Surviving the Side Hustle

E100 - From Side Hustle to Success: Three Entrepreneurs Share Their Stories

• Coach Rob • Season 1 • Episode 100

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What happens when the excitement of launching your side hustle transforms into the reality of running a full-time business? Our milestone 100th episode brings back three remarkable entrepreneurs to honestly answer this question and more.

John Mendez returns to share his journey since that pivotal $20,000 launch day that allowed him to quit his restaurant job. With refreshing candor, he reveals the unexpected emotional rollercoaster that followed – from the bittersweet resignation conversation to subsequent business setbacks that led to depleted savings, mounting debt, and periods of depression. "I'm not the same happy entrepreneur when I first started," he admits, giving listeners a rare glimpse behind the highlight reels typically showcased on social media.

Brandon Gaydorus offers powerful insights on business evolution, comparing entrepreneurship to climbing mountains only to discover that reaching the summit can feel surprisingly lonely. His disciplined approach to growth (tracking 40 daily touches and 60 minutes of content creation) demonstrates how systems become increasingly crucial as businesses scale. Brandon's thought-provoking question – would you rather have a billion friends or a billion dollars? – brilliantly illustrates why connections ultimately create more opportunities than cash alone ever could.

Author Jeffrey Seitz rounds out our conversation with his continued writing journey, sharing how the simple question "Who are you doing this for?" reconnected him with his deeper purpose. His evolution from asking "What can these people do for me?" to "How can I serve others?" represents a crucial mindset shift many entrepreneurs must make. Jeffrey's advice that "there is no perfect moment" and "the first draft is going to suck" applies universally to any entrepreneurial venture.

Whether you're contemplating your first side hustle or scaling a successful business, these authentic conversations offer both practical strategies and emotional reassurance that you're not alone in your entrepreneurial journey. The challenges evolve, but with the right community, they become more manageable.

Connect with our guests to continue learning from their journeys and join our community of ambitious side hustlers building something meaningful beyond the 9-to-5.

Speaker 1:

All right, and welcome back to another episode of Surviving the Side Hustle. Surprisingly, though, this isn't just any ordinary episode. This is a very special episode because this is the 100th episode of Surviving the Side Hustle and I'm super excited for this because I have not yet brought back any repeat guests on the show. Every show, I highlight one guest and we dive into their story, some of their struggles and their secrets to successful high performance, and today, my very first guest coming back was all the way from episode number two, mr Mendez. Yeah, so, john, I took a little bit of notes here. Oh, sure, nice.

Speaker 1:

So, mr Mendes, the first time we spoke on Surviving the Side Hustle was May 16th, 2023. Wow, which is Brandon Goddard's birthday, I believe. Wow. And on that original conversation, you shared how powerful your transition from financial confusion to clarity, which was sparked by reading Rich Dad, poor Dad, and you were diving into the world of entrepreneurship and investment. Your journey included launching the Walk to Wealth podcast and a deep focus on financial literacy, personal development, time ownership and the power of compounding small improvements. You opened up about loneliness and sacrifices involved in personal growth and the importance of setting a clear vision. Sound familiar.

Speaker 2:

Sounds pretty familiar. Yeah, around that time it was an interesting time because this is back before I turned my side hustle into my main hustle, so that was an interesting time. Because this is back before I turned my side hustle into my main hustle, so that was an interesting time period. That was exactly, if I'm not mistaken, exactly one month before the big launch that I had that allowed me to quit my side hustle, my job, and go all in on my business. So, yeah, sounds pretty familiar.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and I'd love to kind of keep the structure of the show the same. So, diving right in with the story, I'd love to ask you a little bit about how your entrepreneurial journey has grown and evolved since then.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So for anyone listening, just a little bit of context. At that point period of my life May 16th, right, I was just coming out of focusing on real estate as an agent. I tried to start a social media agency. That didn't work out. Then I started talking about Ikigai and how to find your purpose, and then I taught my first chat GPT class, ended up making some money on that and then launched my first course. Didn't go all that well. And then I was prepping for my first ever multi-day launch, which ended up going pretty well. And so that's just to bring everyone up to speed as to where I was in that point in my life.

Speaker 2:

I was still working at Sign the Whale full time as a restaurant, doing about 30 hours and trying to survive the side hustle right, and literally a month after that I had a big launch, ended up doing some numbers that I thought were pretty ridiculous to me. I did $20,000 in a day and ended up netting $33,400 and had some change $33,000? Yeah, after that week it took a while to get all the money for the payment plans, but all in all ended ended up to 33.4. So that one day when I sold 20, that was a Monday I think it was Juneteenth, if I'm not mistaken, and I forgot. My launch was Monday, wednesday, friday, monday and that last Monday was the day I was going to pitch. Forgot to look in the calendar and so that day is a holiday. So I had 100 to 110 people live days one, two and three. Day four I only had 60, 65 people live. So already I'm on a call and I'm just like man.

Speaker 2:

This could go one of two ways Either everyone's zoned out and getting ready for afternoon barbecues or time with family or the party and whatever, or we can make some numbers. I had one person I remember it was yesterday. I had one person that morning, maybe around like eight-ish o'clock in the morning buy. Now my class was at 12. So I had one person around eight. Buy. It was a $9.97 offer. It's my first ever big content creation course, so I'm like all right, started off the day pretty solid. I get on the call there's like 65 people. A little bit of doubt creeps in. I'm like all right, this whole challenge is amazing. Now again, going from 100 people to 60 people, that's like a 40% drop right there. Almost half the people that were in attendance didn't show up that final day and I ended up doing my pitch. That was the first time I ever really hardcore, sold something in a live presentation and ended up closing again. 19 people bought on that spot, so a little just under 20 on that presentation live. So at one o'clock when I logged off the Zoom call, I checked my Kajabi account and boom, 20,000 coming pending to my bank account and so I ended up running some errands that day and I ended up going to the mall. For whatever reason, there's a story behind everything. I ended up going to the mall While I was running errands the whole time in my mind I'm thinking about like yo, this might be the opportunity to actually leave.

Speaker 2:

I've been wanting to leave Siding the Whale for so long up to that point, not because I hated the job, but because, like, each day I stayed was another reminder to my ego that your business hasn't taken off yet. And so the longer I stayed, the more reminders I got in that, hey, your business sucks, and that's how I seen it to myself. And once I was in the mall I was like you know what F it I'm going to drive over and the whole drive. It was the most bittersweet experience of my life, because it's like the moment I've been building up to for so long, and yet I was actually about to quit the only sense of somewhat stability that I had, and I've never been an entrepreneur prior to entrepreneurship. So for me it was like, yeah, I wanted this, this is what I prayed for, this is what I've been asking about. And now that the opportunity is here, like do I take it? And I remember driving.

Speaker 2:

I never quit a job before I got fired one, sorry, for another day. I got fired from a dishwashing job because I overslept. Yeah, but I never, actually I never quit a job before. And so I'm just like yo, what the hell am I going to say? Like, how am I going to bring this up in conversation?

Speaker 2:

And so I ended up talking to my manager and like they kind of had the gistist like I would bring my laptop to work at times, and I was like they knew that I had some business stuff cooking up. I just it was a matter of time. Just no one knew when that time was going to come, and that day finally came, and so when I brought it up to my manager, he was like we kind of figured it would happen sooner or later, and so I ended up, you know, deciding to put my two weeks in and, uh, he hadn't made a schedule yet for the following week, so I still was on the schedule for that same week, that Friday and then he was, like you know, I'll just not add you to the schedule for next week and that Friday was the last week I worked at the restaurant, and, aside from one day because there was an emergency and they just needed some help and I was free, aside from that, I never went back. It's been now a little over two years since then yeah, it's crazy.

Speaker 1:

It's pretty much the same time frame as the show here and, uh, I'm curious to hear, kind of like, where you're at now, because I know you've got a big thing coming up. Yeah, um, at time of this hitting it's going to be a little bit past that, but you share a little bit on how your, your entrepreneurial path, has kind of changed since that first day.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, going all in, yeah, so after that launch, again it had them. That was still my biggest launch to date. Um, I got too excited. So originally I wanted to start a social media agency and that didn't work out. I decided and I realized I hated creating content for other people. Um, god bless those that do, but I couldn't do it. Man, it's tough work. Brett knows that. It's tough work managing other people's channel on top of still managing your own presence. And I still had my podcast. And this time around now I'm a big entrepreneur. I got it figured out. I had the 20K launch. I'm like I'm going to do an agency again, but this time I'm going to do an agency again, but this time I'm going to hire out.

Speaker 2:

So there was one lady who worked with a big team, actually in this office that we're in right now and the team disbanded she started doing her own social media work. She's more of an operator. She's behind the camera, behind the computer working. I like to be the face. I like to be in front of people, I like to speak, I like to present. I like to be the face. I like to be in front of people, I like to speak, I like to present, I like to be on stage, and so I was like you know what we could have this thing where, like you do the fulfillment, I do the acquisition and right and, and all I have to do is just get clients. I know a bunch of agents that need help with social media. Long story short, she ended up getting a full-time position with benefits at some city. Uh, I don't have any benefits or 401ks to offer, so I can't blame her at all.

Speaker 2:

But all that momentum from that one launch went right down the road, right down the drain, because instead of focusing on selling more courses and getting more people, I tried to get back into that social media agency. So then I was kind of like trying to pick the pieces back up, had a launch in January 2024. And that one didn't do as well and that was the first time I think I experienced like depression. I'm normally a pretty optimistic guy, pretty positive guy, and that was the first time I tried to do 100K in a day. That launch in total did 17.5, which isn't awful, but nine of which was from VIP upsells. And the day that I actually pitched, no one bought for the first three days, so it was just crickets, and so at that point in time I was a spreadsheet millionaire. I get this many people to opt in, this many people show this many people show this many people convert at this price point. We got 100K. Everything was great. And then crickets.

Speaker 2:

So at that point in my life I was just like man, I don't want to get a job, but I don't want to be a business owner. For the first time, my genie was like yo, bro, this actually sucks. And I remember just not wanting to do anything for two days, not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to talk to anybody. I wanted to do anything but entrepreneurship at that point in time. And then 2024 is when everything kind of just went downhill, smiled through it all, had a lot of great experiences a TEDx talk, a marathon, a TV show, a competition, did a lot of ups.

Speaker 2:

But like 2024 killed me inside, like that was a rough year trying to get past, survived the side hustle right, survived. It's not that I didn't make money that year, just that all the bad decisions leading up to it. Because I had savings, I didn't feel until I didn't have anything left. Then, once I didn't have anything left, everything went downhill Credit shot, got in debt, things, cars started getting maxed out and that just kind of carried over into this year. And so for a long time I feel like I just kind of been playing with my back against the wall and just trying to just like. I just got to dodge with my punch. I just got to stay in the ring a little bit longer, right, and just keep fighting a little bit longer. But it's not the same me that got into entrepreneurship when I first dropped out of college.

Speaker 2:

That version of John I was optimistic is an understatement. You couldn't tell me I couldn't do anything. Anything I set my mind to, I was naively optimistic. I didn't know what problems came with entrepreneurship. I was just like a big puppy who saw a bone. I'm like yo, we're going all in and um.

Speaker 2:

Now this year it's been interesting because this year started off pretty good and it's been going pretty well, been digging myself out of debt, betting my credit back up which kind of sucks I'm supposed to be, mr mendez, the points and miles guy and I'm over here. We're freaking, not living by you know standards which kind of sucks. It just hurts. A lot of just shots to your ego. You kind of take behind closed door but smiling through it all and this year again starting to get back on the right track. Q1 was pretty solid.

Speaker 2:

This year Started to really sit down and focus a little bit more. Around March I started trying to. Around the period of Lent, I started to tap back in with God, started watching sermons. I've been going to church for a while but I feel like I was a once-a-week Christian for a long time and I started tapping back into the Word and kind of fell off the horse a little bit. That's for another day.

Speaker 2:

But at that point in time in March I heard what I needed to hear and it was like a sermon talking about like lean not on your own understanding. And this pastor. He was talking about like, oh you know, leaning on your own understanding is what got you into that bad relationship. What got you into that job you hate, what got you into that situation you shouldn't have been in, what got you into your finances being in shambles and that finances part. I was like damn, I've been leaning on my own understanding for quite some time now and it makes sense as to why nothing is going my way, at least the way I originally drew it up and like that kind of reignited a flame. I feel like I've been kind of if you're familiar with Fairly Oddparents, you know like the pixies are super corporate and I feel like my life has just kind of been grayed out for a little bit. And like back in March this year was like that moment where I feel like I found that fire and then got back on the horse, started fighting again and then I was like you know what, let me do.

Speaker 2:

This 100K a day challenge Started off hot. I thought I was going to get it Again playing spreadsheet millionaire, and now I'm at a stage where it's like all right, I got a week and a half left coming up to this challenge. Numbers aren't looking anywhere like I drew it up leading up to it. Numbers aren't looking anywhere like I drew it up leading up to it and I was like man, I could, a abandon ship and hope that no one notices or, b follow through and, you know, scrape out what I can from what's there. And it's not like again, that's not. I have 150 options right now, which is not awful. It's just not where I need it to be to make this hundred K thing a reality. I needed to be to make this 100k thing a reality and so like part of me is just like, damn well, I'll just see how it goes and I don't want to doubt like takeover. But it's also like I don't play spreadsheet millionaire before and disappointment comes from unmet expectations, so I don't want to end up like I did last time. So we'll see how it all plays out.

Speaker 2:

I was talking to you on the phone about like you know where I want to take everything. Like it feels like it's been an uphill battle trying to convince people of using AI. Like it's self-explanatory, it's probably the best productivity tool that ever lived. And yet it feels like I'm constantly having to, especially my target audience real estate agents which is a more traditional, very slow adverse to change industry as a whole not everyone, but as a whole very slow averse to change industry as a whole Not everyone, but as a whole and it's like man. Like I feel like I'm constantly convincing people.

Speaker 2:

So I don't know if it's like maybe I'm not attracting the right audience, that's maybe a thing because, like you know, it's back to like water bottle right, a water bottle in a store is $1, maybe $1.50. Same water bottle at Yankee Stadium is $4,. Same water bottle at the airport is like six or seven. So maybe I'm not in the right environment, right? Maybe this AI business isn't what I thought it could be. Maybe there's a little bit of that.

Speaker 2:

Maybe it's time to pivot, like I've done in the past and pivoting is what allowed me to get to the next level, so there could be that.

Speaker 2:

Then I heard a podcast where it's like well, most entrepreneurs, they abandon ship when it gets tough instead of figuring out the problem and getting to that next level. So it could also be that, and so there's a lot of thoughts that, just in the past week, are currently running through mind as about the time we're recording this and trying to figure out. Like you know, I'm not the same happy entrepreneur when I first started doing this, and so maybe it's because I'm in a season that was like hardship, or maybe it's because, like, it might be time to pivot, just like when I tried real estate and pivoted from that, and then I tried the agency and pivoted to that. All those pivots led to the next thing, which ended up being better than the last. So I don't know, just weighing a lot of a lot of thoughts right now, um, and trying to figure out what's the next step right now just Just trying to hit that 100K a day, see where that goes, and that's kind of like what's on my mind right now.

Speaker 1:

Well, first of all, I appreciate you and thank you for being vulnerable and sharing everything with you, because entrepreneurship certainly does have a lot of ups and downs and from what I'm hearing from you and I mean you know me I'm always talking about resiliency and how it's important to kind of weather the storm for the lows, but also for the highs too. And it's important because you seem to have a pretty level head through and through, even with, like, the ups and the downs, so I admire you with that. Last thing I want to ask you is what would be your advice for some of those entrepreneurs who are maybe struggling with keeping a level head through it and maybe they are in a situation where it seems like hardship after hardship after hardship and they just can't catch a break and they're like on the fence, thinking about like man. Maybe this isn't the right option for me.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'll give two answers To those of you listening that have a more harsh or critical self-dialogue. My advice I'll leave you with is a quote. I heard this a couple of weeks ago from actually my first one-on-one coaching client super dope lady real, proud of Jersey, love her. Super dope lady realtor out of Jersey, love her. She posted something that said pressure is a privilege because it means something's expected of you, and that hit me like a train. And so if you are one of those people who have a harsher again self-dialogue those of you who probably played sports growing up or in competitive household like I, talk to myself in a more harsh tone than I would normally talk to others. That's something that resonated with me. Stuff like that. This is what I signed up for and it's kind of a reminder For those who have a softer internal dialogue.

Speaker 2:

It's not to say that one's right or one's wrong, just how we amp ourself up, find good people to be around. Entrepreneurship is already extremely lonely. Most people have surface-level relationships in their personal lives and in their business lives because no one ever wants to be the person that shows that hey, it's not all sunshine and rainbows. No one ever wants to show like how's it going? Well, going great, living the dream? Are you actually Thriving right, thriving? Are you actually Thriving right Thriving? Are you actually? Or is that just abundant-minded mumbo-jumbo?

Speaker 2:

It's okay to call it what it is. Sometimes life sucks right and yet you get through it. And that's not to have you have a negative outlook. You're just calling a spade a spade sometimes. So for anyone that again doesn't want the harsh David Goggins-like culture or motivation or whatever, just find good people. Find good people that know how to turn it off, some people that you can hang out with, like you, like Brandon, me and Brandon was out last weekend. We had a conversation for like an hour after we went out and he was eating a sandwich. We were just sitting on a cold bench talking for like an hour about nothing that had to do anything with business, right. So finding people like that, who one are successful but B know how to turn it off, I think that's a lost skill. Everyone is just business, business, business all the time. It's like sometimes you just got to get away from it, escape a little bit.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I mean I appreciate that. Thank you, always a pleasure hanging with you, mr Mendez. Where do people follow you and stay up to date with what you're doing?

Speaker 2:

So thank you, as always, for having me on, honored and like man to see that this podcast went from I still remember when you were thinking about launching it to where it's come to now. It was dope to see, and I'm honored to be the first returning guest. With that being said, I teach AI and I always say that AI won't replace you. Someone using AI will. Now you could spend the years that I did trying to learn AI for yourself, or you can just go to stopandstayheremedia forward slash AI and get my free AI starter kit and it has the best prompts I created over the past three years for like content creation video scripts, newsletters, blogs, prompts to create other prompts for other stuff you want to work on Everything you need to really just like, get the leverage you're looking for for free. Just stop us here, dotmediacom.

Speaker 1:

All right, I appreciate it, mr Mendez, thank you. Thank you, mr Faisal. All right, thank you again, mr Mendez.

Speaker 1:

And now our next guest up on the 100th episode of Surviving the Side Hustle is Brandon Godoris, and the first time you were on the show was actually May 3rd 2023.

Speaker 1:

That was episode number three and on that episode you discussed how you transformed your passion from golf fitness into a career, with a vision to establish 10,000 student universities across major cities. You also discussed how you had a three-year exit strategy from your previous venture, which was that golf and fitness world, and how building skills for business success and your speaker school series aimed at developing communication for both business and personal development. You were also offering loads of inspiration and practical advice for side hustlers. So I want to bring you back on today, because you're one of my best friends and you're a huge inspiration and also a awesome resource to learn from and to grow from, and back on that first episode we did. We got a lot from you and I'm curious to see how your mission with the Speaker School because that's kind of growing and such and I'm interested to see how the mission has expanded and how you continue to shift and grow as new levels kind of come on.

Speaker 3:

And so when I was younger, I used to like just going to random waterfalls, I would just yeah, I would. Yeah. I know it sounds random, but like I just wanted to see stuff outside of my house, and so I would go there and at the top of the waterfall, what was?

Speaker 3:

there it was the water that was falling, it was that mountain. And so I always thought about like the top of the mountain, or like getting to the top, and I was like man, that's just so cool. And like I went to Niagara Falls when I was younger and I saw that I saw like the best falls there was and I was like man, that's so cool to be at the top. And then, eventually, when I felt like I climbed to the top of the industry I was in, which was golf fitness training, it felt so lonely and it felt like when I was a kid, when I would go there by myself, just to explore, discover and my first career was something that I explored, I discovered, and I discovered how to get there. I discovered how to get to the top of the mountain, the top of the waterfall, and it wasn't what I felt like I wanted it to feel, and so I said you know what? What I want it to feel like is like my college parties that I hosted. So me and my three college roommates, we had the best parties in school and like people would come in, they would give you hugs, they would dap you up, they would get so excited to spend time with you and in that three-hour time frame you had the time of your life. And so I said, in relation to business, in relation to my curiosity towards waterfalls and climbing the mountain, I said, you know what, let me see if I can do this with a bucket list. Business and that was the vision in the beginning was just I want to climb that mountain together, because golf fitness I was pursuing since I was 17. When I was 26,. Because golf fitness I was pursuing since I was 17. When I was 26, I got voted top 50 in America and I knew it was going to take probably 9 to 12 years to climb to a top of another mountain. So I said it's going to take a lot of time, I'm going to make it a lot of fun and I'm so grateful because you have been there since the very beginning. So I met Rob about a month before I decided to go on to business on my own this was my previous business and I saw him at a conference again about a month later and we talked a while that day, at lunch, at lunch that next day, at lunch, at lunch that next day, I decided to make a commitment to start my business in the fitness world and ever since then I've never relied on another employer to pay me, and it's so cool that he was there at the beginning of that business and then he was actually my first client for Warm Heart Life.

Speaker 3:

I was trying to figure out how to make money and Grant Cardone would say, okay, the first thing you got to do is just get revenue in. So I said, all right, how can I make money? And I said, hey, rob, I'm thinking about this thing where I charge $1 and you can ask me a question and he's like, yeah, man, I'll do that. People see the speaker's clothes now and they say, oh, you're going to Austin, texas, this month to go teach. You're going to Laguna Beach, california, next month to go teach.

Speaker 3:

It's like you did the A to B con where you sold over 200 tickets three years in a row. They see that, but what they don't see was guys like Rob who believed in me in the very beginning. So I believe when you're starting a side hustle, one of the most important things you need is you need like-minded people who can help push you through those roadblocks, because you may think you have a clear vision, but you're going to see stuff that you couldn't see before. When you attack that vision and when you have good people, they help allow you to see things that you couldn't see before.

Speaker 1:

I love that. And yeah, those earlier days were some fun days, a lot of different adventures and such. Yeah, those earlier days were some fun days, a lot of different adventures and such. And I hear you talking about mountains and climbing to different peaks with different people for different things. And I remember back in the early days, with those trying to figure out like, okay, how do we make a little bit of money? What do we sell? I remember we did random little odd job type things like little programs. I'm curious to ask um, what? So back then the challenges were like figuring out how to make money. Now that you're more established and you're kind of growing and scaling and building things up, what are some of the challenges that you see now, in the stages that you're currently at?

Speaker 3:

Well. So I feel like you got three phases of business. You got the marketing, then you got the sales, then you got the fulfillment. Ain't nothing more important than the marketing? Because if people don't know you, they can't flow you. And then, once people know you, if you can't convert, then you're not going to get any revenue. And then, if you got leads, if people are converting and you're not fulfilling, what are you going to get? A lot of negative reviews, customers that don't return. I heard this stat that like it's 85% easier to get business through someone who has already paid than to acquire a new customer. So if you're not fulfilling, it's hard to be able to continue to get more business. But nothing is more important than the marketing. So as I was looking back at the end of last year, I was like, well, what do I got to do? I said I got to dial in on a marketing process.

Speaker 3:

So for me, I started studying Alex Hermosi. I was like what is he saying to do based on where I'm at with my business? And he said the rule of 100. He said between touches and social media content, hit 100 a day. And I'm like damn, I'm hitting. And I'm like damn, I'm hitting. I was shooting for 10 a day. So I was like I got a long way to go. So I said you know what I'm going to shoot for? 40 touches a day and 60 minutes of content creation a day. And these guys meet with me every week. We have this mini mastermind. We meet on Monday nights and we report our numbers for the week and Monday through Friday. I haven't missed one day of getting the 40 touches and I think out of like 100, I've only missed probably seven or eight days of the 60 minutes of content creation.

Speaker 3:

So that's one thing that I've been focusing on is dialing in that marketing. And then now recently, I'm like okay, now that the marketing is really starting to be more dialed in. It's an ongoing process, it never stops. I said let me start to tailor in some sales work again and I did a ton of sales training in the past for years. But I was like I'm slacking a little bit, I'm missing out on some sales. I've got to start dialing that in again. So now I'm writing down objections, I'm writing down the amount of sales calls I have every week, writing down the amount of book calls, conversions, the amount of virtual coffee. So I'm keeping track of all that stuff now, because I'm like man, if I'm going to hire people to do this, I need to make sure I tell them exactly what to do and how to do it.

Speaker 3:

So that's a big challenge for me right now is dialing in all the processes so that I can scale. If you would have told me the revenue that I've hit the last seven months the average of that I would have said for sure I'm ready to hire two people until I actually hit it and I realized there was a lot more gaps that I needed to fulfill. So yeah, kind of like what John was talking about, it's cool when you throw out all these cool numbers and all these cool things, but no matter what level of business you're in my mentor he's probably worth 100 to 500 million. I've never asked, but I've tried to figure out the math of that. Probably around there I get to talk to him three days a week. He faces very similar challenges that I face. No matter what level of business you're in, you're always trying to figure out where are the gaps, what can we do to fill those gaps, and then how can we move forward, and so that's some of the things I'm facing now.

Speaker 1:

Nice. Thank you for sharing all that stuff, because I know a lot of people at different stages, so they're going to connect with that and resonate with all that information. And I'm going to kind of segue into the final question I have for you. Along your journey you've definitely developed and cultivated a bunch of different skills between being able to communicate better and learning better, like honing in on how to learn better and how to network and connect. Out of those things, where do you find is the most beneficial skill that you've learned or brought on? Is it confidence? Is it something like just communicating, or what's your take on it?

Speaker 3:

I think that's a great question and the question I have. Can I ask you all a question? All right, yeah, that would be a pretty good paid speaking. Yeah, that would be a pretty good paid speaking. Sure, I'll take the 30 bucks, all right. So would you rather have a billion friends or a billion dollars? What would you say, jenny? A billion friends, billion dollars? Yeah, there's no right or wrong answer. There's no right or wrong answer. There's no right or wrong answer. But think about what you would say. What's that? No, I'm saying friends. Okay.

Speaker 3:

So you know, some of you are probably going to say money, some of you are going to say friends. I thought when I heard that question, I'll take the money, I'll invest it, I'll put it in the right places, okay. And then when I heard the guy talking about it, he's like y'all are not thinking the right way. He's like if you've got a billion friends and you ask them for $10, then immediately you have $10 billion. And of course, the Debbie Downers are going to be like oh well, you know you can't have a billion friends.

Speaker 3:

Or like what if they don't give you a dollar? It's like okay, well, even if two times like, even if two out of 10 people give you a dollar, then you have 2 billion right there. So it's just like. It's like oh, if I can have the friends, then I can have the resources. If I can have the resources, I can get the answers. So I would rather have the friends, because then I can get the resources. Listen, I'm not a I'm not a great cook, but there's a phenomenal cook right back there that could teach me how to make anything if I asked him, chef Ben.

Speaker 1:

He was a guest on the podcast as well, there you go.

Speaker 3:

So I am nowhere near as good at having a third hand as having Jeffrey Seitz there help me out before A to B con. As much as I wish I could have a third hand as having Jeffrey Seitz there help me out before A to B con. As much as I wish I could have a third hand to do everything that needs to do to host a conference, it's not possible, Jeffrey. He says hey, I'm getting there early. Do you need help? I said you know what? Sure, I would love some help. And he comes to my place. He said have some help. And he comes to my place. He said he said, Brandon, you were going to move all of this by yourself. I said, Jeffrey, I just haven't thought this far until now. And and so we, literally we stuffed his car full of stuff. And then there was still a ton of stuff at my place, so there was a push cart and my apartment building. So we stacked the push cart and there was no room to sit in Jeffrey's car because we stuffed the front seat. I literally just pushed the push cart down to UConn, Stanford and me and Jeffrey we got everything loaded into the storage room the day before and it was the least stressed I had been at the conference for the last five years because we did everything the day before. So you could say, oh, like you could have all the money in the world, but like I would rather have the resources, because the resources always give me the answers right. So I'm trying to learn spanish.

Speaker 3:

So what? First thing, jenny says when, um, she sees me, she said how's the spanish going? I said it's not sees me. She said how's the Spanish going? I said it's not going that great. She said I should talk to you in Spanish. I said yes, you should. Luce is like at speaker school. She brought that question up to me probably like four or five times, and so those things kind of pushed me to be like okay, you know, maybe I do need to like go to Puerto Rico for a couple of days and get involved in the culture, Colombia, wherever it may be. Yeah, it's like. It's like ain't no money going to teach me Spanish, but good friends can help me get involved in the culture and make that happen.

Speaker 1:

The culture and make that happen. So we had a friend who had Duolingo family plan.

Speaker 3:

Exactly so. I got to give a shout out to Rob. I'm in his Duolingo family plan.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I'm also not doing well with my Spanish practice.

Speaker 3:

Three years in a row. I got 500 days in a row and then I pretty much just tanked it. There's someone in our family plan that I have like a hundred day streak with that. I have no idea who it is. I think it's probably.

Speaker 1:

Rick, it's one of my clients. There you go, there you go. Well, brandon, as always, thank you. It's inspiration, education and you just bring some laughter and some great vibes. Man, good times, good vibes. Can I ask you a?

Speaker 3:

question Sure, what do you got? What was the inspiration towards starting surviving the side hustle? Because I see so many people new in entrepreneurship that just are craving a community and resources that you've provided.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, well, that's pretty much it right To create a community of other people with side hustles, early stage entrepreneurship, solopreneurs, where they can kind of go, they can learn, they can relate to others so they can realize that they're not the only ones going through the struggles. They can learn from others and they can get inspired and to continue to drive and get through it. And connecting is a great tool for me to be able to connect with people, meet awesome individuals and then also helping them with their businesses out as well. So creating some content, putting it out on blast, helping my audience, cross-pollinate with them and help them get a bigger reach. So really helping me, serving others, connecting with more and then also learning myself too. I'm picking up things when I'm having all these conversations and it's just made sense that it was a win, win, win, win all around. All right, all right, appreciate it. Thank you, brandon.

Speaker 4:

Who's that? That's what I really look like.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, there you go. There you are, and again, thank you, brandon Godoris. Always pleasure having you up here, and now the final guest that we're going to bring up on to the 100th episode of Surviving the Side Hustle is Mr Jeffrey Seitz. So, Jeffrey, I was looking back at the archives and I realized that you were on episode number 11, which was June 21st. We recorded 2023. So it was almost two years ago, which is pretty wild.

Speaker 1:

On that conversation, though, you brought out your love for fantasy, literature and wrestling to the show. You were discussing your lifelong writing journey and the difference between being a writer and becoming an author and the significance of mentorship and community. At the time of that first episode, you were working on the fantasy novel that you had started when you were back at like 18, I believe and you were sharing your insights on world building and managing multiple creative projects, and in that conversation, we also explored how professional wrestling became a tool for you as networking and personal growth. So today, coming back on, I'd love to ask you where are you at now with your novel and other creative projects, and any major milestones or pivots happened in your life since 2023?

Speaker 4:

So much has changed. I don't even know where to begin. I would say. When we were recording that on conversation, I was I would would say not necessarily I was like soul searching, I was trying to put myself out there in the world. I just didn't know how. And in that journey, um, it was also a journey of you dragging me out of my comfort zone. You know, I was like kind of kicking and screaming, um, in a matter of speaking, and I, looking back, I didn't realize that you were showing me the tough love that I needed to get myself out of that comfort zone and just get out there into the unknown, because that's where the real action happens, because nothing really happens when you're in the comfort zone. That's where you just wither and die essentially and I learned that lesson the hard way, I know that sounds a little morbid and die essentially. And I learned that lesson the hard way. I know that sounds a little morbid, but in terms, in terms of milestone, I've learned to not be afraid, because I'm, during that time I was going through some personal struggles with my family and I asked myself I can either become a victim or I can become a victor in this situation.

Speaker 4:

And at the time I was afraid to share that story and as I was going through the next draft, I was having a conversation with an author who I met through social media and one night I was talking to him I was like ranting and raving, telling him you know, I've been working on this damn book for so freaking long. It's not going the way that I want. It's just not going the direction I was hoping it would go in. You know, I have here I am with a bachelor's and master's in english and I can't write good for lickety split and it's just not going the way that I want, like what I'm not doing right. So I'm ranting and raving. And then he asked me the simple question who are you doing this for? And in that moment I got so emotional because I forgot who I was doing this for. I forgot that I'm writing this story for my family, who's still currently broken, and I'm hoping and praying, through the grace of God, that I can use this brokenness to not only mend my family but use this story to reach out to other people who might be in my situation, because our main character in this novel does have a broken family and a brother who's estranged.

Speaker 4:

I'm writing this as almost my tribute to all these writers who have influenced me as a child, the ones who inspire me to read, who opened portals to different worlds. It was through people like CS Lewis that I was able to go through the wardrobe and find comfort. It was through JRR Tolkien that I was able to come to Middle Earth and go beyond Middle Earth. It was through people like Manuela Engel that I was able to come to Middle Earth and go beyond Middle Earth. It was through people like Manila Angle that I was able to learn science. So this is also like my tribute to everything that I love.

Speaker 4:

And ultimately, what keeps me going is I'm writing this for the world because, as someone once said, there is no greater agony than bearing a soul untold, and that's what keeps me going. I've learned so much more about myself as a person, as well as the writing process, because the biggest lesson I have to learn is that there is no perfect moment. You just got to do it, and I learned that lesson the hard way, because I was so terrified of the unknown. So ever since then, I've learned to brace the process, just get it out there, fall in love with this character that I see so much myself in and just be true to my word, and I'm just looking forward to see where this one takes me yeah, I'm excited and I know where you're kind of at with it.

Speaker 1:

You're closing in on the next edit. You've got things kind of lined up. I'm reflecting back on the first conversation. We had Totally changed career at a new position, closed the previous one. You're involved in so many different social circles and communities and things and I'm interested to ask you what are some of the new struggles or challenges that you're seeing with everyday life, with it's between your writing, social, just everyday life, like where are you at, because it seems like I feel like you're just crushing, knocking things down and what are these new challenges that are popping up for you?

Speaker 4:

I would say the biggest challenge right now is getting distracted.

Speaker 4:

I'm going to be taking some time off in June because my deadline for the next draft is June 30th, and in two weeks from now I'm going to be taking some days off where I'm just going to put everything on pause. I'm even willing to turn my phone off and just give it to my parents. I'm willing to drive all the way from Poughkeepsie to Highlands. I just keep this phone because I just want to go all in man, because I just want to devote as much time as possible to get this done, because it's been in my mind for too long and I'm doing a disservice to so many of my friends and family and to the world. Essentially, and also I would say, another struggle is balancing all of my um side hustles. You know, I work at a university. I also work at restaurant. I play the piano for a couple of church churches in my area. I'm gonna going into my fifth season working at the new york state renaissance fair, which is something that I enjoy, but it's a matter of like balancing, learning to say no, because part of my, because I recently closed a chapter with my not-for-profit job thinking, oh well, during the winter break. This is an opportunity for me to make more money. Things are tight and I was listening to a podcast and I forget who it was that said this, but I'm just going to be paraphrasing. You don't want to make yourself available, you want to make yourself valuable. And that was what I needed to finally closing the door for that not for profit job that I worked at for 15 years, eternally grateful. I've learned some of my biggest lessons and I'm convinced, as great times, as painful as times were, it taught me a lot and I believe it was preparing me for the next season, working for a university.

Speaker 4:

Sure, things are slow right now, but it's the first time that I had to be working in the book publishing industry in order to validate myself as a writer, but that doesn't mean anything if you don't have anything published. And I convinced myself, thinking that no one else understood me. If this person that didn't meet my agenda, they can't help me. But it just shows what happens when you just get so lost in your mind, when you become so ensnared by the lies of the devil that you just think of this crazy stuff. And I've realized that you can be a writer, an artist, no matter what you do.

Speaker 4:

Sure, it's something I want to be doing full time, but I would say the biggest struggle is just maintaining that promise and doing what it takes. And I would say another struggle I'm currently facing is just being true to myself, because this year I just made progress in my personal development and I had to call myself in certain areas in my life and ever since then it's been a game changer. It's just a matter of being true to myself, not slipping back and just keep going on this new path and just seeing how I can contribute to others, because when I first started networking, coming to events in Connecticut or like ACE, for example, my thinking was what can these people do for me? Instead of me thinking, what can I do for these people? I still don't know, but I'm more than but sit. But because I let go of my ego and because I let go of this fantasy I was ensnared in, that's more possible.

Speaker 4:

I'm still figuring out, but the willingness to be more of a servant has given me more opportunity, has enabled me, for that creative space to think how can I help this person? What was it? What is it going to take for me to? Sure, I most of the time. You know I have a long drive, but you know it's people like Brandon, for example, that I was willing to make that commute because I wanted to serve him, because A to B con has meant so much to me. It's where events like that where I've learned so much more about myself and where I've met incredible people like yourself.

Speaker 1:

Oh well, I appreciate that, thank you, and I appreciate you coming to a lot of my events and everybody else's events, and it's inspiring to see the progress that you're continuing to make and looking back and reflecting on the the progress that you're continuing to make and looking back and reflecting on the long journey that you've had. It's crazy and cool to see the different branches that you're connecting with and everything there. And I know you've got a lot of projects that you're working on. And I've got to ask you for the final question here what would you tell an aspiring author, someone who's looking at like I want to write this book, but it's just so daunting, and maybe not even just a writer, maybe just anybody who has this audacious goal where they're trying to Um, but I'm just, I'm just going to draw this.

Speaker 4:

I'm just going to draw that out a little bit, so bear with me. Like, like I mentioned, um, this book that I'm currently working on, the current working title is a dragon from heaven. It's something that I just thought of when I was 18. And over time, through life experience, I've learned to give a substance from my own life, as I mentioned, the situation with my family. I've learned to ask myself am I going to become a victim or am I going to become a victor? And you got to get honest with yourself. And as I started to read more and I would say, going back a little bit to the book, that really sparked my interest and love for this journey of reading literature was the book A Wrinkle in Time by Manila Engel, Highly highly recommend it.

Speaker 4:

And I was thinking what was the scene that gravitated me to this story? What was it? Because I was introduced to this book by audio recording and there was a scene, um, where the main characters are talking. They are, they're on, they're on their mission to unfind a meg murray's, the protagonist, her father, who's been missing for years, and they're so. Their journey takes them practically across the universe and they're at this one planet and from the perspective of others outside of earth. Earth is shadowed and they're talking about who has helped overcome the darkness, who has helped become earth unshadowed. And one of the characters asked the children think of the people, the great people that's come before you. And one of the characters said oh, I know jesus. And it was that moment when I was 11 or 12 years old, I thought this person knows Jesus too, and I know it sounds weird, but it really resonated with me because, you know, I was homeschooled all the way through 12th grade and during lunchtime we listened to audio books. And in that moment, the more that I think about it was that there were people outside of my house, outside of the Hudson Valley region, that did share my beliefs. And I would say the biggest thing that has helped me and sustained me as a person, as a writer, is my faith in God Because, just going off of John's point, I used to be a Sunday-only person, treating this as a chore rather than treating my faith in God as a relationship.

Speaker 4:

And just to bring this to a close, you know, for the longest time, I mean, I knew that the Chronicles of Narnia was very faith-based, you know. See as though, as he made it obvious in the Chronicles of Narnia and also in his other writings. You know, mere Christianity, the screw tape letters. And I love the Lord of the Rings and for the longest time I tried to convince myself that the Lord of the Rings, they're not a Christian story. I mean, I knew that Tolkien was a devout catholic and you know it's a political book. It's a political book. There's no way in heck that this is a christian story. I mean, who's god is it? Gandalf? Is it? Is jesus aragorn, like what's the one ring?

Speaker 4:

And it wasn't until that I started studying his um essay on fairy stories, which he really, where Tolkien really laid out the groundwork, his matrix of what makes a successful fantasy story. He talks about how the Bible, the whole resurrection story, is the highest form of a fairy story, that story that has a happy ending. And it just took me years to realize that. You know what I would say to someone who, whether they're a believer or not, what's the story that just keeps you going, what's the story that gives you hope and what can you expand upon. Because you know, in this day and age, with all the content that's being created, whether it be movies or books or TV shows. We all gravitate from certain sources of inspiration, and the way that I see it is, you know, this story is my tribute to everything that I love fantasy and professional wrestling. It's my tribute, it's a way that I feel that I can express myself to the the world, because I believe this is a story that is just too great within my soul to um keep hidden. So what I would say to someone is that there's no perfect moment.

Speaker 4:

The first draft is going to suck, but there is a huge difference between keeping it in your head than putting it on the paper, because not only you're manifesting it, you're bringing it to life, and that's why there's, and that's why there's multiple drafts. You know, I mean, and even if you get it written down, you might get rejected If you go the traditional route. I mean, my favorite book of rank all the time Got rejected 40 times, to the point where One 40 times, to the point where one reader reading the manuscript said I think this is the worst story I've ever read in my entire life. It reminds me of the wizard of Oz and Harry Potter was rejected multiple times because I'm back then.

Speaker 4:

People didn't know what to make of it. You know, and I have to be okay with the fact that if I choose to go the traditional route, it might be rejected, and I have to be okay with that fact that if I choose to go the traditional route, it might be rejected, and I have to be okay with that, you know. And so I would ultimately say to someone, regardless of their belief or their faith, just do it, get out of your comfort zone, get in the wilderness. It's going to be scary, but it's going to be so freaking worth it. Wow, it's going to be so freaking worth it.

Speaker 4:

Wow.

Speaker 1:

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Where do people go to kind of follow you, check in, what's your going? What's the update with the book? How do they get in touch with you?

Speaker 4:

Sure, so you can find me on Instagram. I'm jcites with a Z. I believe I got to get used to say my Instagram name jcites with a Z. As I mentioned, I'm working on the next draft. My deadline is June 30th and once I meet that deadline I'm going to take a one to week break off. You know, kind of rest, because I do have other projects I'm working on. I started working on a short story for a class. I also was working on a professional essay that talks about pro wrestling and storytelling. So after that my break, I'm just going to devote the rest of the year just fine, tuning it, because the more that, because I realized, the more that I'm becoming honest with myself, the more progress that I'm making. So that's my plan and I'm just excited for this opportunity to see where it takes me. You know, this conversation that we're having right now is giving me the further momentum to be a man of my word and just keep going, and I appreciate you too Love it.

Speaker 1:

Love it and I want to thank everybody here in the audience. This is a live recording in case you haven't learned that while you're listening, and I appreciate you guys for coming out and showing the support, whether you're listening to the episodes or you're just here, just be here. I appreciate you guys for showing up it's support and it's friendship and it's the connection that really helps all of us. Different stages of side hustle, solopreneurship, entrepreneurship, business moguls, everything Connection is what's going to drive it and push people forward. So I appreciate you guys and everybody listening. Thank you for checking in for the first 99. I hope you enjoyed this 100th episode and I can't wait for the upcoming episodes too. So thank you guys all, and we'll catch you next week. Peace.