Clay Clark | The Overnight Success Story of Chip and Joanna

Audio Transcription

So many different times in my life, I’ve played with broken or hurt things, broken foot, broken leg, broken hand, broken arm, broken sternum, broken collarbone. I could keep going if I just thought more about bones. Why, man? Because I loved it. I loved playing the game. I was passionate about it. One of the reasons I even get encouraged at seeing all of you here, you know why I get encouraged by that is because you could be anywhere doing a lot of different things, but you chose to be here Some shows don’t need a celebrity narrator to introduce the show But this show does in a world filled with endless opportunities Why would two men who have built 13 multi-million dollar businesses? five hours per day to teach you the best practice business systems and moves that you can use. Because they believe in you. And they have a lot of time on their hands. This started from the bottom, now they’re here. It’s the Thrive Time Show starring the former U.S. Small Business Administration’s Entrepreneur of the Year, Clay Clark, and the entrepreneur trapped inside an optometrist’s body. Dr. Robert Zulman. Two men, eight kids, co-created by two different women. Thirteen multi-million dollar businesses. We started from the bottom, now we’re here. We started from the bottom, and we’ll show you how to get here. Started from the bottom, now we’re here. We started from the bottom, now we’re here. We started from the bottom, and now we’re at the top Teaching you the systems to get what we got Colton Dixon’s on the hoops, I break down the books Z’s bringing some wisdom and the good looks As a father of five, that’s why I’m alive So if you see my wife and kids, please tell them hi It’s the CNC, up on your radio. Welcome back to the Thrive Time Show on your radio. And today we are going to attempt to do something that has never been done before in the history of this radio program. So I’m feeling very adventurous today here. We are going to have on the show today, we’re going to have my incredible wife of 15 years, Mrs. Vanessa Clark. Mrs. Vanessa, how are you? I’m doing fantastic. I’m excited about the big news. And the big news here today, we’re going to feature my daughter, my 12-year-old daughter. My really, there’s a good part of my genetic code. She got all of that. That is my incredible daughter. She’s a 12-year-old. She’s a guru. She’s a sage. She’s making minimum wage, though. She’s working here with her dad. It is my incredible daughter, Miss Savannah Clark. Miss Savannah, how are you? Good. How are you? I am feeling like a petting zoo. I’m super excited to have you on the show. And today, as always, Thrivers, we’re going to be breaking down the tactics, the processes, the systems of successful entrepreneurs because we want to teach you how to build a successful business. And today, we’re specifically diving into the success of Chip and Joanna. Vanessa, for anyone listening who says, who is Chip and Joanna? Why do I care? Who’s Chip? Who’s Joanna? Why should the listeners care? Oh, well, first off, they are just the heroes of TV right now, in our family. And that’s why I know Havana is very excited about this. They are just an ordinary couple. They were entrepreneurs who got married and were building businesses, businesses plural, of their own. They were just like many of our our listeners barely making it making ends meet Nose to the grindstone Doing whatever they can put their nose on a grindstone But you know what and the poppening is kind of a fairy tale story they got their big break on HDTV and really because they were authentically themselves and Authentically live their lives and their businesses, true to who they are, and for them that’s honoring God and all they do, it really, nationwide people responded to it because that’s not something you see very often. So we love them. Do you know that Scripps, the Scripps family, they own this show. They own this network there. They’re based in Cincinnati. They also own HGTV. They own the Food Network. They own the Travel Channel. But the DIY Network. But Havana, what’s the name of the show that people can watch them on on HGTV? Fixer Upper. Do you like that show? I love it. What do you like about the show the most? I mean overall. Well, I like that you get to see their family and it’s not them acting as someone else, but it’s actually them being them. And also I like that they have chickens. Oh, okay. We raise our own organic chickens, and so we kind of empathize with that. But if you’re listening right now and you’re going, what is the Chip and Joanna Empire? Why do I care? Let me just give you some nuggets of knowledge here. They now own a thing called the Magnolia Market and Silos, which you can go visit in Waco, which right now, outside of Baylor University, it is the number one tourist attraction in Waco, Texas. They also have a vacation rental called the Magnolia House, where they let their fans spend a few nights surrounded by creamy white shiplap and shiplap covered furniture, the old Chip and Joanna Gaines style. They have four kids. They’re basically taking over Waco. They’re the stars of the Fixer Upper show. The thing is, Thrivers, is they are somebody just like you. They’re somebody who wanted to achieve success, and they went from, okay, I hope it happens to making it happen. I’m going to go ahead and unpack their path to success. So Chip right now, he’s 41 years old. He’s a born entrepreneur, but he turned his first profit when he was in elementary school selling juice boxes to kids at tennis camp near his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And when his family moved to Dallas, Texas, Chip ran a firework stand and actually sold books door to door. He was always looking for ways to make money. I just love this because this is so typical, just typical of the everyday entrepreneur that we run into or deal with in business. I mean, I look at you and what were you doing in elementary school? You were making Garfield t-shirts for kids in your classroom and turning a profit that way. You know, in middle school you were DJing dances and making a profit that way. We look at our friend Jonathan Barnett. He was running a fire stand as soon as he could, a firework stand. So I just think that this is true to all these entrepreneurs. They usually start young, or if they don’t get to cut their teeth on it then, maybe it’s in college. But they all have humble beginnings, and they learn the lessons of how to turn a profit, how to pay the employees, how to get out of these, overcome these obstacles that you’re always going to have in business, and move on to bigger things. And so Chip and Joanna are exactly the same way, no different. Do you know Thrivers how I started my first business there, my first business deal, my first just bang, bang huge deal? Havana, you went to Metro Christian there for a while. Do you remember your time at Metro Christian? A little bit. I don’t remember very much though. Because you were a young kid. A young person. A young person before we did the old homeschooling game. What was the name of your last teacher? I think it was Miss Kelly. So I have a teacher, and this time it was Mrs. Wilson. Mrs. Wilson notices my game. All the students back in the day wanted tapes. Havana, have you ever seen a cassette tape? Yes, I used to pull all the film out of it. So the cassette tapes. Here’s the deal. So back in the day, everybody wanted to have the best music, but nobody could afford it because you’re in second grade. And so what I did is I bought this thing called the high-speed dubber. And what it would allow you to do is you could play one tape and then record an exact copy of it on another player, which was highly illegal. But the song that people wanted back in the day was this song. I’ll tell you. Let me get it keyed up here for you, Thrivers. You mean a lot. Here we go. I really mean that much. Milli Vanilli. Girl, you know it’s true. Here we go. So around the second grade, everybody’s running around going, hey, do you have that Milli Vanilli? Do you have that Milli Vanilli? And I go, I have that Milli Vanilli. How much do you want that Milli Vanilli? And they say, I really want the Milli Vanilli. I’m a second grader. And I’m like, well, here’s the deal. I’ll sell you a Milli Vanilli for five dollars. And they go, okay, I’ll get five dollars. So they go home the next day and they say, Hey mom, mom, for school I need five dollars. And mom’s like, what do you need five dollars for? Oh, just something for school. And they come up to me and the next day they go, Psst, hey, I’ve got my five dollars. And I’m like, oh yeah. And so I would do that about ten times a week. So I made about fifty bucks a week, you know what I mean? And I discovered that people wanted not only a million vanilla, but they wanted new kids on the block. And if you remember back in the day, Vanessa, do you remember new kids on the block? I do, yeah. Were you into new kids on the block? Did you care about new kids on the block? I never really was, but… Are you kidding me? I know, right? Were you… you were raised in California. Yes. Was communism taking over California at the time? How could you not be into new kids on the block? Possibly. Look where they are now. Okay. But here’s the deal. So everyone wanted that new kids on the block. And I’m like, I’ve got that new kids on the block. So this is the move. I’d go to the store and I’d buy that tape and I’d bring it back to my lab and I would copy them all night. And I’d say, hey, you guys want that Nukes on the Block? And they’d say, I do. And I’m like, I’ll give it to you for $5. This is something I want to point out. You look at what you did, you know, you’re illegally reproducing this music as a second grader. And you look at Chip and Joanna, they many times if you read their book were stumbling around maybe not doing something exactly to the letter of the law. You know, Chip is getting in trouble for his dogs running around the neighborhood. He gets thrown in jail. I mean, just kind of crazy stuff, right? But that is what the entrepreneur needs. They need to, before they get all their ducks in the road, they need to know where their goal is and just start taking action to get there and figure it out along the way. I think so many people are afraid that they need to know the whole game plan before they can take a step and then they’re frozen in fear. Well there’s two lessons to be learned here. One is I 100% agree with you. It’s absolutely important if you’re listening right now as an action item I want you to pull on over go ahead and get yourself a notepad, a piece of paper. Why do I have to write on paper? Why don’t you use a smartphone? Because I’m old school. I’m 36. I remember back in the day before we had smartphones. But just write it down on something. Write down some problems. If you want to be an entrepreneur, again, according to Forbes magazine, 57% of you, the listeners, want to start a business. So make a list of all the problems that people have and maybe how you can solve them. And the problem that I had, I realized every kid my age wanted to get their hands on new kids on the block in Milli Vanilli. Now my next move was, you know, kids back in the day, you had buttons. Do you remember buttons, Vanessa, the big buttons? I do remember the buttons, yeah. Did you ever have a button? Yeah, many buttons. And actually I remember getting buttons, like, for my parents, like my school picture, you know, and you would give those out. Or maybe you were on the soccer team and you would have a button of yourself in your soccer uniform. Yeah, so the thing is, that was a problem that people had and I realized hey, I could make buttons now. I’m being real. That was my second business I had never made buttons in my life, but I told people I will do it and for five dollars I’ll make you buttons and I went to Hobby Lobby bought a button maker next thing. I’m the button making King BAM Nobody makes more buttons than me. It’s pretty cool is when you start off a business in is just you I mean you’re doing everything But also you’re pretty much keeping most the profit because you’re not having to pay a lot of people, right? For all these brand new startups, which is just you. It’s kind of a good learning time. You are the person wearing all the hats, doing everything. But at the same time, I know there’s a drone guy we work with out of Dallas, and he is rocking right now. Thomas is rocking with full package media. He’s rocking it, bam. It’s wild. And then when you look, he’s the one who services, I think, almost all of the shoots. And so he’s in a good spot. And I know there’s all different kinds of business models, but really as a startup I think that’s a pretty unique thing. You get to learn so many things, but you also get to keep most of the profit. Now there’s two lessons to be learned here. One is you’ve got to find a problem that you can solve. That’s step number one for anybody listening right now. Make a list of all the problems that you could solve. I mean what are the things, if you’re going, man I’m tired of this landscaper not doing a good job. Maybe that’s your idea. I’m tired of it. I can’t find someone good to clean my home. Maybe that’s your new business idea. People are wanting buttons. Maybe that’s your deal. But the second lesson is you said you don’t have to get all of your ducks in a row before starting. And I think that in this day and age, maybe because of college, or people are taught and almost have this fear of I can’t do it until I have X, Y, and Z and ABC and everything perfect and if you’re waiting for that it’s never going to happen. But I think if you work with what you have and you do it yourself, you don’t have to worry about all the other positions, how you’re going to pay everyone. Just do what you can with what you can and you’ll be awarded more. You’ll have more responsibility. You’ll get more bookings. Then you’ll say, okay, let me bring on someone to help me. Let me now see, okay, I need to file this the right way or whatever. You know my main man, George Washington Carver, he would agree with you. He said start where you are. This is a notable quotable from George Washington Carver. Someone should be writing this down. He says start where you are with what you have. Make something of it and never be satisfied. Now one thing he said is you don’t have to have all your ducks in a row. Now Havana, you raise the chickens. You mentor the chickens. You’re kind of like the chicken whisperer at the house. Is it possible to even get your ducks in a row? Have you ever tried to get the ducks? We used to have some ducks. Can you even get them in a row? Is that even a thing? It doesn’t work. We actually couldn’t even get them in the coop for like a month. Okay, so you can’t get them in the coop and you can’t get them in a row? Yeah, they don’t listen. Now, here’s the deal, Thrivers. You might be listening and you might be saying, how did you as a second grader make buttons? Well, here’s what I did. Okay, I bought that Paula Abdul album. Now, I’m going to tell you, this is awesome. I bought that Paula Abdul album. And when I bought that album, I did two things with it. One, I high-speed dubbed that mess, and I’m still on those CDs. But then I took the album art out, because the album back then, the album art, and I cut it out and I made buttons out of it. Oh yeah! That was like recycling, baby. You guys were drivers. Where were you when this song came out? I mean, where were you? This was hot sauce. Did you know that Paula Abdul was actually an L.A. Lakers cheerleader? And the girl can’t sing at all. This is all like auto-tune. Back in the day before auto-tune. No, seriously. Oh, yeah. Now, Thrive Nation, I’m telling you, if you’re listening right now and you’ve ever wanted to start a business, you have what it takes. You’ve got what it takes within you, but you’ve got to look for a problem that you can solve. That’s step number one. Step number two is you’ve got to go to Oklahoma Joe’s and have some baked beans. I’m just telling you, if you’re listening right now and you’re going, I’m motivated, but I don’t know if I have the energy or the will or the determination or the motivation. I’m telling you what, you can find the energy, the motivation, the inspiration inside a pint of Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans. It’s a secret to the universe. It’s scientifically proven. I don’t have the data. No, I don’t have the facts. But I can tell you this, it tastes great. And yesterday was mandate day with my son. We went out there, we had some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans, and I’m inspired. That’s proof positive that it works. Stay tuned. Learn more about the Chip and Joanna Show on thethrivetimeshow.com. Live, local, now. You’re listening to The Thrive Time Show. All right, Thrive Nation Oklahomies, welcome back to The Thrive Time Show on your radio, broadcasting from the left coast of the Arkansas River inside the beautiful thrive15.com, a world headquarters inside the box that rocks and through the magical microphones to your ear. I am here, the former SBA Entrepreneur of the Year. My name is Clay Clark. I’m the father of five human kids. I’m the husband of one incredible woman. Mrs. Vanessa Clark is on the show today and the father of five human kids. And one of the human kids, one of the humans, is inside the box that rocks. And so for the first time in the history of this show, I am going to get adventurous, and I’m gonna get a little crazy. And I’m gonna bring a 12 year old onto the magical microphone. Will she say inappropriate things? Will she disappoint her father? Will she prove that I don’t actually have a functional brain and that I’ve never taught her anything? We’ll see. Havana, how are you? Good. How are you? I am doing so good. We’re talking about Chip and Joanna and their story, their timeline of success, how they do it. And Havana, what’s the name of their show? Fixer Upper. Fixer Upper. If you haven’t ever watched Fixer Upper, I apologize because you’ve not been living very good. You’ve got to check it out. Now, we’re walking through the timeline of Chip and Joanna’s success. So while a sophomore at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. Chip began flipping houses using money he earned from his one-man landscaping business and a small loan from his parents. Ah, time out. So if you’re listening right now and you’re looking for capital to start a business, did you know, Vanessa, did you know where Jeff Bezos, the guy who started Amazon, where he got his money from to start his business, do you know? I do not know, no. Why do you not know? Havana, do you know? I know you’ve told me at some point. I apologize. I am a poor husband. Okay, here’s the deal. Because he got it from his mom and dad who emptied their savings, all $300,000. Wow. And they said, we believe in you. You can office out of our garage. Boom. So you’re listening right now and you don’t have an ample amount of capital. You don’t have the resources. Go ask a friend, a family member, maybe get a second job. Is that ethical? Should I have a second job? What about life balance? I mean, you’ve got to do whatever you need to do to start a business. Vanessa, when we started our business, you’re working over there at Office Depot in a copy center. You’re making copies like that was your job, because it was. That’s right. That’s right. But, you know, that enabled you to be able to go focus on selling DJ packages, because we knew we could live off of my income. And then you also worked another job. So, we just did what we had to do, but we had a vision and a goal that we were moving towards, and so we knew this was a season. Now, what I think is so interesting, too, is what I love about Chip and Joanna. You talk about how he used the money from his landscaping business to fund his house building business, but did you know that originally how he started his landscaping business was he was at Baylor, and he used to sit in classes by the window and look out the window and think, oh, man, I wish I could be—he reminds me of my son—I wish I could be mowing that lawn instead of in this class. To the point where he went out and asked the guy, can I just mow lawns with you? What guy? What guy did he ask? I forget his name, but he became great friends with him and the guy became a mentor. He was the guy who owned the landscaping business. He went and asked a successful landscaper, how do you do it? He did. And then he ended up working for him for a long time until the guy said, listen, you need to do this on your own. That’s what you want. But this is what I love about it. You know, all of our thrivers out there, everyone has a passion in them. And here he was attending a university, getting an education, and I’m not saying not to, that’s great, but he knew where his heart was. He goes, I want to be working with my hands. And look at that as a talent that God has given him to this day, him and Joanna. I mean, he’s using his gifts, working with his hands. His hands. Yes. No, and I just love it. Unlike me where I use my body. I work with my body. He uses his hands. For me, a lot of people come to Thrive15.com and they come visit the facility and I go, are they here for my body? You do have some dance moves. I say, eyes up here men. Eyes up here ladies. Come on now. I use my hands too, you know. No, but seriously Thrivers, if you’re listening right now, the actionable thing you can learn here is that you just have to start with where you’re at. If you don’t know how to get into that business, find somebody who’s in the business, offer to go work there for free. You can absolutely do it. And you did that with DJ Connection. You worked for another company. Yeah, for Rob Biggins. Yeah, Rob Biggins. Rob Biggins, All Access Mobile Music. He actually was a part-time professional wrestler. Remember that? I remember those matches. He went to Riverlanes and watched him. He was bringing it there. His name was Rocco Valentino. I can’t believe you remember that. I remember everything that I shouldn’t remember. I remember all the things. I remember seeing Rocky Valentino. He was a big deal. Now moving on here, this is the next part of the Chip and Joanna story. So he graduates from Baylor with a business degree. But after he graduates with that degree, he stayed in Waco and continues flipping houses. And that’s where he met Joanna. Now Joanna was a recent Baylor graduate with a degree in communications. And she had been interning in the fancy New York area for Dan Rather. You remember Dan Rather? Oh yeah, she had dreams of, well at the time she thought she was gonna pursue broadcast journalism. And so of course, what any person who’s driven is gonna do, they’re gonna go place themself under a successful person, right? You know, I have an audio clip of Dan Rather. You wanna hear this? I do. This is early Dan Rather back in the day. Here we go. Well, that’s going to do it for all of us here at Channel 4 News. You stay classy, San Diego. I’m Ron Burgundy? Nope, that was Ron Burgundy. Not Dan Rather. Oh, my bad. I got the wrong clip queued up there. But anyway, so no, seriously, she worked for Dan Rather, interning, and she decided that really broadcast journalism wasn’t going to be for her. So she came back to Waco, she’s working in her father’s tire and auto repair shop. I’m so sorry, I have to. When she was there though, that’s where part of her dream was, you know, in New York. So she had been living in Waco, which is very different from New York. I don’t think they’re different at all. I think Waco, I mean, when you go to Waco, this is what I think of. Waco is kind of high fashion, it’s kind of a busy city. I mean, it’s where, yeah, I’m going to Waco, Texas to turn my dreams into reality. It’s a tough city. I figure if I can make it in Waco, I can make it anywhere. And then you just kind of, that’s how Waco is, right? I guess so. Okay, sorry. No, but it talks about, you know, she decided not to pursue her internship, but she used to walk around New York and she just fell in love with all these little boutiques. And she thought, I’d love to do the same thing, do the same thing one day in Waco. Eventually no one would read her story. That’s what she did. So here along the way, I just think that in our heart we know things that we are drawn to, things that we’re gifted, and now it’s how do you take action? How do you take action on those things? So if you’re listening right now Thrivers, I’m just telling you what, you’ve got to start somewhere. 57% of you want to start or grow a successful business, but you’ve got to start. Henry Ford says you cannot build a reputation based off of what you’re going to do. Alright, what you’re going to do. Now here’s the next move though, okay. So Chip walks into the store one day, he’s trying to get some brakes for his car, and he asks her out, you know, and the two hit it off immediately, even though they were opposite. She was very serious, very shy, smart girl who always did her homework. He’s funny, he’s extrovert, he’s kind of that cute guy who never did his homework, that kind of thing. But they clicked. And she said in her book here, she says, he made me laugh. That’s why I fell in love with him. But do you remember when I first harassed you, Vanessa? Do you remember that? I do remember you consistently harassing me. How did it happen? I’ve known you. How did it happen? Did I just come in like a ray of hope, like a ray of light? I just walk in and you just immediately recognize. I think when I walked in, I said, hello, do you know who I am? I am Clay Clark. People know me. No, nobody here knows me, but people will know me. I’m kind of, I mean, how did it happen? How did I? Well, you just consistently harassed me. You sat next to me in class, drew over all my papers or you would come and crash my table. What does that mean, crash the table? What is this propaganda? I mean that if you go to Oral Roberts University, you are assigned a wing. And so it’s kind of like, I mean, it’s not a sorority, but it’s a group of people who all live in the same area. It’s kind of like for the sorority. So when you go up to eat at the cafeteria, all the wings have their own table and you sit with your sister wing and brother wing, but you don’t go to someone else’s wing and go sit at their table. All you do so. And I will tell you, when we come back, Cybers, we’re going to talk about going to the sorority wing, go into that other ring. We’re talking about breaking all the rules to chase the ladies. Okay, we’re going to teach you some moves, some super moves. Stay tuned for some dating tips. If you’re watching on Facebook Live, you know I’m a man-bear pig. How did I do it? Stay tuned. I’ll teach you at ThriveTimeShow.com. All right, Thrive Nation, welcome back to the conversation. We’re talking today about the Chip and Joanna story. This is a story about two lovebirds who’ve gone on to be mega TV stars. And what’s the connection? Well, our show is owned by Scripps Radio, based in Cincinnati. And these guys also own, if you’re on a Facebook Live, you can check it out, they own HGTV, they own the Food Network, they own the DIY Network, they own the Travel Channel, and they own Stitcher, and they own this. They own, Havana, what’s the name of the show? The Fixer Upper Show. By the way, do you like The Fixer Up? This is my daughter, Havana. She’s 12 years old. She’s inside the box that rocks on the radio show. Do you love that show? I love it. Mom will tell you. I’m always like, Mom, can we stay up for like two more hours? What do you like about that show the most? Well, I like that it’s real people doing what they really love. They’re not like putting on a face just for the camera. And then they do have chickens and ducks and stuff like that. What do you think about Chip? Well, I think he’s very funny like Dad. For the Thrivers out there who are like, what’s your Dad really like? Can you explain to the Thrivers what I’m really like when I’m not rocking the mic on the radio show? You’re always really, really, really funny. You’re always holding a chicken or a duck. We’re all out there holding the bunny. I really do. I love holding animals. You do. Your passion is to be an animal rescuer someday, right? Yes. So describe to the Thrivers the kind of animals that you’ve coached up at this point in your life. And what kind of animals have you been in charge of? Okay, so I’m in charge of 15 chickens. Three of them are chicks. And then one bunny. We did have two dogs, but we had to give them away. And then four cats. And we did have ducks, yes. And four cats. Okay, so at this point in your life, at age 12, what do you want to do when you’re like 27? I want to rescue animals, and I actually want to do that before I’m 27. And then I also want to have a pet food store. I don’t know exactly what you call it, like a pet supply place. Okay, and then when you’re 30, when I allow you to start dating, hopefully you can relate to this next story. So here’s the deal. So basically, we’re talking about the Chip and Joanna story and how they became the super success story that you know today. Joanna, she goes out to New York and she interns for Dan Rather and she says, you know what, I love that opportunity, but I want to come back to Waco. She’s working for her dad in this brake store in Waco and Chip is flipping houses. He walks in to buy some brakes. Next thing you know, he’s asking her out on a date. Vanessa, for the Thrivers out there who haven’t read the book, what did he do on the first date? Describe for the Thrivers, what did Chip do on that first date? I just love it because it’s just Chip. He shows up an hour and a half late. He shows up an hour and a half late? Oh yeah, so by the time he shows up, she’s so mad and she’s with her friends that she doesn’t even want to get the door. He, the friends let him in and he, it’s kind of like you charms them, he’s funny, he’s everything that they love. And so everyone just in a minute forgets. And to this day he’s like, oh, I wasn’t an hour and a half late. But he’s got the, there’s, I guess a spirit almost of entrepreneur where they aren’t afraid of making mistakes, right? They’re going to go 100% for what they want. They don’t care what anyone else thinks. And so I think that’s what Joanna fell in love with. Can you describe for the Thrivers, the whole courting process, what I did to woo you? Obviously you were attracted to my body, but besides that, what else did I do to woo you? I guess I was oblivious. I just thought we were friends, but you were always around. You were just harassing me always. And then I was going to go babysit somewhere like for the weekend Yeah, and I was in charge. I was in charge of kids for the weekend. So this the family’s entrusting me I’m over you student. I didn’t know them that well Well, you decided to show up. I did I made eggs You made me eggs and like and I wouldn’t eat them because I’m the pickiest eater and my friend was there So she ate the eggs. She ate the smoothie. I went to the smoothie. He said milk in it milking it. Unbelievable. And then I guess maybe she picked up a vibe because she left after she ate the meal. She picked up the vibe. Yes. I was putting out a good vibe. And I remember my friend saying like, he’s going to try to kiss you. I was like, oh no, never. This would never happen. And this is the thing is, I think this music kind of gave it away. I came around and they were like, we’re going to make some eggs. Yeah. And I think that kind of gave it away. So anyways, long story short, you did try to kiss me. I back up, started laughing and thought, oh my gosh, what is going on? This is crazy. I can’t remember. I don’t remember that. I blacked it out. So, but the whole point is, you know, you just like Chip were determined, had just like for business, your eye on whatever it was you wanted. I had my eye on the sparrow. The sparrow. You do call me bird. I do call you the bird. Yeah, maybe, maybe that’s the thing, I guess. Eye on the sparrow. Yeah. Thrivers, listen, seriously, if you’re listening right now and you’re going, what are you talking about? We’re talking about Chip and Joanne and how they became the success stories that everybody talks about today and their path. The idea is because when you hear someone else’s story, you realize, hey, you know what? I can do it, too. That’s kind of the idea. One guy in Tulsa who really took his vision and turned it into a reality is Joe Davidson. He’s the founder of Oklahoma Joe’s and Oklahoma Joe’s obviously is a proud sponsor of our show, but did you know he sold two million smokers? Two million! And that sounds like that’s a huge number, but just like Chip and Joanna, he started at humble beginnings. Didn’t he personally make the first smoker? He did. He made the first smokers and to get his first deal with Walmart, he actually just drove out there and waited until he could get an audience with the big buyers. And this is what we’re pretty much telling people. You don’t need to wait and get this huge big infrastructure around you. You need to know what you’re going for, what your goal is, what your passion is, and what you’re going to focus on. And then do it yourself. Don’t build this huge team. Do it yourself and take the action steps you can. That’s how everyone who has gotten started, started. As an example of doing it yourself, I could work with a team of jingle writers. I could work with professionals But instead over the past weekend I’ve been working hard trying to write the perfect jingle for Oklahoma Joe’s and I believe I have it now so here we go Get ready thrivers emotionally prepare yourself it might sound like the fiddle the fiddler on the roof, but it’s not here we go Where are the baked beans that I long for? Anything with the drivers here we go. Where are the baked beans I long for? I can find them only at Oklahoma Joe’s. Havana is laughing because she knows she doesn’t live at the house. Where is the pinon smell I long for? Look it’s ruminating in my nose. On Facebook Live you can see it. But Thrivers, listen, I think that that’s the idea. I think if we take the Fiddler on the Roof kind of track and we mix it with the Oklahoma Joe’s theme, I think that could be a huge thing. Where is the Thrivers? I mean, that’s a big thing, right? You love it. Here’s my Regent Bank commercial I’ve been working on. Here we go, let me get this ready. Here we go. It might sound like Purple Rain. ♪ Do you want to see me ♪ You can get your suckers at Regent Bank. Regent Bank, Regent Bank. Come on, Thrivers, sing it with me now. Here we go. Crank it up on your AM dial. RegenBank. RegenBank. Come on now. You’re not going to get free suckers at the other banks. No, you’re not going to get a good deal. You’re not going to meet Sean Copeland. RegenBank. Re- So I’m working on that. That’s kind of- and it might sound like Purple Rain, but they knocked- they knocked off my jingle. And it might sound like The Fiddler on the Roof, but they kind of knocked off my jingle. But either way, I hope those get stuck in your head. I hope you go to Regent Bank and Oklahoma Joe’s. Now, Thrivers, when we come back, we’re going to get deeper into the Chip and Joanna story about how they turned their big entrepreneurial dreams into reality. And if you want to turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality, you really owe it to yourself to go to thrivetimeshow.com to find out more, because we’re going to have a two-day, in-person 15-hour workshop on February 24th and 25th right here in beautiful inside the beautiful Thrive15.com world headquarters. So again if you’ve ever been looking for that detailed workshop where they teach you all the stuff behind the stuff, they teach you how to build a sales script, how to optimize your website, how to do PR, how to do marketing, accounting, they will teach you all the brass tacks. That’s what our workshop is all about and we have a scholarship program available So for some reason you cannot financially afford it right now now you can you owe it to yourself We only have 45 tickets available only 45 tickets left So go to thrive time show calm to get your tickets February 24th and 25th 25th It’s the thrive time show on your radio. Check it out thrive time show.com All right Thrive Nation welcome back into the conversation where we are teaching you how to start and grow a successful business. If you want to get involved in this month’s interactive workshop, it’s a two-day workshop. It’s on February 24th and 25th. We have 45 tickets left. Check it out, thrivetimeshow.com. And now we get back into the rest of the story. And so we’re talking today about the Chip and Joanna story and how did Chip and Joanna go from where they were to being TV sensations and TV kind of a, they’re kind of like America’s couple right now. Havana, what’s the name of their show again? The name escapes me. Fixer Upper. The Fixer Upper show. If you haven’t checked it out, I’m telling you what, you want to check it out. And so we’re going into the next part of their story, okay? So they begin flipping homes together before they were married. So she begins helping him with his rentals and flips. She’s doing painting and decorating. And she actually says, here’s a notable quotable from Joanna. She says, I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t know anything about interior design or construction. Now this is Chip’s side of the story. He says, we learned it on the fly. This is the thing where they were learning it as they went. I think a lot of entrepreneurs get that wrong because I feel like they have to know everything before they can start. Vanessa, explain to the entrepreneurs out there, you’ve been around me when I first started the DJ company. Tell the Thrivers what I did wrong. Maybe those parts where you’re like, oh my gosh, you did that. Maybe just say some things, explain some stories of some things I did wrong. Maybe share how it was different at the end. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think for both of us, I mean, everything that we’ve learned along the road to business, we learned through trial and error. We learned, we were kids. We didn’t know how to do it. I mean, I look at how we used to send DJs out to shows in the very beginning with no cart. No cart. No cart. They had to carry their amplifier and their gig rig. It’s like 80 pounds. I’m like, yeah, just carry it. They’re like, it’s so heavy. Don’t you have a cart? I’m like, no, we don’t have a cart. You don’t need a cart, you freaking wuss. And there were times I realized, man, most people are not modern day Vikings. They’re not angry. I was a guy, I didn’t have a cart. Didn’t know it even existed. I remember I parked the car in front of the Crown Plaza and I carried the equipment, like half a block up this, I didn’t even know. Many trips to come back. And it’s a common sense thing, but there’s so many things like that in business that you learn as you do it. I remember, I mean so many tax lessons I learned along the way, or even with clients. We learned this very quickly, you know what, we need to ask for a deposit, but then have the majority, everything due the night of, and it works so great for cash flow because that’s when we’re paying the DJs the night of. We don’t want to have payment in full six months earlier and then nothing come in when we need to pay everyone. So that worked wonders for cash flow, but we didn’t know until we did those things. Now as the DJ business began to grow, at one point, I mean, the guys would come in and load in their equipment. I would say at a given night we might have 40 guys coming back, 50 guys DJing. At that point I didn’t have any checklists. Do you remember that? I do remember that. I remember them being created. We went out to Houston for a wedding. Do you remember when I forgot the amplifier? Yes. Do you remember that? I do. It’s like seared in my memory, right? I’m like I don’t we’re setting up everything and I’m like, okay, I got the lights. I got the speakers I got the music I’m on I’m like Speakers aren’t working. You’re like, I think you forgot the amplifier. I’m like what how did I forget the amplifier? So you had to drive like super fast to a guitar center and a city we’re not familiar with we have no GPS and you went and bought it Then you came back and I’m like, I don’t have a mic stand and you had to go back out again You remember that? Yeah I remember every out-of-town show was like I mean just white knuckling it the entire time because we would get there Really we delivered great because we’d get there so early We’re there like four or five hours early We always planned on having these issues and we would have them I planned on having these issues But I never planned on thinking ahead to make a checklist Yeah, or what issues, yeah exactly. Dumb. Okay. Now, the thing is, Thrivers, if you’re listening right now, what can you learn from this? Well, one, you’ve got to make a checklist. If you don’t have a checklist, bad things happen. I don’t know what you need to hear to be inspired about this, but you have to make a checklist. I have some audio from Bill Belichick talking about the importance of why you need a checklist. So here we go. Just do your job. All right? Don’t try to make too much out of it! Just do your job! See, you just gotta do your job. You gotta have a checklist. Now Havana, do you remember when I was doing some speaking events and I didn’t have a checklist yet? And do you remember the time where I forgot the books? I was actually just about to bring that up. Oh, you were? We drove like all the way down there. So where did we drive to, B? It was somewhere in Texas, I don’t remember exactly where, probably Dallas. And we’re like, we only have like maybe 20 minutes to get there. It’s like the middle of the night. And Dad’s like, Hey, will you go check and make sure the books are there? I’m like, sure. So I go back there. There’s no books. And I’m like, Dad, there’s no books. And he’s like, well, it’s going to be kind of a funny story. So he goes back there and checks and they’re not there. So we drove all the way back and we get there at like five in the morning. And we like, we’re originally going to be there like 11 and it’s like five in the morning. Yeah, because I forgot to pack the books when going to a speaking event. I’m going to tell you what, you only need to do that one time before you realize, I am not a genius and I have to make a checklist. So Thrivers, I would encourage you to ask yourself right now, what are the repetitive problems that you’re running into over and over and over? And then how do you fix it? You’ve got to make a checklist. I mean, the elephant in the room, our men’s grooming lounge, Sam, our producer, his incredible wife, they’re here and they’ve seen some of these checklists being made. Karina used to manage one of the locations and you are there managing. I’m sure it never happened to you or to me. It probably would have happened to other people. I think there might have been a few times where you are going, we don’t have the tools we need, the materials. Maybe we don’t have supplies or maybe we don’t have enough shampoo or paraffin or whatever. I’m just telling you, if you are listening right now, you’ve got to make a checklist. I agree 100%. And also, for those who are entrepreneurs, they’re thinking about starting a business or they’re brand new to business, you also have to have the attitude that things are going to happen. You’ve never done this before, but it’s okay. It’s part of the process and it’s not like, oh no, I’ve got to give up and take my ball and go home. No, this is part of the process. It’s to be expected. Yes, you need to get a coach or a mentor, someone to help you along the way so you can minimize these problems, but when they come along, you need to look at how do I solve this so that next time this isn’t an issue and then keep going, keep tracking along. Travers, you don’t want to take your ball and go home. You want to leave your ball there. That’s my ball. I’m leaving it there. No, I’m just kidding. But Travers, the thing is, everybody listening right now, you have to have a checklist. You’ve just got to have a checklist. I have a notable quotable that I’m going to read to you from Atul Gawande from his best-selling book The Checklist Manifesto, which I love. He says this. He says, The volume and complexity of what we know has exceeded our individual ability to deliver its benefits correctly, safely, or reliably. He goes on to say, We don’t like checklists. They can be painstaking. They’re not much fun. But I don’t think the issue here is mere laziness There’s something deeper more visceral going on when people walk away not only from saving lives He studied doctors and that kind of thing but for making money it somehow fills beneath us to use a checklist an embarrassment runs counter to the deeply held beliefs about the truly great amongst us those who we aspire to be they handle situations of high stakes and complexity. The truly great are daring, they’re improvised, they do not have protocols and checklists. Maybe our idea of heroism needs updating. The point is, Thrivers, that’s Atul Gawande from his book, Checklist Manifesto, you’ve got to have a checklist. I don’t know what to tell you. You’ve got to have a checklist. File a checklist, please. If you’re listening and your husband doesn’t have a checklist for his business, don’t slap him, don’t hit him with it, but you’ve got to somehow go, listen, you need a checklist. And if you want to know how to build a checklist, you want to know how to build a system, because what made DJ Connection great is it was repeatable excellence over and over and over. And if you want to know how to do it, you’ve got to get out to our two-day Thrive Time workshops. Okay? We’ve built this beautiful 20,000 square foot facility for you. If you’re a doubter, Google Thrive 15 conference reviews. Google the reviews. Watch videos from people like you who explain what it’s like. We have no upsells. It’s 15 hours. We cover everything, marketing, sales, accounting, PR, everything you need to know to start or grow a business. It’s all there and you can learn everything you need to know about it at ThriveTimeShow.com. Check it out, ThriveTimeShow.com. Book your ticket. We have 45 left and I’m telling you, it will absolutely change your life, Vanessa. I just want to brag on it because if you would have had access to something like this, you would have been all over it. What makes this conference, these workshops, really I think the truer word is workshop, so unlike anything else is that you give people the actual tools and teach them. Like if you’re going to say you need a checklist, you’re going to get out a checklist. Say, this is the checklist I use for whatever the task is. If it’s for my SEO or this is the checklist I use for cleaning our bathrooms, whatever it is. And so you’re teaching people, this is a script. This is the call script we use. This is how you make a script. People leave with the actual tools in hand. I’ve never seen that. And we’ve been to many different conferences. We’ve spoken for Chevron and Hewlett Packard and Maytag University and O’Reilly’s Auto Parts and a lot of the events, but you never get to go super deep. And so these workshops are designed to allow you as the entrepreneur to go very deep, have your specific questions answered. The way it works is it starts at 7 a.m. and you go from 7 a.m. to 7.45. Then we break for 15 minutes and any questions that you have, we answer them. We go from 8 to 845. Any questions we have, we answer. We keep doing that all day. We break for lunch. We come back. We go until 3. It’s from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s a game changer. We have people from all over the world coming to these things. And I promise you, it’s going to change your life. And if you can’t afford to attend, now you can. We’ve teamed up with some awesome people. I don’t know how to explain this more articulately, but if you can’t afford it, you understand there are scholarship dollars available that you never have to pay back. You don’t have a student loan. You don’t owe anything. You’ve got to check it out. It’s the Thrive Time show, the Thrive Time workshops. You can check them out at thrivetimeshow.com. Learn more February 24th and 25th. When we come back, you’re going to learn more about the Chip and Joanna story on the Thrive Time show, baby, baby. All right, Tulsa, Oklahomies in Nashville, Tennessee, Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bentonville, Arkansas, the people who are just very, very close to Oklahoma City, people who are in McAllister, people who are in Topeka. Welcome to the Thrive Time Show on your radio. We are talking today specifically about the Chip and Joanna story. And how did those two lovebirds go from, you know, he’s flipping houses and she was an intern with the Dan Rather Show, and when they moved together, she moves from New York to Waco. She’s working in a break shop for her dad. He walks in one day, they meet. How do they go from there to where they are today as the stars of HGTV? We’re talking about their story. And so inside the box that rocks, we brought in a couple more guests, some people that really, they’re kind of like, I would say they’re Tulsa’s Chip and Joanna of the non-profit world. It could be said. And so we have Miss Lindsey Reyes and Mr. Joey Reyes. Lindsey, how are you doing? I’m good. How are you? I am excited to have you inside the box that rocks. I’m very excited here. We were bringing in the man with the plan, the guy who tricked you into marrying him, Mr. Joey Reyes. Joey, how are you, man? Hey, I’m doing good, man. Thanks for having us. Hey, a lot of people are very familiar with the James Mission now. A lot of people know about it. There’s probably half of our audience who doesn’t know about it as well. Joey, can you explain what is the James Mission, my friend? Yeah, so we are a non-profit. We are a resource center that provides resources, clothing, shoes, necessities to foster children, the foster community, and people in need. And why, Lindsey, I want to ask you this. I mean, why did you guys start this? Was it a deal where he hit his head on the toilet seat, next thing you know he’s like, I’ve drawn the flux capacitor and what it is is it’s gonna be the James mission I mean where did the idea come from? Um well ultimately it did begin with him um he yeah yeah I gotta give him that credit I didn’t see that coming then but he had prayed a prayer in his car that he was gonna be 35 and hadn’t done much with his life and thought there’s got to be more to this and so he prayed a prayer burn me mold me do whatever you know I want to be in your will. A month later I lost my job. I made bulk of the money at the time, so it was a pretty hard hit. Fast forward six months of arguing with God and he and I basically being stripped of everything, I dusted off the Bible and got on my knees and started praying and opened it up to the book of James and just began reading. So this is a deal where you had this vision and we’re talking about the Chip and Joanna story and how basically they decided that when they were dating she decides to come work with him. And he says here, this is his notable quote, he says, we learned on the fly. And she says, I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t know anything about interior design or construction. Did you ever feel like that when you started this? I mean, because you had this vision to start a mission to help people. Joey, did you ever feel like you’re going, what am I doing? I have no idea what I’m doing. You know what’s funny is I still do that. Okay, all right. That’s some brutal honesty right there. It’s kind of been a learn as you grow. We’ve been trying to maneuver. Again it was based off the book of James. So it’s like you help the needy, the orphans, the widows, these foster children, these families. But ultimately it’s like what does that look like you know to help someone and that’s what we’ve been learning along the way I Think a lot of entrepreneurs listening according that you know to Forbes 57% of the listening audience wants to start a business I repeat that’s five to the seven 57% of you want to start or grow a successful business, and so that’s what this is what it sounds like You know okay? I’ve got this big vision. I’m going to start a business You probably read a Tony Robbins book or you’ve stayed up too late drinking Red Bull and now you’re ready to go. And then all of a sudden, life hits you in the face with a brick and you realize, I don’t know what I’m doing. And so what happens is, less than two years after Chip and Joanna meet, they’re married and they move into one of Chip’s rental houses in Waco. So their first flip as a married couple, they repeat this pattern over and over and they end up buying this old, renovated old store and that becomes the Magnolia Market where Joanna sold flowers and candles, that kind of thing. And Chip said right away, he says, we were a dual business couple right off the bat. We were rocking and rolling. But she’s sharing an entirely different story, Vanessa. Her take of it was a little bit, it was kind of like. It was rough for her. It was really rough. I think she, you know, gets back from her honeymoon. She describes the first rental house that they go into. They spent all of their money, all of it, and there’s no electricity, no heat and air. Smells like cat pee. She’s lying on the floor on dog pee, she determines. Oh, dog pee! Dog pee, that’s better. And there was rotting meat, I think, because the air had been turned off. And so what does she do? She cries. I mean, I can relate to that, you know, just like, oh my gosh, what did I get myself into? What are we doing? Yes, and I think what I love, absolutely love, and I think what America loves about Chip and Joanna is they’re wholly in it together though, and they don’t turn on each other. Instead, they turn to each other and figure out, how are we going to do this? And when I look at you, and a couple of you. And they turn on each other. Yes, Drivers. Yes. Yes. Yes. Had to fit that in there. It’s a win for mankind. Yet another win for me. Another one. Sorry. No, but when I look at you, Joey and Lindsay, I mean, here you’re doing something that is going to take all of you and then some. It’s going to take God leading you along the way. But you’re in it fully together and that’s how you do it. And there’s going to be surprises along the way. We just talked about this about how in business you’re going to sometimes make a wrong turn or a wrong move. And it doesn’t mean that you stop and you give up. But you say, okay, what do I need to do better for next time? I want to ask you on a practical level, a very practical level, and you don’t have to share anything super deep and dark, but we want to know. When you started the mission and things are happening, have you ever thought like, oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into? How are we going to make it to next week? I want to start with you, Joey. Have you ever thought where you go, we could probably eat each other. Have you ever thought about how much ramen you’re going to eat? Have you ever found yourself where you go, how am I going to make this? It’s funny, we did. We have. The whole process, like Lindsay said earlier, the first thing that happened was she lost her job. So it was kind of, we were struggling. We were at each other a little bit. When you lose your finances in the home, that’s hard. It’s a tough deal. And then in the midst of that, still trying to find out who you are and what you’re doing. And then once it actually hits, we’re on the same page. And we’ve had moments. I mean, let’s just be honest. We’ve had our moments where we just sit there and we look at it. He’s like, what are we doing? Yeah. Lindsay, how do you see that you two have grown in yourselves and the business from where you were when you started? You’re probably not the same people. Oh, no, not at all. I mean, it started out as just, you know, God really, you know, I’m stubborn. I know that’s shocking. And God had to really deal with me. And it took kind of like this hard hit that’s like, okay, wake up. I called you to do something great. Or you’ve always wanted to start a business and you had talked about doing a nonprofit. And it was these wake-up calls of like, I put you through your MBA, like do this. And so it was like, okay, I can do this. I got to do this. Well, nonprofit world is a whole different world from what I was prepared for. So he took a, like the side road that was like, okay, we got to do this. And we don’t, we don’t have to do this. We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to do this. We don’t have to do this. The income isn’t there. So we’re starting literally, we’re selling nothing. We don’t have a revenue that comes through. We get stuff donated. We sell hope and it’s free. How did you finally put it together where you could financially make it? What was your breakthrough, Lindsay? What was the one where you said, okay, we can finally now give back to the community the way we wanted to and help people in our local community but also keep the lights on. Because now you have an actual storefront now, right? Or an actual facility before it was all out of your house? Yes. So for two years we did it from our garage. So I know great businesses start from your garage. Yeah. The garage in the hall. We are on our way. Yeah. And so we started it from our garage and it was literally just putting some posts out there like, hey, we need this. Because when kids come into foster care, they literally will come with what they have on and that is it. Most of the time it doesn’t fit. So that was the big thing for us. We were also foster parents and getting that approval process and these kids would come to us with nothing. So my heart would break. Through social media has been a huge one. It’s just putting it out there and saying, hey, we need this. We need help. And then slowly but surely, the things increased and the needs were met. Even to the penny, needs were met. It’s all God. I can’t explain anything else. God has always provided every day from those two years in the garage to a building rent free for a year to once we had to start paying rent, the financial part started slowly coming in and becoming more established as a credible organization. Every which way. Even small needs. It’s funny we talk about those. And there are huge needs. We had a box truck donated at the right time. We were maneuvering out of Lindsey’s little SUV. And I say SUV. You think of a big car, but it’s not. It was little and a little trailer. And we’d unload and load every day. And it was just, like she said, it’s been to the penny to the tee of what has been fulfilled. And what is great is you did with what you had, you did what you could. We just talked about this earlier, starting with where you are. Well, you know, for Vanessa and I, I mean, our whole thing was we wanted to start the DJ company, DJ Connection, and we didn’t have enough money. Sam, can you grab the ad there off the stairs, my friend? That ad was hot right there. What happened was that we didn’t have the money to afford an ad, and so what we did was we talked about it, and I’m like, we’ve got to turn off the air conditioning. We’ve got to do it. And she’s kind of like, and my bestie has always been very supportive, but I’m like, we’ve got to turn it off. If you’re on Facebook Live, you can see this. That little baby right there was about $800 a month, and that was the difference between us having heat and air. If you’re on Facebook Live you can check it out. It’s beautiful. So we didn’t have any heat and air, but we had a Yellow Page ad and that’s what got the calls coming in. And you just hope you get enough calls coming in to turn that back on. People would come visit and they would go, it smells like cat pee and it’s like 107. We were on the second floor of the apartment complex. It was like the hottest it could get. Vanessa, do you remember that? All of our wedding candles melted. Did they actually melt? Yeah. Yeah, some people would come in and go, what is wrong with you? It smells like cat pee. That is cat pee. Don’t think it smells like cat pee. Actually, we had a cat die and then he refused to let him out because we were afraid. But now if you’re on Facebook Live, you can see I’m burning the high dollar pinion wood on the air. I’m literally doing this. This is a gift from Sam, our producer, and his incredible wife, Karina. We’re burning pinion wood inside the box that rocks to create that great rustic smell that I long for. So here’s the deal, Thrivers. The action item for you right now is, if you’re listening, go ahead and sketch. I’ll say, if I had all of the money and all the resources that I would ever need, what would I be doing? You have to ask that question because if not, you’re not going to have your breakthrough until your breakdown. And so I want to ask you, Joey, for somebody out there who’s listening and says, man, you down. And so I want to ask you, Joey, for somebody out there who is listening and says, man, I’m 35, I’m 34, I’m 37, I’m 41, I just don’t know if I have what it takes to start my own business and I’ve been putting it off. How much more fulfilled do you feel now on the other end of building the James Mission Man, I can remember the moment that that hit me in 2012. It’s it’s it’s no comparison. It’s not a comparison. You’re looking at your right and your left hand. It’s complete opposites. I wouldn’t change anything for the world where we’re at now. But saying that the process getting there was not fun at all. I mean, and that’s that’s that’s what you have to understand. You know, I know for me when this happened to me, you know, I remember seeking that and changing it. I was like, do what you need to do because I’m done. And it was, you know, I remember that the word desire, when you desire something, it’s not like something you want. And it’s like, hey, I want that. It’s actually something you sacrifice for stuff like you said, you know, you give up that that air condition, you know, different things you begin to give that you think are important to you. And you realize, on the other hand, it’s really not that important. And to change lives, man, there’s no price for that. It’s awesome. Drivers, if you’re listening and you’re going, well, how does this apply to me? The one thing I would encourage you to think about right now is go ahead and get out a sheet of paper and make a list on one side of all the things you want. I mean, make a list of all the things you want. We talk about it all the time. We call it the F6. But what are your faith goals? What are your family goals? What are your friendship goals? What are your fitness goals? What are your… I know you’re trying to write fast here, but your faith, your family, your finances, your fitness, your friendships, your fun. Your fun? Put it down and make a big list. On the right side of the paper, make a list of all the things you’re willing to trade off in exchange for that. You want to get in great shape? You might have to turn off that show. You might want to start that business. You might have to say no to a lot of things. You want to have a great intimate relationship with your spouse. You might have to say no to the bowling league. What? I love the bowling league. Why do you always talk bad about bowling? Well, one is I don’t like bowling very much. No, but seriously, you’ve got to make a list of the tradeoffs because you can’t have major success and fulfillment unless you’re willing to trade off the things that don’t give you major success and fulfillment. And also you’ve got to commit to the long road. Did you know that Chip and Joanna, it took them almost 10 years to become an overnight success? When we come back, we’re going to hear about how they became an overnight success after 10 years of sowing seeds. You’ve got to sow those seeds before you’re going to reap a harvest. So when we come back, we’re going to get into the details of how Chip and Joanna became an overnight success after 10 years stay tuned All right, tribe nation welcome back inside the box that rocks. My name is clay Clark I’m the former SBA entrepreneur of the year in your ears in here to teach you how you Can turn your entrepreneurial dreams into reality because you can you can do whatever you want to do but an entrepreneur What is an entrepreneur a lot of you’re listening going? Well what what he has an entrepreneur? I mean really at the end of the day you google it and you’re checking it. An entrepreneur is somebody who solves problems for the world in exchange for what they seek. Okay? So you could be a non-profit entrepreneur. I mean, you could see problems that the world has and you could solve them in exchange for fulfillment. You could see problems that the world has and you could do it in exchange for money. But you’ve got to find a problem that the world has, and then you’ve got to focus on solving that problem. Inside the box that rocks, we normally like to feature entrepreneurs, but what we’re going to do, we’re going to shift it up a little bit today. We’re going to just put up with a little bit of, to quote John Madden here, we’re going to go boom. The thing is, we’re going to change it up a little bit, and we’re going to feature a nonprofit organization in Tulsa that is really solving problems for Tulsa in a way that is profound. And so what we’re doing is we wanted to reach out, because Dr. Z is out expanding his vast entrepreneurial empire. And so we’re going, who could possibly fill the shoes? And so we realized, let’s bring in the dynamic duo. Let’s bring in the couple that’s kind of like the Chip and Joanna of the nonprofit world in Tulsa. It’s unbelievable. So we have Lindsay and Joey Reyes inside the box at Rockstar, the founders of the James Mission. And Lindsay, I want to ask you, for anyone who’s listening right now, what is the James Mission and frankly, why should anyone listening care? Well, we are a non-profit organization that helps provide resources for kids in foster care and families in need. We help over, last year alone, over 4,000 families were impacted. On a practical level, because that’s what dudes are talking about, Jill. That’s what the dudes are talking about. We’re like, okay, so that was a big vision. What kind of stuff do you specifically provide for the kids, Jill? We do clothing, shoes, shirts, necessities, toothpaste, toothbrush, anything that, you know, basically when you’re at a home, a lot of that stuff we take for granted. Just kind of imagine you get pulled from your home and you’ve got no chance, no choice to even pull anything and you come empty handed. It’s kind of, your organization is starting to get a certain momentum. My wife went in there, and Vanessa, can you kind of describe when you went to the James Mission what you saw for people who can’t quite fathom what it is. You came back and you’re like, oh my gosh, it’s unbelievable. I admit, first off, I know Joey and Lindsey from years ago, just acquaintance, so I didn’t know them very well. And somehow we were going to make a donation and I didn’t know where they were located. And we drove and you guys had like a kind of industrial area storage. And I was amazed when they pulled up the garage door or whatever you want to say. You had so many clothes from floor to ceiling organized by like newborns and zero to three months and all the way up for kids you had underwear you had everything so labeled and it you could not have fit any more things in there you had cribs you had and everything was saying hey these are spoken for you know you couldn’t come in there and just say hey I want a crib you already had that going to a family and eat but you had an area where it was if you were off the street and you were needing you could come in and get seasonal clothes for your kids I just was blown away by how organized and also another thing that just my heart loved about it like the Tip and Joe Anna and we try to do this with our family is you had made this a family affair. It was Lindsay and Joey their foster, I guess their adopted children there. Your whole family, your son was driving a truck, loading up a bed. How many kids do you have? Like 35 kids? Now they’ve adopted a bunch of children. I love it. Joey, how many kids? Five. Five kids. Wow. Five kids, but through this process we’ve had 26 foster children. So if you want to calculate them up, I’m at 30, yes. How many years have you been doing this? How many years have you guys been doing this? Lindsay, how many years have you been doing this? It will be four years in June. So you’ve been four years of sowing seeds and you’re just now starting to reap a harvest. And for the Thrivers who are listening, we’re talking today about the Chip and Joanna story as well and kind of walking you through their timeline. In 10 years, Chip and Joanna, they’re married now, they’re living down there in Waco, they’re flipping houses, and they’ve been working on this for years. They have four kids. Barely making it. Barely making it. Their kids are involved in their business, and so they’re just rocking and rolling, just trying to make it happen. In 2012, a producer who had seen photos of them and their work called and asked if they wanted to be on a reality show. That’s what I love. Chip thought it was a scam. Chip thought it was a scam. He said, no, they’re going to want us to pay them to produce something. It’s a scam. His wife said, no, come on, we should do this. They go ahead and do it. What happened is that the show, they were shooting a pilot, which is basically a preview of what it could be. So they’re shooting these people. What happens is reality show producers, they reach out to somebody who they think would be a good show, and they have to actually make one show, and they show it to networks to see if the network would like it. So they go out there to film them, and nothing good is happening. Chip is super gregarious, but on camera I guess he gets super shy and reclusive. And Joanna gets short with people and quiet on camera. They’re aware of the camera. They’re aware they’re being filmed. They’re like… Right. And so Chip, who thinks that this reality show is a scam, just continues doing his normal craziness. And so what he did is he bought a houseboat, sight unseen, online. And the TV camera crews, they’re saying to them, they say, hey, listen, if something magic doesn’t happen like today, this isn’t going to work. This pilot is awful. And they’re like, oh, see, we screwed up our chance. Isn’t going to happen. Well, anyway, to chip, this isn’t weird. He’s not playing it up for the camera. He has a houseboat delivered. So this boat shows up, happens to be delivered on the day the pilot is there. It wasn’t planned. So his wife’s like, why would you buy this houseboat? And he’s like, baby, it’s for you. We’re going to live on it. It’s a gift. Because he’s already sold the house that they’re living in, which is typical of him. He’s sold the house they’re living in because it’s just property and just business and they need somewhere else to live. So she walks through it and inspects it and discovers there’s holes in the ceiling. So it’s been raining inside it for years. There’s no air conditioning. It’s moldy. And he’s like, what do you think, baby? And it’s all on camera. And she’s like, no, why would you do that? She’s like, you have to send it back. He’s like, I paid in cash and I can’t return it. And then all of a sudden he realized, I think I got scammed. She goes, you’re the one getting scammed, not us. Well, the camera guys, you know, are just loving it. And so they, for a moment, Chip and Joanna forget the camera people are even there. And that’s when the magic happens because that’s their normal life. That’s the normal thing. That’s the real selves. So long story short, this thing becomes an instant hit in 2013 and now it is basically like the number one show on reality TV, one of the top shows on television period. Now they actually work together on everything. So Chip actually executes the vision and Joanna really kind of has the vision now. They go to a property and she has the vision and he executes it. So here’s a notable quotable from Joanna. She says, we’ve learned that we compliment each other when Chip stays in his lane and I stay in mine. Joanna goes on to say, we do our best work when we allow each other to be creative in our fields and trust that the other one knows what they’re doing. So I want to ask you this, Joey, how does it work with you and your wife now, as you two are building the James Mission? What are your roles and what are her roles? That quote is funny. I mean, this is us to the teepee. We have been, I mean, truly discovering ourselves and our gifts and talents and different things and we are complete opposites. Oh wow. So what is your wife’s role? What does she do, Lindsay? What do you do? Lindsay, what are you up to? Well, technically I’m the OCD organizer and so I basically run it all. I’m really good at organizing and keeping things straight, and so I do that end of it, and he’s the face of James Mission. He’s a people person and loves working with that connection, so. And we come back, Thrivers, we’re gonna get more into how Joey and Lindsay, how they run the James Mission on a day-to-day, and how, if you’re listening right now and you work with your spouse, how you can stay together, happily married, in that house and actually grow closer together as you grow your business or non-profit. Stay tuned, Thrive Time Show. All right, Thrive Nation, welcome back into the conversation. Right now you could be in the lobby of Regent Bank eating some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans while sending out job posts on Zip Recruiter. You could be doing that, but I’ll tell you what, right now, you should be doing that. We’re approaching 2 o’clock. I mean, what better way to say, I love you, than with a gift of Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans. Vanessa, I cannot tell a lie. I cannot do it. Did I not celebrate man date with my son yesterday with our son, Aubrey? Did I not take him out for Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans? I think you all go there once a week for baked beans. And that is dishonest. You said it was inaccurate. I go there twice a week. You’re sneaking the one. I sneak the one and then I go the second time. This show is all about integrity. I’m going to tell you what. We do go there. I’m telling you what, there’s nothing more rewarding than having yourself some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans at the end of your work day. You’ve got to go in there and check it out. It is the best. They’ve actually won the award for the world’s best baked beans. It’s unbelievable. Joey, do you like yourself some baked beans? I love them. I mean, when you finish a hard day of working there at the James Mission, you and Lindsay have been working and you’re trying to help. Your ministry is focused on helping out the kids in the foster care program, am I correct? Yes. Would you say that the majority of the kids like baked beans as well? I would agree, yes. I don’t know if we’ve ever done a lot of research on that. I don’t know that either. Alright, so if you’re listening right now, the thing is the foster care community loves it, the non-profit community loves it, my son loves it. The only person I know that’s really sane or rational that doesn’t like baked beans is my wife. And I’ve been doing some research. We’ll report back to you week by week and figure out how we’ve encouraged her to accept what’s right. I haven’t brought it up on here. I didn’t want anyone to know. I mean, I could probably do Oklahoma Joes only. What’s wrong with you? Did you hurt your tongue as a child? What happened? I have no excuse. Okay, so if the drivers listening here, I’m telling you what, you owe it to yourself to check out Oklahoma Joes Baked Beans. And today we’re talking about the Chip and Joanna story in the context of you. If you’re listening right now and you want to turn your dreams into reality, you can do it. He went from a guy who was a landscaper and a home flipper to now a reality TV star. Lindsay and Joey, who are inside the box that rocks, they started the James Mission when it was first just an idea. How many families did you serve last year, Lindsay? You said, how many families? There were over 4,000 lives impacted. You helped 4,000 people last year but when when did you Joey when did you first have the idea? I mean were you at Oklahoma Joe’s when you had the idea? Were you in the Bank of Regent or where did you where did you have the idea? You know it was funny. It’s funny I was walking into Regent with my beans. Oh wow. Thank you. No, no, it, you know, it really didn’t, the whole thought and the process took about a year to get there, to be honest with you. And it’s funny because we were not on the same page, and that’s a huge thing, like, you know, we talked earlier. That’s what I was going to ask, if you could, we’re there. No, we were on complete separate paths at that time, and it took, once we got in the same path, it just took off. The thoughts, the ideas, the process, everything just started to fall into place. And the way I can explain it, I’ve always explained it, to me it’s like a roller coaster ride. I was on it trying to get her to come on, come on, come on. And once we got on, she got in and it just hit a whole other level. It was dark, you can’t see nothing. And I love roller coasters and it has just been a ride ever since. Alright, now Thrivers, what we’re talking about is the next step of the Chip and Joanna game. Game is they began to achieve what the world would call happiness, but they had happiness in the process And that’s the part. I want to make sure we’re focusing on here. Okay, because chip and Joanne and they talk in their book They’re describing Happiness and what makes them happy and in Joanna’s 38 years old, okay? Chip is she’s actually 39 now I believe in chip is 41 42 years old and they don’t have a television at their house. They don’t like vacations. They live with their kids and they have 60 animals. And the whole thing is that they have defined what success looks like and happiness looks like in their life, and now every day they’re happy. Happiness isn’t a distant future that they’re chasing. It’s not financially based. Happiness is agreeing as a couple what you want your life to be and almost like writing the script and then acting it out. So Vanessa, I want to ask you, could you describe for the Thrivers what does happiness look like for you? You know, for me the biggest thing that I always desire is just a peaceful, joyful, loving family. So you know, if we’re going to do business 100%, I am on the team to do business 100%. And I’m going to be a part, and my kids are going to be a part, and we’re going to get there as a family and grow together. If we were going to do a non-profit, I would want to do it just like you do. I would want my whole family involved. So to me, happiness and fulfillment is growing together as a family, living within your means, and just a peaceful, simple existence. Let me ask you this, Lindsay. What does happiness look like for you and Joey as you’ve grown the James Mission? What does that look like? What does that sustainable happiness look like for you and your family? I think we work so well together that if I’m having that bad day, he picks me up. If he’s having a rough day, I pick him up. Our kids just kind of complete that whole process. And so, you know, for us, we know that it’s, you know, we’re there 100% with it. So whatever the need may be, you know, we know that God has it and we’re just going to make it happen. And we don’t know how some days and I’m thinking, how’s this going to work? And I’m the planner. And, but you know what, God has always just been like, bam, there it is, bam, there it is. And so, you know, that’s the happiness to me is just, it’s like, we’re there, we do it. And I don’t know if this is like an infomercial for Joey, but I heard you say that he raises you up. It’s like a Josh Groban sort of thing. I mean, did you hear that there, Joey? I did. I heard it. I caught it. That’s right. It’s very inspirational. You might be Tulsa’s number one married man. Oh my. That’s awesome. Wow. Anyway, so Josh Groban is just loving it. Thank you. I appreciate it. I want to ask you, what does happiness look like for you? I mean, outside of you just being happy because you’re around yourself. You know it’s funny, happiness is to me is what I’ve learned through this process is you know I think it’s happiness and successful. I think we’ve got to, we have that turned away a little bit. To me I think true success is knowing who you are, finding yourself and when you find that out happiness just comes with it. The joy, the fulfillment, everything just kind of comes with it. And then to be able to do it with your wife and your family and your children, man, there’s just nothing else like it. I have a notable quotable I want to read to the Thrivers. As I read it to you, I’m going to read it kind of slow so you can marinate on it. Kind of like some Oklahoma Joe’s baked beans. You’re just marinating. This is the quotable. This comes from John Lennon, the head of the Beatles back in the day. He was kind of their lead guy. He says this. He says, When I was five years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down, happy. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment. He said, I told them they didn’t understand life. So the concept is that if you’re listening right now and you’re not happy with where you are, you’ve got to understand that no matter where you are, you’re going to be there. So homework for you. Write down what happiness looks like and find a way to enjoy the process of achieving your overnight success over the next 10 years because you absolutely have what it takes to be successful. You already have the tools you need. You just got to get started. And if you’re looking for that specific, those action steps, those specific training that you need, we have four ways to help you. One, we have the in-person Thrive Time Workshops. It’s going to be hosted on January 24th and 25th here at the beautiful Thrive15.com headquarters. It’s two days, it’s interactive, it’s 15 hours of power. We have a scholarship program. It’s super available for everybody out there. It’s affordable for you. If you can’t afford it, now you can. Option number two, you can go to ThriveTimeShow.com and listen to all the archive podcasts. Option number three, go to thrive15.com. The world’s best business school, thrive15.com. And option number four, you can sign up for one-on-one in-person business coaching at thrive15.com. And Joey, Lindsey, for people who want to find out more, Joey, what’s the website? How can they find out more about the James Mission? It is jamesmission.org. Jamesmission.org. Look us up, and that’s where you can find all your info for us. All right, Thrive Nation. Find all your info for us. for her dad’s brake business. In comes Chip into the brake business, into the auto shop. He takes her on a date. He shows up an hour and a half late for their first date. Not a good start there. Anyway, long story short, now they’re reality TV stars. If you missed their path to success, you want to listen to the rest of the show, just go to Thrivetimeshow.com. You can hear the archived podcast. And inside the box that rocks today, we have a couple that’s kind of like Tulsa’s Chip and Joanna of the non-profit world. We have Lindsey and Joey Reyes. And they’re here because, one, my wife and I, we are so encouraged by the work that they’re doing in the city. I mean, Tulsa has a lot of great things, but just like any city, there’s a lot of problems. There’s a lot of issues. There’s a lot of people who almost feel forgotten. What they did is they started this. They turned their dream into reality. Instead of just dreaming about it and postponing their happiness or their pursuit of happiness, they decided, you know what, we don’t have it all figured out, but we’re going to start this thing called the James Mission. It’s so inspiring because they did it as a couple. If you’re listening right now, I want Lindsay to be able to explain to you what the James Mission is all about. So if I’m listening right now and I’m going, you know, what is this, why should I care? Kind of a rude question, Lindsay, but I’m listening, going, why should I care about the James Mission? I mean, what exactly do you do? Well, we basically provide resources like clothing, toiletries, shoes, socks, undies, that sort of thing, and even beds. A lot of kids don’t have beds to lay their heads on, and that breaks my heart. So we try to help provide those resources to foster kiddos and also we work with preventative side for families in need. How many families did you touch in this past year? You think in the last 12 months? Gosh, we impacted over 4,000 lives this past year. So if I’m listening and I’m going, okay, I want to get involved. Maybe I want to donate or maybe I want to volunteer. Maybe I want to connect in some way. Where can I find out more about your organization? You can go to our website which is JamesMission.org JamesMission.org and we have several different tabs that you can click on but to you know if you have a need you know there’s someone out there that needs something you can click on the I need help tab and schedule an appointment to pick up items but if you want to help and get involved we always need clothing and resources like that you can schedule a time to drop off those items. I have a challenge for all the Thrivers out there. Let’s do kind of a fun… Vanessa, are you ready to throw down a challenge? I’m ready. Everybody listening, we all have something that we don’t need that somebody else needs. You know, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. As an example, everybody listening right now, if you think about your attic, you think about your closet. What happens a lot of times is you say, well, I don’t know where to put it. I don’t want to throw it out, so I’ll put that in the closet. You’ve got a baby crib up there. A baby crib. That’s right. Cribs are always needed. So make a list. Joey, list off some of the things that almost everybody who’s listening has. What are some of the things where you’re like, man, I don’t even use that anymore. I put it in my attic. I put that in that guest room. I put that in that closet. Tarvis, you know that closet, that crazy closet. It’s very simple. It’s even as, you know, for me personally, I’ll just even be honest about myself. You know, there’s shirts, clothes, jeans that I’m like, oh, I’ll fit into those later when I go decide to work out. And they just sit there. They’re still nice. They’re still nice. Yeah, they’re nice. They’re coming straight out of my closet. They’re just sitting there. You know, a lot of times, you know, the beds, beds are huge, like you said, the cribs. A lot of times these little baby clothes we want to keep and hang on to, we’ve had our moments with our own daughter when it was time to let go. It’s a difficult time, but we knew it went to a great and another need and a better place. Those are easy examples right there. So everybody who’s listening right now, I encourage every single listener, can you write this off? Are you guys a non-profit or are you kind of one of those? Is it kind of a thing where it’s like, I know a guy. I mean basically we have a little warehouse, I know a guy, you drop it off. Or are you a legit non-profit organization? It is a legit 501c3 non-profit organization. 501 what? 501c3. Okay, so it’s a legit organization. It’s not one of these I know what guys things. So what are the things right now? If I’m listening right now and I want to bring it, give me the steps. Tell me step one, step two. What do I need to do to donate and help you? Okay, so the first one is to go to our website and the I Can Help tab. You go to JamesMission.org, click on the I Can Help tab. Do I have to be on the internet to go to your website? Do you have to be on the internet? You can do it from your phone. I’ve heard that Putin and Trump are using it to spy on people. Okay, so what’s the website again? I’m sorry. It’s JamesMission.org. Okay, so I go there. Now once I’m there, what do I do? You’re going to click on the I can help tab. I can help? I have my my young granddaughter and she’ll be clicking on there with her little fingers, the millennial fingers, they don’t even know what they’re doing but they’ll just click on the fingers. Okay so now what do I do? And then you’re going to click on the if you want to drop off items like clothing and things like that you can click on the donate items tab and it will take you to the appointments that we have available. And if I want to write it off because I know I do I’m paying too much in taxes I want to write it off. I don’t even care about the cause. I just want to write it off What do I do? Tell me. It will actually ask you do you want a tax donation receipt? You fill out the form and you click yes And then there’ll be one waiting for you when you drop off your items. All right for any of you who are listening right now And you’re a hostile older man This could be just a shameless write-off move for you. Vanessa, what’s the deal? Also, I’m sure, is there a place if you just want to make a cash donation, because I know you’ve got a lot of expenses to keep yourself up and running. Is that where we’re trying to do that? Yes, that is the same section. If you go to the I Can Help tab, there’s one that says, Donate Money, and there’s a little piggy bank in there. Oh, nice. That’s my money donation. Yes. Awesome. And we definitely need that cash flow to keep things going. I mean, there’s a lot of overhead when it takes to paying the bills, and we have to have that to keep the doors open. Yeah. Now, Thrivers, I’m telling you what, some of you need a little motivational music, so here we go. Now, come on, make a list right now. Make a list of all the things you can donate. Make a list of how many extra dollars that you could donate. I mean, a lot of us, this is what’s happening. You’re on the way home from work, and you don’t need to go to Brahms, but you’re going to go for the 47th time this month. Just go ahead and stop on over, make a donation, help these people. They’re making a big impact in Tulsa. We want to help them. We want to bless them. It’s a neat, neat cause that everybody needs to get behind. Vanessa? Yeah, you know, I’m thinking a lot of these business owners, too. I know so many businesses who love to get behind a cause, and they say, you know what, we go ahead and we give 5% of everything, all of our profits back to this. Or we give, it would be, I’m just thinking of ideas for local businesses who want to help the local community to be able to say, you know what, support our business and this is how we support the community as we give this percentage back. That’s just a great idea I’m throwing out there. I love the James Mission and everything they do. So just putting that bug out there in the air for any of our business owners or people who are thinking of starting a business and want to use it as a way to also give back. Now the final little teaching moment I want to provide for everybody listening is that you’ve got to, before the end of today, you’ve got to define… Why today? Because we find that if people act, then they’ll actually get it done. But if they think about, well I’m going to get back to it later, they don’t. So you have to define what happiness looks like today. Okay? Get out a sheet of paper, write it down. I’m gonna give you some notable quotables to kind of stimulate the thoughts here for you. This is one, this is from Gandhi, okay. Gandhi says this, he says, happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony. Joey, I mean, I’ve seen you guys do this from afar, but what you think, what you say, and what you do as a family are now in harmony. How does it feel knowing that what you’re thinking about and what you’re actually talking about and what you’re doing are all aligned and you’re in harmony there and actually pursuing a big vision? Man, it just, I think it completes everything. Because so many times, like you said, you’re right, you know, we think about doing this. I’m going to do this. I’ll do it tomorrow. You know, or it’s cold outside. And it’s cold. You know, let’s say it was cold outside. I’ll do it when it warms up. But you start putting, you know, your thoughts, your words and your actions behind all that. It begins to move. And after a certain point, you know, you get a momentum and then that momentum picks up and then it just continues. And I think at some point it just starts to come together. Now Lindsay, I want to ask you this as the brains of the operation there, the James Mission. Jim Rohn, he’s a bestselling author. He has this notable quotable that blew my mind the first time I read it. He says, happiness is not something you postpone for the future. It is something you design for the present. I explain this to thrivers. It’s kind of like if you get hit by a bus test. If you got hit by a bus and you had like five seconds to think about it, oh no, there’s a big bus, would you regret the life you’re living or would you be fulfilled or satisfied with what you’ve done? Talk to me about the level of fulfillment that you and your husband now experience now that you’re putting your all into something you both are working on together. Yeah, we just recently talked about this. I think that for me, if that were to happen, I know that I did everything I was supposed to do at the time. You know, obviously I would love to be here longer to see it grow and prosper, but I know that we planted these seeds and no matter what, you know, these seeds are planted and the growth is there. And I don’t know what tomorrow looks like, but I’m just thankful for today and knowing that I’ve done what I’m supposed to be doing. Now Thrivers, if you want to learn how to turn your passion into profits, or your passion into your product, or your vision into what you do every day, if you want to get to a place where you actually are doing what you were called to do, I encourage you to come out to one of our two-day in-person Thrive Time workshops. They’re located on the left coast of the Arkansas River inside our beautiful 20,000-square-foot facility. You can learn everything that you need to know at thrivetimeshow.com. The next one is February 24th and 25th. And if you want to learn more about the James Mission, where can they check it out there? Jamesmission.org. And as always, 3, 2, 1, boom! JT, do you know what time it is? Um, 410. It’s T-Bo time in Tulsa, Roseland, baby! Tim Tebow is coming to Tulsa, Oklahoma. During the month of Christmas, December 5th and 6th, 2024, Tim Tebow is coming to Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the two-day interactive Thrive Time show business growth workshop. Yes, folks, put it in your calendar this December, the month of Christmas, December 5th and 6th. Tim Tebow is coming to Tulsa, Oklahoma in the Thrive Time Show two-day interactive business growth workshop. We’ve been doing business conferences here since 2005. I’ve been hosting business conferences since 2005. What year were you born? 1995. Dude, I’ve been hosting business conferences since you were 10 years old and a lot of people you know have followed Tim Tebow’s football career on the field and off the field and off the field the guy’s been just as successful as he has been on the field. Now the big question is JT, how does he do it? Well they’re going to have to come and find out because I don’t know. Well I’m just saying Tim Tebow is going to teach us how he organizes his day, how he organizes his life, how he’s proactive with his faith, his family, his finances. He’s going to walk us through his mindset that he brings into the gym, into business. It is going to be a blasty blast at Tulsa Ruslan. Folks, I’m telling you, if you want to learn branding, you want to learn marketing, you want to learn search engine optimization, you want to learn social media marketing, that’s what we teach at the Thrive Time Show two-day interactive workshop. If you want to learn accounting, you want to learn sales systems, you want to learn how to build a linear workflow, you want to learn how to franchise your business, that is what we teach at the two-day interactive Thrive Time Show business workshop. You know, over the years we’ve had the opportunity to feature Michael Levine, the PR consultant of choice for Nike, for Prince, for Michael Jackson. We’ve had the top PR consultant in the history of the planet has spoken at the Thrive Time Show workshops. We’ve had Jill Donovan, the founder of rusticcup.com, a company that creates apparel worn by celebrities all throughout the world. Jill Donovan, the founder of rustic cuff.com has spoken at the two day interactive Thrive Time Show business workshops. We have the guy, we have had the man who’s responsible for turning around Harley Davidson. A man by the name of Ken Schmidt. He has spoken at the Thrive Time Show two day interactive business workshops. Folks, I’m telling you, these events are going to teach you what you need to know to start and grow a successful business. And the way we price the events, the way we do these events, is you can pay $250 for a ticket or whatever price that you can afford. What? Yes! We’ve designed these events to be affordable for you and we want to see you live and in person at the two-day interactive December 5th and 6th Thrive Time Show Business Workshop, December 5th and 6th in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And the way we do these events is we teach for 30 minutes, and then we open it up for a question and answer session. So that wonderful people like you can have your questions answered. Yes, we teach for 30 minutes, and then we open it up for a 15-minute question and answer session. It’s interactive, it’s two days, it’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We’ve been doing these events since 2005 and I’m telling you folks, it’s gonna blow your mind. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the Thrive Time Show two-day interactive business workshop is America’s highest rated and most reviewed business workshop. See the thousands of video testimonials from real people just like you who’ve been able to build multi-million dollar companies. Watch those testimonials today at Thrivetimeshow.com simply by clicking on the testimonials button right there at Thrivetimeshow.com. You’re gonna see thousands of people just like you who’ve been able to go from just surviving to thriving. Each and every day we’re gonna add more and more speakers to this all-star lineup but I encourage everybody out there today get those tickets today go to Thrivetimeshow.com. Let’s go there now. We’re feeling the flow. We’re going to Thrivetimeshow.com. Feeling it. Thrivetimeshow.com. Again, you just go to Thrivetimeshow.com. You click on the Business Conferences button, and you click on the Request Tickets button right there. The way I do our conferences is we tell people it’s $250 to get a ticket or whatever price that you can afford. And the reason why I do that is I grew up without money. JT, you’re in the process of building a super successful company. Yeah. You started out with a million dollars in the bank account? No, I did not. Nope, did not get any loans, nothing like that, did not get an inheritance from parents, anything like that. I had to work for it and I’m super grateful I came to a business conference. That’s actually how I met you, met Peter Taunton, I met all these people. So if you’re out there today and you want to come to our workshop, again, you just got to go to Thrivetimeshow.com. You might say, well, who’s speaking? We already covered that. You might say, where is it going to be? It’s going to be in Tulsa, Russell, Oklahoma. I suppose it’s Tulsa, Russell. I’m really trying to rebrand Tulsa as Tulsa, Russell, sort of like the Jerusalem of America. But if you type in Thrive Time Show in Jinx, you can get a sneak peek or a look at our office facility. This is what it looks like. This is where you’re headed. It’s going to be a blasty blast. You can look inside, see the facility. We’re going to have hundreds of entrepreneurs here. It is going to be packed. Now for this particular event folks, the seating is always limited because my facility isn’t a limitless convention center. You’re coming to my actual home office and so it’s going to be packed. Who? You! You’re going to come! Who? You! I’m talking to you. You can get your tickets right now at thrivetimeshow.com and again you can name your price. We tell people it’s $250 or whatever price you can afford and we do have some select VIP tickets Which gives you an access to meet some of the speakers and those sorts of things and those tickets are $500 It’s a two-day Interactive business workshop over 20 hours of business training We’re gonna give you a copy of my newest book the millionaires guide to becoming sustainably rich You’re gonna leave with a workbook. You’re gonna leave with everything you need to know to start and grow a super successful company It’s practical. It’s actionable and it’s Tebow time right here in Tulsa, Russelaum. Get those tickets today at Thrivetimeshow.com. Again, that’s Thrivetimeshow.com. Hello, I’m Michael Levine, and I’m talking to you right now from the center of Hollywood, California, where I have represented over the last 35 years 58 Academy Award winners, 34 Grammy Award winners, 43 New York Times bestsellers. I’ve represented a lot of major stars and I’ve worked with a lot of major companies and I think I’ve learned a few things about what makes them work and what makes them not work. Now why would a man living in Hollywood California in the beautiful sunny weather of LA come Come to Tulsa because last year I did it and it was damn exciting. Clay Clark has put together an exceptional Presentation really life-changing and I’m looking forward to seeing you then. I’m Michael Levine. I’ll see you in Tulsa Thrive time show two-day interactive business workshops are the world’s highest rated and most reviewed business Workshops because we teach you what you need to know to grow You can learn the proven We teach you what you need to know to grow. You can learn the proven 13 point business systems that Dr. Zellner and I have used over and over to start and grow successful companies. We get into the specifics, the specific steps on what you need to do to optimize your website. We’re gonna teach you how to fix your conversion rate. We’re gonna teach you how to do a social media marketing campaign that works. How do you raise capital? How do you get a small business loan? We teach you everything you need to know here during a two day, 15 hour workshop. It’s all here for you. You work every day in your business, but for two days you can escape and work on your business and build these proven systems. So now you can have a successful company that will produce both the time freedom and the financial freedom that you deserve. You’re going to leave energized, motivated, but you’re also going to leave empowered. The reason why I built these workshops is because as an entrepreneur I always wish that I had this and because there wasn’t anything like this I would go to these motivational seminars, no money down, real estate, Ponzi scheme, get motivated seminars and they would never teach me anything. It was like you went there and you paid for the big chocolate Easter Bunny but inside of it it was a hollow nothingness and I wanted the knowledge and they’re like oh but we’ll teach you the knowledge after our next workshop. And the great thing is we have nothing to upsell. At every workshop, we teach you what you need to know. There’s no one in the back of the room trying to sell you some next big get rich quick, walk on hot coals product. It’s literally we teach you the brass tacks, the specific stuff that you need to know to learn how to start and grow a business. I encourage you to not believe what I’m saying, but I want you to Google the Z66 auto auction. I want you to Google elephant in the room. Look at Robert Zellner and Associates. Look them up and say, are they successful because they’re geniuses or are they successful because they have a proven system? When you do that research, you will discover that the same systems that we use in our own business can be used in your business. Come to Tulsa, book a ticket, and I guarantee you it’s going to be the best business workshop ever and we’re going to give you your money back if you don’t love it. We’ve built this facility for you and we’re excited to see you. And now you may be thinking, what does it actually cost to attend an in-person two-day interactive Thrive Time Show business workshop? Well, good news, the tickets are $250 or whatever price that you can afford. What? Yes, they’re $250 or whatever price you can afford. I grew up without money and I know what it’s like to live without money. So if you’re out there today and you want to attend our in-person two-day interactive business workshop, all you got to do is go to Thrivetimeshow.com to request those tickets. And if you can’t afford $250, we have scholarship pricing available to make it affordable for you. I learned at the Academy, at King’s Point in New York, acta non verba. Watch what a person does, not what they say. Good morning, good morning, good morning. Herbert Kiyosaki, The Rich Dad Radio Show. Today I’m broadcasting from Phoenix, Arizona, not Scottsdale, Arizona. They’re close, but they’re completely different worlds. And I have a special guest today. The definition of intelligence is if you agree with me, you’re intelligent. And so this gentleman is very intelligent. I’ve done this show before also, but very seldom do you find somebody who lines up on all counts. And so Mr. Clay Clark is a friend of a good friend, Eric, Eric Trump, but we’re also talking about money, bricks, and how screwed up the world can get in a few and a half hour. So Clay Clark is a very intelligent man and there’s so many ways we could take this thing. But I thought since you and Eric are close, Trump, what were you saying about what Trump can’t, what Donald, who is my age, and I can say or cannot say. Well, first of all, I have to honor you, sir. I want to show you what I did to one of your books here. There’s a guy named Jeremy Thorn, who was my boss at the time. I was 19 years old, working at Faith Highway. I had a job at Applebee’s, Target, and DirecTV. And he said, have you read this book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad? And I said, no. And my father, may he rest in peace, he didn’t know these financial principles. So I started reading all of your books and really devouring your books. And I went from being an employee to self-employed to the business owner to the investor. And I owe a lot of that to you. And I just want to take a moment to tell you thank you so much for allowing me to achieve success. And I’ll tell you all about Eric Trump, but I just want to tell you, thank you, sir, for changing my life. Well, not only that, Clay, you know, thank you, but you’ve become an influencer. You know, more than anything else, you’ve evolved into an influencer where your word has more and more power. So that’s why I congratulate you on becoming. Because as you know, there’s a lot of fake influencers out there too, or bad influencers. Yeah. Anyway, I’m glad you and I agree so much, and thanks for reading my books. Yeah. That’s the greatest thrill for me today. Not thrill, but recognition is when people, young men especially, come up and say, I read your book, changed my life, I’m doing this, I’m doing this, I’m doing this. learned at the Academy at King’s Point in New York. Acta non verba. Watch what a person learned at the Academy at King’s Point in New York. Acta non verba. Watch what a person does, not what they say.