Kind: captions
Language: en
hey everybody Welcome to impact Theory
you were here my friends because you
believe that human potential is nearly
Limitless but you know that having
potential is not the same as actually
doing something with it so our goal with
this show and Company is to introduce
you to the people and ideas that will
help you actually execute on your dreams
all right today's guest is a College
Dropout that everyone thought was going
to fail but against the odds he turned
himself into a self-made
multi-millionaire by the time he was
24 starting from humble beginnings he
learned fast and built an Empire through
an unending amount of grit and hustle
what he lacked in formal training he
made up for in Street Savvy and an
understanding of people he created a
huge online community around stock
trading made some heroic stock
Investments himself was up $20 million
just from investing and simultaneously
also built his own marketing agency into
a monster that was doing $10 million in
annual revenue he had the penthouse in
the sky the Bentley the Ferraris he was
traveling the world in style and then
out of nowhere it all came crashing down
when the Great Recession hit he lost it
all everything but he did not sit in the
corner and cry about it he checked his
ego put his head down and shifted back
into raw hustle mode but this time it
wasn't about ego or the money it was
about impact and From the Ashes he and
two co-founders in the grips of the
recession began building a new Media
company for Millennials called Elite
Daily they were committed to giving
voice to a generation that up to that
point really didn't have one and despite
a mountain of hate being thrown their
way by traditional media companies they
built an amazing company in culture
outworked everyone else and established
themselves as the dominant player in
their demographic building a massive
brand that reached over 80 million
readers per month in 2015 they were
acquired for nearly $50 million by The
Daily Mail but what makes today's guest
so fascinating it isn't how successful
he's been it's that instead of retiring
to Miami Beach he decided the only thing
that mattered to him was building
something to help those less fortunate
so he moved into one of the worst
neighborhoods in New York New Jersey
began buying the surrounding area and
created Founders a social impact
accelerator for entrepreneurs by
entrepreneurs so please help me in
welcoming one of the most passionate and
fascinating human beings I have ever met
the CEO of Founders an angel investor
and philanthropist who is helping
underprivileged entrepreneurs become
successful entrepreneurs The Man known
as the millennial Mentor Gerard Adams
that was the best intro I think I've
ever I definitely ever had my friend it
doesn't even come close to capturing
what it felt like to meet you in Newark
to go out to see the space meet the
people that you're actually helping who
by the way have come from all over the
world to be part of what you're doing in
a really rundown part of the city but
when you see what you guys are doing it
it was unbelievable and I'm so glad I
got to see it for myself so my question
is you're rich homie why do you work so
hard like what what is that
about uh for me I mean um I do what I
love every single day you know I really
do I I really enjoy seeing the people
around me Thrive and succeed and I love
passing down the knowledge that you know
I've learned over the past 14 years it
was it was tough you know to to amount
to some success in my life and for me I
started just asking myself tough
questions of like why you know why did
this all happen you know how did I
overcome all of this and like what can I
do every day to to truly Inspire and
educate and impact the people around me
and do it in a place where my family's
roots are from and you know in a
community that you know really is
important to me and and if I can do it
you know every single day there little
by little make that impact there
hopefully we can spread that across the
world all right so walk us through a
little bit of the story so when you
you're riding high at 24 you've got to
feel pretty badass I know I certainly
would have um what did your mom say when
you lost everything that really puts
your head on
right oh man that was um that was crazy
it's it's interesting you know when when
that all happened I was so scared to
like be vulnerable and like that I like
lost you know like I I
really understood at that point like
that about like about ego and
you know I when that all happened I
couldn't tell anybody I was like scared
you know what they would think yeah
because like I was this person that like
overcame adversity made it like all my
friends are just starting to graduate
from college they couldn't get a job
they were coming to me to for for to get
a job you know um and I had lost it all
and I was like oh my God like what do I
do like I can't I don't want to tell
people I lost it all you know and I
didn't know what to do and then at the
end of the day um my mother just told me
that when she was 15 years old she had a
studio apartment with her brothers and
sisters my aunt and uncles and my
grandparents she was walking home from
school with her friend and her friend
was like Jenny I think the building that
you live in is on fire and my mother ran
home and luckily my family got out but
they lost everything but the shirts on
their back and my mother had never told
me about this growing up wa so like I
never knew any of this it was until like
I actually was down and out that my
mother sat me down and I was like I
don't know what to do Mom how am I going
to like it out of this and she was the
kid of immigrant parents right yeah both
she actually born in columia she was
born in Columbia okay yeah and how old
was she when she
came I think about 6 years old okay wow
yeah and um she told me she was like she
had to beg her school teacher to uh
allow her to take night classes so that
she can get a job they didn't want allow
her but she like basically begged and
they let her take night classes and she
couldn't get a job in Jersey so she went
to Canal Street it was like winter time
my mom's telling me this and starts
crying and she's just like when I went
through that just so I can get make a
little bit of money to help your
grandparents put a food on the table and
I was the oldest sibling of all your
aunts and uncles and we were able to
overcome that and now I put this roof
over your head you best believe that you
better go out there and you can do it
again because you can lose everything
Gerard but they can't take this away
they can't take this away from you
and that's why I feel so blessed to have
such great parents um because they these
are the things that like they instilled
in me like those are the values the the
mindset both my parents throughout my
entire life have really I I owe it all
to them um not for like what they've You
Know M anything material anything like
that I'm so grateful for all the the
things they've done for me but more than
anything just like they've always
empowered me and they always just like
really um supported me and just seeing
what they've done to to get to where
they are and and my grandparents too
like immigrating I always you know it to
them you used to getting at least one
fist fight with your dad if I'm not
mistaken growing up sounds like you were
a bit of a handful I was you know I
wasn't the um I wasn't like the book
smart do good at school kid I was the
troublemaker you know
I from like a young age age I just you
know was the more social and I like I
was a skater I went through so many
phases I was like a skater then I got
into hip-hop phase I was like all like
wearing like fuboo Southpaw like and
then I went to the BMX and I went
through so many different phases as a
kid um and I like was a h young Hustler
and you know I I almost got into some
big trouble I haven't really publicly
talked about this too much if I was kind
of like been scared but um I went from
like street racing selling car parts and
then somehow I ended up getting caught
into s weed and like all my friends were
smoking and stuff like that I was like
young 17 and I ended up getting caught
into freaking hustling like 20 bags of
like weed when I was like young and I'll
never forget um
my family like my father one day seeing
me in my room at 17 years
old and seeing me put the weed in the
bag and I'm my dad is old school so like
growing up my dad didn't take no [ __ ] I
mean he really like didn't take no [ __ ]
it was the first time in my life he just
looked at me and was like I'm really
disappointed and this is your decision
but don't come don't come home when you
get in trouble wow and something crazy
happened I thought I was like Invincible
or something literally like the next day
I'm driving my car I'm going to like
drop off a 20 to like my at my friend's
house and and all of a sudden all these
cops surround
me and I'm like oh my God and I had
tinted windows I'm like hiding it like I
didn't any Clips you should be able to
like hide by the transmission and all of
a sudden all these cops are surround me
and I'm like my whole life flashed
before my eyes I'm like I I just ruined
my life my family this everyone that
that like in school thought I was going
to be like this kid I wasn't going to
make it all these I'm like I just proved
them right like what is I can't believe
I did this and and then lo and behold
these cops all pound in my window lower
the window and I'm like and I lower the
window I look at the officer what are
you doing and like I'm like I'm picking
up my friend from high school and I had
just had called him right before the
cops Spang on the window he comes out
hey it's just you know dra picking me up
from school and lo and behold somebody
was committing Grand Theft Auto right in
front of me that's why the cops came and
they arrested this person for Grand
Theft Auto right in front of me and I
was at that moment I was like oh my God
like I felt like I had a first of all
Guardian Angel my grandmother passed
away from cancer like always been my
guardian angel and I would just but that
I was just like whoa like I this is not
what I'm supposed to this is my you know
I need to really think about think twice
about my life and my path and that's
when I was like all right I need to
channel everything about my ambition and
like who I am as a person and my you
know how I was raised like I need to
channel that into business from that
moment forward I like completely switch
gears and wanted to go into you know
really focus on getting into a good
college at that time yeah
I haven't really talked about that but
you know it's like you know when you you
you're succumb to your environment and I
was surrounded by an environment where
all my friends were smoking you know
doing drugs gangs fights street racing
um and I was just like succumb to that
and it became the norm for me um how'd
you get out of it so fast though like I
mean you started really taking yourself
seriously certainly right after you drop
out of college which you can't be more
than 1819 at that point yeah I was 18
years old so what was it that incident
that caused you to really buckle down
and get serious or yeah definitely as
from a from like a mindset definitely
and then I went to go to college CU like
okay my parents are saying in order for
become successful like I got to go to
college get a good education you know I
wasn't able to get into Princeton like
my dad wanted so I got into cwell
college and my my goal was to eventually
transfer and wenton hopefully right and
my first semester I was like y everyone
is partying more than freaking high
school here and they're telling me what
classes to take in order to earn credits
just to get to the classes I want to
take to learn about business while
getting into debt and I was like this is
the biggest business in the world I'm
like education they're they're you know
this is a like in my opinion I was like
this is like a scam you know we have the
internet like I'm you know so I was like
I'm going to I I want to double down on
the internet and um luckily I found a
mentor pretty early on at that time at
18 years old and um
having that conversation with my family
was really tough that you were dropping
out yeah because again it's like up you
know it's he going to be here we go you
know he he's is now did they think you
were just being
lazy no they saw my they saw me like you
know up till 4: or 5 in the morning
every night on that computer they saw me
educate working on a business plan or
yeah working on a business plan working
on a website working going on different
forums were you already thinking stock
spot at this point I was thinking stocks
yeah and I was starting to ideate the
the stock spot because I was going on
all these other forums to learn about
stocks to learn about like you know
investing and trading and none of them
had a rating system none of them you
didn't know who was who it was like the
AOL almost like AOL like back in the day
when they had chat rooms and just like
screen names you know you don't know
who's who so I like man there's got to
be something out there and if there
isn't I should create it and that's been
like you know that's that's the way I've
continued to be an entrepreneur to this
day that's where your business ideas
come from Yeah scratch at onich yeah so
it's really interesting so at Quest I
because we were Manufacturing in the
inner cities um I worked with a lot of
former drug dealers and it is utterly
fascinating what an amazing education
that is in entrepreneurship like just
let go of any moral judgment for a sec
like the product is essentially risk
that's what you're really selling like
you're willing to tolerate the risk and
so you get a hold of this thing that's
illegal that makes you have heart
attacks when police are nearby um and
that's essentially What You Broker for
people is I'll take this risk to get you
this thing um but because it's so
highrisk and because when you're really
serious about it there are people that
actually will try to come and kill you
and take your stash and whatever you're
encroaching on their Turf I mean it
obviously can be incredibly incredibly
violent but they also know like the cops
and how they change shifts and who has
what car and so that they can really
like keep an eye on everything and I was
talking to one of I wasn't that uh I
wasn't that yeah right you're sort of a
little earlier stage but talking to some
of these guys that had like legitimate
businesses that were passed down right
so they weren't just like your random
street Hustler these were people that
like their parents were in the drug
trade and so it was a family business
and you know for whatever reason you end
up having to take it over and I remember
one day just like I really want to
understand this because it like this guy
was really really sharp no matter what
you put him on like he would just get it
he'd be able to do it he was good with
people like he understood like what are
the business objectives and how is what
I'm doing like apply to that and how do
I have to get people to work for me to
make it work it's really pretty
interesting like did you feel
entrepreneurial while you were doing it
oh yeah for sure you know um you know
the risk every single day um you know
you start to make money that you never
seen you know never had money like that
so for me it was like the taste of like
wow okay I'm I'm able to and what did it
feel like is that like freedom for you
or or yeah definitely some Freedom um
freedom to start being able to kind of
do what I want like kind of control like
what I wanted and do certain things um
and what what is the like value of risk
for an entrepreneur like the the ability
to take risk it's everything it's part
of my DNA you know um it's just like I'm
constantly every day trying to challenge
myself you know to push myself to take
risk whether it's in my personal life
you know pushing myself to new
environments try trying new things me
new people it helps me grow you know I
grow as an individual every time I try
to do something that scares me I just
like afterwards like I just it empowers
me I feel you know I feel like I've
learned something I've grown I've
learned about a new culture learned
about a new person I always feel like I
can learn something new from someone no
matter who they are you know so um and
then with ideas like I you know I just
love I'm not afraid to fail you know for
me there's nothing more powerful than
creating something and if it's going
wrong like solving okay how let's pivot
let's figure out why it's not working
and continuing until you know we
actually built something that people you
know see value in and has grown and the
when something does work the reward of
like seeing people come together for one
thing and all everyone kind of believing
in that mission and believing in that
idea a and believing in it it's just
like there's nothing more rewarding to
me that's
like it's a it's best moments of my life
have been like when I've taken a big
risk and I've seen it come to fruition
and like it's gone from this idea to
people to like act people like you know
all making it reality something tangible
seeing the emotion that it creates in
different people and like the it's just
awesome you know and then I don't know I
forget I think puts me to like the Elite
Daily like the moment where me and my
co-founders when we had that exit and we
didn't plan it and we looked at each
other in the eye and we're like man like
we [ __ ] did it like forget about the
money like there's 200 people back in
the office that are all happy freaking
working at a common goal 80 million
people that are reading this thing on a
daily basis like remember the days it
was just three folding chairs and we
didn't know if this thing was going to
really work and now you know
it was to me that's like it was the
greatest thing in the world all right so
rewind me back you're 1819 you get out
of the drug freid very wisely uh and you
drop out of college that seems like at
that point probably the biggest risk
that you took from certainly from the
perspective of everyone now thinks I'm
exactly what they told me I was going to
be right I am the failure I am the
Dropout and I didn't get into Princeton
the way that my dad wanted which I'm
assuming he'd been beating into you for
a very long time so what was it that
gave you the courage to quit how did you
convince yourself that you were actually
the right person to bet on that you
would be better at educating yourself
than the education system you know for
me it was like what I was passionate
about was like learning how to invest
what made company successful
understanding how to read an income
statement understanding how to read that
balance statement understanding what
made this you just started looking that
up how do you read a balance oh yeah I
started just re going on all over the
Internet um I would read like Silicon
investor
um Raging Bull you know y finance.
yahoo.com like these are the sites that
I would go to and just start to you know
read and connect with different people
on those message boards and if I had
asked you at that point what do you do
like you dropped out of school Gerard
but what do you do like you're on the
computer all day but what are you doing
oh well you know I'm learning I'm
starting to learn how to uh trade I'm
starting to you know research companies
understand you know the they're
fundamentals you know um and did you get
good at it oh great at it so how did you
get the technology built like I'm
putting myself back in the time where
the internet is isn't exactly new but
it's certainly not robust in the way
that we think about it today you're 1819
at this point the first hurdle for
virtually everybody is a I know nothing
about stocks I don't know how to read a
balance sheet so when you dive into
stocks and you realize the first thing
you have to learn is about balance
sheets you stop because it's like Jesus
this is such a world unto itself but
then even if I get over that then when I
realize that wait forum is a technology
somebody has to build me the technology
I don't know anybody that builds these
things like how did you keep hitting
these roadblock after roadblock after
roadblock and go there's a solution here
and I'm going to find it yeah how' you
do
that I mean just young Hustler I mean
like are you a born entrepreneur do you
identify as a born entrepreneur I didn't
call myself that but yeah I would say
that since I was a kid from like
hustling lollipop pops as a kid to then
t-shirts Mark EO t-shirts to like it
just how are you selling Mark Eko
t-shirts uh one of my friends fathers
worked for Mar Eko you know he had all
the shirts like and I would basically
get them from him like from the father
wholesale and wear them to school and
then sell them that's amazing okay so
like the very Advanced Lemonade Stand
yeah yeah and um and like I I was taught
to work you know like I worked at the
supermarket the& growing up where myom
mom worked yeah tell me about your mom
and dad's work ethic oh my gosh my mom
worked seven days a week you know almost
every week um at a local supermarket and
is she telling you like this is what you
have to do like you do whatever it takes
to make ends meet or was she like [ __ ]
the man this sucks I can't believe I
have to do this no my mom loved it you
know um you she was a bookkeeper and she
just like you know she took pride in it
she dressed every day like you know it
was inspiring for me as a kid to see her
do that every single day um and my
father worked for credential um you know
and just saw him every single day and he
I would watch him as a kid doing the
budget in the living room and like watch
him as like you know um you know working
and providing for the family and he used
to leave notes for me throughout the
house of little quotes from different
leaders as a kid be like ah here's
another you know I didn't really get it
right um but looking back like he was
definitely subconsciously building me
into a leader for sure and what is that
mean like what are the qualities of a
great leader for
you um courage someone who has is is is
has the has the courage no matter what
to um believe in something hold
heartedly and follow that with faith and
courage to just go and and no matter
what be able to also um I think for me
leading is picking up the people around
me and putting them before for
myself um caring about everybody around
me and and putting them in a position to
thrive and as you see before myself and
basically leading by example um of how
you live your life Leadership to me is a
is character you know who you are not
what you do and when did that come about
in you did you always have that or was
some of that from Gaining things so
quickly only to lose them and realize
way this was largely a problem of ego I
the ego was one of the biggest lessons
for me um in my life because you know as
a as a young guy when I started to
finally it started to work and I started
to make some money like you can really
easily and I see it even today day and a
you can get caught up in
like caring about like making the money
and you know for me I lost touch with
you know who I was and like
the fact that yeah I aspired to have all
these nice things and it was great but
what is it all for and I didn't think
about Legacy you know I'm just a young
guy like I want to give back to my
parents I want to pay off their mortgage
I want to you know I want to be able to
buy my sister one of my greatest moments
in life where was when my sister thought
I wasn't going to show up to her 17th
birthday cuz I was out hustling and I
surprised her and my parents couldn't
afford her first car and I surprised her
in the driveway with the car that she
always dreamed of with a poster board
says happy birthday sis I love you and
putting a bow on it and seeing her break
down crying hysterical and like picking
her up and spinning her and then her
saying like I didn't even know you love
me this much that's what she was you
know and like for me the you know that
was like what I strive for um were
moments like that and then also like
being able to get all these things and
being able to go into the store and I'm
a sneaker head like you I just remember
going in the store and being like I want
every dunk like Nike Dunks like I give
me every color and you know I was having
fun and living but um I wasn't thinking
about impact I wasn't thinking about
Legacy I was thinking about like how can
I make more money more money more money
so that's got to make it even harder
than when it all starts falling apart
how did you handle that obviously mom
sort of ultimately gives you the
clinching piece of
information um but how do you how do you
get back on your feet um I love pressure
I love adversity I actually like th I'm
actually I perform better with pressure
in adversity for sure I wasn't the kid
who like was able to like study for like
the test but when it came time to take
that test like I'm like I get really
focused and prepared for that it's the
same thing with speaking engagements now
you know like I'm really bad at like
preparing for tedex like people prepare
for like months like my tedex I didn't
prepare I waited it was like the day of
like Ted X and I was like wow you know
all right it's game time like get
focused and what are what is it that we
want to accomplish here what is the
message um that was great because my
mother that was the first time my mother
showed up I dedicated it to my mom but I
always thrived over adversity and when
it what are you saying to yourself at
this point like how do you leverage the
pressure is it just literally
subconscious and you show up or are you
saying like hey there's pressure there's
people that want to see me fail there's
no way I'm going to let this happen yeah
um it's definitely subconscious um
just throughout my entire life I've had
moments like that where I've almost even
died you know like scuba diving almost
drowning and like my air breaking and me
me being like [ __ ] I'm under water right
now I don't have air I may die what's
going to happen and then like lo and
behold like somehow like the person next
to me like sees that I'm choking and
like boom gives me their air and I'm
like okay and get to the top or like
when I'm snowboarding back country and
you know my friends all lose me and it
gets dark and I'm in the middle of the
mountain and like I have no helmet and
I'm like [ __ ] I got to get to the B B of
this mountain and there's rocks and
trees and I'm like okay put yourself
together this is adversity and it's fine
it's like you got to get down this
[ __ ] Mountain you know like
throughout my life I've had moments like
this happen and it's just like over time
I see that fear and I'm like I'm running
right through it you know there's
nothing that's going to help me there's
times I'm flying in the plane I'm like
this plane may go down but you know I'm
okay with that I'm okay with dying like
that's because now it's like I'm doing I
know I'm doing everything I possibly can
every single day to inspire and impact
the people around me and if I die I know
that I've done my part as much as I
possibly can and was that part of the
driving desire to get back up on your
feet and do something yeah that's that's
the driving force of like every day like
pushing
myself and um that's when I was like I
want to step up as a as more as a more
as a role model for this generation and
be a better leader
I started looking on social media and
seeing a lot of people portraying
success and creating this perception of
success um and there I felt that there
was something missing out there from
Millennials as you know there were
people that were being vulnerable and
talking about the the grit talking about
the adversity talking about the failing
you know and also also talking about
like the some the real path to success
and what it takes you know what I mean
you know and um I just I wanted to be
able to to start to speak up and share
that and share that story and and get
out there and do more of what I loved
what I realized is that I love mentoring
you know with Elite Daily my CEO was 19
years old he was my intern wow for me
like I want to see the people around me
succeed more than I've succeeded so walk
me through the moment you go see Tony
Robbins you start thinking about what
that next move is going to be you're
legitimately contemplating when I said
that you could have retired to Miami
that wasn't a throwaway line like you
were actually well my accountant told me
to just not retire but go to Miami for
the save on the state income taxs and
like you're getting getting ready to get
these big wires go to Miami um and I was
this close I had this like freaking
beautiful place in the sky ocean views
and um was like getting ready to sign
and I just had a moment like on the
balcony looking at that ocean and was
just
like nah this isn't where I'm supposed
to be right now I'm
I don't deserve this yet right now I
have I have more work to do like and uh
going back to Nork where my family was
from and seeing kind of what was
happening there and then like being
asked to speak at in Silicon Valley and
seeing these ecosystems being built to
support entrepreneurs and give resources
but you didn't see that where near where
I grew up so I wanted to I was like
that's what I need to be doing I need to
be back there I need to be building that
and um that was it you know so much of
uh of the youth there I can see like
they're getting succumb to the
environment that I got succumb to
growing up and they're talking to me
about hustling now and they're talking
to me about like yo that's the only way
we know otherwise I'm supposed to my
teachers telling me I'm supposed to go
get a job at McDonald's you know and I'm
like
nah let me tell you how let me tell you
if I was able to do it you can too you
know and but you need to start making
that choice you need to make that choice
right now for yourself dude going to
Founders was amazing the energy there
was unlike anything I've ever seen I was
so glad that we had a camera with me
because so to give you guys a little bit
of a setup was in New York for something
else you hit me up on social we had met
at South by Southwest you hit me up on
social said dude if you're like in
Manhattan you got to come to New York
you've got to see what we're doing and
you had told me about it I I literally
couldn't believe that it was real but I
was so caught by that notion of you in
the penthouse in Miami I know that view
you're looking out at the water you're
about to sign and you don't like I am
still freaked out by that you don't sign
you go back you don't just go back to
New Jersey you go back to like a gnarly
part of New Jersey and and literally I'm
thinking I've really got to see this for
myself somebody that is so connected to
these kids and so wants to like give
back cuz I'm thinking I know what the
kind of money you've made can do like it
that doesn't change your life a little
that changes your life a lot and in this
really beautiful way it moved you
backwards in a beautiful way but it
moved you backwards you went from I'm
sure a much nicer neighborhood to
spending all of your time in a really
downtrodden area but you like so smart
get a a real estate partner to help you
come in you buy the stuff it's live work
play you're bringing uh you're
revitalizing the neighborhoods the art
gallery that you and I shot you've got
the food there to really draw people in
and then when I came in I was I was just
supposed to be doing a talk for Rutgers
which ironically had no idea it was down
the street by the way so I set up a
computer so we can do a Skype and I'm
like hey if you've got kids there like
let them listen and the [ __ ] kids
were on fire man like their energy was
through the roof they all had like these
really good business ideas like the kid
that gave me a bag full of like crickets
and it was like branded it's like ginese
or want give out Jim like I was like
what is going on in this like
hilariously random corner of New York
New Jersey so what is the Magic Man like
you've captured something you've done
something to these kids so it's about
Community um first and foremost uh both
building the community within fers for
people to be a part of it um but also
you know we're a social Enterprise so
getting back and revitalizing these
parts of the city you know what we are
as a progressive education company um
you know teaching through the principles
of Entrepreneurship and just our it's
similar to like a general assembly you
know we it's basically our different
curriculums and these are these are
curriculums that are based upon all the
things that I've learned over the past
14 years that I wish I learned if I were
to go back to school back when I was 18
1920 21 22 this is the you know this is
what I would have wanted to learn you
know in a in a High intense Boot Camp
style 12 weeks through personal growth
personal development emotional
intelligence financial literacy then
into like business model canvas
understanding how to really launch an
idea test experiment Market
storytelling Story how do you be able to
get customers how do you able to do all
of that and and basically bringing in
mentors so you know I've fostered
relationships you know like I'm so
grateful for our relationship but the
the impact that you made like they never
would have been able to ever meet you
and have you in a room and the fact that
now we're able to bring in these type of
experts into that space to be able to
share their stories share their lessons
do do you even the impact that you made
that day was so like deep and
longlasting you change so lives that day
and that happens every single day every
day we're teaching them we're meditating
in the morning we're working with them
Tai Chi physical working with them on
their mental their physical and then you
know and then we're bringing in these
mentors and experts to share and and
really get them to level up and
understand what it really means to be an
entrepreneur because a lot of people
throw this title nowadays of being an
entrepreneur but it's like you know
building a real business is you know is
is not this glorified thing it's [ __ ]
very difficult and you really need to
understand how to um how to be able to
overcome all those challenges test
experiment fail fail fail fail fail fail
you know until you until you get it
right and um and that's basically what
we and that's what we're that's like our
secret sauce you know is is giving that
education and teaching that over these
12 weeks with some of the best lead
leaders in the world how do you teach
them to so I've heard it defined and I
forget by who but success is the ability
to go from failure to failure to failure
without a loss of enthusiasm how do you
teach them how to do that which is so
important teach them how to figure out
their their you know their why man it's
it's really comes down to that but you
know that's the truth
it's figuring out what really why are
they doing it what really truly drives
them to to to solve this problem and do
you try to help them look past the money
yeah it's um it's definitely it's
definitely tough for them and the
entrepreneurs have the definitely have
their lows and um a lot some of them
don't make it you know some of them
break and they's like ah this isn't for
me and that that's a great question can
anybody become an
entrepreneur can anyone become a great
entrepreneur
yes but do they do they have what it
takes are they willing to do whatever it
takes um a lot of
people give
up and that's just the you know that's
just the truth can you tell who's going
to make it and who won't um us yeah
usually I mean the first four 4 weeks
I'm breaking them I'm not there to be
their friend I'm there to be their
mentor and I'm breaking them down to
figure out do you really really want
this and how do you do that because this
like understand this is such an
important question for me so we have an
internship program here and for anybody
interested lean in a little closer and I
want you to hear this is my criteria I
just want to know if you can work I have
no [ __ ] idea how to tell ahead of
time like you can look at somebody maybe
they're really bright maybe they've got
something special but will they do
whatever it takes are they going to
grind I have no idea like
literally Gerard I've interviewed a lot
of people I'm talking, 15500 probably
more people in every like Stratosphere
you can imagine so I've interviewed
people that are fresh out of prison and
they want to be a janitor and I've
interviewed people up to the EVP of
sales and you know these are people that
have worked for Fortune 500 companies
and um and everyone in
between I can't tell you how to
determine if somebody has drive people
can tell you grit right is another way
to say it people will tell you that they
have ambition they're all going to tell
you that right um they're all going to
tell you that they really want it
they're all going to tell you that
they're compassionate and that they're
caring and that they want to see other
people
succeed but whether or not like how they
react when it sucks yeah is is a whole
another Beast right like who can deal
with self-imposed suffering that's
really the question and to your point
like what's your why have you read Man's
Search for meaning by Victor Frankle no
I have
not Gerard a you must read that book and
B seriously I will I will in fact right
now I'm telling you I'm going to ship
you like a hundred of those [ __ ]
books any kid that walks through your
doors read that Victor Frankle survived
he actually survived five I believe
concentration camps wow five including
aitz and he said literally you would
know 72 hours before someone was going
to die because they would give up and he
said once they gave up you you can't
survive that kind of hardship if you
don't have something in you that is so
important to you that is pushing you and
driving you forward he said the moment
they lost their why they were done and
there's that awesome Nichi quote if you
have a y you can survive almost anyhow
yes so when you hear this and he's a
neurologist so this guy is just like
bright in the extreme very educated and
very articulate about psychology and the
brain and what's happening
neurologically to these people but what
I found so unendingly interesting is you
can never predict who the people were
that were going to break once they broke
it was so evident and so immediately
obvious they're like okay they're
they're done now like they they no
longer know why they're suffering right
and when you were like I'm suffering
because I'm going to go find my kids or
I'm going to go find my spouse and I'm
going to build something back up or even
if this is the [ __ ] interesting part
even even if your why was I'm going to
[ __ ] kill every one of these guards
the second this war is over my friend I
will know nothing but Bloodshed great
like at least that like gave you
something to keep truly right and I've
got a whole thing about beauty and rage
both can serve you and let me assure you
in a concentration camp I'm going to
lean a little more on the rage than
anything else but having your why like
understanding that so I need to
understand what you do to like put these
kids to the test to figure out who
really wants it because I want this to
work more than you can imagine and I
know you're not you don't play being an
entrepreneur so I know you're actually
trying to solve a problem yeah so what
is it tell me cuz I want to put it to
use in my own life I don't I just really
try to see if they'll Break by me
questioning the fact that like well I
don't know if this is I don't think this
is going to really work and I think you
should maybe go in a different direction
and seeing like is it they they really
really at the end of the day no matter
what say to me Gerard one way or another
however it however it's going to have to
happen like I am pushing this thing
forward and going to make this a reality
um and like once I feel that and see
them actually put that into action
that's when I know they have whatever
they'll do whatever it takes and they
have it um but for me it's just
constantly trying to question them and
see if you know if they'll break I love
that I love that so much all right so
what are like some key team building
things that people should have
um well first and foremost
it's understanding uh you know it's
really the self-awareness so it's like
for first and foremost with the founder
it's like what are you really great at
because as an entrepreneur you typically
want to do it all and a lot of times in
the very beginning you are wearing every
hat and trying to do it all and you have
to be resourceful you have to be willing
to get your hands dirty and do a little
bit of everything in the beginning but
then it's like okay really buckled down
and I even had to go through this with
myself you know there was times I was
like trying to do too much trying to do
trying to do it all and like figure out
like what am I really really passionate
about what am I really great at what is
that one thing that I can do the very
best on my team to add the most value
you know for the you know for this idea
business and then figuring out okay who
who do you really need you know do you
need that Chief Operating Officer that
person that's going to really help you
with the operations and Logistics and
the infrastructure who do you need that
you know Mar someone that's going to
handle your marketing that's just badass
and all they care about is like how
they're going to be able to tell this
story to the marketplace and be able to
retain people that become customers and
you know who are the people that you
need you know around you and what are
you really truly great at um is like the
first the first thing that we really we
teach and then it's
um helping them understand what it like
what it is they're building in a very
concise way to get people to understand
you know what it is that they're
actually building why they're building
it um and then basically getting out
there talking to people it's like you
know it's it's at the end of the day we
teach them you get out go and talk to
people share this idea as many you know
as much as you can go out and Network
online you know uh build relationships
with people online and look for these
people put it out there like actually
leverage social media to talk about
document we teach you know we're telling
our entrepreneurs document the process
you know like is this that whole notion
of social currency that you talk about
yeah it's it's part of social currency
you know like what social currency is
yeah yeah it sounds like you're going to
die so basically we just you know we
time delete daily right uh but I
wouldn't do it again building a
publication now we are the publication
we are the media platform so you know at
this point in time like you need to be
telling your story you need to be taking
your personal branding like serious you
know and um I that's what we basically
teach is like how are you branding
yourself how are you telling your story
how are you sh sh sharing that story
through your personal brand and also
your your business and how is your your
business branding itself online how are
people perceiving you when they come
across you and um CU like I truly
believe that if you if you do that in
the right way the Law of Attraction
you're going to start manifesting
opportunities your circle of influence
the people that you surround yourself
with it's going to happened it's
happened with me I never cared about my
personal brand my entire career it's
it's extremely important today that you
understand how to share your story how
to document the process how to put that
out how are people discovering you in
today's day and age consistently day in
and day out all right I want to bring it
I want to wrap up the the quality thing
so I derailed us a bit on how to build a
team but you said basically they have to
be right or die they've really got to
know their why uh what you look for on
entrepreneurs and then they've got to be
good team Builders and then what are a
couple other things you really look for
in your Allstar are
entrepreneurs uh if there I guess the
ability to um get get customers like
test and be able to proove like it's
just an idea until people actually
willing to pay for it they love it
they're able to or they're using your
product consistently you know every day
um so I want to see that the
entrepreneur is willing to get out talk
to their customers talk to the people
that it be that this would bring value
to and see that they're able to get
those PE those you know those customers
or those um that audience to be using
their products day and and you know
consistently you know something else
that I'd like to see is just like their
confidence overall the fact that they're
willing
to be be out there get out be able to
share their share their story um and uh
get people to believe in them you know
believe in their idea and you know and
then other than that it's like just
their grit you know being able to see
that they're able to really really uh
put in the put in the work to see it
through and do you think confidence is
something you can teach yeah for sure
absolutely I mean a lot of our
entrepreneurs when they come in they
don't have that's something that they
lack they um scared of what people will
think of them scared that people maybe
steal their idea they're going to get
they're going to fail they that's like a
big um a big thing in the in the
beginning of our accelerator that we try
to teach and how do you help people get
over that we do something called failing
forward so every Friday we have them
stand up in front of the room and front
of all the other entrepreneurs and talk
about an obstacle that they're facing
personally and professionally and be
open about that and teach them to be a
little more vulnerable and like speak up
about that and then the group all of us
the mentors the leaders and the
entrepreneurs will help push them
through that and it's been
transformational that that that that
particular exercise um where I've seen
them you know come like week three of
them like speaking in front of everybody
building relationships like getting out
there
um feeling now that they have support
all of a sudden you just start to see
I've seen them break down cry like man
this is the first time I feel like you
know people believe in me like I
actually have support like I can do this
you know and a lot of times that's what
it is you need to surround yourself with
the right energy the right people like
that are that are as passionate of you
like-minded people that positivity and
that energy is infectious and that's
like the environment that we' create
within
Founders that's pretty incredible um so
so the last thing that I want to talk
about is specifically you're known as
the millennial Mentor what what is the
unique struggle that you think
Millennials are going through that um
they need help
with I think um the one of the things
that I see that I've just recently been
really talking
about is the their perception like we
live in this day and age where like
social media is so strong right you know
it could do so many great things connect
but like really digging into like what
why you know why are you here like what
do you like what do you want to give to
the world you know and are you
really discovering that within yourself
because there's so much consumption
happening on a daily basis because of
social media and everything you can get
so caught up on like living a script of
what you think you should be doing
rather than digging down inside yourself
and shutting off all the noise and like
figuring out like what is it that you
you know what is it that you really want
to do and what is it that you want to
give to the world and I think that
Millennials right now a lot of them you
know haven't figured out who they really
are and like because of and and and then
and then their fear they fear they
fear how people are going to judge them
and what they look like and all that
stuff instead of like really figuring
out who they really are not trying to be
something that they're not and and then
starting living a true authentic life
and putting that out you know um what
does that process of self-discovery look
like how do you find out who you
are I think it's um for me it was a lot
changing my environment it was it it
was breaking the pattern of like what I
was doing on a day-to-day basis look
changing my habits changing my patterns
starting to go and travel see new
cultures shut off the you know the phone
the noise and all that stuff I started
meditating I started really thinking
things through I started reading more I
started um and and my faith I started
praying more um and that that alone time
I started writing I'm a writer um so I
love to write I think that's one of the
best things that you can do too believe
it or not is just you know get your
thoughts on paper make them real and
just write you don't need to know what
you're going to write just write your
thoughts spend that time to yourself you
know um stop looking for so many
opinions and I think it takes you know
you you have to you have to at a point
really um you have to really do that for
me that's what I that's what I do no for
sure yeah all right so before I ask my
final question where can these guys find
your amazing content oh well I I mean I
shout out to the G Squad that's out here
we we we that's like the common
denominator for me throughout my entire
career has been content I just love
obviously sharing on a daily basis um my
number one platform right now is
Instag