Welcome to Other People's Perspective, a place for you to listen, learn, laugh, and always feel better at the end of every episode, taking something bigger away from it for you and others. And now here's your host, Freddy I had, you know, some people that would just be like, well, why because my time is worth money, you know, and you know, I, I had to, we didn't, we didn't create the, the, the monetary system or the concept of, of, you know, bartering and exchanging some material item, uh, for, for goods or services or whatever. We didn't create that, but we all pretty much exist in it and, and have to, you know, function by it and abide by it. So, I mean, am I trying to change the game in that sense? No. I'll live and operate and function by it. I'll try to be as smart as I can, you know, for myself and also as giving as I can, you know, to other people and other situations, you know, but yeah, you're that's all I was, you know, you're talking about, you know, your, your time is worth something. Um, I was explaining, I was trying to explain it wasn't to my son or somebody the other day and, and. He had done something and, uh, and, uh, I don't remember exactly what it was anyways. It was with somebody and they were like, well, no, you know, I don't charge. I was one of the, one of my son's friends, he was working on my Polaris for me or something. And I was like, well, what do you want? What are you going to charge me to do such and such? He's like, well, I don't know, whatever. I was like, look, bro. I said, something you need to learn. I said, you're a fucking teenager. So what you need to learn this now, learn it and understand it sooner than later. I said, your time is all everybody's time is worth something. I said, and I don't expect anything for free. So you need to put some sort of value on that because it's, it's important. You know, some people, you know, yeah, you don't always want everything to be about money and making money, but. You know, your, your, your, your time, your effort, uh, the, the, the knowledge that the knowledge that any of us have, uh, typically came from or comes from experiences that we have, you know, lived and been a part of. And, you know, what was the cost of that? How do you put a price or a value on some of that shit? You Well, in the, what you charge for your time, right? Because that's when you invest even just time in yourself, you are developing who you are. Right. And that person shows up every day. And that person is the person that has that same perspective from your lived experiences that comes to the table and is able to, you know, offer services or offer, you know, whatever it is that you do for a living. to be able to improve or contribute to a system that hopefully then And so, you know, so, you know, kind of back to that, you know, I had actually come to one of the first quarterly meetups and I bumped into, I think it was Brandon Hudson. And we were Brandon is solid. I'll just say that. I have to say that right now that do this anyways. I'm only interruption, but yeah, he's Yeah. And we were just talking, he was asking questions about what we do and so on and so forth. And, you know, I said a couple of times, like, it's not just about the money and he goes, hold up, why are you saying that? And it was a learning experience for me of, you know, I like to think of myself as a pretty independent thinker, especially as a consultant and a coach, both personal development and business development. But I actually realized that that was because of people's judgment on me. when I would come to the table and say, this decision doesn't make sense because of this, this decision doesn't make sense because of that, or the opposite. Hey, if we do this, then we can increase XYZ charge and the bottom line, et cetera. And from that moment, I was like, you know what? It's definitely about money because money is the vehicle for everything. Like this coffee is money. Our electricity costs money. Our vehicles cost money, the fuel for the vehicle, everything, our cell phones. Right. Like, so, you know, at some point, like, you know, there's, there's that fine line, of course, when you're motivated by helping people But at the end of the day, you can trade your time for money and you can trade your skill for money. And I want to be the latter and not everybody does. And that's okay. But in order to do that, And, but even, even if you, even if you trade your skill for, for money, it still takes time. Right. To convey, you know, your, your skillset, uh, to, to someone else or, or to, you know, to, to implement that or put it in motion to, to work towards a goal or a cause, or, or, you know, to, to convey that, that, that information or But no, I, I understand what you're saying. Yeah, absolutely. Oh, and I forgot to tell you, you know, like when, uh, you know, I made like not necessarily the fatal mistake last time we talked, but I didn't record. And then we were just talking, you know, which is all fucking awesome. But I finally started, I finally started recording about looking four or five minutes ago. So all of our first part of our conversation, I was like, most of the time when I podcasted up, you know, bullshit with somebody talked for, you know, 15, 20 minutes. And then we'll talk about some kind of, you know, kind of like the, the, the forward in a, in a book and then, and then start recording, but we're Yeah, no, I love it. What's your favorite part of these podcasts? What Just really just the, the. I guess the conversation with any individual, you know, I'm still trying to, I guess, figure out per se, like the podcast deal. And I don't look at it as like I'm throwing good money after bad or anything because, you know, I'm spending money every month, you know, to, you know, to facilitate this stuff and to do it. Um, you know, there's, there's a car here again, you know, it's part of, it's about money, but there's a cost element to, to doing this stuff. Um, really to me, it's like the, the, the, the, the biggest value or the biggest enjoyment that I've gotten out of it is just having like genuine organic conversations with people and. I guess at this point in my thought process or my goal with it is that hopefully something in some of those organic conversations or exchanges, if I put that out there, hopefully it'll catch on somewhere. It'll stick with someone or it'll resonate. worth it, you know, in a, in a dollar or a monetary sense for, you know, what I'm spending versus what I've done with it. I really don't give a fuck. I don't care if it's worth it in that sense or not, you know, to me, it's worth it. Um, and, and I'm, I'm working on trying to, uh, I'm trying to get this deal more dialed in with, with, with, uh, I think I'm, I'm fixing to, uh, If I can get this other stuff, so I'm just about, just about gotten a level of closure on the back end of like my business stuff, excuse me. And then I'm glad you can't smell my breath, but I just about got that deal closed out. And then my next step is, you know, since I, since the business deal kind of shorted me on, on the money end, you know, here it is, everything's fucking back to money because. I don't really give a fuck about the money, but it would have been a resource to, you know, deploy to, you know, to further projects and such. Anyways, well, once I get, I got that deal behind me, I've got a piece of real estate and property that I'm selling. And once I get my monetary resources back from that, that's going to give me, you know, the capital and the resource to, to reinvest into, to this deal. And I'm, I'm trying to, Trying to decide how I'm going to structure all this. I want to, you know, the, the podcast deal, I mean, it's, I'm not fucking Joe Rogan. I'm not Theo Vaughn. I'm not, you know, I'm not fucking, I don't have fucking 10 million people or a million people listening or watching or whatever, but I want to, I want to get this thing to where. It's a, it's an audible and a viewable, you know, like you see the little short clips of Joe Rogan or whatever, you know, I want to get it to that point. Um, because it seems to me, uh, like the, the visual aspect, you know, you don't see people. You know, I think when you see people scrolling through videos and watching a little short clips or whatever, they're not doing it. So, I mean, yeah, they're obviously they're listening to it, but the visible part of it, you know, the combination of visual and audio and audible is where that stuff seems to stick with people. back to the deal about not being real tech savvy. You know, I, I, I don't know how to do it myself. Uh, I can implement and I'm, I'm going to put them, I'm actually working on it right now with a guy. Um, I want to keep doing it whether, you know, like, I mean, I'm, I'm spending like hundreds of dollars a month on the podcast stuff. And is it yielding me any monetary benefit or return? No. Am I doing it for that reason? No, absolutely not. I'm doing it just because I enjoy the opportunity to have what, what I think is just a fucking good organic, genuine conversation with people and get you know, have an exchange of ideas. And if I can provide them something useful, they can provide me something useful. And if we both can provide something to a listener or a viewer that ends up being beneficial, I feel like that's at some point that's going to stick. Or maybe, you know, in my mind, like that's the goal is for that to That catches on somewhere somehow. And it, you know, it takes time and I'm not, I'm not in a rush with it. I just, I just enjoy the process. And I like how, you know, when I actually, I think this will be, I have to look back at my numbers. I think this will be episode 15, 15. Yeah. I think this will be 15, 15 or 16 anyways. So I remember like the first time I did a podcast of the very first dude that I visit with, uh, there's, there's a, uh, I called him a kid. Cause he only fuck, I don't know, like 25, 26, something like that. It's like my son's age. Almost his name is Adam Kramer. And this, this, this guy, this kid, he, uh, I have not talked to him in a while, but I, I told him back then I said, dude, you're, you're gonna, You're on your way, like you're going to do some big shit because this kid at the time, he was like 22, 23 years old, but he was like the kids on it. And I see him pop up every once in a while on Facebook and shit. I remember that like the first time when I talked to him, I was kind of like this, like I forgot to fucking record it now. Now, when I don't start recording right off the jump, it's like it's it's a conscious decision. I'm like, yeah, we're just going to talk for a few minutes and then we'll actually start the episode. But like he and I were actually in the episode and I was like, oh, fuck. It's like, oh, I forgot to hit that Yeah, no, I just, it was just, I laughed because it's like, I think back about the progression of it. It's like the first time it was like, you know, all nervous. Well, shit, you know, what am I doing wrong? But it's like, even now, like, like I still. I, I've never written a script or thought about writing a script for, for any of this stuff. Like I just, I want to have, I want it to be like a, I don't want it to be a totally random convo with, with anybody. Uh, but I, I don't, you know, I just haven't like written a script and said, okay, you know, I want to make sure we talk about this, but don't talk about that. And, and this and this, I just, it's like the, the, the free flow feel to it. And, and, uh, it, um, I don't know. I mean, I, uh, I can definitely, uh, be a conversationalist. I've been accused And so, no, no, if it's a, if I, if anything, I thought you were really quiet Yeah. Well, it's like, you know, I, I, uh, a lot of times in a, you know, in a, in, in that setting, I guess I kind of, you know, Initially I tend to kind of like observe and report, I guess. I'm kind of just kind of, you know, just kind of watch everybody and pay attention to who's doing what or who's not. And then, you know, but like when I first, when I first joined Apex and got involved with, with all that stuff, I mean, yeah, it was a new setting. It was all these new people and it was definitely out of the wheelhouse of what I've been accustomed to, at least like in my, the background of my industry, what I, what I had known and all that. So it was, yeah, it was like a room full of completely different people. And man, like the, the vibe, the, the vibe of things like back in 2022, it was, it was different than what it is now. It really like it's, it's changed a lot and I'm not, I wouldn't say like, For the worse, uh, there, there was a lot of, uh, if you talk to you, if you, if you talk to anybody that, that has been involved with it for at least like two or three years, you know, that they've, there was a lot of bullshit flying around, you know, there was a lot of, it was, it was kind of a wild time, I guess. But it's, it's been, it's been interesting to see, you know, the, the change and transition on, on other people and, you know, and also on myself on, you know, how I, how I look at things and how I try to address and handle things. And I mean, but it's a, it's a constant process for anybody, I guess it's just, it's just our evolution. It's definitely changed the way I view business. Yeah, definitely. I, you know, made my more than fair share of mistakes with, uh, you know, our solar org. And, you know, I, I kind of, I make this post from time to time, just as a reminder where it says ego is the enemy of success. And, you know, I guess it could be in some ways because everybody has an ego that they want to protect somewhat. And but generally like, and I get on calls all the time and, and, you know, talk to people every day that are like, well, you know, I know what I'm doing. I could figure it out. I'm I can do it on my own. And it's like, but homie, you've been doing this for four years, five years, 10 years, 15 years, you know, and, you know, that was me though. Right. Uh, you know, I, I got into, I had dealt with all the crazy stuff in sales and business as a woman. And I developed this thought process that I didn't need anyone, not on purpose, but that's just who I became because I got the unequal treatment and the unfair treatment. And, you know, and so when, you know, there was that tension with the solar company I started working with where I ended up leaving and just being like, you know what, I can do I should have invested in some type of mentorship or structure You learn from everything, but well, you know, I, when, when, when someone, and I've, I've heard similar to what you're saying before, but whenever I've heard that or hearing that from you, or if I think about that, you know, I, I, I liken it to, to this. It's like, okay. So, um, I think part of that, part of that mindset or that mentality and part of it is kind of like a, maybe it ties to like pride of ownership or, you know, think about any, anyone, most anybody that, that, that is working or existing, or their career path is like in an entrepreneurial role, or they're working for themselves, or they're pushing toward working for themselves. One of the main reasons that people pursue that path is because they They have a mindset or a mentality that not necessarily that they can do it better than someone else, but that they, you know, they, they, they have their own idea and their own vision. Sometimes it's good. Sometimes it's fucking stupid. You know, you know, it's ultimate. Yeah, absolutely. But it's like, you know, it's, um, Not that you think you're better than anyone else or you can do it better, but I think part of it is kind of maybe Mm hmm. Well, it's Athena. Authenticity, tenacity, honor, excellence, necessity and alignment. And tenacity is a huge one for me because that like, You know, you get this instinct, right? Kind of in the same vein of what you were describing, right? Like, where it's just like, no, I've got to figure this out. I've got to make it work. Right. And, you know, when you're subjected to a lot of those different like experiences that I've had, you know, especially with like understanding, you know, I was really sick. And understanding like life is so short, like I got a slap in the face when I got that call that I had cancer. Like it was like. What what have I been doing with my life? And so, you know, I kicked into like survival mode to handle that stuff. But then also I thought to myself, like, I don't have to deal with this shit. Life is too short. But that also kind of comes in in that ego element. Right. Where I was just like, you know what? I'm the shit. I'm the top performer. I'm this. I'm that. I'm the best leader. I've won awards. We've won this. We've won that. And, you know, it. Again, I've learned from everything, so I'm very grateful. There's a lot of gratitude in that, like, I know I'm on the right path now, but overall, it's just a matter of being brutally honest with ourselves. And I have a really, I see it all the time on different calls I get on, where it's just like, a lot of people live in this realm of your own reality. And that's okay. But also, like, you've got some smarts if you're reaching out for help. Right. And, you know, my goal is to always help them tap into that right by giving them that safe space to just kind of open up. Like, where does this come from? Why do you think you feel that way? Where do you think that stems from? You know what I mean? Like helping them understand their patterns and then how to, you know, how to, as Jeremy Minor, I love Jeremy Minor. He's completely changed my shift in sales, my ability to, to lead my understanding of people. So I, I reference him a lot, but you know what he calls a pattern interrupt, right? Where it's just like, okay, there's this pattern that then becomes a pattern that is not really significant. Everybody does that. Right. So not only in the sales vein, but for ourselves too, right? If it's the same things all day, every day, if you don't interrupt that pattern, how do you really expect any change? There's a quote that I was listening to or not listening to. There's a quote that I wrote down. Actually, I was going through my notes before we hopped on. It said, people won't make change unless they feel desperation. And, you know, that was one of the biggest ones for me in, in this learning experience, as I understand human behavior, as I, cause I, my grad degree is in mental health. Um, so I understand some of it. I was going down the vein of like alcohol and drug abuse counseling, but I had a, you know, I took time to really understand the human brain, how we think, how we feel, um, and you know, where addiction stems from. Right. And so. I don't know. It was just. I'm not really sure how we got down this path, but this is, you know, this is, that's Well, to the, to, to the point of what you were saying about how, like, uh, uh, talking about like a pattern interrupt a lot of people, you know, I guess humans, Most humans by our nature, you know, we're, we're, we're pattern pattern animals, you know, we're creatures of habit, you know, so to speak. And if, I guess if that's, if that's in, in, in our nature or somewhat in our nature, then it's should be understandable to an extent that, that people would have a tendency to. You know, you, you, you get accustomed to doing things a certain way or things happening, you know, in a, in a certain manner or, you know, certain, certain pattern, or, you know, you, it's like you, you get in your little, get in your little rut and get your, your blinders on. And, and if, if that's, if that kind of becomes a norm, then for, for anybody, for anybody that's ever been, you know, ever been driving a vehicle. Like down a muddy road or a road that was, you know, a dirt road that was muddy at one time. And there's, there's ruts in the road. If you've ever been hung up in a rut and driving and trying to get out of a rut, depending on how deep the ruts in the road are, sometimes it's fucking hard to get out. And it takes a, you know, it, it takes a, um, you've got to apply, you know, force and pressure to get your vehicle and get yourself out of that, out of that path. And if you, if you want to see or experience something different than just whatever's in that rut, you know, it takes force. You got to turn the wheel or, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a, uh, it's a, it's a concerted effort to, uh, you know, to, to break out of that. But a lot of people, a lot of people either don't take it upon themselves to do that, or they, uh, they don't know how, maybe they don't know how. or the, you know, the, the thought of the thought of change. And I had this kind of, kind of a similar conversation with somebody the other day, and it was talking about the, you know, the, uh, you know, complacency complacency is kind of a killer because if you get, you get comfortable, you get complacent, you know, complacency, you know, breeds or can lead to, you know, apathy. And if you, you know, if a person reaches a point of apathy or being apathetic and you really don't, you're just kind of like, going through the motions from one day to the next, just doing whatever, you know, you, you, you go to work, you know, you, you punch the clock, you do the things, you make the widgets and then you punch the clock again, you leave. And, you know, it's like lather, rinse, repeat, you know, that that's, that's okay. Like if, if that's what a person chooses, but. You know, I feel like that's not living. I mean, that's just kind of your, your existing. You're just like going through the motions, you know, from one day to Um, and no fault on, on anyone, you know, there's, there's some people that are perfectly comfortable and perfectly happy that they're like, Hey, I just want to, I want to go do my thing. I want to make my money. I want to pay my bills. And, and, you know, at the end of, at the end of the day, when that's done, I'm just, I'm going to chill and, and I don't want to have to worry about nothing else. And that's, that's great. But you know, the, the, uh, people that, that, that are in the, in the frame of mind or the mindset that, Hey, you know what. I want to do some shit to make a difference. I want to help you. I want you to help me. I want us to be able to say or do some shit that can help other people or maybe spur them or motivate them to think a little differently. That's I guess I never- You can definitely poke a bear here and there doing that. To speak from experience, I'm like, Ooh, I hit a spot there. Can you tell me more about that? You know what I Like, well, yeah, I mean, sometimes, sometimes when you bring a, you bring a different level of reality to some people, like it's not received well, like you, you know, like you say, you poke the bear, you, you, you, you punch that button that that's there on somebody, but they may not. necessarily want to hear what you have to say, even though it could be beneficial. Cause it's, it's kind of like that, you know, that, that resistance to change, you know, that, that some people are just comfortable, like they don't, they don't want to change a whole lot. You know, they just go and they want to go from point a to point B and then back to point a when it's done and do the thing and that's it. Um, and then if you introduce a, you know, Uh, a point, you know, a one in there, you know, where you go, okay, well, instead of going from here to there, you're going to go over here first and then there, whoa, fuck, wait a minute. You know, I don't like that. No, that's, that's not, that's not my normal rut. That's a different, but yeah, it's, uh, yeah. Um, bringing, bringing reality or different levels of reality to, to some people or in certain situations, it's. It's interesting to see the responses or reactions you might get. Totally. You know, exactly. Right. It's your reality, not mine, you know, but it, at the end of the day, I can't, I can't want it for you more than you want it for you. I'm not going to say I disagree with that. I think, I think we, we can want something for, Ourself or we could want something for someone else. I'm not going to say more, but. What, what we may see in the back to back to your point about reality, you know, that reality is, is, you know, it's subjective, you know, from like one individual to the next, you know, whatever, whatever your, your perception or your perspective of reality for you may be different from, if I look at the same thing, I might see it differently. And that's my view is my reality and your views, your reality. But, um, what the fuck was I going with this? What was I saying? I lost We can, we can want something or we can see, you know, we can look at a situation and say, man, if you would just do This would totally change shit for you. We may feel like we can see the benefit in something for, for that individual, but if they can't see it, we might, we might want it more for them in the sense that. You know, we think that it would really be a benefit or a positive, but I guess a better way to phrase that would be, I shouldn't want more for you than you want for yourself. Right. Cause I agree with you on that. But at the end of the day, my sister told me this one time, like nobody has your back. Like you've got your back. Like you have to have your back. no and you know to to help others is to influence others. Right. And in order to do that, they Like they have to want it and then they have to fucking do it. You can, you can tell me all the, you can give me all the best data and information. You can, you can lay the whole fucking path out in front of me and say, look, if you do this, this, and this, you'll take all these here's, here's the end result that you're going to get Freddy. And this is going to help you. I guarantee you, this will benefit you. But if I don't want it bad enough that I will actually go through the steps and the process and do that and follow that, then do I really want it? Right. Right. And kind of back to your point when, you know, when we talk about like, you know, some people just want to clock in and out and that's perfectly fine. Sure. Right. but don't complain to me about it if you don't want to change it. And don't get me wrong. Like I don't want to make it seem like I'm not there for people to hear people out and you know, like help If you're unhappy with your life, and we've had that conversation many times, and you've come to me for advice, and you've come to me for guidance or coaching or whatever, some people even pay me for it, right? Not just friends and family. Make it make sense. And it's just, it gets to a point where it's like, I Right. When for compassionate people, it's that's easy to say, but it's Yeah. It's like, you know, I. I care enough about you or about this individual's like, motherfucker, Like I, you would just, you would just realize that the reason too much, right. We're just like, but I want so much more for you. You know what I mean? And so like, you know, I've been told that like, Faye, like they gotta be able to, they've got to want it bad enough. They've got to do it. And I'm just like, what? What else can I do to impact change for them? What else can I do? How else can I present things to them? What other questions or angles can I bring to them to maybe shift the way they're thinking about their situation to then help them gather that strength and courage? Because it's scary. Change is scary. to help them gain that and feel strong enough to make a change, right? And I feel like a lot of people like, you know, look at me and, and, you know, people have said before, like, oh, you're just, you're so good at sales. And of course, it's just so easy for you always know, like, yes, it was something that was natural to Yeah, I was, I was born awesome, but I wasn't born awesome at everything. I had to learn how to do that too. I had to develop myself I didn't just fucking personally invest in myself, my own money. Right. And personally decide that. And, you know, other kinds of money too, right? Like there's things that I can help people understand and angles that I take like negotiating. Like I negotiated my apex membership into the last Right. You know, and so like it's there's That's big. That's big brain bonus points right there. I like that. Yeah. But, you know, and I can help people learn all these things, you know, and I can coach and I and I can guide. But, you know, some people like I think they're so stuck in their own ways and they're so stuck with this limited belief, the scarcity mindset. That that is fucking huge, fucking huge. And then you just like you wake up like and look, I've been I've complained, right, I complain still Right. Right. Right. And so I always allow a space for that with anybody I work with or just friends, family. Like I, I've always said, Hey, anytime you need anything, anything I can do to help you, I'm only a call away. I'm only a text away. I'm only a DM away. Like my level of serving people that does not have any monetary goal. It's just to help. right? The achievement is a different vein, but when it comes to that like, when it comes to that like element of like, okay, at some point there has to be enough desperation to invoke that change, to motivate you to change your day-to-day habits, right? And so it's just so interesting as I watch people and I get more involved in this consulting space, this coaching space, that, you know, all of these things that stand in our own way. And the interesting thing is, is, Everybody thinks there's something different, including myself. Everybody thinks there's something different and special and some type of exception that makes it okay. And the reality is, while I offer grace, I give myself grace, I give people grace, there isn't. don't want it bad enough or you do. Right. And but you know what? That's a standard I hold myself to. Right. And so it would be a disservice to people to allow them if they're coming to me and saying, hey, I need help. To allow these limiting beliefs, continue to limit them. Right now, I've had situations before with people that have tried to, like, obviously, I've invested in my own coaching and there's been coaching that I've sought out. where I'm like, okay, no, this doesn't align with who I am. I am not in alignment with the thought process. And those cases, that's totally fine. Right? Like, and if I'm not the one for you, cool. If you're not the one for So there's always that little bit of like room there for like, okay, maybe this just wasn't alignment in terms of how the chemistry. Right. But overall, you know, I am kind of sharp in that because look, I had to rebuild and don't get me wrong. I have an incredible person in my life that's helped me rebuild. I'm not going to take that credit for myself, but it was that like, you can either be You can't be all three. And And then I had to choose thriving because surviving wasn't good enough for me. It wasn't good enough. I wasn't showing up in as hard as I was and the things that I had to deal with that. And there are people that deal with much worse, right? I had multiple things happen. I had to have two, two surgeries in my fucking head, right? Like I've had a lot of, and there are people that have it so much worse and people that have it so much better. You know, so we all have different walks of life, but right. But the one thing that is a constant is change and your ability to adapt to it. This is what sets you apart in what really dictates what the, the, the result is of your day to day, you know, and there's this line. I love how you, you've, you mentioned, you know, reality is, is subjective. There's a line I say, reality is subjective. And, um, And perception is reality and reality is subjective, right? I think I might've picked that up from when we talked before. I think I remember you saying that and that holds true. Yeah. And so there's so much grace that has to be offered, but also enough accountability to you told me you were unhappy with your life. That wasn't my conclusion. You came to me for help, you know? So I don't know. These are, these are, that's the root cause of it all for me. Like I just, I love people. Um, and it was an interesting shift getting into the virtual world, you know, cause I was doing door to door and I was getting blown out to different, actually mostly Texas. Um, but, This is just incredible, right? Like now I get to meet people all over the world. You know what I mean? So is that, is that I know, I know you, I didn't mean to cut you off. I know you, you told me the other day, uh, that you're, I guess you sit here, you like on your own, you, you've gone out on your own or whatever. You, you branched off, broke off from whatever you were doing or whatever you were involved in. So you, Tell me, tell me a little bit about what it, what it is that you're, you're doing now or focusing on more than, than whatever you were involved with prior. So the last company I was working with, they brought me on as a coach, um, Rewind back to 2022, we shut down the solar company. I decided that I was going to just find a job. At that point, I literally got to a point where I hated sales. I didn't know who I was for saying that because I was like, I've always loved sales and business. So I ended up buying some Jeremy Minor courses and I was like, hell yeah, this is awesome. It's a different way to kind of digest it. And you know, it really changed the game. I mean, I was, I was, you know, I was good before, but like it totally leveled me up. And so I took this job. I was like, let me just take a job. Let me just learn. to have a seat and bring some consistency because solar was a nightmare for me and for us. And I did that for a little bit and then naturally, you know, Hey, can you help us? Hey, can you help us? Hey, can you hop on a coaching call? Hey, can you review your call with me? Can you get on a call with me and review this? And so it was just the, and that's kind of how it's always been for me. Right? Like I get in, I master something and then I just kind of naturally like get into coaching and leadership because I like it. Especially if I see somebody saying, Hey, I'm struggling. I'll So I ended up, um, just naturally kind of getting in and helping with certain things. And then I was like, okay, I'm bored now. So I ended up starting to look for, and I was trying to figure out what this, like the element of being able to work with multiple companies. I had no idea the fractional world existed. Like I knew that there was ways you can come in and just consult people, but not to this level. So I ended up finding this company that they brought me on as a coach I ended up doing call reviews and I was also taking sales calls and we ended up, it was a ride. So I ended up hitting the milestone, got an apex, I negotiated, hey, once I collect X amount in cash, this is what I wanna do and then every milestone I get a different masterclass or whatever, mastermind. So I ended up, you know, getting in, coming to my first quarterly meetup and we had had an issue with the leads and there's this constant argument in any business where sales blames marketing and marketing blames sales. Right. And It's like looking in, you know, some of the old old folks terminology. So it's like wiping your ass with a wagon wheel. You Yeah, exactly. So, you know, we were having a hard time seeing eye to eye on the root cause of the problem. Uh, but the conversions were great. I mean, the team was closing collectively at a 52 and some change percent closing rate as the whole team, which means higher under lot, uh, higher people. And then there's underliers. Um, but nonetheless, I get back from the first quarterly meetup and that next day I was demoted and they were like, Hey, we brought on somebody that's going to help the sales team grow. They've done it up to nine figures. Well, I mean, Sure. OK, sure. Anyway, I'm going to keep it. So we ended up. We ended up, you know, I ended up kind of stepping back into my role. I, every part of me wanted to quit, but the CEO is awesome. The CEO just didn't want anything to do with sales and he was hoping marketing and sales could figure it out, you know, so that's okay. Um, we're still great friends and, you know, uh, he's given me a testimonial for, you know, Athena business group, all of it. So, you know, he's incredible, but. Anyway, it was just funny how it all rolled out and I was like, okay. So I immediately wanted to quit. Right. And then I was like, you know what, Faye, like that's that moment of growth for me. I was just like, that's what I would have done. But does that make sense? I'm in apex. This is exactly what I wanted. And the truth is, is that's what birthed Because I was like, I, when I went to the first quarterly meetup, I was like, this is kind of what I want to do. I even introduced myself as a manager. Right. And, you know, I was like, I haven't figured out the direction versus like, when it comes to entrepreneurship right now, uh, entrepreneurship right now, but. I am here to figure it out. So I ended up, you know, coming back, all that happened. I took a seat. It was just, it was tough, you know, when somebody comes in and isn't doing anything really different and the leadership is I mean, it's like, yeah, it's not like the sales, the revenue got better. Right. Yeah. And, you know, in fact, it got worse. And and so, you know, overall, like learning experience. But what that did allow for me is to be like, OK, this is everything not Like and, you know, you know, you know what that you know what that situation you know what that situation shows me. Hmm. Whoever whoever that person or whoever that individual was either they were a really good salesperson or the, the, the people or persons or whoever made the decision to hire them and employ them as a bad fucking buyer. I don't know. I mean, I could be wrong. That's just kind of I'm like the CEO and the CMO, uh, they were great. Uh, and, but, you know, this guy came in and pitched them on the stream. And, like I said, he's a good salesman somehow, you know, we weren't, we weren't where we needed to be with my leadership. And, you know, again, the marketing blame sales, sales, sales, blames marketing, which is interesting because I am not the type of person to blame the leads. I have been in leadership. I have owned businesses. I'm not that person, but you know, it's not like they know that they don't know my history. Right. So all there was is results. Right. Where it's like, okay. the leads weren't qualified, right? And so anyway, we don't need to get into all that, but what ended up happening is I stuck it out as long as I could. I really could, but the sales methodology that the new leadership was pushing on us was somewhat of a like, there were some jabs at like Jeremy Miner and Cole Gordon and how it's old school selling and this and that. And I'm like, first of all, why does that even matter? And second of all, like I, I'm closing deals. Like why does it matter? And I'm still coaching, right? Why does it matter if, you know, like I know as a leader, if I have an all-star player, I'm not touching shit if they're closing and it's ethical and they're showing up with integrity. I'm not changing shit. That's why, you know, somebody, when, when somebody comes in and you know, when the, when the guy with the, with a lot of money comes in and buys a winning race horse, because they want to, they want to own the horse that wins a race. If that, if that horse has been winning the race with the same jockey, you don't really change the jockey because if you change the jockey and all of a sudden the horse don't win the race, you know, right. Where'd So it was, you know, it was tough, but, you know, throughout all of that, I had always just like, so I would be getting on coaching calls, right? My first company after the solar company used Cole Gordon. Also great. Everybody has great things. And look, the manager they had brought on had some good nuggets that I did incorporate into my scripting framework, you know? So I don't want to say like, oh, they were trash. but there was just not alignment there, you know? And so I dealt with it as long as I could. And on the side, I was starting to help people. And I met people through apex and I've been doing some coaching and I had gotten on some of these calls and, you know, I would just offer anybody on the call that would ask questions. I'd be like, Hey, if you want to get on a coaching call, let's do it. And so I was just coaching people for free on the side. And that's actually who introduced me to this company. One of the girls I was working with through cool Gordon's calls. And so, you know, it allowed me the space to kind of build out Athena and not feel that pressure of being like, Oh, I got to make it work. I got to make money. You know, I got in, I closed, I made money and then, you know, help them. However I could, I would get on mindset coaching calls and, and, uh, sales coaching calls with the girls on the team. And just, uh, uh, uh, last week, uh, two weeks ago, I just got to a point where I was like, I am not showing up at my best. And that to me is not showing up with a serving mentality. And that does not represent the results, even though they weren't terrible. I was still closing out a fucking 30% close rate, but. it's not who I was. And I was starting to get pretty frustrated on a day to day with somebody like shoving down that something you're shoving down your throat all day long. And so, you know, got started getting nitpicky and it wasn't empowering me. And I'm the type of person that I lead through empowering people through fuel, not fear, you know? And so it just, there was just not alignment. And so I decided that I, it's just time too. And if, look, if I need to come up with something to keep building up Athena and getting enough clients and get a job, that's fine. I'm not, ego is the enemy of success. I'm not above that, but I wanted to really give this a shot of what Athena deserves to help, not just, you know, not just women, cause that is my emphasis, women in business, Um, but people in general, I just want to help people achieve amazing things in their life. And I want to, I want to contribute to that in whatever way I can. Um, because I love seeing people win. And so I'm at the point right now where I'm like, this feels more like me than I've ever been. Right. Especially with our business, you know, that was cool. That was fun. There was, it wasn't all bad. It was hard, you know, with solar, but. This really gives me the satisfaction of actually impacting people's day-to-day lives, not just their money, right? So there's awesome. It's a great industry. There's ups and downs, but you're just saving people money. It's an ROI. Whereas yes, there is an element of like monetary ROI with what I do now, obviously I'm a business consultant, but. That's not the root of it for me. It's getting on with these people and understanding their personal goals and their life goals. And through the business, the business is the vehicle to that. And so that's just how I view all consulting and coaching. And I'm really excited. I haven't been more excited ever for, you know, the future. So, um, and my health is, you know, we invest a lot of time and energy and money into my health, you know, to get myself back up to peak performance. And I've made huge strides in the last year and a half, which I do credit. to the CMO at this company because he had Lyme disease. And he was like, your symptoms, I went undiagnosed for what my doctor thinks might be since I was a kid, but at least 10 or 15 years, it's late, late stage Lyme. And he was like, your symptoms sound like mine, you should definitely see my doctor because I was doctor after doctor and they believe those were the root causes of the thyroid issues and cancer, as well as the intracranial hypertension that I had pseudo tumor cerebri. And so now that we can, we found that. and can treat that, that's the root cause. Cause I would always be like, Yvonne, I, they're missing something. And at one point I had like 14 specialists and I was at doctor, doctor, doctor, you know? And I was like, they're just missing one thing. I don't know what it is. And so, you know, I have to adjust this last company that I worked with saved my life. So with the frustrations that I had, It And I get to, you know, help people now, you know, like I negotiated apex and, you know, the CEO again, amazing. He's got an incredible heart and he's, you know, he loves to help people too. So. you know, this is just like, I'm the type of person that really is just like, Oh my God, I'm getting older. My gray hair. Like I'm, I'm full Lebanese. Okay. Like we are very vain. And, um, but I don't know. I, I, I'm glad that I figured it out while I was still young, you know, so I still have my life ahead of me. And I think that this, this company where there was a lot of frustrations and I, you know, disagree with some of the decisions made, people are just people and look, it's not personal. That's one thing I had to actually like admit to myself, like business is business. And they were looking at something very objective and they made a So, Yeah, that's a, that's a reality that, that, that some people struggle to accept as a reality, you know, that what you're saying about, you know, if it's just business, it's not personal, you know, that, that happens a lot. Um, When back to what I was saying earlier about being, you know, like a compassionate type of person, you know, if it's in your nature, if it's in your personality to, to be like a caring individual, it's, it's kind of some situations, especially something like that, it's kind of hard to like, not take it, you know, personally or not have a more personal feeling about it, but. You've got to, you got to realize that there's a, there's like a separation there. It's like, you know, it's, it's just a decision based on this. It's not based on that, you know, but, but it feels like it's this like, no, it's not. It's just a, you know, it's don't But, you know, at some point you just have to think to yourself, what would be what would offer me the biggest long term ROI, and not just monetary right like, you know, for my peace of mind for our peace of mind. to make sure that there was that steady income, to make sure that there was that sense of security and peace of mind, which is why, you know, kind of going back to earlier where I was like, I get it. Some people just don't want to overcomplicate things. So, you know, there are some, there are some, some moments where that is, at least in my opinion, can be leveraged as a tool to level you up. And that's what I did. But overall, it's just a matter of really like, I had to be brutally honest with myself and say, you know, like, okay, this guy was a good sales guy. Right. He didn't change anything. He didn't improve it. So that was kind of like vindicating for me, but you know, but I also don't want to say that in that I want them to fail, right? Like back to, back to, you know, the, the fact that, you know, by your nature, you're, you're a compassionate individual. So 99 plus percent of the time, you don't want to see. someone or something failed just, you know, just to be vindictive or, Right. So for a business decision that they made or somebody, they, some guy came in and said, Oh, I can grow your business to this. And they looked over here and they said, well, we need to generate more income for our sales to, for our company to scale. And, you know, but that was definitely that, like, Okay. Now I understand that this is just business. So like it's like, so it simplifies things for you in the sense that, you know, if you know that the decisions like that are being made, you know, based on the fact that, you know, it's just a business decision. And I think that that certainly. uh, if anybody else was in a, in a similar parallel situation, it removes, it removes, uh, a lot of the, the, uh, the, the, the potential or the avenues to, to feel more, you know, personal, you know, have more personal feeling and personal investment in that. It's like, well, Hey, you know what I can see, you know, yeah, it's, if we're making a vast majority of these decisions for this, you know, based on. business and business alone. Okay. You know, um, you know, take, take that, whatever, whatever little, you know, piece of my, my heart and my emotion that I have, you know, attached to this, because I just kind of make situations like that personal, you know, take that out and just And it was funny, like, you know, I, I've been debating whether or not to even mention some And I really, you know, that's even more credit to your character for the fact that you say that that's even more credit, you I was talking to him and, you know, and he and I have remained friends and, you know, I'm glad to now have the space to be a friend with him without that, like underlying, like, you know, friction point, right? So that was a huge, you know, benefit in my eyes. And I considered not bringing anything up or talking about it in general, because I don't want to make them look bad. And they did just make a business decision, you know? However, this is also my story. Business is business, right? And for people to be able to relate to me, they got to know the truth. no absolutely and so you know i when it comes to you know that specifically like i care and i think that that's going to be something that people are going to have to really you know just kind of accept that business is also business. And for me to leverage my skills and experience to help other people, they have to know that what I've experienced and to know that I'm relatable, right? So, you know, overall, uh, I made the decision, you know, Hey, this was, it's, it wasn't necessarily, Hey, you know, F this, you know, there were some frustrations where I was like, I just, okay, it's time, right. It's time for me to move on. So there was a little bit there, but overall, like the decision was made with the intention of saying, okay, my time here, this has served me. And I believe I've served them to the best of my ability and helping coach mindset, coaching, helping the women on the team. They were all sales, uh, until I left, uh, But, you know, once I started feeling like I couldn't show up as my 100, I was like, this isn't who I am. So, you know, I didn't let that last Well, when you, you know, if you reach a point where you, you, you realize that the, the alignment, the alignment's not there and you just. If you feel like you can't operate at optimal capacity because of whatever reasons or whatever factors, then for a vast majority of people, that should be a signal that you need to make a pivot or you need to consider something else. Not because that's bad, but if you're not aligned with it and it doesn't promote you to really want to give your best, then You can't serve anyone else or help anyone else to the best of your ability if you're not feeling it. And you can't even help yourself to the best of your ability if you're not feeling it either. So yes, it's not a... You Well, and being an apex, it's helped me do some of this business coaching, right? Like you see me on those groups, I'm throwing my calendar. Hey, anybody want to get on? And so I've been able to experience some of these things as well as the sales coaching on a personal element, as well as life coaching. So, you know, I've been doing it all pro bono because I want testimonials. I want to be able to help. And I want to just kind of, it was that halfway point of like, Hey, I'm developing my processes. You get to benefit from me in this way. Whereas it also helps me develop ABG Athena business group. and my operations and my onboarding and what I need to cover and how I present my message, right? So, you know, I've been really just kind of giving my time to, you know, make sure that A, the transparency is there that like the last year I've been building and B, make sure that it serves them before I take money from them, right? And then I serve people before I start charging people money, which some people will be like, Faye, that's crazy. But you know, I think about it the same way because I, in the back of my mind, really not even the back of my mind, really the front of my mind. I just have not, I haven't deployed all these thoughts, uh, and into, you know, actual process yet. But, but my thought process about wanting to do some of the same things, you know, myself, like what you're talking about, that's kind of the way I look at it. And I'm like, I'm not gonna, I, I I'm confident that I can, I can add value to someone else's situation or process somewhere else with what I know, what I've experienced, and I feel like that has value. for the fact that I've never, you know, before now I've never like gone through the steps. I mean, yeah, you know, talk shit with somebody, you know, have a conversation, offer some advice, whatever. But would I, would I feel right saying, Hey, you know, you know, pay me, you know, X amount a month or a year, whatever. And, you know, I'll, I'll coach you. I'll, I'll educate you. I'll work with you. Well, I wouldn't feel right doing that if I feel like my, my process was not more proven and, and more, you know, more substance to it, other than what I think about it and what I feel about what I, what I know and what I've experienced. So you've got, I think there's gotta be some, some kind of a proving ground or trial period or whatever, but some, some people don't, some of them, they just, you know, I'll fix everything and all of, you know, blah, blah, blah. Just, you know, just buy my course, pay the fee, blah, blah, blah. And then, you know, they might not do anything for anybody, but they still made money off of it. But there's people, there's unfortunately, there's people out there that, you know, the money, you know, The money is more important to them than the honesty and integrity of doing something and doing it the right way. I had a business partner like that, and we've seen plenty of people that show up on the scene or advertise and present themselves as somebody that can do all this great shit. Do they have any real world experience or if somebody comes in and says that they can do all that, but they really have no, you know, testimonials or they don't have anyone that can vouch and say, yeah, this person did actually, you know, help me with this or provided some, you know, a different perspective that I never saw on my own or never looked at it that way. Well then. I gotta say that one of the most rewarding parts of this whole journey was when I started asking people for testimonials. Like people saying I had my highest commission month, like they spent a lot of time giving me perspective on like the client experience and you know, so that Well, that, I mean, that, that definitely, that, that brings validation to your process and to what you're doing and, and what, what you're trying to do and how you're trying to go about doing it. So, I mean, you know, when your shit gets validated, yeah, it's, it's like, Right. So I feel that. Yeah. So, you know, right now it's the time. I'm looking for people that are ready to level up. I've got proven strategies and I've got the testimonials and I'm ready to just go all in and change people's lives and help them achieve I've always enjoyed and appreciated the opportunity to talk to you. I think your outlook and your your outlook and your perspective on things, when you combine that with the things that you've experienced and gone through on a personal level and on a business level, I think it, uh, to me, it, it, it's no, it's no small wonder that you've gotten, you know, validation and positive response out of what you've, you know, what you've done or what you've tried to do and what you've tried to provide to people. So I certainly think that, uh, That means a lot to me and I've always loved chit-chatting with you and obviously we're always talking shit in our DMs all Yeah, that's, that's good though. That's, that's good. Like, like my, like my old man used to say, so that, you know, that they wouldn't pick on you if they didn't like you. So if you're not, you know, picking on somebody or talking shit to them or talking shit with them, then, then, you know, if you are doing that, then I look forward to coming out to Texas again here soon and seeing you. And if there's anything I can do to help you, obviously Yeah, no worries. So anything you've got coming up, if you want to just, even if you want to just hop on and, you know, say, Hey, these are some of the things I'm thinking, My pleasure. All right. We'll talk soon. Uh, you are amazing as usual. And I'll be hitting you up in your DM talking some shit about some stupid post here soon. I'm Throw some shit out there. It's all good. Tell Bonnie, Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of Other People's Perspective. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts. That's where you'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you feel so inclined, please leave us a