Crafting a Life Blueprint: Navigating Identity, Fatherhood, and Intention with Former Hormozi VP Tim Calise

Speaker 0

I loved this episode, and you are going to as well, man. Tim Colisse, Tim's got a A lot of variety has passed as far as his professional career and and path. He's had several different chapters as he describes them. But, man, he drops so much wisdom. He's an investor and primarily a a business consultant and business coach. I can see now why Alex Hormozie called him to, bring bring Tim on board to be a part of Alex's executive team with gym launch If you don't know who Alex and Layla Hormozi are, you need to to Google them real quickly, but they are on, an incredible trajectory themselves Tim, our guest today, was a huge factor in Alex's success and layla's success with, gym launch which has been was phenomenal. He is a wealth of knowledge, high energy. This episode's all about relationships. I think that's the primary through line here. And the fact that, there are more more ways to do get to success than just one. I think, Tim talks about how he grew up in a sort of a traditional finance world mindset, go to school, be the smartest, and get a get a job with a big finance company and work that for the rest of your life. And and be happy and that just wasn't a fit for him. And, so he's made some big decisions along the way to pivot and try new things. One of the stories he talks about is how for four years, they raised about three hundred and fifty million dollars, to create a hedge fund, and then they ended up giving that money all back before the two thousand eight crash. So essentially, quote unquote, wasted four years of his life. But in hindsight, He certainly did not. There were a ton of lessons learned that you're gonna hear today. He drops a lot of wisdom toward the end of the show for sure, so you're gonna wanna stick around. Buckle up. 

Speaker 1

Welcome to the from adversity to abundance podcast. 

Speaker 2

Are you an entrepreneur or aspiring 

Speaker 1

entrepreneur, 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. Life of abundance. You are not alone in your struggle. Join us and you will experience the power of true stories and gained practical knowledge from founders who have turned poverty into prosperity 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

Welcome everybody to another episode of the from adversity to abundance podcast. I am your host, Jamie Batman, and I'm thrilled today to have with us. Tim Colise, Tim is an investor, consultant, business, genius, and, among many other things, a father, etcetera. And we're gonna get into a lot of the the relationship type stuff. But, Tim, how are you doing today? 

Speaker 2

I'm doing great, Jamie. Thank you for having me on the show. I'm, really looking forward to it. 

Speaker 0

Absolutely. And I know, I'm really excited to I, you you were flexible enough to reschedule, and I appreciate that. So, So who are you? We we touched on it briefly, but what are you up to today professionally? What are you, what's your focus today? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Professionally, I am an investor and consultant for service based businesses. My belief is that business is built on relationships. And so I work primarily in, service businesses that have or want to have. A recurring revenue component. So membership, subscriptions, things like that, and it could be traditional service or things like technology, say, software, SaaS, those types of things. But, you know, I just fundamentally believe that creating a, a relationship with with a customer or a client solving problems for them today and into the future is is really where I have found my expertise. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Well, I will say it didn't take me very long to find out that you run-in some, some well respected circles in the business world, and and you've dealt with some some, definitely, I'll say famous entrepreneurs. So can you do you mind naming one or two before we jump into your backstory? 

Speaker 2

Sure. Probably the the most well known one right and I take a lot of pride and, have have been on the executive team at gym launch alongside Alex and live or for Mosey. But in addition to that, I have a phenomenal mentor, and a gentleman named Sharon Shravaza, who I believe we both, we both know. It was both in real estate as well as banking, investing, etcetera, and just kind of both being a a phenomenal guide, but also kind of a sage in in the advice that he's been able to give me and see around some of those corners that, that I that I'm not seeing. And then I started my career in the financial services business working on a team with a little over two billion dollars under management. And so I've been fortunate enough to find my way into some some great rooms and and stand shoulder to shoulder with some great people. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. It's fantastic. Yeah. The Hormozies are obviously a on a on a a significant rise right now for sure. And and and I've really gotten into Alex's podcast in particular. He offers so much. And then Sean is Sean is the man. He's such a such an awesome guide. I've gotten to know him a little bit over the last couple years. It's been fantastic. He just continues to give, and and that's just just awesome, and he's he's super smart. But but this episode is not about either of those two. This episode is about you, Tim, and and you story, but but really also about the listener and what we can learn from your story and what we can, you know, gather as far as lessons learned from the your journey and some of the adversity that you've been through, just to quickly set the backdrop, you know, from adversity to abundance we don't pretend that someone went through adversity and then and then overnight, they reached abundance and they have no no more challenge and everything's you know, fantastic. But the fact is I know we're gonna get into some mindset stuff. The fact is we do have a lot of influence over how our lives go and how we how our perception or perspective, you know, is and and how things end up for us. So, do that the the the goal of the show is to inspire as well as provide tactical tactical insight into, you know, how you've been able to grow and get to where you are, Tim, and so that we can take that and and better ourselves as listeners and as entrepreneurs. So, enough of me rambling. Let's jump back. What's, where do we wanna start, Tim, and your backstory? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. I think when when I when I heard adversity to abundance, for me, it was I I was very fortunate. I was raised in a a phenomenal family. I had my mother, father, were both home. I had two great sisters, all nine yards. So, you know, I don't I don't have the kind of traditional you know, the the the deck was stacked against me, that type of thing. But in reflection, I think the thing that my adversity was very much between my ears. It was the adversity of relationship for me, like who I was, my identity, how I could kind of navigate the context of, you know, of my life through these different chapters. And so, you know, kinda starting from today, I I've chosen to build a life of intention around being a a father who's, you know, home with my I have three kids all kind of ten to fourteen. And and helping attract people who who want to have this idea of not just working more to get more but realizing, you know, kind of how we can build and reverse engineer a life where we get a lot out of every hour that we end, and and we get optionality into to to be able to do the things that we wanna do. So I was gonna start now and almost work backwards and just Yeah. And just to say, you know, I think that the adversity again was just kind of the the coming of age story of of giving up the the what I should be doing versus what I feel is my zone of genius and what I what I choose to pursue. And I think a lot of people can resonate with that. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Absolutely. No. A hundred percent. And, let let's drill down as far as in in your in your in your past. Excuse me. You know, and and I'll I'll throw out the caveat here that it's very easy for for us to look back and, you know, judge you or your family or any of, you know, your teachers. I'm making this up, but you know, as far as we have the the gift of hindsight at this point. Right? And so we're the the goal is not to put anyone down or anything like that. But What would you say were some of the influences that maybe kind of created some adversity in a sense for you and your your mindset and your relationship with yourself as you mentioned end. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I think from from a very early age, and again, all of the things you just said are a hundred percent agree with. I am not speaking down to anyone. I've I've so fortunate to be to be surrounded by positive influences. But I think for me, it was always this, disc connection between what I saw going on around me. I grew up on the North shore of Long Island. I was surrounded by a lot of, you know, professional folks. My dad was the know, put on the suit and tie, take the train to work, you know, those types of things. Yeah. And and being surrounded by folks that were in kind of traditional commerce, you know, banking, lawyers, etcetera, etcetera. I think at least my interpretation of that was here are these these very well respected, quote unquote successful, financial, and otherwise, you know, folks around me, and they all have this kind of common pattern. So therefore, I should probably want to be, you know, seeking the the banking job where I will be there for forty years and extend through the ranks. I should wanna go to law school business school, etcetera. And I've just quite frankly I was always kind of more emotional one, and I, yeah, I just it just never that it felt like clothes that you know, just weren't my size. And I think I was I followed that up until kind of my college and and beginning of my my professional career. I was able to really kind of take stock and say, you know, the proverbial fork in the road, do I want to, you know, die living the life that I I, you know, or or potentially fail living the life that I want or potentially succeed living the life that somebody else wants for me. And I think the next kind of fifteen or twenty years was the pursuit of kind of working through that in many, many ways. And now being a husband and father, I think it just gives you those additional opportunities of reflection. 

Speaker 0

Absolutely. So so as you got out of college, it sounds like you and I think a lot of us can relate. You just do what you think you're supposed to do. Right? Right. And follow the example you've seen before, and, you know, that, apparently, has worked for others. And so there's kind of you know, one track or a traditional model. So walk us through those fifteen years. I know that's, you know, we can't pack fifteen years into fifteen minutes, but How was that, you know, what were some of the high points and low points of that that kind of fifteen year period where you were sort of figuring it out on a professional level? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. The summary I would give is, there are some distinct chapters kind of through that fifteen years, and each one marked by you know, the the saying, you know, giving up the good for the great or the potential of the great. So I graduated from college, economics, finance, things like that, degrees. And I went to work for a division of Citi Group, so I was in the kind of traditional brokerage world. And I was so fortunate to have a, a boss and a mentor who said, you know, you're you don't wanna be here. I don't think this is the right place for you, and he made a connection a very, very hard kind of like you are no longer gonna work here at the end of this year, and you're gonna go and talk to this person, you know, and hopefully you guys can figure something out. And what that looked like was from the outside, a very risky decision, which was leaving a an opportunity at a big bank of Consistency in the known quantity and all of those types of things as a kid from New York who moved to DC for school then ended up in Birmingham, Alabama of all places to build a hedge fund. Now on paper, that seems like the most lunar Chris idea. And if you were a betting man, you'd probably say this seems like it's got a low probability of success. 

Speaker 0

Sure. But 

Speaker 2

it was the best thing that ever happened to me, it allowed me the space to pursue something that probably at the time I was just too naive to to know any different. Like, I just went and did because why not? I had no reason to to doubt myself. And it was the coming of age for me of, like, I put my you know, stake in the ground. And I succeeded on the merits of I'm gonna go raise money. I'm gonna go create something with a partner of size and and and value for others. And over four years, I was able to raise almost three hundred and fifty million dollars from various investors in my early to mid twenties. Which is when when I say it today seems, again, possibility versus probability. It was possible, but not probable. 

Speaker 0

Sure. 

Speaker 2

I think that was the greatest part of the whole thing. It was this idea of the adversity of making a hard decision seeing it through betting on yourself, and then kinda walking through that process. And and that ended the end of that story was we voluntarily gave all that money back before the two thousand eight market crisis. So again, adversity being, I spent four years of blood, sweat, and tears, and risk, and all of these things in my early to mid twenties, only to effectively undo it all. 

Speaker 0

Get back to the start again, basically. 

Speaker 2

And we're right back to the start again. So so these kind of Wow. This theme of hard lines in these chapters was literally I have shed that skin. It's I it's not like I carried that forward. It was I left the hedge fund business and went into technology and fitness because it was something I just felt passionate about at the time. And that led me in a ten year period, led me to, being introduced to Alex and Layla over at gym launch, stopped being a business owner, a gym owner, and became part of the leadership team at at gym launch. And again, new chapter started, which was in a sense in a in an eight figure business. So You know, I I think the the adversity is just kind of these chapters and making making hard line decisions 

Speaker 0

Sure. 

Speaker 2

For hopefully pursuing something better. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Absolutely. And I also want one thing I like to would like to highlight is that it sounds like you didn't go from, you know, w two for fifteen years. And then business owner for fifteen years. Life can have seasons and chapters as you said. Right? And so we've had other guests on the show who've been very successful and you know, started businesses. And then I I won't even say I don't mean to say gone back, but just gone to a different chapter where they they take a w two again, you know, but but in a and it's it's it's a, you know, fantastic path for that season of their life. You know, just looking back before we move move on from that, at those, I guess, decision points, you know, let's let's take the first one as far as, no longer working at the division of city group. I mean, what's going through your your mind at that point and how did you know you had the influence of your mentor and you had the influence of the person he introduced you to, but really what went into that decision making process? 

Speaker 2

I asked myself a question, and I think this is important for anyone to do, which is like when you're facing the decision, you play it all the way out to what's now total conclusion. And I said, okay, months have. Let's say it goes perfectly to plan. 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. 

Speaker 2

I'm now a stock broker in a job that I don't wanna have in a business that I don't feel passionate about and probably doing things that I would regret the the me of today making that choice. Mhmm. That's great. Yeah. In many cases, we, you know, some of this is is related to, you know, you you have to kind of have another paradigm, another vision, or have somebody else, you know, look to somebody else's example just to know what's available to you Yeah. And, you know, I think at that time, I was looking at the the gentleman who who treated me very, very well, and we're still friends today. And he was kind of the relationship guy. He worked a couple of hours, but he had all the connections. He had all the network and all of that kind of stuff. And I was like, how do I do something? And again, I as I mentioned before, I was much more kind of the emotional I tied more into that piece of me than the gladiator piece of me. I'm like, I actually really like the relationship based stuff. Like, I, like, being a broker, yes, is is relational, but it's much more I'll call it, like, tactical, you know, it's it's not crazy stuff like that. 

Speaker 0

I I just it's more transactional. 

Speaker 2

Exactly. Exactly. And so I I I I think I was pursuing this idea of how can I build relationships where I've got a well, I've got a bigger lever? If you will. 

Speaker 0

Sure. Okay. 

Speaker 2

And that is a common thread that goes all the way through. And and I think I was also, you know, looking within myself, saying how how do I match my personality to what I think, you know, is, is what's needed, and that's more of a blue ocean red ocean, in my opinion. I went somewhere where I felt like I could be more competitive and not just, you know, go head to head against everyone else doing the same thing. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. No. I mean, just a couple of things I wanna highlight for the for the listeners. Again, if you make a decision, it doesn't a career decision that seems monumental at the time. And and, you know, it it was a very important decision that you made. Right? But but you've had chapters, you've had seasons. It doesn't mean you stayed in that, you know, in that particular position, for the rest of your life. You know, and just secondly, what you just said about highlighting kind of taking a long term view or almost stepping outside yourself and look in fast pressing fast forward and say, am I gonna be happy with how this plays out if I if I stay where I am? That's a that's a really key key point there. So, okay, tell tell me real quickly about handing back the three hundred fifty million. I mean, what what went into that decision. I know that's That could not have been fun. I mean, I I raise capital. I've never raised that much money. That's that's a that's a lot of money. What went into the decision making process before two thousand eight? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So, all of the great moments of pride that I have through my personal and professional career have been times where my kind of moral and belief systems were both tested, and I'd like to say it here too. What I mean by that, in this case, it was what got us from zero to three hundred and fifty million, there came a time where that was not gonna carry us forward. And we had a very distinct conversation, which was, the market economy just for anyone who kind of wasn't in that, in the in the equity markets in the US at that time was you know, this is when, mortgage defaults were starting to pick up, like, the big short, the movie. Mhmm. Yeah. It's kind of all around this time, right, where things were dislocated. There were weird funky things happening in the industry. And so we saw the early parts of that. And so we said we either change our stripes to to kind of mold into what works today. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

Because we weren't in a normal market climate, or we stick to our knitting and say, You know what, we're gonna take our ball and go sit on the sidelines. And that is the conversation I had with our investors. It was October two thousand and seven. I still have the deck, and I say, Here's everything we're seeing. Here's graphs, the whole nine yards. Here's how we've gotten to where we are today. Here's why you trust us. Here's why the reason that our strategy is not working today, and here are the decisions that we have to make. And I will leave it to you. If you trust us to navigate this, we'll give that a shot and try to articulate that. If you feel like you want your money back, you're welcome to take it. And overwhelmingly, people voted with their with their feet. And they said, we'll take our money and go elsewhere. And I don't fault them because there was a lot of uncertainty, and saying, you know, we're gonna go to cash when you're in the business of investing other people's money is not a popular opinion. 

Speaker 0

No. Right. 

Speaker 2

But again, it was one of those, like, I cared about the relationships that I had with these folks. Yeah. And I had a moral and a fiduciary obligation, and it sounds very in hindsight, like, oh, you know, you are quite a buoyant and did all the right, like, that's something. We just gave up an eight figure revenue business effectively on the on the the the nightmare that could have been, which is if this all comes crashing down, I don't want it on my head that we lost three hundred million dollars worth of capital because we leveraged and all that kind of stuff. I don't think I could sleep at night. I just knew that I could sleep at night knowing I took all the learnings and moved forward. Yeah. And I love I I love, Jeff Bezos has this concept of, you know, one way versus two way doors. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

One way doors, you can never go back through two way doors. 

Speaker 0

You can 

Speaker 2

go both ways. Right? 

Speaker 0

Sure. 

Speaker 2

I could always live another life. Having given up the money. 

Speaker 0

That's If 

Speaker 2

we have gone forward and gone off the cliff at a hundred and ten miles an hour, Yeah. In my opinion, probably more psychologically than anything, that was a one way door I could never go back to. 

Speaker 0

Man, that's, it's just that I think that would've that's so much harder than than we're giving a credit for right now. I mean, that that must have been really challenging just to just to present that slide deck. I mean, just to even bring up the conversation kudos to you for having that, you know, transparency. That that's not an easy conversation to have. So it but, yeah, I mean, that's it does seem like, you know, you're you're absolutely right. You when having options is better than having no options. Right? So Yeah. Okay. So so walk us through, I mean, how do you not look back at that four year period though and say, That was a complete waste of four years. And, I mean, how do you move forward from from there? 

Speaker 2

So one of the I mean, we've talked about kind of relationships. One of the things that I have quite frankly because I I'll put it this way. I have chosen to do things in my the last ten to fifteen years of my life that I truly, you know, it's like take a job that you would do for free kind of thing. Because you're so passionate about it. That's actually what I care about. I care about the work. In that experience, it was one of the first times I had a partnership. And I think I took from that didn't make a lot of money in the grand scheme of things now kind of looking back on it. I probably should have advocated for myself more so, but I was young and in my young twenty, you know, and you know, seeing a six paper check was like, oh my god. This is this is amazing. I'll take everything I can get. Rents are actually or my my reflection on that time was actually less about that one decision and more about I squandered the opportunity. I didn't kind of strike while the iron was hot. 

Speaker 0

I see. 

Speaker 2

And I think that's actually where my head goes more than anything because I I'm kind of at peace with the decision, but I would've with it wasn't to answer your question four years of waste. It certainly wasn't. But I think I probably at hindsight could have made it. Allow me to do different things, thereafter financially and and otherwise. The biggest asset I walked away from was not only experience. But the rolodex of people and and I was talking to some some high school kids this morning, and I used the freight rolodex, and they looked at me, like, I have no idea what you're saying. So Alright. But I but I left with a a a fairly, 

Speaker 0

a strong network of investors. 

Speaker 2

Network. Exactly. So so it was definitely not enough. It was not a a zero, above and beyond the the experience. 

Speaker 0

No. But I think it, you know, with the it correct me if I'm wrong in in your case. I mean, but for me, I think, you know, given the given time, it's easier to see that it wasn't at all, all, all, like, a wash. Right? And so it's it's hard to see those inherent benefits, right at the time. So you know, that's, I think in hindsight, yeah, you can see, okay. This wasn't all terrible. This wasn't actually four years of wasted time. Okay. So you so did you then leverage that network or, what happened in your career after that? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. I I so I was in Birmingham, Alabama. Didn't know anyone my wife and I were basically we'd just gotten married. We were gonna start a family, and we're both from the northeast. So we took the opportunity to relocate, back to my wife from Massachusetts, which is where we are now. And so not and I knew I didn't really wanna be in the hedge fund business. I I had a short stint, had a fund in in Boston, but we weren't we didn't live in the city and logistically wasn't what we wanted to do. And we met as division one rowers in in college. And so we were always kind of I like athletics. I was always the kind of help in working out and things like that. And when we relocated, my wife Googled, you know, personal training in the town that we were living in. And there was a banner out of top that said some version of, you know, automated personal training. Twenty four seven. I was like, alright. I'm an entrepreneurial guy. I like fitness. This sounds halfway decent. Like, I'm gonna go check this out. And I went and and did a sample day, or session at one of these brick and mortar locations. And I thought it was really interesting, really novel. And so I called the all the CEO and said, are you taking investors? And he said, thanks, but no. Thanks. We're fully funded, but we're starting a franchise. Do you have any interest in kinda being one of them in early franchisees, and we're gonna figure this out as as we go. And so we took the opportunity to. And so I got into fitness technology, you know, brick and mortar business, shortly after relocating. And we grew that from zero to, we had eight locations at one point. Multi seven figures. And so it was my first foray into building a service based you know, brick and mortar business, a full operation, hiring, training, marketing, and it was a it was a trial by fire. And at the time, you know, whether it be the best use of my kind of end up being part of it for almost ten years. But it was it taught me a lot of lessons about how to actually build a business well. How to, you know, put my ego aside. I was still very much trying to, like, be the alpha male and didn't work out all that well. So I learned a lot of lessons through the kind of application of the principles. And the end of the story is is, of course, I was introduced to, to Allison Layla, which, became a very transformative part of my life. 

Speaker 0

Sure. And then there's definitely still the relationship piece. I mean, through that whole, the the relationship thread through all of that. But, you know, drill down a couple of the lessons that you did learn during those ten years. I mean, look, I building a business is not easy. Becoming an entrepreneur. It's a it's a sexy term these days. Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur. And, you know, and I love it. I mean, I think entrepreneurship is fantastic. There should be, you know, more entrepreneurs out there. Yeah. I don't know that it's for everyone though. And, You know, it's not, it's it takes a special someone, I guess, to truly, have a startup and and make it successful or or or not successful, but talk to us about some of what you did learn as far as just building a business, what were some of the lessons that you took away. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. One of the most important ones I'll kinda highlight too. The first is, especially in the fitness industry, depending on what you read, there's somewhere between fifty and seventy thousand gyms in the at States. So talk about a red ocean of competition. It's like Sure. How the heck do you differentiate yourself in such a crowded marketplace? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

And we were able to do it through product. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

And it is something I carry today. I actually have a program called product profit and the idea of being using product to create your category of one, how do you both separate yourself and create, a more dynamic acquisition and retention system using the product that is already inside of your business. Because I think with a few degrees tweaking, and what that meant in our gym was we thought we were in the gym business. We weren't in the gym business. We were in the transformation business. And what that looks like is we used to say things like, let me tell you about the classes we have. Let me tell you about the equipment that we have. Mhmm. The the harsh reality that I wouldn't have known unless I put my own money in the marketing is when you hear crickets, It's not working. Right? So the second we changed it went, oh my god. Of course, it's so obvious. We're not nobody cares about the equipment. They care about the outcome. This is the old feature versus benefits conversation. The second it was we're a transformation studio It means the it's not just equipment, it's accountability coaching, it's nutrition guidance. It's, you know, all these other things. We went from charging sixty nine dollars a month and having our hard time doing it to charging on average about two hundred and seven excuse me, two hundred and seventy five dollars a month and converting twice as many prospects into clients and holding those clients twice as long as we otherwise would because we had options. So one decision. We didn't change the footprint. We didn't change the the model other than we basically said, we need to build the full bridge instead of this kind of app built feature bridge, we need a full picture of of benefits. That was the first. Mhmm. That was more of a product conversation. The second was just me as a person. And it was I had a really hard time, and and I think this is entrepreneurs. We have this double edged sword which is how do you both innovate and execute in a way that you can build a team around you. And I think you know, the fact that you're you're just finally, like, everybody's been here. Right? Yeah. I had a team Building the 

Speaker 0

airplane on the way up. Right? 

Speaker 2

Well, a hundred percent. And and if you're if you you can ask the people on your team, it's like the age old, like, I'm going to a conference. Your team hates when you come back from a conference because it's some burden of I've got twenty pages of notes, and now we're doing this and now that 

Speaker 0

Yes. All these ideas. 

Speaker 2

What I came to realize is I was unaware the impact that my I'm gonna call it schizophrenic approach to building the business, had on the team until one of my leads came to me and effectively fired me. She's like, why am I here? And I said, oh, it's because, you know, you're doing a great job, you're running this location, whatever? And she goes, then you need to leave me alone. If you trust me enough to run this thing, you need to leave me like Let me just do what I do best. Just stop changing things. And it was probably god of it. She must've sweating when she delivered the message. Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. It was the right message at the right time, and it Wow. Hit me to the core And really, because two or three years prior, one of the worst moments of my professional career was I was nominated and won a, like, thirty under thirty award in my market. 

Speaker 0

And I 

Speaker 2

came to find out that one of my GMs nominated me and supported me to win the award. And I didn't even thank her, and I didn't invite her to the event. 

Speaker 0

And I was waiting for the the worst part of it. Gotcha. 

Speaker 2

We're talking fifteen years later almost. 

Speaker 0

Is when you found out? 

Speaker 2

Or No. I feel like, like, as I sit today, this was almost fifteen inches. Oh, got it. Got it. Got it. Understood. I still look back on it as, like, what type of person were you at that time to be that tone deaf in a business. And if I hadn't done it and if I hadn't, like, literally had the scars, I don't think I ever would have come to those conclusions. And I and I really mean that and like putting your own money into something and building a team and getting learning those lessons, I could have never designed that as a course, but it was like Sure. That experience gave me the lessons, and you're gonna get the lesson until you learn it. And this is one of those times where, like, it just it choked me up even today because, like, it just like, as a person, it just wasn't who I was, and it took over part of my psychology, and and it was the right reset at the right time, which allowed me to then be successful thereafter. 

Speaker 0

Well, now our our listeners can learn from that. And and I know that you I'm sure that affects how you do your coaching consulting these days as well. But the the I think you know, not to beat a dead horse, but the with those two lessons that you just listed there, you just identified and and and walked through with us, walked us through the, you know, it's still relationships. So you you said you called it a product lesson, but, I mean, I shouldn't say, but And I would say it's it's even really it's a people thing. So I I get your point, but it, you know, it it really instead of focusing on the gyms and what you offer, you're you're you're really more, you know, switching your focus to the client, right, and what how they're gonna be transformed. As you said, a transformation, it's all about transformation. But again, that's relationship. That's people focused. Right? It's not the equipment. It's not, you know, what whatever your pricing is, whatever else it's it's the the people that you're serving. And then secondly, again, people that you're serving, your team. I mean, thankfully, you had a good enough relationship with your your manager, general manager to that she felt comfortable doing that. Clearly you'd built that that trust level for her to be able to do that. But, so I think those are still they're they're key lessons both being human and and relationship based. So that's that's fantastic. So and then from I know we're we're starting to run out of time, and I do have some some questions that are gonna fire off. But, drill down a little more on the the Hormozy kind of relationship and how that you know, what what what did that time period look like for you? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So it it began with a call to him, as I was part of this kinda fitness franchise. I ended up buying the franchise, in two thousand eighteen. I bought out the prior owners and I effectively said we need a better business model. And Jim Long should kind of just started to take traction, started to get some traction at this point. And, somebody else in our system had implemented some of the gym launch kind of, principles. And so I said, okay. Be a better business model. It's working over here. Do I want do I feel good about taking those principles and telling everybody else what to do as if I came up with it himself? And I sent a blind email to Alex, and I said, Hey, you don't know me. I own this fitness business Somebody else has followed your guidance and has done decently well with it. I now basically own this franchise, this license, and I'm gonna tell everybody what to do, and I'm gonna basically rip you off. So instead of doing that, can we do a JV? That was the holy mails. 

Speaker 0

So you you blackmailed Alex for Mozy. Basically, you blackmailed 

Speaker 2

I I I I I kindly said, can you help me do the right thing here? And, and and we jumped on the phone and and we we build the we build model, the gym launch model for, for our for our gyms. And then so we got to know each other and then six months later, Jim launched launch its own supplement brand called prestige Labs. And they had, like, a little sales competition at the launch, and the top ten people got a trip to meet down to Austin to meet Alex, and we were in the top ten. So I blew down. And imagine if you will, a dining table, literally in their living room. Ten gym owners, including myself, and Alex and Layla doing like a ad hoc strategy session. So, you know, do you need help with marketing? Do you need help with product? Like, what's going on? Like, let's help solve your biggest problem. And I was one of the last people to go. And after about five minutes, it got down to like you don't really need to be a gym owner, and use the phrase you're in the wrong opportunity vehicle. You know, you should sell your gyms. Like, okay. You're probably right because, like, I I was just I'm exhausted. I just it just wasn't, and I was all in the morning with franchise, complacent. And he was like, you're just too you're don't take this long way. He's like, you're just too smart for doing what you're doing. Like, you belong to not be working together. So I basically peeled off our gyms. And a couple of months later, he called me on a whim asking for advice on something. I gave him some advice not knowing whether it was good or bad or indifferent. And then we called back and said, hey, you know, we were looking to hire somebody in our executive team. I'd love to well, kind of the conversations we've had. Would you be interested in coming on board? And so I joined, like, two months later, and the literal and proverbial hit the ground running because, Jim launch at that point was on its rocketship trajectory from zero to over thirty million a year in revenue. 

Speaker 0

Incredible. Yeah. I mean, I highly recommend the listener go if you if you don't know who Alex from Rosie is or have not heard him tell a story, it's it's amazing. You know, both from the the gym launch part of it as well as aqua acquisition dot com, which I know is more of their focus nowadays. But that's that's yeah. I mean, it's so hard. Like, it sounds like you were running around running ragged, you know, running the gyms and, it's so hard to see it from the outside, and then you have somebody who's kind of it's so important to get that that perspective whether they're, like, in a mentor position or not. That can be so so valuable, to have that relationship. But, and then so what's What was the not not not the end of gym launch, but how did the the kind of gym launch go into acquisition dot com? What did that look like from your perspective? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I was there through kind of the towards the towards the end of of gym launch. And as for anyone who's not familiar, acquisition dot com is effectively a portfolio of companies that Alex and they will acquire and consult for and help grow. Their sweet spot is ten million dollar companies plus or minus ten million plus to get to a hundred million, two hundred and fifty million. And and the main levers they use are Layla's a an operator unlike any other one that I've met. So call it People Systems. She is phenomenal. She's probably the best in in in the industry how to Alex is just a brain, a a just an unbelievable market sales, product positioning, things like that. So the right opportunity vehicle is the larger stuff. As I've said a couple of times, I have a sweet, a a soft spot probably for the kind of closely held smaller, you know, entrepreneur who's trying to kinda get on a solid footing. The five hundred thousand to two million a year in revenue kinda service business. Is where my sweet spot is. So the the kind of split was, I was a father of three. I wanted to get some some balance back is what it allowed me to do. And get back to kind of helping my ideal would be to help up five hundred thousand or a million dollar revenue business, get to ten, And then I already know where to send them. Like, that would be the ideal case for me. Yeah. Absolutely. And and and that's and that's kind of weak. 

Speaker 0

Got it. 

Speaker 2

That's that's how the hand and glove what would have actually happened. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Well, and everybody's priorities are different. And, you know, everyone's circumstance, I don't think they have kids that I don't I don't hear your Alex. I don't hear him talk much about work life balance. Okay. So, yeah. But it's it's amazing. 

Speaker 2

We're both individually e He has this point of view. You know, he works all the time, which I fully appreciate and and witnessed. I think I'm in my now early forties, with three kids. I I've just always believed as I kinda getting back to my earlier stories, like, I just wanna be present, and so, you know, it's it's afforded me kind of the last eighteen months or so since, since Jim wants was sold to be able to to kinda be be the person I wanna be in, in in relationship to my family. 

Speaker 0

So you've touched on it already, but what is your talk a little more tactically as far as what you offer currently for know, who's your ideal client? You already mentioned it somewhat, but, and what services do you provide? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So I I am a true, kind of, consultant I I do coaching as well. A lot of people use those interchangeably. 

Speaker 0

But what's what's the difference, actually? Let's let's drill down on that. What is the difference? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So coaching is kinda defined as, you know, helping you with belief systems and things like that kind of like asking you the questions so you can come to the answers on your on your own. Consulting in my opinion is more of an, execution implementation role. So I can both come up with the idea and the plan and help you execute it. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

I am a an action taker. So call it a high level, you know, executor. Yeah. And the reason why I do both but primarily anchor in consulting is because of my model is I work one on one. I have a a one on one program have a group program. The one on one program is all performance driven. So going forward, it's basically If I deliver value to the company Mhmm. I will get paid out of increased revenue and increase enterprise value. Traditional consultants are pay me x dollars. And the issue that I have with that is it's not tied to outcome. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. I see. 

Speaker 2

So I'm I'm basically aligning myself with ownership and saying if my presence helps build the business bigger, then great. And if it doesn't, then it doesn't. And I don't get paid for my time. I also have a group program, which is, I called the cocreator community, and it is based on my belief that entrepreneurism, entrepreneurs in general can be really isolated characters. You know, we're in our own lane. We're kind of in our own heads a lot of times. And so I have a group posting program around the idea of kind of cocreation, co collaboration. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Gets the best out of multiple most of us. So it's support and ideation old at the same time. 

Speaker 0

I think that I mean, the the need for community is only gonna continue to grow, and it's just it is. It can be, you know, it's not a not a sob story for you or me or any other entrepreneur, but it's, you know, it it can be very lonely. Even if you're busy, right, even if you're constantly running around, It's, you know, it is it is pretty isolating can be. So that's that's awesome. That community element that you that you offer. So do you So you said service based business. Like, what's what's, like, paint the picture of your ideal client, in more detail? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So service based meaning, I I don't really get involved with, like, texturing or things like that. Anything that is kind of true service, b to b or b to c, is is my core. Five hundred k to about two to three million in revenue. So kind of and the reason why that's relevant is because I like to work with people had a couple of iterations of the business, like finding product market bid is kind of already in progress, not just here's a piece of paper. We open up 

Speaker 0

the audience 

Speaker 2

and it and and it works I think I could be more impactful once we have some data to go off of. But what I have found, and I think it's remarkable to see, you know, there's that you know, in our in our shared, contact of of Chevron, he says, you know, transformations don't happen in isolation. 

Speaker 0

That's right. That's right. 

Speaker 2

And is is a famous quote of his. And like you can't read the label from inside the bottle. Yeah. And so it is simply the idea of there are so many businesses I'm a big car guy. I'm a huge formula one fan to use an a car racing analogy. It's like everybody's focused on, you know, how many cylinders we're firing on and how big the engine is. But reality, the only thing that matters is how much power goes to the wheels. So I act like a better transmission. You keep doing what you're doing. It's not doing more. It's actually doing less. We just translate that through kind of tweaking things, moving things a couple of degrees. So that we make more progress per unit of measure, you know, energy that goes in. And that is how I personally believe is the right way to build a business like that. 

Speaker 0

It's fantastic. Really good. Awesome. Are you ready for some rapid fire questions, Tim? 

Speaker 2

Absolutely. Shoot. 

Speaker 0

Alright. Tim Colise, what is One thing that people misunderstand about you? 

Speaker 2

Most people see me as, like, a die hard capitalist meaning, like, I only care about money. And I actually believe that money is a byproduct of being really valuable in a very specific way to as you know, to a to a specific audience. 

Speaker 0

It's really good. I'll just leave that there. What's one of your biggest failures or regrets? Something that we haven't talked about that you'd love to have a do over with? 

Speaker 2

I wish in my early twenties I had hired a therapist. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

And I mean that because the idea of, I think I grew up and I still, you know, was very much in the paradigm of, like, you have to be the smartest person and the smartest person who can withstand the most torture winds. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

And I am now of the belief that if I had a better handle on my thought process and my, you know, with my thinking, emotional intelligence, all of those things from an earlier age. I think I probably would have made certain choices in different ways or at least treated different situations, in a way that probably would have been been more optimal. 

Speaker 0

Got it. If you could have coffee with any historical figure, whom would you you choose? 

Speaker 2

That's a great question. 

Speaker 0

They could still be alive today. 

Speaker 2

Oh, I'm, historical figure. That's a really good question. I'm trying to think. 

Speaker 0

I can revisit. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. No. I'm my my first inclination goes to, like, a business you know, tighten of some kind. Yeah. But I have to say, like, I I I feel like now information is so readily available probably lesser. Yeah. So it'd probably be, you know, a thought leader of some kind, probably a philosopher or something along along there. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

That's good. Yeah. If you were given ten million dollars tomorrow, Tim, what would you do with it? Not for a business? I mean, you could use it for your business if you wanted, No strings attached. 

Speaker 2

I would take it and hire mentors that are a couple of steps ahead of me and then build a content team to help me build the most amazing differentiated authentically build brand in the market. 

Speaker 0

Love that. What is one challenge that that may be really you may have just answered it, but what is one challenge that you're facing in your in your business right now? 

Speaker 2

I've always struggled with controlling my impulse to kind of try new things. I'm actually right now, like, trying to really be diligent about my thought process and what I wanna do and how I wanna do it. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. I I know, Sharon constantly talks about we must do fewer things. 

Speaker 2

That is that is my challenge right now is to to whittle down and find the Paretto's law version of where I am right now. What's the eighty that's the twenty percent delivering the eighty percent. 

Speaker 0

I can totally relate to that way too many things that I've created. That that take my attention. In your opinion, what's one of the most important personality traits that someone in entrepreneurship needs? 

Speaker 2

Growth mindset. And grit. If I can ask if I can use two. 

Speaker 0

Those are two. It would be. That's a great combo. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Believe the future is better than present and making sure that you've got the personality type to see it through. 

Speaker 0

That's great. What is a book or two that you could recommend, Tim? 

Speaker 2

Oh, right now my favorite book is buyback your time by Dan Martel. It's a must read. And then another one that has been hugely influential for me is, ready fire aim, by Masterison, especially entrepreneurs, it it is a great book to, like, how to think about building a business and this idea of it's not just bigger team more, more, more, it's actually about efficiency and and how you can win in certain certain memories. 

Speaker 0

Love it. I just bought a book called indestructible. I wanna can't wait to dive into it. It it it is in the same vein as being well, he actually pushes back against the term focus, but, eliminating distractions and and, gaining traction that way. So I'm excited to read that one. What's one question that I have not asked that you wish I had? 

Speaker 2

Oh, good question. Men mentorship is super important, and it's just the one thing that I think regardless of, like, as I think about any adversity that I've had, one of the values that I hold, especially with clients or even with mentors of my own, is I think the a lot of people misunderstand what the value is of having a mentor. Like, I think a lot of it's focused on knowledge and tactics and insights and stuff like that. I think for me, the thing that I would that I highlight most is a great mentor can lend their confidence in you and your confidence as well. 

Speaker 0

That's really good. I love that. 

Speaker 2

And I think that is underappreciated because it's actually not about whether you're right or wrong. You need to change things. Like, sometimes it's just your tank of, like, confidence can run low. And, like, I on more than one occasion, it's, like, You just have to keep going. I actually believe you're on the right track. And sometimes that figurative certainty is actually what manifests the real success. 

Speaker 0

That's really good. I actually just hired a business coach myself a couple months ago, and he he refers to himself as the chief energy officer. He needs he's got a lot of energy and ease, but I can relate to what you're saying. Because, you know, some of the business struggles inherently lead to know, I don't know if it's a lack of it's just lack of confidence, I guess, or whether or not this thing's gonna work out and just having that support system there has been fantastic for me. So couldn't agree more. Tim, where can our listeners find you online? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Websites tim kelis dot com, t I m c a l I s e dot com, and then on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook. I'm on all three. And I've got a great VIP community. It's free. With nuggets that I dropped, you know, a couple times a week, based on, real life examples that I'm working with clients on. 

Speaker 0

Fantastic. Well, Tim, I think, this has been it's been fantastic. I mean, we we've covered a lot. You I appreciate you walking us through some of your backstory and You know, I know for me, I pulled out a whole lot about relationships and the importance of importance of relationships and There were several other important threads and but, I do appreciate you spending your time with us. So thanks a lot to him. 

Speaker 2

I appreciate you having me. Thank you so much. 

Speaker 0

Absolutely. And to the listener, thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time. If you would, please like, subscribe, share the show, and, check us out on adversity to abundance dot com. That's the number two. Adversity to abundance dot com. Thanks, everyone. Take care. 

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 at a time, we can change the world. See you next