A Masterclass in Entrepreneurship w/ Glenn Gardone

A lot of this is not going to be the same tomorrow as it is today. You're setting up for a great tomorrow, but you haven't satisfied today yet. In business, when you're starting out, i tell people at times it's great to think about tomorrow, but if all you're thinking about is tomorrow, you're never going to get there because today will fail. Think of it like a yin and yang that's constantly during And in the beginning it's 90% I got to satisfy today, 10% I'm going to worry about tomorrow And as the business matures and grows and you mature and grow, it becomes that 10% to 90%.

The journey to wealth is a long walk and some may walk quicker than others, but what good is sprinting to the finish line if you pass out when you cross it? On Walk to Wealth, we enlighten and empower young adults to build wealthy, abundant lives. They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and your first step starts right now. This is Walk to Wealth with your host, john Mendez.

Hey everyone, welcome to the Walk to Wealth podcast. If you're tuning in on YouTube or any of the podcast directories, make sure to do us one teeny, tiny little favor. Make sure to follow us, because we are bringing fire all year this year, and you don't want to be the one that misses out on another amazing guest. So, without further ado, let's get right into this one. Glenn, for anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to get to meet you yet, tell us your elevator pitch. Who are you and what do you do?

So I'm just an old baxter trying to make a living. That's why I tell people all the time. So I actually am in the consumer packaged goods industry, so I've been selling food Best way to say it is. Somebody once told me you spent your entire career building something that turned to shit. And that's exactly what happens with me, because if you think about it, it's food, so at some point it'd be the end food and you know what it ends up as. So I had the pleasure at first part of my career first 15 years of working for some big companies X Kellogg, x Pepsi And then I've spent the last 15 years for not going to a better phrase private equity helping build organizations to get them ready to be sold to somebody else. So I've been doing that and I had the pleasure to be part of five sales, so pretty successful. But I guess the easiest way to know what the hell I'm about is when you walk into the grocery store and you wonder how those products got on shelf. It's folks like myself that went through the whole process of crafting it, designing it, building, making sure that what we were doing was the right thing and then bringing it to the shelf. So consumers around the country are able to pick up what they love.

You're amazing man And, glenn, tell us a little bit about your walkthrough. I've had the opportunity to hear a little bit about your story and get to know you, but tell us, for anyone that wants to know a little bit more about Glenn, where did this journey all begin? Take us to little Glenn Black in your childhood. Well, you are either an entrepreneur or you always this super ambitious, goal oriented person. I know you got a success runs in your family. I had the opportunity to meet your brother, so tell us what was it like growing up, man? You know what?

man. So I came very blue collar, family, very blue collar, and the fact was that if I wanted something that I had to buy it. It was that simple. So I don't consider myself an entrepreneur. Hell, i didn't even know how to spell the word entrepreneur. That was in my pocket. So it's not like I was some guy that had this plan. I just knew that if I wanted baseball, football, i wanted to go buy an ice cream, whatever. My parents didn't have the cash, so Glenn had to have the cash. So growing up I did all the odd jobs working at the grocery store, working at the convenience store, route newspaper and then actually float into construction and did construction in high school. And the reason I bring that up is because that really was my first opportunity from to be an entrepreneur. And it's not the thing about myself, john very simply is I'm not that guy that found his passion early in life. Man, all right, i did not. I wasn't 18 years old and I knew what the hell I wanted to do when I was walking and rolling, and I was one of the blessed ones, one of the fortunate ones. I've got two boys, that wonderful men, and I am blessed, and they're blessed that they found their passion early. So they're running with it hard and it's great to see me. I spent 15, 20 years trying to figure out what the hell I wanted to do, but I didn't waste my time, and that's what I tell people all the time, man, you know, whatever it was I was doing, i was just trying to learn because I knew at some point that I'd need this information. So when I worked for Kellogg and I ran the pop tarts business, it was like I was trying to waste my time and I knew I didn't want to do it for the next 30 years Don't get me wrong But I didn't know what the hell I wanted to do, you know. So I knew that the days that I spent doing that, i had to work, and I had to work with people, and it's everything from managing and leading individuals to working with outside partners to try to understand the consumer mindset All these different things that I do every day and that my team does every day. It's from my history, from my past. It's from my experience. People say expertise. There's no experts. You have experience, man, and I know a lot of people that have 30 years of experience that are awesome. I know a lot of people that have the same year 30 times over that you'd never want to be in the same room with. So it's really according to what you as an individual want your life Like. I knew I wanted to be successful. That I know. But remember what I wanted at 18 for success is way different than what I wanted in my 40s. You know what I mean. When I was 18, you know what success meant to me That I had enough cash in my pocket that I can go to dinner whenever I want it. That's what I want. That was success to me. That meant that I could pay my bills, i could pay my way And when I wanted to, i can grab a little bite to you, my girl, and so that's that was success to me. And over the years, as I matured, as my career has developed, you know success to me met many different things. And now success to me really is more of how much can I give back? And that's really why talk with folks like yourself and get a chance to have your audience. Listen to us here. That's what I go for, man. It's like, hey, maybe I can give them a nugget, i can help them along their journey And that way they can become a positive influence. And it's that whole pay it forward, man. I mean, that's what's important. So, growing up, no, i wasn't the entrepreneur, i wasn't the kid with the lemonade stand man, i was just a little college kid that wanted some cash in his pocket so he could buy a sandwich or a baseball, whatever, and just had enough to be able to move forward and move along. And you know, my ass had to get out there and work if I wanted it.

Yeah, and that's amazing. And it's crazy how much our stories like resonate with each other, because I also didn't grow up in a traditional entrepreneur family. It wasn't something that I was like, hey, i got these baseball cards or hey, i got these new kicks, that I buy it and then flip it on the back end and make some like. I have friends that flip sneakers. All the middle school They made create at least for that time They were making crazy money, going like two, three boxes of shoes, come out with like a whole wagon full of boxing. It's like I don't know what you worked in there, but it's like you got to tell me what's going on, man. You got to tell because they were in there flipping shoes left and right. So it's like it was kind of around me, but it never really fell into me until like later on. And you also, too, mentioned a lot about your passion and not following me And since we last spoke. It's crazy because I've been speaking a lot on other podcasts and I've been guesting myself And one of the things I've been talking about is how your passion can lead you astray and people always, and I didn't learn that. It's pretty simple. I read a book, and in the book it tells you the dictionary definition of passion and it's literally a barely controllable emotion. So it makes sense why you shouldn't follow it right, because it's something you can't even control. What's the point? So I think this is the perfect segue into today's conversation, because you know a lot about passion. You know a lot about how that helped you or how it kind of hindered you in your journey. So what's your thoughts on passion? I know it's the biggest. One of the biggest buzzwords is just throwing around and self-improvement in the personal development space. Let me hear your thoughts on it.

So I couldn't have said it better, man. To me, passion is a double-edged sword, because sometimes passion gets you to the point where you're not thinking straight. I've had the opportunity to have a couple of mentors in my life and it was funny because I've always been a passionate guy. Right, i'm competitive and played sports, so I've been that maybe because I'm Italian. It makes me a little bit more passionate, so to speak, but I'm a stereotype, i know, but still a little bit like me. But the thing is, when you think of passion, i guess the best way to put it was when I was with one of my mentors and I was actually at Kellogg at the time and, you know, want to be good and working hard and trying to go through, as I call it now, punching through the mud kind of thing, all the red tape and everything, but wanted to really make a difference. And he looked at me and he said, glenn, he said how long has Kellogg been around before you joined us? I said, huh, 100 years, he said. And whether you're here for two years or you're here for your entire career, 35 years how long do you think we're going to be around after you leave? I said, ah, another 100 years. He said that's right, slow the fuck down. He said you know what? I understand what you want to accomplish, but understand there's people around you that have different wants and needs and accomplishments of their own. So it's not all about you, and that's sometimes when we talk about passion. You lose that understanding and that focus. As an entrepreneur, you may love widget A and you can't understand for the life of you why everybody, or 360 million Americans, don't love widget A as much as you do. You know, and then it drives you crazy. And so what happens is that I tell people this all the time you got to pull the emotion out of business. And what is passion? Passion is an emotion, because emotion in business has much more negative effect than it does positive effect. You'll make rash decisions, you won't make right decisions, you won't make decisions based on knowledge, and it's just like when you build a plan. If you're opening up a storefront, you'll have a business plan. Look, what you planned now today is going to be so different 12 months from now, because you don't know We. You know, i happen to be the CEO of red chocolate and we brought red chocolate here to the United States five months before a global pandemic. Think about it If anybody had that crystal ball and knew that a global pandemic would have sat down the world from a commerce perspective, would we do it? No, but we still had the business and we still had the plan. So we had to do is we had to look at it, not get emotional and freaked out and blah, blah, blah. And don't get me wrong Like a lot of people, we dropped to our knee and we are collectively. We had to figure out exactly what we were going to be during this pandemic and how we were going to continue our journey, our passionate journey, our controlled passion. So what I tell people is it's great to find that passion, but you have to control it. And, like I said, i was in my 40s so I figured out what the hell I wanted to do. But I didn't like to waste my time from 18 to my 40, just bouncing around like a pinball, because that would have been useless. I didn't have 22 of the same years. I continued my path, i continued my journey, got my experience. So that way, when I figured out what my passion was going to be, i could rock and roll, yeah.

And then that's amazing man. It resonates with one of these. I heard this line somewhere You make plan. God laughs. And it's funny because, like, we have it all figured out. We have the. Some people make 80 page business plan, some people write one page business plan, but everyone thinks they have it all figured out. I say, all right, i'm gonna do this step, and then this step is going to happen, and I talk to that guy who's going to give me that step and then this step, and then boom, i'm going to end up here And it's like it's usually not the way it works. That's how it kind of played out in my life. So I love that you said that, because last year I was man, i was bouncing around because I was trying to do the real estate stuff since we last spoke, and then I was also teaching some social media stuff and then trying to do this podcast working at a restaurant. But it's like I wasn't so naive because I thought I could do everything at the same time. It wasn't such sort of focusing on the podcast. I was like, okay, put it, focused efforts gets you further, faster than trying to do a bunch of things at the same time And you mentioned to in there a super good line about you there's some people that live the same year over and over and over again. Break that down. For some of us that the meta of it just gone over a heads. A lot of people think we're like what do you mean? we're living the same year over and over again.

So it's pretty simple. If you think about it and everybody knows somebody like this in your life and if you don't know somebody like this, you may be that person. So look deep inside yourself And I said to people all at times, it's just saying there's at least one asshole in three people. So if you look to your left and they're a nice person and you look to your right and they're nice person, guess what you're the asshole. But I guess the best way to explain it is we all are on this journey. Some of us do it together, Some of us do it do it on our own, and what you learn during that journey should affect your future. And if you just are continuously and when I say making the same mistake, it's not in a literal sense, it's in the figurative sense of the situation arising and you almost doing the same thing as you've done in the past. And again, the definition of insanity kind of thing, but the idea being that, look, it's simple. If you're a baseball player we're going to take some sports analogies, because I love sports analogies If you're a baseball player and you get up to bat and you hit the ball four out of 10 times, you are the greatest baseball players ever to live and play the game of baseball. Try that in business. You're going to be out of business in 12 months. So the idea being that do not make the same mistakes. Understand the situation you're in, surround yourself. And the one thing I will tell you about me I don't want to be the smartest person at the table and very rarely I am, because if I'm the smartest person at the table, then all the decisions, everything's going to come from me. I like, and I like, to hear from different folks around the table, so to speak, whether it be on my marketing side, whether it be supply chains. There were, there were parts within my journey, not only here at Red, but throughout my career, where it was the input of others that helped me continue to grow as a person. So what you want to do is understand the situation you're in, understand how it happened. The last thing a person should do is blame someone else for a situation to rent. What I mean by that, very simply, is before we go to that, because it's very easy to go to it And I'm not saying it couldn't be true, it could be but learn from it. Okay, how did I let that person affect me. Remember, somebody makes you angry and oh well, you got to remember one thing you're the person that let them into your head, because I bet you 10 people can walk past you right now, john, and say something to you be like, all right, well, you don't know me and you move on, right. Well, why didn't they affect you the way somebody else could affect you? It's because you let them in your head and you don't want to let them in your head. You want to listen, you want to learn, but remember you've got to understand where that other person is coming from. As an entrepreneur, and there are a lot of people that want to take this entrepreneurial journey for their own reasons, and I tell people at times there are going to be times you have to take that proverbial name and know that there's people like myself behind you that are in that room with you, with our hand on your shoulder, because we've been there, dude, we know what it's like to be like that, but we also expect you to get up. We expect you to wipe your pants off and punch through the mud and continue to move forward. So you know, when you look at things that happen, understand why they happen, understand in the future. If this happens, how do I see it sooner, so that way I can stop it from happening, or if I can turn the journey this way. It's funny you mentioned one page business report, 80 page business report. It doesn't make a difference because, like we said, a lot of this is not going to be the same tomorrow as it is today. Entrepreneurs I tell them all the time. I hear people. I tell me oh well, this is what we're going to do from a branding perspective. They got this pie in the sky and I'm like great, are you going to pay rent today? Like what do you mean? I'm like you're setting up for a great tomorrow, but you haven't satisfied today yet. In business, when you're starting out, i tell people all the time it's great to think about tomorrow, believe me, it's great. But if all you're thinking about is tomorrow, you're never going to get there because today will fail. So in business, it should almost be think of it like a yin and yang that's constantly turning And in the beginning it's 90%. I got to satisfy it today. 10% of them are going to worry about tomorrow And as the business matures and grows and you mature and grow, it becomes that 10 to 90. You know, i was in what was called a year beginning meeting a couple of years ago and the CEO of one of the largest retailers in the world. He's taken questions from us. It was a group of us and one of the folks said hey, i got a question for you. What are your ideas long term based on what we're seeing right now? And he laughed. He said well, let me tell you something. I know a lot of you. Long term means what are you going to do over the next 24 to 36 months. Long term for us is what are we going to do over the next 18 years? Because we drive a big ship. So if you wanted to know what I was going to do in the next 24 to 36 months, you should have asked me 15 years ago. So and that's the attitude they have is from a long term perspective. Bye, they've also been around in business for 75 years, so they can think that far out, because they've got today, plan and they know what they're doing today and they had planted a while ago, and so what they'll do is they'll tweak as necessary, but you're not planning. We're in business as a young entrepreneur, as a startup and whatever it is from a consultant to a retail business to consumer packaged goods like red you have to make sure today is working and today is successful. I'm the best way to know that You talk to the people that you're working with. It's one thing when you sit around a table, john, and everybody is talking about. When we first came here to the US and we were sitting at the table talking about our reason for being and the fact that we're non-GMO and all these different things Everybody's shaking and going yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We were all on the same payroll man, so of course, we agreed with it. We're the ones that put this together. The real decision was when we took it outside of our walls and we went to the trade and then we started talking to the consumers every day And when they started saying, yeah, yeah, okay, i get it, i agree with what you're doing, then we knew we had a winner and that's when we really started. We're able to start to make sure that today was successful so we could build a stronger future.

Yeah, no, i think that's the first time I heard anyone put it that way, and we're always hearing a ying and a yang, but no one ever made it make sense in a way when it comes to business, like you just did right there, and so I'm curious now so how do we get more present? It's something where the world is moving at 100 miles per hour. This entrepreneurship stuff is something that's not taught in school And of course, you can get a degree for entrepreneurship, but there's nothing like starting a business and getting out there And, as you said, punching through the mud and figuring it out and not having money to pay bills and your software fees and your Calendary or your Zoom or your whatever software you're using. There's nothing like having that, trying to figure it out and really working your way through it. So let me ask you how does one become more present? How does one live for today And when everyone's telling us they think about these big, grandiose ideas like, how do we get into today? It's a good question, excellent question man.

So there's a couple of things. The first thing I tell people is get ready to do things you don't want to do And if that makes you nervous, don't become an entrepreneur. There's nothing wrong with being employee 12,406 within that big machine, as they call it, Because I was that, And there are a lot of people, hence why there's 12,405 before you. So there are a lot of people that that's good for them and that's what they enjoy. As an entrepreneur, as somebody who rests on your shoulders, so to speak, you have to understand what your days are going to be like And understanding that. You know again somebody who I had the pleasure to have as a mentor. He once told me he said, Glenn, you're going into business for yourself, And this was a long time ago. He said I'm going to tell you right now. All of your employees are going to love Friday. I was like what do you mean? He said, because Friday is going to be a day for you. You're going to get paid. On a Tuesday, It may be a Wednesday, You may not get paid for three weeks. It's according to when you're going to have money left over. You're going to finally get paid. So you make sure what you are doing. There's a future for it. And so you look at Shark Tank and I always talk about taking the business behind the bar and shooting it because it's failed over the last six years. That's part of what I was telling you about earlier, with seeing the same thing but expecting something different every time. There are. there is a time where you have to say to yourself you know what? this isn't going to work And it's not. You can't take it as oh my God, I'm a failure. Oh my God, No man, You know what being a failure is. Not giving it a shot? Now, yeah me. I always, always, weigh the pros and the cons. It's instantaneous in my brain now because I've been doing it for so long. But when I'll sit down with the marketing team, for instance, here, and we'll go through a marketing program, understanding the risk reward that's tied to it And there are people that are way more riskier to risk taking than I am I'll be the first one to admit it. That's just not my comfort zone. There are people that will risk everything on a shot. I won't do that. It's just not me. And there are people that have dramatically failed and other people have done quite well. There's a lot more people that have dramatically failed. You just don't happen to hear about that. You're about all these great stories about the winners, which is phenomenal, Awesome, And they write books and everybody reads it and, oh my God, I want to be like them. Don't be like anybody man. Be yourself, All right, And if you find something you want to do that you think is missing from the world, and remember whatever it is you're going to do, it's all about the value you bring, And that term of value means many different things. When I look at red chocolate, the value for us is the pleasure and not the guilt. It's our tagline all pleasure, no guilt, because of the fact that we're no sugar added, because of non-GMO, all these different things. That's our reason for being Okay, And the value that we bring to somebody like yourself was hit the health and fitness. Look, I don't want sugar, So we bring value to you. There may be another family that's like you know what I want to treat for my kids, but I don't have a lot of money. The value is a financial for them. So when you're a consultant and you walk in the value of BAB, that wow man, I'm going to save this company a thousand hours because I'm bringing my expertise in, Or the program that I'm bringing in is going to help them grow bigger. In other words, what's that value? And so you've got to really, really understand your value And that's the message you've got to bring. That's the elevator pitch. If you can't sit there and say how do I bring value, And it takes you 25 minutes to explain it, then you don't know what value you bring, because it's got to be like this. It surely does. And if it's not, you got to say to yourself you open up an ice cream shop. What's your value? Fabulous ice cream for people who want it, I get. It Makes sense. But if I get to sit there and explain to you, well, the ice cream I have is, you're like, wow, you know what? too much man, I'm only wanting ice cream. You know it's that type of thing. So it, that's really that whole value proposition. So, for people, get the value right, understand what the value is, understand you're going to be doing things that not a lot of people want to do. It'll be a lot of long hours, man. I spent a lot of Saturdays when people were hanging out outside by the pool and I was in front of the computer because I had to figure some stuff out, because time doesn't wait, You know, if it's your business. But in I didn't mind doing it. And it's not because I'm just a glutton for punishment, It's because I believed in what we're trying to accomplish. I believe that I was trying to do and it. I was passionate about that, But again, controlled passion, as we talked about earlier. So having that passion, So knowing that what I had and what I needed today so that I could make it to tomorrow, and knowing that I had to sacrifice, you know, some of the startups that I was with was the least amount of money I've made. There were people that were making a whole bunch more, that had zero experience, that were employee 12,406 and were on the front lines or on the third line, that were making more than me. But I knew And in the end I was right And that's what made me successful. But I was also willing to put my time and energy on. That's not to say that I'm always right, because I'm not.

You mentioned a lot of great points throughout there. One of them, one of the common eyes too, is like I've been reading too recently as people call it X for secret And it talks about in their techno babble, and it's pretty much when you just start spitting off and rambling a bunch of logic and stuff and facts that of course you're passionate about, because of course that's your business, that's your reason for being, we might be. And so it's like when someone asks is he getting spitted like yeah, where are the X number of company growing? And we do XYZ, we have all these different feed rooms. Like man. I just wanted to ask a simple question And the people on the other side are over there sitting around like dang. Is the guy ever going to shut up? Can I go about my day? Can I buy my ice cream? I got my dollar here. I'm waiting to ask you. I just want the food, can I go? And I think I want to ask. Hmm, i said exactly you're right. And so I want to ask you because one of the most important no matter, i think, whatever stage of business you're in, but especially when you're starting off, is not only the value provide but the perceived value, because it's hard for some time to get other people to see the value you're bringing, especially when you're maybe in your younger cat that's skating and talking for new or something, doesn't really have too many stripes yet in this field and is trying to get it going. Of course, let's say that's the Kipudan going with the ice cream thing, right, we kind of got this new ice cream thing and it's like we've never been in business before, we're just starting off this idea. But it's non-GMO, it's gluten-free, it's keto-friendly, whatever, and some whatever new ice cream, right. And it's like, well, you don't have any stripes. So yeah, you're providing value, but no one's going to perceive it as valuable. So how do we get that aspect of the value? So we can not only have the value, bring it, but also articulate it in a way that makes other people get it, because that's the other side of the story. It's funny we actually.

It happened to me for the first time. I told you 30 years of experience, expertise and knowledge and yet, going through this global pandemic, getting the message to the consumer is completely different. People ask me how has the consumer changed over the years? The consumer hasn't changed. They still want that value, whatever the value is to them. So that hasn't changed. It's delivering the message because, if you think about we call it a shopping experience. When you go into a store or you go online and you'll find something, you're becoming part of that experience. Do they give me what I'm looking for? Is there an ease to get it? Is it reasonably priced? Can I get it delivered at a proper time? That whole shopping experience. And so what we want to do is, when we're starting out, we want to focus the message and deliver it to the right people. Okay, and what I mean by that and it's very simple, if you think about it, if you had an ice cream that was keto friendly and that was your focus is we are a keto friendly ice cream then you need to make sure that you're talking to the folks that are interested in keto friendly. It's funny you mentioned that because I always talk with retailers and Red Chalk of them being no sugar added. We're keto friendly. I tell them it's like being kosher We're kosher, we're keto friendly, we're way watches friendly. If you care, then that's important to you. If you don't care, nobody's ever lived in a wet. That's keto friendly. That's not for me. It's like you don't not buy it because it's kosher. I guess it's kosher. It's good for somebody who cares about kosher me I don't care about it but good for them. So you know when it. But what happens is when you have that keto ice cream, so to speak. What you want to do is you want to be able to talk to the folks about that who are interested in keto. Don't try to talk to everybody. I tell people all the time eight out of ten people that eat red chocolate, that try our chocolate, love our chocolate. That means two out of ten. Don't. I'm not trying to talk to those two out of ten. You know what, man, if you're a big Milky Way fan and you want sixty six percent sugar in your life, god bless, go for it. That's you, that's not us. We're not that, we don't want to be that. So it's the same thing in business. If you try to be something for everyone. You're nothing to anyone and that's what you have to remember. So talk to the people you feel you're going to bring a value. To don't push water uphill, especially when you're beginning in business. Pushing water uphill, what that means is talk, trying to talk to everybody and try to Convert the people, and that's the last thing you want to do is convert people because you just want them to. You want the beginning to be People that Want you in their life, for whatever reason. Whether you're a ice cream shop with your consultant, you, you as the entrepreneur, you want to be invited into people's lives, and it's much easier to be invited into a person's life if there's a need for you and a want for you. Then to try and sit there and we sit there and say, john, so have you ever tried a veggie burger? You're like no, man, i never have. Why not? Well, i'm a meat guy. Then my dad was a cattle rancher, whatever You know. And so, the idea being that, before I start to change you, i'm gonna talk to John's brother here, because John's brother tried it and said that wasn't bad, you know, it just wasn't for me at that time. Well, man, let me tell you about mine and how it's different, and so that's the idea. So I tell people, if you're going to business, find the people that truly need you, that value. You Talk to them, get them, because if they don't, then you really got to look at your business model And you got to understand. Because if these are the people that don't find value in you, and these are the people that you felt where the closest to your target, to your perfect target, there's an issue you have to figure out.

Yeah, back to that thing of where I got hot dog in a crowd of starving people Will set out a lot faster than a Michelin star meal in front of everyone that's already full. I tell you, matter how good you what you got is if no one wants what you got. And so let me ask you because you kind of explained it without actually explaining But you have your unique value proposition right, unique selling point, whatever our people want to describe it as. But you mentioned that We're milked away at supper chocolate. We got our thing right. How do we get that thing that makes us different, that makes us unique? when we're entering into a new business or entering into a new market, it's like how do we separate ourselves, find that blue ocean, as people may say, so that we're not fighting for scraps And we can have our own thing where it's like, hey, that's different and there's no other competitors because you have your own unique thing? How do you find that? or how do you explain that?

Well and I don't think you have to go that far that there are no competitors. Now that does happen and that's Generational, so to speak. And when that moment's happened, oh, it's really because if you've got a value and there's nothing else like it we talked again We'll go back to the ice cream store. There's 200,000 ice cream scores in stores in America. So if that was the case, that I should never open up another ice cream store. But we both know, sitting here, over the next 30 days are probably gonna be another Thousand ice cream stores that open up across the country. Why we don't need it. There's nothing new. So you get my point, but there is within that value. So what I tell people is you know when, when you see something and you could make a difference, whether it be in form, whether it be in function, whether it be situational. That's what you need to focus on. So there's been chalkets around for thousands of years. I mean, the Aztecs use coca. Why would we bring out red? Well, we brought out red because we felt there was something missing in the market, and And and we we've proven that there's something missing in the market. That's why we've been able to grow the way that we've grown Because we can satisfy that need. We can satisfy it healthy, but we can satisfy it with indulgence. And so that was the idea behind red and our and our meaning for business. If you're a fewer real estate, if you're in real estate, there are hundreds of real estate people, probably within your office, everything about it. And if you go within your state, there's thousands. And then there's all these different companies. So you got to figure out what differentiates you. If you going to be the same as everybody else, your average, and if you want to be average, don't go to become an entrepreneur, be employee 14,206. You don't need the headache, you don't need the aggravation, because, let me tell you, when you start to go in and again putting all that pressure on your shoulders, it's a lot of stress, it's a lot of angst. So therefore, in the end, know what you deliver, know what your value is, and you will be compensated for. And what I mean by compensated, that could be from a financial compensation, that could be from from an ego, you know. So I've had read here in the United States for three years now. Okay, we're in 15,000 stores across the country. I walk into a, into a store, and I see red on the shelf, it's like seeing one of my kids graduate. I mean, it's that simple And I mixed Pop Tarts man. I launched Pop Tarts, some Pop Tarts lines, 20 years ago and I still walk in the store and I see him and it's like, oh, that's cool. I've launched some Pepsi products that are still on the shelf today, that millions of people enjoy every single month. And the fact that when I get to walk in and I get to see right on the shelf and it truly is it's like seeing one of my kids graduate. So that's the ego form Doesn't pay me, it doesn't pay my utility bills, it doesn't do that. But it's just another thing that says to me all right, you're working 60 hours a week and it's just some of the good fortune you get to do, and so that's what I do. Is I look for ways to satisfy why I'm doing what I'm doing? Man, that's totally right.

I didn't want to ask too. I wanted to get a quick little pivot because I had the opportunity to try red. And one thing I think that you guys did very well personally, just from man to man, heart to heart, you guys tried a nice experience like opening up the wrapper and the packaging, and even the way the chocolate was shaped was different, like it felt very unique and personalized, kind of. So let me ask you cause that's something that usually helps a lot of people is providing that experience right, providing something nice, not just the product or the service that you offer. It's the little small details that people often overlook. that usually gives you the edge over certain people that just decides to do the bare minimum or decides to just be average. So let me ask you what was the process like? figuring out the little things that will make that extra touch, that make that experience a little bit more memorable and personalized for the individual, versus just putting a wrapper on and just setting out a chocolate bar? Excellent question.

One simple answer me, and what I mean by that is what I want, if I'm going to invite red chocolate into my life as a consumer. What do I want? Well, i want something that, to me, is visually appealing, and that was the idea behind the packaging and being able to tell that story quickly, cause we have people walking past the aisle, so I want them to know that it's non GMO, it's kosher, it's gluten free, we don't use palm oils, hence why you see the different pieces within our package. Everything that's on this package that we have is there for a reason. The idea is that you could see the chocolate, you can see the milk. You automatically know this is milk chocolate. You know that it's 0% sugar because that's what it says. So the idea is I'm helping you to understand why me red chocolate, not Glen, why me? I would like to be part of your life, part of your decision, because there's nothing more personal than what you put in your mouth and you put in your body. So one thing with the clothes we wear, with the car we drive, but what you put in your body, it's the most personal thing that you could think of from a human being standpoint. So I wanted people from the get go to understand you know what these folks seem to care. They seem to kind of want to talk to me and respect me as a person. We are not a transactional company. I will tell you that right now And when I brought this over and for most of my career now. I don't believe in transactional. We have a reason for being, but us as a company, we also I also think of the company red as a being too, as having a consciousness, having the ability to understand what is right and what is wrong when it comes to what we're going to ask consumers, ask people to do. And if I'm going to enjoy this, then why would I want somebody to enjoy it less than me? So that started with the outside of the packaging, then the inside, choosing the right foil And again, making it so that people understand. We are a craft. You know. We craft our chocolates. It's simple. I don't make 30 million bars a month. I will never make 30 million bars a month. Even if I could, i won't. It's not what we do. We're owned by two families that are master chocolates. The idea behind this whole piece is that we wanted to bring something to people that they had never seen before, they never tasted before. So that was the wrap and understanding and the freshness. It also has a lot to do with the quality perspective, because it's thick enough that within shipping the things don't break and they don't crush and it doesn't look like wrap, to be honest with you. And then the idea behind the diamond shape. The diamond shape is because when you put it a flat piece of chocolate, it's kind of boring. It really is in my eyes. There's so much flat chocolate out there And again, it's part of the visual. If I'm gonna take you red and I'm gonna put you in my life, you better be worth it, cause if you're not, i'm not gonna hang out with you too much. And so that was the whole idea behind red was to make it so that somebody. So when John walked past Yal and he looked at me, i asked that's interesting, i've never seen something like and you read it for that four or five seconds that you're at the shelf you'd say you know what? Yeah, it sounds like something that's interesting. And then when you try it and you taste it, i never knew chocolate could be this good without all that shitty sugar. This is awesome, and so that's the idea. So that was really the idea of the journey When we sat down, one of the biggest things about us. So all of our products are crafted in our facility in Europe And I love telling this story because it really tells you the difference, because when you're a European company coming into the US, it's so different than starting up from the US. So in Europe, everything they produce is non-GMO. You're not allowed to use genetically modified organisms. You're not allowed to. So when I brought it here, i said, guys, i need to get the non-GMO certification on the package. They went well, why Everything's non-GMO? I'm like, no, not in America, not in America. Man, here in America, to say you're non-GMO is important because people need to understand that you're buying single source, You're not buying something that's been genetically modified. So it was that journey that was part of me teaching a company that had been around 20 years and is in 25 countries. Something different And, luckily for me, the partnership we have. They said you know what, glenn, you're, you got the experience. Let's, let's do it the way you say. it wasn't as though they came and said well, we've been doing this for 20 years, the same year 20 times. We don't need to do this, so that was part of that growth.

No, that's amazing. So then let me ask you, because you mentioned something that's kind of been repeated, kind of the radar, throughout this entire conversation, it's the reason for being right. How does one work towards fine, well, i would like to say uncovering it, because usually it takes a while before we finally put two and two together. But how does one begin? because usually not something that just stumbles and maybe, as you said it may, you may be one of the blessed ones. This is like yet I know what I'm doing for the rest of my days. Yeah, i'm gonna do this And I'm, but, like with many of us, we happen to stumble across it throughout, whatever all of our combined and accumulated Experiences. So I just one kind of work towards uncovering that so that they can have that clarity, because I feel like it's something that, once you get there, it makes the filtering process, process at which you make decisions. It makes it a lot easier, because it's like, well, i know what my reason for being is, and let's say, it's making keto-friendly chocolate ice cream, and it's like, well, should I add some Honey? no, because honey is that scarbs right there, that's gonna break the fast, right? That's not keto friendly. Yeah, i'm hurting there, so it makes it a lot easier. So how do we work towards uncovering that reason for being, not only in our business life, but in our personal life as well?

I said excellent question. So what I would tell you is When we first started our conversation, john, in a little while ago, i told you about the fact that when I was on my journey I didn't want to, i didn't think of it as, oh, i'm wasting my time. I knew it was on my journey, i knew what I was doing wasn't what I wanted to do, but I knew I should continue to learn until I had that aha moment. And That's the same way in life too, and it's really it's. It's being there and being aware. That's probably one of the biggest things that I've learned Throughout the progression of my personal and professional life, and that's being aware. I tell people time in your day to day, as you go through, keep your eyes open, keep your ears open and keep the thought, keep the idea that today I see people, for some reason, a lot. They feel they got to be on one side of the pendulum. I got to constantly be learned. I don't want to learn at all. And the people that want to constantly be learning Think of it like a NASCAR race car if you've got your foot on the gas for the entire lap, you're gonna hit a wall. These are. These are folks that are very good at what they do, being able to understand Gat, break the gas, so on and so forth, and where to be on the be on the curve, and so on and so forth. So from a personal perspective, it could be something as simple. Even on tiktok, you see tips and tricks all the time. You know It could be somewhere. Somebody comes up with it with a trick that I was today, years old when I figured out kind of thing. And those moments in life a lot of times are the aha moment. That again, where I was saying where you could take something that's around chocolate's been around thousands of years. We just found a better way to do it and that's how come we've been so successful. And so it could be something. When you're in your life and you're hanging out with your family I hang out with your friends, and something's being done a specific way and it's been done like that forever And all of a sudden you figure out a better way to do it. It could be that aha moment. You go, wait a minute, i could sit my. My value, my reason for being, is saving 30 minutes of every person's life Because they won't have to do this anymore. It could be something as simple, as basic as that. It could be something, as I've got this pride again. Going under the consumer Back is good. So I've got this special brand of chili that I love to use on the burger and people say this you should put this in In stores. I talk to people all the time that want to call, because I'll get calls from, whether late, dinner, whatever. And I talk to everybody, man, because if I can help you, great. If I can't, maybe I can send you to somebody who can help You better than me. But the idea being, i got this amazing Widget, how do I do it? and that widget could be again a product. It could be a thought, it could be a situation. So, if you want to look for years, go through your life. Don't go with blinders on, don't go with the intensity that I've got to figure it out today. If I did that, i'd burn myself out. Remember, man? I told you I was in my 40s. So if I had spent 20 years trying every day to figure out what the fuck it was I was supposed to be going, i'd be useless man. I'd be useless. And in that meantime I had an amazing family, beautiful wife. So I I was still able to enjoy my journey and join my and so, and then, through that, that's where I finally found my passion in business and personally, to be honest with you. So first, people, i tell a long way to your questions, but simple answer Keep your eyes open, keep your ears open, man, and know that each day There could be something and learn from that day, and even if it's a little something. You're talking about reading the different books. I'll read a book and 300 page book. I'm not looking for it to change my life. Sometimes I'm looking for just that one little love it that I could take and put in my brain and use at some point. But I like the way they think about that. I've never thought about it that way. So the a book does not have to change my life and I've never been that kind of person. I tell people don't look for one thing to change your life, look for the journey to change your life and You control that journey. So when you change your life, that change is controlled by you.

Yeah, 100% man, glenn, that'll be. That's you drop some nuggets of wisdom and business of wisdom throughout this entire conversation. Where can we connect with you at? where could we get our hands on red I can vouch for? my favorite flavor is the white chocolate, one that you sent blonde. It was white chocolate and some I had a blonde chocolate. There we are blonde now. I want to tell you that one was my hands down, my favorite. So where can we connect with you? Where can we find you?

So there's a couple of ways you can find me. And that blonde chocolate. That's our 11th global patent. So we hold 11 patents. That happens to me and that's my favorite one too. Man, we just launched that in April. But you could find me a couple of different ways. Easiest way and I tell people all the time if you go to red dash chocolate duck, you go to the about us page, you're gonna be able to find out about myself. You'll be able to reach out and talk to me. I answer all the emails. If I can help, like I said, i'm more than happy to. If I can't, maybe I could put you in a position Where I can help you with somebody else, with a meeting, but you can always reach out to me there. You can reach out to me on LinkedIn if you'd like. That always works too. But to go to red dash chocolate and from there, learn about red for me if it sounds like it is shit, awesome, love to help out. Again, i try to tell people all the time. You know what? We're a growing company. We can always use the support and we love when people cheer for us, because we like to cheer for everybody. So it's been really good and, as a matter of fact, john, for you on this, what we're gonna do is anybody who uses The when you go on, it'll ask for a code. If you use walk with red, you're gonna get 10% off your entire order. So that way again, john is. I appreciate everybody that's listening to us. Hopefully there's seven people that stayed on the list of what the hell I had to say and I hope I'm able to help those seven people. But, the joking aside, i really appreciate the fact that you give me a chance to talk. I love talk with you. I love your podcast in the past and I'll continue to be a fan of the future.

You're gonna. You are amazing man, and that's time for our famous five questions. The way we end every single podcast episode. Let's get right into this wrap-fire round. Question number one I'm coming in swinging heavy. What is the most impactful lesson you've learned in relax?

You know it because at the most impactful that I've learned in business, there's always something that's gonna feel like a bat upside. You know that you can come up with the right decision and you can move forward and even if it's not the perfect decision, you'll regroup and you'll be fine. Just relax, take a breath and continue to move forward punch through that.

What is the most admirable trait a person?

By if you say something, do it. If you can't do it, man, just say you can. And if you say you can't do it but find you can't do it, reach out immediately and tell them you can't do it and you apologize for, and tell them what you can't.

But honestly for sure, and I think that's a lot, What is one book that you would recommend that could help change some of them?

I would say there's not one specific book. That I would say because people are all different. What I would tell you is Take a book, and I don't care in what genre it is, but read it and be there in the book and that will change your life, whether it changes your life for today, in the future, or it changes your life while you're reading it. It's part of that being in that moment that I talked about to understand. So, when you read the book, block everything else out and give yourself that time, and I don't care if it's 15 minutes a day and you're sitting in a room somewhere with nothing around you or you're at lunch. Man, don't grab the phone, stay off a soul. Take 15 minutes on a book, read a chapter a day, man, and like I said, i don't care if it's a love story. Put yourself in that love story, just escape for a little bit. Because when we're able to escape, we're able to be in ourselves. We can figure out our minds, our batteries in our What is the legacy that you're trying to leave out? Trying to make the place and this sounds corny and stupid, but it's the honest to God truth. I'm trying to make this world a little better than when I came, and I don't know how I'm gonna be able to do it, but I'm hoping to be able. As some people say, you know what? Yeah, i listened to that dude on that podcast And you know what. He had a positive message and you know what I get it. He was there, he was down on one Then I see, and so that my, my boys, as I mentioned earlier, being a positive influence in their journey in life. So I would say it's really just trying to make this place just a little bit. I'm not gonna make a massive change, but I hope, with the spot that I have, i can make a good change and a good positive.

That's amazing. And if someone wanted to embark on, their block took off today. What would you recommend? the first day, the first?

is a simple it's committing to your that you Because you have to commit to yourself and know, by committing to your, don't don't lie to yourself. That's the worst thing you could do, because then you can't believe in yours. If you think to yourself and you think about it, even they look at the military and look at some of the special ops. You hear some of their conversations. What they, what do they talk about? they talk about the commitment to doing, and that's what it's about Is the first step in that journey is saying, yeah, i'm ready for this and I'm gonna do it, no matter What hits me, still gonna keep moving. Every day you don't move forward. Some days you may be on a knee, it may be for three days, you're on it, but you get up, you punch through the mud and you keep moving forward. So it's committing to yourself, knowing that you can trust yourself, because in the end, when you look at them, while there may be all those folks behind you patting you on the back or stabbing it back or whatever, you can't see them in the meat. You only see your two eyes. So you got to believe in yourself.

You've now finished taking the first step. Now Let us help you take the next one. Subscribe to our newsletter at walk to wealth comm. That's walk the number to wealth comm, so we can keep you moving on your journey. We'll see you on the next episode of walk to wealth with John Mendez.