0:00

Whether you're working for someone or

0:02

you're starting your own business , people

0:04

are going to be involved . You're going to have

0:06

to solve people's problems . So if

0:08

you learn how to interact and I think that's

0:10

what has helped me just from conversations

0:12

relationship building is that I've been

0:14

around people for years . So

0:17

now whenever I'm speaking to people , I feel like I've

0:19

been in situations before . I've been in awkward

0:21

situations and know how to kind of smooth

0:23

things out , and that's just super important

0:25

.

0:26

The journey to wealth is a long walk and

0:28

some may walk quicker than others , but what good

0:30

is sprinting to the finish line if you pass out

0:32

when you cross it ? On Walk to Wealth

0:35

, we enlighten and empower young adults

0:37

to build wealthy , abundant lives

0:39

. They say the journey of a thousand

0:41

miles begins with a single step and

0:43

your first step starts right now

0:46

. This is Walk to Wealth

0:48

with your host , john Mendez

0:50

. Hey , everyone , welcome back to the Walk

0:53

to Wealth podcast .

0:54

If you're tuning in on YouTube or any of the podcast

0:56

directories , make sure to do yourself

0:58

one teeny , tiny little favor and make sure

1:00

to give us a follow , because I don't want you

1:02

to miss out on any of the amazing

1:04

guests I got coming on Without further ado . I

1:06

got a special one this guy I was able to meet at

1:08

FinCon and for a lot of people that are scared

1:10

to go to conferences , scared to invest in themselves , it's

1:13

like you're missing out on the amazing

1:15

people you could potentially meet , and so I highly

1:18

recommend it Without further ado . Man

1:20

Hasan , tell us your elevator pitch . Who

1:22

are you and what do you do for the people who haven't

1:24

had the opportunity and the pleasure to get to

1:26

meet you yet ?

1:32

For sure brother , for sure brother . So my name is Hasan Thomas . I keep it short

1:34

and sweet because I want to get right into the gyms providing value for everybody

1:36

. But , like I said , my name is Hasan Thomas . I'm the CEO

1:38

and founder of FYI . Fly I'm

1:41

a financial literacy speaker . Author

1:43

. Fly

1:47

I'm a financial literacy speaker , author , podcaster got into the game in 2020

1:49

, went from college to COVID , then started my podcast Last year . We

1:51

won podcast of the year at the Southern Entertainment

1:54

Awards . This year . My book From

1:56

College to COVID to Recession hit

1:58

number one on economic finance

2:00

on Amazon . Started really speaking

2:03

this year . So I'm just ready to rock and

2:05

provide as much value for everybody . Listening

2:07

bro .

2:08

That's a seven Before everything that you

2:10

got popping off . Now , man , take us back

2:12

in a time machine , man . What was little Hassan

2:14

like growing up ? Were you the typical entrepreneur

2:17

, or what were you like growing up , man ? Where did

2:19

this all come from ?

2:20

For sure , For sure . So I was literally a football

2:22

player . I had football dreams , just like a lot , just

2:25

like we probably both did . Well , I know we

2:27

both did . Started with the football

2:29

man . My dad played football at Marshall

2:31

and that's really

2:33

where I wanted , that's where I saw

2:35

, and just from the stories that my mom told me as a

2:46

kid , I remember we moved to Texas

2:48

it was just me and my mom when I was

2:50

four and I was taking a

2:53

train . So now I'm like I would

2:55

say I'm about eight and it's the summer

2:57

and I'm taking a train to Florida to meet

2:59

the rest of my family for

3:01

like a summer vacation and

3:03

we're taking this trip and it's like a 26

3:05

hour train ride to Florida

3:07

. So me and

3:10

this is how I knew I was like business oriented

3:12

from the story that my mom told me . She

3:14

said I literally planned out how

3:17

many hours I was going to play on my PSP

3:19

. Hopefully y'all remember PSP

3:21

, but if you don't , it's like a portable

3:24

PlayStation . So it's kind

3:26

of like a Game Boy but a PSP . So

3:28

I planned out how many hours I would play

3:30

on my PSP and then I mapped

3:33

and diversified how many movies

3:35

I would watch on my portable DVD

3:38

player . So when my mom told

3:40

me that story , bro , I was like okay

3:42

, I , maybe I was born for this business stuff

3:44

.

3:45

Yeah no , that's crazy . I honestly

3:47

I haven't even heard of a psp in so long

3:49

I almost forgot they existed . But I ain't

3:51

have one . I had for me growing up . My

3:53

first was I had a . I had a game boy

3:56

and then from there upgraded to the game

3:58

cube . From there I upgraded to

4:00

the wii and then , uh , my

4:02

boy he had . They had like the ps1 , ps2 , ps3 , from my . From the wii

4:04

, though , I went to xbox 360 , and then , my boy , they had the PS1 , ps2 , ps3. , from the

4:06

Wii , though , I went to Xbox 360 , and

4:09

then I ended up getting the Xbox One . And

4:11

then , when I went to college , I stopped gaming . Growing

4:15

up , bro , all I did was play

4:17

video games , bro . I remember

4:19

playing Mario Kart Yo , you going crazy

4:21

. Mario Kart . Super Mario Bros , smash

4:24

Brothers yeah , bro .

4:26

All the Dragon Ball Z games , bro , the Naruto

4:28

games , the old Madden bro

4:30

, it's so cool that

4:32

my little brother is 10 and he's

4:34

playing all the same games that I played

4:36

the One Pieces , the Naruto's

4:39

, the Dragon Ball Z's . Unfortunately

4:43

, I would have to say , he beat me for

4:45

the first time in 2k , but I'm

4:47

about to get my revenge . Don't you worry us

4:49

, thomas's , we don't lose twice we

4:51

don't lose twice yeah

4:53

, yeah , that's what's up , man .

4:55

So . So you always kind of had like that mindset

4:57

and you said you played football . So high school

4:59

, what was that like ? So did the

5:01

business mindset evolve or did it kind

5:03

of get swept under the rug for a little

5:06

bit ? What was it like in high school ? Did you

5:08

let that flourish and grow or did you lose

5:10

?

5:10

it For sure

5:12

? That's a good question , bro . So I went to high school

5:14

out in Texas and if you know anything about Texas

5:17

football , we live , eat , breathe

5:19

football in the state of Texas . So

5:22

I played football at Spring High School

5:24

, 6a school , 3,500 students

5:26

. Not only did I play football

5:28

, but I worked . My freshman year , freshman

5:31

sophomore year , I worked at Kroger , which

5:33

is a grocery store for some of those

5:35

who may not know . And then my

5:37

junior and senior year I worked at JCPenney

5:39

. So I graduated

5:42

college I mean I graduated high school

5:44

with a 4.6 GPA

5:46

. I

5:49

was number 69 in

5:51

my class , no jokes on that . I was number

5:53

69 in

5:56

my class , so did pretty well there

5:58

. In the academic side , ended

6:00

up getting a scholarship my senior

6:02

year to go to Maryville College in Tennessee

6:05

. I don't know if you can see , but I have a little

6:07

, a little small ring around my neck

6:10

. That's why I won , that's what we

6:12

won the championship in college

6:14

. So just to answer your question , bro

6:16

, I was still working , still

6:18

getting experience , and I honestly , I think for everybody

6:21

listening , try to make sure

6:23

that you're going out there and you're getting

6:25

experiences and you're working with people

6:27

. A lot of people say you

6:29

know , especially we don't like people , we don't like to talk to

6:31

people , but honestly and you can attest from

6:33

this , whether you're working for

6:35

someone or you're starting your own

6:37

business , people are going

6:40

to be involved . You're

6:43

going to have to solve people's problems . So if you learn how to interact

6:45

and I think that's what has helped me

6:48

just from conversations relationship

6:50

building is that I've been around

6:52

people for years , being

6:54

on sports teams and then going

6:56

to high school and working for

6:59

all four years of my high school . So

7:01

now , whenever I'm speaking to people , I feel like I've

7:03

been in situations before . I've been in awkward

7:06

situations and know how to kind of smooth

7:08

things out , and that's just super important

7:10

, bro . So I think that's important , would

7:12

you say . Would you agree that , like the communication

7:15

and the soft skills is something that's important

7:17

as well ?

7:18

No , a hundred percent . I feel like for me . I

7:20

worked at a restaurant during the pandemic and

7:22

I just quit this past June , in June , june

7:25

2023 . And it

7:27

was for me , one of the , at first

7:30

, most awkward experiences going to tables

7:32

, because I started off as a busser . So I'm over here going

7:34

to tables like hey , are you , are you done with your food ? And

7:36

like , awkwardly , walking up to these

7:38

tables . They over here enjoying their

7:40

conversations with their families Right

7:43

, they're talking to you know , mid conversations

7:45

and I'm over here interrupting them

7:47

mid meal . Some of them still got food in their mouth

7:49

just to like , take some of the dirty plates off their

7:51

table . It's weird at first , bro , talking

7:53

to people , and I was always pretty extroverted

7:56

, but , like , if people are already in mid conversation

7:58

, I don't like to interrupt people's conversations , and

8:00

so it's like it was one of those

8:02

things that took me a minute to get used to and then from

8:05

there I started food running and

8:07

then in the kitchen , everyone speaks spanish

8:09

, so thank god I'm bilingual , but I wasn't like

8:11

fluent , fluent , like that you feel me

8:13

like I can get by , but like

8:15

, if you want to ask me about , like

8:17

, my dreams , my life and things I had going

8:19

on . Yeah , I don't know , man , I could tell

8:21

you a couple things , things in Spanish , but

8:23

and it keeps the conversation going but like have

8:25

deep conversation with like the guys in the kitchen

8:28

and like at high speeds , cause , as you know , like

8:30

working in some of these spots , like

8:32

when it get busy it gets moving , you can talk to

8:34

a lot of people a lot of time , bro

8:36

. And so for me , my

8:39

communication skills they

8:45

really first started to develop and my soft skills I used to do monologue for my church

8:47

and so that kind of got me into like speaking pretty early on , like around fifth , fourth

8:50

grade , and I caught one of the two first place

8:52

trophies and then from there , in terms of working with

8:54

people , I started playing sports around middle school

8:56

. So I started off with baseball and then from there moved to basketball

8:58

, football and I ran with those two and then from

9:00

there , um , I didn't , I caddied

9:03

, but that was like pretty , I four caddied

9:05

, so I was always away from the group

9:07

. It was kind of isolated . It was good money , though very

9:10

calm I say had to be money

9:13

. It's real good money . I would make like 160

9:15

as like a as a sophomore

9:17

junior in high school , 160 in

9:20

five hours , paid cash right there in the spot

9:22

and like and then go about my business

9:24

, head back home and I have . You know

9:26

my grandma she cooked . You know I live in a Dominican

9:28

household , so I get home food

9:31

cooked for me and , you know

9:33

, enjoy the rest of my Saturday . I'll be done by like 2

9:35

o'clock .

9:36

So , high school , bro , what were

9:38

you spending your money on ? Because

9:40

I want to know after you , I'll go after

9:42

you . But what were you spending your money on ? Because you was banking

9:44

in high school . I ain't going to lie to you . You were 60 a

9:47

day .

9:49

Bro , so I spent my money on . So

9:52

I had to start paying my phone because

9:54

my friends got me a phone so I didn't have . We

9:56

was like we didn't have money growing up like that . So

9:58

my friends got me my first phone for my 16th birthday

10:01

. So it was that ? that's some real ones bro

10:03

, oh dear , and I'm paying for

10:06

the bus and stuff like that to

10:08

get to and from caddy in um

10:10

, from there , some

10:12

clothes and honestly , probably

10:15

a lot of it did go into

10:17

like games . Not gonna lie to you . Um

10:20

, yeah , I'm gonna lie to you . A

10:22

lot of it went into my xbox , but

10:25

for the most part that was pretty much because I

10:27

was never really into clothes or designing anything

10:29

. I'm still not , honestly , so I wasn't

10:31

spending money much on clothes . It was more soldiers . You

10:34

know , I remember I bought my first chain

10:36

, bro . Yo , I bought my first chain

10:39

for my for my birthday . The same birthday I

10:41

got the phone , bro . Yeah , it was at

10:43

the some like outlets . It's called

10:45

a Palisade in New York . I'm

10:47

going to rock out the first chain , bro . I ain't know

10:49

, though , that freaking chain was dumb , fake . I

10:53

didn't realize until two weeks after when it started turning brown

10:55

. But , yo , I caught that joint

10:57

, bro , I was in the mirror . I'm like , oh shit , you was

10:59

rocking that thing every day . I'm sorry

11:01

thing . Every day I was

11:04

rocking that joint every day in school

11:06

, bro , I was lit .

11:37

That's too funny , bro . That's too funny . I

11:40

was the same way man , but

11:42

we was in Texas , so I ain't gonna lie

11:44

. In Texas we was partying in middle school

11:47

, so

11:49

once high school came , we were doing a little bit

11:51

more partying , so money was spent

11:53

on that . Money was definitely

11:56

spent on fast food I will say

11:58

, can't even lie to you but

12:00

also shoes and things of that nature

12:02

. But my , it was crazy . My dad

12:04

, he told me to save 50%

12:07

of my income that I was making in high school

12:09

. I didn't , I didn't being

12:11

honest . But looking back

12:13

, bro , I really believe that

12:15

if he would have told me , not

12:18

only just to do it , but why I

12:20

should be doing it and

12:23

the big benefit of doing it , like the pro

12:25

of doing it , the

12:29

con and the downfall of

12:32

not saving that money and

12:34

where I could be when I get to college and not

12:36

having you know , not having money

12:38

to eat sometimes and not having you

12:40

know the different things that I didn't have in college

12:42

due to not having the amount of money

12:44

that I wanted to in that early age . So

12:47

I just think , for everybody listening , you

12:49

got to also think about you know

12:51

the pros and the good things of doing . You know

12:53

what's behind me , this money activities but

12:56

you also got to think about the cons

12:58

and the negative of not

13:00

doing the positive money

13:02

, being responsible with your money and

13:04

stuff like that .

13:05

No , a hundred percent . I feel like one of the

13:07

things that I'm so glad I learned a

13:09

little earlier on and not to say that I got into

13:11

investing super quickly , but one of the cons

13:13

that I learned was opportunity cost , bro .

13:16

It's like what else could I be doing ?

13:18

And a lot of people just fuck through the hard costs , like

13:20

, okay , this says $10 . I'm spending

13:22

$10 . But it's also like what could you

13:24

have done with that $10 ? Or let's say , you buy

13:26

a $10 ticket to a concert , right , and

13:29

you're at the concert , the concert's two hours , so

13:31

now it's not just $10 you spent , it's $10

13:34

, plus what you could have spent the $10

13:36

on , plus the two hours that you're spending there

13:38

. You feel me ? Plus the travel time . So

13:44

now it's like the actual cost is way more than that little $10 . So , although

13:46

you didn't spend much , you're spending a whole lot because

13:48

of all the other costs that you're not factoring in

13:50

, and it's like going to college bro . So

13:53

for me , I still didn't , and I

13:55

want to ask you too as well after this , in terms of like , when

13:57

you start learning about money . But my first year in

13:59

college was 2019

14:01

, into 2020 . And so when I was there

14:04

I had to get real scrappy because I was about

14:06

two hours away so I couldn't go home to caddy . It

14:08

wouldn't have made sense . I would spend most of my

14:10

money probably taking the train back and forth , right

14:13

. And so I

14:16

was in college and I remember when

14:19

my meal plan would run out and

14:21

there was no food to eat , I would

14:23

find other people and we had at

14:25

UConn we had like swipes that we could use

14:28

for it was like it's called grab and go and

14:30

you had like a certain number of swipes that you can use

14:32

at grab and go to get like wraps

14:34

and sandwiches . And so whenever mine

14:36

would run out , I

14:39

have friends who I knew didn't use all their joints and

14:42

find them and I was trying to make and we had to get

14:44

real scrappy . Me and my boy Eson , we was

14:46

getting real scrappy in college to find food

14:49

and make . I used to work at a dining hall too

14:51

. I had to work at a dining hall too . I had a work study , so

14:53

like sometimes they were blessed with the

14:55

food , so I would pack like two , three little

14:58

bins of food , bro , yeah , right .

14:59

Because we didn't have the money .

15:01

We had to get real scrappy and think outside the box

15:03

to try to make ends meet

15:05

. We was in college Like that broke college student

15:07

, it's not a joke , bro , it's

15:09

real bro , we were struggling out there

15:11

.

15:12

Bro , that reminds me we

15:14

used to go to this Hispanic , this Mexican

15:16

restaurant called

15:19

Los Margaritas . We used to call it Los Margs

15:21

and , bro , when I tell you

15:23

, they have free chips and queso , so

15:26

I played safety , as I

15:28

was telling you , I played safety , and me and another safety

15:30

on the team , a football player , we

15:33

used to go , bro , we would get the free

15:35

chips , the free queso , get

15:37

the free water and just leave

15:39

like a $5 tip . But we would get full

15:42

off the free

15:44

stuff and , of course , still leave a tip for the waiter

15:46

. But , man , we spending , you know , $5

15:49

compared to $25 or $30

15:51

if we would have got a full meal but we was

15:53

chips and queso , was busted , that free water

15:55

.

15:58

I still remember that . Again , you

16:01

get real creative in college . I was in there coming

16:04

up with some

16:06

meals you ain't never heard of , bro , that you would never

16:08

find in a recipe book . I was

16:10

mixing stuff together . I was cooking up , trying

16:13

to make ends meet in college . For me , the pandemic is when I started

16:15

to wake up because I was mixing stuff together . I was cooking up trying to make ends meet in college . So for me , the pandemic is when I started to wake up right , because

16:17

I was in online classes . This is not my sophomore year

16:19

. I read Rich Dad , poor Dad , and that's how I

16:21

started learning about money , right , that's how I got serious

16:23

about that . And then I started going on YouTube University

16:25

and looking up everything I could on personal

16:28

finance credit cards . My second book I

16:30

read was Intro

16:32

to Index Funds for Dummies , and then

16:34

that book taught me a little something and the

16:36

third book I read was I Will Teach you to

16:38

Be Rich by Ramit Sethi and I once

16:40

I read that book and he talked about like the Chase Sapphire

16:43

Preferred Car and like Points and Miles

16:45

. I was like , oh nah , like there's

16:47

a whole game out there I don't know nothing

16:49

about . Like I got to start tapping in because

16:51

there's people out there like really

16:54

making the most of a lot of this personal

16:56

finance stuff and I'm over here like I

16:58

don't know none of this stuff and I'm in college paying

17:00

tuition , not learning any stuff . So

17:02

like what was that epiphany for you , where you kind of just

17:04

woke up to the world and started like really

17:06

getting into money and finance and

17:09

what you got going on now ?

17:10

Mm . Hmm , yeah , that's a good , that's a great question

17:13

, bro . And for me , I graduated

17:15

during 2020 , during COVID

17:18

, and that's why you know the book series is from

17:20

college to COVID , because that's what really

17:22

happened and so

17:25

how I really got my full , full

17:27

start , like I said , I was always

17:29

business minded , business oriented , but

17:32

I was writing my senior thesis

17:34

over financial literacy after I tore my meniscus

17:36

, my senior year playing football . So this is 2019

17:40

. And I was writing my

17:42

senior thesis , telling everybody like , hey , and

17:44

the thesis for anybody who may not know thesis

17:46

is like a research paper . So I was writing my senior

17:48

research paper and I

17:51

was telling everybody I'm going to write this research

17:53

paper , get an A on it and then turn

17:55

it into a book for teens

17:58

and stuff to know how to manage their money . I

18:00

was telling everybody that . Then my cousin was like

18:02

that's a good idea , bro , but I think you should

18:04

start a podcast . I was like , hmm

18:07

, a podcast . So

18:09

literally I kept that a secret

18:11

and this is a gem for anybody else

18:13

as well . Whenever you're about to release something

18:15

, keep it a secret and that's a . This is a gem for anybody else as well . Whenever

18:18

you're about to release something , keep it a secret , don't tell nobody why you're working on

18:20

it , build it , work on it on the low and then

18:22

, whenever you're ready , boom , pop out

18:24

with it . So that's literally

18:26

what I did , bro . Uh , this was

18:28

september of 2019 , like I said , when

18:30

I tore my meniscus , I started doing

18:32

research on a podcast , how to start one

18:34

, started listening to other people's podcasts

18:37

to see how I wanted to do mine , see

18:39

what I liked , see what I didn't like , what I was

18:41

going to stay away from , and

18:43

then , in April of 2020

18:46

, I actually released my podcast

18:48

on my birthday . Another

18:50

gym release things on your birthday

18:53

. You know why ? Because that's

18:55

when people like you the most , on your birthday , people

18:57

will support you more . So I

18:59

released it . But , getting to your question , bro

19:01

, how I really started to learn about financial

19:04

literacy was from the podcast I

19:06

interviewed . My first season , I

19:09

interviewed about 25 different guests

19:11

and you'll hear me compared to

19:13

me now and in my third year my

19:15

first year , bro I'm just strictly

19:18

asking questions because I have

19:20

no idea . You know a podcaster

19:22

, they're supposed to ask questions and then provide

19:24

value , provide some insight . In 2020

19:27

, I didn't have no value . I didn't

19:29

have , no , I didn't have no insight

19:31

. So I'm'm literally just asking questions

19:34

, getting the answer and

19:41

then asking another question because I don't have no value to spill . But now you got to think

19:43

about it . I've asked the questions , I've taken the questions

19:45

and edited the interview , because I still edit my own

19:47

podcast . So I'm editing

19:50

it , so I'm getting that information even more . Then

19:52

I'm writing their biggest lessons down and

19:54

then I turn their biggest lessons into two

19:56

books . So all of this information

19:59

, I'm getting it . Getting it , getting it and the repetition

20:01

, just like with sports , I'm getting my

20:03

reps in , I'm getting my reps in and now I'm

20:06

not going to say well

20:08

, honestly , I'll put in you need

20:10

your 10,000 hours to become an expert and I'll put

20:13

in more than 10,000 hours . So you

20:15

know , humbly , I would say that I'm an expert . I'm

20:17

certified to teach personal finance . So

20:19

that's where everything really got my start , bro

20:22

2019 , starting my podcast

20:24

, interviewing

20:29

these great guests and actually not just learning the information , but applying and implementing

20:31

the information that I learned .

20:32

No , a hundred percent , man . And you mentioned a couple

20:34

more gems that , aside from the first

20:36

two , the first one you said let your arrival be the

20:38

announcement , right ? Don't tell people

20:40

that you're going to Cancun when you're on the flight

20:42

, just pop out bam

20:46

. Cancun , like you feel me , and that's one part where

20:49

it can get hard , because , especially being

20:51

that , you know , entrepreneur

20:53

type , we put a lot of work into

20:55

a lot of the things we got cooking up . And it's like

20:57

, as we start to make some progress , we

21:00

get excited , we want to tell people , and

21:02

that's something I struggle with myself is like I'll

21:04

be sharing , and I don't share with the world but just with , like

21:06

, my close circle . But even still , like , sometimes

21:09

you got to share too soon and you count your eggs before they

21:11

hatch and then things don't go out as planned

21:13

. And then now you , you know , now

21:15

you feel bad , now you feel disappointed

21:17

, embarrassed , you might feel a little shame , because

21:20

you was telling X , y , z and it

21:22

ain't play out the way . And I always

21:24

say that you know God , we make

21:26

plans and God laughs because

21:28

we think we got a soul figured out Right

21:32

, we think we got everything drawn up to a T , like this is how exactly I was going to go . And then

21:35

a little twist happened in there and boom , and the

21:37

whole plan it takes a

21:39

turn for the left , right , and so that's

21:42

one of my first nuggets . And then the second one you mentioned

21:44

is , too , on your birthday . So this

21:46

year , my birthday , I did a happy

21:49

hour networking event , for no reason

21:51

other than why not ? It's my birthday . And

21:53

we ended up we my friend

21:56

, she's an event coordinator at the restaurant and

21:58

she was like the last one , we planned for 35

22:00

and or for 30 and we got 35

22:02

. And this one she was like John , you sure you don't want to do 40 ? I

22:05

was like , man , book me for

22:07

60 . And she was like John

22:09

, I'm going to book you for 40 . All right , we ended

22:11

up getting 60 . Anyways , bro , we freaking , that

22:13

was lit . I had my boy with the drone come in

22:15

. Um . Another thing , barter

22:18

. Right , you got a barter , bro , if you

22:20

got someone who does something that you need help with and

22:22

you can put them onto connections . So I'm licensed

22:24

real estate but I don't focus on

22:26

selling houses . I stopped over a year ago but

22:29

, I know mad heads in real estate from

22:31

my time when I was focusing it . He does real

22:33

estate videography and photography , so-

22:35

.

22:36

With the drone ?

22:37

Yeah , and so he'd be doing my events

22:39

, the videography for my events , and I'd

22:41

be putting them on to any and every realtor

22:43

that I know , and so it's like find

22:45

ways like that that you can help

22:47

your people grow around you .

22:49

It's just like what you mentioned earlier , bro

22:51

, what we mentioned with the value exchange . Like

22:54

you put out there to the world hey

22:56

, if you take me out to dinner , you take me out

22:58

to brunch . I teach you everything I

23:00

know about AI and you had five

23:02

people hit you up because it's a value

23:05

exchange . So for everybody listening

23:07

, I think where you can you know the gym that

23:09

you can take from that is , if you build

23:11

up enough value within yourself

23:13

, then you can now , um

23:15

, you can now kind of apply that to the

23:17

world and people will want

23:19

to use you for that value . But

23:22

you just got to make sure it's a win-win and you're

23:24

not getting used , like John

23:26

said , bartering , exchanging . You

23:28

know it's a win-win for everybody .

23:30

Yeah , 100% . And then the third gem I want

23:32

to really highlight is that you

23:34

started a podcast and you were just asking people

23:36

questions . This is like the

23:39

best gem on the planet , bro . Podcasting

23:41

is so underrated yo . It

23:44

is literally free one-on-one coaching

23:46

. There's no other industry where you're

23:48

actually

23:54

better when you don't know anything

23:56

. Like when you don't know

23:58

anything , you're just coming from curiosity and

24:00

like you're asking these crazy questions and these

24:03

deep questions because , like you genuinely

24:05

don't know nothing , so you got it . You try to like

24:07

learn and soak up all the information and

24:09

you asking these questions then brings out better

24:11

responses from the people you're interviewing . And

24:13

then people get to hear that and it's

24:15

like you're in a state where it's

24:17

like it's just like , as you get more into podcasting

24:20

, it's kind of that balance between you know , providing that insight

24:22

as well . But I also maintain like that childlike

24:24

curiosity from back when you didn't know anything , cause

24:27

that's when you ask the most thought provoking questions

24:29

and , like I

24:36

always tell people , if you want to do something , just go start a podcast . Like a camera , like you

24:38

have a laptop it was built in and you have headphones right , you can use that as a mic

24:40

, hop on a zoom call . It's free for

24:42

40 minutes so you can hop on a 30 minute

24:45

interviews on zoom and then you can upload

24:47

that to YouTube for free , send them the raw

24:49

file so they can clip up the footage they needed . Right

24:52

, and that's your quote unquote podcast

24:54

. But in reality , you just want to

24:56

interview 10 people in your industry to figure out

24:58

whether or not that's something you want to do or not , right

25:00

, and then go from there . So you

25:02

said something about putting in the 10,000

25:05

hours in and getting into . You

25:07

know for the financial literacy , so let's

25:09

talk about it now . So you're going

25:11

around to colleges and campuses . You're teaching students

25:14

and people of all different ages about

25:16

money . So it's like , what

25:19

makes your approach different ? Like , how do you find

25:21

your zone in a spot that

25:24

everybody's kind of in ? Everybody's talking

25:26

about money ? Now , money is like the

25:28

thing that everyone is just like everyone

25:30

wants to be in the personal finance space

25:32

. So , like , how do you find your unique zone

25:35

that allow you to thrive

25:37

and flourish ?

25:38

That's a great question , bro , and

25:41

I think about

25:43

this because I'm real big into longevity Right

25:45

now . I think my youth

25:47

definitely helps me , but I

25:50

have to take it further than my youth

25:52

, because I'm not going to be a youth forever . You

25:54

know what I mean , and I want to make sure that I'm around

25:57

for a long time . So I really focus on

25:59

the connectedness

26:02

with the audience . I really focus

26:04

on making it a conversation

26:06

. Whenever I was watching something

26:09

on YouTube YouTube University and

26:12

the speaker said you make

26:14

it . Whenever you're speaking

26:17

to an audience , you make it one big

26:19

conversation . You're having one big conversation

26:21

with a lot of people . When I heard that

26:23

, things instantly changed for me

26:25

. So now I'm not talking

26:27

at students , I'm not lecturing

26:31

them , I'm talking with them and

26:34

it's a one big conversation . Now everybody feels

26:36

like they're involved . So that's

26:39

one of the things that I try to make sure that I do . But

26:41

also the energy , bro . I

26:43

bring the energy because , as I was telling

26:45

you when we were talking , the only two times that

26:48

I don't think or that

26:50

I act just off instinct is when

26:52

I was playing running back in college and

26:54

when I'm up there speaking in front of people . So

26:57

it's just natural energy , they

26:59

feel it , it's authentic . So I think that's

27:01

what really separates me from

27:03

my counterparts

27:06

is that I try to make it

27:08

one big conversation

27:11

relating with them and wherever they're at

27:13

, but also just being real with

27:15

them and also letting them know , like

27:17

I said earlier , the major pros

27:19

but also the cons . So I can't just

27:21

come because the information is one thing

27:24

, but if they're not walking

27:26

away with actionable items

27:28

and tools and resources that they can

27:30

really use , your session

27:32

was pointless . So don't

27:34

think that you're going to have a one hour

27:36

session with some students

27:38

and they're going to walk away with

27:40

everything . That's not realistic

27:42

. But what is realistic is you

27:44

dropping one or two nuggets and

27:47

some resources that they can use and

27:49

that they can actually walk away with , and now they're

27:51

going to remember you . Now they're going to remember

27:53

you . So that's what I think kind of makes me

27:55

different in this space , bro .

27:57

Yeah . So let me ask you too . Another question I wanted

27:59

to ask you is because

28:01

you started you said three about like three years

28:04

ago . You started a podcast , you said right

28:06

. So you were 22 , which is about

28:08

still technically college age right , and

28:10

you're talking again on money right

28:12

, and there's people out there who are billionaires

28:14

, multi , nine , eight figure entrepreneurs

28:17

right , and you're talking again on the topic of money

28:19

. Did imposter syndrome

28:21

ever creep up on you and , if so

28:24

, what was that ? Like

28:26

? What do you do ? Because it's something , at least for me . I dealt with

28:28

because I was teaching realtors to start off on

28:30

social media and I wasn't

28:32

a social media expert I'm just a third of

28:34

the age of most average realtors but like

28:36

most of these people were selling houses , like

28:38

I had people who are millionaire real estate agents

28:40

on my calls to you know , come

28:43

watch me speak on social media media , on my

28:45

webinars , and like I never sell a

28:47

house . And so it's like it

28:49

took me a minute one to realize I had imposter

28:51

syndrome , because for me I didn't

28:53

feel like I wasn't deserving of it , because I knew that

28:56

I put time into this presentation

28:58

, I put a lot of work , but like a part

29:00

of me felt like I couldn't charge because

29:03

I wasn't selling houses . But they weren't

29:05

coming to me for how

29:07

to sell houses . They were coming to me because I understood

29:09

social media and it took me a while to

29:11

realize I had imposter syndrome

29:13

because I'm very optimistic

29:15

and positive , so I was never like , oh I suck

29:17

, you know . Oh , I can't do this . I

29:20

think I could do anything . But it creeped up

29:22

on me in another way because I was doing everything

29:24

for free , so

29:32

it's like I wasn't

29:34

charging what I should have been charging because I had that

29:36

creeping in .

29:37

So you , have you ever dealt with like something similar while you were starting to

29:39

build this off the ground ? No , honestly , bro , as I said , I knew

29:41

I wasn't that guy . Yet you know I , I knew I had the energy , I knew

29:43

I could talk . But as far as

29:45

you know money , things of that

29:47

nature , I was above average

29:49

because I graduated college with a

29:53

major in business marketing , I mean

29:55

a major in business management . I

29:57

had a minor in accounting and finances

29:59

. So I knew I had above

30:01

average financial intelligence , but

30:04

I wasn't an expert like the people that

30:06

I was interviewing . So I use

30:08

their expertise to really learn

30:10

, like you said , the direct one-on-one coaching

30:12

. So that's what I use . Then

30:15

I'm putting in the extra hours , like I said

30:17

, I'm editing the videos , I'm

30:19

taking the lessons and putting

30:21

into a book . So I'm doing all these different

30:23

things and I'm slowly , slowly becoming an

30:25

expert . And the thing is , I

30:27

became more confident with the information

30:30

when I was in school

30:32

and I was presenting . I

30:34

was a terrible presenter because I

30:36

didn't know the information . I'm

30:38

staring at the PowerPoint , trying

30:40

to read off the PowerPoint . So

30:42

I wasn't as confident

30:44

with the information . But as I got

30:46

more confident with financial literacy , with

30:49

investing with credit , with all , got

30:51

more confident with financial literacy , with investing with

30:55

credit , with all these different aspects of financial education , I became more confident , I became

30:57

my delivery became better . So

30:59

it's just putting those reps in and

31:02

you don't have to feel like an imposter whenever

31:04

you put in the work . If you put in the work , then you deserve to be in that position that you're

31:06

at Now . If you didn't put in the work , if you put in the work , then you

31:08

deserve to be in that position that

31:10

you're at Now . If you didn't put

31:12

in the work and it just happened for you magically , congratulations

31:15

. You're a one or two percenter

31:17

, but that doesn't happen for

31:20

everybody 98% of us . We're

31:22

going to have to put the work in . We're going to

31:24

have to do the free and volunteer workshops and the free

31:26

and volunteer not charged in the beginning . And then we're going to have to do the free and volunteer

31:28

workshops and the free and volunteer not charged in the

31:31

beginning . And then we're going to have to grow . We're going to have

31:33

to grow , we're going to have to network and meet people

31:35

and continue to grow and become valuable

31:37

. And once we've put

31:39

enough value within ourselves , then

31:41

we can provide value and provide

31:43

transformation for people , and we

31:46

should be paid for that .

31:48

Yeah , 100 percent . I'm not sure if you

31:50

ever heard this quote , but you remind me of it . If

31:53

you stick with something long enough , eventually

31:56

determination starts to look like talent .

32:00

A lot of people don't realize

32:02

.

32:03

It's not that we were that guy

32:05

, it's just that there's a whole

32:07

lot of work behind closed doors . You know that guy . Right , it's just that , man , there's a whole

32:09

lot of work that you you know behind closed doors , behind the scenes

32:11

, that was going on that no one

32:14

ever realized . And that's also part of the reason

32:16

why I started this podcast as well . It's

32:18

called Walk 12 , right and so like for me . I

32:20

don't want no one to say that , oh

32:23

, I popped off and I got an airhead . Now

32:25

I think I'm too good for everybody . Head

32:28

, now I think I'm too good for everybody . It's like , bro , you

32:31

should have listened to episode one of my podcast when I was

32:33

still talking about where I was at and sharing the journey and

32:35

like dudes wasn't tapping in , dudes wasn't supporting

32:37

. And then , as you start

32:39

catching steam , as you start getting a little bit more

32:41

gigs and stuff like that , your name becomes

32:43

a little bit more of a household name . Then it's like

32:46

oh , john , you know it's like man , like man

32:48

I mean , I'm not at that stage yet . I

32:51

know it's going to come is because it's , it's inevitable

32:53

. It happens to everybody , especially once you start , you

32:55

know , succeeding at a high , high level . But

32:57

it's one of those things where it's

32:59

like it reminds me like too much is given , much

33:01

is required , right ? So if you have those aspirations

33:04

, right you , you got to know what's what's

33:06

to come with it , right , right ? Mike Tyson said

33:08

like to

33:10

those that are highly favored

33:12

in God's eyes , you're also highly

33:14

favored in the devil's eyes as well , right

33:16

? Because you can be used to make an impact for evil . So

33:19

it's like knowing that you're making

33:21

sure you know you stay steadfast and stay

33:23

on the right side of things . You feel me , and so

33:25

I love what you said .

33:27

Man , and

33:46

so I love what you said man and to kind of start asking I know you mentioned in high

33:48

school you were spending money on like shoes and partying and things of that nature . Now where

33:50

does your money go ? How do you organize things now ? What's the biggest changes that you've made now that

33:52

you weren't doing way back when ? Great , great question , bro , you on it for sure . So

33:59

for me , I've literally just changed the order that I'm doing things . So , instead of getting my paycheck

34:01

when I was in high school , get paid on a Friday , go get the fresh haircut

34:04

, go to the mall , buy some forces

34:06

, go to the movies , you

34:08

know , instead of doing that as soon as I get my paycheck

34:11

and not having that paycheck on Sunday after

34:13

I just got it on Friday , what

34:15

I do now is I set

34:17

up automatic investing . I

34:19

set up automatic saving . I

34:22

know and understand my bills , so I have

34:25

, whenever I get paid , I'm allocating

34:27

that money to the everything that I should be doing

34:29

, so I can do everything

34:31

that I want to do after . So

34:34

I don't feel bad . I don't feel . It's

34:36

kind of so . The actual term for

34:38

it is called lifestyle budgeting . So

34:41

this type of budget works for my lifestyle

34:43

. I know my fixed expenses

34:46

for everybody . A fixed expense

34:48

is what you're going to pay regardless

34:50

each month . So I understand

34:53

my fixed expenses . Then I give myself

34:55

a buffer of , just in

34:57

case something crazy happens , just

35:00

in case , you know , I spend a little bit more

35:02

money here . That's fine , because

35:04

I have a buffer and then everything

35:06

after that is spendable

35:08

income . So it feels good

35:11

to have money that I can just spend freely

35:13

without worry , because I know I have my investing

35:15

taken care of , I have my savings

35:17

taken care of , I have my

35:19

business expenses taken care of already

35:22

in the beginning of the month . So everything left over is just

35:24

turn up . Do whatever you want , type money , and that feels good . So it's just switching

35:26

the order , bro . Yeah , do whatever you want , type money , and

35:29

that feels good . So

35:31

it's just switching the order , bro .

35:33

Yeah , no , that's dope advice . I feel like everything

35:36

. You have to find something that fits your lifestyle

35:38

, and I'm related to

35:40

dieting . Right , I hate

35:42

diets . I hate the idea of someone telling me what I can

35:44

and cannot do .

35:45

The restriction Diets .

35:48

I've never been a fan . I

35:50

mean , I'm in great shape , I always played sports , so I never really had to quote unquote

35:52

diet . But , um , I always ate pretty

35:54

healthy um , and for me I

35:56

found out , intermittent fasting it's like

35:58

I could still eat , you know

36:01

, a brownie . I just gotta wait till two

36:03

in the afternoon to eat it . I'm like that

36:05

, that's fine with me because that fits my lifestyle . I remember

36:08

I was in college and I got into an argument with this nutritionist

36:10

major and she was so convinced

36:12

because she read in her textbook that you

36:14

got to eat six meals a day at

36:16

these given time points and smaller portion

36:18

meals . And I'm like , bro , you

36:21

so lucky I'm not as well studied on

36:24

intermittent fasting as you are on nutrition

36:26

, because I would buy you in a conversation if

36:29

I came prepared right . Yeah

36:31

, fresh out of nutrition class

36:33

, coming at me talking about nutrition .

36:35

Ready for you .

36:35

And I was like bro man

36:38

, you're so lucky . But it's the same

36:40

thing with budgeting right what fits your lifestyle right

36:42

? What are things ? It's not that these

36:45

people who are hyper-disciplined have more

36:47

willpower , it's that they just build

36:49

their life around ways to make themselves

36:51

easier and more efficient . If your

36:53

gym is across town , you're not

36:56

going to go to the gym If it's across

36:58

the street . It's going to make your life easier

37:00

. So how can you budget

37:02

around your lifestyle , diet

37:04

around your lifestyle , live around your lifestyle in

37:07

a In a way so that you can continue

37:09

enjoying life but also be responsible

37:11

as well and handle your business

37:14

?

37:14

And so , man , but you

37:16

know , can I add something to that just real quick

37:18

? So I think also

37:21

we have to realize , because what will

37:23

just for your example , what will make

37:25

someone go to that gym across town

37:28

is having that overarching

37:30

goal or that overarching why

37:32

, as they like to call it , understanding your why

37:34

. So I think , and I'll give it just

37:36

a small example so I really

37:39

picked up on the gym before

37:41

two months , two months before FinCon

37:43

came a financial conference that John

37:45

and I met at . I picked

37:47

up heavily on a gym because I spoke at the conference

37:50

. So I'm like I'm going to be up in front of everybody

37:52

, everybody's going to be seeing me . So I got to look

37:54

a little stout up there

37:57

. So I picked it up heavily because

38:01

I knew I was going to be up there . So

38:03

that really made me understand . That

38:05

small example made me understand like man . And that small example made me understand

38:07

, like man , if people can just

38:10

find their why for

38:12

anything that they want to do in life , whether

38:14

it's a huge goal , a small goal , but

38:16

if you have that overarching goal , you

38:19

have that overarching theme . That's more important

38:21

than your excuses or the things that's

38:23

going on in your life . You will

38:25

go above and beyond and do those great things

38:27

that you want to do . So if everybody here

38:29

can find their why and it

38:31

doesn't have to be for you , my

38:34

why me and my little brother are going

38:36

to a boxing and that's why I'm bringing

38:38

this up . At 6 pm today , me and

38:40

my little brother are driving 30 minutes to

38:42

go to Mayweather Fitness and we're going to do a little

38:45

boxing class . But

38:51

I'm doing that because one I want to get in better shape with my cardio because my knees since I

38:53

tore my meniscus , I can't do sprints outside on

38:56

the concrete anymore because it tears my knee up

38:58

, so I need something different

39:00

for cardio . So I'm doing that for

39:02

one . But for two , my little

39:04

brother's 10 and he's going to be phenomenal

39:07

at football , but he

39:10

got to know how to fight . Yeah , he got

39:12

to got to know how to fight , because them football

39:14

fights that I had in football and

39:16

just just being , just just

39:18

just being like a star , and I know he's going to be

39:20

a star . So people are going to try him . So

39:23

he's going to and and and the thing that I've realized

39:25

is people are going to try you once and

39:30

if you , if you , you once and if you show them that you ain't the one to mess with people

39:32

will never mess with you again . So I want to make sure

39:34

that when my brother gets in that situation he's

39:37

ready to handle himself . So that's

39:39

why I'm driving 30 minutes out

39:41

my way , you know 6 pm

39:43

during traffic , for that specific

39:45

reason . So just wanted everybody to kind

39:47

of understand , find your specific

39:50

why , whether it's for you , your family , for

39:52

anybody else . Once you find your

39:54

why , I promise you you'll get into

39:56

that mindset of I'm going to get this

39:58

done , regardless of what happened

40:00

.

40:01

Yeah , it reminds me of two quick quotes , man

40:03

. The first is to that

40:05

, to , to he who has a

40:07

why , he can endure any how .

40:10

The how doesn't matter anymore when you find your why

40:12

, and

40:20

then the second one is it's better to be a warrior

40:22

in a garden than a gardener at war .

40:23

So teach him how to fight now , man , so he's ready for whatever . He

40:28

might never need it , but it's always good to know . You know , got that in your back sleeve

40:30

just in case , man . Whatever happens , man , but San man

40:32

, it's been a pleasure talking to you man , where can

40:34

we find you at , where can we connect with you to keep

40:37

up with all the amazing things you got popping off

40:39

and , you know , start getting you up here in the Northeast

40:41

.

40:43

Most definitely , bro . Y'all got to get me up there

40:45

in the summer man . I told you I can't

40:47

do that cold , but

40:50

y'all can definitely find me

40:52

on Instagram at FYIFLI

40:56

. So the company is called FYIFLY

40:58

and it stands for For your Information , financial

41:01

Literacy and Investing . So

41:05

instead of a Y , it's an I , so you can find me there on Instagram

41:07

. At FYIFLI . You

41:10

can also find me at CEO Sani

41:12

. So it's C-E-O-S-A-N-N-I

41:15

and

41:19

I'm going to throw this out there as well . Please , please , please . All my

41:21

young folks , all my millennials , please make you a LinkedIn

41:23

. Linkedin has

41:25

been so powerful for me connecting

41:28

with people in my field

41:30

, in my financial field , connecting people

41:32

that I can network with . It's

41:35

kind of like a business Facebook , so

41:37

it's not just strictly business anymore . That

41:39

was like two years ago . People on

41:41

LinkedIn want to see that you have some type of

41:43

personality , but they also want to see that

41:45

your business like . So follow

41:47

me on LinkedIn at Hassan Thomas

41:49

. It's H-A-S-S-A-N

41:52

. Last name , thomas . You

41:54

can follow me on there . We're also on TikTok

41:56

for my young folks . We also on TikTok

41:59

FYI underscore F-L-I

42:01

, and I just want to leave everybody

42:04

with saying , please , please , please

42:06

, understand that one

42:09

in this world . You're going to have to be personable

42:11

, You're going to have to be

42:13

purposeful , but you're

42:15

also going to have to be perseverant if you

42:17

want to get to where you want to go . So

42:20

definitely , definitely tap in . Thank you

42:22

, john , for having me . This was great .

42:25

It's time for a rapid fire round . We got to go lightning

42:27

fast , though , because we're coming short on

42:29

time . Let's rock , let's rock . All right , five quick questions

42:31

. Question number one what is the most

42:33

impactful lesson you've learned in life ?

42:37

Most impactful lesson my dad has taught

42:39

me is to always

42:41

have option . The best option is to have options

42:44

.

42:45

Second what is the most admirable

42:47

trait a person could have ? Second what is the ?

42:49

most admirable trait a person could have

42:51

. The most admirable trait a person could

42:53

have and shout out to my co-host he is

42:55

the most reliable person

42:57

I've ever met in my life . That

42:59

is the best trait somebody can have is

43:01

to be reliable and to tell

43:04

the truth .

43:05

Hate liars if

43:09

you had to change someone's life with one book

43:11

, which one

43:13

would you recommend ?

43:16

From college to COVID 24 lessons

43:18

learned during the lockdown .

43:21

Okay .

43:21

Shameless plug of mine

43:24

.

43:24

What is the legacy that you're trying to leave behind ?

43:28

The legacy that I want to leave behind

43:30

is that I was a man that made impact

43:32

, I was a man that made income

43:35

and I was a man that had a lot of fun

43:37

doing it .

43:39

And last question , man , for anyone

43:41

that wants to embark on their walk to wealth today

43:43

, what is the first step you recommend they

43:45

take ?

43:48

The first step is just to get educated . I

43:50

feel like whenever we don't know something

43:52

, we fear it . So if we can become

43:54

educated on it and whether that's podcasts

43:57

, whether that's books , whether that's starting

43:59

your own podcast and talking and gaining

44:02

free one-on-one coaching , free mentor

44:04

from your podcast guests start

44:06

somewhere . Because whenever we're learning

44:08

about money , whenever we're learning

44:11

about financial education , it's

44:13

not like learning about the mitochondrion

44:16

, it's science . We're

44:19

learning about something that we can actually

44:21

I'm sorry to the canvas and stuff but

44:23

we're learning about something that

44:25

we can actually use in real

44:27

life , that impacts us . Because whether

44:29

we're going to work our own business

44:31

or we're going to work for somebody else's business

44:34

, we're going to receive a paycheck and

44:36

we have to know how to manage that paycheck

44:38

.

44:39

A hundred man , Hassan , it was a pleasure having you on

44:41

the show . Thanks again , my brother .

44:43

You've now finished taking the first step . Now

44:45

let us help you take the next one . Subscribe

44:47

to our newsletter at walk2wealthcom

44:50

that's walk , the number two wealthcom

44:53

so we can keep you moving on your journey . We'll

44:55

see you on the next episode of Walk to

44:57

Wealth with John Mendez .