Episode Transcript
[00:00:09] Speaker A: You're listening to Selling the Dream. This isn't an interview, and we're not journalists, but each week we'll ask our guests to open up and share their secrets to business success. Let's have a conversation and have some fun.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: Hey, everybody. Welcome to Selling the Dream, a podcast about selling, a podcast about owning businesses, podcasting about leadership. Today's going to be a lot of fun because as you all know, my good friend Joe Iredell is always with us.
What's up, Joe?
[00:00:40] Speaker C: Yo.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: And today we're joined by another very good friend of mine, Brandon Altieri from Otto Auto Salon.
He's gonna be joining us today. And I just, I can't wait. I, I, I feel like these conversations. Joe, when I talk to you on the phone, it's always, it's always a good time, always lots of lash. Brandon, same thing. When I talk to you on the phone, I always enjoy it. And I figured this. I was looking forward, I had this date circled on the calendar. I'm definitely looking forward. Not to oversell it. Not to oversell it.
[00:01:11] Speaker C: This episode might suck it up.
[00:01:13] Speaker D: Dude, I know you're hyping it up all crazy.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: Hey, game dog.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: So don't dot. Hey, guys, don't screw it up, all right?
[00:01:22] Speaker C: Say something funny right now.
[00:01:25] Speaker B: Right now. Do it. All right, so, Brandon, first and foremost, introduce yourself, tell the people a little bit about you, real brief. And then we're going to do the two truths and a lie. I always forget to do the truth. Two truths and a lie. So Joe's job is to awkwardly interrupt to make sure that I do it in case I forget.
[00:01:43] Speaker D: There we go. So, Brandon Alteri, Onazo Auto Salon. Also auto, auto concierge, valet service.
Been friends with Kenny for what, 10 years? It's been 10 years. Yes.
[00:01:59] Speaker B: How old are you? How old are you?
[00:02:01] Speaker D: 33. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:02:03] Speaker B: Since you were 23.
[00:02:06] Speaker D: All black here still. You know, we're good. Only, Only had the business for three years, so it's not white yet. But now I met Kenny out of college doing mortgages together, and just became good friends. And then even as the split happened, when I left the mortgage industry and moved out to New Jersey from Philadelphia, you know, we stayed in touch, and when I started the businesses, I called him up and I said, can I ask you a favor? And he's, what's that? And I was like, think you can coach me? And since I started now, you know, we talk once a week, once every other week when he's not at a Phillies game or Golfing or whatever he's doing put me on the back burner. But, you know, he helps me out a lot, and he's got a lot of great tips. And when he asked me about jumping on this podcast, I was excited for it, so.
[00:02:51] Speaker B: Nice. Well, we're happy to have you, man. And I'm proud of everything you've done over the last couple of years. We're going to get into all of it, but before we do, got to start with the two truth. See, I didn't forget this time. Two truths. That a lie.
Do you have your. Do you have your three facts prepared?
[00:03:09] Speaker D: I do.
[00:03:09] Speaker B: All right, give me fact number one.
[00:03:13] Speaker D: Sopranos. Favorite TV show of all time, bar none.
Anytime I order a cheesesteak, provolone only.
And my third is one of my random hobbies that I'm actually super passionate about is saltwater fish. Reef keeping.
[00:03:33] Speaker B: Reef keeping. Joe, look at that fish tank behind you. I think you could probably ask a question or two that might indicate the realities.
[00:03:43] Speaker C: These are all rescues, bro. These are all rescues.
[00:03:46] Speaker B: Rescues?
[00:03:47] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:49] Speaker D: You saved them from the fair, from the carnival. There you go.
[00:03:52] Speaker B: How many kids? How many kids?
[00:03:55] Speaker C: Bunch of carnies came to town, saved them.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: Joe, tell me, how many kids you got, huh?
[00:04:02] Speaker C: I got five kids.
[00:04:04] Speaker D: Good for you, man. Staying busy. I like that.
[00:04:07] Speaker C: Free labor.
[00:04:10] Speaker B: Dude, I. I could find 20 people that. That, like, didn't want Joe to have one kid.
[00:04:19] Speaker C: That's not true at all.
[00:04:21] Speaker D: I'm in the same boat, Charles.
[00:04:22] Speaker C: I spent years trying to avoid those people.
[00:04:27] Speaker B: All right, so, Brandon, why don't you tell us a little bit? One of the things that I, you know, I love about your story, obviously, is, you know, you. You went from college right into 100 commission sales, right?
Tell me, let's start a little bit about the mortgage business.
What was your experience? Like, what did you learn about yourself? What did you learn about life? What. What was your first. First two years in the. In the real world like for you?
[00:04:56] Speaker D: It feels like you walk out the door and get smashed in your face.
It was tough. I mean, to be honest. Like, I went to West Virginia University. I was in a fraternity. I did nothing for my entire college career except go to class, go to the gym, and party. So getting out in the real world, it was kind of like, you know, it was the real world. You know what I mean? I got into the full commission job. I got sold into. You know, you make this many calls, you get this, and you get this, and then you make all this money, and it just, you know, it. It Wasn't the case at the time. You know, I was making the calls and trying to get everything rolling. And I learned that it's not the same for everybody when you get out of school. I mean, you have some people who are great on the phone, you have some people who aren't so good on the phone. And, you know, I learned that just because it might take. Ken actually was one of the main people who taught me. This is like, you know, every Monday you make your calls or whatever you're going to do, but it's like, I might only have to make 10 calls to set 10 coffee appointments. Ken might have to make 20 calls. Joe, you might have to make 100 calls. You never know. So it was kind of like it was a trial and error thing. And I think that, you know, it taught me that you got to be patient once you really get into, like, the sales role and trying to push on the pedal because, you know, those first couple weeks, months, maybe a year, you know what I mean? You're not getting anywhere. The first two years in the mortgage industry, I mean, I didn't. I didn't really close that many loans. It was stressful because you think you're working and you think you're trying, and, you know, you just got to keep kind of greasing the wheel and lean on the people around you. I learned a lot, and that was something that was hard for me because you try to be so independent. You're like a man. You're this, you're that. And it's like, it's. It's hard to ask for help sometimes when you're. When you're down. But the faster you can get over that hump, you know, I think that the more successful you'll be in a quicker run to talk to people who've, Who've taken the punches and, you know, done their thing.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: That's important, man. It's important to have people around you that either, you know, there's two kinds of people you need to have around you, right? You need people around you that are in it, right? They. They have the experience that have walked that path and, and, and maybe are, you know, a little bit ahead of you on that path. And then there's people that you need that are not in it, right? These are the, These are the outside perspectives. The outside perspectives can be just as valuable as the. As the people that are in it with you. And I think that, you know, that's a big reason why. Why Joe and I still talk like Joe's not Not in the mortgage business. And I am not in the whatever business.
[00:07:32] Speaker C: Joe's in business of being awesome.
[00:07:36] Speaker B: But we need that. We need each other's outside perspectives.
[00:07:39] Speaker D: And.
[00:07:39] Speaker B: And you know, that cross pollinization of ideas is. Is critical. So. So you. You get out of the mortgage business, you're like, all right, this isn't for me. Which, by the way, I think was a big step for you. And something a lot of people, they're scared.
Whether it's. They're scared to make. Make a move, or they just are willing to sit and suffer and not take action and not take ownership and not take responsibility for their lives. And you're like, you know what? This isn't working for me. I'm going to take action. I'm gonna. I'm gonna pivot. I'm gonna go in a different direction, Right?
[00:08:17] Speaker D: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I could. I gotta be honest, like, the day that I got out of the mortgage business, I.
I was like, I. So it was like a big weight off of my shoulders because it was something that.
There were parts of the business that I really did enjoy. Like, I loved. I loved the meetings. I love the happy hours. I love the networking aspect of it. I think Ken can attest to the fact that, like, that's what is one of my strengths, I would say, is that I enjoy meeting people. I like to know everybody. I like to be in that scene. That was the. That was a part that I really, really enjoyed. But the back end stuff, the. It just. It just wasn't for me. And yeah, I mean, it definitely was. It was scary at first, but then once I, like, kind of cut the cord, I couldn't have been happier, like, to move forward. And I think that you're right. Like, a lot of people are just. They're afraid to cut the cord. They'd rather okay with suffering.
[00:09:14] Speaker B: Right? They're okay with just being in a shit situation and not doing anything about it. How many people do we know that are in situations and they're just not doing anything about it? You know what I mean? Like that. I think that's a tragedy, you know?
You know, but, but. But having the courage to. To take that step, I think is huge.
Tell me about. So, so why. What, What? Why. Why detailing?
[00:09:38] Speaker C: Right?
[00:09:38] Speaker B: You know, I don't want to downplay. You're an auto salon, not a detailer. I get it.
Why detailing? Why take. Why take that step?
[00:09:48] Speaker D: So I guess I've always been around cars, you know, growing up. My uncle, he's got pizzerias he always washed cars, they tinted windows, they did a lot of side work. My other uncle Danny, you know, he was always cleaning his car, so I was always helping him clean cars. Like this is, I'm talking from like age 7 8, you know, growing up, always around cars. My dad always collected motorcycles. So he was always outside. On nice days he'd be out cleaning his bike and you know, taking that out for a ride. So I was like, it kind of always stuck with me. And then, and then I was the era where honestly Fast and Furious came out the first one and everybody was in the cars, everybody wanted to work on their car. And I was right around the age of like looking for my first car. All my friends worked on cars, so it was just kind of like a culture. And I liked keeping my car clean because I had been brought up like that and I just kind of stuck with it as a side hustle. And it was always in the back of my mind. It was, it was kind of crazy because I always thought through college everywhere I was like, you know, I want a detailed business, I want a detail business down the line. But it was always like when I have enough money to have a detail business like me and Ken used to talk about all the time, it's like the steps that I needed to get to where I could open the business. You know what I mean? But it was like finally when it came time to cut the cord, I was like it like I'm, I'm just going to go for it like now. And I mean I'm so happy I did. You know, there's definitely days where I'm a little bit nuts but you know, it was just always like in me and I, and I kind of always just the passion for cars kind of molded into how can I make this be not just your middle of the run car wash down the street that you go pay 17 for and have them wiping your down with dirty towels. Like how can I turn this into like a full on experience and turn it into a real business that's going to facilitate real income, you know, and not just like a hobby. Because everybody you talk to is like, I detail cars on the side, I wash cars on the side. You never talk to somebody who's like, I built a multi million dollar business washing cars. And honestly a huge part of the reason why I started it was because there were a lot of people who said like you can't make money washing cars. And it's really just not, it's not the case because people are emotionally attached to their car. I know plenty of them. They're all my customers.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: I think that's what I love about what you did, you know, with your approach, with your brand going high end, that was the right move. Because people who just need to get the car wash are kind of embarrassed. The car looks dirty as hell. Right. Then they're going to paid 17 the minimum amount of money. So they're not embarrassed anymore. The other side of the coin is the people that are driving around the stuff that you detail, we're like, it's not about that. It's about a prized possession of theirs looking as good as it possibly can. And those people are willing to pay way more to make sure that their prized possession stays in really good shape. Right?
[00:13:06] Speaker D: Correct. And we add the value of getting the certifications that those kind of people who most people think of a car as a depreciating asset. And I deal with people who buy cars that are appreciating assets. So like the end of the day we do services to the car. Paint protection, film, all that kind of ceramic coatings, paint corrections, all of that. That certain aspects of that process can be added to the carfax. So when they go to sell that car in three years and they have film on the car, they can ask for top dollar because of the services that were performed on that car right from the get go. So I mean I deal, I work on cars that people pay paint to sample paint From Porsche, it's $25,000 option just for the paint. You know why, why would you not want to preserve that to the best of its ability?
[00:13:53] Speaker B: Did you have a make or break moment like, like you, you alluded to it a few minutes ago where you're like, it, I'm just gonna do it. Like, do you remember that moment? Do you remember where you were? Do you remember what you were, you know, what you were feeling at that moment? Like what? Tell me about that moment.
[00:14:09] Speaker D: I was sitting in Teaneck, New Jersey on in an interview with Depew senthis to get into medical device sales and had two guys who look like beta as they come sitting across from me telling me how I would never be able to sell medical devices and detail on the side how you're going to do both. And why would you want to detail? Because it's never going to make you the kind of money that you can make in this industry.
And that was kind of like strike one. And then the following day I was in going into a case where they're doing the surgery, they brought Me in to make sure that obviously when they slice someone's leg half open, that you're not going to get queasy. And I was putting the scrubs on, and I guess one of the surgeons walked through and saw my tattoos all the way through, everywhere. And he said, who was the guy with all the tattoos? Like, whatever, to one of the other reps. And then the rep told the recruiter, and the recruiter called me after I was interviewing for six months. Was like, hey, wear an Under Armour under your suit next time you go into your interview. The guy was all twisted up about your tattoos. And then that moment, I was like, I'm good, man. I. I don't. We're not. We don't need to do this. Like, you guys, on my hobby and my passion and, you know, you're. You're asking me to take a step back anyway, to get into this field with as far as income goes. And that was it. I was like, it. Like, the next day, called my buddy Dimitri up, who's in the insurance industry. He has a detail business as well. And I was like, yo, let's start doing some cars together. And then I just started kind of building it.
Met Tom Danbrizzi at Butcher Block and started serving tables there on the side. He just opened the steakhouse and started detailing before shifts, days that I wasn't working. And then within six months, I had an ein number and just was figuring it out.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: Joe, do you remember your make or break moment?
Like, when you're like, you know, you were working? I mean, yours is a little different. You transition from sales to an industry that was essentially the same thing as you were currently selling, right?
[00:16:37] Speaker C: Yeah, pretty much. But I think, like, it all just stems from people's. Once someone realizes that how you make money is just a vehicle, like, the money's the. The job is the vehicle. But if you actually enjoy, like, you have a passion, you want to do something, you can figure out how to make money doing it. Like, if you love juggling, like, you could be a juggler, dude. Like, we actually and KJ do a juggler, right?
You could do it like, anything, dude. Like, that's what it starts at. Like, you have to find something you love. It sounds so cliche, but, like.
[00:17:19] Speaker B: But it's so true, so.
[00:17:21] Speaker C: And then, like, then you can figure it out. Like, money is easy to make. Like, it's just a matter of, like, is this something that I'm going to get up in the morning and be like, all right, like, let's go do this and like, it becomes bigger than the money coming in. But to answer your mind, my make or break moment, whatever, was like, I was.
I figured out that I'm like, if I do this work, like, I can do this without. So in the digital space, like, websites, stuff like that, I was looking at all of the overhead that goes into running these big companies that were like, digital marketing companies and website. And, like, they're not. They're not getting raw materials to build websites or do marketing. So, like, it's all going to this overhead to pay sales assistants to pay this, you know, all the executives, all this. I'm like, I could literally just do this and take, you know, all of the profit and, like, I need maybe like, four clients, and I can make 10 times what. What these companies can make because I don't have the overhead. So that was. But that was because I wanted to just surf all day and, like, go on vacations and live at the beach and stuff like that. So I was like, how do I figure out how to do that and use this as a vehicle? And then I got really into, you know, the digital space. I actually really enjoyed it because it's always evolving and learning. But I use that then to open other businesses and learn the process of, you know, it's basically, once you start one company, it's rinse and repeat. Like, you follow the same process over and over. And, you know, and then. Then you can get really cool because you can dabble into things that, like, you know, I got into, you know, jiu jitsu and training and all that stuff. And I'm, like, going down that path of getting into that. Those businesses now. And it's cool because I like what I bring to the table, and what they bring to the table is completely different. But, you know, there's synergy with it. So it all stems from if you truly find what you love to do and you have the balls to go try and figure out how to make money to do it, you'll be successful. So.
[00:19:23] Speaker B: So.
[00:19:24] Speaker D: And you got to grab them every day, bro. You got to make sure they're still there for real every day. It's crazy.
[00:19:31] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:19:32] Speaker B: You said so. So. So, Brandon, that. That brings us to. So here you are. You're like, all right, I'm going to start this detailing shop. But I think you had a genius idea. You know, something again, like, businesses that are adjacent where it might be another lane, but it's on the same highway. And I think that that's where a lot of people can compound their success you know, you just, you just look at some of the most successful people. They don't just do one thing. Most of them don't just do one thing. Even coaches, successful coaches, they're also speakers, they're also authors, they have different business lines. You picked up valet parking as one of your adjacent businesses and now it. I mean, you make a pretty good living, your business. I'm not going to say a living, because that business is a pretty good revenue stream for you, correct?
[00:20:22] Speaker D: 100%. And it's. And to put it in sales terms, it's one of the hoppers that just pours leads into, into my smart, whatever you want to call it at the bottom. Because, you know, I meet these people who I get to, if I want to, if I want to be over at one of the restaurants, Butcher block being one of them. It's one of the top steakhouse in New Jersey by far, and maybe one of the top on the east coast as far as revenue goes and, and turnover.
You know, I can touch every single car that comes in there and then I can talk to that person. I get, I could put a sales together. The second that they come in, every single person that comes in, you open the door. How you doing? Nice to meet you. Love the car. I own a detail business. We're mobile. Whatever you want to say to them. You know what I mean? So it's like it created a whole nother stream of customers. And it is my niche customer who comes there because you're not paying 185 for a steak if chances are you don't do half decent for yourself. So the, the atypical customer who comes to the restaurant is mine.
So, you know, I, I kinda. And that all just came about because we closed for a renovation and the owner and I became really good friends. He's a great dude, off the wall crazy like me. And he just, he's another one who just goes for it. I've never met somebody in my life who says fuck it more and just goes for it. And every dime that would come in, he would turn over and dump into the restaurant. So when we went through this big renovation, he was like pedal to the floor, crushing it. You couldn't get in that place if you wanted to. People were waiting three hours to sit down for dinner, and 9 o'clock reservation people weren't sitting down till midnight. It was the craziest thing. And he just let out of nowhere was like, we're gonna close the doors, we're gonna redo the whole restaurant and Everybody was like, what are you talking about? Like, we're doing 600, 700 reservations a night. Yeah, fuck it. We're closing. And a renovation that was supposed to take a couple months took a year. And in that year, most places would obviously go out of business. He kept everybody afloat. He kept all his employees rolling. He put. He put all his chips in the table. And we were at dinner one night, and I was like, yo, like, why don't I just run the valet?
And he was like, all right. Yeah, I mean, you're into the cars, the whole nine. And I just opened the LLC up and then just started figuring it out and got insurance and prayed that they didn't sink me in the first two. Two months by smashing something up. And my guys, my. My esteemed employees, my NASA. My NASA fall off, but, you know, and it just kind of. It all kind of compounded and then. Yeah, them being, like, such close businesses is now evolving into more things where I'm gonna be offering car washes while people come to dinner now. So, like this, now that the weather's breaking, my shop. I bought a guy's business who's two doors down from the restaurant. Not because of location, to be quite honest. I don't. I don't love the location because it, you know, it's a little far off the parkway. It has all. Whatever. But I bought it because the block is here. My shops here. So when people come in for dinner, instead of having your wife sit there on a Saturday afternoon and take your truck for three hours and run around wherever she's gonna go, you can come to dinner, and they're gonna offer, hey, just, you know, quick hand wash, vacuum, take it down. I mean, who's gonna. Who really would say no to that? You know what I mean? You come back out from dinner, your car's clean and it's done, and then my cards in there, and then it just. The ball keeps rolling, because then the next conversation is, you did a great job. Yeah, we do it mobile, too, so you don't have to come to dinner this time. Next time, you know, we'll come to the house. And that's how it kind of just. It all compounds. So it definitely.
I think that the parallel businesses is. Are huge.
[00:24:30] Speaker C: So how do you control quality at scale?
[00:24:36] Speaker D: Good training.
I think that, you know, that was a hard jump for me because a lot of these people with these cars who spend that kind of money, they're like, well, what do you mean you're not coming to my house? I'm like, well, you know, at some point I have to grow. So it's just. It's just good training. I mean, I. My guys, they know the quality that I expect. They know the quality that the customer expects. And I kind of groom them with the customer. So I'd be there with them. They would do the cars. You know, I'd be like, hey, what's up, John? This is Eric, this is Juan. You know, whoever's gonna be there, this is so and so meet them, know them, so that when they come to your house and open your garage door when you're on vacation and they go in your house and shut your alarm off, like you know who it is when you crack the camera on, you know, so it was just kind of like, it was the whole training aspect. Like, I have one process for washes. It gets done the same way every single time. You know, it doesn't matter what kind of car, what kind of truck, whatever it is, there's a process that they have to follow. And so it kind of, as you scale and get bigger, doesn't matter where the truck is or what car is getting done or where it's at, the. All getting done the same way.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: Dude, talk about the frustration of high standards.
[00:26:02] Speaker D: In what regard? I mean, my high standards, my customers.
[00:26:06] Speaker B: In my business and your business, Joe. I mean, potentially in your business, I don't, you know, I'll let you. I'll let you maybe speak to it. But, like, when you're scaling and you're delegating and you're. You're passing off certain activities, like, you know the saying, like someone who does something 80% as good as you do is 100% awesome, right? Like, that's the whole, you know, idea behind scale. But at the same time, you have to maintain standards, and your. Your standards become an issue if they're not being upheld. So it's like that, that's another thing, another area of balance in scale.
[00:26:43] Speaker C: I think you have to take a. You have to actually make the decision of whether am I going to be Outback Steakhouse or am I going to be Butcher Block Steakhouse, right? So, like, if I'm Outback, good enough is good enough to serve the masses, and I'm not going to be able to command a premium for it as if I would on the, on the higher end.
[00:27:05] Speaker B: So what.
[00:27:06] Speaker C: What I've done with businesses in the past is. And it's not uncommon, this is a pretty common practice. So you have like, your White Glove service, which you charge a premium for, and that's like your elite Navy SEAL team that handles and then you have like an offshoot offering which isn't, which is more scalable and not as like, I guess it's more homogenized if you scale it that way. So you have, you have the brand behind it, but you don't necessarily have those expectations. Like someone who's coming in and they're expecting, you know, top level service, they're not paying for it, but they're getting the name behind it. So that's, that's a, that's a way to do it. But I guess like to your point Brandon, is that like if you have the process so dialed in and you, you can train people to do things repetitively over, you know, the same way over and you have checks and balances and fail safes where you know, if something was wrong you can identify exactly where it went because you have the process and any kind of feedback you get from a customer or someone like that where it's like, well this was messed up, you can go back and you can either say no, we followed step A, B, C, D, E or you can identify exactly in the process where it was and you can correct it and make sure it doesn't happen further.
[00:28:20] Speaker D: So I think, I think that's where you know, we do that because the process is the same so I can always kind of correct it and you know, like in the terms of like messing up, they mess up when they forget to do something or they're rushing or whatever the case is and then it gets handled and you know, you just always have to do your best to make good on it. For me at least you know, my customers, you're always going to get that jerk off who's going to go somewhere else. It just is what it is. Like it, you know, I, it's, I deal with a very, very high end clientele and took a lot of getting used to because I start, I was somewhat lucky that I did start learning how to detail on my own when I was doing it on my, on the side with a higher end clientele. I did, I, I got linked up with a couple people from my mom's job, her boss being one of them. He's my first real customer and he's been my customer since I'm 15 years old. What does he drive right now? He's got a 911 Turbo, he's got an Audi R8, he's got Nissan GTR, couple Harley's.
But he, he's been my customer since the beginning and he has a high standard because he has nice cars. So, you know, I kind of always start it with the bar high. And when my guys come in, they have to start with the bar high because their first car might be, you know, three, $400,000 car. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like they know the standard and the expectation and when they fuck up, I let them know, you know, and I, and I make them go back and they, you know, they do the car free of charge and I let them know that. Listen, like, this is, this is your warning. You're not getting paid for that. You know what I mean? You. And it kind of keeps them level because they know they don't want to go back and work for free. You know, I'm like, you got to do that at the end of the day. Yeah, it is what it is.
[00:30:28] Speaker B: I say, look, you're, you're gonna go back and you're gonna fix this and you're not getting paid for it.
[00:30:33] Speaker D: Correct. Is that legal?
[00:30:36] Speaker C: That's right, yeah. If it's comp. Her contract work, then yeah, you know, you gotta do the job as the satisfaction to what was agreed to of.
[00:30:47] Speaker D: The, of the customer. And, and you know what, like.
[00:30:52] Speaker B: But what'd you say?
[00:30:54] Speaker C: I'm not a lawyer, by the way. Don't take this legal advice.
[00:30:59] Speaker D: Mine's not listening. But they're compensated accordingly.
[00:31:03] Speaker C: So is there anything different that you do for a high end car that you would do not do like a regular car? Like, what is, what is the. If I, I have a Ferrari and they're like, all right, take this to a regular detailer versus, you know, like taking a Toyota Tundra, like, what's the difference?
[00:31:23] Speaker D: So we have all different tiers of our services, you know what I mean? There's, there's a basic level detail which in most cases the Toyota Tundra is going to get.
But you know, working on a car like a Ferrari, just the real main difference is the process is always the same. You know, if they're both getting standard details, they, the process is the same. The way that they're going to work on them is, is 99% exactly the same. The products that are going to be used on the Ferrari are a little bit different. There's, you know, certain sponges, well, rags and whatnot that you're using on the Ferrari just because it is a, it's a much softer paint, higher end, you know what I mean? So the products itself is what drives the cost up on a standard detail on a Ferrari just solely because, same thing. If you go to change your brakes on a Toyota Tundra, you know, brakes and rotors on that. On that truck might be a thousand bucks all the way around. You change carbon ceramic brakes on a Ferrari all the way around, you're spending 60 grand. So it's. You know what I mean? So it's kind of like it's a different. The process is the same to do both, but the product and the. And the care and the technique is. Is a little bit different because it's much more delicate. So it costs more money because. And the time, it takes more time to detail that Ferrari well, even though it's clean, takes more time because, you know, all the gullies and all the body lines and all, you know, it's. They're just very intricate cars. And I think that's. It's tough sometimes to. To talk to the owner unless they are a true car person, to make them understand that. Because a lot of these guys who get Ferraris, they just have a ton of money Ferrari, because I can, you know, they don't understand the intricacies that go into cleaning them, you know, and they're like, why can't I get a $50 wash? I'm like, cuz a. I don't do that. And you want a $50 wash, go drive that through the car wash and call me when they it up and I have to fix it, you know. But it's. Yeah, I mean, it's. It's just an intricate process with those cars, for sure.
[00:33:23] Speaker B: What's the highest end car you guys ever worked on?
[00:33:26] Speaker D: Bugatti? Chiron.
3.8 million.
[00:33:32] Speaker C: You want to see what they look like, bro?
[00:33:34] Speaker D: KJ, there's 50 of them in the country right now.
[00:33:39] Speaker C: Yeah, One of them is in a. In a garage in Florida that belongs to one of my partners. Let me show you this, dude.
[00:33:47] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, like there's. And there's certain. And honestly, there's certain cars that I've worked on that, that are quote, unquote, priceless. You know what I mean?
Yeah. Yup.
[00:33:56] Speaker C: Wow, look at that thing, dude.
It's his daily driver, bro.
[00:34:02] Speaker D: No shot.
[00:34:03] Speaker C: Swear to God.
[00:34:04] Speaker D: What's he do, burn money for, for heat?
[00:34:07] Speaker C: I'd rather not say.
[00:34:14] Speaker B: So, all right, so that's cool, man. So, all right, let's talk about what sucks about being an entrepreneur, what sucks about being a business owner. What are some of the things that. What are some of the challenges? I mean, I know I'm asking rhetorically for myself because we talk pretty frequently but like talk about some of the things that people are going to get into this business in any business. What's some of the. They got to be prepared for.
[00:34:37] Speaker D: Joe.
[00:34:41] Speaker C: I, I. For me, it's the let down of dealing with people who are not like minded. Like you when you just, when you have everything and you're just like, dude, like I don't understand, like, why don't you see things the way that like even dealing with other business owners and stuff like that, where it's like just simple common sense stuff where you just assume that everyone's gonna be cool and they're not just like, dude, like I don't get it. So, so for me that was the biggest. That's. And it's still every day. I'm never not like shocked. It was like, dude, like, like what's, what's with this guy? Like why would you do your business like that? I get it. So that I think that's it. That's the biggest thing that sucks.
[00:35:25] Speaker D: But I would agree 100 with that.
I think that the biggest part and the most challenging thing is dealing with the people. You know, I think you have to. Navigating the people and trying to weed out all of the people you don't want to work with to get to the people you want to work with. And having to tolerate some of the people that you do work with and you don't want to is hard. I mean, you know, keeping your, your emotions kind of bottled a little bit is, is tough sometimes. And you're right. Like, you know.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:36:01] Speaker D: People tell you how to do your business and do this and do that and it's like you just want to kind of be like, yo, like kind of, yes, I'm gonna do my way. You know what I mean? This is why it's called my business. But you know, it's.
Yeah, dealing with the people is, is definitely it. And, and I think that the biggest thing I talked to you about this a couple weeks ago, Ken, I think is, is climbing the ladder and what, what the fuck falls off of you when you climb the ladder? And you know, being prepared mentally for what's going to fall off is, is hard. And it's one of the challenges that I'm having right now where it's like, I live in New Jersey.
All of my family lives out in Pennsylvania. I don't see my family as much. When I lived in, when I lived in Philly, I saw my, I'm very close to my grandmother. I saw my grandmom Every single day, I would go to her house, whether it was before work or after work.
[00:37:03] Speaker B: Your grandma's awesome, by the way.
[00:37:06] Speaker D: On the podcast.
[00:37:07] Speaker B: We should.
[00:37:08] Speaker D: She'll.
[00:37:10] Speaker B: Brandon used to record conversations with him and his grandma and bring it into the office.
[00:37:16] Speaker D: He's a riot. And my grandpa will just sit there with basil behind his ear and just shake his head, eat crazy. But yeah, I mean, I. I think. I think that everything that falls off is. Is hard, man. I think it's. I think it's hard to, like, realize that, you know, you're going to sacrifice relationships, you're going to sacrifice family time, you're going to sacrifice things that you like to do as hobbies or whatever that don't make you money for the business that you're getting into. And I think that a lot of people, they're. They're either not prepared for it or they're not willing to accept it. You know what I mean? I think that there's a lot of times that, like, my buddies, pretty much all of them, none of them own businesses, they all make good money in whatever particular job that they do. They're like, oh, you want to go out? You know, come down to Philly. We'll do this on the weekend. And I'm like, I can't. And it's like sometimes you're, you know, you're sacrificing some of your best friends because people don't understand. And then they're like, oh, we won't even call you anymore because we know you say no every time. You know what I mean? And I think that that's one of the biggest things for me is that all the.
That falls down to the ground as you try to climb the ladder is. Is like. It's a. It's a pretty big pill to swallow.
[00:38:34] Speaker B: I'll tell you what, though, dude. Just the fact that you're cognizant, that you're aware of that, I think it's huge. And I think it's. It's what holds a lot of people back.
[00:38:43] Speaker C: They.
[00:38:43] Speaker B: They. You know, there's a book, 10x is easier than 2x, that I read, where it talks about visualizing what your business looks like at 10 times the scale than it is right now. It's actually easier than visualizing what your business looks like if it was double the scale, because in order to double your business, you don't have to change much. You could double your business out of brute force nine times out of 10. But in order to get to 10 times, you have to Transform yourself and your business to get there. But what's great about it is the clarity you gain knowing, like, all right, if that's what I want, I can't do this anymore. I can't be this person anymore. And it's glaringly obvious, so you get to make that choice. Okay, if I'm gonna TED X, then I do. You're right, Brad. I gotta say no to stuff. But at least you know you're saying no to stuff knowing that you're saying yes to a 10x vision versus trying to have it all. I. My favorite. I don't know when I learned it in the last couple of years, but you can have anything you want in life, but you can't have everything you want in life. And that's it. That's something that a lot of people fail to realize. They think, oh, success is having everything you want.
[00:39:58] Speaker D: No.
[00:39:58] Speaker B: Everything you want.
[00:40:00] Speaker D: You can't. You can't.
[00:40:01] Speaker B: Can't be fit and eat cheesesteaks every day. Right? You got it. Like, but if you want to be fit, you can be fit. Joe, what do you got?
[00:40:10] Speaker C: You can do that. You can eat cheese.
[00:40:12] Speaker B: I can do that. You can't do that.
But if. Look, if you. If you want to eat cheesesteaks every day and you want to be fit, then you got to add that, you know, three hours of exercise, like, there is something that. That you're going to have to do. And. And that's a great. That's a really great topic for most business owners, is that. Absolutely. You can have everything.
[00:40:33] Speaker D: You.
[00:40:33] Speaker B: Anything you want. Anything. You just can't have everything. And the second that switch goes off, you're like, all right, I'm choosing this. It's hard, but you're choosing your future. You're choosing your dream. You're choosing your business, your empire, whatever you're building over hanging out with your friends on the weekends.
[00:40:48] Speaker C: Yeah, but, like, so if you look at it. If you look at it from a pers. Like, because I went through this as well, and you have to. It's not a matter of losing. It's a matter of what you're replacing. So, like, you're not losing. You're replacing. So if you look at it from those eyes that, like, for me, I used to. I used to love to drink, man. I was. I was really, really good at it.
I was incredibly good at it. Right. I love. It was one of my favorite things. And, like, it got to a point where, like, who said I was? Yeah, I mean, I have testimonials all day long for my drinking, but no, dude. But I also like to fight too, so I couldn't do both.
[00:41:30] Speaker D: They go hand in hand for real, but not well.
[00:41:34] Speaker C: I. So I literally had to stop drinking to train so I could fight. And like, I gave up one to replace the other. And then with like, same with business, you know, Like, I like making money, but I also like sleeping. So like, you can't do both of those. So I'm gonna replace that with something else. So then you evolve and everything that, that you start to replace it with, you're replacing it with things that are better and that's how you evolve. But the key that I was told a long time ago, and thankfully I took this advice, is that when you are on a trajectory to do great things and you're self improving and you're getting, your health is bad, or your business owner, all this stuff, you cannot forget to also bring the people around you that you care about, bring them up too. Make sure that they're doing things that are improving themselves. Because it gets lonely at the top if you're the only one waking up at 4:00 in the morning and working out and eating healthy. And then you start to become resentful of everybody around you who's not. And you're doing, you have this attitude like you're so much better or whatever because they're working hard and like it's not anyone else's fault other than yours if you didn't bring them along for the ride and help them get better. And you know, they say like a rising tide lifts all ships. So like, that's where it's important. And use the, the example of your friends. Like, so if your friends are, you know, not replace those friends, but bring those friends along that want to also replace going out drinking, partying, and things like that with the stuff that you're doing to grow your business and grow on that trajectory. And you know, that's, that's kind of replacement as opposed to cutting things out, I think is the way to go.
[00:43:10] Speaker B: Joe. I think that you can have alcohol and you can fight. You just can't have alcohol, fight and not go to jail. So sometimes the one thing you had.
[00:43:18] Speaker C: To give up, they're not mutually exclusive. And there's the difference between causality and causation and whatever, whatever.
[00:43:28] Speaker B: Correlation.
[00:43:29] Speaker C: Correlation. Yeah.
[00:43:31] Speaker B: All right.
Two truths and a lie.
I know the answer. I already know the answer. And I think one of these is a dead giveaway. I don't even know if Brandon realizes it, but Go with fact. Number one, Sopranos is favorite TV show of all time, hands down.
Number two, when he gets a cheesesteak. Provolone only, always. And he likes reef keeping saltwater fish.
Raising and keeping saltwater fish. Joe, which one is the lie?
[00:44:08] Speaker C: That's. That's a tough one, man. I. I don't know anybody that just gets prevalone on a cheesesteak. That's. That's like. That's weird, bro. Like, I don't want. That's my personal preference. I can't do prevalone on a cheese stick. The reef keeping.
That's. That's. I don't know if it's because I got an aquarium behind me that maybe just came off the top of his head. It's like, yeah, I could do that. So it's between those two.
I'm gonna go with the lie. Is the.
The prevalent on a cheese stick?
[00:44:39] Speaker B: All right, I'm gonna.
[00:44:40] Speaker D: Hold on.
[00:44:41] Speaker B: I'm gonna tell you, Brandon, I don't. Do you remember you have Tony Soprano behind you?
[00:44:45] Speaker D: Yeah, I. I realized that when I was putting it together, to be honest with you. But I was gonna. I was gonna sit like this.
[00:44:54] Speaker B: Wait. Turn the camera again. Is that a. Is that a aquarium?
[00:45:00] Speaker D: Yeah, right. What did you see?
[00:45:01] Speaker C: You saw it in the.
[00:45:02] Speaker D: In the. In right there. In the. In the reflection.
[00:45:05] Speaker B: In the reflection. I knew that you. I knew that you had. You're into fish, and I knew that. Tony. Surprise. We talk about Sopranos all day, every day.
[00:45:14] Speaker D: Special.
[00:45:15] Speaker B: We just quote the surprise every time we talk. It's the jacket. What episode was that?
[00:45:22] Speaker D: Stretchy.
[00:45:24] Speaker B: Is she a real.
He gave the jacket away to his.
[00:45:28] Speaker D: Like, plumbers, to the housekeepers, to the housekeeper's boyfriend. Every season, he sees him walking out of the house.
[00:45:36] Speaker B: Great. Classic character. One of my favorite characters of all time, and I. Dude, nobody puts. Some people put provoloner in the cheese sticks, man.
[00:45:45] Speaker D: But, dude, where's with till I'm in the ground?
[00:45:51] Speaker C: I hear a lot of the Cooper sharp lately, though. I never had.
[00:45:57] Speaker D: Ken's a big Cooper sharp guy.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: Big Cooper sharp guy.
[00:46:00] Speaker C: I think people just say it because it sounds cool.
[00:46:02] Speaker D: I know. No, no, no.
[00:46:03] Speaker B: It's different.
[00:46:04] Speaker D: It's.
[00:46:05] Speaker C: Bro, what's wrong with.
[00:46:07] Speaker B: It's sharp American. It's. It's American Cooper. First of all, Cooper cheese is a brand.
[00:46:11] Speaker D: Here we go.
[00:46:12] Speaker B: They make American cheese sharp. Just like cheddar and sharp cheddar.
[00:46:18] Speaker D: I'm gonna put Cooper. Cooper whatever in a. In a bowl. And then I'm gonna put land of Lakes right next to it. I guarantee you I can tell the difference. No shot.
[00:46:27] Speaker B: I can tell the difference on a cheese steak if you give me one with Cooper sharp or one with America.
[00:46:31] Speaker D: Okay.
[00:46:33] Speaker B: All right.
[00:46:34] Speaker D: All right.
[00:46:34] Speaker C: You just want that competition so you can eat two cheese sticks, you fat bastard.
[00:46:39] Speaker B: You're not. You're not 100% wrong.
[00:46:43] Speaker C: Whiz, dude.
[00:46:45] Speaker D: Where's whiz? Whiz.
And you do. You could do whiz an American if I. If I was out drinking. Where's an American with an American. Yeah. Onions, stuff and cherry peppers in it like a. Like, just all over the place like a. That's the best of all time.
[00:47:03] Speaker B: I had the worst cheesesteak I've ever had in my entire life last week. Now I'm at Xfinity Live. I already know it's not going to be great. Like, that's already baseline. I know I'm not expecting good, but what I got was horrific. I got that Chino stakes at Xfinity.
[00:47:23] Speaker D: Live roll that's like this.
[00:47:25] Speaker B: Oh, dude, you. The people making the steak could not have cared less about the.
[00:47:30] Speaker D: They were playing in. In their defense. I mean, they're. They're serving them to. To people who have had 64 bud lights that day.
[00:47:39] Speaker B: Well, that's true.
[00:47:40] Speaker D: You could. You could literally smear on it and hand it to them. They'd be like, thanks.
It was.
[00:47:46] Speaker B: I couldn't finish it. I could.
[00:47:48] Speaker D: I.
[00:47:49] Speaker C: What's wrong with that?
[00:47:50] Speaker B: I was flavorless. The cheese was cold.
I don't know if the meat was cooked all the way. There was no seasoning whatsoever. Just was terrible. Terrible. But I am going to Angelo's on Thursday.
Ranked all time by barstool as the top cheesesteak affiliate. And I agree. It's my number one.
[00:48:10] Speaker C: It's.
[00:48:11] Speaker D: I'm a Phillips guy all day, dude.
[00:48:13] Speaker B: I went back to Phillips, man. I went back. It's not the same.
[00:48:17] Speaker C: That's the one. Really?
[00:48:18] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:48:21] Speaker C: That's. Philip's been my number one, I think. Kj, I think you're the first person that took me there.
[00:48:27] Speaker B: Yeah. It would used to be my number one.
[00:48:29] Speaker C: That's the number one, dude.
[00:48:31] Speaker B: Not anymore, Joe. You got to check out Angelo's, and you got to check out Curly's in the Northeast. Curly's comfort food in the Northeast. But not.
[00:48:39] Speaker C: I don't go up there, bro.
[00:48:41] Speaker D: Me neither. For your. That's the Irish folk.
All in the Northeast.
[00:48:48] Speaker C: Northeast.
[00:48:49] Speaker D: So what else are your brand.
[00:48:52] Speaker B: Your clothing line, right?
[00:48:55] Speaker D: Yeah. So kind of expanded out to, you know, making High end apparel.
You know, I found a guy who prints for me who, he can just get stuff that a lot of other places can't get. And it's high quality too, man, very high quality. And I think that it's what's necessary for me to, if I'm gonna create, make clothes. I'm very into fashion. Like I've always been, I mean, realistically the only one in the office who wore a suit every day. Yeah.
[00:49:24] Speaker B: And I'm a 900 belt buckle sometimes.
[00:49:29] Speaker D: And you know, rodeo or something.
[00:49:34] Speaker B: Yeah, the big one, it was 900 entry fee to the rodeo and he won the belt buckle.
[00:49:41] Speaker D: Yeah, it, it all kind of just came about and I think it's just adding like another facet to the business, another income stream to where, you know, people, people want to represent, they, they want to support businesses, especially if it's like their friend or whatever, even if they don't have cars. And that's part of the reason that I made it high end because I have a lot of friends who aren't car people. So like the majority of my, my real friends aren't like I'm the only, I'm the only one who's like really like a car person like through and through. So you know, it kind of just was like, I want to make that I would wear, you know, and like when my friends text me, you're like, I'm going out today in the city or whatever, I'm like wearing your shirt or whatever. Because they can. And it's not some like Gildan cotton piece of shit.
That's, you know that, that's the brand I want to create. It is a little more expensive, but at the end of the day you're getting the quality that you're paying for.
[00:50:35] Speaker B: Same with your brand though. You can't, you can't, you can't use high end products on high end cars and do really high end work and then have crappy merchandise.
[00:50:45] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, I agree. I think that, I think that'll like in today's day and age, people, people just cut corners in every facet of life. Like nobody wants to put the work in ever. They don't want to go through the trouble to find high end clothes. They don't want to go through the trouble to lose weight by going to the gym and just cleaning their diet up. They always want to take the easy route. And it's like the pussification is really just taking place and we're getting like with it. But I, you know, I think that Everyone, social media especially makes it look a lot easier than it is. You know what I mean? There, there are people who are really good at social media, but they are, they cut corners on the back end. And I just think that there's no replacement for like, high quality hard work. Like, it's just, it's just the foundation. You have no choice. You know what I mean? If you, in my opinion, if you want to be successful in whatever you do, like, I mean, dude, I keep this on my desk. My dad bought me this when I was sick. Christmas gift when you're like 9 years old. I probably had no idea what the. This was when I opened it, but it says if you don't pick up the ball and run with it, somebody else will.
And like, that's kinda how I just treat everything. It's like if you don't. Same thing with Ken. If Ken's not gonna call that Realtor on a Monday morning, some other mortgage guy who might be some, who is one Instagram, and he's, he might be good at social media or do whatever that, that Realtor sees that day, he's gonna, he's gonna call him and he's gonna take the business. You know what I mean? With software company, if you don't call them or make the move, somebody else is going to make the move. It is what it is. And you know, I just, I feel like going back to your first question, Ken. Like, some people, it's faster than others. You know, climbing that ladder might take a long time for some people, but at the end of the day, if you're a big universe guy, the universe continues to see you put the work in every day. They might make you take baby steps, but at some point you're gonna get to the breakthrough you're looking for. But you can't get around the fact that you have to work hard. Like, it's just, there's not, there's no way around that. Like, people think that they can make good Instagram videos, but then once they get the appointment or whatever they get, you're dead in the water.
[00:53:04] Speaker B: The universe, man, it delivers everything you ask for, but you have to ask in the right language. It doesn't speak English, it doesn't speak Spanish. It speaks the language of action. As long as you, as long as you speak with the language of action, you will absolutely get everything that you want.
And your actions have to obviously be in alignment with what it is you want, because like I said, you can't sit on your butt and say you want Great things to happen. That. That. That's a lack of action. It's not moving in the right direction. Speaking of Instagram, dude, your Instagram videos lately have been awesome, Joe. You got to check them out. I'll just leave it at that.
Other than that, Brandon, I appreciate you joining us here. This was a lot of fun. Hopefully we'll have you back. I know that Spotify and Apple podcast is going to. They're going to basically make this an explicit podcast because of all the cursing tonight, but it is what it is, man. I wouldn't want it any other way.
[00:54:00] Speaker D: We got to get political in the next one, Joe. I hear Ken's dodging it. I'm ready, dude. I'm ready. I want to rock. I want to go in on everything that's wrong with society today. Like, I'm ready. I'm ready to. If you want to do one on. One off on the side, maybe.
[00:54:18] Speaker B: Maybe you guys do your own podcast.
[00:54:23] Speaker C: Scared little.
[00:54:25] Speaker D: He doesn't even look.
[00:54:25] Speaker B: He's waiting.
[00:54:26] Speaker D: He doesn't even want me to say nothing right now.
[00:54:28] Speaker B: Nope.
[00:54:29] Speaker C: Right?
[00:54:33] Speaker B: You know what you need to do? You guys have to go on my dad's podcast. He's the one that gets political. His is nuts.
[00:54:41] Speaker C: Are you calling him a conspiracy theorist?
[00:54:44] Speaker B: I'm calling him a. He. He. He stirs the pot.
His podcast is called the Free Zone Communique. Like, this dude is. You know, he's. He's out there trying to. To shine a spotlight on the truth, all the things that are wrong with this. So you guys would be perfect for it. I'll see him tonight. I'll tell him to call you guys. You're gonna be guests on his next podcast.
[00:55:11] Speaker C: All right, man.
[00:55:13] Speaker B: Speaking of which, he had Kurt Weldon on. Kurt Weldon was just on Tucker, like, he was on my dad's podcast. Then he went on Tucker. Wow. Yeah.
[00:55:22] Speaker C: That's amazing.
[00:55:23] Speaker B: You gotta. You gotta listen to what Kurt Weldon's saying, Brandon. He's. He's putting some crazy stuff out there right now. He's a former not crazy.
[00:55:30] Speaker C: Why do you keep calling it crazy?
[00:55:33] Speaker B: It's, like, crazy. I'm not saying it's crazy.
[00:55:36] Speaker D: Wrong.
[00:55:36] Speaker B: It's just, like. It's pretty nuts.
[00:55:39] Speaker C: There's a. There's a protest in front of a Tesla dealership looking for you, kj.
I think you're late for it.
[00:55:48] Speaker B: Speaking of which, I gotta go. I'll see you guys later.
[00:55:52] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Selling the Dream. We know you don't want to miss a single episode, so go subscribe today, wherever you get your podcasts, and then make sure to share the show with your friends and leave us a review.
