Transcription
Excuse me, ladies. Excuse me. How did you guys get rich?
I'm gonna ask her that question. Yeah. How did you get rich? Like, how old were you when you became a millionaire?
I was 22 years old. You said 22. 22. 22.
How do you now? I'm I'm 34.
And how did you get rich? What did you do?
God made me a millionaire.
God made you millionaire. Who is your God?
Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
And what's your name?
My name is Jameus Winston.
And what do you do?
And I'm an NFL quarterback for the New York Football Giants.
I was in the logistics business. I ran a big trucking company. Sold it. I started from nothing. Two trucks, empty warehouse, built a lot of real estate.
How much did you sell your company for?
400 million.
I sold a company for 400 million. Over 500.
500 million.
How did he get rich?
Uh, you got to ask him. He got the He got the best story in America.
How did you get rich?
Uh, you wouldn't believe it.
How did you get rich, man? How did you get rich?
If me and you died tomorrow and you had one more message to leave with the younger generation, what would that The biggest advice I can give anybody is first, this is New York City, the richest city in the world. And I'm not kidding. More billionaires, more millionaires, more money moves in this city every day than anywhere else on the planet. So today, I'm doing something insane for you. I'm going to be investigating New York City by going straight to the source. I'm going to be interviewing the millionaires and the billionaires of New York City to figure out how they built their wealth. These are the people who've made it in the most competitive city on Earth. Because like they say, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. So, this is my investigation into the richest city in the world. Let's get this video on the way.
Excuse me, sir. Sir, I had a question for you.
Oh, sorry.
Real quick, sir. How How old were you when you became a millionaire?
All right. Excuse me, sir. How old were you when you became a millionaire?
Never mind. I don't know.
Real quick, sir. Could I get one minute?
Like and subscribe to the channel. Oh my god. Let's go. Excuse me, sir. A question for you.
Real quick, sir. So, I grew a channel to 20 million followers in Austin, Texas. I go all over the world asking people
I got I got to go. I'm sorry. Sorry.
All right, man. Damn, bro. Excuse me, sir. How old were you when you became a millionaire?
Oh, not a millionaire.
What line of business are you in, sir?
I'm an independent consultant, angel investor.
Why do most businesses fail in today's world? Eight out of 10 companies don't make it past five years.
I don't know. I need to think about that one.
Yeah. So, real quick, sir. I grew a channel to 20 million followers and even the most successful business owners like Mark Cuban, Michael Ruben, Shaq. Could I get just 30 seconds? It'll be worth it. I'm sorry.
All right, man. Have a good one, man. Look, as you guys can see, man. Look, we we've been trying all day out here to try and get these people to stop and do interviews. Man, that's an angel investor. Sounds like he might be from the UK, man. But look, I I'm not going to stop, man. Look, we're in the richest city in America, man. There's more millionaires and billionaires in New York than anywhere else on earth. So, let's go find out where they are and how they got rich. Come on.
Excuse me, ladies. Excuse me. How did you guys get rich?
I'm going to ask her that question. Yeah. How did you get rich? Like, how old were you when you became a millionaire?
I was 22 years old.
You said 22.
22. 22.
How do you now?
I'm I'm 34.
And how did you get rich? What did you do?
I was the founder of an app called Sweat. And then we sold.
How much did you sell your company for?
400 million.
I sold a company for 400 million. Could I interview you for a minute real quick? I go all over the world interviewing the richest people to help the young
I follow you. I've seen all your stuff. Yes, of course. Of course.
Okay. Where are you from?
I'm from Australia.
What's the biggest difference doing business in Australia versus the United States?
Oh, this has got a big hustle culture. Like everyone's moving. Australia is way more chilled, but it's amazing.
Did you come from a lot of money?
Absolutely not. No, not at all. No, I I actually started my parents backyard.
Did you have any investors in the company? Did you bootstrap it?
Bootstrap the whole thing.
The entire thing to 400 million.
And yeah,
I'm going to challenge you right now. Take me back to the most life-changing conversation you ever had. What is the greatest piece of advice that you ever received throughout your career?
The greatest piece of advice I've ever received is someone said, you know, that you are under no obligation to be the same person you were yesterday. And I think that is really strong in the fact that like it might be your fitness journey that you're on. You you're under no obligation to be the same person you were yesterday. You can change. You can make a change. But same with business. Like people know you for such a niche. And a lot of people listening to this, they will know that person for that niche. I know you for this niche, but you don't have to be the same person that you were yesterday. You can go off. You can change. You can do something different. And I think that this year for me is a big focus on growing myself and my brand and doing other things other than just being a personal trainer.
So as a woman in business, did you have people that doubted you?
Absolutely. And still to this day, but even like for example, I grew up Greek. So like my grandparents have no idea what I do. They still don't know what I do. My family was like personal training is not a sustainable career. At some point like I do agree with them and a little bit of me was like should I be doing this? Then when I pursued the career and then when I cut out half the market, when I did the guys, when I did the app and then when I sold, it's like you kind of get to prove them wrong but in a nice way. And they really really appreciate what I do. Now,
what's the number one thing that business owners get wrong when they try to sell their company?
I mean, I think I did it wrong. I think like when you're selling a company, you want to be able to sell the company that doesn't have you attached to it. And I think what I did wrong and where I would, if I could do anything and do it all over again, is I would remove myself as part of the company. You want to sell it and be able to celebrate and relax. But for me, it wasn't relaxing. They call that the key man risk.
That's right.
That's why they say that Disney's the best business because Mickey Mouse isn't in the negotiation.
That's exactly right.
I love that.
So, there's a truth to that right there.
Absolutely. There is.
You made a lot of millions in your career. How does somebody make their money work for them?
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. So, make sure that you diversify your wealth. For me, the first thing that ever made me money that I was so excited that I I bought was a petrol station. Like a petrol station. Gas station.
You bought a gas station?
Yeah. And I was like, "Wow." Like out of all the millions of dollars, it's so cool to see rent coming in from a gas station. Like it was like doing different things, investing in property, investing in the market, like just diversifying your wealth and not putting it all in one basket cuz one day the internet might shut off. It'll all be gone.
You never know.
That's right.
What's your name?
My name is Kayla Cenus.
And if me and you died tomorrow and you had one more message to leave with the younger generation, what would that be?
I think what I said before, you're under no obligation to be the same person you were yesterday. You can make a change. If you have a passion, go for it.
You got amazing advice. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate that. I I connect with all the millionaires and billionaires I interview. Could I get your contact?
Of course.
Okay. $400 million is what she sold her company for, you guys. And she just gave a beautiful interview out there, man. She went from, I think, personal trainer to then launching a fitness act that sold for 400 M, guys. Crazy good interviewing game for all the entrepreneurs watching right now. We got to go get this next one. You guys, come on.
Excuse me, sir. I had a question for you. How did you get rich?
Real quick.
Real quick. How did you guys get rich?
Oh, I'm not rich.
No. How about him?
New York City rich.
I'm poor.
No. How about him right here?
He's also New York City poor.
We're both poor. All right, guys. How's it going? Excuse me, sir. Sir, I got a question for you. How did you get rich?
I'm so broke I can't pay attention. I'm only kidding.
How did you get rich, man? I go all over the wood and the richest.
So, you see the trucks? I was in logistics business. I ran a big lo trucking company, sold it.
So, so you're a business owner?
I'm a business owner. I started from nothing. Two trucks, empty warehouse, built a lot of real estate.
How much did you sell your company for?
A lot of money.
Give me a range.
Over 500.
500
million. You sold a company for 500 million. I give you for a minute real quick. Okay. Sure.
How did you get the money to start your business? Did Did you come from a lot of money?
No. My father was just an average guy. Had a small little business. I took it over with $68 and built it up.
So you went from 68 to
$68. It was a receivable of $68. I took the $68 and I parlayed it and I bought all my equipment and I built it up and from that we were land pigs. So I wound up with a lot of real estate and that's really what I do now. So when I sold the business, we converted more into real estate.
So, let me ask you this, cuz trucking, logistics, this isn't necessarily a super sexy business that people don't think about, but you can make a lot of money doing it. How did you end up in this space?
I ended up in the space because I loved what I did, right? I love the smell of diesel in the morning. Every morning for me was like Christmas morning. I like to get up, like to get out there. A lot of kids don't want to do that today. And that's a big problem. They're looking at what other people do and think it's easy, but you got to fight and you got to get in there every single day. And they don't. It's what you got to do.
How old do you now?
I'm 60.
You got almost 40 years on me. Wh whose generation works harder? Yours or mine?
Oh, no. You guys are forget about it. You guys got you're done. I mean, I don't know what you guys are going to do. Truth be told, we are the last of the generations that really could do it.
But how can somebody my age stand out?
It's like anything else. You watch a baseball player, right? What makes him better than the next guy? It's how much you put into it. And a lot of people don't want to put the time in. I can tell you from every morning getting up, every night coming home late. I had a deal with customers. I had all the big Fortune 100 companies. You name them, which I won't, but everyone that you could think of, every retailer, I brought that freight to that that store. So, that's what we did. And then from that, like I said, we needed land and we bought a lot of land. Now today, we have over a thousand tenants in all of our real estate. So, we're doing we're doing okay.
So, what's the secret to creating wealth in real estate? Because we know that most millionaires and billionaires, they make their fortune.
Don't have debt. I'm a debtree operator, right? So, that's key because if there's a mistake, you can rebound. And a lot of guys leverage all the debt up and they want to talk about how many buildings they own, but they're they're so broke because they they're leveraged up. We have no leverage.
You don't like debt?
No. Zero debt. I ran my business with no debt. So, when I sold it was a cash free, debtree deal. All the money went in my pocket. How did you get the capital to scale though? Because even like companies like Apple, they borrowed
I never borrowed a dime to run my business. I swear to you, in 40 years, I never borrowed a dime. The only thing I borrowed money on was brand new trucks. So when I bought a brand new truck, I expensed it over one year and I paid it over for and I that's what we did. And we just we we built it up and we kept the truck for 10 years. So over time, we were able to build a good cash net worth.
Take me back to the most life-changing conversation that you've ever had. What is the greatest piece of advice you ever received throughout your career?
I'm going to tell you. So I'm from New York. I'm Italian. So, a a dear friend of my father's takes me out to uh lunch and he tells me, "Kid, forget about all the bull. Go to work every single day." And I was young and I looked at all the and I thought, "That's the right way to go." But I got up and I went to work and nothing stopped me. I never left a soldier behind. Failure is not an option. It's all I can tell anybody who's looking at your show or your channel, whatever it is, cuz I don't know what you do, but I'm telling you, you can't fail. Just attack every day.
Let me ask you, are these your kids right here?
Yes, they are.
They both are.
Yeah. And I have two more that are not here. But let me ask you this. A lot of people when they have families and they pass money down to generations, they end up blowing the money. What's a financial piece of wisdom right here that you were going to instill in them before you leave this earth?
Listen, there's no free roles in my in my bakery. They got to work for it. They come to work. My son here, he comes to work. He's a beast. He works every single day. She's in college. I'm very proud of what my kids have done. They're really good kids. But at the end of the day, we decided to sell our business because we thought that the path of real estate was going to be a better one, which is great for them cuz it's generational wealth.
Can I see the wash real quick?
Sure.
Okay. So you have you have a house on your wrist right now.
I sure do. Have a few of them. You have a few good cars, too. But no, we we like I said, you know, you have to live large in every category, and a lot of people don't.
A trait that I've noticed in really successful people like yourself is that you're in incredible shape. Is there a correlation between physical fitness and financial success?
Oh, 100%. If you got the discipline to go to to the gym every single day and take care of yourself, it starts right here.
Do you believe in God?
Yeah, absolutely. 100%. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, buddy.
So, how did you know God was real?
When I sold my business two months later, I had a massive heart attack.
You had a heart attack?
I had a heart attack. Yes. And my survival rate in the hospital was uh 11% outside 5%. Was in the widowmaker. My son and his dog saved my life. Got me to the hospital. You want to wake up? That's a wakeup call.
Wow.
And you knew that God was with you in that moment?
100%.
Did you have people that doubted you?
Oh, are you kidding me? Look at me. I'm as dumb as a box of rocks. I I got a third grade education. I'm not a schooled guy. You know,
you didn't listen to them, though.
No.
Why not?
Because I know I was better than that and I know what I wanted and I was going to go for it. My last one for you. If me and you died tomorrow and you had one more message to leave with the younger generation, what would that be?
Be 10 minutes early to everything you do. Think about tomorrow cuz it's going to come. I'm telling you, it's going to come. As much as you were 20 years old, you don't think about it. If you run your life a little bit ahead of where you are, so if today's Monday, you're thinking about Thursday and you're thinking out and 5year plans, that's what you got to do because a lot of kids don't do that. I know when I was a kid, that was one of the things that I thought I always did right because I always looked forward from a paper route. I started a lawn route. I started a tree removal business, sold all that. And then you know my father had this small business like I said two trucks in empty west. That's not an exaggeration. That's the truth.
You got amazing advice sir.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for your time and I appreciate you.
I connect with all the millionaires and billionaires I interview. Could I get your contact?
Yeah, absolutely. Guys, we just interviewed another billionaire out here in New York City. But you know what I've realized from interviewing hundreds of millionaires and billionaires on this channel. It's that most people don't fail because they lack ideas. They fail because they never start. They're allergic to execution. Listen very carefully. When I was first getting started, I had a mentor tell me one time that the most valuable, the most expensive piece of real estate, you know where it is? It's in graveyards because there's billion-doll idea sitting in the ground are people that never took action. I remember my own day one. I had ideas. I had ambition, but I had a million excuses. I didn't know the first step to start a business. I didn't know how to build a website. And honestly, that hesitancy almost stopped me. But that's why I like Hostinger for every entrepreneur because it makes it so easy to get started, easier than it ever has been before. Because Hostinger has an all-in-one platform. Website, domain, AI tools, automation, email marketing. So, you don't need to go to five different places. Everything is in one place. It's everything you need to get started. You can literally go from a simple prompt to a live website or store in just minutes. And the pricing actually makes sense if you're starting out. You don't need a huge budget to look professional from day one. You just need to get started. So, this new year, look, if you're ready to turn that one day, I'm going to do this into day one and make this the best year of your life. Waste no more time. Go down, click the link in the description of this video to get started with Hostinger today. We're also going to put the link right here on the screen for you to check out. Use code SOK for 10% off and take advantage of the New Year sale while you still can. With that being said, let's go get this next interview.
Excuse me, sir. Sir, I had a question for you. How old were you when you became a millionaire?
I was 21.
21 years old. And how did you get rich?
God made me a millionaire.
God made you a millionaire? Who is your God?
Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.
And what's your name?
My name is Jameus Winston.
And what do you do?
And I'm an NFL quarterback for the New York Football Giants.
And I go all over the world interviewing the richest people to help the younger generation. Could I get a minute with you for the channel real quick?
Yeah, of course.
Is that cool?
What was the most amount of money that you made in a single year?
20 25 million actually.
$25 million. What happened that year?
I got drafted.
What did you do with that money when you first started to make it? I mean, a lot of athletes go broke, right?
Yeah. I I I just let it sit. I I really worked off my endorsement money. I didn't really touch my game money.
Did you come from a lot of money?
No, I did.
You didn't come from money?
No, I did.
So, you didn't come from a rich family, but a rich family is going to come from you.
A wealthy family is going to come from me. Three generations behind me through the choices and decisions that we make.
How long have you been in the NFL?
11 years.
11 years. A lot of people coming into the league, the average span is maybe 2 3 years. It's not that long. What was your secret to that longevity? How were you in the league over 10 years?
I feel like gratitude. Gratitude is the key to abundance and and hard work and never giving up. ever given up? Was there ever a time where you wanted to give up?
There are always times where I want to give up, but my dad, he told me like the three rules of life, that's God, that's education, and you could do anything you put your mind to. And the three rules of football was never give up. Never give up. Never give up.
So that you had that belief though. That was the third rule was believe in anything that you put your mind to.
Well, it it started with the first. It was God. It was my faith. My faith in God helped me to endure and and go through anything that I experienced along the way. So even if I had some doubt or fear, even if I were thinking too high of myself, I knew that I could fall back on God and that he would have me wherever I needed to be.
This is a Bible study that the people need right now.
No, it it's simple things, man. It's bigger than you. And I think when you understand that you have a creator that put you here for a very unique purpose. You understand that that purpose isn't going to get figured out overnight. That purpose is developed. It's groomed. It's nurtured.
Somebody doesn't believe in God. What would your message be to
My message would be to you is find a local church. You have a creator. You have someone that loves you dearly. Jesus Christ died on the cross for us and he saved us for our sins. These worldly things, they're they're here. These trees and stuff, they're going to be here for a good while, but we are only here for a vapor. So, how can you be an influence? How can you impact someone else to serve a high calling, the calling that you were called to ultimately on this earth?
Can I tell you something?
What's up, J?
That was a beautiful interview, D. I appreciate Thank you so much for your time. Hey, that was awesome, man. I connect with all the millionaires and billionaires I interview. Can I get your contact?
Yeah, absolutely. You can get my contact.
Thank you, my friend.
Guys, we just walked up on an interview. The legend Jameus Winston made over $25 million in a single year, and he just gave a beautiful interview for everybody watching right now, man. He said, "Look, go to that local church and go find God." And I know that we interview lots of millionaires and billionaires on this channel. We talk a lot about money, but let me tell you right now, he just gave some of the best life advice that I've ever heard. Go find God and go make it happen, you guys. Come on.
Excuse me, sir.
Sir, get a jacket. You got to get a jacket.
Hey. Hey. H how did he get rich?
Uh you got to ask him. He got the He got the best story in America. You're my hero, brother.
Sir. So, h how did you get rich?
Uh you won't believe it.
How did you get rich, man? How did you get rich?
I shred junk metal cars for a living.
Shred junk cars?
Yeah. Glamorous. Yeah.
How long have you been an entrepreneur?
It's got to be like 35, 40 years.
Seriously. over these 40 years, what was the most amount of money you made in a single year?
Probably like 60 or 70 million
shredding junk cars.
Yeah.
Could I interview you for a minute real quick? I grew a channel to 20 million followers. Interviewing the richest people to help the younger generation. Could I get one minute with you real quick for our channel?
Yeah, sure.
Is that cool?
Yes, sir.
Do you think everybody's built for entrepreneurship?
I mean, it's tough. It's not as glamorous as like my eyes are bloodshot. You don't sleep much. It's not that sexy.
What is the hardest part about being a CEO of of a of a company of your size? Like how much is your company worth today?
It's got to be worth like a billion, you billion. So as you were growing the business, it is very common for people to run into those problems with ego. How did you kind of come back to earth like have that humility and maintain at the front and center of everything?
I mean when I got arrested that takes the ego out of your life, you know, when you lose everything and you have to rebuild it and you're in the paper and you know I think uh that strips away the ego and you get a little more humbled down the road, but when I was younger I was like cocky and arrogant and I paid the price.
Are you a good negotiator?
1 through 10 I'm a 7 and 1/2.
You a seven and a half?
Yeah. 1 through 10. I'm a seven and a half. I've seen others. I got friends that are way better negotiators than me.
But you're honest, man. And I respect you. A lot of people say, "No, I'm the best." But but
no, I'm not the best. I just work really hard.
What's your name?
Adam Whitesman.
How did you get the money to start your business? Did you have a lot of money when you started out?
No. Loans. I took bank loans. I was really overleveraged in the beginning. It was a total show.
Were you actually?
It was bad.
Did you end up paying off all those loans though, I'm sure? Yeah, you ended up paying off, but it was it was tough, you know, but leverage is part of the growth. But at this point in my life that I'm older, the the leverage days are over.
What is the lesson about money that banks don't want people to know?
I just think you got to watch the small print that you're signing. That's why it's in really small print. Get a magnifying glass before you sign that stuff. And definitely don't sign anything without having somebody look over it.
What do you mean by the small print?
You know, like on the when you sign a bank loan or credit card thing, it gets really small at the bottom. You might want to read that stuff.
You got to be careful. You got to be careful because you're signing away. When you guarantee something, you're liable.
I'm going to challenge you right now. Take me back to the most life-changing conversation you ever had from all the people you've met, the the friends, the mentors you've had. What is the greatest piece of advice that you've received that you would pass on to the younger generation?
When I was driving to prison and I asked my dad if he had any advice for me and I thought he was going to say this really long thing and he just looked at me said, "Don't be a
So that was it.
Straight up.
And I'm sure that you thought about that conversation many times
and it it Matt it really works because we all have like roadblocks. We all have bad stuff happen but you can't just feel sorry for yourself. You got to keep pushing through and that's how I've gotten to where I am today and that's how I'm going to continue and hopefully I have three daughters and hopefully uh they have that inside too.
So you learned that nobody was coming to save you.
No, you have to save yourself. No one's going to fix it. There's no money tree in the backyard. Nothing.
How long were you in prison for?
A year.
You were there for a year?
But it's not just it's not just a year in prison. And it's the time leading up to it cuz you know you're in that flux when you're arrested. The delta between arrested and going to prison. Yeah. It's like four years. So I beat that's just as bad as the prison.
What What did you go to prison for?
Well, it was called check hiding. It's a transfer of funds like making an invisible float. I was I was guilty.
I'm sure you were at rock bottom when you had first gotten out.
Yeah, it was really bad.
But what was that actionable step that you took? Like let's talk to somebody. They're at rock bottom right now. They want to follow in your footsteps one day. build a multi-million dollar billion dollar company like you, what's that first actionable step that they need to take to get on the right track?
You just got to stay focused and you got to sacrifice.
Did you sacrifice a lot?
A lot. Like, you know, I try not to put myself in positions that I have to make a choice. Like, you know, I think we know in life sometimes if when we're going to make a bad choice that it's a bad choice automatically, but I try not to even put myself in situations that I have to make that choice.
Was there any other tactical advice that you received in the last couple years from a mentor, somebody in business that you want to pass on to them?
I just think you never believe your own hype.
Don't believe your propaganda.
Don't. You got to just always look in the mirror and just like money is a mirage. My biggest strength is I can be happy with nothing. Really 100%. I don't need I don't need fancy cars. I don't need jets. I don't need to live at this place. You know, that's the best thing about prison, you know, like I can live without anything.
I've interviewed a lot of billionaires and a lot of people say that they're miserable. Are you happy
right now? I'm happy as Yeah. It's the happiest I've ever been in my life. I got great kids. I have three young daughters that are great. got a small good circle of friends.
What is it that keeps so many people depressed and miserable, especially when they become so successful?
I don't know. Cuz everybody is a tough world. It's tough, but we're tougher. You know, we we're made to exist and to to survive. So, everybody has things problems that I'm not going to speak for other people's problems, but with mine, our problems are so little compared to other people's problems. So, I just appreciate what I have every day. And again, you can't The money thing is great. It's great to have nice things. It's good to have nice clothes, watches, whatever. But in the end of the day, if that drives your happiness, it's not sustainable.
You got amazing advice, my friend.
I'm trying, my friend.
Thank you so much, man. Hey, I appreciate you, man. I connect with all the billionaires I interview. Could I get your contact?
Yeah, of course. Yeah, sure. Of course.
Hard Knox family, that's a wrap on today's video. I need you to stop right now and do three things. Like, subscribe, and comment on who had the best interview in today's video. But let's go a step further. I want to give you direct access to my billionaire network. I'm not kidding. Let me explain. If you go down right now to the link in the description of this video, you can get direct access to live calls that I host every single week with the 8 figureure, nine figure, and billionaire entrepreneurs that I interview on this channel where you ask them your questions directly and they mentor you live every week inside this community. So, I can't wait to see you on the inside of the school of mentors. With that being said, I'll see you in the next