Creating the Right Business Strategy with James Foo Torres

Do you believe that we all have a shot to upscale our business through the right strategy?
In this episode, we will soak up the expertise of James Foo Torres, a true example of perseverance and grit. He overcame many challenges and is here to share his insights.
From the enchanting landscapes of Puerto Rico and Spanish as his main language, my podcast guest, wanting to win big in life, looked out for opportunities to learn and grow. His entrepreneurial spirit led him to carve a path from the Air Force to the forefront of the business world.
His perseverance goes beyond mere financial success; it stands as a testament to working on the right strategy, adapting to innovations, and his unyielding spirit intrinsic to entrepreneurship.
Get to know more about the work of our podcast guest through https://www.imperiumauthority.com/ and be inspired to learn more about elevating your business.
To learn more about myself, Michael Esposito, and find out about public speaking workshops, coaching, and keynote speaking options, and - of course - to be inspired, visit www.michaelespositoinc.com

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This show is sponsored by DN tenInsurance Services, helping businesses get the right
insurance for all their insurance needs.Visit dn ten dot io to get a
quote dn ten dot io and remember, when you buy an insurance policy from
Denten, you're giving back on aglobal scale. Hello all, my entrepreneurs

(00:23):
and business leaders, and welcome tothe Michael Esposito Show, where I interview
titans of industry in order to inform, educate and inspire you to be great.
My guest today is a renowned publicrelations strategist, a host of a
top one and a half percent ofpodcasts in the world, a best selling

(00:44):
author, and an international best sellingauthor. Following his service in the Air
Force, he launched his company withthe mission of amplifying the positive impact of
exceptional leaders. Born and raised inPuerto Rico, he aspired to be an
entrepreneur and run his own business.In the last few years, Imperium Authority

(01:07):
has helped accelerate the growth of abroad spectrum of brands and companies in various
markets. The special Sauce is leveragingowned, paid and earned media to amplify
the impact of exceptional business leaders inall major industries. From technology to finance,

(01:29):
business strategy and web three. Pleasewelcome the founder and CEO of Imperium
Authority, James fu Torres, bestknown as FO. What's Up? Foo?
Thanks for having Michael. I'm veryexcited to be here. What I

(01:49):
detailed introduction, so I'm excited toget into it. Yeah. Man,
you know, we got the opportunityto meet each other at ten X stages
and to be in a room togetherof judging the Great American Speak Off.
I'm interested in how that experience wasfor you. It was a great experience

(02:13):
because I mean I came in andthere was I forgot his name, the
Shark right, Oh yeah, Robert, Yeah, Robert, Robert Yeah,
I can't remember remember, but Robertright, like Robert from Shark Tanks and
he I mean, he's amazing.And and so getting to get get there

(02:35):
kind of set of the tone andthe quality of the event was amazing.
And and then getting into the speakersand and get get that there live and
and and together with so many peoplelike I could feel the energy even virtually,
so it was it was an amazingexperience. And then connecting with multiple
of the virtual judges after that thatwas pretty cool. And you're one of

(02:58):
them. So I'm excited that Igot the opportunity to be able to cut
up with people so cool, peoplelike you. Yeah. Yeah, it
was a really cool experience. Andyeah, it's so funny. I forgot
his last name too, and Iknow it's like a tricky last name and
that's why. But for me,that was a really cool moment when we
got in the room and we werethen also exposed to the whole conference that

(03:23):
the ten X Stages was putting on. And the thing that resonated with me
and I think speaks to your storythat you're going to be sharing about Imperium
Authority is Robert had said, excuseme. Grant was interviewing Robert. That's
when we came in. Grant wasinterviewing him on the big stage, and
so we had an opportunity to watchthis and listen to it live. And

(03:44):
Grant asked him, what is oneof your biggest regrets? And you know,
everybody always has a very similar answerwhen we were in personal development and
that we don't have regrets because allof our failures have led to our successes.
But what I really appreciated about Robwas he dug deep and he said
his biggest regret is that he didn'tdream big enough. And that really hit

(04:08):
home for me about like what I'mtrying to create, what I'm creating,
And when I look at your storyabout like you wrote about how you would
tell yourself what you would tell yourselften years ago about and it's essentially the
same thing. And I mean,I guess I want to kind of pass
that right on to you right now, because why don't we just jump into
it of like what you would tellyourself ten years ago. So right now

(04:30):
you've started this great PR agency,but you have a different story that you
would tell nineteen year old fou.Yes, the thing that I mentioned to
you that I would tell my nineteenyear old self right because I'm twenty nine
now, is to start getting intosales, high ticket sales, because that

(04:55):
for me has been that sales iswhat drives us a business. Yes,
and I wish I would have startedsooner because then I would have had way
more experience and I could be waymore skilled. I'm not saying like I
regret things or whatever, but ifI would, I was exposed to the
type of information that I've been exposedin the last three years. Let's say

(05:16):
it was almost three years as Istarted this, I would have gone to
high ticket sales like right away,like I you know, because it was
just a matter of not even knowingI got into like MLM and stuff because
that was the thing that I wasexposed to. I never got exposed of
having the opportunity to do high ticketsales. I didn't know that that was
something that I could do and online. So that's something that well, I

(05:42):
mean ten years ago, I mean, well, yeah, I have brought
Instagrams already around and everything, right, So that's what I think. It's
just sales because even selling yourself asa person, even to get a job
like being able to sales is alsobeing a great communicator, right, So
I think else it's just the lifebloodof taking of a career, like regardless

(06:05):
of what you do. And that'swhy I think that I would have done
a way bigger focus on odd thingyears ago. Yeah, and having that
like big, I think that todream big and to when you think about
big ticket items, it's like whenyou're first getting started in something, when
you're first learning and like you justsaid, learning sales and what you're exposed

(06:26):
to, it's like the big ticketitem. We know it's there, right
because somebody has to sell an airplane, right, somebody has to sell,
you know, something really big.We know it's there, but because we're
not dreaming big enough, we're we'reafraid to step into that. So I
love that you acknowledge that that,like you would have taught yourself right away,
and you know, it's something I'mexperiencing too, like with my my

(06:46):
my business and sales coaching programs,where it's like my business coach tells me
the same things. She's just like, you know, what's to stop you
for asking for those numbers? Whywhy not dream big enough? You know,
like they're out there, Those numbersare out there for you know,
and you're at the bottom really withwhat you're asking for. Why not dream
bigger? You know? Obviously wealso want to make sure that we're creating

(07:10):
value to our process, but that'snot what I'm just speaking about dreaming big
there. So I love that youacknowledge that. I want to kind of
just dig into a little bit aboutyour background because I feel like that plays
such a vital role into who youare today. So you know, you
speak about you know, your aspirationsto become an entrepreneur when you were growing

(07:31):
up in Puerto Rico. Share alittle bit about that story about Puerto Rico.
You know, right now it's thewinter here in New York. Why
don't you warm us up a littlebit? Right this morning, I woke
up, I mean Oregon close toPortland, so it was snowing and now
it's sunny. The weather here iscrazy. I mean Oregon, especially in
this area, it just is bipolar, let's say. But there's war,

(07:56):
there's warm more self up with alittle bit of positioning ourselves mentally into in
Puerto Rico. So growing on PuertoRico, it was a blessing for sure,
and I don't take it for granted. I mean living here, visiting
like Syria, Kuay Qatar, thenwith the Air Force and everything that I

(08:16):
got to appreciate even more Puerto Rico. And there is the blessing there of
being exposed to English as because ofbasically being in a colony or territory of
the United States, and that thatwas a blessing for me because you know,
I grew up watching Power Rangers,watching Kble TV in general, right

(08:37):
like Pokemon, all these different thingsand and that started putting that the English
in me right, so and thengrowing growing because I was exposed, learning
English became a lot easier. Uh. And then I was very intentional about
when I was in eleventh grade thatwas like, look, I'm not about
to start taking college board, whichis the of an a SAT that we

(09:01):
take there, and I know thatI want to have a good score in
English, and I also want tohave options to to if I can speak
those two languages, I can travelto like two thirds of the world and
somebody will understand me. So thatwas my idea. I'll always I was.
I was dreaming big. I justdidn't have a way to connect the

(09:22):
dots because I just didn't have theinformation. And my family it's like,
oh no, just go be anengineer. And I was like, well,
if I go and go to thebest school in Puerto Rico for engineering,
that I get that thing, thatknowledge, connections, networking, all
those things that will open doors andthen I'll find what am I going to

(09:45):
do as a business. That's whatI thought, right, So I was
like, that's what I did.So I went to college and I was
in the best school engineering school PuertoRico, and then I was like,
I'm a three year mon and Iwas like three years and a half and
and I was at a point thatI was like I need to I need
to do something, and not notbecause of school. I was having good

(10:07):
grades, but I was like mentallylike I needed to become independent. I
was like, I don't want todepend on my parents. And I try
to do like a part time andstuff and it wasn't working out. So
I was like, I'm gonna dofull time and the best full time job
that I could that I could find. Basically what's going to the Air Force
because they call me in Puerto Ricoand they're like limitations, still not graduated,

(10:30):
and I was like, you knowwhat, I'm just gonna sign.
I'm gonna go explore the world,get perspective, and then from there then
I'll go into something else. Andthat's exactly what I did. I used
the Air Force as a you know, quote unquote safe space to learn English
because now it's a it's a youknow, there's no hazing, and like
I told everybody, hey, teachme, Like if I say something wrong,

(10:54):
just correct me. I'm gonna beokay with it because I want to
learn and that's you know, withmy brothers, my sisters and arms,
and they were helping me out withthe English, and that's how I became
completely bilingual. And then on mylast six months, that's when I discover
through an ad that I can doon an agency model and start learning about

(11:15):
that, and then that'll lead metoo. Here. That's incredible. You
know the word that you use andI read it to in your bio,
you used it a couple of timesis intentional. And wow, for an
eleven year old to be so consciousand I know you weren't using the word
at the time at eleven, butto be so conscious of like watching cartoons

(11:37):
and like I want to learn English, and then later on being very intentional.
I'm interested in what where did youlearn that, because now you're at
an older age, or like Igot to pass the boards, I got
to do all this other stuff.So now you know that you're being intentional,
where did that work ethic come fromfor you? I guess I'm very

(11:58):
comp competitive, so so I wantto be the best at everything that I
can, right, So that's whyI want to have the best grades.
I wanted to play sports and inplaces that I knew I could win,
because if I'm like not in aposition that I cannot win, then I
don't want to I don't want toplay if I don't know that at least
I have a chance, right,Like, I want to win every time.

(12:20):
I know that I'm not going towin every time, but but I
want to put myself in a positionthat I can have chances to win.
Right. So that that's how wethat's how this came to be. That's
how I know analyzing it because it'sjust me wanting to be a winner,
wanting to be somebody that that thatis doing something cool, something that that

(12:45):
matters, something someone that is doyou look and you cannotmire it? Like
I always have that thing like Iwant to be an example. I want
to be something that that it's it'sa positive force in the world, and
I'll win it. Really like that'sjust a big mentalities as a kid.
Yeah, that's really really cool.And so now you so you were which
again, I just love that youwere intentional on doing all this stuff and

(13:07):
you chose the Air Force. Nowthere's other opportunities in the military. There's
an army, there's the Marines,there's all these others. What drew you
to the Air Force about the samementality of like what which one is the
best? And so that's what Iwas looking and I started asking people.
I mean, my stepdad was inthe Army. My dad was in the

(13:30):
Army. But then I have aneighbor was in the Air Force, and
I just started getting like, oh, the Air Force is the hardest to
get in, Okay, okay,so then I want to get there there,
you see. And it's always likewhat is the biggest challenge that I
know that I can overcome? Right, And that's that's how I picked the
Air Force. Really, that's wild. And so what what did you do

(13:52):
while you were in the Air Force? I was a radar technician? Okay,
cool? Cool? So you werestill so you were you were in
a safe space, like you said. That's another thing too, it's I
I also did it very intentional thatI don't want to be in the front
lines and stuff, right like ourworking happened like that. I knew that,
and so I was like, Okay, what how can I position myself

(14:16):
in the best positive possible position thatthat I can be safe and I can
be doing more higher level rather thanjust physical like I want to I want
to use my mind, like Iwant to be able to do things that
are were more strategic and now lookat me now doing like strategy or marketing
strategy, PR strategy and all thatstuff. That's really cool. And I

(14:37):
love also that you know, you'rejust using the resources available to you in
order to propel you to where youare. And and this idea of teach
me, you know, of ofI'm not going to take offense to it.
It's so important, like I feel, I mean, and and you
know, share your feedback on this. I feel like that's that's the path
to growth, is to be vulnerable, to make mistakes and let the people

(15:01):
that we know around us and letthem know, like hey, look,
if I make the mistake, letme know, right, show me the
right way, because that's the onlyway we're going to learn. Right.
Yes, I've always been like thatbecause I know that there's always room for
improvement and if and I learned withtime, Like I like the I like

(15:26):
the psychology of just why people.I like psychology because I want to know
why why I have the desires andthe way that I think, and also
like why other people say do orthink? How they think they are do
right. So with that it camea way of learning about like the ego

(15:50):
and learning about all these things thatthen I was like, oh so if
I get triggered and if I feellike attacked in reality, that tells me
more about me than anything else becausethere's a reason that I'm feeling triggered.
There's a reason that this thing.So then I started learning about like,
Okay, stop letting that ego getin the way and just receive more information,

(16:12):
be willing to be humble enough tolearn, right. And then there's
that that that thin line, rightthat it's also that don't let everybody influence
you, right, So that's thatconcept of battle. I guess everybody has
and I have identified that I haveit, And to this day, like
I'm always like, okay, cometo your own conclusions and for listen,

(16:32):
right, always listen, but comeon to your own conclusions. Yeah.
Now, that's so huge to listento what's going on around us and and
kind of like take what makes sensefor where we are in the moment and
apply it. So I'm going tofast forward here from from the Air Force,
unless you you want to share anyfun, crazy stories about the Middle

(16:55):
East into your your drift shipping days. Man. I mean so so like
a true hustler, you're you're tryingto find any of any opportunity available to
you at this point and you're likenot right now, but back then,
and you're like, all right,what's this drop shipping thing? I need
to learn about it. And here'swhat I love about this story that you

(17:15):
shared with me, and I'd lovefor you to tell us how you got
there, is that you're like,well, I'm gonna speak with the owner
of the company. If I'm gonnaif I'm going to sign up with this,
I'm gonna speak at the owner ofthe company. So you reached out
to him. Oh you know what, I think, I'm mixing up your
your coaching piece with Michael Hammel.But anyway, get into the drop drop
shipping piece with us about how thatwith that taught you. Okay, So

(17:38):
when I said, like right,like I was in my last six months
I came back from deployment. Soso just to give you a little bit
of like that that story of likethe Middle East, so initially my first
employment, before even getting fully certified, I went to Syria, like I
went to Turkey, from Turkey,we packed the whole site and then we
took it to Syria. We flewwith it because I was a ground radar,

(18:00):
so we we are on a unitthat we set up. We could
go to like a bare base likeno cement, no, nothing intense,
and then let's set up a siteso then we can provide sky picture friend
or foe. So then I didthat, like I packed from Turkey a
site to UH to like from Turkeyto to Syria, and then in there

(18:22):
after like that we finished this up. We leave. Then eleven months I
spent just in the States. Ideployed again UH. In that second deployment,
it was supposed to be to CampCopcake they call it, which is
Qatar because it's a wave developed baseand it's just you know, maintaining the
radar in there, but nothing crazy. There's two radars, there's all kinds

(18:44):
of amenities and stuff. And thenwhat happened was the the Iran Cold War
thing happened there, right and Iwas there, So then every camping Cupcake
became no. Everybody, you gottalike everything, we're doing drills, we're
doing everything because something can can pop, right, like that was the thing.
And I was like, damn it. Like I was taking classes in
school, like for in Burriddle,and I was like these things and I

(19:07):
was like, damn, like allthese things happening. This is not like
what I thought that was going tobe. It's supposed to be my easy
deployment before getting out. And thenlike you know, COVID then happened and
I was deployed still and then likeso things got worse, right like the
Iran then COVID. Then that COVIDdelayed my deployment. It was supposed to

(19:29):
be six months, it turned intoeight months. And then I was like
finally come home, like May thirtythtwenty twenty. And then I'm like,
look, I am six months outof getting finished with my en listment.
I already had a job lined uphere on Intel Oregon. That's why I
live in Oregon now, because Ihad that job. But then I have
like this safe space again, right, like I love creating this this like

(19:52):
how can I go all in onsomething in this certain safe space? Right,
Like I didn't know English, andI went created that the safe with
the Air Force, and now Ineed no business, so I created the
safe window of like I have ajob. I have a job lined up,
and I have a job right now, so like I'm going. I
came with money from the deployment,so then I used that money to Then

(20:14):
it's like, Okay, I havethis money, I have time. There's
COVID, there's not much to do. So I want to do something online
that is pandemic proof. And that'show I started looking for drop shipping.
So I was like, well,I've see ads about drop shipping and stuff
and Amazon FBA. So I mean, like, I want to do my
own clothing brand and stuff. AndI have some hats actually somewhere over there

(20:36):
and steal in some shirts and stuff, and that's like kind of like this
was born right, like the buckethat and the colors and stuff and and
and then I started like looking atthat. I was like, damn,
I need to learn how to drivetraffic. So that's how I started looking
at googling like YouTube, and that'show I found Michaelhomo and and it was
an out of him saying about comparingI think this thing called drop servicing.

(21:02):
And I was like, oh,so it's like drop shipping without the physical
things. It's like services. Iwas like, that sounds amazing. So
I don't have to worry about inventorybecause I'm just gonna be Oh, there's
services here, and I connect withpeople and I make money out of that.
And I learned how to and that. The course it was about learning
about LEE generation, SEO, andPR, and then I started learning those

(21:25):
things. PR was the thing thatwas generating the most responses, the thing
that I personally was most interested in. So then I commit to that.
And that's how you know, impermauthority was born and we're here now,
that's amazing. I don't know,is that your computer that's got the blink
going on? The there's a there'sa sound that keeps popping up. I

(21:47):
don't know if it's yours or ifit's I don't I don't hear anything.
Oh okay, that must be onIheart's end. Here we are recruit recording
in the iHeart studios, and sometimesI don't have control over what is happening
my computer. I don't hear anythingand I don't see not I don't even
have my my LinkedIn or anything open. So no, no no worries at

(22:10):
all. But for for you listening, For you listeners, you're just getting
a special ring sound and that isjust a reminder for you to take action
on your dreams. So we're goingto use that as like a manifesting ring
tone for you if you're hearing thatsound and just included in this podcast for
everyone. So yeah, so you'redoing all that, and I love that.

(22:30):
You you you, so you you. I remember I was talking about
this on on our zoom that wehad a little while back, of like,
you had all these three different thingsthat you were learning about, but
but PR really spoke to you,and so you started really digging in deep
on that. Tell me tell usmore about that, about the PR side
and what really resonated with you aboutPR outside of it just working, because

(22:55):
it was more than that for you, And what you described to me was
it was more than that because Imean I realized quickly that there's like basically
infinite ways to make money online andoff, like regardless, there's so many
ways, right Like anybody can tellyou're like, oh, this is the
best, but this is the best. There's a lot of best ways,
right, Like, So I waslooking for something that would fit with my

(23:19):
lifestyle that I would be passionate aboutand not necessarily like every single aspect of
a business, because building a businessitself, you know, there's a lot
of minutia that you're not gonna like. But just something that that that I
could help, like that nord Starthat can keep me, can keep me
going even though like there's gonna bebig challenges, because I knew it was

(23:41):
gonna be hard. Like I didn'tlike, I thought, it's harder than
I expected, but I knew itwas gonna be hard. Uh. And
that's why so PR was about Ireally like about this story because I don't
Nobody wants to be sold to right, Nobody wants to be like targeted in

(24:02):
a in a way of like,oh, I want to get your money
right. People want to to toget told a story that then then buy
into the story, they relate toit, and then they can get behind
that that story that even that movement, right if you can create that which
it will be the ultimate thing thatthat now I'm doing with my company,

(24:25):
which is the tackling my companies empoweringideas into movements. And that is the
reason that I took PR because itwas about that that story and and and
and almost like selling through those storiesand authoritative sites and have that that authority
that that I thought it was cooland also like I started learning that in

(24:48):
business, a third party validation cango a long way. So that's that's
how I committed to PR. Mmmm, that's really really cool. You mentioned
that you knew that getting into entrepreneurshipwould be hard, but you didn't know
it was going to be this hard. To speak to us a little bit
about the challenges, and I mean, as an entrepreneur myself, I know

(25:10):
what you're talking about. So,but everybody's heard my story already, so
why not let's hear yours. Whatare some of the challenges that you experience
and how do you overcome them?So the biggest challenge, I guess I
could say, like the biggest two, but let's say, like the biggest
has been hiring. Hiring is thebiggest, and I guess it's almost at

(25:32):
the same level with like sales,I mean, And that's why that connects
back into why I would tell thatto my nineteen year old self, because
that has been such a big challengebecause I thought that because I'm a friendly
person, social, I was gonnabe just naturally good at sales. I
guess that's why my thought was Iwas like, Oh, I just need

(25:53):
to learn frameworks and language and stuff. But I got this. I love
talking to people. What sales iscompletely different than just talking to people because
there has to be that like ait's it's it's it's a whole game and

(26:15):
an exchange of energy, and it'sso different than just talking. So then
for me that that those has beenthe main things of learning how to communicate
properly, how to add value througheven prior to actually doing your services right
because you have to find ways todemonstrate value prior to so then you actually

(26:37):
get to sell. So those thingsand then hiring part. I've hire a
lot of the wrong people and that'scost me like over one hundred thousand dollars.
So like it's something that if Iif I knew more about sales and
hiring prior to getting into an entrepreneurship, that would be a lot better.

(27:02):
So that's why I say, like, you know, I advise people prior
to getting to entrepreneurship and going ona language you can but make sure that
if you want to do a saferjust get on a job that you get
the opportunity to start learning like howsomebody's doing a business that you might want
to copy that a similar framework andlearn about sales, high ticket sales especially,

(27:25):
learn about how they're hiring people,culture, all those things, so
that way, when you it's yourturn, then it's about like having that
innovation or something carving that way intothe market. But then you have those
things that cost me a lot ofmoney and headaches. So and I'm sure
you've learned a lot of that throughbooks and podcasts and all that other stuff.
And one that stands out for youand stands out for me too,

(27:48):
although I didn't read the book,is Gary Vee and his book which you
said it pretty much changed the wayyou looked at things, the book Crushing
It by Gary. I'm want toshare a little bit about that book with
us, definitely. So, Imean, I'm very passionate about this.
So obviously I like this because soremember when I told you, like my

(28:11):
first appointment went to Turkey, Syria, right, So I was I went
to Turkey right first. That waslike the first stop there, and I
was pretty comfortable in there, Likethe amenities were nice, the internet was
good. So then I was veryintentional again of like WHOA, let's make
the most out of this time thatI have away from distractions and anything.

(28:32):
I just have my people here.We're working, but we're not we're not
we're not working, or sometimes evenworking, we're waiting or something. I
can be listening to an audiobook orconsuming something. So I decided to I
was. I started consuming podcasts first. So the first podcast that I got
into was Bigger Pockets, Bigger Pockets. I started learning about that, and

(28:56):
I was like, Oh, Ilike real estate, and I thought about
going to the real state route.But then I was like, I felt
like I needed capital and stuff,and now that I learn about it,
oh, a wholesale and all thesedifferent things. But I just, I
guess I just I felt like itwasn't the thing like I was. I
was thinking about it, but thenI was like, Okay, what else
can I listen to? Or becauseI don't I don't like reading much.

(29:19):
Now that I don't like it,it's just I'm dyslexic. So tying back
to the fact that I always wantto feel like a winner, giving them
I'm dyslexic, reading doesn't make mefeel like a winner because I'm slower than
most people. So then I getfrustrated. So i'd rather listen to stuff.
So I got audible or downloaded.They out and they give you a

(29:40):
free credit. I don't know ifthey still do it, but they used
to do it. You get afree credit, and I use that free
credit to get crushing it. Andbecause I already by that time, I
already seen Gary V online and Ithink I was already following him stuff.
So then I was like, well, I don't know who I am I
gonna learn from. I know thisguy that I watch all of his videos

(30:00):
and I like him. I reallylike his videos. So when I was
well, let me see the book. So I took that book and then
I started learning the stories of himself, but most importantly the stories of other
people that felt like they were justsuch regular people that figure something out,
like doing events and usee LinkedIn andlike just things like that. And I

(30:22):
was like, damn, I coulddo that, and I could do that,
and I was thinking about that,and that's why ignited my Like I
always wanted to be an entrepreneur,but this was the thing. I was
like, Okay, I really wantto start taking action into this. So
that that's how But that's why thatbook was so important, because it was
the thing that kicked that action.So yeah, And I mean Gary Vee

(30:47):
was somebody that I followed very earlyon as well. Like I was,
I would watch all of his keynotesthat he would do, which which I
learned a lot from the keynotes inthat you don't need to have an hour
presentation ready, you just need tohave about ten or twenty minutes and then
go to a Q and A.I love that. I'd be like,
he does these keynotes and he doeslike literally a fifteen to twenty minute presentation

(31:07):
and then the rest is just Qand A and then he riffs off of
it. And I was like,that is so cool, because not only
does it mean that there's less pressureon you as a speaker and as a
performer, but secondly, you're reallyjust facilitating what the audience is asking for.
Like you know, as speakers wego out and presenters we go out
with with an agenda. We're like, Okay, I'm gonna speak to engineers,

(31:30):
right, so I'm going to preparea speech for engineers, and I'm
gonna you know, you got thishour presentation for engineers. But what if
the room of engineers is like Idon't want to hear about that stuff.
I learned about it last week.I want to hear about something else.
Now you're stuck. But the waygary Vee does it is he asks the
audience. And so I've started toactually incorporate Q and as and a lot
of the events that I do becauseof him. But you know, I'm

(31:52):
in you know, the part ofyou being dyslexic, so we share that
in common. I'm also dyslexic,and I've spoken about it on the podcast
multiple times about how I read books. Whenever I say I read books,
I really mean I consume them throughaudible. And gary Vee is kind of
like, who taught me this?Not kind of he did, because and

(32:13):
this you'll remember this is that hewas like, listen, you know,
people are always trying to improve theirweaknesses, but that's the wrong way to
go about it, at least inhis theory, which I appreciate by the
way. He's like, double downon your strengths and have somebody else take
care of your weaknesses. And forme, my strength is listening. My
strength is is video consumption and learningthrough YouTube and learning through audible. And

(32:37):
so that's why I downloaded it.So I'm with you and I love that
you acknowledged that too for our listenersbecause I know I've had other guests in
studio who are dyslexic, and Iknow we got plenty of listeners out there
who are dyslexic. And yeah,drop the book and pick up Audible if
we could share one thing another thingabout dyslexics. I don't know if you

(32:58):
know this, but I mean ourmind on a creative side works just tremendously
more than the average mind. Likewe're constantly creating and recreating, and I
mean that's part of like the dysfunctionthat we have, I guess, which
makes us pretty pretty cool. Soyeah, so you picked up crushing It.

(33:22):
You got Gary ve in your corner. What other inspirational people do you
have, because I know you gota couple listed here of like the Bull
Miller and Kelly Gordon, And whydon't you tell us a little bit about
these coaches and how they've also helpeddevelop what you've created. Yeah, so

(33:42):
they let me just get the easyone out of the way. The big
one. So the big one thatI guess he has kind of become the
gold stand there right now for businessesand especially like the marketing side of things,
which is Alex Ormosi, right,Like, I just got to give
him credit because I could assume hiscontent more than I consume content of Gary
Ve nowadays, to be honest.So because he's so much I mean,

(34:06):
he is so articulated and so efficientwith his words and very like the fact
that he doesn't care how he dressesand he doesn't care anything about people.
And then he's just like, look, I'll work yourself out and really just

(34:27):
talk from a place of experience.So just work really hard and then let
your results speak because you can't justyou cannot fight facts. Right, whatever
happened is his facts. I'm notsaying he's like said says it all the
times. I'm not saying that youcan do the exact same thing and it's
gonna work exact same way, especiallytimes change. But this is what it

(34:49):
worked for me, period, right, And that's it. And he's like,
look, I'm not telling that thisis the right way or anything.
This is what worked for me,and I'm here so for me if you
want to follow her, Like I'mlook, how how how he is right
now? So that's you know,let's get that out of the way,
right, Like, just kind ofget that, and that's that's how Alex
HERMOSI right, he's putting out somereally great content. Yeah, Alex Ormosi

(35:10):
is is he's just like my mytop like gold standard guy that I don't
know, right, like yeah,and I will I will meet him at
some point. I feel feel verystrong about that because I have clients already
meet him and stuff, so likeI know that eventually I'll get there.
But then like when I say,like Jason the boul Miller, right,

(35:34):
he's my he's he started by beingmy client. And also like we kind
of became he helps me out too, like I'm gonna come like a client
of his. And and and alsowe're friends, like we're we became really
close. We've been to rolling togetherfor over a year and a half now,
so you know, given that I'mdoing I've been doing this for two
years and nine months now about soyou you know, a year and a

(35:57):
half, it's a long time inmy career an entrepreneur, and he is
somebody that he's the CEO Strategic AdvisorBoard. And when I when I met
him, we connected because of themilitary. First it was like okay,
veteran business owner. He always hasa soft spot for that or being veteran
business owners or veterans in general,because he's a veteran too. He retired

(36:21):
from the army, so we startedthe connection from there and then I started
talking with him and he's a businessstrategist and that's how he kicked now like
I'll like, look, I'll callmyself strategy food now, right. And
that's something that is because got ignitedinitially because of him, because I started

(36:43):
to learn people for as long asit takes, and every TG with every
connection and everything that he does,and that's spending so much time with him
helping him out with his PR andlike just having those conversations and learning from
his content because I'm consuming everything fromhim. I'm talking to him, I'm
interviewing him right, I'm doing allthese things for his PR that I learned

(37:04):
so much from him, and that'ssomething that is very cool that I from
I learned a lot from my clients. And I'm always like, yeah,
like you might I might be helpingyou in this, but you can't help
me on other things too. AndI've always come with that approach that it's
not like, oh, you're payingme, so I'm here gonna tell you
and everything. It's like this isthis is the thing that I have certain

(37:25):
connections and certain and knowledge because Ifocus completely on this, but I can
get your perspective from different things,from maybe and even in this and create
something that is even better because webounce ideas of each other and we're like,
oh my god, like we're ableto create this. So that's what
the thing about Jason Miller because heand he has supported me a lot,

(37:50):
like I've been in a lot oftimes that it'll be like damn, like
I'm like like buried down mentally,like something happened with unexpected with the media
or something, and it's like myclients are man or something. And sometimes
you know, he was part oflike being a client and he's like,
look, don't worry about it.Like as soon as her like an honest
person, I appreciate you being verystraight with me. We'll solve this,

(38:12):
right, We'll solve the things.So that he was very key for me.
Prior to meeting here. Actually Imet Kelly Gordon. So Kelly Gordon,
I met her like a little bitprior to my six month mark actually,
so then in her was she's verygood. She calls you know,
you always have like this voice thathe's like talking right, like bad and

(38:32):
trying to keep you safe. Right, So she calls it like, that's
your monster, right. So separatingthat monster from yourself is something that she
taught me, and it was very, very beneficial because it was something it
was a way to be like,oh, like this bad voice that I
hear, it's not part of me. It's just a defense mechanism of this

(38:55):
reptilian brain, how she calls it, that is just trying to keep you
in this safe zone, right,And and like you like we talk about
like I've always been creating those safezones. So she helped me to to
overcome to like, hey, thisthing is just trying to keep you because
change is scary. But then yougot to embrace that and you got to
separate that from you. So that'sthat's one key thing that Kelly has given

(39:16):
me. And then obviously throughout thejourney, I still talk to her basically
every week and and uh, andshe helps me out with with just different
mindsets where because things change. Andso Jason's always there too, like he's
always telling me, Oh, itdon't worry, it's just a season that's
a big thing of him that hesays, and it's like, this is
gonna be a season and they're's gonnabe a different season that's gonna be different.

(39:38):
So you know, those key thingsis the things that I've been collecting
and building my own personality in businessand in life in general. So they're
being very beneficial. Yeah, andthey also taught you. One of them
taught you the strategy to use slackright, and oh yeah, and I
love I love what you shared withme about Slack And I was like,

(39:59):
well, why would I I usethis platform? I'm already on Instagram and
on these other social media and I'dlove for you to share with our audience
why that platform works really well foryou. So the great thing about slock
is there's no really distractions right insocial media. There's so many things happening
and that's just easy to get distracted. But then if you have something somewhere

(40:22):
where look, this is chatting,but it's organized, right, It's not
just this one group chat with everybodyhit together. Well, there is channels
that everybody is in it, rightin the general one announcements or whatever.
But then there is the private oneswhen I have my clients and my team.
Oh then I have a contractor thatis helping me on that same project.
He gets added there too, andthen they are already automatically part of

(40:44):
the community that I'm also adding peoplethat I'm meeting through podcasts, through just
social media, right, I meetwith people, and like, if you
don't see my content, then atleast you can always go to Slack and
go and be like, oh right, I can go to the Slack.
Then I make like an announcement channels, so you can go, hey,
I got a webinar or something comingup. And then I have different things

(41:04):
for like creators, and I've beenseparating and obviously I keep adding and innovating
and so that's a work in progress. But I have ninety three people there
right now, and you know,just trying to keep them engaged. And
I always add value. So that'swhy. So I guess being a great
opportunity. Yeah, and you've beenconstantly growing it. I think I was
number like eighty and now you're atninety two. And that's pretty cool that

(41:25):
you're growing it like that because it'sit's an organic growth too. It's like
you can't just put a big blastout to get people on Slack, nor
do you want all those people onit either, So to be growing it
organically at your rates, that's prettyincredible to see. I want to transition
into your PR agency here because onyour website it shows, I mean,

(41:46):
you're getting people on a cover ofForbes, on Entrepreneur magazine and all sorts
of different places. And one thatalso resonates with me of course as a
podcast host, is a message thatyou had sent me once before, which
was like, I forget if thisis right, you might have to just
change the name for me, butyou were able to get it, get

(42:07):
in the room with you know whatyou say the names for me of some
some really high level CEOs to interviewthem and get some of your clients the
availability to get to them as well. I'm want to share a little bit
about that with us. So soI guess this kind of attaches to like
the owned, earned and paid mediaright because of the reason that I say

(42:30):
that is because when you build yourown media or borrowed too, which is
a term that I learned kind ofrecently, which is social media, you
kind of are borrowing right as yours, but they can bind you or whatever,
right, so when you create thosethose things, like you know,
having like a podcast for example,right, that's something that you own,
and then being able to then usethat to lead with value. So for

(42:54):
example, my Kanyeson Miller, hehe got rower kios Hockey because of the
podcast, right, so he gotRovert Kiyosaki, and then now they build
a relationship author of thinking grow richexactly. No, no, actually no,
not reach that, reach that sorry, right, yeah, Rich Robert

(43:16):
Karasaki, rich Dad, poor dad. And he's also doing a ton on
social media right now. But continueplease exactly. So you know, everybody,
like most people that I heard,like especially when I was going,
like back to Bigger Pockets and oh, what are the top three books that
they changed? Most people sneaking likereached that poor in MLM, they use

(43:38):
it and everything they use it becauseit's about the framework, not about like
just like this this thing for anyindustry. It's about the framework of like
the rich Dad White taught him andand that's the thing that people teach now,
like uh, and so that isthe key, right, It's just
that's why I say, like,create your own media so you can leave

(43:58):
with value and and so you canearned media editorial coverage going national and everything.
Because the media looks at what's yourprevious media? They google you,
like, what are your Google results? Do I see previous media here?
How your social media looking? Doyou have a podcast? Do you have
a TV show or something like?They look for those things. So that's
why I create those things and Ihelp with the strategy of that. And

(44:22):
then when we build that, thenlike the air media becomes a lot easier.
So how did you get your Iinterrupted you and I'm sorry about that.
How did you get your client infront of Robert Kosaki? So it
was just the strategy of building thatand then just connection to one of the

(44:45):
assistants as an assistant to Robert Kyosaki, So that was the main connection.
And then they were like, ohyeah, like the war room and he's
a veteran and Jason's a veteran,so it was like cool, let's just
talk about the veteran in the story. And then that they did it like
you show up right like the requiredIt was. It was pretty like after

(45:06):
you have a connection and there's somethingthat makes sense, it's like, well,
you've got a couple of minutes tohelp on a zoom call right,
that's pretty cool. Yeah, Andsomething you're being humble about because I know
we spoke about it in our previouschat is you were also persistent and you
speak about that too, is ispersistently following up with these individuals because they're
busy. They have their gatekeepers,and you probably learned that in all the

(45:30):
sales trainings that you've been taking onpersistency because every you know, anybody at
a high level has gatekeepers and it'smore than one person that is taking in
the emails and the phone calls andeverything, and those are not going to
get to the person's desk that youwant to meet with right away, and
so you have to just keep calling, right, And that's what you did,

(45:51):
and keep emailing and keep creating valuearound around that client which you just
spoke about, and you continue todo that. Now, what about the
magazines? How are you to getthem into Forbes magazine and all of that
other stuff? A similar similar waysis by being obviously just doing our research
looking for ways to to to getin contact initially right, like getting an

(46:15):
email, getting a number, gettingon a calendar, getting on something right
that you have to look up forthe first point of contact typically is social
media, right. Uh. WhenI find the right social media, I
start by again leading with value.Just let me engage on your content.
Let me like like, let meshow make sure that you that I show

(46:37):
up. And then I message themit's like, hey, can I have
you in my podcast or the thingsthings like that, Like I find something
that I can offer, could belike, oh, like I'll get you
feature, let's have a conversation.I'll get your feature on an article.
Uh. And given that the mediais usually the ones doing right, like
contributors and everything that they're usually doing, the writing and the like, they

(47:00):
love when people come to them toactually feature them. So that's what I
do. And then that's when Ibuild a relationship. And I build a
relationship and I look for for waysthat I was like, do I have
one of my clients that will bean asset for this person? Always see
them at the beginning. I'm veryintentional about that. But then like sometimes

(47:21):
when I come like it's not exactlywhat I thought right when I talk to
them, or then they have otheropportunities that I didn't know about, right,
And then I start building that relationship. And it's all about relationships and
strategy and relationships and to genuinely care, right, just I genuinely care about
people, and that's why I'm verycurious and tryally value and that's how I

(47:42):
get don't get done in the sameYeah. Yeah, but like you know
again, like persistence building relationship andI like that you've brought up the fact
about liking people's content and sharing itand everything, and you know, there's
this there's a lot to be saidabout that because it gets you noticed in
a way that is positive. Youknow, when when you're seeing somebody liking
your comp your your your your contenton your site, you know, then

(48:07):
you're like, you're curious about them, and somebody might be like, who's
this foo guy? I'm interested intofinding out more about him. And then
the things that you like you're probablyvery intentional about as well, so it
kind of goes down a rabbit holeof like what what did he like and
why did he like that and havinga conversation around it to lead to that
relationship. I also love that youfocus on relationships. I want to bring

(48:29):
this back full circle to this dreamingbig and going back to the idea of
creating a bigger dream for ourselves andyou focusing on big ticket now and and
and selling big and you know,as we start to wrap up this episode
here, what are what are maybethree tips that you can share with our

(48:52):
audience about you know, being ableto create the value around selling big ticket.
So first of all, look forfor people that have something already valuable
that you can sell. That's whatthe first thing they were. I would
say, just just networking will bethat first tip. Just find the right

(49:16):
people to be around. If yourfamily, if you're in a small town
or something and you feel like yourenvironment is not helping you with that,
then move find a way to move. Like that's kind of what I did
with the Air Force, all right, Like just got out and find other
ways to to to then get outof that environment and look for other things.
So that's the first thing. Networkand get into an environment that you

(49:37):
can thrive. Get around with alot of people I know a lot more
about a lot more than you,and that have a life that you want
to have. The the other thingis to to to be humble enough to
to learn and to have the awarenessthat you don't you don't know as much

(50:00):
as you might think, and thatyou can be corrected and that doesn't mean
that it's not a negative thing,right, And I kind of said that
before, and I would say thatthat third tip is too to take take
risk. Just just go for it, Like, look for something that you're
willing to commit to, regardless ifyou don't knew about it before or anything.

(50:25):
You don't have to have the specialbackground to do something like you can
start from zero. So just justyou find something you want to do it
that aligns for your values, yourlifestyle, go for it and figure it
out along the way. I alwayssee that there is some make sure that
you don't you don't put yourself ona predicament where you're it's like your livelihood

(50:47):
gets affected. But be be willingto risk, especially when you're young.
Like you're young, you have nothingto lose, You have so much time,
like you can lose everything and buildit back up. So go try
things and find something you're willing tocommit to, and then just give it
your all. Because if you're notwilling to give it your all, then
why even started in the first place. I love that. And so what

(51:10):
is something that you're intentional about today? I'm very intentional about becoming the best
vesture of myself physically, mentally,and spiritually and in a way that I
can give value. Like I wantto be a person that gives so much

(51:30):
value in a very organized, strategicway. So it's not like, well
I know this and I know loud, and I know loud. Yeah,
but like make sure that I amaddressing needs and I am doing an an
organized matter so I can then helppeople guide them instead of confusing them and

(51:53):
overwhelm them. Yeah. And youalso mentioned to me that you know you're
you're looking to work with people whowant to make a positive change in the
world. And I think that youknow that that speaks volumes for the work
that you're doing and the people thatyou're working with. So as we conclude
here, I love I love whoyou quoted for your mantra. This is

(52:16):
great, Like I you know,typically a lot of people that come on
the show, they're quoting like NapoleonHill or Ed Malett or you know,
like big name Grant Cardone, likebig names of inspirational people and all this
other stuff. You know, anybodygo down the list, you know,
uh, go Tony Robbins and allthese different people. And you quoted shy

(52:36):
Lah buff the the actor and Iand I love this because you know,
Shy before I get into the quotereal quick, he reinvented himself. So
it's it's incredible. You know.When I saw that you quoted him,
I was just like it reminded meof his story of like this kid's journey.
I remember seeing Shy on on aon a talk show back when he
was a kid. He was justdoing like the first movie he did was

(52:59):
with Will Smith, or the firstone that people knew about was with Will
Smith, and it was I Robot. And he was like a kid in
that he was like seventeen eighteen yearsold and he had this like this career
ahead of him to just be likethis great actor and everything, and he
did. He built this great careerand then you know, things happened for
him from a mental state, andthen he fell off and nobody really learned

(53:20):
a lot about him. But ifyou follow his story, you learned that
he actually reinvented himself and became,you know, a very intentional person,
went a very introspective person. Andso I love that you quoted him because
I don't want to take too muchmore away from probably why you quoted him,
and you said, at the endof everything is going At the end

(53:43):
of everything is going to be okay, and if it's not okay, is
not the end. Okay. Letme let me Maybe I I part miscord,
but it's he says, like,in the end, everything is gone
to be okay, and if it'snot okay, it's not the end.
So that's something that I I ithit me when I heard it. And

(54:07):
and because it was a very emotionalpodcast that he did with the guy from
like The Walking Dead and the Punishshirt and stuff, I forgot his name
and uh, and I was likewow, like because you know, during
this entrepreneurship, it's like it feelslike a lot of things go wrong often,
right, So it's for me,it was like I was I was

(54:28):
kind of like on a low pointwhen I heard that. I heard that,
and it's like, damn, likeokay, So if it's not okay
right now, it's not the end. So so that I just kept me
pushing and you know, I feela lot better now. And and that's
something that's like a mantra for menow. Right. It's just something that
I'm all the time, like Ifeel we'rewhelm and something's going wrong. I'm
like, look, if it's notif it's not okay right now, it's

(54:51):
just not the end because at theend, everything is gonna be okay.
Right So, and that's how Ilive by that. And another thing,
another quote that I want to kindof leave people with because he's impacted for
me, that's Terren six Johnson.He taught me this, which is he
told me you don't get what youwant, you get what you believe.
And that's something that is very stuckwith me because you have to be able

(55:12):
to believe in something to be ableto get it manifesting into your life,
not just saying that you want it, you have to believe that you can
actually achieve it or have it.I love that you get what you believe.
I mean it's really speaking about,like you just said, manifesting what
you want in your life. Imean, you've manifested your entire life so
far, journey, and you're stillso young. When I read you know

(55:35):
ten years, if I went backten years, it might be speaking to
my nineteen year old self. I'mlike, he's twenty nine, he's twenty
nine. Damn, this guy's crushingit. You throw back to the book
for you come on. Yeah,you know you've created a life for yourself.
You know, you were And Ithink that also speaks to being intentional
of you were you knew you wantedmore, and so you were intentional about

(56:00):
learning English. You were intentional aboutjoining the Air Force. You were intentional
about taking that course on learning aboutSEO and PR and focusing on that.
I mean, you're an example.I love interviewing you right now because you're
just an example of someone who manifestedtheir life. But also the other reason
why I love interviewing you right nowis because you come from an immigrant background.

(56:23):
You came to the States from PuertoRico. You came not knowing English.
I mean you had to learn italong the way. You came from
almost nothing really in that respect,right you just were dropped off after you
were deployed, and now you hadto figure it out. And I think
that anybody listening right now, nomatter where they are or you know right

(56:43):
now, if you're listening wherever youare right now, I mean I feel
like, to me, this podcastepisode is so valuable to you because I
mean, fu, it's just amazing, man, what you've done. And
there's like five people right now offthe top of my head, I'm thinking
about that. I'm like, youhave to go listen to his episode because
you're going to be inspired to godo something. So I want to thank

(57:05):
you so much and appreciate you forcoming on today. Thank you, thank
you for a lot. And thelast thing I want to say is like
I'm still reinventing myself, you know, and now, like I've learned from
the previous from the clients that we'rewinning and the clients that we're not winning,
that that just PR and getting thatattention and visibility is not enough,
but you have to have an infrastructurethat supports it too. So that's why,

(57:28):
like I'm I'm doing more of marketingstrategy now rather than just focusing on
PR. But at first you gotto find something right, something that you
can differentiate yourself. But as youstart learning, then you start you know,
opening Okay, I can fix thisother friction points and challenges of my
clients. And that's where I startopening out to more of a marketing strategy

(57:50):
rather than just focus in PR.Not never gonna go away from PR because
that's a big part of marketing,especially nowadays where like ads and all that,
like getting into editorial is a greatway to actually get people to be
receptive. But I just wanted tosay that that it's like, look,
I being I reinvented myself and I'mstill am, still am, and I
still will like there's always room forimprovement, and I just invite people to

(58:15):
do the same. I love that, and I mean, I'll drop to
Tony Robbins quote for you right now. If you're not growing, you're dying.
So you know, all right,So for all of our audio listeners,
could you just share with everybody howthey can find you on social media?
James l Fu as a Lewis FuFoo James l Fu. That's my

(58:37):
handle now. I started putting mynew handles to Strategy Food. That's my
handle on I liking YouTube and thenin Instagram I could get food Dog and
I think that's like my like creaturethat I identify with and that all you
see has my last name is inthat name, right, so it's kind
of like cool. So Strategy Foodis something that I'm branding now. But

(58:59):
if not, then you know,my biggest social media Instagram, which is
James l Fu. James Lfu andYatil will be in the show notes for
everyone. I want to thank youso much for coming on the show today.
It's been tremendous. I also wantto acknowledge your service in the Air
Force and thank you for your servicewas very much appreciated. Thank you very
support. Thank you for listening toThe Michael Esposito Show. For show notes,

(59:22):
video clips and more episodes, goto Michael Esposito Inc. Dot com
backslash podcast. Thank you again toour sponsor, dan Ten Insurance Services helping
businesses get the right insurance for alltheir insurance needs. Visit Denten dot io
to get a quote that's d Nt N dot io and remember when you

(59:45):
buy an insurance policy from Denten,you're giving back on a global scale.
This episode was produced by Uncle Mikeat the iHeart Studios in Poughkeepsie. Special
thanks to Lara Rodrian for the opportunityand my team at michaels Posito. Thanks