459 | Escape The Corporate TRAP: Entrepreneur Freedom

Jun 10

[00:00:00] Neb Aynu: Start from scratch, zero income, zero dollars, zero relationships with insurance companies. I knew I had to do this because if I did something else, I would have fell into depression, honestly. Like I would have fell into like, just not living my purpose. Learn to give without expecting anything back. And I'm very passionate about.
[00:00:21] Neb Aynu: The racial wealth gap in this country, I believe the minority community, there's a huge gap of just wealth. You're going to slowly close this wealth gap within this minority construction community by telling people, here's how you do it. Here's the actual steps. Here's how this person did it. I'll team with this person.
[00:00:44] Chaz Wolfe: What's up, everybody? Welcome back to Gathering the Kings podcast. I'm your host, Chaz Wolf.
[00:00:49] Chaz Wolfe: On today's show, we've got a business owner with an expertise that is brand new to this show.
[00:00:52] Chaz Wolfe: His name is Neb. I knew, and he is the founder and owner of Of kingdom bonding on today's episode. We go way beyond the glitz that you hear on social media and discuss these three things, how he built courage to leave corporate America, how serving others first will get you everything that you need. And lastly, the real cause behind America's wealth gap.
[00:01:12] Chaz Wolfe: And it's not what you think. After hearing this episode, you are going to feel completely inspired to take the next leap, whatever that is for you. Subscribe, hit the follow button, hit the like button on the episode. Maybe even put a comment down below of what the next step of faith is that you need to take in your life.
[00:01:26] Chaz Wolfe: Enjoy the show. Neb, my man, welcome to the King stage. I appreciate you being here, man.
[00:01:32] Neb Aynu: Yeah, of course. Appreciate you having me, Chaz.
[00:01:35] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, man. I mean, I think that,~ uh,~ this is a super relevant. ~Um, ~you, you, you're doing a lot of things, and I know really your heart behind what you're doing is probably more of what we'll end up talking about. ~Um, ~but tell us what kind of business that you have.
[00:01:45] Neb Aynu: Yeah, so my name is Neb Ainu. I'm the founder and owner of Kingdom Bonding. We are one of the few minority owned, bonding only agencies in the country. ~Um, ~in a nutshell, nobody knows what a bond is, but it's a insurance product for contractors that are doing work with the federal government,~ uh,~ state, local,~ um,~ or any,~ um,~ general contractors.
[00:02:08] Chaz Wolfe: And so you're, you're helping them secure that type of, uh, safety so that they can keep operating their business and not experience,~ uh,~ crazy issues.
[00:02:16] Neb Aynu: Exactly. Exactly. Exactly.
[00:02:19] Chaz Wolfe: Good. Well, I know that you,~ uh,~ you talk bonding and you talk contracting and, and cashflow, all the fun things on a regular basis, but,~ um,~ bonding isn't new for you, but, but you being an entrepreneur on your own,~ um,~ is something that you've done in the last 12 to 18 months or so. And so I want to really hear the journey.
[00:02:36] Chaz Wolfe: Cause it's like fresh. You're, you're like, In the heat of battle being successful as you're, as you're doing it. ~Um, ~but you can have an interesting perspective, probably something extremely relatable to the listener. So I would love to hear just a little bit of your backdrop. Like how did you get into,~ uh,~ just this industry?
[00:02:51] Chaz Wolfe: ~Uh, ~what was your backdrop even before that?
[00:02:53] Neb Aynu: Yeah. Yeah. So my story is a little crazy,~ uh,~ with a, with a little salt. So, ~uh, ~graduated college 2016. ~Um, ~it was never a school type of person. I hated school. I hated. Going to class to be honest with you. It was never a studious person. I ran,~ um, um, ~long distance running and in high school and in college.
[00:03:16] Neb Aynu: If I put in the work, I get the result. If I put in the work, I'll get the result. And that's when I saw,~ um,~ those traits I learned at a young age. So what made me who I am today? ~Uh, ~so. Did that and running is a major thing in my story because it was my outlet to,~ uh,~ to like escape almost, you know, it was, it was my, it was my outlet to achieve things and it was my outlet to.
[00:03:43] Neb Aynu: Friendships, brotherhood,~ um,~ adversity,~ um,~ losing, winning,~ um,~ pain, suffering, you know, and then getting, getting the result of,~ uh,~ what you put in. So, graduating in May 2016, I was supposed to go into IT, uh, because my mom told me to. And did a software testing class while I moved to D. C. And I hated it. I did it for like 3 months.
[00:04:11] Neb Aynu: I think you pay like 3, 000 to do this course. I was going to be a software tester. I learned how to, you know, Python. I made my own website. And I was very dedicated to do it because I wanted to. Succeed, right? And you were like, you want to make your parents proud. ~Uh, ~but told them, I was like, I can't do this.
[00:04:32] Neb Aynu: I was like, I'm not, I'm going to hate my life if I, if I do this. So I ended up working at a gym, a shout out,~ uh,~ 24 hour fitness. ~Uh, ~front desk,~ uh, ~work part time and I built the relationships with people that walk in. So when people walk in, they'll be like dressed very nicely, right?
[00:04:50] Neb Aynu: And I would just build relationships with people that were, that were like put together, right? And I built the relationship with a,~ uh,~ recruiter,~ uh,~ man named Peter too. ~Uh, ~he used to come in fresh every day to the gym.~ Uh, ~he knows the story now, but when people come in, you would see like their name on the screen pop up and I will look them up on linkedin and I'm like, oh, this person does this person doesn't it?
[00:05:16] Neb Aynu: I was like, Peter does recruiting. So I wanted to go into that company air tech so bad, I would make it to the last round and I would get declined.
[00:05:25] Neb Aynu: ~Um, ~and Peter was a director at Airtek Fairfax and we started conversation while I was working out one day,~ uh,~ And he made a comment on my pants. It was like jogger pants, shout out these jogger pants. And he was like, where'd you get those from? I was like, I got these for me. And then he was like, what do you do, man?
[00:05:42] Neb Aynu: ~Uh, ~I asked him that question, even though I already knew. He was like, I work at Aerotech. I was like, no way, bro. I've been trying to get in there. He was like, I got you, man. I said, word. And he said, yeah, I got you. So ended up, he ends up putting me on with the director of the office of that office.
[00:06:00] Neb Aynu: And I make it to the last round again, but the lady out of Jersey hated me. So got declined again. I was like, bro, what in the world? So I was, I was at a point before I entered construction or surety or bonding of giving up because I'm a huge failure. Like that was the 18th job in my face that I got declined.
[00:06:21] Neb Aynu: And that was A year after,~ uh,~ I graduated. So Peter was like, Hey, let me just find you a job. I got you, man. It's like, don't worry about these people. So Peter ended up finding me a position with a local insurance agency here in her near Virginia. Be like their little account manager
[00:06:42] Chaz Wolfe: Hmm.
[00:06:43] Neb Aynu: and the person in there of leading the office said, Hey, you should.
[00:06:48] Neb Aynu: What do you think about being a producer? And I was like, sure. Yeah. I didn't really think structure or show you then, but we kind of spoke about like lifestyle and what we want out of life. And,~ um,~ he was like, I can teach you this, what I do. And I said, sure, man. , learned construction insurity with, so within six months, I got licensed December of 2017, I got licensed to do, to sell bonds, pretty much an insurance,~ um, uh, uh, ~license with the state of Virginia, pass the test and just never looked back ever since.
[00:07:16] Neb Aynu: Started developing a passion for what I was doing, started developing a purpose. So purpose is, you know, To make an impact on people, to make an impact on what I was doing on a daily basis. And I saw that because it was a financial,~ um,~ it was a financial vehicle that I was helping people get, especially the emerging minority construction community.
[00:07:38] Neb Aynu: And I really enjoyed that because I saw them become multimillionaires through helping them get bonded. And then I saw the fruit behind what I was doing, which is the freedom. It didn't allow me freedom then,~ um,~ because I was working for corporate America in. I had that journey of six years of working for corporate America.
[00:07:58] Neb Aynu: ~Um, ~to be honest with you, I hated it. ~Uh, uh, ~it was just not me. It just did not fit that box of,~ uh,~ being controlled. And,~ uh,~ so last year. Came to a,~ uh,~ realization and we came to a,~ um,~ I'm going to say a disagreement. I kind of got backzapped and I was let go. And,~ uh,~ that really fired me up to like, Hey man, like, like, what's like, what are you going to do about this now?
[00:08:26] Neb Aynu: Because you were obviously the top producer here. ~Um, ~how are you, obviously it's not about your work ethic. It's not, it's not about,~ um,~ what you're doing for your clients. It's not about how you did business. Right. So that's what I knew. I was like, this is like war and you can, I can either put my tails little wagon and just not do it now.
[00:08:52] Neb Aynu: So I was planning to do it five years from now when I was 35. ~Uh, ~but ended up doing it, I started from scratch, zero income, zero dollars,~ uh,~ you know, zero relationships with insurance companies. ~Uh, ~and really the people that believed in me. What went with me, I guess, on the insurance company side, and then,~ um,~ had to give up, you know, things, right?
[00:09:15] Neb Aynu: So, luxuries in life, right? That's what I call them. Like, I had to put my apartment on Airbnb, I had to put my car in Turo, I had to move in with my sister, I had to walk places. I had to walk in the rain. I had sweating when I was walking, you know, there was,~ uh,~ there was food, food was limited, you know, like everything that had a budget, like budget, like less than like a hundred dollars to spend per month and,~ uh,~ just really just grind for like 70, 80 hours per week.
[00:09:45] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, there's a lot that,~ uh,~ that you've shared. And so I want to, I want to kind of dive into some of this, but I mean, in essence, you know, corporate background, you, it wasn't a good fit for you, which I think a lot of people listening, you know, entrepreneurs kind of feel that way, whether they had a corporate job or not, it's like, you know, just a job in general feels like a box.
[00:10:00] Chaz Wolfe: Like, get me out of here. ~Um, ~And so we can relate to that, you doing your own thing here. Even just the last couple of examples that you've given, as far as the things you had to quote unquote, give up, you know, putting everything,~ uh,~ to, to work for you so that you could survive. ~Um, ~that's like the entrepreneurs journey, right?
[00:10:15] Chaz Wolfe: It's like the, the joy that we have,~ uh,~ to be able to give up quote unquote, all the things. ~Um, ~but my guess is that you probably were happy to do so because you were finally doing your own thing or was it in the moment? Was it difficult? Was it a challenge to be able to. Give those things up.
I'm going to bring in faith into this and what faith means. Cause I think faith makes all things possible. I'm a follower of Jesus. So it's like, I do everything based off the word of God and I do everything based off faith. And I knew like, if I didn't do this.
[00:10:44] Neb Aynu: Like I wasn't obeying God, first of all, which is number one thing to me. And I knew I had to do this because if I did something else, I would, I would have fell into depression, honestly. Like I would have fell into like, just not living my purpose. I would have fell into just being mad and angry and like, you know, like it would not been a good site for me.
[00:11:06] Neb Aynu: Cause I knew like, I have to do this. I don't have a choice. You know what I'm saying? Cause I was so mad at that moment. I was like, I need an outlet to let out this frustration. Cause if I don't let out this frustration, I'm like, this is not going to go, go well for me. And one thing, one thing I pray, I was like, Hey, Laura, I was like, close every single door in my face.
[00:11:28] Neb Aynu: Make it so obvious for me to start keeping. And he made it very obvious.
[00:11:33] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:11:33] Neb Aynu: so obvious. Like, it was super obvious. Everything was like, Nobody wanted to hire me. Everybody was giving me jaded answers. They wanted to pay me 80, 000. I was like, you're not paying me 80, 000. I was like, I'm way too valuable for that.
[00:11:52] Neb Aynu: I was more than happy to do that. Because I knew I had to do this. Yeah, so it was, it was just a mindset. I just, I just turned on.
[00:12:02] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. I think it's interesting. I mean, in essence, you've referenced,~ uh,~ you know, you made a decision, right now for you, that was based in, in what you felt like your calling was. ~Um, ~but I think every entrepreneur, whether they would say their faith related or not, that moment of here's what I'm doing and now I'm resolute about it is a principle of success.
[00:12:21] Chaz Wolfe: And that's like, Hey, look, like, I'm not going to be able to like tiptoe towards this thing. I've got to like really decide. You know, does this make sense for me? You know, ~um, ~and if it does, then I'm gonna go all in. Right. That's what I'm hearing you say is that you decided to go all in. Now, I, I have some questions for you because some of the mindset around the frustration and even like the anger that you're talking about, how does that play in?
[00:12:44] Chaz Wolfe: 'cause I, I could see frustration chip on the shoulder, like that's total entrepreneur story. what, what, what that, what I feel like that wrestles with is that piece that you were just talking about as far as, you know, ~um, ~being, being faith oriented and it's like, how did you work through that in the moment through your faith?
[00:13:02] Chaz Wolfe: Because. Not to say that a faith driven person like you or me can't be angry. Like, I don't think there's anything wrong with anger. I think it's the result or the, the, what comes after that, that, that might be the problem. But how in that moment were you managing is what I'm trying to say, that emotion of frustration, anger, disappointment, you know, hitting the ceiling.
[00:13:21] Chaz Wolfe: ~Um, ~but, but through maybe the lens of your faith or just through the lens of just your resoluteness of like, no, I'm going to freaking do this.
[00:13:28] Neb Aynu: That's a great question, Chaz. That is a wonderful question, brother. Wow. ~Uh, ~so man,~ um,~ so from a faith standpoint,~ Uh,~ what the word says, it's like, do not take in vengeance. It's what Romans 12 says is it says, do not take vengeance on the people that do you wrong, you know, because,~ uh,~ it's, that's my responsibility.
[00:13:50] Neb Aynu: My, my responsibility is to love people and serve people and I'm supposed to love my enemies, right? Which is wild. Uh, so really that was hard,~ uh,~ but. You know, ~uh, uh, ~the Lord is faithful and he will see the, the, the end of your story. And I was just, I was a true believer in that. And with me personally, yeah, I was mad.
[00:14:11] Neb Aynu: Yeah, I was frustrated, but that's not going to do me anything like, you know what I'm saying? Like, all right, Nev, that happened to you. End. You know, like what,~ um, uh, ~I got really into reading to David Goggins. ~Uh, ~it was recommended to me by a man named,~ uh,~ Zach Schultz, which is a great friend of mine in the industry.
[00:14:30] Neb Aynu: He told me to read this book called Never Finished by David Goggins and that book changed my whole mindset. And I read it May 12th on audio book. I incorporated Kingdom May 13th. That's not much of a difference it made on me because it took me from a victim to a victim mindset. I was never a victim to begin with, but you can easily fall into a victim mindset when bad things happen to you.
[00:14:52] Neb Aynu: So I learned how to turn a negative into a positive. So I felt a negative emotion and every time I felt a negative emotion, I would work harder. You know, all right, you feel this, but there's a whole different story of like, you can't suppress your emotions that will just eat you up as a man. You have to feel it and,~ uh,~ you have to feel it and then do something about it.
[00:15:20] Neb Aynu: So, Throughout that time, it was a very unhealthy season. I'll tell you that every time I felt bad, I would just work harder every time I felt something bad. I would just work harder. It was put into my work. I would just invest it into my work and then it come to a point at the like, probably November, December, I literally had to go through a whole forgiveness chapter of like, I can't, I can't do this because I'm eating away at myself and my health and, and my sanity.
[00:15:47] Neb Aynu: So. Yeah, that's when I made that decision to forgive and move on and then got into really A lot of breath work, a lot of,~ uh, uh, ~working out your diet matters and what you put in. Right. So, ~uh, ~that's really, that's how I, that's how I chose to do it. I'm very happy. I, I, I did it that way because,~ um,~ it can, it's, you know, these moments in a man's life, it can either make you or destroy you.
[00:16:18] Neb Aynu: And I was like, You know, I was like, bent on making this make me, I wasn't, I wasn't gonna let me go that way.
[00:16:26] Chaz Wolfe: Like you can't have,~ uh,~ a victim mentality. Otherwise you basically the victim mentality is you allowing it to break you as opposed to zooming out and saying, Oh, this is just a step along the way, although it kind of hurts right now, it kind of sucks.
[00:16:37] Chaz Wolfe: Like you said, you got to feel it, but you got to have the perspective there. It is interesting because. Every entrepreneur that listening today, myself, you included, we have this journey of these moments that, that frustrate us or drive us emotionally, whatever the emotion is. And you know, it's maybe more frequently termed the chip on our shoulder, right?
[00:16:58] Chaz Wolfe: Like entrepreneurs have a chip on her shoulder and I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to go get it. I'm gonna go get mine. I'm going to get them back. I'm going to prove them wrong. ~Um, ~whatever that is that we've said to ourselves. And I remember doing the same thing. I remember being young and. And even that itself, just being young in my twenties, developing multiple businesses and people saying that I was young or that they, you know, wait a second, you're doing what?
[00:17:20] Chaz Wolfe: And you're in your twenties. And, and it was a chip on my shoulder of like, I'm going to show you, I'm going to be the youngest franchisee with the most locations in the system. I'm going to, I'm going to have the most revenue. I'm going to, and it was a chip on the shoulder of, let me show you whether that's anger, whether that's prove it, whatever.
[00:17:35] Chaz Wolfe: ~Um, ~but to your point, you Every entrepreneur eventually has to come to a cross where it can't just be about the chip on your shoulder anymore, which is selfish. Really, if we were, if we're both being honest, that energy is selfish. It's you taking the thing that you feel and then driving it forward so you can be right, or you can.
[00:17:55] Chaz Wolfe: Go get yours or whatever that that phrase is. And so the intersection that we all have to ascend to eventually is why am I really doing this? Right? Because I, I've, I, where are they? I've proved them all wrong. I, you know, I come from a single mom family. I've, I've made millions. I've, you know, where are they?
[00:18:13] Chaz Wolfe: I've proven them all wrong. You know, ~um, ~what now? And so we have to ascend to that, that, that greater purpose or helping or serving others. Like it has to be able to be like that. ~Um, ~at some point. So my encouragement for the listener, if you're listening to Neb story right now and you haven't experienced that, that transaction of like, Oh dang, maybe I need to be doing this for something bigger than just the chip on my shoulder.
[00:18:36] Chaz Wolfe: That'd probably be a good conversation to have. I loved how you opened it up with, I had to go through some forgiveness, right? Forgiveness, bitterness, you know, the things that like cause that chip to sit there for a minute really is some of the root of the, what I was just talking about their bitterness and the, and non forgiveness you want to talk about that for just a smidge more before we move on.
[00:18:53] Neb Aynu: You can't hold things against people. It's, it's really just draining you. So you're just draining yourself. And,~ um,~ you have to come to a conclusion to let it not, to let that not control you anymore.~ Uh, ~and,~ uh,~ I think every, every person goes through this. It's not easy to do.
[00:19:13] Neb Aynu: I'm telling you, like stuff's going to be hard, but it's once you do it, you're going to realize, wow, like it wasn't that big. Like people, people are people that hurt people, hurt people, you know, and people that are healed or that, that, that are in this growth mindset. Grow with each other and that you're going to be very careful of how you move about with people now Because you're going to notice these red flags right away and you're like, oh, yeah
[00:19:42] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:19:43] Neb Aynu: You know, you just notice and you're just like I don't want to go through this again, so That's in relationships.
[00:19:50] Neb Aynu: That's in romantic relations of friendships. That's in You know, even, even family or especially business relationships now. So it's like, you know, you can't, can't just trust is a very important thing and it takes time to build. And,~ um,~ you just gotta, you just gotta see how people move. And, you know, people that are,
[00:20:09] Chaz Wolfe: Right.
[00:20:09] Neb Aynu: that are growth mindset and that, that, that want, want to help you grow and that want to, it's like, how can I help you?
[00:20:16] Neb Aynu: And then, and then you just create that community around you. you, you will see yourself grow as well. ~Um, um, ~that's what, that's, I mean, I've had a, to be honest with kingdom, I really got it. My contractors, man, they're my biggest like supporters, like, like they are I never thought God would give me a business like this to be real with you.
[00:20:38] Neb Aynu: And,~ um,~ they, they see the vision behind it. And I love when people come up to me, they see a mission behind what I'm trying to do. And what I really enjoy is the relationships that I have with people. These people become like my friends come like, almost like my brothers, my family. So it's like, you know,
[00:20:55] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, there's real impact that you're having in their life. And so there it's a, it's a real,~ uh,~ reciprocity,~ um,~ back and forth between the two of you. So I want to know, I mean, you're, you know, wrapping up kind of year one ish. ~Um, ~you've made a lot of changes mentally. You've, you've not only launched the business, but it's taken off, you know, you said, I I'm doing this business.
[00:21:15] Chaz Wolfe: I never thought I would be anything like this, let alone in year one. What would you say if you had to nail down, you One decision that's kind of led to the success outside of obviously leaving corporate America and doing your own thing. What was one thing practically that you've done or focused on in this, in this part of your business where it's led to a lot of your success and maybe the listeners can take a note.
[00:21:35] Neb Aynu: Learn to give without expecting anything back.
[00:21:38] Chaz Wolfe: Okay. Have you done that?
[00:21:39] Neb Aynu: So just give free content. I just give a lot and I think,~ um,~ like Scott, my Scott does a lot of that and I think I learned a lot from Scott Cooper of like, give without expecting anything that just give, give, you know, serve people and really doing a lot of content.
[00:22:00] Neb Aynu: I do, I do a lot of content on a weekly basis, on a consistent weekly basis, a weekly newsletter, a weekly content that I post, being consistent on,~ uh,~ just being out there with people, talking to people, seeing how you can help them,~ um,~ Connecting people that that might be a resource with each other because business is a business.
[00:22:22] Neb Aynu: It's a huge, holistic place of where all people come together and they need people to people to people. That's how you grow businesses and really just,~ um,~ putting people together that can grow together. Even though I might not getting, I'm not getting anything out of it, but seeing that connection bloom, like.
[00:22:45] Neb Aynu: Putting somebody that, that's, you know, that just started their,~ um,~ federal construction firm, putting them on with somebody that I know that does, you know, 70 million in revenue, you know, that has that 100 million bonding permit, he tells them, Hey man, this is how you got to do it. Boom, boom, boom. Let me show you how to do it.
[00:23:05] Neb Aynu: You know, that, that, that's more than getting bonded. It's like, I don't know. That's like a direct impact on that person's life and just education. I'm very passionate about people knowing this stuff because this stuff, this getting a bond is very similar to getting a mortgage.
[00:23:22] Neb Aynu: So it's like, they have to know how to get it to get it to multimillion dollar vehicles. If they don't know how to get it, there will always be stopped. And I'm very passionate about,~ um,~ The racial wealth gap in this country, I believe the minority community, there's a huge gap of just wealth . This doesn't mean I don't like the majority. I'm not saying I'm just saying like something has to be resolved and how you resolve that is by helping the underdog continuously win and replicate that because he's going to go back and reach, reach and get one. Another one's going to reach and get one.
[00:23:59] Neb Aynu: And you're going to slowly close this. you know, wealth gap within this minority construction community by telling people, here's how you do it. Here's the actual steps. Here's how this person did it. I'll team with this person. So that's one thing I did consistently. It's just give a connect,
[00:24:18] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:24:18] Neb Aynu: ~um, ~in,~ uh,~ individuals.
Hey Kings and Queens, Chaz Wolf. I want to talk to you about something that's super important to me. We put a lot of time and effort, we meaning myself and my team into this podcast, into the content that goes out every single day. And if you have been getting any sort of value or insight from this, we want it to be able to reach other business owners too.
So we would love if you would like comment, share, leave a review, post, share again, all of the things. On social media on all the different platforms or even on the podcast mediums of apple and spotify We would love to be able to get our content into more hands more entrepreneurs So they can grow their business as quick as possible together We are building a community of like minded entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their businesses to new heights So let's do this.
Let's help each other grow
[00:25:06] Chaz Wolfe: given, you've given a couple of principles here. I want to, I want to hit on the education piece because you're right. Giving without expectation is huge. ~Um, ~I think that the, the value piece there is the listener when they meet somebody or when they are trying to interact or trying to get a client, like whatever, the The connection people to people, like you said,~ um,~ however, I can bring value immediately.
[00:25:26] Chaz Wolfe: ~Um, ~not only saying how I can bring value, but then going in, like doing the thing. I remember I had a conversation with, with a guy I just met for the first time. It was probably a month or so ago. Maybe not quite. I got introduced through a good friend. Here in Kansas city. And, and he's a big name and,~ uh,~ my, I mean, poised as, as all successful people are, typically they're very curious and they make it about you.
[00:25:47] Chaz Wolfe: ~Um, ~and I was good. I would share, I shared about me, but I was not going to let it be all about me because I needed information so that I could be valuable to him. And in that conversation, I learned a couple of things and I made sure I made a couple of good connections for him quickly, like that day, you know?
[00:26:00] Chaz Wolfe: ~Um, ~and there's already another meeting on the schedule with that guy because. I've, I've made value. I have no idea what, like, if he'll be a client or I'll be a client, I mean, I have no idea what that relationship looks like, but I know that there's synergy there and we need to do something together. And so I've been, you know, adding value to your point there.
[00:26:14] Chaz Wolfe: The second piece that you just said there around the,~ uh,~ the, the wealth gap. I want to, I want to explore this a little bit because,~ um,~ I come from a single mom family. And so even though I'm not,~ um,~ ethnicity minority, I come from poor people, right? I come from broke mentality. I come from no one ever being wealthy.
Do you think that it's as much ethnicity as it is knowledge?
[00:26:37] Neb Aynu: I'm liking these questions, Chaz. You're picking my brain. I like it. It's a great question. It's a great question. Let's dive back into this. ~Uh, ~so it's not a,~ uh,~ ethnic thing. It's a mindset. ~Um, ~but if you look into the background,~ uh,~ if you look into the actual stats of what's going on in this country, Yes, there are people like you that are, that come from, a, a single mom household, but more of the other like African Americans or, or they have more.
[00:27:13] Neb Aynu: So, but the thing is, it is, yeah. Yeah. But it's a mindset that I'm trying to switch on every, anybody that's going through it, right. And there is,~ uh,~ entrepreneurship is a mindset that you have to switch on,, it's a lack people are on a lack mindset, not an abundance mindset, and that continuously happens in minority communities, continuously I'm going to get pretty deep into it.
[00:27:40] Neb Aynu: Some people disagree with it. Some people agree with it. But if, if you look into the communities,, that don't have much, they're just stuck in a bubble, you know, they're just stuck in a bubble. Everybody's on this black mindset. They don't know even like emotional health, how to be a man how to treat a woman,~ uh,~ you know, ~uh, ~how to, You know, rather relegate your emotions, how to resolve conflict.
[00:28:07] Neb Aynu: It's a gap of knowledge. And my gap of knowledge in my business is I want to teach you how to get into this construction stuff and to get into it, to get into these federal contracts, you get into, into these contracts, you can make money.
[00:28:23] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:28:24] Neb Aynu: And I want to show you how to do it because bonding has a direct correlation to you growing your business.
[00:28:33] Neb Aynu: You grow your business. You will gain multimillion dollar profits. And you gotta, and, and to retain a omni program, you gotta retain profits, you gotta be organized, you gotta have good, profitable projects. There is a handful of just great surety agencies in this country that I've learned from, that I know that I'm friends with.
[00:28:59] Neb Aynu: They're doing a great job, but the, there's not enough. So that's what I think it's a mindset that I really just try to develop a relationship with them and I try to get them in a way of running a profitable business.
[00:29:14] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah. Yeah. I want to make a distinction for the listener, because you've done a really good job here of talking about these two angles. One is,~ um, uh. ~Who are you helping? And that's a marketing play. Like a lot of times as business owners, we like to help people that have come from the same journey as us.
[00:29:30] Chaz Wolfe: And so you've come through things in your life that make it make sense for you to be relatable to this specific avatar. Okay. This makes perfect sense. You see a gap, you want to help this particular, whether it's group of people or type of industry, like that's, that's marketing, right? Like, I'm going to talk to this specific person.
[00:29:46] Chaz Wolfe: So when I say my message, I'm It draws their attention. Cool. But the distinguishment there of mindset of how to, how to be successful or whether it's contracting, whether it's bonding, whether it's podcasting, whatever it's, it's a mindset of, of not only that I can, but, but that I will. ~Um, ~and, and that's that, that mindset, that principle doesn't see color.
[00:30:07] Chaz Wolfe: It doesn't see background. There's a, there's a old, um, I want to say old, probably two or three year old video that I saw on social media. I've talked about it several times because it really, it really rubbed me the wrong way. It was meant for people like me. And so here's what the video you, maybe you'll relate to this.
[00:30:22] Chaz Wolfe: It was a, it was a gym class. And the gym coach,~ uh,~ or maybe it was a, a basketball coach or whatever it was, but they're outside, they're on like a grass field and,~ uh,~ everybody's lined up, you know, you got every, you know, kids, you know, high school kids or college kids, and they're all, you know, in their athletic outfits and,~ um,~ male, female, different ethnicities, you know, all, everybody's lined up and the, the coaches said, before we, before we start the race,~ um,~ we're going to do a couple of things first.
[00:30:48] Chaz Wolfe: Okay, great. What's that? And he's like, if you had two parents in the home, you Take two steps forward. If you only had one parent in the home, take a step back. Right? If you had this, take a step forward. If you had this, take a step back. And, and he went through like seven, eight, nine, ten different,~ um,~ distinguishments,~ uh,~ between different people, right?
[00:31:07] Chaz Wolfe: And so what you had before the race started was a couple people like literally right there on the finish line. All they had to do was step over. And then you had people all the way back, like way behind what was the starting line, right? And the point of the video, which was really sad, actually, Was that there's this despairing gap between someone like me who didn't have a bunch of advantages or some might say I did have an advantage because my skin is white.
[00:31:36] Chaz Wolfe: In the comparison of all these things, I listened to all the things he said. I would have been behind the finish line or behind the starting line, right? And other people who had other advantages, my children, your children are going to have other advantages that you didn't have that I didn't have.
[00:31:51] Chaz Wolfe: They're going to start sooner in the race. The cool part is, is that just because the guy at the end steps over and wins, he's not running my race. Now, the unfortunate part about that video is that it played into this victim thing that you're talking about, which is, ah, like he won and now doesn't that suck because you didn't have all the advantages and you're so far back there.
[00:32:15] Chaz Wolfe: No, no, no, no, no. We're not running the same race. You're not running my race. I'm not running your race. It doesn't matter if I started ahead of you or behind you. It's my race. You And the cool part is about that mindset. You were just talking about is I can choose to win this race, right? I don't need someone else to tell me when to start or when to stop or how far I had to start back.
[00:32:36] Chaz Wolfe: Right. I can, I can go all the way to the finish line. Whatever the finish line is for me, whatever success looks like for me, whether that's money or my family or my, my marriage or my faith or my health, like all these things we've talked about. I get to determine that. Right. Would you agree with this?
[00:32:51] Chaz Wolfe: Tell me what your thoughts are.
[00:32:53] Neb Aynu: Yeah. 10 out of 10. I agree with it. 10 out of 10. You said it perfectly, especially what the with the with the gym analogy. It's like there's a, there's certain advantages that others have and,~ um,~ you know, especially the, The, the 2 parent household. It's very important. ~Um, ~from a personal standpoint, it's very important because the man needs to be taught how to be a man, you know, it's, it's, it's 1 of the things that's needed.
[00:33:25] Neb Aynu: ~Um, ~and it's,~ um,~ when you don't have that, then things that you don't learn certain things, it's going to help you succeed in life. Right? So, yeah, but you not having that. Yeah. You can't be a victim, you know, so my thing is how I think into the things of that it's, you know,~ uh, ~it's, it's not my fault. What happened to me in my past?
[00:33:52] Neb Aynu: It's not my fault. Things didn't go as planned. It's not my fault. These things happen, you know, but it is my fault how I react to it, you know, so. That's that total accountability, right? It's,~ uh,~ like Jocko Jocko Willis. I've read this book, but extreme accountability, you know, it's,~ uh,~ whatever happens to you is not your fault, but how you react to it is.
[00:34:15] Neb Aynu: And that's just, every man goes through that journey in his life, right? So he's just for every man, a woman, you know, they go through a journey in their life. They decide like, okay, like this happened to me and I'm gonna decide on how I'm gonna react to, it's either gonna make me or break me. So, and then you do one and then do another one.
[00:34:38] Neb Aynu: And if we bring it back to, to, to the, the faith based mindset, which is how I operate, you know, in, in James it says, consider pure joy. You're going through many trials. You know, cause your, your faith's being tested every time you're building a muscle, you're building a muscle, but more, more things to take on because things are going to come in life.
[00:34:59] Neb Aynu: So it's,~ uh,~ you, you, you, that's just, that's just how life works, man. It's up to you to decide how you want it. Mhm.
[00:35:07] Chaz Wolfe: you tied it back to, to faith there because I was going to do the same. And so, but I'm, I'm going to do it in a slightly different way, because I think that you did a good job there of, of talking about being prepared for those trials. I think, I mean, first off, James is a fantastic, fantastic book.
[00:35:20] Chaz Wolfe: Probably some of my favorite verses in the Bible. ~Um, ~but we also have to know that, that. God reigns on the just and the unjust alike. And so if we're prepared for trials, meaning I, I'm going to receive ups and downs in life, not everything can be roses in quote unquote blessings, right?
[00:35:38] Neb Aynu: Mhm.
[00:35:39] Chaz Wolfe: But the other side of that is there are people who are extremely successful.
[00:35:45] Chaz Wolfe: That have, you know, a bad moral compass or make bad choices on behalf of other people. Well, how is that possible? And there are certain mindsets or principles or, you know, determination, persistence. Like I could run down the list of, you know, success principles that they have probably exuded inside of their life, making.
[00:36:06] Chaz Wolfe: Bad decisions, you know, that hurt other people or whatever, but they've been quote unquote successful because of those principles. And so I think that it's both and right, like even on a faith level, we have to recognize that it's not going to be handed to us. And on top of that, the things that are handed to us sometimes are good.
[00:36:21] Chaz Wolfe: Sometimes teach us things,
[00:36:23] Neb Aynu: Mhm.
[00:36:24] Chaz Wolfe: right?
I agree 100%. So it's really, it's really up to you to decide how you're going to,~ um,~ react to that situation, you know, ~um,~
[00:36:33] Chaz Wolfe: , you're in the midst of, you know, normally my last question is what, if you could roll back the clock and, and tell your younger entrepreneur self something, but you, you are the younger entrepreneur herself right now, like currently you're living,~ um,~ that like first like oomph in your business, which I just absolutely love.
[00:36:49] Chaz Wolfe: And you've just been so successful doing it. But I guess my question to kind of tilt it a little bit here to end the show is what would you tell the listener that you didn't know, but that, you know, now that you wish that you had known before you got started? You
[00:37:06] Neb Aynu: Wow. ~Um, um, ~everything's going to be okay. It's not the world. Like everything's going to be okay, man. Like just put in the work and you'll see the result. I think,~ um,~ take care of your health, you know, ~uh, ~forgive others, love others. Don't,~ uh, uh, ~don't take your eye off what, why you're really doing this.~ Um, ~and you know, it's really,~ um,~ In the beginning, it's very scary, very scary.
[00:37:33] Neb Aynu: The fear is real. The fear is just a liar. And I think for me,~ um,~ just learn how to manage that better because the stress is unreal, especially not,~ um,~ I believe in working hard. I worked very hard, but I did a poor job taking care of myself. So, ~um, ~take, take care of yourself and your business will take, take care of you.
[00:38:00] Chaz Wolfe: can't,~ uh,~ you can't pour from an empty cup as they say, right. You got to make sure your cup is full, even in the airport or in the airplanes. Right. You got to put your mask on first before you can help others. ~Um, ~as entrepreneurs, we, we get into the midst of serving and, and working hard and, and trying to help other people or clients or teammates, you know, even our own family and you're right.
[00:38:19] Chaz Wolfe: We sometimes. We,~ uh,~ we forget to take care of ourselves. And so I appreciate that message. How can, how can the listener find you? Maybe they're in the contracting space. Maybe they want to be in the contracting space. They're thinking about getting a bond. Maybe they have no idea what a bond is. They want to learn.
[00:38:33] Chaz Wolfe: How can they find you?
[00:38:35] Neb Aynu: Yeah. So I'm very active on LinkedIn. ~Um, ~the kingdom page is kingdom bonding,~ uh,~ the company page, and they do a weekly newsletter on LinkedIn as well called igniting,~ um,~ construction kingdoms.~ Uh, ~so those are the three places you can find me, or kingdombonding. com or navatkingdombonding. com
[00:38:57] Chaz Wolfe: Love it. Good stuff, man. Well, I appreciate you being here, sharing your mindset and,~ uh,~ your desire to, to not only win in business, but to help other people, man. I think it's big and,~ uh,~ and I'm sure the conversation will continue as your success continues as well. Thanks for being here, brother.
[00:39:10] Neb Aynu: of course. Thank you Chaz for having me.
Thank you for listening to Gathering the Kings today. I hope that you were able to pull out a few nuggets to go apply into your business right away. More importantly, though, I hope that you're realizing that it takes more to be successful than just being by yourself, doing it all on your own, carrying the weight all by yourself.
What I have realized, not only in my own journey from multiple businesses and multiple different industries, and now interviewing over 200 or 300. Other very successful seven, eight, and nine figure business owners is that it's tough to do it alone. And so gathering the Kings exists to bring together successful entrepreneurs.
In fact, we are putting together 1000 Kings specifically who are grateful, but not done. We're intentionally assembling Kings who fight tooth and nail for their business, family, and communities. And here's what we believe that in the pursuit of excellence in those areas. That it ignites within us, the responsibility to govern power and forge a lasting legacy.
So if that relates and resonates with you, and you know, that you need people around you, sharp, qualified, other very successful business owners. I want you to go to gatheringthekings. com. Once you take a look at what we're doing and see if it makes sense for you to be part of our pursuit to 1000 Kings talk soon.

Chaz Wolfe and Neb Aynu unearth the realities of entrepreneurship, examining Neb's transition from corporate life to starting his own a business from scratch. They dissect the importance of mindset shifts, trust in business, and address America's Wealth Gap in minority communities.

Neb Aynu:

Website: https://www.kingdombonding.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neb-aynu-02368893/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kingdom-bonding-inc/

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

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