From Farm Life to Multi-Million Dollar Business

What does true success look like for entrepreneurs who want it all? Chris Yano, founder and CEO of Rhino Strategic Solutions, shares his remarkable journey from Indiana farm boy to bull rider to building a $93 million marketing company - all while never missing his children's important moments.

The conversation reveals how Chris's farming background developed the mental fortitude that fueled his business success. Rather than pursuing growth at any cost, he built Rhino on the principle of "reputation over revenue," creating a culture where employees come first, enabling them to better serve clients. This approach, combined with innovative benefits like their "Masogi program" (giving employees $1,000 for memorable experiences), helped scale the company to over 250 employees.

What truly sets Chris apart is his unwavering commitment to balance. He shares how he'd take red-eye flights to attend his children's activities, intentionally structuring his business to support family priorities rather than sacrifice them. His philosophy of creating "memory dividends" alongside financial success offers a refreshing alternative to traditional hustle culture.

The episode takes an inspiring turn when Chris discusses his recent fitness transformation with the Unstoppable 365 program. He explains how improved physical health has enhanced his mental clarity, leadership effectiveness, and even family relationships - demonstrating how personal well-being creates a ripple effect across all areas of life.

Whether you're a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting your journey, this conversation will challenge you to redefine success beyond financial metrics and embrace a more holistic approach to business, family, and personal growth. As Chris says, "It's either day one or one day" - which will you choose?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
And honestly, man, when I think of business or
making money and having success,it's so we can create those
memories with people we trulylove and care about.
And we're talking about beingintentional here.
But the thing that stands outto me the most and this is what
I gather from a lot of greatleaders is investing in the
human being.
Not the employee, not thesalesperson, not their job title
, but them as a human being.

(00:20):
A human being.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Unstoppable Mindset
Podcast.
I'm your host, sean Crane.
I got my man, chris Yano,founder CEO of Rhino Strategic
Solutions.
But you know you got a reallycool last name.

(00:41):
Maybe that's why it stuck withme.
But so Chris Yano, he's abusiness owner, a maverick right
, you're kind of an anomaly manand founder of the OG.
Really, you know marketingfirst, marketing coming up first
, but OG, marketing company forthe trades and I'm just kind of
butchering all these words here,dude, but I'm excited to have
you here because Chris issomeone who I've got to know

(01:03):
over the years.
Successful business owner,family man, he's doing big
things out there in Arizona.
Every time I go on like yourfeed, you're at an Arizona
Cardinals game, you're traveling, you're doing all this cool
stuff with your family, and Iadmire that, man, because a lot
of the content I see of you onsocial media you're with your
family and you guys are doingall these amazing things

(01:23):
together.
Social media you're with yourfamily and you guys are doing
all these amazing thingstogether.
And, honestly, man, when Ithink of business or making
money and having success, it'sso we can create those memories
with people we truly love andcare about.
And also that's why I'm such aproponent of health and fitness
and the things I teach, becauseyou don't want to make all this
money and have status or successand then you can't really enjoy
the people that you're with,like you can't enjoy the times

(01:47):
that you've carved out foryourself.
And so Chris has been crushingworkouts with Unstoppable 365.
He's getting his health dialedin.
Dude, you're looking like abeast man, and we were joking
before we started the podcast.
One of the first things I heardfrom you when you started doing
the workouts is like, oh man,you know, like my elbows are all
beat up.
I've been doing bench pressevery day, right, so determined,

(02:10):
but you just needed the rightplan and strategy to follow.
And so why don't you take meback, man.
Like where did you grow up andwhat was your introduction into
the marketing world?
Like how did that happen?

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, uh, first off, thanks for having me on.
Um, you know it's this lastyear has been, has been pretty
awesome on this journey with youguys.
So, uh, thanks for that and I'mexcited to how it's kind of
played into the end of the story.
But back to the beginning.
Um, yeah, man, like I, uh I'mfrom, I grew up in Indiana.

(02:42):
That's where I was born andraised and I grew up on a big
old corn and soybean farm.
So you kind of learn hard workas a kid.
Like you have work ethic.
Whether you like it or not,you're doing it.
So there's no like baling hay,that type of stuff.
I know you're a West Coast guyso you don't know nothing about
this, but we used to dodetasseling.
Detasseling was you go downevery you know think about how

(03:04):
big cornfields are.
You walk down every row of cornand you pull the tassel off the
top of every corn stock.
All right, so that was a jobyou get paid for and it was
terrible.
But hard work is something Ikind of learned young.
But as far as starting my ownbusiness, that was not on my
radar at all when I went tocollege.

(03:24):
You know, um, that was anathlete, you know, I wrestled, I
played soccer, um, and I didn'treally know what the heck I
want to do in college, to behonest with you, um, except for
party, and I was really good atthat and uh, and I was um, uh,
I've always kind of had like thesocial, like the charisma going
out, talking, make friendsanywhere I go.
So I kind of knew where myskill was, um, but I didn't know

(03:48):
like sales was a thing.
I'm talking like college, Ididn't know sales was a thing,
marketing is thing, none ofthose things like.
I barely passed school, uh, butyeah, man, I think, um, when I
did realize I wanted to start myown, my own marketing company,
it was because I had you know,I'm gonna'm going to date myself
, dude, so don't laugh, I couldsee you.
I used to work for the yellowpages.

(04:08):
It was like my first sales job,like selling yellow pages,
which was good in a way becauseI learned so many businesses,
but it was also awful.
But growing up, you know, in afarming community, I really kind
of took to the blue collarcommunity, the trades, but they
were like my people, I guess youknow, um, so it was easy for me
to talk to those kinds ofcompanies and so I was

(04:29):
successful there.
And then really, when theevolution of the internet you
know like internet marketingstarted happening early in like
oh, four, 2003, 2004, 2005.
Um, I picked up on it rightaway, I loved it, um, so that
kind of set me down a path.
I went to go work for a company, you know that was doing it to
kind of cut my teeth.
I didn't like how they weredelivering to the client and I

(04:52):
was a person who had arelationship with the client.
So I was told my wife, I waslike listen, I think we can do
this on our own.
We stepped out in 2007, starteddoing it on our own, I would say
technically.
Rhino was established in 2008,but that's only because I didn't

(05:13):
know you had to actually likeregister the business name in
2007.
So I was just out like sellingstuff and doing it and
somebody's like hey, like youknow, I actually have to
register this business and likepay taxes and stuff.
And I was like, ah, okay, soreally we started in 07 but the
trades were our focus, becauseagain, that's kind of where you
know my niche was, and I andlike, because I didn't know it
was just like, hey, if we onlyworked with HVAC companies or

(05:35):
plumbers every single day anddoing digital marketing like we
should be the best at it, likewe should be like nobody should
beat us?
We should be like nobody shouldbeat us.
And, as far as I know, therewas no other company who was
solely focused on just like HVACcompanies or plumbers at that
time.
There were companies who didthat, but they covered lots of
different verticals, right, Iwas just hyper-focused on this

(05:57):
one or two, and that set us downthe path, you know, and that
was 2008.
And now here we are, all theseyears later, doing the same damn
thing.
You know, last year we finishedjust under 93 million dollars
and 250 plus employees and stillfocused on trying to make the
trades better dude, that'simpressive.

Speaker 1 (06:18):
Um, because I I opened up and butchered your
company name.
I said yano enterprises insteadof Rhino.
I was looking at your shirt andI'm like, well, they're kind of
similar, you know, like YanoRhino.
How, how'd you come up with thename?

Speaker 2 (06:31):
Yeah.
So it's actually a commonmistake that you made, so don't
feel bad, um, cause it'sactually is a version of my last
name.
It's just missing.

Speaker 1 (06:40):
Lexic or something too.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well, and I do also have a Yano Enterprises and a
Yano family group.
We have a family group as well,so maybe you saw that somewhere
.
I think we maybe even talkedabout it, so it's not uncommon
to make that mistake.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
So where did you get the name Rhino?

Speaker 2 (07:00):
Yeah, man, it's not a great story.
Honestly, bob won't tell itLike it was.
The name of the company wasoriginally called Brickyard
Marketing, brickyard Marketing,which, being from Indiana, the
nickname of the IndianapolisMotor Speedway which is
something that I love, I used torace was the Brickyard.
It's called the Brickyard andso I thought, man, when I'm
starting my company name, I wantpeople to know that I'm local.

(07:22):
So I came up with the namebrickyard marketing, so they
would know I'm a local marketingagency.
Because, if you think back inlike 2007, like it was still
kind of really new, people wereuncertain you know about this
marketing and websites and youknow internet marketing,
websites and stuff like that.
So I thought, well, at least Ican alleviate the concern that
I'm not a local company, right?
So I'm not going to get takenadvantage of and, uh, and

(07:45):
especially in the trades likethese guys are, you know, fixing
toilets and they're fixingfurnaces and air conditioners
and they definitely aren't supersavvy, right.
So it's like, okay, I'm goingto go and talk to them about
this mysterious internet stuff.
They at least need to know I'ma local guy.
So, um, and then we, you know,once we kind of transitioned and
grew, uh, the business.
The very first manufacturer thatbrought us on board was carrier

(08:07):
corporation, which isheadquartered in indianapolis,
brought us in as a preferredvendor of theirs early.
So we started working with a lotof hvac contractors,
contractors well, that startedto, you know, bleed outside of
indiana and then we startedmaking all the way to the west
coast and working with, like youknow, some, some of the
contractors out, you know, onthe West Coast.
So I'm like brick caremarketing makes no sense to any

(08:28):
of these people outside of thestate of Indiana.
So we went through a transitionof a name change and we were
just trying to think and Ithought, man, I really like to
use some sort of an animal orlike, or a mascot or something
like that too, you know.
And we started like, literally,it's like a friday and we're
sitting there and we pop acorona in my office, you know,
in phoenix at the time, becausewe had transitioned to to

(08:52):
phoenix, um, and I was likerhino, like a rhino is a really
cool animal, it's like theunicorn of the jungle, right,
it's got a big old horn, it'sgot thick skin.
Rhinos don't go backwards, theyonly go forward.
Like I was just trying to thinkof all these things and I was
like, but we're not going tospell it r-h-i-n-o, we're going
to call it r-y-n-o, which, atthe time it is, I had a partner

(09:16):
who who we since bought out awhile ago.
His name was ryan right, and mylast name is yana.
So we thought, oh, let's justput in the mixture of our two
names together and we can stillbe a rhino, but we're going to
call our.
Why, you know, that's literallyhow we come up with the name of
the business was just like that.

Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yeah, so that makes sense.
It wasn't entirely random.
Right, there was somethingthere.
So I want to know about, like,growing up in indiana, because
you had told me that before andI forgot.
And then when you said acertain word a moment ago, I'm
like, oh yeah, I could hear thatMidwestern accent a little bit,
but I can imagine growing up ona farm like that and what were

(09:52):
some of the values that you feelyou developed, doing that hard
work that carried over intobusiness, that helped you?

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, did you think mental fortitude early on?
Like it is, you have no choice.
So, like, the one way oranother, I had to do it, and so
I'm like, well, I might as wellchange the way I'm thinking
about it, cause I got to do thisno matter what, and so I was
just trying to do that that'swell.

Speaker 1 (10:14):
That's a really good point, cause that's one of the
things I always seek to helppeople do is shift their mindset
and perspective, cause, likeyou either remove yourself from
a situation or you change yourperception of it.
Right, that's, that's how youdon't become a victim of
circumstance and you canleverage various situations in
life.
Do you remember at a young age,like having to do that?
Like do you consciouslyremember that, or was it just

(10:37):
kind of to get through the day?
It's something you naturallystart doing.

Speaker 2 (10:40):
I'd love to say I consciously did it, but I did
not.
It was just a you know, likeyou get.
You get a list of chores yougot to do and they got to be
done, and if they don't you getin trouble.
So there's consequences, right.
So the consequences drove me tosaying, okay, well, I got to do
these, no matter what.
And I'm not going to say I lovedit, I didn't love it, but I do

(11:08):
know that it was kind ofstarting to build that work
ethic into me, right, and it wasstarting to build some mental
fortitude into me.
And because there was a timewhen you're doing it, when
you're just trying to figure out, like how can I do this and and
and like it, like, or at leastpretend that I like it like just
trying to talk myself intogetting through it, you know,
and it can be something assimple as mowing the yard,
because your yards are not smalland it's like a push mower,
right, like it.
It's not like out here in theWest I was like we had acres to

(11:30):
push mow, like that takes a longtime.

Speaker 1 (11:33):
Were your parents really strict with you.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
I wouldn't say that my parents were really strict.
It was just like expected ofyou.
Like you, you know my, mymother grew up on a farm and
it's like so.
It was just like expected ofyou.
Like you, you know my, mymother grew up on a farm and
it's like so.
It was just expected of you andyou didn't want to.
I didn't want to get in troubleand I wanted to be able to have
my freedom right To go and dothings.
If you don't do the chores, youdon't do it.

Speaker 1 (11:53):
So to me it was just kind of like built into my
autopilot Like these are thethings you have to do yeah, to a
lot of people that grew up ondairy farms or just farms in
general, like you're describing,and they, they all have a
really strong work ethic and alot of them have, uh, really
strong like ties to family, likethose values and kind of the

(12:14):
attitude that you're describinglike hey, the work has to get
done, so let's try to have thebest attitude possible and let's
get it done, which I think issuper important to instill into
children.
And, and the reason I askedabout your parents, I was just
curious like your parentingstyle versus the way you're
brought up and we, which I thinkis super important to instill
into children.
And the reason I asked aboutyour parents, I was just curious
like your parenting styleversus the way you were brought
up, and we can get into thatwhen we talk about your family.
But, uh, okay, so so you go offto school and you're good like

(12:35):
in social settings, maybechasing girls, making friends,
whatnot, probably like a lot ofyoung guys, school like like
reading and studying at thattime might have not been as
enticing for you, but it carriedover.
It sounds like into sales andbeing very ambitious and I can
only imagine back then, out ofall people to try to convince

(12:56):
that internet marketing was agood idea.
Like blue-collar businessowners, I can just imagine guys
back then wearing jeans and alldirty and stuff.
They've been in attics orthey've been searching for the
HVAC units.
So you were doing that and youwere having success.
And I'm curious then, whatbrought you to Arizona?
Because now you're in Arizona,in the Phoenix area that became

(13:17):
your HQ.
How far into business did youmake that move?
And why?

Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, that's actually .
I'm glad you brought that backup, cause I skipped over a
pretty important chunk.
I didn't.
I went to college for fouryears to get an associate's
degree.
So for most people inassociate's degree takes two
years.
So if you ever seen the movievan Wilder, I was kind of like
van Wilder but and I got anassociate's degree in criminal

(13:43):
justice and then, like maybe twoweeks after I was out of
college, I got an associate'sdegree in criminal justice and
then, like maybe two weeks afterI was out of college, I got a
DUI and that scrapped that realquick.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
So, like I made my parents super proud at that
point, what did you want to be?
Did you want to be in lawenforcement, like a DA?
At least I thought.

Speaker 2 (14:00):
But I wanted to be in law enforcement in Indiana.
But so here's the connection toArizona.
You know, I leave college inlate 99, right at the end of the
year, and my grandpa you knowfarmer, retired farmer, was a
snowbird so he would go back andforth between Indiana and
Phoenix and Indiana and Phoenix.

(14:20):
So I flew out there and visitedhim when I was like 16, because
he flew us grandkids out tocome and visit and see it and I
was like this place was so likeforeign to me that I was like
you know, I've never beenfurther West than like Illinois.
At that point so I was like wow, like this place is pretty
amazing.
Like when I leave college orwhatever, when I'm a grownup I'm

(14:41):
moving straight to Arizona.
And that's legit what I did.
I just picked up, move straightto arizona and tried to, like
you know, figure it out and um,and, and which is crazy because
like I had no like real plan,just like move there, get a.
I didn't get like an apartment,I got like those where you can
rent like a, a room for like amonth, that like the you know,

(15:03):
kind of like a motel.
How, how old were?

Speaker 1 (15:04):
you at the time.
I was like you know 20.
Yeah Well, you know people like.
Like, when you tell that story,most people would be so
terrified to do that.
But if you're going to do it,that's the best age Didn't have
kids, very probably littleresponsibilities.
Like like, I love that man, Ilove that it crossed like
halfway across the country,across like halfway across the
country.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
And just you either have to figure it out or you're
going to have to go back homeand then I think some of this
has to do with like I mean andagain I would, I hope this is
actually appealing to someone.
I don't think I've ever saidthis out loud, but I never had a
plan Like I just was like, havemy mind set on, I'm going to

(15:45):
move, and just like something'sgoing to work out for me, like I
think one gift I've been givenis, um, you know, I've I'm
really good at doing the work tofigure out the things I need to
figure out to get to the goal Iwant, and I think a lot of this
happened for me during highschool, like when I was in
wrestling is a perfect example.
I was a great wrestler and Icome from a very, very small

(16:08):
school and but we always had agood wrestling team.
Like a bunch of farm boys canwrestle and you learn such like
discipline.
You know in wrestling andyou're on a team, but really
it's just you on the mat and andyou.
The outcome of your match isbased upon what you put into
preparing for it.
And I wanted to win, like I didnot want to lose.

(16:31):
And you know, I figure like,hey, if I could get out of doing
all this work at home becauseI'm actually at school training.
I would much rather be atschool training with the teams
and doing whatever than being athome and doing any work.
So it's hard work either way.
So I might as well pick thehard work that's going to give
me something great versus, youknow, going home and doing hard
work because it's a chore.

(16:52):
So that kind of like started toset the tone for me, as I've
recognized later on in life,like, oh man, I really kind of
see the trajectory and how ittook off.
I didn't see it then.
It was just a means to like ohwell, either way is going to be
hard, let's just do the thingthat I enjoy and um, but that
really set the tone.
I had a great wrestling coachwho today, um is still one of
the most influential people inmy life.

(17:13):
Um, but it it kind of put mywork, ethic and my discipline
and my need to to achieve a goalall in align with one another
and um, so I knew I had that inme.
But I still am like get tocollege, it's your first time
having freedom.
And and because I was veryoutgoing always, you know, I
joined a fraternity.

(17:34):
That was amazing and a mistakesimultaneously, cause, once I
joined, that really allacademics and everything else
were done Like it was just justnow sound party.
But once I got out, you know,and I had to go to Arizona, I
kind of reverted back to like,well, I guess I got to start
figuring some stuff out.
You know, like I can't.
You know I got a month, youknow, to go find a job and like

(17:56):
to figure things out.
And this is going to be a crazypart of the story.
I don't know how to explain itbecause I'm not a psychologist.
But when you get to Arizona andor you go to anywhere, you
leave your home state, whereyou've been your entire life,
and go to someplace completelydifferent where you know no one
right, like I guess I knew mygrandpa, but he lived in the
retirement community and was asnowbird.
So you know, you latch ontopeople that you meet.

(18:20):
I met somebody who had become agood friend of mine and he was a
bull rider.
He was doing bull riding.
So I was like bull riding,that's pretty badass.
I grew up around animals mywhole life.
Bull riding sounds cool.
I'll bet you I could be good atit.
I'm a thrill seeker.
So I literally started goingand doing this bull riding thing
with him.
It was a bar, a bar where theyhad bull riding and you could

(18:40):
win money.
And I was like this is great,like I can go do this and I can
win money, like this seems likea good idea.
So I went out and rode a bullLike the first time.
I almost covered it for eightseconds and I was scared to
death.
But then I started learninglike oh, there's like some, like
there's a skill to this thingand I have good balance.
And I was like, oh, I should beable to pull this thing off and
I balance, like I'm not afraid,and I started getting decent at

(19:03):
it.
So I spent two years on the prorodeo cowboy association
circuit bull riding.
wow, yeah, I wouldn't haveguessed that.
Hardly any money.
I won three rodeos in two years, by the way.
That's not good ratio and bullriding and basically you just
get in a bunch of fights, youblow your money and you go to

(19:24):
the next rodeo.
Who are you fighting?
You fight other cowboys.
Everybody wants to fight.
Everybody's a tough guy.
What like after the rodeo, whenyou go drinking or during the
bar and it's like you know andlike everybody's a tough guy,
you're bull riders or somebodyalways runs their mouth and then
nobody wants to be.
Like you know, back downthere's always a fight yeah, no,

(19:44):
that makes sense.

Speaker 1 (19:45):
Did you ever get like knocked out or injured?

Speaker 2 (19:49):
I've never been knocked out, like I've been in
some pretty gnarly fights, butI've never been knocked out in
the fight.
I got knocked out.
What about the bull, though?
What about the bull rider?
I broke my sternum.
Bull stepped on my chest andbroke my sternum.
So if you ever look at mypictures, you'll.
You'll go now when you go back.
You look at my before and aftersyeah if you look at my right,
my right pec, you'll notice itlooks visibly different on the

(20:11):
inside.
It's because that sternum gotbroken.
A bull stepped right on me andsmashed it.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
How was it?
Was that like the worst painever?

Speaker 2 (20:18):
that was when I was done.
I called it quits then, like itwas awful, because you can't
imagine that feels like yourchest is just, you're getting
crushed, like that's really yeah, and, like you, kind of get a
little bit of a panic, you know,and, um, once I healed from
that, it was, like you know, Ineed to like go do something
real with my life, and that waskind of what set the tone for me
.

Speaker 1 (20:38):
So but now that was like so that was like 2000?
Uh, yeah, I'm gonna look atthat.
And when he's referencing tothe before and after because
chris is getting shredded, right, he's getting jacked and
shredded.
So you know, for unsolvable 365we do before and afters wait
till like what's probablyanother 90 days.
People are like damn dude, aslong as you stay consistent with

(20:59):
what you're doing and we'll getinto that.
But I'm curious.
So that was like 2007 ish, orwas that?

Speaker 2 (21:03):
uh, no, that was like still early that 2001.

Speaker 1 (21:07):
So yeah, so you were in arizona for like five or six
years before you really startedgetting serious about the
business itself that's correct?
Yep, yep, okay, um, so that wasalmost 20 years ago, you know,
uh, 18 years ago, right, whenyou really, when you actually
had to uh start at what an llcor whatever you did back then um
years yet.

(21:28):
And now you said this year,maybe last year, you did 98
million like for some peoplethat yeah, just under 93 million
.
I can't talk today and get allmy numbers and words wrong.
Um, 93, 98, they're both bignumbers when it comes to the
million, I mean.
But that's an incrediblejourney, dude.
So, like, how did you do that?

(21:48):
How did you go from ridingbulls and fighting at night and
to getting serious aboutinternet marketing and scaling
your business to this magnitude?
Like that's an incredible run.

Speaker 2 (21:59):
Yeah, listen, like my , uh, my, my.
You know, this is one of thoseawesome scenarios where I met my
, my wife and um, my wife Nowwe've been married almost 20
years Um, and she, you know, ourskills complimented one another
.
So all the things that I wasgood at, you know, she wasn't in
all the things that she's goodat, which is far more than me, I

(22:22):
wasn't good at it.
So, like, when we put thisbusiness together, it really
worked well.
So she's the anybody who knowsher and understands the real
success in this business ofRhino lies on her, like she's
the backbone of the business.
I'm over sales marketing, she'sover everything else.
So, but we scaled it the rightway.

(22:43):
We never chased the dollarnumber one.
So we never, like we never,said, oh, I can't wait to be a
million dollar company, I can'twait to be a $10 million company
.
We really chased, you know, youput the employees first.
And if you put the employeesfirst, and if you put the
employees first, they'll takecare of the clients.
And this is this beautiful theclients, you know, will continue
to stay and will keep growingand will build a reputation and

(23:04):
we had this saying reputationover revenue.
And if you just focused ondoing good by the staff.
They would take care of yourclients.
And I would keep chasing likehey, how do I keep getting
better and better on behalf ofthese contractors who were
relying on me to help scaletheir companies.
Like those are human beings whoare expecting me to help them
grow their business, so I couldeither hurt or hurt or help
their companies.
I took that very personal andwe built that culture into the

(23:28):
business and scaled it.
And you know, by the time webrought on a private equity
partner in 23, we had grown thecompany big enough to we're kind
of like we got to beresponsible with this, like we
want to keep going but we mightneed some help on how to get it
from, you know, 30 to a 60 to awhatever million dollar company.
We're going to need some peoplethat might be smarter than us

(23:50):
to figure it out, or so wethought so.
So really, where the big scalestarted coming in is once we
brought on a private equitypartner.
There was a sister company ofours called blue corona that was
also the same size as businessas us, but even actually maybe a
hair larger, who had been inthe trades a long time, just
like us, and we ended up mergingthem into rhino.

(24:11):
So we immediately almost, youknow, we immediately double in
size, like, and we're all kindof getting bigger.
So the reason we started to seesuch substantial growth is
because of, you know, we startedcombining businesses so that
wasn't straight organic growth,like we had good organic growth,
but it wasn't straight.
So there were some acquisitionsthat were done in there to get
us to the 93 number, um, butwhat we realize today is like we

(24:35):
could totally run this business, like we could have done it all
along.
But you don't know what youdon't know.
I learned so much these last fewyears of working with private
equity companies.
You know, and I have somefantastic buddies that you know
to see Tommy is one of myclosest buddies and you know we
all have a bunch of behemothsthat are friends of mine that we
can think, bounce ideas andstuff off over, have a bunch of

(24:56):
behemoths that are friends ofmine that we get to bounce ideas
and stuff off over.
So I just, you know, I know somuch more today that I can help
scale these things.
But what I really boiled downto, sean, was we were, you know,
we, we were good, good people.
We really cared about ourreputation and doing things
right, and we're resourceful.
We were never afraid to spendmoney to make sure that
everybody had everything thatthey needed to be great and here

(25:18):
on behalf of our customers, andwe always gave back.
So every month we would takeone Friday off and we would pay
every employee to go docommunity service and to give
back.
We wanted to do good, you know,because I believe that the good
lord giveth and the good lordtaketh away, right?
So if I just continue to give,like, I will continue to be

(25:39):
blessed.
And so once you sell to privateequity now you become an
investment and that thoughtprocess changes a bit.
So there's a two-year stintthere we're trying to learn,
like, how do we navigate?
This is no longer the, you know, the primary owners of this and
now just investors in it.
So, but that, but that's wherethe biggest growth happened.
I don't want, I don't want thelisteners to think or those
watching to think like, oh myGod, they took the same, you

(26:01):
know, from 30 to 90, some oddmillion organically.
It's not how that went down,like we did scale organically,
but we, but we brought, we builtthat through acquisition.

Speaker 1 (26:10):
Yeah, I mean, either way, it's still very impressive,
you know, and so it sounds likewhat?
How many years were you andwhat's your wife's name?
Again, Hannah.
Hannah.

Speaker 2 (26:22):
Yep.

Speaker 1 (26:23):
So you two were like the foundation of this thing,
right?
Obviously, you got a lot ofgreat people around you, as you
alluded to, but how long wereyou building the business before
you had those acquisitions orPE got involved?

Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, from 2008, so really until 2024.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
So like from 2008 to 2024.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
And I think you've interviewed another key player
in this, in this company, foryou know, for us, along the way
he's been with us like 13 years,is Mike Benitez you know and
and he's been with us a longtime and you know like, so he
was a part of this.
You know a big part of thisjourney too.
But yeah, we had good people,we got good leaders.

(27:02):
We treated everybody right solike they wanted to run through
walls with us, like we weredoing this stuff together, and
so, you know, half the battle isgetting you know great people.

Speaker 1 (27:13):
Yeah, obviously you have to have a good idea, good
product.
But I want to touch on thatbecause I think leadership man,
you want to recruit and attractthe right people, but then how
do you keep them motivated,inspired?
Like you know, you want toattract a players, but if you
have employees that are tooambitious, eventually they're
going to leave and do their ownthing.
Potentially.
You want to find that right fit, you, you want to find that

(27:48):
right fit.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
You know it's like what was your approach to making
sure your employees weregetting everything they needed
from you and keeping them justlike motivated inspired to,
because it sounds like you'vecreated a great culture Like how
did you go about that?
Personally, yeah, I think andI've had these conversations a
few times because as you getbigger, it gets more difficult
but I kind of at least give youthe foundational stuff that you
could do to say, 100 employees.
You know, we just stayed reallyinvolved and we did team
builders.
We would do quarterly teambuilders, like we have people.

(28:10):
We're not not everybody was inoffice.
There's people from differentstates.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yes, what are those team builders?
Look like the team builder.

Speaker 2 (28:17):
You fly everybody in quarterly and we have what's
called a good times committeeand it's employees who decided
themselves to join and maketheir own little team to create
whatever the event is that we'regoing to do for the team
builder and whatever activitieswe're going to do along with it.
But the point is, bringeverybody in so we can all be
together and that way the peoplewe haven't seen you know in

(28:40):
person.
We can say oh hey, how's youknow, how's your wife, how's
your husband, how your kids?
Oh hey, I saw the picture onfacebook where you're doing xyz.
We could just have like ameaningful conversation with
them and let them know like hey,we care, besides the email
right, or a Slack message at thetime, or like a text message,
like just like a gift card or agift card or something.
Oh yeah, like, but like true,meaningful conversation.

(29:02):
So that's, that's one piece ofit, because you can give them
things like benefits, you know,or raises and stuff like that.
But to me that's like it's youknow, it's got a short, it's got
a short shelf life.
Yeah, you need to like reallycare about these people and they
need and like genuinely, andthen then feel that but if you
do all those things and you feellike you're paying them, like

(29:24):
the what they're worth andyou're continuously putting into
them, you know we would, wewould give them budget to go and
learn a new skill within theirjob to make them better, because
the better they are forthemselves, well, they become
more valuable and the betterthey are for our customers,
which means it's better for usas a business.
We felt like, well, we're justgoing to keep pumping money into
these people, figuring outwhere they want to go, how do we

(29:46):
help them get there?
What training do they need orskills do they need to get there
?
And then one cool little thingthat we did was we gave a masogi
benefit which has there's noway you've ever heard of it
before it was called a masogi um, and I learned this from a dude

(30:07):
named jesse itzler back in like2019, who I don't know.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
If you know who jesse is, I think he's, he's legit
man.

Speaker 2 (30:09):
So we so with the jesse, we met with jesse I took
my entire executive team went,went to Jesse's event in Georgia
.
It was just like a small groupof us and, um, and he was
talking about this Mussogeething.
I was like this is really cooland what it is is.
It has nothing to do with thebusiness whatsoever, it has
everything to do with them ashuman beings.
And basically he would say, hey, here's a thousand dollars, go
and have an experience.

(30:30):
And that experience needs to besomething that you'll never
forget.
That year, like that's one ofthose things you're like oh man,
this year I went skydiving.
Or oh, this year I went andbackpacked, you know, the grand
Canyon, or like the one thingthat's like a major experience,
and we would give them athousand dollars to go do it.
So we poured into thempersonally too.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
Yeah, it doesn't have to be something, cause I've
heard that term.
I've actually heard Jesse talkabout it Isn't it something
that's also supposed to be verychallenging, like a marathon or
something that gets you out ofyour comfort zone?
I guess it could be.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
It doesn't have to be .
That's the way he presents it.
Yes, for us it was just we wantit to be.
It's got to be big enough thatit's something where you're like
.
You will not forget that.
You did that this year.
You know that particular year.

Speaker 1 (31:18):
Well, that's really cool and for anyone listening,
whether you're, you own acompany or you just want to get
more out of life, I think weshould all strive to do at least
one thing like every year, likethat, like a bucket list item
that we'll never forget.
If you've never been skydiving,you've wanted to go do that
this year.
If, uh, what like you want togo?
For me, I'm in california, sothe tallest mountain here is

(31:39):
mount mckinley, like a lot ofpeople, like the summit
mountains, but stuff like that Ithink is really cool.
Um, and I'm also a fan of jesse.
It's such big, is it?
the big badass calendar, theyear-long calendar yeah, where
you schedule stuff out for theyear, and we're talking about
being intentional here.
But the thing that stands outto me the most and this is what
I gather from a lot of greatleaders, um, is investing in the

(32:02):
human being, not the, not theemployee, not the salesperson,
not like, not their, their jobtitle, but them as a human being
.
Um, and there's a study thatwas done, uh, during the
industrial revolution, calledthe hawthorne effect.
I don't know if you've heard ofit, but they were studying
factory workers to see, hey, howcan we get the most out of our
employees, like, how can we getthe most productive workers

(32:22):
possible?
And they did these test groups.
One of the group got, likeextra time off, the other group
got more money and the thirdgroup got more attention from
their superiors and they werethe group that outperformed the
other three.
And so the research showed thatwhen you invest in human beings
and they feel like you careabout them, like they matter and
they're a part of somethingbigger than just the task or the

(32:45):
hourly wage, they'll naturallygo above and beyond in the work
that they're doing.
And that's what you'redescribing right now is like
investing in your people in sucha way where they want to make
you proud, almost, and they takeownership of whatever it is
they're doing.
So I think that's really cooland I think probably a lot of
companies, especially likebigger corporations, like think

(33:05):
about the massive corporationsout there, right, like they lose
sight of that, and then it'sjust another number, just
another person, a cog in thewheel.
But it sounds like that'swhat's made your organization so
special over the years.
Is that culture you've createdman?

Speaker 2 (33:21):
yeah, no doubt, and um, but man, it was very
intentional, right, and andculture is one of those things
that when it's big, it's hard tochange if you're trying to
change it, so it's just good todo it early on, but for us it
was easy because it was justgenuinely who we were as human
beings, like we wanted to helppeople and that was what we

(33:41):
focused on.
And you know how people willsay you know, oh, it's, you know
, clients for clients first, andthen your employees, and we
were like no, no, it's not likeI understand what you're trying
to say but when you said it anddescribed it, it makes perfect
sense.

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Like if your employees are super fired up and
they're trained properly andthey're just excited about what
they're doing, that's going tospill over into the fulfillment
of your, your clientele.
So I love that.
I love that man.
Um, so and this is something wewere talking about before we
started recording but, uh, Iwant to know about, like, how
you kept your mindset in theright place as you grow, because

(34:18):
I can only imagine, with theacquisitions and the numbers
that you're doing, you'veexperienced some adversity and
stress along the way, and Ithink you alluded to some of the
metals and some of the stuffhanging up behind you.
So let's talk about that man,like how important to you is.
Well, first of all, what?
What do you do now and then inthe past to keep yourself in the

(34:40):
right mindset?
Like, I know, you got thosecore beliefs.
You have a good upbringingthat's instilled you discipline,
work, ethic.
But have there been times whereyou've been really stressed out
on this journey and, if so, howdo you navigate those times?

Speaker 2 (34:53):
um, have there been times I've ever been stressed
out on this journey, sean, it'sbeen 18 years.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
I want to know, like you don't have to give specifics
, but yeah, because here's thething, man like I work with
business owners and you know, asguys get older and they're not
taking care of their health ormaybe like these two drinks
sometimes or smoke or whateverlike.
I get it.
Sometimes, when you're stressedout, you go have a drink and it
helps alleviate it, but overtime it doesn't typically make

(35:23):
you a better version of yourselfand as you get older it starts
to kind of chip away at thatpotential a little bit.
So, yeah, what have you learnedas far as, like stress
management, being a visionary,being an entrepreneur and
business owner that you are just?
About the importance liketaking care of yourself on your
journey.

Speaker 2 (35:39):
Yeah, no, and it is a good question.
And I think you know I'll justkind of be really raw with you.
I probably made the mistake toomany times of not being more
intentional about fixing thefixing the problem, like if I'm

(36:00):
stressed about something, I'drather just work my way through
it and not think about it.
You know, cause I can work myway through anything?
Cause it distracts my brain andwhich is a very bad habit to do
.
I didn't know it then.
I actually just thought like,oh, it's like avoiding, you know

(36:21):
your problem, because you knowthere was probably something
broken that I could have fixed,that I just focused on that
wouldn't would have allowed meto not to be so stressed out.
And anytime you grow or havefast growth, it's stressful
because things are changing.
They have to change, you know,and I can't do everything
anymore, or Anna can't doanything anymore, she has to
delegate.
And when you know and and Ican't do everything anymore, or
Anna can't do anything anymore,she had to delegate.
And when you delegate, you haveto be able to trust that the
person delegating to can do it.
You know at least 80% as goodas you're doing it, cause you

(36:43):
gotta be able to let go a littlebit.
And then they have to managepeople and then it's like you
know now you have, when you havea lot of people where you're,
you know you get nervous aboutis everybody being taken care of
, like you know, or you know,and then you're not.
Not everybody's going to behappy in the company when it
gets bigger and you can't solveeverybody's problem, right, and
it's in that and so you got toget used to that.
But when you're scaling andgrowing a company, you know,

(37:06):
when you're in a position likeI'm in, you know, even before
the, you know, even before webrought on a private equity
partner, like, like we were abig business and by the time
something got to me well,nobody's bringing me great
problems to solve, right, like Iget like the worst problems to
solve.
Like it's a really mad clientabout X, y, z, and if it got to

(37:26):
me that means it's in a reallybad spot and you kind of become
a firefighter on the daily.
You know, and and it's notbecause we were intentionally,
you know did a bad job on acustomer account but there's
human error, right, and then andlike so you it's.
It's easy to get stressed outif you get bombarded with those.
But here's what I learned overtime.

(37:48):
It was, you know, I had to justbe at peace with OK, let's set
the situation aside.
I learned a lesson that said,no matter how far removed this
situation is from me and thescaling of this company, I had
to look and say what's my rolein this?
Like you know, was it because Iput the wrong SOP and put a

(38:09):
process in place and if I hadfixed that process better, that
situation wouldn't have happened.
All the way down the line, likethat's the way I'm trying to
think, is like, oh, none of thiswas intentional and the
client's only handling it thebest way they know how to handle
it.
They might have zero trainingon how to handle conflict
resolution or XYZ, or they justdon't know.
So I almost have to flip mybrain to thinking like the only

(38:33):
reason they're this mad andsaying these things is because
they don't understand xyz andthey won't, and they've never
been trained on how to handlexyz.
So I'm gonna think about like,oh, they just don't know, so I'm
gonna go in and educate them.
Or if I need to admit fault, weadmit fault, take ownership.
So it was literally me having to, like you know, put the
situation itself aside and likepeel the onion and figure out,

(38:56):
like what's the real reason forthe situations.
And so, when things get hard orstressful, the worst thing you
can do is avoid it.
Like you gotta just like it'slike the buffaloes like story
whenever it's storming, they runinto the storm so that way they
can get through it faster.
Um, that's the kind of way Ihad to take it on, is like's.
The kind of way I'd take it onis like man, conflict is just

(39:18):
like a part of it and you got tojust run right to it.
And if your heart is in theright place, your core values
are in the right place, and theintention is do what's right,
solve this one, then move on tothe next, then move on to the
next.
Like it starts to put yourstress, you know, at ease a
little bit.
Like I'm not saying it doesn'tget hard, it's certainly hard.
There's plenty of days.

(39:38):
Last week was hard, you know,and I thank goodness.
I'm like well, you know me andone of my good friends, chad
Peterman, will talk about thisLike there's a lot of chapters
in a book and that just happenedto be a hard chapter, but it
was just setting me up for thereally good next chapter, you
know, and there's going to bemore hard, more hard chapters in
the book on the end, you know,all the way to the end of the

(39:59):
story, which is going to begreat.
So it's just kind of how youlike self talk, you know, talk
to yourself, you know, or, um,you know, and and I have a hard
time I don't know if thishappens to you, sean, but like
I'm not great at talking about,you know, my issues or problems,
because I don't want to be aburden on someone else Like, I
just keep it and the best way Ican release that is to go and do

(40:20):
things.
Like you know, I used to run allthe events and stuff.
It was like I got to keepworking on my mental fortitude
and I don't love to run, but,hey, I control myself.
So if I can go and run thisrace, it's going to force me to
do the things I don't want to do.
So I'm telling myself my brainno, no, no, man, like I'm in
control.
I'm in control Like I'm the onethat finished this race, didn't

(40:41):
do any training.
I'm the one that finished theseobstacles and I wanted to
compete.
And when I'm done, I'm likeyeah, like you know, as much as
it sucked, I'm like no, I'mstill good, like I some good
mental strength here, like I canget myself through anything,
and that would give me areassurance.

Speaker 1 (41:02):
The problem is, you see a bunch of them, because I
kept having to go through thatquite a bit over the years and
it's a never-ending thing.
Like if we could just run onemarathon and have enough
motivation, mental, mentalfortitude to get through the
rest of our lives, then that'dbe pretty easy, you know, that's
the thing is you got to keepgetting up every day and showing
up Momentum's a real thing, man, if you just stop doing hard
stuff in your personal life,would you be more vulnerable to

(41:24):
stress and adversity in yourbusiness life?
Probably that's why I love to.
I actually enjoy working out.
I enjoy running, although Ican't do it now because my
knee's busted.
I actually enjoy working out.
I enjoy running, although Ican't do it now because my
knee's busted.
And I enjoy it most of allbecause the feeling when you
complete the challenge youbattle with yourself, especially
when you're running or you'redoing Spartan races Like how

(41:46):
many times are you having anegative thought and you have to
course correct?
Or you're like just gettingpessimistic, like you have to
train your mind to see the goodeven in the difficult times, and
that's powerful because you dothat in business all day long.
You were just alluding to that.
When you're putting out firesor you're delegating or you're
scaling, it's like being able toretrain yourself to think

(42:08):
differently, talk to yourselfdifferently so you alter your
perspective to get the desiredresult and to get there with the
least amount of friction andresistance as possible.
You know, um, and so let's talkabout fitness.
I know you know a little bitago, before we started recording
, you're like man.
I've been hitting the gym everyday.
4, 30 to 5 30 sound like it's apowerful outlet for you, um.

(42:30):
Has it always been that way ordo you think more so?

Speaker 2 (42:33):
recently, working out has become something that you
look forward to doing yeah, Imean it, it wasn't and and I
think where I, when I recognize,I think this it was pretty,
it's a pretty, it's a verypivotal moment, like in my life
today.
Um was this move, but um, I'mgonna take one step back.

(42:53):
I I learned a really coolanalogy from this amazing human
being.
I went to this event calledRise Up Kings and it was like an
event in Dallas where it kindof taught me about four pillars.
And the reason this isimportant is because it applies
to this.
It's why I end up taking actionand moving forward with you.
It was these.
It kind of goes, it's kind ofpsychological, it's like a

(43:16):
bootcamp type thing and, um, youknow, very physical and um, and
it gave you these four pillars.
You know your faith, family,fitness and finances or your
business, and so I had thesefour pillars and like, how are
you showing up in these fourpillars of your life?
And I'm like, so it, you know,and I'd have to journal on these
things and like, and I'mholding myself accountable, who
do I have to hold me accountable?

(43:38):
And I was failing in my fitness,like I was working so hard to
build this business when we weregoing in to find a private
equity partner, that my eating,my fitness I've always been kind
of a small guy, right, so I'venever been like overweight and
things like that.
But I was starting to get likethe Grinch belly.
You know, like I got theselittle skinny legs and it was

(43:59):
like the little Grinch belly andI was like, hey, like I have
neglected my health for so longbecause I could get away with it
.
And, um, and I was like man,like I just don't feel good.
And Tommy would tell me, dude,you gotta like fix this and fix
that.
I'm telling you like it'llchange and your brain will be

(44:22):
firing differently and you'llget better.
And so, um, what this did, wasit actually?
It was it prepared me for whatI knew was coming.
And and I knew these next fewyears were going to be difficult
, right, cause I'm I'm no longerthe man in the company, right,
I sold it, so I'm no longer theowner, I'm now an investor
leading a business that is aninvestment, right?

(44:42):
So I have to change the waythat I'm leading, based on what
my instruction is, but still bethere for the people.
Well then, when this thing getsto 200 and 300 and 400 people,
the game has changed and I waslike I have to be prepared for
this and I was like I'm justgoing to start with doing the
one thing that I don't like todo Now.

(45:03):
I'm not a guy that gets up inthe morning and works out.
I'm not that guy.
I enjoy the 4.30 to 5.30 pmworkout because in the morning
is when I am like the sharpestand as soon as I got on the
supplements, like I was likeboom man, I felt like I was just
firing on all cylinders and Iwas working out and I get up at,
you know, 5.30 because I don'twant to get up at 5.30 AM and

(45:25):
I'm just like you know, I let mybrain do its thing and that's
like the most productive hourand a half in the morning before
my kids get up.
And so, um, I, but I'm doingthis because I was like, okay,
um, you know, sean's been on me.

(45:46):
You know, uh, tommy, you knowyou spoke highly of you.
I remember seeing you guysspeak and I was like, okay, like
you know, I'm gonna do it, I'mjust gonna freaking jump.
I said, like the dr j at thelast home service freedom thing,
like I was sitting next to himduring this one exercise and I
didn't realize, sitting next todr j, so I uh, um, I just made
um, I just made the.
I said, you know, I'm like it'seither day one or one day, you

(46:09):
know, and I'm like today's dayone.
So let's just, let's let it rip.
And and literally, like I toldMatt, who's my, my fitness coach
, and I said, dude, you won'thave to stay on me, like I'll
probably ignore some of the shitthat you say, but I you'll
never have to.
Like it's not because I'mtrying to ignore you, it is just
no.
Like I am on it, like you'llsee, keep checking my app,

(46:30):
you'll see.
And when I miss things, I'lltell you why I miss them.
If I ate wrong, I'll tell youwhy I ate wrong.
Like I'll always be transparentwith you because the pictures
don't lie.
But the whole point was, youknow, I didn't want to do it, so
I just did it.
But now it's not just one-offevent, now it's every day,
because there's days, sean, whenI do not want to go to the gym.

(46:52):
I do not.
Most of the time I do,thankfully, like I look forward
to it because of I see what's, Isee how I'm changing, I see how
I'm feeling, but tell, trust me, there's days when I do not
want to go, and those are thedays where, when I'm done, I'm
like those are the mentalchallenges I got to overcome,

(47:14):
like it's easy to go on the daysyou want to go.
It's hard to go on the day youdon't want to go, and so I get
more of those like mentalfortitude exercises when those
days happen.
So I'm grateful for them,because at the end I'm like damn
, I just finished this hour anda half of all these sets and
sean's adding weight and adding,you know, reps, and I'm like
damn, dude, give me a heads upnext time.

(47:34):
You added that one, so I wasn'tprepared for it.

Speaker 1 (47:38):
Yeah, well, it's about pushing you, you know, and
uh, I got a great team atunstoppable 365.
I mean dr jane.
What he can do as far as theblood work and providing
supplements is a game changerbecause I think, right when you
started taking the supplementshe was sending you.
You messaged me and you're likeman, I have so much energy,
like, and you notice it in your,your mental bandwidth, your

(48:00):
creativity, like you just feellike you hit that next level.
And for business andentrepreneurs, like we just kind
of drain ourselves, we pushthrough it, like you were
alluding to earlier, just workthrough it, work through it, but
then when you feel better, youperform better.
So I loved hearing that and thenseeing how dedicated you've
been man and I didn't know untilnow, like timing's very

(48:22):
important with a number ofthings right, but the timing of
us connecting you, really takingyour health and fitness
seriously it sounds like it'sbeen perfect timing for you with
a lot of the stuff you have onyour plate.
I love hearing that so muchbecause I know how valuable and
impactful fitness, eating, rightsupplementation can be on your
mindset, on just your overallmorale, you know, and because,

(48:46):
like you got kids, man.
You got a wife, you got a lotof people that depend on you,
and you can't neglect yourself.
You got to invest in yourself,you got to prioritize yourself
every day so you can show up forthat.
I think a lot of times too,that's a mindset shift for
people like they're so used tojust grinding in their business,
building their business, andthen like they don't realize

(49:06):
that they're bringing a lesserversion of themselves home or
into their leadership positionsthan they should be.

Speaker 2 (49:14):
Yeah, you think you're absolutely right and it's
like you know we didn't reallytalk about a whole bunch, but
you know, I have four kids likefrom an age range of 25 to 10.
So I have four kids like froman age range of 25 to 10.
So I have all this stuff'sgoing on while I'm, you know,
raising a family, right, and mywife's in this business too, so
we're both in it.
But but you know, one of thesecommitments I always made was I

(49:38):
always wanted to be a good dadand I and I did not want to miss
things.
You know, my dad missed stufffor me, you know, and hated that
.
So I was like I'll never bethat.
My mom was amazing.
My mom was awesome, like, wasthere for everything.
My mom retired from my company,which is pretty cool, um, but
um, and I love my dad, but I'mjust saying like he just missed
things and I was like, dude, I'mnever gonna miss things and as

(50:01):
the book company bit grew, likeI would take red eyes home to
catch, you know, a six-year-old,you know soccer game, you know
what I'm saying like, and theymight, might not even remember,
but I know.
And so now you miss some thingslike there's no way to avoid.
You know, avoid that whenyou're scaling it, like we've

(50:21):
been, but it's very minimal andmy kids today will tell you oh
no, man, my dad like makeseverything, like he makes as
much as he possibly can.
They would never, never be likeoh, he misses stuff, even if I
missed one or two games ithappens, yeah, and to me, that's
as as as important to me, right, but I have to to provide for
my family is like I feel this,like I am the, I am the one.

(50:43):
Like I have to provide now.
Like I am the, I am the one.
Like I have to provide.
Now, anna feels the same way,but together we're like, well,
how do we do all these things atthe same time?
You know, we got this kidplaying this sport and this kid
playing this sport this was on atravel team that I got one.
It's in the, you know.
Now it's in the air force.
It's like all these things arehappening, yet we're still
scaling this company and tryingto do all these things.
So, if you think you're busy,like, change that script in your

(51:07):
head too, because I promise youthere are plenty of people
busier doing more and and okay,and.
So now, squeezing in an hour tohour and a half workout every
day into that agenda, it's youmake time for the things that
are important to you, and, andthe health journey that I'm on
right now, I've never, like it'shelped me across the board,

(51:30):
dude, like all of those pillarsI just told you about my family,
like how to make a betterfamily.
I'm making better choices.
We hired a chef, you know, andit's because Tommy has a chef
and I'm like, how are yougetting like all this food Like
you?
Otherwise you just order stuffout, you're kind of like
throwing stuff together, you'renot eating healthy.
And so I was like, well, wehired a chef, Comes in on Monday
, makes all of our food for theweek it's great and just little

(51:54):
things like that, you know like.
But it keeps me like.
You know, the supplements hitme Like, they hit me fast on,
like I could.
I could physically tell I waswaking up and I was just firing
faster and I was like I don'twant to lose that man.
So I'm going to work out in theafternoons, because these
mornings are great.

Speaker 1 (52:14):
Yeah, you've built the system in your personal life
, the way you've built a systemin your business, which is so
important.
You know, like how easy was itto hire the chef?
You said one day a week andthey prepare all your food like
game changer.
Um, and I think about theexample you set for your
children, even though they are alittle older now, like they see
dad working out, daddy andhealthier.
I mean, you got a 10 year oldright.

(52:34):
What?
10, 14?
What are the ages?
yeah, 10, 14, 18, 25 yeah, evenyou're like, you're 25 year old,
right, is that the one thatjoined the air force?
Or like he comes home, you know, on leave or whatever he sees
dad, look at all fit, he's likedamn, like he's a young man.
That's going to inspire him.
And so what you said there,it's very important when you

(52:55):
make these, these importantchanges, that first it might
seem subtle, but it starts tobleed into all areas of your
life.
You know, like the food you'reeating, the time you're spending
with your family, all thoselittle details that you just
alluded to, those micro details,start to change and you really
have to create a system that youlive off of.

(53:15):
That you live by at home, justlike in your business, like the
430 workouts right, hey, I getup in the morning, I got mental
bandwidth.
That's what I'm focusing on,all my creativity.
You start to create thatultimate life by design, where
everything's intentional,everything that you're doing has
an impact.
And the other thing you said isvery important If it's not
important to you, if there's nomeaning there, you're not gonna

(53:36):
do it consistently.
And I think that's the hardestpart to get.
I don't wanna say guys like you,but let's just say business
owners or people that are busyto understand, is like the value
in fitness.
It's not just so you could showoff your abs Cool, that's an
added benefit.
There has to be deeper meaningthere, to the point where you're
going to do it every day and ifit's like, if it's allowing you
to get through a tough seasonin business and the stress is

(53:58):
getting to you but that workoutjust alleviates it a little bit
so you can get through each dayright.
Or you notice your boys arelooking at you differently.
Like dad, you're looking great,I want to be like you.
Or who knows, maybe it bringseven more of a spark into your
relationship with your wife.
Whatever it is, I'm alwaysstriving to get people to make
those connections with theimportant areas of the life and
people, because that's how aroutine in the gym becomes a

(54:21):
habitual way of life and that'swhen it really changes so much
for the better long-term.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
Yeah, I mean you don't.
You don't think about it whenyou're going in at least I
didn't when you're going in toget you know fit.
It was just I'm going in to getfit Cause I got to start, but
you don't realize how much itactually impacts like all phases
of your life.
It's.
It's pretty cool man to laylike you know.
Um, my kids see how hard I workor how hard Anna works in our

(54:50):
business, there's no question.
So they see the work ethic pieceof it.
But now they're saying like, oh,dad's going to the gym, you
know, every day and I tell themthe days I don't want to go, I
tell them I don't want to go andthat's on purpose because I
still go and I still go and doit because there's days that
Mason may not want to go tofootball practice because it's

(55:12):
110 degrees outside here inPhoenix and he doesn't want to
go out there and do that and heneeds to see me working through
it too, and just like we woulddo in our business.
You know, when our businessstruggled, we we would do in our
business.
You know, when our businessstruggled, we talked about it in
front of them so they couldunderstand the struggles that we
go through and how we workthrough it.
Now they might not understandthe what you know it is, but
they see, they recognize thesituation and we did that
intentionally so that way theywould see and understand.

(55:34):
Like oh, like ever, my parentsgo through this all the time,
but they always work through itand get it figured out, and
that's kind of what we're hopingto build in their autopilot, is
that?

Speaker 1 (55:44):
Yeah, I love that man .
And to go back briefly to whatyou said about taking red eyes
and not missing stuff, I thinkthat's one of the most admirable
traits and qualities.
I think it's really cool thatyou built such a massive
business, but honestly, I havemore respect for you as an
individual for that, for beingthat present father, because

(56:06):
there's a lot of guys that havetons of money and cool cars and
badass suits and stuff like that, but are you really there for
your children?
I don't know.
For me, I think that's just themost important thing.
I'm the same way.
I was thinking about that.
My kids have a doctor'sappointment tomorrow and I
carved out time in the middle ofthe day, put appointments aside

(56:26):
and stuff, because I want to bethere.
Like my kids are still younger,but, dude, I value that time
with them so much because lookat your kids.
You got a 25 year old man and Ihear all the time like it goes
quick.
I just had a baby girl andshe's five months already.
I'm like where did that fivemonths go?
It's half a year almost.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
Yeah, that's great.
I remember your hat becauseyou're on the podcast.

Speaker 1 (56:53):
Yeah, yeah, this time flies by.
So, um, you know, being theexample for them and being there
with them, I think that's just.
I love it.
A lot of parents aren't?
I grew up with parents thatweren't there for me, so it's a
personal thing for me as well,man, and just appreciate
everything you shared today.
I think it's very valuable forother business owners to hear
someone who's had the successthat you've had to like yeah,
you want to be savvy in business?

(57:13):
You want to build the empire?
Hell, yeah, go out and do it,but don't neglect your health
and don't miss out on thisprecious time with your children
and your wife, because they goquick.
And there's a lot of guys thatare older than you even who look
back with regrets.
That's like let's talk, let'send on that too.
Like, cause, I don't want tohave regrets when I'm older, so

(57:33):
I'm trying to do everything nowto assure that doesn't happen.
We probably all will.
It's inevitable.
But it sounds like you'reyou're of the same mindset, man.
Like everything you're doing isto look back one day and go
dude, I did it the right way inall areas of life.

Speaker 2 (57:48):
Yeah, I, a hundred percent, I'm going to.
I'll tell you this Like there'sthis thing that we all make
posts and I always put hashtagmemory dividends.
I, like you know, I there.
I have friends and their andtheir goal is to make you know
tons of money, but at what costTo me?

(58:09):
What's important to me is did Iwant to create great wealth for
me and my family?
Yeah, I did, and we were ableto do that and continue to be
able to do that, but not at theexpense of my family.
That was my non-negotiable.
I had to give up some things inbusiness and opportunities
because I didn't want to misssomething of my family.
I was not willing.
That was my non-negotiable.
Was you know, I had to give upsome things in business and
opportunities because I didn'twant to miss something with my
family.
Yesterday Perfect example my 10year old has been was going to

(58:33):
audition for like a musical.
So she was going to sing andshe'd been practicing the same
song over and over and, over andover again and I had to hear it
.
You know she's 10.
Okay, okay, so I make sure I'mhome yesterday when she gets
home from school, because I knewshe, she was doing the audition
after school.
When she came home, like we'vebeen working on it, you know,
like she's been working, I'mtaking her to soccer practice.

(58:55):
She's singing the song over andover again.
So when she got home, I wasthere, you know, I was there to
for her to walk in and tell mehow great it went.
And she was excited and shepracticed so much and I boosted
her.
I'm like, hey, listen, you'reready.
So she knew, going into it.
I'm like you're ready, you'redoing so good.
So she went in confident, butwe worked on that, right.

(59:17):
And then when she came home, Iwas there for her to tell me Now
it was over in 10 minutes.
Right, the story was over in 10minutes.
And then I went, you know, intomy office and got more work
done.
But I was there for her to tellme, like those are the things,
man, that that stick.
And it took me 10 minutes, man,like, or 15 minutes of you know
my time, just to to make thatsure that she knew it was as

(59:37):
important to me as it was to her.
And you know, and I do all thisstuff at the same time but I'm
not motivated to be, you know, Ihave a number in my mind of
what I want my net worth to be.
But how I get there is, youknow, I could have gotten there
faster, but what costs.
Like you you mentioned, we doso much stuff.

(59:59):
We are a very tight family.
We do so much together as afamily because I want, like if
at the end of my life my familytalks to me, they want to be
near me my kids, my grandkidsand all that stuff Well then,
I've done my job, like I've donewhat I want to do.
Now I like to have the financialpiece of it to do whatever is

(01:00:19):
the things that we want to do.
But that's just so we can dothe things we want to do, like
and that is stuff with ourfamily right, and go in and
create this life for our family.
And that doesn't mean I want toleave a bunch of money to my
kids.
If I have money left over,great, like they still kind of
got to earn their own way, alittle bit Right, but yeah, but
if I have, A whole other dilemma, right, like, do I make them

(01:00:44):
earn it?

Speaker 1 (01:00:46):
But that's a good problem to have and I think you
know we want to win in all areas.
We want to have our health, ourrelationships, enough money and
net worth to do whatever wewant and to have nothing off
limits, and there's no reasonthat you can't win in all areas.
Like you said, yeah, it mighttake a little longer, but I'd
rather it take a little longerthan look back with regrets and

(01:01:06):
all of a sudden my youngest is18.
I'm like, oh my gosh, just likeI said a little bit ago, that
five months flew by fast.
I know one day I'm going to gooh my gosh, that last 18 years
flew by.
And I see my oldest daughter.
She turned six the other dayand I was like a couple months
ago actually I was like six man.
You're like becoming a biggerkid now, like what the heck?

(01:01:29):
But no man.
It's so cool to hear you sharethis stuff Because again it
depicts your character too LikeI don't know if it's just the
values and the way you'rebrought up, maybe being close to
family, working side by side,like that and just some of the
beliefs and values your parentsinstilled into you.
But it's really cool to see youhaving such close bonds with

(01:01:53):
your children, your wife,building the company you have
and taking care of youremployees like they're your
family too.
It's a testament to you, man,and that's why I'm so fired up
to see you working, working outlike you are taking care of
yourself, feeling the way youare Like.
That makes me so happy to knowthat we crossed paths.
For a reason I stayedpersistent with you, right, like
I don't know if you remember,in Orlando, when Tommy

(01:02:14):
introduced me, when I spoke, Idid a keynote, right, and he's
like this guy is so freakingpersistent, but I'm glad he was.
And, dude, that's the thingLike for you.
You have a product you knowhelps business owners.
Why know my product can help,let's say, 99% of the people
that I come across you know.
So, first and foremost, it'sbecause I truly care.
Like you said this earlier,money's secondary, third, fourth

(01:02:35):
on the list, whatever, for meit's like knowing that the way
you're feeling, dude, honestly,and the way that carries over
into the time with your family,and just your overall leadership
and the impact you have, that'swhat I freaking love.
I truly do, um, and so I'mexcited, dude, to grow
unstoppable.
365.
Help more men like you, um,continue, you know like you are
man on this journey.

(01:02:56):
We want it all.
We want to live the ultimatelife, um, and speaking of that
too, I'm going to see you august21st and 2nd.
You're going to be in dallasright at windstorm that's right,
I'll be here, you know so we'regoing to be speaking there.
Uh, dr j will be with me, mattwill be there, so I don't think
you've met matt in person.
Uh, if we have time to squeezein a workout, otherwise it'll
just be cool to see you, uh.

(01:03:16):
And then tommy's events liketwo weeks later you're gonna be
in vegas, I'm sure.
Yeah, so we'll finish the yearstrong.
Like for me, I haven't traveledmuch the last year because
Abella was being born.
My wife had a tough pregnancy,so I actually got pretty
comfortable not traveling abunch.
It was kind of cool for a littlebit.
It's dangerous, like no redeyes, home right, like no jet

(01:03:37):
lag, but it's part of the biz,it's part of what we do, it's
part of the impact.
I'm excited to hit some stagesand shake some hands and connect
with some people in person,dude.
So thank you for coming on hereto share a little bit about
yourself and your journey.
Can't wait to see you laterthis month.
Man, is there anything else youwant to share?
Let's say it's somebody who'soperating a business right now,

(01:03:58):
who want to get to the levelyou're at or just wants to
progress in their own life.
Any words of wisdom or finaltakeaways for the audience?

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
Yeah, man, I'll just say you know it's I said it
earlier and you'll hear Tommysay this you know, it's either
day one, you know, or one day.
And choose one day, choose dayone.
And I'll say, like the onething I always say to I end
every one of my podcasts likethis and this is just a mindset
thing, and it's.
I say no, no, zero days.

(01:04:26):
And what I mean by no zero daysis it doesn't mean you have to
do something professionallyevery single day to make
yourself better.
Don't look at it like that.
It's.
It's.
It can be professionally orpersonally.
Just do something that makes you, you know, a half a percent
better every single day, andthat can be something as simple
as you don't hit snoo.

(01:04:47):
You, you know a half a percentbetter every single day.
And that could be something assimple as you don't hit snooze,
you know, like you made the bed,like you kicked off the day
with completing something, youwon something.
But you know, do something foryourself every single day.
And you know, when you kind ofbuild that mindset like I think
about those things, what am Igoing to do today that makes me
better, you know, when I wake uptomorrow, like anything.

(01:05:08):
And when you adopt that mindset, you kind of apply it to
everything in your life.
Something as simple.
As I walk by, I noticedsomething on the floor.
I might just usually just walkpast it.
Now I pick it up because howyou do anything is how you do
everything, and it's somethingas simple as that.
But you know choose, you knowchoose day one and go to work.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
Yeah, I love that.
Winners win, right?
I heard Bradley share this inone of his keynotes.
He's like, dude, you know, likewinners win, he goes.
Well, who decides what winningis and what winning isn't?
He goes, you decide.
Like I decide, he goes.
I get up in the morning, Ibrush my teeth, I'm winning,
because everyone wants to havegood breath and white teeth.

(01:05:50):
He goes like, yeah, I see apiece of trash on the floor, I
pick it up, throw it away.
I'm winning.
So, all day long, every littlething he's doing, as long as he
does it intentionally, to thebest of his ability, he's like
I'm winning, I'm stacking thosewins.
By the time it's 10 am.
Like I'm unstoppable man.
And I think a lot of people putso much pressure on themselves
and I don't know about you manLike, yeah, we have lofty goals,

(01:06:10):
but you almost have to liketrick yourself to not feel like
you know there's so muchpressure on the journey for a
lot of people.
You have to almost like trainyourself to not see it that way
and break it down to justsmaller, like you know, micro
goals and little steps alongthat journey, so that the
pressure doesn't get to you.
The stress doesn't get to you,cause then it just steals your

(01:06:32):
joy.
Man, you're lacking gratitude,you lose inspiration.
And it's like what's the pointwhen you get to that place?

Speaker 2 (01:06:38):
So yeah, goal too big .
Big can't get there, you gottabreak it down yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:06:42):
So brush your teeth.
Don't hit snooze.
Uh, hit a workout.
You know, drink 30 ounces ofwater in the morning when you
wake up.
All those little things youknow, chris, take your, take
your vitamins and yoursupplements from dr shay.
All those things add up, man.
Uh, there you go.
You know.
So cool man, chris, don't knowyou guys, uh, rhino strategic
solutions, the og marketing, uh,we'll call it company right, a

(01:07:05):
movement.
It's like, uh, you know, of thetrades.
Appreciate you being here, man,can't wait to see you soon.
Have a great rest of your day.

Speaker 2 (01:07:12):
Yeah, man, Thanks Sean.
I appreciate it, bro.

Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
I can't wait to see you guys next year we're going
with you.
Yeah, it's going to be bad-ass.