#194 - Logistics Is NOT a Cost Center | Randy Vlasic Explains Why Most Businesses Get This Wrong

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When I have somebody that comes in that just has grit, that has tried different things,
they failed, they've fallen on their face, they've learned how to overcome challenges.

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I'm a hundred percent taking that person.

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All Hey you all welcome back.

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I'm pumped for the conversation today in the studio um on this nice rainy Thursday in
Cincinnati.

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It's crazy what technology allows us to do.

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I love being in person, but we're getting better at the ones that are from afar.

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So today's guest is Randy Vlasic.

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Cool last name.

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He's founder and CEO of LIWMI Logistics.

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It's a company operating in one of the most demanding and what I'm saying misunderstood
industries in business.

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Logistics isn't glamorous.

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I know of many guys who operate companies.

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It's precise.

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It's time sensitive, it's margin sensitive, and when it fails, everything fails.

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Randy's built his company in a space where execution matters more than noise, where
readership shows up in systems, not slogans.

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So today we're talking about operational discipline leading under pressure and what
founders can learn from logistics world about scaling the right way.

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Randy, welcome to this here at EntrepreneurMan.

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Mark, thanks for having me on the show, man.

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I'm super excited to be here.

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So what about that intro?

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Hey, we're going to make this a non interview conversation.

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was a great five, 10 minutes.

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talked beforehand.

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So what about that intro?

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Like is your industry, is it highly misunderstood?

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um Yeah, I think so.

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You know, it depends on who you're really talking to.

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You know, some folks are looking at it as just an operating expense on the P &L.

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know, transportation just something that needs to get done.

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It's not strategic.

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But really it is.

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You know, at the end of the day, logistics is everything to the customer.

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You know, when we buy something on Amazon, it's here tomorrow.

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If it's here two days later or it's one day late, it is horrible.

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It's a horrible experience.

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And when we think about that, you know, as a client, um

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purchasing something, we want it.

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And so there are some companies that look at it very strategically and those are the
companies that we'd like to work with the most.

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They see it as an opportunity to really deliver exceptional value to the clients.

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And we like to roll out the red carpet for them.

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They do look at cost as an operating expense.

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They look at opportunities to improve it.

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um But ultimately it's the experience, right?

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and managing a lot of the expectations that go along with it to make not just the client's
experience exceptional, but also the company that's delivering that product.

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you put yourself in, because I want to hear the story like, man, why'd you get into
logistics?

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What drove this?

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But as you think about it, how do you, I want to hear that, but how do you keep from
becoming a commodity that's engaged with and have a relationship based just on price?

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Since we look at it as an expense, how do you keep that from happening with all your
clients?

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it's simple.

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We just don't work with clients that look at it that way.

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You know, we work with clients that look at it strategically, you know, um, when you have
multiple locations and you have multiple modes of transportation, you know, it can get

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complex and we simplify that, you know, there are a lot of companies that just look at
costs and we're just not frankly designed for that model.

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We're not going to be the cheapest.

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can't compete with the billion dollar companies out there when it comes to capacity and
price.

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What our value proposition is, is the service.

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understanding the complex solutions and using our technology that we have and customizing
that to meet the needs of the client and then delivering exceptional value.

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Where those large companies just aren't agile in that way.

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And they're not doing those same things for the clients, at least in, you know, unless
you're Walmart, right?

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And, you know, in the middle market though, that's where we, that's where we, that's our
value proposition.

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The does it, when you think about your business, because again, you can take this question
and drive into why you, why you entered into logistics and you know, why it's your passion

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now in business.

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And, um, does it ever baffle you that within the same industry, there's a segment that you
brought it up like serving a huge conglomerate, like Walmart.

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And the funny thing is I'm assuming internally, I bet they want to talk about the same
things you're talking about.

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About the expectations they have on the logistic providers to them, but

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At the end of day, if it's just margin, it's tough to conceive how it's still possible for
a huge enterprise to deliver what you're talking about for them.

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But I bet the big conglomerate like Walmart, I bet they wouldn't say they settle for less.

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Absolutely not.

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Walmart has some of the strictest requirements when it comes to transportation.

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know, a lot of companies it's on time, but on time performance is did we meet the
appointment time?

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Walmart is, you have to meet a window.

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You can't be early or late or you're penalized for that.

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So if you're working with Walmart, you're getting penalized for being there an hour early
because it messes up the entire system that Walmart is built.

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know, you have to meet a specific window.

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And if you don't meet that window, there's chargebacks on that.

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which is your profits, the profits going out the window and you'll be out of business
quick.

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Yeah.

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They'll get right into the profits.

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It's percentage of revenue, something like that.

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What, so why logistics?

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I don't know, Mark.

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never, I never ever dreamed of being in logistics or owning a logistics company.

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You know, when I, when I was, um, when I was a kid, I was probably the one kid you didn't
ever think to build a company in the first place.

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You know, I, I got expelled from high school two times, graduated in summer school and I
was just making poor decisions.

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And I think some of that led me to entrepreneurship because

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couldn't really afford to go to college.

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was always looking for ways to do it.

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I started in retail and I was working at Circuit City.

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I was a sales manager for Circuit City at the beginning.

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And I remember these people coming in to buy a $30,000 $40,000 home theater systems.

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And I remember, I think to myself, know, what do these people do that they can afford to
do this?

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There has to be an easier way to do it.

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And so I just became obsessed with trying to find a way to make money.

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And that's what drove me.

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was money.

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And I had first kid at 24 years old, I had to make some things happen.

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I ended up

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working for a multi-level marketing company and insurance, mortgages and investments.

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And then I had a friend that was in logistics.

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um He was doing really good and they were like, Hey man, you should come get into this.

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And so I started in sales and the rest is history.

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You know, I my first company after a couple of years and off the rig.

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And here you are now.

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What caused that kid, not the thing that you did, but what caused the behavior of that kid
to get kicked out of high school twice?

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Man, you know, what caused me to get kicked out of high school twice?

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What caused that behavior?

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think, I don't know.

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It was.

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It was just about having fun.

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I wasn't really living intentionally in high school.

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I wasn't focused on my grades and what that really meant in my life.

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I was just living in the moment.

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And I was just trying to have a good time.

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And I was making some decisions that at the time I thought were fun and exciting and naive
and stupid at the same time.

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I wonder, um, you know, sometimes people go deep and sometimes they don't, but, I say that
to say that there's this idea that we're a product of our environments and there's good

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conversation about it, about, you know, poor kids and, um, you know, underperforming
schools and this whole thing.

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But, but then you're, but you're sitting here today, not that same person.

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whatever environment created that.

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It could have been the influence of parents.

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could have been the wrong fringe that you were hanging out, right?

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It could have been the wrong thing.

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Whatever that was, you aren't that anymore.

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So if we're saying that adults in societies, the, what you're born into is pretty much
what you're stuck with.

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Well, that's not what we're looking at here today.

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No, absolutely not.

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You know, we all have the ability to make life, know, the way we want it, right?

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Life is what we make it at the end of the day.

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You know, for me, at a young age, you know, I had, I had a kid that when I was 20, 22, um,
you know, that was a wake up call for me.

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I couldn't screw around anymore.

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Like I had a life that was relying on me and I had to make something happen.

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And so.

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I just had to figure out new ways to do it and I had to grow as an individual.

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know, I think entrepreneurship in itself is, you think you're building this organization,
company, you're not, you're building you, you know?

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You're building you as a person and you have to grow and learn new things and just engulf
yourself in opportunities to learn and do things that you've never even thought possible

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sometimes.

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Did you have a, that, did that kid before you had a kid, um, and maybe we'll go back then.

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Did that 16 year old kid or 17 year old kid or 18 year old kid that got kicked out of high
school, did he have dreams?

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Yeah, man.

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But all my dreams at that time were, were based around money.

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That was my, you know, I had some family members that were super successful and I had some
friends that are, you know, friends that were super successful.

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And I always, I remember one day I was sitting at a buddy's house and he just built a
brand new house and it was beautiful.

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you know, a couple hundred thousand dollars in today's day is probably 700,000.

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But I remember looking at his house and going, man, this is awesome.

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How my, how, could I ever accomplish this thing?

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I can't even afford this stupid pillar he has in his living room.

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You know, how could I ever do this?

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so money is what drove me at that time.

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And so that was my dream was how can I make enough money?

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And it was cars and houses and yachts and things like that.

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And that's, that was my identity for a long time.

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You know, I ended up selling my company when I was 29 years old for multiple seven
figures, my first company.

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And, uh, and I realized that

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That wasn't it.

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It wasn't, wasn't about just money, you know, and today life is what we make it.

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That's a movement for me.

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That's, that's in my heart.

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That's people coming together to achieve a common goal.

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Whether that's colleagues, customers, employees, it's us building each other up and going
out the world and sharing that because at the end of the day, like nothing is self-made,

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right?

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You hear self-made all the time.

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I'm not self-made.

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Nobody's self-made.

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can't.

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do anything without the help of somebody else.

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can't build a business without somebody else.

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can't make a life without somebody else.

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You can't have a marriage without somebody else or be a husband or a father.

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It always takes more than one person.

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So that's the movement for me today is life is what we make it.

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And it's about helping each other grow and become better.

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And whatever stage that is, personal business, you name it.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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You know, to accomplish these big things in life that we're talking about, it's so funny
that the reason why I like to go deep on this a little bit and we'll get into your

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business, but so important is it shouldn't be about money.

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But the reality is we still need this money to build the things we're building, right?

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Because, know, me coming from a place of, know, we can say poor, but the family just have
a lot of money.

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Right.

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And so coming from that place, I know what that life is and it's a struggle.

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Life is filled with all sorts of struggles, but if you also stack financial problems on
top of it, well, you wake up to them, you live with them, you go to bed with them, and

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it's tough to be able to focus on.

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If you can't pay your bills, it's tough to focus on the other things in life that do
matter because every day you wake up, no matter how positive you are about life, it's

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tough.

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And then also you can't live up to the responsibilities of the people you made commitments
to as well.

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Right.

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You know, money at the end of the day is a tool, right?

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I mean, so we build our organizations.

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That's vehicle for me to create financial income and to create financial income for the
rest of the employees that work here and use that money as a tool to do the things that I

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really want to do and the things that I really want to accomplish at the end of the day.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It's the resource.

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mean, maybe they used to call it something else, right?

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But you have the resource of exchange to go out here and provide the things you need to
provide for you and the people around you again, because without it, it's just the system

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that we have without it.

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You're not going to have the company to build because I bet we can go into the depth of
the biggest struggles you've had.

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Go through moments where cashflow is strapped and you're trying to grow and you want to
add another employee, but you're worried about the revenue to not be able to pay the

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others.

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We have these tough decisions to make when we don't have the money.

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Things get really bad with business too, right?

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You've been through those moments.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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You know, I go back to when I first started this company, I sold my company when I was 29.

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I had an earn out after that.

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It just so happened I was renegotiating my contract in 2019, 2020 when COVID happened.

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So in the frame market, we expected this huge downturn.

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We laid off 150 employees.

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I was one of the people that got laid off in that.

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You know, we closed up all our regional offices.

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I didn't really have much to do anymore.

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turned out to be something completely different.

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started Lumia logistics.

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There was this boom in COVID.

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I caught the tail end of that.

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But in 2021, the market fell apart.

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So I just hired my first two employees.

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Business was great.

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I was making money.

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00:13:37,850 --> 00:13:38,717
It was doing awesome.

219
00:13:38,717 --> 00:13:43,050
The market totally uh just fell apart.

220
00:13:43,551 --> 00:13:45,052
And I had to make a decision.

221
00:13:45,052 --> 00:13:47,084
It was like, I let these people go?

222
00:13:47,084 --> 00:13:49,506
I'm going back to being a self individual operator.

223
00:13:49,506 --> 00:13:52,472
Do I find another way to, to.

224
00:13:52,472 --> 00:13:54,153
pay these people and keep this thing going.

225
00:13:54,153 --> 00:13:57,994
And so at the time I was running some forums on Facebook with other logistics owners.

226
00:13:57,994 --> 00:14:02,966
And there was a forum where we'd help each other and share our experiences to help each
other grow.

227
00:14:03,927 --> 00:14:08,208
one of the people that I was coaching at the time wanted to start a logistics business.

228
00:14:08,208 --> 00:14:10,049
I'm like, Hey, this is an opportunity.

229
00:14:10,049 --> 00:14:13,110
Maybe I can do some consulting or contractual work with her.

230
00:14:13,110 --> 00:14:18,363
Start this company helps me pay the employees at the same time that I can come back when
it makes sense.

231
00:14:18,363 --> 00:14:19,163
And so that's what I did.

232
00:14:19,163 --> 00:14:22,304
I sold her a six month contract.

233
00:14:23,418 --> 00:14:26,580
I went and I started her company at the same time I was building my company.

234
00:14:26,580 --> 00:14:30,221
was running the same meeting schedule, literally 30 minutes apart.

235
00:14:30,221 --> 00:14:31,962
I'd have my morning huddle with my team.

236
00:14:31,962 --> 00:14:34,443
I'd have a morning huddle with that, with that team.

237
00:14:34,443 --> 00:14:36,550
And I built both those companies at the same time.

238
00:14:36,550 --> 00:14:39,631
And then after six months, things started to stabilize.

239
00:14:39,631 --> 00:14:44,266
We got our business levels back up and then I was able to make that transition back, you
know,

240
00:14:45,474 --> 00:14:57,235
What, talk about the last six years of the journey from that, um about being in an
operational seat with the ups and downs of businesses, with the change of AI and what's

241
00:14:57,235 --> 00:15:02,220
happening, um with everybody that was going home to work and now back to the office.

242
00:15:02,220 --> 00:15:10,937
It seems like, it feels like to me the past six years on the entrepreneurial side of my
business, not just podcasting and marketing and branding and owning buildings.

243
00:15:11,522 --> 00:15:15,776
that it seems like I've lived an entire owner's life in six years.

244
00:15:15,940 --> 00:15:18,056
That's what it feels like to me.

245
00:15:19,182 --> 00:15:24,122
The world in the last six years to me has changed so much.

246
00:15:24,122 --> 00:15:29,002
know, going back to some of the things you were saying about COVID and working from home
and all that stuff.

247
00:15:29,622 --> 00:15:41,362
You know, when I had this earn out with my first company, I was limited in capital to
expense, but I have these huge targets that I had to hit and the higher the target, the

248
00:15:41,362 --> 00:15:42,342
more I got paid.

249
00:15:42,792 --> 00:15:46,294
Um, but I was limited in the money that I can allocate and then I could use for the
investment.

250
00:15:46,294 --> 00:15:50,966
So I got to a point where I was like, I need to hit this huge target, but I have any more
money to go hire more people.

251
00:15:50,967 --> 00:15:55,549
So I came up with this idea to build a remote channel and I started it and it just took
off.

252
00:15:55,549 --> 00:16:00,782
And I started to look for people all over the country that had books of business that I
could just onboard.

253
00:16:00,782 --> 00:16:06,755
Cause I knew if I brought people that had books of business that could turn ROI instantly
that the company would allow me to hire them.

254
00:16:07,136 --> 00:16:10,578
So I started finding all these people over the country and this thing took off.

255
00:16:11,054 --> 00:16:13,854
I think 12 or $15 million in the first year.

256
00:16:13,894 --> 00:16:17,514
And so I was actually built this remote company before COVID even happened.

257
00:16:18,874 --> 00:16:26,474
As things progressed, what we came through, I already had a whole operational team, a
sales team, everything was remote before COVID even started.

258
00:16:26,474 --> 00:16:28,554
So we were prepared for that.

259
00:16:28,654 --> 00:16:30,314
And we did a really good job at that.

260
00:16:30,314 --> 00:16:33,614
Now, LIWMI Logistics, when I started it, we're still work from home.

261
00:16:33,614 --> 00:16:35,714
So not, not any of us.

262
00:16:35,714 --> 00:16:37,074
We have an office in Chicago.

263
00:16:37,074 --> 00:16:38,950
They send the mail to.

264
00:16:39,086 --> 00:16:43,466
And we can meet our customers there if we need to, everybody for us works from home.

265
00:16:43,866 --> 00:16:55,666
man, starting it out as a, as an individual, you know, building this thing organically, I
was sitting on some money for my, um, my acquisition and, uh, it's just what I knew, you

266
00:16:55,666 --> 00:17:08,376
know, so when I started and I built this TMS system and the website and all that kind of
stuff, I hired all these contractors to help me out and, and 2021 I ended up as a sole

267
00:17:08,376 --> 00:17:09,286
Prior to I get hacked.

268
00:17:09,286 --> 00:17:15,100
Um, so there's a security breach and, I think it was a ransomware attack.

269
00:17:15,100 --> 00:17:16,650
They got in everything and they were shutting me out.

270
00:17:16,650 --> 00:17:20,302
I'd wake up in the morning and I changed all my passwords or I changed all my passwords.

271
00:17:20,302 --> 00:17:24,635
Once I realized they were breached, I wake up the next morning and they were all changed
again.

272
00:17:24,635 --> 00:17:26,596
And so it took me six months.

273
00:17:26,596 --> 00:17:30,338
I literally let go of every single person I was working with.

274
00:17:30,958 --> 00:17:38,070
The contractors that were building the website, the employees that I was working with or
they weren't employees at the time they were 1099, but.

275
00:17:38,070 --> 00:17:40,791
I had to let everybody go because I didn't know where it came from.

276
00:17:40,791 --> 00:17:42,632
And then I had to start over again.

277
00:17:43,072 --> 00:17:49,815
And so once I finally got this thing launched in December, 2021, we moved our first
shipment.

278
00:17:49,815 --> 00:17:50,455
Um, 2022.

279
00:17:50,455 --> 00:17:51,415
Yeah.

280
00:17:52,890 --> 00:17:56,217
I can't remember how many shimits I was moving a month, but I was selling the freight.

281
00:17:56,217 --> 00:17:57,678
I was finding the trucks.

282
00:17:57,678 --> 00:17:58,748
I was booking the loads.

283
00:17:58,748 --> 00:18:00,089
I was billing all the shipments.

284
00:18:00,089 --> 00:18:01,149
I was chasing the money.

285
00:18:01,149 --> 00:18:07,022
mean, it was everything and it engulfed me and there were days where, you know, my poor
wife,

286
00:18:08,686 --> 00:18:10,926
You know, it'd be Monday and I'm like, where's the freight?

287
00:18:10,926 --> 00:18:11,906
Like I need money.

288
00:18:11,906 --> 00:18:12,946
I need to get this thing going.

289
00:18:12,946 --> 00:18:16,506
And I'm bleeding cash the whole time I'm starting this thing up, you know?

290
00:18:17,006 --> 00:18:19,946
And, uh, you know, she was such a rock man.

291
00:18:19,946 --> 00:18:21,046
She was so supportive.

292
00:18:21,046 --> 00:18:29,866
I remember there were days where I was just sitting at my desk, bawling, like not knowing
where the next customer was coming from or where the next shipment was coming from.

293
00:18:30,946 --> 00:18:33,346
And, uh, it always worked out.

294
00:18:33,346 --> 00:18:38,526
And by Wednesday that week, you know, things started flowing and I was moving and
grooving.

295
00:18:39,394 --> 00:18:46,740
I did that for about a year, all by myself until I hired my first two employees to come in
and help me out.

296
00:18:46,740 --> 00:18:50,566
And then right after that, we saw the COVID uh crash.

297
00:18:51,810 --> 00:18:53,530
What in those deep dark moments?

298
00:18:53,530 --> 00:19:03,934
Um, I'm not going to say the darkest cause we've had successful people, not just in
business, really successful employees inside companies, people that are leaders that are

299
00:19:03,934 --> 00:19:07,235
responsible for big things have dark moments.

300
00:19:07,235 --> 00:19:11,786
don't know anyone who hasn't had to conquer their demons and the tough things.

301
00:19:11,786 --> 00:19:18,956
But on those Mondays, when your wife's who's extremely supportive, when you had this big
exit,

302
00:19:18,956 --> 00:19:25,401
and you're spending that money for this new hope and dream and you see money just flowing
out of the bank account all the time.

303
00:19:25,684 --> 00:19:27,206
What kept you going?

304
00:19:28,778 --> 00:19:31,749
Um, man, there was two things.

305
00:19:31,749 --> 00:19:36,770
One is there's no plan B, you know, I made a commitment.

306
00:19:36,770 --> 00:19:37,671
had to make it work.

307
00:19:37,671 --> 00:19:40,711
I could have went and got a job, but I didn't want to.

308
00:19:40,711 --> 00:19:43,942
Like I love the challenge of building.

309
00:19:43,942 --> 00:19:46,213
Um, and I didn't have a plan B.

310
00:19:46,213 --> 00:19:47,253
My wife knew that too.

311
00:19:47,253 --> 00:19:48,284
She knew this was it.

312
00:19:48,284 --> 00:19:54,545
And I was going to adjust my lifestyle, however I needed to, make this thing work, no
matter what it, what it took.

313
00:19:54,545 --> 00:19:56,726
Um, but I think.

314
00:19:57,176 --> 00:20:02,388
You know, not to get too deep on it, but I'm definitely a believer in the big guy
upstairs.

315
00:20:02,388 --> 00:20:04,249
And faith definitely helped me out.

316
00:20:04,249 --> 00:20:10,682
You know, I cannot tell you how many times I've had my back against the wall and I didn't
know what was going to happen.

317
00:20:10,682 --> 00:20:16,684
And I've talked to the big man and it's all about just continuing to take that step
forward.

318
00:20:16,684 --> 00:20:20,416
And next thing you know, something happens randomly and it just works.

319
00:20:20,416 --> 00:20:24,377
And I can say that there's probably more than 10 occasions that that's happened.

320
00:20:24,797 --> 00:20:26,978
And so I just have in the faith of.

321
00:20:28,142 --> 00:20:31,025
It's going to work as long as I stay consistent.

322
00:20:31,306 --> 00:20:41,210
It doesn't matter what the ups and downs on the roller coaster ride is, but if I just keep
taking small steps forward every single day, those small steps compound over time.

323
00:20:41,210 --> 00:20:43,984
And then I create momentum and that momentum drives it forward.

324
00:20:43,984 --> 00:20:45,233
And I just kept moving forward.

325
00:20:45,233 --> 00:20:46,186
That was it.

326
00:20:47,672 --> 00:20:57,849
So with Lumi, the logistics company that you started and you put your head down for that
year and spending money, is it now fulfilling the idea of it that you had?

327
00:20:57,849 --> 00:21:07,746
Cause you were already in the business and what you see is second time entrepreneurs
within a similar business or something that they're adjacent to, they found something that

328
00:21:07,746 --> 00:21:13,099
needs to be fixed or they find an opportunity that's been exposed that they say, me fix
this thing.

329
00:21:13,099 --> 00:21:17,502
so is Lumi right now what you wanted to be, or is it in the midst of becoming?

330
00:21:17,940 --> 00:21:21,762
we're, I mean, we're always in the midst of becoming, there's no such thing as perfection.

331
00:21:21,762 --> 00:21:22,002
Right.

332
00:21:22,002 --> 00:21:34,059
So, but I think what I found in the industry, small privately companies or large companies
was that, systems was always a challenge.

333
00:21:34,059 --> 00:21:38,261
You know, there was always multiple systems in different places and data never matched.

334
00:21:38,261 --> 00:21:45,825
And that was always a project in itself, getting all of these systems to talk to each
other and then creating a quality control and how we deliver this data to our customers or

335
00:21:45,825 --> 00:21:47,636
how we even look at it internally.

336
00:21:48,206 --> 00:21:52,366
So when I started Lumi, that was my number one thing is like, I'm going to solve this
problem.

337
00:21:52,366 --> 00:21:55,146
I'm going to build everything in one platform.

338
00:21:55,146 --> 00:21:55,506
Right.

339
00:21:55,506 --> 00:21:58,246
So we use Salesforce, which is the largest CRM in the world.

340
00:21:58,246 --> 00:22:00,946
Obviously everyone knows that.

341
00:22:01,006 --> 00:22:06,006
Salesforce gives us the flexibility and the agility to do whatever you can possibly think
of.

342
00:22:06,006 --> 00:22:08,586
If there's any system that can do it, it'll do it.

343
00:22:08,586 --> 00:22:13,326
And so accounting, CRM, transportation management.

344
00:22:13,814 --> 00:22:20,237
All that stuff built is built into this one platform and it gives us that flexibility to
control the data and also be very customizable.

345
00:22:20,237 --> 00:22:24,059
So that was ultimately the first problem that I wanted to solve for.

346
00:22:24,980 --> 00:22:35,686
The second part is I see these opportunities with these, with, with companies that, you
know, as we've had Amazon come into the market, they've really created an impact in a lot

347
00:22:35,686 --> 00:22:38,327
of different industries, but definitely in transportation.

348
00:22:38,327 --> 00:22:42,540
And that's just the feeling of how our freight is delivered, our packages are delivered.

349
00:22:42,540 --> 00:22:43,820
We need those to be.

350
00:22:44,098 --> 00:22:45,678
fast as possible.

351
00:22:45,678 --> 00:22:47,399
That experience needs to be exceptional.

352
00:22:47,399 --> 00:22:50,860
We expect it to be on time when it says it's going to be delivered on time.

353
00:22:51,020 --> 00:22:59,242
And so a lot of companies had to change their strategies to meet that market demand that
we wanted as a society.

354
00:22:59,422 --> 00:23:06,784
And so um when I talked to clients that are maybe in this little bit older model, things
were pretty flexible.

355
00:23:06,784 --> 00:23:11,826
We helped them create that structure and uh deliver those.

356
00:23:11,826 --> 00:23:12,674
um

357
00:23:12,674 --> 00:23:15,245
really critical moments to the customer, right?

358
00:23:15,245 --> 00:23:26,840
So we can really dig in and understand based on regions, clients, products, SKUs, um how
are we performing on the transportation side and how are we delivering this to our

359
00:23:26,840 --> 00:23:28,000
clients?

360
00:23:28,641 --> 00:23:38,245
And I saw these opportunities to really dig deep with customers and really help them
understand it because it's not just an operating expense on the P &L, it really is the

361
00:23:38,245 --> 00:23:40,466
last experience that we're going to give to our client.

362
00:23:40,466 --> 00:23:41,452
um

363
00:23:41,452 --> 00:23:49,065
And I found a lot of people when they really understood that and what the capabilities
were and looking at the analytics of transportation and how it impacts their business.

364
00:23:49,465 --> 00:23:51,046
I got excited about it.

365
00:23:51,106 --> 00:23:53,564
It wasn't just, you know, an expense down.

366
00:23:53,564 --> 00:23:55,668
That was something that they really, really cared for.

367
00:23:55,668 --> 00:23:58,269
And they, they wanted to take the initiative to do something.

368
00:23:58,269 --> 00:24:02,921
They wanted to invest into that department to make it more strategic.

369
00:24:02,921 --> 00:24:10,156
They wanted to invest in, into that experience to make that final customer get their
product on time.

370
00:24:10,156 --> 00:24:12,707
have a little bit of a follow-up to make them feel special.

371
00:24:12,707 --> 00:24:16,218
It was just a great way to deliver exceptional client customer experience on the backend.

372
00:24:16,218 --> 00:24:17,749
And then we'd go out and build it.

373
00:24:17,749 --> 00:24:24,831
And so I just, it's one of the most exciting things we do, you know, moving shift from
point A to point B is, anybody can do that.

374
00:24:24,831 --> 00:24:27,292
There's tons of companies that do that.

375
00:24:27,893 --> 00:24:32,094
want to work with companies that care that want to do something really, really
significant.

376
00:24:33,314 --> 00:24:34,902
What do you tell your employees?

377
00:24:34,902 --> 00:24:37,363
um What do you tell them day one?

378
00:24:39,640 --> 00:24:41,371
What do I tell them day one?

379
00:24:42,592 --> 00:24:44,513
you're drinking from the fire hose.

380
00:24:44,553 --> 00:24:46,304
You know, we're not a massive organization.

381
00:24:46,304 --> 00:24:54,499
don't have, uh, tons of training in, in, uh, an LMS system where you can go and learn
everything.

382
00:24:55,299 --> 00:25:00,422
When you come here, you can't expect to go through all the training and figure it all out.

383
00:25:00,422 --> 00:25:04,345
You know, I could train you on something today and you'll forget it tomorrow.

384
00:25:04,345 --> 00:25:06,680
And unless you're putting into action.

385
00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:08,562
And you're actually doing it on a regular basis.

386
00:25:08,562 --> 00:25:10,023
You're not going to retain the information.

387
00:25:10,023 --> 00:25:15,737
So let's break this down into small pieces.

388
00:25:15,857 --> 00:25:17,439
What tasks are we focusing on right now?

389
00:25:17,439 --> 00:25:18,620
Let's train on that.

390
00:25:18,620 --> 00:25:20,455
What tasks are, what are we developing?

391
00:25:20,455 --> 00:25:21,272
And what's the next task?

392
00:25:21,272 --> 00:25:22,163
Let's train on that.

393
00:25:22,163 --> 00:25:24,614
You know, so when you come here, expect to drink from the fire hose.

394
00:25:24,614 --> 00:25:30,969
Don't expect to know everything from the front and just be open and have an open mind to
learning and growing.

395
00:25:31,270 --> 00:25:36,904
And, um, in our core values is, the, the most important thing to we make sure that.

396
00:25:37,032 --> 00:25:47,099
those people align with and um at the end of the day, our core values are be human, be
kind, dream it, do it, own your shit.

397
00:25:47,099 --> 00:25:51,306
um Fuck, now I can't even remember my own core values.

398
00:25:51,948 --> 00:25:54,449
You know what I think, you know, we get caught up in this.

399
00:25:54,449 --> 00:25:55,670
I do too at times.

400
00:25:55,670 --> 00:25:58,241
It's like, you know, what's our value proposition?

401
00:25:58,241 --> 00:25:59,411
What are our core values?

402
00:25:59,411 --> 00:26:01,062
What are the principles of the business?

403
00:26:01,062 --> 00:26:02,412
What's the mission statement?

404
00:26:02,412 --> 00:26:03,043
Right?

405
00:26:03,043 --> 00:26:04,183
It's like, you know what?

406
00:26:04,183 --> 00:26:08,865
If, if it's not, if in the world, words aren't supposed to hurt us, it's how we treat each
other.

407
00:26:08,865 --> 00:26:10,206
And that's what matters too.

408
00:26:10,206 --> 00:26:11,576
It matters as businesses.

409
00:26:11,576 --> 00:26:16,689
How do we go out here in the world and engage with people that we serve, that we represent
and that we're helping?

410
00:26:16,689 --> 00:26:17,689
Like, how do we do it?

411
00:26:17,689 --> 00:26:20,352
And every day when we show up, we're telling people.

412
00:26:20,352 --> 00:26:23,455
if we even live up to these values, even if we live up to the principles.

413
00:26:23,455 --> 00:26:30,082
So I make an argument it's more about the human beings that are coming together that we
call businesses.

414
00:26:30,082 --> 00:26:32,534
It necessarily doesn't matter the things that we say.

415
00:26:33,646 --> 00:26:34,646
100%.

416
00:26:34,646 --> 00:26:41,313
Um, you know what, for, for people to follow us as leaders and we have to really care.

417
00:26:41,313 --> 00:26:42,874
mean, they don't follow.

418
00:26:44,526 --> 00:26:47,808
They don't care about our companies as much as we care about our companies.

419
00:26:47,808 --> 00:26:50,050
um That's the first part.

420
00:26:50,050 --> 00:26:55,714
But the second part is for us to be great leaders, we need to know what makes our people
tick.

421
00:26:55,714 --> 00:26:56,404
What drives them?

422
00:26:56,404 --> 00:26:57,064
What are their interests?

423
00:26:57,064 --> 00:26:58,165
What are their dreams?

424
00:26:58,165 --> 00:27:03,729
And how can we as leaders use our business and our money as a tool to really help them
accomplish that?

425
00:27:03,729 --> 00:27:08,692
And when we do that, people will run through walls for you.

426
00:27:09,848 --> 00:27:11,319
Yeah, they'll, they'll fight for the thing.

427
00:27:11,319 --> 00:27:13,820
They will fight for it as much as you fight for it.

428
00:27:13,820 --> 00:27:14,100
Right.

429
00:27:14,100 --> 00:27:24,034
And over time, what I find is, I remember back in one of the Godfather movies, like
Godfather two and Michael, um, his wife is leaving him, right.

430
00:27:24,034 --> 00:27:26,305
They're in New York city and she's like, I'm taking the kids.

431
00:27:26,305 --> 00:27:28,156
Cause I would never have another one of your kids.

432
00:27:28,156 --> 00:27:30,277
I wouldn't bring another son into this world.

433
00:27:30,277 --> 00:27:30,847
Right.

434
00:27:30,847 --> 00:27:31,937
And he's yelling and screaming.

435
00:27:31,937 --> 00:27:32,808
She leaves anyway.

436
00:27:32,808 --> 00:27:35,259
And he said, she's like, I feel no love for you.

437
00:27:35,259 --> 00:27:38,358
And he said, you can grow to love me again.

438
00:27:38,358 --> 00:27:42,799
And the funny thing is, even though she leaves, that is the truth.

439
00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:50,752
That the things that we stay adjacent to and the things that we fight for, we grow to love
and feel more passionate about that we believe in more, right?

440
00:27:50,752 --> 00:27:52,683
That's why they want the more time you spend with people.

441
00:27:52,683 --> 00:27:54,664
Friendships grow deeper over time.

442
00:27:54,664 --> 00:27:56,644
Relationships and companies compound.

443
00:27:56,644 --> 00:28:02,294
We prefer to have decade long relationships with customers because context isn't necessary
anymore.

444
00:28:02,294 --> 00:28:04,378
It's about, it's right, about how you treat each other.

445
00:28:04,378 --> 00:28:13,475
If you weren't doing logistics, if the robots end up dominating your business and you
aren't needed, what in the world would you still do because you still have working

446
00:28:13,475 --> 00:28:14,467
professional life left?

447
00:28:14,467 --> 00:28:15,518
What would you do?

448
00:28:16,462 --> 00:28:18,462
You know, at the end of the day, Mark, I'm a builder, man.

449
00:28:18,462 --> 00:28:19,942
And that's what I love.

450
00:28:20,642 --> 00:28:23,042
So maybe not logistics, maybe something else.

451
00:28:23,042 --> 00:28:29,462
think, you know, for me, life is what we make it as a movement that I'm trying to start or
people are helping each other out.

452
00:28:29,742 --> 00:28:36,742
And one of the things I love more, more than anything is, is new entrepreneurs getting
into the market and helping them be successful.

453
00:28:36,742 --> 00:28:41,282
You know, I ran those forums and I did that because it's just a passion that I have.

454
00:28:41,282 --> 00:28:42,842
Logistics is gone.

455
00:28:42,922 --> 00:28:43,982
Everything's automated, man.

456
00:28:43,982 --> 00:28:44,856
I'm out there.

457
00:28:44,856 --> 00:28:52,323
building businesses with other entrepreneurs, helping new kids get started, coaching them
along and helping them build companies, man.

458
00:28:52,323 --> 00:28:53,250
That's what I'm doing.

459
00:28:53,250 --> 00:29:00,998
You're not just going to go into the world of this idealistic place where we all have
universal basic income and you just get to plant flat plant.

460
00:29:00,998 --> 00:29:03,804
You get to paint flowers in the meadow all day long.

461
00:29:04,938 --> 00:29:06,133
Absolutely not, man.

462
00:29:06,133 --> 00:29:06,928
Absolutely not.

463
00:29:06,928 --> 00:29:07,979
don't think.

464
00:29:09,644 --> 00:29:13,450
You know, the, the, best part about life is a challenge that comes along with that, man.

465
00:29:13,450 --> 00:29:17,474
It's the, it's the struggles and the opportunities that we have to build something great
together.

466
00:29:17,474 --> 00:29:22,866
I don't, in a world with universal income, man, I don't know what the hell I'd be doing.

467
00:29:22,866 --> 00:29:24,588
I definitely wouldn't be happy though.

468
00:29:24,588 --> 00:29:24,908
Yeah.

469
00:29:24,908 --> 00:29:25,819
Me.

470
00:29:25,839 --> 00:29:27,480
It's, it's funny.

471
00:29:27,480 --> 00:29:31,543
I got into a Waymo for the first time in Atlanta last week.

472
00:29:32,104 --> 00:29:37,428
And, um, after the first time I wrote it and I was like, man, I hope UR gives me a Waymo
every time now.

473
00:29:37,428 --> 00:29:37,988
Yeah.

474
00:29:37,988 --> 00:29:41,561
It's weird because I'm the guy that says everything inside of me.

475
00:29:41,561 --> 00:29:45,254
I don't think I want this automated world, even though it's really efficient.

476
00:29:45,254 --> 00:29:49,027
I don't think so because I don't think it's going to be good for us, but here's maybe it
will be.

477
00:29:49,027 --> 00:29:49,957
Yeah.

478
00:29:49,957 --> 00:29:51,238
Maybe it will.

479
00:29:51,682 --> 00:29:56,178
think the important part is the technological times we're in is don't be scared of it.

480
00:29:56,938 --> 00:29:59,320
No, I love AI.

481
00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:00,201
Absolutely love it.

482
00:30:00,201 --> 00:30:04,903
I am so excited about, about, about it and what it's doing.

483
00:30:04,903 --> 00:30:07,696
It's evolved so fast since its first rollout.

484
00:30:07,696 --> 00:30:15,472
And honestly, for me, I think it's really unlocked almost like superhuman powers that I've
never had before.

485
00:30:15,472 --> 00:30:20,036
You know, there's, there's things that I'm great at and there's things that I really suck
at.

486
00:30:20,036 --> 00:30:22,558
And a lot of times AI can fill that gap for me.

487
00:30:22,558 --> 00:30:23,498
You know, was

488
00:30:24,014 --> 00:30:25,834
thinking about, I'll give you good example.

489
00:30:25,834 --> 00:30:28,934
So I just launched life as what we make a podcast myself.

490
00:30:28,934 --> 00:30:30,954
I needed to build a personal branding site.

491
00:30:30,954 --> 00:30:34,534
I wanted to drive traffic to that.

492
00:30:34,534 --> 00:30:35,574
I go to my marketing.

493
00:30:35,574 --> 00:30:37,314
I'm like, Hey, I need to build this website.

494
00:30:37,314 --> 00:30:38,494
I need to like next week.

495
00:30:38,494 --> 00:30:44,214
Cause I got this first podcast and I want to drive the traffic through my personal
branding site.

496
00:30:44,214 --> 00:30:45,274
He's like, man, we're backed up.

497
00:30:45,274 --> 00:30:46,334
We got a lot of stuff going on.

498
00:30:46,334 --> 00:30:48,574
I'm like, shit, I need to, I need to launch this website.

499
00:30:49,274 --> 00:30:50,894
He's like, but let me get you a quote anyways, right?

500
00:30:50,894 --> 00:30:51,394
Sounds to me a quote.

501
00:30:51,394 --> 00:30:52,354
It's four grand joy.

502
00:30:52,354 --> 00:30:52,554
love you.

503
00:30:52,554 --> 00:30:53,958
If you're listening to this.

504
00:30:54,145 --> 00:30:56,126
Um, but I had to build something quick.

505
00:30:56,126 --> 00:30:57,526
And so I started to look through it.

506
00:30:57,526 --> 00:31:00,206
I'm like, Hey, what can I do to build this website and get it going?

507
00:31:00,746 --> 00:31:05,266
Then I fell, came across Manus, which is metas version, right?

508
00:31:05,386 --> 00:31:07,766
I go in it's like, Hey, this thing will build it for me.

509
00:31:07,766 --> 00:31:09,246
I go in and I'm like, Hey, I need a personal build.

510
00:31:09,246 --> 00:31:11,086
I need to build a personal branding site.

511
00:31:11,086 --> 00:31:12,546
It's like, okay, here you go.

512
00:31:12,546 --> 00:31:20,454
It goes through all my social profiles, grabs all my followers, grabs everything, grabs
content, spits it out in like 30 minutes, the whole site.

513
00:31:20,878 --> 00:31:22,449
And then I just go and I start tweaking stuff.

514
00:31:22,449 --> 00:31:23,320
Hey, I don't like this.

515
00:31:23,320 --> 00:31:24,171
Let's change this color.

516
00:31:24,171 --> 00:31:26,270
Hey, I need to connect this to here.

517
00:31:26,270 --> 00:31:28,184
I want to connect my YouTube channel.

518
00:31:28,184 --> 00:31:31,737
I want to connect Spotify and it just does it for you.

519
00:31:31,737 --> 00:31:32,327
give me the link.

520
00:31:32,327 --> 00:31:33,208
Done.

521
00:31:33,208 --> 00:31:41,214
It cost me $80 to build that website with Manus 40 bucks to sign up $40 in additional
tokens.

522
00:31:41,254 --> 00:31:42,445
I could never have done that.

523
00:31:42,445 --> 00:31:46,278
When I started this company, the first site I built for Lumi logistics was 10 grand.

524
00:31:49,316 --> 00:31:54,913
I just built this website for 80 bucks and now I'm looking at my logistics website going
hey, what can we do to revamp this?

525
00:31:57,454 --> 00:32:02,514
I would have never been able to do that if I didn't have the money at the time to build
that website.

526
00:32:02,634 --> 00:32:04,034
What would I have done?

527
00:32:04,034 --> 00:32:09,374
You know, I wouldn't have had it or maybe it would have been some janky thing I put
together in a, you know, quick builder.

528
00:32:09,374 --> 00:32:15,894
But now with AI, if I want to go start a company, I could put it together and I'm watching
this thing for $80.

529
00:32:16,154 --> 00:32:17,754
Now I look like a real company.

530
00:32:17,754 --> 00:32:19,414
I have a real brand.

531
00:32:20,237 --> 00:32:22,025
You're doing it the same day.

532
00:32:22,570 --> 00:32:34,336
instantly, you know, and that's what AI is doing for me is it's unlocking potential and
opportunities in areas that I've never thought I had the capabilities for.

533
00:32:34,338 --> 00:32:35,158
Yeah.

534
00:32:35,639 --> 00:32:46,683
It's not what I'm seeing is, you know, we all, I think if everyone's open minded about
this, I'm not trying to affect anybody's belief if they like it or not, but it's here to

535
00:32:46,683 --> 00:32:50,225
be open minded about what it's going to be because here's what I tell people.

536
00:32:50,225 --> 00:32:53,836
Like it's not what I'm starting to see.

537
00:32:53,836 --> 00:32:55,087
I'm heading to Miami tonight.

538
00:32:55,087 --> 00:32:56,167
I have to fly down to Miami.

539
00:32:56,167 --> 00:33:02,316
I'm looking at this huge led screen that I'm going to buy for this new auditorium I'm
building, but I'm waking up on Friday and

540
00:33:02,316 --> 00:33:04,027
I have a group of people meeting me in Miami.

541
00:33:04,027 --> 00:33:09,441
They're driving down from Palm beach, a guy who is a uh coder and program of AI.

542
00:33:09,441 --> 00:33:16,126
Now he's building the things he's, he's building the agents, building a company, building
the agents, have a content person coming down.

543
00:33:16,126 --> 00:33:17,707
We're having a big meeting around it.

544
00:33:17,707 --> 00:33:23,160
But what I'm seeing is it's not that companies are necessary.

545
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:27,303
There's going to be layoffs, but there always were when efficiency show up.

546
00:33:27,323 --> 00:33:31,598
What's going to happen is there's going to be companies built without the amount of

547
00:33:31,598 --> 00:33:34,302
employees that previous were needed is what's gonna happen.

548
00:33:34,302 --> 00:33:36,184
That's what's gonna happen, right?

549
00:33:36,184 --> 00:33:41,271
I don't think companies are gonna be dismantled overnight where everybody's gonna lose a
job.

550
00:33:41,271 --> 00:33:49,522
It's gonna allow a smaller group of people, like you said in your situation, to actually
get into these businesses that previously didn't have the capital and the know-how to get

551
00:33:49,522 --> 00:33:50,342
into them.

552
00:33:50,894 --> 00:33:52,794
Yeah, a hundred percent.

553
00:33:52,794 --> 00:33:52,874
Yeah.

554
00:33:52,874 --> 00:33:59,774
I think in this particular instance to the marketing side, you know, I launched his
website for 80 bucks, but there's so much more that goes into marketing.

555
00:33:59,774 --> 00:34:01,014
You still need a marketing person.

556
00:34:01,014 --> 00:34:07,354
We still have to drive the content calendar, the schedule, the copy, and we have to make
all this stuff work together.

557
00:34:07,354 --> 00:34:19,874
I still need somebody to do the marketing, but the, to be able to build that website like
that, that quick for that amount of money, it just makes us somewhat so much faster.

558
00:34:19,979 --> 00:34:21,475
and how we roll things out.

559
00:34:21,475 --> 00:34:26,466
And it just enables people to do their jobs more efficiently and more effectively.

560
00:34:26,466 --> 00:34:32,929
So here's what I have for everyone that's listening and we'll cut this up and it shows up
on my pages and yours too.

561
00:34:33,050 --> 00:34:36,191
I don't give people warnings too much because I'm optimistic.

562
00:34:36,252 --> 00:34:39,554
I'm just like, everybody go out and crush, but here's the warning that I have for people.

563
00:34:39,554 --> 00:34:42,015
I'm not talking to employees in my organizations.

564
00:34:42,015 --> 00:34:44,356
I'm not talking to the people that I'm talking to everyone.

565
00:34:44,356 --> 00:34:45,597
Here's the warning.

566
00:34:45,737 --> 00:34:52,491
You better become elite because here's what's going to happen when companies are going to
need fewer employees.

567
00:34:54,382 --> 00:34:57,756
They're only gonna hire E-Wheat people.

568
00:34:59,224 --> 00:35:03,506
That's all that's going to happen because AI is going to do all the mediocre work.

569
00:35:05,602 --> 00:35:06,452
That's what's about to happen.

570
00:35:06,452 --> 00:35:09,584
What is about to happen right now, I don't care what your job is.

571
00:35:09,644 --> 00:35:14,467
If you're the best human, you're still gonna have massive value in a company.

572
00:35:14,467 --> 00:35:22,811
If you're the best at the segment of business that you're currently operating, you're
gonna have a role, because you're gonna be the one running the AI in that category that

573
00:35:22,811 --> 00:35:23,792
you know.

574
00:35:23,972 --> 00:35:31,916
You're gonna be so invested and so important to that company that you're gonna be actually
brought into an inner circle that maybe you hadn't been exposed to before.

575
00:35:31,916 --> 00:35:35,074
But everyone that is operating at a mediocre level,

576
00:35:35,074 --> 00:35:39,486
This is, I was talking to a big marketing guy last night from Boston and we were on a
call.

577
00:35:39,486 --> 00:35:42,277
I've been engaging with it for years in the real estate space.

578
00:35:42,378 --> 00:35:46,300
And when I told him, said, Hey man, what's your biggest struggle as an employer?

579
00:35:46,300 --> 00:35:48,081
And so I'd pose the same thing to you.

580
00:35:48,081 --> 00:35:51,422
What's your biggest struggle and what's your biggest struggle?

581
00:35:54,242 --> 00:36:01,508
I think for us right now, our biggest struggle is um getting everybody on board with AI in
itself, right?

582
00:36:01,508 --> 00:36:05,071
um It's new for a lot of people.

583
00:36:05,071 --> 00:36:07,232
It's still really new to the world.

584
00:36:07,994 --> 00:36:11,426
We like you were mentioning about elite people, like we have to become elite.

585
00:36:11,426 --> 00:36:19,053
So we have to engulf ourselves in learning AI and understanding AI and how that makes us
more, um more efficient and effective in our roles.

586
00:36:19,053 --> 00:36:20,504
That's how we become elite today.

587
00:36:20,504 --> 00:36:23,466
So I think that's the biggest challenge for us is how do we get.

588
00:36:23,480 --> 00:36:27,404
Folks that have never used AI before to embrace that.

589
00:36:29,294 --> 00:36:31,194
It's the human element, the human element, right?

590
00:36:31,194 --> 00:36:32,354
That's what I'm talking about.

591
00:36:32,354 --> 00:36:34,394
So we all have this answer somewhere.

592
00:36:34,394 --> 00:36:41,054
It's around all of us humans getting together, operating together at an elite top level.

593
00:36:41,054 --> 00:36:45,734
So we're functioning to feed this beast that we're all, we want to build these great
companies.

594
00:36:45,734 --> 00:36:50,594
And so the issue is, that efficiency seems to be one of the issues in life.

595
00:36:50,594 --> 00:36:58,598
Because when I say an elite human, I'm not talking about some, we're not trying to value
these human beings based on how they just perform at work.

596
00:36:58,648 --> 00:37:01,890
But who you are as a human is how you perform at work.

597
00:37:01,890 --> 00:37:02,311
don't, right?

598
00:37:02,311 --> 00:37:06,463
You don't normally see somebody that crushes at work and they also can't crush at life.

599
00:37:06,463 --> 00:37:10,966
We have these personal challenges, but usually the way you do one thing is the way you do
everything.

600
00:37:11,367 --> 00:37:11,807
Right?

601
00:37:11,807 --> 00:37:24,736
And so what I'm, what we're starting to see now is the challenge for us is I told, this is
what told Greg, the guy was on the, I said, man, right now I would find positions inside

602
00:37:24,736 --> 00:37:26,157
my company right now.

603
00:37:26,157 --> 00:37:28,308
If I found people that were in

604
00:37:28,366 --> 00:37:29,206
Incredible.

605
00:37:29,206 --> 00:37:40,922
I'm looking for them if they're gonna help me move my companies forward I would overpay
them and here's I know so would you So what we all would you know, here's the challenge

606
00:37:40,922 --> 00:37:50,417
now AI Isn't gonna be a bad employee AI is going to do the things running his agents in
the background.

607
00:37:50,417 --> 00:37:54,058
It's gonna be doing the things that you ask it to do

608
00:37:55,062 --> 00:37:56,223
And it's going to be doing it.

609
00:37:56,223 --> 00:37:58,125
It's going to live up to the full potential.

610
00:37:58,125 --> 00:37:59,726
It's going to perform the roles.

611
00:37:59,726 --> 00:38:03,789
It's not going to show up for an eight hour day of work and only work for three.

612
00:38:03,909 --> 00:38:10,074
You're not going to have to have a bunch of middle tier managers keeping an eye on people
to make sure they're doing their job.

613
00:38:10,615 --> 00:38:11,856
That's what's about to happen.

614
00:38:11,856 --> 00:38:12,346
That's that.

615
00:38:12,346 --> 00:38:21,353
That's the warning that I have for everyone is you're in control of whether or not you're
going to be valued in an organization by the way you show up and embrace and perform.

616
00:38:21,353 --> 00:38:24,514
So I don't know what your take on this, but that's the bot that's the beware.

617
00:38:24,514 --> 00:38:26,333
Beware of what's coming.

618
00:38:27,254 --> 00:38:38,021
Yeah, I, um, listen, as, as an employer, we're always looking for people that do
exceptional things outside of business.

619
00:38:38,021 --> 00:38:38,311
Right?

620
00:38:38,311 --> 00:38:46,696
I mean, we look for people that were in the military and people that are athletes in
school, people that are going out and doing crazy things or trying to figure something out

621
00:38:46,696 --> 00:38:47,846
that's unique or different.

622
00:38:47,846 --> 00:38:50,208
Those are the types of people that we're looking for.

623
00:38:51,109 --> 00:38:53,010
more so than just a resume.

624
00:38:53,010 --> 00:38:53,290
Right?

625
00:38:53,290 --> 00:38:54,060
I mean,

626
00:38:55,278 --> 00:39:04,138
I get to have a kid that has a great college education and comes in for an interview, but
he hasn't really done anything, tried to take on any initiatives or done anything special

627
00:39:04,138 --> 00:39:06,638
outside of just school and school itself is initiative.

628
00:39:06,638 --> 00:39:07,238
Don't get me wrong.

629
00:39:07,238 --> 00:39:08,338
God bless you for doing it.

630
00:39:08,338 --> 00:39:11,238
And I'm happy, you know, it's, it's for some of you.

631
00:39:11,238 --> 00:39:19,958
wasn't for me, but when I have somebody that comes in, that just has grit, that has tried
different things, they failed, they've fallen on their face.

632
00:39:19,958 --> 00:39:22,418
They've learned how to overcome challenges.

633
00:39:22,418 --> 00:39:24,858
I'm a hundred percent taking that person.

634
00:39:25,398 --> 00:39:37,718
You know, and with AI now getting into the workplace, if we do this really well, I think
companies need to do this today is if, if the companies that are embracing this and

635
00:39:37,718 --> 00:39:44,193
they're using it to, make their people more effective and efficient, they're focusing on
helping those people grow.

636
00:39:44,814 --> 00:39:48,697
Those are the ones that are going to take off and the ones that don't are going to be
left, left behind.

637
00:39:48,697 --> 00:39:48,957
Right.

638
00:39:48,957 --> 00:39:55,562
And so when I can teach somebody how to be more effective and efficient using artificial
intelligence and do their job.

639
00:39:55,928 --> 00:39:56,764
Better.

640
00:39:58,670 --> 00:40:04,697
typically find that it's something that's exciting for them and they love that and they
lean into it.

641
00:40:05,118 --> 00:40:06,630
And so we're using it in that way.

642
00:40:06,630 --> 00:40:07,681
And I do think you're right.

643
00:40:07,681 --> 00:40:15,220
A lot of those tasks, those task works that you'd pay somebody just to do data entry,
things like that, those things are gone.

644
00:40:17,100 --> 00:40:27,504
We have to grow as individuals and become leaders because you still need somebody to lead
the AI, prompts, the content, the role, the responsibilities, the context that we're

645
00:40:27,504 --> 00:40:30,118
delivering to that agent to get it to do what we want to do.

646
00:40:30,118 --> 00:40:32,350
Someone still needs to create that stuff.

647
00:40:34,132 --> 00:40:46,250
It's, um, the one thing that AI won't be able to replace is a really good human attitude
that has a can do sense of that wants to be a part of something big and special and do

648
00:40:46,250 --> 00:40:47,251
things together.

649
00:40:47,251 --> 00:40:48,872
AI won't replace that.

650
00:40:48,872 --> 00:40:50,913
You come with a really good attitude.

651
00:40:50,913 --> 00:40:56,276
You already have a tremendous advantage over any other human and over these systems that
are going to be built.

652
00:40:56,276 --> 00:40:58,946
That's the people with the good positive attitudes.

653
00:40:58,946 --> 00:41:05,494
that are when the things are really tough that are still there with you, they're fighting
through, they're not throwing in the towel, they're not negative and blaming other people,

654
00:41:05,494 --> 00:41:07,156
they're not playing politics.

655
00:41:07,156 --> 00:41:08,718
That's what's going to become value.

656
00:41:08,718 --> 00:41:14,305
And the people that don't have that are going to find themselves not having good jobs in
this new economy.

657
00:41:14,305 --> 00:41:15,636
That's what I believe.

658
00:41:16,290 --> 00:41:16,520
Yeah.

659
00:41:16,520 --> 00:41:22,494
I mean, at the end of the day, poor people were designed to be together.

660
00:41:22,870 --> 00:41:25,016
We were designed to work together.

661
00:41:25,016 --> 00:41:30,150
And I think the people that, embrace those relationships and look for those relationships.

662
00:41:30,150 --> 00:41:33,322
mean, they're out there, you know, are we seeing in our customers all day?

663
00:41:33,322 --> 00:41:39,866
Nobody wants to work with, with, uh, artificial intelligence that does everything for them
and not have somebody to talk to.

664
00:41:40,487 --> 00:41:40,837
Right.

665
00:41:40,837 --> 00:41:45,728
So we need to use AI to make ourselves more effective and efficient and enable.

666
00:41:45,728 --> 00:41:54,485
us to do our jobs better, but that human element of having that relationship and
understanding what makes that person tick and how we can help drive value into their lives

667
00:41:54,485 --> 00:41:56,468
is what's going to move this thing forward.

668
00:41:57,262 --> 00:42:02,727
So you mentioned that, you know, traditional education, um, wasn't the path for you.

669
00:42:02,727 --> 00:42:03,097
Yeah.

670
00:42:03,097 --> 00:42:05,970
So what worked for you in educating yourself?

671
00:42:05,970 --> 00:42:06,940
What works?

672
00:42:07,529 --> 00:42:08,342
Um.

673
00:42:10,498 --> 00:42:15,359
I um embraced education when I had a real need for it.

674
00:42:16,820 --> 00:42:25,402
So school for me, English, math, whatever that may be at the time, I didn't think it was
important because I wasn't actually using it in my day-to-day life.

675
00:42:25,502 --> 00:42:29,623
But as an entrepreneur, as I grew, I started to find opportunities where I said, Hey, you
know what?

676
00:42:29,623 --> 00:42:31,084
This is something I need to learn.

677
00:42:31,084 --> 00:42:32,404
How do I learn it?

678
00:42:32,444 --> 00:42:34,078
And how do I learn it quickly?

679
00:42:34,078 --> 00:42:35,735
I use Excel as an example, right?

680
00:42:35,735 --> 00:42:36,995
That's something they teach in college.

681
00:42:36,995 --> 00:42:40,666
And got a little bit I dropped out, but

682
00:42:40,666 --> 00:42:44,209
Um, you know, as I got into business, I needed to learn how to use Excel.

683
00:42:44,209 --> 00:42:45,590
needed to run analytics.

684
00:42:45,590 --> 00:42:48,062
I needed to be able to look at data and analyze data.

685
00:42:48,062 --> 00:42:51,205
And I, was, it was clunky to begin it, you know?

686
00:42:51,205 --> 00:42:58,832
And so I would go into YouTube and I would watch hours and hours of YouTube videos and
download these templates and play with it just to learn it.

687
00:42:58,832 --> 00:43:04,065
And so what worked for me was when I had something that I needed to figure out.

688
00:43:04,867 --> 00:43:07,359
The first thing is I would break that down into small elements, right?

689
00:43:07,359 --> 00:43:08,950
Because a lot of times those,

690
00:43:09,550 --> 00:43:12,252
uh opportunities to grow, they could be daunting.

691
00:43:12,252 --> 00:43:15,763
You know, I'm like, how do I figure out how to build a website by myself?

692
00:43:15,763 --> 00:43:18,405
How do I figure out how to use this technology by myself?

693
00:43:18,405 --> 00:43:19,955
And I've never done it before.

694
00:43:19,956 --> 00:43:22,490
Just break it down into one simple, simple step.

695
00:43:22,490 --> 00:43:24,738
90 days, one activity.

696
00:43:24,738 --> 00:43:25,499
I'm doing that.

697
00:43:25,499 --> 00:43:28,740
Um, and then I just embrace it and I engulf myself in it.

698
00:43:28,740 --> 00:43:29,635
I'll go onto YouTube.

699
00:43:29,635 --> 00:43:31,682
I'll watch people that have done it before.

700
00:43:31,682 --> 00:43:35,104
mean, there's endless amount of free knowledge out there for us to learn from.

701
00:43:35,104 --> 00:43:39,756
All we need to do is go tap into it and we can matrix that right into ourselves.

702
00:43:41,622 --> 00:43:46,053
What would, I could sit here and just hammer this out for an hour, man.

703
00:43:46,053 --> 00:43:48,414
We talk, we'll solve the world's problems and talk about your business.

704
00:43:48,414 --> 00:43:54,025
But, but give me this as we wrap up here and, um you know, we'll make sure we tag Lumi and
all the things that you're building.

705
00:43:54,025 --> 00:44:05,869
And as we, as we do content, but if I was sitting, you work from home, you have a little
office in Chicago, but if I was sitting wherever you're working on any random day, let's

706
00:44:05,869 --> 00:44:07,269
call it your office.

707
00:44:08,169 --> 00:44:11,270
What would surprise me and us that are listening?

708
00:44:11,982 --> 00:44:14,006
if you're sitting in my seat right here in this office.

709
00:44:14,006 --> 00:44:15,457
I was sitting there with you.

710
00:44:15,457 --> 00:44:15,859
Man.

711
00:44:15,859 --> 00:44:17,205
would surprise us?

712
00:44:17,230 --> 00:44:28,310
It, you know, when most people think of a home office, you know, they think of, you know,
something pretty simple, a desk and a, and a computer and a chair, you know, maybe a few

713
00:44:28,310 --> 00:44:32,490
nice things, but this is the place that I spend most of my time in.

714
00:44:32,490 --> 00:44:36,190
So if you walked in here, I have a production in a studio.

715
00:44:36,250 --> 00:44:40,890
All on a standup desk with a treadmill underneath it, lights everywhere.

716
00:44:40,890 --> 00:44:46,630
This is a legit production and I've invested so much money into this space right here
because I spend.

717
00:44:46,830 --> 00:44:55,216
The majority of my time here, the most surprising thing that you'd probably see in here
would be my pen collection.

718
00:44:55,857 --> 00:44:56,877
I love fountain pens.

719
00:44:56,877 --> 00:45:01,900
think pens is a great way for me to put my mind on a paper, especially with somebody that
has ADD.

720
00:45:01,981 --> 00:45:04,782
It allows me to just brain dump.

721
00:45:04,923 --> 00:45:06,424
And so I love fountain pens.

722
00:45:06,424 --> 00:45:08,445
It gives me something really special to write with.

723
00:45:08,445 --> 00:45:11,328
The second thing is I sit on, I have a wooden stool.

724
00:45:11,328 --> 00:45:15,270
That's like a Walmart $10 stool that oh I sit on.

725
00:45:15,470 --> 00:45:20,770
Um, and I do that intentionally so that I can get up and walk because it's not
comfortable.

726
00:45:20,770 --> 00:45:25,490
Um, so it gets me up and it gets me moving and it's literally just a $10 wooden stool.

727
00:45:26,150 --> 00:45:27,948
So that might surprise you.

728
00:45:27,948 --> 00:45:32,948
So that brings to the point as we wrap up here that obviously discipline must matter in
your life.

729
00:45:33,526 --> 00:45:39,498
have to, mean, discipline is mastery of our daily activities is what builds momentum in
our life.

730
00:45:39,498 --> 00:45:42,369
Doesn't matter whether it's personal or whether it's business.

731
00:45:42,369 --> 00:45:45,770
And so it's daily actions over and over the repetition.

732
00:45:45,770 --> 00:45:48,190
the, that's what builds the momentum.

733
00:45:48,190 --> 00:45:54,842
And so, um, I have a very specific system that I use in the morning to get my day started
and how I win the day and what I look at.

734
00:45:54,842 --> 00:45:57,053
And it's always, everything is a top three.

735
00:45:57,053 --> 00:46:00,234
I'm to do three things and that's it.

736
00:46:00,366 --> 00:46:01,743
If I can add more to the plate, that's it.

737
00:46:01,743 --> 00:46:05,480
But I start with just three and I have a system that I follow every single morning.

738
00:46:06,306 --> 00:46:10,249
How long do you give yourself the entire day to do those three things?

739
00:46:11,490 --> 00:46:13,431
the day it has to get done.

740
00:46:13,431 --> 00:46:15,711
So I have 24 hours in a day.

741
00:46:15,711 --> 00:46:19,793
Those three things that I write down are the three things that I'm going to get
accomplished no matter what.

742
00:46:19,873 --> 00:46:25,845
So if I have a, if I sit down and have lunch at noon and I go back and say, man, this
morning really got away from me.

743
00:46:25,845 --> 00:46:33,477
didn't accomplish any of these or one of these that I'm going back in the afternoon to get
it done, or I'm staying late to get it done.

744
00:46:33,738 --> 00:46:35,648
That's a non-negotiable for me.

745
00:46:36,526 --> 00:46:37,574
How's that benefited your wife?

746
00:46:37,574 --> 00:46:39,645
She don't allow any of them to carry over.

747
00:46:41,962 --> 00:46:49,834
No, I mean, unless there's something, you know, urgent, like I'm at the hospital and for
whatever reason I have to get it done those days.

748
00:46:49,834 --> 00:46:50,644
Those are my top three.

749
00:46:50,644 --> 00:46:52,185
What does my wife think of it?

750
00:46:53,245 --> 00:46:54,726
My wife knows me.

751
00:46:54,726 --> 00:47:04,818
She, when we got together, um, I was with a multi-level marketing company, which is a lot
of hoorah and, and, know, go chase the world, build this huge recruit, everybody and their

752
00:47:04,818 --> 00:47:05,768
mother.

753
00:47:06,089 --> 00:47:09,049
That's where we started our relations back.

754
00:47:09,049 --> 00:47:11,720
So she knew me at the beginning and how I was wired.

755
00:47:12,426 --> 00:47:17,960
And there's times where I work really, really late and I have to be really intentional
about the time with her.

756
00:47:17,960 --> 00:47:23,334
So there'll be a days that I'll work from seven 30 in the morning till one o'clock in the
morning the next day.

757
00:47:23,334 --> 00:47:27,517
And I try not to do that often, but sometimes it just has to happen and that's okay.

758
00:47:27,517 --> 00:47:28,978
And she understands that.

759
00:47:28,978 --> 00:47:37,214
So I just have to make sure that I'm really intentional with my family when it comes to my
kids and my wife to say, Hey, I'm going to pick, you know, for my week, there's going to

760
00:47:37,214 --> 00:47:40,878
be slots for all of them that we're going to fill.

761
00:47:40,878 --> 00:47:43,061
then I need to make sure that I hit those two.

762
00:47:43,222 --> 00:47:45,726
So I'm intentionally spending time with them as well.

763
00:47:46,286 --> 00:47:46,676
All right.

764
00:47:46,676 --> 00:47:58,555
So you turned up one more rather than me put it on top, but what, since you were in
multi-level marketing companies, was the honest truth from a guy who was inside within it.

765
00:47:58,555 --> 00:48:01,497
Are they all the same positive negative?

766
00:48:01,497 --> 00:48:02,766
Would you do it again?

767
00:48:02,766 --> 00:48:04,739
Do you advise people to do them?

768
00:48:04,739 --> 00:48:09,806
Give us the, give us the 62nd template.

769
00:48:09,806 --> 00:48:10,826
All right.

770
00:48:10,826 --> 00:48:15,526
In my experience, I believe in multi-level marketing companies.

771
00:48:15,526 --> 00:48:21,106
think there are some good opportunities out there and I think you can build something
significant.

772
00:48:21,106 --> 00:48:22,646
I've seen people do it.

773
00:48:23,026 --> 00:48:30,526
I mean, I made $70,000 a year when I was a kid selling insurance mortgages and investments
with a small team of 15 people and I had a great time.

774
00:48:30,526 --> 00:48:39,186
And what I can tell you though is that my experience of multi-level marketing is it was
probably one of the most significant growing points in my life because

775
00:48:40,150 --> 00:48:41,571
wrote my own check.

776
00:48:42,091 --> 00:48:44,353
My income was based on my effort.

777
00:48:44,393 --> 00:48:52,459
I had to go out and recruit people to come and join me and be a part of this crazy ass
wacky thing and sell them this dream.

778
00:48:52,459 --> 00:48:54,340
So they would come be a part of my team.

779
00:48:54,340 --> 00:48:57,782
And then I had to go teach them how to be successful and do it themselves.

780
00:48:57,782 --> 00:49:00,704
So I think it was one of the most significant growing points in my life.

781
00:49:00,704 --> 00:49:04,026
And it taught me so much in business and leadership.

782
00:49:04,607 --> 00:49:07,990
Now, would I go back to doing that again versus what I'm doing now?

783
00:49:07,990 --> 00:49:09,100
I wouldn't.

784
00:49:09,870 --> 00:49:19,130
I like owning my own business and doing that, but I do think there are some opportunities,
know, it's so a lot of business owners that would use it as a way to relieve them for more

785
00:49:19,130 --> 00:49:24,990
of a, uh, maybe taxes and things like that as an additional second income or a separate
business.

786
00:49:24,990 --> 00:49:32,998
So I think there's some benefits there too, but it was definitely a good significant time
in my life as far as learning and growing as a, as a leader in a business owner.

787
00:49:33,086 --> 00:49:34,609
Awesome.

788
00:49:34,609 --> 00:49:35,971
Hey man, thanks for joining us.

789
00:49:35,971 --> 00:49:38,215
This 50 minutes was great.

790
00:49:38,215 --> 00:49:43,054
So what about, what about your podcast that, that you're, that you're leaning into and
standing up?

791
00:49:43,054 --> 00:49:43,514
Yeah.

792
00:49:43,514 --> 00:49:45,514
Uh, so the podcast is life is what we make it.

793
00:49:45,514 --> 00:49:48,574
You can go to randyvlasik.com and take a look at everything there.

794
00:49:48,574 --> 00:49:51,354
If you're interested in logistics, it's all there too.

795
00:49:51,354 --> 00:49:56,194
Um, but life is what we make it as a movement that I'm creating and it's about people
helping people.

796
00:49:56,194 --> 00:50:02,194
So it's, it's founders builders, parents, moms, dads, anybody who's trying to get started
and it was building something significant.

797
00:50:02,194 --> 00:50:06,614
It's a place for people to go and get some of those real tactical ways of growing.

798
00:50:06,614 --> 00:50:08,574
And so it's built around five pillars.

799
00:50:08,954 --> 00:50:10,766
Um, the five.

800
00:50:10,766 --> 00:50:12,446
Man, I'm really striking out today.

801
00:50:12,446 --> 00:50:13,888
He put me on the spot on the field.

802
00:50:13,888 --> 00:50:14,941
five pillars.

803
00:50:14,941 --> 00:50:19,107
Don't worry about just telling, just tell them to go to the website, go to Randy
Vlasic.com, right?

804
00:50:19,629 --> 00:50:20,850
Just go there.

805
00:50:24,322 --> 00:50:35,532
Don't worry about it, If, listen, if, if on, if on the spot, um, somebody asked me at any
random moment to tell me the important things that all of my businesses and, the ideas

806
00:50:35,532 --> 00:50:37,914
behind them and the profound, I'd be like, hold on, wait a minute.

807
00:50:37,914 --> 00:50:42,988
I, was on a mic the other day and I said something just from the crowd and the guys like,
give me the mic.

808
00:50:42,988 --> 00:50:44,079
And I was like, oh shit, man.

809
00:50:44,079 --> 00:50:44,510
I don't know.

810
00:50:44,510 --> 00:50:47,552
I'm not, no, I don't want the mic in front of this room and stuff.

811
00:50:47,552 --> 00:50:48,343
I'm not here for that.

812
00:50:48,343 --> 00:50:51,365
But then I, I took the mic and I said, what do want me to say?

813
00:50:51,926 --> 00:50:52,590
Right.

814
00:50:52,590 --> 00:50:55,446
So I just had to come to him like, I don't even know what I'm talking about, man.

815
00:50:55,446 --> 00:50:56,328
Like, what do want me to say?

816
00:50:56,328 --> 00:50:58,642
And he said this and I was like, okay, I can talk.

817
00:50:58,926 --> 00:51:03,376
So it's identity, vision, people, mastery and momentum are the five.

818
00:51:03,376 --> 00:51:08,988
And so all of those together is what we're using to build our businesses or build our
personal lives.

819
00:51:08,988 --> 00:51:10,250
So that's the whole point.

820
00:51:10,348 --> 00:51:10,680
Awesome.

821
00:51:10,680 --> 00:51:15,782
Randy Vlasic, thank you for coming on, All right, appreciate it.