← The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex
The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex
Douglas James: The Navy Veteran Who Built Schools, Saved Lives & Revolutionized Sales
00:49:27
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- [00:00]
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- [00:42]
Douglas James
And I found digital marketing. After about six months. I was making my annual salary in the military, but monthly it was like over 50 grand a month. We helped over 15,000 people and it did nine figures in total revenue. I had two quarters back to back reg. I just lost $10 million. I was so into my business. I was very distant from my wife, my kids, my faith. I felt like I was going to lose everything. I should remember, man, when I was walking around, I'm like, man, cancer. I've lost eight figures. I'm going to possibly get divorced. My kids don't know who I am. I looked over at my desk and I had crucifix. And I just remember looking at the crucifix. I'm like, oh my God. The whole time you've been there, I just fell to my knees and I just surrendered my life to God. And ever since that moment, man, like everything has literally turned around.
- [01:27]
Paul Alex
Hey guys, and welcome back to Level Podcast. This is Paul Alex. Guys, here is the latest update from Google. We are currently number 19 on top PODC, number one in business in the U.S. guys, come on, help us out. We're trying to get to Rogan, okay? With that being said, today's guest is living proof that you could go from military hustle to a multimillionaire muscle. Douglas James is a Navy veteran who turned his side hustle into over $100 million in high ticket sales. He's helped over 15,000 entrepreneurs start and grow their own businesses. And now he's building a game changing tool that is using AI to help people qualify leads and close more deals without wasting Time, dude, that's fire. But behind the money and the millions is a man who had to figure it all the hard way. He started with no business background, base setbacks, rebuilt, and now he's here to give you the real game, guys. If you ever felt stuck, lost, or like your goals were too far away, this episode is for you. Let's welcome to the Level up podcast. Douglas James. Welcome, brother.
- [02:34]
Douglas James
Hey, Love to be here. We're in beautiful Miami, so I'm really enjoying my time here, dude.
- [02:38]
Paul Alex
Absolutely, man. When did you fly in?
- [02:41]
Douglas James
Let's see, we got in on Tuesday around 5 o'. Clock. So we've had not even 48 hours and it's been non stop since then.
- [02:47]
Paul Alex
It is, isn't it, crazy, guys? I know you guys are Cali boys just like me, but isn't it crazy? You come to the east coast, dude, Miami, it feels like you're here in 48 hours, but it seems like it's only been a couple hours, dude.
- [02:57]
Douglas James
Oh, yeah, it's insane.
- [02:58]
Paul Alex
Yeah, it's insane. I know. The time change is all. It jacks me up every time, but. Okay, cool. We have a lot to cover, dude. So let's go into it. You were in the Navy for 10 years. What made you want to start a business while still serving, dude?
- [03:13]
Douglas James
Yeah, it's a great question, man. So I, you know, I came from a background where it wasn't really an entrepreneurial upbringing at all. You know, my mom was a respiratory therapist. She worked for 30 years nights in the hospital. She provided for us. My dad, you know, was in and out of odd jobs, mechanic, you know, and all that. And I kind of, I kind of grew up in a household where there was, you know, it was kind of like a chaotic environment, you know, and I saw things no kid should ever see, you know, you know, physical verbal abuse, maybe on my dad's side, abuse of drugs and alcohol. And I actually left home, you know, around 16 years old. And I end up, you know, getting into the Navy and finding entrepreneurship. So a lot of context there. But I build it up a little bit because I don't have any background in this stuff at all. In the online space, building businesses, anything, you know, But I. To answer the question specifically, I just remember, you know, I spent 10 years in the Navy, right? I was a hospital corpsman. And I, in five years, I made E6, which is like a high level supervisory position. I can be in charge of hundreds of battalions of people, right? And it takes the average, average person 12 years to make that rank yeah. You know, and I went on a deployment to Papua New Guinea, Fiji, in the Philippines, and we were out there building schools for kids, you know, rendering medical aid. Some of the best work I've ever done as a human being, even to this day. And that really kind of like, set the tone and shifted my way of thinking. It's like, man, I want to be able to do something for kids and provide more, not just with my time, but financially, because if I can figure out how to make more money, I can actually make a bigger impact. And that's where the misconception. A lot of people, you know, hate money or, you know, think people with money are bad people. It's. They just don't understand, like, what you. You can actually be capable of or what people do. Like entrepreneurs. We create jobs, we create opportunities for other people, Right? So I wanted to do something along the lines with helping kids, you know, so now, you know, to date, we've built over a dozen schools with pencils of promise. We know we've. I've given to a number of charities as well, with military veterans, RIP Medical. We help military veterans eradicate medical debt as well. But, you know, I just remember getting back from that deployment and, you know, building all these schools for these kids. By the way, I want to tell this quick story because it's. It's. It's so memorable, and I love. I love when I get asked the question because I get to go back to that moment, but I just remember we were in the Philippines, in Rojas City. It's super, super rural. Like, super rural. Like, there's no big city there. There's Manila, but then there's Rojas on the other side of the island. We built, like, there was four structures that we had built. We built a ten. We built a. A soccer field, a basketball court, kind of all those things. And on the last day. And mind you, I'm the corpsman, right? So if the CBs. The CBs are building everything. So if they put a, you know, nail through the thumb or anything, I'm there. I'm their medical aid. The last day, we were walking up the steep hill to get to the top, and I had boxes of books and crayons. We were all carrying supplies. We get up there, and you can't see what's up there. You can't see the site until you get up there, right? So we get up there, and you just see, like, hundreds of kids, man. Freaking sea of kids. And they see us, and they just ran to us and Just grabbed our leg. And they're like, thank you, thank you, usa. Usa. And I just remember in that moment, I'm like, man, this is so beautiful. Like, I want to do more stuff like this, you know, and give back. And I want to have kids, I want to have a family, you know, and I want to be able to give my kids a life that I didn't have when I was growing up, you know? So, yeah, man. So I just, I get back from that deployment, I was like. And I just got capped to E6. I didn't even take a test. They just, they were like, dude, you're being meritoriously advanced because you deserve it. And I'm like, man, what an honor. And I just, you know, I got back from deployment, my now wife, then girlfriend was waiting for me. And I just was home one day and I was talking and I was like, I think I want to transition out the military. I don't think I want to do 20 or 30 years. I want to start a family and figure out what life looks like. And I just was up googling one night and I was like, man, how do you get out the military? How do you make money online? I was kind of searching all these things and it landed me digital marketing, and here we are.
- [07:32]
Paul Alex
I love that. Dude, that, that, that is such a great story. And guys, that's the level of podcast. Thank you. No, I'm just kidding. But no, dude, that. That is a fire answer to that first question. So let's break it down real quick. Number one, you. You were growing in a. In a household where you saw a lot of things, trauma between your family and your environment. What's your perspective on environment? Do you think that holds a lot of people back? Because you, you know, at 16, you decided, hey, you know what? I'm gonna go into the military. Not a lot of people can take an action like that, a decisive action. Right? A lot of people are actually indecisive. Yeah, right. So what made you be so decisive at the age of 16, dude? So young.
- [08:12]
Douglas James
Yeah, man. You know, it's really unfortunate that most people are a product of their environment, of their upbringing, you know, so if you live in a household where there's, you know, guns, drugs, alcohol, and kind of like all those things going on, you know, you fall into that because that's what you're used to. And then when you're a child, you know, I got two girls, I have a six year old about to be six year old and a two and a half year old. They're Sponges. They look at me like, that is Superman. Like, anything he says or does is gold. We take it to heart, and it's the real deal. And they want to model that, you know? And so I have to really watch our tone. You know, my tone when I'm speaking and doing things in front of her, because she'll start doing them, you know, so. And kind of like the same thing. When I was a kid, I thought my dad was Superman. Like, I would see him do things, I would want to model him and kind of model his behavior, but it was just like, you know, when I was 16, 15. 16 years old, man, I really started to come into my own as a man. I started to have trauma, PTSD of the things that I experienced as a kid. So I actually seeked help at my school that I was going to, and I got a guidance counselor.
- [09:24]
Paul Alex
Wow.
- [09:25]
Douglas James
And Mr. Mr. Morris, I don't give him enough credit when I speak about my story, but I just started bringing him up, and I. Dude, if Mr. Morris ever hears me speak, like, please reach out to me. Look me up, because I want to talk to you. Because this guy, like, I think he saved my life.
- [09:39]
Paul Alex
Yeah. Shout out to Mr. Morris if you're out there or if someone that knows Mr. Morris, hey, tell him that we have a great guy here, that you actually changed his life.
- [09:49]
Douglas James
Yeah, man. For sure, man. He's a. He's my. He's a guidance counselor. And I just. I went to him, like, every day for. From. From when I was 15 to, like, 17 years old. Literally every single day. I stopped in his office. Sometimes I would be there for a minute, sometimes I'd be there for a couple hours. But he just helped me realize a lot of the behaviors and emotions, things that I was experienced was, like, not okay. And. And the biggest thing was reinforcing. It's okay to be not okay.
- [10:19]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [10:20]
Douglas James
Like, you're. You're sad, you're. These aren't normal things. So he really validated a lot of my emotions and. And. And. And coddled me in a bit, you know, to help me get through it. But that's when I really started to realize, wow, my dad is effed up, you know, And. And bless his heart. Bless his heart. He's never been a dad before. He's never been a husband before. He's trying to figure it out. I'm a dad. I'm a husband. I haven't done this before either. I don't have a blueprint, but I'm. I'm still trying to make a conscious effort to be the best that I can every day.
- [10:52]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [10:53]
Douglas James
You know, so. So yeah, so I went to counseling, man, and, you know, it really. I remember I went back home one day to my dad, and he had just gotten home from drinking super late, and I saw him and I confronted him, and I was like, hey, you know, I don't believe in your behavior. I don't appreciate what you do to my mom. You know, you're destroying your health. I think you need to man up and man up. Right? And. And I told him, like, you know, I. I'm going to move out. I'm going to run from this home because I don't want to be under your household anymore. So he basically, we got into a, you know, argument, confrontation. He took a swing, and I was like, that's it. I'm out. You know, and I left. I. 16 years old, and I moved in with my gr. My best friend's parents at the time. And then I moved in my grandparents, which was my dad's parents. And, you know, I kind of coasted and prepared. You know, I got into the initial program before you go into the Navy, and, you know, I. I end up joining the Navy. Actually, before that, man, I was pretty troubled. And I'll share this, too. It wasn't smooth, and it still hasn't been smooth. But, you know, there's always. Life is always gonna. You're gonna have the plan, but it's never gonna really pan out. So you have to adapt and overcome, which the military teaches you, which is great in entrepreneurship, too.
- [12:17]
Paul Alex
That's right.
- [12:18]
Douglas James
But I was troubled even when I moved out. I got a job working at Target, and, you know, I was the electronic specialist, and I was, you know, helping people, you know, get TVs and all the things. And I end up shoplifting some stuff. And it was like, you know, there was still something inside of me that was like, I was still wanting to, like, model this behavior. I'm sorry. That's. Actually, before I moved out, I got my. Got the job at Target, and I think also going through that experience because actually I went to jail for 18 hours, and I spent jail. And I remember sitting next to a guy that was talking about wanting to, like, murder his wife, and he wasn't successful in doing so. And I was like, man, this is like, not the place I ever want to be again my whole life. So, yeah, I remember my. My mom and my grandma came out and they basically told me, you need to fix yourself up. You need to, you know, consider Going to college, you need to go to the military or you need to get the F out of our house. And that was like the three options that I was given by the two people that loved and cared for me the most at the time, which still do today, obviously. And I graduated high school with a 1.4 GPA that college was out of the question. I could not sit in a class and, you know, listen to a teacher. I was just not built for that. Not saying, I'm not a student. I'm a student of life, faith and business and all the things. But back then, I was this kid and I didn't want to have, you know, have my family disown me and be homeless, so I joined the military.
- [13:50]
Paul Alex
Yeah. You know, and that's a. Dude, that. That is so powerful, the fact that at the age of 16, you were able to make a conscious decision to go ahead and say, hey, I'm going to leave the only home that I know. I'm going to go ahead and leave my parents who love me. Right. And even though I love my dad, my dad is doing wrong. And I see that. Right. So this goes back to mentorship, because if you think about it, dude, you know, your guidance counselor, he was one of your first mentors, right? In your life. And I reflect all the time. I'm like, dude, did I have mentors throughout my life? And as I reflect now, I'm on this entrepreneurship journey just like you. I'm like, yeah, I actually did. There are certain reasons why we do what we do, but for a lot of people, I urge you guys, if you guys are looking for the help, if you guys need to talk to somebody, it's super important, man. I mean, back in Covet, dude, I got into massive, deep depression, bro. Massive to the point where I got to get on Prozac depression pills. And I had to up it a few years later. And dude, and then I had to go do with my chemistry and the gut and all that jazz. Right? So that's why I started optimizing my health myself. But to get back to you, man. Man, as deep.
- [15:02]
Douglas James
Well, can I just say one thing about what you said?
- [15:04]
Paul Alex
Good.
- [15:05]
Douglas James
You're absolutely right. I see people with the self made mentality.
- [15:09]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [15:09]
Douglas James
And they claim that like a badge of honor. Dude, that is complete bs. It's bullshit. You know, like, we've all had mentors along the way, you know, And I think it's cool that you have that much pride and you believe in, you know, believe in what you do, but you have to give credit where Credit's due. Yes, 100% all the time.
- [15:26]
Paul Alex
I agree. I agree. You know, even till then, I tell, you know, my parents, they. They didn't really believe in entrepreneurs, believed in what I like to call the old American dream. It was the American trap for me, man. You know, I was working 80 to 100 hours. I was. Yeah. Getting paid well. But, you know, in California, 100k doesn't go that far, my man. You're in poverty, my friend. That's just what it is, right?
- [15:49]
Douglas James
Not at all. And.
- [15:51]
Paul Alex
And I get a lot of. I get a lot of hate online for that, man. You know, people are like, ah, there's no way cops make that much. I was like, dude, in California, yes, they pay you that much. But guess what? You're not living that well.
- [16:00]
Douglas James
You're in California.
- [16:01]
Paul Alex
Yeah, you're in California. Let's remember that, guys. Okay, so with that being said, let's go ahead and talk about. All right. Digital marketing. Did you figure it out as you went, or did you already know? Like, did you have a basis? Did you get a mentor within digital marketing, or how was the process for you when you started that out?
- [16:24]
Douglas James
Yeah, you know, so before I really found what my niche was going to be, the whole mindset shift kind of happened because I actually found people like Tony Robbins and Zig Ziglar.
- [16:39]
Eric
Right.
- [16:40]
Douglas James
Self help, self helps, personal development.
- [16:42]
Eric
Right.
- [16:43]
Douglas James
Just to kind of shift the paradigms of how I thought about money.
- [16:47]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [16:47]
Douglas James
And my time value and all these things.
- [16:50]
Eric
Right.
- [16:50]
Douglas James
So that when I started to realize that and shift, that's when I was like, man, how do I create value in the marketplace? And that's really what found me. Digital digital marketing. And I got to tell you, what really stuck out to me was a quote by Zig Ziglar in a book he wrote in. In the. In the 60s. I believe it's help people get what they want. You'll have all you want in life.
- [17:13]
Paul Alex
Yes.
- [17:13]
Douglas James
And that immediately when I read it, I was like, oh, my God. That's how I was so successful in the military. So I told you, I put on E6 in five years, and it takes the average person 12 years. And I did that because I was completely obsessed with helping junior sailors win. So any. Any program I took on, anything that I did in the military, I had a group of people behind me that was taking care of everything. And I was just. I had the vision and, and the mission, and I had all these people bought into where we were trying to go.
- [17:45]
Eric
Right.
- [17:46]
Douglas James
And yes, I made, I got the rank, I got the awards and all that stuff. But they, they did too. Those were bullet points and things. They were put on, able to put on their evaluations and they went on to become chiefs and officers and all the things. I still keep up with them like, oh my God, awesome. You know.
- [17:59]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [18:00]
Douglas James
So that's really like the start of it. But when I found digital marketing, I'll tell you, the first thing that I found was search engine optimization. You know, I, I remember Googling and I'm like, why are these businesses on Google? Like when I put in, you know, dentist San Diego, why is it this particular dentist is ranked number one?
- [18:21]
Paul Alex
Correct.
- [18:22]
Douglas James
And why is this one number two? Like, what is that? What's going on? Why in the map section there's these, you know, businesses ranked. So I kind of like just started to play and just do Google searches and research this stuff and I end up finding a mentor in that space. His name was Dan way back in the day and he was teaching like, and talking about how to rank websites. So I started to learn from him on YouTube and before you knew it, man, I was probably, I was making, after about six months I was making my annual salary in the military, but monthly, I love that, in six months. So it was like over 50 grand a month. And I had probably 20 something clients pay me small retainers of 1500 to 2 grand a month, something like that. And I got really good at it. But here's, here's, here's what happened. The guy I was learning from and this is like, this is 2015. It's, it's online's the wild wild west. It is, it's today, it's way more regulated. You got a lot more rules to follow.
- [19:22]
Eric
Right.
- [19:24]
Douglas James
He was basically teaching these, I'll call them black hat procedures on how to do it. You know, there's a lot of context there, but basically it's frown upon. And I didn't, I didn't know any better. I was just kind of naive. I'm like, I'm making all this money. This is working. Businesses are happy, people are googling. Hey, I'm looking for a carpet cleaner in Escondido, California.
- [19:45]
Paul Alex
You weren't even thinking about liability.
- [19:47]
Douglas James
You were just like attorneys, liability, dude, no, it's Internet.
- [19:51]
Paul Alex
It'll be, it'll be fine.
- [19:52]
Douglas James
Exactly. And Google releases this algorithm update. It's called the Penguin.
- [19:57]
Paul Alex
The Penguin.
- [19:58]
Douglas James
And today we call it the Penguin Killer because it flagged those same strategies that people like me were using. So I woke up One day, man. And every single client that I had disappeared from page one. For their perspective, Google search.
- [20:13]
Paul Alex
Oh, no.
- [20:14]
Douglas James
Completely disappeared. So what does that mean? They're. They stop getting calls and emails and to their website?
- [20:20]
Paul Alex
Correct.
- [20:21]
Douglas James
Right. So I'm getting calls. What's going on? What are you doing? Are you scamming me? But, like, people are freaking out. I'm like, I don't know. Algorithm. This algorithm update came out. I'm trying to figure it out. So I basically lost my $50,000 a month business, like, overnight. I had four clients that was, like, willing to work it out with me. Like, literally a fifth of them. And. And I was like, let me get into paid advertising. You know, I've. I've seen Facebook ads. I've seen the ads on top of Google. Let me see what that's about. So I started to run ads for them, and I sucked at it. I sucked at it really bad. So I lost three clients. But one, I started to have traction. Went it was a limousine party bus company, and we worked out a deal where they were like, hey, look, we're going to give you 25% of whatever you make us for the next 30 days. And that was my deal with all the clients, actually. And it worked out for them. And I remember they just gave me a check for like 7,500 bucks after 30 days. I was like, okay, this works. So that's how I got into paid advertising on Facebook and Google.
- [21:23]
Paul Alex
I love that, man. So you. You went through a roadblock after you had success. Dude, I could only imagine the first time you got paid 50k in a month. How was that emotion? Like, how did you feel? You were on top of the world. You're like, oh, yeah, dude.
- [21:38]
Douglas James
I took my wife. Well, girlfriend at the time, to Eddie. V's in Lady.
- [21:45]
Paul Alex
V's is great.
- [21:46]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [21:46]
Paul Alex
Love their fried rice, dude.
- [21:47]
Douglas James
Yeah. So we celebrated there. It was like our first. It was a good time.
- [21:55]
Paul Alex
It was a good time.
- [21:56]
Douglas James
Yeah. Yeah, it was a good time.
- [21:57]
Paul Alex
It's a good feeling, dude.
- [21:58]
Douglas James
It was a really good feeling.
- [21:59]
Paul Alex
Oh, yes.
- [22:00]
Douglas James
And because I went through a lot at that point.
- [22:02]
Paul Alex
Yeah. You know, and first milestone, dude, you're like, dude, we made it. Like, you're thinking about, like, all right, cool. What we're going to build next, we're going to keep going. I love that feeling. It's about building the journey. Something that you had said that made you ultra successful in the military. And I can relate to you coming from law enforcement and working with a lot of military folks like yourself. Is that you cared about your people, dude. And some of the most successful people that I know, you have to build a team to build something big.
- [22:34]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [22:35]
Paul Alex
And I know that if you can build the culture, you care about your folks and you know where they're going in life and their vision and their family and who they are. Right. Dude, people will have your back all day, every day. So you transition that skill set that you built unknowingly in the military to where you are now. Yeah, in entrepreneurship, dude. And that's why you have that level of success. Yeah, a lot of people don't get that because they don't have the experience. And that's just what it comes down to. You know, some of the most successful people that I've met in my life, Military dude, law enforcement, life experience. Right. So at this time when you're going through all this and then you're at that point where you're going to start running essentially like an agency for paid ads. Well, how old were you?
- [23:21]
Douglas James
I was 26. 20? Yeah, about. About to be 27. So I'm 37 now. So I've been doing this total for like 11 years.
- [23:28]
Paul Alex
11 years, that's wonderful. More than a decade. Full time entrepreneur from the military. See guys, this is the stories that I want to bring you. Stories from real people. Just like Douglas come from the military. Come from like not a silver spoon family, you know. And for a lot of people that know, my story is the same thing. Single mother, immigrant, dude. Like I never had anything handed to me ever. So I respect you, dude.
- [23:51]
Douglas James
Thank you.
- [23:52]
Paul Alex
Okay, now let's get down to your baby. What is the new company that is changing the waves with using AI? Because you know, AI is huge right now, dude.
- [24:04]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [24:04]
Paul Alex
Everybody's like, it's going to replace the world. But what are you doing specifically where you're dominating this space, dude?
- [24:11]
Douglas James
Yeah. So I have a company called Lead fi. It's a SaaS product software as a service. It's basically a lead qualification technology that we developed. And so if you can imagine if somebody visits your website or your funnel, either from an ad or they DM you on Instagram, you get them to book a call or opt into your, you know, offer whatever that is to watch your video or webinar. They give you their name, email, phone number, right?
- [24:38]
Paul Alex
Correct.
- [24:39]
Douglas James
So what we've been able to do is create verification technology that is patent and proprietary and we're able to basically conduct a soft credit pull in real time with Experian TransUnion, Equifax and then provide credit information that you wouldn't be able to get otherwise without having like their address, date of birth and sensitive fields of information. So if you know, I can basically tell you someone's exact credit score, how much money they can spend on their credit cards right now in their wallet, their annual income, their debt to income ratio and I could also pull their real estate assets, investable assets and retirement assets as well. And but we, we do this with all the purpose of providing funding pre approvals. So it's called pre screening. So it's actually the same things that, that banks do to set mail us credit cards in the mail. Correct pre approvals?
- [25:34]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [25:35]
Douglas James
So it's interesting. So you don't need actually a checkbox consent when people opt in for that because we're providing a funding pre approval through the API as well. So there is some language you have to put on your privacy policy to be compliant. But this company was established from another past trauma that I experienced.
- [25:57]
Paul Alex
Let's talk about it, man. What was the vision behind this company, dude? What led you up to this company? Because I know for a lot of entrepreneurs when they hit a nine figure company like where you're building, man, it's, it's one of those things, it's like they learn from experience and they learn from like possibly building a company before and it just went to complete shit. And you're like, dude, that's the hard lesson I learned. Yeah, let me build it the right way this time.
- [26:21]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [26:21]
Paul Alex
So what exactly happened?
- [26:23]
Douglas James
So you know, I was running my agency for a good while. I got into paid ads and then I had at. I was still active duty by the way, when I was doing that, I was active duty for four years. As an entrepreneur, I love that I had veterans coming up to me. I remember the first person ever coached and taught how to basically make money online by doing lead generation for businesses is, was a master Chief. So he E9, so highest rank you can go in the military. Active duty I should say. He comes up to me, we're in uniform and he's, he's like HM1HM1. I'm a Hospitalman Force class. So my rank was HM1H1. I heard about you. I'm, you know, I've been in the Navy for 25 years. I'm 45 years old and I'm getting out next month and I don't want to sit in a classroom full of 19 year olds. So would you be willing to teach me, you know, how are you doing this business stuff? Online. I said, sure, master chief. I got you. So I went home. It was a Friday. I went home. I recorded the worst course you've ever seen in your life. Uploaded to Dropbox, gave it to him, and he took it. And by the next weekend, he landed a client making 1,000 bucks a month. And he paid me, and then he gave me a thousand bucks for. For my material. And I'm like, wow, this is incredible. So people are willing to pay you just for what you know.
- [27:40]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [27:41]
Eric
Right.
- [27:41]
Douglas James
So from there, what I did was I started to, you know, create a. As time went on, the course got more and more advanced, and then the better it got, people wanted more and more of my attention. So we created not just do it yourself programs, but done with you, then done for you. Then I started. They're like, I want to come see you in person. So I started holding events. I got this 7,000 square foot penthouse where I could hold these private, exclusive events, and people are paying really good money to be in the room. And I did that for years. And we helped over 15,000 people, you know, in that program. And it did nine figures in total revenue.
- [28:17]
Paul Alex
So huge.
- [28:18]
Douglas James
Yeah. So it all led up to about, I want to say, just over a year and a half ago now. Getting close to two years, actually, if I remember correctly. But because I was selling high ticket, right?
- [28:31]
Paul Alex
Yes.
- [28:31]
Douglas James
5K, 10K, 25, and then 55K, you know, so really high tickets. So the sales cycle on those purchases might have been it would take two to three months sometimes for someone to close. So I, as a business owner, really couldn't look at my p. L. Month to month, because I knew out of the quarter, one or two months sometimes would be like, in the red.
- [28:52]
Paul Alex
Correct.
- [28:53]
Douglas James
And I'll be like, it's cool, it's cool. But month three, boom. Massive green month boom. We're in the profit. We're like 3x right?
- [29:01]
Paul Alex
To the limit.
- [29:02]
Douglas James
Yeah. So all these sales just kind of transpired. So I remember about a year and a half ago, I had two quarters back to back red. I'm like, something's wrong. And I saw the sign after the first quarter, and I'm like, it's okay. The season, it's summertime, people with their kids. The second quarter, boom, red. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I just lost $10 million.
- [29:21]
Paul Alex
And. And Douglas, this is in 2024 or 2023?
- [29:24]
Douglas James
20. Late 2023. Early 2024.
- [29:27]
Paul Alex
Okay.
- [29:27]
Douglas James
Okay.
- [29:28]
Paul Alex
All right.
- [29:28]
Douglas James
Yep. So I was like, something's wrong. And I. So from what. What we started to do there and I had over 100 people in my organizations from sales, marketing people, payroll. Yeah, stressful lot. And dude, it's not just a hundred people, it's like a hundred families. So if I don't exactly, if I can't pay them, they can't feed their kids. So like, I obviously take that to heart. And it's a lot of stress and, and responsibility. Anyway, I brought on, I tried to bring on the best of the best at the time to try to fix everything. And I just remember nothing was working. And I, I, and, and at the time, man, you know, I was so into my business. I was traveling a lot, networking, speaking, all the things. I was very distant from my wife, I was very distant from my kids. I was very, very distant in my faith. Nothing was like really lining up for me at the time. And I, I, I felt like I was going to lose everything.
- [30:19]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [30:19]
Douglas James
You know, I really did. And actually I almost did.
- [30:22]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [30:23]
Douglas James
And I just remember one day I was just in my office, man, I was walking around, I'm like, man, what is the answer? Like, what is going on? I don't, I'm losing, I've lost eight figures. I'm gonna possibly get divorced. My kids don't know who I am. Dude, all this is going on at the same time. And I just remember, man, like, I looked at, I looked over at my desk and I had my crucifix sitting there. And I just remember looking at the crucifix. I'm like, oh my God. The whole time you've been there, you know, So I just fell to my knees and I just surrendered my life to God at that point. And ever since that moment, man, like, everything has literally turned around. The very next morning, the very next morning from that, one of my friends put me in a three, three way chat with my partner Eric, who is partnered with me in lead by now.
- [31:09]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [31:10]
Douglas James
And, and Eric has been in the financial space underwriting for banks. He's had this relationship with the credit bureaus for 15 years. I told him, I'm like, dude, I want certainty of every single lead that opts in my phone. And I was saying it jokingly. I was like, I want to know their credit, I want other income. Like, these people are opting in and lying to my sales team. And my marketing team is saying the quality is good. And the sales team's like complaining that the quality is bad all the time. Can we figure this out? Like, you know, what do you do? And he's like, well, he he was, he was working on an underlying technology and it wasn't fully developed yet. I was like, let me, let me partner with you. I already have a company that I've done big numbers and I want to help figure out the use case of how to implement this into marketing and sales. So we have a team of PhDs, I'm in another AI company as well. We all got together and we basically developed what is now lead fi today and we were able to get my offer back profitable. And as soon as I told one person, I told one guy about what we did and now it went Viral. There's over 200 high six figure to nine figure brands on it.
- [32:20]
Paul Alex
Love it.
- [32:20]
Douglas James
And we organically get at least 10 to 20 calls a day.
- [32:23]
Paul Alex
Wow.
- [32:24]
Douglas James
So I haven't ran a single ad for this at all. So yeah, it's been going, it's very successful and I think it's going to keep going, keep growing because we initially started working with coaches, consultants, info product owners, people like that because that's my, that's my world, that's my space. Marketing agencies, sales agencies. But now we are in going into the mortgage space as well and we've integrated Freddie Mac and all these things. So now we're actually able to underwrite a deal with just name, email, phone number and save you 99 of the cost to see if someone's pre approved, you know, to buy a home with a co borrower. So it's, it's literally going to disrupt that whole industry. So we're super excited about it as well. And we're also looking at other under niches like insurance and auto as well. But yeah man, it's been quite a journey, dude.
- [33:15]
Paul Alex
That's, that's, that's phenomenal. A couple things to touch on that, Douglas. I mean number one, like my mind just goes boom. I can, I know so many industries that can use that, man. I mean you're talking about mortgages. I'm thinking real estate agents, right? Real estate agents, they're willing to go ahead and pay leads like they do with Zillow and they could go ahead and you can qualify them based on how much the person makes, their credit score and all that. Just so now, hey, you want the guy that's going to buy a $5 million house, you got to pay for that, right? So dude, is, is the possibilities are endless with that, man.
- [33:45]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [33:46]
Paul Alex
Congrats brother.
- [33:46]
Eric
Thank you, thank you.
- [33:47]
Paul Alex
To go back to that in 2023, dude, when, when you thought you were about to lose it all, dude, and you, you, you sort of lost yourself, right? Do you think it was because you're so hyper focused, you're a hyper focus driven individual? Was it because you were deep into building your prior company, you were in there trying to grow it, you were driven to, to, to, to grow that organization that you were like, hey, dude, you know, I'm gonna forget about personal. I'm gonna forget about my marriage, I'm gonna forget about my kids. I'm gonna forget about. You didn't do it intentionally. You're a great guy. But at the end of the day, I feel like as entrepreneurs, we're how you driven, dude. It's just like success, love, speed, right? Hey, let's get it done. Sometimes we get lost in sauce.
- [34:33]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [34:33]
Paul Alex
2024 happened to me, dude. You know, gained 40 pounds, married the love of my life, but yet I was in deep depression. Double my medication.
- [34:41]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [34:42]
Paul Alex
Couldn't sleep. I looked like shit, dude. It was all bad. And then I came to realize I was like, what is wrong with me? Best financial year I ever had. But then everything else was crap. And it wasn't until a good friend that we both know, Big Mike. Shout out. Big Mike, he was just like, dude, it's your gut.
- [35:05]
Douglas James
Yeah, he told me the same thing.
- [35:07]
Paul Alex
He's like, it's your gut, Paul. You gotta optimize, you gotta biohack, bro. The doctors are gonna kill you.
- [35:12]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [35:12]
Paul Alex
And guys, we've had heart surgeons on the show that were like, yeah, like, you guys need to do your own research. Because as we know, Big pharma, they're all about making money, some coin, right? So to get back with your situation, man, in 2023, dude, you build a nine figure company. The pinnacle of success, right. For any entrepreneur. But then yet you realize you're like, dude, my life, it's spiraling out of control.
- [35:39]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [35:39]
Paul Alex
So why do you think that was happening?
- [35:43]
Douglas James
I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. I. I think it wasn't happening. And this is just my belief, but, you know, God calls us to lead his church, right? So if you can't lead your family, how are you going to lead his church? That's. That's my belief. Yeah. You know, with my wife and my family, success without presence is failure, Right. I was not present for my wife, I was not present for my kids, and I wasn't leading in that household. But I thought I was successful.
- [36:23]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [36:23]
Douglas James
Because my idea was success was to travel and meet all these cool people and have dinner and drink out, you know, tons of alcohol and tear up my cut too, and, and build this company. And it was, it was successful from a monetary standpoint. And yes, I did help a lot of people. And yes, I'm very grateful for that work. I've literally saved people's lives. I've had people write me letters saying, hey, I was contemplating suicide. Then I saw your ad on Instagram and I showed up to your event. Now I want to live for my kids and my granddaughter. That happened.
- [36:54]
Eric
Right.
- [36:55]
Douglas James
I've had people being able to afford chemo treatment to save their loved one.
- [37:01]
Eric
Right.
- [37:01]
Douglas James
That's all great work, but I sacrificed a lot in order to achieve that. So I do believe that there's seasons where you have to sacrifice and you have to buckle down. But what good is gaining the world if someone sells their soul?
- [37:25]
Eric
Right.
- [37:26]
Douglas James
These are Bible references that are mentioning, by the way. And you know, and I, I'm just, I'm really big into my faith now. And now I really see what, where I went wrong. And if I would have known what I would, if I knew now what I, if, you know, then, dude, I'd probably be, I'll probably be so far ahead. But here's the thing. These downfalls and these rock bottoms are blessings.
- [37:49]
Eric
Right.
- [37:50]
Douglas James
Because it gives me a level clarity to now that I can. I'm preparing for what's coming for me.
- [37:55]
Paul Alex
Correct.
- [37:55]
Eric
Right.
- [37:56]
Douglas James
And where I'm going. So I know that I'm going to do incredible things, you know, going forward. But I, you know, you have, there has to be some kind of balance. When you have kids and you have little ones, you have to think, what are they going to think of you when you're older? Are they even going to want to sit down and have a cup of coffee with you?
- [38:15]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [38:16]
Douglas James
Or, you know, are they going to want to even be over for Christmas? You know, I look back to my dad, I don't want to be with him for Christmas. I don't want to have a cup of coffee.
- [38:26]
Paul Alex
It's the hard truth, dude.
- [38:27]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [38:28]
Paul Alex
A lot of people don't want a man up to it, you know?
- [38:30]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [38:30]
Paul Alex
At the end of the day, yeah. As an entrepreneur, as a man, you want to be successful, you want to be the provider. Right. But at the end of the day, what is it good being a provider if you're not present, Dude?
- [38:43]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [38:43]
Paul Alex
It was same thing with me, you know, my mom, my dad, they separate when I was 2. Mom basically single mother, dad, he was a construction worker that actually converted to be a restaurant entrepreneur. Multiple locations. Never saw him dude, 12 kids.
- [39:00]
Eric
12.
- [39:01]
Paul Alex
Nine wives.
- [39:02]
Douglas James
Wow.
- [39:02]
Paul Alex
He was a player for life.
- [39:03]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [39:04]
Paul Alex
But at the end of the day, on the weekday, he died, dude, he tried reaching out to me and my stepbrothers and sisters. They were like, oh, he tried reaching out to you you wanted to see before he passed away? Bullshit. Dude, I was a cop. I have public record, dude. You could find me easily.
- [39:20]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [39:21]
Paul Alex
So at the end of the day, dude, it sucks. You have to go through those trials and errors in life, and you're right. In life, there's seasons, dude, but what you've gone through, dude, it's going to build you up for the next level. Right. With every new level, there's a new double.
- [39:34]
Douglas James
That's right.
- [39:35]
Paul Alex
So now that you've realized that, dude, you're back bigger than ever, dude, you're a dad and a husband. How do you make sure you're winning at home while building the big next thing?
- [39:51]
Douglas James
At my life, man, I gotta tell you, God's at the center of everything, you know? You know as cheesy that might sound. I know it's not popular with a lot of people. Actually, to be honest with you, I'm finding that it's actually more popular than people.
- [40:04]
Paul Alex
No, it is family, traditional values, guys.
- [40:08]
Douglas James
God.
- [40:09]
Paul Alex
Right?
- [40:09]
Douglas James
100.
- [40:10]
Paul Alex
It is the cliche that you always hear, guys, you versus you. It is so true.
- [40:15]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [40:15]
Paul Alex
I gotta talk to so many entrepreneurs. They're like, dude, how do you do it? I'm like, bro, I'm no one special. I'm smart. I just execute because I get in my own head. It's like. Like you. Everybody bleeds, everybody has emotions, everybody goes through trauma, but at the end of the day, we get in our own way.
- [40:31]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [40:32]
Paul Alex
Right. So how are you making sure now that you're winning at home, dude, while building this next big thing?
- [40:38]
Douglas James
Yeah. My wife is a part of every thing at this point. Every decision, every planning.
- [40:44]
Eric
Right.
- [40:45]
Douglas James
We have regular meetings.
- [40:46]
Eric
Right.
- [40:48]
Douglas James
We always have a plan for our kids. Like, right now we're in Miami, she's here with me. But the kids aren't.
- [40:53]
Eric
Right.
- [40:54]
Douglas James
So that took coordination, that took communication.
- [40:56]
Paul Alex
Yep.
- [40:58]
Douglas James
So being present at home, making sure the home is secure because the home is the foundation. You build a house, you know, foundation cracks, everything's going to crumble. So that is the number one thing that I focus on first. Like, my dreams are always at the top of the list. What I want to do and accomplish. Those are visions, those are ideas.
- [41:16]
Eric
Right.
- [41:16]
Douglas James
But through my execution starts with the foundation, which is the family.
- [41:21]
Paul Alex
Yes.
- [41:21]
Douglas James
And then from there, we go build, we go travel, we go to meetings.
- [41:26]
Eric
Right?
- [41:26]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [41:27]
Douglas James
So that has been my focus. And putting God at the center of everything and making sure we're strong in our faith and some, you know, and then for me, dude, sometimes when I'm feeling like I'm alone or like I'm on an island, which I know a lot of people do, a lot of people, entrepreneurs, if you're a human being, we think we're on an island for freaking everything, dude. We're all humans. We all the same, have the same psychology. We go through the same problems. You're not on an island. That's the first thing. But then you always have somebody over you, and that's God.
- [41:55]
Paul Alex
Yeah.
- [41:56]
Douglas James
And when I realized that I wasn't alone, he was there that whole time. When I saw the crucifix in my office, that's when I fell to my knees.
- [42:03]
Eric
Yeah, right.
- [42:04]
Douglas James
And that's when everything turned around for me.
- [42:06]
Paul Alex
Yeah. Because you realized it. You realize it, dude. You're like, dude, I'm not alone.
- [42:10]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [42:11]
Paul Alex
I just got to go back to what I know. You know, just like you went to your counselor when you were 16, dramatically changed your life, gave you belief to go into the military. And if you never want to go into the military, you never would have got the skill sets to go ahead and build a nine figure company out of that.
- [42:24]
Douglas James
That's it.
- [42:25]
Paul Alex
It's awesome, dude. That's it, guys. Phenomenal, phenomenal interview here with Douglas James. Okay, military veteran to a multi millionaire building multiple nine figure companies. Now, there's one thing that I always tell every single guest here, at the level of podcast, we have about 100,000 downloads a day, which is pretty cool. It's all for you guys. All right, so from somebody who was in the military, someone who was at a household at the age of 16, dude, that had to run away to better your life and to level up, what do you have to say to the people that need self help right now, that need somebody to talk to, that want to become an entrepreneur? They want to live your life, dude.
- [43:04]
Douglas James
Yeah.
- [43:04]
Paul Alex
You're living the new American dream, dude. Nad new American dream, bro. That's what it's about. So what do you have to tell them?
- [43:13]
Douglas James
Man, there's so much that I could share with you right now, and I wish we had a lot more time, but I'll just. I'll just tell you this. There's this quote that I think about every single day. And in my darkest moments, when I feel like I want to Give up. When I feel stressed, when I feel like I'm in a corner, I think of this quote and it's quotes from a famous author. Her name's Virginia. Satire. And the quote is, most people choose the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty, right? So think of every decision. Think of everything that you have to do in your life. Goals, dreams, aspirations. Picture. There's two doors in front of you behind door number one. It's the life as you know it. It's the same job, the same house, the same car, the same circumstances, the same finances, right? You're comfortable there. You're miserable. But you know what you're gonna get, right? Because door number two, there's complete uncertainty of how that's gonna play out for you. It's a miserable feeling, right? But I gotta tell you, every decision that I've ever made in my life, every billionaire and successful person that I've ever interviewed or had dinner with, I ask them the same question. Door number one or door number two. And guess what? They always choose door number two. So if there's anything that you want in your life, you have to get comfortable with uncertainty for long periods of time. Time and business compounds, just like time in the markets and crypto and real estate compounds, right? Don't get emotional. At the first sign of distress or fear, you have to continue to pursue and you have to stay in the game. At the end of the day, one of my mentors told me, no matter what you do, no matter how hard it gets, stay in business. That's it. Because it will compound over time, the losses will compound its success, the success will compound even more success. So stay in the game.
- [45:14]
Paul Alex
And that is the low, guys. And then Douglas, where can the audience find you?
- [45:19]
Douglas James
Yeah, go to Instagram, type in Douglas James. Should be the first one with the blue check. I think it's at the underscore. Douglas James. And if you're interested, interested in Lead Fi and my software company, just go to Lead Fi.
- [45:31]
Paul Alex
AI phenomenal, guys, there you have it. From military veteran to a multimillionaire. Guys, if Douglas can do it, you can do it. Okay? Don't overthink. Make it happen. And it's you versus you guys. All right, guys, we are top 19 in all categories. Number one in business currently in Apple podcast. Guys, make sure to share this with a friend. Leave a five star review on Spotify. With that being said, guys, I'll catch you on the next one. It.