[00:00:00] Speaker A: Gotta get out there and do their first house.
[00:00:02] Speaker B: I focused on solar energy and was sewing solar panels.
[00:00:06] Speaker C: 400,000 financial advisors. The best ones are hiding in plain sight.
[00:00:10] Speaker D: I'm Richard Gerhardt.
[00:00:11] Speaker E: And I'm Elizabeth Gerhard. You've just heard some snippets from our show. It was a great one. Stay tuned. Especially if you want to start a new business.
[00:00:21] Speaker C: Ramping up your business.
[00:00:22] Speaker D: The time is near. You've given it heart, now get it in gear. It's passage to profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gearharthe. I'm Richard Gerhart, founder of Gerhardt Law, a full service intellectual property law firm specializing in patents, trademarks and copyrights.
[00:00:39] Speaker E: And I'm Elizabeth Gearhart. Not an attorney, but I do marketing for Gearhart Law and I have my own startups and podcasts.
[00:00:45] Speaker D: Are you one of the two in five Americans wanting to start your own business or already a business owner? Stay tuned. This show is about starting and growing your business. Welcome to passage to the road to entrepreneurship, where we learn why and how ordinary people, just like you, started and grew their businesses. And we also talk about the intellectual property that helps protect your innovations. We have Chris Iman, he's the founder of sell wholesale Houses and just for flips.
[00:01:12] Speaker E: And then we have two presenters, very innovative people and good speakers as well. Alice Chun was so light design. She has an incredible story. And what she's done with her business is amazing. It's solar lights, but like you've never seen before. And then we have Jack Boudreau with Habits Marketplace. Really innovative way to hook financial advisors up with people who need their advice. And stay tuned because you really want to hear what these people have to say.
[00:01:38] Speaker D: But now it's time for your new business journey. As I mentioned, two in five Americans want to start a business or are already business owners. And they have a lot of questions. And so today we're going to be talking a little bit about gratitude. And how does gratitude impact your business? Kenya GiBson, can you tell us how gratitude impacts your business?
[00:01:59] Speaker F: That's a great question. I would say having an attitude of gratitude creates an atmosphere of graciousness. Right? So if you go into a situation where if you're negotiating a business deal or a new contract or you maybe you have a new product that you're going to launch, I feel like that type of energy is reciprocal and it resonates with the people who you're trying to do business with. So if you go in and you're positive and your outlook is great, and you're grateful for everything that's going on with you, that typically comes out in the communication.
[00:02:28] Speaker D: I think that's a really great point. You know, back in the olden days, when I first started, like, lawyering. Everything was supposed to be tough, right? You were always supposed to be staring down your opponent. And you're banging your hand on the negotiating table. And things have changed so much now. People really want to have a positive environment. And they want a trustful environment, right, where people feel like they can trust the people that they're doing business with.
[00:02:51] Speaker E: Well, and I have to agree with Kenya, and maybe you guys can tell us. I think it's all about the energy that you put out. Because I think if you put out hostile energy, like you've heard that saying, gosh, the guy walked into the room, and everybody instantly hated him before he even opened his mouth, right?
[00:03:07] Speaker D: So who is that guy?
[00:03:11] Speaker E: But it's because of the energy that you're putting out to other people. And they can feel that, Jack.
[00:03:16] Speaker C: Well, I've often even said that it's not really about what you say, but it's how you make people feel, right? Like, when you're in a room or you're creating content at the very end of the day. When you can say stuff that's relatable or that touches people's hearts. It goes so much longer, and they'll remember it a lot longer than any chart, graph, or any other fancy thing you probably set on stage.
[00:03:34] Speaker D: So, is that a trait you cultivate in yourself? Is that something that you focus on developing? Or is that just something that people sort of naturally have?
[00:03:42] Speaker C: I think it comes with time. I'm somebody, and I'm sure I'm not the only one here in the room who loves hearing stories and where people come from. And I think the more people you meet, the more stories you hear, the more not just unique you think you are, but also how relatable and thematic a lot of our lives are.
[00:03:56] Speaker A: Chris, I've always thought that everybody's heard that your net worth is your network, right? So just having gratitude with the people you meet today, right? And when I started out, like, I always, like, the new guy would reach out to me cell phone. When we used to have to actually call before you'd text, right? And I'd be like, hey, you want to have a 15 minutes coffee meeting? Let's have a 15 minutes coffee meeting. I'd always. First part of my business. I'd always give someone 15 minutes. You just never knew when that next person would influence your business or change your business or anything?
[00:04:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I think it's really interesting how business communication has changed, and I think that kind of influences how our relationships work.
[00:04:33] Speaker B: Alice, when you asked that question, the first thing that came to my mind is positivity, that you have to have positive energy, but also a sense of humility and humbleness, that in order to be grateful, you kind of understand that you're one part of a whole and that it takes a collective to create real change in the world. And small things matter. And if we all work together, we can change the world.
[00:05:01] Speaker F: Yeah, and I love the humility part.
[00:05:02] Speaker G: Right.
[00:05:03] Speaker F: Like, I think that gratitude definitely does birth humility, and we all need that because it keeps us grounded and it helps us relate to people better and understand their needs.
[00:05:12] Speaker D: So what's the takeaway from our gratitude discussion today?
[00:05:15] Speaker F: Be grateful.
[00:05:16] Speaker D: Be grateful. Okay, well, that's great. So it's time now for our guest du jour, and that's Chris Ayman. He's the founder of sell wholesale houses and just for flips, and he's an expert on flipping houses. And I think just about everybody's thought about doing that at one point. So welcome to the show and tell us a little bit about your business, Chris, and talk about flipping houses, for heaven's sake.
[00:05:38] Speaker A: You know, obviously, a and e, you know, inspires a lot of people. Right? Everybody watches. I mean, there's been so many house flipping shows out there, so everybody watches the entertainment of it all, and then. And then they gotta try it. Right? So it's a. It helps me because I actually provide some financial services for that. I'm a hard money lender. It helps my business. But, you know, they gotta get started somewhere. So that's just part of the entrepreneurial thing. Whether they develop a product or flipping houses is entrepreneurial. They got to take action. They got to get out there and do their first house. And you see, some people do really well and they're returned customers. And obviously, you know, I've been on the. A little bit of a coach on the phone, and, like, you know, they got the wrong vendor that, you know, maybe took their money or they didn't sign a contract with them or. So it's, you know, it's. It's an entrepreneurial thing, but everybody likes taking the ugly house and making it the pretty house, just like you see.
[00:06:34] Speaker E: On holiday, like Hillary and David. Those are the ones we love to watch. What is it? Love it or list it?
[00:06:39] Speaker D: Love it or list it.
[00:06:40] Speaker E: Right, but you told me before the show that you train people to flip houses. You've, like, trained 200 people to learn how to flip houses.
[00:06:48] Speaker A: Yeah. So, I mean, everybody, like, wants to travel any path, whether, you know, whatever path you want to take. But, you know, I am a coach, so I can help you through some of those pitfalls, like creating a contract with a vendor. You know, finding money. You gotta have money to flip houses. It just doesn't just show up on your door or how to get private money. Partners. All little intricacies that go into actually flipping houses. I help people get through those steps if they're interested. And then I also, you know, to the coffee meeting. I started a, what's called the Phoenix Rhea. I can only have so many coffee meetings. So actually I do. On the third Tuesday of every month, I. I throw an event and I bring in a speaker to help educate people, because now I can fill a room with 80 people and have 80 coffee meetings. Right. And so, like, I can help people through those steps. Once again, it does bring business back to me eventually, but I try to. I don't charge for the event. I don't. The only thing is I don't let the guys come up and pitch. I want them to actually give something to the audience. And then if they follow them on social media and they pitch them later. Great.
[00:07:53] Speaker F: Interesting. Were you always in real estate and what is a hard money loan? Cause I don't think people are. Everybody's familiar with that.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: So I've been fortunate enough to be in all the downturns. I was actually a tech guy and got laid off twice in the tech downturn. Right. So then I went into real estate, went through the financial crisis, and got clobbered there, and then I just got back up. But just like every entrepreneur has to, right? We've all seen you get knocked down seven times, and the guy that gets up on the 8th is the guy that wins. Right.
[00:08:19] Speaker E: That is so true. There are so many failures in the entrepreneurial world, and it's not about licking your wounds. It's about, can you get back up?
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, I lost $4.5 million in zero eight and paid it back. So it's like, I worked my way through it. You got to get back up. And then the hard money lender is like the credit card for houses. Like, I charge 12%, but I don't check your credit. I'm like, you want to buy that house and fix and flip it? And I just look at and make sure you're getting a good deal. And if you are, then I'll lend you the money, and that's what I charge, 12% interest. It's actually a little cheaper than the credit card, but, you know, how much.
[00:08:55] Speaker E: Money do you lend? Like, if I want, let's say I bought. Well, we live in the northeast, where houses are a little higher. Let's say I bought a $500,000 house, and I wanted to flip it to sell it for 800,000 or something. How much would you lend me?
[00:09:08] Speaker A: I usually emit, like, $0.60 on the dollar. So on a $800,000 house and you bought it for 500, I do require a minimum down. I might have only require 10% down from you. Cause, like, 60% will only be 480. But I still want you to have skin in the game because I'm not checking your credit. I'm not, you know, on your credit score. I want you to succeed. Cause then I get my money back. Right.
[00:09:31] Speaker D: So how long does it take to flip a house? And I guess that means you have to be pretty handy yourself. Or can you make money hiring contractors to do it? Kind of. What's the. How do you go about doing this?
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Yeah. So the first guy generally comes in that flips a house is doing it one at a time, right. And then that's kind of the solopreneur and then any kind of scale. Then they got to start hiring people. Right. They got to start hiring contractors and all that kind of stuff. So it's just, you know. But the solopreneur usually is the guy that comes to the coffee meeting or the meetup, and then, you know, if they're good at it, they start scaling, and then they hire contractors and interior designers, and, you know, so how much.
[00:10:12] Speaker D: Money can you make?
[00:10:13] Speaker A: Generally, you're looking for 10% of, like, acquisition price. Like, for instance, her house for 500 grand. Her goal over, like, a four to five month period. She's looking to make 10%. So 50 grand on that deal. But if you're leveraging it cash on cash, it can be 30, 40, 50%.
[00:10:32] Speaker D: That sounds pretty good to me. Maybe we should get out of the radio business and get into that. I'm definitely getting out of the radio business.
[00:10:38] Speaker E: So that's really interesting. But do you help them with the contractors? Because, I mean, you know how it is working with contractors. A five month project turns into 15 months because the guy doesn't pay his subs or he doesn't show up or.
[00:10:51] Speaker A: You know, contractors is definitely probably the trickiest part of the game. And I don't get involved in, because if you refer somebody, maybe they're great today, but all of us, we're all people. We go through our problems, and that that contractor could be a great contractor today and mismanaged money and all that, and then he's a terrible contractor.
[00:11:10] Speaker D: We hired a contractor to redo our basement. Just give you that. And it took them forever.
[00:11:16] Speaker E: Two years for a basement.
[00:11:17] Speaker D: For a basement. And then on top of that, they had the best reputation in the area. Right after they finished the basement, they declared bankruptcy. And ours was, like, the last project that they did, and we were having trouble getting them come back and finish stuff. And now we know why, right? And I knew people who said, yeah, we had lent these guys money, we had sold them lumber, and it was a big nightmare. But they had been contractors in the area for, like, 30 years, family owned business, and they were famous and just happened overnight.
[00:11:47] Speaker E: That brings us to another point. I loved your comment about contracts, and I really feel like if you have a strong contract, it still can be kind of hard to enforce it, but at least you have it written down. You know what the terms are. Do you review the contracts of the people that you work with, or do you have an attorney review them? What do you do?
[00:12:06] Speaker A: I just have a contract that I've made up for contractors, and I have them sign. You know, a lot of people are just like, have the guy come out to the house and give them a bid, and the guy says, 50% down, and there is no written contract. Right. They just. Here's the 50% down, and you got nothing if they decide to show up or whatever.
[00:12:23] Speaker D: Well, the problem is, is lots of times there's misunderstanding. So I once had a client who wanted to have their room painted, actually a couple of rooms in their house, and the guy came in and he painted all the walls, but he didn't paint any of the baseboards or the trim. Right. That's going to be. That's going to be another $1,500 for that. And that guy's like, well, I thought you were going to paint my walls, right? But they had no contract. Nothing was written down. And the painter just thought he, you know, he looked at the job one way and the client looked at the job the other way. So, you know, and so if you at least you write it down, then there's a chance that you'll minimize at least some of that.
[00:13:02] Speaker E: And I think my point, too, is this. Flipping houses is not for the faint of heart.
[00:13:06] Speaker A: It's entrepreneurship. It's just like everything. People are going to succeed. People are going to fail and having the right contractor, having the right communication, all that stuff, it's just business. Right.
[00:13:18] Speaker D: Right. If somebody wants to start flipping houses and they've never done it before, what do you tell them?
[00:13:23] Speaker A: I kind of always tell them, like, this is not what you see on tv.
You're going to create yourself a job. But a lot of people are trying to get out of the nine to five, and this is what they want to do. So that's kind of the transition in our industry. They're working some kind of nine to five, and now they want to be their own boss, and this, this looks like what they want to do. So. Yeah, I just. But, uh. And then I obviously say contractors, you're, you're going to be your biggest hurdle. And then finding the deals, you know, you got to find the deals and then funding the deals. Right. So.
[00:13:52] Speaker D: So location is still, like, one of the key things, right? That's what they always say.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: Location, location, location.
[00:13:58] Speaker D: And so how do you figure out what a good location is? What are the things you take into consideration?
[00:14:03] Speaker A: Partnering with a good real estate agent. So, you know, like, time on market is. Time is money, right? So time on market is huge. Like, I mean, I don't know New York very well, but I'm sure if, you know, a piece of property came up in this square block, it moves in hours, right? And then you come, you might be maybe six blocks from here. Like I said, I don't know New York, and it might sit there for 90 days and it's six blocks away. But same thing with, you know, big metropolitans like Phoenix and Miami and Fort Lauderdale. It's like you got to know your location. So having a good agent that understands it, you know, I always tell my people, like, you need an agent on your team or your spouse or you need to become one. So it's, you know, that's, that's good advice.
[00:14:48] Speaker D: So how quickly you can sell the house, how fast the market is moving in that area is a big consideration. Yeah, because you don't want to be stuck paying mortgage for, you finished the house in three months, but you haven't sold it yet, so you're making mortgage payments. That's cutting into your profit.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: Definitely cutting your profit. And, like, at a 10% margin sooner or later, if you're paying a point a month to a guy like me, three to four months down the road, and you don't have any profit, it's.
[00:15:17] Speaker D: All going to the bank.
[00:15:18] Speaker E: So it is a risk. Well, it's an entrepreneurial endeavor.
[00:15:21] Speaker F: So do you recommend people borrow off their own house to start flipping or is a hard money loan kind of the way to go?
[00:15:30] Speaker A: So I actually took out a $60,000 line of credit when I got my first house. So yeah, I did a line of credit on my first house to do it. You can find hard money lenders like me that'll give you like 85, 90% of the money. You can borrow it from your rich grandpa Bob or you can get a line of credit, but obviously you're gonna have to find the cash, right? You know, you can go to events like mine, like a local RIA, which is real estate investor association. You got guys that are lending money, fixing and flipping houses. I mean, go to meetup.com and there's real estate meetups everywhere in every city, right? So you just got to build your network. And once you build your network, just like we're building our network right here, you know, that helps.
[00:16:12] Speaker E: I think the other thing too is you have to be aware of materials costs, right? So you're not going to go into a maybe hundred thousand dollar house neighborhood and put in marble countertops, right?
[00:16:22] Speaker A: Yeah. You gotta know, you gotta, you gotta know what you do. And everybody says you need an interior designer. You know, for years and years I just cheat. I go just on the MLS and I find that ten houses that have sold right next to mine and I just copy them. Oh, that one sold in five days. I'm copying that interior design.
[00:16:38] Speaker E: That's a good idea.
That's a gem.
[00:16:42] Speaker A: Just straight copy them.
[00:16:44] Speaker D: And somebody else just on a slightly different subject, but somebody told me that if you're looking to hire a real estate agent, look for the one that has the most signs up in your area. They're the one that is hot and they are the one that has the best network and the most energy and all of those things.
[00:16:59] Speaker A: Well, if they got all those listings, I mean, agents farm an area, right? So they're going to work that particular area. They're going to know that particular area the best. But yeah, I mean, look, you got to have all the pieces to the puzzle. And I started, you know, I got my second layoff on the tech downturn. I started studying basically July 31. I didn't buy my first house till December 31. I literally spent, but I didn't have all the gurus or YouTube or anything. I just had to straight figure it out. But it took me five months to figure it out. And then I'm like, all right, time to take some action and do it.
[00:17:34] Speaker E: Well, that was what I was just going to ask you, do you advise the people that are borrowing from you to sit down and map out a plan, like with materials costs, like market, like analyze everything and put it together in like a business plan, like a budget?
[00:17:49] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I asked for like a spreadsheet on a budget and they're like, oh, I don't know how to do that. And I'm like, here's my template.
That's really nice because I want them to be succeed. I'm lending them money. I want them, I want my money back. Right. So, you know, I, I don't mind coaching them through the process, but are.
[00:18:07] Speaker D: You taking a security interest in the house then too?
[00:18:10] Speaker A: Taking a first deed of trust? Yeah.
[00:18:11] Speaker D: Okay. So that kind of helps you feel a little bit more comfortable because the ground's not going away and the house is hopefully not going away.
[00:18:20] Speaker A: Right. I'm lending at like, so like, to her example, if it's an $800,000 house, I'm only lending like 450 to 480. So if things go awry, I can always take the house back. I mean, I don't do it very often, but, you know, I do it.
[00:18:34] Speaker F: So interest rates are pretty high on the buyer's side, right?
[00:18:38] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:38] Speaker F: How does that affecting the flipping market?
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Oh, definitely. You know, it's, it's definitely slowed down. Obviously, everything was booming when we could get three and three and a half percent. People are buying second homes and vacation homes and all that stuff. And like in Florida, inventory's gone four x. Phoenix isn't that bad. It's probably two x, but definitely inventory is rising. You know, obviously there was a run from stocks last week, so when people run from stocks, they buy bonds. So the ten years ticked down and they're saying that people forget that the Fed rate and the mortgage rates are different. But you're going to see if you see any more like another bad jobs report, you'll see more people run from stocks and go to bonds. And as that comes down, I think you're going to see mortgages in the fives, high fives by the end of the year. And then that's going to bring some buying back. It won't be like people will be like 5.75, way better than seven and a half, and then they might think about moving, you know, but the guy that's sitting on a 3% mortgage is going to sit there for a little bit, probably. So.
[00:19:41] Speaker F: Makes sense.
[00:19:42] Speaker D: Yeah, absolutely. So you're listening to passage to profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhardt and our guest is Chris Iman, who's a founder of the sell wholesale houses and also just for flips. And we're talking real estate here. We'll be back with more after this.
[00:19:59] Speaker H: Have you considered getting life insurance? But you smoke and youve been told more than once that you need to pay smoker rates and those rates are too expensive for you. Are you between the ages of 40 and 70? Now you can call our special toll free number at the term lifeline and learn how to qualify for a life insurance policy at non smoker rates. Thats right. Now you can get a life insurance policy even if youre a smoker. At non smoker rates, you can save significantly on a life insurance policy. Call right now. Ask our specialist how you can qualify for non smoker life insurance rates even if you are a smoker. We'll shop all the top life insurance companies and provide you rates that you can afford. Call now and ask our agents how you can qualify for non smoker life insurance rates.
[00:20:45] Speaker I: 800 5652-4308-5652-4308-5652-430 that's 805 6524. 30.
[00:20:58] Speaker G: Learn how thousands of smart homeowners are investing about a dollar to avoid expensive home repair bills. John, a former non customer, said, my air conditioner broke and I had to spend $1,900 to fix it. Jeff, a customer wrote, my air conditioner broke and I got a new one at no out of pocket cost. Mary, a former non customer wrote, my heating system stopped running. I had to spend $3,000 to get a new one. Lisa, a customer wrote, my heater stopped working. I got it fixed at no out of pocket cost for about $1 a day. You can have all the major appliances and systems in your home guaranteed, fixed or replaced. Call now if the lines are busy, please call back.
[00:21:40] Speaker I: Call the home Warranty hotline now at 800 2554-9408-0025-5494-0800-2554-940. That's 802. Five, five, 4940.
[00:21:57] Speaker C: Now back to passage to profit.
[00:22:00] Speaker G: Once again, Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart and.
[00:22:02] Speaker E: Our special guest, Chris. I'm in flipping real estate, financing it and all sorts of really fascinating things.
[00:22:08] Speaker D: Chris, how do people get in touch with you?
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Sellwholesalehouses.com. i'm on Instagram. Just Chris Imona, u y m a n n. Great.
[00:22:17] Speaker D: You're listening to passage to profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhardt. And now it's time for IP in the news. Intellectual property in the news, artificial intelligence again, another lawsuit about artificial intelligence. And in this case, a bunch of artists sued some AI companies because the AI companies were copying the artist's creations and using AI to create a new creations. And these companies copying the artist's creations are selling it, but they're not giving credit or money or getting permission from the artists. So they filed a suit in federal district court, and it turns out that the court decided to let the suit go forward. And so it will be interesting to see how the court eventually rules.
[00:23:03] Speaker E: Did they actually say in the suit, hey, robots, stop copying our homework?
Except in this case, it's our whole portfolio.
[00:23:12] Speaker D: I agree. I think it's going to be hilarious. How are you going to put AI on the stand, right? To testify? You know, I guess you put a computer in the chair, or maybe you have somebody holding a cell phone up. How's the jury going to decide that anyway? Kenya?
[00:23:25] Speaker F: Well, one of my pet peeves about AI, I know we think it's so great and it's so wonderful. But I guess when it comes down to people's rights and ownership of creativity, who do you hold accountable when you can't put AI in the stand? Right. And does that just take away the rights of the person that's creating the. The concept or the who owns the IP?
[00:23:44] Speaker E: That's a really good question. I do want to mention here that this article is by Carl Fransen on venturebeat.com. and I also want to mention that he had a disclaimer in his article saying that the images that he used in his article were generated by AI.
So who do you sue? I don't know. Who needs to pay you for using your creative content?
[00:24:06] Speaker D: Well, the companies that create the software are the ones that are the target, but they're just using AI that they license from somebody else. Right. So I guess it's the big AI companies are the ones that are doing this. Jack.
[00:24:20] Speaker C: Well, I've literally had people copy my tiktoks and my Instagram reels and repurpose it, or, heck, even make fake accounts, where then they're, like, targeting my followers. And it's a really awkward and weird dynamic because I've had somebody even show me a recording of what sounded to be my own voice because they taught an AI model to listen to my videos and basically repurpose content based using my type of language. And it's scary. It's a little spooky, not gonna lie.
[00:24:47] Speaker D: Yeah. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?
[00:24:50] Speaker C: That's a nice way of putting it.
[00:24:51] Speaker E: It's also theft.
[00:24:53] Speaker D: How do you feel when you see something like that as a creator, though.
[00:24:56] Speaker C: I think it's concerning at first because I don't really know what to do. I mean, do I call my attorney? Do I contact a member of our team? But at the very end of the day, I feel bad because there's somebody who's maybe being subject to a crypto scheme or some sort of thing where they think it's genuinely coming from me. So it's not just a branding issue, but it comes down to just a sheer, like, theft of someone's personal property. I think there's going to be more oversight with a lot of these tech companies. They're well aware that it's an issue, but it's definitely something that's very prevalent today. And there's not enough technology or resources for creators like myself to really protect ourselves in advance of something being copied.
[00:25:28] Speaker D: Right. We'll be talking with you later about your project, but you've got a business and you're using TikTok to get the word out for marketing purposes. But some people make a living just on the creative part. And so in your case, maybe if somebody does do an extra video or something, maybe in some weird way that helps you. I'm not saying it's right, but it does help you a little bit. But other people, that's how the artists, they make their living doing these paintings. Right, Alice?
[00:25:52] Speaker B: Actually, I was having this conversation with my son who started, he's an artist, and he's getting a following on Instagram, and he does these beautiful ink hand drawings. And I asked him if he is going to do a copyright on his characters because more and more graphics are becoming copyrighted. And AI, it seems like there's another level of technology that needs to be invented in terms of when an artist creates a piece of artwork, can it be copyrighted digitally so that an AI bot can't use that material unless it flags the owner or pays the owner?
[00:26:34] Speaker E: I know music people have been trying to do this for a long time, right? Trying to get paid for people taking.
[00:26:39] Speaker B: Their music, and it's happened for so long.
[00:26:42] Speaker A: Chris, obviously I would feel bad if someone was stealing stuff. I'm not the artistic type, but even, like, on my social media, like, to your point, I'm a business account, so I only have my music I can use is only a very limited amount. I can't go grab the cool song that's out there now because maybe Instagram's not paying them for me to use that song. So if it's like the top ten Instagram songs. Not a choice for me because I have a business account and I can't just use that music. So they obviously stopped it in the music industry a little bit.
[00:27:12] Speaker D: So while we're talking about intellectual property that covers patents, trademarks and copyrights, if you do want to learn more about patents, go to learn more about patents.com. you could also go to learn more about trademarks.com. you can schedule some time with me. You can download a white paper. So by all means, check it out. You're listening to passage to profit with Richard and Elizabeth Gerhart. And our guest is Chris Iman, who's a founder of the sell wholesale houses. And also just for flips. And stay tuned for secrets of the entrepreneurial mind coming up soon.
[00:27:47] Speaker I: Do you hear that? That's the sound of uncertainty lurking under your hood. You know the feeling. I know I do. That sudden sinking sensation when you see a check engine light or your car unexpectedly breaks down and you're faced with sky high repair bills. It's time to shield against unexpected repairs with Carshield. Carshield is America's most trusted auto protection company and has an a rating with the Better Business bureau. Don't let the fear of a breakdown keep you up at night. Trust the shield car shield and say goodbye to terrifying repair bills. And hello, hello to peace of mind. Your plan also comes with 24/7 roadside assistance, courtesy towing, rental car options, and so much more. Don't wait till it's too late. Call Carshield now before a breakdown. Protect your wallet. Protect your car with car shield. Get our best protection ever. Call now. You'll thank me later. 800 9870-6188-0098-7061-8.
[00:28:47] Speaker G: If you're worried about losing your health insurance through Medicaid, we have great news for you. New government regulations have expanded the Affordable Care act, and now you may qualify to get health insurance for you and your family through the Affordable Care act. Call now to learn if you qualify. We know the health care regulations regarding Medicaid, and we've helped thousands of people find quality, affordable health insurance. Plus, all our research is free to you. So call us. With just one call, we'll shop from hundreds of different insurance companies to find you the right affordable health insurance plan. So if you're worried about losing your Medicaid insurance, call right now, speak with a licensed agent and find how you may qualify for a new health insurance plan.
[00:29:30] Speaker I: 800 4105-9148-0410-5918 hundred 410-5914 that's 804 10 5914. Paid for by the health insurance hotline.
[00:29:47] Speaker G: Passage to profit continues with Richard and Elizabeth Gearhart.
[00:29:51] Speaker D: Now it's time for power move. So, Kenya, what's up with power move?
[00:29:54] Speaker F: So excited about power move. I'm giving it to Michael Rubin, who was actually here yesterday. Had an opportunity to meet him. If you don't know who he is, he is. Well, he's worth $11.5 billion. Let's just start there. Right? Serial entrepreneur. He is the founder of Fanatics, which is a sports platform that now has evolved into live events. So he's going to be hosting a series of those that are traveling around the country here in New York City. So really excited about that. But it was just. It was nice to come into the presence of somebody like that. Right?
[00:30:28] Speaker D: Do you know many people who are worth over a billion dollars?
[00:30:31] Speaker F: He's the only one I think I've met so far.
[00:30:33] Speaker D: And what was he like?
[00:30:34] Speaker F: A super nice guy who should totally come up here and be on passage to profit.
[00:30:38] Speaker D: I'm down with that for sure.
[00:30:40] Speaker F: Yeah. I think he could teach us a thing or two and we.
[00:30:43] Speaker D: We could use another sponsor.
[00:30:48] Speaker F: So we're giving him power move today.
[00:30:50] Speaker D: Great, Elizabeth.
[00:30:51] Speaker E: Okay, so, as you know, I have a lot of projects going on. I still have my website that I haven't done anything with, but I'm repurposing it. It was a b two b video site, but I'm repurposing it to be something else. So I'll talk about that if I ever get it, finally get it done. There have been a lot of ups and downs. In the meantime, we decided to remodel our podcast studio that we have in summit, New Jersey. We're still working on that. So that got me doing a deep dive into podcasting because I realized people aren't just going to be able to come up there and do their podcasts. They're going to need a lot of help. So I had to figure out all that stuff. Plus, we've been doing the radio show for six years, so I ought to learn a thing or two about what I'm doing. So we're going to go to a conference podcast movement. That'll be fun. I have a meetup with Stacey Sherman called Podcast and YouTube creators community where we have experts come and talk in person about things you need to know if you're going to be podcasting. And then I also have another podcast. I do. And this is kind of funny because people always look at me like, that's really weird. But and it is weird, but I love it. So I do a cat podcast with Danielle Woolley called the Jersey podcast podcast. And it started because we had a cat with the problem, and I was trying to get feedback on, like, can anybody help us solve this problem? So it's kind of my creative thing. So I love podcasting because you can kind of do anything you want with it, and.
[00:32:11] Speaker D: And you like to talk.
You're a good communicator, and you don't have to.
[00:32:19] Speaker E: You don't have to go viral and make a bunch of money the first week. You can keep doing it, and you can do it in very low cost ways if you want, and then you can take your content and figure out maybe later on, you do want to try to make money from it. And there are a lot of different ways to make money from podcasting. So enough about me. I am so excited to have here today Alice Chun with solight design. I went and looked her up online. She's done some amazing things with these. These are beautiful solar lights. So welcome, Alice. Tell us what you're doing.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: I'm an inventor. I'm a social entrepreneur, a mother, and I was a former professor in architecture at Columbia University.
My focus was solar energy, because when my son was born with asthma, we would be going to the doctor's office all the time. And, you know, there's a saying, a worried mom does better research than the FBI. Well, that was me. And I realized that one out of four kids in New York have asthma due to the pollution in the air. 75% of the pollution comes from buildings, not the cars. And I focused on solar energy and was early on sewing solar panels to fabric and then filmed substrates. Then in 2010, the Haiti earthquake happened. After multitudes of different natural disasters reoccurring more frequently, I decided to step up and change my studio around to be an innovation studio to help Haiti. And in that research, we realized Haiti was a microcosm of what was happening globally. Only 10% of the country was electrified, and everyone was using kerosene lanterns, which is a deadly, toxic fuel. And then we realized, at one point, I made 500 prototypes of our solar puff light. I researched every solar light there on the market. They are all heavy, hard, bulky, plastic, ugly. And I am korean, and I grew up doing origami as a child. My mother taught me origami as a child, and all of our products fold and collapse like an origami balloon. And that's what the design is based on, so that you can fit hundreds in a box versus the other solar lights that are the hard and heavy and bulky, you can only fit ten, and ours are the lightest on the market. In terms of weight, they weigh practically nothing, and you don't even know that they're in your bag. So early on, when I was teaching at Columbia, I got on the phone and kept calling the un envoy to Haiti 20 different times for a month. And then finally, someone came. He invited me to Haiti for a tech expo. And, you know, everyone was amazed. They loved the design. And fast forward seven years. There's a hurricane called Maria that hits Puerto Rico, and 3 million people don't have access to electricity. And we get on the phone, and we get. We call all of our nonprofit partners, and we're able to get over 100,000 lights to people that have no light in Puerto Rico. And whenever I visit children, I bring these lights so that they can study at night, and I tell them the story of how when I was a little girl, I was beaten up and teased because I looked different than everyone else in school, and I became a fighter. But I didn't fight with my fists. I fought with the light in my heart and my mind. And now that they have these lights, they're light warriors, and they must fight with the light in their heart and their mind, because the sun is the most powerful source of energy that comes to the earth every day. But the light of their heart and mind is even more powerful than the sun. And then a year after that, they do a docuseries called Gutsy on Apple TV, and 30 people descend on me and my tiny apartment in Manhattan to film that episode in Gutsy. And then after that came out, I get a call from Bob Iger, and this is after he leaves Disney and before he goes back to Disney. So that was, like, three weeks in between. And he wants to meet me because his team saw Gutsy, and they saw that in my interview. I mentioned his book because I love his book called Ride of a Lifetime by Bogdan Iger. And he wanted to just say, thank you, the nicest guy you'll ever meet. I don't know if you've met him, but he is amazingly, like, sweet, soft spoken, just so nice. And after that, he went back to Disney, and he and his wife helped fund my trip to Ukraine, where I hand delivered a thousand lights to children in hospitals who have PTSD.
[00:37:20] Speaker E: That's always the fascinating thing about entrepreneurship. You start with an education, which you had. Maybe you know something, you know how to do something, but you take it in a very creative way. Are you selling these commercially in the US, too? So, like, so somebody like me could buy one?
[00:37:35] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely.
[00:37:36] Speaker E: So I can string these in my backyard. Like, they're very cool looking. They're origami. They're origami.
[00:37:41] Speaker B: Everyone that has them, they love them. All of our customers have been repeat customers since 2015 when we first started. And Christmas season, everyone loves to buy them as gifts for their family and friends. But, you know, in the US, camping, hiking, and by the way, because of natural disasters, there's a 60% increase in power outages. And living in Fort Lauderdale, hurricanes galore.
[00:38:08] Speaker A: Hurricanes are coming for sure.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: You know, and a lot of our customers.
[00:38:12] Speaker D: Forget your solar lights.
[00:38:13] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:13] Speaker D: Stock up.
[00:38:15] Speaker F: Question do they float?
[00:38:17] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:38:17] Speaker F: So I was thinking about, we were over in Angela Yee studio, and you were showing her your product, and one of the things I thought about outside of Mano's recommendation of using as a purse in the club was that you could put them in your pool. Like, they're pretty pool lights.
[00:38:30] Speaker B: Absolutely. They float in your pool. You can put them in the bathtub. Your kids love them. They love them as night lights. And you can teach your kids about solar energy. We have a lot of people that have weddings and events that love them because you can put them anywhere, and they're great for gifts. And then for our humanitarian side, we also have a page where people can come and buy light to give to one of our humanitarian missions. So that's so sweet.
[00:38:58] Speaker E: So how do people find you? Where can we buy these?
[00:39:01] Speaker B: Just go to solite dash design.com, solight hyphendesign.com. and we have a whole series of different solar lights. They're all origami, they're compact, and some of them charge phones. They're larger lights that also have a power bank all charged by the sun. And they work when you're really out of power, when you know everyone here, we have, you know, our homes that are hooked up to a grid. But I. And just in case, like, the people of Puerto Rico, they never thought that they would be out of power for about six months when that happened. And so if you're really stuck, our devices will actually work. It won't take two weeks to charge.
[00:39:50] Speaker E: You got to start talking to someone in Hollywood about getting these into one of those disaster movies, right?
[00:39:58] Speaker D: Totally.
[00:39:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, I know.
[00:40:00] Speaker E: Alice Chun with solite design. Thank you very much. We love what you are doing. That is truly amazing.
[00:40:09] Speaker D: Passage to prophet, our co host, Kenny Gibson, and our guest of honor, Chris Iman.
[00:40:13] Speaker E: So now we are moving on to our next presenter, Jack Boudreau. And I want to spell his name right now because he had talked about how he's on social media and people are stealing his social media ideas. His last name is b o u d r e a u. You have habits. A marketplace that makes it easy for people, younger people than me, to find a financial advisor.
[00:40:35] Speaker D: Well, we need one, so maybe we can find one there.
[00:40:38] Speaker C: Yeah, it sounds like we already have our conversation to talk about copyrights and then to talk about financial advice right after this.
[00:40:43] Speaker E: Absolutely. So tell us, what sets you apart? What's so great about your marketplace?
[00:40:47] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, first off, let's just start and talk about what a marketplace is, because technically speaking, I run two businesses. Right? So marketplace, you have supply, you have demand. Demand. Being people who are looking for financial advice, we typically are working with people below the age of 40. So it's usually their first financial advisor. But think about this audience, right? They're buying their first house, getting equity comp for the first time. They're getting married or engaged. They have every question in the world, but they've been told for a very long time that use this app, use this robo advisor, or, hey, you know, lean on that YouTube TikTok or Instagram influencer to provide you your financial education and advice. But then on the supply side, right, you know, this other half of the business that we're running is, we believe, out of the 400,000 financial advisors, 400,000 financial advisors in the United States, the best ones are hiding in plain sight. And so on the supply side, we're looking for the very best to be on this platform. And how we earn money is basically charging a membership fee for these advisors.
[00:41:42] Speaker D: Great. So how does the process work? If I'm looking for a financial advisor, what happens when I go to the marketplace?
[00:41:49] Speaker C: Well, it sounds like you are looking for a financial advisor. So I think we can kind of start right here.
[00:41:52] Speaker D: Do you want me to fill out the paperwork now?
[00:41:54] Speaker C: No, you don't have to do that. But one thing I want to make clear is basically our job is to be the surveyor. We're the searcher. We're trying to do everything that we can to understand where you're coming from. And we do that basically in two ways. The most popular right now is literally scheduling a one v one call with our team or even someone like myself. Like, I'm still doing these today, and I'm sure, as every entrepreneur in this room can understand, we will move heaven and earth to make sure that people are aware of what we do and kind of why we do it, or the more easier way. And maybe this is like the Gen Z digital native approaches. We got an application, you can download it on the Google Play or Apple iOS store where you can not only get like verified, but you can get through the marketplace. But the big thing for us is we want to hear your story. And that's why we always encourage people just to go to usehabits.com and book a call with us.
[00:42:41] Speaker D: So what motivated you to get into this business?
[00:42:43] Speaker C: One thing that I want to be clear, and I think any aspiring entrepreneur who's listening here can understand, intimidation is a, you know, it's one of the main barriers to not starting a business. And the financial services sector has been dominated by some old school players. I mean, my own professional background started at JP Morgan, and they're technically like an indirect competitor of ours. But what started this whole entire business was me just personally experiencing a problem. I had a decent chunk and change at a young age, and I was looking for a financial advisor, and I struggled, and I felt, well, if this is also affecting me, finding a financial advisor, and remember, this is how you level up in life and in business. You delegate and you find people who know things better than you do, or at least find someone who understands your story and what you're trying to aspire and achieve. And afterwards began to see that friends and family experience the same thing. And so I guess in a weird way, it's me saying I experienced the problem and then started to help others. And then before you know it, we have the habits marketplace.
[00:43:37] Speaker E: But what's interesting, the reason you say you're approaching younger people, I think, is because you're starting online. So instead of going to, like, a networking thing and shaking hands, you're starting online. Right. And Chris, you can pipe in here too, anytime you want.
[00:43:49] Speaker A: I mean, that's what I do, is like, I, you know, I raise money for my hard money fund by the whole school way, like lunch and learn and getting in front of people and shaking hands. Totally.
[00:43:58] Speaker D: I mean, the digital way of doing things is great, but there's still something about seeing people in person and creating a relationship. I do think that that helps with the trust. It's hard to trust people online. You have to watch them a lot longer, and you never really know if that's their real selves or who they really are. So meeting people definitely still work.
[00:44:20] Speaker E: To my point, I think the millennials and younger are online first, totally living.
[00:44:25] Speaker F: A different type of life than us old fogies over here where we wanted to be in front of people.
[00:44:29] Speaker C: Well, let me shoot some quick stats your way. Because one of the coolest parts about our job, right. Is that we're meeting people from a wide array of different situations, right? We help teachers, we help serial entrepreneurs. And so this is geographically agnostic. It's all across the US. But I would say probably around 99% of the people coming through our platform are very comfortable working with a financial advisor. Totally remote. Because you have to remember, it just. It opens the doors to totally new people.
[00:44:55] Speaker D: Right? I mean, and the digital opens the door. They still, for many products, people still want to talk with somebody.
[00:45:02] Speaker C: Exactly.
[00:45:03] Speaker D: It just depends on the product or the service, for sure.
[00:45:05] Speaker C: 100%.
[00:45:06] Speaker F: So in terms of financial advising. And we take a look at it from a age perspective. Like, what should you be doing in your thirties? What should you be doing in your forties? Where should you be in your fifties?
[00:45:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, Kenya, it's a great question. I could share some high level aggregate data. But the very end of the day, everyone's going through, you know, a lot of different things, right? We all earn money at different levels. We all have different levels of experience. And also we just have life changes. Right? You know, my girlfriend and I, we're moving in for the first time. So I got a lot of questions for anyone else, right. That might happen when you're 30. That might happen when you're 22. That might happen when you're 45. And so with all these different things going on, that's why we've said to ourselves, AI definitely. And, you know, automations with financial management applications to help you just with the operational functions of your money will always be a factor. But at the end of the day, Kenya, people want to just talk with one another. They want to get to know someone, right? When we came in here and you greeted us, I felt a level of understanding because you knew why I was here and what I wanted to achieve. And that's usehabits.com, by the way.
[00:46:09] Speaker D: So what have been some of your bigger challenges than starting this marketplace?
[00:46:13] Speaker C: Well, as noted, you know, we're in a highly regulated, highly competitive, crowded and fragmented space. You know, when we started kicking this off, I mean, it's almost embarrassing to say, but literally I was dming people on LinkedIn. I was trying to get in front of anybody who would take my call, anybody who would give me the time of day. And there are so many financial advisors. 4000. I've spoken to 1500 financial advisors. I've spoken to over 2000 families. But you want to know what? It's one of the keys to entrepreneurship. If you can get in front of the people who resonate with your story and are personally experiencing the problem that whether you're trying to solve it or better understand it, those people will move heaven and earth for you. They will line up around the door to support you and your cause. And I think that's one of the many reasons why we're having so much success on platforms like TikTok or my blog or on reels or other social media platforms.
[00:47:01] Speaker F: That's great. I just had a quick question. What makes you different from your competitors or other people that are in the market who are doing what you do?
[00:47:08] Speaker C: It's a great question. And we often think about this in a few different ways, right? Because we work with two businesses, right? We got the families who are looking for financial advice and then we have the financial advisors themselves. So this is going to be a two part answer for you, Kenya. Part number one, with families, we don't pay for clicks and eyeballs, right? All the other people on this street here, right, they have eight digit, nine digit annual marketing budgets, right? So tens of millions, hundreds of millions for us. We have a cell phone. My co founder and I, we produce some content. We're just raw, authentic and honest, and people seem to relate to it. So everything that we're doing here right now, by the way, it's about to be repurposed at Jack underscore Boudreaux underscore. But the second part to this, though, Kenya is the financial advisors, right? These people have been sold to their entire life, right? Oh, we'll help you get 15 to 20 million in AUM. Oh, we'll give you this tool to reach out to every family in the world who here raise your hand, has had some level of a solicitor asking you for like, hey, do you want to buy this product? Do I buy this insurance thing? We try to explain to financial advisors, your time is more precious than any money you'll spend trying to get in front of new audiences. And we already do it because we basically measure the intent of that family by getting and building a relationship with them far in advance through our content. So usually by month nine of them following us, they engage with us, but they already know us.
[00:48:21] Speaker D: So what kind of products do you offer?
[00:48:23] Speaker C: So right now, the marketplace is really the sole thing that we're operating with right now. And so for the year 2024, my primary objective is to create a consistent experience. Because here's the problem, guys. We didn't expect to grow this quickly. We didn't expect tens and thousands of new followers. We didn't expect millions of people. Millions of people. Could you think about walking into a stadium and speaking to million people? It's kind of intimidating. But in this digital landscape, we don't think about it. And so now that we're growing so fast, I'm basically yelling at my co founder, Vera, who's literally my partner in crime, my brother. I love this guy to death. I probably speak to him more than any other friend or family member or girlfriend. Please don't say that to her, by the way.
But the reason why I articulate this in such an aggressive fashion is because we need an application that can automate and scale this thing out, because there's a huge need out there, right?
[00:49:10] Speaker E: So you're really taking advantage of the digital tools, I think, more than any other financial planner that I've talked to.
[00:49:16] Speaker C: Well, there's some regulation behind that if you're a financial planner. I'm not going to go into the investment Advisors act, the solicitors rule, the marketing rule, but what I'm kind of getting at is they are actually limited to what they can say and do online. So another really big problem that a lot of people don't understand with young people is that they're going to YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. 80% of people in that demographic associate that as their primary source of financial education. I probably don't need to educate anybody in this room or who's listening to this, the problems around that, and these are unlicensed professionals. Maybe somebody who woke up one day and said, hey, I need to buy this crypto. Here's the best way to purchase homes with no money down. Like, if I actually have never had financial education in my high school class, or I never had some sort of finance major course throughout college, or maybe you didn't even have access to this act of education. You're leaning to what's easiest, and that's on your phone, and we're trying to change that. And I do think it's a massive problem. So investment management, I mean, that's one of maybe 30 capabilities. And I'm posting on this on LinkedIn all the time. My financial advisor today, we talk about strategy, we talk about how they can make an impact on our business. We talk about things that are tax related. We talk about things about, you know, equity compensation. There are so many things that are now because, and especially these digital natives, they have unique ways of receiving compensation from their employers. And so it's far more than just stocks and bonds. I think the coolest part about our platform is that we have financial advisors from every brokerage. We even have some where it's just a me, myself and I operation. Because what we've come to recognize with this, you know, younger demographic, they care a heck of a lot more about the name on the back than the logo or jersey on the front because they want to say, like, hey, you know, I work with Richard, I work with Elizabeth. Like, they want to be very clear and direct to say that, like, I don't work with a particular brand because a lot of these services have been commoditized. I mean, they've been around for generations.
[00:50:59] Speaker E: Well, I think of my son and his wife, and I did want to say when we're talking about houses, that they decided to pay more for their house to get the lower interest rate, and now they're really glad they did. Like that would be part of your planning.
[00:51:10] Speaker C: Oh, my God. This is an arbitrary metric, but we usually say that, like, 80% of people who come to habits are experiencing some sort of, oh, crap moment, right? You know, when you're like, oh, man, I really need to talk to somebody about this. And one of those is buying my first house. Right. You know, before, you know, in 2019. And, you know, obviously can give a little bit better of understanding here. But the brass tax to it is, it used to be, what, maybe $270,000 was the median, you know, household price. And now this is median. You know, this is across the US, three bedroom, two home, 1400 square feet. Well, then in 2022, that $270,000 price moved to 420,000, and wages did not grow that fast. And so now think about my generation. Who's been told, well, buying a house is the most instrumental part of your financial plan. Well, what do they do? They go to an app, they go to the robo advisor. They just stick to stocks and bonds? Or do you talk to somebody who knows what you're trying to achieve, who has a good understanding of what is your blind spot? These are the things that people are trying to avoid. And that's why we've created the marketplace to help people avoid that.
[00:52:08] Speaker D: That's amazing.
[00:52:09] Speaker E: It's really important.
[00:52:10] Speaker D: So how can people find you?
[00:52:11] Speaker C: Usehabits.com or you can. You can find me on TikTok. You can join my blog, you can find me on Instagram at just Jack Boudreau. Oftentimes, I'm either talking about my conversations with VC's or advisors or really anything in between. I think just one of the coolest parts about entrepreneurship is that anybody's going to take your call if you're building something cool, that's great.
[00:52:31] Speaker E: Excellent. Well, thank you.
[00:52:33] Speaker D: You're listening to passage to profit. And coming up next, secrets of the entrepreneurial mind. So stay tuned.
[00:52:38] Speaker C: I'm Jack, CEO and co
[email protected]. dot. When I left my job as a Wall street banker back in my twenties, I felt completely lost trying to navigate the process of hiring a financial advisor. I thought it should be easy to find the right financial advisor. So I created a place where young families could feel understood and their unique needs would be met with empathy and expertise. That's why I started usehabits.com, where we help you find your financial advisor free of charge. Usehabits.com dot it's passage to profit now.
[00:53:11] Speaker D: It'S time for Noah's retrospective.
[00:53:14] Speaker E: Noah Fleischman is our producer here at passage to profit, and he never stops trying to make sense of the future by looking at the past.
[00:53:23] Speaker J: What was critic Nick Brown talking about in the quarterly review of film studies in 1984 when he was describing the political economy of the television supertext? Well, he was explaining the contrast of film and how the design of television content is predicated strictly upon the corporate effort to manipulate the consumer impulse within the viewer. It's a good thing the Internet came along and put an end to all of that stuff, huh? Well, maybe not. The truth is we need to be aware at all times of the real purpose of any commercial image on the Internet. We need to realize when we're being persuaded and whether or not we really are. It's all just part of the american entrepreneurial cycle. As consumers, we just need to play defense a little bit. And if you are an entrepreneur using the Internet to reach and persuade consumers that way, then go out there and.
[00:54:09] Speaker C: Get them now more with Richard and Elizabeth.
[00:54:12] Speaker E: Passage to profit and our special guest, Chris Iman, founder of sell wholesale houses and just for flips, sellwholesalehouses.com justforflips.com. now it is time for secrets of the entrepreneurial mind. And I am going to start with Chris. Chris, what is a secret you are willing to share?
[00:54:31] Speaker A: Just consistency. Like, entrepreneurs come up with 20 more ideas than they actually act on, right? I don't know how many ideas I've come up with, but then it's just taking that action, I think that is so true.
[00:54:44] Speaker D: Follow through is key, right? You have to stay with it until you get to where you want to.
[00:54:49] Speaker E: Be Alice Chun was so like design. S o l I g h t dash design.com what is the secret you'll share?
[00:54:57] Speaker B: One thing I was thinking about is the mother of invention is necessity, and the daughter of invention is curiosity. They're two female characters, but in the United States patent and trademark office, only 8% are women. And I think that needs to change. I'd love to see more young girls and women involved in invention and patent process. And please call Richard share heart law.
[00:55:22] Speaker D: Yeah, Richard. We file patents for everybody.
[00:55:25] Speaker B: I made terrible mistakes when I was a professor. As soon as I became an entrepreneur, I had to hand everyone an NDA, which is a completely different scenario. So this is something that you should learn, you know, early on in protecting your ip.
[00:55:40] Speaker D: Thanks for sharing that. So your secret is to keep your secret secret with an MDA. Got it.
[00:55:47] Speaker E: So Jack Boudreau. B o u d r e a U with usehabits.com. what is a secret you can share?
[00:55:57] Speaker C: I often have lived by the philosophy of tighten your circle, grow your network. If you're an entrepreneur, if you're a founder, if you have aspirations of starting a startup, you have to be very comfortable telling everybody and anybody about what you're building and why you're building it. But that tighten your circle part, you need a trusted group of people that you can rely on because, I mean, I'm sure we can all between Alice and Chris and, I mean, we can all relate. It's a bumpy road and you need people to be there for you, because if you try to do it and put everything on your shoulders, it's going to crush you.
[00:56:29] Speaker E: That is really true.
[00:56:30] Speaker C: Was that too deep?
[00:56:33] Speaker D: That was very deep. Thank you. So.
[00:56:35] Speaker E: Richard Gearhart Gearhartlaw.com dot I'm going to.
[00:56:39] Speaker D: Go for my secret with prioritize. Just relating to what Chris said about having a lot of different ideas. Entrepreneur also has to prioritize and make sure that the time you're spending is spent on the right things that are actually going to give you a return in the end for your time. And so you have to think about that. It's not always just popping out at you. You have to have sort of a bigger strategy, and you have to link your activities to that so that you can accomplish your bigger goals.
[00:57:10] Speaker F: That's great.
[00:57:11] Speaker E: Kenya.
[00:57:11] Speaker F: I think you have to just learn how to do things afraid. And I feel like I've been doing things afraid my entire life, like whether I feel prepared or not. And like I'm all about having a strategy and having a plan. But I think sometimes we wait until things are perfect or till we have it all figured out. Lead with faith. Yeah, lead with faith. Right. Do something, lest you do nothing is kind of the way I've lived my life.
[00:57:33] Speaker B: Doing nothing is greater than the risk of being wrong.
[00:57:35] Speaker F: 1000%.
[00:57:36] Speaker E: Yeah, I think I'm gonna say relationships, because I think relationships do more for us than we realize.
[00:57:44] Speaker C: Relationships is how the world moves around. I mean, that's basically the concept of usehabits.com dot.
[00:57:48] Speaker E: And for Alice's story, my gosh.
[00:57:51] Speaker B: Basically what we want to do is help make lives better.
[00:57:54] Speaker A: You just keep growing your network.
[00:57:55] Speaker D: Very good stuff. Passage to profit is a nationally syndicated radio show appearing in 31 markets across the United States. In addition, passage to profit has also been recently selected by Feedspot Podcasters database as a top ten entrepreneur interview podcast. Thank you to the P two P team, our producer, Noah Fleischman and our program coordinator Alicia Morrissey and Rishikep Busarity. Look for our podcast tomorrow, anywhere you get your podcasts. Our podcast is ranked in the top 3% globally. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram X, and on our YouTube channel. And remember, while the information on this program is believed to be correct, never take a legal step without checking with your legal professional first. Gerhardt Law is here for your patent, trademark and copyright needs. You can find
[email protected] and contact us for a free consultation. Take care, everybody. Thanks for listening and we'll be back next week.
