SPEAKER_00 1:17

If you're enjoying this channel, I need you to do me a great favor. Yes, I do. I need you to subscribe to the channel. So if you can, just click the subscription button because it helps us to give you more great content. How's that? You hit the subscription button, I give you more great content. Deal? Deal.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

These systems were set up to keep you poor.

SPEAKER_00 1:46

You have become a millionaire by just what you're talking about.

SPEAKER_01 1:52

My wife and I, we are multimillionaires. And the way that we were able to do it was Hello, actor.

SPEAKER_00 1:59

Welcome to Acting Smarter Now. My name is Lydia Nicole, actor, producer, and acting career coach dedicated to helping you cut through the noise, own your craft, and take your career from undiscovered to unstoppable. I got a question for you today. Do you know what it takes to amass wealth? I know as actors, we all want to be rich and famous, but do you actually know the steps you need to take in order to get there? Well, today you are in for a treat because my guest is the one, the only, Mr. Chay Willis, owner and founder of Wealth is a Journey. And he came from humble beginnings, but was able to amass millions of dollars by following the steps that he's going to be sharing with us today. So without further ado, let's go to the interview. Is there such a thing as good debt for creative entrepreneurs? Or should the goal always be zero debt?

SPEAKER_01 3:00

No, I think I think there is a such thing as good debt, but I think also we need to know how to handle regular debt first. So for like entrepreneurs, they get loans to build up the business and so forth and so on. But the problem is a lot of us were never taught how to manage our personal finances. And I say to entrepreneurs, if you don't know how to manage your personal finances, then getting into business and getting debt to build a business is a recipe for disaster. Because if you don't know how to pay your regular bills or pay down debt and you think that you can borrow money to get out of debt, then you'll probably do the same thing in your business. And if you don't know how to reduce your expenses, then you'll do the same thing in your business, and then you'll have a mound and mound in piles of debt. And when people have a lot of debt, then they make a lot of mistakes. And uh so I say to make sure that you uh know how to handle your personal finances first before you get any business debt, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 4:03

Absolutely. So I'm an actor starting out, I don't really have much money. I'm taking these little jobs. I have to have a good amount of money to invest in my career. I need pictures, I need to have my real shot and edit it. I need to have subscriptions to casting sites so I can submit myself. What would you tell me starting out of the gate so that I don't accumulate all that debt and then am walking like the struggling artist I'm told I'm supposed to be?

SPEAKER_01 4:40

Yes. Uh, first thing I would do is tell you to set up a budget. And I know that that's a very scary word for a lot of people, but your budget is going to dictate how you can or cannot move based on whatever your your long-term goals are. So if your long-term goals are to uh be that uh actor of notoriety, getting all this, you know, fame and things of that nature. I think that we need to be able to pay our bills, right? Take care of our four walls, clothes, food, shelter, all that stuff. Whatever money's left over in your budget, that money can then go to doing your acting things, your headshots, and and all the different things that you need to do. And that works for acting. And if you're getting into real estate or anything of that nature, and that's how I got into real estate. I I took my money from my budget, I had maybe a $500 left over at the end of the month, and that money got funneled into the bank. So when I was ready to buy a real estate or investment property, I was able to do that. Same thing can apply for actors. Now, if you're just trying to do full-time acting and you're not trying to get a job to then be able to budget your money, that can be a problem. So I think that you need to use your job, if you have one, to fund your future lifestyle, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Yes. So now let's talk about budget for those people who may have heard the word but don't know what that means.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

Basically, it's your income minus whatever your expenses are. Whatever money is left over, then that's when you can reduce your expenses by paying down debt. You can fund it to your uh acting career or whatever your other business endeavors are. And that's how we that's how we set up our budget. And I think a lot of people just pay their bills, and then whatever money's left over, they just they just blow it. And that's where we go wrong because there's no plan for us being able to build something, whether it be wealth or acting career, whatever the case may be. So a budget is basically telling your money where to go. And I think the the scary part of a lot of people thinking, oh, budget, budget, budget, I'm running. I'm not going to do that, is it gives you a plan for telling your money where to go. Again, based on whatever your long-term goals are. And I think that's where a lot of us go wrong. We don't have any long-term goals. We just think budgeting our money, we're just going to pay our bills. When our bills are paid, then that's when we're just going to go blow the money on whatever the thing is that we that we don't have a responsibility to, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

I heard you talking about discipline with money.

SPEAKER_01 7:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

That is such an odd combination. Discipline and money to actors? What? So if I have to discipline myself with my money, let's say I do have $100 a month after I've paid everything off. Yep. Um, should that $100 go into one account? Should I have several accounts? Maybe should I have an account for, let's say, materials that I need for my career, and then maybe have a little bit of money for savings for the unexpected? Or do I put it all in one bucket and just go, it comes out, whatever is in this bucket, I'm gonna use.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

That's a very good question, Lydia. And I need to back up first. Before we start putting away money for acting and all the different things, uh, outside of, again, taking care of your four walls, we need to set up an emergency fund first. Because we're all adults here, right? And if you're not an adult, you'll you'll find out later. Life is going to happen. Life is going to life, and something unexpected is going to happen, whether it be your car, whether it be your apartment, whether it be your house, a family member. Somebody's going to need something and it's going to be an emergency, something that's unexpected. So we don't want to stop investing in our career or our future as far as acting. So we want to have a pile of cash just sitting off to the side first before we start building for our acting career or of any other business endeavor that we have, if that makes sense. So that would look like anywhere from three to six months of an emergency fund, whatever your expenses are, three to six months. Then after that, after we have that, then we can get busy and start putting away money in whatever bucket, bucket one, bucket two, bucket three. Um, but I think anything more than one bucket may be a little too much because we don't want to have our monies all over the place because that can cause confusion. And we just need to try to simplify things because, again, a lot of us were never taught how to handle money. So I think if we keep it simple, it will cause less anxiety for us when we're trying to build for the future.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

Okay. I'm just getting ready to get out of acting school or university, and I'm ready to go and be that actor. You're telling me I should still have an emergency fund before I start pounding the pavement for acting. I have student debt.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 10:01

I don't know that I really want to take a job.

SPEAKER_01 10:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

But I want to pursue my career.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Yes. So my thing is, anybody who has had it had any level of success, no, whether it's financial, family, what whatever the successes are, there are going to need to be sacrifices made to get to your end goal. You said something very important that I that people I work with doing their budgets, they want to live a life, but they don't want to sacrifice. You said that I have student debt, I don't want to get a job, I just want to pursue my acting career. But sometimes we have to do what we have to do so then we can do what we want to do. Like, there's going to have to be some type of sacrifice made to get to your end goal. But if you don't want to sacrifice, something is going to end up getting sacrificed later on. So I say get to sacrificing early so then you can get those early gains and those early wins, which then is going to build the discipline because you're seeing yourself win with money and you're saying you have a pile of cash saved off to the side, and then you can get busy doing your acting gig. Now, before you say, Yeah, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about, think about having a pile of debt on you, whatever your debt is. It doesn't have to be a pile, it could be $10,000, and you don't have any money saved on.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

That's a pile, Shay. That's a pile.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

I'm just I don't know. There's different levels of pile.

SPEAKER_00 11:39

I think whatever debt you have on you can feel like a pile. I agree. People are knocking on your door and saying, uh, you owe us, you haven't paid this month's installment. We're coming. We're coming.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

So think about that, and then something that you don't expect just comes up. That will put you in panic mode. Like, oh my God, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't have any money saved up. I got $10,000, $5,000 in debt, uh, these people are knocking on my door. What happens is because we panic, we end up making the problem worse. So if you have some money set off to the side, it'll help alleviate you making another bad decision to make your problem even worse. So that's why I say put the money off to the side, do the things that you don't want to do. So then later on you can do what you want to do. Put the money off to the side, save the money, get the job that you probably don't want to do, put them out, put the money away, and then if something happens, you're not going to compound the problem by making another mistake or borrowing more money, thinking that that's gonna help the problem go away when it's really not.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

I heard you say that before you can get to the outer side, you gotta go into the inner side. So if I grew up never really being taught about budgeting and savings and investing, how do I start that today? Hey actor, where are you gonna be in 90 days from now? Is it gonna be with that same old headshot that is not getting you anywhere? That same old story that it's everybody else's fault while you're not booking, or even worse, depression because nothing is happening for your career. Well, let me help you because in 90 days from now, you can have a whole new set of pictures that are built on your brand, you can have a list of agents that actually would fit what it is that you sell and a plan to have a more prosperous career. Listen, I cannot book you, but I can make you bookable. So if you are ready, willing, and excited to change your circumstances, come and join us at ActingSmarterCircle.com, sign up and get started. We're a weekly community that helps actors get in gear and get the career that they deserve.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

It's as simple as having a desire to do it. And I think that's where anything or any level of success starts. It starts with that desire. And then once you have the desire, if you're paying attention, you will be placed around people that is going to help you get to your goal if you're paying attention. My desire, because I grew up the same way, I grew up poor, financially challenged, whatever you want to call it.

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Temporarily out of cash.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

There you go. There you go. And uh I lived in a three-bedroom, uh one-bath house with seven people, probably just like a lot of people that that are watching this podcast. But I also grew up in a neighborhood that was drug infested, probably like a lot of other people. And from what I saw when I walked out outside, I saw you know, hopelessness, despair, different things of that nature. But then when I went to school, I went to uh Lower Marion High School, I went to school with Kobe Bryant. So when I went to school, I saw abundance. So it let me know that it's out there. I didn't necessarily know how to get it, but I had the burning desire. So I believe that God put it in my heart to at least have the work ethic and understanding that nobody's coming to save me. So if I do want whatever I want, whatever that is, I'm gonna have to work for it. So that's where it starts. Starts with that desire. And then I believe that he connected me with different people to help me reach my goal. But it doesn't stop because there's there's always, like you said, the $10,000 is a lot of money. Some to some people, it's not a lot of money, but there's always a different level. After you reach one level, you think that that's it. But there's always another level that you're going to be able to go to or that you're gonna have to go to to further reach your goal. Because once you reach the one goal, then you're like, okay, well, I reached that goal. Like, how much further can I actually go? And then you end up keep going and then keep going and then keep going.

SPEAKER_00 16:16

So, okay, so I'm an actor. I'm starting out, I'm doing a bunch of jobs in order to pay my bills. I'm starting to budget. I'm a little frustrated because it gets a little dicey sometimes for me to do my work and still pursue my craft. I gotta pay for classes, I have to pay for transportation, I have to pay for maybe I have to buy an outfit for an event or I have to go to places. So I heard you say you have to have the burning desire. I have a burning desire to act. I don't have a burning desire for these jobs. Um, what do I need to do in order to start training my mind to go, I'll eat tune it today so that I can have steak tomorrow? What what are the what are some of the steps I need to give to myself for my mind to get out of that? I hate this job, I hate doing these stupid jobs, I hate instead of um me looking at these jobs are my opportunity to get where I want to go. What should I start saying to myself or what actions should I start taking in order not to feel like this is not fair? It's not fair that I gotta do three jobs in order to pursue my career.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

Yeah, that's a very, very good question. I think along with the burning desire, it's changing your mindset because when I was coming up, I didn't think it was fair that I couldn't live with my parents. But that was the best thing that ever happened to me because it helped me and it prepared me to be a better parent. Because I thought to myself, well, I knew I grew up uh financially challenged, I didn't have a lot of money, so that's one thing. What did I learn from when I grew up? What did I learn from the different challenges that I've that I've gone through? So that never happens to me moving forward. So if you're an actor, you're struggling, you don't have a lot of money, you understand how uh not having money makes you feel. So doing those menial jobs, uh eating tuna fish, so then you don't have to eat it later, you can eat steak later, building up those small wins of okay, well, I was able to save up $100. I know my goal was only $50. I was able to save up $100. Now, you may think to yourself, that's small, but those small wins compounded pay huge dividends later on. So, again, what did you learn from uh from different challenges that you faced either growing up or even last week? So they so those things never happen again. So, again, growing up poor, it made me fight even harder to be able to figure out how wealthy people actually get wealthy. They reduce their expenses, they invest their money, they have emergency funds, and then they also teach their children how to do the thing that they're doing. So then later on, it keeps the children out of their pocket, they can thrive on their own, and life is good for everybody. At the end of the day, nobody wants their kid coming back home to live with them after you know we've worked so hard to get them to the point where they can launch on their own. And growing up, I saw too, adults living with other adults. And I thought to myself that that's a problem. So, what do I need to do for my son to show him that hey, you need to be fiscally responsible, you need to be financially responsible, you need to know how to handle money. So then when you be turned 18 or you get out of college or whatever your endeavor is going to be after high school, you don't have to come back. So if those things like learning and paying attention to those things that happen leading up to wherever you are in life, it'll tell you a lot of things on what to do and what not to do if we're paying attention.

SPEAKER_00 20:35

This is good. You said adults living with adults. So I'm an actor and I have five roommates, and I'm struggling a little bit. Sure. How do I stay in a mindset to say this is not forever? I'm gonna get where I need to go. I just need to be patient and continue my work ethic, continue to work on what I need to work and stay steady and stay the course.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

Yeah. Let me um clarify something. If you are an actor and you're living with five roommates, that's completely different than grown adults coming back to live home, is what is what I was what I was talking about. And those things happen because they may or may not have been taught on how to handle money, things of that nature. This that's exactly what I'm talking about. Now, if you're uh you have five roommates, whatever the case, that's fine. But the roommates that you do have, they need to be of the mindset of I'm gonna make it one day. And those conversations and the people that you're around, believe it or not, negativity or positivity, it seeps into you. And when it seeps into you, sometimes you can start talking like the people that you're hanging around. We're in a community together, and we say certain things, and then there's certain things we do not say. Like I'm trying to do X, Y, no, no, no, we're not trying to do anything.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

We get a pow pow.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

There you go. You get you get corrected. So in your environment is going to be huge. Case in point. This has nothing to do with what we're saying, but it has everything to do with it. When I was in college, I'm I'm in a fraternity, so I'm hanging out with my friends, I'm doing a lot of uh fraternity things. But when I get married a couple years after I get out of college, I can't do those things anymore because I'm married. But if I do still hang out with with certain people, then that may seep into me as as it being acceptable to continue to do when if my wife found out, then I will be in trouble. And I may be divorced, if that makes sense. So hanging around certain people, you have to you if if you feel like the the people, and you know, if you if the people that you're hanging around are negative, they have a negative mindset, everything, every time you guys talk, you're talking about somebody, or it's a woe is me. Those people you need to step away from. I'm I'm telling you, and and you and they may. Say to you, oh well, you think you're better than me. No, no, no, I don't. But this is not conducive to where I'm trying to be. And I had to do it for years. I had to step away from my friends and to the point where I was able to be around them and not necessarily do the things that they were doing, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

Absolutely. And I think it's also about pruning. We're talking about who you're hanging with, you know, that sometimes you got to prune people. That if they say you think you're better than me, no, but I want more than what you want.

SPEAKER_01 23:48

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

And I think I think that's important. I have many times over have sat with people that I love, that I care about, and just say, you know what, this is not working for me. I love you, but every time you come to me, it's with a complaint, it's it's gossiping, it's um you you are a victim. I said you're not a victim. And you never, you always come to me with a problem. You never come to me with a solution. You never come to me with a win. You know, you get me invested in your in your devastation, but you never come back when you're you're able to clear it up. You never come back and say, oh my God, I I was able to figure it out or I took your advice and I did it. And and for those people, I I have come to them and said, you know what? If I don't get wins from you for the next 10 calls or the next 10 visits, I'm shutting down this relationship. And I think it's important to take care of yourself in that way to seek outside influences who are going to lift you up, who are going to celebrate you and not tolerate you, who are going to encourage you instead of belittling you. It's like, oh, why are you taking that class for? Oh, why are you doing that for? Why, you know, why did you have to buy a new phone? Um, and not understanding that phone is part of my business because if I want to go on auditions, I need to be able to do self-tapes. I cannot do a self-tape with a broke down, busted uh uh phone that the camera is cracked on it. I need to level up my game. We're talking about budgeting, and we have to be very careful of where we're spending the money, but we also have to be very smart as business owners because to me, being an actor or creative, you are the CEO of your company.

SPEAKER_01 25:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:52

Your story is very impressive in that you you grew up without. Uh, you know, you were able to see it, uh, you know, on the other side, like, oh my God, they got money, they can do this and do that. And you didn't go off and sell drugs. I don't think you didn't go off.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

No, no, I didn't. You're right.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I did not. But I'm not built for that.

SPEAKER_00 26:16

But you were able to go, there is a better way. I want it, and let me find out how I can get there. So you started getting certain education in you, certain information in you that allowed you to not only see something better, but go, I can have that. And if I take these steps, I can do it. So, my question to you is what were the first steps that you started to take to accumulate wealth? Um, because for people who are watching and and they don't know you and they're seeing you for the first time, you have become a millionaire by just what you're talking about. You have made millions and you still have your job, which I love.

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Yeah, absolutely. I'm I'm still a little uncomfortable saying that, but you you are absolutely right. Yes, uh uh, my wife and I, we are multimillionaires, and um, the way that we were able to do it was was little pieces, little wins at a time. And the best education started at home. Where do we grow up? My wife grew up, she grew up in the projects in Chester, Pennsylvania. Grew up in the projects, and I didn't necessarily grow up in the projects, but I grew up in an undesirable uh neighborhood at the time.

SPEAKER_00 27:38

If that is projects adjacent.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

Depending on who you ask. Yeah, it was it was um, it was not it was not necessarily desirable, but uh I'm that was probably the best thing again that ever happened to me because it taught me a lot about saving. Now, the the first thing was we started accumulating assets early. And uh my thing was is I to your earlier point about borrowing money and getting into debt. I uh we my wife and I started buying rental properties around 2007, 2008. Then the 2008 crash happened, the housing crash, and then they stopped borrowing, they stopped allowing people to borrow money because of you know what was going on. So, like, okay, well, we still want real estate, so how are we going to get it? Our first house that we bought was 23,500 bucks. And I'm like, okay, well, if we bought this house for 23,5, how long would it take us to save up 23,500 to maybe buy another one? So it took years.

SPEAKER_00 28:42

You started buying property. Did you already have a house? Had you already started budgeting?

SPEAKER_01 28:48

Yep, yep. So, okay, yes. So my the first house, I got out of school when I was 21. I started working at enterprise rental car, uh, making $28,000 a year. So I was making absolutely nothing, no money at all. But I will budget my money because I said to myself, in two years, I want to own a home. So this was 2000, uh, 2001. I started saving my money. I saved up about maybe $8,000 by budgeting my money, took care of my necessities, and then the rest of it was put into a savings account so I can have a down payment for a house. So I've got into the first home buyers program. They they gave me a grant for that, and then I bought my first house for $65,000. That's the house that my wife and I were living in once we got married in 2005, I believe it was. We got married. So after that, we're like, okay, well, we want to buy real estate so we can have the real estate supplement our income so then we can start, we can walk away from our corporate jobs. My wife's a nurse, I was working at enterprise, and so we went off from there. So 2008 happened, they stopped lending money. I'm like, okay, well, we still want to buy real estate.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Did you lose money in that period?

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Equity-wise, yeah. Okay, because we we had just we at 2008 happened, we had just moved to down in Delaware, and the house that we bought, I believe it was $200,000. But then when we moved in, the equity in the house dropped like a rock. So we didn't we didn't get right side up into the house until we moved in 2016.

unknown 30:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

So we saved, saved, saved, saved, saved, then bought another property in 2011. They started borrowing, they started letting people borrow money again. So my realtor came to me and said, Hey, um, you know, you know that they're they're lending money again because I was ready to buy the house cash because we had saved up about I think like 40 grand or something like that within that time period. So we get to the table and they're like, hey, well, you know, you can we can start borrowing money again. So then I went to Chase Bank, got me a mortgage, and then the the time changed my life. My my buddy, I was asking him what books he was reading, and then he said he was reading the total money makeover by Dave Ramsey. And before you say, free send me hate mail. I we don't like Dave Ramsey, don't worry about it, that's fine. But I bought the bought the rental property, and then two months later, because the money was sitting in my account, I bought it with a mortgage. I ended up paying it off because I thought to myself, well, if we saved up 40 grand, the the next house we bought was uh 37,000. If we can save up 40 grand in a couple years, with the rent money that's coming in from that place, plus the money that we're head we have from our jobs, how fast can we buy another one? Cash now we don't owe anybody anything, if that makes sense. So then it just so happened uh a year or two later, realtor came back and said, Hey, I think I got a short sale for you. I think we can get this deal done for twelve thousand five hundred dollars, a whole house.

SPEAKER_00 31:58

And what is the short sale?

SPEAKER_01 32:00

A short sale is basically when the property owner can't pay the mortgage, and they the the bank takes it and then they try to sell it for as much money as they can. And I was the recipient of that of being ready because I had the pile of money sitting off to the side. So I so we paid that cash, and then a couple years later, because we had uh three properties working now, saving up money from those properties that we own outright now because we paid them down, paid them off, and then the next house paid $15,000 for, and that was a a larger home because that was a that was another that was a foreclosure. So if you prepare yourself for opportunities that come, then those opportunities will present themselves.

SPEAKER_00 32:44

How did you know, first of all, to start buying property? Like what entered your mind to go, hey, I'm married, my wife has a nursing job, she gets paid well. I'm working at at Enterprise, I don't get paid as well as my wife. I'm sure that was probably the case. She was making way more than you were, but you guys figured out we're gonna buy our house.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

And then you go, oh, wait a minute. We we've cut down our expenses. Let's buy property. What how did that come about?

SPEAKER_01 33:25

So I always wanted real estate. Um, my my my biological father and I didn't live together. And uh just like probably any other kid that didn't live with their dad, the dad would come pick you up sometimes. And we would go on these rides downtown to Philadelphia, downtown Philly. I used to love just looking at the buildings. I'm eight or nine years old or so. But this one particular time happened. Uh, he was about to pick me up. We he picked me up. We're about to go downtown. He pulls over on the side of the road and said, Hey, I'll be right back. He runs into this house, he comes back outside, he hands me a wad of money. And I thought he went inside the house and robbed the people. I'm like, yo, where did you get all this money from? Like, what happened? He's like, yo, these people pay me to live here. I said, What? He said, Yeah, they pay me to live here. He's a landlord, yeah. So ever since then, I always wanted real estate. And I just thought that that was the coolest thing ever. That you own an asset that continues to appreciate, and then you you're pulling out money every month. I just thought that that was the most fascinating thing ever. So ever since then, I always wanted real estate, and then I got my wife on board, and then we just started getting uh property together. But to your point earlier, my wife and I's journey was a process because even though she was making more money than me, I always had more money than her because she grew up financially challenged as well. And when she started making money, just like anybody else who's probably watching this podcast, hey, I get I'm getting money now. Now it's time to run it up. I'm going to the mall, I'm going to the car dealership, I'm buying all these different things because I couldn't afford it back when I was younger. And I remember how that made me feel, and I hated it. So now I'm getting a little bit of money and I'm going to go run it up. And I get that. But I was always in a mindset of I can live okay, but I would rather have money. I was always in that mindset. Um now, I'm not going to get, don't, don't get it messed up. I did buy the the Gucci, I did buy the Louie, I did get into that pattern and that loop. And then I was like, you know what? If I focus, if I start to start focusing more of my attention on actually building wealth, not looking wealthy, but actually being wealthy, then um I can buy those things later on down the line. But then when you get to the actual wealth, you realize that those things are not really important because you can buy them. Like I've really got money, like I don't need to look wealthy at all.

SPEAKER_00 35:54

But that's uh that mindset from growing up as a kid and not having and wanting. I and I listen, I totally understand. I've lived that I've been there. I, you know, I won. I at 13, I'll tell you my uh my mother. We were on welfare. Um and and and my mother.

SPEAKER_01 36:21

Hold on, what about what about gumbo cheese sandwiches like the greatest, like the the gumbo cheese is the wait a minute, that cheese was the best cheese ever.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

I would get so mad at my mother when she would sell the cheese. She would get the cheese and sell it. I was like, I'm sorry, also the two the chicken that came in the can. That's all I have to say. That was a chicken that came in the can. Oh my god. Anyway, but there were yes, there were some perks. The government food, there were a couple of perks, but um, she gave me $30 to go get an outfit for Easter. I went to Bloomingdale's and bought a silk burnt orange blouse that was $30. I sat at home in my silk blouse shirt and no pants or skirt because all I had was the shirt. I could not go out. But can I tell you I was the happiest kid because I had a silk blouse. I was like, I got a silk blouse. And it and the the thing of switching your mindset, getting out of that uh for me, it was the ment the welfare mentality. Sure. Right? It was um being labeled as a kid, oh your welfare baby, your you know, your welfare kid. And it was like, ah, but for me, because of that, I was working at 10 years old. I was working, I was whatever I could do, I would go to the bodega and ask the guy if I could sweep the outside so I could earn a little money. I worked at the record shop. I did everything I could. So I was working from 10 on. I babysat, I did whatever I could to make money. My problem was I didn't understand the concept of you make money but then put it away. Like I would make money and my and then I would give it to my mom, and my mom would blow it. But but as a kid, I didn't understand that. And so in that place of switching your thinking, you know, going from thinking thinking to thriving thinking, uh, to uh empowering yourself is is really you gotta do that work. And you talk about that a lot, about not just sacrificing, because that's not enough, but actually changing how you think from the inside out.

SPEAKER_01 39:08

It's a lonely process. I'm not gonna lie to you. So anybody who's gonna start on their journey, it's lonely because it's like you're in the matrix. And when you get out of the matrix, then you start to understand like how these systems were set up to keep you poor and the way that you were spending money. It's a system to design to keep you poor. But it takes a person or a few people to understand what it is to then tell everybody else how it is, and when they're ready, then they'll hopefully start adopting those principles by winning just a little bit at a time. And that's why I said the $50 or whatever you're saving can be small. But if you're if you're a long-term thinker, those small wins are going to only build on top of each other and they're gonna create larger wins. So when I was talking about being lonely, like you have to pull away from all those things that are familiar because your old way of thinking and your old friendships and the old habits and the old whatever the case may be will try to pull you back the more that you're around them when you're on your journey. So for me, when I was trying to uh be a better husband, when I was trying to be a better father, when I was trying to build wealth and and uh understand how money works, I had to pull away from a lot of people because I knew that if I started hanging around or continue to hang around these people, and it wasn't anything about them, it was it was more of a me thing, because I needed to separate myself so then I can be strong enough to be around you and not do or say the things that you're doing. And that was a process, even if I was encouraged by people in my home, hey, why don't you go out? You you you you look miserable. You're you're you know, you're you're sitting around the house, you don't go out anymore, you don't do these things anymore. Like, no, no, no, no, no. I need to be right here because that was my I was in the lab getting better at what I'm doing. So now I can tell you guys about it. I can tell people about how, like, hey, this this system is designed to keep us down, but if you can just pull yourself out of the matrix just a little bit, you'll see it.

SPEAKER_00 41:22

I want to add to that because you it was lonely for you, but you created a community to help people who want to have wealth with thus your program Wealth is a Journey. So we don't have to do it alone. We just have to find like-minded people who want what we want or who are moving towards what we want, and who are not gatekeepers, they're not haters. Like if you say, Hey, I just cleared three credit cards this past week, I was able to go, that's gone, that's gone, that's gone. It is so important to have that community of uh accountability. I mean, we talked about being in a group together. We're actually in a couple groups together. Group accountability has been everything from helping me with my business, helping me as an artist, but also helping me think differently to accumulate wealth, to go, okay, do I really need this? What is this for? Because I am a I love gadgets. I love me some gadgets. And so it is okay, do I really need that? Or is that something I need to put? Maybe I'll get that in six months. Uh it'll be a reward so that my thinking is different. Because I had to go from the you can't buy anything for 24 hours. If you see it, you cannot buy it immediately. You have to have at least 24 hours to think about it. Because we when we grow up in poverty, when we grow up in lack, we immediately feel like I gotta have that right now. And then you get it, and then you put it away, and then you never use it. So you have to have systems in place, as as Nella Coleman says. You have to have your SOPs so that you can start looking at, do I need that? You know, safeguarding yourself, especially if money burns holes in your pocket.

SPEAKER_01 45:07

Yeah. No, you're you're you're absolutely right. And that that's a whole mindset shift. It goes back to what I said in the very beginning is creating those goals and having goals. Because once you get closer to the goal, then you start really like the light, the light at the end of the tunnel, the proverbial tunnel, it gets brighter and brighter and brighter. And then once you walk through it, then you're like, oh, well, it wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. There was a couple bumps in a row, but at the same time, it was worth every minute of it. And that's why I say, like, everything, good or bad, throughout the journey, it was necessary. And it was the best thing that ever happened to me. Growing up poor was the best thing that ever happened to me. Growing up without my a biological father in the house, that was the best thing that ever happened to me. My my not uh living in the house with my mother and my my stepdad, that was the best thing that ever happened to me because it all helped and shaped and molded me into being this person that I am right now, even though it sucked going through it at the time, it was necessary. And constantly having to shift your mindset as you continue to knock down goals, it gets easier and easier and easier to continue to shift your mindset because you see it working. And that's why I'm saying in the in the community that we're in, hey, it's not a small win. This is a large win. We're not we're not talking like that. Continue to knock down the small credit cards and continue to knock because now you want to have more money. Hey, now that you paid this car off, how much more do you have to save or invest now that you don't have this car payment? Like all these things are important because they're like, oh, yeah, we we knocked down this goal, but we need to think bigger. Like, how much money are you saving now? How much more money can Can you invest now? Like, how can we make that money make us more money? So it's a it's a constant evolution and a constant mindset shift the higher and higher you go.

SPEAKER_00 46:56

You have three pillars as part of your your program, which is faith, family, finances. Yeah, what is important about those three pillars for you?

SPEAKER_01 47:09

Well, faith from a believer standpoint. I believe that we have the cheat code because we have God, our father, well, my mine anyway. I'm not talking speaking for anybody else. The Bible has so many different gems and so many different stories and examples of people who, when they were close to him, they listened to him and they won as a result, or somebody, a a representative of him, maybe a priest or somebody, went and talked to this person. Hey, don't do that. Or hey, yes, go do that. And they did it based on the counsel that they got and they won. Or if they went against the counsel that that person gave them, they lost. So I'm like, okay, well, if if I call myself a child of God and I pray to God, not just when I'm in crisis, I'm getting I'm getting uh answers and direction, and it he doesn't speak to me audibly. Like I'll get a piece. If I have a business endeavor, if I have something that I would like to do, I'm always consulting with him based on what I'm reading in the Bible, because I'm thinking to myself, well, if he told this person to do X, Y, and Z, or they had a piece about doing whatever the case may be, then that's my direction to say yes, go ahead and do that. Or if I don't hear anything, then I don't do anything. And I feel like that saves me heartache because if I go against what I heard, then I always lose every time. So that's the faith piece. And the the more I do it, it gets my relationship stronger with God. The family piece, obviously, a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children and showing my family the things that we never knew about money, I think that's very important. And then setting my son up, I only got one kid, setting him up to be able to be a thriving, functioning adult. Because I remember having adults, seeing them coming back home for one reason or another. And I understand that some things happen, I get that, but at the same time, I feel like if I set him up for success early and teach him about money early, the likelihood of him having to come back home decreases through every conversation that we have. And then obviously the financial piece, teaching uh people of the unconventional way to build wealth, which is budgeting your money first and not just paying your bills, but actually putting a dent in your financial future by reducing your expenses and taking that pile of cash from reducing your expenses and then putting it out into the marketplace and making what I like to call money babies. And those money babies are things that just keep making you money over and over and over again. And all you have to do is can continue to invest in a vehicle that works for you because every vehicle that works for some people don't work for other people. And that vehicle for for the people who are watching this could be your acting career. Just continue to invest in your acting career and get better headshots, better um coaching, better this, better that. So when the lights are bright, you're ready because you've been working on this thing, you've been working hard. Those are the three pillars, man.

SPEAKER_00 50:19

So you talk about tracking your numbers. Why am I tracking numbers?

SPEAKER_01 50:26

Because your numbers are going to tell you everything that you need to know. So if you're if you're new to budgeting, I would say to make sure that you're tracking your numbers. Like, so for anybody who's new to me, I have free information uh on my website. Uh, I have a free course on on my YouTube channel, uh, Wealth is a journey uh on YouTube. It's all free. And one of the things is knowing your numbers. Like, you can't start on your financial journey without knowing your numbers because your numbers are going to get you to where you want to be financially. So if you if your money's all over the place and you don't have a system in place to be able to track your money, then the likelihood of you being wealthy, it's slim to none. I have a system where I budget my money every month, and again, that's that there's a free how to on my website. There's a free budget material, all of that's free on my website at wealthjourney.com. And it's important for you to project your expenses. So before the month starts, so we're in June right now, before July starts, we need to project our expenses, we need to project our income. So, therefore, when the money starts coming in, we already have a plan for where that money needs to go. And you're not guessing where the money needs to go because you already made a plan for it. And you cannot do that if you don't know your numbers. That's a must.

SPEAKER_00 51:54

There are three places you talked about where we tend to be wasteful. One is food, one is in subscriptions, and one is convenience. Can you break that down for us?

SPEAKER_01 52:09

Oh man. Yeah, it's and it's all a part of what what I talked about earlier, as far as like not having, and when we don't have, when we finally do have, then we feel like we worked hard, we deserve it, and we just go and do what feels good. And what feels good is conveniences, DoorDash, Uber Eats, whatever those other conveniences for you are. But over time, if we're not tracking our numbers, and I'm not saying don't do those things, but have a a line item in your budget for those those luxuries, I call them.

SPEAKER_00 52:49

So with those things that we want convenience for, we can still have it once in a while, just not every day.

SPEAKER_01 52:58

You can have it more than once in a while, but but keep in mind if okay, let's just say you put a line item in your budget for DoorDash, Uber Eats, whatever. For let's just say, if we're being realistic, when I do budget classes with people, uh families, their dining out expenses are like six, seven hundred bucks. Like easy. And so if your DoorDash Uber Eats budget is let's just say 600 bucks, that $600 is taking you away from your financial freedom. Because if you knock that down to say $150, or if we're being honest, maybe we knock it down a little bit at a time. So let's just say $400. You could take that $200 and either build up your emergency fund if you don't have one, or you can um pay down debt. But either way, it's going to go along with your financial freedom goal later on down the line. And those little incremental wins are going to help you win bigger because once you save the 200 bucks, you're like, you know what? I can maybe let me save, let me save another 100 bucks. Because I like the feeling of actually having money. Let me go save another 100 bucks. And now that 200 turns to 300. And now it becomes a game. When you start seeing yourself winning with money, you know what? Let me try 400 now. And at 400 over time, balloons. Because you're either paying down debt or you're building up your emergency fund. So again, if you're if you see yours, if you start seeing yourself further ahead than when you first started, it'll give you that belief. It'll give you the hope that you can keep going and you can believe for more. But we we need those small wins first.

SPEAKER_00 54:45

I like where you're going with this because I can take baby steps.

SPEAKER_01 54:50

Sure.

SPEAKER_00 54:52

Baby steps, you know, it's it's like, or maybe do a fast. For me, fasting helps me if I if something has a grip on me, like if I gotta go get my um my bagels, I have a thing for bagels in the morning. So I go get my bagels. That's ten dollars uh, you know, every time I go in there. That's ten dollars because I get my bagels, I get my tea. Um, so if I just say instead of going five days a week, I do three days a week. Then the two days I take that $20 and I put it in a savings, or I just put it away. So I'm not I'm not depriving myself of something, but I am being a little bit more responsible about what I'm doing. So I am starting to discipline myself with my money instead of I deserve this, because that let me tell you, that was my mantra. I deserve this. Oh, yeah. So I deserve this, and nothing, nothing. I deserve what, you know, but those are those are some of the things we tell ourselves, especially if we went without for a long time. We may not be alcoholics with the liquor, but we're alcoholics with the finances. Facts. We just all over the place. So I love the whole thing about baby steps, tracking the numbers, because I think that's something that's very helpful for actors because we tend to be, I don't care about the money, uh, you know, which is why we don't make the money we should be making because we just want to work, you know, right now. I and so I'm just gonna have a little rant for a moment. No, that's fine, go to actors. It is imperative. Uh, right now we are at a time where corporations and and studios are really taking advantage of artists. So they're underpaying the artists and they're overpaying themselves. Specifically, what actors fail to realize is when you do a movie, when you do a TV show, it is your face that that is on that screen. They're paying to watch you. If you are somebody who's a regular on a TV show or uh a lead in a movie, they're paying because of you. And for you to undercut yourself to go, well, I'm an actor, I gotta work. It is almost better for you to have other streams of income coming in so you can do the job you want and then get paid. When I came into the business, it was real clear. You made, you know, you you you you did non-union work, but the minute you got in the union, you were protected, you were covered. They they couldn't hire you under a certain amount of money. They they had to pay you within a certain amount of time. It was very orderly. If you went so many hours, they had to give you extra, you know, which was my thing. It was like I I want to do overtime, and then we'd be in overtime. Lord, please, can we do golden time? And golden time meant you got paid double for your work. So for me as an actor, I was always uh I was grateful that I got the job, but I was wanting that double. It's not like that today. They have undercut actors so much, you know, they give them $100 a day or $300 a day. That is not enough money to live off of. You will always have other jobs to support you. When when I again, when I came in the business, you could you could make three, four, five commercials in the year and never have to have a job other than your acting because it was uh many times it was national and there was a certain thing. Now you get a national and it also includes not just television but the streaming services and all that, and you may walk away with $500 total. There is no residuals, you don't get certain monies, and they're looking to hire all non-union actors because they don't have to pay anything. And it is, as an actor, you gotta think business, you gotta think finances. It can't just be, I want to be an actor, I'm gonna do it. If you just want to be an actor and you want to do it, do your own projects, make your own projects because you will get paid much more by doing your own projects, creating your one-person show, doing a web series that you can then maybe sell to a company, which is what Issa Ray did. She had awkward black girl that that became insecure, but she created a piece of content that then she was able to parlay into a show that not only paid her, but then she was able to build an empire because of the steps she took. And and we're talking finances, but we also have to talk common sense. We also have to talk strategy, right? So you're talking financial strategy like you did with the houses. You know, we're gonna get this house, we're gonna pay it off in cash so that we can get the next house. I think that is so crucial to do.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:37

Again, remember we talked about it before, actors or or whomever is going into a business endeavor. If you're good at your finances at home, then the likelihood of you being good in your finances in the business, it it increases, right? So our thing was to reduce our expenses at home, and then we adopt the same model in our business. So if there's a stretch where you're not getting gigs or you're not getting income from your business or whatever the case may be, you have enough money piled up over here to be able to sustain you. Because again, when you when you don't have a lot of money or you don't have any money at all, and then you have a bunch of debt and things of that nature, you start making bad decisions because you're you're panicked, you just want the problem to go away, and then you start making decisions. So, again, if we do the things now that suck, which is paying down debt, not being able to go out with your friends, or not being able to get the $10 bagel, that's insane. That's a lot of money for a bagel, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:39

Oh no, it's a few bagels, but okay, all right.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

Cool. I was like, wow, that $10 bagel, that must be the best bagel ever. But it is it is a great bagel, but it's but no, what I'm saying, what I'm saying is is that if we sacrifice some of the luxuries, then we'll be able to live the life that we want to live. But at the same time, when crisis hits, we won't panic and compound the problem. So that's why I keep saying like reduce your expenses, reduce your expenses. A lot of people hate to hear that. But that was the best thing that that happened for for my wife and I. Now we're completely debt-free, house, cars, credit card, no student loans, rental properties, everything is paid for. And that's how uh again, I'm I get uncomfortable talking about it, but that's how we became multimillionaires because we have a pile of assets, and we at this point in time we have zero expenses, except the you know, gas bill, electric bill, all the all those different things, but we don't have any liabilities, is what I should have said.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:35

Your monthly payments, but you're not in debt. Yes. So let's talk about streams of income because I think for actors that is something that's important. No matter what kind of artist you are, there are highs and low seasons, right? So if you're if you're a speaker, there's there is a season for speaking. Like if you do colleges, the the time for the college is from October, October, November. Then you go February, March, April. If you're lucky, you may hit the middle of April. But it's like four months out of the year, if you are speaking at at colleges or if you, you know, if you're going and speaking, you have to have something that's so specific that they're going to want it throughout the year. A lot of times corporations or places have money designated for a period of time. So if you're a speaker, that's one stream of income. If you uh let's say you teach classes or you have workshops, when uh that may be seasonal. So you want to have different streams of income that are coming in at different times so you keep a steady flow.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:51

Yep. Agreed. Yeah, and my first income stream was my job. So that's why I'm saying like having a job is not necessarily a bad thing. If you're stewarding your money the right way, you can turn that into other streams of income. And that the the second stream of income was the real estate, and then then it became the stock market, and then it became speaking, and then it became workshops, and then it became a community. So, like, like there's a bunch of different ways. Again, what's very important, whatever stream of income that you go into, because you can't go into the same income streams or get the same income streams that this person gets, because they may your way of doing things may not mesh with the way things have to be. So I say it has to be specific to whatever your skill set is and whatever your temperament is, because everybody can't handle that phone call at one o'clock in the morning saying, Hey, my pipe burst, or hey, I got I need this fixed immediately, or we're gonna have problems. Like, and then what do you do? So it has to be super specific to whatever your temperament is, whatever the revenue stream is. But those small wins, again, it's been it's been a common theme that we're talking about. The small wins help you become a bigger winner. And when you win bigger and people find out about you winning bigger, then they want to be attached to you in some way or shape or form or fashion to be able to tell your story or whatever the case may be. And then that can bring in another income stream by by speaking. And oh, by the way, if you're if your finances are heading or trending in the right directions by you reducing your expenses, you can take those other revenue streams and build up a bigger pile of cash or continue to reduce your expenses. So if you want to be a millionaire or whatever, whatever you want to be, it can be achieved faster because you have a plan for your money already.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:53

I heard you say you don't need seven streams of income, but I could not understand where the number seven came from.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:01

Yeah, in financial circles, you'll hear that a lot, and that that's why I said that. And that's the common thing that you'll hear in financial circles. Hey, uh, you need at least seven streams of income to be wealthy. No, and the reason I said that is because people hate their job as it is. So now you're telling me I hate my job. Now I got to get six other streams of income. When I hate the one biggest income stream that I have now is my job. I hate my job and I don't want to be there as it is. Now I got to get six other streams of income. Now I'm cool. And it gives it it gives people the idea that if you don't have seven streams of income, then you're not going to be wealthy. That's not true. And you have to have six other streams and you you and you don't. You could just build on what you have now and then put the money that you have coming in from that job to reduce your expenses again. And then once you've reduced your expenses, you can take that pile of cash and then put it to work in another vehicle to bring you other revenue streams. And but you don't have to physically go and do something if you don't have the capacity to do that. Yes, you could just take that money and then put it to work somewhere else or give it to somebody, maybe a financial advisor or somebody of that nature, who can put the money to work for you.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:22

Yes. Okay, so we're learning that we want to budget, bring down our expenses, we want to start investing in something that's gonna give us a return. So we talked about buying property. You also invest in the stock market. When is a good time for somebody who is bringing down their their debt? They they have a little extra, and maybe they are interested in the stock market. What is what's your advice for somebody for an actor, because we're actors, what's your advice for actors to say start, you know, start making little investments? And do you have a couple of companies that you think are better, you know, putting money into the market? Like, is it Robin Hood? Is it Acorns? Is it Fidelity? Is it Vanguard? Where should if we're beginners, where should we start? That that makes the most sense. Hey Hector, are you tired of being tired of being tired of being tired? Your pictures aren't working, you're not getting into auditions, your agents aren't calling you back, or worse off, you can't even get an agent. Well, if that sounds like you, if it sounds like you are at your wit's end, that you just feel like all is lost. You don't know what to do, come and join us at the Acting Smarter Circle, where we are a community of actors who help other actors, and I am your guide and your coach to help you with a plan, strategy, and your branding. So if you are interested and you're tired of being tired and ready for change, come and join us at ActingSmarterCircle.com. We're waiting for you now.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:18

Yeah. So your first part of your question, I don't think a lot of people are going to like and make it a lot of negative comments, but I'm going to say it anyway because I feel like I'm responsible enough that I have to say this. If you have a lot of debt, I would say get rid of the debt first. Because let's just say you make 10% return on your money in the market, which is a great return. But then your credit card debt is 28%. The math doesn't really make sense. Because even though you're making 10% on your money in the market, you're still losing another 18% from the interest that you're paying. And that interest never goes away until you pay it all the way off. So that's why I tell people and whoever works with me, hey, I understand that you want to like the like there's FOMO, there's all these different things, but let's let's take care of the things first because also let's just say you have 50 bucks extra to just put in the market. That's that's a great start. But let's just say you reduce all your expenses, and now instead of having 50 bucks a month, let's just say you by you reducing your expenses, now you have $1,500 a month. Now you can make a much larger dent in your financial future in a positive way than you would if you were just continuously putting that $50 away when you could have been using that $50 to then pay down your debts. And then the second part of your question, I would say start where you are. I started with Robin Hood, and then I realized that Robin Hood at the time didn't have mutual funds, and they didn't have, I don't know if Robinhood has mutual funds now. I I I don't think they do, but I may be wrong because I haven't I don't really trade on Robin Hood.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:06

I don't think they do either.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:07

So I I started with Robin Hood. It's like really gamified, it's it's user-friendly. I really enjoyed it. But then when I started wanting to buy mutual funds, and a mutual fund, if if you don't know, it's basically like a basket of companies. Let's just say there's a hundred companies in there. They may have McDonald's, they may have Nike, they may have Home Depot and things of that nature. So if God forbid Home Depot has a bad day in the market, and then the other companies that are in it have a good day, it's gonna pull the stock or the mutual fund up. Now, if you're a single stock investor and you're just investing in McDonald's and McDonald's has a bad day, then your account's gonna drop. And there's nothing worse than for a new investor to look at their account and see their account read. I I know because I've been there. And I panicked and I sold because I had no guidance. I had I didn't know what I was doing. But if you want to start with Robin Hood, start with Robin Hood, you can always transfer your money into Fidelity. I ended up, I landed on Fidelity. Uh I tried a couple other brokerage accounts, but what I found was is that if I didn't have, let's just say if Tesla's trading at $400 a share and I didn't have $400, I couldn't invest in Tesla because I didn't have $400. But with Fidelity, and I'm not endorsing Fidelity, they're not paying me, but it was easier for me to use Fidelity because you could buy fractional shares. Now I think those brokerage accounts, those brokerage funds now allow you to buy fractional shares because they don't want to leave any money on the table for those retail investors that can't afford it. But buying fractional shares eventually will get you that one share or that two shares. But you we have to just continue to buy. So to answer your question, I started with Robin Hood. I'm at Fidelity now. Fidelity does have uh mutual funds. You can buy pretty much whatever mutual fund is out there. You can buy that, you can now buy Bitcoin on there, ETFs, single stocks. You can pretty much do whatever you want on that account on that brokerage. So that's what I currently use.

SPEAKER_00 1:13:06

Okay, very good. So we're going back to the budget, we're going back to paying off credit cards so we don't have that high interest rate that we have to pay. So that's the most important thing. When we're handling our budget, we want to make sure we wipe out that credit card debt. Start with the small stuff first, not out the small card, and then start uh shipping away at the bigger debt that you have in credit cards. Is there anything that I'm leaving out that the actor needs to know?

SPEAKER_01 1:13:42

The actor needs to know also that it's not going to happen overnight. Any big actor or actress did not just appear here. Issa Ray, I'm sure, and I don't know her story, but I'm sure she was doing a lot of things behind the scenes for years to hone her craft, to build up the skill set, to a lot of mistakes uh made and and lessons learned and all the different things to get to where she is now. She didn't just appear here. You didn't just appear here, you didn't get hundreds of thousands of subscribers by just just putting out one video. It's it's a process, and the same thing applies with your finances. You'll make mistakes in your finances, but don't beat yourself up. Understand that it's all a part of the process. Now, if you're if you're making mistakes on purpose, because you're like because sometimes people uh oh well uh you hey, I know I don't need to go to the mall, but you go to the mall anyway, and then you start kicking yourself later on when you knew you shouldn't have been in the mall in the first place, because that's a crutch for you. Don't beat yourself up, but understand it's all a part of the process and just get better every day. And then those days turn into weeks, and then those weeks turns into months, and then you start looking back over a year or six months' time, and you'll realize what a dent that you made in your financial future just by starting. And I'm sure any actor of any tenure, they know that they didn't just appear here, it was a process, it was a journey. The same thing works with your finances too.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:16

So we started a conversation about doing fast. Maybe it's a 21-day fast, maybe it's a 40-day fast. I tend to I do seven-day fast, 21-day fast, 40-day fast. But I find that doing a 40-day fast is it helps to break habits. Sure. Because it takes time to build a habit, and then we get used to it, it's a groove. So even though we say, Well, I'm not gonna do it anymore, next week you'll find yourself doing it again. But to break that that habit and take 40 days to like say, I'm gonna stop spending money at the bagel store, that every day you have to say, No, I'm not going there. So by the 38th day, because your your mind, your body is craving whatever it that thing is that you said you're gonna put down, or those people you said you're gonna put down. I'm not gonna talk to uh Bubba today. I'm not gonna talk to Bubba because every time I talk to Bubba, I get in trouble. I end up spending money that I don't have. I'm I'm I'm I'm not being a good steward, so I'm I'm gonna stay away from Bubba. And you know, and sometimes staying away from people is harder than staying away from something you, you know, maybe going shopping. So you have to be very careful. One of the things that I've found in the last year is doing my daughter started doing this because she was uh running, she was doing marathons and stuff, and she had the 75 hard. So you have to work out twice a day, and you have to there, there's there's certain things you have to do. So I took that 75 and I said, okay, how can I be more intentional in my work and at the same time start breaking habits of things that is costing me, maybe financially, maybe mentally, maybe physically. What can I start to do? And I think when when we're talking about one day at a time, to give yourself a fast, whether you're religious or not religious, fasting, all fasting is, is getting rid of something that has become a crutch. It has become your idol that you are like, you know what, for 40 days, I'm not gonna, I am not watching any news because it it puts me in a very bad space and it makes me feel panicked. And and the more I watch the news, the more panicked I get about the world. So guess what? No news for 40 days. I am not going to go driving uh down by the river where I'm seeing all these homeless people and all I'm doing is complaining about it. I'm not gonna do that. And if I got a problem, if I'm complaining about it, can I come up with a solution during that fast? Can I donate to a shelter? Can I go and give food to a shelter? Can I show up once a week and maybe do somebody's hair? Or if I have skills like, you know, I love seeing these guys on YouTube that will go and cut the homeless people's hair or offer to do a makeover on somebody. Can I do that? What can I do in those 40 days, that 75 days, that's going to shift me into better? Because money is a resource, not the source.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:57

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:57

And and so we become better stewards in our lives, not just regarding money, but we go back to what you started with with your pillars, faith, family, finances. How are we better stewards over our walk with our creator, whatever that is for us, our spiritual walk? We are we meditating? Are we better at that? Are we using it so that it keeps us in a place of peacefulness, of mindfulness? Are we clear? Are we steady? Are we having better relationships with the people around us, our family, our loved ones, our our coworkers, our people we partner with? How are we showing up better every day? So if we are good stewards over everything that we have, we can't help but to become millionaires, trillionaires, because you can't you can't complain, you can't be hanging out with people who are not about anything and be successful.

SPEAKER_01 1:20:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:01

You are you are getting exactly what you're planting seed for. And if we're planting seed for destruction, if we're planting seed for just disappointment or depression, because we plant seed for that as well. I'm not doing good today, it's not going well today. I have no money today, I can't get a job. Nobody wants to hire me. Uh, nobody likes me, the nobodies, I'm nobody. I'm, you know, the first of all, anything you start I am with, you should connect with something powerful, not something negative, because the word I am in the Bible is God. I am, I am. Who sent me? I am. Tell them I am, I am. That's God. That's talking, you know, we're we're talking on a higher level. So I am succeeding, I am winning, I am having breakthrough, I am figuring out one of my things that I have to remind myself to say, I've never been here before, but it's a better place. My mentor, Tim Story, he ingrained in me, I may not be who I want to be, but thank God I'm not who I used to be. And and just saying that makes me brighten up. What is it that makes you brighten up? We need to that that has to be something that keeps you going. I love your story, um, Che. I, first of all, I love that you are a man of integrity. You are a man that's always looking to grow, and you always show up cheerful. You always show up, you know, you're you're always looking at the solution side of it. And I think us being in our morning group um with the people that we are around helps that because you can't start your day uh pushing for growth and then end the day falling apart like a victim. It just it it has I've been in the group for uh going on three years, and I tell you that that being in the group always makes me better, you know, and you have a financial community that it's making the people but better. You know, I have a community of actors, it makes them better. It it just you gotta have your your tribe, you gotta have your people that want better. You are of the growth mindset. There are people who are of the shutdown mindset. You know, I I dated somebody for a long time and they would always say to me, I don't want to grow anymore. And one day I woke up and I said, I can't be around this person, I'm about growing. I can't be with somebody not, wait a minute. You this is uh uh uh in opposition to who I am.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:03

Facts.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:04

Uh no matter how much I love you, if you tell me you've stopped growing, I have to respect that and go, see ya, wouldn't want to be you because I got to grow. I I have to go to bed feeling like my brain is on fire uh with with information, and I'm like, ooh, I can't wait to tomorrow because now I can implement it, you know, the execution of it. And it's so important to not be consumers of information, but to be executors of the information.

SPEAKER_01 1:23:38

That's that right there is massive because uh a lot of people that I talk to, I believe that they believe that because you're in the room or because you're getting the information, you're automatically better by osmosis and it doesn't work like that. Whatever we want, whatever life we want to live, uh if we want to live a mediocre life, that's fine. If you want to live uh um an abundant life, that's fine. But you're going to have to work at it, you're going to have to continue to execute. And then in your execution, just because you're executing doesn't mean you're going to get it right. And that's why I'm saying you got to give yourself grace. So if you mess up or you find something that didn't necessarily work out the way that you thought it was going to work out, what lesson did I learn from going through that thing? So then I can execute on a higher level.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:29

And and that's one of the things I think that holds us back is because we're in a room, then we're we feel like, oh, well, because I'm connected to this person, or because I'm I'm getting information, I'm I'm now going to be executing at a high level. And that's that's so far from the truth. We have to continue to execute, and then as we execute, then our eyes are going to be opened up to the possibilities of how big we can actually win. And then when we start winning, then we're going to be starting to win on another level, and then it's then it's going to go up even higher and higher. And then again, people are going to start seeing you win, and then that's going to give them the belief that they can win too.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:15

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:15

Whether you're just posting it on Instagram or you're posting it anywhere, and you're not doing it to be a braggy or or anything like that. And it because that shines through too. Like that cuts through, like, oh yeah, I see what they're doing. They just trying to show blah blah blah blah blah. But if if you have a good heart, they're going to see that too. And then they're going to want to follow you.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:34

Yeah, I think it's also showing up with the receipts, right? Because we start off messy, we start off with mistakes, we start off uh, and I don't want to call it failing, because if we're moving, we're winning. Correct. We're never failing. We fail when we stop, we fail when we give up. But if we're moving, you know, the turtle won because it did not give up. Even though it looked like the hare was gonna take the race, that turtle was consistent and solid and determined. It's like I may not have those legs like you do, but I'm gonna keep going. And it is important that we stand in that space and go, you know what, it may be messy today, but tomorrow, when you started your podcast, was it brilliant? Was it outstanding?

SPEAKER_01 1:26:32

It was a mess. It was a mess it was bad, it was terrible.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:36

It's the same, it's you know, as an actor, when you get the material and you first start working on it, it's horrible. Yeah, you you're you're flubbing the lines, you're just falling all over yourself. It's just not attractive. But in rehearsals, it you get stronger, it gets better. I, you know, I've been doing my podcast now 13 years.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:59

Oh, well, let's let's clap it up for that.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:01

A thousand plus videos.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:05

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:06

The first 10 years, Che, crickets.

SPEAKER_01 1:27:10

Yeah, I'm going through that right now.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:12

My first 10 years, I got it to 2,500 and I and 10 years, and I still couldn't monetize. I still, I still wasn't in a place of of being able to monetize, but getting into the right group, which was the morning meetup, and getting direction and just following the direction. David said, do this, do this, do this. And that's what I did. And I have been in other groups to try to, and it didn't work. I was losing, I was losing subscribers, not gaining them. My daughter for my birthdays would ask her friends to subscribe to my channel. That's how bad it was. That's how bad it was. But finally, you know, as we're talking about being in the right communities, because I I was in a space where we were getting accurate direction, accurate guides. We um, you know, what I love is is that we have people who are not gatekeepers. You're not a gatekeeper. You could say, which, which I've had a couple of people. I said, well, tell me about you. Well, I can't tell you because you got to pay for it. It's like, but you don't understand. If you give it away, people are gonna want to come and pay for it. However, that's the poverty mindset, right? We're talking if it I can't give you uh what I have because then I won't have anything, but God says give and it'll be given unto you. And when you talk about faith, the faith, family, finance, when you talk about faith, faith without works is dead. So we have to work at it and working through it, it's gonna be messy. In, you know, you're gonna make mistakes trying to save money, you're gonna make mistakes with your budgeting, you're gonna make mistakes, you know. And if your win is just that you save $2 today, that is huge, right? But so with my channel, I went because I followed the directions. And you talked about this earlier: being around people, taking the directions, doing it, listening to God, following what the people in the Bible did that took the directions and they won. Within six months, my channel went from 2500 to 100,000. And if you look behind me, I have my button. Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 1:29:47

I saw it, I've been staring at it the whole time.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:49

But that was because I followed the direction and I was focused and I was like, okay, David said I have to do this, I'm gonna do this. And and and just and then, so I get to 100,000. I'm still chomping at the bid to try to monetize. I didn't start monetizing until this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:30:13

Congratulations, by the way.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:15

So, yeah, and and you know, I was thinking about that. I was like, I'm monetizing now. Look how long it took me. And and for me, I compare it to acting. You don't get on, you know, you don't say I want to be an actor today, and then tomorrow you're on a series and a movie. That happens to one in a million. Um, you can have the mindset that's gonna be me, that's great. But but while it's in motion, what can you do for your career? Can you take a class? Can you work on your financial? Do you need to take a side job so that you're not stressing people out? Yay, if you're living at home and and you have um, you know, you have some freedom, can you do something financially to have your own until you can get what you need? What are you doing to grow your stuff? I and and I want to talk about you talked about I don't like reading, but a lot of uh uh but there's been rewards to it.

SPEAKER_01 1:31:19

Yes, yes, absolutely. Full transparency. Uh, I was one of those kids that had uh learning challenges. And for me to read, I hated reading because I thought it was stupid. And I was one of the kids that that uh don't ask me to read out loud in class. I was one of those. That was me. Um, but also I understood that was the trick of the enemy because he knew where I would be right now if I did what I was supposed to do by fighting through, again, being in the matrix. Being in the matrix is don't ask me to read. I don't like reading, so I'm not gonna read. Getting out of the matrix is there's information in these books that's gonna help me be as wealthy as I would like to be. So let me read the books. So being in the group that we're talking about, I started reading more and more and more. I was reading a little bit, but not as much as we are right now. And the books that we read um have been absolutely life-changing from a mind because that reading the books helps you absorb the information, it gets into your subconscious mind, and then you start operating the way that the books are talking about. Uh, case in point, the book that I'm um I have on repeat right now, it's an audio book, actually. It's called Change Your Paradigm, Change Your Life. And it's by Bob Proctor, and it's like it's more of an interview style audiobook, but the information in that book basically is the cheat code to get you anywhere you want to be in life as long as you're willing to put the work in. So if you are of the mindset that you think reading is stupid and you don't want to read books, but you want to be wealthy, the two don't mix. You you can't. Uh they say leaders are readers, it's true. There's a lot of information in books. Um, it'll help change your mindset, and you'll start really seeing how the world works because there's information in books that uh are from people who are actually winning in life. And they're they're they're they're giving you the blueprint, just like the Bible. It's a blueprint of how to thrive in life and have a relationship with God, have a relationship with people, people to stay away from, people to to to cling to, um, how to treat your wife. And and there's there's how to treat your children. Like it, there's a there's so much information in that book alone uh that's gonna help your life. So um if you're not a reader, I would encourage you to become one because there's so much information in books. And if you're a believer, I would start with the Bible first. Uh start with Proverbs. Like there's so much information in Proverbs, and um I'm reading that book right now, and um it's been a game changer for me and my belief, my my relationship with God, how I treat my wife, how I how I father my son, it's um and how I treat people as well. Like it's it's reading's been a game changer for me. So I can't I can't talk enough good things about reading.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:29

And if you don't like to read, audiobooks are audiobooks, yeah. Absolutely. If they don't have the audiobook, a cheat for that is to get it in Kindle. And if you have um, I know iPhone because I do this because I have dyslexia, that I can put uh it can read to me because I put the um the accessibility. If you go into accessibility in your settings on your phone, it will help, it will read it for you. It's not the most uh um the greatest speaker, but it gives you the information, especially if you twist words around and you have some kind of uh learning disability. It it helps you. I I find that reading and listening at the same time, that's the game changer for me because I that it it it it it wasn't I had a problem as a child and no one uh no one encouraged me through it. Correct. And so as adults, what can you encourage yourself through to help you succeed and win in the game? And and if you're talking about reading the Bible, uh start with Proverbs, but then go into the first four um gospels. So that that um Proverbs is giving you wisdoms, it is giving you the wisdom, but it's also giving giving you practical application. And then the four gospels start to tell you who Jesus was. So you get to see how to walk as a person of integrity, how to walk in in when things are difficult, how to continue, how to walk in faith, you know, and watch Indiana, uh Indiana Jones, the first Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark, really is about faith, walking in faith it during difficulty. He's gotta walk through uh uh uh he's gotta get from one side of a big old um uh that rope bridge. Yes, and and the thing only shows up when he puts his foot out. It doesn't show up before. So if we're walking in faith, we have to show up. We have to put that foot out so that the plank can show up for us. My last question for you is what do you want your legacy to be?

SPEAKER_01 1:37:06

Man, I want my legacy to be that he came in this world one way and he left the world a better place. And he didn't allow people or circumstances to deter him from where he actually wanted to go. I think that's that's huge because as you know, as we grow up, we get you know, we get familiar with the way things are, and we have to break free from those those norms um so we can actually live the life that we want to live. And then by making the world a better place, giving the information out of how you did the thing. Now, whether people listen to it or not, it's there for them to listen to. That's what I want my legacy to be. And he and he he did what he was supposed to do as far as being a man, you know, being a father, being a husband, he did what he was supposed to do.

SPEAKER_00 1:37:57

So he stepped up, he was a champion, he was a champion for a time such as this. That's right. And he and he made people happier because he was in the space. I love it. And for those of you who have heard us talking about our morning group, that morning group is called Social Proof Circle. It is amazing if you're an entrepreneur, if if you are wanting to start a business, if you have visions and you don't know how to implement it, it is a wonderful community to be in. It is, you know, just a shameless plug uh for the people we love because the people that are within the group in the community are all givers, all givers. And so we hope that you have gotten what we've been giving you and that you'll go out and share it with others, that you will be the giver in your community, not the mat that people walk on, but the giver that can bless people and keep it moving and be about your destiny and be the champion, just like Che is. And for those of the audience that want to follow you, where can they go?

SPEAKER_01 1:39:12

At Che Willis, at Che.willis on uh Instagram. Uh my YouTube is wealth is is at Wealth is a Journey. Uh so I give free tips every week on how to build wealth, uh, what me and my wife did, uh, trials, tribulations, good times, bad times. I'm telling it all. Um, right now we're doing a um a faith series, how the Bible makes us wealthy. And um we're on session number two, uh, because it comes out on every Sunday. But uh yeah, follow me. And if you want to work with me, if you're having problems in your finances, um that's okay. But what is what is not okay is you knowing that you have an issue and you doing absolutely nothing about it, thinking that it will just fix itself. Finances success does not work like that. So if you want to see how I can help you, uh book a discovery call, um, and then we can see how we can work together. I also have a community uh where we we talk about, we we go over strategies on how to get to the M's. Um, we talk about areas of opportunity and we talk about wins. How to, you know, and we talk every month. We get on a call every month, and then we have weekly accountability. So if you're trying to do finances alone, if you're trying to build wealth alone and you feel like you know you need support, uh, we would love to have you.

SPEAKER_00 1:40:37

Oh my goodness, Jay Willis, fire. I loved everything he said, it inspired me. I want to be a millionaire too. So I'm gonna start implementing a lot of what he said in the interview. I would love to know what you'll start implementing in what he said, what resonated for you? Let me know in the comments. And while you're there, can you buy me a coffee? Because it really does help keep this channel going. And if you can't do that, I know you can like, subscribe, and share these videos with your friends. That'll help immensely. Don't go anywhere because we got more great information coming up for you right now.