Jermaine Cheathem, an entrepreneur in the equipment finance niche, discusses his journey from starting in the industry to building a successful brokerage. He emphasizes the importance of leveraging networks and relationships, particularly with equipment sellers, to secure deals. Jermaine has traveled extensively, working from various countries, and highlights the challenges and benefits of a remote, lifestyle business. He advocates for the four-hour workday and shares his philosophy on entrepreneurship, stressing the need for resilience and self-reliance. Jermaine also touches on the supernatural aspects of human existence, suggesting that being human itself is a supernatural experience.
Most people hunt customers. Jermane Cheathem hunts the sellers who already have them. In this punchy, practical episode, he breaks down how niching down into equipment finance—then partnering with dealers—creates leveraged B2B deal flow you can run from a laptop. We dig into choosing a niche using your actual relationships, an email‑only operating cadence, real‑world commission math, and the mindset to keep going when entrepreneurship gets lonely.
You’ll hear:
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A dealer‑first go‑to‑market that beats cold‑calling end users
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Network audit → niche selection → repeatable deal flow
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Example numbers for monthly‑payment financing and broker commissions
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Remote‑work systems that keep a U.S. brokerage moving while you travel
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Freedom vs. safety: the honest psychology behind building on your own
Guest: Jermane Cheathem — CreatorsLearn.com
Hosts: Law Smith & Eric Readinger (ROI Podcast®)
Enjoy the show? Follow, rate, and share with a friend trying to find their niche.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Law Smith (00:01):
All right,
forget about this intro every
Eric Readinger (00:10):
time I'll do a new one. ROI Podcast
Law Smith (00:13):
number one comedy means business podcast on Earth,
little pragmatic,entrepreneurial advice through
the people that have beensuccessful, like our boy.
Jermaine Cheatham, well, I mean,how else would you say?
Eric Readinger (00:33):
No, I know, but I wanted to hear, I'm sure he
had stolen shit, whatever, we'llget him back.
Law Smith (00:37):
That sultry voice you're hearing is Eric
Readinger, Coach Red. I'm LawSmith, because I forget to put
our names in the intro a lot ofthe time. Yeah, I know if you
want to see me do stand upcomedy, I've got gigs coming up,
headlining in St Pete Beach inClearwater Beach in the fall. I
don't have them in front of me,because I'm professional as
(00:59):
fuck. Hey, if you like thispodcast, share it. There's that
little square with the arrowbutton. Hit a little Share
button. Send it to a friend.Send it to a family member
that's trying to do their ownside hustle, something like
that. If you want to go onYouTube, subscribe, put a
comment, even if it's a shittyone, I reply to all of them. I
love it. I reply to everyterrible comment we get good for
(01:23):
you, because I find it funnythat people would spend time to
put a comment on the floor. Iknow this episode sponsored by
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(02:28):
be there. Let's get it started.I gotta
get hair. We're good. I gottaget that hair surgery done. This
shit is going, What hairsurgery? Oh, dude, I'm getting
hair tits, as Dan Soder callsit. What do you mean? The they
(02:50):
were they take the hair plug inthe back, put it grow in the
front. He calls it hair tits.Great bit. Okay, leave it to
him. Hey, shout out. Dan soder,one of the greats, Jermaine Can
you we'd like to, because we'resuch good hosts, we like the
guests to intro themselves abit, and then we're gonna wait.
(03:13):
I almost forgot your favoritepart. We're gonna get into some
lightning round questions. Oh,okay, yeah, we'll let you do
your own intro. So we like thesewill be real quick, just to get
to know you real quick. And thenwe'll let you do an intro of who
you are, what you do, why youbetter. All that is a hot dog, a
sandwich.
Eric Readinger (03:34):
No, thank you. What time do you get up in the
morning
Jermane Cheathem (03:38):
depends on where I'm living in the world,
Law Smith (03:41):
okay, okay, that's very Jason, born of you. Yeah.
Like,
Eric Readinger (03:46):
is it a time zone thing, or is it a well, you
know? Okay, it's lightninground. We don't need it.
Law Smith (03:51):
Does God exist?
Jermane Cheathem (03:53):
Yes, all
Eric Readinger (03:55):
right. Have you ever seen a ghost or a UFO or
anything supernatural you can'texplain
Jermane Cheathem (04:02):
not a ghost or a UFO, but other things, ooh,
Eric Readinger (04:05):
like, what lightning
Law Smith (04:06):
round over. Tell me, yeah, no, we got, no, we have
those two. We're calling back toit. We're going to put a pin
that I want to hear about it.But and we, this is last two. We
go on. Did you watch this showbefore coming on? No, that's
about 99% of our guests, notalone and mine. What advice
would you give your 13 year oldself?
Jermane Cheathem (04:29):
Everything's gonna be fine,
Law Smith (04:32):
nice, more or less, kind of in the in the zone of
what all these successful peoplethat come on the show say, you
know? Yeah, some kind ofreassurance, you know?
Eric Readinger (04:42):
Well, I find most of the time it's not even
advice. It's more likereassurance,
Law Smith (04:46):
yeah? Well, it's like, don't listen to everybody
else's bullshit if you want togo do something, go do
Eric Readinger (04:50):
it. Yeah? But oftentimes it's just, like, just
do your thing. Just, it'll befine. Just, you know, stay the
stay the course. Well, we'regonna, like, buy Microsoft.
We're Yeah,
Law Smith (05:02):
it's never a Biff reality for back to the Friday
too. Yeah, you've earnedyourself an opportunity to do
your own intro. Why don't youtell people who you are, what
you're about, real quick?
Jermane Cheathem (05:15):
Yeah, so I'm an entrepreneur. I travel the
world. It allows me to buildbusinesses while I'm anywhere
I'm in the finance niche, and Ihave a finance business, and I
teach people how to get intothis finance brokerage space as
well, because it's digital, it'sonline, it's leveraged, and it's
(05:36):
lucrative.
Law Smith (05:36):
I'm going to try to make this a little bit exciting,
because I look, I love being inthe UN sexy businesses we're in
the marketing world. I hate theguys that want to be the black
turtleneck Steve Jobs want tobe. Look how creative I am with
design and all this stuff. Andit's like, no, I want to work
(05:58):
with border bodies. And, youknow, yeah, that was a great
whatever. One of my bestclients, yeah, got them from
startup all the way to sellingto a conglomerate, but no one's
looking there. I have aretention pond client crushing
it. Just Somebody's Gotta Do Itjust got bought up by private
equity firm. Like, those are thestories I love, because no one
(06:20):
in marketing looks there becauseit's not cool, it's not hip,
it's not it's not a new energydrink or an infused kind of new
alcoholic beverage. It's not acool lifestyle. But I like the
opposite of that. So equipment,machinery, find leveraging
financing in that world. That'sThat's where you live, that's
(06:42):
your domain. How'd you get intothis?
Jermane Cheathem (06:45):
Really, by accident. Like you said, that's
probably one of the most boring,unsexy businesses you can ever
Law Smith (06:50):
imagine. We'll put some we'll add some pizzazz to
it, if we can.
Jermane Cheathem (06:56):
But I kind of stumbled into it really. I was
looking for a job out ofcollege, and the only people
that were willing to hire me wasan equipment finance company.
And so I learned the industry. Icut my teeth by reaching out to
businesses that needed fundingjust to buy equipment, but I
realized slowly that was a dumbbusiness model, because why
would you chase down people thatneed money instead of just
(07:19):
partner with the equipmentsellers that have all the
clients you could ever want, andthey send you deal after deal
after deal that are pre sold. Sothen I started to close all
these business deals, and I'mlike, why am I working for
somebody else? This is fuckingstupid. So I decided to start my
own firm become an entrepreneur,which was obviously a whole
nother stage in my development.And then, after running that
(07:42):
business for like, five years,I'm like, in Europe, take my mom
on vacation for her 60thbirthday, and I realized, like,
there's nothing special aboutme, like other people can do
this. There's this is notfinance, this isn't sales, this
is just networking period. Andso I put together a course in
coaching, and I've been teachingpeople how to build their own
(08:04):
equipment, finance, brokeragefrom anywhere in the world, but,
you know, three to four hours aday just by leveraging their
network.
Law Smith (08:10):
Well, we can hear you. You froze for a second, but
your audio is all clear. Allright, he's back. He's back, but
you made a point like this, andthen froze. The audio kept
rolling. And I think you'velived all over the world doing
this work, right? Georgia, thecountry, Vietnam, right? Where
(08:33):
else? Beautiful country. Whereelse have you lived doing this
work?
Jermane Cheathem (08:38):
I mean, you name it, France, South South
Africa, South America. Uh, allthroughout Asia. Um, all
throughout Europe. I mean, 50countries. So
Eric Readinger (08:46):
what? What was the most challenging? Where was
the most challenging? Yeah, justthe location, whether it was
dealing with people or the thegovernment or whatever.
Law Smith (08:58):
I mean, whereas
Jermane Cheathem (09:01):
the pros and cons, I really there's not
really a challenge. I mean,sometimes time zone can be a
challenge, especially in Asia,but I really just do everything
via email. So really, nothingreally matters. I guess the
biggest challenge, let's bereal, was India, and it has
nothing to do with, nothing todo with the government or
anything. It's just like, it'sjust fucking mass chaos. It's
hard to get anything donebecause nothing's ever timely or
(09:23):
organized. It just like, youknow, chickens with their head
cut off. So that was
Law Smith (09:27):
tough, okay, yeah, yeah, I've heard that. Would it
be fair to say you're going to alot of emerging markets, because
the machinery equipment you areleveraging is kind of from
countries coming out of they'renot making brand new facilities,
right? They're getting olderkind of assets, and then it
(09:51):
needs to kind of be modernized,yeah, is that? Is that part of
it? You know, we're not
Jermane Cheathem (09:58):
talking about, okay, this. This is a lifestyle
business. This is why you travelpreparing. It's all good. This
is I travel for fun. All of myclients, 100% of them are in
United States of America. All mystudents, 100% of them are
United States of America. Okay.This is just this. Like, for me,
like, if I can have a remotebusiness, why not go to a new
country every couple months? Andlike, live my life like I've
(10:21):
lived in the United States formost of my life. Why not explore
Law Smith (10:25):
country on Earth?
Eric Readinger (10:27):
My question about my question about the
challenges, doesn't make as muchsense now. Well, that's just
like a travel
Law Smith (10:34):
pod. Where are you right now?
Jermane Cheathem (10:36):
I'm in Georgia, the country. Nice.
Law Smith (10:40):
What? What makes you go there? Yeah, I'm curious.
I've never was an
Eric Readinger (10:44):
accident on the ticket that you're going to
Jermane Cheathem (10:46):
Atlanta. So when I left the United States
the beginning of the year, I waslike, Okay, I know I have to be
in New York City in September.So I'm like, let me take my time
getting from Tokyo all the wayback to New York. So I went from
Tokyo to Vietnam to Thailand,then I went to India, then I
went to Dubai, and now I'm herein Georgia. I go to Turkey in a
(11:08):
couple of weeks, and then I flyback to New York from Lisbon,
Portugal. So it's
Law Smith (11:15):
a silk road ish, kind of route, yeah, kind of or
Alexander, the great territory,yeah. Turkey is where you can
get your hair did. Oh, yeah. Youever seen that? You ever seen
those pictures of the guys onthe
Eric Readinger (11:26):
flight coach? Yeah, it's like seven guys all
have the bandages wrapped aroundtheir heads, huge,
Law Smith (11:31):
comically big bandages on their head.
Jermane Cheathem (11:33):
Oh, I've been there before. It's all it's all
hair, it's all nose, it's allplastic surgery. It's like,
everyone goes there for that newteeth veneers. You know, I
wonder,
Law Smith (11:41):
why? Yeah, this this cheap, but get a nose job to the
Schnauz. Ain't gonna get anysmaller, you know, ear lobes,
Eric Readinger (11:48):
balls, oh, yeah, by the time you're 70, that
thing is gonna be mango.
Law Smith (11:52):
Gravity hits it hard. But you you got kind of a hard,
scrabble upbringing. Is thatcorrect? Like you grew up, kind
of finding your own way earlyon.
Jermane Cheathem (12:05):
Yeah, well, exactly the great thing about
having a shitty upbringing, asfar as struggles, as you start
to grow up, you start not togive a fuck about really
anything. So you just figureout, like, okay, it's up to me.
Nothing else fucking matters,and let's just try to figure
this out. And so it kind ofgives you the Eye of the Tiger
(12:26):
mentality, where it's like, I'mgoing to figure this thing out,
hell or high water.
Law Smith (12:29):
Well, and you can't count on anybody else. You have
to count on yourself. If you'reone of the people that's
successful coming out of thatbad situation, right? Like you
don't have the luxury of that.It seems
Jermane Cheathem (12:41):
Exactly, exactly you have to figure it
out. And I think it's theultimate fuel. Like, I would
hate to have an easy start tolife, because there's no hunger.
Like, the hungers were reallywhat drives people.
Eric Readinger (12:54):
Oh, yeah, I find myself, like, with my son, like,
especially, I'm like, I gottamake you do some harder shit.
Like, I need to make you gooutside and sweat and work and
complain and like me for aminute, like I
Law Smith (13:05):
told them. I was like, we're going to do Habitat
for Humanity, at least that'ssome kind of labor, right? You
have to, I want you to go moverocks, yeah, even if it just go
there. And I don't
Eric Readinger (13:14):
even want them to have the benefit of charity.
I want them to do it. I wantthem to be like, why am I doing
this? And be like, because Itold you to, and that's why it
sucks. Oh, man, that's, that'sold school, 70s dad, I know, but
I mean, they're gonna grow upand there's gonna be people
telling them to do shit theycan't be like, What am I doing?
Like, get used to it.
Law Smith (13:30):
Yeah, yeah. They're about that age. But we lost your
video. We can still hear youthough. You know, you're a big
proponent of the four hour workday. You know, I
Eric Readinger (13:43):
I am too.
Law Smith (13:44):
We all are. But I kind of hate the Tim Ferriss
mentality of this, and so Idon't try not to be negative
about it, but I feel like you'vegot this kind of locked in as
far as you don't have a lot ofoverhead for your business, you
have a laptop. You said you workfrom anywhere. You probably have
(14:05):
internet that you do everythingvia email, which is interesting,
because you know you're not,you're not going in and pressing
the flesh all the time withclients, and so you've probably
knocked down this process forwhat you're doing, like, it's
probably really tight. Is thatfair to say?
Jermane Cheathem (14:25):
Yeah, I've been doing this since 2003 you
would hope I'd figure this thingout. So in the in the whole
model, the way it's structuredis I get my deals from people
that sell the equipment to thepeople that need the funding. So
they tell the doctor Smith thatneeds the ultrasound machine.
Hey, you want to pay 30 grand.You want to pay 500 want to pay
500 bucks a month, plus it's taxdeductible. Doctor Smith is
(14:46):
going to say, I want to pay 500bucks a month and get the tax
deduction. Okay, great. Let mesend the email CC Jermaine,
boom, boom, boom. Three or fouremails go back and forth. He
sees the documents say 500 bucksa month. He signs them
electronically. Me, I get paid,you know, 20% commissions,
Law Smith (15:02):
but you're, you're, you're living off the the
benefit of the hard work at thebeginning, right? Like you did,
like something like 300 coldcalls a day to get and that
builds up that kind of network,correct?
Jermane Cheathem (15:13):
Yeah, but the cold calls really didn't work,
because the 300 phone calls weregoing towards in end users or
businesses that are looking forfunding. That was a waste of
time. So when I switched mymodel, I was only making, you
know, 25 calls to strategicpeople that sold the equipment,
and then they would just, Iwould develop relationships with
those people, especially peopleeither within my current network
(15:36):
already knew, or people withinmy backyard. You know, I was,
you know, born and raised inPhoenix, Arizona, so it was
like, I just leveraged that kindof network. And so it was a much
more efficient model, because Ididn't have to make as many
calls, I didn't have to have asmany relationships, and they
just brought me deal after dealafter deal. It's highly
leveraged. So
Law Smith (15:56):
two big things I take out of that as a lesson for
anybody that's listening, wekind of want to have talked to
an audience of people that wantto do their own thing. You know,
we've always kind of had thatmindset with the show a you did
kind of a resource audit. Whatdo I got? What's my network? I
grew up here. That's, those aremy only arms length kind of
(16:17):
connections, right, to startwith. And then the other part
is, in strategy for yourbusiness, a lot of people really
miss the mark on their targetaudience. And they start out, I
go, I think it's they guess,right, and you did kind of trial
and error and figured it out.You learn from your mistakes.
But you'd be surprised how manybusinesses I've talked to that
(16:39):
they go, well, our targetaudiences is this, this and
this. And it's like, well, who'sbuying it? Who's who's currently
buying what you're selling? Andthey're like, well, this other
group over here, I'm like, let'smilk that group. What are we,
you know? So I just kind of takethose two parts of what you're
talking about is, like, you're aTony Stark as guy. You learn
(17:00):
from your mistakes, as far aswhen you're young and improving
on it.
Eric Readinger (17:05):
I did it. I took away the relationship part. It
seems like that's just abouteverything, like going into
these businesses and thenestablishing that relationship
with the person that matters,that's, you know, maybe it's
their finance guy or whatever,but like, that's basically the
the crux of your business. IfI'm understanding, like, if you
don't have that relationship, oryou're not able to make that
(17:26):
relationship, like, you have tobe likable, you can't go in
there and be an asshole and thenexpect to get their business.
Law Smith (17:32):
Eric loves rom com, so he's all about relationship
talks, right? You know, he's alittle sweet
Eric Readinger (17:37):
fall in love at the end,
Jermane Cheathem (17:40):
yeah? Because it's all about niches. Like,
like, if you're going to be inbusiness, okay, what niche do I
want to be in? I want to be infinance. Okay. Within finance,
where I want to be and I want tobe in equipment finance, okay,
within equipment finance, whatkind of finance, kind of
equipment do I want to finance?I want to finance medical
equipment. Well, how do I wantto get these medical equipment
deals? I want to get them fromthe people that sell the medical
equipment. So it's like, nichingdown, niching down, itching
(18:01):
down, and then build arelationship on the people that
sell the medical equipment. Infact, like one of my students,
he was a medical equipment salesguy, and he was like, Jermaine,
I want to start doing whatyou're doing, because this nine
to five shit is not for me. Andso he had a few buddies from his
Rolodex that sold medicalequipment, that he was going to
(18:22):
be able to get a pipeline ofdeals from. And so I taught him
the whole system, set up hisbusiness, set up his website,
set up the lending partners,everything, and he was getting,
you know, 50, $60,000 incommissions almost overnight,
just by leveraging his currentnetwork. So it's like, this is
not rocket science. It's aboutrelationships. Who's in your
Rolodex, especially B to B,people like you know businesses.
(18:44):
You know people that sell theequipment, or know people that
know people that sell equipment.Start asking questions, and you
can just leverage a super simplebusiness model, make good income
and really work from anywhere.
Law Smith (18:55):
B to B is the shit, because they operate like
business on purchasing likethey're not like a lifestyle
consumer brand where they'relike, I don't know
Eric Readinger (19:04):
if I'm, you know, like, I don't feel pretty
today. I don't want it,
Law Smith (19:07):
right? I'm gonna get a male romper. I don't know if I
should. I don't know. Well, youshould separately, you should.
I'm bringing them back. I'mbringing back that, that fake,
that fake phase we had, yeah, ofmale rompers.
Eric Readinger (19:19):
Are you familiar with anybody? Like, is there
anybody else doing it indifferent equipment realms like
I heard, because I didn'tactually see that it was
medical. In my mind, I wentfarming equipment for some
reason, where they because thatstuff is just as expensive as
medical equipment. A lot oftimes are you do you know
anybody? Is there any otherniches like that that you're
familiar
Law Smith (19:38):
with? Farming is going downhill
Eric Readinger (19:41):
in how can I swoop in as well? Medical is
Law Smith (19:43):
going crazy, is how much we're spending on that,
just in general, right?
Jermane Cheathem (19:49):
Well, yeah, but I teach all my students pick
whatever niche you know, like,pick whatever niche you have
relationships in. So like, whenI first started, I've done
farming equipment, I've doneconstruction equipment, I've
done. Restaurants. I've done alltypes dental labs, like all
types of equipment, because ifyou look around the economy in
any business, there's equipmenteverywhere. And so you have to
just again, niche down into,like, what sector do I want to
(20:12):
be in? And just by chance, thepeople within my network were in
the medical space. So I justleveraged that and went that
direction. But I have otherstudents that do great in
construction. They do great in,like, automotive shops. So it
really doesn't matter aparticular niche, Just who do
you know within that niche youcan
Eric Readinger (20:29):
leverage? Gotcha,
Law Smith (20:30):
yeah, it's, well, I talk about this with, like, I'm
skilled with marketing, but Iit's not I it's just kind of
happenstance that my skillsalign for that. It's not
something i i love growingbusinesses, but I don't love
doing I don't love marketing aspeople think of it, you know? So
(20:51):
it's like, I see it that way.It's like it found me more than
you found it. And go, I, youknow what? I really like
construction a lot. I just wantto do that you realize you
weren't that's not as profitableif you just with the resources
you had, you know, in thenetwork you had,
Jermane Cheathem (21:09):
it's like, just let whatever is, let
whatever fall in your lap, fallin your lap, like, I don't care
if it's if you're looking forchicks or you're looking for a
restaurant, you're looking forany opportunities. If shit hits
you in the face fucking takeadvantage of
Law Smith (21:21):
it. Well, buddy, we look, we're in Tampa, so the
strippers on your lap is a bad,bad move a lot.
Eric Readinger (21:28):
You put yourself in that scenario, all right, you
know, kidnapped to go to thestrip club,
Law Smith (21:33):
and then you get, and then you get the first time
ruse, which I loved, bringingguys down from Auburn when I was
in college. They go to monsVenus, and they get smoked on
like eight songs. They didn'tknow. They're getting charged,
like, the meters running, andthey're like, I don't know what
to do. This all my money forspring break, you know, like to
borrow a little bit from fiveguys. Yeah, my favorite, um,
(21:56):
Dick. No, I didn't know. Ididn't know what's going on. I
actually didn't go. They wantedto go. Look, we grew up here. I
got that shit out of my systembefore I was legally allowed to
go in them. You know, like Iwent in one when I was 14, with
braces and a cast and, um, brosand Sambazon. I mean, I guess,
yeah, I had a Swisher sweet inso that was my ID, right? But,
(22:19):
like, yeah, and then walk intoseven seas on Kennedy Boulevard,
and there's a pregnant lady in ashower. And I'm like, I don't
think this is for me. Yeah, themost expensive one. Do you tip
for two? But why it's the most
Eric Readinger (22:33):
expensive? Yeah?
Law Smith (22:35):
So you, you built this freedom with intention. Let
me ask you about this. And youkind of have, I think, a similar
philosophical take toentrepreneurial endeavors. We do
entrepreneurship, the dirtysecret about it is it's secretly
lonely, like no one wants totalk about it. It's not, you're
(22:56):
not gonna see Gary V being like,I really feel alone when I have
this idea, you know, like he'snever gonna go on about that. I
think it feels like your boatjust ran out of gas in the Gulf
of Mexico. You can see, or Gulfof America, and you could see,
you can see the shoreline. Youcan get, you know, you could
probably get there, but it'sgonna be a tough route. And that
(23:20):
that, that's kind of how I feelabout it. Sometimes, even if
you're a mom and pop operation,you started it together, you're
dividing and conquering, youknow, so you really aren't
getting unless you're very goodcommunicators and create time
for that. Those, those mom andpops aren't, you know, really
understanding the plight of eachother, even though they're in
it, you have kind of freedommight be a little bit of a
(23:44):
mirage. Kind of theory, is thatfair?
Jermane Cheathem (23:49):
Yeah, I mean, so I thought sales was a lonely
journey, but it pales incomparison to entrepreneurship,
because you're you're the onlyone paddling. Yes, it could be
weeks, months, years. And sofreedom is for people that want
to take it, and it's there forthe taking, but it's not for the
faint of heart. And so yeah,it's probably one of the lonely
(24:12):
things you'll ever encounter,besides maybe your deathbed. But
it's worth because what else areyou going to fucking do here?
Like, are you going to gobackwards? You gonna go forward?
There's no other options. And soif you're that type of person
with that type of DNA, thenfucking let's go but if you're
not, then get a nine to five andjust stay safe.
Law Smith (24:36):
Yeah? Well, I feel like your upbringing has some of
that in in you, right? It'slike, hey man, I gotta make this
happen. Or, you know, no one'slooking out for me kind of
thing.
Eric Readinger (24:45):
Or it's like, I've never really felt safe. You
know why? You know why seek thatnow, like I'm used to this self
Law Smith (24:51):
preservation, either way. But yeah,
Jermane Cheathem (24:54):
well, also I think for us as humans in
general, we always seek safetybecause, because it feels
comfortable. We like comfort. Welike easy. Our brain is looking
for easy, but there's no joy,there's no fruit, there's no
fulfillment in safety, right?The truth, the best times in my
life have always been the most,darkest, the hardest. And like
getting out of that, once youget out of it, it's like, oh,
(25:15):
fuck, I gotta find another hillto climb. Yeah. I
Eric Readinger (25:18):
mean, it goes right back to me to talk about
making my son do hard stuff,like, it's just like there's no
appreciation if the challengesare never that big, you know,
the celebration is not going tobe that big. You know, it's like
it has to be a big challenge inorder to really appreciate
Law Smith (25:35):
it. Yeah, the the most satisfying beer you have is
never like something anybodyelse really understands as an
entrepreneur, like, it'ssomething where you're like, I
I've finished my process, Ifinished my course, and it's
ready to go. And that's like,satisfying, right? It's a pain
in the ass to do, I'm sure, liketo kind of figure out how to
(25:58):
teach, how to kind of uploadyour information into a process
people can imbibe as a class,you know? And that's, that's not
fun to knock out, is, like,that's a lot of admin clerical
work, right? Like, I'm guessingit might be the first time
you've had to do that too, whichthat always sucks as well. Yeah,
(26:21):
first time of like trying, youknow, you could do a trial and
error going on, the fear of theunknown, all that stuff. But I'd
be remiss if we didn't kind ofpitch, is it creators learn.com
Yes. And let me ask you this. Idon't think sometimes we get
guests on here that I'm like,these guys are total bullshit
(26:42):
guys. I don't think you're thatat all. I think if we were
hanging out, I'd probably annoyyou. It seems like I'd be like,
as for sure bunch. And you'd belike, Sure. Can I just watch the
game? I'd be like, how
Jermane Cheathem (26:56):
many drinks I had? Okay,
Eric Readinger (26:58):
oh yeah, you get this way too.
Law Smith (27:00):
Well. Be like, you see that guy over there, and
you're like, No, you know, like,I'm focused on my business, but
I feel like there's a lot of,man, add just lost bullshitters.
There's you're not a, you're nota bullshitter kind of guy. But
the I'm always weary of these, Ithere's a certain level you get
(27:22):
to as an entrepreneur. You yougrinded it out, the hustle
start, then you got to the levelwhere you're successful. Then
you got to the level where,okay, it's again, the first out
marker keeps moving right. Andthen now you get to a level
where you want to teach.Sometimes that's altruistic, but
there's a lot of guys thataren't experts, and they're just
(27:44):
cutting to the course that I seeonline. Yeah, a lot of squeeze
pages, like click funnel pages,stuff like that. I don't think
you're that just by us talkingto you and researching who you
are, but if it's so profitable,why give it away? If this is
such a formula that that wouldbe my question?
Jermane Cheathem (28:07):
Yeah, no, it's a great question, man. So I
number one. I still have mybrokerage that I've had since
2016 so I still fund deals withthat brokerage. I still have all
those relationships that peoplestill send me those deals. So
that pipeline is already filled,that's full, that's already been
set up. What I realized isthrough, like some of my close
(28:29):
friends, especially like thatguy, Brian that sold the medical
equipment, it's like, I want todo what you're doing. Here I am
in Italy with my mom andenjoying Europe, closing deals,
working 30 to 45 minutes a day.I'm like, there's so many people
back in the United States thatare sitting at a fucking cubicle
or in a shitty business thatthey hate. They want freedom.
Everyone wants freedom. I'm afreedom guy, and so it's like,
(28:53):
if I don't share this model andhow I structured it and how it's
so leverageable, that's adisservice to humanity. Because,
like, I want people to be free.I want people to go wherever the
they want to go make as muchmoney willing to make. Because
why are the banks getting allthis money? Why are they making
the secret niche all their ownwhen it can be anybody with a
Rolodex and networks that canmake, you know, 2030, grand a
(29:16):
month working, you know, three,four hours a day. So for me, it,
it was more like I saw, I seemyself in other people, and when
I was stuck, struggling, tryingto make it in this industry, I
was like, why wouldn't I notshare this with other people to
help them make it in thisindustry? There's plenty to go
around. It's a trillion dollarindustry, I don't think from a
scarcity lens. So it's like, Ialready have my brokerage are
(29:37):
very successful. Why not trainother people how to do this,
because freedom is the only wayout.
Law Smith (29:42):
Yeah, it's like, an altruistic
Eric Readinger (29:44):
empathy. Yeah, no, I love how you said the
scarcity thing. I agree withthat, because I get that drives
me nuts, how it's like, youknow, everything's so scarce.
It's like, there's enough foreverybody, for sure. Like, let's
stop pretending.
Law Smith (29:58):
John said there's only, like, three left. I.
Gotta, I gotta get it. Nowthat's false scarcity,
Jermane Cheathem (30:03):
if you actually, like, if you actually
think about this entire nichelike it's a $1.3 trillion niche,
right, right? Equipment, financeindustry. Only 20% of that is
done by brokers. The other 80%is done by big banks. Yeah. And
the only reason because of thatis no one's educating normal
people in the BDB space how tobroker these
Law Smith (30:23):
deals, but big banks make me feel safe. They they
help us as a as a society andeconomy.
Jermane Cheathem (30:29):
All we, all we do is we send the deals to the
big banks, and they pay
Law Smith (30:33):
other housing crisis problem like oh nine coming
around the corner. I mean, ChaseBank. They really love the
American people. Why would they?You know, big banks are great,
yeah, too big to fail.
Eric Readinger (30:50):
So before we close out, though, yeah, you
thought I'd forget. I want tohear about this inexplicable,
supernatural experience you'vehad. Don't
Law Smith (30:57):
tell me what I think. Oh, no, all
Jermane Cheathem (31:01):
right. So it's not just so, and it's not, it's
not aliens, but I think justbeing a human is a super natural
experience, because if youactually examine the fucking
things that come across yourmind, what the fuck is that?
Yeah, because I didn't think of,I didn't think of that, right?
Where'd that come from? Where'dthat come from, right?
Law Smith (31:25):
I love that brain juice.
Eric Readinger (31:27):
So just being a human, I was open
Jermane Cheathem (31:30):
for something, because there are all types of
weird thoughts come up thatyou're like, I don't that came
out of left field. Yeah, yeah,
Eric Readinger (31:35):
for sure. No, I could go off on that. I mean,
just being a human is so bizarrethat we're all here at this time
of, like, you know, we couldhave been bored born, you know,
and when everybody's stillpooping in holes and, you know,
there was that. But we get, weget zoom calls and podcasts.
Law Smith (31:54):
Now you got Eric all passionate like you. Here's, I
think, your next move, though, Idon't, I want to actually know
more about what you're sayingwith this, but obviously I
forgot your next move after thisis actual good motivational
speaker. You were lighting uplike a pinball machine talking
about maybe the most unsexy kindof niche right to a lot of
(32:17):
people looking outside in Ithink your next move is to be a
non snake oil motivationalbusiness speaker, because, God
damn, you were like your trapstarted to go to your ears.
Yeah, as like, Bane.
Eric Readinger (32:30):
We'll come along, we'll bring you on stage.
Yeah, we'll open, we'll do alittle banter, and, you know,
bring you up, loosen the crowd
Law Smith (32:36):
up. I'll do a 10 Minute squirter going down on a
squirter girl, and then bit andthen, you know, we'll get right
into
Eric Readinger (32:42):
it. You got 10 minutes on that? Oh, man, I can,
yeah, you
Law Smith (32:48):
directed the special. It wasn't 10 minutes of that.
Well, you know, I cut the fat onit, but, but, yeah, I think, are
you talking about like, for,back to the supernatural. You
think, like, do out, likethere's a what is it? Not
duality? I'm trying to think ofduality, but it's like
(33:09):
simulation there, where we'reliving here and other areas at
the same time. Or is it justkind of wondering about how this
all works? Let
Eric Readinger (33:17):
me try and translate. I think, yeah, you
are the Sherpa for thissomebody, I think Jermaine, is
just somebody who has taken thetime to actually be with his own
thoughts and think about all ofit, all of existence, and you
know who he is, what he is, andall that. And he's just has come
(33:38):
to the realization that if anyhuman who actually does it and
looks around and is like, wait,what, they will come to the same
conclusion. Is what I think, isthat, if you really just think
about it,
Law Smith (33:49):
well he doesn't have avoidance. He was talking about,
you know, being soft. Americanswere getting soft, right? And
it's kind of that thing of like,we can avoid shit, right?
Eric Readinger (33:59):
Your own thoughts, oh, sure, yeah, oh,
that's most people.
Law Smith (34:03):
That's 99% that's
Jermane Cheathem (34:06):
just distraction. That's that's not
avoidance. It's just, wouldn'tthat be a form though, in a way?
Well, I guess it could be. It'smore like putting a a blinder on
to your kids so your clots don'tcome through, right?
Transmittable
Eric Readinger (34:18):
avoidance implies will. Distraction is
just sort of like, Oh, I'm notdoing anything against myself.
I'm just
Law Smith (34:26):
distracted. Yeah. Speaking of
Jermane Cheathem (34:28):
like, if you actually, like, if you really
step back and, like, look atlife, it's like, Where the fuck
are we what the fuck are wedoing here? And that is fucking
awesome,
Eric Readinger (34:41):
yeah, for real, you're
Law Smith (34:42):
like, say something profound. Say something
profound.
Eric Readinger (34:47):
Yeah, I'm with you, though we'll have to do a
separate mushroom pod.
Law Smith (34:51):
Yeah, y'all could go on for a Rogan episode on this.
Yeah?
Eric Readinger (34:55):
I mean, it goes deep philosophically, and I will
talk about it all day.
Law Smith (34:59):
Yeah. We. And send you mushrooms wherever you are.
You know, we'll figure out howto get it across customs and
whatnot. But okay, good. Yeah,you do that. I'll get right on
that rose. But anything elsebefore we close this out, you're
a great guest. Thank you forcoming on.
Jermane Cheathem (35:19):
No man, I was fun. I like your guys's energy
and the banter. It's good.
Law Smith (35:24):
Well, honestly, I couldn't tell half the time. I
thought you're like, God, theseguys are, like, two
Eric Readinger (35:30):
little alright, we'll take the approval at the
end. Yeah,
Law Smith (35:33):
no. Dad said we're good. Dad said we're good.
Jermane Cheathem (35:37):
One thing I always believe in is like, humor
is like one of the secretremedies of life. So if you're
not having fun, you're fucked.
Law Smith (35:45):
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, laughter is the best. It's like
just getting being so silly thatyou laugh ear to ear is the
best.
Eric Readinger (35:54):
Yeah, it's the ultimate tool for disarming
somebody in their you know,whatever negativity they're
bringing. Mm,
Law Smith (36:00):
hmm. Well, appreciate you coming on. We'll have to
have you back on, because Idon't think we scratched the
surface on a lot of this stuff.But thanks for your time, bud.
Jermane Cheathem (36:12):
All right, nice to talk to you guys. All
right. Thank you. Take care.Bye.
All right,
forget about this intro every
Eric Readinger (00:10):
time I'll do a new one. ROI Podcast
Law Smith (00:13):
number one comedy means business podcast on Earth,
little pragmatic,entrepreneurial advice through
the people that have beensuccessful, like our boy.
Jermaine Cheatham, well, I mean,how else would you say?
Eric Readinger (00:33):
No, I know, but I wanted to hear, I'm sure he
had stolen shit, whatever, we'llget him back.
Law Smith (00:37):
That sultry voice you're hearing is Eric
Readinger, Coach Red. I'm LawSmith, because I forget to put
our names in the intro a lot ofthe time. Yeah, I know if you
want to see me do stand upcomedy, I've got gigs coming up,
headlining in St Pete Beach inClearwater Beach in the fall. I
don't have them in front of me,because I'm professional as
(00:59):
fuck. Hey, if you like thispodcast, share it. There's that
little square with the arrowbutton. Hit a little Share
button. Send it to a friend.Send it to a family member
that's trying to do their ownside hustle, something like
that. If you want to go onYouTube, subscribe, put a
comment, even if it's a shittyone, I reply to all of them. I
love it. I reply to everyterrible comment we get good for
(01:23):
you, because I find it funnythat people would spend time to
put a comment on the floor. Iknow this episode sponsored by
Zup Yak, the first searchoptimized AI writer, zap y, a
k.com, promo code sweat, theformer name of our podcast,
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all that stuff. So, yeah, okay,that's the next line, baby. And
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(02:28):
be there. Let's get it started.I gotta
get hair. We're good. I gottaget that hair surgery done. This
shit is going, What hairsurgery? Oh, dude, I'm getting
hair tits, as Dan Soder callsit. What do you mean? The they
(02:50):
were they take the hair plug inthe back, put it grow in the
front. He calls it hair tits.Great bit. Okay, leave it to
him. Hey, shout out. Dan soder,one of the greats, Jermaine Can
you we'd like to, because we'resuch good hosts, we like the
guests to intro themselves abit, and then we're gonna wait.
(03:13):
I almost forgot your favoritepart. We're gonna get into some
lightning round questions. Oh,okay, yeah, we'll let you do
your own intro. So we like thesewill be real quick, just to get
to know you real quick. And thenwe'll let you do an intro of who
you are, what you do, why youbetter. All that is a hot dog, a
sandwich.
Eric Readinger (03:34):
No, thank you. What time do you get up in the
morning
Jermane Cheathem (03:38):
depends on where I'm living in the world,
Law Smith (03:41):
okay, okay, that's very Jason, born of you. Yeah.
Like,
Eric Readinger (03:46):
is it a time zone thing, or is it a well, you
know? Okay, it's lightninground. We don't need it.
Law Smith (03:51):
Does God exist?
Jermane Cheathem (03:53):
Yes, all
Eric Readinger (03:55):
right. Have you ever seen a ghost or a UFO or
anything supernatural you can'texplain
Jermane Cheathem (04:02):
not a ghost or a UFO, but other things, ooh,
Eric Readinger (04:05):
like, what lightning
Law Smith (04:06):
round over. Tell me, yeah, no, we got, no, we have
those two. We're calling back toit. We're going to put a pin
that I want to hear about it.But and we, this is last two. We
go on. Did you watch this showbefore coming on? No, that's
about 99% of our guests, notalone and mine. What advice
would you give your 13 year oldself?
Jermane Cheathem (04:29):
Everything's gonna be fine,
Law Smith (04:32):
nice, more or less, kind of in the in the zone of
what all these successful peoplethat come on the show say, you
know? Yeah, some kind ofreassurance, you know?
Eric Readinger (04:42):
Well, I find most of the time it's not even
advice. It's more likereassurance,
Law Smith (04:46):
yeah? Well, it's like, don't listen to everybody
else's bullshit if you want togo do something, go do
Eric Readinger (04:50):
it. Yeah? But oftentimes it's just, like, just
do your thing. Just, it'll befine. Just, you know, stay the
stay the course. Well, we'regonna, like, buy Microsoft.
We're Yeah,
Law Smith (05:02):
it's never a Biff reality for back to the Friday
too. Yeah, you've earnedyourself an opportunity to do
your own intro. Why don't youtell people who you are, what
you're about, real quick?
Jermane Cheathem (05:15):
Yeah, so I'm an entrepreneur. I travel the
world. It allows me to buildbusinesses while I'm anywhere
I'm in the finance niche, and Ihave a finance business, and I
teach people how to get intothis finance brokerage space as
well, because it's digital, it'sonline, it's leveraged, and it's
(05:36):
lucrative.
Law Smith (05:36):
I'm going to try to make this a little bit exciting,
because I look, I love being inthe UN sexy businesses we're in
the marketing world. I hate theguys that want to be the black
turtleneck Steve Jobs want tobe. Look how creative I am with
design and all this stuff. Andit's like, no, I want to work
(05:58):
with border bodies. And, youknow, yeah, that was a great
whatever. One of my bestclients, yeah, got them from
startup all the way to sellingto a conglomerate, but no one's
looking there. I have aretention pond client crushing
it. Just Somebody's Gotta Do Itjust got bought up by private
equity firm. Like, those are thestories I love, because no one
(06:20):
in marketing looks there becauseit's not cool, it's not hip,
it's not it's not a new energydrink or an infused kind of new
alcoholic beverage. It's not acool lifestyle. But I like the
opposite of that. So equipment,machinery, find leveraging
financing in that world. That'sThat's where you live, that's
(06:42):
your domain. How'd you get intothis?
Jermane Cheathem (06:45):
Really, by accident. Like you said, that's
probably one of the most boring,unsexy businesses you can ever
Law Smith (06:50):
imagine. We'll put some we'll add some pizzazz to
it, if we can.
Jermane Cheathem (06:56):
But I kind of stumbled into it really. I was
looking for a job out ofcollege, and the only people
that were willing to hire me wasan equipment finance company.
And so I learned the industry. Icut my teeth by reaching out to
businesses that needed fundingjust to buy equipment, but I
realized slowly that was a dumbbusiness model, because why
would you chase down people thatneed money instead of just
(07:19):
partner with the equipmentsellers that have all the
clients you could ever want, andthey send you deal after deal
after deal that are pre sold. Sothen I started to close all
these business deals, and I'mlike, why am I working for
somebody else? This is fuckingstupid. So I decided to start my
own firm become an entrepreneur,which was obviously a whole
nother stage in my development.And then, after running that
(07:42):
business for like, five years,I'm like, in Europe, take my mom
on vacation for her 60thbirthday, and I realized, like,
there's nothing special aboutme, like other people can do
this. There's this is notfinance, this isn't sales, this
is just networking period. Andso I put together a course in
coaching, and I've been teachingpeople how to build their own
(08:04):
equipment, finance, brokeragefrom anywhere in the world, but,
you know, three to four hours aday just by leveraging their
network.
Law Smith (08:10):
Well, we can hear you. You froze for a second, but
your audio is all clear. Allright, he's back. He's back, but
you made a point like this, andthen froze. The audio kept
rolling. And I think you'velived all over the world doing
this work, right? Georgia, thecountry, Vietnam, right? Where
(08:33):
else? Beautiful country. Whereelse have you lived doing this
work?
Jermane Cheathem (08:38):
I mean, you name it, France, South South
Africa, South America. Uh, allthroughout Asia. Um, all
throughout Europe. I mean, 50countries. So
Eric Readinger (08:46):
what? What was the most challenging? Where was
the most challenging? Yeah, justthe location, whether it was
dealing with people or the thegovernment or whatever.
Law Smith (08:58):
I mean, whereas
Jermane Cheathem (09:01):
the pros and cons, I really there's not
really a challenge. I mean,sometimes time zone can be a
challenge, especially in Asia,but I really just do everything
via email. So really, nothingreally matters. I guess the
biggest challenge, let's bereal, was India, and it has
nothing to do with, nothing todo with the government or
anything. It's just like, it'sjust fucking mass chaos. It's
hard to get anything donebecause nothing's ever timely or
(09:23):
organized. It just like, youknow, chickens with their head
cut off. So that was
Law Smith (09:27):
tough, okay, yeah, yeah, I've heard that. Would it
be fair to say you're going to alot of emerging markets, because
the machinery equipment you areleveraging is kind of from
countries coming out of they'renot making brand new facilities,
right? They're getting olderkind of assets, and then it
(09:51):
needs to kind of be modernized,yeah, is that? Is that part of
it? You know, we're not
Jermane Cheathem (09:58):
talking about, okay, this. This is a lifestyle
business. This is why you travelpreparing. It's all good. This
is I travel for fun. All of myclients, 100% of them are in
United States of America. All mystudents, 100% of them are
United States of America. Okay.This is just this. Like, for me,
like, if I can have a remotebusiness, why not go to a new
country every couple months? Andlike, live my life like I've
(10:21):
lived in the United States formost of my life. Why not explore
Law Smith (10:25):
country on Earth?
Eric Readinger (10:27):
My question about my question about the
challenges, doesn't make as muchsense now. Well, that's just
like a travel
Law Smith (10:34):
pod. Where are you right now?
Jermane Cheathem (10:36):
I'm in Georgia, the country. Nice.
Law Smith (10:40):
What? What makes you go there? Yeah, I'm curious.
I've never was an
Eric Readinger (10:44):
accident on the ticket that you're going to
Jermane Cheathem (10:46):
Atlanta. So when I left the United States
the beginning of the year, I waslike, Okay, I know I have to be
in New York City in September.So I'm like, let me take my time
getting from Tokyo all the wayback to New York. So I went from
Tokyo to Vietnam to Thailand,then I went to India, then I
went to Dubai, and now I'm herein Georgia. I go to Turkey in a
(11:08):
couple of weeks, and then I flyback to New York from Lisbon,
Portugal. So it's
Law Smith (11:15):
a silk road ish, kind of route, yeah, kind of or
Alexander, the great territory,yeah. Turkey is where you can
get your hair did. Oh, yeah. Youever seen that? You ever seen
those pictures of the guys onthe
Eric Readinger (11:26):
flight coach? Yeah, it's like seven guys all
have the bandages wrapped aroundtheir heads, huge,
Law Smith (11:31):
comically big bandages on their head.
Jermane Cheathem (11:33):
Oh, I've been there before. It's all it's all
hair, it's all nose, it's allplastic surgery. It's like,
everyone goes there for that newteeth veneers. You know, I
wonder,
Law Smith (11:41):
why? Yeah, this this cheap, but get a nose job to the
Schnauz. Ain't gonna get anysmaller, you know, ear lobes,
Eric Readinger (11:48):
balls, oh, yeah, by the time you're 70, that
thing is gonna be mango.
Law Smith (11:52):
Gravity hits it hard. But you you got kind of a hard,
scrabble upbringing. Is thatcorrect? Like you grew up, kind
of finding your own way earlyon.
Jermane Cheathem (12:05):
Yeah, well, exactly the great thing about
having a shitty upbringing, asfar as struggles, as you start
to grow up, you start not togive a fuck about really
anything. So you just figureout, like, okay, it's up to me.
Nothing else fucking matters,and let's just try to figure
this out. And so it kind ofgives you the Eye of the Tiger
(12:26):
mentality, where it's like, I'mgoing to figure this thing out,
hell or high water.
Law Smith (12:29):
Well, and you can't count on anybody else. You have
to count on yourself. If you'reone of the people that's
successful coming out of thatbad situation, right? Like you
don't have the luxury of that.It seems
Jermane Cheathem (12:41):
Exactly, exactly you have to figure it
out. And I think it's theultimate fuel. Like, I would
hate to have an easy start tolife, because there's no hunger.
Like, the hungers were reallywhat drives people.
Eric Readinger (12:54):
Oh, yeah, I find myself, like, with my son, like,
especially, I'm like, I gottamake you do some harder shit.
Like, I need to make you gooutside and sweat and work and
complain and like me for aminute, like I
Law Smith (13:05):
told them. I was like, we're going to do Habitat
for Humanity, at least that'ssome kind of labor, right? You
have to, I want you to go moverocks, yeah, even if it just go
there. And I don't
Eric Readinger (13:14):
even want them to have the benefit of charity.
I want them to do it. I wantthem to be like, why am I doing
this? And be like, because Itold you to, and that's why it
sucks. Oh, man, that's, that'sold school, 70s dad, I know, but
I mean, they're gonna grow upand there's gonna be people
telling them to do shit theycan't be like, What am I doing?
Like, get used to it.
Law Smith (13:30):
Yeah, yeah. They're about that age. But we lost your
video. We can still hear youthough. You know, you're a big
proponent of the four hour workday. You know, I
Eric Readinger (13:43):
I am too.
Law Smith (13:44):
We all are. But I kind of hate the Tim Ferriss
mentality of this, and so Idon't try not to be negative
about it, but I feel like you'vegot this kind of locked in as
far as you don't have a lot ofoverhead for your business, you
have a laptop. You said you workfrom anywhere. You probably have
(14:05):
internet that you do everythingvia email, which is interesting,
because you know you're not,you're not going in and pressing
the flesh all the time withclients, and so you've probably
knocked down this process forwhat you're doing, like, it's
probably really tight. Is thatfair to say?
Jermane Cheathem (14:25):
Yeah, I've been doing this since 2003 you
would hope I'd figure this thingout. So in the in the whole
model, the way it's structuredis I get my deals from people
that sell the equipment to thepeople that need the funding. So
they tell the doctor Smith thatneeds the ultrasound machine.
Hey, you want to pay 30 grand.You want to pay 500 want to pay
500 bucks a month, plus it's taxdeductible. Doctor Smith is
(14:46):
going to say, I want to pay 500bucks a month and get the tax
deduction. Okay, great. Let mesend the email CC Jermaine,
boom, boom, boom. Three or fouremails go back and forth. He
sees the documents say 500 bucksa month. He signs them
electronically. Me, I get paid,you know, 20% commissions,
Law Smith (15:02):
but you're, you're, you're living off the the
benefit of the hard work at thebeginning, right? Like you did,
like something like 300 coldcalls a day to get and that
builds up that kind of network,correct?
Jermane Cheathem (15:13):
Yeah, but the cold calls really didn't work,
because the 300 phone calls weregoing towards in end users or
businesses that are looking forfunding. That was a waste of
time. So when I switched mymodel, I was only making, you
know, 25 calls to strategicpeople that sold the equipment,
and then they would just, Iwould develop relationships with
those people, especially peopleeither within my current network
(15:36):
already knew, or people withinmy backyard. You know, I was,
you know, born and raised inPhoenix, Arizona, so it was
like, I just leveraged that kindof network. And so it was a much
more efficient model, because Ididn't have to make as many
calls, I didn't have to have asmany relationships, and they
just brought me deal after dealafter deal. It's highly
leveraged. So
Law Smith (15:56):
two big things I take out of that as a lesson for
anybody that's listening, wekind of want to have talked to
an audience of people that wantto do their own thing. You know,
we've always kind of had thatmindset with the show a you did
kind of a resource audit. Whatdo I got? What's my network? I
grew up here. That's, those aremy only arms length kind of
(16:17):
connections, right, to startwith. And then the other part
is, in strategy for yourbusiness, a lot of people really
miss the mark on their targetaudience. And they start out, I
go, I think it's they guess,right, and you did kind of trial
and error and figured it out.You learn from your mistakes.
But you'd be surprised how manybusinesses I've talked to that
(16:39):
they go, well, our targetaudiences is this, this and
this. And it's like, well, who'sbuying it? Who's who's currently
buying what you're selling? Andthey're like, well, this other
group over here, I'm like, let'smilk that group. What are we,
you know? So I just kind of takethose two parts of what you're
talking about is, like, you're aTony Stark as guy. You learn
(17:00):
from your mistakes, as far aswhen you're young and improving
on it.
Eric Readinger (17:05):
I did it. I took away the relationship part. It
seems like that's just abouteverything, like going into
these businesses and thenestablishing that relationship
with the person that matters,that's, you know, maybe it's
their finance guy or whatever,but like, that's basically the
the crux of your business. IfI'm understanding, like, if you
don't have that relationship, oryou're not able to make that
(17:26):
relationship, like, you have tobe likable, you can't go in
there and be an asshole and thenexpect to get their business.
Law Smith (17:32):
Eric loves rom com, so he's all about relationship
talks, right? You know, he's alittle sweet
Eric Readinger (17:37):
fall in love at the end,
Jermane Cheathem (17:40):
yeah? Because it's all about niches. Like,
like, if you're going to be inbusiness, okay, what niche do I
want to be in? I want to be infinance. Okay. Within finance,
where I want to be and I want tobe in equipment finance, okay,
within equipment finance, whatkind of finance, kind of
equipment do I want to finance?I want to finance medical
equipment. Well, how do I wantto get these medical equipment
deals? I want to get them fromthe people that sell the medical
equipment. So it's like, nichingdown, niching down, itching
(18:01):
down, and then build arelationship on the people that
sell the medical equipment. Infact, like one of my students,
he was a medical equipment salesguy, and he was like, Jermaine,
I want to start doing whatyou're doing, because this nine
to five shit is not for me. Andso he had a few buddies from his
Rolodex that sold medicalequipment, that he was going to
(18:22):
be able to get a pipeline ofdeals from. And so I taught him
the whole system, set up hisbusiness, set up his website,
set up the lending partners,everything, and he was getting,
you know, 50, $60,000 incommissions almost overnight,
just by leveraging his currentnetwork. So it's like, this is
not rocket science. It's aboutrelationships. Who's in your
Rolodex, especially B to B,people like you know businesses.
(18:44):
You know people that sell theequipment, or know people that
know people that sell equipment.Start asking questions, and you
can just leverage a super simplebusiness model, make good income
and really work from anywhere.
Law Smith (18:55):
B to B is the shit, because they operate like
business on purchasing likethey're not like a lifestyle
consumer brand where they'relike, I don't know
Eric Readinger (19:04):
if I'm, you know, like, I don't feel pretty
today. I don't want it,
Law Smith (19:07):
right? I'm gonna get a male romper. I don't know if I
should. I don't know. Well, youshould separately, you should.
I'm bringing them back. I'mbringing back that, that fake,
that fake phase we had, yeah, ofmale rompers.
Eric Readinger (19:19):
Are you familiar with anybody? Like, is there
anybody else doing it indifferent equipment realms like
I heard, because I didn'tactually see that it was
medical. In my mind, I wentfarming equipment for some
reason, where they because thatstuff is just as expensive as
medical equipment. A lot oftimes are you do you know
anybody? Is there any otherniches like that that you're
familiar
Law Smith (19:38):
with? Farming is going downhill
Eric Readinger (19:41):
in how can I swoop in as well? Medical is
Law Smith (19:43):
going crazy, is how much we're spending on that,
just in general, right?
Jermane Cheathem (19:49):
Well, yeah, but I teach all my students pick
whatever niche you know, like,pick whatever niche you have
relationships in. So like, whenI first started, I've done
farming equipment, I've doneconstruction equipment, I've
done. Restaurants. I've done alltypes dental labs, like all
types of equipment, because ifyou look around the economy in
any business, there's equipmenteverywhere. And so you have to
just again, niche down into,like, what sector do I want to
(20:12):
be in? And just by chance, thepeople within my network were in
the medical space. So I justleveraged that and went that
direction. But I have otherstudents that do great in
construction. They do great in,like, automotive shops. So it
really doesn't matter aparticular niche, Just who do
you know within that niche youcan
Eric Readinger (20:29):
leverage? Gotcha,
Law Smith (20:30):
yeah, it's, well, I talk about this with, like, I'm
skilled with marketing, but Iit's not I it's just kind of
happenstance that my skillsalign for that. It's not
something i i love growingbusinesses, but I don't love
doing I don't love marketing aspeople think of it, you know? So
(20:51):
it's like, I see it that way.It's like it found me more than
you found it. And go, I, youknow what? I really like
construction a lot. I just wantto do that you realize you
weren't that's not as profitableif you just with the resources
you had, you know, in thenetwork you had,
Jermane Cheathem (21:09):
it's like, just let whatever is, let
whatever fall in your lap, fallin your lap, like, I don't care
if it's if you're looking forchicks or you're looking for a
restaurant, you're looking forany opportunities. If shit hits
you in the face fucking takeadvantage of
Law Smith (21:21):
it. Well, buddy, we look, we're in Tampa, so the
strippers on your lap is a bad,bad move a lot.
Eric Readinger (21:28):
You put yourself in that scenario, all right, you
know, kidnapped to go to thestrip club,
Law Smith (21:33):
and then you get, and then you get the first time
ruse, which I loved, bringingguys down from Auburn when I was
in college. They go to monsVenus, and they get smoked on
like eight songs. They didn'tknow. They're getting charged,
like, the meters running, andthey're like, I don't know what
to do. This all my money forspring break, you know, like to
borrow a little bit from fiveguys. Yeah, my favorite, um,
(21:56):
Dick. No, I didn't know. Ididn't know what's going on. I
actually didn't go. They wantedto go. Look, we grew up here. I
got that shit out of my systembefore I was legally allowed to
go in them. You know, like Iwent in one when I was 14, with
braces and a cast and, um, brosand Sambazon. I mean, I guess,
yeah, I had a Swisher sweet inso that was my ID, right? But,
(22:19):
like, yeah, and then walk intoseven seas on Kennedy Boulevard,
and there's a pregnant lady in ashower. And I'm like, I don't
think this is for me. Yeah, themost expensive one. Do you tip
for two? But why it's the most
Eric Readinger (22:33):
expensive? Yeah?
Law Smith (22:35):
So you, you built this freedom with intention. Let
me ask you about this. And youkind of have, I think, a similar
philosophical take toentrepreneurial endeavors. We do
entrepreneurship, the dirtysecret about it is it's secretly
lonely, like no one wants totalk about it. It's not, you're
(22:56):
not gonna see Gary V being like,I really feel alone when I have
this idea, you know, like he'snever gonna go on about that. I
think it feels like your boatjust ran out of gas in the Gulf
of Mexico. You can see, or Gulfof America, and you could see,
you can see the shoreline. Youcan get, you know, you could
probably get there, but it'sgonna be a tough route. And that
(23:20):
that, that's kind of how I feelabout it. Sometimes, even if
you're a mom and pop operation,you started it together, you're
dividing and conquering, youknow, so you really aren't
getting unless you're very goodcommunicators and create time
for that. Those, those mom andpops aren't, you know, really
understanding the plight of eachother, even though they're in
it, you have kind of freedommight be a little bit of a
(23:44):
mirage. Kind of theory, is thatfair?
Jermane Cheathem (23:49):
Yeah, I mean, so I thought sales was a lonely
journey, but it pales incomparison to entrepreneurship,
because you're you're the onlyone paddling. Yes, it could be
weeks, months, years. And sofreedom is for people that want
to take it, and it's there forthe taking, but it's not for the
faint of heart. And so yeah,it's probably one of the lonely
(24:12):
things you'll ever encounter,besides maybe your deathbed. But
it's worth because what else areyou going to fucking do here?
Like, are you going to gobackwards? You gonna go forward?
There's no other options. And soif you're that type of person
with that type of DNA, thenfucking let's go but if you're
not, then get a nine to five andjust stay safe.
Law Smith (24:36):
Yeah? Well, I feel like your upbringing has some of
that in in you, right? It'slike, hey man, I gotta make this
happen. Or, you know, no one'slooking out for me kind of
thing.
Eric Readinger (24:45):
Or it's like, I've never really felt safe. You
know why? You know why seek thatnow, like I'm used to this self
Law Smith (24:51):
preservation, either way. But yeah,
Jermane Cheathem (24:54):
well, also I think for us as humans in
general, we always seek safetybecause, because it feels
comfortable. We like comfort. Welike easy. Our brain is looking
for easy, but there's no joy,there's no fruit, there's no
fulfillment in safety, right?The truth, the best times in my
life have always been the most,darkest, the hardest. And like
getting out of that, once youget out of it, it's like, oh,
(25:15):
fuck, I gotta find another hillto climb. Yeah. I
Eric Readinger (25:18):
mean, it goes right back to me to talk about
making my son do hard stuff,like, it's just like there's no
appreciation if the challengesare never that big, you know,
the celebration is not going tobe that big. You know, it's like
it has to be a big challenge inorder to really appreciate
Law Smith (25:35):
it. Yeah, the the most satisfying beer you have is
never like something anybodyelse really understands as an
entrepreneur, like, it'ssomething where you're like, I
I've finished my process, Ifinished my course, and it's
ready to go. And that's like,satisfying, right? It's a pain
in the ass to do, I'm sure, liketo kind of figure out how to
(25:58):
teach, how to kind of uploadyour information into a process
people can imbibe as a class,you know? And that's, that's not
fun to knock out, is, like,that's a lot of admin clerical
work, right? Like, I'm guessingit might be the first time
you've had to do that too, whichthat always sucks as well. Yeah,
(26:21):
first time of like trying, youknow, you could do a trial and
error going on, the fear of theunknown, all that stuff. But I'd
be remiss if we didn't kind ofpitch, is it creators learn.com
Yes. And let me ask you this. Idon't think sometimes we get
guests on here that I'm like,these guys are total bullshit
(26:42):
guys. I don't think you're thatat all. I think if we were
hanging out, I'd probably annoyyou. It seems like I'd be like,
as for sure bunch. And you'd belike, Sure. Can I just watch the
game? I'd be like, how
Jermane Cheathem (26:56):
many drinks I had? Okay,
Eric Readinger (26:58):
oh yeah, you get this way too.
Law Smith (27:00):
Well. Be like, you see that guy over there, and
you're like, No, you know, like,I'm focused on my business, but
I feel like there's a lot of,man, add just lost bullshitters.
There's you're not a, you're nota bullshitter kind of guy. But
the I'm always weary of these, Ithere's a certain level you get
(27:22):
to as an entrepreneur. You yougrinded it out, the hustle
start, then you got to the levelwhere you're successful. Then
you got to the level where,okay, it's again, the first out
marker keeps moving right. Andthen now you get to a level
where you want to teach.Sometimes that's altruistic, but
there's a lot of guys thataren't experts, and they're just
(27:44):
cutting to the course that I seeonline. Yeah, a lot of squeeze
pages, like click funnel pages,stuff like that. I don't think
you're that just by us talkingto you and researching who you
are, but if it's so profitable,why give it away? If this is
such a formula that that wouldbe my question?
Jermane Cheathem (28:07):
Yeah, no, it's a great question, man. So I
number one. I still have mybrokerage that I've had since
2016 so I still fund deals withthat brokerage. I still have all
those relationships that peoplestill send me those deals. So
that pipeline is already filled,that's full, that's already been
set up. What I realized isthrough, like some of my close
(28:29):
friends, especially like thatguy, Brian that sold the medical
equipment, it's like, I want todo what you're doing. Here I am
in Italy with my mom andenjoying Europe, closing deals,
working 30 to 45 minutes a day.I'm like, there's so many people
back in the United States thatare sitting at a fucking cubicle
or in a shitty business thatthey hate. They want freedom.
Everyone wants freedom. I'm afreedom guy, and so it's like,
(28:53):
if I don't share this model andhow I structured it and how it's
so leverageable, that's adisservice to humanity. Because,
like, I want people to be free.I want people to go wherever the
they want to go make as muchmoney willing to make. Because
why are the banks getting allthis money? Why are they making
the secret niche all their ownwhen it can be anybody with a
Rolodex and networks that canmake, you know, 2030, grand a
(29:16):
month working, you know, three,four hours a day. So for me, it,
it was more like I saw, I seemyself in other people, and when
I was stuck, struggling, tryingto make it in this industry, I
was like, why wouldn't I notshare this with other people to
help them make it in thisindustry? There's plenty to go
around. It's a trillion dollarindustry, I don't think from a
scarcity lens. So it's like, Ialready have my brokerage are
(29:37):
very successful. Why not trainother people how to do this,
because freedom is the only wayout.
Law Smith (29:42):
Yeah, it's like, an altruistic
Eric Readinger (29:44):
empathy. Yeah, no, I love how you said the
scarcity thing. I agree withthat, because I get that drives
me nuts, how it's like, youknow, everything's so scarce.
It's like, there's enough foreverybody, for sure. Like, let's
stop pretending.
Law Smith (29:58):
John said there's only, like, three left. I.
Gotta, I gotta get it. Nowthat's false scarcity,
Jermane Cheathem (30:03):
if you actually, like, if you actually
think about this entire nichelike it's a $1.3 trillion niche,
right, right? Equipment, financeindustry. Only 20% of that is
done by brokers. The other 80%is done by big banks. Yeah. And
the only reason because of thatis no one's educating normal
people in the BDB space how tobroker these
Law Smith (30:23):
deals, but big banks make me feel safe. They they
help us as a as a society andeconomy.
Jermane Cheathem (30:29):
All we, all we do is we send the deals to the
big banks, and they pay
Law Smith (30:33):
other housing crisis problem like oh nine coming
around the corner. I mean, ChaseBank. They really love the
American people. Why would they?You know, big banks are great,
yeah, too big to fail.
Eric Readinger (30:50):
So before we close out, though, yeah, you
thought I'd forget. I want tohear about this inexplicable,
supernatural experience you'vehad. Don't
Law Smith (30:57):
tell me what I think. Oh, no, all
Jermane Cheathem (31:01):
right. So it's not just so, and it's not, it's
not aliens, but I think justbeing a human is a super natural
experience, because if youactually examine the fucking
things that come across yourmind, what the fuck is that?
Yeah, because I didn't think of,I didn't think of that, right?
Where'd that come from? Where'dthat come from, right?
Law Smith (31:25):
I love that brain juice.
Eric Readinger (31:27):
So just being a human, I was open
Jermane Cheathem (31:30):
for something, because there are all types of
weird thoughts come up thatyou're like, I don't that came
out of left field. Yeah, yeah,
Eric Readinger (31:35):
for sure. No, I could go off on that. I mean,
just being a human is so bizarrethat we're all here at this time
of, like, you know, we couldhave been bored born, you know,
and when everybody's stillpooping in holes and, you know,
there was that. But we get, weget zoom calls and podcasts.
Law Smith (31:54):
Now you got Eric all passionate like you. Here's, I
think, your next move, though, Idon't, I want to actually know
more about what you're sayingwith this, but obviously I
forgot your next move after thisis actual good motivational
speaker. You were lighting uplike a pinball machine talking
about maybe the most unsexy kindof niche right to a lot of
(32:17):
people looking outside in Ithink your next move is to be a
non snake oil motivationalbusiness speaker, because, God
damn, you were like your trapstarted to go to your ears.
Yeah, as like, Bane.
Eric Readinger (32:30):
We'll come along, we'll bring you on stage.
Yeah, we'll open, we'll do alittle banter, and, you know,
bring you up, loosen the crowd
Law Smith (32:36):
up. I'll do a 10 Minute squirter going down on a
squirter girl, and then bit andthen, you know, we'll get right
into
Eric Readinger (32:42):
it. You got 10 minutes on that? Oh, man, I can,
yeah, you
Law Smith (32:48):
directed the special. It wasn't 10 minutes of that.
Well, you know, I cut the fat onit, but, but, yeah, I think, are
you talking about like, for,back to the supernatural. You
think, like, do out, likethere's a what is it? Not
duality? I'm trying to think ofduality, but it's like
(33:09):
simulation there, where we'reliving here and other areas at
the same time. Or is it justkind of wondering about how this
all works? Let
Eric Readinger (33:17):
me try and translate. I think, yeah, you
are the Sherpa for thissomebody, I think Jermaine, is
just somebody who has taken thetime to actually be with his own
thoughts and think about all ofit, all of existence, and you
know who he is, what he is, andall that. And he's just has come
(33:38):
to the realization that if anyhuman who actually does it and
looks around and is like, wait,what, they will come to the same
conclusion. Is what I think, isthat, if you really just think
about it,
Law Smith (33:49):
well he doesn't have avoidance. He was talking about,
you know, being soft. Americanswere getting soft, right? And
it's kind of that thing of like,we can avoid shit, right?
Eric Readinger (33:59):
Your own thoughts, oh, sure, yeah, oh,
that's most people.
Law Smith (34:03):
That's 99% that's
Jermane Cheathem (34:06):
just distraction. That's that's not
avoidance. It's just, wouldn'tthat be a form though, in a way?
Well, I guess it could be. It'smore like putting a a blinder on
to your kids so your clots don'tcome through, right?
Transmittable
Eric Readinger (34:18):
avoidance implies will. Distraction is
just sort of like, Oh, I'm notdoing anything against myself.
I'm just
Law Smith (34:26):
distracted. Yeah. Speaking of
Jermane Cheathem (34:28):
like, if you actually, like, if you really
step back and, like, look atlife, it's like, Where the fuck
are we what the fuck are wedoing here? And that is fucking
awesome,
Eric Readinger (34:41):
yeah, for real, you're
Law Smith (34:42):
like, say something profound. Say something
profound.
Eric Readinger (34:47):
Yeah, I'm with you, though we'll have to do a
separate mushroom pod.
Law Smith (34:51):
Yeah, y'all could go on for a Rogan episode on this.
Yeah?
Eric Readinger (34:55):
I mean, it goes deep philosophically, and I will
talk about it all day.
Law Smith (34:59):
Yeah. We. And send you mushrooms wherever you are.
You know, we'll figure out howto get it across customs and
whatnot. But okay, good. Yeah,you do that. I'll get right on
that rose. But anything elsebefore we close this out, you're
a great guest. Thank you forcoming on.
Jermane Cheathem (35:19):
No man, I was fun. I like your guys's energy
and the banter. It's good.
Law Smith (35:24):
Well, honestly, I couldn't tell half the time. I
thought you're like, God, theseguys are, like, two
Eric Readinger (35:30):
little alright, we'll take the approval at the
end. Yeah,
Law Smith (35:33):
no. Dad said we're good. Dad said we're good.
Jermane Cheathem (35:37):
One thing I always believe in is like, humor
is like one of the secretremedies of life. So if you're
not having fun, you're fucked.
Law Smith (35:45):
Yeah, for sure. Yeah, laughter is the best. It's like
just getting being so silly thatyou laugh ear to ear is the
best.
Eric Readinger (35:54):
Yeah, it's the ultimate tool for disarming
somebody in their you know,whatever negativity they're
bringing. Mm,
Law Smith (36:00):
hmm. Well, appreciate you coming on. We'll have to
have you back on, because Idon't think we scratched the
surface on a lot of this stuff.But thanks for your time, bud.
Jermane Cheathem (36:12):
All right, nice to talk to you guys. All
right. Thank you. Take care.Bye.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
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Law & Order: Criminal Justice System - Season 1 & Season 2
Season Two Out Now! Law & Order: Criminal Justice System tells the real stories behind the landmark cases that have shaped how the most dangerous and influential criminals in America are prosecuted. In its second season, the series tackles the threat of terrorism in the United States. From the rise of extremist political groups in the 60s to domestic lone wolves in the modern day, we explore how organizations like the FBI and Joint Terrorism Take Force have evolved to fight back against a multitude of terrorist threats.