0:01

Hey dreamers and gold diggers , welcome

0:03

to the Hood to Hooded podcast . With Dr Shon

0:05

, the Motivational Mentist , we're here

0:07

to elevate your game in business , entrepreneurship

0:10

, mental and physical wellness and

0:13

financial literacy , all aimed

0:15

at helping you create generational wealth

0:17

. Grab your pens and pads , because

0:20

we're diving deep into strategies

0:22

to boost your mindset and set you on the

0:24

path to happiness and success

0:26

. All aboard the Hood

0:28

to Hooded Express , let's get

0:30

started . Hello

0:38

kings and queens , welcome back

0:40

to another episode of the

0:42

Hood to Hooded podcast with your host , Dr

0:44

. Shon TV

0:46

. I like to add that little last

0:48

part on for a little pizzazz . But

0:50

I'm Dr Sean , the motivational dentist

0:53

, and I am here to

0:55

help you break generational

0:57

curses , create generational

1:00

wealth and retain

1:02

generational knowledge . You

1:04

know , this

1:06

podcast is a

1:09

journey from hood to hood . It

1:11

is a journey from poverty into

1:13

wealth . It's a journey from being

1:16

broken down into success

1:18

and just feeling happiness . And

1:20

also it's a journey in , you

1:22

know , just your overall health , mental

1:24

health , physical health , spiritual health , just

1:27

all the pillars of health we want

1:30

to address in this podcast . But

1:32

today our topic is entrepreneurship

1:35

. Entrepreneurship is

1:37

one of those things where it's very , very

1:39

risky . Not everybody's going to do it , and

1:41

if you've either been thinking about doing

1:44

it or you've been a little hesitant

1:46

you don't know where to start then

1:48

perhaps this podcast is

1:50

for you . Now , if you've been stuck in

1:52

a rut , living paycheck to paycheck , maybe

1:54

you also need to listen to this podcast

1:57

, because maybe there's some jewels in here

1:59

for you to take back with

2:01

you and to take action on your dreams

2:04

and not feel any

2:06

regret about your life . All right

2:08

. So let's start off . So

2:10

we all know the definition of entrepreneurship

2:13

or entrepreneurs . This

2:15

is a term that's tossed around

2:17

loosely and a lot of people don't realize

2:19

that most entrepreneurs

2:22

fail within the first year . They

2:25

quit their business , it doesn't work out

2:27

and it's really , really hard to

2:29

make it past the fifth year

2:31

. So me , here I'm in my

2:33

less than first year of

2:36

entrepreneurship , specifically

2:38

in the dental industry , and

2:41

that's what I want to talk about

2:43

a little bit today my experience , the

2:45

things that I've learned and maybe

2:48

some things that I could have done differently . But

2:50

you never can go back . It's all a learning

2:52

experience . Some learning

2:54

experiences are a little bit more expensive

2:56

than other ones . So I'm

2:59

the type of person I like to be in

3:01

a room with other people who are bright

3:03

, intelligent , and I don't like to be the smartest person

3:06

in the room , because you know what they say

3:08

if you're the smartest person in the

3:10

room , you are absolutely in

3:12

the wrong room . Okay , you don't

3:14

want to be around a bunch of know-it-alls and you

3:17

know you want people to actually pour into

3:19

you , give you that generational knowledge

3:21

so that you can share it and grow your wealth

3:24

and grow your happiness and just , you

3:26

know , not feel so defeated week

3:28

after week . So entrepreneurship

3:31

, according to Wikipedia , is

3:33

the creation or extraction

3:36

of economic value in ways

3:38

that generally entail beyond the

3:41

minimal amount of risk assumed

3:43

by a traditional business and

3:45

potentially involving values

3:47

besides simply economic

3:49

ones . So that's what

3:51

entrepreneurship is . It's just like taking

3:54

that journey and taking those risks

3:56

that create economic value

3:58

, which is something that lacks when

4:00

you are faced with poverty . You don't

4:02

have much economic value because you

4:04

don't understand . You know

4:06

that money is fake , that you're supposed to

4:08

use it to invest and build wealth

4:10

and buy land , and you know

4:13

these different tools that you can use

4:15

money for . This is the difference

4:17

between someone who is in the hood and someone

4:19

who is hooded . Or hooded generally

4:22

just means like someone who has made it

4:24

okay , because everybody who is hooded

4:26

doesn't necessarily have

4:28

a lot of wealth . Okay , it's

4:31

just a metaphor . So

4:33

what exactly would we describe as

4:35

an entrepreneur ? Do you see yourself

4:38

as an entrepreneur ? Do you know

4:40

any entrepreneurs in your family , in your

4:42

environment ? Well , you guys

4:44

. Entrepreneurs are all around us . All

4:46

the businesses you see in your city , all

4:49

the you know the things that you see

4:51

going on in your town , your city

4:53

. They are ran by entrepreneurs

4:55

the pizza huts , the mcdonald's

4:58

, the kfc's , the hospitals

5:00

, the barber shops , the

5:03

beauty salons , the , the nail salons

5:05

, you know , the clothing stores , the grocery

5:07

stores all these had to start with someone

5:09

who is , just like you , interested

5:12

in making a difference in the economy

5:15

and in their economic

5:17

value . An entrepreneur

5:19

is an individual who creates

5:21

or and or

5:24

invests in one or more businesses

5:26

, bearing most of the risk and

5:28

enjoying most of the rewards

5:31

. The process of setting up a business

5:33

is known as entrepreneurship , which

5:35

is what we are talking about today , your journey

5:38

in entrepreneurship and , well , my journey

5:40

in entrepreneurship as well . The

5:42

entrepreneur is commonly seen

5:44

as an innovator , a

5:46

source of new ideas , goods

5:49

, services and business

5:51

or procedures

5:53

. So does that sound like somebody

5:55

? Does that sound like you ? Are you an innovator

5:58

? Are you somebody who is always trying to

6:00

think of something new to help other people out

6:02

or just to make a difference in the world

6:05

? Do you have a lot of new ideas

6:07

that you want to bring to life , that

6:09

you want to write on paper and actually see

6:11

come to life ? Do you want to

6:13

sell goods or services ? Do you

6:15

develop businesses or procedures

6:17

for businesses ? Do you see yourself

6:20

as someone who

6:22

creates new ideas

6:24

, who wants to sell a good or service

6:26

. So , for instance , services would be something

6:29

like dentistry when the patients come

6:31

in the door , we provide a service and , in

6:33

turn , that creates economic value

6:35

, and that value is determined

6:37

on how you value

6:39

yourself . So that's

6:41

why I say you should always know your worth

6:43

. You should always know what you're doing in life and

6:45

always have a purpose . Entrepreneurship

6:48

is really , really

6:50

difficult , but the

6:53

people who take that risk

6:55

, who know that sometimes the reward

6:57

might not come instantly . A lot

6:59

of times , 99.9% of the times

7:01

, the reward in entrepreneurship does

7:04

not appear in your life instantly . You

7:06

have to put your head down , stay

7:08

focused , keep grinding , get

7:11

up every day , make a difference

7:13

and just keep pushing forward . In

7:15

relationship to the dental office

7:17

, the first year was really

7:20

scary . You know I'm coming

7:22

from not only

7:24

just being a new dentist not technically

7:27

a new dentist but I haven't been a dentist for over

7:29

10 years . I graduated 2016

7:31

from Meharry Medical College

7:34

in Nashville , tennessee , which

7:36

was one of the most difficult things I ever

7:38

done in my life . Losing my

7:40

mom was one of the most difficult mental

7:43

battles I ever faced . But the second has

7:45

to be going to dental

7:47

school . Like dental school

7:49

. It like it , just you

7:51

have to be a sponge . It

7:54

will change your whole entire life and

7:56

make you realize that you don't

7:58

know anything like what you thought

8:00

you knew . You don't know how far that your

8:02

brain can absorb this information

8:05

at such a fast pace . So just

8:07

coming from that environment and

8:09

feeling like that was super , duper difficult

8:12

. I kid you not so anybody out

8:14

there who wants to be a

8:16

dentist . You have

8:18

to buckle down and stay focused . I feel

8:20

like we will discuss like pre-dental

8:23

tips and tricks in another podcast

8:25

. But , that all that experience

8:28

is going to be very vital to your

8:30

journey

8:32

as an entrepreneur , should you decide

8:34

to take that route . Ok , so once

8:37

I got out of dental school , moved

8:39

to New York City , started

8:41

a dental practice residency at the Brooklyn

8:44

Hospital Center . I

8:46

knew that it was just . This field is

8:48

just very , very difficult , especially

8:50

coming from the hood . So the big

8:52

difference is coming from the hood , you

8:54

don't really have that support system . People don't

8:56

even know how to support you , so you really

8:58

lack . So I could just remember

9:00

being in New York City attending

9:03

this residency program , which was a general

9:05

practice residency , feeling , like

9:07

, you know , a

9:10

little stressed because part of the year I

9:12

was homeless , sleeping in the car let's

9:14

talk about that um

9:16

, the beginning of the year , begging for money

9:18

online from family and friends

9:21

to try to help me overcome

9:23

this hump , and

9:25

I could just remember a family member . I

9:30

asked the family member I don't want to put the name out there , but I was just so

9:32

shocked like , homeless , just getting out of dental school , homeless

9:34

in Nashville , really , really sick . I

9:36

was taking this drug called Lupron

9:39

it's a chemo drug and

9:41

it really made me really , really sick my

9:43

last semester of dental school . So

9:45

I really thought my whole life was over . I

9:47

thought that God was calling me home . I

9:49

was in so much pain and I just thought that

9:51

my whole career was over . But

9:54

the moment that I realized I was about to

9:56

lose everything that I've worked for for

9:58

all these years you know , 12 years

10:00

of school something clicked

10:02

. I said you know , I cannot give

10:04

up , not right now . God won't

10:06

bring us so far

10:08

, just to leave us going

10:10

through all of that , dealing with that experience , moving

10:13

to New York with nothing , having

10:15

to give everything away because I could not

10:17

afford to bring it here . You know

10:19

, moving to New York City you have to kind of

10:21

downgrade . You can't take a house full

10:24

of stuff . So just shedding

10:27

all of that past , and shedding

10:29

all of the past to

10:31

move and get to this point was a sacrifice

10:33

. And that went

10:36

on to , you know , me working

10:38

six years as a

10:40

general dentist and realizing

10:42

that if I don't

10:44

take that risk like

10:46

they describe in you know the definition

10:48

of entrepreneur someone who sets

10:51

up businesses is an innovator

10:53

, a source of new ideas , goods

10:55

or services If I don't

10:57

take most of the risk , I

11:00

will never see the reward that I wanted , because I

11:02

wanted autonomy . I

11:04

want to be able to get up in

11:06

the morning and do what I love to

11:08

do , without pressure , without force

11:10

, without rushing , and

11:13

that's what the big problem was for me being

11:15

an associate dentist was

11:17

it's always like a rush environment

11:19

. There's always some discrepancies with your

11:21

pain , there's always like somebody over

11:23

your head it's just

11:25

not your idea . So you kind of have

11:28

to conform to what other people

11:30

want , and this goes for any job . I'm just

11:32

using my career as a dentist

11:34

as an example . Now , it

11:36

doesn't matter what level you are , you

11:39

still have . If you're an entrepreneur

11:41

at heart , you will know , because

11:43

nothing else will ever work for you

11:45

. Nothing else will ever feel

11:48

as good as being your own

11:50

boss . This isn't for everybody and

11:52

a lot of times , even now , I

11:54

find myself like , wow , what did I get myself

11:57

into ? This is a lot . There's a lot of

11:59

responsibility , there's a lot

12:01

on my head Like there's

12:03

so many ideas and you

12:06

know , keeping your cash flow

12:08

and there's just so much that goes

12:10

into being an entrepreneur . Okay

12:12

, but if you want it , you will absolutely

12:15

take that risk and nothing and no

12:17

one is going to stop you coming back

12:19

to one year ago , getting

12:22

that urge , feeling the burning

12:24

desire to make a difference

12:27

, to be an innovator . I

12:29

took that leap of faith and

12:31

when you are in the beginning stages

12:33

of entrepreneurship , one tip

12:36

that I will tell you is you want to kind of ease

12:38

your way out , especially if you're funding it

12:40

yourself . A lot of times

12:42

you can get business funding which is a topic

12:45

for another conversation but if you're funding

12:47

it yourself , like me , that's probably something I

12:49

wouldn't have done in the past . But god

12:51

told me to go . You know , like melody , god

12:54

told me to go first . Couple

12:57

months last

13:00

year I did part-time in other offices and

13:03

I did part-time in other offices and I did part-time

13:06

here in our

13:08

office Motivational Dentistry until

13:11

I felt a strong

13:13

urge to just say you know what ? I'm going to go full-time

13:15

, I'm going to quit my job and just really

13:17

believe in this . Now you have to know

13:19

you're going to get met with

13:22

a lot of backlash , a lot of doubt

13:24

from people who have never been entrepreneurs

13:26

, because they cannot see your vision

13:28

. So that's number two . Number

13:30

one is make sure you kind of ease into

13:32

it . Keep your job and ease into

13:35

it . Do it as a side hustle at first . Number

13:37

two you want to be surrounded by like-minded

13:39

individuals . There is nothing worse

13:42

than having this huge dream

13:44

to start this company , to be an innovator

13:46

, knowing now we already

13:48

know that there's a high risk

13:50

, because that's the thing about entrepreneurship

13:53

and entrepreneurs there's a high risk . It's

13:55

not a low risk . There's a high

13:57

risk that you could fail . But

13:59

I think that's the most intimidating

14:01

part of this process is knowing in the back

14:04

of your mind that this could fail

14:06

but should not stop you

14:08

. It should not stop you from like

14:10

for me , I know that there was a one

14:13

percent chance that

14:15

I would become a dentist and I

14:17

could not let that one percent chance

14:20

that was staring me in the face prevent

14:22

me from accomplishing my goal or

14:24

, even worse , just even attempting

14:26

to accomplish my goal . So you , at

14:28

least , must make

14:30

an attempt to reach those

14:33

requirements and those goals that you

14:35

have set in your life . You

14:37

set those goals . So I feel like

14:39

you need to meet those goals Now . If you don't

14:41

have , then you're probably on the wrong

14:44

podcast . If you're just willy-nilly

14:46

going through life , then you're probably on the wrong podcast

14:49

. But I feel like everyone should

14:51

feel confident and really be the

14:53

boss of your own life . Okay

14:55

, so last year , journeying through

14:58

entrepreneurship , it just really

15:00

opened my eyes to a lot , because I went

15:03

from just being that employee

15:06

mindset clock in , do

15:09

my dentistry go home . Clock

15:11

in , do my dentistry go home but I felt

15:13

like I was in some type of box

15:16

. I always met a ceiling . I always

15:18

met some type of adversity

15:20

in the dental office , whether it come from racism

15:23

, being the only Black person even

15:25

you know the doctor , the patients

15:28

nobody looks like me . The staff

15:30

doesn't look like me . I'm in an environment

15:32

where I'm the only Black person in the building

15:35

and I hardly ever see anybody who looks like

15:37

me . So and then you get a

15:39

lot of like flack from

15:41

doctors . The staff trying to start issues

15:43

it's just like can become very

15:46

, very racist

15:48

in the office , and I've had that

15:50

experience not in a lot of offices , but in

15:52

one particular . So that

15:54

experience really , really set

15:56

me off . And then I found out that

15:59

I will only be getting 25%

16:01

of the work that I was doing . So this is a bad

16:04

deal for me , like if you're only

16:06

, you know just scraping

16:08

by doing most of the work . It's

16:10

time for you to be an entrepreneur and do it for

16:12

yourself . Another thing

16:14

about the first year is that when

16:16

it became time to go full on

16:19

. I did seven days

16:21

a week , seven to seven every

16:23

day for like the first month

16:25

or two and I realized quickly

16:28

this was a bad idea . Like you have

16:30

to have a work-life

16:32

balance even as an entrepreneur

16:34

, those first months

16:36

, maybe even first years , will

16:39

be some sleepless nights . It gives

16:41

me the nostalgia of dental

16:43

school , like the hustle , the grind

16:45

, having so much responsibility

16:47

and it's a lot . Because one

16:50

thing that they don't teach in

16:53

dental school I mean they kind of brush

16:55

over it but I don't think it's taken as serious

16:57

is entrepreneurship

16:59

business , and you already

17:02

know that this isn't taught really in high

17:04

school . It's really not taught

17:06

in college , unless you specifically

17:08

seek out that type of information

17:10

. So for me , I know that

17:12

my undergrad years at Florida

17:15

State University , even my

17:17

high school years at James

17:19

S Rickards High School , being in the International

17:21

Baccalaureate program , really

17:24

kind of helped me solidify a lot of things that I didn't learn in the hood . A

17:26

lot of things that I didn't learn in the hood , a

17:28

lot of things that I probably would have never learned

17:30

. Just being on a straight and narrow path , being

17:33

in those specific programs

17:35

, really shaped me as a young adult

17:37

, in IB and

17:39

then going to Florida State . It really helped

17:41

me catch on to the pace that

17:43

college really has . So

17:45

every level is going to get harder

17:48

and harder and harder . When you're in middle

17:50

school you have that feeling like dang , I'm

17:52

scared to go to high school . I know it's another level

17:54

. You have that anxiety . I was

17:56

the same way . When you get to high school you realize

17:59

it's not too bad , but it is another , it's

18:01

going to require more of

18:03

you , okay . So when I got to

18:05

high school in

18:08

ap classes , I was forced to get

18:10

into ib classes . See , god does

18:12

everything in his timing

18:14

. I did not want to do the program , I was

18:16

forced . God moved people

18:18

to put me in the program in 11th grade

18:21

. Right , dealing with that

18:23

. Going to college , going to florida

18:25

state , realizing , hey , I love

18:27

learning about science but my other brain

18:29

kind of wants to know some business

18:31

. I want to know the numbers , I want to know how the

18:33

business moves . But you know , being

18:36

a science major , taking organic

18:38

chemistry , taking biochemistry , physics

18:41

, one and two organic , one

18:43

and two anatomy , all these different

18:45

classes , you really have to

18:47

stay focused because this is where they weed you out

18:50

. But they also help build

18:52

your confidence and your skills to

18:54

prepare you for what's about

18:56

to hit you when you go into dental school . Okay

18:58

, in college I found time to take accounting

19:00

, um , some personal finance

19:02

classes , some business , but

19:04

it just wasn't enough to really call myself

19:07

business minded or entrepreneurship

19:09

. It was just like scraping

19:12

the surface . But nevertheless it

19:14

was a valuable experience Accounting

19:16

I will never forget . At

19:19

Florida State University , accounting was one

19:21

, accounting one and two , because I

19:23

wanted a business minor . So you have to take certain

19:25

classes and I was like , oh

19:27

my god , I never thought that math

19:30

, money , math could

19:32

be so confusing . It

19:34

was just so confusing to me back then . But

19:36

now I realize how important it is

19:38

and it really kind

19:41

of helps me out . Now I just have to learn more

19:43

. One funny thing that I'll point out

19:45

is Warren Buffett . He said what

19:47

is the one topic

19:49

that most people should

19:51

learn ? You know , if they're

19:54

doing business and they want to be an entrepreneur , and

19:56

that topic is accounting . It's

19:58

accounting , it's math , it's money

20:00

. Everything revolves around it . So that

20:02

experience in college really kind of helped me out

20:05

to this day . So just

20:07

being in this first year having to

20:09

deal with accounting , not really having

20:11

that experience in dental school because dental

20:13

school has me focused pretty much

20:15

95% on learning the body

20:18

, learning the mouth , learning the

20:20

teeth , learning the procedures , learning

20:23

the protocols , just learning so

20:25

much other than that . And they try to squeeze

20:27

it in , like with investing

20:29

, but not really entrepreneurship

20:32

overhead supplies

20:34

, anr accounts , receivable

20:36

topic , the kpis so all this stuff

20:39

opens up into a whole

20:41

new world . In the first year of your business

20:43

, you want to keep track of

20:45

your KPIs , all right

20:47

, your key performance indicators

20:50

. We're kind of talking

20:53

about a bunch of different things in this episode

20:55

, but the whole moral of the story is

20:58

being an entrepreneur is

21:00

a big risk . It's a big risk

21:03

and everybody's not

21:05

going to take it , but I want you guys to be motivated

21:07

, to be an innovator , to

21:09

be positive along your

21:11

journey and don't become negative

21:14

when things don't work out . So

21:16

this first year has been truly

21:18

a year of development . I think

21:20

when you're going through your first year of entrepreneurship

21:23

, this is the time for you to give yourself

21:25

some grace , go extra hard

21:27

and just always be

21:30

developing Every single day

21:32

. Think about how you can develop

21:34

more systems

21:36

for your business , more marketing

21:39

for your business , more advertisements

21:41

for your business , more products

21:43

, better services . And number one

21:45

one I would say is customer

21:48

service like that

21:50

is so huge . When you are

21:52

an entrepreneur , don't go too fast

21:54

and just take your time every day . So

21:57

during the

21:59

first six months

22:01

of being an entrepreneur , the things

22:04

that really hit me like a ton of bricks , especially

22:06

in the dental field , is

22:09

overhead . You know , this

22:11

is how much you have to subtract

22:13

from what you produce or what

22:15

you sell , the goods that you sell , to

22:17

pay the bills basically . So

22:19

that's one thing that you want to eliminate or

22:22

reduce is your overhead

22:24

. So if you made $10

22:26

off of this sale and

22:28

the supplies and the staff

22:30

, that percentage is like $6

22:32

. That means you're only making $4

22:35

on it . So dealing with

22:37

that , trying to align vendors

22:40

and speaking to patients and

22:42

just being the person who is

22:44

100% like

22:46

, and

22:51

just being the person who is 100% like

22:53

, the license falls on . It's a lot of pressure , it's a lot of stress

22:55

. There's so many legal requirements that come with it , from OSHA to HIPAA , to

22:57

the state requirements to the radiology

22:59

. It's just so much to

23:02

deal with . But the one thing

23:04

that I can say that it's worth it and

23:06

that you can do it and that you just have to stay

23:08

focused . Okay , entrepreneurs

23:11

really must have a totally

23:14

different level of confidence to

23:16

do something that is scary and that could

23:18

possibly not really work out

23:20

. A lot of the days here now

23:22

I feel like this

23:25

could possibly fail . This business could

23:27

fail , but I won't quit . That's

23:30

the big difference . Something could fail

23:32

, but the overall

23:34

goal is to not quit . It's

23:37

kind of like when I'm watching the WNBA

23:39

game . Sometimes I'm like dang . I know those

23:41

teams feel bad , they're losing , but

23:43

you still have to play to the very end

23:45

. You still have to complete the game , take

23:48

in that loss , go back

23:50

, develop new concepts , develop

23:53

new economic systems and develop

23:55

yourself so that you can get better and

23:57

win the next round . I would

23:59

say , um

24:02

, honestly , many days being an entrepreneur

24:05

, it feels stressful

24:08

, and that's one thing that

24:10

we don't want to have

24:13

every day is , you know

24:15

, taking on that stress , you really need

24:18

to have your faith really

24:20

high , know why you're doing

24:22

what you're doing and really pay

24:24

attention to the numbers . The numbers and

24:26

entrepreneurship is attention to the numbers . The numbers and entrepreneurship

24:28

is going to change your life . The

24:31

numbers meaning the taxes how

24:33

much are you charging

24:35

for your services and goods ? Like you

24:38

don't want to lowball , um

24:40

, you want to make sure you are matching the supply

24:43

and demand . So this has to deal with economics

24:45

when you talk about your supply and

24:47

your demand . So if your supply is really high

24:50

, maybe your prices are too high . Maybe you have to

24:52

come down a little bit and then , when

24:54

the demand goes up , you can increase your

24:56

prices because you

24:58

have more people wanting the supply

25:00

. So it's just like knowing

25:03

your worth is everything . That's the biggest

25:05

takeaway that

25:08

you can have being an entrepreneur and an

25:10

innovator . You must know your work

25:12

, because some people might know your work better

25:14

than you do and then they rip you off and

25:17

then listen . It's a bad

25:19

deal . So you want to know your worth and

25:22

constantly develop

25:24

your constantly develop that relationship

25:27

with yourself where you're not lowballing

25:29

yourself , getting cheated and feeling like it's not

25:31

worth it , because that's the worst

25:33

thing you can do . I can recall , you know , in

25:35

the beginning of opening this dental practice

25:37

I did not want to participate

25:40

with dental insurance . I

25:42

was so skeptical about it . I heard bad things

25:45

about it . I mean , everybody who was talking

25:47

to told me it was a bad idea

25:50

. Only take a couple . And I said you

25:52

know , I didn't want to do it . When you're first starting

25:54

, you have that fear . Like what if I don't have a patient

25:56

? What if nobody walks in the door ? Like

25:58

I remember our first day , we had

26:01

one patient , one patient

26:03

. It was an emergency from

26:06

the office that I was working at part time

26:08

. They sent me a patient and but we

26:10

always had a patient every day

26:12

. Show up and you know

26:15

, keep this thing and keep this dream rolling

26:17

. Um . So that's

26:19

the fear when you start am I going to have a customer

26:21

? Am I going to have a patient ? But realize , everybody

26:24

started from nothing . Everybody started

26:26

from zero . When it comes to entrepreneurship

26:28

, most people start from zero . Besides

26:30

the people who have legacy

26:33

, have parents . I'm not talking about those people

26:35

. I'm talking about people who come from

26:37

poverty , who look like me

26:39

. Take that leap of faith . Use that extra money that you have to invest in yourself

26:41

and invest in your business . You're going to have to go without the lashes . You're

26:43

going . You have to invest in yourself and

26:45

invest in your business . You're going

26:47

to have to go without the lashes . You're going to

26:49

have to go without the weave . You're going to have to go without

26:51

the fancy car . You're going to have to go

26:54

without the fancy vacation

26:56

, the expensive clothes and shoes for

26:58

a little while so that you can invest

27:00

and take that risk and accomplish

27:03

something greater , because nobody's

27:05

going to do it for us . No one is gonna wake up

27:07

tomorrow and just have it all together

27:09

. You have to at least put in that effort

27:11

and try . Stay away from negativity

27:14

, stay away from negative people who aren't , who

27:16

are in the room just to soak up gossip

27:20

and different things . You have

27:22

to stay focused , just

27:24

stay , stay focused . That's the biggest thing

27:26

about this is staying focused

27:29

. What can you innovate

27:31

today ? What ideas can you bring

27:34

to life today ? How can

27:36

you increase your branding , your presence

27:38

in the market ? How can you increase

27:40

your demand for your supply

27:42

and know your worth ? That's the biggest

27:45

thing ever that going and

27:47

taking all those insurances , I kind of lost

27:49

the value of my worth . I

27:51

was back into the hustle and bustle of

27:53

going really fast , trying to make , trying

27:56

to get the dollar because everything's so cheap

27:58

, dealing with the insurance , like I just got to

28:00

keep working faster and I was just back

28:02

into a spot where I felt like I was still in somebody

28:04

else's office . This was not

28:06

the idea that I had

28:09

in my mind . I did learn

28:11

this fastness , this

28:13

pace , from working in other

28:15

places , but this is not the idea that I

28:17

want for Motivational Dentistry , our

28:19

company . I don't want that for us

28:21

. I want us to be more relaxed , fivestar

28:24

service , customer service , luxury

28:27

, exquisite and treating people right , without

28:30

feeling like I have to do

28:32

what the insurance company says do ? I

28:34

don't want that . That's not autonomy , that's

28:37

more like , you know , being

28:39

a slave to a system . Okay , so

28:41

when you know your work , you'll say you know what . I don't

28:43

want to go and lay down

28:45

with the insurance companies . I want to be straight up

28:47

. I know my word . This this is what is worth

28:49

. The cost is the cost

28:52

. I can't suffer trying

28:55

to do it the way other people

28:57

did it . What is our value

28:59

? What are our goals ? What

29:02

is the mission that we're trying to accomplish here

29:04

? How do I want this to look ? What do we want

29:06

to do ? How can we create

29:08

economic value ? That's

29:11

the thing you want to create economic value

29:13

so that you can continue growing

29:16

, so that you can have a better lifestyle and

29:18

really change the trajectory

29:21

of your life . It's not going to happen

29:23

overnight , guys . It's just not going

29:25

to happen overnight . It's

29:28

not gonna happen overnight , guys . It's just not gonna happen

29:30

overnight . Worship journey for me to now . I'm still going . I'm

29:32

still in the mud . I'll be honest

29:34

, I'm still in the mud . I'm still trying

29:36

to figure it out , but one thing I refuse

29:38

to do is quit . So the

29:41

moral of the story do not

29:43

quit if you are entrepreneur

29:46

out there . Take it a day at a time

29:48

. Learn your key performance indicators

29:51

, learn the numbers , learn

29:53

some accounting , Do the math

29:55

and just continue to develop

29:58

your ideas . Continue to come

30:00

up with systems and strategies and

30:03

new ways to make everything

30:05

that you're doing pop . One

30:08

thing we have to get out is the , the

30:11

expectations that it's going to be perfect

30:13

, expectations that you're going to make a million dollars

30:15

in the first week first year . These

30:18

things are very , very rare . You have to

30:20

just keep going , keep

30:22

your head down and stay focused . This

30:24

has been like a little glimpse into my

30:26

journey as an entrepreneur

30:29

, like an official entrepreneur

30:31

in my career . Of

30:33

course , I've sold stuff done

30:35

here , um , in the past

30:37

I did a lot of

30:39

different things in the past to make money , but

30:41

it really wasn't career

30:44

focused . It was more like to make money so

30:46

I can get to my career . Now I'm

30:48

in this career trying

30:50

to see the light on the other side

30:52

of it being an entrepreneur , knowing

30:54

all the risks , knowing that I could fail

30:57

every day . Guys , I could actually literally

30:59

fail with this business

31:01

. This is like a moment of transparency

31:04

. Every day I'm

31:06

just like wow , I don't know if

31:08

this is gonna fail . I don't

31:10

know . And I had a conversation with a family

31:12

member and they told me well , if it fell , you could just go work

31:14

for somebody else . And I I'm like God

31:17

, please don't make this fail , because that ain't

31:19

the type of energy I want . I don't want

31:21

to hear , oh , if it fell , then you

31:23

could just go back and no , no , no , no , no . That's

31:25

why everybody is different . I don't want it to

31:27

fail . I'm

31:38

praying and praying every day and doing the hard work , of course

31:41

, and just trying to figure everything out um , because there's so many

31:43

levels to this , like um , overhead , marketing , team building

31:45

, hiring , hr . Like osha

31:48

, hipa , state

31:50

compliance , workers

31:52

comp , safety , um

31:55

, keeping the lights on the water

31:58

, the equipment , the supplies

32:00

dealing with patients , prescriptions , pharmacies

32:03

, referrals . It just goes

32:05

like so , so , so

32:07

, so deep . And I know that

32:10

God prepared me for this moment

32:12

. God prepared you for

32:14

this moment . God prepared you

32:16

to receive this energy , to

32:19

receive this positive vibes , to

32:21

use this as a sign to

32:23

just keep going

32:25

or if you haven't started , you

32:27

need to start . You need to start . You

32:30

can't fail , you need to start

32:32

. Create that economic

32:34

value in your life . Break those

32:37

generational curses because they are

32:39

. They have like a big , they have

32:41

you in the death grip . You

32:43

can't , you feel like you can't get out . It's

32:45

all a lie . Today is

32:47

the day you break that generational curse mentally

32:50

. It all starts mentally , not physically

32:52

. Don't worry about the things that you can't

32:54

have or the things that you don't have

32:56

, the things that you can't see . The things that

32:58

you want are the things that you need that

33:00

you don't have . Break that generational

33:03

curse first , mentally

33:06

. That's the biggest battle is just believing

33:09

in yourself . Once you believe in

33:11

yourself and once you know that , regardless

33:13

of what the outside people say , regardless

33:15

of what the haters say , regardless of what the naysayers

33:18

say , I'm gonna believe in myself

33:20

and give it my all and be the best that

33:22

I can be . Listen

33:24

, nothing can stop

33:26

you . I mean , tell me who can stop you . Tell

33:28

me who can stop somebody who is on a mission

33:31

to accomplish their goals , start

33:33

their business . Take it a day

33:35

at a time . Go hard every day and

33:38

not give up when things don't go according

33:41

to your plan , okay . So

33:43

we're going to break those generational curses

33:45

, we're going to create that generational wealth

33:47

and that economic value

33:49

and we are building

33:52

generational knowledge , all

33:54

right . So , you

33:56

guys , until the next

33:58

podcast , it's been great chatting

34:01

with you all about entrepreneurship

34:04

. I hope that you stay motivated . I

34:06

hope that you stay focused . I hope

34:08

that you just rise above all

34:10

the obstacles and all the BS that

34:12

life dish when you were born . I

34:15

hope that you overcome all of that . Get

34:17

rid of anything in your life that

34:20

has been holding you back

34:22

. All right , all

34:24

aboard the Hood to

34:27

Hooded Express . Baby , we

34:30

are going somewhere we like flying

34:34

All right . We flying where

34:43

we like flying all right , we flying . Let me be your . Let me be like the

34:45

example for you that you can overcome anything

34:47

. You can overcome anything . You can overcome anything

34:50

. What's your problem

34:53

? Tell me what it is , write it down

34:55

on paper . You can overcome that . I

34:57

don't care what it is . You can overcome it

34:59

. But you got to be mentally there

35:01

. You got to be mentally prepared . You got to be mentally

35:03

ready . You can't wake up with the excuses

35:05

, so I blame other people . Get your

35:08

together . Okay , get

35:10

it together . It's time to get it together

35:12

. It's time to live your best life . It's time

35:14

to be happy . It's time . It's

35:17

time to stand on business . It's

35:21

time to stand on business , y'all . Don't

35:29

play with it . Don't play with

35:31

it , especially the way this economy is going . Don't

35:38

play with it , don't play with it . But that's enough for this podcast

35:40

. I will see y'all in the next podcast . This is Dr Shon , the Motivational

35:42

Dentist baby , and I'm

35:44

living unapologetically , dreaming

35:46

unapologetically and just doing

35:48

what I want to do every day

35:50

to continue to pursue

35:52

my purpose . And I see you guys , positive

35:55

vibes , wherever you are . If

35:58

you made it to the end of this podcast

36:00

, I thank you . Please , please

36:03

, go ahead and rate

36:05

our podcast five stars . Give

36:08

me five stars wherever . That's the free

36:10

thing that you can do . And if you really really

36:12

love it , want to see me put out more content faster

36:14

well , not faster , but with quality

36:16

, go ahead and be a subscriber

36:19

. It's only three dollars per month

36:21

. And if you can't do that , just

36:23

share the love , just share

36:25

the podcast . Leave some comments

36:28

. Let me know what you want to hear in that

36:30

in the next podcast that can help

36:32

us grow from hood

36:34

to hooded . Alright

36:36

, it's been a pleasure . I'm

36:39

going to get off of here and I will

36:41

see y'all in the next episode . Peace

36:47

and you . You

36:49

got this , you

36:51

got this !