Perseverance with Pop, aka Coach Reggie (Part 1)

This week we bring on Wilmington's favorite business coach, Coach Reggie! Reggie is a business owner and coach with Business Growers. In this episode we talk about, and sip on some tequila! We also discuss how the ups and downs of Reggie's life have got him to where he is now and how that translates into helping other business owners grow their business. If you thought this episode was great, you don't want to miss Part 2 next week!

How to find Coach Reggie:
www.businessgrowers.co 

Transcript

Also Reggie: 0:31

Welcome back everybody.

Chris: 0:32

This week as per usual, you have myself, Chris, I'm a concert co-host Tyler, y'all. And this week we bring on pop for those who've listened to us a few times throughout the, the year or so. This is the man, the myth legend, Mr.

Also Reggie: 0:47

Reggie Shropshire. All right

Chris: 0:49

and just as a reminder of those who listen to the podcast, if you enjoy it, please consider subscribing, sharing rating. The show definitely moves us up. I know this year we were in top 15% Yeah. Moving up in

Also Reggie: 1:01

the world. So if we can keep that trend, that'd

Chris: 1:03

be wonderful. I'd love to be in the top 10% on Spotify next year. Cuz you know, definitely helps us out. But because Reggie pop, I'll say everything in this episode, doesn't really drink whiskey. He's a tequila man by nature. he brought us Aion 44. Reserva 44 Extra Anejo

Also Reggie: 1:23

n

Reggie: 1:24

Nho.

Also Reggie: 1:25

Nho n Yeah, it's the n

Chris: 1:26

I copied it over from Google and it didn't put the No, the Nee. Mm-hmm. See it is so good.

Also Reggie: 1:34

Full disclosure, when we brought the tequila on, they asked like, oh, are you a tequila guy? And I'm like, I have drank tequila before, if that's what you mean, And I was swiftly corrected that I haven't had the right tequila. So I, I am excited to try the right tequila and have my mind changed, cuz it does look quite tasty in that bottle. So I'm excited to taste it. So a lot of people get scared by tequila. Mm-hmm. Because of their experiences and how they've chosen to do tequila before, right? Yes. So the quite often two mistakes that most people make. First one is that tequila is an afterthought. It's, you know, and tequila doesn't get along with other things like tequila's it own thing. It needs its own space. Tequila raises cane with other

Reggie: 2:18

folks. So, you know, I mean, it really, so tequila has issues and doesn't work and play well with others. So

Also Reggie: 2:24

drinking it after you've done all kinds of, you know, either, you know, drank

Reggie: 2:27

a lot of other stuff mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. you know, a night of plenty and then you throw tequila shots at the end. that's a mistake. Right. Second mistake is people traditionally have Drake and cheap tequilas, right? It's the the cheaper tequilas are, will hurt you as well cuz they have you know, stuff in it, additives and those kind of things. And that's what gives you the hangover is some of the additives and those kind of things. So one of the grill keys to getting a good tequila and not a, not getting a hangover because tequila is actually it's one of the alcohols. I, it's the only alcohol that's not a depressant, it's a stimulant. And it doesn't have a crazy sugar content like some of the other ones do. Mm-hmm. it also. And if you want it, you know, you really need it. If you want tequila, that won't hurt you drink it by itself. I'm a big sip in tequila guy. Right. And that comes from it's when it's a pure agave. Okay? So look for the words always on tequilas, look on pure agave.

Also Reggie: 3:19

And that means it doesn't have a lot of the additives and those kind of things that the keeper tequilas have that often hurts you. Mm-hmm. So I, I can have a fair

Reggie: 3:27

share of, you know,

Also Reggie: 3:28

a good amount of tequila and not have a hanging over at all. As long as it's, you know, state of pi agave. Right? Not a lot of sugars. A lot of people have margaritas and those kind of things, and that gets a lot of sugars and those kind of things in it. Yeah. So cheaper tequilas the ones that aren't sipping tequilas that are still pure agave. Maybe the Lunas, the mm-hmm. You know, the, you probably start picking up 35,$40 a bottle. Yeah. fifth. You could pick that up. May not be as smooth, the Blancos and the maybe some of the recipe pots, but they have a little bite to'em. Mm-hmm. Right? But take that, put a little soda water, pure lime,

Reggie: 3:59

Call it the cave man. Margarita. The paleo margaritas. Yeah. When that came out and

Also Reggie: 4:02

got hot. So keep the sugars away. Little bit like soda

Reggie: 4:04

water. We'll help it get in your system a little fa faster. Yay. Science. Right. It'll hit you a little faster, but when you wanna get

Also Reggie: 4:11

the, the sipping tequilas, usually you're gonna have to go north

Reggie: 4:14

of 70, 80 bucks a bottle. Right. In that this Avion 44 happens to be my favorite. It's just one of my favorite. It's not the best tequila I've ever had. Okay. But

Also Reggie: 4:24

for, you know, the$150 price range, it's

Reggie: 4:28

a lot like. You know, Don Julio,

Also Reggie: 4:29

1944 gets all the press, right? Yes. You, you see those

Reggie: 4:32

a lot. You know, the monkey looking bottle. Yes. And which is all a marketing scheme by the way. Yeah. That's why they have those tall, fancy bottles because they set up on the shelf and they they show themselves. And tequila bottles are really cool because the the Mexicans are dramatic, you know, they, they have some flare to'em. They like some spice and the tension. And so tequila bottles are often have a lot of flare to them. Them. Right. And excitement and attention. So I had one one Cuervo when his reserve Def Amelia mm-hmm. that I got in Mexico and it was great. Did you ever get a chance to pick up a bottle of reserve and Def Amelia? It's good. Really, really good. But it comes in this like blue box, like a wood box? Yeah. Oh, wow. Open the box. I remember that bottle. And, and this one, if you ever see the reserve 44 it comes in a, like a kind of cardboardy box Yeah. Of its term. But you know, there's this presentation. So generally if you can get one of the higher ends that has a nice presentation, a little drama and a little flared to it. So, but it's smooth. Got some vanilla taste to it. Yes. And most people that sip this, you know, they're like, give me a line, give some salt. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no. There's no salt, there's no lime. I you want some of that? I got some, you know, I got some the margarita level stuff. Yeah. you know, in there that we we do with that. So, yeah, no, nothing gets mixed with this. I'm even hesitant to put ice in it or let anybody put ice in it. Yeah, I can do that with something else. But so little bit of a tequila stop. But I found that have a few, have a good time, you know don't puts me in a little bit of Terminator mode though. If I have more than a couple Right. I get locked on. I, you know, the, when I say terminator mode, like, you know, the little digital digits are like going on behind the scenes and I've got readout. And, and sometimes I talk to myself in per third person I'm referring to myself in third person and it's nice. So

Also Reggie: 6:12

anyway probably there's your,

Reggie: 6:14

everybody's a little tequila. Oh, by

Also Reggie: 6:15

the way, it's extra in ye So there's three different, I dunno if y'all are looking for the Oh yeah. Tequila class, but Oh yeah, yeah. You know, there's like four different levels of tequila. You know, there's the Blanco. Mm-hmm. it's the white. Yes. What you typically see. Right. Blanco's first level. Right. I had to teach this to a bartender a little bit ago, so I've gotten She had no idea. Cuz I was talking the different and she didn't have any, so I sat down and gave her a class. So Blanco, just white, you know, you got the reto that has been rested. Mm-hmm. I think for

Reggie: 6:42

six

Also Reggie: 6:42

months-ish. I had to check, double fact check me on the dates. But Reto has been rested. Okay. So I like those. Then you have Enjo, which is aged. Mm-hmm. I think to be aged. Gotta be in the barrel for a year. I think it says one to four years. One to four years. Oh look, I had to help you out a little bit. So we got the ina and then you got extra Ina, which has been rested even longer. So they so you know, it tends to take on more of the flavors and they do a lot of different things with it. All tequila

Reggie: 7:12

has to be made in HaCo, Mexico. Mm-hmm. no way around it. And you do have Mescals, right. Which are you know, and all tequilas are mescals, but all mescals are tequilas. Mescals can be made I think anywhere. So, you know, mescals, you often know famously for the worm in the bottle. Yes. Yeah. And if you've gotten to the bottom of the worm or the bottle there's, that's been colorful nights if you've ever eaten that worm. Right.

Also Reggie: 7:33

And it's not the worm that

Reggie: 7:34

does thing to you. It's getting to the worm. Yes. we just call the problems. So mezcals, I'm not a fan of those. They taste the little Petey. Mm-hmm. you know, if you like SCOs, And like that PD takes of scotch. Cuz it's a little smoked. Yeah. Then you'll like the mescal. I'm not a huge mescal fan. But anyway you know, they're aged super smooth. The extra ye hosts tend to be the higher end. Yes. So usually you can get one of those, I don't know, do something special. Get one of those a hundred and get the 140$50 range

Also Reggie: 8:04

of tequilas. You're gonna be in good

Reggie: 8:06

shape. Yeah. It's gonna be super smooth. You're gonna be able to sip on it and then, then it's a treasure hunt.

Also Reggie: 8:12

Yeah.

Reggie: 8:12

South of 1, 1 30. 1 41. 3,040 bucks on. What's some good stuff. And just as we're talking tequila my greatest find under 60 bucks. 50, 60 bucks. Mm-hmm. Has been sk which is I think seven horses. There's a horse on the bottle and I think, oh, so that's Santa Logan really, really, really good. Really, really smooth. Smoothest. I picked up a bottle in Dallas,

Also Reggie: 8:41

Texas. Yeah, yeah. Or Texas, you know, a lot of tequilas there. So I kind of do treasure hunts in in, when I'm in a, you know, near a liquor store in a different town to see what

Reggie: 8:50

you can get somewhere else and this kind of thing. So so that's a real good,

Also Reggie: 8:53

if you ever see si that also gets good reviews. Huh? I started now, I started following my, a I got an Instagram that's a tequila connoisseur and reviewer. Yeah. And he reviews different types. And you gotta be careful with tequilas because there's a lot of marketing people that have marketed their own tequilas, their own brand. And so, You know, they saw the whole George Clooney money, right. That he made on he made some casamigos. Yeah. On Casamigos.

Reggie: 9:19

Right. That

Also Reggie: 9:20

dude made a lot of money on associating with that brand. So a lot of people are getting into that business, kind of chasing that. So Michael Jordan. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And but often they're crap tequila. Like a lot of the

Reggie: 9:31

you know, and, and he goes into why, right. You know, that

Also Reggie: 9:35

you're just buying a name, you're buying the Nic,

Reggie: 9:37

Michael Jordan name, and I've tasted it. Mm-hmm. And

Also Reggie: 9:41

this, it is not good I dunno how much of was pre like, disposition because I had a reviewer say how bad it was, but it was pretty rough. I mean, I, I can usually shut off a reviewer critic's opinion, right. And just take my own butt. It, it was bad. So do

Reggie: 9:56

not pay

Also Reggie: 9:57

whatever,$50 a shot or a right. Poor. A poor, a poor They for the Michael Jordan stuff, there's a whole lot better tequilas out there, so good to know. Yeah. So anyway, everything you wanna know about tequila, I'd have been afraid to ask. So let's get the good stuff. Yeah, don't try, don't mix it with others and see what, what do you think? I can't wait. Try right now. Cheers. Cheers. That's a very smooth Oh yeah, man. I can do that. I like the vanilla in it too. Yeah, man. That's fun. No need, no need to grab the salt or the lime. No. Or the No, that would, that would probably absolutely destroy it. Yeah. So, yeah. So is this officially like, so this is not whiskey and wisdom today. This is what tequila I was trying to think of. I'll say something that rhymes with tequila. Tequila in trouble. Tequila in trouble. There you go. Tequila. I like that in trouble. I don't know what else. Tequila. The trouble will be after

Reggie: 10:47

this episode, right?

Also Reggie: 10:49

tequila entails. Yes. Yeah, there we go. Entail. That's a

Chris: 10:53

little name it. I love it. Oh, but for the random connection to whiskey extra Anejo is rested in white American oak barrels. Wow. Or aged in American oak barrels for at least three years. So that's why it comes out a little bit darker than traditional tequila. Man. Is this so smooth. Very. And talking about smooth, we want Reggie to tell us a little bit about

Also Reggie: 11:18

yourself. a little bit about myself. All right. We'll see if we can make that smooth.

Reggie: 11:23

Surely hasn't been. I don't know. Hasn't been super smooth getting

Also Reggie: 11:26

where we're at, but it's been a fun ride, that's for sure. So I was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Oh. The, I grew up in a my parents are only 16 years older than I. Fun fact. Yeah. So we could say I wasn't a, I wasn't planned

Reggie: 11:39

I don't think so. I was teenage love. Right. The my dad was,

Also Reggie: 11:44

Super

Reggie: 11:45

suburban Oklahoma.

Also Reggie: 11:47

Lived on the outskirts of town in suburbia. Mm-hmm. And

Reggie: 11:51

my mother he met my mother at a skating rink and she was from the other side of the tracks. I'm half Mexican, my mother's Mexican, so she was from the other side of the tracks.

Also Reggie: 11:59

And Oklahoma City is pretty,

Reggie: 12:01

You know, segregated, you know, between even not only racial lines, but also economic lines. So she was from the other side of the tracks truly, but they'd met he had a thing for brown women, so he still does. He's kind of funny in that way. But he

Also Reggie: 12:16

he, anyway, met my mother. Fell in love

Reggie: 12:17

and one thing led to another and surprise, here you're here. Here's Reggie. They and they decided to, you know, keep the baby and try to ride it out. So yeah, they so

Also Reggie: 12:27

kinda had to, you

Reggie: 12:28

know, fight, hustle, struggle you know, did not, not, definitely not a kid of means you know, came up in pretty, I say fairly modest beginnings. So the, they actually about a year before I was, they were married, my great-grandparents, I guess there was the last of my great-grandparent had died, so there was a their house became available, so I think they bought the house at 2217 Southwest Benley at which is 22nd Street. Right. Okay. My dad grew up on 74th. and, and you know, Oklahoma's very like, you know, this block and this block is square, it's in it's grided. Right. So he lived way, you know, as a kid grew up way out in the suburbs. Right? Yeah. Well then we moved back inside town to 22nd Street. So, and, but that point there were really no kids in my neighborhood. My grandparents were kind of the wor first people that had established in that neighborhood. And the people, you know, that were generally younger than them came in around them. So I grew up in a, in a place where it was nothing but really grandparent age people. There really weren't any kids in my neighborhood until, you know, their grandkids came and played. Yeah. So I had to learn how to occupy myself.

Also Reggie: 13:34

One of the dumbest things I ever said out loud, I was around my Marine Corps buddies. One the time we're sitting around, we're drinking and hanging out. I was 20, 21 years old and we're telling our stories and all this, and I was telling a story like this and he said, yeah, yeah. I played with myself a lot. You can't go at that. And, and, and you ran your Marine Corps buddies, right? We're actually sitting around at Tina's apartment when this happened, right? In Greenville. So we're all kind of hanging out and you know, and I said that out loud. And then they just, I just, you know, it's when you kind of duck your head, it gets quiet, you duck your head and you're like, I'm about to get killed, And all of a sudden it was So anyway you know, kind of grew up, had to occupy himself and you know, they worked hard. Had a good work ethic. You know, that's one of the things. Really became valuable later in life. My parents were young tough. They were raised by depression era, you know, you know, parents. Yeah. And you know, grew up in the sixties and seventies and they he had me real young. Didn't really so it was tough. And but, you know, grateful for, you know, how tough surely my father was on me made me kind of who I was today, also built in a strong work ethic and then wouldn't give me anything. Mm-hmm. I felt like I had to earn everything I had. Yeah. I wanted to hustle for money. I wanted to, you know, so I'd cut grass early and Yeah. You know, I, and it got to the point, I, Nate did the neighbor's yard and then we started to expand the business. Right. You know, here I am eight, 19 years old, I was actually the only kid in my middle school with his own business cards. Yep. Yeah, I thought that was surprise. I've got a picture of one by the way. I dunno if you've ever seen it, but I've got a picture of one on one of my slides in my, I did the same thing too, so about the same age. I, I still keep one in my card holder. Now I still keep my old middle school business card in there from cutting grass as well. Yeah. So, yeah. So I So I had that, and that's back in the day when we had to go do a printer. I mean, there was no like, you know, running thrift through your printer, but you had to actually had to go to a printer. I actually had it professionally printed, so thought that was gonna be a hook for the ladies. Yeah. He didn't make a deal, but, you know, and I had to get a loan from my dad. My dad wouldn't let me use his stuff. He's like, you're not tearing my stuff up. Mm-hmm. So, you know, he went out and bought a use lawnmower. He loaned me, he gave me a small business loan. Mm-hmm. And I had to buy my own, you know lawnmower and weed eater and edger, and I had to do all this stuff. So, you know, went out, hustling and he had on occasion gave me a ride, but he'd charged me a premium. I'd buy ice cream or something to get him to do it. But anyway, so he taught me a strong work ethic at early age. I not give him anything. If I wanted something, I was got to go earn it. So had to learn, you know, how to go out there and hustle and grind at a pretty young age. That served me really well. You know, kind of growing up through that. The and outta high school, went in the Marine Corps. They made it super clear that they didn't have the means or the interest or they were gonna go through the struggle of putting me through school. I was on my own. Gotcha. So all right. Figured I was on my own need to make a plan. Started, you know, took the asba, started getting hit on by recruiters, actually,

Reggie: 16:48

Qualified and was gonna be a nuke in the Navy. I qualified for the nuclear engineer program. Oh wow. So that was pretty cool. Yeah. Right. And then I had a dad who was in the Navy, was like, you know, he's like, talk to Dan and talk about the you know, the Navy life, see if that's what you wanna do. And he's like,

Also Reggie: 17:02

you know, you could be in a sub and

Reggie: 17:03

not see daylight for six months at a time. Right. You know, that's a possibility. Yeah. I was like, oh, that's like a good idea. And then so I was like, oh, you might wanna think about this. And I kind of stumbled over and the Marine Corps recruiter got me. I was always

Chris: 17:16

wondering that. I'm like, you are so smart. How did you end up in the Marine

Reggie: 17:21

Corps?

Also Reggie: 17:23

had to get that job then the good news is I was smart enough, I didn't have to go in the Army. So those, by the way, ASBA scores are quite lower. They have a lower threshold than the Marine Corps does, by the way. So how I end up in the Marine Corps. So I was walking by right.

Reggie: 17:38

And I was qualified to go in, like I was all set, right? Yeah. And so I walked by the Marine. I was like, eh, you know what? I'm about to thinking about doing this and what do you think? And he's just like, you know, he's having a slow month. I walk in you know, and he starts like flipping over. He has, they have this book. Yeah. And one of the Marine Corps pitches is that the Marine Corps is the toughest. And he had like a little flip book with some like document protector papers, you know, like the, and he flipped through and he said, look, here's a list of all the successful. You know, that, you know of that, that have come from the Marine Corps and there's a lot of, you know, a lot of big famous names

Also Reggie: 18:13

Yeah. Have been Marines. And he said,

Reggie: 18:15

you know, because the Marine Corps is a tough, it, it breeds a culture and an outcome of success. So I bought that. Yeah. And was like,

Also Reggie: 18:25

okay. And, and it worked, you know, I mean, it, it I wanted to

Reggie: 18:27

challenge, wanted to be the toughest. I also not really a warrior. I'm not the type that I'm the kid that was playing, you know, army and shoot'em up mm-hmm. and all that kind of stuff. Right. I was a little more, a lot more shades of geeky and nerdy than I ever was because I had to entertain myself. Right. Yeah. So I read a lot of books and, you know, I taught myself to read wow. You know, when I was in kindergarten, actually for sure. Until I brought a book and. Right. And and then they, the teacher, kindergarten teacher was like, and that was back in then you didn't read in kindergarten, right? Back in the day you didn't, you know, that was as long as you can color and take a nap. like that was check, check, check, check. Right. So so they brought over the first grade teacher, like you can see the teacher go over and get the first grade teacher, him doing show and televis Helen. I'm read a book and they're like, Hey, you go over here. Like, you get to go in this class now. So I learned how to read the book

Also Reggie: 19:14

by the way, by listen is a record, it was the record on book. Oh, that's how old I am guys. I used to listen to records and you get little books with records attached to'em. Right. And it was kind of a read along thing. Yeah. So, which proves back to my current success in life. I don't have original thoughts, I just really bared somebody else. But I learned how to read by doing that. And so they took me over and thought I was a genius. And so I actually, I dunno if you know this, but I Skipp. In third grade, I didn't know that, you know, because kindergarten I was in first grade and then first grade I was in second grade classes, and then, so Okay. Skipped to fourth grade. So was this, you know, anyway, so had a so I always you know, pretty smart, but the long where I was going with that nuclear energy. Oh, you didn't, you know how smart why'd you go in the Marine Corps? Yes. Yeah. So yeah, let's add it up there. Thought it would be lead to a pattern of success and Oh, no. A smart, and, but I, when a warrior type Yes. Mm-hmm. So I was like, let's get in. And, and his pitch was like, Hey man, we got a spot, we got a spot for you next July. I've got a, I've got a quota and I've got one slot for the business administration program, And you've been gotten by a

Reggie: 20:14

recruiter before. Yes. So you, they're, I mean, they're great at what they do. They got a tough

Also Reggie: 20:17

racket, right? Right. but they're, but you know, so, but they always don't tell you, they don't tell you the tough stuff, right? No. They just tell you what you need to hear. They have to, how to polish the apple. So he says, all right, here's the program. You know, it's Accounting, auditing and finance in the business administration program. Okay. I was like, well, I wanted, I thought I wanted to be an accountant when I was, or in finance. Yeah. I watched Wall Street as a kid and I wanna be Gordon Gecko, so Right. being in finance makes sense. Yeah. So didn't never realize that I wasn't gonna be an investment banker in the Marine Corps. Right. selling Right. Stock. That's gonna be the guy behind the bars. Right. That just handed Anyway, so outing accounting and finance. So that sounded good cuz that was gonna leak. Frogg my rear my career into working in a big building downtown somewhere. Right. Yeah. And then there was there was another one in the middle, like administration or something, and then the bottom one it said you know supply

Reggie: 21:03

and warehouse. Yes. Right. And so, right. I ended up in a warehouseman. Yes. So

Also Reggie: 21:10

I worked in the Marine Corps as a warehouseman supply guy, you know? Mm-hmm. worked in

Reggie: 21:13

a

Also Reggie: 21:13

war, coveralls,

Reggie: 21:14

run a forklift

Also Reggie: 21:15

supply guy was good. spot was great. You got the hookup. You're the king of the hookup. Yes. Yeah. The military is a lot like prison in a lot of ways. Mm-hmm. and especially when you're on ship, you're on deployment. Yeah. Yeah. And in, in the, in Garrison, like when you're back in, in so that's how I got to North Carolina. So I went to, okay. Okay. So I graduated went to Marine Corps, got to camp La June in 1991. And have been in North eastern North Carolina ever since. So but I yeah, the yeah, no, you're and I went on to plane, was stationed in La June for two years. Uhhuh Worked at a big warehouse,

Reggie: 21:44

Big, big, big warehouse. The kind of warehouses you see in the movies where long stuff. We had cold weather gear

Also Reggie: 21:49

and desert gear. And then, so I was on Campbell, June for two years and then got deployed to the 24th Marine Expeditionary unit, which there's always a, you know, expeditionary using the ships. Mm-hmm. so in the Mediterranean Theater. So I got with that unit, so did two Mediterranean cruises floats. And but when you're on float, you're in supply. Mm-hmm. you're the hookup guy. Yeah. You're the hookup guy. And it's all, there's a big barter system that goes on there. And it's amazing what you can trade a grunt for when you got like highlighters and sticky notes. like, cause I had, cause they had all this, they have all this stuff. Right. And because in the Marine Corps and the supply especially, they're this whole like buy it before the end of the fiscal year kind of thing. And when you're a deployable unit, they just, so you end up accumulating all this stuff. So much stuff. And, and the guy before me was real lazy. Like, because you could just sleep on ship and supply unless you like, really need, somebody needs something. Like you ain't got nothing to do in your job, just stay outta the way. Mm-hmm. right? Cause we were the command element. And in the logistics shop it was where the supply unit was. Yeah. So we so you had this. So they had the office, right? Yeah. They didn't watch your stinky, dirty warehousing tail in there. Right? So you just kind of, either you hung out in your in your supply boxes those big metal, you know, huge. Like you go on the back of trucks boxes, you hang out in one of those, or you just hang on the rack and there's a, there's a thing on being on float is if you sleep, if you sleep 12 hours a day, your float goes too much faster. you do the math there. So you just kind hung out and slept a lot, watched movies and, and so I, I little need to be busy, so I went down there and cleaned stuff up, but, and so yeah, I got cleaned out all the old in stock, right? Yeah. Of all these extra stuff. Yeah. Become the hookup guy and that's good. Like, you know, you know the laundry guy and you get your stuff done or you can get like front of chow line or, you know, one of the guys in our shop also was the captain was, he was the colonel's cook on, on ship. The colonel is the, he's the head marine guy, right? Yeah. And then you got the captain of the ship. Yes. Right. And so they eat in the captain's mess. Mm-hmm. Right. So, you know, the captain's mess consists of generally just the colonel and the captain. And the colonel has his own cook, and the captain has his own cook. And so when the colonel goes ashore, the colonel's cook goes ashore. Right. So, well, we were in the same unit, it, same birthing area in, in unit as the as the captain's cook. So like we'd get, you know, like all the leftovers. Yep. Right. To eat, like you'd bake fresh bread, you know, and on ship, you know, there's 3000 dudes on the ship. It's mixed up now. Back then it was only dudes. Yeah. There's 3000 dudes on that ship. Right. And you're all eating at the same time, so you'd wait in line for an hour to eat. It was good to have a hookup, so. Oh, for sure. Way too long. Anyway. So the supply guy in the marine, got out met my wife before I got out. My wife was going to East Carolina. Okay. Go Pirates. That's right. Go. Pirates. And the place to wear Marines can a whole lot better odds. Trying to find a you know, a single man. Jacksonville's probably one of the worst place. It is the worst place to be in America. Highest man of woman ratio in the country. Jacksonville, North Carolina. Oh, wow. It's terrible. Not fa you've been surprised. Fayetteville's kind of just as bad. Yeah. But there's some other stuff going in Fayetteville. There's nothing going on in Jacksonville, but the Marine Corps for the most part, there's nothing there. So, yeah. The so not a good place to be a single man

Reggie: 24:56

unless you want to get, you know,

Also Reggie: 24:57

kind of in trouble with. Right. Somebody else's, you know who's her husband's on deployment. Yeah. So I gotta stay away from that

Reggie: 25:04

and I'll get you in all kinds of trouble.

Also Reggie: 25:05

The so I'd go to Greenville or

Reggie: 25:07

Wilmington where my, where my odds were better and met my wife through a mutual friend. I met her about a year before I got

Also Reggie: 25:13

out. So she is a Wilmington local. Mm. Yep. So she's one of those weird, you know odd

Reggie: 25:20

Yeah. Don't endangered species. Yeah. That are Wilmington local, she's born and raised here, went to Elaney High School, and she tells us stories about, Hey, I remember when Mayfair was just a bunch of cows running around and when Right. You know, college road ended at market, you know, when you went north of Market Street, man, you were done with mm-hmm. And so so anyway, especially local. So we ended up moving here happily ever after three kids. And we've picking up, picked up a few along the way. Yes. And on top of that, the you know, and so living in paradise, living the dream. So I'm always

Chris: 25:50

curious because, so I know, I know the Bay story did the military, got out, had an amazing wife, friends, moved back here to Wilmington. But what'd you do after the military? Because I, I'm sure you didn't get that. a hundred percent disability. Check that

Also Reggie: 26:08

some people and thank goodness. Yeah, right. The that I had to go out and figure some stuff out. So supply guy in the Marine Corps. Mm-hmm. So I went out with my resume and kept, you know, I was running warehouses when I got out. So moved to Greenville, ran a warehouse there. The came to Wilmington. Tina had a job opportunity. Yeah. So she worked at a restaurant chain in in Greenville. And they had a, they had a unit here in Wilmington that she was able to take over cuz hey, a spot's coming open. We know you're from there. She's like, it's great. So the plan was for her to come back, work. She had a big, she ended up with a big girl job. Yes. And so I, she was like, well the plan was I'll go to school, get, you know, finish up my degree, let the GI bill pay for that, and then Right. Finish up a degree. And then and. go from there. Mm-hmm. So, but I, I was working warehouses here right. And I was working down the port at a warehouse and I was miserable. Now before up in green, what kind of ran moan thing and came back here and I just realized that I wasn't happy mm-hmm. and I realized that I wasn't gonna get to the success I wanted in life by driving a forklift, unloading trucks. And, and I was, I was actually, so it's the first time I'd ever been unhappy at work. Mm-hmm. I always enjoyed work no matter what I worked in, you know, fast food or fast casual food as a cook in, in high school. Mm-hmm. I always enjoyed that. Enjoyed cutting grass as a kid. I enjoyed, you know, I had three jobs my senior year in high school. Three jobs.

Reggie: 27:30

I always enjoyed work. The, and I

Also Reggie: 27:33

had a. but it was the first time I never

Reggie: 27:35

enjoyed work. I was actually watching my clock and the day wouldn't end. And I was miserable when I came

Also Reggie: 27:39

home and she was like, look, you need to get another job, or you need to go find another place to

Reggie: 27:42

live Like, cuz you're miserable and you know, you're

Also Reggie: 27:45

making me miserable. So I could see her saying this. Oh yeah, no, she, it was, yeah, it was tough. The, so I was

27:51

like,

Reggie: 27:51

all right, let, let me try sales. And I thought,

Also Reggie: 27:54

and I was voted the guy by my friends most likely not to be a salesperson, because I am pretty reserved,

Reggie: 28:02

Analytical not very outgoing. Mm-hmm. you know, it's a room full of people. I don't know, I'm, it would, you know, not be odd for me to not speak to anybody in that room. I'm just not a, you know, conversationalist.

Also Reggie: 28:14

A schmoozer. Now I'm my buddy s. Schmitty, you know, Smitty Chris Smitty's never met a stranger. Smitty's from Houma, Louisiana. you know you know, and if you ever know anybody from like south

Reggie: 28:26

of New Orleans, like down in Bayou to talk a little flat that never met a stranger, like Smitty

Also Reggie: 28:31

is like Smitty little full of shit. Like, and it has never a lot, a lot of funny, a great dude. But, and I never understood Smitty until I went to New Orleans. Went to New Orleans for the first time, went

Reggie: 28:42

down on Bourbon Street, and everybody's like, Smitty. Everybody's like him, man. I mean, your

Also Reggie: 28:46

waiter becomes your best friend. Like I

Reggie: 28:48

New Orleans for the first time. And he, I was like asking around where do you go and local stuff. He's like, and he went outside and like walked down the block and we got one of those maps, those tourist maps, he's like, all right, you need to go here, then you need to go here and you make sure you go here and then you go hit and you go. And so that's what Smitty's like, so they said Smitty, Schmitty's a salesperson.

Also Reggie: 29:06

Yes. Like

Reggie: 29:07

you're not a salesperson. Smitty is right, because he'd never met a stranger. And what I found out was that,

Also Reggie: 29:12

Yeah, the schmitty sites are, are known to be salespeople. Those are generally

Reggie: 29:15

the car sales guys, the timeshare guys, the right, you know, the, the, the, you know, make quick friends. But I found out that in the type of sales I got into, I, it really took, there's different types of sales people and I was in an industry to where

Also Reggie: 29:28

you build relationships with people. Mm-hmm. you have a genuine interest in their needs and that they pick up on your genuineness. And so that type of sales I was really good at. I was in the manufactured modular housing business. Mm-hmm. that sounds real fancy. I sold single wide trailer homes, high quality, high end. So kinda that business in sales did really well. My first year I became a sales manager. Within a year after that became a general manager. So I am like 24, 25 years old running a multimillion dollar business. Mm-hmm. everybody. That worked with me was, you know, at least 10 years older than I was. So they handed me the store and had me manage people that were all old. They were all 10, 20, 25 years older than me. Mm-hmm. So I surely was put in a position that I was over my level of competency, So luckily somebody saw something in me and that I had some ability and potential. I kinda learned my way through that. Kind of rose up in that company and got a promotion to a higher end location in town that was a little more involved. And then so I've worked for that company for seven years, had what I lacked in skill. I had to make up for in hard work and work ethic and hutzpah and, you know, and really had to. And I worked six days a week in that because I just didn't think I could take a day off. The so worked really hard doing that did really well. Mm-hmm. unfortunately that industry took a turn. It kind of imploded. Mm-hmm. the manufacture module housing industry is really a shell. It was fueled by easy financing and it, it really blew up a lot of industries that blew up on easy financing. You'll see that happen quite a bit. Well, that was one of them. And then it imploded before they had the housing crisis, before the housing crisis existed in 2008. Yep. Manufactured housing had theirs in the early two thousands. So they did all the same things that the mortgage backed securities did. So it's a, it's an interesting case study. But anyway, that industry imploded and I had to figure out what I'm gonna do in my life after that. So I did want to continue. And the industry had moved toward modular sales versus manufactured. Mm-hmm. manufactured was a single wides, double wides was a much quicker sale. Yeah. It was a simpler, simpler sales process. A much shorter sales cycle I learned, and I didn't ever know why I didn't like it, but I learned over time about myself as I got older is I don't have the patience for. doing, you know, modular home sales, right? Because it's a, at least a year long sale cycle. Mm-hmm. construct somebody so somebody could walk on the lot. We used to have people walk on the lot mm-hmm. and you could get, you could make a sale that day, it'd be paid within a week or two. You know, that could happen. But it wasn't uncommon for somebody to come on the lot and even more you know, it'd make a 60, 70,$80,000 purchase on the first visit. Yep. Now we had a high quality product and a great process that made it make all the sense in the world to do it. Yeah. So didn't take a lot of high pressure or anything, but it made all the sense in the world and people said, let's, let's go. So I was used to that. Well, people didn't do that with a high-end custom modular, like when they were spending, we were doing, you know, getting something on their, so I didn't have a patience for that. And so I didn't want, I had opportunities to stay in that industry, but I didn't wanna do it. And the old industry that I grew up in just wasn't around anymore. So it did, it was a shell of itself. So I'd luckily hopped off that. And as I was trying to figure out what I would do, I spent like a year and a half doing some different things kind of flipping. I was in the house flipping business before school. Mm-hmm. but we were flipping manufactured housing. Oh wow. Because anyway, so there's opportunities to do that. Cause there's a lot of bank foreclosures in that world, so you could buy'em at so I partnered with a guy that could had some money resources so we could buy a manufactured land home package for 20, 30 cents on the dollar and turn around and sell it for 60, 70 cents on the dollar. Everybody won. Everybody was happy except for the bank that had the paper. They were in Indiana somewhere. So they didn't,

Reggie: 32:56

they didn't have a way to sell that house in, you know, Rocky

Also Reggie: 32:59

Point or Leland or on Mount Misery Road. So we knew how to do that. Yeah. And we had to get the deal done. So that was good. But that I knew that wasn't stable and that was short-lived. So I'm trying to figure out what I do in my life and had somebody reach out to me and say, you have a great background to be a business coach. and because within that, when I was a general manager for energy efficient housing in Palm Harbor at the time they taught us it was a very complex business with a very simple buyer where you had to juggle a lot of balls and be a generalist at a lot of things. So I, at that point, I you know, I had a diverse skill set and able to do marketing, to do sales, to do, you know, manage people to do scattered site development. And I got a, had a multitude of skills. You gotta juggle a lot of balls in that industry when you ran a lot. So the so, and had some great training. It was a very extraordinary company and a very ordinary industry that I worked for. So we we had a good Great training

Reggie: 33:49

program, and it was a great business training program that you could put a 20, I was a 26

Also Reggie: 33:54

year old kid running a 10 million business, you know? Yeah. And you know, had all the makings of a great entrepreneur and business owner, and it was with somebody else's money, which was really nice to have at the time. So but he had a background to be a coach, and I was like, well, what's a business coach? And so I more I found out the more I liked and more it suited my skillset. And the thing that I enjoyed most about working in that, you know, manufactured

Reggie: 34:14

housing industry was a, was a very strong sales

Also Reggie: 34:16

organization. And so you had to mentor, grow, and develop salespeople. Mm-hmm. So I think a kid that was, you know, delivering pizza

Reggie: 34:25

for my, my wife ran a Pizza Hut delivery store, so that's what she ran.

Also Reggie: 34:28

So he was, the kid was a delivery you know, driver that was graduated from U C W with a communications degree mm-hmm. and was good for, you know, at the time, 30,$35,000 a year in the marketplace. Sharp kid, but, and be able to take that guy and teach him. How to make 70, 80 grand a year. Right. And at one point he was struggling. I mean,

Reggie: 34:50

he was, he was not, you know, he was making$18,000 a year just

Also Reggie: 34:54

getting paid the draw or the base salary. Right. And he was struggling. He was about to jump off the bridge. I was about to kick him and, but I just found the right amount of the right formula of coaching and development, challenging and, you know and calling him out and doing all those things to where man, the

Reggie: 35:10

light turned on. Yeah. And it changed his life. And that guy's had an extremely successful Cree. He went on to other places and became a top performer. And he told me over time, he's like, man, these managers around here, man, they don't have all the candle to what you did. And this is a very successful, well known organization down. Yeah. He went to work for it and he said, man, you'd run circles around this guy. Like, because you were, you know,

Also Reggie: 35:30

and so I enjoy.

Reggie: 35:31

And got really good at developing people. And so

Also Reggie: 35:34

I enjoyed that. I think that's where

Reggie: 35:35

it translated to being a business coach. So I started business coaching practice 17 years ago focused on coaching small business owners, helping them grow

Also Reggie: 35:42

themselves and their business. Mm-hmm. So you know, I've worked with

Reggie: 35:45

hundreds of local business owners over the years at different times in you know, helping them get to where they want to go with their business at an accelerated rate and with greater certainty. That's the elevator pitch right there, though, or as you talk to somebody else about the elevator pitch. So, yeah, and that's really what I do is I help business owners get to where they want to go. You know, faster rate everybody. If you've ever gone through a strong crucible of growth or tr trajectory of growth, you've always had somebody there that provides a you know, plan to help you get there and known who you are, where you want to go, why you want to get there. Provided a plan to get there made up of sensible

Also Reggie: 36:23

strategies and tactics, and then had regular

Reggie: 36:25

meetings. Could have been practices, could have been classroom sessions, whatever.

Also Reggie: 36:28

But had regular meetings

Reggie: 36:29

with you that

Also Reggie: 36:31

had you you know that gave you knowledge, gave you support, deadlines and accountability that helped you grow and develop faster than you would left to your own devices. Hmm. We all do a whole lot better with accountability. They kept stats. They kept score, okay. And they also made sure that you're learning and growing and developing and maybe studying on your own time and then you know, and, and gave you that pressure that helped you grow and develop. So business owners don't have that, which is why they have such a high failure rate. Right. And even stronger wallowing and mediocrity rate. And, and they often fall short of the potential. So I serve as that, you know, coach for them in their business that is that person to you know, not only just hold'em accountable cause it sounds like I just, you know, kick'em around or serve'em consequences all the time. And the that's hard to do when you're own your own business. So, but I do get clear on, you know, who they are, where they want to go, and then provide them the support, the knowledge, the direction, the guidance in mentoring them through the process. But also give'em frequent deadlines, right? And hold'em accountable. And when they step out of that, I just with different levels of pressure, remind them that if they don't do what they need to do to move themselves forward, even though it's uncomfortable, even though it's it may hurt, it may, maybe they're scared mm-hmm. And but still make sure that they are pushing forward in spite of their own things that get in the way, their obstacles and, and constraints but keeping them pushing forward at

Reggie: 37:53

an accelerated rate, that's one

Also Reggie: 37:54

real key. Yeah. Is making sure it happens fast enough, right. Really moving those deadlines to whenever they get around to it, to, no, this has gotta be done by next week. So it's done a lot to change a lot of lives of businesses, business owners and all the people they touch. And so it's not only been cool to help my business owners have pretty lives and be unrecognizable of their previous selves, have life-changing results, but also watching that transfer down to their employees within the business and how that impacts their, they grow, they become more so their employees and their kids do and that. So that's what I've done professionally for the last 17 years. So really got a passion for that. So, you know, teach a lot of workshops, classes, you know, for local business owners. So I'm known as in the business community as Coach Reggie. Yes. So Chris referred me to as Pop. So, you know, that's why I got different identities in different places. But Coach Reggie is kind of known publicly. I've done a lot of workshops, seminars and marketed myself as Coach Reggie out there for the last, so some people may know me for that especially in the Business Owner Entrepreneurship Committee community. So so that's what I've done. Had a ball made some people a lot of money. made a little along the way. But also it's been one heck of a fun ride because man, it's that, it's that job that don't ever see myself retiring. It's not like work. It goes fast. It's a lot of fun and you know, can't, you know, it's really cool how all the little things in life have added up to get me to where I am today and really found you know, what I was born I felt like I was born for. Oh, that's great. Yeah. So anyway, it's pretty. Little speed bumps, some speed bumps along the way. By the way, I would assume. Yeah, some speed bumps along the way. By the way, just because it's a great life now doesn't mean it always was. I am not immune to a lot of the struggles that small business owners have faced, because in my world, you got, you have to really you're selling yourself and, you know, part of the game of being successful in your own thing, outside of a corporate structure where you're kind of pressured to follow a certain path. You you know, and especially when you're selling yourself, you're actually selling to a very cynical, jaded I, I know a lot pretty successful get to this point. Small business owner, and for them to go, why do I need to hire you? And you're this 35 year old kid to them, right? So, yeah, you know, here's somebody that's built something that's fairly successful and they're looking at you going, why do I need you? And, and what do you have to offer in your. 33, 34, 35, 38 years worth of experience. Yeah. So that was a and they're buying you, they're not buying a product. They're not buying a service. Mm-hmm. they're buying you. And so you have to sell you as somebody to lead and guide them. So that took a while to learn and develop the kind of energy and spirit that that would attract somebody to go, yeah, I, I need to follow you. And getting to that point took far longer than I ever thought it was. Would. So that path was there were some struggles along the way, man, it got humbling. You know, and, and it was, it was tough along the way. So I surely experienced a lot of the trials and tribulations, which is probably one of the greatest things that could have ever happened to me for the good of the business owners that I coach and mentor. Right. Because I know what it's like. I know what it's like to wanna pull your head over your covers. and not wanting to get outta bed in the morning because you know, ain't nothing but bills out there. Mm-hmm. ain't nothing but hurt feelings and bills and, and there's more month than there was money. So, you know, I had to fight through a lot of that and it was tough, but it may be the person I'm today and just like my dad did, just like my Marine Corps, you know drill instructors did. Right. Just like my Marine Corps officers and leaders there did. So you know, it was good to have you not always have, take the easy road mm-hmm. To be able to help me where I am today. So How'd you overcome that too with having, I guess, clients that were significantly older than you? Cause that's kind of the business that I'm in now too, is I, most of my clients are double my age, if not even older than that too. So what were some of the ways that you over

Reggie: 41:42

overcame that?

Also Reggie: 41:44

The you know, it, it was about growing me. Mm-hmm. there's two sides of you know, what you often sell, right. You know, when you're doing, you know when you're doing work like we do, right? Yeah. Were, were where you're really selling intellectual property or you're mm-hmm. Selling a service or those kind of things and selling. You do that service. So you're selling what you do. Yeah. Right. But you're also selling who you are. Yeah. And a lot of folks focus on, and I think our society gears us to focus on focusing on what we do. I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. Right. Here's what I do, and I do. And, but what really makes a difference? And they don't spend enough time developing

Reggie: 42:32

who they are.

Also Reggie: 42:33

Right. So as you gain experience, as you grow skills mm-hmm. So. You know, a lot of folks put on actions, behaviors, and decisions,

Reggie: 42:43

right? So that's what's on the surface. But what's underneath a human being, which spits out your actions,

Also Reggie: 42:49

behaviors, and decisions are are the skills you develop over time,

Reggie: 42:52

right?

Also Reggie: 42:53

Yeah. You know, you develop certain skills but also

Reggie: 42:55

the beliefs that you have, what

Also Reggie: 42:57

you believe, the things that I believed at 20 18, 20, 25 years old, a whole lot different in the things I believe at 50. Right. And so values, now values, you know, a little slower to change. Mm-hmm. and even your identity, how you see yourself, how you present yourself to others, what you're seen as. So those are all things that are what I, we call the the the B. Right? And so you got the B times do equals half is our formula that we use a lot to simplify it. So while often there's a focus and I focused early on on. What I'm gonna do, what I'm gonna do, what I'm gonna do. And I didn't spend enough focus early on, on who I, who I am. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, and, and what I become, which is a little bit of, in the coaching world, the warm and fuzzy side of coaching. Right. Right. The you know, the things that you do or, and, and show people do are often very consultanty things. Mm-hmm.

Reggie: 43:52

you know,

Also Reggie: 43:53

instructional things, what, you know, a teacher will tell you, but the things

Reggie: 43:58

that you are, you know, that's a little interpersonal and that's a little warm and fuzzy.

Also Reggie: 44:03

And, and, and that's where, so it so being able to develop who I was

Reggie: 44:07

mm-hmm.

Also Reggie: 44:08

and, and part of who I am is over time. And, and I don't know that early on

Reggie: 44:14

I had the level of co I had the confidence in what I could have you do. Right. Or recommend you do. But what was short was who

Also Reggie: 44:21

I was. And once I was able to look somebody eye and go,

Reggie: 44:25

I'll change your fricking life. Yeah. And I knew it. like, and I knew I cuz I changed a few people's lives mm-hmm. And once I was able to change their lives and, and had that kind of energy and it oozed outta my pores, that changed. And they don't care how old you are. Right. Once you can do that, the difference in people asking me, I need to talk to your, I need to talk to other clients of yours. Mm. That went away. Yeah. I need to see some references that went away. That, so they, and so back to the age thing how old are you? 30. They no that, how old are you? Yeah. Like when you ooze out, I'm gonna solve your problems. I'm gonna give you what you want and you, I'm gonna change your life. And when you ooze that outta your pores and you you have that. that question will almost go away. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And it's funny, we have new, I'm part of a franchise. I'm part of Action Coach, which is the that's my franchise. I purchased an organization I a associated with and I use a lot of their frameworks in my coaching. I also use some of my own experiences and things I picked up along the way. And then I'm also partnered with a third company that I use some of their tools as well. So, but, so, but I'm a master coach with, and a, and a global trainer. So I train new coaches mm-hmm. On how to be coaches in our, within our system. And I also coach and mentor other coaches as a master coach. And so you hear them a lot. So you hear a lot of those junior coaches in the first year or two in practice going, well, I need to see references, or I need to see some other businesses like mine and my industry. That, and I, I caught that early on too, but as I started to develop my who I was.

Also Reggie: 46:05

and have that kind of confidence in working

Reggie: 46:07

on those internals, that to where I oozed out and, and had that presence

Also Reggie: 46:12

of a lot of those things like age went away. Yeah. A lot of those things like the you know, experience or have you worked with at mine, for me

Reggie: 46:20

it's, have you worked with anybody in my

Also Reggie: 46:21

industry? Yeah. Yeah. No, actually, but that's my strength. And you see that success story and that success guy and that success guy and that success guy. I never worked with anybody in their industry as well.

Reggie: 46:32

Right. And I've taken'em from, you know, having, you know, three

Also Reggie: 46:36

quarter million dollar businesses to, you know, four to$5 million businesses.

Reggie: 46:40

And a lot of personal wealth and gone from making, you know, personally 40,$50,000 a year to three,$400,000 a year and Right. Building, you know, wealth and being able to do things they've, they've never been able to

46:53

do

Also Reggie: 46:53

in their life before. So so the they see that ago now. I never worked in his industry either. Mm-hmm. and, but it's funny how that question just went away cuz when you communicate with them and communication is just not what you say verbally. Right. I was saying a lot of the right things verbally, but it was the body language, it was the,

Reggie: 47:09

It was the voice.

Also Reggie: 47:10

Mm-hmm. it was the confidence. So a lot of that and, and that whole fake it to you make it thing. people can often read through that, right? And they can see that, and that's when they, and there's some people that are gullible enough or, you know, or just, I'll try something You know, or you know, that you position yourself as cheap enough to, you're like, oh, I ain't got nothing to lose. Right? But the but when you're playing a higher stakes game at a, you know, higher level, charging higher fees, they're gonna start to question more cuz they're more at risk. So the more you're able to communicate through all

Reggie: 47:40

your communication modalities,

Also Reggie: 47:41

Not just say, you know,

Reggie: 47:42

what you say, but your body language and you know, how you say it, it's it can, you know, makes a huge difference. So the,

Also Reggie: 47:47

I don't know, get really, really good. Yeah. and and, and be able to com and put, and also put

Reggie: 47:53

processes in place as well. Mm-hmm. That answered a lot of those questions before they ever come up. Right. And so, you know, if there's a common objection, always had. I'm getting that a lot. I better fix that. Right. You know, because I, from this type of prospect, I get this kind of objective. So if you could get ahead of all those things, I'm getting ahead of it. And then just kind of what you become makes a

Also Reggie: 48:13

difference.

Reggie: 48:14

So do as much work on yourself as you do on your professional expertise. And that's how I've

Also Reggie: 48:20

overcame the age thing. So I'm finally getting the point to where I'm older than I'm starting to be older than my clients. Yeah. Which is weird.

Reggie: 48:26

Cuz I started in my mid thirties. Wow. So,

Also Reggie: 48:28

but you know, the so it's cool to be on the other side of that. Right.

Reggie: 48:32

And

Also Reggie: 48:32

you know, and, and start to be older than my, but it's probably about a 50 for the longest time, I guess it's probably now it's about a 50 50

Reggie: 48:40

split of people that are older than me, than I work with. Oh wow. Yeah. And then people that I'm younger with. So

Also Reggie: 48:44

younger then. So it's changing over time. That's neat. Yeah. Something kind of similar but a little bit off topic. One of the things, cause I was saying a lot of my clients are, all of my clients are older than I am and. doing the podcast was one of the things that held me the most which was crazy. That's right. I never would've expected it. That's right. And a lot of that is just listening to myself talking mm-hmm. So I know like, oh, I say like a lot so I need to

Reggie: 49:10

not do That's right. Do

Also Reggie: 49:11

this often, or Oh, I say during these times and just being more cognizant of how I come across to people that have been around the block a few more times than I have. So that, that made a big difference for what I do. And also not only you know, growing and developing, you know, it's not just about the thing you're doing.

Reggie: 49:28

Mm-hmm. you doing a podcast is not just about

Also Reggie: 49:32

doing the podcast, it's about the person you become as a part of the

Reggie: 49:37

process. Right. So there's that becoming thing when you're doing something difficult and

Also Reggie: 49:41

you're overcoming the natural tendency to say like mm-hmm.

Reggie: 49:45

and a lot once

Also Reggie: 49:49

you, that's a hard thing to fix. because you don't even know you're doing it. No. Right. I'm horrified to thinking how many times I've done it through this I hope I haven't done it too much, but the but I've heard myself before and gone. Ah, right. So fixing those kind of things and doing that is hard. So growing interpersonally is not just about the thing you do mm-hmm. but it's about the person you become as a result. Right. So you can do your way Yeah, for sure. To success. But if you can find them,

Reggie: 50:20

the hack, like if you wanna supercharge your growth mm-hmm.

Also Reggie: 50:24

also work on

Reggie: 50:25

the

Also Reggie: 50:25

B part, not just the due part. The do you can do things and you'll become more Right. But it's a little bit slower path and you could only do so much if I. So you got clients, so

Reggie: 50:38

Right. Got your own business. Right. Is that what I'm hearing, that you have your own business

Also Reggie: 50:41

or you have, do you work for somebody else? I, I'm a partner. Part of a financial consulting. Yeah. Okay. So financial consulting. Okay. There you go. Oh yeah. That age thing becomes a whole lot of a thing there. Right? Exactly. So you're a partner and you work. So the

Reggie: 50:52

you can say, all right, you need to do in your, like, I want to do twice as much business. Right, right. I wanna, I wanna get my book of business up. Mm-hmm. twice as much easy.

Also Reggie: 51:02

Let's do twice as much work. And I assume your goals are more than two times. Yeah, exactly. I'm sure. I don't know, maybe you heard a grant Turn Cardone video or something. Mm-hmm. one to 10 exit. Right. I want 10 x I'm gonna, I'm gonna grow my business 10 times. Okay. But easy, easy, easy, easy. Just do 10 times the work. Mm-hmm.

Reggie: 51:19

no

Also Reggie: 51:19

problem. Right? No. I don't have bandwidth for 10

Reggie: 51:21

times the work. No way. Right. Not humanly possible. Mm-hmm. to do 10

Also Reggie: 51:24

times the work. Oh, that's a problem. Really. Probably don't even have. Twice.

Reggie: 51:29

Exactly. You're can't two exit, right? Like you can't

Also Reggie: 51:31

do twice as much work. And that's a, and I give that analogy to business owners when I speak, you know, in seminars

Reggie: 51:36

and workshops and things and say

Also Reggie: 51:37

the well, I just do twice as much work. It's easy, right?

Reggie: 51:40

And they're like, they look at

Also Reggie: 51:40

me like I have a third eye say, yeah, it's a little tough, isn't it? Here's the good news. Well, you don't

Reggie: 51:46

have room for exponential growth on the due

Also Reggie: 51:49

side. Where you do have room for exponential growth

Reggie: 51:52

is on the B side, who you are. Mm-hmm. And that's through developing your skills and switching beliefs. The belief of, and you're in an industry where there's a lot of people above you, right? Yeah. Right. And

Also Reggie: 52:03

that's cool. Right? And you see the ballers in your industry the people that are killing it, right? Yeah.

Reggie: 52:08

They have different beliefs than

Also Reggie: 52:10

you do. Absolutely. Yeah, they do. And you probably have different beliefs than the rookies, right? Mm-hmm. you know what that looks like now? Well, guess what? The way those OGs are looking at. or Yeah,

Reggie: 52:20

they look at you the same way. You look at

Also Reggie: 52:21

the new guys right out of there, like you don't even know, you know you don't even know. Right. Their belief system is

Reggie: 52:27

on such a higher level in regards to who they are, who their ideal target is, what kind of business they take on. Mm-hmm. right? And when they have larger firms, what kind of people they employ, right? Like

Also Reggie: 52:40

lower levels, you'll employ anyone of all levels of business. You'll take anybody that'll come to work for you, right? Right. But over time you're like, Nope, don't wanna take that one. Don't wanna take that one. I'll invest more

Reggie: 52:49

time in bringing on the right customers or bringing on the right people and taking care of the right people and what to do and when

Also Reggie: 52:55

to cut people loose. Mm-hmm. when it doesn't make sense. Right? And so the beliefs of the higher level achiever at any discipline, those are. Right? So you grow those along the way. Now the more faster you do, the more you pick up those things. Yeah. But if you can find ways to kind of supercharge, hack those belief systems by getting around in an environment of other high achievers. And that's one of the things that we don't do a lot in this country. Mm-hmm. is have a natural path to investing in ourselves by getting in higher

Reggie: 53:28

caliber people environments. I'm sure you've heard the saying before Yeah. That you make plus or minus 10% of the people you hang out with, keep it up with

Also Reggie: 53:34

the Joneses. Mm-hmm. environment's

Reggie: 53:36

a really,

Also Reggie: 53:36

really, really powerful thing. And it has a lot to do with your belief systems. It affects your values. And that can break good or bad. Right. You know, you hang out with, you know, people that are negative

Reggie: 53:46

influences, negative environments, those are gonna pull you down. Mm-hmm. When you and, and, and in one way or another, in just different slices of your life.

Also Reggie: 53:54

So the, you hang out with

Reggie: 53:55

unhealthy people, it'll be okay to be unhealthy. Right. Hang out with health,

Also Reggie: 53:59

you know, with fit people. it'll

Reggie: 54:01

become, you know, what you believe about health and fitness and wellness and how you take care of yourself will evolve over time.

Also Reggie: 54:09

You not, may not be the healthiest person

Reggie: 54:10

in the room mm-hmm.

Also Reggie: 54:12

but you surely will look

Reggie: 54:13

a lot different than the unhealthy crowd.

Also Reggie: 54:16

Right. They look somewhere else. So you know, values, so you have values at other piece, right. It gets a little deeper. It's funny how values adjust geographically, by the way. Yeah. Like what we, what people value, what value people have. Spiritual beliefs by the way and values mm-hmm. and even identity, how that's different in different parts of the country, in different countries. Yeah. And how that varies. How all that, so many of those belief systems are geographical

Reggie: 54:40

in nature

Also Reggie: 54:40

by, and that's environmental who you hang around with. So plenty of room to grow exponentially on who you are and on the B side. Yeah. And because it's gonna be tough to do your

Reggie: 54:50

way. to those next levels. So that's,

Also Reggie: 54:53

One of the and by the way, it's a concept. It took me a few years in the coaching of helping people grow themselves and their business to get my head around that B side, but it took a lot of

Reggie: 55:03

my own B work mm-hmm. to be able to grow and develop. And I

Also Reggie: 55:08

tried to do my way to success and failed miserably. Yeah. And when I got ahold of a coach and a mentor that taught me and I got a bee coach Okay. And I got a warm and fuzzy bee coach mm-hmm. That worked on the

Reggie: 55:18

B side of things. That

Also Reggie: 55:20

that's when I really started to you know, have greater success be able to attract and help other people do the same thing. Because there's no shortage of people in our society. They're just trying to do their way success

Reggie: 55:32

and struggling all the way because

Also Reggie: 55:33

they just can't do twice as much and their dreams are at 10 times as much and they can't get there. So, so you'd say the coaching was a. Pivotal moment in your life to bring someone on to help you with that? Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Yeah. I was, that's funny. I was a coach that didn't believe enough in coaching to hire a coach I just thought I could manage my way. I was a business guy. I was an analytical guy. I was a process guy. I just thought I would process my way. So one of the huge bra and I, I had hired got to a certain point. I had hired the wrong coach at one point, and that was a that created a struggle. Okay. Yeah. But no, I, I kind of floundered around for my first years in practice and I didn't have a, a coach and then I didn't have the right coach. So once I ran across the right

Reggie: 56:13

coach

Also Reggie: 56:14

mm-hmm. that complimented my skillset or what I needed, complimented me and, and what I needed to well was absolutely, it changed my life. Yeah. And I owe that guy that,

Reggie: 56:23

I owe that guy my life, the life that I

Also Reggie: 56:24

have today, because I would've failed without him. I was on the path to failure mm-hmm. and was real close to going back and getting a job. Wow. Yeah. And because I, and I, it was weird cuz it was really hard because I knew I was born and built for this mm-hmm. but I was

Reggie: 56:38

struggling. Yeah. Like bad, like,

Also Reggie: 56:40

Yeah. Not being able to pay my own, my bills struggling and having to part-time job and driving a ca taxi cab at night.

Reggie: 56:48

Wow. I'm my God, you know, to, to be able to you know, to, to pay some of the bills. But darn sure not all of

Also Reggie: 56:54

em. So, you know, I had to scratch claw climb my way out of that to to do that. So luckily I found him at the right time at a real low point and he pulled me outta the ditch and that's fantastic. And and you know, it's been a stretched trajectory up upwards, but now I had to do a lot of growing

Reggie: 57:09

myself which has really helped me grow and develop

Also Reggie: 57:11

others cause I know what it's like. So, and, and I've always had a coach since then. Have a coach to this day. You know, have had actually got multiple coaches now. Yeah. And not just in business, but also have a phy, you know, physical fitness coach. Yeah. The, I guess a couple months ago I hired my first coach as well too. So it's, it's already made a, a huge difference. And the one thing that he always talks about as well is even your coaches, knee coaches. And he, he talks about the two coaches that he has as well to help him further progress, to help his students as well. I like it. So That's right. If you're gonna grow coaches make it happen. Yeah. Teachers, mentors, you've always, I mean, anytime you've grown, you've had one. Mm-hmm. very few people can do it on their own. And there's just not a lot of stories to where people don't have some sort of external support, accountability, deadlines, pressure in order to grow and develop or, and without that, at a certain point you just begin to. Yes. And plateau and a lot of people you know, are just kind of living their own the same life. Kind of a Groundhog Day life to wear. Right. Like the movie Groundhog Day. Yes. Mm-hmm. Okay, cool. The I gotta be careful nowadays with movie analogies, so with some of my younger clients, like, I can't use rocky analogies. Oh, no, no. It's really tough. Right. And so half my clients are women, so when I get, like, tend to get younger females Yeah. You know, some, like, there's a certain percentage of

Reggie: 58:25

them that just, they've never seen a Rocky

Also Reggie: 58:26

movie And so I just rocky, you know, certain older

Reggie: 58:30

movie analogies,

Also Reggie: 58:31

so I have to ask Yeah. Or get acknowledgements anyway, so that Groundhog Day life, right. Where you're living that same thing over and over again. That's how a lot of people live life by default and just get to a certain place and they just kind of plateau out, so, mm-hmm. And it's a whole lot. I've found it to be a whole lot more fun growing, learning, developing along the way. So the be the best version of me of, you know, that having, you know, coaches, guides, guides, mentors in key areas of life and it makes all the difference in the world. Certainly. Yeah. So,

Chris: 58:58

because we, we've hit an hour and I feel like we have at least another hour's worth of talking to do. That's right.

Also Reggie: 59:06

Is there such thing as a part two? That's exactly what we're going So

Chris: 59:10

this is pr probably gonna be the last episode of the year. I think you're right. And I figured we'd, the, we'd end the year on an amazing guest and we'd start the year on an amazing guest. So come back next week to hear part two, where we'll talk a little bit more about coaches that he's brought into his life as well as some of the growth that he's seen within his family and how he's kind of raised those kids in thought processes. So Coach Reggie, do you got anything you wanna shout out? To, in this first

Also Reggie: 59:40

part, I wanna shout out about how tickled I am that I get two episodes right? hashtag goals I didn't even know I had. And other than that if you you know, any business owners out there that are ambitious, committed to growth go check out our website and what we do locally. I do a lot of workshops, seminars things lot of cool things for the business community at large. So check out our website business business growers.co. Business growers.co. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm Don't put the m on the end of that. You'll end up somewhere else, or you can just do a Google search on Coach Reggie here locally, business growers. You can see our website, see what we do. So there's that shout out and cliffhanger, man. We got some cool stuff on the, on part two, so let's make sure we pick, pick up on next season. There you go. See

Chris: 1:00:21

ya. Thank you everybody for listening this year and we'll. See you in the new year. See you next year.

Also Reggie: 1:00:26

All right. Cheers. Cheers.