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Farnoosh Torabi
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Cody Sanchez
So money episode 1805 how to build Financial Power Through Ownership with Cody Sanchez, Founder and CEO of Contrarian Thinking.
Farnoosh Torabi
You're listening to SO Money with award winning money guru Farnoosh Torabi. Each day get a 30 minute dose of financial inspiration from the world's top business minds, authors, influencers and from Farnoosh herself. Looking for ways to save on gas or double your double coupons. Sorry, you're in the wrong place. Seeking profound ways to live a richer, happier life. Welcome to SO Money.
Cody Sanchez
I think we are in an asset ownership race right now and those who in the future will have more financial resources and more freedom will be those who own things. And the reason why is because AI cannot take away ownership. Right? And so if I own this house, we are going to for the foreseeable future, at least until we upload to Neuralink, we are going to need houses, we are going to need buildings, we are going to need services for said houses and buildings. And in the future, AI and robotics may take up a lot of our menial tasks. But if you actually own the entity itself, then AI is just something you integrate.
Welcome to so Money everybody. I'm Farnoosh Tarabi. What if the secret to extraordinary wealth isn't about betting on the next big thing, but buying something that's trying, tried and true. Like a plumbing business, a car wash or a cleaning company? What if the future of entrepreneurship isn't on Wall street or in Silicon Valley, but on Main Street. If only we knew how to seize it. That's where my guest today comes in. Cody Sanchez is here. She's the founder and CEO of Contrarian Thinking. It's a digital education platform and media company with over 6 million followers. She also runs Contrarian Thinking Capital. It's an investment firm that supports the ecosystem of Main street entrepreneurs. We discuss her new book, Main Street Millionaire, where Kody lays out her bold argument that buying profitable, established, cash flowing businesses is the most underrated path to building wealth. And that time to act is now, because America is facing a generational handoff. Over 40 million Americans are hitting retirement age and baby boomers, who currently own nearly two thirds of small businesses with employees, are poised to sell. Cody calls this a silver tsunami. And for those who know how to navigate it, it could mean once in a generation, opportunities. In our conversation, Cody opens up about her own unlikely journey from journalism to Wall street to Main Street. We talk about how she made the leap, the psychological hurdles to entrepreneurship, and how she thinks about power relationships and the future of work in an AI driven world.
Farnoosh Torabi
Cody Sanchez, welcome to Sew Money, my friend.
Cody Sanchez
Thank you for having me.
Farnoosh Torabi
Oh, my gosh. I feel a kinship to you because you started your career in journalism.
Cody Sanchez
I did.
Farnoosh Torabi
You've also worked in finance. So we have similar patterns in some of the industries that we have pursued. And now you're helping millions of people think counterintuitively about work and money and business. What was the moment when you were younger perhaps, and you were working in different industries that you realized that you wanted to push towards a shift?
Cody Sanchez
You know, have you ever had that moment where you realize that you are completely unemployable? Like, you're like, oh, yeah, I'm not capable of listening to a boss tell me what to do about things anymore, especially if they're not reasonable. Like, I'm out. And so I had one of those moments where I was just like, God, I know this is what the business needs to do. I get that it's not like the right bureaucracy and that I didn't kiss the ring and do all the things, but can I just tell you what we should actually do? And we could do it because it's a good idea on merit based on all of this other political nonsense. And it turns out the answer was no, absolutely not. It was like, no, if you're not, you know, if, if you haven't climbed the rung and done these specific things and, you know, we're. That's not really what's your job. Go back to your job. And so that had to happen to me, like, a few times before I finally thought, man, I'm going to try this thing called entrepreneurship by myself. Because I just can't handle the fact that, like, some of this stuff is so inefficient. And I was at huge financial companies, so, you know, you know this too. But when you work at these bureaucracies, at some point you're like, you know, this makes too much sense, so we should absolutely not do it here. That's gonna be the rule. And I was like, I just. I couldn't handle it anymore. And I think that was the point at which I was like, all right, I gotta go do my own thing, because otherwise I'm just gonna end up sort of like, slowly wasting away quietly in the corner and become sort of bitter and resentful. And I didn't wanna do that.
Farnoosh Torabi
What was your first move?
Cody Sanchez
You know, I think often when you have been in a job in corporations for a long time, like, I have, I was sort of a wuss. So, like, you feel like, I can't really leave. I've got the golden handcuffs. This works really well for me. I make money here. And so my first move was, like, baby steps. I mean, I just call it toe teetling. So basically I would just take these little tiny toe dips in the water of entrepreneurship. So my first time doing that was a year out of college. I started my own very first blog that was, like, back when blogs were cool kind of for a moment. And so I started my first one that was called Selling South. And then I kind of bought this little consultancy. I bought a tiny little job, really. And both of those I did on the side. Then I tried this little podcast. You can find it. It's out there. Still in her. Horrifying. It's called the Struggle Isn't Real. Shows you how much I knew at that time. And then I. And then I started buying these little businesses at the side. So, like, my pushback to the man, or whatever I would call it back then was basically like, I don't feel like I know enough to go do it all by myself. So I'm going to do these little tiny test runs. A bunch of failed experience experiments are kind of okay experiments until I could go do it by myself. And it really wasn't until I was like 10 years into my career that finally thought, I'm going to go do this by myself. And so I think sometimes it's okay, you know, wherever you are, no it is hard to go do the thing by yourself. It is really hard to feel like you are on the line alone for it. And it's really hard to make a startup make money. I mean, I think startups are incredible at helping you fund other people's businesses. They don't make money typically for the first three to four years. And so we should be honest about that. And if you're struggling with it and scared about it, you should be. And I was. And the only way I finally escaped, which is probably why I'm so loud about it on the Internet, is that I did find buying businesses and acquisitions and I was like, oh, okay, here's something where there's some profit already. And I, I'm not so much of an idiot that I can't like keep a business going as long as I don't overextend what I buy it for. Maybe I could do that instead.
Farnoosh Torabi
This gets us into your new book, Main Street Millionaire, where you do say the biggest financial opportunities aren't in get rich quick schemes. I'm going to venture to guess it's also you're throwing in things like alternative investments, crypto, but it's actually in acquiring these real businesses, which, by the way, you know, small business in America is the backbone of our economy, which they're providing cash flow stability. It's going to give you long term. Well, tell us why this is unconventional wisdom. Why don't we know this more? Like, is it just because we live in a capitalist world that's obsessed with the stock market?
Cody Sanchez
Well, I think a couple reasons. One, a corporate job is pretty incredible. Like when you go and work at a corporate job, you don't have the risk every single day, at least perceived risk. You know, you can make a ton of money on somebody else's dime. You could leave your work at home in a lot of the big corporations in this country. But the problem is, is that our tax code incentivizes ownership. So the government's gonna take, you know, if you're doing well, up to 50% of your wealth, depending on what state you live in. And so one, like you could earn a ton of money, but you also give a lot of back because they don' that you're, you're creating as much value because you're not taking risk. And then two, you're sort of at the mercy of other people for if they downsize, if they change or whatever and you don't have other assets, I think that's super problematic. And so I think that we were Just told that that's the way to do things. I mean, I saw something on Twitter go viral the other day and I was sort of chuckling. It was like, turns out all these tech guys who, you know, left tech to go into boring businesses, they're all back two years later. And I think it's a gross generalization because we've helped something like 5,000 people buy businesses and we've seen them like they don't go back. Once you own the business, you're like, oh, wait a second, I don't want to be subservient to somebody else again. However, what I think is real is that ownership is hard. And if it was easy, then way more than 6 to 10% of Americans would do it. I think the problem is the frame of that tweet. Why it bothered me so much is because just because something's hard doesn't mean that it's not worth it. And we've got to start playing long term games in order to win long term prizes. And if we just rush back to the safety of somebody else's paycheck, I think we as a nation become a lot less innovative and we as individuals also become less happy.
Farnoosh Torabi
All right, I want to understand why. Now this is a really great strategy. I'm thinking because with AI taking over a lot of the tech jobs and even non the non tech jobs. But you know, I was reading part of your book where you're emphasizing going after the boring businesses. You know, boring using quotes, things like Laundromats and H Vac companies and utility companies, plumbing jobs. You know, this cannot be replaced by AI. So I have to think that part of your strategy here is recognizing how the world is changing.
Cody Sanchez
Talk to that a little bit.
Farnoosh Torabi
I think that's important.
Cody Sanchez
I think we are in an asset ownership race right now. And those who in the future will have more financial resources and more freedom will be those who own things. And the reason why is because AI cannot take away ownership. Right. And so if I own this house, we are going to, for the foreseeable future, at least until we upload to Neuralink, we are going to need houses, we are going to need buildings, we are going to need services for said houses and buildings. And in the future, AI and robotics may take up a lot of our menial tasks, but if you actually own the entity itself, then AI is just something you integrate. If you don't have ownership, then AI is a threat to you and whatever task you do, AKA job you do on a day to day basis. So I actually think that the stuff that I'm talking about is more relevant today than it was three years ago. I did not expect that. I had no idea the speed at which AI was going to move. I just knew that if I looked at historical data, if you want to be a millionaire, 60% of millionaires own a business. If you want to be worth $30 million or more, 88% of them own a business. So I was just looking at the math and saying, I think money equals freedom. I think more people should be free. I think we're a happier society when more of us produce. And so that means we should have more ownership in this country. Thesis. But then on a forward looking progression, we've already seen where AI comes first. I mean, I think AI will take over almost everything that can be programmatic. And so what does that mean? It means that we should own things and allow the programmatic tasks to be done to our things. But if we all just say, well, I don't want to own and do the work of owning a accounting business, I just want to stay an accountant in the business, you will be outsourced before the accounting firm overall will talk.
Farnoosh Torabi
To me also about the affordability of this. People in my audience, you know, they're.
Cody Sanchez
They'Re listening, they're like, this is interesting.
Farnoosh Torabi
They'Re leaning in, maybe they only have $10,000 to start. Do you go and you get financing for this? Walk me through some of the smart risk, mindful ways to get into acquiring, you know, a quote unquote boring business. And, and where would you be looking right now, specifically sectors.
Cody Sanchez
Well, first you have to change your mentality and you have to realize that you don't actually suffer from a lack of money. You suffer from a lack of knowledge on how to get money. It doesn't have to be your own money. You know, if we look at the biggest players out there in the world, they don't go from their bank account. They do leverage buyouts. They go and they get bank assets, they go raise third party capital, whether that's equity or debt. They use the securities they have in their securities account, like Elon did in order to buy Twitter, for instance, and a securitized loan, and they take that loan and they buy other assets. And so I think it's, you know, we know in this country we have poor financial literacy, which typically means like budgeting, personal finance, getting out of debt. We don't have very good financial literacy, 101 literacy. We have extra terrible 202 to 303 financial literacy. Which is like, what is good debt? We can't even understand normal debt. What is like good high leverage debt? People don't understand. And so part of my mission is like I watched Wall street for decades and I was like, these guys have an unfair advantage. Why? Because they know how to get access to capital. They then accumulate a ton of capital because they have so much capital, they're de risk. So that decreases the interest rates that they get to pay on that capital. And they have essentially then created an unfair advantage. They could pay more for every business than we can because they have more access to capital at lower rates than we do. And that is how buy up our country. And so my pushback to that, which is pretty personal to me because I don't want to live inside of a Walmart or a Starbucks or a Costco, is that we should learn how to get it ourselves. Why do we need a bank? Why can't we go direct to the seller of the business and do some version of seller financing, creative financing? Why do so many businesses close down entirely? Most small businesses will never sell. They're like glorified jobs. Well, why can't we take over a job and use milestone based purchasing in order to buy the job or the business business a little bit at a time? And so I want to push people to just learn how to become a deal maker. Because if you learn how to become a deal maker, it is really hard to be poor. And that's why I wrote this book. Doesn't mean you have to go out and buy an H Vac company or a laundromat. The reason I wrote the book is because if you understand how to negotiate a deal and terms, then you will be very hard to stop in almost any endeavor of your financial life.
Farnoosh Torabi
It's so true. And you're seeing trends in the marketplace where there are startups, for example, that their whole business model is going to help these small business owners, often mom and pop independence that don't have a succession plan, but they have 30 years of sweat and equity in the business. They have employees that are long term. So they're like, look, we'll come in, we will become partners with you, we'll become 51% owners. You can, you know, go retire. And we're going to help your existing staff train up and manage up and give them, you know, maybe some benefits, get you into the 21st century a little bit. Because your website's a mess. And I think that is also a wonderful thing. You know, it's a wonderful, heartfelt Thing in some ways, like you're, you're sustaining a business, but also you're sustaining livelihoods.
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. You know, and I listen, I often try to let people know that I understand that it is hard to run a business and to acquire businesses, that's not easy. But there's a great book also called how to Make a Few Billion Dollars, which I thought was a historic. Oh, just a few, just a few. Brad Jacobs, he was arguably one of the best acquirers in the world. Now it's more sophisticated and it's not very tactical. It's his life story. So don't start with that book. Start with Main street millionaire, learn how to actually do a deal and then read his book to understand the expansion of where you can go next. But he talks about how. Well, the way that he has made a few billion dollars is by seeing the fact that acquisition leads to obscene wealth or obscene profit creation. And that's just math. You can't find a multi billion dollar conglomerate that doesn't do acquisitions. They don't exist. Whether they have done multiple acquisitions, hundreds of acquisitions or one. It's sort of mandatory. And it's really just this idea of do you want to go addition or do you want to go multiplication? Addition compounding looks very different from multiplication compounding. And when you acquire businesses and you do it intelligently, you can just grow a lot faster. And so I want more of us who own small businesses to realize that. Because my bet is that if we do, we own businesses for the long term. We don't have a set 7 or 10 year period on which we have to exit our portfolio positions in private equity. If I acquire a bunch of companies inside of my company, I can hold that business forever. I could create a beautiful legacy business. It could be the next Berkshire Hathaway of my little realm. Right. And so there's no perverse incentives. And so I actually really want to push business owners if they're listening to think about acquisitions. So I think that's the next unfair hack. It might be my, that'll be my next book.
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Farnoosh Torabi
Well, you brought up Finance 101. You've brought up ownership, and I kind of want to integrate those two and have pick your brain a little bit about how we can have more ownership in our personal financial lives. You've talked about how often how financial freedom is power. How do you first of all define power, Cody? And what has your relationship with money been and how has it evolved over the years so that you can be in ownership of your financial life?
Cody Sanchez
Well, you know, if right now you're listening and you're struggling with money and you feel like you don't have enough of it and, you know, you're not sure how to get to the next level, you have some sort of constraint that's holding you back, you know, just know that even to this day, I still don't feel like I have a ton of money. There is still, like, that poor kid inside of Cody who grew up, like, bouncing a lot of checks back when we used checks and having debit cards that were overdrawn and, like, really fearing the $30 chase fee that meant, like, I wouldn't be able to swing things for that week. And so, like, I didn't start out with this massive abundance as an idea of money at all. In fact, quite the opposite. I pursued money relentlessly because I didn't want people telling me what to do all the time. And if you don't want people telling you what to do all the time, then you need money to push back against that. And so I was like, God, I need some money, because the world is pushing on me and I'm tired of it. And so that's why I started. And then some weird thing happens. I think once you start reading a lot of books, once you start getting in rooms where other people's Tuesday is your dream day, you start to realize, whoa, there's so much money out there. And these guys have. They don't even. They don't even think on the same plane as I do, zero wise. And so if they can do it because I met him, he's not that smart. After I got to know him, I could do this too. So I think proximity is power when it comes to money games. If you can get in more rooms with other people who are doing deals, who are making money, your likelihood of doing a deal and making money goes up. Like asymmetrically it goes up. In fact, actually I had the most fascinating podcast guest the other day. You should have her on Dr. Tina. And she was sharing this study with me. That was wild. So the study is that your microbiome is contagious. So non transferable diseases like what is in your microbiome, non transferable health issues are actually contagious. So if you, for instance, they had multiple different aspects of the study. So in one family, they had one member of a family take an antibiotic. The antibiotic affected other members of the family even though they hadn't taken it. You had another person in a family start to take probiotics and treat H. Pylori anyway, a bacteria or parasite, and the other members of the family started having their gut issues remedied. And we know this is true in money as well. Like your likelihood of becoming richer not being. So it's not like correlation not causation. But becoming richer is asymmetrically increased by being around richer people. And it's the same with performance. You know, multiple studies that show if you sit in a 25 foot radius of a high performer versus a low performer, you will perform higher or lower based on who you sit next to. And so we humans are very contagious. So I would say get in rooms where other people actually believe that you're capable and that it is a possibility to make a lot more money.
Farnoosh Torabi
The wise Steve Harvey once said, if eight of your friends are broke, you're going to be number nine.
Cody Sanchez
Oh, it's a great. Isn't he good at those one liners?
Farnoosh Torabi
Oh my gosh. You have also said transitioning a little bit to the applications money in relationship.
Cody Sanchez
You said that your dad gave you.
Farnoosh Torabi
Some really, really amazing advice and I love this so much. He said, make your own money and then marry someone funny. Yes, that is, that's the. That's it, right? Like end of story.
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, I got lucky with that one. My husband's actually hysterical. He's actually very funny because he'll. We'll be in a group of friends and sometimes I think I'm kind of funny. And then he'll Be like, I'm the funny one, the relationship. And he kind of is. So he's right.
Farnoosh Torabi
We'll give him that. We'll give him that.
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Cody Sanchez
People come for the Cody because I'm all over the Internet and they stay for the Chris because he's cooler than I am. So I do think, you know, I've talked about this a little bit publicly before, but it's not hyperbole when I say that my favorite thing that I've ever done is this. This deal, which is being married to him. Yeah. And that I think having a spouse who is a good partner and having a good relationship is an absolute superpower. And the reason I know that is because I've had one that wasn't. It was not a good marriage. And I'm not placing blame. I try to not really talk about that publicly too much because he doesn't have a voice. But that was not a good marriage for me. And I don't think I was a good, good partner for him either. And so now that I'm on this side, man, if you get the opportunity to really prioritize who you are and thus who you attract and who you attract, then really serving that relationship as a separate entity, I think. Well, the studies also show you'll be richer. People have a higher net worth independently, not just the fact that two people are earning incomes when they're married than when they're single, which is like, when I was single, I didn't like that statistic much because I thought, I don't need no man. But once I got married, I realized it's a reality, a real power play to prioritize a relationship with a human being.
Farnoosh Torabi
There's a lot of books out right now and forthcoming about the ambition trap that women have that are. They're in and how it applies sometimes to the dating world where you're a woman who is ambitious financially, professionally, spiritually. And that sometimes makes for a complex dating life. I would love for you to share any anecdotes or advice for a woman who feels uninspired in her dating life because she's running up against challenges. Right. Where it's just, you know, how do I say this delicately? Like the. The ego is a delicate thing, and sometimes the male ego can get crushed. Sitting across the table from a woman who is. Is exerting power in a way that he's not used to. And then, you know, they don't have a second date.
Cody Sanchez
Yeah.
You know, well, one, I would say, like, wherever you are and however you feel about this, you're probably right. Like you're not an irrational, ridiculous human being. So, like, I validate whatever experience you've had there. Simultaneously, I might say you do get to control the narrative of the world around you. And so I am very careful about the words I say because I do not want to will things into existence. And it sounds touchy feely and I am in awe, Austin. So who knows? But I have found to be very true that the things that we say become the reality around us. And so I have a couple girlfriends who say things like, there's no good men anymore. There's nobody here to date. Well, guess what happens. Do you think that you're gonna attract very many when a man overhears you somehow saying there's no good men? I mean, I have a couple incredible girlfriends that I literally just wouldn't introduce guys to because they say that so much. And I'm like, well, fuck, I don't want to be part of the next story you tell about the guy that you dated. And it was my friend in my introduction. I'm just not going to do that. Whether you're woo woo or whether you're rational, be careful of the story you tell yourself. And then second, find a guy who plays a completely different game. If you're really monetarily successful, stop looking for another monetarily successful guy. If that's not working out for you. The definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing I did find when I was dating, and I was dating other high powered financial men independently. And then I started becoming a little bit more successful. That didn't work out so great. There were some competitive aspects to that. But then I started dating a man who was an AV seal who believes that his highest value is service and strength. He thinks it's so uninteresting that somebody has a bigger bank account or a faster car than he does. No interest, whatever. He thinks that's low level games. And so because he doesn't play the same game that I do, we don't compete. And now, in fact, it's gotten to such a point where we work together in the business. He actually runs our venture capital fund and our holding company. And there's no competition. Competition between the two of us. Now, I'm not Pollyanna. We fight plenty. I drive him crazy plenty. I'm sure. You know, he. He drives me crazy too. But the point is, if I could do it again, I would stop trying to find the same person as me and I would actually try to find somebody different. And the last thing I'll say. And I'm not a dating coach, so what do I know? But like, man, that old statement that our parents used to say, that drove us crazy, which is opposites attract, is true in a lot of ways. And I think it is a tragedy if you are not dating somebody because they're Republican and you're Democrat. I think it's a tragedy if you're not dating somebody because they don't make as much money as you do. I think it's a tragedy if you don't date somebody because they do not have the same goals as you do out in life, as long as your goals can mutually come together in a shared way. And so if I had done that, I probably wouldn't be with a man that is like, the happiest part of my day every day. And he's not in here. We need to earmuff this because he can't know, you know, I'm talking nice things about him at the moment. But I do think. I think that's a bummer about today. And, you know, I'm good friends now with the founder of Tinder, Sean Rad, and Tim, and I love to debate. And I say, I think the worst thing you ever did for society was allowing people to screen based on interests, because most people have no fucking idea what they actually want in a relationship. They know.
Farnoosh Torabi
So what should you screen on? How should he change the algorithm?
Cody Sanchez
I don't think you should be able to screen against political views. I think that's a terrible idea. I don't think you should be able to screen against height, for instance. Who, like, when was.
Farnoosh Torabi
Everyone's lying about that anyway?
Cody Sanchez
Yeah, exactly. There's a great video that's like, there's no such thing as a 5 11, man. You're either 5, 9, or 6 foot. And I was like, that's true. But, like, I don't think you should be able to screen by these things that are actually not, and again, not allowed. I wouldn't, like, regulate this, but I don't think it's great for society that we do. And there's lots of data on this. I mean, Arthur Brooks has incredible research surrounding this topic, which is where I pull a lot of these ideas from as we close.
Farnoosh Torabi
Cody, I'd love for you to provide us with. You know, you shared so many nuggets. So many, so many amazing, wise nuggets. But something maybe that you haven't said yet that is counterintuitive. You want us to get behind this. It's your, you know, your rallying cry. Because we maybe have been raised with certain principles, conventional wisdom that is not serving us. And I think right now a lot of us are questioning conventional wisdom. There's so much uncertainty. Our investments may not have panned out. Student loan debt is, you know, it's a chokehold. The list is long. And so this idea of just like.
Cody Sanchez
Stay at the course, do it like.
Farnoosh Torabi
Your parents did, buy a house, there's some skepticism, and it's merited right now. So in terms of maybe your financial life, what is something that you want us to think differently about?
Cody Sanchez
My entire point on the Internet right now is to give. Get you to believe that you're more capable than you think you are. And I think we've been beaten down as individuals and as a society to see all of our flaws and to think that we're victims and to not believe that we're capable. It's very. I mean, pessimists sound smart, optimists make money. And so, you know, if you believe anything, I think what I kind of joke and say, I promise that I'll bully you on the Internet to, like, lift weights, to go build something, to choose a partner and to believe in yourself. And so that's sort of my entire goal is everything we're creating from our new YouTube channel that's trying to show you live, that I, who might not know anything about buying a couple vending machines and throwing them in a spot because I have these big businesses, I'm not usually at the micro level that I can do this in a week. And how much can you make? And so what are you capable of doing? And so I hope people. It sounds so Pollyanna. Ish. Except nobody does it, which is you believe in yourself and you take a little risk. Risk. And you're likely not going to die. And so the worst thing that happens is you lose a little money, you have a story, but you've gotten a little better. And so I think we got to go back to this risk on. As a country, risk on. And believing in yourself. Smart risk, but risk on. On betting on you as opposed to everybody else. And that would be my mission.
Farnoosh Torabi
And I think what I'm hearing, too, is you got to get out of your house, you gotta leave the house.
Cody Sanchez
The house. Yeah. You know, Prof. Galloway, Scott got murdered for saying that. And I sadly, totally believe. And also I understand. I love my. I'm sitting in my headquarters right now. We're about to get a new office building and a bigger headquarters. We're coming. The whole company's back full time and I'm the first kind of hermit introvert, if you wouldn't believe it, that doesn't want to go back to the office. I want to be in my sweatpants, going like this. Nobody bother me, zoned in. That's my happy place. Except it turns out it actually doesn't make you happy and it certainly doesn't make you more successful. So get in the office, get around other humans and other humans who believe.
Farnoosh Torabi
Cody Sanchez, it's been such a pleasure. I've been looking forward to meeting you for months now. Your book is called Main Street Millionaire. Congratulations and wishing you continued success.
Cody Sanchez
Well, thank you so much for listening and thank you for all your listeners who decided to too. I think that's really cool that you share this with the world.
Thanks so much to Cody Sanchez for joining us. Her new book is called Main street how to Make Extraordinary Wealth Buying Ordinary Businesses. I'll see you back here on Friday for Ask Farnouche. And I hope your day is so money.
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Cody Sanchez
This is just how my voice sounds.
Farnoosh Torabi
Just say it like you mean it.
Cody Sanchez
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Farnoosh Torabi
Oh my.
Cody Sanchez
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Podcast Summary: So Money with Farnoosh Torabi - Episode 1805: How to Create Wealth Through Ownership with Cody Sanchez
Release Date: March 26, 2025
In Episode 1805 of So Money with Farnoosh Torabi, host Farnoosh Torabi engages in a profound conversation with Cody Sanchez, the Founder and CEO of Contrarian Thinking. Recognized as a leading financial strategist and author, Cody delves into her transformative journey from journalism to Wall Street, and ultimately, to empowering millions through entrepreneurship and business ownership. This episode centers around Cody’s new book, Main Street Millionaire, where she advocates for building wealth by acquiring established, cash-flowing small businesses.
[04:23] Cody Sanchez:
"Have you ever had that moment where you realize that you are completely unemployable?...I was just kind of slowly wasting away quietly in the corner and become sort of bitter and resentful. And I didn't wanna do that."
Cody recounts her pivotal realization during her tenure at large financial corporations. Faced with bureaucratic inefficiencies and a lack of merit-based advancement, she recognized her desire to break free from restrictive corporate environments. This epiphany propelled her into entrepreneurship, initially through small ventures like blogging and consultancy, eventually leading her to the acquisition of small businesses.
[03:52] Cody Sanchez:
"There's no perverse incentives. And so I actually really want to push business owners if they're listening to think about acquisitions. So I think that's the next unfair hack."
Cody introduces the core thesis of her book: acquiring profitable, established businesses is a sustainable and underrated path to building substantial wealth. She emphasizes that ownership provides financial stability, long-term cash flow, and autonomy that traditional employment cannot offer. By owning assets, individuals can shield themselves from economic volatility and harness the inherent value of established enterprises.
[08:26] Cody Sanchez:
"Ownership is hard. And if it was easy, then way more than 6 to 10% of Americans would do it."
Challenging the conventional capitalist obsession with the stock market, Cody argues that the true wealth lies in owning tangible assets like small businesses. She points out that while corporate jobs offer perceived safety, they lack the risk and reward dynamics of ownership. Additionally, she highlights how the current tax system favors capital ownership, providing significant advantages to those who already possess assets.
[10:46] Cody Sanchez:
"AI cannot take away ownership. Right. And so if I own this house, we are going to need houses...if you actually own the entity itself, then AI is just something you integrate."
Addressing the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, Cody underscores the resilience of ownership. While AI may automate many menial tasks, it cannot replace the ownership of assets. By owning businesses, individuals can integrate AI to enhance operations rather than be displaced by it. This foresight positions business owners to adapt and thrive in an evolving technological landscape.
[12:34] Farnoosh Torabi:
"They'Re leaning in, maybe they only have $10,000 to start. Do you go and you get financing for this?"
Cody provides actionable strategies for aspiring entrepreneurs with limited capital. She emphasizes the importance of financial literacy and leveraging various financing methods such as bank loans, third-party capital, and seller financing. By mastering the art of negotiation and deal-making, individuals can acquire businesses without solely relying on their personal funds.
[13:02] Cody Sanchez:
"You have to change your mentality and you have to realize that you don't actually suffer from a lack of money. You suffer from a lack of knowledge on how to get money."
Cody encourages a mindset shift from scarcity to abundance, advocating for learning how to access and utilize capital effectively. She shares insights on creative financing techniques like milestone-based purchasing and direct negotiations with sellers to facilitate business acquisitions.
[15:27] Cody Sanchez:
"If you learn how to become a deal maker, it is really hard to be poor."
Cody highlights the disparities in financial literacy and access to capital between the general population and Wall Street professionals. She argues that understanding how to acquire and manage businesses democratizes wealth creation, enabling more individuals to achieve financial independence.
[16:19] Cody Sanchez:
"You own businesses for the long term. You don't have a set 7 or 10 year period on which you have to exit...create a beautiful legacy business."
Beyond personal wealth, Cody underscores the societal benefits of supporting small businesses. By acquiring and sustaining these enterprises, individuals contribute to the economy, preserve livelihoods, and foster community resilience. She envisions a future where ownership leads to legacy businesses that serve as pillars of their communities.
[22:01] Cody Sanchez:
"If you can get in more rooms with other people who are doing deals, who are making money, your likelihood of doing a deal and making money goes up."
Cody delves into the psychological aspects of financial empowerment, discussing how surrounding oneself with successful individuals can significantly influence one's financial trajectory. She draws parallels between financial interactions and personal relationships, emphasizing the importance of strategic networking and mutual support.
[25:47] Farnoosh Torabi:
"There's a lot of books out right now about the ambition trap that women have in the dating world..."
Cody addresses the complexities faced by ambitious women in their personal lives, particularly in the realm of dating. She offers advice on balancing professional aspirations with personal relationships, advocating for finding partners who complement rather than compete with one's ambitions.
[27:56] Cody Sanchez:
"Find a guy who plays a completely different game...if I could do it again, I would stop trying to find the same person as me and I would actually try to find somebody different."
Cody shares her personal experiences and lessons learned in navigating relationships as a successful entrepreneur. She emphasizes the value of complementariness in partnerships, both personal and professional, to foster harmony and mutual growth.
[32:34] Cody Sanchez:
"Get out of the house, you gotta leave the house. You get in the office, get around other humans and other humans who believe."
In her concluding remarks, Cody passionately urges listeners to take proactive steps toward financial independence through ownership. She advocates for embracing risks, believing in one's capabilities, and actively engaging with supportive communities to achieve extraordinary wealth.
[32:47] Cody Sanchez:
"My entire point on the Internet right now is to give...if you believe anything, I think what I kind of joke and say, I promise that I'll bully you on the Internet to, like, lift weights, to go build something, to choose a partner and to believe in yourself."
Cody reiterates her mission to empower individuals to break free from limiting beliefs and conventional financial paths. She encourages a shift towards proactive, self-belief-driven strategies for wealth creation and personal fulfillment.
Episode 1805 of So Money with Farnoosh Torabi offers a compelling exploration of wealth creation through business ownership with Cody Sanchez. Her insights challenge traditional financial paradigms, advocating for strategic acquisitions as a pathway to financial freedom and societal impact. Cody's blend of personal anecdotes, practical advice, and motivational insights provides listeners with a roadmap to reimagine their financial destinies.
Notable Quotes:
Cody Sanchez [04:23]: "I know this is what the business needs to do... I gotta go do my own thing, because otherwise I'm just gonna end up sort of like, slowly wasting away quietly in the corner and become sort of bitter and resentful."
Cody Sanchez [08:26]: "Ownership is hard. And if it was easy, then way more than 6 to 10% of Americans would do it."
Cody Sanchez [10:46]: "AI cannot take away ownership...if you actually own the entity itself, then AI is just something you integrate."
Cody Sanchez [13:02]: "You have to change your mentality and you have to realize that you don't actually suffer from a lack of money. You suffer from a lack of knowledge on how to get money."
Cody Sanchez [15:27]: "If you learn how to become a deal maker, it is really hard to be poor."
Cody Sanchez [22:01]: "If you can get in more rooms with other people who are doing deals, who are making money, your likelihood of doing a deal and making money goes up."
Cody Sanchez [27:56]: "Find a guy who plays a completely different game...I would stop trying to find the same person as me and I would actually try to find somebody different."
Cody Sanchez [32:34]: "Get out of the house, you gotta leave the house. You get in the office, get around other humans and other humans who believe."
For more insights and financial strategies, consider joining the So Money Members Club at SoMoneyMembers.com.