Unlocking Financial Success: Insights from Self-Made Millionaire Travis Freeman

WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.259
Money is an infinite resource.

00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:05.250
You can create more wealth than anybody has in the world today, right?

00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:08.919
Somebody is going to break a new record on the amount of wealth, but time isn't.

00:00:08.990 --> 00:00:10.119
Time is finite.

00:00:10.619 --> 00:00:15.390
So how do you use this finite resource to convert it into the infinite resource of money?

00:00:25.320 --> 00:00:36.600
Welcome to the Wayfinder show with Louie Hernandez, where guests discuss the why and how of making changes that led them down a more authentic path or allow them to level up in some area of their life.

00:00:37.780 --> 00:00:45.710
Our goal is to dig deep and provide not only knowledge, but actionable advice to help you get from where you are to where you want to be.

00:00:46.979 --> 00:00:58.792
Come join us and find the way to your dream life.

00:00:59.985 --> 00:01:00.456
All right.

00:01:00.456 --> 00:01:01.996
Welcome back to the way finder show.

00:01:01.996 --> 00:01:03.526
I'm your host, Louie Hernandez.

00:01:03.970 --> 00:01:05.661
today I'm here with Travis Freeman.

00:01:06.040 --> 00:01:11.230
Travis is an entrepreneur and financial planner who became a self made millionaire in his twenties.

00:01:11.730 --> 00:01:18.510
After experiencing food stamps as a child, Travis became fascinated with the powers and complexities of money.

00:01:18.590 --> 00:01:24.751
He went on to earn a bachelor's degree in finance with an emphasis in economics for Missouri state university.

00:01:25.171 --> 00:01:31.331
He started a financial planning practice right out of college that also led to investing in private businesses.

00:01:31.801 --> 00:01:33.551
As a certified financial planner.

00:01:34.105 --> 00:01:38.566
Travis helps business executives and entrepreneurs with complex financial needs.

00:01:39.025 --> 00:01:46.456
This experience fueled his passion for teaching the public, how to reach financial independence using the strategies of the wealthy.

00:01:47.215 --> 00:01:57.555
Travis and his wife enjoy philanthropy focused on education and regularly supporting charities to help low income and First generation students attend college.

00:01:57.635 --> 00:02:01.865
He also recently wrote the book, the fortune of youth.

00:02:02.480 --> 00:02:06.061
Create wealth, happiness, and success early in life.

00:02:06.831 --> 00:02:08.610
Travis, welcome to the way finder show.

00:02:09.390 --> 00:02:10.320
Louie, thanks for having me.

00:02:10.320 --> 00:02:12.230
I got to tell you, I love one of your recent episodes.

00:02:12.230 --> 00:02:13.300
I think it was Dr.

00:02:13.381 --> 00:02:13.730
Torkin.

00:02:13.730 --> 00:02:14.031
I think is it?

00:02:14.031 --> 00:02:14.050
Yeah.

00:02:16.276 --> 00:02:21.836
I just turned 40 earlier this year, and he talked about how up until the age of 40, your body will take care of you.

00:02:22.165 --> 00:02:29.295
But after 40, you have to take care of your body, and I think I've had to see doctors already this year for my back, my foot, and my knee.

00:02:29.906 --> 00:02:30.936
So that is Yeah.

00:02:31.716 --> 00:02:32.665
That struck me really well.

00:02:32.665 --> 00:02:33.485
That was a neat episode.

00:02:34.010 --> 00:02:34.580
Oh, thank you.

00:02:34.631 --> 00:02:36.270
yeah, we really enjoyed having him on.

00:02:36.281 --> 00:02:38.001
He's becoming a friend too.

00:02:38.001 --> 00:02:40.290
So it was great to have him, that is true.

00:02:40.290 --> 00:02:48.341
I'm now in my late forties and it's funny how much more emphasis I put on health, but yeah, anyhow, Travis, let's focus on you though.

00:02:48.341 --> 00:02:54.765
I'm really excited about having you on because you and I come from very similar backgrounds and have Many of the same passions.

00:02:54.765 --> 00:02:56.506
I am a first gen high school graduate.

00:02:56.536 --> 00:02:58.276
My parents immigrated here from Columbia.

00:02:58.635 --> 00:03:11.376
the community I grew up in, most people didn't finish high school or go to college, I did, and got my master's and everything and what I find myself finding myself most, passionate of, or given back to the world is exactly what you're saying.

00:03:11.746 --> 00:03:18.556
The low income underprivileged first gen families and helping them, change the trajectories of their future generation.

00:03:18.556 --> 00:03:20.975
So I really appreciate that you do the same.

00:03:22.311 --> 00:03:22.450
Yeah.

00:03:22.450 --> 00:03:22.950
Oh, you bet.

00:03:22.950 --> 00:03:29.890
If more people knew the things that the wealthy do to get to where they're at, more people would reach that point.

00:03:29.890 --> 00:03:33.881
And it's not necessarily a government handout or a charity that's going to get them there.

00:03:34.230 --> 00:03:36.691
It's having the knowledge and taking action on that knowledge.

00:03:36.691 --> 00:03:37.966
And that's what inspired the book.

00:03:38.306 --> 00:03:43.355
Before we get into all that though, I'd like, to know if you can tell people a little bit more about yourself.

00:03:43.895 --> 00:03:45.295
Give us your origin story.

00:03:45.941 --> 00:03:52.040
The food stamp days weren't forever, but they were for a period of time, My folks went through a pretty ugly three year divorce and custody battle.

00:03:52.040 --> 00:03:57.510
So we went from an average middle class to lower middle class family to then food stamps and living with my mom.

00:03:57.510 --> 00:03:59.300
And really hit me right as a kid.

00:03:59.401 --> 00:04:02.290
I was eight ish, old enough to realize what was going on.

00:04:02.290 --> 00:04:07.651
those memories will never leave me about how money is such a powerful force that it can change your whole world.

00:04:07.651 --> 00:04:09.631
And when you're eight, your world isn't real big, right?

00:04:09.991 --> 00:04:13.540
So whenever I went to college, I knew exactly what I was going to study.

00:04:13.550 --> 00:04:15.621
I had a bunch of friends and fraternity brothers that were figuring.

00:04:16.255 --> 00:04:16.795
their way out.

00:04:17.175 --> 00:04:19.115
I went into college knowing exactly what I want to do.

00:04:19.415 --> 00:04:22.245
And while I was in college, I actually started my career.

00:04:22.745 --> 00:04:27.355
I was one of the youngest people in Missouri history to have an insurance license.

00:04:27.665 --> 00:04:32.315
I don't have the insurance license anymore, but it's something I did back in college at 19.

00:04:32.346 --> 00:04:35.175
I was actually a licensed professional, Started nice and early.

00:04:35.175 --> 00:04:37.750
so anyway, that's a bit of the background.

00:04:37.750 --> 00:04:40.141
since then, I am a financial planner.

00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:44.100
I serve affluent families that have millions of dollars.

00:04:44.100 --> 00:04:46.050
Some have over 100 million in assets.

00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:48.290
lots of tax planning and legal matters.

00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:54.901
But I enjoy teaching people that don't have those things how to get there, what I just described pays the bills.

00:04:55.161 --> 00:04:56.990
The other part satisfies my soul.

00:04:57.060 --> 00:04:57.740
You know what I mean?

00:04:57.961 --> 00:04:58.591
Absolutely.

00:04:58.641 --> 00:04:58.930
Put.

00:04:59.281 --> 00:05:03.771
we'll dig into that a little bit more, I noticed you started financial planning right out of college.

00:05:04.206 --> 00:05:07.466
And that's not a career that most people do right out of college, right?

00:05:07.466 --> 00:05:08.946
They typically will go work somewhere.

00:05:08.946 --> 00:05:13.685
I actually worked for John Hancock for a little bit, out of college, like an internship type of thing.

00:05:13.685 --> 00:05:15.636
And thought about that career path as well.

00:05:15.696 --> 00:05:21.875
But typically they'll do something like that for a little while, while they get all their licenses and go, but you just jump straight into it.

00:05:22.295 --> 00:05:23.565
I can only imagine it.

00:05:23.565 --> 00:05:34.375
It must be a challenging thing to start your own financial planning business as a 19 year old, Yeah, especially with your background, it was a challenge.

00:05:34.375 --> 00:05:38.156
But keep in mind at 19, I was working for a subsidiary of Citi Group.

00:05:38.505 --> 00:05:40.786
At 20 I was working for Aflac.

00:05:41.355 --> 00:05:46.906
At 21 I was working for Scott Trade Financial, which was bought by TD and then Schwab.

00:05:47.216 --> 00:05:54.435
So then I knew what I wanted to do and what I didn't want to do once I graduated I talked to some, people that I knew.

00:05:54.901 --> 00:06:02.341
they said, you know what, you got to go work somewhere, get trained, and then you could switch over after you've been trained and licensed to start your own practice.

00:06:02.350 --> 00:06:03.860
I said, it's not what I want to do.

00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:06.430
I finally found somebody who would give me a chance.

00:06:06.831 --> 00:06:10.021
He said, look, I know you can't pay rent, but here's an office.

00:06:10.670 --> 00:06:14.571
I'm going to keep half of what you bring in to cover my rent costs.

00:06:15.571 --> 00:06:19.961
This is where you can start your business I made my first dollar after about five months.

00:06:20.100 --> 00:06:34.511
when I say my first dollar, literally about a dollar, if I total up the hours, I worked the first year, I averaged like a dollar 20 an hour just cause I was working so much and found enough great people to trust me that first year.

00:06:34.511 --> 00:06:36.831
And then it built the second year and built the third year.

00:06:36.831 --> 00:06:38.630
I think I hired my first employee.

00:06:39.096 --> 00:06:41.295
And when I say hire my first employee, it wasn't somebody else doing it.

00:06:41.295 --> 00:06:44.406
It was me, my own entity, my own benefit program.

00:06:44.406 --> 00:06:48.755
I had to figure it all out myself, hire my first employee in my early to mid twenties.

00:06:49.326 --> 00:06:52.786
And then my second employee and then my third employee and the rest is history.

00:06:52.836 --> 00:06:55.915
it's been a combination of diligent work and some luck along the way.

00:06:56.475 --> 00:06:59.005
they say success is when luck meets preparation.

00:06:59.026 --> 00:07:02.896
So you did the work, you definitely prepared for even recognizing that luck.

00:07:03.096 --> 00:07:03.815
Kudos to you.

00:07:03.826 --> 00:07:05.576
I didn't want failure to be an option.

00:07:05.596 --> 00:07:07.315
I've failed in plenty of things in life.

00:07:07.315 --> 00:07:08.685
I didn't want that one to be one of them.

00:07:08.935 --> 00:07:09.456
Good call.

00:07:09.946 --> 00:07:11.355
So what about your twenties?

00:07:11.355 --> 00:07:18.206
You also became a millionaire in your twenties and that's another thing, financial planning is, a get rich slow scheme, right?

00:07:19.065 --> 00:07:20.146
you still managed to do it.

00:07:20.165 --> 00:07:22.526
Was it through just growing your firm Absolutely.

00:07:22.935 --> 00:07:24.646
Largely it was the firm and investing.

00:07:24.706 --> 00:07:35.225
I realized that, as a business owner, you have the ability to invest your dollars differently than someone that might work for a company as a W 2 employee, right?

00:07:35.776 --> 00:07:50.625
Someone that works for a big corporation, the way that they're going to save and invest is their 401k or retirement accounts or their HSA, or maybe a brokerage account, or maybe they're buying real estate, But when you own a business, you have the choice of doing all those things, but also investing back into your business.

00:07:50.975 --> 00:07:56.846
So I figured out that yes, I'm going to save and invest my money in the equity markets and all the things I recommend to my clients.

00:07:56.846 --> 00:08:02.045
But I'm going to take my dollars and put it back into my business and invest because I can grow that a lot faster.

00:08:02.045 --> 00:08:03.045
I'm in control of that.

00:08:03.365 --> 00:08:08.596
Now, I always tell my business owner clients, if it gets so big, you don't want to have all your eggs in just one business.

00:08:08.596 --> 00:08:14.586
And I believe in that too, but at the time in my twenties, I figured out that's where the biggest growth potential was.

00:08:14.625 --> 00:08:19.435
And that's the way I was able to hit the seven figure mark on a net worth in my twenties.

00:08:20.211 --> 00:08:22.571
Yeah, it takes a lot of discipline too, right?

00:08:22.790 --> 00:08:24.290
It says quite a bit about you.

00:08:24.571 --> 00:08:35.520
Now, another thing I thought was interesting before we get to the book is just you help people with, buying and scaling businesses, selling businesses, raising capital for businesses.

00:08:35.941 --> 00:08:38.530
That's not something that a lot of folks do.

00:08:38.885 --> 00:08:40.086
In your line of work right?

00:08:40.186 --> 00:09:04.046
I mentioned this in the pre show I get approached by a lot of financial planners to come on this show and I turn a lot of them down It's actually the segment I turn down the most because I keep hearing how they're very different and they try to tell people that they're going to diversify I'm like, oh how and it just means i'll put it in three different stock funds or what have you that's not real diversification in my mind But you are actually truly doing that, like with helping them with businesses.

00:09:04.046 --> 00:09:07.686
Are you helping them go into other assets classes as well?

00:09:08.436 --> 00:09:08.796
Yeah.

00:09:08.846 --> 00:09:13.926
not every client is a business, but many of my clients are, and I can speak the language as I've been there.

00:09:13.985 --> 00:09:19.556
I've had to hire people and fire people start a health insurance plan deal with lease matters and all these things that they deal with.

00:09:19.605 --> 00:09:22.966
Yeah, I will come in and help consult on scaling.

00:09:22.966 --> 00:09:24.216
Sometimes it's raising capital.

00:09:24.216 --> 00:09:27.035
Sometimes it's a family in their second or third generation.

00:09:27.046 --> 00:09:31.096
trying to figure out this business that's grown three times as much over this new generation.

00:09:31.096 --> 00:09:34.346
That's going to go down to, two daughters and a son, right?

00:09:34.346 --> 00:09:35.285
So the three kids.

00:09:35.535 --> 00:09:36.745
I dealt with personally.

00:09:36.745 --> 00:09:37.505
it makes sense.

00:09:37.556 --> 00:09:40.395
And that's one way I've been able to find a niche.

00:09:40.620 --> 00:09:46.910
if you can speak somebody's language and help them on something unique, they're going to tell friends about you, And that's paid my dividends.

00:09:47.370 --> 00:09:51.431
The other thing that's helped me is that I actually have started other businesses.

00:09:52.250 --> 00:09:55.581
So I helped my wife launch a beauty tech company.

00:09:56.051 --> 00:10:04.041
She invented this handheld Beauty device that you can it's like the kind of stuff you do at a spa, but she actually has a handheld device you can do on your own.

00:10:04.510 --> 00:10:11.140
And we have the IP and spent two years in research and development on, it I started a financial technology company years ago.

00:10:11.160 --> 00:10:19.850
when, the team approached your show about putting me on, and they said, Travis is a entrepreneur and financial planner, they weren't just blowing smoke, I agree.

00:10:19.860 --> 00:10:20.591
It's a lot of fun.

00:10:20.600 --> 00:10:24.280
I love studying, business and talking business in general, So how will that work?

00:10:24.280 --> 00:10:32.020
somebody will come to you, they have a certain amount of money that they want to invest in something and preserve their wealth and build their wealth.

00:10:32.081 --> 00:10:36.951
You look at it and say, let's look at a business or how does that work?

00:10:37.311 --> 00:10:41.431
So let's say it's somebody that, doesn't currently own a business, but they're in their fifties.

00:10:41.431 --> 00:10:42.221
They're ready for a change.

00:10:42.221 --> 00:10:43.610
They built up a lot of wealth already.

00:10:44.541 --> 00:10:47.571
there are networks that I'll work with to help them, find a business.

00:10:47.571 --> 00:10:48.740
How do you acquire it?

00:10:49.140 --> 00:10:51.140
Is it going to be seller finance?

00:10:51.140 --> 00:10:52.350
You're going to get bank financing.

00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:54.441
You're going to do a, some kind of a note.

00:10:54.520 --> 00:10:57.711
Are you going to come in and have some investors and raise capital or not?

00:10:57.711 --> 00:11:00.221
You're going to finance the whole thing yourself with your own capital.

00:11:00.510 --> 00:11:03.201
So helping them transition into business ownership too.

00:11:03.620 --> 00:11:12.140
Whether somebody owns a business or not, the first thing I'll do is if they've never worked with a financial planner, I've met some really wealthy people that have done it all on their own.

00:11:12.140 --> 00:11:13.421
then they say, it's too complicated.

00:11:13.471 --> 00:11:13.980
help me.

00:11:14.630 --> 00:11:19.120
The first thing you got to do is get your own financial house in order.

00:11:19.990 --> 00:11:21.610
Do you have all your bases covered?

00:11:21.980 --> 00:11:25.390
If you got into a car accident is your family going to be taken care of?

00:11:25.471 --> 00:11:25.980
Number one.

00:11:26.620 --> 00:11:32.240
Number two, is your cash reserve ample, How are you doing for your own retirement plans?

00:11:32.250 --> 00:11:33.870
How about your kid's college?

00:11:34.140 --> 00:11:37.561
Once your own personal financial house is in order, you have stability.

00:11:37.571 --> 00:11:38.740
You've got this foundation.

00:11:38.740 --> 00:11:43.010
And once you have the foundation, then and only then can you build on top of that with something more creative.

00:11:43.160 --> 00:11:45.900
Going out and acquiring a business, which is really risky, right?

00:11:45.900 --> 00:11:48.030
So that's the very first exercise.

00:11:48.061 --> 00:11:52.630
And the reason that business consulting and financial planning in my mind is married together.

00:11:53.660 --> 00:11:56.750
Do you, recommend other asset classes like real estate absolutely.

00:11:56.951 --> 00:12:03.010
In my mind, there are public markets and private markets everybody knows public markets, right?

00:12:03.010 --> 00:12:06.880
You can buy an S& P 500 phone on any online brokerage account, right?

00:12:06.880 --> 00:12:08.061
You can invest in bonds.

00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:10.250
You can invest in REITs, publicly traded REITs.

00:12:10.770 --> 00:12:18.850
But the private market and not everybody has enough wealth to get into that market and that's not my opinion That's actually a government definition, right?

00:12:19.431 --> 00:12:21.811
Qualified purchasers and accredited investors.

00:12:21.821 --> 00:12:37.780
It's a government deal But if somebody has enough wealth to get into the private market now, they can get into private real estate syndicated deals Private credit, and all kinds of private equity, Venture capital, seed capital, buyout strategies, all kinds of neat things.

00:12:37.910 --> 00:12:41.910
So when people say, don't put all your eggs in one basket, you already made the point earlier, Louie.

00:12:41.910 --> 00:12:43.721
It's not just a couple of mutual funds.

00:12:43.721 --> 00:12:48.150
There are all kinds of different baskets in these two very different markets.

00:12:49.676 --> 00:12:50.265
I love that.

00:12:50.495 --> 00:12:58.615
So you, I imagine because people know you do this, they bring all these different, private offerings to you and you have them available for your clients as well.

00:12:58.676 --> 00:12:59.105
Is that right?

00:12:59.686 --> 00:12:59.875
Yeah.

00:12:59.875 --> 00:13:02.245
Sometimes they'll bring them to me and say, Hey, my buddy is in this.

00:13:02.245 --> 00:13:02.946
What do you think?

00:13:02.946 --> 00:13:05.576
I have a team of people to see if it's worthwhile or not.

00:13:05.586 --> 00:13:09.446
Sometimes it is, sometimes it's garbage and I have to politely tell them that.

00:13:09.686 --> 00:13:17.076
But if somebody is looking for something, we've already done due diligence on some unique offerings and we say, Hey, here's some things that we put our own money in, here they are.

00:13:17.630 --> 00:13:18.010
Awesome.

00:13:18.461 --> 00:13:18.711
Wow.

00:13:19.620 --> 00:13:24.660
So what about I wanted to talk about your book as a parent, right?

00:13:24.760 --> 00:13:30.020
And with young kids who, just started work I have a 16 and 18 year old, they both have jobs.

00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:36.416
They're both really good savers and already investing But, outside of that, I really don't what else as a parent.

00:13:36.686 --> 00:13:41.176
First gen person myself, what should I be advising them on to help them?

00:13:43.096 --> 00:13:49.836
So in the book, the reason I titled it The Fortune of Youth is just because, time is the greatest asset you and I have.

00:13:50.596 --> 00:13:52.546
And I'm thinking about your 16 and 18 year old.

00:13:52.546 --> 00:13:54.375
What unlimited potential they have.

00:13:54.946 --> 00:13:57.206
Money is an infinite resource.

00:13:57.225 --> 00:14:00.196
You can create more wealth than anybody has in the world today, right?

00:14:00.196 --> 00:14:03.865
Somebody is going to break a new record on the amount of wealth, but time isn't.

00:14:03.936 --> 00:14:05.066
Time is finite.

00:14:05.566 --> 00:14:10.336
So how do you use this finite resource to convert it into the infinite resource of money?

00:14:11.365 --> 00:14:15.785
that is taking risk, being diligent, living well within your means.

00:14:15.995 --> 00:14:18.806
Many of these are simple concepts, but when you combine.

00:14:19.230 --> 00:14:25.291
in them together and use discipline, you can be a multimillionaire many times over by the time you're later in life.

00:14:25.291 --> 00:14:26.380
If you start early.

00:14:27.160 --> 00:14:44.900
if I was talking to a 16 or 18 year old I would talk about something I call the compound career This is a chapter I put into the book the compound career has to do with the career path that someone chooses And what they do early in life with that career?

00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:47.461
So I started at 19.

00:14:47.480 --> 00:14:53.931
I think it's a big reason that I am where I am, or I've become where I am early in life, and here I am at 40 today, right?

00:14:55.140 --> 00:15:11.390
But if you can figure out some of your passions and try different types of work experiences early in life, hopefully, I think high school, college age, and then start on a path that has a lot of growth potential, you might do really well early in life.

00:15:12.355 --> 00:15:14.495
I'm going to throw some easy math at you.

00:15:16.145 --> 00:15:17.586
Take two 25 year olds.

00:15:17.855 --> 00:15:22.186
One of them sees a job making 70 grand a year and says, Oh, great.

00:15:22.196 --> 00:15:23.836
This is good money, especially at this age.

00:15:23.875 --> 00:15:24.566
I'm going to take it.

00:15:24.576 --> 00:15:27.556
But it only averages 2 percent growth a year.

00:15:28.596 --> 00:15:31.956
Another 25 year old finds a job, 48 grand a year.

00:15:32.625 --> 00:15:34.686
But it grows at 4 percent per year.

00:15:34.775 --> 00:15:40.535
The one that took the smaller salary, which most 25 year olds aren't going to do, they're going to want the bigger one, right?

00:15:40.535 --> 00:15:44.696
By the time they get into their early to mid forties, The smaller one will surpass the other one.

00:15:45.100 --> 00:15:49.750
By the time they get to the retirement age, the 70 grand turns into about 150 grand a year.

00:15:50.120 --> 00:15:52.951
The other one is like 240, 000 a year.

00:15:52.990 --> 00:15:59.730
So you want a career path that you start as early as you can and focus on one that has a lot of growth potential, right?

00:15:59.760 --> 00:16:04.740
Hospitality, the hospitality industry doesn't have a ton of growth potential unless you own something.

00:16:05.341 --> 00:16:06.341
Business usually does.

00:16:06.350 --> 00:16:07.461
So those are some examples.

00:16:08.191 --> 00:16:11.831
do you tell them to put their money into anything special at that time?

00:16:11.831 --> 00:16:13.221
do you have any rules of thumb?

00:16:13.221 --> 00:16:16.461
Like set aside 10 percent for savings, things like that, Yeah.

00:16:16.520 --> 00:16:19.400
There's a lot of that in the book I call it reinventing the basics.

00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:22.221
one of the greatest points I could get out of the book is.

00:16:22.780 --> 00:16:24.571
Everybody can afford their dream home.

00:16:24.740 --> 00:16:27.390
many people think that their dream home is that.

00:16:28.380 --> 00:16:30.311
Home of the mountains or the white picket fence or on the beach.

00:16:30.831 --> 00:16:36.221
But if you had, let's say you have a person making 500 grand a year, they're doing pretty well by today's standards.

00:16:36.980 --> 00:16:39.171
And they buy the largest home that they could afford.

00:16:39.990 --> 00:16:40.760
Beautiful, right?

00:16:40.760 --> 00:16:41.900
Their friends are envious.

00:16:41.900 --> 00:16:43.311
They're putting it all over social media.

00:16:43.681 --> 00:16:49.081
But they're probably stressed out about the maintenance costs and taxes They're probably not saving a whole lot.

00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:52.921
Then you take somebody who's making 500 grand a year.

00:16:52.931 --> 00:16:54.711
They buy a reasonable home.

00:16:55.030 --> 00:16:56.630
That way they have plenty of cash.

00:16:56.681 --> 00:16:57.831
It's not going to be a drain on them.

00:16:58.296 --> 00:17:01.245
Those in their marriage and their stress, they save like crazy.

00:17:01.426 --> 00:17:03.995
They could take that savings by businesses with it.

00:17:04.395 --> 00:17:09.996
They could become unbelievably successful all because they decided to buy a different home.

00:17:10.365 --> 00:17:13.645
And that successful person might end up having three homes one day, right.

00:17:13.675 --> 00:17:14.965
Huge fan of real estate.

00:17:15.135 --> 00:17:18.365
You just got to do it in a way that's going to position you for success long term.

00:17:18.685 --> 00:17:20.296
Don't let that house crush your dreams.

00:17:20.296 --> 00:17:23.615
Let it fuel your dreams, which might mean three homes later in life.

00:17:25.806 --> 00:17:26.955
What else are you seeing?

00:17:26.955 --> 00:17:28.816
You work with some very affluent families.

00:17:28.865 --> 00:17:40.806
you're talking about buying businesses, which is not something I think most normal middle class families do outside of maybe working by maybe getting a business that owner run operate.

00:17:40.855 --> 00:17:46.135
So what else are you seeing out there that, some of these affluent families.

00:17:46.766 --> 00:17:55.605
Do with their kids I'll tell you that, affluence in America, largely comes from having equity in some kind of a business.

00:17:56.766 --> 00:18:03.826
Now that might be in that you are an entrepreneur, you are acquiring or starting your own business, but you could be an intrapreneur.

00:18:04.560 --> 00:18:16.881
And there are examples of this in the book too, where you are working at a company, a startup environment, or an IT company, where you're able to pick up shares, restricted stock options, incentive stock options, some type of equity.

00:18:17.351 --> 00:18:23.631
Where you can ride along the wave without having to work 14 hours a day.

00:18:23.980 --> 00:18:25.891
But true, significant wealth.

00:18:25.951 --> 00:18:29.570
comes largely from some type of equity ownership.

00:18:30.090 --> 00:18:36.270
Starting your own, buying your own, or being a part of someone else's business where you can ride that wave up.

00:18:38.431 --> 00:18:43.810
What about just from a financial understanding standpoint?

00:18:43.840 --> 00:18:53.840
Are you seem do some of these families with their kids, are they helping them understand how to read financial statements from a young age or, do they also just learn it as we get older?

00:18:54.840 --> 00:19:05.601
I'll tell you, the families that are, that have intentional family wealth education, You can see the difference in the way those kids grow up.

00:19:06.300 --> 00:19:10.530
I'm even seeing it in my own kids, I grew up the hard way learning about money.

00:19:11.131 --> 00:19:14.111
I didn't, there was no five 29 plan for my college.

00:19:14.111 --> 00:19:15.830
My folks didn't even know what those were.

00:19:16.631 --> 00:19:21.901
So when I see my kids grow up, I started teaching them about compounding when they were six.

00:19:23.111 --> 00:19:25.861
They have now each started their own mini businesses.

00:19:26.655 --> 00:19:31.256
one of them wants to write a book probably because they saw me toiling away the last four years writing a book.

00:19:31.915 --> 00:19:37.756
I've taught them about what it's like to buy businesses, what a financial statement is.

00:19:37.766 --> 00:19:41.135
They're just learning things that a lot of children don't learn.

00:19:41.165 --> 00:19:46.266
And they're going to be at such an advantage because of that, almost an unfair advantage, right?

00:19:46.266 --> 00:19:49.175
Part of me feels guilty that a lot of people don't get these things.

00:19:49.425 --> 00:19:52.076
And that's the reason I'm preaching the word here, right?

00:19:52.076 --> 00:19:54.645
About, Teaching people these things.

00:19:54.766 --> 00:19:58.016
So yes, affluent families, what are they doing differently?

00:19:58.226 --> 00:20:06.365
They're teaching their kids how to understand business and risk and wealth early, even if that child decides they want to be an instructor at a college.

00:20:06.790 --> 00:20:08.641
At least they're going to have financial discipline.

00:20:10.121 --> 00:20:10.471
Yeah.

00:20:10.780 --> 00:20:11.611
No, that's awesome.

00:20:12.401 --> 00:20:13.621
What about with a business?

00:20:13.651 --> 00:20:15.750
I'm curious what businesses your kids have.

00:20:16.601 --> 00:20:22.381
Of course, there's been the lemonade stand, One of them makes art and we sell it on facebook marketplace.

00:20:23.050 --> 00:20:25.010
The other one has a rock business.

00:20:25.010 --> 00:20:28.631
They'll actually go into the Creek and into different Creeks around the area.

00:20:28.990 --> 00:20:31.721
Find, Geodes break them open and then sell them.

00:20:32.320 --> 00:20:33.711
So he does the work and then sells them.

00:20:33.711 --> 00:20:41.250
So little bitty businesses, but yeah, seven to 10, they're already showing me about these things they want to do.

00:20:41.590 --> 00:20:47.421
And, it's because my wife and I are at the dinner table every night talking business, that's just what they're exposed to.

00:20:47.796 --> 00:20:48.675
I love that.

00:20:48.746 --> 00:20:50.175
Oh man, that is brilliant.

00:20:51.105 --> 00:20:58.496
And those rocks, I remember how many times that my kids, when they were little, we'd go somewhere as touristy, a rock shop, and that's what they want.

00:20:58.516 --> 00:21:02.615
They want to grab one of those rocks that they can break and see, what's inside.

00:21:03.070 --> 00:21:03.621
That's right.

00:21:04.181 --> 00:21:06.181
my kids were on the opposite end.

00:21:06.191 --> 00:21:07.800
They were probably buying from your kids.

00:21:08.851 --> 00:21:10.990
So we've made your kids wealthy, I appreciate that.

00:21:11.471 --> 00:21:16.490
But it's not just teaching somebody how to work hard and make money.

00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:18.030
It's what do you do with it then?

00:21:18.080 --> 00:21:23.101
We were at a state park recently and it was really hot.

00:21:23.435 --> 00:21:26.355
all of a sudden they saw this snow cone truck pull up.

00:21:26.846 --> 00:21:28.645
They said, Oh dad, can we go get a snow cone?

00:21:28.645 --> 00:21:30.375
And it was way off in the distance.

00:21:30.375 --> 00:21:32.806
I said, sure boys, but you got to spend your own allowance money.

00:21:32.935 --> 00:21:34.355
This is why you guys have allowance.

00:21:34.385 --> 00:21:35.635
Oh dad, can't you buy it?

00:21:35.826 --> 00:21:37.586
No, if you want it, you go buy it.

00:21:37.596 --> 00:21:44.205
So they marched over there themselves and less than a minute later, one of them comes marching back and I go, Bruce, what's going on?

00:21:44.205 --> 00:21:44.746
He goes, dad.

00:21:45.076 --> 00:21:45.945
It's too expensive.

00:21:45.945 --> 00:21:47.586
It's 4 for a snow cone.

00:21:47.586 --> 00:21:48.736
I'm not spending my money.

00:21:49.086 --> 00:21:49.476
That's right.

00:21:50.526 --> 00:21:53.925
Part of me wishes he would have treated himself, but that's the discipline part, right?

00:21:53.976 --> 00:21:54.175
Yep.

00:21:54.556 --> 00:21:55.516
So it goes hand in hand.

00:21:55.945 --> 00:21:56.675
It is funny.

00:21:56.705 --> 00:22:00.226
Now that my girls are working, we have them pay for everything themselves.

00:22:00.226 --> 00:22:02.615
And it's just a totally different attitude now.

00:22:03.105 --> 00:22:08.165
The self control is kicking in, but when we were funding it, it was give me this, give me that.

00:22:08.445 --> 00:22:09.885
So yeah, it's different psychology.

00:22:10.625 --> 00:22:23.520
What about businesses you, you going back to that, are there certain kinds of businesses that you feel really good about any industries or just types that you think are better to invest in than others?

00:22:24.141 --> 00:22:24.641
Yeah.

00:22:24.780 --> 00:22:32.361
In the most basic sense, if, and in fact, my wife and I are looking at other businesses, this would be something my wife's going to run.

00:22:32.746 --> 00:22:38.036
You want to look at something that already has an established clientele with recurring revenue.

00:22:39.346 --> 00:22:49.736
There was a, I saw a business listing the other day and it was the business made like 800, 000 a year and it was selling for 700, 000 a year, right?

00:22:50.230 --> 00:22:51.401
And that's unusual.

00:22:51.401 --> 00:22:54.080
If it's making a million, you'd expect it to sell.

00:22:54.391 --> 00:22:57.111
And when I say making a million, I'm talking about cashflow, right?

00:22:57.770 --> 00:23:01.171
If it's cash flowing a million a year, it should be selling for one to 3 million.

00:23:01.421 --> 00:23:01.901
Exactly.

00:23:02.340 --> 00:23:04.661
And it was a business that doesn't have a lot of recurring revenue.

00:23:04.661 --> 00:23:08.211
It's a Salesforce driven business that has to go out and hunt for sales.

00:23:09.320 --> 00:23:15.931
So you want something that has established clientele with loyalty and goodwill that's going to consistently bring in revenue, have growth potential.

00:23:16.171 --> 00:23:20.280
I'm a big fan of anything that has technology, a big technology focus on it.

00:23:20.711 --> 00:23:21.090
Okay.

00:23:21.340 --> 00:23:25.631
Nothing that's real labor intensive and something that you can easily scale.

00:23:25.691 --> 00:23:31.971
And I generally will stay or steer people with caution away from bars and restaurants.

00:23:32.141 --> 00:23:32.381
Yeah.

00:23:32.461 --> 00:23:34.790
It's such a high risk game, right?

00:23:35.375 --> 00:23:36.175
But I get it.

00:23:36.175 --> 00:23:37.346
I get why people would do it.

00:23:37.576 --> 00:23:40.036
But those are some of the things I will generally help people with.

00:23:40.036 --> 00:23:41.766
Telecom, that's another great one.

00:23:41.766 --> 00:23:42.875
But something with scale.

00:23:43.546 --> 00:23:43.935
Gotcha.

00:23:44.875 --> 00:23:45.685
Yeah, what do you think?

00:23:45.685 --> 00:23:50.026
I see a lot now with the threat of AI disrupting technology so much.

00:23:50.026 --> 00:24:03.855
I see a lot of Folks going into blue collar type of businesses wanting to buy those and trying to scale them, consolidate them the old PE model by in a fragmented market and consolidate a whole bunch of them to create something bigger with more efficiencies.

00:24:04.375 --> 00:24:05.276
What do you think of those?

00:24:06.715 --> 00:24:07.306
It's interesting.

00:24:07.306 --> 00:24:08.695
You say the blue collar business.

00:24:08.756 --> 00:24:21.955
When I was talking about recurring revenue, if I was going to have a blue collar business, if you have, if you're an electrician, your clients probably aren't calling you to do things all the time, right?

00:24:22.316 --> 00:24:34.276
I've had two electricians in my house since I bought this place eight years ago, and they've been two different people, two different companies, but a plumber, you probably going to have regular plumbing issues.

00:24:34.276 --> 00:24:35.556
A constant basis, right?

00:24:36.066 --> 00:24:43.635
So again, I probably end up with a plumbing business because you have a little bit more regularity and cashflow expectations and consistency.

00:24:43.635 --> 00:24:44.992
But that's interesting.

00:24:44.992 --> 00:24:53.461
I hadn't thought of the AI focus and trying to consolidate a bunch of blue collar type businesses, but I.

00:24:54.230 --> 00:25:02.330
generally think that AI is going to be what the internet was 10, 20 years ago, right?

00:25:02.330 --> 00:25:06.121
When people would ask me, Travis, what AI company should I invest in?

00:25:06.711 --> 00:25:10.050
Not, I wouldn't invest in an AI company, right?

00:25:10.050 --> 00:25:17.530
It's what companies are really poised to use the efficiencies of AI to really increase their growth and scale.

00:25:17.861 --> 00:25:23.871
And the same way that internet tools and technology have done that for just about every industry today, right?

00:25:24.401 --> 00:25:24.730
Yeah.

00:25:25.351 --> 00:25:26.510
Here's what I worry about, Louis.

00:25:28.181 --> 00:25:41.070
The internet and technology and robotics, I'll put all that together for a second, really transformed the way that blue collar industries work and the reason a lot of men today aren't going to college.

00:25:41.070 --> 00:25:49.060
It used to be that, I'll just focus on men for a second, you would go into an industry that required some muscle and that's something that you'd be doing.

00:25:49.060 --> 00:25:55.980
A lot of that's been shipped overseas where robotics have replaced it and you have a lot of men that now have lost a little bit of their guide.

00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:56.046
That's it.

00:25:56.605 --> 00:25:59.286
And aren't pursuing college when they probably should be.

00:25:59.976 --> 00:26:13.885
But all that to say that ultimately AI is going to transform some industries so quickly, it will displace certain employees in certain industries so quickly that they just won't have the time to go into others.

00:26:14.425 --> 00:26:19.215
In the way that the internet worked for about 10 or 20 years with evolving tech, right?

00:26:19.246 --> 00:26:22.556
You go a decade or two and people have the ability to change their skill set.

00:26:23.715 --> 00:26:27.826
AI is changing things so rapidly that it's going to be a shock to the labor market.

00:26:27.915 --> 00:26:28.796
That's my prediction.

00:26:29.766 --> 00:26:31.185
I think it's already happening.

00:26:31.246 --> 00:26:44.576
I have a morning run group here in Denver and we there were quite a few software engineers there who are already almost, All of them have lost their jobs and some of them still haven't even recovered and these were, high paying jobs.

00:26:44.576 --> 00:26:50.215
These were some of the most desirable jobs out there and they lost them because of AI.

00:26:50.276 --> 00:26:57.145
They, so they claim, I'm not there, so I don't know, but I now AI is doing a lot of what they could do, which is interesting.

00:26:59.026 --> 00:27:15.655
And in some way that's it's good for the advancement of some industries, the fearful part and where it's, and this is hard for me to say, because I'm a big believer in just letting the economy run itself, but there might need to be some regulation that slows a bit of this down in some way.

00:27:16.076 --> 00:27:25.756
Or we have a program that allows people to have a period of time where they can retune their skills and go somewhere else because they were deplaced because of AI, right?

00:27:26.316 --> 00:27:30.625
It just, it hurts the labor force in a way that can be really detrimental to the entire economy.

00:27:31.155 --> 00:27:31.506
Yeah.

00:27:32.655 --> 00:27:38.195
I know this is where, we're I'm taking this in a different direction than I intended with this cause it's become a little philosophical.

00:27:38.596 --> 00:27:39.695
So I apologize for that.

00:27:39.695 --> 00:28:04.570
But I think it's interesting with your grasp of, You know how that's going because these programs have existed like when you say the government having a programs to help retool these have existed for a long time But it's typically always been in the lower end jobs the service jobs your blue collar job you can you lose your job you can go to trade school and the government will pay for it sometimes or offer incentives And have a new skill set, right?

00:28:04.911 --> 00:28:11.931
But either way, at the end of that, you were going to come out with a job that was probably equivalent to what you were paid before, which wasn't much, right?

00:28:12.131 --> 00:28:20.121
But now these are jobs, this is an industry, this is displacing workers that were making quite a bit, six figure plus salaries.

00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:26.830
And the idea of them going back and retooling to have that kind of income may not be there.

00:28:27.175 --> 00:28:32.355
So that, that's a new phenomenon that we, I think, with what's happening.

00:28:32.355 --> 00:28:33.125
What do you think of that?

00:28:33.586 --> 00:28:34.895
So you're absolutely right.

00:28:34.945 --> 00:28:36.586
Graphic designers, right?

00:28:36.586 --> 00:28:39.185
Let's say you had a really skilled graphic designer in the U.

00:28:39.185 --> 00:28:39.726
S.

00:28:40.115 --> 00:28:41.796
Making anywhere from 50 to 100 grand a year.

00:28:42.246 --> 00:28:42.496
Yeah.

00:28:42.546 --> 00:28:48.256
And now with generative AI, that I, all the stuff I've seen generative AI create, it's just amazing.

00:28:48.346 --> 00:28:48.756
Yeah.

00:28:48.915 --> 00:28:52.195
It doesn't the graphic design industry itself has just been turned upside down.

00:28:52.746 --> 00:29:01.726
I can't, off the top of my head, I can't think of a lot of different paths that a graphic designer, someone who's been trained in that and has 20 years of experience, I don't know what they're going to do with that skill set.

00:29:02.056 --> 00:29:02.516
I agree.

00:29:02.705 --> 00:29:05.546
So they probably understand computers really well.

00:29:05.546 --> 00:29:06.465
They're good with technology.

00:29:06.465 --> 00:29:15.415
So there's probably something related, but it's going to require some Microsoft training or something that might be over the course of three to 12 months to get them there, yeah, totally.

00:29:15.566 --> 00:29:18.266
Those are the types of retooling programs I'm talking about.

00:29:18.665 --> 00:29:19.036
Gotcha.

00:29:19.465 --> 00:29:19.756
Yeah.

00:29:21.056 --> 00:29:21.465
I get it.

00:29:21.465 --> 00:29:22.046
I apologize.

00:29:22.066 --> 00:29:25.996
So for going off on that tangent, I was just curious to get your take on it.

00:29:26.346 --> 00:29:37.496
Going back to it, are there other things that you think as young people, what about not so young ones that didn't grow up, grew up like you and I might not have saved so much early on.

00:29:37.655 --> 00:29:41.665
I don't know if you did, maybe they're in their mid twenties and just started to think about this.

00:29:41.685 --> 00:29:47.296
Is there a way, do you talk about that in your book at all that they can recover and still build a fortune.

00:29:47.796 --> 00:29:49.965
And you said mid twenties, or you said?

00:29:49.965 --> 00:29:50.385
Mid twenties.

00:29:50.385 --> 00:29:51.645
That's actually still pretty young.

00:29:52.096 --> 00:29:57.506
But think so now, I didn't think so back then, if you're in your mid twenties, thirties, let's say even forties.

00:29:58.056 --> 00:29:58.655
No, for sure.

00:29:59.185 --> 00:30:02.705
I'd say any, I wrote the book for anyone under 55, essentially.

00:30:02.875 --> 00:30:03.195
Okay.

00:30:03.256 --> 00:30:08.145
I think, cause the way I think about it, I don't think about it as, Life ending at 65, right?

00:30:08.145 --> 00:30:12.826
When you retire, you, more people are living into their nineties and their hundreds, right?

00:30:13.076 --> 00:30:17.006
Life insurance companies underwrite life insurance policies to the age of 120.

00:30:17.006 --> 00:30:17.276
Now.

00:30:17.306 --> 00:30:17.746
Did you know that?

00:30:17.746 --> 00:30:18.986
Oh, I did not know that.

00:30:19.006 --> 00:30:19.435
Wow.

00:30:19.486 --> 00:30:24.818
120 that's their underwriting guideline now, the age of 120, because they're preparing for medical advancements.

00:30:24.818 --> 00:30:30.578
AI is going to change the healthcare industry completely and solve all of our ailments, right?

00:30:30.628 --> 00:30:31.009
Yeah.

00:30:31.078 --> 00:30:38.118
I'd say let's say someone's 40 and they're listening to your podcast going, darn, I wish I would've done all these things earlier.

00:30:38.118 --> 00:30:40.828
Like Louie and Travis are saying, never fear.

00:30:41.193 --> 00:30:54.094
You have all this time still, there's 50 plus years ahead of you, and you could still find a career path that is faster growth, switch to a company that has faster growth.

00:30:55.148 --> 00:30:58.578
change your lifestyle in a way that allows you to save a lot more.

00:30:59.769 --> 00:31:01.878
You might even move to a different geography.

00:31:02.179 --> 00:31:03.269
So I'm in the St.

00:31:03.269 --> 00:31:04.398
Louis, Missouri area.

00:31:04.929 --> 00:31:06.259
Absolutely love this town.

00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:08.348
There's a great sports town, right?

00:31:08.568 --> 00:31:10.689
It's not growing like Denver where you are.

00:31:10.848 --> 00:31:13.058
It's just not, it's not the same growth rate.

00:31:13.759 --> 00:31:16.128
I'm planted here pretty firmly with family.

00:31:16.348 --> 00:31:20.078
But if I wasn't, And I was 40 and not happy with my career path.

00:31:20.439 --> 00:31:32.989
I'd probably plop into a market that's growing because guess what happens in a market that's growing right opportunities So you want to be in a market that's growing with a company that's growing and growth brings opportunity.

00:31:32.989 --> 00:31:35.318
So If you're 40, never fear.

00:31:35.328 --> 00:31:36.558
Don't litigate the past.

00:31:36.558 --> 00:31:44.189
It is all about taking advantage of the time you have and being creative with how you spend that time so you can get the things you want in life for the rest of your life.

00:31:44.608 --> 00:31:44.959
Yeah.

00:31:45.969 --> 00:31:46.278
Yeah.

00:31:46.278 --> 00:31:51.608
Listen, there's no I moved here from Baltimore, Maryland, and moved here 14 years ago, but you're absolutely right.

00:31:51.608 --> 00:31:55.068
Being here, I think has exposed me to so much growth.

00:31:55.939 --> 00:31:58.989
And there's a different mindset that comes with growth too, right?

00:31:59.028 --> 00:32:02.269
And that I think is, it turned our life around really being here.

00:32:02.269 --> 00:32:05.388
I didn't think it, we came here, without much either.

00:32:05.398 --> 00:32:16.588
And then It's totally turned because there is, there just, there is so much opportunity, and people have an eye for it and are always thinking in that growth mode and opportunistic rather than a place that's contracting.

00:32:16.979 --> 00:32:21.578
I think you, you're surrounded with minds that are a little more limited, right?

00:32:21.628 --> 00:32:22.749
And so that's right.

00:32:23.259 --> 00:32:23.999
Yeah, that's right.

00:32:24.308 --> 00:32:26.878
So yeah, geography does play a big role.

00:32:27.088 --> 00:32:27.719
That's a good point.

00:32:28.249 --> 00:32:32.298
Travis I think we're around that point where we get into our world famous Wayfinder 4.

00:32:32.298 --> 00:32:33.019
Are you ready for it?

00:32:33.489 --> 00:32:35.189
I'm ready All right, cool.

00:32:35.378 --> 00:32:36.588
So give us a hack.

00:32:39.118 --> 00:32:39.929
So give you a hack.

00:32:39.929 --> 00:32:43.693
So How in the world do I?

00:32:44.013 --> 00:32:50.584
Run these businesses and take care of my clients and take care of my employees and be a good dad all at the same time without going crazy.

00:32:52.104 --> 00:32:53.703
Rigorous exercise routine.

00:32:53.743 --> 00:32:56.173
And when I say rigorous, it doesn't mean I'm working out three hours a day.

00:32:56.443 --> 00:33:02.124
What I mean by rigorous is you have to have an outlet to relieve stress.

00:33:02.544 --> 00:33:08.182
There was a documentary I watched called stress portrait is a stress portrait of a killer.

00:33:08.182 --> 00:33:10.112
This world renowned neuro endocrinologist.

00:33:10.112 --> 00:33:12.814
I think his name was Robert Sapolsky.

00:33:13.874 --> 00:33:18.523
And it talks about how stress manifests itself in the body as physical illness.

00:33:19.124 --> 00:33:22.183
And at that point in time, I was probably like 28 when I saw the thing.

00:33:22.463 --> 00:33:22.953
I said, you know what?

00:33:22.963 --> 00:33:24.423
I can't allow stress in my life.

00:33:24.423 --> 00:33:25.824
I have to do whatever I can to get rid of it.

00:33:25.834 --> 00:33:27.874
My outlet is exercise.

00:33:27.923 --> 00:33:32.683
I can just tell if I go three days or four days, if I'm injured and I don't exercise, I'm irritable.

00:33:32.683 --> 00:33:36.374
I'm not so rigorous to me.

00:33:37.009 --> 00:33:40.749
is 30 minutes of elevated heart rate exercise.

00:33:40.919 --> 00:33:45.558
And if I wake up and I'm tired, I have to have that little voice in my head that says, get the hell up.

00:33:45.618 --> 00:33:46.679
lazy, you know what?

00:33:47.179 --> 00:33:53.038
And I forced myself to get up and do it because I need to be a good dad, a good boss, and a good financial planner to the people that are around me.

00:33:53.409 --> 00:33:53.648
Yeah.

00:33:53.648 --> 00:33:54.838
That's my best tech I could give it.

00:33:55.269 --> 00:33:55.749
I love it.

00:33:55.798 --> 00:33:58.449
Is there any special exercise you lean towards?

00:34:00.094 --> 00:34:02.503
treadmill, the rowing machine or some hit routines, right?

00:34:02.513 --> 00:34:04.023
High intensity, impulse training.

00:34:04.044 --> 00:34:07.034
That's my go to gym or home gym.

00:34:07.034 --> 00:34:07.344
Excellent.

00:34:08.164 --> 00:34:08.333
All right.

00:34:08.353 --> 00:34:09.193
How about a favorite?

00:34:09.253 --> 00:34:11.014
I'll give you a favorite habit.

00:34:11.494 --> 00:34:12.873
My favorite habit.

00:34:13.764 --> 00:34:15.373
Is audiobooks in the car?

00:34:16.333 --> 00:34:31.284
So I have about a 20 minute commute From where we live to the city of clayton, missouri And I will listen to audiobooks regularly, sometimes it's podcasts a lot of times audio books But always reading something that's self improvement focused.

00:34:31.733 --> 00:34:41.793
I have learned so much about psychology health and nutrition, being a good father what to do when children hit certain obstacles, business, right?

00:34:42.014 --> 00:34:45.514
Just constantly looking for new ideas and new ways of expanding my mind.

00:34:45.653 --> 00:34:49.954
It's like earning a college degree lowly in my car every day.

00:34:49.954 --> 00:34:52.094
So that's my favorite habit that I have.

00:34:52.554 --> 00:34:53.034
I love it.

00:34:53.333 --> 00:34:53.614
Yeah.

00:34:53.614 --> 00:34:54.634
I'm a big fan too.

00:34:54.684 --> 00:34:57.304
What are any, anything you listening to in particular right now?

00:34:57.893 --> 00:34:59.563
Right now I'm listening to a book.

00:34:59.563 --> 00:35:03.284
I think it's called billionaire founders or super founders, something like that.

00:35:03.284 --> 00:35:03.744
It's about.

00:35:05.304 --> 00:35:10.114
Founders that have become billionaires and what they did to get there.

00:35:10.143 --> 00:35:12.043
And it's the stories that are usually untold.

00:35:12.043 --> 00:35:15.483
I can't think of the guy's name that wrote it, but there was another book.

00:35:15.483 --> 00:35:18.003
I really it's called outlive Dr.

00:35:18.014 --> 00:35:18.994
Peter Attia.

00:35:18.994 --> 00:35:19.074
Yeah.

00:35:19.974 --> 00:35:20.364
Oh yeah.

00:35:20.364 --> 00:35:20.563
Yeah.

00:35:20.563 --> 00:35:20.873
Yeah.

00:35:21.264 --> 00:35:25.554
That actually inspired me to write a chapter in my book about the health wealth connection.

00:35:26.009 --> 00:35:29.228
About how money and wealth are going to tie together, but that's another great book.

00:35:29.228 --> 00:35:30.268
It's called outlive.

00:35:30.719 --> 00:35:31.148
That's good.

00:35:31.358 --> 00:35:32.528
You know that dr.

00:35:32.528 --> 00:35:33.559
Peter t is a legend.

00:35:33.588 --> 00:35:48.684
I think there's certain thought leaders who've really brought this I think to the forefront for our generation, is Like I think older generations when they built wealth They just thought about working and to build right and they didn't look like us, you know You and I look pretty similar Pretty healthy.

00:35:48.753 --> 00:36:02.802
I think as I'm looking at you and I know I'm pretty healthy and a lot of folks back then that wasn't, there's the old joke of, if you wanted to score a beautiful mate, then you were probably going to be an old Yeah.

00:36:02.802 --> 00:36:02.929
Yeah.

00:36:03.398 --> 00:36:14.548
Overweight guy, but now I think that's, I think that's actually the sign of, a sign of wealth is being able to actually taking good care of your health and all that.

00:36:14.548 --> 00:36:16.039
And I know Dr.

00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:17.588
Atiyah preaches a lot of that as well.

00:36:18.358 --> 00:36:19.208
Yeah, that's great.

00:36:19.208 --> 00:36:22.103
I've implemented a number of things he taught in that book in my own life.

00:36:23.634 --> 00:36:23.943
Nice.

00:36:24.043 --> 00:36:26.884
Give us a piece of advice for your younger self.

00:36:28.423 --> 00:36:33.994
If I was talking to my younger self, I'll even go back to right about the time I started my career, right?

00:36:33.994 --> 00:36:34.934
So early twenties.

00:36:34.983 --> 00:36:39.474
I would say stop trying to impress everybody and just authentically be yourself.

00:36:40.824 --> 00:37:07.454
I, Louie, I was so worried that I was trying to, I was trying to meet the And build a clientele and meet people to trust me with their wealth and I had none and I was so embarrassed by that one time I was recommending something to someone and there was a minimum investment of I think a hundred thousand dollars for this particular vehicle And they said oh, is this something you've put your money into and I froze because I didn't have that much.

00:37:07.474 --> 00:37:26.409
Yeah And they could just tell on my face and they didn't trust me because I floundered the question and I should have just in those instances I should have just owned up to it right just be yourself Let people know you're 23 and broke, but you're gonna work your ass off and people can trust you to be you're a great financial planner, right?

00:37:26.679 --> 00:37:31.188
Instead I put up a front and I shouldn't have, I should have been more authentic because I lost opportunities because of it.

00:37:31.688 --> 00:37:33.289
Just be authentic and own it.

00:37:33.518 --> 00:37:38.309
And if somebody doesn't like you or doesn't like what you say, even being authentic, it was never meant to be.

00:37:39.123 --> 00:37:42.014
Yeah, man, that, that's huge.

00:37:42.054 --> 00:37:43.764
And I can totally relate to that one too.

00:37:43.813 --> 00:37:48.813
I think I, man you're very wise because it's only until recently that I've really even come to accept this.

00:37:48.813 --> 00:37:55.173
I still think I lost, like you, I had a seven figure net worth in my twenties and then lost it in my thirties.

00:37:55.204 --> 00:38:05.307
And I, Spent the rest of my time trying to, not like you because you didn't lose it, but you're a lot smarter than me, but the, trying to rebuild, I thought I had to put up that front floor and still do to a point.

00:38:05.307 --> 00:38:06.757
It's something I deal with all the time.

00:38:07.108 --> 00:38:11.668
It's a mental battle for me because I, like represent a lot of very wealthy families.

00:38:12.012 --> 00:38:20.163
But with the real estate investments and oftentimes they'll come to me with the same thing and I don't have, it's, I'm doing okay, it's not at that level.

00:38:20.193 --> 00:38:28.503
And I'm thinking, I feel a certain shame in, in, but now as I'm letting that go and just let them in, and share where I'm really at.

00:38:28.572 --> 00:38:32.893
Oftentimes I find that they really respect it and they hire me because of my experience of having gone through that.

00:38:32.893 --> 00:38:37.063
And they trust me more because of that, and having actually lived it, which is amazing.

00:38:38.152 --> 00:38:40.693
It doesn't just feel Oh, so freeing, right?

00:38:40.693 --> 00:38:41.663
The authenticity, right?

00:38:42.172 --> 00:38:42.543
Totally.

00:38:42.572 --> 00:38:44.353
You just not care yourself and yeah.

00:38:44.643 --> 00:38:45.182
Oh yeah.

00:38:45.253 --> 00:38:45.623
Yeah.

00:38:45.643 --> 00:38:47.172
So it's very liberating.

00:38:47.172 --> 00:38:53.543
And I kick myself every time because I, it's like why did I get to take me so long to get to this point?

00:38:53.543 --> 00:38:55.443
And why was there any shame around where I'm at?

00:38:55.452 --> 00:38:56.643
It just is right.

00:38:56.663 --> 00:38:57.802
Like we all go through our stuff.

00:38:57.842 --> 00:39:00.583
And so people love it when you can, yeah.

00:39:00.713 --> 00:39:04.222
When you just are yourself and are authentic and everybody knows I'm not.

00:39:04.507 --> 00:39:13.918
I'm not trying to rip anybody off or I'm going to be just as protective of their lives and wealth and all that as I would my own, probably more so even they can feel that, you got it.

00:39:13.918 --> 00:39:14.057
Yeah.

00:39:14.077 --> 00:39:14.608
Liberating.

00:39:14.708 --> 00:39:15.617
That's the word I was looking for.

00:39:15.617 --> 00:39:16.068
You're right.

00:39:16.237 --> 00:39:16.628
Yeah.

00:39:16.838 --> 00:39:17.208
Yeah.

00:39:17.998 --> 00:39:24.552
So give us a big opportunity that you either are chasing or that you just see out there in the world.

00:39:24.552 --> 00:39:30.905
Oh, I'll give you one that see if I say a big opportunity in the world and people will think it's financial advice.

00:39:31.496 --> 00:39:34.525
So I'll say one that my wife and I are pursuing right now.

00:39:34.956 --> 00:39:39.885
And by the way, I'm not supposed to give blanket financial advice is the reason I make that funny joke, internal joke.

00:39:39.885 --> 00:39:45.585
The thing that my wife and I are pursuing right now, so I told you that she has this beauty tech thing that she invented, right?

00:39:46.476 --> 00:39:50.115
And we are looking for related beauty businesses.

00:39:50.115 --> 00:39:59.766
Maybe it's a, maybe it's a similar beauty tech industry something that she would acquire and run for even more scale.

00:40:00.396 --> 00:40:02.416
It's similar to what she's doing, right?

00:40:02.726 --> 00:40:09.016
So she's trying to build breadth, a little bit of depth as well in her entrepreneurial journey.

00:40:10.465 --> 00:40:12.306
And that's it's pretty exciting.

00:40:12.465 --> 00:40:16.385
I like coaching her and I guess she calls me the investor sometimes.

00:40:16.416 --> 00:40:20.266
I like being a part of this without having to run the day to day.

00:40:20.315 --> 00:40:26.065
But that's the thing that we're working on right now is how does our family acquire even more business success.

00:40:26.396 --> 00:40:30.715
Without me having to spend a bunch of my time, she would be running these things.

00:40:31.155 --> 00:40:35.416
it's probably that our kids, we're even thinking about something our kids could get involved in as they get a little older too.

00:40:36.096 --> 00:40:36.865
Oh, I love that.

00:40:37.416 --> 00:40:37.925
I love that.

00:40:38.476 --> 00:40:38.755
Great.

00:40:38.755 --> 00:40:46.936
Travis, at this point, if you can share with people how they can find you, how they can get your book, and anything else you want to do you want to share about yourself.

00:40:47.655 --> 00:40:47.856
Sure.

00:40:47.856 --> 00:40:48.206
Yeah.

00:40:48.396 --> 00:40:51.175
So if anybody's interested in the book, it's on Amazon.

00:40:51.335 --> 00:40:53.166
There's a Kindle version that's that's pretty.

00:40:53.766 --> 00:40:54.445
Reasonably priced.

00:40:54.445 --> 00:40:55.135
You can do the paperback.

00:40:55.135 --> 00:40:57.096
If you like paper, go to growth, info.

00:40:57.425 --> 00:40:58.925
com, growth, info.

00:40:59.135 --> 00:40:59.456
com.

00:40:59.485 --> 00:41:02.056
And right there in the middle of the page, it'll have a link to the book.

00:41:02.606 --> 00:41:05.456
And then at the bottom that you can, people can get on a newsletter.

00:41:05.456 --> 00:41:08.485
If they have business questions, financial questions, they can reach out via that.

00:41:09.675 --> 00:41:10.905
And spread the word.

00:41:10.905 --> 00:41:15.496
If you end up buying the paperback feel free to hand it over and hand it over and hand it over.

00:41:15.496 --> 00:41:17.146
I didn't write this thing to become wealthy.

00:41:17.405 --> 00:41:19.445
I wrote this thing so that people could get the message.

00:41:19.445 --> 00:41:22.436
So if you do buy it, hand it to as many people as you can.

00:41:22.436 --> 00:41:23.815
I hope a lot of people.

00:41:24.295 --> 00:41:27.306
End up learning from it and can do great things in the world.

00:41:27.315 --> 00:41:27.916
That's what I hope.

00:41:28.715 --> 00:41:28.996
Yeah.

00:41:29.036 --> 00:41:32.976
Thank you for that One last thing I didn't touch on but if I could go back to it quickly.

00:41:32.976 --> 00:41:40.356
I'm curious about your Philanthropic endeavors you've been on a few boards you we talked a little bit about what you care about.

00:41:40.356 --> 00:41:46.865
Are there any You want to touch on or share here that maybe people want to support yeah.

00:41:46.956 --> 00:41:54.266
So since I was a first gen student, like you were I was first gen college student or first guy in my family earned a bachelor's degree.

00:41:54.655 --> 00:41:59.585
My wife and I started an endowed scholarship at my alma mater, Missouri State University.

00:42:00.175 --> 00:42:05.365
I'd say what, if you support education, Missouri State University is great or your own alma mater, right?

00:42:05.365 --> 00:42:08.925
There are plenty of students that are still first gen coming into colleges these days.

00:42:09.065 --> 00:42:09.556
Absolutely.

00:42:09.596 --> 00:42:12.306
Colleges are having a really hard time attracting men.

00:42:12.806 --> 00:42:19.335
It's great for women now that we've had this big shift to where a lot of women are going to college where generations ago that wasn't the case.

00:42:19.695 --> 00:42:25.085
Now there's actually a troubling trend where fewer and fewer men are choosing it and having a hard time in the workforce.

00:42:25.096 --> 00:42:32.146
If there are scholarships out there, I wouldn't say, I wouldn't say make it just to help men, but help to help students get into college that maybe are unfortunate.

00:42:32.485 --> 00:42:35.996
It's a great way to change generations, not just change a person.

00:42:36.496 --> 00:42:37.126
Absolutely.

00:42:37.485 --> 00:42:38.215
Local college.

00:42:38.775 --> 00:42:39.536
I love that, man.

00:42:39.536 --> 00:42:45.346
I gotta tell you, it's definitely, I can see the differences it's made between me and my siblings who still didn't go to college.

00:42:45.735 --> 00:42:51.885
And we're all, the three of us are on very different trajectories with our future, because of that.

00:42:51.885 --> 00:42:57.306
My kids are on a very good trajectory and theirs are great kids too, but it's definitely different, right?

00:42:57.425 --> 00:43:00.096
I know the difference that makes, so I appreciate that.

00:43:00.581 --> 00:43:01.081
you bet.

00:43:01.240 --> 00:43:01.630
Yeah.

00:43:02.231 --> 00:43:03.030
Louie, this is good.

00:43:03.030 --> 00:43:03.621
Love show.

00:43:03.860 --> 00:43:04.130
Yeah.

00:43:04.130 --> 00:43:05.110
Thank you, Travis.

00:43:05.121 --> 00:43:06.581
It's loved having you on here.

00:43:06.650 --> 00:43:07.661
Let's do it again sometime.

00:43:07.661 --> 00:43:08.431
All Deal.

00:43:08.440 --> 00:43:08.550
it.

00:43:14.612 --> 00:43:16.382
We hope you've enjoyed The Wayfinder Show.

00:43:16.523 --> 00:43:20.742
If you got value from this episode, please take a few seconds to leave us a 5 star rating and review.

00:43:21.032 --> 00:43:25.282
This will allow us to help more people find their way to live more authentic and exciting lives.

00:43:25.952 --> 00:43:27.242
We'll catch you on the next episode.