As The Leader Grows with Ken Joslin

Sam Tejada | Transforming Medicine Through Entrepreneurship

• Ken Joslin

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What happens when a firefighter-paramedic witnesses the failures of our healthcare system firsthand? For Sam Tejada, it sparked a revolution that's transforming wellness across America.

Sam's story begins as the youngest child of Dominican immigrants who settled in Wisconsin, where his parents worked tirelessly as architects to provide opportunities for their children. From this foundation of determination, Sam developed both a servant's heart and an entrepreneurial spirit that would later define his career.

After becoming a firefighter-paramedic at just 20 years old, Sam spent 12 years responding to emergency calls, where he noticed a disturbing pattern: patients returning to the hospital with worsening conditions despite multiple medications and doctor visits. "I became a product to our broken medical system and it was eating me alive," Sam reveals, explaining how this realization collided with his exposure to functional medicine approaches that were actually changing lives.

With just $500 and a borrowed room in a doctor's office, Sam launched Liquivita Wellness Centers while still working full-time as a firefighter. His strategic approach minimized overhead costs while maximizing customer acquisition, allowing him to bootstrap the business entirely from its humble beginnings to what has now become 40 franchise locations nationwide.

Perhaps most revolutionary is Sam's approach to competition. Rather than viewing other wellness providers as rivals, he built relationships with them, even giving them chapters in his book "How to Win in Modern Wellness." This collaboration-over-competition philosophy stems from his understanding that transforming healthcare requires a united front: "When I have all of my competitors chanting the same thing that I'm chanting, we're going to change the course of medicine."

Throughout his journey, faith has been Sam's anchor. From processing trauma as a paramedic to making major business decisions, his relationship with God provides guidance and purpose. This spiritual foundation reinforces his mission to help others take control of their health through the "Make America Healthy Again" movement.

Ready to discover how passion, purpose, and strategic relationships can transform both your business and your industry? Connect with Sam on Instagram @sammy_tejada or check out his book on Amazon to learn how you can win in modern wellness.

Welcome to the ATLG podcast I am your host Ken Joslin, former pastor turned coach & host of CREATE, the #1 Faith-based Entrepreneur conference in America. My mission is to help faith-based entrepreneurs become the best version of themselves by growing in our Core 5: Faith, Health, Relationships, Business & Finances. You can get more information as well as join our FREE Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/676347099851525

Speaker 1:

Hey guys, welcome to another episode of as the Leader Grows. I am your host, ken Jocelyn. I've got my good friend Sam Tejada with us today. Dude, I am dude, I'm stoked you're here, my friend. Thank you for being here.

Speaker 1:

Brother, thank you for having me here, dude, take a minute, tell our audience a little bit about you and then I'm gonna spend the next probably 45 minutes an hour just bragging on you, dude, your heart, what you're doing, just the difference you're making in entrepreneurship. It's one thing I love about entrepreneurship we think about entrepreneurship as something we can do to be able to. We attach it to purpose, but we always attach it to profit and money and I'm watching you do all those things, but really making a difference in people's lives.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, ken man. I'm living that American dream right now. You know, immigrant from Dominican Republic came here, youngest out of four, family of six, you know with mom and dad, and you know they came here to the United States to give us a better life and you know that's one thing that I'd made sure that they're going to be proud of, that their decision to come here to the U? S was the right decision. So for me, that decision that my parents made, you know they did it for us, but truly, what, what the effects of that is, is people being helped with their health, wellness, mindset on a global level at this point.

Speaker 1:

It's just crazy. You said that Cause I don't think we talked about this when I was on your podcast. How much of you came here when you were four? How much of that process do you remember coming to the States?

Speaker 2:

So I was actually younger. So I came when I was like a year old. So my oldest brother is seven years older. So he remembered quite a bit because he was eight years old at that point. So I don't remember much, quite a bit because he was eight years old at that point, so I don't remember much. But the difference is growing up from, you know, in a family of immigrants is my parents didn't speak the language right. So we we have a certain type of culture within our household from Dominican Republic and I grew up in Wisconsin.

Speaker 1:

So the Dominican?

Speaker 2:

like a Dominican going to New York or to South Florida. It's a little bit easier to adapt because there's a lot of people from the Caribbean islands in those different states. But Wisconsin, you got white and black. So most people would say how did a Dominican end up in Wisconsin? So how did you end up in Wisconsin?

Speaker 2:

bro so my uncle who actually my uncle Modesto, he is responsible for bringing the majority of my mom's side of the family here to the US. He was the one who sponsored it. So he's an architect, his wife is an architect. He came here, studied abroad, met his wife in the Midwest and was living in Wisconsin. So both my parents are architects. So it kind of was just fit, you know, so my parents they were able to come here to the US and work within their scope of work that they went to school for. So that's how we ended up in Wisconsin and my uncle give him a shout-out man, my Uncle Modesto, he's still alive, in his 80s, living in Minnesota now, and my mom's side of the family she's got a total of 17 brothers and sisters, wow. So, and he's the one who's responsible for bringing everybody here to the US.

Speaker 1:

Man, yeah, yeah, he's almost. Ed Milet talks about the one. In every family there's always the one.

Speaker 2:

Right, and it sounds like your.

Speaker 1:

Uncle Modesto was the one.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, he definitely is. Yeah, that's crazy dude.

Speaker 1:

Did your parents talk about like when you were growing up? Did they talk about why You're like at?

Speaker 2:

what age did you realize? Hey, I'm not from here. Yeah, I mean, I knew that from a young age, right? Because obviously there was a difference. You know, mom had a very strong accent. My parents, you know, we had to adapt to different holidays that my parents weren't used to. So, you know, you go back home it's like, oh, we're going to be celebrating Halloween. My parents are like what is that DR? That doesn't really exist. So there was a bit of a difference. So you knew that something was different. Plus, family grandmother comes to visit and stuff. It's different than what you're experiencing in Wisconsin.

Speaker 1:

Yes, it is so you come in at a young age. Wisconsin when did you guys make the move to Florida?

Speaker 2:

That was my senior year in high school, which was tough, that had to be, you know you just.

Speaker 1:

Transition has been a part of your life, even when you didn't even realize it.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you know I put up a big fight against my parents. I wanted to stay with my brother in Milwaukee so we lived in the inner city part of Milwaukee. It was the north side, it wasn't the best neighborhood whatsoever at all and things were just going down south where we grew up in Milwaukee, and my parents just knew that if I stayed there I definitely wouldn't be living the life I'm living now.

Speaker 1:

Hard, hard area to grow up. So you went down to South Florida. Senior high school you spent 17 years as a firefighter 12 years, 12 years as a firefighter. Walk me through that journey. Grad, you move, senior high school, you're in South Florida. Walk me through that journey. What?

Speaker 2:

was that like? So you know, I became a lifeguard at a young age, actually in Milwaukee. I worked for the Milwaukee public school systems as a lifeguard for the indoor pools and then I started working with the YMCA and the greater metropolitan area Milwaukee. And when I moved down to Florida I was able to transfer from the YMCA to the YMCA in Boca Raton and was working as a lifeguard, became a swim instructor, you know, started at age 14 up north, then down in South Florida, then I worked in ocean rescue while I was in high school and I told myself I always I grew up loving Rescue 911, the TV show, so I always had that passion of helping people in the time of need. And I told myself I was like man. You know, I'd love to become an ER doctor, but I'm just not that kind of student. You know that I'm going to be studying like that.

Speaker 2:

And when I went down to Florida they had this whole thing where if you worked for the fire department, you're duly trained as a firefighter and paramedic as required. And then I started looking into it. The salary was great, the benefits were great. You work, you know, 24 hours on your offer, 48 hours. I told myself, man. This is kind of like this is the rewarding job that I would love to do. You know, I'm doing emergency medicine, I'm doing the firefighter stuff, got a great job, pension, we'll have the benefits. It kind of fits with everything that I'm doing on the lifeguarding side.

Speaker 2:

And then the schooling wasn't anything crazy. You know, I was able to go through the schooling and I did the accelerated schooling. So I did about. It was about three and a half years of schooling, all within a year and three months. So I did that. I knew exactly what I wanted. I told myself you know what, what, what, what's not going to be the most rewarding job being a hero is going to be that you know the firefighter and became a fireman at the age of 20.

Speaker 1:

That's crazy. I want to ask you this question. You know three plus years of school in just a little over a year that that work ethic came from somewhere. Talk to me about your parents, like what did you learn? Where did that work ethic in you? Come? Talk to me about your parents, like what did you learn? Where did that work ethic in you come from? Is that something that you saw in your mom and dad? Tell me some things that you.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, you know, being the youngest out of four, you're always attached to mom and dad's hip, right as a young one. And what my parents did coming here to the US, raising four children and making something out of nothing it was a lot of hard work. You know my mom. She still worked full time at the public school system as an algebra teacher. My father ended up having his own architectural firm, but then my mom, when she got off of school from teaching school around 230, she would go to the firm and work as an architect with my father. They were nonstop. You know my father.

Speaker 2:

One thing I always said I was like, you know, because they used to always have some extracurricular activities baseball, karate but my parents were never there, you know, because they were too busy working or taking one of the other, one of the kids to the other ones. So I saw it, I saw the hustle in them. But I tell you what you know I have two brothers and one sister. They're all older than me and they don't necessarily have the same fire and drive that I have. You know, there was something since a young age and any family member that knows me, uh, they'll tell you the exact same. It's like Sam has had it in him since he was a kid.

Speaker 2:

I was always trying to like sell something. You know I loved money. Since a young kid, you know that kind of got programmed into me. So for me everything's not about money, you know. But obviously the businesses I have are for profit. So money is definitely a factor, but yeah, the fire was just always in me. So money is definitely a factor, but yeah, the fire was just always in me.

Speaker 1:

I love that. I love that. Isn't it crazy how you can grow up in a home and have four siblings and they just each take? I have four daughters and so they're each. They're my oldest, is my mini me, my youngest, who is here, she's her mini me, and then my other two in the middle are completely different human beings.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like completely different humans.

Speaker 1:

So, 20 years old, you've learned an incredible work ethic from your parents, so you get an opportunity to do firefighter and paramedic. What's the difference between paramedic and EMT? I've never really understood that.

Speaker 2:

So EMT is emergency medical technician. Typically they can do basic things when it comes to life support. A paramedic is advanced life support. So now you're doing actual out in the field surgical procedures decompressing the chest, you know, doing a trach on someone who can't breathe. You go through pharmacology, so there's a lot of different medication and the srithmics that you give to people that are having cardiovascular issues, someone who's in cardiac arrest. You're basically doing Almost every single procedure that an ER doc does in the back of the truck as a paramedic. An EMT is more like the paramedic's helper, if you will, or the driver, or something like that.

Speaker 1:

How did you I mean, obviously you have a heart to serve and help We'll talk about your book in just a minute and even just how in your industry you're here in Atlanta because you came to a competitor who's got a store here in Atlanta. He had a grand opening. He wanted to come support. It Speaks a lot to who you are as a man and your character and your nature and who you are. Walk me through those years of being a paramedic and being a firefighter. Like give me some highs and lows. What were some of the things you learned about you in that journey?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you know, when I worked at the fire department man, you really get to see life in a different set of lenses, right? Because when you're working for emergency medical services, for the 911 system, people call you only when something is like at their worst moment. So you got to think every third day for 12 years that's what I was going to for 24 hours straight. And it wasn't just the shootings, the stabbings, the car accidents, it could be all kinds of other stuff. You know, something happened to a different family member in another state or country, you know, and it's affected this person and they're having a panic attack. You just get exposed to everything. So you know it has a direct effect on your mental health, right? So you could either decide two routes to go with that You're going to let it eat you up alive, or you're going to take it, learn from it and do something with it and apply it elsewhere in your life as well too.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, june's mental health, men's mental health month. I don't know if you knew that or not. 74% of people that take their lives are men. Yeah, it's an unbelievable stat. How did you you just made that decision to because you got to see some things, I'm sure, that were just absolutely horrific. Was it just your heart to serve people that helped you process through some of the things you processed through?

Speaker 2:

That's me being able to serve people and help people in the time of need. I was able to identify that that was my God-given purpose early on in life, right? So if that's my God-given purpose, I got to do everything through the Lord, through God. So when I talk about, you know the things that were affecting me, mental health wise, the way that I cope with it is, you know, with God, making sure that I have faith. And you know, even like when I would have that dying patient in the back of the rescue truck that's bleeding out.

Speaker 2:

You know, for me I was connected to God at that immediate moment. During that moment the Holy Spirit would talk to me, would tell me hey, it's okay, you're doing what you got to do, I'm working through you. You know what I'm saying. So it's kind of hard for people who don't have that connection with the Lord. It's very difficult for them to actually understand that, even as much as I try to explain it. But it was just there and when you have that connection with the Lord, man, you could go through anything.

Speaker 1:

You really wonder, like, how do people who don't have this, how do you navigate life? It would be very different, especially doing what you did in that field. Being an entrepreneur is hard, bro, walking up on an accident scene and you've got a child or an adult who's about to pass away and you know there's nothing. I can't even. I cannot even imagine having to walk through that without the comfort and the peace and assurance from the Holy Spirit you know what it is, ken is the people that don't have it.

Speaker 2:

What's happening is they're walking alone, right, and when you walk alone, it is a very it's a scary thing man, it's hard, it's just you feel lonely, you know.

Speaker 2:

And there was a point in time, you know, because I grew up catholic, right, and I remember growing up catholic, just wasn't it, um, and I just remember I would always just like look at my watch and figure out Are we done yet? Yeah, are we done? Football's about to start. And I grew up in a family that consisted of Catholic Mormons and Jehovah Witness, right. So family reunions were very unique, I can imagine, and I would always ask my father I says, dad, not everybody can be right, who's the correct, which is the correct religion? And my dad would always just tell me he says, hey, you know, we go to church just so we can live a better life and a positive life. And for me that wasn't the answer, you know, and it wasn't until I became an adult and told myself I says, you know what? I want to make sure I have that strong connection with the Lord.

Speaker 2:

And there was a point in time, when I first started working at the fire department, where I didn't have that connection because it kind of got separated, and I used to remember, even driving to work I used to always feel like something was missing, like almost like somebody was dead. That was close to me and everybody was still alive all my immediate family members and everything else and it was actually my connection with the Lord that was missing. That was that empty gap that I felt that was missing. And I started going to a non-denominational church Church by the Glades, which I mentioned to you before. Pastor Dave Hughes runs it and when I started going to the non-denominational church, everything that we were doing was straight out of the Bible, and that's when I learned that religion is man-made, but Christianity, that's straight out of the Bible. That is what we need to go by. So for me it was like, if it's not in the Bible, I'm not messing with it.

Speaker 1:

People ask me all the time are you religious, aren't you religious? I'm like no, I'm not messing with it. You know people ask me all the time are you religious, aren't you religious? I'm like, no, I'm not religious. I said and they're like what do you mean? I thought you were a pastor because I pastored for 13 years. Yeah, I was a pastor, so it's a great opportunity to be able to share the gospel with people because they're like I thought you were a pastor. So if you're a, so I'm able to be able to really define you said it just a minute ago Religion is man's.

Speaker 1:

We try to create this set of rules so we can be right with God. When the gospel is man, there's no way we can be right with God, and Jesus loved us enough. Actually, the video my team posted on Instagram this morning is a quote. At my conference, I had these giant floor stickers all over the building with my quotes and Maxwell and Gary whoever's speaking. At my conference, I had these giant floor stickers all over the building with my quotes and Maxwell and Gary whoever's speaking, and the first two quotes when you walk in the door are a quote that God gave me when I was pastoring. It's God's love for you isn't predicated on your performance.

Speaker 1:

He loves you because he created you as a son or a daughter, and that's the gospel. You can't get right with God because of who we are, in the sin nature that we're born with. Because we couldn't get right with God, jesus loved us enough to take our punishment on him and that through him, by faith, we can be saved Right and that through him, by faith, we can be made right with God. It has nothing to do with what we do. It has nothing to do with our performance, which is amazing. So, 12 years EMT, you're rocking along Again. Some people, I think, they hear your story and they'll be like they've either not had that gap in their faith or that moment where they've had to. I just dude, that's just a season where you have to process through. It's part of the journey.

Speaker 2:

It is. It is, but it's part of the journey. But you have to put in the work. Yes, you know it's not just going to come to you. You're going to get the signs, you're going to get the feeling. You know you have to be no different than business. Right Things are going to be right in front of you. You have to be an opportunist. You have to grab it. You have to put in the work behind it. So same thing with your relationship with God.

Speaker 1:

I love that so 12 years of fire department. When, in that time, as a paramedic and a firefighter, did you catch this vision for doing what you're doing?

Speaker 2:

now. So I was always into business right. So I've been hustling since a young age. Whatever I could sell, that's what I'm trying to sell. You know I used to airbrush shirts, make custom shoes. You know I used to sell perfumes and colognes in the parking lot of Walmart. You know I used to cut grass, rake leaves, whatever I could do. You know, as a side hustle that's what I was doing to supplement my income and make some money. But you know, when I was at the fire department my goal was to be that hero and unfortunately only 10% of the 911 calls were those actual heroic moments. You know, running into a burning building pulling someone out. You know, extricating someone out of a vehicle that they were entrapped 90% of the actual 911 calls. I became a product to our broken medical system and it was just eating me alive. When did that?

Speaker 1:

hit you Like? Was there a specific call or a moment that you remember where you were? Like this whole thing's broken.

Speaker 2:

You know what it was. It was. You know when you work for the fire department. You're part of that municipality. So when you go to, like, the grocery store, people know you. You know people in the community. Oh, firefighter, sam, how you doing? You know because you participate in a lot of the events and stuff with the community. So the same way they know you, you get to know the residents in that community.

Speaker 2:

So when you get that 911 call from one of the residents, right, you get that initial 911 call. You take them to the hospital where the quote unquote. You know smart people, experts, are at. And then all of a sudden you get another 911 call six months down the line and then all of a sudden, that same person. You're taking them to the hospital every other month. Then it becomes every month, then it becomes every other week, then it becomes every week, every other day, then every single day until the day they die.

Speaker 2:

You know, you see it throughout the journey. Some people it's a year until they die, some people it's two years, three years, and throughout that process you know because as a firefighter, paramedic, you're getting the medical history. You've seen the medications. You see bags of medications being prescribed to these people Multiple doctors that are not communicating amongst each other, people their health starts spiraling down this whole spiraling down the toilet.

Speaker 2:

So for me, I started looking at it. It's like this makes no sense. I'm a product to this broken system. I keep on taking these people to the hospital and no one really cares about their health, truly no one's taking that proactive approach. Now, mind you, in my days off from the fire department, I was working with Dr Willis, who's a world-renowned functional medicine preventative doctor, who was a heart surgeon for many years, and I was seeing a whole different side of medicine where people, their lives, were truly being changed. And then that's where it just hit me, man, I was just like you know what? This is not my God-given purpose, this was just a step in the direction of where I need to go, just so I can have that, that visibility of what's truly happening with the medical system. And then that's where I said you know what? I have to go this other route, you know, with the wellness centers.

Speaker 1:

I love Psalms 37. It says the footsteps of a righteous person are ordered by the Lord. It's like so when I hear your story, dude, I'm like I can just watch God navigate your whole life to put you where you're at so you meet this guy. You have this kind of was there an epiphany? Was there an aha moment? Did God speak to you? What was it in you that said I'm going to go start a wellness center?

Speaker 2:

You know, opportunities presented themselves. So when those opportunities presented themselves, I did it more as a side hustle, as you know, supplement my income, do something that I enjoy. And then, as that opportunity started growing, um, and people started coming. When we were doing these IV trips, and people started traveling an hour and a half without me doing any marketing, I says, man, there's people that are learning about this stuff and they want it, and I'm seeing people change their lives. And then that's where I started investing more of my time into it.

Speaker 1:

Walk me through entrepreneurs who listen to this podcast. We have a ton of faith-based entrepreneurs who listen to this podcast. We have a ton of faith-based entrepreneurs who listen to this podcast. They're looking for, or they're waiting for, god to speak, and God's putting opportunities right in front of their face, like yours. What advice would you have for them today?

Speaker 2:

You have to go with what you're passionate about, like. If you're not, if there's no passion behind what you're doing as a business, it's going to be a very, very long journey. You know, like I'm very passionate about health and wellness and people. Actually, that's the rewarding part For me. The financial component of it which is beautiful, right, is just a side effect of the success, Just a byproduct.

Speaker 2:

For me, the rewarding part is when someone says, hey, I was able to change my health, I was able to actually go play ball with my kids and not be out of breath, I'm able to tie my shoe, I got my sex life back, I was able to save my marriage because of this. That's the rewarding part for me, you know so. So for me, those are the things that that really drive me. So, so that person who is thinking about doing entrepreneurship, you got to do something that you're going to get that rewarding feel every single day. You know something that you're passionate about and you know, I talked to a lot of people that are working full-time jobs and they want to go into entrepreneurship and it's like, oh, I don't have the time to do it. Even if you have a full-time job, you still have time to do some kind of hobby, right?

Speaker 1:

Make it your hobby. I did. I would literally do that. I was just on a call with somebody this week. He is a Just on a call with somebody this week. He's a MA medical assistant in an office and he's actually wanting to start a company and he was asking me to. He's like some people say go ahead and quit your job and start this company and some people say stay where I'm working but then work the extra hours. What would you say to somebody like that? I've done it.

Speaker 2:

Work the extra hours, yeah, yeah, yeah. Make your business your hobby, right? You know what I'm saying. If I go out fishing every evening or on the weekends, it's not work, it's fishing. So why don't I just go ahead and get into the fishing business if I'm really that passionate about it? Right, because I'm going to do what I love and I don't have to quit my job. I could just do it and get it going, make connections, start building. So I feel like that's one of the routes that people can go in. That's what I did, you know, on my days off from the fire department, I started doing the health and wellness stuff and I enjoyed it, you know, because I do it for myself. So why not help other people with it and then, from there, started building off of it?

Speaker 1:

So you got guys, you got people coming an hour and a half to get IV drips from you. Yeah, when did it hit you? I need a location.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, when that started happening. So I partnered up with a doctor who had a it was called East-West Physicians, where they took Eastern and Western medicine and integrated it together. So it had everything from chiropractic physical therapy they did medical aesthetics, pain management, hydroclonic acupuncture, everything. So he had a good-sized room where I told the doctor I said, hey, let me get this nice-sized room that's collecting dust right now and I'll run the business. I'll invest the money to build it out, to create the liquid vita brand and I'll give you 20. You don't have to do nothing.

Speaker 2:

And um, that's how it started. And then that that's where people started, you know, finding us we weren't doing any marketing and driving from an hour and a half away to come get these vitamin drips, and I was one of the first ones in Florida, you know, offering. When did you start this? That was in 2000. I started in 2013,. Incorporated the actual brand in 2014. So you know, at that point in time, when I started seeing so many people want this stuff, that's when I said you know what? I think I got something.

Speaker 1:

That's cool, man. Yeah, and so you did that. When did you go out on your own? When did you branch out and start your like your own, your own stores? And then, in that journey, when did you go?

Speaker 2:

man, we've got something here that we literally can take nationwide yeah, that that was about a year after, you know, after I started actually building the foundation of it, putting the protocols in place, um, saving quite a bit of money that was coming in. And then that's where I got presented another opportunity with a med spa that was struggling, where I took it over and made it into a Liquivita brick and mortar store.

Speaker 1:

So I have shared with you one of my guys, Josh Porter, is in my corner. He started. When he started with us about a year and a half ago, he had two locations. Now he has five franchise locations Nice and I think three of the franchise locations are just like what you just mentioned. It was another wellness center. They were struggling, you just and he came in just like just like you did there, and how long did you have that location before you went, okay, it's time for location number two. Or were you kind of processing through that even when you opened that first location?

Speaker 2:

You know what ended up happening is once, uh, we had the first location and started really building it and penetrating into the community. So people know that we exist. In east fort lauderdale, the people that wanted to actually people started coming to us wanting to see if there's like franchise opportunities or business opportunities. And the people that were were asking were the people that were going through the services, that were changing their lives, where they said you know what, if this did this for me and for my family, what can this do for tons of other people? So they knew that there's a business opportunity. So some of our initial joint ventures that we did before we did franchising were customers, customers, customers that had great experiences that said you know what? I want to open up a location of my own, and then from there we decided to actually put a whole franchise system together to bring that opportunity.

Speaker 1:

How fulfilling has this journey been for you? This has got to be just like you have to wake up in the morning, pinch yourself, be like god. Are God? Are you serious Like I have? Really, I do that every day. I'm like dude. I get to do this Like walk me through, like, what does that fulfillment level look like for?

Speaker 2:

you I mean. So part of my purpose with this business is to change the course of medicine right, because we've been in this broken medical system, so basically allowing doctors to learn that there's a whole different way to practice medicine. That's not this algorithmic medical protocols that they program, driven by pharmaceutical companies. That's driven by pharmaceutical companies.

Speaker 2:

So taking more of that proactive approach, doing the comprehensive blood work, understanding the patient's data, things that are not just. You know. You come in, you see a doctor for five minutes and all of a sudden you walk out with all these medications. You know diet, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle, you know all of that stuff is important. So for us which right now, you know, we're going through a whole big movement, the Maha movement Make America Healthy Again, which I'm a big part of that so finally, this is the opportunity to change the course of medicine, and it's happening. It's happening.

Speaker 1:

I love that man, walk me through Sam. Walk me through some of the early, because I mean we just hit some mountaintop experiences and moments. Walk me through some of the hard things that you had to walk through getting ready to open that first store and then even the second store. What are some of the moments that taught you that you had to?

Speaker 2:

walk through getting ready to open that first store and then even the second store. What are some of the moments that taught you that you learned from? Well, number one I've done this all bootstrapped financially right. I started the company with $500 in my back pocket.

Speaker 1:

I haven't taken a penny from anyone, so all of you guys that are watching or listening to this podcast today, you can do it. And to go back to one. To go back don't mean to interrupt you, but to go back to what we said just a minute ago. Conversation I told the guy yesterday was he goes, do I quit and start this company or do I keep working what I'm doing? I gave him two things.

Speaker 1:

Number one my good friend Anthony Truck says if you want to start a company and you're a 1099, you work for somebody else. Work your five to nine until you work yourself out of your nine to five. And one of the things and I told the guy yesterday too, I said listen, you're going to have pressure either way. Do you want the pressure of knowing I've got a check coming in and I'm building this business on the side, or I'm building this business and now I've got the pressure to be able to pay my bills and take care of my family, because both of both of those things are tough. Anyway, yeah, um, you will walk me through. Walk me through that for you in that journey, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So so you know, starting the company with $500 in my back pocket, you know, my goal initially was how can I create the minimum viable product Right? And how can I create the business model where I can apply any dollars that I have directly into new customer acquisition to grow the business? And that's why I partnered up with the doctor Right, where he basically gave me the space no utilities, no rent. You know, didn't have to pay for a medical director, he already had the front desk staff. So now all of the money that I have can be applied to the operational side of the business marketing, brand development, et cetera.

Speaker 2:

So I tell people, it's like if you're going to start a new business, even if it's a retail business, see how you can partner up with someone so you can reduce all of that overhead expenses that is not going to produce a quick ROI for you, right? So that's what I did. I partnered up with a doctor. He gave me the space. So every dollar I had when I took a $10,000 loan right after the $500, I took a $10,000 loan I was able to take that $10,000 loan to help build the foundation of the business creating the website, you know, hiring the graphic designers doing some marketing, et cetera. So for me, it's all about being strategic and the thing is you're always going to be bootstrapped. You know what I'm saying? Unless you have, like, an angel investor that's going to give you a couple million dollars or whatever it is, you're always going to be bootstrapped. So you have to see how you're going to make your dollars, go further.

Speaker 1:

And again, if you do have an angel investor or you do bootstrap it, there's a specific pressure that comes with each of those things. Oh, 100%, it's a different type of pressure, right. So you're bootstrapping this thing, you're growing this thing. Walk me through like what's a lesson, like what's something you learned, like what was hard, what was a difficult decision you had to make. That's continued Because I'm still in all, bro, you were a firefighter, bro, you grew up in the hood, right. Where did you learn all of these lessons that you learned to be able to build the business that you built? School of hard knocks.

Speaker 2:

You know, in all reality you learn from other people. So I'm really big into relationships. So for me relationships is the most important part. And when, when somebody asks you, what do you contribute the majority of your success to, and and how you got where you're at today? It's relationships, you know, from every customer, every vendor, from every employee. You have to cultivate those relationships because they become bigger and greater things. You know you met my business mentor, yada. You know he was a customer and it became, you know, my business mentor to now. He's one of my dear friends. You know we do a lot of things together, but those relationships, you know, allow you to network with other people, other groups, you know, and bring additional opportunities to the table.

Speaker 1:

So let me stop you right there, because I've got your book right here Modern Wellness. For those of you guys, we'll give you a link. We'll drop this in the show notes Relationships. Yeah, when you told me why you did this, walk our audience through, why you did this book the way you did it, so when I first got into the industry, it was a very cutthroat mentality amongst the competition.

Speaker 2:

When I first got into the industry, it was a very cutthroat mentality amongst the competition and, for me, understanding history, where people would win based off of divide and conquer. And when I have all of my competitors chanting the same thing that I'm chanting, we're going to change the course of medicine. So why are we against each other's throats? We need to actually be united, come together, because we're we're against a big, strong body of the the food industry, the pharmaceutical industry like, if we don't come together, we're never going to win, we're never going to change the course of medicine. So what I did? I started building strong relationships with my competitors. So eight years down the line, you know, I hired a publicist and I was telling them my story and my relationship with my competitors and the publicist said you got, you got to put this in writing, you got to put this write a book. And I did, and I gave them all a chapter in the book and we're all talking about how we're winning in the world of modern wellness together.

Speaker 1:

I love that man, one of the things that I talk about a lot and I see this in you, I see this in Yarek is great leaders want something for people, not from people. And you really do have that heart, bro. You have that heart. The book that you did, you made this.

Speaker 1:

You literally looked out and said, okay, how can I take it's wisdom? It's a lot of wisdom and that comes from God. We understand that. But out and said, okay, how can I take it's wisdom? It's a lot of wisdom and that comes from God. We understand that. But you literally said, how can I take an olive branch and how can I add value to people and draw people? Because of the relationship, of the understanding you have, of the power of relationships. How important has that been for you in this journey of? I mean, how many franchise locations do you have now? We've sold 40 and more than half are open, and you have three that you that you own in South Florida, the corporately owned ones. Like, walk me through the relationships. And when I say great leaders want something for people, not from people, what does that mean to you?

Speaker 2:

You know, you, you want to see other people thrive, man. You know, and when you put others first, you'll reap the fruits from what you're trying to do. When you put other people first, man, my father would always say you can't receive with a closed hand. You know you have to be out there thinking about what you can do for the other person. You know, and at that point, man, when you start helping other people and just helping them thrive, you know, health-wise, business-wise, you'll see how people just back you up, man, They'll just, they'll just congregate together to be part of what you're doing.

Speaker 1:

You know, dude, in this world we live in cause you and I both big social media presence, a lot of friends that have big social media presence. We both know how much phony BS is all over social media. I had one of my friends, vic Keller, who sold a lot of companies to Buffett to Berkshire Hathaway for a gazillion dollars and then he was a CEO for Berkshire Hathaway Automotives for three years for Mr B, and he spoke at my conference a couple years ago and he basically said he said we need to see less people in planes and Lambos and all that kind of stuff on social media. He goes what we need to see is people's tax returns. Because what I love about what you're doing, sam, is you are so authentic and you care so much for people. It fights through the noise, because there is so much noise right now on the internet. Bro, walk me through. Where did that part of you, that authenticity and that desire just to obviously paramedic firefighter for 12 years in your community? Where do you think that came from in you?

Speaker 2:

I would say it definitely came through my parents. You know my father would always tell me that. You know my word is everything. You don't want to ruin that in business. You know my reputation is extremely important, so my dad was really big into discipline. You know you got to walk a straight line, yeah. Yeah, my dad did not mess around with that, yeah. So that's one thing that I definitely got from my father and I've stuck to it. Man, a lot of people say that I'm like what's the word? Like an old mind.

Speaker 2:

Old soul, like an old soul, because I'm very old school man. If I do a handshake with you, it's stronger than a contract, it's way stronger than a written contract.

Speaker 1:

If I do a handshake with you, it's stronger than a contract Right. Dude do you realize how bad we need that in our society and our culture today.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, Ken. Even with a written contract, people just don't even obey that. So if your handshake can be stronger than a written contract, you're doing the right thing.

Speaker 1:

It's so cool to watch God maneuver relationships and connect people. Just even our relationship and meeting Yarek and us grabbing dinner together and Sam Dude I've gotten Sam connected with three or four killers around that. I know I'm like dude, you've got to connected with three or four killers around that I know I'm like dude, you got to know this guy, you got to know this guy, you got to. It's just, it's really, really cool to watch and it's super refreshing just to watch God maneuver and put relationships together for greater impact and influence. Walk me through We've got a few more minutes left. Walk me through we've got a few more minutes left. Walk me through your impact and influence that you're having in your life right now and what that means to you.

Speaker 2:

You know, right now, I'd say the impact, with the influence that I have, is really driving other medical providers in the direction that they've why they became a medical provider. Right, because there's a lot of these medical providers out there doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants all of these different people that really went to school to help people and then they, they found themselves stuck in this broken medical system. So when you have the ability to drive these people in the right direction and let them know that there is another way, you know, and my influence being the, the, the vehicle, yeah to to allow them to actually make that move. Man, that's powerful's powerful. Dude just doing your part.

Speaker 1:

We both have a mutual friend. Gary Breck is a good mutual friend of both of ours and I remember Gary and I were sitting down we were talking about the work he was doing with Dana White because that was kind of the big move for Gary, that kind of put him on the map. And then the relationships he got connected after Dana and he told me about he had advised Dana to go off several meds. He gets a call from Dana's heart guy from Cedars-Sinai who is the head of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai, teaches at UCLA, and he's on the phone with Gary and he's at why did you do this? And Gary walks him through. This is exactly why I did it. He's taking this and this and this is affecting this and I've got him on this.

Speaker 1:

And the doctor was like oh my gosh, I didn't. I've never even heard what you're saying right now. Wow, and here's the guy who's running. He's running the cardiology department. He's like one of the foremost cardiologists in the United States of America and Gary helped walk him through. He joined his board. Like he's on Gary's board now Incredible. And you're doing the same. You're doing this. It's like when I get around you and I get around Gary, it's like I'm having these aha moments of holy cow. I've never heard this Talk about my aha Talk about how excited are you to see what's going on right now?

Speaker 2:

Oh, this is where my passion lies, man. So everything that's happening and you know, you talk to a lot of like the godfathers in the biohacking and wellness space and you know even my mentor that unfortunately passed away right before COVID at the age of 80, dr Robert Willicks. You know this is something that they've been talking about for years and now it's actually happening. The real change in the course of medicine. You start seeing rfk jr, the people that he's putting to lead fda cdc. You know the surgeon general that got nominated. You know all of these people are people that come from the functional medicine space, where they have a whole different way of practicing medicine.

Speaker 2:

So I'd say, within the next three years there's going to be a huge shift. We're going to be making people well, right, people are going to be able to take control of their health and, at minimum at least they're going to have the knowledge to know what's right versus wrong. Because right now what happens is we get brainwashed with the wrong information. Right, have the knowledge to know what's right versus wrong. Because right now what happens is we get brainwashed with the wrong information. The ultra-processed foods, the toxins in the environment, in the water, in the food, all of that stuff. If people don't know, they can't even take action to it. You know what I'm saying?

Speaker 1:

It's literally like we've been living in the Matrix and all of a sudden everybody's popping red pills and we're going holy cow. This is way different than what I'm saying. It's literally like we've been living in the matrix Right and all of a sudden everybody's popping red pills and we're going holy cow Like this is way different than what I thought it was so.

Speaker 2:

now, if people have that knowledge, at least they can make decisions and take control of their health. Man, I love that dude.

Speaker 1:

Final thoughts for our audience. You tell them how do we get in contact with you, how do we get a copy of the book? What does all that look like?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so the book. You can get it on Amazon. You know how to Win in Modern Wellness is the name of the book. If people want more information on me, you can just Google me, sam Tejada. You'll see everything that pops up, or find me on Instagram, sammy underscore Tejada, and I'm very active online because my goal is to really spread the word, so content is being published every single day. I'm grateful, man.

Speaker 1:

God caused our paths to cross and just the relationship we're getting to build. I'm excited to be able to help you, man. I love your heart. I love the passion that you have to truly help people and how you tied that into entrepreneurship and how you literally did a blessing to thousands and thousands and thousands of people Now watching your franchises go across the country. It's the wave that's coming for you over the next three to five years and the impact and influence that you're having on people's health is going to be amazing. Absolutely. Thank you, brother.

Speaker 2:

Firefighter.

Speaker 1:

Sam, my friend, I love it.

Speaker 1:

Guys, thank you for joining us on another episode of as the Leader Grows, my good friend, sam Tejada. What an amazing story. Guys, I just want to encourage you today. If you're out there, you're a faith-based entrepreneur and you're just trying to figure this thing out, or you're stuck or you're doing. Well, it's okay, it's part of the process. Well, it's okay, it's part of the process. It's part of the process.

Speaker 1:

It's not about the destination, it's always, always, always about the journey. God, who am I becoming in this journey? And then take every day on its own and literally lean into incremental, not monumental, small, daily discipline decisions over time, always equal, monumental results. Success cannot escape you when you do the right things every single day. Guys, thanks for joining us. Listen, if you want to connect more with us, you can hop on growthstackdrivecom forward slash free. A ton of free resources. We just uploaded our Create 25 conference. My good friends like John Maxwell, gary Brecka, our team from RMI, vic Keller just some amazing, amazing speakers talking about faith, health, relationship, business and finances. I'll see you next week on as the Leader Grows.