From Poverty to Pop Stardom: Christian Ray Flores on Making Millions and Navigating Career Breakthroughs

Speaker 0

You have a fantastic episode waiting for you here. Christian Ray Flores, who's an entrepreneur, an international recording artist, a philanthropist, and a high performance coach, joins us. He's got a a fascinating story, a personal journey that he's, that is is his life, has been his life. He, was a child refugee in Chile and has lived in many different countries, speaks four languages fluently, was a very successful pop star in Eastern Europe. Christian grew up in extreme poverty and made millions in music. What we really focus on in this episode are transitions in life, career breakthroughs, basically, and how to approach, you know, following your passion or your intuition versus following the market and what, you know, people will pay you for, when to be an entrepreneur, when to take a salaried position. So for any of you any of you real estate investors or real estate entrepreneurs out there who are considering a transition in life, maybe you don't like your job, should you just quit tomorrow, and go full time into real estate? You know, this is this episode is not specifically in the weeds regarding the mechanics of real estate. Christian does not have a lot of real estate experience, but he does have a master's degree in economics. And just and he's he's also a a pastor and, has just a lot of spiritual wisdom, and he's just articulate. He's also a an author as well as a podcast host, and he has a newsletter. And like I said, he's a coach. Just a very wise person. And so I think you're gonna find a lot that you can learn from, you know, as far as from his experience as well as a lot of inspiration from his story. And he's all about scale and impact. So, you know, how to how to take content and reach millions of people, how to really, you know, just impact people for good. He's very focused on serving the poor, which I love. And we also talk in the beginning about his his book called Little Book of Big Reasons to Love America. Man, there's so much to this one. I'm definitely gonna listen to this one myself for sure, and I think you're gonna love it. 

Speaker 1

It. From adversity to abundance, hosted by entrepreneur and seasoned real estate investor, Jamie Bateman, is the ultimate guide for active and passive investors seeking clarity, mental fitness, and the confidence to make inspired decisions in the world of real estate. With a decade plus of investing experience across various niches and a background as a combat veteran, former army officer, and multimillion dollar mortgage note company owner, Jamie brings a wealth of knowledge and inspiring stories to each episode. Through weekly episodes featuring insightful interviews with industry leaders and solo explorations of mindset and strategy, listeners will uncover actionable advice and tips to overcome challenges and build lasting financial success. Whether you're a seasoned investor or just starting, from adversity to abundance is your road map to turning obstacles into opportunities and achieving financial freedom. 

Speaker 0

Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the From Adversity to Abundance podcast. I'm your host, Jamie Bateman. And today, we have with us Christian Ray Flores. Christian, how are you doing today? 

Speaker 2

Jamie, thanks for having me. I'm I'm doing really good. I'm excited about this conversation. 

Speaker 0

Absolutely. This is gonna be great. We were chatting a little bit beforehand, and I'm I'm I just was like, I gotta hit record because this is he he's gonna he's been saying too many good things not to hit record. So, I'm excited. We're we're gonna talk. You have a very, very unique story or definitely a unique story, I should say, and and it's really interesting for sure. And you've got perspective that a lot of us don't have necessarily. And we're gonna talk a lot about transitions and breakthroughs in life, and so I'm excited to dive in. But for the listener who may not be familiar with you, Christian, tell us a little bit about who you are today and what you're up to today. 

Speaker 2

Today, I live in Austin, Texas with my wife and three daughters and my dog. And, I, run a couple of things. I run, a personal brand and branding strategy company called Third Drive Media, and I run a high performance coaching, program called Exponential Life. We also have this effort, overseas in Africa to lift kids out of poverty called Ascend Academy. So those are the main focal points. 

Speaker 0

Nice. That sounds like you've it's some pretty important stuff you're working on. And I know you have a master's degree in economics, and you are fluent in four languages, and you've got a lot of, different cultural experience in it. Like I said, a lot of perspective that I think a lot of us could could really appreciate at this point. And you are the host of Headspace by Christian Rae Flores, and and you're also the author of Little Book of Big Reasons to Love America. Before we jump into your backstory, talk a little bit about that book. 

Speaker 2

It it's just a result of just many conversations over the years. I've been in in the States for twenty plus years now. And, of course, I visited many times before, but we moved when we moved, I was just so, I I was so appreciative and grateful as an immigrant, you know, to be in a place that offers just unfair advantages, just completely off the charts beyond of what most of the world offers. And I would say those things to my kids, to my wife. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

And she she over over time, she was like, you know, these are actually really good insights, and you should write it down someday. And I'm like, yeah. Someday, maybe. Until, I think, maybe maybe a couple years, ago, she said, you know you know that book that I've been telling you to write? Mhmm. This is about a this is a really good time because there's so much, almost like self loathing in America Yeah. 

Speaker 0

That For sure. 

Speaker 2

That I think people would really appreciate to have an optimistic view from an immigrant. You know? So and sort of the the subtitle of the book is a love letter from an immigrant, basically, highlighting that. So 

Speaker 0

Yeah. That's really good. I mean and, again, there's no perfect country or anything like that. We're not even close to that. But but, man, so many so many of us who were born in the states really don't appreciate what we have here. So, can you name one or two of the advantages you're talking about? 

Speaker 2

Well, I would say, there's ten chapters, ten reasons. And by the way, if you buy the book, there's there's, like, color, there's illustrations, there's there's QR codes, multimedia sort of connections of it. So it's very eclectic that way. Mhmm. But I would say that the number one for me is the entrepreneurial spirit. Mhmm. Love that. Be because it's sort of this and I I highlight the whole book actually is about a cultural baseline or a collective consciousness. Right? How this group of people, this large group of people, some of the the very distinctive ways they think. Mhmm. And how culture shapes prosperity country, all those things. That's why, for example, one of the critiques of America that is, I think, fair is, like, nation building. It never works because we we go, don't you, you know people of Afghanistan, you know, don't you don't you want a, b, c, and d, which is the answer to us from America, or it's very obvious, and they go, yeah. We don't know what you're talking about. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

Right. You know? Yeah. So but in the same way, the advantage of having this whole nation, three hundred fifty million people Mhmm. Of whom so many are eager to to to invent something, start something, try something, the percentage of people who think that way is staggering compared to most of the world. Right? Mhmm. And I think you you can find partners, employees, cofounders, investors, people like that Yeah. In America in in ways that you couldn't possibly find in other places. So that's one. Mhmm. Like, on the opposite side maybe of the of the of the spectrum is this anti fragility, this embracing of mistakes and failures Mhmm. As a stepping stone towards success. Okay. That's also actually quite unusual. You know? Yeah. Culturally, it's my Right. Right. Especially old sort of highly structured societies with a lot of history, they ossify. Right? So you you mistakes are considered shameful. Right? Sure. Failure is shameful, all of those things. So less people try new things. Right? And, so so the ability to to go and we in America, we we write books. We write biographies about people who failed three or four or five times. Yeah. Some of our most iconic people are we we highlight their failures as the the journey to success. Right? Mhmm. And and that, again, is a Yeah. Is a huge difference culturally speaking of Yeah. 

Speaker 0

I I, and we'll don't wanna get stuck here, but I I, spent a year in Iraq working with the Iraqi army and, and and a lot of, you know, civilians as well. And, just both of those points that you just talked about resonated in that regard where it's like, no. No. Don't you see? This is this is the way. And it was very difficult to 

Speaker 2

Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Exactly. Get the Iraqi army and and and everyone to buy into what we think is the the the way to go. Right? And and then sec secondly, for sure, there was not a lot of, like, taking ownership of of mistakes or just or, you know, even just accepting that mistakes are okay. And so there's a lot of, you know, just sort 

Speaker 2

of yeah. It's remarkable. And now we're immersed in the American culture, so we don't see that that's distinctive. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

Right. And so that's sort of that's something I highlight quite a bit. And then the other thing I highlight at the end of every chapter, so it's ten chapters, ten reasons to love America. Mhmm. I basically say, look, this great strength of America is being challenged or corroded by this other thing. Mhmm. And I want you to pay attention to it. Mhmm. So that's basically Yeah. The general the general sort of flow of ideas. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. No. I'm gonna check that out. So, let's jump into your backstory. I know you've been through several career transitions and and have some a lot of ups and downs and and some breakthroughs and and, I guess we'll say different seasons in your life. Jump back to the the first one that you and I briefly spoke about before we hit record. What's going on in your life at that time? And and, you know, talk about that that initial transition you made. 

Speaker 2

So the my first professional breakthrough, I was twenty two years old. I think twenty two, twenty three. Mhmm. And, basically, what happened is I, let me give you a little bit of a backstory because it would make more sense. Right? So I come I grew up in literally four different countries and three continents. By age seven, I had moved to four countries, three continents. 

Speaker 0

Wow. 

Speaker 2

And by age nine, I had learned four, four languages. But in that, there was also a lot of suffering. When I was a refugee child, when I was five years old in Latin America, We ended up in Germany, then Russia, then Africa. And I grew up in Africa, so I saw civil war developed there and just all of the stuff that goes with that. A lot of a lot of lack, poverty, extreme poverty, witnessed and also experienced some of it as well. And then my because my mom is Russian, my dad's Chilean, after they're divorced, we moved to Russia, with mom. And, basically, we moved to Russia after being very international people speaking four different languages into a very rigid sort of zero opportunity kind of space called the Soviet Union. Right? So, I mean, entrepreneurship is literally illegal. Right? And then we see the whole thing just completely implode. You you know, I'm twenty one years old. The whole thing comes crashing down. There's a free market situation that was brief, unfortunately, maybe, like, a decade or so. Right? Like, Wild West free market, complete Mhmm. Overalls. Right? And, and I find myself with this dilemma in front of me. I had just graduated, college with a master's degree in economics. Most of my friends are making the very wise and logical decision choice of going into finance, trade, banking, academia. Right? Those are the choices. I was musical my whole life. So my old my passion was always music, dancing. I was a breakdancer. I had a great voice since I was, like, four years old. I, you know, I never stopped doing music. But it was never sort of a career option. But then with this completely new up almost like new world. Right? Everything is completely open. 

Speaker 0

Opened up. Yep. 

Speaker 2

I was like, maybe I should try this. And of course, on this on the surface, that's just a dumb idea because the odds of success are so low. And and making that decision was, like, was pivotal because I basically jumped in going, I'm all in. I'm young. I can live in a shoe box. I'm not gonna regret for the rest of my life if if I don't try it. I I have this deep deep intuition. And I think more people my point is more people should try should trust deep intuition. Okay. Not impulsive behavior, but Mhmm. You know, there's almost like a whisper of your soul. Kind of here. Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Man, this this this just feels too right, and I know that on the surface doesn't make any sense. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. And and It's more spiritual and, like you said, soul based than than than logical. Right? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. And I basically went into music, a year after I started in earnest trying to pursue a professional career. I had, two or three, labels offer me contracts. I was on national television by the end of the the year, then I was doing small clubs menus. By the end of two years, I had two or three big hits, radio, TV. I was playing sports arenas. By the end of three years, I had a number one hit, and Boris Yeltsin was running against the for reelection against the communist who are coming back, and they used my song as the anthem for his campaign. And that was the last time the communist actually had a chance of winning in in Russia. So the and, of course, the irony of it was that my parents were communist and Marxist. So that made for some awkward conversations. 

Speaker 0

I can imagine. You 

Speaker 2

know? You know, so so I've had this massive career for about ten years across fifteen different countries, doing music, and it was just one of the amazing most amazing experiences of my life. But, I guess the pivotal point is how do you make that choice? 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. So speak to the so a lot of our listeners are real estate entrepreneurs or real estate investors, into, you know, finance and investing and that kind of thing. It it you know, even if we're not talking about that specifically, they have, you know, transitions in their life and decision points. Right? Yeah. Exactly. Speak to that person who maybe is in college or fresh out of college and is trying to figure out, do I trust my do I just follow my passion and do what I what I like doing? Like, you know, or do I think about the marketplace and what people will actually pay for, and reward me for? You know, because I've, you know, I've seen where people take a passion and and ruin it. They take a hobby and and try to monetize that, and then they hate that hobby and and and then they didn't monetize it well, and then it just didn't turn out well. Or or the other extreme where you're just chasing the almighty dollar, and you're not doing what what you love. So where's that balance, and how do you how do you how do you look at that? 

Speaker 2

And what you hinted at, Jamie, is that the there there it's not binary. Right? Mhmm. Yeah. It's more nuanced than that. And, I would say on the on the on from the standpoint of passion, the reason why I think people should pursue passion Mhmm. But definitely temperate with wisdom and guidance. Guidance is really the honestly, the key to every navigating anything. Right? Have a coach, have a mentor, have people who have been there before before you have Yeah. Who can see around corners. I would say well, the reason the the case for passion is that you're gonna stick with it longer. Right. You know? And you're gonna and you and you're gonna obsess over something because passion really sort of fuels obsession. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So so I think that's definitely a case to be made for passion because you can just work so hard and iterate and and tweak incessantly. You this you live and breathe this thing. I mean, the odds are very high that you're gonna get real good at it, basically. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Much much higher. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

So for me, that was sort of one of the things. It was like I I I worked for this international trade company as an almost like an intern. Right? I was just bored out of it just I was so bored out of my mind. And it's not that I'm not smart. It's not that I don't have the right education or even the capabilities. Just You 

Speaker 0

weren't passionate about it. 

Speaker 2

I want yeah. So I it's hard to obsess over something like that. Right? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. And that's how you that's how you build well, I've heard that, you know, where does confidence come from? Confidence comes from competence 

Speaker 2

Mhmm. 

Speaker 0

And competence comes from reps. And so what you're saying is you you put in a lot of you really can only put in a lot of rep quality reps if you have that passion. 

Speaker 2

That's right. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Right? So and yeah. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. And and I think the other the other dimension, I think that's where I think real estate might might tie into it Mhmm. On a foundational level. Right? And you and I spoke that, man, I I I wish I I wish I had done real estate investment early on, and I didn't do it, and I was terrible. I did really bad with real estate. And so the people that are listening, if you feel a calling for this, get your reps in, do this thing. Real estate is a great space. I would love to get into real estate and actually be good at it, and I think I will. But the similarity, the parallels, for example, university, something like that. Right? Yeah. But there's stability, there's predictability. You I mean, you will be hired. You're very employable. You know, I spoke four different languages, all kinds of ways that I could do it. So it's it's almost like the bird in your hand type of situation. Right? Like, you know, I know this is gonna be good. Well, the thing is the probability of that thing being basically a salary person of increasing with unlimited upside is very low. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

Right. Permission have capital, and there's obviously there's other ways to do it. But with with music, with media, which is actually it's interesting that I thought of that then, but it's now a reality with, content creators. Mhmm. Yeah. It's like this this massive wave. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

It's basically like, look. If you can't code, do media. Why? Because it's an infinitely scalable resource. You know? Sure. Yeah. Yeah. You and I are having conversation. We could just have coffee at a coffee shop. Mhmm. But a few hundred or a few thousand people might be listening to the same exact conversation. 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. 

Speaker 2

It feels like they're having coffee with us. 

Speaker 0

Right. Absolutely. 

Speaker 2

How remarkable. Amazing. So sort of the same thing with music is that, man, I can write some songs. Maybe they'll suck, but maybe if I'll get better at it. And that's exactly what happened is that, you know, I was so so passionate. Obviously, I was gifted and also there's some luck. All of those things, but you sort of create your luck if you pursue a direction in life. And then eventually, I I sold millions of albums, millions, millions and millions and millions of albums. So something that you wrote, like, on your kitchen table or in the subway. Right? Yeah. Like, oh, that's a good idea. Then you go to literally another country where people speak another language, and they will sing the song back to you. Ten thousand people will sing that song. You know, so that's sort of the the beauty of Amazing. Having a vision that is scalable, that will yeah. Maybe in the beginning it's gonna be hard. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

And it's gonna pay off over and over and over again. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. 

Speaker 2

It's like writing software and music is very similar. Right? It's like a SaaS pro a SaaS model of 

Speaker 0

of business. Right. Yeah. And then and not that there's any guarantee that someone listening is gonna have the same success that you did, but you're right. There's unlimited potential in that type of sort of one to many, you know, just of content. And yeah. And I'm sure in the early days, you you struggled. I'm sure. Right? You didn't have immediate success issues. Right? 

Speaker 2

No. No. I mean, I and I not only did I struggle, I sucked. You know? So I was just not good. Right? So so but if you see if you see sort of the the the general broad strokes of a of a trajectory 

Speaker 0

Yeah. That's 

Speaker 2

sort of what I'm trying to get to. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

Let let's say in a real estate Yeah. Go, okay. I can I can I can invest, let's say, in, you know, multifamily, you know Yeah? Properties or luxury properties or commercial or whatever. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

And then I know how this can spread. I know the advantages that I have, the the unfair edge that I may have if I Yeah. You know, teach get the the business model this way as opposed to what everybody else does. Right. Because you obsess, you start finding these niches and these gaps in the market that may that can be extraordinary. Like, for example, what you're doing right now Yeah. Is you're just sort of mining for wisdom and finding parallels in somebody else's story 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

In a in a medium that is scalable. And, of course, as as somebody who does real estate, you are now influencing the the mindset and the thought process of, you know, so many people who are into real estate. Mhmm. Mhmm. Okay. Well, that's a business model. Right? Yeah. You know, they're not paying you exactly, but they're not they're not paying you by, let's say, memberships, but they are giving you their time. They respect you. They recognize you. They start trusting your voice. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

So these are all all all ways to scale Yeah. Yeah. The passion that you have and accelerate it. 

Speaker 0

Right. And to your point about the salary and and finances as an example, it's just it is limited. Right? You're trading directly trading your time for money. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. 

Speaker 0

And that's fine, and that's not bad. And and that can be a great way to, you know, save and maybe accumulate, capital to invest that may be able to then, you know, explode, if you will. And, and and, also, I think it's one thing I like to remember when, you know, when I'm thinking about career advice, either for myself or someone else, but, is, the fact that, you know, life can have seasons. And just because you made a decision a few years ago doesn't mean that that's a permanent decision. And I know in your case, Christian, in your story, you've 

Speaker 2

Yeah. 

Speaker 0

You've gone through several seasons in life. And to me, that that just helps take a lot of the pressure off. Yes. It's an important decision for sure. I'm not minimizing that. They know you went into music for many years, and that that's obviously paid off for you and was a a a great move. But even if you tried it and it didn't work so well financially or with the the album sold, etcetera, That doesn't mean that it's it's just like a, you know, death sentence for your your No. 

Speaker 2

No. You're not. For your own. You'll you'll learn something from it. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. 

Speaker 0

Absolutely. So how did you transition away from music? What did what did that next, breakthrough look like for you? 

Speaker 2

So thank you for asking. And this is this is actually the I would say the number one reason why people enroll in my coaching program 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

Is people are in between seasons. Mhmm. So there there's a season where you become comfortable, you master the season, and then things start shifting from the inside out. Right? Or from the outside, and sometimes the market changes, whatever. Right? And you you have this sense of, you know, contraction and confusion. You don't have clarity, so you ask for guidance. Yeah. And I think that's very I think what I want to say to to people who listen to you to your podcast is this is perfectly natural, and Mhmm. We're sort of tempted to feel that it inadequate when that happens. Like, you know? But that that's actually just the, you know, the very pattern of life. It's just hardwired into it. In between even sort of seasons that are completely maybe self created or, that we we want to pursue something new or different or an evolution of what we're doing Mhmm. I see, these three seasons that are just universal. I'll tell you what they are just to give you an idea, and then I'll illustrate with the story. So the first the first season that all of us have is is the season of students. Right? 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

So we're basically not participating in life as adults. Right? We're we're sort of looking from the outside in. And we're going to, you know, we're going to school, we're going to college, we're Yeah. Learning about the thing that we think Yeah. 

Speaker 0

You're consuming information. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. And we're we're not but we're not doing the thing. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

Then what what what happens is then you become a practitioner of the thing. So Sure. You you become you start adulting and, you know, I have three daughters that went to college. You know, two out of three are out of college. And they are you know, just the transition is just so hard. There's they they they couldn't wait to get out of the house. And then once you start adulting, you start realizing adulting is hard. Right? So so you have you have a practitioner, but also you have the benefits. You go, oh my gosh. I'm, you know, I've never made this much money in my whole life. And Mhmm. Well, a few a few years passed by and that money that made you sort of exuberant with joy no longer satisfies you. The the opportunities that you have, the car you drive, the sort of creative freedom you you don't enjoy, because you're just an employee sort of low level trying to get some mastery. Mhmm. They don't set aside because now you're good at something. Mhmm. And that's the transition from practitioner to mass to master. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Because now you want control. You want creative control. You wanna start your own thing or, you know, you you want to start a new department, write a book, etcetera etcetera. Right? You wanna stop playing small stages and start playing bigger stages. Yeah. You want the respect you deserve because you feel like you're good at this. Mhmm. And that's another transition. And then what happens is, like and this is probably the hardest one because you have respect. You usually have some money. You know, it's all relative, obviously. Right? 

Speaker 0

Sure. 

Speaker 2

But comparable to a practitioner, a master has creative control, some money, respect status, maybe a family. You have to, like, this fuller life. Yeah. And then but you're always the pay the the so the cost of that is you're much busier. Complexities are higher. Mhmm. This the consequences of your of your decisions are much, 

Speaker 0

more Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Greater. Right? 

Speaker 0

Bigger problems to solve, greater consequences. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. So people start plateauing and going in circles around that time as 

Speaker 0

well. Interesting. 

Speaker 2

And then by the end of it, what happens is your even your desires change. Right? Yeah. The thing that that gets you fired up as a, as a sort of a practitioner who wants to be a master is you just wanna hustle. You wanna build stuff. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. Sure. 

Speaker 2

And then I have so many people coming to the program who was like, you know what? I've built something, and, honestly, I don't have the passion to build anymore. Right. That's that's a sign that you're transitioning into sage. 

Speaker 0

That's the fourth one. The fourth one is sage. 

Speaker 2

Sage. And, basically, your even your desires from the inside out Yeah. Are to pass something on, to teach wisdom Sure. To leave a legacy. Right. What does this mean exactly? 

Speaker 0

Spend time 

Speaker 2

with family, all of those things. Grandkids. So so those are sort of natural things. And then on top of that, you have other things that are just, like, personal to you. So the story I was gonna tell you is that I'm I'm this is probably, I would say, maybe six years, seven years into my music career. I'm on a train with my entourage, and we're going from city to city. We're playing big venues. Mhmm. And, I remember just having this profound I was alone in in the car. For some reason, I I was traveling with, like, twenty plus people at the time. And and I was just in deep thought, and I was looking out. And I'm I remember the thought was, is this all there is for me? 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

And I caught myself going, seriously? You're say you're asking that question? Like, you know, like, you know, how many musicians get to live this kind of life? And it's, like, zero point one percent. Right? Yeah. And, and but the truth is it was a it was a it was almost like a deeper intuition. Again, a deep knowing Yeah. 

Speaker 0

A sense of dissatisfaction. Yeah. You weren't happy, and then you felt guilty for not being happy. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Exact that's exact yeah. Exactly. So it's like and that's I I'm thinking of your audience right now, and maybe some of them are sort of mature real estate investors Right. And they want something more. Or somebody might be, like, a salaried employee, and they're going, you know, I'm sort of done with exchanging time for money. Yeah. I want I want to own things. Right. And Sure. I should I be I should be grateful. Maybe I have a good job, a wife, a kid, a house, a mortgage. Right. But I want more. There's more. There's gotta be more. Right? And so that's why maybe they're tuned to you. Yeah. You know, sort of for me, it was sort of one of those things where I go, okay. So so and my complaint, quote, unquote. Right? And I shouldn't be complaining. I get it. But it's a season thing. Right. That look. I I'm meditating. I'm across I'm basically traveling within the sort of space cultural space of fifteen different countries, the former Soviet Union. And, I'm selling millions of albums. People are singing my songs, the whole thing. But I'm also on the road all the time Mhmm. Because now it's a machine. Right? Promotional machine, money making machine. You have to feed the business. You have to create music videos, and 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

It's very investment heavy. 

Speaker 0

Sure. 

Speaker 2

And I want to build a family. It was the highest desire that I wanted, and I'm like, gosh. I I wanna build a family. A, I wanna have b, I wanna have kids. I wanna be present with the kids. This Yeah. This ain't gonna work. Right? So it was one of the one thing. I I became spiritual. I wanted to do spiritual things, and I that that wasn't possible. It was too fragmented. It was way too much. Also, like, I I have an economics degree. I wanted to do entrepreneurship. I speak four different languages, and that my music was very specific pop, Russian speaking for this particular type of person, you know, that kind of thing. So I was sort of bored. I was, like, you know, underutilized, resource wise internally. 

Speaker 0

More to give and a greater impact to make. Right? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. So but and but the downside is if look. If I walk away from this Yeah. What if everything else and all the things that I wanna build fail. Right? Sure. Like Right. So that's the huge I'm, like, horrified at the thought. Right? Because the risk now you have more to lose, and that's sort of the problem with people who already have success is that they they may be super unhappy, but, yep, they have so much more to lose. 

Speaker 0

Right. And that is that is, like, easier. If you had a salary job and you didn't have the success that you'd achieved I mean, not saying it's easy to walk away from that, but typically speaking, you could go try an entrepreneurial venture. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. If you if 

Speaker 0

it didn't work out, just go get another another job. 

Speaker 2

That's exactly it. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

It would be almost impossible, I would guess, for you to recreate your your music career if you just walked away from it. Right? 

Speaker 2

It it so which is terrifying. Right? Because you go like, if I do whatever else I do, I'm not gonna start influencing millions of people. Like, the odds of that are pretty pretty close to zero. Yeah. You know? So, man, is it worth it? You know? So that's sort of the that's the the agony of of decisions like that between these. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. And I'll just throw in here that you do your, your coaching, and I do mentorship for mortgage note investors and real estate investors. It's very specific, but we do get into different, you know, different asset classes and strategies. And the the reason I like what what we do on the mentorship side is it's it's not one the the answers are not one size fits all. We're getting, in this discussion, a lot of nuance, passion versus guidance and wisdom and, you know, and it depends on your your age, your life circumstances, what are you passionate about. But we we help break down, you know, different strategies you can you can employ if you wanna be a real estate investor, rental properties versus mortgage notes or even within mortgage notes, there's a whole spectrum of active to passive. So there's a lot of complexity, and that may sound overwhelming to people, but it's not a one size fits all. And so I I do think it's important to to work with a coach or a mentor who's, like you said earlier, has already been there or, like, can see around the corner a little further than you can at this point. So Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Oh, that you that's that is probably, like, the thing. Like, if if you were to make a decision that will have the most sort of weighted impact on the on the future, That's the thing. Mhmm. Have you ever heard of the ignorance tax? 

Speaker 0

I have, but refresh 

Speaker 2

Okay. So so this is this is a great illustration. Right? And and I I actually don't remember where I heard it either. Mhmm. But this one guy was saying, okay. The ignorance tax, for example, is that you don't perceive it that way is that, for example, you want to learn how to make, a million dollars Mhmm. Consistently every year. You make a hundred thousand, you wanna learn how to make a million. Every year, you don't invest time, energy, money, emotional labor into knowing how to do that. You're essentially paying nine hundred thousand dollars a year of ignorance tax. So and and it's true. Like, for example, like, even even you with real estate, I bet people who get into it and get your guidance and and feel sense the first success and they go, oh my gosh. I can the trajectory of the success is this way. Yeah. And then the feeling is like, I should have gotten into this five years ago. Right? That's the greenest tax regret. Right? So 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. And I feel that 

Speaker 2

all the time. 

Speaker 0

To me, that's, like, opportunity cost. You know? What are you what are you not doing with your time that 

Speaker 2

That's exactly it. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Could have been a great investment. So Yeah. So back to your story that you you know, so you're you're sitting there and you're you're you're you're really not satisfied. You're you're just, but then you feel a little guilty for not being happy with all these blessings that other people don't have. Right? Yeah. And all the success you've reached. So what goes through your mind? How do you how did you move forward at that time? 

Speaker 2

I basically, thought about it some more, and I went to my, sort of my management group, my my partners, and and I said, hey. I'm gonna, this is what I feel, and I'm gonna transition out. Mhmm. But I'm gonna transition out, responsibly because I know their you know, people are livelihoods are 

Speaker 0

on the 

Speaker 2

line here. Yeah. So, so I basically gave him a give him an idea that I wanna transition out. It took probably three years or something like that. Okay. And, but, but that was just super painful, honestly, because super scary. And all the people that you know, they bet on you. Mhmm. They're disappointed in you. 

Speaker 0

Oh, right. 

Speaker 2

They think you're crazy and out of your mind. Right? So so so that was hard because people these people that you were in the trenches with building something meaningful when there was nothing there and, you know, it's just painful. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. And and the truth is we all do we can talk about, you know, I don't care what people think. You know? I'm gonna Mhmm. We do. Do me or but we do. We do care what people think. And, especially, like you said, the people you've been working 

Speaker 2

Mhmm. 

Speaker 0

Day in and day out with. I mean 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

You should you should care what they think too. You know? I mean, 

Speaker 2

you even your my parents, it was so funny because my parents thought I was crazy and I was starting a music career, and then I was crazy for leaving. Right? So it's like Right. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Can't please everybody all the same. Exactly. Yeah. So okay. So you so three years, that is that's actually a long time, I mean, to to transition out and but it does sound like you, you know, did it responsibly. So what were you transitioning to at that time? 

Speaker 2

So I did a couple of things. I did some ministry and philanthropy work. Those are those were the things that I've always I felt like a deep desire to do, and I Mhmm. And I just it was just growing. The desire was growing. Mhmm. And, I so I did that for a little bit for maybe for actually, I transitioned into it in about three years full time. And then that's sort of a little bit later, we moved stateside, and I did philanthropy for three straight years after that, three and half. So, that was sort of my first entry point in the into into the United States. Okay. 

Speaker 0

And that 

Speaker 2

was a salary position. Right? So it's that's interesting. You went you go from not having a boss to having a boss. Yeah. But it was very it was a very, interesting like, it was starting over. It was scary as well. I've I really wanted to know how to serve the poor Mhmm. Because I'd grow up I'd grown up in all these places. Right? Yeah. Of extreme poverty. And I was just so inspired to do that and figure out what to do with that. And I I was invited we had to move to the States. My wife was getting sick because she has some autoimmune issues, and she's American. And, and so I didn't wanna leave because I had a brand recognition. Right. A massive personal brand. And if you go to this, you know, go to the States, no one knows or cares who you are here. So I'm like, nobody. Right. That's depressing. Right. After you've made so much effort to build something. Right. So I got an offer to work for a big charity called Hope Worldwide, and I was sort of their Latin America director because I speak the language. There's, like, nine projects in nine different countries, and then there was a national project, like, a two point five million dollar project that was an education project for inner city kids called Positive Choice. So to me that was sort of a a great bridge. It paid terribly. Right. But it was a great bridge because I could, like, I had enough creative control Uh-huh. To satisfy that part. Okay. Good. And then also it's a new place, so I wanna I wanna be in a learning position. So if you're I think a really good place to be a salary person is to learn from people that are really, really good at something. Mhmm. And I was working directly under the CEO of people that just just giants. 

Speaker 0

So now you're back in the student, phase. Right? Yeah. Starting over again. 

Speaker 2

I'm learning this new world, basically. And and to me, that was so worth it because I walked with them. Right? I could observe them. I would see the things that they were doing, and I would learn philanthropy on a global scale, what they were doing. And I also learned what I eventually, I'm like, oh, I this kind and this kind I don't like, for example. Right? Mhmm. So so I developed my own approaches after that, and now we have this after school academy in in in Maputo called the SEND Academy. And, we it's an it's an entrepreneurial focus thing. So we don't want to give them fish. We wanna teach them how to fish. Right? So we 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Pick these kids when they were, like, nine, and we teach them character, computer literacy, and English early on. And the idea is we wanna make them super employable very early on or even being able to start their own business like a freelancer on on Fiverr or something like that doing either coding or design or things like that. Mhmm. And this is huge for places like Mozambique. It's one of the poorest countries in the world. So if you just sort of focus on the local market, the local market is like zero. Right? The unemployment among youth is, like, probably forty, fifty percent or something like that. It's crazy. 

Speaker 0

Wow. 

Speaker 2

And and these are people these are kids from extreme from extreme poverty situations, under two dollars a day living in the slums. They don't even have access to a computer normally, basically, and we give them that access. So 

Speaker 0

Wow. Yeah. That's that's awesome. So okay. So that was your your bridge. Right? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. That was my bridge. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

And and before we keep going, and then this is, you know, maybe a little personal, but how how much success maybe a number or two that you could throw behind it did you experience from the the music industry? You know, the show is called From Adversity to Abundance. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. 

Speaker 0

You grew up in extreme poverty. Yeah. Can you speak in some specificity as to the, financial abundance abundance that you reached? 

Speaker 2

You know, it was it was it was definitely in the in the millions. We reinvested a lot of it. Mhmm. And, it was definitely millions and millions of albums sold. Mhmm. Tens of millions of people entertained TV, radio, live shows, etcetera. Yeah. I mean, we helped literally the political process of the country. So the 

Speaker 0

impact crazy. 

Speaker 2

The impact the cultural impact was massive. Yeah. I mean, I still had get every once in a while, I get fan mail, like, which is crazy. Like, I haven't been doing this for a long time. The Right. It's well. The the financial was a little bit less than you would expect in America because we were reinvesting a lot of it, and we also were building future businesses. So we and that was one of the painful costs of actually walking away is that we started a girl band sort of modeled after the after the Spice Girls. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

And then, you know and I'm like, well, so and because we had a a really good tight team, me and two of my other co producers, we picked handpicked the girls, wrote the songs, invested in studio time, music videos, promotion, all of all every resource we had, we pumped into this group. Yeah. And it and as I I made the decision to exit the business as the the group was taking off. 

Speaker 0

Oh, wow. 

Speaker 2

So that was basically another cost that I had to the cost of opportunity as you said. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

So and I I sort of calculated, that in the decade after I walked away, and I had to give up my share in that in that business Mhmm. In exchange for the for the intellectual rights of my own music because I wanted to keep that, was, my share was fifteen million dollars, very, very conservatively. Mhmm. Like, probably much more. You know? 

Speaker 0

Wow. So, 

Speaker 2

anyway, so that's just 

Speaker 0

to give you an idea. No. It gives us a really good idea. Yeah. For sure. And sometimes I have to pull that out of people and 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Yeah. It's Yeah. 

Speaker 0

No. I appreciate you sharing. I mean, it's a little bit personal, but I definitely appreciate that. So, you know, that's I mean, that's you know, like you said earlier, it's all relative, but it's that's that's pretty amazing success. So and I know you we're not gonna go dive deep into each, breakthrough career transition, you know, that you've had, but so what were the other transitions over the over your your career span? 

Speaker 2

So the next one I did I I got my sort of footing in America. Right? I had a little bit more. So we were living in LA at the time, and I just I I I thought, let's do a I feel called back to the creative side of things. So I started a production company for Eastern European artists, like high the top Mhmm. With high end producers in Hollywood. So we would do music albums, music videos, things like that. And, it was like just an idea. I had no connections. Deb my wife Deb had connections, and we used some of her connections. She used to work for MTV and Universal Music when she was in the state. So our first basically, I'll explain to you. You know, there's I want to give you this one story Mhmm. Because it it illustrates that intention plus some expertise plus just a daring step forward can can sometimes result in almost like a divine gift, like a kiss from God type situation where you go, oh my gosh. Wow. You know, I I wanna keep going now. So I I I was I remember when I told Deb, hey, I feel like I wanna start a production company. And she looked at me and rolled her eyes, you know, like, seriously again. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. And then 

Speaker 2

I started talking about it, and and I basically and I shared the concept, and she said, I mean, look. If you can find some clients, I can pull some strings and see if I can find somebody. And she so I literally I asked a friend. I didn't have any money for even for a website who built it, like, a one page website. And I think maybe a week or two after I built the website, somebody calls me and said who I knew from Eastern Europe, and they were like, hey. We're coming to LA. Do you know anybody who does music videos? Wow. Like, just just like that. 

Speaker 0

Wow. 

Speaker 2

And and I feel like that's that's how you make your luck. Right? Would they have called if I didn't have that intention? 

Speaker 0

Maybe. 

Speaker 2

I don't know. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe. 

Speaker 0

But maybe you but it it wouldn't have you wouldn't have seized that opportunity. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. And I maybe maybe it would have answered no. I don't know anybody. Right? 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

So and I said, as a matter of fact, this is what I do here. Like, that was sort of my, you know, check out this website. 

Speaker 0

That's hilarious. Well, actually, just briefly on that point, I was listening to a podcast, couple weeks ago about about, you know, creating your own luck and and, I guess, it was more about manifestation versus versus seeing opportunities that maybe were already there. But now that you're looking for them, you see them. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Right? So maybe you didn't manifest that per se, but maybe you now saw the opportunity and you seized it because you 

Speaker 2

were I think so. Yeah. I really believe manifestation like, I really believe in the divine intervention piece. Sure. 

Speaker 0

But I 

Speaker 2

think a lot of this manifestation piece is just a state of mind in working towards something where you actually see an opportunity. Otherwise, you wouldn't even see it. 

Speaker 0

Right? Exactly. Right. I think that that makes a lot of sense. 

Speaker 2

So Yeah. So basically and I'm like so they they they were like, oh, that sounds great, man. That's awesome. I'm like, we work with the biggest Hollywood producers and directors and, you know, you have you're on safe handles. I have literally zero I haven't spoken to anybody. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

And Panic in that site. That's where, like, you know, you get into fake it till you make it versus Yeah. You know, we're not there's a there's a line there. It's like you're not 

Speaker 2

Yeah. You know, we're not exactly lining lying because my wife did work in the business, and she didn't have the contacts. Right? But it's like contacts that are fifteen years old or ten years old. Right? So I don't I don't we haven't made the calls. 

Speaker 0

And You gotta you gotta push the envelope a little bit. Yeah. Yeah. Boundaries. So 

Speaker 2

yeah. And and the and I'm like, what's the budget? And and I was expecting at the time, I think a budget for a music video was ten, fifteen thousand dollars, twenty maybe. And then he goes, oh, a hundred fifty. You know? Wow. And I'm, like, panicking. Right? And I'm like, alright. So I basically told him kidding. Just kidding. I didn't know if it went back. To you. Yeah. So we ended up basically shooting long story short, I I I said to Deb, call your former boss and beg him. So that's what she did, and I met with the her former boss who was used to be, like, one of the big shots in Universal Music. And I said, all I want from you is to assemble a team and oversee them, and I'll pay you just for that. You know? Can I can I please hire you for this one thing? And he was, like, semi retired. He was like, yeah. That's that's fine. Right? So we ended up basically shooting a hundred and seventy five thousand dollar music video on the Hollywood lot with a hundred extras on the list. Wow. And, it was an amazing it was beautiful and perf it worked perfectly. And, basically, that's just jump start our this production company that lasted for a few years. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

That that's fantastic. Well, we're almost out of time. I've got a bunch of rapid fire questions for you if 

Speaker 2

you're ready. Go for it. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Alright. What's one thing and this one trips people up sometimes. But what's one thing that people misunderstand about you, Christian? 

Speaker 2

I think they they misunderstand, sort of multiple interests as as being noncommunal. Mhmm. Okay. 

Speaker 0

That's a great way to sometimes. Yes. That makes a lot of sense. What's one of your biggest failures, and what did you learn from that experience? 

Speaker 2

My biggest failure was, not learning about marriage early enough. I have I had come from three generations of broken homes. Mhmm. And, my and I didn't I didn't fix it. I didn't learn about it. I didn't know how. Yeah. So I was dating I was super famous, and I was dating these runaway models, and one of them got pregnant. We had a baby. I had no intention of marrying. I didn't know what it was. I didn't believe in marriage, and then I she walked away. I was rude to her. I was mean to her. And then my daughter, Diana, my oldest daughter, who I eventually, miraculous ways, got back, and she's now in Texas, she, you know, she ended up growing up in this sort of fractured place just like I did. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. And 

Speaker 2

I think that was sort of the biggest the the Yeah. Highest cost that I can't undo, and I live with it. You know? 

Speaker 0

Gotcha. 

Speaker 2

And it it has a happy ending, but I do feel like, man. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Well, and I'm sure in your current current you know, in your marriage, you have applied a lot of the lessons you learned. 

Speaker 2

Yes. Yes. I've been happily married for twenty five years. I have three beautiful children who love me. And Nice. 

Speaker 0

I know. If you could go back and give your eighteen year old self some advice, what would that be? 

Speaker 2

To seek wisdom with all your heart early, which is very counterintuitive for young people. Young people don't seek wisdom. 

Speaker 0

Right. You know? 

Speaker 2

Because they don't have the wounds yet. 

Speaker 0

Oh, right. 

Speaker 2

Start early. Just start early. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. It's a tough one because we probably wouldn't have listened. Right? Our eighteen year old selves probably wouldn't listen. 

Speaker 2

But Yeah. That that's that's paradoxical. 

Speaker 0

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

Speaker 2

Outside of Jesus, I would say Alexander the Great. 

Speaker 0

Okay. Good one. I don't think we've heard that one. If you were given ten million dollars tomorrow with no strings attached, what would you do with it? 

Speaker 2

I would build a scaling business that devotes a large percentage of the profit to, helping the poor. 

Speaker 0

Love it. What is one challenge that you're facing in your professional life right now? 

Speaker 2

Consequences of lack of wisdom in the past that I have to that I know, acknowledge, fixing, you know, like, learning leaning into it, but the consequences sort of have this tail end. Right? You have to still pay for it. 

Speaker 0

Sure. Right. Right. It doesn't the consequences don't just vanish because They 

Speaker 2

don't vanish even if you understand that, you know, you made a mistake there Right. Strategically. 

Speaker 0

Sure. Makes sense. How about a book or two that you could recommend besides yours, that you could recommend for our our listener? 

Speaker 2

A a sort of a classic book, Man's Search for Meaning. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. Mhmm. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

It's sort of this you know, it's a thin book, but it's, I think, sort of it it goes 

Speaker 0

Viktor Frankl. 

Speaker 2

Viktor Frankl to the core of sort of the human condition Mhmm. In a way that very few do do. Steven Pressfield, The War of Art. Mhmm. It's sort of this is how how you show up as a professional every day. Love it. And then the latest one by Seth Godin, This is Strategy. Okay. It's it's, like, a a new thing that just came out. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

I think it's Seth Godin was one of my biggest influences when it comes to the business. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Okay. Absolutely. How has financial abundance made your life better? 

Speaker 2

I think it gives you the ability to serve others and to in and to have choices in life. Right? Love it. That's massive. 

Speaker 0

That's really good. What is one question that I have not asked that you wish I had? 

Speaker 2

What is the most important decision in business that on the surface has no relation to the business? 

Speaker 0

What is it? 

Speaker 2

Who you marry? 

Speaker 0

It explain that a little bit more. Why is that so important? 

Speaker 2

Well, because that's your your absolute business partner is always your spouse whether he or she is involved in business or not. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

Because they have an a completely outsized influence on the trajectory of your life, your how you deal with with hardship 

Speaker 0

Sure. 

Speaker 2

What you believe in Yeah. What carries you at the very core left the foundation of who you are Right. To overcome and to give and and to and to sort of overflow into other people. 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. 

Speaker 2

So if things are leaky and bad Yeah. At home, everything is just achy and bad in at work. Right. Things are robust and strong and overflowing with joy and stability at home. That will overflow into the business as well. 

Speaker 0

That's really, really good wisdom right there. So, Christian Ray Flores, where can our listeners find you online? 

Speaker 2

If they want sort of weekly insights into success and significance, my newsletter's a really good resource. Christian ray florist dot com is the URL. And it's basically I do two a week, Wednesdays and Sundays. And, I think it just offers a lot of value. If people feel like, oh, you know what? That kind of guidance I need, go to exponential dot life with spelled without the e, starts with an x. Yeah. And that's basically all you need to know about my coaching program, the programs that we offer, the kinds of work we do with people. 

Speaker 0

Fantastic. This is this has been really a different, pretty different than a lot of our our episodes in in a good way. It's been it's I've I've thoroughly enjoyed it. So thank you for spending your time with us, Christian. I really appreciate it. 

Speaker 2

I'm happy to hear that. Thank you, Jamie. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Absolutely. And to the listener, thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time and attention combined. We appreciate that. So thanks, everyone. Take care. 

Speaker 1

Thank you for joining us on From Adversity to Abundance. We hope today's episode has equipped you with valuable insights and practical advice to elevate your real estate journey. For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at w w w dot adversity to abundance dot com. If this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could also benefit from our conversation. Together, let's turn adversity into abundance. Until next time, keep building your mental fitness and your real estate empire.