How a 24 Year Old DAD Built A $3.2M Business From His phone @_therealtez

Tez Akram 0:00 Every time I blame somebody, I'm giving somebody else power over me. You know what? There's no more lying to myself. The only person I need to be honest with is myself. So I was like, "You know what? Everything's my fault." And the moment I said that, I took all the power back from everybody else. It's my decision on whether or not I wanna wake up at 7:00 in the morning. It's my decision if I wanna go to the gym. If I'm fat, it's my fault. If I don't like my life, it's my fault. If I look at my bank account and I don't like the number that's in there, it's a reflection of what I've been doing over these last 90 days. So if I don't like it, then I should probably change.

Calum Johnson 0:29 So this is what your Twitter bio says.

Tez Akram 0:30 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 0:30 "I'm just a young dad that grew up in Cleveland and had a kid at 18. I started off selling durags and it turned into three six-figure brands and a seven-figure business in three years." So that's really where I wanted to start, and I wanted to start right at the beginning.

Tez Akram 0:47 Mm.

Calum Johnson 0:48 Which is tell me about that first year.

Tez Akram 0:53 Mm.

Calum Johnson 0:54 18, you have a kid. Just give me the whole, like, context. Like, what was happening in your life? Like, what did it look like at that moment?

Tez Akram 1:01 Absolutely. Um, man, it was scary. You know, I had g- just

Tez Akram 1:05 got out of high school and, um, you know, I played basketball in high school. Uh, always wanted to go to college and, you know, be a college basketball player, but I was never that good. I was, in my own opinion, the worst on the team.

Calum Johnson 1:17 Mm.

Tez Akram 1:17 I wasn't getting any playing time. I was the person getting made fun of. And I've always had people doubting me from day one, from freshman year all the way through high school. I wasn't the smartest. I graduated with a 2.7 GPA. And soon as high school was over, I see all my friends like, "Oh, I'm going here and I'm going there," and, and it's just kinda like, well, I'm the only one staying in Cleveland. Like, I don't wanna be here.

Calum Johnson 1:40 Mm.

Tez Akram 1:41 And when I found out after prom that I was having my daughter, it was, like, frightening, bro. Like, I, I was like, there's a life that's coming into this world that I'm responsible for, and things just kinda spiraled afterwards because you, you're never truly prepared when you have a kid. You know, like, people say, "Oh, I'm prepared right now. I'm 35. I have everything going for myself. It's time to settle down." You're still not prepared. You're never really prepared when you have a kid. And at 18, um, you know, I just remember just trying to figure things out. Like, okay, I'm not going to college. What's the best route in life? And that's when I started thinking about, okay, well, I just need to do something that'll make me some money. So I started working at this factory. They were paying me around $10 an hour, and if you guys know about temp agencies, um, they basically fill you in on a, on a s- position for, like, six to eight months, and then they move you somewhere else. So I was basically doing that, and the guy who actually trained me, um, actually got cancer from working at that same exact factory. So as I'm working there, I'm like, "Yo," like, "this guy's going through this. He's, like, actually physically going through it and I can see it, and he's training me." And it just kinda scared me because I started realizing what happens to people in the workforce when they're not paying attention to the type of environment that they're in. So once I had my daughter, when she was born, I was still working at this factory. I was trying to save up as much as possible. By the time I turned 19, me and my mom were starting to get into it. She kicked us out, so we ended up living with my daughter's mom's mom, and we were sleeping on the floor. So we were, like, this little twin size bed. I would take the couch cushions off and I would lay them on the c- on the floor, and then put sheets over it, and then lay my daughter down. And if you look on my Twitter, one of my pictures is me and my daughter laying on one of those twin size beds. And that was my life for about nine months. Um, you know, I was one of those people who were, who would just play Call of Duty and try to mute out everything else that's going on in my life. I, I didn't wanna figure things out. But at some point I realized, like, you know, when it got to the point where my daughter needed certain things, like a different stroller. She needs a better car seat. She needs more diapers. She's growing. She needs better food, uh, medicine. And I just was like, "Man," like, "I can't afford this stuff." Like, how do I make it happen? So that's when I was just like, you know what? Everything that I'm getting from my job, I just need to go out and do a better job. So that's when I was like, you know what? I'm gonna go into the sales role. I'm gonna go into the sales and be commission only because I always thought of myself, like, as a hustler. So, you know, in sales you basically, you know, receive what you kill, and basically as long as you're closing, that's the amount of money that you were making.

Calum Johnson 4:10 Mm.

Tez Akram 4:10 So I left that factory job and we went into, um, a Sam's Club and I was selling DirecTV, so cable.

Calum Johnson 4:17 Yeah.

Tez Akram 4:17 And I was just like this dude always wearing these suits, and I wore the same three suits for probably the first seven to eight months of me working there, and I was just getting better and better and better, learning how to take nos after nos after nos. And I was just like, man, like this is difficult. But I had somebody who trained me, so that's why it's important to me that, you know, people have a mentor, somebody to educate them. But as that process kept going, you know, I kept stacking my money from the sales job and I realized something. As you're working your way up through these works- these workforces, you're learning different pockets of skill sets. And I was like, okay, well, like, factories, I understood the assembly line. I understood shipment. I understood, you know, all of these different components in a factory and how this business worked, but I never really thought about it from a, like, a, a broad standpoint or bird's-eye view. And then as I went into sales, I'm like, I'm understanding psychology. I'm understanding how to basically persuade you into buying what I am selling you. I'm learning how to pull out your problems without you even knowing, and then insert a solution and make you feel like you need it right now.

Calum Johnson 5:16 Mm.

Tez Akram 5:17 And as I started learning these things, I'm like, wow, like I'm, I'm starting to get more self-aware. I started reading more books. And the human psychology just became something that I was fascinated in. Um, I was just like, how do these people think?

Calum Johnson 5:28 Mm.

Tez Akram 5:29 You know, certain things that I can say can really make somebody feel this way. You know, I can, I can make somebody mad instantly or I can make them super happy instantly, and I just kinda fell in love with that. And as I started falling in love with that, I went on to sell cars, started stacking money here from cars. I was doing around $6,000, $7,000 a month from selling cars. Um, I was one of the top people in Cleveland, Ohio at my age, and I just started working my way up, and that's when I started selling durags on the side of my, of my, of my job. So that was a whole nother thing. I was like, it's the same thing. I'm just, you know, buying these from the beauty supply store. Then I started learning product management. I started learning manufacturing. I started learning, you know, how to get referrals, how to get, you know, good reviews. And as I just kept going, I built the first business, Snag A Rag. It was a long little journey right there. I'm not gonna lie. But, you know, having my daughter with me, she kind of grew up throughout that entire phase, fulfilling orders with me. Um, I would sometimes put her in her little seat, let me fulfill my orders, play some music, watch her, let her watch Cocomelon and do my thing. And that was my life for the first two, three years of entrepreneurship. I w- I didn't start off with money. Um, there was no person that was like, "You're gonna be able to do this because you're amazing." It was like everybody was doubting me and I feel like in the midst of all of that, I found myself. And the person I am today, I thank the person that worked that hard and working those 12, 13 hour shifts to make sure that everything is good now.

Calum Johnson 6:50 That is like an inspirational story. You-

Tez Akram 6:52 Thank you

Calum Johnson 6:53 ... okay. You know what? Let's, let's get deeper into it because I think even when I hear it I'm like, "This is powerful stuff." And the reason why is I feel like there's someone listening-

Tez Akram 7:04 Mm

Calum Johnson 7:05 ... who they're in that, like, kinda hopeless situation, and maybe, like, the context and exactly what was happening in your life, uh, in those beginning stages isn't the same as what's happening for them-

Tez Akram 7:18 Yeah

Calum Johnson 7:18 ... but they're in that space where, like, maybe they're playing Call of Duty or FIFA or whatever it is-

Tez Akram 7:24 [laughs]

Calum Johnson 7:24 ... and, like, shit's just not working the way that they expected. And the thing is, especially when you're young, we all kind of have, like, a vision-

Tez Akram 7:32 Mm

Calum Johnson 7:32 ... of what our life is gonna be like when we're adults and we make it and all this stuff, and it's just tough when you feel like, "Shit is just not going my way."

Tez Akram 7:41 Mm.

Calum Johnson 7:41 Like, "This isn't what I envisioned," and you feel, like, demoralized, the confidence isn't there. You don't really know

Calum Johnson 7:48 the value that you bring. And it feels like when I'm listening to you, there was, like, a mindset switch.

Tez Akram 7:55 Mm.

Calum Johnson 7:56 And there was a point where you started to really kinda take pride in the craft of what you were doing and just getting better and iterating, and that's a beautiful process to see. But I wanna start with the mindset switch.

Tez Akram 8:10 Mm.

Calum Johnson 8:11 Go deeper into that moment. Like, was there something that happened? Was there an experience? Like, what caused the shift where it was like, "Okay, let's put the Call of Duty down-

Tez Akram 8:21 Yeah

Calum Johnson 8:22 ... and I'm gonna start really going at this shit"? This episode is brought to you by Free Agency. If you wanna take your career to the next level, Free Agency is a company that you should check out. They manage and represent talent in the tech industry, and they provide you with a dedicated talent agent to help you find, engage, and win top-of-market roles that will maximize your earning potential. No more leaving money on the table. Stop job searching alone and start building your dream career today with Free Agency. Anyway, back to the show.

Tez Akram 8:50 Man, I was always a gamer, man. Um, you know, I absolutely loved playing video games since I could remember. Like, from Mario to, uh, Pac-Man to every game.

Calum Johnson 9:01 Yeah.

Tez Akram 9:01 Like, I was always a gamer. And, you know, this was before streaming and things like that. I never really knew anything about streaming at that time. I didn't know how to do it, and I knew for sure I couldn't afford the money to even start streaming. I didn't know what that looked like. And to be honest, the mindset, the mind shift change came when, like, I started catching mice when I was sleeping on the floor in my daughter's mom's house.

Calum Johnson 9:22 Mm.

Tez Akram 9:23 And it was 'cause it was ... We were on Section 8, and it was, like, all these different situations, and I'm sitting here like, "Man," like, "I cannot keep doing this." Like, there's something your body and your mind goes through when you're going through these certain things, and it depends on the individual what you do after you go through it after a certain amount of times.

Calum Johnson 9:40 Mm-hmm.

Tez Akram 9:41 And at some point, you know, I started blaming everybody else for what was going on. "Oh, my mom kicked me out, so it's her fault that I have to even catch these mice," and, "Oh, man, I just ... Why is my car doing this? You know what? It's, it's this fault." And, and I started blaming everything, and there was just this one day, like, I was sitting with my daughter. We were watching, uh, we were watching some movie. I think it's, uh, I can't ... Encanto or something like that. Sitting there watching a movie, and I'm just like, "Every time I blame somebody, I'm giving somebody else power over me."

Calum Johnson 10:08 Mm.

Tez Akram 10:08 And I started looking within, and I was like, "All of this stuff is my fault." Like, "Everything's my fault." And, and I got down on myself for a period of time, but I think what happens is it was building resilience. Like, sometimes when you're self-aware and, uh, you're very self-aware, you can kinda look at things that you know you've done wrong and try to lie to yourself. But what I did was, like ... I was like, "You know what? There's no more lying to myself. The only person I need to be honest with is myself," and that's the only way I'll be able to speak truth when I come onto these podcasts or I do a YouTube video or I speak to other individuals who look up to me. I have to be truthful, and I have to be pure with my intentions.

Calum Johnson 10:45 Mm.

Tez Akram 10:46 So I was like, "You know what? Everything's my fault." And the moment I said that, I took all the power back from everybody else. And I said, "Wow," like, "It's my decision on whether or not I wanna wake up at 7:00 in the morning. It's my decision if I wanna go to the gym. If I'm fat, it's my fault. If I don't like my life, it's my fault. If I look at my bank account and I don't like the number that's in there, it's a reflection of what I've been doing over these last 90 days. So if I don't like it, then I should probably change." That's exactly what happened. And the mindset, uh, mind shift is really changing your daily habits, you know, because I tell people all the time, you know, if you look at your bank account, for example, and you don't like the number that's in there, you ... It's a sum of your decisions you've made throughout the last 90 days. So at some point in time, you have to be confident enough in yourself to say, "You know what? I am going to change things every day moving forward for the next 90 days." And that's a big reason of why I'm doing the 75 Hard Challenge right now, where, you know, there's a gallon of water a day and working out twice a day,

Tez Akram 11:44 once outside, reading at least, uh, 10 pages a day, eating healthier, no alcohol, no, no weed, no any of that stuff, and changing my mind but also over-disciplining myself. Because at some point you gotta be able to tell yourself, "I'm just gonna stop doing this," and I wanna be able to cold turkey myself at any time when I feel like something's bad for me.

Calum Johnson 12:04 Mm.

Tez Akram 12:04 And that's kind of what I'm doing with this challenge. But to your point, you know, changing your mindset is, is everything. You, you literally cannot get to where you wanna get to if you can't believe in yourself enough to get there.

Calum Johnson 12:16 Yeah. Yeah. You know what's interesting? There's this, um, there's this quote that I love, which is that, uh, "A change will occur when the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of changing."

Tez Akram 12:29 [exhales]

Calum Johnson 12:30 So, like, when you're ... Like, we don't like to change as humans really.

Tez Akram 12:34 Mm.

Calum Johnson 12:34 Like, we like being in our routine and, uh, staying in our habits, but when your situation is just so painful ... And that's why sometimes, like, it, it's hurtful. Like, it's painful.

Tez Akram 12:45 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 12:45 But sometimes you have to hit, like, rock bottom in order just to, like- Start making those, like, big changes, like mindset level changes

Tez Akram 12:53 Mm-hmm

Calum Johnson 12:54 Um, it's difficult to do. You know what? And this is actually ... I, I love that you, I love that you said this. Um, the fact that, like, when you were doing, starting your durag business, it was, like, difficult in the beginning.

Tez Akram 13:09 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 13:10 And the reason I love it is, like, and it's one of the things, I was actually talking about this with someone recently. When I listen to a lot of entrepreneurs, it feels like they've, like, romanticized their story.

Tez Akram 13:21 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 13:21 So you listen to them and it's just like, it feels like it's, like, this series of wins that was, like, cascading into, like, a bigger win.

Tez Akram 13:28 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 13:29 And I think sometimes it gives, like, a picture of, uh, starting a business which just isn't true.

Tez Akram 13:36 Absolutely.

Calum Johnson 13:37 And, like, everyone ... And everyone that I've got on this podcast had moments where, like, the shit just wasn't working-

Tez Akram 13:43 Yeah

Calum Johnson 13:43 ... at all. And for all intents and purposes they almost look like a fool because it's like I made this bet to do this thing and nothing is working.

Tez Akram 13:51 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 13:52 Um, and it's even, even the individual that has the most confidence, the most self-belief, starts to, like, doubt themselves a bit.

Tez Akram 14:01 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 14:01 Like, like, "This shit's just not ... Like, maybe this just ain't for me."

Tez Akram 14:04 Yeah. [laughs]

Calum Johnson 14:05 And so you know what? Tell me about, tell me about those moments. Like, what was happening? Like, what was it that wasn't working?

Tez Akram 14:12 Honestly, man, it's first off, you know, transitioning from being in person selling durags to online.

Calum Johnson 14:18 Mm.

Tez Akram 14:18 That was a completely different game, 'cause I couldn't afford a computer at the time. So I built my entire Shopify store off of my cellphone. So I would ... There was this ... And back then there was no, like, um, like, there was no, like, shorter version videos of how to build a website.

Calum Johnson 14:35 Yeah.

Tez Akram 14:35 They were all four-hour videos. And with my hours that I was working, I was going in at 6:00, sometimes 5:00 AM, and I wouldn't get off until 5:00 PM. So I always told myself, "You know what? I need to go 5:00 to 9:00. This is what my life needs to look like." Or sometimes 5:00 to 12:00, because five hours of sleep, I'll be good. I'll be fine.

Calum Johnson 14:53 Mm.

Tez Akram 14:54 And that's, like, what I told myself in the beginning. And a lot of the things that kind of didn't work for me were number one, going and being online. Like, not understanding how to fulfill orders, not understanding the resources that you need. Uh, printing labels, printing sh- uh, shipping labels. Uh, what about the bags that you gotta order from Amazon? I was using USPS boxes, and I was paying more for my shipping. And paying for things like taxes, like not realizing, oh, you gotta put aside 30%. When people say, "Oh yeah, put aside like, you know, a good amount of money," no, you actually have to put aside 30%, like, really.

Calum Johnson 15:27 Mm-hmm.

Tez Akram 15:27 So then realizing that all the money that you do have isn't actually your money.

Calum Johnson 15:30 Yeah.

Tez Akram 15:30 You still gotta pay Uncle Sam 'cause he's always gonna get his. And these are just a couple different things. Even when we tried to ... uh, where we transitioned into, uh, designer durags, where we were selling, like, you know, Louis Vuitton durags, Gucci durags. And having Louis Vuitton send me a letter in the mail like, "Hey, this is a cease and desist." And you know, at one point I was super nervous. I'm like, I took everything down. I was like, "No."

Calum Johnson 15:51 [laughs]

Tez Akram 15:52 And then my mom told me something. She was like, "Son, that means they see you as a competition. I mean, you're making this much money off of selling something to a community of people who actually want it that they won't service." And I was like, "Wow, that's powerful." I never thought about it like that.

Calum Johnson 16:05 Mm.

Tez Akram 16:05 And you know, these things, man, if I'm being honest, bro, in business there's just different seasons. You know, like, there's different phases you're gonna go through. And you have to be able to take the punches. You have to. You know, there's even times now at my level of success and, you know, and where I am now, there's times where I doubt myself, you know? And you have to really figure out who's around you, you know? Because, you know, I have my girlfriend and, you know, when I have times where I'm doubting myself s- or I'm just like, "Man, this is just not working," and I'm putting hours after hours. I'm buying the courses, I'm buying the coaching programs. I'm, I'm putting in ... You know, I'm waking up at 6:00 AM and I'm working until 12:00 PM, you know, and I'm putting six hours in at the beginning of my day just to make sure this works. There's times where you just gotta have somebody to confide in.

Calum Johnson 16:55 Mm.

Tez Akram 16:56 And business is not easy, bro. Um, you know, once you reach that first million you start thinking like, "All right. How do I get to 10?" And when you start thinking about everything that you did for the first one, you start realizing, like, I kind of, like, l- like, made it by luck-

Calum Johnson 17:12 Yeah. [laughs]

Tez Akram 17:12 ... in, in a sense. You know, I found certain things. You know, certain things fell into my lap in certain time periods. But there's a season for everything, even for people, you know? When, when certain people come into your life and they exit your life you can't, uh, you can't sit there and be like, "Oh, man," and, like, soak and, like, be depressed and things. You just gotta kinda be like, "You know, God is pushing me towards a different direction."

Calum Johnson 17:33 Mm.

Tez Akram 17:33 And I have to be able to listen because every person prays for guidance and, you know, uh, to seek refuge in Him and things like that. But the problem is, is when He starts pushing you in the right direction you start resisting.

Calum Johnson 17:45 Mm.

Tez Akram 17:45 It's like at what point in time do you just kinda let things happen the way they need to and stop doubting yourself and, you know, uh, be confident in, in your abilities? You know, if you're great at, you know, being in front of the camera, like being a podcast

Tez Akram 17:58 person, just realizing that you're great at it, you know? And that people cannot do this, you know? I, I, I lived in Egypt for four years of my life, and a lot of my friends didn't even have shoes to play soccer-

Calum Johnson 18:10 Mm

Tez Akram 18:10 ... when I was playing with them, and it kinda changed my mindset. But now when I'm in America and it's like even in New York, you know, seeing all the homeless people, it's like we have ... We're so blessed to do the things that we do, and it's like the gratitude has to be there.

Calum Johnson 18:24 Mm.

Tez Akram 18:24 Because just as quickly as you get it, you know, you can build the best, uh, you can build the best wall in the world, but then one thing can send it crumbling down.

Calum Johnson 18:35 Mm.

Tez Akram 18:35 So the foundation has to be there, and you have to really understand gratitude is everything. That's what's gonna take you to the next level.

Calum Johnson 18:40 Yeah. You know what? That's an interesting point. I feel like you see it especially in New York. There's certain moments just, like, walking around and even, like, the homelessness and, like, the mental health stuff where you're just like, "This shit is, like, brutal."

Tez Akram 18:54 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 18:55 Like, life is, like, brutal. Um, especially when it gets into, like, the winter months-

Tez Akram 19:00 Mm-hmm

Calum Johnson 19:00 ... and, like, even during COVID when you ... It's like if you don't ... It's like things can start to either compound in your favor or compound against you very fast.

Tez Akram 19:12 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 19:13 Like, the power of momentum both ways-

Tez Akram 19:15 Mm

Calum Johnson 19:15 ... is not to be underestimated. And I think one of the ... 'Cause I, I left my job to start doing the podcast, uh, and my agency full time maybe, like, six, seven months ago.

Tez Akram 19:28 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 19:29 And so I'm very much in that season of, like, things just feel difficult.

Tez Akram 19:33 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 19:34 And I think one of the things that I've realized recently is that the mindset of an entrepreneur, it's, like, fundamentally different than when you're working a job.

Tez Akram 19:44 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 19:44 Because when you're an entrepreneur, it's like you're doing a lot of things that aren't working, but then one big win can, like, propel you forward.

Tez Akram 19:53 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 19:53 So, like, you can be just taking Ls on Ls on Ls-

Tez Akram 19:55 [laughs]

Calum Johnson 19:55 ... and it's like you win once and you're like, "I'm the man." Like, it's the-

Tez Akram 19:59 Yeah

Calum Johnson 19:59 ... it's, um, it's big. I'm curious for you, like, what was ... Like, when you reflect back on it-

Tez Akram 20:05 Mm

Calum Johnson 20:06 ... what was the first win? Like, what was the first moment where you were like, "This shit might just work."

Tez Akram 20:12 [laughs]

Calum Johnson 20:12 Like, "I might have something here."

Tez Akram 20:14 Man, uh, I, I remember it like it was yesterday. Um, at this time, this was 2019. Uh, no, 2018. 2018, 2019, one of those. The ... At, around this time I was still doing the durags. It was my main thing. This was before my clothing brand and all that stuff. Um, I was selling silk durags at first, and I'm like, "Okay," like, "this is moving kind of slow." And then velvet durags kind of started popping up sprinkling, and nobody really knew about it yet. And my business, Snag A Rag, is like quick, like, get a rag, get a durag fast, you know?

Calum Johnson 20:50 Mm.

Tez Akram 20:50 And I ordered these velvet durags from this manufacturer and they came in, and, like, when I say the quality was just insane.

Calum Johnson 20:57 Mm.

Tez Akram 20:58 So I was like, all right. I took a cardboard box. I went into the, my little fulfillment room. So my mom had ... We had, like, a four-bedroom house, and I had my sisters in there, and so it was, like, one extra room open.

Calum Johnson 21:07 Mm.

Tez Akram 21:07 And I would put all of my inventory in there, and I would have, like, these little, uh, drawers for all my durags and stuff, and I would have them organized with how many are in there. Sometimes my sister would help me fulfill my orders and things. And basically what I did was I went in that room. I went and, uh, I went to, uh, a fabric store. I bought a black, just black drop, taped it up on the wall. I took a cardboard box literally, sat it down, put an, uh, put the drape over the cardboard box so it can make it look like I'm sitting in a chair.

Calum Johnson 21:36 Mm.

Tez Akram 21:37 I grabbed my daughter. I put the durag on my head. I gave her a durag, and we literally was just like, "Hey," like I, I just shot a video, and it was like a 60-second video. And I was like, "Hey, these are the best durags out. If you need a durag, look at the quality. You can stretch it, so if you have a bigger head than usual."

Calum Johnson 21:53 [laughs]

Tez Akram 21:53 It's just people were laughing, but-

Calum Johnson 21:55 Yeah

Tez Akram 21:55 ... the whole time my daughter just, like, falling around and playing and looking back and laughing and smiling.

Calum Johnson 22:00 Yeah.

Tez Akram 22:00 And I posted that video and it went super viral. And I was like, "Whoa," like, that was my first time ever going viral, and it was with her. And to be able to share that experience with her was one of the best things ever. And that's when I started looking at it like, "Okay, well, all these eyes are looking at me now from an organic standpoint. What would happen if I started running ads to it? Because if people are, so many people are buying it from organic, then I bet if I just kind of poured more gasoline on the fire, then I bet it'll probably boost."

Calum Johnson 22:30 Mm.

Tez Akram 22:30 And I kid you not, bro, we ran an ad to that, and my ROAS, as far as, like, how much money I was spending on Facebook ads and how much I was receiving back, for every dollar I was spending on ads, I was making back $7 from my business.

Calum Johnson 22:44 Jesus.

Tez Akram 22:44 So I was just like, yo, like, the first time I was, like, putting in $100, made back seven, $800.

Calum Johnson 22:50 Mm.

Tez Akram 22:50 And I'm like, "Oh, this is, this is crazy." So I was like, all right, maybe if I just put more money into it, and then the orders just kept coming in, kept coming in, kept coming in. The video kept going viral. People started reposting it. And I'm like, "Yo, this is working." And then we had our first 10K month. And I was like, "Nah, bro," like-

Calum Johnson 23:06 [laughs]

Tez Akram 23:07 ... 10K, like ... I'm like, "Yo, I'm about to quit my job. Everything's done."

Calum Johnson 23:10 [laughs]

Tez Akram 23:10 "I'm, I'm good." And that was the moment I was like, "This can actually work." Like-

Calum Johnson 23:14 Yeah

Tez Akram 23:14 ... Snag A Rag could actually be a big company if I really put the time in.

Calum Johnson 23:19 Yeah. You know, it's funny. There was, um, there's a guy, he's an entrepreneur and he's also an investor, and he wrote this tweet, and he was basically saying that, like, uh, gamers-

Tez Akram 23:30 Mm

Calum Johnson 23:30 ... like, people that love, like, games, like playing games, uh, make, like, really good entrepreneurs.

Tez Akram 23:36 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 23:36 And I think the reason is, is because it gets to a certain point where, like, business is almost like a game. Like, you start to understand the rules and, like, what matters.

Tez Akram 23:45 Mm.

Calum Johnson 23:45 And then you can almost, like, start to, like, push certain levers and, like-

Tez Akram 23:50 Yeah

Calum Johnson 23:50 ... shit starts

Calum Johnson 23:51 working like a game. Um, the thing is, I feel like now it feels like everything you do is so polished.

Tez Akram 24:00 Mm.

Calum Johnson 24:00 Like, the marketing especially. Like, following you on Instagram, seeing the content that you post, seeing the ads, it feels like you have a very specific awareness of, like, what you need to do to get a certain result.

Tez Akram 24:13 Mm.

Calum Johnson 24:14 Um, where did that, like, what, where did that come from? Like, how did you even learn about, like, ads and marketing and all those things? Because I think there's a lot of people that have probably had, like, a, a video go viral-

Tez Akram 24:28 Mm

Calum Johnson 24:28 ... or, like, it gets more views than they're used to.

Tez Akram 24:31 Mm.

Calum Johnson 24:32 But it feels like you've been able to do it in, like, a repeatable way.

Tez Akram 24:35 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 24:35 It feels like you've figured out the game of, like, marketing, um, and not just to get views, to make money-

Tez Akram 24:42 Yeah

Calum Johnson 24:42 ... which is a big distinction. So what was that process of learning that?

Tez Akram 24:47 Yeah, so when I was selling cars, um, I used to fulfill my orders in the office. Like, we would have this, like, huge office and all of the sales guys would have their own computer. And at the same time when I was fulfilling my orders, I was learning Facebook ads. So before I had that, made that video, I was still kind of testing the waters with ads and I was kinda, like, spending money here and there, but I was constantly just losing money. And I'm just sitting here, like, watching all of the YouTube you- videos. So to be honest with you, YouTube University kind of propelled me to learning so many more skillsets until I started buying courses and things like that, which is why I always tell people, like, "Educate yourself." The skillset of learning marketing, the skillset of running ads, when you combine those two, you can make eight figures, you can make nine figures, if I'm being honest with you. These businesses, they're, they're not smarter than us.

Calum Johnson 25:35 Mm.

Tez Akram 25:35 They're just doing at a higher quality than us and they're spending way more money than us, but you gotta start somewhere.

Calum Johnson 25:41 Mm.

Tez Akram 25:41 And for me personally, I was running ads in there, learning the ins and outs, and then when we had that video, I was still running it. And it made it a little bit easier when I found a creative, an ad that actually worked, because now I could test multiple different audiences. I could go after Love & Hip Hop, I can go after Kobe Bryant, I can go after LeBron James. But I started shifting my mindset. Instead of just thinking of it as running ads, I'm thinking about, "Where's my pocket of audiences? Where are they at?"

Calum Johnson 26:07 Mm.

Tez Akram 26:07 Like, what do they watch? What do they see on social media? Who do they follow? You know, a lot of the times, you know, if you look at the African American demographic, we all like kinda the same things. Hip hop, we like drama-

Calum Johnson 26:18 Yeah

Tez Akram 26:18 ... so we watch MTV, we watch, you know, BET, we watch all these different movies. And for me, I was selling a predominantly African American product.

Calum Johnson 26:27 Mm.

Tez Akram 26:27 I'm like, "This is where my audience is gonna be." So I was like, "All right, let me go target those things." And I started off with my budgets being a little bit lower, 'cause I didn't have a crazy amount of money to work with, and as I started spending, I started realizing, "Okay, Love & Hip Hop is converting very well right now."

Calum Johnson 26:44 Mm.

Tez Akram 26:44 "Okay, let's try Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta."

Calum Johnson 26:47 Mm.

Tez Akram 26:47 And then we started transitioning into different pockets within that one pocket. And it's kind of like you have, like, one little section, and then there's all these little mini sections, and then you're constantly learning, spending money on all of them, and trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work, and then you're constantly changing and trying to re- re- um, remake that one creative that worked very well.

Calum Johnson 27:07 Mm.

Tez Akram 27:07 And it's just a process of just constantly redoing the things that you know that work and doing less of what doesn't work.

Calum Johnson 27:13 Mm.

Tez Akram 27:13 So spending money less on the ads that don't work, spending more money on the ones that do work. Um, learning more about different scaling, uh, budgets or different scaling strategies when it comes to ads. But now when it comes to, like, content, man, I think if I were to be honest, a lot of the times when it comes to me being able to make a viral video, I can kinda just feel it.

Calum Johnson 27:36 Mm.

Tez Akram 27:36 And it's not like I'm a genius or anything, it's just that I've taken five years to learn who I am, to learn my strengths, and I've always been pure with my intentions. So when I create something, it's truly from my heart. It's truly, like, something, a creation, like, that I make. And I know that there's only certain things that I could say and I could do-

Calum Johnson 28:00 Yeah

Tez Akram 28:00 ... that'll make a certain impact on people, and that's my superpower. I'm self-aware enough to realize that there's things that I can say and ways that I can say it that nobody else can say it in. And I take those things and I keep them in my back pocket, and when it comes times for marketing, I'm like, okay, you know, if I needed to promote, uh, like my guy Kai, shout out to Cool Kai.

Calum Johnson 28:21 Mm.

Tez Akram 28:22 If me and him have a brand partnership and I need to do a really cool video for him, like I just did, it was a mobile translator. And I was like, okay, what are all the features and benefits? I told my mind that it will allow you to not only learn languages, you can literally click a button and you can translate a language through voice right then and there. So if somebody speaks Spanish or if there's a barrier, I can actually click a button and then translate back and forth so we can have a conversation. You can also use it to read menus if you're out at the restaurants, and I used those three things in that video.

Calum Johnson 28:50 Mm.

Tez Akram 28:51 I just made sure I had a really nice fit on, because what people don't realize is that sometimes the outfit is what actually propels you a lot farther.

Calum Johnson 28:57 Yeah.

Tez Akram 28:58 So I'll do, like, a, a all nude outfit, or I'll do, like, an all brown outfit or, you know, super white. Like, I'll do something that stands out and that catches your eye. And it won't be, like, all red or all blue, like normal colors you'd see. I'll do, like, a all nude and, like, browns-

Calum Johnson 29:14 Mm

Tez Akram 29:14 ... and colors like that, and then I'll talk about those things, and then I'll kind of like, having, like, verbal pauses and things like that to m- like, reiterate what I'm trying to get across to people. And using all of these things in a 60-second timeframe, that's all in my mind.

Calum Johnson 29:28 Mm.

Tez Akram 29:28 So my mind is just constantly moving, and I'm just constantly talking, but it's coming out the way that I want it to because I've taken so much time to polish everything.

Calum Johnson 29:37 Mm.

Tez Akram 29:37 And that's kind of, like, how I make viral content. There's strategies, you know, obviously to sit down and be like, "All right, this is gonna go viral." Certain topics, certain trends. You know, if you're talking about, um, you know, for example, women talking about only wanting men who make six figures. I could make a viral topic about that.

Calum Johnson 29:55 Yeah.

Tez Akram 29:55 I could make a viral video about it, not only from a men's, a man's perspective, but from a woman's perspective, because it's like, okay, men, you're gonna feel some type of way that she feels like that, that she wants a man who only makes six figures. But what if that's the only thing she's exposed to? What if her dad's a multimillionaire and sh- the only thing she's been around is men who make more than mill- uh, seven figures?

Calum Johnson 30:15 Mm.

Tez Akram 30:15 So you can't blame her for having that perspective. But ladies, you can't just put out certain things that'll make a man who makes $70,000 a year feel differently. Because at the end of the day, he probably knows himself more than the multimillionaire who has no moral compass.

Calum Johnson 30:28 Mm.

Tez Akram 30:29 And there's so many different ways, you know, that you can spin something, but you just have to take the time out to, like, really understand the perspectives from both, and then understand your own-

Calum Johnson 30:38 Mm

Tez Akram 30:38 ... and then be honest with the content.

Calum Johnson 30:40 Yeah. Yeah. No, you know your shit, I can tell.

Tez Akram 30:42 [laughs]

Calum Johnson 30:43 Probably a few viral moments in what you just said.

Tez Akram 30:45 Facts. [laughs]

Calum Johnson 30:45 Yeah. You know what? It's, um, there's this, like, there's this Drake lyric that I love where he says, uh, "My confidence level's getting settled."

Tez Akram 30:53 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 30:54 And I feel like when I listen to you speak, it feels like you're, like, at that point, like you kinda know what your shit is, like your, your confidence level is settled. Um, there's this thing called the, the 80/20 principle. I don't-

Tez Akram 31:07 Yeah

Calum Johnson 31:07 ... have you heard of that?

Tez Akram 31:08 I've heard of it slightly. Uh, I haven't heard of it too much, though. I, you-

Calum Johnson 31:12 Yeah

Tez Akram 31:12 ... definitely wanna learn from me.

Calum Johnson 31:13 So basically, basically what it is, it's that 20% of the inputs cause 80% of the outputs. So essentially what that means is it's actually like a very small section of what we do truly matters-

Tez Akram 31:27 Yeah

Calum Johnson 31:27 ... and that causes all of the results. And it's actually just kind of, um ... It's a principle, but it's just true in so many ways in different things. Like, um, like most businesses don't work.

Tez Akram 31:41 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 31:41 Right? So like 20% of businesses probably do cause like 80% of like the total business revenue.

Tez Akram 31:47 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 31:47 Even if you think about in like a sports sense. Um, I love the NBA, right?

Tez Akram 31:52 Mm.

Calum Johnson 31:52 Like it's a very superstar driven league.

Tez Akram 31:54 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 31:55 20% of the athletes on the team probably cause like 80% plus of the actual result of how the team goes.

Tez Akram 32:01 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 32:02 I think part of the difficulty with when you're starting out in business is there's so much that you don't know. You don't know what the 20% is.

Tez Akram 32:13 Yeah, facts.

Calum Johnson 32:14 It's basically what you're saying, like you're trying to figure out like taxes, sales, marketing, fulfillment. Uh, you're trying to figure out like what your unique edge is even as a company, even as an individual, let alone a company. Um, so the fact that you don't know, it makes it very difficult to focus on the 20% that truly matters.

Tez Akram 32:34 Mm.

Calum Johnson 32:35 The reason I say all of that is I'm sure there's people that are listening that it feels like they're trying to learn all of these different things, but it's having no impact on the bottom line. Like it's having no impact on the result.

Tez Akram 32:49 Mm.

Calum Johnson 32:50 And so I f- I just feel like you could give such a good perspective, which is like if I'm trying to get to my first 10K month-

Tez Akram 32:58 Mm

Calum Johnson 32:59 ... my first 20K month, and I came to you and I was like, "Tez," like, "where do I put my focus?" Like, "What do I need to learn? What is the shit that matters? What is the stuff that like I don't even need to think about right now?"

Tez Akram 33:11 Mm.

Calum Johnson 33:12 Like what would you tell that person that's like, "I want that 10K month?"

Tez Akram 33:16 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 33:17 Like where do I put my focus?

Tez Akram 33:19 I would tell that person learn how to relearn. I think that we have been programmed since infants and since children because the beliefs that we have and the things that we see and we think are true are not actually 100% true. And I think at some point we have to reprogram our mind and change our perspective on the entire world, and it's only then when you'll truly find your edge because you'll realize that the things that people highlight as being great aren't that great, and the things that people don't highlight at all are the things that are the hidden gems. And, you know, even when you were talking about, you know, the 20/80 rule, you know, if you look at the S&P 500, you know, there's 500 of the best companies in the world, but only 7% of them actually produce a big enough profit for the S&P Fi- 500 to actually be profitable. So f- when you start thinking about it from that perspective, a lot of the things that you're gonna do isn't gonna work. A lot of the companies that are made end up going bankrupt after I'd probably say four or five years even after they go public. So it's like when you start thinking about things like that, it, it kinda starts changing your mindset. Your first business isn't gonna work. Like let's just kind of like ... I wouldn't doubt people and tell them like, "Hey, it's not gonna work at all," but I'm just gonna be honest with you, that first one is gonna be extremely difficult, and the ideas that you get to shift to something else when it does get difficult may be the thing that works. Because durags worked very well for me, but even though the profit margins were higher, I made way more money with clothing because of the profit, the amount of money I was making per unit was higher-

Calum Johnson 34:51 Mm

Tez Akram 34:51 ... and the scalability of it. Now these are clothing. People wear clothing. Like we're humans. We have to put clothes on, and we're gonna always need clothing. So it's like when you start looking at things from this point of view and then you start asking yourself, "Well, how do I make my first 10K month?" Well, where, what lane are you trying to go down? Who is the best in this lane? Can I learn from them? Can I network it with them? Can I watch all of their YouTube videos? Absolutely. Can I consume every bit of piece of knowledge? Not every piece, but like can I consume way more knowledge on it? Can I put in an hour to two hours a day to learn about Facebook ads, to learn about marketing? 'Cause if I'm being honest with you, like every company needs ads. Every company needs marketing. Every company needs operations. You learn one of those three first, and then you go in whatever order you want, I can tell you that you'll make 10K a month. I don't think making 10K a month is extremely difficult. I think that it's the lane that you choose to go down to make 10K a month, it might just be more difficult than others.

Calum Johnson 35:49 Mm.

Tez Akram 35:50 So like agencies, you know, it's a lot easier to solve a person's problem who makes a million dollars if you know how to solve it than it is to solve a person who has on- only $2,000 and wants to make 10,000 because that individual who's making multiple millions or multiple six figures, they're willing to pay you $5,000 a month to fix this one part of their business that will affect their bottom line. So how do I solve bigger problems-

Calum Johnson 36:14 Mm

Tez Akram 36:14 ... and then deal with people who make way more money? And then if you are gonna go the route where you're dealing with people who

Tez Akram 36:20 may not have as much money, how do I play the volume game? How can I play this game so well? What things, what unique edge do I have that I can play so well to my advantage to where the volume comes a lot easier and I don't have to spend as much? So for me personally, like I didn't learn this until last year that my unique edge is being able to make content and being able to make ads. Like it's something that I am very, very, very good at. Like I don't need a script. I don't need anything. You just tell me what the company is. You tell me what the product is. I will get in front of the camera. You give me literally three minutes, I'm good.

Calum Johnson 36:53 Mm.

Tez Akram 36:53 And it's just a snap of a finger. It just goes. But not everybody can do that. And I, I didn't realize that until my content team told me. It's like, "You know, bro, you really can sit down in front of a camera and talk forever."

Calum Johnson 37:04 Yeah.

Tez Akram 37:04 And I'm like, "Yeah, it just comes natural." And they're like, "You know, that's not for everybody. You know, everybody can't do that." Everybody can't market or find the best three key components to talk about and then systematically say it in order and then make sure you still have the call to action in the 60-second timeframe. Not everybody can do that.

Calum Johnson 37:22 Mm.

Tez Akram 37:22 And I never thought about it from that point of view. So it's just like for the individuals who are watching- You have to take some time out to learn who you are, learn the, the things that you're amazing at. There's so many of y'all who are artistic. I am not artistic at all. Like, even when it comes to designs, like, I outsource all of the design work. But I'm really good at marketing. So why don't I find somebody else who has my weakness as their strength, and I have their strength as ... or I have their weakness as my strength. We come together and we build something beautiful.

Calum Johnson 37:52 Mm-hmm.

Tez Akram 37:52 And just learn, man. You gotta relearn, you gotta reprogram your mind. Um, you gotta get out the matrix, man. You gotta, you gotta change how you view America. It's an entire business, from pharmaceutical companies to companies that own 90% of everything in America, Vanguard, BlackRock. When you start looking at things like this and you start doing your research, it's, it's just an information game.

Calum Johnson 38:14 Mm. Mm. You have to learn to relearn. That is so good.

Tez Akram 38:18 Mm.

Calum Johnson 38:18 That is so good. And you know what's, um ... It's interesting. Everyone that sat in that seat, and we've done about, like, over 70 episodes-

Tez Akram 38:29 Mm

Calum Johnson 38:29 ... so far. All successful entrepreneurs, uh, people that built businesses or just going all in on their craft. Every single one of them has such a deep awareness of what their edge is, and they just do that.

Tez Akram 38:43 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 38:43 And I think that's the thing sometimes. It's like, um, a lot of people out there wanna be, like, all-rounders.

Tez Akram 38:49 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 38:50 And, like, the people that are really making it, it's like they ain't ... They're not all-rounders.

Tez Akram 38:53 Mm.

Calum Johnson 38:54 And they know the things that they're not good at at all, and they steer clear or they hire people to do those things.

Tez Akram 38:59 Mm.

Calum Johnson 39:00 Um, you know the thing is with finding your edge, I think that makes it tough. It comes so naturally that you don't realize it's an edge.

Tez Akram 39:09 Facts. [laughs]

Calum Johnson 39:10 There's, um, there's an investor, Naval Ravikant, he's, he's made, like, hundreds of millions, like, successful companies, and he said, um, "You wanna do things that feel like play to you but work to others."

Tez Akram 39:24 Mm.

Calum Johnson 39:24 So certain things that you do right now, they come so easy-

Tez Akram 39:28 Mm

Calum Johnson 39:28 ... like you would just do it for free. Like, it's like it just feels easy to you.

Tez Akram 39:32 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 39:33 But for someone else to do that, it would be like the worst experience-

Tez Akram 39:37 [laughs]

Calum Johnson 39:37 ... in the world. Like some people, you even see it with kids. Like, some kids are so naturally good at, like, drawing.

Tez Akram 39:43 Mm.

Calum Johnson 39:43 I remember growing up, I could not draw shit.

Tez Akram 39:45 Same.

Calum Johnson 39:46 Like nothing.

Tez Akram 39:46 [laughs]

Calum Johnson 39:47 Like, I could be there for hours. Like, nothing good is coming. Um, but some people, they just ... It's just easy for them.

Tez Akram 39:53 Mm.

Calum Johnson 39:53 And I think it's actually you need an experience, like what you said, where someone literally points it out to you-

Tez Akram 39:58 Mm

Calum Johnson 39:58 ... the fact that, like, "Nah, you're like really good at this."

Tez Akram 40:01 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 40:02 Um, 'cause otherwise you just won't realize. Um, cool, man. No, I like that. Learn to relearn.

Tez Akram 40:08 Yeah. I think that's why it's important to be mindful of who you're around. If people around you can't give you praise for the things that you're good at, they gotta go. If they can't be honest with you when you're doing something wrong, they've gotta go. Like, it's so important. Like, you ... It takes a village to raise a child, right? But it also takes a community to build a great individual, you know? Every great CEO has a great COO, a CFO, a CMO. They're all great around him, and it holds him accountable. But he outsources all the things he's not good at to them, so he holds them accountable, and it's a trade-off. And that's kinda how you gotta look at it.

Calum Johnson 40:51 Mm. Mm. You know what? I think, um, from looking at your content and then also just, like, hanging out with you today, it feels like you're incredibly intentional-

Tez Akram 41:04 Mm

Calum Johnson 41:04 ... about the people that are around you, the influences, the people that you spend time with. Um, like it's intentional. It's not done by mistake or by accident.

Tez Akram 41:15 Mm.

Calum Johnson 41:16 When did that start? Or was it always like that? Like, was there a moment where the, your circle wasn't right?

Tez Akram 41:23 Yeah, a lot of the times. Um, growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, it's rough. You know, I won't say it's the worst city in the world, but if you look at it right now, it's top five most dangerous in the entire United States.

Calum Johnson 41:34 Mm.

Tez Akram 41:34 Um, it wasn't easy. Um, you know, my mom was into the streets, my dad was into the streets, and my brother was into the streets. My grandfather was, and it was, it was prominent around me to be in that. But my religion kept me ... I would say it kept me balanced. Because what I've realized is that through my religion, a lot of the things that most people would try to do and try to get away with, I could- I couldn't do it in my heart, and it's because I believed so much that He was watching me, and I believed so much in His opinion of me because, you know, I wouldn't be where I am without Him. And I have to give Him praise for everything that I've been able to achieve. And you know, for me personally, you know, my n- div- div- the friends that

Tez Akram 42:21 I grew up with are not the friends I'm with right now. You know, even from elementary school to, you know, middle school to high school, it always shifted. And even in high school, you know, growing up, the people I was around, like the basketball players and things like that, they weren't good people. Some of them were. Some of them are really good friends still to this day. But you gotta learn the difference between associates and real friends and family. Like, that's how I consider my friends, they're family. Like, I'll take care of you. You need something, "Yo, I need you to spot me on this," I got you, um, without even thinking about it. And you gotta really be confident in those people. And it takes a lot of certain signs that you gotta pay attention to to find those people, and to really spot out the characteristics that you gotta stay away from. So, like, I had friends that were in the streets a lot, and, you know, obviously every, uh, teenager goes through that phase where you wanna smoke and you wanna drink and you wanna kick it. But trouble comes with that. And when you start constantly getting in trouble just from being around a group of people, you gotta be self-aware enough to be like, "Look, I'm tired of this. I'm not about to be getting put in a back of a police car."

Calum Johnson 43:30 Mm.

Tez Akram 43:30 "I'm not about to be the person who gets caught up with weed. I'm not about to be the person that's so drunk that I gotta come home and now my mom sees me out of my body drunk." Like- When you start looking at things like that and you start asking yourself, "Well, what do I truly want?" Because everything you do is based off of your decisions. Nobody's putting a gun to your head and telling you, "Oh yeah, you gotta go hang out with them." Nobody's telling you that. It just takes one decision. It's a hard decision to make, though-

Calum Johnson 43:55 Mm

Tez Akram 43:55 ... you know, to stop being around the people you're accustomed to being around. And that's why I like the fact that my high school was so diverse. You know, we had, you know, Asians, African Americans, Indians all co-mingling, eating lunch with each other. Like, it wasn't like the basketball team only ate with the basketball team. It's like if you did basketball but you like chess, then you're, you're eating with the people who... A- and it's just like I've always been around diversity.

Calum Johnson 44:20 Mm.

Tez Akram 44:20 And I think it's shifted my mind to believe that you can change your circle if you want to. They just may not look the way you want them to look.

Calum Johnson 44:28 Mm.

Tez Akram 44:29 And it's a powerful thing that you gotta come to an understanding with.

Calum Johnson 44:32 Yeah. You spoke about your, your religion.

Tez Akram 44:36 Mm.

Calum Johnson 44:36 And I could just feel it was, like, it was, like, so meaningful. It meant something to you. Um, it was almost like you went to, like, a different place with it. I'm curious, was there, like ... Was there moments that that belief and that faith, like, it was just really tested?

Tez Akram 44:54 All the time. You know, uh, you're gonna be tested. At, at every level in life from the foundation up, you're gonna be tested in all areas of life. And in religion, yeah. Um, I would say when you're ... Like, I, I grew up Muslim, so in Islam a lot of the things that, you know, everybody else could do I couldn't do. So, like, birthday parties, I could never have birthday parties. Christmas, like, my dad's side of the family was Christian, so a lot of the things that they did I couldn't experience with them. So Christmas, I couldn't get presents on Christmas. I would have to wait like a week after or a week before to just get something from my dad. Um, and a lot of those times I used to be so angry 'cause I'm like, "I don't get to share those experiences." Like a birthday, like, you know, people coming around, they love you, and you have your own birthday party. And you know, I didn't have one until, like, 21, 22, like my, my own actual birthday party. And even though, you know, in my religion I'm still, you know, fully Muslim and I, I would never change that, um, I started changing what I believed within my religion. You know, certain things I realized that at the end of the day all these books are created by human, messenger or not, right? And I also believe that there are certain things that I agree with and things that I don't agree with and that feels true to me. And I think that, you know, in every religion God says He created you in His image. And I think at some point you have to have enough ... You have to be able to make decisions for you and not just go based off of what everybody else is doing.

Calum Johnson 46:35 Mm-hmm.

Tez Akram 46:35 So if I like something, I'm going to do it, but I gotta make the, make sure I do the research on it to make sure this is something that I truly like. Do I like it because social media's doing it and 'cause I see other people doing it, or do I like it 'cause I genuinely like it?

Calum Johnson 46:46 Mm.

Tez Akram 46:47 And even when it comes to foods and what you eat. You know, I don't eat pork whether I was Muslim or not. I don't eat pork because of the stuff that's in it and how it's processed and how it's created. But most people don't do enough research to look at it, because if you did you'd probably start looking at it differently, and you probably would stop eating it. But to each their own, and that's kinda how I live my life. It's just like, you know, I never judge anybody else for making decisions that they feel like is best for them, because at the end of the day it's not my life.

Calum Johnson 47:15 Mm.

Tez Akram 47:15 And whatever you do is best for you. I'm just happy you're happy.

Calum Johnson 47:18 Yeah.

Tez Akram 47:19 As long as you're not hurting people, it has nothing to do with me.

Calum Johnson 47:22 Yeah. One of the things that you've said several times is, like, you spoke about self-awareness or, like, doing things that are true to you. And it's interesting because I have the, the same thing and even my mom said it to me, which is like there's certain things that I'm just so principled about because I feel like I have an awareness of who I am and it's like I wouldn't do that.

Tez Akram 47:43 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 47:43 Like, that's not something that I would do. And almost have ... There's so many ... In the world, there's so many, like, influences and, like, temptations and things that are being put around you

Calum Johnson 47:54 that they can sometimes move you off that square.

Tez Akram 47:56 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 47:57 And you start doing stuff that you're like, "Like, this ain't me, man. Like, I wouldn't do this." Like, people that knew me growing up or, like, really know me, they know I would not do that thing. And for me it's like even if it's the smallest thing I'm like, "I can't do it."

Tez Akram 48:13 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 48:13 Because the worst, I think the worst thing, and this is always what I tell myself, is like you have to live with yourself-

Tez Akram 48:19 Yeah

Calum Johnson 48:19 ... 100% of the time.

Tez Akram 48:22 Man.

Calum Johnson 48:22 That motherfucker don't shut up.

Tez Akram 48:23 It don't. [laughs]

Calum Johnson 48:23 Like, it is, keeps going. And so I think those are like, more than any sort of, like, failure or anything, it's like when I feel like I let myself down, that is like the worst feeling. I'm curious for you, like, what are ... Do you have those moments where you just feel like you did something like, "That wasn't me, man. Like, I wouldn't do that"?

Tez Akram 48:50 Yeah, I do. I think that I have skeletons in my closet.

Calum Johnson 48:54 Yeah.

Tez Akram 48:55 Um, I wouldn't say I'm the most pure person in the world. I've made terrible decisions, some that I'm to this day still not proud of, but I had to learn how to forgive myself, too. Because at the end of the day I was put here to be human, and humans make tons of mistakes every day. We, you know, we make mistakes every day. You walk outside, somebody's making a mistake, mistake right now. You may not notice it, but they're making a mistake. And I've made tons of them, you know? And I've also learned to appreciate them because without those mistakes you wouldn't know what true success is without the mistakes, without the lessons. You wouldn't. You wouldn't know what it feels like. And for me, the mistakes that I've made, you know, it's just like I just reflect a lot. You know, that's why I feel like when I say a lot about self-awareness it's because, like, in this moment as I'm speaking to you I realize that there's a camera, but I also realize that through my eyes I'm speaking and everything I'm thinking through my subconscious mind is also processing. So while I'm in the moment, my brain is in the moment. And to go- Through that subconscious level of thinking while you're in these types of scenarios and environments is key because these are the decisions and these are the ways of thinking that will allow you to save your life. You know, you may be looking at your, um, you know, you may not be thinking all the time, and it may happen to a lot of people who have may have passed away. They weren't thinking, they weren't in the moment, they weren't paying attention, their subconscious mind was sleeping, they weren't ... They were lacking, and something happened. They got hit by a car, not ... They're on their phone and walking past, across the street and something happens. And in a blink of an eye, as quickly as you're just looking around not care- like, careless about life, like that it's gone. And I always try to remember these moments because every podcast means everything to me. Because at some point in time, my kids are gonna go back and watch these.

Calum Johnson 50:40 Mm.

Tez Akram 50:40 At some point in time, there's gonna be another individual who looks just like me, who's gonna be in the same type of environment as me, who's gonna go through some st- some, some of the same stuff as me and through life. And they're gonna look at what I'm saying right now, and it's gonna resonate with them. And as soon as it resonates with them and they

Tez Akram 50:56 start processing it, and they start growing up, that seed that just went into them starts becoming a plant, and it becomes a tree. And that's how I look at life. It's like, how can I, as an individual, through content, through talking, through public speaking, through interviews, how can I plant so many seeds across so many minds that as time goes by they keep watering it themselves? I'm not gonna do the work for you. I can give you the ideas, I can give you the information, but how can I allow you, or how can I help you put s- plant seeds, water them, and then allow them to grow?

Calum Johnson 51:29 Mm.

Tez Akram 51:29 And through that way I feel like I'll never feel unfulfilled. I'll never get to my death bed and say, "Oh, I didn't contribute everything I could," because at the end of the day, look who I've impacted. You know, I have 22 students right now who have all made six figures. That's like, to me like, you know, to go from working a job for me to, you know, millions. But then to help somebody else go from working a job to six figures or even millions is like, wow, you just changed a life. But you never really truly understand the impact that changing one life has. Because when you change that one life and they have kids, their kids' life will never be the same. It won't be like how theirs were. And when you start thinking about things like that, the trade-off of me giving out all this game and me working so hard and me, you know, traveling and doing all these interviews, it, it's a trade-off I'll make every single day until I'm dead.

Calum Johnson 52:20 Mm. You know, I just thought about something which is like, and we spoke about how things can compound in like a good way or a bad way in life. If you are, if we were hyper-aware-

Tez Akram 52:32 Mm

Calum Johnson 52:32 ... of decisions that we're making and what impact that that has several stages down the line, it would change everything.

Tez Akram 52:42 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 52:43 It would change everything. Because even what you said, right, is like there's whole communities, it might sound dramatic, there's whole communities that could've been changed by you being able to educate 22 students.

Tez Akram 52:55 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 52:56 And the volume, it might not even seem ... It's not hundreds, it's not millions, but like, you don't see the, the impact, the momentum, the things that happen down the line. Um, you know what? I wanted to key in on one thing that you said which is you talk about like self-forgiveness.

Tez Akram 53:13 Mm.

Calum Johnson 53:14 I think, um, Alex Hormozi says this thing when he says, um, a lot of ... In business, if you're not achieving something, it's usually down to two reasons. So it's either skills or it's belief.

Tez Akram 53:28 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 53:29 And I think the belief, the belief section is actually very underrated, and it's not spoken about enough. And it's interesting sometimes, I hear it when people come to me and they wanna start a podcast. You hear like, a lot of like, limiting beliefs. Even sometimes you mi- you might even, taking it into a different world, you might even have friends and it's like they have so much talent, so many gifts, but it's like they self-sabotage.

Tez Akram 53:57 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 53:58 And the reason I bring that up in relation to the self-forgiveness is sometimes when you haven't forgiven yourself for something, it's like you keep playing out this result over and over and over again. And so I'm just curious, like, what was that process? 'Cause that's not spoken about enough. It's like-

Tez Akram 54:17 Mm

Calum Johnson 54:18 ... the thing that happened to me as a kid, or the thing that I witnessed as a child, or that I saw my parents doing, like, how do I heal from that?

Tez Akram 54:27 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 54:27 Because here's the thing, right? I think there was a study about this,

Calum Johnson 54:30 which is a lot of the things that happen to us as children, even if it has nothing to do with us-

Tez Akram 54:35 Mm

Calum Johnson 54:35 ... we take it as fault, like we have the responsibility.

Tez Akram 54:39 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 54:39 So if I witness something that like my dad did, or my mom did, or my sister or older brother, in a child's mind it's like, "I did that."

Tez Akram 54:47 Mm.

Calum Johnson 54:48 So you have to forgive yourself for things that you didn't even really do as a kid.

Tez Akram 54:53 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 54:54 I'm curious for you and, and like it might be one of those things, like it's, it's hard to have the answer, but like what is that process of like self-forgiveness?

Tez Akram 55:02 [clears throat] Hmm. [sighs] I would say honestly it's so hard, bro. Like all the nights that I could remember crying, bro, it's like, it's like, uh, s- it's like it's hard to put words on it. You know? It's like, you know, those nights where you're in your head, like that voice is constantly going and planning out every bad scenario. It's the hardest thing in, in, in life I personally feel like. You know? It's, it's worse than, uh, losing a, a certain amount of money or any of those things because when you truly regret something or where you truly are f- hating yourself for something else that has happened externally to you or around you, it, it's like a, a barrier. Like you can't get through the brick wall. And you have to break it. Like, it, it does not matter what ha- has happened to you. You know, you have to break that barrier. And that process for me is praying. You know, praying so much, bro. Asking for forgiveness until it starts relieving within me, and that's how I'll know that hopefully He's forgiving me. But if it's relieving in me that I'm praying and I'm asking for forgiveness, then it's gotta be doing something. And also I realize that over time, things lessen. You know, I give myself a 72-hour rule. So if I'm angry at something, I'll give myself 72 hours before I react to it. That'll save a lot of people from going to jail. That'll save a lot of people from dying. Just thinking, "Yo, you know what? Before I go out here and do something that could put me up for life, let me think about this for 72 hours and think if this is something that I should really do."

Calum Johnson 56:45 Mm.

Tez Akram 56:45 By the first 24 hours, it'll sting still. You'll probably be still angry. You'll probably be like, "Ah, you know, I could still do it." That's usually when most people fold. They bend after that first 24 hours, or they don't even give their self 24 hours. About f- 48 hours, it's lessened a lot and you're coming back to your foundation or your moral compass is coming back and you're like, "Okay." You take a deep breath. It still stings a little bit. You still think about it. It's not gonna go away. By that third day, you're back to normal.

Calum Johnson 57:14 Mm.

Tez Akram 57:15 Not 100%. To an extent, you'll be a lot better than you were on day one, but I can promise you that if you gave yourself 72 hours, by that third day you will feel so much better. And it's something you gotta go through. I meditate a lot. I sit with myself a lot. I think about the things that I've done bad. I tell myself, "You know what? You did what you did in the moment because you may have thought it was good for you or you weren't thinking in the moment. You can't be so critical on yourself." And that's something that even to this day I'm still doing. It's not like you just learn it and you do it. It's a process and y- it's a, a thing through life. Because every day, like I said, we make mistakes, so you just gotta kind of figure out a way to forgive yourself as you make mistakes, 'cause you're going to make more.

Calum Johnson 58:00 Mm.

Tez Akram 58:00 And you know, I'm reading... I've read, not I'm reading. Um, I read The Four Agreements. Have you ever read it?

Calum Johnson 58:06 No. I've heard of it, though.

Tez Akram 58:07 Phenomenal book. It teaches you so many different things about life, man. Like, things that we just don't think about. And you know, one thing that I talk about a lot now is the power of the tongue. You know, that self-belief and self-sabotage, it's real. When you speak these things out into the world, the universe has a amazing way of it coming right back to you. So, you know, I've manifested everything I wanted in my life. I would sit in my Impala with the little ticking noise, and I would sit there and I would close my eyes and I would feel the car. I would just, and just imagine that it was a Lamborghini. And yeah, I may not have the Lamborghini now, not because I, I can't afford it, but because I don't need one. You start getting to a point in life where you're like, "I'm happy." Like, I have a Tesla. I love my Tesla. I love my car, and I got the car that I love because I love it, not because I wanna go flex on somebody else. Now, when I do get the Lamborghini, then it's gonna be like, "Okay, I got it because it was just something that I need to do as a tax write-off."

Calum Johnson 58:59 Mm-hmm.

Tez Akram 59:00 It's gonna be different than me wanting it and just going out to get it. Even when it came to the jewelry. I bought the jewelry because that's something I wanted as a kid, so I went out and I bought it. Some people may say, "Oh, that's a bad decision. It'll depreciate." Well, good thing I'm not asking for your opinion.

Calum Johnson 59:13 Yeah.

Tez Akram 59:14 'Cause I'm me, and I know that with me putting on this watch or the, the chain, it made me feel better for a certain period of time that I accomplished something that I wanted as a kid, and nobody can take that away from me. So I think that through The Four Agreements, the power of tongue is one of the most important things. If you keep self-sabotaging yourself, "Oh, I'm not good at this," or, "I can't figure it out," or, "This is so difficult I might as well just give up," you're saying all of these things that are helping you convince yourself to not keep going. And one thing that I always tell people a- and myself, bending, folding, falling and not getting up, it's not an option. It's just not. And when you tell yourself that, you just never fail. You may take some Ls, yeah, it comes with life, but you never fail. You never just fall off. You just keep going. It's a process. You may take a L. It's like, you know, the stock market. You look at it over the last 10 years, it's gone up and down, up and down, up and down, but the overall consistency is it's going up.

Calum Johnson 1:00:15 Mm. No, that's special. I remember, um, it reminds me of something that Kobe said, Kobe Bryant.

Tez Akram 1:00:20 Mm.

Calum Johnson 1:00:21 One of my idols. Um, and he had, like, such a strong self-belief and, uh, he would just almost, like, will things into existence.

Tez Akram 1:00:30 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:00:31 And I remember when... 'Cause he used to wake up at, like, 3:00 AM to, to train. Um, and I think there was even, there was even certain games that he played and he hadn't even slept the night before. And so, like, he's going into an arena, like 20,000 people are watching him. He's the guy. Everyone's coming to see him. Everyone's coming through the turnstile to see him, and the guy hasn't slept and he's still putting on a show.

Tez Akram 1:00:54 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:00:55 Like, no excuses. And I remember he said, he was like, he was like, "I don't negotiate with myself."

Tez Akram 1:01:00 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:01:01 He was like, "I, I'm not playing." Like, "We're getting up at 3:00 AM." And I think that's a big thing, which is just, like, just keeping the promises that you made to yourself.

Tez Akram 1:01:10 Man, powerful.

Calum Johnson 1:01:11 Just so powerful. You know what? There's one, there's one more thing we have to talk about before we get out of here.

Tez Akram 1:01:18 Mm.

Calum Johnson 1:01:18 Um, you spoke about earlier, like, just having, like, a great partner.

Tez Akram 1:01:26 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 1:01:27 Um, obviously your girlfriend's here, and I've been even just seeing her in my peripheral vision, like-

Tez Akram 1:01:32 Yeah

Calum Johnson 1:01:32 ... recording and shit. Um, and you know where my, where my mind went? It was like, how many people would be further forward in their goals if they had a partner like that?

Tez Akram 1:01:45 Mm-hmm.

Calum Johnson 1:01:46 Like, they're sitting in the room listening to you do a podcast, but they're, like, recording it, or they're like, they're just, they're just helping you even achieve your dreams. Like, they're so supportive of it. It's, like, the right person.

Tez Akram 1:01:57 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:01:58 Um- I'm curious because we, we hear so much, like, content nowadays, which is, like, if you're ambitious and you're, like, a man and you're trying to build a business or something, I feel like the way that they portray women, it's like you're ... They're like a liability.

Tez Akram 1:02:15 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:02:16 Um, I'm curious, like, what was kinda your process to finding someone that was just, like, just great, like, around you, just a perfect addition to your circle and, like, helping everything that you're building?

Tez Akram 1:02:31 Yeah. Um, I think I've went through my phases in life where 20s, you know, you start seeing some success. You start messing up money. You start, you know, attracting people who only want to be around you for money. And even now, like, you know, it's still gonna always be like that. There's always gonna be people who just wanna be around you because of money. But honestly, my partner is an asset, you know? She, her, her strengths are my weaknesses, you know? And we complement each other so well. And this is like, you know, I'm openly talking about my relationship now because it's something that empowers me as a, as a man. Like, who I am and how I wake up and who I look at in the mirror now is stronger than the one when I was by myself because you're always better when you have somebody else who's like-minded, also believes in you just as much as you believe in them.

Calum Johnson 1:03:22 Mm.

Tez Akram 1:03:22 And I would say that process is a difficult process to find that, especially in today's age. I think that social media has a lot to do with it. I think that women's perspective of what men want is drastically different than what it actually is, and I think that what men actually want is drastically different than what they need. And it's a process, you know? And I think that as an individual you have to kinda look at your partner as is this the person that will help me get to my goals, and do they even have dreams? Are they a dreamer? You know, I always told myself I would never let my inner kid die, ever, because dreams is what got me here and dreams is what's gonna get me to nine figures plus. And it's not even about money, but the dream is for freedom. The dream is to impact. The dream is to be an influence. So if that's my dream, can this person help me do so? Next you have to judge them based off of their actions. So I know that when I feel like folding or I feel like I'm s- I feel like giving up, I know she has my back. It's not even ... No question. And I knew, like, there was a moment in early in our relationship where it was like, uh, it was really tough for me. Like, I couldn't ... Business was so hard on me and family and everything was just so difficult. And I went in the bathroom and I cried, like, all the lights off 'cause I don't ... You know, as a man you don't want people to see you cry and things.

Calum Johnson 1:04:47 Yeah.

Tez Akram 1:04:47 And there's all these, you know, social media posts about, oh, if a woman sees you cry then she sees ... She thinks you're weak. Nah. Like, as a man you gotta learn how to control your emotions. It's just a, a thing that people talk about now. And I remember she came into the bathroom and she prayed over me. That was the first time besides my mother ever. When I fasted for Ramadan for 30 days she would wake up at 5:00 in the morning and cook for me and make sure I was good.

Tez Akram 1:05:13 And then dinner, cook for me, make sure I was good. But not just in a, in a, a way where I'm full and I'm, I'm hu- like, I'm hungry and you making sure I'm good. That, in that way my soul is full, and that is something you can't trade. So you know, you can go out and you can see there's millions of beautiful women in the world, but who are they really? What's under all the makeup? What's under all of the, the social media posts and wanting to, you know, be flattering to every man that sees them?

Calum Johnson 1:05:44 Mm.

Tez Akram 1:05:44 What's under that?

Calum Johnson 1:05:45 Mm.

Tez Akram 1:05:46 That's the definition of a woman that you'd wanna see yourself with long-term.

Calum Johnson 1:05:52 Yeah. Damn.

Tez Akram 1:05:53 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:05:54 That's special, man.

Tez Akram 1:05:55 [laughs]

Calum Johnson 1:05:55 You need to help some guys get that. That is hard to find right there.

Tez Akram 1:05:58 [laughs] Hey, man, it's not, it's ... You know what I would say is, uh, it's not super common. You know, she's ... She fell in, like ... She fell into my lap to be honest with you, and, uh, I thank God, you know, 'cause, like, the phase in, in my life that I was at I needed somebody like this and now it's like I can't let her go, so.

Calum Johnson 1:06:17 Yeah.

Tez Akram 1:06:17 Mm.

Calum Johnson 1:06:18 That's special.

Tez Akram 1:06:19 Yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:06:19 It's been a pleasure having you on, man.

Tez Akram 1:06:20 Man, thank you so much. Ay, if you guys are watching please hit the subscribe button for my guy. This was a phenomenal podcast. Very organic, very natural and real for me, so I really appreciate it. This was probably one of my favorites.

Calum Johnson 1:06:31 Thank you. Thank you.

Tez Akram 1:06:32 Yeah, so yeah.

Calum Johnson 1:06:32 I love to hear it. I love to hear it. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the channel. We're having fire conversations every week on the podcast. Before we end the episode, a quick word from our sponsor, Free Agency. What if I told you there is a good chance you're leaving money on the table in your career? It would kind of annoy you a bit, right? Well, Free Agency aims to stop that. They represent and manage talent in the tech industry. Here's how they do it. First they provide you with a dedicated talent agent. Think about this as your career quarterback. They understand you and your career goals. Based on that understanding they bring you suitable interviews at top firms. You focus on smashing the interview, and together with their network, research, negotiation expertise they will make sure you get a top-of-market salary. Stop job searching alone and start building your dream career today with Free Agency.