454 | How Prison Time Made My Business Successful

May 6

[00:00:00] Sean Martin: at the age of 29, I find myself doing a two year prison bid. Despite having made six figures, despite the ability to connect with people and market products legitimately, I was still in the streets hustling, best thing that ever happened to me, brother. ~Um, ~you're forced to learn about why you ended up there. Most people just kill time and they don't take the time to dive deep.
[00:00:22] Sean Martin: I looked at it like school. I was sober for two years for the first time in my life, I met my now wife nine months before going in.~ Um, ~I learned who my true friends were, who was writing me, who was coming to see me, who was sending me a couple of bucks.
[00:00:38] Sean Martin: And then I learned who my true friends weren't. Life is an amazing journey and mine has been full of ebbs and flows of good and bad and mistakes and learning.
[00:00:53] Chaz Wolfe: What's up, everybody? I'm Chaz Wolf gathering the King's podcast coming back to you here today with another king on the stage my brother Sean Martin, how we doing today?
[00:01:03] Sean Martin: I'm doing great brother. How about yourself?
[00:01:05] Chaz Wolfe: Well, ~uh, ~I'm here with you. So, it can't be bad Because you've got not, not only an incredible story,~ um,~ but I got jacked up just even like the, I had about 10 minutes right before the show started, which is not normal. I'm normally like minute to the minute call to call. And so I had a couple of minutes and I was going to just indulge on some of your social media because you've got a huge following and I just love what you're doing with your message.
[00:01:28] Chaz Wolfe: And I got fired up before this show. I had to kind of calm it down when you got on. Cause I don't want to be fanboying on you, but. ~Um, ~I got fired up listening to some of your stuff. I mean, you were eye to eye with Tony Robbins. I was just like, dude, I'm excited for this conversation. So please, without further ado, please tell us what kind of business that you have, maybe a little bit of some other business that you've been a part of, and then we'll get into the story.
[00:01:46] Sean Martin: Sure, sure. So, ~um, ~my bread and butter business and what, you know, allows me and you to build and connect here today is durable medical equipment, medical supplies. So post orthopedic surgical bracing in home rehabilitation equipment, including, but not limited to cryo heat therapy, continuous passive motion.
[00:02:07] Sean Martin: So my dealings are with Physicians who write me prescriptions. What's allowed me to become successful in this particular field is relationships. So I'm not a suit and tie guy. I was at one point, you know, I've got the college degree. ~Uh, ~I did the monkey suit for a while. I did the cubicles for a while and I was just, let's just say I wasn't lit up.
[00:02:30] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:02:32] Sean Martin: Dying inside like so many people. So I was fortunate enough to get a call one day during a sales job. I was selling yellow page advertising. Go figure. That's, that's dating me. Right. Right. Before they went out of business and everything went online and a gentleman called me from a radiology group and he was impressed by my pitch and he told me to come in for an interview and I couldn't say yes fast enough because I wanted to get out of the office and.
[00:02:58] Sean Martin: Lo and behold, I started doing some medical marketing. I was a donut boy. I would go around. I would meet the front desk girls and the front desk manager and try to get them to refer over,~ um,~ radiology scans. So x rays, MRIs, cat scans, that kind of thing. When you go see a doctor outside of a hospital setting.
[00:03:17] Sean Martin: They're going to refer you to a private institution. That'll do that. So one thing led to another and over the course of a decade of graduating from Donut Boy to now having meetings with office managers, practice owners, doctors and physicians, I stumbled upon a great, great product that we've been able to help a lot of people with and it's in the realm of orthopedic bracing.
[00:03:40] Sean Martin: We specialize in that here in the New York City, New Jersey market on the northeast part of the country. And it's specific to this area because state by state insurance regulations,~ um,~ limit us to these areas. And I'm also very comfortable,~ um,~ in that space. And we've been able to do very well. But like I said, all relationships, if we were in a hospital setting or a big corporate setting, I wouldn't be able to thrive.
[00:04:06] Sean Martin: I'm a, you know, I'm a city guy. I'm a city boy. I curse a lot. I don't like wearing suits. I'm not very polished. I can be, if I need to be,~ Uh,~ but I find that and I've found that if you're able to add value to people's business, so a doctor's in there, he's treating patients. He doesn't have time to market, but I have relationships so I can in turn help them market their practice as a value add for doing business with me.
[00:04:36] Sean Martin: And I've really been able to leverage that into a successful,~ uh,~ seven, almost eight figure a year business. And,~ uh,~ yeah, man, sky's the limit. It's been a blessing. It's been a fun ride. And,~ uh,~ that's what has us here today. And that's also allowed me to segue into commercial real estate investing, which is really a game changer for me,~ uh,~ at the ripe old age of 45.
[00:05:01] Sean Martin: The only thing I ever owned was my home, but I really don't own my home. How many of us own our home outright? The bank owns our homes, but to step into the space of commercial real estate through once again, relationships,~ uh,~ has been a game changer. Now we're focused on building generational wealth, building net worth, and then bringing that back to other people who really have no idea or no clue how that works.
[00:05:28] Sean Martin: But essentially, I met my now real estate partner through a Tony Robbins event. We were both members of the,~ uh,~ the mastermind that he has. And we just connected over a week long trip and became besties, quick friends. And now we have, you know, tons of commercial real estate holdings in the Midwest together.
[00:05:48] Sean Martin: So
[00:05:48] Chaz Wolfe: it.
[00:05:50] Sean Martin: it's funny where life takes you when you're,~ um,~ when you're focused, but really my saving grace has been people relationships and connecting with others has, has led to every. Ounce of success that I've ever had.
[00:06:01] Chaz Wolfe: We're going to jump into a lot of this and, and just because you're super humble over there and you're not tooting your horn, but you've done some amazing speaking opportunities, you know, gigs, and you've spoken in front of,~ uh, uh, ~large settings, you know, kids, all kinds of fun stuff about your journey,~ uh,~ to success.
[00:06:16] Chaz Wolfe: It's a story, you know, of rags to riches. It's a story of,~ uh,~ if, if you can, the listener can, which I think everybody loves those stories, but you have a unique story. We all do to ourselves, but you grew up in the Bronx, right? And like you said earlier, I want to give you a chance to kind of explain this, but it was like, you know, you're proud of that because you made it out.
[00:06:37] Chaz Wolfe: Not because you don't service that area anymore. You obviously love the people and you love the, that part of the country. ~Um, ~but there's, there's a mindset break that you had to give. And then later in life, you had to kind of do it again. So I want to hear just that first iteration of you growing up in this single mom hood area.
[00:06:54] Chaz Wolfe: ~Um, ~what was that like? And then what was the first interaction with you of like, I want more
[00:06:58] Sean Martin: ~Um, ~growing up in that environment was fun, to be honest, it's normal. When you're a kid, you're not thinking about somebody else has a better life. You know, you may occasionally go to someone's house who lives in the suburbs or has a nicer apartment in the city, but that's life and that's normal. And I was just,~ um,~ you know, talking about the book that I'm writing and we address that journey.
[00:07:21] Sean Martin: From start to finish. And it's great to go back and recap how we got here today. ~Um, ~so many lessons were learned growing up there unknowingly. So product of a single mom who immigrated here at the age of 11 from the Dominican Republic. ~Um, ~that's a great story because that's an American story. So many people's families, parents, grandparents, loved ones, or maybe even themselves came here for a better life.
[00:07:47] Sean Martin: And there's so much going on right now in terms of division and politics. And I don't think that's new. I think that's just human nature. It's just accentuated through social media, 24 hour news cycles, and a political system that is just fucking, not broken, but it's, it's, it's definitely not functioning with the grease and the, yeah, it's not functioning with the same efficiency that it once did.
[00:08:14] Sean Martin: Or maybe we're just more aware of it, who knows. But all that said, it doesn't matter. People are people, human beings are human beings, and people don't come here to make this country better. They come here to make their lives better and inadvertently by my, my, you know, family escaping a tyrannical,~ uh,~ dictator and,~ uh,~ a regime change in the sixties.
[00:08:36] Sean Martin: We then moved to poverty in the Bronx for a better life. So they went from being middle class in the Dominican Republic, which is by no stretch glamorous, but they came to, you know, to a housing project in the Bronx. My mother, at least, who raised me by herself. ~Uh, ~my aunts, you know, all kind of dispersed throughout the city.
[00:08:55] Sean Martin: And that's the, the story of, of immigration, you know, to this country from most groups. But it just gets lost. So I was fortunate enough to grow up with a mentality Of working hard and, you know, it was also mingled with people that had been here generationally poor, you know, mostly African American neighborhood, a lot of Puerto Ricans that have been here generationally.
[00:09:21] Sean Martin: ~Um, ~you know, we had some poor whites too. We had, you know, Jews and Italians that were working class or poor working class in, in the neighborhood in the early eighties when I grew up and they eventually moved out when crack cocaine started to take over because it just became a dangerous place. Now, with all that said, it was still fun.
[00:09:39] Sean Martin: It was still, it was just life. And the only reason that I can say I'm fortunate enough to have made it out is to have had that gravity in the form of a working class, single mom. Who, you know, got up every day and set the tone who came over and got an education. So instilled in me, it was automatic. There was no, you're not going to school.
[00:09:59] Sean Martin: You're going to school, you're graduating, then you're going to college, you're graduating. There was no, you're going to do this, that, or the other, but you've got to do these basic things. And she set the tone for that. If she did it, I can't not do it. Right. Cause we're supposed to make generational progress.
[00:10:16] Sean Martin: And it was crazy because it's a duality. Not a terrible kid, but kind of on the outskirts of all this drug activity and seeing the criminals and hanging out with them, but, you know, avoiding some of the deeper dives into criminal activity, but being on the outskirts and at times not doing the right thing and, you know, touching guns or, you know, touching drugs and things of that nature.
[00:10:41] Sean Martin: Because again, these were the guys with the flashy cars. These were the guys that girls were after, but looking back, it was all a joke because they still live with their mother. A lot of them didn't have cars cause they don't have credit, but this is the definition of aiming low.
[00:10:57] Chaz Wolfe: Right.
[00:10:58] Sean Martin: And that was the norm.
[00:10:59] Sean Martin: Those are the superstars in the neighborhood, but by all stretch of the imagination, being out on those street corners or in those building lobbies for. 12 hours a day. They were making less than minimum wage in most cases. But you know, without a male role model at home, I had mom, thank God. And because there wasn't that maybe strong male role model to keep me in line, I would deviate from time to time.
[00:11:25] Sean Martin: And a lot of the bad lessons from the streets would. Follow me into my twenties. So fast forward, I'm doing well. I've always got a job. I'm making, you know, 50, 50 grand a year. I'm doing medical marketing. I'm doing sales. I always excelled at that. And,~ um,~ at the age of 29, I find myself doing a two year prison bid. And that's because Despite having made six figures, despite having the gift of gab and the ability to connect with people and market products legitimately, I was still in the streets hustling, whether it be clothing or drugs,~ uh,~ to make the extras and eventually got caught up, ended up doing a two years, like I said.
[00:12:10] Sean Martin: And that was life changing. It was a real eye opener. ~Um, ~there was a lot of substance abuse, alcohol and partying that was clouding my judgment. And then there was this whole value system that was warped. So growing up, growing up in the Bronx was beautiful and it was a blessing, but it was also a curse.
[00:12:29] Sean Martin: And for whatever reason, God, the universe, Decided to put me in this position. They put me on a pause. They gave me a spanking and I'm on a two year timeout. Best best thing that ever happened to me, brother. ~Um, ~you're forced to learn about why you ended up there. Most people just kill time and they don't take the time to dive deep.
[00:12:49] Sean Martin: But again, I was blessed enough to have a good upbringing, a lot of love. And an education. So I looked at it like school. I was sober for two years for the first time in my life, up to that point that I can remember past the age of 16. I met my now wife nine months before going in.~ Um, ~I learned who my true friends were, who was writing me, who was coming to see me, who was sending me a couple of bucks.
[00:13:13] Sean Martin: And then I learned who my true friends weren't. Those were the people that disappeared. Never wrote me, never sent me a dollar and definitely didn't come to see me. So. Life is an amazing journey and mine has been full of ebbs and flows of good and bad and mistakes and learning. And like I had said to you earlier, I'm an ambitious person, but I didn't have the tools and I wasn't doing it the right way.
[00:13:43] Sean Martin: I was doing it the way I knew how, which was corner cutting. And that's what got my ass, you know, put in that position, which was not having the tools. But in prison, like I said to you as well. I redefined myself. I changed my identity. I filled composition notebooks full of what would become the next 10 years of my life.
[00:14:06] Sean Martin: And I hit almost all of those targets financially, spiritually, emotionally, relationship wise. ~Um, ~The house that I'm going to have, the children, the wife, the beautiful life that I had was actually created in a prison. So I read over 200 books while there,~ uh,~ Tony Robbins unleashed the power within was one of the most eyeopening.~ Uh, ~life changing books for me personally that I read there. And when I met him,~ uh,~ I actually told him that story,~ uh,~ that I had written that goal in a prison cell 13 years ago to be at one of his events, let alone be in front of him, talking to him, telling that story to him in a conversation.
[00:14:43] Sean Martin: So that was just man overwhelming to say the least. And that's in a nutshell. My story and how I got here. And obviously there's more twists than turns, but you know, we've got limited time and I've got a book coming out in a few months and it'll dive a little deeper into all the ins and outs. And more importantly, the lessons that I
[00:15:04] Chaz Wolfe: Totally.
[00:15:05] Sean Martin: because I think life is a far better teacher than any school book.
[00:15:10] Sean Martin: ~Um, ~people conversations and life lessons are the most valuable things that any human being can pull out of
[00:15:16] Chaz Wolfe: And I agree with
[00:15:17] Sean Martin: their experiences. ~ ~
[00:15:17] Chaz Wolfe: ~,~ hopefully by that time, this show comes out, your book will be close. And so we can put the promotion stuff in the show notes, but you know, as far, as far as your story, you hear a lot of, you know, rags to riches type stories where it came from nothing and became something,~ um,~ but yours is a little unique in that, where you, you, you got out as you said, but then, but there was still a hook in you.
[00:15:38] Chaz Wolfe: And we kind of talked about this before we hit the record button, but. We both know that it's subconscious mind, like, super deep in you, as far as what Was your upbringing and the way of thinking, even though the stuff that your mom gave to you was very,~ uh,~ applicable and it was like fighting against that, but even after you had become successful or had the six figure job and was doing all the things, some of those other things were still hooked in you and you called it gravity described this like push pull of like getting out or really even just, Any circumstances of thinking small could be put in this category, right?
[00:16:12] Chaz Wolfe: Where we are here, but we want to get bigger, but we're fighting against gravity. Talk about this.
[00:16:16] Sean Martin: So we're hardwired from the time we're babies and we're programmed and just like a PC that has that virus on it and just it can't get things together once it's kind of been infected.
[00:16:34] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:16:35] Sean Martin: That's how life is. And unfortunately, unless we have the tools, the know how, the knowledge and the discipline, most importantly, to completely change our identities, Then we're going to be subconsciously sabotaging ourselves. And that was my story. I was a saboteur of my own life. I was afraid. Most people, they use the term fear of failure. I was afraid of success.
[00:17:03] Chaz Wolfe: Hmm.
[00:17:04] Sean Martin: I actually took these book of self tests and there's IQ tests and emotional intelligence tests. I scored off the chart for fear of success. And I didn't put two and two together until later.
[00:17:18] Sean Martin: But here I am, this kid with all this ambition, and it harkens back to a book called The Little Engine That Could. That my mother read to me when I was a child. It's about this little engine that takes, you know, wagons full of toys up this hill. And it's this little, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.
[00:17:37] Sean Martin: And the thing just powers up the hill as slow as can be, but eventually it makes it to the top of the hill. And that is the most valuable lesson that I was taught. Early on. So childhood, good upbringing, filled with love despite all the dysfunction and chaos around me. Ambition. Because if I think I can, I can, but then the gravity of the chaos kind of pulling at you and the dysfunction and smoking weeds, okay.
[00:18:10] Sean Martin: And getting drunk Thursday, Friday, Saturday, if not every day is okay. breaking the rules, not following the law. It's okay because I saw that growing up and that was the norm. And unless you're aware of it, and I wasn't at the time when I, you know, was in my twenties, I was just running and gunning. As we say, it's going to pull your ass back to reality.
[00:18:37] Sean Martin: And it did in my case. And so many people out there, more importantly, forget me are struggling to do that. It's, I take two steps forward to take two steps back and you feel like you're making no progress and the reason is Because there's a, there's an entire program already wired within you subconsciously that is keeping you exactly where you are.
[00:19:02] Sean Martin: And it's like the thermostat in your house. If it's set to a certain temperature, even if it's hot outside or cold outside, it's always going to come back to that temperature that's set. And unfortunately, we're unaware of the temperature we've set for our lives. So unless we decide to consciously go after a higher Standard of living, then we're going to be stuck or we might make strides, but we end up coming back.
[00:19:29] Sean Martin: And we talked about some of the impactful books and more importantly,~ uh,~ for me recently was. ~Uh, ~who, not how and 10 X is easier than two X,~ uh,~ which are both Dan Sullivan books. And you know, Grant Cardone is 10 X, right? That's his thing. And he's got such an amazing, you know, social following that some of the viewers will likely know his name, but it comes from Dan Sullivan's book.
[00:19:54] Sean Martin: You know, 10 X is easier than two X. So let's say you're making 50, 000 or a hundred thousand dollars a year. You're realistic. Approaches. I can make a hundred or 200 two X.
[00:20:05] Chaz Wolfe: Right.
[00:20:06] Sean Martin: The reality is. It's going to be harder to double your income than it is to say, you know what? I want to make 500 or I want to make a million, which would be 10 X because in order to achieve those grand numbers, you've got to step outside of what, you know, completely.
[00:20:25] Sean Martin: Cause the shit that, you know, is not good enough to get 10 X. So you're removing yourself. From this programming, this hardwiring that I can do it myself. I can figure out how to double my income. I can figure out how to double my particular productivity. And you're just saying, you know what? I don't know shit. Let me go step next to the person who's already doing what it is that I want to be doing. That's the who, not how. And the way that we do that is letting go of our ego, letting go of this identity that we have for ourselves and just embracing an entirely new structure and process to getting the things that we want, whatever they may be.
[00:21:05] Sean Martin: It may be, you know, I use financial success because financial success, in my humble opinion, allows us the freedom to build our best selves, which then in turn will give us the life we truly want, because you can buy stuff till you're blue in the face. You could have a Lamborghini and a Ferrari and be empty as hell inside.
[00:21:26] Sean Martin: You can have the most beautiful women or men by your side and, and all these toys and great apartments and still be home at night empty. And we've heard the story so many times,~ uh,~ because true purpose comes in the form of what you're doing for others. And money allows you the freedom to work on yourself.
[00:21:46] Sean Martin: And then that freedom allows you to take in. The mindsets of those who have become truly successful in this world, whether they're American, Russian, Ukrainian, Czechoslovakian, Finnish, French, Canadian, it doesn't matter, human beings are human beings and there's amazing stories to draw from all over the world.
[00:22:08] Sean Martin: But unless you have the freedom to go out and kind of seek those stories out and seek those lessons out, you're stuck in the day to day, mundane trying to grow 10 percent or 15 percent or even a hundred percent, which is admirable. ~Um, ~but letting go of the, the, the control that you can do that on your own is really the The key to, to what I consider true success, which is not only financial, but emotional, spiritual.
[00:22:38] Sean Martin: For me, more importantly than anything, it's been physical because your physical vessel of your body is what you're living this, this experience through. And then there's familial bonds at home, which is gravity, but in a good sense. So we talked about gravity and the pull of the Bronx and the pull of the hood.
[00:22:58] Sean Martin: But the gravity of this family and the gravity of my marriage and the gravity of my children has kept me grounded and on target. So again, same principles, just two completely different chapters and two completely different me's on this journey of life.
[00:23:16] Chaz Wolfe: How does one turn the page from that chapter to chapter, because you're right. And you've talked about this quite a bit on social media around even the pull of, as you said, the Bronx to the hood, but sometimes that's family. Sometimes that's friends that, that negative gravity pull. And sometimes it's the people that we think we love the most, or maybe we do love the most.
[00:23:37] Chaz Wolfe: And they actually just want to keep us where we are because they don't want to see us fail and they, and they love us. Which actually is the, the, the heartbreak or the, or the, the dagger that kills success because you actually have to go fail to, to accomplish these things. And so how does, even if they're experiencing that, whether it's the Bronx, whether it's family, whether it's whatever's that, that negative gravity, how are they turning the page over to the positive gravity that keeps them grounded?
[00:24:04] Sean Martin: it's letting go. I think it's letting go. It's Not what you're doing, but what you choose not to do anymore. So a great example for me, which I think will tie in to what you just asked me was getting sober, making the decision to get sober about 18 months ago. And that has changed the entire structure of my life.
[00:24:35] Sean Martin: And I'll tell you why I didn't know what life would look like. Without alcohol because for so long it was the grease that allowed me to be an even more outgoing version of myself. So imagine that this is sober focused me. Imagine me on a few drinks at a party. I mean, it was. Balls to the wall. And that served me so well for so long, whether it be through business dinners or networking engagements, or just hanging out with friends in the backyard in the summer that I was afraid of what my life would look like without alcohol, because it was such an unfamiliar place. That on the other side of sobriety was a life. I didn't understand. I didn't know and quite honestly scared the shit out of me best Thing I've done for myself was getting sober. So getting over that fear took me personally, bro to 20 years To say enough is enough. There was so many nights where I just was like, I'm going to have one drink and I'm telling myself this knowing damn well, I'm not gonna have one drink.
[00:25:47] Sean Martin: And
[00:25:48] Chaz Wolfe: But this time will be
[00:25:49] Sean Martin: And I'm a big,
[00:25:51] Chaz Wolfe: This time will be different.
[00:25:52] Sean Martin: yeah, this time it'll be different. You're the best person lying to yourself. You know, it's one of those things. ~Uh, ~and I'm a big dude, so I can go with the best of them. And I was never a fall down or I had all the excuses why it was okay. And my drinking was never a problem, but what it was doing was numbing me from all the dreams, goals, and that itch, because the real reason that I was drinking was that I was scared of what my greatest self looked like, what I could really accomplish in the world.
[00:26:21] Sean Martin: If I decided to stop all the bullshit. So it's not what you're doing so much as the things you're doing to sabotage your own success because of that hardwiring we discussed. And because you're afraid of stepping into your greatest self. Imagine if there were no alcohol tomorrow, there were no Netflix tomorrow.
[00:26:40] Sean Martin: There was no social media tomorrow. People would be forced to be more productive. And you know, those are all things that we use to kind of just pass the time.
[00:26:51] Chaz Wolfe: yeah. Coping.
[00:26:52] Sean Martin: And you know, life can be mundane. So in order to turn the page, you've got to look in the mirror. You've got to be honest with yourself and you've got to eliminate the things that are holding you back.
[00:27:05] Sean Martin: Whether it be alcohol, whether it be too much Netflix, whether it be the lack of belief you have that you can do something. And then that ties into family. So the theme here is letting go. Your success is a threat to every relationship you started with. Not on purpose. Not because everybody's out to get you.
[00:27:30] Sean Martin: Some people are haters, some people are envious, and that will show in time. But the truth is that nobody around you, for the most part, has ever done it. If you grew up in a successful family where, you know, the father was a doctor, and then all three of the kids, or four of the kids, or five of the kids became successful in their own right, it's because they had that path shown to them.
[00:27:56] Sean Martin: And they were surrounded by what success looked like and success looks different for everybody. So that's a general statement, but when you come from humble beginnings, no matter where you're from, forget the Bronx, my business partner is from a trailer park in the Midwest. And he's my brother from another because we came up the same and truth of it is we had to lose friends.
[00:28:20] Sean Martin: We had to lose family and we had to trim the fat from our life and it hurts. It hurts. You find yourself thinking about people more than they're thinking about you. You know, you're not going to be successful without changing your surroundings. It's the unfortunate truth that may be your own mother. That may be your own father, your favorite uncle, your brothers, your sisters, and definitely your friends.
[00:28:49] Sean Martin: So it's a challenge that I gladly take on. And I do it with grace and compassion these days, because I understand that everybody's on their own journey. So I'm not judging anybody, I'm just on my journey and I'm always holding space for my friends and the people I grew up with and the people I, I was hanging out and drinking with.
[00:29:11] Sean Martin: And, you know, for instance, we just came back from a great, you know, a trip last November and some of my oldest friends in the world from, you know, 40 years ago were there and we don't see each other as much as we used to. We probably don't relate to each other as much as we used to. And, you know, the ones that truly love you are gonna.
[00:29:32] Sean Martin: Love you and support you from a distance. And the ones that are kind of not feeling good about themselves are gonna, they're going to pull you down in their own minds. And, you know, sometimes around other people, but it's just a harsh reality of success. ~Um, ~you can't bring everybody with you. Right.
[00:29:48] Chaz Wolfe: no, you're 100 percent right. How do you, how do you just a little mindset work here for the listener? Because this is something that all of us have had to go through and, and we'll continue to go through because as we continue to iterate or become our best version of ourselves, even the people right now who we're okay with that are supporting us potentially.
[00:30:06] Chaz Wolfe: Five and 10 years from now may not be in that circle again, if you will. And that's because we're changing and growing, they're changing and growing. And, and like you said, I love the kind of no hands approach of no judgment. Really. It's just more of a. I'm here and you're there. And currently this serves us maybe in the future.
[00:30:23] Chaz Wolfe: It doesn't, but for the person that's maybe going through this for the first time, we hear this, we've heard it in books, we hear it on podcasts. It's a little cliche at this point of, I'm going to have to trade the old for new, but the actual, like going through that, like you're saying is very, very difficult and it can cause even a little cynicism, like even hardheartedness, bitterness, like there's a lot of stuff that can happen here because I'm looking at them going.
[00:30:46] Chaz Wolfe: Well, why don't you call me anymore? Or why don't you support me? And, and really all it is, is that I've just moved on and I just need to, like you said, look in the mirror, but give us a little mindset work here.
[00:30:58] Sean Martin: ~Um, ~it's coming to the realization that you're on your own journey. That that is the mindset. ~Um, ~we're human beings. We're selfish by nature. I've got a 21 year old month son, 21 month old son who is selfish. You know, you take his toy and he's, he wants to take your toy and they're at daycare. No mind. It's human nature from the earliest stages to be selfish.
[00:31:22] Sean Martin: And I think friendships, relationships, that involve you changed. You're not like you used to be. ~Um, ~you sold out. All of these things are codes for I'm not making any progress in my life and you're a constant reminder that you are and that shit doesn't sit well with me. So people don't know how to voice that and say, yo, great job, bro.
[00:31:53] Sean Martin: I'm rooting for you. Although I do have some brothers that are friends that Totally root for me and they're still on their own journey of whatever it is that they're on Because they're just happy to see another motherfucker from where they're at making it so That's pretty solid stuff and you'll come across those and I try to focus on that I try not to focus on the people i've lost along the way.
[00:32:16] Sean Martin: ~Um, ~but it really is getting the all right, so nothing removes the chip from one shoulder like the feeling of success
[00:32:23] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah, that's right.
[00:32:25] Sean Martin: and That's what it comes down to is the chip off your shoulder. You know, why does this person need to root for you? Why do you need this person to root for you? Is that going to add any value to your life?
[00:32:38] Sean Martin: That's the question you need to be asking yourself. Why am I so hung up on what this other person thinks of me? And there's a great quote and I love quote quotes and cliches and. You know, this one speaks to,~ um,~ you'll stop worrying about what other people think of you once you realize how seldom they do.
[00:32:59] Sean Martin: So when they're not checking for you, it's because they're not thinking of you. You're thinking of them because you miss them because you're in a new space and they're not in it and it's unfamiliar to you, but it's going to be okay. Time passes. Now your new normal comes into play. Those were old friends.
[00:33:18] Sean Martin: If you stay in communication, great. If not, it is what it is. And I have friends that I haven't seen that if we met up tomorrow and I haven't seen them in three years, it's like we picked up. We never, you know, we never missed a beat. And then others who are related to me, who give me a side eye, who are threatened by my success, who think I didn't do enough to help them out.
[00:33:45] Sean Martin: because somehow it's my job to go lift everybody up who's not putting in the work.~ Um, ~so you're going to come across all people and success will temper the emotional rollercoaster that is progress. But also I think for me personally, it came in the form of knowing what my true purpose was and that's raising these two amazing kids to be the best husband to my amazing queen wife.
[00:34:13] Sean Martin: Trying to build a legacy and a future that is something to first and foremost, for me to be proud of then for my children and my wife to be proud of, and last my mother who sacrificed so much to raise me to be proud of. And that kind of gives me. My North star, where I'm looking forward so much that I'm not necessarily looking back at what I've lost.
[00:34:40] Sean Martin: I've looking, I'm looking forward at what I have to gain. And, and that only comes with success that only comes with wisdom. And, you know, often with age comes wisdom,
[00:34:50] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:34:51] Sean Martin: but we can accelerate the process of getting wiser. And that's by making a concerted effort to learn more. And that's through books and through conversations with others who are in an advanced state.
[00:35:03] Sean Martin: So I always say, you know, people get wiser just by living longer, but that's nothing to really be proud of because every living thing gets wiser by living longer until it reaches a point where it's now on its way out. But we can really accelerate that process and be intentional about it by picking up books.
[00:35:21] Sean Martin: ~Um, ~and learning from others that have already done the work,~ um,~ and advance our own, you know, missions and journeys
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
[00:36:14] Chaz Wolfe: , we could,~ uh,~ circle this, you know, spiral down or up rather,~ uh,~ for a while. Cause we both have this, you know, mindset,~ um,~ that we've journeyed through ourselves, but then also be able to speak and impact other people. And I love what you said there, even though. You've had a successful business and you've got, you know, a team and people that you influence through clients and even their teams.
[00:36:33] Chaz Wolfe: And like, there's a lot of people in business that you're influencing, let alone all the people that you influence through your speaking. I loved your purpose was singular. It was. My two kids, my queen, and all the things that are going to happen in my family in coming generations, which of course is going to be impactful to other people.
[00:36:50] Chaz Wolfe: You've already talked about the turning of the page and how we turn our focus to other people. And that really brings us into,~ uh,~ you know, the full purpose of why we're here. But I just, I love the singular focus there. I want to give you kind of a unique opportunity. I do this often. Obviously I grew up single mom family as well.
[00:37:04] Chaz Wolfe: Some of the listeners might know that, but I do this. If I get a chance to just,
[00:37:10] Sean Martin: shout out to single moms.
[00:37:11] Chaz Wolfe: I'm going to give it to you right now. I'm like, for real, because if I, if I talked to a single mom. And if I can get her calm down for a second and not thinking about the, the, the moving pieces of life, because they deal with so much, I have no idea how my mom did it.
[00:37:25] Chaz Wolfe: Like literally I have four kids of my own. I have no idea how she did it. And so I look in their eyes and I give an encouraging word. If, if there's a single mom listening to this right now, what would you say from the son of a single mom who probably owes a good bit? Like what you're just saying to her.
[00:37:44] Chaz Wolfe: What would you say to her right now? Maybe she's got a three year old son. Maybe she's got a 17 year old son. Maybe there's a little bit of waywardness there. Even what would you say to her?
[00:37:52] Sean Martin: You got this mama, you're doing the best that you can with what you have, just love on them,~ um,~ don't beat yourself up and know that. All the sacrifices you're making one day, they'll be worth it because in the moment, right? When you're in the fight and that's what, you know, raising kids is chaos. Whether you're a single mom or your parents in general, it's chaos.
[00:38:21] Sean Martin: How many do you have? Four? God bless you, my man. I got two and I'm like, I'm hanging it up. I just,~ um,~ it's beautiful, but it's, it's chaos. So I can't imagine for a single mom what that feels like. Obviously overwhelming, but just you got this. You got this. Your sacrifices are not in vain. ~Um, ~you know, there's, there's a running story that children only appreciate their parents when they have their own children and, you know, we beat ourselves up.
[00:38:50] Sean Martin: There's no right answers. There's no right way to raise kids. There's some obvious wrong ways. I say it all the time. ~Um, ~but if you're giving them love and support and, you know, doing the best that you can truly don't beat yourself up.
[00:39:04] Chaz Wolfe: it's good for the listeners who, a, might have an opportunity where they need to hire a speaker. Maybe they're interested in getting your book. Where can I just find more about you and what you're doing in the marketplace? Of course, if they're in the Northeast and New York city and New Jersey and in the medical space and they want to connect with you that way, how can they find you?
[00:39:24] Chaz Wolfe: What can we put here in the show notes?
[00:39:26] Sean Martin: Sure. Best, best way to reach me is Instagram. V Sean Martin, T H E S E A N M A R T I N. That's really where we've made a splash with our social. ~Um, ~we're on Facebook, we're on tick tock as well, which personally I've never got on tick tock. It's not on my phone. We just, you know, kind of repost, whatever we create for Instagram,~ uh,~ which goes across all platforms.
[00:39:49] Sean Martin: We've got the website coming soon. Sean, Martin speaker. com beyond the Bronx book. com should be up and running soon. I am a lesson in imperfect action.
[00:40:02] Chaz Wolfe: Love that.
[00:40:03] Sean Martin: I am just like, I'm going to do this thing and I'll figure it out as I go. I've been fortunate enough to be successful in the medical space, which I described.
[00:40:12] Sean Martin: I've been fortunate enough to be able to create generational wealth and net worth through investing my successful, you know, takes from the medical supply business. And now I just decided, you know what? I've got the time. I've got the flexibility. Let's make some impact. Let's change some lives. ~Uh, ~and that's where Real Success Mentors comes in.
[00:40:34] Sean Martin: So Real Success Mentors is a curriculum that I ultimately want to have in after school programs throughout the Bronx, New York City,~ uh,~ the Northeast, and then the entire country, possibly the world. We're really aiming to impact the lives of inner city youth. Predominantly brown, black, that's where I come from, so that's what's close to my heart.
[00:40:56] Sean Martin: But these lessons They ride across all color lines and poverty is usually the general theme there and poverty is a color too in this country. It's the lack of green and you know, the lessons are usually the same. It's dreaming and thinking big financial literacy, intelligence to understand the plight of success, what it looks like, what you stand to gain and what you stand to lose. Entrepreneurship. I think that is the one great, great thing that capitalism,~ um,~ has gotten. Right. It's the free market economy. It's the ability to let the individual go out there and solve a problem that needs to be solved in the marketplace. And. You know, more and more, we're seeing a generation of impactful entrepreneurs.
[00:41:52] Sean Martin: They're doing things with purpose and not just bottom lines. You're always going to have your major corporations and your tax dodgers and your people that, you know, that, that influenced the laws and the structures of, of what comes down the pipe in the government, but then you have a lot of world changing ideas.
[00:42:10] Sean Martin: And young, energetic, unsoured entrepreneurs who really want to bring something to the world while making some cash. ~Um, ~and I think America's gotten that right in, in, in so many ways,~ uh,~ despite all the chaos and all of the vision. So. You know, find me there, but just keep plugged in because things are going to develop.
[00:42:33] Sean Martin: I didn't, you know, I didn't want to do this and wait for the right moment. I just wanted to dive in and you're getting to see it develop. So it'll be a fun year two and beyond,~ uh,~ of seeing this graduate and actually turn into what it is that I'm talking about and speaking about and aiming toward. ~Uh, ~but follow me on Instagram.
[00:42:53] Sean Martin: That's by far the best way. ~Uh, ~to see what I'm doing or see where I'm speaking or here's some of the gems that I've been able to drop. Same as you brother, you know, we're on a mission to connect with like minded people, bring their stories to the world and real success mentors stands for real life examples, altering lives.
[00:43:13] Sean Martin: People like yourself that come from humble beginnings and single mother households and not seeing success as the norm and somehow striving And getting it wrong and getting it wrong and getting it wrong to get it right eventually, and then bring it to others. In an effort to maybe shorten the process for them if they're willing to take in the information or hear it from the mouths of people that have lived it.
[00:43:39] Chaz Wolfe: Yeah.
[00:43:40] Sean Martin: And that's the new mission that I'm on. And you know, the only thing that has made that possible is by finding success. So,
[00:43:47] Chaz Wolfe: Love it, man. Well, we'll, we'll put all that in the show notes as well. And, you know, really just the opportunity that you've,~ um,~ given the listener is to, is to create their own. You, you said you sat in a prison cell and you wrote out exactly what the next 10 years we're going to look like. And funny how those things happen.
[00:44:05] Chaz Wolfe: All that happened. It happened just as the way you wrote it. You know, you could look back. I have had these moments as well, where I look back on things that I've written and I'm like, wow, that exact thing happened. And this is how it works, right? That gravity that you talk about. It's the same pull that we can use.
[00:44:22] Chaz Wolfe: And so what I'm hearing you say is that we get to watch this next version of gravity for you. You're just pulling things to you this time. And just like you did with the Tony Robbins deal. So we just appreciate you, man. Appreciate your, your optimism. And your hope for others,~ uh,~ the transfer of courage that happened today on this show is real because there are other people right now who are in the Bronx or in the Midwest or in the South.
[00:44:44] Chaz Wolfe: And they have a limited belief of whether they can do it or not. And it's based on the way that they were raised or the environments that they were in. And your story is a Testament that they can do whatever it is that they put their mind to and write down and focus on and run hard after, even if they don't have all the plans in place.
[00:45:02] Chaz Wolfe: Just go for it. Appreciate
[00:45:04] Sean Martin: Cue that Journey song, Don't Stop Believin
[00:45:08] Chaz Wolfe: Tell us exactly. Yes. Cue it. Yeah. Boom. And you know, my
[00:45:11] Sean Martin: Belief, it sounds cliche, it sounds simple. Oh, is it really that simple? If you don't believe you got no shot,
[00:45:18] Chaz Wolfe: That's right. Don't
[00:45:19] Sean Martin: it really is that simple. And if you believe you've got a shot, depending on the work ethic after that, and the knowledge and what you take in, you've got a better shot, but Vegas odds of not believing and being successful.
[00:45:31] Chaz Wolfe: pretty bad.
[00:45:32] Sean Martin: I wouldn't place that bet. Not, not at all. So. You've got to believe and you can't stop believing because you're going to get knocked on your ass so many times and you're going to say, all right, I learned another, another way not to do it. All cliches. I did not invent this wheel. I'm just riding on a stage coach that was invented by others before me.
[00:45:54] Sean Martin: And I implore the listeners to do the same. So many tools out there. And I say this, I'll close out with what is your social media feed look like? Is it full of Gathering the Kings podcasts, these Sean Martin, you know, pages? Is it full of crap that entertains you and passes the time? I like that stuff too.
[00:46:14] Sean Martin: My friends send me videos, I get a hoot out of it every day. ~Uh, ~but that's not the majority of what my feed looks like. Eliminate the nonsense from your life. Again, it's not what you're doing, it's what you're not doing. If you're not wasting time, hours, Of time every day being entertained by silly shit, then you can be paying attention to hours of time on how to grow your life, how to grow your belief system, and how to learn the tools that are going to change your life and not even your life.
[00:46:44] Sean Martin: If you have children, they're going to change your children's life and the lives of the children's children. You're literally Don't, don't, don't short change the, your ability to create legacy. You're essentially a grain of sand in endless time. What are you going to do with that? Are you going to waste away or are you going to do something impactful that can help you and help your children and the people you love the most experience life in a better capacity?
[00:47:15] Sean Martin: ~Um, ~so yeah, what's your social media feed look like? It may sound silly, but. That little change can shift so many things.
[00:47:22] Chaz Wolfe: right. Well, blessings to you, brother. We appreciate you being here. ~Uh, ~we, I'm sure we'll be crossing paths again. Talk soon.
[00:47:28] Sean Martin: Absolutely. Appreciate you having me. Thank you, brother.
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, is that you can be successful in any industry. And I hope that you're realizing 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 welcomes Sean Martin to the Kings Stage. Sean is a successful entrepreneur from the Bronx who transitioned from corporate to owning a durable medical equipment business. They discuss Sean's upbringing, education, brushes with law, and decision to get sober. They discuss the harsh reality of success and the importance of defining personal purpose.

Sean Martin:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theseanmartin?igsh=aDl1aTk0bTNheGh3&utm_source=qr

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100095004432244

Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seanmartinspeaker?_t=8k8ci4vOhHK&_r=1

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

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