← The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex
The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex
From Being Arrested to Becoming a Millionaire Entrepreneur: Jay Awal’s Journey
00:46:58
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- [00:02]
A
Race the rudders.
- [00:02]
B
Raise the sails. Race the sails.
- [00:05]
A
Captain, an unidentified ship is approaching, Over.
- [00:08]
B
Roger, wait. Is that an enterprise sales solution? Reach sales professionals, not professional sailors. With LinkedIn ads, you can target the right people by industry, job title and more. We'll even give you a $100 credit on your next campaign. Get started today at LinkedIn.com results, terms and conditions apply. Welcome to the Level up podcast. I'm your host, Paul Alex. I went from being a cop to an eight figure entrepreneur that helps average people like you and me make money every single day. I created this podcast to help you get motivated and to crush your goals. Let's win together. Remember, I have your six. Get ready to level up right now. Hey, guys, and welcome back to Level Up Podcast. This is Paul Alex and today we have a phenomenon. Phenomenal guest, guys. Okay. He's an international speaker. He's actually. Man, you, you're pretty mixed, dude. You're like Puerto Rican. You're Middle Eastern. Come on, man. A little bit of everything, but it's my boy from Miami. I met him about a year and a half ago. Really, really nice guy. I mean, he is a master networker. But guys, he is doing it for the culture. He actually was the one to convince me to move to Puerto Rico. For everybody that goes and says, why you moving to Puerto Rico, gringo? Well, I'm out there now and people out there, the island's beautiful, simple life. I love it. Anyways, let's go ahead and introduce Jay Awall to the show. What's up, buddy?
- [01:34]
A
Let's go. Good to be here and excited, man.
- [01:36]
B
Oh, I'm excited too, man. This is a long time coming, bro.
- [01:39]
A
I know. From, from dinners to podcasts.
- [01:41]
B
That's it. From dinner to podcast to Puerto Rico, my friend.
- [01:44]
A
That's right.
- [01:45]
B
Yeah. And we got his lovely wife and behind the scenes, Andrea. So what's up, Andrea? She's up. So. All right, so let's go ahead and get started, guys. So, Jay, give us a little bit about your background. What is it exactly that you do right now? So the people that are listening, obviously the podcast is regarding, like self help, newer entrepreneurs. People are trying to find their footing in what they're good at.
- [02:09]
A
Right?
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B
So give us some inspiration, dude. What do you do right now?
- [02:12]
A
Yeah, man. So for the last seven years, I've been really just diving into how can I make money outside the traditional nine to five. I got my start originally picking up different skill sets like videography. Then I got into the network marketing industry. Was like the cheapest best option to get the self development, leadership and training that I needed. Since then started a software platform and really like the mission is dedicated around helping people build residual income, whether it's online, offline, and that's where you and I were able to connect. And now just helping the world by storm.
- [02:41]
B
Yeah. So you know, you do so many things, dude, and you're always traveling. I mean, tonight you're flying out or tomorrow you're flying out to Paris.
- [02:49]
A
Paris.
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B
And you're talking in front of how many people?
- [02:51]
A
It's gonna be like 1500 to 2000 people.
- [02:53]
B
Yeah, so 1500 to 2000 people. I mean you've done it already hundreds of times. So you know, when I say this guys, your network is truly your net worth. You know, I met some phenomenal business associates and friends from Jay and Truly, he is a master communicator. So with that being said, Jay, what would you tell someone who is right now looking into network marketing?
- [03:19]
A
Honestly, I would give you the best advice and let you know that network marketing can be one of the most powerful vehicles to get information and get leadership training that most people would have to spend a lot of money to get. But you got to be careful because there's a lot of people leaders. I mean, like every industry, you got your bad apples, right? And then you got people that are absolutely amazing, they have good hearts and they really want to help you. So if that's something that you're interested in, I would definitely look for character. You know, when you follow someone's opinion, you're buying their lifestyle. So, you know, at this stage of my life, I'm married, you know, like, I'm not trying to follow anybody. I don't want someone that's just posted Lambos online and they're not married and they're all around women all the time. Like, that's not something I look up to. But at the age of 23, it was right, it was like, man, look at that guy living the lifestyle in Miami. What? So I would say like follow leadership based on character and principles and who you want to become. And by doing that, you're going to find the right guide and the right leaders and the right products match and they align with you. Then go ahead.
- [04:18]
B
Yeah, absolutely, man. I agree because I always, I always tell people this. You know, I wasn't the most studious person, but the reason why I became a full time entrepreneur, the reason why I've been a full time entrepreneur for the past five years, law enforcement, corporate America, I mean, I didn't I didn't grow up as the most studious sibling out of my family, right? I had two sisters, all nurses. I'm the black sheep. I was the one smoking weed in school. I was the one hanging around with, you know, drug dealers and all that stuff. And at the end of the day, when I became a cop, people were like, dude, they just let anybody become a cop, right? And people are like, paul, you used to throw nightclubs, bro. What's wrong with you?
- [04:55]
A
Right?
- [04:56]
B
But at the end of the day, everybody has a pass. And this is why we call this the level up, guys. So, Jay, before you got into entrepreneurship, were you always this, like, proactive, or were you always this type of guy that would just go out there and get it, dude, by any means? Or, like, what was your background, dude? Growing up?
- [05:11]
A
Yeah. So, you know, mom moved us around a lot. I mean, I wasn't in one school for more than really three years, two years outside of high school. So we moved around a lot. From New York to New Jersey, from New Jersey to Orlando, then Miami. So I always had to make new friends, which was great. And at the time, you know, it sucks being the new guy in school or the new cafeteria. You're like, who do I sit with? You know? But that actually ended up becoming one of my strengths because it allowed me to make friends quickly, meet people, learn how to communicate. In high school, you know, my mom went through a divorce with my stepdad, who basically raised me, and that kind of just put me into a dark place just because, you know, mom was now I'm the man of the house, you know, I'm 15, 16, 17 years years old. She was stressed out, so, you know, taking it out kind of on me, probably not meaning to, but that's what happened. So a lot of pressure. Yeah, I found myself leaving the house as much as possible, you know, like, I didn't want to be home. And the first place I went to was good old Mary Jane, man. You know, like, I found.
- [06:09]
B
I found happiness for the newbies that are listening right now and don't know who Mary Jane is. Who is Mary Jane?
- [06:15]
A
Well, Mary Jane's not the Mary Jane from Spider Man. Mary Jane is known as thc, now legal in many states around the United States, but at that time, very illegal. And, yeah, I found myself hanging out with the wrong people, bro. Similar to you, you know, just really just kind of like, smoking my problems away, you know, just literally like, just smoking down every day like a chimney. And that was. That was my life. Just getting high and that's it. I wasn't even, like, getting high, doing cool stuff. Like, I was just sitting there. You know, we'd go to the beach, and I was trying to surf at the time. I had dreadlocks. I mean, I was a completely different person. You see me today, you'd be like, holy, Emilio.
- [06:55]
B
And for all you newbies that are just tuning in right now, we got updated on our producers. But 3 million listeners on a monthly basis. But if you guys don't know who Emilio is, Emilio is that dude with the beard. And he just looks like he's having a great time behind the scenes making this show happen. Shout out to Emilio. But Emilio, can you imagine Jay with dreadlocks, bro? Hey, you gotta show him the pictures, man.
- [07:20]
A
But I'll show you after this. It's crazy. I actually had dreads for, like, three years.
- [07:23]
B
Yeah, I, I. Man, now that I seen Jay with dreadlocks, man, I mean, I. I can't picture him without it. You should go back to it, bro.
- [07:31]
A
Really?
- [07:31]
B
Yeah.
- [07:32]
A
You have to talk to my wife about that.
- [07:33]
B
She's like, sure. Like, maybe.
- [07:36]
A
Yeah. I mean, look, I didn't. There's nothing wrong with dreadlocks. You're. You're watching this. You're listening in right now. You got dreads, you know, shake them, baby. You know, like, let them dreads loose.
- [07:45]
B
But.
- [07:46]
A
But the issue was, was that I wasn't a person that was representing it well. Right. I. I did it because, like, I literally was like Bob Marley, bro. You know, like, it wasn't anything other than that. And I actually found out that, you know, me being, you know, a Latino, me being, you know, minority, like, people immediately thought that I was, like, trying to sell them weed.
- [08:10]
B
Yeah.
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A
You know, and. And they were right. I was.
- [08:13]
B
Yeah. So you. So you were fitting into the stereotype that people already thought about you.
- [08:16]
A
Exactly.
- [08:17]
B
Yeah. Yeah. And. Okay, so during this time, you're selling weed, you really have no direction. And it usually comes with. And I can rel to this heavily, and I know a lot of you guys are viewing this or listening to this mainly is you guys can relate to my story of being raised by a single mother. I owe everything to my mom. She did everything for me. She was basically the dad, the mom. And it's very stressful. It's very stressful, Especially being a boy, being raised by a single mother. She's putting a lot of stress on you, bro.
- [08:46]
A
Right.
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B
You know, there's a lot of resentment that comes into, you know, possibly, like, either your father, your stepfather, you know, you know, whether it was working out or not. But usually the backlash goes to the man, it goes to the son. And, you know, I went through all that, so it's very hard not having that type of direction. But okay, so you went through that scenario. What was the pivotal time in your life that basically was just like, aha moment. Like, you were like, bro, I gotta go ahead and make it happen, right?
- [09:19]
A
Like the enough is enough moment, Right? Well, I mean, for everyone listening in, like, that moment has either happened or is going to happen, and it's either caused by external events. And my scenario was being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. We, you know, smoking weed, cops pull up, you know, then your boys, you know, sitting in a jail cell. And I'm like, bro, all I had was a little baggy. This is like, you know, this is just a plan. And they're like, nah, man, it's illegal. And I'm sitting there and I'm like, bro, this is not me. Like, I'm not a criminal. You know what I mean? I don't deserve this. Yeah, I made some bad choices, you know, hanging out with the wrong people, smoking weed, whatever. But at the same time, I'm like, this is not my life. And it was at that moment, at the age of really 23 years old, I was a junior in college. I was going to school to do all the right things. So, like, I've always been book smart, which is a crazy thing. Like, I didn't study for class. I just showed up and kind of got a B, you know, and if I studied, I get like in 98, right? So, you know, once I got to college and you're going to school for pre professional biology, mom wanted me to come a doctor. I was the only boy in the household. She's like, you're gonna go and do great things. Be a doctor, Poppy. Yeah, you know, so yeah, I'm a junior year in college. And you know, I fail organic chemistry three times. That lost my scholarship. Once I lost my scholarship, I'm having to pay for school out of pocket, right? And that's when I was like, okay, I'm not gonna pay for that working at Taco Bell. Your boy's gotta sling some weed to make this happen. And that's when I got in trouble. And that moment right there, sitting up, looking at those bright lights, freezing cold, listening to people that are actual criminals getting booked into this jail, I'm like, dude, I am never ever gonna be in this situation again, like, ever. So literally the next morning, I made the decision to cut my hair. I went to Plato's closet, sold all of my clothes because I dressed like a super surfer. And I said, I am not gonna fake it till I make it. I'm gonna faith it till I make it. I took the 27 Plato closet gave me for all my clothes because, you know, they rob you. And I went to Marshalls and I bought polo Ralph Lauren shirts and slacks. And I started dressing up to just work out of the coffee shop on my laptop. Figuring out a way to get into digital marketing, figuring out a way to get into entrepreneurship. Bought my first book. So it was that moment right there, man, that I was like, I'm not going to live like this. I'm going to make something great out of myself and I'm not going to end up like my father, actually.
- [11:31]
B
Yeah.
- [11:31]
A
You know.
- [11:32]
B
Yeah. No, and that, and that's great, man. You know, you always want to be better than your parents. Not to say that your parents didn't work hard not to. Not to say they weren't great people. But at the end of the day, that's just how you build generational wealth. Correct. And I think for a lot of people, that's that, that say, oh man, that person got lucky because their parents are rich. It's like, dude, I used to look and listen and agree and be like, ye, they're lucky, dude. Yeah, they're. Oh, why? How come we can't be lucky? Right? Why do I have to be poor? And. But now I look at that and I was just like, that comes from the parents and their parents before them. Sacrificing.
- [12:06]
A
Correct.
- [12:06]
B
In order to line up their, their, their family to their bloodline. Right. And I always tell people this. The goal is not to make millions in the very beginning of whatever you're trying to do in business or in life, the goal is, number one, to become financially free. Number two, then to be the bloodline breaker for your family. So your family is set. It's like Ed Millette, you know, you ever heard that? The, the book, the one.
- [12:31]
A
Yeah.
- [12:32]
B
With his father.
- [12:32]
A
That's what I was referencing. Yeah. My let speak life brother.
- [12:35]
B
It is one of the most powerful guys. And if you guys are listening to this, we're repeated one more time. It's ed Mylet, the one. Read the book. You could go on YouTube. It's about him and his father. You know, his father's on dying bed and he tells, hey, son, you know, I'm proud of you. You were the one right? That broke the generational curse and made the family successful. And that's what it is. You want to be that one person in your family where like, when you're a grandpa or grandma and your grandchildren and they have children, they're like, why we have, like, a beach house? Why are we so successful? Why do we have all these things and my friends don't? Well, it's because your grandpa, your grandma, you know, they were the one.
- [13:15]
A
Yeah.
- [13:15]
B
That made it happen. Right. And that's what I'm aiming for, dude. You know, I got a kid in the way. I got a w life now just like you, bro. Thank you, bro. And. And at the end of the day, I do it for them, bro. I do it for my future kids. I do it for my future, you know, pup that's coming, you know, next week.
- [13:29]
A
Yeah.
- [13:30]
B
I'm picking up absolutely everything. I don't. I don't do things for myself anymore, dude.
- [13:35]
A
Powerful.
- [13:35]
B
My. My purpose is. Is more fulfillment of others.
- [13:38]
A
Right, I agree.
- [13:39]
B
So what year was it when you basically got arrested for. For selling dope at that time, dude. And. And basically had that epiphany. You were just like, hey, you know what? I'm going to get squared away.
- [13:52]
A
Well, you know, entrepreneurs are stubborn. We're the crazy bunch that keep going in the face of adversity. So it wasn't the first time I got arrested, actually. It was probably like the third time for the same exact thing. Okay. And this wasn't like a crate. Like, wasn't a crazy arrest. I'm out the next morning, you know, like $300 bill. Like, it was like a kind of slap on the wrist. So I'm like, oh, no big deal. This is easy. So it was actually like the third time. This was 2017. Okay. Summer of 2017. And then I got started in entrepreneurship that November. So I actually go back home. I was living in, you know, everywhere I went to Colorado, I was living in California. I was like, trying to find the way to do this the right way, you know? But it wasn't. And I come back home, mom is like, go back to school. Finish your degree. You have 20 credits left to graduate. And I'm like, mom, I'm not doing that. Because the people that are teaching the class don't even have the expertise to teach me for the results I want. They're making 50k a year. I don't want to make 50k a year. Right. So I told her. I was like, let me just figure this out. My mom said something. I'll Never forget, she was like, jay, you're better off being a manager at McDonald's to have a guaranteed income than trying to be an entrepreneur. Oh, bro. I took that as the challenge.
- [15:02]
B
Heart breaking it is where you know, you're someone so close, like your mother, to go ahead and tell you, but.
- [15:06]
A
She was trying to protect me, right? Oh, she is.
- [15:08]
B
Because she cares.
- [15:09]
A
Exactly. And all she knows is security. And so many, many people even listening to this. You have to be willing up to give. You have to give up security for abundance because they don't coexist. You can't have a security and abundance at the same time.
- [15:23]
B
Right.
- [15:23]
A
So I literally sacrifice security to be able to have financial freedom, abundance. And I didn't know at the time I was even going to do it, but I knew for one thing that I wasn't going to die not trying and giving it my best. And thank God that I did, because now the same mama said that is the same mom asking me, hey, Jay, what do I do with my money? How do I. How do I grow more income? How do I do this? And she's doing fantastic now, and she's really set the bar high, which is amazing.
- [15:45]
B
I mean, that's the way it usually goes. It's just like people want to believe you, but they want to see it first, right? They want to see the proof first. And until you show them the proof. And sometimes you have to show them the proof multiple times, right?
- [15:58]
A
Yeah.
- [15:58]
B
Then they're like, okay, we're a believer. Same thing with my mom, dude. You know, first time I jumped in the online space back in 2020, it wasn't until March of 2021 when I made my first six figures in my first online company. And I remember I was still a detective. I rolled up, I was like, I can't believe this. This is amazing. So then I go to her, I was like, hey, mom, like, you know, I just made $130,000 in a month, like in literally 30 days, what I get paid in a year.
- [16:28]
A
Right.
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B
Cop salary. And she was just like, the benefits, like, mijo, like, it's not secure.
- [16:36]
A
Yeah.
- [16:36]
B
I don't understand this Internet stuff. I don't know if you should do it right. And, you know, you hit, you hit the mark or you hit the target, Jay. Where your parents are just trying to protect you. But the thing is, they don't know any better because they don't have the experience. So how are you supposed to make million dollar moves if you're trying to get experience? If you're Trying to get advice from someone who's not a millionaire. Right, right. And it's equivalent thought process with teachers.
- [17:06]
A
Yep.
- [17:06]
B
You know, at the end of the day, you know, I reflect so much, dude. Especially now I'm getting older, and I'm embracing getting older, dude. I love getting older, to be honest, because it just makes me wiser, bro.
- [17:16]
A
I feel like you version of Paul now.
- [17:19]
B
Yeah.
- [17:19]
A
Would kick 10 years ago version of Paul's ass.
- [17:22]
B
Oh, no. 100%, bro. I just squash him.
- [17:25]
A
Yeah, right.
- [17:25]
B
Yeah. That's how I do. Yeah. That's just the way it is. And mind you guys, for all my fellows out there, when you're in your 30s, you're in your prime, okay? This is like your optimized prime. Time to make it happen. So with that being said, dude, I have always been a big believer, especially now, now that I've been doing this for quite some time. I've met successful people like you that the cheat code in life is to go ahead and actually get direct mentorship. Whether it is you providing value to them so they're able to teach you what they know or you paying, which, obviously, it's the shortcut right there. You know, obviously, you could go ahead and pay for somebody to go ahead and teach you of their time. And I always tell people, you got to invest in yourself, dude.
- [18:12]
A
Right.
- [18:13]
B
That's. That's the number one key takeaway for me to go ahead and actually see if you are serious. Like, how much have you invested in yourself? How many times have you gone out there and bought a program or a course or a mentorship or a conference or red Books? Right. Because just going on YouTube is not enough, dude. You know YouTube? Yes. You'll get a lot of great information. You'll go ahead and you can start businesses off of YouTube. But at the end of the day, guys, you guys want the real sauce. You got to put some skin in the game. And that's what it comes down to, man. What are you willing to risk to go ahead and make the life that you want happen? Okay, so, Jay, with that being said, let's go ahead and dive into your first venture. So after your third time getting arrested, how did you go ahead and start getting into your first successful business?
- [19:06]
A
So it's funny, actually. I didn't even mean to. So I decided at that time, it's 2017. You know, Tai Lopez is everywhere.
- [19:13]
B
Yeah.
- [19:14]
A
He's. He's literally in the garage with his Ferrari, with his bookshelf. Okay.
- [19:17]
B
He's like, books and Jay, for the People, because, remember, like, you know, usually us, because we're in the whole marketing scene, but a lot of the people that follow me, dude, they're just. Just nine to five. Or like, who is Tai Lopez? So who's Tai Lopez?
- [19:30]
A
So he was a digital marketer that was just really big at that time, running ads everywhere. You know, he's running paid ads. So you're on Instagram or Google. You're just getting hit with his face.
- [19:38]
B
2017, he's running the Internet game. He's running ads everywhere, everywhere. He's getting famous because he has an exotic car in the garage.
- [19:46]
A
Talking about books and talking about self help. And at that time, I hadn't even read books. Like, I was like, reading books was just to pass the test in 11th grade. You know what I mean? Or like, the textbook to pass the test in college. So, yeah, at that time I decided, okay, well, number one, I need to learn a skill set. Because in order to be able to make more money, you have to become more valuable. How do you add more value to yourself as you invest in yourself? Like, you just mentioned books, mentorship, etc. Now, I was broke, so the best option for me was going to the Barnes and Noble and buying a book. So my first couple of books that I bought was Rich Dad, Poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki. First chapter, the rich don't work for money. I'm like, what the hell they work for? Right? This doesn't make any sense. And I started learning a different concept that society never really trained us on. Like, we're trained on go to school, you know, buy the textbook, pay 50,000 for a college degree. But if you ask someone to pay that same $50,000 for mentorship, they're like, oh, my gosh, that's crazy. Right? It's a scam. But it's like, man, not really, because the guy that's teaching you just spent a million dollars to learn all the mistakes that you're getting for 50 grand.
- [20:44]
B
Yeah.
- [20:44]
A
So I learned in 150 pages of a book, I can learn someone's life lessons that they spent millions of dollars and seven decades, eight decades to learn. So I started reading books. You know, my goal every year is to read, like, 30 books. I'm on book, like, 14 this this year already.
- [21:00]
B
My man.
- [21:01]
A
Yeah, I'm currently reading a book by Jordan Peterson, the 12 Rules of Life, I believe it's called, which is pretty interesting. And, yeah, I'm just looking always to get better, you know, and that was my first step, so educate myself Then I got into videography because I was like, I need to learn a skill set. And I did a hack. I was like, how can I get around successful people without being successful? Yeah, Be the guy filming their videos.
- [21:22]
B
Boom.
- [21:23]
A
So as soon as I made my first video, I get reached out to by a guy on Instagram. He's like, bro, my boy's looking for a videographer to travel the world with him. He's in the network marketing industry, is one of my best friends, Matt. I go and meet him. They say he's making a couple hundred grand a month. 25 years old, Latino, with tattoos. I'm like, no freaking way you're making 100 grand a month. You know? So I meet him, and he's like, bro, you have a camera? I was like, yep. He's like, well, you're cool, so let's do it. I didn't even have a camera. I was borrowing my friend's camera.
- [21:55]
B
Yeah.
- [21:55]
A
I said yes to him. Then I figured it out later. And that's like something that a lot of people. I know you. Your phrase is imperfect action. And I love that because so many people want the how, the plan, the perfect model before they take action. And that's not how growth works.
- [22:09]
B
No.
- [22:10]
A
At all.
- [22:10]
B
Not. Not at all. You have to jump in. In with both feet. You can't just go ahead and have one foot in, one foot out. Just saying. And I say this often. Burn the boats.
- [22:21]
A
Burn the boats.
- [22:21]
B
Burn the boats. Go all in. You know, you have to go all in, because guess what? If something was to happen, right? What is the worst case scenario? You're gonna go back to what you're doing anyways, Right? Right. So I'd rather go ahead and say, hey, at minimum, I tried. Yep, at minimum, I tried. Right. There ain't no victim mentality here. So, yeah, shout out to Matt Rosa. He's a solid dude. I love him. With that being said, okay, so what happens next? You meet Matt. You. You're his photographer initially. And then what ends up happening?
- [22:49]
A
So I go around. We go to our first tour in South America. This is like, literally three weeks after I made the decision.
- [22:56]
B
What year is this?
- [22:56]
A
2017.
- [22:57]
B
2017.
- [22:58]
A
So Summer arrested. November. From September to November, I'm at home at mom's house, trying to figure out my life. Mom's yelling at me, go get a job. I'm like, no, no, no. Right?
- [23:07]
B
Yeah.
- [23:07]
A
November. I mean, Matt, December. I'm on tour.
- [23:11]
B
Yeah.
- [23:11]
A
Talk about how God works, right?
- [23:12]
B
Crazy.
- [23:13]
A
Literally within, like, six months. Now I'm surrounded by people that this is December 2017, guys. Crypto @ the time was going crazy. They were investing, they were showing me. I'm watching their portfolios go crazy. Every flight we're like, updating, and they're up, like, more and more money. Like, most money I've ever seen in my life. So I'm looking at these guys and I'm like, I can do what they're doing. Like, I don't want to be just a videographer. Like, I'm going to take advantage of this thing. I'm going to do the business that they're doing. So I literally every video I edit, I kept hearing it over and over and over again what they were saying. I memorized what they said. I added my own spazzazz to it. And before you know it, literally within like a year and a half, I cracked six figures in the same industry.
- [23:49]
B
Fire. Fire.
- [23:51]
A
Yeah.
- [23:51]
B
So you went ahead and you were able to crack six figures within the industry. How were you able to do that? The Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University helps you go from I know the way to I've arrived with our top 10 ranked online MBA. Gain skills you can learn today and apply tomorrow. Get ready to go from make it happen to made it happen and keep striving. Visit strayer.edu Jack WelchMBA to learn more. Strayer University is certified to operate in Virginia by Chev and has many campuses, including at 2121 15th Street north in Arlington, Virginia.
- [24:28]
A
Honestly, following a blueprint, I didn't reinvent the wheel. I think it's funny because intelligent people usually try to reinvent the wheel.
- [24:36]
B
Yeah.
- [24:37]
A
So you'll get a blueprint and you'll be like, nah, there has to be a better way. Like, I know Paul's done really great things. I know Jay's done amazing, but I'm smart. I could do it my way. And that's where you just messed up. You got to follow the blueprint, see success in it, and then add your own sauce to it. Right. Like, add your own pizzazz to it. And I'm sure even you said you're like, I'm not smartest person in the world, but you're smart enough to follow the blueprint.
- [24:58]
B
Yeah, I mean, my. My strategy. And I always tell it's a very simple strategy. Just keep it simple. Remember those words, guys. Keep it simple. Especially when you want to scale. Right. Because complexity does not go ahead and scale. So what I do is I essentially. Famous phrase from Russell Brunson. Funnel hack.
- [25:17]
A
Yeah, right.
- [25:18]
B
Funnel hack. And if you guys don't know what a funnel is? It's basically a website, right? It's a website where you collect email, a phone number data. This is how marketers, marketing companies, the old school marketing companies collect your information. And in marketing, guys, even old school marketing and digital marketing now, your information is more powerful than actual money. Why? Because you can keep making money and money and money time after time after time again, right? Just because somebody buys once doesn't mean they're gonna not buy another three times. It's happened multiple times. So with that being said, I go ahead and I pay to learn from the best of the best and what I'm trying to do. And I see who my competitors are. And guess what? I'm not prideful. I'm not prideful at all. Like I said, guys, I'm not the smartest person in the world. But what I am going to do is I'm going to pay for what they know, right? And then guess what? I'm going to make it my own. I'm going to go ahead and put my sauce on it and I'm going to go ahead and make some money. And that's business, guys. That's exactly how you do it. You want to know the secret sauce? That's a secret sauce. It is. You're. You can't be the Jeff Bezos. You're not gonna be the Elon Musk. Let's keep it real, okay? Those guys, they're like one in a billion, right? Like literally, guys, they were blessed with the, with the amount of intelligence of those guys. They're probably not even human. They call them aliens, right? Under undercover aliens. But at the end of the day, you want to be financially free, you want to be successful faster, Go ahead, pay for that mentorship. Copy what they're doing, make it your own. And guess what? Boom. It's going to work. Just stick to it. Okay? So to continue on, you start doing network marketing, you team up with Matt. You guys best friends now. Fire. You guys are a dynamic deal. What happens next? Like, what's the next venture you get into?
- [27:11]
A
So from there, I started running into a challenge where duplication, right? In any business, it's not about what you can do, it's about what you can teach.
- [27:18]
B
Yeah.
- [27:18]
A
So to scale, you can go really far alone, but at a similar scale, you have to build a team, right? So here I was doing all the content, building the website for the organization, doing the training material on how to build the business, how to communicate effectively, and kind of duplicate what I'VE done and I started running into a bunch of problems with this company. Software offers this and then I'm like frankensteining a bunch of different pieces together. Before you know it, I'm paying a click funnel subscription. I got a Discord premium server. I'm paying for calendly, I'm paying for Zoom, I'm paying for all this stuff and it all doesn't match the branding that I wanted.
- [27:48]
B
Gets expensive, super expensive.
- [27:50]
A
So then I go and hire someone to do a website and it two grand gone because it didn't even work the way I wanted it to work in a leg. Yeah, literally. So then I, I meet a friend out, I meet a guy randomly out here in Miami and at the time one of my friends is a YouTuber and he's like Jay, I want to do what you do, bro. I want to be able to teach people how to do what I do. I want to be able to build like a YouTube course. And I'm like okay, that's pretty cool, I probably can help you. So we start organizing and building out his program and I run into the issue where there's no software that I really want to host this on. You know, no offense to anything out there, just wasn't what I was looking for. So I, I meet a gentleman by the Name of Rodrigo, 22 year old at FIU, right. He's a major in software engineering. It turns out every why guy needs a how guy.
- [28:38]
B
Yeah.
- [28:38]
A
So I was like why I need this? And he was like bro, I can literally make that possible. So there Intellectra was born. I serrated a software agency and software platform that's scaling and growing right now. And basically we help businesses onboard their training for their teams. Whether it's employee training, sales training, etc, communication. No more Zoom. You can do live streams all within there and we built this like all in one cinematic UI focus platform that's now growing and I believe it's going to be one of the fastest growing softwares out there.
- [29:07]
B
No, it is a badass platform. I mean I've used it all guys. I've used like Kajabi, I've used you know, even click funnels back in the day bro. Like they have a portion of their, their business where you're able to build a program.
- [29:22]
A
Yeah.
- [29:22]
B
Within click. But, but dude, it's, it's all Windows 98. Yeah, it's Windows 98. If you're not tech savvy like me, you're gonna have a horrible time. Frustration, all that jazz. But no, yeah, no, definitely man. So what were some of the hurdles that you and Rodrigo went to when you guys were building Eletra?
- [29:41]
A
I mean, it's, it's. It's software, so it's still building. I mean, you get, you have an iPhone, you're getting an update next month. Right. It's always being reiterated and improved upon. Right. But the biggest hurdle was, you know, I'm bootstrapping this thing. So I didn't want to go VC route out the gate. I didn't want to sell a bunch of equity. I know what I have my hands on. Company just sold for 100, 200 million. I mean, Linktree is worth a billion dollars. And they're a simple link in bio.
- [30:05]
B
Very simple.
- [30:05]
A
So you're sitting on a gold mine here that everyone wants a piece of the pie and everyone's willing to give you 200 grand for. So the first obstacle is how can I spend my money intelligently so I'm not wasting or burning dollars? So we've basically done everything in house. We have a full development team, and, you know, we've been building that out. Another hurdle is testing, right? Like getting in beta users to be able to test this thing, find the bugs. Believe it or not, software companies actually pay companies to go find what's wrong with their software. They call it bug finders. Right? Like, they actually go and look, they try to break it in order for you to be able to go and fix it before a user or a customer breaks it.
- [30:40]
B
Oh, wow.
- [30:40]
A
Right. Because then they have a negative review and people cancel their subscription or whatever. Right. So luckily I was able to leverage the network marketing fields and be able to say, hey, you know what, let me let my network marketing team test it.
- [30:51]
B
Right.
- [30:52]
A
So we had thousands of users testing it for the last two years and, you know, now we're about to go on our second phase of launch and looking to grow that. And at the same time, the mission still been. The mission help people build residual income, help people build an online and offline income so they can have freedom.
- [31:07]
B
So who would be your ideal clients? Because like, like I said, dude, we get about 3 million listeners a month now.
- [31:13]
A
Yeah.
- [31:13]
B
So we get a mixture of a whole lot of different people do, from SAS founders to we just had a founder and somebody who was on the board for one of newest AI security company starts going global. But with that being said, we probably have some people that are interested, dude. Because everybody's always looking for the best of the best. Right. So who's your ideal client for this type of platform?
- [31:34]
A
Yeah, so we specifically serve number one companies that are offering onboarding training or employee training to be able to put someone on to their sales process or to how it is that the business works. So every company needs an onboarding. They need video lessons of, hey, this is how you do this. They need probably quizzes, they need role plays, etc, so we serve that. Second is creators. It's a creator economy. Everyone in their, you know, mother either has a lead magnet or digital offer something that they're giving away for free to collect emails. We help you do that inside the platform. If you're running zoom calls and your zooms are all over the place and you don't have the recordings in one centralized location, all in one, we have that built into the back end. So really, companies, creators, coaches and experts, people that are sharing their information, monetizing their knowledge, and being able to do so while building an ecosystem where people could keep coming back. Like you mentioned, right? People that would buy once usually end up buying twice. Well, what if you can have them all in one cinematic ecosystem to be able to consume that info, but also buy your next program, buy your next product, pre order. So we have a bunch of awesome things that nobody else in the industry has. You know, when it comes down to one click upsells on the back end, live stream, streaming, AI captions in 200 different languages. Right. And we're, we're really forward on AI. So our next mission is to be able to incorporate AI so that way you can create a video lesson with your own AI avatar. I love that you don't have to record it.
- [33:02]
B
Yeah, that's pretty badass because me, myself, dude, I hate recording.
- [33:05]
A
It's hard.
- [33:05]
B
I mean, people know I'm an old school millennial, so. So at the end of the day, I'm not a selfie type of guy. Like I used to talk about, like content creators.
- [33:13]
A
Yeah.
- [33:13]
B
But now I'm a content creator. It is what it is.
- [33:16]
A
You don't know what you don't know.
- [33:17]
B
You don't know what you don't know. A lot of money by going ahead and broadcasting yourself, guys.
- [33:21]
A
Yeah. Share your story.
- [33:22]
B
With that being said. All right, cool. Let's shift it towards the end of this interview, dude. Let's talk about marriage and business. How is being married now you're coming up in how many years of marriage?
- [33:34]
A
Second year, officially married.
- [33:36]
B
Okay, second year officially married. And then what? What type of advice would you give to somebody who, let's say they're in a serious relationship, they're not married yet. But they're starting to be in the entrepreneurship, you know, road. Just like yourself, dude. Like, what. What is the biggest piece of advice that you could give somebody who, you know, based on your experience, man?
- [33:59]
A
Yeah, like.
- [34:01]
B
Like make it work. Get married right away. Like, if you know that's the person. What type of advice would you give?
- [34:06]
A
Well, honestly, I had a. Had a little bit of trauma, like I said, came from single mom. Watched mom get divorced twice.
- [34:12]
B
Yeah.
- [34:13]
A
Grandparents had multiple marriages. Aunt, uncle, everyone in my family growing up, marriage was stressful, marriage was destructive. You know, people lost. I lost the house because I got divorced. You know, so for me growing up, I'm like, yo, I'm gonna be a bachelor. You know what I mean? Like, I'm not getting married. Growing up as a kid, I always told my family I am never going to get married.
- [34:34]
B
Yeah.
- [34:35]
A
Because of what I saw.
- [34:36]
B
Right.
- [34:36]
A
But what you don't know is what you don't know. So, you know, I meet my wife in high school, actually ninth grade. We date. She's the only girl that ever broke up with me. Which is crazy, right?
- [34:44]
B
She's like.
- [34:45]
A
Yeah, like, literally only girl I ever broke up. Me. So, you know, we reconnect at age 22. Just remember the timeline. 23 years old, 2017. So I'm like, I'm bad boy for life right there. Right? Like, she meets me. No Diddy. Yeah, exactly. No, no titty.
- [35:01]
B
For sure.
- [35:02]
A
So, you know, she, we. We get reconnected. And I wasn't even looking for a girlfriend, man. I was in a dark spot in my life. I really believe that God sent her into my life. Because here's the thing. You sometimes need a woman that's going to challenge you to become the man you need to be. To have a woman like that. That. And I met her and I was not qualified. You know, looks maybe, but intellect economy, wise, finances, wise, etc, not at all. So, you know, I leveled up my life because of the pressure she put on me without even knowing she put on me. Because I loved her and I wanted to be able to be the man that provided for her. I had to make different decisions.
- [35:39]
B
I love that.
- [35:40]
A
So what I'll say to you guys is like, look, it's, it's, it's. It's interesting Times. Times many people, especially men, are confused because women work. Some of them make more money than you.
- [35:50]
B
Yeah.
- [35:50]
A
And some of them, they don't even need you to protect them because they got pepper spray, they got a Glock.
- [35:54]
B
Yeah.
- [35:55]
A
You know what I mean? So it's like, okay, you're not a provider, you're not a protector. What's the difference between a man and a woman now? 20, 25, outside of gender. Right, right. So a lot of men are confused because they're basing their identity as a man based on their finances or based on their ability to protect. But it's not 1800s anymore, man. Yeah, like, times have changed. So, so what are you bringing to the table outside of just finances, outside of just protection. And that's what really caused me to level up. So you're listening to this, you know, don't be afraid of marriage. I think it's one of the most powerful things out there in the world. Literally the most powerful thing in the world to be able to do. It's the only covenant that you have with God if you're, if you're a believer. Religious on this call, or not even religious, but relationship driven. And that has caused me to one. How you do anything is how you do everything. So how, how are you gonna be committed to your business when you can't be committed to a woman?
- [36:43]
B
Facts.
- [36:43]
A
How are you gonna be committed to your diet if you can't be committed to a woman?
- [36:46]
B
Facts.
- [36:47]
A
How are you gonna be committed to your goals? Yeah, all these things. And that was a big wake up call for me, to be honest.
- [36:53]
B
I think it's a very important, you know, point that you're making, man, because how you do one thing is how you do everything. Yeah, that is so true. And you know, me being married, coming up on my one year anniversary, enjoying sick. Yeah. Thank you, bro. And it's one of those feelings, like it feels great now to go on calls or to go on business meetings and they see my ring or. It's almost like they give you a different level of authority knowing that you're a married man.
- [37:25]
A
You're a man.
- [37:26]
B
Yeah, you're a man, you're a married man. And they're like, oh, this guy's married. I want to do business with him. And it's just like, it's that power move that a lot of single entrepreneurs and fellows out there that they don't have have, right? And you want to be able to maneuver within different networks. You want to be able to be relatable to everybody. So if right now my, my, my, my personal opinion is if you know somebody that you know, you've been dating them for years and they're your best friend, that's the one question I always ask. Are they your best friend? Can you talk to them about anything? Yeah, Just make the move. Don't wait. Just make the move. You know, I wish I would have.
- [38:08]
A
Listened to this, to be honest. To this exact podcast.
- [38:10]
B
Yeah.
- [38:11]
A
Because it took me seven years to make the move.
- [38:12]
B
Yeah.
- [38:13]
A
And only because I didn't have a guide. I didn't have a married man giving. I didn't, I didn't, like I said divorce in the family. So I didn't have a married man giving me married man advice.
- [38:20]
B
Yeah.
- [38:21]
A
I had a non married man that's been divorced, telling me, bro, you're young, you're good looking, bro, go kill it out there. The ladies are waiting for you. Yeah. I mean, growing up, my family used to ask me in Spanish, how many girlfriends you got?
- [38:34]
B
I think in the Latino community, especially coming from a Latino household, man, it was the same thing. Even my mom, dude, she was just like, like, oh, no, like, it's just normal. She's like, what?
- [38:43]
A
Like, how many women do you have? Really?
- [38:45]
B
Like, she's like. And she would be proud. She'd be like, my good looking son.
- [38:48]
A
Yeah.
- [38:48]
B
You know, like, like, yeah.
- [38:50]
A
And then we wonder why.
- [38:51]
B
Yeah.
- [38:51]
A
It's like you're 34 and you're like, I got three girls. And it's like, that's not cool, actually. That means that you're seeking validation in the wrong places.
- [39:00]
B
A hundred percent. It's that instant gratification, guys. If you guys are going ahead and you have a problem with women, meaning that, like, you're over there and you're like, oh, man, you're prideful, you're bragging to your boys. Oh, man, I got this girl. I got that girl, dude. I hope, I hope you're financially secure.
- [39:16]
A
Right.
- [39:17]
B
I hope you're mentally secured. I hope everything else in your life is perfect. Because if you have to go ahead and do that right now, I'm gonna tell you something right now. And it's coming from a person that used to do it.
- [39:26]
A
Yep, same.
- [39:26]
B
Yeah, I used to do it in my 20s. I told my wife, I want to met you in my 20s. I would have messed it up 100%.
- [39:31]
A
Yeah.
- [39:32]
B
Right? So that's why, you know, in my mid-30s, guys, that's when I knew when I met her, I was like, she's the one.
- [39:39]
A
Yep.
- [39:39]
B
This is perfect timing. I'm matured. I can go ahead and execute. And I execute it right away. And it was the best thing I ever did in my life.
- [39:46]
A
Right?
- [39:46]
B
And dude, it's just peace, 100% peace, bro.
- [39:50]
A
You mentioned something and I want to add on that is like you said, best friend. They got to be your best friend.
- [39:55]
B
Yeah.
- [39:55]
A
You know, and number two, they got to bring you peace. Now, am I saying that me and my wife haven't argued or we haven't had unpeaceable moments? Absolutely not. You're gonna go through that. That. Exactly. But a lot of people, they say, oh, red flag, I'm out. And it's like, bro, your first obstacle in business, you're gonna quit. Your first obstacle in a relationship. The question is, you're gonna go and argue with someone else, you're gonna have to mend it with someone else. Is that the person worth mending it for? And if you. The answer is yes, then you got to fix it. You got to put your pride down. You got to have an alternative perspective. You only think in the way that you know how to think. Sometimes you need an outside perspective to be able to think differently. Money, to be able to get what you want. And if you and your homies, if you're a guy listening to this and your boys are only talking about girls, you need to run away. You need to find a new circle. Because if you're 30 years old and they're talking about what girl they hooked up with last week, it's like, bro, like, how many years you're gonna keep doing this?
- [40:44]
B
You're a kid.
- [40:45]
A
You're a kid. You're immature, boy.
- [40:46]
B
Still super immature.
- [40:47]
A
And you could be a man at 25. You could be a man at 23. It took me, you know, to get to 28 years old to become finally a man, you know, in that aspect of like, like, not just marriage, but more so, like chasing my goals, pursuing my vision.
- [40:59]
B
No, and same thing, dude. Like, I always tell people this at the end of the day, when it comes down to everybody has a path. There's no, you could say timing, perfect timing. Because I know there's a lot of gurus out there. A lot of people, 21 year olds, are like, hey, if you're not doing this by the time you're 21, you know, you're not a man or you're not doing. Guys, just do what's natural, what feels right, you know, what's in your heart. Follow that. Like I said, I wasn't able to get everything squared away till my early 30s. And I was a cop at 26. Dude. I was like, if I was a cop any earlier, I would have been in jail. You know what I'm saying? Just decision making, being responsible, going ahead and, you know, having faith. All right, cool. So dude, we got to do a part two, because I want to dive more into the. The whole marriage and business. I think it's a big topic that a lot of people want to listen to.
- [41:41]
A
I agree.
- [41:42]
B
And a lot of people need to listen to this because at the end of the day, the whole red pill, blue pill thing, that's out the door. That's. That's going out the door this year. And, And I see it, it's just going down dramatically. Guys, people are hurting out there. There's people that are, you know, I just came back from the Ferrari dealership, dropped off my Ferrari for maintenance. The. The poor lady, you know, she's. She's around 35, and she. And not to put her business out there, I ain't going to say no names. But she's over here like, damn. Like, why can't men be like you? I was like, what do you mean? She's like, you're humble. You make your own money. And you know what it is? She's like, I make too much money. Money. She makes around 200k working at the Ferrari dealership, right?
- [42:15]
A
Yeah.
- [42:15]
B
I was like, that's great money, especially here in Miami, right? She's like, yeah, I take care of my. My kid, I take care of my family, but when I go ahead and I date a man, bingo. She's like, they feel inferior, they. They feel intimidated, and then they down me because I make more money, right? And I'm like. I was like, you gotta. You gotta level up like the type of man you're. You're dating, you know, gotta date someone that's making more money than you or is going to meet you in a different type of value in your life to add value to your life as well. Because it takes two to tango, guys. I'm not saying that, you know, a man, you have to go ahead and cover all the bills, but at the end of the day, you know, you want to talk about traditional values, you want a traditional woman. Well, traditional values, right? What it was, was, hey, man, covers everything. Woman, she's the piece, right? She's the homemaker. She's over here.
- [43:02]
A
You buy the house, she makes it the home.
- [43:04]
B
Exactly, bro. And that's just what it is. But not a lot of people want to hear that. That. Not a lot of people want to. They're not ready for that truth, right? But this. This will be definitely a part two, bro.
- [43:12]
A
For sure.
- [43:13]
B
So with that being said, guys. Jay, where can they go ahead and find you, bro?
- [43:17]
A
Yeah, man. So you can find me here. At the cash Swipe office, working alongside my boy Paul. But also, you know, I'm on Instagram, I'm on every social network platform that you can imagine. And you know, Intellectra is the software platform@IntellectIO and we're scaling and growing.
- [43:32]
B
Yeah, make sure to drop that ig, brother, so they could go ahead and find you. You. What's your ig?
- [43:36]
A
Awall. Empr. So awmpr. I give out a lot of value on a daily and sometimes we all just need that pick me up. Or maybe there's some extra knowledge to be able to close in on our goals.
- [43:46]
B
100%, brother. So face the camera and then look for all the people right now that are listening to Jay. You're inspired by Jay. You're like, dude, I'm silly weed right now and I got to go ahead and talk to this dude because I'm trying to get out the trap.
- [43:58]
A
Right?
- [43:58]
B
But no, Jay, just, just imagine right now you got the audience. You're going to have 3 million listeners listening to this podcast and the next coming up month, regarding your phenomenal story, you transitioning from selling dope to go ahead and actually being a very successful international speaker and entrepreneur. Some words of motivation, bro. What would you tell your younger self right now for sure?
- [44:20]
A
Honestly, my younger self probably wouldn't have listened because my younger self thought they knew it all. And probably similar to a lot of people that are listening to this. But what I will say is when you start chasing your goals and when you start actually implementing what you learn, it's not about the books you read, it's about what you execute on what you read. Right? That's when you're gonna start building out daily habits. And there's this quote I love. One of my favorite authors is Robin Sharma, the book 5am Club. And he says this quote that your days are like pearls on a necklace and each day links it together and before you know it, you have an entire pearl of necklaces that you can put around your neck. Don't focus on the necklace. Don't focus on the complete picture. Focus on the day to day your days build up your destiny. So if you win the day, tomorrow's another day. Be habit driven today. Be disciplined today. Hit your goals today. Before you know it, you'll be a week later. Before you know it, you're a month in. Before you know it, you're a year in and your life is completely freaking transformed because of the day you made the decision to make today. Great.
- [45:15]
B
I love that. And that's what we call the level of guys level up. All right guys, so that does it. That is our phenomenal interview with Jay here. Guys, make sure to tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube. Make sure to leave a five star review. Shoot this to an episode that somebody that needs the help. Help. Remember, this is a self help podcast. We are taking over the United States right now. We're currently ranked number one in business for the past three months. We're currently ranked top 25 in all categories. Yeah, we're trying to go ahead and get up to Rogan and then if that happens, Rogan, what's up?
- [45:47]
A
Come on, Rogan.
- [45:49]
B
With that being said, we will catch you on the next one. Thanks for listening up to the level of podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, make sure to share with a family, friend and everyone you know who's ready to level up the leave a five star review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and wherever you tune in. It really helps spreading the word. And don't forget to check out officialpaulalex.com for more episodes and resources to kickstart your journey. Let's level up together. Hey JJ Virgin here on my podcast well beyond 40, we ditch the idea of aging gracefully and go all in on aging powerfully. Every week I host powerful experts who can give you powerful insights. Insights on building muscle, boosting your energy and feeling amazing no matter what your age. This is your one life and trust me, being smarter and stronger are superpowers that can turn lifespan into strength span. Listen to well beyond 40 wherever you get your podcasts.