Become Unstoppable: The Elevating Story of Branding Expert and Business Visionary Mike “C-Roc”

Speaker 0

Mike C Rock joins us on this episode, and this is a fun inspiring chat for sure. Mike's got a lot of knowledge and just a a ton of positive energy. He's a successful entrepreneur. He made a lot of money as a in the mortgage lending space. And, somewhat reinvented himself in the last four years where now he's got a branding company and and several other companies. He drops a lot of a lot of knowledge about personal branding, but also building companies where you're not not the face of the company. So he's not only just a branding coach, but he's a business coach as well. And we talk about his upbringing, how they had a lot of difficult times growing up with regard to, you know, financial challenges, but mostly relationship challenges, especially with his his father and and his father's view of money and that kind of thing. So we do talk a lot about money and whether money is important and, whether Mike was satisfied or not when he made a lot of money And but this guy's all about impact and all about impacting other people in a positive way We talk about his his core values, and and that's a fantastic part toward the end. There's just so much here. This guy is is a a ball of, positive energy. I was on his podcast before which was a lot of fun. He's an author, an influencer. He's a visionary, thought leader. He's just someone that you you want in your in your circle. And, if you're looking for podcast booking, you know, content repurposing marketing, podcast boot camps, coaching community, all about branding and and business This is this is your guy.

Speaker 1

Welcome to the from adversity to abundance podcast. Are you an entrepreneur or aspiring on super newer, then this show is for you. Each week, we bring you impactful stories of real people who have overcome painful human adversity to create a life of abundance. A life of abundance. You are not alone in your struggle. Join us and you will experience the power of true stories and gain practical knowledge from founders who have turned poverty into cross and weakness into wealth. This podcast will encourage you through your health, relationship, and financial challenges So you can become the hero in your quest for freedom. Take ownership of the life you are destined to live. Turn your adversity into abundance.

Speaker 0

Alright. Here's the deal. You work hard for your money. Isn't it about time you put your money to work for you? If you are an accredited investor, check out labrador lending dot com. Our integrity income fund provides monthly cash flow from an investment backed by hard physical real estate. Our income fund, which is uncorrelated to publicly traded stocks and bonds, invests in first lien mortgage notes, diversified by geography, property value, and borrower type. So you're not investing in one project. You're investing in a diversified portfolio of first lien mortgage notes. Our integrity income fund aims to pay its investors monthly distributions, at a preferred rate of return of eight percent annually. Possibly, the best part though. The Fund showcases short twelve month commitment. So you can invest your capital today and have access to that capital in one year. Check it out today. Labrador lending dot com. Welcome everybody to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. I'm your host Jamie Bateman, and I'm pumped today to have with us Mike Ciroc. Mike, how are you doing today?

Speaker 2

I'm phenomenal, Jamie. Thanks for having me. I am in the building with you right now. It's exciting. Five thousand. I wanna express gratitude for having you, man. Thank you.

Speaker 0

I love it. That's awesome. You had me on your show, and I appreciate that. So for the listener out there, Mike Crock is a serial entrepreneur, Luminary, He's got a ton of experience in lending. And, man, a visionary, all kinds of things I could say about you, Mike. Once you, add a couple things on here, what are you up to today?

Speaker 2

Yeah. You know, ever since I was a five year old kid, I always wanted to be a celebrity. You thought I was gonna say gangster ever since I came from a lot of brokenness, Jamie, and

Speaker 0

I I have

Speaker 2

this thing in me that I came from a lot of brokenness, Jamie, and I I have this thing in me that I always wanted to be a celebrity. It's, like, just well known and and

Speaker 0

Sure. When I

Speaker 2

walk in a room, I wanna light the room up. And, I don't know where that came from, but right now, I mean, that's what I do. I try to light the room up. I wanna elevate everyone around me, I wanna elevate myself. I call myself an elevator because that's that's what matters to me, and I'm obsessed with it every morning when I wake up. So with all the stuff that I do, entrepreneurship, and speaking, and all the things I do.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

It's all centered around that.

Speaker 0

That's centered around your mission of of that. That's awesome. Yeah. I and the time we've gotten to know each other over the last month or two, it's always a positive energy, and I and I love it. So, I can't wait to dive in. I know you also have your your book. We can talk about later and and, all kinds of things you have going on. So Let's jump into your backstory. You mentioned I think you mentioned five years old. Let's jump into, you know, either your childhood or after that, but let's walk through. I mean, podcast is is about overcoming adversity and getting to abundance and just to just for the little the the qualifier real quick I don't pretend, like, anybody's finished with all their adversity. And now that that they're, you know, retired on the beach and it's just abundance. It's not that's not the real world. We definitely keep it real on the show, but the fact is, as you very well know, my mindset and there and a lot of other you know, behavior and things can play a huge role in overcoming adversity, whether that's health, finance, relationship, spiritual, or some kinds of adversity, in getting to abundance and living in abundance, which I know is where where you, are really focused in helping people get to. So Let's jump back. What where do you wanna start in your, in your story?

Speaker 2

Well, I mentioned five years old because in kindergarten, I was the MC for my kindergarten graduation. And I had the old Bob Barker mic with the, there was a long mic and had a cord, and I would hold the cord in his hand. And I've I worked the stage, man. And, so I was, I guess, I wanted to be a speaker at a young age, and, and I knew that. But I was I I I never waited for validation from anyone else. And a lot of people are waiting for validation in their life to be who they wanna be. And for some reason, I just never did. I was just very stubborn in that manner, but That doesn't mean that I didn't have people trying to hold me back. And in abusive situations at times, you know, growing up as a kid, it was a lot of brokenness. Lot of depression and anxiety around me, a lot of conflict and relationships that people didn't get along. A lot of it was taken out on me and and my brothers and sisters in different scenarios. I wrote about this in the book, and I'm not I don't wanna get into a whole lot of detail, but nonetheless, I was always, my mother was always one to lift me up. And and and encourage me. And, you know, like, I don't remember my parents ever together. So I was, you know, she was a single mom for years. And, my dad, on the other hand, was more concerned with money than anything. It was a money thing. Interesting. And and and making money and then keeping money and and and talked about it all the time. And, so I had I had a a dichotomy. My mom didn't have much, but she was a very loving and encouraging. My dad was more about work hard money, and and money over a lot of things. And it and it actually there was a lot of sacrifice that went along with that because relationships were damaged because of that. So, you know, growing up seeing all that and seeing that dichotomy, I just knew that I wanted to be I wanted to be successful, but I wanted to help people because a lot of brokenness growing up.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

And, you know, so that's that's where, like, my life started was really getting through it. It felt like a gauntlet. Of brokenness to get to a place where I could have more control and be more self determined and not be in a sit an environment that I didn't wanna be in. As the kids, we don't pick our environment.

Speaker 0

True. You

Speaker 2

know, so I'm very I'm very, very conscious of that right now, Jamie.

Speaker 0

Yeah. So Now it sounds like for the most part and again, it's all related. Right? If you have financial struggles, you're probably gonna have some that's gonna put strain on a on your relationships and maybe even make your health go down or whatever else it's all related. Right? So we're not pretending it's compartmented entirely. But sounds like what you're saying is mostly it was relationship struggles and then the dichotomy around the view of of money and what was the what was important there. But, Did you struggle? Did your family struggle? It sounds like your mom's your mom struggled financially. Did you have financial struggles growing up, or was it mostly like brokenness around relation chips?

Speaker 2

No. It was a it was both. You know, I lived with my dad for three years from about eight to eleven, and he had he had money and we were, you know, doing well and going trips and dinners and doing all that kind of thing. Mhmm. But my mom on the other hand was always paycheck to paycheck kind of thing. It felt like that all the time, you know. Gotcha. But as a kid, you know, you're growing up in that. Yeah. I just I knew that I wanted nice things when I got older. I wanted to control my own destiny. I wanted to be able to do these Yeah. Like, I just wanna be in control. You know, if that makes sense? Because I didn't I didn't feel like I was in control when I was younger. So It was both. Relations and the financial thing. And then the health thing too because we had a lot of addiction in the family, a lot of mental, mental health issues. You know, I saw I saw it all as pretty much at all. When you talk about finances, relationships, and health, I've seen it all. Mhmm. And so you know, everything I'm doing going forward is really designed around uplevel and elevating those things for myself and others.

Speaker 0

Yeah. I love that. Well, and it sounds like you were able to you know, keep money in perspective, not that you don't think money is important, and correct me if I'm wrong, I don't want words in your mouth. But, You know, money certainly has importance. Right? But it sounds like you were at a pretty early age, you were able to determine that money wasn't the end goal for you. You wanted money. You wanted nice things, but it really was more about control of your your life and your own destiny. It was bigger than money in a sense. Is that fair to say?

Speaker 2

Yeah. You know, I think that people with wealth, have a have a I don't wanna say a dicks. They're controlled by having Mhmm. That gotta have. Right?

Speaker 0

Sure. I don't

Speaker 2

I don't wanna be I don't wanna be in that situation. I wanna be able to have and not have. I wanna be able to I wanna be able to, like, you know, if I wanna put money to something, I wanna know that I can go get more money. I wanna know that talking about abundance, I wanna know that there's tons of money on the planet. I just need to do what it takes to get the money Mhmm. And be willing to do so and know how

Speaker 0

to do so.

Speaker 2

And that's to me, that's more important than having, you know, I invested a lot of my businesses Jamie and myself. Not as much as I I haven't invested as much in real estate as a lot of people have, but I've invested in myself, my businesses, and and the ability to go make more money. So I'm a business myself. Yeah. Right? No.

Speaker 0

I love that.

Speaker 2

And that's just a different way to look at things sometimes. I think sometimes I look at people that real estate on man. I should be doing that.

Speaker 0

Yeah. But Well, you know, there's there's only there's tons of ways to to make money and and I mean, a business if it's if it's going well is a fantastic way to make money. And so I definitely and our our listeners is an entrepreneur or budding entrepreneur. So we definitely wanna dive into you know, how your businesses are set up and and, you know, you said you are the business. So I definitely wanna dive into that. Let's walk through just from you know, maybe teenage years up through today. I know that's a long time. But, you know, kind of highlights or low lights as far as your own personal journey. Let's just walk walk continue to walk through.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I I played college football at a division three school. And I didn't never drank alcohol until I got to college. No. Right before college, after I graduated high school, I just stayed away from it, where it was around. I just never drank. I was so committed to being a football player. And when I got to college coming from a small town, I saw and, you know, Salisbury because you're from this area. It was party school, party central, and I saw girls that I had never seen before. We didn't have, by the way, by the way. When I was growing up, we didn't have cell phones. We just had like, when I was in high school, we had just gotten cable Right?

Speaker 0

Right.

Speaker 2

So I was from a small town, and and I never saw parties and the girls that I saw when I got to college. And so to me, it was like, you know, as a seventeen, eighteen year old kid, I'm like, wow. This is like fantasy land. So I got off track, and I and I led it led down the road of you know, starting to party drinking. One thing led to another. I'm next, I'm smoking pot. I quit the football team after two years.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

And, then I got into partying. And and before you know it, it was all focused on, where's the next party? Where are the girls? Where's the party? And I I just lost focus. And I was going down that route for a while. And and, You know, and and there was addiction in my family. So I felt to this point, ex at some point, I was, like, an action junkie. I always wanted to be around people. I needed action. I couldn't I didn't wanna be by myself. And so that got going for a while. And then all of a sudden, my friends started leaving after they got out of college, and I'm left behind with the people that would just party in. And and and all the influence. Now I wasn't the right the best person to be around either because I was I'm right in there pulling everybody else down with me.

Speaker 0

Right.

Speaker 2

Right.

Speaker 0

So Talk

Speaker 2

about dark times. That's some dark times that I dealt with in my whole twenties.

Speaker 0

Yeah. So you it doesn't sound like you were, like, addicted to alcohol or drugs, but you were more addicted to the action you said. Right?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I well, I don't know, man, because I what I I would go out. I couldn't imagine not drinking. And I would drink I would drink a lot. You know, I would I'd drink, get a buzz and go so I don't know, man. And then and then the drugs came into play and your party drugs and weed and Mhmm. Like, yeah. I I don't I don't know. I don't think I've ever admitted to being an alcoholic or or dramatic, but I'm I definitely had the tendencies and the characteristics.

Speaker 0

Got it. Understood. Alright. So you're so you're in college or in that that, you know, phase of your life. And then your friends graduate, and they're taken off in your and then what you you just realized that you're kind of you're not going anywhere or, like, what's what's happening mentally for you at that time?

Speaker 2

At a moment, I was in in home sales. I got in the restaurant business first. Then I realized, like, that business is, like, that's the business's cash. You get off late, then you go to a party, and that's, like, that's not the right life.

Speaker 0

Yep.

Speaker 2

I didn't saw it as a dead end. So then I started talking to a guy and he invited me into sales. So I did in home sales for nine years, actually, but it wasn't in in home sales. I felt like after my friends were leaving, and I'm, like, what's the purpose of what I'm doing? What's really the purpose? And this is, like, a dead end. It's, like, I'm, I there's been moments in my life Mhmm.

Speaker 0

Where I

Speaker 2

had this feeling of there's way more inside of me, man. What am I doing? So I had that moment And I realized it was a really dark moment my friends were leaving. And I met my wife, thank god. When I met my wife, it gave me some purpose of, like, okay. Now I have a reason obviously, I wasn't doing it for myself at the time. I was partying, and I I didn't have any, like, nothing to

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

Do it for, obviously, because I didn't value myself at the time. Right?

Speaker 0

Sure. But

Speaker 2

when I met my wife, I got myself together, and, I started having purpose, and I wanted more and I wanted to up level. And I started going on a journey of up leveling.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And chipping away at that that that life I wanted. Right?

Speaker 0

Yeah. So That's really good. I mean, we there's a theme that comes up on the show is you know, yes, you do gotta do to to get it over adversity and get through hard times. Yeah. Certainly, you gotta do internal work and focus on yourself. Right? But at the end of the day, that's that only goes so far. You've really gotta focus on others. And, you know, you said your wife, I mean, you you now had something bigger than yourself, right, or other outside of yourself to focus on and to serve, and so that gave you a purpose. And that made you a better person. It sounds like which is awesome. So okay. So you start to realize, like, you're you're meant for a lot more. Right? Is that is that fair to say?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, I've had many moments like that in my life, and I and I started thinking, like, what kinda I'm playing such a small game. Why? And I go analyze it. Why am I playing such a small game? What is it? Yeah. Then I find out that, like, okay. Well, let's let's go for a little bit more. Let's go for a little bit more. Or, eventually, I started thinking, let's go for a lot more.

Speaker 0

And I

Speaker 2

didn't know how I was gonna do it, but I wanted to commit. Because I feel like, Jamie, when you set your intention, it's a formula I use all the time. I set my intention and I get really clear on what I want, and I commit to it, attention, intention, intention. I read a story out I I I write it like a very vivid vision of what I wanna do, and that leads to what I pay attention to. Mhmm.

Speaker 0

What

Speaker 2

I pay attention to validates I only pay attention to things that validate my story that I create that with my intention. From there, it creates existence. So I started figuring out this formula that all I have to do is set an intention. That's gonna lead to what I pay attention to. What I pay attention to is gonna validate my story for my intention, and then that's gonna create my own existence in my universe. It's gonna validate, create existence. That's when I started causing and creating my own future, my own world. We live in a universe that we all physical universe that we live in, but we all have this this we're the center of our own universe, so to speak. And you can have two choices. You can start having your universe that you're creating, right, or what most people do is they allow other people now influences create the universe they're living in, then they're unhappy. They're dis depressed and anxious. And I don't know why. Yeah. So that's what I figured out.

Speaker 0

Love it. Now that that's awesome. Well, I mean, so what would you say to the person who says, well, that's, you know, that's great mindset's fine. Having a positive attitude's great, but you but that's not living in reality or something like that. You know, there's still

Speaker 2

That's their their reality. Okay. So so so that's the thing when somebody says not reality. Well, they're just speaking about what they believe, their their reality, and that's fine. I don't listen. You you you can believe that if you want to. Folks. Sure. But at the end of the day, like, you're not gonna shape my reality. Yeah. You know, I know I know what my reality is. And I'm gonna tell you what mine is. You're gonna tell me what what yours is, and I guess what who's gonna win, the one that's most certain. Yeah. So so when I hear that shit, I don't I'm just, like, whatever, man. I, like, I don't

Speaker 0

You don't have time for it.

Speaker 2

Would you believe? Yeah. Believe what you wanna believe, but I can tell you and show you results from doing things the way I do. Now you do have to have action and behaviors. Right? Right.

Speaker 0

Absolutely.

Speaker 2

Well, the the the the reason this works is is that what you intend to do when you pay attention to, it actually moves your physical body into behaviors. Centered around the story that you tell yourself, the the intention that you have. Then then you get the results. So it's not manifestation and comes, you think about it, and it just happens. It's everything in your body starts going in that direction.

Speaker 0

Sure. And like you said, there are behaviors. The behaviors follow and that is what ends up creating that reality. So, I love it. Yeah. I used to use a lot of on a lesser scale, maybe, but, like, on a lacrosse field, I'd use a lot of you know, just envision, okay, tomorrow, during this game, I'm gonna do this. And it would happen quite often. And it was it was, like, it was a, you know, I don't wanna it's it was amazing to me. It was like, wait. I I literally pictured exactly this play, and this was exactly how I was gonna do it. And and then I did it. And, you know, would that have happened without me envisioning that? I don't know. Probably not.

Speaker 2

No. Because your vision when you're visual visualizing something, that's your thought. Right? Yeah. Thought leads then to emotion. Yeah. And then you can feel it. And then you're you you've from that know what effort to put forward to accomplish that thought. Sure. I love that. If you do it in that order, that's how it works. And most people don't realize that they're just on autopilot, and a lot of people are having thoughts that are coming from the media, from their surroundings and environment. And then they're getting emotions from that stuff instead of their own thoughts. And then their behaviors reflect that. And that's why we have a lot of sheep that are that are going in direction. Like, we got COVID stuff coming out now again. I don't know how many people just because that came out on the news, they're starting to wear masks again before they even have a mask mandate.

Speaker 0

Right. Yeah.

Speaker 2

So now I don't know what people believe, and I don't apologize for what I say. I just say what I believe and what I think.

Speaker 0

And then it's absolutely

Speaker 2

This is crazy to me to see this, but I know it's not crazy. I know why people are doing this. I know the the the the the formula.

Speaker 0

Sure. Well, and the other thing I was gonna add is with, you know, if you've envisioned something happening, whether it's on a small scale or big scale, Then when it starts to happen, you're actually ready for it. You know, you you actually you you can behave better, really, you know, and that you're not surprised or scared? And how's this happening? It's like, no. I've already I've already been here mentally. And so I've, you know, I think that adds a love level of in a sense, like, relaxation and you're able to perform better when those elements kind of all align, if you will. So let's let's focus on your your businesses. I mean, as far as, you know, you mentioned your wife. So you obviously got married and you know, pick it up from there and and we're, let us know how the how the things unfold. I know you did a lot with, like, mortgage lending, So career wise after you got married, how did things go?

Speaker 2

Well, I was in a home sales for nine years, and eventually I saw some of my buddies doing more mortgages in real estate. And I'm like, man, I wanna do something different. I hate what I'm doing. So I made a jump and got my real estate license, did that for a year and a half, and I saw some buddies that I was sending my business to, Mhmm. They keep money in the mortgage business too, and they weren't showing people around houses. And I didn't wanna show people around houses and be a tour guide. So I'm like, you know what? Let me do the mortgage part. So I got into the mortgage part and hit it off right away. The first year, just first year I've ever broke broke six figures. This is when I was younger. And every year kept getting better, better, better, two hundred, three hundred, four hundred, five hundred, six hundred, seven hundred million. Like, it just got better, better, better. Now the money was coming. And I was getting gaining, you know, doing gaining. Right? But I was not fulfilled. I was not happy I felt like I've still had a bigger game inside. I mean, it wasn't all about the money. It was about, like, I have this bill ability to elevate people, and I and I'm I'm playing such a small game with it.

Speaker 0

Mhmm.

Speaker 2

Before years ago, I decided to start building a brand because I realized that if I really wanted to impact and play the game that I wanted to play, the size, I needed to get known. And how big I wanted to go was, you know, a conversation I've had with myself. Do I wanna go nationally? Do I wanna get known globally? Then I looked up and I saw CNN had a thing on, by the way, I watched both CNN and Fox in case everybody's wondering to hear me. They'd I I was watching it just happen to be CNN. I remember Clear's Day, and they were talking about UFOs. And this is it back in two thousand eighteen. I don't know if there's aliens. There probably is. I don't know. But I said to myself, if there's aliens, I want the aliens to know who I am and what I do and ability that I have. And I just it was like a mind expansion exercise, and I just started thinking bigger. From that point, my behavior that was my attention setting moment. Right? Then I started paying attention to things that could get me known, and then I started at be having behaviors and decisions that were leading into that, my efforts were leading into that. And all of a sudden, things just started to expand. So I got out of the mortgage business this past April, actually, started an agency a year and a half ago called that one agency. That it that one agency helps entrepreneurs do what I did because I've been on over nine hundred podcasts in the last three and a half years. And and the reason I did that is because I saw the power, Jamie, of podcasting. And what it does, there's, like, five major things that podcasting does. And I wanted to help other peep people do it after I've done it because I saw the power in it, and most people don't understand the power of And so that agency helps entrepreneurs. It helps celebrities, athletes. We have we have the we've run the gamut with our clients, but we help them get more more attention and help leverage that attention. Yeah. So that's what I'm focused on right now.

Speaker 0

Oh, it's awesome. I mean, it's a perfect for our audience because you're you're able to help entrepreneurs and business owners and and, executives, who are listening to this show. So now as far as you're and you the money didn't satisfy you. Right? So it sounds like you you wanted to do something bigger. What what was the impact you were really What's the impact you're really trying to trying to make?

Speaker 2

Well, let me clarify. I like money. Don't get it wrong. It's just that it's gotta be with something else. Right? Yes. Yes. And, sure. Yeah. So the impact for me is, you know, I really, like I said, I wanna be an elevator. I want people in my environment when they come into my environment, they can't help but do better, be better, elovee. They wanna they wanna feel like they are they they feel like they can run through a wall. Right? And so I set out all my businesses that I have through this mission of creating unstoppable people to live in a life of their dreams. And every morning I wake up, I'm that's all I'm thinking about is how can I do more? And I know if I do more, the money will take care of itself. Mhmm. But I wanna I wanna I wanna I wanna be known for what I do that people need that. Like, they they they they they and by the way, this when you do these kind of things, when you can help people and create a future for themselves and be unstoppable to doing so. It's one of the most attractive things out there.

Speaker 0

I love that. Yeah. I'm I'm finishing up the Simon Sinick wrote a book called, start with why. It's it's been around for probably ten years, and it's it's just really good. He was just talking about, Martin Luther King and how, you know, Martin Luther King didn't have a plan for how to implement, you know, how to create civil rights or how to implement and execute this plan in in the US, but it was huge what he did, you know, as far as just inspiring people. And so it sounds like on some level, it's a it's a similar thing where you're trying to inspire people. And then those people are gonna take, you know, take that inspiration and implement that in their own lives or you know, as far as operationally execute, from after you inspire them, is that

Speaker 2

Well, exponentially impact others. So when about what I do for someone goes out, they may affect five people. Yeah. Eventually, there there's an exponential effect. So but it's not just about mindset. It's about also, you know, I'm an I'm an expert in performance and scaling businesses as well.

Speaker 0

Okay. Okay. And

Speaker 2

so I want people, like, if there's entrepreneurs listening and business people listening, The main problem a lot of entrepreneurs and business people have is lack of clarity, and they enter chaos and confusion enters into their lives in their home life which comes into the business, where the business comes in the home. Now their relationships are impacted, marriages, the kids are impacted, and it's all centered around lack of clarity. So what I've done is I've created a framework to get clarity for people in their businesses and in their life that if they just go through this framework that I use to assess things, it clears up things. And soon as you get clarity, all of a sudden, feel lighter. Feel like a weight comes off of your shoulders, and you can execute effectively without emotion. So Yeah. I I I'm leaning into that as well with this because, I I hate to see families broken up because businesses aren't going well or there's this chaos and confusion.

Speaker 0

Right. No. That's that's really good. I mean, especially nowadays just with everyone working from home. And if you're gonna be an entrepreneur, there's You can talk about work life balance, and it's it's important to set boundaries for sure, but it's it's it's all related, you know, and it's all, like you said, family life and and business life and your physical health, your mental health, it's not inseparable. It's all it's all gonna impact you know, the other factors for sure. So okay. So you're so so that's another thing that you offer. Is it business coaching, or how does that work?

Speaker 2

Well, no, it's more of a consulting situation. I have a a company called The Waymore Group, and we consult for equity and fee and, help businesses, and we we do mergers and acquisitions and with businesses and real estate. And, that's one of the things we put together is a framework, and then we call it the way more method. And it just makes things better, man. It's clarity is so important and people do not understand when they're living in chaos and confusion. They just don't realize you don't even see it's going on, Yeah. And they wake up well, if they sleep at all, a lot of a lot of entrepreneurs aren't sleeping. So stressed out. The relationships are are are are in shambles They don't know where their next deal's coming from. They don't know how to pay their employees sometime. I mean, there's all kinds of bad things going on in business, and there doesn't need to be is my point. So, yeah, we we we help that with that at the way

Speaker 0

That's awesome. So from sounds like twenty nineteen, approximately, is when you really had a big turning point or, you know, kind of really had some clarity about yourself as far as what you wanted to do as far as your businesses go. So, what was what's the growth been like since twenty nineteen?

Speaker 2

Well, the growth has really come from in since twenty nineteen, my personal brand. And I realized that personal brand's important, but at the end of the day, eventually, you need to start building brands. That you don't have to be the face of.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Right? Because that brand can become a living organism and it can grow and it can expand and run on its own. Yeah. That's that comes down to setting up the the proper mission and core values for the company, the proper product or service. Dial in the branding and the messaging, and then getting that thing to to be built upon, a solid SOP so they can run on its own. You can get the heck out of it. And so I still wanna have my personal brand going out, you know, doing my thing speaking and helping and all that. But at the end of the day, I wanna build brands and help companies build brands.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

At scale and then and become household names and then and then build wealth for people that way.

Speaker 0

Love that. It's awesome. You're just making an impact in so many ways. And Like you said, I mean, a lot of a lot of, especially newer entrepreneurs, they may not be they may not understand that, you know, it's almost counterintuitive. You think, well, I'm the CEO. I'm the owner of this business. The harder I work, the better this business is gonna go. You know, more more valuable, it's gonna be. Now granted, hard work is critical. I'm not knocking hard work. Right? But the truth is the more you're in that business, the more that business equals you, the less valuable that business is when you go to sell it. Right? So personal branding aside, if you're a, you know, if your whole thing is a a business coach or a therapist or, you know, something else where it's you, And and that business isn't that valuable. I mean, at the end of the day No.

Speaker 2

A hundred percent, Jamie. This is why, like, I thought to myself, I could be C Rock, the business consultant, and have a consultancy. Right? And I'm going back and forth with this in my mind. But at the end of the day, why wouldn't I start the way more group. And I have three other founders and create a framework that they could use as well, and the business can be designed around other people using framework, I can come in like a dentist. You know, that that gets me. I I got a buddy that's a dentist. We go off together and snap. And I'm in there, and and the lady cleans my teeth, She does the x rays. She does all this, the flaw scene. And then he comes in with this one thing that goes, looks good. And he leaves. Like, Chris, where are you going, man?

Speaker 0

Yeah. That just happened to me a couple of days ago. Exactly.

Speaker 2

That's the but but that's the way it's supposed to be. Right? I'm supposed to go in. Here's the framework, guys, run this. This is the prop policy. This is a procedure. Do this. Have questions, you need something, you need seconds out of eyes, whatever. I'll come in.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And I'll and I'll do my thing, but I don't need to be in it because it's there's a framework already there. All you do is follow the blueprint, and you're good.

Speaker 0

Sure. I love it. So how many businesses do you do you run right now? Do Can you even answer that one? Yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I have, that one agency. I have the way more group. And what else we have? I have, like, in the way more group, we're we're doing mergers and acquisitions. So we're getting pieces of companies in there.

Speaker 0

Gotcha.

Speaker 2

You also have

Speaker 0

that the boot camp. I think you told me about.

Speaker 2

Well, the well, that one agency has consulting in it for brands and, Gotcha. And really small business owners, entrepreneurs, to that are going on podcast to get them to leverage that attention.

Speaker 0

Sure. And

Speaker 2

that's all under that one.

Speaker 0

Got it. Understood. So talk about personal branding. I mean, you know, not everyone either wants to do that or or sees the value in that, and maybe they shouldn't. You know, it's fine. Not there's not always a one size fits all, but But what have you learned as far as what's effective with personal branding?

Speaker 2

Authenticity. Authenticity, man. You need to be authentic And in order to be authentic, you need to know who you are. You know, a lot of people identify not with who they are, but what what they do. And I've I've interviewed over five hundred people, and the majority of them, the most challenging times of their life, is when what they did fell apart,

Speaker 0

Yes.

Speaker 2

And then they lost their identity because they were identifying with that vehicle they were in, not who they are.

Speaker 0

Yeah. Absolutely.

Speaker 2

Personal brand comes down. Who are you? Not what what are you what are you doing, but who are you? Peel back all the layers. And what that means is what are your values? What are your non negotiables? What are your beliefs? Mhmm. What is your your your mission? And when you identify that, then you put your stake in the ground and you promote the hell out of that, because the important part of that is you don't worry about what people leaving and not wanna be around you, not wanna hear from you because those are the people that would hold you back if they stayed in there because of your core values and your mission. Mhmm. You gotta be okay with those people leaving. And then the right tribe will come in, and you're building a personal brand around what you truly are, who you are, and those people align with you and it makes everything better. So that's Yeah.

Speaker 0

That's awesome. Yeah. I may have mentioned this on your show. I'm not sure, but And your show is called, what are you made of your podcast? But, we had a guy, Josh Kalynowski, we had a he was a professional pitcher baseball player, had him on the show. And Just had

Speaker 2

him on last week.

Speaker 0

Okay. Awesome. Great guy. Great guy. I think I I may have, connected Todd with him. But, anyway, he, his whole thing was, you know, his adversity, his major adversity in his life was He got injured and he he couldn't play in the major leagues anymore. He was no longer a baseball player. So and it crushed him. I mean, that was his entire identity. And honestly, I could kinda relate on some level when when my college lacrosse season was over. It was, like, I was so wrapped up in what I did, like you just said, That's who I was. That's who I thought I was. Right? And then it's like, now what? Who am I? Yep. You know, and it's it can rock your world. I mean, you know, some people might think if sports is not that important or whatever, but no. But that's that's who I was, and that's who Josh Kalynalsky was.

Speaker 2

So That's That's a decision you made, though.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. That

Speaker 2

was really a vehicle for you.

Speaker 0

That's why I thought I was. Yeah.

Speaker 2

Yeah. And that's where everybody gets gets jammed up, man. It happens

Speaker 0

all the time. I love that. So okay. So before we get to my rapid fire questions, and we and we talk, in a little bit more detail about what you have going on today, What are your, you you mentioned you gotta have clarity. You gotta have principles. You gotta have non negotiables. You've probably mentioned a couple of them already, but What are some of yours? I mean, what are your principles? What are your non negotiables?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I have a I have a core values and it's an acronym vitals.

Speaker 0

Okay.

Speaker 2

And disease stands for vibes matter and emotions are contagious. So I understand that whatever vibes I'm bringing and the emotions that I'm bringing, they're contagious.

Speaker 0

And I

Speaker 2

gotta be conscious of that because I don't wanna affect people in a negative way, and also understanding to stay away from people that that are an inner problem in that area. The eye stands for imagine no lids, endless potential. I don't even wanna put a lid on myself or others. I remind myself with my language, my thoughts, my behaviors, that I don't wanna put a lid, and think that there's a limit to anything because we don't know what our potential truly is. The tea is take one hundred percent responsibility. Despite even someone thinking that that that there's no way I could be responsible for what happened. I still figure out a way of what could I have done differently to affect the situation, being at cause at all times and not an effect. Mhmm. Yeah. A stands for all setbacks or rocket fuel that goes to the law that I wrote in my book, Rockafuel Law, about converting setbacks and becoming unstoppable, being blessed and thankful, about setbacks and discouragements because they're actually useful. The l stands for leadership starts with me. Else I mean, that our leadership is so important. And and the thing is you won't lead other people until you lead yourself. The leadership, I always remind myself that I had it has to start with me first. Gotta leave myself first. Right? Everybody's gonna look at me, like, I'm a fraud. Yeah. And then the asset success is the only option. Like, we we we get what we need to get. We go get it. Like, that's there's another another option to quit or, you know, the only time you quit is if you find yourself doing something that's not in alignment with your core values. For the mission. So that that's what I kind of I go by with my mission in combination with my mission, and it gives me very, very easy decision process, clarity.

Speaker 0

That's awesome. So who do you you must have coaches and mentors yourself. Right? Who do you look up to? Who do you follow?

Speaker 2

So for the longest time, when I first got started, you know, I read the ten x rule and grant was a was a mentor of mine from afar. I immersed myself in his content. I just vibed with what he was doing.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

And and so what I did was I read that book. And the thing about it, the most thing less than I got out of it, not think big, ten x, everything. It was when you think big because I already was thinking big. I already had this big vision. My issue at the time was the people around me were discouraging and not believing and not seeing the vision and and and and invalidating. And and I just was, like, Am I freaking crazy? Is there something wrong with me? Well, when I read that book, it had one point in it, and it said, you're not the crazy one. The people around you are just confused, and they've given up, and they're reflecting that upon you. Go push the pedal down. And that's where I got the saying thrust is a must because I read the bookrockview. I said, like, no. Thrust is a must. I'm gonna go forward. And and and if they leave because I was always concerned. Like, if I push the pedal down, I might push people away from me.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And I was, like, scared of that. And I'm, like, hey. If they leave, it's because they were gonna hold me back. I can't have that. They'll always come back if I keep committed to my mission if they're meant to be in my life. But I do not, and everybody, this is very important. So many of us have suppressive people in our environment that are holding us back from our dreams.

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

Because they've given up on theirs. And if you say that, oh, I can't I can't just cut them off and and and confront them about it because they're my family, or it's a good friend. I've known since I was a kid. It's my wife. It's my husband. It's my mom. It's my dad. Sister brother doesn't matter. They're stealing from you. They're stealing from you. So that's what I realized. And when I realized that, I was off to the races. And then I just watched him and I watched some people that he was surrounding himself with, And then I started looking at other people right now. I'm really, you know, Ty Lopez is coming back into social media. Mhmm. And I'm interested in Ty because he's read so many books. And he's very, very unique. And I just wanna I wanna be more unique myself, so I'm kinda paying attention to what he's doing and how he approaches unique subjects when he brings them up. Mhmm. Sure. I'm kinda watching him right now. And, yeah. So

Speaker 0

Yep. I mean, that's good.

Speaker 2

That's good.

Speaker 0

Yeah. That's really good. The other thought that came to mind real quick was, you know, if you're if you're living in fear of somebody leaving, or or getting outside of your, you know, sphere of influence, I guess. You know, you're you're limiting your own impact that you're gonna have on others. Right? You're not then gonna be the best version of yourself. And you're actually you mentioned they're stealing from you. Well, because of that, you're stealing from what you'd be giving to somebody else. You know? So it's like you your your impact is lessen. So you're kinda stealing your the impact you'd be making from the that impact you'd be making on others.

Speaker 2

Yeah. And and then I've never had somebody that's doing better than me, ever hate, and then discourage me. Never been that way.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

But pay attention to that too.

Speaker 0

It's people who are maybe jealous or something.

Speaker 2

Yeah. I'm not I'm not listening. I'm not taking advice from someone that that hasn't done what I'm trying to do.

Speaker 0

Yeah. I love that. It's really good. Alright. You ready for some rapid fire questions?

Speaker 2

Yep. Let's go.

Speaker 0

You look nervous. I'm kidding. I'm kidding, man. You've done this a bunch of times. Alright. Are you ready? What's what is one thing that people misunderstand about you, Mike?

Speaker 2

I would say that I care, so much that I'm willing to just push through their bullshit. They think they think a lot of time I mean, you know, a lot of times, this is rapid fire, so I'll stop there. But, yeah, that's that's it.

Speaker 0

They misinterpret your your passion. Something Yeah.

Speaker 2

I mean, you know, they're I'm not I'm not gonna buy people's bullshit because I know I know it's just a story they're telling themselves.

Speaker 0

Sure. What's one of your biggest failures, regrets, you know, some people don't like those terms, but something you could if you could do it over, you would you would do it over.

Speaker 2

You know, I I told my son this, like, I would've focused on building wealth and money and getting things straight with that prior to chasing women. And parties when I was in my, you know, eighteen to twenty two range.

Speaker 0

Sure.

Speaker 2

And then, you know, understanding that, look, women women will be there when when you get yourself straightened out and on the right track, you know. And you probably have a high, like, a better choice of women. Now I'm blessed because my like, I've been married twenty years, and I couldn't have found a better woman. So it worked out. But still, like, I would have loved to have I don't know. I just feel like I This is rapid fire, so I'm gonna stop it. But I think I could've I think I wasted time. And now I'm, like, I'm I'm doing playing catch up. You know what I mean?

Speaker 0

Yeah. More of a short term focus. At that point. It sounds

Speaker 2

like, which

Speaker 0

I think most people do. But Yeah.

Speaker 2

But I I wanna change that.

Speaker 0

Sure. If you could go back and you already touched on this. But if you could give give your eighteen year self some advice. What would that be?

Speaker 2

Yeah. Get your money right first, and then and then and then get your relationships.

Speaker 0

Awesome. If you could have coffee or a drink or something with any historical figure, who would be?

Speaker 2

You know, I think it would be so many, man. Hold on. Let me think about this for a second.

Speaker 0

They could still be alive today if if that's, if that helps.

Speaker 2

I have coffee with someone. Damn, man. I've I've had man, I don't know. I've had a lot of coffee with a lot of great people already. So it's, like, hard to figure out, man. Let me just say Ronald Reagan. I don't know. I would just say Robin.

Speaker 0

I like it. Alright. Here's one. If you were given ten million dollars tomorrow, Mike, what would you do with it?

Speaker 2

I would take, I would put it in some kind of passive income vehicle and and create as much. You know, I I would actually, like, get some of it, you know, put it in some risk stuff, but I would make sure that I have income coming in off of it for the rest of my life. That's what I'll make sure of.

Speaker 0

Sure. Love it. Back to your business or any of your business businesses, what's one of your, main challenges? What's a what's one challenge that you're facing in your business right now?

Speaker 2

Main challenges?

Speaker 0

Yeah. Every business has challenge. You know, it's never you never done with your No.

Speaker 2

No. No. No. I mean, but trust me. Like, I know, like, like, that everybody, you know, especially me, I have challenges, but I'm trying to think the main one. I I wanna move faster. Okay? I wanna move faster. Then, conventional wisdom says. I know I understand that you can't give birth to a baby, but some I mean, not to an adult. I'm sorry. But sometimes I want to. So I think that's the biggest challenge for me is just being patient and and Yeah. The other thing, cash flow management, when I got out of the mortgage business, I'm not making the amount of money that I was making. Okay? When when I was in the mortgage business and was going with it. And so sometimes you have to pull back to get and and and sell assets. Your net worth takes a hit. To get runway to build something bigger. And that's where I am right now personally. And I I think that's the biggest challenge.

Speaker 0

Yeah. No. I appreciate the the vulnerability. It make sense. Let's see. What's one piece of advice you'd give someone starting out in your career. Say say with personal branding. You already said off authenticity. Anything else you'd, advise somebody if they wanna build their personal brand?

Speaker 2

Yeah. Get on podcasts and do at least at least one a week. Very important. And then take that podcast and repurpose it in lips. All over social media, blogs, write a book off of it, transcribe it, take quotes from it, put the quotes out there, and become omnipresent through podcasting.

Speaker 0

Love it. It's awesome. I can tell you I get a lot more hits when I go on other other people's podcasts. I get a lot more kind of feedback from people. As much as I love my own show, but, alright. So what has what does financial abundance mean to you?

Speaker 2

You know, a lot of people talk about having, you know, building wealth and having assets that are coming in and and passive income coming in and all that One thing that concerns me with a little bit with passive income is, complacency.

Speaker 0

Mhmm. And I

Speaker 2

feel like if I had passive income taking care of everything I needed, I'd be concerned that I'd get complacent. So I kinda like the I kinda like that ex that that exhilarating adrenaline feel when you need to go get it. You know what I mean? Yeah. So It

Speaker 0

goes back to you. You said you were, you know, maybe addicted to the action back in college. Maybe it's

Speaker 2

Could be.

Speaker 0

More healthy, you know, version of that.

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. Like, I Jamie, when I go on vacation, I can't sit by the pool. I can't do it. It's just not me. Like, I don't know how people do that.

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. I think most entrepreneurs are wired in a similar way. You mentioned your book. You might have mentioned another book, but what what is, you know, one or two other books you throw out there for the listener?

Speaker 2

I'm gonna shout out my man, Dan Martell. He had a book recently come out called buyback your time. It's a phenomenal book. That's a great one. And then, you know, I got so many men, but,

Speaker 0

This is rocket fuel.

Speaker 2

Mine's rocket fuel converts that back to become unstoppable. Grant Card owner to forward for that book. It's a really good book to read to. It's really quick and easy. I don't wanna piss off any of my other friends, so I'm not gonna say any other books because I don't wanna get anybody mad at me for not saying their vote.

Speaker 0

Nice. What else? Anything else you what you have going on in your business these days?

Speaker 2

Yeah. So what what we're doing right now, and this is a good lesson for everybody. So I have the the that one agency where we take entrepreneurs and get them booked on the line podcast consistently. Right?

Speaker 0

Yeah.

Speaker 2

And prepare them for it, create one sheets, press kits, and brand, and them with their brand. And one thing in my mind is, like, oh, I gotta do all these other things too. Right? I gotta help them with social media. I gotta help them with this, this and that. So I have all these product offerings. But people need to understand is, and this is probably because I'm a variety guy. Like, I like more than one things in my life, random Mhmm. Except for my wife. Okay. That's clear. I'm only with one wife. One woman in my life is plenty. But but my point is is that I want all these different things, and I know that here's the thing, the way to be successful is to keep the main thing, the main thing and build it until it's running by itself and growing by itself and then start to add things in. Supplement to it. But if you don't do that and you start getting dispersed with your attention, everything's gonna suffer.

Speaker 0

Absolutely. What's one question you I have not asked that you wish I had? Anything?

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, what's my handicap in golf?

Speaker 0

What is it?

Speaker 2

Well, I used to be a three, but now I'm probably at twelve just because I haven't played back. I could get back down there, but I haven't played much lately.

Speaker 0

Well Yeah.

Speaker 2

I just tell I just told you that just so I can remind myself that I gotta get out there in place.

Speaker 0

Yeah. It's right. It's a you've put it out there. Right? Now you're now you're accountable to yourself. Mike Ciroc, this has been awesome, man. Where can our listeners find you online?

Speaker 2

Yeah. Go to that one, that at the number one agency dot com. You can see our agency there. Any entrepreneur, you all should be getting on podcasts on other people's shows, then start your own show after that. It is imperative. It's a it's a must if you're the face of your company that you gotta get out there and it's the easiest and most efficient way. So that, the number one agency dot com then Instagram is the best way to follow me and stay in touch with me and see my content. That's, Mikey, c rock, Mikey, c r o c.

Speaker 0

I think you've got, like, what, one point five million followers on Instagram, something like that.

Speaker 2

Yeah. It's,

Speaker 0

it's up there. Well, awesome, my friend. Well, thanks a lot for joining us. Thanks for stopping by. This was a really, really fun and inspiring chat. And, yeah, absolutely, Mike. This is great. And so the listener out there, thank you for spending your time with us, which is your most valuable resource. Thanks, everyone. Take care.

Speaker 3

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Speaker 1

Thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us. Your time. If you like the show, please share it with your friends and fellow podcast listeners. One entrepreneur the time, we can change the world. See you next time.