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Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Charles Cofield. Thanks! The transcript from this episode of Money Making Conversations Masterclass features an inspiring and high-energy interview with CPA and financial educator Carter Cofield, co-founder of Melanin Money. Here's a breakdown of the key highlights and takeaways:

We're still surprised people did this but... 50+ founders worth $10M to $4B reveal their personal finances. Here it is: https://joinhampton.com/mw-wrWhy do we do this? Because if you're an aspirational person or someone who runs a business and is making money, it's incredibly challenging to figure out what to do. Information is impossible to find — and that's what we put together: the net worth reveal and why we do this podcast, Moneywise.He got his first $5M check and expected to feel superhuman. The next day was one of the most disappointing of his life.Jesse Pujji walked away from a Goldman Sachs job where he made $500K at 25 — with a boss making $3M and a group head making $20M — to bootstrap an ad agency on $33K per partner and a stack of Amex cards. Ampush cracked the Facebook arbitrage before almost anyone: $100K in monthly revenue in June 2010 became $2M a month with $600K in EBITDA fourteen months later. He scaled it to half a billion in annual ad spend and 250 employees without raising a dollar, turned down $25M at 27, sold 20% to Red Ventures in 2015, and sold the whole thing to New Mountain Capital in 2022 for somewhere between $40M and $60M on a 35% stake. He never got the nine-figure number he made up in his head, and he says chasing it was the mistake.This episode gets into the exact allocation of a post-exit portfolio, why Jesse refuses to let his advisors put illiquid startup equity on his balance sheet, what $500K a year of "normal" spending actually buys, and why he asked his financial advisor how people possibly spend more than that. He's honest about the gap between the money he expected to change him and the money that didn't. And we spend real time on the part most founders avoid: three kids who never saw him grind, a Greenlight allowance split into thirds, a $63 JCPenney paycheck at 16 that taught him more than any of it, and the question of whether to leave them anything at all.Also, this podcast is made by Hampton, which is a community for founders doing on average $20 million a year in revenue. We saw a lot of these money conversations happening privately behind closed doors and we thought, "What the heck, let's make it public." If you are a founder, apply here: http://joinhampton.com/mwTimestamps:00:00 — Jesse's origin story: immigrant household in St. Louis, a snow shoveling business in middle school, and $33K each plus Amex cards to start Ampush02:00 — The Facebook arbitrage that changed everything: $100K/month in June 2010 to $2M in revenue and $600K in EBITDA fourteen months later02:49 — "Sandbox entrepreneurship" — Facebook cold-calls them: "Who the hell are you guys? You're one of our top 100 advertisers"04:24 — Why he left Goldman at 25 making $500K: "I would rather make half of my future expected earnings and do something I feel excited about"06:18 — The $25M offer two years in, why they said no, and the $3M dividend they took instead — $1M each, which bought his SF house07:30 — The made-up number that wrecked them: hoping for $150M, getting $60–75M offers, and turning down $190M in Marin stock09:24 — The Red Ventures deal and $5M after tax: "I thought I would get wings or superhuman strength... nothing changed"11:16 — 2022: selling to New Mountain and walking away without going with the deal13:12 — The exit number, on the record: a $40–60M range on a stake "a little bit more than a third"16:04 — The Zone of Genius framework, and why being a CEO sat in his zone of excellence — good at it, drained by it17:52 — Gateway X by the numbers19:06 — Whether the scarcity ever goes away: "nine days out of ten" became "one day out of ten," and the coach question he couldn't answer20:16 — The Deer Valley condo, and finally understanding why people buy vacation homes21:08 — Full portfolio breakdown and why he tells his advisors to mark his startup equity at zero23:24 — Annual spend 26:52 — The schedule that makes it work: Tuesdays and Thursdays he misses bedtime, Monday/Wednesday/Friday he doesn't, and he deletes Slack on vacation28:16 — The thing that keeps him up: "They've gotten all the fruits of the grind without actually observing the grind"29:23 — Greenlight, allowance equal to their age, and splitting it into thirds — spend, save, give30:19 — Running a Starbucks P&L with his 9-year-old daughter in the store32:30 — The four-bucket framework: spend it, give it to the government, give it to charity, or give it to your kids34:44 — A Schnucks family board member on generational wealth: "Money doesn't ruin kids. Lack of values does."35:36 — What Jesse wants said at his funeralSponsors: Daily Body Coach - achieve your dream body with https://moneywise.dailybodycoach.comSubscribe to Moneywise: https://www.youtube.com/@themoneywisepodcastFollow Daniel on X: https://x.com/danielcberkListen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts: [search "Moneywise Hampton"]

Want to Start or Grow a Successful Business? Schedule a FREE 13-Point Assessment with Clay Clark Today At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com   Join Clay Clark's Thrivetime Show Business Workshop!!! Learn Branding, Marketing, SEO, Sales, Workflow Design, Accounting & More. **Request Tickets & See Testimonials At: www.ThrivetimeShow.com  **Request Tickets Via Text At (918) 851-0102   See the Thousands of Success Stories and Millionaires That Clay Clark Has Helped to Produce HERE: https://www.thrivetimeshow.com/testimonials/ Download A Millionaire's Guide to Become Sustainably Rich: A Step-by-Step Guide to Become a Successful Money-Generating and Time-Freedom Creating Business HERE: www.ThrivetimeShow.com/Millionaire   See Thousands of Case Studies Today HERE: www.thrivetimeshow.com/does-it-work/  

What if you could access the money in your investment account without selling a single share or triggering capital gains tax?In this episode of Gimme Some Truth, Ian and Alicia break down pledged asset lines (PALs) — what they are and how they work — and then introduce a newer, lesser-known alternative: the box spread portfolio loan. With lower interest rates, lower minimums, better tax treatment, and fewer restrictions on how you use the funds, box spread loans are quickly becoming a go-to strategy for investors sitting on large unrealized gains.If you've ever thought "I need cash but I don't want to sell," this episode walks you through exactly how to think about it.

There is a difference between being busy on behalf of a client and being valuable to them, and most founders are exceptional at the first one. In the fourth and most pivotal episode of the after-the-yes arc, Sheena names the pattern of over-delivering by volume — more meetings, more documents, more touchpoints — and explains why it burdens clients, wears out founders, and erodes margins while masquerading as generosity. She offers a sharper definition of value: delivering the specific outcome the client came for, and protecting that outcome from everything that would dilute it, including the slow accumulation of scope creep. Product founders get the sharpest version of the lesson, since more features, emails, and upsells rarely earn the next purchase — the core thing working as promised does. The episode connects delivery to mission, framing how a founder spends finite time and care as a statement about what truly matters, and closes with a sorting exercise to separate genuine value from productive-feeling activity.Key Topics CoveredWhy volume is not valueHow over-delivering burdens clients and wears out foundersDefining value as the outcome, protected from dilutionScope creep and how it pulls an engagement off courseThe product version: features and upsells versus the core thing workingDelivering value as a mission question, not only a business oneKey TakeawaysClients hire you for an outcome, not a quantity of activity.Over-delivering by volume spends your most limited resource on your least valuable work.Protecting value means protecting scope, and that is an act of respect.How you spend your finite time and care is a statement about what matters.Resources MentionedThe Strategic Discovery Audit — the diagnostic gateway to working with The DeVain CollectiveThe CEO Self-AssessmentBeyond Founder-Led newsletterConnect with The DeVain Collective:LinkedInInstagramWebsite: thedevaincollective.comConnect with Sheena:LinkedInInstagramAbout Beyond Founder-LedBeyond Founder-Led is the podcast for mission-driven founders — primarily women scaling service-based businesses from $500K to $5M — who are ready to move beyond being the bottleneck in every decision. Hosted by Sheena Hunt, founder of The DeVain Collective, each episode delivers frameworks, honest reflection, and practical tools for building a business that grows without sacrificing the founder or the mission.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/beautifullycomplicated-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Book a call with Travis: https://calendly.com/travis-eib/30-minute-callBook a call: https://remnantfinance.com/calendarOut Print the Fed with a 1% target per week: https://remnantfinance.com/optionsEmail us at info@remnantfinance.com or visit https://remnantfinance.com for more informationFOLLOW REMNANT FINANCEYoutube: @RemnantFinance (https://www.youtube.com/@RemnantFinance)Facebook: @remnantfinance (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61560694316588)Twitter: @remnantfinance (https://x.com/remnantfinance)TikTok: @RemnantFinanceDon't forget to hit LIKE and SUBSCRIBEIn this episode, Hans welcomes back Travis McBride, a former Navy helicopter pilot turned insurance professional, for his third appearance and a conversation about annuities, guaranteed lifetime income, and why the order of your returns matters more than the average. Fresh off the birth of his son, Travis opens up about how fatherhood reframes the way he thinks about mortality and protecting the people who depend on you.From there they get into sequence of return risk, including a live demo where shuffling the exact same 30 years of returns swings the outcome from $2.2 million left over to fully broke in 14 years, and why a guaranteed income floor lets you stay on the compounding curve right when it's most powerful.Chapters:00:00 – Opening segment03:10 – Re-anchoring on why we plan: it's about the next generation05:25 – Why $500K of SGLI won't set a family up10:15 – What an annuity actually is: the inverse of life insurance14:40 – The power of setting an income floor18:30 – A brief history of annuities, from Rome to the modern pension gap20:15 – When to consider an annuity: the 50 to mid-70s window21:15 – No medical underwriting: annuities are priced on age alone25:15 – The 4% rule and where it falls apart26:05 – Sequence of return risk explained with a live shuffle28:45 – Same data, wildly different outcomes30:50 – Why the Series 65 teaches nothing about insurance or annuities35:00 – Trade-offs exist everywhere, even in a Roth IRA and 401(k)39:50 – Mortality credits: the third form of return45:30 – Payouts are tied to the 10-year Treasury at purchase46:40 – The 1035 exchange: upgrading an old, uncompetitive annuity50:00 – Closing segmentKey Takeaways:The order of your returns can matter more than the returns themselves. Take the same 30 years of market data and simply shuffle the sequence, and the outcome swings from leaving $2.2 million behind to running out of money in 14 years.An annuity is the inverse of life insurance, and it's the only chassis that guarantees income for life. Where a $1 million portfolio using the 4% rule cautiously pulls $40,000 a year and still might run dry, that same $1 million can buy a fully guaranteed $77,000 a year that keeps paying as long as you're alive.A guaranteed income floor buys you flexibility everywhere else. Once your baseline needs are covered for life, you no longer have to run conservative with the rest of the portfolio.$500K of group life insurance is not a plan. In a high cost of living area, half a million won't maintain a family's lifestyle, and most people aren't even capped out there.If your parents bought an annuity, get it reviewed. Payouts are locked to the 10-year Treasury yield at the time of purchase, so annuities bought in low-rate years are often badly uncompetitive today.

VLOG July 17 Netflix wants $500K attorneys' fees from Rinsch https://www.patreon.com/MatthewRussellLee/posts/nexflix-and-fees-164049210 JR Writer sues UMG, unsealing docketed in LA. Bushwick rug theft solved. Eric Adams' Herbert gets ex-SDNY. Enova AG hypocrisy. World Cup final, @RafaelMGrossi sock puppet

Shane and Ethan are back, and the World Cup jerseys are out. Episode 195 covers the Jersey Mike's IPO and the Forbes disclosures revealing that family members collected around thirty million dollars in compensation ahead of the company going public, Jeff Bezos co-leading an AI startup called Prometheus and declaring that AI will make single income households viable again, and Vinod Khosla's ten billion dollar purchase of the Seattle Seahawks plus the 20-year beach access lawsuit he has been fighting with the state of California. They also break down New York City's new pied-à-terre tax targeting non-resident property owners and what it actually means for people like Ken Griffin who own a $238 million penthouse but live in Florida, and close with a Reddit question from a business owner going from $500K to three million dollars in income who wants to know what to do with his money and why Reddit keeps telling everyone not to hire a wealth advisor. Topics covered: Jersey Mike's IPO valuation and the family compensation disclosures Bezos is co-leading an AI startup, and his case for AI optimism Vinod Khosla is buying the Seattle Seahawks for $10 billion The 20-year beach access lawsuit and how it went to the Supreme Court New York City's pied-à-terre tax explained and who it actually affects Reddit question: business owner going from $500K to $3M in income needs a plan Why Reddit keeps telling people not to hire a wealth advisor and what to do instead Timestamps: 00:00 Intro, World Cup jerseys, and the Argentina vs England matchup 03:15 Jersey Mike's IPO and the family nepo baby compensation disclosures 07:00 Bezos co-leads AI startup Prometheus and says AI will fix the economy 09:30 Vinod Khosla buys the Seattle Seahawks for $10 billion 11:45 The 20-year California beach access lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court 14:00 Khosla Ventures and the investments that made him fantastically wealthy 15:10 New York City's pied-à-terre tax and Ken Griffin's $238 million penthouse 20:15 Reddit question: $3M income S corp owner needs a financial plan 24:00 Why Reddit tells everyone not to hire a wealth advisor and what to do instead

Listen until the end.

Welcome to the Mark My Words podcast. In this edition, Mark Levy and Mark "Piggy" Riddell fly solo after a severe case of tonsillitis sidelines their wingman, MG! The boys dive straight into the footy drama, tearing apart the Wests Tigers’ mind-boggling $500k payout to let Jarome Luai walk to the Eels. Piggy also shares a rare, deeply personal story about the exact moment he knew it was time to retire, and he breaks out some wild upset predictions for round 20 of the NRL, celebrating 20 years of Women in League Round. Can the Storm survive without Cameron Munster? You can find us on YouTube and on Instagram - just search ‘The Continuous Call Team’See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every founder hits a revenue ceiling. Michael Grudecki says it's rarely a market problem. It's a skill set missing inside your own company.Alex Sheridan sits down with Michael Grudecki, co-founder of the Fractional Executive Network, on why growth stalls, why founders can't see their own blind spots, and why he vowed to never put business ahead of what actually matters.Key takeaways:00:00:00 Introduction00:00:00Q: What is the revenue ceiling every founder hits?A: Michael Grudecki explains that growth stalls at $500K, $5M, or $50M when the business lacks the executive skill set needed for the next level.00:09:50Q: What keeps founders trapped in their own business?A: Michael Grudecki built his first company around himself. No days off, clients who refused anyone else. He shares what to do differently from day one.00:12:51Q: Why do business owners stay the bottleneck of their own company?A: Michael Grudecki says it comes down to fear. Nobody wants to hear their baby is ugly, so the flaws stay unaddressed.00:18:54Q: How should founders approach long-term planning and vision?A: Michael Grudecki goes to the last chapter first. Lifestyle business, sellable asset, or family succession — every plan flows backward from that answer.00:26:39Q: What is the difference between a fractional executive and a consultant?A: Michael Grudecki explains a consultant hands you a plan and walks away, while a fractional executive stays tied to your KPIs and OKRs.Subscribe to Founder Talk and share this with a founder who needs it.

Level up your leadership: https://forms.gle/nqRTUvgFrtdYuCbr6 Does hyper-scaling your game studio actually destroy the soul of your product? When outside capital flooded into WonderWorks Studio following Roblox's IPO, founder Zach Letter did what every investor screamed for: he scaled his three-person team to nearly 100 employees, built a massive physical studio, and hired a traditional AAA C-suite. The result was a toxic corporate culture, a mountain of high-maintenance work-for-hire contracts, and the near-death of their original IP. In this episode, Ben sits down with Zach Letter to deconstruct the grueling reality behind those decisions. Zach shares the timeline of cutting his studio back down to a core group of 12 people, bootstrapping a high-stakes licensing deal with Paramount on raw grit, and shipping a chart-topping SpongeBob Tower Defense game on their final weeks of runway. What You'll Learn in This Episode: What structural traps await small, agile teams when transitioning to high-overhead venture capital models. Why relying on traditional AAA corporate leadership frameworks can severely decouple your studio from fast-moving UGC algorithms and audiences. How to leverage hyper-focused community feedback and competitive gap analysis to disrupt saturated game genres. How to design high-stimulus, free-to-play reward loops that prioritize long-term player commitment over short-term FOMO mechanics. If you're a leader in game dev who is struggling to balance studio growth with creative control, or considering a high-risk pivot into licensed IP and UGC platforms, this episode is for you. Learn more about our guest:

Three women. Three completely different AI businesses. One had a $500K launch, one did $1.5 million, and one hit $19 million, reportedly one of the biggest female founder launches ever. This episode breaks down exactly what they did the same way, and it's not what you think.What three women running wildly different AI businesses all did that took their launches into 7 and 8 figuresThe overnight pivot every single one of them made that saved their entire launch strategyWhy none of these women are pricing to be "accessible", and what that's quietly costing your businessThe one line in a caption that makes waiting feel like the most expensive decision someone can makeThe unglamorous, unsexy strategy behind why you suddenly see the same people everywhere on your feedClick HERE to follow me on InstagramClick HERE to apply for the Peace and Profit MastermindLinks + ResourcesGemma Bonham-Carter, AI All Stars, AI Unlocked summitDr Nikki Sweeney, AI Impact HubCallan Faulkner, Effortless Business Boot CampReferenced episode: "Being accessible is killing your business"Referenced episode: podcast with Macy McNeely

I love a good transformation story, and Lucy Madden's is one of my favorites.Lucy was a middle school science teacher who ran a snail mail pen pal program in her classroom, pairing her students with STEM professionals around the world. She watched her kids start imagining bigger futures for themselves, so she turned it into an organization: Letters to a Pre-Scientist. Now she's the CEO, and she's fundraising for it as a team of basically one.When we started working together, Lucy had 10 to 15 donors giving $1,000 or more, and those gifts felt random. In this episode, she walks through what changed: stepping away from grants, getting her board on board, and shedding the ick she felt about asking individuals for real money.The moment that stuck with me: Lucy called a donor just to say thank you for a $10,000 gift. On that call, the donor did the math on Lucy's growth plan herself and said, "You need $140,000. I think we can do that." It became a multi-year six-figure stock gift, the first stock gift her organization has ever received, on a budget of $500K.We also talk about why snail mail is her secret weapon (in programs and in fundraising), why she stopped throwing spaghetti at the wall, and what shifted internally that let her show up to donor conversations with actual confidence.If you've ever told yourself you're not a fundraiser, this conversation is for you.Important Links:Connect with Lucy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-madden/Letters to a Pre-Scientist: https://prescientist.org/My Big Ask Gifts Program: https://go.rheawong.com/big-ask-gifts-programMy Book, Get That Money Honey: https://go.rheawong.com/get-that-money-honeyMy Newsletter: https://www.rheawong.com/

How do you turn a following into real money? Avni Barman breaks down exactly how she did it, and why creators with way bigger audiences make a fraction of what she does.Avni is the founder of Gen She, with close to a million followers across her socials. She's one of the top creators on LinkedIn at around 40 million views a month, monetises entirely through brand deals, and her biggest single deal was $65,000 for one video.What makes her different is that she treats content like a real business, choosing her niche on purpose, building genuine trust with her audience and refusing to chase numbers that don't actually payWe break down:The strategy that took her from 200K to 500K followers on Instagram in just three monthsWhy the highest-paying niches are the ones most women overlookHow to build the kind of trust that makes people buy anything you recommendThe "onion" method for building an audience that's ride or die for youWhy saying no to 99% of brand deals actually makes you more moneyWhat really drives consistency, even on the days you want to quiThe truth about overnight success and the years of work behind one viral videoCONNECT WITH AVNI:Follow Avni on Instagram ⁠@avnibarman_CONNECT WITH ME:Join my ⁠12-month UNSTOPPABLE MASTERMIND Join the ⁠Iconic Events Blueprint at 90% OFF⁠Download your⁠ 30-day Millionaire Mindset audio training⁠Access my⁠ FREE Resources⁠Order my book ⁠“Unstoppable Success”⁠ on⁠ Amazon⁠Apply for⁠ 1:1 Business Coaching⁠Send me a DM on⁠ Instagram⁠

Good delivery is invisible to the client and effortful for the founder, and the difference between the two is the backend. In the third episode of the after-the-yes arc, Sheena goes beneath the surface of the client experience to the systems, workflows, and documented knowledge that hold delivery together. She introduces the concept of tribal knowledge — everything a business knows that has never been written down — and explains why it is the precise mechanism by which a founder becomes the bottleneck.The episode lays out the three things a real backend gives you: consistency that turns good work into a reputation, delegability that makes a future team possible, and improvability that lets you refine what you can finally see. Product-based founders get a direct translation, since fulfillment, inventory, and support are every bit as much tribal knowledge as a service process. Sheena closes with a caution to build with clarity before complexity, starting with the systems that matter most rather than documenting everything at once.Key Topics CoveredWhy good delivery is invisible when it worksTribal knowledge and how it makes the founder the bottleneckWhat a system actually is: a documented, repeatable outcomeConsistency, delegability, and improvabilityWhy documentation is the precondition for a teamBackend systems in product-based businessesBuilding with clarity before complexityKey TakeawaysKnowledge that lives only in a person is knowledge the business cannot run on.You cannot delegate, improve, or step away from what you have not documented.Consistency is what turns good work into a reputation.Start with the systems that matter most, not all of them at once.Resources MentionedThe Strategic Discovery Audit — the diagnostic gateway to working with The DeVain CollectiveThe CEO Self-AssessmentBeyond Founder-Led newsletterConnect with The DeVain CollectiveLinkedInInstagramWebsite: thedevaincollective.comConnect with Sheena:LinkedInInstagramAbout Beyond Founder-LedBeyond Founder-Led is the podcast for mission-driven founders — primarily women scaling service-based businesses from $500K to $5M — who are ready to move beyond being the bottleneck in every decision. Hosted by Sheena Hunt, founder of The DeVain Collective, each episode delivers frameworks, honest reflection, and practical tools for building a business that grows without sacrificing the founder or the mission.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/beautifullycomplicated-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode, Dan and Mason talk about how investors should think about allocating capital after a major liquidity event. Whether it's $50,000, $500,000, or even $5 million, they break down how their investment decisions change at each level. They discuss paying down high-interest debt, preparing for taxes, investing in rental properties, funding new land deals, and why having access to long-term fixed-rate debt can be one of the biggest advantages in real estate. They also explain why making thoughtful decisions matters more than rushing to reinvest every dollar.They also share how their priorities shift as the amount of capital grows. Instead of simply chasing higher returns, they discuss preserving wealth, reducing business complexity, hiring the right people, improving systems, and creating more time and freedom. Throughout the conversation, they emphasize the importance of liquidity, smart leverage, tax planning, and building a business that remains sustainable for the long term rather than focusing only on rapid growth.Tune in if you want to make smarter investment decisions after a large cash event, understand how experienced investors think about capital allocation, reduce financial risk, and build long-term wealth through strategic real estate investing.===Key Topics:-How to make smarter investment decisions after receiving a large amount of capital-Why paying down debt and planning for taxes should come before new investments-How rental properties, land deals, and strategic leverage can grow long-term wealth-Why preserving wealth becomes more important as your portfolio grows-How reducing business complexity and buying back your time creates lasting financial freedom===If you're selling land and still relying on Facebook messages, you're making it harder than it needs to be. Acrefy helps land investors create clean, professional dispo websites where buyers can see everything in one place. It saves time, looks legit, and helps you close faster.

Tayo Lusi, Founder of The One Percent University, explains how IT professionals can scale their income to $500,000 a year by mastering the right mindset, building real cloud engineering projects, and negotiating their true worth. He shares how he went from a $55K help desk job to nearly $500K, and why he now teaches $500,000 as a baseline minimum rather than a dream. Learn more at https://apexedu.io/.

What if you could achieve your 10-year goals in just 3 years? In this episode of The Magellan Network Show, Coach Joe Lukacs breaks down the science of compressing time - a framework inspired by Benjamin Hardy's The Science of Scaling - and how he applies it to help financial advisors radically grow their businesses. Joe walks through why 10-year thinking breeds complacency, incremental habits, and what he calls "tomorrow-itis." Through a candid case study of a 30-year advisor stuck at $450K in production, Joe reveals the real reason most advisors can't scale: it's not a business problem - it's an identity problem. In this episode, you'll learn: • Why compressing your goals into a 3-year window stress-tests your real commitment • The "Big Three" metrics every advisor should be measuring • How to build a Super COI strategy that multiplies referrals • Why being busy after your first 3 years is actually holding you back • The one word Coach Joe would tattoo on every advisor's forehead: leverage • Whether you're at $250K trying to hit $500K, or a million-dollar producer aiming for $3M - the game changes at every level, and so must you.

95% of the time, it's not a people problem. It's a process problem. So I set out to fix the process and in doing it, I found a way to clone my best employees. How skills took my X account from ~100K to 3M+ monthly impressions The finance skill that found $500K in hidden costs in 30 minutes Our internal "Skills Dojo" - think GitHub meets an app store for your team's best skills How evals and agentic loops turn one person into the work of 5-10 Chapters 00:00 Clone Your Best Employees With Skills 00:25 The Results: 3M+ Views on X 00:43 Building & Forking Skills 02:00 Fat Skills, Thin Harness 02:13 Skills That Drive Real Leads 02:48 The AI Marketing Skills Repo (2,600 Stars) 04:00 The Finance Skill That Saved $500K 04:53 X Long-Form Writer + Humanizer 05:39 Inside Our Skills Dojo 08:04 Publishing & Sanitizing Skills 09:00 Most Problems Are Process Problems 10:48 Speaking at MozCon NYC 11:26 Training The Team Like Jedi 12:03 The Person Of One 14:05 What Makes A Real Skill 14:18 What Is A Good Eval? 15:04 Agentic Loops Explained 16:45 Daisy-Chaining Skills Into Loops

Half a million dollars in equity. In under three years. That's what my client Jim — alongside his business partner Scott — has built by buying rental after rental without using a dime of his own money. How long would it take YOU to save half a million dollars from a paycheck?In this recording from our recent 3-day live workshop, Jim and Scott break down exactly how they've grown to nine rental properties: raising money from six different private lenders, structuring promissory notes so their capital keeps moving, switching from the MLS to direct mail marketing, and using DSCR refinances to pull cash back out and buy again. If the idea of asking people you know to lend you money still feels intimidating, this one will change how you think about it. Enjoy!Visit our website at www.TrueWealthInvestors.com for more real estate wisdom and resources. More Resources & LinksStruggling to get started in Real Estate or feel like you are struggling to get to the next level?  Check out this Free Vision Casting Video to help clarify your goals and get specific steps to accomplish them!Schedule a 30 Minute Discovery Call with Chad Accelerate the growth of your business and reclaim control of your life! Are you tired of your business running you instead of the other way around? It's easy to get bogged down in the day-to-day operations, making it challenging to identify overarching challenges and solutions. Let's schedule a call to gain a strategic 10,000-foot perspective and devise a tailored plan for your success. Take the first step towards a business that not only thrives but also enhances your life!  Connect with Chad on LinkedInFollow Chad on InstagramFollow Chad on YouTubeFollow True Wealth on FacebookBe sure to leave a rating & review to let us know how this show has helped YOU!

Is $500,000 actually a more important financial milestone than becoming a millionaire? In this episode of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, Mindy Jensen sits down with Evan Lawler to explore why reaching $500K early could put you on track for Coast FIRE and potentially grow into millions by traditional retirement. They discuss the power of compound interest, high savings rates, intentional spending, and why financial independence doesn't always mean retiring early. Mindy and Evan also dive into the psychology of money, including the difference between being frugal and being cheap, building healthy spending habits after years of saving, and how lifestyle inflation, family, and changing priorities affect your FIRE journey. Whether you're just starting to invest or already pursuing financial independence, this episode will help you rethink the milestones that matter most. To go beyond the podcast: Kick start your financial independence journey with our FREE financial resources - https://biggerpocketsmoney.com/ Subscribe on YouTube for even more content- www.youtube.com/biggerpocketsmoney  Connect with us on social media to join the other BiggerPockets Money listeners - https://www.facebook.com/groups/BPMoney Connect with Evan Lawler: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_financialfoundation/ Email: The.FinancialFoundation00@gmail.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@The_FinancialFoundation We believe financial independence is attainable for anyone no matter when or where you're starting. Let's get your financial house in order! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meta announced new models of its popular AI glasses, including a version with Kylie AI. Plus, we have 2 weeks' worth of tech news to catch up on. Tech better! Watch on YouTube! - Notnerd.com and Notpicks.com INTRO (00:00) 7-eleven day is Saturday and birthdays (02:40) PSA: Don't fall for scams (06:05) MAIN TOPIC: New Meta AI Glasses (09:55) Meta put Kylie Jenner's voice in its AI glasses Meta launches cheaper smart glasses without Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses Meta is adding ridiculous 'rate limits' and a soft paywall to its smart glasses DAVE'S PRO-TIP OF THE WEEK: Mute a site or mute a tab in computer's web browser (19:40) JUST THE HEADLINES: (24:45) NASA details plans to build a base at the Moon's south pole Spotify deletes 500K streams of popular song for suspected Kalshi, Polymarket user manipulation China reclaims fastest supercomputer at 2 exaflops LastPass notifies users of yet another data breach Microsoft accidentally breaks replying to an email in Outlook Madonna's back: Queen of Pop's new dance album wins over critics Scientists think Uranus and Neptune may not be the ice giants we imagined WITHIN REACH! Dave is up 9-6, Round 17, Nate goes first (28:15) TAKES: T-Mobile automatically moving legacy plan customers to new plans (40:05) You're paying for 80+ iPhone and iPad games through Netflix, here's the full catalog (44:00) Apple 'Hide My Email' vulnerability exposes users' real email addresses (46:05) BONUS ODD TAKE: iPhone Photography Award 2026 Winners (49:30) PICKS OF THE WEEK:  Dave: SMALLRIG One-Touch Deploy Mini Tripod Small Grip for DJI Osmo Pocket 4P 4 3 /Action 6/5 Pro/Nano, for Insta360 Luna Ultra, for GoPro, Desktop Stand w 1/4"-20 Screw for Video Light/Phone/Camera - 6049 (53:30) Nate: Ferrofluid Visualizer, Music Rhythm Lamp, Magnetic Fluid Music Mate, Dacing Desk Decor in Music, Ideal Gift for Friends (Green) (57:05)

Revenue Is the Wrong Number to Watch The Leading Numbers That Tell You What Your Revenue Is About to Do Before It Does It My business coach asked me a simple question about my funnel, and I couldn't answer it. Not because I didn't care. Because I'd stopped tracking it. She stopped me right there and told me something I needed to hear: to succeed with this business model, I have to know my numbers every single week, until they're burned in my brain. Revenue is a lagging number. By the time your bank account tells you something is off, the problem happened weeks or months ago. What actually predicts where your business is headed are your leading numbers, the three or four points in your funnel that move before revenue does. And they look different depending on your business model, so there's no universal list to copy. In this episode, I walk you through the numbers I tracked during my live launch years versus the four I watch now, give you the simple test that tells you whether a number belongs on your list (follower count fails it every time), and show you the exact numbers to watch whether you run a membership, a course, a coaching offer, or an evergreen funnel. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Multi-six-figure revenue, and the months still feel like a guess? The problem isn't your effort. It's that you don't know which numbers actually predict what your revenue is about to do. My Free Live Training fixes that. Click here to join. High six figures is a ceiling for a reason. What got you here stops working here. If you're a female founder earning $500K or more annually and you've already tried it all, what you need next isn't another strategy. It's someone inside your business showing you the way forward. The Milly Club is my private six-month coaching program for women growing toward their first million. Apply here. MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

Ryan Bloom grew up in a good family in Oklahoma with dreams of becoming a dentist. Life took a different turn and he built an electrical contracting business instead. When the business lost a major contract he turned to a small bank for help — and got pulled into a high interest invoice lending situation that ultimately left him owing over $2 million and forced to declare bankruptcy. Ryan thought everything he was doing was completely legitimate. Then the feds came for him. He was indicted for bank fraud — and discovered the prosecutor had a conflict of interest with the bank. He fought back. He spent almost $500,000 in attorney fees. And he beat the federal government. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Ryan breaks down the complete story — from the business collapse to the bankruptcy to the federal indictment to the courtroom victory that cost him everything financially but gave him his freedom. _____________________________________________ #fraud #TrueCrime #arrest _____________________________________________ Connect with Ryan Bloom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdbloom _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and Early Life 01:52 Family Background and Childhood 03:23 College Dreams and Choosing a Career 04:44 Joining and Growing the Family Business 05:46 Family Infighting and Company's Downfall 06:34 New Start in Oil & Gas, Launching Own Business 07:46 Launching Pathfinder HDD and Business Pivot 08:22 Business Growth and Early Successes 09:14 Winning Big Contracts and Facing Setbacks 10:19 Losing Major Contracts and Transitioning to EV 11:16 Cash Flow Issues and Getting Hustled 13:06 Switching to Riskier Clients & Financial Mistakes 14:55 Survival Strategies and Bank Loans 16:46 Entering the Bank's Business Manager Program 19:09 Struggling with Loan Terms and Shrinking Cash Flow 23:32 Business Hits a Wall and Approaching Insolvency 26:00 Personal Consequences & Potential Bankruptcy 28:29 Winding Down Operations and Filing Bankruptcy 31:06 Bankruptcy Process and Asset Liquidation 35:51 Personal Impact and Family Resilience 39:03 Navigating Bankruptcy Exemptions 41:02 Life After Bankruptcy: Rebuilding 44:41 Facing Litigation and Bank's Aggressive Tactics 46:58 Legal Uncertainty and Approaching Discharge 50:02 Arrest by FBI and Shock of Indictment 54:41 Processing the Arrest and Immediate Aftermath 59:30 Public Reaction and Family Support 01:02:44 Beginning the Legal Battle 01:05:12 Prosecution's Case Building and Strange Accusations 01:10:01 Defending Against Fraud Allegations 01:17:01 Legal Strategy and Conflict of Interest 01:21:59 Superseding Indictment and Witness Tampering 01:27:53 Bank's Insurance Claim and Motivations for Prosecution 01:32:00 Preparing for Trial and Hiring Top Defense 01:39:13 Conflict of Interest, Disqualifying the Prosecutor 01:46:07 Case Dismissal and Pre-Trial Diversion 01:50:01 Financial Ruin and Emotional Toll 01:53:02 Life Lessons, Resilience, and Moving On 02:03:40 Advice on Integrity and Closing Thoughts _____________________________________________ To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ryan Bloom grew up in a good family in Oklahoma with dreams of becoming a dentist. Life took a different turn and he built an electrical contracting business instead. When the business lost a major contract he turned to a small bank for help — and got pulled into a high interest invoice lending situation that ultimately left him owing over $2 million and forced to declare bankruptcy. Ryan thought everything he was doing was completely legitimate. Then the feds came for him. He was indicted for bank fraud — and discovered the prosecutor had a conflict of interest with the bank. He fought back. He spent almost $500,000 in attorney fees. And he beat the federal government. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Ryan breaks down the complete story — from the business collapse to the bankruptcy to the federal indictment to the courtroom victory that cost him everything financially but gave him his freedom. _____________________________________________ #fraud #TrueCrime #arrest _____________________________________________ Connect with Ryan Bloom: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rdbloom _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction and Early Life 01:52 Family Background and Childhood 03:23 College Dreams and Choosing a Career 04:44 Joining and Growing the Family Business 05:46 Family Infighting and Company's Downfall 06:34 New Start in Oil & Gas, Launching Own Business 07:46 Launching Pathfinder HDD and Business Pivot 08:22 Business Growth and Early Successes 09:14 Winning Big Contracts and Facing Setbacks 10:19 Losing Major Contracts and Transitioning to EV 11:16 Cash Flow Issues and Getting Hustled 13:06 Switching to Riskier Clients & Financial Mistakes 14:55 Survival Strategies and Bank Loans 16:46 Entering the Bank's Business Manager Program 19:09 Struggling with Loan Terms and Shrinking Cash Flow 23:32 Business Hits a Wall and Approaching Insolvency 26:00 Personal Consequences & Potential Bankruptcy 28:29 Winding Down Operations and Filing Bankruptcy 31:06 Bankruptcy Process and Asset Liquidation 35:51 Personal Impact and Family Resilience 39:03 Navigating Bankruptcy Exemptions 41:02 Life After Bankruptcy: Rebuilding 44:41 Facing Litigation and Bank's Aggressive Tactics 46:58 Legal Uncertainty and Approaching Discharge 50:02 Arrest by FBI and Shock of Indictment 54:41 Processing the Arrest and Immediate Aftermath 59:30 Public Reaction and Family Support 01:02:44 Beginning the Legal Battle 01:05:12 Prosecution's Case Building and Strange Accusations 01:10:01 Defending Against Fraud Allegations 01:17:01 Legal Strategy and Conflict of Interest 01:21:59 Superseding Indictment and Witness Tampering 01:27:53 Bank's Insurance Claim and Motivations for Prosecution 01:32:00 Preparing for Trial and Hiring Top Defense 01:39:13 Conflict of Interest, Disqualifying the Prosecutor 01:46:07 Case Dismissal and Pre-Trial Diversion 01:50:01 Financial Ruin and Emotional Toll 01:53:02 Life Lessons, Resilience, and Moving On 02:03:40 Advice on Integrity and Closing Thoughts _____________________________________________ To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Founderz Lounge Episode #94 with Don Varady and Steve Bon.In this episode of Business & Bullsh*t, Don and Steve break down why growth exposes the founder before it exposes the business. They start with a wild franchise story about the second-largest Arby's franchisee adding 155 restaurants in a single year, then dig into the real lesson behind it: the best franchise brands do not just know how to acquire, they know how to absorb. From infrastructure and culture to training systems and operator support, this episode gets into what fast growth actually demands behind the scenes.They also talk about what this year's Cannes Lions revealed about AI in advertising, why the best creative work still needs a human edge, and how founders should be thinking about technology as a tool instead of a shortcut. Then the conversation shifts into random bullsh*t, from billionaires buying ridiculous things to Bed Bath & Beyond bringing expired coupons back to life with a smart nostalgia-driven campaign.The hot take in this one hits hard: most business owners do not actually own a business, they own a lifestyle that requires them to show up every day. Don and Steve unpack the difference between real scale and personal chaos, why growth is not always winning, and how weak systems eventually get exposed. If you care about franchising, founder mindset, business ownership, systems, scale, and building something that can actually run without you, this episode is for you.Timestamps:[00:00] Trailer and Intro[00:47] Arby's franchise growth[04:37] Cannes Lions and AI[07:50] Random Bullsh*t[07:50] $100M impulse buy[11:01] Bed Bath and Beyond coupon promotion[13:45] Founderz Hot Take[13:45] You bought a job[14:26] $500K vs $2M[15:41] Growth isn't always winning[16:25] Training for scale[18:30] Growth mistakes and adaptation[21:48] What The Hell Is This?[21:48] Firestone cup holder trayKey Takeaways:  • The best franchise brands do not just know how to acquire. They know how to absorb growth without breaking culture, operations, and infrastructure. ~Steve Bon• Most business owners do not actually own a business. They own a lifestyle that requires them to show up every day. ~Steve Bon• Growth is not always winning. More locations, more employees, and more products can shrink margins, stress the team, and expose weak foundations fast. ~Steve Bon• A brand can grow fast and still realize later that core systems like training, onboarding, and operator support were not built responsibly enough for scale. ~Don Varady• In franchising, some early mistakes are almost inevitable, because brands often do not know what they will need until growth forces them to adapt. ~Don Varady• Good operators need to be part of the evolution of the system, but franchisors still have to protect the brand and be willing to say no when it matters. ~Don Varady and Steve BonConnect with Don and Steve…Don Varady:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/don.varady/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donvarady/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/don-varady-450896145 Steve Bon:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenbon Instagram: https://instagram.com/stevebon8 Tune in to every episode on your favorite platform: Website: https://www.thefounderzlounge.com/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFounderzLounge Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Nurr4XjBE747qJ9Zjth0G Apple Music: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-founderz-lounge/id1461825349 The Founderz Lounge is Powered By:Clean Eatz:Website: https://cleaneatz.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CleanEatzLife/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cleaneatzlife/ Website: https://cleaneatz.com/Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJRGrE-Xv4IMW_DbxSOTGGA Bon's Eye Marketing:Website: https://bonseyeonline.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bonseyemarketing Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bon's-eye-marketing/ 

The first ninety days of a client relationship teach a client more about working with you than anything you said to win them. In the second episode of the after-the-yes arc, Sheena reframes onboarding from paperwork to belief-building, and shows how an improvised onboarding teaches clients that everything will require the founder — building the bottleneck right into the start of the engagement. She walks through the three things a strong first ninety days does: it handles the trust handoff from sale to delivery, it sequences the early experience so the client always knows what comes next, and it delivers an early, visible signal of value. The episode includes a direct translation for product-based businesses, where onboarding is the post-purchase experience, and closes with the core challenge for this audience — taking the onboarding excellence that lives in your instincts and building it into a sequence that runs without your memory holding it up.Key Topics CoveredWhy onboarding is belief-building, not paperworkHow improvised onboarding trains clients to need the founderThe trust handoff from sale to deliverySequencing the early experience to reduce client anxietyDelivering an early, visible signal of valueOnboarding as the post-purchase experience for product businessesKey TakeawaysClients grade the first ninety days on whether the experience matches the promise.Uncertainty makes clients anxious, and anxiety makes clients high-maintenance.The bottleneck you feel later is often built in the first ninety days.A designed onboarding builds confidence in the structure, not just in you.Resources MentionedThe Strategic Discovery Audit — the diagnostic gateway to working with The DeVain CollectiveThe CEO Self-AssessmentBeyond Founder-Led newsletterConnect with The DeVain Collective:LinkedInInstagramWebsite: thedevaincollective.comConnect with Sheena:LinkedInInstagramAbout Beyond Founder-LedBeyond Founder-Led is the podcast for mission-driven founders — primarily women scaling service-based businesses from $500K to $5M — who are ready to move beyond being the bottleneck in every decision. Hosted by Sheena Hunt, founder of The DeVain Collective, each episode delivers frameworks, honest reflection, and practical tools for building a business that grows without sacrificing the founder or the mission.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/beautifullycomplicated-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And The Update Is…a weekly beat on the industry . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Whalen kicks off the July 4th episode of The Wrap by diving into private credit implosion with BDCs turning unprofitable, using the acronym POOP (Principal on Outstanding Principal) to illustrate how debt is being converted to equity because companies can't pay—essentially turning investors into equity holders in insolvent companies. The June jobs report shocked with only 57K payrolls added (far below expectations) while household employment actually fell by 500K, making the data contradictory and unreliable despite the overall labor market still showing relative steadiness in many markets. Housing shows sharp bifurcation: sales above $1 million hit a record high while overall volume is down, revealing that only luxury properties are moving as the broader market softens. Goldman Sachs projects gold could hit $4,900, and Whalen is holding silver as a hedge against dollar debasement and inflation, noting the Chinese are aggressively buying silver in both futures and spot markets. Trump has profited handsomely from his various crypto ventures while most investors in those same ventures have lost significant money—a familiar pattern from Trump's business history. With the US national debt now at $39.35 trillion on America's 250th birthday, Whalen warns the Democratic Party will split between socialists and Republicans, with policies like New York's rent freezing turning cities into slums while hurting mom-and-pop landlords. He recommends watching interest rates, the Fed under Kevin Warsh, and expects another uptick in gold and silver prices after recent selloffs, while cautioning on BDCs and private credit exposure as the distress signals mount.Thank you to today's episode sponsor, The Entropy Trap by Mickey Maini. Order your copy: https://www.amazon.com/Entropy-Trap-Physics-Knows-Markets/dp/B0H1ZP7NZX/ref=sr_1_1 Links:    The Institutional Risk Analyst: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/The Wrap: https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/post/theira864Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/rcwhalen    Use the code TheWrap2026 for 25% off your first year of The Institutional Risk Analyst https://www.theinstitutionalriskanalyst.com/plans-pricingTimestamps:00:00 — Intro and World Cup chat1:09 Gold rebounds, AI stocks slump1:38 Private credit - BDCs turning unprofitable2:40 POOP acronym - Principal on Outstanding Principal, crap debt4:07 POOP emoji Bloomberg article, Victor Hong invented term5:54 AI stocks slumping, pressure on private credit portfolios6:00 Market doesn't like it right now11:23 June non-farm payrolls - 57K added, much worse than expected11:44 May/June comparisons all over place, household employment down 500K12:21 Can't take a lot out of these numbers13:33 Labor market steady to extent we can rely on statistics14:12 Housing costs up, Americans work harder to compensate14:12 Goldman Sachs says gold could hit $4,90015:31 Chinese aggressive buyers of silver, not changing view16:06 Gold/silver hedge against dollar and inflation17:40 US national debt at $39.35 trillion on country's birthday18:12 Democratic Party gonna get torn in half18:50 Rise of democratic socialist candidates19:49 Rent freezing turning NYC into slum, mom and pop landlords hurt20:17 How much money to live in NYC reasonably? Way more than poverty level21:45 Trump crypto - Done well, investors lost a lot23:32 Book - Entropy Trap by Mickey Maini29:33 90% of mortgage market government insured, no systemic bailout needed32:43 Silver good play medium to long term as hedge34:13 Back half of year focused on interest rates35:13 Watching Fed, Kevin Warsh, uptick in gold/silver coming

On this solo episode of the Profit First for Real Estate Investors podcast, the host tackles a counterintuitive trap that catches growing real estate investors and entrepreneurs: scaling yourself right out of business. Drawing on Keith Cunningham's line from The Road Less Stupid that scaling cancer only grows the tumor, he lays out why pouring more marketing money into a business you don't fully understand is like putting fuel in a plane that's already going down.The episode is a practical walkthrough of how to scale profitably using the Profit First cash flow system. You'll learn how to set up and name your bank accounts, how to run your business by percentages instead of lump sums, and how target allocation percentages shift as you grow from startup to a quarter million and beyond. If you've ever felt like there's somehow less cash the bigger you get, this one gives you the roadmap to grow without going broke.Timeline Highlights[0:26] Why it's actually possible to scale yourself out of business, and how to spot if it's happening to you[0:46] The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham and the "scale cancer, the tumor grows" principle[1:03] How Keith Cunningham connects to the Rich Dad character in Robert Kiyosaki's famous book[1:46] The spray and pray marketing mistake that keeps investors from ever paying themselves[2:24] The real game every entrepreneur is playing is the game of money, not their industry's game[3:07] What winning actually looks like: a business that serves you on the way up, not one that drains you[3:27] Step one to scaling profitably: set up a Profit First system so you know where every dollar goes[4:13] Splitting income by percentages across profit, owner's comp, owner's tax, and operating expense accounts[5:20] Target allocation percentages explained, and the goal percentages for a healthy business[5:41] The startup percentages from zero to $250K and why so much flows toward the owner early on[6:54] How the percentages shift from $250K to $500K to reinvest in opex without losing profit[7:50] Why "reinvesting every dollar" is code for scaling yourself out of business[8:39] Where to find the specific target percentages for buying, holding, and selling property[9:58] Scale with intentionality, and how to grab the book or cheat sheet to build your own roadmapKey TakeawaysYou can absolutely scale yourself out of business. Adding more fuel, usually marketing spend, to a business whose numbers aren't healthy doesn't fix the problem, it just makes you crash faster.Every entrepreneur is playing the game of money, not the game of their industry. Whether you're in real estate, run a salon, or own a brick and mortar shop, you have to know the money game to actually win it.Set up a system so you know where every dollar is going. Profit First works like the envelope method for businesses: separate, named bank accounts for profit, owner's comp, owner's tax, and operating expenses.Run your business by percentages, not lump sums. When income comes in, split it out of an income account into your other accounts by percentage so your money is intentional and spread out from the start.Target allocation percentages are your goal numbers for a healthy business. Early on, a bigger share flows to the owner because you carry less payroll and overhead, and those percentages are designed to keep you profitable at every stage.Scaling profitably just means your percentages change as you grow. Moving from zero to $250K to $500K, you shift some of owner's pay toward opex so you can reinvest in the business while still protecting profit, pay, and taxes.Protect your profitability or you become an accidental nonprofit. Reinvesting every last dollar without paying yourself or building a profit buffer is a recipe for crashing the plane.Links & ResourcesProfit First for Real Estate Investing by David Richter (book with target allocation percentages for buying, holding, and selling): https://profitrei.com Profit First cheat sheet and free book offer: https://simplecfo.com/gift ClosingIf this episode gave you clarity or a new way to think about growth, remember the core message: stop scaling in a way that hurts you and start scaling with intention, protecting your profit at every stage instead of pouring every dollar back into the fire. Be sure to like, subscribe, and comment, and if you're ready to apply this with real guidance and accountability, visit profitrei.com to schedule a free discovery call and build your path to financial clarity and freedom.

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Most people either never buy a rental property or they become accidental landlords once ans stop there. They never trade up, never level up, and wonder why their portfolio never actually goes anywhere.   In this episode, Ryan and I break down the Monopoly Method -- the exact blueprint for building real, sustainable wealth by strategically trading up your equity from property to property. We're talking about starting with one "crappy" duplex and using it as the launchpad to get into bigger and better assets. $100K properties turn into $500K properties. $500K properties turn into $2M properties. Rinse and repeat.   This isn't theory. It's the same framework we've used ourselves and coached hundreds of investors through -- and it's the closest thing real estate has to a cheat code. If you've been sitting on equity and wondering what your next move should be, this episode is your blueprint. Book your call with Neo Home Loanshttps://www.neoentrepreneurhomeloans.com/wjpodcast/ Book your mentorship discovery call with Cory RESOURCESGet business funding - revenued.com/juice

One Big Idea 3 - Driving Enterprise Value: From Funding Architectures and Radical Letting Go to Systems-Driven RevenueIn this episode of One Big Idea, host Josh Elledge connects with Anthony Rose, Latif Hamilton, Dan Rochon, Ronald Robinson, and Mark Osborne to dissect the foundational operational strategies required to elevate enterprise value, optimize leadership psychology, and construct predictable growth engines. Anthony Rose, Founder and CEO of SeedLegals, kicks off the discussion by introducing a fairer, more transparent fundraising mechanism designed to protect early-stage founders. Latif Hamilton, Founder of SpiritHoods, then shifts focus to executive psychology, mapping out structural frameworks to help founders overcome cognitive biases and master the art of letting go. Next, CPI Community Founder Dan Rochon outlines a guide to replacing high-pressure sales with consultative, guidance-based relationship building. Ronald Robinson, Founder of Expanded Learning Academy, dives deep into the profound link between childhood social-emotional competencies and adult executive leadership. Finally, Mark Osborne, Fractional Revenue Leader for Professional Services & B2B SaaS at Modern Revenue Strategies, closes the episode by delivering a blueprint on transitioning from hustle-centric business development to completely automated, system-driven revenue architecture.Smarter Fundraising for Startups Using SAFERs Instead of Traditional SAFEs with SeedLegals' Anthony RoseEarly-stage fundraising has long relied on Simple Agreements for Future Equity (SAFEs) to bypass the slow, expensive legal hurdles of traditional priced funding rounds. However, legal tech pioneer Anthony Rose argues that his "one big idea" exposes how traditional SAFEs routinely blindside founders with massive, compounded dilution once conversion math kicks in at the next priced round. Because SAFEs don't update the cap table in real time, founders frequently underestimate their stacked equity obligations, sometimes waking up to find they have accidentally surrendered a majority stake in their own company. Furthermore, SAFEs present critical tax ambiguities for savvy investors regarding when the five-year Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) holding clock officially begins.To solve these hidden structural hazards, Anthony introduces the SAFER (Simple Agreement for Future Equity and Regular Shares). This framework retains the rapid, low-cost execution speed of a traditional SAFE but requires that investors receive their stock immediately upon investment. This instantaneous cap table visibility ensures founders see the exact equity impact of every dollar raised in real time, preventing unexpected minority status down the line. By utilizing automated legal modeling tools, early-stage companies raising between $500K and $2M can establish flawless financial transparency, kickstart the investor's QSBS tax clock on day one, and secure institutional-grade corporate clarity without the bloated fees of legacy law firms.Breaking Free by Outsmarting Your Brain and Letting Go Like a Pro with SpiritHoods' Latif HamiltonOne of the greatest operational barriers to scaling an enterprise is the founder's own psychological attachment to underperforming elements of the business. Latif Hamilton explains that his core thesis addresses why entrepreneurs struggle to cut ties with failing product lines, toxic corporate cultures, or stagnant business models. This operational paralysis is driven by two hardwired cognitive biases: the endowment effect, which causes leaders to artificially overvalue an asset simply because they own it, and loss aversion, where the psychological pain of losing an asset is twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining an equivalent win. Left unchecked, these biases trap executives in an expensive cycle of protecting sunk costs instead of pursuing high-yield commercial opportunities.To bypass these emotional roadblocks, Latif provides a tactical toolkit designed to decouple human emotion from strategic analysis. Founders must routinely challenge their operations by asking the "starting fresh" question: If I didn't already own this product or employ this person, would I choose to buy or hire them today? If the answer is no, immediate divestment is required. By mapping out a physical grid to calculate the true cost of inaction—including opportunity cost and team morale drain—leaders can clearly see the numbers in black and white. Transitioning into authentic thought leadership through platforms like Substack and high-level podcast guesting allows founders to pivot their energy toward market authority, turning perceived organizational losses into scalable future gains.Building Client Trust While Breaking Through Internal Resistance with CPI Community's Dan RochonIn a transparent and highly competitive marketplace, traditional, aggressive sales closing tactics create immediate buyer friction and erosion of brand trust. Sales consultant Dan Rochon outlines his "one big idea" that modern sales must pivot completely away from psychological manipulation and transition into an act of collaborative leadership and client guidance. The primary obstacle in a commercial transaction is rarely external market competition; rather, it is the prospect's internal resistance, driven by unvoiced fears, self-doubt, and structural uncertainty. By stepping into the role of a guide rather than an aggressive closing hero, the sales professional shifts from an administrative solicitor to a trusted advisor.To execute this consultative framework consistently, Dan structures his methodology across three actionable operational behaviors: connecting authentically to build immediate rapport, asking deep questions that target the prospect's root motivation, and actively listening to emotional hesitation rather than just verbal compliance. This client-centric approach forms the bedrock of consistent and predictable revenue, allowing founders to easily transition away from founder-led sales. By thoroughly documenting these conversational processes into corporate playbooks, leveraging CRM data tracking, and utilizing podcasts for high-level ecosystem networking, organizations can seamlessly scale their business development teams beyond the personal bandwidth of the company founder.The Hidden Link Between Childhood SEL and Adult Workplace Success with Expanded Learning Academy's Ronald RobinsonTechnical expertise and operational software systems are useless if an organization lacks the foundational soft skills required to execute effectively under high-pressure conditions. Education strategist Ronald Robinson shares his core thesis that Social Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies are not merely childhood development concepts, but the primary drivers of modern workplace productivity and elite corporate culture. High-performing business units separate themselves not by raw technical capabilities, but by their team leaders' capacity to operate with high levels of self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship management, and responsible decision-making.To bridge the gap between abstract emotional intelligence and rigid corporate KPIs, Ronald introduces the advanced concept of SELF (Social Emotional Learning Fundamentals), which mandates that executives systematically prioritize self-care, self-confidence, and self-assurance. When corporate leaders fail to manage their internal emotional triggers, they inadvertently project impulsivity onto their direct reports, destroying psychological safety and driving up employee turnover. By embedding regular 360-degree feedback loops, active listening training, and strict emotional regulation boundaries directly into adult workforce development programs, companies can build inclusive, highly resilient environments. Ultimately, designing a culture where personnel thrive emotionally serves as a primary macro competitive advantage.Enhancing Revenue Systems Through AI and Strategic Leadership with Modern Revenue Strategies's Mark OsborneMany growing companies fall victim to the hazardous trap of "hero mode" growth, where top-line revenue numbers are driven purely by the ad-hoc charisma, brute-force hustle, and personal networks of the founding team. Fractional revenue expert Mark Osborne demonstrates that his core framework addresses why this personality-driven revenue is actually a severe structural liability that drastically tanks a company's enterprise valuation during an M&A or investment round. If a business cannot mathematically prove that its customer acquisition engine is entirely predictable, repeatable, transferable, and independent of any single rainmaker, buyers will view that income stream as high-risk phantom equity.To convert volatile cash generation into a verified corporate asset, Mark details a systemized architecture built upon three interlocking workflows: attraction systems (leveraging hyper-targeted client profiles), acceleration systems (streamlining sales pipeline velocity via automated proposals), and activation systems (maximizing client onboarding and referral loops). When integrating artificial intelligence into this revenue strategy, executives must strictly avoid the mistake of chasing popular software tools before defining their core processes; AI must be deployed exclusively as a force multiplier layered onto pre-existing, human-mapped customer journeys. By visually whiteboarding the entire critical client flow, assigning absolute ownership to each conversion metric, and conducting rigorous quarterly quality-of-earnings audits, business leaders successfully build an institutionalized revenue engine that functions flawlessly without founder...

The Stage of Business Almost Nobody Names and the Decision That Moves You Through It Only 1 in 10 female-owned businesses earning between $250K and $499K ever reach a million, according to the JPMorgan Chase Institute. Not the ones who didn't try hard enough. All of them. If you're in that range and the effort isn't adding up the way it should, here's what I want you to see: there's a stage between $100K and $500K that almost no one has named. I'm naming it the Quiet Climb. It's the most structurally demanding chapter of building an online business, and because nobody told you it existed, the years of effort that haven't matched your results have probably felt like a personal failure. They're not. They're the signature of the stage. What creates your next jump isn't more work. It's alignment between what you're doing and who you and your buyer have become. Getting there is harder than working harder. It means stopping long enough to look honestly at the business you've built. I close with six exercises you can run this week, including the one question to ask your best client that tells you more than any survey could. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Revenue highs are exciting. The unexplainable dips that follow? Not so much. If you are a female founder making multiple six figures or annually, the problem isn't that things aren't working. It's that you can't yet see what is. And you can't repeat what you can't see. My Free Live Training fixes that. Click here to join. High six figures is a ceiling for a reason. What got you here stops working here. If you're a female founder earning $500K or more annually and you've already tried it all, what you need next isn't another strategy. It's someone inside your business showing you the way forward. The Milly Club is my private six-month coaching program for women growing toward their first million. Apply here. MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

#728: What do you do when you suddenly have $850,000 and no idea what to do with it? GET TOTAL CLARITY ON WHERE EVERY DOLLAR BELONGS

Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich talks to Maria and Andre, a married couple in their 50s navigating a difficult retirement gap. Maria has built nearly $500K in net worth, a strong pension, and a clear path toward retirement. Andre, who moved from Brazil and only recently received his green card, is rebuilding his career in the United States with just $16K saved for retirement. They earn around $187K a year combined, but their financial tension is not really about the numbers. Andre feels ashamed that Maria earns twice what he does, while Maria worries that she will have to carry their future alone. Ramit helps them unpack the pressure Andre feels to be the provider, the cultural beliefs shaping their relationship, and how they can build a retirement plan that gives them more time together not less. In this episode we uncover: • Why Andre feels ashamed that Maria earns twice as much as him • How Andre's recent green card changed his ability to build a career • Why $16K in retirement savings feels so frightening at age 50 • Why Maria's pension could transform their retirement future • Why Andre believes a man should earn more than his wife • How their finances are combined, but still feel separate • Why Andre's business expenses are creating confusion and resentment • The hidden cost of working six days a week • Why Maria wants more time with Andre, not just more money • Why Andre keeps defaulting to “work harder” instead of building a plan • How Ramit reframes retirement from fear into options • Why their future may be much stronger than they realize • The importance of acting like a team rather than competing with each other • How Andre could double his income after getting his HVAC licence • Why their Rich Life includes time in Brazil, leisure, and being present together Chapters: (00:00:00) “What would you do if your partner had no retirement plan?” (00:00:48) Meet Maria and Andre (00:02:12) Andre's career, green card, and starting over (00:03:32) Andre has just $16K saved for retirement (00:04:48) Building their Conscious Spending Plan (00:05:54) Their $496K net worth revealed (00:07:35) “She makes double what I make” (00:10:11) How Maria increased her income as a teacher (00:12:05) Learning to spend consciously (00:14:16) Maria wants Andre to have a retirement plan (00:20:03) Their fixed costs and uneven financial burden (00:25:43) How long their savings would last (00:29:20) The reality of rebuilding your life in a new country (00:39:43) Andre's childhood beliefs about work and money (00:45:17) What if Andre never earns as much as Maria? (00:52:07) Ramit's message to Andre (00:58:33) Rebuilding their Conscious Spending Plan (01:07:15) What their retirement could actually look like (01:11:11) “None of this means Andre has to work until 80” (01:12:09) “It's not a competition. It's a team.” This episode is brought to you by: Superpower | Head over to https://superpower.com and use code RAMIT for $20 off your membership. #sponsored Facet | As of the date of this recording, Facet is waiving the enrollment fee for new annual members, and for my audience, Facet is offering $300 into your brokerage account if you invest and maintain $5,000 within your first 90 days. Head to facet.com/ramit to learn more about which membership option is best for you. Offer has been extended to 12/31/2026. #FacetAd LMNT | Get a free LMNT Sample Pack with any order at https://drinklmnt.com/RAMIT Gusto | Try Gusto at http://gusto.com/ramit and get 3 months free when you run your first payroll Connect with Ramit • Get my new book, Money For Couples • Get Money Coaching with Ramit  • Download the Conscious Spending Plan • Listen to my book—now on Audible • Get my New York Times best-selling book • Get my no-numbers journal • Other episodes • Instagram • Twitter • YouTube Apply to be coached for free on this podcast at https://iwt.com/apply

Schedule a Free Financial Assessment with an experienced professional:https://bit.ly/YMYWassessCJoe Anderson, CFP® and Big Al Clopine, CPA spitball for three people planning for early retirement and wondering, can I really pull this off? How much risk can you take, and how much do you really need to? That's today on Your Money, Your Wealth® podcast 588. Dr. Kickass Seabass and his wife are both 41 and they got a late start on savings. Can they still hit FIRE - that is, financial independence, retire early - by 55? Get your salt shakers ready. Aang and Katara have military pensions and a big thrift savings plan. Should they invest it aggressively or play it safe over the next decade? Finally, Steph has a mandatory retirement at 56 but wants out even sooner, at age 50… if his wife Ayesha doesn't kill him first for quitting seven years before her.Free Financial Resources in This Episode: https://bit.ly/ymyw-588 (full show notes & episode transcript)Retirement Income Strategies Guide - free download: https://purefinancial.com/white-papers/retirement-income-strategies/?utm_source=captivate&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=whitepaper-retirement-income-strategies&utm_content=ymyw-pod-ep588-description-whitepaperFinancial Planning at Every Age: Retirement Planning for Millennials, Gen-X & Baby Boomers - YMYW TV: https://purefinancial.com/ymyw/episodes/financial-planning-at-every-age-retirement-planning-millennials-gen-x-baby-boomers/?utm_source=captivate&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=ymyw-tv&utm_content=ymyw-pod-ep588-description-tv-s10e7Retirement Readiness Guide - free download: https://purefinancial.com/white-papers/retirement-readiness-guide/?utm_source=captivate&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=whitepaper-retirement-readiness-guide&utm_content=ymyw-pod-ep588-description-whitepaperFinancial Blueprint (free, self-guided):https://bit.ly/YMYWblueprintCREQUEST your Retirement Spitball Analysis:https://bit.ly/YMYWaskCDOWNLOAD more free guides:https://bit.ly/YMYWguidesCREAD financial blogs:https://bit.ly/YMYWblogCWATCH educational videos:https://bit.ly/YMYWvidsCSUBSCRIBE to the YMYW Newsletter:https://bit.ly/YMYWnewsletterCConnect With Us:Subscribe on YouTube and join the conversation in the comments:https://bit.ly/YMYW-YTSubscribe or follow YMYW in your favorite podcast app:https://lnk.to/ymywLeave your honest reviews and ratings in Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/your-money-your-wealth/id312900254Chapters: 00:00 - Intro: This Week on the YMYW Podcast01:00 - High-Earning Doc With a Late Start: Can I Actually FIRE at 55? (Kickass Seabass, NJ)13:39 - Military Pension + TSP: How Aggressive Should We Stay for the Next Decade? (Aang & Katara, VA)25:10 - Mandatory Retirement at 56, But Can I Punch at 50? (Steph & Ayesha, SF Bay Area)46:54 - Outro: Next Week on the YMYW Podcast

At 21, Cody Berman appeared on ChooseFI as a college student discovering financial independence. Three years later, he retired at 26. Now 30 with a $5 million net worth, he's back to reveal exactly how he compressed a decades-long journey into a three-year sprint—and why the same principles work whether you're 25 or 55. The Journey from 22 to FI at 26 00:05:30 Cody's path to financial independence was methodical and aggressive. Between ages 22 and 25, he experimented with over 20 side hustles, scaling his income from $96K to more than $400K annually. The key? He kept expenses locked at just $24K per year—creating a massive gap of $625K over three years. That gap fueled three wealth-building engines: $500K in stock market investments (VOO, VTSAX, VTI) 13 rental properties generating $3,700/month in passive income Digital products businesses producing $10K/month By his 26th birthday, Cody had achieved "cashflow FI"—his passive income streams covered living expenses without touching his investment portfolio. The Psychology of Financial Independence 00:18:00 Brad and Cody explore why some people achieve FI while others with similar incomes stay stuck. The answer isn't math—it's psychology and awareness. Cody attributes his success to having a clear destination. When you know exactly where you're going and why it matters, spending $100 on something that doesn't serve that destination becomes harder than saying no. The infamous "second marshmallow" experiment demonstrates this: delaying gratification becomes easier when you're aware of what you're trading for. As Cody puts it: "Earn more, spend less, invest the gap. Very simple. That is financial independence in a nutshell." Passive Income Reality Check 00:28:00 Let's demolish the myth of truly passive income. Cody manages 13 rental properties—but spends just 4-5 hours per month on them. This represents the spectrum of passive income: not zero effort, but minimal effort relative to the returns. The secret? Working in seasons rather than constant hustle mode. Some months require more attention (tenant turnover, maintenance issues), while others are nearly hands-off. Cody's businesses also follow this pattern—periods of intense development followed by relative autopilot. Brad reinforces this with math: "Every $100 a month you can cut out of your budget is $30,000 less you need in your FI number." Over 20 years, that $100/month compounds to $60K invested. That's a $90K swing from a single optimization. Designing the Perfect Tuesday 00:42:00 Forget exotic vacations—FI is about winning on a random Tuesday. Cody and Lauren's ideal weekday reveals what financial independence actually looks like: Morning: Wake naturally, coffee together, workout (him: gym; her: Pilates), shower, work on creative projects they enjoy Midday: Lunch together, afternoon walk in their neighborhood, separate time for individual pursuits Evening: Dinner together, reading, quality time before bed Nothing dramatic. No yachts. Just complete autonomy over every hour of a normal day. They maintain this through monthly alignment meetings—typically at a restaurant over a nice meal—covering: Money and real estate Health and fitness Travel plans Relationships (with a safe space to address concerns) Friends and family A rotating category Goals for the next month They also record an annual video reviewing the year, creating a time capsule of their journey. Post-FI Life and the Book 00:58:00 What actually happens when you achieve FI? Cody shares the uncomfortable truth: "Anything that you say that you want to do and that you don't do is a Cody problem. Before FI, you can blame things on time. You can blame things on money." When those excuses disappear, you're left facing yourself. That can be liberating and terrifying. His new book, Retire by Thirty, addresses this and more. Like Tim Ferriss's The Four Hour Workweek, the title is provocative but the principles are universal. Whether you compress your FI journey from 50-55, 33…

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Charles Cofield. Thanks! The transcript from this episode of Money Making Conversations Masterclass features an inspiring and high-energy interview with CPA and financial educator Carter Cofield, co-founder of Melanin Money. Here's a breakdown of the key highlights and takeaways:

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Charles Cofield. Thanks! The transcript from this episode of Money Making Conversations Masterclass features an inspiring and high-energy interview with CPA and financial educator Carter Cofield, co-founder of Melanin Money. Here's a breakdown of the key highlights and takeaways:

Most real estate investors talk about what worked. Dearonne Bethea is willing to talk about what didn't. In this episode, the CEO of Band of Brothers Investment Group walks through a $500,000 business loss on his first Anytime Fitness franchise, the three mistakes that caused it, and the decisions he made after that eventually led to $200 million in assets under management. Along the way he breaks down the investing philosophy behind his growth: use businesses to generate cash flow, use that cash flow to acquire real estate, and use real estate to eliminate your tax burden. It is a framework built on discipline, hard experience, and a clear-eyed view of what actually creates wealth. About Dearonne Bethea Dearonne Bethea is the CEO of Band of Brothers Investment Group and a retired U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Four with 20 years of active duty service, including two deployments to Iraq and one to Afghanistan. He built his first businesses while still on active duty, scaled a franchise portfolio across multiple states, and now controls more than $200 million in assets across multifamily, rental housing, operating businesses, and private investments. He is also the founder of Treazure Studios, a salon suite franchise model he launched after trademarking the brand. What We Cover in This Episode Growing up in Enfield, North Carolina, one of the poorest towns in the state, and how limited resources shaped Dearonne's approach to money Joining the Army at 20 as a turning point, and meeting the mentor who introduced him to investing Buying his first tax lien property at age 20 with a car as collateral after being denied a $13,000 loan Building Anytime Fitness franchises while deployed, working 18 to 20 hour days and managing operations remotely The three mistakes that caused a $500,000 loss on his first franchise: poor visibility, wrong demographics, and a bad partnership How he negotiated his way to break even, doubled down with a second location, and eventually sold two locations for $2.6 million The seven business pillars behind his $200M portfolio: franchises, multifamily, property management, brokerage, and his new venture Why he believes businesses create cash flow and real estate creates wealth, and why you need both How he uses real estate professional status and cost segregation to offset income from his businesses The salon suite franchise model behind Treasure Studios and why he designed it around 5,000 to 6,000 square foot locations Why he is stepping away from Anytime Fitness and building a franchise model with fewer employees and more entrepreneurs How he is integrating AI across his organization, including two dedicated AI integrators and an enterprise dashboard build Key Insight Dearonne opened his first Anytime Fitness in Richardson, Texas, lost roughly $500,000, and was burning $8,000 to $10,000 a month. Instead of folding, he wrote down every mistake, negotiated his rent down to break even, and used the remaining capital he had to open a second location at Fort Bragg with military partners who put in $20,000 each. That location was profitable within six months, a cash cow within twelve, and both locations sold for $2.6 million. He calls the $500,000 loss one of the best things that ever happened to him. Why This Episode Matters Dearonne's framework is one of the more practical models for investors who want to accelerate beyond passive real estate income: generate serious cash flow through a business, deploy that cash flow into real estate, and use the real estate to offset your tax liability. If you are a rental property owner thinking about how to scale faster or structure your portfolio more efficiently, this conversation gives you a concrete model to study. Find Out More Website Facebook Instagram YouTube LinkedIn Sponsors Today's episode is brought to you by Green Property Management, managing everything from single family homes to apartment complexes in the West Michigan area. https://www.livegreenlocal.com And RCB & Associates, helping Michigan-based real estate investors and small business owners navigate the complex world of health insurance and Medicare benefits. https://www.rcbassociatesllc.com

This week on Two Parents & A Podcast, happy Monday!!! We get into a topic I've been thinking about a LOT lately: the postpartum anxiety I'm experiencing the second time around (it's a totally different beast than postpartum depression, AND the anxiety this time is split between two kids…). I share what's actually helping me (s/o to Michelle for the "text me every intrusive thought you have" technique

The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk www.LearningLeader.com Order my new book, "The Price of Becoming." www.LearningLeader.com/Becoming This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world has the hustle and grit to deliver. My Guest: Clark Lea is the head football coach at Vanderbilt University. He spent 14 years as an assistant coach, including three as defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, before returning to his alma mater in 2021 to inherit a program that had gone winless the year before. He's now the back-to-back SEC Coach of the Year and the architect of one of the great turnarounds in college football history. We recorded this conversation live at our 2026 Learning Leader Growth Summit in Nashville, surrounded by members of the Learning Leader Circle. Key Learnings Clark inherited a Vanderbilt program that went winless the year before. He says he probably screwed up 50% of his first year. The game is how quickly you can pivot. Losing is a powerful teacher. It cleanses and purifies you in ways you don't want but need. You can blame other people, sink into self-pity, or ask: "What am I meant to be learning right now?" Fast-forward 15 years. Look at this moment from a future place of breakthrough. What did you do now that allowed change to occur? "What do I wanna be proud of in the attempt?" Letting go of expected outcomes is what allows you to refine and simplify the way you see the world. Enter the building unguarded. The clearer you are about who you are and what you want, the more obvious it becomes who fits and who doesn't. Different ball, same problems. Clark spends time learning from the Milwaukee Brewers, the Baltimore Ravens, and others. Different industry, same human challenges. Sometimes the different ball is the gift, because you walk in without preconceptions. Knowledge is limiting. Questions illuminate. Once you know something, you stop pursuing it. The questions you ask are the first constraints you put on knowledge. Get past the touchy-feely. Ask: "Tell me what's screwed up here." Problems are always there. Your job is to be willing to look for them. Check the cabinets. Living in a 700-square-foot LA apartment with his wife, Clark would open the cabinets and find them swarming with roaches. The building was fumigated. Two months later, they were back. You can move the pots out and stop checking, or you can keep opening the cabinets. Leaders keep opening the cabinets. Tell people what TO do, not what NOT to do. Rick Neuheisel's lesson. Stop coaching against the bad thing. Manifest what you want to have happen. Hire bunker guys, not logo people. Logos are easy to change. Hire people who'll fight for you in the bunker when it's hard. The Michigan Reset. Before his first game as Notre Dame defensive coordinator, Clark told the team's mental performance coach: "We're gonna be down 50 to nothing at halftime. BK's gonna fire me on the spot. Jerome Bettis and Rocket Ismail will be screaming at me in the tunnel." She asked, "Why don't you trust your players? You think this is all about you?" Have more captains. Clark sits in a room each summer with around 25 players he identifies as leaders. If the people at the leadership table are good, the locker room will be good. The team votes. He draws the line wherever the vote naturally falls. When you try to go opposite of what you're trying to avoid, you eventually become it. Clark spent his first years at Vanderbilt rejecting the program's past. Going opposite. Then he realized it was just attaching his identity to the very thing he was trying to escape. Now he plots toward the vision instead. What got you here won't keep you here. As Clark has grown, the program has grown. Once he understood that, he could sit with a player and listen first, instead of looking to them for affirmation. The mission is winning. Clark scrapped a beautiful, eloquent, unclear mission statement and replaced it with three words. Now every dollar spent, every coach hired, and every player retained is measured against the same lens. Well-better-learned. Vanderbilt's after-action review for every game and every process. What did we do well? What do we need to do better? What did we learn? On Alabama week, Clark's team had the best practice he's ever been a part of. His job each week isn't to tell the team the challenges. It's to give them the plan to win. At halftime against the number one team in the country, he kneeled the team down and said, "It's on a platter for you. Go take it." They beat Alabama.  Stewarding 17-to-22-year-olds means helping them decouple their worth from outcomes. Clark cries in front of his team. His kids are around. His wife is there. His dad is at every practice. The players see a man. A human. A son. "An asshole in a Nike Tech Fit is still an asshole." In the NIL era, Clark fights to keep the locker room from splitting into a million-dollar club, a $500K club, a $30K club, and a $0 club. What you drive doesn't make a man. NIL value doesn't make a man. The grounding is the work. Reflection Questions What are you holding too tightly right now? Whose job are you doing because you don't trust them to do it themselves? Which cabinet have you stopped checking because you're tired of finding the same problem?  Fast-forward 15 years. Looking back at this moment from a place of breakthrough, what are you meant to be learning right now that you've been avoiding? More Learning #681: Clark Lea - Belief is a Practice #281: George Raveling - 8 Decades of Wisdom, from Dr. MLK to Michael Jordan #637: Tom Ryan - Chosen Suffering, Becoming Elite & Life & Leadership  Podcast Chapters 00:00 The Price of Becoming - Pre-Order Now! 00:47 Welcome Back, Clark Lea 02:38 Taking Over a Winless Vanderbilt Program 04:18 What Losing Taught Clark About Hiring 07:52 The Three Things That Light Clark on Fire About Coaching 10:27 Different Ball, Same Problems: Learning From the Milwaukee Brewers 13:14 Knowledge Is Limiting. Questions Illuminate. 18:09 The Introvert Who Had to Learn to Lead the Room 20:13 Brian Kelly and the Bet on Clark Lea 23:19 Why Clark Has More Team Captains Than Anyone in College Football 28:58 The Transfer Portal Pivot and the Culture Reset 33:58 The Mission Is Winning 34:51 "If We Don't Have $3 Million by December, We Won't Have a Program" 37:26 Why Candice Lee Took a Bet on Him 39:53 Inside Alabama Week: The Best Practice He's Ever Been a Part Of 44:03 The Bye Week Reset: Penalties, Third Down, and the Ball 46:11 Beating the No. 1 Team in the Country 49:50 Replacing Diego Pavia's Locker Room Leadership 51:39 Decoupling Worth and Identity From Outcomes 56:27 Hiring Bunker Guys, Not Logo People 01:01:47 "An Asshole in a Nike Tech Fit Is Still an Asshole" 01:04:47 EOPC

For the first time ever, I'm teaching my most popular course, Build A Beloved Membership, live over four weeks. You'll learn the exact approach I've taken to building The Lab to a ~$500K/year membership. Here's what you'll get: 4 weeks live. 10 sessions taught by me (July 3 to August 3). Kickoff call (Friday July 3) and Sendoff call (Monday August 3). Recordings of every session. A Circle space for homework, questions, and cohort chat. A year of Lab Basic (member directory, questions answered, frameworks). That last bullet is a big deal. Because after these four weeks are over, a year inside our Basic Membership (which typically costs $699/yr on its own) gives you monthly office hours with me for a year. So after the cohort, you aren't totally on your own again; you still have our community by your side. → Learn more and enroll​ I won't run this again in 2026. The timing just doesn't work with our next baby on the way—so I'll be going all out on THIS cohort. By the way, it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun. ​Here's the full cohort page to learn more. We have more than 30 students enrolled already, and enrollment closes Wednesday, July 1 at 11:59pm ET. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A few things on the agenda today. First, RFK Jr. and the MAHA crew want medical schools to dedicate around 40 hours, roughly 20% of preclinical training, to nutrition education. I have some thoughts. We already have dietitians, med school is already a fire hydrant, and the Krebs cycle had it coming, but this isn't the way. Then a Mark Cuban appreciation segment, because he's out there on X dragging the entire healthcare system toward transparency. His latest pitch: someone buy a hospital, charge Medicare rates for every single thing, expose every dollar in and out, and prove whether Medicare for All can actually work. In theory, I'm in. In practice, you can't slash physician pay without first addressing the $500,000 in debt that gets people into the door. The Australian model, a real public safety net coexisting with a private system, makes more sense to me, but only if we fix the training pipeline first. After the break, ophthalmology. A young man got a bamboo shoot to the eye six months ago. Healed up fine. Now he's waking up at 2 AM in excruciating pain, no trauma involved. That's a recurrent corneal erosion. I walk through why it happens, why CPAP can make it worse, and the whole treatment ladder, ointment, bandage contact lenses, superficial keratectomy, corneal micropuncture. Also: don't let your cornea melt. That's the headline. Takeaways: RFK Jr. and MAHA are pushing medical schools to dedicate around 40 hours, or 20%, of preclinical training to nutrition, a shift that ignores the existence of dietitians and would crowd out essential physiology and disease education Mark Cuban has floated a real-world test case for Medicare for All: buy a hospital, charge only Medicare rates, and operate with complete financial transparency to show whether the model is sustainable Any serious move toward Medicare for All or an Australian-style public-private hybrid will require addressing the roughly $500K in training debt physicians carry; otherwise the math doesn't work and recruitment collapses Recurrent corneal erosion happens when an old abrasion never fully reattaches to the underlying stroma, patients typically wake up in severe pain because the eyelid scrapes loose epithelium across a dry cornea overnight, and CPAP without a good seal makes it worse Treatment escalates from aggressive nighttime lubrication (erythromycin ointment, Genteal gel) to a bandage contact lens, and in stubborn cases to a superficial keratectomy or corneal micropuncture to create a smoother, more firmly attached corneal surface To Get Tickets to Wife & Death: You can visit Glaucomflecken.com/live  We want to hear YOUR stories (and medical puns)! Shoot us an email and say hi! knockknockhi@human-content.com Can't get enough of us? Shucks. You can support the show on Patreon for early episode access, exclusive bonus shows, livestream hangouts, and much more! –⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ http://www.patreon.com/glaucomflecken⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠  Also, be sure to check out the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://glaucomflecken.com/glauc-to-me/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you are interested in buying a book from one of our guests, check them all out here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.amazon.com/shop/dr.glaucomflecken⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ If you want more information on models I use: Anatomy Warehouse provides for the best, crafting custom anatomical products, medical simulation kits and presentation models that create a lasting educational impact.  For more information go to Anatomy Warehouse DOT com. Link: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://anatomywarehouse.com/?aff=14⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Plus for 15% off use code: Glaucomflecken15 -- A friendly reminder from the G's and Tarsus: If you want to learn more about Demodex Blepharitis, making an appointment with your eye doctor for an eyelid exam can help you know for sure. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://www.EyelidCheck.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for more information.  Produced by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Human Content⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The tell-all you've been waiting for, straight from the man behind the stories After years of being the guy you only hear about, Hobie is finally in the studio, and his first order of business is telling on Amy. This is a no-strategy, no-homework hang that's just for fun. You'll get the story behind the wedding-ring tattoo he got before they were even married, plus the most ridiculous thing Amy's ever made him do for content. There's also a newlywed game that proves they still crack each other up after 18 years. It's a peek behind the curtain at the real Amy and Hobie, dorky karaoke picks and all. If you've been with the show for a while, you've earned this one. Meet the real Hobie Porterfield. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Revenue highs are exciting. The unexplainable dips that follow? Not so much. If you are a female founder making six figures or more annually, the problem isn't that things aren't working. It's that you can't yet see what is. And you can't repeat what you can't see. My Free Live Training fixes that. Click here to join. High-six-figures is a ceiling for a reason. What got you here stops working here. If you're a female founder earning $500K or more annually and you've already tried it all, what you need next isn't another strategy. It's someone inside your business showing you the way forward. The Milly Club is my private six-month coaching program for women growing toward their first million. Click here to apply.MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.

What Every Founder Gets Wrong About Growing a Personal Brand Nobody got rich from multiple streams of income. They got rich from one amazing stream, and then they diversified. Bezos had Amazon. Sara Blakely had Spanx. Yet the advice you keep hearing is to build seven of everything, and it's keeping you smaller, not bigger. My guest Rory Vaden, New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of Brand Builders Group, explains why every new revenue stream isn't just more money, it's eight more jobs you have to fill.  In this episode you'll learn what your brand actually is (it's not your logo or your colors), the one-word question that clarifies your entire business, and why the reason you feel busy but stuck has a name: priority dilution. If you've been adding offers and wondering why nothing's gaining traction, this conversation will change how you decide what to say yes to. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE: Revenue highs are exciting. The unexplainable dips that follow? Not so much. If you are a female founder making six figures or more annually, the problem isn't that things aren't working. It's that you can't yet see what is. And you can't repeat what you can't see. Find the blind spot that's keeping your revenue stuck. My Free Live Training is built for six-figure female founders who are ready to fix it. Click here to join.  High-six-figures is a ceiling for a reason. What got you here stops working here. If you're a female founder earning $500K or more annually and you've already tried it all, what you need next isn't another strategy. It's someone inside your business showing you the way forward. The Milly Club is my private six-month coaching program for women growing toward their first million. Apply here.  Take the Stairs by Rory Vaden Free Brand Strategy Call with Rory's Team Rory Vaden on Instagram MORE FROM ME Follow me on Instagram @amyporterfield SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW If you loved this episode, please take a moment to subscribe and leave a review on Apple Podcasts! Your support helps us reach more entrepreneurs who need these insights.