Justin Waller on Business, Moving Out of Your Hometown, Dating & The Power of Focus

What's going on, everybody, and welcome back to the School of Hard Knocks podcast. I'm James. I'm here with Jack and Josh. We are thrilled and very blessed to be here in Miami, Florida, with a very special guest, Justin Waller. He's a serial entrepreneur, the founder and CEO of Red Iron Construction, which is a massive construction company that operates all over the US, but now expanding outside of just the US. Thank you so much for having us out to your spot today, man. We're super pumped to be here today.

To be here, man. Y'all moved all my furniture around, man. It looks great. I might have to leave it like this. Yeah, I like it. You [ __ ] the view up though. You messed the view up. You know, C, we had to make sure that the lighting was right on everybody. I get it. It's F, you know, but, uh, you know, right before we kind of get into talking about, you know, how you've been able to build this massive eight-figure business and, and just find so much success, I want to kind of go back a little bit. And for those that, uh, may not know your full story and kind of like where you really came from, could you give us a little bit of a background on yourself and kind of your story and, and what transitioned or what inspired you to become the entrepreneur that you are today?

Yeah, man. So I grew up in South Louisiana. I, you know, like a lot of people, I don't think it's very uncommon, and that's kind of why I don't like to talk about, like, growing up a whole lot is because it's like, everybody was poor. Everybody, and, and no different for me, man. There's a bit of violence in the house. There was definitely like custody battles going on. Um, we weren't, we certainly weren't living, you know, even middle class, you know, growing up where I grew up. But a lot of times, I feel like people either either grow up around something and they become it, or they see what they don't want to become. And to be completely fair, I, I had exposures to other families that were doing better, you know, because of, because of my ability to play sports and the fact that I could play ball, could get me out of my own house and in somebody else's house. So I saw there was other opportunities out there. There were bigger things. So, um, and even now, looking back at those things, uh, I wouldn't want that life now. Those people were, you know, probably middle class up, middle class, and that wouldn't be enough for me now. But so a lot of life is about finding consciousness, you know, and I feel like I learned at a young age that if you can get yourself around something, it humanizes it in many ways. And so for me, I would get to go stay at these families' houses because I was a really good athlete and I was starting on the varsity as a sophomore. And so I would be over at certain people's houses and see in these certain neighborhoods that were not like my neighborhood. And so I just saw a possibility of what could be. And as far as construction goes, it was the only thing that I knew. I always say the only way we knew how to make doctor money was in boots, and, and that was very true for me at that time. And, and I can even say now as an adult, being in Miami opens my consciousness to so many other things that are possible that are not construction, more powerful business models, um, that if I were to put my energy to, can be much more explosive than, you know, construction alone.

Right, so one thing I wanted to ask you about was, you know, you brought up how you grew up in Louisiana, but you ultimately left your hometown. And, you know, you hear all the time about the people that they never end up getting out of their hometown. They go to this, the same bar that they went to after high school every single weekend until they're 50, 60 years old. How important do you think it is for younger people to really get out of their hometown to build that perspective? What does that do for someone? And at what point do you know that it's time to find a new environment and, and, you know, build better relationships?

Yeah, no, I think, I think people should travel. Now, I say travel because I don't want some kid stopping everything he's doing to go backpack across Europe. Go to LA for a weekend. Feel it. See the guy pull you in a Lambo, see the guy in the Ferrari. Not. And we just had this conversation. We're getting gas. [ __ ] Ferraris, [ __ ] Lambos, [ __ ] money. But the freedom. What freedom it could have or what it could be for you if you were to achieve some level of success and stayed in your hometown. But to be able to snap that pattern, I think it's a good idea to leave and spend a few days in in an exciting place. And for nothing more than to go be in it and even work in it. For example, if I was 20 years old right now and I wanted to start any kind of internet business or anything, I'd come to Miami for a weekend. I would live in kind of monk mode, but I'd sit at that Starbucks downstairs in this building and watch how many 10 out of 10s roll by in an hour. And you'd be like, oh my God, there's beautiful. There's, there's really beautiful women in this world, you know what I'm saying? I'd watch me drive by my Lamborghini, you know, and be like, man, that, you know, that guy must have figured out somehow. He's still pretty young. What the [ __ ], you know what I'm saying? And you get around these things, and then it's not so foreign to you, you know? So I think putting yourself around energy. Cities have souls. I'm a big believer. And the first time I learned that is I lived in New Orleans for a little while. And everything that's broken about New New Orleans is what makes it beautiful. It's kind of haunted, it's kind of artistic, it's kind of weird, it's kind of like Austin a bit, but it has a soul to it. And that soul is inspirational. And a lot of times to get inspiration, even I, in my 20s, would go to LA. I'd go to Denver. I'd go to Utah. I'd go to all these different places and breathe in this air from an atmosphere that had a lot of people moving and shaking. And cities have life. And I would go back home inspired to hopefully be able to put myself in a position to do it again. And so getting out of your hometown is going to give you so much consciousness and understanding about how the world is. Your world is completely different than the world in Miami. And the world in Dubai is completely different than the world in Ohio. And in Miami. And so to go all these different places and understand not only what's different, but also in a lot of ways, what is the same. One thing I got from hanging still all over the place is I quickly realized that Mobile, Alabama, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is basically the same [ __ ] different town. And it humanizes societies for you where you're like, okay, well, if I do this in this place, it'll certainly work over here because it's really the same avatar of person. You get off the interstate, there's a [ __ ] Target right there. There's a Ross's and a Texas Roadhouse and a Chili's. And you're like, wait a second. If I can cons, if I can succeed in my hometown, I could succeed anywhere. And I think that's very important for people to see and understand. So that's actually why I like the the job of a truck driver for a young man because you see the same [ __ ] again and again and again and again. And if you meet a girl in Boston, well, she's going to have a Boston accent, but she's no different from a girl in Louisiana, really, at her core. You know, she still got live, laugh, love in her bathroom, you know what I'm saying?

Yeah, she does. She does. I'll tell, I'll tell you a funny story. I was in Odessa, Ukraine, and I met this young lady. And, um, we decided to go home for Bible study because I'm a man of God. And I walk in her bathroom, take a piss, and I looked at the wall and it said, live, laugh, love. On. I'm like, this girl doesn't even speak English, bro. And she's like, she doesn't speak English. Cuz it was a Google translate. And I'm just like, people are the same. This is not me making fun of women, right? Like, people are the same in a lot of ways. It's pattern recognition. And if you can get that pattern recognition, it can give you the ability to realize that if you have any kind of sort of pattern recognition, you can do humongous things with your life. Because for me, when you asked me like, where are we hanging steel? And I told you, I don't give a [ __ ] where it is. Put steel on the moon. I'll call Elon to move the cranes up there. Don't give a [ __ ] because I'm going to show up with my guys. We're going to put that steel up the same way, no matter where it is. And there's going to be a [ __ ] Red Roof Inn down the road or a Holiday Inn or whatever. And the guys are going to stay in the hotel. We're going to do PM the same. We're going to do the job the same. And we're going to win. So I don't give a [ __ ] where it is. Put the building anywhere. And I think that once people get a certain competency, they'll understand that they could be stripped butt naked and put in any city in America and make money. And it wouldn't matter. And so driving around to other places or or visiting other places, I think really puts that in perspective for you, especially as a young guy.

Yeah, I think it's really cool. Like, we, we have, you know, a mentor as well. Has told us that he tells young guys all the time, go work valet and talk to the rich people. You know, like, they're not too different from you. They're literally the same people. Zero different. Exactly. Zero different. I got a lot of beef on Barcelo Sports because I was talking [ __ ] about cooking. And they really made me out to look like a deuce bag. Thanks, Barcelo. Um, I'm glad they did it. But the truth is, man, it's just because I got a bunch of [ __ ] going on. But I used to go to the grocery store all the time. I used to pre-cook my meals. And to be quite honest with you, if I don't know what I, I want to eat, I'll just go get a rotisserie. It's the best deal in food. It's what, five bucks, eight bucks, something like that. Get one of those mix-up salads, toss that [ __ ] in a bowl, stir it up, Little Caesar, throw some chicken on it. And then eat the rest. And, and I'll do it just like the rest of you guys watching a [ __ ] YouTube video about something I'm trying to understand. Right? We're not that different. We're really not, man. And, um, I think, I think people get that out of whack, you know? Um, a lot of times people are, because somebody made money, they turned into a bad person or they're different. Uh, I, that couldn't be further from the truth. The more people I've met with money, I come to find out that, you know what? They really are. They're just really hardworking people that wouldn't quit, that were persistent, and was a, they were able to create relationships with other people to work in tandem to reach their goals. A lot of times the rich people are some of the kindest people out there. They, they've been through the most. They're, they're the most, um, relentless. And, and they don't need to hurt anybody to make money because they have a skill set that allows them to do it. And they don't need to be rude to you because they knew how many times they got punched in the face on the way up. Myself included. Sometimes being successful is very humbling. You know, you realize, okay, man, I got punched in the face this many times, and that's how many times it took me to make it, you know? So, um, I have a certain reverence about making sure that I don't come across as thinking money is important because money is just a tool. And it, and it's, it's just really, it's just something that goes up on the scoreboard when you add value to the world. But, uh, I don't think, I don't think I would be, how do I say this correctly? I don't think if I, if I were giving somebody advice, I would tell them, before you judge somebody that has money, sit down and spend some time with them. See how they treat a waiter. Ask them, ask them if they've ever failed. And you'll see a vulnerability come out of them that you wouldn't expect. I think that's something we've even noticed with our channel. Is we started this channel from the ground up where we would just go to hot spots in cities, the finance district, the tech district, trying to interview different people. And, you know, we get rejected a lot. But what we notice is that the people that were most likely to say yes to us were people that were entrepreneurs. And I think that there's a certain amount of relatability there to where they can see like, hey, I was that guy, you know, hustling the streets and going from yes to no, yes to no. And I think there's something there. They, they understand that everyone has to start somewhere. And I feel like there's a big misconception that a lot of successful people come from money. But in the reality, and I feel like a lot of the people we've met, that could be farther from the truth. I feel like if anything, it's, it's a lot of people who've come from a bad situation, realize they don't want to be in that same situation, and have that situation for their kids. And they're like, I got to do something, something different. And they go against the grain. And they start something. 100%. And the thing about being successful, especially when you're young, is that when you're going against the grain, you're going to have that challenged time and time and time again. Every football season, you're going to get asked if you're going to do fantasy football. And every year when you say no, they're going to remind you what your business hasn't hit yet, or what it's not doing, or or that you're no different from they are. And I think the reason that people get upset, and like, I, so I've had some people that have told me, oh, you, you must have changed. You must have changed. No, I haven't changed. Well, I have changed, but it's just my goals have changed, and who I'm trying to become has changed. And maybe that doesn't line up with who you used to know.

A question I had for you is, you brought up on your way up, you got punched in the face a lot, right? Like when you were creating this company. Yeah, I lost a lot of money a bunch of times. Yeah, sure did. But, but regardless, you were able to build a massive eight-figure business. And you talked about how, you know, you had steel drop, you had guys that got cut open, you had trucks that had been stolen. Failure is very common, uh, in entrepreneurship. But for those entrepreneurs, maybe they're starting out and they're starting to face some adversity, those initial setbacks, what's your advice to them? Somebody going through the storm right now, how have you been able to overcome those setbacks and really get through the the trials and tribulations that you face as an entrepreneur and still prosper, you know, to find a lot of success in business?

Well, one thing I would tell any young man that, or any person that is in a business and going through trials and tribulations, every time you get hit in the face, just know your competition is getting hit in the face also. Who's going to quit first? There was a moment. I, I was the youngest board member on the Metal Building Contractors Association. And I'm sitting down in this conference room. It's like one of these big U-shaped tables. We're having like, we're voting on [ __ ]. And I'm looking around at the people in the room and I said, I'm the youngest guy in here by like 25 years. All I have to do is take whatever ass whooping I got coming to me so I can learn how to do this right. And I'm gonna [ __ ] smoke it, you know what I'm saying? Yeah. And I've known so many guys that have started in the steel business and left, or left me to go start their own company and came back. And to me, it's not because I'm this [ __ ] genius. It's really just because I learned how to get the systems in place, dodge the punches, take the punches, get up, and do it anyway. And I never ran away from it. If I went bankrupt tomorrow, I would literally be hanging steel again in six weeks. I would bankrupt that business, take my L, and go do the exact same thing. And, and I've said this on podcasts, like I said before, you could strip me down, butt naked, and blindfold me and drop me in any city in America. I'd be hanging steel in six weeks. And nobody can take that away from me. It doesn't matter. You could put me in another country. I'd be hanging steel. Wouldn't matter. So sometimes you just have to take enough punches to understand that other people are going to quit. And if you have that in your mind and you think to yourself, man, I'm taking this right now, but somebody else is quitting or is going to quit. And then it's all mine. [ __ ] them.

I wanted to kind of ask one follow-up to that because you brought up that you could take everything from you, right? But you would still find a way to manage and go build steel even if your current company was taken from you. But in entrepreneurship today, everybody's trying to diversify their industry and go and do a bunch of different things. Right? How important has that focus on this one industry been for you throughout your career? And how important is it to double down and get really good and master that one skill set as a business owner?

I think it's one of the most important things you can do is pick one thing and stick with it. There's a couple of reasons why. The first reason is, is if you have five seeds planted, you only have some much water. And look at the water as the energy inside of you as a person to put into it. You could distribute that water across those five plants, but none of them would ever grow big enough to bear fruit. Profit. But if you were to put all of that water and that energy into one plant, and it bear fruit, you'd have seeds forever. And then you could take that fruit and go do other things with it. Okay? Reason number two, if you never grow that tree scaling, you never get to a place in any of the businesses where you've ever had to scale and really get bigger than you. And for that reason, you go start all these other businesses. And even if one takes off, you don't know how to scale. You, you never had the plane that high in the air. And so that's another thing is that people don't understand businesses have life cycles. It's like you're an infant, you're a baby, you're just walking around, you don't know what the [ __ ] you're doing. You can stick your hand in the outlet and shock yourself. You really get [ __ ] up. Right? Then you kind of get the teenager. You're just old enough where you can get in a car and really kill yourself with money, you know, if your accounts receivable gets too high, or you get in a cash flow predicament, or you don't manage the money correctly. Then you kind of get up to prime where you're like, clicking on all cylinders, you know? And then there's the backside of it as people age. And, and, you know, you're handing it down to your kids or whatever. Um, but a lot of people don't get past infant, you know, or if they get the teenager, and they think they're the [ __ ] in year three or four because they did 500 grand in revenue, but they only made 50. Like they, oh, I got it now. And then they go start all these other things before they grew that one business to where it really would bear him some fruit. And, and I think that sometimes serial entrepreneurship gets glamorized. But really, for the 99.99% of people, get that one business where you're dominating and your life is set up. Then you can [ __ ] around to do some other businesses because now you're flying two planes and you never learned how to fly the first one.

So for you, steel was the thing coming out of school, pretty much that's what you're going into, and eventually led you to create a successful construction company. But for the average 18-year-old or even 22-year-old coming out of college, which would love to hear your thoughts on, like, the college system and the education system there. But, uh, just for the 18 or 22-year-old coming out of school, they don't know what they want to do. What would be your advice for them on starting their career to get to where there's someone like you who owns a successful business company, they're taking care of themselves, they're in good shape, that sort of thing?

Yeah, so I, I would, I would first pay attention to the business model, right? And I'm assuming that you're asking from an entrepreneurial aspect, possibly. Yeah. So obviously, I tell guys all day, every day, join the real world. Because in the real world, you're going to have a professor that has that, that business doing that job that day. There's 18 wealth creation models. And what I like about most of them is that they're recurring. So one thing that I would change about my career if I could do it over, is I probably would not do construction. I would have done real estate instead of construction and figured out a way because of the return on investment of energy. And that's what's so great about the real world is that a guy can go in there, he can learn copywriting, and he gets 10 people on retainer while it's still stacking. So this money is just coming in and coming in and coming in. Construction, build a building, make 50 grand, cool. But it's on to the next building. You're always hunting. And, and I'm not saying that a business should always be marketing, selling, but many times when you're in a position where the transaction is once and it's not recurring, then you find yourself in this game of hunting all the time and just trying to keep your head above the water. And what I like about the real world, it offers a bunch of models that allow you not to have to do that. So you can build up an agency and really get some big cash flow coming to you. Whereas when I was doing metal building starting out, I'd build a metal building in somebody's backyard, make 2 or $3,000, maybe. But then I had to follow with 400 other people that were tire kicking, doing all these other things. What if I could have sold that person, that same person, a product and they were still paying me today? What would that look like? It would look substantially different. And so what I would tell a young man coming out of school is pay attention to the business model. And then once you choose your industry, take a look at a guy 20 years ahead of you. Look at their life. Look at how they spend their day. Ask yourself, do I want this person's life? And don't make the mistake of assuming that you're special because you're not [ __ ] special. Look at his life, say, no matter how hard I try, that's what my life's going to be. Do I want this life? And if the answer is yes, do it. And if it's not, find something else to do.

That's amazing. I couldn't agree more. Is because at the end of the day, the life cycle is is probably going to be the same. And something that I've seen that you do is you started out in construction, that's where you built the majority of your wealth. And now you started to diversify, you start to get into things like real estate. And I'm just curious, for someone who's starting to see some success, is there a certain point where you feel like people should start to diversify, or do you feel like they should just keep hammering down on what they're already doing?

Well, I, in in regards to real estate, I think real estate is for everybody. And the reason I think real estate is for everybody is if you really pay attention, learning how to underwrite a deal, learning net operating income, learning cash on cash return, internal rate of return, all these things. If you just pay attention and learn it, I think it's going to be valuable to anybody. And the reason I like real estate so much, we bought 300 doors this year. I just, I've closed on four trailer parks this month. And the reason that I was able to do that is because I studied and I knew what a good deal looked like when it came to me. But also the money that I make in the construction company, let's say when I do car segregation studies in real estate, if I surpass my cash flow in the amount that I'm able to depreciate on these properties, means I don't pay any tax on them. I can take whatever's left and shove it against my construction income as the price of the property over time goes up, as I'm raising rent, as I'm adding more trailers to the park, as you're making all these value-add changes. So real estate is very Ford. It's, it's, it's everywhere, right? It's, it's planting a seed that if you hold on to it long enough, will pay you forever. Will make you truly wealthy. There's been more millionaires made off of real estate than anything. You know, it's actually quite non-emotional. It's really simple math in the due diligence process and then property management. I just think it's a business that if taken seriously, can really, really propel you in a huge way, especially if you're an American, because the way our tax laws are set up. So, um, I'm a big fan of the business. Um, I'm really excited about the things that we're going to be doing soon. I think we're going to start developing big apartment complexes soon. But, uh, yeah, real estate, not just for the cash flow, but for the tax purposes, I think one of the best vehicles that you could possibly have, particularly as an American.

Oh, I wanted to ask a question about real estate real quick. And then I had another one regarding kind of the start of your construction company. But, you know, in today's world, right, people think that you have to have a ton of money to start creating wealth in real estate today. There's that misconception that in order to, you know, make a move in real estate, that you have to have all this money. But for someone who does want to get started in the real estate industry today, what do you think is that first step that someone should take to start acquiring and building wealth in real estate?

Studying deals. I used to sit up my computer every night after work. I'd get off the construction, I'd get home, I'd pour a crown and water, and I would sit in front of the computer and study deals. I'd underwrite them myself. I would do the math on the table myself. Watching videos, watching videos, doing the math, doing the math, doing the math. Going on LoopNet, underwriting a deal, saying, oh, how much would I pay for this deal? Or how much would I do? Where are they lying? You know? And you, you could look at a pro forma and you'd be like, ah, yeah, they're full of [ __ ]. There's zeros everywhere. Everything's, you know, perfect like this, this, they're lying, you know? So really just studying in real estate is, it was like one of my obsessions. But all, all of that studying put me in a position whereas to now, if a deal comes in front of me, it's good. I'm not like hesitating. I'm like, boom, get it. Let's go. I can look some in the eye and say, give me that half a million dollars. I'm about to make you some [ __ ] money. And know that I'm correct. And I think that's a really important thing is, is that if you can get those, those hours in and really know what you're looking at, you can make decisions and, and not look back.

So, and I wanted to, uh, just go back to 2011, right, when you were, you know, getting ready to start, uh, Red Iron Construction, the company. And, and prior to that, even, you know, your degree was in construction, and you had gotten a few initial jobs. That was the start of your career that you were working that industry. What was that first major deal that you had closed that told you, and because I guess that you started the company with only two other people and a truck, what was the first deal that you closed that told you, I'm going to go all in on this, we're going to build an empire and really, you know, build this thing out into an eight-figure business?

So in the beginning, we did some, some small buildings, a lot of backyard stuff. I remember my first commercial project took us about three weeks, and I made $25,000. And I'm like, 25, 24, 25. And I was like, damn, bro, if I could get it to where I'm not losing money on jobs and just make sure I'm profitable on everything, and then every now and then hit one of these, I'll be doing really well. And, uh, right about then, I started reading E-Myth and started putting systems together. And I hired an estimator. And hiring that estimator is, is really important because what it did for me is it put me in a place where I had to bid a whole lot of work, which means I had to find men. And then we had to grow. And then I had to create schedules. And then we had to have project managers. So I, I shoved myself into it, growing. And, um, we had, we definitely had our bumps. We still have growing bumps. We still have blocks where we're trying to grow and we're like, how, it's hard to, how do we figure out how to do this? So those things are always happening. But for me, it was probably, it was probably when I made 25 grand in a very short period of time. And then I did a roof, and I think I made like 50, 60 grand in like, something stupid like two weeks. Yeah. And I'm like, oh, [ __ ], these roofs are good. Need more roofs, you know? Uh, so yeah, it, it was just a lot of, a lot of money at an early age. Thank God I didn't figure it out. I got beat up a little bit. I think sometimes, times I see guys on the internet and they'll start a business and I'm like, man, that was a really good business model. And then they go to start something else. I'm like, that's not the same business, buddy. And you got rich in one year. That might be trouble. I think in the crisis bubble, right? I see these young guys because they make a [ __ ] ton of money doing something. And then they go to start something like a fund, something serious, like the SEC is involved, right? And I'm like, dude, that's, that's not having a podcast. That's different, you know? Now you're, now you're getting into some like legitimate adult [ __ ]. Now, I'm not saying these online businesses aren't real businesses. I just think that sometimes people can step on the right business and it blow them up. And it makes them think they're a better entrepreneur than they are. Uh, so that's something that I'm always, I'm always terrified when I start a new business because the most dangerous thing in business is what you don't know you don't know. Scares the [ __ ] out of me, you know what I'm saying? So, uh, so for me, it's like, where's that blind spot? Because you know you have it. I have blind spots. Everybody has blind spots. I mean, Bezos has blind spots. Everybody does. So, um, I think it's just really important to know that. And no matter what you do, go find some people that know about your blind spots because more than likely, they've already had their leg blown off and you don't necessarily have to.

So, yeah, I, I want to touch on that, like, you know, people at blind spots, especially entrepreneurs, the figurehead of a company, they have blind spots. How do you, what do you look for specifically in people that says, you know, I got to bring that person onto my team to help you with those blind spots?

Perfect. So you got to start with the first thing is, they need to know that they're safe to give you their opinion. You have to make people feel safe enough and feel valued enough to actually say what they think. If not, you're going to be around a bunch of people they're just going to tell you yes, no matter what you do. And that's actually quite a dangerous place to be because number one, they either don't care, or you've created a scenario where they don't feel safe to tell you what they think will be the best thing for the business. So I think what's really important for me, what I often try to do is hear everybody's opinion. And they need to feel heard. It's your job to call the play. Also, if they feel like you've been, if they've been heard, even if you don't do what they want to do, at least they know their opinion is valued enough to be able to bring it to the table. Again, the last thing you want is a bunch of people in a boat rowing, and one person being like this. And the way you can know you failed at that is if some, if a system or something in the business fails, and somebody says to you, like, kind of just out of left field, I knew that wasn't going to work, bro. I'll fire somebody over that [ __ ]. Wow. Because I've given you ground to stand on. Yeah, speak up. So culture is way more important than I think people understand. Understand, you know, we like to talk about strategy and things like that, right? Build all the strategy you want. If, if the infantry doesn't want to fight for you, then what the [ __ ] is a strategy good for? They don't care, you know? So, um, it's really important to create an atmosphere where people feel safe to give their opinion, they feel heard, and they feel valued. And I'll tell you another thing I love to do, any chance I get, is is if somebody brings something up and I like it more than what I originally said, I very much make a point to say, you know what? You're right. I'm no, you're right on this. Not, I'm not that way. Other people see me say that I'm not right all the time. And I don't need to be right. I need to win. And that's what I tell the team. I said, look, listen, I don't need to be right about everything. I need us to win as a unit. And if we can get there, then we can really, really do some things. Where that's going to start with getting some walls down, getting some trust in place, where people can actually say what they think.

I heard earlier you mentioned that you had read E, you had read E-Myth, which is a pivotal part of like implementing process in your businesses. Actually heard on a previous podcast you've done, you read Rich Dad Poor Dad. So I just want to ask, like, what are your top book recommendations for not only entrepreneurs, but just people out there trying to better themselves in business and life?

Yeah, cool. So for entrepreneurs, I'd read every one of Patrick Lencioni's books. Wow. Yeah. So Death by Meeting, uh, The Five Roles of a CEO, Getting Naked, The Ideal Team Player. I've read all these books. Uh, so I would do that. And then for just, I guess, life in general, that's a tough one, man, because most of the books I, I've read are business books. So, um, I guess you could go read some of Tony Robbins' stuff. And then if you want to, you can go jump around at a conference. Yeah. So I don't.

Yeah, and I was going to kind of ask you, so when you originally started your company, it was just you and two other people. Um, but when, for any business owner out there, a lot of people, they tend to be that solopreneur early on, they want to wear all these hats and do all these things. But it seems like you got really good at delegating and bringing the right people in. So I wanted to first ask, how important was the skill of learning how to delegate, you know, various tasks and bringing people in? And also, for someone who's initially first starting that business, you as the business owner, as the CEO, you're kind of more the visionary. Who are those people that people should look to bring in early on to help them grow that company, the scale of, you know, employees and revenue and everything? Like, who are the people that you look to bring in? And how important was it learning to delegate?

All right. Well, learning to delegate is very, very important. Um, allowing yourself to delegate is even more important, depending on who you are as like, as far as your personality type or whatever. One thing I would tell you is that you don't want to hire another you. A lot of people will start a business with a friend, and they're exactly the same person. And so they both want to do the same thing. So I don't just look at the skill set, but I also look at what do I have an energy for and what don't I? For example, estimating. I'm really good at estimating. I hate going through the specs. I hate going through the drawings, these big documents, right? They're long, they're very legal, uh, they're very technical. So hiring an estimator for me, when I was, when I enjoyed driving around, going to the jobs, making sure all the equipment was there, you know, making the subcontractor meetings, and having him stay back and go through those plans all day in the air conditioner, he, he loved it, whereas I didn't, because I don't like sitting still. I like to go. I'm a go person. But for that particular position, it's best that it's a very detail-oriented person, almost an engineer's mind, maybe not even that social. You know? So my main job, and any business owner's main job, is to set themselves up to be graceful, or set their people up to be graceful. But that's also including yourself. So I took a step back and I said, does Justin need to be estimating? No, because either he won't do it, or he'll skip [ __ ]. And for that reason, I fired myself from that role. And so knowing yourself is very, very important. But identifying the type of person, whether it be personality type or or the type, you know, or you can quite tell that their personality lines up, like an outgoing person would do sales. But I would never ask the guy that keeps our books to do sales. He's very introverted and he's very like this, which is perfect for accounting. So you really need to look at the individual on your team, or that, that you want to bring in, or you need to think about the position itself, be like, what type of person would do good in this role? What type of person that if I hire, they would be successful? Because your job as owner is to set them up to be graceful. And you should never ask anybody to go against what they're naturally inclined to do, including yourself. So I'd never hire anybody that was exactly like me unless I wanted to completely exit. And I would never put myself in a position to have a job that I've given to myself that I am not set up to be graceful for. So I think that's one thing to think about for sure when scaling.

So when you were first getting those couple of jobs in, and you were noticing, I really like doing this, this is, I'm not really a big fan of. What were some of those levers that you had to pull in order to go from six figures to seven figures and eventually eight figures?

For us, it really got to about finding people to bid work to. So I would, I set up this system, it's kind of slick. Um, I looked really big on paper really early. What I did is I, uh, I got a mentor. He sent me his proposal template. And so I took his proposal template, wiped his name off it, put my name on it. But it was legit. It's like five pages. It looks like a huge steel erection company. I did that. And then I hired somebody to make me a pre-qualification packet, which was really just a packet talking about our safety and all this [ __ ]. But bro, we were, we had like four guys. Then I'm like, okay, where are all these big GCs at so I can leave the backyard building and go work in commercial work and do a 100,000-foot building, a big one? Well, the architects invite the contractors to bid. And they had this form. And I knew about this. It's called a pre-job walk form. So I hired a girl. She would call the architect's office, say, hey, I'm with blah, blah, blah, Red Iron Construction. I was just looking for the, um, pre-job walk form so I can, you know, send my bid out to the contractors. And they would send it. And so at that time, we might have had two general contractors, you know, telling us or sending us requests for quotes. And what we would do is, let's say I got, let's say there was 10 general contractors bidding a job, school job, let's say. And only one invited us. I give a [ __ ]. I sent it to all 10 of them. And so on bid day, they get this bid. It's very formal looking. And we get a pre-qualification package. I have a template email. Hey, I know bid day is crazy. Um, just wanted to send you our our quote on this job. Best of luck today. What would end up happening is either I would win the job somehow, or they didn't win the job, but I was now on their bidder's list. So it got to this point where I had all these general contractors asking me to bid work. So I had to double down. When I first hired my estimator, is part-time. So I had to make him full-time. Now we're getting all these bids in. And so we set up what's called a bid schedule. Got all that stuff. And we just got to the point where we're just spitting out five, six bids a week. Just [ __ ]. You know, bidding like $20 million worth of work. And we won 2, 3 million worth of that work. And I'm like, 26. You know? And, uh, and yeah, man. And we just beat the ground for for contractors. Got on ConstructConnect and maybe iSqFt and all these things and found out where all these GCs were. And just started uninvited bidding them. Like, like I didn't give a [ __ ] whether they'd get mad at me for bidding the job or not. Give a [ __ ]. Like I sent it to them. And they're like, well, they didn't have to send it. Like, [ __ ], you know? So, um, that's how we really started to kind of grow. Is we started getting a lot of attention from people. And we started putting buildings up. And I, I made sure my sign was out. I made sure I took photos. I made sure I blasted it on social media. I did everything. But honestly, that particular trick is I think what did it.

And you hear all the time about the power of habit and how that leads to success in some of the most renowned and and successful entrepreneurs out there. And I've heard you talk about how you know you'll spend, you know, like an hour to two hours a day, you know, by yourself driving around just to allow yourself to think.

Know what would you and you're very serious about like your fitness as well in the gym and that's become a very, you know, you know, common habit of yours. What would you say are the top three biggest wealth-building habits that you've seen that have led to your success and that you would recommend to someone? So for someone watching this, they want to, you know, get really serious. Maybe they don't have a routine or their habits in order. What are those? What are the most important wealth-creating habits that you've found that have led to your success?

Well, first, like you said, the gym. I'm a gym rat at heart. I love that place. It's church to me. Two, those drives are very impactful, especially early in the morning. I always say that if you're going to meet God, he's up at 4:00 AM. And I'm not telling people to wake up at 4:00 AM, and I'm not stating that I still wake up every morning at 4. I'm not [ __ ] David Goggins. I will say that if you're going to be able to hear God speak, it's when your world is so quiet, you can hear the voice inside your head. And that is very impactful because a lot of times in life and business, you know what you're supposed to do. You have to just make it quiet enough around you that you can hear it. And once you hear it, it's hard to ignore. So that, I think, is a really good thing to do is spending time. And look, sometimes it's not even at 4 in the morning. Sometimes it's in my truck going down some back road, sipping on some whiskey, listening to Alan. It's Jesus to me.

You know, I wanted to touch on, you know, not only in your construction business, real estate, and everything that you've got going on now. What would be your best sales advice for entrepreneurs? Just people in sales roles, you know, the solopreneur, people that are just trying to drive revenue for their business. Also, in just daily life, you got to be able to sell yourself. So what's your best sales advice to anybody out there?

Believe your product so much that you feel like if they don't buy from you, they're [ __ ] you're [ __ ] them over, straight up. Yeah. If you don't believe in your product so much, you feel like you're hurting the person you're talking to by not selling it to them, then you won't have any trouble selling. A lot of people know they're selling snake oil, you know, and for that reason, the conviction in their eyes doesn't come across. They don't know that it's the best thing for the person. But when you know it's the best thing for the person, it's very, very, very hard not to be able to sell because then they have to have something holding them back, you know? And when you know it's going to help them, you can show them how it's going to help them. And so you start to paint a picture of a future they might have with your product. And when you can paint that very clearly and very decisively and with a lot of conviction, it's hard not to buy from you.

You brought up believing in your product, and it seems like you've definitely found your winning product. For people out there that maybe they're in e-commerce, regardless of the industry that they're in, what advice would you give to someone trying to find that winning product that can eventually help themselves for for millions of dollars? And let me say it this way, the steel, the construction industry is very competitive, right? There's thousands of construction companies out there. What's the biggest thing that you've implemented throughout your company, whether it's product, team, that really makes you stand out in a competitive industry?

Well, I think the crazy thing about construction is, like, on the first sale, it's always going to be conviction. It's looking them dead in the eyes, like, listen, bro, I'm going to hit your [ __ ] schedule. I'm going to work with other subs. You need us. Conviction. From there, I think you get to repeat business by doing the right thing on the job because construction is not an easy industry. It's going to rain, the equipment's going to get stuck, guys are going to make mistakes, there's going to be material not show up on time. It's like, how do you work through that with the general contractor and make sure that when they go back and review the job, that they say, you know what, but those guys were good for us. Let's keep using them if we can. So a lot of times, it's going through war with a contractor, you know, and being there through the storm with them. And they know that you're going to turn up every time, even when it's bad. I said, one of my biggest customers, I've lost a bunch of money on some jobs with them. And I think that the reason that they kept coming back to us is they knew I'd never run. You know, I sat there and just took it and took it and took it, and they kept giving me work, and I made the money back. But on some projects, man, I might have lost 50, 60 grand over something. And so, if you can stand in there and take the blows, even when they know you're taking blows, or particularly when they know you're taking blows, that doesn't go away because in our industry, there's so many people that disappear and go off in the night and just start another business in another state. So if you're able to have that character and they know that you're going to stick in there and go to war with them, then you have a really, really good shot at continuing to work for them.

You just mentioned over having to overcome obstacles, even if it means taking a loss sometimes. What would you say is the biggest obstacle or the hardest obstacle you've had to overcome in your career? And or what would you say is the biggest obstacle you've had in your career and how did you overcome that?

Yeah, so I got down a million dollars one time, and I thought I was going to go bankrupt. I had to remortgage my house to make payroll. All my lines of credit were maxed out, my credit cards were maxed out. We're playing this game where it's like, oh, if we move money over here and do this, and maybe we can make payroll. And I think I was just punch drunk. I tried to scale and I hired a guy that had a good track record. It just didn't, it didn't work out. He missed a few bids in a row. And so it was like, I lost a quarter million, and then I lost 100 grand, and then I lost it was like, bam, bam. And I was kind of like, just out on my feet for like eight months to a year. It was just a hard time. I didn't want to do it anymore, you know? I wanted, I wanted to quit so bad. I was like, in my head, I was like, I'm [ __ ] I'm doing something else. And I couldn't let myself because I'd already burned the boat so much that like quitting wasn't really an option. I got, I had to have another skill. And that's why I think it is important to burn the boat. A lot of times. But I was able to step back from it. I was probably on some drive and look, look at the things that were really major risk, the blows I was really taking, and why they were actually happening. And I restructured basically the entire company from the way we do our contracts, from the way we, you know, deal with our employees, to subcontractors, to even clients. And after, after I did it, it like, it started to hit a little bit. And I'm like, oh, no, this is going to work. And I just went all in that way. And I never looked back. But I wouldn't have known to do it or I wouldn't have forced myself to do it had I not been really punched in the face. So yeah.

So you've built a massive brand on social media and just online in general, a massive brand. And what advice would you have for anybody out there looking to build a brand similar to the size of yours? And like, how can they just keep growing that and staying relevant in today's world?

You know, I'm learning more about this every day. I don't think I'm a social media pro by any means. I think that for me, particularly, what has garnered our success is the fact that when somebody stops me on the street, it's not like I play for the Heat or the Dolphins. They're not like, oh, I saw you on TV. They're telling me I changed their life. I don't say that to brag. I say that to make the point that what we're doing is more of a movement than it is a channel. Yeah. And we're fighting for people that can't speak out loud what they actually feel. And for that reason, I think the channels grown. I would also give credit to people that were already contributing that accepted me as somebody in this space. And I think that was most valuable in a lot of ways. And I think the reason they did it is because I did all the work in a small town in Louisiana in silence. So when I popped up, I checked most of those boxes. And they respected the fact I built a real business in the real world. And so they allowed me to come on their platforms and respect me as if I had been doing it for a long time. And I think I was very fortunate to have had that happen. I had always wanted to do YouTube, but I had had some goals in place that I had not hit. And I would have felt like a liar had I not hit those goals before I made a channel. And as all, all those things kind of came to fruition, and I met the right people, and they accepted me, and I was able to come on their shows, I think that grew us a lot, grew us a lot. But I think more importantly, most importantly, is the fact that it's a movement much more than it is entertainment. You know, I get more messages, you changed my life, than I'll ever get, hey, I saw you here. You know, so to me, that is even impactful for myself, and I'm even still trying to get used to that.

You, you talk about changing lives, right? And a big component of that is taking a look back at yourself and seeing how you can create the best version of yourself and self-improve. And for anybody out there who's watching this, they may not be happy with where they're at. They're working a job that they despise, or they're out of shape. They want to get really serious about getting their life on track and becoming successful. What is your best self-improvement advice for everybody out there watching this?

Bro, I'm not even happy. No matter what I do, I still have that voice in my head and be like, well, you could have done it like this, or you could do this, or you didn't do this, you know, no matter what you do. And so it was the third point that I was going to bring up earlier, just hit me. And this is very important. Guard the gates of your mind and feed your mind the things that you want to be. If you were to go on my YouTube right now, my private one, like just the one for Justin to watch videos, you would find no entertainment. Every video in there would be about making money. It'd be about real estate. It'd be about interest rates. It'd be about history. It'd be about geopolitics. You have to guard the gates of your mind. Any, any young man or woman watching this right now, I challenge you, go open your YouTube and Instagram feed. Look at what's hitting your feed. And if it's not about the life that you dream of having or how to get there, then you need to change everything that you're so searching. And like, like as an exercise, you should sit down and say, not interested, not interested, not interested. And then go start looking up real estate videos. Go start looking up how to make money. Go start looking up how the banking system works because it'll start feeding your mind the things that you need to believe. Number one is possible. And then number two, the more that you understand about it, the less scary it is. You know what fear really is? When you're a little boy and you're scared the boogeyman's in the closet, it's because you don't know. If you were to flip that light on, you'd be like, [ __ ] I ain't scared of that. That's a towel. You know what I'm saying? You know, it's a [ __ ] towel. Yeah. So flip the light on for yourself and go and control and guard the gates of your mind, which is going to be in a lot of ways that feed. And if that feed is feeding your mind the education you need to get confident, all of a sudden you realize light flips on. And then you just start buying properties, or you start a business, or you know what you need to do. But guarding the gates of your mind is one of the most important things you can do. And that's why I say watch the friends you're around. And my dad would come to me, my dad's a wonderful man, but he used to indirectly, just out of his own fear, try to get me to slow down. He's from South, he's from North Mississippi, Oxford. Well, son, don't you think you just want to like, kind of calm down a little bit? It could, you know, you might, you could get too big and then you could lose it all. Dad, I love you. No more jobs. You know, like, like, let's go, let's go, let's go. You know, and, and, and so like, you really have to watch what people start saying to you. And they'll do it subtly. I always say suppression is wrapped in love. Let's say you're trying to get in shape. You're at Thanksgiving. Aunt Sally's like, well, don't you want to eat my banana pudding, baby? I made it just for you. Aunt Sally, I love you, but no, ma'am, I don't. And you should take a lot of pride in that because people are going to try to slow your progress down, even if they're not doing it from a vindictive place, because it's very threatening to sit in inaction and watch somebody that's close to you go live the life that they want to live because it shines a spotlight on all of the things that you've not accomplished in your life. It's scary for people. It doesn't mean they hate you. It doesn't mean they want to pull you down. They have to sit in that. And so it's very important to realize it and understand it and be kind to them and love them anyway, but in the nicest way you can, and tell them to [ __ ] off.

Yeah, I love the point you brought up about guarding your mind. I mean, like, a lot of times, you know, there's a lot of books out there like Psycho-Cybernetics, Think and Grow Rich. They always talk about the power of positive thinking. What are some of those things? You know, your content can be very life-changing for people. And so I want to flip on the contrary and say, for those people out there that might be in a dangerous place, like, what are the most dangerous places that they could be in? For somebody that could really use your content, like, what are those things and those situations that people need to recognize that they're heading down this path and this direction that they need to go find some content like yours or just change their habits, get on the right path?

I think they already know. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. That's why I say that thing about like, if if you're going to meet God, you're just going to be quiet enough to hear your own voice. Most people that are [ __ ] up, they know they're [ __ ] up, bro. They know they don't know what to do about it. And I think the start to fixing it is like, is I'd love to tell you like some really phenomenal, life-changing thing. Dude, fix the feed in your [ __ ] phone or your social media. If you fix that, even starting off small with side hustles, go follow some dudes that teach you how to flip [ __ ] on Craigslist. Get your mind working in money-making. Spend your time around people that want to talk about making money. Yeah. Like, money is not my God, bro. But freedom and doing whatever the [ __ ] I want, want pretty close, you know what I'm saying? Taking care of the people I care about, up there, up there, big time. A lot of times when I go do nice [ __ ] or do vacations, I bring a bunch of people with me. I'm not even doing it for me. I don't give a [ __ ]. I'm working anyway, sitting right here on this thing. And I'm just sitting back and bl there having fun. Sweet. Makes me happy. More work because I want to do it again and again and again and again. I'm like, y'all [ __ ] thought that was cool? Wait till the next trip. You know, and I just constantly want to level it up for people I love. Dude, you, I don't, I don't give a [ __ ]. Bro, I could live in one of my trailers. I own. Drive my F-150. Eat off a paper plate every night. Rotisserie chicken. I wouldn't give a [ __ ]. Especially if women didn't exist, bro. I wouldn't care at all, dude. I really wouldn't. Most of my joy comes through other people and their experiences because of me. You know, like, bro, [ __ ] that Lamborghini I was the other day. I went to light a cigar up in the Lamborghini. And my buddy was with me. He's like, bro, you're not going to smoke that in here. I was like, bro, [ __ ] this car. George Jones the [ __ ] out of here, dude. [ __ ] that car. You know, because I have real love in my life, man. I'm truly happy. You know, I, I'll give you another good example, man, is, you know, when I knew that my life was really good, like, really. And also that I was built to do this type of work online. I had this clip go really viral, very negative against me. It was along with Lyla Rose. And, and it got like 10 million views. And it, and I wasn't even seeing it. It was Thomas that told me about it. He sent it to me. And I'm like, oh, [ __ ]. I didn't even know. I was like, I just talk like that. So I like, I didn't think I was mad. I'm like, all right, cool, whatever. And then I got up to like 25 million. It's probably a 50 million or some crazy [ __ ]. And even now today, I'm not mad about it. I'm actually glad it happened. And the reason I'm glad that so many people thought that I was like triggered and crying at night was because it didn't bother me at all. You know? And I thought to myself, why doesn't this bother me that people think I'm like angry with her? Like, number one, I wasn't. I just thought she was annoying, you know, whatever. Obviously, they had heard me talk before because I'll say all kinds of [ __ ]. And then number two is like, my life in real life is so [ __ ] good that there is not [ __ ] somebody could say to me on the internet to make me not have a good day. You understand what I'm saying? My real life is so [ __ ] good. There is nothing that could ever come out on the internet that would ruin my day. And I was like, bro, like, I could do this forever, bro. Because it just doesn't bother me. It really doesn't. And, and, and I think that's because I know that my real life is taken care of in such a way. I'm really happy with every day that I get to experience this ride. Is it, it's there's nothing that could ever be said to me on the internet that would, that would [ __ ] that up.

So for young entrepreneurs out there, what's your best dating advice for them? They're starting to make some money, they're starting, they're starting to build a business, you know, and they're starting to to enjoy a little bit. You know, what is your best dating advice to young entrepreneurs in today's world?

Yeah, I, well, for me, it was always about staying focused. Even when you make it, you need to, you need to stay focused. Women bet on horses, and they look out there and they say, okay, which one of these guys has a shot? And by the way, in defense to women, that's what they should do. They're smart. They're smart. Women look out there and they say, which one of these [ __ ] can I trust to give me a future? And I don't, I don't have a problem with that from women. So what you need to do is always be on task. Always go in because what happens is if you're going like this, women are just going to jump in front of you, and you're just going to accidentally run over them. And either you want them or you don't. But so women will identify the man that's working hard, that's got his [ __ ] together, that she feels like there's a future for, and she will pursue you. She will let it be known that she's interested. And then if you're interested in her, then maybe you go ahead and start dating the girl. Do whatever you want. But I never chased women. I've always absorbed. When I was broke, I was absorbing women because I was jacked and I was on the right path. They saw me. You know, let's say I slept with a girl. I get up at 4:00 in the morning. She goes to reach over for me. I'm [ __ ] gone like a cowboy, son. Boots. Put these boots back on. Hit this job again. Like, you know, it's, and that makes you a hero to them. And they admire that. And people admire that. And, and so I've never been really big on game. I've never taken a course on game. Early, early when I started YouTube, I talked about frame a bit, but I really don't like talking about women so much. I really don't. But what I will say is that if you're the kind of guy that's got your [ __ ] together and you're on a mission, these women are not stupid. They know what kind of young guy, young man, what a young man on a mission looks like. And if she doesn't see it, it's your job to make sure she [ __ ] does. And then it'll be fine.

Yeah, yeah. I think, I've, I've seen one of your videos before. Somebody reached out via YouTube comment basically saying that they're, they're young, they're a passionate entrepreneur. You know, they're probably at that stage where they're distinguishing friends that aren't on that same path. And they reached out about saying, you know, I'm going to business meetings with my dad, and I have a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear. And I loved your answer to that and would love to just hear you tell it. What advice would you give to young entrepreneurs that are getting in those rooms, trying to network with high-value individuals, and they have some sort of anxiety or fear? How can they get rid of that and basically provide value to that room?

Yes, so in a lot of cases, they won't be able to under one, accept one thing. And it's kind of, it's kind of a cool trick. So what I would do when I knew, I'll give you a great example. Remember when I said I was in that conference room with all those people on that board? Do you think I was [ __ ] like saying my opinion? I shut the [ __ ] up. Just shut the [ __ ] up, bro. And if you're nervous, you don't have to talk about you. You know what the old rich guy likes to talk about more than anything? Himself. Yeah. Make him the [ __ ] hero, bro. By the way, he deserves it. He's been in that game so much longer than me. I used to take those guys and have drinks with them and ask them about this and ask them about that. Bro, you think they didn't love talking about how they got rich hanging steel and how they started off? They were a metal building hand and then they started a business and then it blew up and now they're driving big King Ranches everywhere, big Boston through Colorado, man. All you have to do is pay attention. Shut the [ __ ] up. Listen. That's why we have two ears. And ask questions, man. And ask questions about them. Genuinely care about them as people. And, um, you'll find yourself in a position where they want to help you. They want to help you.

Some to kind of touch on like the earlier topic about friends. Let's say someone's starting to consume that, you know, self-improvement content and they want to better themselves and create a different future for themselves. Maybe their friends are like, I don't think you can really do that, or their friends aren't really on that same trajectory, and they're kind of still stuck in that poverty mindset. What advice would you give to that person looking to break out and make their own way to wealth?

I would start spending time with people online that I respect and admired and want to be like. I used to watch all kinds of YouTube videos and just drive and be alone because I would have rather be alone learning than out partying and drinking. That's it, man. And now there's so many online communities where you can truly have brotherhood and friendship with people, even if there's thousands of miles between you. So I would just really pay attention to the information I was taking in and get closer to other people online that were on that same path. And you don't have to feel so isolated. So that's what I would do.

I kind of just wanted to add two more than ending, and then if you guys have any more as well. But I wanted to ask you, a big thing that you talk about in chess is fitness. And I know we talked about it earlier, but really, how can someone's physical health correlate to their success in the financial world? How has that helped you in business, closing deals, earning that respect from older people? You talked about how you were part of this major national association, but you were the youngest person in there. And so really, how important is it to put that emphasis on physical health? And you've even said that you put more of an emphasis on physical than than finance, or physical health than finance.

I do because your health is everything, right? And then on top of that, the more you're exercising and moving those cells around your body and really getting the blood flowing, the better you're going to think. You're going to have blood flow into your brain, all parts of you. You can move, you can get around. Obviously, people are going to respect you when you walk in the room. They're going to see discipline. They're going to probably think you're more intelligent. I don't, I don't think there's anything better than fitness. In fact, if I had to trade money for my body right now, I probably take my body. You know, because what can I? I can go out and make more money with it. You know, I can start another business with it. Broke guys get women, especially jacked broke guys. Bunch of Chads, bro. You can turn yourself into a Chad too. I'm so tired of hearing that people call me a Giga Chad. I may be, but there's a version of me in South Louisiana that's 260 pounds, working in the plant, living in a in a trailer. You know, so I think any person can create that reality in their life. And I think fitness is a great place to start because it starts with trusting yourself to turn up every day. A lot of people let a business deal go because they don't trust themselves that they can do it. And it's not the skill set, it's the discipline to show up. So waking up, going to the gym, doing what you're supposed to do is a great way to begin to trust yourself and to value yourself and respect yourself for the hard work you've done. And it's one of very few things that if you work hard at, you get to carry with you and everybody has to see it. I could walk in a place tomorrow and if nobody knew who I was, they wouldn't know I was rich. You know, but they know I was [ __ ] jacked. So think about that.

What was that, you know, piece of financial advice or just financial game that you would get, kind of like on the second side of that, talking finances, you know, young entrepreneur starts making a lot of money. We've talked real estate already. But what would be that financial advice that you would give somebody that they're now making the really good money? How can they set themselves up for financial success?

I would autodraft a large portion of it out of your account. I, yeah, I'd make yourself broke. I've been autodrafting money out of my account since I was 25, and I've never missed the money. It's the craziest thing. And if I did miss the money, you know what I do? Just go make more [ __ ] money. You know what I'm saying? That's the game. And, uh, now I'm at this place where, yeah, I can afford to buy a nice car and like a house and Dubai and have a place here and then have a big, I have a big house in Louisiana, but I'm also shoving a quarter million, 500 grand this over here. Boom. And all these deals that are going to pay me for the rest of my life. Yeah. So it's, it's one of those situations where when time is on your side, particularly a young person, time is definitely on your side. Um, I would start investing in things like real estate. I'd even buy some crypto. I have a bunch of crypto, but I don't need the crypto. Like, it could go to [ __ ] zero. I wouldn't give a [ __ ]. Be like, good, buy some more. You know, um, once you really start making money, you need to start planting those seeds in places that don't need you. You know, like you could put in the S&P or whatever and let it go. Now, I'm not saying be boring like, um, Charlie Munger and those guys and like, wait till you're 60. You know, but I would make sure I was automatically putting a certain portion of it aside because the worst thing you could ever do is be that guy that was rich one time. And I think that's one of my bigger fears in life is being that dude that was like, rich once and he [ __ ] it all up. You know? And so the only reason I bought that Lamborghini, I told myself, I said, when you have over 100 doors, you can buy a Lambo. So I bought it. So but also there's hundreds of people now getting up and going to work and giving a quarter of their paycheck or more to me. And so that seed is planted. And so I don't mind driving a Lambo because I'm not even paying for it. You can just go back in time and just give young Justin one piece of advice before he started that first business.

What would it be?

Pick a business model that's going to pay you a return on investment of your energy forever. Insurance, real estate, something that is residual. Pay attention to the business model and look 20 years ahead of you at your mentors and ask yourself if you want to be where they are.

I'm going to, I'm going to ask on the flip side of that. You know, you're building an empire right now. You've already had tremendous success up until this point. But when it's all said and done, how do you want to be remembered?

I would want to be remembered as a person that had a relentless heart. Um, I'm never going to be the smartest man in the world. I'm never going to be the best entrepreneur. But I'm going to do my absolute best to speak truth, even if it's not the best thing for me. And, um, and I want to relentlessly love people, even if I have to take arrows in my back. So I was just telling you in the car, when we went to got gas, it's like one of the things I love most about helping young men and young women, but young men particularly, is that I get a lot of hate for the things that I say that are just truth. And people don't like those arrows in my back are well worth it because I feel like we're changing a generation of young men in a positive way. And I think that people miss that. If we help young men become better men, stronger men, that we are helping young women. And so I'm not the pope, I'm not the world's greatest person or anything like that. But I am very relentless about caring about people and loving people. And, um, and I quite enjoy it. And, um, it never gets old getting messages, hearing you change my life. So, um, yeah, just relentless and big-hearted, man. And, um, everything else takes care of itself.

I love it. And our final question for you. We end our pods off by asking people this, but, you know, what would be your best, or what is your best advice to the younger generation today? If you could leave them with a few guiding principles to really set them up to live a successful life, what is your best advice to the younger generation that's watching this right now?

When you're trying, when people are trying to influence you and you can't make your mind up whether you want to listen to them or go a different direction, get yourself in a quiet place and listen. Listen to what's coming from inside of you. I can guarantee you that's the right decision because any other decision you make won't be in line with your soul, and you'll never be able to commit to it fully. So even if it's the wildest, craziest dream on the planet, if your voice inside of you says that's what you need to do, that's damn well what you better do. Because making decisions based off of what other people's lives are, particularly people that probably are not going to do as good as you were, where you want to go, is never going to serve you. So listen to that voice inside of you and don't check up. And it won't be long until they'll tell you, I knew you could do it all along. And they will, they will.

Oh man, guys, that wraps up today's episode with Justin Baller. Justin, thank you so much for having us after your spot and shooting some content. Be sure to leave a like and subscribe for some amazing content coming soon. And Justin, where can everybody find you out?

You can find me on Instagram at Justin Win Waller 7. You can find me on Twitter at Waller 7J. You can also join my newsletter. You can do that through going to Justin Win Waller dot com. That's J U S T I N W I N W A L L E R dot M E. In Miami, let's get it. Justin, thank you so much. Y'all move my [ __ ] furniture back. Justin, great [ __ ] episode, man.