How a Broke Addict Built an $85M Empire From Scratch
Dropping Bombs
Brad Lea
4.9 • 2.3K Ratings
🗓️ 18 March 2026
⏱️ 65 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This episode was sponsored by Cardiff & Icarus Recovery Center
LightSpeed VT: https://www.lightspeedvt.com/
Dropping Bombs Podcast: https://www.droppingbombs.com/
Today's Dropping Bombs episode delivers a raw redemption story with Matthew De La Piedra — serial entrepreneur who went from homeless heroin addict to an $85 million healthcare company exit, multiple eight-figure businesses, and a substantial real estate portfolio.
Matt explains the moment he decided "enough was enough," how a recovery facility taught him the healthcare business, and why he's now applying that hunger to roofing, asphalt and contracting companies. He gets real about faith, fatherhood, and why those who've clawed back from rock bottom are often the most unstoppable entrepreneurs.
Matt's story is proof that your past doesn't matter; your next move does. And that next move starts the moment you hit play.
🔗 Connect with Matthew
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/limitless_matty/
✅ Company Websites
Blackstone Roofing Group: https://blackstoneroofinggroup.com/
Blackstone Contracting Group: https://blackstonecontractinggroup.com/
MD Asphalt Co: https://mdasphaltco.com/
Icarus BH: https://icarusbh.com/
Watch the full-length video version of any Dropping Bombs episode here on YouTube.
Brad Lea is a self-made entrepreneur who turned small-town grit into a multi-million-dollar empire. With over 25 years dominating sales and leadership, he's mentored thousands to outsmart, outwork, and out win their competition. His top-rated podcast, Dropping Bombs, brings raw, game-changing insights from the biggest names in business.
LightSpeed VT is Brad's brainchild—the world's leading interactive training platform. It's built to make your team sharper, faster, and more effective, without wasting time or money. Whether you're a startup or a Fortune 500, LightSpeed VT is how you scale success and dominate your industry. Curious? Check it out:
https://www.lightspeedvt.com/
Brad's also behind Closer School, the go-to program for mastering sales and closing deals like a pro. Want to 10x your income? This is where you start. His book, The Hard Way, lays out the brutal, honest lessons he learned building his empire—your blueprint to winning the game. Get it here: https://bradlea.com/product/the-hard-way/
This isn't just a video. It's a wake-up call. Watch it. Share it. Act on it.
Closer School: https://www.closerschool.com/cs
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | You went from homeless and addicted to drugs to selling a company worth 85 million. |
| 0:04.6 | I've been locked up in Mexico, pistol whipped, tied up, tortured by drug dealers. |
| 0:09.6 | I didn't even own clothes when I went to rehab. |
| 0:11.7 | I went from making 500 bucks a week to the first month. |
| 0:14.8 | I had made like 20 grand. |
| 0:16.1 | We're doing a million dollar contract here, a million dollar contract there. |
| 0:19.1 | You have enough right now to never work again, ever. |
| 0:21.8 | Yes, this is what happens when you do good business, get paid. |
| 0:25.2 | Dude, how'd you go from drug addict, homeless to now worth millions of bucks with multiple |
| 0:29.5 | eight-figure businesses, all built from scratch, really? |
| 0:32.6 | We'll start with the one that made me all my money, which was... |
| 0:41.1 | What it is, Brad Lee back again with another episode of drop bombs today in the studio folks got a real treat for you matthew delapidra what kind of name is |
| 0:48.6 | delapidra spanish is it is the rock are you spanish you don't look spanish i am spanish you don't look |
| 0:53.7 | spanish i'm a white spaniard you You're a white Spaniard. Do you speak Spanish? Paquito. Can't even roll my hours. Do your parents? My dad does. Yeah, my mom's Irish. So I'm Spanish and Irish. That's what technically my dad is. Okay. so um and then my mom's like a mix so i'm a mut |
| 1:15.7 | Spanish from Spain or Irish you're saying yeah no Irish is my grandpa my grandmother's Spanish |
| 1:22.4 | oh interesting and I made my dad Irish and Spanish there go. And then I'm my dad and my mom. |
| 1:27.9 | Well, my mom's like a mix. |
| 1:29.4 | So it's like I'm kind of a mutt. |
| 1:31.1 | Irish and Spanish was the main stock. |
| 1:36.2 | So folks, if you guys don't know Matt, do you go by Matt or Matthew? |
| 1:40.3 | Serial entrepreneur who went from homeless and addicted drugs to $85 million health care company exit in 2022. |
| 1:51.5 | That's a nice chunk of change. |
... |
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