages the the GP Ashburn location, and then I manage like GP Leesburg location. That's one reason I actually wanted to leave the corporate world. Like I loved Lamborghini, like it was such a fun job, but you're still part of a huge bureaucracy, right? Like the Volkswagen group is still huge, and they did they treated me really well, but you still have to jump through so many hoops. Where jujitsu, I tell the story all the time. You just have to roll through. You just have to roll and get to choke people out, right? Well, one of one of a cool, really cool story is one of my students he came in because he was getting bullied, like really bad. And like he was a typical sixth grader, just like hunched over, a little bit overweight, walks in our school, and he sees the kid that's bullying him, like in our class. And I was like, But to be fair, the kid just started with us like a week and a half before he joined. But you know, like in the military, like you know, when we have conflict, like you just put on the gloves.

SPEAKER_03 20:08

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 20:09

So I put them to train together, and the kid that was getting bullied, like beat up the kid that was bullying him. So there's like no more bullying afterwards because you can't bully someone that can beat you up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Last year he was ranked number three in the world of all kids in his division.

SPEAKER_03 20:24

And how's how's that impacted his confidence? Have you seen a difference?

SPEAKER_00 20:27

I mean, it's it's huge, right? Like the kid, he's grown up in his in his body now. He's a he's a sophomore in high school. You know, he walks with his chest up, and he knows too. Like, he's like, well, even if somebody were to bully him, like he doesn't need to do anything about it because he could he know what he can do.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

That's what I love. Could you hit on that? Because a lot of people just that confidence rambo, like that. I I don't need to fight you because I know what I can do.

Why Most People Can’t Actually Fight

SPEAKER_00 20:52

But the delusion is is like 95 of a percent of us have never fought in our life. So in our mind we can fight, but like when you actually put your hands on somebody, like it's a different world. What I love about jujitsu is I get to see the transformation of these kids. Like your your boss isn't going to try to choke you out. Like I will choke you out, but your boss isn't going to. Like, so you put things in perspective. So I mean you guys have kids, like, especially when they're young, you're you're moving from Target to the grocery store. You never really have full like connection with your kids. So when they're at jujitsu with us, it's the one time that they have an hour of no phone, yeah, no distraction, and you can't think about anything else except like what's in front of you. You can, but you can, but like if you're getting choked out, right? So so I think that's been like the huge impact is is bringing families together through the through jujitsu.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

And through this, you're gonna attempt a world record to roll doing jujitsu for forty eight straight hours. Forty eight. Are you nuts?

SPEAKER_00 21:59

I mean, I think. I think we're all a little nuts uh in one way or the other. But yeah, it's uh for me. Two years ago I did I wanted to do this challenge um and roll for twenty-four hours straight, uh 10 minute rounds with one minute off and for 24 hours.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

And then just 10 on, one off, 10 on, one off. One minute breaks.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

So like each each student will will sign up for a 30-minute slot to train with me. Then I was like, okay, well, I looked at what the world record was for um the longest training session for one person, and it was 30 hours. So I was like, last year I was like, okay, well, we'll go for 35. You gotta, if you're gonna go, might as well go full full force. So we did 35 hours. So technically, I do hold the you do currently hold the record. I currently do hold the record. I was like, well, what's more than 35? It's 48. Let's see if we can do it two days in a row.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

We gotta work on your math there.

SPEAKER_03 22:55

Like, hey, yeah, let's just let's just add like your percentage of increase keeps exponentially increasing.

SPEAKER_01 23:01

So that's just insane. 48 hours, no sleep.

The REAL Goal: Helping Veterans

SPEAKER_00 23:04

No sleep. Yep. So again, 48 hours, 10 minute, 10 minute rounds, one minute off. And again, the the goal isn't isn't for like me as Charles to get this world record. The goal is to get between 20 to$50,000 of donations for our local veteran groups. That's what I want to live for, right? Is is I understand how much our military means to us. You know how much the military means to you, and as a spouse as well. We give our veterans a lot of opportunities while they're in, but then once they get out, it's almost like we've been pushed aside and it's on to the next. And we still gotta remember like these guys and girls gave everything, and some of them gave it all. Um so for me, it's it's my responsibility to still give back to our community.

SPEAKER_03 23:50

So, how how can people donate if they want to contribute?

SPEAKER_00 23:54

If you go to our um juttu page, which is uh for our Instagram, it's gonna be GB Leasburg. We'll have no WWW. There's no WW, just GB G at GBleesburg.com. We're partnering up with uh hyperperformance and all money will go through them, and then they'll give it to our local veteran groups within our own town.

The Hardest Part of 48 Hours (Not What You Think)

SPEAKER_01 24:16

What do you think is gonna be the hardest part rolling for 48 straight hours? Other than rolling for 48 straight hours mostly.

SPEAKER_00 24:21

You know what the rolling actually, so it's funny because you think so. The hardest part were like my three and four-year-olds that signed up to train with me for like a 10-minute round, because they don't have enough output. So like I'm trying to stay awake, right? Everything. So that was actually the hardest part. My neck was on fire. So this year I'm gonna be a little more strategic. I'm gonna work, I'm gonna do no gi, which is basically just a rash guard and and pants or shorts.

SPEAKER_02 24:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

And then I'll do half of it in my ghee as well. The sponsorship is like we're gonna have like Amazon that's that's gonna be sponsoring the event, and they're gonna be sending some of their employees to come train with me, right? So that way there's representation of of Amazon and and hopefully Google and some of these other big companies to kind of support. But yeah, so whoever signs up, and when they sign up, I have our I have some teenagers that they've convinced like 11-year-old, 12-year-old teenagers that convinced their their dad to sign up at two in the morning. So their dads are way too much.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Yeah, because that family decision to come at 2 a.m. Yeah. So next year I'll have to be like 60 hours or something. We gotta get it.

SPEAKER_04 25:28

Might be 100 with the way your math works.

SPEAKER_00 25:30

I'm so if I'm gonna do another one, it will be 72 and then I'll stop there. Yeah, and 72 is because Gracie Baja, GB, right, G47, B42. Um, it was like our our our number back in the day. So I might do like a 72 and then try to see if we can get like a special edition like Ghee made through our corporate um GBWare. Yeah, because that's nation well worldwide, right? Yeah, so we have uh over a thousand schools, 1200 schools worldwide for Gracie Baja. But for us, it's it's Master Carlos who's who kind of we're we're following under. His goal is to have a jiu-jitsu school in every corner in every city because it doesn't matter if you're white or black, you're Muslim, you're a Christian, it doesn't matter when you're in jiu-jitsu because we're all sweating together. You have to have respect for one another because your life is in their hand.

Losing His Dog & Starting a New Business

SPEAKER_01 26:22

Amen. Everyone should hear that. I do want to add, you are so so much time. You have the two gyms that are co-founders, you started another business.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

I did. Uh you asked if I was crazy, I think I am. I literally don't have I don't have enough time for my two businesses now. But last year, a couple days ago, on the 6th of April, my dog Petey last year passed away. He was my beagle. Like they're your best friend. And just P was just always there. You know, the darkest times, he was always there. He would listen to you, he just loved you. So I was devastated when he passed away. So I didn't have a backyard because I was like uh hot like luxury apartments.

SPEAKER_03 27:02

Did you sweep the sidewalks?

SPEAKER_00 27:04

No, I could have no, but you know what's funny? I picked up dog poop. I I literally, this is gonna be the clip. I went from Lamborghini headquarters to picking up dog shit. And so like people would never pick up their dogs. Wait, so not just your dogs, no, others, uh yeah, because people would just walk and like not carry bags, and so I didn't want my dog stepping in it. Uh, my my dog, my two dogs, Petey and Penny. So I'd be picking up their dog waist and throwing away. I just had this like idea back in Janu in January. I I see my dog Petey. Like every time I put my shirt on or my hat on, or my employee puts their shirt on, like I see my dog, and it's me just bringing him back to life and knowing that he's just not gone.

SPEAKER_03 27:49

We can certainly relate to that.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Liberty right there. So I know a guy that um he's gone, he's he makes over four million dollars picking up dog waste.

SPEAKER_03 28:01

We're in the wrong business. I'm in the right you're in the right man.

SPEAKER_01 28:06

I pick up our dog's poop, I'll pick up other people's poop. We're gonna be rolling like that.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

So, yeah, so I mean, I um I expect to be around 150 to 200 clients, uh weekly clients that we we service before.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Commercial or residential?

SPEAKER_00 28:21

Both residential is gonna be our main 70%, but we'll have about 150 to 200 before the end of the year uh that we'll be servicing.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

So you're literally just go to their house and you pick up the poop and put it in a bag and leave.

SPEAKER_00 28:34

So we we'll have a uh a rake, right? And then a a waste basket and we'll put it in. The smaller dogs are harder, you know. I I love the big dogs. The big dogs you can see. So you you know where it is at.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

So you want the big dog poop, not the little dogs.

SPEAKER_00 28:52

Yeah, but it's uh are you weighing charging them by the pound? I I probably should. I probably should at some point, right? We do take the waste away for some clients. Uh obviously it's an additional fee that they that they that they want, but uh yeah, for sure. It's been it's been a fun journey. I've uh I've learned a lot, you know. It's a different business, but on this side, it's like it's it's a recurring business, which is what I really love. Like I want to build my Jiu Jitsu school, and then I want to build this business because I'm it's all gonna go to my my nephews and nieces. You know, at the end of the day, like that's that's what I do it for. I don't I don't have any kids myself, so you know all I don't know when you would have time to have kids though. But all this all this is gonna go towards my nephews and nieces and um yeah give them the opportunities. I love this country, especially being an immigrant. It's it's my responsibility to make this country better. As a child, I couldn't dream of this opportunity. So any all the employees that I have that I bring from Brazil, right, after we go through the visa process and things like that, like it's I try to instill in them how America is the only place in the world as if you really work hard, you can make it. It doesn't matter where you came from. Because I came from I came from dirt. When I say dirt poor, like we didn't have like our our floor was dirt.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Like we like not dirt poor in the U.S.

SPEAKER_00 30:12

dirt poor, like it was literally dirt. Like there was no concrete, there was no cement, there was no like it was dirt, it was four walls, a roof, and we slept in a hammock, right? Like that that's what we did in Brazil. But going from that kid to now, you know, owning three businesses, trying to have an impact with our veteran community as much as I can, always tell those that kind of talk negative about America, you know, go out, go see where I came from and see why I appreciate America the way I do.

SPEAKER_01 30:46

We say it too, if you go, don't just go to a resort and not leave. Go experience the real the culture.

Why Getting Older Is a Privilege

SPEAKER_00 30:53

What I really try to live is is um having that gratitude of of life, right? Because, you know, a lot of people are kind of they hate growing old. Like, I wish I was 20. But man, how many of our friends never made it to 40? Right? So it's it's a privilege that that those that didn't make it uh don't have, right? So for me, I love getting old. I love going full in and jumping full in into everything I do because I want to give another kid another opportunity, like the way I had. So all like our instructors that come in, like I try to tell them one of the first things I do is I give them a Dave Ramsey book. I'm a huge Dave Ramsey proponent.

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_00 31:33

And the seven baby steps for me is is I give them that book because I need them to understand like you gotta save, you gotta work hard, you know, and then eventually you give, right? So the seventh baby step, and that's hopefully where I'm I'm gonna be soon, where I can just give more because uh because America's giving me so much.

SPEAKER_01 31:52

I love it. Great leadway into what do you value most in life?

SPEAKER_00 31:57

I value connection with people. Most people don't want answers, they just want some, they just want to be heard. Heard, right? So I value being able to be that person that they can hear, and also there's no judgment, right? Because again, your life is your life. I didn't live in your in your shoes, as your life isn't in mine, right? So for me, I I value being able to connect to people with people from different cultures, and one thing I've learned dramatically is I worked for Lamborghini Headquarters, one of the biggest brands in the world. I was talking with billionaires all the time. And today I'm taking I'm picking up dog poop. Like, and I can have the conversation with a billionaire, and then guess what? I can have the same conversation with a janitor because they're both not they're both just as important, right? This person that has a million dollars, a billion dollars is not more important than this janitor, right? They have different different values um in their time as as of right now. So for me, that's what I value the most being able to kind of connect with with with somebody either if they're a millionaire or somebody that's just you know uh just Joe Schmo down the street.

SPEAKER_03 33:17

Subscribe, like, and comment, and don't forget to set those notifications. We'll see you next week with another special guest.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

Until then, own your journey.