From Police Academy Reject to Building a Credit Card Processing Business ft. Mark Masa

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Welcome to the Level Up Podcast.

I'm your host, Paul Alex.

I went from being a comp to an eight-figure entrepreneur that helps average people like you and me make money every single day.

I created this podcast to help you get motivated and to crush your goals.

Let's win together.

Remember, I have your six.

Get ready to level up right now.

Hey guys, and welcome back to the Level Up Podcast.

This is Paul Alex.

Guys, here is the latest update and we have on our rankings.

We are currently number 19 top podcast in the world and in the United States.

We are number one in business.

Guys, all thanks to you.

Appreciate it, guys.

Over 3 million downloads.

I mean, Emilio is just like, I told you we could do it, bro.

You remember that day where I told you you should like name the podcast to level up?

I was like, yeah, man, yeah.

But now we're here, almost two years later, interviewing great people like our next guest here.

All right, so.

Our next guest, his name is Mark, a man who's been told no his whole life, guys.

And I'm talking about everybody.

Teachers, counselors, departments, police departments, guys, and gatekeepers.

But he turned every no into a reason to grow, okay?

From a military household to preaching his first sermon at the age of 15 to being denied by the police force, guys, Mark kept showing up, adapting, and trusting God's plan.

Now he's gone from being a rejected academy applicant.

to a certified law enforcement instructor, drone operator, and entrepreneur with multiple accounts in the credit card processing business, guys,

all while bringing his biblical values into business, which is phenomenal.

This episode is about grit, faith, and flipping rejection into results.

Let's welcome Mark to the level up.

What's up, brother?

I am so privileged and honored to be here.

It's so freaking awesome that about a year and a half ago, I didn't think I'd be sitting next to the Paul Alex with level up.

Oh, dude.

Nah, man.

From the streets into the, what I like to say is from the streets to the boardroom, brother.

Absolutely, right?

Absolutely.

That's what it's about, man.

Yes.

You know, got to dominate and make it happen.

So, let's get into your story, Mark.

You have a very, very compelling background.

You're a man of God.

And you're a current police officer.

Yes, sir.

I love it, dude.

Back the blue guys.

America.

All right.

You were raised in a military household.

What would you say is the biggest lesson your father taught you that still sticks with you today, guy?

So it's kind of wild how my dad even raised us because it wasn't your typical military household.

It was not like drill sergeant, five in the morning, get up, you know, revealee and all this craziness.

I mean, and this guy was a freaking cool dude, man.

I mean, he was a sniper for the Rangers.

You know, he's just...

He was elite.

Oh, he was elite.

100% elite.

So you got to imagine as a young kid, you're looking at this guy and you're just like, this is my hero.

And he is.

And the way he explained the life lessons to us was always through his actions.

And the one thing that I can say without a doubt was, well, two things I should say, is never forget where you came from.

Yes.

Ever, ever.

Never forget where you came from because that's when you begin to fall.

You know, that moment we forget that.

And then the second thing was to dominate humbly.

Yeah.

You know, those two things just resonated with me my entire life.

I mean, he came here with 60 bucks in his pocket and made it happen.

Yeah.

What's my excuse, right?

Absolutely.

And so I go over

to,

I'm young.

We live in North Carolina and we're living in an apartment.

There's no furniture.

We're absolutely like destitute.

I'm talking like we're eating canned food from yesterday.

You know, we're po, we're, we're po.

You know, we can't afford the other letters, you know, P-O.

That's it.

You're not P-O-O-R.

You're not poor.

You're Poe.

I'm Poe.

Exactly.

Yeah, now I'm Po-Poe.

But yeah.

And so it was insane because I remember my mom crying on the floor.

My dad was out on a mission and

he couldn't tell us where he was.

I don't know if he was alive or dead, you know.

And my mom was crying on the floor.

She's like, I'm like, why are you crying?

And she says, I need some money for rent.

You know, we can't afford it.

How old were you?

Oh, I was probably like eight years old.

Eight years old.

Yeah.

So you got to be great.

So you got to understand everything that's going on at that age.

Yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

I grew up a little differently.

And I'll get into that when it comes down to like going to school and stuff and different schools that I've been to.

But essentially, I remember saving some money as a kid.

And it was in this little wallet my dad gave me and it was $7

to the exact T that my mom needed to pay rent.

And so God's provision has been with us this entire time.

And it reminded me, like, never forget where I come from, you know, never forget, you know, and, and that's where I came from.

We came from a poor immigrant family that just worked hard, that put grit, that put faith, that put faith beyond belief into our work style and our lifestyles.

And then now I get to sit next to Paul Alex.

Are you kidding me?

You know, man.

I get to sit next to the awesome team that you've been able to put together.

I mean, that's your team is by far.

Sorry, I'm going off topic, but it's just amazing just to see, to hear, and to know that I'm sitting here.

No, I appreciate that, man.

And we love to have you here.

We love you to tell your story.

You're a man of God.

You're in law enforcement.

So, dude, you're already a servant leader.

And like I was saying earlier, you know, law enforcement, and not to go off topic, guys, but law enforcement deserves more.

Yes, sir.

Absolutely.

They deserve more.

More recognition, more

good views in the media, dude, more support.

Absolutely.

Because there's a lot of people that I work with that have gone through trauma, dude.

And you don't know that you have PTSD until you're at home, not being able to sleep.

You're sleeping for three hours, then you got to go to the job again.

Dude, it's not normal.

Right.

It's not normal, right?

So let's go ahead and talk about, you know, before

you transitioned into law enforcement.

Let's talk about you and actually God, dude, church, that type of life, right?

that that portion of your life you mentioned um you started preaching at the age of 15 dude okay um

what was it like number one and how did it prepare you for entrepreneurship later on in life absolutely so um

just to backtrack just a second yeah uh going to being a military brat caused me to adapt and overcome and learn, right?

I'm not a big dude, you know, I'm not like usually it's the biggest kid on the playground that that kind of call the shots, but I always knew that God gave me certain faculties to be able to discern people.

So the first thing I would do at this new school I'd be going to is to like, okay, this kid at the playground looks like he's the one running the show.

I need to get influence from him.

You know, I need to be the one to be able to influence that person, you know, so that way I don't have to work as hard trying to influence all the other people that are under them or that respect him, right?

And not in a bad way, but in a a good way, obviously.

Yeah.

And so that translated now to answer your question into sharing the gospel and being hyperactive in church and ministry.

And so being able to preach that first message, man, I was nervous, nervous, you know,

just shaking.

I'm so glad the pulpit was bigger than me because you would have seen my knees rattling, you know, behind the pulpit.

But one thing that I remember clearly was

how

much value am I going to bring to these people?

And that's what you did with me.

When you share all of these posts, these Instagram posts, but not also that, like the mentorship itself, you know, just the talk we had in the room earlier, that's value.

Every word is concise and it has reason, it has purpose.

And in my opinion, the gospel is the ultimatum of such value.

Absolutely.

You know, because to share an eternal life with somebody, to be able to share that to a congregation of hundreds to thousands later down the road,

I mean, I used to tell, I used to teach homiletics, which is the art of preaching.

And I used to teach them, hey, this is what you need to do.

This is how you need to study.

This is how you need to prepare and discipline yourself before the big day, because you realize you're holding something of extreme and immense, massive value.

And it's the same sense here in the business realm is that leveling up, that's so much value.

value.

And I love that the episodes are like short because you listen to it and you're just really meditating on what is being said, you know, those limiting beliefs, you know, just the analysis, paralysis, those little things you just end up just really sucking up and you're just like, man, what did he mean by that?

You know, what did Paul go through or what am I going through that's allowing that to happen

right now to me?

Why am I paralyzed?

Yeah.

You know, so that's what did help me a lot.

And let's talk about that real quick.

What's your perspective in people that get paralyzed?

The people that get analysis paralysis, you know, why do people, why are people their worst enemy?

Fear.

Fear.

Fear.

And why do they have fear?

Fear of the unknown, you know, and I think that's...

Do you think that's

environmental based?

Do you think it's because that's the way they grew up?

Their parents probably

brought in bad traits.

I mean, I'm pretty sure your dad, being in special forces, being the elite of the elite, man, he was all like, yo, we're about to do this.

Right, right.

So he showed you how to overcome that.

Well, he's only 5'5.

Yeah.

He's not a big dude.

Yeah.

And yet he was, you know,

rubbing shoulders.

Yeah, absolutely, with some beasts out there.

Yeah.

You know, and the, like I told you, he lived, he showed us how to live without fear.

Yeah.

You know, and part of that is you grow up with parents or you grow up with family members, you go up with coworkers.

I mean, until now, I have coworkers joking around with me, you know, like, hey, what are you doing?

Robbing old ladies or, you know, what are you doing?

You know, taking more money from these business owners and whatnot.

And I'm just like, no, I'm helping them.

I'm saving them money.

I'm creating value for them, you know, and then not just them, but their families.

Yeah.

So that fear gets diminished when you realize that the mission is actually helping people.

It is.

And it's insane, you know.

In a huge way.

Absolutely.

And having that unknown

honestly excites me.

It scares you at first, and that's normal, just like when you would stop cars.

I'm sure you would probably be like, oh man, I don't know if these three shaved heads right now are going to let me search the car or if they're on probation or parole.

I'll tell you something, man.

And I'm fully transparent when it comes to my law enforcement career and life in general.

But when I was a rookie,

and I was doing my first car stop, you know, and I'm pretty sure you guys go through this as well.

You always hear the rookie goes,

Carl 33, I just did a car stop.

Oh my God.

You know, and you're like, what the hell is going on?

And it's just because they don't have radio etiquette.

Yes.

And how do you get radio etiquette in law enforcement?

Through the reps.

Right.

That's it.

You know, and that's how you learn being in stressful situations.

Right.

And then guess what?

You've gone through different scenarios in your life.

You know, you've gone through that stress in that world and you transition out to business.

Right.

And in business, you can be cool, come, collective.

Right.

Right.

And the difference with that, I think, is that when you're in the academy and then you go on FTO, you're training, you're forced to be there.

So you have to, you have to throw out your 1033s and all that.

But the difference in the business world is that that's on you.

It's on you.

You've got to be the one to initiate.

You've got to be the one to have that discipline and to push yourself to that next level.

Absolutely.

You got to have the grip.

Absolutely.

You got to have the discipline.

You have to have the belief.

To get those reps.

Absolutely.

I love it.

I love it.

Okay.

So

in the the very beginning, you talked about, you've been told no your entire life, dude.

All right.

And that's okay.

There's a lot of people out there

that they always say, why me?

Why me?

And, you know,

you guys always hear it.

If you guys follow me on social media

or any of my podcasts, I always talk about victim mentality.

Right.

And I talk about being solution-driven.

Morning decisions, a creamy mocha frappuccino drink, a sweet vanilla, maybe a smooth caramel or that white chocolate mocha.

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Let's talk about the no from this specific time in your life from that college counselor.

Okay.

Oh, man.

What did that moment teach you?

About belief in yourself and paint the picture here, man.

Paint the picture like it's a police report.

Oh, dude.

So

it's senior year okay you know you're looking how old are you i'm eight uh 17 17 you're 17 17 years old

i'm sitting in my algebra class and i'm looking at the girl that i'm have a crush on you know i'm all distracted and stuff focusing i'm the only agent that's not good at math you know i'm trying to figure things out so were you a good student i absolutely was but

but I was not as good as my peers.

Got it.

That's the difference.

Got it.

You know, was I good in the sense of doing my homework and doing all that stuff.

But then at the same time, my peers just completely left me in their dust.

You know, they were 4.5 GPOs.

Who gets a 4.5?

They're machines.

Yeah, absolutely.

So I didn't think of myself very highly

at that point.

So I'm sitting there and they have this thing where

the vice principal will call counselor, will be your counselor and kind of set you up and prepare you for your next level, which is going into college.

Your next stage of life, correct.

To prepare you what you want to do so you have direction.

Exactly.

Yeah.

And so I get that PA, you know, calling Mark Masakain to the principal's office.

Mark Masakain to the principal's office.

I show up.

And at that time, did you know you wanted to go to college?

Absolutely.

And I, and just, you know, Asian culture is like, dude, if you're not going to a university, then you're not going to real college, you know.

So my mind was set on the highest of highs.

You know.

At that point, Mark, what did you want to do for a living?

Did you know already uh i was wanting to go into the medical field okay yeah believe it or not out of all places you know i really wanted to join the military but then my parents dissuaded me from that they're like too dangerous you wanted to do what your dad did yeah absolutely that's badass oh absolutely yeah my parents they actually talked me out of going to the military they did yeah they did i i i wanted to go to the marines i remember i was getting hit up by the recruits And they were in my ear, dude.

Those recruits, they do a good job.

Dude, they're like, hey, man, what's up?

They pull up in front of you.

Exactly, man.

And they paint the picture.

They're like, dude, we'll pay for your college.

You know, it'll be good.

You'll learn discipline.

You'll become a man.

Right.

And I was like, I was there.

I was just like, all right, I think I'm going to do it.

And then my parents were like, are you stupid?

Like, what are you doing?

Like, no, you want to get killed?

You know, they start bringing down the beliefs.

Right.

Right.

And that's what happens to a lot of people.

But going into law enforcement, you know, I was just like, dude, something clicked in law enforcement for me right i loved it meant for it i was meant for it dude and i was cops cop yeah so i think if i want to go into the military dude man who knows four star general paul alex who knows man i was supposed to be captain police right now yeah you know i have 10 11 years dude i'd be over there like all right guys what we're about to do yeah you know just take care of business yeah but to go back to your story so you wanted to go to the military you wanted to go into the medical field you go and talk to the college counselor yeah what happens um And he, I sit down in front of him and I'm thinking, he's just probably going to tell me what classes to take, you know, and whatnot.

But the first word out of his mouth is, you've been an alumni here and

you're only at a 3.85 GPA.

Only.

Yeah.

Only.

Right.

I mean, like, I was just like offended.

I was, honestly, I was like,

what do you mean by only?

And so

I didn't honestly, I muted him.

My mind went blank and I just said, I'm not going to pay attention to whatever this guy's saying.

And I'm just going to do what my dad did and prove people wrong.

You know, and that's just, that should be your motivation, right?

Absolutely.

When people tell you no, I always say, don't focus on the N-O, focus on the K-N-O-W, focus on the no.

Focus on what you know.

You know, and I know.

that and it's funny because I get to college, I get to UCR

and I end up meeting people people there who have like 2.5 GPAs coming in.

And I'm like, what?

I had a 3.5, you know?

And it was possibly because he was comparing you to your peers

in the school you were going to.

There was probably a very high performing rate there.

So he made you feel like shit, which is not, it's not the right thing to do.

He's a counselor.

I'm talking about absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

And you should be uplifting people and not so worried about your own program and your stats.

Yeah, exactly.

You know, obviously, now some of those people who graduated with those 4.0s, I'm still in touch with them.

And we work as managers at Target and I think it's managers at Target.

But I mean, isn't that crazy?

It's crazy, Paul.

It's crazy, bro.

It's crazy.

But it all comes to belief.

Absolutely.

Right.

Your belief needs to be on point.

Yeah.

You know, yeah.

It's one thing to know something and then one thing to truly believe in it.

100%.

So, so after

he basically downs you and he says, like, hey, dude, like,

you're not, you're not doing good.

Even though you, for, for everybody out there, they're like, what?

Yeah.

I don't have a 2.0.

Yeah.

You know?

How did that make you feel?

And then what was the next step in your life after that?

So at first, it really like destroyed me, you know, and I was thinking, like, maybe I do.

And that, those, the doubt seeps in.

So it gave you doubt.

Absolutely.

It did, you know, because you're thinking, yeah, well, they did get 4.5s.

Why did I get a 3.85?

You know, and then now you're thinking, what am I meant to do?

And at the end of the day, I just remembered, look, the mission's still the mission.

I'm going to go into medical school.

I'm going to pivot.

I'm going to get into that field.

And then I eventually do, and I graduate with

a biotechnology degree,

which is like leading in science right now.

Yeah.

It's insane what they're doing.

I mean, they have like algae that's creating gasoline now for us.

Yeah.

So anyways, wow, that's amazing.

Slightly inert.

No, no, that's good.

Yeah.

You know, at the end of the day, dude, what you don't know is what you don't know.

So if you're able to get a degree in something that is hot right now, dude, use it, right?

So, okay,

you end up going to college.

Yes.

When do you then have the itch to go into law enforcement?

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah, I ended up

thinking, well, if I go into biotechnology, which is cool and all,

will I have any cool stories to tell?

As cliche and as stupid as that sounds, you know, you're thinking, I'm still an 18-year-old, okay?

Give me, cut me some slack.

But I was all like, I don't have any cool stories like my dad.

You know, what am I going to tell my kids and grandkids around the fireplace?

And so I said, What's the other coolest thing I could do that I could sneak in without my parents really knowing?

Yeah.

Put in my application for law enforcement.

Wow.

Yeah.

And how old were you?

I was 24.

Wow, 24.

So around the same time that I initially started doing it, man.

So So I got in at 26.

I started playing at 24, got denied like three times.

Wow.

What agency?

Oakland.

Dude, I wanted to be an Oakland police officer in the California guys.

Yes, the most dangerous city.

Yeah, absolutely.

At that time, it might be now different.

But

at that time, dude, I just wanted to be Oakland Club because the thing was, like, at that time, I was in corporate America, dude.

I did it for six years.

I was a high performer, had my first place, was making six figures, dude, was living the dream, right?

But something inside of me was just like, yo, okay, you accomplished this.

Yeah.

What else?

Right.

Right.

So I didn't go ahead and stay how

I like to say

life likes to force you to be average.

I just didn't want to stay average.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

So I wanted to go ahead and transition into law enforcement myself.

So at 24, dude, I went ahead three times.

And I have my own story on that.

But it took three times to get in, dude.

Wow.

And I didn't quit until I got in.

And it was the best decision of my life.

You know, everybody was saying, like, don't do it.

Don't do it.

Don't do it.

I did it.

Changed my life for the best.

It actually primed me to do what I'm doing now.

Right.

Because without that experience, I wouldn't lead from example.

I wouldn't have the life experience.

I wouldn't know the knowledge that I know now to lead all my employees.

Well, I wouldn't be be sitting here if you didn't go into law enforcement.

Did you know that?

That's crazy,

yeah.

It's crazy how the world works, right?

But I want to hear your journey when you're trying to go into law enforcement and they told you you weren't a good fit, dude.

Yeah, because they told me the exact same thing, yeah, you know, and they told thousands of people they're not a good fit, guys.

You know, at that time, uh, what year was it when you applied?

Oh, that was in 2014, yeah, 2013, 2014.

Yeah, so so in 2014, um, roughly around April is when I got accepted.

Gotcha.

So I was applying in 2012.

I remember my physical agility test.

There was 1,500 applicants, bro.

I waited two and a half hours to take, what is it, like 60 second?

Correct.

Yeah.

Yeah, 60-second course on your ability to jump a fence, drag a dummy of sand,

and then sprint.

Right.

And now I hear it's like less than 20 people, 10 people now applying at a time.

It's crazy.

It's sad.

It's sad, dude.

Yeah, absolutely.

So I think we'll touch more on that, but tell me about that time where they say you weren't a good fit, dude.

How did you bounce back and get in anyways?

So I applied with Orange County Sheriffs.

I was the type that was thinking, hey, where can I move laterally a lot?

Like different assignments.

Big agencies.

Yeah, exactly.

Big agencies.

Being careful about the good old boys clubs, you know, because smaller agencies, good old boys' clubs, a lot more difficult to get in.

And explain that because on on this podcast, dude, I wish it was all first responders.

No, I don't, guys.

I love you guys.

But

I always tell people this, even in business,

we got to clarify for the person that is not in law enforcement.

So good old boys club, guys, what Mark is saying is sometimes in law enforcement.

There's certain departments where it's probably like less than 100 people.

Sure.

And guys, there's no movement.

If you want to get promoted, you want to work different assignments, you want to work commission, you are working narcotics, you want to become a sergeant, You literally have to wait like 50 years until somebody retires in order to get their spot.

Right.

Compared to a big agency where there's a lot of movement and there's spots opening.

So, like myself, I was very blessed to get into investigations in two and a half years because I was in a big department.

It was 800 officers.

It was Oakland.

The turnaround rate and the retention of the officers was insane.

I think majority, 90% of the department had less than five years long, dude.

It was crazy.

I was like, what happened to all the veteran officers?

They were like, you know?

I don't know.

So, so with you, man, how did you bounce back and get in?

Yes.

I remember I did the panel interview and you're nervous already.

Yeah.

Right.

So there's like

a citizen that interviews you.

Like what do you call this?

A civilian citizen

that interviews you.

And then there's like a sergeant and that panel comprises of multiple different people.

Correct.

I get walked out.

And they're like, hey, it's not going to be a good fit.

And you already know.

You can read their mind.

Of course.

Correct.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

And

it doesn't help that I look like an explorer.

You know, I look like I'm 12 years old, you know, when I'm 36.

But

that was people just immediately judging me for what I looked like.

Right.

And when I did the tests, you know, the sprints, the jumping through everything, yeah, God allowed me to have that physical ability.

So I was able to outrun.

I was able to make like top-notch speeds and the timing, you know,

but

that self-doubt started to seep in again.

Yeah.

You know, and you're just like, man, is this for me?

You know, what if I do pull somebody over?

They're going to think I have a water gun in my holster or do I have a real gun, right?

And so I end up still throwing my applications out.

And the agency that I work for now, and I'll leave it out for right now,

but they were so gracious.

They looked at me for for my background.

They looked at me for who I was.

And it came to the point, Paul, where I ended up doing social media for my agency.

And the social media for Orange County sheriffs was tied up with something.

And the chief hits me up and says, hey, can you go over there and film the procession for one of the deputies that passed away in their agency?

I ended up meeting the sergeant over there for their PIO, which is the

escaping me now, but essentially they talk to the public.

They're the deputies responsible for talking to the public information officer.

There you go.

Thanks.

You're about to get me.

Yeah.

But I ended up talking with them, that sergeant, and he's all like, did you apply for us before?

Because your name looks familiar.

And I said, yes.

And I gave the name of the person who threw me under the bus.

But

he's all like, wow did we miss out?

Right.

And so it's just like for the people listening to this podcast is people are going to miss out if you don't make that move.

You know?

Absolutely.

Absolutely, absolutely, man.

So, so, what would be some recommendations for, let's say, someone, because I get this all the time, dude.

I get DM'd by hundreds of messages from actual people that want to apply to police departments.

And they're like, yo, like,

how should I prepare for the process?

So, what would you say are three needle movers?

If you were to do all over again, now you know the process, you're an officer, you've been doing this for years, dude, and you see new officers.

What would be three needle movers that someone would have to do to prepare to go through the process?

Uh, run, run, and run.

run.

I love that.

Yeah, running is a huge thing in the academy.

Yeah, so you should be staying fit anyways.

So lifetime fitness, right?

As we call it.

Yes.

You give up, once you go into law enforcement, you give up the right to be unfit, you know.

And so sadly, there are officers and deputies that, you know, are unfit, you know, but

Our goal is to help them, right?

Is to help provide some financial avenues for them so that they can get fit and be good cops.

And if they're called to stay a cop, we can provide that passive income.

Absolutely.

It's insane.

So

yeah, run, run.

Obviously, don't be stupid.

You know, don't go to the bar and get drunk and get arrested.

I mean, it's a lot of it's common sense.

It is, man, but not a lot of people have common sense.

Let's be real.

Let's be real, bro.

It's so common.

That's so true.

Yeah, it's very true.

So,

no, I love the needle movers that you gave.

One, one needle mover I would tell you guys, this is what I did.

I stayed off social media.

Dude, during the application process, even if you're not doing anything bad, it could just be somebody that you're connected with that are doing something shady, they're not supposed to do, and you're in the background.

You're at that party drinking water while everybody's getting shit faced.

And guess what?

Right.

That person might have a record.

Now, guess what?

You're a BG, your background investigator who's going through your file.

They're like, yo, what is this?

And you have to explain.

And they're going to ask you those questions.

They're going to try try to trick you right absolutely

true yeah we want the best on the front lines exactly man we don't want people hiding shit exactly so dude like when when i went through the process i was like you know i didn't do anything wrong but i got rid of my social media because i was like dude i don't need it gotcha it is just going to go ahead and cause more issues so true and i just

I don't need it.

I didn't need social media at that time.

So I got rid of it, dude.

The last time I used social media was MySpace.

And then back when I jumped back on it, it was like 2020, 2020, middle of 2020 dude and I and as soon as I jumped back on it it was because I wanted to expand business digitally right to learn that part of the game right so no good on you dude so how long have you been in law enforcement now 11 years 11 years

and what would you say is the biggest difference between um when you started law enforcement your first three years and where it's currently at right now what are the biggest differences so i applied everything that i learned right just like you're in that big arena you're looking for who the big dogs are, and you're trying to pay attention to who commands reverential respect, okay?

Not just like out of fear.

And so I paid attention and I grew a network.

First three years.

So the first three years, I worked hard, kept my head low.

I made sure that I gave no reason for my supervisors to have any issue, qualms, or worries about me.

My supervisor says, hey, what are you doing?

I would say, whatever you want me to do right now.

You know, that's just how I am.

And I made sure that my work ethic spoke spoke for my my actual words you know so when they say oh masa kayen they call me masa for short oh masa uh that that guy's solid dude he's gonna take care of you he's gonna get you where you need to go yeah he's squared away absolutely squared away is a good another yeah common phraseology it is yeah it is so and i always joke around about a square is a bowling ball sir you know so um we finished that three years uh and then

there you have it god opens these doors people are recognizing your work.

The good supervisors are recognizing your work.

And then they start to throw those bones.

And remember, I'm always reminded, like, I've not deserved any of those bones thrown my way.

I don't deserve those necessarily just because of my work ethic.

Because if I base it off that and I don't get it and it's based off somebody's discretion, then of course I'm going to feel crappy.

Right.

Because it's just that person's whim.

He could have slept on the wrong side of the bed that day and not chose to select me for that assignment, right?

Right.

You know, but deep down inside, I know what I'm capable of.

I know my work ethic and I know what I am.

You know, so in the 11 years,

have you gone to different investigation units?

Have you done special assignments?

What have you done, brother?

Yeah.

So I ended up going to, well, now, let's see, there's a lot.

Defensive tactics.

So I teach that at the academy, DT.

Yeah, it's very interesting to watch these recruits just don't know how to throw throw a punch or

very important.

Yes, it's a physical job, guys.

And you guys learned that the day that you get someone hitting you in the mouth.

Oh, yeah.

That's the wake-up call.

Absolutely.

Don't wait to train till after that happens.

Absolutely.

You want to train before.

Yes.

And our agency is really good about making sure you get punched in the face so that way you know what it feels like.

Oh, yeah.

Everybody's got a plan, right?

Till 100% until the shit hits the fan.

Yeah.

So I do that.

I am really focused on narcotics.

So I went to school to become a drug recognition expert.

I think you did the same too.

And you know, it's not just a regular class or training where you sit there, absorb the content.

You're actually like being tested

scientific studies and case law and stuff.

I got to do that.

I am also a drone pilot operator for

agency.

So we get to do that.

I worked recruiting for two years.

So I handle social media and all of those things uh as well for the recruiting unit so that was super fun so question on that you know uh like we were talking before the podcast you know i'm always big especially because i got into digital marketing i know a little bit about the space now and how it's perceived in the online world but then also media right and with the perception of law enforcement and media there's always a bad light on law enforcement okay what is your input on how

we in law enforcement can leverage social media for the greater good.

Absolutely.

I think just show the stories of the day-to-day life of, I mean, you got to think, like you're going to a domestic violence court,

right?

This lady is getting beat

to the point of like unconsciousness.

You get there, you arrest the guy, and then this lady is now yelling at you who saved her.

And that's the part where they record.

And exactly.

I love that you added that right now because I wouldn't have said that.

And that's the part where they record and they're like, oh, look,

you're just taking my husband away.

You're taking a good guy.

Yeah, you know.

But little do they know the public's perception is like, yo, he was literally beating her to death.

And to a degree, our hands are tied behind their back, right?

Because that case is still an open case.

You can't just be like, well, this is what was really happening, right?

So you can't really divulge any information of that.

Because now,

because now, liability purposes,

you could get civilly sued.

The department could get civilly sued.

Yes.

You could get an internal investigation opened up for you.

And at the end of the day, it's like,

what do I do?

Right.

It's part of the job.

Law enforcement

is fighting with their hands tied behind their backs in the media space.

It is.

So what you're bringing up and sharing with your community is super vital to help us.

I'm not saying like, like bow down to every cop that you see, but I'm saying is show some respect because these are

human beings too.

And some of the most amazing individuals I've ever met, self-sacrificing people.

100%, man.

Majority of people don't do policing for the money.

Right.

That's a very small percentage that people that do it for the money.

But majority of them, they're actually people that have come from law enforcement or for military.

And they transitioned into becoming police officers because it's more of a fulfillment.

It's more of like, hey, this is what I want to do.

man in my academy class man back back in 2014 i remember there was uh people that were already doctors people that were already lawyers they were already highly successful in life but they transitioned to go into police academy for the opportunity to become a police officer to wear that badge right right because that's their calling that's what they wanted right right right so so it blows my mind you know i think law enforcement is one of the greatest professions out there i think um more people highly qualified people that are educated and if you want to get into business business, you want to be a multimillionaire, go into policing for a couple of years.

You're going to learn leadership skills.

You're going to learn how to be organized.

You're going to learn how to be in high, stressful situations.

You're going to learn how to talk to people.

Absolutely.

If it wasn't for law enforcement, dude, I'm telling you right now, I wouldn't be where I'm at today, living life by design.

Right.

Right.

Absolutely.

So it's all about how you frame.

your mind.

That's so true.

Yeah.

So true.

All right, cool, man.

So let's go ahead and jump now into business.

Yes.

Okay, my man.

My favorites.

Yeah.

Yes.

So you're you're in credit card processing, which is one of the things that I do, guys.

I own a portfolio company called Cash Swipe, which is a fintech platform that actually is connected with one of the long-lasting ISOs, independent sales organizations in Southern California, Paid Bottix.

Shout out to Rob Sin.

Shout out to John Sarabia, my homeboys right there.

And they've been in the industry for 22 years.

So they are my mentors.

Okay.

So when I jumped into credit card processing, guys, I launched Cash Swipe in

early 2023.

I like everything else.

I got my social proof on my accounts, got my portfolio, and then I took it to mass market.

I took it to mass market because I was just like, dude, this is such a no-brainer.

Yes.

Such a no-brainer.

Number one, you're helping a lot of small business owners save money on credit card processing fees, which adds more money to their bottom line, dude.

Correct.

Absolutely.

Inflation, hiring, everything, right?

Absolutely.

And then number two,

You want to make residual income, passive income.

How do you go ahead and create freedom, guys?

For for a lot of people that are out there nine to fiveers people that are beginner entrepreneurs is a great avenue because it's a beginner friendly idea right so how did you learn about credit card processing when did you start and where are you currently at right now so i had a house i was called house broke i know there's a ton of people out there in the world right now that are house broke and to make that clear all that means is you got a house you got a mortgage you got a mortgage and your bills just have enough to make it through the day you know to make it through that And so I said, I got to do something else.

It's, it's eating into my spiritual life.

It's eating in, like, I'm working so many hours, you know.

I need to figure something else out.

I go on, I hop on Instagram, you know, usual, you're doom scrolling, which is terrible, you know, and

I see your ad.

And I'm like, what was what was that?

Paint the picture, dude.

Paint the picture.

I see this super handsome guy.

No, I see that.

He's not talking about me.

He's He's not.

Absolutely.

See your ad.

And you're wearing your SWAT outfit.

And I said, dude, that guy's freaking cool.

Like, that's kind of what I want to end up kind of getting into, right?

In my field.

And in our field, I should say.

Yeah.

And

I'm like, what's this about?

Like, is he just telling his story?

It wasn't even right

immediately about, hey, credit card machines.

No, it was your story.

Yeah.

You know?

And so I'm here and I see you.

There's another picture of you sleeping like in the airport or something like that.

And like you with like tons of cash and dope and stuff.

And dope's just another word for drugs.

And you're just

there and you're telling your story.

And I'm getting to the part where you turn into an entrepreneur.

Yes.

And I'm like, wait a minute.

Interesting.

Ding, ding, ding.

And

I said, this has to be like some kind of scam.

or something, right?

Like, there's no way.

It's crazy to me.

Think,

let's, let's think out loud real quick.

Absolutely.

Between a former cop, a current cop.

Let's think about this real quick.

Yes.

How many people right now in the online space go through the exact same thought process?

This has to be a scam.

The dude was a cop.

They know how much money I was making because it's online.

I mean, if you're in California, your salary, everything, benefits, your name.

Go look it up.

Transparent California.

Yep, absolutely.

You can look at every cop's salary, guys.

Overtime too.

Overtime too, right?

Yeah.

So when I tell people in the online space, dude, I used to make a quarter mil freaking being a cop, but here's the thing.

What you guys don't want to understand is what I had to do to go that, to get to that number, which was 80 to 100 hour work weeks.

And people are like, how is that possible?

That's not legal.

Well, actually, it is.

You just need

a break.

Eight hours minimum break.

And you're able to work up to that number.

Okay.

So that's what I did.

A lot of people did that.

First responders, that's actually how they're able to afford houses.

Right.

Okay.

So house broke, dude.

I can relate.

I was there.

Yes.

Right.

So when it comes down to it, now the thought process of you seeing an ad

from a person who was a cop, police officer, you know, he would make $250,000.

And now he's an entrepreneur and he's talking about a business opportunity.

Yes.

Why, as a society, do we think everything is a scam?

What do you think?

What are your thoughts?

Honestly, I think people are just so cynical and skeptical.

And a lot of people have crab mentality.

Have you ever thrown crabs in a bucket?

Yep.

And what do they do?

They just pull the other crabs that are trying to get out there.

They're trying to climb on top of each other, man.

And so I hated that.

Yeah.

You know, and I was never that way.

One of my good beat partners, he's a sergeant now.

He always said this, rising tides lift all ships.

Yep.

And that's the goal is we want to help each other grow.

Yeah.

And that's what you do, especially on this platform, you know, and we're just really extremely grateful that you didn't selfishly take that.

Yeah.

You know, and you shared it with your community.

So one quick thing, Mark.

Yeah.

Something that I want to point out that you just said, ma'am.

Yeah.

That I'm like, hmm.

You said you never used to be like that.

So you're talking about being cynical, like limiting beliefs with thinking things are a scam.

Yes.

What made you

think that it was a scam?

So the thing that made me think it was a scam.

Was it in your environment?

Is it other people who were like, yo, limited beliefs?

Sam,

Mark, it has to be a scam.

Right.

Who gets rich that way?

Who?

Tell me a person that said, oh, I watched an Instagram video and I...

learned to create a business for myself and now I learn how to be good with my taxes too.

So I get them mostly mostly back you know who does that everybody around me it's you know it's and thankfully my parents

you know weren't so hard on me they were kind of more open to it yeah because they wanted to probably get me out of a dangerous profession of course but they care about you without thinking about them you think about everybody else around you and you're like oh you're just one of those Instagram kids you know

that's all you're just you're just suckling on that Instagram milk and you're thinking that that's gonna make you gonna do a couple dance videos and you're going to be a millionaire.

Yes.

And in reality,

there's different takes on that, you know, but the reality is, is that you won't know until you try it.

You won't know.

And when I was rock bottom, house broke, right?

I was like, well, I'm not waiting until I go broke, broke.

So I'm going to take a chance.

Why not?

So I don't know if you remember this, but I messaged you.

Yeah, I remember.

And what's awesome about Paul is that I didn't just get a message back, which I got a message back.

And I was like, we live in the the land of AI that was growing.

And I was all like, oh, maybe he just AI'd me.

I don't know if this is real still.

The cynicism, the skepticism still creeped in even to that point.

Every step of the process.

And I'm just sending a message, Paul.

Costs me nothing.

That's it.

And it happens every day, man.

I look at my staff and, you know, I read the messages.

And usually at the end of the day, when I'm going home and just looking at everything, almost like a debrief.

Right after an operation.

And I look at the messages and I'm like, yo, how are we looking as far as just like,

you know, conversions and how are we looking with potential clients that want to work with us?

Sometimes I look at the messages and then some of the messages they'll start off with, is this a scam?

Dude, why would you even ask the person?

that is telling you about this opportunity if it's a scam.

If it was a scam, they would tell you no.

Yes.

They're going to lie to you.

Hello.

Like it doesn't make sense whatsoever.

I'm like, bro.

As soon as I see that, I'm like, guys,

these are people that typically you got to just break it down at a fifth grade level, respectfully.

Respectfully, okay?

Because common sense ain't common.

Nope.

And that's just the way it is.

So let me break it down so you understand.

Exactly.

So I get what you're saying, man, but

one thing that I could resonate with you, dude, is that my coworkers, when I first started with ATMs, which was with my first vehicle, my first simple business, my first side hustle.

Okay, and this is back in 2018, 2019, dude.

And I remember everybody was like, oh, scamming people, huh?

Automatic, automatic, passive, aggressive, came from everybody.

Oh, scamming, huh?

Like,

scamming what, dude?

Right.

They're like, that's weird.

Right.

Like, why don't you just do more overtime?

Right.

Right.

And I'm like, you know why, though?

Yeah.

It's because, and I noticed this too.

People actually miss your presence.

I don't know know if you knew this, but like, I noticed that some people, some of my coworkers, they don't want me going on business trips or things like that because some of them miss my presence.

Yeah.

You know, and I'm not trying to like puff up or anything.

No, but it's true, dude.

And let me chime into this.

Sure.

The reason why they miss your presence, because in law enforcement, it's about who you work with.

It's about who you have on your team.

Yeah.

It's who is going to be your car buddy.

Yep.

Got to be tight-knit.

That's it.

Tight-knit, dude.

Like, if you guys ever watched that movie, End of Watch.

Oh, man.

That's as close as it gets.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, they laugh together.

They cry together.

They go to family events.

We die together.

We die together.

That's it.

Bad boys for life.

But anyways, dude, yeah.

So it's about environment.

So

leading into this, the reason why I'm asking you so much, environment, guys.

Okay, environment is everything.

Yes.

And I always tell this, it's like, dude, when I decided I was going to go full-time entrepreneur, I was burning the boats.

I was going to sell my house.

Wow.

I was going to go move from everybody that I know to focus.

Wow.

And when I did that, I had the biggest growth ever in my life.

And then I decided to move again.

And guess what?

I grew again.

And then I decided to move again.

And I grew again.

Right.

So at the end of the day, does environment play a big factor?

Right.

What are your thoughts?

Absest thinking lootly.

When you have an environment that drags you down, it's a lot easier.

I use this analogy when I preach all the time.

If you're standing on this table right now, is it going to be easier or harder for me to pull you to the ground?

Absolutely easier to pull you to the ground.

But if you're standing on the table and you're pulling somebody up, Is it typically easier or harder?

It's harder.

And so it's the path of least resistance.

When I see somebody, or when my coworkers see somebody successful, they're like, not come back to us.

They don't want you to be better than them, dude.

Commiserate with us.

You know, misery loves company.

Yes, right?

And so,

and I, and it goes in your spiritual life as well.

You got to lift people up.

So in the same context of what you're talking about with environment, right?

You have those negative ones.

Yes.

But you have also positive people.

And that's what you know, K-N-O-W.

The seasons.

Absolutely.

and so you know these people you hang around these people and so for example I love my sergeant Sergeant Sullivan got to give him a shout out shout out Serge and my lieutenant Lieutenant Hall but my team LT yeah L T and so they always support me you know they're your mentors they approved me for this vacation not vacation but it's I use vacation hours to get here all the way to Miami from California, you know, to be here on the pond.

And I didn't hear, they joke around obviously, but I didn't hear like you're never gonna make it I don't know why you're wasting your time on this just work somewhere over.

I've never heard that from them little little do they know the

the sheriff might be on this show pretty soon.

Oh, yeah,

can't wait.

Yeah, yeah, I and I love our sheriff He's a G, bro.

He is.

Yeah, so I think I made a comment on one of his posts because we had haters and I had like over a thousand likes, but dude, I have the trolls come out.

Absolutely.

giving it back to them.

It is what it is, yeah.

You know, I'm former, so they can't get me.

Yeah, exactly.

Use your platform,

use my platform.

That's right, but uh, no, I love that, and and here's the crazy part: so, when you start talking about the table,

I'm gonna tell you something funny right now, okay?

Emilio's mouth just like dropped, and he was just like, What

we had, and you know, Brad, you know, Brad Scott Johnson, yes, he said the exact same

thing yesterday.

Oh, wow.

He's like, Paul, there's seasons, man.

Yeah.

And you got to think about your environment like you're on a table and there's always going to be people that are going to pull you down.

And there's going to be people that want to pull you up.

But guess what?

Right.

Dude, it's so easy to get pulled down.

Right.

Right.

Right.

And it's easy to look down.

Yeah, it is.

You know, a lot.

Naturally, you're walking, you're usually looking down.

That's a natural physiological movement.

Yeah, it is.

You know, but how often do we look up?

How often?

Not that often, no.

not that often.

That's sad.

Every time I would see a robbery suspect, and not to make a joke out of this, but every time I would go to a robbery victim, I'd be like, hey, how did the robbery suspect look?

And they'd be like, I don't know.

I was looking down on my phone.

I was like, why do you look down on your phone?

I mean, I'm just saying, you know, come on, man.

But, um, brother, I love your story, dude.

I love your mindset.

I think you're representing your agency to the top tier, man.

Promote this guy.

Promote this guy.

Okay.

I approve.

All right.

With that being said, guys,

talk to us about your credit card processing journey now.

How many accounts do you have?

How was it in the very first 30 days?

Yes.

And what was your thought process?

Yes.

So five accounts now, working on my sixth.

I'm getting on top of this guy because he is being lazy and not getting his voided bank.

What do you call it?

His paperwork.

Yeah.

Yeah, the voided check.

Voided check, yeah.

But I'm going to get him.

He's loyal to me, so he's going to go for it.

Go ahead.

That's good.

So answer or explain this concept to the public because they know they could go to cashwipe.com and obviously go ahead and they can figure out what this is.

Sure.

But from your perspective, man, everybody articulates different.

So if someone was to ask you, what do you do in credit card processing?

Yes.

What would you say?

So I would ask them, how much do you spend in your merchant services?

paying American Express, MasterCard, all that.

How would you like to be able to use that money to leverage your business and grow?

And so what I do is we go through the only legal way to transfer that fee onto the consumer called the cash discount program.

Boom.

Probably as short as that.

That's it.

Simple.

Simplicity scales, complexity fails.

I love it.

So essentially what Mark does, guys, is he helps business owners save a ton of money in credit card processing fees.

And mind you, business owners, especially new ones, and there's literally millions of them a year.

It's a big blue ocean right now

they're rolling up in traditional processing which means the banks and the large credit card processing companies are charging them tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year so true so what you do is you're going in there as a credit cop and you're literally wiping the fees for them you're saving them from poverty dude yes and on top of that for helping them you're getting paid residual income That's the best part of it.

It's a win-win.

It's badass, dude.

It's a no-brainer.

So you're at five accounts within six months.

You're about to make it six.

So that means an account a month, dude.

Let me ask you something.

What is the hardest part of what you do with credit card processing?

The hardest part that I'm running into right now is lead acquisition.

Okay.

So,

but

watching you,

having mentors, I mean, talking with Rob Sin, had lunch with him, amazing guy.

He's a great guy.

Setting up a VA, a virtual assistant.

Yeah.

You know, where

exactly.

And so doing that to boost my lead acquisition is going to be the like tip-top thing that I'm focused on currently, you know, for a micro scale kind of thing.

Yeah.

No, absolutely.

And then in the next, by basically December of this year, 2025, how many accounts is your goal?

So I want to get to 30.

30 accounts.

Absolutely.

30 accounts.

So these accounts, guys, Mark is talking about the accounts.

On average, you guys can make in residual income, 300 to about 1,000 bucks.

Okay.

There are outlier accounts accounts where, guys, there's guys that are pulling in like $10,000 in a single account, which is amazing, but is it going to happen every single time?

Absolutely not.

Just being real, right?

But it could happen.

So if you're currently a business owner in Southern California or California or in the United States, hit up Mark.

We'll make sure to drop his socials and where you can actually contact him.

So, Mark, all right.

So, you're you're focused on credit card processing.

You're still an active Leo law enforcement officer.

What is your future plans?

Future plans is actually to level up with you, Paul.

Yeah.

To be, to, to be mentored and learn about how to help people get to where I am.

Yeah.

You know, and granted, and specifically towards law enforcement.

Yeah.

And then I do have a big heart for the Filipino business community.

Yeah.

So tell us, tell us the plan with the Filipino community, man.

Yeah, absolutely.

So the reason why I hired my VA out of the Philippines, one, it's affordable.

But two,

is they can speak Tagalog.

I I don't care if you speak the main language of the Philippines.

You speak the tongue, man.

Yeah, exactly.

And so that would help them gain more leverage and trust.

More authority.

And then you said credit card cop.

So now there's even more trust.

Like, oh, he's in law enforcement.

He knows 100%.

You know what he's doing.

So I don't want to lead them down in a legal way.

Right.

So we teach them about like fulfillment and all those different things.

Going into the future plans is to help these business owners grow and then maybe have a mentorship you know and teach people have an offer have a program to help people do the exact same thing what you're doing exactly oh that's awesome man i think it's very powerful dude because before we were talking guys if you guys didn't know uh mark is exactly like me when i was in law enforcement he's working anywhere between 60 to 70 hours a week okay some people can't even fanth them working more than 40 hours okay so whenever i hear people oh i work too much i have no time no no no you gotta stop watching love items all right it's not that you don't have time it's you choose not not to have time.

We choose to do the hard things.

We choose to go ahead and find solutions for what we need in our life.

And we have to get rid of our old life for our new life, right, Mark?

Absolutely.

Yeah, dude.

You know, I heard this on a post.

I can't remember where I saw it.

Maybe it was yours.

And it's funny how people get so angry at like small things in life, like I spilled my coffee or this person in front of me is driving slow.

I need to get to work because I'm late.

But they'll never get mad at the rut that they're in.

Exactly.

They won't get mad

at themselves.

So just, I just came to my mind.

Dude, extreme ownership.

Absolutely.

That's what Taco says.

Oh, yeah.

At least that's what I'm saying.

Extreme

ownership.

And I'm pretty sure your dad taught you that.

Just like, yo, you own your decisions.

Yes.

That's what I told my wife.

You know, the day we got married, I was like, babe, we're never going to get divorced.

And she says, I agree.

We're never going to get divorced.

We will go through some shit.

Yeah.

But we will never get divorced.

Right.

And here's the thing.

I was like, babe, the only thing I want you to promise me is you would never doubt yourself.

You would never doubt yourself.

You would never say maybe.

You would never say, I can't.

You would never say that.

Life is very simple.

So true.

Yes or no?

Yes.

Are you going to do it?

Yes.

That's it.

That's it.

You should know yourself well enough to know what you're capable of.

And guess what?

We're humans, dude.

We're going to be good at certain things.

Right.

I always say I'm a visionary guy.

Yeah.

Am I good at doing the finances for the companies?

Am I good at going ahead and doing the operations?

Am I good at micromanaging?

Absolutely not.

Right.

I'm good at being a leader.

I'm good at delegating.

I'm good at being a visionary.

That's what I do.

And you learn those things along the way.

You do.

You know, I wasn't a salesman at all.

You had background in sales.

Yes.

I'm not a salesman.

I have, you know, I show up to people's house because they have problems because I have to be there.

Right.

I had no background.

I learned to be a salesman, though.

You have to.

Right.

It's people skills.

Yes.

because what you're doing in business what you're doing in law enforcement is you're dealing with emotions right you're in the people's business and that's what people don't understand i remember there was times man because i've gone through my uh

my time of going through multiple protests getting getting m100s thrown in my lake getting dumpster fires like craziness guys craziness back in 2014 i called that i was going through fto it was the second month oh i was in a van and riot gear for an entire month Throwing through the wall.

It was crazy, bro.

I ate Costco pizza every day.

That was my diet as a cop.

Okay.

It was nuts.

But, anyways, now I miss it.

I'm like, damn, I wish I could have some pizza now.

But no, no, no, no.

It's all about perspective.

Yes.

I remember my academy mate, we're still in FTO, dude.

We're not even like full-fledged cops yet.

We're still trainees.

He goes and he says, Dude, they didn't tell us we were going to go through this shit.

Yeah.

And I'm like, bro, you're getting paid a lot of money to basically do customer service.

Right.

That's all it is.

Yeah.

Don't take none of this shit personal.

That's so true.

And that's what you guys got to learn.

If you're currently an applicant right now, if you're currently a police officer, you're like, dude, this freaking sucks.

You have an attitude.

Guess what?

You're already building that negative environment going into a call.

talking to a civilian, talking to your coworkers.

No one wants to hear about freaking how horrible your life is.

No one wants to deal with a negative Nancy.

Nope.

Life is already hard.

That's why I say environment's everything, dude.

You know, you can love people from afar.

Yeah.

You really can.

Absolutely.

But at the end of the day, dude, you have a beautiful mindset, bro.

You're going to go places and you already have a winning attitude, dude, because your father, your mom, dude.

Your background.

So you just got to keep going.

You got to lead, bro.

So.

Here's a great question I want to ask you since you're a man of faith, brother.

Yes.

What does being called,

okay, okay, by God mean to you, especially in business?

So for me,

the gospel,

that's the ultimate thing.

If there's anything that I can give somebody that's of the most massive and immense value is to believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins.

Yeah.

You know,

I don't, my pastor just passed away.

He's 86 years old.

Sorry to hear that.

Thank you.

And honestly, he has made leaps and bounds he was sued by gavin newsom our church was one of the only churches open during covid wow grace community church wow i love the people there if i break into tears right now this is going to be the time it will happen and um john macarthur i've only met him a handful of times he supports law enforcement they in fact do lapd does training at the church and if there's anything that I would model my life after, is his life in the sense that he was a herald of the truth.

And that's the reality.

Because at the end of the day, sure, God may bless us with a Ferrari, a nice jacket, and all these things,

but you're not going to take that with you.

Absolutely.

And so you have to think about the ultimate goal.

But you don't ignore the goals that are set before you to get there.

And that's when the entrepreneurship kicks in.

When I work super hard for an age, and this goes with anybody in any organization, you're working for them.

So you're getting a wage.

You know, you do above and beyond.

You may or may not get the bone thrown your way.

But if you work for yourself, if you work as an entrepreneur, garbage in, garbage out.

What you put in is what you'll get out.

Absolutely.

And it just reminds me of the parable of the talents.

Jesus said that there was a master who gave his servants, he said, I'm visiting this town.

I'm going to give you the first servant five talents.

And talents was just a measurement of weight and and gold.

So five talents of gold and it was about 75 to 100 pounds of gold is one talent.

And so he goes over and he gives one servant five.

He gives the next servant two and he gives the last servant one.

And he says, I'll be right back.

He comes back.

The guy with five says, hey, master, I used five.

And in my Bible, I can even pull it up right now.

I want to read this actually to you.

He says this.

Immediately, the one who had received the five talents went and traded with them and gained five more talents.

Wow.

That's 100%

that he got back and he got an investment back.

Yeah.

In the same way, in the same manner, the one who had received two talents gained two more.

And then you read about the guy who was last.

And I'll just paraphrase it, but the guy who gets last says, well, I wanted to keep this one because it's the only one.

And he's clinging to that one talent.

And he's like, well, at least I have it.

Jesus said, or the master tells him, he says, you should have just put it in the banks.

It was at least made me interest, you know?

And he cast him away.

He fired that servant, right?

So for us that are investors, we're looking to see not how much we have, but how much we can multiply that.

And now this master has 10 talents, because five five plus five and then two uh so 14 total because

he invested in the right people yeah you know and to me it's just

like that's 2 000 years ago that this story was told and now we're on a podcast with electronics and cameras and all these things and the same story is being told it is in a different format yes it is and that to me is just mind-blowing it's amazing it's amazing it's amazing life is good yeah yeah i i love my pastor Pastor John, you know.

Good guy.

Good guy.

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

I could see it, man.

He poured into you for sure.

Absolutely.

So, Mark, this is going to be your final question, brother.

Absolutely.

All right.

You ready for this?

Yes.

Yes, sir.

Now, I think this is going to be an impactful question I'm going to ask you that a lot of people need to hear.

You say you're an average guy.

Yes.

I actually say this myself.

I'm like, I'm a simple average guy, guys.

I really am.

What message do you have for others who feel like they're too average to succeed?

Find your why.

Find your why.

Find your why.

And what does that mean?

Finding your why

gets you off

the tracks and gets you to where you want to go,

where you're needed to go.

Everybody's called,

they've got, people are amazing.

They've got certain skills, but when laziness, when doubt and fear creeps in, it pulls you away from your why.

And you forget, you know, going into law enforcement, being in law enforcement for almost a dozen years now, you're thinking, I think to myself, was I meant to just work my nine to five or 60 hours a week or whatever it is that week, and that's it?

Or was I meant for more?

And I constantly hammer that in my head.

It's almost like a mantra you say in the morning,

what am I doing again?

Why am I alive again?

Why did God give me another breath of life?

Oh, I remember remember to share the gospel.

Yeah.

I remember to help people, to help families, to help small business owners grow and then create an avenue to share the gospel to them.

Like that is insane.

You're not going to, and I was working and I was like, man, I won't be able to share a gospel to a guy who's literally tweaking in front of me right now.

Tweaking, by the way, is just somebody who, I'm just kidding.

You guys know what tweaking is, you know.

And you're not because they're under the influence.

They've commanded their bodies under the authority of the devil of of drugs yeah you know and they lost all the faculties to be able to understand you they're trying to escape reality right yeah and and I do want to help those people but not while they're high how am I gonna help them right you know so the reality is is we need restoration especially in America today and I can see that it's happening ever so slightly there is that silent majority that's speaking in favor of law enforcement in favor of the right things you know and I hope that it happens you know, and if you vote for Bianco, you know, that's going to help change California, you know, and a lot of people are just so focused on themselves.

Yeah.

You know, but if your why is not just, oh, I hope so.

I don't have to work again.

God created us to work.

Purpose.

The Garden of Eden was created for Adam and Eve to work in.

Yeah.

Not to just lavishly like enjoy the fruits and all, no.

And just chill.

And just chill.

No.

He created us to work.

And so by finding your why, and I get it that there's not everybody here is a Christian or anything like that, but find your why.

If it's to like have a family and be such that dedicated father or mother or husband or wife, then that's your why.

So every single day you get after it,

when your eyelids creep up to the top of your, your head,

you remember, why am I doing this?

Yeah, 100%.

And it's going to keep pushing you.

You know, I always say, and people always ask,

why do you keep going?

And I was like, what do you mean?

And they're like, well, you already built one business.

You build another business.

You help a lot of people.

Now you're doing events,

the podcast.

Like, you do a lot.

And I'm like, yeah, I do.

And they're like, for what?

And I was like, well, number one,

I do it for fulfillment.

You know, I,

you know, when I got into police work, man,

it was, I enjoyed it.

I enjoyed thinking.

I enjoyed thinking outside the box.

I enjoyed investigations.

I enjoyed helping people.

But realistically, what made the biggest impact for me was the difference, the little bit of difference that I did.

I wasn't able to change the entire city,

but I was able to change people's lives and perception of the police.

Right.

Because I would always get told, you know, in the very beginning, they're like, dude, you're a very nice guy.

But I hate that uniform you wear.

And I would ask why.

Why?

Because I just had bad interactions interactions with other cops.

And I'm like, well, that's why I'm here to change that perception, man.

So now, now that I'm a business owner, now that, you know, I leverage digital marketing and social media, I'm going to use my platform to back up.

And that's what it is, dude.

You know, like DMing the sheriff.

Yeah.

We're back and forth, dude.

And going ahead and back in the blue, dude, like, I don't mind, dude, because there's a lot of people out there that support law enforcement.

Yes.

But they're not the crazies.

They're not the crazies over there talking shit on social media or in public.

No, those are usually people, the bad people that want chaos.

Yeah.

You know?

And you need the police, right?

You need the police to have order, dude.

That's where they're the thin blue line.

Romans chapter 13.

Shout out to Romans.

That's it, bro.

Shout out to Romans.

So with that being said, brother.

Where can my audience find you, brother?

I love it.

So just for the viewers out there, Pinoy.payments is going to be the handle.

uh we're specifically targeting filipino business owners but obviously we're open to branching out but that's just the mission of helping those people uh that just are trying to make it in life you know and i have that special connection with them and then also with law enforcement too so you can just follow us at pinoy.payments and yeah we'll be expanding expanding i have this brainiac sitting next to me who's just pouring into me and I hope nothing's spilling out, you know, and but I'm just so thankful, you know, that you're, you've allowed me to sit here.

Oh, dude, you're going to grow.

And realistically, it's all up to you.

Yeah.

It's you.

It's really you.

Personal responsibility.

You have the resources.

You now have the correct environment to launch whatever you want.

I love that.

So at the end of the day, guys, make sure to follow Mark at what he said.

I'm pretty sure we're going to go ahead and drop a link down below.

So if you guys know somebody that needs to hear this, whether they want to join law enforcement, whether they come from a military background, whether they want to go ahead and start a beginner-friendly business like credit card processing, this is the episode that you want them to tune into, guys.

Leave a five-star review on Spotify, guys.

We are ranked number one on Apple Podcasts, Business Podcasts.

Actually, fun fact.

We're number 19 top podcasts in the Philippines.

Oh, no way.

Which is crazy, right?

Like it's crazy stat.

Well, I follow you every day and I saw you were number eight at one point in top charts.

Yeah, bro.

Yeah, we're trying to stay consistently there like we do in business right but we're we're we're against some really good podcasts of course some really good shows that hey they got skin in the game yeah absolutely

you got skin in the game too uh yeah we're just starting yeah you know amelio's hair is not long enough yet so so we're just getting there okay yeah so with that saying guys amelio is my engineer for the podcast with that being said this is paul alex guys we will catch you on the next one thanks for listening up to the level of podcast if you enjoyed today's episode make sure to share with a family friend, and everyone you know who's ready to level up.

Leave a five-star review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you tune in.

It really helps spreading the word and don't forget to check out officialpawalex.com for more episodes and resources to kickstart your journey.

Let's level up together.

Hey, JJ Virgin here.

On my podcast, Well Beyond 40, we ditch the idea of aging gracefully and go all in on aging powerfully.

Every week I host powerful experts who can give you powerful insights insights on building muscle, boosting your energy, and feeling amazing no matter what your age.

This is your one life, and trust me, being smarter and stronger are superpowers that can turn lifespan into strength span.

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