September 7, 2025 • 30 mins
Cut The Tie Podcast with Christian Ray Flores
What happens when you stop aiming for the crowded middle and build a brand that’s truly you? In this episode of Cut The Tie, Thomas Helfrich talks with Christian Ray Flores—entrepreneur, former international pop artist, and founder of Xponential Life—about cutting ties with safety, creating on demand, and pricing your value at the premium it deserves. Christian unpacks how to mine your story (even the hard parts) into a differentiated personal brand that attracts the right clients.
About Christian Ray Flores
Born in Chile and raised across Africa and Europe, Christian witnessed civil war, economic collapse, and oppressive systems—experiences that forged his obsession with autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He became a top-charting pop artist across 15 countries, then transitioned into startups, media, and philanthropy in the U.S. Today he coaches founders, creators, and executives to build premium personal brands through Xponential Life, while sharing frameworks via his newsletter and podcast, Exponential Edge. His throughline: turn your history—gifts, scars, and all—into fuel for meaningful work.
In this episode, Thomas and Christian discuss:
- Create on demand
Why you were “born a creator”—and how to engineer daily creative state instead of waiting for inspiration. - From trauma to treasure
Mining your lived experience (even the hard parts) into a unique market edge and message. - The premium play
“Aim for premium.” Why the middle is crowded, and how to earn—and charge for—category-of-one value. - Identity > environment
Refusing to be defined by broken systems; building agency, not excuses. - Reinvention as a habit
Inciting events (layoffs, collapses, pivots) as launchpads to rebrand and reprice your future.
Key Takeaways
- Premium isn’t a price—it's positioning. Choose a niche problem, obsess over outcomes, and charge accordingly.
- Your story is your strategy. The right clients buy who you are as much as what you do.
- Creativity is a system. Build rituals that put you in a creative state daily.
- Don’t settle for the middle. It’s crowded, generic, and forgettable—go where value is obvious.
Connect with Christian Ray Flores
🚀 Xponential Life (Coaching): https://www.xponential.life/
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christianrayflores/
Connect with Thomas Helfrich
🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cutthetiegroup
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich/
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
✉️ Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 InstantlyRelevant: https://instantlyrelevant.com
Serious about LinkedIn Lead Generation? Stop Guessing what to do on LinkedIn and ignite revenue from relevance with Instantly Relevant Lead System
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Cut the Tide podcast.
Hi, I'm your host, thomasHelfrich.
I'm on a mission to help youcut the tide of whatever it is
holding you back in life Not somuch in life, maybe, maybe
around your success.
And you have to define yoursuccess yourself, because if you
didn't define it, someonedefined it for you and then
you're chasing someone else'sdream.
So go define that and thenit'll reveal what is holding you
(00:20):
back.
Continue.
I'm joined by Christian RayFlores.
How are you?
Christian is holding you back.
Continue.
I'm joined by Christian Ray.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Flores.
How are you?
Christian Thomas?
Thank you, thanks for having meand thanks for your patience.
By the way, I was a little bitlate for the recording.
I apologize.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
No one's going to know that.
Now they're going to know that.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Now they're going to know that, but I want to be
transparent.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
All good.
To be fair, the end of the dayand I'm, like you know, seven
minutes time, that's eightminutes behind, so we had a.
It's all good.
Um, listen, take a moment,introduce yourself, tell me,
tell us what you do uh, as yousaid, christian rey flores, uh,
I do, uh, a few things.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
My focus right now is on coaching people who want to
develop a personal brand.
That's my main thing I likethat.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
That's that's, you know.
I that one as somebody who'sdeveloped their own personal
brand, I'd say it's good, but wedid as a team.
That's a competitive space forcoaching.
So so what makes you unique?
Why do?
Why do people pick you?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
You know, that's the beautiful thing is that you in
the, in the modern economy,where personal brand can be
hyper, hyper niche and there'sbillions of people online, you
don't have to compete withanybody.
All you have to do is beyourself, right?
But you know, obviously I knowwhat you're asking.
I think, for me, I approachthings in a way that's sort of
(01:42):
from the inside out, and I thinkthat maybe it's a little bit
unusual, right?
So?
And I have the techniques, Ihave the platform, I know how to
do that.
I've been doing it for a longtime.
But I think the thing that Istart with is fuel what fuels
you in life?
And, more specifically, I thinkit's hard to create something
new if you're.
(02:03):
I think it's hard to createsomething new if you're
chronically behind, stressed outand anxious.
And I want you to be a creative, a creator.
You were born to be a creator,so that's your normal state.
I think we've abandoned ournormal state quite a bit just
because of the choices we'vemade, the culture we live in,
etc.
So the first thing I do is workwith people to get them into a
creative state on demand, everysingle day, and I think that's
(02:26):
crucial.
The second is probably findingan edge that is more specific.
I think that's the other thing.
That's endemic is we don't seewhat we the gifts we have, the
history that we have, even someof the trauma that we've had how
extraordinarily valuable thatis to develop a personal brand
extraordinarily valuable that isto develop a personal brand.
So we sort of end upcompromising and setting up,
(02:47):
sort of settling for templatesand mediocre things, right, and
what I want is for you to be youand how that can solve
somebody's problem in a uniqueway.
So that's pretty much it youknow, and then you are the brand
.
that's the other thing, andobviously that's very
self-evident that this is thenew era of personal brands.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
You know it's a great point because that's part of
that ties to confidence, of justtrusting that people will
believe in you.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
In general, and sometimes right, you have to
develop something it's your ownsuit, so you got to be a little
comfortable wearing it, exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
And if you don't, it's your own suit.
So you got to be a littlecomfortable wearing it exactly,
and if you don't, it's nevergoing to sell.
You're not going to.
Yeah, I don't care how manycoaching programs you join, how
many courses you buy, how muchof a team you have to edit fancy
videos, you're just not gonna.
You're not gonna resonate withpeople.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
So exactly and and uh , and I know, when we started
this brand here, it was actuallyoriginally called never been
promoted, which was more aboutme, but we were talking about
cut the tie, let go of things,right, and the metaphor of Never
Been Promoted was like let'sget out of this corporate, but I
was like I don't want it to beabout me, it's about you.
So we changed the brand rightto Cut the Tie, because it was
about what I wanted you to do.
(03:58):
It's about your journey, right,which is what we were talking
about.
It also simplified my life notto have a book and a thing
called Cut the Tie, obviously,yes, yes, that helped quite a
bit.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
So how do you define success?
It's a good question.
I would say success for me iswork full of purpose in a house
full of love and a mind full ofcreativity.
That's success.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Just being able to hold that state and have that.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, I think so.
I think that's success, that'sgood.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
No one's ever answered that way, but that's
what makes you you.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, exactly, I like your turkey.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Oh, go ahead, go ahead, you yeah, exactly yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
So I think, oh, go ahead, Go ahead, please.
Oh, my journey, oh my gosh,it's a, it's a, it's pretty
insane.
I have been, I'm aninternational guy.
This is my sixth country, myfourth continent.
Um, I went from being a refugeein Chile to growing up in
Africa, seeing a civil war, toseeing the collapse of the
(05:08):
Soviet Union.
So it's like three continents,three crises.
So I'm very concerned aboutAmerica now that I live here.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I actually might need to leave.
I think you might be the— Ineed to Might be you.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
For those who know that it might be you, I think
that might be the problem, likeif you see the sky falling, it
might be because of me,no-transcript, and you need to
(05:48):
figure out a way how to do that,how to mine for that, and
basically that turned for me.
I was in my 20s.
I got a master's degree ineconomics in Russia when the
thing collapsed, everythingcollapsed, and in that moment
there was a moment ofopportunity for me and all of my
(06:10):
very smart friends were goinginto finance and business and
academia and I went into music.
I was like the one idiot whowent into the thing that has
very, very small sort of chanceof success and I was just very
lucky.
I became one of the top popstars in Russia.
I produced other bands across15 different countries.
That sort of launched my veryfirst professional success and
since then I sort of expanded abit and I've you know, I've
(06:31):
started a couple of nonprofitsin the US, three businesses in
the US, and it's always beensort of in this almost like
triangulation of humanflourishing media, meaning I
think it's a big thing for me,right, significance, um, and
serving other people like so alot of philanthropic work.
(06:53):
So yeah, that's pretty much it.
I have a company called thirddrive media.
We help basically startup umfounders, tech startups, to
position their brand,communicate their brand in a way
that is compelling, raisemillions of dollars of capital
for them.
And then, on the personal side,I do basically personal brand
development coaching for people.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
So you define, kind of how you said success, right
and crazy journey, what's beenlike the metaphoric biggest tie.
You've had to cut, though, tofind that success.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
That's a good question.
You know, uh, there's some.
I think there's so manyactually.
You know there's like tons.
I would say one um one was thatI can, I need to be defined by
the environment that I'm in.
Right, that's a big one right.
Because I had to do that,because I grew up in places,
(07:47):
especially originally in theorigin story kind of period,
where there's oppressive regimesLike my dad was in a
concentration camp, I was arefugee in a refugee facility
Like when other people definedyour limitations in a massive
way like Africa is one of the,mozambique is one of the poorest
countries in the world.
There's just not a lot of LikeAfrica is one of the, mozambique
is one of the poorest countriesin the world.
There's just not a lot of likeclose to zero opportunity.
(08:08):
Russia in the Soviet space wasinsane.
It was like literally the landof mediocrity and
entrepreneurship was literallyillegal, quite literally.
You know, I'm not evenexaggerating.
It was like tolerated, maybe inthe shadows.
So in environments like that,where there's so much stuff
against you, like nothing in theenvironment propels you forward
(08:28):
, you become, I think,extraordinarily aware that
either you succumb to it andbecome sort of a statistic, or
you become a specific and youstart solving problems for
people in a way that'sextraordinary and that's the
only way basically to succeed ina way that's extraordinary and
that's the only way basically tosucceed.
So I would say that's probablya massive cut.
(08:49):
I've always I've like somethingclicked in me I don't know what
it was, maybe college years,late college years, that would
be my guess and I never wentback and I've always valued
autonomy, mastery, freedom, andthat's basically the wave.
I've been writing my whole lifesince then.
I think that's a massive cutbecause I see many people just
(09:09):
didn't, didn't make that cut,didn't cut that cause sometimes
you never get the experience tomake it right.
Oh, absolutely, or or like supthat experience, you can make
excuses, yeah, yeah yeah,exactly, and I think my because
my experience was fairly extremethat helped me.
That's sort of the point, right, I think many.
I mean I'm shocked.
I love America.
I'm in a way, helping Americansbe more American, because I'm
(09:33):
shocked how many Americansliterally they settle for safety
rather than autonomy andmastery and opportunity In a
place of opportunity is like tome that's like mind-boggling.
I think I know that manyimmigrants right now if they're
listening, they're just noddingtheir heads going.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
That's right, you know so yeah, well, there's a,
there's a.
You know, the, the thirdgeneration of a, of a, of a
wealthy patriarch, doesn't workright.
Yes, yeah, like.
So it's like the kids get it,because they don't actually see
money until they're 60s.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
They move on and then it's the grandkids who got
everything on the planet handedto them and that distribution of
wealth, like it works that wayright.
And the same thing with likeAmerica is like, as you have
abundance and it's grown in thelast, you know, several hundred
years, the immigrants havebecome Americans.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
I paid money off this .
We don't need more immigrants.
I'm like do you know howeconomies work?
You need new people for tax.
It's funny to me.
I agree with you.
It could be concerning Politicsaside, it's concerning when you
see that the core thing thatmakes America America, which I
believe is entrepreneurship andopportunity, absolutely yeah,
people just squash it.
It's like what?
Just squash it?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
It's like what they do, yeah, and they squash it for
the, what people don't make theconnection with, I believe,
just because they didn't grow upin my environment where it's
all government top down,basically the machine.
You're a cog in a machine andyou accept that you're a cog
Bottom line, that's it right.
So it could be an oppressiveregime in Venezuela or
(11:02):
Mozambique or Russia, or itcould be literally a
self-imposed acceptance of beinga cog in a machine, big
corporation, and you just don'tthink you have agency.
You might be well paid, butyou're a very well paid cog and
then you settle for that becausethe well paid piece provides
(11:23):
stability, safety et cetera, butyou're miserable and you're
dying inside, right.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
So that's what happens.
You're trading the mostimportant asset time.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
For something you hate.
So it's one thing, by the way,to know the tie you got to cut
right, and it's in the journeythat takes you.
It's the how that sometimesmatters, or actually always
matters.
How did you do it?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
You know, I'm not sure, I think it's a mystery,
but I think for me I thinkthere's always my theory there's
always some sort of incitingincident right, for me it was
the collapse of a whole country.
So that helps you.
When everything that providesany kind of certainty, even if
the certainty sucks for example,in my example, I didn't like
(12:06):
the Soviet Union at all.
For example, in my example,like I didn't like the Soviet
Union at all when the wholething comes crashing down,
that's an inciting incident,right, because you can either go
that's it, I'm going to laydown and die, the sky is falling
or, oh my gosh, anything ispossible.
You know what I'm saying.
So I think that happens a lot.
(12:29):
When people get fired right, youknow, they get fired, they get
angry, they get divorced,something shakes them where
they're forced to sort ofrecalibrate and there's an
inciting incident and theyeither sort of shrink and stay
in survival mode or theyreinvent themselves.
So I really think that I wouldlove to say that I was like this
(12:50):
intelligent, wise person whojust calculated everything.
It was like, yeah, this is whatI'm going to do.
No, it's usually an outsidefactor that shakes you up and
then you make a decision.
You know, and hopefully youmake a decision to reinvent
yourself, to create a new thing,and it's never been a better
time in history to do that now.
And that's probably a big partof the reason why the whole
(13:12):
personal brand thing for me it'sa huge deal is I think this is
the best time literally inhistory to be able to define
your future, and you can do itin one lifetime, like three or
four or five times.
I mean, it's mind-boggling ifyou think about it.
Like for most of human history,you lived and died in a caste,
(13:35):
right In some sort of youraristocracy, your nobility, your
warrior clan, your priest, yourcraftsman, your merchant right,
that's it From generation togeneration.
That's what you do.
And then the industrialrevolution accelerated
everything and you can actuallychange your fortune in one
generation.
So you're a peasant, you go tothe city in a factory, your kid
(13:56):
can go to school, your kid canget a better life In the
information revolution.
You can do it in a few years,right, this is the 90s, now 20th
century, late 20th century, andthen the AI revolution.
You can do it in a few monthsand you can also lose everything
(14:16):
in a few months.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
No, you're good.
Well, I think some of the sameprinciples apply, though, into
that right when you're.
If you build a brand and youget around and you can learn at
any point.
Even the parent that was in thefactory can go from their phone
and learn a whole new skill setand become a digital marketer.
If they really wanted to, theycould do anything, and it just
it comes down.
Do you want to, or are you justgoing to leave?
Let's go where you're at, Causeit's easy.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Like you have no excuses in 2025, no excuses.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Well, you can make them, there's you know they
anyway.
Well, okay, so I'm just pickingthis up.
So you've been through a lot.
What are you most grateful for?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
uh, you know, I think I would say this, I would say
the first 15, 17 years of mylife, 15 years of my life I'm
most grateful for, and thereason is because it it
accelerated wisdom and itaccelerated strength, inner
strength, and then, on thatinner strength, I was able to
(15:15):
start several things, and also Imessed up quite a bit, right,
but I overcame the aftermath ofmessing up.
But I think, yeah, I think it'sone of those universal things
the good life creates weak, youknow, weak people.
Weak people create a bad life.
Bad life creates strong peopleand strong people create a good
(15:35):
life, and so it goes.
So I'm just grateful.
I'm grateful for the hard life,I guess.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, I mean, it teaches you quite a bit about,
like I said, you do a lot withit.
You have at least maybe themindset or appearance or some
kind of support system allowedyou to maybe have the right
mindset to do it.
Not everyone gets out of thatsame experience, the same uh,
that you know it's good for youand that's what you can teach
and put into a brand or put intosomeone else's music or
whatever else you do.
Uh, that's horrible.
(16:01):
Yeah, if you could go backthough in time at any point,
when would you go back in timeand what would you do
differently?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
So many mistakes.
I would say I would like I cangive you like three or four
points.
For example one when I firststarted doing music, I would
focus less on ego because I wasvery, very driven and somewhat
insecure, and I wouldcollaborate with more people.
I would find more partnerships,create business collaborations,
music collaborations.
(16:36):
I would collaborate 10 timesmore than I did.
I was too focused on competingand less focused on
collaborating.
So that's one thing.
When I transitioned out ofmusic after about a decade
because I honestly got bored andI wanted to do other things, I
would probably transition lessabruptly.
(16:57):
I'm very idealistic, so it'slike very binary for me.
I transitioned out sort of intwo, three years, but I could
have leveraged much more of themusic brand into the new thing
and I would probably bridge itbetter and I didn't um, you
can't do it now.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
It's like weird.
Yeah, yeah, exactly right,maybe when I was 20.
How cool I was.
It's like look at my leatherjacket from high school yeah,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, so I do that.
I mean, when I, when I moved tothe states, I actually it's one
of the things that I it was soironic is that literally the
very first thing I experiencedfirsthand, the reason for the
massive success millions ofalbums sold across 15 different
countries, millions of peopleentertained on TV and radio was
my personal brand, like.
(17:44):
But it was so familiar to me,it was so like breathing, that
when I moved to the States and Istarted doing nonprofit work
then I started a couple ofcompanies I literally dropped
the personal brand piece, like,didn't do any of that for like
15 years, yeah, and the reasonwhy I did that is because I
forgot just how crucial it wasand it was so familiar that it
(18:07):
didn't feel valuable.
And then eventually I lookedback and I'm like you can do
this in your sleep.
What is wrong with you?
Wait, basically, so I startedover after that.
So that would be a differentthing I would do, like.
I can count probably a longlist of things I would do
differently.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, what's some of the best business advice you've
got.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Business advice.
It's a good question, you know.
I would say, look my businessbest business advice came from
my spiritual mentor.
His name is Andy Fleming and hehe basically is third
generation Christian.
I was like a complete pagan andI started coming to church and
(18:47):
everything, and he taught meabout the value of truth, that
that truth is not subjective, isobjective.
So if you seek the truth and youfind that you can implement it
in your life and it's that'scalled wisdom apply truth right,
applying something you knowinto a real life situation to
(19:08):
let the truth do what the truthdoes.
It's the value of truth.
It's like if you, if you, ifyou find a business principle
that is literally does notchange with time, trust that
principle, it's going to see youthrough, rather than just
trusting a fad or a shiny objector whatever.
You know the thing, the thing,the thing that you go for for
(19:31):
impulse or for, uh, for maybe asense of safety, that sort of
thing.
Uh, principles are principles.
They're like the laws ofphysics there are moral laws and
there's business laws, and ifyou trust them, you'll do.
You'll do fine.
What's, uh, what's giving youinspiration nowadays?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
you'll do fine what's giving you inspiration.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Nowadays.
To me it's the evolution of thecoaching that I'm doing.
I dedicate a lot of time toagonize on how to get somebody
from point A to point B, topoint C, to point D, and because
I devote all of my time forthat and I create content around
that, it's a really rewardingprocess.
(20:14):
The creative process has alwaysbeen my, it's always been my
jam.
It's that you trust that you'vebeen giving the resources, the
insights, the unique sort ofsecret sauce, and you mine for
that in your own inner self andyou basically take it out for a
spin with the people that you'reworking with the clients and
(20:37):
you see what works, what theydon't quite get, and you go oh
so for me this is easy.
For them, this is not easy, soI assume this is easy for them.
This is easy.
For them, this is not easy, soI assume this is easy for them.
How do I make it even morecompelling in the sense that,
okay, it moves the needle just alittle bit more.
So that's what I obsess over,right, and because I obsess over
(20:58):
it, it becomes better andbetter and people start getting
better and better results.
Also, I'm able to repurpose allof that and communicate it for
free through a newsletter,through a YouTube channel,
through a podcast, throughcoming and speaking to you today
.
So that's just.
I think the process of creationof something that actually
transforms a life is by far themost amazing thing for me.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
And if there was a question I should have asked you
today that I didn't what wouldthat question have been and how
would you have answered it?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I don't know You're a , have answered it.
I don't know.
I don't know you were a pro man.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
It's my third interview ever, so I'll tell you
about it.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
That is so not true.
So not true, okay.
Okay, here's one.
What are the pros and cons ofaiming sort of for a almost like
a safe, but middle ground inthe?
Speaker 1 (21:56):
marketplace versus a high.
Oh, that's a good question.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Have you asked that?
So I think it's a reallyfascinating question.
Because instinctively we areprimal people, we're tribal, we
don't like rejection.
We like helping people but wedon't like standing out too much
because we feel rejection fromthe tribe.
It's a very primal thing.
(22:17):
So, because we're tribal and wefear rejection, the natural bend
for us when we aim forsomething professionally is for
the middle.
That's our natural bend andbecause, also, it feels like, oh
, it's achievable, most peoplecan have access to it, there's
more bigger market, people aregoing to want this, that sort of
thing.
So there's all these nuances,how you rationalize it, but the
(22:41):
core motivation is primal fearof rejection.
So we aim for the middle.
We're insecure, basically, andthe counterintuitive truth about
that is the middle is the worstthing you can possibly do,
because it's super crowded.
Yeah, because most people do it.
So, instead of aiming for themiddle, aim high, aim for
(23:02):
premium and get yourself there.
Okay, you have a set of skillsand you feel like, man, I'm not
a premium kind of guy.
Yes, you are Obsess over aproblem long enough and you
become one and you aim forpremium.
And that's the best place toaim, because it's not crowded,
because very few people dare tothink that way right.
(23:22):
So whatever product, whateverservice you offer, aim for
premium, create somethingextraordinary, something unique,
something that is, is, is aspecial offering and you will.
I promise you it will pay offand, yeah, it's harder in the
beginning.
It's for the rest of your life.
It's going to be easier becauseit's just not a crowded space.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
You're.
You're right.
So, like you and I'll, I'llvoice this cause um.
I have a marketing agency.
There's a million of them.
There's not a million, it'slike 60,000 or so in the US,
literally.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And we do lead generation, but to me it's
always been such a dirty wordLike it's yes, correct, yeah,
yeah, we really actually do itquite well because it's truly a
framework of how you go do this,and this is part of it.
What we're doing right here andlike structured way to meet
people, get to know them and nothave to sell every person that
comes across just to do itcorrectly.
(24:14):
And I struggle for a reallylong time, charging a premium
for it because you want peopleto say yes, because you want
revenue.
But what you find is when youstart raising your prices and
you start like, because there'sgood value there over what's out
in the market, which you pickup are the people who've tried
all the stuff that didn't work.
And that's when I see thatthat's different.
(24:35):
It's like, yeah, it's all.
Wow, that's actually the partsthat weren't working here, here
and here, and that guy seems toknow what he's doing.
It does work.
Now you get way less yeses youalways will because there's less
people who do to get what yourpremium brand provides.
But when they do give you a yes, the payoff is 10x higher.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
It really is, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And they typically last longer.
It usually works better becausethey're more invested.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
They're more invested in you, they're probably better
equipped to benefit from yourservices and products.
All of that, all of that, butthe sort of the overcoming that
gap of confidence and clarityand excellence that's what most
people don't.
Just don't make that leap.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
And therefore that is the best place to be little bit
and brand comes into it, not tothe depth you're doing it,
which is will be an interestingconversation when I meet someone
who really does need a brandhelp as opposed to yeah, good
enough, let's keep movingforward, right, because there
are different people even inyour world.
You don't need, I need a logocolor.
(25:41):
What's my message?
You need someone who reallywants to have a holistic.
Yeah, I have to be on instagramand like, it's a whole thing,
right?
yes um, and and and.
That's a premium play too,because there's people who
really get the value of it morethan I.
Just need to not look bad no,totally.
But when we do this the samething, it's kind of like what do
(26:02):
the top people in your industrycharge?
And no one will.
I cannot find a person.
Initially, I'm like I want youto go charge exactly what the
top person charges, you gocharge exactly what the top
person charges, yeah, andthey're like no, I'm not Just
copy basically what they'redoing.
Do your own version of it andthen go digital confidence and
then, like, the confidence willbe like that's like.
What you can do is like listen,hey, I like you, you can
(26:24):
discount at that point.
For a few of them, you can backinto a third of the price and
there's still two times morethan you were about to go charge
because of the price anchoringmodels.
So it's funny, but you can'tget people to say yes to it ever
.
I didn't even remind myself.
Shameless plug time for you,though.
Who should get a hold of you?
How do they do it?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Well, look, if you are, in a broader sense,
inspired or served by the thingsthat we discussed today, just
go to the newsletterchristianrayflorescom.
There's a free version.
There's a paid version, like alatte a month will get you a lot
all kinds of really cool VIPstuff but it can be completely
free, right.
So if you're, if you're agenerically interested, go there
(27:09):
.
You're going to get a lot ofvalue.
There's like 12,000 subscribersright now at the newsletter.
It's called the ExponentialEdge and there's a podcast as
well Exponential Edge.
If you're like, oh, I got tofigure out if we can work with
this guy, then go to exponentialwithout an E exponentiallife,
which is the coaching programwebsite, and you know we have
(27:30):
cohorts and things like thatthere, which is the coaching
program website, and you know wehave cohorts and things like
that.
It's a.
There's a wait list there,basically, but we can definitely
talk.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yeah, actually, I'll tell you what I think cohorts
are great.
I find, though, for people whoare really trying to nail a
business, it doesn't work aswell.
I mean just a sidebarconversation.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yeah, how do you bring branding into a cohort
when it's such an intimateexperience?
Well, I think I would say thebest model is a hybrid model and
the cohorts.
That's why my cohorts are verysmall up to 10 people and what
happens in the cohorts isthere's so much collective
wisdom that magically justswirls around.
It's unbelievable.
I just had one today.
It's one of my favorite things,honestly, because there's
(28:19):
certain things that happen thatI wouldn't have even thought of,
and it happens for the peoplein the cohort, quite literally
every single one of them.
Some sort of magic happens.
Now, what feeds the cohort is myexpertise, obviously.
So I have a program.
People go through the modules,they have assignments, we have
(28:39):
one-on-ones.
On top of that, we have asynchronous communication, so
there's almost like multiplethreads of support.
The combined power of that iswhat I find to be the best.
So in some ways, I have clientsthat are only one-on-ones, but
they have other reasons thanthat, you know.
(29:00):
They just don't want to beexposing some of the stuff that
they're working on in a cohortsetting, and that's good to know
, because you get kind of peoplein there but they do.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
So I guess my advice setting that question up was to
people I like to try to giveaction to listeners is you got
to do the work?
Oh, one-on-one or in cohort,but in particular in a cohort in
general information.
If you're not there actively,really you know you're not
balling on it, don't do it, itdoesn't, it's not going to
benefit you enough.
And then you don't want peopleto know like that either, Cause
it doesn't help your brand,because then they blame you Like
(29:29):
oh, it didn't work, Like well,you didn't do the freaking work.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
So no, no, no, no.
This is I mean no one.
I wouldn't offer coaching topeople that I can sense quite
like in five minutes and 10minutes.
I wouldn't offer the thing ifI'm not very, very confident.
This is going to change yourlife for a long time, you Love
it.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Thank you, by the way , Christian, for coming tonight.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Oh, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
And once again, how do you want people to get a hold
of you?
Speaker 2 (29:57):
ChristianRayFlorescom newsletter exponentiallife
coaching.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Best answer, by the way ever.
Boom, like you've done itbefore.
Hey, for everyone who made itthis far in the show.
Thank you for listening.
If this was your first timehere, I hope it's the first of
many, and if you've been herebefore you rock, come back, love
it, get out there.
Go cut a tie First to find thatsuccess, though, so you know
what tie you're cutting and forwhat reason.
Thanks for listening.
Welcome to Cut the Tide podcast.
Hi, I'm your host, thomasHelfrich.
I'm on a mission to help youcut the tide of whatever it is
holding you back in life Not somuch in life, maybe, maybe
around your success.
And you have to define yoursuccess yourself, because if you
didn't define it, someonedefined it for you and then
you're chasing someone else'sdream.
So go define that and thenit'll reveal what is holding you
(00:20):
back.
Continue.
I'm joined by Christian RayFlores.
How are you?
Christian is holding you back.
Continue.
I'm joined by Christian Ray.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Flores.
How are you?
Christian Thomas?
Thank you, thanks for having meand thanks for your patience.
By the way, I was a little bitlate for the recording.
I apologize.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
No one's going to know that.
Now they're going to know that.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Now they're going to know that, but I want to be
transparent.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
All good.
To be fair, the end of the dayand I'm, like you know, seven
minutes time, that's eightminutes behind, so we had a.
It's all good.
Um, listen, take a moment,introduce yourself, tell me,
tell us what you do uh, as yousaid, christian rey flores, uh,
I do, uh, a few things.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
My focus right now is on coaching people who want to
develop a personal brand.
That's my main thing I likethat.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
That's that's, you know.
I that one as somebody who'sdeveloped their own personal
brand, I'd say it's good, but wedid as a team.
That's a competitive space forcoaching.
So so what makes you unique?
Why do?
Why do people pick you?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
You know, that's the beautiful thing is that you in
the, in the modern economy,where personal brand can be
hyper, hyper niche and there'sbillions of people online, you
don't have to compete withanybody.
All you have to do is beyourself, right?
But you know, obviously I knowwhat you're asking.
I think, for me, I approachthings in a way that's sort of
(01:42):
from the inside out, and I thinkthat maybe it's a little bit
unusual, right?
So?
And I have the techniques, Ihave the platform, I know how to
do that.
I've been doing it for a longtime.
But I think the thing that Istart with is fuel what fuels
you in life?
And, more specifically, I thinkit's hard to create something
new if you're.
(02:03):
I think it's hard to createsomething new if you're
chronically behind, stressed outand anxious.
And I want you to be a creative, a creator.
You were born to be a creator,so that's your normal state.
I think we've abandoned ournormal state quite a bit just
because of the choices we'vemade, the culture we live in,
etc.
So the first thing I do is workwith people to get them into a
creative state on demand, everysingle day, and I think that's
(02:26):
crucial.
The second is probably findingan edge that is more specific.
I think that's the other thing.
That's endemic is we don't seewhat we the gifts we have, the
history that we have, even someof the trauma that we've had how
extraordinarily valuable thatis to develop a personal brand
extraordinarily valuable that isto develop a personal brand.
So we sort of end upcompromising and setting up,
(02:47):
sort of settling for templatesand mediocre things, right, and
what I want is for you to be youand how that can solve
somebody's problem in a uniqueway.
So that's pretty much it youknow, and then you are the brand
.
that's the other thing, andobviously that's very
self-evident that this is thenew era of personal brands.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
You know it's a great point because that's part of
that ties to confidence, of justtrusting that people will
believe in you.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
In general, and sometimes right, you have to
develop something it's your ownsuit, so you got to be a little
comfortable wearing it, exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
And if you don't, it's your own suit.
So you got to be a littlecomfortable wearing it exactly,
and if you don't, it's nevergoing to sell.
You're not going to.
Yeah, I don't care how manycoaching programs you join, how
many courses you buy, how muchof a team you have to edit fancy
videos, you're just not gonna.
You're not gonna resonate withpeople.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
So exactly and and uh , and I know, when we started
this brand here, it was actuallyoriginally called never been
promoted, which was more aboutme, but we were talking about
cut the tie, let go of things,right, and the metaphor of Never
Been Promoted was like let'sget out of this corporate, but I
was like I don't want it to beabout me, it's about you.
So we changed the brand rightto Cut the Tie, because it was
about what I wanted you to do.
(03:58):
It's about your journey, right,which is what we were talking
about.
It also simplified my life notto have a book and a thing
called Cut the Tie, obviously,yes, yes, that helped quite a
bit.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
So how do you define success?
It's a good question.
I would say success for me iswork full of purpose in a house
full of love and a mind full ofcreativity.
That's success.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Just being able to hold that state and have that.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Yeah, I think so.
I think that's success, that'sgood.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
No one's ever answered that way, but that's
what makes you you.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Yeah, exactly, I like your turkey.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Oh, go ahead, go ahead, you yeah, exactly yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
So I think, oh, go ahead, Go ahead, please.
Oh, my journey, oh my gosh,it's a, it's a, it's pretty
insane.
I have been, I'm aninternational guy.
This is my sixth country, myfourth continent.
Um, I went from being a refugeein Chile to growing up in
Africa, seeing a civil war, toseeing the collapse of the
(05:08):
Soviet Union.
So it's like three continents,three crises.
So I'm very concerned aboutAmerica now that I live here.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I actually might need to leave.
I think you might be the— Ineed to Might be you.
Speaker 2 (05:19):
For those who know that it might be you, I think
that might be the problem, likeif you see the sky falling, it
might be because of me,no-transcript, and you need to
(05:48):
figure out a way how to do that,how to mine for that, and
basically that turned for me.
I was in my 20s.
I got a master's degree ineconomics in Russia when the
thing collapsed, everythingcollapsed, and in that moment
there was a moment ofopportunity for me and all of my
(06:10):
very smart friends were goinginto finance and business and
academia and I went into music.
I was like the one idiot whowent into the thing that has
very, very small sort of chanceof success and I was just very
lucky.
I became one of the top popstars in Russia.
I produced other bands across15 different countries.
That sort of launched my veryfirst professional success and
since then I sort of expanded abit and I've you know, I've
(06:31):
started a couple of nonprofitsin the US, three businesses in
the US, and it's always beensort of in this almost like
triangulation of humanflourishing media, meaning I
think it's a big thing for me,right, significance, um, and
serving other people like so alot of philanthropic work.
(06:53):
So yeah, that's pretty much it.
I have a company called thirddrive media.
We help basically startup umfounders, tech startups, to
position their brand,communicate their brand in a way
that is compelling, raisemillions of dollars of capital
for them.
And then, on the personal side,I do basically personal brand
development coaching for people.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
So you define, kind of how you said success, right
and crazy journey, what's beenlike the metaphoric biggest tie.
You've had to cut, though, tofind that success.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
That's a good question.
You know, uh, there's some.
I think there's so manyactually.
You know there's like tons.
I would say one um one was thatI can, I need to be defined by
the environment that I'm in.
Right, that's a big one right.
Because I had to do that,because I grew up in places,
(07:47):
especially originally in theorigin story kind of period,
where there's oppressive regimesLike my dad was in a
concentration camp, I was arefugee in a refugee facility
Like when other people definedyour limitations in a massive
way like Africa is one of the,mozambique is one of the poorest
countries in the world.
There's just not a lot of LikeAfrica is one of the, mozambique
is one of the poorest countriesin the world.
There's just not a lot of likeclose to zero opportunity.
(08:08):
Russia in the Soviet space wasinsane.
It was like literally the landof mediocrity and
entrepreneurship was literallyillegal, quite literally.
You know, I'm not evenexaggerating.
It was like tolerated, maybe inthe shadows.
So in environments like that,where there's so much stuff
against you, like nothing in theenvironment propels you forward
(08:28):
, you become, I think,extraordinarily aware that
either you succumb to it andbecome sort of a statistic, or
you become a specific and youstart solving problems for
people in a way that'sextraordinary and that's the
only way basically to succeed ina way that's extraordinary and
that's the only way basically tosucceed.
So I would say that's probablya massive cut.
(08:49):
I've always I've like somethingclicked in me I don't know what
it was, maybe college years,late college years, that would
be my guess and I never wentback and I've always valued
autonomy, mastery, freedom, andthat's basically the wave.
I've been writing my whole lifesince then.
I think that's a massive cutbecause I see many people just
(09:09):
didn't, didn't make that cut,didn't cut that cause sometimes
you never get the experience tomake it right.
Oh, absolutely, or or like supthat experience, you can make
excuses, yeah, yeah yeah,exactly, and I think my because
my experience was fairly extremethat helped me.
That's sort of the point, right, I think many.
I mean I'm shocked.
I love America.
I'm in a way, helping Americansbe more American, because I'm
(09:33):
shocked how many Americansliterally they settle for safety
rather than autonomy andmastery and opportunity In a
place of opportunity is like tome that's like mind-boggling.
I think I know that manyimmigrants right now if they're
listening, they're just noddingtheir heads going.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
That's right, you know so yeah, well, there's a,
there's a.
You know, the, the thirdgeneration of a, of a, of a
wealthy patriarch, doesn't workright.
Yes, yeah, like.
So it's like the kids get it,because they don't actually see
money until they're 60s.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
They move on and then it's the grandkids who got
everything on the planet handedto them and that distribution of
wealth, like it works that wayright.
And the same thing with likeAmerica is like, as you have
abundance and it's grown in thelast, you know, several hundred
years, the immigrants havebecome Americans.
Speaker 2 (10:21):
Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
I paid money off this .
We don't need more immigrants.
I'm like do you know howeconomies work?
You need new people for tax.
It's funny to me.
I agree with you.
It could be concerning Politicsaside, it's concerning when you
see that the core thing thatmakes America America, which I
believe is entrepreneurship andopportunity, absolutely yeah,
people just squash it.
It's like what?
Just squash it?
Speaker 2 (10:41):
It's like what they do, yeah, and they squash it for
the, what people don't make theconnection with, I believe,
just because they didn't grow upin my environment where it's
all government top down,basically the machine.
You're a cog in a machine andyou accept that you're a cog
Bottom line, that's it right.
So it could be an oppressiveregime in Venezuela or
(11:02):
Mozambique or Russia, or itcould be literally a
self-imposed acceptance of beinga cog in a machine, big
corporation, and you just don'tthink you have agency.
You might be well paid, butyou're a very well paid cog and
then you settle for that becausethe well paid piece provides
(11:23):
stability, safety et cetera, butyou're miserable and you're
dying inside, right.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
So that's what happens.
You're trading the mostimportant asset time.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, that's exactly right.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
For something you hate.
So it's one thing, by the way,to know the tie you got to cut
right, and it's in the journeythat takes you.
It's the how that sometimesmatters, or actually always
matters.
How did you do it?
Speaker 2 (11:45):
You know, I'm not sure, I think it's a mystery,
but I think for me I thinkthere's always my theory there's
always some sort of incitingincident right, for me it was
the collapse of a whole country.
So that helps you.
When everything that providesany kind of certainty, even if
the certainty sucks for example,in my example, I didn't like
(12:06):
the Soviet Union at all.
For example, in my example,like I didn't like the Soviet
Union at all when the wholething comes crashing down,
that's an inciting incident,right, because you can either go
that's it, I'm going to laydown and die, the sky is falling
or, oh my gosh, anything ispossible.
You know what I'm saying.
So I think that happens a lot.
(12:29):
When people get fired right, youknow, they get fired, they get
angry, they get divorced,something shakes them where
they're forced to sort ofrecalibrate and there's an
inciting incident and theyeither sort of shrink and stay
in survival mode or theyreinvent themselves.
So I really think that I wouldlove to say that I was like this
(12:50):
intelligent, wise person whojust calculated everything.
It was like, yeah, this is whatI'm going to do.
No, it's usually an outsidefactor that shakes you up and
then you make a decision.
You know, and hopefully youmake a decision to reinvent
yourself, to create a new thing,and it's never been a better
time in history to do that now.
And that's probably a big partof the reason why the whole
(13:12):
personal brand thing for me it'sa huge deal is I think this is
the best time literally inhistory to be able to define
your future, and you can do itin one lifetime, like three or
four or five times.
I mean, it's mind-boggling ifyou think about it.
Like for most of human history,you lived and died in a caste,
(13:35):
right In some sort of youraristocracy, your nobility, your
warrior clan, your priest, yourcraftsman, your merchant right,
that's it From generation togeneration.
That's what you do.
And then the industrialrevolution accelerated
everything and you can actuallychange your fortune in one
generation.
So you're a peasant, you go tothe city in a factory, your kid
(13:56):
can go to school, your kid canget a better life In the
information revolution.
You can do it in a few years,right, this is the 90s, now 20th
century, late 20th century, andthen the AI revolution.
You can do it in a few monthsand you can also lose everything
(14:16):
in a few months.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
No, you're good.
Well, I think some of the sameprinciples apply, though, into
that right when you're.
If you build a brand and youget around and you can learn at
any point.
Even the parent that was in thefactory can go from their phone
and learn a whole new skill setand become a digital marketer.
If they really wanted to, theycould do anything, and it just
it comes down.
Do you want to, or are you justgoing to leave?
Let's go where you're at, Causeit's easy.
Speaker 2 (14:37):
Like you have no excuses in 2025, no excuses.
Speaker 1 (14:40):
Well, you can make them, there's you know they
anyway.
Well, okay, so I'm just pickingthis up.
So you've been through a lot.
What are you most grateful for?
Speaker 2 (14:52):
uh, you know, I think I would say this, I would say
the first 15, 17 years of mylife, 15 years of my life I'm
most grateful for, and thereason is because it it
accelerated wisdom and itaccelerated strength, inner
strength, and then, on thatinner strength, I was able to
(15:15):
start several things, and also Imessed up quite a bit, right,
but I overcame the aftermath ofmessing up.
But I think, yeah, I think it'sone of those universal things
the good life creates weak, youknow, weak people.
Weak people create a bad life.
Bad life creates strong peopleand strong people create a good
(15:35):
life, and so it goes.
So I'm just grateful.
I'm grateful for the hard life,I guess.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Well, I mean, it teaches you quite a bit about,
like I said, you do a lot withit.
You have at least maybe themindset or appearance or some
kind of support system allowedyou to maybe have the right
mindset to do it.
Not everyone gets out of thatsame experience, the same uh,
that you know it's good for youand that's what you can teach
and put into a brand or put intosomeone else's music or
whatever else you do.
Uh, that's horrible.
(16:01):
Yeah, if you could go backthough in time at any point,
when would you go back in timeand what would you do
differently?
Speaker 2 (16:15):
So many mistakes.
I would say I would like I cangive you like three or four
points.
For example one when I firststarted doing music, I would
focus less on ego because I wasvery, very driven and somewhat
insecure, and I wouldcollaborate with more people.
I would find more partnerships,create business collaborations,
music collaborations.
(16:36):
I would collaborate 10 timesmore than I did.
I was too focused on competingand less focused on
collaborating.
So that's one thing.
When I transitioned out ofmusic after about a decade
because I honestly got bored andI wanted to do other things, I
would probably transition lessabruptly.
(16:57):
I'm very idealistic, so it'slike very binary for me.
I transitioned out sort of intwo, three years, but I could
have leveraged much more of themusic brand into the new thing
and I would probably bridge itbetter and I didn't um, you
can't do it now.
Speaker 1 (17:15):
It's like weird.
Yeah, yeah, exactly right,maybe when I was 20.
How cool I was.
It's like look at my leatherjacket from high school yeah,
that's right.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
Yeah, so I do that.
I mean, when I, when I moved tothe states, I actually it's one
of the things that I it was soironic is that literally the
very first thing I experiencedfirsthand, the reason for the
massive success millions ofalbums sold across 15 different
countries, millions of peopleentertained on TV and radio was
my personal brand, like.
(17:44):
But it was so familiar to me,it was so like breathing, that
when I moved to the States and Istarted doing nonprofit work
then I started a couple ofcompanies I literally dropped
the personal brand piece, like,didn't do any of that for like
15 years, yeah, and the reasonwhy I did that is because I
forgot just how crucial it wasand it was so familiar that it
(18:07):
didn't feel valuable.
And then eventually I lookedback and I'm like you can do
this in your sleep.
What is wrong with you?
Wait, basically, so I startedover after that.
So that would be a differentthing I would do, like.
I can count probably a longlist of things I would do
differently.
Speaker 1 (18:22):
Yeah, what's some of the best business advice you've
got.
Speaker 2 (18:27):
Business advice.
It's a good question, you know.
I would say, look my businessbest business advice came from
my spiritual mentor.
His name is Andy Fleming and hehe basically is third
generation Christian.
I was like a complete pagan andI started coming to church and
(18:47):
everything, and he taught meabout the value of truth, that
that truth is not subjective, isobjective.
So if you seek the truth and youfind that you can implement it
in your life and it's that'scalled wisdom apply truth right,
applying something you knowinto a real life situation to
(19:08):
let the truth do what the truthdoes.
It's the value of truth.
It's like if you, if you, ifyou find a business principle
that is literally does notchange with time, trust that
principle, it's going to see youthrough, rather than just
trusting a fad or a shiny objector whatever.
You know the thing, the thing,the thing that you go for for
(19:31):
impulse or for, uh, for maybe asense of safety, that sort of
thing.
Uh, principles are principles.
They're like the laws ofphysics there are moral laws and
there's business laws, and ifyou trust them, you'll do.
You'll do fine.
What's, uh, what's giving youinspiration nowadays?
Speaker 1 (19:48):
you'll do fine what's giving you inspiration.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
Nowadays.
To me it's the evolution of thecoaching that I'm doing.
I dedicate a lot of time toagonize on how to get somebody
from point A to point B, topoint C, to point D, and because
I devote all of my time forthat and I create content around
that, it's a really rewardingprocess.
(20:14):
The creative process has alwaysbeen my, it's always been my
jam.
It's that you trust that you'vebeen giving the resources, the
insights, the unique sort ofsecret sauce, and you mine for
that in your own inner self andyou basically take it out for a
spin with the people that you'reworking with the clients and
(20:37):
you see what works, what theydon't quite get, and you go oh
so for me this is easy.
For them, this is not easy, soI assume this is easy for them.
This is easy.
For them, this is not easy, soI assume this is easy for them.
How do I make it even morecompelling in the sense that,
okay, it moves the needle just alittle bit more.
So that's what I obsess over,right, and because I obsess over
(20:58):
it, it becomes better andbetter and people start getting
better and better results.
Also, I'm able to repurpose allof that and communicate it for
free through a newsletter,through a YouTube channel,
through a podcast, throughcoming and speaking to you today
.
So that's just.
I think the process of creationof something that actually
transforms a life is by far themost amazing thing for me.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
And if there was a question I should have asked you
today that I didn't what wouldthat question have been and how
would you have answered it?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I don't know You're a , have answered it.
I don't know.
I don't know you were a pro man.
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
It's my third interview ever, so I'll tell you
about it.
Speaker 2 (21:36):
That is so not true.
So not true, okay.
Okay, here's one.
What are the pros and cons ofaiming sort of for a almost like
a safe, but middle ground inthe?
Speaker 1 (21:56):
marketplace versus a high.
Oh, that's a good question.
Speaker 2 (21:57):
Have you asked that?
So I think it's a reallyfascinating question.
Because instinctively we areprimal people, we're tribal, we
don't like rejection.
We like helping people but wedon't like standing out too much
because we feel rejection fromthe tribe.
It's a very primal thing.
(22:17):
So, because we're tribal and wefear rejection, the natural bend
for us when we aim forsomething professionally is for
the middle.
That's our natural bend andbecause, also, it feels like, oh
, it's achievable, most peoplecan have access to it, there's
more bigger market, people aregoing to want this, that sort of
thing.
So there's all these nuances,how you rationalize it, but the
(22:41):
core motivation is primal fearof rejection.
So we aim for the middle.
We're insecure, basically, andthe counterintuitive truth about
that is the middle is the worstthing you can possibly do,
because it's super crowded.
Yeah, because most people do it.
So, instead of aiming for themiddle, aim high, aim for
(23:02):
premium and get yourself there.
Okay, you have a set of skillsand you feel like, man, I'm not
a premium kind of guy.
Yes, you are Obsess over aproblem long enough and you
become one and you aim forpremium.
And that's the best place toaim, because it's not crowded,
because very few people dare tothink that way right.
(23:22):
So whatever product, whateverservice you offer, aim for
premium, create somethingextraordinary, something unique,
something that is, is, is aspecial offering and you will.
I promise you it will pay offand, yeah, it's harder in the
beginning.
It's for the rest of your life.
It's going to be easier becauseit's just not a crowded space.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
You're.
You're right.
So, like you and I'll, I'llvoice this cause um.
I have a marketing agency.
There's a million of them.
There's not a million, it'slike 60,000 or so in the US,
literally.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
And we do lead generation, but to me it's
always been such a dirty wordLike it's yes, correct, yeah,
yeah, we really actually do itquite well because it's truly a
framework of how you go do this,and this is part of it.
What we're doing right here andlike structured way to meet
people, get to know them and nothave to sell every person that
comes across just to do itcorrectly.
(24:14):
And I struggle for a reallylong time, charging a premium
for it because you want peopleto say yes, because you want
revenue.
But what you find is when youstart raising your prices and
you start like, because there'sgood value there over what's out
in the market, which you pickup are the people who've tried
all the stuff that didn't work.
And that's when I see thatthat's different.
(24:35):
It's like, yeah, it's all.
Wow, that's actually the partsthat weren't working here, here
and here, and that guy seems toknow what he's doing.
It does work.
Now you get way less yeses youalways will because there's less
people who do to get what yourpremium brand provides.
But when they do give you a yes, the payoff is 10x higher.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
It really is, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:55):
And they typically last longer.
It usually works better becausethey're more invested.
Speaker 2 (25:00):
They're more invested in you, they're probably better
equipped to benefit from yourservices and products.
All of that, all of that, butthe sort of the overcoming that
gap of confidence and clarityand excellence that's what most
people don't.
Just don't make that leap.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
And therefore that is the best place to be little bit
and brand comes into it, not tothe depth you're doing it,
which is will be an interestingconversation when I meet someone
who really does need a brandhelp as opposed to yeah, good
enough, let's keep movingforward, right, because there
are different people even inyour world.
You don't need, I need a logocolor.
(25:41):
What's my message?
You need someone who reallywants to have a holistic.
Yeah, I have to be on instagramand like, it's a whole thing,
right?
yes um, and and and.
That's a premium play too,because there's people who
really get the value of it morethan I.
Just need to not look bad no,totally.
But when we do this the samething, it's kind of like what do
(26:02):
the top people in your industrycharge?
And no one will.
I cannot find a person.
Initially, I'm like I want youto go charge exactly what the
top person charges, you gocharge exactly what the top
person charges, yeah, andthey're like no, I'm not Just
copy basically what they'redoing.
Do your own version of it andthen go digital confidence and
then, like, the confidence willbe like that's like.
What you can do is like listen,hey, I like you, you can
(26:24):
discount at that point.
For a few of them, you can backinto a third of the price and
there's still two times morethan you were about to go charge
because of the price anchoringmodels.
So it's funny, but you can'tget people to say yes to it ever
.
I didn't even remind myself.
Shameless plug time for you,though.
Who should get a hold of you?
How do they do it?
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Well, look, if you are, in a broader sense,
inspired or served by the thingsthat we discussed today, just
go to the newsletterchristianrayflorescom.
There's a free version.
There's a paid version, like alatte a month will get you a lot
all kinds of really cool VIPstuff but it can be completely
free, right.
So if you're, if you're agenerically interested, go there
(27:09):
.
You're going to get a lot ofvalue.
There's like 12,000 subscribersright now at the newsletter.
It's called the ExponentialEdge and there's a podcast as
well Exponential Edge.
If you're like, oh, I got tofigure out if we can work with
this guy, then go to exponentialwithout an E exponentiallife,
which is the coaching programwebsite, and you know we have
(27:30):
cohorts and things like thatthere, which is the coaching
program website, and you know wehave cohorts and things like
that.
It's a.
There's a wait list there,basically, but we can definitely
talk.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
Yeah, actually, I'll tell you what I think cohorts
are great.
I find, though, for people whoare really trying to nail a
business, it doesn't work aswell.
I mean just a sidebarconversation.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Yeah, how do you bring branding into a cohort
when it's such an intimateexperience?
Well, I think I would say thebest model is a hybrid model and
the cohorts.
That's why my cohorts are verysmall up to 10 people and what
happens in the cohorts isthere's so much collective
wisdom that magically justswirls around.
It's unbelievable.
I just had one today.
It's one of my favorite things,honestly, because there's
(28:19):
certain things that happen thatI wouldn't have even thought of,
and it happens for the peoplein the cohort, quite literally
every single one of them.
Some sort of magic happens.
Now, what feeds the cohort is myexpertise, obviously.
So I have a program.
People go through the modules,they have assignments, we have
(28:39):
one-on-ones.
On top of that, we have asynchronous communication, so
there's almost like multiplethreads of support.
The combined power of that iswhat I find to be the best.
So in some ways, I have clientsthat are only one-on-ones, but
they have other reasons thanthat, you know.
(29:00):
They just don't want to beexposing some of the stuff that
they're working on in a cohortsetting, and that's good to know
, because you get kind of peoplein there but they do.
Speaker 1 (29:08):
So I guess my advice setting that question up was to
people I like to try to giveaction to listeners is you got
to do the work?
Oh, one-on-one or in cohort,but in particular in a cohort in
general information.
If you're not there actively,really you know you're not
balling on it, don't do it, itdoesn't, it's not going to
benefit you enough.
And then you don't want peopleto know like that either, Cause
it doesn't help your brand,because then they blame you Like
(29:29):
oh, it didn't work, Like well,you didn't do the freaking work.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
So no, no, no, no.
This is I mean no one.
I wouldn't offer coaching topeople that I can sense quite
like in five minutes and 10minutes.
I wouldn't offer the thing ifI'm not very, very confident.
This is going to change yourlife for a long time, you Love
it.
Speaker 1 (29:49):
Thank you, by the way , Christian, for coming tonight.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Oh, thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
And once again, how do you want people to get a hold
of you?
Speaker 2 (29:57):
ChristianRayFlorescom newsletter exponentiallife
coaching.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Best answer, by the way ever.
Boom, like you've done itbefore.
Hey, for everyone who made itthis far in the show.
Thank you for listening.
If this was your first timehere, I hope it's the first of
many, and if you've been herebefore you rock, come back, love
it, get out there.
Go cut a tie First to find thatsuccess, though, so you know
what tie you're cutting and forwhat reason.
Thanks for listening.
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