How to buy a Rolex with Credit Card Points In 2025

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex Episode: How to Buy a Rolex with Credit Card Points In 2025
Release Date: May 17, 2025
Host: Paul Alex Espinoza
Guest: Sam Mendes Correa, Founder of Next Level Funding

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Introduction

In this episode of The Level Up Podcast, host Paul Alex Espinoza welcomes his guest, Sam Mendes Correa, the founder of Next Level Funding. Sam shares his journey from starting a construction business to founding a company that has funded over $120 million across various sectors in just three years.

Sam’s Entrepreneurial Journey

[00:00] Paul Alex: Introduces Sam and highlights his impressive achievement of funding over nine figures in three years. Sam discusses his initial foray into the construction industry and how he transitioned into funding businesses.

Notable Quote:
Sam Mendes Correa [02:35]: "The easiest way I could put it is, I guess I saw my mom always as an entrepreneur. She cleaned houses. That's what a lot of moms do when they come, right? She was her own boss."

Building Relationships in Funding

Sam emphasizes the importance of relationships in his business growth. He explains how connecting with Business Relationship Managers (BRMs) led to opportunities and ultimately the establishment of Next Level Funding.

Notable Quote:
Sam Mendes Correa [04:22]: "So I was like, whoa. Okay. So then I'm seeing all these guys, you know, 10, 15, 20, I'm like, oh, I can make, you know, a thousand bucks. You know, I get somebody a hundred thousand, I can make $10,000."

Credit Qualifications and Funding Process

Sam outlines the minimum qualifications for clients seeking funding, focusing on credit scores, account histories, and utilization rates. He highlights common mistakes applicants make, such as deviating from the prescribed game plan and overutilizing credit.

Notable Quotes:
Sam Mendes Correa [05:47]: "Minimum qualifications... credit score of 7,740 or above, at least three accounts with $500+, and minimal inquiries."

Sam Mendes Correa [06:56]: "The biggest reason... they do a part of the game plan... I can't get you no more funding."

Credit Repair Insights

A significant portion of Sam's work involves credit repair, addressing issues like late payments and high credit utilization. He explains how late payments can drastically impact credit scores and offers strategies to mitigate these effects.

Notable Quotes:
Sam Mendes Correa [12:34]: "Out of every 500 leads we get, believe it or not, about 450 are credit repair."

Sam Mendes Correa [13:27]: "Because the account is open. So it's your account and it's open. And now it's late."

Strategies for Building and Managing Credit

Sam provides actionable advice for listeners looking to build or improve their credit. He stresses the importance of strategic credit card usage, timely payments, and maintaining low credit utilization.

Notable Quotes:
Sam Mendes Correa [16:35]: "The smartest way is going to be whoever you bank with, get a credit card with them. Right. Don't fear credit, only fear it if you're irresponsible."

Sam Mendes Correa [10:54]: "Retention offer... you can extend it for another year, six months. A way to move your credit lines."

Utilizing Credit Card Points to Purchase Luxury Items

The core topic revolves around leveraging credit card points to purchase high-value items like a Rolex. Sam shares his personal success story of acquiring a Rolex using Amex points, demonstrating the practical application of credit strategies discussed.

Notable Quotes:
Sam Mendes Correa [21:48]: "Points are phenomenal... I used my card and I had 1.4 million points, equivalent to $14,000. I went to Thomas Markle in the Woodlands in Texas and got a Rolex on points."

Sam Mendes Correa [22:45]: "Transfers points... utilizing them to travel... mastering that, you're going to Dubai like a king, four or five times a year with only using 300 grand a year on your card."

Future Ventures and Business Expansion

Sam outlines his vision for Next Level Funding, including acquiring small businesses and expanding into the car rental industry with innovative package deals that offer clients access to high-end vehicles and luxury watches.

Notable Quotes:
Sam Mendes Correa [27:43]: "Our vision is to start buying small businesses... advisory shares, have a job still stay in the business, you know, become equity partner."

Sam Mendes Correa [30:32]: "We made it a little bit different... if you pay a hundred thousand a year, you get to choose what car you want for the weekend and any watch you want depending on the tier."

Motivational Insights and Team Building

Concluding the episode, Sam emphasizes the significance of building the right team to achieve entrepreneurial success. He shares his mantra that the right team can accelerate growth, while the wrong one can hinder progress.

Notable Quote:
Sam Mendes Correa [39:05]: "The biggest way you're going to level up is with the right team. Find the right team. That's the biggest thing."

Conclusion

Paul Alex wraps up the episode by encouraging listeners to connect with Sam on Instagram and leverage the insights shared to level up their own financial and entrepreneurial journeys. He highlights the importance of network and continuous learning in achieving business success.

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Key Takeaways

• Building Relationships: Essential for business growth, especially in funding and credit industries.
• Credit Management: Maintain high credit scores by managing credit utilization and ensuring timely payments.
• Credit Repair: Addressing late payments and collections can significantly improve credit profiles.
• Leveraging Credit Points: Strategically using credit card points can facilitate significant purchases like luxury watches without upfront costs.
• Entrepreneurial Expansion: Diversifying business ventures and acquiring small businesses can drive further growth.
• Team Building: Assembling a competent and synergistic team is crucial for scaling and sustaining business success.

Resources Mentioned

• Next Level Funding: Instagram: Sam Mendes Correa
• Paul Alex’s Website: www.OfficialPauLAlex.com
• Recommended Credit Resources:
  • Mike, the Credit Guy
  • Improve You: Money 360

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Remember: Effective credit management and leveraging financial tools like credit card points can open doors to significant personal and business growth. Utilize the strategies discussed in this episode to enhance your financial standing and achieve your entrepreneurial aspirations.

Transcript

[Paul Alex]

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. Welcome back to the Level up podcast. This is Paul Alex. Guys, we have another exciting interview. So today I have my friend Sam here. Sam is the founder of Next Level Funding. He's actually funded businesses 9 to 5ers, business owners, real estate investors, absolutely anybody who needs funding for their next project or business. Okay. He's done over $120 million. That is over nine figures, guys, in funding in the past three years. Sam, how are you doing? And welcome to the show, brother.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Doing good. Thanks for having me.

[Paul Alex]

No, absolutely, brother. So how's everything over here? How you like in Miami?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

I like it. Always going to. Always gonna like Miami. It's hard not to like, dude, Miami.

[Paul Alex]

Is one of those places where it's the capital of like entreprene. Now you got everybody down here, big network, but you yourself, your. Your business is based out of Las Vegas, correct? How is Las Vegas right now, dude?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Las Vegas right now, it's good, but it gets hot.

[Paul Alex]

It gets hot.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Super hot and uncomfortable. Yeah. All it's missing is the beach though, because. But same thing. The hub there is insane. Yeah, a lot of old money goes there, right? Which then becomes new money.

[Paul Alex]

Right?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

That's awesome, dude. And tell us, like, how did you start your company, man? Because a lot of people are like, oh, okay. Like I've heard of funding companies, but how do you start one, dude?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So a lot of it started from relationships, right? My first business venture was construction, right? And in. In construction, I needed money, so I was, you know, go to banks. This is, this isn't the third. I started going out, right, meeting more people and meeting. They're called BRMs, business relationship managers. And you know, and then they started saying, hey, do you have other construction people that need loans? And then with that, I'm like, okay, why they always ask me that, like, do they make a cut? You know, And I'm like, oh, okay. I thought it was just salary. Long story short, started meeting them more and more and I got the offer to be bought out that I want to. Not really because I saw the potential, but did I need it? Yeah, at the time I wasn't. My money management skills were horrible.

[Paul Alex]

So, okay, let's back up. Real Quick, because, you know, this is called the level of podcast. A lot of people, dude, they're watching this, and they're like, how can I get out of my situation? How can I go ahead and get into entrepreneurship? So you already had a construction company before you even started the funding company?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Correct.

[Paul Alex]

Okay. And, I mean, who taught you how to build a business, dude? Like, when did that start? Like, what age? Like, where did you come from? A family of entrepreneurs. How'd that work out?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

The easiest way I could put it is, I guess I saw my mom always as an entrepreneur. She cleaned houses.

[Paul Alex]

Okay.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

That's what a lot of moms do when they come, right? Yeah. She cleaned house her whole life. Right. So. But she was her own boss. She didn't work for it, so for anybody. But she did. Right. Which is the homeowners. So I saw that, and I'd go with my mom all the time. So I'm like, you know, as I started growing, I was like, man, I'm not good with, like, hounding me.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

I'm like, I need to figure something out or I'm not gonna be that successful.

[Paul Alex]

Right.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So a good buddy of mine was like, hey, let's start a construction company. I. I go every summer. We're 17, 16. Started doing flooring. Long story short, it started growing, growing, growing, growing relationships. And then. Then that's when he. He's like, hey, I want my cousin to also jump on. And he bought me out, and then I started the funding companies.

[Paul Alex]

And then. At what age did you get bought out of your construction company?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

I was 23.

[Paul Alex]

You're 23, right? That's amazing, dude. I can. I can only remember back when I was 23, dude, I was going to Vegas for the wrong reasons. I was going out there to party. I was going out there to have a good time.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

You know, at the end of the day, the way I see things is, like, you know, things happen for a reason. I had to, you know, unfortunately, go through those hard lessons myself.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

But it just made me a better person, man. You live and you learn and you go through experiences.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right?

[Paul Alex]

Right. So I know you're a family guy. I know that you travel quite a bit, you have multiple businesses now, which we're gonna get into in a minute, man. But let's talk about when you mentioned earlier about you going into the bank and then getting curious about why the bankers were asking you about funding other businesses.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

Okay. After that whole epiphany happened, what was your next step, man? Like, what did you do to actually take action to start a funding company.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So what I did is like, I know it's going sound cliche, but YouTube, I started seeing people on YouTube literally saying how to start one. You know, they're charging, hey, hit me up. I charge 10%, 15%, 20%. I'm like, wow, okay. So when I went to, to deal with these business relationship managers, like, hey, when you come to me, I can override. I'll be, I connect to the underwriter directly. So you know, we could, you have a higher chance of getting 50k for a client of yours than if they just walk into the bank today and talk to a teller.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So I was like, whoa. Okay. So then I'm seeing all these guys, you know, 10, 15, 20, I'm like, oh, I can make, you know, a thousand bucks. You know, I get somebody a hundred thousand, I can make $10,000.

[Paul Alex]

Right.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So, and I'm selling money. Who says no to money? You know, nothing charged up front. Only a performance fee is what I call it. Because if I don't perform, I don't get paid.

[Paul Alex]

Right.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So who's going to say no? Right. You know, full transparency is like, hey, you won't qualify, we can't move forward. They don't lose anything. You know, maybe a little bit of hope at the moment, but you know, there's other ways around the hope comes back. But at the same time, if they do qualify, you know, they have nothing to worry until I'm done. So it became a no brainer. I'm like, wow, I could be a person that just gets paid on the back end over and over and over and everybody wins, right?

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So that's what it was.

[Paul Alex]

So let me, let me ask you, what would it take to fund an actual client? Like what, what, what do you guys look for in like minimum qualifications?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So minimum qualifications, the, the, I call it like the best scenarios. There's again other ways around that. We'd be here for hours speaking about it. But the best case scenarios nowadays for banks is going to be 7,740credit or above, at least three accounts of three $500. Primaries, they have to be yours. So 3,500plus and minimal inquiries, that's the best ones, right? Because, and you want, you, they want you. You want to have some of your cards being used, right. That's another thing a lot of people don't know is too much available credit is a thing because banks will look at you and be like, why does Paul want more money? He has 80k sitting in a credit Card. Why does he want more? He doesn't. You know, so you want to kind of use 20 to 25% of that card. So they're like, oh, okay. You know what I mean?

[Paul Alex]

That makes sense. Yeah, that makes sense. So what is the biggest mistakes that you see? And I'm pretty sure you see a whole lot, right? Because humans, you always make mistakes. But what is the biggest mistakes that you see when somebody's trying to apply for funding? And let's see, the deal doesn't go through. What is your top three reasons why that would happen?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So top three reasons. It's the biggest reason, which baffles me every day, is when I tell them the game plan. And they do. They do a part of the game plan.

[Paul Alex]

Got it.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So they'll pick and choose, like, oh, I'm gonna go for an AMEX really quick. And then they come, hey, I got an A max. Just so you know. I'm like, you ruined it. Because chase has a 524 rule, and now we're stuck in a jam, right? I can't get you no more funding. Oh, why? I'm like, because amex was fourth in line. I just gave you the game plan. So for full transparency, so you're not seeing inquiries, like, oh, why'd I get this? You know, you know, you know what we're doing? That's a big reason. It's like, if you're hiring us for funding, let us do the funding. Right? So believe it or not, that happens quite a bit, which is still baffling to me. Right? Yeah, but that's one of the biggest reasons. Another thing is going to be cars. Everybody, they're eager. They want to buy a car. I'm like, delayed gratification. Let's get you funding first. Get you the car. Hey, Sam, guess what? I got a car, though. Like, dude, which car? This one. That's not even the one you wanted. We could have went for the one you wanted after the funding, you know, so little things like that, they make a huge difference because new credit, banks hate. They hate new credit. So there's. There's something called setting up for funding. Hence a perfect example. I run a funding company, but I haven't done funding for myself in over eight months. But in June, why not May? Why not right now in April? In June, I'm. I'm doing funding for me a little bit on my personal side and. And more on my business because I'm setting myself up for funding in June for best qualifications and scenarios.

[Paul Alex]

Oh, wow.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah. So that's a thing.

[Paul Alex]

Okay, so, so, so let me ask you, I mean, how exactly does that work? So when you say I'm setting myself up for the best scenarios, can you go deeper in that?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Absolutely. So no increase after six months. They're there, but they don't hurt you as much. So we, but they, we rather have them a year old. So like anything from, you know, April of 2024, right? That's fine. So I'm waiting for that to happen. Right. So less increase utilizing my card strategically. One thing that I like to do is max out my cards every month. Pay them off. Max out, pay them off. That shows the bank that it's not enough, Right? Like bank of America. People watching this will probably know, I don't know what's wrong with them, but bank of America, you could have 80 grand on one card at Chase and 150,000Amex, they'll give you 5,000. You could have a business with them generating 200, 300,000 a year. And they see that, they'll give you five grand. So they're notorious. So I'll max out that five grand every single month. Setting up. So what's going to happen in June? I'm going to go to bank of America. It's been nine months of maxing out 5K and paying it off. Guys. It's this, you know, maxing out sometimes twice a month, right? 10, you know, this is a pain. I'm wasting time having to pay off my card, waiting for credit available, credit to reuse.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

You know what I mean? So now I'm setting myself up for June. Most likely about a 90% chance they're going to up the 5 to about 15 or 20. Interest free.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

You see what I mean?

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So little things like that, right? A year goes by, your interest free is about to expire. There's a way to do a retention offer. There's a way to extend it for another year, six months. A way to move your credit lines. So little things like that.

[Paul Alex]

So drop some game on us, man. Because even me, I want to learn how to get like some zero interest credit. Emilio, you want to get some zero interest credit? I mean, do we can always use more money, right? Opm other people's money. So drop some game right now on the pod dude. And like mind you, right, you want to drop some heat, you know, look at that one. But let them know, dude. Let them know like what somebody can do, let's say if they're about to end on their 12 month interest free credit card, what they do, what action can they take to extend that? Or just like you said, what other benefits can they get off of doing an action?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So one of the biggest things is retention offer, right? So it doesn't always work, but this, but the second scenario always works. But the first one is you always want to try the retention offer, right? You're going to let them know, hey, I've loved this card, as you can see. So you've used a lot of it. You want to use as much as you can and you know, I always pay it off. I love the card, but it's not going to work for me. It's not interest free anymore. What they'll do to retain you because you're going to threaten them that you're going to close it without saying you're going to close it, but they're going to get the gist of it, right? So what they're going to do is they're going to most likely extend you six months. Sometimes you get lucky a little bit longer, right. It's happened before. Another way you do it, which is a little bit more tedious, but it works, is you could keep revolving this. Three, four, five years is, let's use Chase as an example, interest free for 12 months. You get another LLC and you apply for that one before your 12 month mark. Now you have a new 12 month, right? That credit limit you have here, you can move it over. So now you have a bigger limit on a card, interest free for another 12 months.

[Paul Alex]

Wow.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

That's a more tedious part. So it's like, you know, for entrepreneurs, you know, when you're an entrepreneur, you know, one bit, one LLC is not enough for many, many reasons. You know, trust account S Corps, LLCs, you want to, you want to have that even if you're not using them. They benefit you in many different ways, Right? Number one, funding. Right. I could do funding for Next Level Funding. I could do funding for Prestige Pulse Agency, you know, all my other companies, you know, Next Level Ventures, which is our real estate that we have. So I'm able to move everything in a strategic way, you know what I mean?

[Paul Alex]

So what would you say? Do you guys often do a lot of credit repair when it comes to your clients?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

We do. So out of every 500 leads we get, believe it or not, about 450 are credit repair. Wow. They say they're not, but it's like they are.

[Paul Alex]

And what is the most common thing that you see with people that need credit repair?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Late payments.

[Paul Alex]

Wow.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Even if it's a 1:30 day late. It happens. You mess up or you mess up the time. It happens. Right. It's like, because if you want to be very technical, right, you have the 30 days to pay, then you have a whole 30 day before they reported late. Not saying do this, not saying you have 60 days. But if you want to be very technical, you do. But once you. But your goal is to always pay on time when you get there, right. They'll like, on the 30th day, they report it to the agency. Even that morning you could call that day. It's like, it's been reported. I've seen that happen.

[Paul Alex]

Wow.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So late pays are very hard.

[Paul Alex]

Why?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Because the account is open. So it's your account and it's open. And now it's late. And late. Late payments, by the way, guys, is 35% of your credit profile. Wow. The next big one is utilization is 30% of your credit profile. And then it's collection, that's 10%. So a collection, which is horrible is 10% while a late payment is 35 of your whole credit profile.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So I've seen scores of 770, 780 go down to the 605 from one late. Wow.

[Paul Alex]

Wow.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Ridiculous thing.

[Paul Alex]

I never knew that, man. Yeah, I never knew that. Late payments is very important. I think I. I even had a couple back in the day when I was in my 20s.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

But dude, I didn't know it affected my credit that much. I thought it was always the utilization of the card.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

Primarily affected everything. Right, man, that makes a lot of sense.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So those two things in check, you're good, right? If you have a collection, you know, they're easier to remove because the collection's been. Is debt that's been sold off.

[Paul Alex]

Got it.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Technically, in this country, debt should not be sold because debt has no value. So how do you sell something with no value? So you can kind of hit them with a little bit of consumer law, you know what I mean? The debt's still yours. So don't let these guys tell you, oh, it's collection. The debt's not yours. Debt will always be yours because it's in their system until it's purged out, which is years of purging, not the seven years like credit. Like credit bureaus in Chase, they'll know for 15, 20 years, they're going to know. And we just went through this experience with a client right now as we speak. Wow. Yeah. So very important.

[Paul Alex]

And then, you know, how did you learn about credit repair?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So Again, courses. Great courses. Not so great courses. You know, investing into some mentors, you know, guiding me. And 2020, I got into the 75 hard. So I was like, you know, instead of 10 pages of nonsense, I'm gonna read. Which you shouldn't read nonsense because he says, try to motivational and growth. I started reading consumer law a lot. So I got deep into it. You know, I was like, I'm about to be a lawyer now. You know, I got as deep, as deep as possible into consumer law and just started learning. I'm like, okay, so they could do this, but I can do this to loophole this. Right, right.

[Paul Alex]

So you would always have a counter.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yes. Because that's how you counter them. You know what I mean? You're asking a bureau to prove to you that that is yours. Right. How does Experian know that that's yours? You never walked into Experian headquarters, sat down, and applied for a name that's in front of them. You never did that with a wet signature ever.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So they need to use the law to help them counter you. Which 99% of the counters are verification. So off the bat, when you do credit repair with us, we already hit you with all that. Like, we. We make sure your Social's there, your IDs there, front, back. There's no coming back with, like, are you sure you're Paul Alex? You got all the info right here. You got my id, my utility bill, and my social front and back, you know, so we. We kind of one step ahead every time.

[Paul Alex]

Wow.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Wow. Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And then what would you say if a person that's freshly starting out getting credit cards? Because, dude, I'm gonna be honest, I'm gonna be transparent with you guys. I didn't really start using credit cards because I wasn't educated in it, man.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

I wasn't using credit cards. I remember, you know, I come from a Hispanic household. My mom was Peruvian immigrant. My dad was a Mexican immigrant. And both of them always told me, they're like, oh, credit cards are bad. They didn't know the difference between good debt and bad debt.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right, Right.

[Paul Alex]

And. And they were like, always use your debit. Always use cash. Cash is king.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right? Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And I was like, yeah, I mean, you make sense. I was in the ATM industry, but when I started using credit cards, it was around 25, 26 years old.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

And then what I started doing is I started taking out two credit cards a year.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Okay.

[Paul Alex]

To build up my credit score, to see that, hey, like, you know, I'm Building up my gap of.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

Mix of cards. And I still know a lot of people, man, that are now in their 30s, right. And they don't even have a credit card yet.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Paul Alex]

So what would you tell somebody that's watching right now, whether they are 18 or maybe they're going in their mid-30s, man. And they wanted to actually do this the smart way. What would be some word of advice.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right. The smartest way is going to be whoever you bank with, get a credit card with them. Right. Don't fear credit, only fear it if you're irresponsible. So I. Nowadays we have to say that if you know you're the only one that's going to know your character and the way you are, if you know you have an issue, try to refrain from it. You know, figure that, call that first, like going to a deeper level with yourself first. Because I've seen it where they know they have the issue. They get 50, 60, 70,000. Two weeks later it's gone. It goes into a charge off. They just went backwards for two, three years.

[Paul Alex]

Wow.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

They just wasted two, three years of their life. Wow. For no reason.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right. So. But it's your relationship. That's what it is. Relationships are important. So you always go for the bank that you bank with, right? So if you bank with Chase, go for their Chase Freedom Simple. It's not the best card. There's no annual fee, interest free for six months. It's your, your first baby card. They might give you three, five grand. But you, you do that, right? If you're able to max out and pay it off, I would, I would do recommend that. Right. But if you're not, just use it as your debit card. If your bills are 6k a month, you're, you always use credit cards. Don't travel with debit. Put your debit in your safe. For three of my bank accounts. No, I have no debits. They said, do you want a debit card? Nope, I don't want it. Yeah, if. I'll move it if I need to and I'll put everything on a credit card as much as I can. Right. So that's how, that's how you want to start. And then, you know, you go to a second card, a third card, and it's a building. You build a little by little, you know what I mean? The easiest way to excel a little bit quicker is, you know, you get your first bank card. Usually when you get that approval, you could get a second one right away. So now you're you know, you're a little bit ahead of the game. 90 days later, what you want to do is get a third, then that's where you call us and we get open up an llc. Then we're ahead of a little bit of the game because you got three cards. We'll wait a few more months so they're not too, too new.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

And you know, we look at what bureaus they pulled, etc. Right. Hopefully, hopefully you've done, you know, a trio which, a bank that pulls Experian, a bank that pulls TransUnion, one that Equifax. And then we get you business funding. But you got to understand because you're so fresh, you're not. You're not going to get the results that we usually get. But we've done that. We've helped. Like, hey, I want to start my journey though. Okay. We get them 30 grand max on the business. But hey, now they have 30 there, 20 here they have 50. Cash flow business something, you know, and you just keep going from there.

[Paul Alex]

And that's better than nothing.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

But It's a marathon. 100%. Yeah. Done, right? It's a marathon. It takes in my opinion, two to three years to be like, wow, I got 100 grand now. Now I could do another funding round and almost guarantee myself 80 to 150.

[Paul Alex]

But you know what? A hundred grand and a few years isn't bad, dude. Especially, you know, being a first timer or going ahead and knowing anything about that.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right.

[Paul Alex]

So do you know any good books, man, that people can actually read or any YouTube channels that you recommend people go to to get more educated on utilizing credit and going ahead and.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And all that.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah. Mike, the credit guy is really, really good. Another really good one is there's this company called Improve you and they have money 360. It's free, right. So it's money 360. And they teach you, you know, literally almost everything. Right. That's. That's Improve you would probably be one of the best because, you know, they also have like, not really like a course, but like, you know, weekly calls, you know, that you could jump on and learn a lot. Because there's a lot to it. There's so much to it. Yeah, right. Because I mean, the encore, you know, it was bought on a credit card.

[Paul Alex]

No way.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

You know, in Las Vegas, the casino. Yeah. Wow. Like, you know, imagine the power you have. Nothing, you know, everybody will get there. But, you know, he had unlimited. Literally. Right. But just think about it. He built his way There.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So he used credit to build business. A, B, C, D, all the way to, like, I just bought the encore.

[Paul Alex]

That dude must have had, like, the black card. And then he probably got like 10 millions in points.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah, yeah, probably, probably. And they use those points to buy all the casino machines.

[Paul Alex]

I was like, dad. Or a plane or some. Yeah, you know, that's awesome, dude. I love that. I love that. The leverage of using credit. And then how. How good are you with points, man? You got knowledge on the points.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yes. So. So points.

[Paul Alex]

What do you got?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Points are phenomenal. So, like, there's. I'll give you a perfect scenario. So used Amex all year, right. Made a video for this. So we're gonna put it out there. I saw another guy do it. So I'm not. Again, I'm not gonna say I invented this because I saw another dude do it. I'm like, man, that's awesome. I want to try that. So 90% of Rolex ads will not accept an Amex because people. Amex is notorious for having your back. So somebody could be like, I never bought this Rolex, which is wrong. Never do that, please, because people are going to jail now. They used to. Not people are actually getting knocks on the door. FBI putting you in prison for this. I forgot what the name is for it. There's a term for it when you, you know, get your car wrapped or. Or, you know, mechanic work and you do a chargeback, right. With amex. So. But they'll take Amex points. So I use my card and I had 1.4 million points, equivalent to $14,000.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Went to Thomas Markle in the Woodlands in Texas. Had a good relationship with them and got a Rolex on points. Did pay the tax. 850 bucks. 1850 bucks. I'm sorry, but got a Rolex on points. I wanted to see if it, like, worked. And it worked. It's pretty cool, Emilio.

[Paul Alex]

That is the title for this podcast, my friend. How to buy a Rolex with credit card points.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

I love that, dude. Yeah, that's gonna be awesome.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah. Points.

[Paul Alex]

That's gonna be awesome.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah. Points are. They work, you know, and. And they're, you know, there's little tricks.

[Paul Alex]

That's the first time I've heard that, dude. Yeah, that's fire.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And you did a reel on this already?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

I did, yeah. Like, yeah. Not a real. I guess it will be a real dude. It's gonna be one.

[Paul Alex]

This is about to be one right now.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, but the actual happening. Yes. It's been done. It's getting edited. Whole nine yards.

[Paul Alex]

That's fire.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah. So it's, it's pretty cool. There's a lot you can do. Yeah. You know, and then like, you know, transferring points, things like that, you know, utilizing them to travel, you know, what is it to Dubai from jfk? Don't quote me again, guys. I haven't checked recently, but like what, 13,000 first class for one person round trip, right. 130,000 points if you move them correctly from Amex, you know, to another source, Things like that, you know what I mean? Like there's, there's, there's like Rome, like it's called R O A M E. They, they points are worth more with them. So you have a hundred thousand points, they kind of like back you up with like another 80,000. It's just the way they work. They have deals with the airlines. You start mastering that, you're going to Dubai like a king, four or five times a year with only using 300 grand a year on, on your card that you need to use anyways. Yeah. So if you need to use it, use it, right? That's where you come from. Debit, right? Debit cards, they don't do that. Yeah, what Discover debit card does it? 1% like, but they're just trying to trick you to like be stuck on the debit, you know what I mean?

[Paul Alex]

So yeah, no 100%, that makes a lot of sense, man. I mean at the end of the day, like the way I used to do it, and I'm no expert guys, but like I know for a fact that like let's say Delta or British Airways, right? If you transfer your Amex points and you transfer it to them on that account, then they'll give you like you said the 6x right? Or the 8x points and then, then you buy the ticket with that.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right, Right.

[Paul Alex]

So it makes a lot of sense, man. But you got to be in the know, man. You gotta be looking and scouting it and all that stuff. Cuz it's, it's like promo, it's promotions.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Exactly.

[Paul Alex]

So you gotta get at the right time. Yeah, man, that's that, that's awesome, dude.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

So as far as the knowledge, with what you got going on right now, what is your avatar, dude? Like, and I always ask people this, and I, and I know you service everybody, but for right now, who are you primarily dealing with? Like just the most recently, are you dealing with business owners, digital marketers? Are you dealing with more real estate investors who, who is your ideal client.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So my ideal client now is, is people with offers, right? Because for multiple reasons, one big reason is, is a lot of times we get people funding, they're like, what do I do? Like, oh, okay, so we got a game plan. Because, you know, after they pay us, you know, our percentage, you know, they're like, man, I'm. It's reality. At the end of the day, they're going to owe that on the card. Right? But so working with coaches, consultants, you know, business owners that have offers, it's better for both. One, I don't need to run marketing ads because the owner is bringing me the leads. Number two, the client is already, already knows what the owner's offering, so they're already sold. We get them the funding for that offer, we know they're making money. So that percentage they gave us will be paid back as long as they put in the work for that type of business. Yeah, right. That's the most important thing. They got to put in the work and, and fulfill and keep going, you know, with it and growing it. Right. But that, to me is going to be the best for all those reasons.

[Paul Alex]

No, that, that makes a lot of sense, man. Because it's, it's, it's, it's a no brainer, right? It's a no brainer. Why wouldn't anybody do that?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right?

[Paul Alex]

So with that being said, man, I mean, talk to me about the stress behind being a business owner. We were talking about this before the show, guys.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And you know, it's very stressful. Entrepreneurship is one of the hardest things that you would do right, in life, you know, and this is coming from a former detective in the city of Oakland, one of the most dangerous cities in California. And I will tell you, entrepreneurship is 10 times more stressful, but it is 10 times more fulfilling, right? Because you get to change lives, you get to help people. Right? And with you, man, you get to touch so many different lives by going ahead and helping people with funding start their business or their idea or their project. Right? So it feels good.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah, for sure.

[Paul Alex]

No, that's good, man. So with that being said, let's talk about right now. What's your vision for the future? What's the vision for next level funding, man? Where are you guys trying to go to? Where are you trying to make happen? Are you working any new projects?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah, for sure. So our vision is to start buying small businesses, right? But still giving them a chance. Right? Advisory shares, have a job still stay in the business, you know, become equity partner. Right. But Let us grow your business. We have the funding, we have the know how, we have the systems integrations, automations. Let's go from dinosaur to modern age. We win, right? You win by not losing your business and being able to stay in it and having cash flow. We win because we just bought a new business and we have equity in it, right? Yeah. And if you win, we win, right? Because we have equity in it. So that's what, that's something we've been doing, right? So you know, we, we have, you know, in Vegas jewelry store, right? So high end watches, custom made jewelry, whole nine yards, right. So you know, we're having UFC fighters you saw coming over, you know, NFL stars, Raiders, like coming over. Like it's, it's, you know, it's pretty cool. You know, we're able to buy something and grow it and still work with the business owner. Another thing is we bought a mechanic performance shop. You know, it was dying, you know. Hey, can we see your books? It was a composition book from school, like just written like curled up already and they're like, oh, I'm like, whoa, this is your books. Like, like how do you know how much you make? Oh, Zell. I'm like, you only get paid by Zell. Oh, that credit card machine. I'm like, bro, you can't even see the screen, right? Like what's, you know what I mean? Like going on, a lot of money being lost, right?

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So you know, give them the opportunity, buy the property, buy the business, allow them to still stay in the business and just keep moving like that, you know, so that's. So I guess the easiest thing I could say is like the new projects are just buying and because any business, because my, my opinion is this. 99% of businesses are ran the same way, period. You know, and they'll succeed the same way, right. It's you know, systems automations, a great team marketing.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Period.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

No, I think you could grow anything from that, dude.

[Paul Alex]

I mean you hit it right on the dot. You know, I always say there's three needle movers, right? Which is going ahead and client acquisition, sales and fulfillment.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And it's as simple as that. People make business to be all this technical and ready to go ahead and learn and have a business degree and everything else. I'll tell you flat out right now, guys, I, guys, I have mentees that have Harvard, Harvard degrees, right? They gone to Harvard, but they still come and they're part of our network because they want to learn what we know, right. And it just Comes with what you're specialized in.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Exactly.

[Paul Alex]

Like with funding guys. I don't know the first thing on how to fund somebody, but I do know the person who does. Right. And that's just the way it goes.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right? Exactly.

[Paul Alex]

Your network is really your net worth, brother.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

100%.

[Paul Alex]

So I know you got into some, some new businesses now. What, what, what other ventures are you getting into as well, Sam?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So our hobby became a business. It just, it was bound to happen. Right. So love cars, love them a lot, but don't like to pay for them.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So I'm like, how can I have the cars and not pay for them and still make somebody's like, life pretty good for a moment. So we got into the car rental business like a lot of people do. But you know, we made it, we're making it a little bit different. Right. We're doing package deals now, which people are loving. Right. 100,000 a year, just as an example. Hundred thousand a year. We just got our two million dollar insurance for our high end watches. So now what we're doing because it's Vegas, is if you pay a hundred thousand a year, right. You. You come to Vegas, you get any. You get to choose what car you want. You get it for a Monday to a Friday to a Monday, so you get it for the weekend and you get any watch you want, depending on the tier to wear out during. During. While you're in Vegas.

[Paul Alex]

No way, dude. Are you serious?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah. 100.

[Paul Alex]

Did you get that from like. Because I could have sworn I saw this idea. It was like on a real. Not not to say that they were doing that idea, but it was really good.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Oh, was it?

[Paul Alex]

And yes. Yes. You know where like you would see different exotic cars and it usually is two friends.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yes.

[Paul Alex]

And they take off the watch, they give the keys to like the Range Rover, and they're like, all right, your turn, your turn, your turn.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

You know, the first time I ever heard about something like that, man, it was, it was another podcast. I can't recall the name, but it was a young guy talking about the culture in Los Angeles and Los Angeles, you know, they were saying like, dude, there's Uruses, Lamborghini, Uruses everywhere. Well, what the guy was saying is like, now what a lot of kids are doing, dude, is like, there will be a group of four to five kids going ahead and splitting the actual monthly payment on those cars. And then they go ahead and they share it within amongst each other every week. And I'm like, huh, that is cool.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah, that's different.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah, it is different. Right. Because it makes it affordable. But at the same time, you know, it just, it just shows you, man. Like, you know, you gotta think outside the box. But with the watch thing, man, that's very unique.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yes, that's very unique. Scary, but different.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah, because I could see, I could see a lot of people doing that.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

Just to go ahead and visualize themselves of how it feels like to be like a.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right, right, right. So. So our mentality behind it is, is obviously we do the car rentals normal like daily rates and stuff. You know, that's all part of it. But our mentality of it is like this. Because I had somebody tell me, man, 100 grand's a lot. I'm like, yeah, you're right. But then I started thinking, I'm like, okay, but if I have a 57, a $37,000 AP that you can take every single four days out of the month or three days out of the month for, for 12 months. And an exotic. They're like, oh, why can't he'll just buy the watch. But I'm like, but it. But then what if you could switch out every month?

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Now you got a Rolex Daytona, then you got this one for the month. So when you grab all the watches, it's like 800 grand in watches you've worn for the, for the year. You don't need insurance because we got it. You don't need to buy it because we got it. You know, and in cars, you know, January, you get the, our, our Matte black Lamborghini Huracan. Then you could get our orange Urus. Then you could get our Audi R8, right? The SQ8, the RSQ8, whatever you want, right. Every month. So when you grab the math of the cars, you're looking at 1.2, $1.5 million in cars easily. So a hundred thousand. But guess what? My grandpa always said the car is great to close, but your opener is going to be your wrist. Because. Because 90 of the meetings you have, the guy's not waiting for you outside, so he doesn't know what you pulled up in. But if the meeting goes well, when you open with your. Because they're going to look, when they look at your watch and you, you open the meeting, you. You have a great meeting. 99 of the time, they're going to walk out with you, right? So if they walk out with you, then they're going to see valet pull up with your Lamborghini ra. Ferrari. That's see. And that becomes your closer.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

So. So now imagine you're in Vegas. You want to go close a deal, you're part of the, the group. There's going to be more add ons to the group. Right. There's going to be a lot going on. There's going to be events, we're going to do networking mixers, you know, opening doors, you know, we have politics that come out to this stuff, politicians that come out to this stuff. I'm sorry. And like, you know, big business owners, brick and mortars, owners of casinos, GMs. So the cool thing is like now you could go to Vegas, you're part of a community, hundred thousand a year and you're able to, you know, rock a Richard Mille. Yeah. $130,000 Richard Mill. Nothing too crazy, but you're able to rock one of those and pull up in a $280,000 car like a, a huracan.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

You know what I mean?

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Little things like that. That's what we're trying to change the game and be very different. But it is nerve wracking because even though we got insurance like it doesn't stop somebody from catching the plane with the Richard Milan.

[Paul Alex]

Of course, man, you know, it's the headache of the logistics and taking risk and you know, you guys really got to validate your guys's clients and background checks and all that. Right. But like anything else man, like you know, when you're working a job like that where you're renting out, you know, equipment, watches, your, the cars, you always have to be worried that that's it. Right. But to go back on the topic about the watches, dude, a funny story yesterday or what was it on Wednesday actually, because today' but Wednesday I usually do my weekly live presentations inside of this one Facebook group that we have is called Credit Card Processes for beginners. Has about 45,000 members. Nothing too crazy, but during the life during that day I wore a Patek Philippe watch with army green wristband. Right. And it's my favorite color, bro.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

That's my die hard favorite.

[Paul Alex]

It's my favorite color and I barely wear that watch. Well, I have a new employee that he's a little bit younger, he's like 22 years old and he was just like hey man, why don't you ever wear your Patek Philippe? Like what's wrong with you? You always wear like your Cartier Santos, like an all black one that I have that I usually take to the gym.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And, and I wear it because it's very Silent luxury. Like, no one. No one spots it, Right? You know, And I like that. And he goes, you should wear it. So I ended up wearing it yesterday, or, I'm sorry, on Wednesday during the live presentation. So I'm like, this usually how I am on camera, right? And I have another buddy who stopped by yesterday, and he goes, hey, man, do you have, like, a green watch? And I was just like, yeah, why? And he goes, check this out. He sends me a screenshot. It's one of his buddies watching my live. And then he also copied, I guess, the listing of the watch from Google to see how much it was, right?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Like a Chrono 24 or something like that.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah, yeah. So. So then he goes. And he. And he writes underneath. He's like, dude, I got to work with this guy. That Guy's wearing a $90,000 watch, right? And then that was it. He was. He was set. He set up an appointment with my. My company to talk about his business and starting up. But it really does. It attracts a different type of audience.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

It does.

[Paul Alex]

It really does. Right, because some people, you know, a lot of people are thinking, like, oh, you're just selling it to people that have an ego and they want to be flashy. No, some people just want nice things. They want. Maybe want to rent, you know, an AP or a Patek that they don't have before they buy it.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Right, right.

[Paul Alex]

And that's part of your service, man, where, you know, you'll get it based on the car and then $100,000 for the service, dude. Like, I see that all day. Because the one thing that we have here in Miami are yacht clubs, right? And the yacht clubs, you pay a membership fee, and then it gets you exclusive rights to have rides or set up times where you can actually rent out people's yachts, right? And these yachts are massive, dude. Like, you know, starting off at 50,000, 100,000, then you have the 250,000, you know, but you know, your value. Do you know what you're doing? Which is why you're charging what you're charging, right? So now that's. That's amazing, dude. Good for you, bro.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah, it's.

[Paul Alex]

Good job on that, man.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

So with that being said, that wraps up our segment today, guys. Sam, where can they go ahead and find you, brother?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Easiest way is going to be Instagram, right? So it's Sam Mendes, Correa S A M M E N D E S C O R R E I A and yeah, just hit a follow DME I I have a. One of my assistants usually answers the dms, you'll notice, but you know, let me know where. Where you found me and then, you know, I'll reach out for sure.

[Paul Alex]

And then. Sam, any words of motivation to have people level up in 2025, brother?

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Just like, yeah, for sure. Honestly, the biggest. Because it's just what I've lived, right? The biggest thing is going to be, and I repeat this all the time, is, is. Is the. I. In my opinion, the biggest way you're going to level up is with the right team. Find the right team. And the right team is not a friend. Always it's find the right team. Because, I mean, you've heard this everywhere, right? Movies, whole nine yards. But you can get far along, but you could get there faster with the team facts. But you could also slow down completely with the wrong team. So that's that. I'm. I'm gonna die by that I say it in every event I go to, I always get asked this question. It's going to be the same thing because I've been through it is team, team, team, period.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah. The right team will make you grow for sure.

[Paul Alex]

And you have the experience, man.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Absolutely.

[Paul Alex]

You've been through it, you've got through it and now you're here and now you're building another business and you're gonna keep on going, brother.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Absolutely.

[Paul Alex]

Gotta keep on going.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Thank you. No.

[Paul Alex]

Well, I appreciate you being on the show, brother.

[Sam Mendes Correa]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

100 and guys, this is the level of podcast. I am Paul Alex. We are currently ranked top 10 business in the United States right now. Make sure to follow us on Apple podcasts, Spotify and YouTube. Make sure to share this with a friend. Share Sam's story, man. It's amazing. In three years, his business, Next Level Funding was able to fund over $120 million to people just like you, people just like me. And we were able to go ahead and use it to go ahead and make your visions a reality. I'm Paul Alex. I'll catch you on the next one. Thanks for listening up to the Level up 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 up. 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.