January 6, 2025 • 53 mins
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Joe Lombardi, CEO of Ironhawk Financial, shares his remarkable journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a financial leader, shaped by resilience, self-awareness, and a commitment to values. At just 19, a life-changing encounter with a CEO set him on a path of personal and financial growth, navigating both triumphs and hardships. This episode explores Joe’s insights into overcoming adversity, the power of ethical values, and the importance of financial education in achieving true wealth and happiness beyond income. We delve into societal hierarchies, the pursuit of financial freedom, and the transformative impact of a positive mindset, emphasizing how ambition and a strong "why" drive success. Drawing from experiences in network marketing, real estate, and podcasting, Joe advocates for shifting from scarcity to abundance, demonstrating how personal growth and fulfillment often emerge from life’s challenges.
Learn more about Joe and his show, Money Talk with Ironhawk hosted by Joseph Lombardi, founder and managing partner of Ironhawk Financial with co-host Eliza Diane: https://moneytalkwithironhawk.com/
(11:17) https://www.passiton.com/
(33:45) https://togetherweserved.com/
Looking for more perspective, empowerment, and self-worth?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Josh Porthouse (00:00):
The views expressed in this podcast are
solely those of the podcast hostand guest and do not
necessarily represent those ofour distribution partners,
supporting businessrelationships or supported
audience.
Welcome to Transacting Value,where we talk about practical
(00:22):
applications for instigatingself-worth when dealing with
each other and even withinourselves, where we foster a
podcast listening experiencethat lets you hear the power of
a value system for managingburnout, establishing boundaries
, fostering community andfinding identity.
My name is Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and we are redefining
sovereignty of character.
(00:42):
This is why values still holdvalue.
This is Transacting Value.
Joe Lombardi (00:49):
When you go through that, it sort of changes
you where your why is so strongand so powerful that when you
just get crapped on and nobody,everyone's saying no, I'm not
interested, you stink, blah,blah, blah, you don't care.
Josh Porthouse (01:08):
Today on Transacting Value.
Who you want to become is aboutmore than a value system.
Values can help be a shortcutto your identity, to your
self-awareness, to how you comeacross to people in the world at
present.
Who you want to become in thefuture is largely determined by
your choices today, and that isalso relevant when it comes to
(01:30):
your finances.
Today we're talking to the CEOof Ironhawk Financial financial
planner, joe Lombardi, and he'sgoing to talk all about what
future planning has to do withpresent character, present
self-awareness and an overallpresence in your life.
Guys, I'm Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and from SDYT Media,
(01:51):
this is Transacting Value.
Joe Lombardi (01:52):
Joe, how you doing Awesome.
Josh, Thanks for having me.
Josh Porthouse (02:00):
Absolutely, man.
I know you are super busy,based on everything we talked
about before we hit record andobviously running your own
business, but I really doappreciate your time, man, so
thanks for setting some asidefor us.
I have a favor I want to openwith and I hate doing this in
the beginning because it's likeme asking for something right
out of the gates, but I feellike it's important for
everybody listening and watchingthe channel.
So, if you'll amuse everybody,I want to open a few minutes
(02:23):
with you just talking about who.
You are right.
So where are you from?
Let's build some resonance.
What sort of things have shapedyour perspective on life as it
is today?
Events throughout your life.
However, you want to work that.
Joe Lombardi (02:37):
Yeah, I mean, I came from a broken home, I came
from a divorced family.
I uh grew up in poverty, uh,lived in the streets, the ghetto
, the hood, uh, battled my wayout.
My grandmother gave my dad aloan to start, you know his
company back from the dead, jvLombardi builders.
(02:59):
Uh, then from there, you know,became wealthy.
My dad's business took off.
You know 10, 10, $20 millioncompany was worth and was buying
like new Jordans and I wasbuying the Allen Iversons had,
like the, the red and blue oneson one foot and the black and
gold ones on the other, going towake and boys and girls club,
uh, back in the day, you know.
So, from extreme poverty tolive in the attic with like no
(03:20):
running water and eating likehamburger helper with no
hamburger meat and you knownoodles and eggs and no ketchup.
To go into Fairfield and youknow, still being the poor, fat
kid.
But you know, going to Knightsof Columbus and and buying a
thousand dollars with thefootball cards and looking for
Peyton Manning rookies in 2000and Randy Moss rookies and you
know, like the, you know it was.
It was a crazy, crazy, crazylife.
(03:40):
You know my mom left when I wasfour.
Uh, she crazy life.
You know, my mom left when Iwas four.
She wanted to party, do drugsand drink alcohol more than be a
mom.
And you know, like, okay, sojust me and my dad, and it was
rough.
But you don't know, you're poorwhen you're five, six, seven,
eight years old, right, you justlook back and say, oh yeah, I
remember having to flip 16 timesa night in the summer because
(04:02):
there's no, no air conditioningand you're so hot, you're
sweating and the bed is soaked,so like.
But you look back and at thetime you're like, oh, this is
normal, right, um, so it?
I was very blessed to say, likeI was able to live in extreme
poverty and I was able to livein extreme wealth before my dad
fell three stories off a ladderand went back to extreme poverty
again.
Um, but when you, when you livethat way, you and went back to
(04:22):
extreme poverty again.
But when you live that way, youdefinitely take a different
view on life.
Right, it's almost like a cheatcode.
I get to experience both sides.
Right, you hear about thesepeople with silver spoons.
They don't have any ambition,right, and you hear about these
people that come from nothing.
They have nothing but ambition.
But sometimes they try and findthe quick way.
So it's drugs or crime and theygo to jail, right, I was sort
(04:49):
of able to see both.
And then, uh, got lucky to getinto this industry.
When I was bartending, you know, the CEO of Northwestern mutual
came in when I was 19 years oldand said I love your hustle,
you're crying.
Gave me a thousand dollar tipsto come work for me as my
underling, you know.
So it was.
It was a crazy life.
I wrote a couple books three ofthem but I haven't wrote my
memoir yet.
So that's something that I'llprobably do in about 20 more
years, because I think my life'sa lot more crazy to come.
(05:11):
But yeah, that's pretty muchhow it started.
Josh Porthouse (05:15):
Wow, Wow, Okay.
So first off, you saidinitially, you said five, six
years old.
Nobody really knows what theircircumstances are.
Obviously, you're just living,experiencing, you take it for
what it is.
I think a lot of that alsotranslates into people's careers
.
You work for 20 years, 25 years, 30 years in different
industries and you're like youdon't know any different.
(05:37):
You get so accustomed to theroutine maybe a pay raise every
now and again if it's shift work, or a promotion every now and
again if it's not.
But you get accustomed to thelifestyle and you stop asking
questions.
What do you think was yourtrigger to start asking
questions and not get stuck inthat same pattern?
Joe Lombardi (05:55):
Well, back in high school, right, I was 16.
My dad bought me a NissanSentra SCR spec V, right, and I
was bartending and waiteringbecause you got to be able to
work at that age, you know, backin the day, that young.
So I had a lot of cash.
So I would go, you know, to thehood in Bridgeport and I'd go
to like this place called LaPrimavera.
(06:17):
I'd grab like 40s of OE andlike 30 packs of Natty Ice for
the charge.
You like a dollar, a beer backthen, you know, and I would go
up to Greenfield Hill and I knownobody probably knows much
about Connecticut, butGreenfield Hill is, like you
know, in Fairfield.
Not, it's like Greenwich ofFairfield, if you know anything
about Greenwich, it's like very,very wealthy town and I would
go out there and I would sellthe beers like five bucks, you
(06:37):
know, and and sell the fortiesfor 20.
Right, I was doing arbitrageand not knowing it.
That teaches you a lot.
I go into some of these guys'houses and they've got 60-foot
ceilings.
It's hard to imagine a ceilinglike 60 feet.
You're talking these ultra-megamansions.
(06:59):
I said there's no way peoplelive like this Elevators going
down to the basement withbaseball fields in it, in the
base, in the basement, he's gota baseball.
What Just the craziest thingyou can ever imagine.
And I said, if people areliving like this, I want, I want
a piece like get me in, so likeseeing it was believing.
(07:21):
And unfortunately, a lot ofpeople they don't get to expand
their, expand their mind to seewhat could be, and so they're
trapped in their little bubbleor box.
Josh Porthouse (07:30):
Okay, but I mean this is your business model.
I mean it's basically your roleto show people what they can't
see, broaden their perspectives,build out what they could be
Right.
So how do you do it?
You take people on field trips,Doubt it.
Joe Lombardi (07:44):
What do you do?
No, I have a.
I have a presentation that Ibuilt.
I've been doing this 21 years,so I had a presentation I built
in about 2016.
I was one of MassMutual's topagents in the country and they
wanted to buy my presentation,where I walk people through the
tax triangle the three differentplaces where you're taxed, I
walk through liquidity, I walkthrough market preservation how
(08:08):
to save a million dollars intaxes and it's an elevator view.
Right, it's something that'sfrom the top down, where the
average American, who has verylittle to no expertise on
financial investing orinvestments or insurance
policies or IRS codes or theydon't understand any of it and I
try to bring it to like aelevator view.
So it was all about simplifying.
(08:29):
You know, kiss, keep it stupidsimple and if you can do that,
you can attract a lot morepeople to stay with you.
Because when I start throwingout acronyms like IRS code,
section 7702, max funding index,universal life, iuls, and you
got an FIA fixed index, andpeople are just like, huh, what?
Yeah, I'm already asleep.
(08:50):
So you have to.
You have to be able tocommunicate in a way that that
they can stay with you andunderstand what you're talking
about okay, and then?
Josh Porthouse (08:58):
what about on the receiving end?
Because it sounds like at onepoint that was you, and then you
learned and got your licensureand experience right.
What did it feel like then?
Or is that where you got theinspiration to simplify?
Joe Lombardi (09:12):
When you live a life where your mom doesn't want
you.
She ends up dying at 52 yearsold, so sliver, from alcoholism
and drug use real shocker, right.
And then your dad falls threestories off a ladder, loses $25
million to our constructioncompany, jb Lombardi Builders,
and your grandmother has astroke led to dementia.
She loses $4.2 million toLudlow Nursing Home in Fairfield
(09:33):
Crossroads, sacred Heart.
And then when my dad fell threestories, I was 15 years old.
My sister was two.
She was born with two pounds,seven ounces.
Fetal alcohol syndrome, I accept.
Mom drank vanilla extract andListerine during pregnancy so it
was like put up or shut up.
You know, I didn't want to goto DCF, I didn't want somebody
stranger being my foster parents, so I just shut up and went to
(09:53):
school and kept my mouth shut.
When you go through that itsort of changes you where your
why is so strong and so powerfulthat when you just get crapped
on and nobody, everyone's sayingno, I'm not interested, you
stink, blah, blah, blah.
You don't care like you're justyou're you're.
(10:15):
I'm put on this earth to fulfilla prophecy.
I'm not here to to sell stuff,to make money so I can, you know
, buy a bigger house like's.
Just it's so much deeper thanthat.
When you have that passion andconviction that you know I'm on
a mission from God.
God showed me what, whathappens when you fail to plan
your plans, to fail and get thatmessage out there and say
(10:37):
people, you don't want to sufferthe way I suffered, the way my
dad suffered, the way my momsuffered, the way my grandmother
suffered.
You don't want to do that.
Dad suffered the way my momsuffered, the way my grandmother
suffered.
You don't want to do that.
And if I can help people sufferless because, not to be super
positive, but the D who suffersthe least wins, in my opinion,
in this world, because all thisworld is is suffering and if I
can help people suffer less, Ifeel like I did my job through
(10:59):
God.
Josh Porthouse (11:14):
All right, folks sit tight and we'll be right
back on Transacting Value.
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With her positive outlook, anneFrank continues to fill us with
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Joe Lombardi (11:37):
The D who suffers the least wins, in my opinion,
in this world, because all thisworld is is suffering, and if I
can help people suffer less, Ifeel like I did my job through
God.
Josh Porthouse (11:49):
Okay, fair enough, but you're talking about
tax-free pension and not to getbiblical or religious here, but
on a mission from God,somebody's still paying taxes in
the end.
So how do you bridge these gaps?
Like some of this stuff, is itjust math?
Is it stuff that's just nottaught?
We don't know?
Or is this stuff that's justcreatively sort of financing or
(12:12):
debt financing futures?
I mean, what's the tie?
Joe Lombardi (12:16):
The tie is is that slavery is suffering and the
United States of America is acorporation and we are all
slaves to the United States.
You know what the definition ofa slave is?
Well, it's twofold.
If you don't do what they told,they're gonna come in your
house with guns and punish you,put you in jail.
Right, that's number one.
Number two is when you giveyour effort, energy, time,
(12:37):
god-given talent and they stealit from you and give you no
value back in return.
We don't know where thatmoney's going.
It's not helping our fellowAmericans.
It's going to build bombs tokill other people overseas.
They're starting wars.
We're shooting missiles atRussia now for no reason, trying
to start World War III rightbefore Trump comes in.
(12:59):
There's so much evil when youhave a discretion or something.
Where aren't we all equal underGod?
Right?
Well, they took God out becausethey don't want people to know
that they equal under God.
Right Well, they took God outbecause they don't want people
to know that.
They want serfs, they want, youknow, peasants, and they want
Kings and squires and and, andthey want this class of know
your role.
I mean, look at Epstein, lookat P Diddy, all the stuff that
happens, like Justin Biebercomes in, he's a great, one of
the top singers in the worldwithin a couple years.
(13:20):
Who knows what great tragedieshappened to him that he's
speaking about?
You understand everything's ahierarchy.
Everything's about power,everything's about control.
And if I can free people fromthe government, I could free
people from slavery and havethem build tax-free accounts
that they can lean and leverageand grow wealth and have peace.
Financial freedom is aboutpeace.
(13:41):
Does it matter if you have 500million or 100 million?
Does it matter if you have 50million or 5 million?
It really doesn't.
The quality of life doesn'tchange.
You have shelters good, yourtransportation's good, you can
eat decently.
So it's not about getting asmuch money as you can.
It's about freeing yourselffrom chains and slavery.
And again, I'm not trying to bedark and sad and depressed,
(14:30):
no-transcript, they're not yourfriend.
Look at history, right.
History doesn't repeat, itrhymes.
And when you have history booksof governments slaughtering
millions of its own citizens,why do you think all these
countries don't let theircitizens have guns?
Keep the gun laws.
It's so deep.
Now we're not gonna get this inone hour podcast or a half hour
(14:52):
podcast, but if I can freepeople and I can keep growing my
presence and I can wake peopleup to the reality of, like blue
pill, red pill, the matrix, allthese little terminologies, the
great awakening, all thesethings we're hearing.
Why are we hearing it?
Because it's true, people arewaking up to what the heck is
going on.
Josh Porthouse (15:13):
And if I can accelerate that, that's going to
free more people.
Now, do you think that's rootedin some sort of demoralization
as a society, or is itindividual education?
Is it upbringing and background?
What's the impetus, do youthink?
Is it upbringing and background?
What's the impetus, do youthink?
Joe Lombardi (15:25):
Think about what billionaires do.
Do the billionaires, with theirkids, go to public schools?
No.
Do billionaires invest in 401ksand IRAs and SEPs, simples
Pensions, deferred Comp, 457s no.
So if I can just copy what theultra-wealthy do and bring that
(15:46):
to that, to the blue collarmarket, and bring that to
everyday Americans, I feel likeI do my job, because there's so
many a-holes out there that arelike I only work with people
with $100 million of net worthand it's like I could be that
guy.
I've been doing this 21 years.
I've worked with three Fortune500 companies.
I've got 2,000 clients with $2billion of protection and
(16:08):
rollovers.
In my career I've won 27industry awards Blah, blah, blah
, blah, blah.
I could be that a-hole, but myjob is to help people.
I've been very blessed, veryblessed that I had a good work
ethic.
God gave me a life of pain andsuffering, which, you know what
it did Made me stronger.
You know what happens when yougo to the gym you rip your
muscle and that muscle getsbigger and stronger, and now
(16:30):
you're able to do more, andthat's what happened to me.
So is it socioeconomic?
Sure, if you grew upimpoverished, do you know what
the ultra wealthy do?
No.
So don't you think it would besmart to know that, instead of
knowing what your favoritebaseball player batting average
is or what your fantasy sportsteam's average points per game
is, don't you think it'd be kindof important to figure out what
(16:50):
are those billionaires andmillionaires doing?
Because I have clients who make$40,000 a year they're
millionaires and I have clientswho make $800,000 a year and
their net worth is negative.
So you know what I've learneddoing this for 21 years.
It a year and their net worthis negative.
So you know what I've learneddoing this for 21 years Makes no
difference what you make.
What it makes is how you valueand love yourself.
(17:11):
Do you have a hole in yourheart?
Do you have childhood trauma?
Do you not believe you deserveit?
Do you not care?
If those are true, it doesn'tmatter.
You hear these people winningthe lottery, getting 100, 200,
400 million dollars enough for athousand people to have a great
quality of life.
And what happens within threeyears?
Not only are they broke.
What do they say?
They are Bankrupt, which meansthey lost more than the two 300
(17:35):
million.
There are another 30, 12, 12,30, 40 million in debt on top of
the 200 million they lost.
You know what that comes downto Ethics, morals, principles,
self-worth.
So being financially successful, which money doesn't make you
happy but it solves problemswhich inadvertently make you
happy.
If you have financial peace,it's just one part of your life.
(17:58):
That you can spend timeelsewhere, becoming a better
version of yourself and growingyour soul, which I think is what
we're here on, this experimentcalled Earth, in my opinion, I
agree, yeah, absolutely.
Josh Porthouse (18:09):
I think there's a lot of things too that are
powerful about what you justsaid.
Obviously because I've got ashow about values.
But specifically, for example,I talked to a school last week
and the goal that they initiallybrought me in to talk about was
my Marine Corps career.
In places I traveled, thingsI've done, why I've done it
sacrifices, what it's done to myfamily good, bad, indifferent.
(18:31):
That was the point of theconversation, right, and I said,
okay, well, one of the biggestthings that I've learned from my
Marine Corps career now justover 15 years, one of the
biggest things that I've learnedand I learned a lot tactically,
traveling, whatever has beenabout myself Self-awareness, the
impact of a value system, myown worth, despite now being on
(18:52):
a commission, as a realtor, Igive up a six-figure salary, a
company, vehicle benefits, andI'm on commission.
I may as well be waiting tables.
So you don't have to be brokenbecause of it.
And I don't mean medicallyTicare is what it is but like
spiritually, right, there'ssomething to be said for that
and it's the same thing.
We talked about it earlier.
People have 20, 25, 30 yearcareers.
(19:14):
They get out of whateverindustry they've been in.
Let's say they retire.
Let's say they're lucky enoughto retire and they're like I
don't know who I am anymorebecause you focused on the game,
you focused on the job, theprofessional development.
But I think the personaldevelopment counts for just as
much in any other industry asyou're saying in finance.
It can as well.
Alrighty, folks, sit tight.
(19:41):
We for more perspective andmore podcast.
You can check out TransactingValue on Weeds Across America
Radio, listen in on iHeartRadio,odyssey and TuneIn.
Let's say they retire and saythey're lucky enough to retire
and I'm like I don't know who Iam anymore because you focused
on the game, you focused on thejob, the professional
(20:01):
development.
But I think the personaldevelopment counts for just as
much in any other industry asyou're saying in finance.
It can as well.
It's.
It's such a huge and highlyunderrated and understated
concept.
I mean it.
It can either revolutionizebroadcast media or totally
(20:22):
degrade it because it doesn'thelp ratings.
I think that can be problematic.
So what's your recommendationthen?
How do we build this out, thismessage of self-worth, this, in
your case, focus on finances tohelp bring stability and peace
and contentment based on yourvalues, this entrusted sort of
wealth planning metric?
What do we do.
(20:42):
We wait for people to call, orwe go out and we tell people and
sort of proselytize what's theangle?
Joe Lombardi (20:49):
I'll tell you, I lived a life where I put money
as my God and it brought nothingbut sorrow.
You know, uh, I made millionsbut I lost millions gambling.
You know I didn't value it.
Uh, I don't want to sound cornyor anything or like a Bible
thumper, but the minute that Ican just tell you personally,
you know, the minute I put Godas number one in in my life,
(21:12):
above my wife, above my children, above my career, my life above
my wife, above my children,above my career.
My life got better.
I lost weight, I got healthier,I started caring about myself.
I got a therapist I talked to,which alleviated a lot of the
childhood trauma my mom causedme by not wanting me.
That was a big hole in my heart.
It strengthened my relationship, my marriage, which made me
(21:35):
have more self-worth, whichpretty much caused more conflict
in my marriage, but it made merealize that I'm worth it.
I don't need to be degraded, Idon't need to be used and abused
and treated disrespectfully infront of my own children.
It went deep and I'm in theprocess of figuring out whether
it's better to stay or go,whether it's better to stay or
(21:56):
go.
But it also makes you look inthe mirror because I go to the
gym and I try and eat better,because I was about 30 pounds
heavier even though I'm stilloverweight.
I was obese and it feels goodto look in the mirror and be
like I feel good about myself.
I'm not where I want to be, butI'm better than I was yesterday
.
And then having a team getting20, 30 people working with me
(22:16):
growing Ironhawk Financial on adaily basis and I've always been
a solo ranger for 20 years somany 10, 20, 15 years like you
need an assistant, you need this, you need that and nobody could
do it as good as me.
You know, and when I found God,god's like.
Help other.
You help all these families intheir personal finances.
Help other you help all thesefamilies in their personal
finances.
Help other families.
(22:37):
Teach them how to sell indexeduniversal life, fixed index,
annuities, eyelid trust,irrevocable life insurance,
trust, estate planning, tax andmediation.
Teach those guys everythingyou've learned, because not only
is it going to help them andtheir families, it's going to
help them do the right thing inthis field.
(22:57):
You know how hard it is to be21 years in this and be 5.0
rated on Google and A plus onthe Better Business Bureau with
zero complaints, from dealingwith hundreds of thousands of
dollars to millions of dollarsper person.
Yeah, I bet Again, I don't wantto sound corny, but God is the
reason.
(23:21):
Sound corny, but God is thereason why I feel so much better
about myself, who I am, fixedso much healing that I had that
I used quick fixes, alcohol,gambling, smoking, cigarettes,
porn all the things I did tonumb that feeling.
When God was there, I didn'tneed to do that anymore.
And then all that time andenergy I wasted on that I put
into my business and my business, yeah, I was making a million
bucks a year.
(23:42):
I'm on track.
Next year I want to make ahundred million and I want to
reinvest that back into grow,not not so.
I already can afford a 600horsepower car.
I already have one for years.
I already bought a brand newEscalade this year Cool, right,
awesome.
But that's not going to changeanyone's life.
Right, it makes me feel goodwhen I get in it or whatever,
but I want to make a difference.
Right, and when you have amission and money is not the
(24:06):
goal, but growth and awarenessto a big problem, I think that's
out there.
It's bigger than yourself andit's God and Yeshua, that's my
God and hopefully you all haveyour own.
And if, like Trump's my littlebuddy, I'm glad he won, but it's
(24:37):
like God's my little dude overhere, like, hey, you know, I may
be lonely, I may be depressed,I may be arguing with my spouse
or, you know, lost a deal, but Igot a little buddy right there
that I'm like it's okay, whocares?
Who's next, let's go.
You know, and that everyoneneeds and not a lot of people
have, because they took God outof our country and I think we
need to put him back.
Josh Porthouse (24:58):
Yeah, there's something to be said for
spirituality, and I don'tnecessarily mean religion to the
point you brought up.
There's correct, I am notreligious at all.
Joe Lombardi (25:07):
I'm not religious at all.
I don't go to church, I don'tbelieve in the Catholic church.
I actually think that eventhough I'm Catholic, I'm Italian
, right, everything is Catholic.
Josh Porthouse (25:19):
I think they're the worst.
Yeah, there's a lot of aspects,I think, that people tend to
misconstrue, but human spirit,let alone any degree of
inspiration through a HolySpirit or whatever you prefer to
align with, is absolutelycontagious and it changes
everything perspective, clarity,purpose, hope.
(25:39):
You can't buy those you can't.
It doesn't matter whateducational systems you purchase
.
Yeah, right, value systems,let's just call them like.
Yeah, there is a certaininherent benefit to internal
modes of control and, on onehand of this spectrum, let's
(26:00):
just say it's affirmation everymorning I am a super awesome
dude and I'm going to have agreat day today in the mirror.
Great, do it.
Whatever.
If that works, that works.
And in my opinion, that's thesame sort of financial parallel,
as I don't have a dollar toinvest today, but I can find two
quarters underneath my driver'sseat and I'm not spending them,
unless it's something that'sgoing to grow money, right, cool
(26:20):
, great, do that.
On the other hand, podcastingfor me has become my therapy.
It gives me people like you totalk to, to probe, to learn
about this human experience, andhelps me get through my own
whatever mental health issues,behavioral isms, things that
I've transitioned from theMarine Corps into, like I said
now, real estate you can't talkabout, like in my case, the
(26:45):
infantry going on a long patrolshooting at places where people
live.
Hey, do you want to buy a house?
There's no overlap, and so someof the stuff that exists,
though, is humanity.
Here's what that looks likeTalking about ethics and morals
and decision-making processes,and collateral and opportunity,
(27:06):
cost and all these other actualeconomic things that are the
same principles, but the spiritbetween the two, the amount of
resonance that something likethat builds, that's how you get
clients, that's how you helppeople, that's how you get
listeners, that's how you makefriends, that's how you have
sleepovers when you're five.
(27:29):
It's the good dude role, justwith a cross in some cases, in
some buildings, in some places.
But, yeah, being able tointeract with people as just a
ground-level human, despite anydegrees of success, I think is
huge, and so, like in your case,you've got all sorts of stuff.
I've seen you on magazinecovers, other podcasts, radio
(27:53):
show, which we'll talk abouthere soon.
Dude, you've got so much stuffgoing on, how do you stay
grounded?
Joe Lombardi (28:02):
When the goal is bigger than you and my why is so
strong?
I don't get tired.
I mean, I'm not the mostphysical specimen of success?
physical specimen of success but, I, can work 12, 14 hours a day
with a smile on my face, happy,and I don't need to work
(28:25):
anymore.
When you get to a point whereyou have billions of dollars of
protection and rollovers in yourcareer, thousands of clients,
there's residual in thisbusiness.
I have six different businesses.
I got real estate, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
I don't have to work anymore.
I just turned 40, but my why isso strong that I've been so
blessed.
I want to bless other people.
(28:45):
All the pain and all thesuffering I had in my childhood,
that's not me anymore.
I'm a 40-year-old man.
I don't live there anymore andI live in this abundance.
I don't live in scarcity.
When you change your mindset tolive in abundance, life changes.
You know, like, if you buy ared car, what do you see?
Nothing but red cars everywhere.
You buy an Acura, what do yousee?
(29:06):
Nothing but Acuras, right.
That is how we are programmed.
If you think you can, you will.
If you think you can't, youwon't.
Either way, you're right.
The little train that couldright.
We learned that when we werethree years old, but it's so
true.
So many people have negativeself-talk.
My whole life changed inregards to production success.
(29:29):
All that when I startedlistening to believe it or not
Amway, double diamond CDsremember that network marketing
company, amway that sold soap.
And then they got into likeenergy drinks and so, yeah, this
is 2006, 2007, 2008.
And I started, I startedlistening to my buddy, went in,
(29:51):
right, and I joined just to likebuy some stuff to help him out,
right.
And then he said, come to themeetings, come to the meetings,
the meetings, and I'm like I'malready selling insurance, I'm
probably going to sit down onpeople's couches selling energy
drinks and stuff.
So I learned so much from theseCDs because what they were?
They were like the meetingsthey have every quarter, the
hoorahs, and all it was waspositive self-talk.
(30:14):
It was a bunch of people.
A lot of them weren't evenamericans, you know they.
You know they.
They had down lines in southamerica, they down lines and in
australia, and they would go onstage and be like I knew I could
do it, you know, and I was justlike a lot of them.
It was just hilarious.
My buddy didn't say joke on it,but like we knew that they can
do it, like and and these arejust normal people, normal
(30:35):
Normal people, and they had suchconviction that what they were
doing was the best thing, andthey would talk about their wins
, and that sparked something inme.
I don't know If you can see itas a possibility.
Your mind can comprehend it asan opportunity, but if you've
(30:55):
never seen it, you have no ideait exists.
How could your mind portray thatinto reality?
Right, and we live in a.
We're learning a lot about ourvirtual reality of whatever the
heck this is, and video games.
We make video games and AI, andwe're getting deeper into
figuring out what the hell we'rehere for and how everything
works.
Right, but a lot of census orconsensus of this information is
(31:20):
we dictate our reality with ourprojection of reality, right?
So if you think something is,it is.
If you think something is, itisn't.
And if you think you're awinner, you're a winner.
If you think you're a loser,you're a loser.
If you surround yourself withlosers, you're going to be a
loser.
If you surround yourself withlosers, you're going to be a
loser.
If you surround yourself withwinners, you're going to be a
winner, and the word winner orloser has whatever that is to
(31:42):
you.
There is no universaldefinition of a winner or a
loser.
It's just whatever.
Are you going closer towardsyour personal goals?
Do you have personal goals?
I mean, if you don't have goals, I mean, what the heck are you
doing?
Right, if you have dreams andyou don't write them down, you
have nothing.
You have to take a dream, writeit down on a piece of paper.
It becomes a goal.
(32:02):
Then from the goal, you figureout how do I get there?
And then you obsess about itand think of how do I win, how
do I lose?
Reach out to people, talk topeople, and the quickest way to
success in anything is copy themost successful person that you
have access to.
That's what I did.
I was at Barnum Financial Group, which was MetLife's number one
(32:24):
office in the country.
They were the number onegeneral agency with numbers like
400 agents.
I found one of their top guys,mike Lynch.
He had a radio show, Money Talkon WICC, and I have a radio
show called Money Talk withIronhawk I wonder why.
And so I just copied him.
I swear to God, I just copiedhim and he was so good and he
(32:45):
taught me so much and what Ilearned from him in that year
that I just broughtopportunities to him and I sat
there and you know whatever hesaid yeah, and I'm duplicating
that with my guys.
And I got guys that that are ayear into the business making
six figures it's selling, youknow IULs.
And I got one guy we opened upa $1.2 million commission.
(33:08):
The guy never, never, closed a$50,000 deal in his life.
He opened up a 1.1, $1.2million commission with me.
So it's all about finding whoyou want to be and copying it.
There's 8 billion people.
You're most likely not going toreinvent the wheel.
Okay, so copy who you want tobe and then just emulate and
(33:30):
become your version right,personally, your version of that
, what you deem as a winner orsuccessful
Josh Porthouse (33:39):
all righty folks sit tight and we'll be right
back on transacting value
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Joe Lombardi (34:44):
Copy who you want to be and then just emulate and
become your version right,Personally, your version of that
, what you deem as a winner orsuccessful.
Josh Porthouse (34:57):
I like that, sort of like your own
impressionist painting of yourreality, I guess.
Yeah, don't reinvent the wheel,right?
Well, there's not a need, right?
It's like we talked aboutearlier Once you start to see
different patterns or differentopportunities, or gain exposure,
it gives you insight, it givesyou depth ideas.
(35:21):
The only person I think that Ican think of right now off the
top of my head, that had no ideawhat he was looking at was
Copernicus, and then there wasGalileo, and then there was
Isaac Newton, and they justcopied each other.
So, okay, maybe there's the one, but I don't think we have that
(35:43):
excuse anymore, unless it'slike quantum mechanics or
something Beyond that.
I'm not saying everything'sdiscovered, but there's
certainly plenty of potential toreinterpret everything from 8
billion different perspectives.
Joe Lombardi (35:55):
So I mean, look at Elon Musk, yeah, sure, he's a
billionaire genius, but what didhe do?
He already took a brand thatalready existed and made it
better.
So you could say he copied whatthe guy did before and just
made it his spin on it andbecame a freaking bazillionaire.
Josh Porthouse (36:12):
Yeah, well, it was the same thing with Tesla,
it was the same thing with,technically, spacex, until the
last decade when it changed some.
But obviously Twitter, right.
So, yeah, there's plenty ofopportunities there.
And, to the point you broughtup, I may be preaching to the
choir here, but have you everread, think and Grow Rich?
Napoleon Hill yes, right, richDad, poor Dad who Moved my
Cheese.
There's so many books that arecrucial to your success Humu
(36:33):
Maiji's.
Joe Lombardi (36:33):
There's so many books that are crucial to your
success.
Josh Porthouse (36:36):
Well, yeah, absolutely there are.
But specifically in Think andGrow Rich.
That's exactly how he opens thebook and he's talking about if
you don't Napoleon Hill, foranybody who's unfamiliar was the
author.
But the first thing that hetalks about in the book is just
have a dream, have a spark, havesome inspiration or be willing
to get it from somewhere.
And once you get theinspiration and you get a spark
(36:59):
and you've got to have faithit'll work out.
And once you get dreams and youget faith, it's following a
passion after that.
And then you'll read the book,track it down.
Joe Lombardi (37:06):
It's worth a while , but it is a why.
If you're wise to make money,you're going to fail 10 out of
10 times.
Josh Porthouse (37:13):
Dude, do you want?
Okay, so here's something coolfor you then.
I'm not going to try my hand atstatistics.
I got a D.
I'm not even going to make themup for you.
But everybody's big why is moreoften rooted in a big who, and
so I think that who sometimes isa group of people, maybe a
(37:33):
demographic, maybe a family unit, maybe an individual, a sister,
father, but whatever thatdriver is, whoever the who is, I
think to just stop it.
Well, my why is I want to havea lot of money so I have
security or financial freedom.
Okay, but why do you want thefreedom?
Why does that matter?
(37:54):
Just keep working until you dieand you'll get plenty of money
Right, as long as you'reresponsible with it.
Usually there's a who involved,and it may be the past version
of yourself, but there's alwaysa who.
I think that's super powerful.
You know what?
This is a good time of the show.
This is a segment calledDeveloping Character
D-D-D-Developing Character, andfor anybody new Joe, maybe you
(38:17):
included if you're unfamiliarwith the segment it's two
questions, because values, aswe've been talking about, are so
impactful in every decision,for the sake of clarity and
purpose and insight andperspective and self-worth, that
they drive all these otherdecisions.
But I don't think they're onlytaught.
I think sometimes we catch ontothem and they're nurtured.
(38:41):
And so my two questions arebased on time and as vulnerable
as your answers or as you'rewilling to be, so I'll give you
both questions.
What were some of your valuesgrowing up, or that you remember
being brought up around?
And then, if any of them havechanged since you've grown up
throughout your life, what aresome of your values now?
Joe Lombardi (39:02):
Great question.
Values I grew up with, mind you, I had no mother.
Mind you, I grew up in thestreets.
Mind you, I was raised by TLC,which was tender, loving care,
daycare, but I called ittorturing little children
because I would drop the hoverearly and then stay till late.
The values we had were don'ttell on people, don't tattletale
(39:24):
.
Also, don't snitch.
Be a man of your word.
Your word's everything on thestreet.
If you say you're going to dosomething, do it.
If you owe someone money, paythem.
We've seen many kids get theirbutt beat because their word
wasn't any good.
The values I had, you know, ohGod, all the stuff I did as a
kid.
(39:44):
Go back in time and beat thecrap out of myself.
You know my values were allabout having fun.
You know I did a lot of thingsI, you know, can look back on
and wasn't proud of.
But egging houses, smashingmailboxes, stealing from KB Toy
Store, just doing just stupid,stupid, stupid stuff.
(40:06):
But the values that I had thenare different.
The values I have now, once youget married, but more
importantly, once you have achild, once you hold a baby in
your arms, that's your child,child.
Once you hold a baby in yourarms.
That's your child.
That is going to change yourvalues.
You are not going to be aselfish POS anymore.
(40:30):
And boy was I.
I had a six pack.
I used to run 10 miles a day.
I had a new car.
I had a rap CD.
I could freestyle for hours.
I smoked a bunch of weed.
Life was fun, right?
No wife, no kids, no mortgage,no, nothing.
Just, where are we getting high?
Who are we going to hook upwith and what are we eating?
That was the only questions.
Now the value is a lotdifferent.
I got a daughter who's nine.
(40:51):
I got a boy who's 12.
I got another boy who's 15.
They look up to me.
They see my pain, they see mysuccess, they see my drive and
the values.
Now being a father and ahusband and a business owner
because now I have employees toowhich are almost like kids,
right, in a good way, in anon-mean way values are very,
(41:19):
very important now than theywere when I was younger.
So they're a lot different, waymore deeper, way more spiritual
, way more positive on growthorientation than just selfish
orientation.
Josh Porthouse (41:33):
There's an author.
His name is Norman VincentPeale.
Have you heard of him?
I have not, he's a pastor.
Don't quote me on the religion.
I can't remember Presbyterian,maybe that's not really the
point, but he's a pastor andhe's an author.
Anyway, he wrote a book calledthe Power of Positive Thinking
and I know it sounds an awfullot like cheerleaders' handbook
(41:54):
for dummies, but it's not.
(42:22):
The focus behind the book isexactly what you're describing.
Right, it's applying laws,grounded, but your
interpretation of what'shappening helps you to see that
there's always a light, there'ssome sort of an out, there's
some sort of an option to try torebuild, to recover, to invest
in your future, in anyparticular, I guess, adverb.
So anyways, yeah, if you'reunfamiliar, short book, easy
read, but that exemplifies a lotof what you're describing as
(42:42):
well.
So, okay, I really, for thesake of time, I guess, only have
three more questions for you.
So this one is specificallyabout your work, professionally
speaking.
Here You've taken people fromfour, five, six figures
financially, let's say, but withexponentially more ignorance in
(43:04):
the process and educated themto do whatever degrees of
success have come because of it.
Are they finding thisinformation familiar, like
they've learned it before, butit's just clicking?
Or is this all brand new stuffthat's not taught?
Learned it before but it's justclicking?
Joe Lombardi (43:20):
Or is this all brand new stuff that's not
taught?
This is now becoming morepopular on social media infinite
banking be your own bank richperson's Roth.
It's now starting to catch wind.
There's a lot of.
It's great, it sucks, it's ascam.
(43:41):
It's awesome Because a lot ofpeople don't understand it.
There's a lot of variableswithin that space.
What carrier?
Are they mutual?
Are they stock?
What are the riders?
How's the build?
Did the guy screw you on thebuild?
Is it built properly to buildcash value growth?
What are the returns Can youlose?
Is it fixed?
Am I premium, stuck with it?
Do I have flexibility?
Is it non-direct recognition?
Is it direct recognition?
(44:01):
It is insanely sophisticatedand complex.
The strategy I've been doing for21 years and the average Joe my
name is Joe tries to get intothe business and doesn't really
know what they're doing and theyjust sell whatever their sales
manager tells them to sell.
If they work in New York Lifeor Guardian or MassMutual or
(44:23):
MetLife or whatever.
Being a master broker isinsanely tiresome.
You have to know what hundredsof carriers' flagship products
are.
Then you got to know what alltheir sub-products are, what
their fixed annuities, growthannuities, whole lives, income,
iuls, universal life growth.
(44:43):
You know what's the best one?
Their second to die, the SIULs.
It is insanely overwhelming.
But having a team, you know, Iwork with IMOs, which is
independent marketingorganizations.
I work with general agenciesknown as GAs.
I work with wholesalers thattell me what they think.
I have other agents that I'mfriends with in the field that
(45:05):
they say this is what I'm doing,this is why I'm doing it, and I
look into it and I see what I'mdoing and I check to see if
their stuff's better than mine,and nine out of 10 times it's
not.
But now it's becoming morepopular, a lot more popular.
People are waking up.
You know I hate using thatstupid word, but it's true.
People are getting out of theirtrance and they're starting to
(45:26):
care about what's important tothem.
Josh Porthouse (45:29):
I think a lot of that is exposure.
I mean, it's the two factors, Ithink, to any successful
business.
You got to have awareness andyou got to have demand.
One without the other, eitherway, it's going to stagnate.
So yeah, I guess maybe it was amatter of time, but all things
considered, I guess thencongratulations, because it
sounds like you're going to havea lot of new business coming
your way too.
But so my second to lastquestion then all these
(45:51):
experiences that you've hadfirsthand and then, let's say,
secondhand, through your clientsstories you've heard people
you've talked to throughout yourlife what has it all actually
done for you?
Joe Lombardi (46:11):
How has it instigated your own self-worth
when I can provide a quality oflife for my children that I
didn't have?
I grew up in extreme poverty, Iwas around drugs, I was around
guns and I live in a cul-de-sacand a safe neighborhood, great
school system.
That makes me feel good.
When I have agents that startcopying me and I tell them copy
(46:32):
me and we meet three hours aweek Monday, wednesday and
Friday an hour each.
I pour into my agents to teachthem everything to become me and
when we do our round robinswhere we practice and they sound
just like me, it's almost likea proud papa.
This guy trusts me enough togive me his time, his energy,
(46:54):
his family's well-being, whetherthey're going to eat or not,
because this is a commissionbusiness, it's 100% sales, just
like your or not.
Because this is a commissionbusiness, it's 100% sales, just
like your realty business you'redoing.
You got to go all in onyourself and when people make
that bet and you provide value,there's nothing better.
It's the top of Maslow'shierarchy of needs, which is
(47:16):
self-accusation, where you knowthat what you're doing is
changing people's lives for thebetter and it's very, very
rewarding.
Josh Porthouse (47:27):
Yeah, Fulfilling that kind of actualization, I
think, is a lifelong aspiration.
So to do it, all thingsconsidered, to this point in 21
years is a huge feat in and ofitself.
So congratulations again, Iguess.
Uh, so my last question thenfor the sake of time, all of
these things you're doing, manmoney, talk with Ironhawk,
Ironhawk financial uh, yourradio show, Ironhawk financial
(47:50):
uh, books, other appearances onpodcast, Like, if people want to
get in touch with you to be aclient, to follow along, to copy
and paste or to learn andinvent something on their own
accord, where do we go?
Joe Lombardi (48:04):
So if you want to become an agent, I'm looking.
I'm aggressively recruitingexperienced agents.
I know if you're new I'll stilltry and help you, but it's just
I don't have so much time inthe day.
You can go towwwironhawkfinancialcom.
Contact us If you want to geton my calendar again.
You can go to calendlycombackslash ironhawkfinancial.
(48:28):
If you want to get copies of mybooks, the articles, the Forbes
articles, my articles I'mfeatured in, absolutely for free
, just write an email to joeJ-O-E at iron like the metal
hawk, like the bird financial,joe at ironhawkfinancialcom and
just put free books.
I'm not going to bother you.
(48:49):
I'm not going to go on any typeof email list.
I promise it's not how I roll,but I just try and bring value.
I try to get this informationout there and then you can do
your own due diligence.
If you like it, great, We'llwork together.
If you don't, we can leave asfriends.
But it's something where Ibelieve everybody should have a
financial foundation.
Josh Porthouse (49:08):
Awesome, Awesome .
Well, to everybody who'slistening to this or watching
this conversation, depending onthe player you're streaming this
conversation on click see more.
Click show more.
In the drop down descriptionfor this conversation, You'll be
able to find links to IronhawkFinancial website.
Obviously Calendly, then, forJoe and to be able to track down
these free books.
Joe, I appreciate theopportunity.
(49:30):
Man, this was a super coolconversation and I got to tell
you not for nothing.
I'm glad it had some financialinsight, but I'm more glad that
that's not all it was.
So thanks for bringing somedepth and some perspective in
the financial industry, but justas a human dude, I really
appreciate your time, Thank you.
Joe Lombardi (49:45):
I appreciate the opportunity, josh.
I think you're an amazing manand I appreciate you giving me
your platform to share mybeliefs in, so thank you very
much.
Yeah, dude.
Josh Porthouse (49:58):
Absolutely.
Now, to everybody who'slistened or watching our
conversation, this point is toyou.
You can listen to all of ourother conversations at our
website,transactingvaluepodcastcom.
That includes this one.
You can listen to it on repeatand take all the gems that Joe
put into the conversation.
What you can also get thoughthe homepage in the top right
(50:18):
corner it says leave a voicemail, click on that button.
It's two minutes of talk timeall to you.
You can say whatever you want.
But here's my tworecommendations One consider
telling us what you think of theshow, the topics, the guests,
the brand, the messaging, themarketing.
Give us feedback, because we'reall growing through life
together and this is a startupbusiness, so I'm down to learn
and this is a startup business,so I'm down to learn.
(50:39):
But two in that opportunity youcan also tell Joe what you
think of this conversation.
Let him know what you thoughtabout the points he made and how
well or unwell he communicatedand carried his point across.
If you're interested in talkingto him about things that he
does and how he did it and youcan't remember the website or
where to go, go to the homepagetransactingvaluepodcastcom.
Leave a voicemail and we'llforward the audio on to Joe and
(51:03):
get you guys in touch.
There are so many coolopportunities and insights that
came out of this conversation.
I don't know if we can put themall into reels or break them up
into as many places as theyneed to go or could go, but
we're going to make an effort,dude.
Joe Lombardi (51:16):
So I again, I really appreciate it and at any
other time throughout the year,throughout the rest of this
season, 2025, all these things.
I'm looking forward to yourshow.
I'm going to track down yourradio show.
(51:37):
I'm hoping you guys syndicateor somehow make it out of
Connecticut.
You're not local, are you?
No, we're national.
Actually, we're global.
It's like 60% of my audience isout of the U?
S.
Josh Porthouse (51:41):
So I'm trying to change that because I can't
offer anything out of the U S.
All right, well, we'll see whatwe can do to help you maybe
with that as well.
Uh, but so it's a digital radiostation.
Where do we go to find yourshow?
Joe Lombardi (51:49):
Uh, it's Brushwood media group, but it's on
everything Apple car, play Apple.
Uh, spotify, apple podcast on.
You know you name it a podcastapp.
Just type in Money Talk withIronhawk, it's everywhere.
There we go.
Josh Porthouse (51:59):
All right, guys.
You heard it here Maybe first,but, Joe, again, thank you for
your time.
Man, I appreciate it, andeverybody else.
Thank you, guys for tuning in,listening to our show, stay with
us, listen throughout the restof the season.
We got loads of cool contentAgain,
transactingvaluepodcastcom Waymore content coming your way.
But until next time that wasTransacting Value.
(52:22):
Thank you to our show partnersand folks.
Thank you for tuning in andappreciating our value as we all
grow through life together.
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That was Transacting Value.
The views expressed in this podcast are
solely those of the podcast hostand guest and do not
necessarily represent those ofour distribution partners,
supporting businessrelationships or supported
audience.
Welcome to Transacting Value,where we talk about practical
(00:22):
applications for instigatingself-worth when dealing with
each other and even withinourselves, where we foster a
podcast listening experiencethat lets you hear the power of
a value system for managingburnout, establishing boundaries
, fostering community andfinding identity.
My name is Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and we are redefining
sovereignty of character.
(00:42):
This is why values still holdvalue.
This is Transacting Value.
Joe Lombardi (00:49):
When you go through that, it sort of changes
you where your why is so strongand so powerful that when you
just get crapped on and nobody,everyone's saying no, I'm not
interested, you stink, blah,blah, blah, you don't care.
Josh Porthouse (01:08):
Today on Transacting Value.
Who you want to become is aboutmore than a value system.
Values can help be a shortcutto your identity, to your
self-awareness, to how you comeacross to people in the world at
present.
Who you want to become in thefuture is largely determined by
your choices today, and that isalso relevant when it comes to
(01:30):
your finances.
Today we're talking to the CEOof Ironhawk Financial financial
planner, joe Lombardi, and he'sgoing to talk all about what
future planning has to do withpresent character, present
self-awareness and an overallpresence in your life.
Guys, I'm Josh Porthouse, I'myour host and from SDYT Media,
(01:51):
this is Transacting Value.
Joe Lombardi (01:52):
Joe, how you doing Awesome.
Josh, Thanks for having me.
Josh Porthouse (02:00):
Absolutely, man.
I know you are super busy,based on everything we talked
about before we hit record andobviously running your own
business, but I really doappreciate your time, man, so
thanks for setting some asidefor us.
I have a favor I want to openwith and I hate doing this in
the beginning because it's likeme asking for something right
out of the gates, but I feellike it's important for
everybody listening and watchingthe channel.
So, if you'll amuse everybody,I want to open a few minutes
(02:23):
with you just talking about who.
You are right.
So where are you from?
Let's build some resonance.
What sort of things have shapedyour perspective on life as it
is today?
Events throughout your life.
However, you want to work that.
Joe Lombardi (02:37):
Yeah, I mean, I came from a broken home, I came
from a divorced family.
I uh grew up in poverty, uh,lived in the streets, the ghetto
, the hood, uh, battled my wayout.
My grandmother gave my dad aloan to start, you know his
company back from the dead, jvLombardi builders.
(02:59):
Uh, then from there, you know,became wealthy.
My dad's business took off.
You know 10, 10, $20 millioncompany was worth and was buying
like new Jordans and I wasbuying the Allen Iversons had,
like the, the red and blue oneson one foot and the black and
gold ones on the other, going towake and boys and girls club,
uh, back in the day, you know.
So, from extreme poverty tolive in the attic with like no
(03:20):
running water and eating likehamburger helper with no
hamburger meat and you knownoodles and eggs and no ketchup.
To go into Fairfield and youknow, still being the poor, fat
kid.
But you know, going to Knightsof Columbus and and buying a
thousand dollars with thefootball cards and looking for
Peyton Manning rookies in 2000and Randy Moss rookies and you
know, like the, you know it was.
It was a crazy, crazy, crazylife.
(03:40):
You know my mom left when I wasfour.
Uh, she crazy life.
You know, my mom left when Iwas four.
She wanted to party, do drugsand drink alcohol more than be a
mom.
And you know, like, okay, sojust me and my dad, and it was
rough.
But you don't know, you're poorwhen you're five, six, seven,
eight years old, right, you justlook back and say, oh yeah, I
remember having to flip 16 timesa night in the summer because
(04:02):
there's no, no air conditioningand you're so hot, you're
sweating and the bed is soaked,so like.
But you look back and at thetime you're like, oh, this is
normal, right, um, so it?
I was very blessed to say, likeI was able to live in extreme
poverty and I was able to livein extreme wealth before my dad
fell three stories off a ladderand went back to extreme poverty
again.
Um, but when you, when you livethat way, you and went back to
(04:22):
extreme poverty again.
But when you live that way, youdefinitely take a different
view on life.
Right, it's almost like a cheatcode.
I get to experience both sides.
Right, you hear about thesepeople with silver spoons.
They don't have any ambition,right, and you hear about these
people that come from nothing.
They have nothing but ambition.
But sometimes they try and findthe quick way.
So it's drugs or crime and theygo to jail, right, I was sort
(04:49):
of able to see both.
And then, uh, got lucky to getinto this industry.
When I was bartending, you know, the CEO of Northwestern mutual
came in when I was 19 years oldand said I love your hustle,
you're crying.
Gave me a thousand dollar tipsto come work for me as my
underling, you know.
So it was.
It was a crazy life.
I wrote a couple books three ofthem but I haven't wrote my
memoir yet.
So that's something that I'llprobably do in about 20 more
years, because I think my life'sa lot more crazy to come.
(05:11):
But yeah, that's pretty muchhow it started.
Josh Porthouse (05:15):
Wow, Wow, Okay.
So first off, you saidinitially, you said five, six
years old.
Nobody really knows what theircircumstances are.
Obviously, you're just living,experiencing, you take it for
what it is.
I think a lot of that alsotranslates into people's careers
.
You work for 20 years, 25 years, 30 years in different
industries and you're like youdon't know any different.
(05:37):
You get so accustomed to theroutine maybe a pay raise every
now and again if it's shift work, or a promotion every now and
again if it's not.
But you get accustomed to thelifestyle and you stop asking
questions.
What do you think was yourtrigger to start asking
questions and not get stuck inthat same pattern?
Joe Lombardi (05:55):
Well, back in high school, right, I was 16.
My dad bought me a NissanSentra SCR spec V, right, and I
was bartending and waiteringbecause you got to be able to
work at that age, you know, backin the day, that young.
So I had a lot of cash.
So I would go, you know, to thehood in Bridgeport and I'd go
to like this place called LaPrimavera.
(06:17):
I'd grab like 40s of OE andlike 30 packs of Natty Ice for
the charge.
You like a dollar, a beer backthen, you know, and I would go
up to Greenfield Hill and I knownobody probably knows much
about Connecticut, butGreenfield Hill is, like you
know, in Fairfield.
Not, it's like Greenwich ofFairfield, if you know anything
about Greenwich, it's like very,very wealthy town and I would
go out there and I would sellthe beers like five bucks, you
(06:37):
know, and and sell the fortiesfor 20.
Right, I was doing arbitrageand not knowing it.
That teaches you a lot.
I go into some of these guys'houses and they've got 60-foot
ceilings.
It's hard to imagine a ceilinglike 60 feet.
You're talking these ultra-megamansions.
(06:59):
I said there's no way peoplelive like this Elevators going
down to the basement withbaseball fields in it, in the
base, in the basement, he's gota baseball.
What Just the craziest thingyou can ever imagine.
And I said, if people areliving like this, I want, I want
a piece like get me in, so likeseeing it was believing.
(07:21):
And unfortunately, a lot ofpeople they don't get to expand
their, expand their mind to seewhat could be, and so they're
trapped in their little bubbleor box.
Josh Porthouse (07:30):
Okay, but I mean this is your business model.
I mean it's basically your roleto show people what they can't
see, broaden their perspectives,build out what they could be
Right.
So how do you do it?
You take people on field trips,Doubt it.
Joe Lombardi (07:44):
What do you do?
No, I have a.
I have a presentation that Ibuilt.
I've been doing this 21 years,so I had a presentation I built
in about 2016.
I was one of MassMutual's topagents in the country and they
wanted to buy my presentation,where I walk people through the
tax triangle the three differentplaces where you're taxed, I
walk through liquidity, I walkthrough market preservation how
(08:08):
to save a million dollars intaxes and it's an elevator view.
Right, it's something that'sfrom the top down, where the
average American, who has verylittle to no expertise on
financial investing orinvestments or insurance
policies or IRS codes or theydon't understand any of it and I
try to bring it to like aelevator view.
So it was all about simplifying.
(08:29):
You know, kiss, keep it stupidsimple and if you can do that,
you can attract a lot morepeople to stay with you.
Because when I start throwingout acronyms like IRS code,
section 7702, max funding index,universal life, iuls, and you
got an FIA fixed index, andpeople are just like, huh, what?
Yeah, I'm already asleep.
(08:50):
So you have to.
You have to be able tocommunicate in a way that that
they can stay with you andunderstand what you're talking
about okay, and then?
Josh Porthouse (08:58):
what about on the receiving end?
Because it sounds like at onepoint that was you, and then you
learned and got your licensureand experience right.
What did it feel like then?
Or is that where you got theinspiration to simplify?
Joe Lombardi (09:12):
When you live a life where your mom doesn't want
you.
She ends up dying at 52 yearsold, so sliver, from alcoholism
and drug use real shocker, right.
And then your dad falls threestories off a ladder, loses $25
million to our constructioncompany, jb Lombardi Builders,
and your grandmother has astroke led to dementia.
She loses $4.2 million toLudlow Nursing Home in Fairfield
(09:33):
Crossroads, sacred Heart.
And then when my dad fell threestories, I was 15 years old.
My sister was two.
She was born with two pounds,seven ounces.
Fetal alcohol syndrome, I accept.
Mom drank vanilla extract andListerine during pregnancy so it
was like put up or shut up.
You know, I didn't want to goto DCF, I didn't want somebody
stranger being my foster parents, so I just shut up and went to
(09:53):
school and kept my mouth shut.
When you go through that itsort of changes you where your
why is so strong and so powerfulthat when you just get crapped
on and nobody, everyone's sayingno, I'm not interested, you
stink, blah, blah, blah.
You don't care like you're justyou're you're.
(10:15):
I'm put on this earth to fulfilla prophecy.
I'm not here to to sell stuff,to make money so I can, you know
, buy a bigger house like's.
Just it's so much deeper thanthat.
When you have that passion andconviction that you know I'm on
a mission from God.
God showed me what, whathappens when you fail to plan
your plans, to fail and get thatmessage out there and say
(10:37):
people, you don't want to sufferthe way I suffered, the way my
dad suffered, the way my momsuffered, the way my grandmother
suffered.
You don't want to do that.
Dad suffered the way my momsuffered, the way my grandmother
suffered.
You don't want to do that.
And if I can help people sufferless because, not to be super
positive, but the D who suffersthe least wins, in my opinion,
in this world, because all thisworld is is suffering and if I
can help people suffer less, Ifeel like I did my job through
(10:59):
God.
Josh Porthouse (11:14):
All right, folks sit tight and we'll be right
back on Transacting Value.
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Joe Lombardi (11:37):
The D who suffers the least wins, in my opinion,
in this world, because all thisworld is is suffering, and if I
can help people suffer less, Ifeel like I did my job through
God.
Josh Porthouse (11:49):
Okay, fair enough, but you're talking about
tax-free pension and not to getbiblical or religious here, but
on a mission from God,somebody's still paying taxes in
the end.
So how do you bridge these gaps?
Like some of this stuff, is itjust math?
Is it stuff that's just nottaught?
We don't know?
Or is this stuff that's justcreatively sort of financing or
(12:12):
debt financing futures?
I mean, what's the tie?
Joe Lombardi (12:16):
The tie is is that slavery is suffering and the
United States of America is acorporation and we are all
slaves to the United States.
You know what the definition ofa slave is?
Well, it's twofold.
If you don't do what they told,they're gonna come in your
house with guns and punish you,put you in jail.
Right, that's number one.
Number two is when you giveyour effort, energy, time,
(12:37):
god-given talent and they stealit from you and give you no
value back in return.
We don't know where thatmoney's going.
It's not helping our fellowAmericans.
It's going to build bombs tokill other people overseas.
They're starting wars.
We're shooting missiles atRussia now for no reason, trying
to start World War III rightbefore Trump comes in.
(12:59):
There's so much evil when youhave a discretion or something.
Where aren't we all equal underGod?
Right?
Well, they took God out becausethey don't want people to know
that they equal under God.
Right Well, they took God outbecause they don't want people
to know that.
They want serfs, they want, youknow, peasants, and they want
Kings and squires and and, andthey want this class of know
your role.
I mean, look at Epstein, lookat P Diddy, all the stuff that
happens, like Justin Biebercomes in, he's a great, one of
the top singers in the worldwithin a couple years.
(13:20):
Who knows what great tragedieshappened to him that he's
speaking about?
You understand everything's ahierarchy.
Everything's about power,everything's about control.
And if I can free people fromthe government, I could free
people from slavery and havethem build tax-free accounts
that they can lean and leverageand grow wealth and have peace.
Financial freedom is aboutpeace.
(13:41):
Does it matter if you have 500million or 100 million?
Does it matter if you have 50million or 5 million?
It really doesn't.
The quality of life doesn'tchange.
You have shelters good, yourtransportation's good, you can
eat decently.
So it's not about getting asmuch money as you can.
It's about freeing yourselffrom chains and slavery.
And again, I'm not trying to bedark and sad and depressed,
(14:30):
no-transcript, they're not yourfriend.
Look at history, right.
History doesn't repeat, itrhymes.
And when you have history booksof governments slaughtering
millions of its own citizens,why do you think all these
countries don't let theircitizens have guns?
Keep the gun laws.
It's so deep.
Now we're not gonna get this inone hour podcast or a half hour
(14:52):
podcast, but if I can freepeople and I can keep growing my
presence and I can wake peopleup to the reality of, like blue
pill, red pill, the matrix, allthese little terminologies, the
great awakening, all thesethings we're hearing.
Why are we hearing it?
Because it's true, people arewaking up to what the heck is
going on.
Josh Porthouse (15:13):
And if I can accelerate that, that's going to
free more people.
Now, do you think that's rootedin some sort of demoralization
as a society, or is itindividual education?
Is it upbringing and background?
What's the impetus, do youthink?
Is it upbringing and background?
What's the impetus, do youthink?
Joe Lombardi (15:25):
Think about what billionaires do.
Do the billionaires, with theirkids, go to public schools?
No.
Do billionaires invest in 401ksand IRAs and SEPs, simples
Pensions, deferred Comp, 457s no.
So if I can just copy what theultra-wealthy do and bring that
(15:46):
to that, to the blue collarmarket, and bring that to
everyday Americans, I feel likeI do my job, because there's so
many a-holes out there that arelike I only work with people
with $100 million of net worthand it's like I could be that
guy.
I've been doing this 21 years.
I've worked with three Fortune500 companies.
I've got 2,000 clients with $2billion of protection and
(16:08):
rollovers.
In my career I've won 27industry awards Blah, blah, blah
, blah, blah.
I could be that a-hole, but myjob is to help people.
I've been very blessed, veryblessed that I had a good work
ethic.
God gave me a life of pain andsuffering, which, you know what
it did Made me stronger.
You know what happens when yougo to the gym you rip your
muscle and that muscle getsbigger and stronger, and now
(16:30):
you're able to do more, andthat's what happened to me.
So is it socioeconomic?
Sure, if you grew upimpoverished, do you know what
the ultra wealthy do?
No.
So don't you think it would besmart to know that, instead of
knowing what your favoritebaseball player batting average
is or what your fantasy sportsteam's average points per game
is, don't you think it'd be kindof important to figure out what
(16:50):
are those billionaires andmillionaires doing?
Because I have clients who make$40,000 a year they're
millionaires and I have clientswho make $800,000 a year and
their net worth is negative.
So you know what I've learneddoing this for 21 years.
It a year and their net worthis negative.
So you know what I've learneddoing this for 21 years Makes no
difference what you make.
What it makes is how you valueand love yourself.
(17:11):
Do you have a hole in yourheart?
Do you have childhood trauma?
Do you not believe you deserveit?
Do you not care?
If those are true, it doesn'tmatter.
You hear these people winningthe lottery, getting 100, 200,
400 million dollars enough for athousand people to have a great
quality of life.
And what happens within threeyears?
Not only are they broke.
What do they say?
They are Bankrupt, which meansthey lost more than the two 300
(17:35):
million.
There are another 30, 12, 12,30, 40 million in debt on top of
the 200 million they lost.
You know what that comes downto Ethics, morals, principles,
self-worth.
So being financially successful, which money doesn't make you
happy but it solves problemswhich inadvertently make you
happy.
If you have financial peace,it's just one part of your life.
(17:58):
That you can spend timeelsewhere, becoming a better
version of yourself and growingyour soul, which I think is what
we're here on, this experimentcalled Earth, in my opinion, I
agree, yeah, absolutely.
Josh Porthouse (18:09):
I think there's a lot of things too that are
powerful about what you justsaid.
Obviously because I've got ashow about values.
But specifically, for example,I talked to a school last week
and the goal that they initiallybrought me in to talk about was
my Marine Corps career.
In places I traveled, thingsI've done, why I've done it
sacrifices, what it's done to myfamily good, bad, indifferent.
(18:31):
That was the point of theconversation, right, and I said,
okay, well, one of the biggestthings that I've learned from my
Marine Corps career now justover 15 years, one of the
biggest things that I've learnedand I learned a lot tactically,
traveling, whatever has beenabout myself Self-awareness, the
impact of a value system, myown worth, despite now being on
(18:52):
a commission, as a realtor, Igive up a six-figure salary, a
company, vehicle benefits, andI'm on commission.
I may as well be waiting tables.
So you don't have to be brokenbecause of it.
And I don't mean medicallyTicare is what it is but like
spiritually, right, there'ssomething to be said for that
and it's the same thing.
We talked about it earlier.
People have 20, 25, 30 yearcareers.
(19:14):
They get out of whateverindustry they've been in.
Let's say they retire.
Let's say they're lucky enoughto retire and they're like I
don't know who I am anymorebecause you focused on the game,
you focused on the job, theprofessional development.
But I think the personaldevelopment counts for just as
much in any other industry asyou're saying in finance.
It can as well.
Alrighty, folks, sit tight.
(19:41):
We for more perspective andmore podcast.
You can check out TransactingValue on Weeds Across America
Radio, listen in on iHeartRadio,odyssey and TuneIn.
Let's say they retire and saythey're lucky enough to retire
and I'm like I don't know who Iam anymore because you focused
on the game, you focused on thejob, the professional
(20:01):
development.
But I think the personaldevelopment counts for just as
much in any other industry asyou're saying in finance.
It can as well.
It's.
It's such a huge and highlyunderrated and understated
concept.
I mean it.
It can either revolutionizebroadcast media or totally
(20:22):
degrade it because it doesn'thelp ratings.
I think that can be problematic.
So what's your recommendationthen?
How do we build this out, thismessage of self-worth, this, in
your case, focus on finances tohelp bring stability and peace
and contentment based on yourvalues, this entrusted sort of
wealth planning metric?
What do we do.
(20:42):
We wait for people to call, orwe go out and we tell people and
sort of proselytize what's theangle?
Joe Lombardi (20:49):
I'll tell you, I lived a life where I put money
as my God and it brought nothingbut sorrow.
You know, uh, I made millionsbut I lost millions gambling.
You know I didn't value it.
Uh, I don't want to sound cornyor anything or like a Bible
thumper, but the minute that Ican just tell you personally,
you know, the minute I put Godas number one in in my life,
(21:12):
above my wife, above my children, above my career, my life above
my wife, above my children,above my career.
My life got better.
I lost weight, I got healthier,I started caring about myself.
I got a therapist I talked to,which alleviated a lot of the
childhood trauma my mom causedme by not wanting me.
That was a big hole in my heart.
It strengthened my relationship, my marriage, which made me
(21:35):
have more self-worth, whichpretty much caused more conflict
in my marriage, but it made merealize that I'm worth it.
I don't need to be degraded, Idon't need to be used and abused
and treated disrespectfully infront of my own children.
It went deep and I'm in theprocess of figuring out whether
it's better to stay or go,whether it's better to stay or
(21:56):
go.
But it also makes you look inthe mirror because I go to the
gym and I try and eat better,because I was about 30 pounds
heavier even though I'm stilloverweight.
I was obese and it feels goodto look in the mirror and be
like I feel good about myself.
I'm not where I want to be, butI'm better than I was yesterday
.
And then having a team getting20, 30 people working with me
(22:16):
growing Ironhawk Financial on adaily basis and I've always been
a solo ranger for 20 years somany 10, 20, 15 years like you
need an assistant, you need this, you need that and nobody could
do it as good as me.
You know, and when I found God,god's like.
Help other.
You help all these families intheir personal finances.
Help other you help all thesefamilies in their personal
finances.
Help other families.
(22:37):
Teach them how to sell indexeduniversal life, fixed index,
annuities, eyelid trust,irrevocable life insurance,
trust, estate planning, tax andmediation.
Teach those guys everythingyou've learned, because not only
is it going to help them andtheir families, it's going to
help them do the right thing inthis field.
(22:57):
You know how hard it is to be21 years in this and be 5.0
rated on Google and A plus onthe Better Business Bureau with
zero complaints, from dealingwith hundreds of thousands of
dollars to millions of dollarsper person.
Yeah, I bet Again, I don't wantto sound corny, but God is the
reason.
(23:21):
Sound corny, but God is thereason why I feel so much better
about myself, who I am, fixedso much healing that I had that
I used quick fixes, alcohol,gambling, smoking, cigarettes,
porn all the things I did tonumb that feeling.
When God was there, I didn'tneed to do that anymore.
And then all that time andenergy I wasted on that I put
into my business and my business, yeah, I was making a million
bucks a year.
(23:42):
I'm on track.
Next year I want to make ahundred million and I want to
reinvest that back into grow,not not so.
I already can afford a 600horsepower car.
I already have one for years.
I already bought a brand newEscalade this year Cool, right,
awesome.
But that's not going to changeanyone's life.
Right, it makes me feel goodwhen I get in it or whatever,
but I want to make a difference.
Right, and when you have amission and money is not the
(24:06):
goal, but growth and awarenessto a big problem, I think that's
out there.
It's bigger than yourself andit's God and Yeshua, that's my
God and hopefully you all haveyour own.
And if, like Trump's my littlebuddy, I'm glad he won, but it's
(24:37):
like God's my little dude overhere, like, hey, you know, I may
be lonely, I may be depressed,I may be arguing with my spouse
or, you know, lost a deal, but Igot a little buddy right there
that I'm like it's okay, whocares?
Who's next, let's go.
You know, and that everyoneneeds and not a lot of people
have, because they took God outof our country and I think we
need to put him back.
Josh Porthouse (24:58):
Yeah, there's something to be said for
spirituality, and I don'tnecessarily mean religion to the
point you brought up.
There's correct, I am notreligious at all.
Joe Lombardi (25:07):
I'm not religious at all.
I don't go to church, I don'tbelieve in the Catholic church.
I actually think that eventhough I'm Catholic, I'm Italian
, right, everything is Catholic.
Josh Porthouse (25:19):
I think they're the worst.
Yeah, there's a lot of aspects,I think, that people tend to
misconstrue, but human spirit,let alone any degree of
inspiration through a HolySpirit or whatever you prefer to
align with, is absolutelycontagious and it changes
everything perspective, clarity,purpose, hope.
(25:39):
You can't buy those you can't.
It doesn't matter whateducational systems you purchase
.
Yeah, right, value systems,let's just call them like.
Yeah, there is a certaininherent benefit to internal
modes of control and, on onehand of this spectrum, let's
(26:00):
just say it's affirmation everymorning I am a super awesome
dude and I'm going to have agreat day today in the mirror.
Great, do it.
Whatever.
If that works, that works.
And in my opinion, that's thesame sort of financial parallel,
as I don't have a dollar toinvest today, but I can find two
quarters underneath my driver'sseat and I'm not spending them,
unless it's something that'sgoing to grow money, right, cool
(26:20):
, great, do that.
On the other hand, podcastingfor me has become my therapy.
It gives me people like you totalk to, to probe, to learn
about this human experience, andhelps me get through my own
whatever mental health issues,behavioral isms, things that
I've transitioned from theMarine Corps into, like I said
now, real estate you can't talkabout, like in my case, the
(26:45):
infantry going on a long patrolshooting at places where people
live.
Hey, do you want to buy a house?
There's no overlap, and so someof the stuff that exists,
though, is humanity.
Here's what that looks likeTalking about ethics and morals
and decision-making processes,and collateral and opportunity,
(27:06):
cost and all these other actualeconomic things that are the
same principles, but the spiritbetween the two, the amount of
resonance that something likethat builds, that's how you get
clients, that's how you helppeople, that's how you get
listeners, that's how you makefriends, that's how you have
sleepovers when you're five.
(27:29):
It's the good dude role, justwith a cross in some cases, in
some buildings, in some places.
But, yeah, being able tointeract with people as just a
ground-level human, despite anydegrees of success, I think is
huge, and so, like in your case,you've got all sorts of stuff.
I've seen you on magazinecovers, other podcasts, radio
(27:53):
show, which we'll talk abouthere soon.
Dude, you've got so much stuffgoing on, how do you stay
grounded?
Joe Lombardi (28:02):
When the goal is bigger than you and my why is so
strong?
I don't get tired.
I mean, I'm not the mostphysical specimen of success?
physical specimen of success but, I, can work 12, 14 hours a day
with a smile on my face, happy,and I don't need to work
(28:25):
anymore.
When you get to a point whereyou have billions of dollars of
protection and rollovers in yourcareer, thousands of clients,
there's residual in thisbusiness.
I have six different businesses.
I got real estate, blah, blah,blah, blah, blah.
I don't have to work anymore.
I just turned 40, but my why isso strong that I've been so
blessed.
I want to bless other people.
(28:45):
All the pain and all thesuffering I had in my childhood,
that's not me anymore.
I'm a 40-year-old man.
I don't live there anymore andI live in this abundance.
I don't live in scarcity.
When you change your mindset tolive in abundance, life changes.
You know, like, if you buy ared car, what do you see?
Nothing but red cars everywhere.
You buy an Acura, what do yousee?
(29:06):
Nothing but Acuras, right.
That is how we are programmed.
If you think you can, you will.
If you think you can't, youwon't.
Either way, you're right.
The little train that couldright.
We learned that when we werethree years old, but it's so
true.
So many people have negativeself-talk.
My whole life changed inregards to production success.
(29:29):
All that when I startedlistening to believe it or not
Amway, double diamond CDsremember that network marketing
company, amway that sold soap.
And then they got into likeenergy drinks and so, yeah, this
is 2006, 2007, 2008.
And I started, I startedlistening to my buddy, went in,
(29:51):
right, and I joined just to likebuy some stuff to help him out,
right.
And then he said, come to themeetings, come to the meetings,
the meetings, and I'm like I'malready selling insurance, I'm
probably going to sit down onpeople's couches selling energy
drinks and stuff.
So I learned so much from theseCDs because what they were?
They were like the meetingsthey have every quarter, the
hoorahs, and all it was waspositive self-talk.
(30:14):
It was a bunch of people.
A lot of them weren't evenamericans, you know they.
You know they.
They had down lines in southamerica, they down lines and in
australia, and they would go onstage and be like I knew I could
do it, you know, and I was justlike a lot of them.
It was just hilarious.
My buddy didn't say joke on it,but like we knew that they can
do it, like and and these arejust normal people, normal
(30:35):
Normal people, and they had suchconviction that what they were
doing was the best thing, andthey would talk about their wins
, and that sparked something inme.
I don't know If you can see itas a possibility.
Your mind can comprehend it asan opportunity, but if you've
(30:55):
never seen it, you have no ideait exists.
How could your mind portray thatinto reality?
Right, and we live in a.
We're learning a lot about ourvirtual reality of whatever the
heck this is, and video games.
We make video games and AI, andwe're getting deeper into
figuring out what the hell we'rehere for and how everything
works.
Right, but a lot of census orconsensus of this information is
(31:20):
we dictate our reality with ourprojection of reality, right?
So if you think something is,it is.
If you think something is, itisn't.
And if you think you're awinner, you're a winner.
If you think you're a loser,you're a loser.
If you surround yourself withlosers, you're going to be a
loser.
If you surround yourself withlosers, you're going to be a
loser.
If you surround yourself withwinners, you're going to be a
winner, and the word winner orloser has whatever that is to
(31:42):
you.
There is no universaldefinition of a winner or a
loser.
It's just whatever.
Are you going closer towardsyour personal goals?
Do you have personal goals?
I mean, if you don't have goals, I mean, what the heck are you
doing?
Right, if you have dreams andyou don't write them down, you
have nothing.
You have to take a dream, writeit down on a piece of paper.
It becomes a goal.
(32:02):
Then from the goal, you figureout how do I get there?
And then you obsess about itand think of how do I win, how
do I lose?
Reach out to people, talk topeople, and the quickest way to
success in anything is copy themost successful person that you
have access to.
That's what I did.
I was at Barnum Financial Group, which was MetLife's number one
(32:24):
office in the country.
They were the number onegeneral agency with numbers like
400 agents.
I found one of their top guys,mike Lynch.
He had a radio show, Money Talkon WICC, and I have a radio
show called Money Talk withIronhawk I wonder why.
And so I just copied him.
I swear to God, I just copiedhim and he was so good and he
(32:45):
taught me so much and what Ilearned from him in that year
that I just broughtopportunities to him and I sat
there and you know whatever hesaid yeah, and I'm duplicating
that with my guys.
And I got guys that that are ayear into the business making
six figures it's selling, youknow IULs.
And I got one guy we opened upa $1.2 million commission.
(33:08):
The guy never, never, closed a$50,000 deal in his life.
He opened up a 1.1, $1.2million commission with me.
So it's all about finding whoyou want to be and copying it.
There's 8 billion people.
You're most likely not going toreinvent the wheel.
Okay, so copy who you want tobe and then just emulate and
(33:30):
become your version right,personally, your version of that
, what you deem as a winner orsuccessful
Josh Porthouse (33:39):
all righty folks sit tight and we'll be right
back on transacting value
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Joe Lombardi (34:44):
Copy who you want to be and then just emulate and
become your version right,Personally, your version of that
, what you deem as a winner orsuccessful.
Josh Porthouse (34:57):
I like that, sort of like your own
impressionist painting of yourreality, I guess.
Yeah, don't reinvent the wheel,right?
Well, there's not a need, right?
It's like we talked aboutearlier Once you start to see
different patterns or differentopportunities, or gain exposure,
it gives you insight, it givesyou depth ideas.
(35:21):
The only person I think that Ican think of right now off the
top of my head, that had no ideawhat he was looking at was
Copernicus, and then there wasGalileo, and then there was
Isaac Newton, and they justcopied each other.
So, okay, maybe there's the one, but I don't think we have that
(35:43):
excuse anymore, unless it'slike quantum mechanics or
something Beyond that.
I'm not saying everything'sdiscovered, but there's
certainly plenty of potential toreinterpret everything from 8
billion different perspectives.
Joe Lombardi (35:55):
So I mean, look at Elon Musk, yeah, sure, he's a
billionaire genius, but what didhe do?
He already took a brand thatalready existed and made it
better.
So you could say he copied whatthe guy did before and just
made it his spin on it andbecame a freaking bazillionaire.
Josh Porthouse (36:12):
Yeah, well, it was the same thing with Tesla,
it was the same thing with,technically, spacex, until the
last decade when it changed some.
But obviously Twitter, right.
So, yeah, there's plenty ofopportunities there.
And, to the point you broughtup, I may be preaching to the
choir here, but have you everread, think and Grow Rich?
Napoleon Hill yes, right, richDad, poor Dad who Moved my
Cheese.
There's so many books that arecrucial to your success Humu
(36:33):
Maiji's.
Joe Lombardi (36:33):
There's so many books that are crucial to your
success.
Josh Porthouse (36:36):
Well, yeah, absolutely there are.
But specifically in Think andGrow Rich.
That's exactly how he opens thebook and he's talking about if
you don't Napoleon Hill, foranybody who's unfamiliar was the
author.
But the first thing that hetalks about in the book is just
have a dream, have a spark, havesome inspiration or be willing
to get it from somewhere.
And once you get theinspiration and you get a spark
(36:59):
and you've got to have faithit'll work out.
And once you get dreams and youget faith, it's following a
passion after that.
And then you'll read the book,track it down.
Joe Lombardi (37:06):
It's worth a while , but it is a why.
If you're wise to make money,you're going to fail 10 out of
10 times.
Josh Porthouse (37:13):
Dude, do you want?
Okay, so here's something coolfor you then.
I'm not going to try my hand atstatistics.
I got a D.
I'm not even going to make themup for you.
But everybody's big why is moreoften rooted in a big who, and
so I think that who sometimes isa group of people, maybe a
(37:33):
demographic, maybe a family unit, maybe an individual, a sister,
father, but whatever thatdriver is, whoever the who is, I
think to just stop it.
Well, my why is I want to havea lot of money so I have
security or financial freedom.
Okay, but why do you want thefreedom?
Why does that matter?
(37:54):
Just keep working until you dieand you'll get plenty of money
Right, as long as you'reresponsible with it.
Usually there's a who involved,and it may be the past version
of yourself, but there's alwaysa who.
I think that's super powerful.
You know what?
This is a good time of the show.
This is a segment calledDeveloping Character
D-D-D-Developing Character, andfor anybody new Joe, maybe you
(38:17):
included if you're unfamiliarwith the segment it's two
questions, because values, aswe've been talking about, are so
impactful in every decision,for the sake of clarity and
purpose and insight andperspective and self-worth, that
they drive all these otherdecisions.
But I don't think they're onlytaught.
I think sometimes we catch ontothem and they're nurtured.
(38:41):
And so my two questions arebased on time and as vulnerable
as your answers or as you'rewilling to be, so I'll give you
both questions.
What were some of your valuesgrowing up, or that you remember
being brought up around?
And then, if any of them havechanged since you've grown up
throughout your life, what aresome of your values now?
Joe Lombardi (39:02):
Great question.
Values I grew up with, mind you, I had no mother.
Mind you, I grew up in thestreets.
Mind you, I was raised by TLC,which was tender, loving care,
daycare, but I called ittorturing little children
because I would drop the hoverearly and then stay till late.
The values we had were don'ttell on people, don't tattletale
(39:24):
.
Also, don't snitch.
Be a man of your word.
Your word's everything on thestreet.
If you say you're going to dosomething, do it.
If you owe someone money, paythem.
We've seen many kids get theirbutt beat because their word
wasn't any good.
The values I had, you know, ohGod, all the stuff I did as a
kid.
(39:44):
Go back in time and beat thecrap out of myself.
You know my values were allabout having fun.
You know I did a lot of thingsI, you know, can look back on
and wasn't proud of.
But egging houses, smashingmailboxes, stealing from KB Toy
Store, just doing just stupid,stupid, stupid stuff.
(40:06):
But the values that I had thenare different.
The values I have now, once youget married, but more
importantly, once you have achild, once you hold a baby in
your arms, that's your child,child.
Once you hold a baby in yourarms.
That's your child.
That is going to change yourvalues.
You are not going to be aselfish POS anymore.
(40:30):
And boy was I.
I had a six pack.
I used to run 10 miles a day.
I had a new car.
I had a rap CD.
I could freestyle for hours.
I smoked a bunch of weed.
Life was fun, right?
No wife, no kids, no mortgage,no, nothing.
Just, where are we getting high?
Who are we going to hook upwith and what are we eating?
That was the only questions.
Now the value is a lotdifferent.
I got a daughter who's nine.
(40:51):
I got a boy who's 12.
I got another boy who's 15.
They look up to me.
They see my pain, they see mysuccess, they see my drive and
the values.
Now being a father and ahusband and a business owner
because now I have employees toowhich are almost like kids,
right, in a good way, in anon-mean way values are very,
(41:19):
very important now than theywere when I was younger.
So they're a lot different, waymore deeper, way more spiritual
, way more positive on growthorientation than just selfish
orientation.
Josh Porthouse (41:33):
There's an author.
His name is Norman VincentPeale.
Have you heard of him?
I have not, he's a pastor.
Don't quote me on the religion.
I can't remember Presbyterian,maybe that's not really the
point, but he's a pastor andhe's an author.
Anyway, he wrote a book calledthe Power of Positive Thinking
and I know it sounds an awfullot like cheerleaders' handbook
(41:54):
for dummies, but it's not.
(42:22):
The focus behind the book isexactly what you're describing.
Right, it's applying laws,grounded, but your
interpretation of what'shappening helps you to see that
there's always a light, there'ssome sort of an out, there's
some sort of an option to try torebuild, to recover, to invest
in your future, in anyparticular, I guess, adverb.
So anyways, yeah, if you'reunfamiliar, short book, easy
read, but that exemplifies a lotof what you're describing as
(42:42):
well.
So, okay, I really, for thesake of time, I guess, only have
three more questions for you.
So this one is specificallyabout your work, professionally
speaking.
Here You've taken people fromfour, five, six figures
financially, let's say, but withexponentially more ignorance in
(43:04):
the process and educated themto do whatever degrees of
success have come because of it.
Are they finding thisinformation familiar, like
they've learned it before, butit's just clicking?
Or is this all brand new stuffthat's not taught?
Learned it before but it's justclicking?
Joe Lombardi (43:20):
Or is this all brand new stuff that's not
taught?
This is now becoming morepopular on social media infinite
banking be your own bank richperson's Roth.
It's now starting to catch wind.
There's a lot of.
It's great, it sucks, it's ascam.
(43:41):
It's awesome Because a lot ofpeople don't understand it.
There's a lot of variableswithin that space.
What carrier?
Are they mutual?
Are they stock?
What are the riders?
How's the build?
Did the guy screw you on thebuild?
Is it built properly to buildcash value growth?
What are the returns Can youlose?
Is it fixed?
Am I premium, stuck with it?
Do I have flexibility?
Is it non-direct recognition?
Is it direct recognition?
(44:01):
It is insanely sophisticatedand complex.
The strategy I've been doing for21 years and the average Joe my
name is Joe tries to get intothe business and doesn't really
know what they're doing and theyjust sell whatever their sales
manager tells them to sell.
If they work in New York Lifeor Guardian or MassMutual or
(44:23):
MetLife or whatever.
Being a master broker isinsanely tiresome.
You have to know what hundredsof carriers' flagship products
are.
Then you got to know what alltheir sub-products are, what
their fixed annuities, growthannuities, whole lives, income,
iuls, universal life growth.
(44:43):
You know what's the best one?
Their second to die, the SIULs.
It is insanely overwhelming.
But having a team, you know, Iwork with IMOs, which is
independent marketingorganizations.
I work with general agenciesknown as GAs.
I work with wholesalers thattell me what they think.
I have other agents that I'mfriends with in the field that
(45:05):
they say this is what I'm doing,this is why I'm doing it, and I
look into it and I see what I'mdoing and I check to see if
their stuff's better than mine,and nine out of 10 times it's
not.
But now it's becoming morepopular, a lot more popular.
People are waking up.
You know I hate using thatstupid word, but it's true.
People are getting out of theirtrance and they're starting to
(45:26):
care about what's important tothem.
Josh Porthouse (45:29):
I think a lot of that is exposure.
I mean, it's the two factors, Ithink, to any successful
business.
You got to have awareness andyou got to have demand.
One without the other, eitherway, it's going to stagnate.
So yeah, I guess maybe it was amatter of time, but all things
considered, I guess thencongratulations, because it
sounds like you're going to havea lot of new business coming
your way too.
But so my second to lastquestion then all these
(45:51):
experiences that you've hadfirsthand and then, let's say,
secondhand, through your clientsstories you've heard people
you've talked to throughout yourlife what has it all actually
done for you?
Joe Lombardi (46:11):
How has it instigated your own self-worth
when I can provide a quality oflife for my children that I
didn't have?
I grew up in extreme poverty, Iwas around drugs, I was around
guns and I live in a cul-de-sacand a safe neighborhood, great
school system.
That makes me feel good.
When I have agents that startcopying me and I tell them copy
(46:32):
me and we meet three hours aweek Monday, wednesday and
Friday an hour each.
I pour into my agents to teachthem everything to become me and
when we do our round robinswhere we practice and they sound
just like me, it's almost likea proud papa.
This guy trusts me enough togive me his time, his energy,
(46:54):
his family's well-being, whetherthey're going to eat or not,
because this is a commissionbusiness, it's 100% sales, just
like your or not.
Because this is a commissionbusiness, it's 100% sales, just
like your realty business you'redoing.
You got to go all in onyourself and when people make
that bet and you provide value,there's nothing better.
It's the top of Maslow'shierarchy of needs, which is
(47:16):
self-accusation, where you knowthat what you're doing is
changing people's lives for thebetter and it's very, very
rewarding.
Josh Porthouse (47:27):
Yeah, Fulfilling that kind of actualization, I
think, is a lifelong aspiration.
So to do it, all thingsconsidered, to this point in 21
years is a huge feat in and ofitself.
So congratulations again, Iguess.
Uh, so my last question thenfor the sake of time, all of
these things you're doing, manmoney, talk with Ironhawk,
Ironhawk financial uh, yourradio show, Ironhawk financial
(47:50):
uh, books, other appearances onpodcast, Like, if people want to
get in touch with you to be aclient, to follow along, to copy
and paste or to learn andinvent something on their own
accord, where do we go?
Joe Lombardi (48:04):
So if you want to become an agent, I'm looking.
I'm aggressively recruitingexperienced agents.
I know if you're new I'll stilltry and help you, but it's just
I don't have so much time inthe day.
You can go towwwironhawkfinancialcom.
Contact us If you want to geton my calendar again.
You can go to calendlycombackslash ironhawkfinancial.
(48:28):
If you want to get copies of mybooks, the articles, the Forbes
articles, my articles I'mfeatured in, absolutely for free
, just write an email to joeJ-O-E at iron like the metal
hawk, like the bird financial,joe at ironhawkfinancialcom and
just put free books.
I'm not going to bother you.
(48:49):
I'm not going to go on any typeof email list.
I promise it's not how I roll,but I just try and bring value.
I try to get this informationout there and then you can do
your own due diligence.
If you like it, great, We'llwork together.
If you don't, we can leave asfriends.
But it's something where Ibelieve everybody should have a
financial foundation.
Josh Porthouse (49:08):
Awesome, Awesome .
Well, to everybody who'slistening to this or watching
this conversation, depending onthe player you're streaming this
conversation on click see more.
Click show more.
In the drop down descriptionfor this conversation, You'll be
able to find links to IronhawkFinancial website.
Obviously Calendly, then, forJoe and to be able to track down
these free books.
Joe, I appreciate theopportunity.
(49:30):
Man, this was a super coolconversation and I got to tell
you not for nothing.
I'm glad it had some financialinsight, but I'm more glad that
that's not all it was.
So thanks for bringing somedepth and some perspective in
the financial industry, but justas a human dude, I really
appreciate your time, Thank you.
Joe Lombardi (49:45):
I appreciate the opportunity, josh.
I think you're an amazing manand I appreciate you giving me
your platform to share mybeliefs in, so thank you very
much.
Yeah, dude.
Josh Porthouse (49:58):
Absolutely.
Now, to everybody who'slistened or watching our
conversation, this point is toyou.
You can listen to all of ourother conversations at our
website,transactingvaluepodcastcom.
That includes this one.
You can listen to it on repeatand take all the gems that Joe
put into the conversation.
What you can also get thoughthe homepage in the top right
(50:18):
corner it says leave a voicemail, click on that button.
It's two minutes of talk timeall to you.
You can say whatever you want.
But here's my tworecommendations One consider
telling us what you think of theshow, the topics, the guests,
the brand, the messaging, themarketing.
Give us feedback, because we'reall growing through life
together and this is a startupbusiness, so I'm down to learn
and this is a startup business,so I'm down to learn.
(50:39):
But two in that opportunity youcan also tell Joe what you
think of this conversation.
Let him know what you thoughtabout the points he made and how
well or unwell he communicatedand carried his point across.
If you're interested in talkingto him about things that he
does and how he did it and youcan't remember the website or
where to go, go to the homepagetransactingvaluepodcastcom.
Leave a voicemail and we'llforward the audio on to Joe and
(51:03):
get you guys in touch.
There are so many coolopportunities and insights that
came out of this conversation.
I don't know if we can put themall into reels or break them up
into as many places as theyneed to go or could go, but
we're going to make an effort,dude.
Joe Lombardi (51:16):
So I again, I really appreciate it and at any
other time throughout the year,throughout the rest of this
season, 2025, all these things.
I'm looking forward to yourshow.
I'm going to track down yourradio show.
(51:37):
I'm hoping you guys syndicateor somehow make it out of
Connecticut.
You're not local, are you?
No, we're national.
Actually, we're global.
It's like 60% of my audience isout of the U?
S.
Josh Porthouse (51:41):
So I'm trying to change that because I can't
offer anything out of the U S.
All right, well, we'll see whatwe can do to help you maybe
with that as well.
Uh, but so it's a digital radiostation.
Where do we go to find yourshow?
Joe Lombardi (51:49):
Uh, it's Brushwood media group, but it's on
everything Apple car, play Apple.
Uh, spotify, apple podcast on.
You know you name it a podcastapp.
Just type in Money Talk withIronhawk, it's everywhere.
There we go.
Josh Porthouse (51:59):
All right, guys.
You heard it here Maybe first,but, Joe, again, thank you for
your time.
Man, I appreciate it, andeverybody else.
Thank you, guys for tuning in,listening to our show, stay with
us, listen throughout the restof the season.
We got loads of cool contentAgain,
transactingvaluepodcastcom Waymore content coming your way.
But until next time that wasTransacting Value.
(52:22):
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(52:43):
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(53:04):
Slash transactingvalue tosponsor a wreath and purpose,
ensure social tranquility andsecure the blessings of liberty
or individual sovereignty ofcharacter for yourselves and
(53:25):
your posterity.
We will continue instigatingself-worth and we'll meet you
there Until next time.
That was Transacting Value.
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