S1E1: Entrepreneur Stories - The Art of War and Business: TJ White's Strategy for Success Beyond the Military

I am thrilled to introduce my good friend and fellow entrepreneur, TJ White. From a youth spent in Southeast Kansas to a distinguished military career with seven combat deployments, TJ has seamlessly transitioned to entrepreneurship. His ventures, including Wooby Hoody and a thriving real estate portfolio, are testaments to his drive and dedication to building a life of purpose and success.

TJ shares his transformative journey from military service to entrepreneurship. His story is not just about transitions; it's about the courage to embrace new challenges and the resilience to turn adversity into opportunity. We delve into how he founded Whoobie Hoodie, ventured into real estate, and the pivotal moments that shaped his entrepreneurial path.

For anyone inspired by the entrepreneurial spirit, this episode is packed with valuable lessons and strategies. TJ’s experience highlights the importance of risk-taking, the role of failure in growth, and the power of networking through masterminds. If you're looking to ignite your entrepreneurial journey or take your business to the next level, TJ's story embodies the perseverance and strategic thinking necessary to succeed. Be sure to check out Whoopee Hoodie and follow TJ’s ongoing adventures in business and life.

Questions Answered in this Episode:
1. How can military experience fuel entrepreneurial success?
2. What are the best strategies for transitioning from a military career to starting a business?
3. Insights on starting a real estate business after the military—what does it take?

Timestamps of Key Moments:
(1:22 - 3:21) TJ White shares his background, including his military service and his initial decision to enter entrepreneurship.
(8:42 - 12:41) TJ discusses the transition from security contracting to starting his own business, Whoobie Hoodie, and the challenges he faced during this transition.
(18:42 - 20:08) TJ explains the growth and scaling of his business, particularly focusing on the details of managing a growing enterprise and the importance of diving into the specifics of business operations.
(24:10 - 25:57) TJ talks about his entry into real estate investing, providing a crash course in acquiring and managing rental properties, which could be invaluable for listeners interested in real estate.
(28:25 - 29:23) The conversation covers the importance of networking in entrepreneurship, particularly in the context of masterminds, and how these connections can accelerate business growth.

https://www.visioninmotion.co

Transcript

0:00

Hello, hello and welcome to Motion Matters, the entrepreneurial podcast where we talk about all the trials and tribulations and the difficulties that it takes to make your entrepreneurial aspirations come to fruition. And I want to take a second and introduce a good friend of mine. His name is TJ White. We mutually met at a mastermind that we're both a part of and found out that we had a similar military background and also have very similar entrepreneurial aspirations and wanted to invite him on here to tell his stories and help inspire other people. So with that, welcome, TJ. Hey, thanks, Jamie. I appreciate it. Thanks for inviting me on. Awesome. So glad to have you. So yeah, I want to kick this off and I kind of want to just kick it off with if you could give like the elevator version of kind of your background and then transition into that moment in which you kind of decided that you were going to, you know, start working for yourself and then we'll take it from there. I grew up in Kansas, Southeast Kansas and kind of, I guess, typical childhood, you know, grew up decent in school, wasn't very interesting to me. By the time I was a teenager, I was partying, getting in trouble. 17, I was on juvenile diversion, ended up staying on that. So I was 19. And as soon as I got off, like I always want to join the military. So as soon as I got off diversion, I immediately went down there to enlist. This was in 2005. And so obviously after 9-11, the wars were going on and yeah, enlisted. I wanted to go be a ranger and I got that in my contract option 40. So I went basic airborne rip, went to second range of battalion. I was there till 2012, did seven combat deployments, three to Iraq, four to Afghanistan, got out, started doing security contracting, still going overseas. I did that for about 10 years until 2021. And then that went away and I realized that I needed to find something else that was going to, I guess, replace my income. I knew I didn't want to get a job. I knew I wouldn't be able to hold a job. It's not me going to sit in an office. It's not my thing. So that's kind of what got me into real estate. And I guess, let me back up real quick. About 2018, I wanted to start, I wanted a whoopee hoodie. So I started looking for one, I couldn't find one. And then that's what got me to start whoopee hoodie is I figured if I wanted it, there was other people that wanted it. And that whole thing started, we kicked off about 2019 is when we officially opened. So I had that kind of going, but I wasn't putting a lot of effort or energy into it. It was just kind of like a back burner thing. I would take like a duffel bag when I deployed overseas, and I would sell them to my friends and stuff. And then 2021 is when we really got dialed in. We started really building whoopee hoodie up. We started focusing on real estate. And now we are entrepreneurs, I guess. So I know in the military, we have a bad habit of doing this. For the people that don't know what whoopee hoodie means, tell them what that is. So a whoopee is your poncho liner that you get issued. It's a lightweight polyester nylon blanket. There's some sort of magic that goes with it that when it's really hot out, the thing's just nice and comfortable and feels cool, blocks the wind. When it's really cold out, somehow this thing keeps you incredibly warm. When you're hungry, you wrap up with this thing and your hunger goes away. I don't know how it works, but yeah, we took that, turned it into a jacket. And yeah, here we are. And so that's like whoopee is, it's called a poncho liner, but whoopee is, you know, the little kids blanket that they take with them everywhere. Whoopee, like you don't go anywhere without it. And so yeah, whoopee hoodie just kind of makes sense. Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, for everybody in the military, I kind of took an uncalculated, if you will, poll on what the best piece of military gear ever created. And I think predominantly speaking, everybody votes that the poncho liner is the best thing ever commonly referred to as the whoopee. So I got a bunch of questions, but I want to jump back for a second to the moment that you kind of were talking about where you were contracting and then you were making that mental transition again with the whole point of this podcast is really just trying to, you know, pull back the layers a little bit and talk about it and kind of understand because let me just frame this out a little bit. I think one of the things when I get in my soapbox issues, when I'm sitting here talking about, you know, with my friends and family is I consistently say to them, look, you're standing at the proverbial cliff. The problem is, is that the fear is inhibiting your desires to be able to after your aspirations. All your buddies are down there swimming. You want to swim, the water's clear, but it's 40 feet and you're scared as shit. And so you won't take that leap of faith. And so with that, I think, you know, connecting that with the entrepreneurial aspirations, as we both know, the vast majority of people will never take that leap. And even if they do, they're going to run into one thing and it's going to stop them. So with that being said, my question I'm trying to ask you is kind of tell me what you were feeling, what the thought process was not only in your head, but with your family on, I'm going to stop making this money that I've been making overseas and take a leap of faith and try to build something from nothing. Like I said, I had started this in 2018 and it wasn't really, it was never something that I saw as like a business, you know, it was something more like a side hustle, make some extra cash, do it for a year or two. And then, you know, once I sell out, I'm done. And it just, I was just listening to customers and everything. And they're like, Hey, can you do this? And, you know, I would bring them overseas and sell them to the guys and they would take them out in town and find a seamstress that could, you know, they were cutting them off the middle and having zippers attached to them. And, you know, I was just like, okay, you know, tweaking them. So they got it how they liked it. And then I would take that and just, you know, for our next batch, that's what we would do. And then 2021 happened, man. And it, I mean, obviously it changed the world and I was put in a position where I had to make a decision of, you know, stick to my morals and my values and my beliefs and do what I thought was right. And unfortunately that meant I went home and I lost my job and it's something that I was comfortable with. And don't get me wrong. I was scared shitless when it happened because I was married. I had two kids, two one-year-olds. I had a mortgage that I had to pay. And it was absolutely terrifying, but it was something that, you know, for me, for me, the choice was simple. That leap was terrifying, but it was something I knew I had to jump. And so we did that and, you know, my wife supported me the whole way. She's helped me the whole way. She's, yeah, she's been absolutely amazing through this whole process. And now we're kind of at a point where, you know, we're not just treading water, we're swimming, you know, it's becoming a lot easier. We're building and we're growing because of this leap of faith that we both took. I guess I kind of grabbed her hand and jumped, you know, I don't know how excited she was to jump. But yeah, we took that leap and everything has worked out because we bet on ourselves and we didn't kind of bet on ourselves. We bet on ourselves 100% and said this, it's sink or swim, not to get too cliche with all these metaphors, but it was sink or swim. And it was, we're doing this no matter what. And if that doesn't work, then we'll figure out what's next. And I told myself on the flight home, I was like, I don't care if I'm a nighttime janitor and I'm cleaning floors, I'm making coffee, I'm a bar back slash bouncer at the bar. And then I work a nine to five doing something else too. Like, I don't care. But I knew once I took that leap, it was, it was, we're going to be successful. That's it. That was our only option. One way or another, we were going to be successful. Yeah, that's, that's awesome. So I don't want to repeat the same thing, but I just want to ask this one specific thing is when you were processing that, whether that was in the plane ride back or after you got back and you were talking to your wife and stuff, why not just go out and get another W2 job? You're fully capable. You have a great resume. You know, most businesses love hiring veterans because they know they have a good work ethic and they're going to get shit done. So why not do that? And then as opposed to embarking on your own mission, like what was, what was the driving factor there? It's, it's just something I couldn't do. I mean, there, there's really nothing, nothing else to it. It was, I was paying attention to my gut, my gut instincts. And you know, one, one way was at that fork in the road, there was my life and my adventure and me doing exactly what I wanted to do. And then there was me fulfilling somebody else's dreams and building something for somebody else and pretty much sacrificing what I wanted out of my life. And you know, when, when you got, when I got pushed against the wall like that and you're standing there, it's, you know, you, I had already taken, taken the leap by going home. And at that point it was like, whatever I'm all in and I'm not all in on somebody else's dreams. I'm going to go all in on mine. That's awesome, man. I mean, that's the, that's the most difficult part is to get somebody to go past there and take that initial leap. I wanted to ask you, I wrote down some questions before we started. I wanted to ask you what, in your own words, like what, what role do you think that failure plays in an entrepreneur's journey? Massive, massive role. Yeah. I'm sure there's a million quotes about this, but if you're not failing as an entrepreneur, you're not, you're not doing it right. You're doing something wrong. Yeah. It's, it's where you learn your best lessons. If you're winning all the time, again, you're not doing something right. And you're not learning what you could be learning because it's when things don't work and you solve that problem, that's where you're building your character. That's where you're gaining your experience and right, wrong, or indifferent, you have to make decisions. And those decisions are going to lead you to, Hey, this is working, do more. Hey, this didn't work. How do we fix it? And this is how you're going to start growing your business is through these failures and these mishaps. And sometimes it's just a lack of knowledge. Like you don't know any better and you made the best decision you could. And then you learn afterwards that that wasn't right. But, but the thing is, you can't let that stop you because it's, it's going to happen. It's a part of it. You know, it's, it's, it's, I mean, it's as much like tripping and falling as a toddler is, you know, the it's, it's like that, you know, it's going to happen. It's going to happen over and over again. And that's how you get good at walking is you constantly make these mistakes. Can you think of like one major failure moment that, that kind of became a pivotal moment in which maybe you shifted your mindset or you shifted kind of how you were tackling your business? Like I previously mentioned, I think it was that time when, uh, I, I, uh, flew home that, that was the moment where, cause we already had, we'll be hoodie going. And it was just like a hobby, a back burner thing. And that was the moment where it was like, okay, we need to get serious about this. We need to really start putting in effort and trying to grow this. And as soon as we did that, as soon as we decided, like mentally shifted, like her and I had that conversation, as soon as we mentally shifted over to let's get serious and let's start working on this. And it took off and it was us holding it back. Um, it was ready and we just, we weren't doing the work. Um, I was doing the classic, you know, I'm an entrepreneur, look at me. And I wasn't, I just had a little hobby. I had a job and yeah. And now it's now it's like I said, it's, it's really starting to gain traction and take off and it's because of the work it's, you know, we're reading, we're in the mastermind together. It's, we're having conversations where, you know, capitalizing on, um, relationships that we have with other people who have already gone through this or are going through it right now. And, you know, just that, that flow of information back and forth. And it, it just gets easier. You're solving more problems and figuring it out faster. And, you know, you have your lessons learned back here in your SOPs back here that, you know, I'm not going to, not going to do that again. And then it just, it just goes from there. You bring up a mastermind. That's, that's something I had, you know, annotated down here that I wanted to also discuss. Cause I think, I don't know if you would agree with this, but I wish I had done it sooner. And I think for me, one of the biggest things is, you know, people talk about compressing your timeline, right. And, and I've think that that's been one of the greatest, greatest things from being in this mastermind is that, you know, you're B you're in and around in those, those relationships you make. So, you know, those help you so that you can, you know, compress your timeline. And so my question to you is what do you think has been the greatest thing from being in that mastermind? God, there's been so much. Like the, the, the, the number one thing that comes to the forefront of your mind, as far as like, man, this has allowed me to completely, you know, propel my, my business. I mean, it's all relative, right. I mean, we could put quantitative numbers and say four X, 10 X, whatever, but a lot of it is just, so what's that one thing that you really stands out in your mind as far as like, you know, I wouldn't be here at this stage in evolution, in my business, had I not. Relationships. A hundred percent. The people I've met in there, they have been 100% the biggest factor in our growth, real estate wise, e-com wise, relationship wise, health and fitness. Frazier, you know, he, he's helped us out tremendously. And that's, that's not even something it's, it's a business mastermind, you know, it doesn't matter what your business is, but that's generally what it's about. But I mean, it's, it's been overwhelming the amount of, the amount of information and knowledge in there that, you know, you, you couldn't acquire by yourself. It's, it's too much, but you just have all these, all these people who have, you know, gone their own ways. And then we all bring everything back to one central location and say, Hey, this is what I found, you know? And Hey, I got questions about this. And somebody's right there saying, Oh, I've already found the answer to that here. Take this. And dude, it's like trading. I just thought of this. It's like trading MRE shit, you know, like have crackers, want peanut butter. And somebody was like, yeah, I got peanut butter right here. Like, cool. I'll trade you. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. My next question was kind of a segue off of that is, you know, I mentioned wanting to inspire other people to be able to take action. So, so if you were, if you were talking to a group of, you know, people that haven't taken that leap of faith yet, what would be your pitch to them on all the reasons why, why they should? Oh man, that's simple. The best investment you can ever make is on yourself. It doesn't matter. I don't care who it is, what it is, what the business is, what the technology is, whatever. The best investment you will ever make is on yourself. It's on your education. It's on your work ethic. It's on the stuff that you are willing to do to succeed. Nobody else is going to do. And yeah, knowing what I know now, and you mentioned it briefly earlier, I wish I would have done all this sooner. I wish I would have known this sooner. I mean, I don't have any regrets, but yeah, knowing what I know now. It's a process. Yeah. And this is what I tell people that I'm talking to that are younger than me. My nephew, my niece, as I'm talking to all them, I'm like, look, you want to be successful, start doing successful things. And it's, it's super simple. You bet on yourself. You want to get healthy and stay out of trouble, go to the gym, you know, don't go to the bar. It's easy. Bet on yourself. Yeah, I actually mentioned this the other day online. Yeah, I'm six to typically been around 195. But as you get older, you tend to, you know, put on weight and stuff and dial the military. Anyway, I used to watch The Biggest Loser and I just sit there eating ice cream and fucking Mountain Dew and sour cream and onion chips and some gummy bears and Reese's peanut butter cups on the side. My wife would look over and she'd be like, what the hell are you doing, man? Like, that's ridiculous. So anyway, I think we tend to wallow in there. And like, we want it, right? We're inspired, we see other people's stories. But yeah, again, it goes back to that. That same analogy we keep using about are you or are you not willing to take action? Or will you step off the cliff? Yeah. So, so let's come back a little bit and just talk about whoopie hoodie in general, because so you're you're sell these, these items, you you know, you turn them into jackets, and you got poncho liners, and all this other gears. What stage are you guys at right now as far as like, trying to grow your business? I am starting to get into the details of the business. Like, I'm really working on on KPIs and stuff like that. And how I look at it is, like, when you go first take a course, like a military course, you know, it's it's broad strokes, you know, the phrase crawl, walk, run. That's how they start teaching it. So in the beginning, when you're just learning how to crawl, like, you can make a mistake, and it's not that damaging. You know, if you do something right, you know, good, that was a win. It's most likely it's not going to be something that turns into a million dollar company because you made one good choice. Like it's pretty easy. Your left and right limits are very wide. And you just kind of go from there. And I would say right now we're kind of exiting that walk phase and starting to get into the run phase where it's like, okay, left and right limits are a little bit a little bit tighter, we need to be more precise with the things that we're doing the decisions we're making. We can't just, you know, throw shit on the wall and see what sticks. There's, there's a method behind this madness now. And yeah, I think that's probably the best way to describe it is I've been deep diving into the numbers we had one of our what we had our best year ever last year. And we're already on track to beat that this year. And so that's awesome. So now I'm just diving into the details to, okay, what can we do here? What can we do there? Can we clean this up a little bit? Do we still need this? Are we using this? Let's push this off to the side and get rid of it. No, that's awesome, man. I'm excited to hear that for you guys and excited to watch the business grow, man. It's Thank you. Yeah, it's awesome. Mark always says it. And for those of you that might be listening to this and don't know who we're referring to, it's it's the mentor and the mastermind that TJ and I are in together. But but you know, he says let's win with winners. And yeah, it's a simple phraseology. But, you know, I, I think it's probably both why we did what we did when we went into the military, right? It's like, if I'm gonna, if I'm gonna serve the country and stuff, you know, why not, you know, go with the best of the best. It's nothing, obviously, against anybody else that serving everybody has a purpose, for sure. Yeah, firmly believe that. But it was to challenge ourselves and to be at the tip of the spear, you know, and when you're around there, it's just when you're down, other people are up, and they're bringing you up, you know, and when they're down, you're bringing them up. Yeah, is rather than everybody else. Yeah, you know, the very typically is what was me, the sky is falling, my life sucks. And you're just like, man, that's, that's hard, you know, to constantly bring those people up. So 100%. That's a, that's something else I've, I've really started paying attention to probably the last four or so years is just your circle is so important. It doesn't matter if it's online or in your life, but paying attention to who is there, what they're saying, what they're talking about? Is it serving you? And I always have to caveat this because it sounds very selfish, but in a non selfish way, is this serving you? Because once you have your goals clear, and you know where you want to go, if what you're doing is not serving you, like stop it. And if the people you're hanging around with are, you know, pulling you back intentionally pulling you back, like it's not serving you. And it doesn't serve a purpose at all. And then when you get around people, you change your circle and you get around people that, you know, you're running to catch up with them. And now they're pulling you forward. That is such a huge shift. And the value in that alone is just massive. Yeah. 100,000%. That's man. I mean, what isn't it? And I always forget the guy's name. Oh, Jim Rome. He's the one that coined the phrase, right? You are the total sum of the five people that you hang out with the most. Oh, I'm not sure. I've heard that before. But I'm not sure who said it. I think he is. I think I'm Tim menses it quite frequently is too. But yeah, that's, that's right on par with what you're saying. Yeah. So you guys got the whoopie hoodie, you started that. But ultimately, we talked about this a little bit when you and I started we're at the mastermind together. I know. Similarly, we're both aspiring to build generational wealth for our families, right? I mean, that's a lot of our driving factor. I know you talked a little bit about real estate. Can you kind of just give us a once over of kind of where that particular line of effort is going? I'm sticking with my military terminology. Yeah. When I came home from that last trip contracting, it was a plan of mine. I had no idea how I was going to do it. I hadn't done anything real estate. I had maybe read Rich Dad, Poor Dad, you know, but not, not anywhere that I could recall anything. And, you know, it was just like, Oh, yeah, one day, you know, one day I'll do that. And when I came home, I was, I would say maybe the best way to describe it is like, I was in a disheveled panic. I did not know what to do, freaking out, like my paycheck was gone. And I started looking for a rental, because I was like, you know, passive income, I need to figure something out. So I can start getting this passive income. And that's kind of what forced me into it, I got a crash course, the first rental I got was the house next door to where we were living at the time. And I didn't have the money, I had the money to fix it up, but I didn't have the money to hire anyone. And, you know, from the time I was 19 till I bought my first rental, I had only carried a gun, I had never carried power tools, I had never renovated a house, I'd never renovated a freaking bathroom. This was the first, well, second house I bought, the first one was the one we lived in. Yeah, I got to work, I went to YouTube University, and started learning how to do all this stuff. It was literally a crash course and how to find a deal, how to close the deal, how to essentially get the house renovated, and then get it rented too. And I was my own property manager in the beginning. And again, it's the same thing, like, my left and right limits were pretty broad. And don't get me wrong, the lady that sold me this house was an absolute angel. Incredible. She knew, I think she knew my situation, vaguely, but she knew what I was trying to do. And this was an investment property for her. And so she was, like I said, she was an angel, hooked it up. And then once we got that going, it's a lot of just, I would say, dynamic problem solving. We refinanced our primary, freed up our VA home loan, and then used our VA home loan to go buy our next house and turned our primary into our second rental. Woolby Hoodie was growing exponentially. We had been running that out of a large shop behind our house. So after that, we went and bought the warehouse that I'm in right now, office and warehouse space. So this was our first commercial property. And then we got a multifamily home last year. And it's just, I mean, you just find the deal. And when you find it, we do some creative problem solving, creative financing, figure out what it takes. And man, I think being open and honest with the people that we've been working with, too, is like, hey, we want this, we like it. But here's where we're at with it. And sometimes it doesn't work. And sometimes it does. And when it does work, you normally get a good deal out of it. And you, you have a cash flowing asset. And we've just kind of been playing it by ear, just one at a time. We don't have a big team or anything. Yeah, you know, it's me and my wife. Yeah, no, that's awesome, man. Because I think I did it in reverse mode of view. Yeah. I'm not saying one's right or one's wrong. What I am saying is my own personal reflection on that of my situation. You know, more recently, I've heard people talk about fast money, slow money, you know, slow money being, you know, I'm putting it in an asset and I'm waiting over time. Yeah. Versus I'm building a business like whoopee hoodie, and then I'm gonna, I'm gonna, you know, drive, drive people there and then make revenue. Well, I didn't do that. And anyway, I'm, as I've said before, in other situations, like it's, I'm happy about that. But it put us in a situation that was stressful. So listening to your story, because you tend to be equity rich and cash poor, but listening to your story, I love the fact that you were able to go out there first. And you built whoopee hoodies, you know, and then you have that pivotal moment where you're like, I'm going to do things the way that I think that set with my morals and ethics and, and then that kind of pushed you guys into building whoopee hoodies or something. And then it started generating cash flow. And then you guys were also simultaneously right at some point, if I'm correct. Yeah, then you started dipping your toes into the real estate, which is where you can build some pretty fat, you know, net worth over time, if you hold it long enough. And that's one of my favorite things about real estate is I'm like, you can't fail. Yeah. So anyway, I don't want to belabor that point. I just wanted to say that that's awesome that you guys did that in that order, because I think it probably positions you better. You hit the nail on the head there. There's really no right or wrong to any of this. You know, it's the position you were in at that time in the position I was in at my time. And it's just kind of like, we're, we're all walking our own path. And we all have these like epiphanies at certain times in our life. And, you know, like the, the two guys we were talking about who they're like, in their early 20s, who are already, you know, they've passed us 10 times over on real estate. You know, like, that's, that's just where they're at. And, you know, we took a different path. And I love the path that I took. It was all decisions that I made that got me to this point. And it's, it's incredible. And yeah, I mean, I think if I would have tried it another way at another time, it probably wouldn't have been successful. It happened the way it happened, because that's, that's where I was. And those were the decisions I made. So that's interesting. I actually wanted to ask you this question earlier. I want this, this, this podcast to be able to resonate and connect with the masses. But of course, there's a lot of veterans and stuff that, you know, both of us probably have a soft spot for. And so I think about this often, I would love to hear your perspective on this is, like you said, your path is your past. But how do you think that the military potentially potentially prepared you better for this entrepreneurial journey versus had you not gone in? If you're reading between the lines, they set you up for success, if you're paying attention. And don't get me wrong, it is a lot of miserable times and shitty situations and getting shit on. But how if you think about the military, it is a massive corporation. And there's a CEO, there's CFO, they have managers, mid level managers, low level managers, employees, and it's ran just like that. And the things that they show you how to do, they, I don't think it matters what unit you're in, you're going to learn how to plan, you're going to do PT, you're going to stay healthy. I think health is a huge part of this. I'm not trying to jump off track here. But man, if you're like physically, if you're sick, you know, you're not healthy, physically or mentally, this is going to affect everything in your life. And the first thing you do in the army, you get up, you go to formation, and you conduct PT. And like, if you keep that habit for the rest of your life, you're going to be successful at whatever you do. Yeah, just just that alone. And then on top of that, yeah, like the planning, they teach how to work, you know, can you show up on time and stay on task? And it's your task condition standards, you know, this is what we expect of you. If you can do that, for yourself, you're going to be a successful entrepreneur. And then the last one, I kind of touched on it, but the teaching you how to work, it's almost a lost art of somebody who can actually show up to work on time every day and work. And if you can do that, you're going to be successful. Yeah, you know, and that's the stuff they ingrain in you, like you go to basic training, and that's it, you don't have to think, you know, show up do PT, learn what they're teaching you and work. Yeah, I mean, I, I guess it was probably somewhat rhetorical. But at the same time, you know, I just wanted to hear your, your insight. So I appreciate you sharing that with Yeah, with me, because I've really thought about that. And it's like, well, what if, what if I had started my entrepreneurial journey when I was in my 20s? You know, where would I be at, man, but then I instantly come back? Go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, no, I was just gonna say, I think you're absolutely right. Because I mean, I still catch myself, lessons that I learned, you know, when I was in, they still come up, you know, like, I'm telling my wife, like, this is why we do it like this. Because when I was at half spec four, this happened. And so I changed how I did it. From that point on, for the rest of my life, I changed this one thing. And so now we're in this situation, like with our business, and I'm like, Hey, do it like this, because, you know, I learned this once years ago. Yeah. And yeah, the lessons are, I mean, you get lessons every single day, sometimes multiple lessons a day. I want to kind of close out with a couple things. The first one I wanted is, if you if you could tell the next aspiring entrepreneur, one piece of advice that you think would have accelerated or changed, you know, your growth, what advice would you give to that, that, that individual? Join a mastermind. It's a great one immediately. Yep. Join a mastermind. You mentioned it early, I didn't want I didn't want to kind of delve too much, because I wanted you to be able to expound upon it. But I think all the mentors that you and I are around and other people. I mean, I even hear the people on Shark Tank talk about it, too. I've seen those little clips on, you know, social media, hey, if you had $5,000, and you had nothing of what you currently have, where would you put that money? And their response is always I'd invest myself. Yeah. I think that's a great, great point. So yeah, good one. The other question I wanted to kind of close out with is, do you have a particular book or a podcast or anything that you're listening to right now that is really, you know, inspiring you or giving you wisdom that you would recommend? I would say as far as podcasts go right now, I just listened to Tim Pool in the morning when I work out and kind of get my news. And then my books, that is something else I read constantly, daily. Right now I'm reading Profit First for Real Estate and Profit First for Ecom. Those are about halfway through both of them. But yeah, that's the other thing that kind of goes back to investing in yourself is I'm always trying to learn something, reading or sometimes audio books. But yeah, I don't think there's a day that goes by that I'm not trying to learn something new just because, I mean, even if it's a 10 minute Spanish lesson, staying mentally sharp and exercising your mind and learning something new and never stopping that growth process is, yeah, invaluable. You can't put a price on it. With that said, I want to bring everything to a close. I want to first and foremost, thank you very much for being on here. I really appreciate it. Thank you, man. This is episode one? Yes, it's episode one. And of course, I love hearing everybody's story. But again, we both came from very similar military backgrounds and just seeing everything that you're doing and that you're doing it with your family. We didn't even get to really delve into that. I ran out of time. But maybe another episode for another day is the challenges with the family, man. But anyway, what I would love for you to do is can you leave the listeners with how to get ahold of you, where to find you, Facebook, your website, so that they can contact you. Our website is wilbyhoodie.com. That's W-O-O-B-Y-H-O-O-D-Y. Same thing for Instagram, just at Wilby Hoodie. And then you can find me on Instagram at T.J. White R-G-R. Awesome, man. Awesome. Well, again, thank you so much. Love hearing the story. And thanks for being on episode number one. Yeah, man. It was a pleasure. Thank you. All right, brother. Take care. All right. See you.