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279: Break the Cycle: Build Wealth on Your Own Terms with Joseph Romualdi · Wealth On Main Street

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Foreign.
• 0:11
  Speaker B: Welcome to wealth on Main street, where conversations about growing your wealth are fun and entertaining. Wealth isn't just about money. It's the skills and the knowledge that we develop to pass on to future generations. Tune in each week to to grow your mindset and your net worth at the same time.
• 0:36
  Speaker C: All right, well, welcome back to wealth on Main Street. And I'll tell you, today's guest is not just someone that I met in uniform, he's someone who mentored me in one. And when I was a teenager, just wide eyed and trying to figure out, you know, the path that I might take in life, I was lucky enough to ride along with our guests today for a high school co op placement. And I spent the better part of six months in the passenger seat of a police cruiser. And I spent most of that time learning from our guest today, Joe Ramaldi. And Joe spent 35 years serving the people of Ontario in law enforcement. That's three and a half decades of showing up and protecting lives and making sure that people made it home safe, including his fellow officers. And so we owe Joe just a debt of gratitude for his service, his dedication to public safety, and for making the community that I was born and raised in making a real difference there. And I witnessed it firsthand. Now, before we dive into the show, there are two of many lessons that Joe taught me that I just want to frame for our audience to kind of set the stage. So lesson number one. Now these are lessons that I still carry with me to this day. I was sharing this with Joe before we hit the record button. Lesson number one is always know where you are. Because if something goes sideways and you need help, the cavalry can't reach you if they don't know your location. And lesson number two that you'll probably get a chuckle out of is never rush to a bar fight because by the time you get there, the fists have flown, the egos are bruised, and all that's left is sweat, tired and guys. Exactly. And really bad excuses. But what really struck me, I think more than how Joe showed up under pressure is that I watched him handle violent, known violent offenders with a real assertive presence. And he never flinched. He always had his teammates back. And that's not just policing. That's leadership. And I watched that firsthand and I learned a lot from it. And so today we're going to unpack everything from, from beat to belief, from law enforcement to legacy. And this one's going to have backbones. So strap yourself in because we're going to tackle a Lot of great topics and maybe even talk a little bit about Windex. This is going to be interesting because Joe started a cleaning business and I'm super excited to have him here. So, Joe, welcome to the show.
• 3:11
  Speaker A: Thank you. Jason, thank you for that great introduction.
• 3:14
  Speaker C: Oh, it's. It's such a pleasure to have you. And I'm really genuinely curious. Like, after 35 years of law enforcement, where most people would slow down, you chose to build a business from the ground up. And so why cleaning? What pulled you into that business?
• 3:30
  Speaker A: You know what, Jason? I don't know anything about cleaning. I don't.
• 3:34
  Speaker C: I don't either.
• 3:35
  Speaker A: I don't like cleaning. I had no vision of owning a cleaning company. This just took on a set of legs of its own. So what happened was I was planning to retire after 35 years, especially my last 10 years was just awful. Being on the road all the time, never home. And I said, no, I'm not going to do anything anymore. I'm done, done. And after a year, I found like, no, I can't be done done. I just. I just. There's too much I want to do. And I. And by this point, I had already known Bob Proctor. And he says, Joe is this big saying was, if you're not growing every day, you're dying. You just haven't laid down yet. So you've got to grow. You can't just keep doing nothing. I said, you know what? But I said, it doesn't matter what I do. I gotta go do something. So one of my other retired co workers, he was driving a courtesy vehicle for a dealership. I said, that's what I want on you. They were calling me back, asking me if I want to go back part time to do training or back in circulance or whatever. And I said, no, I don't want no part of it. I'm done. That stuff. But you know what? Driving people around and talking to new people every day, that sounds something that I like. It doesn't sound like any stress at all. I don't mind driving. And I was just ready to put the application in when I thought, I don't want to work for anybody. I've done that already. Right? And a quasi military organization at that. I don't want to work for anybody. I want to work when I want to work. So I thought, well, if I'm going to do driving, why not do Uber? So I did that until Covid shut us down. But I did that and I was loving it. I did very well in it. And with that money I purchased a condominium of it at Friday harbor, which is a resort right on the lake here in Benary. And I Airbnb it. And just like my Ubering, I quickly became a five star super host with Airbnb and did very well at that and probably bought another one. But the problem I had was finding a cleaner that was reliable, flexible, trustworthy and good at what they did. And I couldn't find one. I couldn't, you know, I wanted one for my house. I couldn't find somebody, couldn't get any money from Airbnb. I went through, tried a few and so I said, well, obviously this place needs a good cleaning service. So I started one. I had started with one customer, me, I had my house being cleaned, I had my Airbnb being cleaned. And then I took on another Airbnb and another one and in maybe four years, in the fall, well within two short years it just took off and like I said, it just took a life of its own. And I really got in into. We've never used eco friendly products because for a couple of reasons. One, I just didn't find that eco friendly products worked. The girls were complaining about it, they had to work hard with it to just some things that wouldn't take out. And then the other piece to that was it was expensive too on top of that. So I tracked somebody down, said, look, I want to start using eco friendly products and I want to be able to start using it at my house because I, I have parrots and birds are very, very susceptible to chemicals and that air the kill them just like the canaries in the coal mines many years, right? You spring the canaries down the mine, canary fall sick, they got the heck out of there, right? So he put together formula and slapped our casicolina name on it. And the stuff is amazing. And now we got into coffee brand and hot chocolate and we're going to expand, going to start expanding to different areas. I've got a manager that's going to be starting taking it all over so I can write more books. That's where I, I don't want to do operational cleaning company because I don't know what I'm doing. To be honest, you wouldn't want me cleaning for you. But my heroes are exceptional and we, I'm big on customer service and that I carry over from my policing days. I honestly believe when we started off we were police force and the name quickly changed to police service and that's what truly were. People that called us were Customers. People I arrested were customers, and you had to treat them that way. Maybe I treated the bad guys too good because they seem to want to come back for more.
• 8:43
  Speaker C: Well, Joe, I got to tell you this. So these, you know, memories that came flooding back leading into the show, like, I shared the one thing, you know, I remember nights where few things would happen, we. We would end up going into one of the nightclubs where you knew all the bad actors would be, and you were just. You were always poised, and you had no problem just literally walking right up to them like, hey, gents, how are things going? And just letting them know that you were there. And there were times where some of these guys would be stopped, you know, in a traffic stop with someone else that was on shift. And you always made it a point. You said, hey, we're going to swing by and just make sure that, you know, everything's okay. And just kind of driving by and just letting the folks who were pulled over know that you're not too far away and that you're just making sure that your teammates were. We're safe. And I'll never forget that. And speaking of writing books, so this book titled Coffee with Bob, we'll put a link in the. In the show notes. You've got to get your hands on a copy of this. So Joe wrote this book. He was mentored by Bob Proctor, who you would know is one of the most transformational voices in personal development. And so, Joe, I'm really curious. How did that mentorship first come about? And what was the biggest mindset shift that you experienced?
• 10:09
  Speaker A: Ah, it's amazing, Jason. I obviously manifested him when I didn't know what manifestation was. And he got me thinking about manifestation, the laws of attraction. So I started buying some of this back in the early 90s, or, sorry, early 2000s, of a bite of interest. And I end up joining an ML marketing just because I like the product. And I started doing it. I actually did pretty good at it, getting my friends involved in it, buying it, because it was good stuff. And my upline was this woman by the name Melinda Proctor. I didn't know who she was, I didn't know who Bob was. And she called me out of the blue and she said, you're doing really good. We live here at Thornhill. I'd like you to come and visit and meet my husband. That's kind of nice. Sure, I'll come meet him. So I get there, and sitting there having coffee with Linda, and pin walks this older gentleman carrying a mop in a Bucket, I thought it was her janitor. And he put the mop and bucket down. He reached over, shook my hand. Hi Joe, I'm Bob Proctor. I heard a lot about you. Oh say, I heard a lot about you too. But I didn't know nothing about him. So we chatted a bit with Linda and he's come in my office, I want to talk to you for a bit. So he went into his office and I think that's parts in the book actually. And when I sat down, sat down behind his desk, he looked at me. So first thing he said to me, he says, you know what, Joe? He said, people don't think. And I'm thinking right there and then going, is this guy a nut? I'm thinking right now. Again, I didn't know who he was. I was a police detective, I was supposed to know everything, right? And what he was feeding me just didn't see. I've never heard this before. I was never into personal development. And so we talked a bit and he, and obviously explained to me about, you know, mental activity does not count as thinking. We just don't know what we're thinking. We don't think of what we're thinking. So it's thinking in four dimensions really. And then you start talking about you're feeding your subconscious mind the energy that comes, you're attracting to it, everything that's there. And it started to resonate with me right away because it brought me back to when I was a kid, how I managed to land the job with the police department. It amazed me that I was able to do it because there were so many people after that job. And I was rejected by the city three times and the three didn't know that. The third time they sent me the rejection letter, they said the last line was the superintendent at the time, I think you remember him, he said, we now wish you best of luck in any other career you now wish to pursue. I said, that son of a gun, how dare him say something like that to me. The very next day I went right back in through another application and two weeks later the chief called me at 6:30 in the morning, said, you still serious about being a cop? I said, yes, I am. He said, be in my office for 9 o' clock today. I started right away and I was going to the academy by Sunday. So I mean, these were things Bob explained to me. He said, well, you had made your vision in your mind what it is you wanted and you weren't going to take note for an answer in your mind. You were already there. So again, throughout my career, I was very fortunate in getting into special Services, and everything that I wanted, I got it. But I never understood why until Bob was able to put that in perspective for me. And so he stopped. He said, I only had an hour. Sorry. And I've got to do this webinar. Back then, I never even heard of a webinar. I didn't even know what one was. And he said, you can stay and watch it if you like. I said, sure. I'm curious now. So he opened up his computer screen, and there was the map of the world. And all these little red dots are coming up. And I'm looking at this. What, all those red dots. He says, oh, those are people that are signing in. Well, how many you got there? He says, about 500 so far. Wow, really? I said, it's for free? He said, no, I charge whatever it was, $100 or whatever. So I'm doing the math in my head pretty quick, and I'm going, maybe I better listen to this guy. These people all over the world want to listen to him, right? And when he delivered that one hour, I mean, it just made me curious for more. I thought, this. This is stuff I haven't heard before. And again, I thought I knew everything. Been a cop for a long time at this point, over. I don't know what it was. Probably over 15 years. No, no, I was a year already. So over 20 years. And. And he was, you know, making some sense of things that I could look back in my history and say, yeah, you know, that stuff makes a little bit of sense. I get that. I'm getting this. So when I'm my ride home. I thought a lot about it when I got home, obviously, being the detective I am, I googled him right away, saw who he was. I saw that he was in the Secret, got the movie the Secret, watched it, read the book, and I went, I can't believe I just met this man. And that was the start of a relationship with us. More friendship than mentorship, because I certainly couldn't afford them. And so he sent me to some. His seminars, the Matrix, with a big one a couple of times to that and one in la. And I followed his studying closely and got his material and studied all that while I was working as a police officer. And the biggest thing for me was to retire. And I was afraid of that. And Bob got me through that. He really. Because he. He said to me, he said, you got to quit right now and you got to do this. I Said I want my retirement, I want my pension. I've been at it for so long. He says, when, when are you, when, when is your, your eligible for, for your pension? I told him the date, 50 or when I was age 50. And he must have put that right into his phone because the day of I got a call from him to congratulate, you know, I. Retirement. I broke his heart when I said, now I'm staying on a little longer. I stayed on extra five years. Wow. Yeah. So I always said, Bob is right because now I look back and said I should have left when he told me to. Everything Bob told me, he was right, right on the money, spot on. And I admired the man he was. Really had a huge impact. Got me through to retirement. Within two months after retiring, I said, damn. The only regret I have, I didn't do it sooner, you know, because I was an identity. That's who I was. I loved the work. I loved it right to the, to the day's end. And. But it has, it did have a shelf life. And it was, it was, it was playing on me at this point and it was time to go. It really was. I was probably there too long. So after that I just. Everything Bob had taught me, I did it. And the funny thing was, and I didn't know that when I, when I first started the cleaning company or, or I did, but it wasn't the catalyst that did it, but Bob started in a cleaning company with a cleaning company.
• 18:02
  Speaker C: Oh, I didn't know that.
• 18:03
  Speaker A: Yeah, he, he, he didn't graduate from high school. He quit a great 10. Then he did a spell in the Navy and I think they, they threw him out. And then he, his mother was living next to a judge in Toronto who got him on the fire department, which was a great job back then. Well, still is. Those basements, they make a lot of money. So, so it was very good back in the early 60s. And when he joined and he was, he, he, he, he loved it, it was okay. But one day when he was writing Washing the Fire Trucks Outside, I can't remember the gentleman's name now, Ray Stafford, I think it was, gave him the book Think and Grow Rich and told Bob, you read that book, you read it every day. And there's a secret in that book, and if you follow that book, you will have anything you want. And Bob could very read. Bob said he was very slow reader and he did what Ray told him to do. Bob says, you know, Ray was dressed well, seemed to have money all the time. And so he listened to him read the book a little bit, a little bit every day and then at, at the fire all and then thought he started a cleaning company. He said, he said that $25,000 is a goal to make in a year, which was a lot of money back then. And he surpassed that by probably 10 times that. And he even had the firefighters starting to work for cleaning offices in Toronto. And then he, eventually the fire chief is saying, you know what you're doing, this is a big mistake about one of the best jobs and props to sell, says you can earn money doing this. And so when Bob finally sold his clean company, he was cleaning offices in Hong Kong, London, London, England, Chicago, New York, Toronto. He just expanded. And the thing with Bob was it wasn't good enough. He wanted to know why, he wanted to know why he had the success he did. He is over a million dollars doing it, you know, and he, he just got more serious into the personal development end of it and sold a business or whatever he did with it, I don't know. But went on to, went on to personal development.
• 20:42
  Speaker C: I'm curious, what was, what was the reaction from, you know, your, your fellow officers when you started diving into personal growth while you were still wearing the badge?
• 20:52
  Speaker A: Oh, believe me, it's, I'm sure there.
• 20:56
  Speaker C: Was no shortage of ribbing going on.
• 20:58
  Speaker A: That's about all it was. Yeah, yeah, you know, they were, they were one, they're one dimensional police officers are one dimensional reality. You know, they, they only think in that, in that term that they Again, like I said, I was guilty of it myself. I thought I knew it all. I really did. I thought I knew it all because everybody calls you when they need help, when they need information, when they need the worst possible trauma in their life. Who are they calling? They're calling me. So if I, I've got the answers for everything, right? So I know everything buckle on anybody else they're calling me. So it's hard not to get that, that belief right. And Bob taught me, he humbled me either way. He said, you don't know what you don't know. There's so much more out there. And that's why I, I, I really jumped into the inter that more than anything. And Bob was always there for me anytime I wanted to call home. And I love, I love how you.
• 21:58
  Speaker B: Brought things full circle here, Joe, because your first interaction with Bob was him showing up with the mop and the buck. And I thought, well, I wonder if he was foreshadowing something about your future that he saw that you hadn't seen yet getting into the cleaning business. And it's also just very coincidental. But today is the second conversation I'm having about Bob Proctor, because I was on a podcast earlier with Christina Wise, who's been on our program, and she was also mentored by Bob. And I only had the pleasure to see and meet him once in Edmonton and see him present. And one thing that really stood out for me is the presence that he had. And he was a tall man, but he had a booming voice, and he could just really command a whole room in. In almost nanoseconds. And he had just this. A magnetism that would draw you towards him. That was really uncanny.
• 22:46
  Speaker A: You know, I thought with Bob Nonam personally that once he took the stage, he was somebody totally different. I saw him in the comforts of his home. I've, you know, in a way with them, he's so different. He's so quiet, you know, even when. Even when he may come into a room where. Where there it might be an event for him, he stands back and it's very quiet. He watches, he listens, you know, and I. I've picked up on that. There's a time to talk and then there's a time to listen. And Bob was very. Bob, as much as a great speaker. He is. He's even a better listener. Yeah. Amazing man. I was having a conversation not too long ago with Linda, his wife, and I was, well, that's the name Coffee with Bob, or the name Coffee with Bob came from is that. I told Linda, I said, every morning I have coffee with Bob, even though he's passed and he's gone. I do my meditation. Every morning I have my coffee with Bob and Bob is there. I feel his presence. I come up with some of my ideas that I want to do, and I tell Linda about them, and she goes, that's something Bob talks about. That sounds like Bob. That's what he said. That's what you know. And I go, well, I'm getting it from him. This is all this inspiration that I get is my quiet time in the morning when I'm having coffee with Bob. And that's. That's the name of my book.
• 24:22
  Speaker C: And it's a great book I shared with Joe after reading it. It's a light read. Like, it really doesn't take much longer than two hours to get through. If you're a reader like me who gets through a chapter and just takes time to think about my thinking. And chapter 12 is one of my favorites. That I shared with Joe. And the title of that chapter is Building resilience and Perseverance. And so I'll leave it up to our viewers and listeners to read that. I would encourage you to really take some time with that particular chapter. It's incredible. And if you think of everything that you've learned and that has really resonated with you, Joe, in having Bob, you know, mentor you really through into this new chapter of your life. How do his teachings show up and how you run your business today?
• 25:12
  Speaker A: Well, it's the biggest lesson I learned from him. And you have. You. You're in business, you know, too. It's. It's persistence.
• 25:20
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 25:21
  Speaker A: It's contin. Doing the. Doing what's necessary and keep at it. You're going to run into problems, run to run into barriers. If you have a small goal, you'll tend to retreat back into your comfort zone. But if you've got big goals from the start and you've got your plan in place, you go for it. Not to say you don't change your plan. You can change your plan, change the direction, get around that barrier. Barrier. But don't change that goal. Don't change that big, scary goal. You keep going at it every day. You got to be persistent. That's what's going to drive you every day. And I think that that is the most important lesson that I think I've ever learned from Bob, because he was, you know, didn't matter. Throw problems at him. Didn't matter. He would study the problem. Every problem's got a solution. He would write the problem on his piece of paper, he'd put it on his desk, and then he'd go and stand on the other side and look at it, think about the problem. And then you move over around the desk and sit back down, you know, because there's always a solution and it will come to you. But you can't say, well, I'm not going to do anything. You've got to make a decision. This problem won't go away. So I. That really helped me because there was times, I mean, I've had some really bad times in business. The old product wasn't going right. The label come out wrong. And it's just like, why do I bother, right? It does. It comes out in a second. But. But then I hear Bob voice persistence. Stop it. Change your thoughts immediately. And then you get right back at it again.
• 26:52
  Speaker C: You know, I love that. It to see that, you know, you, you came through that career in policing and, and into this New chapter and thinking like an entrepreneur and just really just overall, I think in many aspects, just changing the way that you think. And one of our mentors, Dan Sullivan, who founded Strategic Coach, he always expresses to us that the problem is never the problem. The problem is how you think about the problem. And so it's quite interesting that you've got Bob Proctor, Dan Sullivan, our late mentor, the late R. Nelson Nash, one of his fifth, one of his five golden rules is to rethink your thinking. And he would always open a talk with. Everything begins with the way that you think. And so to see that, you know, just blossoming in you, Joe, is, is amazing because, you know, my family has a history in, in law enforcement and I've seen with family how that profession can really change somebody too. Especially when you're most often dealing with the worst in people. And that can create an emotional moat around somebody where they develop a rigidness to them that just, it just amplifies over time. And I've witnessed that and seen that firsthand. And so to see you come through into this new chapter, it was amazing reconnecting with you online and starting to chat again. But I just want to commend you for that because it's not easy for people when they think that they've arrived in knowledge, like you said, you know, I felt like I already knew everything. And our, our late mentor Nelson would say that there's no such thing, there's no such thing as having arrived in knowledge. There's always something new to learn.
• 28:44
  Speaker A: Yeah. And I learned that even Ubering every day I, whoever had my car, I always make a point on learning something, even if it's just something about them. You know, everybody has something that they're going to teach you that you've never heard before. I guarantee it.
• 29:01
  Speaker B: Think about all the time you spent, of course, serving people. But some of those people may have ended up behind bars. Now, prison, the whole idea is that, you know, you're, you're locking things away, it's, it's secure. And I think to a large degree, a level of security sometimes creates that fictional prison of the mind.
• 29:24
  Speaker C: Yes.
• 29:25
  Speaker B: And that can exist especially when we have a degree of complacency. You know, that people say that the golden handcuffs, as it were, and often in reference to things like the pension or what have you. And then there's that restriction and that idea, oh, I, I really can't leave because I've, I've got all this time invested in. And so those, those types of thoughts have power and they have power over almost your future and, and, and your decision making. It doesn't mean that you're making. There's no good or bad decision. It's just what is the decision that's happening and what is creating the environment to allow that decision to take place. I think is really a lot of the, the, the thinking process that we see happening there. When you talk about that one dimensional aspect that exists in certain industries with certain people. I know I have a trades background. I used to see that in the trades environment as well. But it wasn't everybody, but it was.
• 30:17
  Speaker C: A lot of people.
• 30:18
  Speaker B: And, and there's these moments where you see almost a log jam is released and someone mentally breaks free and then there's like this, this whole wide ocean of possibility that's on the other side that they couldn't see before and now it's ever present with them. And you know, being in a room where Bob was speaking and being in an environment of people who were open minded, you can kind of see the environment of people who are trying to take in a new world and experience that. And so I'm glad that you got to have so many of those conversations that, you know, kind of over the kitchen table as it were. And I just think it's amazing what you've done with this book and how you're carrying forward the thinking that Bob had instilled within you and other people and providing your insights on it for others to gleam and carry on the torch, as it were.
• 31:08
  Speaker A: And I think I just want, you know, I want everybody know that I'm not a special person. Bob was far from being a special person. Know he didn't complete high school, but once you change your mindset, you can do anything. Anybody can accomplish anything. If you can, if you can see it, you can, you can believe it, you can hold it, whatever it is, but you got to have that open mind. You got to, you got to invest in yourself first through personal development. I was fortunate enough because it was kind of thrown at me in, in such a way that, you know, I'd have been an idiot to, to let that pass. But it really started with an aha moment with me really when he, it was just something he said that was okay, this makes sense. You know, I think he humbled me first and it caused me to open up my mind a bit. And then he said something that really resonated with me and that was the what you think about, you bring about basically the laws of mindfulness. And you know, one of my favorite quotes is by Ford, whether you think you can or you think you can't, either way, you're right. So it's whatever you have convinced yourself will become the reality of it.
• 32:40
  Speaker C: And it, Joe, there may be listeners or viewers that they might be in a season of reinvention, you know, approach, maybe approaching retirement or maybe just starting over. And so in addition to what you just described, like, what would you say to that person who thinks that it's too late to, to do something new?
• 33:04
  Speaker A: Well, all I can say about that, and, and I can hear Bob talking behind me, telling me that it's too late when you're laying in your grave, that's when it's too late. You've got to, you know, and then the old, that other quote about, you know, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now. So you don't look at the, the time you lost, you look at the time you have left. And you got to make the most of it. And you got to start by Bob said you got to. And it's in my book, I believe Bob says you've got to know two things. Where you are right now and where you want to go. So once you've assessed where you are, look at yourself financially, relationship wise, where you're living, whatever, once you know that, then try to figure out where it is you want to go. What do you see yourself living in one year from now, two years from now, maybe in six months from now? How do you want to see yourself living? Write it all down, make it very, you know, detailed notes about that and then let your mind wander. If, if, if, if failure wasn't a possibility, what would it be? Right? And then condense that and make it into your goal and you focus on that goal. That's where you want to go. And in one year from now, whether you set the goal, I want to have a million dollars in my bank in one year from now. Maybe in a year from now you don't. Maybe you only hit $100,000. But I guarantee the person you're going to be in one year from now is going to be very different than the person you are today.
• 34:47
  Speaker C: Okay, I couldn't, couldn't agree with you.
• 34:49
  Speaker A: More because the real objective of that goal is not to get a million dollars in your bank. The real objective is growth. You want to become better. You want to become better every day. You want to have more every day. And more is okay. Better is okay. The problem is complacency and satisfaction. You're satisfied. People say, well, I'm satisfied with your life. Are you? Are you really? You know, and then you. You ask a couple of questions and wouldn't you like. Well, yeah, I was sure would like that. Sure. So you're. You're settling. That's what you're doing is you're settling. You're convincing yourself that this is what you want. No, it's not what you want. You. It's just human nature to want more and more every day. And you can do it. But there is a process that you have to go through, and it's not easy. Changing your mindset is not easy. Staying aware of your thoughts every second is not easy because you really have to be. Because I catch myself, I catch myself, I don't know, saying, oh, geez, I can't get that. Oh, I gotta stop talking like that. If I want that, I can have it. So you really gotta make sure you don't have that negative talk. Well, I can't. I can't have that car. Spencer, get that out of your mic. You can have that car. If that car is being sold right now to other people, then you can have that too. Just remember that. So, and, and that was the thing I had a hard time doing because even to this day, I catch myself with a negative thought, and you've got to reject it. You know, even if you're talking to somebody, you notice something in them. You don't say to yourself, okay, that person is. You got to say to yourself, I am that. If I could recognize it in you, that, that, that. That's in me too. So you don't even send that energy out to somebody else about their. Their shortcomings or their misgivings. And you always leave them with the impression of increase. Anybody you talk to, it could be a total stranger on the street. Leave them with the impression of increase. You know, good afternoon. But you're looking. You're looking happy today or something, you know, because that helps you control your thoughts as well, because you're always thinking about, well, how can I make somebody else's day better? And when you do that, then you. You're. Then you're a lot easier on yourself too.
• 37:21
  Speaker C: That is such great advice and perfectly said. And you know one thing that again, among many that you used to share with me because you mentioned the word complacency, and complacency can have a lifelong impact on somebody. You mentioned often back then while we were out on patrol, you would say, complacency can get you killed in this line of work. And you would explain why that was because there was such a repetitive nature to some of the most common calls for service and that you always had to really be present and really be thinking, okay, leading up to, you know, handling this call, what are some things that should be going through my mind to prepare myself for it? And you just, you really planted that seed with me. You said, never, ever, ever be complacent, ever. And that follows you no matter what you're doing in life, and certainly in policing, I mean, yes, that could be a fatal error, but even outside of that, in business, in just your life in general, complacency can lead to an untimely, premature demise as well. Because if you stop thinking and you stop being active and you stay complacent, then you become low hanging fruit for gravity and gravity just wants to pull you down.
• 38:46
  Speaker A: Well put. I never even considered that kind of extension for my other job. And, and because complacency will get you killed on that job, bring that with you into running a business. Okay, it may not get you killed, but it could hurt. It'll sting a bit. It could sting a lot. So always be ready. Don't be too sure that this regular phone call that I'm going to be making, this regular email I'll be sending is going to go the way that they all go. Something could come in and change the direction. Just be ready for it. You know, in leasing, it's okay, I'm stopping a car, they're going to pull over, they're going to give me their license. Be ready. In the event that they decide not to give you their license, that they decide to challenge you, that they just, you know, just be ready for it. Have something, you know, look for cover as you're going up to the car where if something went bad, you can get in behind it. Same thing in business. Really? Same thing in business. If there is something that you're trading into new territory, where's my safety zone? What's my safety net route? Can I fall on in the event this thing starts to go sideways?
• 40:01
  Speaker C: That sounds like a book.
• 40:03
  Speaker A: I'd have to be, why don't we three of us write it?
• 40:07
  Speaker C: Oh, I'll tell you seriously. Now, Richard knows that this is exactly what happens to me. It's in interview situations where ideas come up and Joe, this is a book. And how this, you know, how you translate your lessons from your career in policing, how you've taken that into your business and how you've developed a culture where you set it yourself. Where I believe what you have adopted is this philosophy of people before profit. And so this is an amazing book idea where you can take a lot of those lessons and translate them into business and people can really, it'll really land well with people. So we, we definitely need to talk more about it. And one thing about your company because I want to make sure that listeners know if you go to Casa Polita Ca we're, we're going to put the, again the link in the show notes. Just make sure you go there and have a look at the business, have a look at the products and you've been able to meet the CEO, the founder of the business here firsthand. And Joe, you said that you don't hire by resume, you hire by energy, by attitude and what your gut tells you. And that's in business. I think for a lot of businesses that's somewhat of a rare approach. And so what has that done for your company culture?
• 41:30
  Speaker A: Well, it's really made it but the, the hiring process longer because we needed more of a pool to, to, to draw from because you, you know, I'll put up an application for a job here in this town and I'll get a hundred applicants. And you're hearing the same language all over. I mean it's like it's a standard HR written resume that they, you're told just put your name on and send it out because they all. I've read it all the time. Like even, even the jobs they have. Well that's great but I look for the. What's not there gaps in employment before I'll even call them in for an interview. And then it's, it is by my feeling it has made it harder to, to find the right people. And bet when you go that way because a lot of the industries bosses won't do that because it, it takes so much time to find them. They need people, they need people today. You know, I would rather hold back growth until I know I got the people in the right place.
• 42:46
  Speaker C: That's smart.
• 42:47
  Speaker A: I don't, I, I don't want to go too fast. I want to make sure I've even brought on subcontractors as I let staff go to handle the overflow until I can find the right people in place. Right. So I've got good subcontractor right now. They can help me out. My staff is down from 13, probably down to 4. But that's okay. I got to build up the human resources are the most important in any business. And if you don't have that you have nothing. So I'd rather go slow rather than just hire anybody. And then you've got problems. I mean, it only takes 20% of your staff to either 80% of your problems. Right? Yeah. And it becomes too much of a distraction. Um, and that's why I've hired a new manager. New manager coming in. Heck of a lot more experience than I do. So I don't have distractions. So I can write more books, so I can look at growth and marketing and getting more clients as opposed to operational and HR issues. Thank you.
• 44:04
  Speaker C: I often say in all of all the businesses that not only Richard and I are involved in together, but others, that HR would be a lot easier if there weren't people involved.
• 44:21
  Speaker A: Can't argue with that logic.
• 44:26
  Speaker C: Joe. You know what I think of being a fellow entrepreneur is I think of up and comers. Right. We always think of lifting other people up and serving them. Know, young, hungry, ambitious entrepreneurs who want to, to start a business and who want to build a bigger future. And so if you could. The question that I had was if you could say something to every young viewer or listener that might be feeling a little bit lost or unsure, what would you say to them right now?
• 45:01
  Speaker A: Well, I think I, I think that's simple. I've learned it pretty quick. You don't fail until you quit. Okay? You are going to fail. And I don't want to use that word, fail. They're not failures along the way, they're potholes that might stalk you dead in your tracks, but they're not failures. If you quit your dream, then you failed. That's the only failure you'll have. If you get yourself back up and you go again. It might be a totally different business. Maybe it's a, you know, a different direction. But as long as you keep, get up and keep going, failure is okay. As long as you say okay. What did I learn here? Okay, maybe selling ice cream up in, up in the, in Alaska wasn't the greatest idea. So think of something else. You know, just don't quit. There's, there's so many steps to success and there's going to be a lot of tripping along the way to get there. You just gotta, you just gotta keep focus on where you want to go. Don't look at where you are or where you've been, because when you look at where you are, all you're gonna get is more of that. You're gonna see where you are. You're gonna look at your, your, your net worth and you're going to be so focused on that number. It's going to go to your subconscious mind. That's going to come out in your energy and your actions, and it's just going to be a non stop loop. You're just going to be looking at that and it's just. Don't look at that. Just concentrate on where it is you want to go. Keep your eyes on the road. That's from a police officer.
• 46:44
  Speaker C: Well, speaking of that. So I have to add to this because if we look at this through a bit of a different lens, and again, for whether it's young viewers and listeners or really just everybody who's, who's watching, listening. So I remember now I got a steel cage memory, and it's a gift and I'm very blessed to have it. And there was a night that Joe and I were out together, and it was very early in the UFC days. So these were the earlier UFC matches that were much less there. There weren't so many rules at that time. In.
• 47:20
  Speaker A: Is that the Envy the Giant story?
• 47:22
  Speaker C: Well, no. So I got. Okay, you're gonna laugh at this. So we get this. So this call comes out that there was after one of these, you know, pay per view fights, there was a fight that spilled out and, and you already knew instantly, you said, I guarantee you that something's gonna go down after this UFC match, because it always happens. And sure enough, the call comes in and, and Joe was great. He was amazing. He would always let me respond to that radio traffic or light the roof up if we needed to get somewhere fast. And so I, I lit the roof up and like Joe's, the speed didn't even change. Like we were doing like 40 kilometers an hour down the street. And he just leaned over to me and he said, turn that off, kid. So I shut the roof off and he goes, I need to teach you something. Never rush to a bar fight. And then he taught me that lesson. And so I'm curious, Joe, how does that. The more I think about this, of course, the more mature that I, that I am, how does that apply when life gets messy? So, like when emotions are high and we just want to react, how does that never rush to a bar fight apply in your mind?
• 48:29
  Speaker A: Right? So in, in, in anything really, not just in business and just everyday living. Because as a police officer, sometimes you don't need to. Obviously in policing, when things go bad, you have to make decisions quick. You've got to act quick. You've got to really, when you're not in a traumatic situation, you don't need to do that. And sometimes that really came back with me into my private life that, that I always wanted to react to something. And Bob taught me that right away. He said, stop, slow down. He gave me the same advice I gave to you. Right. It's, you're reacting to a situation, you're reacting to a problem. Don't you respond to it. Take a deep breath, calm down, think about it and respond. It's like sending, it's like typing up the email to send to your boss. Don't send it right away. Send it tomorrow. You're going to change it. I don't know if that answers the question.
• 49:41
  Speaker C: Well, it sure does, because when we got there, the commotion was there, obviously people yelling, screaming at each other and cursing. But the fight itself was long over. And I'll never forget that.
• 49:55
  Speaker A: I thought you were going to talk about DeAndre the Giant. I don't remember if anybody was with me at the time, times because it was after a fight because he was in town and we got a call of a domestic and, and I tend to respond quicker to those because a woman obviously is in trouble. Right. So, but I was just around the corner and I got there, lightning speed, just in time to walk into the lobby and there he is, Andre the Giant, with his girlfriend or his wife up against the wall like this. And then he went, and I'm alone, sir, can you please put her down? And he was mad. Oh my God, he's mad. His trainer, somebody showed up and able to take them up. I wasn't putting him in cuffs.
• 50:36
  Speaker C: He wouldn't fit in the car.
• 50:39
  Speaker A: I never realized how big he was. Holy geez, he was huge.
• 50:45
  Speaker C: I got to tell another story.
• 50:46
  Speaker A: Yeah, please. I love it. And again, I, I want to hear these because I don't remember though.
• 50:51
  Speaker C: Oh, Joe. Like, I, I, I'll tell you again. Blessed with a steel cage memory. So we, again, this was, I ended up working a lot of night shifts with Joe. And so we get this call and it was a call that came in that some, some lady was reported running around an apartment building and just, really just berserk and sort of out of her mind. And so we, we got there really fast and when we get into the building, there was an update that this lady was running around the building nude. And so we get up, it was the second or third floor, I can't remember. And this lady ended up back into her apartment and we, we rush in there and Joe is just trying to calm this, this lady down. But I Again, it's these small things that you pick up on. We ended up in the dining room, and there was a hammer on the table. And I. I didn't think about it until after, but I remember the first thing that Joe did, he gets into that dining room, and he just said the word. He said hammer, and he just sort of brushed it off the table and ended up having to deal with this lady, you know, physically, to. To restrain her. And he again, taught me after he's like, always be aware of your surroundings. And I knew in that moment, the moment that I saw that if she got her hands on that damn thing, it was going to escalate this to a much bigger issue. And again, Joe, you just never know how you influence and mentor someone, because all those lessons, I just stacked them and said, okay, I'm going to remember all of this because I had no idea where my path was going to take me, if it was going to be in law enforcement, you know, which obviously, I ultimately decided not to go that route in life. And.
• 52:40
  Speaker A: But I was surprised by the way.
• 52:42
  Speaker C: Yeah, you were.
• 52:44
  Speaker A: You were lined up for that because you. You were. You seemed very eager and very alert when you were in the car, and I thought for sure. I thought for sure you were going to go with it. You didn't mean. Yeah.
• 52:55
  Speaker C: Oh, that. I appreciate that very much. Thank you. You know, like I said it, I just. I just saw, you know, with my family having a history in law enforcement, I just saw some things in terms of what it. What it did, and. And I shouldn't have allowed it to impact or influence my own personal decision making, but I didn't really think through it that way at the time. I just thought to myself, I just. That's not. I don't want to be that emotionally withdrawn, and I don't want to be that rigid all the time and always have my defenses up. And I want to be able to really connect with people and really serve people and really show up in a way that leaves people feeling inspired. And so it took me on a different route, but, boy, there are so many calls that I remember, and Joe, every single one of them taught me something. And so I'll always be grateful for that. And I know that I've expressed that to you privately, but for all of our viewers and listeners, you may not have known any of this about me and that time in my life growing up, and Joe was incredibly big influence on me, and I'm very grateful to him for that.
• 54:07
  Speaker A: That's nice. Thank you. Glad that's that was the whole idea behind that program.
• 54:14
  Speaker B: Well, it was.
• 54:14
  Speaker C: It was fun.
• 54:16
  Speaker B: I'd love to know you. You shared so much great stories with us, of course, your time with Bob, some of your time with Jason, of course, and. And ultimately a lot about mindset. Now, you served for 35 years. While you were walking around with a uniform on or busy with a notepad being a detective, you know, you didn't exactly have a cape. I don't think that's standard issue. So you might not have known it, but you were probably showing up as a hero to so many of the people that you did help along the way. With the book that you've written and the path you're on now, who is it that you'd most like to be a hero to?
• 54:51
  Speaker A: I. I think it's nobody specifically, but I think it's more of the youth. I always remember being in Bob's seminars, thinking, this should be taught in school. It really should, because I hated high school. And I gotta admit, I don't think I learned anything in high school. I barely made it. I barely passed it. Um, but what they taught me, I. Other than maybe English, I'm very good in English and writing and. And I had a very good English instructor, teacher, and. But they taught me nothing. They really did. I haven't really can say, well, back from high school. It's helped me in my career. I come out of there, like I say, very past it, and I was at police college at a very young age, age 21, and I come out of there with a 92% average. So when you're interested in something, you really absorb it, you really want to learn it, because, you know, it's for something, especially with what you're seeing now with the whole woke culture and everything that they're teaching these kids these days. My question is why? Why are you even opening that door? You know, you need to teach them finances. You need to learn things from you guys. That's what they should be learning in high school, things that I've learned from Bob. They should be starting to teach that in elementary school children are naturally creative and dream and wishing and all of these things. And what some. What are they? What are they told? Oh, stop your dreaming, stop daydreaming, stop that. You know, it's got to be the other way around. It's. Your imagination is very, very important. It's what you think about. You bring about. I want to. I want to, you know, bring what I. That. That book was just the first book, but I want to be able to. And I didn't write it so complex that anybody can't read it anyway. High school students could look at that. That's got that kind of material. And what you guys teach in finances, that's what needs to be in school. So those are the ones that I'm really trying to impress upon that they can have anything they want. Don't, you know, don't get caught up in. I got to get a job, I got to work 40 hours. You know, I got to buy a house, I got to get married, I got to get. No, no, you don't have to do any of that. You can have any lifestyle you want. But what is it you want? And be sure of it. Be sure you want that. Right. And be very, very descriptive and detailed about it. And I think you see the kids a lot better off these days because I'm a little concerned with the education system. I'm not very about what's going on. I wasn't happy about it when I went to school and certainly wasn't any of that woke stuff at that time. Yeah. So I'm really concerned these days that the kids are being brainwashed with the wrong, wrong information and that I hope that that changes.
• 58:13
  Speaker C: We do, too. Joe, what a gift it's been to reconnect and just to share this conversation with the people listening. And you've reminded us today of a number of really important things and shared a lot of great advice. And before we wrap, I just want to share with everybody, you. If you're watching on the YouTubes, you would have seen another video pop up, courtesy of our editing team and courtesy of YouTube's algorithm. That's our invitation to you to continue your journey of learning. So watch that next video that's come up. Continue that journey. And I would share with all of you if today's episode moved you in any way, shape or form, if it inspired you, if it reminded you of what leadership looks like, then please do us a favor and share it. Until next time, gentlemen, stay awesome. Joe, I am going to open up some dialogue with you regarding a collaboration on a book. And gentlemen, have an outstanding rest of your day. This was a lot of fun.