S1:E4 - Navigating Career Transitions with Confidence: Matthew Cordova

Alrighty. So we are back. We are at episode four of the Bold Moves podcast. Uh, so I am your co host, Matt Torres. I have my co host, Rachel Staggs, and I've got my special guest, mister Matthew Cordova. How are you doing, Matthew? I'm doing great. How about yourself? I am doing pretty good. So I know you as MJ. So you go by MJ. Right. Okay. Very cool. Um, just to fill you in, so MJ, I met at, uh, BNI meeting. And, uh, first first BNI meeting that I went to, I was trying to, like, you know, secure that, you know, that that insurance spot. And, um, I walk in, and mister Cordova was there. And, um, like, it was very cool, like, because we both had, you know, some common, uh, you know, we both in the industry. So it was it was awesome. Like, can you kind of tell me a little bit about, you know, your, uh, your background? Just kinda fill us in on, you know, on on who mister Cordova is. Mister Cordova has been around a long time. So I I've been in sales, um, in owning my own businesses for I started in sales forty years ago. Uh, I've done, you know, I've done a variety of things as far as sales go. Most of my career was in advertising and marketing, uh, for a real big company. Went into insurance in 02/2012 and kind of have wandered in and out of insurance since then. Um, it's always been kind of a nice safety blanket when I needed to do something or it was kind of in between things. I'd always land back in insurance just because it was comfortable and then, you know, there's really no ramp up period. You can get going from day one. So it's kinda where I'm at. Um, did did a lot of small business consulting, um, a lot of sales training, which is which is what I'm doing now and and working with actually an insurance company here, um, locally, and and then I have a few companies that I work with in Colorado. Oh, wow. Even in Colorado? Mhmm. Well, that's cool. Interesting. So when I was talking with him, uh, we had this conversation at BNI, and you were mentioning the sales, uh, training thing. And that kind of, like, opened my eyes a little bit because you were telling me some stuff, and I'm like, I I feel like I should be paying for this, really. It's the little tidbits that you were giving me. But, I mean, how long have you been doing that? I mean, like, is that I mean, is this fairly recent, or have you been doing that, like, a while? The sales training I started in 2017. So in, um, 2015, I sold three of my businesses that I had in Colorado, and I moved back to Arizona. Yeah. Um, I I got a job with a a large consulting company doing sales training, and then it just, um, wasn't well, just wasn't quite a great fit. There were some things I thought that customers could use, and they were very strict about staying in my lane with what what their program was. So kinda took the leap, and and a couple of clients that I met through them, um, wanted a little bit more, wanted a little bit more customs. So they they supported me in jumping into doing the consulting. And then, um, through a couple introductions, I got in with a a mortgage company, which ended up to be my largest customer. And, uh, so it just kind of it kinda went from there. I jumped um, into that. I was very big in the mortgage and real estate industry. And then in 02/2021, I was calling on a client to try and do training for them, and they said, well, what will it take for you to come and work for us? Um, so I did that for three years and ran a a really big real estate team. Oh, wow. Um, so and I've done that in and out where, you know, if I have the time and and capacity, I can go to work for a company, and they understand that I need a little bit more flexibility than a normal person would. But, also, you know, I can I can help them deliver results in the time that I can put into it also? So so it's been it's been just a great experience. I've been really blessed in having some clients that have brought me on as as an employee and but still allowed me to do other stuff outside of the company. And and it's a win win because I've helped them to grow, and I've still had the flexibility to stay attached to the training company that I built. Hey, Rachel. I heard a keyword there. I heard Thank you. Yeah. I heard a few I've heard a few few words. Um, do you wanna do you wanna jump in and kind of, like, explain the like, our whole premise of what we keywords that we sell. Just because we For her. We are just now meeting each other, like, kinda introducing him into what I've done too. So I related so much to you saying, like, you've fallen back on insurance. I was like, oop. Same. So, like, my career in insurance started out. My husband was getting out of the military. It was, um, health related, so it was very quick of a discharge. Like, we had two weeks of, okay. What are we gonna do? So USA hired me at home office, and that was my first introduction to insurance, but writing all 50 states and also being able to add value to other military members because we know how it is. Like so that empathy was definitely there. I was with them two years. And then I transitioned, like, one at a different sales role. So Facebook was hiring, but for marketing experts. So doing their whole ad set and ad system of selling ads and teaching people how to best sell themselves, particularly on the meta platforms, Instagram and Facebook. So I realized I was interviewing all these marketing gurus. I realized, okay, none of these people have experience working anywhere. They just have good sales experience. But it kinda got me thinking, okay, if you combine those two in a perfect world, right, had our training, had the experience, knew how to source hashtags, knew how to source the best and most trending sounds that are trending forward but already haven't reached their peak. Right? Teaching people how to source in a new age way, marrying those old sales techniques. I grew up with a dad who sold 18 millers my whole life. Um, so I grew up around other salesman my entire life. Sales jokes my entire life. And, um, those jokes did not slap as well with my mom's school counselor friends. Right? I couldn't get away with some of the things I could say in dad's office that I could with mom. And so I very much so I realized, like, okay, How am I gonna add value as this prissy little thing in a man's world, in a sales world? How can I show what I can do? Right? My jobs in my marketing and my sales techniques because I'm completely different than the traditional sales model, even the traditional female salesperson. Right? I don't I don't do things the traditional way, and neither does he. And so I think we were inspired by the idea of interviewing other strong salespeople who maybe had an unorthodox way of coming into business, maybe have taken a lot of different risks, maybe haven't had the traditional route of just success. And I made the joke about Michael Jordan that I wanted to interview people who've had those big rejections and made those rejections and overcoming objections their whole story. So, um, I think that's something kind of like what you had started talking about and just how y'all have aligned. It seems like you have quite a few bold moves and different things that you've transitioned and done. What would you say, like, in the last five years was your biggest bold move or risk that you took? Probably taking on that that big real estate team. Um, so I had some experience training certain aspects of real estate. Um, and, again, when you really segment out any business, you have what is the sort of the core knowledge of this is how you sell this widget. This is how you sell Facebook ads. This is how you sell cups or insurance. But there's the whole skill set of of sales itself. And I I think that most companies train on this is how you sell my widget. I would agree. And and there's this gap between this is how you sell my widget and this is how you sell anything. This is how you influence behavior. This is how you influence decisions. So I was pretty comfortable in doing what I was doing. Had a lot of flexibility. Um, so it it was kind of a, you know, it was a little bit of a leap to take on an a a team of about 80 real estate agents. That's a lot. Um, having limited limited knowledge of the actual real estate process. So I went ahead and got licensed, went through all of the training courses that I could find as far as, like, you know, real estate gurus teaching how to sell real estate so that I could kinda marry that with what I really believed in and and what I the approach that I take to it. So, um, you know, because that was going from sort of golfing four times a day a week and, you know, waking up when I wanted to wake up, working when I wanted to work to alright. Now I have an office to show up to and, you know, like, I had, um, by 80 agents, but also had six staff members. And so Wow. You know, making sure those staff members were contributing and doing what they were supposed to do. And so it went I went from a little bit of structure to a lot of structure really quickly, which the last time I had a real job was probably I don't know. This is my first time having a real job in, like, four years. I've been I really it's different. Probably since the early two thousands, mid '2 thousands was the last time I, like, had a real job. Yeah. So it's a it's a big adjustment. It is because there's so much risk on yourself, but there's also so much personal control too with owning your own business and doing your own thing versus maybe feeling gatekept in some ways by the constraints of a very Fortune 100, Fortune 500 company. They have their compliance. They have their technicalities. And when you are a big thinker, it's hard to be within the red tape. I feel like we we struggle, I think, with that in general too. Absolutely. Yeah. I I recently got offered a, um, uh, you know, an opportunity position, um, but it it it was very, um, very limit limited, you know, as far as, like, you know, what you can do in your day. And and for me, like, you know, clock in, clock out, like, nine to five. Like, I don't I can't I can't really thrive in that. You know? I need to kinda be out and about and just basically, like, connecting with people, um, not, like, tied to a phone, you know, all day, every day. You know? So it's just crazy. Um, are you good at golf? Mhmm. You said you said relative relative? You That means he's good. If he said it like that Okay. Because I say I can hang, and that means I that means what it means. Dude, I That means he's good. Yeah. Yeah. I I need He's being humble. I I I need to I need to learn more. I'm horrible. I go off. Like, I I said I can like, somebody asked me, are you good? So I can hit the ball. I just I can't, like, really kind of control where it goes. So I'm like, yeah. That's, uh, we'll have to we'll have to try a few things. Deal with it. Yeah. Well, no. Because that's that's the funny thing. Like, because you mentioned that. Like, that's a big part of of, like, just business and, you know, like, you a lot of deals Literally learned for that reason. Yeah. Only that reason. No. No. No. Like, a lot of deals get made on the golf course. Like, that's that's a real thing. You know what I mean? And, like, that's that's difficult for me who's not very, like, you know, athletic. You know, I didn't really I did marching band, like, in in high school. You know what I mean? That's drum corps. You know, like, so I still Yeah. I know. You don't meet too many people, like, you know, like, doing business, like, talk about music and drum corps and stuff. You know what I mean? But, like, um, yeah. I always I always wanted to learn, like, actually how to, like, play golf, not not just for the fact of, like, connecting with people, like, in, you know, in the business world, but, like, actually learning how to do it. You know? Because, like, that sounds fun. And then you get to, like, you know, go out and, like, actually connect with people and because I'm sure you you'd like golf. Right? Mhmm. Yeah. Like, if someone asks you, hey. Let's go play around in golf. They're like, let's let's do it. Very rarely is the answer no. Yeah. See? See? Like, see. I'm gonna learn. I'm gonna learn how to play golf. I mean, we're gonna go play golf. Like, that's that can be advice from a girl. I took three lessons. Yeah. Me and Travis took three lessons, and we went to a golf pro. And so that he broke down our swing. And then because of how you think you're such a technical thinker, they showed us an app of, like, where we're messing up the exact moment we're messing up, where our hands should be. This is what so broke it down on, like, a trajectory Yeah. With new age technology. I was like, oh, okay. Interesting. Pretty cool from the nerd side of both of our brains. Like, wow. This is really satisfying because he was like, you're he called Travis Popeye. He's like, you're olive oil. He's like, y'all couldn't have more different problems. He's like, you're, like, hyperextended. You're doing things with your wrist I've never even seen before is what he told me. And then he said, and you, you're just like a clunky baseball player. He's like, I got a lot of work to do, but he did. He straightened them out and, like, he was he's never had control of the ball. He can go yard. He can he can rope it, but he, like him, is all over the place. I can keep it down the middle, but I'm a girl. I'm having to learn how to put power behind myself completely different. So it was funny. Oh. We had fun, though. Yeah. And, um, we did three lessons with him. It wasn't too bad. It was pretty reasonably priced. Really? Mhmm. It's a little bit yeah. My interest to call him. I'm from Texas. I moved here, like, two months ago. What part? San Antonio. Beautiful city. I love it. I'm I'm in I miss the food, probably the most part, um, and obviously my family, but my family comes to visit. So, like, my brother has, um, an investment guy that he works for on the side. He's also in real estate. Um, and so he comes to Phoenix, like, every two months, and my mom's coming next week. So I'm like, they they're coming. They're coming to visit now. Dude, I drove through Texas one time. So, like, um, for so for I don't I don't think I ever said this. I've told this story. So, like, you know, um, I'm in the military. And for when I commissioned, you know, I had to go through, uh, my, you know, basic officer, you know, course, and it was in Georgia because I was a signal officer, so I had to go, you know, across Georgia. Buddy of mine, um, we were like, hey. Let's let's just drive over there because they weren't gonna give us, uh, rental cars unless we bought our own car. And I'm like, dude, that's, like, 2,000 miles. I'm like, alright. I gotta I got, you know, dude with me. We're gonna roll out there. And, um, so I had to plan the trip, and, you know, there's, like, stops along the way. And so, you know, like, put pick little spots to, you know, go and stay at a hotel and just, like, crash for the night and then pick up the next day. And, um, I have no idea about Texas, and I'm just, like, googling stuff and finding the cheapest things. And I found this one spot. Like, apparently, Odessa, Texas is, like, a really bad part of Texas. I Oh, great. I didn't know that. So I booked this cheap hotel. And, um, so, you know, we rolled in. You know, we got all our duffel bags in the car and stuff, you know, and we're and, like, the place looks pretty shady. Like, there's there's people like, it's an outdoor hotel. Like, there's people hanging out outside, sitting, watching us. And, you know, again, like, we're two two army guys, and we got all our all of our gear, like, you know, lots and lots of value in our in our car. And, um, my my buddy, he, uh, he was a a a an ex cop. He used to be, like, you know, a a deputy. And, um, you know, immediately, his spidey sense is going off, and he's looking around. He's like, I don't think we should keep our stuff in the car. And I'm like, okay. And so, like, we take our stuff and, like, we roll in and we get in the room and, like, complete dump. Like, I'm like, what is this? Like, this this is, like, nasty. Like, this is it was just, like, really bad. And so I'm like and and my buddy, he's like, dude, he's like, this is this is like a like a one of those, you know, transient places. He says, I I I saw he said, from his thing, I saw, like, a pimp and, like, three, like, prostitutes. He's like, I already know. I said already tell all the vibes, you know? Yeah. So I'm like, okay. Yeah. We we need to hop out of here. So I go The other hints when they let you pay cash for a room. Yeah. Okay? So It's not it's not a place you wanna be. So I go to the front front desk, and I'm like, okay. We we need our money back. We we're out of here. Like, we didn't stay in the room. Like, we gotta we we're we're this is just not good for us. You know? I told us I told the lady, like, we're in the military. We got lots of gear, like, high value. Like, we just don't wanna we're gonna bounce. And then the lady looks at me, and she goes, but but you used it already. And I'm like, are you kidding me? I'm like, it was like, oh, that right there, I was like, we're done. Like, out of here. Um, I, you know, I didn't even care. I think it was, like, a hundred bucks or something like that. I'm like, alright. Let's bounce, dude. Because, like, that was that told me all I needed to know. I'm like, okay. Um, when we we kept driving for, I don't know, a couple hours. I don't know where we ended up with. It was some, like, nice, uh, holiday inn or something. You know? It was modest, um, but it was not, like, trashy. And I told the front desk guy, I was like, dude, yeah, we were in this place, you know, in Odessa. He's like, oh. Like, when someone who looks at you and they're like, oh. Like, Odessa's really full of other really seedy towns that you could actually end up on the way to either California or Florida. So I was already like, oh my gosh. Because there's some really bad towns in history that you would not sundown towns. There's town where you would not wanna and they'll they'll tell you, oh, you're a brown girl. You should not be here. Like, you should not be here after 6PM. I'm like, what? Like, now? I was with my daughter. It was twenty fourteen in Mississippi. I got told that of, like, you better get your brown, you know what, out of here. Like, go go on. I was like, okay. Like, I ran. Like, I ran off the gas station. But you're you're in the army too. Right? I was. Yeah. What did you do in the army? I was combat engineer. Combat engineer. Blue stuff up? Yeah. Mhmm. That's awesome. How how long did you did you serve? Eighty six to '92. Wow. Was was that all active duty time? It was all it was two years active and whatever its balance was, I was in the reserves. Okay. So how did you like the reserves? Hated it. Hated it. How do you like the reserves? I was I'm tech I'm still in, technically, so I have to refrain from What's your real thought? So we'll see what year I'm talking about. Yeah. All I remember was I thought it was not that bad a deal. I'm like, okay. Well, you know, one weekend a month, I could deal with that. And then the two weeks during the year, whatever. I mean, that was actually better. The weekends were brutal. Yeah. And I think I I think, like, when I got my check for doing the one weekend, it was, like, $78. Oh my gosh. It was it was so bad. Yeah. Yeah. I I I will say, um, I do love the serving our country you know because I do think that's like important and I also like I chose to be an officer because I want to serve the people that serve this country and I think that's what a lot of a lot of other officers that I've come across don't realize is that you know we're we're serving people in addition to serving our country and um I think when you have that misalignment causes a lot of friction and a lot of, uh, potential issues. But, um, I will say, like, the people that I've worked with, like, that hands down, probably one of the best people that I've come in contact with. It's just, like, unfortunate that there's, uh, an entire organization or entity that's bigger that you can't really, you know, pinpoint, you know, an an exact thing. It's like I don't know. Like, what what do you what do you call it? A systemic thing or something like that? But, anyway, um, I still I I wouldn't change anything, you know, about it. I didn't like, I would still do it, but, um, that's a risk. You know? I I loved my time in there. I mean, it was it was good for me at that age. It provided me the ability to go to college and get out a lot of youthful energy that probably wouldn't have I wouldn't have spent productively. Yeah. Um, it was so it was and it was I liked it. I mean, I liked painting my face. I like blowing stuff up, and I like running around and screaming and Show me your war face. Whatever. You know? It was I like that part of it. I'd like, everybody talks about like, you see all these things about basic training and, like, know, there was guys I I remember one of the first nights, you know, you're in the bay and, like, you hear all these guys crying, and I'm like, what are you doing? Yeah. Like, there's nothing hard about this. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I remember the first day in basic training. We had our duffel bags on, you know, right after the shark tank, you know, in their old Yamanche, and you go in your bay. And we've had our duffels on, and we're all in a a front leaning rest. We're all, like, basically, like, a push up position and just, like, being yelled at, told to keep it and not move, and you got people, like, dipping. And then, like, we oh, gosh. It was, like, forty five minutes or something like that. They held us there. And, like, there's, like, people like, grown men crying. Like, I'm serious. Will say the tear gas because I only know about the navy. That's the only experience I've had of, like, them having to get tear gas as part of their, like, exit training or whatever. So the girls, like, when they were saying, like, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was like, okay. I feel some serious empathy because I would not be handling feeling like I was pepper sprayed. That's where they had me. I can I can physicality wise, do much much of what's asked of, like, all of his stuff, but I was like, nah? That's where you get me. I'm like, I do not wanna be spraying. I do not wanna be spraying the face. Did it hurt the dog to do that? So, no, they didn't spray us in the face. It was a gas chamber. Yeah. Oh, you got sprayed. Oh, because No. We went in a room probably twice the size of this. Yeah. Um, one squad at a time. So, you know, ten, twelve guys. Yeah. Just And I was just just You could see the, you know, the kinda little colored smoke floating around, and then they just told you take off your mask. And Yep. And you took off your mask. And then as soon as everybody took off their mask and So what I've seen is they look like they got sprayed. So that that may be the MPs because I know the MPs, they go through training, and it's just like how cops, they o c spray them. Yes. Because that looked like pepper spray. It looked like they got sprayed directly in the eye. You know? It was pretty bad. Yeah. I I have that OC sprayed one time because I used to be a a detention officer, like, back in the day. You know what I mean? And, like, I went to the academy, and, like, they sprayed you in the face, and that was pretty horrible. Like Was it worse than the chamber? It was worse than the chamber. Yeah. I thought the chamber it was maybe they didn't do the chamber that bad because, um, I went in there and, like, I did feel, like, congestion, like, it burned, um, but, like, it was one of those things once I got out and you're flapping your arms and all the snots coming out and everything, like, you know, you're fine With the OC spray, I I felt that for, like, the entire day and even, like, the next day. Like, you couldn't even get back in the shower because, like, it would just reactivate. It was in your eyes. Yeah. I well, yeah. I wouldn't do that again. But, um, I'm I'm curious because, you know, you I I saw some posts that you did, and you had, like, a lot of people at a seminar. And, you know, you were like, when I asked you about it, you were doing, like, the the, you know, sales training and whatnot. Like, that for I mean, for the average person, that's risky. I mean, that's a that's a big move. You know what I mean? Like, it's I like, can you kinda share a little bit about that? So we put together basically a workshop for real estate agents. Yeah. Um, and there was there was a panel and a couple of guest speakers, and I kind of just MC'd the whole thing and, um, did some speaking during their lunchtime and kinda started and stopped it. Um, but I've I've done that since I started doing that kind of stuff in, like, the early two thousands. And it's you know, I was a lot younger then. Um, I was the top sales guy at the company I was working for, and they had asked me if I would and and I was, like, shattering records. Like, I mean, they investigated me for fraud because they were like, there's no way somebody could sell this much without, like, fraud. Wow. So, you know, fast forward a year or two, they're like, hey. Would you speak at the national convention and just be like, you know, just let everybody know what you do and how you think you're so successful. And I was, like, in my mid thirties, just thought I was the biggest deal ever. I mean and didn't prepare. So, like, 11:00 at the night before. I don't know if you guys have ever been to, like, a national company sales convention, but it's So at, like, 11:00 the night before I'm supposed to speak, I'm, like, get some note cards out, and I'm, like, alright. Let me figure out what I'm gonna talk about tomorrow. And it was it was kind of weird at first, but once I started talking, you know, it's it helps when you know so much about what you're talking about. You know? If if you if somebody were to say, hey. I need you to give a half hour speech on your kids. Like, you'd be like, I could go three hours. Like, you and you wouldn't be uncomfortable about it just because you know everything about them, you know. And and you you have this confidence, like, well, I'm just talking about something that I know. And so it really wasn't too bad. Um, but I, you know, I had played sports and and not that there was big crowds in sports, but I played sports. And so there was some times where I was exposed to, you know, booing or cheering or doing a good job, doing bad job. And and I don't you know, I guess I'm blessed that, um, I come from pretty modest background. Everything in my life really is blessing. Like, everything's a step forward. And and and when we talk about risk, um, I I guess I've never looked at things as a risk. And and to me, it's a decision. Mhmm. And and there's there's consequences that come with every decision, but there's also consequences from not making making a decision. And Yeah. I think I'm just wired that there's a larger risk in me not trying something than there is me trying and failing. Yeah. Um, because to me, we were, um, actually at a happy hour last night, um, with a group of people, business kind of a business happy hour, and and we were talking about that concept. And, you know, to me, I could if my days ended today, there would be no regret. Like, I have done everything. I've not left a word unsaid. I've tried everything I wanted to try. I've done everything I wanted to do. I would be fearful, and I would be regretful if I were in my last days, and I said I wish I had done this. I wish I hadn't said that. I wish I had tried this. To me, that's the risk. The risk is not in trying. The risk is not trying. Yeah. Yeah. I was I was gonna go to that, but my kid was like, I have a concert tonight. I'm like, are you kidding me? Like, uh, he plays the clarinet, and and so he had a band concert. And I'm like, why didn't you he has ADHD like me, so I totally understand why he didn't, like, tell me because, you know, the teacher was supposed to email and whatnot. But, um, yeah. So I saw the text, and I was like, man, they're having a good time. Like but there it's third you're having another one Thursday. Right? Correct. Okay. So I'm planning on making that one. Hopefully, I don't nothing else pops up. Um, but it was funny that that you you said that, um, the my mind's just going again. Um, something about oh, gosh. I was I had oh, I had something. It was right there. I was gonna say something, and I totally I totally spaced on it, um, about not taking a risk. That's okay. So, yeah, not taking a risk or not, uh, looking back and being like, gosh. I wish I would have done that. That was exactly the reason, like, my me and the military thing. I joined late. I was, like, 27, like, when I when I went, which is late for, like, you know, Missouri. Twenty five. We were late too. Yeah. Yeah. So I was like, I, like, I do not want to, um, be one of those, you know, old guys down the road that, you know, recommend what you know, I I I could've joined. You know? I we're you know? But, you know, I didn't whatever. You know? I just I went like, no. I just gotta do it. You know what I mean? Um, Yeah. So weird that you that you said that. Yeah. I wouldn't take anything back on that. Um, do you have anything to say on the on the sales seminar side of things? Because I know you have done some some something similar to to that and kinda like a risk. I did a lot of one on one calls. So my dad passed away from COVID, um, 2021. So I was in insurance in Colorado, and, um, I picked up and went home, um, and took a little bit of a break from insurance. At the same time, social media was going off for me, Um, both talking about COVID and everything back home with our governor and and whatnot, those were going very viral, and then he did pass away. So very, very quickly, I went from, like, 40 k people to almost 400 k people, And I was giving marketing advice, basically, everything I had learned at that Blue social media app of how to convert, of how to ask for business, how to have a call for action, how to have a beginning and middle end of every TikTok, of every Instagram reel. And so I was helping a lot of people go viral, but I would do it on a one on one session. So he's not the first, but he's a good friend. So he's like, Rachel, why haven't you not scaled that differently? And that was kind of my issue. So from a personal perspective and a business perspective of your advice on that, I was booking between seventy five and eighty calls a week. I am a mom of two. It was getting crazy. And I see his idea. I see his vision of that being that different format. That is an isolated incident. I can repurpose those videos. There's a lot of things I can do with that. That would be such a time saver for me instead of those one on one calls, which I could still do. But, obviously, I was underselling myself if I was booking that many. So and and that's reality of business too of kind of figuring out what that might look like for me because, like, you kinda did for that group, I give a lot of free advice. And I want to not just give everything away. I want to also know my worth and what I add and what I bring to the table. If I can get somebody to go viral and I have lots of times with over a million views, that is something that I should be selling. That advice, that marketability, and help, um, because I'm genuine. I really do want people to succeed. So how would you go about scaling something like that, or what would you say to add to that? Um, I'll gonna back up a little bit. Okay. So, um, I I love helping people. I really do. And and I have done it, um, I've done it in person, uh, one to one. I've done it in groups. I had a website that was a subscription based website that people could just come on and they could watch videos that were categorized and they were short, you know, usually sixteen to fifteen minutes. So they were bite sized things. My reinvigoration, my my reengagement with all of this in the past year has really been because there are so many people out there giving bad advice with such confidence that I'm I'm frustrated and I'm disappointed. And I have been meeting more and more small business owners that have said, yeah. I lost $15,000. I lost $60,000. I paid this guy, you know, $6,000 a month for six months, and my business was worse off when he left. And so I really haven't nailed down the strategy. I do know that I will talk to every small business owner that I can possibly talk to. Mhmm. Um, you know, I have one that's coming on in March that is, I mean, I'm not gonna get paid anywhere near what I'm worth or what the advice is worth. But I think for the short term, I need to help the business community understand and have some confidence that there are people out there that will help Mhmm. That are gonna help, um, share the knowledge. Knowledge is mistakes. You know, I've I've been in in the real business world since I was 24, which would be thirty two years ago. And I've learned a lot of things. I've went through a lot of training. I've seen a lot of trends. I've made a lot of mistakes. The the challenge with what's going on right now is you have a two pronged sort of problem with there's a lot of people giving bad advice, and they've gone through some kind of Internet training program on how to sell their program. And they're just about selling their program. They're not about helping businesses. I fundamentally, I believe that if I'm gonna help a business, if I'm gonna and this is my challenge with where I wanna go with all this. I could put together a 10 step program, a 12 step program, whatever that number might be. The challenge is if I have a brand new business owner in one industry, it's gonna be a very different approach than I would take with a business owner who might have been in an industry for fifteen years and hasn't been able to progress with technology or progress with trends in the industry. And so it's it's difficult because if you try to scale and help mass amounts of people, the efficacy of what you're doing is gonna be lower. And if you try to help businesses one off with really what they need help with, you obviously have far less of a reach. So, you know, what's the balance between those two things is is really and and that's kind of what I'm trying to build now is how can I lay down some very fundamental things that anybody can use and then be able to follow-up on that with more customized, you know, what now that we have these fundamental things, what does your business need? Because even in the real estate industry, the biggest impact I had was not in teaching them how to write a contract or or how to negotiate a free refrigerator. It really was how do I how do I take my real estate business? And you and I talked about this in the insurance industry. How do I run this like a real business? I've I've, um, been fortunate enough to be CEO of two different companies. I've owned six small businesses, and then I've been in this executive leadership for two fortune 500 companies. And you learn a lot from that. You learn you learn a lot from people who are farther along in that corporate journey. Um, the the benefit that I came away with was I can run my small business. I can run my insurance agency or my power washing company or my, um, auto body shop the same way that a Fortune five company runs Fortune 500 company runs. I just have to understand where I get the resources. I can't hire a VP of finance. I can't hire a VP of sales. But what I can do is I can hire a great accountant. I can hire a fractal, um, sales manager or sales VP, a fractal CFO if I need to. And so, you you know, when we look at these these trends in getting people into a room, I love doing it. But it it really has to be more of an introduction into philosophically humming an approach to this business. And then secondarily, how do we follow-up to make sure that this these things are customized to what you do? Because I I really genuinely would never wanna push something on somebody that I didn't believe was a % good for them. Right. And you you hit the nail on the head, and we talk about it whether it's submitting. So one of the issues that I have talked about is deck pages, how we choose to submit through Canopy Connect. That's not gonna work for an older consumer. They're never going to do that. And I've explained that to my boss. Why am I going to bring up something that they're never going to use? I'm gonna bring it up to them how they can understand it. You here's the email that you're gonna send this to me. They can take a picture. So there's ways around it, but I would venture to say the same thing with all of the marketing advice, and that was what I loved about the personalized one on one attention. If it's a 22 year old girl who's selling tumbler cups, that is a very different audience and reach than a 47 year old man who's doing lawn care. Right? We're just not trying to reach the same people either. So when we talk about sponsored ads or paid ads, we aren't looking to fish from the same ponds. So, um, I completely agree, and that makes perfect sense of why it's still an issue always of how do you give your most self. Right? How do you give your most to those businesses who truly need that connection and that assistance, but not to the point that you're watering it down and and leaving it less saturated for everybody else or giving just a regurgitated certain steps, which I agree wholeheartedly. And I feel like I run into the same issue of hitting that wall of, um, well, then what does that leave me? And so I'm kind of thinking, just spitballing here, of different tiers, having a basic package, a very, very affordable baseline. This is I had to do it all over again today. This is how I would get myself seen. Next tiered package and then that top tiered package being that one on one connection. I don't think I'm ever gonna be somebody who charges marketing guru prices because it's not me. It's not who I am. But I do think I was charging too low to be booking out that much. So I do want that happy medium price wise, but maybe that's how I like the building blocks of scaling it that way and start from there and see how it goes. I love that you're all about failing forward because that was a % my dad's testimony. And he said something earlier that, like, it was weird. Like, my dad said almost this exact same thing of I've lived a good life. He was a salesman my whole life. I've I've done everything. I've gone everywhere I wanted to go. I've provided everything I wanted to provide from you and your brother. I only have a little brother. Um, I've done everything I wanted to do. So if I go, I don't I don't fear death. I fear leaving y'all behind. So, you know, I bring him up on every every podcast, but it's a huge reason why I had chose this role. I've never done life insurance before. I've been PNC for seven years. So the life insurance is a new aspect, but I directly got handed, um, that situation for about five four or five years ago. So it's just one of those things where it hit my family personally where I do feel like I'm gonna advocate it and scream it from the rooftops. Every gentleman, every dad, every mom should be looking at owning their own policy. If that's the one message I get out for this podcast of not your work policy, Own your own life insurance policy because it can never be taken away from you. We've all had that experience. You've had that experience of getting a pink slip you did not expect, or things happen, people remerge, and then all of a sudden you don't have that insurance and you're 42. And you could have had this insurance since you were 34, my age right now. And so just speaking on that, and and that's my passion point of talking about it on on every call. Um, I mean it with my whole heart. That 750 k changed my mom's life for not just the year after my dad died, for three years after he died. So I think it's just an important talking point and why we do what we do in general, and we all have that insurance background and and love for helping people. So we super appreciate all of your advice. What other do you feel like we're missing something? Is there anything else that we didn't hit on bold moves wise or anything else? Because I know you had a question, and then I I feel that you Oh, yeah. Yeah. No. No. I was I was just gonna say, like, just jumping on the life insurance thing. Because my wife, she sells life insurance over the phone, like, all day. And she's great at it. Go get it. Dude, so she just got promoted. She just got promoted again. So now she's at the the agent level. Because the way they started off, they're like, okay. First, you're like this, you know USA. DVR. You know, you're taking, you know, setting appointments, cold calling, you know, getting beat up, and then you're like this next role. So now she's at the role. And, um, like, she was, like, number three on the board. Like, when I'm like, dude. I'm like, she's she's selling more than I do when I was because I worked there too. And I'm like, what? That's that's awesome. Um, but, anyway, um, she talks to people that are older. You know what I mean? They're like, you know, like, I would say in the 60, 70 range, and they're trying to get life insurance because they didn't. And they're, like, having these these conversations or, like, I wish I would have done it when I was, like, 30. You know? Like, there's, like, I want, you know, this or I want that, and I can't. And that's, like, yeah. Because health wise, they're they're broken. And that just happens. You get older and you break. Like, this is, like, fact a fact of life. I mean, very few people make it to, like, you know, 80 or 90 and, like, fit as a whistle and, like, not have anything. You know what I mean? Like, god bless you if you're that, but, like, a lot of lot of us aren't. Um, but I was I was gonna ask you. So, like, how many times a year do you do, like, this seminar? Was it, like, a one off, or is it, like, an annual thing? Or or I'm just really It was a one off. Um, I really would my my goal this year is is to do four. Okay. So of of varying sizes. Some might be 20. Um, so I'm that was my first quarter one. I have a second quarter one lined up. I will probably, um, because some of them I'll be a guest and some of them I'll I'll put on myself. I'm I'm huge into goals and planning, and, um, I'm inherently very undisciplined. So my life has to be very structured or or just nothing gets done. Uh, so my my goal planning is a little bit different. So I'd really like to do a a relatively large event, um, October. Nice. Yeah. And I'd I'd love for that to be in the 80 to a hundred people range. Um, it'll probably be a day and a half. So it's it's a pretty big commitment, but, um, I I also don't just do financial goals. So when I do goal setting, and this is the way I've always done it with groups, people that I lead, people I train would be, um, you know, we we look at obviously, we look at finance. We look at business. We look at health. We look at relationships. We look at, you know, your your spirituality, whatever that means to you. It doesn't have to be God necessarily. Some people, you know, look to something. It's just really giving outside of yourself and and understanding that there's a bigger purpose in in how you're connected. So we really do spend time setting all of those goals together because all of them affect each other. You know, if if you have terrible health, you're gonna miss work. You're not gonna have the energy that your clients deserve and and your your work will suffer. If you if you focus only on work, and I know this, you know, from experience, your family life suffers. Your relationship with your loved ones suffer. Your relationship with your children suffer. If you're only spending time, you know, nurturing your personal relationships, finances are gonna suffer because you're not doing what you need to do professionally. So, um, that will do that. And then so I probably just need to pick up one more event or put on one more event during the year. But, um, I I I like them. They're, you know, they're challenging to put on, and and there's, for me, there's different challenges at this stage in life. You know? I'm I'm like I said, I'm 56. I've I've done everything professionally that I ever wanted to do. Um, you know, I went into a professional situation about a year ago, and, you know, they were all fired up about winning trips and awards and plaques. And I'm like Been there. Done that. Got the t shirt. I I really, with all respect, just wanna come to work and Yeah. I didn't wanna say it out loud, but I really just wanna do the bare minimum of what I need to do to meet to meet my commitment to the company. Yeah. And that's fair. But, you know, we've talked a lot about that of you reach a certain point, and I I look to that with admiration because he's a little bit in the future for me. And he has such good boundaries, such good, like, human to work ratio boundaries where sometimes I can feel like the giving tree. Sometimes I'm like too much, and then that can you end up being a stump. I feel like you are a good duality. You're always there. Like, you're always doing what you need to be doing, but within reason. He's never he's never doing too much. Yeah. I was You have that good fine line. I'm not there yet. I'm too scared of everything still. In in corporate world, I feel that way. Yeah. I because we talked about this before the like, setting boundaries. You know what I mean? Because there are some employers that will, like, just walk all over it and, like, go beyond your boundary. And it like, if it affects my family and it starts to affect whether or not, like, you know, I'm gonna be able to see my kids or or my wife, you know, like, then that's that's a problem. Um, Yeah. So I think it's just a matter of, like, understanding that and, like, really going wait. When you say in the future, you call me old? I'm not older. A little bit in the future. I'm saying I work wise, I'm admire that part of you because I'm not there yet. I'm still fearful, and I respect that you're not. My my ADHD ADHD brain? Did you call me old? Awful. I didn't know why you old Call me fat. No. No. Like, prior to this years in the future. Not 12. Jeez, Louise. Uh, but the reality of it is, you you look back, and I can look back on a lot of experiences in my life. There's always been another job. Yeah. You're right. Always. There's always been another job. You know what? There never will be again? My son scoring two goals in a playoff soccer game. Exactly. Choose wisely. Mhmm. Yep. Uh, you know, we we work and we work. And I I think a lot of times, you know, if people just took the time to to listen more to old people instead of make fun of us, but, uh, you know, there there's so many times where I've worked hard because it was all about the plaque and the trip and the promotion. And you know what? At the end of the day, I've had multiple companies just walk in one day and be like, hey. Great job. We're so sorry. Mhmm. But we're closing down this, or we're Uh, when I came here to Arizona, I came, uh, I was hired to turn around. It was a turnaround of a yellow page company, and we did some digital marketing too, but it was primarily print advertising. And we crushed it and got the company to exactly where they wanted us to be. And one day, uh, they called me and they said the HR person's gonna be there. We're, you know, we're gonna shut Arizona down. First time it had been profitable in, like, eight years. And so he comes in, and and, uh, I remember him sitting down in my the couch in my office, and he said, how are how are you how are you, Brian? So not good. Not good. It's a tough day. And I looked at him and I said, it's tough tough day for you, because, yeah, I I really hate giving news like this. I said, oh, you're not giving the news. I am. I said, you're you're not talking to my team. I said, you can hand out the packets, but you're not talking to my team. And he goes, well and I said, this is nonnegotiable. And I I just remember thinking to myself, I was okay because the the position I had been put in, my severance I I I was there to turn it around and leave anyway. Uh, my severance was more than fair. But I had, at that point, had, um, about 15 sales reps who were gonna get basically one month to three months worth of income. Um, one of them had just bought her first house. And, you know, so that's, again, that's a life moment where you get perspective on where's my loyalty really should be. Because in a moment when they decide financially, it doesn't make sense anymore, they don't care about all the plaques. They don't care about how much over quota you were, how much extra you sold for them. And and that's why when when we talk about risk, to to take a risk, to take a new opportunity at a new place, or take a risk to start a business, or or, you know, buy a business, what's the real risk? I'm in much better position if I know what's going on in my own company and and I I have to drive Uber at night to make ends meet than I am crushing sales quota and assuming everything's fine only to walk in on a Monday and and get handed an envelope. Mhmm. Yeah. Wow. Where can people find you? I'm I'm on I'm on Instagram as the real shark of sales. Uh, Facebook as MJ Cordova. Uh, you could go to my website, which is, um, sharkbusinesssolutions.com. And that's that's really a good place because you can get to know a little bit more about me, the kind of industries I've worked with, and and the kind of things that I do. So the website's probably the best way. Cool. Yeah. We'll also have a a special guest page for you. Uh, we'll have some links on there. So if anyone's listening and doesn't know where to go for that, uh, just easy for them. Yeah. Go to the boldnewspodcastaz.com, and we're gonna have a special page for you. I have the most special page. The biggest show. Awesome. Yes. Yes. Yeah. No. This, um, this has been great. I really appreciate you coming on the show and and, you know, kinda giving us some insight and want some nuggets, like, truly. Um, and, also, if anyone's listening, if they need to mitigate risk, they can always talk to us because we mitigate risk as well. Um, just gotta throw that in there. But, uh, yeah. Don't use college words. Don't use college. You're a great word. Yeah. Alright, my friend. Well, we're gonna call it for today, and this has been a Bold News podcast. Any last words? Thank you. I appreciate you guys. You're great people, and, um, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you being great people. Well, yes. And thank you for coming on. We definitely appreciate it. Awesome. Cool. Alright. See you guys later.