January 19, 2024 • 32 mins
Join us in Fired Up Ep 11 for the compelling story of Russell Wahl, Founder of Sonoma County Carpentry. Discover how Russell's early experiences in construction and a career pivot from automotive repair to carpentry shaped his path. The episode takes a deep dive into a pivotal moment in 2021, when personal challenges led Russell to transform his hands-on carpentry work into a thriving business while supporting his wife through a critical health battle. Hear how necessity sparked innovation and the birth of a successful company, all while navigating life's toughest trials. Russell's journey is a powerful example of resilience, adaptability, and the strength of the human spirit. 🛠️💼
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
and so my wife calls me she says she's
been diagnosed with leukemia my whole
life changes I get on the uh coaching
call and I I I quit right like I'm like
I I can't and right before I uh quit my
coach says Russell what would it look
(00:23):
like if you
could
everybody
get welcome to the fired up Podcast I'm
your host Brad reeba fired up Podcast is
where we learned from entrepreneurs
their story of how they may succeeded
how they Rose and grew and we hope to
(00:44):
grow with them and so today we have a
very special guest on the podcast but
first we are sponsored by reignite
reignite is a 10x certified business
coaching practice we help Tech enabled
entrepreneurs to grow their
relationships and turn those
relationships into referrals and sales
and we can actually grow sales by more
than 30% in 90 days for the
(01:05):
entrepreneurs that go through the
program so rig KN is the way to 10x your
business and I am with a guest who is 10
Xing the home renovation industry and
has been for some time he's a great
comeback story um please welcome Russell
wall head of Sonoma County carpentry to
the
show thanks Brad thanks for having me
man thanks for being on you know we've
(01:27):
met each other through some of the uh
10x business coaching masterminds we've
been together and and I know your story
a little bit but for the people that
that don't know you as much maybe you
can talk a little bit about um how you
got started in home renovation and then
eventually you know somoma County
carpentry and your why for getting into
the business I got a high school I got a
(01:48):
job as an auto mechanic and I hated
working on other people's cars uh and so
then I looked at it and I was like what
are the two things that most people
spend the most money on and and I was
like houses and cars and so I got uh
introduced to uh construction and I
started uh learning the trade right and
(02:08):
then I opened up my first business
affordable wall to--all remodeling in uh
February of
2009 um but at that time all I was doing
was chasing money I was like the whole
point of going to work was to get money
and there was uh always a lack of money
because that was my only focus and um I
(02:29):
fell off a ladder a couple years later
the doctors prescribed me opiates uh I
proed to proceeded to go into the cycle
of addiction and uh over the next couple
years I ruined my business uh my
business went bankrupt my relationships
were uh strained uh I was uh suicidal
(02:51):
and um I I needed help and I checked
myself into a drug rehab and I uh
transitioned my life
and from that transition I discovered
being of service to others and when I
discovered that uh driving motivation
(03:11):
for a
business uh money became the result of
the service that I was providing so I
would show up to do a kitchen renovation
and it wouldn't be just the experience
that the customer was having with me
while I was there in their house but it
was I'm providing a service where this
(03:34):
family is going to have the next
Christmas dinner is going to have the
next Thanksgiving dinner right and so I
wanted those experiences for them to be
top not so one of the driving things was
I don't want Uncle Leo being like who is
the schmuck that put the crown molding
in this house right and so that um
(03:56):
driving that being of service and
providing an exceptional product became
my motivation and ever since I made that
shift the abundance of money the
abundance of Financial Resources have
has always been there okay yeah
interesting when you flip the mindset
how how that works right if you were
chasing money you you have that mindset
(04:19):
where it's it's no longer abundance it's
it's like scarcity and I need to get
money I need to hold money and yet it
wasn't coming and then when you worked
on a service first mentality Within
abundance mindset that the money will
come as long as I provide a great
service which is a 10x principle by the
way it it flipped for you and that's
that's great but let's talk about let's
(04:40):
let's back up a little bit and talk
about any of the the the things that
were most challenging maybe one or two
things going through the home renovation
business and into starting your own
carpentry business I mean what what's
the biggest challenge there for you yeah
so the big biggest challenge was when I
started my new company I was just
Russell wall right like I I I was a soul
(05:01):
crop right when I uh in 2015 and I was a
do it for myself by myself guy because I
got control issues I have you know like
I want the uh you know experience on the
job site to be amazing I want the you
know I want the uh customer to have uh a
uh five star review experience right and
(05:22):
the way to control that was just to do
it myself and in uh August of 2020
middle of the pandemic my wife uh I got
a phone call and my wife had been
diagnosed with leukemia
gosh and uh it floored me I I didn't
know what I was going to do right so I
was uh faced with uh taking my wife and
(05:44):
dropping her off for chemo treatments uh
at stays at the hospital and then being
in the middle of the pandemic I was
doing first grade Zoom school with my
daughter oh wow and so my ability to be
the guy that was physically doing the
work on on the job site became uh
unavailable yeah I hired my first
(06:06):
Apprentice um at that time to help me uh
like a part-time Apprentice so when I
could show up on a job site I could show
up with somebody else and we could get
more work done in less time but in
January of
2021 uh my wife was going in was going
to be going into uh Stanford for a bone
(06:26):
marrow transplant and when she got out
of the hospital she was going to need to
live next to the campus for 90 days post
transplant and that's a 100 miles away
from where my business
operated and so I opened somoma County
carpentry Incorporated to separate my
personal assets from my business
(06:46):
assets uh I went she went into the
hospital on the 14th of January I opened
up Sonoma County carpentry Incorporated
on the 15th of
January I hired uh two employees and put
them in a work van and then 15 days
later on February 1st I moved my wife my
(07:08):
daughter and three cats into an
apartment 100 miles away from where the
business operated
okay and uh I I got the opportunity to
learn how to
work uh on a business and not in a
business got it yeah what a difference
(07:29):
yeah huge difference and it was a
totally new skill set totally you know
just you know it's like uh but I'm
blessed I'm blessed that that happened
because if it hadn't happened I wouldn't
have been forced into the growth that I
experienced over the last two three
years sure so it was a catalyst that
(07:52):
that created the opportunity for me
that's great and and Russell some people
never take that step there's so many
businesses that I meet and I'm sure you
do that are stuck in that solo preneur
phase um either they just don't want to
allow anybody else into the business
like you said that control aspect or
they they don't know how they don't know
how to recruit and train and build a
(08:14):
strong team so as you made that that
switch you know there there had to be
some things that you look back now with
your experience and say I might have
done that
differently yeah absolutely yeah
anything that sticks out okay what uh so
first off like uh I I would have read
more books and I would have hired a
coach uhuh hands down right like maybe
(08:37):
even multiple coaches even if it if even
if I had to go into debt in order to do
it because the uh The Leverage on the
time right like I can definitely I am
smart enough and every single person out
there is smart enough to figure it out
(08:58):
on their own
sure now how much time does it is it
going to take to do that right if I have
to make every mistake myself in order to
learn the lessons that are being taught
it might take me this amount of time but
if I hire a coach if I read a book if I
I get the experience that others have
(09:20):
had in making mistakes and what they've
done
differently I can reduce the time I can
pull time forward and I reduce the time
it takes for me to grow sure right yeah
leveraging time and you know you learn
this by hiring people into the business
for some of the different aspects of it
but having someone help you to focus on
(09:43):
the business and not so much being in
the business that that's that sounds
like a mindset shift that requires a lot
of belief a lot of self-belief that that
it's going to work without you trying so
hard to control every piece of that can
you talk about that mindset shift and
how you know you overcame that
absolutely so um so uh 200 uh 2019 I
(10:09):
went to a personal Personal Mastery
seminar okay right and uh at at seminars
um when they're talking mindset seminars
and and and personal growth seminars and
stuff like that they talk about the um
awareness right and I didn't know how I
(10:29):
was choosing to play the game of life
and what happens with my belief and
everybody else's belief is that we play
a game we play a game with which way we
think we can or can't
succeed and based on the in Napoleon
Hills book Think and Grow Rich he has a
(10:50):
self-confidence formula that the
dominant thoughts of my mind will
manifest themselves in outward reality
and when I'm paying attention to when
I'm self-aware of what I am allowing to
exist between my two ears I am either
going to be selling myself on the idea
that I can or I'm going to be selling
(11:12):
myself on the idea that I can't yeah
yeah and that that sounds like seller or
be sold right there that is yeah exactly
it's also in the 10x book I mean Grant
talks about it all the time you know
it's
like the you know there it's a there's
like a there's a story about two dogs
right and uh you know the good and bad
(11:33):
dog it's like a parable and uh the dog
that is going to win in a fight is the
one that gets fed the
most yeah right right and so if I'm
feeding my my psyche my you know my my
mind I can't I can't I can't I can't
(11:53):
obstacle obstacle obstacle
challenge right y then I'm that's all
I'm
seeing if I start feeding my mind I can
I can I can I can it doesn't matter what
the obstacle is I'm going to go under it
over it around it through it and get to
where I'm you know where my goal is
(12:14):
that's where my focus is going to be
yeah so there's another book I read
books all the time they're great
leverage points because for $6 to $30 in
like four to 12 hours of your time you
can down download the consciousness of
somebody that spent years making
mistakes yeah absolutely as put it in a
(12:35):
book so I talk about books all the time
but uh The Four Agreements by Don Miguel
Ruiz being impeccable with my word right
you know that 85% of people
uh aren't aware of their choices in
their mind BR is that high that high and
(12:57):
96% believe they
are yeah it's it's like all about
self-belief and the stories we tell
ourselves and sometimes that inner
monologue that that inner story that we
hold on to is is it's so true that that
we don't believe anything else and and
so that limiting belief becomes your
(13:19):
biggest obstacle and I think for you uh
until you accepted that probably became
yours right yeah well until until a
coach came along and actually teed up
the ability for me to see that it was a
choice that I was making great well okay
so you you had the influence of a coach
talk about your transition into coaching
(13:42):
yourself once I discovered that working
on the business was a way of being of
service to a higher degree right so when
I was 100 miles away um I only spent 20
hours a week working on my business
right because I was uh feeding my wife
and I was doing cooking and cleaning and
taking care of my daughter doing first
(14:03):
grade Zoom school so uh I was only
planning out the projects and talking to
new customers but because of the 20
hours of work that I was doing there was
80 hours of work that was being done on
job sites right right so I saw that as a
way of being of service to a higher
degree because now it's like now there's
(14:25):
more work that can get done the
community can actually be served at a
higher level right fast forward I have
11 employees now and so my 40 hours of
work a week equals 440 hours of work
that's being done in the community right
right right yeah so my goal is to get to
(14:46):
100 employees so that's
4,000 hours of work that is being done
in the community and when I look at how
I can serve the community by
myself it become and and and and it
becomes overwhelming yeah and one of my
uh one of my coaches recently said that
(15:07):
if there is a task that uh somebody else
can do if I'm not delegating that task
to them I'm actually robbing somebody
from the ability to have a purpose for
waking up in the morning and doing
something and a paycheck to support
their
family that that is a very eye openening
mindset to have and you know so you then
(15:28):
become the Steward of a an employment
opportunity and maybe better service
delivered because a lot of times we hold
on to the things that we want to control
but they're not necessarily what we do
best or what only we can do and so like
you said if it's something you can
delegate and it's something that is
(15:48):
maybe put to better use by someone else
um you almost have an obligation to put
that person into service with you right
and so that's that's a really that's a
really eye openening way to look at it I
I appreciate that for sure and then
transitioning into coaching right so
like if I continued operating the way
that I was operating being the solar
(16:09):
preneur and stuff like that yeah I was
actually spending 40 60 sometimes more
hours away from my family running my
business because I was the the phone
call happened I was the only one that
could take care of it yeah right they
only want to speak to you if if you're
the whole business right so exactly and
so one of my one of my friends uh he's
(16:29):
been doing construction as a solar
preneur for 30 years yeah he's got a
team of two or three people um but he
spends 60 80 hours a week and he's never
uh broken the million dooll threshold in
business 30 years yeah uh and because of
what I learned and the coaching and
(16:49):
everything that uh I experienced I broke
a million dollars the second year in
business yeah because you had that Force
multiplier working for you you were
lever aging other people's time you were
leveraging a a a process driven business
rather than a person driven business and
that's probably made the difference for
you uh versus some that just try to
(17:11):
force it all themselves and uh you know
that's certainly a harder way to you're
going to run out of hours and you're
going to run out of energy too fast
absolutely the the number one question
entrepreneur can ask themselves is not
how can I it's who can right right
absolutely should I and if the answer is
no who else could right exactly
(17:33):
absolutely exactly so so you've got
you've done a lot Russell you have some
some major accomplishments in your in
your industry in your field um in life
and coaching others if you had to pick
one or two things that are that are
proud moments for you and I know as
entrepreneurs we don't often do this
enough but I'm gonna ask you to think
about something that you're proud of
(17:54):
that it's an accomplishment that you can
stand back and look at
um so big as accomplishment
so
um it's it's got to be the the start of
the business not just the start of
snowman County carpentry so when I was
doing the uh in August of 2020 when my
(18:16):
wife was diagnosed with leukemia I was
also had just signed up for my
first uh professional coaching goal
setting experience okay so there was
like six weeks that led up to this first
weekend and first weekend was the start
of a 8-week goal cycle where we uh all
(18:38):
set four goals that we thought were just
outside what we believed was possible
yeah right so they were big goals and at
the time I was creating about $1,000
dollar a week for myself and I set a
goal to create
$20,000 additional money in the eight
weeks
(18:59):
and so my wife calls me she says she's
been diagnosed with leukemia my whole
life changes the next day uh no two days
later I get on the uh coaching call and
I I I quit right like I'm like H I can't
I I start explaining to the coach right
like there's no way that I can continue
(19:21):
running my business support my wife do
first grade Zoom school and Achieve four
goals that I didn't think were
possible that were just beyond my belief
and right before I uh quit my coach says
Russell what would it look like if you
(19:43):
could wow and I was like bro I can't and
I and I hung up the phone right like but
the ne like that that question just
started going around in my mind uh the
following week I'm like what what could
it look like and and it started opening
up the doors to the possibility that it
it could
(20:03):
happen and so the next week I got on the
call and I I told the uh the team I said
look I have no idea what it's going to
look like yeah but if it gets too hard I
can always quit next
week oh yeah I like that right rather
than put off doing till next week I'm
(20:23):
gonna quit next week I'm just going to
get through this
week exactly I'm get I'll get through
this week if it if it gets too hard I'll
quit next week right you know what I
mean
and uh fast forward eight weeks
later I had not only supported my wife
(20:44):
completely changed the way that I ran my
business did first grade Zoom school but
I accomplished all four goals in eight
weeks outstanding I proved to myself
that that I am the biggest limit to what
I think is possible right yeah right
(21:07):
right you believed you couldn't you
believed you had to quit and that was
the limiting factor as soon as you
unlocked and let go of that man that's
that's that's got to be something that
stays with you now when you when you
when things get hard right that you
remember that moment yeah absolutely and
then and then I did another round eight
weeks uh you know like three we uh three
(21:29):
months or six months later so it happens
every six months so the first one uh
Financial goal was $20,000 in eight
weeks right right crushed that second
round was $100,000 in eight weeks then I
crushed that then the following goal was
$250,000 in eight weeks and I crushed
that one and then I set a goal for
(21:52):
$500,000 in eight weeks and like week
three I was at like
$70,000 and I was completely selling
myself on the idea that I can't and I
spent four or five days just being in
that negative mindset of this is the
(22:15):
stupidest goal I've ever set I don't
know why I set a goal so high there's no
way that I'm going to achieve this goal
you know I was an idiot for trying to do
this blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
right and I got to I got the opportunity
to like become aware that that was what
I was doing right but I I'd actually
like I was in the automatic pilot mode
(22:38):
for like four or five days before I
realized what I was
doing and one of the one of my coaches
said it's not about never getting stuck
in the
mud right because sometimes we revert
back to past
behaviors it's the amount of time that
we're choosing to stay stuck in the mud
(23:02):
that matters so if we have Negative
Nancy in our mind right and over the
past three years it's been you know 60%
of the time or 70% of the time or we
spend you know six hours a day or four
hours a day right and then today we only
spent two hours right like we get to P
(23:22):
ourselves on the back and be like
congratulations like you're growing good
job
right and so after I realized what I was
doing I was like okay like pick up the
tools yeah the tools of belief right the
tools of of uh um not knowing what it
needs to look like being unattached to
(23:44):
uh the mechanism that's going to get me
there right just keep going after it and
no matter what believe that I
can seven and a half weeks later in that
bll cycle five
[Music]
$538,000 wow incredible incredible just
(24:05):
just a a a switch in the in your mind
and and everything unlocks right yeah
absolutely believe you can that that
belief you know yeah it's a great
Testament to it and and I I mean it's
it's clear that you have the the tools
and the capabilities and you know you
(24:27):
just need the mind set to work with it
you need to believe in yourself and I I
can appreciate something you said too
though because you know with all the
success that you've had it's easy to
probably look at someone like yourself
for people on the outside that weren't
part of the struggle weren't part of the
story to get you here to look and say
well looks pretty easy there Russell
looks like you got a got a good life
(24:47):
buddy I mean I hope that's working out
for you and uh you know but that's just
not me right that's that's what you
probably people would look at this and
go well that's not me or that doesn't
happen for me right and you know it only
happened for you when you believed it
could and when you you really followed
through with that commitment that it
that that that is going to be the end
(25:08):
result for you you know like I'm gonna
go out there and do this so think
sometimes the you know we get stuck in
this idea of like oh yeah I just got to
set more positive goals got to set big
goals but you have to have a belief you
have to have a commitment that it is it
is
attainable no matter what even if it
seems unattainable you have to sell
yourself on the fact that it is
(25:28):
um which which you definitely have yeah
and then continue to continue to sell
yourself and and that belief right
so
um when when I'm when I'm going after a
goal when somebody's going after a goal
right A lot of people believe that they
have to have a plan and they have to
know exactly what the path looks like
(25:50):
that's going to get them from point A to
point
B and so most people what happens is
they don't see see a clear path to get
to point B so they never start going or
they come up with a path to get to point
B and they get two or three steps down
the path that it doesn't look exactly
the way that they thought it was
(26:11):
supposed to look right and they revert
back to point a I have to come up with a
new plan and the belief and trust that
there is a plan to get to point a
regardless of what it looks
like yeah becomes the driving force in
(26:34):
somebody's ability to stay committed and
persistent is being unattached to the
mechanism or the path they thought it
was going to look like absolutely right
or set another way is commit first and
figure the rest out later right exactly
and then just and just keep committing
(26:56):
and keep committing y that's the
important thing your persistence is is a
great story so as much as you've
achieved as far as you've come I got to
ask what's next for you and you know
Sonoma County carpentry your your
coaching business what's what's next for
you uh yeah so in 2024 uh uh my co uh my
Sonoma County carpentry is at a place
(27:18):
where it is running itself I'm building
a team where looking at hiring uh 8 to
13 more people um we're the the goal of
5 million business in
2024 uh coaching business um launching
in 2024 has to do with blue collar
business owners and their mindset and
(27:40):
their ability to uh build
teams right and not just the uh coaching
on the business aspects but how to
train because what's happening in our
industry is that uh for every seven
people that are exiting they're retiring
(28:01):
or dying there's only one that's coming
to replace them and in in 1970 is
there's became this idea scarcity
mindset idea that if I teach you
everything that needs to happen on a
construction job site that you will just
go into business for yourself and
compete against me right and so people
(28:23):
are very hesitant of uh in giving the
knowledge out on what to do and I have
such an abundant mindset that I'm like
hey man I'll teach you everything you
need to know do you want to go into
business for yourself great I I've even
I've even signed a letter on the
construction on in California you need a
(28:44):
a license right and so you need to have
a proof of two years of experience and I
was like I'll see even sign the letter
you know what I mean
like I'm I'm gonna say good luck it's G
to be very difficult to compete against
this business but right you
know yeah but that's that's confidence
in yourself and what you've done and and
like you said there's more than enough
(29:07):
people to be served I can't service them
all and so you know the only way you can
do that is through others and so if
that's something that you're comfortable
with um it it sounds like you know it's
it's taking a little while for you to
get there but now now the next step is
what you're building building out the
business and scaling that and helping
others to scale their business is that
(29:29):
exactly and one of one of my uh first
coaching clients is the the guy that I
helped get his contractor's license okay
you know and so we're still working
together you know I mean so I mean it's
you know awesome that's great we believe
when it comes to like the scarcity is
amazing that's great that's great yeah
(29:51):
yeah for sure and uh it's a good
Testament to you know what you can do
when you're willing to pass that
knowledge on when you're you're willing
to help others grow and you see that as
your U you're calling not just the trade
or the skill that you
have so yeah absolutely you know and and
and it's a way of being of service to
the community at a higher level right so
(30:12):
the more right because what happens uh
in construction is that uneducated uh
Tradesmen go out and do work and then
they don't do it well and when you don't
do work well it might look good for a
little bit but it's going to fall apart
over time right which is going to end up
costing the customer more money right
right and so as uh as my crew and uh
(30:36):
others get educated on the uh right way
of doing things we're actually serving
the community at a higher standard
that's great yeah so you're you're
raising the level of the standard even
for those associated with you so it's uh
it's a great Testament to what you're
doing Russell I appreciate it yeah thank
(30:56):
you all right
well um anything else that you wanted to
cover that we didn't get a chance to uh
to say here
today
um You Could Be Your Own Worst Enemy is
one of the you know we went over it and
I I just want to remind people that when
it comes to my belief lid and what I
(31:19):
think I can or can't
do will drive my
experience right um because our mind our
mind our being right about what we think
is our mind's job so if I think that
something's going to be hard or
(31:39):
difficult then my brain will start to
come up with
experiences to prove to myself that I'm
right about what I'm thinking
yeah absolutely absolutely well that's
great and I think that's an awesome
reminder for everybody and a great way
(31:59):
to kind of end out end us off and so in
that case I will sign us off as we
always do but I'll emphasize what you
did is that the goal here is to stay
fired up so we can all do something
(32:20):
great light up everybody get
up
oh
and so my wife calls me she says she's
been diagnosed with leukemia my whole
life changes I get on the uh coaching
call and I I I quit right like I'm like
I I can't and right before I uh quit my
coach says Russell what would it look
(00:23):
like if you
could
everybody
get welcome to the fired up Podcast I'm
your host Brad reeba fired up Podcast is
where we learned from entrepreneurs
their story of how they may succeeded
how they Rose and grew and we hope to
(00:44):
grow with them and so today we have a
very special guest on the podcast but
first we are sponsored by reignite
reignite is a 10x certified business
coaching practice we help Tech enabled
entrepreneurs to grow their
relationships and turn those
relationships into referrals and sales
and we can actually grow sales by more
than 30% in 90 days for the
(01:05):
entrepreneurs that go through the
program so rig KN is the way to 10x your
business and I am with a guest who is 10
Xing the home renovation industry and
has been for some time he's a great
comeback story um please welcome Russell
wall head of Sonoma County carpentry to
the
show thanks Brad thanks for having me
man thanks for being on you know we've
(01:27):
met each other through some of the uh
10x business coaching masterminds we've
been together and and I know your story
a little bit but for the people that
that don't know you as much maybe you
can talk a little bit about um how you
got started in home renovation and then
eventually you know somoma County
carpentry and your why for getting into
the business I got a high school I got a
(01:48):
job as an auto mechanic and I hated
working on other people's cars uh and so
then I looked at it and I was like what
are the two things that most people
spend the most money on and and I was
like houses and cars and so I got uh
introduced to uh construction and I
started uh learning the trade right and
(02:08):
then I opened up my first business
affordable wall to--all remodeling in uh
February of
2009 um but at that time all I was doing
was chasing money I was like the whole
point of going to work was to get money
and there was uh always a lack of money
because that was my only focus and um I
(02:29):
fell off a ladder a couple years later
the doctors prescribed me opiates uh I
proed to proceeded to go into the cycle
of addiction and uh over the next couple
years I ruined my business uh my
business went bankrupt my relationships
were uh strained uh I was uh suicidal
(02:51):
and um I I needed help and I checked
myself into a drug rehab and I uh
transitioned my life
and from that transition I discovered
being of service to others and when I
discovered that uh driving motivation
(03:11):
for a
business uh money became the result of
the service that I was providing so I
would show up to do a kitchen renovation
and it wouldn't be just the experience
that the customer was having with me
while I was there in their house but it
was I'm providing a service where this
(03:34):
family is going to have the next
Christmas dinner is going to have the
next Thanksgiving dinner right and so I
wanted those experiences for them to be
top not so one of the driving things was
I don't want Uncle Leo being like who is
the schmuck that put the crown molding
in this house right and so that um
(03:56):
driving that being of service and
providing an exceptional product became
my motivation and ever since I made that
shift the abundance of money the
abundance of Financial Resources have
has always been there okay yeah
interesting when you flip the mindset
how how that works right if you were
chasing money you you have that mindset
(04:19):
where it's it's no longer abundance it's
it's like scarcity and I need to get
money I need to hold money and yet it
wasn't coming and then when you worked
on a service first mentality Within
abundance mindset that the money will
come as long as I provide a great
service which is a 10x principle by the
way it it flipped for you and that's
that's great but let's talk about let's
(04:40):
let's back up a little bit and talk
about any of the the the things that
were most challenging maybe one or two
things going through the home renovation
business and into starting your own
carpentry business I mean what what's
the biggest challenge there for you yeah
so the big biggest challenge was when I
started my new company I was just
Russell wall right like I I I was a soul
(05:01):
crop right when I uh in 2015 and I was a
do it for myself by myself guy because I
got control issues I have you know like
I want the uh you know experience on the
job site to be amazing I want the you
know I want the uh customer to have uh a
uh five star review experience right and
(05:22):
the way to control that was just to do
it myself and in uh August of 2020
middle of the pandemic my wife uh I got
a phone call and my wife had been
diagnosed with leukemia
gosh and uh it floored me I I didn't
know what I was going to do right so I
was uh faced with uh taking my wife and
(05:44):
dropping her off for chemo treatments uh
at stays at the hospital and then being
in the middle of the pandemic I was
doing first grade Zoom school with my
daughter oh wow and so my ability to be
the guy that was physically doing the
work on on the job site became uh
unavailable yeah I hired my first
(06:06):
Apprentice um at that time to help me uh
like a part-time Apprentice so when I
could show up on a job site I could show
up with somebody else and we could get
more work done in less time but in
January of
2021 uh my wife was going in was going
to be going into uh Stanford for a bone
(06:26):
marrow transplant and when she got out
of the hospital she was going to need to
live next to the campus for 90 days post
transplant and that's a 100 miles away
from where my business
operated and so I opened somoma County
carpentry Incorporated to separate my
personal assets from my business
(06:46):
assets uh I went she went into the
hospital on the 14th of January I opened
up Sonoma County carpentry Incorporated
on the 15th of
January I hired uh two employees and put
them in a work van and then 15 days
later on February 1st I moved my wife my
(07:08):
daughter and three cats into an
apartment 100 miles away from where the
business operated
okay and uh I I got the opportunity to
learn how to
work uh on a business and not in a
business got it yeah what a difference
(07:29):
yeah huge difference and it was a
totally new skill set totally you know
just you know it's like uh but I'm
blessed I'm blessed that that happened
because if it hadn't happened I wouldn't
have been forced into the growth that I
experienced over the last two three
years sure so it was a catalyst that
(07:52):
that created the opportunity for me
that's great and and Russell some people
never take that step there's so many
businesses that I meet and I'm sure you
do that are stuck in that solo preneur
phase um either they just don't want to
allow anybody else into the business
like you said that control aspect or
they they don't know how they don't know
how to recruit and train and build a
(08:14):
strong team so as you made that that
switch you know there there had to be
some things that you look back now with
your experience and say I might have
done that
differently yeah absolutely yeah
anything that sticks out okay what uh so
first off like uh I I would have read
more books and I would have hired a
coach uhuh hands down right like maybe
(08:37):
even multiple coaches even if it if even
if I had to go into debt in order to do
it because the uh The Leverage on the
time right like I can definitely I am
smart enough and every single person out
there is smart enough to figure it out
(08:58):
on their own
sure now how much time does it is it
going to take to do that right if I have
to make every mistake myself in order to
learn the lessons that are being taught
it might take me this amount of time but
if I hire a coach if I read a book if I
I get the experience that others have
(09:20):
had in making mistakes and what they've
done
differently I can reduce the time I can
pull time forward and I reduce the time
it takes for me to grow sure right yeah
leveraging time and you know you learn
this by hiring people into the business
for some of the different aspects of it
but having someone help you to focus on
(09:43):
the business and not so much being in
the business that that's that sounds
like a mindset shift that requires a lot
of belief a lot of self-belief that that
it's going to work without you trying so
hard to control every piece of that can
you talk about that mindset shift and
how you know you overcame that
absolutely so um so uh 200 uh 2019 I
(10:09):
went to a personal Personal Mastery
seminar okay right and uh at at seminars
um when they're talking mindset seminars
and and and personal growth seminars and
stuff like that they talk about the um
awareness right and I didn't know how I
(10:29):
was choosing to play the game of life
and what happens with my belief and
everybody else's belief is that we play
a game we play a game with which way we
think we can or can't
succeed and based on the in Napoleon
Hills book Think and Grow Rich he has a
(10:50):
self-confidence formula that the
dominant thoughts of my mind will
manifest themselves in outward reality
and when I'm paying attention to when
I'm self-aware of what I am allowing to
exist between my two ears I am either
going to be selling myself on the idea
that I can or I'm going to be selling
(11:12):
myself on the idea that I can't yeah
yeah and that that sounds like seller or
be sold right there that is yeah exactly
it's also in the 10x book I mean Grant
talks about it all the time you know
it's
like the you know there it's a there's
like a there's a story about two dogs
right and uh you know the good and bad
(11:33):
dog it's like a parable and uh the dog
that is going to win in a fight is the
one that gets fed the
most yeah right right and so if I'm
feeding my my psyche my you know my my
mind I can't I can't I can't I can't
(11:53):
obstacle obstacle obstacle
challenge right y then I'm that's all
I'm
seeing if I start feeding my mind I can
I can I can I can it doesn't matter what
the obstacle is I'm going to go under it
over it around it through it and get to
where I'm you know where my goal is
(12:14):
that's where my focus is going to be
yeah so there's another book I read
books all the time they're great
leverage points because for $6 to $30 in
like four to 12 hours of your time you
can down download the consciousness of
somebody that spent years making
mistakes yeah absolutely as put it in a
(12:35):
book so I talk about books all the time
but uh The Four Agreements by Don Miguel
Ruiz being impeccable with my word right
you know that 85% of people
uh aren't aware of their choices in
their mind BR is that high that high and
(12:57):
96% believe they
are yeah it's it's like all about
self-belief and the stories we tell
ourselves and sometimes that inner
monologue that that inner story that we
hold on to is is it's so true that that
we don't believe anything else and and
so that limiting belief becomes your
(13:19):
biggest obstacle and I think for you uh
until you accepted that probably became
yours right yeah well until until a
coach came along and actually teed up
the ability for me to see that it was a
choice that I was making great well okay
so you you had the influence of a coach
talk about your transition into coaching
(13:42):
yourself once I discovered that working
on the business was a way of being of
service to a higher degree right so when
I was 100 miles away um I only spent 20
hours a week working on my business
right because I was uh feeding my wife
and I was doing cooking and cleaning and
taking care of my daughter doing first
(14:03):
grade Zoom school so uh I was only
planning out the projects and talking to
new customers but because of the 20
hours of work that I was doing there was
80 hours of work that was being done on
job sites right right so I saw that as a
way of being of service to a higher
degree because now it's like now there's
(14:25):
more work that can get done the
community can actually be served at a
higher level right fast forward I have
11 employees now and so my 40 hours of
work a week equals 440 hours of work
that's being done in the community right
right right yeah so my goal is to get to
(14:46):
100 employees so that's
4,000 hours of work that is being done
in the community and when I look at how
I can serve the community by
myself it become and and and and it
becomes overwhelming yeah and one of my
uh one of my coaches recently said that
(15:07):
if there is a task that uh somebody else
can do if I'm not delegating that task
to them I'm actually robbing somebody
from the ability to have a purpose for
waking up in the morning and doing
something and a paycheck to support
their
family that that is a very eye openening
mindset to have and you know so you then
(15:28):
become the Steward of a an employment
opportunity and maybe better service
delivered because a lot of times we hold
on to the things that we want to control
but they're not necessarily what we do
best or what only we can do and so like
you said if it's something you can
delegate and it's something that is
(15:48):
maybe put to better use by someone else
um you almost have an obligation to put
that person into service with you right
and so that's that's a really that's a
really eye openening way to look at it I
I appreciate that for sure and then
transitioning into coaching right so
like if I continued operating the way
that I was operating being the solar
(16:09):
preneur and stuff like that yeah I was
actually spending 40 60 sometimes more
hours away from my family running my
business because I was the the phone
call happened I was the only one that
could take care of it yeah right they
only want to speak to you if if you're
the whole business right so exactly and
so one of my one of my friends uh he's
(16:29):
been doing construction as a solar
preneur for 30 years yeah he's got a
team of two or three people um but he
spends 60 80 hours a week and he's never
uh broken the million dooll threshold in
business 30 years yeah uh and because of
what I learned and the coaching and
(16:49):
everything that uh I experienced I broke
a million dollars the second year in
business yeah because you had that Force
multiplier working for you you were
lever aging other people's time you were
leveraging a a a process driven business
rather than a person driven business and
that's probably made the difference for
you uh versus some that just try to
(17:11):
force it all themselves and uh you know
that's certainly a harder way to you're
going to run out of hours and you're
going to run out of energy too fast
absolutely the the number one question
entrepreneur can ask themselves is not
how can I it's who can right right
absolutely should I and if the answer is
no who else could right exactly
(17:33):
absolutely exactly so so you've got
you've done a lot Russell you have some
some major accomplishments in your in
your industry in your field um in life
and coaching others if you had to pick
one or two things that are that are
proud moments for you and I know as
entrepreneurs we don't often do this
enough but I'm gonna ask you to think
about something that you're proud of
(17:54):
that it's an accomplishment that you can
stand back and look at
um so big as accomplishment
so
um it's it's got to be the the start of
the business not just the start of
snowman County carpentry so when I was
doing the uh in August of 2020 when my
(18:16):
wife was diagnosed with leukemia I was
also had just signed up for my
first uh professional coaching goal
setting experience okay so there was
like six weeks that led up to this first
weekend and first weekend was the start
of a 8-week goal cycle where we uh all
(18:38):
set four goals that we thought were just
outside what we believed was possible
yeah right so they were big goals and at
the time I was creating about $1,000
dollar a week for myself and I set a
goal to create
$20,000 additional money in the eight
weeks
(18:59):
and so my wife calls me she says she's
been diagnosed with leukemia my whole
life changes the next day uh no two days
later I get on the uh coaching call and
I I I quit right like I'm like H I can't
I I start explaining to the coach right
like there's no way that I can continue
(19:21):
running my business support my wife do
first grade Zoom school and Achieve four
goals that I didn't think were
possible that were just beyond my belief
and right before I uh quit my coach says
Russell what would it look like if you
(19:43):
could wow and I was like bro I can't and
I and I hung up the phone right like but
the ne like that that question just
started going around in my mind uh the
following week I'm like what what could
it look like and and it started opening
up the doors to the possibility that it
it could
(20:03):
happen and so the next week I got on the
call and I I told the uh the team I said
look I have no idea what it's going to
look like yeah but if it gets too hard I
can always quit next
week oh yeah I like that right rather
than put off doing till next week I'm
(20:23):
gonna quit next week I'm just going to
get through this
week exactly I'm get I'll get through
this week if it if it gets too hard I'll
quit next week right you know what I
mean
and uh fast forward eight weeks
later I had not only supported my wife
(20:44):
completely changed the way that I ran my
business did first grade Zoom school but
I accomplished all four goals in eight
weeks outstanding I proved to myself
that that I am the biggest limit to what
I think is possible right yeah right
(21:07):
right you believed you couldn't you
believed you had to quit and that was
the limiting factor as soon as you
unlocked and let go of that man that's
that's that's got to be something that
stays with you now when you when you
when things get hard right that you
remember that moment yeah absolutely and
then and then I did another round eight
weeks uh you know like three we uh three
(21:29):
months or six months later so it happens
every six months so the first one uh
Financial goal was $20,000 in eight
weeks right right crushed that second
round was $100,000 in eight weeks then I
crushed that then the following goal was
$250,000 in eight weeks and I crushed
that one and then I set a goal for
(21:52):
$500,000 in eight weeks and like week
three I was at like
$70,000 and I was completely selling
myself on the idea that I can't and I
spent four or five days just being in
that negative mindset of this is the
(22:15):
stupidest goal I've ever set I don't
know why I set a goal so high there's no
way that I'm going to achieve this goal
you know I was an idiot for trying to do
this blah blah blah blah blah blah blah
right and I got to I got the opportunity
to like become aware that that was what
I was doing right but I I'd actually
like I was in the automatic pilot mode
(22:38):
for like four or five days before I
realized what I was
doing and one of the one of my coaches
said it's not about never getting stuck
in the
mud right because sometimes we revert
back to past
behaviors it's the amount of time that
we're choosing to stay stuck in the mud
(23:02):
that matters so if we have Negative
Nancy in our mind right and over the
past three years it's been you know 60%
of the time or 70% of the time or we
spend you know six hours a day or four
hours a day right and then today we only
spent two hours right like we get to P
(23:22):
ourselves on the back and be like
congratulations like you're growing good
job
right and so after I realized what I was
doing I was like okay like pick up the
tools yeah the tools of belief right the
tools of of uh um not knowing what it
needs to look like being unattached to
(23:44):
uh the mechanism that's going to get me
there right just keep going after it and
no matter what believe that I
can seven and a half weeks later in that
bll cycle five
[Music]
$538,000 wow incredible incredible just
(24:05):
just a a a switch in the in your mind
and and everything unlocks right yeah
absolutely believe you can that that
belief you know yeah it's a great
Testament to it and and I I mean it's
it's clear that you have the the tools
and the capabilities and you know you
(24:27):
just need the mind set to work with it
you need to believe in yourself and I I
can appreciate something you said too
though because you know with all the
success that you've had it's easy to
probably look at someone like yourself
for people on the outside that weren't
part of the struggle weren't part of the
story to get you here to look and say
well looks pretty easy there Russell
looks like you got a got a good life
(24:47):
buddy I mean I hope that's working out
for you and uh you know but that's just
not me right that's that's what you
probably people would look at this and
go well that's not me or that doesn't
happen for me right and you know it only
happened for you when you believed it
could and when you you really followed
through with that commitment that it
that that that is going to be the end
(25:08):
result for you you know like I'm gonna
go out there and do this so think
sometimes the you know we get stuck in
this idea of like oh yeah I just got to
set more positive goals got to set big
goals but you have to have a belief you
have to have a commitment that it is it
is
attainable no matter what even if it
seems unattainable you have to sell
yourself on the fact that it is
(25:28):
um which which you definitely have yeah
and then continue to continue to sell
yourself and and that belief right
so
um when when I'm when I'm going after a
goal when somebody's going after a goal
right A lot of people believe that they
have to have a plan and they have to
know exactly what the path looks like
(25:50):
that's going to get them from point A to
point
B and so most people what happens is
they don't see see a clear path to get
to point B so they never start going or
they come up with a path to get to point
B and they get two or three steps down
the path that it doesn't look exactly
the way that they thought it was
(26:11):
supposed to look right and they revert
back to point a I have to come up with a
new plan and the belief and trust that
there is a plan to get to point a
regardless of what it looks
like yeah becomes the driving force in
(26:34):
somebody's ability to stay committed and
persistent is being unattached to the
mechanism or the path they thought it
was going to look like absolutely right
or set another way is commit first and
figure the rest out later right exactly
and then just and just keep committing
(26:56):
and keep committing y that's the
important thing your persistence is is a
great story so as much as you've
achieved as far as you've come I got to
ask what's next for you and you know
Sonoma County carpentry your your
coaching business what's what's next for
you uh yeah so in 2024 uh uh my co uh my
Sonoma County carpentry is at a place
(27:18):
where it is running itself I'm building
a team where looking at hiring uh 8 to
13 more people um we're the the goal of
5 million business in
2024 uh coaching business um launching
in 2024 has to do with blue collar
business owners and their mindset and
(27:40):
their ability to uh build
teams right and not just the uh coaching
on the business aspects but how to
train because what's happening in our
industry is that uh for every seven
people that are exiting they're retiring
(28:01):
or dying there's only one that's coming
to replace them and in in 1970 is
there's became this idea scarcity
mindset idea that if I teach you
everything that needs to happen on a
construction job site that you will just
go into business for yourself and
compete against me right and so people
(28:23):
are very hesitant of uh in giving the
knowledge out on what to do and I have
such an abundant mindset that I'm like
hey man I'll teach you everything you
need to know do you want to go into
business for yourself great I I've even
I've even signed a letter on the
construction on in California you need a
(28:44):
a license right and so you need to have
a proof of two years of experience and I
was like I'll see even sign the letter
you know what I mean
like I'm I'm gonna say good luck it's G
to be very difficult to compete against
this business but right you
know yeah but that's that's confidence
in yourself and what you've done and and
like you said there's more than enough
(29:07):
people to be served I can't service them
all and so you know the only way you can
do that is through others and so if
that's something that you're comfortable
with um it it sounds like you know it's
it's taking a little while for you to
get there but now now the next step is
what you're building building out the
business and scaling that and helping
others to scale their business is that
(29:29):
exactly and one of one of my uh first
coaching clients is the the guy that I
helped get his contractor's license okay
you know and so we're still working
together you know I mean so I mean it's
you know awesome that's great we believe
when it comes to like the scarcity is
amazing that's great that's great yeah
(29:51):
yeah for sure and uh it's a good
Testament to you know what you can do
when you're willing to pass that
knowledge on when you're you're willing
to help others grow and you see that as
your U you're calling not just the trade
or the skill that you
have so yeah absolutely you know and and
and it's a way of being of service to
the community at a higher level right so
(30:12):
the more right because what happens uh
in construction is that uneducated uh
Tradesmen go out and do work and then
they don't do it well and when you don't
do work well it might look good for a
little bit but it's going to fall apart
over time right which is going to end up
costing the customer more money right
right and so as uh as my crew and uh
(30:36):
others get educated on the uh right way
of doing things we're actually serving
the community at a higher standard
that's great yeah so you're you're
raising the level of the standard even
for those associated with you so it's uh
it's a great Testament to what you're
doing Russell I appreciate it yeah thank
(30:56):
you all right
well um anything else that you wanted to
cover that we didn't get a chance to uh
to say here
today
um You Could Be Your Own Worst Enemy is
one of the you know we went over it and
I I just want to remind people that when
it comes to my belief lid and what I
(31:19):
think I can or can't
do will drive my
experience right um because our mind our
mind our being right about what we think
is our mind's job so if I think that
something's going to be hard or
(31:39):
difficult then my brain will start to
come up with
experiences to prove to myself that I'm
right about what I'm thinking
yeah absolutely absolutely well that's
great and I think that's an awesome
reminder for everybody and a great way
(31:59):
to kind of end out end us off and so in
that case I will sign us off as we
always do but I'll emphasize what you
did is that the goal here is to stay
fired up so we can all do something
(32:20):
great light up everybody get
up
oh
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.