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EP180: Brad Huebner - Why The Skilled Trades Are A Great Money Making Opportunity For Men
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"We’re in the middle of a contracting gold rush. There’s a massive gap in labor, and it’s an incredible opportunity for men who are willing to put in the work."
Let’s face it—the world doesn’t need another guy with a useless degree and a pile of student debt. Enter Brad Huebner, a Marine-turned-construction-business-coach, who’s here to talk about the ultimate cheat code for men looking to level up: the skilled trades. Forget the suits and ties; we’re talking hammers, saws, and a golden opportunity to rake in six, seven, or even eight figures. In this episode, Brad breaks down why the "contracting gold rush" is the hottest ticket in town and how men can cash in big time.
Brad keeps it real as he explains how the trades aren’t just a career choice—they’re a lifestyle upgrade. Whether you want to clock in, collect six figures, and call it a day, or build a multi-million-dollar business empire, the trades have a path for you. Plus, Brad throws in some sage advice about mindset, personal growth, and avoiding the negativity vortex that is the news cycle. This episode is a masterclass in turning sweat equity into financial freedom and personal fulfillment.
Brad Huebner is a Marine veteran, skilled trades expert, and business coach who helps contractors build profitable businesses while maintaining their sanity. With years of experience swinging a hammer and scaling companies, Brad’s mission is to help men create wealth, stability, and a damn good life through the trades.
Learn more & connect:
- Brad Huebner’s website
- Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck
- The Bible
- The Last Law of Attraction Book You'll Ever Need To Read: The Missing Key To Finally Tapping Into The Universe And Manifesting Your Desires by Andrew Kap
- The Hoffman Process
You’re invited to come to a Sovereign Circle meeting to experience it for yourself. To learn more, go to https://www.sovereignman.ca/. While you’re there, check out the Battle Ready program and check out the store for Sovereign Man t-shirts, hats, and books.
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Transcript
The Labor Gap in Trades: Opportunity for Hard Workers
00:00:00
Speaker
And then we never really had the same amount of people leaving the trades come back into the trades. More and more people are leaving, less you know fewer and fewer are getting in. And so now we have a gap and we have a massive gap in labor in the trades. And it's just a gold rush opportunity for those that are willing to put in some hard work initially and you know didn capitalize on this opportunity that we have right now.
The Solver Man Podcast: Meet Brad Hubner
00:00:32
Speaker
You're a man living in the modern world in a time when men and manhood are not what they once were. You live life on your own terms. You're self-sufficient. You think for yourself and you march to the beat of your own drum. When life knocks you down, you get back up because in your gut, you know that's what men do. You're a badass and a warrior. And on the days when you forget, we are here to remind you who you really are.
00:01:03
Speaker
Welcome to Solver Man, podcast where we aim to make men masculine again. We got a great guest for you today, Brad Hubner. Welcome to show, Brad. Nikki, thanks for having me. Looking forward to it. Thanks for being on the show, my man. So we got to meet each other because you actually interviewed me on your podcast a couple of weeks back.
00:01:25
Speaker
and im ah We connected, you know, you're a man's man. And I respect that a lot about you. What you do is you help men who are also man's men. So I respect that a great deal. And I thought that you'd have some good advice to give to men, especially when it comes to career business success ah from the point of view of being a masculine man's man. But before we get into all that, tell us a bit about who you are. Tell us your backstory.
Brad's Journey: From Military to Construction
00:01:56
Speaker
Yeah, so I graduated high school in 95. And then shortly after, joined the military. I don't know if we talked about this or not. I went to the Marine Corps, actually. Did four years in the Marine Corps as in the infantry. And then I quickly realized that that's not really a it's not really a great career choice if you want to have a family and you know and and do the whole career profession type thing.
00:02:25
Speaker
So I got out after four years and then tried a couple different things and then finally ended up into construction working as a superintendent and then eventually being a lead carpenter for another guy and then starting my own business. And then about 13 years later, started doing business coaching for contractors. So that's the 30,000 foot view of who I am.
00:02:48
Speaker
So first of all, thank you for your service. I mean, it's because absolutely men like you who are willing to put themselves on the line to fight, to bleed, to die, that the rest of us get to live under a blanket of freedom and pursue our dreams. So um I say thank you to you personally, but also to every man who's ever done this, because that's, to me, the most unbelievable thing. You know, in the Bible it says,
00:03:14
Speaker
no greater love half a man than this to lay down his life for his friends. And that's what the men in the military are willing to do every single day. And that means something to me. It means something awesome.
00:03:30
Speaker
um but So tell me what really had you decide to get into construction, to get into a skilled trade in the first place, and why do you think it's a good place for a lot of men to be?
00:03:47
Speaker
Yeah, well, it actually started back in high school. I thought I wanted to be an architect. And, you know, I liked drawing. I liked doing that aspect of it. And I actually took some T and&I classes back then. They were called T and&I. And it was just basically it was like a focused, you know, class. It was a three credit hour class. And I had to get on a bus and go to another high school and, you know, take this architectural drawing.
Transition to Construction Management and Business Ownership
00:04:12
Speaker
uh class so my junior senior year in high school I actually you know spent the whole two years doing uh architects for drawing thought I want to be an architect learn auto cad and all that stuff well didn't realize is that you actually have to have good grades and you know like going to school in order to go to college and become an architect so uh I realized that was not going to be the career path for me by the time I graduated I was done with school like did not want to learn another single thing ever whatsoever And so fast forward, this is probably, I don't know, five or six years after I got out of the Marines. I'm trying to think of it. It was about 2005. So yeah, about five years after I um found myself an opportunity to be a superintendent for ah con for a developer, a local developer who was building his own stuff. He was a developer. Basically he was building his own strip malls, homes and stuff for himself, not for somebody else.
00:05:06
Speaker
And ah I had an opportunity to be a superintendent and I kind of fell back on that the architectural drawing classes that I had taken in high school, because I had I had the knowledge of like you know how buildings go together and how homes go together and wall sections and all that stuff.
00:05:22
Speaker
And I, and my my dad has always been a um kind of a jack of all trades. He was ah a diesel mechanic. And so, you know, we would always like, if we needed a new roof, we'd put it on ourself. If we needed a fence, we'd build it ourselves, you know, that kind of family just handy.
00:05:39
Speaker
Yeah, just handy and always doing all that stuff ourselves. And so it was kind of the transition. And so then I got into being a superintendent. I worked for there a couple of years. He got into some financial troubles, changed over working for one of our subs as a finished carpenter, learned the trade.
00:05:56
Speaker
couple years doing that and then I ended up starting my own business. um And it was really, you know, I can look back on it and say it was totally God's plan, like for the direction of where I where i was going. Obviously looking forward, I could not have planned it out. um But I remember distinctly when I decided to start my own business, I remember calling my mom. I was talking to her and during this time I was actually going through a divorce. I got married right out of the Marines.
00:06:24
Speaker
and so Yeah, it was, you know, and it wasn't my decision. Um, it was actually her decision to get divorced and, you know, obviously I can't stop somebody from doing that. Um, but it is what it is. And I'm happily married now. Like everything worked out for me. Don't, don't feel, don't shed a tear for me too much. But I remember calling my mom.
00:06:47
Speaker
And I was just going trying to figure out some stuff. And I remember telling her, you know, starting my own business, it was like I was following along with with Jesus, who was a carpenter, right? As we all know, like that was kind of like this. I was like,
00:07:03
Speaker
following in the same footprint. And I just remember having that conversation with my mom on the phone and it was an emotional call. and And so to shorten this up, I mean, that was kind of the transition to get to where I'm at now. And then eventually through hiring business coaches, going through that, getting help, I've, you know, fell in love with that process and and that journey. And so I kind of shifted careers, if you will, and to, and to coaching other men and in their construction businesses.
00:07:28
Speaker
So why do you believe this is a good place for a lot of men to be right now in this day, in this time?
The Contracting Gold Rush: Opportunities in Trades
00:07:34
Speaker
Well, this is, uh, I call it the, the contracting gold rush. You know what I mean? Like back in the, in the forties, what was it? The 49ers.
00:07:44
Speaker
yeah you know The 49ers, the gold rush, um that's kind of how it is in contracting. like After 2009, which by the way, I started my construction business in 2009, everybody was leaving in drones because that was a 2008, 2009 housing market crash.
00:08:01
Speaker
and everybody was leaving the industry in drones. And I thought that was a great time to start my own business. And so we had a mass exodus then, and then we never really had the same amount of people leaving the trades come back into the trades, right? And so then over the next 15 years or so, however long it's been, more and more people are leaving, less and you know fewer and fewer are getting in. And so now we have a gap.
00:08:28
Speaker
And we have a massive gap in labor in the trades. And it's just a Gold Rush opportunity for those that are willing to put in some hard work initially and you know in capitalize on this opportunity that we have right now. So contracting Gold Rush, more and more people are leaving the trades. So if a young man is listening to this and he's thinking, which direction I should go in,
00:08:58
Speaker
Talk about what the trades makes available to him, whether he wants to be an employee, whether he wants to start a business. Either one. I mean, honestly, you could, you could be an employee and make six figures, you know, not, not your first year in business, unless you're doing a more skilled, you know, unless you're like an underground welder or underwater welder, you could probably make that money now, but you can, within a very short period of time, you can make a very good living as an employee. If you want to choose the route of entrepreneurship and starting your own business, then that's, you know, then the sky's the limit of where you can take that.
00:09:31
Speaker
But I mean, there's just so much opportunity. I mean, even my clients, you know, ah every one of my clients is looking for a good employee and they're willing to pay top dollar. not Not the going rate, not to be competitive. I mean, they're willing to pay top dollar for standout employees for A players. And so it's not that hard.
00:09:52
Speaker
The bar is very low. You know what I mean? Like if you're just, if you just have a decent work ethic and you show up on time every day, you can make a very good living in construction. That's pretty crazy. You're telling me somebody can go be an employee. So have none of the risk of needing to start a business or anything like that.
Six-Figure Earnings in Construction: Employee and Entrepreneurial Paths
00:10:11
Speaker
And they can make six figures. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, obviously each, each, each area is a little bit different. Each trade's a little bit different, but yeah, you can definitely do that.
00:10:22
Speaker
Six figures. My man, that's nuts. Is that not nuts? Yeah. Are we crazy here? That's crazy. That's crazy. an employee So if an entrepreneur gets into the business or is in the business and they do it right with the help of like someone like you to coach them and help them think through how to do it, you're telling me they can have a seven figure, eight figure business. If that's what they want. And yeah, and they, and they're willing to to do what it takes. Yeah, absolutely.
00:10:51
Speaker
You know, the other day, I really liked Dana White of the UFC, okay? And yeah if he's on a good podcast or if there's a clip ah of him speaking on um Instagram or YouTube, I'll usually watch it. And there's a clip that I was watching the other day, and it wasn't the first time I'd seen it. I'd seen it multiple times. But he was talking about how simple it is for a man to like win, to clean up today. He said,
00:11:22
Speaker
If you have a halfway decent work ethic and you're a savage, the level of competition is so low right now that you will absolutely clean up, absolutely clean up. So the men that listen to sovereign men, they're savages and wanna be savages, right? These are types of folks that wanna put in the work, wanna get better. And to me, it strikes me that there's so many men that don't understand how incredible an opportunity they have today in the contracting gold rush, right?
00:12:01
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. Couldn't agree more. I mean, it's every single day. I mean, one of my clients, I had to advise him to fire his two employees, only two employees and go back on the tools temporarily because they were a cancer to his business. I mean, they were not you know good employees. And so like like I said, literally, if you If you just show up on time every day and you have a decent work ethic, you don't have to be like, you know, work all 18 hours a day. I mean, you just show up, put in a good eight hours and go home every day.
00:12:34
Speaker
You can have a good life in construction. And I mean, my clients are always constantly looking. They're all over the US. I have clients all over North America, Canada and and the US. And every one of them would hire an A player that walked in the door in a heartbeat, even if they have zero experience, like just someone who has a good work ethic, who wants to do good, who wants to bring value to the business. They will hire them in a heartbeat and pay them well. So Brad,
00:13:04
Speaker
I've been cognizant of the fact that people have been leaving the trades and not as many people are coming back in for a few years. And I've been thinking to myself, would I tell my my sons right now, go get a law degree or go into the trades?
Path to Financial Freedom in Trades
00:13:23
Speaker
I'd probably tell them to go into the trades. They had of going to go in and get a law degree. You know what I mean? If I were 20, 25, 30 right now,
00:13:33
Speaker
and looking for something to do, I look at the trades. and I ah look and learn the trade really well, and then I'd go start a business in that trade. And I get myself a coat, someone like you to say, okay man, how do i how do I get to my first million? And then how do I get to my first two million, five million, 10 million? And how do I set it up for sale? Because I figure if I was 25,
00:14:01
Speaker
starting in the trades. I probably want to work for two two to three years as an employee, really learn what I'm doing. And take 28, go into business for myself, figure the first year, not gonna make a lot of money, but get some clients, establish a bit of a reputation, hire a coach. Second year, probably get into six figures, ah you know, six figure business. Third year, I'd probably take home six figures and be in the mid six figures. You know, fourth year, get to get to a million. Fifth year, see if I could double that.
00:14:37
Speaker
you know, and then have a plan from year five to 10 to get it to 10 million and then have a plan to sell. So within 10 years, I'd be financially free with an exit of 15 to 20 million. What's wrong with that? I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
00:14:57
Speaker
Yeah. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I mean, obviously different, different parts of the country, different trades, you know, are going to be easier than others. I mean, if you're doing a million as a home builder, that's not very good. You know what I mean? Like that's two half a million dollar homes. You've only built in two homes a year. That's not very good. But if you're a, say you're a, um, a painter and you have a million dollar painting business, that's pretty good. That's actually pretty good. You know what I mean? So depending on what trade you're in, but yeah, absolutely. That's definitely doable.
00:15:27
Speaker
And if you're like, ah if you take your your business and you make it like a $10 million dollars painting business or framing business or whatever the heck it happens to be or landscaping business, man, you're all set. You are all set.
00:15:40
Speaker
Yeah. Right. But here's here's here's here's a different angle of this too, Nick. I want to bring it like you don't have to, not everybody wants to like be a boss and have, you know, a bunch of employees and not everybody wants to have an eight figure business. no Here's the beauty of it. I mean, you can be a one man operation. You can have, or maybe just have a helper.
00:16:00
Speaker
and still makes you know multiple six figures a year as an income, work whenever you want, take off as long as you want, and still have the ideal life that you designed for yourself, and be content with that. There's nothing wrong with that. I call those lifestyle contractors. right like they They have a job, i mean they're doing the work, but they're making really good money.
00:16:23
Speaker
And if they want to take off for two months in the winter, they can do that. If they want to get into other things like investments and flip homes, they can do that too. I mean, there's lots of ways that you can set yourself up for, for success. It's, you know, the only path is not build a $10 million dollars business and exit. That's not the only path to have success.
Avoiding Negative Influences: Building Success Networks
00:16:43
Speaker
Although that's certainly. one i can do It's a bad highlight. Absolutely.
00:16:48
Speaker
absolutely Yeah, yeah. it's So, Brad, imagine that there's men listening to this show that are trying to find their way. They may be excited that President Trump was reelected president. They got some hope that all this anti-man BS is on its way out, but they're looking for a way to win. They don't want to be lost anymore, right? They want to be like winning.
00:17:17
Speaker
so um What's your advice to them? Well, first thing is turn off the back on news. I mean, just, just turn off all things news related and completely isolate yourself from anything that is mainstream media, because it's all a bunch of, you know,
00:17:36
Speaker
yeah lies and and hoopla and uh, I remember I used to listen, I used to listen several years ago, but I would listen to like, you know, talk radio, listen to Sean Hannity and all these different shows. And I was just mad all the time, Nikki, like just always pissed off.
00:17:51
Speaker
And finally, i I was like, what am I doing? I quit listening to all that. And then I quit listening to the news at all. And that's the first thing. The second thing is you got to surround yourself with ah around a bunch of guys who are like-minded, you know, who are either on the same path and trajectory you're on or above you. You know what I mean? And it's okay if there's a few that are below you, but they're on the same path that you're on and surround yourself, you know, in that peer group of people that are doing what you want to do as well.
00:18:21
Speaker
um Because it's you know you've all heard the saying, you're the combined average of the five people you hang around with the most, right? And so absolutely that's true. like you can't you know if i if If I put you in a room with 10 other multimillionaires, you' there's no way you wouldn't become a multimillionaire if you hung around them long enough. like it's just it's It's contagious. It's going to rub off on you. They're not going to let you.
00:18:44
Speaker
not get there. And so that's the second thing, is really just surround yourself with the with the yeah people that are doing or wanting to do what you do. Yeah, I think it's very important. Both those things are good pieces of advice. You know, the news is not your friend. um Love Sean Hannity and all, but yeah, the the whole business model is based on pissing you off.
Podcast Guesting: A 2025 Strategy for Building Relationships
00:19:08
Speaker
You know, the whole business model is based on pissing you off. You don't need that. They make you feel bad to make money. Yeah.
00:19:14
Speaker
yeahp Right. yeah And, you know, in the last ah five days, I've done half a dozen speeches to various business groups. And in most of those speeches, a part of my speech was showing people you know how you and I talked about podcast guesting ah when I spoke with you last. And I was talking about how Donald Trump rode podcast guesting into the White House. Oh, yeah.
00:19:44
Speaker
ah um And since I came up with this idea, and I've been on and but i've been about a dozen podcasts talking about this prior to this, people are writing about it now. I saw an article about it today that one of the key members of the Harris team was saying that um big reason why she lost is she wasn't on podcasts. She didn't have her finger on the pulse of the of the culture anymore.
00:20:09
Speaker
And Democrats in general don't. They're they're just ah using the mainstream media, which is all about selling bad news. And that's that's so that's not where people are anymore, right? ah Donald Trump got this. Donald Trump understood this. He came on shows. And the reason podcasts are successful now, even with political figures like Trump, is it's not all negativity.
00:20:33
Speaker
In fact, it's really positive. There's a hopeful aspect to listening to Joe Rogan talk to Donald Trump, right? It isn't all doom and doom, right? And the truth of the matter is you're way better off listening to podcasts right now than you are listening to the news. Way better off. Read books, listen to podcasts. Read books, listen to podcasts. That's what you ought to do. And, you know, these six talks I've done in the last five days to A bunch of different groups, some some big, some small, some really big. The key thing that I was telling everybody in the audience was that if you want to win in 2025, being a guest on other people's shows, just like you're being a guest on my show right now, is the fastest and best way for you to build relationships
00:21:28
Speaker
and reach customers. is Let's face it, spending money on ads, that's the traditional media model, right? It's not really working anymore, right? You spend a ton of money, you don't get much of a return, right? You could spend like a dollar on Facebook five years ago, you get $20 back. Today you spend like $20 on Facebook and if you're lucky, you'll get $5 back, right? So that's not a model that works anymore. um So why not spend your time in an arena that's more positive and potentially good for your business. That's all I have to say then. What are your thoughts on that? What are your comments? Yeah, I mean, obviously, there's you're you're what you're doing is you're tapping into their to the podcast's audience, right? this is This is no different than like B and&I. You're familiar with the B and&I, Business Network International. Sure.
00:22:15
Speaker
The founder of BNI is a personal friend of mine. He wrote the forward to two of my books, actually. He's amazing. Yeah, BNI is the same concept. If I'm in a BNI group and there's a banker in there and I'm being exposed to his network, right? So if he knows 500 people in his network,
00:22:34
Speaker
I'm basically getting access to his network same with podcasting if i'm on the show and there's you know five thousand people listening to it i'm being exposed to those five thousand people that probably would never have heard or see me before but i i want to go back to what you said and with the with the election because.
00:22:52
Speaker
Uh, I didn't know JD Vance very well. Like I didn't know his, him personally, I watched his, his movie about him and all that, you know, did all that, but I still didn't really know him. But when he was on Theo Vaughn, I don't know if you watched that episode. I was guerss like, you know, Theo Vaughn's throwing out stuff, saying things that probably presidential and vice presidential people shouldn't be saying or talking about, you know, they're talking about drugs and different stuff. and yeah and da was nothing you true man how was hilarious yeah
00:23:23
Speaker
But you could you could you could tell that JD, his natural self was coming out on that episode on that podcast. And he probably was holding himself back a little bit. But being a Marine myself and knowing that he's a Marine, like I know that type of personality. I know that type of character. And so that really sold me on him as a as a pick.
00:23:44
Speaker
just because of that exposure and that would have never happened had he not been on you know a long-form podcast like David Bonds.
00:23:55
Speaker
Yeah when he was talking about you know his mom and her addiction and he went really deep into that it really humanized him for me ah and um ah Theo also had ah Donald Trump on the show and he talked about his own cocaine addiction and Donald Trump's brother who died of alcoholism basically his brother Fred right older brother Fred Fred jr And I thought that like I like Trump. I've always liked Trump. I know a lot about him But that in that moment, I thought wow, dude You're a human being you're going through the same crap. The rest of us are going you got people you care about that are that are gone and It hurts you
00:24:35
Speaker
and I feel for you. you know that that's That's what came to me. and Kamala Harris, I just challenge you, Brad, to say one thing personal about her that you know. Is there even one thing you know? So, because she never let herself go in a venue where that would come out. And here's the interesting thing. people who who know her have said that and I'm sure you didn't know this I didn't know this until I heard it that she's actually a near world-class level roller skater like this chick when she was young was crazy amazing now
00:25:13
Speaker
I wouldn't have voted for her, but I thought that was pretty cool. I go, damn, if you're good at roller skating, I'd love to have heard that. Like, what'd you do? What got you into it? And stuff like that, right? Yeah, it's pretty cool. yeah You know, but it never came out. And the whole point is if you're if you're um if you're a man, get rid of the news, listen to podcasts, you learn some interesting shit about real people. And Be like me and Brad and start going on shows. It's good for you. you'll you'll ah you'll You'll get comfortable having conversations with people. And the beauty of podcast guesting is you'll reach the audience. But this is the part where a lot of people don't get it, Brad. And I think I talked to you about this a little bit. You also get to build a relationship with the host. You and I know each other now. So because I was on your show,
00:26:00
Speaker
And I like what you were all about. I wanted you on my show. So this gives you an opportunity to reach some people. And because I know a thing or two about podcast casting and that's interesting to you, you and I are going to have a conversation about that. So this is what happens when you go on shows, you build friendships and relationships with hosts.
00:26:19
Speaker
And I think all that's good. And again, that's this this isn't a podcast about that. I talk ah about that in my business podcast. But because you brought up this thing about not listening to the news, I say listen to more podcasts and read more books.
Personal Development Tools: Books and Processes
00:26:32
Speaker
Brad, what's your top two favorite books that you recommend men read? ah Are we talking like business or more like? Anything. Good for a man, soul, business, whatever you choose.
00:26:45
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, obviously we got to go with the Bible. Like that's, that's like, you know, the number one book for, you know, for all that you got your Bible there. I got mine here. Mine right here too.
00:27:00
Speaker
um That's number one. As far as like, well, almost all of the books I read are nonfiction business related books. um But the one that I think that would, what's that? What's a really good one?
00:27:14
Speaker
Mindset by Carol Estouac will really help with some mindset stuff that's that that carries over from childhood. um I actually give that book away anytime someone joins my coaching program, I send them a care package and that's one of the books that I send them is Mindset by Carol Estouac. It really opens your eyes to how much your childhood and things that happen in your childhood affect your adult fact you as an adult and you don't even realize it.
00:27:44
Speaker
They do. um You know, I bought that book. I've yet to read it because I buy books way faster than I read them. And I read over 100 books a year. So it's kind of crazy. yeah okay I buy them way faster than I read them. So the yeah books are piling up. Like you can see this is this is not a virtual background. This is actually my office with.
00:28:01
Speaker
It's one of the places where I have a lot of books. I got probably 1,000, 1,500 books in my bedroom. And then downstairs in the living room, I got two bookcases full of books. So um I'm going to read that book. It's going to come close to the top of the pile because of your recommendation. um I will also say.
00:28:20
Speaker
Sorry, didn't mean I didn't mean to cut you off. He talks about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. And that's the main things that you need to learn about in the book is that a fixed mindset is I was born with this gifts. I was born with this set of knowledge, this IQ, this, you know, this is just what I was born with and I'm stuck with it. A growth mindset is I can achieve and do whatever I want, right? Like,
00:28:45
Speaker
I can become smarter. I can learn more. I can get better with this skill. And so, and there's different areas of our life. I mean, we can, we can have a fixed mindset in relationships and have a growth mindset in business. Like it's not universal across the board. And so that really opened my eyes to a lot of ah head trash that I personally had, you know, that I had to work through and get over, um, in terms of in business. So yeah, I highly recommend that book.
00:29:12
Speaker
I'm going to make sure I bring it near the top of my pile because I've i've got some books I want to read in the next few weeks. um i yeah have a i have a um social media platform I belong to called Goodreads. Amazon owns it and Goodreads allows you to um enter a ah yearly reading challenge, how many books you're going to read and and track those books and you can get connected with friends and they'll give you recommendations. So I've done the reading challenge since 2015. I think this will be my 10th year this year. wow In the last six years, including this year, I've done at least 100 books a year.
00:29:49
Speaker
and it's so and and and physical books, not audio books. I don't i don't really do audio books. I think it's really good to do that. um This book ah ah mindset, it reminds me of a personal development program that I did back in 2016 called the Hoffman Process. You ever heard of the Hoffman Process, Brad? I don't think I have, no. I don't think so. It's been around since the late 60s. The fellow who created it, his name was Bob Hoffman.
00:30:19
Speaker
um And it's available in, I think, about two dozen countries around the world, obviously in the US. s hoff bob Bob Hoffman was an American. And the whole point of this program is to have you look at the patterns that were imprinted on you from the time you were born to the time you were 13 years old. It's a intense program. I think it's about eight days long. um You put your phone away while you're in the program. Like you're not allowed to have your phone physically on your person because there's some stuff they do. I found that to be a very impactful program. One of my mentors had been telling me to do it for 10 years before I finally listened to him and I did it.
00:31:01
Speaker
um But that's a really, really good program. If you've never heard of it, you um check it out. It's interesting. Is it in person or is it online? In person, in person. okay You fly somewhere, you know, you they they put you up, they feed you everything. Yeah.
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah. And so there are some of it's not a cheap course. I want to tell you, like back when I took it, it cost like seven grand. ah And I'm sure it's more expensive now. I'm sure it's 10 grand plus. But I'll tell you this, the people that were in the course with me, they were some of the highest level people I've ever been around in my life. Like we're talking multi millionaires, billionaires were in the room.
00:31:48
Speaker
um Like there was a lady who had been like a super model, like crazy level people were in the room and it it really ah really opened my eyes to a lot. So. Isn't that interesting though that the the the higher you go in the wealth scale, right? In terms of like success, success scale, let's use success instead of wealth, that those people generally invest the highest amount in themselves.
00:32:17
Speaker
It is interesting, and I just want to tell you, Brad, I i invest Um, a minimum 10% of my income in myself a year. Um, I probably invested 300 to $350,000 in myself. There's a man that is one of my has been one of my clients. He's not anymore. He actually did my podcast guesting program as well. He's a high level business dude. And he told me he's invested over a million dollars in his personal professional development and he continues to do so.
00:32:53
Speaker
He continues to do so. So he just signed up to do a Grant Cardone program. Actually, I think he's there right now. He's from Florida or California, wherever the heck it happens to be. um All of the top mentors I have invest massive amounts of time, energy, and money in that sort of program. This year, like I have um i have three coaches I work with, one for health and fitness, one for business and mindset, one for relationships. And I hire people to specifically do stuff for me when I need help with something. You know what I mean? Like I'm going to be doing a lot of like, not podcast video, but just general videos shooting. And so I'm hiring a guy to help me out with that kind of stuff. I'm attending two conferences this year. One of them is so high level and secret. I'm not even allowed to speak about it. Um, you know, except to say I'm attending it. I can't say what it is or who's going to be there with just some pretty cool people. I'll tell you about it offline anyways. Uh, and the other one is Patrick Bett David's conference. I'm attending that in, uh, uh, in September in Florida as well. So, you know, I'm looking at this year coming up 2025. The amount of money I'm investing in myself in 2025 was probably going to be close to 60 grand. And in 2024, it probably close to 45,000.
00:34:11
Speaker
You gotta do it, you gotta do it, as as far as I'm concerned. One of my yeah former clients, and then he became a mentor, is Robin Sharma. He wrote a book called The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari in the 5 AM Club, right? Sold millions of copies. He likes to say, if you wanna grow your business, you wanna double your business in a year, triple your investment in personal professional development. For me, that would mean take it from 45K to 135k. Wow, that'd be a big lift. But yeah, that's what he said. So there you go.
00:34:44
Speaker
No, I mean, that's that's you know I haven't hit your numbers yet, but i've probably I'm coming up on probably close to $100,000 in personal investment in in that. But the most I've ever done was earlier this year I joined a mastermind, and it was $20,000 just for that mastermind. um And what's crazy about it is is that even though like the the purpose, it was like a marketing mastermind. It was really more geared around like marketing yourself and business and stuff.
00:35:12
Speaker
And even though I didn't like get the exact result that I wanted in terms of the marketing, I actually made several other connections in that group that now are I'm using to further my business. So its sometimes it's not always it's not always the the result you're looking for that the result you get. No, 100%. So Brad, before we wrap up,
00:35:39
Speaker
pick yourself up this book by Andrew Kapp and if you like I'll introduce you to him because I interviewed him on both my my shows.
The Law of Attraction and Opportunities in Skilled Trades
00:35:47
Speaker
um Actually I of interviewed him on one show and we repurposed it for the second show. Andrew is amazing. He talks about the law of attraction. Most people who talk about the law of attraction just speak in generalities. Andrew actually gave me a daily process of 10 minutes to do with seven different ones that that he has me do. um I've been doing it every day since late October, every day without fail, for 10 minutes. um I have signed up.
00:36:19
Speaker
11, no 12 clients in in that seven week period. 12 clients in seven weeks for me is very good. um In addition, my relationship has become more harmonious and um i'm I think I told you I'm doing bodybuilding and I'm gonna do a show next year. I didn't know that. Oh, I thought I told you that last time. i'm Sorry about that. Yeah, I'm doing that. so um It's a tough, it's a grind. The whole thing is a grind. The only thing that's different in the last few weeks in terms of what I'm doing, my effort, my food, is this law of attraction business. And I gotta to tell you, the workouts are flowing more smoothly. My mindset's better because I'm not going, oh, I just wanna stop. I'm going, let's push through, let's get get more done.
00:37:07
Speaker
And I feel like my muscles are getting bigger and my waist is tightening up. Nothing else has changed. I'm eating the exact same amount of food, exactly, because my food is is dialed in that way. I'm doing the exact same amount of sleep. It's just my mind is shifting and it's causing some manifestations in the body. I think you'd really like Andrew. ah If you'd like, i'd I'd be happy to make that introduction for you, but you should definitely read the book and do the LOA process. It'll be it'll be something that'll be helpful to you.
00:37:34
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. I love to check that out and even and talk to him as well. I'm all about mindset stuff. Yeah. Yeah. You'll love Andrew. He's awesome in that regard. So Brad, I really enjoyed having you on the show. Um, let's in the new year, bring you on the business podcast. We'll have more of a business conversation, but I really appreciate you identifying this, you know, gold, gold rush of contracting age that we're living in for men and advising them.
00:38:03
Speaker
to really look at skilled trades very seriously, especially if they're unsure which direction to go in career-wise. I think it's really good advice, and I really appreciate you giving it to me and to them. I learned a lot, and we're recording this just before the end of 2024, so I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, brother, and God bless you.
00:38:25
Speaker
Thank you so much, Nicky. That was a blast. And I'll just throw it out. If anybody is interested in getting the trades, reach out to me. I may know somebody in your town or area that's hiring. So please feel free to reach out to me. Oh, yeah, that's good. We'll definitely put that on the show notes. Definitely. Folks, we'll put Brad's website and contact info on the show notes. Definitely reach out to him. 100%. All right. And that's a wrap.
00:38:48
Speaker
Thank you for listening to The Sovereign Man podcast. If you're ready to take charge of your life and become the man you've always wanted to be, we invite you to join the movement at sovereignman.ca.