Episode 13

full
Published on:

17th Aug 2023

Exploring AI, Business, and Global Impact: The Peter Swain Interview | OM13

In this episode of the Opportunity Makers Podcast, we dive into a truly enlightening conversation with business consultant, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker Peter Swain.

The heart of this episode lies in Peter's unique perspective, a lens through which he views the world and its myriad possibilities. His profound insights into business, AI, and finance offer valuable lessons for everyone seeking growth and transformation.

Listen closely to Peter's words, as they hold the power to reshape your perception and ignite your journey toward unparalleled success.

About The Guest:

In the early 90's I was at a trade show when I was handed a bright yellow flier talking about this new technology ... the world wide web. At that moment the trajectory of my life was cemented in place.

From that moment over 25 years ago I've been active in the digital space and involved in over 1,200 digital projects for some of the most impactful companies on the planet. I've had the privilege to work with everyone from passionate entrepreneurs to Fortune 50 companies and global charities to governments.

After starting and exiting 4 companies I am now living my ideal life .... helping individuals and companies that deserve to scale find the success that they deserve. Capital is the ultimate accelerant and it can make or break any mission.

Connect With Peter Swain:

Website: https://peterswain.com/

Mastermind: https://peterswain.com/proudorrich/mastermind/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PeterSwain7P/

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/You-Can-Be-Proud-Rich/dp/B0C6VZ2W4X/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peterswain247/?originalSubdomain=uk

About the Host:

Jim Padilla is the founder and CEO of Gain The Edge - a done-for-you provider of industry-leading sales systems and unicorn sales professionals which he co-heads with his wife and entrepreneurial partner-in-crime, Cyndi Padilla.

Through their unique blend of laser-targeted selling systems, inspirational team-building expertise, and 60+ years of combined sales experience - Jim and his wife have generated over 1/4 bn in sales for a long line of high-level, visionary entrepreneurs.

Jim’s mission is to help purpose-driven thought-leaders untangle themselves from the day-to-day minutiae of seeking leads and sales for their business so they’re free to amplify their impact.

When Jim’s not making dollars rain down from the sky, you’ll regularly find him at the driving range - hitting a bucket of balls. Jim credits his time on the driving range as the main source of his best ideas.

Recently relocated back to California, Jim & Cyndi are immersing themselves in family time with their three daughters & four (soon to be five) grandchildren.

Connect with Jim at https://jimp360.com

If you want to see more great content like this, make sure to subscribe and ring the bell so you will get notified whenever we post a new video. And don't forget to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts.

Transcript
Jim Padilla:

Hey there, welcome back to the opportunity makers podcast. And I have a really awesome conversation I want to share with you today, this has just been a blessing and a journey of being on this path of talking to people who are literally changing the world at scale, and being able to serve you, people who are in process of also changing the world at scale and wanting to do more. And the whole mission here is to deliver hope, and provide simple clear pathways to show what kind of decisions can be made in a world that we're living in today. So that there is nothing but opportunity and easy ways to take advantage of those opportunities so that they serve you serve the people that you serve, and help you become a better person. Help you provide for more people help you solve more problems for the communities that you serve, for the businesses that you have for your clients. And for for any anything that is coming down your path, that you've got the solution, either through the things you provide or the connections that you have, or the people that you know, but there should never be a shortage of revenue opportunities never be a shortage of problems to solve, and people deserve. You should always have a waiting list of that at all times, doing an inventory of other people in your world. You know, you never know who's on your list. You never know who is an ally on your lists on your email list is in your Facebook followings. It's on your LinkedIn, it's who's people who listen to your podcast, you just never know. You got to be crystal clear and razor sharp know who you're talking to, what you're talking about why, and what it is that you what's the hot button, that you want to be able to share with people to move people forward, right, and that, for me, this is just beating this like a dead horse, meaning this over and over again. But it's so imperative and so important that you have the driving wheel, the steering wheel to drive your own opportunities and drive your destiny in this not the time to worry about over protecting yourself, lean in and let the success in the opportunity provide the protection that you need for yourself, find ways to turn money into more money, right assets into greater revenue, and problems into opportunities. And the conversation today we had with who's with a gentleman named Peter Swain, who is somebody that I have gotten to know over this last year in a mastermind, mastermind colleague. And also, as I've moved into his mastermind, as he's shown up as a thought leader in the AI space and really doing some some big things and giving people some simple ways to win and overcome. So there's also access to that mastermind in the show notes. So make sure you check out there, there's several ways for you to reach out to Peter in the show notes. And I think you will want to after you hear him speak is a very intelligent guy with a lifetime worth of incredible solutions and opportunities that he has taken advantage of a breadth of knowledge and depth of knowledge in marketing in business and scaling. And he is also in the process of he's a banker he has money that he is providing for people in business in an economically challenged environments in in South America and other countries as well as starting to bringing those solutions to America. And so the most important thing you can take from this is just his perspective, the way he thinks and sees about the world and things that are around him. So that my my mission is to make sure that you see as much of that as possible. So you can really start resonating and start seeing that you're this close. And if you're listening, my fingers are very close to each other less than an inch apart. You're very, very close to your next when your next windfall. And too many times we're so concerned about tripping and falling, that we don't take big enough steps that would even allow us to trip and fall. And I just want to encourage you seize the moment, seize the opportunities that around you take big strides. A I just put a post on Facebook recently just the other day. They said don't make incremental the goal make incremental, where you fall while striving for exponential, you should be seeking exponential opportunities every day, because they're everywhere and you can get them with help. With guidance. There's no shortage of help and assistance anywhere around. We're here to help you reach in the show notes. Reach out to me, let me know what you're striving for what you need help with. And we'll make sure that we provide a solution via anything we offer or an introduction, or we'll do a podcast episode on it or I'll bring an expert in who can speak about if we want to make sure we know how to help you best. And that's what we're doing here. So go find the opportunities that exist around you jump into this interview. And enjoy. Alright, so you've all just heard the official introduction. So Peter Swain, why don't you introduce yourself the way that you want to.

Unknown:

Well, thanks, Jim. And thanks for allowing me to be here. And thank you for everybody. Who's giving up their time to listen, because we know how valuable that is. My name is Peter Swain. As you may guess, from the accent, I'm not from the American side of the pond, I'm from the British side of the pond. I started coding when I was six. So my first application at 12, built this little thing called yellow dot code at UK, which became Yelp, in the mid 90s. And then ran digital agencies pretty much the whole of my life did about 1400 projects, people like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, allergy Breaking Bad, some really fun stuff, some really big stuff, some really small stuff. But all really focused around the intellectual challenge of Could I get people to do things right now, actually, essential marketing is can I persuade you that your idea is your idea when actually it was my idea. And then, recently, the last couple of years, I've transitioned out of marketing, and into the world of finance, so pleased to be here. And looking forward to seeing what we get through.

Jim Padilla:

Definitely. And I always appreciate you being here. You know, I connected with Peter in a couple of different places and masterminds and, and I'm in one of his masterminds now as well. But more than anything, he's just a really good guy. He's very smart. He has a lot of good insights, sees things quickly, sees them well. And always just whenever he's around, there's always a group of people because people want Peters time, just because he's, he's, you know, a combination of the smarts, the intellect and the insights. It's just a really

Unknown:

good human, and bribe them behind the scenes, Jim, but you don't know that. You know,

Jim Padilla:

I'll tell you, I'll call you I had a friend that I coached basketball with for years. And he was the one of the few people that I would answer the phone, no matter when he called us, or I call him my green button friend, because you know, when your phone rings, you got red or green. He's the only one of the only people even above my kids and spouse, that no matter what I was doing, I would answer because he always had a way of making me feel awesome. You know, he just had this energy about him. And I see that in you. And I don't know, if you do that intentionally. Or if you have, you've done it so long. It's just part of who you are. But I watch that as you as you move around people. And to me, that's also part of what makes an opportunity maker, right, you seeing the positive seeing the high side of everything that goes on. And if you're seeing the low side of everything, then it's hard to actually create. But when you can see the high side of every opportunity, it's just it's so much easier to make things happen for yourself and for others.

Unknown:

Well, I'll let you into a secret as to why I try and cultivate that with people. And really, everything changed when I had my first my first child and it was a you know, they put them in your arms. And my first thought was Olivia, and it's a little bit more profound because it's it's a girl because for the for the dads in the audience, I think we all know how we feel about about our little girls, they're a different thing. I planned my son like bashes into walls, it's fine. But my girls, my God, anyway, I realized when it happened, that I had a responsibility that I was going to be a parent until hopefully, God Willing until the day I die. And that means that I have a responsibility for her for her experience, not just while she's under my roof, but for the rest of time. And that had this hallucination vision, lucid dream, you know, wherever people sit on a on the relationship with the divine kind of sees how you see this, but what it was was this, she's in this vision of she's 18. And she goes to town with her boyfriend, and they have a very stereotypical teenage fight. And her boyfriend has her purse and her phone in his pocket because she's gone out wearing something slinky that I don't like. And he walks away, and she's sitting on the side of the road. And she's crying. And this guy who I've decided to call Bob, so no offense to any of the Bob's out there. But you know, this guy called Bob walks past. And Bob in that moment has three choices. Choice one, he can say let me take you for a drink, which is a chilling thought for me. The idea of my my 18 year old daughter, and a low moment being seen as prey. choice to he just walks on by and ignores her, which doesn't fill me full of happiness. But okay, or choice three, he says how can I help? And she says she just needs to get home to a dad. And he calls her cab, waits with her for the capital arrive and then leaves. When that realization hit me, what came next was it didn't matter really Jim if I win, or you win, or bill or Jane or Sally in any one interaction, it doesn't really matter. Who wins? The only thing that matters is that I put the ripples out in the world that talk to Bob, a guy, I'm never going to meet those 10 years in my future. How do I get Bob? To do the right thing? How do I get Bob in 10 years time to say, How can I help? And it might sound far fetched for people, it might sound sublime and a bit ridiculous. But I truly do believe that everything we do every action, we have everything we say, every person we impact, we are tweaking the course of their existence. And if that's true, the only way that I can guarantee that Bob does the right thing is to put enough ripples out in the world, that I statistically become guaranteed to affect what Bob does. So I just want people to win. And sometimes that means that I don't win, and that's okay. Sometimes it means I'm the only person that wins. And that's okay, too. As long as it's progressing that path of how do we make the world a better place. Because purely selfishly, I don't want my daughter to grow up in a world where she has to be fearful for her for her life. She has to have trauma, she has to have stress, otherwise her personality and character doesn't develop. But I think we can all agree there's a type of trauma that we don't want our kids to have to experience. So it's purely selfish. But it's how do I make the world a better place so that my kids grew up in a better world than I did? And I grew up in a pretty awesome world. But how do we make it better for them? kind of informs every decision I make? To be honest, it makes it super simple decision process. So do I think this thing will make the world better? Yes. Great. Um, um, no, I'm not.

Jim Padilla:

Yeah, I appreciate all of that. And number one, as a as a father of three daughters, and someone who spent, you know, a decade plus of my life coaching, high school girls, and basketball, and golf, I got a lot of daughters out there as well. And I exactly the same, it's everything that we can do to create the most successful environment for them to be able to win. And most of the time, meanwhile, we have direct influence over them, the things that are going to impact the more the things that we don't have direct influence over but have have access to being able to influence, right and so but but people will see that I think too many times we see what's right in front of us. And what's the key to seeing around corners and seeing a generation ahead. And as a default.

Unknown:

Yeah. And really, that's kind of been my job all the way through. And you start with with a core truth. And sometimes those core truths are kind of some people can see them as depressing. But the but if the train is going in that direction, the train is going in that direction, we can't then change that. All we can do is shape it. And we can mold that experience. So let's take one of the core distinctions of humanity. And this was from Gary Vee. He said, People don't care about security. People don't care about quality, they care about convenience. And if you don't agree, then why is Equifax still in business? Yeah, how can a company ship 250 million credit reports whatever the number was, and their stock price be relatively unaffected. We don't care. It's not something we actually care about. We say we care about security. But actually, we really don't. We say we care about quality. And yet Budweiser is one of the most successful beers in the world. And I don't even think Budweiser would stand and say that they are a quality premium product that they're just not they're a very, very successful 85 percentile product. But what we do care about as convenience. Now, if that's true, and you believe that to be true, you can start making some claims pretty quickly as to what is going to happen. Another one, for example, technology's job is to becoming visible technology's job is for it to work and do the thing it works but without you knowing it's there. So when you start adding up these kinds of core truths, you can start looking and going, Okay, well, if that's the case, this is going to happen. And then you just start layering like one of I'll give you a prediction right now, because this is something I find fascinating the non seen people say that the Amazon own brands have been a relative failure. Now this was in like shopper 2021 report. I think it was Amazon no brands being a complete failure. So okay, so let's to accept that statement as true. We have to accept that Amazon one of the most proficient hive mind collective companies in the world is betting wrong with billions of dollars. So I feel really uncomfortable saying that sentence because I don't think it can be true. So in that case, what is actually happening? When you look at the growth of the Alexa devices, and you look at the growth of the Amazon own brands, they almost correlate one for one. It's spooky, close how the growth curve of Alexa and the growth curve of own brands are the same thing. What does that mean? Well, currently, our decision making process online is predominantly visual. We're on a podcast and and I know the value this adds. But when people like, I might want to work with Jim, I might want to work with Peter. They go and look at a website. They want to read something before they make that final decision. So this is a huge part of the auditory experiences a huge part for the visual is the final part. But what happens, and I'm going to replace the word Alexa with Harry just so we don't kick off everyone's devices. But what happens when you say, hey, Harry, ordered me some cookies. And Harry gets to say back to you. Do you mean Chips Ahoy? Do you mean Oreo? Or would you like to try the Mama's kitchen brand for only 20 cents? You go? Try the Mama's kitchen brand. Thanks very much. And then the next time you say automate some cookies, who say don't just default to the mom's kitchen brand. The own brand experience becomes exponentially more worthwhile when it is a voice only interaction. Now, now let's go to the next step after that, if we were to look through the quarterly or the annual statements of say, coke, or Unilever, or j&j, what is the value that's put on the brand? The IP, the what is the brand value? It's billions upon billions upon billions. Amazon essentially are doing what Google did with Google ads. They're essentially taking that next step, but with all consumer purchasing products, so I think you'll see within two, three years that Alexa will start offering its its own branded products. And then you may end up in an auction process. Based on how much they're willing to pay, Amazon becomes a fascinating conversation. Because Walmart has done this for years, you know, when we put stuff on the shelves, is a direct correlation to how much people are willing to pay Walmart for that privilege. Amazon are heading the same way. So this sounds like wow, this is a bold prediction. But when you just add up the variables below it, it's kind of a Sherlock Holmes moment. Well, yeah, two plus two plus two equals, okay. This is where we get to. So when you then work these things out, you can then kind of step back and go, Okay, well, I know what the next step needs to look like then. Then if that was to Destiny example, or not, but

Jim Padilla:

no, I mean, it's it's interesting, though, because then the other thing that happens is that it opens up doors of opportunity all along the way. Because at its core, whichever brand they're going to default to, they need to make sure that there's ample opportunity so that nothing is there. So there's always a choice. They can't have out of stock as an option. Right? So so in order whichever brand is in play, there has to be enough vendors of whatever the product is, so that the only response that they can't hear is out of stock.

Unknown:

Yeah. And Amazon, I don't think have ever done that, and ever will do that. Okay. It's because they've just, they've just announced they deployed AI for predictive modeling of stock levels literally last week, which is quite interesting. But it's interesting to use the word, an opportunity. And I think people often make semantically a really big error with the word opportunity that you talk about an opportunity or the opportunity, as if it's an object. And I don't think it is, I think it's a state of mind. I think opportunity and happy and sad shouldn't be in the same kind of thought process. Because all an opportunity is, is a perception of reward within a change, right? A perception of reward within a change. Because if nothing is changing, there is no opportunity. Right? If nothing has changed, everything stays the same. If your perception of the world stays the same, what you combined stays the same. What you can sell stays the same. Who's gonna buy it, the population levels, everything is static. There is no opportunity. Opportunity comes from seeing a change. going, huh, that's interesting. If I can understand what that's going to look like, in the future, then I can perceive a reward. Therefore there is now an opportunity. So in any change, good, bad, there is an opportunity. My one of the phrases that I love is when people say, Oh, it's terrible weather. Now, this probably happens more in the UK than the US because we're fixated on talking about the weather. And like, what is terrible weather, and they're like, well, it's raining, I'm like, Well, if it doesn't rain, then we can't, we don't get grass and trees and bushes. And if we don't get grass and trees and bushes, then we don't have animals. And if we don't have animals, we're all dead. So the sounds like awesome weather. And the reason I say it is because it's a it's the wrong adjective, being applied to the wrong thing. And I find that opportunity falls into that same barrel, there are, everything is changing all the time. Correct. And like today, there were hearings on the state of AI. And they were referring to establishing a new government agency called the Ministry of Truth. And they will refer to what the UK are doing what the EU are doing in the US, like it was carnage they were because the politicians have no idea how to do that. Now, anybody that's been doing AI for three, four months, could walk into Washington today, and say, I'm an AI consultant, I have a framework of how I think we should do this. And there are 300 grand a year, 400 grand a year employee within 30 minutes, 45 minutes, it really wouldn't be a long, because you've got hundreds of politicians that have to pay attention to something that weren't paying attention to it, I there is a change. And there is a perception, therefore there is a perception of reward, therefore there is an opportunity, there's always an opportunity.

Jim Padilla:

So much so and that's the that's the message that we're constantly bringing, to those who are listening, it's, you know, it's, there's no matter what it is, there's an opportunity, even if you fear the opportunity, if they have is even if the opportunity is to protect yourself from something you see as a danger or risk. Just like the way you frame that other constant change brings the perception of the opportunity, from the payoff, like what is it whatever that is, because change is always going to impact everybody who's at the intersection, or, or is well received beyond it. And all it does is open up the doors for people to help people in the transition, help people minimize the impact, help people minimize the risk or grow further. Now you've you're a serial entrepreneur, as I would just define you as and you're the kind of person who gets opportunities attracted to you all the time. How do you make decisions? What's your decision making mechanism to determine what's the great opportunities versus good, right? What are the risks?

Unknown:

I'm terrible at this I have to so because I ended up doing too many things, and then probably not doing them as well as I could do. Both because also the curse of a serial entrepreneur is somebody that is essentially saying I'm consistently getting bored. Because, you know, Jeff Bezos proves you don't need to be a serial entrepreneur to be very successful, you can just do one thing. I mean, Elon Musk is regarded as serial, and he's done five, we get this OD, OD five, and most of us are probably doing five side hustles. So as of this year, I sat down and ranked things based on how how good I am at the how much I love them, and what the financial return can be. And the financial exam was the lowest. Because I truly think you can be a millionaire doing anything. If you go deep into it, and whether you say coaching or selling sand to our Arabs or ice to Eskimos, I think you can be a millionaire in any aspect of life that you need. Some people might have more aspiration than that, and maybe you can't do 100 million. I used to say I don't think you could do 100 million selling sand to the Arabs. And then I found out that the sand that they have in the UAE isn't building great. So to build Dubai, they had to import sand. So you can do 100 million selling sound tariffs. So do I enjoy it? And am I good? Do I have something unique to bring to that space. But I decided at the beginning of this year to close off all new opportunities until the end of the year. So I'm like this year, I have enough amazing things to work on that fire me up the company money that can have impact. And I did break it for for AI because of that, okay, this is this is too good to but it was an exception that proves the rule not a rule. So I think there's an important The only thing I would say that maybe as a takeaway for people in this is there's a difference in planning time and doing time as it general rule vastly stereotyping. Men need to plan more and do less. And women need to plan less and do more. And I'm vast and I apologize variable just got offended by that. But I found that guys tend to just go quick into a thing and not really think about what it's going to what what's going to come out of that? What are the side effects or the processional effect? And women tend to spend a bit too long thinking about it, and thinking about the repercussions of it so that by the time they've got two guys already, XYZ further ahead, but I said vastly stereotyping, but I do think that there's an importance to understand. Okay, this is planning time, and this is doing time. And when you're in doing time, just go, just do the thing. So that would be my my takeaway from that. But yeah, I'm probably not the right person to ask edsl It was like, oh, shiny object. Yeah, but you see,

Jim Padilla:

you see, you know, I hear this, quote, long time ago, that most people spend all their time trying to make the right decision. Successful people spend their time making their decisions, right. So I made a decision, and then I just make the right decision.

Unknown:

So that's a great quote from Schwarzkopf I think we're Schwarzkopf. So he was brought into the Gulf War Desert Storm. I think it was him. But it was certainly one of the conflicts in the Middle East. Pretty sure it was him and he was presented Team A or Team B. And they both had a very different plan. And they'd got hundreds and 1000s of hours of research and thought from really clever people. But they were in complete diametric opposite to each other. And he walked in, he heard both plans. They've been stuck trying to decide this for years. And he went option it. Alright, what's next? And one of his aides came up to him and said, I've got to ask like, this has been stuck for two years. How do you know that option is the right option. And when I have no idea whether it's the right option, it's not my job to make a good decision. It's my job to make a decision. And he's like, both of these things have been informed by hundreds and 1000s of hours, there's no way to tell these two things apart is hope. But they need to see me with utter certainty and utter confidence, make a decision, and lead. So I think that's a very similar, very similar story that you heard as well. So there's, let's go, let's do. And yeah, we're going to course correct. And we're going to change as we get feedback. But don't get stuck in that. What if, what if what if space? Absolutely not?

Jim Padilla:

Yeah, I find it interesting, because everybody that I talked to, you know, we've been blessed to work with, you know, a lot of very successful people. And so, across the line, without exception, there's never, or at least a overtly, there's never this fear of it not working. Because if it doesn't work, then you just learn and move on, you make a new decision, and you go, so there's not this, oh, what was the biggest What was the worst decision you've ever made? Because you don't want to get those responses. That worst decision, quote, unquote, lead me to a minefield of opportunity. Because of all the things we learned along the way.

Unknown:

I think the commonality of those people is that they recognize that what they do and who they are, are different things. So I'm not scared to say, Okay, we're going to do this, we're going to do that. Because if I have to say, hmm, I really f that up. It's not I, you know, I Don't devalue myself. Because it was wrong. I go less than that. Okay, let's go, let's carry on what's next. And I can only think about two or three things that have flawed like, truly floored me in my 40 years where I've kind of taken into myself. So the other 999 I'm like, wow, that wasn't what I was expecting. Okay, let's go, well, it's next to NP. And whilst people are still in this space of well, who did that? And who did this? And why did this and why did that, you know, we're done. We screwed up. Let's go. Let's move on. As long as the intent of the human is to do their best and to try their best and and to achieve then the outcome is largely irrelevant.

Jim Padilla:

Agreed, you know, and it reminds me of Dan Sullivan, when I was at the Genius Network that years ago, and he was speaking at the mastermind and he, he was talking about understanding the change cycle of a business, meaning if something blows up today, it was almost never because of something you did today. goes because of decisions that were made days, weeks, months or a long time ago. And so if you take that approach and understand that, if I make a change today, it's going to be days, weeks or months down the road before we see the effects of that change. So don't be emotionally connected to it. He said, If you see something go up on fire, your only response should be, wow, that's an interesting shade of orange. I wonder what created that, right, as opposed to oh, my God has a fire put it I mean, obviously got to deal with the immediate emergency. But that's, again, just that same commonalities, like we're not focused on the moment, the moment is just a factor in the bigger picture. But to really win it is you have to be seeing around the corners, and beyond that moment before it ever happened. Anyway,

Unknown:

I always recommend that people study those those people in history that just changed things in entire ways. And one of them is Edison. And we all love the 1000 ways to not build a light bulb thing. But my favorite story about Edison is when his factory burned down. And he called, he said to his assistant, where am I kids? And they're not there's no one in the factory, it's been completely empty there at home. Is that No, no, for them, they're never gonna get to see a fire like this. And he it, it almost bankrupted him. But he saw it as the opportunity. He actually was quoted by saying, how much would it have cost us to clear all the crap out of the factory. And they're like, millions is sound, probably just so fortunate fortune. And he went from, you know, it was the first two, three years that they were in business, and they were completely wiped out. And yet, within two years, they were true, I think, triple the revenue that they were before the fire. Because his point was, all of the things that matter are in our brains, that's the things we've learned, we still know, you haven't destroyed anything we learn. And that was the important thing, not the stuff that we built with it. It's the things that we learned. And by keeping everybody resolute into that mindset of No, this is just the opportunity to start without any baggage, they managed to triple their revenue. And so it's pretty, it's pretty, pretty astounding guy.

Jim Padilla:

You know, there's facts, right. And then there's the frames that we put around the facts, which give us what we focus on, which then shifts our belief sets, right, and then moves us into action and drives the opportunity. And it's, it's never the facts that matter. It's always how we view them or what they mean to us what the meaning we give it. And so I just think this, it's always fascinating to me. And you know, in a core, one of our core values in our company, and in my life is optimism and flexibility. And one of the ways that I we have a video for when we're recruiting salespeople, and they have to buy into our values, or they can't work here don't care how good they sell, because it won't last. And when I talk about so here's an example of what optimism looks like your dog just crapped on your rug, in your immediate responses. I've been waiting to get a new rug right now Oh, my God, this dog, right. And it's just a different level of awareness, and presence, and focus. And it just keeps you always able to see what are the opportunities that are coming next. And I would like you to take just a couple of minutes, I know you have a book you want to promote. And I know you have got some big projects going because you've taken a lead and in being an AI solution. Discoverer I don't even know what to call you in this area. But you've been you've taken the lead in finding the right paths. And you are a bank as best as I can describe it, which I'm really excited about. And again, opportunity maker mindset. If you want to share just a couple of minutes about what's what's going on with that. And what are all the opportunities that you see coming out of

Unknown:

that? Well, I mean, well, the bank, the bank is the ultimate version of opportunity because we run a bunch of FinTech companies in Latin America. And myself, and my business partner, Roberto kept getting told we couldn't do that. Because we're not a bank. It couldn't be done. Because we're not a bank. We couldn't do debt, because we're not a bank. So I turned around and said, Where's biobank? I mean, and people like you want to do what, like a bank mean? So we walked around for three months saying we're buying a bank, until the state regulation reached out to us and said, seems like you're buying a bank. I've got a project for you to consider. Like, I have no idea how to do it, no idea how to go about it. But a key part of that opportunistic mindset is to start with everything as possible not to start with anything is impossible. And your brain is a problem solving machine. If you give it problems to solve it will solve them. But if you give it affirmative statements, it will find ways to prove your affirmative statement is true. So if you say this is impossible, your brain will find evidence to promote and hold that idea that this is impossible. Whereas if you say to your brains, this is absolutely possible, which it has to be, because there are 10,000 Plus banks in America, right? So it has to be possible. And I don't think they're any smarter or any dumber than I am. So yeah, so we found a project that we like, actually found six that we didn't like, but that's a whole different story. And then we found what we did like, and, yeah, we're capitalized. If your bank knew bank in Miami, it's what's called a de novo bank. And we're, I'm really excited. And we're really excited about what that's going to do. Because this when you start looking into the data around the the Hispanic population, which is our target market, the GDP for the Hispanic population in North America is 2.8 trillion. If that was reflected in a country, it will be the fifth largest country in the world. So go the US, China, Russia, Japan, and then the Hispanic population of the US will be the fifth largest country in the world. third largest growing GDP over the last 10 years if again, if reflected as a country. But out of that 2.8 trillion GDP, 261 billion of it is unbanked and 700. And something billion is what's called unbanked. underbanked is we have a bank account, but you don't have any financial products or services, and you get those from all alternate providers. So there's a huge disparity and that disparity only gets bigger. When the big banks, the Bank of America as the Wells Fargo's, the chases etc, by First Republic by Silicon Valley, their market share grows. And they're a very good solution for the 50k to 300k earner, you know, if you're in that average, excuse me, if you're in that average price band, Chase and bank, American wells are very, very good. If you're above that, or below that, that's not where they focus. They're just not not that they couldn't if they didn't decide to but they just don't focus that. So you got this $260 billion of uncaptured value that I'm incredibly excited to go after. And because of my marketing background, for me, it's like, well, what are their hopes, goals, dreams and fears? It's one of my my starting points is what is the hopes, goals, dreams and fears of whoever it is I'm trying to talk to, because if I can understand the host, or student affairs, what wakes this person up at three o'clock in the morning, then I can help them solve that. So the bank will be open in the next 100 120 days. I don't I'd imagine but just finishing the fundraising now. So that's project one, project two, we have a micro lending platform in Latin America, which is in Mexico, Peru, Argentina. And as of last week, it looks like Colombia as well. That's very, very dear to my heart. Set up 10 years ago, it's done 90 $81 million of loans, 46,000 individual loans, we get a new loan application every two seconds. And micro lending is one of the stories is one of the early wins. It's been around for 10 years, one of the women that borrowed from us 10 years ago, borrowed to get soccer cleats for her kid for high school. And he's now trying out for the Mexican national team. And another guy borrowed the money to have his spleen replaced, I think it was was so it was a major operation. And his Where are you now video was while I'm alive. Which is like when you're like, Yeah, we made that happen. That's that's, that's really exciting. And we're now wrapping that in financial products so that the UK the US Europe can now take advantage of that, which is great. So they're the two the two day jobs followed by the word. And then absolutely the AI mastermind. I don't like this phrase, but it seems to be most accurate. When you start what do I call me in that space? I think it's thought leadership, of just trying to help people get over the hump and use it so that they get their own moment, because it really is one of those things I keep. You've heard me say it so many times now. But you've got to find your aha moment. Because when you do you start eroding that can very conditioned XYZ go to Google XYZ go to Google XYZ go to Google, you start eroding that going, Hey, I wonder what this could offer me instead. And then finally, the book is called proud of rich 52 life lessons to live by. And it's basically my sound bites from me or from other people. And it's literally 52 life lessons. And the first one came from my very first mentor. When I was 17. And he was giving me some advice. I'd written something and he was giving me feedback. And I kept telling him you I couldn't do that because of this. Yeah, that couldn't be done because of this that deliver. And he literally told me to shut the hell up. And he said, You need to understand that. I'm 55, you're 17. In the 38 years I've been alive that you haven't, there is a chance that I've learned something that you've yet to learn. Right? Yeah. Fair enough. Very petulant, 17 year old. And he's like, but you're not even hearing it. Because you're so busy defending yourself, you're not even listening. So you have a choice in life. And your choice is that you can be proud. Or you can be rich, you can defend your ego, and stay in a space of being proud. Or you can be rich, whether that's health, wealth, relationships, business, doesn't matter. Proud or rich. So in every instance of your life, you're making a choice to be proud of rich. So tell me right now, what do you want to be? And I said, rich, and then sharpen, listen, because you might actually learn something. And I was like, wow. So it's like, 52 of those. And anybody that buys the book, I'm actually going to teach The Book live for the whole year. So every week, hence, why sociated every week, not pre recorded live, I'm gonna walk through each chapter of the book. So it's the kind of things that I've learned. Some of them I ignored, some of them I embody. But I hope that there's something in there for people because Tony Robbins has a great phrase, which is 90% of a business. The chokehold is the leadership. And the only thing I think he's wrong on is I think it's 100%. I, in every instance, as you said, I've met people that understand, boggled at how positive they are, or how driven they are, or it doesn't matter what's just happened. There, they're unaffected. And I love and you'd mentioned, high school golf. I love the things you can learn from other places, and golf is one of those. I'm terrible at golf, like the worst golfer in the world, I have to beg to get an official handicap. I'm terrible. But what I love about it is the life lesson. And the life lesson of golf, is if you're thinking about the backline, on the front line, you're doomed. If you think about the front line on the back, nine, you're doomed. If you're thinking about the next hole, you're doomed to the previous hole, you're doomed, the next shot, you're doomed. If you the only thing you have to do is empty your mind and be completely present in that one moment. And just swing the damn club. And the manufacturers who spend billions of dollars making it actually really quite simple. And you see Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, or Rory or whoever it might be whoever you get to your whoever you're drawn towards. They they are literally swinging a club with millions of dollars on the line, hearing a cheer from another hole. And they have the ability to empty their mind completely and just be completely present in that moment. And I absolutely love that trait of people that do that. And I think it's such a an admirable thing, no matter what's happening. There are some people that can just show up and be present in that meeting in that moment in that sales call. They can have the worst day ever, the best day ever doesn't matter. They're here to do the thing. I find that intoxicating when I meet that and people are like, wow, this is cool. Absolutely.

Jim Padilla:

Presence is not a thing that is practiced often. Unfortunately, because it is noticed when it is when you come across somebody who is giving you their full undivided attention in the moment. It is almost eerie because it's so normal and normal

Unknown:

that absolutely yeah, it's it's crazy when you see it and it's crazy to practice it. And then I guess whilst we're here, my final project is launching as soon as I got the book out, my final project is launching, which is there is a sort of statistic that 80% of parents of children don't commit suicide due to bullying and weren't even aware that their children were being bullied. And I was like that's that's too high. That number should be point O of a something not 80% So we're launching a charity called My name is where celebrities are going to record. My name is insert blank here. I was bullied as a child. Since then I have done insert blank here. It sucks. You're not alone. Talk to somebody because there's some amazing charities in the space. have child bullying, but they can't even kick in if if the kid isn't, you know, flagging that they need the help. And I want to solve that. So all of these things kind of all culminate into that thing of how can we help bring equality round into the world? How can we make a ton of money while we do it? Yeah, I'm not, I'm not altruistic. I'm not here just to be poor, whilst the world gets a better place. And I don't think you have to make that choice. I think it's lazy to make that choice. But I think you can do good things help people and and a lot of money while you do it. And the charity is there's no, there's no financial reward there at all. But I really want to use the platforms, I have the access that I have the privilege that I've gained privilege that I was born with whatever it might be, in order to tackle that one single metric. And bring down that number. So yep, so that's gonna be you'll start seeing that. We talk about that more around July or August. So from games,

Jim Padilla:

that's awesome. That's really great stuff. I love to see that. And especially now I think it's now needed. That's probably why the stats so high is because of what's happened through COVID. And all the online world and the whole kids people are so disconnected. Because we're connected. And it's just, it's, it's crazy to see what's gone on and without, I mean, parents are so you know, what I remember having a phone in the living room. In my mom, I had a 20 foot cord, and I had to be in the living room to talk to my friends on the phone. Because she wasn't gonna bout to let me be alone, and talk about whatever I wanted to talk about. And today, when's the last time a parent has overheard a kid's conversation? You know, they don't know what's going on.

Unknown:

And then you end up with these interesting conversations around a children's right to privacy, right? I'm like, now, sorry, I'm sorry, I will put this on record. Now my kids don't have a right to privacy until they're not under my roof. And they're going to have to respect that. I will treat that with the sensitivity that it deserves. But there are so many threats. So as you said, COVID kind of led to this very pent up thing. But also it's a lot of the charities talk about the fact that it's the always on. Because when in our in our generation, you go to school, you'd come home and no matter how merciless kids were being at school, you could you could come home. There was there was a safe haven. And you know, that's that doesn't exist anymore. This is a 24/7 365 experience for kids. I can't I can't even work out what that would feel like for it to follow you everywhere you go. And I don't want to step into spaces that I don't know about. So I don't know how to help with that issue. But that one number of parents didn't even know that I know I can help with. So I want to make that my mission over the next five years to get that number down to 10 20%. Because we have to make it acceptable for kids to have those conversations. Yes.

Jim Padilla:

Well, everything that we're talking about here is exactly what happens when you're seeking when you're taking advantage of opportunities that come away.

Unknown:

Exactly. This is what we just spoke about, isn't it? That number of 80% is due to two changes, one always on technology to COVID. Now you can see that as a travesty, a heinous thing about thing how, how evil kids nowadays versus when I was allowed, it wasn't that bad. You can sit in the space of just complaining. Or judging or assessing whatever you want to call it. Or you can sit in the space of going. That's interesting. What if that could be fixed? And that's where my brain when let's go for it. It's possible not impossible, because everyone else seems to be saying it's impossible. What happens if I say it's possible? What needs to happen and like well, and then my brain just asks where Keith Cunningham kind of was one of the people that told me this in great detail was, you know, thinking time, you know, I go and walk my dog and I ask myself a question and my brain answers the question. I find it amazing, Jim, how many people don't think and when I say think I mean actively. Think like you think when you're doing a crossword you think when you're doing a you know, there was this man in a room and a thing and a thing? How did he die when you get one of those like brain teasers. But I don't know of many people that actually stop and thinking or think about their life or their problems. And I do this daily, like I will walk Dutch and go, Okay, what would move a kid to tell somebody they're being bullied? And I just start and when you ask the question your brains in use, your brain probably just started doing hear that as well, well, this would happen, and this would happen, but you can't help yourself. You can't help but answer a question. That's the way your brain works. And one of them I came up with is, well, they wouldn't listen to me. But they would listen to a celebrity. Celebrities have that star power. Okay? What if they'll listen to a celebrity? How would I reach the celebrity, we're not going to have to make the ask as small as possible? Right? I don't want an endorsement. I don't want money. I don't want studio time. I want them to pick up my phone, press record, and say my name is blah. I was bullied as a kid since then I've done but it sucks. You're not alone taught somebody. But send Thanks. That's all I need. Does. That's That's my ask of you. And it just, it just comes from asking a good question. So find a big number in the world that you think shouldn't be that big. Or find a small number that you don't think should be that small? And then go and ask yourself some questions. And eventually you come up with an answer. And you don't have to get too great. You just got to get to good enough. Because when you get it out there and you get data and feedback, and thoughts and opinions, it will start refining itself.

Jim Padilla:

Amen. Man, I love this perspective, this conversation go on, we're going to wrap up here in a sec. So well, you know, we have information in ways for you to get access to the book, right? So proud versus proud, not rich, or proud or rich, or rich, out or rich. And so we'll make sure you have access to that code in the show notes, everything will be there as well as all the ways to be able to contact Peter Swain or reach out and, you know, in do so you know, he's not necessarily just sitting around waiting to talk to everybody. But if he can help you, I know, he will. So just make sure that you know, in by help, it doesn't mean he's going to do something for you, it means he could point you in the right direction, or just shed some some light and some insight. But the thing I want you all to take away from this, too, is notice all the different things that he's working in. And too many times we get caught up and I got to work in my niche. Well, right now you just got to solve problems. And there's a lot of problems out there to be solved, like you said perfectly said, find a number that's too small. And how do you make a big and frightening number that's too big? And how do we make it small? If that is the essence of problem solving? I mean, that is it at its core. And in doing so all it does is it will just line up domino after domino for you to knock down and create opportunities for yourself. And for others, there's no reason to be fearful or circling the wagons, this is the time to lean in and lead your people to the promised land because it is there for everybody and for the taking.

Unknown:

And the businesses that get built in recessions are the ones that lost hundreds and hundreds of years because it requires a resilience right now, you know, yes, right. Now you do have to be more concerned with cash flow, you have to be more concerned with efficiency of output. But you should have always been concerned with those things you just weren't. Because you didn't need to be because everything was so abundant, everything is still abundant. It's just 10% less. So now is the time. And you know, the AI mastermind, you know, that was started because there was a perceived need. It's nowhere near commercially the size of the of the other things I'm doing. But I've been asked to speak to a fortune 50 company in the next two months. Because somebody heard something I was saying about AI. You and I formed the basis of our relationship we met before. But that was kind of where we solidified there. So everybody I'm speaking to now comes from that as well. So if you can't find a Big Brother or small number, just do a damn thing. Just do a thing, right? Just the only thing to not do is nothing. Don't do that. I love people that say, Oh, but I don't know what I want to do. Well go and do something you don't want to do at least cross something off the list. And then people say what might well go and learn how to juggle or make jelly or build a bench. I don't know, just go and do something and start at least knocking stuff off the list because inside of every experience, every friendship, every business relationship, if you're open and receptive, you'll start getting feedback. And you'll start seeing other opportunities.

Jim Padilla:

Amen to that. And you mentioned something earlier called the processional effect and I don't know if a lot of people know what that is. But we have my wife and I just decided recently because go to a thing, right so we I've never played tennis so many sport I've never played and so we decided we were going to play tennis there's too big tennis court parks near our home. So we went and bought used rackets and we decided we're gonna go out there and hit the balls. And apparently, we were doing this so poorly, that we were offending somebody. And he just had this older gentleman comes up to us very broken English and he says, I teach a teach you and He showed us he gave us a 20 minute lesson that literally changed the game. And as it turns out, he is he works for the Rafah In the Dell golf tennis academy in Europe, he oversees all of the youth academies in Europe, and in the Middle East, and he's from my rack. And so this guy is one of Rockford and hills, top tier trainers. And he just happened to be here in our neighborhood over Easter break, visiting his son for a week, was watching us on a golf course and was so offended by how we were playing, that he decided to step in. Now we have his card, his number and his contact info and opportunities to be able to explore more things to do. But it was because we decided we're going to go do something, we're just going to do something we haven't done. We weren't worried about good. We were looking doing it. We were just doing it. And then doors open. And that's how that listen, if you're an opportunity maker, that's how you live life.

Unknown:

I'm sorry. If it doesn't kill you, and it's not addictive. The answer is yes. Yes. I used to have a habit of much. It's not so much now married and with kids, but people would you say do you want to? And I'd go Yes. Like you don't even know what it is yet. And it doesn't matter. Because it's not about the thing. It's about the stuff that comes from the thing. And it's just yeah, go out there and get stuff done. Like there is, as you said, so much opportunity and so much change. And the world consistently changes, it's about the only thing that you're guaranteed. It's gonna change, it's gonna change regularly. And there is no like Warby Parker, who'd have thought you could have redesigned spectacles Warby Parker, as a, as I think there's a unicorn has I think it's a billion dollar company. And they just read it. They just redid eyeglasses, are they? So there was always an opportunity. People often say Yeah, but you know, Google Play. Yeah. Before Google, it was Yahoo before before Yahoo was hot. But before hot boy was out of Easter. Before Tesla, it was Mercedes and BMW before that it was Volkswagen. Like, every everyone rises, has their time, and then gets replaced by somebody else's they come up with a better, cheaper, faster, quicker way to do the thing that somebody else did. And if that's your jam, don't do that. Like just just do it. Because it's all out there, for sure. All right,

Show artwork for Opportunity Makers

About the Podcast

Opportunity Makers
Welcome to the Opportunity Makers Podcast, hosted by Jim Padilla, a global impact strategist, and his team. Jim will dive deep into companies to provide systems strategy, support and connect you to the people that you serve, in your communities and around the world. If you're seeking to thrive in a contracting market, this podcast is for you.

Join us as he explores the strategies, tips, and techniques for creating exponential opportunities in areas of investing, coaching, consulting, and business growth. Jim will bring you fantastic interviews and exclusive conversations with leaders of industry, in business and entrepreneurship, including Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank, Mark Victor Hansen from Chicken Soup for the Soul, the incomparable Les Brown, and many, many more.

Jim wants to help you clear out the clutter of fear, doubt, and anxiety that may be holding you back, and provide you with hope, opportunity, and aspiration. There are always more moves to make, more opportunities to pursue, and more people to serve. The game is going to change for you, because of you and through you to other people. So, join us and let's make opportunities happen together.

About your host

Profile picture for Jim Padilla

Jim Padilla

Jim Padilla is the founder and CEO of Gain The Edge - a done-for-you provider of industry-leading sales systems and unicorn sales professionals which he co-heads with his wife and entrepreneurial partner-in-crime, Cyndi Padilla.

Through their unique blend of laser-targeted selling systems, inspirational team-building expertise, and 60+ years of combined sales experience - Jim and his wife have generated over 1/4bn in sales for a long line of high-level, visionary entrepreneurs.

Jim’s mission is to help purpose-driven thought-leaders untangle themselves from the day-to-day minutiae of seeking leads and sales for their business so they’re free to amplify their impact.

When Jim’s not making dollars rain down from the sky, you’ll regularly find him at the driving range - hitting a bucket of balls. Jim credits his time on the driving range as the main source of his best ideas.

Recently relocated back to California, Jim & Cyndi are immersing themselves in family time with their three daughters & four (soon to be five) grandchildren.