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One of the things I do is I have
a three month program where I work
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with people on a couple hours a
week, and we go through the building
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blocks that I just talked about.
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I've got real simple
forms, real simple charts.
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I even have an online course
that people can sign up for to
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kind of go through that process.
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But for me, find people to do
things really well and shamelessly
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copy the hell out of them.
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I want you to copy what I did.
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I want you to copy everything
that I did so you don't have
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to necessarily go through the
challenges that I went through.
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Think of it as like cheat
codes in a video game.
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What are the business cheat
codes that are out there?
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You are listening to Brainwork Framework,
a Business and Marketing podcast,
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brought to you by Focused-biz.com.
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Welcome back to another episode.
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With us today is Zachary
Green, the founder and managing
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partner of Warrior Enterprises.
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Warrior Enterprises is a leadership
development company that transforms
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historic battlefield lessons into
real world leadership strategies for
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business, military and first responders.
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Zach, so excited to have you on today.
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How you doing?
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Chris, thank you.
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It's a real honor to be on the show.
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I'm a big fan of yours and just
excited to have a chance to spend
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some time with you and your listeners.
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Hey, thank you so much.
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We appreciate it.
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You have quite a inspiring
and incredible journey.
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Tell us more about your background,
your journey, what you're doing
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and how that kind of led you
into what you're doing today.
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Sure.
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So I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.
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No one in my family had
been in the military.
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Matter of fact, my family were
pretty liberal and anti-gun.
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I wasn't even allowed to
have squirt guns growing up.
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And everyone in my family were
either lawyers or musicians.
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And at a very early age, I
wanted to join the Marine Corps.
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I had pretty significant ADHD growing up.
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Went to about seven different schools.
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It's funny 'cause it's called multitasking
when you get out of school and all of
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a sudden it's this great thing that
every entrepreneur needs but when
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you're trying to sit at the desk, it's
called ADHD and they try to medicate
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you and do all this other stuff.
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What I ended up joining the
Marines right out of high school,
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was still in college at the time.
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Did kind of the summertime thing.
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Went through both enlisted and the
officer program and then just as I was
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getting out, I'm like, you know what?
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I've had enough of this.
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I want to go pursue this civilian world.
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And I finished up as a corporal.
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Two years later, September 11th happened
and I felt really guilty that I'd gotten
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out because a lot of my brothers didn't
come back and I had a full-time job.
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Then at Eli Lilly, I was in brand
development and marketing and one
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of my favorite assignments was doing
leadership development training.
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I became a volunteer firefighter
because I felt that was the new
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forward line of the battle and our
homeland needed to be protected just
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like some far off distant lands.
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And I got lost in a fire.
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It was a really scary situation right
when I first started and I wanted
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to figure out how can I not have
other firefighters go through this?
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And Eli Lilly specifically
around corporate branding.
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We never sell features and our
medicines, we talk about the problem,
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diabetes, mental health, whatever.
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And then we talk about the
solution around that brand.
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The problem I had wasn't that
I just got lost in a fire.
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I got disoriented.
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I couldn't see my way
around 'cause it was dark.
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And I remembered as a grunt in
the Marines, the infantryman.
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We had these glow in the dark taps on
the back of our helmet and I thought,
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what if I could apply those same
technology to firefighter technology?
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Started working on a couple different
products and developed some prototypes.
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Started selling it outta
the trunk of my car.
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Made 5,000 bucks in six months and
my fire chief sat me down and says,
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look, you've got something that's
going to change the fire service.
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Stopped treating it as a hobby and I
remembered a quote from Teddy Roosevelt.
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He said, you're faced with
a monumental decision.
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The best thing to do is the right thing.
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The next best thing to do is
the wrong thing but the worst
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thing to do is to do nothing.
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So quit my job at Lilly, maxed out my
credit cards, went to this trade show.
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In three days I booked a hundred
thousand dollars in sales.
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The problem is I had no money left.
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I had no manufacturing.
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I had no way to fill these orders.
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But I'm a Marine and we
always accomplish our mission.
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And I remember telling everybody that
told me, Hey, you gotta start returning
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orders and you gotta close up shop.
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And I'm like.
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No.
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This is how I work.
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I always accomplish the mission.
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And over the next 10 years, it was
brutal but I grew it into about a $30
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million company and it was through
those things that I learned in the
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Marine Corps and those warrior traits
really helped me during those dark
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times and then helped me really to
grow it into to where it is today.
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That is quite the journey,
quite the experience.
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You are just a testament of
what the American dream, the
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entrepreneurship is all about.
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Creating an idea, something that
solves a problem here and kind
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of the direction that it went to.
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You demonstrated product validation first
before even saying, I'm gonna build this
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huge product and create manufacturing.
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Let me just see if I
can sell the idea yet.
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And you did.
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And now the second issue became
fulfillment but so grateful that you
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actually saw it through 'cause that's
where a lot of entrepreneurs can
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fall apart is the fulfillment piece.
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They hit that obstacle and they
struggle to follow through.
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And I see a lot of veterans that are
also getting into business is that
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the military teaches so many veterans
about how to be better leaders.
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And that's a natural progression or
do you think leaders kind of naturally
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gravitate towards the military?
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I think it's a little bit of both.
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You used to think I was made a
Marine when I got down there.
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I think we all kind of had a little bit
of that warrior ethos in us before we got
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down there but the job of our military is
not just to make great warriors to great
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defenders, it's to make great Americans.
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And I think at the heart of what
America is, it's the right to pursue
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the pursuit of happiness, the freedom
to be able not because of the color
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of your skin or your parents' name.
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You can do anything if
you put your mind to it.
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You look at all the great success stories.
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They usually start off in really
bad situations and they use
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that challenge and that turmoil.
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The iron sharpens iron to grow.
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I think the easiest way to answer
your question on why you see a lot of
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veterans, it's one word and there's
one word that is the difference
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between successful entrepreneurs
and not successful entrepreneurs.
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It's grit.
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You just have to accept that no
matter what problem is out there,
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there's a solution to the problem.
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The challenge is most people aren't
willing to do what that solution is.
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In my case, that was putting my
house on as collateral for a loan.
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In that case, it was not just firing
one of my best friends but suing one
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of my best friends because he really
messed some things up within the company.
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Those are things that most people
would never do that but they say an
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entrepreneur lives the rest of their
life, like most people never could
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because they do those things early
on, like most people never would.
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For those short times where they're going
through those crucibles and challenges.
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Yes, absolutely.
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That grit and ability to overcome
obstacles in the face of adversity
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is something that people need to have
especially as entrepreneurs and now
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you've created this lesson that focuses
on what being a warrior is and this
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brand as more of a leadership tool.
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Can you tell me more about this
program, some of the key lessons or the
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pillars that it's kind of built upon?
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So as I started doing research for
my book Warrior Entrepreneur Lessons
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from the Battlefield of the Boardroom,
I started to realize we always wanna
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chase these new leadership trends.
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It's John Maxwell, it's Tony Robbins,
it's Simon Sinek and Malcolm Gladwell.
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They're phenomenal.
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Don't get me wrong.
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But there's timeless leadership lessons
that have not changed from all the way
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back in the Spartan times of Ancient
Rome or Greece and the Bible and Civil
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War, these core leadership things.
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And I started to find these common
traits with warriors and they were
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the same common traits that I saw
from Walt Disney, from Elon Musk,
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from Mama Fuku and who invented the
ramen noodles, instant Ramen noodles.
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And it was this concept of
grit and inspiring others.
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And so what I said is, okay, there's
enough MBAs out there, there's enough
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of what I call intellectual derelicts
that have unbelievable brilliance but
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they can't communicate with people.
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It's easy for someone that's smart
to talk about complicated things.
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The difficult thing is how can
they take something complicated
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and break it down Super simple.
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So we said in the Marine Corps, Sesame
Street style or Barney style for those
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that you're old enough to remember.
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So that was one part is how can
I teach these warrior lessons?
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The second thing was a lot of my
brothers and sisters have committed
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suicide since they've been out
and it's an epidemic problem.
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They say it's 22 a day.
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It's not 22 day, it's like 40 or 50 a day.
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And there's three main
reasons why they do that.
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The first reason is they stop moving.
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There's a real connection between just
exercise and getting outdoors and moving.
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The second one, I can't
really do much about that.
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That's something that's
up to each individual.
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Second one is they lose their
tribe, they lose that brother.
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You mentioned your
brother's in the Marines.
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I'm sure if we met we would have
a connection that is so deep even
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though we'd never met each other
'cause we have that shared heritage.
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So you miss the tribe.
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The people you can talk to,
you can cry with, you can
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drink with, you can party with.
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They understand your bad jokes and
that stuff but the third one, that
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really gets that veteran to make
that horrible ultimate decision.
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Is they lose their sense of purpose.
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And so what I'm doing through
Warrior Enterprises is taking those
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veterans and giving them a chance
to show that they're not just great
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veterans but they're great Americans.
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And doing that by teaching our next
generation of leaders how to lead using
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those long-term, really battle tested
leadership tools have been forged in
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fire and forged in the crucible of
death and destruction and civilization
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and then apply that to business.
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So here I'm helping my brother
and sister veterans out.
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I'm giving them purpose.
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I'm giving them a tribe.
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And then the other thing is I'm helping
our next generation of leaders by
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teaching them how to be great leaders.
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That is absolutely fantastic.
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When you consider just overall to today's
age where mental health is become an
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issue not only for veterans but I think
just generally post covid or technology
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is kind of shifting the way that we have
our typical family or friend structure
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or a typical place of gathering.
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What kind of changes are you seeing
happening and are there ways we
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can kind of bring it back to some
of the traditional ways that bring
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us together, the culture, the
self-worth that sense of belonging.
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I think it really revolves
around Simon Sinek.
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He talks about the golden circle.
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Most businesses focus on the what
and the how but the companies that
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focus on the why, they're the ones
that really make a difference.
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So that's the first thing I say is that
why the second one is there's a new way
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that we communicate with each other.
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My son, I tell 'em to go outside
and play with your friends.
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Well, there's no friends
to play with outside.
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All right?
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He gets on his virtual reality
and he has these unbelievable
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meaningful relationships.
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He's had two girlfriends that
they never met and we were talking
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to somebody making fun of you.
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They said, no.
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That is just as real of a
relationship as what you had
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when you were driving on a date.
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My son doesn't drive a car because
none of his friends drive cars
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'cause they got VR headsets.
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So where does this come together?
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What we were trying to do is focusing
on this experiential learning where
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we take people to Gettysburg, to
Normandy to teach 'em those timeless
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lessons and what we found out is,
yes, nothing beats going there.
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But my son said, what if
we put VR glasses on 'em?
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So we don't take 'em to Normandy
but we go to their office?
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Because the challenge we were having is
scalability and the ability to really
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make it repeatable that's not scalable and
repeatable to take 15 people to Normandy
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every three days but by using what my
son has shown us with the virtual reality
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and I can take you to the battlefield
but the cool thing is I can give you
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a connection to General Mc Arthur.
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You could never get on the beach.
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I can go up 5,000 feet in the air and see
the whole entire Nazi defenses along the
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coast and where the different entrances
and exits where they came in the beach.
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And then through the power of
AI, we've developed our own large
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language model that's looking at all
these different leadership traits.
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We can start to capture the experience
that you're having in VR and give it back
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to you and give you different analysis
and show how you compare to other people.
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So now we're communicate you
in this multi-sensory domain,
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experiential learning that's involving
storytelling, virtual reality, AI,
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extended reality, iPad discussions.
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And at the end, we tied in with the
most absolute best form of learning
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and that is the three magic words.
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Tell me a story.
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Once upon a time I was in Eli Lilly and
we were behind budget on this thing and I
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had to do this and this is what happened.
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People will remember that story but
if I teach them five PowerPoint slides
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that have four points in each of those
PowerPoint slides about what I just, they
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won't remember it but they'll remember the
story and they'll remember that lesson.
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And that's what we're
trying to do is connect.
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History with modern day experiences
through storytelling and
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technology to get people to learn
faster and to reduce skill fade.
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Wow that is so cool.
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Just to think about that intersect between
the human connection, communication,
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the feedback that we can get from
technology and AI and using virtual
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reality to now create this new I guess
I could call it a fourth dimension,
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where you're getting real time
feedback about your leadership skills.
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So I feel like people could go on
throughout their regular workday and get
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live feedback on how their leadership
skills are performing and just how
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they're interacting with in general.
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That's so fascinating.
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Are there any other ways that you plan
on using AI and technology or just
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some cool ways that you've seen it
incorporated into a lot of businesses?
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So what we look at is, rather than
any one methodology of learning,
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powerPoint is fine but if you just
do PowerPoint, it's not really great.
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But when you can layer these on
top of each other, you start to
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get this multiplicative effect.
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It's not one plus one
plus one equals three.
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It's one plus one plus one equals 30.
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And by layering a VR with the
AI and the background, it starts
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with this intake assessment.
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We're trying to figure out, okay,
we've identified seven key timeless
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leadership traits that have never
changed since the beginning of time.
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Through that intake survey, we're
trying to figure out which one of
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those are the strings we're gonna pull.
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Then we build out those scenarios and
virtual reality, which we have literally
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only limited by your imagination and
then we go through these processes
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from VR then we go into the iPads where
you're filling out case studies and
287
00:14:04,396 --> 00:14:08,716
asking questions and then flows into
storytelling and then ultimately ends
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up with an analysis that you get because
we're capturing those data points.
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00:14:13,036 --> 00:14:16,096
The other part of this is
my instructors are veterans.
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00:14:16,146 --> 00:14:20,316
So you've got a Command sergeant major
that was in charge of 20,000 troops
291
00:14:20,316 --> 00:14:23,916
and a billion dollars of equipment
and he's an assistant manager in a
292
00:14:23,916 --> 00:14:27,516
warehouse now and he doesn't feel
good because his three guys at work
293
00:14:27,516 --> 00:14:28,956
for him won't pay attention to him.
294
00:14:28,956 --> 00:14:33,326
And he was used to leading literally
Warriors into the field of battle.
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00:14:33,866 --> 00:14:38,396
He's lost his sense of purpose, if I can
give him back to work with Chris and his
296
00:14:38,396 --> 00:14:43,256
team and give him that chance to again be
that great American, pass that leadership
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00:14:43,256 --> 00:14:47,486
on from the time he takes his uniform
off to puts on his civilian clothes.
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And then we can continue that
growth process and that learning and
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mentorship and the people that are
your mentees today will eventually
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become the mentors tomorrow.
301
00:14:57,386 --> 00:14:58,526
Yes, absolutely.
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00:14:58,676 --> 00:15:02,216
That sort of impact from one
leader and mentor to another.
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00:15:02,276 --> 00:15:05,636
Those can be the next leaders, the leaders
of tomorrow, which is really exciting.
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00:15:05,916 --> 00:15:09,546
With all your past experience here,
what is the best way that either the
305
00:15:09,546 --> 00:15:11,496
everyday person can support a veteran?
306
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How can we help them?
307
00:15:12,306 --> 00:15:13,386
You're doing a lot of great work.
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00:15:13,386 --> 00:15:16,356
I feel like there's a lot of
nonprofits, organizations that also
309
00:15:16,356 --> 00:15:17,946
do the work but more could be done.
310
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What can the everyday person do for them?
311
00:15:20,196 --> 00:15:24,636
So one of my pet peeves and I hope this
doesn't come across the wrong way and I
312
00:15:24,636 --> 00:15:27,486
don't mean to offend anybody whatsoever
but when you say thank you for your
313
00:15:27,486 --> 00:15:31,626
service, for me, I feel like it's like
when you say bless you, when someone
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00:15:31,626 --> 00:15:34,776
sneezes, are you really thanking you
or are you just kind of repeating this?
315
00:15:35,076 --> 00:15:38,856
I also feel like it's in some ways
condolence, like, oh, I feel bad that you
316
00:15:38,856 --> 00:15:40,836
serve, so thank you for the sacrifice.
317
00:15:41,286 --> 00:15:45,606
We don't want to feel like we're broken
toys and the reality is that the FBI
318
00:15:45,606 --> 00:15:50,721
put veterans on the watch list as
potential dangers to society because
319
00:15:50,721 --> 00:15:55,641
of mental health issues or PTSD if you
wanna thank a veteran for their service.
320
00:15:55,956 --> 00:15:59,406
Let them continue to serve and
through whatever that is through
321
00:15:59,406 --> 00:16:01,806
being in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
322
00:16:01,806 --> 00:16:04,566
If it's through leadership
programs, hire them.
323
00:16:04,956 --> 00:16:07,086
That is the best way you
can think a veteran is.
324
00:16:07,086 --> 00:16:11,226
Let them show you because I will take
a a 22-year-old kid that grew up in the
325
00:16:11,226 --> 00:16:16,536
inner city that barely made it outta high
school but he literally was able to solve
326
00:16:16,536 --> 00:16:20,796
problems like you wouldn't imagine in the
infantry or in logistics or whatever else.
327
00:16:21,066 --> 00:16:25,401
And no matter what, he's never gonna quit
versus this kid that got his MBA from a
328
00:16:25,401 --> 00:16:29,091
Ivy League school whose parents complained
to the coach because they weren't
329
00:16:29,091 --> 00:16:33,771
getting soccer time in seventh grade,
who in 10th grade they got offended.
330
00:16:34,101 --> 00:16:37,341
So the principal brought everyone together
and says, oh, you can't use those.
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00:16:37,401 --> 00:16:38,661
Those are trigger words.
332
00:16:38,871 --> 00:16:41,901
Then they get to college and as
soon as they get somebody with a
333
00:16:41,901 --> 00:16:45,171
counterpoint of view to what they
have, they have to go to a safe space.
334
00:16:45,351 --> 00:16:48,021
And then they finally get out
in the real world and they fall.
335
00:16:48,126 --> 00:16:50,346
They get crushed like
a little paper tiger.
336
00:16:51,051 --> 00:16:53,181
That is who we think is the good leaders.
337
00:16:53,181 --> 00:16:53,781
They're not.
338
00:16:53,811 --> 00:16:55,521
What handed to you every now and then.
339
00:16:55,941 --> 00:16:57,381
Iron sharpens iron.
340
00:16:57,381 --> 00:17:00,831
The only way you get your muscle
strong is by ripping them apart through
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eight training and then they grow.
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00:17:02,661 --> 00:17:06,261
And if you want to think a veteran, give
them the opportunity to continue to serve.
343
00:17:07,596 --> 00:17:08,466
That is very well said.
344
00:17:08,466 --> 00:17:11,706
And it's something that it's almost
a compulsory reactionary to bless
345
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you, to thank you for your service.
346
00:17:13,096 --> 00:17:14,206
What else could we say?
347
00:17:14,206 --> 00:17:15,636
Or unsure of how to respond.
348
00:17:15,636 --> 00:17:19,026
So that's kind of the standard
template that people go to but it was
349
00:17:19,026 --> 00:17:22,111
more about practical ways to really
connect and reach with veterans
350
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and how to give them that purpose.
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00:17:23,626 --> 00:17:27,436
I feel like many other people with things
changing, have lost that sense of purpose
352
00:17:27,436 --> 00:17:33,146
and self-worth and that human connection
and maybe by trying to protect people,
353
00:17:33,146 --> 00:17:38,846
we've comforted them too much and the real
life experiences really shape you as an
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00:17:38,846 --> 00:17:44,246
individual and teach you a lesson that
just being told something won't change.
355
00:17:44,496 --> 00:17:47,876
So something to keep in mind as we
kind of reshape the leaders of tomorrow
356
00:17:47,876 --> 00:17:49,121
and what we want our people to be.
357
00:17:49,976 --> 00:17:54,636
Well, I'm sure I'm gonna mess this quote
up but it's something like weak men create
358
00:17:54,636 --> 00:17:57,186
hard times, hard times, create strong men.
359
00:17:57,426 --> 00:18:01,356
Strong men create weak times and
then weak times create weak men.
360
00:18:01,386 --> 00:18:05,616
I'm sure I messed that up but somehow
that circle comes through is eventually
361
00:18:05,616 --> 00:18:08,706
you're getting to the point where as
the helicopter parent, you're so worried
362
00:18:08,706 --> 00:18:10,416
that our kid's gonna have a problem.
363
00:18:10,716 --> 00:18:13,836
We've never given him a chance to
really grow and to do that next thing.
364
00:18:14,541 --> 00:18:15,411
Yes, absolutely.
365
00:18:15,411 --> 00:18:17,961
And I think it'll be something that
will be studied for years to come.
366
00:18:18,151 --> 00:18:21,721
But I think that quote, as you described
it, whether it's the correct process, yes.
367
00:18:21,721 --> 00:18:25,211
It's kind of this circular system
that creates this effect here.
368
00:18:25,431 --> 00:18:28,571
Zach, for those who are interested in
learning more about you and your journey,
369
00:18:28,571 --> 00:18:30,071
where can people connect with you online?
370
00:18:30,431 --> 00:18:32,171
Yes, the best way is my website.
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00:18:32,171 --> 00:18:32,981
It's real simple.
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00:18:32,981 --> 00:18:35,771
It's my name Zachary l green.com.
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00:18:35,891 --> 00:18:42,161
Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y-L as in lima
green.com and then also LinkedIn.
374
00:18:42,211 --> 00:18:43,831
I'm very active on LinkedIn.
375
00:18:43,831 --> 00:18:46,531
So those are two of the best ways
and you can get in touch with me
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00:18:46,531 --> 00:18:48,211
through my website, through LinkedIn.
377
00:18:48,491 --> 00:18:51,431
We do offer one day of these
workshops that I was telling you
378
00:18:51,431 --> 00:18:52,841
about through experiential learning.
379
00:18:52,841 --> 00:18:54,611
We do those both with corporate America.
380
00:18:54,941 --> 00:18:59,571
I'm actually right now coming to you from
Marine Corps base camp and North Carolina,
381
00:18:59,571 --> 00:19:03,171
where we're actually doing an engagement
with the military right now as we speak
382
00:19:03,171 --> 00:19:05,461
with some of these similar workshops.
383
00:19:06,436 --> 00:19:09,916
That is very exciting and we'll also
have those links available down in
384
00:19:09,916 --> 00:19:11,116
the description on the show notes.
385
00:19:11,386 --> 00:19:13,816
Now, Zach, what are you
most excited for in 2025?
386
00:19:13,816 --> 00:19:16,576
Are you kind of ramping up doing
any new campaigns or anything
387
00:19:16,576 --> 00:19:17,776
new and exciting coming out?
388
00:19:17,896 --> 00:19:20,056
I feel like you always have
something cooking or working.
389
00:19:20,906 --> 00:19:23,726
It's funny you say that, the last
couple years has been an interesting
390
00:19:23,726 --> 00:19:26,626
journey because I think I really
ended up on a pretty high note when
391
00:19:26,626 --> 00:19:28,066
I got to move down to Hilton Head.
392
00:19:28,066 --> 00:19:31,666
I got to buy the dream car that
I had a poster of when I was
393
00:19:31,786 --> 00:19:33,106
a little kid and everything.
394
00:19:33,106 --> 00:19:35,476
And then over the last two or
three years, I'm like, okay,
395
00:19:35,476 --> 00:19:36,736
I'm gonna start a new company.
396
00:19:36,736 --> 00:19:40,546
And I forgot how hard it is because
the last two years, it's not
397
00:19:40,546 --> 00:19:41,866
worked out the way that I thought.
398
00:19:41,866 --> 00:19:43,426
It's cost me a ton of money.
399
00:19:43,426 --> 00:19:45,046
I'm not bringing in
revenue but you know what?
400
00:19:45,601 --> 00:19:46,591
That's part of the journey.
401
00:19:46,591 --> 00:19:48,661
So what am I so excited
about for this year?
402
00:19:49,021 --> 00:19:52,351
It's the last two to three years
worth of work that I've done and now
403
00:19:52,351 --> 00:19:53,641
finally starting to come through.
404
00:19:53,641 --> 00:19:57,051
We're getting customers, we're
building out our team and I think
405
00:19:57,051 --> 00:20:00,291
what I'm most excited about is my
best friend since fourth grade.
406
00:20:00,621 --> 00:20:03,421
We literally spent every
weekend together growing up.
407
00:20:03,766 --> 00:20:07,516
He is now finishing 30 years in the
US Army as a lieutenant colonel at
408
00:20:07,516 --> 00:20:11,536
the Pentagon and last week he started
what's called his skill bridge program,
409
00:20:11,536 --> 00:20:15,796
which is this tremendous program that
the military offers for people that
410
00:20:15,796 --> 00:20:18,676
are in their last three to four months
of their time and service where they
411
00:20:18,676 --> 00:20:22,816
can go work for civilian company and
still get paid from the military.
412
00:20:22,816 --> 00:20:26,896
So he started his skill bridge with
me last week and now we get a chance
413
00:20:26,896 --> 00:20:30,756
after 30 years of running apart to
get the team back together and he's
414
00:20:30,756 --> 00:20:34,676
now my president and my operations
officer and helping me as we teach
415
00:20:34,676 --> 00:20:39,026
this new leadership model to corporate
and America and government entities.
416
00:20:39,686 --> 00:20:40,046
Wow.
417
00:20:40,046 --> 00:20:40,826
Congratulations.
418
00:20:40,826 --> 00:20:43,626
That is really cool to kind of
revisit that past experience,
419
00:20:43,631 --> 00:20:45,096
relationship and bring that back in.
420
00:20:45,306 --> 00:20:46,946
Now with this new business.
421
00:20:47,441 --> 00:20:51,311
What changed that Suddenly it started
gaining more momentum because you had
422
00:20:51,311 --> 00:20:55,331
so many successes in the past and this
one, it's kinda like, what was wrong?
423
00:20:55,331 --> 00:20:58,031
It's the same thing that happened
with my previous company.
424
00:20:58,031 --> 00:21:03,011
We lost millions of dollars, I mean
millions of dollars and then all
425
00:21:03,011 --> 00:21:06,311
of a sudden it just worked and we
were averaging $10 million a year
426
00:21:06,311 --> 00:21:09,911
in revenue multiple years after
that, where the year prior to that,
427
00:21:09,911 --> 00:21:14,681
we kept losing 300,000, $500,000
back to that whole thing with grit.
428
00:21:14,811 --> 00:21:15,651
It's the right idea.
429
00:21:15,651 --> 00:21:18,891
You're solving a problem,
you've got a really good, unfair
430
00:21:18,891 --> 00:21:20,421
competitive business advantage.
431
00:21:20,421 --> 00:21:24,291
You've got really good sales,
marketing distribution but sometimes
432
00:21:24,291 --> 00:21:27,551
and the number one reason businesses
fail is the founder just gives up.
433
00:21:28,751 --> 00:21:30,551
Main reason they give up
is they run outta money.
434
00:21:31,121 --> 00:21:34,526
And if you can just push through and
find out, what I always tell people,
435
00:21:34,676 --> 00:21:36,116
it's okay to give up sometimes.
436
00:21:36,216 --> 00:21:38,676
There comes to a certain point where
you're like, this just is not happening.
437
00:21:38,676 --> 00:21:40,506
We don't wanna put good
money after bad money.
438
00:21:41,061 --> 00:21:44,721
But if you can't get investors
and the bank is turning you down,
439
00:21:45,021 --> 00:21:46,401
they're really smart people.
440
00:21:46,401 --> 00:21:48,411
They're usually a lot smarter
than the entrepreneurs.
441
00:21:48,681 --> 00:21:52,281
They're telling you that you probably
don't have a viable business model but
442
00:21:52,281 --> 00:21:55,671
if you can like me, get those investors
and get the banks that are willing to
443
00:21:55,671 --> 00:21:58,761
take the risk off of it, then they're
saying, Hey, there's something there
444
00:21:59,181 --> 00:22:02,481
because they're really good at at
poking ideas and trying to crash dreams.
445
00:22:02,481 --> 00:22:05,631
And eventually, if they can't crash
your dream, then you realize, maybe
446
00:22:05,631 --> 00:22:08,181
there's something there but then
that's where the hard work comes in and
447
00:22:08,181 --> 00:22:13,041
that's the grit and that tenacity of
just pushing through those challenges.
448
00:22:13,986 --> 00:22:14,856
Yeah, absolutely.
449
00:22:14,856 --> 00:22:17,826
It's that balance between
the sunken cost fall fallacy.
450
00:22:17,826 --> 00:22:19,206
Do I want to keep investing this?
451
00:22:19,426 --> 00:22:20,596
Or do I see this through?
452
00:22:20,596 --> 00:22:23,936
And moments from the goal line here
and you just have to see it through.
453
00:22:23,936 --> 00:22:24,806
It's very important.
454
00:22:25,026 --> 00:22:28,296
If you had to restart a new business
tomorrow, what would be either the
455
00:22:28,296 --> 00:22:31,656
problem that you solve or the way that
you would approach this new business?
456
00:22:31,996 --> 00:22:34,666
I think the simple answer to that
is the latter part, which is the
457
00:22:34,666 --> 00:22:37,846
way I would approach it and I kind
of shared with you before but it's
458
00:22:37,846 --> 00:22:39,706
real three very simple things.
459
00:22:39,706 --> 00:22:40,276
Number one.
460
00:22:40,646 --> 00:22:43,526
Have you solved a problem
in a unique and elegant way?
461
00:22:44,036 --> 00:22:46,496
Most companies and most products,
especially entrepreneurs,
462
00:22:46,496 --> 00:22:48,146
focus on features and benefits.
463
00:22:48,176 --> 00:22:50,306
They don't focus on what's
the problem they're solving.
464
00:22:50,456 --> 00:22:53,186
And when you focus too much on
features and benefits, you get really
465
00:22:53,186 --> 00:22:56,606
nervous that someone's gonna copy
your features and benefits or you
466
00:22:56,606 --> 00:22:59,426
do what I think is one of the worst
things an entrepreneur can do and get
467
00:22:59,426 --> 00:23:03,086
a patent because that way it prevents
other people from knowing about it.
468
00:23:03,086 --> 00:23:03,536
Well, great.
469
00:23:03,536 --> 00:23:06,811
No one's gonna steal your idea
but no one's gonna know about it.
470
00:23:07,021 --> 00:23:09,811
And by the way, if someone steals your
idea, that's called market validation.
471
00:23:09,811 --> 00:23:12,331
That means you've got a good
idea, your job is stay on top.
472
00:23:12,331 --> 00:23:16,351
It brings us number two, what is your
unfair competitive business advantage?
473
00:23:16,771 --> 00:23:20,701
David beat Goliath for a couple reasons
but one reason was is he figured out
474
00:23:20,701 --> 00:23:22,741
what was David's or Goliath's weaknesses.
475
00:23:23,131 --> 00:23:24,841
Goliath was big and strong.
476
00:23:24,841 --> 00:23:25,501
That was his strength.
477
00:23:25,501 --> 00:23:28,231
But his weaknesses was he
was slow, he had bad vision.
478
00:23:28,591 --> 00:23:29,431
So what did David do?
479
00:23:29,431 --> 00:23:32,551
He ran far away so he couldn't see
him and he used a weapon that gave
480
00:23:32,551 --> 00:23:34,921
advantage to distance versus up close.
481
00:23:35,251 --> 00:23:37,291
What is your unfair
advantage of a business?
482
00:23:38,251 --> 00:23:41,341
Not illegal, not unethical
but unfair advantage.
483
00:23:41,371 --> 00:23:41,731
Okay.
484
00:23:42,101 --> 00:23:45,281
And then the third one, which is
hands down, the most important, you
485
00:23:45,281 --> 00:23:48,851
gotta have kick ass sales, marketing,
distribution 'cause if you've got
486
00:23:48,851 --> 00:23:51,701
the greatest product in the world and
nobody knows about it ain't gonna work.
487
00:23:52,211 --> 00:23:56,201
There's one product out there that
right now is sitting at about seven,
488
00:23:56,201 --> 00:24:01,151
$800 billion a year in revenue
and soon to be it to a trillion
489
00:24:01,301 --> 00:24:03,131
and 30 years ago was non-existent.
490
00:24:04,301 --> 00:24:05,231
It's bottled water.
491
00:24:06,041 --> 00:24:07,961
Bottle water has been around forever.
492
00:24:07,991 --> 00:24:09,311
We drank it outta the hose for free.
493
00:24:09,311 --> 00:24:12,731
You can go to the park and get it
for free but because Coca-Cola bought
494
00:24:12,731 --> 00:24:16,781
Dasani and they said We can market this
thing and all of a sudden people start
495
00:24:16,781 --> 00:24:19,361
showing up with these water bottles
at the soccer games and stuff and
496
00:24:19,361 --> 00:24:23,251
people are like, oh, I can buy water
instead of having to go to the hose.
497
00:24:23,461 --> 00:24:25,861
It was all because of marketing
distribution 'cause at the end
498
00:24:25,861 --> 00:24:27,121
of the day, water is water.
499
00:24:27,421 --> 00:24:30,301
I don't care if you say, well this
is from the Alps in France and this
500
00:24:30,301 --> 00:24:32,131
one here is from the tap bullshit.
501
00:24:32,131 --> 00:24:32,881
It's all water.
502
00:24:32,941 --> 00:24:34,141
All right, water is water.
503
00:24:35,656 --> 00:24:36,796
It's a great take Zach.
504
00:24:36,796 --> 00:24:37,246
I love it.
505
00:24:37,296 --> 00:24:40,986
If I could just have your personality
and your business mentorship just as
506
00:24:40,986 --> 00:24:44,666
a coworker or like a leader next to me
all the time that would make my life
507
00:24:44,666 --> 00:24:46,676
and my workday so much more enjoyable.
508
00:24:46,726 --> 00:24:48,586
Well, Chris, I do offer coaching.
509
00:24:48,586 --> 00:24:50,566
I usually have about
six clients at a time.
510
00:24:50,566 --> 00:24:51,856
I'm down to four right now.
511
00:24:51,856 --> 00:24:55,576
So one of the things I do is I have
a three month program where I work
512
00:24:55,576 --> 00:24:58,546
with people on a couple hours a
week and we go through the building
513
00:24:58,546 --> 00:25:00,046
blocks that I just talked about.
514
00:25:00,346 --> 00:25:02,656
I've got real simple
forms, real simple charts.
515
00:25:02,656 --> 00:25:06,966
I even have an online course that
people can sign up for to kind of go
516
00:25:06,966 --> 00:25:10,871
through that process but for me, find
people that do things really well and
517
00:25:10,871 --> 00:25:12,506
shamelessly copy the hell out of 'em.
518
00:25:12,986 --> 00:25:14,606
I want you to copy what I did.
519
00:25:14,606 --> 00:25:17,576
I want you to copy everything
that I did so you don't have
520
00:25:17,576 --> 00:25:19,766
to necessarily go through the
challenges that I went through.
521
00:25:20,036 --> 00:25:22,346
Think of it as like cheat
codes in a video game.
522
00:25:22,806 --> 00:25:25,176
What are the business cheat
codes that are out there?
523
00:25:25,981 --> 00:25:26,941
I can't tell you all the time.
524
00:25:26,941 --> 00:25:30,631
I'm looking up resources, cheat codes
online, whether for games or for business
525
00:25:30,841 --> 00:25:33,331
'cause I feel like there's always
gonna be a path of least resistance.
526
00:25:33,341 --> 00:25:36,311
It's not laziness, it's more I
just want to be efficient with this
527
00:25:36,311 --> 00:25:39,671
process and that way you can take
more time to invest it in elsewhere.
528
00:25:39,671 --> 00:25:40,811
Do you wanna make that idea better?
529
00:25:41,156 --> 00:25:42,836
Invest it into yourself, relationships.
530
00:25:42,836 --> 00:25:46,501
So, I love that idea and the fact that
you have an easy next step to the process.
531
00:25:46,741 --> 00:25:49,501
One thing I tell people is just remove
friction from the buyer's journey.
532
00:25:49,741 --> 00:25:53,281
Make it so simple and easy and like,
Hey, we're a professional organization.
533
00:25:53,281 --> 00:25:54,421
We have things set up here.
534
00:25:55,181 --> 00:25:58,211
It's like water always finds
the path of least resistance.
535
00:25:58,211 --> 00:26:01,151
Your business processes should
be like the flow of water.
536
00:26:01,511 --> 00:26:05,381
It just finds its way down there without
any human involvement whatsoever.
537
00:26:05,976 --> 00:26:06,516
I agree.
538
00:26:06,516 --> 00:26:06,936
Absolutely.
539
00:26:06,936 --> 00:26:10,776
And it's so exciting to see what advances
both in technology and AI are kind of
540
00:26:10,776 --> 00:26:14,416
bringing to businesses and what leaders
are kind of bringing to businesses
541
00:26:14,416 --> 00:26:15,856
and just relationships as a whole
542
00:26:15,856 --> 00:26:19,886
'cause this blending of technology
and more human-centered relationships
543
00:26:20,136 --> 00:26:22,746
we just need to find that balance
and get our bearings back to us.
544
00:26:22,746 --> 00:26:25,456
I think since post Covid and
just in general, I feel like
545
00:26:25,456 --> 00:26:26,896
people are feeling a bit lost.
546
00:26:27,781 --> 00:26:31,131
Well the world has become much
smaller because of Covid because
547
00:26:31,131 --> 00:26:32,751
we can touch people a lot easier.
548
00:26:33,021 --> 00:26:36,741
The second thing is AI is gonna be
such an incredible game changer.
549
00:26:36,741 --> 00:26:38,001
Don't be worried about AI.
550
00:26:38,001 --> 00:26:39,561
It's not robots taking outta the world.
551
00:26:39,561 --> 00:26:41,391
It's basically Google on steroids.
552
00:26:41,811 --> 00:26:46,641
But what can happen now is I can take my
thoughts and put 'em into something like
553
00:26:46,641 --> 00:26:51,651
a chat GPT or my own large language model
and it'll help organize my thoughts and
554
00:26:51,651 --> 00:26:53,751
give us that speed to where you want.
555
00:26:53,751 --> 00:26:55,821
And we're like, gosh, that
just makes so much sense.
556
00:26:55,871 --> 00:26:59,711
If you're not using AI right now, I
can guarantee you your competitors
557
00:26:59,711 --> 00:27:02,831
are and you're not gonna be able to
compete against them if they're using
558
00:27:02,831 --> 00:27:04,421
that machine learning and you're not.
559
00:27:05,021 --> 00:27:06,161
Absolutely, definitely agree.
560
00:27:06,161 --> 00:27:09,521
I feel like a lot of solopreneurs
and small businesses access to what
561
00:27:09,621 --> 00:27:13,521
feels like a larger team that only
these big box companies used to have.
562
00:27:13,521 --> 00:27:16,046
So it allows them to do a
lot more with less time.
563
00:27:16,076 --> 00:27:19,316
And I agree using chat GPT for a little
clarity and direction is always great.
564
00:27:19,536 --> 00:27:22,476
I'll be speaking on AI and technology
at a virtual summit coming up for
565
00:27:22,476 --> 00:27:26,686
nonprofits here April 16th but super
excited to share some of those lessons.
566
00:27:26,686 --> 00:27:30,256
Everything I'm teaching and learning
from AI, applying it to business and
567
00:27:30,256 --> 00:27:34,431
nonprofits and kind of focusing around the
human centered approach and relationship.
568
00:27:34,521 --> 00:27:35,631
Don't be worried about the jobs.
569
00:27:35,631 --> 00:27:37,401
It's just enhancing what
we're doing currently.
570
00:27:37,911 --> 00:27:39,586
Well, Chris, we talked
about the beginning.
571
00:27:39,586 --> 00:27:42,436
I wanna reiterate again and the
importance of being a great American.
572
00:27:42,436 --> 00:27:43,756
You're a great American.
573
00:27:44,026 --> 00:27:47,586
You are helping other people
pursue their entrepreneurial dreams
574
00:27:47,586 --> 00:27:49,956
to give them the freedom that
they can do whatever they want.
575
00:27:49,956 --> 00:27:52,146
And people like you that
make this country what it is.
576
00:27:52,146 --> 00:27:55,086
And I thank you for what you do
for the entrepreneurial community.
577
00:27:55,636 --> 00:27:57,556
I appreciate that, Zach
and likewise to you.
578
00:27:57,606 --> 00:28:00,896
If it wasn't for all these great ideas,
wow, you can actually make $30 million
579
00:28:00,896 --> 00:28:04,116
with a business and that's just off of
an idea and then the execution and to
580
00:28:04,116 --> 00:28:05,926
really see it through, that's inspiring.
581
00:28:05,956 --> 00:28:08,266
It's all the previous
entrepreneurs that led us to today.
582
00:28:08,266 --> 00:28:11,506
So thank you for what you do as
well because we need more positive
583
00:28:12,016 --> 00:28:15,526
leaders like you who can be role
models for the leaders of tomorrow.
584
00:28:15,656 --> 00:28:17,356
And thank you for your
kind words as well, Zach.
585
00:28:17,356 --> 00:28:18,076
I appreciate that.
586
00:28:18,526 --> 00:28:19,996
All right, Chris, keep in touch my man.
587
00:28:20,266 --> 00:28:21,166
Hey, thank you so much.
588
00:28:21,166 --> 00:28:21,796
I appreciate it.
589
00:28:21,826 --> 00:28:23,386
Thanks again for joining
us on the episode.
590
00:28:23,536 --> 00:28:25,866
Make sure you check out all the links
available down in the description
591
00:28:25,866 --> 00:28:28,506
and get connected with Zachary
Green here to find out more about
592
00:28:28,506 --> 00:28:29,976
his Warrior Leadership Program.
593
00:28:29,976 --> 00:28:30,906
Thank you so much Zach.
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,910
One of the things I do is I have
a three month program where I work
2
00:00:02,910 --> 00:00:05,910
with people on a couple hours a
week, and we go through the building
3
00:00:05,910 --> 00:00:07,410
blocks that I just talked about.
4
00:00:07,710 --> 00:00:10,020
I've got real simple
forms, real simple charts.
5
00:00:10,020 --> 00:00:13,770
I even have an online course
that people can sign up for to
6
00:00:13,770 --> 00:00:15,420
kind of go through that process.
7
00:00:15,420 --> 00:00:18,810
But for me, find people to do
things really well and shamelessly
8
00:00:18,810 --> 00:00:19,860
copy the hell out of them.
9
00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:21,990
I want you to copy what I did.
10
00:00:21,990 --> 00:00:24,960
I want you to copy everything
that I did so you don't have
11
00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:27,120
to necessarily go through the
challenges that I went through.
12
00:00:27,420 --> 00:00:29,580
Think of it as like cheat
codes in a video game.
13
00:00:30,150 --> 00:00:32,280
What are the business cheat
codes that are out there?
14
00:00:34,296 --> 00:00:37,656
You are listening to Brainwork Framework,
a Business and Marketing podcast,
15
00:00:37,656 --> 00:00:40,556
brought to you by Focused-biz.com.
16
00:00:43,516 --> 00:00:45,106
Welcome back to another episode.
17
00:00:45,106 --> 00:00:48,106
With us today is Zachary
Green, the founder and managing
18
00:00:48,106 --> 00:00:49,606
partner of Warrior Enterprises.
19
00:00:49,666 --> 00:00:52,846
Warrior Enterprises is a leadership
development company that transforms
20
00:00:52,846 --> 00:00:56,686
historic battlefield lessons into
real world leadership strategies for
21
00:00:56,686 --> 00:00:58,966
business, military and first responders.
22
00:00:59,446 --> 00:01:00,826
Zach, so excited to have you on today.
23
00:01:00,841 --> 00:01:01,241
How you doing?
24
00:01:01,786 --> 00:01:02,566
Chris, thank you.
25
00:01:02,566 --> 00:01:04,096
It's a real honor to be on the show.
26
00:01:04,096 --> 00:01:07,976
I'm a big fan of yours and just
excited to have a chance to spend
27
00:01:07,976 --> 00:01:09,356
some time with you and your listeners.
28
00:01:09,656 --> 00:01:10,526
Hey, thank you so much.
29
00:01:10,526 --> 00:01:11,156
We appreciate it.
30
00:01:11,286 --> 00:01:14,106
You have quite a inspiring
and incredible journey.
31
00:01:14,106 --> 00:01:16,746
Tell us more about your background,
your journey, what you're doing
32
00:01:16,746 --> 00:01:18,666
and how that kind of led you
into what you're doing today.
33
00:01:19,026 --> 00:01:19,476
Sure.
34
00:01:19,476 --> 00:01:21,546
So I grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio.
35
00:01:21,616 --> 00:01:23,776
No one in my family had
been in the military.
36
00:01:23,776 --> 00:01:27,326
Matter of fact, my family were
pretty liberal and anti-gun.
37
00:01:27,326 --> 00:01:29,246
I wasn't even allowed to
have squirt guns growing up.
38
00:01:29,246 --> 00:01:32,246
And everyone in my family were
either lawyers or musicians.
39
00:01:32,246 --> 00:01:34,796
And at a very early age, I
wanted to join the Marine Corps.
40
00:01:35,206 --> 00:01:37,816
I had pretty significant ADHD growing up.
41
00:01:37,816 --> 00:01:39,646
Went to about seven different schools.
42
00:01:39,956 --> 00:01:43,376
It's funny 'cause it's called multitasking
when you get out of school and all of
43
00:01:43,376 --> 00:01:46,376
a sudden it's this great thing that
every entrepreneur needs but when
44
00:01:46,376 --> 00:01:49,586
you're trying to sit at the desk, it's
called ADHD and they try to medicate
45
00:01:49,586 --> 00:01:50,786
you and do all this other stuff.
46
00:01:51,426 --> 00:01:54,446
What I ended up joining the
Marines right out of high school,
47
00:01:54,446 --> 00:01:55,916
was still in college at the time.
48
00:01:55,916 --> 00:01:57,686
Did kind of the summertime thing.
49
00:01:58,056 --> 00:02:01,506
Went through both enlisted and the
officer program and then just as I was
50
00:02:01,506 --> 00:02:02,826
getting out, I'm like, you know what?
51
00:02:03,426 --> 00:02:04,356
I've had enough of this.
52
00:02:04,356 --> 00:02:06,306
I want to go pursue this civilian world.
53
00:02:06,306 --> 00:02:07,836
And I finished up as a corporal.
54
00:02:08,401 --> 00:02:12,301
Two years later, September 11th happened
and I felt really guilty that I'd gotten
55
00:02:12,301 --> 00:02:17,231
out because a lot of my brothers didn't
come back and I had a full-time job.
56
00:02:17,231 --> 00:02:21,431
Then at Eli Lilly, I was in brand
development and marketing and one
57
00:02:21,431 --> 00:02:24,341
of my favorite assignments was doing
leadership development training.
58
00:02:24,391 --> 00:02:28,026
I became a volunteer firefighter
because I felt that was the new
59
00:02:28,026 --> 00:02:31,446
forward line of the battle and our
homeland needed to be protected just
60
00:02:31,446 --> 00:02:33,276
like some far off distant lands.
61
00:02:33,636 --> 00:02:35,316
And I got lost in a fire.
62
00:02:35,316 --> 00:02:39,276
It was a really scary situation right
when I first started and I wanted
63
00:02:39,276 --> 00:02:43,416
to figure out how can I not have
other firefighters go through this?
64
00:02:43,836 --> 00:02:46,686
And Eli Lilly specifically
around corporate branding.
65
00:02:46,686 --> 00:02:50,621
We never sell features and our
medicines, we talk about the problem,
66
00:02:50,741 --> 00:02:52,631
diabetes, mental health, whatever.
67
00:02:52,631 --> 00:02:55,541
And then we talk about the
solution around that brand.
68
00:02:56,141 --> 00:02:58,871
The problem I had wasn't that
I just got lost in a fire.
69
00:02:58,871 --> 00:02:59,891
I got disoriented.
70
00:02:59,891 --> 00:03:01,751
I couldn't see my way
around 'cause it was dark.
71
00:03:02,261 --> 00:03:05,261
And I remembered as a grunt in
the Marines, the infantryman.
72
00:03:05,261 --> 00:03:08,561
We had these glow in the dark taps on
the back of our helmet and I thought,
73
00:03:08,561 --> 00:03:12,401
what if I could apply those same
technology to firefighter technology?
74
00:03:12,926 --> 00:03:16,446
Started working on a couple different
products and developed some prototypes.
75
00:03:16,446 --> 00:03:18,396
Started selling it outta
the trunk of my car.
76
00:03:18,736 --> 00:03:22,681
Made 5,000 bucks in six months and
my fire chief sat me down and says,
77
00:03:22,681 --> 00:03:25,741
look, you've got something that's
going to change the fire service.
78
00:03:26,251 --> 00:03:29,821
Stopped treating it as a hobby and I
remembered a quote from Teddy Roosevelt.
79
00:03:29,821 --> 00:03:32,731
He said, you're faced with
a monumental decision.
80
00:03:32,791 --> 00:03:34,441
The best thing to do is the right thing.
81
00:03:34,771 --> 00:03:37,351
The next best thing to do is
the wrong thing but the worst
82
00:03:37,351 --> 00:03:38,401
thing to do is to do nothing.
83
00:03:39,136 --> 00:03:43,396
So quit my job at Lilly, maxed out my
credit cards, went to this trade show.
84
00:03:43,966 --> 00:03:46,636
In three days I booked a hundred
thousand dollars in sales.
85
00:03:46,786 --> 00:03:48,466
The problem is I had no money left.
86
00:03:48,466 --> 00:03:49,906
I had no manufacturing.
87
00:03:49,906 --> 00:03:51,406
I had no way to fill these orders.
88
00:03:51,856 --> 00:03:54,556
But I'm a Marine and we
always accomplish our mission.
89
00:03:54,556 --> 00:03:57,856
And I remember telling everybody that
told me, Hey, you gotta start returning
90
00:03:57,856 --> 00:03:59,596
orders and you gotta close up shop.
91
00:03:59,596 --> 00:04:00,046
And I'm like.
92
00:04:00,421 --> 00:04:00,571
No.
93
00:04:00,571 --> 00:04:01,591
This is how I work.
94
00:04:01,651 --> 00:04:03,541
I always accomplish the mission.
95
00:04:04,051 --> 00:04:07,576
And over the next 10 years, it was
brutal but I grew it into about a $30
96
00:04:07,576 --> 00:04:11,431
million company and it was through
those things that I learned in the
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Marine Corps and those warrior traits
really helped me during those dark
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times and then helped me really to
grow it into to where it is today.
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That is quite the journey,
quite the experience.
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You are just a testament of
what the American dream, the
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entrepreneurship is all about.
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Creating an idea, something that
solves a problem here and kind
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of the direction that it went to.
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You demonstrated product validation first
before even saying, I'm gonna build this
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huge product and create manufacturing.
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Let me just see if I
can sell the idea yet.
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And you did.
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And now the second issue became
fulfillment but so grateful that you
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actually saw it through 'cause that's
where a lot of entrepreneurs can
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fall apart is the fulfillment piece.
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They hit that obstacle and they
struggle to follow through.
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And I see a lot of veterans that are
also getting into business is that
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the military teaches so many veterans
about how to be better leaders.
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And that's a natural progression or
do you think leaders kind of naturally
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gravitate towards the military?
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I think it's a little bit of both.
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You used to think I was made a
Marine when I got down there.
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I think we all kind of had a little bit
of that warrior ethos in us before we got
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down there but the job of our military is
not just to make great warriors to great
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defenders, it's to make great Americans.
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And I think at the heart of what
America is, it's the right to pursue
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the pursuit of happiness, the freedom
to be able not because of the color
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of your skin or your parents' name.
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You can do anything if
you put your mind to it.
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You look at all the great success stories.
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They usually start off in really
bad situations and they use
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that challenge and that turmoil.
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The iron sharpens iron to grow.
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I think the easiest way to answer
your question on why you see a lot of
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veterans, it's one word and there's
one word that is the difference
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between successful entrepreneurs
and not successful entrepreneurs.
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It's grit.
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You just have to accept that no
matter what problem is out there,
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there's a solution to the problem.
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The challenge is most people aren't
willing to do what that solution is.
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In my case, that was putting my
house on as collateral for a loan.
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In that case, it was not just firing
one of my best friends but suing one
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of my best friends because he really
messed some things up within the company.
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Those are things that most people
would never do that but they say an
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entrepreneur lives the rest of their
life, like most people never could
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because they do those things early
on, like most people never would.
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For those short times where they're going
through those crucibles and challenges.
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Yes, absolutely.
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That grit and ability to overcome
obstacles in the face of adversity
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is something that people need to have
especially as entrepreneurs and now
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you've created this lesson that focuses
on what being a warrior is and this
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brand as more of a leadership tool.
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Can you tell me more about this
program, some of the key lessons or the
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pillars that it's kind of built upon?
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So as I started doing research for
my book Warrior Entrepreneur Lessons
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from the Battlefield of the Boardroom,
I started to realize we always wanna
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chase these new leadership trends.
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It's John Maxwell, it's Tony Robbins,
it's Simon Sinek and Malcolm Gladwell.
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They're phenomenal.
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Don't get me wrong.
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But there's timeless leadership lessons
that have not changed from all the way
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back in the Spartan times of Ancient
Rome or Greece and the Bible and Civil
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War, these core leadership things.
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And I started to find these common
traits with warriors and they were
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the same common traits that I saw
from Walt Disney, from Elon Musk,
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from Mama Fuku and who invented the
ramen noodles, instant Ramen noodles.
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And it was this concept of
grit and inspiring others.
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And so what I said is, okay, there's
enough MBAs out there, there's enough
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of what I call intellectual derelicts
that have unbelievable brilliance but
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they can't communicate with people.
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It's easy for someone that's smart
to talk about complicated things.
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The difficult thing is how can
they take something complicated
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and break it down Super simple.
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So we said in the Marine Corps, Sesame
Street style or Barney style for those
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that you're old enough to remember.
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So that was one part is how can
I teach these warrior lessons?
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The second thing was a lot of my
brothers and sisters have committed
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suicide since they've been out
and it's an epidemic problem.
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They say it's 22 a day.
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It's not 22 day, it's like 40 or 50 a day.
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And there's three main
reasons why they do that.
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The first reason is they stop moving.
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There's a real connection between just
exercise and getting outdoors and moving.
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The second one, I can't
really do much about that.
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That's something that's
up to each individual.
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Second one is they lose their
tribe, they lose that brother.
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You mentioned your
brother's in the Marines.
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I'm sure if we met we would have
a connection that is so deep even
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though we'd never met each other
'cause we have that shared heritage.
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So you miss the tribe.
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The people you can talk to,
you can cry with, you can
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drink with, you can party with.
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They understand your bad jokes and
that stuff but the third one, that
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really gets that veteran to make
that horrible ultimate decision.
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Is they lose their sense of purpose.
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And so what I'm doing through
Warrior Enterprises is taking those
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veterans and giving them a chance
to show that they're not just great
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veterans but they're great Americans.
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And doing that by teaching our next
generation of leaders how to lead using
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those long-term, really battle tested
leadership tools have been forged in
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fire and forged in the crucible of
death and destruction and civilization
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and then apply that to business.
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So here I'm helping my brother
and sister veterans out.
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I'm giving them purpose.
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I'm giving them a tribe.
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And then the other thing is I'm helping
our next generation of leaders by
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teaching them how to be great leaders.
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That is absolutely fantastic.
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When you consider just overall to today's
age where mental health is become an
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issue not only for veterans but I think
just generally post covid or technology
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is kind of shifting the way that we have
our typical family or friend structure
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or a typical place of gathering.
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What kind of changes are you seeing
happening and are there ways we
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can kind of bring it back to some
of the traditional ways that bring
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us together, the culture, the
self-worth that sense of belonging.
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I think it really revolves
around Simon Sinek.
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He talks about the golden circle.
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Most businesses focus on the what
and the how but the companies that
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focus on the why, they're the ones
that really make a difference.
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So that's the first thing I say is that
why the second one is there's a new way
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that we communicate with each other.
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My son, I tell 'em to go outside
and play with your friends.
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Well, there's no friends
to play with outside.
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All right?
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He gets on his virtual reality
and he has these unbelievable
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meaningful relationships.
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He's had two girlfriends that
they never met and we were talking
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to somebody making fun of you.
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They said, no.
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That is just as real of a
relationship as what you had
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when you were driving on a date.
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My son doesn't drive a car because
none of his friends drive cars
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'cause they got VR headsets.
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So where does this come together?
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What we were trying to do is focusing
on this experiential learning where
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we take people to Gettysburg, to
Normandy to teach 'em those timeless
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lessons and what we found out is,
yes, nothing beats going there.
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But my son said, what if
we put VR glasses on 'em?
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So we don't take 'em to Normandy
but we go to their office?
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Because the challenge we were having is
scalability and the ability to really
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make it repeatable that's not scalable and
repeatable to take 15 people to Normandy
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every three days but by using what my
son has shown us with the virtual reality
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and I can take you to the battlefield
but the cool thing is I can give you
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a connection to General Mc Arthur.
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You could never get on the beach.
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I can go up 5,000 feet in the air and see
the whole entire Nazi defenses along the
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coast and where the different entrances
and exits where they came in the beach.
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And then through the power of
AI, we've developed our own large
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language model that's looking at all
these different leadership traits.
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We can start to capture the experience
that you're having in VR and give it back
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to you and give you different analysis
and show how you compare to other people.
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So now we're communicate you
in this multi-sensory domain,
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experiential learning that's involving
storytelling, virtual reality, AI,
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extended reality, iPad discussions.
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And at the end, we tied in with the
most absolute best form of learning
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and that is the three magic words.
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Tell me a story.
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Once upon a time I was in Eli Lilly and
we were behind budget on this thing and I
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had to do this and this is what happened.
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People will remember that story but
if I teach them five PowerPoint slides
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that have four points in each of those
PowerPoint slides about what I just, they
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won't remember it but they'll remember the
story and they'll remember that lesson.
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And that's what we're
trying to do is connect.
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History with modern day experiences
through storytelling and
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technology to get people to learn
faster and to reduce skill fade.
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Wow that is so cool.
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Just to think about that intersect between
the human connection, communication,
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the feedback that we can get from
technology and AI and using virtual
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reality to now create this new I guess
I could call it a fourth dimension,
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where you're getting real time
feedback about your leadership skills.
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So I feel like people could go on
throughout their regular workday and get
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live feedback on how their leadership
skills are performing and just how
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they're interacting with in general.
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That's so fascinating.
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Are there any other ways that you plan
on using AI and technology or just
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some cool ways that you've seen it
incorporated into a lot of businesses?
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So what we look at is, rather than
any one methodology of learning,
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powerPoint is fine but if you just
do PowerPoint, it's not really great.
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But when you can layer these on
top of each other, you start to
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get this multiplicative effect.
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It's not one plus one
plus one equals three.
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It's one plus one plus one equals 30.
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And by layering a VR with the
AI and the background, it starts
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with this intake assessment.
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We're trying to figure out, okay,
we've identified seven key timeless
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leadership traits that have never
changed since the beginning of time.
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Through that intake survey, we're
trying to figure out which one of
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those are the strings we're gonna pull.
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Then we build out those scenarios and
virtual reality, which we have literally
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only limited by your imagination and
then we go through these processes
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from VR then we go into the iPads where
you're filling out case studies and
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asking questions and then flows into
storytelling and then ultimately ends
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up with an analysis that you get because
we're capturing those data points.
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The other part of this is
my instructors are veterans.
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So you've got a Command sergeant major
that was in charge of 20,000 troops
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and a billion dollars of equipment
and he's an assistant manager in a
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00:14:23,916 --> 00:14:27,516
warehouse now and he doesn't feel
good because his three guys at work
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for him won't pay attention to him.
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And he was used to leading literally
Warriors into the field of battle.
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He's lost his sense of purpose, if I can
give him back to work with Chris and his
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team and give him that chance to again be
that great American, pass that leadership
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on from the time he takes his uniform
off to puts on his civilian clothes.
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And then we can continue that
growth process and that learning and
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mentorship and the people that are
your mentees today will eventually
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become the mentors tomorrow.
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Yes, absolutely.
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That sort of impact from one
leader and mentor to another.
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Those can be the next leaders, the leaders
of tomorrow, which is really exciting.
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With all your past experience here,
what is the best way that either the
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everyday person can support a veteran?
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How can we help them?
307
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You're doing a lot of great work.
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I feel like there's a lot of
nonprofits, organizations that also
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do the work but more could be done.
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What can the everyday person do for them?
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So one of my pet peeves and I hope this
doesn't come across the wrong way and I
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00:15:24,636 --> 00:15:27,486
don't mean to offend anybody whatsoever
but when you say thank you for your
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service, for me, I feel like it's like
when you say bless you, when someone
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sneezes, are you really thanking you
or are you just kind of repeating this?
315
00:15:35,076 --> 00:15:38,856
I also feel like it's in some ways
condolence, like, oh, I feel bad that you
316
00:15:38,856 --> 00:15:40,836
serve, so thank you for the sacrifice.
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00:15:41,286 --> 00:15:45,606
We don't want to feel like we're broken
toys and the reality is that the FBI
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00:15:45,606 --> 00:15:50,721
put veterans on the watch list as
potential dangers to society because
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00:15:50,721 --> 00:15:55,641
of mental health issues or PTSD if you
wanna thank a veteran for their service.
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Let them continue to serve and
through whatever that is through
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being in Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts.
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If it's through leadership
programs, hire them.
323
00:16:04,956 --> 00:16:07,086
That is the best way you
can think a veteran is.
324
00:16:07,086 --> 00:16:11,226
Let them show you because I will take
a a 22-year-old kid that grew up in the
325
00:16:11,226 --> 00:16:16,536
inner city that barely made it outta high
school but he literally was able to solve
326
00:16:16,536 --> 00:16:20,796
problems like you wouldn't imagine in the
infantry or in logistics or whatever else.
327
00:16:21,066 --> 00:16:25,401
And no matter what, he's never gonna quit
versus this kid that got his MBA from a
328
00:16:25,401 --> 00:16:29,091
Ivy League school whose parents complained
to the coach because they weren't
329
00:16:29,091 --> 00:16:33,771
getting soccer time in seventh grade,
who in 10th grade they got offended.
330
00:16:34,101 --> 00:16:37,341
So the principal brought everyone together
and says, oh, you can't use those.
331
00:16:37,401 --> 00:16:38,661
Those are trigger words.
332
00:16:38,871 --> 00:16:41,901
Then they get to college and as
soon as they get somebody with a
333
00:16:41,901 --> 00:16:45,171
counterpoint of view to what they
have, they have to go to a safe space.
334
00:16:45,351 --> 00:16:48,021
And then they finally get out
in the real world and they fall.
335
00:16:48,126 --> 00:16:50,346
They get crushed like
a little paper tiger.
336
00:16:51,051 --> 00:16:53,181
That is who we think is the good leaders.
337
00:16:53,181 --> 00:16:53,781
They're not.
338
00:16:53,811 --> 00:16:55,521
What handed to you every now and then.
339
00:16:55,941 --> 00:16:57,381
Iron sharpens iron.
340
00:16:57,381 --> 00:17:00,831
The only way you get your muscle
strong is by ripping them apart through
341
00:17:00,891 --> 00:17:02,661
eight training and then they grow.
342
00:17:02,661 --> 00:17:06,261
And if you want to think a veteran, give
them the opportunity to continue to serve.
343
00:17:07,596 --> 00:17:08,466
That is very well said.
344
00:17:08,466 --> 00:17:11,706
And it's something that it's almost
a compulsory reactionary to bless
345
00:17:11,706 --> 00:17:12,906
you, to thank you for your service.
346
00:17:13,096 --> 00:17:14,206
What else could we say?
347
00:17:14,206 --> 00:17:15,636
Or unsure of how to respond.
348
00:17:15,636 --> 00:17:19,026
So that's kind of the standard
template that people go to but it was
349
00:17:19,026 --> 00:17:22,111
more about practical ways to really
connect and reach with veterans
350
00:17:22,186 --> 00:17:23,446
and how to give them that purpose.
351
00:17:23,626 --> 00:17:27,436
I feel like many other people with things
changing, have lost that sense of purpose
352
00:17:27,436 --> 00:17:33,146
and self-worth and that human connection
and maybe by trying to protect people,
353
00:17:33,146 --> 00:17:38,846
we've comforted them too much and the real
life experiences really shape you as an
354
00:17:38,846 --> 00:17:44,246
individual and teach you a lesson that
just being told something won't change.
355
00:17:44,496 --> 00:17:47,876
So something to keep in mind as we
kind of reshape the leaders of tomorrow
356
00:17:47,876 --> 00:17:49,121
and what we want our people to be.
357
00:17:49,976 --> 00:17:54,636
Well, I'm sure I'm gonna mess this quote
up but it's something like weak men create
358
00:17:54,636 --> 00:17:57,186
hard times, hard times, create strong men.
359
00:17:57,426 --> 00:18:01,356
Strong men create weak times and
then weak times create weak men.
360
00:18:01,386 --> 00:18:05,616
I'm sure I messed that up but somehow
that circle comes through is eventually
361
00:18:05,616 --> 00:18:08,706
you're getting to the point where as
the helicopter parent, you're so worried
362
00:18:08,706 --> 00:18:10,416
that our kid's gonna have a problem.
363
00:18:10,716 --> 00:18:13,836
We've never given him a chance to
really grow and to do that next thing.
364
00:18:14,541 --> 00:18:15,411
Yes, absolutely.
365
00:18:15,411 --> 00:18:17,961
And I think it'll be something that
will be studied for years to come.
366
00:18:18,151 --> 00:18:21,721
But I think that quote, as you described
it, whether it's the correct process, yes.
367
00:18:21,721 --> 00:18:25,211
It's kind of this circular system
that creates this effect here.
368
00:18:25,431 --> 00:18:28,571
Zach, for those who are interested in
learning more about you and your journey,
369
00:18:28,571 --> 00:18:30,071
where can people connect with you online?
370
00:18:30,431 --> 00:18:32,171
Yes, the best way is my website.
371
00:18:32,171 --> 00:18:32,981
It's real simple.
372
00:18:32,981 --> 00:18:35,771
It's my name Zachary l green.com.
373
00:18:35,891 --> 00:18:42,161
Z-A-C-H-A-R-Y-L as in lima
green.com and then also LinkedIn.
374
00:18:42,211 --> 00:18:43,831
I'm very active on LinkedIn.
375
00:18:43,831 --> 00:18:46,531
So those are two of the best ways
and you can get in touch with me
376
00:18:46,531 --> 00:18:48,211
through my website, through LinkedIn.
377
00:18:48,491 --> 00:18:51,431
We do offer one day of these
workshops that I was telling you
378
00:18:51,431 --> 00:18:52,841
about through experiential learning.
379
00:18:52,841 --> 00:18:54,611
We do those both with corporate America.
380
00:18:54,941 --> 00:18:59,571
I'm actually right now coming to you from
Marine Corps base camp and North Carolina,
381
00:18:59,571 --> 00:19:03,171
where we're actually doing an engagement
with the military right now as we speak
382
00:19:03,171 --> 00:19:05,461
with some of these similar workshops.
383
00:19:06,436 --> 00:19:09,916
That is very exciting and we'll also
have those links available down in
384
00:19:09,916 --> 00:19:11,116
the description on the show notes.
385
00:19:11,386 --> 00:19:13,816
Now, Zach, what are you
most excited for in 2025?
386
00:19:13,816 --> 00:19:16,576
Are you kind of ramping up doing
any new campaigns or anything
387
00:19:16,576 --> 00:19:17,776
new and exciting coming out?
388
00:19:17,896 --> 00:19:20,056
I feel like you always have
something cooking or working.
389
00:19:20,906 --> 00:19:23,726
It's funny you say that, the last
couple years has been an interesting
390
00:19:23,726 --> 00:19:26,626
journey because I think I really
ended up on a pretty high note when
391
00:19:26,626 --> 00:19:28,066
I got to move down to Hilton Head.
392
00:19:28,066 --> 00:19:31,666
I got to buy the dream car that
I had a poster of when I was
393
00:19:31,786 --> 00:19:33,106
a little kid and everything.
394
00:19:33,106 --> 00:19:35,476
And then over the last two or
three years, I'm like, okay,
395
00:19:35,476 --> 00:19:36,736
I'm gonna start a new company.
396
00:19:36,736 --> 00:19:40,546
And I forgot how hard it is because
the last two years, it's not
397
00:19:40,546 --> 00:19:41,866
worked out the way that I thought.
398
00:19:41,866 --> 00:19:43,426
It's cost me a ton of money.
399
00:19:43,426 --> 00:19:45,046
I'm not bringing in
revenue but you know what?
400
00:19:45,601 --> 00:19:46,591
That's part of the journey.
401
00:19:46,591 --> 00:19:48,661
So what am I so excited
about for this year?
402
00:19:49,021 --> 00:19:52,351
It's the last two to three years
worth of work that I've done and now
403
00:19:52,351 --> 00:19:53,641
finally starting to come through.
404
00:19:53,641 --> 00:19:57,051
We're getting customers, we're
building out our team and I think
405
00:19:57,051 --> 00:20:00,291
what I'm most excited about is my
best friend since fourth grade.
406
00:20:00,621 --> 00:20:03,421
We literally spent every
weekend together growing up.
407
00:20:03,766 --> 00:20:07,516
He is now finishing 30 years in the
US Army as a lieutenant colonel at
408
00:20:07,516 --> 00:20:11,536
the Pentagon and last week he started
what's called his skill bridge program,
409
00:20:11,536 --> 00:20:15,796
which is this tremendous program that
the military offers for people that
410
00:20:15,796 --> 00:20:18,676
are in their last three to four months
of their time and service where they
411
00:20:18,676 --> 00:20:22,816
can go work for civilian company and
still get paid from the military.
412
00:20:22,816 --> 00:20:26,896
So he started his skill bridge with
me last week and now we get a chance
413
00:20:26,896 --> 00:20:30,756
after 30 years of running apart to
get the team back together and he's
414
00:20:30,756 --> 00:20:34,676
now my president and my operations
officer and helping me as we teach
415
00:20:34,676 --> 00:20:39,026
this new leadership model to corporate
and America and government entities.
416
00:20:39,686 --> 00:20:40,046
Wow.
417
00:20:40,046 --> 00:20:40,826
Congratulations.
418
00:20:40,826 --> 00:20:43,626
That is really cool to kind of
revisit that past experience,
419
00:20:43,631 --> 00:20:45,096
relationship and bring that back in.
420
00:20:45,306 --> 00:20:46,946
Now with this new business.
421
00:20:47,441 --> 00:20:51,311
What changed that Suddenly it started
gaining more momentum because you had
422
00:20:51,311 --> 00:20:55,331
so many successes in the past and this
one, it's kinda like, what was wrong?
423
00:20:55,331 --> 00:20:58,031
It's the same thing that happened
with my previous company.
424
00:20:58,031 --> 00:21:03,011
We lost millions of dollars, I mean
millions of dollars and then all
425
00:21:03,011 --> 00:21:06,311
of a sudden it just worked and we
were averaging $10 million a year
426
00:21:06,311 --> 00:21:09,911
in revenue multiple years after
that, where the year prior to that,
427
00:21:09,911 --> 00:21:14,681
we kept losing 300,000, $500,000
back to that whole thing with grit.
428
00:21:14,811 --> 00:21:15,651
It's the right idea.
429
00:21:15,651 --> 00:21:18,891
You're solving a problem,
you've got a really good, unfair
430
00:21:18,891 --> 00:21:20,421
competitive business advantage.
431
00:21:20,421 --> 00:21:24,291
You've got really good sales,
marketing distribution but sometimes
432
00:21:24,291 --> 00:21:27,551
and the number one reason businesses
fail is the founder just gives up.
433
00:21:28,751 --> 00:21:30,551
Main reason they give up
is they run outta money.
434
00:21:31,121 --> 00:21:34,526
And if you can just push through and
find out, what I always tell people,
435
00:21:34,676 --> 00:21:36,116
it's okay to give up sometimes.
436
00:21:36,216 --> 00:21:38,676
There comes to a certain point where
you're like, this just is not happening.
437
00:21:38,676 --> 00:21:40,506
We don't wanna put good
money after bad money.
438
00:21:41,061 --> 00:21:44,721
But if you can't get investors
and the bank is turning you down,
439
00:21:45,021 --> 00:21:46,401
they're really smart people.
440
00:21:46,401 --> 00:21:48,411
They're usually a lot smarter
than the entrepreneurs.
441
00:21:48,681 --> 00:21:52,281
They're telling you that you probably
don't have a viable business model but
442
00:21:52,281 --> 00:21:55,671
if you can like me, get those investors
and get the banks that are willing to
443
00:21:55,671 --> 00:21:58,761
take the risk off of it, then they're
saying, Hey, there's something there
444
00:21:59,181 --> 00:22:02,481
because they're really good at at
poking ideas and trying to crash dreams.
445
00:22:02,481 --> 00:22:05,631
And eventually, if they can't crash
your dream, then you realize, maybe
446
00:22:05,631 --> 00:22:08,181
there's something there but then
that's where the hard work comes in and
447
00:22:08,181 --> 00:22:13,041
that's the grit and that tenacity of
just pushing through those challenges.
448
00:22:13,986 --> 00:22:14,856
Yeah, absolutely.
449
00:22:14,856 --> 00:22:17,826
It's that balance between
the sunken cost fall fallacy.
450
00:22:17,826 --> 00:22:19,206
Do I want to keep investing this?
451
00:22:19,426 --> 00:22:20,596
Or do I see this through?
452
00:22:20,596 --> 00:22:23,936
And moments from the goal line here
and you just have to see it through.
453
00:22:23,936 --> 00:22:24,806
It's very important.
454
00:22:25,026 --> 00:22:28,296
If you had to restart a new business
tomorrow, what would be either the
455
00:22:28,296 --> 00:22:31,656
problem that you solve or the way that
you would approach this new business?
456
00:22:31,996 --> 00:22:34,666
I think the simple answer to that
is the latter part, which is the
457
00:22:34,666 --> 00:22:37,846
way I would approach it and I kind
of shared with you before but it's
458
00:22:37,846 --> 00:22:39,706
real three very simple things.
459
00:22:39,706 --> 00:22:40,276
Number one.
460
00:22:40,646 --> 00:22:43,526
Have you solved a problem
in a unique and elegant way?
461
00:22:44,036 --> 00:22:46,496
Most companies and most products,
especially entrepreneurs,
462
00:22:46,496 --> 00:22:48,146
focus on features and benefits.
463
00:22:48,176 --> 00:22:50,306
They don't focus on what's
the problem they're solving.
464
00:22:50,456 --> 00:22:53,186
And when you focus too much on
features and benefits, you get really
465
00:22:53,186 --> 00:22:56,606
nervous that someone's gonna copy
your features and benefits or you
466
00:22:56,606 --> 00:22:59,426
do what I think is one of the worst
things an entrepreneur can do and get
467
00:22:59,426 --> 00:23:03,086
a patent because that way it prevents
other people from knowing about it.
468
00:23:03,086 --> 00:23:03,536
Well, great.
469
00:23:03,536 --> 00:23:06,811
No one's gonna steal your idea
but no one's gonna know about it.
470
00:23:07,021 --> 00:23:09,811
And by the way, if someone steals your
idea, that's called market validation.
471
00:23:09,811 --> 00:23:12,331
That means you've got a good
idea, your job is stay on top.
472
00:23:12,331 --> 00:23:16,351
It brings us number two, what is your
unfair competitive business advantage?
473
00:23:16,771 --> 00:23:20,701
David beat Goliath for a couple reasons
but one reason was is he figured out
474
00:23:20,701 --> 00:23:22,741
what was David's or Goliath's weaknesses.
475
00:23:23,131 --> 00:23:24,841
Goliath was big and strong.
476
00:23:24,841 --> 00:23:25,501
That was his strength.
477
00:23:25,501 --> 00:23:28,231
But his weaknesses was he
was slow, he had bad vision.
478
00:23:28,591 --> 00:23:29,431
So what did David do?
479
00:23:29,431 --> 00:23:32,551
He ran far away so he couldn't see
him and he used a weapon that gave
480
00:23:32,551 --> 00:23:34,921
advantage to distance versus up close.
481
00:23:35,251 --> 00:23:37,291
What is your unfair
advantage of a business?
482
00:23:38,251 --> 00:23:41,341
Not illegal, not unethical
but unfair advantage.
483
00:23:41,371 --> 00:23:41,731
Okay.
484
00:23:42,101 --> 00:23:45,281
And then the third one, which is
hands down, the most important, you
485
00:23:45,281 --> 00:23:48,851
gotta have kick ass sales, marketing,
distribution 'cause if you've got
486
00:23:48,851 --> 00:23:51,701
the greatest product in the world and
nobody knows about it ain't gonna work.
487
00:23:52,211 --> 00:23:56,201
There's one product out there that
right now is sitting at about seven,
488
00:23:56,201 --> 00:24:01,151
$800 billion a year in revenue
and soon to be it to a trillion
489
00:24:01,301 --> 00:24:03,131
and 30 years ago was non-existent.
490
00:24:04,301 --> 00:24:05,231
It's bottled water.
491
00:24:06,041 --> 00:24:07,961
Bottle water has been around forever.
492
00:24:07,991 --> 00:24:09,311
We drank it outta the hose for free.
493
00:24:09,311 --> 00:24:12,731
You can go to the park and get it
for free but because Coca-Cola bought
494
00:24:12,731 --> 00:24:16,781
Dasani and they said We can market this
thing and all of a sudden people start
495
00:24:16,781 --> 00:24:19,361
showing up with these water bottles
at the soccer games and stuff and
496
00:24:19,361 --> 00:24:23,251
people are like, oh, I can buy water
instead of having to go to the hose.
497
00:24:23,461 --> 00:24:25,861
It was all because of marketing
distribution 'cause at the end
498
00:24:25,861 --> 00:24:27,121
of the day, water is water.
499
00:24:27,421 --> 00:24:30,301
I don't care if you say, well this
is from the Alps in France and this
500
00:24:30,301 --> 00:24:32,131
one here is from the tap bullshit.
501
00:24:32,131 --> 00:24:32,881
It's all water.
502
00:24:32,941 --> 00:24:34,141
All right, water is water.
503
00:24:35,656 --> 00:24:36,796
It's a great take Zach.
504
00:24:36,796 --> 00:24:37,246
I love it.
505
00:24:37,296 --> 00:24:40,986
If I could just have your personality
and your business mentorship just as
506
00:24:40,986 --> 00:24:44,666
a coworker or like a leader next to me
all the time that would make my life
507
00:24:44,666 --> 00:24:46,676
and my workday so much more enjoyable.
508
00:24:46,726 --> 00:24:48,586
Well, Chris, I do offer coaching.
509
00:24:48,586 --> 00:24:50,566
I usually have about
six clients at a time.
510
00:24:50,566 --> 00:24:51,856
I'm down to four right now.
511
00:24:51,856 --> 00:24:55,576
So one of the things I do is I have
a three month program where I work
512
00:24:55,576 --> 00:24:58,546
with people on a couple hours a
week and we go through the building
513
00:24:58,546 --> 00:25:00,046
blocks that I just talked about.
514
00:25:00,346 --> 00:25:02,656
I've got real simple
forms, real simple charts.
515
00:25:02,656 --> 00:25:06,966
I even have an online course that
people can sign up for to kind of go
516
00:25:06,966 --> 00:25:10,871
through that process but for me, find
people that do things really well and
517
00:25:10,871 --> 00:25:12,506
shamelessly copy the hell out of 'em.
518
00:25:12,986 --> 00:25:14,606
I want you to copy what I did.
519
00:25:14,606 --> 00:25:17,576
I want you to copy everything
that I did so you don't have
520
00:25:17,576 --> 00:25:19,766
to necessarily go through the
challenges that I went through.
521
00:25:20,036 --> 00:25:22,346
Think of it as like cheat
codes in a video game.
522
00:25:22,806 --> 00:25:25,176
What are the business cheat
codes that are out there?
523
00:25:25,981 --> 00:25:26,941
I can't tell you all the time.
524
00:25:26,941 --> 00:25:30,631
I'm looking up resources, cheat codes
online, whether for games or for business
525
00:25:30,841 --> 00:25:33,331
'cause I feel like there's always
gonna be a path of least resistance.
526
00:25:33,341 --> 00:25:36,311
It's not laziness, it's more I
just want to be efficient with this
527
00:25:36,311 --> 00:25:39,671
process and that way you can take
more time to invest it in elsewhere.
528
00:25:39,671 --> 00:25:40,811
Do you wanna make that idea better?
529
00:25:41,156 --> 00:25:42,836
Invest it into yourself, relationships.
530
00:25:42,836 --> 00:25:46,501
So, I love that idea and the fact that
you have an easy next step to the process.
531
00:25:46,741 --> 00:25:49,501
One thing I tell people is just remove
friction from the buyer's journey.
532
00:25:49,741 --> 00:25:53,281
Make it so simple and easy and like,
Hey, we're a professional organization.
533
00:25:53,281 --> 00:25:54,421
We have things set up here.
534
00:25:55,181 --> 00:25:58,211
It's like water always finds
the path of least resistance.
535
00:25:58,211 --> 00:26:01,151
Your business processes should
be like the flow of water.
536
00:26:01,511 --> 00:26:05,381
It just finds its way down there without
any human involvement whatsoever.
537
00:26:05,976 --> 00:26:06,516
I agree.
538
00:26:06,516 --> 00:26:06,936
Absolutely.
539
00:26:06,936 --> 00:26:10,776
And it's so exciting to see what advances
both in technology and AI are kind of
540
00:26:10,776 --> 00:26:14,416
bringing to businesses and what leaders
are kind of bringing to businesses
541
00:26:14,416 --> 00:26:15,856
and just relationships as a whole
542
00:26:15,856 --> 00:26:19,886
'cause this blending of technology
and more human-centered relationships
543
00:26:20,136 --> 00:26:22,746
we just need to find that balance
and get our bearings back to us.
544
00:26:22,746 --> 00:26:25,456
I think since post Covid and
just in general, I feel like
545
00:26:25,456 --> 00:26:26,896
people are feeling a bit lost.
546
00:26:27,781 --> 00:26:31,131
Well the world has become much
smaller because of Covid because
547
00:26:31,131 --> 00:26:32,751
we can touch people a lot easier.
548
00:26:33,021 --> 00:26:36,741
The second thing is AI is gonna be
such an incredible game changer.
549
00:26:36,741 --> 00:26:38,001
Don't be worried about AI.
550
00:26:38,001 --> 00:26:39,561
It's not robots taking outta the world.
551
00:26:39,561 --> 00:26:41,391
It's basically Google on steroids.
552
00:26:41,811 --> 00:26:46,641
But what can happen now is I can take my
thoughts and put 'em into something like
553
00:26:46,641 --> 00:26:51,651
a chat GPT or my own large language model
and it'll help organize my thoughts and
554
00:26:51,651 --> 00:26:53,751
give us that speed to where you want.
555
00:26:53,751 --> 00:26:55,821
And we're like, gosh, that
just makes so much sense.
556
00:26:55,871 --> 00:26:59,711
If you're not using AI right now, I
can guarantee you your competitors
557
00:26:59,711 --> 00:27:02,831
are and you're not gonna be able to
compete against them if they're using
558
00:27:02,831 --> 00:27:04,421
that machine learning and you're not.
559
00:27:05,021 --> 00:27:06,161
Absolutely, definitely agree.
560
00:27:06,161 --> 00:27:09,521
I feel like a lot of solopreneurs
and small businesses access to what
561
00:27:09,621 --> 00:27:13,521
feels like a larger team that only
these big box companies used to have.
562
00:27:13,521 --> 00:27:16,046
So it allows them to do a
lot more with less time.
563
00:27:16,076 --> 00:27:19,316
And I agree using chat GPT for a little
clarity and direction is always great.
564
00:27:19,536 --> 00:27:22,476
I'll be speaking on AI and technology
at a virtual summit coming up for
565
00:27:22,476 --> 00:27:26,686
nonprofits here April 16th but super
excited to share some of those lessons.
566
00:27:26,686 --> 00:27:30,256
Everything I'm teaching and learning
from AI, applying it to business and
567
00:27:30,256 --> 00:27:34,431
nonprofits and kind of focusing around the
human centered approach and relationship.
568
00:27:34,521 --> 00:27:35,631
Don't be worried about the jobs.
569
00:27:35,631 --> 00:27:37,401
It's just enhancing what
we're doing currently.
570
00:27:37,911 --> 00:27:39,586
Well, Chris, we talked
about the beginning.
571
00:27:39,586 --> 00:27:42,436
I wanna reiterate again and the
importance of being a great American.
572
00:27:42,436 --> 00:27:43,756
You're a great American.
573
00:27:44,026 --> 00:27:47,586
You are helping other people
pursue their entrepreneurial dreams
574
00:27:47,586 --> 00:27:49,956
to give them the freedom that
they can do whatever they want.
575
00:27:49,956 --> 00:27:52,146
And people like you that
make this country what it is.
576
00:27:52,146 --> 00:27:55,086
And I thank you for what you do
for the entrepreneurial community.
577
00:27:55,636 --> 00:27:57,556
I appreciate that, Zach
and likewise to you.
578
00:27:57,606 --> 00:28:00,896
If it wasn't for all these great ideas,
wow, you can actually make $30 million
579
00:28:00,896 --> 00:28:04,116
with a business and that's just off of
an idea and then the execution and to
580
00:28:04,116 --> 00:28:05,926
really see it through, that's inspiring.
581
00:28:05,956 --> 00:28:08,266
It's all the previous
entrepreneurs that led us to today.
582
00:28:08,266 --> 00:28:11,506
So thank you for what you do as
well because we need more positive
583
00:28:12,016 --> 00:28:15,526
leaders like you who can be role
models for the leaders of tomorrow.
584
00:28:15,656 --> 00:28:17,356
And thank you for your
kind words as well, Zach.
585
00:28:17,356 --> 00:28:18,076
I appreciate that.
586
00:28:18,526 --> 00:28:19,996
All right, Chris, keep in touch my man.
587
00:28:20,266 --> 00:28:21,166
Hey, thank you so much.
588
00:28:21,166 --> 00:28:21,796
I appreciate it.
589
00:28:21,826 --> 00:28:23,386
Thanks again for joining
us on the episode.
590
00:28:23,536 --> 00:28:25,866
Make sure you check out all the links
available down in the description
591
00:28:25,866 --> 00:28:28,506
and get connected with Zachary
Green here to find out more about
592
00:28:28,506 --> 00:28:29,976
his Warrior Leadership Program.
593
00:28:29,976 --> 00:28:30,906
Thank you so much Zach.
