00:00.330 --> 00:02.760 Sean Murray: Okay, we are back here at deBanked connect Miami. 00:02.760 --> 00:05.760 I'm here with RJ from Equipping The Dream. Hello, RJ. 00:05.760 --> 00:06.600 RJ: Hey how are you doing, Sean? 00:07.050 --> 00:07.980 Sean Murray: Thanks for being here. 00:08.020 --> 00:09.490 RJ: Absolutely. I'm glad I'm glad to be here. 00:09.490 --> 00:11.650 Sean Murray: So I gotta ask you my first question is I seen you 00:11.650 --> 00:14.230 on LinkedIn. Yeah, you have a very long name. 00:14.290 --> 00:14.800 RJ: That's right. 00:14.830 --> 00:16.240 Sean Murray: There's like a lot of titles in there. 00:16.270 --> 00:16.930 RJ: Absolutely. 00:16.930 --> 00:18.400 Sean Murray: What are all these titles? 00:18.430 --> 00:21.910 RJ: All these titles are just simply a portion of a lot of the 00:21.910 --> 00:24.670 certifications in which I've earned over the years, through 00:24.670 --> 00:27.910 the hard work through the dedication through academia 00:27.910 --> 00:31.450 even. And so I just add them on to my LinkedIn. And if you click 00:31.450 --> 00:33.700 down, you'll see other certifications that aren't even 00:33.700 --> 00:34.060 listed. 00:34.380 --> 00:36.330 Sean Murray: So you could keep going if you wanted to. 00:36.330 --> 00:41.310 RJ: I could, in the woods that truly why really make money off 00:41.310 --> 00:45.000 of or maybe it's an industry and I'm looking to venture off into 00:45.180 --> 00:51.750 those the ones that I list IE, my doctorate IE, being certified 00:51.750 --> 00:55.560 through the equipment broker school. Yeah. ETA CPP, which is 00:55.560 --> 00:58.080 the electronic transaction Association, right by payment 00:58.080 --> 01:00.690 professional. Yeah. Those matter to me, because those are the 01:00.690 --> 01:03.210 things that I literally made my daily bread off of. 01:03.630 --> 01:05.640 Sean Murray: So yeah, tell me about that. Because, you know, 01:05.640 --> 01:08.880 you came on to this training course for equipment financing. 01:09.090 --> 01:11.730 But your background is really merchant processing. Yeah. 01:11.730 --> 01:14.040 Right. That's like your like your, your backbone, like your 01:14.040 --> 01:16.530 world, right? Yeah. How did you get into that industry? 01:16.750 --> 01:19.300 RJ: Yeah, I got into equipment. I got into merchant fight, 01:19.360 --> 01:24.010 merchant processing merchant, merchant services, through a 01:24.010 --> 01:26.800 newspaper and believe it or not, okay, I personally had put an ad 01:26.800 --> 01:30.160 out in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Yeah, back in 2008. 01:30.190 --> 01:34.390 Yeah, I went to the interview, his name was Bob, okay. And when 01:34.390 --> 01:36.550 we went there, when I went there, the guy literally could 01:36.550 --> 01:39.580 have kicked me out the interview, because when he said, 01:40.240 --> 01:43.630 hey, you can make this much money. I make $10,000 a month, 01:43.660 --> 01:46.210 he was like, only a fool would pass up on this opportunity. 01:46.240 --> 01:48.370 Yeah. That's at the time I'm waiting tables. I didn't know 01:48.370 --> 01:51.790 what to $10,000 looked like a month, let alone knowing what 01:51.790 --> 01:55.150 2000 Those look like, you know, I'm used to making 500 a week at 01:55.150 --> 02:00.670 that time, 700 dollars a week. And so that opened up the doors 02:00.670 --> 02:02.800 for what, for what I for what led to all these other 02:02.800 --> 02:07.960 opportunities. I told the guy at the table, Bob, I said, Bob, 02:08.080 --> 02:11.020 this, nobody's gonna buy that old machine that you have right 02:11.020 --> 02:13.570 there. And he said, oh, he said, well, you're a fool. Because 02:13.570 --> 02:16.510 only a fool would believe that nobody's gonna buy this because 02:16.510 --> 02:18.790 this is how much money I'm making and I can prove it. And 02:19.000 --> 02:22.390 I've been stuck to it and glued to it ever since. Hmm. Merchant 02:22.390 --> 02:25.600 Services led me to merchant cash advance because there that's 02:25.600 --> 02:27.580 what we call the merchant services for short, ultimately 02:27.580 --> 02:29.350 led me to merchant cash advance because they're all 02:29.380 --> 02:32.200 interconnected as well as equipment leasing, because who 02:32.200 --> 02:34.570 was leasing those credit card term. Right. To the business 02:34.570 --> 02:37.690 owners. And so from equipment leasing, it brought me over from 02:37.900 --> 02:40.720 point of sale certainly from from tabletop terminals, to 02:40.720 --> 02:43.570 point of sale terminals, and then from point of sale 02:43.570 --> 02:46.750 terminals over to what we're doing now with excavators in 02:46.750 --> 02:49.360 yellow equipment, and trucking. 02:49.450 --> 02:52.270 Sean Murray: Okay, so now let me let me ask you this. That's your 02:52.270 --> 02:55.690 background. Yeah. You got this opportunity to go to a one week 02:55.690 --> 02:58.630 training in New Hampshire? Yeah. Right. And you're not from New 02:58.630 --> 03:01.300 Hampshire? Right? You're from a different part of the country. 03:01.300 --> 03:05.890 Yeah. And then your tone also is going to be filled? Yeah, what 03:05.890 --> 03:07.810 was going through your head when you were when you were 03:07.810 --> 03:08.770 propositioned with that? 03:08.770 --> 03:08.950 Interesting. And so I have to ask now that the show is over. 03:08.950 --> 03:11.607 RJ: Well, what went through my head was, hey, this is an 03:11.667 --> 03:15.467 opportunity for me to reevaluate the life, my business plan, the 03:15.526 --> 03:18.733 way I went about doing things. And the reason I say to 03:18.792 --> 03:22.474 reevaluate life, is because that the timing couldn't have been 03:22.533 --> 03:25.918 better on that. It allowed. At that time, around the last 03:25.918 --> 03:26.140 Yeah. And you obviously did very well in the show. I appreciate 03:26.140 --> 03:29.600 quarter of that time of 2021, I was looking to get out of the 03:29.659 --> 03:33.222 point of sale industry, or at least make it to where it's an 03:33.281 --> 03:36.725 exemplary product, and not so much leading with it. And so 03:36.785 --> 03:40.347 this opportunity couldn't have came at a better time. And so 03:40.407 --> 03:44.088 when I was when I got the phone call, I said, okay, great. I'm 03:44.148 --> 03:47.414 on it, this is literally something that has been in the 03:47.473 --> 03:50.917 works that I've been putting off, while I was establishing 03:50.976 --> 03:54.658 relationships, just wanting to do it from a broker standpoint, 03:54.717 --> 03:58.221 and being able to have being able to have an all in one one 03:58.280 --> 04:01.843 stop shop solution oriented type of business model that I've 04:01.902 --> 04:05.346 always happily prided myself upon. So that sort of, again, 04:05.406 --> 04:09.028 the timing couldn't have been better. So what went through my 04:09.087 --> 04:11.760 mind was opportunity, transition, and change. 04:18.140 --> 04:21.380 it, man. How, are you still doing equipment finance, or what 04:21.380 --> 04:23.000 what has happened since the show? 04:23.000 --> 04:26.360 Yeah, I'm still doing equipment financing. I'm looking to 04:26.630 --> 04:32.540 continue to grow and to develop, as well as to work off that 04:32.540 --> 04:36.590 momentum that came from the show. At this current moment 04:36.590 --> 04:39.200 where we're working on at Everlasting until you're working 04:39.200 --> 04:43.310 on an excavator deal. We're working on an MCA on several MCA 04:43.310 --> 04:46.160 deals. And I believe we have a couple of things in the in the 04:46.160 --> 04:49.010 in the pipeline that will follow back on the food truck even and 04:49.010 --> 04:51.260 that that we're looking to close there very soon, hopefully with 04:51.260 --> 04:54.500 the next week with everything going on this week. Hopefully we 04:54.500 --> 04:57.920 can close those deals early next week. And it's been a blessing, 04:57.920 --> 05:01.460 man. It's been it's been a very walk of opportunity. And I'm 05:01.460 --> 05:02.330 sincerely humbled. 05:03.410 --> 05:06.680 Sean Murray: So one thing I want to ask, in the show you start 05:06.680 --> 05:11.990 off like behind. Yeah, right. You talk so confidently about 05:11.990 --> 05:14.720 how you're gonna come for everyone you know, you're tired 05:14.720 --> 05:17.540 of stop playing with them, you and me and all that stuff. Did 05:17.540 --> 05:19.910 you, in your mind, really think that you could pull off or come 05:19.910 --> 05:22.820 back and win the whole thing? Or are you just psyching yourself 05:22.820 --> 05:24.980 up? To do better? Did you really think you could win the whole 05:24.980 --> 05:25.340 thing? 05:25.360 --> 05:29.380 RJ: No, sincerely, I'm gonna tell you, I must say this. I 05:29.380 --> 05:34.030 said this, just from watching it at home. When form watching it 05:34.030 --> 05:37.570 at home and seeing yourself on there. I was playing narration 05:37.660 --> 05:40.390 it hit me up for the people that are watching it with me. I 05:40.390 --> 05:45.580 sincerely believe that I could have came out on top. And that 05:45.580 --> 05:48.880 when I spoke it, when I'm when I spoke it was manifested at that 05:48.880 --> 05:52.360 moment I said, hey, we're going to do this, stop playing around, 05:52.360 --> 05:55.090 get off the phone, no worry about what's going on at home. I 05:55.090 --> 05:58.180 put that side, we didn't come all the way out here to do 05:58.180 --> 06:01.570 anything less than to win, especially considering my 06:01.570 --> 06:05.770 experience. So if if I would have came in anything other than 06:05.770 --> 06:08.320 first place, I will look at myself like that's right now. 06:08.350 --> 06:13.060 Like, dude why, did you go toplay? I didn't I didn't go to 06:13.060 --> 06:16.150 just to be on TV because I'm not infatuated with all this. I'm 06:16.150 --> 06:19.210 not. I'm not I'm not someone who wants to be the face of 06:19.210 --> 06:20.140 anything. Truth be told. 06:20.170 --> 06:22.870 Sean Murray: Okay. It's hard to believe because you had such 06:22.870 --> 06:24.430 good one liners in the show. 06:24.790 --> 06:28.630 RJ: I'm a fun person. I love people, I'm a people person. And 06:28.630 --> 06:31.780 you know, in this industry, it's important to be a person. So I 06:31.780 --> 06:34.270 love people. I love communicating with people. I 06:34.270 --> 06:39.100 love merchants. I love helping people. So now moving moving 06:39.100 --> 06:44.230 beyond that, it's still a point where I want to be able to the 06:44.230 --> 06:47.050 ultimate dream is to take a step back and have someone that 06:47.080 --> 06:51.280 multiple people replace RJ they can be the face of the president 06:51.280 --> 06:54.100 of the company. You can go out here and do all this and deal 06:54.100 --> 06:57.790 with the press. And meanwhile, I'm looking at the systems and 06:57.880 --> 07:00.790 putting things in order to where they help make the business go 07:00.790 --> 07:03.460 round. Yeah, so that's the ultimate game plan. 07:03.520 --> 07:07.570 Sean Murray: Okay. And there was this hunting scene. Yeah. So I 07:07.570 --> 07:11.110 felt like it was it was kind of serendipitous that you were 07:11.110 --> 07:15.460 chosen for that. That felt like it was like a big felt like a 07:15.460 --> 07:17.530 turning point for a viewer. Yeah. It felt like a turning 07:17.530 --> 07:20.770 point. Like in your journey. It truly was. So it really was it 07:20.770 --> 07:22.930 really, it really did like clear your mind or. 07:22.930 --> 07:25.630 RJ: It took me back home. It gave it gave me an opportunity 07:25.630 --> 07:29.860 to one thing I do in my personal life is walk long walks, and 07:29.860 --> 07:32.950 coming coming from the south. That's everywhere. So you got to 07:32.950 --> 07:35.920 take a long walk, you have time to think I had time to reflect 07:35.920 --> 07:38.650 when you're going through the day to day rigors, particularly 07:38.650 --> 07:41.530 on that show the time crunches that we're on. Yeah. It's from 07:41.530 --> 07:44.320 there back to the hotel, from their back to the hotel, that 07:44.350 --> 07:47.830 waking up that early, get some coffee in your system, being 07:47.830 --> 07:52.720 able to then go and get off into nature. You know, that's, that 07:52.720 --> 07:57.460 was oneness, if you know what I mean. Sure. And so I capitalize 07:57.490 --> 08:01.300 off that I truly get to strengthen it, I must say, and 08:01.600 --> 08:05.050 one of the contestants can can definitely attest to this is 08:05.050 --> 08:08.470 that I, when when it was talking about extra when I was like, 08:08.470 --> 08:10.870 hey, you just give me the you just get a ticket and you can 08:10.870 --> 08:13.810 just tell me honey right now you know count me and I'm bored. So 08:13.810 --> 08:17.350 I was I was literally for it not saying, you know, throw it away. 08:17.350 --> 08:20.620 So I could go on purpose, cause I didn't. But I wasn't bothered 08:20.620 --> 08:23.530 by the outcome on my shirt. And then low and behold, that 08:23.560 --> 08:28.420 definitely was a much needed energy. Yeah. And it helped 08:28.420 --> 08:31.750 propel me forward. So to hook into the success, so much 08:31.750 --> 08:32.140 needed. 08:32.350 --> 08:35.140 Sean Murray: Yeah, it seemed like it. Do you feel like the 08:35.140 --> 08:38.440 competitive environment also helped a lot too? Because. Yeah. 08:38.470 --> 08:42.400 I got the sense that some of the trainees and a lot of people in 08:42.400 --> 08:45.220 the industry, they were kind of by themselves at home, and they 08:45.220 --> 08:49.510 miss out on you know, the, the competition around them. Do you 08:49.510 --> 08:52.540 feel like that contributed to you trying to get your head in 08:52.540 --> 08:55.000 the game and. Yes. You know, going hard and all that stuck 08:55.930 --> 08:59.140 RJ: With us living in this remote society, if you will now, 08:59.680 --> 09:03.640 you have to be self disciplined, but it does help when you have 09:03.640 --> 09:06.550 people around you have a support system. It does help when you 09:06.550 --> 09:10.240 have someone or a group of people that are constantly 09:10.240 --> 09:15.040 providing you with training. Providing you with a means not 09:15.040 --> 09:19.300 only a means to an end, but it means to be able to truly put 09:19.300 --> 09:22.510 yours on your your skill set on display and then be able to meet 09:22.510 --> 09:26.740 you at your skill set and and help expound upon it from there. 09:26.770 --> 09:30.580 Sure. That's the team that everlasting everlasting capital 09:30.580 --> 09:35.110 is great that they're there. They're truly remarkable. And 09:35.110 --> 09:39.190 they show that they're able to they're able to display and 09:39.190 --> 09:42.790 bridge the gap between whether you're experienced, I can, they 09:42.790 --> 09:45.580 can point out the holes in your game or whether you're a newbie 09:45.580 --> 09:48.250 they can help have you on the phone speaking like you're 09:48.250 --> 09:50.890 extreme like like you're not a rookie, right? A lot of the 09:50.890 --> 09:53.560 people on the phone want to know, and that and I truly 09:53.560 --> 09:58.960 believe that that's due to Josh, Will, Ryan Perry, Steven Evan, 09:59.050 --> 10:01.150 that's due to what they they bring to the table in their 10:01.150 --> 10:05.410 collective mindsets, as in leadership capabilities. Yes. 10:05.440 --> 10:09.790 Sean Murray: The other trainees on the show? Did you know them 10:09.790 --> 10:12.070 beforehand? Or did you meet them for the first time in New 10:12.070 --> 10:15.959 RJ: I didn't know any of those. Well, outside of through email, 10:15.959 --> 10:16.120 Sean Murray: This might be a little bit different than how 10:16.120 --> 10:16.240 Hampshire? 10:16.240 --> 10:20.253 I didn't know them personally. Okay. Out so only through email, 10:20.320 --> 10:24.481 the person who introduced me to Everlasting was actually Evan. 10:24.548 --> 10:28.775 Okay. I was introduced to Evan in 2020. Through or 2019 through 10:28.842 --> 10:33.137 the Business Lending Blueprint. Ah, okay, yeah. Yes. That turned 10:33.204 --> 10:37.364 me on to other opportunities. Okay. And I reached out to them, 10:37.364 --> 10:42.990 other things come back around, you know what I mean? 10:37.431 --> 10:41.122 they sent over the, the agreement. I didn't do anything 10:41.189 --> 10:45.282 with it. Okay. But I kept in contact with them. And then this 10:45.282 --> 10:45.350 RJ: Yeah, but I welcome it. I welcome it. Absolutely. 10:45.350 --> 10:49.174 opportunity came up. I know those guys, those guys. Those 10:49.242 --> 10:53.536 guys were good work. And like I said, it's funny how things come 10:53.603 --> 10:55.080 come back around like. 11:01.680 --> 11:05.610 Sean Murray: What about Angela, Tom and Juan Carlos, have you 11:05.970 --> 11:07.950 stayed in touch with them after the show? Or? 11:08.730 --> 11:09.450 RJ: Yes. 11:09.450 --> 11:09.680 RJ: Yes. Juan and I we have one I myself, Angela, as well as 11:09.680 --> 11:09.900 Sean Murray: Okay. 11:16.680 --> 11:19.020 Thomas, we're in a group. We text them in a group in a 11:19.020 --> 11:21.360 Facebook group together. So we've been keeping in contact. 11:21.930 --> 11:25.410 We were keeping in contact post the show leading up to the show 11:25.410 --> 11:28.020 and then definitely what episodes were airing live, and 11:28.020 --> 11:30.900 we was asking for each other's feedback on it wanted to let 11:30.900 --> 11:33.420 them know, hey, man, no hard feelings with that one, hey, we 11:33.420 --> 11:35.760 were like explaining, like, Hey, man, this is what I meant by 11:35.760 --> 11:38.130 that. But he you know, see that part, all types of stuff. So we 11:38.130 --> 11:41.070 had fun with it. It's I'm smiling now, because we were 11:41.070 --> 11:43.800 just joking about some things that were said in the show, you 11:43.800 --> 11:46.260 know, such as the, you know, the remarks that were made between 11:46.260 --> 11:49.080 Thomas and I, I guess I got a lot of respect for all of them. 11:49.320 --> 11:53.340 Because one could assume that they may have been taken 11:53.340 --> 11:56.400 lightly. And they will and they will everyone's going to each 11:56.400 --> 12:00.660 other's neck respectfully. Right. And competitively. And 12:00.660 --> 12:02.760 one could argue that, you know, that may have been taken lightly 12:02.760 --> 12:04.920 and that was going back to your earlier question. And that was 12:04.920 --> 12:07.500 something else that I had to get in my head like, hey, you know, 12:07.500 --> 12:10.980 this is serious this this this isn't this this you're not 12:10.980 --> 12:12.960 you're not sitting at home, taking a break, or going to the 12:12.960 --> 12:15.240 refrigerator, getting a snack and then saying Alright, welcome 12:15.240 --> 12:18.450 to put my headset back on and go back to dial. You know, you're 12:18.450 --> 12:21.840 all in, make it count. The time is now there's no better time 12:21.840 --> 12:24.840 than now. Because now is won, when you spell it backwards. 12:25.350 --> 12:27.930 Sean Murray: I like that. That's a good place to end. 12:27.960 --> 12:28.230 RJ: Yeah. 12:28.230 --> 12:30.840 Sean Murray: So RJ Thank you very much for you for being here 12:30.840 --> 12:34.740 and your time and be. We will be back very soon again at 12:34.740 --> 12:37.140 deBanked. Connect Miami and Johny Fernandez will be joining 12:37.140 --> 12:38.460 us again, very soon.