From Zero to 7 Figures with Travis Leavitt

[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:03 - (Jared Erni): This is the For Impact podcast, the destination for impact driven entrepreneurs striving to live life on their terms and create a ripple effect of positive impact in the communities they serve. Where we put your success stories center stage, dissecting the lessons learned, and sharing insights and ideas that will help you amplify your impact. And now, here's your host, Jared Ernie.

0:00:33 - (Jared Erni): All right, welcome everyone, to our live event. I'm so excited to announce our guest, Travis Levitt. Travis and I actually I wasn't going to say this, but I just felt inspired to. Travis and I were actually friends in high school, and as we grew up, we kind of went different ways, followed each other on Facebook here and there, but really reconnected later in life when we both realized we have both been on an entrepreneur journey.

0:01:02 - (Jared Erni): And it was really fun to connect and reconnect, actually over that entrepreneur journeys that we've both been on now. Travis is the owner of Levitt Automotive, started in 2017 in Logan, Utah, and he's built his auto repair business from scratch to over seven figures. He's been featured in magazines like Racket and Wrench, and he's now started other businesses in transportation and real estate. But what's really impressive is he continually finds ways to give back to his community.

0:01:34 - (Jared Erni): Currently, he's also the man behind the curtain for Utah's Thrive Business Summit and is passionate about helping other entrepreneurs break through their challenges and step into their full capacity to create impact as well. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce Travis. Thank you so much for joining us on this event.

0:01:53 - (Travis Leavitt): Appreciate the opportunity.

0:01:55 - (Jared Erni): So, Travis, usually what I like to start out with is just really kind of just share your story. What led you to getting inspired to start your own business and tell us a little bit about that journey you have been on.

0:02:10 - (Travis Leavitt): Yeah, I guess it really all started when I was a kid. I was always a kid on the side of the road selling stuff. And so whether it was snow cones or whatever it was, I was trying to find ways to make money. So my parents, my mom and dad, they were like, we always knew you were going to do something, go into business for yourself, do something big. And it's just always been a desire of mine to go into business for myself.

0:02:41 - (Travis Leavitt): So I really feel like it started as a kid. I held multiple jobs over the years back. I remember when I was early twenty s, I actually started a garage storage business, but I no idea what I was doing. I didn't know anything about anything. Classic example, if you don't know what you don't know. And it didn't do anything. I just closed it. I didn't even make any money at all, other than I spent a bunch of money on equipment and stuff like that.

0:03:19 - (Travis Leavitt): So I kind of always had the desire, but I didn't know what to do. And that was always my struggle. I'm like, if I just have the idea, I could do it. And I just never could think of the idea. So probably about 17 years ago, I got into automotive. I've always enjoyed automotive. In high school I took all the automotive programs and worked on my own cars and stuff. So I just got in the automotive field.

0:03:47 - (Travis Leavitt): So I worked as like a service advisor. I worked as a manager, as a technician. And then most recent, well before I started this shop, my boss made me a manager with the intent to take over the business. And when he retired, problem was he wasn't going to retire for seven years. And at that point I was mid thirty s at this point. And so I had the entrepreneur bug. I was ready for something. I was ready to do my own thing. And so I even offered to buy it from him.

0:04:30 - (Travis Leavitt): He didn't want to sell. And so that just got the gears in my head turning. I'm like, this is what I've done for so long. It's what I know. Let's just do this. So I started planning. I started running a business plan. I tried to do it the way you're supposed to do it. I ran projections. So I just took the plunge and the risk and went and did it. At the time I was married, I had three kids. I went from good paying job benefits to start shop.

0:05:09 - (Travis Leavitt): This crazy dream of mine. I've always felt like there was something more for me than just working for somebody. There's more potential, bigger things in life for me. Honestly, it hasn't been until the last six months that I've kind of figured out. I feel like what? That is the bigger thing in my life. But that's kind of how I started. Like I said, it started as I was a kid, kind of went through the years. But it's been a long time coming. I'm glad I did.

0:05:50 - (Travis Leavitt): There's.

0:05:51 - (Jared Erni): Everyone in their path of entrepreneurship always has challenges. And I'm curious Travis, what were some of the earliest challenges that you had in your business and how did you overcome them?

0:06:03 - (Travis Leavitt): Well, when I started the shop, I thought I knew how to do everything. I ran a shop and I figured I knew how to do it. But there's a lot more to it as an owner. So when we started, it was me and I brought one other guy on. He was my mechanic. I worked up front. I met him at a previous shop and brought him on board. And so it was just us two. And then honestly, the first month, full month that we were open, we probably did $7,000 in sales.

0:06:36 - (Travis Leavitt): Wasn't even enough to pay the bills. And I quickly learned that that's not going to cut it. The bills kept piling up. Piling up. I didn't even know anything. I didn't even know, I had to pay payroll tax. All of a sudden, they had payroll taxes come out. I'm like, what is this? So I had a call on them, like, why are you taking out this money? So I needed that money, and I feel like I did what a lot of people do. I kind of over projected. I'm like, oh, yeah, we should be able to do this.

0:07:08 - (Travis Leavitt): That wasn't the case, obviously. We built it up, but it took a while. There's just a lot of struggles and just trying to figure out how to run the business side of things. I mean, I remember trying to learn QuickBooks. I've never used it before, so I was asking people, having them try to help me, and it's just all this new stuff, and it just started weighing on me, just super stressful. And I remember, obviously, where we weren't making a whole lot of money.

0:07:46 - (Travis Leavitt): I had to take out what little bit of money I had in my 401. I had to take that out just to make payroll and to pay rent and everything. And then there was times when things got pretty dark. I'm, like, asking myself, why am I doing this? Why am I doing this to myself? I left this good paying job. There's got to be more to mean my family would have gatherings down in Salt Lake. I couldn't even afford to go to Salt Lake. I couldn't even pay the gas, and gas was cheaper that time compared to what it is now.

0:08:20 - (Travis Leavitt): I couldn't even afford it. So my family is like, hey, we'll pay for it. And so I feel bad. I'm like, it felt like a failure, not only to myself, but to my family. They were all counting on me and relying on me and everything. I'd see little glimpses of light, and I'd come up for water, and then something will happen and just push me back down. I mean, it's just one thing after another. But I think the big thing know, I didn't give up.

0:08:55 - (Travis Leavitt): And I was all and feel like I'm starting to get a little emotional here, Travis.

0:09:05 - (Jared Erni): Me too, actually. I just want to take a second and just mean, we've got audience here too. But how many of you if you want to put in the chat, how many of you have ever felt like what Travis is telling us felt like that with him? Here's the thing. I hope you're okay, Travis. I just kind of cut you off. Is that all right that I share this for a moment? This is so important to me to share. And we start businesses because we have a dream. There's something better that we feel empowered to create.

0:09:41 - (Jared Erni): And what Travis went through and what I've been through. And I think what many of you can relate to is that we are doing this first to create the life that we want, have more financial freedom, time freedom. To be able to do what we want with who we want, when we want, but also use our God given skills that we have to impact the community in positive ways and fill a life of abundance. But what happens is and what Travis is sharing is like, we do this and it becomes the exact opposite.

0:10:12 - (Jared Erni): We actually have less time because we're working so much. We have less money. We can't even afford to pay ourselves sometimes. And why do we keep doing it? So, Travis, you didn't give up, but why did you keep pushing through?

0:10:28 - (Travis Leavitt): Well, I think a lot of it was because my family depended on me. I didn't want to quit. I didn't want to give up. I didn't want to feel like a failure. I was all in. I left everything, and I didn't want to go back. And so I'm a big believer in the power of the mind. And, I mean, if you're all in and you don't have a choice but to make it work, you'll find a way to make it work. I was at a conference years ago, and one of the instructors said something like this.

0:11:02 - (Travis Leavitt): But basically if you're like four stories up and you had, like a two x four going between two buildings, would you walk across it? And everybody's like, well, no. And there's a few that said yes, but most people said no. And they're like, well, what if your kids were on the other side and the building was burning down? Would you do it? And they're like, yeah. I mean, your mind's so powerful, you can do whatever you think you whatever you think you can, or you can't do what you think you can't do.

0:11:31 - (Travis Leavitt): So mine's so powerful. And the other thing is the why behind it. This is what I wanted to do, and I didn't want to quit. I wanted like you said, I wanted to have the time and financial freedom. I wanted a certain lifestyle. I wanted to give my family everything that they deserve because I wasn't the only one sacrificing. They were too. We were living off credit cards for two years. In the beginning, personal and business, I had no money.

0:12:08 - (Travis Leavitt): Our credit card, we pay the bare minimum. My wife worked at a restaurant and made a little bit there part time, but we made no money. I had nothing. I was selling stuff just to try to make it work. I just pushed and pushed. I feel like on the other side of fear and failure is success. And so I just push. I was scared, but I just kept pushing. And finally I feel like we came out on the other side.

0:12:41 - (Jared Erni): Thanks for sharing that. I think it's neat that you get vulnerable and you're comfortable being vulnerable and sharing some of those things, because often we look at the success people have, but we never see what it took to get there. And Travis, this isn't offensive. You're like the 1% crazy that really believed in yourself to such a degree, they didn't matter what was going on. You weren't quitting.

0:13:11 - (Jared Erni): And I want to honor you for that, but also share with our group here. That's inspiring because we can look at others and go, oh my gosh, I'm in that situation right now. And if he could do it, I could do it. Or I've been there. I relate. I know what that feels like too. And I think that's what's really powerful about community like this. Surrounding yourself with people who have either crossed that path or are on that path or who have been there before so that we can elevate ourselves. Because 100% everyone here, you may have felt this at one time or another, most people do not understand us as entrepreneurs. They don't get why we do the things we do.

0:13:50 - (Jared Erni): If they had two months where they had to dig into their four hundred and one K to pay their payroll, they'd quit. Like, no, let me go back to this job with benefits that's probably a little more comfortable. So we're all part of that 1% crazy. But it's the 1% crazy that changes the world and changes our communities and changes our lives. And so I hope that each of you are getting some inspiration from listening to Travis's story that helps you take that energy and keep it going.

0:14:20 - (Jared Erni): We all need that.

0:14:21 - (Travis Leavitt): And to go kind of there's, talk to a lot of business owners that are kind of 1ft in, 1ft out. They're trying to start their own thing, but they don't want to give up a paycheck. And so I talked to them, like, the mind is so powerful. If you know you have a paycheck coming in, you're not going to do everything you can to make your other thing work, your business work. But when you're all in, you're all in, mindset mean, it's kind of funny. My accountant right now, he was kind of in that situation, and I had this conversation with him, and a week later he's like, well, I took your advice, Travis, and I was like, what's that? He's like, I'm all in.

0:15:10 - (Travis Leavitt): You better make it work. But it's just so true. I mean, you got to have both feet in and be willing to do whatever it takes to go through the ups and the downs and sacrifice. And just like what you said, there's so many people from the outside looking in, they see all these people that are successful, and they're just like, man, it must be nice. But they don't see all the hardships living off credit cards and all the time, just everything else that went into it.

0:15:43 - (Travis Leavitt): And those are typically the people that are just they want this, they want that, but they're not willing to do whatever it takes to do it. They're not willing to take action.

0:15:53 - (Jared Erni): You remind me a little bit travis about a part I learned in the book Atomic Habit. Actually, here we go. If anyone's read this, atomic Habits, wonderful book. Have you read this, Travis? Do you know what I'm talking about?

0:16:07 - (Travis Leavitt): I've heard it. I don't think I've read it. I've read a bunch, but I don't think I've actually read that one.

0:16:11 - (Jared Erni): Well, he talks about some really great tricks with habits. But one of the things you touched on and I think this is really great, about how you shift your own identity here. And there's a study that talks about people wanting to quit smoking and if your conversation or your identity is like if someone handed you a cigarette and you said, no thanks, I'm trying to quit, there was such a high failure rate. I can't remember the statistics, but it's like 80% or more of those people ended up falling back into their old habit.

0:16:44 - (Jared Erni): But the people who took the identity shift and said, no thanks, I'm not a smoker anymore.

0:16:50 - (Travis Leavitt): Right.

0:16:51 - (Jared Erni): There's a difference there between no thanks, I'm trying to quit and no thanks, I'm not a how you. It's probably different for everything, but everyone there's different ways to do it. And Travis, you found a mechanism to help you literally create that identity that made you all in, whatever it was. You were not 1ft in, 1ft out, but it was that all in mentality that made you keep pushing through when it got hard. And I respect the crap out of.

0:17:16 - (Travis Leavitt): People who do that. Yeah, that's one reason I have the sign on my wall here. Whether you think you can, you Think You can't, you're right. So you tell yourself you can. You believe you what? You can achieve whatever you believe if you believe it and put in the work, take.

0:17:40 - (Jared Erni): Think because we've had conversations about this in the past, you've become pretty sophisticated with your marketing. And one of the things I've learned is we can be the best at what we do. And I know Travis, by the way, guys, travis provides some of the best, if not the best automotive services I know of in that whole valley. So he is, I would say the best out there, but you can be the best, but that doesn't mean people are going to come to you.

0:18:11 - (Jared Erni): Your marketing is the vehicle that gets your message to market and it's how you cut through the noise and stand out. And so I'm curious maybe, Travis, what lessons have you learned around your own marketing and how you connect to the community to thrive the way that you do with your business today?

0:18:30 - (Travis Leavitt): With my marketing, big thing is I tell everybody here we have to do whatever we have to do to create an exceptional customer service. Tell them customer service above all else. As long as we are doing that, the money and the sales will follow. I'm a big believer in first impressions, whether it's the appearance of the people working here, the appearance of the building, the parking lot, whatever, because you only get one first impression.

0:19:00 - (Travis Leavitt): So with all the marketing I do, and I do quite a bit, I spend a bunch of money, I'm trying to create opportunities for us. And that's kind of how I look at it, is when I get a new customer in here, it's an opportunity for us to wow them and to show them what we can do and let them try us out. I kind of use a tagline sometime like, let us earn your trust. And so when new customer comes in here, as long as we do what we're supposed to do, make them happy, give good service, good repairs and whatnot, then hopefully they'll keep coming back. They'll refer people. And ultimately, I think we can all agree that referrals are ultimately the best way to get people because they already have a form of trust in us.

0:19:49 - (Travis Leavitt): And so I think if we focus on that and going above and beyond to create that experience for the customer, then it goes a long ways. If we're not just about the sale or about the money, a lot of people, especially if they get desperate and they're in those hard times, especially in the beginning, they just get desperate. So maybe they take advantage a little bit, but I feel like if they keep doing that, it's going to catch up and hurt them in the long run.

0:20:19 - (Travis Leavitt): I'm a believer in karma. Do good things, good things happen, give or gain, all that. So like in the beginning, so we were in business for probably two months, less than two months. And just as a way to try to make more money, I'd buy a car and try to fix it up and going to sell it. But the first year in business, like I said, less than two months, we end up giving it away. We went on Facebook and asked people to nominate somebody deserving in a need.

0:21:00 - (Travis Leavitt): Because no matter how bad my situation was, there's somebody else out there that's struggling more than I am. And so we end up giving it to a family that was deserving and in need. And that kind of started a trend and now we've given seven cars away. But I'm a big believer in that and I feel like that's one of the reasons for our success is that we've had that mentality and we try to do things in the community.

0:21:30 - (Travis Leavitt): We regularly donate money or be part of other events for local nonprofits and be a sponsor and stuff like that, just to try to help out. I told my wife in the beginning, when I'm in a position to be able to help others, I want to. And so I feel like in business, as we become more successful, it's our responsibility to give back, whether it's financially or with our knowledge or our time. And so I mean, I've kind of done that, but I'm trying to do it even more so, and that's one of the things with this summit that I'm putting on, is to take that to a whole new level.

0:22:12 - (Travis Leavitt): But I'm a big believer in that. So if people aren't getting involved in the community and give it back, it should be.

0:22:21 - (Jared Erni): Guys, I've seen Travis. I probably saw the first time you did that, actually, and I remember that that's always stuck with me being able to rally the community behind him and nominating a special family in need to donate that vehicle to. That is very cool. Could you share Travis kind of a segue a little bit on this? But by the way, I believe in that. Being able to create that impact is so important. I thank you for sharing that.

0:22:49 - (Jared Erni): A lot of entrepreneurs have this defining AHA moment, and I'm curious if you can look back on your journey and there's, like, this pivotal moment that just really shaped your business and your approach to it. Do you have something like that that you could share?

0:23:05 - (Travis Leavitt): Yeah, honestly, it probably wasn't until probably the spring of this year, and so we were already doing pretty well. I'd say pretty successful. We could always do more. There's always room for improvement. But I went to a conference, and they talked about they said, what's your big picture? What do you want? What are your goals? What's your vision? What kind of lifestyle do you want to live? What kind of car do you want to drive?

0:23:38 - (Travis Leavitt): How much money do you want to make each month? Just all these things and put all that into a picture and think about it. Okay, now that you have that in your head, how do you get there and then work backwards and figure out how to get there? Because a lot of people, they'll dream, and they'll say, oh, yeah, that'd be nice, but they don't come up with some sort of plan to get there. And so I really thought about it and figured out, okay, if I want to make this much money, I want this, I want that, I want to travel, I want to go here and there.

0:24:11 - (Travis Leavitt): How do I get there? So I worked backwards. Honestly, it was after that that my mind just couldn't stop thinking about that. And I'm like, I don't know how much longer I have on this Earth. I mean, something can happen to anybody anytime, anywhere. My dad, my grandpa, and my uncle all died at 62. So I'm like, do I have 20 years left? I don't know. And so I need to get going now to live. The sooner I can get to where I want to be, the longer I can live the lifestyle I want.

0:24:45 - (Travis Leavitt): So I don't have time to waste. It's go time. Let's go. And so I just started putting everything into action, but just by I don't know, there was just something about that conference and just a simple concept, I feel like, but it was super powerful, and it's something I never really thought about. I've always been a big believer in goals and stuff like that, but this, I felt like, kind of took it to a new level, and not only like I said, what are your goals, but just how do you actually get there?

0:25:19 - (Jared Erni): That's really cool. That one thing I connect with because I literally just came back from a conference myself, and when you leave that, I feel, travis, if you've felt this, so much energy and drive and new ideas and inspiration that you get from surrounding yourself with people and being in those rooms and environment. So I love going to conferences, and I'm curious, like, anyone joining us, too, if you want to put your hand into the chat, how many of you have gone to conferences that you felt have just been so inspiring and directional for you, giving you the clarity you need? I'm curious. Go ahead and put them in the chat if you are. I'll watch for that. But Travis, why do you go to conferences?

0:26:06 - (Travis Leavitt): What you know, you go for knowledge, but it's the conferences where I feel like you get fired up, you get motivated and inspired sometimes. So I go to conferences at least quarterly, and sometimes at the end of that quarter, you're starting to get burned out, maybe frustrated, depressed, whatever it may be, but then you go back to conference and get fired up, and you network with other people. You can talk with other people who are like minded, who are going through the same thing you are, get advice and just connect with them. But yeah, you just come away fired up.

0:26:46 - (Travis Leavitt): I feel like that's like I'm part of a coaching company, and I feel like that's most of where I get my value from is the conferences.

0:26:54 - (Jared Erni): That's really cool there. And one thing I want to point out is conferences is one way to do it. But what I think the principle behind this is surround yourself with the right people. Surround yourself with people. Because when you're doing this on your own, oh, my gosh, I wouldn't be here if it were just me. It's the inspiration, the strength, the drive, and the energy that I get from surrounding myself with the right people that has helped me so much.

0:27:25 - (Travis Leavitt): Well, it's just like, why reinventing the will? Somebody's already been there, done that. You go to these conferences, guaranteed there's somebody in the room who's been there, done that, and you can just connect with them. It's huge, massive.

0:27:41 - (Jared Erni): Well, and one way that we are doing this is actually right now, we've got people joining us. Like we're a community. This is a community, too, and it's not in person. And there's strength to be in person, but that's the beauty of the world today. We have technology to create connections and engagement in ways that we couldn't otherwise connect with people. And so I am grateful to have, first of all, grateful, Travis, to have you here to share this, but also grateful for all those joining us and part of this community that we've built, too.

0:28:10 - (Jared Erni): Travis, another question I have is, what advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to start their business that aligns like you did, aligns with your core values, but also is able to contribute to the community? What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs out there?

0:28:30 - (Travis Leavitt): I would say probably know what your core values are. That's probably a good one. Know what your core values are, have a mission statement and stick with it. We have our core values written down, posted in three different spots around the shop for employees to see, customers to see. And so we really need to conduct our business with those core values in mind. So as long as we know those core values, then we should business.

0:29:02 - (Travis Leavitt): And one of our things is customer service above all else. So, like I said earlier, as long as we're doing that, the sales and the money will follow, even though we might have to take a hit now and then lose money here, ultimately. And like I said earlier, get involved in the community. If you get involved in the community, they will typically back up on service. And, you know, if you can't give back financially, just give back.

0:29:46 - (Travis Leavitt): There's a lot of things that you can do. Definitely.

0:29:55 - (Jared Erni): That's really cool you say that, Travis. I always felt like the core values and the mission statement are kind of like a corporate type of thing to do. And, yeah, I mean, internally, I know what I'm about, but I never really took the time to think through and identify what that means to me until less than a year ago. I want to say probably six, eight months ago, somewhere like that. I was having a really hard time hiring for this position, and I was hiring for people who, on paper were a perfect fit.

0:30:31 - (Jared Erni): But what happened was culturally, they were terrible fit, and I had a hard time figuring this out. So I was working with one of my coaches, and he said, look, what's your mission statement? What are your core values? I was like, Well, I don't have one really defined. He said, well, here's what I want you to do. I want you to sit down and take a week to really figure out what that looks like. What is your mission and what are your core values?

0:30:55 - (Jared Erni): And then when you go to hire for this position, don't hire for what it is on paper. Hire for do they align with your core values? Because that's something you can't teach. That is how you hire for a cultural fit. The stuff on paper you can teach. I said, oh, that's opposite of what I. Always thought or was taught about hiring, but I love it. And I tell you what, the next hire I made perfect cultural fit.

0:31:25 - (Travis Leavitt): Yeah, I totally agree with that. Super important. That's one thing, that culture.

0:31:48 - (Jared Erni): Well, entrepreneurship often comes with its share of setbacks and failures and you've shared some of yours. But can you share maybe just one challenging moment from your journey and how you bounce back from it.

0:32:03 - (Travis Leavitt): Like it has a lot challenges. Let's see. I feel like even still to this day, it's something I'm working on. I feel like I've become a better leader over time. But just honestly, dealing with employee issues sometimes, especially the bigger you get, the more it's going to happen. And so honestly, that's probably one of the hardest things for me. And so just to be able to hold them accountable. In the past I did it and I let things slide. But I think to go along with the whole culture thing, you let things like that slide, it affects the culture because people are like, why is that guy getting away with it? Why do I have to do it? But he doesn't have to.

0:32:53 - (Travis Leavitt): It starts causing all sorts of issues and people lose respect for you. But then when you start holding people accountable, it'll make the others respect you. So I had to have some hard conversations. And I'm a believer that hard conversations equal easy life and easy conversations equal hard life. I've had to write people up. I've had to let people go. I've had a demote. I've learned yeah, learned the hard way not to give the title too soon.

0:33:28 - (Travis Leavitt): They need to earn title. But just to have that, I think the hard conversations equal easy life mentality has been big because I think we all know what we need to do sometimes, but it's just we're too scared to do it. We're too scared to have that conversation. We don't want conflict and all that, which I totally get because I don't want it either. But typically you have those hard conversations. It sucks in the moment, but it ends up making your life a whole heck a lot easier down the road.

0:34:00 - (Travis Leavitt): So, I mean, some of that stuff has probably been some of the biggest challenges. But as I've grown in business and as a know, I'm getting better at it easier and I realize it's what I have to.

0:34:17 - (Jared Erni): Um, Travis, what's next for you? Or what are your future goals and plans with the business and impact with.

0:34:26 - (Travis Leavitt): The community as well? Well, to go along with my big picture, I feel like I'm just getting I tell people I'm just getting started. I'm a pretty motivated and driven person, pretty competitive, and so I got a bunch of stuff in the works. So to really get to where I want to get, I probably will have in my mind right now, probably have four to five shops. I already have shop number two in the works that we close on the 27th of this month.

0:35:04 - (Jared Erni): Good for you.

0:35:05 - (Travis Leavitt): It's about an hour away from here, an hour south. And so this business, or the Thrive Business Summit that we're putting on in March 15 and 16th, that Jared is going to be part of, so super appreciative for that. It's something that I'm super excited about. I feel like it's going to be awesome to be able to help give back to the community and help small business owners, because people say it all the time, but I was a prime example of you don't know what you don't know.

0:35:41 - (Travis Leavitt): And like I said a little bit ago, why reinvent the wheel? Let's put this on. Let's help these business owners, teach them some stuff, motivate them, inspire them and all that. So I'm super excited about that. It's going to be fun. I got other businesses in real estate, so I'm not going to stop anytime soon. I'm going to keep going, doing all this stuff. That's kind of the business side of things. Family.

0:36:13 - (Travis Leavitt): It's honestly been in the last year, year and a half, I've actually been able to travel a little bit. I mean, honestly, now it's like I've gone every month somewhere. But for a while, I was stuck at that front counter. I couldn't leave and do anything because I had no money and I had to be there. I had nobody else. And so, just on a personal note, I be able to travel more with the family. That's important to me. So going to make that happen in the mix of all this.

0:36:43 - (Travis Leavitt): But when I'd see all these other successful business owners and have multiple businesses and I was like, how in the world do they do all this? Because I think about it and I'm exhausted. I was like, how in the heck do they do it? They only have so much time in the day. And then there's a simple concept, who not how. You got to find good people. You got to find the who to do the how. Got to find good people to work for you and you share your vision with them and have them make it happen.

0:37:21 - (Travis Leavitt): And so that's how I've been able to do all these things. I found good people who I can count on, rely on their help, make it happen. But to go along with people and employees, real quick little squirrel moment here. You need good people. You can't do it without them. And so you have to treat them well. You have to show appreciation. You have to pay them well. You have to give them good benefits. Like my guys here at the shop, they're making more than they've ever made before.

0:37:53 - (Travis Leavitt): Pay them well. They got good benefits. Sometimes it's the small things you do. Add a boy. Good job. Thanks. Just things like that that make a huge difference. We're all human. We like to hear it. So if we like to hear it, we should give it too. And we'll do other things too, like appreciation dinners and stuff like that, but just having good people and treat them well. Because especially once you start growing, you have to have people to grow.

0:38:21 - (Travis Leavitt): So if you don't have the people, you're kind of screwed.

0:38:26 - (Jared Erni): That principle of reciprocity works with your employees, works with your clients, over deliver, it's surprising to light they will give it right back.

0:38:35 - (Travis Leavitt): That's cool. Yeah. But to go along with what I said in the beginning, I always felt like there's something bigger, more meaning my life. And I feel like I'm starting to finally get to that point where I've kind of figured it out and a lot of it is doing these businesses. And I tell people the more successful I am, the more money I can make, the more I can give back in the community financially or with whatever my time or knowledge.

0:39:04 - (Travis Leavitt): So with this summit that we're putting on, I'm hoping it's going to change lives. Even if we can change one life, it'll be worth it. I know how it is to struggle and it sucks. So hopefully we can help change some lives and people can take away a few nuggets here and there and go back and take action and change some lives. But I don't know. Obviously I want to make some money. My ultimate goal is time and financial freedom. That's what I tell people.

0:39:40 - (Travis Leavitt): But you have to take action. I'm big on action. My coach that I have, he's just like, man, you come back from a conference or you talk about this and then it's like in play the next day. It's just like you take action. A lot of people don't. They talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk. And it's like, how bad do you have it? And I feel like a lot of it comes down to your why and why you want it. If your why is strong enough and powerful enough, you'll do whatever it takes.

0:40:09 - (Travis Leavitt): That's what I did in the beginning. I had to do whatever it took to make it work. I didn't have a choice. My family was counting on me. I was counting on me. Didn't want to let anybody down. Just my employee that I hired in the very beginning. He actually had six kids and moved here from like 4 hours away. So he was counting on me. So just all these people are counting on me. And so I couldn't let him down.

0:40:34 - (Travis Leavitt): But it's just the power of the mind. When you have to make it work, you have to do things. I mean, you'll do things, you'll step out of your comfort zone. You'll do whatever it takes to make it happen.

0:40:46 - (Jared Erni): That's awesome. I'm going to open this up, Travis. I'm going to let anyone who's joining us to pop in the chat. Any particular questions? Comments, advice, anything like that, that you'd like Travis or I to touch on for you, go ahead and pop those into the comments. And while we're waiting for some of those comments to come in, Travis, any other last tip? Actually, by the way, I really like your comment on taking action, so let me just touch on that for a minute.

0:41:21 - (Jared Erni): In the coaching space, I have found that there are certain clients that I really enjoy working with, and then there are other clients who it's a trial to really get them to do stuff, you know what I mean? But the ones who get the best results are the ones who are so active, so engaged on it, they're checking in with me, not waiting on us to check in on them. So I've always gone into the approach of, like, I am going to be the type of client I want to work with.

0:41:55 - (Jared Erni): Does that make sense? And so I have several coaches myself, and so when I work with one of those coaches, I commit to myself like, I'm taking action in the next 24 hours, something is getting done for this. And I really connect with what you said on that, Travis. That is how you get fast results.

0:42:16 - (Travis Leavitt): Committing and doing the difference between successful people, people who are successful and not successful are successful people take action. Yeah.

0:42:29 - (Jared Erni): And lots of it. So let me tell you, back when I started doing all of this coaching, getting into the space that I am in, it didn't come fast, it didn't come easy, but that's right. Most people will relate to that. I remember I'm saying this because actually, just the other day, one of my coaches that I first started working with, in the very beginning, he made a post right after funnel hacking Live, and he said, Guys, I had two people come up to me and say, thank you. You've changed my life.

0:43:03 - (Jared Erni): They both had done anywhere between half a million to $3 million in business since working with him. Like, massive successes. And it meant so much to him that he was like, man, I think I might come out of retirement. That feels so good. And so I actually saw that comment, and I saw him a few times at the conference, but he was always busy, so I didn't want to interrupt him, and I didn't get a chance to actually talk to him. But I said, Dan, I want to be one of those people, too, because you have changed my life. And let me tell you, when I started working with him, my wife was a schoolteacher and supported us financially for ten years while I was trying to figure this business thing out.

0:43:45 - (Travis Leavitt): She's awesome.

0:43:47 - (Jared Erni): I don't know a lot of wives that would do that and stick with me that long. Took me ten years to learn the lessons and to learn on my own and trial and error to get to where I needed to be to actually start seeing some real fruit from this. But the day I was able to go, hey, Steph, you don't have to go back to your job if you don't want. And I could retire my wife. And then the day we made a decision to sell everything and travel full time for two years with my kids, four kids.

0:44:16 - (Jared Erni): And being able to give my family opportunities like that never would have happened if I hadn't started back with that one coach who put me on the right path because I was darn good at what I did. I just didn't have the right path to get that two people. And that's what he taught me how to do and structure it properly. My gosh, it took tons of action. But I'll tell you what, I've done webinars where I expected 100 people to show and I had six. And by the way, one of them was my wife Stephanie, and the other was my best friend Brandon, who was just commenting to make it look so I had someone to talk to.

0:44:54 - (Jared Erni): And what most people do is they go, oh, I tried it, but it didn't work. So let me try something different. And the reason I didn't do that, if I were on my own, I probably would have done that. If it was me, I was like, I'll try this thing and it didn't work and I'd try something different. But because I had a coach tell me this is the framework to follow, I told myself this process, it's not that it doesn't work. This process works. I just was crappy at it. I didn't do it good enough. And so I did it again and I did it again and I did it again and I did it again. In the last event, I had over 225 businesses join that event and it's accelerating and it's so cool to see that. But that's what I want to share with all of you guys and Travis's comment on taking action is it's not just a one time thing. Repeat, repeat, repeat. If you're not seeing success, it's not that it doesn't work. It's just you're not good enough yet. And keep going.

0:45:45 - (Travis Leavitt): You're going to get there. Just goes along with the coaching. Why reinvent the will if you have a coach can help guide you in the right direction? And I believe, too, that things happen the way they're supposed to in this life and people are put in our lives for a reason. I've met some people over the years that I feel like have literally changed my life. And I'm not a super social person. I don't typically like crowds.

0:46:15 - (Travis Leavitt): I'm not a networking kind of guy. But over the past six months to a year, I'm really seeing the benefit of it and how making these connections and networking, it can open doors, put you in contact with other people, and it can potentially change your life. Coaching. Some people are like, I don't need a coach. I know everything. I mean, professional athletes have coaches. Everybody can use a coach. So, I mean, even as far along you are and me and whoever else, we could all use a coach.

0:46:52 - (Travis Leavitt): So a lot of the things is sometimes we're in our business, we have blinders on. We only see a little bit of what's going on, but we have an outsider looking in and say, a 40,000 miles view. They can see stuff that we can't see, and maybe they've been there, done that already so they can see it even better. But by having an outsider looking in like that, it can be huge. We don't know everything. And so by listening to others who have done mean, it can change our what?

0:47:30 - (Jared Erni): Travis, I think we're about up for time, but if we just want to wrap this up, what is maybe the one best piece of advice you could leave with this group today that would be encouraging and something that may be your biggest lesson that you could share with them?

0:47:46 - (Travis Leavitt): I would really say for everyone to really think about what your big picture is, what your goals are, what your vision is. Because depending on what that is, you're going to run your business different, you're going to live your life different. So really know what your big picture is and then work backwards and figure out how to get there and then take action. I mean, those are the two things that I've especially learned in the last six months that have changed my life, opened so many more doors.

0:48:18 - (Travis Leavitt): And so I would encourage everyone to do that. That's awesome.

0:48:23 - (Jared Erni): Thank you. Travis. That reminds me too of in light with that, and I'll just add to that because it's such a good point when you do that, you start to make decisions based on not where you are right now, but where you want to be. And instead of being reactive based on where you are right now, those decisions you make will propel you so much faster to where you are trying to go. And I love that.

0:48:47 - (Travis Leavitt): What? Great.

0:48:49 - (Jared Erni): Travis, thank you so much for taking your time today to join Been. Obviously for me, it's been a treat just reconnecting with you and diving into our entrepreneur journeys together. But more importantly, thank you so much for the impact you've provided and are continually striving to create not just for your community, but our community. And just the ripple effect that creates. If you help one person be able to share their God given skills and talents with another, that uplifts them in a positive way, that ripple effect can spread and we'll never know how the impact really is there.

0:49:26 - (Jared Erni): But I love that and I know that means so much to you.

0:49:28 - (Travis Leavitt): So.

0:49:28 - (Jared Erni): Thank you, Travis. Really appreciate it.

0:49:29 - (Travis Leavitt): Yeah, thank you. Appreciate it.

0:49:31 - (Jared Erni): Thank you for tuning into the For Impact podcast, where we're all about driving positive change through entrepreneurship. Remember, your impact matters and your journey matters. If you found inspiration in today's episode, please subscribe rate and leave a review. Your feedback fuels our mission to empower impact driven entrepreneurs like you. You can stay connected with us on social media and go to forimpactpodcast.com

0:50:04 - (Jared Erni): to take our impact marketing challenge. Keep pursuing your dreams, making an impact and living life on your terms.