
Ready to master the art of door-to-door sales? 🚪💼 In this powerful episode of the Digital Social Hour Podcast, Sean Kelly sits down with Tony Wells, an inspiring entrepreneur who turned his life around, going from humble beginnings and...
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Tony Wells
Growing up purposefully different in how I discipline my children because of that, but I still believe that, you know, like in the Bible. Right. I spare the rod. I don't. I don't beat my kids, but I'm still firm with them. Yeah, but not as firm as maybe how children were raised, especially like, back in the day.
Sean Kelly
Oh, back in the day. You're getting fist fights with your parents. All right, guys, from Minneapolis today, Tony Wells. Thanks for flying in, man.
Tony Wells
Dude, it's an honor to be here.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, it's gonna be a fun one. I haven't had many guests from Minneapolis on, so I'm excited to learn more about the city. And you're at the Timberwolves games all the time, right?
Tony Wells
You're right. Yeah. So I'm glad to be here and represent. Represent the Midwest.
Sean Kelly
Let's go. How long you been out there?
Tony Wells
My whole life. Yeah. Born and raised Minnesota boy. We lived in California, Newport beach, for around five years, but ultimately we came back to. Came back to Minnesota about 2017. Nice. Yeah.
Sean Kelly
You've seen a lot of growth in that city.
Tony Wells
Right. You know, it's. I'll say. In the rural towns, so there used to be a lot of. I call it like, the farm. The farm towns, and now it's all suburbia.
Sean Kelly
Nice.
Tony Wells
That's cool.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Because you grew up in trailer park, right? You had some humble beginnings.
Tony Wells
Yes, sir.
Sean Kelly
How long were you there? Your whole life?
Tony Wells
No, So I was in. Living in trailer park till about fourth grade. Yeah. So my mom. You know, my mom and dad, they were divorced when I was 3 years old. Mom was on welfare. My dad lived in a trailer park. And then in fourth grade, I moved up to a city called Champlin with my. With my mom, my stepdad, and, you know, got two sisters, you know, from. From them. But, yeah, it's. The life that I live today is a lot different.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Than. Than I was used to growing up as a kid, for sure.
Sean Kelly
Do you think you got that hustle mentality from back in the early days? Wanted to work really hard?
Tony Wells
I think so. You know, I grew up with no money, so, you know, for me, it was, you know, I always wanted to, you know, fit in. Right. So if the kids were wearing, you know, polo designer clothes, like, you know, I wanted to wear that too. You know, back then it was wearing. Wearing Jordans or it was wearing, you know, the Reebok pump shoes, but, you know, my family couldn't afford it, you know, so I'm not proud of this. But, you know, for me, in Order to get that, you know, I was either stealing or at the age of 15, I was selling dope.
Sean Kelly
Damn.
Tony Wells
And that's how I was able to be able to get those kind of clothes.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, I used to shoplift a little bit.
Tony Wells
You did?
Sean Kelly
I got caught and I haven't done it since.
Tony Wells
Yeah, Yeah, I got caught as well.
Sean Kelly
I got humbled. They took me in the. Do you know what Wegmans is?
Tony Wells
No.
Sean Kelly
It's a grocery store on the East Coast. I grew up in Jersey.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
But I got caught stealing and they took me in the security room. My mom had to pick me up. Super embarrassing. I haven't stole since.
Tony Wells
So what were you stealing?
Sean Kelly
Dumb. Dude, I was a kid. Like candy and like, I don't know, gift cards, whatever.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
It wasn't worth it.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
It put me on the wall of shame.
Tony Wells
They did.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
So I haven't stolen since.
Tony Wells
Yeah. So if I. If I was to go there now, would you still be up in that wall?
Sean Kelly
Hopefully not.
Tony Wells
Well, in shame.
Sean Kelly
You could check Bridgewater, New Jersey. Okay. But yeah, that was one of my worst habits when I was a kid.
Tony Wells
Yeah. The shoplifting, you know, and then, you know, I was a drug addict by the time I was 14 years old.
Sean Kelly
Wow, that's young. Drug addict at 14. Damn. To just start with weed and kind of work its way up.
Tony Wells
Yep, start with weed.
Sean Kelly
That's what they say. It's not a gateway drug. But I think that's bs, you know.
Tony Wells
For me, it was, you know, we. Or I'm sorry. No, it didn't start with weed. Actually started with drinking. So we used to get drunk, you know, before school. So we'd meet up at a friend's house about 6:30 in the morning, we start to get drunk.
Sean Kelly
That's so early.
Tony Wells
And then what would happen though, is we get. We get into school and, you know, kids would start to. We start to pass out. Yeah, Right. And then the teachers would catch on. So then we had to figure out, well, how can we. How can we get high and still function or at least not get kicked out of class? And that's how we. We came into play. And then back then. I'm 45 years old. How old are you?
Sean Kelly
28.
Tony Wells
Okay. So I'm 45. So back then we had these little wooden dugouts and so basically we would pack weed on one side and then you put a little oney on the other and then be able to just take a little one. One hitters.
Sean Kelly
Like a one hitter? Yeah, Yeah. I think I put the Tail end of that.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Saw some of those.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
We did gravity bongs where I grew up.
Tony Wells
What's a gravity bong?
Sean Kelly
You never heard of that? Oh, man.
Tony Wells
Maybe we didn't call it that. So explain to me, you.
Sean Kelly
So you put a. I don't even know what to call it, but you put a hole at the bottom of a water bottle.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. And then you put on the cap. You put a hole in it and you light the weed in like a socket on the cap. And then you lift up with water so it just fills with smoke.
Tony Wells
I was so high back then, but I don't remember doing that.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, those were deadly, dude.
Tony Wells
I mean, with the bongs, it was.
Sean Kelly
Pretty much a bong.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Picture a whole water bottle full of weed vapor. You wouldn't have the whole thing.
Tony Wells
What about out of apples?
Sean Kelly
We've done apples. Yeah, Apple bowls.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, I've done that before. Yeah. Hey, guys.
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Sean Kelly
Huge donor, but then I got terrible anxiety when I got high.
Tony Wells
That's what happened to me.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, terrible anxiety.
Tony Wells
And I'm an extrovert. So you're an introvert?
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Okay, so I'm an extrovert. So what it would do for me is that Actually like I call it stuck.
Sean Kelly
Like you would shut down.
Tony Wells
I'd shut down. Like I couldn't even communicate with people, so I didn't like it. So then what I do is I get into. I got into like mushrooms and acid and stuff. And, and what that did is, you know. Yeah. I'd see like all the, you know, I'll be looking at like wood and it looks like it's like melting and see faces and things like that. But for me, like all drugs, so I'm 18 years sober. I want to say that. So all drugs for me, they always start out good and they all start, then they all go bad.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
So for the, the smoking the pot, right. Like it was good because it got me through through school, like through the school day. But then it started like, mess with my mental, where I wasn't able to communicate with people. And being an extrovert, that was out of my like normal chemistry.
Sean Kelly
Right.
Tony Wells
Then I got into, you know, drinking. But I'm an alcoholic, so when I drink, like, I'm not just having, you know, like one drink. Like for me it's give me the beer and then give me the shot though. I want the shot of tequila or the whiskey so I can hurry up and get to that level. And then I'm gonna have that beer and then we can just hang out, maintain. But when you're ready to go home, I'm not. And that's, that's the difference. And so then with like mushroom and acid, like the first couple trips were cool, but then I'd always, always have bad trips. And like the worst trip I ever had is. And this was like the last one, I was, I locked myself. And we were, we were taking ass in my buddy's basement at his parents house and I locked myself in, in his bathroom. And. And I just remember like laying on the floor hugging the toilet and just praying like, God, just like make this trip like end. And you know, that was it. But. But I was an addict, so I still then wanted to find a different high. And then I got into, into ecstasy. You ever done ecstasy?
Sean Kelly
No, I haven't done that one.
Tony Wells
Okay. So. So ecstasy. I loved ecstasy because that would make me super loving.
Sean Kelly
Like, that's Molly, right?
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Okay.
Tony Wells
Yep. So like, you know, I just want to be like hugging on you or hugging on whoever's around me and I'll be telling you that I love you and. But what I didn't realize is that when you take ecstasy, it actually drains all the serotonin in your brain.
Sean Kelly
Yep. I heard that.
Tony Wells
And so then I get in depression and then I gotta, you know, suicidal thoughts.
Sean Kelly
Damn.
Tony Wells
So I stopped doing the. Doing the ecstasy, or as the kids say, no Molly. And then I got into cocaine. And when I got into cocaine, like, that gave me the confidence. You know, I'm in high school still, so that gave me the confidence to talk to girls. And it also allowed me to drink the way that I wanted to drink because I could. I could like, maintain, like, this level where if I got without cocaine, I would just go like this. You would black out, right? Yeah. And. But when you do the cocaine, like, you can continue and drink all night. Um, but eventually I became, like, a violent cocaine user.
Sean Kelly
Were you an angry drunk and you got in fights a lot?
Tony Wells
Yeah, Yeah.
Sean Kelly
I had a friend like that.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
I hated going out with him.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Oh, my God.
Tony Wells
And I was. I was a little punk, you know, I mean, I was little, but I always had, like, the older friends or the bigger friends. And so I would start the fights, but they would finish them for me.
Sean Kelly
Got it.
Tony Wells
But. But I can only imagine being that friend, right? Like, that would suck to have a friend like that.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Especially these days with social media. Because back then you got in fights, no one knew about it. Yeah, it was low key, but now it's all over the Internet as soon as you do it.
Tony Wells
Now that's what I tell my kids. Like, I got two teenage daughters and two younger boys. And I tell them girls, like, whatever you do now, if it's on, if it's on on video, like it's there forever.
Sean Kelly
Yep.
Tony Wells
It's going to haunt you.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Getting in fights isn't worth it anymore. Now you'll just get sued.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Right?
Tony Wells
Yeah. Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Especially someone like you. You know, we'll dive into the business side of things soon, but crazy story sounds like. Wow. Yeah. I got to like acid and shrooms. And then I stopped there.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
I didn't do anything crazier than that.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
But those two, specifically, shrooms, changed my life. For the better, I'd say.
Tony Wells
Okay. You still take shrooms?
Sean Kelly
I microdose.
Tony Wells
You microdose?
Sean Kelly
I don't do full trips anymore.
Tony Wells
Yep.
Sean Kelly
I think I'd have a terrible trip if I did, to be honest.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
But microdosing is a game changer.
Tony Wells
Okay, so tell me. Tell me about how you said that shrooms, like, change your life, actually, for the good. Like, why?
Sean Kelly
Perspective. So, like, I went to Amsterdam in high school when I was. My first business was E. Commerce, so I was making decent money. Like Six figures as a high schooler.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
You know, or college. First year of college? Heck, yeah. But, yeah, I did shrooms and just walked eight miles straight. Smiled the whole time around Amsterdam.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Just opened my eyes to just all these new perspectives in life because I was so boxed in, living in the town I grew up in in Jersey. Yeah.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
And just motivated me to get out there and hustle.
Tony Wells
And that's. That's the difference between, like, you and me. Like, you know, even for my wife, like, she could have a glass of wine a night. Half a glass of wine. Like, she's good. I need the whole bottle. And so for you, like. And I have friends that could still smoke pot today. And they're functioning, they're successful, but it just affects my brain different.
Sean Kelly
There's just, like, an addictive personality.
Tony Wells
Maybe at 100.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, I think I have that, too. But I can channel it, if that makes sense.
Tony Wells
Okay. All right. Tell me more about the micro dosing.
Sean Kelly
Well, it's like, I don't like pharmaceutical drugs.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
So, like, instead of taking an Adderall or a Vivans, I'd rather just microdose a mushroom. Get the same effect, if not better. No after effects, no burnout. So you're just locked in.
Tony Wells
So the microdosing, is it like drinking a tea?
Sean Kelly
Yeah, just like a stimulant. Gets your brain flowing.
Tony Wells
Like, I don't know anything about. I don't know anything about that world anymore.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, tell me. Take 110 of your dose. So say you eat an eighth of shrooms.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
A microdose would be one tenth of that.
Tony Wells
And is it still true?
Sean Kelly
Is this still, still the same thing?
Tony Wells
Yeah, and they taste like garbage.
Sean Kelly
I do it in the pill form, so I just swallow it. I don't taste it. Yeah, but no, shrooms. Tastes like. Dude, I've thrown up from eating shrooms before because they grow on cow.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
So, yeah, I've had some bad trips with that. Okay.
Tony Wells
All right.
Sean Kelly
But, yeah, dude, it's interesting. Everyone's got their own thing. Some people it's coffee. Some people it's microdosing. Yeah, psychedelics. Some people are all natural.
Tony Wells
Mine's definitely coffee. And then. And then I got these damn nicotine pouches.
Sean Kelly
Dave Asprey takes those. He brought one on the podcast and I got dizzy taking that shit. That shit was strong.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
5Mgs.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Put it right here. Right.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Those do help with focus, though.
Tony Wells
They do.
Sean Kelly
Just for me. I've never done nicotine before, so I didn't have a Tolerance.
Tony Wells
Yeah. Stay away from it.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, yeah.
Tony Wells
It's addictive.
Sean Kelly
Anything to give me an edge, man.
Tony Wells
All right, so for you, like, you're in Amsterdam. What age are you in Amsterdam?
Sean Kelly
I was 19, I believe. Yeah. Freshman year of college.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
You're 28 now.
Sean Kelly
28. Almost 10 years. High school reunion is this year, which is crazy.
Tony Wells
You gonna go?
Sean Kelly
I might.
Tony Wells
You might.
Sean Kelly
I might go. Okay. Going back and forth might be a coin flip.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Did you go to yours?
Tony Wells
I think I went to the ten year. And that was. That was it.
Sean Kelly
That must have been interesting for you, because people thought you were probably like. Like you were a drug addict back then. Right.
Tony Wells
Well, let's see. So 10. So 10. I would have been, what, around 27? Yeah. I mean, I was 27. That's, like, the year I got sober.
Sean Kelly
Okay.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
So you didn't start business yet really?
Tony Wells
No, no, no, I wasn't at 27. No. I'm newly married, newly sober, and actually, I can't quite remember, like, exact timing of the high school reunion of where I was at in life, but I know in that first year of sobriety, like, I lost everything.
Sean Kelly
Damn. All your friends, family, more on the material side.
Tony Wells
So my first year of sobriety, we had. We had our house that we were living in. Then we also had two investment properties, and we lost all three to foreclosure.
Sean Kelly
Oh, because this was the 08 crash, right?
Tony Wells
This would have been. Yeah, I guess. Right. Right around there.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. The real estate market tanked.
Tony Wells
Yeah, right around there. Yeah. And so we. We lost. We lost everything to the point where, like, you know, I had a. And I've told the story a lot. Not to you, but to many. Where, you know, I've got a Land Rover in the driveway, I've got a Rolex on my wrist, and I've got, you know, money in the bank account. But my character was. And so God was like, listen, son, like. And I was ungrateful. You know, I mean, like, I had. I had our house that we're living in. I had the two investment properties, newly married to my beautiful wife, who's still my wife today. But I'm just like, God, like, when I was homeless, I wanted to kill myself. And now that I have everything that I ever wanted, I still want to kill myself. So, like, what's the whole point of, like, this thing that. That's called life.
Sean Kelly
Wow.
Tony Wells
And I believe that it was then where God was like, son, like, I've given you everything you ever wanted, and you're still ungrateful so now it's time for me to work on your character. And so I'm going to go ahead and strip everything away from you. And that's what he did. And he first started with the Rolex watch. I had to go to the pawn shop and sell the Rolex just so I make one mortgage payment. Then I had to drive that fancy Land Rover that I was so proud of to the food shelf. And they had to load the groceries in the back of that Land Rover. And I was humiliated. And so what he was doing, he was stripping away my pride and my ego. And when he stripped away my pride and my ego, then I was ready to depend on him and not on my own abilities. Because before that time, I would tell you how great I am and look at all the stuff that I've accumulated because of how great I am. But God wanted to be like, son, like every. Everything that you have, including your abilities, is the gifts that I've blessed you with. And so when he took that stuff away, I had to quickly learn how to depend on him versus on my own abilities. And then he started to. Then he started to bless me, right? And he. And he. And. And it started with people. So he put first a sponsor in my life, and. And then also, you know, obviously have my wife, you know, so I put a sponsor my life. And so I, I went into aa and my sponsor was like, listen, if you want to work with me, you've got to do exactly what I tell you. And so he said, we're going to meet once a week, and we're going to go through the big book, and I'm going to take you through the 12 steps of alcoholics Anonymous. You're also going to go to a minimum of three meetings a week, and you're also going to do service work. And so in that service work, I'd go to a local, not a food shelf, but a. Basically where there was hot meals. And like, the homeless youth would come through and we put, you know, hot, hot meals on their plates. But what that taught me was I was in this, like, poor me, this victim mentality. And when they'd come through, I'd be like, thinking in my own head, like, wow, like, my life isn't actually that bad. Like, actually still have a wife that loves me. I still have people in my life that want to be around me. And I might be on the verge of losing my. My houses, but I still have a way to have shelter, right? And so I. I started to get this attitude of gratitude And. And so this is. You know, this is 18 years ago, but then my wife also. Also encouraged me to go to church. Right, right. So God's working through people. He's working through my sponsor to work my character. He's working through my wife. He's working through the pastor. And. And before I. I grew up in a religious household, but I didn't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. And so around the age of, like, 19, 20 is when I wrote off God. I actually didn't want anything to do with it because I just. I. Religion and God to me were the same thing. But she encouraged me to go to this church and at this church, this pastor, and it's a big church, like, probably a thousand people in this church. And the pastor's like, hey, like, I don't care if you've ever been to prison. You're a prostitute, you're a drug addict. Like, you're welcome here. And that was the first time I ever heard that from the pulpit. So I was like, you know what? Like, I'll continue to come back because I felt like he was talking right to me, even though he's talking to a thousand people. So that's when my life, you know, really started to change.
Sean Kelly
Wow. What a journey, man. And you're still on it now. Now you're crushing it.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
When did the business start from there? Was it shortly after that you started going to church?
Tony Wells
Yeah. So the. The. You know, like, becoming a. You know, even a millionaire and then a multimillionaire. That. That didn't happen until I was 40 years old.
Sean Kelly
Wow.
Tony Wells
You know, I'm 45 now. So I made my first, like, I made my first million, like, million in my family's bank account when I was 40 years old. And how that happened is in 2017, my. The gentleman that was my sponsor now, 18 years ago, he started a roofing company. And he said. He. He called me one day, and he's like, hey, you know, I was. I was meditating, and. And. And God told me to call you and ask you to be a partner in my company. And at that same time, my wife and I and our four kids were living out in Newport Beach, California. And I was on my knees and. And I was praying, and I said, you know, because my wife, my oldest daughter wanted to move back to Minnesota, I wanted to stay in Cali because. Because I came from a trailer park, so I was living my dream. We were. We were. We were broke, but I was still living my dream, and that was to be out on the beach. And I'm praying, like, God, if you want us to move back to Minnesota, like, you're gonna have to open that door wide open. And if you don't want us to, like, just go ahead and slam that door shut in Courtney's face and let her know, like, we're supposed to be here in Cali and stay here, and all is gonna be well. But if that is your will, just let me know. And that same day, I got that call, and the call was, I was meditating, and God told me to ask you to be a part of my company. So I told Courtney that, and then Courtney was like, all right, when do we move?
Sean Kelly
Wow. I love that.
Tony Wells
So we moved back to Minnesota, and at the time, the company is doing, like, 1.5 million in revenue. Had about eight sales reps, including my partner.
Sean Kelly
This is a roofing company.
Tony Wells
Yep. And the deal was that I had a double day in the revenue of the company in that very first year. And so I had to go out and sell myself. And in this business and in that market, we get a lot of hailstorms, and the sales is driven by door knocking.
Sean Kelly
Old school.
Tony Wells
Yeah. And so I'd never knocked the door in my life. But we moved back, and we moved back with the purpose, and so I went out and started knocking on doors, and I generated 1.2 million in revenue by myself that first year.
Sean Kelly
Wow.
Tony Wells
So. And then we had other sales reps, and so we did $3 million. We did it. So then I made partner, and then. And then, like, the next year, we did, like, 6 million. Then I think, like 9 million, then like 14 million, then like 20 million. And then eventually we hit 35 million, and then we sold that company to. To a private equity group a couple years ago.
Sean Kelly
Well done, dude. 35 million going door to door.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
That's the grind right there.
Tony Wells
Yeah, dude.
Sean Kelly
That's incredible. So you had to get good at sales.
Tony Wells
I had to get good at door knocking sales.
Sean Kelly
And that's a really cold lead, dude.
Tony Wells
That is a cold lead.
Sean Kelly
Coldest. Probably you could get.
Tony Wells
I think so. I think so. Like, you know, I. I was telemarketing. Did that kind of sales for years. You know, you've got. You've got three different phases or stages of sales. Right. Or levels you got where they. Let's say you work at Best Buy, Right. Or a Verizon, you know, wireless cell phone store. You got customers coming into you. They're there for your product.
Sean Kelly
Right.
Tony Wells
That. That's one sale, Then the next sale is telemarketing. So you got a cold call. With a cold call, though, if they tell you to f off, like, you can hang up and just dial the next number. But when you door knock, the, the homeowner could tell you to F off, slam the door in your face. And now you got to do the walk of shame. And to me, that's the biggest mental gymnastics because then you have to physically walk to the next door knowing that that person, the neighbor just told you f off, they slammed the door in your face. And you don't know if they just called their neighbor, right. To give them a heads up that this knucklehead is coming to knock on your door. And you just gotta, you just gotta stay positive and you just gotta. For me, I just looked at it as a numbers game where I'd actually thank them. So I'd be like, you know what? In my head, I'd be like, hey, thank you. I'm just one more no closer to a yes. And that's what worked for me.
Sean Kelly
What was the ratio out of like 100 houses? What, what percent did you close?
Tony Wells
I would just said, I would just say like 10. Okay, right. So you're not going to be higher than I thought. You knock on 100 door. Well, I'll break it down like this. If you knock on 100 doors, not everybody's gonna be home. Not everybody's gonna answer. So you knock on 100 doors, you're gonna get 10 people to answer. And then out of those 10, for me, I'd get one.
Sean Kelly
Okay, so one out of 100.
Tony Wells
One out of 100. Okay, so 1% doors that you knocked. And, but it was strictly just a numbers game. So I didn't even care about like how good my pitch was. I just looked at it as a numbers game. I'm gonna get, I'm gonna get that one person who probably just says yes to everybody when it comes to being sold. And if you, and if you just grind and, and get strong work ethic, like you're going to be successful. And it's successful in that business is, you know, making, you know, anywhere from a hundred. I mean, there's one guy that makes over a million dollars knocking doors.
Sean Kelly
Just commission based.
Tony Wells
Just commission based. But I would say the majority is, you know, from anywhere, from, you know, a hundred, probably 250 grand. That's probably the normal. And then, then you got your rock stars, right? You got your guys that'll make 500, 000, 600,000. But, you know, yeah, you got your outlier that, you know, run into 250.
Sean Kelly
Solid for no college degree. And. Yeah, you know. Yeah, you could start at a pretty young age.
Tony Wells
Dude. What was cool about. What was cool about our company is that 70 of our staff were. Were in recovery.
Sean Kelly
Wow. So that was a passion point.
Tony Wells
That was a passion point.
Sean Kelly
You saw yourself in them, right?
Tony Wells
Yeah. And 30 of them were felons.
Sean Kelly
Wow. So you didn't care about criminal record.
Tony Wells
I didn't. The. The. I. I should say, as long as there wasn't any kind of like, you know, predatory.
Sean Kelly
Right.
Tony Wells
Type stuff, you know?
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Where. Where our employees the. The most of their criminal background, you know, maybe some of it was, you know, assault charges, but the majority of it was drug related.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Yeah. Because back then you could get arrested for weed.
Tony Wells
Yeah. Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Which is now legal almost everywhere.
Tony Wells
Correct. Yeah. So we had guys that went to prison for, you know, selling a lot of dope and.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Where now. Now it's illegal.
Sean Kelly
A lot of entrepreneurs started selling weed, man. Yeah, a lot. I did.
Tony Wells
That was mine. I was 15.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, I was 15 when I started doing. Yeah. High school or. Carla. No, I did in college to pay for my food.
Tony Wells
Okay, you're selling. Selling dope or weed.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Is that what weed. Weed is? I don't know the terms these days, and I don't.
Tony Wells
I'm 45. It might be called something different, but. All right, so you're. You're selling. You're selling weed. In college, I was selling weed almost 15. So would you. Would you buy it in the pounds or like, how'd you start out?
Sean Kelly
No, I never got to the pound level.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. I got to like a qp.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Or HP is the most.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
And then I would split that with someone just so I'd be able to smoke for free and then cover my liquor and eating expenses for the week or whatever.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
You know. Yeah. And I was in room 420 in my hall, so I don't.
Tony Wells
Shut up.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, it made sense.
Tony Wells
Shut up.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, shut up. It was destiny.
Tony Wells
What? It was destiny.
Sean Kelly
So I had to. Come on. If you get room 420 and you're not doing weed, that's a crazy story. Yeah. Yeah. My mom was a little old school, you know, a little slap in the face sometimes.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
I think tough love is good, though.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
It worked on me because you still need a little bit of respect and fear, you know, you're going to listen.
Tony Wells
Well, it's. You know, I think that's one thing that's different about today. Right. Where where society says, how you can correct your. Your children. You know, for me growing up, you know, I. I want to honor. I want to honor my step. My. My dad, he wasn't in the picture from the age of 14 to 24, and then he ultimately died when he was 56. He was. He was also an addict and alcoholic, so my stepdad, he really raised me, but we didn't see eye to eye growing up, and he definitely parented me differently than how I parent my children today. The reason is because of how I was parented growing up. I'm purposefully different in how I discipline my children because of that, but I still believe that, you know, like in the Bible. Right. I have to spare the rod. I don't. I don't beat my kids, but I'm still firm with them.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
You know, but. But not as firm as maybe how children were raised, especially like, back in the 90s.
Sean Kelly
Oh, back in the day, you're getting fistfights with your parents.
Tony Wells
Oh, well, I don't even know if you're getting fistfight. Like, your dad's pounding 50s. Right. Like, you talk. You're not talking back.
Sean Kelly
Oh, my dad.
Tony Wells
Unless you're grown.
Sean Kelly
No, my dad grew up on a farm, and they got work to death, man.
Tony Wells
Yeah. Yeah.
Sean Kelly
But that's how it was.
Tony Wells
Yep.
Sean Kelly
These days, you can't. Yeah. You lay a hand, you're getting canceled.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
You lay a hand on your kids.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Times have changed. But like you said, you need the respect. Needs to be there.
Tony Wells
Correct.
Sean Kelly
Now, I see a lot of kids walking over their parents. You know, they're just glued to their phones or whatever. They don't even listen to their parents at the dinner table.
Tony Wells
Dude, the phones, the iPads, like, it's. It's a problem.
Sean Kelly
It is.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
I see it with my kids, you know, today with, like, my boys, they love Fortnite.
Sean Kelly
I'm playing after this, man.
Tony Wells
Are you really?
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Are you?
Sean Kelly
But I got a good relationship with it, you know, I'm not addicted.
Tony Wells
Yeah, you're also grown.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, but I use it more to de stress, you know, after working a long week, we'll play a little bit on the weekends, me and my fiance. So for us, it's a bonding activity.
Tony Wells
Your fiance will.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Really?
Sean Kelly
She's gotten good. Shout out to Ariel, man. Yeah, she used to be. And I'll say this to her face, but she. She used to be trash at the game.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
But she's good now.
Tony Wells
Yeah. Could she school you?
Sean Kelly
No, no, I used to be a Big gamer nerd. You were. Huge gamer nerd.
Tony Wells
Were you like streaming and all that?
Sean Kelly
No, this was before streaming. This was when parents said to never play video games. You'll never make a living out of it. And now they're streamers, you know?
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
But I was like top thousand in the world in any game I played. Oh. Yeah. I was super nerdy with it. I would skip school to play video games, you know.
Tony Wells
I want to know more about you. So when you went to school, like, what did you go to school for?
Sean Kelly
I tried going for business at Rutgers in Jersey, but I couldn't get in because of my gpa, so I. I dropped out.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah, I dropped out after freshman year.
Tony Wells
After freshman year, yeah. And then. And then you went abroad?
Sean Kelly
I just, at the time I was running a business, so I went all in on the business.
Tony Wells
What was your business?
Sean Kelly
It was E commerce. I was selling sports jerseys.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. So I would message NBA players off my Instagram page.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Send them free jerseys. Some of them would post it and tag me. And that's how I grew that business. We did a $1.2 million in our peak year.
Tony Wells
Shut up.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. And I was like, 2021.
Tony Wells
Congratulations.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. So that was my start into entrepreneurship.
Tony Wells
That's huge.
Sean Kelly
Influencer marketing.
Tony Wells
And you still have that today, don't you?
Sean Kelly
No, I don't run it anymore. Kind of fizzled out.
Tony Wells
It did.
Sean Kelly
Plus the margins are thin in E commerce.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
But I learned a lot about marketing influencers, how to build a social media profile, how to grow followers.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
That was a great first business for me.
Tony Wells
Take. Take me from. Take me from selling the jerseys to. To then starting the bot social. Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Lot of fails. Made and lost my money twice.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Which is crazy.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
At my age, I've already made and lost it twice. Made a lot in crypto. Lost a lot in crypto. During the pandemic, I was selling masks, PPE equipment to governments and hospitals.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Did $15 million in sales.
Tony Wells
Shut up.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. So that business, I learned how to cold email, how to talk to older people. Cuz all those people in procurement are like 50s, 60s, 70s. How to partner with the right people.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
Each business I learn a lot with different things. So now with the podcast, I just took everything I learned from every single business I've done.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
And I think that's why it was pretty successful. This is like one of my later businesses.
Tony Wells
Is this your main hustle?
Sean Kelly
Yeah, I have events too.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
But this is the main one right now.
Tony Wells
What kind of events do you Throw networking events? Yeah. I think you got. Did you just do one in Austin?
Sean Kelly
Yeah, a few days ago.
Tony Wells
You got no one in Miami?
Sean Kelly
Miami during F1? Yeah. We have the biggest F1 networking events in the country.
Tony Wells
Wow.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. No paid ads. All organic word of mouth.
Tony Wells
So the $15 million company, did you just fizzle that out? Did you sell it?
Sean Kelly
It was a seasonal. There's seasonal companies I've done. That was one of them. Because it was just during the pandemic where people were just buying up ppe.
Tony Wells
Then did you take the proceeds from that? You dumped it into podcast, into crypto. Into crypto.
Sean Kelly
Crypto. Made a lot, lost a lot, and then started the pod shortly after that.
Tony Wells
And how long ago did you start the pod?
Sean Kelly
Two years.
Tony Wells
Two years ago. Holy smokes.
Sean Kelly
First episode was in March. Two years ago.
Tony Wells
How many followers did you have before you started the pod?
Sean Kelly
Oh, good question. I'm not sure it was a lot, though. I was already spending a lot on ads.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
What's a lot? Like a million?
Sean Kelly
5 million I spent on my Instagram page alone. Probably over a million dollars in one year overall.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Okay. And I'm sorry. So that was. That's the. The amount of money that you're spending on advertising. But how many. How many followers? Like, you said you had a lot. A lot. But what is a lot?
Sean Kelly
It was in the millions. I don't know the exact. If it was five or eight or whatever.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
But now with the pod, we're just growing like crazy. Yeah.
Tony Wells
I mean, you're close to 12 million followers now, Dude.
Sean Kelly
But more impressively, is the views. 150 million views a month.
Tony Wells
A month?
Sean Kelly
Yeah. On Instagram alone.
Tony Wells
Dude, that's sick.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. Like, the followers don't mean as much as the views to me because you have a ton of followers. Doesn't really matter. I care more about engagement.
Tony Wells
Yep. So I, you know, I'm brand new to this world.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. I noticed when I was doing research.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
When I do research on guests, the first thing I do is I go on YouTube and search what podcasts they've been on, and I watch them.
Tony Wells
Okay.
Sean Kelly
I can only find you interviewing someone else on your channel.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
So is this your first time as a guest?
Tony Wells
First time as a guest.
Sean Kelly
Nice. I'm honored you chose this show.
Tony Wells
Dude, I'm honored to be here, man.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. But I was like, damn, I gotta find some stuff on this guy. So I watched that one, and I went through your Instagram and found what I could.
Tony Wells
Okay. I'm an open book so whatever questions you got for me, I'm happy to answer them. My heart, though, it's really for, you know, the still suffering addict and alcoholic who's out there. And that's my passion. My passion is to really inspire.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Truly. Because I came from nothing, dude. I came from nothing. And I'm multimillionaire in all humility, all glory to God. But I know that my story is, is unique in that most people don't get to say what I just said when they came from where I came from.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. American dream, baby.
Tony Wells
American dream.
Sean Kelly
You're alive and proven it.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
And I think it's a cool story because it's kind of relatable. A lot of people suffer with addictions, whether it's drugs or whatever, and to see you come out on top of it.
Tony Wells
And as I tell, you know, guys that I sponsor, and then as I used to tell my, my, my employees, there's nothing special about Tony Wells in regards to, like, I don't come from a pedigree family, I don't have a college education, I'm a recovering drug addict alcoholic, and yet here I sit. So if I did it, so can you. And that's the whole, that's the whole thing. Like, if I did it, so can you. Yeah, but you have to be clear on what, what do you want? Yeah, and, and you know, to the haters, they might say, like, oh, money isn't everything. No, I agree with you. Money isn't everything, but it definitely opens up doors and gives you opportunities.
Sean Kelly
Agreed.
Tony Wells
So whatever you want, if it's not the million dollars, then what do you want? What is your pursuit of happiness and, and go after that. You're not a victim. Don't sit in victimhood. Don't sit in the pity pot like I used to. Kick all that mental garbage out of your head and realize that when you, when your will is aligned with God's will, like, you can have whatever you want, you can do whatever you want when there's that alignment, because God's favor will be all, all over you. And, and what I realized is that when, when I got aligned with him, and what that means for me is when I got my finances aligned with him, meaning that I was not just tithing, you know, to the church, but I was actually giving on top of the tithing to the church, also giving to other organizations, then God was like, listen, son, like, now I can trust you, so I'm going to continue to fund you because I know that I can get that money through you. And all this silly stuff that you like, like Tony, like you like the cars and you like the watches and you like to sit court side at the NBA games. Like you can have that, son. Like I don't care. Like that's nothing to me. It's, it's important to you. And so you can have it because you're being good and faithful and that's, and that's the same message that I give to my kids. Like as long as they're grateful and as long as they keep a kind heart and that they love on others. Like some would say then that they're spoiled. But it's like I have the means to do it and God has an abundance of means. We as humans are the only ones who actually put a value on the price of a, a Lamborghini or a, you know, a mansion on the, on the ocean in Miami or something like that. We as humans are the only ones that do it. God's like, whether it's a hundred million dollar house or a $200,000 house, it's all same to me.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
So for my child, if I can give him a, a thousand dollar bike, bicycle or a hundred dollar bicycle, it doesn't, it doesn't matter to me.
Sean Kelly
I love.
Tony Wells
But their heart posture has to be correct.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. I love that man. Gratitude is super important to me.
Tony Wells
Attitude. Gratitude, baby.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. So I still personally text every single person that comes to my events and I thank them for coming. Really takes me like so long now because now we're getting thousands of people.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
But my first ever event had 20 people. 20 people showed up. And it was kind of embarrassing, honestly. But proud of those 20 people. I still talk to like five of them every single day.
Tony Wells
Wow.
Sean Kelly
This was like six years ago.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
And that community's grown into now 2, 000 plus people come to my event.
Tony Wells
2,000 people.
Sean Kelly
And I personally text every single one and I thank them. I'm just grateful for them.
Tony Wells
That's not normal. You know that, right?
Sean Kelly
No. I have to. I used to be able to do it in a day, but now I have to break it up into a week. Two hours a day.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
And everyone's like, why don't you outsource that to AI? But I'm like, dude, some things need to be personal. You know, when I'm thanking someone, I don't want it to be a copy paste bank message.
Tony Wells
Like it's a real thank you.
Sean Kelly
Yeah. And they feel it. They come up to me at the events and they're like holy shit. No one's ever done that before. I get invited to so many conferences, and no one's ever done that.
Tony Wells
What, what drives you?
Sean Kelly
It's something to do with the podcast and the messaging, because I've done a lot of businesses before this, like we talked about, and money was the number one goal in the past, but that's no longer how I think and operate.
Tony Wells
How do you think right now?
Sean Kelly
More about, like, getting messages across and impact people, inspiring people, helping people. This podcast, just the messages I get from the show. You wouldn't believe some of these messages, like, I'm really helping people. It's cool.
Tony Wells
Give me, give me, give me one that really touched your heart where you're like, man, I really am doing a good thing, dude.
Sean Kelly
I've stopped a couple suicides.
Tony Wells
Really?
Sean Kelly
Yeah, there's been a couple of those. There's been a couple. Just like, I like the veteran stuff a lot. I have on a lot of veterans and just helping those guys get their message, because those guys been through a lot.
Tony Wells
Yeah.
Sean Kelly
And just seeing the comments, it's like, really inspiring.
Tony Wells
The suicide one, that one touches me is, you know, when I was 17 is the first time I want to kill myself. Then when I was 23, I want to kill myself. And then when I was 27, and, you know, people ask me, like, why'd you start a podcast? Right. Like, basically, you're.
Sean Kelly
You're.
Tony Wells
You're retired now, Tony. So why. Why this? Or, you know, what are you gonna do next?
Sean Kelly
You could have done anything.
Tony Wells
Yeah. And I believe that now with social media, that if I would have had access to social media when I was 15, I think I could have gotten here a lot sooner because I would have been able to watch Sean Kelly, whether it's your story or one of your guests.
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
And I would. Had access to that, and I could have. I believe that God would have put a guest on your show. Right. I'm just going to use you as example. Would have put a guest on your show, and it would have magically came into my feed, and I would have watched it when I was 15 years old, and I would have been inspired. Right. I would have seen maybe. Maybe the Tony Wells at 45 years old, and he's sharing his story and be like, man, like, I relate with that guy. Like, that's my story. I. I came from the trailer park like, I was selling dope. And while he got through it. Right?
Sean Kelly
Yeah.
Tony Wells
Or with your story or one of your other guests. And. And I mean, you just said it. You stopped a couple of suicides.
Sean Kelly
Those are just because they watched it. Yeah, I've messed it that a message so it could be even more but yeah, it's deep with me too, man. Lost my grandfather to it and my father so yeah, it hits deep. I want to end that cycle for sure, man. Yeah.
Tony Wells
Amen.
Sean Kelly
Well, Tony, it's been been an honor, man. Can't wait to see you in Minnesota. Maybe four side at one of the games.
Tony Wells
Dude, you gotta come.
Sean Kelly
I know. I've never been courtside before.
Tony Wells
What?
Sean Kelly
Yeah. So that's a hard offer to turn down. I'll be there.
Tony Wells
Oh, dude, come on. Yeah, let's do it. Yes.
Sean Kelly
See some Anne Edwards in action. Oh, dude, I love it.
Tony Wells
Yep.
Sean Kelly
All right, man. We'll link your stuff below. Thanks for hopping on.
Tony Wells
Hey, thank you, bro.
Sean Kelly
Yep. Check them out, guys. Peace.
Digital Social Hour: Master Door-to-Door Sales – Lessons from $35M Success | Tony Wells DSH #1278
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Tony Wells
Release Date: March 29, 2025
Tony Wells, a lifelong Minnesota resident, opens up about his challenging upbringing. Born into a family where his parents divorced when he was just three years old, Tony spent his early years in a trailer park until the fourth grade. This period was marked by financial struggles, with his mother relying on welfare and his father absent from his life due to addiction.
Notable Quote:
[01:16] Tony Wells: "I grew up with no money, so I always wanted to fit in."
Tony candidly shares his turbulent teenage years, starting with shoplifting and escalating to drug dealing by the age of fifteen. His substance abuse began with alcohol, which led to experimenting with various drugs, including marijuana, mushrooms, acid, ecstasy, and cocaine. These addictions not only affected his mental health but also resulted in violent behavior and damaged relationships.
Notable Quote:
[03:18] Tony Wells: "I was an extrovert. So you're an introvert?... I couldn't even communicate with people, so I didn't like it."
At twenty-seven, Tony hit rock bottom, losing his home and investment properties during the 2008 financial crash. This period of homelessness and despair became a turning point, prompting him to seek sobriety. Through Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), he found a sponsor and immersed himself in the twelve-step program. Tony credits his wife, a supportive pastor, and his participation in church activities for helping him rebuild his life and regain a sense of purpose.
Notable Quote:
[14:22] Tony Wells: "God was like, son, I've given you everything you ever wanted, and you're still ungrateful... now it's time for me to work on your character."
Tony's entrepreneurial journey began with a roofing company partnership initiated through divine guidance and meditation. Relocating back to Minnesota, he embraced door-to-door sales—a method he had never tried before. His unwavering work ethic and numbers-driven approach led him to generate $1.2 million in revenue within his first year alone. Over the next few years, the company scaled impressively, reaching $35 million before selling to a private equity group.
Notable Quote:
[22:40] Tony Wells: "I looked at it as a numbers game... thank them, I'm just one more no closer to a yes."
A standout aspect of Tony's business was its inclusive culture. Seventy percent of the staff were individuals in recovery, and thirty percent had felony records. Tony emphasized that past mistakes did not define one's future, fostering an environment where employees could thrive regardless of their backgrounds.
Notable Quote:
[25:24] Tony Wells: "As long as there wasn't any kind of predatory stuff, I didn't care about criminal records."
Tony advocates for a life centered around gratitude and alignment with one's higher purpose. He believes that true success goes beyond financial wealth, emphasizing the importance of character and spiritual well-being. His approach involves giving back generously, whether through tithing to the church or supporting other organizations, thereby attracting continued blessings and opportunities.
Notable Quote:
[38:22] Tony Wells: "Attitude. Gratitude, baby."
Tony acknowledges the profound impact Sean Kelly's podcast has had on his life. He expresses how accessible stories of recovery and success could have offered him hope earlier in his life. Inspired by his own transformation, Tony now dedicates his efforts to helping others overcome addictions and achieve their dreams, reinforcing the message that anyone can succeed with determination and the right mindset.
Notable Quote:
[35:06] Tony Wells: "If I did it, so can you."
Tony Wells' story is a powerful testament to resilience, faith, and the pursuit of the American Dream. From a troubled youth grappling with addiction to a multimillionaire entrepreneur, his journey underscores the transformative power of gratitude, hard work, and unwavering belief in a higher purpose. Tony's dedication to helping others and building a compassionate business culture serves as an inspiring blueprint for aspiring entrepreneurs and individuals seeking redemption.
Notable Quote:
[41:47] Tony Wells: "I've messed it so much that I could be even more, but yeah, it's deep with me too, man."
Key Takeaways:
Tony Wells exemplifies how personal struggles can be transformed into strengths, driving not only individual success but also creating meaningful impacts on the lives of others.