How ANYONE Can Create EXTRAORDINARY Wealth & Abundance! Stop Listening To These Money LIES | Codie Sanchez

Summary

Podcast Summary: The School of Greatness – "How ANYONE Can Create EXTRAORDINARY Wealth & Abundance! Stop Listening To These Money LIES | Codie Sanchez"

Host: Lewis Howes
Guest: Cody Sanchez
Release Date: December 2, 2024

In this compelling episode of The School of Greatness, host Lewis Howes welcomes back financial strategist and entrepreneur Cody Sanchez to delve deep into the principles of creating extraordinary wealth and abundance. Drawing from her extensive experience in finance and business acquisition, Cody shares actionable insights, personal anecdotes, and transformative strategies designed to help listeners break free from common financial misconceptions and build sustainable wealth.

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1. Building Wealth: Essential Skills and Mindset

Speed and Action:
Cody emphasizes the critical role of speed in wealth creation. She shares a profound quote from her mentor:

"Your bank account is a direct reflection of how fast you move."
[04:19]

Cody explains that the ability to act swiftly and decisively sets successful individuals apart. Drawing parallels from conversations with billionaires like Bill Perkins, she underscores that rapid movement allows one to capitalize on opportunities before others even recognize them.

Risk-Taking:
Cody introduces the mantra:

"Rich equals risk."
[00:00]

She asserts that embracing risk is indispensable for those aspiring to achieve significant financial abundance. Cody discusses how fear of loss can paralyze potential entrepreneurs, urging listeners to adopt a mindset that views risk as a necessary component of wealth generation.

Reputation Management:
A pivotal point Cody makes is:

"Reputation is your biggest blocker to money."
[07:38]

She highlights that how others perceive you—your credibility and reliability—greatly influences your ability to attract financial opportunities. Maintaining a solid reputation is essential for long-term wealth accumulation.

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2. Overcoming Limited Capital: Smart Investment Strategies

Leveraging Others' Money:
Cody addresses concerns about limited personal capital by advocating for the strategic use of other people's money (OPM). She explains that securing investments from wealthier individuals allows one to pursue business ventures without jeopardizing personal finances.

Avoiding Financial Pitfalls:
She cautions against overextending oneself financially, sharing a personal story:

"I invested in a deal with a friend... we lost several hundred thousand dollars and a friendship."
[12:12]

This experience taught Cody the importance of vetting business partners thoroughly and establishing clear boundaries to prevent financial and personal losses.

Alternative Funding Methods:
Cody introduces concepts like partial acquisitions, where one can buy a stake in a business without committing full ownership, thereby reducing risk while still benefiting from potential profits.

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3. Key Skills to Accelerate Income

Cody outlines the four foundational skills essential for earning more money:

1. Sales:
   The ability to sell effectively is paramount, as it directly correlates to revenue generation.

2. Marketing:
   Understanding how to market products or services ensures that offerings reach the right audience.

3. Finance:
   Proficiency in financial management allows for better investment decisions and resource allocation.

4. Leadership:
   Strong leadership skills enable individuals to inspire and manage teams, driving collective success.

   "Leadership is about getting a group of people to move in the same direction."
   [17:47]

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4. Mastering Leadership: The Heart of Wealth Building

Traits of Effective Leaders:
Cody distinguishes between individual contributors and true leaders, stressing that leadership involves fostering collaboration and empowering others to achieve shared goals. She shares an insightful comparison:

"World's strongest individual contributor versus a person who can get a crowd of humans to lift the boat together."
[18:11]

Reputation and Empathy:
She reiterates the significance of reputation while adding that empathy is a critical component of effective leadership. Building genuine connections and understanding team members' needs can significantly enhance a leader's effectiveness and, consequently, the business's success.

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5. Strategic Hiring and Retention

Hiring the Right Talent:
Cody highlights that hiring is the most crucial skill for scaling a business:

"Your number one skill set if you want to make a massive amount of money is hiring, period, end of story."
[26:45]

She advises focusing on attracting top talent by clearly defining the qualities and skills needed. Retaining these employees involves creating an environment where they feel valued and integral to the company's vision.

Evaluating Potential Partners:
When entering business partnerships, Cody recommends asking critical questions to ensure alignment:

1. Describe a time when everything went wrong in business.
2. What do you want to achieve in the next 3-5 years?
3. Who have you partnered with before?
   [13:51]

These questions help assess a potential partner's resilience, vision, and past behavior, ensuring a harmonious and productive collaboration.

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6. Mindset Shifts: Viewing Money as Abundance

Money is Everywhere:
Cody encourages listeners to shift their perspective to see money as an omnipresent resource:

"I believe that money is everywhere. I think it's literally just floating all around us."
[28:34]

This abundance mindset facilitates the discovery of opportunities for investment and growth, breaking free from scarcity-driven limitations.

Cultural Influences on Wealth:
She discusses how cultural attitudes towards money can impact financial success, noting that American traits like optimism and assertiveness are conducive to wealth creation.

"Americans are relentless, loud, brash, and optimistic... which are really good characteristics for attracting money."
[28:34]

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7. Acquiring and Growing Businesses: The Boring Business Strategy

Purchasing Profitable, Established Businesses:
Cody advocates for acquiring "boring" businesses—those with proven profitability and stable cash flows—over launching startups.

"Private equity is the hack to fast growth. I have never heard of a billion-dollar company that has acquired zero things."
[43:40]

This strategy reduces risk compared to startups and provides immediate cash flow, allowing for scalability through strategic acquisitions and optimization.

Deal Structures and Equity Management:
She underscores the importance of understanding deal structures to retain maximum equity while securing necessary investments:

"The smarter deal maker you are, the less you give away over time."
[55:27]

Cody advises structuring deals that offer flexibility, such as sweat equity or partial acquisitions, to maintain control and maximize long-term profitability.

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8. Leadership’s Impact on Personal and Business Success

Empowerment and Collaboration:
Effective leadership, according to Cody, is about empowering others to excel and fostering a collaborative environment where everyone works towards shared objectives.

"The ability to connect with people and see what they need... enables mutual success."
[80:55]

Emotional Intelligence and Adaptability:
She emphasizes the need for leaders to understand and respond to team dynamics, adapting their leadership style to meet varying needs and circumstances.

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9. Wealth and Fulfillment: The Duality of Success

Money as an Amplifier:
Cody reflects on the relationship between wealth and personal fulfillment:

"Money is a mirror. It's a self-reflection mirror of how highly skilled we are... and how much others believe we are skilled."
[25:00]

She acknowledges that while money can alleviate misery by providing financial security, it can also amplify existing personal traits—both positive and negative—impacting overall happiness and fulfillment.

Happiness Among the Wealthy:
Cody observes that many wealthy individuals pursue money as a means to further their goals and enjoy life’s experiences, rather than solely for accumulation:

"Many billionaires are joyful but not peaceful."
[66:19]

This highlights the importance of aligning financial pursuits with personal values and passions to achieve true fulfillment.

---

10. Overcoming Adversity: Learning from Past Experiences

Turning Struggles into Growth:
Cody shares her journey from challenging jobs to becoming a successful entrepreneur, emphasizing resilience and continuous skill acquisition:

"How can I acquire skills? How can I network? How can I become more valuable to other people?"
[76:16]

Her experiences underscore the value of perseverance, adaptability, and proactive learning in overcoming financial and professional setbacks.

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Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Cody Sanchez imparts a wealth of knowledge centered around proactive action, strategic risk-taking, and the cultivation of essential skills—sales, marketing, finance, and leadership—to build substantial wealth. Her emphasis on reputation management, smart hiring practices, and the acquisition of established businesses provides a pragmatic roadmap for financial success. Additionally, Cody highlights the importance of mindset shifts, viewing money as an abundant resource, and aligning financial goals with personal fulfillment to ensure a balanced and prosperous life.

For those seeking to transform their financial trajectory, Cody's insights offer a blend of practical strategies and inspirational guidance, making this episode a must-listen for aspiring entrepreneurs and anyone committed to achieving greatness.

Notable Quotes:

• "Your bank account is a direct reflection of how fast you move." — Cody Sanchez [04:19]
• "Rich equals risk." — Cody Sanchez [00:00]
• "Reputation is your biggest blocker to money." — Cody Sanchez [07:38]
• "The smarter deal maker you are, the less you give away over time." — Cody Sanchez [55:27]

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: Main Street Millionaire by Cody Sanchez
• Website: codySanchez.com

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By integrating Cody Sanchez's expert advice and Lewis Howes's engaging hostmanship, this episode serves as a comprehensive guide for those aiming to elevate their financial standing and unlock their inner greatness.

Transcript

[Lewis Howes]

Hey guys, Lewis Howes here and I'm so excited about this episode with Cody Sanchez. We add her on a number of months ago and it exploded. So we wanted to bring her back on and talk about the three biggest skills to earn more money. I asked her that, but she also shared a fourth skill that I thought everyone should be learning earlier in life and if you could actually master this skill first, it will make everything else easier in terms of creating wealth and abundance for your life. She also said two words, rich equals risk. Not everyone is built to create incredible financial abundance and she talked about that we need to learn to have the ability to take risk some places in our life if we want to get rich. She also says about the concept that money is everywhere and for some of us who maybe grew up with a limited way of thinking or maybe had blocks around money, it's hard for us to understand that money is everywhere. She talks about how to tap into this frequency of finding money to either invest in your dreams, in your business, or the things that you want to create. I also love a part of this interview where she says reputation is your biggest blocker to money. Most of us may not think about our reputation as blocking us, but the way others view you and how they perceive you, your credibility, your ability to show up and do what you say you're going to do is actually a big factor to your ability to earn more money. I'm so excited about this and if.

[Cody Sanchez]

This is your first time here, please.

[Lewis Howes]

Click the Follow button over on Apple Pie Podcast or Spotify or wherever you're listening to the show right now and share this with a friend, someone that you care about deeply, that you know maybe is struggling with their financial growth or wants to earn more and they're already doing well. Think about that person, send them a text and say, hey, let me know what you think about this episode with Lewis Howes and Cody Sanchez over at the School of Greatness. Again, thanks for clicking the Follow button for leaving a review and now let's dive into this episode with the one and only Cody Sanchez. This episode is brought to you by.

[Cody Sanchez]

Merrill with a dedicated Merill Advisor. You get a personalized plan for your financial goals and when plans change, Merill's with you every step of the way. Go to ML.combullish to learn more. Merill, a Bank of America company what would you like the Power to Do Investing Involves Risk Merrill Lynch Pierce Fen Smith Inc. Registered Broker Dealer Registered Investment Advisor Member SIPC the School of Greatness is sponsored by Capital One Capital One. Credit card holders can easily track, block or cancel recurring charges right from the Capital One mobile app at no additional cost. With one sign in, you can manage all your subscriptions all in one place. Learn [e-mail] Subscriptions Terms and Conditions apply. The School of Greatness is presented by Ford Pro. First and foremost, the thing that powers your business is power. And when it comes to power, Ford Pro has options. Scratch that, they've got every option. Diesel, gas, hybrid, all electric. Plus they're all connected, so you're always in the driver's seat. The power is yours. Visit ford pro.com for more details.

[Lewis Howes]

Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the inspiring Cody Sanchez back in the house. Excited you're here. And here's the thing that I think a lot of people want to hear from you today. We are about to start a brand new year. 2025 is coming, and most people said 2024 is my year to make money. And yet most people weren't able to do that. They are confused around their losses from the crypto market. Some maybe made a lot, but a lot, lost a lot. Others tried Airbnb businesses and then started selling off because they realized it's a lot of work. Some people tried the stock market and maybe they made money, maybe they lost money. Some people thought about buying a small business. They realized it takes 100 hours a week of all their time and they don't actually care about that business. It's not like their passion. So what do we do in 2025 moving forward around money? What are the things that you've seen over the last year and where people can start to really build wealth in 2025 and beyond?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, well, first of all, my richest mentor once told me a line that I go back to again and again, which is that your bank account is a direct reflection of how fast you move. And that was kind of painful for me to hear that first go round. The faster you move, the more money you make, because that meant that my bank account was in my control at that time. When I heard that, I didn't like that very much. You know, I felt like, you know, I hadn't been given opportunities and all these different reasons. And so if you're going to move on anything, what I would say is move as fast as possible. And it's fascinating because you've met with many billionaires now doing this podcast. I've met with many of them in buying businesses, building businesses, et cetera. And if there's one thing they all have in common, it's the same idea of speed. So, you know, when I was talking to Bill Perkins the other day, who him and I have done a bunch of deals together, he said the same thing. He's like, I am not smarter than anybody else or richer than anybody else. I just move faster than anybody else. And by the time they've even pondered an idea, I've made a move, made three mistakes, and found a better way. And so if I could give anybody broad money advice, it would be, you're waiting too long. And maybe be a little honest with yourself about, are you thinking a lot? Is there a lot of mental masturbation going on on money? Or are you actually taking action and then doing, like, the scientific process, Trial error, trial error, trial error, as quickly as possible with as little cash as possible so you can figure out what works for you. And then the only other thing I would add is, you know, coming into this next year, you have what, I don't know, 40 days left in the year, something like that. So January 1st can start on January 1st for you, or it can start today, it can start 30, 40 days earlier than everybody else. And because of that, you've already got a head run. I can't tell you how many people. In fact, I was just talking to another person this morning and they were saying, well, should I wait until 2025? Because business financials, at the end of the year, they're wrapping up their financials. It's actually a really reasonable question. But the answer to waiting is almost always no. And so if you see people who are really successful, they just move faster than you could ever imagine. And I remind myself that a lot. And so I would start there. Whether you're going to start learning, whether you're going to start doing, whether you're going to start allocating, just start. Because you'll make some mistakes, but you'll learn a lot from it.

[Lewis Howes]

If someone just doesn't have that much money to invest, though, and they're thinking, I've already got college debt that I'm still trying to pay down. My expenses are already a lot. I don't really have that much to risk to try either investing in something or buying a small business. Like, what if I lose it all in the next six months? And then that trial and error turns out into a big error.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

And I can't come back from that. Is owning a business for everyone?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Well, two things. One, you never lack money, which is a weird thing to think about. You never Actually lacked money, because all you really lack is the knowledge of how to get more money from other people. And if you look at it right now, where are we sitting today? We are sitting at record high levels of what's called sideline institutional capital. We have more money sitting on the sidelines, sitting in cash not invested than we almost ever have.

[Lewis Howes]

Really.

[Cody Sanchez]

We've got record levels of cash just.

[Lewis Howes]

In the bank, just like in savings or what?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. And everything that is considered either money market accounts. Money market accounts, or cash equivalents. So that would be like short term debt. That might be actual cash accounts. And what's fascinating about that is that means that they actually suffer not from not enough money, but not enough deals. So if you're able to reframe your mind that way, then what are people actually looking for from you? They don't want your last 10,000 or $100,000. And I don't think you should give it to them. Like protect the fact that you shouldn't go into bankruptcy and that you don't have to. What do they want instead? The really, really rich, they actually want to steal your time. They do. And instead they want you to do the hard thing and they pay you to do the hard thing. And so if I was, you know, suffering from enough cap, not enough capital, I don't have enough money as I was before in many times in my life, I would just be looking for, where is there somebody who has money that they need to allocate to do deals? Where is there somebody who's more well off than I am, but they don't want to spend their time working? I can get the money from them. I can do the hard labor work until the trade offsets. And then you become the person who trades somebody else's time for your money.

[Lewis Howes]

Yes.

[Cody Sanchez]

And so I don't want anybody to go into bankruptcy doing this. I don't want you to spend your last dollar. I don't think it's necessary. And I wish somebody had told me that sooner. Nobody did. And so in the beginning, I lost lots of my own money trying all.

[Lewis Howes]

This, trying to invest in things.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right. And then, you know, a fascinating thing happened to me. I remember back in the day, I was an intern for a wealthy family that was friends of my parents. And I remember, like, not realizing that people had that much money. Like, I didn't come from much. I was like, they have a BMW. Like, that's crazy. You know, they have BMW and it was like an H2 Hummer. Remember those? Like back in the day I thought it was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. And I was basically her like little intern. I was running around, I drove her cars, I got them washed, I picked up, you know, the kids, I did whatever she needed for like seven bucks an hour or whatever it was. And, and anyway, I remember watching them work 10 years and I worked as hard as I can for as long as I could with her. And then I went into finance, I started to learn a few things. And then I remember I came home one Thanksgiving, actually timely, and I was talking to my parents and they had come over to my parents for like a glass of wine or something. And my parents don't come from much money, so like investing was never something we understood. They have no debt, they don't understand how to use debt. It's like very immigrant mentality when it comes to money. And I remember saying, yeah, well, I'm working on this thing in finance and we have this deal. And the husband, whose name was Robert, was like, well, I'd like to invest in that. And I was like, well, I don't know, like, I don't wanna take your money. What if I fail? What if it doesn't work out? He goes, well, that's the point. Like I wouldn't give you enough or it would really hurt me if you failed. So I was like, well, how does that work? You would give me the money? And he's like, yeah, I would give you the money. You would take a cut of it and you would invest it in that deal. And that was the first time when I started to understand, oh, like I'm doing him a favor by letting him into a deal that I have and he gives me money for it. What is this, witchcraft?

[Lewis Howes]

Right. Well, he has money, he's trying to figure out how to invest it 100% he's going to put it in the bank or money market fund until he feels like, oh, here's something I think could make me more than this. Safe investment.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, I mean, if you look at returns, why do people want like private deals? Well, because the highest return over any rolling 10 year period, if you were to look at it like a bar chart, the highest return is private assets, predominantly private equity, which just means businesses that aren't listed on the public exchange, small businesses, but those businesses are also hidden, like they're hard to find. You can't just go E trade and buy. Right. And so because of that, the wealthy are always looking for these. It's called an asymmetric risk. Like A way to invest a dollar and potentially get 100, as opposed to invest a dollar and get $1.10 with a money market account or putting your money in the bank. And so if you can flip your mindset to start asking yourself, instead of, I work with only what I have, instead saying, how do rich people think and how can I use their money to achieve both my goal and theirs? And then we also don't have this class warfare between the rich and the rest of us because we go, oh, I'm just. That's like a conduit. They're like a conduit to more money for me. And so that. That is how I would look at it. If you don't have enough money right now, that's actually not your problem. You don't have enough knowledge about money and how to get it. And as soon as you fix that issue, then this whole new world opens up to you.

[Lewis Howes]

Wow. What would you say is the biggest mistake you've made around money that actually hurt you the most but became the best lesson for you?

[Cody Sanchez]

I invested in a deal with a friend, which is always a scary thing to do. I think the best friends you get from business, not the best friends, are because of a business. Like, it's like, you and I have a great friendship, right? And it's like, I don't really need anything from you. You don't really need anything from me, but I get to, like, learn from you because you're in business, and you get to learn from me, and we get to have, like, fun conversations about it the second that I come to you, and I'm like, louis, the thing is, we're gonna do this together. We're gonna sell it to your audience. Here's what's gonna happen next. Slight red flag. And so I would just go back and if I could have done it again, we have a new rule, which is that I never get into business with somebody that I haven't done and watched do business for a year. So one year. I have one year moratorium. I wouldn't get married in less than a year, and I wouldn't do a business deal in, yes, less than a year. And I did that the first time. And, you know, we lost several hundred thousand dollars. But more important, a friendship.

[Lewis Howes]

You lost a friendship?

[Cody Sanchez]

Totally lost a friendship.

[Lewis Howes]

Like, you know, it's hard to repair after. Like, there's big money wounds that are hard to repair relationships from.

[Cody Sanchez]

It's very true. And a lot of times you think you like somebody, but then watch what happens when Times get tough, you know, you think you trust somebody, but watch what happens when your incentives and theirs are not aligned. And it's where you really get to see the kind of human that any of us are is when stuff goes bad with money, it is like deep and, and you know, it's, it's survival in the modern day world.

[Lewis Howes]

That's how it feels, right? What would you say are three questions you should ask someone and get alignment on when starting a business partnership with a friend, family member, or a business colle?

[Cody Sanchez]

I would say one, Tell me about a time when everything really went wrong for you in business. What happened? What you're looking for there is do they say it was this guy's fault, this guy did this, that happened, blah blah, blah, or do they say I really got him, I did XYZ and I got him and I showed him red flags. If instead they say, hey, we failed in this endeavor, but you know what, we recouped the assets, we made the employees whole. You know, we learned this, we moved on to the next one. Him and I are still friends. Green flag. Second question I would ask is, what do you want out of this? What is like the perfect scenario that happens from this in the future? Pay it, play it forward for me three to five years. What happens from today to three to five years with this deal? And what you're looking for is do you guys have the same vision of the future and there should be no wrong answers. How I would phrase this is like, I want to make sure that I get everything out of this for you that you want. Tell me what your future looks like so that we can align. And what you're looking for for you is like, oh, he's saying that he just wants an extra $5,000 a month and to work passively. Red flag, right? If what he's saying is I want to build something lasting forever and I'm going to work really hard at it. And here's what I think it's going to take. Green flag. And probably the third question I would ask is simply who else were you involved with before in your business dealings? And then I would go talk to them because the best people can tell you things. But what you're really looking for is show me, don't tell me.

[Lewis Howes]

Yes.

[Cody Sanchez]

And you should ask yourself those same questions too and make sure that you're the type of human somebody should want to partner with right before we go judging others, you know, because it's going.

[Lewis Howes]

To be a lot of work in many years. Yeah, you're going to be spending all your time with this person? A lot of your time.

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, yeah, and we talk about this a lot. But the only thing you have at the end of the day that will be your blocker to money forever is your reputation. And lots of people think about that. Like credit, you know, if I have bad credit or if I have a resume where I've only been places a year and a half, or if I have a bunch of failed startups. And that is all true. But it's more than that. It's what happens when you lost money for somebody else. It's what do other people say about you behind your back. It's what happens the second that you got further past someone, they were no longer useful for you. What did you do with that person? What do you treat the guy like that's in the valet line that asks you a question but can be of no use for you? And that reputation protection, I think is.

[Lewis Howes]

So important for people that just feel overwhelmed around money. What would you say then are the three biggest skills to earn more money?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, well, I think if you want to earn more money, the right question is exactly what you said, which is, what skills do you have today that are worth more to somebody else than they are to you? Because the first way you're going to earn money is you're going to be an employee. By and large, most people start out having their skills get compensated by somebody else's vision that needs that skill set 100%. So you want to figure out how can I just increase my skill set? And so that might be some of the easiest things to increase your skill set for is you want to be a profit center, not a cost center. So what does that look like? I want to know with my skills that I can easiest and fastest as possible track. For me, doing X, I make the company Y. You know, for me, providing this service, the client, you know, I can charge the client Y. And so in the beginning, some of those that are really easy are like sales, Incredibly important skill set. Always. Marketing, incredibly important skill set. Finance, because you understand the language of money. Incredibly important skill set. Leadership. Getting more out of each of your people that you work for or that you work with. Incredibly important skill set. I think those four, if you can focus on those four skill sets up front, you'll be pretty powerful and dangerous.

[Lewis Howes]

Sales, marketing, finance, and leadership. I think leadership is probably the most important thing. It's more of like a soft skill, I guess, right? It's like if you can learn to understand your own Emotions and the emotions of others and you can respond in challenging situations when company morale is down or whatever. And you can empower people to move forward on the problem at hand and create the solutions faster. That is a powerful skill set.

[Cody Sanchez]

Absolutely. I mean, world's strongest man can't lift a boat. Right. But you get a group of people together, they can lift a boat. So what's more powerful? World's strongest individual contributor or the person who can get a crowd of humans to all move in the same direction? It's just physics. Right. And so I think a lot of people don't understand what real leadership is, which is can you get a bunch of people, a crowd of people to lift the boat together? It's always why I kind of giggled with David Goggins because lots of people look to him for leadership advice and he's a badass individual contributor. But if you read his books and if you talk to people who are in the teams, not a very good leader.

[Lewis Howes]

Actually he's more of a one man band.

[Cody Sanchez]

He's a one man world's strongest man.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. Inspiring.

[Cody Sanchez]

Very inspiring.

[Lewis Howes]

He's built a lot of wealth for himself with that.

[Cody Sanchez]

But I would never employ that guy. You couldn't pay me enough money to employ David Goggins.

[Lewis Howes]

He wouldn't want to work anywhere either.

[Cody Sanchez]

He also, he's turned down all my offers, but yeah. And the reason I wouldn't is because he wants to work individually and he is relentless in his single minded pursuit. What you need for a leader is somebody who actually wants a lot more collaboration. You're like, hey, I want you, you and you to be incredibly successful. And if one day you become more successful than me, I win. And that is, that's hard for an individual contributor to think. He's like, I want to win the race. You're not going to win. I want to win.

[Lewis Howes]

Yes.

[Cody Sanchez]

And if you're a leader, you're like, great, you're better, faster, stronger than I am, go sprint. Because I still get to benefit from it. So I wish I had understood that earlier. But I think you have to be good individually before you can be a good leader because you have to earn people's respect through your doing.

[Lewis Howes]

What do you think is the biggest thing and that holds people back from being a better leader for their life and the people in their life.

[Cody Sanchez]

I think you have to care about your people. It's literally, do you care about your people? And if you don't care about them, fake it because empathy is actually, it's contagious. So if you start asking questions. If I start asking questions about you, your background, your fiance, you know, your pets, your cats, your.

[Lewis Howes]

By the way.

[Cody Sanchez]

What?

[Lewis Howes]

I'm building the Catio right now.

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, my God.

[Lewis Howes]

This week it's been built. A divorce. We had a conversation the last episode about Catios, and I started doing research. They're building it this morning. I swear to you. I'm gonna send you a photo after this.

[Cody Sanchez]

Full circle. Catio delivery.

[Lewis Howes]

Cadio life. Let's go.

[Cody Sanchez]

Wait, guys, don't even.

[Lewis Howes]

You got the trad wife, and you're building the trad wife. I'm building the Cadio life.

[Cody Sanchez]

Listen, I was just trying to talk my husband into a mini pony, and he was talking about the lack of utility in the. Right, right, right. I just.

[Lewis Howes]

It doesn't matter. Like, it's towards him. He's got mini ponies in the backyard running around.

[Cody Sanchez]

A rose isn't useful. I love a rose.

[Lewis Howes]

They bring you joy.

[Cody Sanchez]

They bring me joy.

[Lewis Howes]

For those that don't know what we're talking about in the previous episode I did with Cody. We'll have it linked up. I don't know how we got to talking about catios. We're talking about what we're watching on our Instagram feed. And I said all my content is like cats and catios, because I want to find a way to get my cats outside.

[Cody Sanchez]

Hysterical. So funny story. One of my employees, Lindsey, her boyfriend is a catio maker for a living.

[Lewis Howes]

Come on.

[Cody Sanchez]

I swear to God. Asked Tanner where in Austin or something In Austin, Texas.

[Lewis Howes]

Amazing.

[Cody Sanchez]

And, yeah, and I represent bank right now. Well, I don't know. I haven't asked him his financials. So, like, can you please can show that to me? But I might. But I was funny. I told Lindsay. I was like, that's the worst business model of all time. I'm like, it's like, how st. Every time it's local, you know, you can't replicate it. Like, we got to get Catio man into, like, toys or like, Like. Like something repeatable, you know? So if he's listening, you're welcome.

[Lewis Howes]

That's great.

[Cody Sanchez]

He's like, can you please not.

[Lewis Howes]

I don't know where I was going with that, but leadership.

[Cody Sanchez]

I'm.

[Lewis Howes]

I'm curious. What is the biggest thing that blocks you from next level of abundance financially? Then what leadership skill and what tactical skill?

[Cody Sanchez]

I was just talking, you know, I think as a. You know what usually stops me. So once you get to, like, let's say a business that does $10 million a year 20, 30, 40, 50. If you want to go even bigger than that, what stops you is getting out of the way of your best people. You have to do two things simultaneously. You've got to attract the top talent in the world, sell them the idea. My idea is that as a, as a business owner, your ideas, you are building a pedestal and that pedestal is lifting up your team so that their dream is higher and bigger because of your pedestal, because of what you've put them on. And so I have to be able to sell them on this really big dream. And then simultaneously I have to trust them enough and be clear enough in my vision that I can get out of their way. And so, you know, just last night I was sending a bunch of my leaders. Where am I in your way? What is a roadblock that you have? What do you need that you do not? Where am I annoying you right now? Because your business can only go as fast as the boss goes. The boss isn't going fast, the business isn't going fast. And so it's actually the same with your bank account. It's this idea of speed. And so that is the biggest hurdle in most businesses that I've seen.

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[Lewis Howes]

The holiday season is here and it's.

[Cody Sanchez]

Time to decide what gifts to get.

[Lewis Howes]

For the people in your life. And you want to make sure that.

[Cody Sanchez]

They'Re the right gifts, correct?

[Lewis Howes]

Well, Walmart can help you be a thoughtful gift giver. This season With a quality assortment of OMG worthy gifts that include top brands.

[Cody Sanchez]

The latest tech and gadgets, new and.

[Lewis Howes]

Trending items, plus stylish fashion. Shopping for gifts at Walmart allows you.

[Cody Sanchez]

To give the gifts that show you.

[Lewis Howes]

Get them and you get them at Walmart prices. Picture this, your loved ones lighting up as they unwrap a Keurig, a Lego.

[Cody Sanchez]

Set or even the Ninja Creamy ice cream maker.

[Lewis Howes]

How about a gift that creates lasting memories like a Barbie bike or a.

[Cody Sanchez]

Roku Stream bar se. So if you love finding just the.

[Lewis Howes]

Right thing for just the right person.

[Cody Sanchez]

Head to Walmart today.

[Lewis Howes]

Give the gifts that show you get them at Walmart.

[Cody Sanchez]

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And don't put up with life's yada yada yada yada like photo bombers, zoom crop out yada yada and by you. Don't take yada yada in life. Don't take yada yada from your wireless provider. Get iPhone 12 with 5G with no activation fees and nada yada yada only at Metro by T Mobile. Switch now bring your ID and sign up for a Metro Flex plan offer not available if currently at T Mobile or been with Metro in the past 180 days. You know money is funny. Money is a mirror. It's a self reflection mirror of how highly skilled we are in today's economy, how highly, how high our self belief is and then simultaneously how much others believe we are skilled. So it's like it is just this mirror on multiple sides. And if you want to attract a lot of money, you gotta believe that you're capable of it. You have to get other people to believe that you're capable of it and then you gotta be able to deliver on it with your actual skillset. And so no trick mirrors, you know.

[Lewis Howes]

No chick mirrors, no skinny tall mirrors, no circus mirrors. In your book if people want to learn how to build extraordinary wealth, they can. Check out your book Main Street Millionaire. You say that sport is about how much we practice, business is about who we hire. A lot of people have tried building businesses and they failed miserably. Hiring people that have taken a lot of their time and energy, the training and then just not being the right fit or they didn't stay long, it just felt like a drain to them. How do we learn how to hire great people and really incentivize them to stay around long term so it's worth investing in them?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, your number one skill set if you want to make a massive amount of you money is hiring, period, end of story. It is attracting humans. And it's really hard. Why is it so hard? Because in your job you can go and spend 10 hours, 20 hours a day working on graphic design, working on sales. You can get so many reps in. It's really hard to get a lot of hiring reps in because one, it costs money every time you hire somebody. Two, it's hard to find talent. So even to get enough interviews to see if you're good at them or.

[Lewis Howes]

Not, a lot of time.

[Cody Sanchez]

Three, the feedback loops really long, right? So like the first 30, 60, 90 days, people are ramping up. You're like, I don't even know if they're good or if he's just new. And so hiring is really hard for those specific reasons. Not enough inputs, not enough practice, not a fast enough feedback loop. And so if I was to want to get really good at growing a business, I would obsess a lot more on hiring. The other thing that's really good about obsessing on hiring is you can also then tell how to get hired a lot more easily and make more money. And so if I could obsess with what type of person is the best hire that I have? What are their characteristics that they have, what are their skill sets that they have? Why would I be willing to pay them this much or not pay them this much. And once I have that broken down, I'm like, oh, wait a second, so this person's worth $250,000 a year, this person's worth $50,000 a year. What's the difference in their skill set, huh? I want to be even more like this person. So if I didn't have the ability to hire, I would probably just war games what a skill set looks like between the two more often. So I could get in the 250 bucket and out of the 50 bucket.

[Lewis Howes]

You said money is a mirror. Skills plus self police beliefs plus others believing in your skills and your ability to deliver. When you look in the mirror, what do you see in terms of your self belief?

[Cody Sanchez]

Well, I believe that money is everywhere. I think it's literally just floating all around us. And it was funny because I did a podcast with Diary of a CEO and I remember like a lot of the comments were like, it's not this easy, like you can't. And I realized one, there's cultural differences. So Americans, we're wildly optimistic, we're a little brash, we're a little loud, we really believe in ourselves and innovation. Brits, less optimistic, quieter, not so loud about their accomplishments. So there's some cultural differences. Neither one is really good or bad, but one is better for making more money, which is why even Mississippi has a higher average income than most of the, we'll call it, you know, counties in the US in Britain, even Mississippi, one of our poorer states. And I think a large part of the reason is because we are relentless, loud, brash, and optimistic as Americans. Those are really good characteristics for attracting money. So I 1 believe money is all around. I think I can get it whenever I need it. My husband has an incredible line, which is. He says there's 100% ROI on fun. So he's like, I always spend on fun. And he said, it's just money. We'll make more of it. And so if you believe that, then I think money is easier to get. And simultaneously, if you believe that, then when you're going out and talking to people, you're just coming at it with this, like, massive amount of abundance. The problem is that's really hard to do, like, when you're in debt, when you're. When you're scared about what's going to happen next. I mean, I remember back in the day, I had multiple times. Like, even. Even last year, we had like, one business where the CEO reached out to me last minute. He's like, hey, we're having a couple issues in the business. I'm like, okay, cool, man. What's going on? He's like, yeah, we're about eight weeks from running out of cash. I'm like, your sales cycle is 12 weeks. You're out of money right now. We're out of money. What are we going to do? And in those moments where you're almost out of cash, where it's scary, it is not just that you're going to run out of money. It is an immediate failure feeling like you are like, oh, no, I'm failing at this. I am a failure. And so, you know, I felt that so many times in business, and it's hard when you're in that moment of, what if we run out of money entirely? What if I can't pay my employees? What if I can't pay my mortgage? It's really hard to go. Yeah, money's all around.

[Lewis Howes]

It's coming to me abundantly. It's flowing from the universe.

[Cody Sanchez]

Can I just manifest that? You're like, no, I can't. But simultaneously, I know it's not going to help me if I believe that I'LL never get money in that moment. I'm probably not going to get out of it. And so in moments like that, what I typically do is I sit down and I write my out list, which is like, all right, I have no money. I'm struggling. This feels really painful. Let's acknowledge that for a second. Now, what are we going to do about it? When you want to have a 90 to 10 rule, which is, I think the best winners in life typically talk about the problems, 10%, focus on potential solutions, 90%. And so then I would start writing.

[Lewis Howes]

My list, as opposed to 90% of the problems, 10%, maybe there's a solution.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right. Which is what we're geared to do. Right. We are geared as humans to look around for problems all the time because historically, one problem could have eaten us. Right? And so it wasn't like solutions all the time. It was just, don't die. And so we have to work through that. But in my money case, I might sit down and write a list like I did when this one company was going sideways and say, okay, can we. What are all the things I could do to get money right now? Speed, fast. And so it was like, well, could we increase our prices? So every dollar we make increases the amount we bring in? Could we go out and could we tell our vendors that they actually need to pay us sooner? So that's called changing your terms. Could we actually not pay people? Could we extend our terms? In this business, there are all these levers that you can pull. The problem is, nobody ever teaches us about money, and it's the same thing for us as individuals. So if you're struggling and you have no money right now, like, did you know you can go to your bank and say, I need an extension on my mortgage? I want to extend it out. Can I get on a payment plan for my bank? Do you know your bank will do that with you nine times out of ten? Why? They don't want to take your house. That's an asset they have to manage, an asset they have to sell. Do you know, it's the same thing often with rent. You can go and negotiate your rent payments. And so I think often, if we can think about. All right, how could I. What are all the levers I could take to increase the amount of cash I have in front of me, give myself a little breathing room, and then I could think about really earning on the upside.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. What is the personality type, do you think that is for starting or buying a business versus a personality type that is not for Owning a business.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, well, I don't think you can spell rich without risk. And so if you really want richness in your life, like if you want to be very, very rich, you are not going to get there if you take no risk. Unfortunately, I've never seen it done that way. Maybe you guys could tell me if I'm wrong and if you want to get rich, here's the stats. One thing that's cool stat, 79% of all millionaires in the US are self made. That number shocked me because if you heard in the news, you'd think, no, no, no, it's all handed down. But 60% of all millionaires own a business. So you immediately know, well, I have a 60% higher likelihood of becoming a millionaire if I own a business. And if I want to make crazy levels of money, like 30 million plus, 88% of people who are worth 30 million plus own a business. So first you got to be honest with yourself, what do I really want if I want to be a millionaire and if I want to be worth 10 million plus, hard to get there without having some version of ownership or.

[Lewis Howes]

Equity and taking risk and working your butt off nonstop.

[Cody Sanchez]

100%. Like, I giggled because another YouTube video did a video of me and it was like, make millions, it's easy. No work. Subtitle Passive I was like, I'm pretty sure I've never said that in my life.

[Lewis Howes]

How many hours do you think you work a week?

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, a lot. I mean, when I was in finance, I was working 70, 80 hours a week. I remember one of my colleagues, Eduardo, we were walking back from a, we were in New York at the time and we were walking back from, from work one day super late at night, and he just passed out in the middle of the road. And I was like, holy hell, Eduardo, are you okay with, you know, what's going on? And he just, he was exhausted. He was like passing out from exhaustion.

[Lewis Howes]

So working 80 hour weeks for years probably.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. And he was young, so analyst program. I was only there for like two years. He would have been about the same. But just that compounding. Plus you know, it's a work hard, play hard environment.

[Lewis Howes]

And that was as an employee job. That was, you're an employee, but you're making a lot of money as an employee. But that was what it took to put in the time to have a skill set at the right business, to be able to deliver results, to get that type of income. Yeah, it took you 78 hours a week.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, for sure. And I mean so you can't do.

[Lewis Howes]

It with like 40 hours a week just kind of casually showing up and expect like multiple six figures?

[Cody Sanchez]

I don't think so.

[Lewis Howes]

Do you know any business that's paying someone to just do the bare minimum?

[Cody Sanchez]

No. Unless you are the capital. That's where you start.

[Lewis Howes]

Unless you have the money.

[Cody Sanchez]

Unless you got the money, then I have many businesses that I do no work for now.

[Lewis Howes]

Right, right, right.

[Cody Sanchez]

But that's because I did risk invested. I put money down and you could lose it all, and I could lose it all. And the only way you get around that is you work really hard as an employee for somebody else and you get a percentage of the company, which is something that we do for our employees and I think really important. But you gotta become valuable enough to do it.

[Lewis Howes]

How valuable do you need to be? How much do you need to be earning for that business? Like bringing in for that business?

[Cody Sanchez]

Well, there's two ways that you can actually get equity in businesses that we learned in private equity that I think are useful for people. The first way is you can ask to buy in. So you can say, hey, I don't have a lot of cash, but like we're going to do this deal over here. Could I put $10,000 into this business deal? You know, hey, you're going to do this partnership. Could I like buy into the partnership for 10K? And we don't, we're not taught how to do that as normal people and we should think that way because what is that telling me? That's like, hey, you're willing to put a little risk on the table. And also you're not trying to sell me that you should get XYZ entitlement. You're saying put some skin in the game. Right. So that's, and that's how most private equity guys make their first dollars, is they are just allowed to put some skin in the game, which is great. And then the second way is you become so valuable that the business can't see itself operating without you. And this is typically how startups do. So it's like, hey, you know, you're so valuable, you're going to do the first stage of XYZ of the company. Because of that, we're going to give you a percentage. And every single year, year you'll get a little bit more of that percentage over like three to five years. So two ways to get a percentage of a deal. And we teach one in the book called partial acquisitions. And so basically if right now you're working like let's say somebody's working for you or me, right. And if you're working for a company right now, today, and you love what you do and you want to stay there, but you want to get some income on the side, you have a skillset, you're a photographer, I don't know, you're a videographer, then what could you do? You could go to other companies that have that need your skillset and you could say, hey, if I can increase the revenue of your business, if I could decrease the costs of your business, or I could decrease your pain of the business, could I get a percentage of the business? And you could do that both for distributing equity, that's where you cash flow or regular equity. This is what I'm teaching a lot more people to do. Because there's a stair step way to buy a business. Maybe you're not ready to go all in. We'll learn how to get a small percentage instead. Yeah, yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

So if you're not a personality type that doesn't like risk, you shouldn't be a business owner.

[Cody Sanchez]

Not outright. Not outright. I don't think you're going to want the call on a Friday night when you're going to run out of cash.

[Lewis Howes]

How many hours do you put in a week on average as a business owner versus when you're an employee?

[Cody Sanchez]

Well, I like work, so I just worked a lot both times. I think, you know, I was probably working from 7 until 7 or 8 or 9 as an employee. As an employee.

[Lewis Howes]

And now as an owner, I'm probably.

[Cody Sanchez]

Working from 7 until 6 as an owner, but a little bit on the weekends. And maybe when I was an employee, I wasn't working on the weekends. And you know, I think when you're an owner, your schedule kind of looks more, I think, you know, when your name's on the door, it's easier to work more hours. Like let's be honest, it's just easier. Yeah, it's yours, it's yours. And so. But when you're the owner, it's also easier when you set the hours to work more of them. And so, you know, for me, I got no problem taking, you know, four weeks off and going to Europe and I'm checking on stuff every day a little bit. But they're mainly running the business. When I was an employee, that wasn't an option. But when I did go on vacation as an employee, wasn't checking, you know, I was like, good luck. Bye. So it really depends on how you want to run your life, you know, too But I think the one thing that I do want to impress upon people is like, there is nothing wrong with being an employee. Being an employee is amazing. It means that you do not carry all the risk and you can actually become massively wealthy as an employee if you understand how to become so valuable that you get a piece of multiple gains. So for instance, right now we're, we're hiring a president for one of our companies and he's from a huge company. So do we have a right? Like, it's not really reasonable that he would come and do this for one of my companies, given what he's done in the past.

[Lewis Howes]

And you couldn't pay him the salary where he's making it, like maybe one fifth of that.

[Cody Sanchez]

And so why would he come work for me? Because I'm like, listen, you could go work for this one company and have one shot at goal. If that company wins, you're going to win big. But the founders got to sell at the right time. You guys got to hit these huge milestones. The investors got to get paid. You've got one bet. Or with me, you can come into this company and you can take an equity bet on this company. But also a bunch of these other little bites. And so that's why I think private equity is so interesting and why people stay as private equity employees for decades. I mean, I have a friend, let's call him Frank, who's probably one of the richest guys I know, and he has been an employee in a private equity firm for like 30 years. He's like dating celebrities, has a plane, he's an employee, but he gets little bites at the apple. And so I'm trying to really explain this to my employees.

[Lewis Howes]

And less risk.

[Cody Sanchez]

No risk. Yeah, the only risk is getting fired.

[Lewis Howes]

Right, right.

[Cody Sanchez]

You know, and that you have to work a lot.

[Lewis Howes]

He's not managing payroll, he's not having to hire and fire people necessarily, or maybe that's his job, but he's not dealing with having to bring in all the money constantly to keep the business running.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right. Well, and let's talk about the truth of the matter here is that 90% of startups fail in a 10 year period. Most startups fail in the first three to four years. And in those first three to four years, you make zero dollars. In fact, you spend on average 30 to $50,000 a year attempting to make money.

[Lewis Howes]

Oh man.

[Cody Sanchez]

And then when you eventually do make money in year three or four, the average entrepreneur pays themselves anywhere from 40 to 60 thousand dollars a year in salary.

[Lewis Howes]

So you go five years making no money, essentially.

[Cody Sanchez]

Exactly.

[Lewis Howes]

Working more hours than as an employee.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right.

[Lewis Howes]

And what's the benefit then if you spend a half a decade of your life where most likely you're going to fail?

[Cody Sanchez]

I think that is the question we have to ask ourselves.

[Lewis Howes]

It doesn't seem exciting necessarily. No.

[Cody Sanchez]

That's why I get excited about boring businesses. Because what are the two reasons that most businesses fail? Well, 60% of businesses fail because they don't have product market fit, which means, like, I had an idea. I wanted to sell these graphic mugs. These graphic mugs are amazing. I asked all my buddies, you can buy one, Louis, like, yeah, of course, Great idea. You should go be your own CEO.

[Lewis Howes]

Of everyone thinks it's the best idea ever, then sell millions.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right. Then you go and create the company. And all of a sudden Louis is a little cheap. Nobody's. Nobody's buying my mugs. Right. So the market didn't actually want what you were selling. And then the second reason most businesses fail, which is about 20% of the reason, is lack of cash flow. So you have this big idea, nobody wants it, you run out of cash before you get to figure it out. And so I think we've been sold a total lie about business creation and startups, which is that employment sucks. And also we should go start a business instead. And what often happens, and I hire a lot of these people, is they go start their business. They're like, oh, my God, this is worse than employment. And I'm not making any money. And so if you're gonna play the odds, if you're gonna go gamble, you can play the slots and know that you have the worst odds out there playing the slots. And if you're gonna gamble, you at least are probably gonna play blackjack if you're good at it, because you know, that's where you have the best odds. Business is very similar. The best odds is somewhere where the business already has product market fit and the business is already cash flowing.

[Lewis Howes]

It's already making money, it's already profitable.

[Cody Sanchez]

And it's been doing it for years. And so that's why I'm obsessed with this idea of boring businesses and buying them. Because statistically, it has less risk and it has more ability for you to earn over time. It's not no risk, but it is less risk than a startup. And nobody talks about that.

[Lewis Howes]

What are the main reason people are selling their profitable businesses then? If a business has been profitable for five or 10 years and it's so hard to be successful, why Sell the business.

[Cody Sanchez]

There is a huge gap in education between asset value in business owners and ability to sell your assets. Think about it this way. If you owned a house anywhere in the country and that house was too small for you and it was still livable, it's still a house. Maybe it's not the nicest house. It's not really what you want. You would never just go, let's just light that fire and, like, walk away. Right? It would be. That would be crazy. You'd be like, okay, well, let's sell it for whatever it's worth, or let's put a renter in there, or let's do something with that asset. We think about a house like an asset in the US we do not think about our businesses as assets. We do not think about our business lines and divisions as assets. And so what do we do instead? We just walk away from the house that somebody else could live in. And so, you know, there was a. Who was I talking to? It was. Oh, it was Sean Rad, founder of Tinder. So him and I were chatting the other day.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, he's a buddy.

[Cody Sanchez]

Love him.

[Lewis Howes]

I got him connected to. He's lost a lot of weight in the last year because I got him set up for my trainers.

[Cody Sanchez]

No way.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. So he's been, you know, just transforming his health. He's been doing great.

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, good God. I didn't tell. I'll have to tell him that we're buddies. So he was funny because I was explaining this to him and he's like, you know, it's interesting because I went into a. I might mess this up slightly, but let's say that he went into, like, an old book binding shop. And in this book Biden and shop in la, he looked over to the left and there were like these racks and racks and racks of books. And he was like, these are some cool vintage books. And so he was going through them and he was like, hey, I want to buy a couple of these from you. And she's like, no, don't buy them. You can just take them. And he's like, no, no, I'm going to. I want to pay you for them. What's the deal with these? Why do we have thousands of books here? And she's like, oh, well, my husband had a bookstore and he died. Or they got divorced and so we shut down the bookstore. So what are all of those books? Those are assets. And if they had been thinking about their business as a house, what would she have done? She would. She would have done an appraisal. Had somebody come out, look at what the books are worth, she might have had somebody come and look at what the lease was worth for the business. She might have sold the whole business or done an asset sale. And so Sean ended up buying a bunch of one off books. And then he was laughing. He's like, God, I felt bad because I went and checked them later and I'm like totally underpaid for these things.

[Lewis Howes]

Wow.

[Cody Sanchez]

Because they were worth something. And so people sell their business because they don't understand the value of the business and they don't think it's sellable.

Have you ever wondered how ordinary people turn their big ideas into thriving businesses? Then you need to check out this Is Small Business behind the Buy. It's the official companion podcast to the prime video show Buy It Now. In each episode you hear directly from the winning entrepreneurs uncovering their backstories, the real challenges they face, and the game changing strategies that helped them succeed. Get the inside scoop on what it really takes to pitch, win and build build a thriving business. Do not miss it. Tune in to this is Small Business behind the By. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Lewis Howes]

Did you know that skin care can.

[Cody Sanchez]

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And like an example that I would probably give you is like you've done it like you've had a business line before, right? Let's say your education business. And you're like, this isn't serving the current business right now. I'm going to shut it down. Reasonable. You're like, I'm the face. You know, it's not set up to sell. You haven't prepped a business that you created to be a business you could sell, right? Because most business owners do not know how to do that. And so you shut it down because you're like, well, reputational risk, all of these things. But let's say that you went through our program that we teach and we talk about like prepping a business for a sale, like a cake. You would have done all these tasks which meant that you would have removed yourself as key man and you would have had a business that somebody else could take over. And the benefit there is somebody else gets to steal your 10,000 hours and you don't have to close a 10 year asset bill.

[Lewis Howes]

Sure.

[Cody Sanchez]

That you have.

[Lewis Howes]

I did that with my first business and the person that took it over, it was kind of like all my online courses before I launched School of Greatness. And the person that took it over ran it to the ground.

[Cody Sanchez]

Did you sell it?

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, I sold it to him. But then it was also a sell over like three years. So he ran it to the ground after like four months.

[Cody Sanchez]

Did you get your cash out of it?

[Lewis Howes]

First few months. And that was it. Okay, so that was a challenging thing, but it was a lesson, you know?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. But I think this is a perfect example. So why. So I bet if third party people looked at that, they'd be like, why would Louis sell this business he's making? I'm going to make up making a hundred thousand dollars a year from the business. That's a great business. Nobody would sell a hundred thousand dollar a year business. But why would you sell it? Because you had a million dollar opportunity over here and so you have opportunity costs.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, Exactly.

[Cody Sanchez]

So there's $900,000 that's waiting on Lewis to make a sale. Right.

[Lewis Howes]

Well, the big lesson was kind of what your biggest mistake was. It sounds like was, you know, it was a, it was a partnership that wasn't working out.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

And we weren't seeing eye to eye for like many months, probably six to nine months. And it was exhausting trying to be in partnership with someone where we just didn't have the same vision.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right.

[Lewis Howes]

I'm not blaming him or myself. We just weren't aligned and we didn't ask those questions early on. I didn't ask those questions, he didn't ask those questions. And so we didn't, we had clarity over like let's go make some money over the next year. But we weren't thinking years in the future. We were assuming the other person wanted the same thing.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

And that created a lot of stress.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Well, there's a whole chapter in there about partnerships and how to not not them up. It's not perfect, but there's. I have like 12 key lessons about partnerships that are really important in selling it. But I bet. Did you do that sale with seller financing? Was that like largely, hey, a percentage of future profits?

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

So he, he sounds like he actually got a pretty good deal out of you.

[Lewis Howes]

He got a great deal.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Because he was able to talk you into his vision of the future.

[Lewis Howes]

Because I knew he couldn't pay me upfront.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right.

[Lewis Howes]

He wasn't able to do it. And he was like, I'm going to use this money to do the marketing and the ad spend. And he just ran into the crowd.

[Cody Sanchez]

And you probably didn't do a real deal process to have multiple people come in and potentially vet the business.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, exactly.

[Cody Sanchez]

But why would.

[Lewis Howes]

And I was just also just like, exhausted, you know, it's like a lot of people are exhausted running their business for years. Well, they might sell it on the cheap because they just want to get out.

[Cody Sanchez]

That's exactly right. That's the 7Ds, which is, you know, death, divorce, distress. Oh, I always forget this. You move. God, it's a little boch. Death to force distress. You move locations, you have disagreement. So that would be like a business partnership. You have debt. Yeah, that's not the exact one, but we could use that one because we fill it in, since I'm forgetting it and somebody on the Internet will tell me what the seventh is. Sure. But for most small business owners, they're in the pain cave when they're looking to sell. In this case, largely retirees, because 60% of all small businesses are owned by people. 65 plus in the U.S. which is wild. So a lot of them just want.

[Lewis Howes]

To retire and they've been running it for 10, 20, 30 years. Maybe some of these businesses.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right. But a lot of these business owners, too, just have the same thing you have, which is opportunity costs, like, fast. I'm running this landscaping business, but this roofing business is really taking off.

[Lewis Howes]

Exactly.

[Cody Sanchez]

So I think that's. I think that's a beautiful story to share because a lot of people don't think it happens.

[Lewis Howes]

It happens all around and it can be exhausting. And that's. I mean, not to be opportunistic, but that could be the time where you could swoop in and find a business that is distressed, that's struggling, or a partnership is falling apart and they need to sell.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, it's one of the seven, slash, three and a half days.

[Lewis Howes]

There you go. Exactly. I thought you were going to say, like, duck, dive, dodge from, like dodgeball.

[Cody Sanchez]

Well, we were laughing earlier because in the book we come up with all these acronyms.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. Then you don't remember them.

[Cody Sanchez]

Five things. And then I forget.

[Lewis Howes]

What are the 26 steps to building wealth? Okay. Step by step. Exactly.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. That's why you need sops to business.

[Lewis Howes]

Exactly. You do have a chapter or a section in the book that talks about how to 10x your profits in year one when someone's launching a business or looking to buy a business, can they actually 10x their profits in their first year?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yes, a thousand percent. However, do not buy a business based on that expectation. So I say you buy businesses based on realities and profits, not dreams and potential.

[Lewis Howes]

Kind of like getting into a relationship too, right?

[Cody Sanchez]

Exactly. Don't expect a lot of change. Yeah, but you can, you can model it, you can do a financial forward looking model on it. So for instance, in our businesses, you buy a business based on the profits in the business. So if the business is doing 100k, typically that means you're going to buy the business for anywhere from 100k to 500k. 1 to 5x is the profit multiple. But what's interesting about these small businesses is a lot of these businesses are so under optimized. And we have lots of ways we talk about this, but in this instance, this was a laundromat that we owned. And basically it shows how you could use seven different types of acquisitions in order to grow the business, plus some things like price increases. But you know, for instance, you might have a Laundromat and then you might buy a second laundromat. So you have economies of scale. Plus you could use the equity of one laundromat to acquire the other laundromat. You could add additional revenue lines. Right. So you could add gumball machines and soap dispensers. You know, you could buy the real estate of where the laundromat sitting and then thus get the rental into income from your laundromat plus everybody else in there. You could also do some vertical integration. So you could be thinking, well, what's my biggest cost? Soap. You know, could I white label a soap brand and then could I sell that? And so there are all these ways that you can think about using acquisitions to grow your business. And I think acquisitions are the hack to fast growth. Like I have never heard of a billion dollar company that has acquired zero things. I don't think it exists.

[Lewis Howes]

Really.

[Cody Sanchez]

No, they're at least acquihiring talent, they're hiring competitions or competitors, different product lines. But if you want to go Fast, you buy 100 clients at a time as organically acquire one at a time. Even Facebook, like Instagram, perfect example. WhatsApp, perfect example. The big boys play in the game of acquisitions.

[Lewis Howes]

They got a lot of cash to spend on that. What is that, 5 billion or something?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, but if you think about it, what's interesting is they use cash because for them cash is their cheapest, cheapest assets.

[Lewis Howes]

Speed.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, well, it's speed and it's cheap. What should they have done? If the WhatsApp guys are really smart and the Instagram guys are really smart, they would have asked for a lot more equity in Facebook. So it, you know, once you see this, five bills.

[Lewis Howes]

All right, you know, it's like five. I mean, it's like, okay, do I.

[Cody Sanchez]

Need more Instagram guys? Set.

[Lewis Howes]

And they sold it for a billion, right?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Said they regretted that transaction because how.

[Lewis Howes]

Much was that worth now?

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, God.

[Lewis Howes]

I mean, they would have taken more stock than Facebook, right?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, 100x. So I think that again, goes back to this. To me, it feels like kind of like you open like, I don't know, Pan's Labyrinth or Pandora's Box. Like, once you look inside, you're like, oh, wait a second. We were taught for so long that money is. Is hard to get, that it's impossible, that it's not around us. And once you start to play the game of ownership and deal making, you realize money is often the cheapest thing. And once that happens, then your world can really change.

[Lewis Howes]

What about for people say, okay, but if I'm going to get an investor, I have give up so much of this business that I want to do a deal in. And what if I only get 10, 20, 30%? Is it worth me buying in a business where someone else is just giving cash to own 60, 70, 80%, where I'm still doing all the work for 10, 20%?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, well, I would say, why'd you give them 60, 70, 80%, whatever.

[Lewis Howes]

Whatever the number is. You know what I mean, though?

[Cody Sanchez]

It's like.

[Lewis Howes]

And then the more you need to raise, you have to dilute your equity even more.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, you're right.

[Lewis Howes]

I have friends that started a business. I won't say who they are. You probably know them, they're in your town, they're worth a few hundred million in their business. Right. They've been around for about a decade and they've had to raise money over and over and over again at scale for their business. Physical product, good business. They're in tons of retailers, but they only have like a few percent each now because they've just had to keep raising to be able to scale it. And they put all this time and energy in for a decade. Maybe they get a sale where they make a few million. I don't know. But maybe not.

[Cody Sanchez]

It's a great point. So here's the beautiful part about deal making. The smarter deal maker that you are, the less you Give away over time. I mean, contrarian thinking is a perfect example. We own 100% of contrarian thinking. I haven't taken a single investor, but my first couple businesses I did, I took some investors because I didn't actually realize how to value myself for my asset. It kind of goes back to that house example. We have to get more reps at understanding how to value things and create deal structures that benefit us. And so if I have a business that I know is going to need a lot of cash, isn't it wild that all we know how to do is go out and raise venture funds? Why do you think that is? Well, it's because that is the most lucrative equity is the most lucrative in a fast growing startup you can get. So if you have a fast growing startup, what should you do instead? You should take a little bit more debt risk, which is like tactical to.

[Lewis Howes]

Understand because you're not giving up equity.

[Cody Sanchez]

You're not giving up equity. You're giving up a percent that is set as opposed to a forever percent of future upside. You should give up less and try to talk people into your sweat equity being worth more. You should think about structuring deals where you go, hey, I'm going to give you equity in the business, but I'm going to have the right to pay to buy you out at X term at this time. You should potentially maybe be giving them some smaller percentage of equity but distributions so they don't take a huge chunk of it. So like, this is the stuff that I learned on Wall street that I didn't realize is like why the, why the people on Wall street are so much richer than us. It's because they understand how money actually works. And we were never taught this stuff. What were we taught? We were taught like, budget, don't buy the Starbucks. You know, negotiate your salary once a year so that you get a 5% increase instead of a 3% increase. We weren't taught about warrants and ratchets and options and, you know, none of that. And yet if we learned how to do that, your friends, we could be doing way smarter deals than straight up equities. And, and the thing that you negotiated in the beginning doesn't have to be the thing you end up with. I think as Americans too, we have this funny thing. We have this guy Kareem who's an investment analyst on our team and he's the best negotiator of all time. He's Egyptian. And so I always, oh man, when.

[Lewis Howes]

I went to Egypt, I was getting negotiated with everywhere I went, yeah, yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

It was like, we Americans were not that used to negotiating. And so the other thing that's cool is you have to remember, what do the rich never really want? They don't ever want to do work. Once they've given you cash for something, they're saying, I want you to deal with it. Bill Perkins says that to me all the time. He's like, can I give you more money? I'm like, no, you want more of my life. I know what you're trying to do here. No. And so even for those guys, you might push back and be like, we're unhappy with the percent that we have right now. We're working way too hard on this business. We're your future growth. We want you guys to take some money off the table, and we want you guys to give us some additional equity. You know, we'll distribute up to this point. But as Americans, we're not really taught to get comfortable negotiating. It feels like a retrade. It feels bad. Maybe we feel cheap, but we shouldn't. We should just know that that is what Wall street does all day.

[Lewis Howes]

What's interesting, my fiance, Martha, she's really good at negotiating. She's Mexican, and she. I mean, anytime we're trying to buy anything or build anything within our house, she's always just negotiating, negotiating, negotiating. And I love that about her because she's not just going to say, okay, they said it was this price and we're just going to pay it. She's always trying to find a way to say, okay, what can we do to make it less? How can we make it half this price? What would that look like? And just constantly enrolling people in bringing it down. And I think it's a beautiful skill set because you're saving money in that process that you can invest in other places.

[Cody Sanchez]

That's a good woman right there.

[Lewis Howes]

It's a great woman. You got to think about my wealth, you know, it's like, go, save me some money, you know? Well, also, I mean, do you think women are an asset or a liability in a relationship for men?

[Cody Sanchez]

Well, they should be an asset.

[Lewis Howes]

What makes women an asset for men versus a liability?

[Cody Sanchez]

Depends on what you want as a man. But, you know, I think a good woman should be a partner in life to carry the burdens through just about everything. A burden might be that she is the negotiator and you are the earner. You know, a good woman might be that she takes care of the family and offsets a couple hundred thousand dollars in potential third party costs. Instead of, you know, a cook, a host, a housekeeper, a nanny, a surrogate, you got her. You know, or it might be somebody who also earns beside you. Or maybe you do a mixture of both. But I do think that these days the only thing that I do not like about the man versus female thing is like, listen, I'm happy to stay home, I'm happy to cook and clean and take care about just of everything. If you're working and I'm not, if we're both working and I am the one doing all of the cooking, all of the cleaning, and that's the expectation, because I'm a woman and you're a man, opt out. Unsubscribe. No thanks. So I think that the idea of a traditional wife. Cool. If she actually gets to be traditional.

[Lewis Howes]

Hashtag tradwife.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yes. And it's back and we're back. But that's the only part that I get upset about gender norms. I mean, my husband and I, he loves cooking. Like, I like stuff clean. We both run the business together. But like, don't tell me that I, because I'm a woman, I gotta do all this extra stuff just because of it. If we're both getting up early, grinding and working, I don't like that.

[Lewis Howes]

What would you say? If a man is very entrepreneurial, risk taker, he's trying to build wealth for his life. He gets in a relationship with a woman, they get engaged, they get married. What are the three qualities he should be looking for in order to feel like she's really to help contribute to the long term wealth versus take away from it? Maybe what are like the soft skills of those qualities?

[Cody Sanchez]

One, I love what Jeff Bezos said, which is if I was in a third world prison, I know my wife would help get me out. Like, you need a ride or die. You know, you want that person to be so aligned and so crazy that you could trust her if you know, you were like, I murdered somebody. Where's the body? That's what we're looking for. This is your partner for life. It's going to be the mother of your children. Like, she better be able to get done. That would be one for me.

[Lewis Howes]

Kind of like resourcefulness, 100% willing to do whatever it takes figuring it out.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. And super, super loyal.

[Lewis Howes]

Not feeling helpless. Like I have no clue.

[Cody Sanchez]

No, I think that like victim mentality of a woman. I mean real traditional women back in the day, they were some hard mother, you know.

[Lewis Howes]

Oh yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

Like, so I think you can still Be in your flowery dresses and hanging out in sunflower field, but feel like that woman's got your back. And then the second thing is, I do think, you know, I've seen it happen with my very wealthy guy friends, let's say, and they bring somebody on board into their relationship and that wealth ain't doing so hot in a balloon. And that woman's gone. And I can sense them a mile away. I see it up front.

[Lewis Howes]

Really?

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, my gosh.

[Lewis Howes]

The women leave.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, 100%.

[Lewis Howes]

It's so sad.

[Cody Sanchez]

Well, is it? Or did you choose a woman that you knew wasn't loyal, wasn't there for you, wasn't going to be there for you, just wanted your stuff tough. And you know, we all fall in love and have made mistakes, and I've certainly done that. But like, I think that loyalty plus resourcefulness is so important because that's what you're going to pass on to your kids too, if that's important to you.

[Lewis Howes]

100 of all the millionaires, you know, how many of them do you think are actually happy and fulfilled human beings?

[Cody Sanchez]

So you want to be a marketer? It's easy. You just have to score a ton of leads and figure out a way to turn them all into customers.

[Lewis Howes]

Plus manage a dozen channels, write a.

[Cody Sanchez]

Million blogs, and launch a hundred campaigns all at once. When that's done, simply make your socials go viral and bring in record profits. No sweat. Okay, fine, it's a lot of sweat. But with HubSpot's AI powered marketing tools, launching benchmark breaking campaigns is easier than ever. Get [e-mail] marketers.

[Lewis Howes]

Did you know that skin care can.

[Cody Sanchez]

Start in the laundry room? All Free Clear is the number one laundry detergent brand recommended by dermatologists, allergists and pediatricians for sensitive skin. All free clear is 100% free of dyes and perfumes. It provides an effective clean that's gentle on skin. Plus All Free Clear liquid is safer choice certified by the US EPA for a clean you can feel good about. All you need is All Free Clear.

I think that, I think money kills misery a lot more than it helps happiness. Like it is a miserable existence to be on the poverty line, not able to figure things out, not able to take care of your family. I mean, we're seeing deaths of despair all around this country from fentanyl usage, from antidepressants, divorce rates, lack of people having sex and getting married. And so I think money helps a lot with decreasing our misery level when it comes to happiness. Though, the funny thing about money is it's an amplifier. To me, you become a lot more of whoever you were. So if you're a nasty, gnarly, unhappy human without money, you're probably gonna be a nasty, gnarly, unhappy human with money. You're just gonna be able to affect the world a little bit more in a negative way. In a negative way. And I think that's why, like, a lot of people have a hole inside of them, and then they go and fill it with money. And that's why I think, you know, the Bible says that the root of all evil is the desire for money, not that money is the root of all evil. Very important word change there. And so if you desire money above all else and you try to fill your black hole inside of you with money, I don't think that makes you happy. If you love producing, helping people, changing the world, laboring, you know that and the byproduct of that is money, then I think you're a lot happier. But, no, I've met very, very many a miserable millionaire, but it wasn't because of money. It was already there. And then money makes it better.

[Lewis Howes]

It amplifies it, though.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

It can make it feel even a heavier weight. I think so, right?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. I mean, you've met these people, too.

[Lewis Howes]

How many people who are millionaires or billionaires that you know or have interviewed or been around that you think have a lot of fulfillment in their life? What's the percentage? Is it half? Is it 10%? Is it 90%? Or do you think a lot of them still struggle with finding peace, fulfillment, enjoying their lives even with all the money?

[Cody Sanchez]

I don't meet very many peaceful billionaires. I don't think I've ever met one, you know, billionaire. In order to get that level of wealth, you have to do things that no normal human would do.

[Lewis Howes]

Is it worth it, then? Is it worth being a billionaire?

[Cody Sanchez]

They might just never have been the peaceful type of human, you know, that just might not be who they are. And thank God they exist in the world for a lot of things that are better for all the rest of us, actually.

[Lewis Howes]

The innovation, everything.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, 100%. The job creation, the lift. I mean, the best thing that's ever happened to poverty levels in the world is capitalism, which is crazy. People who are not peaceful at all, pushing to make the world a little bit better. But I have met a lot of really joyful billionaires. So they're not peaceful, but they got a lot of joy because, man, it's pretty fun. Being rich, like, you know, it's not so much the one off things, it's just what you can do. You're like, I want to go build a school in Africa. Do it. You know, I want to take my family and go on the best trip they've ever been on. I want to buy 37 Catios and.

[Lewis Howes]

Let'S go Catios for all and knitting through and you get a Catio.

[Cody Sanchez]

That's your Oprah. What? You know, everybody in the audience is going to be like, I don't this Louis Cadio life. But yeah, I think many billionaires are joyful but not peaceful.

[Lewis Howes]

How many billionaires are unhappy?

[Cody Sanchez]

I maybe met 30 or 40 billionaires, which is a lot, because there's not that many of them in the world. And you know what a lot of them are? A lot of them are Asperger's, which is hysterical to me. I was talking to Joe Lonsdale about that founder of Palantir, and I was like, I've met all these tech billionaires in Austin and a lot of them there. Yeah. And, man, some of you guys are really hard to talk to, you know. And he's like, yeah, we are all. Most of us are neurodivergent in some way. We're a little like, off. And so if you came at us with like a normal, hey, how you doing? What's going on? They're like, no, thanks. I have no interest in that. And when you're that rich, you don't really have to play by other people's rules. You just don't engage how you don't want to engage. I mean, think about all the things you can cut out of your life. If you're a billionaire, you don't have to go to the DMV ever. You know, you're never at the airport because you're flying private. I think the airport is a great equalizer for people. You know, you're not taking the bus. You know, you're not going to the grocery store. Like, everything comes to you when you're at that level. And so your ability to engage with humans, like normal everyday humans like me and you, I think really materially decreases because they.

[Lewis Howes]

You're just living in another world.

[Cody Sanchez]

You're living in a bottle, and you get to affect the outcome. It's like, when, when. Who was it? It was Bill Gates. They were like, how much is this apple or this banana? And he's like, 20 bucks. They're like, jesus. It's like he was so out of touch from reality because he has built his own world. That's one of the reasons why I'm not sure so much about living forever. Because I think what would happen is some of us would become so, so wealthy that we would become completely disconnected from what everyday normal humans would.

[Lewis Howes]

We'd be an alien on Earth.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, I think so. Or it'd be like those science fiction shows where we're like floating in the ether and everybody on Down Below is something different.

[Lewis Howes]

Are you afraid to die?

[Cody Sanchez]

No, no, I don't think about it much though. I'm afraid to die. If I don't feel like I'm doing the things I want to do in life, that scares me.

[Lewis Howes]

Why?

[Cody Sanchez]

Because I want to. Felt like it mattered to live here, which is interesting because theoretically it doesn't. And you know, I'm Christian, I believe in God.

[Lewis Howes]

It doesn't matter to live here?

[Cody Sanchez]

I don't think so. I mean, we're all like grains of sand at some point. Over time we can try to affect the outcome in some way. And I hope that I was able to impact people over time. That's kind of the whole point of being on the Internet, I think. Otherwise you could just get rich quietly. Like you and I. If we want to get really, really rich, probably the best way to do it is not be on the Internet. It's what I was doing before. It's private equity. Go buy a bunch of assets, grow those assets, get third party capital, put it in there. I could become a billionaire. There's a set path, it's a high probability path.

[Lewis Howes]

But why not take that path?

[Cody Sanchez]

Because I think that that leads to maybe less joyful lives, to more misery. I think that leads to more misery. I think that leads to poorer outcomes for communities, poor outcomes for businesses. Like walking into a Starbucks, the soul sucked out of it. The soul sucked out of the employees too. Walking into a corner coffee shop, I love, like a local one. And so I think it's soul sucking. So I don't just care about money. I want to have some impact on the world because it's fun. But there was a point where I was scared to die. And that was when I was doing something I didn't like when I was. I was an employee in finance at the time. I saw all of the people ahead of me with like Lambos and Ferraris and second and third wives and bottle service at clubs. This was kind of like old school finance days. You know, everybody, they would have like multiple watches and kind of like show off which watch and which bottle of wine was the most expensive steakhouses every night. Yeah. And I remember one time we were flying in one of the execs planes and you know, those things can get bumpy. And it wasn't so bumpy where I had like some existential, you know, crisis. But it was bumpy enough where I thought about it and thought, God bless if I die right now as like an exec at a finance company that just makes more money for myself and these guys, like, I would be pretty pissed. I would be mad at myself because I wanted life to be this, like, great adventure where it mattered. And I did cool things and I learned and I loved and I adventured and I was not doing that. And so that is when I was scared to die.

[Lewis Howes]

How old are you now?

[Cody Sanchez]

38.

[Lewis Howes]

Have you had kind of a midlife crisis yet or like more of awakening of like. Oh, it's technically. I mean, maybe it's not halfway complete, but it's close to halfway complete. So, like, we're going to the third quarter.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

And what have I done for the last four decades?

[Cody Sanchez]

I feel pretty good about the scoreboard thus far. So I feel, you know, one of the best parts is, like, when you move fast, continuously on life with a specific vision aligned to your ethics and moral compass, it feels like not as scary to die. Pain maybe feels scary. Like being tortured to death sounds scary, but just it ending. I feel like I'm pretty proud of what we've put here thus far. Not done, but I'm proud. But when I wasn't living my own life, and I don't know if you've ever done that, I definitely had a period where I was not living my life.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. I was a truck driver for three months.

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

Six hours a day. Driving in the cornfields, back and forth and Cornwall, Cincinnati, every day.

[Cody Sanchez]

Interesting. I didn't know that. Plus you're big. You don't have enough room.

[Lewis Howes]

This was like free, like Bluetooth. And it was like you had a CD player. And it was like, there's always so much you could do. And I couldn't call anyone and do anything like that. So it's just like just driving through the cornfields on the highway, flat. No scenery. Driving truck auto parts in the back.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

And just transferring it over, getting our parts and bringing it back. Napa.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. For six hours a day.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Those. And that moment you probably felt like.

[Lewis Howes]

But I needed money. It paid 250 a week, though, because I needed time to train in the morning. This is like when I was trying to go Play professional football.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

So I was trying out for teams. I would train in the morning and then train at night, so I needed a job where I could do both. And this was six hours from, like, the middle of the day. And so I was able to get up, work out, drive a truck for six hours, come back, work out, sleep, get up, and do it again. But I only made 250 bucks a week.

[Cody Sanchez]

But did you feel purpose because you were working towards your bigger goal, or. It was.

[Lewis Howes]

No, I was just like, this is not the type of purpose that I want to be working towards.

[Cody Sanchez]

Interesting.

[Lewis Howes]

It was like, how could I find a way to achieve my goal quicker?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

How can I network more or find another opportunity that pays me more?

[Cody Sanchez]

And then what happened?

[Lewis Howes]

I was bouncing on the weekend also, so I was making, like, I don't know, 50 to 100 bucks a night, Like. Like getting tips, you know, a security at a nightclub. And I don't drink alcohol, so it's kind of like, whatever.

[Cody Sanchez]

I could be miserable.

[Lewis Howes]

Whatever I could do. It was like, Thursday, Friday, Saturday nights, just to try to have the time to be able to work on my dream.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

So it was a challenge, but it was also like, I think having that experience and multiple experiences like that made me realize, like, oh, I need to overcome all of my insecurities and fears that are keeping me here because I have limited skills. Going back to the beginning of this conversation, I couldn't speak in public. I didn't have the confidence to, like, put myself out there in certain ways. So I was like, I need to join a public speaking class. This is when I joined Toastmasters, which I was telling about before. So I went to a public speaking class every single week for this year. So I was like, I need skills. I need skills. And my fears are holding me back from having the confidence to relate to powerful individuals. Yeah, I need mentors. How do I find them? I need to go to events. So I started going to events, and that's when I got on LinkedIn. I got on LinkedIn and I started reaching out to people, even though I had no skills, no college degree, no confidence, and I was trying to, like, do football stuff. And it was all about skill acquisition during that time. And that skill acquisition gave me courage and confidence to then go meet with the right people to create opportunities. Yeah, that's what it was.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. You know, I.

[Lewis Howes]

Cause it was that pain of, like, I don't want to be sitting in a truck for six hours a day. That pain made me realize, okay, I don't want this pain. So I'd rather be embarrassed and humiliated and experience that pain if it's going to give me the chance of making more money.

[Cody Sanchez]

I totally agree. Yeah, I never had. I always liked my blue collar jobs. Like I did, like construction. I did work on a construction site. I wasn't the worker. I was like in the little air conditioning thing, doing voices and whatever. I always liked those jobs because there was so much movement. Like you could be out, you were talking to the person. You were in the car, you were going. I always, when I felt trapped, was in my corporate job. Like I remember at Vanguard, my very first job, which is where I think dreams go to die. Still to this day.

[Lewis Howes]

Vanguard.

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, God. Hopefully they're not a sponsor this video. But they used to. I would have to clock in in the morning with my little time stamp. Time. Yeah. And I would have to clock out every time I went to the bathroom and lunch.

[Lewis Howes]

Oh, man.

[Cody Sanchez]

Because that school and I was in the call center. So I was connected directly. This would have been in 2008. So it was crisis time. I was connected directly to the phone lines. The second that you got connected, people would start calling. You'd have to pick it up and it was chaos. I mean, it was, oh, my God, you've stolen all my money. Because, you know, that was in their 401. They didn't realize what happened. How could you do this? Crying people in the background and you do whatever you could and then you'd hang up and then the next one and then the next one. And that's a lot. And that was. I was 21 at the time when I did that. And I remember the moment that I was like. It was, you know, fluorescent lights, those drop ceilings. Right. The padded wall, cubic furs.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

Oh, God. It's still that. Actually, that is where my hell is. It's making me uncomfortable just talking about it. And I remember one of my colleagues and friends at the time, she was like. She was having like mini panic attacks from it. It's a lot for a 21 year old to take on. And then that feeling of being trapped in your chair, like you can't get up. And then I remember you had to.

[Lewis Howes]

Ask to go to the bathroom.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. You had to clock and fuck out. And I remember she came to me one day and she was like, I feel better today. I'm like, great. Like, what's going on? What'd you learn? And she had started on antidepressants. Oh, my gosh. And she started gaining weight from that time. And it was just like the downward spiral. And so that was the one time where I was like, I'm not doing this. Like, I will not live this way. And so I started doing the same thing that you did. How can I acquire skills? How can I network? How can I become more valuable to other people? How can I work more on this miserable thing so I never have to do it again? And that was when I was like, nobody will ever be able to tell me again that I have to do a miserable job that I hate. And then I have to clock in and clock out without purpose.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

Because, you know, I think you can handle a lot of, like I've had. I worked. That was a 40 hour work week at Vanguard. That was a 40 hour clock in, clock out. No work home with you. Work week.

[Lewis Howes]

No one's calling you at home.

[Cody Sanchez]

Nobody's. No responsibility, no boss pushing you. Just. Just do kind of like, that's it. And then I went to Goldman, where they were like, on you, and you're in early and where are you? And you failed. And we're, you know, firing these people. And I loved it because I was like, they're making me better.

[Lewis Howes]

They're pushing me to grow.

[Cody Sanchez]

I need something every day. And by the time I'm done with this, I will be so good that my skill set will be so high that nobody will be able to tell me that I have to do something I don't agree with anymore.

[Lewis Howes]

Right.

[Cody Sanchez]

And so.

[Lewis Howes]

And you were there for what, two years, three years.

[Cody Sanchez]

I was there for, like, two years.

[Lewis Howes]

So you developed a lot of skills in that time. You had invest a lot of your energy and time to deal with that stress. Right. It was like, how do I manage this? But then you were able to go do your thing.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. And I think I wish I could get more people to see that. Like, I tell my team a lot, like, you know what you really want? You want a really hard boss. You want a boss that pushes you nonstop.

[Lewis Howes]

Too nice.

[Cody Sanchez]

You are.

[Lewis Howes]

I'm too.

[Cody Sanchez]

Actually, I could see that for you, that you got to be hard on them, because let me tell you why. That's how they get better.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

I mean, you know this. You're an athlete.

[Lewis Howes]

Well, hold up. I have expectations, but who are your best? I'm not like a jerk. I'm not like, screw you guys. You know, I'm not like.

[Cody Sanchez]

But that. That doesn't help.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

You know, I don't think yelling is a sign of weakness in a leader.

[Lewis Howes]

I think so.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Except maybe in sports, like, I think.

[Lewis Howes]

In sports, even that. It's like you can. Yeah, you can yell, but it's gotta be a. If you're just yelling to create fear all the time, then it's like, if that's your only tool, you need to develop some other empathy or skill to actually, like, connect and see what each person needs to thrive. That's a. Using one thing for everyone.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. You're just. You're a scalpel.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah, exactly.

[Cody Sanchez]

And lots of things.

[Lewis Howes]

And it might work sometimes, but it may not work all the time.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

And it's. It takes. And again, the number one skill to learn for anyone, whether you're an employee or an owner, is leadership. Yeah, I think.

[Cody Sanchez]

I think so, too.

[Lewis Howes]

Because when you have the ability to connect with people and see what they need in this moment and be of service to that individual for the betterment of your goals together, you both win.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. You know what's fascinating, though? How about when you were younger? Like, I did not understand why leadership mattered, and I.

[Lewis Howes]

No, I didn't either. Didn't make sense.

[Cody Sanchez]

No. And I kind of dismissed it.

[Lewis Howes]

Yeah. You hear about it in, like, high school. You're like, leadership.

[Cody Sanchez]

What?

[Lewis Howes]

Who cares?

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. Who cares? I'm best at my job. I'm doing this. It's about me. And I think as I've gotten older guys, it's like, you know, back in my day, both, you know, walk both ways in the snow, uphill. But as I've gotten older, I've realized, man, like, your ability to talk other people in, to coming on board to your vision is so powerful. I mean, think about it. Who's the most powerful world man in the world right now? President of the United States, arguably. What is his one skill set? Aligning a bunch of people behind him. Yeah, that's it.

[Lewis Howes]

Getting votes.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah, that's it. It's getting a bunch of people to.

[Lewis Howes]

Buy into your vision. Yeah.

[Cody Sanchez]

And for. For them to think that their life will be better with you in charge. Not Ben.

[Lewis Howes]

It's selling a story.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

That's really what it is.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah. So it's some mixture of. Right. It's like sales, because you got to sell the story. It's leadership. And then it's like the capability.

[Lewis Howes]

You need people to think that you're credible. Right. Based on results or based on your experience or whatever it might be.

[Cody Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Lewis Howes]

Or that you're going to do a better job than what someone else is doing.

[Cody Sanchez]

Right.

Yeah. The other thing is, people are hard to fool over time, I think. So, like, the Longer. That's one of the best things for hiring and partners too is just longevity because you get to see a lot of shots on goal. How do they react when it goes bad, when it goes good, and when they show you believe them 100%.

[Lewis Howes]

I want people to get your book Main Street Millionaire by Cody Sanchez. How to make extraordinary wealth buying ordinary businesses. A lot of amazing strategies and stories and lessons in here that will give you a different mindset. And I think we're talking about these skills. Leadership is the key. In order to be a great leader, you need to change the way you think about things and approach things. So if you guys want to develop more of a millionaire mindset, make sure you get a copy of the book. Get it for a friend. You go to codysanchez.com book or just it's right there on the homepage, right.

[Cody Sanchez]

There on the home page.

[Lewis Howes]

Go to Amazon, buy a copy for a friend as well. If you know someone struggling, looking to grow. A lot of great strategies in this, make sure to check it out. I have one final question for you, but before we dive into that question, we'll have it linked up. Our previous interview as well. I think it's done over a half a million views on YouTube so far. If you want more from Cody, check that out. Follow her on social media as well. Amazing content on her YouTube or podcast on all over social media. Here's a question that I thought would be perfect for you. I was actually getting a coffee last week and I went in this coffee shop. There's a couple people sitting there, but no one was in line. It was like at 3:00, right? So after the kind of the rush of the afternoon and for whatever reason, I like to talk to a lot of people when I meet them. You know, I like to say hi to people at stores. I'm from the Midwest, so I'm just kind of like welcoming most of the time. Not every day, but most of the time I just like, hey, what are you grateful for? I just kind of have these questions and I could tell this woman who was behind the desk making coffee was not having a good day. The energy was low. She's probably in her mid-20s, maybe late 20s. I'm not sure her name was Phoenix. I don't know her last name and I won't say where she was working. But I was just asking her a few questions. I was like, what's going on? And she goes, I'm just tired. I'm not, you know, I'm not enjoying the job, the pay isn't that good. You know, things aren't going in my favor in life. Like, there's a lot of stress and it feels hard to get out of it. For someone like Phoenix, who's listening or watching right now, who is just at a job they're not enjoying, they're not making the money they want and they don't feel like things are going their way, what's one thing they could do to start shifting their energy and start seeing the world differently so they can have more of a positive experience rather than a soul sucking experience.

[Cody Sanchez]

So good. Go make something a little bit better at the job you have right now. Like step number one. If that coffee shop isn't giving you what you want out of it, you're not making enough money, you don't love what you're doing. How can you actually give more to the business? Which sounds counterintuitive, but I would come up with every single day. What's a little bit more that you can be doing? Can you be going around and seeing if anybody wants some additional orders? Try to take note how much the business is making each time that you're on shift and then how much it makes. After you start making these changes, create a little list of the things you did to affect your will on the world. Show that, hey, you actually know how a business works and you want it to grow. Small little changes. Maybe you go outside, you're starting to say hi, you hand out a little coffee sample to people. Think like an owner, have an ownership mindset. Because when you have an ownership mindset, that transfers to ownership eventually. Then the second that you do that, I want you to go to the owner of the business and I want you to tell them just a little brief, hey, here's the stuff I've been doing at the business. No ask. I've been doing this little list of things. It seems to be working. Here's some of the experiments I've been trying. First of all, they're going to be shocked. Nobody's going to ever have done something like that to them. You are already now the 1% second step. You do it for a few more weeks. At the end of a few weeks, you go, hey, I've been doing these extra things. I'd love to make some additional money here. Is that possible? Can you show me like what a career progression looks like here? For me to move to the next step, for me to make additional money? Here's the thing, if they say nothing, this is Starbucks. We don't hire this way you're stuck here, then that's a bad company and you need to start looking elsewhere. And you need to, as you're looking for your next thing, not just have a resume, but have some case studies. Here's what I did in my last business that they didn't ask me to do. Here's how I realized that I could provide positive value. I can promise you one thing only that capability is so rare and desire is even more rare. And so if you can show those two things in the world, you will go from having an owner's mindset to an owner one day.

[Lewis Howes]

Hashtag catiolife There we go. Cody Sanchez make sure you guys check out the books follow for more. Appreciate it. Cody thanks.

[Cody Sanchez]

Thanks for having me.

[Lewis Howes]

I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description the description for a full rundown of today's episode with.

[Cody Sanchez]

All the important links and if you.

[Lewis Howes]

Want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally as well as ad free listening.

[Cody Sanchez]

Then make sure to subscribe to our.

[Lewis Howes]

Greatness+Channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on.

[Cody Sanchez]

Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review.

[Lewis Howes]

I really love hearing feedback from you.

[Cody Sanchez]

And it helps us figure out how.

[Lewis Howes]

We can support and serve you moving forward.

[Cody Sanchez]

And I want to remind you if.

[Lewis Howes]

No one has told you lately that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something. Great.

[Cody Sanchez]

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[Lewis Howes]

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[Cody Sanchez]

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[Lewis Howes]

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