The Traded Life is a podcast hosted by Greg Michelman, dedicated to helping listeners gain better insight into how they can trade the life they have for the one they were born to live. Today's guest is Kevin Faulkner, the owner of 3-B Credit Health. Kevin candidly shares how his awakening, at the age of 50, renewed his focus and led to success. He talks about his failures and how they pushed him towards self-improvement and his business, despite the feeling of being alone. Kevin shares that you need to audit your life and take credit for your successes. With his newfound focus, Kevin is now transitioning his credit repair business and improving his Standard Operating Procedures. Tune into The Traded Life for inspiring stories, advice and motivating words from real-life successful businessmen and women.
Topics Discussed and Key Points:
Timestamps:
[00:03:19] Maintaining Focus Throughout Life
[00:06:33] Overcoming Depression: My Personal Journey
[00:10:04] The Power of Small Promises
[00:13:33] Using Social Media Effectively with Limited Resources
[00:16:39] The Power of Routines and Small Wins
[00:19:56] Staying Motivated to Repair Your Credit
[00:23:10] I just knew it. Starting a Business After a Failed Marriage
[00:26:37] Perseverance in Adversity
[00:29:35] Living an Authentic Life: Overcoming Struggles and Helping Others
[00:32:36] The Fear of Entrepreneurship: Kevin Hart's Perspective
[00:35:49] Overcoming Fear of Flying
[00:38:52] Overcoming Obstacles to Achieve Success as an Entrepreneur
[00:41:56] The Benefits of Confidence
[00:44:56] The Necessary Mindset for Achieving Success
[00:48:19] The Power of Human Possibility
[00:51:41] Creating a Life Balance Through Self-Assessment.
[00:55:11] Scaling a Credit Repair Business
[00:58:18] Living Your Best Life
Notable Quotes:
"It always falls back on systems and processes, and David even had a system in process for whenever he was taking those pictures with probably a thousand people that night. For sure."
"It's very important to be the best version of you. So, like, for me, I go to the gym all the time. I have to take care of my body. I'm always taking care of my mind. I'm reading a lot. I'm always educating myself, being better every single day."
"It's never gonna get better until I get better. And why did it take that long? I have no idea, but that's whenever I realize that it's up to me. I have to do it."
"It's those small promises that build confidence that allow you to reach the bigger goals.""
"I don't care what perfect you know, host looks like or how pretty the picture looks or what's in the background? You know, what's most important is what's coming out of the person's heart and out of their mouth."
"My point is that is where a lot of my confidence has come from. Is from biting off those, snapping off small winds."
"You have to start out with these routines and these mornings like you from 5 to 9. You've got a regimen in place. You know exactly where you're gonna be. At every minute of that time, between 5AM and 9AM."
"It's those small promises you know, you know that, okay, I'm gonna go knock that gym workout out for 45 minutes every morning. And then that's a check, man. And that means Those things compound, and those things work on that confidence."
"It's not something that's gonna be, you know, people 1 thing that we do, Greg, in our world, man, is we hear, you know, everybody comes out and spits this stuff out all the time, man. And they talk about it, and it makes it sound kind of easy."
"If you're somewhere out there, if you want a listener out there and you're trying to turn your life around, it's not gonna be easy."
"The key is you're gonna get your ass kicked. I got my ass kicked."
"The key thing that keeps you going and keeps you in that women's bracket is that you don't quit. You keep driving. That's it, man. I mean, you nailed it. I mean, I was gonna say it. You said it before me. But the truth is, that's it.""
"Fear never leaves. So that fear I was talking about being afraid of getting that first credit repair client when I first started my business. And then now my business is in a different place, and it's it's it's we've moved the ball down the field. But I still deal with it. I've still got 3 things that I'm putting off that are sitting over there that I know I've gotta take care of and I'm scared of them because I know because I've never done them before. I've never dealt with it before. It's new to me."
"But even though are the things that are so important, You know, man, for me and I'll I'll just be vulnerable here a little bit with the with the listeners"
"It is as much as it sounds hard, it is that simple. You just have to take that first step."
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0:05
This is the trade of life, a show committed to helping you better understand that you can trade the life you have for the life you were born to live. Let's dive in.
0:21
Welcome to the show. Today's guest is a fellow apeture. We met through social media, funny stories. This is the first time we've actually physically seen each other and had a conversation but it's a privilege and an honor to bring on Kevin Faulkner, who is the owner of three B credit health. He's a husband, a podcaster, a speaker or writer. I mean, is there really anything you don't do?
0:52
Man, I appreciate you having me on Greg. This is an honor brother. Man, actually, we we met really briefly man at David Goggins. Man, you know what? I do remember that now? Yeah, we shook hands. It was real quick. It was it was crazy. Because there was so much going on, man, the hype and the energy was so amazing that night, and I had such a blast that they were on the line, right. And I think I was getting food or I was like, in the back. And I ran out. Yeah, I do. Remember now? Yes. I apologize, then see your memories better than mine? Yeah, man. Um, that was really cool evening, man. I had a blast and the weather was great. And, you know, something I noticed about David Goggins is that I was, I was, of course, we were in that line. And what and what we're doing for the listeners is we were waiting to have our pictures taken with David Goggins, we all had the honor, because we were an apex of, of having a picture taken with David Goggins, which was super cool, and what a treat. But I was watching him, and I was noticing that he had the same look on his face for every picture, because he was he knew that he was not going to let himself mess up anybody's picture, because they know those pictures meant so much. And I'm sure he does those things, you know, constantly at all all the time. So he has a face. But where my mind goes with that is systems and processes, man, no matter what business you're in, or what you're doing, it always falls back on systems and processes. And David even had a system and process for whenever he was taking those pictures with probably 1000 People that night, for sure. And, you know, to add to that, the way he goes about his business, right, he's just, he just pisses excellence, like he doesn't allow himself to fall short, in really any category. I mean, he'll he'll tell you himself, at least the night when he was there, you know, the stuff that with his wife, and all the stories he told, I mean, the truth is, he shows up at home too, but he makes sure that he puts himself first, you know, it's really interesting that I, about, you know, him saying things like that, because, for me, I've been a big preacher of, you know, if I can't want it, one of the things I say to people all the time is, if you can't be the best version of you for yourself, there's no way you can show up for other people. So he realized early on that he had to start showing up for himself, nobody was going to do it for him, you know, he had a damaged background, had damage family stuff going on. And he realized he was the only one that had to come to his own rescue. And obviously, you know, as adults, we go about our business. But eventually, you know, there are other people that get involved, and we give them our energy as well. But, you know, I think that's why a lot of relationships fail, it's why a lot of friendships fail is that people tend to not put themselves first. And I don't mean it in a selfish way.
3:38
But it's very important to be the best version of you. So like, for me, I go to the gym all the time, I have to take care of my body, I'm always taking care of my mind, I'm reading a lot. I'm always educating myself being better every single day. And I see that you do the same thing with the podcasts and all the things that you have going on. So maybe you could speak a little bit to that. I mean, we're gonna get into your business and stuff. But I want to speak to like having all these things going on and having that focus and carrying that focus with you all the time. Like when did that start? Was that always something you were doing? Or is this something that you you realize later on? Maybe you could speak to that?
4:16
It's definitely not something I've always done, man, I didn't really get my snap until I was 50 years old man. And and that's due to a lot of things. But
4:28
man, I've had a lot of battles along the way. Decades, decades, and at the end of the day, it comes it comes down to confidence. I didn't have any confidence zero. And I started keeping small promises to myself, Man, just just little things that I was doing. And I liked it. And I started building some momentum with it and then going in the right direction. And then, you know, I found you mentioned Apex mastermind that we're in and so I found that
5:00
I don't think I would have been in a position mainly to have had the balls to join apex, if I hadn't already gotten a little bit of momentum going. And then that's what made me pull the trigger on that. But then apex with the great people like yourself that are that are in here that role models that that
5:21
give you something to look at every day with your content and your podcast and your books that you're writing and everything that folks do that allow you to put it together and just understand that if you don't have these habits in place, if you don't have these routines, then you can't take the best care of yourself. And there's no way you're going to take care of your clients if you don't take care of yourself first.
5:45
Yeah, there's no doubt about it. And I want to go back to something you said when you first started, right? You know, it's very interesting for the listeners to pay attention to what you said, because what I think happens is when people are trying to find that confidence, or they're trying to find their niche, or they're trying to find their momentum, they're always trying to bite off these huge accomplishments, you know, they're trying to tackle things that are beyond them.
6:09
Not that people aren't capable of handling it. But the fact that you took it piece by piece, right, breaking off small victories, you don't have to go for the big victory right away, because you have to start to build that confidence. And that is the best way to build momentum, to build confidence is the Smart Start with small wins, right, you're going to eat healthy for a day, then you turn eating healthy, and to two days, you don't stretch it out over months and months and months, you're not trying to lose 200 pounds in a day. And that's a big mistake. I see people come across all this all the time. And they're not paying attention to those small wins. So it's really interesting that you pointed that out, um, speak more to that because it's interesting when people list like I, in my show, I talk about a lot of things. I've had health professionals on here fitness, you know, fitness models, I mean, we I've talked about a great deal of different things. But it's always interesting to me, for the people that are listening how important it is, and how you are able to now gain momentum over now what a couple of years worth of work. What's What's the timeline been from the time you really started snapping off small wins to where you are now.
7:17
Yeah, man, I'll just tell you exactly exactly the story man of the last couple of years, what they look like for me. So in August of 2020, I was in a place of depression. It was which I battled depression my entire life. So it's been bipolar disorder, and just just depression man and a lot of alcohol drug use a lot of things that that did not contribute to
7:44
my success or did not contribute to putting me on the path to success. That kept me in that state of depression. So August to 2020, I'm on the couch, man. I'm just in a terrible place. And my wife who is a 100% winner, she finally just it's like, Dude, I want to move forward with my life. And you're not going anywhere. I've given you, you know, a lot of time here, and there's nothing we're not moving in a direction. So at that point, she just was like, Man, I gotta do what I got to do here, you need to go. I can't, I can't continue with you. So I went to
8:22
a friend of mines house. And my best friend. I've known him since the second grade. So he's seen all of my struggles. And I'm over to his house. And
8:31
man, I had what can only be described as an awakening. And so this is when I start crying from head to toe. And this is when I realized that
8:42
it's my fault. Everything that's happened in my life is my fault. And even my buddy, man, he's got a he's a nurse. He's got a heart of gold. He's trying to tell me, man,
8:52
it's not that bad man. And I'm not even I'm not letting him let me off the hook. This is an extreme accountability moment. And like I said, it can only be described as an awakening. And so I'm sitting in his dining room table and I'm saying, Man, it doesn't matter how many marriages I go through how many jobs I go through, it doesn't matter what town I live in. It does not matter. It is my fault. Whatever happens or doesn't happen. It's my fault. I have to take responsibility and it's never gonna get better until I get better. And
9:24
why it took that long. I'd have no idea but but that's whenever I realized that it's up to me, I have to do it. So I was he I live in Waco, Texas, and my friend lived about an hour down out 35 south toward a little town outside of Austin. And so I drove from there, I decided okay, I'm sticking to the plan that I had because I had told my wife I have a plan I worked at, not at Home Depot but in Home Depot selling bathroom and kitchen remodel.
10:00
Hey, John. So
10:03
I didn't make much money at it, it really wasn't anything. But it was a game, it was something to do, I was a salesman, that's what I did for a living. So it did give me something to have and hold on to. So I'm driving an hour each way to that job. And I told Kelly, before she made the decision, she made a decision in my wife that, that I was going to work this job until I could figure out something else. Now she had heard this 1000 times. So there was no reason for her to take me at my word. But I decided that night when I was crying at my buddy's kitchen table, that I was gonna keep my word to myself, and I was gonna follow through with that plan. So no matter what I was not going to quit that job also had my dog with me. And like you talked about it small things, I promised my dog that I was going to take care of that dog. And people think it's weird. But getting up in the morning, every morning at seven o'clock and welcome that dog. Because I promised that dog I would walk him at seven o'clock every morning, walking him every night, because I promised I would, making sure he was safe. It gave me a purpose when I needed a purpose. And it's sometimes it's just those small things that make you that you keep those promises to yourself. And that gives you that momentum to go for those big things. Because it's so small promises that build confidence that allow you to reach the bigger goals, which we'll get into in a minute. But to go on with the story.
11:35
I kept, I kept on going to that job. And I didn't know what I was doing. I just started it, I was scared to death because you're walking up to complete strangers. And you're basically getting leads to get
11:47
to go into their homes and sell them a kitchen remodeling job. So you walked up to complete strangers I was terrified of and I was terrible at it. But I did have a sales background. So when I did succeed, I went and wrote down what I did, what they said what I said everything about it. And then I would go home. And I would practice that in the mirror. And I would work on that script. And man, it wasn't probably 60 days of doing that. And I got there were several days when I was represented representative of the lead lead all of the company in the San Antonio Austin and Central Texas areas for leads, just because I had decided and did the work and practiced and worked on it and went all in on that because that's all I had. I didn't have anything else. And I knew that I had needed needed some when I needed to get some momentum going. And, you know, I told my wife and our marriage counselor
12:53
that I said I look this is out of my control. I said I have no no say in this anymore. The I made the bed now I've got to lay in it. Whether we get back together or not, I have no idea. But
13:07
I'm going to come out of this better. That's what I can promise you, no matter if we get back together and we work this out. Or if we don't get back together and we don't work it out. I'm coming out of this situation better. And so
13:21
I've got this job, I'm driving an hour each way, staying at my buddy's in his back room, I answered a small ad in on Facebook, for a guy that I had been following very organic ad. I mean very organic, there was no it was not a paid ad. It was nothing. It was just literally a post on his personal page offering to teach credit repair. And I paid him like 300 bucks.
13:46
And he got on a couple of zoom calls with me. And he taught me just a couple of things about social media, which really was a very watered down version of what Ron statement teaches within 30. So but but it still you know, I put it in play. I mean, all he told me was look, you need to post three times a day, you need to make people laugh. You need to make people cry, you need to make people pull for you. And you need to be consistent. And you need to make sure they know you're doing credit repair the fourth time, every four post, so twice, so 25% of the time you need to be you know, letting people know what you do and educate them on credit repair. And man, I'll be damned if I didn't start getting some clients.
14:25
Yeah, it's funny the way that works too, right. It's like, but you know, it's, you know, it's funny too. And I was listening to I don't know if you know, Mark Evans is but Mark Evans is like a good friend of Sean Whelan's that I've been following for a long time, but I was listening to his podcast, actually today. But I've heard him talking about it before. And he's like everybody in social media. You know, the problem is there's so much pressure because everybody you know, you look around at people's posts and like they have editors doing their stuff and all their posts look perfect, but the truth is, you know what, what sells people more than anything is authenticity. Right? I mean, if if
15:00
You're me, and you're sitting, you're scrolling and you're trying to find a company to invest in, and I don't mean invest, like my personal money, but like, I want to purchase something from like, let's, you know, anything, doesn't matter what it is, I'm going with the person that's more authentic, right? I don't, I don't care what perfect, you know, post looks like or how pretty the picture looks or what's in the background, you know, what's most importantly, is what's coming out of the person's heart and out of their mouth. And so, you know, it's funny, we have these coaches that teach us about posting, and in reality, Ryan says it too, you know, he's been doing business at such a large scale for so long. So his posts really look professional, and there's no all the captions coming on, and the colors, right, and the lighting is perfect. But the truth is, for guys like us who are still relatively at the bottom, who are trying to build ourselves up, just getting it out there, you know, just just getting those repetitions in and posting every day, right? Because it starts slow. You have a couple of people that are interested, a couple of people put a thumbs up, and then it just moves on from there. But I also want to touch back on something you were talking about before was really interesting. I didn't want to interrupt you. Because, you know, I want to hear what you had to say. But you were talking about the mornings walking the dog.
16:14
And it's really interesting that you brought that up because I have been such a huge
16:20
advocate for morning routines. And I talk about morning routines, I write posts about morning routines, I continuously talk to people about morning routines and how important they are. And what people don't understand, at what what's so important about the morning routine. Is that exactly what you're saying, it's it's as much about the routine as it is about those small wins. Like I know, every morning, I'm very similar. I don't walk the dogs. So I have a pretty large yard. And they're just not used to being on a leash. But that's besides the point I get up every morning, five o'clock, feed them, I read, I make a few posts on social media. And I go to the gym. And that's pretty much my morning, 98% of the time, there's a couple of days here and there things come up. My point is that is where a lot of my confidence has come from is from biting off those snapping off small wins. I mean, in reality, I feel from 5am to 9am, by the time I get home from the gym, I've accomplished more than most people do in an entire day. My day barely even started yet. And so when you carry that around with you, and you're putting those tokens in the bank, you know, you're filling your piggy bank up real early. So whatever happens from then on is just added wins. It's a bonus. And when people start to think like that, and they start to act like that their life takes off in a whole nother direction. So I was interesting that you brought that up. And, you know, maybe you can elaborate a little bit on where you've taken that, since that like Is it just about walking the dog? Or have you added things to your morning that make you more productive?
17:56
Yeah, man, I'm,
17:59
you know, I'm gonna Well, I mean, I completed 75 hard last year, which was life changing for me.
18:06
But it all started with just those walks, you know, those those walks, it was a, it was a I don't I don't know, first of all, let me say this, I don't know anybody that successful. Nobody. And when I say successful, I mean success, really successful people.
18:24
All nobody is just running around just loosely without any kind of plan in getting successful. And you have to start out with your with these routines. And these mornings like you from five to nine, you've got a regimen in place, you know exactly where you're going to be at every minute of that time between 5am and 9am. And you probably I'm sure you do between 9am. And whenever you start working every day, you have that same regimen, but knowing you don't just accidentally get somewhere without a plan. And in so you have to start with that. And that's why these mornings are so important because that's your time to work on your health to work on your, your mindset to work on your physically and get to a place where you can you can move throughout the day, but it is it goes back to what you said it's so small promises, you know that, okay, I'm gonna go knock that gym workout out for 45 minutes in the morning every morning. And then that's the check man. And that means those things compound, and those things work on that confidence. And then when you have that, then when you're trying to put that deal together that business deal together, you're reaching out to that client that's going to send you hundreds of clients, that you're or that business partner is going to send you hundreds of clients that you're going to partner with. You have the confidence and the courage to know I do what I say I'm going to do so if I tell this man or this woman, that I'm going to figure this out and I'm going to make this work so that way they can trust me to do business with me.
19:56
Then you've kept enough promises to yourself and you stack
20:00
those wins enough to where you know that when you put your when you put your word out there and you say I'm gonna do this, you know, you'll figure it out, you know, you'll do it. And that's, that's the cornerstone for for success.
20:13
For sure, man. And you know what I've had coaches say to me, and you started to say, compounding interest man, at all these little victories in a day. That's why, you know, it's huge to just make sure you move the ball forward every day. And, you know, it goes back to what we were talking about when we first started this conversation. But the truth is,
20:34
you know, looking at things as these huge monumental
20:39
targets, and they, they sometimes seem overwhelming, overwhelming, but the truth is, those small some days, you're gonna kill it, right, you're gonna get a bunch of clients, you're gonna close a bunch of clients, you're gonna sell like crazy, you're gonna have your best day. And then the next day, you might only get one client, or you might only get a couple of possible clients. But as long as you're constantly putting one foot in front of the other, and don't backtrack, because a lot of people start to backpedal, and they lose themselves. So as long as you're getting those small wins, that's why I love that routine. It's the same reason. It's like, I've already won today, like nine o'clock combs, I'm like I won today. So anything that happens from here on out, like I said, As a bonus, and that and that's huge to go into your day like that. Now, granted, obviously, when nine o'clock hits, I still want to crush the day. And there's still other objectives. And a lot of days, that's what ends up happening. But man, he just got to keep moving the ball forward. And it's also another thing that's really important, is stopping for a second, take a look over your shoulder, and realize where you started, right, like listening to your story. And where you are now. And where you I mean, 2020, you're talking a little less than three years ago, that you were on your couch, depressed, and, and losing Matt, your marriage. And then, you know, fast forward three years, just because you said fuck it, I'm going in on this. And I'm going to take one step in front of the other. And I'm going to compound that interest and look at where you are now. And it just goes to show you. So understanding compounding interest, which is funny, think about how quickly you got to where you are now in three years, think three years from now. Because that compounding interest is just the clock is spinning like crazy. So as long as you just keep putting in the work, so man, I'm proud of you, bro, honestly, like listening to it. And you know, everybody's got a story. I feel like people that are striving for success, most of us come from some pretty shitty situations, right? everybody's situation is a little different. We usually have struggles in a life. That's why were the most motivated that that's just my feeling I could be off base on that, um, that doesn't mean that there aren't successful people that that didn't have struggle, but I feel like, you know, you listen to the people in our circles, most of the stories you hear are people that went through hell, and that came out the other side and are crushing it or at least attempting to crush life. You know, we're all working at it. So it's really interesting. So I want I want to segue this but you're in the credit repair business, correct? Yes. So is that how you kind of like rolled into it you started posting people started coming to you? When did you decide, okay, this is obviously a tangible thing, because you said you're working at Home Depot selling baths, you know, bath remodeling, bathroom remodeling, when did you make this your business and say you know what, I'm going all in on this.
23:31
Yeah, well, I did. Okay, so during that time in when I'm I'm driving an hour each way to Waco and I'm still working at the at the working in the Home Depot for the for the bathroom and kitchen remodeling company. And I saw I answered the ad for credit repair, to learn credit repair, the guy gets on the Zoom calls with me, that's when I decided I was going to turn it into a business, I had no idea how I was going to do it. I still remember I was at my buddy's house when I was staying with and I'm sitting on a twin bed. And
24:06
I'm talking to a realtor. And she says okay, I'll give you a chance on your tour. I'll give you this client. She didn't know it was my very first client but I said I'll give you I'll give you a chance. And I'm like all right and then I still remember how it felt it was my very first client it was most exciting feeling in the world. And I hung up the phone and I'm like somebody this now I gotta figure out how to fix this person's credit. That's that's linear comes in. Yeah, that's That's literally how it goes though. When you're when you just jump in and figure it out and
24:40
manage it from there. You know, I still remember my 10th client I still remember my 25th clients to remember my 50th client I mean it's it's snowballed from there but it all started with just making that that promise to myself that I was gonna
24:58
change my I was gonna
25:00
turn my life around and I was gonna I was gonna follow through with that plan. And that plan was to keep that job no matter what. And I'm telling you, I was heartbroken, bro, I was heartbroken. There was one day, I was driving back from that job that was at selling those remodels in the Home Depot. And I was driving back and I was about halfway and I stopped, I was so heartbroken because of I knew I had blown my marriage. And I and I pulled over at this church, my grandmother, I've never told this story, never told this story. My grandmother had told me that if you're ever in trouble, stop at a church. And so I pulled over to this church in the parking lot. And I am crying man, I'm broken down. I'm just I'm just so upset about life and hurt and so bad. And I went into this church, and there was one guy in there that was because there was one car in the parking lot. And I went in, and man, this guy, just sit there and talk for a while he worked there, he was a preacher there. And
26:06
so I say that that story really doesn't have a any kind of crazy meaning to it, except to give you an idea of how much I was hurting. But I still, you know, went home and I'm sure worked on credit repair that night, I'm sure because I worked on the credit repair business at night and on weekends for for a while. I mean, while I while I got it together and started, you know, multiplying clients, but it was a battle. And it's not going to be easy. If you're somewhere out there. If you're a listener out there, and you're trying to turn your life around, it's not going to be easy. It's not something that's going to be you know, people one thing that we do, Greg and I are world men, as we hear, you know, everybody comes out and spits this stuff out all the time, man and, and they talk about it, and it makes it sound kind of easy. And I don't I want the message I want to give is the kids you're gonna get you're asking, I got my ass kicked. Yes, yesterday, or the day before it was either yesterday or the day before I had a terrible day I got I mean, the hell beat out of me. And, and really was just one of those days, you kind of touched on this earlier, man, they just happen and they happen to all of us. No matter who you are, or where you're at on the ladder are in the game. I mean, you're gonna get your butt kicked sometimes. And the key, the defining thing that keeps you going and keeps you in that one if bracket is that you don't quit. You keep driving. That's it, man. I mean, you nailed it. I mean, I was gonna say it, but you said it before me. But the truth is, that's it, you know, and I'm never personally the way I talk and the way that I am. I'm very forthcoming. I don't mince words, you know, but but the truth be told that, yeah, we have bad days. But but those are the days that you have to revert back to small steps, those small wins. It's that way every day. But I think as you get better, you are striving for bigger wins. You're like, Alright, I know I can get the small wins, ready, let's go after some big wins. But when you have a bad day, or you're getting kicked around, I've been in some dark places over the last few months, I've had some things happened to me. mean, you know, even recently with having my accounts hacked, and all that has been but it's always a struggle. But the truth is, you're just setting man never quit, never give in, never throw in the towel. Or what's what's also really important is the more times you get knocked down, the more times you have to battle back, the easier it does get. And what do I mean by that? Getting kicked around sucks no matter how you play it. But the very first time it happens to you, you're you're like lost, you're like a deer in headlights. Then the next time you say Alright, I've already been through this storm, I know how to weather it. And each time you weather it a little bit easier, a little bit easier, a little bit easier, where the next time you get kicked, you say no, all right, I got this and you're confident, you know, in the ability to come back. And you know, it does help to be in circles that we're in, right, we're all here to help each other out. We're all here to help each other win. And that's what I love about these groups to write like mastermind groups, especially apex, the type of people that are in there because it's not just about business. It's not just about leveling up. But there are genuine human beings in there that know exactly what it is you're feeling. So when you're really having a shit day and you put it out there, or you just reach out to a few people you've connected with changes everything because you have people to lean on because I don't know about you but one of the problems I have and I'm just being real is where I live. I don't have a ton of people that are operating at a very high level. So when I'm around my people like we even this even doing this podcast with you add a juice it adds a little energy into it filling my filling my cup so to speak, right it's it's charging my batteries because we're thinking very similarly how we want our lives to go
30:00
Oh, no, and we both have struggles in our life, we both have go through stuff. But this is that that that charge that we both sometimes need. Same thing, when we go to these events, and we all are around each other, you go home, so energized, but then you go home. And then depending on who you're around on a normal basis, you can start to have your energy taken from you. And that's been one of the hardest things for me to overcome is like keeping myself motivated. Yes, there are some people locally that are in APEX that do events. And that's been really helpful because I get together with them, you know, once a month or so. But, man, it's just, it can be a lonely journey to, you know, entrepreneurship, but it's so nice. You know, it's it's such a good feeling to build your own thing and work on your own stuff. Either boss of yourself, only have yourself to point out when things aren't going, right. So, but I'm proud of you, man. And I appreciate you sharing that story. I know you said you never shared it with anybody. But it's powerful stuff. You know, and this is the thing like being raw. And being vulnerable is so freakin important telling it as it is. I'm not here to live a fake life, nor are you. I want to tell people the struggles I want to tell people the victories i want to tell them all about it. Because if I help one my motto, drily, if I help one person, even on a daily basis at this point, because of how much I post, then I've done my job. One person goes home and says, You know what, Greg said this thing today. Like, it's funny, I started putting shorts on YouTube recently. And it's like, people message like, Man, this hit me at the perfect time I needed this. And it fills me up so much. Because it really that one person just needed my message that day. You know, and I'm sure more than that, but but but that's, that's the goal. And to see you go from couch to where you are now. And again, you know, where are we going to be a few years from now, the two of us, you know, I would love to be able to look back three years in this podcast and say, hold Shift Brown, you remember that podcast, I did it with this, like really weak background behind me and you were still building your shit, you know, and I was still building mine. Here we are looking at this, you know, and then it's quite amazing. But
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yeah, man, it's awesome. It's heavy. It's heavy. You know, I do think about these things. You know, it's, we turn into robots a little bit, but we're not robots. We are human. We have emotions. You know. And, you know, the people look at me as this like, big burly guy. The truth is I cry, I don't care. I have very soft inside, and a rough exterior, just just just from my upbringing, and kind of the shit that I went through to right, like we put up boundaries. And we have to put up blockades sometimes to protect ourselves, but slowly peeling those things are gonna wear on us, you know, we got to peel layers.
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You, Man, when you said that about entrepreneurship, being lonely man, you really hit me between the eyes with that one because it is man. It's It's a lonely because you're nobody.
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Nobody understands your, your particular journey. Like you know, as an entrepreneur, we all know, we all have things that were first of all fear. Let me say this. Fear never leaves. So that fear I was talking about being afraid of getting that first credit repair client when I first started my business. And then now my business is in a different place. And it's it's we've moved the move the ball down the field. But I still deal with, I've still got three things that I'm putting off that are sitting out there that I know I've got to take care of. And I'm scared of them. Because I know, because I've never done them before. I've never dealt with it before. It's new to me. So I still get in my head and get freaked out about it. And there's nobody really to talk to about that stuff. It's just something that you have to get on the horse yourself and ride in that unknown territory. And there's nobody that can do it for you. You can talk to people, and maybe they can tell you they've been there before. But it's just like when you were a kid learning how to swim. And you were terrified of the water. And people were all around you saying it's not that hard. It's not remember this kids are around you swim in and they're going to come on. It's easy. It's easy, do it but you're scared to death. So they can come tell you Hey, Kevin, it's easy to run your business to do this with your business. I've done it before. Just come on and do exactly what I'm doing. But you've never done it before. And it's just head game we play so that fear never leaves no matter what level you get to whether it's
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a billionaire or because that billionaire never made $2 billion. So he doesn't know how he or she doesn't know how to do that. So they're they're nervous they're upset because this is their whole life. So you know again, man, you're I'm like you are Brahma was about helping people and I hope if anybody can get one thing out of this podcast is for that person that's thinking about starting a business and hates their life and wants to do something different.
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Go do it. Hey,
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You're gonna be scared, it's never going to be where you're not going to be scared. But two years after, after the fact that your business is going strong, you're still going to be scared. But you'll have that confidence because you'll have kept those promises to yourself, and you'll be moving in the right direction with it. And it'll keep growing. It'll keep stacking on itself.
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Yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree more. And, and, you know, to add a layer onto that thing.
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What's, what's interesting is people look at fear, and I'm, listen, I'm no different. We're all human beings. But the truth is, you got to harness that fear. Because what's on the other side of it? What's on the other side of it, when you harness it, and you say, like, you have me I have a checklist, or you have a checklist of things to do. And we're looking at that thing. And we're like, Fuck, I really want to do this, like, I don't know if I'm gonna do it, right. But when you tackle it, right, and it's behind you, it's the most gratifying feeling that there is because you have now faced your fear, and you've gone through it. Now, it's the next thing. And yet, the next thing is going to be scary, because there's going to be another thing you've never done. Or it's the harnessing of it and saying, You know what, no, you're not getting me today. This is my only way forward. And that's the thing like you can't, it's a roadblock. You can go around the roadblock, or you can go through the roadblock. But one way or another, you've got to beat it. Because otherwise you're just going to be stuck where you're at. And that's not acceptable. So, you know, it's really important, you know, and I have coaches like, I'm also in the lions den. And so Sean Whalen talks about it all the time. He said, he says this multiple times, which is scary shit. And that's in all things, not just business, right? It's like, what what scares you go and do that shit. You know, even down he was telling a story once about snakes, he was like, definitely afraid of snakes. There's a guy he's friendly with inside of there who like runs a snake farm. And he went and it's like, hold a snake doesn't matter how stupid or how small, or how large to him. The snake was, like death to him. But he overcame it. And what happens you grow. There's so much growth in fear that people shy away from instead of going after? Yeah, obviously, there are things that you're you know, within reason, right? Like, you're not going to put yourself in harm's way
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to capture your you know, to conquer your fear. But, you know, all these little things like, I'll tell you one for me, I was deathly afraid of flying.
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And I would still get on airplanes, but I would I would be a mess. And then since now, I've been traveling to Texas so much. Then I went down to Florida. And then I went here and I went no, I don't care. I get on the plane now. I can close my eyes I relaxed, because I've overcome that and realize, okay, this isn't shit, I got this. And that takes put the reps on. Yeah, that's it, and you're doing this. So it's the same thing, right? But you know, are the things are so important.
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You know, man for me. And I'll just be vulnerable here a little bit with with the listeners. So for me in my growth in our startup, my wife actually in by the way, my wife and I are back together and have man for
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year and a half. I guess that's awesome news.
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But, um, she's the one that really pointed this out to me. And she couldn't be more, right. So now that I'm aware of it, I'm able to use it as a strength. But about every three to four months, I'll get in my head, and I'll decide, man, I don't need a seven figure business or eight figure business. Why am I trying to do this, I don't need to do all this stuff, man. And that always happens, right before I'm about to grow. And the reason that happens is that's me contracting because I'm in unfamiliar territory, and I'm scared. And I'm, and I'm growing my business. So So and then I'll kick it around for sometimes a month, you know, just in this in this rut in this bad place. And then all of a sudden, I get over it, and I drive forward and get to that next level, then my business grows, and I grow. And then we cruise on for a little while, and then I'll about every three or four months. I'll hit it again. But I've noticed that pattern. And if you're aware of that pattern, and you Rhett can recognize it and you're like, Okay, it's time to grow. That's what's going on here. Then you can handle it a little better. Yeah, for sure. I mean, you know, we hear it in our circles is the force of average, right? And so, I've taught myself, I've trained my mind to realize that when something is trying to hold me back, it's the same thing. It's like there's a breakthrough on the other side of that is every time you get close to something, it doesn't matter how big or how small it is. There's always going to be some, you know, the universe just provides that way provides in many ways, but one of the ways is Oh, you're getting close. Alright, you know, it's like it's like anytime you watch like, I don't know if you've ever watched like American Gladiators. You know, as an example. It's like the beginning
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Part of the obstacle is not as hard. The closer you get to the when it gets harder, and it gets harder and it gets harder. It's the same thing with everything football. Same thing, if you're a football watcher of people listening or watch football, you have 100 yards to go to score a touchdown, right? Sometimes these guys get 80 yards downfield, they get in the redzone. That's the hardest area to score. And because everything tightens up, so no matter how many things you want to put out there to explain what we're talking about, the truth is, that's always going to be the hardest. When you're at the, you're near the goal line, you're ready to push the ball over the line.
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But something is going to try to keep you from doing it and you just got to be are you going to be the runningback that just blast through the line? Are you going to be the one that gets stopped and have a five yard loss? That's what you have to ask yourself? How's that analogy? Yeah, that's a good
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man, you know,
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to go back off of that confidence thing, because Because confidence is everything, man. I don't know, you know, I don't know any entrepreneurs out there know, there might be some that won't admit it. But I don't know any entrepreneurs out there that aren't worried about the rug being pulled out from under them and losing everything. I think that's something we all cared like, we all we all worry that it's just all gonna be taken from it is everything gonna be taken from I think that's a normal entrepreneur, feeling. And
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what what that confidence brings, that starts with walking your dog for me, in my case. But for you, it might start with just walking around the block or just, you know, not eating sweets for a few days or something, whatever it is, but you're keeping those promises to yourself. But what happens whenever you whenever you build, and you create that business, and you get to that first client, that 10th client, that 20 client, that 100 plan, whenever you do this, and you still worry, it's still in the back of your mind, oh, this could all be taken from me. But here's what can't be taken from me. And this is what confidence brings to the table that will carry you along way. What confidence brings to the table is, you know, that it's that not really the business you build. It's not really the money you've got in the bank. It's the knowledge you have and the experience you have. And it's that getting your ass kicked, like I did the day before yesterday, get knocked all over the football field. That's the experience that you carry with you. And nobody can take that from you once you've earned it. Once you've put in the blood, sweat and tears that'll cure you to success no matter what you're doing in life. Oh, no doubt, man. I mean, but at the same time, you know, it's like,
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let me think of the best way to put this. But the reality comes down to this.
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The same reason we dug ourselves out of that place to get to where we are now. That's why I think a lot of guys in our position feel the way we do because there's always that little thing in the back of your head like, I don't, I don't I can't be I don't want to be that person ever again. So it works in your favor. But that's, it's it's almost funny, because that part that does fear it is also the same part that lists your ass right up off the floor when you hit it and keep moving. Alright, so it's like this. There's this like force going against each other? The truth is, if you really broke it down, and you really thought hard about it. Yeah, 99.9% I'm not gonna go anywhere near where I used to be for the same reason you said, but I think it is that fear, because of the things you've gone through. And it speaks to what I was saying to you earlier is that I feel like a lot of entrepreneurs, at least in our circles, I mean, again, I'm not speaking for everybody, but at least for me, and look at a student and you look at anybody look at you look at myself, look at any of the people we roll with. They've had us a journey to get to where they are, you know, they've had a struggle they've had, you know, life life altering experiences they've had, you know, some have been abused, some have been in really terrible relationships, some have had horrible family shit, some people have faced death, I mean, the list goes on. So that fear you carry around. It's partially scary, but that's also your fuel. That's your fuel to carry with you at all times. I have a flame ignited in me at all times. So when I find myself on the couch for 10 minutes more than I know I should
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that light goes off inside me. I'm like, No, get the fuck up and go do the thing. You know, you're supposed to do stop putting it off stop being because there's that thing chasing you. You know, it's funny, I was talking to another guy in apex. By about six months ago, five months ago, we were at a dinner and he was saying to me, you know, it's as if my, my past is always chasing me. And I feel like I have to outrun it. And he's like, every time I look over my shoulder, I see who I used to be, and it's trying to track me down. So it's like if I stop and I and I just don't do the things I'm doing right now that it'll catch back up with me and that's why I have the fire in me to keep moving every single day and it's really interesting. I never heard it said that way particularly but makes a ton of sense.
45:00
You know, it's, it's, it feels like you're one wrong decision away from going back to the things you hated. And that made you feel like shit. And that, you know, for you in your story that you're telling, you know, you almost lost your wife, you know, thankfully, she had an open mind and an open heart, and you guys are able to work things out, right, but like, wants to go back to that.
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And I still worry, I carry it in my mind every day that she's gonna come up and say they it's just not working for me, I'm just not, you're just not good enough. And that drives me. But you know what I want to share with you, man, I want to share with this with your listeners, man, this is something that I just read yesterday, and it really landed with me. It's Alex for Mozi. Now Alex are mostly the marketer, he's somebody you might want to check out, man, he's an amazing guy. And all the listeners might want to check him out. His name is I think it's it's Alex al EXHORMOZI. He's a great marketer, I mean, big time.
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Seven figure, our eight figure nine figure guy, man, he's an 893, guys, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars, a huge, huge marketing expert. But so he said he was on a Lewis Howes podcast. And he said, there's three characteristics of a successful person. Number one, you have to feel like you deserve success, you have to feel like you're a little bit a little bit of narcissism, and you're a little bit of, I'm worthy of this, I'm worthy of this, I you have to have that if you don't have that you just can't because it's too hard. You just can't keep driving for it, because there's too many too much bullshit in the way. So you have to have that, number one. The second thing he said was, you have this successful people have this feeling that
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they're always going to be judged on their merits. So it's never good enough, they gotta keep stacking, they gotta keep stacking those wins. That's why when we do six figures, we want to do seven figures. It never it never quits. And that's so that's a common trait, that that successful people and I'm not talking about just your your six figure guy, I'm talking about successful people that with these characteristics. And so you've got in the third is going to be an a bit ability to focus and stay consistent on one thing. So for me that one thing was when I when I hung my head on credit repair, I went all in on it, and I've stayed all in on it. And that being able to do that it's really paid off for me. So you've got to recap it, you've got to feel like you deserve it, you've got to feel like you deserve success that you are worthy of. And then then the next thing is you got to have that drive that fear that you're going to be judged on your merits. So you want to just keep stacking, and keep stacking on that. That's something that you got to have. And then the third thing is you have to have a relentless focus. Those three things right there. Okay, you can success. Yeah, I mean, that's really powerful man. And it does hit home, you know, and if you're any of your one of those types of people, as soon as you hear you're probably like being I got to do it. You know, I gotta get on it. And it's funny. You know, you're saying that this is really an analogy, but I was also watching. I don't know, you're a baseball fan. Oh, yeah. Right. So for any of my listeners, Keith Hernandez, because I grew up a Met fan. So and he was on the mat. So I happened to be watching sny, which is the the station for the Mets here in New York. And they did like a special on his career, basically. And there was this one part, when he was talking about, he had already won a Gold Glove. He had
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won MVP, he won the world's like he basically accomplished ever he won batting titles, he he's like I accomplished everything you can possibly accomplish in the game. And it's, you know, he got to a point where it's like, well, what else is there? And so going back to what you were talking about, about being an entrepreneur, now, obviously, he found another level and they put together a really great team and they had good camaraderie and, you know, they want another World Series. But the point is, I think that's the difference too, with like goals, and really where you see yourself going, because once you attain goals, but you have to constantly keep moving the bar, because if you just reach your thing, and that's it, you're there's gonna be an empty space, there's gonna be a void. And I think that speaks to what what he's talking about and what you were just talking about, about why we keep going to the next thing. So it's like, yeah, I want to hit six figures. Boom, I did it. Okay, now I want to hit seven figures. Now I want to hit eight figures, right? You're constantly because otherwise what is there? I'm not trying to stop.
49:52
I can't close it. That's for sure. It's it. I mean, look at yourself, right? I mean, isn't it amazing and written this is the power
50:00
Are of humans. And that's for people listening, I really want you to perk your ears up for this because this is really, really powerful when I'm about to tell you.
50:09
We don't give ourselves enough credit, human beings have so much we wield a power people cannot understand. The problem is that we have been indoctrinated. I'm not going to get into politics, but we have been indoctrinated as a human species, at least in this country, by television, by Internet, by social media, by all the things. And so we lack a drive we lack of focus gave back to David Goggins. When we were first talking about, he always says, We have way more in the tank, I think, I don't know if he calls it the 40% rule or something like that. So he's like, when you hit that percentage, you always have another gear. But we've been trained to not use that gear. And so as entrepreneurs, right, and you're a perfect example, as am I, I was homeless, I was broke, I literally was on my acid 18. And I have $20 bill in my pocket to my name that was it. And somehow, through all that, I now own a multimillion dollar company. And I'm working on other stuff. I'm writing a book, I have a podcast, right? Like, sometimes when you stop and you think, now look at yourself, a few years ago, only few years ago, you were sitting on a couch, depressed, and your whole life was literally falling apart, like every aspect of your life was going to shit. And somehow you dug you, it's like you. And that's that thing, too, that people need to understand. There's that aha moment, and you had your awakening, you were talking about the awakening earlier. And boom. And just like that, your brain just said, the fuck am I doing. And you turn that switch. And that's how easy it is. I know it sounds easy when I say it, but it is you have to take that time for yourself. I don't care if you sit in a dark room, or sit on a beach like I live near the beach, and I don't care wherever that quiet place is for you. And really
52:07
audit your life. Look at it, who's in your circles, who are you spending time with, where's your energy going, who's taking your energy, who you giving your energy to, and start altering little things. Again, going back to when we started this podcast off.
52:24
It isn't about tackling your whole life in one day. Let's start writing things down. Make yourself a list of the people you're spending time with make, start making pros and cons of what you have going on. And start making little changes and start altering your life. Everything will change for you will I promise you that I'm telling you, you're listening to a guy who tried to take his own life, who had absolutely nothing and had every single aspect of his life ripped away from him. Family included.
52:56
And I'm sitting here talking to you, and I get great guests on. Like my man here was just sharing all this stuff. And it's just like been an amazing conversation. And we're hitting on so many important topics. But it is, as much as it sounds hard It is that simple. You just have to take that first step.
53:15
Amen brother. And you know, if you if you will write down if the listeners today will start today and write down three things. And then for those for write down three things promises that you're going to keep to yourself today, I don't care what those promises are, they can be anything they can be, I'm going to drink three bottles of water today. And I'm going to and I'm going to walk around the block, and I'm gonna write my goals down or whatever it may be. So just three things. And you keep those promises to yourself for 30 days. And then the next then after that 30 days on 30 day 31 Write down, add to those three goals with three more goals and do that for 60 days. Then the next third is that 61 day 61 Write down nine goals including the six that you've already gotten in the habit of
54:07
that 90 day period, if you will do that for 90 days will change your life. Trust me when I tell you that so for 30 days write down three promises to yourself keep those promises to yourself. Now you're gaining momentum.
54:22
The six the six day 31 You're going to write down six things for the next 60 days for the next 30 days. You're going to keep those those promises six promises to yourself. Now you're gaining traction.
54:34
The 99 nine items on day 61 And for the next 30 days you're going to keep those promises to yourself man promises to yourself for 30 days. Now I promise you after that 90 days, you will have changed your life and you will recognize it mainly you will recognize it as how you feel about yourself Your confidence will be on a new level.
54:55
Is that a way to close a show or what? Almost want you to mic drop it
55:00
You had like the mic in your hand that would be the let it go let it hit the floor. Because that's really all we need to say. I mean, this has been
55:09
I've had a bunch of shows and I'm not blowing smoke up your ass this was a really powerful episode because we got really deep on things that are really important. And we're we're really given people the steps to just get there get their shit going, you know what I mean? And if you're already gone, we give them steps. How do you keep moving forward? So it's really been amazing. One of the things I like to do when I close out is I like to ask the listeners
55:32
what's like one big project if they want to share that they're working on currently I know you share with me your your handles but you can also share that with the group and you know with the with the listeners as well this way they know where to find you.
55:45
Yeah, absolutely man. Appreciate that. Three big credit health is the name of my my is my website, three B credit health.com is where you can find me for credit repair. Or you can find me always you can find me on Facebook, just Kevin Faulkner, Waco, Texas. And I'll come up you'll see me you'll see my wife Kelly, you'll see my dog cash that I talked about walking earlier. So you can find me there friend requests me shoot me a DM I'll help you out any way I can. Kevin Faulkner coaching.com is where I've got my head in the coaching ring. I'd love to do one on one coaching. So I'm always game for that if somebody's interested as well. So three big credit health.com and Kevin Faulkner coaching.com.
56:30
Now what's uh, you have any, like big things going on right now that you want to share with everybody? Or is that basically what you have going on? You're just not going out to coaching and knocking out the credit repair stuff. You have anything going on behind the scenes that you want to share? I don't want to share, you know, well, right right now my main focus is and we talked about folks in number three on Alex are moseys three successful people. And right now my focus is dialed in, on scaling my credit repair business and working on my SOPs, and really getting that laid out where it's keeping the integrity of customer fulfillment, and taking care of those customers the way we're in a way I can put my name on it. So I'm really, really dialed in on that for the rest of this year, for sure. And then next year, I've got some things on top, like a book and some other things that I'm gonna be doing so he's Sir, I'm happy for you, man. Dude, super proud. I couldn't tell you how much I appreciate you coming on man. And I mean, it's just funny doing these podcasts, you never know where they're gonna go. Every guest is different. Every personality is different. But it's been an absolute honor and pleasure to have you on and I've really enjoyed this conversation. And I hopefully it springboards into an even deeper relationship off off air. So I appreciate you coming on for the listeners. You know what to do leave me that five star review. And if you don't think it's five star worthy shoot me a message anyway, let me know what you think of it where we can be a little bit better. Mali striving for greatness. So Kevin, again, I appreciate you, brother. And now we're definitely going to stay in touch ever eyebrow? Yes, sir. Hi, thank you for having me. Man. This has been a blast. Yeah, it's been awesome. All right, everybody.
58:10
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Transcribed by https://otter.ai