#Clockedin with Jordan Edwards

#220 - 100 Million Dollar Entreprenuer: Onyi Odunukwe’s Journey from Bodybuilding to Business Success

• Jordan Edwards • Season 5 • Episode 220

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Discover the transformative journey of Onyi Odunukwe, an entrepreneur whose path from bodybuilding to business success is nothing short of inspiring. Onyi's story begins with his dedication to bodybuilding, where he honed the discipline and work ethic that later propelled him to entrepreneurial heights. From being crowned Mr. Arkansas to crafting a thriving franchise business, Glo Tanning, Ani's experiences reveal the powerful intersection of physical and business prowess. In this episode, Onyi shares how the lessons learned from rigorous bodybuilding routines became the bedrock for his formidable real estate ventures and entrepreneurial triumphs.

But it's not just about the muscle and might—it’s about dreaming big and believing in yourself. We dive into the power of a confident mindset with stories of success against the odds, including Onyi's own daring ventures into business without prior experience. Onyi recounts how he seized opportunities, like acquiring his first supplement store and adding a tanning salon, demonstrating the boldness that comes from embracing one’s naivety. His optimism and vision, akin to that of renowned figures like Barack Obama, show us that setting ambitious goals and taking decisive action can lead to extraordinary success.

The conversation shifts to the deeper values behind success, focusing on what truly matters beyond financial gains. Ani reflects on personal fulfillment and the joy found in giving back, illustrating how material wealth eventually loses its luster. By sharing personal anecdotes and strategies for building a sustainable business model, Onyi underscores the essence of creating a legacy that benefits others. Join us as we explore the importance of strategic planning, employee retention, and the profound fulfillment that comes from impacting lives positively. This episode is a testament to dreaming big, the power of action, and finding true happiness beyond the balance sheet.

To Learn more about Onyi Odunukwe: 

https://edwards.consulting/blog

To Reach Jordan:

Email: Jordan@Edwards.Consulting

Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9ejFXH1_BjdnxG4J8u93Zw

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordan.edwards.7503

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanfedwards/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordanedwards5/



Hope you find value in this. If so please provide a 5-star and drop a review.

Complimentary Edwards Consulting Session: https://calendly.com/jordan-555/intro-call

Speaker 1:

Hey, what's going on, guys? We've got a special guest here today. We have Ani Andunukwe. He's a wildly successful franchise business called Glow Tanning. You've probably seen them around. There's over 100 locations and he also has an eight-figure real estate portfolio and, most importantly, he loves giving back. Ani, we're so grateful to have you on the Hashtag ClockedIn podcast today.

Speaker 2:

And I want to start off with how has bodybuilding impacted your career? Awesome, hey, thank you for having me. So, bodybuilding, so I did that from when I was 19 till 29. So about 10 years. Yeah, it had a tremendous impact in the sense of, like, all the things that it takes for you to be a highly successful bodybuilder, all the things that takes you to be a successful business person. So it's, like you know, delayed gratification, discipline, and doing things when you don't want to do them because you just know that that's what you have to do to be successful. Um, those are the things that, um, you know how bodybuilding correlated with business absolutely so.

Speaker 1:

So you're telling me you started bodybuilding like while you were in college. Yeah, like. So most people are going out partying and doing their thing. Like how did you even make that decision? And think about that? Because it's if most people don't understand, like bodybuilding is something where it is all encompassing, it is everything and more. People sacrifice their sleep, people sacrifice all different types of things and they're constantly reinvesting into their health to get to their optimized state. So for you, how do you even come to that conclusion of really making a decision and, like, making it real in your mind?

Speaker 2:

yeah. So, um, it was just one of those things where I just set a goal and I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this, um, and I just like stuck to that. And the thing with bodybuilding is bodybuilding, like you said, it takes over your life in the sense of like you can't. Like you can't travel. Really like, if you're gonna take it very serious, like you can't travel like because, if you're gonna take it very serious, like you can't travel. Like because if you travel, like when you travel you hold water, um, you can't eat your meals at the right time. So like, as you know, going through tsa and all the stuff, so it's just like a whole, like complete. Like you're eating every, you know, two to three hours you're um, you know you can't drink, um, you, there's so many things like even just like the idea and the concept of you know, for me, I realized that if I stayed up past 11 pm, that I would have a good chance of cheating on my diet, so like it caused me to like go to sleep at a certain time. Because if you stay up, like you already, you know you start eating your meals at, let's say, 8 am. If you're eating every two to three hours. Your last meal might be 9 pm, right, so, like, having a six hour window between your last when you go to sleep is going to cause you to have like insane hunger pains. So you're probably going to cheat on your diet. And if you cheat on your diet late, you're typically cheating with like sweets and things that you know you shouldn't be cheating with.

Speaker 2:

So it's like you.

Speaker 2:

It's like control of the mind. So being able to like literally control like your mind and say like, okay, like, because, like, the thing that all of us as humans do is we, like you know, if somebody's like depressed, they eat, right. If somebody like anything that happens, like you know, it's just like, uh, we also have like from birth with like a pacifier. It's like what pacifies us is putting something in our mouth, right, yeah, so, so it's like you have to like deprogram all these things to basically say like no, I'm only eating strictly to fuel my body to be able to like do this workout. I'm uh doing x amount of cardio because my coach told me I need to do x. I'm taking my supplements on time in this regimen. So it's like, it's like a whole thing that um, just extreme discipline and, uh, you know, for me I'm very much like a turn on and turn off that person, so when I was bodybuilding I was 100 in um, got to, like you know, pretty much the upper echelons of it and what did you accomplish?

Speaker 1:

because I know you set a goal for yourself, for someone like mr arkansas yeah so.

Speaker 2:

So I was living arkansas the time I went to university arkansas. So I became mr arkansas, um, for a couple years. And then, um, I did, um mr usa and mr north america and I came in seventh in north america. Wow, um, I I retired after that, um, because my goal wasn't to win Mr North America. My goal was just to like, hey, you just won Mr Arkansas, so now you qualify to get to Mr North America. And so I did it, obviously with the intention of trying to win, and came in seventh and I was like, ok, well, I'm done with this chapter of my life. And I came in seventh and I was like, ok, well, I'm done with this chapter of my life. That was 2016.

Speaker 1:

And I just transitioned into this and I think it's so important that you share this, because this podcast isn't about bodybuilding, it's not about the businesses. It's about the mindset that's required to build anything you want in this life, and it's going to be about some giving back. It's required to build anything you want in this life and it's going to be about some giving back. So I say this because when I was 23 or 24, I ended up doing the 75 hard which Andy Fursella has done. He's 75 days drink a gallon of water, no alcohol, read 10 pages of a personal development book, eat clean, no desserts, all this stuff and you see a difference. And that was 75 days, which is like a fifth of the year.

Speaker 1:

So for you to compound for 10 years is just, it's incredible discipline. And you start to realize that the more times you put yourself through these trials and tribulations like for the audience to realize is like if you make a decision with the new year coming, like you put yourself through this trial and tribulation, you get a better version of yourself and you become more of who you want to be. So, ani, for you, how has this transpired? Like, like, like. What even gave you the inclination to be like I can be mr arkansas and I can do all this stuff, because that's like arkansas is a big state, like there's a lot of people, there's a lot of things yeah, so.

Speaker 2:

So I think I think, um, it's, it's, it's one of those things, it's one of, it's one of those.

Speaker 2:

Sorry, one second you're good um, I, I think that the probably the biggest gift that I have, um, or that I learned that I have slash, have learned since, because a lot of times when you, when something happens, it either is a confirmation of what that thing is or or confirmation to never do that again, right, um, and I think that I have. I had this like naive confidence where, for no reason in particular, I was like anything I set my mind to, I feel like I can achieve right. Yes, and I realized that that's actual reality. So then, like, I actually like I gave an example, actually just uh, it was actually posted on my instagram yesterday and, um, this lady we're in austin and it was recorded, and she came up to me, was like, hey, I feel like sometimes I have imposter syndrome and how do you feel? And I just told her I'm like, literally, like whatever you believe you can achieve right. And I was like you know, I'm this ceo of a hundred million dollar, you know tanning franchise. I'm a black man. That's like a obese person saying they want to be the ceo of a fitness franchise, right, so so it's like it's. It's not one of those things where I didn't have any investors. I never have taken investors. But if I went to investors and was like you know, I started this, one was 21. So if I went to investors and was like, hey, I want to create this company and I'll give you, you know, 50 for 100 grand um, they would say, no, you know, just based on the profile. And what does this guy know about x? Um. So so for me, I just truly believe.

Speaker 2:

In one of the examples I used, I was like you know, look look at barack obama. Like this guy is a mixed kid from hawaii that didn't have a dad and literally believed from like middle school that he could be president. Because, like, it's not, everything he did was very intentional. Like he was like his student body president. He was the president of harvard law review. Like, whether people like him or don't like him, he literally like he's like a success story in the sense of like he paid the pass that if anybody, if he told any of his friends and family and anybody or and said, hey, I'm gonna be president one day, when he was even 20 years old in college, they would have said, okay, you need to stop smoking the weed. I think you know, like, I think you're, you're tripping, you know, um, and, and he has a funny name, right? So to think a guy you know a, a black guy with a funny name, would become president, but he believes in himself, right? Yeah?

Speaker 1:

so that is one of the things that I try to do with edwards consulting is we sit here and we have intro calls with people and we'll have, like, what's your five-year vision? And the reason I do that is because when I ask someone their five-year vision, most of the time people will say something that just is. So I'm like you can get that done in a week, like, like what you just said is not a five-year vision, it's not inspiring, it's not. So you have to push people. And the reason for this is because, as children, we dream and we're like oh, I want to be an athlete, I want to be a basketball player. Now people are like I want to be a YouTuber. So everyone's got their own thing. But they have to be able to work towards that dream.

Speaker 1:

And I realized that most adults lose that dreaming mentality, that dream, and I realized that most adults lose that dreaming mentality. So if you're able to create those dreams still, then there's a massive opportunity for you. So if you're listening to this right now and you're thinking I don't have a dream, I'm not sure what to do, think about something that would be super inspiring to you. It doesn't have to be a bodybuilding competition, it could be a 5k, it could be whatever you wanting to do. It could be starting the business, it could be whatever you want that opportunity to be, but you have to put yourself in that ability to think about dreams.

Speaker 2:

so I really appreciate you bringing that up, because I feel like that's so missed a lot of the time, absolutely, and that's the thing is, you never can dream too big, right? So, like kind of the example that I told the lady, I said, hey, listen, like, because the way the obama example even came up, I said I can never, I would never be president because I can't see myself there, right, I can't see myself sitting behind the oval office, but you know, this skinny mixed kid in hawaii was right. So it's one of those things where it's like it's not just the goal, it's also like the action behind the goal. So, like, I have this dream, right, sorry, I'm excited.

Speaker 1:

No, I love that Because when you really think about it, it's like I want a dream, right? And if you have a dream and that's why the end of the meeting is weekly action steps because you have to hold yourself accountable to these goals. You have to be able to keep moving forward on whatever it is you want to do, because if you're not putting the work in, then it doesn't work Like. You can dream all you want, but the work is required to get there.

Speaker 2:

And that's the thing is, like I have, there's only one dream Like I have like these, like reoccurring daydreams or whatever, that that will never be accomplished. And that dream is like I'll just have like this daydream where, like, I win the lottery like a billion bucks, and I just like, what am I doing with this money? Right, but the reason why that will never happen is because I don't even play the lottery. So, so, so, like winning something that you don't even play, right, so it's like, it's like the game of life. So you, you know, you saying like, hey, I'm going to, you know, have, you know this million dollar company, but you have yet to like, do any sales call? Yeah, make a sales call, make it all and I love that because there's so many.

Speaker 1:

There's people listening right now who go that's me Like, and me and Ani are both here and that's both been us Like. There's been a time where I literally was like, oh, I'm running, I'm doing this thing, and it's like Jordan, you have taken zero action towards that goal in like six months. You're not doing that thing. That's not who you are. You cannot identify as that. But a lot of us keep the label that we carry and we never change it up like I also think.

Speaker 2:

I also think, in addition to that too, like a big thing, because I make one, one, three and five year goals.

Speaker 2:

But, yes, focus on the one and the three. But there's a reason why I never make. A lot of people have an end of career goal, which I've read books that says you should do that. I don't think so, and the reason I don't ever do a 10 year goal is because if you do a 10 year goal, people wait seven years to start, right. So so it's like it's like more of immediate goals, like, ok, if I make a three or five year goal, three or like right now five year goal just came up with probably two weeks ago, we're going to be the one salon in the country. We're number three right now. I, until until two weeks ago, I never thought that I knew for sure we'd get to number two and a few things happened because, like you could say that before I had like some limiting beliefs, right, but if things happen to where I'm like 100 confident that we will and my goal for it is not just des, sit down, sorry no, you're good.

Speaker 1:

No, but this is the thing guys. Ani's running a hundred million dollar company and he's still got. He's a family person. It's the holidays. He's doing this during the holidays. No, I just want to give everyone for the people in the audio who are listening like he's at home with his family, but he wants to do this to be able to give some value back. So yeah, of course, stuff happens.

Speaker 2:

Appreciate it, appreciate it so. So I think that when, when, when we looked at it, you know, because I think part of the reason why I was like I don't know if we'll get there to number one was because the gap between us and number one is a lot. It's like a, it's like a six and a half X in terms of the amount of units, and then, in addition to that cause, they're going to continue to grow, right? So we have to like outpace their growth by a lot. And I guess the way I looked at it is oh, we can maybe be the largest in 10 years, and I don't set 10 year goals. So to me that's like not even in my mind.

Speaker 2:

And then the last couple of weeks I was like, no, we're going to be large the next five years. And like I see it, and not only see it, there's an actual plan. So now I'm like implementing the plan because, like, my three-year goal was for us to get to 250 locations. And now I'm like, no, we're gonna get to 250 location two years and and we'll be at the, at the you know, 700 mark in five years. So so, yeah, you know absolutely.

Speaker 1:

But that's the coolest thing is you start to realize that how many of you can even share a three-year goal, like how many of you can even share a five-year goal? So for Ani to have it so clear and vision and be able to share it with me on this call and the people who are going to listen to this, it's incredible and it should inspire you to be like oh, what could my three-year goal be? What could my five-year goal be? What could my five-year goal be? So I think what everyone's curious about it, ani, is, as you described, how did you even get into glow tan, like, how did that even start? Because you're not like I don't even like it's yeah. How'd you do it?

Speaker 2:

yeah, so so it's very unique. So, um, you know, student at the university of arkansas, I was a nurse and I was a nurse in school and, um, so there was, and I was bodybuilding at the time, and a guy that I bodybuild with he's older, he's probably about 10 plus years older than me and he was sponsored by the supplement store. And the lady who owns the supplement store, you know, basically approached him and was like, hey, do you know anybody who wants to buy the store? And so he, you know, we were out and he told me about it. I was like, oh, I might be interested. Now, mind you, I know nothing about business, I have no money. And I said, yeah, I'll do it. And met with her, convinced her to own her financial store to me.

Speaker 1:

What does that mean for people who don't know, like, what does owner finance mean?

Speaker 2:

um, so so. Owner's finance is basically um, does a stop, go go back and watch the video please, so so oh yeah, owner financing is basically yeah sorry, sorry, I I have the. The maze are here at the same time.

Speaker 1:

It's a lot going on it's chaotic no, it's all good, though, because you start to realize that everyone's real, like stuff happens you know what I mean but you keep pushing through, which is something of symbolic of your character. Like you're gonna face adversity, you're gonna face things, and like maybe there's better times for things or different stuff, but, like, the thing I respect about you on is that you're not someone to push it off. You know what I mean. You're someone who's like no, what are we doing tomorrow? What are we doing now? How are we going to get this done? And you just start to realize that, even if there's a lot going on, he still pushes through, which I'm sharing this so that the audience can realize that when you have a lot going on and you want to be like, no, no, I can't do this, I can't record that podcast, I can't do this activity, I can't do that, you still decide to do it anyway because you let your body know what's going on.

Speaker 2:

So, yeah, owner financing yes, um, and I do. What you just talked about too is um, uh, when we get after the owner's finance thing is, um, the power of now, which we'll talk about but dive into that after the owner financing but, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So owner financing is basically when, um, you know somebody, essentially it acts as the bank for you. So, okay, you know, I have no money, I have no credit, I can't go get a loan for this supplement store. She wanted 99 thousand dollars for this back 2009. Um, and, uh, so,000 is probably 200,000 at this point, right, um, so I had no way to pay that. So I basically just said, hey, listen, like, let's structure a note, 7% interest on a 60 year note, um, and, and, and pay you back. And I think the payment might've been like 1700, 1800 a month, something like that. Um, so I that I did that and um was able to pay her back like 18 months, oh, wow, yeah, and just like, basically double the sales in like three months, oh, wow.

Speaker 2:

And then I went to go look for location number two. Well, because of um, this was on the north side of fayetteville, arkansas, and that's like where more of the money is in the mall and all that stuff. Yeah, outside is where the university is. And because I was a student, um, I knew the south side very well. Yeah, yeah, uh, well. So I was like I want to put on the south side near the students, so found a location. It was too large for something in the store.

Speaker 2:

I needed to figure out something else to put in the space as well. And while doing that I was like maybe you know a fitness studio because I was a personal trainer at the time or something else. And then I randomly, randomly decided you know, hey, I'll do a tank salon. And just like very random night, thanks a lot. And just like very random, naive, like if I had to go back and do it all over again, I would not have done that as in like what I mean by that is like I'm happy that I did, but like knowing the like, having the knowledge I know, now I like it took, like it was like a naive ignorance that worked out there's much more optimal ways to do it now that you know so much more yeah yeah, but you're saying in that situation with the space, you could have been a little more different, creative not even that per se.

Speaker 2:

Just like like I probably would have tried to outsmart my like the my ignorance is what helped me do it like. I would try to like outsmart myself where it's like, you know, like just the fact that I was not that smart and did not know that much is the reason why I did it and it worked out. That makes it so. So it's like a willful ignorance that like allowed me to like even think that it was possible for me to to do that, um, and and if I like was like older and more wise, I would be like, oh, there's no way that you, as a black guy, is gonna, you know, start this tanning salon. It's gonna work out. So, um, so I'm happy that I did and it all ended up working out.

Speaker 1:

But absolutely, absolutely. And it seems like it's something that you you're very aware of what's going on and you realize how things might look to other people, but you still push through anyway, because there's many times where most people get in their head and then they never pursue the action, like for sure.

Speaker 2:

Yeah well, they so. Like, when we're talking about like, even like the power of now, right, the one thing that like my, my wife and my friends and and and family say is like they're like dude, you do not waste any time. Like there's never a time where it's like like I'm doing something, it's like I don't care if I have an idea, or like something needs to be done. I don't care if it's christmas. Like I'm doing it now and and like the things I'm learning is like before I didn't, I didn't respect other people's boundaries.

Speaker 2:

Yes, like it doesn't matter if it's like Friday night, like I'm like texting my employees. Like hey, we need to get this done. So, like now, I'm like I try to you know respect. Like, hey, like this person works nine to five, allow you know. So, like I'll, instead of texting, I'll send an email and if you choose to respond back at you know, 7 pm on a friday, that's on you. Um, yeah, but I'm not.

Speaker 2:

It's not an emergency, so, but for me, everything I treat almost every emergency, yeah, so it's like I'm doing everything, like now, and so many people just procrastinate like it's like the same thing we're talking now and so many people just procrastinate Like it's like the same thing we were talking about, like the 10 year goal. It's like you know, there's no better time to do it. But now, like whatever. People are like it's funny to me when I'm like, hey, let's you know, try to set up a meeting or do something whatever, and people are like, oh, I'm just like so booked up, whatever. And I'm like, in my head I'm pretty much the CEO of six companies and I have 1,000 employees and I always have time to do whatever needs to be done.

Speaker 1:

So I don't understand how Well, I think that's another perspective that people don't realize is the sitting there and going. It's a story you're telling yourself of I'm too busy. And when you start to realize that, then you're not too busy. You know what I mean. If you are too busy, then you need to be handing off the stuff to different people, to be having other people empowered, or if you or you're just like, show me your phone there's no way like show me your phone you're not, you're not, you're not too busy.

Speaker 2:

And then, and other thing is, it's almost like, um, you know dating right, um, if I, I have like friends that are like girlfriends, like friends that are females or my wife's friends, and they're talking about, like you know, this guy has a text and I'm like listen, we all make time for what we want to make time for it doesn't matter, it's 100%, 100% the president has time to text people back you know, yeah, we make time for what we want to make time for somebody telling you oh my God, I'm so busy I couldn't text you for three days.

Speaker 2:

It's nonsense, right? Um, so so it's like you know to me, um, it's just like the power of now understanding, like, like in what you said is true. It's also, I'm a master delegator. So, um, people, if you can't, if you don't have time to do things, then either, number one, you're at the beginning of a startup and you are doing everything yourself and you can't afford to hire, you know people and train them and whatever, or, number two, you're a table manager. It's one of the two, yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and it kind of comes down. The really interesting thing is you kind of say that and then it's like you sit back and you start to realize you're like, wait, what am I even spending my time on? And most, most people are so like used to like, oh, I spend my time on this, and it's like, is that valuable?

Speaker 2:

yeah, you're not very efficient. I really highly recommend that people do a time audit yeah, tell us what's the time on it.

Speaker 1:

How does that even work?

Speaker 2:

so whenever. So. So I have like a mentorship program with coach people on commercial real estate and also business acquisition. And one of the things on business acquisition in particular is like I say, hey, you need to do a financial audit, a time audit, a skills audit. So you're looking at it and you're saying like give me a random business that maybe you've thought about in the past of doing.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, we could do a dry cleaner.

Speaker 2:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

So then a financial audit. How much does it cost to open a dry cleaner? Let's say equipment and everything else. Let's call it $150,000. Loan's going to be probably $120,000. So you need to raise $30,000. Do you have $30,000?

Speaker 2:

Question number one. That's a financial audit. Question number two skills audit. What do you know about directly? What do you know?

Speaker 2:

Like, what is it that it takes to like, do that, like, have you ever worked as a dry cleaner? Um, do you know how to do the books? Do you know how to do inventory? Do you know how you know? Do you do you? What's the know-how that that you have when it comes to that? And if you don't have the skills, do you have one, a strategic partner that you have when it comes to that? And if you don't have the skills, do you have one, a strategic partner that you could partner with that has those skills? Or two, can you go learn those skills, whether it's go and get a job at a dry cleaner or something like that? So that's a skills on.

Speaker 2:

And then the last one is a time audit. So it's like, if you're doing this podcast, you have other businesses and all that. How much time can you actually dedicate to this business to make it successful, and if the answer is, oh, I don't have time, I just have the money and I have the know-how unless, then it's not gonna work. Now I believe it's strategic partnerships, so you could partner with somebody who's lacking, who has funds right, so, like they lack the funds, you have the time and the skill, or you have the funds and the skill, they have the time. So you could put them in a position where they're the ones actually doing the work and you're making sure to set everything up and you know helping them that way. So it's like that's that's the audit, to understand, like you know what it is that you're lacking, what is that you need to make something successful.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. And the other thing is, even if you're aren't opening businesses, you can apply that same concept to your family structure, your work structure, the way you do all of these things, because you sit there and you go is this a good task? Like if you ended up going back to someone and being like if the owner, whoever it is, and being like I don't understand the value in this, then there's a good opportunity for you to show hey, wait, maybe we can be a little more efficient here, maybe we can do these things a little bit differently. So for you, I understand that it started out at one Channing studio with the supplement store. How does this grown to over 100 locations? How'd you get into real estate? How did all this happen?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so it very organically honestly. So a lot of times, times, I mean, everybody has a different path. Um, you know, I went to um ifa, which is like a franchise organization, whatever. First time ever going to anything like that that was, uh, september I think, and oh, september of this year yeah, so oh, I thought you did this right when you had the tanning salon no, no, no, no. September this year, first time I've ever been to any type of like franchising organization or anything, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's cool.

Speaker 2:

So you know we go and it was the emerging brands version of it, so we actually were probably the largest brand there, because it's like one to 100 and we're at 100. So 100 to whatever it is, but it was really they invited us like for free, to like test it out so we can buy membership, blah, blah, whatever. So we're there and, um, we're at one point there's like this round table, like different franchisors, and and this guy was like asking questions and there's like a coach who's like a franchisee of like the joint and great clips or whatever. And, um, um, I was, um, yes, okay, go on. Um, wow, okay, yeah, um, so, so, so, um. So he was at the round table and he, um, like this guy was like I have one location and I don't need to figure out how to get franchisees and blah, blah, whatever. And I just told him I was like you know that he asked a question, everybody goes around, helps, give an answer, or whatever. Yeah, I just don't want to say you're not ready.

Speaker 2:

Like you know, like the like proof of concept, like have four locations in different areas, prove your numbers out, doing something one time and then expecting people to give you a franchise fee and now commit when you haven't even shown that you can scale yourself is insane, right, yeah, and that's not the answer. You want to hear what's the truth. And a lot of times people try to shortcut things and they they come into things with the intention of of money being their motivation, and when it comes to franchising, money has never been my motivation. Um, it's literally just making the best and the easiest franchise for the franchisees, and then I know that over time it compounds and then the money will come right. Yes, um, so that's always been the focus. And um, so we've like, really just grown super organic and just like, whatever it is that we can do to help the franchisee and make it as profitable as possible we're by far the most profitable in our space and more profitable than 99 of franchises in general.

Speaker 2:

Um, so, so it's like we did it the right way, compared to coming in and saying like, hey, um, you know, we want to sell x amount of franchises to make x amount of money. Let's go take investors and do all this stuff, because, yes, investors too is like, investors are investing to make a return. Yes, so for me, I have I've yet to make one return on franchising at all. I make all my money from my personal stores, but the reason why is not because franchising doesn't make money it makes a lot but because I literally reinvest every dollar right. So we're hiring developers and we're hiring C-suite execs and doing all these things that we technically don't really have to do because we're already there, but we want to continue to improve it so that we can prime ourselves with the growth that's about to come, right, yes, and then you know, in five years the amount of money will be insane that is made from this, but it's because we laid the groundwork at the beginning correctly.

Speaker 1:

And a lot of times people want to shortcut those steps. Yeah, no, I think that's super important because doing uh it brick by brick and really setting up a great foundation can take a much longer period of time. Like you said for that guy. One guy sitting there going I want to open up a franchise and you being like go open up four, he's like, oh man, that's another four years.

Speaker 2:

Like what do you mean? He said that. He said he's like I don't have the time. What do you mean? You don't have the time, like you don't you have some goal in your head that you want to be the successful franchisor and you're not even success? A successful multi-unit operator like like? You own one store and that store's successful?

Speaker 1:

no, but that's the biggest, uh, the biggest challenge that a lot of people face, because that's where you have to hire the one person or hire the two people to manage that store, and then you go away and people yeah, who's to say that's successful without you, so that you.

Speaker 2:

So that's what. That's what I told. It's like this, right? If you want to, let's just say franchise the podcast, right yeah or even sell the podcast. I'm not buying the podcast because who was the podcast without you? Yeah no, I mean, you're right yeah, right, and that's why.

Speaker 1:

That's why a lot of these shows they get licensing deals but there's too much key man risk on like hey, like. Even if you look at howard stern, like howard stern's got his show but he's also got like 75 like side people that come in or come out, like, but it's still too much key man on the one guy. That's why they only do licensing deals there was a bit.

Speaker 2:

There was a business for for sale that one of my students was analyzing. It made a million dollars a year. They she the lady who was selling it wanted like 1.5 million or 2 million. So very low, multiple. Yeah, the issue was was that it was a youtube channel on um. It was a mommy youtube channel. You are the mommy, you know, like you are the face, like you know you have brand deals and you have ads um, and you're making people like you, yes, like you can't, you can't sell, you can't sell something that I can't replicate.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like if I, if I buy it and I come on there I'm like, hey guys, I officially take the new mommy like yeah, yeah, exactly. So it's like.

Speaker 1:

It's like people don't make sellable businesses right well, that ends up happening a lot with you. But but then again, ani, if you do a youtube and this is just for the audience to realize if you do a youtube that maybe is on history and there's a bunch of videos and you're just like the narrator, that's a little different because your face isn't on there.

Speaker 2:

They're faceless youtube I mean, I mean, if you so, there's a guy on instagram, um, uh, that back in the day, when instagram wasn't like super huge, but um, and it was like a meme page, um, it's called.

Speaker 2:

Um, it's called, uh, daekwon, right, okay, it's like, posted really funny videos or whatever, and you, you've never seen what he does stop you haven't seen it, yeah you've never seen what he looks like, so he just had like some like caricature of like whatever on his thing and then, like, everything else is just memes, right? I'm pretty sure he sold the page for 100 million dollars, because it doesn't matter who runs that page, right like it's just like, if you have the jokes, you have the jokes.

Speaker 2:

You, yeah, yeah you have like 25 million followers. Whatever people follow you, people engage, somebody wants to have access to to that page and and bought that page for a ridiculous amount of money. Almost also like um blue man group and there's another group, um yes, yes, I know what you're talking about.

Speaker 1:

The show is the blue man group. Yeah, there's so many and they're in all. Look like. I looked them up and you would think it's like one group. No, there's many of them they're performing in eight cities in one night, like because because they're, because at the end of the day they're.

Speaker 2:

It doesn't matter if you like, you still think that you saw them right. Yes, but they're ambiguous.

Speaker 1:

So the funny thing, what? I just want to break this up, because when I was a child I went to blue man group like I wanted to go see it and I was like, dude, I can't believe. I saw the blue man group and then my wife, like we just got married, and she was like, oh, I've never seen like blue man group. Like so I look it up and I'm like I I had the same realization you just said right there. I'm like there's eight. How eight? How are there eight? At one time I thought they only do New York. I was like where did these people come from?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, because they can replicate themselves right, because there is no key members on that. So a lot of times people just don't understand. It's like also for me at one point I was doing these mistakes that other people were doing in their business, where I was doing these mistakes that other people were doing their business, where I was doing everything or a lot of everything and I, um, was not hiring people because I did not want to spend the money.

Speaker 1:

Yes.

Speaker 2:

I got to hire this person. I got it. That's going to be $50,000 and not at all Like. I'd rather just do it myself and keep the 50. Right. And what I realized was I realized that, um, when I actually did hire the people, not only did the business get better, it allowed me to focus on other things, to grow the business.

Speaker 1:

So I didn't start truly growing.

Speaker 2:

until I started doing that because, at the end of the day, I have a rule Somebody can do something 70% as good as you then delegate it. But what I've realized is every single person I've delegated to can actually do it better than me because that's their only focus.

Speaker 1:

You're juggling a hundred different plates and what people don't realize is that if you sit there and really do a breakdown, it's like OK, I'm doing it a hundred percent, but I'm also juggling 17 different plates where, if this is the one person's job, they can definitely do it better than me. They're not going to miss, they're not going to forget.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, and that's it Right. So they they're focused on one thing and you just train them to make sure that they know how to do that one thing. I don't just like, hey, you do this and just send them off. It's like, no, this is how we do it and you monitor and do it yeah, so let's dive into that.

Speaker 1:

So I know you've had. You obviously have glow. It's growing. You have over 100 locations. What? How do you even retain employees? Because I know there's a component of the employee program the giving back. Like, how do you retain employees because most of the time they're probably sitting there going like who's on me? How does this work? What's going on?

Speaker 2:

so. So what I realized was because the first location was across the street from the university, arkansas, and I had, like you know, 20 employees. Even the other day, actually, my, um, my first, like GM, who was with me from one to four stores. We went to lunch she lives in Little Rock and we went to lunch out in Little Rock and, um, I just had such good employees and like they would work with me for four years and then after the four, after the four years, they would go off to their big girl job. Yeah, and after a while this is probably about three years ago- oh, because they're in the college scene.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Because most of the employees you're going to get if you get an employee, that's, I mean we pay well above minimum wage, but we don't pay great pay, like not enough to support your family as a lower level employee, you can move up in management and you make it worse. If you're in your 30s and you're working with us as a lower level employee, something else has happened in your life that is not probably that good, probably that good. So. So it's like, for the most part, the people, the good employees that we get at that level, are gonna be college students or you know around that, around that age, or even like eighteen, like you know stuff like that. So you know the way that they're looking at it is oh, this is a really good college job. I'm gonna work, you know, 20 hours a week for the next like three to four years.

Speaker 2:

When graduate, I'm gonna go be a nurse. When I graduate, I'm gonna go be a psychologist, whatever it is, and, um, and then I started realizing, like man, we have great people who love, glow and do a great job. Like why can't this be their, their for forever job, right, yeah? So came up with this program where basically, like, if you work for us for three years, then I'll have an investor invest in you, like you have to work with us and be in good standing, right, I'll have an investor invest with you and open your own store. And we have, like right now, investment wise, I could open 150 stores with the amount of investors that I have. That-wise, I could open 150 stores with the amount of investors that I have that want to own Glow's. I just don't have the operators because they are not operators.

Speaker 1:

They're the type of people who want to do the cash silent move on.

Speaker 2:

They're worth $5 million. They have the cash, they're a great business, but they're not going to sit there and learn the system and do the work you pair them up. Yes. So now you take the person who loves Glow, runs Glow and makes Glow great, and pair with the person who has the money, and now they're 50-50 partners and the way we structure it is the investor gets all the depreciation at the beginning.

Speaker 1:

Oh for the real estate and all that stuff.

Speaker 2:

Yeah yeah, the profession is depreciation, and then and then the employee or the employee gets a low salary.

Speaker 1:

But commission.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, low salary. And then, once the loans paid off, then at that point they become 50 percent, and then they just split the owner's draws.

Speaker 1:

The returns, yeah, and you start to realize what this is doing is giving back to the people that are there right, because we've talked about this on the pre-call, where you'll have great employees and you'll have people that are so empowered and can do so much, but they just don't believe it's possible.

Speaker 1:

And for you to go, hey, fork over 150 grand and the money just doesn't make sense. It's like a too high risk too thing. So for Ani to bring this together and find something that works for everyone because if you're going to find good people, the hardest thing to do in business is find good people so if you have a spring of good people coming in, you just have to help them set it up. Then you have real. And then what happens when they get the ownership is now they really are starting to flip their brain and realize, not the employee way, but the owner way, and start to see this opportunity of really like wow, the world is my oyster. And like, give it back to those who were in need, like, who like, worked and earned it, I think is incredible.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean, I think, and I appreciate that I think the biggest thing is really giving an opportunity, right. So it's like you're giving somebody, like you're not like per se, like they're earning it Everyone's earned, everything's earned.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, which is the merit of what life should be, because when you earn your thing, then you care more. So it's like, okay, you had someone there who went to school for three years while working at glow, full-time, doing it all, and they're like, whoa, I can come out and be an owner or I can be a nurse like opportunities. You know what I mean, and most franchises aren't. I've never heard of another one giving that opportunity. So I think that's awesome to do. That community Like it just builds the system of because you want owners who care.

Speaker 2:

No, absolutely, and that's the biggest thing, even for because, like you know, the program and concept sounds, you know, like, oh, that sounds great. But yeah, right, right, that's kind of probably what some of them thought. But I was the first person that did it, I was an investor and invested and now, at this point, we now have about like nine people, yeah, through it oh, that's awesome. One or multiple stores. I mean, we have one that owns three stores, right.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and just think about the cash flow coming off of that, going from an employee's salary to the cash flow coming off as an owner. That person's life has changed forever.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean our average store profits $350,000. So so so that that that employee making one hundred seventy five thousand dollars a year and and a store from a former employee that's run by a former employee is more likely to make more be above average. So I'd probably even say that that store could probably do 400,000 in profit if it's a good location, right demographics and all that. So you going from making 60 to $70,000 a year at the top as an employee to making $200,000 a year as an owner is insane, and most of these people would take $80,000 and be the owner just because the pride of being the owner.

Speaker 1:

But then even, as you mentioned, there's some employees who have multiple locations, which means they learned how to delegate as well. So it's this whole concept of how do you empower the people that you're around, and I think that's so amazing that you're doing that, and it's really a truly incredible thing, because there's not many people who empower their people like that. You know what I mean and it's missed out a lot, and it's people think oh, he's the man on top, so he gets all the no, like you have to find ways to empower those around you so like, if you're creating an opportunity, find it way for it to be a winner for everyone, and some people might have unique situations no, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

And I think, um, uh, no, absolutely, and that's that's um, that's the, that's the, that's the biggest thing. It's like, you know, when you look at it, if I made, you know, an extra, I mean honestly, like if I made an extra $5 million a year, it wouldn't make one difference in my life. So what I mean by that is like there's, if you make a million dollars, there's really no difference between a million and 2 million.

Speaker 1:

There's a big difference between a million and 10. If you make a million, dollars.

Speaker 2:

There's really no difference between a million and two million. There's a big difference between a million and 10. If you make 10 million, there's no difference between 10 and 20. There's a big difference between 10 and 100, right, yeah, so for me, what is it that drives you? What is it that makes you feel fulfilled? What is it that makes you happy? And I think for anybody, once you've achieved a level of success, it's really giving back. So that's the reason why you see all these ultra rich people that are always about the charity. And because that's what? Because there's not, you can go buy any car that you want and it's literally not going to make you feel. It's crazy.

Speaker 2:

I don't want to share it, but whatever I'll say, I don't know if I want to share it, but whatever I'll say it. So I was. I was at the um, so, uh, rose voice called me and, um, they called me on monday last week and they, uh, my, my dealer, because I'm, you know, bought previous cars from them. My dealer was like hey, we have the new spectrum, which is the two-door electric.

Speaker 2:

Uh, rose voice that just came up and the dealership sent us like rose voice, sent us like rose royce, sent us like two or three of them to send to some of our like favorite clients, whatever to to just like just test drive for like the week, you know, yeah. So I was like, hey, I'll pick it up on thursday. So, so I picked it up on thursday and I drove it thursday and friday, and friday when I dropped it off I was just like, dropped it off saying hi to beth, my, uh, my dealer, whatever, and walked past like this ghost or whatever, and I was, oh, that's nice, like you know, I was gonna. Um, I was like, how am I, you know, whatever? So I was like, oh, you know, I might, might, might get it. I'll trade in, you know, one of my other cars towards it, whatever. So she was I'll come tomorrow, let them look at the other car to try to give a value, blah, blah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

So saturday I go up, um, uh, I have a seven series. I was on a trade and so go up. And she's like, oh, my god, I just texted you, like she literally texted me as I was walking in and somebody another client came in and bought that car. Yeah, I was like, oh, that's god telling me I don't need it. So. So then she tried to show me another car and um and I was, you know, gonna potentially get it. I was there with my daughter and um, and my wife wasn't there, she was working late. So I was like, oh well, I didn't talk to my wife, you know, just to make sure, or whatever. So when I get home and I'm talking to her, I'm like I think I'm probably pull the trigger on this and neither one of us was like excited, like it's not, like it wasn't like a. It was like it was like a.

Speaker 1:

It was like it's so unemotionally attached.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it was just more like a. I was like, oh, maybe I should buy just for the, just just because the end of the year and taxes, like I've literally like my motor, like it wasn't like like the first time that I I bought like a really nice car. I was like, oh, my God, like you know, like you feel like this energy, like this is my dream car and I'm going to you know. And then, and then you realize, like so, like I'm at the point now where I realized, like, like this doesn't actually bring true happiness, right, yes, yes yeah, so what is it that so like that's that was your cop.

Speaker 1:

What fills the cup?

Speaker 2:

yeah, yeah, what fills the cup and what I? I would. Somebody telling me that you had a positive impact in their life and you changed their life would make me more joyful than buying that hope if they gave me every car in that dealership. So it's just like when you realize and you know, I told one of my friends, um, he's pretty, he's pretty successful, pretty successful as it probably makes you know, a quarter million or something like that. And um, and he, we were talking about like, so, like some material things or hey, I really want.

Speaker 2:

And I was like, hey, listen, like you going to realize it doesn't matter. And he was like, let me get there first. And I was like that's too shame, that's true enough, right, because you do, really do have to get there, experience it and then realize that that's not what like what you thought that it was it, and then realize that that's not what like what you thought that it was. Yeah, you'll see on social media and people are like, oh, must be nice, this is my dream, whatever. And then you realize that once you hit that dream, it's not even anything material, does it actually like it's nice and you want nice things, but that doesn't actually fulfill you, it's just a toy it's a car that drives you from one location to the next, like it's just it's just no, but you just I.

Speaker 1:

I think it's so important to for you to share this because it's really comes down to like what is it that impact me and what and what really fills that cup and what gets me excited and woke up. This isn't about any like sharing these stories. It's sharing the stories to give the perspective of like hey, it probably make more sense if you aren't in the great financial situation to maybe go on a family vacation than buy the brand new car, like if your car works fine. Like you want to build those memories and have those experiences, and then if you can give those experiences even better, like it's just especially around the holidays, it's so important, like if you could surprise people with stuff.

Speaker 2:

People are like yeah, like no, you know what's crazy about that is too way, my I mean, my daughter is four but gonna turn five next month and, um, and I, I've never bought her christmas present ever, I'm never going to. And um, I, you know, basically said, when she was born, I was like, hey, when she gets old enough christmas is going to be I'll give her, you know, say five or ten thousand dollars, um, and say, hey, um, I want you to go buy gifts for other people, for your friends, family, um, for, for, for the needy. That's the way that we're celebrating christmas. Um, because I feel like we live in a very materialistic society where, you know, like it's insane to me when, like, kids are like, oh, here goes my christmas list, and like a demand, and then you'll see, like on social media, where they don't get something on their list and they throw a fit.

Speaker 1:

It's like no, but but adults do that now too. And it's like, dude, everything needs to be earned there to be a structure to it, and it's that understanding that giving is the real receiving. Like I remember there was a 13-year-old birthday party. I went to a buddy of mine and I remember I went and he literally said like, hey, I don't want gifts, I just want like I'm just going to donate it all. And I like it was such a obscure concept to me.

Speaker 1:

But like you go to the house, you're like the house is sick, like they're definitely good, and then you start to realize later on that you're like, dude, it's all about the giving. And like a buddy of mine when he did a decent thing and he ended up taking his mom to the Canada Goose in New York and he surprised her being like, oh, I'm going to get the jacket, but he got it for her. And he surprised her being like, oh, I'm going to get the jacket, but he got it for her. And he's like it was a lot of money to him, but he was like, dude the face, like at the store, walking out. These are priceless memories that you're giving people that they can never. And like his mom's turning 60.

Speaker 1:

And it's like these ideas that like you're never going to be able to give that moment again, like you can't recapture that and that's you that, and I think that's something so beautiful, so that ability to give is really something else.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. I mean, I think I think that's the, when people realize that that's like the most important thing and I think, for you know, for the society and the generation that we're, that we have, um, if we're very like self-centered, so's, like you know, for me, like that's like my biggest fear with um, because my wife's pregnant right now and that's my biggest fear with raising kids is like man, how do you instill like selflessness, giving hard work, um, and and because like those are the things that like make somebody a good person in my opinion, and we're so focused on like ourselves so much of the time, you know.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, ani. The time's been flying by, so where can people learn more about you? I don't mean to cut you off.

Speaker 2:

We're definitely gonna have to do another one.

Speaker 1:

But where can people learn about you and learn about Glow, learn about all the stuff you're doing? Where? Where's the best place for them to go?

Speaker 2:

Uh, probably Instagram. Uh, at sweatpaint millionaire. At sweatpaint underscore millionaire, um and um. And then for glow, just blow tanningcom, g, l O, tanningcom, um and uh, yeah. So I mean I put out a lot of content on there, um, just, you know, general business content, um, a lot of commercial real estate. Um, I don't really talk about blow too much on there, but I'm going to start to a little bit. Um, I just try not to like. I've I've been very like cognitive, like not ever. I don't like to sell anything, you know.

Speaker 1:

But no, absolutely. I think that's awesome. I think that's awesome. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2:

I appreciate it, man. Thank you so.

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Jordan Edwards

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