372: Escaping Communism to Creating Millions, Shredding Victim Mentality with Joel Gandara

Show Notes

Joel left Cuba as a kid, stormy seas, rough boat ride, engraved in his brain, it's been tattooed as he says.  Joes says it’s good to have, within certain parameters, some little bit of trauma in your life because it pushes you to outside the box and to not be normal. Every day he questions himself.  He didn’t do very well in school as a kid and being the kid who, the first couple of years, didn't really know the language he lost and confused.

He was a happy kid, super bored in school, and I knew he wanted to do something different. The whole “got to school, get a job, etc.” path was not a fit for him. He started seeing people who made some money and wanted the cool lifestyle.  That got him thinking differently as to how he can be one of those guys who does well, who calls their own shots?

“I saw the boss at a job equivalent to the teacher in the school, and I knew that I did not want to be an employee.”

Having been through what you've been through and accomplished what you've accomplished, tell us a little bit about the business you built and what you see as success?

Coming from somebody who hated what he was doing in school and then in jobs, Joel found success waking up every morning and being excited and wanting to go work in his own businesses.

He quit his job in his 20s and that was the last time he worked for somebody.

Success is the feeling of being on your own, everything you do is yours.  And you will get out of it what you put into it.

Joel talks about early on finding cheap products like “tester bottles” of cologne and reselling them for 3-4X.

One day he found a guy selling underwear, brand new samples of Jockey Brand. They were his leftovers from the collection. He was a sales rep. Joel bought 500 of them at a dollar each, and turned that into $3,000.

20 years later, he just sold that company but was making over a million dollars net profit from it.

He bought 14 companies along the way. I rolled them all up into one.

There is this concept that we talk about that's called the immigrant attitude.  From that point view, what do you think contributed most to your ability to succeed?

It's having grown up in a horrible neighborhood outside of Oakland, California, hearing gunshots at night, hearing a lot of police activity and knowing what was going on and hearing about people getting robbed

Joel did not want to be there. He did not want to be at the bottom.

Immigrating from a communist country where nobody does well unless you're a government general or the dictator was a motivator to succeed.

Joel’s dad was an electrician. He never went to college, but he went to a trade school.  His mom was a high school teacher. They knew the value of education. Not so much education in the formal sense of school, that you can get educated any way you want.

Joel’s biggest lesson from his parents was the value of self-education.

One thing Joel has kept in his life and has hanging in his closet as a reminder is the shirt he wore on the boat when his family escaped Cuba.  It reminds him where he came from, why he is here, and the incredible opportunity he has.

Joel also shares how his dad went to prison with forced labor before they were able to escape.  It’s best to just listen to the story.

At the 16 min mark, Joel and I have a great conversation about not taking things for granted.

What are some of the best lessons that you learned from your parents that helped you feel the most as an entrepreneur?

Joel shares how his mom is the hardest working person he knows and set the example for his.  Even when she was exhausted, she would keep going.

His dad is the most frugal person he knows.  He still takes the toothpaste tube and he gets a razor blade and he cuts it open and he takes out the last one or two uses out of it. He still showers with a bucket on the floor next to him. So that as he's showering, he uses that bucket to water the plants.  This helped him to understand the value of little things and not to take them for granted.

What have you learned about handing adversity?

Joel doesn’t believe in being a victim.

Joel says. “I grew up in the 80s and being Rocky Balboa, that's what you wanna be. Being that little underdog that had every, I mean, look where Rocky Balboa, just as an example of that movie, where he lived.  It was in a bad part of Philadelphia. He had nothing going for him. Life was horrible and he worked really hard, had a couple of chances and breaks and he took advantage of them, but he pushed and grew and became great. So that's how I grew up with movies were like that and the society was like that. And I don't think it's like that so much anymore. Now, all hope is not lost. I coach people and I mentor some young kids.  And I see that there's some amazing people still out there doing these things, but it's not having a victim mentality, not letting bad situations and adversity push you down.”

You built an underwear business to millions of dollars.  Talk a little bit more about how you built it and what principles did you use in building that business? What were the core values you used?

#1 is common sense. Use logic and reason.  Joel method was simple, buy stuff for $1 and sell them for $10.

Maximize your markets.  Joel started at flea markets and then went to E-bay and grew from there.

It was literal arbitrage. He was buying leftover samples from a rep. Once there was model, it was about expanding the sources for product and adding products.

Joel tells a great story of how a big setback turned into his best success with a distributor.

Joel then also learned the value of having a brand and building a moat around it by trademarking, etc.

Talk a little bit about the book.  What made you write it?

31 Days to Become a Better Man.

Joel used to have trouble saying “No” when asked to speak or mentor.

At 38 years old, no more office, being out of the business. My employees took care of everything. I was still the 100% owner.

He felt it was time to do something else. He decided to coach and just by word of mouth did over $150,000 in his first year.

He realized how lonely entrepreneurship is and especially male entrepreneurs.

He found a niche and focused on it.

The book is a 31 day challenge and he coaches and leads men through it supporting them and helping them succeed.

What are some of the key challenges that men are facing in today's society?

A lot of guys are numb. They're walking around like zombies. They are stuck in a rut.

Their life is not what they envisioned.

In the process of going through that book, that chapter, day one, light your fire - Simon Sinek, start with why. It's that exercise of why am I here on this planet? Why am I doing the things that I do? When you figure that out, it is amazing the change that happens.

Joel asks each client “Do you know your why you're here on this planet? What are you trying to get?”  They are questions that most people never ask and answer of themselves.

Anything else you think men should know?

Don’t go it alone.  Find an accountability part or group that can help you in your journey.

Building the little habits over time are what the difference.

Little things done each day add up.