← THE ED MYLETT SHOW
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- [00:00]
A
Advantage Gold is giving away a free copy of Rogoff's book to anyone who schedules a one on one precious metals appointment. You'll discover why gold is becoming the number one hedge against a global currency ship and how to move your IRA or 401k into physical gold. Tax and penalty free. Get your free copy today while supplies last. Text WIN to 85545. That's WIN 85545 or go to advantagegold.com data and message rates apply. Performance may vary. You should always consult your financial and tax professional. This is the Ed Milet Show. Welcome back to the show, everybody. Okay, today you're gonna want to lean in because we're just talking off camera. I have a legitimate, successful entrepreneur. I'm talking about not in a small way, but in a big way. Imagine this. You take 10 grand, you turn it into 20 million bucks. You have an exit from a company, that company becomes a publicly traded company, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. This woman is the real deal. She has tremendous energy, by the way. But what's great, when you get someone on your show who's not telling you how to do something they haven't done themselves, this woman has done these things herself. And what I love about the book is she doesn't just brag about the things she did well. It's actually saving you the time from the mistakes she's made, which the book's called Mistakes that Made Me a Millionaire, by the way. Multi, multi, multi, multi, multimillionaire. And so we're going to pick her brain today. You're welcome in advance. This is going to be really good. Kim Perel, welcome to the show.
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B
Oh, thank you so much for having me. I'm thrilled to be here.
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A
Thanks for coming all the way here on your private jet. I appreciate you showing up to my little humble abode today. So thank you. You sold companies worth how much? Over 100 million. You think?
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B
Last company I sold for 235 million.
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A
That's all?
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B
That's it? I mean, what are you going to.
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A
Do playing small ball? That's unbelievable. What made you decide? Before we get started, I'm just curious. You've had all this success. You're raising four children, is that right?
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B
Yeah, four. Four little ones.
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A
Met your husband in college. So you got a big busy life. Why would you step in and start writing books and telling people how to do all this stuff? Why'd you decide to do that?
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B
I mean, to be honest, it's actually probably because of my four kids. I Think that in today's world, we're taught that we want to be perfect and we want to do everything right. And I actually built my entire career on all of the mistakes I made. And we don't need another how to win book. We need another book to show the messy truth about what actually happens behind the scenes.
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A
Do you think most people. Do you think most people would actually start a business if they knew how really difficult it is? I mean, like the real day to day, like the ups, the downs, the emotions, the people that steal from you, the takeaways, the false starts. Do you think most people. If we're being real, we'll get to the mistakes. That's literally gonna be next. But I've always wanted to ask someone who's had big old exits, everyone goes, that must have been amazing. But do you think most people would do it if they. If they truly knew how difficult it is and how difficult is it?
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B
No. No one would do it ever. Honestly, I wouldn't have done it.
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A
Me either. If I knew people. If you knew what you do now, I'd be like, I probably wouldn't have done it.
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B
No. It's actually kind of nice that you didn't know.
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A
I love that I didn't know. You're right.
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B
You know, because if you know. Yeah. You wouldn't. You'd never get it.
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A
Ignorance is bliss.
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B
Oh, yes.
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A
What was the hardest thing for you, like, overall, if you said the one thing that was the hardest about all of this? Because I think once you get to the 20 million, you're like, I can breathe a little bit now. Like, I'm not ever probably gonna. You could be, but I'm not broke anymore. Once you've got that type of money. Right. That's a lot of money. So what was the hardest part, do you think? I know it's not in the book. I'm just curious.
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B
No, I think the hardest part is actually exactly what you're saying. It's the sleepless nights. It's what nobody seems behind the scenes. It's when I'm exhausted. I've done 16 hour days. You run up, you can't make payroll. It's when something terrible happens in the company and you think, this is it, and you're just. They're alone.
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A
Yeah.
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B
I mean, it's the worst. And you just want to. One bed.
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A
That is what it feels like. You feel alone. A lot alone. Yes. Yeah, you do. Even when you have people working with you because as the leader, you carry the emotional burden of the company.
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B
Yeah. And entrepreneurship, you think is hard, but you never expect it to be that lonely. You know, it's.
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A
It's making me think. Yeah, but before we get. Sounds like we're going really dark here. But. But now your life, was it worth it?
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B
Oh, 100%, right? Oh, yes. If I could my younger self, how great my life would turn out, I wouldn't have believed it, to be honest. It's.
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A
What's the best part?
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B
The freedom. I think it's freedom. Freedom to do whatever I want at whatever time, to invest in new entrepreneurs, to inspire other people to live the life of their dreams and not having to worry so much about, I guess, the little things.
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A
Yeah, I think you're right. I think it's the freedom. I think being wealthy may be slightly overrated, but I think being broke and poor, which we've both been, is way harder than. Than even you think. When you're young, you know, having to have the world dictate terms to you all the time.
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B
Yes.
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A
You had to look around like you barely remember. Look at you.
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B
Like, so funny. No. My dad growing up as he gave me some great advice. He was an entrepreneur. He's like, listen, Kimmy, don't want to be a doctor or lawyer. There's a salary. Crap. All you need to do is make enough money. And he'd call it fu. Money.
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A
Yep.
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B
So if someone. You don't like what someone's telling you, you just tell them to F you. My entire being is just like, okay, I just got to work hard enough that eventually someone tells me something I don't want to do. I don't have to.
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A
I love that. It's so true. Okay. The book is riddled. It's basically written about the mistakes you made. And the stipulation of the book, the premise is basically like, these are the things that actually made me wealthy. So one of my favorite proverbs is Chinese proverbs, says, if you want to know the road ahead, ask those coming back. And what I love about you is you've been down the road and you're like, I'll help you. I'll come back a little bit and let me help you. One of the things you say in the book that only someone who's made it would know is that the threshold to take action for most people is too high. They think they need to know more than they really need to know to take steps. And so they never take the appropriate steps. Right. So discuss that for a second. Like, not needing to know 100% of the info you used to think that. Right.
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B
100%.
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A
You talk about this in the book, so just go ahead and rift on that a little.
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B
Yeah, I think when I was young and first starting out, I was waiting to feel 100% ready. Yeah, I think everyone does. And people listening right now, they're waiting to feel that they've got the perfect website, they got the perfect pitch, they got the perfect social media. Once you realize it will never be perfect. And just having the courage to take action is the key to success. And I remember early on I was listening, and I write about in the book, listening to a Marine Corps general talking about the 70% rule, which is, if you have 70% of the information to take action, you should act. And I started using this very early on. 70%, go, go, go, go. Even if it didn't feel, because it gave me an opportunity to balance analysis and action. And I. I mean, I still use it today because you'll never be a hundred percent. So you have to make an educated decision and move forward despite not having all the information.
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A
What was the first exit?
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B
The first exit.
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A
I know, I read the book.
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B
Yes. The first exit was in 2008. So it was.
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A
What kind of business was it?
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B
Internet marketing company. So I had started that in 2003, and I started it with a $10,000 loan from my grandma because no one would give me a dollar. They were like, Internet is over. It's a fad. Do not, you know, get a real job.
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A
Yeah.
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B
I was like, okay, I could get a real job, but I had just gotten a real job. I got fired from that job. I. You know, at some point you're like, well, nothing. There is no job security. I think anyone out there is thinking, I have a secure job. You don't.
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A
You're right.
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B
Like, you just don't. The only thing that's secure is whatever you can create. That sounds terrible because I thought I had secure job. Just not the case.
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A
Yeah. After you had that exit, I'm just curious because all these mistakes are in there that we're going to talk about. But, like, why didn't you, like you. I got 20 million bucks. I'm stopping. What was the next thing you did and why'd you do it?
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B
I mean, at that point, I had the freedom. Yeah, right.
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A
Because I think a lot of people go, I get 20 million. I'm clipping coupons.
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B
Yeah, yeah, I clip. And I just go to the beach. Well, I was actually.
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A
And you might have thought that at one time.
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B
I did. I actually, originally, I just thought If I could just make a million dollars.
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A
Yeah, me too.
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B
Like, I had just 1 million. I will call it a day, live my life on the beach in Hawaii. That's what I. I remember so vividly.
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A
Yeah.
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B
But that, you know, that comes and goes. What you realize is. And even now, because I'm starting new companies all the time, I love the love of the game.
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A
There you go.
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B
I know. It's so much fun to play.
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A
Yeah. I think it's easier to play when maybe you don't have to. The first one's the hardest because you need it.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Maybe afterwards you don't. I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But I think in my case, like, afterwards, I was like, I'm playing with house money. I, you know, dreamed I would be here, but I didn't know I was going to be here.
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B
Right.
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A
So I don't know, maybe for me, that's true. I still make this mistake and you write about it in the book, so it was really good for me to read. I still, like, micromanage and try to do everything alone. I don't know how many employees I have in all my businesses, but it's a lot. And I still find myself. Maybe it's ego thinking I'm better at things than other people when I'm truly not. But, like, even with the podcast I'll send Stephen, do this edit, make this here. I think this should be the cut. Don't you think that's. Hey, flip. Like, I'm constantly doing that. And you say, like, the second mistake in the book is like, I was trying to do everything on my own.
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B
Oh, my gosh. Yes. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs can relate to trying to do everything alone. And to your point, was it ego? You know, and I think I had a lone wolf mentality growing up just of how I was raised. But at some point you realize you will not scale. So, yes, maybe you get to some sort of success, but ultimately you'll crack under the pressure of trying to do it alone. And when you have the courage to ask for help, that is the game change. Like, my entire business took off as soon as I got over my own ego and asked for help.
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A
I love your answering style, by the way. It's like very, like, to the point business. Like, no, I love that there's no wasted words. I actually, it's more. Fits me very well. I think the other reason that I try to do everything is I think a good entrepreneur is a bit of a control freak, but then a Weak entrepreneur is too much of a control freak. So I think people listen to, like, look, I, I do everything because I, I don't want to lose control. Right. I think there's this illusion that when you give tasks or asked people to help you with things, you, you lose control to some extent. Do you think that's part of the psychology that hurts? I just want to unpack for people. Why do they have these blind spots? Like, why did you think that? Yeah, maybe it was our ego, but was it also like a control thing?
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B
Yeah. I think I was so afraid that the company was going to fail. I had to, you know, be part of every single decision. And I was so afraid of what would go wrong if I didn't make the right decision. There was a lot of fear, I think, and giving that to someone else to execute because what if it went wrong?
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A
Are you trying to make this interview easy on me? Because the third question I have is about fear. Because the third part of the book, you're like, it was paralyzing to you, the fear. It's funny, if you unpack, like the mind of some entrepreneurs, I'm actually a fear based entrepreneur. Like I think I've done. I've spent more of my life moving away from what I didn't want. Sometimes, like, I was afraid to be broke. I was afraid of not being able to eat. It's. Even to this day, I still kind of operate out of fear. I don't think it's necessarily totally unhealthy. But then there's like, you can take everything too far to where then it paralyzes you. You say in the book, like, your fear was like a paralyzing fear.
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B
Yeah. A fear where you just can't even move right.
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A
You had that really?
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B
Yes.
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A
That's hard to picture.
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B
I think that you have something so traumatic happen where you are lose your job or lose your, you know, your security or your identity. You're so afraid to make the same mistake.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And so overcoming that and understanding that mistakes are essential to success. And if you don't try, like, that's the only real failure. And I think looking back, trying to understand where the fear was coming from and then how to move past the fear.
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A
Was there a massive failure at one point where you're like, this is a biggie. And I think this just did me in. Is there any moments like that in your career?
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B
I mean, listen, I've had so many failures. I've made so many mistakes. At this point, looking back, I think the first company that I'D worked for, that failed. And I had called all my friends to come work for me because I told them they were going to be dot com millionaires.
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A
Yeah.
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B
And then they, I had to fire them all and they many wouldn't talk to me. That, that hurt. Right. You're young and if you've ever hired people that are really close to you and then how to fire people that are close to you, that is scarring. So just having some of those, those points in your life that you don't ever want to repeat, I think puts you in a paralyzed state.
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A
Yeah, I do too. The other thing that paralyzed me is, if I'm being honest, the reason I think I'm in personal development in addition to the business space and become, you know, one of the tacticians in that space is that I needed to learn these skills to become like baseline functioning self confidence just to get baseline. Like I didn't grow up with it because the way I was raised, I was undersized. I was not the smartest, you know, whatever. And so I've had to work really hard on my belief. And as I started to grow as an entrepreneur, I had this constant thought that this is a fluke. I don't even know how we did this. We can't repeat it again next year. We can't do it again next month. And I would say, like massive imposter syndrome most of my career. Did you have that? Because you seem so externally confident. Would this be the person I met then and did you suffer with your.
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B
Oh my God, no. Similar to you and I talk about this a lot. I mean, I'm a twin. That's another one of me. And you know, growing up, I was not the smart one.
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A
She really.
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B
No, I was not. She was smarter, faster, stronger. Everything we did, she always better than me. We took, you know, tests. She was always going high and I was like the dummy of the family was terrible. But I think early on you put limiting beliefs on yourself. So I thought I was not the smart one, which I mean, to be a twin, our DNA was essential.
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A
It should be pretty close.
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B
I got like the raw end of that stick. But I think you carry, you know, I carried that with me a long time. And I think women especially carry labels, you know, believing they're under qualified and believing they're not good enough and whatever you're, you know, those labels that you carry with you, which are simply not true.
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A
Yeah, yeah.
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B
And they hold us back from reaching our greatest potential. So learning from like, remember early on in my career I got asked to be on this board, which is an amazing opportunity, and I turned it down because I just didn't feel like I was qualified.
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A
I relate to that very much so I think it's just good for people to hear two entrepreneurs talking, going, hey, look, if you have these things, we've made these mistakes. We also had these. Here's the other thing I did. I had people stick around in either my personal inner circle or in my businesses. You use the word toxic in the book, which is probably a more descriptive word, but I knew would eventually do harm. But they were really good at something at the time. So short term, losing them felt significantly like a top salesperson. Right. Or a top this. And I keep trying to tell entrepreneurs this. It was the biggest mistake because the bigger the business gets, the more damage that person will do on their way out the door. And I want you to give me your opinion about it. But you do say in the book, it's like keeping. You call them toxic people around you.
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B
Oh, it's the worst. And you don't realize to your point that sales head that is so good, but he, he or she is so toxic to every single other person. But you have to balance. Should I keep them because I want to keep my numbers up or do I let them go because they're terrible and toxic for the company? Obviously you should let them go. But those decisions, because everyone is watching what as a leader, everyone's watching what you do. So you're basically saying it's okay to be an yes.
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A
Yep, you're right. It's the wrong thing.
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B
That's so bad from a leadership because that trickles down.
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A
You know what? I was surprised wasn't in the book, if I'm being candid, because the book is so good. There's basically what I would call 10 mistakes in the book. All of them I've made. My book would have like the 26 trillion mistakes I've made in business. But one big mistake I made is I thought that I just needed to work on the business instead of myself in the beginning. So I'm surprised that's not in there. And I want to ask you about it because it isn't like I. I don't think your business eventually can exceed your own identity. It can exceed your ability, clearly, because mine did because my abilities are limited. So a company should exceed your personal abilities, but I don't know that it'll exceed your identity, meaning your belief of what. It's what you or the business is worthy of. And I think One of the things that entrepreneurs have to do is they're simultaneously working on their businesses, doing what everybody's doing today, which is listening to this show, which I think is the best on world for this. But it was working on yourself. Did you do that? And maybe that's why it wasn't a mistake, because you just did it. So it didn't need to be listed as a mistake.
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B
My mom is an expert in organizational behavior. And so from an early age, I, Very good. Was like, very deeply rooted in my own personal values. And I. That red thread carried through my companies having that. Those, you know, values. And I'd actually bring her in early on. I probably bring. I mean, actually I asked her yesterday to mentor one of my friends. Wow, she's amazing. It's like having a little Buddha in my.
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A
That's so.
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B
You know, and it was amazing. So it was a gift that I got early on. To have such an amazing leadership coach to come into my company was to, you know, to coach me, to coach, to coach my teams. So I. Maybe I had a little bit of unfair advantage.
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A
Yeah, I think you did. Yeah. But that's why it wasn't a mistake. It was one of mine. People ask me all the time about owning a business. What are some of the critical things people. People matter. Things don't. And I gotta be honest with you, every team that wins has great players. Right now. You may have just realized your business needs to hire someone like yesterday. How can you find an amazing candidate really fast? Easy. You just need Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. Indeed sponsored jobs posts help you stand out and hire fast. With sponsored jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for relevant candidates so you reach people that you want to reach faster. You only pay for results, so there's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. And listeners of this Show Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility@indeed.com mylet just go to indeed.com mylet right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com mylet terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. I gotta tell you, I'm glad that they do because, you know, people ask me all the time, what do most of the guests on your show have in common? Because there's all these different industries and stories. I'd say the one thing most of them have been to therapy and I've been to therapy. I think it's a great thing whether you've had a lot of trauma in your life and it's extreme and you need to work through it, or maybe it's not so severe, but you just need clarity, somebody to talk to. Get a plan in place. With over 30,000 therapists, BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform, having served over 5 million people globally. And it works with an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 for a live session based on over 1.7 million client reviews. It's convenient too. You can just join a session with a therapist with a click of a button, helping you fit therapy into your busy life. As the largest online therapy provider in the world, BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise. Talk it out with BetterHelp, our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com edshow that's better. H E L p.com edshow I'm a huge believer that pivoting and adaptability is like fluidity is what I would call it as an entrepreneur has always been important. But now with AI and all the things are going to be changing in the world now if you ever utter the sentence of this is just the way we've always done it or hey, this is the road we're going down. I even think long term planning may be a bizarre concept nowadays because of the way the world's turning and you say one of your mistakes was not pivoting enough soon enough. Like which one was it?
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B
I think not pivoting fast enough. You know, early on I had an Internet company and I remember saying, oh, the social media thing's gonna be big. I mean this is very early on. I'm like, no it's not. How big can the social media thing get? You know, last wore a few words on that one but eventually, you know, and I lost some clients, you know, because I didn't have the capabilities. Eventually I then added the capabilities and I grew it to a 200 million dol business. So you can be adaptable, but I think failing to pivot because you just think you have to go one way, you think that it has to be how you originally started out. But knowing and I've invested in probably 150 companies, 99% of them have pivoted at least once if not more. Right. And so in today, in to your point, in the world of AI right now, if we were going to teach our children something or any entrepreneur listening to this, the adaptability, flexibility. We don't know what's going to happen. The world's going to move twice as fast. But your mental state of being able to adapt, be flexible, change with the environment will be the key to your success.
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A
I can't believe no one's talking about this. Like, we're in the midst of like a complete revolution in business. And before this revolution, people weren't adaptable and flexible and pivoting enough. Right. The pandemic showed us all of this. Right. And I gotta be honest with you guys, everybody, like, Even for me, 5 and 10 year planning right now, it's kind of like I'm doing it, but I'm like, I get. And to me you got to be well read, well informed, and you got to know what's going on. Now it's no longer good enough to go. I'm not really technologically savvy. Like that's basically saying, haha, I'm going out of business. Like it's not funny at all anymore. I used to joke about it and now I'm like, okay, you sound like an old.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Archive of a businessman. Like we should find your bones buried somewhere. You better be flexible, you better be pivoting, you better know what's going on, you better be fluid. And if you run a company with a bunch of bureaucracy that can't make decisions pretty quickly like a small company, you're in big trouble in business. I think.
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B
Now you think, yeah, even big companies, because they're so.
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A
I think big troubles, are in the.
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B
Most trouble, never going to make any change. But if you're a small company, the great news is you can be nimble. The challenge is, do you have the mindset to be nimble?
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A
You're right.
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B
And to embrace technology because a lot of people. Oh, I like guys, it's here, it's coming and we need to embrace it as part of your business.
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A
Okay, I'm going to tell you guys is why I'm so glad you're doing the show. I actually think this is the one era that's coming, everybody, for what it's worth, that where small businesses may end up by and large having actual advantage over the bigger ones now because these big companies that are bureaucracies that take weeks and committees and decisions and boards and all this stuff to make all of their decisions in an era where things are going to be changing, like at electric speed are going to be in big, big trouble. And so if you're smaller you're nimble. As she just said the word perfect, which is nimble. You better be. You better be ready to pivot. This is going to be, I think, the most exciting time ever in the history of business. The Internet made it the most exciting time. I think this is going to be even more exciting because I'm starting understand what it's doing and business is going to put out of business. Okay, here we go.
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B
And don't you think, I mean, just to the pivot. Everyone listening should ask themselves, when was the last time I pivoted? And if you can't think of it, that's a problem. It truly is. And I think that's. That is a mistake.
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A
I agree with you. What are the four P's? I know them because I read the book and I already told my daughter about them.
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B
Good, good. Yeah. So you could do a market pivot, you could do a product pivot, you could do a pricing pivot, and then you could do a competitor pivot. Like you're going to be. So I think if you look at every single company out there, they're pivoting quickly. It's speed that makes a huge difference, too. If it doesn't work, pivot again.
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A
Perfectionism kicked your butt for a long time, huh? Yes. Yeah, most people, that's their big crutch is like, perfectionism is their reason for not getting started or the reason for not making change or what held them back. And you list it in the book, like, multiple times. What would you say to somebody who's listening? They're like, I do have this perfect, perfect addiction, like, to doing things perfectly because I have high standards. And so. Which is better than having low standards. But what would you say to somebody.
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B
Who'S got that, well, statistically, now I'm going to tell them if they're trying to achieve perfection, they will not achieve greatness. So the only way to become very successful is to embrace the mistakes. So switching your mindset from, okay, if I actually make. If there's setbacks, challenges, if I make progress without perfection, I will be more successful. It's a mindset shift.
- [26:00]
A
Perfectionism, where you learn. Did you eventually. Tom Bilyeu and I have talked about this. We're like, individually, at different times, I just sort of adapted or adopted rather the mentality of I'm a learner rather than an expert. And so it made, at least in my case, my perception of failures weren't that dramatic because I'm like, okay, I picked a lesson out of this. I got. I learned something from it. I know that sounds hokey. Well, if you learn something, you didn't fail. But like, I really adapted that mindset into my thinking where even to this day, when something happens, like, okay, what do we, what are we getting? What do we learn from this? Let's just not do this twice.
- [26:39]
B
Yes. Amen. Well, I mean, every expert was a beginner, so I. To your point? I'm going into. I'm a 20 year tech entrepreneur now. I'm in beauty, I'm in business, beverage, I'm in web 3. I am all over the map, learning new industries as fast as I can because it makes me a better, more rounded, intelligent investor as well as operator.
- [27:00]
A
This is so good. Like we're lightspeed here. How do you know when you're looking at all these opportunities? Because I know what it's like to get pitched a lot too. And most of where I put my money hasn't worked. But what, what makes you pick a company over another one? What are you looking for in prospective investments?
- [27:18]
B
I'm industry agnostic. So honestly, I'm looking at the people. Having been an entrepreneur, I am an entrepreneur, I know what it takes. And back to the question originally, it is hard. So I'm looking for the person that when it gets really, really, really hard and you think it's over, you don't quit.
- [27:38]
A
That's a rare one because eventually people throw their hands up in the air. Most people do. Rather than just pivot, adjust, be fluid, et cetera. Let's sell the dream for a minute. Okay, so how many years did you spend struggling as an entrepreneur? Just first, would you say?
- [27:53]
B
I would say I spent first three years at my kitchen table alone where literally every person thought I was nuts. Okay, so just at some point, think three years over and over, every day, every day, every Monday, every Tuesday, every Wednesday, all weekends. Never went out. Like, I literally just sat there. So that was the first three years. Then it started getting like, I actually started making money. Like, this is amazing. So then it starts. But would you sit at your, would you sit wherever you are, your basement, your kitchen table, for three years without any hope or sign that it's gonna work out?
- [28:21]
A
There's no indication you're right, no indication.
- [28:24]
B
That it's going to work.
- [28:24]
A
Isn't that the big thing I want you to talk about that it's being like, there's no indication. Because it's easy to watch a podcast. Hey, I struggled for 2, 5, 10 years. But when there's like, there's just no evidence right now. This is gonna work or that it's working at all. That's a mind game big time.
- [28:40]
B
Yeah. Your belief has to be greater than everyone else's doubt in you.
- [28:45]
A
Oh, that's good. That's good.
- [28:48]
B
It has to be. Because the critics, the naysayers, I mean the dream killers, they're going to come and tell you why your idea won't work. And you have to be willing to say and have the conviction why it will.
- [29:01]
A
Very good. He's thinking about a friend of mine right now, is going through it.
- [29:05]
B
It's hard, right? And it's hard.
- [29:07]
A
It's hard. I think business is the most competitive, difficult sport in the world. I really do. Because what separates you isn't giftedness. Like if you're six nine and you can 360 windmill dunk, you could play defensive end in the NFL. I guess that's a little tall, but you know what I'm saying. But in the business it's like, it's not really necessarily birth talent oriented. It's really grit, will, innovation, confidence, communication, ability.
- [29:33]
B
It's a 365 day sport. There's no off season for business. It's an everyday 24 7. Especially when you're early entrepreneur think if it was easy, I mean honestly, everyone would do it. Like my dad grew up and he was Kimmy, eight hours is a half day. Go, go back to work. I'm like, all right, I better get another job, Pop. You know what I mean? It was just a mentality which no one wants to hear today, fine. But like if you want to be average, do what average people do. If you want to be successful, do what successful people do. And they're out there hustling.
- [30:06]
A
I love your intensity. I also, you come from good stock. It's obvious between your mom and your dad, they, they. I think things as kids are caught, not always taught. And you caught a lot from mom and dad. That sounds like it's different stuff too. Yes, but really a good combo. It's kind of explain some of your, your business genius.
- [30:25]
B
Oh my gosh. But my dad, my dad was like close to bankruptcy every day. So we had a very, I mean.
- [30:31]
A
You know, you know what the other side looks like.
- [30:32]
B
Yeah. I did not want to be an entrepreneur, to be honest. I thought I saw the roller coaster ride and I thought I'm going to get a secure job.
- [30:39]
A
But you got the work ethic, grind, grit thing from dad and it sounds to me like you got the people skills, emotional regulation and stuff like that from mom.
- [30:46]
B
Yeah. It's a great balance, actually.
- [30:48]
A
It actually is a pretty good comment.
- [30:49]
B
Didn't work out for them, but it worked out for me.
- [30:50]
A
There you go. Well, then technically it worked out for them, because everybody wants their kids to be more successful than they are. What's life look like now? Sell us the dream a little bit. So today she walked in, and I came in the studio. I said, where'd you come from? She goes, I just flew in. I'm like, oh, so you have your plane? She goes, yeah, I flew in private. So what's just. I think it's important. Every show's like, grind this, do this. It's hard. I wouldn't have started if I knew. However, it's unbelievable. Unbelievable, right? Like, it's better than you would think. So sell us the dream. Like, what's your life look like today? Family. What? You probably take a lot of it for granted now. Not granted, but I mean, like, it's just, oh, we go to dinner where we want to, or we've decided we want to go to Turks and Caicos for three weeks. We're gonna set a trip up, and we're going there. Like. Like, most of the time, life doesn't function that way. So what is life like? Like to brag a little bit.
- [31:43]
B
Oh, my God.
- [31:44]
A
Let us inside. Tell us what it's like.
- [31:45]
B
Well, the good news is my husband is a pilot.
- [31:48]
A
That's. That helps.
- [31:49]
B
We have a couple helicopters, and so he can land at the house, which makes, you know, commute really easy.
- [31:54]
A
Okay. By the way, everybody that doesn't know this helicopter flying is actually more expensive than jet flying. Just so you know, the maintenance and all that stuff on helicopters is pricey. Just so, you know, helicopters, people think, oh, I'd have a plane. Let me tell you something right now, planes are expensive. Helicopters per hour to maintain are super pricey. But keep going.
- [32:14]
B
Super. But, you know, but again, does he.
- [32:17]
A
Is he a jet pilot or helicopter?
- [32:18]
B
Both.
- [32:19]
A
Okay, Both.
- [32:20]
B
Both, Both. So that helps. That helps. And he loves it. So it's fun. And, you know, that's a good investment. Not really.
- [32:27]
A
It's a good investment in lifestyle.
- [32:28]
B
In lifestyle and fun and sport. We have a great vineyard in Tuscany, so we go there during the summers, which is fun to spend. Spend some different time there. I want. But I think it's this.
- [32:40]
A
This is good. Keep going.
- [32:41]
B
Yes, I think it's important. So we have four kids, and they're very amazing little children, and I think, you know, really grounding them in hard work ethic. So, like, we're all over them, but they're blessed and you know, so am I. So I think trying to find the balance, but make even now because to your point, I could be just sitting on the beach. I'm always. I love what I do. I love helping people like that. That energizes me.
- [33:07]
A
But you also have choice. Can I tell you something that I've noticed and I don't. This is this concern, by the way. I'm not, I'm not big on. Men are this way, women are that way. I don't like that because it's general and typically not true. And there's exceptions to everything. So before I say this, I want to make sure I've phrased it this way. But in general, in the entrepreneur space in the public sector, men, when they're financially successful are very comfortable talking about the life they've built. I've got this. We do that because I think in their mind this is aspirational or inspirational for the people coming up behind them. What I have noticed with my very successful female friends is there's a grace and humility that I respect deeply about it, but it almost sometimes transcends into the massive discomfort, almost guilt about the success they've had. And it's very hard to get female entrepreneurs to go, my life is really good. I've got a vineyard in Tuscany. We fly private. I'll say it for you during the COVID You're like, we want to get out of here. So you just picked up and moved to Florida. Right. Like you have choice in your life. So just a little more because I want, I want all these ladies listening to this to also have heroes and role models of their gender. Not that I think genders of it, but you understand what I'm saying. Like, you're a baller. You've made tremendous inroads in your life. You've changed your family tree forever. You should be proud of that.
- [34:44]
B
I am.
- [34:45]
A
Because you're the one who did this. You busted your tail. You and God. So a little bit more. What's it look like?
- [34:50]
B
Well, I think it's important to also remember how like my mom would be. Like, no one sees how hard you worked for so long. I mean, this is a 20 year overnight success. Right. And I think that's really important. So if you're willing to pay the price, which is a lot of missed everything, then it's worth it. So I think you have to decide if that's the price you want to pay. Yes. At the end, if my life is incredible. I feel incredibly blessed. But that came with a lot of, you know, a lot of cost and, like, costs you can't see. Costs that I'm sure so many women right now are going through in terms of just trying to balance it all. And I think just recognizing that's really important.
- [35:31]
A
Do you think the other part of it, too, maybe, as a woman, is that, like, the struggle continues even after you're successful, too? Like, you still have children to raise. They still have homework to do. They still have their challenges. You still have to be. You're still a wife, you're still a friend. You still got businesses you're running. So perhaps it's hard to necessarily describe how great it is when you're still in the hunt of every single part of your life as well.
- [35:54]
B
Yeah. Trying to find the balance and really making sure. For me, my family is first on everything, so it's really prioritized. But everything else is kind of gets to the way, like, family first. And obviously, I love what I do, so I love to build and create and innovate, because that gives me energy and joy. But I don't do a lot of. I mean, my extracurricular activity. I don't have a lot of those.
- [36:15]
A
Your sports business.
- [36:17]
B
And I love doing it, but I'm not golfing.
- [36:19]
A
Yeah. Do you feel like you have a couple more things I want to ask you because this has been so good. Do you feel like one of the reasons you're still in the hunt, too, is you want your kids to see you in the hunt? Meaning? Actually. Actually, I had a couple, you know, significant exits and stuff, and I'm like, I don't want my kids to think this is how I became successful, sitting around in my pajamas watching Netflix in the middle of the day. By the way, Netflix, Mark Randolph wrote the forward to her book, but do you know what I'm saying? Like, there's also. When you're still raising kids to be. Them being an example of work ethic, too.
- [36:50]
B
Yeah. No. I want my kids to have purpose. And I think what I do is fueled by my purpose and showing that they get excited. I have a new beverage brand. They go, mom, can I bring a Juni to school to show my coach D? I mean, he's five. I'm like, okay, buddy, tell them who.
- [37:08]
A
Your partner is on the beverage brand. Yes.
- [37:10]
B
Oh, my gosh, I'm amazing. Beverage brand with Jay Shetty and his wife Roddy. And it's an adaptogenic sparkling tea company, so it's good for you. Good for your mind, it's got ashwagandha and lion's mane Rishi. But I am having. And so is Jay. We're having the best time.
- [37:25]
A
You look like you're having a blast.
- [37:26]
B
We are having a great time. So it's really important for any entrepreneur out there, if you like the problem you're solving and. And you like who you're solving it with, and if you say no to one of those two questions, do something else.
- [37:40]
A
Oh, that's outstanding. Okay, we're a little over on the time that I thought we were gonna go because I knew this was gonna be too good. So. Success starts with the choices you make, how you train, how you work, and even more, how you fuel your body. That's why I go with Heartland Steak Co. Premium Midwest raised beef delivered straight to your door. Because quality food fuels quality performance. Build your perfect steak box or grab a grill ready bundle. Either way, you're getting top tier flavor. And right now you can get $25 off any order of $175 or more. Just use the promo code ED at checkout. Go to heartlandstakecompany.com and use code ED. I highly recommend Heartland Steak Company and I can honestly say the flavor is unbeatable, the texture is always tender, and knowing exactly where my food comes from gives me peace of mind. Whether I'm prepping for a big week or hosting friends on the weekend, these steaks never disappoint. It's more than just convenience. It's about knowing I'm putting the best food into my body. If you care about your food source, you'll love what Heartland brings to the table. Go to heartlandstakeco.com load up your cart, and don't forget, promo code ED gets you 25 off. There's one thing you would say to somebody that we haven't covered today, by the way. First is go get Mistakes that Made me a Millionaire by Kim Perel. Aside from that, if there's someone listening, this goes. I got this dream in my heart. There's no signs right now this dream is going to happen, are going to work, and I've made a lot of mistakes myself. And they could get a cup of coffee with you, which probably wouldn't be cheap, but if they could get it, I'm going to give them a free one right now. What advice would you give them that's different than we've talked about and you can get a second even think about it because I think it's an important question, like what would you say to that person who's you sitting at that desk and table of yours, and you're in year two and a half of the three, and there's just nothing happening yet. If you could go back and talk to her, what would you whisper in her ear and say to her?
- [39:30]
B
I'd say, if I can do it, you can do it too. That's what I would say. And I think having been there at my kitchen table with no sign or no hope and at rock bottom, I have no money. I maxed out all my credit cards, took a loan from my grandma, and everyone thinks I'm crazy. Okay, yes. But fast forward. I've had multiple exits and I was able to make that dream a reality. But I think again, it goes back to also adapting with the market. Don't. Just so be clear on where you're going, but how you get from A to Z could look totally different from where you are today. And so I think it's really important. Z, I know where I'm going. Z, I have no idea. A B could go E, G. You know what I'm saying? Like, be flexible.
- [40:13]
A
Yeah. Really great advice. Like, extraordinary conversation, too.
- [40:17]
B
Oh, so fun, right?
- [40:18]
A
Yeah, like, like really extraordinary conversation. Did you pay your grandma back?
- [40:22]
B
Oh, my gosh, my grandma. When I told her how much money I sold the company for. Yes. I have some great photos. We took her on all these incredible European vac. I've got her driving a Ferrari in Italy and a red Ferrari with top down. Oh, she's like, so you did it.
- [40:36]
A
You know, it's interesting. I can get you to talk about the things you did for other people, but I can't get you to talk about the things you did for yourself, which makes you even more wonderful. That's awesome. You do that for your grandmother. And by the way, I need to thank my Grammy, Elaine, who loaned me my $5,000 when no one would give me any money when I was going broke in my business too. So I wish she was still here. But I did get a chance to pay her back, and she saw a little bit of what happened in my life. So we both have our grandmother's.
- [41:01]
B
She'd be so proud. I know, and that's why I want to. I mean, honestly, that's why I invest. Sure you do too, because you want to. I want to be that person to someone else. It's one person to make a bet on you.
- [41:11]
A
Yeah.
- [41:11]
B
So you can just be that one person to change like that domino effect.
- [41:16]
A
This has been so good.
- [41:17]
B
So good.
- [41:18]
A
I don't know why we waited so long to do this. I really enjoyed it today, you guys. Kim's awesome. She's legit. She's done it multiple times. She's still doing it right now. Go get her book. Mistakes that Made Me a Millionaire. By the way, I read that book in two and a half days. You probably take a little bit longer to read it, but it's readable and you remember tons of stuff in it. Kim, thank you.
- [41:39]
B
Oh my gosh. Thank you so much, Ed.
- [41:41]
A
Really good. All right, everybody, so get on my email list, edmylet.com, put your email in there so you get the shows early, and then I can communicate with you. Okay? All right, Max out. God bless you. Share this Episode this is the Ed Milet Show.