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Digital Social Hour
From Oakland Cop to Multi-Millionaire: Paul Alex’s Turning Point | DSH #1766
00:57:44
Paul Alex went from Oakland law enforcement to building a multi-million dollar business — and this episode explains exactly how it happened. He breaks down the reality of working in a high-intensity environment, what it taught him about discipline and identity, and how one turning point forced him to rebuild his life from the ground up. From there, he discovered a new path: simple offers, consistent content, and building a community that actually converts. Paul also shares how a single phone call turned into his “aha moment,” how networking in online communities changed everything, and why most people stay stuck because they overcomplicate business instead of solving real problems. If you’re trying to level up in 2025, this episode is a blueprint for imperfect action, resilience, and momentum. What You’ll Learn 💥 How to build confidence through real reps and results 🧠 Why identity can trap you — and how to detach from it 📉 How one setback can become a reset that upgrades you...
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- [00:00]
A
When I first started the job, there would be people like, well, you're only one person. You're not going to make a difference. Dude, I'll tell you something right now. I put in so much work, within my first six months on the street, I arrested 280 felons, bro. I took hundreds of guns off the street. I confiscated millions of dollars in drugs and proceeds and money, dude. I've arrested some bad, bad people. And I say it proudly, dude. I do. Because at the end of the day, these people need to be in jail. They need to be in a cage, bro, and treated like animals, like, the way they are, and people don't see that.
- [00:37]
B
Okay, guys, got Paul Alex here today. He's in town for ufc. You throw some money on the fights tomorrow?
- [00:42]
A
Dude, I used to throw money on boxing all the time. I don't do it anymore just because I don't. You watch UFC as often as I do with, like, traditional boxing. Yeah, but I do got some of the homies right here. Like, they're going to drop some money.
- [00:53]
B
Make a night out of it. Oh, yeah.
- [00:54]
A
Make some more fun. Yeah.
- [00:56]
B
I went to the Canelo fight a couple weeks ago in Vegas.
- [00:58]
A
How was it?
- [00:59]
B
I didn't like it, dude.
- [01:00]
A
It was a shocker. I didn't think he was going to lose.
- [01:02]
B
Yeah, I wasn't, like, impressed with the actual fight, to be honest. But it was good networking.
- [01:05]
A
Yeah.
- [01:06]
B
I was on the floor like Draymond Green was there, James Harden. It was cool.
- [01:09]
A
Nice.
- [01:09]
B
You know, I go to events like that partially for fun, but also to meet people.
- [01:13]
A
Yeah. I mean, is that saying your network is your net worth? Right? Yeah, yeah.
- [01:17]
B
But the actual fight, I mean, my buddy put like 20k on Canelo. He. He had a rough night.
- [01:22]
A
Of course he did, dude. I mean, last minute, I heard a lot of, like, you know, the people that had the inside information, they were switching.
- [01:28]
B
It makes me think about boxing in a different way now.
- [01:30]
A
Well, when you think about it, dude, I mean, it could be manipulated just like anything else, right? I remember the first Triple G versus Canelo fight. I actually put, like, fifteen hundred dollars down. This was years ago, bro, when they first fought, and it was actually a badass experience. Right? But I remember that at the very end, the. The judges, it came out that it was, like, sort of rigged. So this is the first time, dude, that I actually went ahead and asked for a refund. Like, I mailed my ticket to, like, the casino, and I actually got. I got my money back. Yeah, I was shocked. I was just like, well, it worked.
- [01:59]
B
So they proved the judges rigged there, huh?
- [02:01]
A
Yeah.
- [02:02]
B
Yeah, that definitely still happens. Because we're humans, right?
- [02:04]
A
Yeah.
- [02:04]
B
Little money talks.
- [02:05]
A
Of course.
- [02:06]
B
Especially these judges. I'm just assuming they don't make the most, like, not. They're judging that.
- [02:10]
A
Yeah.
- [02:10]
B
So if they get offered, like, yo, throw this a little bit for 100k or whatever and.
- [02:14]
A
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. No, dude.
- [02:16]
B
I mean, even the Canelo scoring was weird.
- [02:18]
A
Yeah.
- [02:19]
B
You see the scoring?
- [02:19]
A
No.
- [02:20]
B
Some of the judges had it like tied late into the fight, even though the other guy, Terrence, was clearly winning.
- [02:26]
A
Oh, really?
- [02:27]
B
So it probably still happens.
- [02:29]
A
No, Yeah, I can imagine, man. I mean, at the end of the day, money talks and it goes throughout all sporting events. I mean, even now, I mean, it came out with like Jake Paul and like what? He got a tank, you know, and the only reason why tank's fighting Jake Paul, I mean, look at the body size, bro. It's completely night in day. But the reason why they're doing is because of money. Yeah.
- [02:48]
B
It's an exhibition fight.
- [02:49]
A
It's all money, dude. That's what it comes down to, right?
- [02:51]
B
Yeah, 100%. So you got the. For people that don't know, you got the number one show on Apple podcast.
- [02:56]
A
Right now for self help and entrepreneurship. I do.
- [02:59]
B
And I think in all categories, you're up there too.
- [03:01]
A
All categories. I was. And this is not to say that, you know, I think any way of the situation that happened, but like the week that the whole Charlie Kirk thing happened, like, my radius just plummeted because all of the more conservative podcasts, like, took place. Yeah.
- [03:17]
B
And it's just normal 45. And then that happened. I'm like 140 now or something.
- [03:21]
A
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think I'm probably around like the 50s or something in all categories. But as far as this, like entrepreneurship, I mean, it's no secret, dude. I'm very open book when it comes to like, what I do. We were able to launch the podcast within two years, dude. It's called the level of podcast. And I'm big on like self help and just mindset and just, you know, coming through the mud and just making some something out of yourself. Because, you know, I don't come from anything, dude. I come from an immigrant family. I come from blue collar, hard working, dude. I was in corporate sales. I was in a cop in Oakland, one of the worst cities in America. And now full time entrepreneur and dude, you know, full time entrepreneurship, it's no freaking joke.
- [04:00]
B
No.
- [04:01]
A
Yeah, it's like there's some days where you're just like, you're contemplating, you're just sitting there drinking your coffee. You're like, what the did I get into? But at the end of the day, I love this. It's addicting. It is, it is. It is super addicting. Especially when you figure out what works for you. Yeah, right? Then you're like, well, I could do it over and over again. It's not a problem. I'll never run out of money. But when it comes down to it, I think the secret sauce that I found out for myself and what works for my podcast is just simple three to five minute length. I know in 2025 there's a lot of short clips. Now you see a lot of content creators going out there and giving sort of like motivational speeches, and it goes viral throughout social media. So I think the same concept that I had started two years ago, people were just downloading, dude, like 5, 10, 20 episodes at a sitting, right? Because they're just very short content creations that they could absorb and it motivates them. Right? So I didn't really go into interviewing people on my podcast because I just didn't want to do at the end of the day. I mean, it wasn't more about, like, going ahead and, and doing it. It was just more of time because I wasn't treating it like my, my main source of income. I was just like, dude, I want to do it as a passion project and I just want to figure it out. I still people. I always tell people like, I'm green, dude. I'm the type of dude that just takes in perfect action. So when we started going up the, the, the ranks on Apple, then my engineer was just like, hey, dude, we should start interviewing people. And I was just like, all right, but I'm gonna start interviewing people that I like. Yeah, right.
- [05:31]
B
That's how I started to.
- [05:32]
A
Yeah, dude. With friends and, well, the conversations are just. It flows better, dude, especially when you like them and you're interested in what they have to talk about, you know? And, dude, we get bombarded on a daily basis with, like, people that just, you know, I get it, they're well established. But at the end of the day, money doesn't impress me. It doesn't impress most people nowadays. Right. Just like how every 21 year old has a Lamborghini. So at the end of the day, dude, yeah, I think the secret sauce, especially if you guys are a podcaster or trying to build a podcast right now, is just make your episodes super short and make it about what you want to talk about, you know? And that's what it is. I just talk about my life experience. I talk about self motivation. I talk about what works for me in business, and that's it. Yeah, yeah.
- [06:10]
B
You stick to what you know.
- [06:11]
A
Oh, yeah, 100, dude. I never go ahead and just, like, let's say, buy a program or a course or learn information without implementing it. I'm a big believer that, like, I like to talk about my experience, and I have a lot of experience, dude. I'm not a young guy. I'm 37 years old, bro. So I always. That's why I always tell people, like, I've lived three different lives. I've did corporate sales. I've done law enforcement, which. Dude, that in itself, just doing that job, especially in that city. I had so much experience just on things that I saw, like, the average crime rate was just insane. You know, any other city in America would experience probably, like, three to five robberies in a week. Oakland was getting, like, about 20 to 30 a day. Holy. Yeah. Yeah, dude. It was. It was just, like, insane. And then everything that I did in that. In that actual, like, department, you know, if you guys don't know, like, Oakland. Oakland in general, back when I started in 2014 to all the way to 2021, dude, it was labeled the America's, like, most dangerous city for homicide. And the only reason why it didn't climb up the ranks even double or triple, because they have one of the best actual trauma hospitals, dude. Like, I'm talking about, they're like the Navy seals of doctors and nurses at Highland Hospital in Oakland. Like, they would take somebody that has, like, eight gunshot wounds. And I've there many times where they would go ahead and they know exactly what to do. Compared to any trauma hospital that you would go take the exact same victim with the gunshot wounds, and they'd be freaking out or they wouldn't know what to do.
- [07:42]
B
Yeah, they'd be dead.
- [07:43]
A
Yeah, they'd be dead, dude. And you only got seconds, right? So at the end of the day, they're just like. Just the level of experience and reps that they have. It's insane. That's right.
- [07:50]
B
You must have always been on edge.
- [07:52]
A
I was, dude. But, like, you know, I tell a lot of my friends, it's just like, it comes down to the point where, like, you get so used to it and. Because when you get so used to it, you know, you're able to go ahead and actually, like, I guess just get accustomed to it, which Is not normal. It's not normal, dude.
- [08:09]
B
Yeah.
- [08:09]
A
And I always tell people this is. They're like, how, how can you go ahead and see dead bodies? And how can you go ahead and experience just like everything that you have? And I tell people this, like, a lot of cops, I would say like a good 90% of them, they cope with PTSD in their own way, do. Whether it's drinking or whether it's having an addiction to what makes them feel good. And like, when I say addiction doesn't necessarily have to be alcohol or drugs, but it could be just be anything else that they find as an outlet, right? So at the end of the day, what I tell people, it's just like, it's not, it's not an easy job, but it's also a hard job. And you have to have the mentality, you have to want to actually do it, right? Because when I first got into it, bro, like I remember I was like 25, 26. And I was just like, dude, they pay cops six figures. And this is back like in 2012, 2013 in California, dude. And at that time inflation wasn't through the roof, right?
- [09:05]
B
That's when six figures meant something.
- [09:06]
A
Yeah, no, exactly. You make six figures, you stand up like, you know, proud on your chest.
- [09:11]
B
Your chest now it's like 100k.
- [09:12]
A
You're well, especially in California, dude. Which is sad when you think about that's nothing, dude. In Cali, it's insane. You know, I had built a pretty decent sized personal brand now online. And because of that reason, you know, I always market my experiences, what I've done in life. But there was a post that I had posted a few months ago where the, the hook was essentially, hey, you know, as a cop, I was making $250,000. It's a year, dude. I get so much hate because of that shit. Most people don't think that cops are capable of making 250, $500,000. They can. But the thing is they're sacrificing everything, bro. Like I was working 80 to 100 hour work weeks for five out of the seven years and, and I sort of messed up when I did that. But it's just when you have the opportunity and it's there, you take it, right? So I was young, I had energy. I was just like, dude, I want to go ahead and like be able to live in the best neighborhood in the Bay Area, which I did. I want to be able to buy like my dream car at that time, which I did. I was able to take care of my mother and everything. But then eventually what ended up happening is around 2019, I was working for, like, a narcotics task force for three, bro. And I was doing undercover. We were targeting just high profile narcos. So these would be people that would bring shipments. We're talking about kilos in the millions of, like, fentanyl at the time, which was huge. Heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine. And then they would ship it, and as soon as it crosses our border in Alameda county going into Oakland, then that's when we would take over, dude. We had access to small planes, tanks. Like, it was legit.
- [10:47]
B
Wow.
- [10:47]
A
Yeah, it was like a movie. And I remember me being a young detective, dude. I was just like, this is surreal. Like, I cannot believe I'm doing this shit right. But it was like, one of the best jobs I ever had because I learned so much about myself. Never thought I was an introvert until I was going ahead and running cases with, like, you know, the FBI, the dea, HSI and all that jazz, Taking down, like, these big organizations. And then transitioning in 2019 to special victims Unit, I got the opportunity to work for the FBI Task force for human trafficking. Wow. And that was pretty cool because I had, at that time, I had written, like, hundreds of search warrants successfully. I was. I was awarded, like, detective of the year. I had a bunch of accommodations, basically. Like, if a first responder is listening to this, I was a cops cop. And they know what that means. That means that, like, dude, I did it because I genuinely cared. Like, I had fulfillment. I was very passionate about it. Right. And that was my thing. That was my addiction. That's what defined me at that time, dude, being a cop. And I think for a lot of law enforcement, it's the exact same thing, but it's sort of unhealthy because you got to be able to detach from the chaos. I wasn't able to.
- [11:55]
B
Yeah, that was your identity.
- [11:56]
A
That was my identity, dude. And at that time, that's all I had. You know, I was. I was relying on it. Like, that's. That's what I did. That's what I talked about 24 7. So then in 2019, when I had transition, I was with that unit for about three months. Night and day experience, bro. You know, stay humble. And that's what I got. That's what I got to tell everybody. Stay humble. Because I went in there, chip on my shoulder, dude. I was just like, dude, no one could tell me anything. I'm the best of the Best insert me anywhere. We'll take care of business. Well, the command staff at that time in that unit, they humbled me, they basically sat me down and they were just like, hey dude, you're not going to do shit. You have to prove yourself here, right? So then I don't know what happened psychologically at that time just to be sitting down, especially when you put that amount of work, it's almost like that's when you feel at that moment and this goes to anybody that's like watching this when you feel like you're just a number, you know, just, just imagine clogging a machine, dude. Just imagine that shit. Like you, you work in a career and this go for military, first responders, health, everybody. But you work in a career where you do such a great job. Like dude, they're not paying you extra, they're not telling you to do all the extra shit. But then you are, you know, I'm, I'm working seven days out of the week, I'm packaging evidence on Sunday so I could get ready for the cases to be charged on Monday. I'm doing the extra of the etc for the department, right? Just to get the attaboy. And then for them to go ahead and like just be like, oh no, you know, we're just going to sit you down. It's so there was one night, dude, 2019, Thanksgiving, the night before Thanksgiving, I went to go drink at a salsa bar with a bunch of my ex co workers. Got blacked out drunk, got actually dropped off of my house. I slept for about five hours the next day. Dude, I always tell people this, I worked a ton of overtime, bro. Cops, we the ones that work a lot of overtime, they call themselves overtime whores. So I was an overtime whore, okay? And I remember I was groggy, but I got ready for work, dude, and I went in my undercover car and I'm going to the department in uniform. I threw on a hoodie and it was the first day of rain in 2019, Thanksgiving Day, dude. I was supposed to go work traffic control post for a turkey trot. I get into a small fender bender, dude, nice call collective. I talked to the guy, we exchanged informations. California highway patrol rolls up, they go ahead and I know the guy, I know the guy, right? And he goes, hey man, you've been drinking. I was just like, dude, I had drinks last night. I would never drink and drive intentionally, Dave. You could check me like breathalyze me straight up. And then his boy comes. So motor cops and I usually tell people Whenever you get a motor cop coming to the scene, you're really. Oh, a hundred percent. Because. Because that's their job, dude. Their job is just to do DUI and to give tickets.
- [14:52]
B
Wow.
- [14:53]
A
You know, And. And at the end of the day, it is what it is. That's their job. I wasn't mad at him.
- [14:57]
B
Yeah.
- [14:58]
A
But it was. It was a up situation, man, where basically the breathalyzed me. I was over the limit. I had too much to drink. That, that. That prior night. It can happen to anybody, right? But. But when I read the report, dude, when they had. I got arrested for this.
- [15:12]
B
Yeah.
- [15:13]
A
They tried to make me look worse than I was. They were like. His eyes were bloodshot red. He. He was. He was trying to. He was trying to hide the fact that he was intoxicated because he put a lot of cologne on. I'm like, motherfuckers, I'm Hispanic, bro. We all work. We all wear a lot of cologne. What are you talking about? Right? So. So at the end of the day, it is what it is. I'm over it. But that changed my life because I went from a guy who. Law enforcement defined me, dude. And then I basically had the option of, yo, you're about to get suspended for six months with no pay, which would have destroyed me, would have taken all my savings. I would have lost my house, all that, bro. Or God was looking out for me because I had a commander at the department, and it was 8,800-officer department. And he's just like, hey, Paul, I don't know you like that, but I heard good things. You put in good work. So I'm gonna do you a solid, let them know you have a problem. And I'm back in my head. I'm like, what are you talking about? I have a problem. And what he was. He was trying to tell me is he's like, you have alcohol problem. And I was like, do I? Like, now I'm contemplating, dude. I'm like, sitting there, I'm like, do I have a problem? Right?
- [16:24]
B
Yeah.
- [16:24]
A
And for most of us, we don't know that. We don't. We don't know that. Right? We don't know if we have a problem. So at the end of the day, dude, I sat there, I talked to one of my best friends. He came to see me, and I was just like, it, dude. I gotta go. I gotta go. I gotta go to the rehab, because otherwise I'll be destroyed. At that time, fortunately, dude, I had already established a side hustle with ATMs.
- [16:47]
B
Yeah.
- [16:48]
A
Because majority of people that follow me online, that's how they know me. They're like, oh, dude, this guy set up ATMs and it was a cop. And so I already had a little bit of cash flow coming in, about 12 to 15,000 and residuals coming in a month from that. So I was like, cool. Even though I'm not gonna work overtime, I'm still gonna be able to cover my bills and everything else while I'm in rehab. So I end up going to rehab. I call rehab a weird vacation, bro. It was actually like one of the nicest rehab centers. Even though I've never been to rehab that I've ever been to. It was like in the lodge in Napa Valley. Like mountains do.
- [17:18]
B
Wow.
- [17:19]
A
And people actually pay up to $30,000 to go to these rehab centers. Holy. Yeah, I didn't. I didn't know rehab centers were that expensive. But they feed you. You're basically tech free, but they feed you, dude. And you get to work out. But here's the messed up part. You have to go to 183Ameetings. So you have to go to like three to four AA meetings. And this is the actually very first time that made me comfortable expressing myself, bro. Expressing who I was as a person. Like, personally, like actually getting into my fields and going into trauma in my past life. And I opened up to like so many different people, dude. There was people in there. You know, you think you go to rehab and you're going to deal with a bunch of junkies and shit and like, you know, criminals and all that? No, it's actually the opposite. There's actually a lot of people that go to these specific rehabs that are multimillionaires. Wow. They're like business owners, dude. Celebrities. The one I went to, Robin Williams was when, you know, he. He was around, he. That was his choice. He would go there, dude. A ton of athletes, celebrities and all that jazz. You know, When I went to rehab, I actually was. I was partnered up with another cop from another agency. And it was the same scenario with him, dude. He went to a basketball game with his mom and he had a couple tequila shots, went over like a lane in traffic. A meter maid was just like, gave him attitude. He's like, slow your role. I'm a cop. Like, it's cool. Like, it is what it is. And then she goes, he's drunk. Like, threw him under the bus, right? Throw him under the bus. Boom. He gets popped. That's crazy, right? And. And this goes to anybody.
- [19:02]
B
DUI Scare me, Dude. Dude, you could have a beer out of dinner and you don't eat enough, bro.
- [19:07]
A
Have you ever seen the movie Shot Caller? No, bro. Watch it.
- [19:10]
B
Shot Caller.
- [19:10]
A
Yeah, watch it. It's called Shot Caller. But basically the premises of the movie, bro, is you got a real estate developer that goes ahead and he actually has a cup of wine with his best friend and the wives. So after that, he runs a red light, and in the movie, you can't really tell if it's because he had that one cup of wine or because he just wasn't paying attention. Yeah, but he runs through the red light and then it crashes the car. In the accident, his best friend dies.
- [19:39]
B
Holy.
- [19:39]
A
He gets charged for that because he had that cup of wine. Damn right. Yeah, so because he has the cup of wine. And then when it comes down to it, it's. It's one of those things, like, it makes you really think, because in rehab we watch that movie. We also watch. I don't know if you saw that movie with Denzel Washington where he rides a plane drunk.
- [20:00]
B
No, I haven't seen that one.
- [20:02]
A
I forgot what the movie is, dude. But. But the main one was Shot Caller. So this guy ends up going to prison. He goes to prison, and because he was Caucasian, he goes through the Aryan Brotherhood. They actually initiate him to go ahead and do some so in order for him to survive because he has a seven year sentence because of this one incident that. It was an accident. So then he transitions, he ends up catching a body. He ends up catching a murder case in the movie. And then he ends up spending like another 30 years.
- [20:29]
B
Holy.
- [20:29]
A
Eventually, towards the end of the movie, he loses his family, he loses his kid. He loses everything, bro. And then he ends up living that life. And I'm like, dude, I'm sitting there and I'm like, holy. Look at this. Last year, okay, I was going ahead, I was busting narcos. I was making $250,000 as a narcotics detective. I just bought my. My. My dream house in the best neighborhood in. In the Bay Area. I was taking vacations, dude. At that time, I was single. I was dating girls left to right. I was living the life.
- [20:56]
B
Yeah.
- [20:58]
A
And when I sat there in rehab, I was just like, dude, I got stripped of everything. So I was like, holy shit. I was like, I can never, ever go through this situation again.
- [21:08]
B
Yeah.
- [21:08]
A
And that's what I say. It was just extreme ownership at that time, dude. Because that's why I said, like, it really humbled me being in that situation. So I came back a different guy. I actually found out a lot about myself. Got into freaking deep depression, dude. Really got into deep depression. And now we're going into the end of 2019. We're getting into 2020. So I get spanked at the department. They said they sat me down. They basically are like, yo, you cannot drive any police car because you crashed your detective car. I was the first guy to ever do that at the department. Hey, man, it is what it is. I won awards. But then I also, you know, I want some high highs and low lows. Hey, man, if you're gonna do it, you do it, all right? But, yeah, so in April 2020, man, I go back on Facebook after not being on social media for eight years, and I get targeted by Zuckerberg. I get a book called Digital Millionaire called by Dan Henry. Ended up getting the free book. You know, you pay shipping. Yeah, all that jazz. Read it a few times. Completely changed my life. How? Well, when I read the book, you know, you got this guy who owned. He was a pizza guy. He owned a pizza. Pizza shop, and he was a bar owner. He learned how to do Facebook ads, and basically he was able to take that education of the Facebook ads, and then he was able to go and teach people online how to run Facebook ads. And this is back. He was doing that, like, in 2018. And then he wrote the book around 2020. So then he was just like, basically like, hey, look, sell your information. You don't gotta be freaking the best of the best when it comes to that niche or offer or anything else. But if you have results, people will want to get the results. Someone will. There's billions of people in this world. So then I keep reading. I'm just like, dude, this makes a lot of sense, right? So I jump on a call, you know, and that anybody who's. Who's listening to this right now, they're probably like, okay, you went on those consultation calls. So I go on a consultation call for. For his program, and I talked to one of the. The reps, and the rep says, hey, Paul, what are you good at? And I was like, dude, I'm only good at two things. I'm a cop and I run an ATM business. Well, he flats out, telling me. He goes, dude, well, no one likes cops. I mean, it's 2020, bro. You got like, BLM, you got Oscar Grant, you got all this. That happened, bro. And I'm sitting there, I'm like, bro, like. Like, I'm one of the good guys. Like, I know some Idiot it up for the rest of us. But come on, man.
- [23:41]
B
That was when Defund. The police was hot, right?
- [23:42]
A
Bro, it was bad, bro. It was bad. Like, we had to be very cautious on, like, what we drove to work, People following us to the department, Oakland. Oh, bro, it was bad. It was bad. You had people waiting for us where we were, Parker. Like, our personal vehicles, officers getting attacked. One officer, one young officer, which I feel super bad. I remember I was in the office on the radio. You just go like, hey, we need officers in the. In the parking lot. Well, some lady had pulled up as soon as he got to his door with, like, a knife and, like, literally slashed him in his face. And I was like, dude, should have blasted her. That was. That. That was like. That was your in. And it's just because the level of experience, you know, that's what happens, bro. It was just a very dangerous city. But see, we all got so immune to it, right? We all got so used to it that we were living in chaos, right? So I go ahead and I buy the program. I spent $10,000. I basically. I spent $10,000 on something I don't even know. I'm like. I'm like, digital market. Okay, cool. I'll figure it out. So I sat in the car, I put on two credit cards, and I was just like, dude, if I lose this $10,000, it's on me. Extreme ownership. That's all it came down to, man. So I call it six months of L. So six months of L, I go ahead and I learn the fundamentals, and I had a lot of time, dude. What was it? Covid was happening, so they shut down the world. Yeah, right. And this was good and bad for a lot of people. Right? Like, what were you doing during COVID.
- [25:11]
B
I was selling masks. I was doing good.
- [25:15]
A
See, that's. That's a true entrepreneur right here, man. He was selling bass. He's just like, all right, how can I make money out of this situation where a lot of people are, like, they're, like, sitting at home depressed? All right, cool. Let me sell mask. Yeah. And you probably made a few meal.
- [25:27]
B
Yeah, Yeah, I did it. 15 million in revenue.
- [25:30]
A
Yeah.
- [25:30]
B
No crazy.
- [25:31]
A
I believe it, dude.
- [25:32]
B
Cold email and cold calling.
- [25:34]
A
Yeah. See, that's.
- [25:35]
B
No warm leads. It was all just hustling. I was emailing, like, eight hours a.
- [25:39]
A
Day, and that's what I tell people. It goes back to, like, there's so much money out in this world. There's. You're never going to go ahead and run out of customers for any type of offer, majority of time. It is the mindset of the entrepreneur. You see, you could take, you could go ahead and take a situation that's messed up and you could say like, oh, why, why me? Why, why, why does have to happen to me? Why can't I never get it easy? Or you could be used to it like a true entrepreneur and be like, well, entrepreneurship is fucking hard, so I'm just going to figure it out and quit being a bitch, you know, and that, that's, that's how it is. That's how entrepreneurship is. You know, I get asked the question, hey, do you ever regret being an entrepreneur? I was like, I'll be honest with you. There's days, yes and there's days, no. You know, I live a pretty obviously decent life. I live a good life. I'm able to go ahead and take care of my family, my wife, my, my new kid coming in two months. I'm able to take care of my friends, I'm able to take trips like this whenever I want, move to an island, basically pre retire myself. But at the end of the day, dude, you know, it all comes down to purpose. You know, what fulfills you, what fills your cup, bro, you know, and, and to me, you know, I would be lying if I, I didn't tell you, dude. Even though I wasn't making, I would say one tenth of the money as a cop, you know that I do now. I was happier as a cop. Wow. Yeah, because I just, bro, I love this. Yeah. Like, I loved investigations. I love like flipping informs. I love like the action. I loved just everything, dude. It's just like the responsibility, like there's pride that goes behind serving your community and then just, you know, being a protector, bro.
- [27:12]
B
Yeah. I think because also you could see the results. So like visibly to a clap, like you see your work 100%, you know.
- [27:20]
A
And you can see the results and how it affects the community. Right. You know, a lot of people, I remember when I first started the job, there would be people like, well, you're only one person. You're not going to make a difference, dude. I'll tell you something right now. I put in so much work within my first six months on the street, I arrested 280 felons, bro. I took hundreds of guns off the street. I confiscated millions of dollars in drugs and, and proceeds and money, dude. I've arrested some bad, bad people. And I do and, and I say it proud, dude, I do. Because at the end of the day, these people need to be in jail, they need to be in a cage, bro, and treated like animals, like the way they are, you know, and people don't see that.
- [28:07]
B
Damn, that's a lot. That's almost two a day.
- [28:09]
A
Yeah. They call me a frequent flyer. I was young and ambitious, bro.
- [28:15]
B
Holy crap.
- [28:16]
A
But no, to go back to the whole entrepreneurship thing. So then I ended up going to six months of hell, dude. So at this time, it's Covid. I'm still doing my job at the pd. I'm still running my ATM business. I'm trying to figure out this new venture in the whole online space. And then I make a couple thousand dollars in November of 2020, and I'm like, okay, cool, this shit's working, right? I'm selling information, I'm getting my first couple of students, and I'm doing nothing really special. I'm not, you know, providing any type of tangible deliverables. I'm going ahead and just providing straight information. At that time, my limiting beliefs as a online entrepreneur was that a thousand dollars was a lot of money, right? And I remember I used to see ads from all these other creators, have been in the space for 10 for. For more than a decade. And then they would say, hey, you know, I currently make a hundred thousand dollars a month. So my mind went back to, you know, what I was able to do in law enforcement, what I was able to do in corporate America, which was to be. Be the best of the best, to be my top 1% of my. My group. So then I go ahead and entrepreneurship, and I'm like, well, what makes this guy so special? So then I go back, throw my detective hat back on, dude, and I'm like, yo, I do my investigation, I do my background check on these people. And, you know, you had one guy that worked in Olive Garden, you had another guy that was a pizza boy, you had another guy that, you know, sold cars. And I was just like, how were they able to transition from a minimum wage job to go ahead and become multimillionaires and figure out the code? And I was just like, dude, there's nothing special about these people. All they did was put in the work. That's all they did. They sat down every day and just stay consistent. And at that time, dude, I didn't. I had nothing else going on. So I locked my ass in the office and I fucking sat there and watched videos, created ideas. I mean, just refined different strategies to go ahead and blow up my first offer online.
- [30:16]
B
Yeah.
- [30:17]
A
So then the pivotal moment where everything just literally Skyrocketed. It went from zero to a thousand. Was in January 15th of 2021, on my mother's birthday. Okay? I had about, like, 12 clients at that time. I had made about, like, eight, probably $8,000.
- [30:37]
B
This is the ATM business.
- [30:39]
A
The ATM business. And this is selling the. The digital ATM business. So basically showing people how to start their own ATM business. And this is besides my own ATM business. Okay? So then I talked to a retired Navy gentleman from Philadelphia. I remember this phone call because it was a couple hours before my mother's dinner. And he goes. He goes, hey, Paul, look, I'm gonna be straight up with you on the call. He goes and says, I don't want to buy a course, dude. I don't need the information. What I need is a business. And I. And I'm thinking, I'm like, damn, like, what do I tell this guy? All I have is information. But see, a couple days before, I had met two vendors. And people always tell me, they're like, dude, how do you meet all these people? You know, how do you go ahead and meet, you know, people like Sean? And the secret is just DM them. Yeah, right? It's just slide in the dms. That's it. That's the secret to building my network, right? And I mean, bro. And I know a lot of people. I know a lot of people, but it all came down just to close mouths. Don't get fed. You can't be shy. Nah, Right?
- [31:46]
B
Your shot.
- [31:47]
A
You got to shoot your shot.
- [31:48]
B
I still DM like, 20 people a day.
- [31:49]
A
Why not? Because it works. Yeah, right. It works. One is going to hit, right? And that's going to open the door to someone else. And that's what I tell people. I make moves. So I go ahead and the two vendors that I had just made contacts with, I actually build a relationship with them through a Facebook group, okay? Because there was various ATM groups. And I tell people, this is the same thing with real estate. It's the same thing with even merchant services. What I'm doing now is the same thing with anything that you're looking to go ahead and actually start, all right? Join those communities. So you get a lot of information from different people around the world. So one of them was an ISO, independent sales organization, okay? They basically, for the listeners listening, they provide you with the banking network so it makes your ATMs work, okay? He also had a plug with the manufacturers for a couple of the different models of the atm. So I was like, okay, cool. If I ever need a guy who has wholesale pricing on the ATMs in the network. I could go to him. And that was my thought process. The second guy I met, it was a 22 year old guy out of Kosovo. Okay. Like I said, guys, you guys can network with people around the world. And this 22 year old, I was seeing him, he had started like a. Like a call center business. But what was happening when I was messaging him, I was like, hey, how are you collecting your funds? How are you charging? How are you invoicing people? He goes, well, dude, you know, I provide them with services and I. And I find, you know, warm deals for them, right? So they could go ahead and talk to them about installing their ATM business or their merchant services business. And I was like, okay, so how many, how many employees do you currently have right now? He goes, it was just me and my brother. I'll go, okay, so how do you get payment? And he goes, well, Western Union. So I was like, wait a minute. So you provide the service and then you expect somebody to go ahead out of good faith to pay you after? Dude, it was like 50, 50, 50. He would get screwed. Yeah, with 50 of the people. 50, 50 of the people would pay. So then I was like, okay, what if I could facilitate the invoicing for you? Because at that time I was using like stripe or whatnot. He was like, okay, that works out okay, cool, but I'm gonna upcharge you. Okay. Basically, I'm the middleman on that. So then I had all the pieces together, and this is how life works, guys. This is how entrepreneurship works. So that phone call on January 15th with that, that, that retired Navy man, instead of just saying, hey, dude, I'm gonna go ahead and show you how to build your ATM business, dude, on the spot. It was a 15 minute call. And I go ahead and say, what if I offer you the atm? He's like, the actual machine. I was like, yes, okay, what if I also provide you the network? Oh, so I don't have to go ahead and try to find my own network. I was like, no, I'll set that up for you. And then on top of that, what if I could provide you a warm blade? And he goes, dude, how much? I didn't even have a price for it because I just threw down that offer at that. At that time.
- [34:40]
B
Yeah.
- [34:41]
A
So at that time, overhead expenses was for me, for all of that was probably around like 23, 2500. This is back in 2021. I offered it for 6500. So I just made four grand. In like 15 minutes, bro. That's what usually would take me about an additional 40 to 60 hours working as a cop in Oakland, one of the most dangerous cities in the world, Right? So it sort of blew my mind. That moment was my aha moment. Because after the phone call, I called those two vendors and I actually got them on Zoom. And I still remember this shit, dude. And I go, I was like, hey, guys, just close the first deal with you guys supplying the ATM and the locations. I'm telling you right now, this will be a multi million dollar idea. I will get 30 clients next month for you guys. And you know when it's something new, let's say, and everybody has that friend that says crazy all the time, and you're just like, whatever, dude. It's another crazy idea. They were like, okay, whatever. They never thought it would grow the way it did, bro. They became, they, both of them, they became multi millionaires.
- [35:48]
B
Wow.
- [35:48]
A
Off of being my vendors, off of the connection, off of, of me meeting them in a Facebook group. How wild is that?
- [35:56]
B
Crazy.
- [35:56]
A
You got to think about that. Just think about that. You meet a random person in a Facebook group, it's a free community. All you're doing is self a conversation. They give you an opportunity, you take it. A few years later, you become a multimillionaire off of it. So that's exactly what happened. From that moment, dude, till the end of 2022, we were able to build a $25 million business.
- [36:19]
B
Wow.
- [36:20]
A
Online, dude. We went from zero employees. I think I had worked as a one man entrepreneur on that business till July of 2021. And then I hired my first guy virtually from Australia.
- [36:40]
B
Virginia.
- [36:41]
A
No, no, he was a young kid. He's actually here today, but 20 years old, a young punk wearing a hoodie into the interview and very confident. But you know, I was just like, are you. I got to teach you a couple things, right? But dude, even now, I mean, the kid's killing it, right? He's 24 years old. He'll. He'll be multimillionaire, you know, in the next year or two. But dude, it just tells you like, you guys really have an opportunity now in 2025 is not too late to go ahead and build a network that can make you multimillion no matter what niche you're in. So in, in 2022, we ended up doing that. That ends up opening up a network with my current mentors and my current business partners in merchant services. So these guys, they've been in the game for 22 years. They're out of Los Angeles, California. Robson, John, Sarabia, shout out to you guys. And the way I meet them is through that same vendor that had the network. They were at a conference here in Vegas, bro. They were at ATM conference. And my current mentor and my business partner, he goes and he shows them the Facebook group that I had created for the first company, the first digital company I had a little bit north of 110 members in there. 110,000 members.
- [37:53]
B
Holy crap.
- [37:54]
A
And we're running ads, dude, you know the game, right? So then he shows him, he's like, dude, look at this massive community. This guy is charging arm and a leg for his mentorship, but it works. He's just like, he's getting great results. And then he goes, bro, that's, that's my boy. Like, we're doing business together. So then automatically he goes, dude, I got to meet him. I got to meet him. So he, he, he makes that meet up. And this is how the world works, guys. You know, I tell people like, yeah, I bust my ass and everything, but it also takes a little bit of luck, right? Right time, right moment, right people, right? And then I have the meeting with them and they tell me, hey, dude, we think if you put that same process and strategy that you have going on right now with ATMs into merchant services, you will build another multimillion dollar eight fixed company within a couple years. So then I was like, dude, I'm, I'm already, I've already built something successful. Like, why am I going to transition now? Basically, right? Because it would go against ATMs, when you really think about it. Right now we're getting into credit card processing. I was all about, hey, cash, right? And if anything, now I tell people, it's like a double dip for them because they can go ahead and install those two machines and make double the income, right? Depending on the preference of the consumer. So then we go ahead and I tell them, okay, tell me what would be the path of least resistance for a beginner to learn credit card processing? And they go ahead and they tell me, they're like, well, check this out. He's like 99% of business owners right now. They're paying like an average of 3% across the United States. Dude, they're paying the banks, they're paying square, they're paying Clover. You know, all these massive billion dollar companies, bro. Stripe, stripe held like $700,000 from my funds.
- [39:39]
B
One time they held Stripe and PayPal have held six figures from me.
- [39:42]
A
I was always scared to use PayPal, bro. Because I was, like, smart. Yeah, Yeah. I was always scared.
- [39:47]
B
Where I have a reserve right now. Yeah, yeah. It's annoying, bro.
- [39:50]
A
Come on. You gotta own your own processing company, bro. We gotta. We'll hook you up.
- [39:55]
B
Hell, yeah.
- [39:55]
A
But so, yeah, man. So I go ahead and I asked him. I was like, dude, like. Because, you know, processing, it is a very, I guess, complex business. The average person is not going to understand it. People understand ATMs. Come on, bro. I mean, anybody can understand that, right? It's easy. So then being that I had some level of experience now in marketing and then just reading the audience now, I know you got to build the right avatar. I know you got to build the right offer. I know you got to go ahead and do your market research. So there wasn't an offer like this anywhere. And now there's a couple of people, you know, starting to generate the same offer that we've generated. But we started it a couple of years ago, and it's where we essentially team up with local entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs in every single city. And what we found out through our own, let's say, beta launch, right? Because I did my own beta launch. I went to my own account. I had the call center that I was using for ATMs to go ahead and find me locations in California. And then I would go show up, pull up on a McLaren, and be like, hey, man, how much are you guys paying for your credit card processing? I would have used the car as a hook, and they'd be like, all right, I'm going to pay attention to this guy because he pulls up in this car. And then I would tell them, what if I could wipe out 100% of your fees? And then most people, they're paying 3%, 4%, dude. There's even some people right now, if you're a current business owner and you're listening to this check, your statement guaranteed there's going to be a handful of you guys or more dozens, that you're going to be surprised. You're getting charged 8 12%. Holy. Dude. And it happens. Because here's the thing. It's all in the fine print in the contracts that people sign. But people don't read contracts. And let's say, dude, you have a successful restaurant. Mm. Let's say you have a successful liquor store. Let's say if you have a successful smoke shop, whatever it is that you have, right? Any business, dude, when you're cash flowing.
- [41:35]
B
Come on, you don't know this. 8%.
- [41:37]
A
You don't notice no 8%, bro. You're like, I got the money. You know, I'm making money, bro. So it is what it is, right? But there are, There are business owners out there that do the due diligence, and they, they're on it. Okay? But for a lot of them, we have seen that they're not on it. So when we ask them for a statement, they can't even. They don't even know where to find one. Majority of the businesses, one of the biggest pain points that we see is that they don't have an actual person they could talk to. So there's no one. Like, let's say, for example, you have the business here in Vegas. You can't just call your local rep and be like, hey, dude, come over. Let's chat. Right? I'm going to give you a referral. No. Majority of business owners, they usually get their credit card processing when they sign up for their business. Bank account, the banks, and that's it. The banker is not your. Your go to guy.
- [42:21]
B
Yeah.
- [42:22]
A
Or they sign up on the website directly. So it's, It's. It's actually very surprising. When I started this two and a half years ago where I was just like, yo, you don't got a rep. You don't even know how much you're paying. It's just like, okay, well, let me, Let me do some investigation. So when I would tell people, hey, I could save you three grand a month, I could save you eight grand a month, I could save YOU $12,000 a month. And then for some of these accounts, dude, they're saving over $100,000 in just overhead expenses. Geez, dude, they're like, bro, where do I sign up? Right? Some of them are super pissed. They would never do business with banks or these large credit card companies ever again or process ever again. And that's why I said, that's the advantage that we have right now. So we launched a similar concept to my first digital company with ATMs, but we did it now with credit card processing, which is called Cash Swipe. And with that concept is basically we partner up with local entrepreneurs in every city because what we do is we source the actual merchants and we guarantee the sourcing of the merchants. So basically, let's say that you, right now, you love what you do, dude, you're podcasting all that jazz, but you're like, paul, you know what, dude, I want to go ahead and I want to make some residual income. I want to go live in Puerto Rico with you. You maybe Next year, right? And I was like, all right, dude, well, this is going to be your path of least resistance. You team up with us, we'll find you all the locations you want in your local town. And then when they're ready to rock, when they know that they're interested, just we'll set up a time with you. I'll have one of my call center guys call you and you let us know what your schedule is for that week. We set up the appointment with you. All you got to do is just show up, dude. They already know what you're going to be offering. They already, you already know that they have a pain point. They already know that you're going to save them a ton of money. All they want to know is that you're real. That's it. Because we're in a trust era nowadays with all the BS that's going on in the online space, dude, people just don't trust people anymore. So when you go ahead and you're building these relationships, people are buying you. And that's what I tell people. People are like, well, you're not doing nothing special, Paul. You don't got to do nothing special. Business is not reinventing the wheel and being Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk, dude. Business is going ahead and getting a concept that people already know and finding a pain point. And then guess what, you fulfilling that pain point. Why the hell are you going to go ahead and try to convince people that this is a pain point when it's not? Does that make sense?
- [44:29]
B
Yeah.
- [44:30]
A
Yeah. So at the end of the day, that's why I'm a big believer in simple businesses due to traditional businesses. Right? I'm a traditional guy, dude. I'm a 37 year old guy that comes from freaking law enforcement into entrepreneurship. At the end of the day, what took me here was just imperfect action. And when I tell a lot of my clients, it's just like, look, this will work for you. Whether you say it will or you won't, you're always 100, right? Right. And it all comes back to your mindset, how you think about it, right? You don't see athletes, you don't see celebrities, you don't see the 1 percenters saying, I can't do this. Right? No, you see them with the level of confidence going ahead and saying, yeah, I can. That's how I wake up, dude. I wake up every day and say, I'm dominate Today, dude, today we're going to go ahead and make a hundred thousand dollars. Today we're going to go ahead and have a good show with Sean. Right. I'm going to go ahead and enjoy the power slap on Friday. Right. Like all that shit, bro. You got to be optimistic. You got to speak into existence, dude. And a lot of people don't. A lot of people don't. They're negative. Fucking Nancy's. I always tell the people this, you know, I had a, I had a kid ask me on my last live event in Dallas. This was last, last month. He goes and says, what did you have to give up in order to be where you're at, bro? I told him I had to get rid of everybody. How to get rid of my damn near my entire family. I had to get rid crazy exes. I had to get rid of friends that like I grew up with because they were toxic. And see, the thing is, how can you go ahead and develop yourself as the newer version of yourself if you're still hanging around same losers, right?
- [45:56]
B
Yeah.
- [45:57]
A
And even if they're not losers, they're still keeping you down, right? I, I take this saying from Ryan Stuman, since we were talking about Ryan Stuman, the force of average pro. It's the force of average trying to keep you down, man. How are you supposed to develop when you got people talking about the same shit, the same drama, the same issues? How are you supposed to go ahead and, and, and, and, and have some peace in your life? How are you supposed to go ahead and develop yourself? How are you supposed to go ahead and get that idea to go ahead and know what to do to change your life?
- [46:24]
B
Yep.
- [46:24]
A
Right. And that's what I tell people. When people tell me, hey, I don't want to invest in self education. When people tell me, hey, I don't want to go ahead and invest in a course, I was like, you're idiot, because you're doing yourself a disservice, dude. You know, I, when I tell people I invested over like $1.5 million in the past six years in my self education, I know half of the people don't believe me. I don't give a. But at the end of the day, that's what it took me to build 52 million in revenue in the past five years, dude. So at the end of the day, it's just all about return on investment.
- [46:52]
B
Absolutely.
- [46:52]
A
What are you doing to go ahead and level yourself up? See, and that, and that, and that. That's the basis of my podcast, right? Yeah, it's the level up, Right. We talk about self help, we talk about motivation, we Talk about like, hey, dude, it's deeper than just the vehicle. Most people think that, you know, I could go ahead and give the opportunity to everybody. Back in the day when ATMs first came out, the excuse that I always would hear that built my company to close to $30 million when I launched in the online space, and why people wouldn't invest, the people that didn't, they would say, it's saturated, bro. I don't want to sell to people. If I would have offered the same opportunity in the very beginning when ATMs first existed, you know what the excuse would be? It would be that, oh, well, I don't see him anywhere. It would be the exact opposite. There's always gonna be a excuse. So at the end of the day, what you tell yourself is very powerful, dude, and I'm a big believer in that. No, it's huge, bro.
- [47:49]
B
I mean, look what you did in the podcast industry. You started pretty late, but you're still one of the top shows. Shout out to today's sponsor, Quince. As the weather cools, I'm swapping, plopping in the pieces that actually gets the job done that are warm, durable, and built to last. Quinn's delivers every time with wardrobe staples that'll carry you through the season. They have fall staples that you'll actually want to wear, like the 100 Mongolian cashmere for just $60. They also got classic fit denim and real leather and wool outerwear that looks sharp and holds up. By partnering directly with ethical factories and top artisans, Quince cuts out the middleman. Still, to deliver premium quality at half the cost of similar brands. They've really become a go to across the board. You guys know how I love linen and how I've talked about it on previous episodes. I picked up some linen pants, and they feel incredible. The quality is definitely noticeable compared to other brands. Layer up this fall with pieces that feel as good as they look. Go to quint.comdsh for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. They're also available in Canada too.
- [49:00]
A
Dude. And I tell you, and I don't keep no secrets, right? My secret to the podcast is, number one, I talk about what experience I had. Number two, remember, I didn't want to go ahead and interview as many people in the very beginning. So in the very beginning, it was more of a volume gig. I went from doing three episodes a week, which then I went to one every day. Now we're at three every day, bro. Damn, it's exhausting, bro. I'M not gonna lie to you. Podcasting is hard, you know. Yeah. Because you got to come up with ideas. You got to come up with creative.
- [49:27]
B
It's a full time thing, dude.
- [49:28]
A
Sometimes your executive assistant up and you're like, what the hell is this? Right? You got to rewrite it yourself. That's what happened to me, like the day before I came here to Vegas, bro. I literally. And, and you know, I got one of my buddies here that he moved to Puerto Rico, and he's like, you are insane. I was like, why? He goes, what person has four hours of sleep still goes to the gym? I got pulled over, by the way. Goes back, showers, packs for six days, and then records 20 episodes straight. And then jumps in the car and jumps on the, on the plane and it's. We're on the plane for like 11 hours.
- [50:06]
B
And you landed here. And you're on my show.
- [50:08]
A
And I landed here. I'm on your show. What do you call that? Do you call that delusion? Do you call that insanity? Do you call that addiction? Do you call that just being crazy? I call it fulfillment.
- [50:21]
B
That's the key, right? Because you actually enjoy it. So you never get burnt out because you're passionate, you feel fulfilled. But people that are working 80 hours on something they don't care about, they.
- [50:28]
A
Get burnt out 100%. And it was the same thing in law enforcement, bro. See, I had a lot of co workers, good and bad. And I show everybody love. I sell back the blue guys, you know, you guys stay safe out there. But there's a lot of negative Nancy's, bro. Like, I would walk into the department back in the day and they'd be like, hey, how's it going, guys? You know, obviously I would be listening to some motivational podcast shit and, and I'd be pumped. And then you got the OG who's freaking overweight, fucking hates his life, fucking divorced, fucking. It just hates the world. And it will rain on your parade. Just wait. Wait till it happens to you, man. Wait till you get spanked. I got spanked. But I didn't use that as an excuse to be a little. I used it as, as, as my purpose to drive me to go harder. Because I just got angry off of it, dude. I got angry of it. And I think for a lot of people, they don't understand. Use your pain as anger facts. No, you have to, bro. You have to. Especially in this new world, everybody is looking to take out everybody. That's just the way it is. Yeah, that's the way it is in the online. But. Online space.
- [51:31]
B
Oh, yeah. What happened to Ty, right?
- [51:33]
A
It's fucked up, right?
- [51:34]
B
Yeah.
- [51:35]
A
And I never met Ty personally, bro, but I seen him, I think I went to like a black, white, Thai party for Eddie Maloof. Yeah, it was for the Clickfunnels thing, I think.
- [51:43]
B
Vegas, right?
- [51:44]
A
Yeah, yeah, it was a big event. You know, I don't think we ran into each other at the event. Right. I was there with my wife and it was. It was a nice event, but I saw him there and dude, everybody, he's. He was like the. The Jesus of freaking digital marketing. So everybody's like, Ty, right? And he's doing his thing. So now the fact that people are talking about him, the fact that all this, it's just like, bro, just wait until he goes to court. Wait till, like, he goes and there's actual facts, right? Because that's the one thing I don't like about the online space. It's. It's hearsay, bro. Yeah, it's easy. And take it from a prior detective, man, it's just like, you gotta. You gotta go off facts, not hearsay. And that's what I tell people. You know, whenever I jump on a sales call, whenever I talk to like a mentee, a client, like another business owner, they're like, hey, so I heard such and such from this and you know, here's a great example, Sean, you're going to like this. What about all the. You read on Reddit, is it positive or negative?
- [52:34]
B
Usually negative.
- [52:35]
A
Right? So if the entire website is negative and you see a negative review about someone or something or, or. Or a person, what does common sense tell you? Does common sense tell you to. Okay, well, I'm gonna base all of my decision making based on this website. Even though it's all negative, or are you gonna go ahead and do more due diligence and try to figure out. Okay, well, let me look at some other sources. See, most people, as soon as they see something online, dude, they're so quick. They're so quick to judge.
- [53:11]
B
And they get way more views on the negative content too.
- [53:13]
A
I mean, it's true. We all know that, right? It's a love or hate relationship. I remember watching that Elvis movie, the last Elvis movie, where his owner. Right, yeah. And he's by. He's buying the propaganda for Elvis and he has these pins that say, I love Elvis and I hate Elvis. And I remember Elvis's mom in the movie goes and says, why do you have pins that say I hate Elvis? And he goes, because when you get to a certain point in your life and you're big enough, you will have haters. And that's what it comes down to, bro. People hate me just because I was a cop. People hate me just because I was able to take being a cop and taking the pain that I experienced in that. In that part of my life and making something out of myself. And that's just what it comes down to, man. You know, when I ended up getting married, I think in the beginning of. Of last year, same thing, my wife started being part of my content. Dude. Dude. We kept getting bashed. People call me white. They're like, why'd you. Why you date a white guy? Because she's black. Black.
- [54:15]
B
Oh.
- [54:16]
A
So now they turn into an interracial thing. I'm like, bro, I'm Latino. Like, you know, you get hate on, bro, air everything. And, I mean, you guys could check.
- [54:23]
B
Out my hate comments. I get even just certain guests, I get. I get on. Yeah, it's crazy.
- [54:29]
A
Yeah. But at the end of the day, I mean, you're. You're a podcast host, bro. You're there to go ahead and bring interesting people so they could tell their story. Yeah. So it's just like, why would they hate on you? Right?
- [54:38]
B
They say I'm platforming them, but it's, like, such a dumb reason. These guys already have platforms.
- [54:43]
A
Yeah, exactly. Everybody else does. Right. At the end of the day, you can have a platform for anything in the online world. But no, it's just crazy, man. So I was able to go through all that transition now. So now, I'll be honest with you, dude. I'm at the stage of the game now that, you know, I built a couple cool businesses. I've employed over 200 people, got the podcast going on. I think my next move is YouTube.
- [55:07]
B
Yeah, yeah.
- [55:08]
A
Try to do, like, blog style. I don't know if. How old are you?
- [55:11]
B
28.
- [55:12]
A
So did you grow up watching, like, the Real World?
- [55:15]
B
No, I heard of it.
- [55:16]
A
Okay. Yeah, yeah. See, now I feel. Bro, I heard of it, but. But the Real World, it was basically like the very beginning of reality tv before the Kardashians and all that. Right. But the way they would do it is block style. They would have five people live in a house, and then they would have, like, a green room where they tell, like, basically the truth of the other people. So I'm thinking, like, very similar concept, but in Puerto Rico, I have a guy. It's just real deal. They see me giving it to, like, you know, my. My Students, my mentees, my employees, and just showing how real entrepreneurship is. Because half the time it's shitty, the other half time, it's great. When you're on top of the world. It's top of the world, but it shows people the real.
- [55:49]
B
That'd be a cool show.
- [55:50]
A
Yeah, it shows people the real.
- [55:51]
B
I think YouTube's a move right now. They just added collaborators. Did you see that?
- [55:55]
A
Dude, I'll be honest with you, man. Like, when people go ahead and they say, like, hey, do you know such and such a bro? I stay in my lane. I stay in my lane because my clientele, they're not marketers. My clientele, they're not like the blue collar guys, they're other cops like me. They're like, yo, love your story. You're a cops cop. What's up, dude? How are we gonna make money? Right? And then there we go. Yeah, you know, your avatar, your community, Right?
- [56:17]
B
Yeah.
- [56:18]
A
So. No, I mean, anybody that watching this, man. I mean, my. I guess the key takeaway for this one is just, number one, don't feel bad for yourself. It can always be worse. Number two, like, if a freaking cop from Oakland, California, could go ahead and build a couple million dollar companies and fucking keep going. And now trying to figure out the next stage of his life, including having a kid, including just being recently married, including going ahead and, and trying to do something that's going to fulfill him. I mean, what's your excuse? Yeah, right.
- [56:48]
B
No, it's such a relatable story, man.
- [56:50]
A
Dude, I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's the story that I lived. And I always tell people, dude, I'm still building it. You know, everybody has a story. Are you, are you the one that's gonna want to tell it to the world? That's the thing. Because I could tell people this. You could be the smartest guy in your niche, in your business, but if nobody knows you, then what's the point, bro?
- [57:09]
B
Right?
- [57:09]
A
That's what it comes down to. Attention's everything, right?
- [57:11]
B
Yeah, it's everything. Especially these days, right?
- [57:13]
A
Yeah, no, 100%.
- [57:14]
B
Well, dude, this was awesome. You're such a good storyteller. Where can people find your pod, find you and keep up with you and learn from you and all that?
- [57:20]
A
Yeah, man. So my podcast is the level up podcast with Paul Alex, currently number one in business on Apple. And then you guys can also find me on Instagram. Paul Alex. And then also if you guys are looking to get into like a side hustle or adventure, then you guys can check out my company, cashwhite.com.
- [57:34]
B
Awesome. We'll link below. Thanks for coming on, man.
- [57:36]
A
Thanks, brother.
- [57:36]
B
I'll see you at the UFC fights. Peace, guys. I hope you guys are enjoying the show. Please don't forget to like and subscribe. It helps the show a lot with the algorithm. Thank you.