Let's Ride w/ Paul Estrada

Podcaster: Discipline, Sobriety, & Building a Brand

• Paul Estrada • Season 1 • Episode 31

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 47:27

What if your goals are fine, but your foundation is weak? That’s the uncomfortable question we sit with as Chris Jolly, the Freight Coach, walks us through bootstrapping a media-first logistics brand, quitting alcohol, and building the kind of daily structure that can actually carry huge ambitions. We start with a child’s honest read on stress and “too much stuff,” then zoom out to the adult version: an overflowing calendar, an under-fueled body, and a life where joy keeps getting postponed.

Chris breaks down how he started during the shutdown, delivering pizzas at night and teaching himself to create content in an industry that wasn’t ready for it. Founders ignored his invites, so he interviewed friends and shipped episodes anyway. The result wasn’t overnight fame; it was trust. By keeping the early, messy work public, he showed growth in real time and gave his audience a reason to believe. He argues that people don’t want celebrity scripts—they want regular humans documenting real progress: parents juggling work, health, and presence without pretending it’s easy.

We go deep on sobriety, health, and standards. A diagnosis forced a decision: reduce inflammation or suffer. Chris chose sobriety and redirected that energy into training, sleep discipline, and eating in a way he could sustain on the road. Not as a performance for social media, but as an operating system for big goals. He shares how he protects family time, how he plans his day around mental peak hours, and why a simple, repeatable system beats motivation when life gets loud. If you’ve been waiting to feel ready, this conversation is your nudge: start small, stay consistent, and let the compounding do its work.

If this resonates, tap follow, share it with a friend who’s building something, and leave a quick review—tell us the one habit you’re upgrading this week.

SPEAKER_03:

Is there anything that you worry about when you think about getting older?

Adrian:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

What do you worry about?

Adrian:

Having too many things on my mind.

SPEAKER_03:

I have too many things on my mind all the time. Is that what you mean?

Adrian:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

Why do you worry about that?

Adrian:

Because then it just becomes too much.

SPEAKER_03:

What's something that really worries you about getting older?

Adrian:

About having to do too much stuff and like not really getting like relax and like like getting like you, basically. Cause I know how you feel.

SPEAKER_03:

Like it doesn't look like I relax?

Adrian:

Yeah. You make it look like it, but I know you you just told me too much stuff. And then now I just know how you feel.

SPEAKER_04:

Like I have too much stuff going on?

Adrian:

Yeah, but and too many farts going on.

SPEAKER_04:

Why do you think it's a problem if I have too much stuff going on?

Adrian:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, why do you think that?

Adrian:

Because then you can't really get to the fun stuff. I mean, like the fun stuff is basically just with me.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. Basically just What kind of fun stuff do you think?

Adrian:

Baseball, going to ducks games, start dodger games, just like going out with your friends or my friends, or just like going out and just like doing whatever, you know. Okay, we'll take a little pause.

SPEAKER_03:

Wait, timeout. We have a situation upstairs.

Adrian:

We'll take a little pause.

unknown:

Boot.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay. So I want to ask you again. So you said I look too stressed out, is that what you're saying?

Adrian:

Yeah. But when you're with me, like and we go out and stuff, you look fine and like you're having like the funnest time ever. Because like I see you like, oh I hardly get to do this. I'm gonna I'm gonna get all I'm gonna get everything I can out of this. So then after, because I know after this can happen, my brain's gonna overload and explode.

SPEAKER_04:

I'll tell you, you know, I have a lot of things going on, you know, with work and with coaching, with podcasts, and a lot of stuff.

SPEAKER_03:

But I do try to stop and make sure that I enjoy time with you guys and going to the park and practicing baseball. And yeah, it's a lot of stuff, but you know, it's not it's not that bad. It's a lot of fun.

Adrian:

Yeah, it looks like it just goes away. Like you get to relax and then like the things on your mind and like remembering the things I have to do. It looks like that it like basically s the memories about that stuff in your brain just like swipes away.

SPEAKER_04:

You're absolutely right. I get to forget about all the things that are maybe stressing me out and just relax for a while.

Adrian:

And then once you get back to that, you just do really good on it.

SPEAKER_04:

Thanks.

Adrian:

That's what I think.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Oh, I see this. What do you want to accomplish with this podcast in 2026?

Adrian:

I don't know, but like, oh, I did a goal.

SPEAKER_04:

What's your goal?

Adrian:

Every day I say six seven.

SPEAKER_04:

That's a terrible goal. Hi, let's right listeners. Quick thing before we start. This podcast technically has a boss. His name is Adrian, he's seven. He checks the subscriber numbers every week, he sets aggressive targets, and I've been told just try harder is his full management philosophy. So follow or subscribe and tell a friend to do the same. It'll help me keep my job. And stick around, because this is a real-time journey. Learning, parenting, work, life. I'm sorting through all of it out loud for your entertainment. So come on this journey with us.

SPEAKER_03:

Now, let's ride. Our guest today is someone who didn't wait for permission, funding, or perfect conditions. When the world shut down, he went all in, bootstrapping a business, delivering pizzas at night to fund a vision, and teaching himself how to create content when almost no one else in his industry was doing it. But what really separates him isn't just what he built, it's how he built it. He set goals so big they demanded humility. He learned to get his ego out of the way, to listen more than talk, and to focus on results over recognition. And along the way, he made a hard realization. If he wanted an honest shot at achieving something extraordinary, he had to become extraordinary himself. That meant tightening every area of his life, his discipline, his routines, his health, and even his relationship with alcohol, not as a performance, not for optics, but because he knew you don't build something elite with a compromised foundation. This is a conversation about standards, self-ownership, and what it really takes to give yourself the best possible chance to win. Our guest today is Chris Jolly.

SPEAKER_04:

You know what? I Google searched and I went with the first thing. So I can't pretend like I did a lot of research on it.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm just reiterating that you did the right thing. Did the right thing? That's the best. I mean, for like 150 bucks, it's the best mic you can buy.

SPEAKER_04:

All right. Well, guys, for those of you that can't see, I am today I'm talking to a true professional, Chris Jolly, also known as the freight coach. And for those of you that are not watching this, let me just kind of lay a let me give you the picture here. And you got this good-looking gentleman with slicked back hair, perfect line through the hair, um, fancy headphones, fancy everything. He's got his neon logo, he's got the great American flag behind him, and I'm just in my spare room in my house. So that just kind of gives you a sense. But it's very fitting that I lay it out this way because Chris, the reason why I brought you, well, there's many reasons why I brought you on, but one is my origin story as it relates to podcasting. And this podcast does not exist without Chris Jolly. So I don't know. I I think I may or may not have told you that, but if you don't, you know it now that you're a very big inspiration for why we're here today.

SPEAKER_01:

I appreciate that, man. And I, for the audience, I didn't pay Paul to say all of that about me.

SPEAKER_04:

He did, and I have a decent fee. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

But no, man, we've known each other for a long time now. And, you know, this has always been one of those things that you've talked about and wanting to do it more consistently and everything else. And I love seeing you do it. I love seeing the angle that you're taking on it as well. It's unique, you know. Like I always say for a lot of people who want to start creating content and do it, I'm like, there's never a shortage of quality information out there. And the more the right people with the right intent can go and create, you know, information for others, I think that's how we elevate a lot of this stuff and quiet all the noise.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. And so you, and I'll give everybody a little bit of a backstory. So you kind of popped up on my Raiders. It was during COVID, I think, 2020. And, you know, we're I've been in the logistics transportation industry my entire life. And all of a sudden I'm on LinkedIn and I start seeing this guy I've never heard of before that calls himself the freight coach, and he's got a ton of energy, and he's boom, giving you this 30-second clips, and you're like podcasting, what the heck is that? Video, like this industry is extremely antiquated in terms of the marketing and things like that. And here you have this guy that's just kind of breaking out on the into the scene and just it stood out immediately. But you were ahead of your times in a lot of ways. I think you look today and it's like there's millions of podcasts out there, and you were doing it when it was still very much in its infancy. So I'm curious from your perspective, why did you get started with this to begin with? And you're, I would consider you like an early Ur adopter. And so you must have seen something back then, but I'm just kind of curious where your head was at back then.

SPEAKER_01:

When I started my business back in 2020, I uh I mean I was I was delivering pizzas at night because you know, I contrary to popular belief on the internet, when you start a business, you're not instantly a millionaire. You can't just like write an idea on a sheet of paper and get 50 million in investment and everything else, you know. So I would I've speak for yourself, Chris. Yeah, I know, right?

SPEAKER_03:

Sorry, my bad.

SPEAKER_01:

But I uh I've always bootstrapped everything and I had a little bit of savings at the time, but like I have a family to feed. So I was delivering pizzas at night and I was, you know, listening to podcasts myself, and I uh came across Gary V, Gary Vanderchuk at the time. And I was just listening and I was like, oh dude, this guy, I love this. Like, what I didn't even know what he was talking about 90% of the time because I was so new to all the things social media, but I'm like, I love whatever he's talking about. And I remember specifically one night he had he was talking, he's like, hey, if I had started a business in 2020, this is what I would do. I would start a podcast and I would get all of my prospects to come on my show as guests. He's like, especially the founders of these organizations, because founders will always want to tell you their story. So I spent the next 40 hours, I would say, like legitimately, um, finding out how do I podcast? What do I do? What like, and I took that time and I kind of pieced it all together. And um, contrary to what Gary V was even saying at the time, founders didn't even reply to my outreach at all. Like, I uh so but I took his advice. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna start um creating content, I'm gonna start putting a little bit of information out there. And you know, while I'm doing this, I'm like, I saw so much, and I still see it to this day, Paul. It's been almost six years now. There's so much fake information out there about transportation and the just like terrible advice, right? Like I'm with the stuff that I see out there. I'm like, how are you like, there's no way you're actually doing this because if you were, you wouldn't have time to post on the internet 47 times a day that you're killing it, right? So I was just like, I'm like, I'm gonna go out there, I'm just gonna tell the real side of freight. Right. I just want to go out there, I want to interview people who are actually doing the work. And then I just I started just interviewing my friends. And it was like anybody who would agree to come on my show early on, Paul, that's what I did. I'm like, all right, cool, we're gonna do this, we're gonna do this. I just taught myself how to do it all, and now it's so different compared to how it used to be. But it's just like that's all it took, man, is is like, I'm gonna go out there, I have to figure it out on my own. And I had to create an identity because, you know, you said it best, man, like nobody knew who I was. Like shit, right? Dude, there's still people out there who haven't heard of me, you know, which is kind of like the competitor in me is it's like I got a lot of work to do. But the other side of the arrogance in me is kind of like, are you living under a rock? Like, how have you not seen a clip or a episode of the 1300 plus that we've done? But, you know, for me, it's just I wanted to put information out there that people could actually benefit from.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. There's a lot to impact there, but I'm gonna go back to one of the first things you said, and that was pizza delivery. So that's we can't overlook that. You know, you talked about this career in logistics. I guess what led to you getting to a point where you're doing pizza delivery, and then how do you work yourself from that to where you are today? I know that's a super loaded question, but yeah, just the abbreviated version.

SPEAKER_01:

I started my business in April of 2020, and you know, like I needed to and I wasn't like convinced at the time that I was gonna even be doing that for long, right? Because after I had started uh creating some content out there, I had gotten a lot of inbound interest in having me become like a sales manager for some of these companies. But they're like, they all had said, like, hey, like we're not gonna be doing anything till like July or stuff like that, because you know, we all remember what it was like back at that time. There was a lot of uh unknowns about what was actually going on. And again, I have family to feed, right? And it's like I didn't have family I could reach out to to like, you know, transfer me 10 grand to wield anything. Like I had to figure it out. And when it comes down to it, man, like the fact I wouldn't let my ego get in the way because like I always thought of it like this like a pe like delivery services, they're like, they're always hiring people, right? So it's like if you're ever looking for something that you want to like work at night so you could work on your main thing during the day and stuff like that, like delivering pizzas is a phenomenal thing because it's always like 5 to 10 p.m. Cash. Cash is always good, and I don't care if the government listens to this and hear it, they can't trace that stuff, right? So it's like it's one of those things where it was a way for me to stack up a bunch of cash so I could go out there and then buy the stuff, right? Buy my first actual working laptop because I started on a broken laptop and like buy my actual first podcast starter kit off of Amazon, and I needed to do that while also being able to, you know, pay my rent and everything.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, I super humble beginnings is what it sounds like. And I think for a lot of people that maybe find themselves in your situation back then, and I know this to be true because I felt this a little bit too, just specifically as it related to content creation and and podcasting was I would think about this concept of, hey, you know, I really like entertaining, I like talking to people, I like learning about them. This makes a lot of sense, you know. And then I would, you know, I would text you and I'd say, Hey, Chris, I'm thinking about doing this, right? And you would just say, Cool, do it. Right. And then, you know, weeks, maybe months would go by and you know, nothing would happen. And then I'd, hey, Chris, you know, I'm thinking about doing this, and you know, here's my idea and cool, do it, right? Like that was just always your response. And in my mind, it at the time it was, well, this just feels really daunting and overwhelming. I gotta get the microphone, the equipment. I don't know how to edit, I don't know how to do social media. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. You know, you can kind of fill your head with all these different excuses of reasons of why you can't do something. But what it came down to it was I I was thinking about the end state. This is what I want it to be down the road. And there's probably 200 steps between now and that point. And boy, that's a lot of steps, and that feels really overwhelming, and I don't even know where to start. So the easiest thing to do would be just don't start. Yeah. And that's kind of where I found myself, and I think that's where a lot of people find themselves. And then at some point, I did talk to my brother and he's like, Look, man, literally just put one foot in front of the other, gain a little bit of momentum, and then just see where it goes. And so that was kind of like the jolt or the wake-up call that's gotten me to this point. I'm not at 1500 episodes, but this is you know episode 32, and you know, I'm I'm putting one step in front of the other. So I gotta imagine you were a lot the same way. Now you're coming from an even different place, which is no one knows who I am, no one even wants to be on my podcast. Like, I didn't have thankfully I didn't have those issues. Like, I was able I'm able to get people on here and things like that. So just as you're working through those different like roadblocks, what's in the back of your mind that's kind of got you motivated? That's just like, hey, every hurdle that comes, I just got to keep pushing through it.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, there's a saying by his name's Andy Fraselli, he's the host of the Real AF podcast. I listen to literally like every single podcast he's put out. He's built like very real, very successful companies, and he always talks about zero options mentality. And I had no option but to figure it out, right? And again, this like it's always easier to describe this mentality when you're six years in. You have year-long contracts from your customers, like you have stability now. It's a lot easier to say this from this position than what it was. But for context, like I had zero customers, I had zero revenue, I had no idea what I was doing to create a media company at the time. And I just like one of my superpowers that I didn't realize that I had is is I have a canny ability to just start moving and not think about the consequences or like the daunting nature of what I'm actually doing. I am a act first blissful ignorance. Yeah, blissful, dude. That's a great way to put it. It is, but it's like I don't think about things, I just act. And I'm like, and then after a while, and and you do it for long enough, I think a lot of the insecurities, and again, it's an ego check for a lot of people. A lot of people, it's their ego that's stopping them over anything. And all of the stuff that you notice about yourself, nobody even can tell. And that's like, and then furthermore, when you speak your truth, no one can take that away from you. Nobody can twist that up. So it's like a lot of it is is man, it's it's just that momentum of you do just need to start, put your first episode out there. And this is why I will never take any of my content down. I have my very first videos up on my YouTube channel. If you want to go back where the mic's in front of my face like this, and I'm talking like all of that stuff was going on. But I told myself when I was at that beginning stage, I'm like, I'm gonna keep this up like this because I want people to see one day when I have the top podcasts in the world and people look at my name with Joe Rogan, they're gonna see how it started. They're gonna see that, you know, like right now, the studio that I like the mic setup, the camera, like this was all earned over time. Like I didn't just start out with this stuff. And it came from my ability of like, all right, what direction do I want to go? I gotta start just doing it. And then I want to talk to people, I want to put best practices out there. I never thought like monetizing this was going to become a thing. Like that came years after the fact, right? Where it was like an actual business. And I just want to put information out there that helps people. My intent has always been, I just want to help others. I might not be right, but I want to put quality stuff out there. And, you know, people will overlook a lot of stuff when your intent is there, right? Like I catch a lot of slack for the amount of cursing that I do on my show. I would say if there's one thing, people will say that more than anything, but it's always a I wish you wouldn't do that as much. It's never uh, that's so appalling. I could never talk to you. So again, a lot of it is is the intent behind it. But then again, it's like, are you speaking your truth? And I just like I would rather at this point in my life, Paul, and you know, you and I are both around the same age, I would rather lose somebody for telling the truth than keep them on a lie, you know? So it's like that's kind of my mentality with a lot of this stuff is.

SPEAKER_04:

I think I struggle with that part because if there's one thing about putting your thoughts and ideas out there, there's a couple things. One thing that I had to get over was who the hell am I to think what I have to say or the questions I ask or the journey I'm going on that anyone gives a bleep about it? This is a family-friendly, so I'm saying, but I'm just kidding. You can say whatever you want. You're doing a great job, right? So it's like, who am I to think that cares? Right. So that was the first thing that I had to get over. And then after that, it's like, hey, there's literally millions of podcasts, millions out there of this person and that person that think that they've got this great idea and this great concept and whatever. And they last, you know, a couple episodes, and then they just go, Oh, well, I'm not monetizing this and I'm spending a lot of time on it. So it didn't work out. I'm gonna move on, right? And so that was kind of something I also had to think about, which was I don't have any thoughts or ideas that this is gonna be, you know, some, you know, you mentioned Joe Rogan. Like, I have no intent or interest or or thought in my head that that's what's gonna happen. It was really more just, hey, I'm going through this stuff as a parent. I'm going through these things as I'm going on my career journey. I'm like in the middle, like almost hitting my peak in terms of earning potential. And so there's a lot of things that are going on in my head. Hey, maybe other people are are thinking and and feeling the same, and you know, I'll start to open that door a little bit. And if people can learn a little something through my journey, then fantastic. And even, you know, selfishly for myself, I now can go from I'm gonna figure out everything by myself, which is kind of where my default mode is. It's just like very independent. Let me go figure out things on myself, to let me go seek answers from people that are wiser, smarter, and that have been through those things. And that's exactly what I've gotten. So even if I never make a dollar off of this, I already feel as though just the conversations that I've had, some of the new connections that I've made, and honestly, like some of the consistent themes that I see from some of the more successful people that I've interviewed, it's like all that in and itself has been worth it. And if I make a couple bucks down the road for some reason, then that's the icing on the cake.

SPEAKER_01:

You know, for me, I never, like I had mentioned earlier, I never started this podcast to monetize it. I used it as a revenue driver for my consulting business that I had had at that time. But I had realized that early on, like there, there was that golden window, Paul, of it. And I, you know, again, I had been doing the show for like a year and a half before I even like got a couple of advertisers, right? So I had put out like I think like a hundred, 150 episodes at that time. And um, that wasn't my intent behind it right away. But then after a while, you know, you put the systems in place, you have, you know, the the like everything going. And what I've come to realize is there is a driving desire by the majority of the public to hear from other individuals. I personally think celebrity days are like dead and gone, man. Like nobody gives a crap what people in Hollywood.

SPEAKER_04:

I held my breath there for a second. No, I'm just kidding. No, no, no, but that's the thing. Yeah. No, sorry, you were saying crap. And I was like, give a you're gonna default to the F and then you crap.

SPEAKER_01:

No, no, I'm I'm catching myself here. I'll get all good. For me, Paul, nobody cares what Hollywood actors and actresses have to say anymore. Nobody cares what LeBron James's opinion is on current events anymore. Like that ship is gone. I think there is such a need for people who, you know what, man, maybe your skill set as a working father or working mother is is you're creating content and how you balance it all, right? Like, how do you balance getting up early, taking care of your physical health, your mental health, while getting your kids ready to school, going to work all day long, getting your kids after school activities? I think there's going to be a big, big push for content like that out there in the coming years because, man, not everybody. Wants to be the, you know, like the influencer culture that's out there where they're just like a paid chill for the next brand and they don't actually have an opinion. Their opinions are bought and paid for. And I think that's why people resonate. I'm not trying to like toot my own horn, but that's why people resonate with my message so much is yes, I'm very fortunate to have advertisers, but like I'm not out here pushing any of their products in a sense of like, I am, oh, you have to do this, and I'm not mentioning it all the time. Because like that actually drives people away from a brand. But it's it's more about documenting my journey. And then that's like where my entire perspective on all of content is changed at this point, Paul, because like I have very lofty goals to build my transportation company, right? Like it is my ultimate goal to build the largest transportation company in North American history. That is my life work goal. That is not in the next three years or anything like that. And I want stuff documented because I'm gonna be one day, I'm gonna be able to pull up an episode and be like, dude, you had no idea, but that next day, everything changed for you. Every rocket fuel, all of that. And I've listened to a lot of entrepreneurs uh that are, you know, 60, 70, 80 years old, and they've all said the same thing. They're like, I wish I would have taken more photos when we were just getting started. I wish I would have remembered those times because you know, everybody's lives get busy, man. People have kids, careers, social lives, all of that stuff. But for as much as people are on social media now, I don't think much quality is being documented. It's more about like, this is my perfect life and news flash for those individuals out there. The more curated and perfect you want your life to look, the more real people realize how big of a dumpster fire your life probably actually is.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. Life gets super busy, like you said. At least I can speak for myself that I didn't pause to reflect, uh, think about, even celebrate a win, or you know, maybe debrief on a loss. It was just like, hey, keep moving, keep moving, because wake up the next day, the calendar's full, I got this and that to do. So this has actually kind of been a nice way to be very deliberate in pausing and reflecting. And you know, we'll see what comes with to your point. It's been a journey, and and part of it is, you know, I start with my son at the very beginning, and it's just a two or three minute conversation, but yeah, I do see the gears turning in his brain, and you know, when he's 15, 20, and years old, you know, you you want to remember those conversations. And yeah, I think you kind of can paraphrase it in your head, different memories, but to actually have those words and I view that as you know just really valuable.

SPEAKER_01:

And so when you told me that when we met up for lunch back in September, when you told me that, that was that first thing, man, like that is such a powerful moment. You won't understand it probably until he's uh like out of the house. Because, you know, like I don't talk about my personal life often in public at all. But you know, I lost my dad a couple of years ago. I was like going through everything. I had minimal photos. I don't, I never even had an audio recording of his voice in all of this stuff, man. We always we like we talked on the phone, but there was never a voicemail, there was never like a video. I only I like I remember his voice because it was ingrained in me from being around him all my life. But like, I don't have those moments. And it's like having you have that time, that's an amazing because like when you strip everything away, Paul, the only thing that actually matters is your wife and your kids and your family and the people that are closest to you, right? And the fact that you have that documented is like that's gonna be such a treasured memory later on in life. And that's always gonna be there, you know, because your son's never gonna be seven years old ever again, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

And I think, you know, for me, so I'm curious from your perspective because, you know, I I focus on on family and career, and you know, you're hyper focused on getting really deep in the transportation logistics industry, which makes sense for your business. But I'm curious, how do you take, you know, the lessons and the things that you're documenting from the business perspective? I know you're a dad as well. So to your point about your dad, do you kind of approach now your conversations with your son? Like for somebody that doesn't want to do podcasting, right? And just like, hey, all the things we're talking about, I want those things. I want to capture these things, but I don't want to do it in the context of a podcast, put it out there for the world to see. How do you approach as a content creator that doesn't necessarily focus on family content? Do you think about it in that way? And if so, like how are you trying to capture those memories with your family?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I actually take the opposite approach. I keep my private life private for that reason. And because like I want those memories for me. I don't want to document all of that stuff. Like it's very, very, very important for me to pick my son up from school every single day, right? Because I'm like, I'm gonna be there for him. Because, like, dude, he's he's gonna be in high school. That was one of those things where these last couple of years, I'm like, man, he's not gonna want to talk to me in a couple of years. You know what I mean? Like, he's gonna be out with his friends, he's gonna be driving soon. Our time together is limited. And my perspective on that really shifted when I I had saw a stat where it had said, you spend 90% of the time with your children by the time they turn 18. And my son was I saw that same thing. Dude, my son was 13 at the time, and I'm like, I gotta pick him up from school every single day. I have to pick him up every single day. I have to be there for that. I want to joke around with them. I want to have those fun moments. And I've also I'm able to, I don't like to use the word balance because I feel like there is no balance. I think people have a facade in their mind that they can balance it all out. I'm trading time away from one activity to accomplish another activity, right? So it's like that's why it's like when I'm at work, man, I'm at work. The only people who I will reply to on a personal level when I am at work is my wife, my son, like my mom. You know, like when I'm at work, I'm at work. But then when I'm at home, I'm at home and I can shut that off. And that was, it's very important for me to, yes, like I can glance at emails and stuff like that. But when I'm with my wife and my son, I'm with them and nobody else. And I try and be as present as I possibly can. But again, I'm trading work for that time and I want to have as much time with them as possible because, you know, like I just know that at any given moment it could all be done, right? And I don't want to look back in five years and, you know, if I travel too much or if I'm working too long of hours and then heaven forbid something happens for me, I don't want my kid and my wife to look at it as, well, damn, he spent the last five years of his life working the whole time and now he's dead. You know, like I know it sounds morbid and stuff, but it, but it is the truth. I want to find as much of an equilibrium as I possibly can. And I've just found, though, like when I like simply like with what I'm saying about when I'm at work, I'm at work. Like, man, my time is very structured, it's very diligent. I do more in a workday than most people do in like a week because like I get my stuff done every single day. You know, like I come in, I get my stuff done. I'm not on social media. It might look like it, like if people are listening to this and they've heard or seen my stuff, it might look like I'm on social media a lot. I'm not. Like, I have a people behind the scenes now who post a lot of stuff for me. So it's like my main thing is my main thing. And I try and apply that to my personal life. When I'm with my family, that's my main thing and that's where my focus is.

SPEAKER_04:

As you're now an entrepreneur, you're building something, you're a husband, you're a father. Tell me how, if at all, do you look at what you're doing in business through like the lens of your son? Do you kind of deliberately think about how are you teaching him lessons? What are you hoping that he's maybe observing as you're going through this professional journey, if at all? Like, and you, I know you talked about keeping them separate, but at the same point, do you try to weave in maybe how you want your son to view how he's gonna approach adulthood, how he might approach his career?

SPEAKER_01:

I'm actually very open with him, Paul. That I tell him, I'm like, I just want you to be happy. Whatever career path you choose, I want you to be happy. And it's kind of the lesson that my dad taught me, because he always told me this I don't care what you do, as long as you're the best. Like he's like, if you're gonna be a garbage man, be the best garbage man that ever existed. And he's like, apply that to it. And and that's what I want for my son. But it doesn't matter what he wants to be. Like he's right now he's leaning towards being a psychologist. And if that's what he wants to do, I want him to be the best at it no matter what. And but like a lot of the lessons is I want him to understand that like you can like legitimately accomplish anything. You just have to work really, really, really hard for it. And there is never gonna be a handout. No matter what anybody says, there is no handouts for it. And if you're willing to put in the work and you're willing to deal with all of the mental gymnastics that you put yourself through in those beginning stages, eventually you'll find stability. It comes, it might not be as much as you want in the moment, but like it will be there. You just have to work really hard for it.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah. There's so many things that you have to juggle and just the mental burden of winning and losing and you know, everything that comes along with it. There is one thing that I remember early on about your journey that if you want to talk about, I'd love to. If not, you know, we can skip over it. If I recall correctly, you had told me at the time that when you kind of made this deliberate decision to start building this empire of yours, that one of the things that you were gonna do was to stop consuming alcohol as part of that. Um, so to the extent that you're willing to share, and you know, now's a good time because it's dry January. I'm participating in that. So I'm 16 days in. But just curious, like to the extent you want to share, what was that decision all about? And what should people, what can people take away from why that was such an important part of your entrepreneurial journey?

SPEAKER_01:

I drank a lot, a lot more than now that I haven't been drinking for a long time, I realized how much I was actually drinking. And, you know, there's never a shortage of people to grab a beer with, like ever. And then when you're around that environment, nobody really can like tell you to tone it down because like they're drinking with you, you know? So, like, how do you tell somebody that they should probably stop drinking so much when they're with them like 80% of the time, you know? When I, you know, fast forward, I had just decided to start my company and I'm like, all right, I know alcohol is I knew deep down it was a problem, right? Like I never missed work, but I knew that that was one hurdle. If I was gonna have a uh like a really good day, I was gonna celebrate. If I had a really bad day, I was gonna drink, you know, so it was like it was it was that constant. And I told myself at the time, I'm like, all right, I'm gonna just I'm done. I went cold sober for in 2020. I made it like almost a year. And I uh it, you know, ironically, it was one of the last times I saw my dad, you know, alive. He came out to visit me and I broke that 11, almost 12 month thing because we went out to dinner and he ordered a drink, and I'm like, I'm gonna have a beer with my dad. Why not? It's been a couple of years since I've seen him. Then I was like, all right, my rule, I'm only gonna do it on the weekends, right? Like I'm not gonna touch it. And then weekends turned into Friday night when I got home, and then weekends turned into instead of like five o'clock or six o'clock, it was like now noon. And eventually it just got to the point where I remember it was in, it was like New Year's Eve of, I think it was like it'll be three. Yeah. So it was New Year's Eve of 2022 going into 2023. And I went to a buddy's party. I didn't drink, but I got home and I poured myself a drink. And I was sitting there, I'm like, what am I doing? Like I just went all night long and I didn't touch, like, I don't need to do this right now. Like, I should be going to bed. And then fast forward a couple of weeks later, the same thing. It was like a Saturday night. I had had a couple of drinks, and I'm like, what? Why am I doing this? Like, this is so stupid. And then fortunately, a couple weeks after that, I was dealing with a bunch of health stuff up until that point. But then I got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and the doctor told me at that time, he's like, Listen, this autoimmune disease that you have, you have to keep your inflammation down. He's like, Do you drink much? And I lied at the time. I'm like, oh no, no, no, I don't, I barely touch this stuff. He's like, that's good. He's like, I'm not gonna tell you to never drink again, but you should probably never drink ever again because alcohol will ruin this disease for you. And he's like, it will make it very unbearable. And then I was like, that was the thing. It clicked. I'm like, all right, I'm done. I'm done drinking. And that was like the tipping point to get my health journey in line as well, because I'm like, I gotta get my body weight down, I got to get my body fat down. The crazy thing about addiction is you can channel that shit from like you, you're I'm a firm believer, Paul. Once an addict, always an addict. It's just how you channel it. So it's like now, man, uh my addiction is my health. It is getting my health in top notch. And, you know, being almost 40 years old and having the physique that I have now, which is exponentially better than I did when I was 20. I'm like, dude, now that that's where it is. But it was some of those moments where it's like, man, it was a bigger problem than I ever thought it was. But again, I was drinking because like I knew I wasn't living up to my potential. Like I knew, and that was a way for me to mask it. Where it was like, you know, you go, you buy a, you know, we'll call it an expensive bottle of whiskey for like 50 bucks, and you think you're like a baller, and you're just like, you're making up all this shit in your head about what your life should be. And then you sober up the next morning and you're like, who's her? Or sorry, I shouldn't have we made it that far, but it's like, no, you're good.

SPEAKER_04:

No, no, you're good. You did it. You made it 34. Mark the time, folks. 34.

SPEAKER_01:

That was the conversation I had with myself about, you know, so many times. But then eventually I just like, I'm like, I'm done. That's the thing that's gonna stop me, and I'm done with it.

SPEAKER_04:

Well, I appreciate you telling that story. And I think, you know, I never asked you about it before, but from my perspective, the story I made up in my head, anyways, is oh, he's gonna be an entrepreneur. And guess what? When you're having a little bit too much fun on uh, let's say Thursday and going into the office on a Friday, when you're working as a you know, W-2 employee, guess what? You can cash it in every once in a while and just kind of coast through the day if that's what you need to do. Versus when you're an entrepreneur and you, whether you're solo or whether you're running a small team, that business has to have you and it has to have you 100% of the time, all the time. And so that's kind of what I thought. But I think you know, you've got way more deeper than that. And I think, you know, to your point, it's all like a balance. And what I find interesting is there's kind of seems to be this movement now where you've got, you know, this athletic beer, which is like this IPA now that has no alcohol in it, and they're talking about these like gummies and different micro doses of uh marijuana that people can take. It just seems like you're not the only one. There's just a they talk about this generation that's just kind of starting to move away from it and having the same thoughts as you is like, why am I doing this to myself? I don't feel good the next day. I'm spending a lot of money at the bar or the club doing this to what, to feel like crap the next day and and you know, I probably would have paid that same amount of money or more to not feel this way. So why did I just do this to myself? So I just think that that part's fascinating. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

There is something to be said about having your feet hit the ground in the morning and having full recollection of everything you did the night before, of that anxiety that's never been there, that is like the greatest thing ever, you know? Because how many times have people woken up, whether they're gonna admit it or not, and they're like, What did I do last night? What did I say? Did I do like you're going through all this stuff in your head? That is like the most powerful thing out there is when you wake up and you're in full control because you know everything that you didn't said. You have nothing to worry about.

SPEAKER_04:

Anyways, I appreciate you sharing that. I think, like I said, I feel like it's kind of a theme right now. It's January, and I think we've somehow it's gotten pushed into our culture that, you know, the just idea of dry January. And so I thought the topic was very fitting. So I appreciate you sharing your journey on that. I think as it relates to that, I do want to touch on this need though that if you're gonna go and bet on yourself, you've got to be 100%. Whether that's your drugs or alcohol that you're taking in, you also touched on taking care of your body in a different way, eating right. Like it's not just about the mental gymnastics of trying to build a business, but like physically also being at your best so that you can deliver. Because when you're setting, I mean you talked, you've already said building the biggest logistics company that the world has ever known. You've talked about Joe Rogan style pot. I mean, you these are like pie in the sky, amazing, lofty goals. And I would imagine that that's like impossible unless you are humming at 100% every day.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it it is, right? Like they they are very, very lofty goals. And I think people discount how important their health actually is, Paul. Like honestly. And for me, it's like the main driver of everything. And what because like for me, you can outlast so many individuals out there by being in good physical shape. When you're building anything, right? And again, like I'm still in the beginning stages of a lot of this stuff. So I don't want it to sound like I'm this guy who's just got it all figured out. I don't. I'm trying to figure this stuff out every single day, just like everybody else out there. But I know at this phase where I'm at, me controlling certain aspects of my life bring um calmness to other areas, right? So, like I know if I control my morning, and everything I'm about to say, I want to preface this you do not have to follow this routine. This is this is just what works for me. Um, I get up at the exact same time. I'm an ear, I'm naturally an early riser. I like carving out like the first couple hours of the day just for me. And it's like, because otherwise, man, when when you're doing anything business related, you have a job, you have a W-2 job. It's all day long. Texts, emails, phone calls. So for me, it's very, very important to have my anchor be in my mornings. So it's like I get up at the same time. I'm at the gym at four o'clock every single morning without fail. And then on the weekends, it's at five o'clock because the gym doesn't open until five o'clock. And I do that because for two things. A, I'm naturally a morning person. So getting up early is not hard for me at all. But it it sucks getting up at three o'clock in the morning, no matter what anybody like it sucks. And I do that because like I like to get something hard out of the way right away. Because, like, dude, I work in an office, right? Like, man, I live in Arizona. I got the AC, I'm good, you know. Like, I and I, but I grew up in a blue-collar farming town in northern Wisconsin. So I've I've done physical labor for 80% of my life. So like I don't actually do anything physically demanding anymore from that perspective. So I, you know, again, I get it. And and I like that calmness that the morning brings. And then I come home, take my dog for a walk, and then I start my day. And then it's like then I start firing off emails and everything. Cause it is, it's like from five o'clock in the morning till six o'clock at night is essentially when I'm working Monday through Friday. And I've just found that if I'm out there and I'm prioritizing my health, I can function on less sleep. I'm not saying that you should only sleep for five hours a night or anything like that. Like I get as much sleep as you possibly can. But I've just found that I live a very structured and rigid life. Most nights I get seven hours of sleep. But like if I'm out on the road traveling, it might only be five hours. But I can endure and go through that because I am physically fit. I am sober. I can survive on caffeine for 48 hours and five hours of sleep a night and do that while I'm out there. It's it's about that longevity aspect of it. And if I was out of shape and if I was drinking, I am a hundred percent confident I would not be doing everything that I'm doing today if I was still drinking. I would have torpedoed it somehow.

SPEAKER_04:

Like I said, I think when you set these extremely lofty goals, you have to get your mind, you have to get your body right. And it sounds like you're on that journey. I think people hear that, right? And it's one, I'm not waking up at 3 a.m. I don't know if there's anything that can get me up at 3 a.m. I've tried the early morning gym routine, and then I found that, you know, eat lunch and then I'd crash, right? Because like my body's like physically just already exhausted. And so those are my excuses. I don't do that, but to your point, I did find something that whatever the routine it is, is for you, right? Like, hey, you don't have to wake up at three. You can wake up at six, and hey, you don't need to go to the gym right off the bat. You can go at lunchtime or whatever the case may be. The point is, I think to know your body, to know when your mental capacity I kind of have a pretty good idea. You know, my brain, like if I'm trying to think through something really difficult, the best times of the day for me to do that are probably between 7:30 to 11:30. And then again, from like 8:30 p.m. to like 11. Everything in between, if I'm trying to solve a really hard problem, it's usually going slower. I've got some brain flop flop fog. I'm like not firing at all cylinders. And I've planned my days around that to where I put my hardest meetings, you know, that first thing in the morning. Like that first three hours, give me the hardest problems to solve. And then you know what? After that, I'm gonna try to give you 100%, but realistically, I may not be able to. And then if I need to go back, like I said, go have dinner, spend time with my family, let my brain reset again. And then you know what? By once the boys and my daughter are down for bed, uh, my brain, for whatever reason, it's ready to go again. So I think maybe getting in tune with your body both physically and mentally, and understanding how your body functions in that way, and then taking advantage of that.

SPEAKER_01:

I agree. And I think that, you know, the best system for people to follow is the one that they can actually follow. And I think though, that people try and go too extreme too quick with everything, right? When it comes like, I know it's obviously with it being January, you know, everybody, you know, most people have already quit on their New Year's resolutions at this point in the year. But, you know, I look at it as it's like, man, I, you know, because again, it for context, at my heaviest, I was 270 pounds. I am 185 right now, but I I I again I didn't have money for a trainer. I had to figure it all out on my own. And it was all dude, like honestly, my cardio is walking. I walk for 45 minutes. People overlook what they actually need to do, and then they go too hard too quick, and then they get burnt out from it. Same thing like with eating. I didn't know what I was doing. I just followed a bunch of dudes on YouTube who were all jacked, and they all ate steamed rice with like chicken and like chick, like, but so I just like started kind of following that. I didn't know about food scales and macros or anything like that. I just started with one meal and then one meal turned into two meals, and then like somehow I was losing weight just by doing basic stuff. And I'm like, all right, well, maybe I should look into this a little bit more. And I just kind of again, I figured it out and it it is just what worked for me. And and I think that, you know, another thing too, man, like I think 80 to 90 percent of people's battle is on the dinner plate. I think if you can dietitians always roll their eyes because I've had one do it to my face when I was telling them what I ate. Dude, I eat a high fat diet, man. I have butter, I have whole eggs, I eat ground beef every single day. You know, cheese, I eat all of that stuff, right? But it's like for me, it's it's about finding what works for you that you know is gonna be able to be sustainable. But most importantly, give yourself a lot of grace early on. Like understand that you're not going to drop 80 pounds in a week or or a month. It's gonna take a lot of work. And you know what? If you've been following something for a while, and and I and I've told this to a couple of buddies of mine who've slipped up with with alcohol, I'm like, dude, you okay. Like, just don't let one day turn into two. Yeah. And then most importantly though, I do try and compress everything down to like the day, you know, like I have this mental checklist in my head of like, hey, if I do these tasks today, I know no matter what, win or lose, you know, because you're not gonna just onboard the biggest customers at every day, at any given moment and stuff like that. But I know that I have to follow a system and that system's gonna move the needle forward. Some days that system's gonna move me a little bit more forward than others, but I know that if I have a bad day or if I miss out on something one day, it's not the end of the world. I just gotta make sure that I don't let one turn into two. And if I can control that, a lot of progress can be made in a short amount of time.

SPEAKER_04:

Chris, I feel like you're like, you're just like the common guy that's just if I had to summarize, if I had to use two words to summarize our conversation, I would say you're a realistic person. And number two, I would say, this is two words, but no ego. Like you just don't allow your ego to get in the way of what you're trying to do. So that's what I'll take from this conversation. It's really inspiring. I really appreciate Chris. I know you're if it seems like you're just getting started, but as somebody that's been watching your journey for the last five years, know where you've come from to having a neon sign behind you. Like, that's pretty cool. We're excited for you, and I'm excited to continue watching where this goes for you.

SPEAKER_01:

I appreciate that, man. And it's always easier to look back when things start working than when for me, a lot of the times I can relate to a lot of people because like being overweight and an alcoholic wasn't that long ago for me. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_04:

So it's like, and I I didn't there was no there was you forgot potty mouth, Chris. Yeah, potty mouth too. Yeah, dude.

SPEAKER_01:

I I for the fact that I've made it 48 minutes and only said one curse word. One, guys, only one F ball. That's a lot impressive. But no, dude, it's like and when it boils down to it, man. I'm just trying to be the best version of myself every single day. And if I can figure this out, and and I don't have it all figured out, but if I can like make positive strides forward, literally anybody can.

SPEAKER_04:

You got that? You heard it from Chris, guys. Thanks, Chris. Really appreciate the time. Good luck, and uh look forward to watching your journey continue for years and years and years to come. Love it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02:

We drive all night.