The focal point of this podcast episode revolves around the inspiring journey of Glenn Lundy, who candidly recounts his transformation from a period of homelessness and despair to becoming a successful entrepreneur and motivational figure. Glenn emphasizes the importance of internal development and the rigorous work necessary to achieve external success. He elucidates the pivotal moments that shaped his life, illustrating the profound impact of resilience and self-belief in overcoming adversity. Throughout our dialogue, we explore the significance of a structured morning routine, gratitude practices, and the necessity of surrounding oneself with a supportive community to foster personal and professional growth. Ultimately, this episode aims to empower listeners to recognize their potential and take actionable steps towards realizing their aspirations. The conversation unfolds with Adam Marburger and his guest, Glenn Lundy, a figure who embodies the principle that true success stems from internal growth and resilience rather than mere external accomplishments. Lundy shares a candid narrative of his journey, illustrating the tumultuous experiences that shaped his character. From his early days of poor choices that culminated in homelessness and depression, he emphasizes the transformative power of hitting rock bottom. This pivotal moment served as a catalyst for change in his life, igniting a relentless pursuit of personal development and a commitment to uplift others through his work in the automotive industry. Lundy's story underscores the core theme of the episode: the importance of building oneself from within before venturing out into the world to create meaningful change. As the dialogue progresses, the conversation delves into the significance of morning routines and structured daily practices as foundational elements for achieving extraordinary results. Lundy outlines his own regimen, advocating for the elimination of distractions and the cultivation of gratitude as essential components of a productive day. He articulates that one's approach to the morning can set the tone for the entirety of the day, reinforcing the idea that discipline and intentionality are paramount in the pursuit of success. Through this shared wisdom, both Lundy and Marburger aim to inspire listeners to take actionable steps towards self-improvement, emphasizing that every individual possesses the innate potential to catalyze positive change in their lives and the lives of others. Glenn Lundy's narrative is a compelling testament to the resilience of the human spirit. As he recounts his ascent from a life marked by adversity—characterized by homelessness and a profound sense of despair—to one of purpose and achievement, listeners are invited to reflect on the pivotal moments that define our paths. Lundy articulates the often-overlooked truth that external success is frequently predicated upon internal fortitude. His journey is not merely a personal saga; it is a universal story of struggle, redemption, and the relentless pursuit of one's dreams. Lundy emphasizes the necessity of introspection and the profound impact of a supportive community, elucidating how the absence of mentorship in his early life shaped his resolve to forge a different path for himself and those he now inspires. Furthermore, the episode explores the intricate relationship between routine and success. Lundy’s advocacy for a structured morning routine serves as a framework for listeners seeking to enhance their productivity and mental clarity. He delineates five critical steps that he adheres to daily, emphasizing the importance of gratitude, physical activity, and purposeful engagement with the world. This structured approach is not merely a checklist; it is a philosophy that encourages individuals to cultivate their best selves before extending their influence outward. Lundy's insights serve as a clarion call for listeners to embrace the power of discipline and to recognize that the journey towards greatness often begins with the simplest of daily practices. The dialogue between Adam Marburger and Glenn Lundy serves as an enlightening exploration of the human experience, particularly the arduous and often nonlinear path to success. Lundy, a vibrant personality in the automotive industry, recounts his tumultuous past, which includes periods of hardship that ultimately forged his character and resolve. The episode delves deeply into the concept of building oneself internally—a journey that precedes and underpins any external achievements. Through candid storytelling, Lundy articulates the significance of understanding one’s own narrative and the transformative power of embracing one’s struggles as a means of catalyzing personal growth. As the conversation progresses, Lundy introduces the audience to his philosophy on morning routines, which he believes are integral to achieving extraordinary outcomes in life. He presents a meticulously crafted regimen, emphasizing the elimination of distractions and the prioritization of gratitude as foundational aspects of his daily life. Lundy’s emphasis on the importance of starting each day with purpose resonates powerfully, as he urges listeners to take control of their mornings to pave the way for productive days. This approach not only serves as a practical guide for listeners but also encapsulates a broader theme of self-empowerment and intentional living. Through this episode, Lundy and Marburger collectively inspire a call to action, urging individuals to recognize their potential for greatness and to take definitive steps towards realizing their aspirations.

Takeaways:

• Glenn Lundy shares that his life has been shaped by significant struggles, including homelessness and depression, which ultimately led him to discover his true potential.
• The importance of a morning routine is emphasized as a fundamental practice that contributes to personal growth and productivity in daily life.
• Lundy discusses the significance of gratitude as a precursor to goal-setting, advocating for a positive mindset to enhance one's aspirations.
• The conversation highlights that true success requires a supportive community, as individuals cannot achieve their goals in isolation without help from others.
• Lundy reveals that personal transformation often stems from understanding one's spiritual self, illustrating how inner growth precedes external success.
• The podcast underscores the necessity of taking the first step towards change, emphasizing that individuals are the catalysts for their own lives and outcomes.

Links referenced in this episode:

• 800%life

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• AOL
• Nissan
• Subaru
• Grant Cardone
• Dianetics
• L. Ron Hubbard
• Scientology

This is Adam Marburger.

And this is humans that build real conversations with real people.

Not just about what they've built in the world, but what had to be built inside them first.

No hype, no shortcuts.

Just humans doing the work.

Humans that build.

Real people, real work.

Welcome to Humans that Build.

We have another amazing episode.

In today's episode, we're here to inspire you and motivate you to do just a little bit more.

And I've got the right guest to do just that.

Welcome, my dear friend, Glenn Lundy.

Welcome to humans and Buildings.

What's up, man?

I appreciate you.

Thanks for having me.

I heard I'm one of your first, if not your first.

You know what they say, Adam, you always remember your first buddy.

Always remember your.

Hey, you know, they always say this.

Two's not a winner.

And three, What?

Say it again.

Right.

Two's not a winner.

And three, nobody remembers.

I think Nelly said that's right.

So before we get into this, there's a lot I want to talk to you about.

You got a story.

It's one of those things right now.

A lot of people see you where you are today, and they just look at a guy that, you know from the surface level, successful, successful companies, beautiful family, all the things, all the travel.

But it wasn't always like that.

Right?

So tell us a little bit about your past, your upbringing.

Where are you from?

You know, what led you to Lexington, Kentucky, of all places?

Just tell us who.

Glenn Lundy.

Yeah, man, I'm just a guy that, you know, I've been lucky enough to live a few lifetimes in this lifetime is the way that I like to put it.

And, you know, there's been seasons of my life, early on where I was making poor choices, bad decisions, hanging around with the wrong people, those types of things.

And ultimately, that led me to a season of homelessness.

It led me to a season of depression.

Things like that.

Hit that rock bottom moment, as they say, right?

Rock bottom moment.

No money, homeless on the streets, and not thinking this life was going to be worth living anymore.

And yeah, man, it's been a blessing to have gone through some of those things, but it's not something I ever would have wished on anybody.

And luckily for me, God pulled me out of those deep, deep, deep dark pits.

And now I have the opportunity to live each and every single day, continuing to try and grow and live life at 800%.

My man.

Hey, man, we'll talk about 800%.

Because 800% was built upon something that you did within the automotive industry.

And, you know, I'm a former.

I'm a recovering car salesman, recovering f. And I manager.

The business changed my life.

You know, you talk about rock bottom, you know, and being homeless, and how did you find the car business?

What'd that look like?

Yeah.

So I grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona.

And when I went off to college originally, I met a.

A beautiful young lady named Isabel.

And her.

And I knocked it off.

I shook her hand, and she got pregnant.

It was the craziest thing ever, Adam.

It's happened to me nine times, dude.

It's so weird.

And she got pregnant.

And when I found out I was having a kid, I was like, oh, I probably need to get a job so that I can support this kid.

And so I dropped out of college, and I got a job at a call center called Sterner and Klein.

And I would call people that canceled their AOL accounts, and I would sell them aol.

I'd give them six months of free aol and then try to sell them an AOL account.

That's how old I am.

And so that's where I got my start in sales was over in that particular area.

Year and a half later, I'm sitting there in the break room one day.

I see an ad in the newspaper.

It says, make $5,000 a month guaranteed.

And then it just had a phone number.

And I'm like, I want to make five grand a month guaranteed.

And so I called the phone number.

There was a guy on the other end.

He said, can you come in for an interview?

I said, sure.

I didn't even know what it was, man.

I didn't know what the business was.

I just wanted to make 5,000amonth guaranteed.

And so we set up an interview.

He gave me the address.

I pulled into the parking lot.

It happened to be a Nissan Subaru dealership.

I interviewed.

I had no idea I was ever going to get into sales or car sales.

And so I interviewed with the guy, and he said, all right, man, we want to bring you on.

When can you start?

And I said, well, I said, adam, I'm talking to you.

But I said, I can be there in two weeks.

I got to give my other job two weeks.

And he looked at me and he said, well, I'm sorry.

We were looking for people who could start tomorrow.

And I said, well, I guess I'll start tomorrow.

And that was my introduction to the car business.

Started off as a salesperson.

They threw me in a room, had me watch a bunch of Grant Cardone VHS tapes, which I am so grateful for.

Best thing anybody could have done for me was have me watch those videos.

And so I watched those Grant Cardone videos and started slinging rides.

Man, I love it.

I love it.

So what I'm going to do is I want to come back to talk automotive and then talk a little bit of 800%, but I want to, you know, kind of set the framework.

I'm going to kind of put you on the spot here, if you're okay with that, Glenn, I think you'll be fine with this.

So I'm going to give you a couple of statements and I want you to respond with a short sentence.

Okay?

So the first one is I. I hit the wall when

there's different seasons.

So it just depends.

I hit the wall when an ex employee of mine tried to sue us for 30% of our company.

First thing I changed was the way

I start my day.

We're going to break that down because I have a feeling that we're going to go into a segment on it.

So the way you start your day, somebody once told me the way you start your day as a direct correlation of how your day is going to go.

I don't know if that's true or not, but we're going to come back,

make a massive impact in your life.

Now, I don't do anything to piss my wife off.

Such a good answer.

Hopefully Leslie sees this and then I

always spend invest time in gratitude.

Okay, now before we move in to get to some of the deep, real stuff, because the whole motivation behind the show is to find one person.

If we, if somebody can hear something that you say that motivates them to just do a little more or take that chance or take that risk or get unstuck or make a decision.

Some of us struggle just making a decision.

We did our job today, Glenn.

So what would you tell somebody in life right now that's going to listen to this, hear this, watch this?

That stuck.

What would you tell them?

I would tell them that you are the catalyst for all things good and bad in your life.

And no matter what the world outside has tried to convince you, you are powerful beyond measure.

Point your eyes, your heart and your spirit in the direction that you want to go.

Put the blinders on and take that first step.

I love.

That's beautiful.

I love that we're going to go back before we go forward because I really do want to talk about the morning routine type stuff because I know you're.

You're a big proponent of that, you know, you had your setbacks, you were homeless, you were depressed, there was years of struggle.

When was that moment where you had, you could call it an aha or oh, yeah, when was that moment?

Where were you?

What was it like?

What were you?

Where were you?

I'd like to know.

When you knew you were destined for greatness, where you knew that you can build what you're building today.

When was that belief in self like that, that light bulb moment?

Well, it's interesting, Adam, because there's actually an article in the newspaper, the FL Daily sun, there's an article.

When I am in.

I am in fifth grade and they were doing the DARE program and me and a guy named Trinidad Martinez did a little skit where we were pretending to smoke joints at the school.

We were pretending for this whole, like, DARE program.

And they took a picture of it and the person, the news person that took the picture thought that would be a great, you know, eye catching picture.

Two kids smoking a joint.

And so after they took the picture, they interviewed me so they could have an article, obviously.

And they said, what do you want to be when you grow up?

And my answer was a millionaire.

That was the answer.

And they're like, well, no, no, like, do you want to be a firefighter?

You want to be a police officer?

Do you want to be an engineer?

Like, what do you want to be?

And I said, I don't care, man.

Whichever one will pay me a million, bro.

I want to be a millionaire.

I don't care what the job is.

I'm trying to be a millionaire.

And so I always knew at a very early age that this was the life that I ultimately had a desire to live.

Now, unfortunately, the first, the Next, from that fifth being in fifth grade, that next 20 years of my life, I pointed that desire to be a millionaire in the wrong directions.

Right?

I was corrupt in a lot of ways.

I was a liar, a cheater, a backstabber.

I would steal from people.

I broke the law, went to jail 17 different times.

In my 20s, I always knew that I was destined for great things.

I just didn't have a grasp of what the heck that really meant.

When I was younger, and it wasn't until, you know, I got into my early 30s after being homeless that I started to realize, like, wait a minute, there's.

There's a good, productive, impactful, positive, positively impactful way to be a millionaire.

And then there's an ugly, destroying, chaotic, you know, chaos way to try to be billionaire.

And I just like the.

I like the more make a positive impact way better.

I'd like to know, you know, during that mess, I mean, what else can you call it, you know, going to jail that many times and, you know, it's a mess.

Who are some of the folks that helped you out of that mess?

I'm curious.

Like, who's there for you through that?

Who were some of the mentors that you looked up to that handed you that lifeline to help?

Well, I didn't have any.

And that was really, really the problem, you know, as far as mentors, coaches, so on and so forth.

I was out on this island.

I thought I was a lone wolf, right?

I thought I was bad to the bone.

I didn't need anybody.

My mom was kind enough.

She was kind enough to kick me out.

She was kind enough to not throw money at me when I needed it.

She was like, my mom was kind enough to deal with the pain of her son being homeless.

She was kind enough to do that.

If she wouldn't have done that, dude, if she would have continued to just enable me, there's no way I'd be here where I am today.

So she wasn't necessarily a mentor or coach or anything in that sense, but it was incredibly impactful that she loved me enough to let me fall down.

She loved me enough to allow me to go through this forging of, you know, that my spirit had to go through forging in the fire, as they say.

So I would give her a lot of credit for that.

But there was a point, man, when homelessness became a deep depression.

I had suicidal thoughts, and I decided I was going to take my own life.

And so I was in La Jolla, California, and my intention was to swim out as far as I could after the beach had cleared.

And once I couldn't swim anymore, I would drown, just drown myself in the Pacific Ocean.

And I attempted to do that.

Luckily for me, God plucked me out of the ocean, taught me some very early lessons.

And then the very next day, Adam, this was crazy.

The very next day after I did that, there was a woman on the beach that was handing out Dianetics books.

L. Ron Hubbard Dianetics.

And so she hands me this Dianetics book.

And what I found out later, Adam, it's crazy.

What I found out later is that woman was there every day that I was homeless.

I had probably walked past her a million times, but because I was in such a stupid place, I wouldn't look for actually any answers or help.

I thought I could solve everything by myself.

I never saw her, but this next day, after trying, after attempting to take my own life, she shows up with this book called Dianetics.

And she says, hey, do you want to learn more about this?

And I'm like, yeah, sure.

So she throws me in her car.

She takes me to the Orange County Church of Scientology.

At the Orange County Church of Scientology, they did an IQ test on me, found out that I was pretty high.

Iq.

They gave me a job on the spot, put me on staff.

One of the members of the church took me into her home and.

And allowed me to sleep in her home.

So I went from homeless with no job, with no direction, to roof over my head with a job and this, like, crazy curiosity.

What is this Scientology thing?

And so in Scientology, they taught me a lot of things, man.

They taught me that we are spiritual beings, which I know nobody ever wants to talk about that, but they taught me that we're spiritual beings.

They taught me how to learn.

They taught me a lot of the issues and traumas that I had in my life and why I was making the decisions I was having.

And about six months into that, I started to realize that Scientology was not for me.

I learned a lot through it, and I needed to go there, but it ultimately wasn't what was going to put me on the path of being the best version of myself I could possibly be.

So from there, I started studying other religions.

Catholicism, Buddhism.

You know, I just started studying religion a little bit.

And ultimately I came across this guy named Jesus, man.

And when I started studying Jesus, the works and the life of Jesus Christ, something happened in me.

And it was through his works that I ultimately found a connection to the spiritual side of myself.

And that was the moment things really started to transform.

Once I realized we are not just mind and body, but we are mind, body, and spirit, that's when things started to shift.

Yeah, this is deep.

I love this.

I love this.

Now, are we.

Be honest with me.

Are we still getting up at 3:20 in the morning?

Is that the time?

3:15?

3.

What's the time you get up at?

3:50?

Okay, let's talk.

Why 3:50?

Let's talk about this.

Why I get up at 3:50?

Because my sleep cycles are roughly 2 hours and 10 minutes long.

So all of us as human beings, we sleep in cycles.

You go from light sleep to REM sleep to deep sleep, back to REM sleep and back to light.

And these cycles for most people are typically between two to three hours for each cycle.

And so once I learned my sleep cycle, I learned that I can sleep 2 hours and 10 minutes, 4 hours and 20 minutes, 6 hours and 30 minutes.

Like which as long as I stay on those 2 hour and 10 minute increments, then when I wake up, I wake up feeling rested because I'm waking up basically when I'm in light sleep anyway.

So I wake up, I already feel rested, I'm wide awake, I'm not groggy.

I don't drink coffee, I don't drink caffeine.

Never have.

And so I have nine kids.

I have a business that I run.

I have a daily morning show that I do at 5:30am Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

We're approaching 2,000 episodes of that show.

That way I get quality time with my wife, quality time with my kids, so on and so forth.

So I wake up at 3:50 and then I go into my morning routine.

I write my show, I build my show and keep going.

Yeah, well, let's, now I'm gonna, let's, let's time out for a minute because you share a lot online and I've spent a lot of time on your episodes.

Rise and grind.

And you know what?

No shame in it.

We're in a different time zone.

Your boy, Adam Marburger, he ain't getting up at 3.

I totally get that.

I will do 5, and I try not to.

5:36 is a wheelhouse.

But what I do know is you are kind of the king of mastering the routine.

And you've got a lot of people that you're responsible for.

You are responsible for so many individuals in the automotive industry, not just automotive, but a lot in automotive, for getting out of their own way, getting their butts up early with morning routine, with structure, with gratitude.

So walk us through before we go into deep talking about why you're doing this and why you're wanting the world to do it.

Talk about, what does yours look like.

Let's dial in your morning routine.

First daily morning routine.

So there's five simple steps, I believe, to an extraordinary life.

Five simple steps.

And I do these five simple steps every single day.

Step one is never hit the snooze button.

Very, very simple.

Never hit the snooze button.

The snooze button, as far as I'm concerned, it's the, it's, it's the devil himself.

And people always laugh.

They're like, what do you mean?

It's the devil.

I'm like, bro, the snooze.

The devil is a liar.

The snooze button is a liar, right?

The snooze button says, hey, if I lay here for eight more minutes, I'm actually like, I'm tired now, but if I lay here for eight more minutes, I'll be more rested.

Has that ever happened?

No.

No one's ever snoozed and then felt way, way, way better.

You actually feel worse because it triggers your next sleep cycle.

You woke up in light sleep.

Now you hit snooze.

Now you're gonna go through another two to three hours of grogginess.

This is why people are slamming coffee and energy drinks every single morning.

Because they're snoozing, bro, if you just wouldn't snooze, it eliminates all that.

So step one, never hit the snooze button.

Step two, don't get on your phone first thing in the morning.

There's a couple exceptions to that.

If you just want to listen to some music with no words, I think that that's good for the spirit.

But staying out of email, text messages, social media notifications on your phone, phone calls that came in overnight, all that stuff, no bueno.

You're not ready for it yet.

We got to prepare the mind, the body, and the soul for.

For what's to come.

The world's gonna throw a lot of crap at us as soon as we go into this thing, so leave it alone first thing in the morning.

So I don't grab my.

I don't get on my phone for the first hour every single day.

Step three is write down your gratitude and goals.

So every day, I write down 10 things that I'm thankful for.

I write down three goals for the day, three goals for the month, and three long term goals.

It sounds like two steps, but the reason I call it one step is I read a survey or I read a study that showed that 87% of adults know that they should write their goals, but yet only 13% of adults actually do.

And I thought, why is that?

If we know we should do it and we don't do it, there has to be a reason.

And so I started thinking about it, and I was like, well, writing your goals can actually be a very negative experience.

I wish I had a bigger house.

I wish I had more money.

I wish I was better looking.

You're basically telling yourself that who you are now is not good enough.

So what I found is if you start with gratitude, I'm grateful that I woke up with a roof over my head today.

I'm grateful that my bills are paid.

I'm grateful that my heart is beating and I have my health and I want a bigger house, I want to make more money and I want to be better looking.

Now the gratitude fuels the goals versus the goals being a negative, deprecating experience.

Fourth thing that I do is I take care of the physical.

Some sort of exercise every day.

Doesn't matter whether it's playing basketball, golfing, walking, running, lifting weights, jujitsu, doesn't matter what it is.

Right.

We just want to get our bodies in motion because an object in motion tends to stay in motion and an object at rest stays at rest.

And then step five is to send out an encouraging message.

So Adam, the first four steps were all about me.

I'm being very selfish first thing in the morning, which is great because it's the only time I'm going to have all day before everybody's going to start pulling at me.

So no snooze is for me.

No phone is for me.

Gratitude and goals is for me.

Taking care of the physical, it's for me.

But now that I've created this incredible powerful energy, now I have a responsibility to release that positive energy out into the universe.

So step five is to send out an encouraging message, whether that be a text message, a phone call, a sticky note, go breathe something into your kid's ear.

Doesn't matter.

Just release that positive energy out into the universe.

It's crazy because when I studied all these different religions, I found that every religious text has some form of that talks about what you put out comes back.

The Bible says what you put out comes back tenfold.

In the Buddhist religion, they call it karma.

What we put out is ultimately what comes back.

So when you release positive energy out into the universe, not only does it make a positive impact wherever it lands, but ultimately it comes back to you as well.

So that's what it looks like for me.

Every day.

I wake up 3:50, I go grab a big glass of water, I put my headphones on, I put music with no words.

I sit down, I write my gratitude, I write my goals, I stay off my phone.

Then for me, I end up writing my show.

I write my show, then I come to the studio, I go live at 5:30 right after my show, I go hit the gym, and then I'm ready to take on the day.

You know, the blueprint.

It seems somewhat somebody easy.

Like I'm not.

Like that's not too Complex.

Right.

Some of it is common sense.

Some of it is not all.

Some of it's common sense.

Not everybody likes to work out, but we all know we should.

You know, the things that changed my life the most, the gratitude, that definitely helps.

But you taught me this years ago.

You actually, I'm going to give you.

Give you this.

You taught me this a couple years ago.

I said something about these text messages, and I always have this.

I got to clear these text messages out.

I got to call people back immediately.

And you said, adam, outside of an important client that's part of your livelihood to feed your family.

You said, just because an individual decided to call you or text you doesn't mean you have to stop what you're doing and immediately text them back.

If you live like that, you will be miserable.

And ever since I stopped doing that, my anxiety levels have gone down.

And then the morning, not checking your Facebook and Instagram and the notifications, that's a game changer.

For those out there listening to this and get to hear this or watch this, that advice will change your life.

Your anxiety levels drop so much when you're not constantly chasing and serving everybody else's.

Because our cup must be filled before we what?

To fill other people's cups.

Right?

I love that, Glenn.

I love the fact that you've been able.

Because we're a part of an industry that needs to hear this stuff, right?

We're a part of an industry.

We've changed as an industry.

We've changed dealers.

We're doing things the right way.

We got a lot of work to still do, but we've done a lot of work.

You know, the days of guys showing up hungover, 10 minutes late, the idea of never training and developing their staff.

Right now, we're getting to work early.

We're coaching, we're loving, we're mentoring.

You got dealers that are taking their crew to the gym in the morning.

There's Bible studies in dealerships.

Now there's all these things.

So now let's go in, let's switch gears.

Let's talk about you and your business for a minute.

You built a nice, beautiful business.

You and I have similar stories where we were in retail for a very, very, very, very long time, and we decided to exit retail about the same amount of time.

I'll never forget taking a picture of my daughter's soccer game selfie.

And then you sent one right back.

You were watching soccer Saturday, and we're at the soccer field.

What?

Right.

But it wasn't that easy, though.

So a lot of us will look and say, oh, Adam and Glenn, they're traveling.

They're doing all this cool stuff.

They're at the conferences.

They didn't see our bank accounts, and they didn't see what we had to go through.

Right?

So everybody might saw that Glenn Lundy's on top.

But let's talk about what the first 24 months at 800% look like.

Tell me a little bit about a.

Why did you decide to build this behemoth of a company that you have now?

Talk to me a little bit about the beginning.

What were some of the challenges and setbacks that you're not afraid to talk about?

I'd love to hear that.

When I first left retail, it wasn't.

I did not plan on building 800%.

I had no plan.

When I first left retail, God called me to something higher.

And I made a decision to quit my job.

My wife was nine and a half months pregnant.

I was at the top of my game.

I was at the second largest used car volume franchise dealership in the United States of America.

I was killing it.

I was the face of the dealership.

We had grown 800%.

I was making a million bucks a year.

Like, there was no.

I had no desire to.

To.

To.

To leave.

But then God called me on a different path.

And I've learned, like, you know, I lived like Jonah before trying to run away from God's calling.

Ended up in the belly of the whale.

So I don't do that anymore.

And so I left.

And I had no plan, man.

But what I ended up doing is I just was like, okay, well, I'm just gonna go put myself in rooms with other, like, dealers and stuff, and we'll just kind of figure out what happens.

So I started traveling all over the United States doing in stores, and I.

People pay me $10,000 come in for the day.

I'd do an in store, and, you know, I'd fly in Tuesday night so I could be there for the meeting Wednesday morning, and then be all day at the store.

And then the dealer, you know, at the end of the night, the dealer would feel like he needs to take me to dinner.

And so he'd be call.

Calling his wife, honey, I'm not coming home tonight.

This guy Glenn's here.

I gotta take him dinner, and kids are in the background, but, daddy, please come home.

You know, and then he's.

I can't.

I gotta go to dinner.

And then he feels like he's gotta take me to dinner, and then we go to dinner, and the next day I travel back, and so on and so forth.

And then I send him a list and I'm like, here's the 20 things that we need to do.

And they're like, oh, this is amazing.

This is so cool.

This is incredible.

And then I follow up two weeks later.

I'm like, how things going?

They're like, glenn, this is amazing.

It's incredible.

And then I follow up two weeks later, I'm like, how things going?

They're like, oh, things are good, right?

And then I follow up two weeks after that, and I'm like, how are things going?

And they're like, yeah, we're not doing any of that anymore, right?

And so here I was, taking three days to do an in store, and I'm showing these guys where their growth and opportunity is.

And six weeks later, it was all a waste of time, effort and energy on both our parts.

So after doing that for like a

year,

which you're super fuzzy, so I don't know if you're still there.

Oh, no, I'm here.

I've got you.

I hear you.

Robin, this will be edited out too.

Can you hear me, Glenn?

You're like, zapped out.

Hold on a second.

Hold on a second here.

Okay, now you're starting to come back.

All right, all right, I think we're good.

I think we're continue.

Sorry about that, buddy.

Were you able to hear all that?

I can hear it, yeah.

Okay, so.

So after a year of that, I was like, dude, this is stupid.

Like, this is dumb.

And this is what everybody around me was doing.

Just so you know, this is what the Lisa Copeland's of the world had been doing.

The Shaka Dyson of the world have been doing.

Like, everybody I knew, this is what they were doing, man.

Just Road Warrior and going in stores, Road Warrior going in storage, Road Warrior going in stores.

And I just looked at it and I'm like, dude, this doesn't work.

It doesn't work because there's no accountability long term.

You can't change anything in 30 days, bro.

It takes 67 days before something becomes easier to do than not do.

So it was just a big waste of time.

And so I sat there thinking about it and I'm like, all right, what do they need?

They need accountability.

What do they need?

They need the strategies.

What do they need?

They need a community.

They need a community of other dealers that they can work with.

And they don't need a 20 group every three months because that's not going to cut it they need to be able to connect with other dealers all the time.

What do they need?

They need, you know, the proper training and the property ideas on how to scale and grow.

And so once I was like, okay, this is what they need.

Then I was like, well, how can we do this more efficiently?

Well, why don't we use the technology that exists today?

How about we use a Zoom and we just get everybody in a zoom?

Because then they have community.

I teach them the things they need to know so they get the strategies.

I hold them accountable to execution.

Because we're meeting every single week.

And I'm going to embarrass you if you don't do what, what it is you said you were going to do.

We're going to be together more than a month or two months or three months.

We're actually going to be together for a very long period of time, so we can actually make some shit happen.

And you don't even have to tell your wife that you're not coming home because you're taking me to dinner, because we're just going to be on a Zoom call for an hour.

Right?

There you go.

And so I actually, once I was onto that, I'm like, all right, cool.

So I did a two day workshop.

I just invited a bunch of dealers to come out here and I poured into them for a day and a half.

And halfway through the second day, I was like, here's what I'm doing.

It's going to be a membership.

We'll jump on live Zoom calls every single week.

You're going to pay me a monthly subscription fee.

We'll call it good or $10,000 a visit.

And I had 15 dealers in the room and 12 of them signed up right there that day as soon as I launched it.

And so I went from having no revenue, no income, no idea what the heck I was doing, to, you know, all of a sudden I had $30,000 a month in income coming in.

And I called my wife after, I said, well, that worked, you know, and then, and then from there I just kind of had to figure it out.

So fast forward now it's live Zoom calls, one on one coaching calls.

I got a team of 12 people.

Like, how do we simplify this process and actually make sure we're getting a result versus everybody wasting each other's time and freaking, you know, jerking each other off, and nobody's getting anything in the end.

So that.

That was the journey, man.

Yeah.

I mean, your product's fantastic.

I've seen it firsthand.

I've been a part of the retreats.

We run in the same circles.

I mean, you guys are.

But what I really.

What impresses me the most is what you've built.

You built a great.

Thank you for having to, Sam.

I mean, everybody in your office like you.

You have a team.

So what would you say to the individual out there?

That might be a two or three man operation, but they have a vision of scale.

What would you tell them about the importance of human capital?

How important people, really?

Yeah.

You know, they always say what comes first, the chicken or the eg.

And it kind of creates this, like, conundrum.

And I think a lot of solopreneurs is what I'll call those, right?

Somebody that's just.

Just themselves or maybe, you know, one or two people.

I think a lot of solopreneurs kind of get stuck in that quagmire.

It's like, well, I need revenue to be able to bring somebody in, and at the same time, I need to bring somebody in in order to get more revenue, right?

So you kind of get caught in a little bit of a conundrum.

And I was.

I was like that at first.

You know, it was just me for the longest time.

And then it was like, okay, I gotta get somebody else in here.

And I tried kind of scaling that way, and it worked somewhat.

But what's interesting is you can't generate the next level that you need without scaling your human capital.

Like, you just can't.

If you could, you would have already, right?

Like, if you could do it without help, then you would have already done it.

And that's.

That, that.

That's what I would say to that person is like, if you've been doing the same amount of revenue for X amount of months, years, whatever that is, like, it's okay to look in the mirror and say, I'm never going to be able to do this by myself.

It's.

It's okay.

And so once I kind of broke out of that and I just realized, like, it's not a chicken or an egg situation as much as we make it that in our mind, the reality is, like, you ain't Getting no eggs if you ain't got no chickens, brother.

And so you've got to go get the bodies that are going to be able to contribute in order for you to get more eggs.

And so we went from like, just me to me, plus one to me, plus two to me, plus three to me, plus 10.

Like, once I realized it, I'm like, oh, shit, we, you know, we got to plug some people in here.

And it's amazing how this thing called life works, man.

Whenever you create space, we fill it, right?

Then you get a 3,000 square foot house and you're like, oh, we have so much space.

And six months later, full, right?

And then you get a 6,000 square foot house and you're like, oh, we have so much space.

And then three months later it's full, right?

Just naturally it gets full.

And so when you expand your, your team, all of a sudden, dude, deals and opportunities and partnerships and relationships, like, the space just gets filled to where you're busting at the seams again, you know, before you know it.

Yeah, no, you're 100% right too.

To piggyback off that too.

For, for the whole point of making an impact to somebody out there that really needs it is it's crazy to think that you or me are good enough to do everything in our company to get at this scale.

And the answer, some people really think that's the case.

I really thought, full disclosure, I thought I was good enough.

I thought that Adam Marburger could take Ascent dealer services, build it, scale it, sell it, no problem.

The answer is that it's so far from the truth.

I had to bring in individuals that had different and better skill sets than me.

And I had to make a decision to put them in place and give them autonomy and me get out of the way and let them do them.

And by doing that, we grew our company.

I know that's the same thing you're doing at your company too, Glenn.

You know, here I gotta.

I'm gonna ask you one final question.

We'll land the plane because I know we're getting short on time here and we can talk.

You and I could probably talk for another five hours.

Oh, yeah, no doubt.

I want to know right now if you could pick one entrepreneur that's alive today to come sit with you at 800% club.

We'll just say next Wednesday, all day, bell to bell, and you get to go have dinner with this individual to pick their brains some more.

Who is that individual and why did you choose them?

I don't know, Adam.

I have been very blessed in my life to have incredible friends, incredible mentors, incredible coaches.

Now, wasn't the case, you know, 20 years ago, but I have that now.

And so many of them have made a big impact in my life.

You know, Grant Cardone is a very dear friend of mine and I've had lots of opportunities.

You know, I flew with him from Miami to LA on his plane, just me, him and his daughter.

It's pretty amazing.

Danelle Delgado has become such a good friend of mine and she's so incredibly impactful every time we have a conversation.

You know, Dave Meltzer has made a big, big, big impact in my life in so many ways.

Les Brown, him and I got to be real good friends.

Eric Thomas, same thing.

And, and so when you ask that question, it's kind of like I'm still learning from all of them, I think, to where I get the question, you know, like, who's that person that we would love the opportunity?

But I'm already getting those opportunities.

Like the people I want to sit with, I'm already sitting with, I guess, is what I'm trying to say.

You know what I'm saying?

Like, I'm already sitting with them and I've already built relationships with them and it's incredibly impactful.

And until the, the, until the student outdoes the sensei, I don't want to convolute it by adding anybody else up in there because you can get, you can get crazy listening.

Too many voices.

You sure can.

You gotta figure out which voices work for you and then you've gotta squeeze every frickin ounce of juice out of that lemon that you can get.

And so I guess if I had to answer, I'd say let's put, let's put Grant, Dinelle, Dave, Eric and Les all at the table at the same time.

And that'd be a hell of a day right there.

That would be a high ticket table right there.

So let's, let's do this.

How do for those that don't know you and you know we're gonna, this, this podcast, hopefully, goodness gracious, God knows where it's gonna go ahead.

But how do people find you that don't know you?

What's the best way to communicate with you, connect with you?

How do people find.

Yeah, you can go to 800 life, man, go to 800% life and you can connect all the ways the morning routine, you and I talked about.

You can download a free ebook on that.

We have an app that you can use for the morning routine.

It's free that you can connect with that.

I've got books and social media channels and all the things, but it's all housed right there.

800% life.

Come connect in whichever way works best for you.

Love it.

Well, Glenn, as always, awesome seeing you.

I know I'm going to see you in beautiful Las Vegas in a few weeks.

You and I got plenty of work to do.

I appreciate you spending some time with us, pouring into this community.

And thank you all for tuning in to humans that build.

And we'll be back sooner than later with another episode with another superhuman ready to pour in.

You all have a blessed day.

Humans that build.

Real people, real work.

See you next time.

It.