$30K in High School to Multi-Million Dollar Card Empire ft. Eric Michael

Summary

Coffeez for Closers with Joe Shalaby
Episode: $30K in High School to Multi-Million Dollar Card Empire ft. Eric Michael
Release Date: August 8, 2025

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1. Introduction

In this episode of Coffeez for Closers, host Sam welcomes Eric Michael, the driving force behind Major League Profits (MLP), a thriving business dedicated to teaching individuals how to profit from sports and collectible cards. Eric shares his inspiring journey from earning $30K in high school to establishing a multi-million dollar empire in the collectibles industry.

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2. Eric Michael's Journey: From High School to Card Empire

Eric opens up about his early disdain for corporate America. Reflecting on his initial aversion, he states:

"I would have rather sat and lived under a bridge than work in corporate America."
[00:00]

However, circumstances led him to experience corporate life briefly, which eventually fueled his entrepreneurial spirit:

"Now we are corporate. It's different because I'm the top. So I get to tell people what to do and I get to show up when I want."
[10:17]

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3. The Role of Mentorship and Getting Started in Sports Cards

Eric recounts his introduction to the sports card market in August 2015, inspired by a high school friend's success:

"I buy and sell sports cards. And back then in 2015, you know, sports card is not like what it was today. It was still kind of big, but not nearly as big as today."
[01:42]

This mentorship with his friend Dylan was pivotal in sparking his interest and expertise in the field.

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4. Mastering the Grading Process and Market Dynamics

A significant portion of Eric's success hinges on understanding the grading process of collectibles. He explains:

"There is no confidence. It's just, I've done this for five years. I know exactly how to do it. Like, it is as simple as, like, walking. Like, I do it."
[03:08]

Eric delves into the intricacies of grading, emphasizing the importance of high-quality graders like PSA, and how grading impacts the value and liquidity of cards.

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5. Teaching and Building Major League Profits (MLP)

Transitioning from flipping cards, Eric and his business partner John founded Major League Profits, a program designed to educate others on making consistent income through card trading:

"I didn't have confidence. It was just, I know exactly what needs to be done. That's it."
[03:08]

MLP utilizes advanced AI software that analyzes platforms like eBay daily to identify the most profitable cards to purchase and grade, ensuring members can achieve steady returns.

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6. The Pivot to Pokemon and Expanding into Other Collectibles

Recognizing the booming market in Pokemon cards, Eric expanded MLP's offerings:

"I'm 44 or 43. I have four kids... Pokemon is a way for me to relate to all my kids."
[05:22]

He highlights the exponential demand and profitability in the Pokemon sector, urging members to allocate a portion of their investments there due to its super liquidity and high returns.

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7. Business Operations: Building a Team and Company Culture

Eric discusses the operational strategies that set MLP apart, including a regimented work culture and close-knit team dynamics:

"We run it like military. It's very regimented... you are working nine hours a day from 10 to 7 of the sales team's hours."
[17:34]

Living and working alongside his team in Miami fosters a mastermind environment, driving continuous innovation and efficiency.

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8. Impact on Families and Teaching Kids Entrepreneurship

One of the unexpected byproducts of MLP's success is its positive impact on families. Eric shares:

"25% of the people would mention about how they're doing it with their kid, doing with their young son."
[11:27]

MLP not only serves as a business venture but also as a platform for parents to bond with their children over entrepreneurship and shared interests in collectibles.

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9. Building a Personal Brand and Handling Publicity

As MLP grew, Eric became a recognizable figure in the sports card community. He reflects on the challenges and responsibilities of this visibility:

"I don't like being stopped in my tracks... the best ones are... people saying my free content has actually made them a profit."
[24:04]

Eric embraces his role as a mentor and influencer, using his platform to provide free valuable content that uplifts others while driving business growth.

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10. Overcoming Doubts and Maintaining Resilience

Throughout his entrepreneurial journey, Eric faced skepticism and doubts, particularly from those within the sports card community:

"People in the sports card world... they're very sensitive about it."
[21:21]

Despite receiving hate comments and initial setbacks, Eric's unwavering belief in his methods and resilience led MLP to eventual success.

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11. Future Goals and Aspirations

Looking ahead, Eric envisions MLP evolving into a comprehensive hub for all things collectible:

"Turning major league profits into like this huge like collectible siding come university type of deal... Maybe turning into like an actual college for collectibles."
[29:07]

His ambitious plans include expanding into various collectible markets and establishing an educational institution dedicated to collectibles entrepreneurship.

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12. Conclusion and How to Connect with Eric

As the episode wraps up, Eric emphasizes his dedication to helping others and expanding his brand:

"Hit me up with a message if you're curious."
[31:57]

Listeners interested in diving into the sports card industry or teaching their children about entrepreneurship can connect with Eric through his YouTube channel, Instagram, or by visiting the MLP website.

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Key Takeaways:

• Mentorship is Crucial: Eric's success was significantly influenced by his mentor, illustrating the importance of guidance in entrepreneurial ventures.

• Leveraging Technology: Utilizing AI to analyze market trends has been instrumental in MLP's ability to teach members how to make informed investments.

• Community and Culture: A strong, regimented company culture and close-knit team dynamics have propelled MLP's growth and operational efficiency.

• Positive Social Impact: Beyond profits, MLP serves as a platform for families to bond and for individuals to learn valuable business skills.

• Resilience Pays Off: Overcoming skepticism and maintaining consistency are key factors in achieving long-term success.

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For those looking to embark on their own journey in the sports card or collectibles market, Eric Michael's insights and MLP's proven strategies offer a beacon of guidance and opportunity.

Transcript

[Eric Michael]

And I hated sitting in a cubicle. I wanted to. I would have rather. I would have rather sat and lived under a bridge than work in corporate America.

[Sam]

But now you are corporate America.

[Eric Michael]

Now we are corporate. It's different because I'm the top. So I get to tell people what to do and I get to show up when I want. Thank you for having me. How's it going?

[Sam]

Hey, thanks for coming on the show. He just got back from nationals in Chicago national card convention. So that's a big deal. Eric, I'd like to start the show off with everybody the same way. What's your morning routine?

[Eric Michael]

Oof.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

All right. My morning routine is my alarm goes off at 6:45, I roll right out of bed. I brush my teeth, I go on to. We built a decently sized gym on our balcony on our apartment. I lift weights for an hour, shower, skateboard to my office.

[Sam]

I love that. Skateboard to the office.

[Eric Michael]

Very simple. I have a dog, electric skateboard. Take it right to the office. But there's nothing special. It's just brush teeth and go right and lift weights.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah, I know you're a big fan of her Mosi. And he's not a much, much of a morning routine guy either.

[Eric Michael]

A lot of what I say, you'll feel like, am I talking to her Mosi? Because I've been. I've probably watched every video of his ever since he started. So yeah, I'm not a big morning routine person. I just lift. That's my morning routine.

[Sam]

For me personally, like, I've been into sports cards as a kid, and then I just really that. That sensation of. Of collecting again came back recently for me a couple years ago. And there's just been a surge in sports cards we've seen over the last couple years, especially with the Tick tock shop, the ebay going live and obviously whatnot. When did you get into sports cards?

[Eric Michael]

I got in in August of 2015. So there's two high schools in my town. I'm from Wayne, New Jersey, which is like northern New Jersey. There's Wayne Hills and there's Wayne Valley. Well, in New Jersey, everybody kind of gets their car like senior year of high school. There's a kid from the other high school that bought his own car with 30 grand. It was a sports Toyota Corolla. And I heard about it and I asked him, I was like, how the hell do you have $30,000? What's the deal here? And he actually said to me, I buy and sell sports cards. And back then in 2015, you know, sports car is not like what it was today. It was still kind of big, but not nearly as big as today. So it took me by surprise. I went to his house. He's like, yeah, I buy these cards, I get them graded, I flip them online, and I was hooked instantly. And he's actually. His name is Dylan. He was actually my mentor in the beginning that showed me the ropes and how sports cards works, but that's how I got in.

[Sam]

Nice. Yeah. So I just learned about the grading process a couple years ago myself. Like, I feel like grading has really just changed the whole dynamic.

[Eric Michael]

Oh, it's everything. Yeah, it's everything.

[Sam]

Yeah. So. And it's like. And it's not just grading. It's like there's. There's grades of the graders. Like, PSA is the number one, the elite grader.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

And then you got, you know, SGC and Becky and all these other guys are like, ah, cards go for less value. Based on those graders. How did you start to understand all the dynamics and. And have the confidence to teach people about how to really make significant revenue?

[Eric Michael]

So this is where I'm gonna start to sell in karmozi. I mean, so I did it from 2015 to 2020 full time. That's how I paid for school and when. It was actually my business partner's idea. His name is John. It was his idea to start major league profits. It's the program where we Company where we teach people to do it. And there was no confidence. It's just, I've done this for five years. I know exactly how to do it. Like, there is no. I had confidence. I didn't. Like, this is what I do. It's as simple as, like, walking. Like, I do it. This is what I do. So there was no, like, confidence. It was just, I know exact. I know exactly what needs to be done. That's it.

[Sam]

So, yeah, I mean, like, you. You got it down to a science because I'm part of the program, you know, which rookies to buy. You got it all. Like, hey, buy you got. You. You got it down to the player, how much the player is worth. Where do you drive those analytics? Like, how do you get those analytics? Like, you're like, buy Bonix, buy this guy, buy that guy. And I'm over here thinking, I'm a buy Kobe, I'm a buy LeBron.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah. So, well, what I would say was, so with sports cards, so, you know, you could go out there and buy like a Mickey Mount or a Kobe card. Rookie and just sit on it, it'll probably go up in value. Right. But that's not what I teach. I teach people how to, like, make a consistent income every month. And the way to do that. It's usually a bit easier to do that with modern cards players. So, like, you know, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nicks, these guys who are a little bit newer. So there's a few different ways we do it. So one of the main ways we do it, we actually have a sheet in one of our programs. So it's a custom software we developed using AI that pulls data from ebay, puts it on this sheet and just shows us the best card purchases right now of cards to buy and grade. So we use software. Some of it comes from intuition. So, like inside the program, Right. There's videos that kind of lay the foundation of me taking everybody step by step. So, like, just from those videos, you can kind of gain a grasp of, like, who you should be buying right now. But also we actually have an AI software that just pulls data from ebay every single day and just tells you what are the best cards to buy.

[Sam]

Wow. You know, for me, I. And I got it today. I was chasing a Hulk Hogan. You know, I got the Hulk Hogan. It was a reprint rookie card with a pit.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

I actually got a Beckett Auto certified. Like, I bought it today. I really just wanted to get one off of.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

Because he passed away and I'm a big fan. But. But like, those are the cards that come to mind like, that. I. I feel like I chase. Like I'm not a professional sports cards buyer, you know, like people. And I just saw that you pivoted to. To now add Pokemon.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

Which. I'm 44 or 43. I'm going to be 44. And I have four kids. And I feel like for me, like, Pokemon is a way for me to relate to all my kids. My older kids are into sports, but my younger kids are into Pokemon. And the amount of demand I've seen in Pokemon is like 10x. It's crazy what I've seen in sports cards.

[Eric Michael]

Crazy.

[Sam]

And the amount that those cards go for is like millions. You know, you'll see a little like, Poncho Pikachu card.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

Like $20,000. You're like, how is this happening?

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

And a little kid buying it.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

Pokemon. So I am no expert in Pokemon. The only thing I know about Pokemon is how to flip those cards and make money. I can't tell you the history of it that much. I can't tell you when certain cards came out, I just know how to, like, buy these cards, get them graded, flip them, and make money. But yeah, Pokemon is insane. It is. So I actually started telling people, even students in my program, that 20% of your money should at least be going to Pokemon. Those cards are super liquid. There's a lot of money to be made with that stuff. And yeah, it's just, how do you.

[Sam]

Just know how to flip them and make money? How's that?

[Eric Michael]

So I have a whole process for Pokemon cards. It's actually, we use software as well that tells us what are the most popular Pokemon cards selling right now? So in the past 30 days, what Pokemon cards have the highest volume of sales, which ones have the highest margin with grading them, and which ones are the easiest to grade? So those are kind of the metrics we go off of for buying Pokemon cards. And a lot of people don't like the grade Pokemon cards. Why people don't like the grade cards in general, because grading cards is kind of a skill, and a lot of people have a bad experience with it because they just don't know what they're doing. Right. It's like you have to know how to look at a card. The corners, the edges, the centering, the surface. So most people send cards to grading. Once they try it, it fails. They get a bunch of PSA 8s and PSA 9s and they stop. So, yeah, most people don't grade cards. Be a Pokemon's a huge needle mover. While why the market's exploding, I don't know. There was like a Pikachu movie that came out a year ago. I could tell you that. But just like sports cards just gaining a lot of popularity.

[Sam]

It's been popular for a long time, but the amount of demand I'm seeing is like, unreal. Yeah, unreal. So what? Like, so you got into cards because of your. Your friend from high school.

[Eric Michael]

Friend from high school.

[Sam]

And then at what point did you realize, like, you need to convert your whole business to this, to teaching. To teaching.

[Kavi]

Okay.

[Sam]

And to going all in on sports cars? Like, that's a big venture. Like, nobody's doing what you're doing.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, a few people have tried, but it's very difficult what we do. It might look easy on the surface, but all the marketing and sales that go on behind that, behind the scenes.

[Sam]

Actually, everybody in sports cards knows who you are.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, well, we run a lot of ads, so people see my face, and I see people all the time at card shows just staring at me like, I Think I've seen that guy. But so basically what happened is, so I went to Rutgers University, which is a school in New Jersey, and I was going to my last year of college and I decided to get an internship. So I was studying finance and statistics. Let me see what my internship or my school degree could do for me. So I got an internship going to my last year. It was some corporate finance internship. And I lasted five days. I hated it. With a passion. I quit and I was making like, maybe like five grand a month from sports cards. And I told myself, wow, I have to make more money by the time I graduate in a year because I could not get a corporate job. I hate this shit. So I started researching online how to make more money, right? I tried the whole Amazon thing. Failed. Then I got into drop shipping and lost all my money. I saved up $50,000 from buying and selling sports cards. Lost it all. I had a supplier in China that screwed me over, but I kept just chugging along. And my business partner and I, he was my old ex housemate in college. We decided to move to Miami to just lock ourselves in a room and try and figure it out. And he said to me it was actually his idea. He commented on a Gary Vee tweet when the pandemic started saying, like, hey, do you want to learn how to make money with sports cards? And he got like 20 replies saying, where can I learn how to make money? And he showed me. We launched some ads. The business went viral right away. Then we lost all the money. And it took us about three and a half years to start to turn a profit after that first month. But it actually was triggered from working in corporate America for five days. And I hated sitting in a cubicle. I wanted to. I would have rather. I would have rather sat and lived under a bridge than worked in corporate America.

[Sam]

But now you are corporate America.

[Eric Michael]

Now we are corporate. It's different because I'm the top. So I get to tell people what to do and I get to show up when I want. Yeah, yeah. It's funny how it's full circle right now. We have an office and we've very structured schedule and sales team. But it's different because the actions I put in, like, more effort equals more money and more results, right? Corporate America, that's not really.

[Sam]

That's, that is. That's corporate America. More effort, more money, more results.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, but someone's kind of controlling your income. It's just different. Also, it's my baby, right? It's just different. But yeah, it's funny how things come full.

[Sam]

So created corporate America.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, yeah, I am. I'm a product of it, unfortunately.

[Sam]

Created what you didn't want, but you're like, I'm doing it different. I'm making it fun. Because four scars are fun.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, that's true. Our all of our employees have a great time. They're all, you know, we have a great culture and we play sports together and do all sorts of fun stuff.

[Sam]

Did you realize that what you're doing actually has a massive impact on children? Like, because I talk. I told you about this. Like, you're here because me and my son bonded over sports cards and we joined the program because that's a way a lot of parents are connecting to their kids right now. And you saw that Nationals, you're like, how are these little kids walking around? It's a hundred thousand dollars.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah. I would never give my kid 100 grand, but I realized that actually pretty early on in major league profits because our sales team would take a lot of calls and a lot of people in our market are like 40, 50, 60 year old guys in corporate America. And like, man, like 25% of the people would mention about how they're doing it with their kid, doing with their young son. They want to show their son entrepreneurship. So I actually realized it pretty quickly early on. It's not something I realized would happen because, like my dad and I didn't bond over sports cards. The way I got introduced was through a friend. But now, yeah, now it's very. Now I realize that it's very common.

[Sam]

How are you curating content for that? I mean, like, you're like child friendly, but like, there's kids, A lot of kids are contacting you.

[Eric Michael]

Well, I try not to curse number one in my content, but so our program is not cheap, but it just kind of. It's like a byproduct. Right. So we're in business to make money, obviously. And that's why our market, if you ever see our ads, we target people in corporate America like white collar professionals, busy professionals. And it's just a byproduct of like a lot of them have kids that are young and they want to bond with their kids. Right. You know, I'm sure I don't have any kids, but I'm sure when you're a dad and your kid turns 12, 13, 14, 15, the bonding becomes less and less.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

And sports cards, the way to connect it and show your kid entrepreneurship as well. Because I think a lot of people are realizing, wait, A Second College is $100,000, and it may not be worth it. So let me show my kids something about the real world. So I think it's just a byproduct.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

Of our.

[Sam]

That's what I, you know, for me, like, I'm like, this is a way for me to hang out my kid and show them real business.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

And the. And the analytics behind sports cars are the exact same. The charts are the same as a stock chart or as a crypto.

[Eric Michael]

Very similar.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

They're the same. If you market movers.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Which is like you told me, you know, to become a member there, it's like 10 bucks a month. Those. Those graphs are the same as any stock charts.

[Eric Michael]

Great product. Great product.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

Mark. Yes. It's very similar. It's very. Except it adds an element of sports, which makes it fun.

[Sam]

Well, yeah. So a child could read that because he understands that the players out sick and the players hurt.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

And the players, you know, got arrested and then the players got four touchdowns that game. And.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

Those numbers make sense. But, like, when you look at a stock chart, it looks like baloney. You're like, what is going on? I don't understand any of this. You know, so it allows the kids to interpret and, you know, statistics easily because it's relatable to them. They understand everything.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

You're 100.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

You're 100.

[Sam]

Right.

[Eric Michael]

It's a. Yeah. I wish I could say, like, my goal was to bond fathers and their kids, but it really wasn't. My goal was to, one, not work for corporate. But then, two, I realized the way to do that is to teach people what I know. And three, then I realized, wait a second. The people that have the money to pay me are people that have corporate jobs and the ones that have the most interest and they have kids. And the byproduct of it all was they have kids. And now the. The program and the coaches, we're all very well aware that like a quarter of the people in the program work with their kids as well. So we include the kids in the Discord chats with the coaches in the Facebook group. We let the kids in for free. So now we're very aware of it and we try to curate it because, like, one, it's the right thing to do. Two, it's the reason people join. And hey, three, maybe these kids 20 years down the line will join the program with their kids or something. I don't know. Right.

[Sam]

That is going to happen.

[Kavi]

So, yeah.

[Sam]

That is. I wonder if you could like, you would probably drive more business if you just like the message was like father, son or if you ran special, special specials on Father's Day or whatever.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, we, yeah we.

[Sam]

Good thing you got your CMO here.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, that's what I was about to say. We, we run a lot of ads with like saying something along the lines of like, hey, like you have a mortgage and you have kids and you're busy, well, here's a nice fun side income for you. So we try to craft the messaging towards those people that, that are like 40, 50 years old with kids and like been going to college and work at a desk job. Those are our best customers because like one, they have the money. Two, they have the time because they're sitting in front of a computer all day for work. So in their downtime they can go online on ebay and buy cards. So we really try to target people who work from computers in corporate America. They're our best clients usually.

[Sam]

Are there any competitors in your space like I haven't ever heard of?

[Eric Michael]

No, it would be, we've had like one or two people like try to copy what we do. But it is so like I take this from my own experience, like my whole twenties, all I did, all we did was lock ourselves in a room and just cared about growing this business.

[Sam]

That's it.

[Eric Michael]

And it took. I started digital marketing in September of 2019 and I didn't turn a profit until January of 24. All day, every day, that's all I did.

[Sam]

All in. You know what, I don't even think you could get a competitor right now. Because what you've done different than what anyone's done is you've built a massive brand.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

And we have like 500 reviews on Trustpilot that are five star. So it'd be very difficult to compete. But like the marketing, the sales that goes behind the ads and behind what we do is very complex to make this business work. Cuz like it's a very unique thing. Like a lot of these people that buy from us, they haven't invested in masterminds or coaching before. They've never purchased something online before. So it's very unique the way we go about selling and marketing this thing that would be very almost impossible to replicate. So people have tried but they just fail right away and stop. And I don't blame them. I wouldn't get it like what I do. And I'm not just saying this so people don't do it. I don't care if people copy me There's a lot of people in this world don't do what I do. It's very difficult. It's nearly impossible. There's so many other easier ways to make money than doing, you know, what I do. It's. It's hard. But like, once we crack the code, things exploded.

[Sam]

Yeah, you crack the code, but you're so consistent. Like, I'll get text messages from you at 6:00pm you know, you send your mass text, hey, I'm about to go live. You went live yesterday. You know, you're always going live. You're going live all the time.

[Eric Michael]

We don't skip a beat. We're very consistent.

[Sam]

You're very consistent. Like, it's unreal how often you're going live. You're doing your shows and, and then your. Your coaching calls. It's. It's like regimented.

[Kavi]

Yep.

[Sam]

And that's very hard to.

[Eric Michael]

We. We run out. So one of the secrets as to why it's very difficult to replicate what we do. So, like, people just see like the ads and everything behind the scenes, but we have an actual physical office in Tampa. And like, we have a great culture, we have a lot of fun, but we run it like military. It's very regimented. Like, we have exact copy and paste scripts. Like, nobody deviates from this script. Like, we have, like, when you work for us, like a lot of people in the world of remote sales, you know, they are high ticket sales. Right. Picture themselves working from a beach or like Aruba. We don't do that shit. Like, you are working nine hours a day from 10 to 7 of the sales team's hours. And like, they are on it. So we're very regimented and also part of what helps. So I live with my buddy, who's our cmo, who's over there behind the camera, and John, who's my business partner. We're all best of friends and we live together and we run the business together. So, like, that energy, it's like a nonstop mastermind. Doing all this stuff yourself. I don't know how people do it. It's hard.

[Sam]

It's community and collaboration. Like, you live with your community and you collaborate with like your best friends in your community. All day long, you're over here just masterminding, figuring out best practices, how to market, how to get to the next level. I'm a big believer in the power of community and collaboration.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, yeah, we, we take it very extreme. Like, so, like, you know, we'll like, work out in the morning, work all day. Maybe I'LL play tennis after or something. And at night, while we're eating before bed, we'll watch a hermosi video and brainstorm. And so Kavi runs all of our marketing. The one behind the camera, but we take it so seriously. Where we just purchased a house, and part of the reason we bought this house is, one, just more space. But two, we have a setter who's gonna eventually lead our sales team, and he's one of our good friends as well. He's my business partner, is, like, cousin's friend. So he's like. We're all, like, into sports. We gamble. Like, we're very similar people, all of us. And now he's living with us for free, so we could train him just like we did with Kavi. Like, Kavi, who's our cmo, he's lived with us for, like, a year now. And we do it. One, it's just a more fun way to live life. But two, doing things in person, you just. It's just that rapid fire.

[Sam]

That's how we're not the zoom culture that we.

[Eric Michael]

I hate that shit. I hate the zoom culture, man. I can't do it. I like it.

[Sam]

Personal home, zoom culture. Like, we were. We never really believed in that. Yeah. Like, the production just plummets.

[Eric Michael]

The production is just so bad. And I can't blame people. Dude, if I was working from home, I'd want to take a quick nap, go outside, walk my dog. But I could just tell you from personal experience, so our appointment setters, the people that, you know, call the leads to set them up for calls when they were remote, they were working, on average, about two to three hours a day. We try to monitor it. We try to push them. Impossible. But in the office, eight hours a day. Right. For the same ad spend, you're getting double the production.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

It's huge, right?

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

So, yeah, in person, big part of our culture.

[Sam]

Let me ask you, what were some of the biggest doubts that you faced when you started your business?

[Eric Michael]

Which one? Flipping cards or the teaching when you.

[Sam]

Started the whole business? The whole. Not. Not the flipping. When you started, like, a major league.

[Eric Michael]

Major league profits.

[Sam]

Okay, so I don't want to talk about your high school career.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, I was gonna say so. Teaching people how to make money with cards. So me personally, like, you know, you get a lot of people. This is gonna sound cocky and kind of terrible, but you get a lot of people that say, like, oh, like, I never imagined, like, I would succeed and make money. Like, I knew my brain was Wired a little funny. From the beginning I knew I would make something work eventually. I never had doubts in my mind. People like my mom and not really my dad, more my mom thought I was insane. She was like, go get a job. Like she used to think what I was doing was just off the wall.

[Sam]

No one can understand sports. Moms for sure do not understand sports cards.

[Eric Michael]

But she saw me make money with sports cards originally. So she, she had some doubts, but not a ton. That was the first people. The second people were the people in the sports card world. So you know, love them, have done a lot of deals with them. But people in this world of sports cards, sports cards like their baby, it's like their passion. So they're very sensitive about it. When we first started running ads and like posting content I got so I know everyone gets hate. I got so much hate, like it would be unbelievable. It would be unfathomable to see the amount of comments of people just shitting on me. So there's that number two. But like once again I didn't care because that's not my market. My market of the people not in sports cards yet. Right. And then number three is just the average everyday Joe. But what's funny is those hate comments have, you know, they never diminish but like there's just barely any of them now or very few because it's, it's very, you can't argue against all the reviews we have and testimonials because it's not really a product of me. Like sure I'm a decent teacher but sports cards is just like a, it's a relatively easy ish way to make money. It's not, I'm not teaching rocket science. But those are the doubt, those are the haters. But honestly I never had many doubts.

[Sam]

So you never hit a wall mentally or emotionally during the process? Just been like go mo believe it.

[Eric Michael]

At 120% because it, it all draws back to me working in corporate America. That feeling of hatred I had for it has just sparked a fire under my ass for the past seven years or whatever. I never had, you know, I have like Friday nights where I like burnout and I'll go to bed at 7pm or 8pm but I never had a, I've never had a, you know, season of doubt or like, you know, we've had seasons where we've lost money. We lost half a million dollars in cash and a four month period two years ago. But even then I was just in full throttle every single day. My brain's always been wired a little.

[Sam]

Tricky, you know, that's how every successful entrepreneur is, by the way. They're all wired different.

[Kavi]

Yep, yep.

[Sam]

What's it like being in the spotlight of the sports card world right now? Like, you're the guy for coaching globally, probably globally. I would say definitely nationally. Like in the mortgage, sports cars, which is one of the most emerging businesses on the planet. And every eyeballs, eBay, live, whatnot, live, Tick tock live. What other else is like Facebook Live, Facebook Marketplace.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

It's like the most unreal thing. It's exciting, but you're like, you're at the epicenter of it. You're, you are the face for coaching all these people. What's that feel like?

[Eric Michael]

So it's funny. So I actually get this from Hermosi as well, what I'm about to say. Even though he doesn't, he doesn't say this as much. But if I had a choice to like. So actually, like it's sports card shows or like in public, people going up to me, I'm not a big fan of it. Like, hey, if you're watching this and you want and you see me in public, come up to me. I'm super friendly, like, do it. But like, I don't like being stopped in my tracks. If I could choose that, the stuff on social media, I do, to stay on social media and not translate into real life, I would. But at the same time, once heard Hermosi say this when he was like debating whether or not he should go into content and all this stuff. If that's the price you have to pay, people going up to you in public or people going up to you at card shows to make an impact, that's a, that's a cheap price to pay. But, yeah, I love it. I mean, a lot of kids come up to me saying that, you know, they watch you, they watch me, they flipped cards. They've been able to make money. The best ones are, you know, the people that come up to me saying my free content has actually made them a profit. That's affected.

[Sam]

You're a celebrity to kids, by the way.

[Eric Michael]

The kids like me, the kids like me. Even though they don't buy from us, but they do love the free content.

[Sam]

Yeah. My kid doesn't know many celebrities. He thinks you're a celebrity. And I like my personal kid.

[Eric Michael]

I wouldn't, I wouldn't call me a celebrity, to be honest.

[Sam]

You know, for kids. YouTubers.

[Eric Michael]

Kids. Yeah.

[Sam]

Social media influencer.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, YouTubers. Being a YouTuber is the new, like, thing. Right?

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

Want to do that. But, yeah, the biggest thing I get from it is when kids or anyone come up to me and say, like, I've been able to make XYZ profit because I watch you on YouTube, which is great. Yeah, Right. Sports cards changed my life. And, you know, I like it.

[Sam]

You're a kid yourself, but you just don't realize how much responsibility you have.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, that's. Yeah, I do act like, yes, you're right.

[Sam]

You're like a voice to the youth. Like, it's crazy. So just keep that in mind. Like, man, you got a powerful voice.

[Eric Michael]

Thank you.

[Sam]

I appreciate you. A powerful voice. So, you know, it's. It's good. God blesses those who have those voices and use it for good. You know, it's like, yeah, so keep that.

[Eric Michael]

I try. And I don't. I don't sugarcoat it either. If you ever watch my podcast, like, I do all this stuff to drive traffic to my program so people buy from me. But in like, a byproduct of that as well is I'm able to change people's lives for free. So it's like, it's like a win win. Like, the more free, valuable content I give out there, like, I do it for my business. Like, if I could stay in the shadows, I would, but it's just not part of the game.

[Sam]

There's no way.

[Eric Michael]

Yes.

[Sam]

There's no way for you to be in the shadows.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah. It's not the game I'm in, so.

[Sam]

Because the way your business is going to be built is by building your.

[Eric Michael]

Brand, and that's exactly what we're doing. So our, like, we want to piggyback off of the Eric Michael brand to, like, launch future businesses in the collectible world, like, teaching people how to flip coins and stamps and vintage video games and sports cards, which we already do. So. Yeah, it'll only get bigger and bigger.

[Sam]

But you get a Netflix show one day like Golden Did.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, that'd be cool.

[Sam]

That'd be pretty cool. You met with Meltzer, who's in that space is like, you're here. It allowed you to get here. You know, more opportunities are just. It's just gonna keep compounding.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

Hopefully it does. Hopefully it does. It's a win win for everybody.

[Sam]

Yeah. So what do you think? Your what. What's your why in all this? Like, what do you think is what's keeping you grounded? And what's your why?

[Eric Michael]

My why? So my why in the beginning was make enough money so I could just Get Chipotle and pay for rent comfortably. That's what I always tell people. Like if you could get Chipotle and pay your rent comfortably, you got nothing to worry about. So I'm actually not like a big like I've done well financially, but I'm not a big like buy a fricking Lamborghini or buy like this, you know, Gucci shirt or whatever. My. Why? I like the game. I like the game. I, you know, it's just like I'm very competitive. I like sports and I think I could, I think I could grow what I'm doing into a billion dollar play and I'll never sell it. You could, someone could offer me, you know, a quarter billion dollars, I would have no problem saying no.

[Sam]

I mean I wouldn't be surprised if you start getting offers pretty soon from like.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, I get emails from, you know, private equity firms. A decent amount, but I'll never sell it. There's no amount you could offer me because someone offers me 100.

[Sam]

If TikTok shop told you to be the face of, you know, coaching people to flip cars, probably. What? You know, they got pretty deep pockets.

[Eric Michael]

Yeah, well, do I have to sell my business to do do that?

[Sam]

I mean, well, they would probably white label it under tick. I don't know how you do that.

[Eric Michael]

I would never, I'm not, I'm not motivated by money.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Eric Michael]

Like Tick Tock could offer me $200 million and I'd say no, which is way more money than I have at the moment. But I'm not motivated by it. I'm motivated by building something huge, which then in turns actually ends up being more money.

[Sam]

But yeah, I mean now with all these players whatnot and ebay and all these big cork Tick Tock and Facebook all doing this kind of coming into this space, it's like the world's your oyster.

[Kavi]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sam]

So don't.

[Eric Michael]

There'll be offers. Oh, there will be some big offers I'm sure in the future where we found a way to make it pretty profitable. But you know, obviously things could change in the future. But as of what stands right now, I will never sell. I'm gonna build major league profits into like this huge like collectible siding come university type of deal.

[Sam]

Yeah. And I love to see that. It's so fun. Yeah, it's so fun. It's exciting. The calls, you know, Although there are people all over the country just kind of like. But their educational. The kids will sit on a zoom call with a bunch of adults.

[Eric Michael]

It's Crazy. Yeah, it's funny.

[Sam]

It's crazy. So I got a couple last questions for you before we wrap up here. What's a personal goal that you have for yourself and a goal that you have from mlp? I know you like, I know you want to make it like a conglomerate.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

What's a major goal that you have for yourself and for the company?

[Eric Michael]

Man, this is gonna sound funny coming from an entrepreneur, but I don't do goals. Like, I just go, maybe I should. But I just challenge myself every day to do the best I could. As corny as that sounds like I've accomplished everything I could ever want. Like, I live in the place of my dreams. I, you know, I'm able to do what I love every single day. I have an amazing girlfriend, I'm around amazing people. So, like, my life can't get much better personally. Like, I do, like I love my life every single day. And for mlp, I don't know, I don't have a goal. It's just help as many people as I could. But helping as many people as I could and then turns into a lot of money. So, you know, I guess my goal would be turn major league profits and so kind of what I said, like becoming Sidingham University. Like coins and vintage video games and comic books and learning how to make money with all those all under major league profits. So it's like the place to learn collectible stuff. Maybe one day have like a college type of feel. Like an actual campus. Like, you know, like University of Tampa where I'm from. Like they have an actual physical campus. Maybe that'd be cool, turning into like an actual college for collectibles. Maybe something like that.

[Sam]

That'd be cool. You gotta have, you, you gotta dream big.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

You know, it's one Jim Collins always says you just have to have a big hairy, audacious goal. Something that you can't hit.

[Kavi]

Yeah.

[Sam]

That you want to achieve.

[Eric Michael]

This is true. I mean, my big audacious goal was just make enough money working for myself so I don't have to get a job after that. Everything else is house money. That's kind of.

[Sam]

And you're not stopping, bro. You're still in your 20s, you're grinding.

[Eric Michael]

There's no stop.

[Sam]

I like to ask this question, everybody, when you're in front of the pearly gates, what do you think God's going to tell you?

[Eric Michael]

Oh, what is he going to tell me? It's a good question. That's a deep question.

[Sam]

It is.

[Eric Michael]

I think he would tell me you maximized your potential and everyone has different levels of potential, but you maximize your potential and you were able to help as many people as you could, which is a good way to live. You know, you want to live life with regrets at the end, and so many people will. But I think he'll say you came close or almost to it of pushing yourself to your potential.

[Sam]

Love it. Eric, you've been an awesome guest to have on the show. Look forward to having you back. People want to connect with you. How do they find you?

[Eric Michael]

Just go to my YouTube Eric Michaels show or Eric Michael or Eric Michael MLP on Instagram.

[Kavi]

One of those.

[Eric Michael]

Hit me up with a message if you're curious.

[Sam]

Dude, I'm sure they're all going to be getting your ads right now.

[Eric Michael]

I'm sure they will. I'm sure they will.

[Sam]

Hey, thanks. Thanks for tuning in, guys. Eric, Michael, if you're interested in making money in the sports card industry or just educating your kids how to make money and become young entrepreneurs, you need to check him out. Thanks for tuning in, guys. Sam.