Colby Harris - Gen Z Trailblazer

We sit back down with Grit University graduate Colby Harris and talk about his journey over the past couple years in developing and honing his sales skills, his latest ventures, and we reflect back on some of his highlights while working with Grit.org. He sets the tone for Gen Z with his passion, work ethic, and dedication to being a student of perfecting his craft. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jikg98_lei8

Brian Harbin: Well, hello, my name is Brian Harbin. Welcome to today's episode of the Grit.org podcast!

We have Colby Harris back in the studio with us today. Colby, welcome back!

Colby Harris: Thank you! I'm really glad that we can be here. Brings back so many memories of all the episodes and times together. So I'm glad we're able to set it up to do it together.

Brian Harbin: Absolutely. And excited to jump right in. Before I do, you know, I got to give a shout out to our sponsors here, and I want to roll right into our episode here. But so our sponsor for today's episode is escrow.com. With over $7 billion in protected transactions, escrow.com is the world's most secure online payment method. From automobiles to electronics to business sales and more, escrow.com makes it easy to confidently conduct business online. Visit escrow.com today to learn more about how you can achieve trust, security, and certainty with every transaction. 

So, you know, Colby Harris, in case the listeners don't know, Colby and I are cousins, our moms are sisters. And so we've known each other pretty much your whole life. And such a unique opportunity when you graduated high school to come work with us at Grit Camp. And, you know, just, it was a weird time with COVID and so you decided not to go to college and came to work together full-time. And what an incredible experience, you know, reflecting back and, You know, we call you the first product of grit.org. 

But, you know, before we jump in today, I wanted to ask you, so for all the listeners out there, what would you say would be the best way to kind of, you know, what would you kind of want them to get out of this episode in terms of your journey and what you've learned and where you are today?

Colby Harris: Yeah, I mean, I think it's just, well, one, encouragement, because I think, you know, I'm super Transparent. That's why when we set this up, it's like, look, go any direction you want. I'm happy to answer any questions. So it's like just support, to understand that like there's tons of people out there trying to get it, trying to achieve things, trying to do things, and it's gonna be really hard for you. But understand that just about all of us, you know, have our own battle wounds and scars and stories. 

And so that level of support and authenticity that you're just like everyone else, but also some tangible insights. Like I think that, You know, maybe I'm not exactly where I'd imagined I'd be when I was 17, graduating high school and making the decision to come to work for you. But no one could really say if it's even better or whether I've fallen short. And with that being said, I do believe that I've done a lot right. Honestly, I think I've been able to do a lot right, which is cool to sayMa lot from starting with what I learned from you. 

And so between just seeing another authentic person over here that's trying to get out of the mud just like every other person in America right now, live the dream, resonate with that, but also take away insights that ultimately I do believe have put me in a spot to be what I would consider successful in my own right, especially at a young age.

Brian Harbin: Yeah, I love that. So, encouragement. And, you know, the thing is, I mean, obviously you're still early 20s. You know, everybody's always said that about you. You obviously come across more mature than your age. And so, you know, kind of talking back, because I know we really didn't jump into some of these previous topics. You know, we had started the podcast in 2021, and, you know, now we're 64, 65 episodes in. And so it's been really fun, you know, just having those. 

And I remember we just wanted to have kind of those authentic conversations where at the end of an hour, we like the idea of going through progression because you feel like you really got to understand what led up to what people had done and hearing their stories. And just, you know, I love feeling like after an hour you feel like you really know that person so much better. And so, you know, the 40 episodes that you did, of all the ones that we did together with the podcast, which one do you feel like kind of stands out the most to you and why?

Colby Harris: I think that there's a lot of different people we've interviewed to name a few, just honorable mentions, I guess, Dylan Bass, from FlipTurn. We sat in this room and I remember telling you, I'm like, this kid's going to be a rock star. We got him on the podcast early 2023 and not even like 30 days later he booked Red Rocks, one of the largest venues in America, if not the most like coveted venue, at least to open for a band that's huge. And I flew out to see him. 

So that was really cool seeing him in front of 10,000, 15,000 people like Dylan. Great episode. And he's a song artist, right? Like he's a rock star. Maybe not what we initially thought we'd be having on our podcast. Gary Humphrey, who did work with Gordon Ramsay, traveled across the world, was a security intel for Beyoncé. Friends with Anthony Bourdain. He's got crazy stories about him and Anthony Bourdain. And like Poe Pinson, you know, too, who we were just talking about, like a skater, right? 

Again, I think that was the coolest part is like everyone we sat with, no different than what I said I hope I can offer today, is like whether you are in finance, real estate, a rock star, a skater, surfer, professional football player, it just didn't even matter. You know, like there were so many synergies, which we knew, and so many great stories and takeaways just from people that again, by the book, had created success for themselves. 

So many incredible people. But my favorite of all that I still talk about on a weekly, if not definitely monthly basis, is Dr. Saman Soleimani for two reasons. One being just how great the episode was. I know that people talk a lot about like, is the American dream dead? Is it still possible to like achieve all these things that maybe our grandparents could do? 

And Simon is someone who came here with next to nothing, graduated high school at 15, finished college by 19, started his MD program, doing all the residency. And now he's got, you know, 14 private practice medical offices across the state of Florida, $10 million car collection. He's been the Man of the Year of Jacksonville. You know, I always like to preface with that as well as like, this isn't just someone who had all this financial and business success and burned people along the way. Was the Man of Jacksonville in 2020 because of his efforts during COVID and refusing to shut down his organization as doctors while they were running for the hills. 

Simon went to his team and said, we are doctors. This is what we do. We will serve our community and stood up and showed up despite the risks of being front-facing during the pandemic. And he got recognized for it. And that episode, you know, that piece was so valuable. 

But number two, just the way it happened. People in sales, people in business always say, you know, if you don't ask, then you can't receive. And I saw someone at a car show standing in front of a $3.5 million Pagani and was just— so I had Jacksonville plates, Google him. I see he's a doctor, give myself enough information to make an intro. And we chat for a few minutes and I pitch him on coming on the podcast and he loved the idea, you know, told him about camp, told him about everything. 

And I think it was my first— if I really had to think about, I would say that was like my first sale of my life that I was just genuinely proud of, you know, got the deal done in 5 minutes or so and he was in and it was just cool because I knew he would be a huge asset. 

And I think we ended up producing and we appreciate you, Simon, but we produced hundreds of thousands of views off of that episode from the back end of social media and stuff. So the story, the way it happened, the long-term value of not exactly, not even just what he said, but what I get to say about it to people. You know, makes that episode with Simon my favorite that we ever did.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And I know you get to do kind of a behind-the-scenes tour of his cars, which is really neat. And, you know, going out to his house to see that. And yeah, kind of to your point too, I mean, that was one of the things too with a lot of the guests that we had is a lot of them just came up organically and really still even do. 

And so I think that's been such an enjoyable part too, is just out meeting people with that genuine interest of, hey, this is somebody that I think would be great. And like you said too, you know, sales, as you know now that you've been in sales a lot, that sales is a lot easier when you have a product that you're convicted in. If the product is, hey, let us come on and hear your story, it's, yeah. So I love that episode as well. 

So I also wanted to ask you too, you know, obviously, you know, led, you know, camp for several years kind of in that span. And one of the things that's kind of the backbone of What we created with Camp 2 was the opportunity to raise funds for underserved kids in Jacksonville to be able to come for camp. And I'll never forget, you come in one day, we'd usually get, you know, we'd have lunch at our house every Wednesday. 

And you came in this one day and you had all these sheets of paper and these notes, and you were super excited about this fundraiser where you were going to bike from Jacksonville to Fernandina and back. And so tell us a little bit about the inception of that idea. You never really had ridden a bike, right? You know, a cycle. I'm talking about like a road bike. So it seemed kind of out there, but, but tell us kind of where that came from and your excitement for, for the cycle.

Colby Harris: Yeah, I don't know, you know, we— I remember putting it together and thinking about how crazy can I make it? Because I remember I actually even asked myself if 100 miles was enough. I was like, maybe it needs to be 200 miles. Because I started meeting some people and they were like, you could go do 100 miles tomorrow. I've— if you've never trained, like, maybe you should go and try and tell me how it goes. 

But yeah, it was— we were 3 years into camp at that point. You know, first summer we hadn't really started doing the fundraising. 2021, I remember we did decent. You know, I think we got a couple thousand bucks just going to businesses and friends. 2022, we did a lot better, I think. I mean, per usual, all 4 of those years we were constantly trending upward. 

But I really saw the value in it of giving these kids the chance to come to camp. And I thought it was a missing component, almost, so to say, of like how we bring this to everybody, how we bring this to anyone and everyone inside of Jacksonville that we possibly can. I'd been public speaking at schools a fair amount up to that point. I was just meeting so many people. I was like, you need to come to camp, you know, like, how can we make it happen? 

And same mindset of like, if you want different results and you have to do different actions. And that was the whole idea of the pitch when I came to you is it was like how I exactly came up with it isn't a story that I can't even remember. I had so many, probably 1,000 different crazy ideas a day of like what we could do, you know, as the nature of being in a startup and figuring things out. 

But I knew that the idea I wanted to have a challenge where people would basically put their money behind us, and then it was our job to go and get it right. So wanted to raise on a pay-per-mile basis was the whole concept where it's like, we are this organization of helping people build more grit. 

And you have your story, I have my story. We've been through plenty, but I was like, we could do something that really shows like we're about our stripes. Like this isn't just something we speak about or run a podcast about or like instill at our camp. Like this is what we do. We do really hard things for the betterment of ourselves and the betterment of other people. And pay per mile meant that people were putting the power in our hands to go out and get it. 

And so I think that it was about doing just that, being on brand, creating the impact, and, you know, giving ourselves a chance to go out and raise more. Like you said, with doing things differently than you had done in the past, I knew that if we wanted to get to significant impact, you know, we could send 75 kids to camp. Going business to business and just raising like last minute wasn't going to suffice. 

And that's why I thought it was time to kickstart a new idea. And my favorite call was calling Kevin to ask him what his thoughts were before I came to see you, to be like, hey, because I think I'm gonna need your support. I don't know how Brian's gonna feel, but I really want to do this, and I think I'm gonna do it. 

And so now if he doesn't love it, I'm gonna need you to get on my side. And I told him about it, and he just starts laughing over the phone. And I'm like, well, what do you think? And he's like, I think you're effing crazy. I love it. And then we came and met with you, you know, shortly after that, and, you know, the rest was history.

Brian Harbin: Yeah, I remember too, my only concern, my only thought was like your safety this entire time, because I knew we're gonna have to take Hector, and Hector's a two-lane road and people drive like morons, and I'm like, ain't no way you're gonna ride that bike by yourself. So I'm like, I gotta ride in the car behind you the whole way, which was cool because it worked out where Joey came down from New York. He got in the truck, we had the top down, and he was taking pictures. And so really the dicest part to me— there was a couple dicey parts, but we're… we left Jacksonville like 4 or 5 AM and we're going through downtown, which was clean.

But then when we're getting on Hatcher, a lot of these cars are going to work and it's pitch black. And it was, it was super dicey at that one spot. I'm white-knuckling it the whole time. But the midway point and, you know, stop by, you know, your house in Fernandina, which was great. And, you know, Kevin and Christian were there and a bunch of family and then—

Colby Harris: Which was crazy. I got to that halfway point and couldn't believe I had to turn around. Like, I had never done more than 25 miles in a single session. That's what everyone says. Like, once the rubber meets the road, you just have to do it. I was pretty terrified at that, like, halfway point about I gotta turn around. Like, that was only the first half. I gotta go back down to Amelia Island, down Hextor, past the zoo, back into town, all the way onto Emerson Street in San Marco. And it was, yeah, it was, it was hot. It was exhausting. Like, that was just terrifying being like, I gotta go back to Jacksonville now.

Brian Harbin: And I'll never forget too, in the back of the truck we had, basically you survived on Rice Krispies and pickle juice.

Colby Harris: Yeah.

Brian Harbin: Pickle juice, cold pickle juice. And leading up to that, you know, one of the parts of the promotion, you did such a great job promoting it. You actually got on the news. And I remember you go to Channel 4 and ended up getting a great interview. They had kind of a sequence of video of like your training that you had done. 

So you had done a good job of like building up the hype. So that way too, when it came down to the day of, you knew a lot of people were gonna, you be curious, okay, well, how's he doing on the bike? And so on the way back, Jen had said, well, since our PDS was kind of close to where we're going to be stopping, and, you know, between camp and coaching and speaking multiple times at our PDS, she knew there's gonna be a bunch of kids that wanted to. She's like, well, if I can't get the teachers out, at least I'll have our kids out there, so we'll come by and hopefully give you enough juice for that last, you know, couple miles. 

And I'll never forget, as we're getting close to our PDS and Jen's calling me like every 5 to 10 minutes and she saw me on the, you know, location app. So I'm like, why does she keep calling me? Well, sure enough, we go around that bend and tell us what you saw when we come around that bend.

Colby Harris: Yeah, wild. Because at this point, you know, we kept hitting stoplights. That was the biggest pain coming back is like if we had been on date, like down to Daytona from Jacksonville, it would have just been nonstop. Are these stoplights? So I'm stopping. I remember at one point I had all these fluids going. You guys were in the car. I was like, I just need a minute. I'm standing there and I literally just p***** down my leg because I had to pee so bad. I can't keep riding this bike. I just stand there, pee down my leg, jump back on the bike and keep going. 

So this point I'm a mess. Like you probably remember, even Joey says like, I've gone mute. I'm not talking. I'm just head down. I might— I don't even think I have AirPods in at this point. Like I'm just simply like, I've gotta finish this. 

Brian Harbin: Like zombie mode. 

Colby Harris: Completely. And yeah, we've come around to RPDS and I thought that, yeah, there might be like a couple of the kids, like if we tallied it up, there were probably 40, 50 students there that came to camp, knew exactly who I was. Like I had relationships with them and I start hearing all this noise as we come around the bend, so I'm blind, but it's right where the, like the playground is in the park. 

And as I come around the corner, I just hear all these kids, and it is just a sea of kids at the playground and all lined up right there. And as I turn the corner, I look down, it's just like literally a flood. I mean, hundreds of kids, Colby, Colby, Colby! 

And I just, I mean, I couldn't believe it. I light up because I couldn't, I just, I couldn't even fathom it, especially at this point. I mean, this is mile 94, I'm pretty sure. So it's— the deal is almost done, but I have no idea how I'm even going to finish. I make my first lap around, I'm just high-fiving all the kids. I know all of them. And that was the beauty of it, like seeing all these kids and knowing that they could watch it happen.

And I remember I came back for a second lap just to see everybody one more time as we were kind of closing it out. But it's like, what did it mean? I mean, some of those kids, it's crazy. Some of those kids are the age now that I was when we started camp that first summer. Like, these are kids that I've watched growing up. I've heard about their, you know, first little boyfriend or girlfriend. I've seen them cry. I've seen them fistfight their own best friends. I've heard all the stories. And one, the kids I did know, seeing them and like having them witness that, that was incredible. 

But for me, that moment was just unlike any other compared to camp and all these other places that like you're shown love and appreciation because sometimes at camp we maybe didn't get a ton of it, right? It was more like we had to be the bad guys. 

So in between, you know, you could have like these great moments, but I just felt like it was the icing on the cake to the coolest thing I've ever done in my life. And I tell people that all the time, like that was this single hands down best thing I've done in my life up to this point. Like, building camp was great, business success great, money great, buying my first property great, but it's the coolest thing I've ever done because it's a mix of like, we raised nearly $20,000 in a day, which directly correlates to sending about, you know, a little over 60 kids directly to camp from funds I raised. I rode 100 miles, which is like super badass anyway. Like, I was just really proud of myself to do that, but then all the kids got to see it and believe it and people still like talk to me about it and they're just like, I can't even imagine. 

And I remember Jen had one story and she was like talking to this little girl and she was like, he just did 100 miles. And Jen's like, yeah, he's like about to finish 100 miles right now. And she was like, I can hardly ride my bike down the street, like 100 miles. So that moment of just coming around the corner, seeing all the kids are chanting my name. The video is so cool too. Like there's Joey and you guys, like Jen has the best one of me, like cruising around the kids. It was the coolest thing I've ever done. 

And like that moment just existing and happening, that's the one that like I won't forget. Arriving to the house is a bit blurry. I was pretty toasted out at that point. But that one was just, it was so special, man. Like, it's the coolest thing I've ever done. And for the kids to feel it, I bet I wouldn't be surprised if 20 years from now I run into one of those kids and they're like, I remember being in school and like seeing you come by and do that that day.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And I think too, what blew me away, I was expecting, you know, a handful of kids, but to see the entire school, all of the teachers, all of the staff, all the signs, you know, that these kids had clearly put time into making, the chant, like you said, Colby, and I'll never forget too, and I've got Joey next to me who's freaking out. He's like, oh my gosh, I can't believe this. And I'm driving and I've got tears welling up in my eyes. I can't even see because I've got so many tears in my eyes. Like, I don't want to hit a kid. 

But I remember thinking, I'm like, this is exactly, you know, why we do what we do. And for you to have set that goal, you know, this— you're barely 20 at this age. You know, all these kids had known you and seen you through, you know, camp and coaching and speaking. And then for you to set this big goal to go out, to you be at the very tail end of it, and then for them to help get you over that edge. Was just the culmination of all the things. And so I agree. I mean, it's probably one of my favorite memories of all time. And so it was really special and…..

Colby Harris: We brought it together in a lot of ways. Like, I think we went up, 'cause I think a lot of people even forget like what it takes to put something like that together. You know, like we wanted to raise money and we made sure that it was like, you know, for the most part, at least to my understanding, it was like zero. You know, we were, you know, we were buying trackers and I get this like custom suit. I got bike shoes that I bought for just that day. I still never put them on my feet again, ever. They're like $150 pair of biking shoes. I had to buy them all the months of like not just training but raising the money, like raising $20,000 at that age was not— I mean, I just didn't have what I have now. Like if it was for— if we decided to do it again and I put on that whole show, like, gosh, we could, crush, right? 

But so many moving parts. And I thought it was like, you know, just to see the love of everybody and the support. I think the nice thing too is that we— that was going into our 2021, 2022, fourth summer. People knew, people knew what we did. People were aware. I think for a lot of people it was kind of like a push, you know, to really like solidify their support. Yeah, just coming back was funny because I remember when we get there, I get off the bike. You guys had set up the house and Kevin and Kevin like dumped one of the jugs on me like I was like Bill Belichick or something, which was super fun. 

But after a few minutes of sitting there and we took some pictures, everyone's super excited. Kevin's like, are you all right? Like, I don't know. You like, are you okay? You don't like everyone settle. I think some people had left. We were about to go get lunch and I'm like, no, I'm not all right. I just cycled 100 miles in May in Florida. I am not all right. Like, I am so dazed and confused to the max right now. Like, I'm trying to comprehend how I just did that because obviously at the very end I had this huge, like, look at all these kids. 

And then I got back on the bike and I had to get over the bridge. And, you know, obviously it's the biggest hill in Florida, crossing the bridge. And we had to pad like an extra mile at the end that, you know, kind of hit our final goal. So there's just a personal capacity of like, it's unique to be able to push the body to that standpoint. And not to mention the cause and the people impacted, but like to push that far, I never, you know, you just wouldn't imagine you could actually do something like that.

Brian Harbin: Exactly. And yeah, when, whenever I talk to people about having a purpose larger than yourself, I do love sharing that story because I feel like it embodies it so well. One of the things too that I guess one of the challenges we had early on and kind of the inception of, you know, obviously it was very much by design kind of a summer-driven business. 

And so when you came on full-time, part of the challenge was like, okay, well, you know, I'm thinking, I'm like, well, how do we keep Colby busy over the, you know, in-between camp? And so part of it was a fundraiser, part of it was the podcast. And so, but the other thing too was like, well, we knew that being able to communicate the brand. You know, you always had an interest in speaking, you know, from your high school days. 

And so one of the things that we did that was kind of fun was we worked on our public speaking. So we took improv classes in San Marco, which was super interesting, getting you out of your comfort zone. And then we joined Toastmasters and, you know, started doing more speeches and things like that. 

So kind of looking back over that experience, how do you feel like that's kind of carried forward with your experience in Toastmasters and acting and kind of being intentional? I mean, you've always been a good natural speaker, but then just being intentional about taking lessons and practice and where do you feel like that's kind of helped?

Colby Harris: Well, I think it's like anything else of, you know, repetition is everything, like exposure is everything. And also I was just making a clip about this, myself is talking about how, you know, when people talk about, like development, I think so much of my time was spent on like figuring out what I liked or what I maybe did have a natural ability to do. But these days, 90% of all my study, of all my efforts, of all my quote unquote development is really just focused on one thing. It's finance, right? It's money, it's investments, it's business. Like it's a very specific thing. You won't catch me more often than not watching anything else. That's all I care to focus on. 

And at the time, that was the core focus is like as a brand, when we were trying to figure out you know, kind of what the avenues of business were at its core, no different than people say you're always selling. That's why most entrepreneurs say selling is the most important quality that an entrepreneur could have. Communication was kind of at the heart of everything we did, whether it was the podcast, whether it was selling something, whether it was working with kids, if it became coaching, just didn't really matter. 

And so how it impacted me was, I think from a larger perspective, Toastmasters was actually kind of learning that you could be really good at something, but it doesn't necessarily make you the best by what the book says. Like, I remember sometimes speaking in there and getting feedback and judgment from a perspective of people who were experts on speaking. They weren't measuring my level of connectivity and the way I deliver and if they were actually my target market. 

And so a part of me, yes, got better as a speaker, but I also got an awareness at a young age because you're usually so worried about pleasing people that when in a space like that, you can't, you can't always please the people that you're trying to serve. They measured me on how good of a speaker I was, not what a, you know, a 15-year-old or a 20-year-old would measure it on of connection and value, right? So I thought that was really good, great value of learning. 

But also, like, I grew as a person through it, of being okay with judgment, being okay that everyone I learned from, they're there to help, but they're not necessarily going to put me exactly where I need to be to deliver my best. And the whole acting class was hilarious. I mean, I think that we had, I had some good laughs in that room of us doing it. 

And I tell stories about it and other people are jealous that we, that they haven't gotten a chance to do it or try it. Some, I've been drinking the sales Kool-Aid for a while and there's like, we did a lot of Meisner technique, which is like mimicking. And that's something we use in sales all the time. Like we call it, oh gosh, I don't know what the word is for it, but it's basically like if….

Brian Harbin: Mirroring?

Colby Harris: Yeah, well, like a sales term, but mirroring. But there was a specific strategy and it's basically like, you know, it's like jumping on the ship with them when they're p***** off. So it's like if I call you and you're super unhappy with something, I immediately get more p***** than you. That's very Meisner technique, right? Something that we learned in the class. 

So overall, it's like it was way out of our comfort zone. It created me putting myself in a place to be judged, which I think a lot of people miss is like the best thing you can do is put yourself in a place to be judged. There's no other way to get better. Or grow as a person. But then it's like small things, small things like that technique, you know, that was really our core focus over the couple weeks, 10 weeks or something that we did it, have been massively helpful in all communication and all skills. But I think I grew just as much as a person as I did like my skills through those times, which people find when they step out and try to develop, you know, partially it's the skill, part of it's just evolving as a person.

Brian Harbin: Yeah, yeah, I know it was a lot of fun and great experience being able to go through that. And so into 2023, and, you know, we kind of knew this time was coming where it was, you know, you've been with us for 4 years at GRID and you kind of had that itch, you know, in terms of just wanting to go out. And, you know, a lot of your friends that you knew from high school graduating college, and you knew that you wanted to kind of get out in the business world. 

And so, you know, remember sitting down and having that conversation, you know, our dining room table about basically it's time to kind of launch forward, I guess. You know, what do you feel like was, you know, I guess kind of leaving there, you know, January 2024, I'm sure probably a little bit frightening, right? Because at that point you really didn't have anything lined up by design because you just wanted to kind of figure out what was next. So kind of walk us through January 2024 and kind of, you know, that where that journey started and…..

Colby Harris: Yeah. Well, it was like that week after that I had remembered that I had…. I had done a like e-commerce course learning about the digital world and I had a payment that was coming due and it was actually like the last little bit of money I had. And I was like, well, s***, I think I'm out of money. And realizing that, that makes you, you know, that lights a fire under you pretty quick. But I did know that I wanted to take my time with figuring something out. 

And so the way it really looked was, you know, I remember a big part of it was just being like, you know, I didn't want anything further from you. I just wanted to be— I was like, look, I can help you. I can like stay at the house while I figure out what's kind of going on. But I want to like do my own things. I don't want to feel tied to like anything that we have to take care of. 

So when I realized that, well, one, I was out of money and two, I didn't know what I was doing, it did just require a level of commitment, I would say. So I went right back to just doing manual labor, right? And I have a video on my social media that is one of my best performing videos ever. It's got like 40 or 45,000 views where I was talking about how I'm like, I went from living this sexy lifestyle with this business and speaking and podcasts, you know, to working in the field, you know, painting houses and assembling furniture for $15, $20 an hour, basically overnight. Which, believe it or not, point being, again, we talk about how part of it is, you know, you develop some sort of skill and part of it is just developing as a person, which I would honestly, I would argue is, is equally as important as your skill development is just like you need to evolve as a human. 

It was very freeing to be in a spot where I had no idea what was going to happen. I had no idea where I was going. 2, 3, 2 months in, you know, by end of January, I found myself with a couple thousand dollars of credit card debt, no money in the bank. And it was, it was, it was a bit freeing, you know, like to be in a spot that I didn't know what I was going to do. But it also meant there was a world of opportunity. There was no telling what I could do or what I could be. 

And I think it kind of made me start to value things differently in a sense. Like I had never really, I never like crushed it in business from a perspective of like I had changed my life financially. I didn't have maybe what I thought I wanted, you know, at 17 years old, which was simply just, yeah, you know, money and status and all these things. But you start to prioritize them differently when you're actually in a spot where you've worked really hard, you've done incredible things, you've impacted people, you have purpose, but you never got the thing that you thought you wanted, which was money. 

And so during that time it, it got pretty crazy. Like my mom, I had to spend a lot of time at home living with her. I had….. could have probably made some phone calls and gotten anything I needed if it was money or like a new job. But I kind of did feel through that time, like for people that are watching this, is I didn't want to, I didn't want to advance myself in a way that I kind of used what I either had an innate offering in my life from, or from like what I'd already built, if that makes sense. So like I didn't want to catapult myself to the next thing because I had a certain capacity of prestige, so to say, of like people and network. 

And, you know, I could definitely make some phone calls and get my hands on some money if I needed it. And that helped a lot. You know, it got me through the really dark times, like you said. I mean, I remember doing one of my last big jobs before I started at Aspire. So it was 2 weeks, not 2 weeks, it was actually like 4 days before I started at the office.

And I did a trip to Miami to pick up some baby equipment. I drive an SUV, it was just loading in the back. She was going to pay me like $1,200, but like, I wasn't going to get the money until I dropped the stuff back off at her house the following day. And I get closer and closer to the house and I look at my gas tank and I'm like, oh my gosh, like I'm about out of gas. Check my bank account. I have— I just paid my car note, which I successfully did every month. It's like $340. I had $0.10 in my checking account and I think I had like $1.76 in my savings account. Credit card was maxed out. So I have no money. I got to get home. I don't even know how to get home. 

And I remember going to this gas station and I had this little pouch of change I'd been carrying around just to like live off of for small expenses. And I put like $2, $3 in the car to get the final 30 miles home. And I had a job the next day. I did. I went to my mom that night though. I say, I can't, I can't even get to my job tomorrow. Like, can I just go put like $10 in my car? And she said, well, fill it up. Fill it up. Of course they say, you're like, mom's like, take care of yourself, please. And I'm like, no. Like, I just need— I need to hold $10, put some gas in. And that was the spot that I was in before I ended up at Aspire, which totally changed my life in any and every capacity, was the lowest low from a status, a financial perspective. 

But mentally, I was in a pretty d*** good spot because I had heard the stories. I had sat in this room with you and heard the stories and been a part of them and lived this exact story with so many people that the trials and tribulations come right before the triumph. And I just knew, I was like, this is going to be such a good story, like the whole time. 

That's why I played into it, because I was like, this is going to be a great story and despite being scary that first week at Aspire, that's like another thing I will just never forget, because it basically, in the first 3 days I was at the office, it changed the trajectory of the rest of the year and the rest of my life forever.

Brian Harbin: And kind of randomly met the folks from Aspire, right? I think you were at Best Buy getting some audio equipment. Yeah. Yeah.

Colby Harris: Wow! Yeah.

Brian Harbin: Picking up this guy buying a whole bunch of equipment and you guys start the conversation, right?

Colby Harris: Charlie, our chief brand officer, he's got $30,000 in camera equipment. And mind you, I was supposed to just pop in, buy the camera, and leave. Well, I pop in to pick up the camera and the Best Buy people had lost it. Now they checked it and they said this camera's for Colby Harris, Brian Harbin, and then they lost it. So they couldn't give me a new one without knowing where that specific camera had gone, had gone off to. 

So I decided, well, let me go burn some time. And that's why I run into Charlie in the camera with all this equipment and me being me. And this is a part of, you know, again, like putting yourself in a position to even be open to opportunity. Some people just close themselves off, shut themselves down. 

This October of 2023, that I even met Charlie. When I go over there, I just spark up a conversation with Charlie. I'm like, dude, what are you shooting, like a movie? Look at all this equipment. What is it that you're doing? And he tells me about these guys, Eddie Wilson, Andrew Cordell, their companies. They have World's Largest Business Tour, these masterminds, you know, just they're just big entrepreneurs and they're doing it right here in Ponte Vedra Beach, you know, south of— it's our backyard. 

And then, yeah, from there I stayed in touch with Charlie. He gave me a tour of the office and he made a posting about Eddie looking for an assistant. This is— meanwhile, I'm doing labor for maybe $20 an hour. So mathematically speaking, I am maybe still making like $20,000 or $30,000 a year. And I was like, well, s***, I bet he pays an assistant pretty well. Like, I can go learn from Eddie, work for Eddie, and just kind of keep, you know, paying my dues. 

And then that's when I came in for an interview and kind of changed from there. You know, he said, and just to sprinkle this in, and then, you know, can kind of talk about whatever's next, was the HR guy Jordan was— I'm in there to be Eddie's assistant. And he's like, well, you're sharp, you're ambitious. He's like, do you really feel that this is like the best thing you could be doing? I'm like, well, of course, like, I want to work for Eddie. Like, I want to work right next to him. I would love to be his assistant. I think that's the best possible thing. 

And he's like, yeah, but I don't think it's the best possible thing. I think you're going to like— I don't think getting his coffees and picking up his dry cleaning is really going to serve you because you're not going to get to be like his buddy-buddy, you know, through this. 

So he said, we've been wanting to start an inside sales team, you know, start a sales floor in the Ponte Vedra office. We've outsourced it before, but like, we want to start our own team. I have no idea what it's going to look like. I have no idea how much money you're going to make. You'd be 100% commission. We think there's some money out there. But if you got nothing to lose, man, you just start next week, give it a try, still work for Eddie, and, you know, maybe it'll be good. And I was like, maybe it will be good. Screw it. Sounds like you don't want me as his assistant. 

So I guess I'm starting your sales team. And then, like I said, that was when we got things rolling. Shortly after that, I had the job secured when I did that trip to Miami and was kind of like, Very terrified. But that was when, you know, I got back and had my first day Wednesday, May 1st, 2024.

Brian Harbin: And so you had a little bit of money saved up to be able to take that on straight commission, right? So how long would you say it kind of took you to get confident with the sales talk, make some sales and kind of figure things out?

Colby Harris: I had no money. They gave me a signing bonus, which was cool because I thought, s***, they gave me a $4,000 signing bonus. So it was like $1,000 a week for my first month. That was awesome. Like, I was like, that's great money. Like, I was already excited. And the way this story goes is, I did have a small sales job. I kind of breezed through that. I had an incredible, incredible sales manager for 60 days at a company called Bad Marketing. Eddie Maloof's founder, guys, a total G. They're third-party marketing, they do anything. 

And I worked there, and Rex got me totally up to speed, made me a million-dollar closer in 60 days because I just bought in, right? So by the time I got into Aspire. I had a base level of how to get a credit card, how to book meetings, how to text people and book meetings. I did have some IQ, but I go in day one. I made no money at Bad Marketing. They taught me a lot and I appreciate the opportunity. I only got one deal done for them and it was actually right after I had left, but the deal closed and come in day one and I make no money. 

First off, there's no manager, there's nobody there. I come into the office, I sat in an office, Norman, who's my— was my manager, walks in and he's— he wasn't manager at the time, but he says, okay, I got to jump in a meeting. I'll be right back. Didn't see him for 3 hours. I just sat there and watched YouTube videos. He finally comes back in and he's like, so here's your login to the CRM. 

Go to this list. It's like a list of, you know, 1,000 people or something. He said, so call these people. And sell them something. I'm like, what do you mean by that? He's like, no, well, they like want to come to the event. Call them and sell them. And I'm like, well, what should I say? And he's like, whatever you want. What should I text them? Whatever you want. Whatever's going to close the deal. I'm like, oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into? Pretty confident though. Make $0 my first day. And I left thinking to myself, well, they just gave me $4,000. So, it is what it is. And this is just another day in the life of Colby, the salesperson, $0 in commission.

Brian Harbin: And the idea is that these are people that have already been to an event, or…. 

Colby Harris: They are what we would call abandoned carts in the business of live events. So they would look at it, no different than if you were on e-commerce, okay, look at it, leave checkout after you already put your information in, and then I'm calling you to see if we can button up the transaction, answer any questions.

Brian Harbin: So like a warm lead because they know what it is.

Colby Harris: For sure. I've always said people are like, oh, it's got to be cold. Like, no, we, we definitely do with warm leads, and this is why you'll know when you're the kicker. So on that line of work, we did two things. We would up— we would sell tickets and we would also do ticket upgrades. Make no money my first day, come in the second day, and the moment I open up my laptop at the desk, I have like 3, 4 people that have responded to me wanting to either buy a ticket or upgrade a ticket. And I put over $1,000 in revenue on the board in the first 2 hours of my second day. And I'm sitting there crunching the numbers. I'm like, oh my gosh, I just made like $250. 

So I'm already like, this is crazy. Like it was a wild, wild experience. I mean, you gotta remember, 2 weeks prior, I'm like painting and assembling furniture for $20 an hour. I'd be lucky to make $250, you know, in a day if I work really, really hard. I make $250 like that. I haven't even had breakfast yet. The day goes on. I keep doing same method, phone calls, texting. I'm doing ticket sales, ticket upgrades. I get to maybe 06:30 and I've put up a little over like $4,000 in revenue on my second day with no direction or really any idea what I'm doing. 

And I made over $1,000 in my very, what I would call like, you know, my first, my second day. And I called my mom on my way home and I was like, Mom, Mom, she's like, what, what, are you okay? Mom, I think I just made $1,000 today. One day, $1,000. And she's like, what? You did what? Like, I mean, this is crazy. You know, my mom raised 4 kids. My mom doesn't like participate a ton in business. And that was like a feeling that we're talking about now where you make your first buck. You know, it was no different than when I got my first checks for Grit Camp. But this came like in a day, you know, because it was quick. Same thing happened the next day. I do a couple thousand dollars in revenue and my very first week at $1,000 bonus on there and about like $2,400 in commission. 

And I made $3,400 in my first week and I was terrified to even pay off my debt. My debt was $3,500. That was a maxed out credit card for me at the time. And I was terrified to even pay the debt with that money because they said cash is what I need. I was like, I'll pay the interest on that credit card, but if anything changes, I need the cash in the bank. Didn't. 

Well, then the second week I did the same thing. The third week I did the same thing. And in my first month at that office, I made a little over $17,000 and just crushed it working all night, all day, get in at 8 a.m., first one there, last one to leave while there's no one, do deals at home in bed at 10 p.m., all day nonstop. Because it was working. Like, everything that I had been waiting for and wanting started working immediately by the grace of God. That's what I always say is like, there's actually no other explanation for the way that this played out, like with this office and with the team and the way it all happened, other than just like a blessing from God. 

I was lucky enough to get there, have the energy to show up, to work their system, provide value for the company, and completely change my financial situation for what I would call for the rest of my life. That's the beauty of being in sales. You and I talk about all the time is like you pay people salaries, you pay the light bill, you pay the office bill, you pay when people travel. If I'm bringing you $100,000 a month, it's reasonable for you to give me 15 or 20. And I changed my life forever because I'm always going to have a job if I want to go back to it. So it was nothing short of a blessing straight from God to be able to come in there, start making money and adding value for the company off day one.

Brian Harbin: And you had to navigate a lot of things because like you said, you were the first actual salesperson in their sales department, right? So I guess they started hiring other people. You're kind of helping train and manage even though, right? I mean, they're working side by side and so there's not a training manual, but you're kind of helping offer that to people. 

So what else do you feel like you learned? You know, obviously, you know, were able to capitalize on the sales skills and, you know, convert a lot of people either through ticket sales or upsells. But what about in terms of working with other salespeople and that management side? What were some things you felt like you learned in that process there?

Colby Harris: Well, it's just like we're talking about now. It's like, I really like that saying. I think I'm gonna use that a lot about like a part of it is your, your skills, but a big part of it is just growing as a human. So like on the skill side, a lot of the sales came back to being self-taught with like some, some good conversations with the guys overall. Norman, who's become one of my greatest friends and love him to death. He, you know, did become our manager. So I got to stay on the sales floor, but I had someone kind of pointing the ship and dealing with the higher-ups. So we did a lot of training on that side. But the thing about sales is you get— you have to know what you're selling. 

And so inside of our private equity firm, you know, there's 18 assets, anywhere between 18 and 23 assets at any given time, depending on kind of where they're at with something they're buying or selling, but they're all focused on entrepreneurs. And what I mean by that is we have businesses from operating systems, taxes masterminds around wealth building, real estate business. We do business structuring. We have a family bank, obviously private equity plays into it. 

So this whole landscape of just requiring a high-level understanding of entrepreneurship, taxes business structures. That is the most unique thing that I think any entrepreneur could learn because Andrew says it best all the time. He says, you're not in business, you're simply in the game of money. You do business for the sake of the money, and most people don't understand the money. So they're great at business, but they suck at the money, and that's why they end up broke at the end of every tax year. 

And so learning that on top of— honestly, while I don't have a billion-dollar business idea or anything has been the coolest, coolest skill set to acquire because I can set myself up. I get paid as a business owner. I'll have future businesses. I can help people around me. I could talk the language. So now, I understand what I would call kind of the inside of the house from a business perspective. So, those skills, so important. 

As a person, I just grew to getting acclimated to being on the hot seat, right? This is a corporate setting now. They're not super corporatized. They wanted to have like a cool, casual, smaller company. You know, there's only 30 or 40 of us in there every day. But like being on the hot seat is something I used to hate, like hate. But somehow I've managed to ruffle feathers on like a weekly basis in that place because there's no direction. It's a startup. And I've got people coming to me, people getting mad at me, and then also having to watch the organization deal with people. Eddie is like, who's had over 100 companies, $1.2 billion exit in 2019. 

One of my first weeks, I had to watch Eddie have a very, very challenging conversation with the whole organization. And I remember just in my second week, thinking about how this is what entrepreneurship is. You thought you want to be an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is not the glitz, the glamor, the company, the recognition, the news articles. It's this. When you have to sit your whole company down and tell them something very dramatic about what's happening inside the organization and behind closed doors. That's entrepreneurship. 

So from skills, everything from taxes to business structures to operating systems to family banking, all the personal know-hows you need to create, keep, and multiply your wealth, I got them. And as a human, just like watching Eddie and our team operate, growing as an individual, getting so used to being on the hot seat, getting a bit of an edge. Like I told Charlie, I saw Charlie recently and I told him, like, I was like, I feel like I've gotten that edge from working with these guys and then also kind of like seeing other people do business. Those are just so, so, so important to be able to have as a human, right? Like to, to just know what you're actually getting yourself into. It was just beautiful. 

And I'm so, so grateful for everybody there because that is— I mean, I bawled like a child when I told you I was leaving. I was so upset, just like having to express it. And it's just gratitude. And even with Eddie, I was like, I told myself, I was like, I'm not going to— like, I'm not going to go in there and just cry it up, like cry him a river. I can't do it. 

But as I'm trying to talk to him, my voice is like cracking and I'm like having to keep it together. And I was fine. I didn't shed a tear, although I might have wanted to, like, It's just really something special when you get so much, give so much. I mean, I put, you know, almost $1 million back into that organization after my commission was paid. So that's another cool part about being in sales is like your value is traceable. But the relationships like that, that's what makes this so fun, just the people. So it's biggest blessing ever, honestly, just at the end of the day, all around.

Brian Harbin: And yeah, so 18 months, you know, with Aspire, like you mentioned, you, you know, told Eddie recently that you're leaving on because you've got a new venture you're working on. But by the way, before we move on to that, I was going to ask you, in terms of sales skills, how do you feel like you've evolved or what else have you learned about sales in this past 18 months compared to where when you started?

Colby Harris: Well, I had that great manager who gave me the answer, what I think was like the best sales advice ever. And he was like, genuine curiosity will take you very far. From the very beginning. He was like, it's just being genuinely curious. People tell you it's scripted and it's the discovery and it's all these things. He's like, no, you need to be genuinely curious. And my offers have always been around entrepreneurs and real estate investors, which is what I love. 

So what I feel like I do now, again, is that edge. To a certain point in business, especially in sales, you're not there to be their friend. It's no different than if you were their doctor. As your doctor, they're going to address a problem, they're going to address a solution, but they still need you to kind of buy into it. And I think in sales it's very similar where like I'm going to, with my expertise around our offers and what I've seen from other entrepreneurs, I can address the problem. I have the solution, or at least I make sure I have it. Otherwise I'll be the first to tell you I can't help you. Once I have the solution, now I have to essentially get you to buy in. Right? And I try and do that in plenty of different ways. 

But at one point or another, like the close, you aren't really always there to be someone's best friend. You're there to get them to make a decision for themselves and their own future. And that can be really, really scary. So I've really tried to shift from, you know, I'm a closer and I'm closing deals, like just like kind of that like Wall Street, you know, type of energy to more of like genuine curiosity through the process. Establishing that I have a very clear path forward, making sure you understand that clear path forward. 

And then if it's required, you know, like I will tell you how it is, like I'm not going to sit there and just be your friend and let you off the hook if I know that we can push you in the right direction with our product. That I think is super important. The highest performers of sales is if you don't have that edge to kind of sever this, you know, I'm your buddy-buddy this whole time and now it's actually time for you to put pen to paper and make a decision for yourself. You got to have a bit of a— got to have that edge. 

And I'm glad that I found it because it's for my sake. You know, we always say selling isn't something I do to you, it's something I do for you. I genuinely believe that. So I don't think of manipulating anybody. I don't think I'm doing any of that. Like, I've seen it work and I want you to buy into the same opportunity. And that's when, you know, at one point you just have to get serious with people about making a change for their own sake.

Brian Harbin: Yeah. And so tell us about this new role. You're moving to Miami in a few days. And so tell us about this new position that you're going to be working on there.

Colby Harris: Yeah, so David Brown is the president, founder, CEO. And I've known Dave for a few years, but he's always told me, he's like, my business is so unique. I think you would thrive in it. And I think that it's a next step for you. And I've kind of pushed him off for a long time. He really wanted me in February of 2025. And I was like, I have unfinished business. I always wanted to close $1 million at Aspire and you know, I've done that and it kind of felt like it was time. But David, his company is Big Think Capital. So we service anything. There's a bunch of different opportunities to work with us from business capital. So like SBA invoice financing, merchant cash advance, whole different assortment of products on the business side, but also real estate capital. 

So anything from $100,000 to $100 million for investor purpose, you know, non-owner occupied properties, whether it be storage units, multifamily, fix and flips, new construction, you name it, we fund it. Right? So that's what I'll be doing. And the way I phrased it, and I think that you'll get this too, is if you think about like what I did at Aspire, if you treat it as a house, right, the outside of the house is the investments, the business structure, the tax strategies. 

When we talk about money, You know, it's all these different components that I've gotten from Aspire. But truth be told, the capital side, the financing side, the banking side, that's the inside of the house. That's actually what makes all of this, this world honestly go around. So that's what we do down there and why I'm so excited to be doing it. Two reasons about to learn about the inside of the house: how the banks work, how financing works, how, you know, we basically prop up the whole economy. I mean, I know debt is considered to be a You know, it depends who you ask, Dave Ramsey or Robert Kiyosaki, they'll kind of tell you how they feel about debt. Two different opinions, but it is what props up all the growth essentially. 

So learn about the inside of the house, but also be number two in the business capital of the world right now. Like I actually have been saying, like one of them—

Brian Harbin: You've been itching to get to Miami for a while.

Colby Harris: Yeah, I think that I've been saying like it's one of the business capitals. It is the business capital of the world right now. Like you have Dubai, but I feel like it's kind of got a certain prestige to it. London, still fine. New York City. But I know so many people internationally and they talk about how much they love Miami, how beautiful it is, weather, the people, the opportunity. So that whole piece, I want to feel drawn out of my house. Like I lived alone for years from 18 to 22. Like I feel it. And here it was great. 

Trust me, I saw plenty of great people, but it's like a whole nother level of just being able to step outside, meet people, do business. That is what I am so thrilled about and just go to a whole nother level. That's the biggest piece right now. I was like, I want to, it's crazy to think about going back to square one, you know, the work that's ahead of where I'm going right now. 

But it's also really cool to be like, I'm about to just go to a whole another fricking level, like work harder, be more strategic, which is great now is like having strategic experience and watching how people at a high level operate. I just know more about how to go out and perform at the highest level. It's not just like showing up and making 200 phone calls and just grind, grind, grind. There's pieces that are like that. But as you get more into business, as I've found, and you understand, it's like you do understand like what your IPAs are, you know, your income-producing activities and what actually moves the needle. So it's going to be cool. 

And if anyone needed money, you know, that's the cool thing. Everyone needs a money guy. I've found that. And I'm— another unique piece is putting aside a— I guess you could call it like a mental barrier. Always been the youngest in the room, always been the youngest anywhere in anything I do. Now, I don't know if that'll be the case down here. I'm 23 now, so I'm getting older, but I'm removing all of my own limiting beliefs when it comes to that right now. It's like I had someone at our office when he first started, he started doing well. Reggie, great friend of mine, and he started doing well, but I was like, I want to kill him. I still want to beat him. 

And next thing I know, he's kind of outperforming me, and I gave myself a scapegoat. Like, Reggie's been in sales for 13 years. He should beat me. There's no reason he shouldn't beat me. He's got 2 kids at home. He's got support. He's going to be the best guy. That's fine. Never again. Like, I don't want to give myself that out. And I think that's really important for people watching is like, don't give yourself the easy out because of what it says at face value, face value says Reggie's been in sales for 13 years. He's got 2 kids, he's got bigger purpose. He's going to outperform me. 

But the reality is that, you know, I kind of gave myself that out. I made him. And now after working with him for a year now, Reggie's sold more than me. Reggie did outperform me. Now I'm the number 2 guy behind Reggie, probably because I spoke it into existence. 

So I'm excited to kind of leave that. I've tried to reflect a lot on things, and that's one piece I want to move beyond now where I'm like, no, I'm a grown man, full-grown man, live alone, take care of myself, got my own future ahead of me. There's no rules anymore. There's no way to play this game. It's you. It's not this, you know, you versus me. But of course, the competitive edge side does have to show. But just relieving of all of that.

Brian Harbin: And then two quick things here before we go into our last question. So I know you and Caroline are 5 years…? 

Colby Harris: 4.

Brian Harbin: 4 years, which is great. She's about to finish up college. You guys connected through GRIT Camp and stayed together, you know, before she went to college. And so that's been great. And I know she's finishing up here shortly. Also wanted to mention too, you've got an app, so just give us kind of the quick 2-minute overview for our listeners of what the app is and does and how they find it.

Colby Harris: Yeah, so a big part going to Miami is also to develop my app. Which this gentleman down there knows he wants someone entrepreneurial. And so he said, come down here, build my company and build whatever you want as well. And so for the last year, I've had this idea around Gen Z, a lot of different components of how to help. But the one I really fell in love with over the summer was Gen Z investors. So of course, I own GenZInvestors.com. 

GenZInvestor.com, which I acquired way more than it should have cost me, but I did it because I wanted the domain. As you know, they'd probably be like, hey, well, now it's $50,000 because you have an app built around that. But the whole focus is helping Gen Z get into investing, forge a financial future for themselves, whether they want to be like me and they end up making multiple six figures a year, or if they're working as a cashier at the McDonald's, right? Like, they're simple, basic things that anyone and everyone can do to ultimately have a financial future that they desire. Not like what we did at Aspire. What we did at Aspire is very high level. Very high-level entrepreneurship, business investing. But the basics really do work. I'm trying to bring that to Gen Z right now. We have an app. So that's kind of home base for everything with an AI investing coach, AI prompt guide. 

So the right questions to ask, investment calculator, a community, and then integrating some trusted partners right now as well. So the whole idea is just help them create a financial future. And so they don't end up like, you know, some of the people I deal with in sales that are coming to try and find a solution at 50, 55, 60, then retirement's a pipe dream. I don't— Gen Z has enough to deal with. I think the financial side is actually one of the easier parts of things that we can take care of. So I want to help them forge their financial future, and we'll do that through the Gen Z Investors platform.

Brian Harbin: And that's genzinvestors.com is how they find the app and download it. Okay, awesome. And last question, you know, we got to ask: any part of the GRIT Creed that you feel like has changed? I know before you talked about having a purpose larger than yourself, what would you say would be now?

Colby Harris: Now it's the first line. I'm someday going to be what I'm now becoming. Because I think if you've listened to my story and if you listen to the first episode, I think you will find that a lot of this has been by design. And I'm finding it now because people are even telling it to me. They're like, you just have been on this wavelength for years of like wanting this to happen. And it's so cool. I'm so happy for you now that it's it's happening, like, to an extent. I don't think I'm getting exactly what I want, but you know how it goes. You— I guess for Gen Z, the bar is pretty low. 

So I think that line of like, I'm someday gonna be what I'm now becoming, I always knew it. I remember working at the golf course and there was a car show and there's all these crazy cars, you know. I'm just like, I'm literally talking to myself and I'm like, trust the process, trust the process. And this guy is like over there, he's like, what'd you say? And I'm like, oh, nothing. Just like talking to myself. Just trust the process. And that's been so true every single time. Like, you have to be the one that's willing to do all of the work with no guarantee of an outcome or result. 

Connor Ferroux said that on this show, and I've loved that ever since that day because it's so powerful. Like, if you have to be okay with that, showing up, doing everything right, putting yourself in the best position possible and know that failure is still a possibility. And so with that line in the creed of, I'm someday going to be what I am now becoming, it's— that's like my whole life story is like the decisions I make and what I do might not show today, tomorrow, a year from now, but ultimately, again, it's going to develop my skill, which is big to me, but also develop me as a person. So that's my favorite. 

I think that, again, talk about great sayings I love, one I've just been saying so much of too that I think everyone would appreciate. Elon Musk says it a lot is, you know, I think people should be less risk-averse when there's not much at risk. 

And I've been in love with that recently because now that I've made the first $100,000 and I can travel and never upgrade the car or did anything but got a nice Roth IRA, got my first investment property, I would do anything to go back to a couple of years ago and kind of just go balls to the fricking wall. There's nothing to lose, dude. I've been at the very bottom and it was fine. 

And now I've done really well and it's fine too. It's great to travel and do all that with your family, but when you actually are just sitting by yourself, a bank account with $50,000 doesn't do much for you, you know? So that would be my— in kind of tune with I'm someday going to be what I'm now becoming. If you're so afraid of risk and so afraid of stepping out of your comfort zone, what you hope to become one day will most likely elude you. Yeah.

Brian Harbin: Well, I love that, man!

Well, I appreciate you, you know, being able to let us check in with you, hear how everything's going, man. Keep being a student of the game. You've always done such a great job. I mean, even all these podcast interviews that you still remember these certain nuggets from it, all these people you've learned from across the way, and being able to self-reflect and, you know, carry forward with you things that are going to help you with that next thing. 

And I think just mindset, you know, we've come to find too that just, you know, mindset is such a huge part of grit and then really being able to help you persist and go on to the next thing and you know, having a purpose larger than yourself and the people that you want to help through your products and the services that you provide. So, man, we're excited for you in Miami and look forward to being able to check back in here before much longer. So thanks for having on!

Colby Harris: Of course. Thank you! This has been the best thing ever for me and to be where we are and like doing all the things like I'm, you know, just saw Charlie and told him the same thing. I'll tell you that I told Eddie too. And it's like, you know, for what you've done and everybody here and Grid and everyone listening, that's been part is like, you know, you're on that Mount Rushmore, as I call it, of people that have just changed my life. Like, this organization is super cool and I'm so glad to be a part of it and continue to watch you grow. 

And I think that's the beauty of what you're trying to do is it's like whoever comes into this organization gets to be a part of it, whether it's like you're here and now or they come in and totally evolve it with you for decades to come or your kids, whatever it might be. It's like the story is in the people that kind of come and go. And get to play a part in. So excited to continue to support campers, help in any way I can, and, you know, watch you continue to impact everyone. So just glad that we could set this up before I go.

Brian Harbin: Absolutely, man. Well, thanks again, and that's a wrap for today's episode. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you guys next time! Take care.