June 25, 2025 • 33 mins
What does it truly mean to build a business with purpose and faith at the center? Mark Drake's entrepreneurial journey offers profound insights into this question, revealing how spiritual foundation shapes business decisions in remarkable ways.
From humble beginnings charging $5 for neighborhood haircuts to becoming a tech innovator specializing in AI solutions, Mark's path demonstrates the power of patience and calculated progress. Rather than rushing toward success or taking on debt to fund his initial mobile app concept in 2013, he formed strategic partnerships that allowed him to learn and grow organically. This approach reflects his core philosophy: "partnership before profit," a principle that has yielded extraordinary relationships throughout his career.
Mark's candid discussion about overcoming procrastination particularly resonates. Instead of tackling everything at once, he learned to break goals into manageable pieces, creating what he calls "a mental hack" against his natural tendencies. This disciplined yet graceful approach mirrors his three-tier business philosophy: keep your heart right, give God something to work with daily, and find someone to serve. The progression from success to significance marks the maturity of his entrepreneurial vision—understanding that beyond profit lies the greater question of impact and legacy.
Perhaps most fascinating is Mark's current focus on artificial intelligence. His live demonstration of an AI voice bot capable of handling customer service interactions with remarkable fluency showcases the transformative potential of this technology. As he puts it, "AI is in its AOL phase"—we're only at the beginning of what's possible, and entrepreneurs who fail to incorporate AI risk being left behind.
Whether you're contemplating starting a business or seeking to infuse your existing venture with greater purpose, Mark's journey offers valuable wisdom about patience, partnership, and the profound impact that faith-centered entrepreneurship can have on the world. His ultimate goal transcends business metrics: to leave a legacy for his family while positively influencing thousands of lives through integrity and heart-centered leadership.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I know some people probably had it hard, but I was
blessed.
They ain't never saw my mom anddad in stress.
They only shows, they said I'mliving comfy from the sweat off
their backs and that's why all Iever wanted was to give it back
.
I'm not ashamed because I wasraised right.
No, I would only be ashamed ifI didn't help you fight through
the pain, help you drain out thegames that your mind plays.
(00:22):
No matter what, I'm neverletting my shine fade away,
(00:55):
forever searching.
Outro Music.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Journey Out
Podcast.
We want to thank you so muchfor liking, subscribing,
following commenting, sharingall of our videos.
We really appreciate it.
We see all the new uhsubscribers that we're getting
in the followers so we thank youappreciate you guys for all
that you do.
We thank you so much.
And, of course, if you're newhere, this is the journey out
podcast, where we talk allthings family values,
(01:20):
entrepreneurship and health careand today we have a really
great episode with a reallygreat family friend.
We have Mark here with us MarkDrake, the entrepreneur, the
business leader, the faithdriven visionary, and so we're
super excited to have you here,mark, and to talk about blending
business with purpose, beingdriven by faith and having a
(01:43):
heart for impact.
So we are super excited to haveyou.
And so let's talk about whereyou started the calling right,
the beginning of yourentrepreneur journey.
So when did you realize youwanted to be an entrepreneur?
And then what do you do?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
No, that's really good.
Great question.
Honestly, I think it chose me.
So I grew up in a neighborhoodwhere there was a lot of boys
that were crazy enough to let mecut their hair, and so that put
me in the position where Iwould charge them like five
dollars to cut their hair, and,of course, I was ultimately an
entrepreneur in that particulartransaction.
(02:17):
So, no, based on that, I neverreally placed in that
perspective, but I will sayaround probably 06,.
I remember having aconversation with a good pastor
friend of mine he's a guy that Iactually grew up with as well
and I said you know what?
I think I want to start abusiness.
And so I recall him goingthrough a laundry list of all
the responsibilities and all thehats you have to wear as an
(02:38):
entrepreneur and I gotdiscouraged.
I was like I didn't think aboutcustomer service, I didn't
think about onboarding, I didn'tthink about customer service, I
didn't think about onboarding.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I didn't think about having to manage inventory.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I didn't think about that, I just figured I just
start a business and I makemoney.
But he definitely placed thingsin perspective and I think that
allowed me to at least pivotlong enough to be able to answer
some of those questions beforeI really decided to move forward
, which happened in 2013.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
All right, so talk to us about 2013.
What did you start doing?
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Great question.
So 2012 is actually when thisidea started for me to launch a
mobile app, and this mobile appwas kind of a combination
between Facebook and Groupon.
So I did a lot of researchleading up to 2013 in
preparation for me actuallygoing live with this particular
concept, and so January 3rd iswhen I established my LLC, got
(03:32):
my website and all the above andreally just start working
towards building out thisprogram.
However, when you're talkingmobile applications, that can
get really expensive, and so Iwas looking at easy 50 to 65K
and so, based on that, I 50 to65 K, and so, uh, based on that,
I've never been big on debt,and so I was the guy to say,
okay, you give me a credit card,you may not get your money back
, right?
So, I didn't trust myself.
(03:52):
So, um, at least at that time.
Of course, I've matured a lotsince then, but I knew that
about myself, that I didn't wantto get into debt trying to
build out this particularbusiness.
And so I went to a communitycollege and I was just kind of
going there for some marketing,just trying to gain some wisdom
as far as how I can position thebusiness for success.
(04:14):
And there was a gentleman thatI met and he developed websites.
And at this time I had alreadykind of developed a team behind
me with this business conceptand I said you know what, if you
would allow us to come in asyour sales force, then we can
build a partnership where youcreate, of course, and develop
the websites, so we can kind ofgain that knowledge in the
(04:35):
process, and then, of course, wewould just go out and promote
your business.
And that's the relationshipthat we established and it
worked out extremely well.
So you established yourrelationship to learn.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
That's right, that's right, that was awesome.
That's awesome, that's awesome.
So tell me this who was one ofyour biggest influences?
You?
Speaker 4 (04:50):
know what, if you would have asked me this
question five years ago, I wouldhave gave you a different
answer.
But when I think about it, mydad my dad was the guy at the
church that sold the chips andthe candy out the car right out
the chips and the candy, out thecar right after church.
He was the guy that would goand paint.
He would, you know, builddifferent things.
He's a musician, so you'll playwith different groups and get
(05:12):
paid and things of that nature,and so just watch him over the
years move and shake verytalented individual and so he
will.
I would definitely say hestarts, set the tone right as
far as there's just going outand you know making things
happen.
And then, as I evolved in myunderstanding related to you
know, uh, entrepreneurship andyou know, being a professional,
a business professional, uh, myceo from the previous company
(05:35):
that I worked for would you callyourself a serial entrepreneur?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
very much so, okay, yeah, how many businesses do you
have and are you running?
Because this man right here?
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeah, well, my sweet spot where I'm putting all my
resources into.
Right now there's only one.
However, I've been known tojuggle at least three to four
businesses at a time.
I've always been an advocate ofhaving multiple streams of
income and my first businessthat I focused on was always
(06:07):
subscription-based.
So I was accustomed and I gotspoiled with, you know, residual
income.
You know doing something onetime, getting paid for it every
single month, and so forth, andto this day, we still have
clients on our platform thatpays us since 2013.
So, you know, with that, everybusiness I've tried to launch
has that residual aspect to it,which is why I was so um open to
(06:27):
the idea of acquiring differentbusinesses so that that
residual aspect could occurright.
So no passive income, I think,is the best way to go about
entrepreneurship, because,especially when you're a small
business, you're wearingmultiple hats already you may as
well get the biggest bang foryour buck so that's the attitude
.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, awesome.
And so how did you determinewhat you wanted to do?
Because really, with all your,I think it's more tech side,
right.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
It is.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
So how did you determine tech was what you
wanted to?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
do so?
The company that I worked for.
I was director of operationsfor a technology company here in
Plano, texas for about 10 years, and during that time I got
exposed to the corporatedynamics.
I got exposed to both the frontand the back office, and so at
certain levels, you know, theystart to pull back the curtain
and really show you how businessworks.
And so, you know, in thatenvironment of course it is a
(07:21):
tech driven environment, is atech sales environment as well
and so it just was kind of thething to do, just given the fact
that I was spending, you know,10 to 12 hours in this
environment on a monthly basisand getting exposed to, you know
, all of these conversationssending around how technology is
advanced in business, isadvanced in the world around us.
And so I just woke up onemorning and God gave me an idea
(07:42):
for, you know, this businessconcept, and you know,
historically speaking, I hadbusiness ideas, but I never
moved on them until 2013.
Let me tell you guys, whyBecause you know I was a guy.
You know procrastination was abig issue for me, right?
And so I think there's a lot ofpeople who struggle with
procrastination who are watchingthis podcast.
(08:03):
You need to start the business.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
This is God giving you that warning.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
But yeah, and so, before I even started, I had to
have a come to Jesus meetingwith myself.
So here's what I told myself.
I said that you know,historically speaking, you will
start something, but then youwill stop and you can't do this
because this is really a Godthing.
I felt in my heart.
It was, and so I said, versustrying to expedite success, I'm
going to take it one step at atime.
(08:28):
I'm not going to take a planetrain, a bus.
I'm not gonna take a planetrain, a bus.
I'm just gonna wake up everysingle day and put one foot in
front of the next and eventuallyI'll make it to my destination.
And so my ideal of success ismuch different now than what it
was then and which I lookforward to sharing with you guys
.
But definitely that was a kindof a moment for me where I
realized that technology wasgonna be it and there was a need
for me to really count the costas far as what I was going to
(08:49):
have to do in order to stay inthe game, let me.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Let me sidebar right quick, cause you said something
powerful that a lot ofentrepreneurs deal with, or
trying to start a business, orpeople that have uh uh dreams
and goals, but procrastinationright, yeah.
Uh, how disciplined do you haveto be?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Just to put the one foot forward.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
And even when it don't go your way, you're still
putting it on.
So how disciplined do you haveto?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
be.
Yeah, I think discipline is abyproduct of a made-up mind,
right, and so it boils down tojust understanding your triggers
, like if you reflect on whathas hindered you in the past,
then you can create a mentalhack against that to put
yourself in a position toovercome those barriers when
they come Right.
And so for me, again, it washey, I have an issue with
(09:40):
procrastination.
Let's step back some and createa calculated approach to how I
can overcome that.
Well, that's no longer an issue, right, and so I don't.
So for me, it was removing theburden of having to have it all
today to being able to say justgive me a piece of the pie,
right?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
so instead of saying, okay, I know where I want to be
in a year, I'm going to tackleeverything tomorrow.
Yeah, no, you said, okay, youprobably all right, let's see
what I'm gonna be at in a week.
Yeah, what's the small goalthere?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
you go right and I and I I can attest to that,
because that's kind of how mybrain works, like especially
with when you're a visionary.
You're a visionary.
This, this man right here is avisionary, and so I'm coming up
under him.
He's giving me the full 100,100 year plan there you go and
I'mthinking like, okay, I gotta go
do this, I gotta do this.
I'm like hold up, okay, hold on.
(10:40):
So yes, being calculated aboutit breaking it down into
incremental pieces by monththree.
This is what we should expectto see by month six, and so that
that really has been pivotal.
But you're doing it, you'rebuilding with purpose.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Absolutely, you're building with purpose.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So you're growing a business with that kingdom
mindset.
So what has been your approachto building your businesses?
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yeah, so, um, the number one approach is um, of
course, for me, it started, itstarts in phases, and so I hand
and I tell the team this like Ihave the everything in phases
and phases so I can avoidfeeling overwhelmed, amongst
other things.
But, um, you know, buildingbusiness really sends around my
heart for people, and so when Ifirst started my business, I
(11:21):
came up with a concept and Igotta give God, you know, glory
for it.
But it's partnership beforeprofit, and so that mindset has
yielded me the type ofrelationships at levels in which
, you know, really blows my mindto this day.
But it also allows me to governin a way where I ensure that
(11:42):
I'm not scheming or looking forways to get over people, amongst
other things, right, and so forme, it's really important that
my organizations are seen as acontributor by way of
partnership and alignment.
I want to be seen as a teammember right within your
business, so that you can knowthat we're working towards this
goal together.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
So even in partnership, right, partnership
don't necessarily mean off thetop, significant, significant
revenue.
Yeah, partnership and thatmindset is also mean that, hey,
you know what, I'm willing totake a back seat.
I'm willing to say, hey, let mebuild this foundation.
(12:23):
Yeah, right, that's awesome,bro, right that's awesome, I
think.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I think that's just a powerful foundation, because
when you put people first,everything else will kind of
just follow.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
And so.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I think that's what sells the business.
The people sell the business.
So when you have relationship,when you have like that servant
mindset, it's just going to comeback to you because they're
like hey, I appreciate how Marktreated me doing this whole
process, you know, and so thatspeaks volumes.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Now, what is the most difficult and rewarding thing
about an entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
About your experience .
Speaker 3 (12:57):
It's about your experience?
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Yeah, so I think the most difficult is being able to
stay agile and evolve as yourcategory of business evolves,
and so we started out in websitedevelopment, and that was at a
time where, of course, websiteswere a big part of business as
far as what they needed, but itwasn't as accessible as it is
(13:21):
today, meaning you can go.
Any platform is offering awebsite now in all due respects,
but, and so we had to thenpivot towards diversifying
beyond that, and so we went tosocial media management, and
then went to social mediamarketing, which consists of,
like, paid ads and so forth, andso just being able to evolve as
(13:43):
the needs evolve of our clients.
I think what has been the mostrewarding, but, at the same time
, the most challenging, becauseit keeps you on your toes,
because if you're not able toprovide the service that they're
looking for, guess what?
They're going to go somewhereelse.
And so when we are at least I'min this digital world and this
digital space it's beenimportant for us to, of course,
stay on top of what's happeningnow and being able to provide
(14:08):
that as a solution to ourclients in a way that is
practical to them and, of course, digestible at the same time,
because some technology evolvesto the point where I barely
understand it.
It's like, okay, wait a minute,let me figure this out.
And then being able to takethat information that you gather
and then, of course, package itin a way that can be delivered
to your prospects or yourclients, can be delivered to
(14:29):
your prospects or your clients,and so for us, it will continue
to be the most rewarding andchallenging thing, which is
staying on top of what'sevolving, what's next and so
forth.
But I think at the same time,it adds a lot of value to not
only our clients and prospects,but, of course, just people that
we care about, that we want tosee them successful, so we're
quick to share information andsay, hey, you can do this and
(14:51):
you can do that, and it allstems from things that we were
able to learn, so we can service, of course, the people who are
trusting us with.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Of course, that category of business, right
Right, and I do have like apersonal question, because this
is like super personal for ustoo, but how has your heart,
posture and spiritual foundationshaped your business decision?
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Oh, spiritual foundation shape your business
decision?
Oh, that's a great question.
So here's anyone around me inbusiness will know this which is
I have this three-tier approach, and that that's number one.
You have to keep your heartright, yes, so without that,
then you have nothing.
Okay, because there's so manythings that may pull you out of
the true character of god, thatbecause you want your business
to be shaped by him.
So keeping your heart right, inalignment with him is number
(15:33):
one, because there's a lot ofthings that may press you
outside of that space.
The second thing is you have toget up every day and give God
something to work with.
You don't have to have all theanswers, but you got to get up
and try and I, and I'm I'm goingto no, you're not you know.
But you still have to get up andsay, okay, god, I'm going to
give you the best of me today,whatever that looks like.
Because, again, when you comefrom a place of procrastination,
(15:54):
you know what it's like to justsit on the couch or settle for
comfort.
The list goes on.
So, being able to get up everysingle day and say, you know
what I'm going to inch forwardjust a little bit more, right,
and in hopes that you will honorthat a little bit Right.
The second, and then the thirdly, is find somebody to serve.
And I think that's where wemiss it a lot of times is that
you know we are willing to, uh,you know, keep things afloat by
(16:17):
way of business and want to bebraggadocious about what you're
doing.
But the question becomes whoare you serving in the process?
Right, and so for me, beingable to partner with, like, uh,
non-profits, ministries outsideof even the church realm, is a
big part of me giving back.
Even within my company now wehave a category of a whole plan
set aside for non-profits andit's just our way of saying hey,
(16:40):
we see what you're doing in thecommunity, we know you're
trying to make a difference.
Use this, check right and wewill support you on it to help
you, of course, go to that nextlevel, and so that's very
important to us, okay so I'm I'mgonna share a quick story real
quick before I ask this question.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Uh, I called mark and I was trying to start my
business and I was at a point towhere I was like, hey, listen,
saturday, I got to talk to thisguy on saturday, but I'm gonna
be going me and you was gonnameet that friday evening and I
was like, hey, I need some help.
But if I don't talk to theseguys, if this guy said they
(17:17):
don't tell me what I need toknow, I'm just going out putting
out flies.
I went to mark's house and hestarted asking me questions
about hey, man, do you have llc,do you have this?
I'm like, no, I don't, I don'thave it.
So this question I'm going tobring up to you what are some
(17:39):
strategies or tips would yourecommend to anyone looking to
start a business?
And, by the way, you opened mymind that night talking to you.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
So go ahead.
Yeah, yeah, um.
Strategies and tips to start inthe business are really, um, it
really starts with establishinga clear understanding of why
you want to do it.
So what is the purpose behindyou starting your business?
Are you looking to make animpact, uh, offline.
Are you looking to make animpact online?
How does that look for you?
And then, from there, reallybeing able to acquire the
(18:11):
necessary disciplines.
And when I say that, meaning,like, every business needs
certain infrastructure, right,so you need to have a web
presence.
I don't care if that's just asocial media page.
Start there, that's perfectlyfine, right?
The second aspect of that hasbeen the position where you also
understand your price point.
Like what are you going to becharging for your services?
(18:32):
What does your packages looklike?
And if and I would say what wasthat?
Probably 2014, 15.
When we met, uh, I probablywould have said get your LLC.
Not today, though, because it'sbecause it's very important to
establish proof of concept now,and what that looks like is
being able to create thatpackage and that plan and being
(18:54):
able to go out to market todetermine who actually wants it
and when they buy it at thatprice point in which you're able
to offer it.
But the biggest strategy of allis that, when it comes down to
it, give it away.
You want to build your portfolio.
You want to be able to say toyourself hey, I have seven
people that are currently usingthis particular services, or I
(19:14):
have seven people who are usingthis product and these other
type of benefits.
They're getting from it.
And so, going into the mindset,if you have a hundred dollar
product, that's the market value, but you're new to the game.
You only get.
You do 25.
Why?
Because you're trying to buildyour customer base, You're
trying to build your brand.
Right there you go as well, andyou can't beat experience.
(19:36):
You can go to college all daylong, but experience is the
greatest teacher.
It really is.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
But you know, I was going to say that Cause even to
the story that you just said,and then even from your journey,
really there's no like there'sschool, college will teach you
how to do business,administration, all those things
, but it's nothing like hands-ongetting in there and just doing
it, because that's where yougot your knowledge.
I now he's a visionary, but see, you know, it was a completely
(20:02):
different thing, right, but see,as you evolve, as you get put
in, you know differentexperiences.
As you get put into differentthings, you know okay, this is
how we need to work it.
This is the relationship thatI've got going on from this
person.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
This is how it's just it just flows a lot differently
, and that's awesome.
Find your product, find whoyou're going to serve.
Find your price point and giveit away, yeah.
Because you got to see if it'sproven.
Yeah Right, you got to.
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
So measuring success beyond profit centers around
your impact, right.
And so it comes back to thingslike what Antoine just said,
right, and so he was able tocome to me and talk about his
desire to do business Me, justbased on the due diligence that
I put forth years before him,and I ever sat down, right, and
(20:57):
so that speaks to you know.
To that I think greatly.
But I think there comes a phasewhere success for entrepreneur
has a cap, because you have tomove from success to
significance at some point, andso being able to say you know
what we're making, you know onepoint three, one point five
million dollars per year isphenomenal, that's great.
(21:18):
But then you have to understandthat there's another level to
that, once you meet that point,which has to do with your
significance, right, and so nowhow do I give back?
How do I impact others in a waythat they can one day find
themselves in the position thatI'm in?
Right, and so understanding fora lot of lunchmen.
(21:38):
And this is just maturity overthe years, because when you
start out, you want yourbusiness to be successful, which
is, again, phenomenal, but itreally boils down to okay, once
it becomes successful, then what?
Right, and that was where youtransitioned to significance.
How did I leave my, myfootprint on this earth in a way
that will continue to make animpact?
(22:06):
a positive impact over the years, right and so now I want to
talk a little bit aboutinnovation in the future,
because you're a big tech guy,and so we all know about AI.
That part.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay, so tell us more about what your company is
focusing on now.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, so funny.
In 2022, we were looking at amodel where we focused on
follow-up automation for ourclients.
So, as a spinoff to doing likesocial media ads, we generated a
lot of leads for our clientsbut quickly realized they didn't
have the internal capacity tomanage those leads effectively.
And I come somewhat come fromthat background where lead
(22:39):
management was a big part ofwhat we did to be successful,
and so we coined the phrasefollow-up as a service.
That did extremely well.
However, it can be expensivefor the everyday entrepreneur,
and so we in 2022, launched amodel called follow-up
automation where we createdunique workflows that would
allow business owners to just goout and connect and people
(23:00):
would scan and QR code and thenit would trigger a follow-up
campaign, et cetera, and that'sdone extremely well for us.
However, ai hit the fan also in2023 timeframe, 2022, 2023.
And it has changed the game fora lot of people.
And so I've been kind of on thesidelines just kind of
monitoring, playing around withchat, gpt and things of that
(23:21):
nature, gemini, et cetera.
And last year we just decidedto make that leap right and we
put everything into AI becausethere's nothing bigger.
I tell people and this may besensitive.
My wife doesn't like me to sayit, but I say right now there's
nothing bigger than AI andDonald Trump.
These are the two bigger topicsthat you cannot avoid.
Based on that with AI weinvested and put all our
(23:47):
resources to AI in 2024, and wetransitioned into a business
model where now we consultbusinesses on how to integrate
AI into their operations.
We also teach everyday users ofAI how to monetize it, and so
we've created a model wherewe're extremely excited and
proud that we actually launchedFebruary of this year and we are
(24:10):
in our third month at thisparticular time but we're doing
so well and we're making so muchnoise in this particular space.
But ultimately, right now, aiis the key, and so if you're
doing anything in business, youshould know that you have to
acquire that skill set tounderstand, prompting to
understand the various toolsthat are out there for you to be
able to utilize to really moveyour business forward
(24:30):
expeditiously, and so, becauseof AI, you can do that.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
So what impact do you see AI having on the business?
You know what.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
For this very interview.
I teed up an example for youguys I would love to share.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Let's do it.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Can I do that?
Okay, cool.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
We offer as a solution AI voice.
Ai voice is essentially a humantype of experience with AI that
interacts with the calleraudibly, of course.
It answers questions, itfacilitates appointments.
The list goes on and on.
So I taped this up for you guys.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
And.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Brianna, get ready.
I hope one of your phones isgoing to respond to what I'm
getting ready to do right now.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Just keep it handy.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
But let's see how this goes.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Oh, one of her phones now.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Oh, not yet.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
Hey, you have reached PC Home Help.
My name is Pam.
How can I help you today?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Hey, how you doing Pam.
This is Mark, and I'm actuallyhere with Antoine as well as
Bree, and we are sitting at apodcast talking about how AI is
impacting the business landscape.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Hey, Mark and Antoine and Bree, I'm doing.
Great thanks for asking.
That sounds like an excitingpodcast topic.
Ai is definitely shaking thingsup in the business world.
Is there anything specific?
Speaker 4 (25:51):
I'll cut you off, but yeah.
So I would honestly like toknow more about the services
that PC Home Health offers.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
No worries at all.
Pc Home Health offers noworries at all.
Pc Home Health offers a varietyof services to improve your
loved one's quality of life.
We provide medication reminders, personal care like bathing and
grooming, companionshipservices, live-in or hourly care
, meal preparation,transportation to appointments
and more.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Okay, well, let well, let me, yeah, let me ask you
this question how much does itcost for transportation services
?
Speaker 5 (26:27):
the cost for transportation services can vary
based on the specific needs anddistance.
It's best to contact usdirectly at 214-991-56119 for
detailed pricing informationtailored to your situation okay,
is there anything else you'dlike to know?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
yeah, if I were to apply.
How can I go about applying?
Speaker 5 (26:48):
please wait while I send over the information.
I've got you covered.
You can apply by visiting ourwebsite or contacting us
directly for more details.
If you need any help with theprocess, just just let me know.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Okay, great, and can you go ahead and I want to speak
with somebody.
Can you transfer me to one ofthe team members?
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Please wait while I transfer you to one of our home
health agents.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
That's so crazy.
Hi, you have reached PC HomeHealth.
Sorry, you got the phone.
It's an earthquake bug.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
That is wild, that is crazy.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
That is so wild.
That is cool.
Man, I didn't know you wasgoing to do that.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
There you go.
That is awesome.
Mind is below.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
So real quick.
So tell us what we justwitnessed.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Okay, so what you just experienced was a live AI
voice bot that specializes in PChome health.
So what we've done?
We've gathered all the contentfrom your website, from your
social, and it was able to builda profile, to understand the
business and, based on that, itwas able to deliver that
customer service experience.
Not only did it transfer thecall to you, but it sent me a
(28:05):
text message to the applicationpage on your website, and so,
yeah, it's phenomenal.
So I'm gonna show you that nowso you guys can see oh, my
goodness, and so I don't know ifthey can see it on the camera
or not, but this is theirwebsite.
There you go, but this is $1.0.
(28:25):
I tell people that right now,with AI, it's in the AOL phase.
So if you guys can remember,you can't stop playing.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
I remember that I remember that.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I remember that, okay , but AOL, if you recall, aol
was extremely slow and kind ofdilapidated, right and so, but
now we have internet on ourphones, so it just shows you how
it has advanced over the last20 years or so, and so, based on
that, ai is there.
Eventually, we're going to getto a point where AI is operating
(28:57):
tasks just as well, if notbetter, as a human being, right
and so, and this is what they'reworking towards currently.
And so it's important againthat any entrepreneur, if you
are looking to get started, youhave to incorporate AI as a part
of your tech infrastructure,because you will get left behind
, because it's likely yourcompetitors are doing it.
If you are a business, too,where you're wearing multiple
hats, your schedule is tight.
(29:18):
There actually may be somebodycalling you right now Bree or
whatever that looks like, tryingto send you a referral or
whatever, but who are theyspeaking with when your phone is
on airplane mode?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
So there's just a lot to consider there.
That's great.
Yeah, so that's a lot.
So tell me this Is there areason for anybody to be afraid
of AI or businesses or people?
So?
Speaker 4 (29:38):
I think the thought process should be more so around
how the world has evolved overtime.
So we go back to the industrialage.
Right before it there was cartand buggy, right, and that's how
people got around and deliveredgoods, amongst other things and
so.
But then you had trains, thenyou had cars, right.
And so the people who wasriding the cart and buggy, what
(30:00):
do they have to do?
They have to learn how tomaneuver right and start maybe
driving cars and trucks and soforth.
So it's no different than wherewe are today.
We just will.
We will evolve with the times,no different than we have in the
past, even from a businessstandpoint.
When um websites came out,business owners used to say,
well, why do I need a websitewhen I have the yellow pages?
Now they have to have a website.
Speaker 5 (30:18):
But then social media , hit and business owners would
to say, well, why do I need awebsite?
Speaker 4 (30:20):
when I have the yellow pages.
Now they have to have a website.
But then social media hit andbusiness owners would say, well,
why do I need social media whenI got a website?
Well, let me go old school.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yeah, when Blockbuster was in and they was
putting out DVDs.
Why do I need a DVD when I gotVHS?
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Yeah, there you go, there you go, so it evolved, and
so now we're at a space wherethey're saying hey, I have a
website and I have social media.
Why do I need AI?
Right and so, uh, and it's ourjob to educate and to, of course
, bring the necessary claritythat's needed for people to
really see its value, amongstother things.
And this is just one example ofthat.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Right, and so, mind you, my mind is still blown.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Like it's.
That's just freaking amazingand I think it really talks to
like the legacy and life missionof like what you're trying to
do, and so it's being like thebottom line.
So why?
What is your mission in life?
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Yeah, my mission in life is to, of course, work to
leave a legacy for my family.
That's number one.
I want them to be in a positionwhere they never have to work
again.
If anything, they're workingthe businesses that God has
blessed me and my wife to create.
But also, you know, I see livesbeing impacted by what we've
been able to do.
You know I say lives meanthousands, if not hundreds of
(31:31):
thousands at the end of the day.
So, with the platform that Godhas given us, you know we're
using it, of course, in a way inwhich we're being very
intentional about the tone inwhich we're set in business,
because I think people careabout integrity.
They care about, you know,being under the umbrella of
leadership that really has aheart for God, amongst other
things, in this people.
And so, you know, the purposereally centers around just being
(31:54):
able to.
The Bible says, as you said, mysheep, my sheep will know my
voice and the strange voice thatwill not follow.
We just want the sheep, thatknow our voice right and so,
because those are the people whowill leave that lasting impact
and impression.
So that's the purpose behindwhat we do.
Wow, I love that.
To identify those Listen thatwas great.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
It was.
I just really appreciate it.
I just also share with thelisteners how they can get all
of you AI voice and all thethings that you know it's really
good, we won't keep it simple.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
Just go to being mark Drake on Instagram and we can
connect be I am mark Drake.
Yeah, there you go you can findme there thank you so much,
mark.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Or just an amazing conversation just about
entrepreneurship as a whole, butalso about just that faith
driven entrepreneurship, becausethat's a lot of people don't
see that on a day to day basis,and so that's super important to
us, and so I'm so happy thatyou were able to kind of share
that today.
Um, I hope that you all enjoyedthis episode.
I mean, it was so great andthere's so many great nuggets in
(32:56):
there.
So if you have that dream, ifyou want to get started, please
just bite the bullet.
Just do it and you will learnso much on the way.
You don't have to knoweverything to get started again.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
One little experience can change and I hope this
builds you for your day-to-day.
If you have that dream right,just take one step at a time,
put one foot in front of theother.
Don't procrastinate.
Yeah right, it's not going tobe easy, but just take one day
at a time.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yes, yes, and with that we're out.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
We hope y'all enjoy.
Y'all have a best one.
Peace out you.
I know some people probably had it hard, but I was
blessed.
They ain't never saw my mom anddad in stress.
They only shows, they said I'mliving comfy from the sweat off
their backs and that's why all Iever wanted was to give it back
.
I'm not ashamed because I wasraised right.
No, I would only be ashamed ifI didn't help you fight through
the pain, help you drain out thegames that your mind plays.
(00:22):
No matter what, I'm neverletting my shine fade away,
(00:55):
forever searching.
Outro Music.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Journey Out
Podcast.
We want to thank you so muchfor liking, subscribing,
following commenting, sharingall of our videos.
We really appreciate it.
We see all the new uhsubscribers that we're getting
in the followers so we thank youappreciate you guys for all
that you do.
We thank you so much.
And, of course, if you're newhere, this is the journey out
podcast, where we talk allthings family values,
(01:20):
entrepreneurship and health careand today we have a really
great episode with a reallygreat family friend.
We have Mark here with us MarkDrake, the entrepreneur, the
business leader, the faithdriven visionary, and so we're
super excited to have you here,mark, and to talk about blending
business with purpose, beingdriven by faith and having a
(01:43):
heart for impact.
So we are super excited to haveyou.
And so let's talk about whereyou started the calling right,
the beginning of yourentrepreneur journey.
So when did you realize youwanted to be an entrepreneur?
And then what do you do?
Speaker 4 (01:56):
No, that's really good.
Great question.
Honestly, I think it chose me.
So I grew up in a neighborhoodwhere there was a lot of boys
that were crazy enough to let mecut their hair, and so that put
me in the position where Iwould charge them like five
dollars to cut their hair, and,of course, I was ultimately an
entrepreneur in that particulartransaction.
(02:17):
So, no, based on that, I neverreally placed in that
perspective, but I will sayaround probably 06,.
I remember having aconversation with a good pastor
friend of mine he's a guy that Iactually grew up with as well
and I said you know what?
I think I want to start abusiness.
And so I recall him goingthrough a laundry list of all
the responsibilities and all thehats you have to wear as an
(02:38):
entrepreneur and I gotdiscouraged.
I was like I didn't think aboutcustomer service, I didn't
think about onboarding, I didn'tthink about customer service, I
didn't think about onboarding.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
I didn't think about having to manage inventory.
Speaker 4 (02:49):
I didn't think about that, I just figured I just
start a business and I makemoney.
But he definitely placed thingsin perspective and I think that
allowed me to at least pivotlong enough to be able to answer
some of those questions beforeI really decided to move forward
, which happened in 2013.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
All right, so talk to us about 2013.
What did you start doing?
Speaker 4 (03:07):
Great question.
So 2012 is actually when thisidea started for me to launch a
mobile app, and this mobile appwas kind of a combination
between Facebook and Groupon.
So I did a lot of researchleading up to 2013 in
preparation for me actuallygoing live with this particular
concept, and so January 3rd iswhen I established my LLC, got
(03:32):
my website and all the above andreally just start working
towards building out thisprogram.
However, when you're talkingmobile applications, that can
get really expensive, and so Iwas looking at easy 50 to 65K
and so, based on that, I 50 to65 K, and so, uh, based on that,
I've never been big on debt,and so I was the guy to say,
okay, you give me a credit card,you may not get your money back
, right?
So, I didn't trust myself.
(03:52):
So, um, at least at that time.
Of course, I've matured a lotsince then, but I knew that
about myself, that I didn't wantto get into debt trying to
build out this particularbusiness.
And so I went to a communitycollege and I was just kind of
going there for some marketing,just trying to gain some wisdom
as far as how I can position thebusiness for success.
(04:14):
And there was a gentleman thatI met and he developed websites.
And at this time I had alreadykind of developed a team behind
me with this business conceptand I said you know what, if you
would allow us to come in asyour sales force, then we can
build a partnership where youcreate, of course, and develop
the websites, so we can kind ofgain that knowledge in the
(04:35):
process, and then, of course, wewould just go out and promote
your business.
And that's the relationshipthat we established and it
worked out extremely well.
So you established yourrelationship to learn.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
That's right, that's right, that was awesome.
That's awesome, that's awesome.
So tell me this who was one ofyour biggest influences?
You?
Speaker 4 (04:50):
know what, if you would have asked me this
question five years ago, I wouldhave gave you a different
answer.
But when I think about it, mydad my dad was the guy at the
church that sold the chips andthe candy out the car right out
the chips and the candy, out thecar right after church.
He was the guy that would goand paint.
He would, you know, builddifferent things.
He's a musician, so you'll playwith different groups and get
(05:12):
paid and things of that nature,and so just watch him over the
years move and shake verytalented individual and so he
will.
I would definitely say hestarts, set the tone right as
far as there's just going outand you know making things
happen.
And then, as I evolved in myunderstanding related to you
know, uh, entrepreneurship andyou know, being a professional,
a business professional, uh, myceo from the previous company
(05:35):
that I worked for would you callyourself a serial entrepreneur?
Speaker 3 (05:38):
very much so, okay, yeah, how many businesses do you
have and are you running?
Because this man right here?
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeah, well, my sweet spot where I'm putting all my
resources into.
Right now there's only one.
However, I've been known tojuggle at least three to four
businesses at a time.
I've always been an advocate ofhaving multiple streams of
income and my first businessthat I focused on was always
(06:07):
subscription-based.
So I was accustomed and I gotspoiled with, you know, residual
income.
You know doing something onetime, getting paid for it every
single month, and so forth, andto this day, we still have
clients on our platform thatpays us since 2013.
So, you know, with that, everybusiness I've tried to launch
has that residual aspect to it,which is why I was so um open to
(06:27):
the idea of acquiring differentbusinesses so that that
residual aspect could occurright.
So no passive income, I think,is the best way to go about
entrepreneurship, because,especially when you're a small
business, you're wearingmultiple hats already you may as
well get the biggest bang foryour buck so that's the attitude
.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, awesome.
And so how did you determinewhat you wanted to do?
Because really, with all your,I think it's more tech side,
right.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
It is.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
So how did you determine tech was what you
wanted to?
Speaker 4 (06:56):
do so?
The company that I worked for.
I was director of operationsfor a technology company here in
Plano, texas for about 10 years, and during that time I got
exposed to the corporatedynamics.
I got exposed to both the frontand the back office, and so at
certain levels, you know, theystart to pull back the curtain
and really show you how businessworks.
And so, you know, in thatenvironment of course it is a
(07:21):
tech driven environment, is atech sales environment as well
and so it just was kind of thething to do, just given the fact
that I was spending, you know,10 to 12 hours in this
environment on a monthly basisand getting exposed to, you know
, all of these conversationssending around how technology is
advanced in business, isadvanced in the world around us.
And so I just woke up onemorning and God gave me an idea
(07:42):
for, you know, this businessconcept, and you know,
historically speaking, I hadbusiness ideas, but I never
moved on them until 2013.
Let me tell you guys, whyBecause you know I was a guy.
You know procrastination was abig issue for me, right?
And so I think there's a lot ofpeople who struggle with
procrastination who are watchingthis podcast.
(08:03):
You need to start the business.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
This is God giving you that warning.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
But yeah, and so, before I even started, I had to
have a come to Jesus meetingwith myself.
So here's what I told myself.
I said that you know,historically speaking, you will
start something, but then youwill stop and you can't do this
because this is really a Godthing.
I felt in my heart.
It was, and so I said, versustrying to expedite success, I'm
going to take it one step at atime.
(08:28):
I'm not going to take a planetrain, a bus.
I'm not gonna take a planetrain, a bus.
I'm just gonna wake up everysingle day and put one foot in
front of the next and eventuallyI'll make it to my destination.
And so my ideal of success ismuch different now than what it
was then and which I lookforward to sharing with you guys
.
But definitely that was a kindof a moment for me where I
realized that technology wasgonna be it and there was a need
for me to really count the costas far as what I was going to
(08:49):
have to do in order to stay inthe game, let me.
Speaker 3 (08:51):
Let me sidebar right quick, cause you said something
powerful that a lot ofentrepreneurs deal with, or
trying to start a business, orpeople that have uh uh dreams
and goals, but procrastinationright, yeah.
Uh, how disciplined do you haveto be?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
to do that.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Just to put the one foot forward.
Speaker 3 (09:14):
And even when it don't go your way, you're still
putting it on.
So how disciplined do you haveto?
Speaker 4 (09:18):
be.
Yeah, I think discipline is abyproduct of a made-up mind,
right, and so it boils down tojust understanding your triggers
, like if you reflect on whathas hindered you in the past,
then you can create a mentalhack against that to put
yourself in a position toovercome those barriers when
they come Right.
And so for me, again, it washey, I have an issue with
(09:40):
procrastination.
Let's step back some and createa calculated approach to how I
can overcome that.
Well, that's no longer an issue, right, and so I don't.
So for me, it was removing theburden of having to have it all
today to being able to say justgive me a piece of the pie,
right?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
so instead of saying, okay, I know where I want to be
in a year, I'm going to tackleeverything tomorrow.
Yeah, no, you said, okay, youprobably all right, let's see
what I'm gonna be at in a week.
Yeah, what's the small goalthere?
Speaker 2 (10:12):
you go right and I and I I can attest to that,
because that's kind of how mybrain works, like especially
with when you're a visionary.
You're a visionary.
This, this man right here is avisionary, and so I'm coming up
under him.
He's giving me the full 100,100 year plan there you go and
I'mthinking like, okay, I gotta go
do this, I gotta do this.
I'm like hold up, okay, hold on.
(10:40):
So yes, being calculated aboutit breaking it down into
incremental pieces by monththree.
This is what we should expectto see by month six, and so that
that really has been pivotal.
But you're doing it, you'rebuilding with purpose.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
Absolutely, you're building with purpose.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
So you're growing a business with that kingdom
mindset.
So what has been your approachto building your businesses?
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Yeah, so, um, the number one approach is um, of
course, for me, it started, itstarts in phases, and so I hand
and I tell the team this like Ihave the everything in phases
and phases so I can avoidfeeling overwhelmed, amongst
other things.
But, um, you know, buildingbusiness really sends around my
heart for people, and so when Ifirst started my business, I
(11:21):
came up with a concept and Igotta give God, you know, glory
for it.
But it's partnership beforeprofit, and so that mindset has
yielded me the type ofrelationships at levels in which
, you know, really blows my mindto this day.
But it also allows me to governin a way where I ensure that
(11:42):
I'm not scheming or looking forways to get over people, amongst
other things, right, and so forme, it's really important that
my organizations are seen as acontributor by way of
partnership and alignment.
I want to be seen as a teammember right within your
business, so that you can knowthat we're working towards this
goal together.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
So even in partnership, right, partnership
don't necessarily mean off thetop, significant, significant
revenue.
Yeah, partnership and thatmindset is also mean that, hey,
you know what, I'm willing totake a back seat.
I'm willing to say, hey, let mebuild this foundation.
(12:23):
Yeah, right, that's awesome,bro, right that's awesome, I
think.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
I think that's just a powerful foundation, because
when you put people first,everything else will kind of
just follow.
Speaker 4 (12:33):
And so.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I think that's what sells the business.
The people sell the business.
So when you have relationship,when you have like that servant
mindset, it's just going to comeback to you because they're
like hey, I appreciate how Marktreated me doing this whole
process, you know, and so thatspeaks volumes.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Now, what is the most difficult and rewarding thing
about an entrepreneur?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
About your experience .
Speaker 3 (12:57):
It's about your experience?
Speaker 4 (12:58):
Yeah, so I think the most difficult is being able to
stay agile and evolve as yourcategory of business evolves,
and so we started out in websitedevelopment, and that was at a
time where, of course, websiteswere a big part of business as
far as what they needed, but itwasn't as accessible as it is
(13:21):
today, meaning you can go.
Any platform is offering awebsite now in all due respects,
but, and so we had to thenpivot towards diversifying
beyond that, and so we went tosocial media management, and
then went to social mediamarketing, which consists of,
like, paid ads and so forth, andso just being able to evolve as
(13:43):
the needs evolve of our clients.
I think what has been the mostrewarding, but, at the same time
, the most challenging, becauseit keeps you on your toes,
because if you're not able toprovide the service that they're
looking for, guess what?
They're going to go somewhereelse.
And so when we are at least I'min this digital world and this
digital space it's beenimportant for us to, of course,
stay on top of what's happeningnow and being able to provide
(14:08):
that as a solution to ourclients in a way that is
practical to them and, of course, digestible at the same time,
because some technology evolvesto the point where I barely
understand it.
It's like, okay, wait a minute,let me figure this out.
And then being able to takethat information that you gather
and then, of course, package itin a way that can be delivered
to your prospects or yourclients, can be delivered to
(14:29):
your prospects or your clients,and so for us, it will continue
to be the most rewarding andchallenging thing, which is
staying on top of what'sevolving, what's next and so
forth.
But I think at the same time,it adds a lot of value to not
only our clients and prospects,but, of course, just people that
we care about, that we want tosee them successful, so we're
quick to share information andsay, hey, you can do this and
(14:51):
you can do that, and it allstems from things that we were
able to learn, so we can service, of course, the people who are
trusting us with.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
Of course, that category of business, right
Right, and I do have like apersonal question, because this
is like super personal for ustoo, but how has your heart,
posture and spiritual foundationshaped your business decision?
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Oh, spiritual foundation shape your business
decision?
Oh, that's a great question.
So here's anyone around me inbusiness will know this which is
I have this three-tier approach, and that that's number one.
You have to keep your heartright, yes, so without that,
then you have nothing.
Okay, because there's so manythings that may pull you out of
the true character of god, thatbecause you want your business
to be shaped by him.
So keeping your heart right, inalignment with him is number
(15:33):
one, because there's a lot ofthings that may press you
outside of that space.
The second thing is you have toget up every day and give God
something to work with.
You don't have to have all theanswers, but you got to get up
and try and I, and I'm I'm goingto no, you're not you know.
But you still have to get up andsay, okay, god, I'm going to
give you the best of me today,whatever that looks like.
Because, again, when you comefrom a place of procrastination,
(15:54):
you know what it's like to justsit on the couch or settle for
comfort.
The list goes on.
So, being able to get up everysingle day and say, you know
what I'm going to inch forwardjust a little bit more, right,
and in hopes that you will honorthat a little bit Right.
The second, and then the thirdly, is find somebody to serve.
And I think that's where wemiss it a lot of times is that
you know we are willing to, uh,you know, keep things afloat by
(16:17):
way of business and want to bebraggadocious about what you're
doing.
But the question becomes whoare you serving in the process?
Right, and so for me, beingable to partner with, like, uh,
non-profits, ministries outsideof even the church realm, is a
big part of me giving back.
Even within my company now wehave a category of a whole plan
set aside for non-profits andit's just our way of saying hey,
(16:40):
we see what you're doing in thecommunity, we know you're
trying to make a difference.
Use this, check right and wewill support you on it to help
you, of course, go to that nextlevel, and so that's very
important to us, okay so I'm I'mgonna share a quick story real
quick before I ask this question.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
Uh, I called mark and I was trying to start my
business and I was at a point towhere I was like, hey, listen,
saturday, I got to talk to thisguy on saturday, but I'm gonna
be going me and you was gonnameet that friday evening and I
was like, hey, I need some help.
But if I don't talk to theseguys, if this guy said they
(17:17):
don't tell me what I need toknow, I'm just going out putting
out flies.
I went to mark's house and hestarted asking me questions
about hey, man, do you have llc,do you have this?
I'm like, no, I don't, I don'thave it.
So this question I'm going tobring up to you what are some
(17:39):
strategies or tips would yourecommend to anyone looking to
start a business?
And, by the way, you opened mymind that night talking to you.
Speaker 4 (17:49):
So go ahead.
Yeah, yeah, um.
Strategies and tips to start inthe business are really, um, it
really starts with establishinga clear understanding of why
you want to do it.
So what is the purpose behindyou starting your business?
Are you looking to make animpact, uh, offline.
Are you looking to make animpact online?
How does that look for you?
And then, from there, reallybeing able to acquire the
(18:11):
necessary disciplines.
And when I say that, meaning,like, every business needs
certain infrastructure, right,so you need to have a web
presence.
I don't care if that's just asocial media page.
Start there, that's perfectlyfine, right?
The second aspect of that hasbeen the position where you also
understand your price point.
Like what are you going to becharging for your services?
(18:32):
What does your packages looklike?
And if and I would say what wasthat?
Probably 2014, 15.
When we met, uh, I probablywould have said get your LLC.
Not today, though, because it'sbecause it's very important to
establish proof of concept now,and what that looks like is
being able to create thatpackage and that plan and being
(18:54):
able to go out to market todetermine who actually wants it
and when they buy it at thatprice point in which you're able
to offer it.
But the biggest strategy of allis that, when it comes down to
it, give it away.
You want to build your portfolio.
You want to be able to say toyourself hey, I have seven
people that are currently usingthis particular services, or I
(19:14):
have seven people who are usingthis product and these other
type of benefits.
They're getting from it.
And so, going into the mindset,if you have a hundred dollar
product, that's the market value, but you're new to the game.
You only get.
You do 25.
Why?
Because you're trying to buildyour customer base, You're
trying to build your brand.
Right there you go as well, andyou can't beat experience.
(19:36):
You can go to college all daylong, but experience is the
greatest teacher.
It really is.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
But you know, I was going to say that Cause even to
the story that you just said,and then even from your journey,
really there's no like there'sschool, college will teach you
how to do business,administration, all those things
, but it's nothing like hands-ongetting in there and just doing
it, because that's where yougot your knowledge.
I now he's a visionary, but see, you know, it was a completely
(20:02):
different thing, right, but see,as you evolve, as you get put
in, you know differentexperiences.
As you get put into differentthings, you know okay, this is
how we need to work it.
This is the relationship thatI've got going on from this
person.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
This is how it's just it just flows a lot differently
, and that's awesome.
Find your product, find whoyou're going to serve.
Find your price point and giveit away, yeah.
Because you got to see if it'sproven.
Yeah Right, you got to.
That's awesome.
Speaker 4 (20:36):
So measuring success beyond profit centers around
your impact, right.
And so it comes back to thingslike what Antoine just said,
right, and so he was able tocome to me and talk about his
desire to do business Me, justbased on the due diligence that
I put forth years before him,and I ever sat down, right, and
(20:57):
so that speaks to you know.
To that I think greatly.
But I think there comes a phasewhere success for entrepreneur
has a cap, because you have tomove from success to
significance at some point, andso being able to say you know
what we're making, you know onepoint three, one point five
million dollars per year isphenomenal, that's great.
(21:18):
But then you have to understandthat there's another level to
that, once you meet that point,which has to do with your
significance, right, and so nowhow do I give back?
How do I impact others in a waythat they can one day find
themselves in the position thatI'm in?
Right, and so understanding fora lot of lunchmen.
(21:38):
And this is just maturity overthe years, because when you
start out, you want yourbusiness to be successful, which
is, again, phenomenal, but itreally boils down to okay, once
it becomes successful, then what?
Right, and that was where youtransitioned to significance.
How did I leave my, myfootprint on this earth in a way
that will continue to make animpact?
(22:06):
a positive impact over the years, right and so now I want to
talk a little bit aboutinnovation in the future,
because you're a big tech guy,and so we all know about AI.
That part.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Okay, so tell us more about what your company is
focusing on now.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Yeah, so funny.
In 2022, we were looking at amodel where we focused on
follow-up automation for ourclients.
So, as a spinoff to doing likesocial media ads, we generated a
lot of leads for our clientsbut quickly realized they didn't
have the internal capacity tomanage those leads effectively.
And I come somewhat come fromthat background where lead
(22:39):
management was a big part ofwhat we did to be successful,
and so we coined the phrasefollow-up as a service.
That did extremely well.
However, it can be expensivefor the everyday entrepreneur,
and so we in 2022, launched amodel called follow-up
automation where we createdunique workflows that would
allow business owners to just goout and connect and people
(23:00):
would scan and QR code and thenit would trigger a follow-up
campaign, et cetera, and that'sdone extremely well for us.
However, ai hit the fan also in2023 timeframe, 2022, 2023.
And it has changed the game fora lot of people.
And so I've been kind of on thesidelines just kind of
monitoring, playing around withchat, gpt and things of that
(23:21):
nature, gemini, et cetera.
And last year we just decidedto make that leap right and we
put everything into AI becausethere's nothing bigger.
I tell people and this may besensitive.
My wife doesn't like me to sayit, but I say right now there's
nothing bigger than AI andDonald Trump.
These are the two bigger topicsthat you cannot avoid.
Based on that with AI weinvested and put all our
(23:47):
resources to AI in 2024, and wetransitioned into a business
model where now we consultbusinesses on how to integrate
AI into their operations.
We also teach everyday users ofAI how to monetize it, and so
we've created a model wherewe're extremely excited and
proud that we actually launchedFebruary of this year and we are
(24:10):
in our third month at thisparticular time but we're doing
so well and we're making so muchnoise in this particular space.
But ultimately, right now, aiis the key, and so if you're
doing anything in business, youshould know that you have to
acquire that skill set tounderstand, prompting to
understand the various toolsthat are out there for you to be
able to utilize to really moveyour business forward
(24:30):
expeditiously, and so, becauseof AI, you can do that.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
So what impact do you see AI having on the business?
You know what.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
For this very interview.
I teed up an example for youguys I would love to share.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Let's do it.
Speaker 5 (24:44):
Can I do that?
Okay, cool.
Speaker 4 (24:46):
We offer as a solution AI voice.
Ai voice is essentially a humantype of experience with AI that
interacts with the calleraudibly, of course.
It answers questions, itfacilitates appointments.
The list goes on and on.
So I taped this up for you guys.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
And.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Brianna, get ready.
I hope one of your phones isgoing to respond to what I'm
getting ready to do right now.
Speaker 5 (25:09):
Just keep it handy.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
But let's see how this goes.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Oh, one of her phones now.
Speaker 4 (25:19):
Oh, not yet.
Speaker 5 (25:20):
Hey, you have reached PC Home Help.
My name is Pam.
How can I help you today?
Speaker 4 (25:25):
Hey, how you doing Pam.
This is Mark, and I'm actuallyhere with Antoine as well as
Bree, and we are sitting at apodcast talking about how AI is
impacting the business landscape.
Speaker 5 (25:38):
Hey, Mark and Antoine and Bree, I'm doing.
Great thanks for asking.
That sounds like an excitingpodcast topic.
Ai is definitely shaking thingsup in the business world.
Is there anything specific?
Speaker 4 (25:51):
I'll cut you off, but yeah.
So I would honestly like toknow more about the services
that PC Home Health offers.
Speaker 5 (26:00):
No worries at all.
Pc Home Health offers noworries at all.
Pc Home Health offers a varietyof services to improve your
loved one's quality of life.
We provide medication reminders, personal care like bathing and
grooming, companionshipservices, live-in or hourly care
, meal preparation,transportation to appointments
and more.
Speaker 4 (26:20):
Okay, well, let well, let me, yeah, let me ask you
this question how much does itcost for transportation services
?
Speaker 5 (26:27):
the cost for transportation services can vary
based on the specific needs anddistance.
It's best to contact usdirectly at 214-991-56119 for
detailed pricing informationtailored to your situation okay,
is there anything else you'dlike to know?
Speaker 4 (26:43):
yeah, if I were to apply.
How can I go about applying?
Speaker 5 (26:48):
please wait while I send over the information.
I've got you covered.
You can apply by visiting ourwebsite or contacting us
directly for more details.
If you need any help with theprocess, just just let me know.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
Okay, great, and can you go ahead and I want to speak
with somebody.
Can you transfer me to one ofthe team members?
Speaker 5 (27:09):
Please wait while I transfer you to one of our home
health agents.
Speaker 3 (27:19):
That's so crazy.
Hi, you have reached PC HomeHealth.
Sorry, you got the phone.
It's an earthquake bug.
Speaker 4 (27:30):
That is wild, that is crazy.
Speaker 3 (27:32):
That is so wild.
That is cool.
Man, I didn't know you wasgoing to do that.
Speaker 2 (27:35):
There you go.
That is awesome.
Mind is below.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
So real quick.
So tell us what we justwitnessed.
Speaker 4 (27:42):
Okay, so what you just experienced was a live AI
voice bot that specializes in PChome health.
So what we've done?
We've gathered all the contentfrom your website, from your
social, and it was able to builda profile, to understand the
business and, based on that, itwas able to deliver that
customer service experience.
Not only did it transfer thecall to you, but it sent me a
(28:05):
text message to the applicationpage on your website, and so,
yeah, it's phenomenal.
So I'm gonna show you that nowso you guys can see oh, my
goodness, and so I don't know ifthey can see it on the camera
or not, but this is theirwebsite.
There you go, but this is $1.0.
(28:25):
I tell people that right now,with AI, it's in the AOL phase.
So if you guys can remember,you can't stop playing.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
I remember that I remember that.
Speaker 4 (28:35):
I remember that, okay , but AOL, if you recall, aol
was extremely slow and kind ofdilapidated, right and so, but
now we have internet on ourphones, so it just shows you how
it has advanced over the last20 years or so, and so, based on
that, ai is there.
Eventually, we're going to getto a point where AI is operating
(28:57):
tasks just as well, if notbetter, as a human being, right
and so, and this is what they'reworking towards currently.
And so it's important againthat any entrepreneur, if you
are looking to get started, youhave to incorporate AI as a part
of your tech infrastructure,because you will get left behind
, because it's likely yourcompetitors are doing it.
If you are a business, too,where you're wearing multiple
hats, your schedule is tight.
(29:18):
There actually may be somebodycalling you right now Bree or
whatever that looks like, tryingto send you a referral or
whatever, but who are theyspeaking with when your phone is
on airplane mode?
Speaker 3 (29:27):
So there's just a lot to consider there.
That's great.
Yeah, so that's a lot.
So tell me this Is there areason for anybody to be afraid
of AI or businesses or people?
So?
Speaker 4 (29:38):
I think the thought process should be more so around
how the world has evolved overtime.
So we go back to the industrialage.
Right before it there was cartand buggy, right, and that's how
people got around and deliveredgoods, amongst other things and
so.
But then you had trains, thenyou had cars, right.
And so the people who wasriding the cart and buggy, what
(30:00):
do they have to do?
They have to learn how tomaneuver right and start maybe
driving cars and trucks and soforth.
So it's no different than wherewe are today.
We just will.
We will evolve with the times,no different than we have in the
past, even from a businessstandpoint.
When um websites came out,business owners used to say,
well, why do I need a websitewhen I have the yellow pages?
Now they have to have a website.
Speaker 5 (30:18):
But then social media , hit and business owners would
to say, well, why do I need awebsite?
Speaker 4 (30:20):
when I have the yellow pages.
Now they have to have a website.
But then social media hit andbusiness owners would say, well,
why do I need social media whenI got a website?
Well, let me go old school.
Speaker 3 (30:28):
Yeah, when Blockbuster was in and they was
putting out DVDs.
Why do I need a DVD when I gotVHS?
Speaker 4 (30:34):
Yeah, there you go, there you go, so it evolved, and
so now we're at a space wherethey're saying hey, I have a
website and I have social media.
Why do I need AI?
Right and so, uh, and it's ourjob to educate and to, of course
, bring the necessary claritythat's needed for people to
really see its value, amongstother things.
And this is just one example ofthat.
Speaker 2 (30:53):
Right, and so, mind you, my mind is still blown.
Speaker 4 (30:57):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
Like it's.
That's just freaking amazingand I think it really talks to
like the legacy and life missionof like what you're trying to
do, and so it's being like thebottom line.
So why?
What is your mission in life?
Speaker 4 (31:11):
Yeah, my mission in life is to, of course, work to
leave a legacy for my family.
That's number one.
I want them to be in a positionwhere they never have to work
again.
If anything, they're workingthe businesses that God has
blessed me and my wife to create.
But also, you know, I see livesbeing impacted by what we've
been able to do.
You know I say lives meanthousands, if not hundreds of
(31:31):
thousands at the end of the day.
So, with the platform that Godhas given us, you know we're
using it, of course, in a way inwhich we're being very
intentional about the tone inwhich we're set in business,
because I think people careabout integrity.
They care about, you know,being under the umbrella of
leadership that really has aheart for God, amongst other
things, in this people.
And so, you know, the purposereally centers around just being
(31:54):
able to.
The Bible says, as you said, mysheep, my sheep will know my
voice and the strange voice thatwill not follow.
We just want the sheep, thatknow our voice right and so,
because those are the people whowill leave that lasting impact
and impression.
So that's the purpose behindwhat we do.
Wow, I love that.
To identify those Listen thatwas great.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
It was.
I just really appreciate it.
I just also share with thelisteners how they can get all
of you AI voice and all thethings that you know it's really
good, we won't keep it simple.
Speaker 4 (32:24):
Just go to being mark Drake on Instagram and we can
connect be I am mark Drake.
Yeah, there you go you can findme there thank you so much,
mark.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
Or just an amazing conversation just about
entrepreneurship as a whole, butalso about just that faith
driven entrepreneurship, becausethat's a lot of people don't
see that on a day to day basis,and so that's super important to
us, and so I'm so happy thatyou were able to kind of share
that today.
Um, I hope that you all enjoyedthis episode.
I mean, it was so great andthere's so many great nuggets in
(32:56):
there.
So if you have that dream, ifyou want to get started, please
just bite the bullet.
Just do it and you will learnso much on the way.
You don't have to knoweverything to get started again.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
One little experience can change and I hope this
builds you for your day-to-day.
If you have that dream right,just take one step at a time,
put one foot in front of theother.
Don't procrastinate.
Yeah right, it's not going tobe easy, but just take one day
at a time.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Yes, yes, and with that we're out.
Speaker 3 (33:24):
We hope y'all enjoy.
Y'all have a best one.
Peace out you.
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