Cory Helm

Full transcript: Cory Helm on London Real

0:00 I am here with Cory Helm, recent graduate of the Business Accelerator. Cory, tell us where you’re from, what do you do? I’m from Calgary, Alberta. I have a fabrication shop… okay, I don’t know, I do structural steel. Okay, and how did you come to find out about London Real?

0:23 I was put on to you guys by another fellow. He told me to watch that Pena on YouTube and to look up this Brian Rose guy, this London Real guy, and so I looked it up and I watched this campaign UK and I was like, who’s this guy? Just [expletive] do it. And I just fell in love with him, and then I started watching more of the videos of you, and yeah, I was like, yeah, this guy seems to be cool.

0:54 So then I went on to the site and checked things out a little bit further, and I supposed it to be awesome, so I joined up. It didn’t take me long, like, watched a couple videos, and, you know, like, you guys kind of entice us to get right into this, right into the website.

1:09 So it was pretty good. I don’t regret that at all. Good, happy to be here. I found most of the people in the course were kind of at that crossroads in their life, trying to figure, I want to go this way or that way, when they joined. Was the same true for you? Yeah. And I’ve always tried to look for something more. Like, you know, I have a pretty decent company, but, you know, it’s just something is not fulfilled with what I’m doing, so I’m really in search of trying to find how to put everything all together.

1:42 You know, I think that’s what would have attracted me the most about London Real, is there’s accountability. And, you know, you got awesome people, man. Like, you know, friends that are pretty successful, but not like the people that I meet here. Like the guys that I’m staying with here in London, like, we had some great conversations here today and it’s mind-blowing, like the stuff that comes out. Pretty awesome.

2:14 Because everybody’s always looking at your business from the inside out, and it’s way better to have somebody looking at your business from the outside in, and it gives you a better perspective. And it’s nice to give other guys a hand too, because, you know, I see things a little bit differently than others. And what kind of conversations did you have? You know, just trying to get people out of their boxes, right?

2:38 Like, we had some guys in there and they’re pretty stuck on the way, their belief system. It’s like, you know what, you got to kind of stretch out of that box and kind of let those things go and move past it. And, you know, I think we had some breakthroughs today. We actually just had kind of interviews just at the apartment. That was pretty cool.

3:03 And then I had met a guy in London. I was walking around and I met a guy in London, I went into a store and had a great conversation with him, and one of the guys that we’re staying with, I just figured this guy needs to meet that guy. So I brought him in, we went into the store, we were in the store for half an hour, had awesome conversations with people, and this guy and Jose was just like blown away. So it’s pretty cool. It’s been a neat experience here.

3:27 Cool. Before you decided to join the course, I mean, it’s an investment, in the time and money. Why did you decide to do it? You know, I just knew I needed to change. And boy, I’ve invested in a lot of courses over the years, I’ve spent lots of money on courses, and then it just came down, it was like coming down to the final crunch. It’s like, this is it, do you want it? Get in now or it’s over, you know.

4:09 And I knew it was part of the whole thing, so I just, you know, I decided, I said, you know what, I think I need it, so I just did it. And I don’t regret that at all. Like, when I look back, I knew it was right doing this. What were those first three weeks like? Hell yeah, it was pretty brutal, you know, but it was awesome.

4:34 Like, it just, the push was pretty wicked, you know. Staying accountable, staying on track with everybody, it was pretty intense, you know, trying to manage business and that course. Pretty wild, a little demanding, huh? Yeah, a lot demanding, I think. What was the one thing that challenged you, and what was the one kind of win that you got where you were like, wow, I’m really proud I did that?

5:00 You know, when I look back, I just started taping myself and putting it out there. I still don’t think I do it nearly enough, not like Andrea. I just, you know, that was a stretch for me, putting it out there and getting out, telling people what I’m doing. You know, things are evolving though, so yeah.

5:29 I watched your welding applications. Yeah, I watched you make a great… you had, it’s kind of weird a little bit, TV, but you know, we get better. And I know that, right? So it’s just an evolutionary process, and I think things are going to start evolving in quite a different direction now for me. What was the biggest challenge in the course, out of all the modules?

5:51 I know the end was really challenging for me. Like, just to stay on track, it’s tough, like to keep pushing for eight weeks, nine weeks, it was a tough push, but, you know, we made it through it. It’s sad to see it come to an end, but yeah. The end, like, I guess trying to talk to, like, peers or whatever, getting that blogging, like, oh, there’s a lot of tough stuff to do in there now, because I thought I’m not a person that does stuff like that.

6:26 Talk to me about your class members. What did you think first when you started seeing them all come in, and now after all of it? I mean, you just mentioned Andrea, right? I mean, she’s a 23-year-old girl from Romania, about as far different from you, from Calgary, right? Yeah, like polar opposite.

6:50 I got to see her evolve over the course of time, and Jesus, like, she’s just natural, just blabbing. This is what it is. But you know, you see John and how he just can come up with stuff, it’s pretty amazing. Like, just talking at the apartment there, he just pops out stuff and it was like, wow.

7:15 That’s pretty awesome, like just to see people grow in different directions. Like, when I first seen his idea I was like, oh, that’s different, you know, and I’ve just seen him grow over the course of time. Three biggest things, or a few things you think you’ll take away from the course for the next couple of years?

7:38 I think, well, I know the social media aspect. I’m going to take that and I’m going to probably incorporate that into various aspects of my business, you know, on the welding side, and as I go and do more in real estate, obviously, in the beginning, some stuff there. What else? Oh, it’s mostly social media, I think, you know, and accountability. I think that’s the other one.

8:11 It’s going to be the people that I was surrounded with, that’s what I’ll take for probably years and years, because I think some of us are gonna end up meeting up maybe every year. Maybe we’re going to come to London every year and meet up, or maybe we’ll go someplace warm and not raining. But yeah, that’s one of the greatest things, because if you’re communicating back and forth a couple times a month or whatever, keeping each other accountable, and then you come back every year, you just kind of come together and really paint stuff up, we’ll really push each other’s businesses to a different level. I think that’s going to be a good one.

8:50 And you told me last night at your focus group that you might be going in a completely different direction. Can you expand on that a bit? Yeah, you know, it’s like, I went to art college for four years, and that was like 20 years ago. So mind-blowing, I can’t believe it’s been 20 years. But I just let all that stuff go, and I just find that ridiculous, but I let that just go.

9:15 And it takes me to come all the way around the world to figure out that this is something. I’ve been looking at all the architecture here and it’s just come flooding back, like, what I ought to be doing. And it’s like, I don’t know exactly what I’m going to be doing, but I have good ideas now. Like, everything I’m looking at, I’m looking at in a different light now, so it’s pretty cool.

9:39 You know, I’ll go back to Calgary, I’m gonna look at the core of Calgary a little bit differently, just go around looking at things a little bit closer, because, you know, it’s a little bit harder in Calgary to look for things. In London you just look around, you turn around and there’s something to look at everywhere you turn. It’s bizarre, like, it’s just mind-blowing here, it’s so cool.

10:07 So yeah, I’m gonna incorporate it with all the steel and wood stuff that I was thinking about doing like 20 years ago, and I don’t know why I ever let it go, and I kind of just drifted into business, you know, got into the steel fabrication business. And, you know, I look at the steel fabrication business a lot different now too, because I look at the stuff that’s here, I’ve seen some amazing stuff. So maybe branch off in some different directions. Okay, so pretty cool.

10:32 Let’s say you took a walk down the sidewalk and bumped into the Cory that didn’t take this course, and you’re having a chat with him. How is he different than you? How’s he different, that didn’t take the course? Well, I don’t think he’s… well, he’s not in London, you know, he wouldn’t be here. It wouldn’t have stretched me to this spot. I never thought I was going to come to London, so without coming to London, I don’t think a lot of this stuff would have changed.

11:04 So my mindset would have been the same. I was struggling with what I went with on the course. Like, I went with the boxing ring idea, boxing rings and cages, and I like building those, but that’s not a true passion for me, I don’t think. And I have a hard time expanding on and talking about boxing rings, or, you know, interviewing a boxer, because it’s really not my passion to build the thing that they get into. It’s pretty cool, but I need to find something that really sparks me.

11:38 And that’s the direction that I think that this course has pushed me, and coming here has woken something up. Good, awesome, I love it. Anyone watching who’s thinking about taking the course or not, what advice would you give them and why? I’d say take it, because it’s going to expand your business, you’re going to look at things a little bit differently, and you’re going to be pushed, and you’re going to meet amazing people.

12:07 Like, there are those people that you’ll never have in your life in general. You’re not going to find those people just out in life, because your mom’s not going to push you the way you need to, you know, your girlfriend or whoever, dad’s not going to probably push you like you have to. When you come on to this course, you guys got the tools, you got the guide, and you push you, and that accountability document kicks ass, so it helps a lot.

12:36 You know, and you just want to stay on tune with everybody else. You don’t want to fall too far behind, you want to stay on, so it’s pushing. Awesome, Cory, it’s awesome having you on that course. I know I called you out a couple times on the calls, and I was always following your progress, and you know, finding different ways that we could explore things. But you know, you’ve done the old pivot, which is amazing.

12:59 You went in, you did all the work, and you came out the other end saying, okay, now I want to do something completely different, and that’s what makes me happy now. And you’re right, if you can’t speak on something with passion, to where I gotta say, would you please shut up… you’re not a man of few words on what you want to talk about. Architecture, you’re definitely on to something, so that makes me super happy. And you’re over at the fraternity house right now with like eight of the guys on the course.

13:23 Jon McMahon, who I had here this morning, the more I hear about him, my jaw drops. I mean, he’s a fascinating guy. So I agree that the peer group on this course, it’s just something special, and I was always told that about London Real, but they are really special people. Yeah, it’s like, I met amazing people that I never even met before, and it’s like, wow.

13:46 And Scott, I think, and in the tube… what a day. Awesome. Your excitement’s infectious on me. So Cory, thanks so much for being part of this class. I’m sure you’re gonna be part of the family now, so I guess we’ll see you next year on your trip to London, or Jamaica, wherever we do it. Yeah, well, yeah, Jamaica. Okay. I love it. Awesome, cool.