The $10M Crypto Mistake That Changed Everything (Loss Aversion) | David Shands DSH #992

Summary

Digital Social Hour Podcast Summary

Episode Title: The $10M Crypto Mistake That Changed Everything (Loss Aversion) | David Shands DSH #992
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: David Shands
Release Date: December 18, 2024

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1. Introduction and Guest Background (00:00 - 02:12)

In this episode of Digital Social Hour, host Sean Kelly welcomes David Shands, a pioneering figure in the podcasting space. Sean commends David for his extensive work, noting, “You were a pioneer in the space, I'd say” (01:30). David responds with appreciation, highlighting his dedication to the craft by stating, “I've been out working every single podcast in the world” (01:46). The conversation underscores their mutual respect and the significant impact both have had in the podcasting industry.

2. Podcasting Frequency and Growth Strategies (02:12 - 04:00)

Sean and David discuss their podcasting schedules and growth strategies. David mentions the impressive milestone of reaching 1,100 attendees at his latest podcast conference (02:33) and shares his approach to maintaining consistency by releasing multiple episodes weekly. Sean highlights his commitment by stating, “We're doing like five a week, but we're doing about two a week now” (02:30). This dedication to frequent content creation has been pivotal in their sustained growth and audience engagement.

3. David's Financial Loss in Crypto (04:00 - 10:00)

A significant portion of the episode delves into David’s harrowing experience of losing $10 million in the cryptocurrency market. David recounts, “I lost 10 million… It was right before I started the show, actually” (04:24), explaining that his investments in volatile altcoins wiped out most of his wealth. He describes the emotional turmoil, stating, “I felt pretty lost for a few months” (05:10), and emphasizes how podcasting served as a therapeutic outlet, helping him regain his footing and focus.

4. Emotional Impact and Recovery with Podcasting (10:00 - 16:00)

Sean and David explore the psychological effects of such significant financial losses. Sean shares his empathy, noting, “I've never lost that type of money” (05:32), and discusses the extreme reactions some individuals have to financial setbacks. David emphasizes the importance of resilience, saying, “Podcasting helped me get out of that funk” (05:10). They discuss the balance between risk-taking and maintaining stability, with David reflecting, “Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not” (10:07).

5. Credit Card Points and Travel Hacks (16:00 - 25:00)

The conversation shifts to practical financial strategies, particularly leveraging credit card points for travel. David shares his extensive experience with point accumulation, stating, “I have like 8:30 on Hilton. I got 4 million” (25:02). Sean discusses maximizing these points during bonus transfer periods, highlighting opportunities to multiply point values. David adds, “You could transfer it to a hotel or airline for 5x points” (24:25), providing listeners with actionable tips to optimize their rewards programs.

6. Building and Maintaining a Sustainable Podcast (25:00 - 32:00)

Sean emphasizes the importance of sustainability in podcasting, advising new podcasters to “figure out how you're going to make money first” (21:13). David echoes this sentiment, recounting his initial financial struggles, “I lost 100k at one point” (21:44), but eventually achieving consistent revenue streams. They discuss monetization strategies, including sponsorships and affiliate marketing, underscoring the necessity of aligning podcast content with revenue generation methods.

7. Networking and Community Building (32:00 - 40:00)

The dialogue highlights the critical role of networking and community in entrepreneurial success. David shares his experience organizing large-scale networking events, stating, “I had a thousand signups” (30:00), which significantly expanded his reach and influence. Sean discusses his Podcast Summit, boasting of 1,100 attendees and plans to scale to 2,000 next year, asserting, “We have the best podcast conference in the world” (28:25). Both speakers stress the value of fostering strong, supportive communities to drive collective growth and success.

8. Personal Success and Future Endeavors (40:00 - End)

In the concluding segments, Sean and David reflect on personal milestones and future aspirations. Sean shares his upcoming 40th birthday and the launch of an event titled 40 46, aimed at preparing entrepreneurs to make their first million dollars by 2025. He articulates a vision of balanced success, emphasizing family, faith, and sustainable wealth: “I have some money, and I still have a good relationship, and my kids love me. I'm their superhero” (31:19). David reciprocates with his own personal growth journey, discussing his engagement and the positive impact of podcasting on his social skills and relationships.

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Notable Quotes

• Sean Kelly: “We’re doing like five a week, but we’re doing about two a week now.” (02:30)
• David Shands: “I lost 10 million… It was right before I started the show, actually.” (04:24)
• Sean Kelly: “If you are a entrepreneur and you're building a personal brand, you will not be able to survive without a podcast.” (16:30)
• David Shands: “Podcasting helped me get out of that funk.” (05:10)
• Sean Kelly: “We have the best podcast conference in the world.” (28:25)
• David Shands: “I think it's good to be safe too.” (10:16)
• Sean Kelly: “I'm not gamblers, I don't drink…” (14:07)
• David Shands: “I have events. I do in person stuff. I feel like people are getting away from that.” (26:03)
• Sean Kelly: “Don’t rush to make it as you're making a little bit. Manage that little bit.” (32:53)
• David Shands: “I'm working on that. Podcasting has helped me open up socially.” (34:28)

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Conclusions and Insights

• Resilience Through Adversity: David's significant financial loss in the crypto market underscores the unpredictable nature of investments. His recovery through podcasting highlights the therapeutic and stabilizing power of engaging in meaningful, consistent work.

• Sustainable Growth Strategies: Both hosts emphasize the importance of building sustainable business models, whether through frequent podcast episodes, strategic monetization, or leveraging community networks.

• Value of Networking: Large-scale networking events and conferences are pivotal in expanding reach, creating opportunities, and fostering a supportive entrepreneurial community.

• Balanced Success: True success encompasses not just financial wealth but also personal relationships, mental well-being, and long-term sustainability.

• Practical Financial Management: Maximizing credit card points and being strategic with financial resources can significantly enhance personal and business financial health.

This episode serves as an inspiring narrative on overcoming financial setbacks, the importance of sustainable business practices, and the immense value of community and networking in achieving long-term success.

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Timestamp References:

• 01:30 to 34:28 – Referenced quotes and segments.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Built a community around the show. We have a WhatsApp shot for every guest that's been on.

[A]

And I muted that joint. It's too crazy. It's too much going on. 900 people in all, and they are active every day.

[B]

Did you start a community around your show too?

[A]

Yeah, but I've been building a community around me, period. But I've been doing in person entrepreneurship workshops since like, 2013 or 14.

[B]

Yeah, early. Yeah. Now you have huge conferences too, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Podcast conference.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

How many people are last? 1.

[A]

Last one? 1100.

[B]

Holy crap. All right, guys, finally made it happen. From Atlanta, David Shands.

[A]

We're here.

[B]

One of the first podcasters I studied, so thanks for coming on, man. Yeah, abolutely. You were a pioneer in the space, I'd say.

[A]

Thank you, brother.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

I appreciate it, man. I. I've seen your work and you are out. You're out working every single podcast in the world. This is incredible. There's a nice studio, too.

[B]

Thanks, dude. Nothing like. Nothing like your 750k studio, but.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I mean, shoot. You doing your thing, man. So super proud of you.

[B]

Yeah, props, though. Yeah, I made up for the. Because I started late in the game. Because you started what, seven years ago?

[A]

20. 17. 18.

[B]

18. So, yeah, six. Seven years. So I made up for that time with reps. 100%. Yeah.

[A]

So you're pretty good at this.

[B]

Thousand episodes in now, so, you know, makes up for. Because a lot of people only film one a week, but it's hard to get good fast if you're only doing one a Week. How many do you do?

[A]

We're releasing two a week now.

[B]

Two a week?

[A]

We're doing like five a week, but we're doing about two a week now.

[B]

And you got a couple shows now, right? You got a. What's that other one you just started?

[A]

Proof and Hot Seat.

[B]

Hot Seat, Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, that's my baby.

[B]

Hot Seat's a fun one, right?

[A]

Yeah, I'm having a ball, bro.

[B]

I feel like that can inspire a lot of people.

[A]

Yeah, that show different too, man. So when I started, nobody was interviewing your average successful person from around your way. In 2018, interviews were kind of reserved for athletes or celebrities or, you know, breakfast club things of that nature. Oprah? No. Nobody's like, really not. I want to say nobody, but a lot of people weren't just interviewing their friends, and it was just a unique thing. So, you know, I'm getting all these people, we're getting this traffic. But now I notice that the same people that are on my podcast are like jumping around to other podcasts, which is what they're supposed to do.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But it's only so many story you have after you do seven interviews. Right. So I think what you're doing with the reps is you're probably finding questions that hopefully they're not being asked. But now that everyone's interviewing successful people, I thought to myself, well, I'm going to start interviewing unsuccessful people, people who haven't won. And I cook them for like an hour on the Hot Seat. And that's. Yes. It's just fun. It's unique. And it's not. You're not gonna find it everywhere.

[B]

No. Reminds me of one guy, Caleb Hammer. Oh, I love financial audit.

[A]

After I did it, I. I found. I found Caleb and I'm like, yo, he's killing it. What is he out of?

[B]

You know, I don't know, actually. If I had to guess, Caleb is not an L. A guy, though, so.

[A]

I want to meet him.

[B]

I want to meet him too. I wanted to go on the show because I've had some wild financial stories.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. Tell me what lost 10 million.

[A]

You lost 10 million?

[B]

$10 million?

[A]

How do you lose 10 million?

[B]

Crypto. Yeah, I got wrecked all in like a few month period, too.

[A]

Well, yeah. What period was this?

[B]

This was the last bull run, which was when I first moved here, I think. So 2021. I think around then.

[A]

You had $10 million in crypto.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it didn't go to zero.

[B]

It's pretty much zero. Yeah. Because they were in altcoins.

[A]

Crypto. I. And I associate crypto with bitcoin, but. So all the altcoins.

[B]

Yeah. So crypto encompasses every coin.

[A]

But you didn't have bitcoin.

[B]

I did. I still have Bitcoin and Ethereum, but I had 10 million in altcoins, which is like you never heard of.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So those are really volatile because they're not as stable as bitcoin and Ethereum.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

Yeah, So I got wiped.

[A]

How'd you feel?

[B]

Pretty lost for a few months. It was right before I started the show, actually, I think. Or like the year before. Yeah. So podcasting helped me get out of that funk, to be honest.

[A]

Wow. I've never lost that type of money. However, we do see these stories of people who do lose lots of money and they end it all.

[B]

Damn. I have heard those.

[A]

Yeah. Like these people that are like, super successful, but. And they lose a bunch of money, but it's still like light millionaires.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But they, like, jump off a bridge.

[B]

I never got to that point.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I could see if you have like a family, like, definitely the stakes are higher and if you lose it all with kids, it's definitely, like, tougher.

[A]

Yeah. You know, but so what was your.

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[A]

Mindset like I this episode of Digital.

[B]

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[A]

Tell me.

[B]

When I first moved to Vegas four years ago, I lost it all on sports cards, sports cards Yeah, I got so excited during that. Did you see that boom? Sports card, like sports cards. Like.

[A]

Oh, cards. Okay, got you.

[B]

Yeah, there was a boom like five years ago with like Michael Jordan cards and.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Did you see that? You remember that?

[A]

I did. And I wasn't in.

[B]

Oh, you didn't see that? But no, it's big. And I invested at the time. I had a couple hundred thousand dollars and I put it all into sports cards.

[A]

You're just a go all in type of person, huh?

[B]

That's how I am with podcasting. You see it filmed a thousand episodes in two years.

[A]

That's clear.

[B]

Yeah, I go all in. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. You know, this is how I am.

[A]

That's a great way to be, though.

[B]

Yeah, it's risky. It's risky. I don't know if I could have this mindset later on in life. Yeah, probably not. I think it's good to be safe too.

[A]

Well, maybe. I mean, I think you'll. You'll always be a go all in type of person, but you're getting better at managing the risk.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So you might go all in on something you believe in later, but you'll probably take some profits next time.

[B]

I will. Yeah. With crypto this time around, I am. I've already started.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So Bitcoin's at 65k. As we're filming this, I've already taken some profits.

[A]

Good, good.

[B]

I have to, man.

[A]

Yeah. How old are you?

[B]

27.

[A]

Yeah. Man, you got. Got so much time, bro, to learn.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you've learned, you're learning at a really, really fast pace.

[B]

So that's one of the side effects of podcasting. I'm sure you met and learned so much.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I've seen some of your guests, you know.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

That's incredible.

[A]

Yeah. But I think the important part is to stay focused. Cuz if you are like me and you're an entrepreneur, like you're sitting in front of somebody who's making a whole lot of money and you think that you can make a whole bunch of money and they'll tell you, yo, I'll help you, and you're like, oh, let's do it. But it kind of takes your eye off the ball, you know what I mean? Of what you're building. And especially if you are a trendy entrepreneur or I'm just trying to figure out like money grabs, you're not building something sustainable. It's going to be really, really difficult for you to have long term success. So even as I Make money, I go buy some real estate stuff I can't put my hands on.

[B]

Right.

[A]

You know what I mean? That doesn't change. Housing market can crash. But it's not like this $300,000 building is going to be worth 30,000 tomorrow. It doesn't work that way. Yeah, right. And if there is a crash, just hold on to it and it just comes back up. It's not, it's not like a crypto or it's not like a, I don't know, like sports cards, you know, it's.

[B]

Not as volatile for sure.

[A]

There's real value. No, there's no real, not going to say there's no real value because I just don't know the world. But there's NFT values. Right. But the NFT itself is only valuable because someone decided that this thing is nice to look at and nice to say that I own.

[B]

Right.

[A]

But a house, you have to own it. It's nice because it keeps you dry when it's raining.

[B]

Yeah, I lost a lot on NFTs too.

[A]

Oh, bro. Yeah, so that, that's what I'm saying. Like those, if you go from that, like those types of things and you're not building a sustainable business, it's always going to be extremely volatile. What you're doing right now in podcasting, especially if there's a, A, a formula that you have where I get this amount of, I do this many, many episodes, I get this amount of views, I know there's always a get in front of this audience.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That's business. Well, that's a sustainable business if you keep the formula.

[B]

It is. Yeah. The past year straight we've had similar revenue numbers every single month. So I know it's got some sort of like safety net there.

[A]

Welcome to real entrepreneurship.

[B]

Yeah, it's slower but it's, it's more fulfilling and it's, it's stable. So I'm not chasing those 100 extra turns anymore. But it's, it's fun. I'm having a blast.

[A]

You don't go to the casinos, do you?

[B]

I don't gamble. So it's like a Vegas thing. If you live here, you're not really supposed to gamble because you know the game. Yeah. Just over time. Time. You're screwed. Yeah. You be gambling out here?

[A]

No. No, no.

[B]

You seem pretty reserved. Like we were saying, you don't drink or.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Do you do any weed or any drugs? Has that been for a while or.

[A]

Yeah, I don't think I've like drank or smoking. I Think I had my last drink. May have been my wedding.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Six years ago, maybe.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

I haven't smoked in a very, very, very long time. Gambling is just. I. I kind of cut that out with the drinking, too, because I get anxiety. You know what I mean, bro? Even if it's. If we're playing a game and we're playing for dollars, I hate to see that next flip. It's like some sort of anxiety. Maybe it's just me. So I just stay away from the stuff altogether. No. No matter the amount.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

So that's crazy.

[A]

I'm cool.

[B]

A lot of people in our space are drinking, gambling, smoking, partying.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, some people just having a good time. It's just. I'm. I'm just at a point where I don't need it. And it doesn't seem like it benefits me if there's nothing. If. If the thing doesn't benefit me or benefit other people, I probably stay away from it.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And I don't see how gambling benefit. I gamble in terms of, like, business. I'll put $10,000 to partner with this person about this business. I think it's going to work. And it doesn't work out, which is cool, but at least I have a little more control. But I'm not. I'm not betting on the flippable.

[B]

Makes sense. What business opportunities are you most excited to move about recently?

[A]

I got. I got a couple, man.

[B]

Section eight.

[A]

Say it again.

[B]

Section eight.

[A]

Nah, I'm working with a couple brands where people have paid me to coach them, but there are some people who got something really special, and I'm like, let me just build it together with you.

[B]

Take a look.

[A]

All of my insight and experience and things of that nature, sometimes some money, put some. And then watching that grow and watching them grow as entrepreneurs, it's incredible. So that's. I won't share it, but that's. Those are a couple things.

[B]

I feel that there's a couple people really up and coming right now that if you got a really good product, you know, it's not too hard to market it.

[A]

Yeah. 100. You got the skill set, so you got. And I only do things that are already within the wheelhouse of what I do. So if. If someone has a business and one of the issues is maybe exposure, well, we can come on the podcast. I can shout you out. We can. I can start, you know, doing brand association with you and me and it works out. Or if someone as an entrepreneur, they need some Advice. I'm gonna give them advice anyway. So I only get involved in things where I'm already in it. Like one, it's a young lady who has a product which is gonna be really, really special. So we create the product, figured out how we're gonna make money from the product, and we're gonna wrap a podcast around it. We already have a podcast. I already have a studio. I have the cameras, we have the operators, all that kind of stuff. I can put you into this ecosystem that I have already, and then it works, and I benefit from that.

[B]

Smart.

[A]

But I'm not going outside of what I do.

[B]

Yeah, it's like a jv, but you're not in an uncomfortable situation.

[A]

Correct.

[B]

Yeah. I've had guests come on the show, message me like, yo, this podcast changed my life.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, it got the snowball rolling. Like, it led to sales, it led to meetings. Podcasts are good social proof.

[A]

Oh, yeah, 100%. Absolutely. And I think everybody needs a podcast. Every single entrepreneur. Just mark my words, if you are a entrepreneur and you're building a personal brand, you will not be able to survive without a podcast.

[B]

Wow, What a statement.

[A]

Yeah, you just can't. Like, there's so much out there where you can. People want to connect with a person. Right. And you can't build that in 60 second Instagram videos where it's chopped up and it's getting your best angles. If I'm sitting here and talking to you for an hour, you get to know me. And especially if it's over a year or so or two years, three years. When things happen in my life, you know about it because we're talking about it in real time. We'll never, ever be able to get the conversation that we just had about you losing everything. And not even I didn't want to, like, turn this into me interviewing you now. You're good. Your. Your girlfriend doesn't know that you just lost 10 million. That. Where are we gonna get that conversation from? On Instagram or like a 60 second video? There's not enough time to fit it in, but if your audience follows you long enough, they really get to know you. So if you don't have long formula, we started looking at like Twitch, the IRL stuff.

[B]

Oh, my gosh, they crush it. Those guys are making killing, bro.

[A]

There was somebody. First off, they don't. They do nothing. It's like they're streaming, not doing anything. But the interesting part Is they got 15,000 people watching them do nothing because they want to feel like they know the person. And anything can happen because this isn't edited.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So I'm actually looking of how I can start this IRL thing right where we got a guest come in where I've been recording all day, and we get kind of that conversation that we were having before this and, you know, we kind of just chop it up and we keep going and then the interview and then you leave. Then we might talk about some stuff after the camera's off right. In the podcast and you see all that. So I'm just trying to figure out how to incorporate that. But that is just another example of in real life content that people are craving.

[B]

Yeah. Some of those pre and post combos with podcasts are like gold. I'm like, damn, why didn't you say that on the show? I just started filming at live events. I just did a celebrity poker tournament. And those interviews were just so much more organic.

[A]

Oh, nice. You know, you get paid to go there.

[B]

I paid them, actually. So check this out. I paid 10,000 bucks. I got to interview Haley Welch, DWIGHT Howard, JaVale McGee, Ray J, like 10 others. And I was pretty skeptical. I was like, I've never paid to like do this.

[A]

That sounds like a good idea.

[B]

You know, I was like, whatever. And then afterwards, it just opened up so many doors. So I'm not opposed to doing that and recommending that to people watching.

[A]

I think I would do that. That was a good idea. What doors did it open up?

[B]

So all those celebrities have friends, so open up doors for guests. Sponsors started approaching me the next week. We got 75 grand in sponsors to cover those episodes.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Because if you interviews, they were like 15 to 20 because it was as they were getting knocked out of the tournament, so they would just come and do a post game interview.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

But yeah, when you get Haley Welch, who's right now a top five podcaster in the world, sponsors are going to knock on your door to sponsor that one.

[A]

Congratulations.

[B]

Congratulations to her, dude. Because I'm not going to lie, I didn't think she could keep this momentum.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Did you?

[A]

I don't even know.

[B]

That is the hawk to a girl.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

I thought that was just like a little street interview, like where she's like, you got to do.

[B]

She's a top five podcaster in the world right now on Spotify.

[A]

Really? Since that.

[B]

Yeah. She started her show. It's called Talk to a. That's her podcast.

[A]

How long ago was that little. How long ago was that the little. When she did the interview, was she doing something Back then.

[B]

No, she was. She didn't even have social media during that clip. She made it and she blew up and now she's one of the top podcasters in the world.

[A]

Insane.

[B]

Crazy, right?

[A]

Yeah. Congrats to her.

[B]

Yeah. But a lot of people can't maintain.

[A]

Yeah. 100.

[B]

Like, you've been in the game for years. Not a lot of people from when you started are still around today. What do you think's caused that longevity to stay for you?

[A]

They're not building a business. They're doing something because everybody else is doing it. Everybody's podcast. I'm starting a podcast. But that's not how you build anything sustainable. That's. I mean, it just is one of the. It just is what it is. And I think some of the reason they quit is because they're not making any money, but they didn't figure out how they're going to make money first before they even started. So, like, for somebody that's getting ready to start a podcast, figure out how you're going to make money first. Let's think about money first. Not just a good concept. Oh, I'm just do these interviews and we'll have conversations. You should really be thinking of, how am I gonna make money? And then wrap the podcast around the way you're going to make money.

[B]

Right.

[A]

There should be an intentional way that you promote this product through your podcast.

[B]

100%. I think most shows lose money. So 11% of shows quit last month.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Which is really high. But I knew going into the podcast I was probably gonna lose money up front, so I knew that mentally for the first six months, I lost a ton of money because the equipment's pretty expensive, for sure. And I was paying editors. Some editors are pretty expensive. Clippers I hired in the U.S. so those are expensive.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And yeah, I lost a ton of money at first, so I almost quit.

[A]

So it works. Almost.

[B]

Yeah. Financially it was tough. I was down 100k at one point.

[A]

So you say you're down 100k. Like, man, you put 100 into it.

[B]

I put over 100 into it because I had some revenue. So I probably put like 150 and made back 50.

[A]

How much did you have left?

[B]

Not that much.

[A]

I mean, like, just personally, I just have some money. Let's say you have 250, 000.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Or $200,000. And you put a hundred thousand. You have a hundred left. So even if you lost that 100, you still had 100. Like, where was you at in terms of your personal Income?

[B]

Yeah, not that much because I just was coming off that 10 mil loss. So. 10 mil was most of my money at the time. Yeah, I think I maybe had 11 or 12. So I lost like 90 with that million.

[A]

Yeah, but you still had another million or two left.

[B]

Yeah, but when you got a house, I mean, you know.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When you got payments, I, I spend like 50k a month, you know, it's quite a lot of money. So. Yeah, a million won't really last you as long as, as, as you think. With my lifestyle, what do you be doing? I'm not flashy. It's just like travel. My, my mortgage is 13k plus utilities. I eat out a good amount, so yeah, I'm spending business expenses, so. Pay a month, man. Yeah, I mean, I mean you're probably spending more than that. What are you saying?

[A]

Yeah, but most of it is like my, my household bills, of course. My actual house though, isn't a big mortgage. A few thousand bucks.

[B]

Oh, wow.

[A]

But I do got a bunch of kids. I got three kids. I have my wife and my in laws typically stay with us most of the year. They live in my, they live in Florida, but they come back and there's always one of them living and I gotta feed everybody and yeah, we do trips and I have a full staff and. Yeah, it's been a lot.

[B]

Yeah, you're probably spending 100k a month then.

[A]

Yeah, yeah, I spent a lot.

[B]

You need that black car, baby.

[A]

I spent a lot. Yeah, but I mean, I think the black card only, it's for a show though, right?

[B]

Yeah, it's not worth it. Yeah, it's like 10k a year or whatever.

[A]

Yeah. My other cards do more and. Yeah, yeah, I don't need all this.

[B]

I'll be stacking points. Yeah, I have on a lot of credit hackers on the show.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Teaching me all sorts of stuff, bro.

[A]

I did a, I did a trip to France with my wife and it felt so bad because I think I had like three million Delta points.

[B]

Damn.

[A]

And I had to spend like one and a half.

[B]

What?

[A]

On the flights.

[B]

Oh, you should have used the travel hacks.

[A]

What's the travel X?

[B]

You could transfer the points and get 5x.

[A]

What do you mean?

[B]

So like where did you have the points on your MX or Delta? Oh, on Delta.

[A]

I mean, I, I, but I accumulate them through Delta mx.

[B]

Got it. Okay. I don't know if it would have worked then, but if you have AMEX points, you could transfer it to a hotel or airline for 5x points.

[A]

You can transfer to. Well, I just bought them with the point. I don't know if that works with Delta. I just. They just use my points, but use them for 5x points. I don't understand that. Exactly.

[B]

So, like, these hotels and airlines will have. Once a year, they'll open up a period of time where if you transfer your points from your AMEX card to their website, they'll give you a 5x bonus. So say you have a million points on Amex and you transfer it to Delta, United American Airlines, they'll give you 5 million points.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

When they doing that next?

[B]

You got to keep an eye on it. They run them randomly, but.

[A]

Oh, wow. Yeah, that's hard.

[B]

You could do that for Marriott. For Hilton. Yeah. There's some wild.

[A]

Oh, that makes sense because they just make sure I spend all of my points with them.

[B]

Yep. Yeah, so they're making their money too.

[A]

That's fine. How many boys you got?

[B]

I had a million. I might be close again. I used all mine, too.

[A]

Check out my points real quick.

[B]

You probably have millions, man, if you're spending.

[A]

I do, I do.

[B]

What's your favorite credit card? The mx.

[A]

Yeah, I only have mx, but I like mx. Delta. I got the platinum, the gold.

[B]

Yeah. You know, you could buy status too.

[A]

Really? Yeah, Yeah, I got 4 million points.

[B]

Damn. Yeah, you're safe. You if you use that, right?

[A]

I got like 8:30 on Hilton. I got 4 million on. This is probably the same thing, though. Yeah, but see, I had to use all of my points, my Delta points for that one trip. So I've had like 700, like 5.

[B]

Million points with everything.

[A]

Yeah, I got some points.

[B]

Yeah, I'll get you with the right credit people.

[A]

Yeah, man, I need all the hacks, bro.

[B]

So I buy status whenever I fly.

[A]

You buy status?

[B]

Yeah. You could buy United 1k status. You could buy Marriott. What is it? Platinum status.

[A]

I didn't know that. And I only fly with Delta, so. And I already have the best one.

[B]

But say you're flying somewhere and they don't have Delta, you could buy the status of that airline. So you're in boarding group one.

[A]

How much?

[B]

Like 500.

[A]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

I do it for hotels because then they'll give you the best room.

[A]

Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah, yeah. See, you know something, bro?

[B]

I learned a lot.

[A]

That is another reason I think everybody needs a podcast, because you get so much perspective from other people. And I don't even know this, but I know this, that I'm sure somebody came on your podcast and you Made some money with them.

[B]

Yeah, it works, for sure. I've done some affiliate stuff. People pay to come on. Yeah, there's always so many ways to monetize, dude. Yeah, I have events. I do in person stuff. I feel like people are getting away from that.

[A]

Oh, yeah. You know, keep doing in person stuff.

[B]

Everyone's trying to live digitally, but in person's crucial 100%. I mean, I built a community around the show. We have a WhatsApp chat for every guest that's been on.

[A]

And I muted that joint. It's too crazy. Like, it's too much going on.

[B]

900 people and all, and they are active every day.

[A]

Yeah, it's wild. It's too much going on in that chat.

[B]

Did you start a community around your show too?

[A]

Yeah, but I've been. I've been building a community around me, period, since I worked at the Cheesecake Factory and left and. Yeah, I've just. Building a community is, like, trendy now, but I've been doing in person entrepreneurship workshops and, like, since like, 2013 or 14.

[B]

Yeah, that's early. Yeah. Now you have huge conferences too, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Podcast conference.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

How many people are at the last one?

[A]

Last one? 1100.

[B]

Holy crap.

[A]

1100.

[B]

That's impressive, man. Thousand podcasters in one room. I'm sure the value There is 100, man.

[A]

So we're going for 2,000 next year. And that is. What's so interesting is I think most of our first off. Our conference is iconic, bro. It's just so much energy. It's electrifying. I would put our conference up against any other conference, and there's really only two other ones. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah. You're already the biggest, right?

[A]

Well, no. Or the best, though.

[B]

Quality over quantity, bruh.

[A]

Our joint is cr. Those people leave with so much information. Because I'm tailoring the information because I'm a. I'm a teacher in terms of business, so I know what you need to learn. I know the vibe that needs to be created. I can I force network, where I'm making sure everybody connects with each other. And I think the current model of podcast conferences is like big expo hall, where it's like a bunch of vendors and it's like a big group of people. I don't know. I don't know. Not knocking those guys, but I'm saying I think, and I'm grateful they're there, so I was able to see something.

[B]

You could learn from them.

[A]

Yeah, Let me take this and put my own sauce on it. But we 100% have the best podcast conference in the world. It's called Podcast Summit, so love it. If you're watching this podcastsummit.com.

[B]

I'Ll be at the next one, man. It's in Atlanta, right?

[A]

Absolutely. Yeah, man. You speak there?

[B]

Hell, yeah. Yeah. I can't wait. I look at the people around you, and they're just all killing it, man.

[A]

Oh, man.

[B]

So I know you're. You're kind of the mastermind behind some of these names that you see on social media.

[A]

Oh, bro. I wouldn't say that. I think we're just a group of people that we all learn from each other. Yeah. I learned so much from my circle of people that I'm in, and hopefully I can continue to add value. So they keep me in the circle.

[B]

Absolutely.

[A]

But if you all keep adding value, you just keep. Have a strong group.

[B]

I notice Atlanta has that kind of. That circle. Right. You guys are tight. Yeah. That's important for people watching this to find that.

[A]

Yeah. And, yeah, it's. It's dope. And I think everybody has an opportunity in their city to start creating something.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Where you're bringing people. Just bring people together. That's it.

[B]

That was my goal when I moved here.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, because there's a lot of conferences here, but locals never really had their own events, so when I first moved here, I had my networking event. Only, like, 40 people came.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I just had one last week, and there was a thousand signups.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Yeah. So 500 people came.

[A]

It was just a networking event.

[B]

Just a networking. Free, Free. No paid ads, 1,000 signups.

[A]

What made you do it?

[B]

I've been having them for five years. I wanted to overcome my. Well, selfishly, I wanted to overcome my introvertness, shyness, awkwardness, but also I wanted to connect people. I've always loved doing that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So, yeah, I've been doing. Doing it for five years. Fourteen events now.

[A]

Wow. Congratulations.

[B]

Yeah, it's been fun, dude.

[A]

Congratulations. I love what you're doing, man. You're just so young, and you got so much life ahead of you and just so much stuff to figure out. You're just killing it.

[B]

You look young, man. I can't even tell your age.

[A]

Ah, thank you. Thank you. But I'll be 40 this year.

[B]

Wow. Congrats.

[A]

December 8th, I'll be 40.

[B]

What's that feel like?

[A]

It feels incredible, man. When I was 27, I looked at 40 as, like, yo, that's over the hill. And, like, I want to make sure I'm set by Then. But I just. I just feel like I have just a wealth of knowledge and information and so many experiences, and I'm at that point where I'm becoming a responsible father and husband. And this is the latest part of life.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

So. Yeah.

[B]

Beautiful.

[A]

Oh, it's incredible, man. You just don't. When you walk. You have kids?

[B]

Not yet. I want kids, though, bro.

[A]

You're gonna have a big, beautiful house, and you're gonna have a beautiful wife, and you're gonna open the door and you just hear these little feet running towards. And they say, daddy. Bro, I won. Listen, there's a lot of people to make way more money than me, but I won, bro. I'm winning. I've. I'm in a. I'm at a point where business is good and I have some money, and I still have a good relationship, and my kids love me. I'm their superhero. I love them. I got something to go home to. I'm. I'm. I'm very devout in my faith. I'm. God's been good, bro.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

See, that's success right there.

[A]

It is. But I thought when I was 25, 26, 27, that success was an amount. But as you know, money comes and goes. It doesn't. It's. It's actually easier to make it than it is to keep it. Keeping it is a responsibility.

[B]

Way harder.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. It's so. It just slips out of your hands somehow.

[B]

You get pulled in so many directions.

[A]

And the more you make, the more. The harder it is to manage it.

[B]

Right.

[A]

If you go through your bank account, and I know I do this all the time, you just find stuff like, what the hell? Yeah, $3,000.

[B]

Yeah. I go through my credit cards, like, every few months, and I'm like, what the. Yeah.

[A]

It's so hard. And some. I'm telling you, if you are watching this, please remember what I'm telling you. Don't rush to make it as you're making a little bit. Manage that little bit.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then start managing it on the way up. But wealth, success is so elusive. Yeah. You gotta focus.

[B]

Absolutely. How important was having your wife by your side throughout the process?

[A]

Incredible, man. It's incredible for knowing I can go home and go to someone that I love. But also, it's crucial for your focus, because if you're not married, you're out there chasing stuff.

[B]

Right.

[A]

When I was single, you just go like, you could be working all day and you're thinking about what you're gonna do that night, that Involves the type of person. Well, women. Whatever you're into. But you spend so much time in that area of your life where you spend a whole evening with a person and then the next day and like, oh, we go on dates and you spend so much money time, you can't focus. So not having to go chase tail, bro, keeps me focused.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Dating is a full time job. I see it with my single friends. They're like texting for hours a day and then they're meeting up for hours.

[A]

And then arguing for hours.

[B]

And I hear about the dating world these days. Holy crap. I want no part of that, bruh.

[A]

It's nasty.

[B]

Damn. I hear the worst stories these days.

[A]

You married yet?

[B]

About to be.

[A]

Really?

[B]

Next year.

[A]

You're engaged?

[B]

Yeah, seven years now. So congratulations. About that time. Thanks, man.

[A]

Yeah, no more secrets. If you lose 10 million, you're gonna tell her immediately.

[B]

I'll tell her. We're at a great spot now. I used to. No, I used to withhold a lot of stuff just because of the way I grew up, you know, very like shy kid. Didn't want to tell people anything, how I was feeling or anything.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I'm working on that. Podcasting has helped me open up socially.

[A]

Good, good. So many benefits, so many.

[B]

Being able to converse with people is a. Is a good skill to have.

[A]

Oh, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. You're good at it, bro.

[B]

Thanks, dude. Comes with the reps. Well, dude, where can people find out what you're up to next and find out your events and everything?

[A]

I have the most electrifying group in the world. It's called the Morning Meetup. And believe it or not, I'm on a call every single morning, Monday through Friday with entrepreneurs that want to grow. This is a pre recorded call. It's not just some course. I'm actually on there. We're setting the tone for the month, for the day, for the week, for the year right now. And I don't know when this is going to be released, but we're setting a foundation for the rest of the year that we can stand on for 20, 25. So I'm just preparing this group of people. We got 100 something people want to call every single day. About 700 people that are in the program. But it's a. It's a monthly group where I'm literally coaching every day. Every Thursday we do Q and A. Monday through Friday, I'm doing some sort of lesson and helping. We have a book club. We all read the same book at the same time. The Same part. We don't read any more than 10 pages a day so that we can read tonight and then tomorrow morning we discuss what we read. It locks in the information. Wow. They're connecting with each other. Anywhere in the country you can connect with somebody that's in this community. So that's, that's my major, that's like, that's that, that's my major community. But December, working on December 13th. December 12th, December 13th. I will be 40 in December. My co host, Donnie will be 46. So we're doing an event called 40 46, where we're celebrating our birthdays with a one day all out conference preparation, preparing people to make their first million dollars in 2025. And we're gonna have so many testimonials, we're locking in preparing information where y'all can celebrate with us our birthday. But this is our gift to you all. And the gift that you'd be giving to us if you follow us and you've been listening to us for years is to come. And a ticket might be like a hundred bucks. We're, we're trying to cover expenses, but it's not like a $400 thou, $500 ticket, nothing like that. You can come for 40 bucks and that's going to be electrifying because I can't wait to see the stories that come out of it next year.

[B]

I love that, man. Bring book clubs back, man.

[A]

Oh, for sure. Ours, they never left.

[B]

I love it. All right, David, thanks for coming on, man.

[A]

Thanks, man.

[B]

Thanks for watching guys. As always. Check out the links below. See you next time.