Brandon Lowrie

Full transcript: Brandon Lowrie on London Real

1:16 This is London Real, I am Brian Rose. My guest today is Brandon Lowrie, recent graduate of our Business Accelerator. Welcome. Thank you. Tell us about you. Where are you from, what do you do? Born in Lubbock, Texas, raised in Dallas, Texas. I’ve spent pretty much my whole life doing blue collar work right out of high school.

1:36 I went to work with Ford, so I went to be a Ford technician, and after that, I ended up being a welder. Tried college a few different times and never really kind of panned out for me, so I’ve been a welder until about a year and a half ago, and I scored a wonderful job as an IT, actually it was an R&D engineer.

2:00 Very fortunate to get that job, but it’s actually what allowed me to, or freed up enough of my finances so that I could actually make this happen, so yeah. Hmm. That’s an interesting career change. It was. How did you pull that off? Knowing the right people, you know? I mean, I started kind of a weird journey about three or four years ago, when… It was actually one of my college experiences.

2:31 I went to the foremost Christian college in America, like where you send your kid if you want your kid to be a preacher. And I had a terrible experience. I couldn’t, I just had a terrible experience. Three months into it, I actually got a ticket in my little Fiat 500, out of town, third gear, flat on the floor, going back to Texas.

2:56 And it was just a terrible experience. Well, college failed, so what do you do now? You go to trade school, and that’s where the whole welding thing came from. So I went to this school called the Tulsa Welding School, and it wasn’t too long before I was working in the night time janitorial services. Well, they were reconstructing a portion of the building, and there was a gentleman by the name of Jack Novak…

3:22 So let me just check, just power through. So you went through welding, you got this R&D job, but I’m still curious, why did you join the Business Accelerator? What was going on in your head to come join us for this crazy journey? Well, this is the good story, because I didn’t even really know your name until maybe two or three weeks before I pulled the trigger on that. Okay. I found you through Simon Sinek.

3:48 I was starting a business, and I was getting into this morality of this kind of a new formed morality of business, and Simon was a big part of that. A lot of the stuff he’s put out was just very inspiring to me. Alright, so I saw that video with you, I guess on YouTube it just sort of, you started popping up after that video, and it was the fifty billion dollar man. That’s what got me, Dan Peña.

4:28 I got curious, you know, because that was… Was that our movie with him you watched? Yeah! Well, he’s just such a trip! Anyway, I started, I basically realised that mentorship was a necessary part of, I would say, a healthy business, growing into a business experience. And I got a chance to see through YouTube what he did for you, because you were doing pretty well, as far as YouTube stuff goes, you were up there, and then you did the Castle Seminar, and then it changed you, visually.

5:18 Because it was so strange, when I was watching the YouTube videos, I would see one video where you were the previous version of yourself, and then the next video you were all suited up, you know, and I would just go through these things and I didn’t quite know what was going on until I learned about the experience that you had with Dan, and… And so that made you seek out some of your own mentorship? Yes, yes it did.

5:42 I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m gonna continue getting mentors as often as possible. I don’t have the business experience. I don’t come from a line of people who even think about business. It’s kind of why I ended up being a welder, because my parents just default, default. Yeah, so you have to really change your mental patterns to even get on this journey of being an entrepreneur, and so that’s what you were doing with us.

6:14 And what made you finally pull the trigger and say, “Yes, I’m gonna go with these guys”? I don’t know, see, I didn’t do much research. I didn’t know what to expect after I did it. I haven’t been terribly successful because I didn’t do my research, and didn’t quite know what I was getting myself into. The digital product, that is probably the most unexpected thing that I’ve come across.

6:46 I want to do drone services, and I had this conflict, because how do you turn drone services into a digital product? And I’m still fighting that conflict. But one thing that I know 100% for sure is no one else in my industry is even kind of thinking about looking at it from this perspective. And that is so powerful.

7:09 Yeah, I’m telling you, when you crack this, and it will take time to get your head around this stuff, and I know in the course we threw a lot at you real fast, and I wanna hear a bit of your experience with that, but if you can get your head around it, and by the end of this weekend, maybe you will, then I think, like you said, it’s a super powerful position to be in, and I think you could make some real waves in that business. Oh yeah.

7:31 First tell me, what was it like that first two weeks in the programme? I mean, you’re on my team, you’re thrown in with all these people, I’m asking you to upload videos, what was it like? Painful, immense amounts of pain. You saw the pain movie, what did you expect me to do? No, it’s true, well, it’s what I want, it’s why I’m here. I am changing my life; that’s happening.

7:58 I’ve learned through experience you’ve gotta surround yourself with people who are headed in the same direction, and that’s sort of what I got out of the idea of mentorship. You just surround yourself with people who know what they’re doing, and that want to see you succeed, and that’s something that’s very special.

8:21 The first two weeks of the course, the course work wasn’t difficult, but my biggest problem, or my thing to overcome, was Facebook, believe it or not. I had no idea how to use Facebook. I had maybe used it 10 years ago, and I had zero social media experience.

8:49 I had never used it, no one around me had ever used it, it was just something I’ve heard about, so that was the most difficult thing for me to overcome. Because I had to figure out how to use Messenger, I had to figure out how to use the Facebook groups. That was difficult, you know, Facebook is complicated! It is at first, that’s for sure. You’re not the only one that struggles with that.

9:09 Tell me about the community. You’ve met some of them here so far, you’ll meet a lot more tonight, we’ve got a huge masterclass in the studio, there’ll be like 80 people here, but yeah, you mentioned peer group before, but what’s this community like? What did you learn from them?

9:28 You know, Yanni and Enrique, he, well, Enrique particularly. When I first got into this, my mindset was terrible. I was suffering from terrible depression. I mean really, really bad depression, and I almost immediately realised that I have to fix this, because I am not going to be successful if I don’t get this addressed immediately.

9:53 So I can’t even remember how it happened. I think I just, maybe on the Messenger, I asked for help, and Enrique, per his usual self, was right there, willing to do whatever it took to help me through it, and then Yanni with dieting. So I joined a gym membership and I just started running on the treadmill, and that was such a big moment, because brain chemistry changes with that sort of thing. I have no real experience on this.

10:29 I don’t, no one around me… My environment is 100% different. So it was just interesting. It was really what these guys were telling me to do, and I just buckled down and I got it done. And I started seeing the benefits of it. It was very beneficial, and I am very appreciative to those people.

10:52 So they helped you even on a personal level, just change your own self and your own mindset. Yeah, it’s a very close group, you get real close to people. Yeah, London Real, what you’ve got going on here, you become a magnet for just really, really good people. And that’s something to be proud of, because that doesn’t happen often, even in my experience in business, it’s almost the opposite, you know?

11:16 And I know you have a background in Wall Street, and you understand this better than most, but I’ve never seen or heard of anything that attracts quality people the way this does, and that’s incredible. Thank you for that observation, and I feel the same way. For me, if I don’t feel good energy every time I walk in the door, I might as well go back to the banks, you know, and do horrible stuff. So for me, I always get to surround myself with great people, team leaders, great energy and great students too.

11:45 So tell me about the biggest takeaway from the course? And I know certain things were struggles and certain things weren’t, but you pushed through, you made it here to graduation. What is that thing you’re gonna take away? It’s always gonna be painful, making changes. Uprooting, because something that I’m gonna have to do is I’m gonna have to uproot a lot of my friends that I’ve had for 10 years.

12:17 I’ve tried really hard to show them what I’m doing, to kind of convince them that this would be good for you too, and I’m just not getting any positive feedback. Going through the course and watching how everyone interacts with each other, that’s something you gotta have. If everyone’s going the same direction, it’s so much easier for you to walk that direction as well.

12:46 So it’s just kind of difficult to say, really. But I think that elevating my peer group is probably gonna be the biggest thing I take away from this. The truth is, this is your new family, and these are the people that are gonna help you on that path, and the reality is, you’re probably gonna have to purge 70 or 80% of those other people, at least for now, for 6 months or for a year, and get yourself to where you’ve got momentum going forward.

13:18 And honestly, if they watch you make that change, some of them will come around and say, “You know what, what are you doing, Brandon? You’ve got some good energy, I wanna do this.” And some won’t, and that’s the cost. But life is short, and you know where you need to go, and you’ve got this incredible group of people here that not only want you to go there, but they expect it, you know?

13:39 They expect you to make these changes, so I would just say from everything I’ve seen in my experience, it’s hard, but you’re gonna have to let those people go and hang out with this amazing group of people for now. And luckily you have this incredible support structure, and for the next 12 months, you’re gonna be on these calls. You’ve got incredible people on this team like Enrique and Yanni who are invested in you, and who are expecting some big things, like me too. I wanna see my goddamned digital product, and again, this drone space is fascinating.

14:06 You know, honestly, I could buy your digital product. I’m going to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 37 days to compete in my Ironman competition, and I’m bringing a video team, and we don’t know how to fly the drones. We always do kind of an okay job. But I would pay right now good money for a digital course that would at least take me from a two to a five, and so, I’m telling you, there’s a need for this course, and you could make it happen. So I’m gonna push you to go a little further there. Oh, it’ll happen.

14:33 Alright Brandon, last question. If we walked out on the street right now and bumped into the old Brandon, the guy that hadn’t gone through this course, how is he different than you? He’s running from the pain. He doesn’t wanna experience it. Changing is difficult, changing is a very, very difficult thing. Far, far more difficult than I ever thought it would be. The internal struggle is just unreal, almost.

15:04 But you gotta do it. You buckle down, and if it hurts, it hurts. Keep going, don’t stop, ever, turn around, you just gotta keep it going. That’s what I would tell him. Amen to that. I live with that every day, man. And who knows how long it’ll take? But each day, just push through, get the right people around you, stay focused.

15:27 Last question: to someone who’s on the edge, not sure if they should go this route, this accelerator, they don’t know what’s going on in this course, not sure, what would you tell them? You gotta make a move, and if you’re gonna make a move, get with people that have pedigree any way you can. Here in a week I’ll be talking to Dan. Dan Peña, in South Carolina.

15:56 Just because I have to. Didn’t want to, still don’t want to, probably gonna get yelled at, but it’s something you gotta do. And if you don’t do it now, the chances that you’ll ever do it decrease. I mean, by the moment you give yourself one way out, you will find that way out every time you try to change something.

16:26 It’s so true. I always tell people this is the moment in time. You tell me, “Oh, I’ll wait 3 months, I’ll wait 6 months, I’ll wait till I have my baby, I’ll wait…” It’s never! Matter of fact, this is the closest you’ll ever be to making this big change, and every second you wait, you’re actually getting further away. So it’s like, at some point, you gotta take a deep breath, and then what do you feel? Do you feel this? “Yes I do,” and then go for it, and that’s true about life.

16:50 Brandon, love hearing your story here, and you’re on the start of a journey. We’re all actually on the start of our own journey. But I was right where you were, six, seven years ago, not knowing what was going on, doubting my old peer group, not knowing the way to go forward, struggling with all sorts of things, you know?

17:07 So you see this vision going forward, and you’re right, it’s gonna be hard, but just push yourself into that fear, because the fear is exactly that: false expectations appearing real. It’s a phantom that causes you to live small, and it’s a bunch of B.S. when you get there and you realise, well actually, this was nothing, and yet it kept me from living my life for 10 years, 20 years. So, we’ll be watching you. We’re on these calls the next 12 months, let’s do some big things, and welcome to the family. Thanks, sir.