Being a LAPD Officer, Growing up Alcoholic & Growing Quest Nutrition | Bruce Cardenas DSH #261

Dictate really how the you know, we're just there to enforce the law, right?

And I remember many, many times I let people off for just I figured, you know what, this is gonna ruin their life because I stop a kid that has a little bit of or a little bit of whatever, you know.

If I could guide them in the right way and they avoid prison, why not?

Wow.

And a lot of people don't think like that.

No, I would say most police officers do not think.

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And here's the episode.

Welcome back to the show, guys.

I'm your host, as always, Sean Kelly.

Got with me a very special guest today.

He's worn a lot of hats in his life.

I can't wait till you hear his story.

Bruce Cardenas, how's it going?

It's going well.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely, man.

So I'd love for you to give your story because I think you do a better job than I would.

You've done a lot of stuff.

Yeah, I've done a lot of things.

It's interesting.

So I won't bore you with everything, but, you know, I was just a middle class kid from New Jersey, one of five kids,

middle child.

And I always aspired to be a police officer, but I never knew how I was going to get there.

And I was a daydreamer in school, CD student.

When I got out high school, you know, I was did pretty well in sports, worked a bunch of different jobs.

And I went to the police chief, which was a little hometown, USA, and said, hey, I'd really like to join the police department.

And he said, listen, you're young, you're immature, in his own kind way.

But if you go in the Marine Corps, I'll hire you and get out so I grabbed my best friend and said hey we're going in the Marine Corps no other option no other branch got you know went in the Marine Corps went to Paris Island I realized there was a big world out there you know when you grow up someplace you think that's it and I thought New Jersey was the entire world I hadn't I don't think I've ever been on a plane before that wow

so the Marine Corps you know I grew up pretty quickly and traveled the world and was on some cool detail security detail for the commandant and

I still wanted to pursue that dream of being a police officer.

And I ended up being in California at Camp Pendleton for a powerlifting meet.

It's funny we were talking about Mark Bell off camera.

I always followed guys like that and friends with guys like that.

So

there was a career day in Camp Pendleton and I saw a bunch of police departments were hiring and I just started processing and joined LAPD.

Wow.

So you did Marines before LAPD.

Which one was tougher, you'd say?

I think the Marine Corps, the Marine Corps for sure was tougher.

It laid the foundation.

I mean, I worked in an exclusive unit.

So it was physically and mentally, you go from a kid in

midtown New Jersey to, you know, forced training and, and a lot of good things, mental, mental conditioning.

So yeah, the Marine Corps was definitely much tougher.

Yeah.

And you grew up, you know, in Jersey, but in a very tough environment, right?

A lot of alcoholism in your family.

Yeah.

What was it like going through?

You know, I got to tell you, I guess I avoided that bullet.

Grandfather, grandmother, mother, brother almost got kicked out of college for drinking.

Wow.

My older brother died of alcoholism, basically.

So I think subconsciously, I just avoided that bullet.

I've never really drank i mean i've probably been buzzed a few times in my life but i want to you know thank god that i just avoided that so i mean i've seen nothing you know it's interesting when people say oh you don't drink that's kind of weird i said well have you ever seen anything positive come out of drinking me and my friends are you know duis thrown up in the bathroom sleeping until you know the end of the day because they're trash so i i don't think i've ever avoided anything and i know it's kind of weird because people think am i sober but i just i've just avoided it yeah same which avoided it yeah and it's crazy because my brother was a big dr he went to prison for three years for making and selling meth.

Wow.

I've been around it, and it's crazy because even when I wrestled in high school, people took speed to cut weight.

I just somehow just thought, you know what?

It's just, I thank God that I just never fell onto that sword.

Wow.

Because I have an addictive personality.

Yeah.

So it's just one I wanted to avoid.

But you got addicted to the right things.

Yeah, yeah.

Working out, nutrition, working hard, work.

You know, I love working.

Yeah.

Back in the day, you know, they probably call it a workaholic.

Now you're called an entrepreneur.

Yeah.

I really like your story, man, because it's very rare to see a police officer go into business and become super successful at that, right?

And I got to tell you something, being the police officer, I'd love to touch on it a little bit.

You know, when you're in a police academy, I went to LAPD, which was one of the biggest and best police departments in the world.

All you learn is rules and regulations.

And when you get out in the field, there's the real world.

And I quickly learned treating people with respect and dignity was very important.

And living within the spirit of the law instead of the letter of the law.

And a lot of people, you know, young person goes to a police academy, only knows, I'm here to enforce the law.

And I quickly learned that just how you engage people, how you treat them.

And I had a couple training officers who are pretty rough.

They were rough dudes, old-timers.

And I watched how they treated other people.

And I quickly figured out they say 90% of Americans are a paycheck away from a crisis.

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Same way when I stop people that for violating the law.

Maybe someone's in a crisis situation and how you treat them is going to dictate really how the you know we're we're just there to enforce the law right and I remember many many times I let people off off for just, I figured, you know what, this is going to ruin their life because I stop a kid that has a little bit of

or a little bit of whatever.

You know, if I could guide them in the right way and they avoid prison, why not?

Wow.

And a lot of people don't think like that.

No, I would say most police officers do not think like that.

Yeah, and there's even a policy.

I remember there was a period of time where it came out if you had a suspended license, you shall impound a car.

I remember I stopped a couple people.

I stopped a single mom one time, had her kid in the car.

License was suspended, and my partner goes, hey, I'm going to call a tow truck.

I said, well, hold on, hold on.

Let's think about this.

Single mom, working hard on a way to work.

If you impound the car, it's going to cost her $1,000.

She'll probably never get the car out of impound because they hold it for 30 days.

So I basically went against the grain.

But I think about the future of this person,

what you're going to do to destroy someone's life.

Yeah, because the universe, that energy might come back to you, right?

100%.

I just realized, you know, I'm a servant leader and I realized I'm there to serve people.

And if I could help them avoid a bullet, why not?

Yeah.

And you were in some of the roughest neighborhoods in LA, right?

Oh, yeah.

I worked, you know, comped in southwest worked during the riots the oj trial rodney king you know you saw some crazy stuff crazy things i mean my second day on the job i was standing at a crime scene it was a it was a related three three three bodies three

wow and two shot and i'm standing at a crime scene kid from new jersey i'm like wow this is a real city That's nuts.

Yeah.

So do you get like flashbacks from being in the military and being a police officer?

I wouldn't say, yeah, flashbacks, but not PTSD, but some flashbacks of some things I've seen.

You know, you can't on see things, right?

Right.

tragic accidents or

that I you know you don't want to wish it up on anyone but you sometimes you have those processes in your brain like wow so you really built up your mental fortitude to be able to you really have to have good mental fortitude and you also have to remain positive a lot of cops become very cynical and jaded because they see it and I've been on crime scenes where people kind of making jokes I'm like geez this is this is a victim this is someone's brother father uncle right and I always keep it in perspective and you really have to keep a strong mental outlook on things.

What was our transition from being a cop into

Quest was like the first thing for you, right?

Well, it was the cop and I started the bodyguard business why I was a cop.

But the Quest thing just kind of happened.

I was at the gym one day and met the founder of Quest, Shannon Penna.

She goes by Quest Creator.

She was doing cardio, you know, gym friends, you know, you make small talk.

And she gave me a couple protein bars.

I think the second time I saw her, and they just started the company a few months old, two flavors.

And we became fast friends.

And literally, I think I saw her the next week and said, hey, I'm doing this celebrity golf tournament.

I'm doing security at Riviera Country Club.

And there was the likes of Jessica Simpson were there and Mario Lopez.

And I said, if you want to get me some product, I'll get it in some people's hands.

And got me some product.

And quickly, I didn't even know what the word content meant.

But my friend was doing publicity there.

It was actually Facebook just started.

So there was no Twitter or Instagram.

She got some people to do some taste testing on video and got some blogs.

And I got that all together and sent it to the founder.

And they were like, holy cow, like, how do you know these people?

By the way, I'm protecting these people.

So it was kind of an easy bringing them value while I'm protecting them and bring them snacks.

And nine months later, they took me to lunch and said, hey, we're stealing from you.

You're bringing us way more value than we're doing for you.

I was like, no, no, no, we're good.

Like you're giving me product and I'm getting in people's hands.

So they said, we're putting you on the payroll starting Friday, which was a nominal fee, but it was still, they were paying me.

And then that was in my mind, a mental switch that once I started getting paid, I was like, wow, now I really need to step up my game.

Yeah.

And that started our relationship.

And you worked your way all the way up to C-suite from there.

Yeah, it was literally one of those companies where everyone had a, you know, one of the founders founders was in charge of R ⁇ D, one was in charge of finance and production, and one was in charge of sales.

And everything was like virgin territory.

I created the events department, the ambassador program, built all these relationships with GNC and VitamShop.

And so there, so I was able, I call myself, I became an entrepreneur inside the company because I had the latitude and freedom to do whatever I wanted.

So I created all these departments, all these opportunities.

We created the WoW Factory, which we coined after Tony Shea from Delivering Happiness.

And we carved our way.

So, yeah, next thing I know, I'm nine years later, I'm the chief communicators officer.

We sold for a billion dollars cash to Atkins.

It's insane to go from police officer to C-suite of a nine-figure company.

And I tell people this, all I did was I brought value, and I really had no expectation.

When I first met them, they gave me some bars.

I remember when I visited their office, which was down near Compton,

there was no sign of a future with them.

They were in a little industrial park, crummy little area.

No, it was literally, I walked in and literally thought to myself, they probably won't be in business in six months.

You know, you get that vibe when you walk into

so it wasn't like I was like oh I have this girl golden opportunity I just kept helping them

anything they needed I remember one time they were talking about they moved built we moved buildings to a nicer place and they say we're you know we're thinking about building a studio we had something not as nice as this but but a little studio for guests over the holiday weekend I came in and all I heard them say is we should build a studio over the holidays I came in and built the studio put it on my credit card did everything when they came back I was out of town because I used to travel about 40 weekends a year for them.

They said, Bruce must have been here over the holidays.

They didn't even ask who did it.

So I always tell people, this, like, I have an opportunity.

I wasn't the most qualified to be in a nutrition company.

I mean, I had knowledge.

I just worked hard at anything that the company needed, I just did.

And I think a lot of times people stay in their lane.

I just do marketing.

Or I just do sales, but I did whatever it took.

People get complacent once they get a job, I feel like, but you felt like you needed to keep doing more.

Yeah,

and people, I always wish that some people, I hope people find their why in life.

It became my why.

Because people started writing us blogs.

Hey, I lost 25 pounds over the last few months eating this.

It was a go-to snack.

And you started seeing the results of your efforts and that people were like, these are clean and they're delicious bars.

And it really became an exciting why.

You know, it almost became, you know, the bodyguard work was great.

I was still doing that, but it was almost more like, we're changing people's lives.

And it really became exciting.

You guys were so ahead of your time because back then it wasn't really a health trend.

No, no.

And they tasted so good, man.

Yeah.

And bars prior to that, if you had anything prior, so ours was taste, texture, ingredients.

And And that's what people, very few people even looked at the package.

They just like, tastes great.

Amazing.

Yeah.

I didn't even know it was healthy when I first.

Yeah, they were like candy bars.

Yeah, those

cookies and cream one.

Oh, my gosh.

Yeah, that was our number two or three bar sales.

Yeah.

Oh, man.

So I want to dive into the security stuff because you were doing security for A-list celebrities.

You could get into some of the people, but I want to learn about how you even grew that business.

Because people try to do security, right?

A lot of people try.

A lot of people do it.

I happened to start working off duty for a retired sergeant from Beverly Hills.

You know, like most cops, I needed extra money.

I wasn't making a lot of money, whatever the salary was.

Did a couple gigs.

And after about a year of working for him for other clients, I said, this is, I could do this.

I got my own, you know, went and took a test, got my insurance, got my license.

One of my dear friends, his name's Charlie Horky.

He was the founder of CLS Transportation.

It's actually Slade here in LA now, in Vegas now.

We became fast friends, and I said, hey, I'm starting the security business.

He said, oh.

I go back to this.

It's relationship capital that I continue to build like you do.

It's just relationship capital.

I knew him i did him a couple favors i said uh i want to start this business and he started referring clients to me and literally it kind of became like a waterfall like at the time tommy mattola was running sony music he was married married to mariah carry got me connected with them and then it was courtney love and it was whoopee goldberg and then once i started building my own you know list of clients and other people started coming and i handled almost every sony music artist in one way or shape or form whether it was just a weekend gig whether i helped them just fix things up whether it was when mike tyson split up from Don King, and I temporarily did his security for about a year.

Tyson needed security.

So

Tyson had his own guy, his own pit bull, but I was a peripheral guy.

Yeah, yeah, right.

Mike,

still a powerful guy, but making sure there was no problems when he ingress and egress and making sure he stayed out of trouble, right?

I think a lot of celebrities and talent, it's more about keeping them out of trouble and keeping them safe on the natural safe and getting in and out of place without having a problem.

So that was what I was really good at.

I'm still good at, yeah.

What were some key moments in that business that you think you still remember to this day?

Well, I got to tell you something.

I always tell people in the security business, it's social cues.

Like, I learned how to adjust myself and be

in the corner when I'm speaking.

And it's interesting because I'm a social, I'm an extrovert.

But in the security business, you got to be an introvert.

You're not really engaging with people.

You're just staying out of the way.

But I think one of the things I learned going back to being served, I served, I not only met clients' expectations, but I exceeded them.

So it wasn't just like I got them from point A to point B.

I started figuring out what they needed in advance.

And I remember one time one of the biggest music persons in the world said to me, hey, you should think about starting your own management company.

I was like, why would you say that?

She goes, you're doing more for me than my manager does.

Because I was always thinking ahead of what they needed.

Advancing the hotel room, where the car is, just everything.

And I think that was one of my big learnings.

And then I also learned human psychology.

A lot of celebrities have stalkers, which I handled many.

To this day, I handle many.

Really?

And I think even now with social media, I think...

Even the weekend we were at the conference, right?

This past weekend, a couple of speakers I talked to said they have savory fans fans that are become a little obsessed.

Right.

Because I think people live vicariously.

They see people on television, YouTube.

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And that's another problem I deal with.

People just showing up on wanted.

So I learned how to really be a negotiator of human psychology, too,

how to de-escalate things.

I remember one time I took a took a bus from Alabama and showed up at Kim Kardashian's house with his luggage, and he thought he was there to move in with her.

I literally had to intervene and get a hold of his parents and

get some psychological help.

So that becomes way more than security, right?

Now you're kind of becoming a therapist and helping.

I've had three clients I've taken to rehab

that

their circle became so comfortable with the service I was provided, they said, hey, we want to do intervention.

And I was responsible for those, which is is nothing.

I never knew anything about intervention, but I learned quickly.

Yeah.

So a lot of those things that I learned, and I always pass on to people in the security business, do more

and exceed their expectations.

Without interfering, by the way, you also have to be the wallflower.

Yeah.

So were you walking around armed or?

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, okay.

Did anything ever get dangerous?

Probably more as a cop.

Dangerous, I mean, I've had a couple on savory fans that have tried to scale walls, you know, show up at their estates.

Right.

But we'll usually call the police or detain them.

Yeah.

Never to the the point where there's been bodily harm.

That's good.

But there are some, there's some people out there that have done some crazy shit.

Yeah, and the music industry gets dangerous out there.

Yeah, and a lot of musicians.

I remember one time,

actually, it was during the Grunge area up in Seattle, a woman rammed her truck into Eddie Vetter's gate.

Remember Eddie Vetter for the program?

And so that was dangerous.

Jeez.

Yeah.

There's people that go to extremes that do some crazy stuff.

Yeah, man.

It's scary out there.

And you also were VP of a chauffeur business, right?

Yeah, simultaneously, my friend that owned the Slade service, I became the executive vice president of his company.

So my security business was inside his business.

So it kind of worked out hand in hand.

Like his dispatchers are booking cars and they're like, oh, Bruce, by the way, we need a bodyguard this weekend.

Right.

So what did you learn in that space?

Because that's a very niche space.

Very niche and very customer service oriented.

So imagine if you could afford to have a chauffeur, your level of expectation is really high.

Yeah.

So it's everything from getting point A to point B, but how you do it seamlessly.

And I started doing the motor escorts for them.

And

people have that expectation.

Even the last two Super Bowls, I arranged motor escorts.

I think that became almost like sometimes people become almost impossible to please.

You're flying on golf streams,

your chauffeur's five minutes late and it's the end of the world.

Now sometimes

that's funny because when Quest started, I took a step back and thought, I'm dealing with these very wealthy people, right?

That you can never meet their expectations because they always want more.

Instant gratification, right?

And then I have this other world where it's like people are enjoying protein bars and having a good time so but that level and but it's a service or you know like i said i'm a servant you know servant leader and you always have to you always have to exceed people's expectations and we've done pretty good we had the four seasons like six of the four seasons which are you know prime hotels net jets which is private jet company at warren buffett i don't know if he still owns it but he owned it we used to service them and we did their annual um

conference every year at the win here that's huge with all the owners you're really good at forming partnerships with established brands and ips partnerships and getting in and then maintaining those relationships.

I think sometimes people get relationships where they start a relationship and they don't know how to maintain it for years in and months out.

They kind of get comfortable, right?

Yeah.

And I always tell people you're only as good as your last gig.

So do you try to create win-win scenarios for both parties?

For sure, 100%.

Yeah, I think that's what most people don't think about.

They don't think about it.

They're like, hey, I got the account.

Great.

Now I can sit back.

No, no, now you need to keep moving forward.

Keep over delivering.

Over-delivering.

There's always going to be a new executive assistant.

There's always going to be a new chief communications officer in the company.

And it's not even about the main client.

I found quickly, it's not, because I very rarely deal with the actual main person, like the Warren Buffetts of the world, but you're dealing with all the lieutenants, as I say.

And they're always cycling through.

So you always have to be on top of your game, impressing and doing great service for the next person.

Right.

What have you noticed, like, these billionaires and sentient millionaires, what do they all have in common?

Besides being eccentric,

I think they're driven and they're focused.

I've very limited contact because I almost feel like sometimes they're savants about, they're thinking about the next day, the next deal.

While they may ask me, hey, Bruce, how long is it going to take to get to our next place?

I'll tell them 30 minutes.

They're already processing.

Okay.

They're processing the next thing.

They're not thinking about, they don't think of the past.

They're just thinking about what I'm dealing with, what I'm working with.

So

it's an amazing talent I've seen, how people could put deals together and focus on so many things.

But I think that's also why they have such great teams, too, right, to help them.

Nice.

You're working on a new venture now with the previous Quest founder, right?

Yeah, yeah.

So

he started a couple companies, Legendary Foods.

Oh, that's him?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, I've seen that everywhere.

Yeah, yeah, the pastries.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So he's, he's, you know, Ron Penna, he's rolled that into that, and he started a ketogenic dog food company.

Okay.

And then a science company called BioShift.

More cancer research behind the scenes.

There's nothing to report, right?

Because I said to him, we should start talking about that in public.

And he said, until I actually have an answer, what's there to talk about?

Yeah, cancer is one of those things, right?

Yeah.

You need to be definitive.

Well, people will spend millions in cancer research, right?

But until you actually have an answer, it's all white paper.

It's all noise.

It's popping money, yeah.

You think there'll be a cure one day?

I hope in our lifetime.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think there were, there's so many, there's so many companies running to the finish line to try and find the answer.

Yeah.

Now, the CPG space, which you have a lot of experience in, obviously, you know, it's easy to spend millions.

Yeah.

And you don't know if it's going to pan out.

What's your advice to people entering that space?

I got to tell you, I tell people this all the time.

And no different if we started another Quest or another cookie company.

We started making the bars by hand at Quest in a commissary at night.

Really?

Yeah, we flushed it out.

We built a website.

We actually built a website and tested it making fake orders and then refunding people just to see the traction and the engagement.

What happens is people say, I'm going to decide, I'm going to start a water company.

Let me go order a 50,000 unit run or whatever, put my name on it, and then realize, well, no one's buying it.

You're better to start out small.

Let's just use a cookie company though.

Make them by hand.

Start selling them at swap meets or go to the gym with them.

People, CPG specifically, if people try it and they like it, they're going to buy it.

Now imagine you spend all this money making a bar, a cookie, whatever, a drink, they try it and they don't like it.

It's all about the reorder and the commitment, a lifetime customer.

So at Quest, we had lifetime customers.

People spend too much money.

First, you need to flush out the idea.

Get some samples made and see if your friends and family like it.

Because your friends and family are going to be honest for the most part, right?

Your kids for sure.

Right?

Kids are, and when it comes to a consumable item, kids are honest.

yeah, yeah.

Under 11 years old, they'll spit it out, right?

Yeah.

And that's what we found on a Quest.

Kids were very honest.

Like, kids liked it, actually.

Oh, so you were giving it to kids?

Oh, yeah.

That was, and we'd have moms write us, say, oh, my God, my six-year-old loves your Quest bar.

Oh, nice.

That's a good sign.

Sometimes you got to trick them, right?

You can't say it's a protein bar.

Hey, check this out.

But so when I tell people that start a CPG brand, just first test it out.

I know friends of mine that have spent millions, literally, and they're like, hey, I'm going out of business.

And they tell me the story.

I say, well, God, I wish I knew you.

Let's just flush it out first.

Yeah.

You know?

Yeah.

It's one of those spaces where building that LTV is important, right?

Because people are probably spending thousands on Quest bars over time.

Oh, I'd say if we did the calculation, if you became a lifetime customer, it's about a $3,500 investment.

A year?

No, like total.

Because, you know, listen, people come and go, right?

Maybe you're doing Quest bars for five years.

Maybe you move on to something else.

That's still super high, especially for a $2 protein.

Right, right.

So think about that.

You have millions of those people.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you have one of the best networks I've ever seen.

What would you say people looking to grow their network?

What advice would you give them?

I will say this.

I'll tell you the same thing that you do and Dan Fleischman does.

Be out there.

Dan Fleischman's become a good friend of mine.

And he, you know, as you know, he hosts these elevator nights for free.

Yeah.

Everywhere, and he says this: here's my blueprint: go out and meet people.

Look online.

Look at Facebook, Instagram.

There's always some meetup somewhere, right?

You do meetups, right?

You have events.

I tell people, it's great.

You could be a keyboard warrior.

You're not meeting people that way.

And it's all fake.

It's Instagram.

It's messaging.

Go be in person.

We saw, you know, finally connected at the event this weekend.

And the weekend before that was Lionsgate or Lions Not Sheep.

This weekend coming up, I'm at the Andy and Elliott group.

Just keep meeting people.

The more people you meet, the bigger your network comes.

And I got to tell you right now, your network is your success.

Absolutely.

And those relationships, like I say, I've always made more deposits and withdrawals, but when I need something,

I then can say, wow, I feel good about asking because I've made nine deposits in your bank.

Absolutely.

And I think relationships are sometimes better than cash.

The relationship value.

I agree with that, man.

I mean, think about the calls you can make after you get to know someone.

Hey, I'm doing this real estate deal.

Let me help you with that.

Let me save you $20,000, whatever, right?

Because you're a friend.

People need to

get out there.

I have friends like, well, it seems like

that event is a waste of time.

Go find.

You might meet one Dan, one Sean,

one Andy Frisella.

whoever.

All it takes is one person for it to be worth it.

One person, all of a sudden they're a million dollar client.

I mean, just at the event we just went to Saturday, I met someone that owns a videography company.

He's now giving me free videographers, whatever city I'm in.

I met 10 podcast guests that will lead to further connections.

The connections I made at that event alone will lead to millions of dollars.

Same thing with me.

I met a couple people that I, you know, I knew of and I made a connection.

And now, and even, you know, I've known, I've met Tim Grover now a few times, and he had a pretty candid talk with me.

He goes, hey, when are you getting on the big stage?

Yeah.

You told me a few months ago you're going to be on the big stage and now he's, you know, Tim's no joke.

Yeah.

So I love meeting those kind of people because they inspire you to do more.

And sometimes, you know, it's interesting.

Maybe, I don't know if you feel like this, sometimes I feel like, am I doing enough?

Yeah.

And then you run into someone like that and say, shit, I need to step up my game.

For sure.

Right.

That's the good thing about conferences because it'll always humble you.

Yeah, because there's people that you watch, you know, I was on Bradley's podcast a couple of weeks ago and I just, I'm around these people and I'm like,

man, they are doing a lot.

You know what I mean?

Yeah.

There's a balance, though, because you don't want to compare yourself too much.

No, I don't compare myself, but sometimes I'm just like, you know what?

If I think for a moment I'm working too hard, I see other people are working hard.

Yeah.

And I'm not saying working hard is just the answer, but you know, just they're out there.

Yeah.

What's that balance like for you?

Are you working weekends?

Sometimes.

It seems like the last few weekends I've been going to these conferences and stuff, but there's no rhyme or reason.

And I still have a client that I take here.

He's a billionaire.

He comes in town.

He's actually coming in town for a week coming up.

So that'll be my week that I'm locked down.

Right.

Security.

Yeah, security.

Plus, you're still doing it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Just put a handful of clients.

You know what's interesting?

Years ago, it was a big deal to be a billionaire, right?

There was only a handful now.

But so I only have a couple of clients and they're both billionaires.

Yeah, I feel like it's more common.

It's still very hard, obviously.

That's for sure.

Yeah.

You could become a billionaire on equity.

I feel like it's attainable these days.

Yes, for sure.

Yeah, if you're making the right moves.

Have you done anything with Grant Cardone?

I've only met him a couple times, but no, I never worked with him, never done anything.

Nice.

So

what keeps you going, man?

I mean, you got great energy at your age.

I love, yeah, the energy.

I work out every morning at 7 a.m.

I have a training partner and I'm working.

The podcast is just, to me, is just the first layer of starting public speaking.

I finally set up a website for coaching and I do want to be on the big stage I mean there's no reason I can't be I think you know what I for self-doubt's been it for years it's been me just being weak what's been the biggest audience you've spoken

uh me and you right here yeah no no no I've been you know maybe 50 100 people okay yeah yeah we got to get you up to the thousands yeah like this weekend I was a visional you know envisioning me being up there okay you just manifested yeah whether it's 70 people or 7,000 yeah that that crowd was the biggest I've seen right at a business conference Yeah.

Other than 10x.

And you know what?

But you don't really want to take away from talking.

I already knew about some of the speakers, but even some of the ones I talked about.

Is it Jen Gottlieb?

Yeah.

She showed the video when she first was trying to do Facebook lives and fumbling around.

Every one of those people started somewhere.

Yeah.

Fumbling and nervous, anxious, and stomach nervousness.

So everyone starts that way.

And that's what I have to keep reminding myself.

Yeah, I don't know anyone that no one just, yeah, no one just got on stage and said, hey, I'm Tony Robbins.

Yeah, no, it takes time, man.

My first time was quite the story.

Yeah.

And even when you actually had an event, you couldn't make it.

You were stuck in it somewhere, but I attended one of your events at the library.

Yeah.

And I spoke in front of it.

It was probably like 50 people.

You know, one of your guys let me talk.

But I realized the more you do it, it's like repetition.

You just have to just keep talking.

Absolutely.

And as long as you're bringing a valuable message, people want to listen.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Dude, it's been super fun.

Anything you want to close off with?

No, I appreciate everything, the opportunity you've given me, and I want to pass it on.

Like to me, if I could change one person's life every day, that's my goal.

Perfect.

Where could people find you?

Uh, I have a website, Brucecardenas.com, and then obviously on Instagram, Bruce E Cardenas is for Instagram.

Love it.

Thanks so much for coming on, Bruce.

Thank you.

Thanks for watching, guys, as always, and I'll see you next time.