Building Success Through Struggle: Brandon Brittingham on Real Estate, Integrity, and Wealth - Champ Talk with Branden Hudson

This is Wake Up to Wealth, a podcast dedicated to helping you change the way you think about wealth. And now, here's your host, Brandon Brittingham. Welcome to Champ Talk with Brandon Hudson. I am your host, Brandon Hudson, and we are back with another episode. Real quick guys, if you get value out of this episode, you like it. If you know somebody that would, please like, comment, share, send it to them. Give us a rating or some sort of review so that we have an opportunity to kind of get in front of more people and let everybody see this because that's how we, you know, we kind of get our visibility and get seen. This episode of Champ Talk with Brandon Hudson is brought to you by the Maryland and Delaware Group of EXP Realty. Listen, if you guys are looking to get into real estate, looking to join EXP, join our team, doesn't matter if you're here locally or wherever, message me, let's have a conversation. We're going to kind of show you what we do and how we do it very well. And that's a beautiful segue into my guest that I have the honor to bring on is Mr. Maryland Delaware Group himself, Brandon Brittingham. How you doing, brother? Good, brother. Thank you. Thanks. I appreciate you inviting me on today. Absolutely. So real quick, I'm going to get, not that most people listen don't know, but I'm going to give you a little, you know, quick introduction. Brandon has been in real estate for a little bit over 20 years. He's won all of the awards, been the who is who, if you know him, if you look him up, got a top five, sometimes number one, sometimes number three podcasts, you know, wake up to wealth on Spotify. Apple. Coaches, Apple. It's on Spotify too, but Apple's the big play. Okay. Apple, excuse me. All over the place, man. If you've seen it, social media, you see my social media, you know, we've been working together for almost five years now. That spawned from the last time I had him on Champ Talk, which was a totally different version of the both of us. And just the immense amount of growth and it's kind of one of them situations where like, you know, you're paying your dues, you're paying your dues, you're paying your dues, you're paying your dues. And all of a sudden that spickage just turns on and just lights up. And I think in the past five years, at least from my perspective, that's what I've really seen with where your growth is, you know, with the impact you've had on the country, the real estate industry and so forth. So, you know, without getting into all that, you can look up all that, but that's kind of the introductory of who we is. What I wanted to get you on here today was is talk about some of the stuff that like really pushed you to do some of those things and go so hard. You know, from the outside perspective, you know, they might see the videos, they might see the Lambo, they might see some of the jewels and all that stuff and think that real estate is easier, think that investing is easy and stuff like that. Being an entrepreneur is easy. Yeah. Yeah. I want to go way back, right? Way back from when you first started. When you first started real estate, it was roughly around the 08 crash and that time frame. And we didn't have social media. We didn't have any kind of digital marketing or anything like that. We had a phone book and a room. What was it in those early days that pushed you to kind of make the choice and just saying something's got to change in real estate. So I think a couple of things. I think a lot of people know this. I was initially in the fashion industry and I started my first business when I was about 18 years old. I worked for these guys that own stuff all over the country. I worked for them in their stores in New York and then I worked for them in stores in Philly and all the stores that I ran were the most profitable because they were, you know, urban gear, Jordans, things like that. And, you know, I was at the age of I knew kind of what was trendy in the streets and what, you know, all the kids were wearing and what was popular. And then there's big baggy white cheese. Yeah. Yeah. God's sake. So I look at pictures of myself back then. I'm like, what the hell? Luckily, I'm wearing a dress. And so I went on vacation to Miami and I was like, man, there's money down here. But they don't have access. It is before like the internet, like marketing, Amazon. I don't even know if, you know, somebody can fact check me on this. I don't know if Amazon existed. I know maybe it did. He was probably in that garage. Yeah. Did you see a picture? They were selling books. The, you know, online digital, well, online retail wasn't huge then, right? It was still very, very much brick and mortar. A lot of boutiques. Yeah. Yeah. So I convinced these guys that I was partners with. We opened a store in Miami and then we opened a store in the Keys. And so, you know, we catered to a younger demographic. And then outside of the dope boys, right? You know, my biggest buyers were rich kids, you know, and sometimes their their dad or mom would come in and the wealthiest people that I met in my stores were all in real estate. And so then I proceeded to open up a men's suit store. And again, back then this is the competitive advantage of prior to the internet, I had some good connections where I had connections in Italy. You could come in, get tailored up. We'd send your stuff to Italy, get you a really, really cool suit that you couldn't get anywhere. You know, now you can you can freaking do the shit with your phone, get tailored and they send it right to your doorstop. But back then you couldn't. And so then, you know, I'd have guys come in, drop two, three, four grand. And I mean, do this is 20, 20 plus years ago. I mean, four thousand dollars for a suit back then. It was unheard of, right? And I mean, you really had to be wealthy. And so. And you were doing this in Florida. Yeah. Yeah. And then we expanded. We had stuff all over the country. Vegas, New York. And then, you know, to kind of round that out, that started to get me very intrigued in the real estate. And then I saw the changes that were coming in the digital, the digital landscape. And so I sold all my stores because I was like, if I'm Nike or if I'm Jordan and I put myself online and I could sell direct to the consumer, why do we need brick and mortar anymore? Right. Or why would I not just open my own brick and mortar? So I kind of saw the writing on the wall and then I was like, there's so many people, you know, I was young and I was making really good money. And I was like, there's so many people that are so far ahead on the internet thing. Rather than trying to figure that out, I sold all my stuff. And I said, I'm going to get into real estate. Right. And so, but my intention was only to get into real estate to be an investor. I had nothing to do with ever being an agent. Now I came from, you know, I knew a bunch of my customers. Customers, I had a bunch of celebrity customers. So back then too, you couldn't go over Saatchi or Gucci and you were six foot eight defensive linemen and buy anything. Right. Right. So Shadow Dapper Dan was, was close with Dapper Dan. He used to custom make the Dapper Dan. The Dapper Dan. Yeah. Yeah. Harlem Dapper Dan. Look him up. Used to get really cool stuff from him, get stuff custom made. And then, you know, we had agreements with some of the big houses where I could get stuff custom made. So I had a lot of celebrity clients. So, but so the point I'm making is I came from this very intimate, you know, someone comes in, gets tailored for a suit, you know, you kind of get to know them. You get to know what they want, you know, that kind of thing. You got to, you know, if I'm, if I'm selling you a $4,000 tailored suit, there has to be a high level of customer service. Right. In relationship. Yeah. For being there. And so, um, so I sold my stores. Took the money and I started buying investment real estate. And, um, man, not to paint everybody in real estate with the, with the same brush, but you've seen it. We talk about all the time, you know, the first couple of transactions I had, I was like, if this is considered good, then I need to be doing this because they, the people that I dealt with them, my first couple of transactions, it was terrible. And this is on just the investment side, correct? Yeah. I was just trying to buy a couple of properties and it was just like, man, this is horrible. This is just, it was a terrible interaction. And so then I got my, um, license and, you know, I came from, you know, even though the internet was not big then, we were just learning about it from a sales and marketing standpoint, but I had sales and marketing pretty dialed in because that's why my, my stores were so successful. And, uh, and I was like, dude, they don't market. They don't sell. They don't work. And again, not everybody's the same. I'm just saying this was my experience coming into real estate in the office that I worked in. And so then that's when I was like, man, I could really do some damage. Even as an agent, even though I had not gotten in it to be an agent, because I was just like the, the playing field is archaic. And so we can paint a better picture. The timing of this was, you know, um, not what real estate is today. You know, this was a very, here's a phone book. Good luck, kid. No training. No training, no support. Yeah. So like you're literally, you get your license, you're sold on this idea that real estate is the way, the way to wealth. Yeah. Um, you're probably, if I'm not mistaken, because this is what I've seen and on the recruiting side is, you know, you're sold all these promises and all these, we can do this and we can do that. And then, and then when you got into the office that you were at, what the landscaping, you know, I know, but for, for our listeners, what was the landscape like, when, what was the office like? What did you have your own office? You know, they throw you in a pit and basically there's no training, no support, no nothing. And it's just basically like good luck. It's like a call center. Yeah. Hopefully you survive. Yeah. Yeah. And then you quickly saw how, you know what I mean? Where you could, I guess utilize your relationship businesses and customer service, your relationship skills and your customer service skills in high end fashion, urban fashion stores across the country into, Hey, I'm going to deal with somebody's largest transaction of the house. We're going to go ahead and, and, and be more of a concierge to them and take care of our, our, our clients and market as well. What was the, what was the time that the pivot, the moment that stuff shifted for you and those, those early days of your career that kind of catapulted you to the direction you went into now? Yeah. So I think it is the journey that every entrepreneur has is it was actually the breaking point of when I wanted to quit. So, um, you know, if you're listening to this a lot of times you're closer than you think, um, and the, the, the pain that you're willing to take and tolerate is directly tied to how successful you're going to be. So the first year that I had in real estate, if you're listening to this and you're starting out in any business, I don't give a shit what the internet says or what social media says your first year, you are going to get your fucking ass kicked. You're probably going to lose money. You're probably going to lose sleep. Uh, you're going to have a shit ton of stress. Um, it's just statistically everything is the odds are against you. You're trying to learn so much in the first year while trying to make a living. And so I'll tell you guys, my first year I made $18,000 in real estate, couldn't afford to pay my bills. Right. This is coming from, I was making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year doing what I was doing prior. Right. And having fun and having fun. Yeah. And probably a little too much. Um, but so, you know, to be, to be honest with you, I had not felt that level of failure and I needed to, right. And it sucked, but I needed to. And I remember coming home and having a conversation with my girlfriend and she was like, dude, as long as I've known you, you've never quit at anything. And, um, and she's like, you're better than, and again, not to compare myself against somebody else, but she's like, you're better than everybody else in that office as far as your willingness to work, your willingness to serve the customer, your knowledge of sales and marketing. She's like, it's just, it's just going to take you time. And I know this is not to cut you off, but I know this is coming from not a space of, Hey, I'm your boo boo. Let me pump you up. But I know how hard she works. No, she's savage. Yeah. So this is coming from an observation. No, and it was like, yo, get your fucking sad fate, like stopping a fucking bitch. Like, I'm, you know, the man that I know is not a bitch. You're a savage. Find the fucking savage. Right. I love that man. Cause, you know, and I know you're in the middle of something, but dude, uh, you know, my gym story and everybody knows that I was at the other, another gym and supposed to buy it, got fired, did the walk of shame, came home with the sad face. And, and my savage wife at girlfriend at the time, the best thing ever happened to you. Yep. She was like, dude, you're not, that's not the brain of Hudson. I know. Yeah. And then ultimately here we are in my studio. So, yeah. Uh, but anyway, that was your breaking point, right? Yeah. Same. And so, um, you know, again, I think that, you know, I say this a lot on stage, the dramas and the traumas that we go through the classroom for us to teach other people how to go through it. Um, I believe there's certain people in this world that are chosen ones and more shit's going to get put on you. Um, look, if you choose, I don't know what the statistic is, but if you choose to be a business owner and you're a business owner that is successful, you're in the minority, right? So, um, understand how hard that is, right? And that's what a lot of people miss. And, uh, I think a lot of things too, you know, I think the business, the big misconception and where people kind of fuck up and fall down is like, um, you know, they think it's going to be easy. And the first sign of things being hard, they just, they tap the fuck out. Mm hmm. Uh, because most human beings want to be comfortable and I get that, but if you want to do anything, a substance, um, or anything great in your life, like it's going to be difficult and it's going to be hard. And I think that, um, that was a great lesson for me because the other thing is it doesn't stop. So like once you reach one, one level of success and you're like, man, we made it. Right. We got to this mountaintop. Well, now it's another one. Well, guess what? Your problems got three to four to five times harder. Just the proportionate money that you make is exponentially more, but the shit gets harder. Yeah. It gets way harder. So it's never like it's going to be easy. It's, um, the problems are way more, there's way more stakes at. Yeah. Like I, I'm fascinated with people who are successful. Like, you know, Elon Musk, you know, some of the sound bites, whether you love them or hate them, you know, he was talking about, you know, one of the times at Tesla, they were up against it. Company's about to be bankrupt. And, um, he's like, dude, I fucking slept in the office. He's like, I worked fucking a hundred hours a week. I did. And look, everybody has a different level of that, but I'm just saying, I mean, it's the richest guy in the world. You know, he's always either the richest guy or fighting to be the richest guy in the world. Um, again, not all about money, but at the end of the day, if you want to do anything special or of substance in your life, it's going to be difficult. It's going to be hard. Yeah. So that, that leads me into that second year. You know, you got humbled the first year. You know, a lot of people don't know that. A lot of people think it was, you know, whatever. And then that second year, you know, you, you pulled your bootstraps up, you know, to me, you went to work. What was that? You went through these pains and things like that. You know, um, what, what was that we year like, you know, what, how many, I mean, I know the long, you slept in office, right? Yeah. So, um, so, oh, wait, so, oh, wait. So, oh, nine did really well. And then 2010, the guy who had brought me in real estate and my business partner, somebody that was like a big brother to me, committed suicide. Yeah. Right. And we were still kind of in the recession. And so my point is just going back to the same thing. Here we go. I see some light. I start to do really, really well. And then my business partner that I end up bunch of shit with kills himself. Yeah. Right. And you guys weren't just business part. You were, you were, no, dude, it was, it was like my brother. And, um, so again, here I am again, like, you know, and so I will tell you another pivot right there. And thank God I learned this early is instead of being the, you know, instead of letting shit spin out of control, you know, maybe going to a substance abuse or, or doing stupid shit. Um, I just was like, man, I cannot be the victim. Right. And I don't know. Obviously, I believe in a higher power. I know you do too. I don't, I didn't know what the lesson was at the time. Do you know what I mean? I know it now, but at the time I didn't know it, but I just looked at it like as hard as this is to swallow. There's a lesson in this and I got one or two choices. The, the one choice is I can take all the things that he taught me and gave me and honor his legacy and become way more successful where I can go the opposite direction to let me destroy, let it destroy me and crawl into the cave of depression and, you know, oh, why me and this and that. And, um, I'm not saying I didn't grieve because I did for a long time. And it's still fucks with me. But at the same time, I chose not to be a victim. And then any situation I choose not to be a victim. Yeah, I could, I can see the level and of how that affected you. Just the minute you started talking about the choice that you had to make from going through victimhood or, you know, honor his legacy, your whole facial expression changed, the whole demeanor change. Obviously, that was something deeper. And there was then, then, then surface level. And, and there was a lot. It wasn't just, you know, the passing, but there was also, there was responsibilities that were left in your lap and there was, there was duties that fucking mess and it was a battle. And then you went on to, um, can let me say something on that. Yeah. Um, man, I will tell you, man, I was having this, it's like, it's now, it is so apparent to me. And like, this is millions of dollars, like millions of like, this is, if you're listening to this, like listen to what I'm about to say. Relationship capital is worth so much more than you trying to win on a deal or take or so, um, I was left with a lot of responsibilities. Uh, we owned a bunch of real estate. We had a bunch of debt. Shit was really bad. I could have filed bankruptcy. I could have said, fuck you to the banks. I could have said, fuck you. Some of it wasn't even yours. Right. To my understanding. And so, um, so I didn't, right. And it was the most expensive thing I've ever done has kept my word, right. Cost me the most fucking money of anything. But, um, so, so now those relationships, right, I can borrow money from any bank. I can get any bank president on the phone. Um, there's relationships that I formed in that where they saw my character of he's not running from the problem and everybody else is, and he's not willing to go back on his word. And there's so many situations in life now where I've done that over and over again, where maybe, maybe I didn't get the better end of the deal. Cause I stayed in integrity where I did what I said I was going to do, but in the long run, I fucking like a hundred X because that relationship paid me forever. Do you know what I mean? Absolutely. And man, people fuck this up all the time. They, they're so short-sighted and they don't play the long game and they try to get into relationship and take and they don't understand. I mean, you were talking about this the other day. Look, at the top of the mountain, there's only so much room and look, we're already here, motherfucker. And so you're trying to come up here and you want some fucking bullshit of stealing, lying, cheating, whatever. We're not going to let you in the club. Like it's just not going to happen. And that's where people fuck up. They, they don't understand the relationship capital, um, of what a long term relationship can pay you and where you can grow and make money with people. Do you trust and look, somebody might be whatever at a company today, right? And you fuck them and they become the CEO or they become a CEO of somebody. You got to do business with them or they become the gatekeeper or somebody. And here's the thing. You don't even think about it or it's off your radar and then all, and just happened so many times in my life. Somebody burnt the bridge with me and then late, they got to come back and try to cross it. And I don't give them a fucking pass. Do you know what I mean? Anytime not, not once, but on the flip side, right? And you've experienced that every major brand in real estate, I can get, I can get the CEO on the phone. Just about every major company in the United States that is related to shit that I do. I have a relationship with the person who owns it. I can get them on the phone. They'd show up for a webinar. They'd show up to speak for me. Anything cause, cause it's, it's, it's reciprocal. We do shit without asking for anything returned. That's relationship capital. I want to unpack that real quick because I want our listeners and viewers to fucking hear what you just said. This was in, this was in 2010, 2011. You know, this was in the 08 crisis. Yeah. Where everybody could easily and had, I mean, I don't want to say had the right, but had the option and it was a viable option to say, Hey, this is too much for me. I'm tapping out. I'm filing bankruptcy. I'm not paying you. I can't pay you. Yeah. The burden is too much. And what you chose to do is, is you chose to sit here and honor those commitments, pay your dues, pay people off, keep your integrity, keep your word. Not even knowing what was on the other side of that, just knowing what you had to go home and sleep and face at nighttime and knowing that the next day, when you wake up tomorrow, you know what the community, you know what your peers, you know what the people around you would say about you, regardless if you tapped out or not, which so many people do. And you, and you're so right. So many people lose the importance and lose the, the, the, they're nearsighted on the fact of, dude, if I just help so many people and keep my word and do the right thing, it will pay off in the end because I will have to cross some path, some road, somewhere in shape or way, some way, shape or form. I will have to see somebody again that. Well, you think you, you think you won't, but you will. 100%. And another thing on keeping your word, which is really, is frustrating me sometimes is the thing it, like somebody thinks, well, I said, I call you a five and then I did, like it's, it starts there. A little shit. But like if you, if you don't keep your word over certain things, how you do one thing is how you do everything. It shows up in other areas of your life and your word and your integrity is everything. And if you discount it, fuck dude, you, you, you will, you might get far enough for a certain period of time, but it won't last. Yeah. It's short term, short term money. Yeah. That's, that's, that's definitely going to be a real, that's going to pop up. You're going to hear that again because that shit is, is, is a golden nugget. Like, like I'll tell you so many times, bro, like somebody will reach out to me, right? And they'll, hey man, I want to coach with you, blah, blah, blah. And then not on another word or I want to invest with you. And I like, I don't, I'm not petty. I don't go out of my way, but then I've seen this happen. They pop up and they want to get in a mastermind that I run or something else. And I'm like, nope, they're not one of us. They didn't keep their word. And look, here's the thing. It's not even about the money. Like just say, hey man, I don't have the money or this is not convenient or this or whatever, just, you know, then we're, then, then I'll respect you. Yep. But don't give somebody your word and then backtrack. That's just not, that's not how you do shit. It's not how you do business. And I've witnessed you have and see that and experience that on many different levels, you know, and that is a core value of yours. Like, dude, keep your fucking word and you're not alone. Like you said, the people sitting at the top of the mountain feel that way. And here's the thing, the people that have kept their word with me have made millions of dollars. Funny how that works, right? So it's like, so it's like the people that you burnt your bridge, let's say it was over a $20,000 coaching deal. Yeah. Right. Not a lot of money, right? But you burnt the bridge over $20,000 coaching deal that potentially you can end up being my business partner. I got multiple coaching clients of mine who'd been my business partner. You made millions of dollars together, made millions of dollars, you know, built companies worth eight figures, right? Bought fucking shit together, you know, sat courtside of games together. Like you, and here's the thing, I won't give you a second chance. Yeah. Ever. I know that's how you are. Yeah. Yeah. It's in the gym space too. A lot of guys and girls ask me, why do I, you know, push my coaches to build their own brands, you know, they're like, don't leave you one day. Well, just because they leave you doesn't necessarily mean it has to be on bad terms. No, 100%. It doesn't mean we can't collab in the future. We can't do anything else. It's just everybody has that stigma of, you know, it's us versus them. And it never works out. 100%. Moving forward. I want to talk about this and I want to touch on it because this is one of the most impressive and horrible things you had to go through. But there was a time where, you know, you had found yourself knocking on the desk door and you were in the trenches of business. You were, you know, I don't know all the details, but shit was flying around you left and right. Can you talk about that a little bit and what happened there? And, you know what I mean? Yeah. So I had multiple autoimmune diseases, disorders, which I still, I'm around it, but I still have shit that I still have to live a certain way as far as eating, working out, you know, that kind of thing. I don't drink alcohol. You know what I mean? I prioritize sleep. Like the thing is people will see my social medium like, man, you're a griner. You're this, you're that. And yeah, that's that is definitely true. But I also set my life up years ago to be able to live the life I want to live now. Right. But yeah, dude, it was fucking wild, man. I mean, I woke up, you know, was in the best physical shape of my life. And after a workout one night and a workup in the morning, I couldn't walk. And I got to the hospital and they said, you're about 18, 16 to 18 minutes between complete, you would have been a complete liver and kidney failure. You probably would have died. Like you literally probably were died. And they didn't know. You know, at the time, like when I was in the hospital, they were like, oh, not like we don't know if you're going to walk again. We don't know. We don't know. Like we don't know. And so it was fucking scary. It was it was wild. And again, so the cool thing about that, there's nothing cool about it. But going back to the thing I dealt with with Marshall is I had to adopt that mentality of not being a victim. Do you know what I mean? And so as crazy as this sounds. The amount of clarity and focus I got out of that situation, dude, it made me a fucking monster. The Marshall situation or the. Well, well, the health situation. Health situation. Because the I had never, as human beings, I don't I don't think we understand or grasp time very well. Meaning how much time you have, how much time I have. I'd agree to that. Right. So there's a clock running right now that you and I can't see. Right. And we don't know. Number might get called tomorrow. Might get called tonight. You know, it might be we might live to a hundred. Do you know what I mean? And so I never understood. Time through that lens until I dealt with that. And so I remember sitting, I was sitting in the hospital, you know, and, you know, number one, we didn't know if I was going to walk again. We didn't know if I was going to just, it was a lot of a lot of shit. And it is a, it's a humbling experience when you're facing your own mortality. And I just remember being in the hospital and I just said, you know, I know I can get through this number one. But when I do, I'm going to fucking leave it on the field every day. Right. I'm not going to hang out with motherfuckers. I don't want to hang out with. I'm not going to do shit in my life. I don't want to do. I'm going to live how I want. I'm going to enjoy my life on my terms. And I'm not going to, I am not going to waste time anymore. And to the end and up until that point in my life, I didn't look at it through that lens. And again, that's why I'm not going to give you a second chance. I don't believe that I have time to, right? I believe my time is spent in walking in my purpose and doing and and having relationships, I want to have a relationship with somebody like you versus some fuck motherfucker. That's also bullshit. And so when you when you hear the, you know, you're only as strong as your mind said, that's real, because they were like, you ain't getting out of here anytime soon. And I was like, well, what do I got to do to get out of here? And they're like, you got to walk from the back. No, I couldn't physically walk. I had lost motor function below my legs. Right. Yeah. Couldn't physically walk. And then I was pissing black. Yeah. Yeah. It was what was that? I was in, I was in rabdomyosis, which was, but it was caused by underlying autoimmune conditions that we didn't know at the time. Right. And completely separate, not to go down the rabbit hole, but I will just tell you guys from dealing with this, our medical system and nothing against people that are that are trying to do the best they can in our medical system, our medical system is fucked up. If you're going through any major thing, do your own research, be your own advocate, because I cured and healed myself, myself. Right. I had to research and figure it out myself. And to this day, look, we're shooting this in brain and gym. After I just got done working out for an hour, I was told that I could never physically work out again because of my condition. Because with the side effect that I could die from one workout. And if anybody goes back to on your social media and looks back four years, five years, I mean, you've done a completely, complete transformation. And then that just didn't go with your, you know, the appearance, but I mean, the way that you eat, I mean, you had a freaking meal today that, you know, to me was prepared, ready to go on time. It's remarkable. I wanted to, and by the way, I'm like, hey, let me, let me, let me go back to that really quick. Yeah. So, so again, because this is so important. So, so, so I'm sitting in the hospital and I'm dealing with all that. And again, that's a very easy place for you to be victim hood. And look, I was like, the only way that I beat this shit that they're telling me is if I beat it mentally, if I beat it mentally, then I can beat it physically. Damn right, you can. Do you know what I mean? Will yourself to heal. And so, you know, and some, so I was sitting there and I mean, like, if you're listening to this and you're sitting in the worst situation you've ever been in, I've been there more than one time. Right. Like more than once. And look, don't get me wrong. Was I emotional? Absolutely. You know what I mean? Was I scared that I was going to die? Absolutely. But the other side of that was there's so many people that depended on me, my family, you know, all that shit. And I was just like, man, I can't like for, for, for the people around you, if you're any type of level success or you want to be successful, the people around you look at you for inspiration, look at you for leadership. And I was like, man, my family can't see me give up. Right. And well, and the other thing, you know, I was super, super close to my grandparents and I was like, dude, I damn sure ain't going to die before my grandparents, right? Cause it would devastate them. So, um, mentally, like, I don't know to this day how I did it, but I walked the fuck up out of that hospital in a couple of days. Right. Um, and they still to this day don't, they were like, we don't understand. Like we don't understand how you did this. And I was like, I don't give a fuck. You gave me, you told me if I can walk, I'm out. I can walk. I'm out of this motherfucker. Cause cause again, our medical system and look, don't get me wrong. They saved my life. Sure. Like, though, like there was a doctor, he unfortunately is not alive anymore. His name, uh, by the name of Dr. Iggy, he saved my fucking life. Right. He saved my life and, uh, no question about it. He saved my life and, um, the medical, the medical field is flawed, but it's also, it's, it's a necessary. There's some good people in it. Yeah. Absolutely. But what I hear, what I'm hearing you say is, is your absolute mindset and the preparation leading up to that moment of saying, I'm not going to fucking die before my grandparents. I'm going to walk out of this fucking hospital. You willed yourself to heal. And here's the thing. I was like, if I'm going to die, I don't want to die in this motherfucker. So let me to fuck out. So that's an incredible story, dude. And what I, why I ask these questions, you know what I mean? Because, you know, I know, and a lot of you know, but everybody knows how successful you become and you're on, on your way to, because you're, you're always climbing another mountain, you know, and, and these stories, you know, your friends, your family, people care and, and know you, they, they know about these stories. You know what I mean? But the, the lining of the way, the things that you had to go through and you did, you know, you went from making very good money, having a good life, living in fucking Miami, going across the country to humbling yourself, making $18,000 in a field that, you know what I mean? You had massive uncertainty in. You willed your way through that. And you sat here and you said you weren't going to be a victim there. You said you were going to be a victor. You went through, got busy, started working, and then you, you go through the crisis of your business partner, your friend, you know, with his passing. You, you decided that day you weren't going to be a victim. You willed your way through that. You made a choice that day to be, hold your values in place, your integrity in place, and then you get sick. And, and, and these are just the big things. There's millions and countless things that have been popping up and, you know, hitting you and striking your knees throughout the course. But these things are where people, most people, most people on the quest to success, most people that want to be successful, they, they will use those moments to define them as why they can't. And you use those moments to define you as why you will. And you overcame the adversity and all those moments prepared you to get into the next phase and the next season of your life and where that was going. And, and I want our people to hear like how important it is that when you do have these moments, these, these fucking impossible odds, human beings are resilient as fuck. We can get through some impossible things, some incredible things with our, with our minds and with our determination and the lack of victimhood. Right. So that pushes us into the now. Right. And one of the things that I really admire and, and I think is incredible about you, Brandon, is, and, and you know this, I've told you in your face, I don't give a fuck about your money. I don't give a fuck about the shit you do. I respect what you've accomplished, but the character, the human that you are. Right. You know, I've told people when I, when I was, when I was, you know, we, we did the podcast the last time and, and you have this ability to spot talent. You've said this on stage about me and you said, Hey, I'm going to get this guy. I want this guy to work for our organization. And I didn't know nothing about it. And here we are. And quickly I knew that your culture and that office was where I needed to be because of the line with me and the things I was doing. I was already in leadership space, but then for a solid year, I was like, this can't be, you know, most people aren't like this, right? Most people aren't, aren't who they say they are. There's always a hidden clause. There's always something behind. I looked for the check in your, your armor, looked at the check in Rich's armor, your partner. I was waiting for, you know, the, the, the, the curtain to fall and it never happened. And it just in that year, year and a half, I just, you got more buy-in for me and more buy-in for me and the things you said, you know, applied and helped. And there were so many great things come, but then someone has been through the things that you've been through. Right. You have this incredible ability to predict the future. You have this incredible ability to be very efficient, right? And you have this incredible ability to connect pieces and people with relationship building and things like that. There's a whole other side of you that, that I've seen that, that really is, is why I love you so much, man, is your heart. I've seen you do some incredible things. And I know you probably don't want me to talk about this, but you said not everything was good to go, but I've seen you do some things, man, that no one has to fucking do when it comes to the people you care about. Yeah. Um, you know, you, you. Well, I, I think to that, I think again, um, a couple of things. I don't, you know, we don't, we don't go out and talk about it because I think, um, you know, you do it, you do it because you care not because you want the publicity. Absolutely. And I think it goes back to, again, as crazy as this sounds, having a near death experience was one of the best things that ever happened to me because it's, it goes back to the give the people, the flowers, why they're alive. The people that you really care about, um, and that are special in your life. You know what I mean? Like I, where, where, where I was faced with where, you know, I had, when Marshall committed suicide when I was young, then I almost died shortly after that. Um, I just looked at the lens of time very differently. So it's like, if I really care about this person, and by the way, if you're listening to this, um, people that work for you, they give a shit about your organization, they give a shit about you that go above and beyond, that is very rare. So when you find those motherfuckers, you keep them and you take care of them and actually care about them. Um, that's where it stems from of, you know, what if this person means a lot to me and my organization, but they never got to experience really how much that I did care about them. It would devastate me if something happened to them and they didn't know. So my thing is it's always like, oh, we got to wait for a special occasion or we got to wait for this, we got to wait for that. Like if somebody that is rocking with you because in their loyal, it's so rare, uh, you should reward them because there's a handful of people in your life. You're going to experience like that. Right. It's going to be very few and far between. Um, and so for me, that's kind of where it's, that's kind of where it stems from is because it's so weird because this duality of like, if I'm competing with you, I want to burn your fucking village down. And like, if I'm on the other end of the deal, I want the best end of the deal. But then it's from the standpoint of it's for the people I care about in my family and the people that I'm leading. Um, but that, that's, it's a timing thing, man. We, we, none of us know it's, it's like, if you're listening to this, right, I think there's a hundred and 68 hours in a week, 160, 168 hours. Well, like if, if I came to you tomorrow and I said, Hey, um, you got a hundred and 68 hours left, you would probably spend your week different. And then the other thing too, back to, um, the hospital thing is I know this is going to sound fucking weird, but I was thinking when I was in the hospital, I was like, at the time I was financially secure and I was in a good spot. But I was like, thinking one night I'm like, man, what if tomorrow is my last day? I was like, I would trade everything just to have one more. Right. And then I was thinking like, if someone came in and said, I can give you this drink to give you an extra day, but I'm not going to tell you what day you get back. Right. And then I go back to a day where I fucked around and wasted time and hung out with somebody I didn't want to do, you know, one, two, or hang out with a fucking dipshit or, you know what I'm saying? Like, you know, I'm picking up three of them right now. And so then I started, I started, I just started looking at it through that lens. And it's like, you don't know how much time you have. You don't know the people around you, how much time they have. Um, so why, you know, why not let them know that you care about them and take care of them and then just leave it on the fucking field, man. Yeah. Like leave it on the field every day because, you know, I mean, I can say to you wholeheartedly, I want to live, I want to live a long life, but I'm, I'm at a point in my life where like a lot of the shit that I've wanted to do, I've accomplished it. I've taken care of the people around me I wanted to take care of. And I know I'll leave it on the field every day. And I mean, that's a pretty, that's a piece of my money. Can't buy. Yes, sir. I wish we had an hour because I mean, this feels like this podcast flew by. And I only think that we scratch the surface, but we don't. So I'll be remissed if I didn't, you know, ask a couple of quick questions. What one of the questions I want to ask is, because if you chose, and I don't mean to be in your business and put it out there, but if you chose to not have to work, because you fucking still every day, you're still the first one there, last one to leave. So guys and gals on our team, you hear me say that. Weekends, holidays, you know, we met last Sunday. I mean, this is how you do it, right? You know your purpose. You know, your, your, your space of genius. Um, and you live it out. But if you wanted to, and I'm not saying you could afford to live the life that you do today, but if you wanted to, you could choose not to work as hard as you do now. Oh, 100%. I certainly could work a lot less. So why at this point? Why? And what is it all for? So it's a couple of things, right? I think, you know, it's funny. Go back to the Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos. Like if you take the richest people in the world, they didn't need to keep working a long time ago, right? Um, once I, I really believe this. I believe everybody has the opportunity to get the freedom and financial freedom is overused, but freedom meaning once you get to basic needs met, right? You can afford the house you want. You can afford the car you want. You can go on vacations. You got money in the bank. Like you have that level of comfortability. Um, that's where if you're lucky enough to get there, that's where most people will stop, right? And, and, but there's not, and listen, there's nothing wrong with that. Because everybody's different. But what I'm saying is, is that for me, it was about money to a point, which was basic needs beyond that. It is, I believe my purpose is obviously, I believe I've been given a gift to speak on stage, right? And so that's part of it. And, um, part of speaking on stage is being in the trenches every day and having a real shit to share with people. And I also believe that part of my purpose is to develop as many human beings as I can to be successful. Um, and I really like building shit. It's fun. It's exciting to me. Um, and to be quite honest with you, the, the more challenging it is, uh, the better, I don't, I don't know how to do anything else. Yeah. Right. And I don't, and again, this is just the way that I'm wired. Like I'll go on vacation and I'm out for two or three days, man. And I need to get punched in the face again. Like I need to get back in the ring. Really very bad to work. Um, and again, that might not sound cool to you, but the, here's the thing that I think a lot of people don't know or understand. You're not walking in your purpose. So you don't have that same level of love of commitment. And it could be anything. You could want to do a dog rescue. You could want to be a fighter, whatever it is. A lot of people are floundering cause they're not walking in their purpose. I know what mine is. Do you know what I mean? And the money becomes a byproduct of it and how we keep score. But, um, you know, I get to do a lot of really cool shit. You know what I mean? And I get to do a lot of really cool shit every day. I get to meet and be busy in business and relationships with a lot of really cool people. Um, and you know, if you're a builder, you never want to stop building. And there's always another mountain to climb. So that, that's kind of, and, and again, I, I think the competitive side in me, um, the competitive side in me is also the, all the people over the years that told me I was crazy or you can't do this. And again, if you're listening to this, I think this is cool. This is something you should understand. If you want to be really successful and you're passionate about something, there's gonna be a long time where you're going to be misunderstood. Uh, you're going to be lonely. You're going to be alienated. And then those motherfuckers going to ask you for a job. Do you know what I mean? And, um, if you want to do anything of any significance, um, like you're just going to be misunderstood, man. And, and people are going to think you're crazy. They're going to say, if, if you're repeatedly being told your idea sucks, you probably want to something. Right. Do you know what I mean? Nope. And you should never let someone else's limitation of where they can't grow to affect your ability because that's just their own inadequacies, you know, projecting on you. And so I think part of it too is also the challenge of proving people wrong. Damn right. Do you know what I mean? And, um, and I, you know, I don't know. It's just to me, it is coming from a poor family that didn't have anything, breaking the generational wealth curse of our family. And, and then just not having a ceiling. And it's like, well, what can we do next? How many more lives can we impact? How many more people can we make wealthy? Um, how much more cool shit can we do? And that's the shit that is, uh, that's what's exciting. That's what gets me up out of bed every day. It's awesome. That's awesome. That's a great answer, man. Um, wrapping up, you know, I, we would be foolish if we didn't put a, put an elevator pitch or a shameless plug or some sort of, you know, we, we, we were on the XP now, been with the XP for, uh, for, for half a year over half a year. Now it's been a great venture. Um, maybe not even that long. September. And you're not even, you know, you're not even selling real estate. Like a lot of people have the misconception that you're selling real estate. Like you're way beyond that, been beyond that for, for quite some time. And by the way, if you are, there's nothing wrong with that. That's where I started. Yeah. I mean, we were talking about two decades in the game, you know, we're talking about an innovator here, right? And, uh, where I'm, where I'm getting at is, is now, you know, you're raising money, you're investing money. Um, you're speaking on stages, you're coaching the best of the best. I witnessed this. People, people don't know and realize it around here, but I've watched and I see who the rooms that you speak in, the people you're next to, the people you're coaching. You know, these are other locals and other people, real big people that are around you that are getting knowledge and stuff like that you provide. Um, but you're raising capital, you know what I mean? Constantly deploying capital constantly. We've got a lot of silos over there. You know, um, where can they find you? What, what, what can they, you know, anybody listed this that wants to potentially is interested or something like that. Where would it, so wake, wake up to wealth podcasts, a lot of good stuff there. Be mentioned, uh, we've hit number one a few times, leapfrog and Dave Ramsey. And I don't have a $10 million budget a year. We've, we've done it on a shoestring budget. Um, mailbox money be on Instagram, Brandon, Brittingham on Facebook. Uh, that's where you can find me. Awesome. Awesome. Well, man, I listen, dude, and I'm not saying this for any other reason, cause you know how I am. I'll tell you fucking straight up, dude. Um, I just love you, man. Love you too. I think that, uh, I think that God puts people's in our lives for a reason. And I think that we've crossed. No, did he, by the way, no, did he? Yeah. Yeah. Pause, right? But I think that, um, God, you know, God, or whoever you pray to, whatever you're into, you know, that's who I connect with. It's put people, people, put people in our lives. And you know, you've left a big impact on my life and it's been more of the example and the ability to hold, hold fast on an example that you set. Hey, um, you just made me think of something. The other thing too, when you said, I can't even take his flowers. You know, he's so good. I love it. I love it. Cause you got, you got me, you got me in the mode of thinking. I love it though. I'm just, it's so impressive. When, when you, what you just said is the other thing, the why is I say to myself a lot, my internal conversation, which by the way, the conversation you have with yourself is the most important one every day. But one of the things that, um, I say to myself a lot, and I didn't always know or understand this, you know what I mean? I came to it, but I've been given a lot of these gifts to be the example. Right. So that's important to me just based on like what you said. When you ask why, well, do I need to be in the office at eight o'clock on a Sunday morning? I don't, but if someone else shows up at that time and sees me there, then they're going to say, man, I'm off. I got a Lambo fucking Bentley fucking range in the fucking warehouse and he's here eight o'clock and it's not material. I'm just saying, you know what I mean? And then they see it and then they see, man, he's goes and crush the stages, but he has a coach to teach him how to beg all these things. Man, brain is so fucking busy. He still shows up, goes to the gym. He's still eats clean, he's still drinking water. He's not going out. He's not drinking. Um, by me being the example, then that also impacts everybody else. And that's why I can't stop. 100%. And that's the thing, man, that I've learned so much, you know, rocking with you and you've done a lot for me and that's great. I mean, greatly appreciate it. And I hope I reciprocate that, but more importantly, man, it's, it's the example that you've set. It's the efficiency that you are and, and your word, man. It's just, it's cool to see from our hometown and, and, you know, peers and, and traveling amongst different circles, that level of integrity and that level example and all, you know, I'm just excited for what you got to come and excited for what you always unpack. And you, we've got announcements coming up this week and next month. And I mean, there's always something new. Sure. We're about to, it's a wild ride. We're getting ready. It really is. Man. What's this exciting ride? Damn right it is. Well, thank you for being on here, brother. You guys know the links, check him out, mailbox money, be on Instagram, wake up to wealth, you know, like and subscribe, listen to it. You know, he's got a book out on Amazon Prime or Amazon on Amazon. You know what I mean? That you can get, there's so many things this guy's a check him out on social media, man, he's, he's, he's a fire you want to be next to. But that'll do it with this episode of champ talk with Brandon Hudson. Guys, again, if you've gotten value out of this, please comment, like, subscribe, leave a review, set it to your friend, send it to your granny, give it to somebody. We love to hear your feedback and thank you guys for tuning in. What are you doing today to become a champion? Thanks, brother. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of Wake Up to Wealth. Be sure to appreciate it. 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