Real quick, before we dive in, I want to give you some context on this episode.

This conversation was originally quoted back when I was running my first podcast,

The Founder Podcast.

It was before Next Level Pros even existed.

I sat down with some serious heavy hitters, entrepreneurs, operators, leaders,

and we unpack real tactical stuff that still holds up today.

So instead of letting these episodes collect dust,

we're bringing them back here on the next level pros channel. You'll notice the branding's a little

different, maybe the style too, but the lessons still gold, especially if you're in the

trades or home service space and trying to build something real. Let's get into it.

Part two of my story.

And so as you guys remember, so I kind of give you the background on the previous episode in which we talked about my upbringing and my schooling and just all the different things that ultimately led to me jumping full tilt into starting my first business. So in 2008, great year to start a business, might I add? No, I'm joking. But I was caught

with the entrepreneur bug and I thought, man, you know, I already know everything that I'm doing.

This is the typical e-muth, right?

The entrepreneur myth that like I am a high functioning, a technician, really good at sales.

I'm already doing everything that the owner is doing.

Why don't I just go and do this on my own?

And so I was smitten, decided to drop out

a drop out of school. I felt like I learned everything that school had to teach me. I was 24 years old

on a pike dream, just ready to go, ready to go and build my first business. And so my first

business was in the home security space in automation in which we would recruit door-to-door sales teams.

We'd establish offices with different locations throughout the United States.

...