Back in 1994 Robert started on this entrepreneurial journey by going out knocking door to door asking everyday people if they needed a cell phone. Now for my younger viewers, back then, the answer was usually “no”. The only people who needed a mobile phone then were doctors or lawyers, high power professionals mainly. So another skill arose, he could CLONE cellphones. This means he could clone the number onto a separate device to allow you to own 2 phones but only pay for 1. Once he got you sold on that at $150/pop he would take you out to his car and sell you chargers, car adapters, etc right out of his trunk! But as the times changed and phones became necessities in everyones life, including most 12 year olds for some reason, Robert had to adapt. He evolved his business time and time again to meet the ever changing needs of the phone market. He did some business to business work, then moved on to phone repair stores on a brick and mortar basis, and when asked if he would do it all again knowing who fast technology advance this day in age, he said “yes.” Find out why on this Secret Entourage Academy episode.
Secret Entourage Academy
Secret Academy Episode – Joaquin Corrales
Coming as an immigrant from Cuba, Joaquin always knew he wanted more than just the “go to school, get a job, work, retire” lifestyle. Being in a lower middle class family, Joaquin started making some side money at a very young age by selling gaming cards online, almost $5,000 worth before he was 14! He continued on this throughout high school but realized he needed to level up, so he decided to take his online talents of selling to the back end and started going to school to be a engineer/programmer. Getting a hell of a break at the age of 18, an online programming company picked him up as a paid intern and he began studying hard at both work and school to further perfect his craft. He worked his way up the corporate ladder there, and soon enough he was less than 20 years old and was making upwards of $80,000/year, becoming the top bread-winner in his household. Then on his quest for knowledge Joaquin found Secret Entourage, and Third Circle Theory. With all the knowledge that Secret was able to give Joaquin it wasn’t long before he realized that he wanted to work on his own, for himself, and truly make a difference under his own business. So after leaving his $80,000/year job, he built his own company from the ground up, specializing in app development, coding, programing, building online platforms, etc. But as it always does, a roadblock appears and a shift was needed to be taken. Now Joaquin and his team work in the sphere of e-commerce, an industry that has recently been taking the entrepreneur space by storm. But rather than just working in it and growing his own business, he wants to share HOW he was able to scale his online store business in to the powerhouse player it is today.
Secret Academy Episode – Mark Margulies
Back before ads, algorithm changes, and business tactics galore, instagram was just a social media site that allowed you to post cool pics of you, your friends, your dog, whatever…so other people could see and enjoy whatever you felt was important enough to capture with a picture in your life. While some people enjoyed it for what it was, others, like Mark Margulies wanted to use it to help build up a brand. Now while at first that brand was making custom snap-back hats, in an ever changing world, with extreme growth being forced upon him by popular demand Mark Margulies had to adapt. Through countless different products: hats, wallets, card holders, leather goods, etc. Mark and his team found success, but one product would change their company and their direction completely. Seeing a lack in diversity and fashionability in the watch strap game, Mark decided he would fulfill it, and he launched Horus Straps. Which now is one of the most popular after market straps for luxury watch brands like: Audemars Piquet, Rolex, and Panerai.
Secret Academy Episode – Daniel DiPiazza
Being a millennial this day in age is not easy, a lot of people seem to come down on the generation because they think the world owes them something. And while all millennials seem to want the “get rich quick route”, some of them are actually ready and willing to put in the work to get there, like Daniel. Daniel worked odd end jobs ever since he was in high school everything from restaurants to UPS delivery, he did it all! He knew that he was worth more than what he was currently doing and rather than getting stuck in the same cycle he decided to break free. Now he is a new author of an incredible book and a famous podcast called: Rich20Something that are helping everyday people do the same. Daniel understood there was a difference between business and entrepreneurship and he knew that even when times got tough he would rather work for himself rather than waste his worth and talent somewhere else.
Secret Academy Episode – Aaron Young
We all have a tendency to start a task and rather than looking at the next step, we look 20-30-40 steps ahead to the exit, and while this may seem like a bad trait to have, it isn’t. Entrepreneurs and business owners alike should have an end in sight at all times, knowing full well what it means at any given point if they were to exit their business. Aaron Young has almost become an expert on exiting companies, and he has picked up on just about every trick and tip out there to help others do so. Aaron Young is the CEO and Chairman of Laughlin Associates, a 44 year old company that has helped over 100,000 entrepreneurs start, scale, and exit their own businesses. Aaron has been a helping hand in almost any industry you can think of, giving advice and strategizing with all different types of business owners. After learning all he could about the way businesses grow, scale, and eventually sell he wanted to pass on his knowledge to others so they too could be as successful as possible in their field.
Secret Academy Episode – Joe Huff
Joe Huff always knew he wanted to help others, but philanthropy was never in his cards. So rather than centering his life about trying to figure out how to get money to give back to others, he took the entrepreneurial path that lead him to founding LSTN Sound Co. A company that creates beautiful and functional audio headsets, and for every purchase Joe and his company help to give back to communities all over the globe, by blessing these peoples with the ability to listen to not just music, but the world around them for the first times in their lives.
Secret Academy Episode – Brad Lea
You’ll find that the more and more you hear these entrepreneurs stories, most of them never planned on working for themselves one day. Brad Lea was the GM of one of the most successful Dodge car dealerships in the country at one point, and making about $300K a year with no issues. However, the people around him saw great potential in his teachings to his employees, and often sought help from Brad for training in their own lives. After realizing the large demand for this type of training, Brad developed his own technology for online training. Knowing full well that everything in business boils down to sales, Brad used his master closing skills to help propel LightSpeed VT to the point where it is today.