Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to The Hustle with Ben Anderson, highlighting a series of inspirational success stories with celebrities, entrepreneurs, athletes, and industry-leading professionals.
Speaker: Ben has learned and mastered the art of the hustle, which has allowed him to become a top 20 USA loan originator and the number one mortgage and real estate finance coach in America, who has closed more than $3 billion in real estate finance transactions.
Speaker: So sit back, listen, and learn with The Loan King about money and mortgage.
Speaker: Welcome to The Hustle with myself, your host, Ben Anderson.
Speaker: Got a great friend today.
Speaker: It's going to be a dynamic episode, Eric Bigger.
Speaker: Sometimes I sit with guests who have great stories, and then once in a while you get a great connection.
Speaker: So we're going really deep today.
Speaker: Any human being has to hear what we're dropping today.
Speaker: Welcome to the show, Eric.
Speaker: Hey, Ben.
Speaker: Thanks for having me, man.
Speaker: It's an honor to be here in front of you.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: The hustle, we're here.
Speaker: You know, we're here and we're going to bring some truths to people who are looking to get themselves either going in life.
Speaker: They just want to hear motivational people.
Speaker: But, you know, I want to start with your story and how we met.
Speaker: Not that while ago, we were at the Combine.
Speaker: sharing a meal with some great people in this world.
Speaker: And you and I just clicked so much.
Speaker: I'm like, you know what?
Speaker: I gotta know more about this guy, his story.
Speaker: Because I've seen you before.
Speaker: I've seen you, the things you've done.
Speaker: But now I get to know you as a person.
Speaker: It's completely changed my mindset on the kind of people who I should be hanging around.
Speaker: So, you know, tell me a little bit about your background.
Speaker: Where you grew up, before we talk about the things you're doing, it's not always from the good old street to Beverly Hills, it's from the real street to Baltimore.
Speaker: Tell me about your background.
Speaker: Yeah, well, thank you for the introduction, man.
Speaker: I feel, yeah, honored, thank you.
Speaker: I'm from Baltimore City.
Speaker: If anybody ever seen the show The Wire, HBO, from years ago.
Speaker: It's a really tough environment.
Speaker: A lot of challenges, a lot of violence, a lot of drugs.
Speaker: And I grew up, you know, young kid, driven, motivated to be great, you know.
Speaker: I always wanted to play basketball.
Speaker: So my dream growing up was to play in the NBA.
Speaker: I worked out every day.
Speaker: I did everything I was supposed to do.
Speaker: I didn't get in trouble.
Speaker: I went to practice.
Speaker: But I just didn't have the support or motivation I needed from the people outside of me.
Speaker: Granted, the men in my family were in the streets.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: They were the kingpins of the streets.
Speaker: They ran the streets.
Speaker: They made a lot of money in the streets.
Speaker: So that was my male influence.
Speaker: My mom was there.
Speaker: She w as a single mom.
Speaker: She did the best she could.
Speaker: She gave as much as she could, but emotionally I didn't get the love and attention and nurturing I needed from her to feel love and fulfilled on the inside.
Speaker: But I did well in school.
Speaker: It was a bookworm.
Speaker: I called myself a cool nerd.
Speaker: You were a studier, right?
Speaker: I was a studier.
Speaker: Love, knowledge, wisdom.
Speaker: Knowledge, wisdom.
Speaker: And...
Speaker: Yeah, so grew up, went to school, went to junior college, Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland, and then I transferred to Hampton University, and I graduated in 2010.
Speaker: Fast forward from 2010, and now I got to LA in 2010, and been here nine years, man.
Speaker: And you've been killing LA.
Speaker: Well, let's be clear before we get to that part.
Speaker: My struggles in LA has been real up until now.
Speaker: uh when i got here i had i booked a one-way ticket i remember like yesterday tell me about the mindset of someone that leaves because i'm from the inner city of oakland it's the other side of the country you're from inner city of baltimore most people that we know don't leave the city they don't like it's like i don't leave the city because i don't even have a car like or they don't leave the neighborhood or the neighborhood because they have a lack of exposure or they don't want to or they don't know how to i don't think they can
Speaker: So how did you get yourself to, how did you buy the mindset of someone that has enough hustle and belief in themselves to buy a one-way ticket out of their town?
Speaker: Man, you know what it was?
Speaker: I remember I had a moment when I was 15 years old.
Speaker: Like I said, the men in my family sold endless drugs, but they also got in trouble.
Speaker: And I was saying to myself, I know there's something more than just Baltimore, just negativity, drugs, killings, you know.
Speaker: Yeah, I played basketball, but I always knew there was something else.
Speaker: I just didn't know what it was.
Speaker: So when I graduated in 2010, my dad sat me down and said, son, I don't want you to be here in Baltimore.
Speaker: I think you should go to L.A.
Speaker: Granted, my dad really doesn't have those type of conversations with me.
Speaker: He was the provider, not the guide.
Speaker: It wasn't a normal conversation.
Speaker: Yeah, like, okay, dad.
Speaker: He always bought me all the sneakers, the video games.
Speaker: Always came to the basketball games, but never showed me how to ball.
Speaker: But still, dad, love him to death.
Speaker: Anyway, he sat me down.
Speaker: You should go to LA, son.
Speaker: I said, okay, cool.
Speaker: From that point on, I went to a friend's mom's house where she was giving me a graduation gift for graduating from college.
Speaker: Oh, Eric, you know, I'm proud of you, but I don't think you should stay here in Baltimore.
Speaker: I think you should go to Los Angeles.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Two people.
Speaker: That's twice now.
Speaker: They don't even know each other.
Speaker: So I'll go to Hampton to clean up my apartment, Hampton University.
Speaker: And I applied for a job, LA Sports Marketing.
Speaker: Hey, two hours later after submission, they want to interview me.
Speaker: Third time's a charm.
Speaker: From there, you know, I booked a one-way ticket, got LA June 12th, and the rest was history.
Speaker: And I had $1,000 to my name.
Speaker: So you just listened?
Speaker: I listened to my intuition, and I tell people the highest form of intelligence is intuition.
Speaker: That's beautiful, the highest form of intelligence is intuition.
Speaker: And it will lead you to your destiny, it will teach you how to hustle.
Speaker: So trust your gut, right?
Speaker: You gotta trust your gut.
Speaker: So how does someone out there right now who's dealing with a set of circumstances, whether it's taking that job leap or putting down that extra donut because I want to get in shape, or so much as asking someone out on a date.
Speaker: They get to the point where their intuition tells them they should do something,
Speaker: But then they don't have the ability to overcome that with their self-confidence.
Speaker: So it wasn't just intuition telling you.
Speaker: It was your belief in yourself that you could make it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I just knew something was greater.
Speaker: I think you can't be afraid of the unknown.
Speaker: You can't be afraid of change.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: And once you get to that understanding that nothing matters other than you going after what you believe.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: Because what are you standing on?
Speaker: I was standing on my beliefs.
Speaker: And my belief was, I got to be great.
Speaker: I want to do more than what's in front of me.
Speaker: I had dreams of planning an NBA that didn't work.
Speaker: So that doesn't mean my life stops or my dreams stop.
Speaker: So did you care about what other people in your hometown were saying?
Speaker: Like, why are you leaving?
Speaker: What are you doing going out there?
Speaker: You're not going to make it.
Speaker: You're going to fail.
Speaker: Because...
Speaker: It's enough to have belief, but those things have to creep in a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, you know what's funny about my decision coming to LA?
Speaker: Remember, I said decision.
Speaker: To everybody else, it was a risk.
Speaker: They thought I was taking a risk, but in my mind, it wasn't a risk.
Speaker: It was as I was making a decision to go to LA as if I was going to grad school to LA.
Speaker: Like me picking another university to go to school to.
Speaker: So I didn't have the perception of risk on my mind.
Speaker: It didn't dawn on me until a year after being in LA like, oh snap, I've been in this town for a year.
Speaker: I'm 3,000 miles away from my family.
Speaker: What did I just do?
Speaker: And I was like, oh, that's why I... Because I would get bothered when people were like, are you coming back home?
Speaker: You sure?
Speaker: And I'm like, why do they keep asking me the same question?
Speaker: But I wasn't aware because I didn't have the perception they had.
Speaker: So they saw you as being risky.
Speaker: You saw it as like progression.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So that kind of helped my development here in Los Angeles because I wasn't looking at it as, oh, you're taking a risk.
Speaker: How are you going to survive?
Speaker: How are you going to make it?
Speaker: That was not a question.
Speaker: So how did you make it?
Speaker: Because it wasn't like you had Uncle Daddy Warbucks paying for your way here.
Speaker: You got here with a thousand bucks.
Speaker: A thousand dollars.
Speaker: And I had to give $750 to a guy I met on Craigslist who was a limo driver.
Speaker: His name is Mustafa.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: And I slept on his couch for a year and paid him $500 a month.
Speaker: Talk about having to put yourself in a situation where you have to do or die.
Speaker: Do or die.
Speaker: Do or die.
Speaker: So you come out here after you pay for one month's rent.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You barely have enough money to eat now.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And now what is it?
Speaker: Is it like okay now?
Speaker: Because you had a job kind of lined up.
Speaker: Well, I had a job coming to find out.
Speaker: I went on an interview and it was a flute.
Speaker: It was a fraud.
Speaker: I think the moment I opened my mouth, they were like, oh, we can't take advantage of this young, naive college guy.
Speaker: Interesting.
Speaker: And I looked them up on a better business bureau.
Speaker: They wasn't a credit, had all these complaints.
Speaker: I was like,
Speaker: but I'm thankful for them because they got me out here, right?
Speaker: They did.
Speaker: That's why everything that comes your way, whether it's a fraud or a scam or not, things don't come to you by accident.
Speaker: By accident.
Speaker: And so that didn't work out, so I had to really find a job.
Speaker: I was staying with my boy in West Hollywood for two weeks.
Speaker: Granted, him and his wife lived in an apartment in West Hollywood.
Speaker: And then from there, I was just using every number of contact I got from everybody from the family.
Speaker: That's crazy.
Speaker: And think about that.
Speaker: Any business that you're in, it's all about your contacts.
Speaker: So you were just like, okay, now I have to pull from what resources I have.
Speaker: I have to meet this guy.
Speaker: I have to find that guy.
Speaker: I'll make a connection somewhere.
Speaker: And I use every connection, and those things lead to my progression out here.
Speaker: And the hard part was I couldn't get a job nowhere.
Speaker: I graduated mega cum laude.
Speaker: I had a decent amount of grades, so I'm just thinking, I can get a job.
Speaker: I couldn't get a job nowhere.
Speaker: That's wild.
Speaker: I went to every high fashion store.
Speaker: I went to Fox, Sports News.
Speaker: I went to hotels.
Speaker: My first job, you want to know my first job in Los Angeles?
Speaker: With chic shoes.
Speaker: I was a salesman making $8 an hour with a college degree.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I worked at the sneaker store as a stock boy when I was 16.
Speaker: You know how humbling that was?
Speaker: So humbling.
Speaker: So what I realized was like, LA didn't care who I was or what I did in the past.
Speaker: The market don't care.
Speaker: The market doesn't care your last name.
Speaker: The market doesn't care your degree.
Speaker: The market is going to make everyone equal because you have to earn it at the end of the day.
Speaker: So I had to prove myself at 22 years old with getting paid minimum wage.
Speaker: What did you draw from in that moment of truth?
Speaker: Did you draw from the tough street to Baltimore?
Speaker: Was it your family's upbringing?
Speaker: Was it the fact that your family hustled in the streets and you knew that if they could hustle, you could hustle?
Speaker: It wasn't.
Speaker: I think hustle was just in my spirit.
Speaker: I couldn't even, I wasn't even thinking about hustle.
Speaker: I just, all I had, I had to do whatever it took.
Speaker: You were hustle.
Speaker: I was hustle.
Speaker: You were hustle.
Speaker: So I used all my resources.
Speaker: I had a job.
Speaker: So the one thing I will tell people listening right now, the thing that really altered my life and shifted my paradigm and changed me for the better,
Speaker: I was so hungry and so curious for knowledge.
Speaker: And what do I need to do?
Speaker: Like, I'm lost.
Speaker: I'm 22 years old in Los Angeles, California.
Speaker: Hungry for knowledge.
Speaker: That's amazing.
Speaker: Hungry for knowledge.
Speaker: And I started to read books.
Speaker: And I did well in school, but I was never really like, I got to read this book, got to read this book.
Speaker: So you used your 9 to 5 to pay your bills and your 5 to 9 to go get knowledge and better yourself.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So there was two books.
Speaker: One book was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.
Speaker: Changed my life.
Speaker: There was a part in that book that was speaking directly to me as a college student and how I got in this real world and I didn't know what the hell was going on, but I thought I knew everything.
Speaker: From that book, I read The Secret.
Speaker: And with those two books together,
Speaker: my life started to change.
Speaker: Started manifesting opportunities, more money, and I was like, oh, things are really changing.
Speaker: Because I was applying myself in a different way.
Speaker: And I always say information changing situations.
Speaker: So let me get this right.
Speaker: You didn't grow two feet taller, did you?
Speaker: No.
Speaker: You didn't get like all of a sudden muscles popping out of your neck.
Speaker: Your mindset is what changed.
Speaker: My mindset.
Speaker: Your belief system in what you were doing was changing.
Speaker: And like literally if you're out there right now listening to this, you could change your mindset by flipping on a switch.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And if you do that, everything will change for you.
Speaker: You can learn how to hustle.
Speaker: but turning your mind on to the right stuff is by having a reason to get out there and say i'm just gonna fight out do it i'm not i don't care yeah you were thirsty for knowledge you watered that thirst and then what happened from there and in this there are more books and then there was the tony robbins of the world who really
Speaker: sparked a fire under me Bob Proctor's Les Brown's and and then you know I was at you know she chooses the sneaker store for about a year from there so I was you know how sometimes the salesman is at the front of the store and like trying to get people to come in yes and at this time I was reading a secret and I was planning all the things in the secret and I had already read think and grow rich
Speaker: And so there was a recruiter from Amicrumpian Fitch.
Speaker: I was like, hmm, would you like to work at, you know, Amicrumpian Fitch as a manager?
Speaker: I'm like, what?
Speaker: So I took the interview a week later.
Speaker: Then they hired me.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: quit you sneak at you all you know what it gonna be a yeah my assistant manager so I was making like $15 an hour with benefits and insurance double up so I was like wow and then the funny thing is I was still cuz I was doing background acting you know at the time and now like cuz I was trying yeah so we were acting where did that did you always act as a kid
Speaker: Never, never.
Speaker: Acting was never a dream of mine, never something I wanted to do, never had passion for it.
Speaker: So how did you fall into your first?
Speaker: Well, when I got here to L.A., a friend who helped me find my apartment that I was staying in off of Craigslist, she said that you need to go do background acting.
Speaker: You need to sign up at Central Casting.
Speaker: And so honestly, the funny thing is my first ever job in Los Angeles was acting.
Speaker: I was getting paid as a stand in on a Zack and Cody show in Nickelodeon.
Speaker: And I was the Ron Williams.
Speaker: What are your family's you told him that?
Speaker: I mean they didn't say anything before they didn't really have that much say because I was such a good kid and I was very responsible they was just like okay if you need anything let me know or it was just more like I don't know I was different I was probably making like a hundred seventy five dollars a day so I was happy I worked three days m ake a little bit of money like oh I met the white Howard Kevin love like it was like yeah Derron Williams yes but
Speaker: So that happened in the process of me getting a job, the $8,000 job.
Speaker: I was still going on background acting.
Speaker: So around that time, I mean, not only getting the job at Amicrump and Fitch, prior to that, I was doing a background commercial, a documentary commercial for Jenny O Turkey Burger.
Speaker: You know, you come on and pass around the burgers, you're eating them, and I got interviewed.
Speaker: And then, little did you know, that part of the interview got chose for the commercial.
Speaker: So mind you, everything I was playing from the books, from the affirmations to attracting these things, and at like three months after me getting a job at Amicron Ben Fitch, I had got like five checks in the mail.
Speaker: Isn't that crazy?
Speaker: Residual checks from, I was doing background, but they bumped me up to SAG because they used my face and my voice.
Speaker: And I was just like, wow.
Speaker: This stuff really works.
Speaker: It really works.
Speaker: And so that's how that all happened.
Speaker: And then I'm like, I have this momentum.
Speaker: I'm working.
Speaker: I'm making a little bit more money.
Speaker: And then bought me a car.
Speaker: I'm like, I'm doing it, baby.
Speaker: Almost two years in.
Speaker: Yes, LA.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And then...
Speaker: I stopped applying myself like I did before.
Speaker: I got comfortable.
Speaker: Got on the juice a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, I got comfortable.
Speaker: I'm making a little bit of money.
Speaker: I got benefits.
Speaker: But I still had this entrepreneur spirit and wanted to do my own thing.
Speaker: So I had this idea.
Speaker: I was listening to Bob Proctor on YouTube.
Speaker: He was talking about intuition.
Speaker: Here we go back to intuition.
Speaker: And I got a thought.
Speaker: Oh, you know what?
Speaker: None of these life coaches or mentors or motivational gurus have an app.
Speaker: You know, I can create an app.
Speaker: I want to create a motivational app.
Speaker: So there you go.
Speaker: The epiphany came.
Speaker: I went and followed it.
Speaker: That was the moment.
Speaker: That was the moment.
Speaker: So at the time, I called my cousin back in Baltimore.
Speaker: He connected me with some guys in D.C.
Speaker: He's like, oh, we can build it out.
Speaker: We can do this.
Speaker: We can do that.
Speaker: I'm like, how much?
Speaker: They're like, oh, $1,500.
Speaker: I was like, I don't got that type of money.
Speaker: But he's like, well, you can put you on a payment plan.
Speaker: You pay $400 a month.
Speaker: So I'm like, okay.
Speaker: So my goal was once I created my app and got it up, I was going to quit Amicrombian Fitch.
Speaker: So I was at Amicrombian Fitch about 18 months.
Speaker: So Eric Bigger's Successful Living was the mobile app.
Speaker: So they completed it.
Speaker: It was done.
Speaker: You could reach out to me.
Speaker: I could put up quotes.
Speaker: But granted, I'm 24 years old.
Speaker: What do I know about marketing or putting myself out there?
Speaker: Who did I thought I was?
Speaker: I thought I was the guy.
Speaker: I haven't really done anything.
Speaker: You went for it.
Speaker: Yeah, I went for it.
Speaker: But it's like I had this app, but I had no substance to it and nobody to give it to.
Speaker: But remember, I quit my job.
Speaker: And at that time, in the process of me working at Amicron & Fitch, I was doing boot camps in North Hollywood Park for two years.
Speaker: For fitness, right?
Speaker: For fitness.
Speaker: So every Saturday, I would do a boot camp at 8.30 in the morning.
Speaker: It was called Rich Life Success Driven.
Speaker: That was the name.
Speaker: And then so I had that to kind of like feed off of.
Speaker: And I wasn't charging then.
Speaker: But from there, once I quit Amicron & Fitch and started this app, I got into one-on-one training.
Speaker: Personal training.
Speaker: Fitness training.
Speaker: And that kind of went on for like...
Speaker: A few months.
Speaker: That was your first true real entrepreneur thing.
Speaker: Yeah, I really took the risk.
Speaker: And man, I'll tell you, I was 24 on the app, launched, I was two and a half years in LA, 25 hits, probably one of the toughest years of my life.
Speaker: That was the first year I went to go work.
Speaker: And in my mind, I was like, I'm gonna be this entrepreneur, I'm gonna be this boss.
Speaker: I didn't have that mindset.
Speaker: It was just like, this is what I wanna do.
Speaker: I'm following in my gut.
Speaker: I wanna train people.
Speaker: And so I did it.
Speaker: I started charging my own prices.
Speaker: I didn't know anything about invoices and, you know, getting trainer insurance.
Speaker: I was just like, just.
Speaker: Hey, there's no class in college for being an entrepreneur.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And so I did that.
Speaker: And then that year was so, so tough.
Speaker: Honestly, the end of that year, 25 years old, I actually went back to Amicron and Fitch as a model.
Speaker: How humbling was that?
Speaker: That was probably so humbling.
Speaker: I went back as a model and I was folding clothes and I used to tell people to fold clothes.
Speaker: You know, it was like, I'm like, what am I doing wrong?
Speaker: Like, why am I in this position?
Speaker: Like,
Speaker: And I was like, okay.
Speaker: Then from there, I was just struggling hard to pay rent.
Speaker: And at this time, was your mindset any different?
Speaker: Was your belief system in yourself any different?
Speaker: My belief system was shaking.
Speaker: Because I had no hope.
Speaker: I remember that year.
Speaker: I tell her like yesterday.
Speaker: And I actually ran into this young lady in Chicago not too long ago.
Speaker: I was talking to this girl.
Speaker: She lived in the Bay.
Speaker: And she was coming up around Christmas to come see me.
Speaker: And I probably had $7 to my name.
Speaker: And at the time, I had one bedroom with a roommate.
Speaker: And he brought all his family in town.
Speaker: And they're staying at the place.
Speaker: It was a small place.
Speaker: I can't invite her over.
Speaker: And I'll never forget that moment.
Speaker: 25 years ago, I think it was 2013, $7 in my bank account.
Speaker: I can't take her to get no food.
Speaker: I can't take her out.
Speaker: I was so low.
Speaker: And I'm like, man.
Speaker: And then so fast forward after that, I was just like, I need a job.
Speaker: I can't continue to do this.
Speaker: I can't live on a dream.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: What are we doing?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So then I went.
Speaker: But the funny thing is crazy.
Speaker: This is what I tell people.
Speaker: We create our own reality based on what's inside of us, based on our perceptions.
Speaker: I totally believe that.
Speaker: I tell people, what you believe is real.
Speaker: But there's always things I always wanted to do.
Speaker: And some way, somehow, my life allows me to do it.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: When I was in college, I worked in the government.
Speaker: I always wanted to work in the government.
Speaker: When I came to L.A., I always wanted to work at a nightclub.
Speaker: I wanted to be the door guy.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I just wanted to work at a nightclub.
Speaker: So I got a job at a nightclub.
Speaker: I was the door guy.
Speaker: I was getting like 13, 25 an hour.
Speaker: I mean, it's better than nothing.
Speaker: So you're good.
Speaker: You're starting to get some paper.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: I'm getting some money.
Speaker: And so I'm doing that.
Speaker: And I said, I'm going to really learn this position and the owner.
Speaker: When I first got there, it was like, oh, this guy, the owner, he's mean, he's evil, he's an a-hole.
Speaker: And so I'm curious.
Speaker: I'm the guy.
Speaker: Who is this guy?
Speaker: Yeah, I'm the guy.
Speaker: The class is hard.
Speaker: I remember a teacher named Miss Armenti.
Speaker: She had an English class.
Speaker: She was hard.
Speaker: And I want to take her class.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Let me see what this is about.
Speaker: The prettiest girl in school.
Speaker: Oh, man, you ain't going to get her.
Speaker: What?
Speaker: Watch me.
Speaker: I want to date her.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So I was like, what is it about this Tom guy that everybody's intimidated by?
Speaker: So he came in, you know, we sat down.
Speaker: I'm like, and over the years, I was like, I see why the way he is.
Speaker: And so the guy is very successful.
Speaker: He actually builds homes.
Speaker: He's in construction, has his own construction business.
Speaker: It's a lot of money building mansions.
Speaker: Up in Pasadena, Echo Park.
Speaker: He's very successful.
Speaker: So the club is just something on the side.
Speaker: But I started to learn things from this man.
Speaker: And while I was working there those two years, I learned a lot about how he does his business.
Speaker: That's your thirst for knowledge again right there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But we kind of built a great relationship.
Speaker: And he always believed in me.
Speaker: At the moments when I really didn't think someone should believe me or give me advice, he's like, whatever you need, you just let me know I got you.
Speaker: And I think those little moments from people that outside of you that you wasn't looking for, like it just always gave me confidence.
Speaker: So I worked for him at the club for like two and a half years.
Speaker: And in that process, I was doing Uber.
Speaker: I was doing Uber.
Speaker: I had signed up with Kangen Water because I had an alkaline water machine.
Speaker: So I was trying to sell water machines.
Speaker: So here I am, I'm 26 at this time.
Speaker: I'm selling water machines.
Speaker: I'm working at the nightclub and I'm doing Uber.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And I'm still fitting in personal training.
Speaker: Like I'm just trying to really figure it out.
Speaker: Whatever it takes.
Speaker: Whatever it takes, people.
Speaker: Whatever it takes.
Speaker: I'm really putting myself out there.
Speaker: I got to make this happen.
Speaker: Not complaining.
Speaker: Not getting down.
Speaker: Not getting down.
Speaker: It's really trying to figure it out.
Speaker: Trying to figure it out.
Speaker: And at this time, I'm still reading books.
Speaker: I'm still learning.
Speaker: I'm still earning this wisdom and this knowledge and trying to put it to test and understanding, studying life.
Speaker: And then, you know, I always get to a point in my life where I feel like if I mastered something, like working at the club, there's no more interest.
Speaker: I'm not stimulated anymore mentally.
Speaker: It doesn't get me going.
Speaker: There's no challenge.
Speaker: You need that chase.
Speaker: Yeah, you know, I need the chase.
Speaker: So I quit there.
Speaker: So I did Uber full time and still was training.
Speaker: I was like, hold up.
Speaker: I made double the money doing Uber and training for myself.
Speaker: And I did working at the club.
Speaker: This is kind of weird.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: On your own schedule.
Speaker: On my own schedule.
Speaker: Whenever you want.
Speaker: I'm making double the money.
Speaker: Sitting in a car and not having to even move anywhere.
Speaker: What am I thinking?
Speaker: So I was doing that and just still getting knowledge.
Speaker: And so finally, the sacrifice of staying with a roommate for five years in one bedroom.
Speaker: So I think I was like 27 going on 28.
Speaker: That's a lot of sacrifice.
Speaker: Yeah, buddy.
Speaker: You need to kind of get out of this scarcity mindset.
Speaker: You got to be a man.
Speaker: You're going to invite a young lady over.
Speaker: You're going to go in bed around.
Speaker: Oh, man, don't sacrifice.
Speaker: It's just that broke mentality.
Speaker: It is.
Speaker: Because, you know, you're trying to cut ends.
Speaker: It's time to grow up, level up.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So this is how I know that what's for you is for you.
Speaker: so August 2016 2016 before I was going home to Baltimore to see my family for like eight days I had to look for apartment so it was a neighborhood you know miracle mile one bedroom there's like 1250 a month you only gotta put seven hundred dollars down oh my oh I can make that in a week like I was doing numbers over I'm making like a thousand a week like I was putting in yet work yep
Speaker: I go to Baltimore.
Speaker: I come back.
Speaker: I think I got back.
Speaker: I think I left on like the 16th, 17th of July.
Speaker: I got back like the 24th, 25th.
Speaker: Mind you, my Lisa, my old son.
Speaker: This is less than three years ago.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So we'll catch up because three years, you've done a lot in three years.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Three years ago, you were driving an Uber.
Speaker: I was driving an Uber.
Speaker: And you were getting your first apartment.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So people look if you're out there right now.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I mean, you hear the story in a minute of where of what you're doing, which is incredibly great.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So it belief belief patients patients go get it and go get it.
Speaker: And so I get back from Baltimore.
Speaker: I got about six or seven days before my lease.
Speaker: I got to be moved out of this old place in Corridge.
Speaker: I was one with his roommate in one bedroom.
Speaker: I get back, the lady's like, oh no, sorry, you didn't get it, and credit didn't go.
Speaker: Yeah, she's like, what?
Speaker: How could this be show?
Speaker: Very mad.
Speaker: Because I went home, I told my grandmother, I told my mother, like, I got my new spot.
Speaker: Expectations were so high.
Speaker: And I got back.
Speaker: So a friend of mine who ran the Olympics and had a lot of success in his life, was like, man, I think I need to help you find your spot.
Speaker: So we go to the spot next door.
Speaker: Now the spot next door is like...
Speaker: glass uh you know doorway you know ran this crazy high i mean staining steel wood floors brick in the back he's like e i think this your spot right here this is a bigger spot i was like man that's crazy i can't are you paying i can't he said listen you gotta do it i'm like what do you mean he said it won't make sense to you right now it will only make sense when you do it so the funny thing listen to this people
Speaker: I said, you know what?
Speaker: I'm just go ahead and apply for this.
Speaker: I asked my mom, she could cosign.
Speaker: I love that.
Speaker: I applied and like in two days, I get an email early in the morning and say, you got it.
Speaker: You got the apartment and you didn't need your mom to cosign.
Speaker: You got it on your own.
Speaker: I started crying.
Speaker: I couldn't believe it.
Speaker: I was like, I did it.
Speaker: What?
Speaker: I am paying almost $2,000 a month.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: How am I going to do this?
Speaker: Figure it out.
Speaker: Figure it out.
Speaker: But the thing is, it wasn't meant for me to be in a cheaper apartment.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: I was supposed to be in a more expensive one.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: And I say, you know, dedicate that to where I was at and my vibration and my information and who I was at the time.
Speaker: You were setting a low frequency vibration.
Speaker: So of course you were going to get a low rent apartment.
Speaker: You raised your standards.
Speaker: Raised my standards and I got the apartment.
Speaker: So I get an apartment.
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: There you got to pay this.
Speaker: Grand Uber helped out.
Speaker: Shouts out to Uber.
Speaker: You guys helped me out.
Speaker: I had a little bit of money in the account to kind of keep me going for a few months.
Speaker: Yep.
Speaker: But man, I was still grinding hard that year, 2016, to pay that rent.
Speaker: So there's a lady by the name of Jo Lay.
Speaker: She's like a spiritual advisor.
Speaker: And, you know, I was called her one day at the end of 2016.
Speaker: She's like, son, you're burning yourself out.
Speaker: You have nothing left in the tank.
Speaker: You need to sit down.
Speaker: You're trying to do everything, and you can do nothing.
Speaker: She was just giving me a real heart-to-heart and really checking me like, you got to figure something out.
Speaker: At the time, around that time, I had got a call from a friend.
Speaker: Well, not actually a call, a text message from the same girl who told me I should do background acting.
Speaker: She sent me a screenshot text message from
Speaker: of a Facebook picture of a casting for The Bachelorette.
Speaker: She said, would you want to do this?
Speaker: I'm like, yeah.
Speaker: But granted, people remember, I'm in a new vibration.
Speaker: I'm in a new apartment, a better apartment, a better environment.
Speaker: So how much time had gone by from your apartment to this text that you got?
Speaker: So it was from, I got an apartment August 2016.
Speaker: I probably got the text, I believe, late October, early November.
Speaker: So you're talking two months later.
Speaker: It was right around.
Speaker: Yeah, like 60 days, at least 60 days later.
Speaker: So she texted you about this casting call.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And you've been acting a little before, so you've been around casting calls, but nothing like The Bachelor.
Speaker: Yeah, nothing like The Bachelor, nothing like reality TV.
Speaker: I mean, the number one watched show in America.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: I mean, come on, that's ridiculous.
Speaker: So I'm like, sure.
Speaker: So I go for the interview.
Speaker: They're asking me a lot of questions, and they're like, oh, you know what?
Speaker: We like you.
Speaker: We want to move you forward right away.
Speaker: I'm like, great.
Speaker: Do another interview.
Speaker: Cool.
Speaker: I submitted paperwork, everything.
Speaker: And then, no, first, hold on.
Speaker: I'm sorry.
Speaker: That's wrong.
Speaker: Before that, they had you do a lot of paperwork.
Speaker: It's very tedious.
Speaker: You got to do your paperwork.
Speaker: You got to submit photos.
Speaker: And I feel like it's a test to see if you really want this.
Speaker: You can do the job.
Speaker: Like, we had to submit 25 photos.
Speaker: Listen, people, 25 photos.
Speaker: The packet was like,
Speaker: College class or something you got to fill out all these for sure a test.
Speaker: Yeah, so I said okay This is your test.
Speaker: You're gonna do it So I did that and then I submitted everything I did all my work.
Speaker: I didn't hear from anybody So then that man I'm like it's the end of the year I'm kind of feeling down like man like I'm going nothing happened.
Speaker: Don't let me bad easy apartment rent
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And so it's probably like the second, going into the second week of January, I get a call from a random number.
Speaker: I think I was just finishing doing Uber or just about to do Uber.
Speaker: One of the two.
Speaker: And it was somebody from a cast in ABC.
Speaker: We said, oh, we'd love to bring you in for an interview.
Speaker: I'm seeing you an email.
Speaker: And I'm like...
Speaker: What I mean, I was in my head.
Speaker: I've been waiting for you guys You know, it's kind of like a deal when it's pending.
Speaker: It's like can we close this out?
Speaker: You kind of forgot about it and then yeah, you were kind of had Accepted the fact that it wasn't gonna happen right and just at that moment is when it happened for you It happened for me.
Speaker: I went on that interview and it went great They moved me ahead and then I had a final interview
Speaker: Final interview, you take your test.
Speaker: It's like a 600-question test you take for your psychological.
Speaker: Psychological, yeah.
Speaker: Blood test, urine test.
Speaker: And then they put you in a room of like 20 producers.
Speaker: What was that like?
Speaker: You're just sitting in the front seat and they're checking you like,
Speaker: Boom, boom, so tell me about yourself.
Speaker: Give me a moment where you was in fear or you was in a relationship or someone did something you didn't like.
Speaker: And so me and the EP of the show, we got into it.
Speaker: Like, we was- Like, an argument-wise?
Speaker: Yeah, because I think he wanted me to commit to- So, there was a guy in the room.
Speaker: His name was Louie.
Speaker: Louie, by the way, I love that guy.
Speaker: He's the one who kind of, I get to It's Miracle Season, but anyway, he's the one who kind of pushed that to come out of me.
Speaker: But anyway, he loved Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.
Speaker: I said, listen, it's horrible.
Speaker: It's disgusting.
Speaker: I'm from Baltimore.
Speaker: Like, my mom, my grandmother, King Cook.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And so the EP of the show, Alon, at the time, said, do you think he's wrong?
Speaker: I said, no, I don't think he's wrong.
Speaker: That's his perception.
Speaker: That's his truth.
Speaker: That's not what I feel.
Speaker: That's what he felt.
Speaker: I don't think he's wrong.
Speaker: That's the truth.
Speaker: Oh, bullshit.
Speaker: You know, that's what he was kind of calling.
Speaker: He was calling my bluff.
Speaker: Like, come on, how are you going to say you don't like it, but then he's not wrong?
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: You're BSing.
Speaker: They want you to call it like you saw it.
Speaker: Yeah, he was getting mad that I wasn't agreeing that his truth was wrong.
Speaker: I said, no, that's his truth for him.
Speaker: So I thought, oh man, I kind of messed up.
Speaker: I got into a big shot at the show.
Speaker: But he was like, we didn't like each other.
Speaker: He's like, I thought she was full of fluff.
Speaker: She was just this positive guy who didn't really want to own how you feel.
Speaker: And then I thought I messed up.
Speaker: And then, you know, next thing you know, yeah.
Speaker: You gotta get this, you need a seat, you need to pack this, you need to do that.
Speaker: So what was the moment like?
Speaker: Was it a phone call?
Speaker: Was it an email?
Speaker: It was just, so look, here it is.
Speaker: So listen, people.
Speaker: And where were you at?
Speaker: I want to hear about this.
Speaker: I was coming from Westlake.
Speaker: I was just finishing training at Proactive Sports.
Speaker: Shouts out to Ron Capretta.
Speaker: They trained a lot of professional athletes.
Speaker: Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews, Paul George, all these big time athletes, baseball guys.
Speaker: And I was going out there like three times a week just to train with these people.
Speaker: Anyway, I'm coming back from Westlake.
Speaker: I'm on a one-on-one.
Speaker: You know that ride from...
Speaker: Thousand notes, Westlake, all the way to downtown is incredible.
Speaker: It's just like an hour or some change.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And the funny thing is I was in a car by myself.
Speaker: I was in a car by myself.
Speaker: I got the call and I looked at my phone and I was like, this got to be them.
Speaker: And they said, oh, yeah, can I speak to Mr. Bigger?
Speaker: I was like, yeah, this is him.
Speaker: Yeah, so this is, I think her name was Lacey.
Speaker: Lacey from Kassam, ABC, The Bachelorette.
Speaker: We just wanted to know if you decided if you wanted to go on a show or not.
Speaker: What do you think?
Speaker: And I like put the phone down.
Speaker: So I put the phone down like, oh my God, damn, I gotta make a decision.
Speaker: Damn.
Speaker: And I was like, yes, I want to do it.
Speaker: And she's like, okay, cool.
Speaker: I sent over some paperwork, get you up and started.
Speaker: When I hung up the phone, I was like, what did I just do?
Speaker: I just said yes.
Speaker: But there goes, I didn't know what was going to happen after because that's the unknown.
Speaker: What was the first thing you did once they told you that you were casted?
Speaker: I was just like, yes, but also like, I don't know.
Speaker: What did I just have myself up for?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: But it was a moment.
Speaker: It was like, I know I had to say yes.
Speaker: Because like, are you going to do Uber and train people in your apartment when you know you got to pay rent in like forever?
Speaker: Like, what are you going to do?
Speaker: Granted, I didn't really know much about the show other than what's a love show.
Speaker: I didn't watch.
Speaker: I just...
Speaker: So I did it, and that year I was turning 29.
Speaker: So the show, I went on March 13th.
Speaker: So here's another thing about TV has been chasing me.
Speaker: I've never wanted to do TV.
Speaker: TV has been chasing me since I've been in Los Angeles.
Speaker: So I went on to The Bachelorette.
Speaker: My experience started March 13th, 2017.
Speaker: I turned 29 on March 9th, 2017.
Speaker: That weekend, I went on an audition.
Speaker: Hey, go back to audition.
Speaker: It was TV chasing me for Dave & Buster's.
Speaker: Dave & Buster's, I believe.
Speaker: It's like the arcade.
Speaker: Yes, Dave & Buster's.
Speaker: So, and then I had a callback on the 10th, which is the day after my birthday.
Speaker: And I kind of know when I'm in an audition, if I book it, I can feel the energy.
Speaker: And I had to dance.
Speaker: I was like, oh, they're asking me to dance in this callback with women?
Speaker: Like, oh, this is easy.
Speaker: I go on the call that.
Speaker: I get a call that Sunday.
Speaker: I'm like, agent, you booked it.
Speaker: You booked the commercial.
Speaker: The shoot day is Monday, March 13th.
Speaker: I'm going on ABC The Bachelorette on March 13th.
Speaker: I'm like, what are the chances?
Speaker: What is the universe?
Speaker: And mind you, I haven't booked a commercial from Jenny O. All that time.
Speaker: All that time.
Speaker: And the same day.
Speaker: And I had a new agent and everything.
Speaker: David Buster's and The Bachelor on the exact same day.
Speaker: And so here we go again, people.
Speaker: I had to make a decision.
Speaker: So I said, unfortunately, because I'm under contract, I told my agent,
Speaker: I can't do it.
Speaker: I can't do the commercial.
Speaker: I'm signed to go on the Bad Trap March 13th.
Speaker: And I was trying to figure out if I could do both at the same time, but I just couldn't because they had me the whole day.
Speaker: So that sucked.
Speaker: I was like,
Speaker: And I was non-union at the time.
Speaker: The money was decent, wasn't great, but still, that feels good to book something.
Speaker: You know, to have that momentum to go into a show.
Speaker: So I didn't do the job.
Speaker: And I went on a show.
Speaker: What was the show like?
Speaker: Tell me about the experience.
Speaker: Obviously, we all can watch it as fans.
Speaker: Watching how it looks.
Speaker: Produced, non-produced, fights, drama.
Speaker: What was the show like being on it and having a camera in your face all the time?
Speaker: I mean, it was life-changing for me, for one.
Speaker: Difficult at times.
Speaker: Very challenging emotionally.
Speaker: Mentally draining.
Speaker: Overwhelming.
Speaker: It was like life.
Speaker: It was all that.
Speaker: But it was so great.
Speaker: Because I discovered who I really was and what I really needed.
Speaker: And the funny thing is...
Speaker: They shocked me because that Monday, we wasn't supposed to see The Bachelorette until that Thursday of the week of March 13th.
Speaker: I was one of the four guys who went on national TV after the final rose to meet The Bachelorette for the first time.
Speaker: Oh, so you met her before you knew who she was.
Speaker: So granted, that's March 13th.
Speaker: I believe it was either March 8th, 7th, or 6th the week prior.
Speaker: I saw The Bachelorette in my gym training with another trainer.
Speaker: And I was like, because at the time I already got the call to who it was.
Speaker: I get out of my car and I go and I'm like, that's Rachel Lindsay.
Speaker: What the?
Speaker: This is kind of weird.
Speaker: Like what is she doing in my gym of all gyms?
Speaker: Of all gyms.
Speaker: I'm in North Hollywood at One Fitness.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: What is she doing there?
Speaker: So I go in there and I see and I call my boy.
Speaker: He's like, man, you got to say something to her.
Speaker: So she's training outside of the gym.
Speaker: She comes back in.
Speaker: So I give a high five like, Rachel, I see you training hard.
Speaker: She's like, I'm trying.
Speaker: And I looked at her.
Speaker: I looked in her eyes.
Speaker: I said, I see you soon.
Speaker: She's like, what?
Speaker: Look at it again like, I see you soon.
Speaker: And then from there, it was just like, OK.
Speaker: I let her know.
Speaker: She know what I mean when I said it the second time.
Speaker: And then I saw her again before the limo on TV.
Speaker: And if you remember the guy, Louie, I was talking about, who was watching me, was with me the whole time in my trail in Burbank before I went on stage.
Speaker: I was getting this, my intuition just kept talking to me like, it's a miracle season.
Speaker: It's a miracle season.
Speaker: I'm like, what's that?
Speaker: And I'm telling him, he's like, hey, bud, I think you should say that.
Speaker: You should say that when you go up there.
Speaker: I'm like, really?
Speaker: He's like, man, you keep saying it.
Speaker: But it was like a channel thought that just came to me.
Speaker: So I go on stage, I say, Rachel, it's a pleasure to meet you.
Speaker: You're from Dallas, I'm from Baltimore.
Speaker: What's meant to be will be.
Speaker: It's miracle season.
Speaker: I kind of said everything I wanted to say.
Speaker: Then we started dancing and the crowd went crazy.
Speaker: I felt like I hit a game winning shot.
Speaker: I got off the stage, I was like, yeah.
Speaker: But it was just like, what just happened?
Speaker: And then from there, this love journey began.
Speaker: And then I saw her that Thursday coming out of the limo.
Speaker: I'm like, why do I keep seeing you?
Speaker: She's like, I don't know, you tell me.
Speaker: And the thing is, the first question I asked her on that night was, I thought it was either, are you afraid of love?
Speaker: And then the producers stopped me.
Speaker: I was coming in with a deep question.
Speaker: To sing.
Speaker: Of course.
Speaker: Of course.
Speaker: You're Baltimore.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: And from there, it was just every week, you know, the first few days, it was kind of nerve wracking and it was kind of uncomfortable.
Speaker: You learn in the guys, but it was intimidating because everybody was like 6'3", 6'2", cut up, look good.
Speaker: How's it like with the guys in the house?
Speaker: Oh, man.
Speaker: I mean, it was great, but it was kind of intimidating because everybody kind of had their things together, which I really didn't.
Speaker: I probably look like I did I was fresh off of uber they're probably fresh out of salesforce or you know a law firm in a full order though but I mean everybody was cool everybody was great and we had some differences in the house with some men but it was good I mean it was me some lifelong friends and this whole experience but uh it was it was crazy
Speaker: So what was it like?
Speaker: Because you're recording the show before it even gets aired.
Speaker: Yeah, 10 weeks.
Speaker: So what is it like anticipation-wise?
Speaker: Because you hadn't seen the episodes on television yet.
Speaker: Knowing you filmed, knowing you knew the outcome probably.
Speaker: And is it anticipation?
Speaker: Is it telling your friends?
Speaker: Well, when you're in it, you don't know what's going to happen.
Speaker: You might be saying, oh, you're up to be interviewed next.
Speaker: Or you're going to see it.
Speaker: And it's like, it might take an hour or two hours.
Speaker: Or they might throw you in there like, oh, yeah, talk about this or talk about that.
Speaker: The fun thing for me, and it goes back to the thought of everything I always wanted to do, I always wound up doing.
Speaker: How?
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: It just happens.
Speaker: I always wanted to travel the world.
Speaker: That was the goal of mine.
Speaker: And you got to do it.
Speaker: I went to six countries on a show.
Speaker: That's crazy.
Speaker: Six countries.
Speaker: Went to Oslo, Norway, Copenhagen, Denmark, Sweden, Spain, Switzerland, France.
Speaker: What was your favorite vacation spot of those spots?
Speaker: Copenhagen, Denmark.
Speaker: Really?
Speaker: And that was my one-on-one date.
Speaker: Nice.
Speaker: That was just epic.
Speaker: What was it like there?
Speaker: It was just beautiful.
Speaker: It was kind of a mixture of New York and Chicago.
Speaker: It was like a city feel.
Speaker: It was nice.
Speaker: People were free.
Speaker: People were out eating, having a good time.
Speaker: It was great.
Speaker: I had a good time.
Speaker: It was fun.
Speaker: I got to get back.
Speaker: And then from there, that's when the momentum was like, all right, I'm in this thing.
Speaker: Because a lot of producers didn't think I would last that long, based on how I came in.
Speaker: You went, what, 8, 9, 10 weeks, something like that?
Speaker: I was at 10 weeks.
Speaker: I went to a final location.
Speaker: Yeah, so I was top three.
Speaker: I was first.
Speaker: What's it was it like to be top three?
Speaker: I mean, come on.
Speaker: People love this show.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, you're downplaying it.
Speaker: Yeah, what's it like to be top three?
Speaker: Well, now that I know, because in the moment I didn't know what I'm saying, you probably unassuming, but now, right, you know, looking back, you were top three on the Bachelorette.
Speaker: Yeah, it would like to have been top three in the Bachelorette.
Speaker: It was like.
Speaker: I still can't describe it was just so surreal because it's like what is this I had grow a beard out on the show because I was clean face before it's like I was a little boy going in and I came up became a man on the outside of it because everything I went through I grew up that's why because you know you got a therapist on the show you're learning about yourself I fell in love for the first time is it really for real I mean because people will say it's not you can't really fall in love in 10 weeks but people say you can yes you can if I stop you from everything I
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: Outside of you.
Speaker: You don't have no phone.
Speaker: You can't talk to no friends, no family.
Speaker: You can't go on social media.
Speaker: We're barely watching TV.
Speaker: And the only focus you have is the person.
Speaker: The Bachelorette at the time was Rachel Lindsay.
Speaker: You don't have no choice but to follow.
Speaker: And I learned that anybody can be the one.
Speaker: There's no just special.
Speaker: You spend enough time with someone, you do some crazy things together, like flying helicopters and you're on top of buildings.
Speaker: That's very profound.
Speaker: That's life right there.
Speaker: Because people think that I'm waiting for my one.
Speaker: But anyone who you give yourself to.
Speaker: Anybody can be the one.
Speaker: And that's what I learned.
Speaker: And you got to give people time.
Speaker: If we were outside of the show dating, on the first date, I probably would have never called her the next day just because I wasn't that into her.
Speaker: I think she was cool.
Speaker: I think she was great as a person.
Speaker: But I was like, ah.
Speaker: Took time.
Speaker: But over time, I'm like, I really like this girl.
Speaker: Like, who is this?
Speaker: And that could be true for, like, your life, your business, for whatever.
Speaker: If you commit enough time to something, you could fall in love with anything.
Speaker: Yes, you can.
Speaker: That is true.
Speaker: You hear that from Ben Anderson, the hustle.
Speaker: You can fall in love with anything.
Speaker: Time, timing.
Speaker: Trust the timing of your life.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: The time of my life was great.
Speaker: Also, I'm into astrology, so I was in the year of the Saturn return.
Speaker: Love that.
Speaker: I was getting ready for my 30s, so it was a challenging year.
Speaker: It was, I mean, plus you're about to be 30.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You came from a new entire country, basically.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: To a whole entire new planet in Los Angeles.
Speaker: You do whatever you can to get by, get your own swanky apartment, wind up taking a random shot at this audition.
Speaker: You submit 30 pictures and you pass the test.
Speaker: You land on Rachel Lindsay's Bachelorette show.
Speaker: You're top three.
Speaker: It ends, and then what is life like?
Speaker: Post-fame, stardom, people chasing you, saying,
Speaker: They're bigger.
Speaker: Then what happened after that?
Speaker: Man, it was just like mayhem.
Speaker: It was like, what is this?
Speaker: It was overwhelming, but fun and exciting.
Speaker: People running up on me taking photos, and TMZ got cameras in my face.
Speaker: I'm like, what going on?
Speaker: People in the car, they in stores put me on their phone.
Speaker: I'm like, we love you.
Speaker: You're just so positive.
Speaker: And we wanted you to win.
Speaker: I'm like, huh?
Speaker: What?
Speaker: It's just like so weird.
Speaker: Because you don't know what to anticipate or expect.
Speaker: You didn't have to drive.
Speaker: It wasn't like you went to Nebraska.
Speaker: You didn't leave Los Angeles and go to a different country.
Speaker: You just drove down the street back to your apartment.
Speaker: So what I did realize, I said, now I don't understand why TV was chasing me.
Speaker: I'm not on TV for the purpose of the episode or the TV show.
Speaker: I'm on TV because of who I am, what my energy brings to people and the impact it has on people.
Speaker: I had someone bring me to Toronto for an appearance and we did a contest where we would pick three random girls.
Speaker: We had dinner at STK, this whole experience.
Speaker: at the dinner table that day, that night, I was like, what is it that y'all seeing me?
Speaker: Like, what was it about my story?
Speaker: He's like, I don't know.
Speaker: He's just like, you're just so inspiring and your struggle and what you've been through and you're just so strong.
Speaker: And I'm like, for real?
Speaker: You're just attracted to your energy.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I was like, you do have that.
Speaker: When I first met you, I was like, this guy,
Speaker: of all the people in the room that we're hanging out with, I'm like, this guy has some kind of kinetic energy about him.
Speaker: Whether it's inertia or something where you create positive vibes and things just kind of vibrate towards you a little bit.
Speaker: Yeah, and so I was like, I got a thought like,
Speaker: Now I don't know why I'm on TV because I'm from Baltimore and the kids and the youth and You know some I'm not doing that their best and they need somebody look up to you who are their leaders who do I have nephews it is your calling This is my calling so I really understood why I'm on TV and it's not for TV per se is for what he was gonna do for me to help people Understand what they can do for them.
Speaker: That's right based on what I go through and what I can give and
Speaker: So it was it was like the first year, you know, it's a lot of guest appearances.
Speaker: It's a lot of interviews traveled a lot post show.
Speaker: And then, you know, I get calls to do like Dancing with the Stars and Celebrity Family Feud.
Speaker: And I did Bachelor in Paradise.
Speaker: Then I did Winter Games.
Speaker: It's like, what is going on?
Speaker: Like, this is really happening.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: And with all that, I tell people dreams really come true.
Speaker: Dreams really come true from having my own podcast to public speaking to working with the radio station Power 106, working with mental health awareness, LA County Department of Mental Health, and just doing all these amazing things.
Speaker: And what I love is you had such a humongous, I mean, you couldn't have had a bigger platform.
Speaker: Yeah, ABC.
Speaker: I mean, it was the biggest platform ever.
Speaker: to go from someone not on a platform to on a platform without having to go through like years and years of working way up a ladder through the entertainment world.
Speaker: You kind of went from non-platform to platform very fast.
Speaker: And what you've done with the platform has been incredible.
Speaker: I want to talk a little bit about what you're doing today and how you give back to mental health and how you help inspire people and how you coach and how that vibration is now vibrating in other people.
Speaker: So talk about your business today.
Speaker: Well, people out there, you know, you still got to, you know, give attention and loyalty to what started you.
Speaker: And fitness, training.
Speaker: I still have clients.
Speaker: I have high-end clients.
Speaker: When I want to go to their homes and train them, I still do that.
Speaker: Auditioning.
Speaker: I just did an AT&T commercial not too long ago.
Speaker: thank god for that and saturday and then a new vibe about uh privacy and it's cool yeah um but right now um i'm partnering with uh it's a startup called be raw and be raw stands for r-a-w r-a-w so raw stands for resilient authentic willing and so what we're creating is a platform um for people
Speaker: Using you know your body mind and spirit to heal themselves through three modalities fitness Meditation and yoga and so I'm helping them create content to help people deal with their emotions stress anger fear Sadness worry and create workouts based on those emotions.
Speaker: You know about all those emotions.
Speaker: Yeah, I've been through them all Yes, shots out to the Pisces and I'm very emotional but uh so I have that and then I
Speaker: power 106 that's how the power 106. yes uh i have a always do this yeah partner i partner with them with the mental health awareness campaign and each month we're going to put on a emotional boot camp so we did our last our first one last weekend uh which was in culver city park and so we can probably try to hit all the districts in la cool and i'm once once a month i'm going to do a boot camp for people emotionally and just help them connect to themselves
Speaker: And it's still going to be fitness based, but have them think about things they don't think about and ask them questions, have them journal.
Speaker: How can we get behind that?
Speaker: How can we, how can, if someone right now is out there struggling and needs mental health, physical support, how do we get behind that or sign up for that movement?
Speaker: Well, so Power 106, so if you go to power106 slash emotion, there's a link in my bio on my Instagram at Eric Bigger.
Speaker: You go there and fill out the information and you can join a boot camp.
Speaker: With the B-Raw space, we're launching our app probably the end of July, but you can go to our page, join B-Raw, J-O-O-I-N, B-Raw, B-E-R-A-W.
Speaker: And you can just DM me, you know, hit me up.
Speaker: But right now, those are the two platforms where you can go and get information and have an understanding on where I'm going to be or how you can help yourself.
Speaker: Other than that, that's... The cool thing is you're just starting your ascent in your life.
Speaker: I mean, you've been through a lot, but I feel like you're just starting.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm just starting.
Speaker: I'm just getting started.
Speaker: And the world just didn't give the Bachelorette show to someone
Speaker: I feel like it gave it someone deserved it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You used it for the right stuff and some people can use it for self promotion.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And the market dictates how that person is seen.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So the fact that you came off the show and people loved you and got behind you and kind of galvanized behind you shows the market gave the tools to the right person.
Speaker: Yeah, and I'm thankful for it, and it wasn't easy, but man, it was worth it.
Speaker: And I don't take anything for granted.
Speaker: There was a young rapper who got murdered not too long ago here in L.A., Nipsey Hussle, and he was a big inspiration to a lot of people, at least in the urban community.
Speaker: And he did Hustle & Motivate, the Marathon, and Victory Lap.
Speaker: He spoke those words in the universe.
Speaker: He did everything he wanted to do, and unfortunately, his life was taken from him, but...
Speaker: I just tell people, man, you know, if you got something inside of you, you got a gift, you got a thought, man, go for it.
Speaker: Go for it.
Speaker: And believe in it and don't let anything stop you, not even yourself.
Speaker: Because sometimes we'll let our thoughts, our bad thoughts, in the lies we tell ourselves to stop us.
Speaker: And you didn't stop yourself when you bought that one-way ticket?
Speaker: Yeah, I didn't.
Speaker: You didn't stop?
Speaker: I didn't stop.
Speaker: I wasn't coming back.
Speaker: I made a decision and I stand firm on that.
Speaker: And I think, Napoleon Hill, when you make a definite decision, I don't know the rest of it, and you stick to it, your life will change.
Speaker: And I was...
Speaker: Definitely about how I felt and what I wanted to do.
Speaker: I knew I was going to get in this space.
Speaker: I didn't know how.
Speaker: And I thought it was going to be basketball.
Speaker: Basketball was my dream, was my passion.
Speaker: But as I tell people, I didn't go, I didn't make it in the NBA, in the pros, but I went pro in life.
Speaker: That's right.
Speaker: I'm professional in life.
Speaker: So that's why I want to teach young men coming up that you don't have to just be an athlete.
Speaker: You can be a pro in life.
Speaker: It's real estate.
Speaker: You can ball in life.
Speaker: You hustle.
Speaker: You know the hustle.
Speaker: podcast with Ben Anderson.
Speaker: That's right, baby.
Speaker: So it's always to make life happen for yourself outside of what you were used to growing up.
Speaker: Well, I feel like we're family over this.
Speaker: Kind of sit down.
Speaker: We had a great time in Indianapolis, the Combine.
Speaker: I wanted to get you in here just so we could have time together because if we do this, we actually can hang out.
Speaker: Now we can spend time together beyond this and you're close.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: I can't wait to see where you go.
Speaker: I mean, you're a rising, shining star.
Speaker: Yeah, thank you.
Speaker: This whole industry, if you need someone to book that has real, true talent, that's going to treat that platform right, Eric Bigger is a man.
Speaker: So how can we follow your Instagram?
Speaker: So on Instagram, I'm just Eric Bigger, E-R-I-C, B-I-G-G-E-R.
Speaker: My Twitter is Eric underscore Bigger.
Speaker: And I am on Snapchat, eBigs, E-B-I-G-G-S-S.
Speaker: You can email me too if you want to book me, eBiggerinquiries.com.
Speaker: Oh, just message me on Instagram.
Speaker: It's all love.
Speaker: I love people.
Speaker: I love life.
Speaker: I love learning.
Speaker: I love evolving.
Speaker: And it's a we thing.
Speaker: It's not an I thing.
Speaker: And we can do this thing together.
Speaker: And we all need each other.
Speaker: So with that being said, it's a miracle season.
Speaker: Thank you, Ben Anderson.
Speaker: The Hustle Podcast was amazing and phenomenal.
Speaker: And we did it.
Speaker: You want a miracle?
Speaker: Book this man.
Speaker: There we go.
Speaker: You have the hustle, my friend.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: I'll see you guys later.
Speaker: Appreciate it.
Speaker: Thanks for following us on The Hustle.
Speaker: To follow our story, check us out at benanderson.365 on Instagram and stay tuned for our next honored guest.
