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The #1 Financial Freedom SECRET Rich People WON’T Tell You! | Codie Sanchez

Today’s guest, Codie Sanchez, will be speaking at SUMMIT OF GREATNESS in 25 days!

Codie SanchezguestLewis Howeshost

Aug 19, 20241h 49mWatch on YouTube

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CHAPTERS

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Chapter summaries

Money as freedom: rejecting control and questioning “just save”
Codie Sanchez frames money as a form of freedom and personal sovereignty, rooted in her desire to never feel controlled by someone else again. She and Lewis Howes immediately challenge common advice—especially the idea that saving alone leads to wealth.
- •Codie says money equals freedom and the ability to exert your will on the world
- •Lewis asks what broke people think will make them wealthy; Codie answers: saving
- •Codie argues it’s easier to earn more than to save everything
- •She contrasts downside-focused saving with making money productive and multiplicative
- •Lewis tees up the episode’s focus on earning, ownership, and new ways of thinking about money
From broke in college to believing wealth is possible
Codie shares the early experience that shaped her drive: being broke in college and feeling monitored and controlled through money. She later describes a pivotal moment meeting a wealthy executive that made her realize rich people aren’t flawless—so she could succeed too.
- •Codie describes her mom tracking her bank account and the feeling of control it created
- •She explains how that became a trigger for her independence and ambition
- •Codie recounts meeting a senior executive and realizing he wasn’t “flawless,” shifting her belief
- •She describes the stress of living with constant overdrafts and uncertainty
- •Lewis frames the conversation around deservingness and belief in earning more
Stop obsessing over saving: focus on earning and making dollars productive
Lewis presses for what actually multiplies money without endless stress. Codie’s core point is that maximizing income and thinking in terms of upside—rather than scarcity—creates momentum and opportunity.
- •Codie says saving alone can trap people in scarcity mindset
- •She claims really wealthy people don’t think about saving at a “10-to-1 ratio” versus earning
- •Codie contrasts “how do I not spend” with “how do I make every dollar bring friends back?”
- •Lewis asks for ways to multiply money without it consuming all your time
- •Codie emphasizes learning to earn as the foundational, lower-risk lever
Maximizing earnings: negotiate, create upside, and get paid to learn
Codie breaks down practical ways to increase income without taking investment risk, focusing on negotiation and tying pay to measurable outcomes. Lewis reinforces the mindset of adding value, building skills, and tracking results to justify higher compensation.
- •Codie calls maximizing earnings potential the “zero risk” way to make more money
- •She highlights that many people never negotiate salary proactively
- •Codie suggests negotiating upside (bonuses/revenue share) for hitting growth goals
- •Lewis emphasizes confidence, skill-building, and demonstrating measurable impact
- •Codie argues even missing stretch goals can be a win because you’re getting paid to learn
Millionaire behaviors: curiosity, follow-through, and using time differently
Codie presents her “low bar” formula for wealth: ask better questions and do what you say you’ll do. She contrasts rich vs. broke behaviors around signaling, favors, and time, using a neighborhood story to show how ambition can be treated socially.
- •Codie: she’ll take curiosity over IQ and follow-through over experience
- •She explains why overwhelm and overcommitment break people’s reliability
- •Codie says wealthy people ask questions and trade in knowledge rather than ask for favors
- •She claims broke people often try to look rich while rich people don’t prioritize it
- •A neighborhood example illustrates how ambition can be mocked and how one person used time efficiently to learn
Why $10M requires ownership: equity, deal-making, and avoiding non-cash-flow bets
Codie explains the shift required to go from early financial milestones to much larger wealth: moving from trading time to owning assets. She cautions against relying on startup equity and stresses the importance of cash flow and revenue-based reality.
- •Codie says what gets you to $100K or $1M won’t get you to $10M
- •She argues you need “skin in the game” via equity and deal structuring
- •Codie warns many startup employee equity options became worthless
- •Lewis shares his own experience investing time and money into startups that didn’t pay off
- •Codie’s rule: until you’ve built significant wealth, prioritize cash-flowing businesses over hopes and dreams
Boring business case study: laundromats, learning the game, and stacking revenue streams
Codie walks through why she started with laundromats: higher success rates, lower cost, and a safer learning environment. She explains how to stay motivated in unglamorous businesses by learning to “love the game,” then shows how to expand one business into many income streams.
- •Codie says she evaluates businesses by failure rate and likelihood of making money
- •She shares her first laundromat numbers and why it was effectively a low-paying job at first
- •Codie explains the upside comes from improving and later selling the business at a higher value
- •She says motivation comes from treating money-making like a scoreboard and loving the game
- •Codie outlines stacking revenue streams (vending, wash-and-fold, delivery, commercial, multiple locations) to scale
Real estate vs stocks vs buying businesses—and when franchises make sense
Lewis asks what to do with $250K–$500K and how to avoid being consumed by operational demands. Codie compares real estate, stocks, and business ownership, then explains why franchises can be a good entry point for first-time operators—if chosen carefully.
- •Codie frames real estate as tax advantages and long-term wealth preservation
- •She frames stock investing as primarily a way to beat inflation, not get rich quickly
- •Codie argues the biggest wealth-building upside comes from starting or buying businesses
- •She recommends franchises for people who need systems, structure, and a proven blueprint
- •Codie distinguishes three profiles: franchise buyers, business buyers, and high-risk startup builders
Why buying beats building (for most): odds, SBA-backed models, and seller financing basics
Codie lays out why she prefers buying existing businesses: higher probability of success and a track record. She explains seller financing and why banks fund acquisitions more readily than startups, then encourages learning deal-making before doing a first purchase.
- •Codie cites failure rates to argue the odds are stacked against most startups
- •She explains how small business margins affect what “a million in revenue” really means
- •Codie references SBA loan failure rates being in single digits and why banks prefer track records
- •She introduces seller financing and says it’s common in business sales
- •Codie argues middlemen can erode profits and that people can structure deals more directly
The 10-step path to buying a business—and why a bad first deal can end your journey
Lewis asks for actionable steps to buy a local business like a laundromat. Codie insists people should spend time learning the process first, describing business buying as the “Wild West,” then outlines the ten steps her team teaches from clarity to post-close execution.
- •Codie warns a bad first deal can stop someone from ever doing another deal
- •She contrasts real estate’s built-in infrastructure with business buying’s complexity
- •Codie says to invest 60–90 days learning negotiation, diligence, and deal structure
- •She lists a 10-step framework: clarity, selling yourself, sourcing, financing, negotiation, structure, docs, diligence, closing, and first 90 days
- •Lewis emphasizes the reality that buying a business creates new work after the excitement fades
Due diligence discipline: walking away, sunk-cost fallacy, and people as the real deal risk
Codie explains that some deals exceed expectations after acquisition, but many of the most important decisions are deals you don’t do. She connects bad deals to sunk-cost fallacy and then pivots to her biggest deal mistakes being about people choices, not spreadsheets.
- •Codie says good deals often end up better than expected, citing a recent acquisition experience
- •She stresses being willing to walk away even after investing time and money
- •Codie uses her dad’s line: don’t fall in love with something that can’t love you back
- •She says the worst deal she did damaged a friendship and strained her marriage
- •Codie shares a red-flag heuristic: prefer “friends from business,” not “business from friends,” and emphasizes insulation as success grows
Money and marriage alignment: roles, vision-setting, and growing at the same speed
Codie and Lewis explore how relationships work when ambition and money are in the mix. Codie describes goal-setting practices with her husband, how they define roles, and why shared sacrifice and aligned vision matter more than the money itself.
- •Codie says her husband taught her “100% return on fun” and to invest in experiences
- •She explains complementary roles: she’s optimistic and growth-driven; he’s more downside-protective
- •Codie describes “whiteboarding” the future: mapping life in 1/3/5/10 years and revisiting annually
- •She says a key question is what you’re willing to sacrifice to get what you want
- •Codie emphasizes the need for both partners to keep growing and “travel through time together”
Dating dynamics, strength-based relationships, and the “trad wife” + catio business lesson
The conversation shifts to powerful women, masculinity, and what actually creates attraction beyond income. Codie argues attitude matters more than a woman’s bank account, describes “strength-based relationships,” and then uses the catio example to explain productizing offline services and building recurring revenue.
- •Codie says men aren’t emasculated by a woman’s money, but by disrespectful attitude and actions
- •She argues competence is “incredibly sexy” and everyone can develop a domain of greatness
- •Codie describes turn-offs such as weakness framed as constant public complaining, not vulnerability
- •She defines strength-based relationships as doing what each partner is uniquely great at—not strict gender roles
- •Using trad wife/catio examples, Codie explains productizing services and shifting from one-off jobs to recurring revenue models (e.g., commercial subscriptions)
Real friendships, controversy, and leadership boundaries: receipts, energy vampires, and firing well
Lewis and Codie discuss loneliness, deal friends vs. real friends, and how success can isolate people. They also cover what controversy reveals about relationships, why to “keep receipts,” and how leaders should handle energy vampires and team members who don’t meet expectations.
- •Codie cites a study she read about one in three Millennials/Gen Z feeling no friend truly knows them
- •She says chosen difficulty with others forges deeper bonds; Lewis shares a story about a wealthy friend lacking close friendships
- •Codie references Arthur Brooks’ distinction between “deal friends” and “useless friends” as a driver of happiness
- •Lewis describes a personal controversy that revealed who was actually in his corner and why he keeps receipts
- •Codie explains firing shouldn’t surprise anyone when expectations and KPIs are clear, and that keeping the wrong person hurts both them and the team
Fear of failure, meaning, and “three truths”: desire, inconvenient truth, and writing your own rules
Codie opens up about her fear being failure rather than success, and what she wants her life to mean. She discusses legacy, regrets, why chasing money can be good in a season, and closes with her three truths and definition of greatness.
- •Codie says she’s fearful often and worries about not following through on big goals
- •She talks about wanting her life to have mattered and connecting money to personal sovereignty
- •Codie names potential regrets: not having kids, not parenting well, and not writing more creatively
- •She argues chasing money can be good for a period and frames money as a tool for freedom
- •Codie’s three truths: you can’t teach desire; tell the truth even when inconvenient; write your own bible (rules) and live by it

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