480 | Why Most Men Never Hit $300K — And How You Can

Oct 7

Brad Lea
I want to show people how to get to two or $300,000 a year income. But if you're not making 300, $200,000 a year, I want to help those people, and they're like, well, how. How do you do it? What's the scam? There's no scam. You got to sell something. You got to quit your dumbass labor, job, salary, wage. Or maybe not quit, but add a side hustle where you're selling something. It doesn't have to be your something. It can be somebody else's something. It's got to be something that you believe in and that you use, because that makes it easier to sell. Like, why would I sell you something I wouldn't use? So at the end of the day, you have to sell. Sell something.
00:36
Chaz Wolfe
What's up, everybody? I'm Chas Wolf gathering, the Kings podcast, coming back to you here today. This king on the stage here today is unique. Well, we're all unique. But I've got an extra special guest here today, Mister Brad Lee. Brad is the godfather of elearning interactive video. He's a tech founder, sales expert, teacher, businessman, public figure, influencer, content creator, author, speaker, CEO, philosopher, investor, entrepreneur, podcaster, father and husband. And I believe it's your main mission to get the knowledge from people that have it and give it to the people that need it. Brad, welcome to the king stage. How are you?
01:15
Brad Lea
Well, I'm excellent. Thank you for having me, man. That's a. That's quite the list.
01:21
Chaz Wolfe
Well, I think that if they don't know your name, they should. I'm thankful to have known your name for a long time now. And I'm completely honored that you would spend some time here with us today. I want to jump right into it because I know you're a straight shooter. You keep it real, as they say. The. The piece that I want to jump right into is I would ask you how you're doing today, but I already know that you would say you're amazing. And there's a particular reason that you would say that you're amazing. Why?
01:45
Brad Lea
Well, number one, because it's the truth. But the answer I think you're driving at is, number one, I'm the one in charge. So if it wasn't going well, it's my fault. And I don't complain about things that I've chose to do right. So there's no complaining there. But in reality, I think it's because I base everything on gratitude. Like, to me, I woke up this morning the whole entire day is going to be amazing because of that. The question is, how amazing will it get? I mean, you could even get better news. Is there better news? I don't think so. So I've already got the best news possible. So every time someone says, you know, how are you doing? I think to myself, well, unbelievable, first of all. Second of all, you're wasted a question because I'm the one driving.
02:28
Brad Lea
So if I'm not doing well, I probably wouldn't tell you anyway. Why? Because I wouldn't want to let you know that I'm a, you know, a bad driver.
02:38
Chaz Wolfe
Exactly. The gratitude piece, it really does unlock quite a bit. You go through this in your book, but simplistically, it's positioning yourself for what value? Like, you have this example of waking up tomorrow or a million bucks or $10 million. And that puts it in perspective for you. So give it that perspective. And how does that give you gratitude?
02:58
Brad Lea
Well, I think it gives me a different perspective than most. And the perspective is based in gratitude. And how. I explained it one time, and it's went, like, viral. I've seen people in other countries, other languages, saying questions. And what I said was, you know, how would you feel if I gave you a million dollars? Because when people think that and it's, like, really trying to feel like, what would that feel like? And if you're already, you know, wealthy, you'd be like, well, not the same, right. Well, okay, so go 10 million. Go 100 million? Go a billion, go whatever makes the point, because the point is, what if I gave you $10 million cash? How would you feel? And people would be like, well, oh, my God. I'd be, like, freaking out. I'd be, like, so excited. I'd be so relieved.
03:40
Brad Lea
I'd feel so good about everything, and nobody could ruin my day. I'd be in such a positive mood, I think to myself, okay, cool. I would, too. That makes sense. That's a really good thing to have happened, right? But now, if I said, I'll give you the 10 million, but you can't wake up tomorrow. It's over. You know, we're gonna. Midnight. You're done. Would you take the 10 million? Everyone says, well, of course. Nothing. So my question is then you admit that waking up tomorrow morning is worth more than that $10 million. Absolutely. Okay. Well, then how come we don't act the same when we wake up every day? Because we take it for granted. And so what I do, I put a sign on my wall a long time ago that said, congratulations. You get another day.
04:28
Brad Lea
So I would look at the sign and remember, even though I had all these problems and issues, you know, man, I'm happy now. Like, you know, I recognize I get another day, man. What an unbelievable gift. Shifts my perspective to one of optimism and, you know, abundance. You know, my perspective is different than most. Someone asked me one time on a podcast, hey, what it feel like to be homeless. And, you know, but the rock bottom, I think they said. And I said, I don't. I don't really think I've been rock bottom. They're like, what do you mean? You said, I. You were homeless. And I'm like, yeah, but number one, it wasn't that long. Number two, it was the beach.
05:09
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
05:10
Brad Lea
So really the whole trick is to shift your perspective of one of. One of optimum. And I do that by realizing how valuable just even getting the day is, because it really is a gift. And if we don't understand and appreciate how lucky we are to just open the eyes, we can walk, we can talk, we can see, you know, and some of us are thinking, well, speak for yourself. I can't. Well, again, that's my point. Like, then you better be thankful and grateful, because guess what? There's someone that didn't wake up.
05:42
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
05:43
Brad Lea
Yeah. You're about having no leg. You know, there's someone that didn't wake up. You know, I remember saying a long time ago, I don't know who authored it. It wasn't me, but it's great. I was pissed off that I had no shoes until I met a man with no feet of.
05:59
Chaz Wolfe
Yep.
05:59
Brad Lea
And you can keep going.
06:01
Chaz Wolfe
Yep. Yeah.
06:02
Chaz Wolfe
All the way until there is no more life, you know, to your point, why do you think that? Obviously, you gave us the reason there, which is people aren't gratitude, or they don't have gratitude because they take it for granted. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that they lean more towards taking it for granted?
06:16
Brad Lea
I don't think it's a conscious thing. I think it's just a habitual thing. You know, we forget. Just like sometimes our wives, you know, we forget to date them. We forget to love them. We did in the beginning, which is why they're our wives. And then I marry them. We forget. It's not. I don't think it's intentional. I don't think dudes are like, yeah, now she's mine. I can treat her like hell. I mean, I'm sure there are some like that, but no, most guys just forget. Why? Familiarity. I think that happens with life. It happens with the wife. It happens. Relationships. You know, it's hard, man. Sometimes it's hard to remember, you know, to be. To be grateful, especially with the. You know, with all the negativity the mainstream media serves up.
06:59
Brad Lea
You know, the social media now is like, you know, you think you're a loser because you don't have Rolls Royces and private jets, when, in fact, neither does the person that you're watching. Nine times out of ten, they're just faking it. But, like, it's easier than ever to kind of start, you know, feeling the weight. But I just tell people, listen, just remember, did you open your eyes today? Great. Then it's a good day. The question is, how good is it going to get?
07:24
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
07:24
Chaz Wolfe
That leaves it for optimism. There's a. There's a book on peak performance by Stephen Kotler where he breaks this down, like, scientifically, like, gratitude. Like, literally opens it up to positive thinking as opposed to negative, which is what you just said. You're, like, all the negative stuff out there. Gratitude is actually the segue to getting away from all that.
07:42
Brad Lea
What's the book called?
07:44
Chaz Wolfe
It's called Impossible. Art of the Impossible. I believe Stephen Kotler, he's got a mindset program, actually, I had his co founder speak in one of our events. But, yeah, the gratitude piece there is really kind of baseline. You know, it's really easy to do, but to your point, it's easy not to do. It's one of those cliches, right? What do you think? I mean, you kind of just brought up, you know, marriage, family, and kind of, you know, that. That angle, you talk about it actually quite a bit. Probably more than other influencers, if you will. Why do you think that, you know, the family unit, or maybe the Rolls Royce has been. Become more important than the family unit. Like, when I look at an influencer, they're flashing the.
08:26
Chaz Wolfe
The roles, as opposed to that I'm still married or that I have, you know, a thriving marriage, something like that.
08:32
Brad Lea
Well, because I don't believe the thriving marriage and the other things attract as strongly. And a lot of guys are trying to grow their. Their following and create a brand, and, you know, they use those accomplishments as proof that they know what they're talking about. You know, a lot of people's parents been married for 50 years, but they're not necessarily successful. But again, how do you define success? Who are you talking with? I had a guy named Dry Creek Duane on my podcast, and he's got, like, a million subs on YouTube. And he's just a good old dude cowboy. He's a, he's a horseman is what he is. Good old, you know, salt of the earth kind of guy, you know, not into money, you know, just into living and happy, man. His followers, I just said he should scale his business.
09:24
Brad Lea
He's not charging enough. He could do this, this, like I'm thinking all business and how you make more and so you can make, you know, if you make more, you can make a bigger impact as you have more resources and money to do it. So it's actually a actually quite intelligent and honest thing to do and think. But his viewers, like, attacked me saying, you know, leave Duane alone. You know, not that. Not everything's about money. And, man, you, Rick, corporate guys just want to come in and you think it's all about screw the little people. And it's like their mindset on money is what's keeping them down.
09:59
Chaz Wolfe
That's right.
10:00
Brad Lea
And they want to justify that. It's okay to be broke. Listen, I agree it's okay to be broke, but I also agree, I mean, I don't agree that you should be right.
10:10
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
10:11
Brad Lea
If you're broke, it's 1% because your mindset, your skill set, or your habits. There's only three reasons why you're broke. And if you want to be a kingdom, right? You got to provide for your family. You got to provide and protect, period. And again, I'm 100% on that side of the fence. People always ask me, what about if the wife works? Listen, the wife can work. That doesn't stop you from providing and protecting. That's your role. That's your responsibility. It's not hers, it's yours. So you better do it now. If she wants to work and contribute to that, good for her. She doesn't have to. Not my book. Yeah, and who says my books? The right book? Well, I do. I do. But that's just my book. Like, it's my book. I get to determine what's good and bad.
10:57
Brad Lea
If someone else wants to model that, great. So if you're going to model what I think, you're going to provide and protect for your family. You got to have money to do that, brother. You got to have money to do that. Now, there are some people that might want to argue that you can be a king without money. I would argue, no, you're not a very good king without money. You're not a good example. I mean, I would disagree. Now, again, some people are going to argue this point make me look bad for saying that because I agree. You don't have to have money. You can give people your time. You can give people your respect and your loyalty and your trust and your guidance and your knowledge. Yes, of course, there's a lot of value you can give without money.
11:40
Chaz Wolfe
Right?
11:40
Brad Lea
But if I have money, I have more value to give. Why is not only can I solve your problems in all those other ways I can write a check. And sometimes, brother, a check is what's going to solve this problem.
11:53
Chaz Wolfe
That's right.
11:54
Brad Lea
All the advice in the world so I don't lose my house next time. But how about save my house now when I need something written, you know, paid. But anyway, I don't want to get too crazy on that. Point being is good, dude. You need to make money. And if you're the female, well, then you nurture and you support. That's your role. So is it the father's job to come home and make sure the kids are fed? Well, no, and not in my. Not in my world. Why? Well, because if you look at how nature has it. Women have built in feeding mechanisms, a couple of them. So who's supposed to feed? Okay, well, the mother is the nurturer and the supporter of the family. The father, the man, is the protector and the provider of the family.
12:44
Brad Lea
And together the whole family provided for, protected, nurtured and supported. And that's how it should be in my mind. Now, if the wife wants to work and contribute to the man's responsibility, wonderful. Nothing wrong with that. And if the man wants to nurture and support his family also, which he should, because again, if you ask me, they both should do both roles. But whose role is it? Who's responsible?
13:13
Chaz Wolfe
Who owns it?
13:14
Brad Lea
Who owns it? And to me, you can't say, you can't call someone a king if they're not in my mind doing those things. You're not a king. Me. You know, you might be a king in your own mind, but what is a king? Let's define that.
13:28
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah. Yeah.
13:29
Chaz Wolfe
Well, I think you're spot on. Julie and I, my wife, we run our house the same way. And. Yeah, maybe more traditional in your I perspective there, which is similar to mine. Again, I love your thought on. This is my book. I get to write my own book. That's the beauty of it. And so again, if someone's going to model after me, then that's. This is what I'm going to agree with. And Brad is. The cool thing is you've probably seen this with. With your house as well. But when Julie understood her role fully and understood my role and vice versa, then it's like, I can run as fast as I can, a hundred miles an hour right here. I don't have to, like, worry about getting in the way, because I can just run. She's not in the way.
14:02
Chaz Wolfe
I'm not in the way. I'm not in her way. She can run. And so if we truly are, like, clear, and then we're running fast, then we get a lot done, and it actually works out really well. She owns her stuff. I own mine. We collaborate on some, but it's just a really efficient way to do it. It's not just even biological. It's efficient.
14:19
Brad Lea
Remember, it's possible for you both to be running, and you run into the wrong people, so.
14:25
Chaz Wolfe
That's right.
14:26
Brad Lea
That's right. Always take time to communicate, you know what I mean? Include other.
14:32
Chaz Wolfe
I heard on a podcast that you did that kind of low key. You're kind of low key about it, but you've got this, like, I want to solve poverty target. I don't know if you've publicly, like, said it exactly like that, but I've heard it on a couple of your pieces. And really what it comes down to is maybe just helping people get out of poverty, maybe. So I wanted to ask you about it. It's, like, super low key. You want to help people with money, obviously. Where does that come from? Like, is that from your bad situation that you grew up in?
14:58
Brad Lea
Well, I didn't grow up in a bad situation. I.
15:02
Chaz Wolfe
Well, sorry. The broken home that you just.
15:04
Brad Lea
Referenced, less than traditional and less than ideal. There you go. Wasn't bad. Again, honestly, if I think back, like, my. I wasn't abused, and I didn't grow up in a bad. I had food, we had clothes, we had things. Like, you know, weren't rich by any stretch of imagination, but, you know, we had a car, went to school, we got bikes, we got Christmas presents, you know, but. But. But at the end of the day, to answer your question, state it one more time. I want to be specific.
15:31
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, no, you're good. I just. I've heard you talk about helping people get out of poverty, basically, is what it is.
15:36
Brad Lea
Okay.
15:37
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
15:37
Brad Lea
So poverty is a strong word.
15:41
Chaz Wolfe
Mm.
15:42
Brad Lea
And I don't. I don't know if I can help everyone get out of poverty. Like, poverty. Damn, dude. Like, I imagine that's constitution. Like, poverty, to means, like, you don't have diapers for your kid. You don't. You don't know where you're gonna eat the next day. You're. You're. You don't have running water. You use an outhouse. And there's people that wouldn't be listening to this that are like that. Why wouldn't they be listening to this? Because they're poverty. They're in poverty, man. You don't. You don't listen to freaking podcasts in poverty, okay? You worry about where's the next meal? You worry about freaking, you know, eating. So, I mean, at the end of the day, that, to me, is poverty. I would love to help all those people, but I don't know how to.
16:24
Brad Lea
All those people, you know, obviously, their mindset, their skill set, and their habits are the three areas that if I could help them, those. That's what I would help them. And they wouldn't be in poverty anymore. Neither would anyone else. What you're talking about is I want to show people how to get to two or $300,000 a year income. I want to help the people out there making 30 to, you know, 100 and 5200. You know, they don't know. They don't. And 200, again, that's getting up there where you're. Where you're doing person. If you're making 200, but if you're not making, you know, 300, $200,000 a year, I want to help those people. Why? Because, dude, if you're making 90, you can make 200.
17:01
Chaz Wolfe
Exactly.
17:02
Brad Lea
If you're making 36, nine times out of ten, you could make 200 easier. And they're like, well, how? How do you do it? What's the scam? Like, gentlemen, ladies, there's no scam. Step one, dude, you gotta sell something, okay? You gotta quit your dumbass labor, job, salary, wage, or not. Or maybe not quit, but add a side hustle.
17:27
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
17:27
Brad Lea
Where you're selling something, it doesn't have to be your something. It can be somebody else's something. It's got to be something that you believe in and that you use, because that makes it easier to sell. Like, why would I sell you something I wouldn't use? So at the end of the day, you have to sell something. And so I am an excellent trainer of sales closing and persuasion so I can train them how to sell. Anyone can learn that. So I know if I get the word out there, I can get anybody up to two, $300,000 a year income. And then I got to the point where I was training people, and I'm like, here. Here's how you do it. And then, you know, next thing you know, they're not doing it.
18:03
Brad Lea
I'm like, well, dude, do I got to, like, personally hand hold you? Well, no, but it'd be nice if I could find a job, you know? Oh, well, here, work for one of my companies. Why? Because all my companies are sales based, and I need sales people. And if you know how to sell, especially after I trained you, well, then I want. I'll give you the job, too.
18:23
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
18:24
Brad Lea
And then now and then, people start pouring in, you know, now you got to see, you know, filter them properly, which, obviously, I'm able to do. But that's what you're talking about. My job isn't to solve poverty, even though I'd love to. My. My, you know, semi mission, because my mission in life, you already pointed out, it's to get the knowledge from the people who have it to the people who need it. Because I believe the reason people aren't winning is because they don't have the right information. And some people say, well, it's. They got to take action. Yeah, but the right information, you would know that. So when I say the right information, it's. It's sufficient. Why? Because if you have the right information, you know, you got to take action. I don't point that out.
19:00
Brad Lea
But at the end of the day, where. What areas are people struggling and why aren't they winning? Is my question. And it's mindset, skill set, and habits. They've got the wrong mindset. They've got the wrong skill sets, or they've got the wrong habits. And I can fix those for anybody who's willing to do it. Like, that's the crazy part. So I started telling people, man, if you're not making two or $300,000 a year, do you get all shows really living until you hit that kind of level? When I say really leavened, by the way, chas, again, people can argue. Oh, what do you mean? I make 80 grand, and I'm fine. I'm not saying you're miserable. I'm not saying you can't eat. I'm not saying you're in poverty. Yeah, but you're also not as comfortable as you would be.
19:42
Brad Lea
If you're making 90 and you jump to 200. Imagine that, dude, that's three times the income.
19:50
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
19:51
Brad Lea
Okay, so imagine if you lived like you're living, but you, three, extra income, and that difference is properly and intelligently invested. How much more quickly are you foundationally secure and free? Because at the end of the day, man, that's all anybody should want, is just to be free, truly free.
20:13
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, I agree with you, and I think that I want to hit on sales before we move on to mindset, because you are transitioning me, which is fantastic, the sales piece, even for entrepreneurs, because whether it's a salesperson or an entrepreneur listening right now, the sales stuff that you were talking about is oftentimes why they're not making two or 300,000. I remember being in my twenties making two or 300,000 and going, whoa, I'm starting to really live now. So I agree with you personally, but as an entrepreneur listening right now, and maybe even if they do a million bucks in revenue, they're just scratching that 200,000. What's in the sales piece quickly that you can give to them, that can help them get to that two or 300,000 in their own business. Of course they're selling the thing, but, like, give us some.
20:55
Chaz Wolfe
Give us some sales stuff here.
20:56
Brad Lea
Well, again, I mean, I can't refact what you just said. So you're saying if they're making a million bucks, but they're barely scratching out 200.
21:04
Chaz Wolfe
Well. On their revenue. Right.
21:06
Brad Lea
Well, they're just not running their business properly then, more than likely. Because why would you have a 20% net margin?
21:14
Chaz Wolfe
Because of the different industries, I guess, you know.
21:16
Brad Lea
Well, again, if you're already making a million dollars a year, you're doing better than 92% of businesses ever will do. And the good news is now you've proven you can do it. Now the question is, how do we do more, get better and scale? Because that's. That's the stage they're in there. They've already proven they can generate seven figures in revenue. They just haven't generated it and kept it right there. They're using it to generate it. So they go in and tweak a few levers. Boom, boom, boom. Well, guess what? That 200,000 is now 400,000. And they didn't do anything except tweak a few levers.
21:51
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
21:51
Brad Lea
And by the way, if they tweak the right levers, not only does their profit margins increase, but their availability to grow does, too. And now you've got $2 million coming in with a higher, you know, profit margin. Now it's just like a compounding effect. So when you say give them something sales, dude, it is hard to give somebody something sales in a few minutes. It takes a lot of time. But I will give you this, and I will give them this. Sales isn't rocket science. It usually boils down to the very simplest of things. Like, for example, the more hands you shake, the more money you make, period. You want to make more money, you're not going to get any better. You're not going to practice, you're not going to read any books, you're not going to hire any coaching.
22:39
Brad Lea
You're not going to do anything. And you want to make more money than you are right now. I guarantee you this will do it. Talk to more people than you're talking to right now. Okay? The more hands you shake, the more money you make. That's the bottom line. And then the other ones are, do more, get better scale. So again, if I'm making $80,000 as a salesperson right now, talking to 100 customers, well, then talk to 200 customers. And I'll bet you I make 160 or more. Why? Because it's just the laws of nature, man. That's just how it works. So that's the do more part. Then I would get better, right? I would, I would buy books and courses and coaching and education on sales and human psychology and all of that, right?
23:24
Brad Lea
I would study, study, study, and I would learn, learn, learn as much as I could. And by the way, to learn, you have to be doing and practicing and repetition. So I would be learning sales closing and persuasion and I would be getting better. So I'm doing more and I'm getting better. My income is going to triple, quadruple. And then at some point I'm going to be maxed out, right? I'm as good as you can get and I'm freaking working as much as I can work. Well, the only way to grow after that is you got to scale that.
23:57
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
23:58
Brad Lea
So scaling is simple. You're just, you're just leveraging people and technology. So at the end of the day, there's a formula that goes along with it and it applies to sales perfectly. That's what I would share with people. You know, just use common sense. It's not rocket science. Be honest, be likable. Because again, people buy people. Really. But at the end of the day, you know, talk to more people than you're talking to right now, you'll make more money, start getting better intentionally every day. So a year from now, you're better. And you did it intentionally, just like going to the gym and working out, man. If you intentionally go to the gym and work out over time, you're going to get the results. Same thing with getting better at something. So get better at sales. But, dude.
24:43
Brad Lea
And as you know, sales the lifeblood of any business.
24:47
Chaz Wolfe
Oh, yeah.
24:47
Brad Lea
I've never met anybody financially successful that wasn't selling somebody something.
24:53
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
24:53
Brad Lea
And there's so many people out there that are so against being pigeonholed as a salesperson. They think there's a bad, you know, rap about it. Well, dude, listen, I personally do not. And if you're one of those people that think poorly of salespeople, let's break that down for a minute. The reason you think that is because you've been situations where poor salespeople have soured you on sales people. Right. Why do you think it's such a bad thing to be a salesperson? You got to ask yourself that question. You know, if you think it's, oh, I'd never be a salesperson. Oh, I hate salespeople. Oh, salespeople are gross. What you're talking about are people, certain people that you've experienced were gross. Certain people screwed you over. Certain people pressured you to, and so you act like all sales are like that. That's not true.
25:48
Brad Lea
Number one, you sell every single day. You're just not aware of it. You sell your kids on getting better grades. You sell your wife on the restaurants to go to. You sold her on marrying you. Everybody's in sales. We're selling something to somebody every day, no matter what the difference between good ones and bad ones are. The bad ones don't know they're doing it. So if you know you're doing it well, then get intentionally better at doing it. It. There, there is techniques to it. There's, there's things you can do. There's questions you can ask. There's, there's skills that you can develop that allow you to be cutter, and, yes, it's possible to be natural born salesperson, but that just means your traits are naturally, you know, useful in sales. Like, for example, a sense of humor.
26:32
Brad Lea
You mentioned it when I came on the call. You're like, hey, you bring a sense of humor. Listen, my sense of humorous, a lot of people don't like, okay? But a lot of people do. And I've sold a lot of deals because I'm funny, and they come funny, and we're laughing and we're having a good time. So guess what? If you're one of those dry people that think sales is bad and you don't have a sense of humor, how do you get one if you don't have one? Is it possible do you think it's possible?
26:58
Chaz Wolfe
I do.
26:59
Brad Lea
Of course it's possible. If you don't think it's possible, guess what your problem is. Mindset. See, it's always mindset. Skill set or habits. Your problem, if you have one, is your mindset. It's your skill set or it's your habits. Why? Well, you could have a positive mindset full of abundance and optimism and, you know, passionately run in the wrong direction. Wouldn't you agree?
27:26
Chaz Wolfe
I agree.
27:27
Brad Lea
And if you're running in the wrong direction, bro, like, you can be passionate all you want, you're gonna end up nowhere. So it's not just the mindset. If you have a passionate mind and you're talented, you got skills, man, you got skills, but you have bad habits, you're probably not going to be successful. But if you've got a positive mindset, abundant mindset, you know, you're good mindset wise, and you've got skills, man. You're. You're talented, you're good at something. You don't have to be the best, but you got to be good.
28:00
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
28:01
Brad Lea
And you have the right habits. You're crushing it now. The only combination I've seen that's. That's contrary to that, is you can have a killer mindset and killer habits and not be that good and still crush it.
28:16
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
28:17
Brad Lea
You don't have to be that good to win in life. That's why anyone can win in life if I can win in life, bro. Anyone. I dropped out of high school at 16 years old. Yeah. I've always been somewhat, you know, funny and clever and smart. Smart Alec. But at the end of the day, man, you know, I was destined for regular Joe Ville, okay? My whole family is blue collar. You know, they told me to get a real job. I went out to get a real job. Learned very quickly that I don't want a real job. Okay. Then I stumbled into sales and started making more than everybody else. And I tell them, hey, man, why don't you get into sales? Oh, man, I'm not good at sales. Oh, well, you know, salesmen suck. You know, I'd be embarrassed if I was you.
29:02
Brad Lea
Yeah, well, you know, I'd be embarrassed you at the bank. So, I mean, at the end of the day, I just kept strong and got really good at sales. Then all of a sudden, I realized, guys, to be successful, you got to be selling something.
29:16
Chaz Wolfe
Oh, yeah.
29:16
Brad Lea
Show me someone successful that isn't selling something.
29:19
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
29:20
Chaz Wolfe
I mean, that's the exchange of value.
29:21
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
29:22
Brad Lea
So to answer that, question for the last 30 minutes. That first question.
29:27
Chaz Wolfe
That's good. You gave us a lot of pretty.
29:31
Brad Lea
It's not me trying to help poverty. It's me trying to get everybody to wake up and realize, listen, you got to sell something if you want to be successful, financially successful, because, again, define success. Guys, we're not here to argue. I'm trying to show people a way to go. If you're working a job and you're not making 300 grand, it's because more than likely, you're not selling something. And if you're like, yeah, I am, and I'm still not making 300 grand, well, then you're not selling something correctly, or you're selling the wrong thing. Like, dude, did someone tell you had to sell that? That's your only choice in life, right? Quit selling what you're selling if you're not making 300 grand. I can show somebody, give them the job. I can train them, give them the job.
30:10
Brad Lea
I can freaking, literally teach them how to better, dude. Like, you know, there's guys out there thinking, you know, their family life is terrible. They're. They're working hard. They're hanging out with their fellas, and. And their. Their families are falling apart. Is that successful? No. Exactly. Well, not my book. So it's like, hey, how do we help them, you know, become better men and go home to their family and, like, build that? You know what I mean? So there's a lot of avenues that go from there, but the foundational basics, man, is, let's get you some money, dog. As with some money, you can be a much better dude. So money just allows you to be more of who you are.
30:55
Brad Lea
So if you're a good person, you can be a really good person with money, because it allows you to have resources and access that you normally wouldn't have.
31:04
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
31:04
Brad Lea
You know what I mean? And you can leverage that like a good person would, to help others and serve others, you know, and yourself. Develop yourself. To develop yourself, man, you need access. Yeah, you need access culture. You need access to, you know, minds. You need access to things that only sometimes money allows, or it definitely accelerates.
31:25
Chaz Wolfe
Because I've heard you talk about prioritizing lifestyle, and some of that is this family stuff that you're talking about. And so give us a little bit here. You've talked about, you know, if you got a big old calendar, get out and put the trip to Italy. I've heard you say, put the fishing trip on there, put the stuff with the kids on there, and, like, just commit to what you call lifestyle. Give us some meat on the bones of that.
31:47
Brad Lea
You know, that just depends on everybody. Personally, I mean, I don't know. I can't give everybody lifestyle. I just believe that, you know, you shouldn't be busting your butt your whole life, missing your family, being raised, missing those smell the roses opportunities. There's a lot of people think you need to grind your face off to get there. Well, my question is, why would you want to be there with no face?
32:17
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, exactly. I mean, we've all got great beards.
32:21
Brad Lea
For me to get there, in my mind, I need a face. I can't grind my face off to get there because by the time I get there, I'll have no face. I don't want. Okay, what do I want? I want to. I want to understand that there's a way to get there and it involves some discipline. You have to have some discipline. You have to have some consistency. It's going to be a little bit uncomfortable. You're going to have to sacrifice some things. The question is what do you sacrifice? And that's up. That's up to the individual. So when it comes to lifestyle, well, I don't like to push any kind of lifestyle because, you know, it doesn't make it right or wrong, but because you like to fish, you know, so, you know, plan a fishing trip.
33:04
Brad Lea
But I really do believe that, you know, in order to create a life that you really, really are happy with, you're gonna want. You're gonna want to include family, include relationships, include people. A lot of people forget those, you know, hey, man, I had to sacrifice my relationships for three years, and I've been through two divorces, but now I'm finally successful. Well, again, you literally sacrificed everything to get the money part. But a lot of people with the money end up miserable because they sacrificed the relationships. And what I try to show people is, listen, every dollar you ever received up to now or will ever receive your whole life is going to be based on originating from a relationship.
33:53
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, I agree with that.
33:54
Brad Lea
Doubt me. I mean, argue with me. What's that mean? Where it says, you know, I dare you to argue. Yeah, tell me, tell me I'm wrong. Because every dollar we've ever received comes from relationship, but yet we worry about the money instead of the relationship. Why not worry about the relationship? The relationship is what matters. It's what produces the dollars anyway. So if you focus on the dollars and ignore the relationship gets damaged or ends. What do you think is going to happen to the dollar. So a lot of people are like, you know, they're all focused on the dollar. Look, stop focusing on the money and focus on the relationship. The relationship is more valuable than the money. Yeah. Does that make sense?
34:34
Chaz Wolfe
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
34:35
Brad Lea
Common sense says if you want more money, get more relationships. Yeah. More money you make. It's all cyclical, man, and all boils back down to sales words that people don't necessarily like, they're not comfortable with. So I try to. I try to get rid of the nonsense and the double talk and just like, you know, share with people what I truly believe is just the bottom line. Truth. And some like it, and some don't like poetry, bro. Not everybody likes poetry.
35:02
Chaz Wolfe
That's right. That's right.
35:03
Brad Lea
That's.
35:04
Chaz Wolfe
What are some of those things on your calendar?
35:05
Brad Lea
Not everybody likes that either.
35:07
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, well, that's right. And you said it earlier, you get to write your own book. So the calendar of lifestyle for your book, what are some of those things on your calendar this year? What's your lifestyle like?
35:17
Brad Lea
Well, again, I like to travel, so, you know, I like to take my family on little mini ten day vacations, and we've got four or five of those, you know, already planned, but, you know, sometimes we do them without planning. So I just like traveling and hanging out with the famous.
35:36
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
35:36
Brad Lea
You know, I mean, it's fun. I got, I got older kids. They're already adults. You know, they've got their families and, you know, that type. But I've also got younger kids, so it's almost like I got a. I got another chance to freaking, you know, play daddy. And it's fun to me now. It wasn't as fun when they were. It was as fun when they were kids because I had no money. I had no. I had to, like, you know, work and sacrifice and struggle and constantly be under pressure. So a lot of people, they don't get a second chance to have little ones again, you know, after they've, you know, raised up a few levels.
36:11
Brad Lea
So it's kind of a cool experience to raise kids under struggle and youth and inexperience and pressure and then be blessed enough to be able to do it again and from a different perspective.
36:25
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
36:26
Chaz Wolfe
What are your kids that are older? Think about that. Like, obviously, they probably have a different lens of what it was like when they were a kid. Probably didn't see some of the stuff, the struggle that you got to go through, but they're, obviously they're around you now. What do they say?
36:39
Brad Lea
They don't really say anything about how they were raised. I mean, again, this thing. I think they were raised just fine, but at the end of the day, you know, did I have a bunch of money, and I spend a lot of time and I take them on trips all over the world? No.
36:54
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
36:55
Brad Lea
But your question is, what's your. What are you doing now? Well, that's kind of what I do now. Yeah. That's good. And by the way, they're more than welcome to come if they're ever listening.
37:06
Chaz Wolfe
I love it.
37:06
Chaz Wolfe
I love it. You have on your LinkedIn title as a businessman with a podcast.
37:12
Chaz Wolfe
Yes.
37:13
Chaz Wolfe
I know you're doing a lot of things with the podcast. You are one of the original podcasters, if you will. Probably. Why not have all the other accomplishments listed first? Why is that? A businessman with a podcast. What does that mean to you?
37:28
Brad Lea
Well, number one, a lot of people were calling me a podcast host and a podcaster, and I'm not a podcaster, okay? I'm a businessman with a podcast. So it's a very simple. It's just a very simple way of saying who I am. And a lot of people write these biographies of themselves, and it. It's almost like I always think to myself, you know, we know you wrote that, right? Or at least approved it. So when you read these blah, blah, self aggrandizing, you know, bios and whatnot, I always think to myself, dude, you wrote that about yourself. Like, I don't. I hate that. I don't want to sound braggadocious. You know what I'm saying? I just want to tell the truth. And what's the truth? Who's Brad Lee? He's a businessman. I'm an entrepreneur. That's what I do. I'm a businessman. What I do.
38:16
Brad Lea
I do business. I have businesses. I brick and mortar businesses. I have employees. I have, you know, taxes. I have a. I have, you know, Fica. Like, I'm a businessman, and I also have a podcast. I'm not a podcaster that does business. I'm a businessman that does. That has a podcast. And it's simple.
38:36
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
38:36
Chaz Wolfe
I love this simplicity. On the. On the podcast. I mean, obviously, you've had incredible guests. You know, Gary Breca, Ryan Pineda. You've even been on some of their shows. What would you say is the it factor? You've. What's up?
38:49
Brad Lea
I was gonna say, you must really like them, because out of all the guests I've had, you pick those two as the big ones.
38:55
Chaz Wolfe
You know, I just, they're just, they're relative right now or they're on the top. So not necessarily the biggest. I know you, I know you had some big ones.
39:04
Brad Lea
I guess Gary Brecken blew way up, you know, from Dana White and Ryan Panetta. Dude, he's very well known. Smart. Smart. Dude. I was just, you know, pointing out that, like, you must know them. You know them or you just.
39:20
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, they're in the feed. They're in the feed. And I guess what I'm asking you is you being almost a little bit of the godfather, what, you've seen a lot of people come up, what's the, what's the commonality between all, what's the it factor?
39:33
Brad Lea
You know, I've been asked that and I gave me time to think about it when I'm not on a camera to where next time someone asked me that, I'd have answer. And you know what the answer is? Confidence. They're all confident. They're all, they're all, again, whether they act like it or not is irrelevant. Deep down, they all have confidence.
39:59
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
40:00
Brad Lea
Gary Breck is not unsure about what he's saying.
40:03
Chaz Wolfe
That's right.
40:03
Brad Lea
Ryan is not unsure about what he's saying. I'm not unsure about. Excuse me, what I'm saying. Look at them all, you know, Tony Robbins, you think he's unsure. Grant cardone, unsure. Look at anybody that you see in the limelight and you realize, man, they're certain about what they believe. Their belief system is almost like iron clad. They're certain. They're confident. That's, that's what the common denominator is with them. All that I've noticed other than that, dude, they varies, you know, some are really nice guys, you know, offstage, and some of them are, they're what I call full of, you know, they'll say something on stage and they'll preach this message and then they'll do something completely opposite of what they're preaching.
40:55
Chaz Wolfe
Sure.
40:56
Brad Lea
And I sit and I get to see it all, you know, maybe one of these days I'll do a cat Williams, you know, and just spill the beans on everybody. But, no, I mean, listen, everybody's got their flaws, but there's, you know, one common denominator that I think all the real ones have. Let's call it the real ones.
41:13
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
41:13
Brad Lea
The real ones are all confident and sure and, you know, they carry that it factor.
41:22
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
41:22
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, I, we're wrapping up here on the time, I had all kinds of other cool questions that you've spun crazy thoughts out into the world. Flat tax, flat earth, all kinds of fun stuff that I've heard you talk about. But I want to end with this question. It's actually the same question that I ask every single one of my guests. Hundreds of interviews now. And I want to know if you had the chance, Brad, to roll back the clock. You pick the age, you talk to the younger Brad, you tap him on the shoulder, and you whisper in his ear. What do you tell him?
41:51
Brad Lea
Just for the record, I am flat tax. I am for flat tax. I'm not necessarily a flat earther. I'm just saying, those guys, if.
41:59
Chaz Wolfe
You lose some good, some possibilities, they.
42:01
Brad Lea
Got some good questions that I would like answered also. You know, it doesn't make sense what they're saying, so I'm not a flat earther, though. But to answer your question, I would probably tell myself, number one, to read on a regular basis. I'd say, don't question, don't complain. Start reading ten to 20 pages of a book every single day. Good self help books. Nothing fictional and ridiculous fantasy, but self help, you know, psychology, human behavior. Books. Books, man. Textbooks are books. Read. Number two, I would say, stop immediately worrying about what everybody else thinks and focus on asking yourself, what do you think? And develop the trust within yourself to do what you think is important. Don't worry about what everybody else thinks unless you're paying them. That's why I would say, like, listen, am I paying you for your thoughts? No.
43:09
Brad Lea
You're not my lawyer. You're not a hired counselor? No. Well, then I don't really care what you think. If it's. If it's. If it's opposite of what I'm thinking, brother, I value my own opinion as much as I value somebody else's. I don't care if it's Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi. Like, I can name all the people that. Everybody. Oh, him. Listen, I don't care who it is. I believe that my opinion is just as valuable, if not more valuable, than most people's opinion. And a lot of people can't say that. Jazz.
43:41
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
43:42
Brad Lea
They think my opinion is more important than their opinion. That's why they pay me for my opinion, you know, and it's like, well, sometimes I've been on calls with people, and it's not cheap, they say. I say, what's so important? Like, you paid, you know, chunk of change to get me over for a few minutes. What's so important? Well, I just want your opinion on this. And then by the time the conversation ends, I say, let me ask you a question. You didn't know what I just said? They're like, well, yeah, but I'm like, but what? Well, I just wanted someone else's opinion. Why? Well, because they value my opinion to the tune of $6,000 for an hour on a call when they already had the same opinion.
44:26
Brad Lea
They're looking for validation, and it's worth money to validate it from someone that they admire, someone that they believe that they trust, someone that they respect. My question is, why don't you respect yourself? Why don't you validate yourself? Why don't you trust yourself? Why don't you trust yourself? Why don't you know that your opinion is enough? Well, getting a second opinion, sometimes. Intelligent, great. And again, I agree with that. Nothing wrong with the second opinion, if that's what's happening. But what most times is happening. Chazdongenhe, they don't value their own opinion because they haven't done the work. They don't have the confidence. They don't have the certainty. They don't have this. The belief, man. And to me, that's all underneath mindset. But, yeah, I would tell my 20 year old self or whatever, and did you say pick the age I go back to?
45:19
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, yeah, you could pick, but you said 20, so that is that kind of what you go to in your.
45:23
Brad Lea
Mind only because, dude, you know, until you're 20 years old, you really can't do anything or go anywhere. You're a kid. You know, at the end of the day, you're adult when you're 18. I know, but, like, I was a late bloomer. I'm still maturing. I still feel the same as I did when I was 25 or 30. I honestly do, mentally and everything, physically. Mentally, I don't feel like I'm going on 55, but experience wise, man, I'm going on 105. Yeah, I've made a lot of mistakes. I've learned a lot of things the hard way, and it's very easy to look back and go, okay, I know that. Well, what about this? Well, let me read the contract. Well, hey, put it in writing and then get back to me. Like, all of these things that now a strong businessman would do naturally.
46:08
Brad Lea
People just assume that they knew how to do all that. They learned that in college, you know, getting their MBA. No, you learn that by getting your teeth kicked in. And you learn that bye. Practical experience. I've built many businesses. I've lost many battles. So at the end of the day, I would tell myself, think bigger, read every day, and stop worrying about what everybody else thinks. Because until I learned that, I didn't really succeed at all, and I definitely didn't feel good. I was always like, there was always this hole, this void. Everything was missing, you know? And I'd also. I mean, I did. I have a list of things I tell myself, like, don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid. Don't be able to.
46:53
Brad Lea
Don't be afraid to find someone else who's already accomplished what you're looking to do and, you know, hang around them and get their blueprint and just do what they did. You know, you always think you have to go out and be the one to invent it when you don't. Like, you don't have to invent things. Things, man. You just go model what somebody else is already doing, and coincidentally, you'll end up probably getting the same thing they're getting. Like, you model what they're doing. Nine times out of ten, you get what they're getting.
47:19
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah, that's right.
47:21
Chaz Wolfe
Well, Brad, I know that you've got to go. And so I just, again, appreciate you for being here. Always keeping it real. Brad, thanks for being here. We appreciate your time and just giving it real. I know, you know, you already do that. But even just being on the other side of the screen here and having some questions and being somewhat successful, I've still am looking to our guy, to guys like you, to give it to me real and to paint a good picture, because we're out here trying to do what's right for our families as well. I think there's many others like me, and we're watching guys like you. So thank you for doing that.
47:51
Brad Lea
Well, you're welcome. Can I give you one last bit of advice?
47:54
Chaz Wolfe
I would love it. Please.
47:56
Brad Lea
You said, we're trying, okay? And believe it or not, our words are very powerful.
48:03
Chaz Wolfe
They are.
48:04
Brad Lea
And I agree with you. If I said to you, I'm going to try to come over on Thursday.
48:08
Chaz Wolfe
Yeah.
48:09
Brad Lea
Does that mean I'm coming over on Thursday?
48:12
Chaz Wolfe
I would ask you, I would say in the text message, I would say try question mark.
48:16
Brad Lea
Exactly. So you're not trying to be, and you're not. You are being better. Okay. Get rid of word try. Everyone listening to this, stop saying the word try. That's my gift. That's my parting gift. Hey, thanks. Thanks for having me Chaz has been fun, Mandy.

In this episode, I sit down with the legendary Brad Lea, CEO of Lightspeed VT and one of the most respected figures in e-learning and sales training. Brad breaks down how gratitude, mindset, and sales skills are the key ingredients to both personal fulfillment and financial freedom, challenging listeners to rethink how they value each day and how that perspective can fuel their success. Throughout the conversation, Brad balances professional ambitions with personal values, discussing family dynamics, gender roles, the importance of nurturing relationships, and what being a king in this modern age means to him. Learn the one thing that all high achievers share, Brad’s POV on mastering sales for lightning-fast financial growth, and many more high-impact insights that will shift your mindset and step up your game.

Connect with Brad Lea:

Website: https://bradlea.com/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/vtbradlea

Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/TheRealBradLea

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealbradlea/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradlea/

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealrealbradlea?lang=en

Chaz's favorite morning drink to fuel him for his day:

10% off Code: GATHERINGKINGS10