Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of inspiration, resilience, and wisdom as we navigate the journey of entrepreneur and coach, Shawn Meaike. From his humble beginnings in Connecticut and the lessons from his mother's journey in real estate, to his transformative experience as a social worker, Shawn unfolds his story with compelling anecdotes and insights. He unravels how these experiences shaped his perspective and served as stepping stones towards his entrepreneurial journey in various industries such as real estate, insurance, and waste management.
Can you imagine the life lessons and wisdom you could glean from someone who shifted between twelve schools while growing up with a single mother? With Sean, we plunge into the depths of his personal trauma and how it significantly impacted his decision to become a social worker. Not one to shy away from the gritty reality, he shares how his past experiences have influenced his approach in business, especially in terms of decision-making and understanding the consequences that follow.
In our final act, we journey with Shawn as he underscores the importance of understanding oneself and one's limitations. He emphasizes the significant role of surrounding oneself with good people and how it plays into building a successful business. With Sean's journey as our guide, we explore the power of mentorship, the importance of making life-altering decisions, and the increasing need to pass credit on to others. Tune in, get inspired, and gain a fresh perspective on life and business from Shawn's compelling narrative.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it on social media and tag Ken Joslin.
Get ready for a rollercoaster ride of inspiration, resilience, and wisdom as we navigate the journey of entrepreneur and coach, Shawn Meaike. From his humble beginnings in Connecticut and the lessons from his mother's journey in real estate, to his transformative experience as a social worker, Shawn unfolds his story with compelling anecdotes and insights. He unravels how these experiences shaped his perspective and served as stepping stones towards his entrepreneurial journey in various industries such as real estate, insurance, and waste management.
Can you imagine the life lessons and wisdom you could glean from someone who shifted between twelve schools while growing up with a single mother? With Sean, we plunge into the depths of his personal trauma and how it significantly impacted his decision to become a social worker. Not one to shy away from the gritty reality, he shares how his past experiences have influenced his approach in business, especially in terms of decision-making and understanding the consequences that follow.
In our final act, we journey with Shawn as he underscores the importance of understanding oneself and one's limitations. He emphasizes the significant role of surrounding oneself with good people and how it plays into building a successful business. With Sean's journey as our guide, we explore the power of mentorship, the importance of making life-altering decisions, and the increasing need to pass credit on to others. Tune in, get inspired, and gain a fresh perspective on life and business from Shawn's compelling narrative.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it on social media and tag Ken Joslin.
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of as the leader grows. I am your host, ken, jocelyn and dudes. I've got an unbelievable guest for you today. I am super stoked about this my, my guy, sean Mike. We got connected through my good friend, alex Morton and we've been chopping it up offline for about 15 or 20 minutes, so I can't wait to introduce you guys. Sean Mike, entrepreneur, coach dude's freaking, crushing it in about every area of his life. We've got some ministry mutual friends my guy, my guy, matthew Barnett dream center out in the LA. Mike, Sean?
Speaker 2:what's up my friend? What's up with you, man? Thanks for having me. Can I appreciate you, bro?
Speaker 1:Oh man, you're good dude, tell our, tell our audience a little bit about yourself, a little bit about what you've got going on right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I mean born and raised in Connecticut. You know I'm a big single mom. You know I remember when I was in school one day they said you from a broken home. I said I know a lot of friends that have married parents and they're from a broken home. So I was never big on labeling and all that. My mom worked a butt off. She worked three jobs. I went to college to play ball, that was it. I actually went to the um armory in Connecticut because I want to be a Marine, so I wanted to. I graduated high school 17. My mom said I was not allowed to do that. I was afraid of my mom because my mom beat me when I was bad, like you're supposed to, appropriately and efficiently, and she didn't spare the, she didn't spoil the child's parents. We got some stories to talk about about that we get out of here tonight I'm going to tell you what man and um. So I went, you know, she made me go to college and went to college to play ball, got done. I was a business major for about three months and I went to the economics um head of the department one day and I said there, she's now a president of university in Connecticut. And I said can I ask you something? She said yeah. I said I hate this. Like when I tell you I hate it, I hate it. And I liked her. And she said what do you hate about it, sean? I said all the professors that are teaching me? All I ever ask them is are they business men and business women? They're not, and I'm really struggling with that. And she said well, take the week and come back to me on Monday. Talk about what you want to do. You're a smart guy. I'm glad you're taking, you're taking this seriously. I'm glad that it's not just athletics like figuring out. So I came back on Monday I said I can't do it. I just can't do it. I can't continue to. It's hypocrisy, love y'all. So she said pick a major then that you're going to be taught by people that are actually in the field you know actually do what you're going to be learning. So I picked social work, graduated college, thought I was a professional baseball. I thought I mean, I was delusional. I thought I'd play professional baseball and football. I was like a second and a half two slow to play professional football. My arm gave out. Play baseball I probably still wouldn't play professional baseball. I could throw baseball 90 miles an hour without even trying. And so I went and got a job at the department, chilling with families. I worked with abused and neglected children for 14 years Child fatalities, sexual assaults, rapes. It was awful. It was very rewarding and awful at the same time and I would have kept that job, probably forever, ken. But I went to. I had a kid who was. They would call me. Whenever middle of the night, whenever I went out, there's a report mom assaults a neighbor. She takes a pot of boiling water and dumps on this dude's head. Third degree burns all over him, kind of find out she was the mom and a kid. But she wasn't the. She wasn't raising the kid. So I got the God parents and I do all the background on them and they're cool and they've been raising the kid for nine years or like listen, she came into town sorry, whatever my boss who? I got new boss. She said, well, you know, we ran criminal background checks on the on the God parents Like they can't raise the kid and I was like, no, they got arrested like 30 years ago, we can't move the kid out. He's not a kid that can go into care. If he goes into care, something bad is going to happen to him because foster care and shelters, red red residential facilities, are not for the weak of heart. I did it for a long time Like he can't do it. Long story short, they made me remove them, even though it was a hundred percent wrong. In the night that I placed him, he was raped. So I went the next day. I was like, hey, I'm out. I had a guy named Jim, super awesome boss, he was the boss of all the bosses and he said hey, listen, man, go take a job, third shift, different department, stay away from this person. They don't know what to do. And until you forgot what you want to do and I decided to get in a real estate and that was probably 2001 to did that, for, while made good money, I enjoyed it. Oh eight. The market crashed. People said, well, that's why he got out of it. No other people were prepared for the market crash. They were better than me. It crashed. It hurt me more than hurt them. I'm not I don't blame anybody for stuff that I went through Got in the insurance business in oh eight. I've also gotten the waste management business. I built a waste management company in Connecticut. I learned that the big guys were big for a reason, and I learned that I need to stay alive till they could acquire me, and I did that. I went from being an adversary to being a partner, and then I built an insurance business and we're now not going to do an apartment. We're doing a billion dollars annually. This year it's our 10th year, and I also, three years ago, uh, found a company. It was. It was, you know, big, big PE firms that were acquiring companies, and when they told me what they would do for me, I said well, you do it for all the guys and girls I work with too, can they also sell their? They have their own book of business. If they can do it, you all, don't bother me, I'll do it. So I've done that, and so now my passion is. I do that full time. Um, I also like doing. I'm a big, I'm a big fan of coaching. I mean I, I, that's what got me on the straight and narrow I, you know. I mean, uh, baseball, football. I don't mess with hoops Cause I suck at it. I played in high school because my coach made me I did. When I went to coach it I was like they're like, why can't you coach it? I said cause do they never gave me the ball? All I do is box out, set screens, rebound. If I got the ball.
Speaker 1:you're one of the guys when we play pick. Yeah, you're one of the guys when we play pick up at Pollux. I want you on my team. Oh, I'll be on your side.
Speaker 2:You just you're going to hustle rebound guard the dude, I'll play D, I'll box them out, I'll bleed. Just don't look for me to score, unless I'm in the paint. Good, what's that man? So I want?
Speaker 1:to hang on a minute. I, before we jump into I want to go back to. There's two things you said that I'm like oh, okay, and there's two pivotal moments in your life that you had where you had you had to go and make a decision. Two people told you the same thing. You're you're a professor who's now the president at UConn.
Speaker 2:So go take the president of a university in Canada, not at UConn, another university, okay yeah.
Speaker 1:And go think about it. Take a weekend to process through Correct. And then, when you were at de-facts, your boss said take the week, take a third shift job, get away from this, dude, go think about what you want to do, right? I would love to dive into that thought process that you have. Like, can you even walk me back to college on what you were thinking and how? Because you, those are two, those are life altering and life changing decisions that no-transcript.
Speaker 2:You know, I learned early on in my life I love and respect my mom whenever they have my heart and soul and I don't think there's anything wrong when you're around. People are raised by them to know that they may not have the capacity to make decisions or help you make decisions. They're great people, they love you, but the decisions you need to make supersede the knowledge base they have. Okay, so I knew when I got to college I needed to make connections and associations with people. I knew I gravitated towards this professor because they knew what they were doing. They seemed focused and they seemed like they really cared about the students. So instead of me making a rash decision on my own without the knowledge, I'm like all right, I'm not gonna ask my idiot friends. They're drunk and high, they stupid. I'm not gonna ask my baseball coach, because all he wants to do is have me throw a baseball. That's all he. As long as I throw a baseball, it doesn't matter what I did. Damn could care less, and I grew up like that too. What I learned early on as a probably even early teens, was people would use me to get what they wanted, and I was okay with it, but I wanted to use them back appropriately, like I'll play on your son's travel team and you'll pay for me to play because my mom can't afford it, because your son's not that good and I'm pretty good. But I also want to get knowledge. I'm gonna ask questions. What do you do for a living? I was asking questions at a very young age. Hey, mr So-and-so, do you mind if I asked? Do you mind if I asked? Because I really wanted to know and I really want to know because I watched my mother when I was maybe 11 or 12, she got a real estate license. This is the only reason I got a real estate. She got a real estate license. I was so excited for her because she worked three crappy jobs, made no money and treated like garbage, and also the way people were treated by employers and the way women were treated and it's not what it was. It's very different 40 years ago. And she was so excited. She got like a new dress and she was going like she. Her self image went through the roof. All her friends were losers, straight up losers. All they did was just you can't do it, you can't do it. And after four months remember I came home. I was so excited she got these showings and open houses and I was like wondering what it was I was learning. And she came home one day and I said how's the real estate thing going? She goes. Oh, I quit. And I said why she goes. It's not everybody, it's just it's too good to be true. You can't make anybody doing it. And instead of me going like that makes sense, I was like, okay, I love her, but what can I do to better my life, to help better her life? So when I went to college, I found those, like I found this professor. And instead of me going, you know what I was looking for guidance, see. I think that's why I've been able to be very successful, like, yes, I'm independent, yes, I can be argumentative, yes, I can. I mean, everyone in companies has been like the new idea department's closed, like how stupid is that? I've said the craziest stuff, but when it comes down to it and I don't know what to do, I take a step back and I'm big on being mentored and I did exactly what that professor asked me to do. Take the weekend. I did that and I came in with like clear eyes and I knew in my mind and my heart if my mind and my heart can match up. And I knew like I couldn't continue this trajectory and I ended up in business anyway, which is ironic, and I think my social work background prepared me better for business than I think I would have been prepared how to take in that course of study. So that was a big turning point in my life and I can remember being I mean, I was 17. I had nobody to turn to. You know, my mom wouldn't have known. She would have said don't change, cause most people that are broke, they just fear change. So, like my mother would have said stay, because change made her nervous. And I already knew that and I didn't have any belts in my life that I could ask those questions. I didn't have a dad to call up and go hey, man, college, what do you think? Like, I didn't have that. I didn't have an uncle or a grandparent to call. So a lot of people tend to try to I rely on my own vices in my own opinion. Well, dude, if you don't know, you don't know. So that was big for me and it changed my life dramatically.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I always say don't be. You never want to be the guy in the room that doesn't know what he doesn't know. Yeah, Cause you know it's funny, cause I've been. I've been in, you know, closer to Grant Cardone and I was at a big dinner one night with Richie Dolan. He's LeBron's mindset coach, works with the heat, Now works with the Lakers. He's got three, four NBA championship rings and we're in a big meeting and I just pulled Richie aside and say, hey, listen, I've never been at a dinner. We had dinner at Fountain Blue and I just said, hey, listen, I don't want to be the guy that don't know what he don't know. So if you see something or I say something, I've given you permission right now to pull me aside. Yeah, Right, Because I don't want to be the guy that doesn't know what he doesn't know. So you make that transition in college. You make that transition in your job. So what was it? Let me ask you this where do you think that comes from in you to be able to go? You know what? I'm not going to be afraid of change. I'm, as a matter of fact, you said you want to be a Marine earlier. Like I'm going to literally run into change. I'm going to run into uncomfortableness. I'm going to force myself to go after what I don't want to go after. Is that something you knew was going to make you stronger? Where did that come from?
Speaker 2:You know, when you have trauma when you grow up. You know I didn't go to college and I went out into graduate school because I delusionally thought I was going to go to graduate school after I graduated, at 21 and play division one football at a school, even though they weren't that good, and I still was like you're not fast enough to play here either now, at this age. And I went and got a master's degree in psychology and criminal justice. I think I want, when you have trauma, a lot of people that you want control. So like the chaos for me, running into it gave me control. Like I felt like I was at least controlling my own destiny. Right, because it was your baseline. That's all, that's what you do, 100%. Like there's chaos, I'm going to fix it and figure it out. That's the way that it's going to work. And but what's weird is I would catch myself at times and have these moments of like, because I always knew what grounded me. Always my mom was a Sunday school teacher. My parents split when I was really young. I played football when I was young, so we played on Sundays, but the thing I learned like when I went to church it wasn't optional and listening wasn't optional. Going back we would do the whole thing and then we go back with the kids, with a junior pastor. That wasn't optional. So reading the Bible wasn't optional, it wasn't. It wasn't a question. You had no choice, you did it. And for me, I think I always was very humbled. Like people didn't humble me, god humbled me. I'm not afraid of anybody, not because it's, but just I just not like you go, like it doesn't matter to me, like if I'm trying to run, you talk about David Pollock at any age. I can't, I can't get away from David Pollock, but I ain't scared. You know what I mean. You want to fight a big, but God, appropriately for me, terrifies me. I'm terrified, in an appropriate way for me, of the fact that this is my shot. I will be judged one day and I don't want to live with regret, so I don't mind running into stupid stuff, you know, but a life altering decision I think I craved, even though I couldn't admit it. I craved mentorship that I never received. Like if I met you and you knew stuff, I hung on, I'd, ask, I'd, and most people want to mentor. So when I started asking, I was like a lot of people want to be mentors and they know stuff and nobody asks them anything. And they have their own kids who take them for granted because they've always been successful. And now I come in and I'm asking them questions and they make a better relationship with me than they seem to have with their son because I'm asking them. So, yeah, I wanted to run into it. I think also, I watched my mom go through a lot of stuff as a very little kid that I wish I could have done something to help her and I think once I got older, that's what I had and you had the power to be able to. I had the power. I didn't believe it.
Speaker 1:You know I heard Jordan Peterson a few a few weeks ago, a YouTube video he did where he talked about the percentage of high performers CEOs, top CEOs, top business owners, top business leaders. Like a large percentage of those people, had a certain level of trauma as a child. It wasn't enough trauma to throw them overboard where they couldn't function. It was a certain level of trauma in their life that caused them to be high achievers. You said something just made a go. I went to 12 schools. Parents got divorced and I was eight, moved to Georgia with my mom in second grade, sixth grade to my senior year of high school. I moved back and forth to my dad's in Detroit upon the six different times 12 schools, six different high schools and for me I always wore that as a badge of honor, Like I can do anything, you can drop me anywhere, it doesn't matter, I can get along with anybody. Until I learned about two years ago, like how that jacked me up. My therapist looked at me and she goes well, man, how did you think that? Because anytime I got in trouble, my mom would say go, pack a bag. I had 24 to 48 hours. I was on a bus, a plane and my dad was on the way to pick me up. My therapist looks at me. A year and a half, two years ago, she goes well, how do you think that's affecting your relationship with all the women in your life who are supposed to love and protect you? And it was like, yeah, but talk about that trauma of being a child and not only just being a child but then working in defects and watching that happen. How that really motivated you to be able to go. You know what? Not on my watch. I'm going to stand in the gap for some people that don't have anybody else.
Speaker 2:You know it's funny because when I got and switched to my major social work, it was very obvious that a lot of us had some level of trauma to why we chose that space. You don't tend to have this picture of your life and go hey, let me come over here and deal with people who have dysfunction. I couldn't fix my dysfunction, I'm going to fix your dysfunction. And for me I had this thing where I was good with everybody but I knew some people couldn't stand up for themselves because that was my mom. I was trying to relive, she dated, she went through all kinds of stuff. And I remember I took an internship at the alternate incarceration center in New London, connecticut, and they said I want you to sit in this domestic violence group. And I was like all right, cool. So after about two weeks they said today this so-and-so is not here, run the group. There's a curriculum whatever about eight, nine guys. You know all rug rats, because if you put your hands on a woman you're a complete rug rat and I'll fight any of you today for fun. All of you at the same time. We're good and I'm in this group and this guy says something. He's making fun of this woman and like how what he did to her. And I think partly he's doing it because I'm, you know, 20. I'm interning, right. He's trying to get the right. Now I can beat the hell out of this guy with my eyes closed with one hand. I'm gonna have my back. Actually, I'm pretty sure I could get the crap out of him at the same time, because they're all punks, okay. And I said to him must make you feel like a big man, why don't you take your frustration out on me? And of course I am masculine and do all that and I'm feeling good about myself from 20 and course gets the done in. The lady calls me over my supervisor. She says how do you think that went? And I said good. Then I connected with him. She said I watched. It's like obviously all recorded. And when you made him feel that way, actually all of them, who do you think they're gonna take their anger out on? It won't be you. I mean, you're bigger and stronger than them and they're I get it. They're gonna take it out on the person. They're taking it out. You actually harmed those people more today than you helped them and I left and I cried Wow, because I watched my mom. You know what I mean. Like it's tears my eyes now. It was the exact opposite of what I wanted to do and I started realizing that I was standing in the gap. But a lot of times I didn't know how to stand in the gap the right way and I needed help from people, and I think that was my thing. I've always been humbled enough to go. You know what. I don't know what I'm doing, and you know what I will learn. I will outwork you, I will out learn you, I will outgrow you. Those are all the things I wanted to hold on to. So I took all my trauma and moved from. I'm just gonna keep running the gap and busting things open to. I'm gonna outgrow out and I'm always gonna out humble you too. I'm gonna, no matter what happens, no matter how good we get, I'm gonna try to get better. I'm never gonna let out a buddy of mine who ran a massive company I mean, he's become a buddy of mine, he's quite older than me and I said why did this one company fall apart over here? He said credit. I said credit, cash flow was obnoxious. He goes no, not money, sean. The amount of people that wanted credit, all the people, yeah, and the egos got so out of control we could never match up. He said so when you run anything, take no credit, then you have 100% of it to give away. Then if you can teach the next group of people to take no credit, you can always continue to give credit and everybody's like you know. So you know that was. You know that was. You know you get me to cry again, but like that was why I changed. You know I'm still going to stay in the gap, but I'm smarter about it. You know I want to be effective and I don't want it to be about me. When I did that to that dude, that was about me. That was selfishness. And I've learned the same thing. You know that you've learned about your relations. Like, like, I've had such a hard time with these things, just like you know you talked with therapists.
Speaker 1:And I was like you're sitting in that, you're sitting in that circle and it's like I'm standing up for my mom. Yeah, I'm standing up for my mom. That's all I see.
Speaker 2:I couldn't do it when I was five, but I can do it now. Yeah, but because I wasn't equipped to do it the right way. You know, I end up causing so. That was my thing. I as a social worker, 14 years insurance, a lot of that was like social work to me. You know, I fell in love, I had some craze. I mean, I could talk for 10 hours about the social work stuff and the stuff we saw and what we did. But yeah, man, that was, I think, why I started to stay in the gap and how I did it differently.
Speaker 1:Your first business you sold. How old were you?
Speaker 2:Man I sold. I sold a smaller real estate company. I not until I was Thirty, three or four. That's the thing with people like everybody wants to get rich overnight. I didn't make. I mean, honestly, I make a lot of money, that's great, ok. I never made a million dollars a year until I was Forty, two or three. Now it's gotten obnoxiously better I got. It's been crazy. You know what I mean. Like you know it's like it's crazy. It makes no sense sometimes. Like I'm like how do I fly in a private jet? Like this makes no sense when I get it surreal. But I didn't. I didn't get rich when I was 18. That was never my goal either, ken. Yeah, my goal was never. My goal was to have a life where I didn't have to worry about money when it came to my kids or anybody. I didn't want to worry about money and I want to serve people and I want to have fun. I want to do right by people and I want to be a better man and a better person than I had seen. I just wanted to take everything to a different level.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that what. Walk me through that first company you sell in your in your mid 30s. Walk me through what are some of the things you learned about you, and what are some of the things you learned about business in that. In doing that, because you come from I mean, our backgrounds are super similar. You know, you come from that kind of a background, you don't have a lot of money, and then here you are, you're like, oh man, I've got an opportunity to be in a place I've never been at. Walk me through what you learned about you, and then maybe some things, some transferable principles. You learned about business in that.
Speaker 2:Well, what I, what I learned about me, was that I really learned that and I'm happy about this that the money that never excited me. I thought it would. I really did, like when I saw it and it and it, I was offered that like every time I've done it and offered I thought it would, it would get me excited. I really did and it was good it was. It made me comfortable for my kids, it made me comfortable for everybody. Like it did make me, that part gave me peace, but it didn't like go like oh my God, I can't. Like it was never that number Right. I also learned that I thought being more financially secure would make me happier and it didn't. It didn't. I mean I'm happy but it didn't make me this magical happier, like I realized I still just because that wasn't a problem for me, because also, when you go through stuff you mask it with, if I go after these other things, then they'll cure everything else I feel about myself. Then you attain them and I appreciate your honesty and your vulnerability and sharing. But like it's, like that's, that's what happens, that's what happens. So for me I learned that about myself. I also learned that I'm not a good employee, because when you sell then it depends on the structure. Right, you could sell completely, walk away, boom congratulations. You can still be running it for X amount of years and I learned that I like the way I ran it. That's why the insurance has been the best, because I was able to sell it. Stay on, run it the way I was running it and not have like if you keep doing what you're doing, you're successful. We'll do this out of the way you know and like, for instance, the waste management business. I'll talk about what I learned about business. I learned there was a lot I did not know. First of all, I learned the power of the way you keep all of your books, the way you manage all of your P&Ls, how clean is more profitable, how clean is more attractive, how you know how to have the answers to everything in your fingertips and having the right people. I didn't have good people around me early on, so it was literally all me. So once I saw the first one, I'm like, hey, when I open the waste management company, I'm going to get a great accountant, I'm going to get a great attorney, I'm going to get a great COO Like I'm going to get. And then if I get a tech, I may not hire a chief technology officer, but I'm going to get a good tech independent contract. So I found a way to surround myself with better people.
Speaker 1:So let me ask you a question how did you find those people? Because I think that's the number one thing for businesses today and we'll talk about I'll get a friend, vic Keller in just a minute but that's really the number one thing is people is having good people. How do you, how do you find? How do you find good people, sean?
Speaker 2:You know what's funny? A lot of the guys that I have that are in the positions they're in now. I look for really smart people. So I didn't like hire a CEO off of some list. I couldn't afford to do that, right. I didn't go on and go like, hey, give me a headhunter and give me a CTO, I'm going to pay $600,000 a year. I couldn't afford that at that time. I cultivated people so I'd meet people that I like smart people I do. God made me slower, but it didn't make me dumb. God made that we're all different and embrace and, by the way, embrace who you are. My mind works in a different way. I'll score well on a lot of tests, but send me to medical school. I don't mess with science. I don't enjoy it at all. Do it if I have to, but I'm not going to excel Like some other. People are just like dude. That's easy to me. I know who I am and know my limitations right. I know all that. But I think it's it's getting people to understand that I cultivated a lot of good people. So now, from a tech standpoint, they got to have that background right. But my CTO of the current cut. Like when you look at some of these guys. He didn't go to college. He's very smart, he works very hard, he's very coachable and teachable and I was always obtaining mentorship. So the mentorship I was I was passing on to him. So some of my mentors one of my buddies now is Bill Maltable. I mean it's obnoxious how successful he's been and I was on the phone with him this morning for an hour. I'm like hey man, I'm trying to now navigate this and I don't think a lot of people call these people and ask them. I mean I built a relationship. We have some general business interests together so it makes sense for them to help me. Anyways, a good dude. But it's also like for me I was able to identify people I thought wanted more and then I was able to identify smarter people, right, and also I'm a big. I'm a big team player guy. Like my first ads I ran and all the companies I opened were now hiring, athletic, military experience acquired. It's all set and some of my best people came from that. They're like hey man, it's got done. Playing college ball I played professionally, I just got out of the service and they're like what are we going to be doing here? And I'm like life insurance, you know like what? And I would just I was looking for good people. They are hard to find because a lot of the people that are around for a long time, firstly they command more money, right, and then also they don't share your thought process. They'll come in like I know what I'm doing in my business, like waste management. I knew what I was doing. I hired a consultant in waste management and it didn't help me. And I'm like I after about a month, like why are we selling dumpsters to contractors 80% of the time, driving all over God's green earth to deliver them, when the money is with homeowners because they don't fill them up 18 times over what they're supposed to fill them up? Contractors don't pay their bills. I don't care what state you're in. They drag their property to pay Paul or get to it. Maybe homeowners give you a credit card. And then I condensed it. But what I learned was from another guy. He said here's your problem. You think busy is profitable. I'm going to explain that to me. He said, sean, you have 220 dumpsters and everyone of them is rented out. I got 400. Half of them sitting. A lot. I make more money than you. I rent them what I want to, to the people I want to in the areas I want to. And I was like but busy is profitable, let's just keep them all moving. If they're not in the lot, we'll be good. So I found good people by networking, calling my CTO. I was at a fundraiser. I sat with him and I'm like what do you do for a living? He told me, told me, the company worked for him. He's like I got all these patents. I was like really, show me one of them. So he did. So I looked it up online. I was like the company you work for sold that for that amount of money. How much did you get paid? And he said, oh, that's kind of uncomfortable. I'm a big fan of uncomfortable questions, answering them or asking. And I was like I know, but what did you get paid? And when he told me, I was like dude, you need to quit your job, come work for me. And I actually helped him. He's let me come to my office, let me show you our technology needs. Then why don't you build some of these products? I'll help you sell your product to one of these PE companies. I'll get your family rich, work with me and I'll pay you along the way and I've done that. And then when he calls me and says, hey, what do you want? Like I need help with the negotiation. Now he's got a double master's degree from Michigan State and I'm like I'll help you. Now I was like, what do you want? I want nothing, dude. Like I just want to see you and your family do really well. So I network a lot, I talk to people all the time and that's how I've ingratiated myself to them, I think, and found good people and also be good to work for. I pay people well, you got to earn it, but I pay you well, I don't. I'm not a nickel and dime broke. People want to win every time in business. I did well in real estate cause both parties won. If I smoked somebody that you can't smoke a more than once, you can't smoke, that's right Cause if I win and you don't win, we're not doing business together.
Speaker 1:Never, but if I win and you win, dude. We're like yes.
Speaker 2:There's enough money for both of us to win, so that really comes from a scarcity mindset.
Speaker 1:Yeah Of you, just don't think I never forget. Grant said something two years ago during COVID when they did like $1.8 billion, whatever the stimulus was, and he said think about it, guys, there is $1.8 billion in more in money on in the United States now than there wasa year ago and people are worried about being broke. No, there's more money now than there's ever been. Go get your money. And I was like, right, I just sat back and I'm like you. Like because everybody was fearful and really had that scarcity mindset. We just wrapped up our create conference in Dallas. I had Brendan Bruchard, irwin McManus, gary Brack, a bit Keller, some really good friends of mine and I love, I love what you're talking about, I love what you're talking about. So my first call was with Vic. He's one of my really good friends. He had 11 companies acquired from Warren Buffett for a lot of money and then he was a CEO for Berkshire Hathaway Automotive for three years and I asked him two questions. I said, dude, I'm driving from Dallas to Birmingham nine hours. We were in the phone for two and a half and I said, dude. I said if you bought GSD for me today, he's in my mask. He's in everything we do. I said, if you bought it for me today and I stayed on to work for you, what would you have me do and what would you not have me touch? And he just he said he goes. You want my feedback or do you want my honest feedback? And I said, dude, I can't get better, vic, and this is about impact. I know you love me, but I need to dude for 45 minutes and about every five minutes he stopped me like dude, you okay, I'm like, yeah, I'm good. Dude. The first thing he told me you know what he told me he said Ken, the first thing you've got to do is you got too many freaking people around you telling you how awesome you are and that's great, but you've got to have somebody that goes. Bro, when you did this, or you were on stage, or this happened, or this happened, I was on the phone with Erwin McManus for 45 minutes last night and I was like dude, give me some feedback on the conference. And he was like and he's like you good. And I'm like dude, I'm good, I can't, I'm totally good. Better, unless I hear feedback from guys that are at your level. So it's exactly what you talked about this morning, dude. What's the best way, sean, for people to connect with you, my friend?
Speaker 2:Man. Instagram is probably the best way, and my name is Sean S-H-A-W-N and Mike is not how it sounds. M-e-a-i-e-k-e. Punch Me in the Face is a website. That's the podcast that I do, and I'd be honored one day if you'd be happy to get on there with me. That's unbelievable. You're a machine and so everything can be found there, but Instagram is probably the best way to reach me and you know where we're doing a lot of work. Youtube got to punch me in the face. The podcast I know you'll find a few different places. We just started that rolling months ago and just trying to connect with amazing people like you so I can get better and get better at putting out what we think can help some people out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love it. Dude, I've already my mind's already rolling. I'm like, dude, you got to know this person. You need to get connected with this guy.
Speaker 2:You need to know this guy I'm in I appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, dude, yeah, sean Mike, guys, listen, go follow him Instagram. S-h-a-w-n. Mike is M-E-A-I-K-E. Just like he said, we'll put a link on this over to his website so you guys can follow him. Listen again. Thanks for joining us on this episode of as a Leader Grows, or, as always, if this has blessed you at a value, click that subscribe button. Listen, screenshot this, share it on Instagram. Both of us will pop that over on our audiences and give you a little love as well.
Speaker 2:Until next time thanks for joining us. Thank you, man appreciate you.