The "Anything is Possible" Mandate & Permissionless Entrepreneurship w/ Brian Lofrumento (Part 1) - Ep. 1

SPEAKER_01 0:11

Hey, and welcome to the No Trade Secrets Podcast. I'm your host, Jerome McKenzie, and today we're joined by Brian La Framento. Brian is an entrepreneur, podcaster, and author who has launched, grown, and sold multiple businesses since starting his first business at the age of 19. Brian hosts the Wantrepreneur to Entrepreneur Podcast, which is one of the top 1% of shows worldwide with over 1,400 episodes and counting, and listeners in over 150 different countries. He's also the founder of Ops Plus AI, where he helps businesses all across a range of different industries and sizes grow faster through injecting technology, AI, human capital, strategies, and workflows in a way that makes sense for every business through his operate framework. Brian manages five businesses in his current portfolio, including the nonprofit Through Entrepreneurship, where he believes that societal and personal advancements happen fastest and best through entrepreneurship. He grew up in Boston, moved to Los Angeles in his twenties, and now lives just outside of Tampa, Florida. Brian, welcome to the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:23

Thank you so much, Jerome. And thanks for the great intro. And let me be the first person to ever say here on the air, congratulations on your shiny new show. I'm so excited to be on the other side of the microphone. Obviously, you've been on the entrepreneur to entrepreneur podcast. So kudos to you, Jerome. Super grateful for you having me on.

SPEAKER_01 1:40

Yeah, no, thank you, Brian. It's funny to think uh at the full circle of events when it was uh just over a year ago uh I made my first appearance uh on any podcast on your show. And uh I don't know, I think I've told you this before, but um when we uh initially went through the scheduling, um I actually scheduled it the furthest out that the calendar link would uh would allow me to. So I was going through that process in December and scheduled it in March, I think. Um and then about a week beforehand, uh I almost canceled because uh I was honestly a little nervous to be on a show and just uh also don't like hearing myself uh um on any recordings or anything like that, but went through with it and then since then you and I have become really good friends, you've become uh a mentor to me, and uh also you've schooled me at chess and tennis. Uh so thank you for for all the for the all the ass beatings and uh wisdom and friendship you've shared uh with me over the past past year.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

No, I I really appreciate the kind words, Jerome, and likewise back at you. I've learned so much from you. I toot your horns so frequently. And this has been a show that you and I have so many in-depth conversations about really valuable things. And it's it's funny for listeners. I always love as a podcast host, taking listeners behind the scenes and things that they wouldn't otherwise know. And Jerome, I one thing I really appreciate about you is anytime my phone lights up and Jerome McKenzie is calling, I think to myself, what's this call going to be about? And it could be anything from real tactical business strategies where there are no trade secrets, and that's something I so appreciate about you. But it could equally as likely be about the Fibonacci sequence and all of the wonders of the world. So I'm super grateful that you allow your curiosities and you share your curiosities to help others and give insights into the way that you think. And that's why my man, that is the ultimate mark of who is going to become a great podcast host. So super excited to see what this chapter brings.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

No, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate that, appreciate the kind words. And so I guess like uh, you know, when I was thinking about the concept for this, uh I really wanted to um bring to life the conversations that uh I have already in in real life, you know, including some, you know, a lot of our conversations that uh some of those being you know late at night, early in the morning, but then other people um where you just you know those those 30-minute conversations that go for two or three hours, um where you really get to know someone and you know from those initial conversations that this is your type of person. Uh and like and so to get to the core of uh of really who you are and and your why, um, I guess like my first question to you is like what what what is your why? Why do you do this? Why do you manage uh and run all these businesses? Like, what is it all for for you?

SPEAKER_00 4:41

Jerome, I'll tell you what, it I think this is the first goosebumps moment, at least for a guest of yours in No Trade Secrets history, because and that to me, that's typical you, and that's why I've been so excited to come onto your brand new show is the fact that this is the real stuff. And and I feel like we always hear everybody is familiar with Simon Sinek's work. I think that it's really cool how Simon Sinek has popularized his work, and especially when he talks about finding your why. But I think that it takes a long time to find that why. And obviously, as someone who does as much public speaking as I do, it means that you have to be introspective from time to time, very frequently, every time I sit behind a microphone. And I've given a lot of thought as to what is it that motivates me? Why the heck have I recorded 1400 plus episodes? Why do I need to have five businesses? Why can't I just have one and enjoy all the other things that people enjoy in their downtime from a nine to five job? When people talk about Netflix shows, I think to myself, I don't ever typically watch an entire series of anything because I'd rather be building things and creating things. And Jerome, to be honest, for me personally, where it all goes back to is childhood. And I think so frequently all of the whys in our lives go back to childhood in some way, whether positive or negative. And for me, I can't talk about my why without coming back to the fact that I'm the son of an immigrant mom. And so, Jerome, it's one of the earliest ways that you and I connected is because you have an awesome immigrant story rooted in hustle, rooted in ambition, rooted in dreams. And so for my mom's family coming to the United States all the way back in 1969 and all the stories that I heard along their immigrant story, three words just have always popped up in my life through childhood and through adulthood, and that is anything is possible. And I remember in childhood when I grew up in a totally lower middle class town in central Massachusetts, not a big city by any means. And so for me, a beautiful car, man, if I saw a BMW driving down the road, I was like, that's it. Like that person has made it. And so I'll never forget all my childhood drives on the way to soccer tournaments or practice or just going to the grocery store. And I would openly gawk if I saw a nice car. And I would say to my parents, holy cow, look at that person. They're driving a BMW. Or I would say, look at that house. It's a brick house. There's bricks on the front of the house. And my mom always, even to this day, still as an adult, if I find myself doing that in her company, she says the exact same thing to me in response every single time, which is, Brian, that's just a normal person. And they just did exactly what they wanted to, and they prove that anything is possible. And it's those three words, Jerome. You you've been to my house, you've hung out with me in real life, you've seen in my home office, in my podcasting studio, how many signs I have in my physical vicinity that just says those three simple words. Anything is possible. And for me, it's it's kind of felt like that lifelong ambition and drive and desire to share that message with everybody. And it manifests itself in different ways. And I'm always excited to talk to you about business because business isn't just to make money. If I just wanted to make money, I'd get a job. It'd be a heck of a lot easier. But every business is a means and a vehicle to me sharing with the world that anything is possible.

SPEAKER_01 7:55

Yeah, no, um, thank you for sharing that. That's um it's you know, it's uh there's oft there's like a lot of moments uh in my life where I think that seemingly uh you know smaller and inconsequential things, such as like just those three words that your mom used to tell you uh growing up. Um you know, back then, I'm I'm sure that she never thought that those three words would have the that kind of impact on your life and really shape the whole trajectory of your life and how you live it. Um and it's um and then, you know, it's uh something that I've been reflecting on a lot r uh lately, since uh getting back from going back to New Zealand uh last month for the first time in over eight years going home. Um I came back from there with a a a different perspective on on things uh and money, and I know I've talked to you about this a little bit since I got back, but um, you know, like really the analogy of like what good is a what good is a mansion if there's no one to share it with. Uh and uh are you familiar with uh Morgan Housel's uh work, especially uh particularly he he he wrote a new book that um came out late last year, um uh called The Art of Spending Money. Um and it kind of goes deep into that concept and um and about the uh it being like you said a vehicle for uh um for deeper meanings and deeper uh kind of a deeper purpose than just uh to make as much money as you can, you know, without any kind of purpose. So um for you, what is that like uh so like that's what drives you? What you know like what is it all for for your life? Like what is that ecosystem? I know you've mentioned you wanting to share that message with as many people as possible, uh, which I know you certainly do, but then um, you know, I bl you know, I believe that there's you know, everyone, you know, you has also like uh more of an internal uh kind of sphere of uh purpose of like you know, if everything else is gone, like what is, you know, and or push comes to shove, what is really the most important thing of why you do it like internally, whether that is you know just for yourself or for your immediate family or friends or group of people, like uh what is that for you?

SPEAKER_00 10:39

Yeah, that's a good question, Jerome. I've probably given that question far less thought than the what's your why question, but I I love the fact that it's such a poignant question from you. And to me, it's such a Jerome question of you thinking about that and and really inviting all of us to think about that in our own lives. I can share with you. This is this is the fun thing about podcasting as a vehicle, is these are just real thoughts. I mean, there's no script here. You and I are just talking about stuff that matters to us, and where my head immediately goes is for me, it's it's really that feeling. And I think that so much of this stuff is is rooted in soccer for me, because I was soccer was life when I was a kid. And so it's funny how business has become life as an adult. Soccer was that for me when I was a kid. And I often think, why did I get so attached to soccer? Why is soccer such an expression of what brings me to life, what gives me energy, what makes me feel so alive? And the answer there that I anytime I think about why soccer has always mattered to me so much, it's that you're never actually down and out. And so, Jerome, you know that know this about me off air, is that I'm a giant Manchester United supporter. And to me, Manchester United, the real history of Manchester United, it's a club that was founded in 1878. And I'm not gonna bore your listeners with a Manchester United history lesson. But what's really incredible about the club is that by 1958, our manager at the time, Sir Matt Busby, had assembled a team of global superstars. We had some of the greatest players to ever play the sport. And so Duncan Edwards was an example of one of them, Sir Bobby Charlton. And what happened in 1958 was that the plane was taking off from a runway in Munich, Germany. They were coming back from a match that they had played in Yugoslavia, and the plane crashed Jerome. And so the majority of the squad died in that plane crash. And the manager survived, and a few players survived, and clubs all over the world were calling Manchester United saying, we will offer you players, like we will loan you players so that you can continue playing this season. And Sir Matt Busby rejected those offers and he said, No, we are going to rebuild from the ashes, quite literally. And so what he did was he, I mean, he spent some time in the hospital, obviously, after the plane crash, and he went around Manchester and found kids. He found young talent inside of Manchester and unlocked that talent and unleash that talent onto the pitch. And just 10 years later, literally rebuilt 10 years to becoming the first, it was the first time that we ever won what is now called the Champions League. And so they reach the absolute heights, literally from the ashes. And so, Jerome, for me, it's it's so funny how frequently, because I'm very much a giver, I'm someone who, to me, I can't help but help people. If someone around me is struggling in any way, I will be the solutions provider, or at least I will try my best to be that. And so it's really hard for me to see people struggle, but to really go into your intrinsic and your internal part of your question, I think ultimately, because everything we do for others is also doing something for us. And Jerome, for me, I think it is that reminder of never dying. I think it is that reminder of you're actually never down and out. Even in the worst moments possible, you are never actually down and out. And everything I've ever done business-wise has very much been a reminder of that because has it always been easy? Jerome, you're you're a fellow entrepreneur. No chance is it ever easy. There are so many difficult days, but just through a lifetime of what I experienced in childhood, what I experienced in hobbies, and then certainly what I've experienced in business is just that reminder of yeah, I'm I'm never down and out. It doesn't matter what the circumstances, I am never down and out. And I think, I believe, everything that I do is that reminder for me, and that's just the way that I live my life and show up in my businesses.

SPEAKER_01 14:27

Well, I mean, first of all, I had no idea about that story about uh Manchester United, and um no, and I love that uh I love, you know, I I really love that. Um because it's uh I mean it's true, it's everyone loves, you know, especially you love your own underdog story. Um you know, it's uh uh you know I I I think you and I both, you know, especially when you when you you know in the face of uh any doubters or uh or uh adverse circumstances where you know uh it's not it you know might not look like on the outside that luck is on your side or uh that this is gonna work out. Like that is that uh you know, that's that uh invisible force that I believe uh you have to have if you want to live this life. Because uh obviously I'm just over two years into uh my journey of being an entrepreneur, and you know, you have done this yeah for you know decades um and you're still you know, you you love your life, you know, you uh you have fun every day, uh, which is you know something that uh you know one thing uh I I do want to uh talk about a little bit, but that you have taught me a little bit as well about. But um that I think that's what uh really shapes you and being able to push through that uh those difficult challenges because uh every time you at least in my experience, every time I've broken through one of those walls, uh uh it turns out to be something that I'm glad happened. Uh you know, like uh something you know I write uh in the mornings and sometimes when I'm writing things that I'm grateful for. Uh I rem I write to remind myself that I'm grateful for the things that happened for me, not to me. Um and uh so yeah. So you've uh you've been an entrepreneur for a long time. Uh what was your very first business? What was your entryway into this uh this crazy life?

SPEAKER_00 16:45

Jerome, I've got to confess this to you. I've never confessed this to you, even personally, is that I go on a lot of podcasts, obviously. And as a podcaster myself, I tell a lot of my backstory. And most frequently when people ask me what my first business was, I go all the way back to 2008 because that was my first real business. Put that in air quotes for people who are just listening and can't see us right now, but that was my first real business. So, Jerome, I don't know where you want to go. We could talk about my first real business in 2008, which was a soccer blog. Or really, when I internally think about what my first business was, I actually go all the way back to high school because truth be told, when I realized that I have a knack for writing and I loved writing and I love typing. Jerome, you've seen me work on a computer before. I love sitting behind a computer. And so when I realized how many high schoolers hate writing their papers, I was like, I could charge people 50 bucks to start writing their papers for them. So that was my first actual hustle. My first real business was a soccer blog in 2008, though.

SPEAKER_01 17:41

Yeah, no, it's funny. Um I think we all have uh our version of that, right? Um that starts, you know, the business before the real business. Um mine uh mine was in high school and it was uh selling uh cans of Coca-Cola at school because they didn't sell them at that at like uh we call it the tuck shop in New Zealand. Um and uh you know there is a few people who would do it, right? And I went to an all-boys' school with uh, which is common uh in New Zealand, uh public school with where the uniform was black polished uh leather shoes, socks up to your knees, garters so that your socks stay up to your knees, um navy blue shorts, black leather belt, uh long sleeve navy uh button-up shirt tucked into your those shorts. And uh with the we uh my second year of high school, I had we had a new headmaster come in and he introduced uh no hair uh long, you know, uh hair off the ears, which was never a problem for me, but I had some friends who had real long flows going on who had to cut them that weren't very happy. Um and so I say all that to uh to kind of set the scene that this was not uh allowed. Uh so this was also a covert coke selling, uh, you know, covert coke selling in uh the uh legal but uh not allowed at school way. And so there is a few of us who were brave enough to risk getting detention, getting caught selling cans of coke. And so what I I didn't realize that's what I was doing at the time, but I was like, I need to differentiate myself between them, and so I would load up this duffel bag, uh, and it was super, super heavy, I would load it up with ice packs so that they were cold. And so then not only was I selling more, but I was also able to charge uh extra because they were ice cold and not uh the temperature of whoever's bag it was in. Uh, and so that would have been my first one.

SPEAKER_00 20:04

Um Jerome, I feel like your story that that could be the beginning of a great TED talk. When you when you one day do a TED talk, it could be I sold Coke in high school.

SPEAKER_01 20:16

Yeah, well, I guess now that I'm a US citizen, I can say that and not worry about uh that being picked up uh on the on any surveillance surveillance uh you know, modern me for keywords like sell and coke.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

But uh But truth be told, even hearing you talk about that, because you and I have never talked about this exact topic off the air with each other, and hearing you say that it makes me realize obviously so many of us have those stories of starting our hustles from such young ages, which obviously neither you nor I consider that our first real business is, but uh, I'll never forget it was freshman year of college. So, you know, fast forward just a few years, I was 18 at the time entering college, and I signed up for intramural soccer. And what I quickly realized was well, we can all start intramural teams. That's a free thing that anyone can sign up for on campus, but they don't give us intramural jerseys. What the heck are we supposed to do about intramural jerseys? And so that's when I realized an opportunity is that I found a t-shirt distributor that white labels. This was just online. It was it was called Spreadshirt at the time. It just came to me. So this is 2007. This company, I don't know if they exist today, Spreadshirt, but anyone could sign up and start selling shirts and they will figure out how to print on them. They will figure out how to do whatever it is that you do to make shirts, have designs and everything on it, and they would ship it to you. And so I thought to myself, I'm just gonna make intramural jerseys and sell them to all the other teams. And so the way that I did that was my intramural soccer team, we rolled up to the first game of the season and just like, Jerome, you know me very well. So typical me, our team name was Dominant FC, Dominant Football Club. So we showed up for the first ever game in black jerseys with just white text that just said dominant FC, and they had our name and numbers on the back. And every other team that night was asking, Where did you guys get those shirts? And I was not shy. And I said, Well, Here's my company. I called it My Tea Time. What a terrible name. I have no idea why I started My Tea Time. We were getting a lot of Google search traffic from golfers who were looking to book a tea time because I didn't know golfers call that tea time. But, anyways, so I started selling shirts to other intramural teams. And I remember one of my classmates said, dude, are you allowed to do that? Like the university, darn they gonna have an issue with you selling shirts to intramural teams? You're not an official vendor. And in hindsight, Jerome, and especially hearing you talk about your selling Coke to high schooler story, what I realized is that through those young hustles, I think it taught us that you don't need permission from somebody else. If you want to make money, if you want to differentiate yourself in the marketplace, if you want to provide a product or a service to people who want it, there's no permission slip that you need to ask for. Like the opportunities are there for you to take. And so all of those things, as silly as they sound, charging high schoolers to write papers for them, or at a certain point, I was popping dents out of people's cars because I was always denting cars with soccer balls. And I started charging other soccer teammates and basketball players to pop dents out of their cars or people's cars who they had damaged. And so all of those experiences just really trained my mind to not look for or wait for permission in any capacity. And I really think that that has been one of the common themes that whether it's my podcast or my agencies or the nonprofit or anything I've ever started that has served me well up to this point.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Yeah, I mean, I I think there's uh a lot of people uh who might never do the thing because it's you know you're not supposed to, but I mean, if you look at uh across history, um I mean the founding of this great country we live in was also not allowed. Uh and someone did it, you know, group they did it, and uh so I think uh yeah, I think it really does apply that rules are meant to be broken. Uh and I mean that's seems like to be the only way uh to to get some stuff done, right, is is is to ask for forgiveness, uh not permission. Um but uh so you started a soccer blog first. Um I know we've talked about uh a little bit of the history of that for a little bit, but I mean it wasn't just any soccer blog, it was the world's biggest English Premier League soccer blog in the world. Yeah. Tell me about some of the stories because I've seen some of the photos you showed me, but you so you're in college, and then you're wa once a month flying to England and going and interviewing Wayne Rooney and the likes of people like that in the Premier League. And tell me you told me that story once uh when you got uh t almost turned away at the door on one of the times you went. Can you I I want to hear that one again. I want the listeners to hear, because that's it's it's funny, but it's also I think it has a good lesson inside it too. For anyone uh dealing with anything that at least I did uh after I started uh Arrowhead and became an entrepreneur is imposter syndrome. Uh so if you could uh yeah, tell us about that story.

SPEAKER_00 25:54

Yeah, for sure. So I've got many of those stories, by the way, Jerome. So I'm not sure which of those that you have firsthand heard, but here's the fun thing is when I started the website back in 2008, I mean it was kind of the wild, wild west on the internet. Anyone could start a blog, well, not anyone could start a blog because there were some real technical hoops that you had to jump through. And so WordPress wasn't what it is today. Today anybody can start a blog truly in 10 minutes. It's that easy. But back then it wasn't. I was going to Barnes Noble and I was buying blogging for dummies, and I was learning how do you make a blog in 2008. And so you're right. I mean, by junior year of college, we were the most red soccer website in the world, focusing exclusively on the English Premier League. And so we had three and a half million visitors coming to our website every single month. And so people just saw Premiership Talk and they thought to themselves, well, this must be a team of English writers or English journalists, or at the very least, English fans. And so it was very surprising to people when I would show up places as me, as a 19-year-old American kid, literally, any part of those. Jerome was surprising to people when they saw the face behind Prem Talk. Is one, I was 19, two, I was American, and three, I was essentially a kid. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no formal journalism training. And so the first ever time I got a press pass, they didn't know who they were giving a press pass to because they knew the outlet, they knew premiership talk, but they didn't know who I was. And so I showed up with my press pass, feeling like an absolute baller, interviewing literally Ronaldinho was in the room, so many World Cup winners, Kaka, who had won the Ballon d'Or, which is the award for best player. And so I, in the player's tunnel, there was Clarence Saydorf, one of the few players who has won as many champions leagues as he has, and he's done it with multiple clubs. And so I walk up to him, he's a Dutch national team player at the time, and I said, Clarence, with the new season just starting and it being a World Cup year, do you feel added pressure to perform at your best at the club level? I thought it was a pretty good question, Jerome. But Clarence Seydorf, absolute legend, looks down at me. He's a bigger dude than I am, and he looked down at me in the tunnel and he goes, That is the dumbest question I've ever been asked. And Jerome, I felt like an absolute amateur. I felt so small in that tiny moment. I literally, I'm pretty sure my head dropped and I just walked away. I didn't apologize, I didn't try to make up for it, I didn't try to ask a follow-up question. I literally walked away. And I just stood in a corner because I didn't, all these other journalists were from BBC, were from Sky Sports, were from The Independent, The Guardian, all these massive English institutions, traditional institutions. And I didn't want to talk to them. I didn't want to tell them what Clarence Sadarf just said to me. And so it was the good graces of a translator, this Italian translator, who walked over to me and he said, Hey, kid, like, do you want me to translate for any players? And I thought to myself, probably would be better if I interviewed some players who don't speak English. And this translator can probably clean up what it is that I want to ask these guys. So that was my rest of the day. And I went home from my first ever trip as a media member with a press pass. I went home from that trip thinking, I'm not cut out for this. This is absolutely not for me. I feel like a fraud, even just my American accent has completely exposed me.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

Okay. And then you got back, and what did you do then? How did you what what made you go back?

SPEAKER_00 29:20

It's funny. So that was that was a game between Inter Milan and AC Milan, which I am not an Italian football aficionado. Despite the fact that I am Italian, I have a very Italian-sounding last name. I never follow Italian football. So why did I get that press pass? I don't know, but I took what I could get back then. And so, Jerome, for me, again, coming back to my roots, I was like, let me go to a Manchester United event. Let me interview some Manchester United players. And that's when I realized that Clarence Eydorf was Clarence Edorf. That doesn't mean that every other player is going to act that way towards me. I feel so bad, Jerome. Here in episode one of your podcast, I'm just name-dropping an absolute legend in the footballing industry. And I'm not doing it in a positive light. But, anyways, so with that said, it took me, truth be told, it took me interviewing five or six or seven other players for me to get my confidence back. And I played it so safe in those interviews. And I really, if there was a third string goalkeeper standing in the tunnel, I'd do a beeline over to him because nobody else is talking to him. And probably his media training is a lot less than the legends. And so I played it safe. And safe didn't get me anywhere in terms of we didn't get any additional website traffic because of those interviews, but safe got my confidence back and action got my confidence back. Because after that first experience, when I flew back and was just sitting in my dorm room, I didn't get any more confident sitting in my dorm room. I didn't get any better in my abilities sitting in my dorm room. I needed to fail a few more times. And it's it's funny having this conversation with you so early on in your podcasting journey because Jerome, before you and I hit record together today, you were just going through those uncertainties of, I don't know my style just yet. I don't know what I'm gonna say as soon as I hit record. I don't know all of these things. I don't know how I'm gonna sign off on these episodes. And Jerome, the only way we get to figure those things out is by doing it. So I'm gonna throw the mic right back at you. I always appreciate having guests who do that on my show. So I'm gonna do it here on your show. And Jerome, I'm gonna call that out. Is that for you, you face here in episode one so many uncertainties, and you've got a lot to figure out along the way, though you're crushing it already. And I knew you'd be a natural podcast host. But talk to us about that feeling of not knowing, but still doing, because that's where I was after that experience.