Podcast appearances and mentions of Brad A Milford

Unlimited Business Wisdom Ep #110 With Brad A. Milford 

“When you've got the vulnerability to ask someone whose steps ahead of you, you will begin to move the needle forward.” – Brad MilfordToday's featured author is business systems strategist, digital marketer, mental mastery expert, entrepreneurial product developer, U.S. Navy veteran, and world traveler, Brad A. Milford. Brad and I have a fun chat about the power of having systems in place in your business and in life, why busyness doesn't mean business, and more!! Key Things You'll Learn:How structure and freedom complement each other.Why time management is not a problem for people.The 2 reasons why people don't reach their goals.The 3 Areas of Everybody's Day Brad's Site: https://buildbrilliance.net/Brad's Books: https://buildbrilliance.net/learning-center/#free-resourcesBrad's Podcast, “Unlimited Business Wisdom”: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unlimited-business-wisdom/id1523422184 The opening track is titled, “North Wind and the Sun” by Trevin P. to listen to the full track and download it, click the following link. https://compilationsforhumanity.bandcamp.com/track/north-wind-and-the-sun You May Also Like… Ep. 306 – “Be The SPARK” with Dr. Simon T. Bailey (@SimonTBailey): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-306-be-the-spark-with-simon-t-bailey-simontbailey/ Ep. 327 – “The Go-Giver Way of Elite Performance” with Bob Burg (@BobBurg): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-327-the-go-giver-way-of-elite-performance-with-bob-burg-bobburg/ Ep. 426 – “Success Left a Clue” with Robert Raymond Riopel (@RobRox69): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-426-success-left-a-clue-with-robert-raymond-riopel-robrox69/ Ep. 509 - "Exit Rich" With Michelle Seiler Tucker (@MSeilerTucker): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-509-exit-rich-with-michelle-seiler-tucker-mseilertucker/ Ep. 400 – “How to Become a Multimillionaire, but Not Act Like It” with Tom Antion (@TomAntion): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-400-how-to-become-a/ 261.5 (Host 2 Host Special) – “The Outsourcing Playbook” with Kris Ward (@krisward): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/2615-host-2-host-special-the-outsourcing-playbook-with-kris-ward-krisward/ Ep. 493 – “The Three R's of Business Growth” with Edwin Dearborn (@edwindearborn): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-493-the-three-rs-of-business-growth-with-edwin-dearborn-edwindearborn/ Ep. 373.5 – “Business Secrets for Walking on Water” with Frank Zaccari (@FZaccari): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-3735-business-secrets-for-walking-on-water-with-frank-zaccari-fzaccari/ #GNPYear3 Bonus Episode 2 – “Attention Management” with Maura Nevel Thomas (@mnthomas): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/gnpyear3-bonus-episode-2-attention-management-with-maura-nevel-thomas-mnthomas/ Ep. 488.5 – “Create, Innovate & Dominate” with Tracy Hazzard (@hazzdesign): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-4885-create-innovate-dominate-with-tracy-hazzard-hazzdesign/ 245 – “Your Epic Life Blueprint” with Rock Thomas (@rockthomas): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/245-your-epic-life-blueprint-with-rock-thomas-rockthomas/ 280 – “Architect of BEing” with Dr. Travis Fox (@travisfox360): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/280-architect-of-being-with-dr-travis-fox-travisfox360/ 261 – “How Thoughts Become Things” with Douglas Vermeeren (@DougVermeeren): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/261-how-thoughts-become-things-with-douglas-vermeeren-dougvermeeren/ Ep. 355.5 – “One Relationship Away” with Alexei Musienko (@AlexeiMusienko): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-3555-one-relationship-away-with-alexei-musienko-alexeimusienko/ 288.5 (Host 2 Host Bonus) – “Choose the Right Mountain; Climb Faster!” with David Wood (@_playforreal): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/DavidWood2/ Ep. 315 – “Elevate Your Network & Beyond” with Jake Kelfer (@jakekelfer): https://www.goingnorthpodcast.com/ep-315-elevate-your-network-beyond-with-jake-kelfer-jakekelfer/

Brad A. Milford is a marketing, sales, and operations expert. His specialty is in business growth strategies. He is also a mindset mastery expert and a high-ticket course product developer for entrepreneurs.U.S. Navy veteran and world traveler, he has built eight corporations and led, managed, and grown more than 100 businesses from 0-7 figures and beyond. He is the founder of multiple business incubator communities and is best known for the Built for Brilliance Group and the Freedom, Wealth, & Brilliance Mastermind.Author and top podcaster his global impact continues to expand and is honored to serve today as a world-class speaker, trainer, consultant, and coach.Find out more about Build Brilliance.

Unlimited Business Wisdom Ep #101 With Brad A. Milford

As entrepreneurs, many of us want to do less, while achieving more. One of the critical elements in accomplishing this has to do with your ability to focus and be productive with the things that truly matter. We're going to dig into this with Brad A. Milford from Build Brilliance - Business Solutions today.

Who we are is what we do every single day. The rules of success are simple: our actions are either constructive or destructive, effective or ineffective - there is no in between.    Most people don't have a framework or structure for their habits, so they stay stuck, frustrated, and wanting to achieve their goals without knowing how.   How do we break our bad habits and start focusing on the actionable steps that take us to excellence? What's the difference between time management and priority management?    In this episode, I'm joined by strategist, consultant, coach, fractional COO, speaker, podcaster and founder of Build Brilliance LLC, Brad A. Milford. We take a deep dive into building constructive habits that lead to freedom. Things You'll Learn In This Episode    What holds so many people back from taking actionIn a world with an abundance of educational content, how do we take the necessary step of acting on what we're absorbing?    How to pause and evaluate your current habitsBefore you build anything, you need to have a solid foundation. How do we determine if our ladder is leaning against the right wall before we try to level up?    Brad's simple framework to go from inaction to brilliant finished productDo we have to expect perfection from ourselves when we try to build a new habit or implement something different?    How to find balance between our businesses and familiesWhat's the difference between time management and priority management?    Guest Bio-    Brad A. Milford is a marketing, sales, and operations expert. His specialty is in business growth strategies. He is also a mindset mastery expert and a high-ticket course product developer for entrepreneurs.     A U.S. Navy veteran and world traveler, he has built eight corporations and led, managed, and grown more than 100 businesses from 0-7 figures and beyond.  He is the founder of multiple business incubator communities and is best known for the Built for Brilliance Group and the Freedom, Wealth, & Brilliance Mastermind.    An author and top podcaster, his global impact continues to expand and he is honored to serve today as a world-class speaker, trainer, consultant, and coach.   For more information, visit https://buildbrilliance.net. You can access the Build Brilliance resources page here. 

Brad A. Milford’s journey began with a paper route when he was child. Through hard work, dedication and a willingness to learn from challenges and failures, he’s now the CEO of Build Brilliance — a company dedicated to providing exceptional consulting and coaching services to help businesses grow and thrive. Brad is here with us today to share some of the wisdom he has picked up over the years about finding and focusing on your depth rather than unimportant and superficial distractions from what’s truly significant in life.Reconnecting With Who You AreTo live authentically, Brad believes that you must first know who you are and what values and principles you stand for. While that sounds easy enough, would you have an answer if someone were to ask you, “so, who are you?” Brad didn’t. When faced with that exact question, he found himself at a loss. That was the catalyst he needed to start changing his life. An avid reader, Brad immediately turned to books for an answer. While you can learn a lot from books, they lack an essential element: the human connection. So, Brad took a look at his support system and the social ecosystem he had created for himself. He started to curate it more carefully. He looked for mentorship, and he found it. Brad also sat down and thought about how to articulate his beliefs, principles and values. Now, Brad is committed to providing others with the support and guidance he lacked through his work as a professional consultant, speaker and mentor.The Brilliance of SimplicityCommunication is a crucial part of connecting with both yourself and others. Unfortunately, what we’re trying to say is often lost beneath flowery language and jargon. Clear communication is necessary if you want to resonate with people. Make your message easily accessible and keep it simple.It’s tempting to use complicated words to show that you’re an expert who knows what you’re talking about. However, the sign of true expertise is being able to explain anything to anyone, regardless of their current knowledge level. There’s brilliance in simplicity. You just have to find it. If what you hear on today’s episode resonates with you — and I think it will — you can connect with Brad via Facebook or LinkedIn. To learn more about Build Brilliance and take advantage of some of the phenomenal resources Brad has put together, check out the Build Brilliance website.

Brad tells the difference between low pressure and high pressure sales. You can check him out at https://www.BradAMilford.com

Episode 17 Join hosts Jeanie Holzbacher and Brad A. Milford as we chat with Lorianne Vaughan Speaks. Lorianne is an expert in the area of Speaker/Author support.  She amplifies the visibility of Authors/Speakers/Messengers while they do what they love - SPEAK!  Lorianne has helped spearhead multiple best-selling book campaigns - editing, proofing, through to launch and social media marketing to help authors create buzz and momentum throughout the social media platforms and increasing their message World-Wide. Lorianne and her team have made it their mission to empower speakers to deliver their message by handling the rest of the details! She says, "Dreams only come through for those who work for it." And just remember, it's never too last to start your own business. Website URL www.LVSConsultingServices.com Social Media URL #1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorianne-vaughan-speaks-3797108/ Thanks for joining us Lorianne! And thank you, everyone, for listening... For more UNleashed and UNlimited - Click Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UNleashedandUNlimited/

Brad A. Milford is a business strategist, mental mastery expert and entrepreneurial product developer. U.S. Navy veteran and world traveler. He has built eight corporations and led, managed and grown more than a dozen businesses from 0-7 figures and beyond. Brad is best known for his “Wealth and Brilliance system” through his company “Build Brilliance”, and is the founder of the corporation “UNleashed and Unlimited “and online community of the same name. Author and podcaster, his global impact continues to expand. He is proud to serve today as a world-class speaker, trainer, and coach. *** Links Website: http://buildbrilliance.net/ Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/batrueleader/ LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/build-brilliance/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buildbrilliance/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/failcoach/message

Episode 16 Join hosts Jeanie Holzbacher and Brad A. Milford as we chat with Rob Pene, a Booking and Talent Management Specialist! Rob is a veteran of the marketing industry where he invested many years in outreach of all types. Rob is a family man who is living out his dreams. He believes the number one key to success in business is resilience.  He likes to share the importance of encouragement and support and says, "Don't be afraid to do outreach or take action that seems untouchable or too big...you never know unless you try!" Website URL http://impactso.live Social Media URL #1 http://fb.com/rpene Social Media URL #2 http://linkedin.com/in/robpene Thanks for joining us Rob! And thank you, everyone, for listening... For more UNleashed and UNlimited - Click Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UNleashedandUNlimited/

Episode 15 Join hosts Jeanie Holzbacher and Brad A. Milford as we chat with Cecilia Gorman advertising extraordinaire! Cecilia Gorman is a veteran of the advertising industry where she spent 20+ years in production, recruiting and human resources. It's been her mission to inspire, educate and motivate people toward their greatest potential. Cecilia hails from Orange County, CA, spending the bulk of her career at Y&R Advertising where she was VP, Creative Services. She led Global Creative Operations at Oakley and was head of HR and Training as VP, Organizational Leadership at Innocean USA, the agency of record for Hyundai Motor America. She is a DISC-certified Executive Director with the John Maxwell Team and is the owner of Creative + Talent + Partners, a training consultancy that specializes in the development of new and struggling managers and the teams they lead. As well, she’s the co-founder of Empowership, a year-long training and mentorship program designed exclusively for women. It's been her mission to inspire, educate and motivate employees toward their greatest potential. Website URL www.creativetalentpartners.com Social Media URL #1 https://www.instagram.com/ceciliagorman Social Media URL #2 https://www.facebook.com/ceciliagormanspeaker/ Social Media URL #3 https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceciliagorman/  Thanks for joining us! And thank you, everyone, for listening... For more UNleashed and UNlimited - Click Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UNleashedandUNlimited/

Episode 14 Join hosts Jeanie Holzbacher and Brad A. Milford as we chat with Rhea Altamura! Rhea Altamura, Executive Director of One Day - Day One, LLC, and is a speaker, trainer, coach, and behavior assessment consultant certified by the John Maxwell Group. She's Ohio-born. Michigan-raised. Texas and Georgia-Educated. With a background in contract management, law, communications, and recruiting ), she works currently as a senior contract manager for a large aerospace & defense corporation.  She and her fellow-coach and friend Laura Campbell host a weekly Facebook Live called "Tune In Tuesdays," where they focus on self-awareness topics to lead others to lead RIDICULOUSLY AMAZING LIVES. Rhea resides in Brooklyn, New York with her husband, Joe and overly-photographed snowshoe kitty, Dodger.  Contact Rhea:  rhea2lead@gmail.com  And thank you, everyone, for listening... For more UNleashed and UNlimited - Click Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UNleashedandUNlimited/

Episode 13 Join hosts Jeanie Holzbacher and Brad A. Milford as we chat with Terry Seitz Senior Staff Member of United States Senate. Terry has a fascinating career path. From media marketing, consulting in leadership and human performance, two-term mayor of Jasper Indiana and now Senior Staff Member for the United States Senate, it was an honor for him to invest his time with us. By leveraging decades of experience with high-level business owners and influencers, Terry believes strongly in leadership and influence. He believes there are no obstacles, only opportunities. And If that's not UNleashed and UNlimited, well, we're not sure what is... What a great path! And what a great episode! Thank you for your time and for sharing some lessons, Terry! And thank you, everyone, for listening... For more UNleashed and UNlimited - Click Here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UNleashedandUNlimited/

Episode 12   Join me again for something different. In this episode, I openly share the process I use to reflect upon the end of the month and end of quarter breakthroughs and learned lessons.    Brad A. Milford is a business strategist, mental mastery expert and entrepreneurial product developer. U.S. Navy veteran and world traveler, he has built seven corporations and led, managed and grown more than a dozen businesses from 0-7 figures and beyond.     He is best known for his campaign Brilliance to Billions from Build Brilliance LLC and is the founder of the online group, company and movement UNleashed and UNlimited.   Speaker, coach, trainer, author and podcaster, his global impact continues to expand.    For more, join me on social media or in one of my free or paid mastermind groups: http://www.bradamilford.com https://www.facebook.com/batrueleader/ http://bit.ly/UNleashed-and-UNlimited-Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-a-milford/   The books I mentioned in the podcast - I highly recommend them: http://bit.ly/brilliant-dot-com-secrets http://bit.ly/brilliant-expert-secrets   Thanks for joining us! Peace!  

Episode 10 In the latest episode of UNleashed and UNlimited host, Brad A. Milford had the chance to chat with Andrew Arnold about why health is required and how it affects your identity. Andrew did competitive gymnastics for 15 years and went to JO nationals. After he ended his gymnastics career he entered the fitness and mindset coaching space at age 18 and has since been supporting people shifting their mindsets and habits to create extraordinary health so that they can accomplish their most important goals in life. He is married to Taylor and they have 2 young children currently two years old and 1 year old. We asked him how he feels he makes a difference in the world: I believe in others so much that I like to offer them strategies to achieve great health so they can experience life to the fullest! Type of Business Fitness and mindset coaching for parents and Entrepreneurs  What is the best way for people to get in touch with you? Facebook group or by emailing awakenedbodyblueprint@gmail.com  Thank you, Andrew and thanks to everyone for listening!  

Episode 11 Join me for something different. A short version of why I do what I do.  In this episode, I openly share a bit of my origin and backstory. Brad A. Milford is a business strategist, mental mastery expert and entrepreneurial product developer. U.S. Navy veteran and world traveler, he has built eight corporations and led, managed and grown more than a dozen businesses from 0-7 figures and beyond. He is best known for his campaign Brilliance to Billions from Build Brilliance LLC and is the founder of the online group, company and movement UNleashed and UNlimited. Speaker, coach, trainer, author and podcaster, his global impact continues to expand.  For more, join me on social media or in one of my free or paid mastermind groups: https://www.bradamilford.com  https://www.facebook.com/batrueleader/    http://bit.ly/UNleashed-and-UNlimited-Group  https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-a-milford/  Thanks for joining us! Peace!

Episode 9 Join us in this episode while Brad A. Milford and Chris Rollins chat about human behavior and how you're wired. Chris is the Founder and President of Rollins Performance Group, Inc. (a training and consulting company), where he uses his experience as a Master Trainer on human emotion and communication as well as his proprietary 3C Model of Performance to help companies achieve massive organizational growth. His focus is on developing the foundational principles of effective communication, leadership, and sales skills.  He is an international trainer and speaker who ignites and inspires his audiences to embrace the possibilities available to them by encouraging them to challenge ‘in the box’ ideas and concepts in order to achieve ‘out of the box’ results.  What do you believe is the #1 key to success? Simple....Taking MASSIVE ACTION! In the corporate and the entrepreneurial space, this one thing truly separates the contenders from the pretenders! What do you believe to be your biggest accomplishment thus far? For me personally, it was successfully transitioning from the corporate "race" to building our business with my family involved, so we could do "life and business" together.  What has been your biggest challenge thus far in life or business? While most challenging, this has been by far the most rewarding for me (both personally and professionally).... Learning to truly understand, appreciate, and celebrate all of the different communication styles people have. It has made me a better spouse, parent, leader, salesperson, etc.   Website URL https://www.rollinsperformancegroup.com Social Media URL #1 https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisrollins1/ Social Media URL #2 https://www.facebook.com/TheChrisRollins1/ Social Media URL #3 https://twitter.com/TheChrisRollins Thanks for joining us!  Please subscribe and rate/review it. We are grateful!   For more, check out the UNleashed and UNlimited Community

Join Jeanie Holzbacher, Tim Kane and Brad A. Milford as we chat with Jesse Smith about "value" and the journey to stardom. Jesse has been building and developing sales teams in the corporate world for over 15 years. He has also spent ten years traveling the country, expanding into parts of Africa, teaching leadership at schools and non-profit organizations. Jesse also had time in the entertainment industry. He was a professional dancer that had the opportunity to dance with stars like Justin Timberlake and Rihanna. He also was signed to a record deal through Universal and toured the country using his passion of dance and music to inspire tens of thousands of youth and young adults. In the corporate sales world, Jesse developed many sales teams and saw many awards and great team performances due to his leadership. He was best known for helping his team members advance to the next level in their career.  Almost 5 years ago, Jesse partnered with Mike Larson in the hearing industry. Through their combined efforts, they grew their franchise form $476,00 to over $4,000,000 in 4 years.  Now with their company, Inspired Motivated Leadership, they help small to medium businesses who are feeling stuck and stagnant increase their profitability by building stronger teams and a stronger sales process. Website URL: www.inspiredmotivatedleadership.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/imleadership IG: https://www.instagram.com/imleadership/ Thanks for joining us!  Please subscribe and rate/review it. We are grateful!   For more, check out the UNleashed and UNlimited Community

Episode 7 Brad A. Milford chats with Process Consultant Gabe Arnold about how sometimes the journey to freedom comes "through" adversity. Gabe Arnold is the founder and Chief Pencil Sharpener at CopywriterToday.net, a subscription-based article writing service. In his early 20s Gabe saw his construction business hit by the downturn in the real estate market to the tune of a $1 million bankruptcy. Gabe always enjoyed the technical and marketing side of the business and started building websites for clients as a freelancer. He noticed the content creation was holding up the sites going live, and there was rarely any content being added after he’d finished the sites. He came up with the idea for a monthly subscription model to both resolve the pain point for his clients and generate recurring income for his business. Gabe sums this up best saying, “Creating a subscription model business has turned out to be one of the best things I have ever invested my time in. It has lead me to grow from barely being able to provide for my family to for the first time in my life reaching a 6-figure income and the flexibility to truly work when I want to. When the company started, Gabe hustled and wrote every single customer order himself for the first 2 months. Then he developed a recruitment system to find qualified writers and now manages a team of 50 remote workers. Website URL: https://businessmarketingengine.com/ Social Media URL: https://www.facebook.com/gabearnold Social Media URL: https://www.facebook.com/copywritertoday Additional page: https://copywritertoday.net Thanks for joining us!  Please subscribe and rate/review it. We are grateful!   For more, check out the UNleashed and UNlimited Community

Episode 5 Join Jeanie Holzbacher and Brad A. Milford as we discuss some of the disguises of ego (the enemy of progress) with a slight twist of "wine talk". We'll discuss personalities and how we can show their multi-dimensional well-roundedness in life and business to your benefit. Thanks for joining us!  Please subscribe and rate/review it. We are grateful!   For more, check out the UNleashed and UNlimited Community

Episode 8 Join hosts Jeanie Holzbacher and Brad A. Milford as we chat with Terry Doloughty from BOSS consulting. Terry believes there are no obstacles, only opportunities... By leveraging decades of for-profit and nonprofit experience we can augment the executive level of operations within organizations. B.O.S.S. Business Optimization, Strategy and Support are the pillars that Boss Consulting is built upon.  What do you believe is the #1 key to success? Never giving up, looking at every effort as an opportunity to learn.  How do you feel you make a difference in the world? Connecting people with resources and knowledge that they have avoided, or did not know was available. Helping others overcome fear so they can move forward.    Website URL www.bossconsulting.biz Social Media URL #1 https://www.facebook.com/BOSS-Consulting-354717861987758/?modal=admin_todo_tour Social Media URL #2 https://www.alignable.com/pittsburgh-pa/boss-consulting Social Media URL #3 https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-doloughty-077a016/ Thanks for joining us!  Please subscribe and rate/review it. We are grateful!   For more, check out the UNleashed and UNlimited Community

Donnie B.: All right, guys. I'm looking forward to this one. I'm bringing out a new buddy of mine, Brad Milford and dude, he's got a really cool story and I love some of the things that he's doing. So I'm Donnie Boivin. This is Donnie’s Success Champions. Brad, my new friend, tell us your story. [Music] Brad M.: I love that. You’re just like open mic day. Donnie B.: Yeah. All day long. Brad M.: I love it. I have a pretty interesting and fascinating story and I love speaking into it. So I appreciate you having me on. It's an honor to be here and let me just start out like, when I was like seven years old because I'm just a serial entrepreneur. When I was seven years old and I'm kind of a deep guy. So you'll talk me through that, I’m sure. Donnie B.: Yup. Brad M.: When I was seven years old, I came to realize, see, my Mom and my stepfather had an argument and this was one of those arguments that they ended the relationship and I also never knew my father and so when they split, I'll just be honest, I realized I needed attention. My mom was working all the time. So now, she was a single parent, four children. I just needed some attention. I really just wanted to be loved but the truth is, I didn't know how to get that. So I went on a path. I took a path and I became the class clown and I went through that stage and you know, I did all kinds of entrepreneurial things in succession with that. And perhaps, that's what has brought me here today. I went from there. I was that guy who was turning pop bottles and I had three paper routes and I was changing the marquee on the local movie theater. I mean, I did everything I could to generate, you know, to buying gum and selling it for twice the price. Those types of things, I went on to. At 16 and 17, I left home and went on to take a sales path up and down the East Coast. I hit almost all the beaches. Well, not all but a lot of beaches and that was fascinating. Then I went to the Navy. So what I came to find through this is that I was searching for something. I kept searching for something. First, I thought it was attention. Then I thought it was just camaraderie. That's why I went to the military for travel. Then I thought it was culture from around the country. Donnie B.: Wait. I can't let this go by really quick. You know, thank you for being my taxi service. I was a jarhead so … Brad M.: I love that. I love that. I knew it right away when you said that. Donnie B.: Just for our listeners and they know I'm going to do it but you know, I really appreciated being in the Department of the Navy which just happened to be the men's department. I'm sorry, Brad. Keep going. Brad M.: Great. I love it. I love it. Yeah. So I was fascinated by the Navy almost 6 years. I got out just a little bit early, a couple of months early. But it was fascinating. I learned a lot. But I also learned that it wasn't camaraderie that I was searching for and so I came out with a ton of experience. I was a cryptologist. So I studied, they call us ‘spook’. We were always in what’s called a SCIC, special compartmented information center. And they're highly locked up. We were locked up in rooms with no windows and that kind of stuff. But it was tremendous and I did learn a lot about camaraderie but I also learned that that wasn't the thing I was searching for either. Came out of the Navy, in a shortened version of this story, believe it or not, and I fell into building stadiums. So a buddy of mine from the Marines introduced me to building stadiums and I started out as a laborer. But then a year and a half into that, my entrepreneurial mindset, I looked around and said, “Guys, why are we working for a nitwit? We could do this ourselves.” And so we branched off and then two weeks later, we had our first $250,000-contract which was amazing and then we built that business. And then on to another business and a third business in that recreation industry. So playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts. Anything you basically have ever seen in a park, I began to become experienced in. And those businesses were awesome. But … there's always a ‘but’ in these stories, right? Donnie B.: There almost always is. Brad M.: But through this search, I still wasn't finding what I was looking for. So it came to over 14 ½, 15 years in that business which was amazing. It was extremely lucrative. It paid me very well. I made tons of money but I'm not the metaphorical guy that came to the top of the mountain, looked over and said, “Are you freaking kidding me? Is this all there is?” I mean, there's fun stories and I love telling stories. I mean, I had come from the military and I had come from a relatively poor family. I'm sure there's worse off but we didn't have a whole lot. A single parent, four children, we didn’t have a whole ton of money. I came from that poverty mindset. So I had a lot of stuff going on. I went from that to the military, heavy drinking environment, to construction, heavy drinking environment, needless to say, I had a relationship with alcohol. Not an alcoholic but I noticed around my circles that that's what everybody was doing. And I'm going to just be frank here, what I came to find when I came to the top of that mountain was, I was surrounded by people. So it looked to all my friends like I had an amazing life. I was making a ton of money. I had people around me all the time. I had a team of 22 people who work for me. They were all amazing. But I was so empty inside. When we go to the bars, there would be 40 people lined up and we'd all be “having fun”, but it wasn't fun. That wasn't real friendship and frankly, I was surrounded by people but I was empty and alone. So I knew something was wrong. I definitely knew something was wrong and I know that’s deep stuff but it's real and that's what I pride myself on is the reality of this. I mean, there's a lot of people in life who appear to us at times to be really happy or to have the greatest of this or the greatest of that. But they're carrying this thing inside them that does not represent that at all. So I went on a search, a different search to figure out what that was. So that was about 12 years ago and I gave up that company. So I was making a ton of money. I literally gave up all of that. Six-figure plus, the money is not important. But you know, high amount of income. I had no idea what I was going to do but I knew one thing. My son was just reaching his high school years. So those two things kind of came together at the same time and I decided to just make a massive shift. I said, “I'm not going to, 1, waste the time with him because I have one child.” So I'm not going to waste the time with him. I'm going to go home, be there with him through his high school and college years and I'm going to figure this thing out, whatever this thing is. So I did that very thing. So I went from high six figures to zero. Absolute zero and that was a struggle. So talk about overcoming some adversity. I knew there were a number of things going on. One, my character was and you said it was okay to swear so I love that. My character was shit. The one good thing that I had done along the way was, I had always listened to some kind of audiobook because I was traveling. Building stadiums, building playgrounds, tennis courts. You're traveling constantly. So I’m just a road warrior. So I listened to, I'm going back a few ways, so cassette tapes. Donnie B.: Oh, wow. Way back. Brad M.: Probably some listeners that don't know what those are. Donnie B.: Brad, I'm just curious, were dinosaurs really that big? Brad M.: They sure appear that way to me. Donnie B.: All right. Cool. Brad M.: No, that's awesome. So I had some mentoring via audiotape, if you will back at that time. But I had traveled so much. So from the time I was 16 to that time, up to like 12 years ago was consistent travel. In the stadium industry, one day, I was in Reno and the next day I was in, Staten Island, New York. I mean, it was real, heavy travel. So I don't like to waste time. I'm a maximizer. So that was a way that I could continue my education. So I knew based on that foundation, I knew something was seriously wrong. I just, I couldn't put a finger on it. I just couldn't put a finger on it. But I knew it had something to do with character and it had something to do with leadership. What I know now that I didn't know then is I had, yes, I was “successful” but there are levels of success. I've defined those. At least my definition of those. What those levels are, I'm happy to share those with the listeners. But I came to find that my leadership lid, as I said, was capped. So that was a successful business but quite frankly, I couldn't have taken that any higher because I didn't have the capacity to be able to do that. Even having three, you know, I was doing about $7 million for each company which is an incredible feat for a guy with what I’ll say, a piss-poor background. Not bad at all. And I think people can do that. But there are some levels of success and I'd love to share those with your listeners to drop something really practical. I believe the first level is struggle. So I see now, today, looking back, we tend to come through a thing and have a breakthrough and then that gives us the ability to look back through it and see others in that space, if you will. And so struggle is the first and I think people are reaching out because there's so many pieces to the puzzle and that's the first level, struggle. Then the second level is structure. When we begin to build a business, we begin to structure systems, all these things that people talk about, they're not so sexy. But they're real. Once you begin to get to that structure, then it becomes a real company. The third level actually is striving. So here's how I describe striving. When you wake up in the middle of the night and you have these ideas and your mind is just turning like a million miles a minute, that's what I call striving. And so every entrepreneur has had these moments of striving and what happens is, we bounce back and forth between these levels as we're learning. The next level is success. That's when you really, when you start to move through these levels and you really start to produce consistently, predictably, you start to really become successful. But there are levels beyond that too and I don't hear a whole lot of people talking about it. So I'm really passionate about talking about those levels. They’re excellence. That's above success. And then you have what I call, brilliance. There’s mastery and then there's brilliance and then there's genius. And if we look at this as like a tier or a ladder, it gives us a format to know where we are through that process. And I love speaking into those because I've heard a lot of people say, “Wow. I've never heard anything like that before.” And I can see how I'm filtering back and forth through those levels. Donnie B.: Now, this is really, really interesting. I want to talk a little bit about your background, then I want to dive into … no. How about that? We heard your background. I love these levels. Here’s why I love the levels, is I can see myself in those levels and it's not often that I can do that when I talk to people, right? When they hit me with a philosophy that maybe I haven't fully heard before and I can see where I'm at, right? So I went through the struggle because that's how I figured out who I was. I'm in the structure/success side of things right now, right? Because I do have some very cool successes. I do have some very cool wins but I'm building the structure for stability portion of the company, right? And that's really, really where I see it. So I'm curious, is, I'm looking at success and everybody defines it to their own terms, right? I'm looking at success right now by micro-wins and different win levels. Do you put a definition to success? Which I find hard to believe but I'm just curious if you do. And then, how do you go beyond that, right? If that makes sense. Brad M.: I love that. It makes perfect sense and I absolutely love the question. It’s a fantastic question. So I created those structures so that I could label them because I've come through them in different industries. Not just that one industry. So yes, I mean, I do think success is subjective. It’s relative. It's different for everybody. For me though, what I came to find is that, so I said I was on a search, right? Donnie B.: Yeah. Brad M.: I came to find that it wasn't any of those things. That my meaning, so I'm one of those guys who was searching for purpose all my life. “I want to find purpose. I need to find my purpose. I need to find my purpose,” right? How often do we hear those things? Purpose is not out there. It's just not out there. So there's too many people. I'm so passionate about this. There's way too many people and I love Simon Sinek and I think he's convoluted this, I mean, he has a great subject. He's a great leadership teacher. For anybody that has heard of him and he does this great stuff about why, right? And why has been talked about. It’s talked about all over the Internet now. However, I think they convoluted the situation. One, purpose is not out there somewhere. Purpose is inside. And I want to encourage people to actually look inside. It’s not out there. The more you're out there looking for it, you think it's, you want to be this or you have to be that or you're ashamed because you're not good enough. All these things that we carry around, we get really down deep. So I did say I was a deep guy. I tried to warn you. It's not out there. It's inside. And when we realize that, when we come to realize that and we look in, then we begin to grow. That is when I believe that you find true purpose. I mean, that's where you find true success because it's not out there. Those are all just, those are all byproducts of the thoughts that we’re carrying inside. Donnie B.: So this is interesting. I 100% agree with you. Here's my follow-up question then. Brad M.: Mm-hmm. Donnie B.: How do I find what's inside of me? Because for me, I feel like I've discovered it. But I know there's tons, thousands of people that are listening to this right now, going, “Okay, cool. That's cute.” Brad M.: Give me some stuff I could … Donnie B.: Right. Right. Right. You know? Brad M.: I love it. I absolutely love that. Donnie B.: How do I define it? Brad M.: So let me share with you, in the interest of not overpowering the audience or being like a firehose of just straight-up information, I mean, I can go through some practical steps. In fact, I could go through about 12 steps in reinventing yourself. Donnie B.: This isn't AA. Brad M.: I know. I knew that was coming. I have thought about actually making to get eleven steps just because. But the first one, I believe, I think you have to find some type of discontent. Anyone who wants change, they want to reinvent themselves, believe me, I have a PhD in mistakes. And I kid you not. I have made lots and lots and lots of mistakes in my life but I don't regret them. I'm proud of them only because they have brought me to the point of they’re the aggregate of who I am and that is why I'm able to do effectively what it is that I do today. Discontent is a huge, it's like pain. So I believe pain is an indicator of change. Just like wind is an indicator of change in the weather. Like when you're going from cold to hot, you'll get a lot of wind or when it's about to rain, you get a lot of wind. It's an indicator of change. Pain is the same thing and when we look at it that way, if I'm bending my thumb back just to be silly, bending it back, “It hurts. It hurts.” Well, that's telling me, “Hey, you should let your thumb go.” It's just an indicator change. So when we look at that, when we recognize the frustration, the discontent, then we know it's time to change. That's the first thing. Some people don't realize that so they don't go to the next step. They just swirl in that discontent. That's a mindset issue. Donnie B.: Yeah, no. I love that talk just because I often believe, you got to get pissed off to move, right? I'm going to take a stab and say that some portion of you running those companies got beyond some level of beyond discontent and went full-on frustration to mad because you didn't find what you were seeking, if we're going to bring it all full circle. And that's what forced you to leave because I mean, that's how I jumped was, I just got pissed off that I was living other people's dreams and their stories and that's … is that what you're talking about? Brad M.: That’s exactly what I'm talking about. So there's a lot of dynamics involved in that. I mean, there's lots of things that came to culminate into one point. But yes. To keep at least one thing simple here, not too deep. Yes. It was a lot of things. But yes, I was so frustrated on living someone else's life. I knew there was more. I think there's a lot of people out there that want more but they just don't know what more is or how to go about finding it. And that's the point that I had come to. I was living someone else's life, what I was told I needed to be doing. I was carrying all these mental thoughts that were not mine. So that's the point. So the next step, once you become discontent like that, here's some practical things you can do. Pick a target. So I decided there's something wrong with me. I want to reinvent myself. I want to be somebody different than who I am today. And we have the ability as brilliant human beings to be able to do that. And I think it's a great message. Like, your message needs to be heard. You need to know that you have the ability to be anybody you want to be. So the next step, once you just pick a target and you don't need to have your purpose fully defined and you don't have to have your why and all these things that people say because why is nested. That's a whole different conversation. But you just have to pick a target. Pick a general target. “Hey, I want to be this kind of person.” I tried to write out who exactly I wanted to be and I found it hard. I had to literally and here is a great exercise for people. I had to remove myself from me and do it in third person. As in, when he walks in the room, this and then that allowed me to actually describe who I wanted to be. For some reason, I was stuck. I was strolling and trying to describe me in a different light and so I offer that to people. If you happen to be in that headspace, step outside of yourself. Think of some of the people you have modeled. Maybe it's some of the people you admire. Maybe some songs you know of. Maybe some quotes that resonate with you and try to put yourself in that space and just describe what it is that you want. It doesn't have to be perfect. You only need a sense of it. Once you get to that part, you have a starting point. You don't have to be great to get started. You just have to start to be great which is a well-known quote and then begin to create a foundation. So I am a foundation guy. What I didn't know through my path then, I didn't know I was going to be in construction. That's a whole other fascinating story I love to tell in my public speaking. But I was pouring foundations all over the country for these stadiums, specifically, in these multi-million dollar projects. I was pouring foundations. What I didn't know is I was preparing myself for the foundation, the new foundation of when I reinvented myself. I learned that process. I learned how to read blueprints. I learned how to be very systematic and I use that process to reinvent to come to the point to who I am today. Part of what that taught me is and I'll throw out one other great exercise and this is so powerful and I really want to drop some serious value for the listeners. This is a great exercise. When I realized that I wanted to change, I knew I needed a foundation because I had locked that. I had to have something solid, some concrete and it had to be strong and sustainable and I just got so frustrated. I said, “What the hell do I believe? I don't even know what I believe anymore.” And so I decided to remove all my beliefs. I just played a game with myself. For two weeks, I said, “I'm going to remove everything. All my axioms. Everything I've ever been taught. Everything I've ever been told. Everything that's been discussed with me. I'm going to remove them all and I'm going to start fresh.” So I literally played that game. What do I believe? And I came up with a foundation of eight beliefs that were not proposed by someone else. So I have this little formula, SI versus PO. Self-imposed versus proposed by other. So I wrote down all these beliefs that I could come up with. It's a challenging exercise because there’s this like soup of these beliefs that we picked up so readily that we don't often think into. So I wrote them all down and then I narrowed them all down to eight and then I classified them. Were they proposed by others or are they mine? And I got rid of the ones that weren't mine and I made them. I decided what I believe and what I don't believe. It's one of the most powerful exercises I've ever seen anybody do. Donnie B.: That's awesome, man. I mean, here's why I love it. One, very few people have the mental bandwidth to dissect what they've done and turn it into something. So well done for that. Two, I love the fact that you're describing your methodology by sharing what you had to go through to discover it, right? And I love the practical advantage of that. I mean, every time I interview somebody, a lot of times, I look at it from the perspective of how it's ridden with me and my journey. Is what they’re saying, did it play out as part of what I'm going through? And I love it because yours absolutely is and what's interesting is this whole last portion you said, “Is it my beliefs or is it some of the others?” That's a deep thought and that's got to be, I mean, I'm just thinking, if I went through that process, would I be able to pull it off? Would I be able to dissect my own beliefs enough to embrace, did I come up with that or did somebody else feed that idea to me? How did you do that? I mean, how did you really differentiate between the two beliefs? Brad M.: Yeah. It took a lot of filtering. So a lot of journaling, a lot of paragraphing, if you will. I think I just made up a word there. Donnie B.: I love it. I love it. Brad M.: But it took some work. So I threw it on paper and then I narrowed it down and narrowed it down and narrowed it down. And so now, I actually am at the point where I've been doing this for a while now and I go to this area as well. But now, I have eight beliefs and my number one belief number, I can tell you right off the top of my head. I can tell you all of them. But my number one belief is, ‘making the impossible’. I believe that you can make the impossible possible and I see that sounds like a crazy statement. People, I know there's listeners saying, “That doesn't even make sense.” But it does to me because I see it in my coaching and in my clients every day. They believe something is possible when I first meet them and when we first connect and then they're able to actually work through that to the point where, what they thought was impossible becomes possible. So even a simple statement like that can be super, super powerful. So it's really just a distillation process, if you will. So taking what was complicated, and this is what I pride myself in. Taking what is complicated and just distilling it down, distilling it down, distilling it down to make it simple. That in itself is a powerful nugget in business alone. There's a lot of businesspeople. I work with a lot of entrepreneurs. There's a lot of businesspeople who make things more complicated than they need to be, really. So using that distillation process to consolidate things and make them simple is another powerful nugget that I can offer. Donnie B.: No, that's awesome. That's awesome. What's interesting is, you've done a lot of really cool things in your life. Where do you think this is all going to take you? Brad M.: That's a great question. So every influencer, I'm fortunate. I went to seven events last year all over the country. I was down in Miami. I was all over. I was in Miami, Austin and one other country. I went to California and then came back. The best event, I saw an intensity of events. So a spectrum of intensity. Some of them were low intensity. Some were just in the beginning stages. I love supporting people who do these types of things. So I went out of the country just meeting a lot of group owners and different people and influencers. Micro influencers and heavy influencers. The highest intensity by far was Tony Robbins’. That event, UPW is just unbelievable. Maximum intensity. Like, it was, I mean, if you go there and you don’t say, “Wow,” you might be dead. And I saw lower ones. So where I'm going with this is, I'm going on a speaking path. So I am on a speaking path and that helped show me what intensity level I want to be at. So I would say, if you're a speaker, you better have some tennis shoes on because I'm chasing you. Donnie B.: That's awesome. Growing up as a kid, I guarantee you that on that journey, when the teacher looked at you during your years where you were class clowning and everything else, and she said or he said, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” At what portion did you jump out of your chair, run around the classroom and scream, “I'm going to be this big celebrity on stage inspiring people to go for it.”? Brad M.: At no point. This has definitely been a succession of incremental micro-wins and losses. It is definitely … so I’m a pattern guy. Being a cryptologist in the Navy helped me tremendously. But I think that's a natural talent anyway. Seeing patterns deeply and I'm a why guy. So I like to really figure out the engineering behind something. I need to know why. That's why I wasn't engaged in school because I would ask, “Well, why is zero, zero? I don't understand that.” And the teacher would basically say, “Well, that's the way it is.” And that didn't work for me. They wanted me to do that rote memorization and that style of learning doesn't work for me because I need to take something to a deep level. But when I'm able to do that at my own pace, then I’m able to recraft it into something that can be super powerful for people so that they can understand it in a different way. For those types of people that that resonates with, I'm sort of probably a few years ago, “Yes! I get that.” But you have to really learn at a deep level to be able to do that. So I think that I'm going to continue to use that in order to serve people in the best way. For me, that's where I found my meaning. That meaning is inside me. I want to serve people. I want to impact people. I have a goal to impact a billion lives. So I want to be able to truly transform a billion lives. Now, that sounds like a lot and that might sound like a crazy statement. But if we deep dive it a little bit, it's not. If I impact one person who impacts another person, who impacts another person or if I impact one to many on a speaking stage, then maybe even 20 or 30 or potentially, maybe a thousand. And they then too impact people. Then a billion really isn't that much. Donnie B.: So here's what keeps going through my mind. I love this whole theory … Brad M.: This guy's nuts. Donnie B.: Well, that’s true. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that when I first saw you. What's interesting to me is, I think a lot of people are gunning for Tony Robbins, right? A lot of people want that level of stage. Brad M.: Mm-hmm. Donnie B.: I think you actually will probably pull it off from a process standpoint. I think you just got that in you. But here's what I'm curious about. We're having a conversation here and you're pretty mellow, down-to-earth guy. Brad M.: Mm-hmm. Donnie B.: You grew up in a blue-collar lifestyle, you go through the Navy which is blue collar still. You get into construction. Still blue collar even though you held the top title, if you will. Now, a speaker. How the hell is this guy who grew up in a blue-collar world that is kind of mellow, wanting to get that amped up and fired up when on stage? Brad M.: It’s a great question. In fact, I think that's the first time I've ever been asked that question in that style. So I love that. I commend you and celebrate you for that. It's a great question. I'm just amped up about serving people in a massive way. I am so passionate about this because I didn't have a mentor growing up. The only thing that I had available to me at that time was what I used, the audiobooks. See how we come full circle? So I'm going back pre-Internet. Yes, I remember the rotary phones and the listeners that never even heard of or maybe seen a picture of. And I don't regret that. It's brought me to who I am today. It's actually given me an ability and a passion. See, things were a little bit different back then. The Internet's a beautiful thing and I think, sometimes, we miss what's right there in front of us. It's like the fish doesn't see the water, right? We may be missing the fact that with the Internet, we have the ability to connect with anybody with this phone thing that we hold in our hand. Anybody. Billions of people across the planet which is amazing. I didn't have that ability when I was young. And so I'm super passionate about making sure that everybody that wants a mentor or a coach, I mean, a coach is just like, it's a term that people use. They take this, and forgive me, but I am really passionate about this. They take this six-week course and they call themselves a coach. I saw something on the Internet the other day about, take this course for $25. What? And then you're going to try to coach me? I'm sorry. And I don't mean this from ego. I really don't. I mean it with the utmost humility but you're not going to have a whole lot to offer me in my walk, in the walk that I've had. Donnie B.: Well, come on, man. There are 21-year-old life coaches. Brad M.: That's what I'm talking about. That's a great path. Donnie B.: You know what, to that point, because I've been zinged on podcasts for saying this and one gal hit me with a zing that I actually listened to. She's like, “Look it doesn't mean that 21-year-old cannot coach a 16 and 17-year-old about the next stage of their life.” So even if you are a $25-course coach, that whole thought process is funny to me. If you are, make sure you're teaching people to your level. Don't overstate where you can get them and what you can do for them. If you've never run a million-dollar business, don't tell them you're going to get them to a million-dollar business. You don't know how. Brad M.: There's way, way, way too much of that. I still give them credit. They're doing their thing and I give them credit for actually taking action but authenticity is huge. So when I began to reinvent myself, I began to realize all these things. Authenticity, character. I don't think character is talked about enough. Integrity sometimes is talked about in a way that doesn't even describe integrity. These things, deep diving these words, they're just words but they have meanings and stories behind them. And so I'm fascinated nowadays about deep diving these words for people, helping them discover who they really truly are. Hence, the name of my company, Build Brilliance. It's really pulling the brilliance from inside you. We are all brilliant in our own unique right. Here's a fascinating thing. My company is built on the brilliant diamond and we don't just use that as a metaphor for what I do. Inside a diamond, there's these scratches. Inside. Deep inside. There's these scratches and these little faults. They’re in every diamond. They're called inclusions. And if we would look at our life like that, yes, we're flawed in certain ways. We have these little different uniquenesses. I may have just created another word. Donnie B.: Yeah, that's twice today. Keep it up, Brad. Brad M.: These uniquenesses. But they're just included in us. They’re just a part of our life. When we realize this and we begin to really discover who we are, then we stop thinking about what other … we stop looking for validation from other people. We don't need it anymore. We just become ourselves authentically and we just show up aligned and that's not a real sexy word. But it's a powerful one. When we're fully aligned, when we're the same person at work and at home and at church and all these things that we do at the basketball game and the football game, when we're the same person in all those areas, you’re unfuck-with-able. Donnie B.: That’s another word. Brad M.: Seriously. Yeah, people can't touch you. You don't have to worry about … there’s too much worry and doubt and fear in the world. It's like an epidemic. Donnie B.: Yeah. I got to tell you, it was empowering for me because I was the guy growing up in the sales world that the best sales guys were driving the nice cars and wearing the big suits and walking a certain way and talking a certain way. So I was a replica of what these guys were and because I wanted to get where they were and what’s interesting is when I stopped trying to be those guys, my career took the hell off. Interestingly enough, same thing happened when I started my business. I was trying to be all these other people in name and everything else and when I said, “Screw it. Just be me,” my company took off. So it's very becoming that when you step into who you are, man, it's amazing about who you become. Brad M.: Yeah. I'm so 100% with you. Coming full circle, that's where my search, well, I don't want to say ended because I haven't died. In fact, my life is just beginning. But coming full circle for the journey, that is what happened. When I stopped chasing those things, what I was told I was supposed to be, I’m supposed to have a big house and a big car. That's how I show my success. I'm with you. When I let all that go, that's when I started to really find my meaning. And meaning, when we’re driven by meaning, it's so powerful. So that is why I want to chase the heels of those types of people because I think they've discovered that too. The greats, they all knew that. Jim Rohn. I mean, Jim Rohn was a mentor to Tony Robbins. Donnie B.: Yes, he was. Brad M.: John Maxwell. These people. I think they discovered that and that's when their levels of success really started to propel. So I'm with you 100%. Donnie B.: That’s awesome. So what do we see in the nearest future? I mean, for you, what's happening next? Brad M.: Yeah. I love it. So I have a joint venture with a couple of other people and we're starting what's called, UNleashed and UNlimited. So it's a Tony Robbins . Of course, this is a journey. So you don’t have to worry yet, Tony. Just kidding. I’m just having a little fun with that. I mean, what he does is amazing and what we'll do is a slight variation of that. But it's similar. We really want to help people become unleashed and unlimited. I have the utmost belief that no matter what you want to do, then it is possible. Now, there's some probability in that too. I mean, there's some chemical and stuff. I'm not going to be a running back. Let's face it. Donnie B.: My buddy’s running joke is, he's like, “I'm 6’4, 300 pounds. I'm never going to be a jockey. I don't care how many times I tell myself I can be a jockey.” And my response is, “There's Clydesdales.” Brad M.: That’s true. But within those, understanding those constraints, there are always some constraints. But the constraints in our mind and the actual constraints, there's a gap between those oftentimes with most people. So we want to be able to help people through some of those and we really want to truly just get them unleashed which I’m just so passionate about. When somebody becomes fully unleashed, there's nothing stopping them. I have this statement, “I'm going to get there or you're going to find me dead and pointed in that direction.” That's how strongly, that's how committed I am to this path. When you're that passionate about anything and we have these inclusions. We have these different brilliances. When you figure out what that thing is, there's nothing stopping you. So UNleashed and UNlimited. That's what's coming around the corner now. Donnie B.: That's awesome. That's awesome. Brad, how do people get in touch with you? If they want to reach out, they want to find out more about Unleashed and UNlimited and I love that name, they want to send you an e-mail, carrier pigeon, maybe it's the old rotary phones that you got to dial, I mean, how do people get in touch with you? Brad M.: Yeah. That's a great question. Carrier pigeon would be extremely effective, I would say because that would definitely get my attention. Donnie B.: Yeah. I just got to admit, if I walk out my front door of my farm and there's a pigeon sitting on the thing with a notarized leg, I'm going to read that message. Brad M.: If you really want to get an influencer’s attention, send them a carrier pigeon. That’s a great nugget. I love it. Now, Facebook is probably the best. I mean, I'm on LinkedIn as well, Facebook, I'm on Instagram. But I do mostly Facebook. I have a Facebook group called Entrepreneur Escalation. However, and you're going to get a preview because nobody knows this yet. That will be changing to, UNleashed and UNlimited. Donnie B.: Nice. Nice. Brad M.: So that's the best way. Just Facebook. Build Brilliance is my business page and just look me up, Brad A. Milford. Donnie B.: That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Well, my brother, I got to tell you, it's been a lot of fun having you on the show and hearing your journey and what you went through. Thank you. I can't talk today, obviously. Here's how I like to wrap up every show and I do stump some people. So get ready. Brad M.: Bring it. Donnie B.: If you were going to leave the Champions that listen to this show, entrepreneurs from all over the world, veterans, business-owners, all people that are trying to find their own success on their journey, if you were to leave them with a quote, a phrase, a saying, a mantra, a motto, something they can take with them on their journey especially when they're stacked up against it and going through it, what would be that quote you would say, “Remember this,”? Brad M.: Who you are is greater than where you are. Donnie B.: That is a powerful statement. Who you are is greater than where you are. I love that. Brad M.: I think during adversity and we all hit it, if you really reach deep inside and you say to yourself, “Who I am is greater than where I am.” Donnie B.: I love that. I love that. I love that. Brad, brother, thanks so much for doing this. I really appreciate being a part of your journey, hearing your story. Thanks again for coming on the show. Brad M.: Likewise. Thank you. It's been an honor. [Music] Donnie B.: There you have it, Brad Milford. Man, what a cool dude. I probably say it too often. But I'm telling you, the people that come on this show, I just enjoy because they become friends. They become colleagues. They just become people that I look up to and have great conversations with and I love, love the relationships I’ve formed because of this show, man. I hope you enjoyed this one, guys. Do me a favor, make sure you go check out Point Blank Safety Services. Find them at www.pointblanksafety.com and then jump over to Facebook. Come hang out with us. I am telling you, if you want to unleash your inner badass and really go for it, come hang out with us in Success Champions. Just go to Facebook, type in, Success Champions in that search box, click on groups and you'll find us there. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuccessChampion And then guys, like and share and review this show. It means everything to me. And when you do that, it is literally like you walked up, gave me a high-five, gave me a hug, said hello, told me you're a badass and it means everything to me. Guys, seriously, go blow some shit up. Go big and loud and light this damn world on fire. We'll catch you next time.

Donnie B.: All right, guys. I'm looking forward to this one. I'm bringing out a new buddy of mine, Brad Milford and dude, he's got a really cool story and I love some of the things that he's doing. So I'm Donnie Boivin. This is Donnie’s Success Champions. Brad, my new friend, tell us your story. [Music] Brad M.: I love that. You’re just like open mic day. Donnie B.: Yeah. All day long. Brad M.: I love it. I have a pretty interesting and fascinating story and I love speaking into it. So I appreciate you having me on. It's an honor to be here and let me just start out like, when I was like seven years old because I'm just a serial entrepreneur. When I was seven years old and I'm kind of a deep guy. So you'll talk me through that, I’m sure. Donnie B.: Yup. Brad M.: When I was seven years old, I came to realize, see, my Mom and my stepfather had an argument and this was one of those arguments that they ended the relationship and I also never knew my father and so when they split, I'll just be honest, I realized I needed attention. My mom was working all the time. So now, she was a single parent, four children. I just needed some attention. I really just wanted to be loved but the truth is, I didn't know how to get that. So I went on a path. I took a path and I became the class clown and I went through that stage and you know, I did all kinds of entrepreneurial things in succession with that. And perhaps, that's what has brought me here today. I went from there. I was that guy who was turning pop bottles and I had three paper routes and I was changing the marquee on the local movie theater. I mean, I did everything I could to generate, you know, to buying gum and selling it for twice the price. Those types of things, I went on to. At 16 and 17, I left home and went on to take a sales path up and down the East Coast. I hit almost all the beaches. Well, not all but a lot of beaches and that was fascinating. Then I went to the Navy. So what I came to find through this is that I was searching for something. I kept searching for something. First, I thought it was attention. Then I thought it was just camaraderie. That's why I went to the military for travel. Then I thought it was culture from around the country. Donnie B.: Wait. I can't let this go by really quick. You know, thank you for being my taxi service. I was a jarhead so … Brad M.: I love that. I love that. I knew it right away when you said that. Donnie B.: Just for our listeners and they know I'm going to do it but you know, I really appreciated being in the Department of the Navy which just happened to be the men's department. I'm sorry, Brad. Keep going. Brad M.: Great. I love it. I love it. Yeah. So I was fascinated by the Navy almost 6 years. I got out just a little bit early, a couple of months early. But it was fascinating. I learned a lot. But I also learned that it wasn't camaraderie that I was searching for and so I came out with a ton of experience. I was a cryptologist. So I studied, they call us ‘spook’. We were always in what’s called a SCIC, special compartmented information center. And they're highly locked up. We were locked up in rooms with no windows and that kind of stuff. But it was tremendous and I did learn a lot about camaraderie but I also learned that that wasn't the thing I was searching for either. Came out of the Navy, in a shortened version of this story, believe it or not, and I fell into building stadiums. So a buddy of mine from the Marines introduced me to building stadiums and I started out as a laborer. But then a year and a half into that, my entrepreneurial mindset, I looked around and said, “Guys, why are we working for a nitwit? We could do this ourselves.” And so we branched off and then two weeks later, we had our first $250,000-contract which was amazing and then we built that business. And then on to another business and a third business in that recreation industry. So playgrounds, tennis courts, basketball courts. Anything you basically have ever seen in a park, I began to become experienced in. And those businesses were awesome. But … there's always a ‘but’ in these stories, right? Donnie B.: There almost always is. Brad M.: But through this search, I still wasn't finding what I was looking for. So it came to over 14 ½, 15 years in that business which was amazing. It was extremely lucrative. It paid me very well. I made tons of money but I'm not the metaphorical guy that came to the top of the mountain, looked over and said, “Are you freaking kidding me? Is this all there is?” I mean, there's fun stories and I love telling stories. I mean, I had come from the military and I had come from a relatively poor family. I'm sure there's worse off but we didn't have a whole lot. A single parent, four children, we didn’t have a whole ton of money. I came from that poverty mindset. So I had a lot of stuff going on. I went from that to the military, heavy drinking environment, to construction, heavy drinking environment, needless to say, I had a relationship with alcohol. Not an alcoholic but I noticed around my circles that that's what everybody was doing. And I'm going to just be frank here, what I came to find when I came to the top of that mountain was, I was surrounded by people. So it looked to all my friends like I had an amazing life. I was making a ton of money. I had people around me all the time. I had a team of 22 people who work for me. They were all amazing. But I was so empty inside. When we go to the bars, there would be 40 people lined up and we'd all be “having fun”, but it wasn't fun. That wasn't real friendship and frankly, I was surrounded by people but I was empty and alone. So I knew something was wrong. I definitely knew something was wrong and I know that’s deep stuff but it's real and that's what I pride myself on is the reality of this. I mean, there's a lot of people in life who appear to us at times to be really happy or to have the greatest of this or the greatest of that. But they're carrying this thing inside them that does not represent that at all. So I went on a search, a different search to figure out what that was. So that was about 12 years ago and I gave up that company. So I was making a ton of money. I literally gave up all of that. Six-figure plus, the money is not important. But you know, high amount of income. I had no idea what I was going to do but I knew one thing. My son was just reaching his high school years. So those two things kind of came together at the same time and I decided to just make a massive shift. I said, “I'm not going to, 1, waste the time with him because I have one child.” So I'm not going to waste the time with him. I'm going to go home, be there with him through his high school and college years and I'm going to figure this thing out, whatever this thing is. So I did that very thing. So I went from high six figures to zero. Absolute zero and that was a struggle. So talk about overcoming some adversity. I knew there were a number of things going on. One, my character was and you said it was okay to swear so I love that. My character was shit. The one good thing that I had done along the way was, I had always listened to some kind of audiobook because I was traveling. Building stadiums, building playgrounds, tennis courts. You're traveling constantly. So I’m just a road warrior. So I listened to, I'm going back a few ways, so cassette tapes. Donnie B.: Oh, wow. Way back. Brad M.: Probably some listeners that don't know what those are. Donnie B.: Brad, I'm just curious, were dinosaurs really that big? Brad M.: They sure appear that way to me. Donnie B.: All right. Cool. Brad M.: No, that's awesome. So I had some mentoring via audiotape, if you will back at that time. But I had traveled so much. So from the time I was 16 to that time, up to like 12 years ago was consistent travel. In the stadium industry, one day, I was in Reno and the next day I was in, Staten Island, New York. I mean, it was real, heavy travel. So I don't like to waste time. I'm a maximizer. So that was a way that I could continue my education. So I knew based on that foundation, I knew something was seriously wrong. I just, I couldn't put a finger on it. I just couldn't put a finger on it. But I knew it had something to do with character and it had something to do with leadership. What I know now that I didn't know then is I had, yes, I was “successful” but there are levels of success. I've defined those. At least my definition of those. What those levels are, I'm happy to share those with the listeners. But I came to find that my leadership lid, as I said, was capped. So that was a successful business but quite frankly, I couldn't have taken that any higher because I didn't have the capacity to be able to do that. Even having three, you know, I was doing about $7 million for each company which is an incredible feat for a guy with what I’ll say, a piss-poor background. Not bad at all. And I think people can do that. But there are some levels of success and I'd love to share those with your listeners to drop something really practical. I believe the first level is struggle. So I see now, today, looking back, we tend to come through a thing and have a breakthrough and then that gives us the ability to look back through it and see others in that space, if you will. And so struggle is the first and I think people are reaching out because there's so many pieces to the puzzle and that's the first level, struggle. Then the second level is structure. When we begin to build a business, we begin to structure systems, all these things that people talk about, they're not so sexy. But they're real. Once you begin to get to that structure, then it becomes a real company. The third level actually is striving. So here's how I describe striving. When you wake up in the middle of the night and you have these ideas and your mind is just turning like a million miles a minute, that's what I call striving. And so every entrepreneur has had these moments of striving and what happens is, we bounce back and forth between these levels as we're learning. The next level is success. That's when you really, when you start to move through these levels and you really start to produce consistently, predictably, you start to really become successful. But there are levels beyond that too and I don't hear a whole lot of people talking about it. So I'm really passionate about talking about those levels. They’re excellence. That's above success. And then you have what I call, brilliance. There’s mastery and then there's brilliance and then there's genius. And if we look at this as like a tier or a ladder, it gives us a format to know where we are through that process. And I love speaking into those because I've heard a lot of people say, “Wow. I've never heard anything like that before.” And I can see how I'm filtering back and forth through those levels. Donnie B.: Now, this is really, really interesting. I want to talk a little bit about your background, then I want to dive into … no. How about that? We heard your background. I love these levels. Here’s why I love the levels, is I can see myself in those levels and it's not often that I can do that when I talk to people, right? When they hit me with a philosophy that maybe I haven't fully heard before and I can see where I'm at, right? So I went through the struggle because that's how I figured out who I was. I'm in the structure/success side of things right now, right? Because I do have some very cool successes. I do have some very cool wins but I'm building the structure for stability portion of the company, right? And that's really, really where I see it. So I'm curious, is, I'm looking at success and everybody defines it to their own terms, right? I'm looking at success right now by micro-wins and different win levels. Do you put a definition to success? Which I find hard to believe but I'm just curious if you do. And then, how do you go beyond that, right? If that makes sense. Brad M.: I love that. It makes perfect sense and I absolutely love the question. It’s a fantastic question. So I created those structures so that I could label them because I've come through them in different industries. Not just that one industry. So yes, I mean, I do think success is subjective. It’s relative. It's different for everybody. For me though, what I came to find is that, so I said I was on a search, right? Donnie B.: Yeah. Brad M.: I came to find that it wasn't any of those things. That my meaning, so I'm one of those guys who was searching for purpose all my life. “I want to find purpose. I need to find my purpose. I need to find my purpose,” right? How often do we hear those things? Purpose is not out there. It's just not out there. So there's too many people. I'm so passionate about this. There's way too many people and I love Simon Sinek and I think he's convoluted this, I mean, he has a great subject. He's a great leadership teacher. For anybody that has heard of him and he does this great stuff about why, right? And why has been talked about. It’s talked about all over the Internet now. However, I think they convoluted the situation. One, purpose is not out there somewhere. Purpose is inside. And I want to encourage people to actually look inside. It’s not out there. The more you're out there looking for it, you think it's, you want to be this or you have to be that or you're ashamed because you're not good enough. All these things that we carry around, we get really down deep. So I did say I was a deep guy. I tried to warn you. It's not out there. It's inside. And when we realize that, when we come to realize that and we look in, then we begin to grow. That is when I believe that you find true purpose. I mean, that's where you find true success because it's not out there. Those are all just, those are all byproducts of the thoughts that we’re carrying inside. Donnie B.: So this is interesting. I 100% agree with you. Here's my follow-up question then. Brad M.: Mm-hmm. Donnie B.: How do I find what's inside of me? Because for me, I feel like I've discovered it. But I know there's tons, thousands of people that are listening to this right now, going, “Okay, cool. That's cute.” Brad M.: Give me some stuff I could … Donnie B.: Right. Right. Right. You know? Brad M.: I love it. I absolutely love that. Donnie B.: How do I define it? Brad M.: So let me share with you, in the interest of not overpowering the audience or being like a firehose of just straight-up information, I mean, I can go through some practical steps. In fact, I could go through about 12 steps in reinventing yourself. Donnie B.: This isn't AA. Brad M.: I know. I knew that was coming. I have thought about actually making to get eleven steps just because. But the first one, I believe, I think you have to find some type of discontent. Anyone who wants change, they want to reinvent themselves, believe me, I have a PhD in mistakes. And I kid you not. I have made lots and lots and lots of mistakes in my life but I don't regret them. I'm proud of them only because they have brought me to the point of they’re the aggregate of who I am and that is why I'm able to do effectively what it is that I do today. Discontent is a huge, it's like pain. So I believe pain is an indicator of change. Just like wind is an indicator of change in the weather. Like when you're going from cold to hot, you'll get a lot of wind or when it's about to rain, you get a lot of wind. It's an indicator of change. Pain is the same thing and when we look at it that way, if I'm bending my thumb back just to be silly, bending it back, “It hurts. It hurts.” Well, that's telling me, “Hey, you should let your thumb go.” It's just an indicator change. So when we look at that, when we recognize the frustration, the discontent, then we know it's time to change. That's the first thing. Some people don't realize that so they don't go to the next step. They just swirl in that discontent. That's a mindset issue. Donnie B.: Yeah, no. I love that talk just because I often believe, you got to get pissed off to move, right? I'm going to take a stab and say that some portion of you running those companies got beyond some level of beyond discontent and went full-on frustration to mad because you didn't find what you were seeking, if we're going to bring it all full circle. And that's what forced you to leave because I mean, that's how I jumped was, I just got pissed off that I was living other people's dreams and their stories and that's … is that what you're talking about? Brad M.: That’s exactly what I'm talking about. So there's a lot of dynamics involved in that. I mean, there's lots of things that came to culminate into one point. But yes. To keep at least one thing simple here, not too deep. Yes. It was a lot of things. But yes, I was so frustrated on living someone else's life. I knew there was more. I think there's a lot of people out there that want more but they just don't know what more is or how to go about finding it. And that's the point that I had come to. I was living someone else's life, what I was told I needed to be doing. I was carrying all these mental thoughts that were not mine. So that's the point. So the next step, once you become discontent like that, here's some practical things you can do. Pick a target. So I decided there's something wrong with me. I want to reinvent myself. I want to be somebody different than who I am today. And we have the ability as brilliant human beings to be able to do that. And I think it's a great message. Like, your message needs to be heard. You need to know that you have the ability to be anybody you want to be. So the next step, once you just pick a target and you don't need to have your purpose fully defined and you don't have to have your why and all these things that people say because why is nested. That's a whole different conversation. But you just have to pick a target. Pick a general target. “Hey, I want to be this kind of person.” I tried to write out who exactly I wanted to be and I found it hard. I had to literally and here is a great exercise for people. I had to remove myself from me and do it in third person. As in, when he walks in the room, this and then that allowed me to actually describe who I wanted to be. For some reason, I was stuck. I was strolling and trying to describe me in a different light and so I offer that to people. If you happen to be in that headspace, step outside of yourself. Think of some of the people you have modeled. Maybe it's some of the people you admire. Maybe some songs you know of. Maybe some quotes that resonate with you and try to put yourself in that space and just describe what it is that you want. It doesn't have to be perfect. You only need a sense of it. Once you get to that part, you have a starting point. You don't have to be great to get started. You just have to start to be great which is a well-known quote and then begin to create a foundation. So I am a foundation guy. What I didn't know through my path then, I didn't know I was going to be in construction. That's a whole other fascinating story I love to tell in my public speaking. But I was pouring foundations all over the country for these stadiums, specifically, in these multi-million dollar projects. I was pouring foundations. What I didn't know is I was preparing myself for the foundation, the new foundation of when I reinvented myself. I learned that process. I learned how to read blueprints. I learned how to be very systematic and I use that process to reinvent to come to the point to who I am today. Part of what that taught me is and I'll throw out one other great exercise and this is so powerful and I really want to drop some serious value for the listeners. This is a great exercise. When I realized that I wanted to change, I knew I needed a foundation because I had locked that. I had to have something solid, some concrete and it had to be strong and sustainable and I just got so frustrated. I said, “What the hell do I believe? I don't even know what I believe anymore.” And so I decided to remove all my beliefs. I just played a game with myself. For two weeks, I said, “I'm going to remove everything. All my axioms. Everything I've ever been taught. Everything I've ever been told. Everything that's been discussed with me. I'm going to remove them all and I'm going to start fresh.” So I literally played that game. What do I believe? And I came up with a foundation of eight beliefs that were not proposed by someone else. So I have this little formula, SI versus PO. Self-imposed versus proposed by other. So I wrote down all these beliefs that I could come up with. It's a challenging exercise because there’s this like soup of these beliefs that we picked up so readily that we don't often think into. So I wrote them all down and then I narrowed them all down to eight and then I classified them. Were they proposed by others or are they mine? And I got rid of the ones that weren't mine and I made them. I decided what I believe and what I don't believe. It's one of the most powerful exercises I've ever seen anybody do. Donnie B.: That's awesome, man. I mean, here's why I love it. One, very few people have the mental bandwidth to dissect what they've done and turn it into something. So well done for that. Two, I love the fact that you're describing your methodology by sharing what you had to go through to discover it, right? And I love the practical advantage of that. I mean, every time I interview somebody, a lot of times, I look at it from the perspective of how it's ridden with me and my journey. Is what they’re saying, did it play out as part of what I'm going through? And I love it because yours absolutely is and what's interesting is this whole last portion you said, “Is it my beliefs or is it some of the others?” That's a deep thought and that's got to be, I mean, I'm just thinking, if I went through that process, would I be able to pull it off? Would I be able to dissect my own beliefs enough to embrace, did I come up with that or did somebody else feed that idea to me? How did you do that? I mean, how did you really differentiate between the two beliefs? Brad M.: Yeah. It took a lot of filtering. So a lot of journaling, a lot of paragraphing, if you will. I think I just made up a word there. Donnie B.: I love it. I love it. Brad M.: But it took some work. So I threw it on paper and then I narrowed it down and narrowed it down and narrowed it down. And so now, I actually am at the point where I've been doing this for a while now and I go to this area as well. But now, I have eight beliefs and my number one belief number, I can tell you right off the top of my head. I can tell you all of them. But my number one belief is, ‘making the impossible’. I believe that you can make the impossible possible and I see that sounds like a crazy statement. People, I know there's listeners saying, “That doesn't even make sense.” But it does to me because I see it in my coaching and in my clients every day. They believe something is possible when I first meet them and when we first connect and then they're able to actually work through that to the point where, what they thought was impossible becomes possible. So even a simple statement like that can be super, super powerful. So it's really just a distillation process, if you will. So taking what was complicated, and this is what I pride myself in. Taking what is complicated and just distilling it down, distilling it down, distilling it down to make it simple. That in itself is a powerful nugget in business alone. There's a lot of businesspeople. I work with a lot of entrepreneurs. There's a lot of businesspeople who make things more complicated than they need to be, really. So using that distillation process to consolidate things and make them simple is another powerful nugget that I can offer. Donnie B.: No, that's awesome. That's awesome. What's interesting is, you've done a lot of really cool things in your life. Where do you think this is all going to take you? Brad M.: That's a great question. So every influencer, I'm fortunate. I went to seven events last year all over the country. I was down in Miami. I was all over. I was in Miami, Austin and one other country. I went to California and then came back. The best event, I saw an intensity of events. So a spectrum of intensity. Some of them were low intensity. Some were just in the beginning stages. I love supporting people who do these types of things. So I went out of the country just meeting a lot of group owners and different people and influencers. Micro influencers and heavy influencers. The highest intensity by far was Tony Robbins’. That event, UPW is just unbelievable. Maximum intensity. Like, it was, I mean, if you go there and you don’t say, “Wow,” you might be dead. And I saw lower ones. So where I'm going with this is, I'm going on a speaking path. So I am on a speaking path and that helped show me what intensity level I want to be at. So I would say, if you're a speaker, you better have some tennis shoes on because I'm chasing you. Donnie B.: That's awesome. Growing up as a kid, I guarantee you that on that journey, when the teacher looked at you during your years where you were class clowning and everything else, and she said or he said, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” At what portion did you jump out of your chair, run around the classroom and scream, “I'm going to be this big celebrity on stage inspiring people to go for it.”? Brad M.: At no point. This has definitely been a succession of incremental micro-wins and losses. It is definitely … so I’m a pattern guy. Being a cryptologist in the Navy helped me tremendously. But I think that's a natural talent anyway. Seeing patterns deeply and I'm a why guy. So I like to really figure out the engineering behind something. I need to know why. That's why I wasn't engaged in school because I would ask, “Well, why is zero, zero? I don't understand that.” And the teacher would basically say, “Well, that's the way it is.” And that didn't work for me. They wanted me to do that rote memorization and that style of learning doesn't work for me because I need to take something to a deep level. But when I'm able to do that at my own pace, then I’m able to recraft it into something that can be super powerful for people so that they can understand it in a different way. For those types of people that that resonates with, I'm sort of probably a few years ago, “Yes! I get that.” But you have to really learn at a deep level to be able to do that. So I think that I'm going to continue to use that in order to serve people in the best way. For me, that's where I found my meaning. That meaning is inside me. I want to serve people. I want to impact people. I have a goal to impact a billion lives. So I want to be able to truly transform a billion lives. Now, that sounds like a lot and that might sound like a crazy statement. But if we deep dive it a little bit, it's not. If I impact one person who impacts another person, who impacts another person or if I impact one to many on a speaking stage, then maybe even 20 or 30 or potentially, maybe a thousand. And they then too impact people. Then a billion really isn't that much. Donnie B.: So here's what keeps going through my mind. I love this whole theory … Brad M.: This guy's nuts. Donnie B.: Well, that’s true. Yeah. Yeah. I thought that when I first saw you. What's interesting to me is, I think a lot of people are gunning for Tony Robbins, right? A lot of people want that level of stage. Brad M.: Mm-hmm. Donnie B.: I think you actually will probably pull it off from a process standpoint. I think you just got that in you. But here's what I'm curious about. We're having a conversation here and you're pretty mellow, down-to-earth guy. Brad M.: Mm-hmm. Donnie B.: You grew up in a blue-collar lifestyle, you go through the Navy which is blue collar still. You get into construction. Still blue collar even though you held the top title, if you will. Now, a speaker. How the hell is this guy who grew up in a blue-collar world that is kind of mellow, wanting to get that amped up and fired up when on stage? Brad M.: It’s a great question. In fact, I think that's the first time I've ever been asked that question in that style. So I love that. I commend you and celebrate you for that. It's a great question. I'm just amped up about serving people in a massive way. I am so passionate about this because I didn't have a mentor growing up. The only thing that I had available to me at that time was what I used, the audiobooks. See how we come full circle? So I'm going back pre-Internet. Yes, I remember the rotary phones and the listeners that never even heard of or maybe seen a picture of. And I don't regret that. It's brought me to who I am today. It's actually given me an ability and a passion. See, things were a little bit different back then. The Internet's a beautiful thing and I think, sometimes, we miss what's right there in front of us. It's like the fish doesn't see the water, right? We may be missing the fact that with the Internet, we have the ability to connect with anybody with this phone thing that we hold in our hand. Anybody. Billions of people across the planet which is amazing. I didn't have that ability when I was young. And so I'm super passionate about making sure that everybody that wants a mentor or a coach, I mean, a coach is just like, it's a term that people use. They take this, and forgive me, but I am really passionate about this. They take this six-week course and they call themselves a coach. I saw something on the Internet the other day about, take this course for $25. What? And then you're going to try to coach me? I'm sorry. And I don't mean this from ego. I really don't. I mean it with the utmost humility but you're not going to have a whole lot to offer me in my walk, in the walk that I've had. Donnie B.: Well, come on, man. There are 21-year-old life coaches. Brad M.: That's what I'm talking about. That's a great path. Donnie B.: You know what, to that point, because I've been zinged on podcasts for saying this and one gal hit me with a zing that I actually listened to. She's like, “Look it doesn't mean that 21-year-old cannot coach a 16 and 17-year-old about the next stage of their life.” So even if you are a $25-course coach, that whole thought process is funny to me. If you are, make sure you're teaching people to your level. Don't overstate where you can get them and what you can do for them. If you've never run a million-dollar business, don't tell them you're going to get them to a million-dollar business. You don't know how. Brad M.: There's way, way, way too much of that. I still give them credit. They're doing their thing and I give them credit for actually taking action but authenticity is huge. So when I began to reinvent myself, I began to realize all these things. Authenticity, character. I don't think character is talked about enough. Integrity sometimes is talked about in a way that doesn't even describe integrity. These things, deep diving these words, they're just words but they have meanings and stories behind them. And so I'm fascinated nowadays about deep diving these words for people, helping them discover who they really truly are. Hence, the name of my company, Build Brilliance. It's really pulling the brilliance from inside you. We are all brilliant in our own unique right. Here's a fascinating thing. My company is built on the brilliant diamond and we don't just use that as a metaphor for what I do. Inside a diamond, there's these scratches. Inside. Deep inside. There's these scratches and these little faults. They’re in every diamond. They're called inclusions. And if we would look at our life like that, yes, we're flawed in certain ways. We have these little different uniquenesses. I may have just created another word. Donnie B.: Yeah, that's twice today. Keep it up, Brad. Brad M.: These uniquenesses. But they're just included in us. They’re just a part of our life. When we realize this and we begin to really discover who we are, then we stop thinking about what other … we stop looking for validation from other people. We don't need it anymore. We just become ourselves authentically and we just show up aligned and that's not a real sexy word. But it's a powerful one. When we're fully aligned, when we're the same person at work and at home and at church and all these things that we do at the basketball game and the football game, when we're the same person in all those areas, you’re unfuck-with-able. Donnie B.: That’s another word. Brad M.: Seriously. Yeah, people can't touch you. You don't have to worry about … there’s too much worry and doubt and fear in the world. It's like an epidemic. Donnie B.: Yeah. I got to tell you, it was empowering for me because I was the guy growing up in the sales world that the best sales guys were driving the nice cars and wearing the big suits and walking a certain way and talking a certain way. So I was a replica of what these guys were and because I wanted to get where they were and what’s interesting is when I stopped trying to be those guys, my career took the hell off. Interestingly enough, same thing happened when I started my business. I was trying to be all these other people in name and everything else and when I said, “Screw it. Just be me,” my company took off. So it's very becoming that when you step into who you are, man, it's amazing about who you become. Brad M.: Yeah. I'm so 100% with you. Coming full circle, that's where my search, well, I don't want to say ended because I haven't died. In fact, my life is just beginning. But coming full circle for the journey, that is what happened. When I stopped chasing those things, what I was told I was supposed to be, I’m supposed to have a big house and a big car. That's how I show my success. I'm with you. When I let all that go, that's when I started to really find my meaning. And meaning, when we’re driven by meaning, it's so powerful. So that is why I want to chase the heels of those types of people because I think they've discovered that too. The greats, they all knew that. Jim Rohn. I mean, Jim Rohn was a mentor to Tony Robbins. Donnie B.: Yes, he was. Brad M.: John Maxwell. These people. I think they discovered that and that's when their levels of success really started to propel. So I'm with you 100%. Donnie B.: That’s awesome. So what do we see in the nearest future? I mean, for you, what's happening next? Brad M.: Yeah. I love it. So I have a joint venture with a couple of other people and we're starting what's called, UNleashed and UNlimited. So it's a Tony Robbins . Of course, this is a journey. So you don’t have to worry yet, Tony. Just kidding. I’m just having a little fun with that. I mean, what he does is amazing and what we'll do is a slight variation of that. But it's similar. We really want to help people become unleashed and unlimited. I have the utmost belief that no matter what you want to do, then it is possible. Now, there's some probability in that too. I mean, there's some chemical and stuff. I'm not going to be a running back. Let's face it. Donnie B.: My buddy’s running joke is, he's like, “I'm 6’4, 300 pounds. I'm never going to be a jockey. I don't care how many times I tell myself I can be a jockey.” And my response is, “There's Clydesdales.” Brad M.: That’s true. But within those, understanding those constraints, there are always some constraints. But the constraints in our mind and the actual constraints, there's a gap between those oftentimes with most people. So we want to be able to help people through some of those and we really want to truly just get them unleashed which I’m just so passionate about. When somebody becomes fully unleashed, there's nothing stopping them. I have this statement, “I'm going to get there or you're going to find me dead and pointed in that direction.” That's how strongly, that's how committed I am to this path. When you're that passionate about anything and we have these inclusions. We have these different brilliances. When you figure out what that thing is, there's nothing stopping you. So UNleashed and UNlimited. That's what's coming around the corner now. Donnie B.: That's awesome. That's awesome. Brad, how do people get in touch with you? If they want to reach out, they want to find out more about Unleashed and UNlimited and I love that name, they want to send you an e-mail, carrier pigeon, maybe it's the old rotary phones that you got to dial, I mean, how do people get in touch with you? Brad M.: Yeah. That's a great question. Carrier pigeon would be extremely effective, I would say because that would definitely get my attention. Donnie B.: Yeah. I just got to admit, if I walk out my front door of my farm and there's a pigeon sitting on the thing with a notarized leg, I'm going to read that message. Brad M.: If you really want to get an influencer’s attention, send them a carrier pigeon. That’s a great nugget. I love it. Now, Facebook is probably the best. I mean, I'm on LinkedIn as well, Facebook, I'm on Instagram. But I do mostly Facebook. I have a Facebook group called Entrepreneur Escalation. However, and you're going to get a preview because nobody knows this yet. That will be changing to, UNleashed and UNlimited. Donnie B.: Nice. Nice. Brad M.: So that's the best way. Just Facebook. Build Brilliance is my business page and just look me up, Brad A. Milford. Donnie B.: That’s awesome. That’s awesome. Well, my brother, I got to tell you, it's been a lot of fun having you on the show and hearing your journey and what you went through. Thank you. I can't talk today, obviously. Here's how I like to wrap up every show and I do stump some people. So get ready. Brad M.: Bring it. Donnie B.: If you were going to leave the Champions that listen to this show, entrepreneurs from all over the world, veterans, business-owners, all people that are trying to find their own success on their journey, if you were to leave them with a quote, a phrase, a saying, a mantra, a motto, something they can take with them on their journey especially when they're stacked up against it and going through it, what would be that quote you would say, “Remember this,”? Brad M.: Who you are is greater than where you are. Donnie B.: That is a powerful statement. Who you are is greater than where you are. I love that. Brad M.: I think during adversity and we all hit it, if you really reach deep inside and you say to yourself, “Who I am is greater than where I am.” Donnie B.: I love that. I love that. I love that. Brad, brother, thanks so much for doing this. I really appreciate being a part of your journey, hearing your story. Thanks again for coming on the show. Brad M.: Likewise. Thank you. It's been an honor. [Music] Donnie B.: There you have it, Brad Milford. Man, what a cool dude. I probably say it too often. But I'm telling you, the people that come on this show, I just enjoy because they become friends. They become colleagues. They just become people that I look up to and have great conversations with and I love, love the relationships I’ve formed because of this show, man. I hope you enjoyed this one, guys. Do me a favor, make sure you go check out Point Blank Safety Services. Find them at www.pointblanksafety.com and then jump over to Facebook. Come hang out with us. I am telling you, if you want to unleash your inner badass and really go for it, come hang out with us in Success Champions. Just go to Facebook, type in, Success Champions in that search box, click on groups and you'll find us there. https://www.facebook.com/groups/SuccessChampion And then guys, like and share and review this show. It means everything to me. And when you do that, it is literally like you walked up, gave me a high-five, gave me a hug, said hello, told me you're a badass and it means everything to me. Guys, seriously, go blow some shit up. Go big and loud and light this damn world on fire. We'll catch you next time.