Tragic Career Ending Injury to 7 Figure Entrepreneur ft. Trey Toner

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Tragic Career Ending Injury to 7 Figure Entrepreneur ft. Trey Toner"

Introduction

In the episode titled "Tragic Career Ending Injury to 7 Figure Entrepreneur," released on March 22, 2025, Paul Alex Espinoza hosts Trey Toner, a remarkable young entrepreneur who transitioned from a promising Division 1 football career to building a multi-million-dollar sales empire. The episode delves deep into Trey's inspiring journey, the challenges he faced, and the principles that fueled his extraordinary success.

Background and Early Aspirations

Trey Toner hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota, a city known for its harsh winters and limited opportunities for aspiring athletes. Standing at 6'5" with natural athleticism, Trey secured a full scholarship to play Division 1 football in Texas. His early years were dedicated to honing his skills, balancing rigorous training with a disciplined work ethic. As Paul Alex mentions, “For all my football fans, you guys are gonna love this story. But also is so inspirational...” ([02:02]).

The Career-Altering Injury

Tragically, Trey's promising athletic career was abruptly halted during his freshman season. In a non-contact drill, Trey experienced a severe back injury, breaking his back in two places. Describing the incident, Trey recounts, “I literally felt like a little shotgun blast went off in my back... I’m just laying on the ground” ([05:04]).

Impact and Coping Mechanisms

The injury not only ended his football dreams but also triggered an identity crisis. Trey, who had always defined himself as an athlete, suddenly faced uncertainty about his future. During his recovery, he explored various online business opportunities, including dropshipping and e-commerce, but found little success. Reflecting on this period, Trey shares, “Am I ever going to be able to do this again? So I started kind of planning for what life could look like” ([04:03]).

Transition to Entrepreneurship

Determined to redefine his path, Trey delved into the world of sales. Despite initial setbacks, including accumulating $65,000 in credit card and loan debt from investing in dubious programs, Trey’s relentless pursuit of sales excellence began to pay off. At 18, he reported earning $3,500 in his first month of dedicated sales work, which rapidly grew to earning $45,000 to $65,000 monthly in commissions ([12:28]).

Building a Sales Empire

Trey’s success in sales was not overnight. He emphasized the importance of disciplined work, strategic outreach, and mastering the art of sales communication. “You have to take your craft seriously. And what I mean by that is you have to judge what you're doing through statistics. It doesn't matter how you feel. Feelings don't fucking matter in this world. What matters is numbers and facts” ([22:25]). His methodical approach involved cold outreach, managing multiple Facebook accounts, and maintaining a high response rate by sending over 150 direct messages daily ([13:25]).

Leadership and Team Building

By 19, Trey's outstanding performance in sales led him to an executive role within an eight-figure company in San Diego. Managing over 100 employees at such a young age, Trey attributes his leadership success to his aggressive sales tactics and ability to solve problems effectively. “I have to take care of your people... push their success. You have to continuously make them uncomfortable” ([33:58]).

Sales Philosophy and Team Success

Trey advocates for a sales-first mentality, stressing that sales skills are fundamental to any entrepreneurial venture. He advises aspiring entrepreneurs to focus on mastering sales processes before delving into other aspects of business. “If you want to get into something, stop looking for a shortcut... learn to communicate at a high level and learn a sales process” ([17:52]). His team’s success is a testament to his philosophy, with average closers earning up to $240,000 annually by adhering to his sales principles ([32:35]).

Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Trey offers invaluable advice to listeners looking to break into sales and entrepreneurship:

1. Master Sales Skills: Sales are the cornerstone of any successful business. Without effective sales, even the best products can fail.

2. Take Action: “The majority of people fail and the majority of businesses fail just due to lack of action. They’re gonna sit there on their ass and they’re just gonna hope something happens...” ([17:52]).

3. Continuous Learning: Invest in personal development and constantly seek to improve your sales techniques. Trey emphasizes the importance of reading foundational books like Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People to build compelling communication skills ([35:40]).

4. Provide Value: When reaching out for opportunities, offer value first. “If you’ve got some sort of value and you don’t reach out, you’re wasting an opportunity... ask me what you can do for me” ([34:27]).

Recommended Resources

Trey recommends How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie as the ultimate resource for anyone looking to enhance their sales and interpersonal skills. He believes in understanding the foundational principles that successful salespeople and entrepreneurs have built upon.

Motivational Closing

Trey wraps up the episode by sharing his personal mantra: “If I was able to go through that, stay consistent, stay persistent, keep my head down, and now pop out and I’m making seven figures on the Internet for the past four years. Anything’s possible” ([36:38]). His journey from a crushed athlete to a seven-figure entrepreneur serves as a powerful testament to the impact of resilience, hard work, and strategic thinking.

Conclusion

This episode of The Level Up Podcast with Paul Alex offers a compelling narrative of Trey's transformation from a promising athlete to a successful entrepreneur. His story underscores the importance of adaptability, relentless pursuit of goals, and the foundational role of sales in business success. For listeners seeking inspiration and practical advice on entrepreneurship and sales, Trey's insights provide both motivation and actionable strategies to "level up" their own endeavors.

Notable Quotes

• “Feelings don't fucking matter in this world. What matters is numbers and facts.” – Trey Toner ([22:25])
• “I have to take care of your people... push their success.” – Trey Toner ([33:58])
• “If you want to get into something, stop looking for a shortcut... learn to communicate at a high level and learn a sales process.” – Trey Toner ([17:52])
• “If you’ve got some sort of value and you don’t reach out, you’re wasting an opportunity.” – Trey Toner ([34:27])

Additional Resources

• Books Recommended by Trey Toner:
  • How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Connect with Trey Toner

For those inspired by Trey’s journey and looking to connect, follow him on Instagram @thetraytoner3 and reach out with a direct message mentioning this podcast episode.

Final Thoughts

Trey Toner’s story is a beacon for anyone facing unexpected setbacks. It exemplifies how adversity can become the catalyst for unparalleled growth and success. By embracing a sales-driven approach and maintaining unwavering dedication, Trey has not only transformed his own life but also paved the way for others to achieve their entrepreneurial dreams.

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. What's up, everybody? Welcome back to the Level up podcast. I'm your host, Paul Alex and. And today we're gonna be talking to one of the youngest sales entrepreneurs in the online space. He goes by the name of Trey Toner. Trey, if you guys didn't know, was a Division 1 football player out of Texas. Yes. For all my football fans, you guys are gonna love this story. But also is so inspirational, guys, because he took a critical incident of breaking his back to going ahead and going full time as an entrepreneur that he's been able to help companies grow to multiple eight figures, generating a total of $70 million in revenue. Trey, how you doing, my man?

[Trey Toner]

I'm doing great, man. It's hard to have a bad day in Miami.

[Emilio]

Yeah, dude.

[Paul Alex]

Dude. So how long have you been in Miami now?

[Trey Toner]

Just over a week now, so. Just over a week? Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

How you liking it, bro?

[Trey Toner]

Look, I came from San Diego, so I was thinking it was going to be like a little similar vibe. Everyone's like, hey, you got to learn Spanish when you come to Miami. I'm like, dude, I'm coming from San Diego. I'm going to be good. It's a completely different world out here. Everything's bigger, everything's better, Everything's moving faster too, dude. Dude.

[Paul Alex]

I always tell people like, Miami is like the United States, but it's also little South America with the amount of.

[Trey Toner]

Mopeds and stuff going around. I'm just like, I feel like I'm in like Cuba or something.

[Paul Alex]

No, absolutely, dude. So, brother, you know the level of podcast we always like to inspire entrepreneurs. We don't fluffy here. Every guest I know personally, I've known you for the past almost four years now, since I went down in San Diego back in 2021. So with that being said, dude, you're 22, you're in Miami, you're now working with a brand new eight figure company and you're looking to basically rock it, dude. So tell us a little bit about yourself. For the person that does not know you listening to this podcast for the first time, tell us a little bit about your background.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah, so originally I'm from Minneapolis, Minnesota. So if you don't know winter Happens up there. It's a really cold, cold city, beautiful city, but there's not a lot of foot traffic, especially for athletes, because that's what I was aspiring to be. I was kind of groomed for the first 16 to 17 years of my life to be an athlete. Luckily enough, I was blessed to be able to be born 6 foot 5 and decently athletic. So I got the opportunity to go play Division 1 football down in Texas. So if you're not a football fan, Texas is, like, the hub. That's, like, where you want to go. That's where if you're playing football, it's like you're on a different echelon of, like, humans almost. It's like gladiators is the best way to put it. So I went ahead, graduated high school early. I'm young. I'm a 02 baby. So my senior year of high school is when the pandemic broke out.

[Emilio]

Oh, snap.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

That's crazy, bro.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah. So when the pandemic broke out, so everything got canceled. School went remote, so I was able to do all my high school work online. So I was able to go down to Texas early because graduation was canceled. Couldn't walk all that stuff because the world got put on pause.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

So I went down there. Was living the ideal dream. Right. It's something where now I was able to get a full scholarship. I was able to actually get paid through stipend checks for being an athlete, which is, I mean, every. Every boy's dream, if you want. If you're playing a sport, you want to get paid for it. Right. So that's what I was living. That was my. My life. And get down there. And nothing too alarming. I had a shoulder surgery right away. So I went ahead and they said I actually had a fractured humerus and my labrum was torn for over two years.

[Paul Alex]

Wow.

[Trey Toner]

So I thought I had, like, a weird shoulder. I'm like, hey, bruise, maybe. Turns out it was broken. So I was just like, cool, let's fix that. So went ahead, had that surgery, and for the first time in my life, it put me in a position where I had a little bit of money set aside because I never grew up with a bunch of money. Always had a job. Had my first job when I was 13 years old. I know that sounds crazy, but my first real job was when I was 13 years old. I went ahead and I was playing for little league, and I was able to work the concession stand on days I didn't have a game.

[Paul Alex]

Oh, that's badass.

[Emilio]

Dude.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah. So I had a little bit of cash flow, but I got put in a position where I had like my first little identity crisis because I've always had an able body, always had an identity and aligned as being an athlete. And then when you're injured and it's something past like a bruise, you know, you're in a sling, you had a real surgery, you're sitting there for a second, it's like, am I ever going to be able to do this again? So I started kind of planning for what life could look like. And I did what most people do. I look to the online space. This is when the gold rush started for a lot of Internet entrepreneurs. I looked into some drop shipping courses, I looked into a Walmart store, automation, everything E commerce you can think of, I've looked into. And nothing worked for me at that time. But that's kind of when I started looking around. Healed from my shoulder, went ahead, played my freshman season and right before playoffs, my freshman season, we were nationally ranked team, we were doing pretty well. I actually broke my back in two places in college or I broke my back in two places during practice.

[Paul Alex]

So tell us about it, man. Like the day that you broke your back. Tell us. Just paint the picture here. How'd it happen?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah, it was a normal Tuesday, right? Went ahead and started. My day was at practice. And for those of you who don't know, when you're in the middle of the season, practice is scaling back. There's less contact. It's more about staying healthy, keeping your body fresh, keeping your legs fresh. So we're just doing drills. This isn't even a contact injury. It's not even live, not even during a play. I was a defensive end. So there's a, there's a pad called the dick pad and it's a big cylindrical pad. And you know you're going ahead, you hit it and you do your hand moves on it. I hit it, went to lift it and just freak accident as I moved my L3 and my L4 hit each other and I literally felt like a little shotgun blast went off in my back. And then next thing I know, I'm just laying on the ground.

[Emilio]

Wow.

[Trey Toner]

And I'm sitting there, I feel something pinched. I'm just like, that's not good. Like there, there, there's, there's a problem. I'm just lucky to be in the position where I'm at, where I was still young and able bodied. Right. If that was to happen to me later down in life, it would be A lot worse than it was. But through. Through an operation and then through a lot of physical therapy, I'm able to. To get up and be moving around again.

[Paul Alex]

And that was your first year in Division 1 football?

[Trey Toner]

Yep, my freshman season. Yeah, my true freshman season.

[Paul Alex]

So, dude, at that time, did you have aspirations to go to, like, the NFL?

[Trey Toner]

AB that was the whole point. That's what I was bred to be. That was my identity, not only as a student or as an 18 year old, but also as a grown man. That's everything I ever aspired to be, because not only was I in love with the game, but I viewed it as an entrepreneur. And I understand that more now that I've been able to grow up a little bit and kind of expand my business. But I had an entrepreneurial mindset about football where I wanted to be the best. I was never the most gifted physically. I was never the biggest, the strongest, or the fastest. But I took a technician's approach. So I would sit and I would do more film review than anybody else. I would have better technique than anybody else. And those skill sets are something that can really transfer into being an entrepreneur because you don't have to be born great. Right. I don't think that's a thing. I think people are born into opportunities that can make them great, but every single person has a decision what they want to do. So I was taking that craft of football that seriously to where it was my life. So when my back broke, I felt like my life was over.

[Emilio]

Wow.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah, I love that.

[Emilio]

Well, actually, no, to go back. Emilio, make sure you cut that off. Yeah, I know.

[Trey Toner]

So love that for you.

[Emilio]

Yeah. I was like, damn it.

[Paul Alex]

Okay. Yeah, that's.

[Emilio]

That's.

[Paul Alex]

That's pretty hard, man. So let me ask you. I know you're pretty close with your mom.

[Trey Toner]

Yep.

[Paul Alex]

What was your mom thinking at that time?

[Trey Toner]

You know, the number one concern comes to probably is my kid. Okay. Right.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

And it was a. It was an interesting phone call for me to have to make. You know, I've had injuries before, knee injuries, stuff like that. And I call them boo boos. For me, if you're not loaded up in ambulance, it's a boo boo. Yeah. Like, stop being a little bitch. Like, get off the field. Because, you know, the guys, they're just like, I broke my finger. Who gives a fuck? Tape it like that, okay? That's a part of the fucking game.

[Paul Alex]

It's football.

[Trey Toner]

Right? Spine. Two places a little different. Right. So I didn't really tell her right away, so I Went ahead and kind of made sure everything was, was okay.

[Paul Alex]

But you wanted to make sure that you were out out, like, like it was for sure things.

[Trey Toner]

You didn't have to worry her. Exactly. And, you know, then the concern came because she's a mother right at the end of the day, and she's always been concerned about concussions, and she's always been concerned about, like, lifelong injuries that could happen because she always supports anything I do. Right, right. She, she. My mom. My mom's the mom who's always been like, hey, if you want to be a football player, I'll support you. You want to be a ballerina, I'll even support you doing that. Like, I'm gonna support you with whatever you want to do. And that's the best type of mom you can ever ask for.

[Emilio]

Absolutely.

[Trey Toner]

But no, it was heartbreaking when, you know, she saw me work my ass off to get to where I am because I had made a lot of sacrifices, dude. I wasn't out partying. I wasn't doing a bunch of crazy stuff. I was literally. My routine in high school was I would get to high school before anyone else. I would lift in the morning, I would go through class throughout the day. I would leave school two hours early to drive to a different gym called Game Face Training. Shout out to you guys. Daventry and I would do specialized football training for about two to three hours every single day, working with guys who are in the NFL. And my trainers at the time were people who were prepping people for the combine. And if you're in Minneapolis and you want to get better, dude, go check out Game Face. But she saw me do all those things. And then I would work a night shift at a fast food restaurant, just like most high schoolers do. But I was always closing because that was my only availability. So I'm talking I'd be out of my job at around midnight, have a 30 minute drive home, get home, 12:30, 1:00, rinse, repeat, and get up. Leave the house at roughly five to go lift again. And that was my entire high school career. You gotta think most high schoolers are smoking weed, taking weekends off, just chillin'I'm. Like on a grind, trying to go get somewhere. And then my first year where it's finally paying off, something out of my control happens. So her main thing was making sure, one, are you physically okay? But two, what's your plan next? Because she comes from a very traditional aspect of, like, viewing the American dream, where it's just like, cool, you Go to high school, you get good grades, you go to college, you get good grades, you get your degree, then you maybe get another degree, maybe you get your master's degree, and then you start your career. And you start your career six figures plus in debt. But that's just how it works. That's what she did. She was a teacher. Right. And the kicker was when I told her in the same conversation, hey, I broke my back and I'm dropping out of college.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

That was not only one shot of, oh, my God. That's two shots of she went from feeling bad to me or bad for me to now being mad at me all in one conversation.

[Paul Alex]

I mean, I don't know one parent that wouldn't be mad that you got a college ride, dude. And I'm pretty sure they still will cover the scholarship.

[Trey Toner]

Yep, it was covered. Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah. Even though you got injured to at least get your degree. Right.

[Trey Toner]

It was free. Completely free from a great school.

[Paul Alex]

So let me ask you, dude, what was your plan? You're 18 years old. You broke your back. Now your dreams of being in the NFL are gone for that moment. And you told your mom what's next? What happens next?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah. So I had a little bit of an Internet side hustle going on, right. So after my shoulder surgery, I had time, right. So I started doing this little organic outreach, sending leads to sales teams. And I was cash flowing a little bit doing that. But I had proof of concept. And when I say, like, a little bit of cash flow, I'm talking for two months of work. My first two months in sales, I only made 200 bucks.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

But for me, most. For me, I was ecstatic. Most people, if they work two months and only make $200, they're pissed off, of course. But for me, I'm just like, holy shit, it works. I have an opportunity to do something that's not physical. I don't physically have to show up anywhere. I don't have to physically put myself in harm's way. I can actually use my brain and my words and articulate myself to receive income. Well, cool. Let me just go all in on that, because I know I didn't go down to college to listen to a professor who's making 40 to 60 thousand dollars a year teach me how to become successful in life when they're driving a Camry. It just doesn't make much sense. So I went ahead and I dove all the way in that, and I went balls to the wall. My first month after dropping out of college, I made 3500 bucks for me at 18 with a broken back in bed, not being able to get up and live life. 3500 bucks. I was like, holy shit, I cracked the code. I'm rich. I was convinced.

[Paul Alex]

No, for sure. 18 year old make 3500 bucks off Internet money. That's like unbelievable. That's almost like hitting the lottery. Let me ask you. So you were doing cold outreach and it's because we get a lot of people that view and listen to this podcast on Spotify, Apple and then YouTube that you know they're coming into entrepreneurship like newbies.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

So it's just like when you do cold outreach, what does that mean?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah. So basically what I was doing, the term is I was an affiliate. Okay. So I wasn't employed with the business, but I would find businesses who have online offers, whether they're personal training, coaching, consulting, whatever the case may be, and I would be the guinea pig. So what I would do is I would spend what little money I had to join these paid Facebook groups. People who are looking for side hustles, people who are looking to get in shape, gym owners who want to scale their gym offers. And I would go ahead and DM them, hop on a phone, call with them, and refer them to businesses that I was associated with.

[Emilio]

Got it.

[Trey Toner]

Just passing leads to their sales team because I couldn't get a sales job because who's gonna hire an 18 year old with a broken back with no experience?

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

So that was my way to get my foot in the door. And for what most people don't understand is for me to make 3,500 bucks a month doing that. I had three Facebook accounts. I would send over 150 DMs a day per account until my account got flagged. I would do that seven days a week. Out of that, I would get maybe a 10% response rate. And I was still able to convert enough leads to put food on my table. So when you're looking to start your journey as an entrepreneur, it's not going to be glamorous right away for the majority of people because at the time, this is still when the Internet gold rush just started. There weren't people necessarily crushing it how they are today. It was everyone's trying to figure it out as they go. The pandemic changed everyone's life, changed every business owner's life. And people were just trying to fit in the gaps and find the riches and the niches. And I was able to kind of weasel my way in there.

[Paul Alex]

That's awesome, dude. And then, like, where did you initially learned this skill set or at least this method? Like, did you buy program books, courses, a mentor? Like, what was the humble beginnings for you?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah, so the humble beginning for me was me being 18 years old, and I was like, okay, I need to make money somehow. Well, I've always heard, scared money doesn't make money. I'm like, cool, got it. I had roughly five grand in my bank account, which was from playing football. Somebody. So I. Dude, I'm loaded right now. Cool. I'm good. And luckily enough, I was able to leverage credit. Back in the pandemic days, if you could speak English and you had a Social Security number, you're getting something funded for you. It's just that simple. So here's 10 grandson. So I went over $65,000 in credit card and loan debt.

[Paul Alex]

Holy shit.

[Trey Toner]

So I purchased every program I could buy. Looking back at it, you know, it was a learning experience for me because I didn't have success with the actual programs. What I had success with was right before I was about to renew on another Amazon FBA offer, I was about to drop another $10,000 on credit, which is money I didn't have because I. At this point, I was probably down to a thousand bucks in my actual bank account. I asked the guy who was about to close me, the closer on that side, I'm like, so cool. How much money do you make if I do this? And you know when you kind of catch somebody when they're trying to be a little slick and they're just like. And do a little look around, I was like, aha, I found something. So how much do you make? And he's like, well, you know, it fluctuates. Make anywhere between, like, 10 to 15%. And for me, I was just like, well, how do I do that? Like, I don't want me. Like, I can talk to people. I can do this. I've always been kind of good with my words. Let me do that. And that's what propelled me to being, like, cool. I can just distribute leads to these businesses. And then a door opened up where I actually started being a closer. Well, actually started as an appointment setter, and I worked my way up to a closer selling online fit pros. Right?

[Paul Alex]

So before we move on on that, Trey, what is an appointment setter?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah, so an appointment setter is someone who's going to continuously make phone calls. So as someone opts in. So what opt in means is they're gonna go ahead and see the funnel Another word for funnel is like the website or the piece of content that catches their eye when you click it and you put your name, your phone number and email in to submit your information to get the free thing that you're looking at, what happens is that triggers an appointment setter. They see Jimmy Jr. Just opted in for the free webinar, or it could be a free course, or to join a Facebook group. That triggers an automation to where an appointment setter is gonna get a text message of, hey, call this guy. So I would literally just be calling people who were inquiring or showing any sort of interest in the program I was representing at that time. And I was making anywhere between 250 to 300 phone calls a day.

[Emilio]

Wow. Wow, that's. That's.

[Paul Alex]

That's insane, man. So, so let me ask you this. Out of all those programs that you invest into, I mean, you invested, you said around $65,000, which, you know, I'm not going to say that's common. People go ahead and they invest 5,000 and then they give up. They was 5,000 to, like a niche or a program to learn either real estate or, you know, Amazon or, you know, forex or ATMs or, you know, credit card processing. And then if they get one roadblock, that's it, they give up. So, so let me ask you, out of all those programs, mentorships, and everything that you've invested in, would you recommend any of those to our listeners or viewers right now?

[Trey Toner]

Put it this way, the thing that I would recommend everyone to do, no matter what journey you want to take as an entrepreneur, no matter what niche you want to get into, no matter literally anything, it is the number one skill set that you're going to need is sales. You're going to need to sell. It doesn't matter if you have the best product in the world. It doesn't matter if you can literally, if you have the cure to cancer in your hand, it doesn't matter if you can't sell it, if you can't market it, if you can't push it. So if you want to get into something, stop looking for a shortcut. Stop looking for the easy way out. Learn to communicate at a high level and learn a sales process. So if you're going to start somewhere, that would be the first thing I would do. And then from there you can start building skills. People get so caught up with their business too, especially if you start a new business. They're just like, my marketing needs to be perfect. I need my backend support. No, you don't fucking need any of that shit. What you need is a phone and your words and go call somebody, everyone. Just the majority of people fail and the majority of businesses fail just due to lack of action. They're gonna sit there on their ass and they're just gonna hope something happens and they're gonna do all these cool things. Automation this, trigger that. And you're broke, and you're still broke. And you're spending money on shit you shouldn't be. Your phone bill, you're already paying that. Just use it.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, sales solves everything, man. You need that client acquisition.

[Emilio]

Tough, right?

[Paul Alex]

You start making the cash flow, and then the cash flow you could feed a sales team. You start building your sales team and then that goes into fulfillment. And those are the three big needle movers I always say you need, man, is client, acquisition, sales, and then fulfillment.

[Emilio]

That's it.

[Paul Alex]

Simple, right?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

So around this time, okay, you made 3,500 bucks. What year is it? Is this still, you're still 18 or this?

[Trey Toner]

Yep, I'm 18. So this is 21.

[Paul Alex]

Okay, so 20, 21 towards the end of the pandemic. Okay, so you make the 3500 now, what happens next?

[Trey Toner]

Yep. So the 3500 for me was again, just the proof of concept. Now it's like, cool, I can actually do this. And I just go, balls to the wall. I say that. I take that same technique that took me from being decent athlete to being a Division 1 athlete, which is just out working everybody, having no sympathy for anybody, working more hours than everybody, taking a technician's approach. So I did that. And then my 3, 500 check rapidly turned into an $8,000 check. And then my $8,000 check turned into an $8,000 bi weekly check. So now I'm making 16,000amonth. And it snowballed to the point where I was consistently making anywhere between 45 to $65,000 a month in just commissions. That wasn't me being a business owner. That wasn't me being a manager. That was no, that was me closing fucking deals, making 45-60k a month. Then I went ahead and actually made a transition. A lot of people want to be successful, right? Have you ever heard the term where everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die?

[Emilio]

Yes.

[Trey Toner]

They don't want to give shit up. I made the transition by myself as an 18 year old man. Packed up my car and moved to San Diego for an opportunity within six months of me Landing in that opportunity, I was still 18 years old. As I turned 19, I took control of an Eight Figure Inc. 5000 company as an executive.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

Only reason I was able to do that is sales.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

If I was not able to sell them to give me the keys to the business, it would have never happened. If I wasn't able to sell them on me, adding value or being able to move up or tweaking things here and there, it never would have happened. But nothing was ever handed out to me. Nothing was ever given to me. My salary has always been zero. I'm a performance based individual. So what that means is how do I want to add more value? How can I get a bigger chunk of the pie? Solve problems? Everyone looks for a fucking handout. Well, if you want me to do this work, what's my salary? How many times have you heard that in your career?

[Paul Alex]

Oh, absolutely, so many times.

[Trey Toner]

It's the dumbest shit ever in my mind. Cool. You want to make more money, get more responsibility. Want to how you get more responsibility? Solve more problems. And the problems that you solve, point them out. Let your good work be known. Don't be too much about it. Just, hey guys, saw this and I started implementing this, kind of slide it across the desk, in a sense, have other people do that as well. Guess what's going to happen. Sooner or later the guy running the company is going to figure out, hey, what's all this going on right now? They're going to look down, you're going to be looking up, smiling just like, yeah, that was me. Yeah, that's how you move up. You solve fucking problems. You don't become a problem.

[Paul Alex]

So, so let me ask you real quick, man, what does it take? Because I'm pretty sure people are listening to this. You're probably going to have quite a few people that are in sales, right? And they're probably like scratching their head. They're like, dude, how is it possible that you went from 35 to then 8,000 to then 16,000 and then ultimately 45, 65 before you transition to an executive? So what is the biggest needle mover that a person has to do in order to transition like that?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah, you have to take your craft seriously. And what I mean by that is you have to judge what you're doing through statistics. It doesn't matter how you feel. Feelings don't fucking matter in this world. What matters is numbers and facts. So what I would do is I would review my calls and see which technique worked the best to get the higher percentage of clothes. And I would break it down. I look like I had schizophrenia. If you walked into my office, I literally had things pinned all over my wall, all over my desk. It looked like a madman. But just through all of that, I would find out cool. If I set it with this way, if I pre frame my deals this way, I have five different options. I'm going to get the highest conversion. And I stuck to a process when people just want to get lucky and they just want to like, cool, let me just try this. Let me go out on a whim. It never fucking works. So I just boiled everything down to an exact process of what I'm going to be doing. And then I gamed the system. So what I mean by that is I would look at someone who maybe was doing better at me at the time and I understand principles. If I ask for help, why the fuck should he help me? He's busy. It's, we're commission based. There's 24 hours in a day. Who's gonna give the fucking 18 year old kid an hour? I wouldn't. Now it's a little bit different. When the 18 year old kid shows up with a coffee and a breakfast sandwich, she said, hey, can I talk to you for 30 minutes?

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

I would start instantly adding value to people who are doing better than me. I would add value to their life, I'd make their life easier. Hey, let me know what I can help you with and just do like servant leadership like that. They started to kind of give me some tricks of the trade, some sauce that I could pick up and I would fully go ahead and embody it. Because what you guys need to understand, there's, there's four pillars, there's four M's. Okay? The first thing you want to do if you want to become successful is you have to identify the model. So you have to identify who's doing what you want to do. Who is that person. The next thing you have to do is mimic it. You don't need to create shit. You have to mimic it. Because guess what, if he says that and it works, I'm going to say that and it works. So once you find the model and you mimic it, then you're going to master it. That means you're going to make the information yours. You're going to consume it, regurgitate it with your own flare so it sounds more natural. So after you find the model, you mimic it, you master it. The last M is you're gonna multiply it. So here's how I moved Up I started a new sales process. I started doing stuff that wasn't in place before. Numbers started to go up and I started training everyone around me on how I was pitching it. Now they started to look up to me, 45 year old men who've been in sales for years, they're like this 18 year old kids doing something I don't know how to do.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

And that one thing they don't know how to do is make a shit ton of fucking money.

[Emilio]

Right.

[Trey Toner]

So I figured it out. So now they started listening and now multiplying more of me. And then why would you not give that person a leadership position? Why would you not have that person be your sales director?

[Emilio]

Right.

[Trey Toner]

I gave them no opportunity but to give me the fucking keys.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah, that makes sense, man. So you going into an executive role, was it like did the glove fit right away, man? Or did you have any issues with being an executive and managing people? Because you know, I built multiple eight figure companies. I've helped other entrepreneurs build their seven, eight and even nine figure companies. And to me it ultimately comes down to a couple of things. Culture, who you're working with and then the leadership.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

And that's, that's mainly that the key elements to, you know, building a great company. So to you, was it like the right fit right away or did you have to learn to lead by example?

[Trey Toner]

This might be an answer you're not ready for, but it was the right fit right away.

[Emilio]

Okay.

[Trey Toner]

Like it really was.

[Paul Alex]

That's good.

[Trey Toner]

So leading from example happened from sales. Right. So everyone already knew what I was capable of. I've been a shit talker my entire fucking life. And until someone can shut up or out produce me, I'm gonna talk my shit.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

Right. At the end of the day, my numbers back themselves up. I have bank statements, I have everything that you guys would ever want to see. I'll show you. I will happily show you what's in my bank account. Yeah, right, yeah. If someone's not comfortable doing that, that should be a red flag.

[Emilio]

That's true.

[Trey Toner]

So for me, when I got that position, I was very respected amongst my peers. Now respect versus liking are two different things. I was not the most liked. I was not feared at all. But I was not the most liked. Because I'm going to say stuff you don't like. I'm going to give you un fucking bearable accountability. Hey, that was fucked up. This was fucked up. This was this. But at the same point, if you listen to what I was saying and it was A sales pitch. If you guys listen to what I was saying, if you follow my process, if you follow this, I promise you will get X, Y and Z result. Because it's just how it works magically. Guess what happened? I took a guy who was working construction. Within two years, he was making more than I ever did in commissions. He had a $75,000 month in commissions.

[Emilio]

Nice.

[Trey Toner]

I never made that. Yeah, so that's following those four pillars of M's. But when it comes to the other executive side about like learning how to manage 8 figure bank account, things like that, obviously I needed guidance and mentorship when I first started, but now I'm balancing my own seven figure bank account. I'm doing it just, just fine.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah, no, absolutely, man. I mean, you're crushing it, obviously. Like I said, I usually just invite people that I actually know personally and I know they're the real deal. So with that being said. All right, so you're managing this team. It's an eight figure team. How long do you do that for?

[Trey Toner]

Yep. So as the sales director, about three months.

[Paul Alex]

Three months?

[Trey Toner]

Yep.

[Paul Alex]

Okay, so three months, sales director, what happens next?

[Trey Toner]

I get the keys, run the entire company.

[Emilio]

Okay.

[Trey Toner]

About three months. So after that what happens is I actually get the keys to run the entire organization. So now I'm the number two guy in the company. The only guy above me is the founder. Right. So I'm being groomed to take on and take over the entire company. And the way we had the organization set up was in 7 different divisions. We had the executive division, we had HR, we had sales, treasury delivery, qualifications and public outreach. Now I'm managing over 100 employees. At 19 years old, I'm the youngest person in the organization. The average age at that time was north of 30. So we got this 19 year old kid because guess what? I might have been a legal adult. But when you're 19, you're still a kid. You still have a lot to learn.

[Emilio]

Yeah, right, Absolutely.

[Trey Toner]

Managing all these 30, 40 and late 20s and it was a lot of responsibility. But there's two things that happen when you get thrown into the fire. Either you're gonna get cooked or you're gonna harden. And for me, I hardened. Do my my feelings what people thought.

[Paul Alex]

This, that you didn't care.

[Trey Toner]

I don't give a fuck. Because. Because my whole thing. If I'm going to listen to you, you better be better than me.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

And money's not everything. And I know we're talking about money a lot on here because we're Entrepreneurs.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

And I get it, there's more to life than money. But life with money versus life without money are two different things. And it's, you know, really the only scoreboard in life. It's the only numbers that you can show up to actually show what you've done. You can do a bunch of great work, you can be a great fucking person, but if you really want to help somebody, it's impossible without money.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

God forbid, illness happens, this happens, that happens. Money can solve 99% of the problems that you have. And just based off that, just something theoretical to think about, if you have a problem that money can solve, do you actually have a problem? Not really. If you have money.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

No, you're right. You know, there's always solutions to everything. But money gives you options. And for a lot of people, either relationship, personal or business, it's usually a money problem. That's what it comes down to.

[Trey Toner]

It's the most common conflict. It's one of the most leading. It's the leading cause of divorce.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah, no, 100%.

[Emilio]

I agree with that. I agree with that.

[Paul Alex]

Okay, so let me ask you, man, did people hold your age against you? I mean, you're managing a bunch of 30 year olds. Well, people about to be 30 year olds, I'm pretty sure some of them were over 30. Did you ever have, like, people just look at you and be like, dude, this kid's 19. What does he know?

[Trey Toner]

Those people became unemployed. And not because of me, I never fired anybody. Yeah, those people became unemployed because they weren't willing to change. So what do I mean by that? The things that I'm looking for are people who can judge things based off statistics.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

Age is a stat you can't change. What you can change is how many hours you work.

[Emilio]

Got it.

[Trey Toner]

How seriously you take your profession. And those people who are sitting there like, oh, this kid's 19, he got this. All that, that I've accomplished more in my first two years of being an adult that they've done in the past 40.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

So when anyone's pointing a finger, it's the old classical. You got three of them pointing back at you. Yeah, Right. So if you have a problem with me and my age and all I'm doing is increasing the company's bottom line, doubling, tripling and quadrupling the revenue that you guys did last year. That says a lot about you, doesn't it?

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

So that was the approach I would take. And being a football player, being aggressive, I play on defense. It's Not a very passive position. Every single play, I'm smacking somebody in the mouth. I took a very aggressive approach. I'm like, if you have a problem, let's talk about it.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

And I will. It doesn't matter who you are, how old you are in a non confrontational way. I'm like, hey, let's talk. And majority of the time there's not substance there when someone is holding you against age. Because for me, when I look to hire somebody, I don't care. You can be 80, you can be 18, it doesn't matter. The thing I look for, are you willing to learn, are you willing to show up and are you willing to commit? Notice how none of those are skills. Notice how none of those are past experiences. None of those are on the resume. I just want to know if you're willing. And if you're willing, guess what? You have everything it takes to become successful.

[Paul Alex]

So let me ask you, how many people have you hired in the past four years since you've been doing this role?

[Trey Toner]

I was actually thinking about that last week.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

Kind of going through thousands. Thousands, like for sure. In the thousands, I would say north of 2000.

[Paul Alex]

Okay. So out of those thousands of applicants that you've actually hired, because we know in sales there's a huge turnover. It's not meant for everybody, but for the people that stay and do extremely well.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

What do they all have in common when it comes to being a great sales guy or gal?

[Trey Toner]

And I don't want to make this too, too casual, but they're just dogs. Like they have the fucking dog in them. To be successful in sales, you have to have the ability to look at someone and guide them through the product. Yes. Make sure it's an ethical product to sell. But. But at the end of the day, you have to have the ability to look at them in their eyes and extract cash out of their wallet. That's not for the faint of heart.

[Emilio]

Right.

[Trey Toner]

Because here's the deal. Sometimes it's very hard to ask someone to invest $50,000 if you don't even have 50k in your own bank account. So a lot of hypocrite syndrome happens from that where you say, I can't ask them to do something I haven't done. So I'm a big believer in actions. I make my sales guys go buy programs, I make them go buy books, I make them do personal development because I believe people will buy as you buy.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

So if you're not consistently investing in yourself, why the fuck would someone Spend money with you.

[Emilio]

Absolutely right.

[Trey Toner]

It doesn't make much sense. So having them do that, it's perfect. But there's a couple principles. Because to get a sales team where my average closer was making just south of a quarter million dollars, my average closer is making $240,000 a year to do that. There's principles to the game. The first thing you have to do is identify who's real. Because guess what, there's turnover in sales. A lot of people talk a lot of shit. A lot of people say they've done this. I've been in sales for 15 years and you're still fucking broke. So you don't know what you're doing. Right. You've seen those people.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

So first, identify who's real. The second thing you want to do is pull them in and treat them like family. What that means is genuinely take care of them. Once I find someone who's real, a seed worth watering per se, I'm a drown you in the best possible way. Dude. I'm going to need you support if you have a flat tire and I'm not the first call you make. I'm pissed off. Like, like, I'm like, I'm, I'm offended. Yeah, I'm just like, why did you not call? It's three in the morning. I didn't want to bother you. I'm pissed off now. Right, right. Because you genuinely have to take care of your people. But the third principle of that is you have to push their success. You have to continuously make them uncomfortable. You can't just be a nice guy. I've never been known for being nice. People who genuinely know me know I'll do anything for people who are in my circle. But to get in that circle, there are high fucking standards and qualifications. Those are the three things that build a sales floor where the brokest guy walking around is clocking like 210 in his pocket a year.

[Paul Alex]

Dude. I love that because your role and the way you speak and articulate it is just like you really pour into your people. You really build into the culture, which is awesome. I'm a big believer in that, man. So, last question before we wrap it up, brother. What would you say for any listener or viewer right now if they want to get into sales? Let's say you got like some college athletes. They're like, dude, Trey's the man. Like, yeah, like, how can we get started on this?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah. So opportunities come every so often. There are things called once in a lifetime opportunities. If you're watching this podcast right now. I have an Instagram. So why am I saying that? If you're watching this podcast and you've got some sort of value and you don't reach out, you're wasting an opportunity. A lot of people have people in their DMs who are handling them. And I know me and you have a very similar approach. We actually. To connect with people. So if you shoot me a dm, you say you saw me on the podcast. Dude, I will find time in my day to have a conversation with you. Because the best thing you can do is throw your hat in the ring. But remember what I did to get started. Don't just ask me for shit. You should ask me what you can do for me. And I don't mean that in an arrogant way. You have to bring value if you want me to give you value. It's the way the world works. There's a principle to it. But number one thing I can say is reach out. It never hurts. Because when I was started in my career, I was reaching out to everyone possible. You would have a conversation with me. I'm a fucking talk to you.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

Right?

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

And that's as simple as that.

[Paul Alex]

No, I love that, man. I love that. And then any books that you would recommend for our viewers and listeners right now that they can actually read up on, on sales or entrepreneurship or some of your favorites.

[Trey Toner]

So here's. I'm gonna recommend one book. Cause I think this is the ultimate book. It's old school, but if it's not broke, don't fix it.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

How to Win Friends and Influence People is the number one book. You can read all the Grant Cardone shit, Sell or be sold, blah, blah, blah. That's cool. That's all sales stuff that's there to make money. What you want to do when you're trying to consume information and learn something is you want to find the source.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

Where did Grant get his information? Where did this guy get his information? Where's Tony Robbins getting his information? Right. Where are these guys going? You want to backtrack it to the source? Because we find the source. That's the purest form.

[Emilio]

Yeah.

[Trey Toner]

Right. Go ahead, read that book. It will teach you everything you need to know on the ability to make people do things that you want them to do, but it will make it their idea.

[Emilio]

I love that. I love that. Yeah.

[Paul Alex]

Dale Carnegie, man. He drops so many gems. So many gems.

[Trey Toner]

He's the og. Og.

[Paul Alex]

Yeah.

[Emilio]

He's the Goat Man. Cool.

[Paul Alex]

Anything motivational that you would like to leave as far as a message to the listeners and viewers right now.

[Trey Toner]

Yeah. And I'm a piggyback this with my story. Here's the deal. If I was a kid from Minneapolis, Minnesota growing up downtown, who was able to make it out, go play Division 1 football, break my fricking back, flunk it out, move to San Diego, just grind, grind, grind. Take opportunity, go $65,000 in debt, have to tell your mom you're dropping out of college. All those things stack together. If I was able to go through that, stay consistent, stay persistent, keep my head down, and now pop out and I'm making seven figures on the Internet for the past four years. Anything's possible. And I'm not saying that to be a fugazi or be overly motivational or just make you feel good about yourself. Anything is possible. If you actually put your mind to it, it will be done. But you have to make a committed decision. If that decision is not made, it's not going to happen. You have to make the decision that you're wealthy before you even get rich.

[Emilio]

That's what I'm talking about.

[Paul Alex]

And where can we find you, brother?

[Trey Toner]

Yeah, so go ahead. My Instagram is thetraytoner3. Go ahead and shoot me a follow, shoot me a DM and we'll be in touch, guys.

[Paul Alex]

And guys, there you go. Trey Toner, one of the fastest growing sales executives in the online space, guys, he has already generated over $70 million with eight figure companies under his belt and he's man, 22 years old. Amazing, right? So can't wait to see where he goes in the near future. Now if you want to connect with him, make sure to connect with him on Instagram, guys, and make sure to let them know that you saw and listened to this podcast. With that being said, guys, make sure to actually subscribe. Share this with a friend that you care about and make sure to hit that like button. On Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube, we are currently ranked top 10 business podcasts in the United States. Guys, this is Paul Alex and we'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. 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.