The Entrepreneur-Investor Expert: Why Most High Earners Will Never Achieve Financial Freedom

Brandon Bartoldi is an entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Prosper Firm, a financial services platform that helps business owners, real estate investors, and founders gain access to capital. Throughout his career, he has worked in healthcare leadership, project management, strategic planning, private equity, mergers and acquisitions, real estate investing, and business finance. He has built multiple businesses, developed a multi-million-dollar real estate portfolio, and was recognized as Broker of the Year within a national lending network.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The transition from corporate executive to entrepreneur
• How proximity and relationships shape success
• Why failure is a necessary part of wealth creation
• Building financial freedom through business ownership
• Lessons learned from private equity and acquisitions
• The role of faith, purpose, and mindset in entrepreneurship
• Balancing ambition, marriage, and raising young children
• What legacy really means beyond money and assets

About the Podcast

The Legacy & Wealth Podcast, hosted by Mitchell Clark and presented by The Standard, features conversations with entrepreneurs, executives, investors, and high-performing men who are building wealth, leadership, and legacy. Each episode explores the principles, decisions, and experiences that help successful men create impact in business, family, and life.

Timestamps

00:00 Building wealth, family, and legacy
00:42 Introduction to Brandon Bartoldi
01:36 What Prosper Firm does and how it generates value
04:02 Growing up in Pittsburgh and early entrepreneurial influences
05:45 How network marketing changed Brandon's life
07:18 Reaching the top 1% of Amway at 25 years old
08:02 Corporate leadership, healthcare, and private equity
09:28 Discovering the lending and finance industry
10:32 Getting laid off and making the entrepreneurial leap
13:42 Why some people leave corporate America—and others don't
20:53 The law of association and surrounding yourself with winners
27:36 Why failure is required for success
31:27 Defining financial freedom
35:01 Building a business that creates freedom
38:47 The surprising source of fulfillment and happiness
41:22 How Prosper Firm helps investors and business owners
48:01 The $100,000 investment that changed everything
52:31 Building a business through relationships and referrals
57:02 Why Brandon joined The Standard
01:00:22 Entrepreneurship, marriage, and raising two children
01:04:34 What legacy really means
01:08:43 Final thoughts and where to connect with Brandon

About The Standard

The Standard is a private, in-person membership community for six-figure men who want to grow in their wealth, health, and relationships by surrounding themselves with other high-performing men operating at their level or above. It is designed for men who have outgrown their current environment and need a structured system of proximity, personalized strategy, and accountability to continue growing across every area of life.

Learn more: https://thestandardmen.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

I have a real estate portfolio, four or five million worth of real estate, uh, and like rentals and commercial properties and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 0:07

We also own a farm. I've heard some people say like to be successful, it's a mixture of hard work, exposure, and then a little bit of boldness.

SPEAKER_04 0:15

I call it like the law of association. The five people that you spend the most amount of time with, like you become the average of, right? It wasn't the stuff. It wasn't the cars, the watches, the house. It was definitely like finding and building a relationship with my wife. Legacy to me is obviously about the next generation, but it's about the next generation of instilling the right things in them.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

It's less about what you give them, and it's more about what you welcome to the Legacy and Wealth Podcast, a show for proven high-earning men who value wealth, character, and a lasting legacy. Brought to you by the standard, a private membership community for high performers. My name is Mitchell Clark, and today I'm joined by fellow standard member Brandon Bartholdi. Brandon, welcome to the show. Excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Yeah, no worries. How was the flight coming in? It was easy. Direct flight from Tampa. Super simple. Okay. I keep saying that we should just go down to Tampa. If the producer would just get me a four-day hotel sprint, we'll just knock it all out down there. But no, I appreciate you coming out here. That'd be nice. Um next time, next year. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:18

Next season.

SPEAKER_00 1:19

Let's do it. Okay. Sounds good. No, well, I'm I'm excited to have you come up here. Um, I've you're spoken very highly of in the circles that you run to in Tampa. I know you've done a lot of things in your career and you're helping other people kind of achieve their dreams, but I'll let you get into it. Right now, what do you currently do for money?

SPEAKER_04 1:36

Um, I am a little bit diversified. Um, I consider myself an entrepreneur and an investor. Um, and a lot of people call it zero entrepreneurs nowadays if you do like multiple different things, but that's a little bit of where I'm at. Uh, my main core business is called Prosper Firm. And we are essentially a financial services platform that helps folks get access to capital, mainly like financing and loans and so on and so forth. But now we also do have um an equity component as well. So debt and equity. Uh we really started largely as like in the real estate financing space, um, helping real estate investors like get uh the the loans they need to be able to grow their real estate portfolios, et cetera. Um, but then we kind of grew and scaled from there. So we also have a mortgage company, um, which is separate because you have to be licensed and you know, so on and so forth. So it's a separate company that we have a mortgage company. We have the kind of private and hard money brokerage um for real estate investors. We also can finance like traditional businesses as well, doing like SBA loans and you know, uh equipment loans, so on and so forth. And um, and then we and then we have mortgage. But then from there, that's that's I would say like that's a core like base income for for me personally and and our family. But then uh we have like I have a real estate portfolio, um, probably I don't know, four or five million worth of real estate uh and like rentals and commercial properties and stuff like that. We also own a farm. Um, and then uh not an active one, just we have land. Just for it, yeah. Yeah, yeah. It's not an active farm. Um, but uh, but then I've taken equity in other companies, I've invested, and I have equity in a couple different companies, uh like minority shares. Um, and uh yeah, so then we're standing up new businesses and companies all the time, like Prosper Capital, which uh is more of like the the in the hedge fund space, uh more for investments and things like that for folks. So uh so that's coming soon. That's not not here yet, but that's in the in the works. So there's a lot of different things that I feel like I've gotten involved in.

SPEAKER_00 3:47

No, that sounds intense. That's that's incredible. Well, I know people don't just kind of wander into this space. So kind of give a little bit of background on like where you started, kind of grow a little brief overview of your childhood, kind of going to college, and then how you eventually got into into this space.

SPEAKER_04 4:02

Yeah. Um so I grew up, I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Um that's that's where I honestly lived my whole life up until this past year, um, moving down to the Tampa Bay area. Yeah, because you just moved down to Tampa, right? Yeah, but I think just this past August 2025. Sure. Um, so yeah, so it's we're we're newly uh Floridians, but um Pittsburgh is where I was born and raised and you know, learned everything. But um I uh I mean I had a good upbringing with like both parents, awesome, just hardworking W-2 earners. And uh they um, you know, they gave us a very like normal, like kind of middle, middle class life. Um, and uh, but then they really pushed me that like they wanted me to go to college. So um I went to college, but I was just one of those like classic, like I think they say that a lot of entrepreneurs like kind of rebel against the traditional education system that like they just don't like that that was just me. Like I did not find school uh appetizing whatsoever. Um I could get B's and C's without studying, and that's what I did because I just didn't I I even looked at outcomes. I'm like people that get A's versus people that get C's, they get the same degree. Nobody cares about your GPA after you graduate. Like, why am I why why would I try so hard? And I don't even see the point to this to begin with, because like I um like it ju if you're going into something very specific, like to be a doctor or something like that, makes a ton of sense.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

There's a role for it.

SPEAKER_04 5:30

There's there's a time and a place, but like I just wasn't that person. Like I I didn't want to be a doctor, I didn't want to be a lawyer. So um it just uh I was forced, they was kind of forced into going into the college route, but I very quickly realized that that's just not where I wanted to be. Um, and then through my twenties, what ended up happening is in college I got introduced to network marketing. Um, and I got really involved with that. So um that's what kind of shifted the trajectory of my future because it really opened me up to personal development, like self-help books, like even like Christianity and like all kinds of different things like that opened me up to um it was uh Were you raised in the faith or were you kind of Catholic?

SPEAKER_00 6:12

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 6:12

Okay, so I was raised Catholic, um, which nothing against Catholicism, but I just for to me it was a lot more about like rituals and routines versus like real relationship.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 6:22

Um, so I just I always believed in God, but like didn't know how to like actually partner with him and activate him in my life, you know. Right. Um, so anyway, so all that's to say is that uh network marketing really like that business, it was really less about the business and more about the culture and the people that um really helped me learn more about myself, helped me grow myself, um, and like for put me in uncomfortable positions that made me develop skill sets, you know what I mean, and sales with like talking to people and um you know, just work ethic, all kinds of different stuff. So I took it really seriously. I got into the top 1% of Amway, um, which is the biggest network marketing company in the world, I'm pretty sure. Um, and uh, and it was I I had a full-time income outside of my full-time job with it. Um, so I, you know, I spoke at conferences of 2,500 people.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Um, so how old are you at this time, at this specific point?

SPEAKER_04 7:20

When I hit the top of the pay scale in Amway, I was 25. Okay. Um, so I was young, I was single, and um I was almost like their like poster child, you know what I mean? But they were like propping up because I was like the next generation. Because again, like Amway's been around for a long time. There's a lot of folks that like are multi, multi-millionaires, but they're older because they made their money in like the 80s, 90s, 2000s, right? Um, so they're looking for that next generation. I was one of those people that like was identified for a while as like, you know, let's let's really prop this person up because they're successful and um I could I could speak. So um, so yeah, so that was that was a big part of my experience in my 20s, was just working really hard from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed. I was building network marketing. And then once I got out of college, I was climbing the corporate ladder. Um and my niche was like project management and strategic planning um because I didn't actually have a niche in really anything. So it was more of like I built the skill set of like, yeah, leading teams, completing projects, um, you know, putting project plans together. Like that's basically what I learned how to how to do as a as a job. And I climbed that corporate ladder. And by the time I was 30, I uh I became like a healthcare executive. And then um I got into private equity. Uh I worked for a company called Audac that is based out of Boston. And um, I worked in an asset that they acquired called Phoenix, which was PT practices. Okay. Um, so I was over top of mergers and acquisitions. That my like my job was to lead the charge of taking Phoenix from a hundred PT practice locations to like 300 was the goal. Um, so that's where I even learned a lot about just traditional businesses because we're buying up these mom and pop shops and then converting them into the larger brand. And like, so you have to understand every aspect of a business and so on and so forth. So, anyways, all that's to say is that uh um I built a lot of different skill sets in my 20s, worked really hard, made good income, you know, got debt-free, uh, you know, banked six figures. And um, that's when I started investing into real estate.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 9:29

Um, so and I started flipping houses just with my own cash. And then that's when I learned a little bit about some of this private and hard money financing in the real estate space that like you can get by um to to flip houses or whatever the case may be. So that took me down a rabbit hole that I did some research, went to a training in New York to learn how to essentially broker loans to to facilitate that process, connecting borrowers to lenders. And that's when we launched Prosper Firm. Um, but anyways, all that's to say is that like that was my twenties, I feel like was a totally different life than I lived now in my 30s, you know, because I made a hard pivot at 30, left the corporate world, um, left the the network marketing world. Um not entirely, but like really stepped away from as a W2. Yeah, like really, really stepped away from those things and focused more on, you know, building some of these other companies. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

So the main pivot was when you start brokering, figuring out how money was transferred between investors into the businesses and then starting up prosper firm.

SPEAKER_04 10:32

Yeah. I mean, the the hard the real hard pivot was when I it was pretty much like right when I turned 30. I think I was about to turn 30. Um, I was 29, turning 30, and I uh I actually got laid off from my like very high-paying like corporate job in private equity. Well, essentially what I did was I built a good system and then uh I replaced myself because I kind of built, you know, the the the system, kind of automated it to a degree, and then they're like, you know, we don't need you anymore. So um, so like that's the that's the cutthroatness of private equity sometimes when you do it as a job is just like you're just very replaceable, it's it's very toxic, very cutthroat. And uh I was only in that for a year. Um, but um, but it was you know, I was making 200 grand a year, and in Pittsburgh that's a lot of money. Yeah. Um, especially like seven years ago, too. So anyways, all that's to say is that I got laid off from my corporate job. I I left my current relationship that I was in, and um I walked away from the amway business. Um, so like all three of those things happened like within a month. So I went from being like super busy and having so much going on to like, I don't have like anything, right? Um and but I I did at least have, like I said, no debt, banked, had a lot of money in the bank, uh, I had already just started flipping houses, and I was like, okay, I'm just gonna figure out what do I want to do next. Um, and I knew I wanted to do something in the business realm, but I didn't know a hundred percent until I locked in on like the financing space. It just made sense.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

I'm kind of curious, if you weren't laid off, do you think you would be doing what you're doing now, or do you think that was like a thing that had to happen to really propel you to the next days?

SPEAKER_04 12:10

No, like I I absolutely like I was I hated it. Okay. I thought every day about leaving. Um but it was gonna happen one way or the other. It was gonna happen. It was a hundred percent gonna happen. But um transparently, like, I don't know. I mean, maybe I I would have just started looking for another corporate job um and like just made the leap to a different company to leave like that current situation. Um, but I just know I just I knew that I wanted to make a pivot and it was almost like a God thing that it like he pushed me to be like, okay, now's now's the time.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Here we go, you know. So sometimes when it happens, it happens. No, I think there's a lot of people where there's that point that happens where it does seem to be a good off-ramp off of corporate into starting something for your own. And I kind of wanted to talk with you a little bit about that on what that transition kind of looked and felt like, not just money-wise, but like what it kind of takes internally to make that pivot. Because I think there's a lot of people that they're and nothing bad against it, but you're in pretty cushy jobs. I'm in a field, medical device, you can make pretty good money, but there's also a lot of turnover, there's a lot of toxic leadership, there's a lot of, you know, the company gets sold and they fire all the sales reps and all that kind of stuff. So there's a lot of tumultuousness in it, but there's people that if you're making two to three hundred, I mean, they just stay individual contributors their whole life. Not a bad lifestyle, but for you, what do you think was the the mind shift that you had of, okay, I'm making decent money here, but I don't want to keep doing this forever? Was it just in private equity or what were you kind of getting that bug a little bit earlier?

SPEAKER_04 13:41

No, I feel like I was in a different position than most because I feel like most people that if they get into the corporate world are like especially the negative part of corporate world, not all corporate has to be negative, um, but especially like there's some really cool companies that are creating really cool cultures today, but um, the very traditional old school corporate America, like toxic, like backstabbing, like that whole like side. Like I feel like people get into it and then they start to hate it and like want to get out. Um, for me, it was the opposite though, because I was raised in like network marketing and like entrepreneurship, and like I was taught that stuff when I was 21, 22, 23. When I got into real corporate America, like probably in my mid-20s, um, I already knew that I didn't want to be there. You know what I mean? I already knew that like I'm an entrepreneur, I want to, I want to have financial freedom. Like, and I thought that I was gonna do that in network marketing, you know what I mean? So, like the goal was always I'm gonna build this huge network marketing business, become a multimillionaire, be financially independent. Um, but and a job is just there to fuel my dream, you know what I mean, and fuel my side hustle till it becomes my full-time thing. Um, so I always had that mindset because again, that was ingrained into me since I was 21 years old, like building network marketing. So I I had a different mindset that I knew that what the the job the job was a tool, you know.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

So why did you stay in the job? But it was was it fulfilling its purpose, or do you feel like there's a point where it became more than what it should I I guess I uh cause I understand for some people their main W-2 is kind of what's fueling that dream, but was there a point where it wasn't just fueling the dream anymore? It was it was kind of interfering with the dream.

SPEAKER_04 15:23

Absolutely. Um, yeah, and it that always comes a point. Well, and not not necessarily for everybody, but for for me, it definitely got to that point, which was like the the pinnacle of whenever I left, anyways, um and exited. Uh, I was literally going to probably within a month or two, anyways, because it was just becoming so burdensome and it was like hindering my growth. And it was actually like causing like so much stress and anxiety in my life that I'm just like, this isn't, this isn't it, this isn't worth it. I either need to just start something completely new or get a different job. Like I just I already knew um that it was it was that time. Um, and I feel like there's a lot of people you just that's that's the point you get to where you're just like, you know, enough's enough. Um, and then there's other people that it's the opposite where they're just like comfortable. Um, you know, that they they have a good kind of cushy position that makes good money and um they just kind of ride it out. So some people they can just stay in that spot because it's comfortable. Um, but for me, um, especially again, like I said, being raised that like I need I want to be a multimillionaire, I want to be financially independent, like I want to be a full-time dad to my kids, you know. Like it it was just I was just raised with this mentality that was just different, I think, than what you're definitely like what you're taught in college and like all that kind of stuff. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 16:41

Do you think it's discontentment in the sense of like you know you want more, therefore you're dissatisfied in there? Or do you think it was the general because I'm also trying to figure out why some people stay in their positions? Like in my industry, I know a lot of people, again, they've been individual contributors and medical device for like their entire lives, 20 years. Yeah, they'll be in one company for a few years and another company for a few years, and they seem to be perfectly happy just kind of bouncing and just kind of staying as they are. Whereas there's other people that they they do eventually find a trajectory where they get out of it. What do you think, in the mindset, like particularly in the company you were at, why were some people able to just kind of ride it out in your company and just stay there until they're 50s versus other people? Because some people I'd also imagine leave and kind of go on a downward trajectory, like they go down to a a different position that makes less money and they don't take the entrepreneurial route. There's other people that take an exit and go on the upward trajectory. How do you how do you feel like a lot of like what makes that difference for some people in corporate America?

SPEAKER_04 17:38

Um, it's a good question. I mean, I think every everybody's different, like so like, and even if you just go from like a spiritual perspective, like I just believe that like like God has a plan for your life and um that's plans different for everybody, and like he will plant like dreams and things in your mind. And I don't believe that like if you have like big dreams or big goals or if you have certain things um that like kind of came out of nowhere that like you're just like I this is what I want. Um, I believe that is like planted from God and He's not gonna give you something that you can't accomplish, you know what I mean? So um, but some people like that's different, like maybe they don't have that, like they don't have those specific dreams, you know. So like not everybody um is gonna be like you know, radically like multi, multimillionaire successful. Um, some people like they're very happy with um like just wherever it is that they're at, you know. Um and I feel like I don't think it's a bad thing.

SPEAKER_00 18:36

I mean, if you can find a spot where you're like 150 and you're just happy go lucky, bills are paid, cool.

SPEAKER_04 18:42

It's awesome. Yeah, it's awesome. Like then because I think that's part of the goal is just like not necessarily just happiness, but like peace. Like you just want to have like peace in your life and and if you you know, if you have love and peace in your life, like you have people around you that love you, like you have good relationships, like you and maybe you're fulfilling a purpose in a different way. Maybe it's like building like uh like the the kingdom or like whatever the case may be. Everybody I just feel like everybody has, and that's the point is that everybody has like different like dreams and things that I I feel like are on their heart and are in their mind.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:15

Um, so I feel like that's part of the differentiation of people that maybe attain high wealth versus people that attain like maybe deep purpose with like say building a church, or you know, there's no one is good and one is bad. It's just different because I feel like we're all designed differently. Um so I think that's part of it. But then the other part of it is is that maybe there are people out there that they do have these big dreams, but they just don't have the the tools, the confidence, the mindset, the the resilience, the you know, whatever to pursue it. Maybe they allow fear to restrict them and paralyze them from like actually moving forward in life. Like, you know, so there's there's that too that I see a lot, honestly, from just talking to people in general, that they allow these different strongholds to control them, so to speak. Um, and again, like just if you talk about it from a spiritual perspective, like I I think those are like tools of the enemy, you know what I mean? That like when it comes to like fear or isolation or division, like these are things that like are like for like say from the enemy per se. Um and again, like it's just like it some people allow those things to stronghold and like chain them to the ground versus other people figure out how to get past that. Yeah. Um, so I think that's a big difference too. But I think that the all these things play together, and that's why it's like such a complicated question to answer, and even just figure out in general in life as humans, because there's so many variables within like an equation of a person to try to figure out. Um, but like I think those are the core concepts, probably.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

I'm glad you mentioned that. Um, and I wanted to get your perspective on this too, which might be another reason that some people kind of you know get that kind of uh escape trajectory and escape philosophy, and others don't. I've heard some people say like to be successful, it's a mixture of hard work, exposure, and then a little bit of boldness. And this is the kind of way I've been thinking about where there's a lot of like there's there's uh you know, some construction workers that are gonna work way harder than I'll ever work my entire life, right? But there's a certain amount of also exposure where like you don't know what's possible unless you're around other people that are making that a real thing. Um, like I I think it's one thing to hear about people that are making a million dollars, but to actually have friends that are they're like, oh, they can do that. I can do what they're doing too. But I think there's also an element of boldness where you know there's an idea and you're like, that's a little crazy, but it it might be possible. Let me just give it a shot here and see if there's any if there's any feedback to that, if this could actually be a real thing. What what's your thoughts on that?

SPEAKER_04 21:54

Yeah, no, 100%. Well, the first point that you made, uh I think is very true, and I call it like the Law of association. Okay. Um, that I really believe association is like a law like gravity. Um, that like you can't deny that gravity exists and like you can't beat it, right? Like it just is the way that it is. Um and I feel like association is the same way because there's been a ton of studies done that like the five people that you spend the most amount of time with, like you become the average of, right? Um if you're around five people that are sick, like you're gonna get sick and so on. Like, so there's it's like a law that like the people that you surround yourself with, like that's what you're gonna be like. So if like you are surrounded by average, um, nothing against it, like nothing nothing against average, but if you're surrounded by average, then and and that's all you've ever been surrounded by, then it's hard to know that there's anything else even available or out there for you. Right. Um, so like, and that's I think that's a big part of most of society, obviously, is that like the mass majority is average by definition. Um, and you're surrounded by the same thing, and you just don't really get exposure to anything different or know that that's available to you. If you see people on social media that are successful or on TV or whatever, like you just think that, like, okay, that's for them, but it's not for me. It's so out of touch.

SPEAKER_00 23:14

And I wanted to get out of that because there is this out of touch because like we live in a world of social media where like, I mean, you scroll through a million, a millionaire every every different TikTok or whatever you see on there. But I think it's different to actually be associated with some in real life where there's this disconnect, like, oh, that's this top 001% that I'll never be able to access versus having a network of people that are actually like doing well and willing to like talk with you about it as well.

SPEAKER_04 23:37

100%. And I think that honestly is a big reason why network marketing is so successful is because that is what it creates is access to someone that's successful. And then people believe, like the mass majority believe that like I'm going to be successful because like I have the opportunity to rub shoulders with somebody that is exactly where I want to be in life, and they're actually willing to kind of coach and mentor me to get there. Yeah. So like that, and I think that's why it like it attracts so many people. And like you can build like the there's so many businesses out there that do that. Yeah. Um, because that's the exact culture that it creates, is it breaks the barrier down to access people that are successful when you probably didn't have that available to you prior. Sure. Um, so yeah, but just in general, um, like that's the goal is to get around people that are further than you, that push you, that stretch you out of your comfort zone, et cetera. I feel like that's a massive component to success in general. Like you have to like people always say, like you you want to be like the least smart person in the room. You want to be the least successful person in the room. Um like that's the goal versus like what's most comfortable is the opposite. What's most comfortable is when you're the most successful in the room and you make the most money in the room, and you know what I mean? Right. Um, so you just have to push yourself to be in that uncomfortable position. So I think that's the first part is the association thing and in in terms of like average. But your second point with boldness um is absolutely another factor because again, like there's there's the people that they grew up in average and they knew nothing but average, but they broke free from that. Sure. Um, didn't maybe they didn't even. There's probably tons of examples where they didn't even see anything different than average around them, but yet they still became like the unicorn that became radically successful in something, right? Um, so like the there is other elements at play too. There's other factors and variables involved that like you can clearly see um that uh there's there's other things that go into becoming successful. Um, and I think boldness is is one of those things, amongst other things.

SPEAKER_00 25:48

If you want to connect with high performers like today's and previous guests, I want to invite you to apply to join the standard. We are a private membership community that improves the health, wealth, and relationships for six-figure earners who perform at the highest level physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially, and financially. What we offer is simple. We will give you a vetted local brotherhood of men on your level or above. We will give you a customized plan to build true generational wealth. We will give you a personal liaison to achieve all of your goals. If you are tired of being the most successful person in your circle, frustrated with always pouring into others and not having anyone to pour into you, or you want to have conversations like the ones you're hearing today in person on a weekly basis with fellow higher performers, go to thestandardmen.com to apply. That's thestandardmen.com. Hit the link in the description below. Now back to the episode. For an example, just from my perspective, like I uh I I so I have my own business that I'm running to on the side, but like my first I remember my first job in medical device. I was I wanted to run a side hustle, but I didn't know what to do. I started off with an Etsy store, and I think you'll like this. I literally put C.S. Lewis quotes on like coffee mugs, and the design was terrible. I just used some basic Canva, Shopify. I think my aunt bought like five of them, and that was the total revenue I've ever done with that business. But like, you know, it was like, okay, well, that didn't work, but it was something. And I tried a couple other things, and finally I found something that I was like, oh, okay, this is something that'll work. But I think certain people are afraid like, what if it doesn't work? And it's like, uh you wasted a little time. Like, oh well, you know what I mean? Like, you were gonna waste time anyway on doing something else. Why not waste some time on something like that? It didn't take that much, which is why the the mugs were total crap because I spent all of five seconds working on the design for those things.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

Yeah, no, and again, I mean, like, failure is necessary for success. Most people think that like uh that people like shy away from and hide from failure um is if it's like the the worst thing in the world, um, and it's just something they can't have happen, whether it's because it hurts their ego or their reputation or whatever the case may be, but like failure is like necessary in most cases for success because that's where you learn. Like that's where you develop experience. That's like that's where things happen that put you in a position to now win the next time you pursue something or do that thing again. Um, so it's just like required. Um, that I we always used to hear like you part of the the process is try, fail, adjust, and repeat. Like you try, you fail, you would you make adjustments, um, and then you try again. And you just keep repeating that process until like you get to the point where you have something that works really well and that you can win at. Yeah. You know? So I agree completely.

SPEAKER_00 28:38

Well, since you've been exposed to a lot of different businesses and helped other people achieve their dreams, I was gonna kind of ask you kind of from what you see, talking with everybody else. So, you know, we talked a little bit about um like people in corporate America right now and you know, why do you feel like most of them want to even be entrepreneurial? Or do you think there's some people that they hit that mark and that is just genuinely what they want to stay at and go with? Um I'm curious if it's if it's comfortability or if it's fear, or maybe a bit of both.

SPEAKER_04 29:04

Yeah, uh, I think it absolutely can be both. Again, going back to the different variables, I think that it just depends on how people are. Some people, um, it's all about comfort, and they will do anything to like be comfortable, and that's their goal. Um, and that's just where they feel safe and happy and so on and so forth. Um, but like you always hear, success lies outside of outside of your comfort zone, right? Um, and I think that um I think that a lot of people get stuck in comfort for sure. Um, a lot of people I think get stuck in fear um that maybe they do want to have different things, but they're just afraid of failure, of rejection, of what people think, of whatever the case may be. People are afraid of so much stuff, and fear holds people back so much. Um, and you know, you hear that all the time. That like the I think the most, the, the most frequent command in the Bible is do not fear, right? Yeah. Um, so it's just like that's probably for a reason. If he like, you know, if he put it in there however many hundreds of times, yes, um, like it's probably one of the biggest things that holds people back from accomplishing what God designed you to accomplish. Yeah. Um, so uh, so it's just, you know, just logically, that just makes sense. So I think fear holds people back. I think now there's, you know, with even just like anxiety, anxiety holds people back. Um, and some sometimes it's ambition that like again, some people are just like comfortable and happy, and that's cool. Um, but I think there's a lot of people out there that they want to be successful, especially nowadays with social media and all these windows into like seeing millions of people that are successful. You know what I mean? Like, but back in the day it was just like maybe all you saw was TV of like celebrities and stuff, but that just seems such a narrow lane. But now, like, we have access to see ever like every person that is successful on the planet, you know? So like now we can see normal business owners, we can see like now even like influencers and content creators, and like we can see people that are successful in different levels so easily. So I feel like it's created over the past maybe 10, 15 years so many more people that do have big dreams, that do want to be successful. Um, they just maybe they just don't know how, they don't have the tools, whether it's skill set-wise or mindset-wise, to get there yet.

SPEAKER_00 31:27

Well, what was the dream for you? Like when you did make that shift out of corporate America, what was that dream that motivated you to keep going? Like what was it ultimately you were kind you were kind of looking for?

SPEAKER_04 31:38

Yeah, well, two things. Um, I the the dream is financial freedom, like for me.

SPEAKER_00 31:44

It's it's creating define that because we we say that a lot, particularly on this podcast. What did that mean for you? Like at what point in your career did you did you feel that or do you feel that way at this point?

SPEAKER_04 31:54

Yeah. So financial freedom to me is creating enough essentially passive income that I don't have to create active income anymore and actually like trade time for money or um like do anything specific to create income. Like financial freedom is like I have enough money coming in on the like with whatever I'm doing, investments, businesses, etc., that now I can focus my time on just doing whatever I want to every day and making every decision of what I do on a daily basis based on what I want to do versus what I have to do. Um, like that to me is like really what financial freedom is. And that was the ultimate dream that I have. Um, but to answer your question more directly, like the first one more directly, is that um what motivated me more um was less about the dream and more about the nightmare. I feel like like you're pain was more of a driver than yeah. There's two different types of people. You're either heavily motivated by dreams. Like some people, they see a car, like their their dream car, and like they will do whatever it takes to have that car. Um, and they work really hard for it because it's just their dream motivated. And then there's other people that are like nightmare motivated by like the thought of being stuck in a cubicle and staring at a computer screen for the next 40 years, like that just that thought alone will make them go out and do whatever it takes to get themselves out of that position. I was more of the second person. I was more of like, I'm motivated by the nightmare versus the dream. Um, and that nightmare was basically what I described of just like, you know, just working um a job that I hated. Um it's one thing if you like have a job that you love, but like I would the the nightmare for me is working a job that I hated where I have a boss uh that like controls my life and tells makes every decision for me. Uh I don't have time, I don't spend time with my family because I'm working the job. Sure. Um and like that whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 33:51

Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 33:52

And and like having that for 40 years, you know what I mean? Like that's a nightmare, you know, because it's one thing if you have you're in a position like that now, but like you're like you have a plan to get out of it, even if it's in the next five to 10 years. But like the thought, the nightmare is like doing that same thing for 40 years. Like it's that is scary to me. No, that's and that is that was the motivation, you know, so behind it.

SPEAKER_00 34:16

Um were you able to reach that before you exited out, or was it after you exited out? Yeah. So like describe how you were able actually attain that during the transitionary period.

SPEAKER_04 34:26

Yeah. So well, because there's two different things. Uh I wouldn't say that whenever I like uh walked away from corporate and like all that stuff, I was financially independent because I I mean, I I was probably temporarily, because if I had six figures in the bank and I kept my expenses low, like I could probably not create any income for I would say three years um that I could live like completely like free for three years, but then I would run out of money in three years. So like you're I would only be financially independent for three years.

SPEAKER_00 34:58

Yeah, you're free, but only for a limited time. Exactly. It's an expiration date, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:01

Exactly, which isn't, in my opinion, true financial freedom, sure, you know, because there's no ongoingness to that. Um, but then once I built a prosper firm and uh like got a small team in place and had these guys like closing loans, then that got me out of closing loans. Cause obviously, as I I just started as an individual, started like brokering like loans myself, like helping borrowers get the financing they needed, etc. Um, and so I was doing everything, but then I, you know, hired a couple people that they started closing all the loans, and I got to the point where I was able to like not have to close loans anymore. And when I got that to a point where I was, I don't know, I was probably bringing in 15, 20 grand a month to me personally. Sure. And uh, and I'm now I'm like in a spot where I'm like, I don't even have to do anything for this. That's whenever I really started to feel like financial freedom because yeah, 15, 20 grand a month is it's good income, but it's not like, you know, I'm this big baller buying like Lamborghinis and stuff. But like to me, that was financial freedom because like I was able to take a step back and like focus on dating and like, you know, traveling and like just making memories with my family and so on and so forth. And that's when that's when I found my wife Ange. Um, and like uh it was just a really cool time for me that I took probably about two or probably about two years. It was probably about two years straight of like I just felt completely free doing whatever I wanted to every day, traveling, like making memories, like all that kind of stuff. And I just didn't have to focus a ton on business and creating income, and I just wasn't worried about money whatsoever. Um, so that was that phase. And then um, and then I've had some like downsides and failures. Like for the example, like one downside was after like at the end of that two years, what was a big shakeup was the guys that I empowered to run things decided that we're just gonna go do this on our own. Oh man, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 37:01

Um so which the danger of hiring high quality people, they'll figure out how high quality they are at some point. Exactly.

SPEAKER_04 37:08

Um so uh and again I learned a lot from that too, because there was things that I could have done better to be more involved or create a better culture or empower them more or like give them what they needed. But um, but like so, but yeah, so they they left and put me in a position where I'm like, crap, like I need to, you know, I need I need to get back in there and fix this. Um and I was thankfully I was able to very quickly, like I got um uh some new folks in place and uh and the guy that um that runs those companies now, his name's Mike, and he's my like he's my best friend. We've been best friends for like way before I started this business. Fift 15 plus years, Mike and I go back. Um so there's a lot of trust and loyalty there, but he's also really good at what he does. So like he was the person that I kind of empowered um to take things over and again create like freedom for us. But I just feel like I've gotten back into like, you know, diversifying, building businesses again, like leveling up our current businesses because um even just like from the family perspective, like now having kids, because now fast forward to today, I have a wife, uh, her name's Ange, and then we have two kids, Beckham and Brooklyn. And now like having that family unit dynamic has created even more of a pull to level up, you know what I mean? Not just financially, but for our legacy and so on and so forth. So I feel like I'm now back like in another run of like, okay, growing businesses, doing different things, leveling up. So it's been fun. Um, but like I would say that I have less freedom currently, um, but by choice um to level up. Um and I think that's that's good too. That's healthy.

SPEAKER_00 38:47

Well, I do want to go more to like what you're doing with the firm, and I'll get to that in a second. But since you have this period where you know, you built a business, fairly successful, you're able to automate it and do all those things. You had like a two-year period where you kind of take a little more time for yourself. What things did you do that you enjoyed the most that you felt genuinely brought you the most happiness? Was it the Lamborghini? Was it the I'm just kidding? What what were some things? Because I feel like not a lot of people get a chance to kind of explore what are some things that bring them intrinsic, like how do I say, I'll say happiness for like better term, but what were those things for you?

SPEAKER_04 39:21

Um yeah, or for fulfillment or you know, um I would say that like when during that time, the things that it wasn't the stuff. Um, it wasn't the the the cars, the watches, the the the house, the you know, any of that kind of stuff. Um it was um definitely like finding and building a relationship with my wife, um like my like my other half. Um I think that was a that was a big component of it, um, of like where you just feel the best um is when you like find your person, so to speak. And like it's just again her and I connect like really well. Like we can spend all day, every day together, and we do. Um and uh we don't get sick of each other, like we're best friends. So like that is like hugely helpful. Um, but it's also super fulfilling, and like that was probably the best part. And uh to to like multiply that was us not having to worry about money and traveling. Like that was probably like the the trifecta of like um where I felt the best, felt the most fulfillment, felt felt the most happiness, like felt the most everything was um like just spending time with Ange and doing whatever we wanted to do. If that was travel to Italy and Croatia, like we did, it was that, you know, it was going on cruises. It was like I just we love traveling. So like just the travel, making new memories, seeing new places with your person was just it was just pure bliss. Awesome. Um, so that that was probably the best. It it wasn't it wasn't the stuff. Um, it was the the memories and the relationships.

SPEAKER_00 41:04

Okay. So but all dreams have to end eventually. So you got married, but now you got to come back to the firm and start getting back into the into the grind of it. Describe to me, so what is your most typical clientele? Do you have like a niche? I know you said real estate, but what were where are some like niches that you particularly serve the most?

SPEAKER_04 41:22

Yeah, so we initially uh our biggest base still to this day is real estate investors. Okay. Um so folks that are flipping houses, um buying rental properties, um it started that way, but now we have a balance between like residential, and it just depends on what you consider commercial, but um, because commercial could still be residential, just five plus units, you know. Um, so we do we help a lot of folks with multifamily. Um so multifamily is probably the better way to describe it. It's like because it could be like residential and commercial, but it's multifamily. But then there's other uses too, like self-storage and assisted living and you know, all those different kinds of things. Um so but real estate investors are uh the our biggest client base, and then um, and even like big like developers, new construction folks, luxury home builders, like all that kind of stuff. Those are um, those are our biggest clients. But then um we have had growth uh over the past year more on the business financing side too. So having like our clients being traditional business owners that have any kind of business, and maybe they need a uh an SBA loan, maybe they need equipment financing or accounts receivable financing. Like that's that's become our second client base. And then now third is still the same as business owners, but they call them founders now. Sure. Um that like like tech founders and like all the like those types of folks. Um those are now our clients too, because we've gotten into a space of being able to provide debt and equity um or creating access to debt and equity, um, not just debt. Um, so uh so yeah, but that's that's our whole client base. We don't do like personal loans or any of that kind of stuff. The only thing that we we do is mortgages. So like that would be, I guess, the mortgage company's client base is purely home buyers. Right. Um Do you where do you get the capital from? For so we use a variety of different capital sources. Like I think we have total now over 2,000 uh different capital sources that we have access to. So that's essentially what we've built is a platform that we've kind of partnered and onboarded um, you know, hundreds, like I said, thousands of different like private lenders, banks, um, you know, family offices, private equity firms. Okay. Like every uh every company or institution that has capital that they deploy, like that's who we're partnering with. And that's like that's our capital sources. That's where we get the money from.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

So you pool it all together, and then how do you decide like what monies go into which projects? Do the investors have kind of a say in that, or how does how

SPEAKER_04 44:00

That on the well, less actually. So we don't even have to pull the money together per se. Like they're it's not like they're investing into a pot and then we divvy up that pot. Like, really, what it is is it's more of like a matchmaking process where if we have a real estate investor come to us and say, Hey, I have I I need $400,000 to flip a house, we will then take that like specific scenario and then run it through essentially our database of like lenders that specifically like to lend to real estate investors for flipping houses in that price range in that state. You know what I mean? Um, so then maybe of those 2,000 lenders or like capital sources for that specific flipper, maybe there's just about 10 or 12 different like lenders and capital sources that we are like we could marry to them. Okay. Um, and then we just go through the vetting process to make sure that we connect them with the singular right source and then just help them close that transaction. So like we're almost like we're brokers, we're we're intermediaries that help facilitate that process.

SPEAKER_00 45:06

How do you find the lenders where you find them from? Is it like previous relationships you had in the industry or no, not really?

SPEAKER_04 45:12

I mean, like kind of actually. So whenever I went to that training in New York, um, they actually set me up with my first like 40, 50 lenders. Okay. Um, so like that was part of the training, is they taught me what to do, but they also taught me who to do it with. Um, so that was very helpful that like I got my first like base of like 40-50 contacts because that can be hard too, is like developing those partnerships because a lot of them want experience. So like if you don't have experience, then so how does that work?

SPEAKER_00 45:39

Do they come in? Are they kind of getting a little discount because like, hey, it's a new broker, so you're giving them a little bit of a yeah, I think so. But they're like, I'd say but just desperate enough. Like, we need somebody.

SPEAKER_04 45:49

So well, and what happened, like what it's hard to sometimes get into it initially. Um, but with that training program, the those lenders know the training program. So, like, that's like they know that like, okay, these guys are going through because like you don't actually have to do training to do like some of the things that we do. Right. Um, so there's a lot of like bad quality actors out there in like the brokered space. That's why I think brokers got like a bad name in like the private space. Um mortgage brokers, I feel like have a good connotation nowadays. Like, everybody knows that mortgage brokers probably get like the best rates because they can kind of shop around and figure out who's gonna get you the cheapest mortgage possible. So I feel like mortgage brokers have a good connotation, but like uh like private like loan brokers on like the investment space and everything have kind of a bad connotation because it's more the Wild West. Mortgage is very regulated, like you have to be licensed. Uh, this private stuff you don't have to be licensed is not regulated. It's like the Wild West. So then you get a lot of like bad stuff, or just people that are way like price gouging and way overcharging for like doing like next to nothing, um, and just like setting up an introduction and that's it. Versus us, what we do is like we really like walk the client through the end-to-end process, like as consultants. Like we're like consulting them through the process. We even like help like frame up their deal, give them advice, like all that kind of stuff. Okay. Um, and we do a lot of negotiating. So like we'll negotiate. And because we do so much volume, like we won Broker of the Year in 2022 out of 4,000 plus brokers throughout the country. So we do enough volume that we can actually negotiate those lender fees down to make room for some of our fees. So, like it's a free value-added service essentially using us, because if you went directly to that lender, you're not gonna spend any extra money than if you go through us to them. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 47:38

Right, because you have the leverage.

SPEAKER_04 47:40

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 47:41

That's interesting. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 47:42

So that's where a lot of people are like loving our service, is because now um, like it just makes sense to partner with a group like us because we have access to all these different sources and it's not even gonna cost them like really any extra money.

SPEAKER_00 47:54

How'd you get more? So you had the four that were just desperate enough for a new guy, even though actually, like before I get into that, how much did it cost for this program? Like how long and how much it was a hundred thousand. Okay. Yeah. It was a hundred thousand. How long did it take?

SPEAKER_04 48:06

Uh it was a week. It was a hundred thousand dollars for one week of training from like a very, very wealthy individual um that he did loan brokering for a long time and then became his own lender and did all kinds of stuff. Um, but uh um, but long story short, yeah, I I paid a hundred grand, went to uh New York, um, got trained, and they they also set me up with like a like they they built my website. Like they they helped me create.

SPEAKER_00 48:34

So they they set you up.

SPEAKER_04 48:35

Yeah, like they it and it's like so it's basically like almost like franchising without it being a franchise, you know. So I wasn't tied to them after that whatsoever. It was just like a one-time build that they got everything in place that was needed. Um, but it was a hundred percent my company. I don't pay any kind of ongoing fees. It was just the fee is the 100K up front that'll get you set up and like get you off and going. And um, I just kind of took that base model and then evolved it. How did you find that? Uh I just Googled just research literally. What would you say it was money well spent? I actually brokered um like just franchises, top, top best franchises to to buy, or because I knew at the time I knew franchises were was a good, like very proven success model. I wasn't trying to get into something that like has a high failure rate. Sure. Um, so franchises have very high success rate. Not all of them, but a lot of them do. So I was like, okay, I I started researching that. And then this advertisement came up to me, like they were running ads, and this advertisement came up to me that it's basically like a franchise, except without the franchise fees and the ongoing stuff. It's 100% your company. I'm like, that sounds perfect, actually, because I really don't want like somebody else's brand and like be tied to them and have to pay them like forever. And I want it to be my company, so it was just like it was just perfect. So I clicked on it and did the research and like vetted them a little bit. And uh yeah, I just I pulled the trigger. Money well spent. 100%. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was it was a great business. I mean, again, I was like pursuing financial independence in network marketing, and uh like it took me what it took me probably four years to create like three, four thousand dollar a month income in network marketing. And uh I did that same thing in like three months in this business. And then uh within my first nine months in business, I built a small team that was producing five, ten grand a month. Um, and by a year in business, I was literally like financially independent, wasn't wasn't closing loans anymore and was making, you know, ten grand plus a month. Um, so it was it was a really good business for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:46

So that sounds like it. Um, and so once you got those lenders, how like is it mainly just like reputation in the industry is how you got more?

SPEAKER_04 50:56

Like, how do you build more lenders, but also more people looking for yeah, once you have like experience, it's easy to bring on new lenders because you have experience. Um, so like once uh once you know we were given our base of like say 40 lenders, and then um once we started to find scenarios that these lenders couldn't help with, that's what took us to just honestly like researching like what are like again, just Google researching, like this was before like AI and stuff. So like we're just Googling like what's the best um lender for flipping houses or so on and so forth. And then we just started reaching out to them saying, like, hey, would you be willing to partner with us? Um, and most of the time, because we had experience and we've been doing it for a little bit, they said yeah. Okay. Um, and um, and that was how we started to grow more and more lenders, and then we started to go to conferences, um, like how we won that broker of the year from like a it was a it's a broker, it was a broker association um that they like do best practices and so on and so forth. And um we like they would have lenders come there. So then we like, you know, we went to these conferences, brought on 10 new lenders just from like one conference, you know. So it just kind of built over time. Sure. Um, and then uh we've even had like access to different platforms that like there's there's companies that not a lot of them, but there's a few companies that they actually have uh a platform that you can pay a lot of money to to like get access to additional lenders as well. So we just we've done pretty much everything to be able to build up this like big Rolodex. Um and it's it's been what six and a half years now.

SPEAKER_00 52:30

So so as far as getting more customers and bringing them on board, I assume that's also kind of similar, just a little bit time by time, as is it mainly referrals, or did you have to like cold call to find those? Or how did you how did you get more customers?

SPEAKER_04 52:45

Yeah, no, we've never really done a ton of cold calls. I've never done cold calls or anything. Um, a lot of it is like relationship-based, referral-based, etc. But to get traction, um, like we went to again, it was very like in-person because a lot of these folks, like again, business owners, investors, like they're pretty relationally driven. They're not just like clicking on an ad and, you know, right. Like buying someone they can trust. Exactly. Like this is a pretty hands-on, like and serious service. Um, so uh, so it's very much more in-person driven. So we would go to networking events, we would, you know, go, we would do whatever we could do to get access to those types of folks. And there's a lot of real estate networking events, there's conferences, there's all kinds of different things out there to connect with those audiences. So that's largely what we did to like get our initial base. And then once you like steward those relationships well, then they talk about you to their friends who are also probably in the same boat, also investors, also business owners. So then it just starts to snowball over time.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

I would imagine a lot of it's repeat too. If you do one customer good once, they'll they'll keep coming back to you for the next thing and the next thing and then bring his buddies on board and exactly a hundred percent. That's exactly it. Okay. What um what businesses outside of real estate do you probably cater to the most? Is there any particular niche in there or is it kind of pretty wide and deferred?

SPEAKER_04 54:04

There hasn't been a niche until recently. Um we're developing some partnerships with tech organizations in like the Tampa Bay area. Um it's not like 100% official yet, but it might be by the time this comes out. But we are um partnering to essentially be like the official capital partner of these different organizations, right? Um, like Tampa Bay Tech Week or Bay Area Tech Group or whatever the case may be. Like there's different tech groups um and even like women's business centers. And like we're we're starting to partner with different organizations that they their goal is to help like founders, essentially. Okay. Yeah. Um That's right.

SPEAKER_00 54:43

You told me that's kind of the new thing that's outcoming right now.

SPEAKER_04 54:46

Yeah, everybody calls that they're called founders instead of just like business owners or whatever. Sure. Um, but uh, but anyway, so all that's to say is that yeah, like uh the the new niche uh has essentially been like tech, um, that we're starting to get into like helping like tech get debt and equity. Um but then outside of that in terms of industries, no, it could be all over the place. Like there's been like like trucking, like logistics companies that they need like, you know, more trucks and so on and so forth. There's, you know, the any kind of business that like has delayed uh payments on their invoices, you know, like so like if you provide a product or service and but you don't end up getting paid for 60, 90, 120 days because that's the type of business it is. Yeah. Like my friend owns a steel fabricating business. Like he fabricates steel for like bridges, highway structures, etc. He provides that. Um, they pay a deposit, but he provides that steel, and then he could not get paid for 60, 90, 120 days until like the rest of that money comes in. Um, so he's out all that money in the meantime. So, like that's another like methodology we have is any business, it doesn't matter what the what industry it is, any business that that's your setup, um, we help them get a capital injection into their business now. Okay. Um, essentially what we're doing is like buying their invoices at a discount. Okay. You know what I mean? So it's like, you know, instead of getting a hundred percent of your invoice three months from now, what if you got 90% of your invoice today? And then we just got the the 100% of the invoice three months from now.

SPEAKER_00 56:16

Yeah, I know that makes sense. Yeah, because it's yeah, you get a discount because like you said, better to have 90% of it now than that's out of cash for 120. I can't even imagine not getting paid on accounts receivable for 120 days. That's insane.

SPEAKER_04 56:29

So that's there's certain certain businesses, and it could be like even in government contracts and so on and so forth, you know, that it's just um like there's so many different businesses out there that that's the model. Um, and yeah, so like we we can help folks with like a we call it AR financing, like accounts receivable financing, um, that were buying their invoices at a discount, essentially. So like that could be any business, right?

SPEAKER_00 56:53

Um so yeah. Well, let's uh I'm gonna shift gears a little bit because you're you're coming out of Tampa and you've done very well for yourself. How long have you been with the standard for?

SPEAKER_04 57:03

Um less than a year, probably six months. Um it's just been like because I moved down to Tampa last August. Um and you know, it's what May now. Um so I I I got reached out to, I think they reached out to me. Um I think they DM'd me on Instagram, and I uh it was like a month after I moved here. Okay. So then I think I joined maybe a month after that. So say I joined in like November. Something, something along those lines.

SPEAKER_00 57:32

Why did you? What was what did they say to get you to come into the organization?

SPEAKER_04 57:37

I um I mean I I talked to Hafiz and um he I just really liked the way that he spoke and carried himself. He just had a presence about him. Like I like that he was a godly man, and I just like like once I started to understand the values of the standard and like what it stands for, um, and you know, it's it's great that it's a group of high-performing individuals. That's obviously check mark one, that's who I want to surround myself with. And then number two, um, is you know, uh like people of faith. I think that was another like really cool component. Um, and just the fact that they there was a community that existed that had those two things where you know people just want to connect and collaborate with, you know, not a ton of agenda. I just I like that concept. And again, just with us being very networking oriented, like that's how we build our business. So I'm like, who knows? I I would love to connect with people to learn, but also to potentially build new partnerships or you know, uh gain new clients or whatever the case may be. Like it's just that's what it's all about is networking.

SPEAKER_00 58:37

So yeah, when you get a bunch of people, uh it's funny when there's not an agenda, but you get a bunch of high-performing people in a room, they kind of create one. It's like what you do, you I got a buddy that does. Hey, let me take your number. I'm I'm interested in getting into this. Like, I've I've had a few people reach out to me because I I work with like peptides and GLP ones and all that kind of stuff. So I've had a few people reach out to me. For when you did join, have you found some of what you're looking for? Like, what are some of the biggest things you've gotten out of the standard so far?

SPEAKER_04 59:03

It's just been relationships, honestly. Um, like so far, just because I haven't like I hadn't had the opportunity to go to the winter conference because it was right whenever I was having my daughter. Right. Um, and uh so like I'm looking forward to like the conferences and stuff. So I haven't seen value in those ways that I know other people do, that they like rave about like the value that comes out of these, you know, different conferences and events. Um, but the value for me has largely just been with the the personal relationships, like the one-on-one connections to um like just like stand-up guys uh that I like have you know like legitimate friends with now, you know, like there's multiple guys that are in Tampa that I meet with on a regular basis just to connect and you know talk about life and see how the if there's ways that we could partner, you know what I mean? And like that's that's what it's that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_00 59:52

That's good. That's great. It's hard to find a group like that. Kind of like you said, you're the you're the result of like the top five you surround yourself with. Yeah. So it is important to find who that group is. Exactly. But um no, I'll one thing I was gonna say too, because tying into that, because I know that you have a family, a growing family, or recently growing. How old's your youngest right now? Uh five months. Five months. And how old's your oldest? Uh he will be two in three months. Okay. So you're still right in the young, the young phase. How's that going forward?

SPEAKER_04 1:00:23

We have two under two, uh, is what they call it. And it is busy. I'm sure it's a lot, honestly. Like having one is like a huge life change. And it like having one, like your first kid is a lot just because it's a big life change. Um, but then like you don't realize how it's not that hard until you have two kids. Um, and once you have two kids, you're like, wow, this is like really hard. Like it is a lot. Um, it's like constant because you don't really get a break. Um, and you can't have one babysitter watch both of those little kids. Um, so it's like harder to escape it all. And like, yeah, it's just there's a lot to it. I mean, it's obviously it's super rewarding, it's awesome, and it becomes even more worth it as they start to get older and so on and so forth. But when you have two under two, it's like you're in you're in the thick of it. You know what I mean? Like it's very busy, very chaotic. Like you don't have a ton of dime downtime to yourself, and uh it's uh it can be stressful, like you cannot sleep a ton. Sure. Um, but at the same time, again, it's obviously like it's still awesome and rewarding and all that stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:27

We're in a little bit. I have a son who just turned one right now, and so yep, definitely a change. Although we started um baby fever kind of in my church life group that we're at. We're like the first couple in there, a little bit on the older side anyway, but we were the first one to have a kid, and then as soon as we had one, like everyone else got pregnant, like almost immediately afterwards. So now we went from like a bunch of young adults with no kids. Uh in a span of one year, there's like five babies inside of the which is which is great. I I I it is a lot of work, but I can't I can't imagine life without I really can't. It's it's a good thing. What um you know, you're talking about the standard and like the family and everything else. And one thing I was gonna say too is uh you and I were kind of talking a little bit beforehand, and we're at the stage of life where it almost feels like we're doing more than we've ever done before in the professional sense. Somehow we added kids and stuff into that. I and I was talking to my wife about it. Almost feels like every time I add a new person in my life, it's like I then try to achieve more. Whereas I feel like it should have been opposite. I should have been trying to do all this when I was like 21 with nothing better to do. But now we're on this side. What's your thought process on that?

SPEAKER_04 1:02:32

Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's there's definitely different like phases and seasons to life. Like obviously I experienced all of it from like, you know, there's the single life, then there's the single and dating, then there's the single and married, then there's the like single or the not single and married, there's I knew what you meant. Yeah, there's there's single, there's dating, there's married, and then married with kids. Like are essentially those are like the different like seasons in life. And um, I feel like we all feel like we can be super busy when we're single, just grinding, doing our thing, like whatever the case may be. But like obviously looking back now, being in the further seasons, like we were not busy, you know what I mean, when we're single. Um, and you have the ability, like when when you do start to get married and have kids, especially, um, your time is just you you really like cherish time more. Um, and I think you have to maximize every minute that you have um to be able to get the things done that you need to get done. And I think once you have kids, your priority systems change a little bit too. It's way less selfish and way more focused on like them. Um, it like really like flips people from like that selfish, I just want to be successful and I just need to do this and I want to do this to now. It just starts to flip because like you have to take care of another human and so on and so forth. So there's just a lot of elements that go into um like you are a lot busier with kids. Um, and like, you know, it's we always look back and say, you know, when I was single, I wish I did more. But um, and some for some people that's probably true. I couldn't have done more because I worked really hard in my 20s, like when I was single. Um, but I just wish I if there was anything I wish I would have done different, it would just be doing different things that produced better, but I didn't know that because that's how you learn.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:21

We don't know, yeah. We don't know what we don't know.

SPEAKER_04 1:04:22

Exactly. That's almost like part of the failure thing that we talked about earlier, is just that like you have to kind of go through those processes um to get to the point where you're winning the right way, the way that you want to. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

Well, since we're talking about children, uh I know one big pillar of the of the standard is like legacy is a big thing. The conference we missed, they talked a lot about like family legacy and what does that mean? From your perspective, what does legacy mean to you and what kind of legacy do you want to leave behind?

SPEAKER_04 1:04:48

Yeah, legacy to me, it's a good question. Um, legacy to me is obviously about the next generation, but it's about the next generation of instilling the right things in them. It's less about what you give them and it's more about what you put in them, right? Um, I think that's a big component of it that I think some people think legacy is like, I need to build this like wealth empire to be able to pass down to the kids. Um and there's nothing wrong with that. Um, but if that's all you do, then that's where you have like the entitled kids that like are spoiled and they turn out rotten and like all this stuff. Um, but uh I think that that's okay to have wealth and pass that down to to kids, but it's more about what you instill in them. Um, like you could pass down no wealth, and as long as you instill the right things in them, they will become wealthy. Um, but also like you want to model, like the they need to see a model of what that looks like too. So it's like ideally, it's kind of both. Um, but for me, like the the legacy is like creating uh like wealth, showing them what that looks like, but then also just teaching them the principles and concepts on what success is. Is in life, not just monetarily, but spiritually and relationally and so on and so forth. Like success isn't just making a ton of money. Um, it's I mean, it's different for everybody, but I think success is like the accumulation of everything, good relationships, wealth, like time, money. Um, and then, you know, spiritually having the right connection and growth there, like you being the healthiest and best person you can be. Like, because again, if you don't have your health too, then you don't have anything either, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:30

It's very much underrated, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:31

It's a balance. So success is a balance of all those things, right? Um, and duplicating that into like the next generation is the is the legacy. So it's less about like me building a big company and then it's like I want my my kids and my grandkids and like to run this company. I think that's a very old school, like almost like boomer mindset, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:06:51

Of like the Rockefeller wealth type, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:54

It's like passing that down to the kids. And I so I think that the especially like I'm a millennial and I feel like millennials are more about like being aware of the fact that like we will we want to make sure that we're passing things down into our kids versus just to them.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:10

Sure. I think in to what you're saying, I think there's an element of like with the wealth, it can get give them the options of chasing after the things that like God's called them to do and that they feel passionate about, where they they have that freedom. They don't have to go to work for a paycheck as much. I mean, they probably will to some extent, but not to the same degree as maybe previous generations did, where they can do something that's a little bit more suited to their calling.

SPEAKER_04 1:07:35

For sure. So 100%. Um, yeah, that's huge. And I think that's a big component too, is that like again, you don't want to like force them to do something specific, like like again, just like the passing down the company thing. That's why it hasn't worked that like a lot of the millennials that like had parents that were successful or whatever, yeah. Um, they don't like take on their the family business. It's because like they don't want that and they they have a different purpose and vision for what they're want the what they want their life to look like. Um so like I think again, like millennials are now looking at like I want to make sure that like I'm creating an environment where our kids are just successful in whatever it is they're excited about. So instead of telling them what they need to be excited about, it's like sure, we want to give them guide rails. Like we don't want them to just do anything or hang out with anybody or whatever the case may be, but like trying to allow them to to like grow in a lane that's healthy, um, and then allow them, like teach them the skills and the mindset to be successful at whatever it is it is that they're passionate about or that they find purpose in. You know, I think that's it.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:43

Like I really appreciated this conversation. I appreciate you coming up here from Tampa all the way up here to DFW. Um, for everyone that's watching right now, how can they find you? Like how you know, email, phone, or social media handle, what do you have?

SPEAKER_04 1:08:55

Yeah. Um Instagram's probably a good one uh that uh I feel like a lot of people connect with me on. So my Instagram is B.bartoldi, my last name, B-A-R-T-O-L-D-I. Um, so be yeah, Brandon Bartholdi um on Instagram and obviously I'm on LinkedIn and all that kind of stuff. Uh my email is Brandon at prosperfirm.com. Pretty easy. Um, so uh, but you know, our website is prosperfirm.com. And uh it's probably the easiest ways to connect though, for sure. Okay. Looking forward to it.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:28

Well, you know, best of luck with two of them. I only have one with no second yet, but you know, if once that comes around, I I know who to call for some guidance and advice. So love it.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:37

Yeah. Well, good luck. Congrats on uh the one year old. And um, yeah, we're just I'm excited to be here. I appreciate the time. Yep. Thanks for coming on.