The Mindset Keeping You From Your Next Level | Social Proof Podcast

Summary

Social Proof Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: The Mindset Keeping You From Your Next Level
Podcast: Social Proof Podcast (Social Proof Network)
Date: August 6, 2026
Hosts: David Shands & Donni Wiggins

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the mindset, narratives, and debates that can hold entrepreneurs back from reaching higher levels of success. Using the current social media discourse surrounding Invest Fest and broader event culture as a springboard, David and Donni break down how negative perceptions, public backlash, and unproductive comparisons impact entrepreneurial growth. They address criticism of major conferences, explore how to extract value from any environment, and drop hard-hitting insights on navigating success in a world that often resents or misunderstands it. The candid exchange is equal parts masterclass, vent session, and motivation for entrepreneurs seeking to level up.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Legacy, Family, and Reinvention

• [01:47 – 04:22]
  • Donni and David open discussing TI, his son Damani, and the importance of legacy:
    • “Damani's jargon is out of this world. He about to take everybody... just imagine having those kind of moments. Your son not just following in your footsteps... but is actually good.” (Donni, 02:31)
  • Reflection on how reinvention and consistency, as exemplified by TI, are necessary for staying relevant and respected over decades.

2. The Invest Fest Controversy & Publicity

• [04:22 – 13:00]
  • The recent controversy: Did the city of Atlanta support Invest Fest? The public debate’s surprising effect:
    • “It's just interesting that that is the clip that has people talking, the most people that aren't even from Atlanta...” (David, 06:18)
  • Donni wishes the conflict was resolved in private but sees the upside in keeping dialogues constructive.
  • The data question: Did ticket sales actually spike due to the drama?
    • “I would love if they released the data of, hey... as a result, here's a teaching moment. This is how many more tickets we sold after this event started.” (Donni, 10:17)

3. Is All Publicity Good Publicity?

• [11:22 – 15:54]
  • They debate the classic adage: is all publicity good? They note the difference between surviving scandal with a strong track record (e.g., Tyler Perry, Beyonce) vs. being genuinely damaged by your public actions.
    • “If you have the ability to sustain a hit and you come back like nothing happened or come back even more on top, sure. But if you don't... publicity might not be great for you.” (Donni, 11:27)
    • “But it's really hard to take down Keith Lee based on the track record of people that he helped.” (David, 12:54)

4. Responding to Criticism and Scandal: Case Studies

• [15:54 – 21:59]
  • Discussing Tyler Perry, Oprah, Beyonce, and Jay-Z’s strategies of letting public criticism pass without response.
  • Chris Brown’s ongoing legal troubles as a lesson: People have short memories if you keep delivering value, except when your behavior consistently reinforces a negative image.
    • “If you have a track record of good and then you do something weird, one, there's a bunch of fans that don't even believe that you are who they're accusing you of. But the name of the game is to keep producing.” (David, 20:34)

5. Event Criticism: Are You Missing Opportunities?

• [22:17 – 31:40]
  • Public negative narratives about events (Invest Fest, AfroTech, Podcast Summit).
  • Donni’s challenge: “Find your group, find your people and actually learn something.” (Donni, 30:10)
  • The ubiquity of "scammers"—risk is everywhere, but don't let perceptions block value.
    • “Scammers are everywhere. They're at the grocery store... they're everywhere. That part can't be stopped.” (Donni, 31:10)
    • “It's super popular to throw stones when everyone's throwing stones... a lot of the people that are throwing the stones have never even been there.” (David, 31:40)

6. How to Extract Real Value from Events

• [27:51 – 35:21]
  • Donni gives a strategy for event participation:
    • Identify speakers relevant to your journey
    • Plan for networking
    • Skip the “distraction” of celebrity spotting, focus on learning
  • “Before I go to Invest Fest... I am looking for who I need right now in this season in my life.” (Donni, 27:51)
  • Emphasis on mindset—take responsibility for the experience you get.

7. Entrepreneurship, Disappointment, and Mindset

• [35:21 – 42:03]
  • The “Empowerment Brunch” analogy: Match your expectations to the actual offer.
    • “Google the word empowerment... They didn't sell you the five ways to make $10,000 a month brunch.” (Donni, 35:22)
  • On bad programs or disappointments: Learn what NOT to do, and don’t discard the whole category because of a few bad apples.

8. Accountability in Communities & Coaching

• [41:00 – 42:03]
  • Donni breaks down how Social Proof Circle operates, and why program results are a two-way street:
    • “What I don't know. I don't know how many Mondays you skipped. I don't know how many Tuesdays you skipped... I cannot be held accountable for what you fail to execute on.” (Donni, 41:40)
  • David’s analogy: “If you buy lemons and your lemonade turns out terrible, it doesn't make lemons a bad thing.” (David, 42:03)

9. Unique Moments & Networking at Events

• [42:03 – 47:20]
  • The irreplaceable value of being in rooms with high achievers like Serena Williams, Steve Harvey, Jamal King, etc.
  • “Some people even on here that I would love to meet. There's one person here. Yo, I gotta meet this person. Her name is Donnie Wiggins. I've been waiting my whole life.” (David, 44:37)
  • The event experience provides not just education but powerful energy and proximity to success.

10. The Cost of Entry: Why Investing in Yourself Matters

• [46:08 – 47:20]
  • Donni’s perspective on spending money on events versus other discretionary expenses.
    • “I will pay $300 to sit in that audience to absorb and soak up that energy. I have spent $300 on a bad meal one day, for sure.” (Donni, 46:08)
  • Value is relative to what you do with the access and connections.

11. Recap and “Would You Rather” Segment

• [49:58 – 62:45]
  • Fun, deep-dive rapid-fire questions on mindset, regret, criticism, reputation, leadership style, and friendship.
  • Highlights:
    • “Would you rather never be betrayed again or never disappoint anyone again?” (Donni, 55:16)
    • “Would you rather have one lifelong best friend or dozen of really close friends?” (Donni, 61:28)
    • These questions spark insights about trust, values, and the realities of leadership.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "I'm not defending one way or the other. This, for me, has nothing to do with Invest Fest. It has everything to do with how we'll stop ourselves from taking the meat and leaving the bone." (Donni, 31:40)
• "All you gotta think that was what, 2009? Years ago. I think people have short attention spans. But even to the point that I was just saying, you do something. But he's consistently produced good music and good content. If you keep producing, people start to get amnesia about the bad thing that you did." (David, 20:34)
• "You're going to be attacked. Be careful what you do on the way up because that stuff will be uncovered." (David, 21:26)
• "It's something about the vendor marketplace where you get to see a bunch of people who invested in themselves and are building a business, talk to them. Even if you don't go to none of the workshops...go to one of those vendors and say, oh my gosh, you got the big booth." (David, 33:42)
• "What are you expecting when you go into these rooms?...If it says that is a how-to learn, I'm expecting a how-to learn and very little motivation." (Donni, 35:22)
• "If you are any kind of content creator, every content creator in the world should be at [Invest Fest]. You have an audience of people that you can have interesting conversations with." (David, 29:04)
• "But the truth of the matter is we just want to invite you into our circle." (Donni, 22:55)
• "Easy for me. Yeah. I don't need to be loved by everybody, but the people who I love, I would rather they deeply understand me." (Donni, 56:15)

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Timestamp Guide to Key Segments

• Family, Legacy, Music Industry: 01:47 – 04:22
• Invest Fest Controversy: 04:22 – 13:00
• Publicity & Backlash Discussion: 11:22 – 15:54
• High-Profile Case Studies (Perry, Oprah, Beyonce): 15:54 – 18:54
• Chris Brown and Public Amnesia: 18:54 – 21:59
• Event Criticism & Mindset: 22:17 – 31:40
• Strategy for Events, Networking: 27:51 – 35:21
• Managing Disappointment—Personal Responsibility: 35:21 – 41:40
• Accountability in Mentorship: 41:40 – 42:03
• Unique Event Moments: 42:03 – 47:20
• Event Investment Justification: 46:08 – 47:20
• Would You Rather Mindset Game: 49:58 – 62:45

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Conclusion

David and Donni use both personal experience and public controversies to unravel the mindset traps that cause entrepreneurs to plateau. The core takeaways:

• Don't let public narratives or criticism stop you from seeking value or showing up.
• Real progress is about extracting wisdom, building networks, and acting intentionally—no matter the noise.
• Mindset, community, and consistency matter more than social media chatter.

“We're just here to open up your mindset and help you see things differently.” (Donni, 62:47)

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For more entrepreneurial wisdom and community, check out Social Proof Circle or join live at Invest Fest or similar events.

Transcript

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[David]

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[David]

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[Donnie]

12 is Donnie Wiggins on the mic what it do? What it do? Yo, Dave, did you see that video with TI and his son? They about to take the crown they already won. They they're going freestyle bar for bar. They had Killer Mike and TI going bar for bar. Damani's jargon is out of this world. He about to take everybody. Little girl, they're on a run right now. That's so epic.

[David]

It's beautiful too. But Damani is like a really cool kid. You feel me? He's not a kid anymore, but he's like, he's cool now. The other one, he'd be doing a lot. He'd be doing a lot, be doing a whole lot. But demani, I I like him as a person. He's just super cool. I don't know him, but yeah, he's dope. He's dope.

[Donnie]

Yeah, I like him a lot. I saw a video this morning. I think I sent it to you On Instagram where TI Damani and Killer Mike are in a freestyle, like, battle. Damani held his own. And when TTI came after him and when TI came, like, you could just see how proud of his son he was. I think he even said something like, come on, son. Go, son. And just imagine having those kind of moments. Your son not just following in your footsteps because, you know your kids will follow in your footsteps or try to, and they're not as good. Right. Like, these music industry kids sometimes, like, be like, let your mom have that. Let your dad. Let your dad have that. But ti's whole family is just ti. And Tiny's family is just so incredibly talented. And this. These young men have bars for bars for bars. They're on instruments, they're on songs. They're doing all the things. And I just shout out to ti.

[David]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

Shouts out, yeah, for sure.

[David]

I love what they're doing. TI is incredibly talented.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

I love.

[David]

I've loved his music. You know, like, sometimes you're great in the 90s and early 2000s, and then you come out with some music, you're like, ah, you lost it. But TI has been consistently great.

[Donnie]

Yeah. I mean, this year, this past two years, he's completely reinvented himself. When he cut his hair and put the hat back on that TI hat tilt. He did that TI hat tilt. Like, things like, I would argue that he is. Like, he didn't skip a beat. Like, he put out music that we didn't have to adjust to. Like, when he put out his newest music like that, that let him know, yeah, it shut every song in the industry that, like, his song is the song, bruh.

[David]

Yeah. Over and over. It's being played in everything. Everybody's reals. They're playing that. So now. Yeah. Congratulations to them. You know, one thing I want to talk about, especially since it's happening this week, Invest Fest. So I don't know that

[Narrator/Advertiser]

I heard

[David]

a perspective on the whole thing. The Breakfast Club. So Breakfast Club. On the Breakfast Club, they ask a question and they're like, atlanta doesn't give. Give us support from a. From a governmental or city perspective. Right. And I think people took that as like, the whole thing. They went up. He was like, you went up to New York to talk about Atlanta and it was just a question and they gave the answer. Right. I don't. What I'm seeing now, though, is the mayor is on a tear right now. Like, he is. He just went on a podcast with Kenny's podcast, and he started. He was talking about on the podcast. I'm like, oh, that was interesting to me. Yeah, that was interesting. Yeah.

[Donnie]

The whole situation has been interesting to me. Yeah, I. Forever. I love Atlanta. You know, I'm originally born in New Orleans, but I grew up and most of my development was here in New Orleans, in Atlanta. So I actually claim them both. I don't care if y' all mad about that. I claim them both. All right. Falcons and Saints. Whoo. Anyway, I thought it was interesting. I would like. What I have not heard is what the original question was when the response was, atlanta hasn't shown any love or given any support. I don't know what the original question was. So was that response in context to the original question, or was it like a. Let me get this off my chest.

[David]

Give me a scenario. Give me a question that would. I don't know how to frame that, but I don't know. They're just saying that they don't support. Bruh. First off, Atlanta don't support Podcast Summit. Okay. The people do, but. Well, they don't know us, though. You know, these little 2,000 people, they don't really care about that. But I. I mean, if that's the fact and because of there's. If you bring that many people to a city and the city benefits, I think it deserves a conversation with. But it's just interesting that that is the clip that has people talking, the most people that aren't even from Atlanta that are talking about that specific clip. And then a couple days ago, they made a post that said that this is the highest attendees that they've had so far.

[Donnie]

I saw that.

[David]

So the reason I'm bringing this up isn't about, like, who's right, who's wrong. But at first I'm like. Because it's starting to take steam. I'm like, dang, are people going to support the event?

[Donnie]

So I think. Go ahead.

[David]

It's working.

[Donnie]

So I think that people, the people who were going to support the event are going to support the event. I don't think what's happened in that exchange is going to make people who had already planned to support the event not support the event. But I have seen, like, on threads and in my downline, in my timeline, in my newsfeed, there's a lot of dialogue around Invest Fest. There's a lot of dialogue. And I'll just say I wish that that conversation would have happened privately. From what I saw with. What the mayor said was that there was never even a conversation. And he said, I welcome the conversation. I have Great conversations with organizers who bring things to the city all the time. I don't know what's fact and what's not. I just know that I wish that conversation were private because it's a shame to put negative attention on something that's intended to do well both ways.

[David]

Two years ago, I remember it being an exchange. It was either two or three. Probably two years ago there was a back and forth about Invest Fest in the mayor. Y' all don't remember that? I remember it like I think it was. They said something a little more direct and I think they replied. And I thought they had a conversation. Cause I remember talking about it. But the point of this conversation is I think what happened is because of that interview and that response, there are people up in arms. Every podcast is talking about it. Every radio station for sure is talking about it. Because it has to do with radios and things of that nature. Every radio station in Atlanta is talking about it. I think what happened was, I'm for sure there are some people that maybe were going to go, but then they took the narrative of someone saying, oh, oh, they're saying the people in Atlanta don't support. And they say, you know what if they're saying that I'm not going? But I think because of how big the conversation was, there was so many people, as I'm watching on threads, that said, what's Invest Fest?

[Donnie]

Yeah, I hadn't.

[David]

And then. I'm sorry. And then when you go to the website and you see Serena Williams is going to be there, you see Nick Cannon, you see Donnie Wiggins is going to be there, you see David Shay is going to be there. You know, I got. I got exposed to it through this seemingly messy situation. But then when you go see what it is, you have to look at that and be like, well, don't look bad. So that was my point.

[Donnie]

Yeah, I mean, I would love if they released like the data, the actual data that says since that comment was made and all of this started, here's how many more ticket sales. Because they're down to the wire now. When this comment was made, they were also down to the wire. So I would love if they released that data. I did see that. They said, we've sold more tickets this year than, you know, any other year. But was that before? Was that, you know, like, what happened? I don't know. You know, I heard somewhere that it's like 30 something or 40 something thousand people that's expected to attend the event. Did you guys. I saw on a poll, I Don't know. I just saw, I saw it on Instagram. I saw it on Instagram and I don't think they said that number. They just said we have sold more tickets than we've sold before. I would love for them to show the data, since they said that part, for them to show the data of, hey, listen, we said this may have been right, may have been wrong, but as a result, here's a teaching moment. This is how many more tickets we sold after this event started.

[David]

Here's my question to you. Is all publicity, good publicity?

[Donnie]

I'm not positive. I mean, we have seen people take hits for years, right? If you had the. But then they come back like nothing happened. If you have the ability to sustain a hit and you come back like nothing happened or come back even more on top, sure, yeah. But if you don't have the ability to sustain a hit, some publicity might not be great for you.

[David]

And what is the ability to sustain?

[Donnie]

Well, it depends on what negative publicity can do for you or does do for you. So if it tarnishes your, if it tarnishes your image in your industry and your image is important to your industry, like that's really hard to rebuild, right? Can you, do you have enough trust, equity built up to still sustain? If it tarnishes your finances, do you have enough money stacked up to be able to sustain? So I think, I think it's different. I have heard the saying for years that all publicity is good publicity. In the day and age of social media, where we've seen like people literally lose their jobs and things over some public moments that have been viral, I don't know that that's true anymore. But I do believe that if you are intelligent and, and you have a brand and if you are actually doing the thing that you were doing that you have an ability to bounce back.

[David]

I feel that, I think even alluding to what you said is going to be based on your historical track record or the things that you put out. If you've been doing major. Like Keith Lee has been doing some amazing things for restaurants and changing their lives and packing them out the next day after he posted post and he got some backlash. I forgot what it was for. But there were people that were attacking Keith Lee for something that happened. But it's really hard to take down Keith Lee based on the track record of people that he helped. If he did something that this audience of people don't like. And you know, there's always, it's always popular to join, to throw, throw, throw stones at whoever's throwing stones, I'm sure, bro, there was no. There are people who didn't know who Jesus was. But they see all these people saying, yo, that guy's blasphemy. Who does he think he is talking about? He's God and da, da, da. And they're like, I mean, is that what he did? And it's popular to throw stones even. Even for someone that maybe came across Jesus. Right. And he healed them or gave him some motivational words. It's really hard when the whole coliseum, or it's even a dinner party with six or seven people that are throwing stones, it's hard to be like. I mean, well, he did. I mean, he healed me.

[Donnie]

He healed me. I don't know about y'. All.

[David]

It's hard to say. You feel me? But I think your track record, the bigger your track record is, especially on social media, the easier it is to get over these periods of backlash. And then we gotta understand that typically backlash is a period of time, and then people forget about it, and then they go on with their lives. Yeah.

[Donnie]

And in addition to your track record, historically, is your present moment response to these situations. I think that the way that people respond to certain situations or don't respond to certain situations also sustains them immediately. Like, Tyler Perry came up. He's got backlash after backlash after backlash, lawsuit after lawsuit alleging all kinds of, you know, crazy things. Monique, you know, told her story and, you know, people took their size. But I don't. I don't recall him ever having a direct response to this. Right. And so then it leaves this thought of, well, is it like he didn't even respond? If he thought that this were, you know, if. If he responded recklessly, it probably would have done more damage than whatever fallout he's had. But he's still putting out new show after new show. He's still making investment after investment. He's still announcing business after business and partnership after partnership. Is it because he didn't respond? Oprah Winfrey. Beyonce. Beyonce's not responding.

[David]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

All kinds of accusations about her and her family. Jay Z not responding. Right.

[David]

Jay been responding lately?

[Donnie]

Jay did.

[David]

And these last couple years, Jay, he's

[Donnie]

been a little responsive lately. Right. But historically, no response. You're not getting Beyonce responds in her song. Like she'll say something in her song but not direct enough, and then it's like, fly. Oprah Winfrey doesn't really respond. There are so many other people who just don't say anything, and it kind of blows over.

[David]

It will Always blow. Well, it will always blow over. Unless you're. Unless this is a revealing of your character based on, like, things you keep doing moving forward. That's when it doesn't blow over.

[Donnie]

Well, some of them that I named have had repeat accusations over and over that could definitely ink their character.

[David]

Give me an example.

[Donnie]

Like, Tyler Perry is consistently being sued by cast members, but that's normal. A repeat occurrence, but it hasn't stopped him. They have consistently said that Beyonce and Jay Z are in the Illuminati. She has consistently denied that in her music. It hasn't stopped a beat. She's still selling out shows, selling out songs. People are still anticipating this. That and the other Chris Brown has been known to be very. He's about that life. You know what I mean? Chris is not to be played with.

[David]

Did he just. Did he just go to jail again?

[Donnie]

Did he.

[David]

Was it somebody that just went to jail? Hold on. So, yeah, I think he went back to jail. So the. The Chris Brown facing years in prison after pleading guilty and nightclub brawl. You get that. You get that brand, bro. That's what I'm saying. And you can. You can start cleaning it up. If your character. And again, I don't know what. I don't know what happened with Chris. But if. If you're being attacked for something and either your historical records start being revealed to realize, oh, gosh, I know you did these great things for this period of time, but we're starting to see that this is who you really are. And then moving forward, like, we're seeing more stuff, more issues. That's when it's hard to fight. But what I'm saying is, if you have a track record of good and then you do something weird, one, there's a bunch of fans that don't even believe that you are who they're accusing you of. But the name of the game is to keep producing, moving forward based on what people love you for.

[Donnie]

Yeah, it's.

[David]

It's difficult, man. It's difficult.

[Donnie]

This is. But okay, so Chris pleads guilty over a bottle attack at London nightclub where he allegedly hit a music producer over the head with a bottle. He initially said that he was innocent of this, and then he ultimately just. This was. This was posted last week. So he just went ahead and said that he was found guilty. And, you know, there's all kind of strategy as to why they do what they do. And it could be because he is on this tour. And let's go ahead and get this over with. Like, okay, guilty. He's been. He's being sentenced on October 26th. Like, if he already knows what the judgment will be for pleading guilty, it may just be easier for him to do that than to continue to show up for court appearance after court appearance. I don't know. I don't really know how that part works. There's. Or. Or he's guilty or there's just enough evidence and. And he's guilty. It says that he's been in repeated legal trouble since his felony conviction in 2009. Assault of his then girlfriend, Rihanna. This is a. This is a great example because we all know what happened with the Rihanna situation. He admitted that he was highly remorseful for that and went through his, you know, rehabilitation and all the things. Right. That was a very public ordeal. But it doesn't stop women all over the world from battling for that on the stage spot.

[David]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

Where they get their 30 seconds with him. It does not stop them from selling out show after show and loving his music and fainting when they see him. It's still happening. So how bad does it get for people?

[David]

Well, I think all you gotta think that was what, 2009 years ago? 17 years ago. So I think people have short attention spans. But even to the point that I was just saying you do something. But he's consistently produced good music and good content. If you keep producing, people start to get amnesia about the bad thing that you did until you do something else that reminds them. So we don't. We don't maybe. And here's the thing. I don't think this situation of him hitting a producer will affect him in a negative way. One, it's not a woman. Two, we don't know him. We don't know the producer.

[Donnie]

Also, it speaks more to who the world thinks Chris Brown is. You know what I mean?

[David]

He's in character.

[Donnie]

I'm that guy. Don't play with me.

[David]

I think it's just one, I just want to give a warning to anybody that wants to be that girl or be that guy that people come to and be popular. You're going to be attacked. Be careful what you do on the way up because that stuff will be uncovered. If Diddy wasn't doing all the stuff he was doing for years, and let's just say he had one offense and you couldn't pull up a bunch of stuff, he might be okay today, but on the way up, we do these things that we think nobody cares about.

[Donnie]

In your circle of trust at that R. Kelly Diddy, Many of them were probably doing things in Their circle of trust. This will never get out. We're a vault. It's very out.

[David]

It will always get out.

[Donnie]

It will always get out.

[David]

It will always get out. Different humans being involved. It's just. Anywho. But I think it's interesting that all of this publicity are getting people to know what Invest Fest is and some people are gonna get a ticket just to be in the building. Just to see what all the hype is about. Just to see. Right.

[Donnie]

So the truth of the matter is we're here to shoot an ad and we can talk all about how we've made multiple seven figures.

[David]

Cause we have.

[Donnie]

We can talk all about how we've helped other people make multiple seven figures. We can talk about how we can get thousands of people in a room to talk about entrepreneurship.

[David]

We do it.

[Donnie]

We can talk about how we create viral moments all the time. We could do all those things if we were sitting here to create an ad in the regular format. But the truth of the matter is we just want to invite you into our circle.

[David]

Why wouldn't you want to be in a circle of people with proven success and other people that are in this circle that can really help elevate your game? It's not always about the coaches. It's about the community. But when you have them both, it's up next level.

[Donnie]

So here's the thing. We have an opportunity that we're extending to you right now. We're inviting you into our circle because I know you're tired of complaining that you don't have anybody to talk to. I know you were tired of complaining about being the smartest person in your room. And I know you're really sick of not having anybody to bounce ideas off of. We can fix that.

[David]

Fix it. We can fix it. You can't fix it on your own. Stop coaching you. You need a coach that can coach you to see how you're playing on the field. So we're going to invite you to stop delaying, stop procrastinating and be a part of a community that cares about you and can get you to that next level. Okay, You've delayed long enough. And make a comment below if you are a procrastinator historically, but today you're about to take action. Click the link right now. Join Donnie and I.

[Donnie]

Let us help you. Socialproofcircle.com so I said to our community. I think I also said this on a recent episode of Full Transparency that I just recorded. I see so many attacks against Invest Fest and you know, I don't have any equity in the program. So there's that. I just want to put that out there. But I see so many people who say they have attended and they didn't learn anything. They've attended and it was just a who's who event. And I pulled up the website and I said, you know, whether you like what they said on the, on the Internet or not is one thing, right? But years past, they've always had outstanding, outstanding, outstanding speakers, right? And you mean to tell me that this year alone, right, because what they say is, oh, it's the celebrity fanfare and, you know, you don't learn anything. You mean to tell me that in a lineup of Serena Williams, who's a 23 time Grand Slam tennis champ, and investor Steve Harvey, Nick Cannon, who dominates on tv, who overcomes all of the same scrutiny that we just talked about, you mean to tell me you can't learn a single thing, but let's take celebrity off the table. You mean to tell me that Jaleesa Seymour, who's the founder of Sal xo, who looks just like you and me, who posts online every single day, that she built her business on her living room floor, she shows you her humble beginnings packaging things on her living room floor? You can't learn anything from her. You can't learn anything from Milan Harris, who shows you that she started Milano D Rouge out of the back seat out of the trunk of her Nissan Altima. From Saw xo. Jaleesa Seymour from Milan Harris, founder of, of Saw xo. Let's say you don't like, earn your leisure. Let's say you don't like Troy or Rashad or Ian. Cool. Let's take them off the table. You mean to tell me that you can't learn anything from Keith Lee, who is an influencer and food critic who built a brand from the front seat of his vehicle, going from restaurant to restaurant, just tasting food, making money off of activity that he would have done anyway. You mean to tell me that John Morgan, who's the founder of Morgan and Morgan and this is not publicity for them in any way, I have no equity in this. But what I'm saying is John Morgan just talked about how he made over $800 million, he's building a family business. He talked about the principle of becoming wealthy and how he manages prenups and how his children date and all the things I learned so much from from the free podcast that he put out. You mean to tell me that in an intentional conversations with prepared questions, you can't pick anything up from John Morgan. You mean to tell me. Hold on one second. You mean to tell me, out of all these people that are going to be on this, there's not one nugget that you're going to get from somebody that can change your business or change your life? Then the next argument is, yeah, well, Donnie, the tickets are $300. Okay? Pay it. You mean to tell me that you can't learn something that will make you another $300? But what they're doing is they're saying, oh, the tickets to Invest Fest are $5,000. Yes. There's a ticket available for $5,000. And if you don't like that price, don't pay that price. Get the $300 ticket and be in the room and take notes. Let me tell you what I think the problem is not just with Invest Fest, but so many conferences, is that people want to be entertained.

[David]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

And if every single speaker doesn't suit their need or suit their desire, then the whole thing was a waste. But, guys, you got to learn how to do events. You have to learn how to do events. Before I go to Invest Fest. Right. I am looking for who I need right now in this season in my life. Who I need right now in this season of my business. Who do I directly relate to that can. That can potentially give me something that moves the needle forward for me? I'm identifying that. Okay, I need to hear from this person and this person. This person, Alicia Little. Like, what's up with this AI crashing on me, girl? Help me out. Like, I'm. I'm in your session, Alicia. And then I'm going to the schedule, and I'm seeing when they're speaking, and I'm pinning that out. I'm not in the marketplace trying to take all the pictures. I'm not outside in the lobby trying to catch these celebrities and influencers as they're walking in and out to get my picture. And maybe you're not getting what you need from these investments that you're making because the focus is wrong. I just don't believe. You don't have to like those guys. I just don't believe that with over 40 people that are going to be in one room at Invest fest, with over 20 people that's in one room at Podcast Summit, I just don't believe you not going to get something.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[David]

It's absolutely ridiculous. I don't get it. I just don't. And I made a post on threads. Like, I'm trying to figure out why a human be mad At Invest Fest, bro, like, you got 20, 25,000 people that are all like, this ain't to go to a concert. So you don't know what the concert goers lives are like. But you know, if someone bought a ticket to this, they have a particular mindset that they want to learn, they want to grow, and you don't want to be in that environment. And they're like, oh, well, it's going to be a room full of scammers. Are you saying there's going to be 25. They put together a room of 25,000 people who are trying to scam you. What's wrong with if you're an entrepreneur, if nothing else? If nothing else, there should be a networking element. Look, have your pitch together, create your content, bring your camera. Every content creator in the world should be there. You have an audience of people that you can have interesting conversations with. It's. I don't, I don't get it. There's billionaires there.

[Donnie]

There's billionaires there, millionaires, there are five figure earners there. People who are just getting started. They're like, find, Find your group, find your people and, and actually learn something. And let's talk about it, because that is a highly spread thought that is going to be a room full of scammers. And they're talking both about speakers and people in the audience. Right? On one hand, like, I get people who have been wronged by people in business, and I always get that on two hands. I get people who have been wronged by people. But when we call people scammers is based on what, right? Based on what? What do we know that they have done? And if there is a scammer that you know of, just say, hey, this person. Y' all might want to look into this person. If you're concerned about the people who are going to be in the room and you feel like they're scammers. Well, guys, scammers are everywhere. They're at the grocery store that you shop at. They're at the gym that you work out at. They're at the bank that you go to. They're at the concerts that you keep paying to attend.

[David]

If you're in Atlanta, they're at the

[Donnie]

club you go to. The club you go to. You just got their number. You just got their number. All right. He just took you on a date. Okay? She just, she just, she just came and played her position. They're everywhere. That, that part can't be stopped. And I'm, I'm not defending one Way or the other. This, for me, has nothing to do with Invest Fest. It has everything to do with how we'll stop ourselves from taking the meat and leaving the bone.

[David]

Yeah, I just, I don't understand that. But again, that's one of those things where it's super popular to throw stones when everyone's throwing stones and a lot of the people that are throwing the stones have never even been there. There's an electric energy that is in that room of entrepreneur. Yo, the vendor marketplace. You want to know what's crazy? I meet entrepreneurs every single day who have amazing business ideas, but they're sitting on those ideas for six months, a year, sometimes even longer. And they think that they need the perfect logo or the perfect website or the perfect business plan before they start. Listen, none of that's true. The truth is you don't just need to start. And that's why I love Shopify. They already have everything you need to launch your business from day one. And when customers are finally ready to buy from you, Shopify checkout makes it so easy to actually convert those people who have intention to buy to actual sales. And then when they come back later, their information is already saved. So buying again makes it fast and easy. And here's what I really, really like. Instead of spending all your time trying to figure out websites and payments, Shopify handles all of that so you can focus on what actually grows the business. Meaning you can create content or serving your customers and making more sales. They power millions of businesses from people just getting started all the way up to brands like Mattel, Gymshark, Listen, family. With Shopify, nothing stands between your idea and a real business. So go make it one. Start your free trial at shopify.com forward/social. Start your free trial at shopifY.com social media. Social. I think they just said that was sold out to. I think it was like 400 vendors, bro. It's something about the vendor marketplace where you get to see a bunch of people who invested in themselves and is building a business, talk to them. Even if you don't go to none of the workshops and you want to start a business, go to one of those vendors and say, oh my gosh, you got the big booth. Which means they spent some money on

[Donnie]

the booth, invested some money.

[David]

This is a person you can have a conversation with that is a couple steps above you that you can have a conversation with. That's why I get so frustrated, man. Not just invest fest. I saw Ryan at Afrotech last year and like, there was a lot of like, backlash from Afrotech. And this is my first year there, and I'm just trying to see what's going on in tech. I want to be in the tech world and on threads. It's so much like backlash for Afro Tech. And I said, bruh, I went in some workshops of people who built apps, who sold apps, who, like, think in a different way in terms of, like, technology. And I'm like, so inspired. I may have went to like, two workshops, but even out, I was live streaming and met so many people and created some content. That was the price of admission for me. So I think people, like, their, their mindset is so bad. Like, social media sways people's perspective and gives them, gives them a negative perspective on something that can really help you. And it's so sad.

[Donnie]

I also think there is an element where people have truly been hurt by, like, some events or not or disappointed by some events. Like, you know, they talk about the empowerment brunches and the motivational rooms and, and all the things. But my question there becomes, well, if you were attending an empowerment brunch, what more did you want than empowerment?

[David]

What were you looking for?

[Donnie]

What else were you looking for? Like, I went to this empowerment. I see this all the time. I went to this empowerment brunch and there was nothing there but a bunch of motivation. Google the word empowerment. Let's look up the definition of the word like, she or he sold you the dot, dot, dot empowerment brunch. They didn't sell you the five ways to make $10,000 a month brunch. And so you're signing up for these things. And my question is, like, what are you expecting? I want to know this because we produce events, we do things. What are you expecting when you go into these rooms and get like, if it's says that is a how to learn, I'm expecting a how to learn and very little motivation. Like, if I, if I bought a ticket to the five ways to increase your bottom line by $10,000 a month, I want 80% of that and 20% empowerment. Right. But if I bought the ticket for. I want to empower you to dream bigger, I'm expecting all motivation. Yeah, like, that's, that's just what I'm expecting. And you're, you're, you're. There's responsibility on both parts. Event organizers, there's. There's responsibility for you to deliver what you sold. If you told people that they were learning these things, they need to learn. They need to leave having learned. I also think that there Is this element of. There. There is. And we have to be honest about some of these webinars and some of these challenges and some of these events that teach nothing but sell everything. I've sat on them. Right. So I get it. I understand why people are frustrated because you go, but how much more? Right. Yes, there have been those things, but that's not everybody. And you shouldn't be Like, I bought. I bought a pack of chicken from the grocery store recently, and when I opened the chicken, it was clearly spoiled.

[David]

Oh, they scammed you.

[Donnie]

I checked the date and it was a future date. This should be good chicken. I should be able to cook my smothered chicken and move on. Right. I'm disappointed because I barely. I rarely walk into a grocery store. I was craving something that day. I really needed this chicken. I'm not going back to the store. But you know what I did? I ordered another pack of chicken to get delivered. I have to wait a little longer. Yeah, I have to invest again. But I didn't let this one spoiled pack of chicken stop me from ordering more chicken.

[David]

Make you go vegan.

[Donnie]

I didn't.

[David]

Oh my gosh. Chicken's a scam. I'm going vegan.

[Donnie]

I'm going vegan. I have purchased people's courses and have they have fallen flat. I got nothing from it. But I shifted my perspective and said because I am a business owner, I don't currently have a course, but when I was doing courses and I will have another course, I am a business owner. I believe in the education part. What I'm going to take from this course that I got no new skill based knowledge from is that this is not the experience that I want people to have with my program.

[David]

So.

[Donnie]

So at the end of the day, from this course, that fell flat for me, I still got something. I still got that this isn't the way that I want to show up. This isn't what I would want to put my name on. And that made me pay attention to customer service, fulfillment automations. So I got something. I get it. But I've also invested in programs that have completely changed me, changed something about me, sharpened my skillset, made me believe in myself at a higher level. When I put my first course out, I was under the tutelage of somebody else's program. I had been building courses and webinars and small little master classes for years, since 2014, putting them on YouTube, giving it out for free, putting it out for $25. I bought somebody's course. I paid $5,000 for in 2020. The course that I ended up creating as a result of that made me millions of dollars. And but it wasn't because they showed me everything in that program. I saw how this person was able to capture an audience, teach them everything ethically, like everything about that subject matter ethically. I saw how he showed up and answered questions and it made me say, even beyond what I'm learning here, I want to run my business like this. And then that's what I did. And that course went on to make me millions. And so I've purchased the bad. But just because I purchased a couple of bags doesn't mean it ain't good. You didn't purchase an outfit off Amazon. You got it and it wasn't what you expected it to be. It was see through and short when it was supposed to be opaque and long. But you still tried another vendor, nobody like. And you'll make a funny post about come on Amazon. What I, what I bought, what I thought I was getting versus what I got, what I wanted versus what I got. But when it comes to business owners, for some reason we start this slander campaign. You don't even try to make it right. And, and I'm not talking to those of you who do. I'm talking to the people who are being influenced by other people's situations that you've never even tried. You don't know if it works right? I can't guarantee that every mentee in our community is going to see success from us. I just can't. You know why? I know that we deliver a mentorship call every Monday morning. I know that we deliver a mentorship call in our, in our community social proof circle every Tuesday evening. You're on Mondays, I'm on Tuesday evenings. I know that we do a joint Q A every Friday morning. I know that I wake up at 6:45 every single day and do a millionaire morning and motivation and prayer call. I'm hitting it from every angles. You're hitting it from all the angles. I know that if you can't make any of those days that every single recording is available to you. I know that we teach in themes so that if you missed last week, we're still in this series and you can catch up and you can actually achieve success. But what I don't know. I don't know how many Mondays you skipped. I don't know how many Tuesdays you skipped. I don't know how many accountability meetings that the community leads that you skipped. I don't know how many Fridays, you sat on that Q and A and didn't answer any questions. I. I don't know what you're doing in your life outside of what you show up as in this community, I cannot be held accountable for what you fail to execute on.

[David]

Absolutely. Absolutely. It is what you do with it. If you buy lemons and your lemonade turns out terrible, it doesn't make lemons a bad thing to buy. You just need to figure out how to do it. And I'm telling y', all, y' all need to go to more events. If there's someone that's accomplished some success, go listen to them sit at their feet, man, I'd say this all the time. That, man, if I could have gone live to watch Jim Rohn before he passed, it would be something I would have never forgotten. Oh, my gosh. If I could have just, you know, think about the people on. Let's just say Invest Fest. Let's say, like, look at, like, look at these people. Like, really look at, like, the lineup of people. Serena is a champion, and some of us have been watching Serena for a very long time. And when does she. It's not that she. It's not like she has a podcast, so you get to, like, really hear a whole lot of her interviews, but to watch live and in person. And you know what? No. And the reason I'm so passionate about why people talk about events, because y' all have no idea what it takes to put on an event. You have no idea. And I'm just waiting for the day where, you know, we have 15,000 people at podcast Summit, and they're throwing the stones. And how do I fight against that? Especially when we're. We're trying to provide really good information. But there are people that are designed to throw stones. That's their makeup. That's what they were created for, to be negative in hate. And that's just very rare that you can build a career off of hate. Not impossible. Not impossible, but you can. It's very difficult to build a career off hate, man. So don't miss these memories, man. Shouts out to the guys for bringing some people together that otherwise I wouldn't be able to see them in person. You know what I mean? I wish I had a chance to meet or sit in that session with Shannon Sharp. I really like Shannon Sharp. I'm waiting for the day that Joe Buttons comes. You know what I mean? Like, I really, really enjoy Joe Button. I never got a chance to because I. Because Steve Harvey is typically on the Saturdays and I never got a chance to, like, sit in the session and really talk. Like, there's some people even on here that I would love to meet. There's one person here. Yo, I gotta meet this person. Her name is Donnie Wiggins. I've been waiting my whole life.

[Donnie]

It's so interesting because I get to interview this guy, David Shands on the main stage. I think will be not only David Shands, but Halani Lobdell. Like, some of you guys may know her as Mrs. Two Weeks Out. I cannot wait. And Jamal King on my panel, the 9 to 5 millionaire himself. I cannot wait to get on. Listen, I don't know what you get anywhere else, but on that panel, you're going to get what you came for. I cannot wait to sit and have this conversation with these people. And then those of you, maybe you hadn't started in business yet and you just want to be there. I'm telling you, you'll get something simply from the environment. Growing up, there was nothing that I know of that I had access to at that time. You even, like, when I was younger building business, like, there just were not rooms where you could sit with people that you were fans of.

[David]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

And listen to them speak and have that proximity. No, you don't get to shake everybody's hand and you don't get a picture for everybody. But they are intentional about curating those moments, too. They walk all of their who's who through the vendor markets and everything for you to be able to connect and. And do the things. And they create VIP moments for that. Because there has to be some filter. Right. If all 30,000 people, you know, were in line to take pictures, it just couldn't happen. But I. This is. This is really a time where let's just take the information off the table, though. It's very much on the table.

[David]

You're going to get it right there on the table.

[Donnie]

It's right there on the table. But let's take it off. When do you get to be in an environment where with so many people who look like you, that's created success like that for me, I will pay $300 to sit in that audience to absorb and soak up that energy. I have spent $300 on a bad meal one day, for sure. I will easily make the investment to pay $300 to be in a room like that. And in all the rooms, Invest Fest, Podcast, Summit, all the. All the events, like, I go to all of them. Webinarcon, like, I see people complain. Webinar cons tickets are $5,000, $2,500. The man who has made a hundred million dollars doing webinars is gonna hit that stage and teach us something about webinars. Many of his students who have gone through his mentorship and his program are coming up and they're gonna tell you how they have a million dollar result. And every single time, I'm Gonna put that $5,000 on the table. I'm putting that $5,000 on the Table. Start where you can.

[David]

Absolutely. So Sunday. We'll be there Sunday. Sunday I speak at 10:50. Facilitating a panel. No, I'm. Yeah, I'm facilitating a panel with Keith Lee, Ace Metaphor, and Chris Sane. And then Donnie and I get to be on the stage together a Sunday at 12:50pm with Jamal King Lobdell and myself, facilitated by none other than the illustrious Ms. Donnie Wiggins.

[Donnie]

And I'm excited.

[David]

Excited.

[Donnie]

I am excited. Listen, Jamal, the 9 to 5 millionaire is texting me right now. He said, donnie, hey, I want to make sure that we give the people what they need. Here's a question I need to make sure. You ask me. He wants to make sure.

[David]

Come on.

[Donnie]

That I extract the information out of him that he wants to leave that audience with. Shout out to Jamal King. Holani actually texted me this morning. And look like no lie. You see it 10, 1038 this morning. Halani just now. Jamal right there. Text me, Dave, tell me, Donnie, I want to make sure you extract. I'm going to extract the information if there's any. I'm surgical with this stuff. Yes, sir.

[David]

I love it.

[Donnie]

As we wrap up this episode. Before we do that, I need you guys to tell me real quick. You may have seen me start the podcast like this, right? Because this is the sofa. But when I get the clips back, I feel like I look like this. I feel like I look like a big girl. And I always look out of shape, y'. All, My stomach is flat, but when I'm first. Don't ever try me, all right? Stomach is flat, but when I'm seated like this, this is usually how I'm seated in the clips. And I look, I looked out of shape and all the things. So then I adjusted myself and I said, well, let me just sit straight up and be uncomfortable because my back's not touching anything. There's no pillow. I can bring a smaller pillow next time or we can grab a smaller pillow in here. Is this the look, Right? Can you tell that I'm in shape or is this the look? Because this is how I Normally sit. And then I looked at a clip that I wanted to share on my page so bad, but I just looked.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

Anyway, Dave, I don't know what you're talking about. All right, I got some questions for you. Let's do it before we close this out, huh? Huh? Would you rather know the opportunity that you talked yourself out of or the person who talked you out of it?

[David]

I don't know if I understand that.

[Donnie]

Okay.

[David]

Would I rather know?

[Donnie]

Would you rather know what opportunity you missed out on or the person who talked you out of an opportunity? Like, you know how you can have these conversations, you'll be excited about something, and somebody's like, ah, I don't know. Would. But sometimes it happens. Sometimes people are so good that they can talk you out of stuff without you even being aware that they talked you out of something.

[David]

Give me the next question. Because it's confusing a little bit to me.

[Donnie]

Your comprehension skills.

[David]

You answer it. Because if. Why wouldn't I know the person that taught me out of it?

[Donnie]

So there's a skill set that people can learn where you're not directly talking you. So give me a scenario. Give me any scenario.

[David]

Give you a scenario?

[Donnie]

Yeah, give me a. Oh, okay. Let's just pretend that your name is Joe.

[David]

Okay.

[Donnie]

And you are struggling in marriage. That's not David's scenario. But let's just pretend and you come and you're just having a conversation like, yo, it's just getting harder and harder to stay married. And I don't say, I think you should get a divorce. I say something like, you know, sometimes you got to put the work in to stay married. The thing is, though, you just got to decide that that work is worth it for you. You know, Like, I've seen so many people who thrive in marriage, but I've also seen so many people that men, specifically, when they get divorced, they be lit out here in these streets. Like, this opens up. That's sure a direct talking someone that's not direct. Like, I'm playing both sides.

[David]

You're not playing both sides.

[Donnie]

I am. I'm saying I see marriage as a benefit, but I also see what happens to men when they get divorced. I see this man, you should. You should keep your family. But don't take it from me because I'm not married. So I don't know. But I think you should keep your family. And now all night long, I've, like, planted this seed, and you go home and you're like, yeah, I'm out of this. I'm out of this?

[David]

Yeah, I would know that. That seed.

[Donnie]

You wouldn't know.

[David]

Give me another one, bro.

[Donnie]

All right, you give me one. Give me one.

[David]

I don't have one.

[Donnie]

You didn't come up with one?

[David]

Yes, I do have some.

[Donnie]

Okay.

[David]

But you go.

[Donnie]

Okay. Would you rather know who secretly celebrates your success or who secretly resents it?

[David]

Secretly celebrates my success or who secretly resents it? For some reason, I. My curiosity won't let me. I want to. I want to know who's, like, hating on the low. I really want to know.

[Donnie]

Yeah, you want to know who's hating on the low?

[David]

Yeah,

[Narrator/Advertiser]

maybe.

[Donnie]

Me too. I was gonna say, first of all, why are you secretly celebrating me? Celebrate me out loud. But I understand what the question means. It's like, there's some people that don't get to communicate with you every single day, and they're really cheering for you.

[David]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

Oh, that's a tough one.

[David]

Well, those people are gonna love you anyway. But it's. It's. You become a fool when you're around people who secretly resent you. Like, I don't even know the people that are seeing secretly celebrated me because I already know they're in my corner. Right. There's some people that I secretly celebrate. And not that I'm trying to keep it on the low, it's just I don't see you or talk to you, but when I see it, I'm like, yes, I love that. But I need to know the people who secretly resent me so that when I see them, I'm not putting faith or trust or putting them in a scenario to have my back. And they won't.

[Donnie]

So that's good. Okay. Would you. Would you rather hear every compliment you've never heard or every criticism people were afraid to tell you?

[David]

Every criticism people were afraid.

[Donnie]

Afraid to tell me every criticism.

[David]

Well, I don't. I don't know. Knee jerk reaction. Every criticism. Because I want to know in what ways I can improve. Like, I want to know if there's a boogie in my nose that everybody can see. You may want to know when there's lipstick on your teeth, but nobody does. Nobody says it. So, yeah, that. That would probably be okay, but then that turns you into a negative person because you get to see all the flaws about yourself, and it kind of can affect your self worth.

[Donnie]

Okay, last one I have. Before you give me a question. Would you rather lose your public reputation or your private peace?

[David]

My public reputation or my private peace? I would way. Oh, easy one way. Rather lose my public reputation after everybody's gone, it's just me.

[Donnie]

When you lose or if you lost your public reputation, would you still feel at peace?

[David]

Well, if it's a this or that, that means I'm selecting one. Public fees. But if I. I don't want to lose both. But I don't, you know, really, I don't. I don't necessarily. I'm. I'm getting up in age. I'm 41. I'll be 42 this year. I don't need public reputation. I need the money to live a peaceful life. I don't need all that.

[Donnie]

Mm.

[David]

I don't need. When I go out and people show love. I love that. But I don't need it. It doesn't feed me.

[Donnie]

I have a good one.

[David]

Talk to me.

[Donnie]

Would you rather never be betrayed again or never disappoint anyone again?

[David]

Never be betrayed.

[Donnie]

Cause I'm a. Disappoint you. I'm okay with that. No, no.

[David]

Yeah, because people get disappointed by their own interpretation of what you did.

[Donnie]

Yeah.

[David]

It's not necessarily you did anything mean. It's just that's how they perceived it.

[Donnie]

I have experienced my share of betrayal, and it hurts. It cuts deeply. I would pick never be betrayed again because. Yeah, you're gonna disappoint people because you're human. They're human. But I do a good job of trying to make sure I soften. Any blows?

[David]

For sure. All right, I got one.

[Donnie]

Oh, I'm.

[David]

Would you rather be loved by everyone or deeply understood by a few?

[Donnie]

For sure. Deeply understood by a few. That's easy. Deeply understood by a few.

[David]

Easy.

[Donnie]

Easy for me. Yeah. I don't need to be loved by everybody, but the people who I love, I would rather they deeply understand me.

[David]

I love that. Okay. Would you rather lead from the front or behind the scenes, your preference?

[Donnie]

I go back and forth on this one. I go back and forth on this one. Because I do both, depending on where I'm showing up at. But what do I like? I'd rather lead from the front. And the reason that I would rather. If it's this or that, the reason I'd rather lead from the front is because my style of leadership is simply me being who I am anyway. And I'm me, right? I. I am who I am. And it, like, the leadership is natural for me, and it's been natural for me, like, my whole life. When you are behind the scenes, you're responsible for every little detail that highlights or puts a shadow on that leader who's leading from the front. You're responsible for the responses. You're responsible for making things look great. You're responsible for people in the room. You're responsible for the esthetic of it all. You're responsible for the data collection. You're responsible for choosing where that leader leads. Like, it's a lot of responsibility both ways, but it's more natural for me to lead from the front.

[David]

I love it. Okay. Would you rather, all things being equal, be the founder or the investor?

[Donnie]

Would I rather be the founder at this stage of my life?

[David]

Build something big. Big. Build something big. All things the same in terms of income. Would you rather be the founder?

[Donnie]

All things are the same in terms of income, the investor all day. Yeah. Well, yeah. So at this stage of my life, right. I would rather be the investor, but earlier, I would rather be the founder. If I'm building something big that I can will. Right. That outlives me. And I believe that, like, at this stage, I'm. I've put those pieces in place where we're building stuff that I can pass on and. And things that will. So at this stage of my life, I like to invest in some stuff.

[David]

Okay, I got a couple more. Two more. Would you rather create the trends or capitalize on them?

[Donnie]

That's a good one. Would I rather create the trends or capitalize on them? Are the results the same?

[David]

Would you rather create the trends or capitalize on them?

[Donnie]

What y' all laughing at over there? I. I would rather create the trend. I would rather create the trend. It's easier to capitalize on an existing trend. But if you are a person who determines the flow of the water, it's the best position to be in.

[David]

Yeah. You know, I see a lot of stuff online where people say, yo, I started doing this thing, and everybody stole that from me, or to start and do stuff the way that I did it.

[Donnie]

And

[David]

I think those are the type of people who create the trend but are somewhat get jealous based on someone else's ability to capitalize even more off the thing that you created. And I understand it, but. But, like, how do you stop somebody from being inspired? Especially, believe it or not, there's a lot of coaches that want to inspire people to do stuff, but if you inspire them too much and they do it at a higher level, then they're mad.

[Donnie]

For sure.

[David]

That's crazy.

[Donnie]

Yeah, for sure. I always, when I had my course, my course came with coaching, like, once a week or Q and A. And I. I challenge them. Like, y', all, I want y'. All. I. I'M waiting for the person who surpasses me.

[David]

I'm.

[Donnie]

I'm waiting for that person who surpasses me. And there have been plenty of my students and clients. Well, I've got clients who have surpassed me. Right. We're talking about the course. Let me. There have been plenty of students that have gotten close or equal. And I'm proud of that. Like, I'm actually proud of that. But I also understand the person, the creator, the trendsetter, who has everybody copying them. But then I wonder, are you the creator of it? And then somebody else made it the trend. So you can create a bunch of stuff, but if it just sits on a shelf or if it's only exposed one time and you didn't know what to do with it, it's not a trend yet until the trendsetter gets a hold of it and creates the trend for sure.

[David]

All right, last one. Would you rather have one lifelong best friend or. Or dozens of really close friends? One lifelong best friend?

[Donnie]

One lifelong best friend, or dozen of dozens? A dozen of a dozen. A dozen of really close friends? I'm going to assume that friendship means the same here. We're talking about friends. They didn't say you have to worry about these people or anything. So really close friends. The reason that I'm going to choose the dozen really close friends is because if you only have one friend and they die damn strong, what are you left with? You know what I mean? Like, you're. You have to start over like that. And that's a real thing. People leave you.

[David]

And so it did say lifelong, though.

[Donnie]

Lifelong. Like, I have.

[David]

Y' all died at the same time.

[Donnie]

My best. Okay, we die at the same time. I only need. I only need my best friend. I only need one. If we. If dying at the same time, but if. If. If I have to choose between one friend my whole life or 12 close friends. Like, you know how lucky you have to be to have 12 close friends. If I get to have 12 close friends, like, just thinking about the vision for my life and all these different ideas and how we can help and support each other, and I can trust you. I'm gonna take the 12, and that best friend is going to be one of those 12.

[David]

I love it. I love it. All right.

[Donnie]

Um.

[David]

Well, there we have it, man.

[Donnie]

Yeah, that's it. Listen, we said a lot about a lot of things. Some very important things, some very strong opinions. Some of you are going to like it. Some of you are not. That's okay. That's what we're here for. We're just here to open up your mindset and help you see things differently. And if you are someone who resonates with David and I, we encourage you to check out our community. We have a community beyond Social Proof podcast. We have Social Proof Circle, a community where we impact entrepreneurs who are interested in personal development, financial development and professional development. And we show up for them multiple times a week. I talked about it in this episode, but you can click the link right where you are, right where you see it and find out more to see if we're the home for you.

[David]

Let's get it. Let's go this week.

[Donnie]

Bye.

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Can you hear that?

[David]

Yeah.

[Donnie]

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