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Brandon Briningham
This is Wake up to Wealth, a.
Mark Jennison
Podcast dedicated to helping you change the way you think about wealth.
Brandon Briningham
And now, here's your host, Brandon Briningham. Hey, everybody, let me tell you about my good friend, Carson Hurlene. The Wake up to wealth podcast is proud to be sponsored by Carson. Carson helped me build my family banking system. What I've seen Carson do for people, it gives them back their peace of mind. If you want to get your mind and your money right, email my good friend carson@carsonthemoney multiplier.com to learn how you can become your own bank today, like I have. Hey, what's up, everybody? We are back with another episode of Wake up to Wealth. And, man, I have to just say thank you guys so much. We just recently were number one again for investing on Apple podcasts in front of some of the biggest shows in the world. You guys, we cracked the top 20 in business, and we were in the top 100 of all podcasts in Apple. So I cannot thank all of you so much. I can't thank you guys enough for the support you've had for the show. You know, you guys leaving us reviews, subscribing, really supporting us, man. I appreciate it. I appreciate all the feedback of you guys reaching out, saying how this show helped you, how it educated you on money, it helps you on mindset, all those things, and it's just a testament to you can have the odds against you and still win, because we are. We compete with people that have millions and millions of dollars of budgets. We're doing this podcast in my office with some basic equipment, and the message to me is always what mattered. And you guys have shown as a testament that that's what matters. So I really greatly appreciate everything and today, super excited. I've been trying to get Mark on the podcast for a while. Mark Jennison is here today from I Am a comeback. What's up, brother?
Mark Jennison
Nah, boss man. Thanks for having me, bro. You just said something really, really important, man. The message is all that matters. It doesn't matter what medium you're in. That's all that really matters.
Brandon Briningham
So what's pretty cool is I met Mark years ago and we've become homies. And I've. I've been a privilege to. To get in, see his community, see what he does. I've had the privilege to speak to his folks before, and I saw this guy speak. Gosh, you know, it's probably three years ago now, and very rarely do I sit in a room and someone starts speaking, and I'm like completely like shut the fuck up and list. And this guy told his story and I just, it just blew me away. And then I had the privilege to go to a mastermind with him in Mexico, got to know him and his wife, and was just really captivated by his story, what he's done and what he's built. So I'm super excited to have him on today and kind of talk about some pretty cool things. So, Mark, for those that my audience that might not know you, tell us who you are and what you do.
Mark Jennison
All right, man. So number one, thanks for having me on here, guys. I appreciate it, man. This is super awesome. Like you just said, man, we've been homies for years and I'm probably, I probably should be a better homie and reach out more. I'm a kind of quiet guy. But anyways, I'm. I'm the founder, creator of I'm a comeback. And why that's important is because 10 years ago I was eating out of a dumpster, right? In 10 years, like literally July 27th. We're filming this on the 19th. July 27th, 2015. I was eating out of a dumpster. I didn't have enough money to feed my kids. I didn't was even able to see my kid. I'll get to that here in a little bit. But the reality is, man, what I've done is I. I created not only just an alternative, but in my opinion, the alternative for high performing business owners, entrepreneurs, high level executives, men who want to win inside of their life, who are struggling with alcohol or pornography or some sort of habit. And we've been able to help. It's really cool. You know, money's great. I know we're talking about money. Been able to make a lot of money, but I've made a lot of impact, right? I've helped Almost just under 14,000 people come through my program so far. And these are high level people. These are the reach. These. I've been able to reach the unreachable. Right. Which has been pretty cool. So I believe it's a calling by God. So yeah, man, what, what I do is I, I'm a coach, man. And I'd like to say I'm not just a coach. I've been around this game for eight years. I've seen a lot of people come and go. And like you said, the message is the most important thing. I've been running the same message since I decided to quit drinking, which was this. You're not weak, you're not disease. You're not powerless. Okay? And that message has just resonated with so many people because I believe that everything that we do is a choice. I believe everything inside of our life, we have the ability to make a choice and decision to win and pivot at whatever time. So, yeah, man, that's what I do, man. I just. I. You give me the microphone. I change lives.
Brandon Briningham
So I. I really like to go inside the mindset of. Right. Like you were. I mean, call it what it is. You're an addict, right? And.
Mark Jennison
Yeah.
Brandon Briningham
Right. Am I safe for me to say that?
Mark Jennison
So I. Yeah, you can call whatever you want as you know, my friend, but I don't ever use. This is, I think, what makes it so cool, right? You can be whoever you want to be. And, like, for me, brother, I never wanted to be labeled an addiction, but I was obsessed, right? So my life just. Like, you're obsessed in certain areas of your life. I mean, your gym, your transformation, right? Your. Your. Your business, your podcast. You're obsessed with it. So for me, man, addiction was a word that I think society wanted to label me. Yeah, bro, I drank 50 to 60 drinks a day. Okay.
Brandon Briningham
Yes.
Mark Jennison
Snorted. Snorted cocaine all day.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Shot heroin or took pills to go to sleep, but I would never believe that I was. I was right. I didn't. I just thought, that's what you do. And so there was an obsession that I've had, and I believe that anybody out there who's even struggling with some of this stuff, where the struggle gets lost is the fact that they start thinking there's something wrong with them instead of realizing that the gift you have is being addicted. Addicted to winning, right? But if you're doing it the wrong way, you're fucked.
Brandon Briningham
So I'm glad you said that, because this is where I wanted to go. So how, you know, walk us through this? Like, how did you go from where you were, which was a really bad, dark place, to, like, I'm gonna get my together? Because it, like, it sounds good, right? But to go from the transformation that you went through, it's just. I mean, that's just hard, bro. Right? Like, that's just.
Mark Jennison
That is.
Brandon Briningham
That is by no means is that normal. And I know you've helped a lot of people go through this transition, but, like, where did you go mentally? Like, how did you forge yourself through this shit?
Mark Jennison
Yeah, man, this is actually. This is a great question, because a lot of people always want to know the how, right? But nobody wants to understand what it felt like or what I had to do to get there. They want to know the step, you know, 1, 2, 3, how do I get there? What they fail to realize is what it takes and who you have to become inside of this thing. So let me just preface this with, with a little bit of a story, right? So I had seven major relapses in my life. And I call them seven. I probably had tens of thousand micros, right? Like come Monday, I'm done, I promise. God, take this way, I'm done. But you know, but those don't really mean shit. But seven major ones that I could count back to where something catastrophic had happened, right? Divorce, lose my business, friends dying, family dying, losing my son, all of this stuff, right? So I counted it down to seven, which is interesting because it's biblical, right? And everything gets out of my. Anything in my company is just come back. Seven and seven always shows up. But the final straw that broke the camel's back, right? It wasn't the fact that I lost my business. You know, from 27 to 33, I made millions and millions of dollars and that sucked. But it wasn't bottom. And I don't think I ever hit rock bottom because I think bottom for me would be death. Because I just wanted to win so bad. I was just going the wrong way. But here's, here's what it is, okay? June 11th of 2015, I was selling cars, okay? And I, I lost everything from previous, previous issues that I had and I had to go sell cars. And I was really, really good at it. But what happened over time? I started in, I started November, fast forwarded to June, I was top 1%, knocking out 35, 40 cars a month, just really crushing it. And I started leaving these Saturday morning meetings with 345000 cash, right? I was sober with no plan. I hate the word sober, but I was sober with no plan. And I thought I was doing the right thing, but slowly what happened is I just slid back into the stuff that people do, right? So I leave the media with cash even though I'd already lost my company, owed millions of dollars, the irs, like we're not even talking about that dark part of my story yet. We're just going to talk about the mindset. As things were, were unraveling, I just, I was working and working, working. Then finally what happened is it caught up to me. I. The same old, right? I might be living externally like a winner. I might be selling a ton of cars, making 27, 45, $32,000 a month, crushing it. And as fast as I make it, it's going to pay back bills and that I had. But I started doing the things that got me here. And that's what people do, right? So I just went back to the, back to the bars, back to doing drugs, back to partying. And although I could still work, I found this, I found this thing inside of me, right? I found this gear. Probably like what you have. It was the addict, it was the addictive personality or the obsessed personality. And I could figure out how to be two people. But what happened is I was running two ways, okay? One to good, one to bad. And they just got so far away that finally on June 11, 2015, my birthday. I'm sorry, yeah, June 10 is my birthday. And I didn't show up for work on the 11th. And the car dealership that I was working for sent out like a search party to find me. Lo and behold, they find me drunk at a bar, middle of the day in a demo car that they gave me, completely freaking shit faced, right, and doing drugs. And they bring me back in, check this out. So they, they go send the porter to come get me. The porter's like, bro, you know, he's all upset because he knew that I was like a good dude. And they bring me down to the dealership and they're like, hey, basically you take help, okay, or you're right, like, or get out of our world, dude. I didn't want help, but I also didn't want to not have my job. So I willingly took the help that they offered. They called the re a rehab facility. They got me into that bed. He paid more cash, the owner of the dealership, to get me in the bed. I went out that night, got completely blitzed. They put, they put security around me to make sure that I would go there. And I went in, man, and I blew a 0.367 the following morning. 0.367. Failed everything on the drug test except for marijuana, right? That's where my life was. And I'm going to share, I'm going to keep going. It's a little bit of a long story. And what happened, Brandon, was, I went through was like, I think 21 days or something like that, however long it was and I went through, the first six days were hell. I was aggressive, I was on steroids, right? I was really, really good shape. Super fucking crazy. They put me into this detox, like I said 3, 6, 7. And I went in there and I remember this kid was coloring right? He must have been in there for, I don't know, whatever was like, hey, man, you want to color? And I fucking ripped my shirt off. Like, the Hulk flipped the table over. And then they just. They put me down for six days, okay? And inside of those six days, I pretty much slept. And they finally moved me to my room to be able to take. To be able to take a shower. That's all I wanted. I remember because I was high risk. I'm standing there, right? And there's this orderly with flame tattoos on his head. To my left, like a nurse. There's another guy who's naked in this community bathroom. And my life. So my life had become. Yeah, I made millions of dollars, and here I am, right?
Brandon Briningham
Right?
Mark Jennison
And I'm just angry. So I don't want to look at this guy because I want to fight him. And I don't want to look at this guy because his dick's hanging out. So I'm just like. I'm forced to, right? Yeah. So I'm forced to look into the mirror, right? And what I saw was a monster. The vein beating right on my head. My heart, I was beat red. I looked like a red version of the Incredible Hulk. And I looked into this mirror and I'm like, dude, you're better than this. Like, what's wrong? I start talking, right? What's wrong with you? Stop lying. That's what I said, right? And in that moment, something switched, okay? When I. When I said, stop lying. Now, I'd love to tell everybody listening that my story ended there, but it didn't. I went through the rest of the time, right? Laying in a piss soaked, stained plastic bed. Roommate who has scabies. Like, with these people that I don't want to be around, pissed off, getting angry at. Anger, Anger. Finally, they let me out on July 3, okay? And it was, like I said, a long story, but my life's crazy. They let me out on July 3rd against medical attention. Basically, what I did was I sold myself out of there because I didn't want to be there. And I think, looking back, God probably wanted me to do this, but I got out July 3, they sent the car dealership, sent a guy to come get me. They bring the car. They show up. They hand me 400 bucks cash. They say, you look good. We'll see you on Monday. Well, I decided that I wanted to go eat. Well, hey, actually, this is a very important part of the story. I don't even know if you know this. So here I've been. I've been in rehab. I hadn't seen My son, I'm a piece of shit fucking dad. I'm a loser. This is all things I'm feeling. I owe everybody money. I'm embarrassed. I'm ashamed. I hate my life. I pick up the phone, I call my son's mother, and I say, hey, I'm out of rehab. I would love to see Phoenix. And she's like, you can't. We're in Chicago. So I pick up my phone and I call my one friend who does a drink who's a bodybuilder, right? And I'm like, hey, bro, I just want to see what you're doing. He's like, hey, I'm down at Sunset park swimming. Why don't you come down here? Your son is here. Phoenix is here.
Brandon Briningham
Oh, no.
Mark Jennison
So he's. Yeah, bro. So his mom lied to me.
Brandon Briningham
No, I didn't know that. I never heard this before. Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Yeah, so. So she lied to me, right? And what I could have done, bro, I could have went down to Sunset Park.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
I could have went there. Right? This is a very important part of my life, okay? Because sometimes what I want people to know as I explain my story, is sometimes the decision you make is the wrong decision. But what you do after the decision backs up who you can become. And I'm looking back, and I'm so glad that I didn't go there, okay? Because what happened was I made a different route. I went and I said, I need to get some food. So I went to this little bar and sat down and ordered a cheeseburger and. And a Red Bull, real healthy. Because I've been eating shitty food, right? When I was inside the rehab, and I'm sitting there and in. In walks this guy. He's just walking. He's like, all right, man, happy fourth of July tomorrow. Who wants a shot? And I'm like, oh, man, I just got out of rehab. Ah, fuck it. Give me one. Six hours, bro.
Brandon Briningham
Oh, man.
Mark Jennison
Six hours removed.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Okay. So you're asking the mindset that I went. So then what happened is out of all the places, I'm like, well, I'm continue to lie. Got out. I'm not even ashamed. I'm just having fun. I'm like, fuck it. I already did this. I'm going all the way out. I end up going to a. To a. To a bar where the whole dealership that put me in rehab was having a party that nobody told me about because they didn't want me to come to the bar. And I walk into this thing completely blitzed. Completely high as fuck and let. And everyone's like, I walk in and the room stop, right? I went on. They fired me. They were pissed off. Everyone hated me, okay? I went on the worst nine day bender of life, jumped on a plane, flew down to Florida. My brother put me, Put me there to go down by my mom. He's like, dude, you're a loser. We hate you. Can't even do this right. And there's a lot to it. I want to spare you guys the whole story. It's a great story, but I went down to Florida, man, and this was in. This was some midtime July, you know, I'm flying down there, no shower, completely scummy. I didn't shower for nine days. I'm rocking back and forth, feeling like a scumbag. Get off the plane. My mom takes me directly to a liquor store. I get a bottle of. A bottle, a bottle of booze, right? Rumpelmans. I love Rumpelmans. And I just start just down in it so I could feel better because I was so sick. I do that for three or four days and I. This is super important for the people to hear. Like, this is where my life was. And I'm skipping over a ton of steps. The intensity, the energy. You people like, dude, this guy's an addict. He's no, man. I just. This is how I operated. So finally I realized I needed to get a. Get a job, right? And I'm battling back and forth like a real. I'm calling my son's mother back then I'm like, hey, I want to talk to him. I want to talk. She. She's not letting me. She texts me back, hey, the world's better off without you. Why don't you kill yourself? Why don't you write the rights off to your son? As a matter of fact, as a matter of fact, here's a. Here's some documents that we're gonna prepare for it from the lawyer. Just get rid of him. You don't deserve him. He doesn't need you. And Brandon, I probably never told you this, but I remember I'm sitting there and I was contemplating as Te weeping down on this piece of paper. I had a pen and I was going to write it. I set it down. I ended up going. I'm like, no, I'm going to go to the bar, right? Of all places. I didn't do it. And I went to the bar and I applied for a job as a valet parker, okay? I'm like, well, it, dude, I'm just going to drink beer, live in Florida, make some cash. Didn't matter how many millions of dollars. Dude's like, yeah, you can. You could start, right? So, long story short, I grab a beer, I go out to the ocean, because it's right on the beach. And I sit down, I'm drinking the beer, and I'm looking out at the sky, the clouds in the sky. The ocean's, like, beating against the sand. It's beautiful, right? It's pink. It's blue. And I hear this voice all of a sudden that says, are you ready to listen to me now? And I stood up. I've done. I've done a lot of drugs. I stood up, right? And I answer audibly. I'm like, yeah, I am. But there was nobody. So I ended up going. And I had no money completely. We don't have enough time for my entire story. But you asked where I went. I drank all the way home. I went back to the car dealership. I drank a liter of vodka. I put on the largest lion display of my life to get an opportunity, okay? And they said, yeah, we hate you. You can start on Monday. We hate you. They gave me the hardest parameters ever. You have to be in a rehab. You have to be in a recovery program. You have to work bell to bell. You don't get to leave. You can't drive a car. All of your money has to be gated. They have to take care of it. But you, if you want to be here, show the world how good you are. No lineups, no leads, no CRM, Nothing. You fucking prove it. They made it so difficult on me. I walked into that car dealership July 27, 2015, without a pair of shoes and no money. I'm. I had nothing. And I come walking in this place, man. And for the first three, four days, well, that was a Wednesday. So the first three days, I didn't sell a thing. I didn't even know if I could do it. I was shaking. I was convulsing. My life was at the bottom. I couldn't see my son. I didn't even have cell phone. Didn't. Couldn't even afford a cell phone. And I picked up the phone on the fourth day. I picked up the landline and I opened up the white pages or. And I started cold calling everyone in my town. I started cold calling 200 people a day. You want to know where I'm going, bro? I made a decision in that moment. I didn't know what the decision made like, but I knew one thing. My son Deserved a better opportunity than I could ever have in my life. My son needed me no matter what, and I didn't set out to do what I did, but I know that my life wasn't working and was burned down to the ground, and I was going to do whatever it took to get back. And what happened over time, right, I did what they said. But not only did I do what they said, I did it in spite of them, because I didn't give a about them. I wanted to win for them. And over time, I felt this thing, right? I felt the energy, and I got stronger and I got stronger and I got stronger. And where I went mentally, bro, to be able to do this thing was. It was every day, 3am to midnight, self development, grinding, listening to books, writing, journaling, repetition. I would get out a notebook, bro, when I was feeling like a. And I'll write down, I'm a champion. I'm a champion. I'm a champion. I'm a champion. Thousands of times until I could start believing this thing. I had no proof. I had no evidence. I just willed my way to do it. And then I learned up a high income skill, which I was. I was good at sales, but I decided I wanted to be great at sales, okay? So what I did, man, was I went to this place that was so dark. My mom didn't like me, my dad didn't like me, my brother didn't like me. Everybody hated me. I owed millions of dollars to the irs. My back was up against the fucking wall. I owed all the creditors, every creditor out there. But I made a decision. I'm not filing bankruptcy. I'm gonna fucking do what I have to do to pay this back. I'm gonna work harder than anybody else. And I showed up first one in, last one out, every single day with an energy and intensity that was unmatched by anybody else. And. And what I did, though, bro, I would stare because I couldn't see my son. I would stare at pictures of him. Literally stare at the pictures of him. That's it, man. And I mean, like, there's no. There's nothing calm. There's nothing complex about when you decide you want to win. It wasn't about giving up alcohol. It was about finally becoming who I. I know I could be, right? And then every day, there's no max volume on intensity. I would turn it up. I would turn it up. I would turn it up. I'm doing it right now in my life right now, but that's it right there.
Brandon Briningham
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Mark Jennison
Yeah, sure. So first and foremost, I'm a comeback. It's a statement. It's a belief, it's an identity. It's a principle of power that once you accept it, you never let go of. You're going to win no matter what. I'm going to start with that, right? It's just about redemption. And I, like, you, will never fucking quit. And the people that listen to you, hopefully the inspiration they're getting from guys like you and I, is that we're just regular old dudes who just refuse to lose. Thanks. That's it, right? Your vehicle is. Is all the stuff that you do, real estate and money and all the stuff. My vehicle is clearly, you can hear me speaking changing lives, right? And I do it my way. I don't. I don't go on stages. I. I do it my way, the slow way, the right way. Now I want to. What I want to share with you is this. So remember, I was selling cars, and I got really, really good at selling cars. By the way, even though I missed those few months inside of the dealership that first year, I still was the number one dealer, the number one salesman in the entire group. There was like 17 guys or 17 stores at that time. And I finished number one and the number two guy got a Rolex. And I believe what I got was I had to pay back my rehab, right? And I was number one.
Brandon Briningham
They made me pay back.
Mark Jennison
So. But what happened, though, is I needed to make some cash. So this is the part that people should listen to, right? I needed to make some cash. So about four, five, six months into no longer drinking and building what's now known as the Comeback 7, I'm like, Dude, I'm never going to get back to zero just selling cars. I've got to figure out. Figure out a way to create some cash. So I created a. I built an online company. Didn't know anything about it, right? But I saw this Facebook thing and I'm like, man, maybe I could do something here. And I created a company called Jennison Enterprises, and I created one offer, 30 and 30, how to sell 30 cars in 30 days and make six figures a year as an automobile salesman. Took off, right? And then what I did was I literally coached the people. I showed them how to do it, started getting the results because it's relatively easy if you just wake the up. And what happened is the clients that were selling cars didn't Want to actually learn how to sell cars. They wanted to know how I got sober. Even though I don't like the word, they want to know how I overcame all the stuff that I had to overcome. So I did this for like, from 2016 all the way to 2018. And, bro, all I could see was this brand in my mind. That's all I could see. As I got stronger and it got stronger and it got stronger. It didn't exist, but it existed in my mind. End of December 2018, I was. I built a little recurring revenue group up. I was doing 47, 000amonth recurring, which is pretty good, right? I wouldn't call that little one by one. Yeah, it was 4712 comparative to where I'm at right now at the time.
Brandon Briningham
It was, yeah. Especially for a startup.
Mark Jennison
47, 000amonth. Yeah, 100. Dude, that was just all, by the way, anybody on here. I didn't know how to do funnels. I didn't know how to do any of this shit. I had a cell phone and all I did was a cell phone. Found a problem and I called and I sold them, period. That's it.
Brandon Briningham
Let's, let's, let's make a point about this. You know, I think one of the biggest struggles that people have in general is they think they need a bunch of information and you need to, you know, when you're ready. You know, this is just a. This is a point that you just made that I think it's just very important that people need to listen to, like, just go fucking out and execute, right? Like, you know, you're. Whatever, you're gonna suck, right? Like, so at this point in my life, I'm going speaking on stages, I'm speaking in stadiums, and I was speaking in front of five people and like the other day, because it happens, right? I just. I got my ass kicked like a couple of days in a row, and I was sitting at home before I go to bed and I. And I pulled up a video of one of the first times I ever spoke, and I was like, jesus Christ, dude, I was fucking bad. But I had the courage to get on stage when I was bad, right? And so to your point, you know, you had the courage of like, I don't know shit about the Internet. I don't know shit about an offer. I don't know shit about a funnel. I know that I'm good at this. I know I have a skill set, and I just put it together. I just. The reason why I'm saying This to you is that I have people probably just like you that reach out to me all the time and they're like, yeah, I want to do this win. I'm going to do this win. I'm going to start this win. I'm going to, you know, and it's just like, man, you just, you just got to point and shoot, dude.
Mark Jennison
When I get here, I'll do this. When the circumstances are all right, then I'll do this. But it's never right. And I think, you know, to touch base on that. I think what stops a lot of people is they actually think that people saying that, like we're saying that are actually lying. They don't think we're lying, right, But I think they think we have some sort of secret. Because I used to think the same thing. Like, wow, there's no way. But the reality is, bro, this is how it works. It's one foot in front of the other every single day, even when it's not working. That's it.
Brandon Briningham
It's. It's undefeated. It's it. It's undefeated.
Mark Jennison
That's it, right? And, and you're going to get smoked. You're going to get punched in the mouth, you're going to fall down. And if you just refute once you make a decision to win out, whatever you're going to win in your life. It's not, it's not if. It's just when, just when. And it may take, may take me like my plans build a nine figure company. And I thought I would do it by 45. I didn't. I have not been able to do it right. I've only been able to do 30 million bucks. But that's, that's pretty decent, right? I want to be able to, hey.
Brandon Briningham
I've only been able to do 30 million bucks.
Mark Jennison
I want to do 100 though, right? That's the number.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
I want to share one of the mistakes that I made that I think people should never do, though. I made this mistake a couple times in my life. I'm very spiritually led, so I think that I need to be in alignment with the assignment all the time. So that $47,000, a business that we were talking about at the end of December, I picked up the phone, I called every client that I had and I said, guys, I can't take money from you anymore because I don't want to talk about. Which is stupid as fuck, right? I don't want to talk about the things we're talking about. So you can keep all my content. And I shut that $47,000 off. The 40, 47,000 stream off. And I started. I'm a comeback. I had the wrong. I had a T shirt with the wrong logo. I had a Zoom call.
Brandon Briningham
Right.
Mark Jennison
And I had a notebook, and I wanted to change lives. And by the way, bro, so I went from making 47,000 to. I only had three people en in the first month in January, and I only made $3,000.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
And I still owe the IRS. I still owed all these people money, but I knew where I was going. I'll share some numbers for you real quick, dude.
Brandon Briningham
I got. I just. I'm gonna make a point on that. This is. Again, I think this is so powerful because I've made this pivot multiple times in. In my life, too, where I had gotten really good at something, and I was making a ton of money, and I knew that the. The journey was bigger or the vision was bigger, and I pivoted from something that did really well. And the reason why I want to mention this is because one of the things that I think entrepreneurs really, they fail is not being able to pivot their identity. Right? So you just gave an example of your identity was you were a coach making $47,000 a month. Right. Reoccurring revenue, but you were willing to pivot your identity to say, I'm going to be something bigger. And this makes me think. A couple months ago, I was sitting in a room with the founder of Netflix, and one of the most profound things he ever said that has stuck with me is he said, we were in the early stages of Netflix, 99% of our revenue was selling DVDs. And we knew that that was not a viable business. And we made the decision and we pivoted overnight to go to a subscription model when 99% of our revenue was DVDs, then they pivoted from subscription DVDs to producing their own content. Well, how the fuck did that work out?
Mark Jennison
Sure.
Brandon Briningham
Great, Right? And. But. But the point I'm making to you is you gotta have the balls and the internal fortitude when you feel that the vision is bigger and you know that the hot. The call, the calling is bigger. To make that decision, which you did, I just wanted to highlight that because I think this is a place where a lot of entrepreneurs get stuck and they're. They're unwilling to pivot because they're scared to. You know, it's like, I'm in the plane, but it's like, you gotta land that because you're about to hop on a private jet.
Mark Jennison
Yeah. And I think so. So the word that I use is knowing, right? I just know where I'm going, period. Like, there's a. There's a knowing. And I've tried. Even since we've been friends, I've deviated many different paths inside of. I'm a comeback, right? I've tried to be this business coach or I can do relationship coaching, which all things I do on the inside, because I can do it. But the world doesn't want that from me. The world wants me to be able to share the story and show them how to wake the up from drinking too much. And every time I try to run from that, my company starts hurting, my bank account starts hurting, my energy starts hurting, I fall down. And what's interesting though, is I never stop looking for what's next. Okay? I'm always continuously looking, but it's not always about what's next. It's about improving upon the knowing that you have. So I would love for your people out there that are doing this, like, they have the gut, they have an intuition. Everybody knows how they want their life to look. Are they willing to go do that? That's the question. Like, if they believe it and they can see it, even if they're thinking about it, most likely it's supposed to happen. Not even most likely like it's supposed to happen. It's just, do you have the balls, like you said, to go do it? And most people don't. And that's what's so difficult about. About watching people walk around as wandering generalities and mediocre mindsets, right? When they. They're just one small tweak away from doing bigger things than me, right?
Brandon Briningham
Yeah, dude, it's. You hit on another point, man. You're always. You know what a lot of people don't think or realize is you're closer than you think. Do you know what I mean? But you're just willing. And here's the thing, you know, like, stopping. You're closer than you think. And stopping and going backwards versus just forging and pushing through. Like, you're close to that wall and you're about to knock that motherfucker down. But then you tap out. And then another thing that I. That I truly believe in, right? So, like, me and you are the 1% of. The 1% of just our ability to fucking get shit done and just fuck it, right? And what I think, if you're listening to this, I want you to understand that, like, when you're standing in the shit. And it's like, man, this fucking. I'm getting hit and I want to fucking fold, and I want to just curl up in a blanket and cry. Anybody you compete with, that's where they stop. They will fucking stop. And if you just like you said earlier, if you just put another foot in front of the other and you're just willing to keep going, you'll beat them by attrition, dude. Like, no question about it. You'll beat them by attrition. So we deviated off a little bit, but you. You said some. That gets me fired up.
Mark Jennison
Yeah, no, this is great. I love where we're going with this. We could always do more of these calls later. But here's what I know, okay. That it doesn't just stop when, like, what you just mentioned happens over and over and over at every level.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Right. It just.
Brandon Briningham
It gets. And it gets harder.
Mark Jennison
It gets. It doesn't get easier. Right. But you do get better. And after you've done it once and you've done it twice, you've done it three times. Whether it's just figuring out how to make your first thousand dollars extra right for some of your people out there. And then before you know it, that thousand is now 10,000, then the 10,000 is now 50,000, then it's a hundred thousand. But you're dealing with the same problems, which is essentially mediocrity trying to set in and make you think that you don't deserve it or that it's too hard. When we. Kendra and I just went through a massive. We're in a massive pivot right now. Right. We came into Arizona. I had put a house in California, house in Arizona, house, Wisconsin. I was all over the place, burning through about 100, $125,000 of a month of just like that. We didn't need. But I thought we needed to chase this dream, right? Because I was trying to do something. Yeah. I was able. I built us. I don't know if you know this or not. We turned around. I built an agency, a marketing agency, and we did what, $3 million in seven days, right? Turned it up. Right. So we turned it on. I'm like, oh, this is what we need. Right? And then as I was attention was going here, I got hit somewhere else I didn't see. And like you said, this. This version of. Of us that wants to crawl up in a blanket and just cry, by the way, take a minute and feel like. But then just get going.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Right? That's it.
Brandon Briningham
Like, it happens to all of us, by the way. Hey. This next segment is brought to you by Paramount Property Tax Appeal. And these are guys, guys that I trust, my good friend Wes over there. If you're overpaying for your property taxes, Paramount Property Tax Appeal specializes in helping commercial property owners and homeowners reduce their tax bills, ensuring that you only pay your fair share. These guys are going to fight for you. And these are the guys that I trust. You can reach my good friend Wes. Their contact information is 310-897-5056 or West PPP pptaxappeal.com that's west@pptaxappeal.com so if you look at me, you look at Mark, anybody that you see that's successful and you're like, I want to be like them. I want you to understand it is 7:30 on the West Coast. Or you know, right. It's 10, it's 10 o'. Clock. 10 and some change here on a Saturday, right? I'm in the office. There's maybe one or two people in here, right. Mark's up on the, the West Coast. I'm going to leave here, go crush a workout, work the rest of the fucking day. Like, I want you guys to understand, like number one, what it takes, but also we deal with. So I'm the CEO of my company, Marcus too. We deal with the worst fucking problems all the time. All the time. And it is not like, oh man, it's. It's like when I go like a week or two and like nothing goes wrong. I'm like, yo, when's it? Kind of like, when is it coming?
Mark Jennison
You're expecting it? Yeah. Yep.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah. I mean, it's just, it's just part of it. It's just their growth does not exist in comfort ever.
Mark Jennison
You know that. I'll share this, right? So right now, as I'm retooling my entire new offer, just re. Just rebuilding the. From the inside out. I, I sat my team. I don't know what I'm gonna do with them yet, but I sat them on the sidelines because there's an energy and an intensity that my company needs to have to serve at the highest level. And they weren't producing it the way that I needed to do it. I didn't like the way it felt. Now I'm at a place where I have to make some hard decisions and most likely let these guys go. And these are people that I love. Okay.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Because they're not getting it done. But what I did before, I make that decision, I went back and made sure that it wasn't the problem, it wasn't them, or that it wasn't the offer. It was them and it wasn't the offer. And what it is, I went down every day this week because I'm on the West Coast, 3:30am, which is 6:30 on the East. I'm taking sales calls. I'm at 3:30 and I'm working. I'm on the phone till 8:00 clock at night on Pacific, which is like 11 there. And I sleep, I go to the gym. And before this call, I did a sales call at 6am Right. So I want it. This is what I want the people to see. Like, when you want something, you'll do whatever it takes. And I know that sounds cliche and you could see it on Instagram, but there's a feeling inside that you know you're supposed to have it. You get it no matter what. I don't care if it's 2:30 in the morning, I don't care if it's 2:30 in THE AFTERNOON on Sunday. You don't stop.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah. So you mentioned, you know, you launched I am a comeback. It was 3,000 the first month. You mentioned earlier, you know, you got to 30 million in revenue. Like, what, what did that look like? How did, how'd you get it from 3,000 to 30 million? Because that's like we left out some in between there.
Mark Jennison
Yeah, yeah. So the first nine months of I'm a comeback in 2018, I didn't think it was going to work so fast. So I did three. I did 3,000 in January and then September. So January 2018 I did 3,000. September 2018, I did 12,000amonth. That's okay. But that's not 47,000. And that's definitely not going to get it. That's not going to get it done. Okay, so what happened though is I took my son down to Florida and I'm looking at my Instagram and all of a sudden this woman starts liking all the pictures of my son. There's light and I'm like, what is going on here? Like, who's this chick? I'm single at the time. And so she messaged me. We start talking back and forth. And what happened was I started dating Kendra. I'll spare all the details. Right. But she came into my wife. We did 12,000. We started dating about the end of September. October, I did 32,000. Same energy, same calls, nothing changed. All of a sudden I had somebody believing, believing in me. I did 32, 36, 71, 96. Those are. That was only thing that happened was the right person pushing me. I didn't feel alone anymore. Then what happened is I invested in a coach. Yeah, right. I found, I didn't pay for any coaching. I found a coach which was Garrett J. White. He put out this thing called Wake Up Warrior. I'm sorry, Big money marketer boot camp. I paid whatever I, whatever I needed to go learn how he did it. Fast forward.
Brandon Briningham
Let me ask a question on this because this is important. At the time, do you remember what.
Mark Jennison
It cost to get into the room was? 5,000 and it was a room of 165 people. And then what he did though was he had 22 spots in his office and it was like 25,000 bucks or something like that. And he put the offer and I couldn't get my card up quick enough. Right.
Brandon Briningham
So now. But did that stretch you financially at that time?
Mark Jennison
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it did. Well, I just had a couple good months. Right. But the money was still going back to the irs. Yeah, it was tough.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah. So I say that for a reason because very. Another very important piece of my journey, obviously yours too, is this is again where I think people up and make the mistake is you'll buy some dumb and spend money on some dumb, but you won't buy the guide who already has the map and the tools to get you where you need to be because you think it's quote unquote, too expensive. And there was times in my life where financially I couldn't afford it or it stretched me or it was uncomfortable. Right. Like right now I've got a billionaire guy, Exit is coming for a billion dollars coaching me. Right. And one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made in my life is not asking that guy to coach me sooner. Right. And to your point, there's been plenty, plenty of times in my life where it was super uncomfortable. But the ROI on the money I spent was just. You can't even quantify it. It's in the millions. Right. So I just, I wanted to make a point about that.
Mark Jennison
Yeah, man, it for sure stretched me, man. I'll share another story with you. Back before I was even like built any of that stuff Grant Cardone put out, I was selling cars and he had this MP3. How to make $250,000 a year as an automobile salesman was $500. I bought it for $500. I didn't have $3. It was an MP3. Right. $500 for this thing. The next day, he put it on sale for 37 bucks.
Brandon Briningham
Right.
Mark Jennison
So if I would have waited one more day, I would have bought it for 37. Yeah. It didn't matter. I invested into the 500. Just that $500 actually grew my whole entire sales career.
Brandon Briningham
Sure.
Mark Jennison
Right. And then it was from there. It was on and on. And Garrett was. Garrett White's the biggest investment that I've ever made in my coaching over the years. I think I'm a little over a million dollars into coaching with him. No, I don't. I'm not Coach Bob anymore, but he taught me a lot about high ticket, big money marketing, how to. How to strategically seduce people to get. I mean, bro, it's like a half a million to be coached by me one on one right now because I've been able to earn the right to do that inside of my space and so tight on my message. Never would have been able to do that. And why I actually paid him a half a million one time. If I never paid him, then I wouldn't be able to.
Brandon Briningham
You wouldn't have learned it. Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Want to learn it? Wouldn't be able to charge it.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah. So, man, it's so much good stuff on this. So when I end the show, I always say, what does wake up to wealth mean to you? But I want to ask a different question because I think this is important. So there's a lot of people that listen to this that probably struggle with some form of addiction. I mean, look, let's. Let's keep it real. You're successful, you're making a shit ton of money. You know, you start drinking, you start doing. You shouldn't do whatever. Or if you come into money, you never had it, it's really easy to get into trouble. The girls start thinking you're a lot cuter, you can buy all the shit you never, you know, you never thought was possible to buy. You can you get access to rooms you didn't have access to, which can get you into some trouble? Just number one mark can tell you this, is that it's more common than you think if you're struggling with something. Right. But for. For somebody that's out there that's listening and they're dealing with maybe an addiction or. Or an issue, just give them a piece of advice they can walk away with.
Mark Jennison
Yeah, man. So the. The words that I would like to give people is the greatest gift, the greatest power that you possess. The ability to choose, Right? So you can choose to do something about it. Can choose to Play the victim. And there's a difference between probably the people that listen to you and somebody who's written off life. If you're somebody that's written off life, then you're kind of, I can't help you. That's just the truth. Right? I have no advice other than to figure out what's going to make you feel alive, then go to work. But I would assume anybody who clicks a link and downloads Wake up to wealth has a desire to make some more money. And those people. And what is wealth exactly? Right? Wealth isn't just about cash. It isn't just about being rich. It's about the way that you feel. It's about who you are, you are. It's about becoming this person you're supposed to be. So the advice I have for all the people is, number one, when you get up, you make one choice we already talked about. You go forward. You go forward, you go forward, but you make a choice in a decision to look at not where you like. All these things that have been hurting you, all the things that you've been doing, you're disciplined already. You're just disciplined the wrong way. Okay? So think about these people who have a struggle. I'm vaping too much, right? I'm watching too much doom scrolling. That's no different than drinking. It's the same shit. It's the same action. You make a decision and you make a choice that you're no longer going to do this. You want to be controlled by nothing. And then you find a coach, right? Whether it's me, whether it's you, whether it's someone free on YouTube, I don't care. But someone has the life that you want. And what you need to recognize is you're not broke, right? You're not broken, you're not busted, you're not discussed. You might be down, but you're not out. And if you count yourself out, you're. And you will never count yourself. Go listen to the re. Listen to the things I've. I've said. Or go check out some of my content that I put out there. By no means should I be here. Yeah, no doubt nobody would have ever. There's just. No, I should be dead.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah.
Mark Jennison
Most of the people that I loved are dead from what we did, right? By no means should I ever be this person. But you could never tell me that I didn't deserve it. And in the moments when you think you don't deserve it, where people are telling you, oh, you're not good enough or oh, you can't do this. You're hanging out with losers. You need to just know who you are. And you probably don't know who you are yet because you haven't allowed yourself to just say, hey, this is what I'm becoming. If you're hiding in the pain, you're drinking at night, you're doing drugs, you do all this shit, no one's forcing you to do it. Nobody, like, nobody can make you put a drink in your mouth. They just can't. Once you make the choice that you're going to win, don't let off the gas.
Brandon Briningham
Yeah. And I'll end it with this. So I've had the privilege of meeting a bunch of guys that have been through your program that you have helped. And it's wild because I communicate, you know, I talk to a lot of these guys, you know, actually kind of frequently. And it's wild. The other day, like, in Facebook memories, one of your guys, like, a picture of them came up and I was like, holy, dude. Like, that's not even the same person. Like, physically, they look better. You know, mentally, how they. They're carrying their self is better. And, like, you see a picture of them like, yeah, that was pre. I am a comeback. And then now you see this version. It's pretty remarkable. I think it's just. I think it's cool of being able to sit in your room and see the butterfly effect you've had on a bunch of people, and that's pretty awesome. It's something you should be proud of.
Mark Jennison
Yeah, man. Thank you very much. Sometimes, you know, pushing and pushing for what's next. I. I forget what we've done. I really do. Right. I gotta take a minute. It's great to be able to be on here with you because different perspective of what I built. And I know you've always been a. A friend, a fan, and a family, right for this. And I just really appreciate you having me on here, man.
Brandon Briningham
So. So people are paying attention to this. How can they get in touch with you? How can they check you out?
Mark Jennison
So, yeah, man, if you're struggling with something, say you're a business owner, entrepreneur, Hollywood executive, is looking to make a change inside of your life that's looking to be coached and want to be part of what we do. You can go to iamacomeback.com and right on there is an application that you can push, and that's the best way to get into my world. But if you're looking for me, man, unfortunately, I don't hang out a ton on social media. But I do have an, I do have Instagram. I think It's Mark Denison Jr. And then I've got Facebook. But Instagram is probably the place where people ever goes, you can send a DM over there. I do have a team that watches it. But the reality is, man, if you want to change your life, you want to be coached, you want to feel some of the energy and the intensity that I have, go to I'm a comeback.com and fill out an application.
Brandon Briningham
Awesome. Hey, thank you so much for being with us today, you guys. Again, thank you so much for the support of the show. Thank you guys for the growth and everybody, if you get value out of this, go find Mark and just thank Kim for taking the time to pour into the audience today. Thanks again, brother.
Mark Jennison
Thanks man. Appreciate you guys.
Brandon Briningham
Hey, let me tell you what my good friend Jeff Hyatt over at MSC Consultants and check out his episode if you've missed it. With today's volatile interest rate environment, real estate investors are looking for every advantage legally available. More and more are realizing that accelerating depreciation allows them to free up cash flow, enabling them them to acquire their next property sooner. MSC's approach to call SEGS is the answer. If you've got properties out there you haven't done, call SEGS on, you're paying too much in taxes. MSC's approach to cost eggs is the answer. Visit them@ww.costsegs.com that's ww.costsegs.com and ask for my good friend Jeff Hyatt.
Mark Jennison
Thanks so much for tuning in into.
Brandon Briningham
This episode of Wake up to Wealth. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume. Podcast. This way we'll get updates as new episodes become available.
Mark Jennison
And if you feel so inclined, please.
Brandon Briningham
Leave us a review on Apple Podcast.
Mark Jennison
And tell your friends about the show.
Brandon Briningham
It is how new people find us. Until next time.
Wake Up to Wealth Podcast: Episode Summary
Title: I Am a Comeback: Mark Jennison's Powerful Story
Host: Brandon Brittingham
Guest: Mark Jennison
Release Date: August 6, 2025
Brandon Briningham opens the episode by expressing heartfelt gratitude to the listeners for propelling the podcast to top rankings on Apple Podcasts. He emphasizes the power of message over medium, highlighting that despite competing with high-budget shows, their authentic message has resonated deeply with the audience.
Notable Quote:
Brandon: "The message is always what mattered. And you guys have shown as a testament that that's what matters." ([01:45])
Mark Jennison introduces himself as the founder of I Am a Comeback, sharing a harrowing personal history of addiction. He recounts a time ten years prior when he was "eating out of a dumpster" and unable to support or see his children, setting the stage for his transformative journey.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "I created not only just an alternative, but in my opinion, the alternative for high performing business owners... men who want to win inside of their life." ([03:21])
Brandon probes into Mark’s mindset during his addiction, leading Mark to clarify his perspective. He avoids the stereotypical label of "addict," instead describing his behavior as an obsession with winning that manifested destructively.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "Addiction was a word that I think society wanted to label me. I drank 50 to 60 drinks a day, snorted cocaine all day, shot heroin, or took pills to go to sleep." ([05:09])
Mark details the events leading to his rock bottom on June 11, 2015, when he was found intoxicated and unable to fulfill his job at a car dealership. Faced with losing his job, he reluctantly enters rehab, only to relapse shortly after his admission due to unresolved internal conflicts and lack of a concrete plan.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "When I looked into the mirror, I saw a monster. I said, 'Stop lying.'" ([11:19])
After leaving rehab prematurely, Mark plunges deeper into substance abuse, leading to estrangement from his family and severe financial woes. A pivotal moment occurs when, while drinking by the ocean in Florida, he experiences a profound internal shift that marks the beginning of his recovery.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "I heard this voice... Are you ready to listen to me now? And I stood up... there was nobody." ([14:10])
Upon returning to the car dealership, Mark commits to turning his life around by leveraging his sales skills. He cold calls hundreds daily, driven by the desire to provide a better life for his son. His relentless work ethic and dedication lead to significant sales achievements, setting the foundation for his entrepreneurial ventures.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "Everyday, 3 AM to midnight, self-development, grinding, listening to books, writing, journaling... 'I'm a champion.'" ([25:21])
Mark explains the inception of I Am a Comeback, emphasizing it as a movement focused on redemption and unwavering determination. He shares his initial success in coaching automobile sales strategies and how personal breakthroughs, including supportive relationships and mentorship, propelled his business to substantial growth.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "I know where I'm going, period. There's a knowing." ([32:26])
Mark reflects on his investment in coaching and the financial risks he took to enhance his skills. He recounts purchasing expensive training programs early in his career, which significantly boosted his sales capabilities, and later investing heavily in mentorship to scale his business operations.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "That $500 actually grew my whole entire sales career." ([41:54])
In a powerful closing segment, Mark offers compassionate advice to listeners battling addictions. He underscores the importance of choice and self-belief, encouraging them to seek support and recognize their inherent worth. Mark emphasizes that overcoming struggles is not about being perfect but making consistent, positive choices.
Notable Quote:
Mark: "You are not broke, you're not broken, you're not busted, you're not discussed. You might be down, but you're not out." ([43:50])
Brandon wraps up the episode by highlighting the profound impact Mark has had on numerous lives, reflecting on the visible transformations of his program participants. He directs listeners to I Am a Comeback’s website for those interested in joining the movement.
Contact Information:
Visit iamacomeback.com to apply for coaching and learn more about Mark Jennison’s transformative program.
Summary:
In this emotionally charged episode of Wake Up to Wealth, host Brandon Brittingham engages in a deep and honest conversation with Mark Jennison, the founder of I Am a Comeback. Mark shares his tumultuous journey from the depths of addiction and despair to building a successful program that has transformed the lives of nearly 14,000 high-performing individuals. Through candid storytelling, Mark highlights the critical turning points, the relentless work ethic, and the unwavering belief in self-transformation that fueled his comeback. His insights offer invaluable lessons on resilience, the power of mindset, and the importance of seeking meaningful support. Listeners are left inspired by Mark’s testament to the human spirit’s capacity to overcome and thrive.
Key Takeaways:
Resilience is Crucial: Even when facing severe hardships, the decision to persevere can lead to remarkable transformations.
Mindset Shapes Reality: Adopting a champion’s mindset and self-affirmations can rewire one’s approach to challenges.
Seek Support and Mentorship: Investing in the right guidance accelerates personal and professional growth.
Empowerment Through Choice: Recognizing the power to choose one’s path is fundamental to overcoming struggles.
Consistent Effort Yields Results: Daily dedication and relentless pursuit of goals are essential for sustained success.
For those inspired by Mark’s story and seeking transformation, visit iamacomeback.com to take the first step towards your own comeback.