From Surviving a Plane Crash to Thriving in Business: The Clint Fiore Story

Speaker 2

00:00

 This episode is sponsored by the Integrity income fund, which is managed by yours, truly and my team at Labrador lending, the Integrity income fund is for accredited investors. It aims to pay 8% preferred return and an 8.5% preferred return for early investors. It aims to pay out monthly distributions. There's a 25 thousand dollar minimum and only a one-year lockup. If you are an accredited investor and you're looking to get away from Wall Street, letting looking to beat inflation and looking for an asset class that is backed by hard physical real estate. Then look no further than the Integrity income fund, check it out at Labrador.

Speaker 1

00:47

 Lending.com. Hey everybody, Jamie here, I really enjoyed this episode and you're going to as well. I am sure. We get the chance in this one to chat with Clint Fiore. Clint is in Texas and he helps business owners. Through the process of buying and selling businesses, he's a business broker, and he's got a crazy story about flying and crashing an airplane and having a near-death experience when he was 19 or 20 years old, I think he's 39. Now, so about half of his life ago, he had a wild episode With a Cessna. And so he goes into great detail about that and how that's changed his perspective on life and how he now values relationships with both God and people incredibly more than we used to and also how, you know, today's problems and the things that people stress about including himself, He can view through a different lens and just he's got a really, really awesome perspective and you know he sees entrepreneurship as a Force for good, he's definitely an optimist. And someone that I would like to keep in touch with frankly and someone that I think you're going to get a lot of value from listening to so buckle up.

Speaker 2

02:36

 Inspiring. Stories of real people overcoming incredible odds to live life to the fullest. We are all guaranteed to face. Hardships, how will we handle the adversity? Join us to be moved by every day, people who have turned poverty into prosperity and weakness into wealth Be Inspired as these relatable Heroes, get vulnerable and former counterintelligence investigator Jamie Bateman puts his interviewing skills to the test, restore your faith in humanity as you experience. True Cinderella. He's of average people turning surreal struggle and deep despair into booming, businesses and financial Fortune. Take ownership of the life. You are destined to live and turn your adversity into abundance, welcome everybody. To another episode of from.

Speaker 1

03:27

 Adversity to abundance podcast. I am your host Jamie Bateman, and I am excited today to be joined by a special guest Clint Fiore. How are you doing today doing great? How are you Jamie doing? Well yeah. Clint you know, you're going through a business rebranding and your new business is called Bison business, and I am really we were chatting briefly before we hit record. I am really excited personally to dive into this because it's not a, the world that you run in is a little bit. It's unfamiliar with it but it's not definitely not something. I am an expert in. So I am very excited too. Pick your brain and for you to add value to our audience and hopefully we can do the same for you. Speaking of our audience, for those who are unfamiliar with you, can you give us kind of snapshot of who you are today and what you're up to sure. So yeah, I lead a company called Bison business, we used to be called Texas business buyers, but like I said, we were recently rebranded to go National and move outside of the nation of Texas. And so we are excited about that we help people buy and sell companies. So we do mergers and Acquisitions and business brokerage, buy-side and sell-side advisory. And I have been doing that full-time for about eight years and have a team that we work together on every deal, and we just help people help. Good people do great. Business deals is kind of what we do and what we're known for. I think we met because I came on to Twitter the beginning of this year and just It's storytelling and kind of explaining how the great game of small business Acquisitions works. And those some of those threads just kind of went viral and went super popular and all of a sudden I am appearing on podcasts and things. I found the story of yeah people doing small business deals and there's a, there's kind of big Trend going on in that space, and I am excited to be kind of riding that wave and to be a part of it. But yeah, I live in Central, Texas, married four, beautiful kids, and I am a pilot as my fun and business Hobby. And yes, I am just a Family Guy business guy, but I have also before business brokerage, I have started and sold a couple companies. I have raised Angel investment, so I have kind of done startups and serial entrepreneurship, and then I became a business valuator business. Joker mergers and acquisition specialist and have been doing that for eight years. But kind of Serial entrepreneur turned broker is how I would describe myself right now? Gotcha. Yeah, that's there's so many Avenues. I could go there. So many kinds of things you said there that I would love to dive into, but obviously short on time. But yeah, I need to, first of all, I need to figure out the, I need to put more effort into my Twitter game to be honest with you because it is it's a different platform and threads. And stories is really been what do well on there, but I am curious if you could before we jump into your backstory and some of the adversity that you have gone through cares. So what does, if there is a typical deal in your world and when you're brokering a business deal, what does that look like? Yeah, we work with profitable. TurnKey kind of businesses where I would say the stereotypical deal, and they're not all like this. Every deal is different but the stereotypical would be someone that wants to retire. They have built up a really nice business. They thought their kids might come and take it over, but they all took their parents advice and went to school and learn how to do something else and went off, and did something else and, and they just don't have a plan of how to how do I Transition? And so we come alongside those owners and help them figure out what the company's worth. Is it ready to go to market? What does it need to kind of be ready to go to market and kind of put a plan together there and then when it's ready, we put a bow on it, take it out to two buyers, and we're kind of like almost like a dating service. I would say, you know, we're matching the right, the buyers that have the right finances but also the right heart and your good culture fits and Can kind of come in and, and fill the role with the outgoing seller. And so, you know, any given moment will be working, you know, 10 to 15 transactions at a time. They're mostly 1 to 10 million and deal size like the 5250. Employee range is where we like to play which is, I would call it premium Main Street to lower Middle Market is kind of my playground at bison business, and then we have several thousand qualified and a pre-screen by a Ships that have inquired in the past about other deals, and we maintain relationships with lots of buyers. And in sometimes buyers, bring us in on projects to help them on their side as by side Consultants. So we can work for free either side, we're comfortable, helping buyers out, or sellers out and helping people execute a good strategy, but, you know, that's our typical deal. A lot of them are SBA, financed. Some of them are traditional lending or cash deals. But we know how to work you know all the different Financial angles on these and just be collaborative educational and help people navigate that pretty complicated process. It's really interesting. I we can't spend too much time on that but I would love to personally but so just your typical buyer they is it more of a passive role they're trying to play, or they try to step in and run an active business. It Is more active. So I just from what I learned about your background, I think, oh, you and a lot of your friends might be more into the passive income stuff. And are you saying I am lazy? I am joking, it's business. Deals are attractive because the ROI is off the charts compared to almost anything else out there. But when people come in expecting it to be mailbox money, I kind of yeah. Pop that bubble. Officer, and because there's no such thing in small business, like you have to, I mean, you don't always have to go, man, the cash register and be in there, but you do have to watch it and you do have to oversee it, right? Even if you have a manager, you stuffed a manager. And yeah, I am Gonna Keep Your Eyes on things and so it's it is great returns. But it is a little riskier and it is a little more Hands-On. Sure. And you know note investing or real estate investing. Yeah, I mean yeah. That's not that's a really good point. Will jump off this but I actually do approach note investing in a similar from a similar mindset or, you know, perspective because a lot of people do want that mailbox money and once you get into, you know, running and pl like a non-performing note fund or you know if you're running it as a business, like we do, it's not passive anymore you know, so I am not out there swinging a hammer. Murmur and doing physical labor but it's there's a lot to keep track of, you know? So my point is just like you, I end up arresting the bubble for people who you know, I want that mailbox. Money is a note investor. Well, you can do that with a couple performing notes, that's fine. But that's also not going to change your world overnight, you know like you wanted to. So yeah, the whole passive income. Thing is a, you know, we could, we could we will save that for another episode. But so, let us dive into your backstory. I know you mentioned before we hit record, you mentioned a few, a few kinds of types of adversity that you have been through and I will let you start where you'd like to, you know, and we will hit on the thread that I think, really, where I found you for, for the most part about Let you run with it. I don't want to spoil anything. So, where would you like to start? Sure. I mean, we can go straight to the fun story that everybody likes to hear about the plane crash story. Yeah, sounds good, sounds good. Well that doesn't sound good, but I am glad you're here to talk about it, and I am excited to, I guess, dive in no pun intended. But yeah, let us talk about that. What happened on that day? Sure. So I originally wanted to be a professional pilot, I looked up in the sky. I remember I was probably 12 years old and was in the Back of my mom's minivan, going somewhere on a road trip and just saw an airplane flying over, and just thought me, I would rather be up there the down here, right? And it just kind of sparked my imagination. Nobody in my family flew, I was being raised by a single mom. We didn't really have much money to dream about flight lessons or anything like that, but I decided I sent my part in my heart that I wanted to be a pilot. And by the time I was 13, 14. Really 13. I had already picked out the school. I wanted to go to. I figured out, there's the number one Aviation School in the world. It's called Embry-Riddle. And I you know, as a middle schooler decided, that's what I wanted to do. My mom was very supportive, but she kind of let me know. Hey, that's a private school, it's very expensive, I don't know if it will be able to pay to go there. So you need to make sure you get scholarships and stuff. And, so I went to an Ali went across town to a magnet high school. It was mostly minority students that had special government funding or an aviation program. And I stuck with in high school for four years with this Aviation program at the center city, magnet school, and ended up getting my pilot's license 17. So, I sold it at 16, which is the youngest you're allowed to solo. I got my license at 17. I never paid a penny for my Pilot's. Science for my private license and then I ended up going to NASA my senior year of high school selected with a group from the state of Texas. So to do some cool projects are. So I got to like go in the altitude chamber, or they train astronauts, and then I got to ride on the NASA's kc-135 called the vomit Comet, which is the one that does zero gravity, flights over the Gulf of Mexico. And I have got Over 20 minutes is zero gravity time. Could you do it? 30 seconds at a time. Why is he why? These parabolas? Its extreme pitch up about 50 degrees, nose high, and then pitch down about 50 degrees, and those low and over-the-top, you're floating. They're holding perfect, zero, gravity inside, and it's a huge jetliner. It's a four-engine military jet. That's padded floor to ceiling and you're flying around, floating around in there. There. And so is wild that because of my, my experience at Hershey high school and Wichita Falls, Texas, and getting to go to NASA and all the things I did there and then just doing good in school and on test scores and stuff and it up getting pretty much a full ride to my dream University and Was able to kind of live the dream that I had picked as a young boy to become a pro pilot. And so here I am in school in my dream University getting my flight training. I came in already A Private Pilot going through my next rating. So I have got my multi-engine rating, and I am working on my commercial rating. And at this point I am like 19 years old, I am a sophomore In sophomore at the school is November 29th. I am flying myself in a Cessna 172, which is the most common trainer. For seat, high Wing training aircraft. I went to the Prescott Arizona campus which is a beautiful Northern Arizona location. And on this particular day, I had kind of triangular Cross Country flight where I was going from Um, Laughlin, Nevada. To, I believe it is lawful in to Vegas and back or something like that and on one of the legs of the flight, I am kind of between Nevada and Northern Arizona, which is pretty much resembles Mars. I mean, it's High Desert Rocky Jaga, you know, just Badlands types of mountains. I can't, it's about some we did in this Mastermind group. We One little Excursion we did in outside of Scottsdale and Phoenix, which is a not exactly. We're talking about. But we did some, you TV writing and it's I spent a year in Iraq and it's not that much different. Yeah. But anyway, yep. So it's rugged and desert, right? Yeah. Yeah. And, so I am, you know, I would train flying in north Texas. Texas. I was kind of flatland pilot and I didn't know much about Mountain flying but you know young I was good at flying, and I am ahead of schedule on this flight and I needed to burn a little bit more time in the air just to hit the requirement. I was trying to get four hours on this cross-country, and so I just was out in the middle of nowhere. I started doing some sightseeing. I deviated from my plan altitude and flew down to the Our floor, just like looking at stuff. And I found like an old abandoned WWII looking airstrip out in the middle of the desert, which was cool. And, you know, I am just sightseeing. And after I burned off about, 30 minutes, I went GPS direct straight from where I was to Prescott where I was headed in between me and there is a mountain range and I just initiated a climb back up to my Cruise altitude and was Trucking along. And, and before long, you know, I am still in this climb and the Cessna doesn't climb very fast at high altitude, it's 180 horsepower and it's you have to plan your climbs as they take a while. And I just kind of noticed. I wasn't climbing very well. And eventually, I noticed I wasn't climbing at all. And then I noticed I was not even I was descending, you know, and I was confused by this because I was holding the right air speed holding the right power settings. And I knew what my plane should be doing, it should be doing, you know, 500 feet per minute climb or something like that, but my vertical speed was stopped and then starting to decrease saying you deviated from the this set path or you deviate some Previously, but not in an unsafe way. And now at this point you were just doing everything you were supposed to do. Is that, right? So you see, I am running through, just kind of troubleshooting trying to figure out why is my plane not informing, right? And in aviation things can go sideways pretty quickly. And it went from kind of like a curiosity to, this is might be dangerous to I am about. About to die like really fast and basically I once I realized I couldn't get my climb fixed even though my engine looked good and you know, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. I was like, man I may need to turn around and get out of this mountain range to get back towards that Valley, where I came from and case, I need to put it down in the desert, and just figure out what's up. And I made a turn that I thought was going to be leading me around a hill, like, Escape path. But I did was wrong term. I made a dead-end turn basically into what's called a box. Canyon, it essentially funnels you Up Canyon that you can't get out of and I it was too narrow for me to turn around. I was right at the top of the ridges. So if For a minute. I was still thinking I could out-climb this phone, I could get out. And I pointed at the lowest point of the Ridgeline and I kept full power, and I was holding VX, which is your best angle of climb speed. Okay, that's a pilot term for their very best. The best AirSpeed. The hold the get you out of that situation, but the plane just kept going down. It just kept the sending and it wouldn't I just couldn't get altitude, and so I just realized holy crap. I am about To crash and you're just making it up on the Fly. I am you know, I am a Christian guy, I am kind of like focusing on. I try to do made a call. I was out in the middle of nowhere, I don't think anybody can hear me. I am just thinking, how can I crash this thing and survive? I am focusing on flying, but I am also kind of talking to God. I am like, well, I didn't see that coming, you know. Like, all right. Didn't know they. My last day. Yeah, it's like when does this the technical part of flying transition to less important, you know? Yeah. Now it's like no, my life is almost over. I mean that yeah, I definitely have a whole like I am slowing down life flash before your eyes experience. But I kept kind of hands on the controls and blue as far as I could down the canyon. And then the last possible moment before For it dead-ended. I made a left-hand 90-degree turn, which is about all I could get out of the turn and then rolled the wings level. Just went straight out the wall, which was about a 50-degree slope. And covered in rocks and boulders, just Jagged rock wall pointed right at it. Brought my nose up. So I pulled the yolk all the way back into my lap to bring the nose as high as I could. And basically tried to time it to where I could almost all it into the mountain, read the last second because I didn't want the nose to hit low. And I also didn't want to cartwheel down the mountain clip a wing or anything like that. And so I just took it straight on. That's the best. The best logic I could come. What was just trying to kind of belly flop it into the right side of the mountain and that's it. Yeah. Actually, what I did is I came in, I was, uh, I was driving straight at it keep their speed as slow as I could, but without stalling and losing control. And the last minute, I just yank the nose up. And, so I would say, belly-flopped into the side of them, the canyon, it's crazy. I mean, they're all bad options, obviously at this point but yeah, I can picture what you're saying. It seems like you. No, the least bad option. So I mean, so then, so then what happened? Yeah. So then literally, the next moment. So I remember seeing the Rocks coming at me. I remember hearing a loud noise of the impact, and I was I am sure scooted up, and my seat belt, buckled hands on the controls. Flying it all the way in, and I literally hit the wall and the next instant that I can remember, I am out. Outside the plane and I have no clue how I got from inside the plane to outside the plane. It's a Memory hole. It's just a blank even to this day, right? Yes, it is day. So I find myself on the side of a mountain pretty much under the wing of the plane about 10 feet, from where I was sitting laying on the grounds. And I look up, and I am right next to the wing and the wings hanging off and there's a waterfall of fuel coming out and I can still here. I mean, I had, I was full power going in and I can still hear the Gyros and the instrument panel spool And down rumor, you know like going down at, so I know like no time had passed because the Gyros are still spinning down, you will still see fuel, spewing out of the plane, and I am thinking, oh no, the this things about to blow up because I thought it would catch on fire or explode, and I am right by, I am right beside it. And so, I quickly kind of got up and scrambled away from the wreckage and the plane didn't blow up. It didn't fall down the mountain, it just hit and stuck and kind of distress disintegrated into the side of a mountain. And I am patting myself down, trying to figure out because I thought I was in shock. You know, you know the stories of people that if you're in Military and stuff and yeah, people don't know they're hurt until share. Yeah. Absolutely. You know, I got shot and I didn't even know it, you know. Yeah. And, so I am checking myself out for injuries and I had no injuries I was I didn't have a scratch on my body. I wasn't even hurt. I didn't feel any pain, and we just we had an episode previous to this one, John kriesel. He lost both of his legs in an IED accident and I guess that was in Afghanistan but I might have been actually, that was Iraq. But yeah, what you're saying he didn't know it at first, you know, he, you don't just know right away that you have lost that you have been injured so badly. So yeah. So in your case your, you're not sure yet. So then you, you sound like you found out that you were fine, right, is it? Yeah. Yeah. So I actually wasn't Hurt. And I was worried, I was and just didn't know it. And you're right. That's absolutely a thing that he asked me in. And so, I then, you know, just quickly my brain switch to, how do I survive this scenario? And I am I am thinking the plane still might catch on fire, and I am at, I am at the high desert on a mountain. I am down in a canyon, and I have got like nothing and It's the afternoon and it's November 29th. It's going to be a cold High Desert night and I didn't I wanted to get there's a little survival kit in the back of all the planes. And I wanted to grab that before the plane caught on fire or something. So, I kind of made a break for it, went back to the plane broke, open the tail, and grab this little survival kit, which turns out to be pretty chintzy little Survival kit. I wish better ones but it was what it was, but it was something and then I got it and got away from the plane and it just said they're drained the fuel drained out, and they got deadly quiet and it was just surreal. All the sun, I just find myself by yourself, I mean, yeah, I all alone, right? In a canyon, Middle of nowhere, right? And you're obviously happy to be alive. Happy to be not injured. Yeah, but still facing some serious, you know, doubts of your future. I would guess. Is that, is that fair? Yeah. I mean, I still thought I was going to die. And I guess it was just kind of this feeling like no one's going to find me. I wasn't on my exact flight path because I had deviated and them. So I was like I didn't know anyone would be able to find me, I knew I had to get found to survive. And, so I just then proceeded to kind of climb up out of this Canyon and the plane was down under Her this Ridgeline, in a canyon, in a world of canyons there. I mean, it's a whole landscape covered in crevices and canyons and things. And so it's not obvious where the plane is. And so, I started hiking uphill and just made it then it was very tough. Going is very steep, loose, rocks and things. And I got to the top of this Ridge and then I hiked along this Ridge to the highest point nearby. And I grab, I had a sec. Map with me from my flight bag. And I had my survival kit and I figured out where I was on the map and I surveyed 360 Degrees around me. And there's not a drop of water. There's not. So, there's no water source, there's no Road. There's no sign of human life. It's literally like, I am on another planet and people don't realize how big this planet is, but there's fast sections of unpopulated area where there's just no evidence that humans even exist and that's where I happen to crashes, airplane. And so, here I am, you know, like in the middle of Mars, like, on this Mountaintop, it's about 9,000 feet elevation I took a silver solar blanket out of the survival kit and got a stick and some rope and built that into like a flag on top of one of the Peaks, though. Be reflective. And I am trying to get, I am trying to get found and I said yeah another late afternoon kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. And then I hiked another Ridge line to another Peak that was a little taller and then I made another signal out of the tent. There was like when I was really Cheap. Orange tube 10th things. Okay, I turned that into basically a wind sock on the top of another Ridge and said, I had an orange and sock and I had a silver flag on two different Peaks. And once I did that, I mean, I am just still scanning around for an airplane or anything, there's nothing. There's nothing in the sky, there's nothing on the ground and I just feel all alone out here, right? There's no sign of life at all. Yeah, nothing. Yeah. And, so I just said out there, and I was really grateful that I had survived the crash. I still thought I was going to die but I wrote letters, I wrote goodbye letters to like all my family. Oh whines. And I get a little emotional talking about it because it's like I can imagine. All right, it's The Gratitude of just surviving an impact and getting that chance. Because as a Young, dude, little of three boys. Not knowing how to handle his emotions and stuff like, and he went through a lot as a kid. I just like, I realized, I never told anyone I cared about like, um, V, right? Yeah. And it just kind of hit me like a ton of bricks, and so I was so grateful that I just kind of got to sit there and write letters and share my heart with what the people closest to me. And was I just remember thinking, even if I die, I am just so grateful. I got to right? In my thoughts. But why? So as yeah, as you have probably asked retained, I didn't die. Yeah. We have got some, some smart listeners, so we did I think figure that one out. So, yeah, so unfortunately got a somewhat gloss over the ending. So, how, how did you survive? I mean, what happened? Yeah, so after a few, Hours of finally did see a plane in the distance and it had been out searching for me. After I didn't come back on my flight plan, okay. I had a little signal mirror, and so I am like signaling with the settings time to try to like catch a glint off of that and get them out there, and then they ain't good, then goodness, they did finally see me. They saw the flags and stuff, and they Rock their wings. And I knew they had seen me, they circled kind of it. And could see that I was walking around and waving at them, and then they flew off and then got quiet again. And then I hear a helicopter and say, okay, they were, they called me and you know, and then a DPS helicopter, came out, came out of Kingman Arizona, which is linear City. OK. And the DPS Folks at Kingman, were the ones that pick me up, right at dark, mean, I was right at dark. I had to walk about a quarter mile just to where they could. Put one skid down on that mountain because of it extremely poisonous. And when that plane left did, you know, they someone was coming back or what was going through your mind about, I mean, because I knew they had seen me, that's all I needed. I just needed someone. Oh, I was alive and where I was. So I had a pretty good idea. There would be a rescue effort at that point. That really lifted my spirits that thinking that I was going to make it out. Have GPS is what let us delay. The Department of Public, Safety or okay. Gotcha. Got it. So, that's where the plane. And the helicopter were from, or know the plane was from Embry-Riddle. It was okay. When Engine trainer, and they had diverted, some of the training airplanes that were out flying in the area because it's a big flight school fair. So that actually organize some of the flight students that were out practicing in the region saying, hey we lost somebody. Look around and try to find them. And so on of the kids, That was out there but their instructor and it up some on me. Wow, that's that, that is wild. So you know, there's so much we could talk about I guess, you know what, what are one or two things you have taken from this incident and I know there's a lot more, you know, you're not even fully saved yet, but it sounds like once you got on, I guess you got on the helicopter. And then, yeah, I mean, it was a whole ordeal getting once I got picked up, I was physically safe, but I still had a lot to go through with the crash investigation and dealing with the Fallout, with the FAA, and the NTSB and my school. And I ended up kind of kicked out of my flight training program, which was like my big dream and, and the school kind of wanted to place. All the blame on me, which it was my fault. Like it was an accident that I have got myself into but I didn't, I didn't know what had happened for a long time and then I, as I learned about Mountain flying, I learned I had kind of been caught up in what's called a Mountain Wave, where the air is coming over the ridge line and just coming down on the other side faster than you're playing. Climb and trusting because I had started at kind of lower altitude behind the couch power curve. I didn't recognize it soon enough and then I made a wrong turn and so it was my own like aeronautical decision, making that got me into that situation, but it was, it was truly an accident, it was a lack of experience of mountain flying. And I encourage all Pilots to really learn Mountain flying and the hazards of it. If you're going to fly anywhere near mountains because it can, one mistake can be your last in the When you're flying around mountains. Well and again how old were you at this point, 19? Yeah, I mean you know I don't know what I was, you know, my friends and I were doing in cars at 19, you know, it's I can't blame you for deviating, so I think it probably would be easy for someone to look back and say, well owes his fall for doing that. But you know 19 year old guys wanted to eat just I can See why you got into that situation? But okay, so just looking back, obviously, you have had decades since that. You can you pull out one or two, kind of lessons that you have been able to apply or just anything, from that particular situation? That's a take away. That you have been able to apply to your personal life or your even your business. Yeah, I think that. And I have met over the Many people that have had near-death experiences like that and it is kind of superpower I think once you have kind of face death in a way where you pretty much knew, I knew what I was looking at and thought I am this is a dead, you know, this is it and just very grateful to God, I give him the credit. My heart says, an angel pulled me out of that plane and I can't prove of it and I didn't see it and I but I just I don't have a good explanation physically for it. A boulder came through the floor where my feet should have been and displace. The rudder pedals that my feet were touching and wow the windshields gone every bit of instrumentation shattered, right in front of where my face would have been the Tails hanging off the wings, hanging off the engine cowling went up the mountain and was off of the front of the plane and for me to come out without a scratch was just there's no natural logical explanation. So I get this natural explanation for and give God the credit but the I would say what I really took away is that This kind of perspective, and I am almost double the age. I think I might have been 20, I was 19 or 20 when the crash happened, but I am almost to double the age of when I crash 39, right now and just feeling like my whole life has been like Extra Innings, or like bonus time, it's this great perspective. To just know that no matter what struggle, I am going through or what I am it's like, well, I should already be dead. So Staying Alive. Yeah, and facing. This thing is better than me dying before and, like everything. I now hold dear as like, the most valuable things in my life, my wife, my four kids, you know, like all that happened post-crash, right? And so, it's almost like I was given this whole in the other life. That I was able to experience and then, And so it's just like an evergreen ability to zoom out. Yeah. And figure out what really matters and what really doesn't map. Sure. And when you're on the other side of the, I remember like the next few days, right? After it happens almost feeling like a disembodied spirit, is this how I would describe it of? I am here on Earth? At my school, talking to people going around and doing things, but I am floating above it in. And it was just funny because it's like all these things that everyone cares about. You're just laughing at because you're like it. Because yeah, it's variance was so intense that death has this way of just cutting through all the BS and you know, everything that doesn't matter. Truly doesn't matter and A thing that does matter and it's like, it's like the veil is removed from your existence, all of a sudden, you see everything. So clearly and to me it was like God and people were kind of What mattered and like all the other little minutia and drama and Bs, we're all caught up in all day long. Yeah. It was laughable. And that's why I felt like this. This embodied spirit I guess walking around because I just saw these people stuck in their little, their little world. Yeah. And it was all just silly stuff that didn't matter. I Can Only Imagine More recently, what you have how your view of a social medium? And yeah, thing the things everyone gets offended about, you know, now, everyone's so easily offended. I can only imagine what your what's going through your mind, but so now you said, you mentioned you previously, you told me that you'd had some, some business struggles or at least some adversity you face from a business standpoint. I am just curious how the, you know, the near-death experience impacted your perspective as you navigated business challenges? Yeah. I mean, I guess my two big takeaways were, you know, always tell the people around you, how you feel and make sure that you make that a regular rhythm in your life because you never know what they will be your last. Sure. And the other thing is that good? The what matters, and what doesn't matter, do't matter and, and it's allowed me to, I think take more risk in business, and, and it feels like I have a higher risk tolerance, which I think, is a big key to success in entrepreneurship because no success as an entrepreneur comes without taking substantial, personal financial, and even reputational risk. Yeah. And these Ventures and so just being able to zoom out and be like, well, no matter what happens, I am living on bonus time, you know. But I still, I am not perfect like I get caught up in the bull crap all the time, you know, right? But I can just pull myself out of it when I need to even though I am prone to get sucked in you know. Sure. And so to me that was a big one and another framework I wanted to introduce to your listeners is yeah, I learned it kind of recently and it kind of is in the same vein but it's called the even if framework. Okay. I think I have heard of it or something similar. But yeah, elaborate okay. I hope you have with the people, you talk to you regularly but it's kind of this mindset that even if the worst happens, right? Let yourself go there. And sit in it because we spend all of our life worrying about. What if this goes wrong, what if that goes wrong? What if, what if and when you cut yourself reading and anxious and worrying about all the, what ifs? Yeah, these reframe it and say even if yeah and so in business like even recently, I have had some toughs like I have had some tough hits, you know, like in the last few years and another Business deals. And I have had people steal from me and things go wrong. And you know, just I could tell lots of stories about business drama. I have been through and that just comes from doing a lot of deals and doing a lot of as an entrepreneur. And as a broker, you see all kinds of crazy stuff and it can really derail you. But when I have had like Forks in the road, like there was one time I was working in a corporate job. And I was making good money and I had benefits. And I had a wife and one or two little ones at the time, they're still babies. And I had this opportunity to leave it all and do this, like brand-new start up with an angel investor that was super risky, and I was being required to sign, personal guarantees on debt to do it that I had now and no money to do it, you know? So it was like I am in my 20s. I Married with kids. I have got a basically no assets. I have got some student loans and I have got a really secure job. That's all I got. And I am give up the One Security, right? To move into this thing. And it was like, it was the even if framework that helped me make that decision and it was how basically went to my wife and said, hey I have got this opportunity, here's the exciting part. Here's what happens if it all goes, right? Yeah. And that's easy to imagine but also here's what could happen if it all goes wrong. Yeah, and I had to just play it out to the very end of like what would happen And we had the kind of look each other in the eye and be like, would you still stay with me? If that happened, would you still love me? When we still have these beautiful kids? Could we stick together because it would and when it came down to it we worried like it's going to be this end of the world thing? But it in the worst case scenario would have been I was already broke out of just been broke with bad credit. This is Ray, and I was like, I am gonna go get another job right. Yeah. In the jaw. Job. I left the last thing. My boss said, when I gave notice was like, well, we're really sorry to lose you, but if you ever change your mind, you know, the call come back, and they're already is. So if you're a valuable employee and you're employable and you know how to do something that makes money. Yeah. Just know those corporate jobs are always going to be there. Like you can always if, you know, how to sell, you know, how to do something of value, like you should be able to keep a roof over your head, and keep your belly full for your family. Here. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And also that mean just the alternative of there's risk in not taking that chance as well. You know, the alternative where you look back and you regret, not taking that opportunity. So just how did that opportunity to turn out base? Hit they say so because it was like a manufacturing startup, and we went from zero to 50 employees. He's in about 18 months and it was a rocket ship ride. It was a consumer product in the hunting and Outdoor World and it was kind of like right when I thought we were finally getting profitable and where we could see light at the end of the tunnel after going, you know, digging deep into debt and investment and all the time and Blood Sweat, and Tears in the launching. This brand-new concept and product. I got four Foul two years in by the Investment Group. They bought out the founders, and they gave us a bag of money. That was not what we were expecting, but something, it was looking back. It was relatively fair, but I learned the Golden Rule at the time, which is he, who has the gold, makes the rules, and right? It's a, that's kind of my experience, as a minority shareholder, taking on all this risk and all the Stress only to have someone that's not even in the fight with me. Make a call the cell shoe happening. So I am sure you have learned a ton from all that. So, you know, but financially were you, how would that compare to had you stayed at your job? I was ahead. Yeah, I was definitely ahead of the game, so I had a little bit of money. I didn't have to go into another job immediately and that led me into helping other startups get started and then learning about transactions and ultimately led me into business brokerage and into the world that I am in now. Yeah. So he might still be at your old job or something similar. If yes a lot of good came out of it. Yep. And I just want to encourage Rich people to, you know, just remember that God and people are ultimately matters. And when you face up Fork on the road, like to let yourself set and the even if everything goes wrong, am I gonna die? No. Am I still going to eat? Yes. Yeah. Do I have relationships? That can withstand it? Yes, it just let yourself do that because what you said earlier you just breezed over it but you made one of the best points of this conversation. Just the risk of regret. Hmm. Yeah I think needs to outweigh your risk of the risk. Yeah. And a lot of wells, I had this roommate in college, and he would say he was a power lifter and people would say like, you know, that's squatting 800 pounds is bad for your knees, you know? And he'd say, do you want to rust out or do you want to wear out? And it was like, you don't want to look back and say, you rusted out because you never tried, you know, I would rather wear out personally but yeah, that's, that's awesome. So yeah, that feel like got to have you back on and talk about some more of the business stuff and Lessons Learned there. But So, let us see. I am just going to fire off a few rapid fire questions, and then we will wrap it up. If you could go back and give yourself your 18 year old self some advice. Obviously that was pre-crash. What would that be? I think of I think it would be, it would be to not be afraid to order my own path as I feel like I went through a little bit of the Rich, Dad, Poor Dad transformation of, I had like a mom. That was struggling to raise three boys as a single parent, and she had the really good kind of, traditional advice of get a good education, get a good job. But ultimately like there's an entrepreneur inside of me, that's creative and a dreamer and ambitious, and I was never going to be happy doing the traditional path. And so my life really opened up to me. The second I stepped off the traditional path and started to self-educate and become an entrepreneur and just get into this crazy entrepreneur Adventure World. Yeah. And, so I would tell my 18 year old self to just go to college if you want. But start reading these business books and it was really like reading business books and being willing to kind of create your own path. And Make up your own games and make up your own rules and stuff that's we have been a life changer for me. I love it. You mentioned Rich, Dad Poor, Dad, are there any other business books you'd recommend? Man. Tons of them. I am a voracious reader of business books. I have read several hundred and I would say, like, the one thing by Gary Keller. And yeah, Gabe. Actually, I have got it right here. I was just looking at it. Yeah, I love that one. The richest man in Babylon by George claisen. Yeah, I love that one in my space, and like the business acquisition space, there's one called by then build by Walker diable. Okay. That's all about. Out buying businesses. But, yeah, there's so many. Yeah, so many great ones. That's good. If you could have coffee with any historical figure, who would it be any historical figure? They could still be alive today and Come to mind. I don't know. I feel like you're supposed to say Jesus but I don't know, it doesn't have to be, you know. Yeah. That would probably be my number one but a and alternative Pig might be William Wilberforce. Okay, he kind of led a cultural revolution in England's. The help them be the get rid of slavery. Okay. For England and he did it in a very non-traditional. Way basically through kindness and politeness, and, and changing the hearts of the English people. And they beat us by wanted to say, like 50 years, or 70 years, or something, to abolishing slavery and in the UK, and he's just a really interesting character. Interesting. Yeah, any person to talk to you? Huh, that's cool. If you were given just handed 10 million dollars tomorrow, what would you do with it? I have probably a super boring answer. I kind of already know what it what I would do and it's exactly what I am already trying to do in my life. But it's going to be kind of like secure the call, a base of operations for family Fiore here and that would be like everything we need all paid off and enough boring Investments to meet the overhead of it. And so it'd be like house. I have got a small plane, I am still flying today, so I have got an okay. And so be basically secure the homestead, the airplane and education for the kids and have enough boring Investments to meet my lifestyle nut. Yeah. And have that kind of in a bomb-proof, trust situation, or secure as I can. And then with 10 million I wouldn't take nearly that much to achieve all that and then what are the remaining amount? I would do what's called a home run swings. I would do world-changing entrepreneurial ideas which I have a bunch of them where if I swing and miss it still doesn't affect like my general lifestyle or my family's well-being. Sure. But it would be using my time and talent and skills to go after something that if this works. It's going to change the world in a substantial way. Yeah, I love. And then if it and if they do hit It could be you know stuff that's got upside in the billions kind of stuff and then just snowball that and I believe in entrepreneurship and business as a force of good in the world. And, so I wouldn't do for profit business with social causes attached to it. That could make a positive difference on the world and then, I would, instead of going around trying to raise money from rich people, I would try to build profitable engines that are Simultaneously making money and funding the next home run swing, you know. So that's yeah, that's awesome. What out of these, that's really good? Well if you're looking for a boring investment I have got a mortgage note fund. That's its pays monthly. It's a 12-month lockup and it's predictable boring and you know there's a zero upside but it's not the worst play right now especially with everything. Going on. But that was also a plug for the listeners out there. Maybe info on it, man. Like I am. Yeah. I like making exciting money, and then turning it into boring money. Yeah, this. And then I want to take a once I have enough boring money. Then I want to go play exciting money but at scale. Yeah you know. So that's yeah that makes a lot of sense. Awesome. Well I think we have covered a ton here and that you're Your story is obviously unique and it's crazy. I mean, it's just, yeah, there's nothing I can say, that's going to add too much value to it, you know, it's a wild story. I can't imagine what was going through your mind. I mean, but thank you for walking us through, through all that and, and walking through kind of your takeaways about, you know, people and God and relationships being the most important and, and how your perspective. This is so much different now than it was and would have been had. You not had that experience? Where can our listeners reach out to you if they'd like to find you online or so, my company is bison business by some business.com. My Twitter handle is at Quint Fiore. It's just my name, CL int fio Ari. And then I also if you check out my Twitter page, I have got a newsletter called, it's called, probably a good deal, and we curate kind of off-market business deals to our subscribers on that. And so, if you're ever interested in getting into business, business deals, and investing in small businesses, you could join my newsletter or check out our website for stuff that's on the market for sale. But either way, even if that's not your world and you're not into that, I just still love to connect. With you as a human being and follow along the journey on Twitter. I am always talking about educational business stuff and then I will post pictures and videos from flying adventures and travel and stuff like that. But I just love to travel up the fly and love to share the journey with my friends. Super cool. I just subscribed so I recommend the listeners. Do it to ya. Your fun. Follow on Twitter for sure. So I have really enjoyed this conversation, and I am looking forward to keeping in touch and I know that you have added a ton of value to our listener. So I really appreciate it. Thanks a lot Clint. Okay, thank you. And to our listeners out there, thanks for spending your most valuable resource with us and that is your time. Thanks, everyone. Take care.

Speaker 2

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