It’s easy to say now that I currently do and have always done what I love. I was blessed that after high school I lived my dream of becoming a professional soccer player, and then from there started Soccer Shots and run own my business doing soccer with children. Every day.

I just did a podcast with a friend of mine Alex (check it out over at marketercamp.com) and in part of the interview, we discuss how important it is to do what you love. I figured I’d write a post about it because it’s amazing how once again things begin to gravitate and/or connect for me when discussed.

You have one life, AKA the term YOLO was born. In all seriousness, we really do only live once. How much does it suck to sacrifice that life doing something you don’t enjoy for 40-50 years… Maybe it’s because I think long term/end game always, but even if you don’t the short term has to look shitty too. It’s why you hate Monday’s, it’s why you hate waking up to go work some days, it’s why you’re not truly happy.

Now let me be clear, this isn’t a post to tell you to quit your job. This isn’t a post to tell you to chase an insane dream, this IS a post though that I hope what you take away from it is, a little bit more self-awareness.

My friends and I recently started a Growth Group, we did what I thought was an amazing exercise. We wrote down the 5 happiest days/moments in our lives. When you write them down and read them, something begins to happen. You begin to see what HAPPINESS looks like to YOU. Now you have to be completely 100% truthful and honest with yourself.

So else what do you get from this?

You begin to see common themes in your life that = happiness, but you also have to be able to see below the surface. Look at the core of why you were happy in those times. One of mine was being in the Phillippines in a remote setting with my wife on our honeymoon where we did NOTHING the whole day except eat, drink, lay by the pool, laugh, and sleep. It was amazing.

The surface begins to look like I love to vacation, but that’s unrealistic to think I can vacation all the time how can I make it more tangible in my life? I decided I would agree to have a No Agenda Day (NAD). Now I dedicate one day a month to doing NOTHING. The only thing that has to be included is my wife because that’s what I need for my ultimate happiness.

Again, I’m showing you guys my example of how it works for me, my happiness, my passion, my work. For you, it could be completely different! And that’s fine! You don’t have to quit your job and own your business to be happy, maybe you don’t like that weight on your shoulders or pressure. Maybe you prefer being a great fucking employee at a solid company making 70K a year and fishing on the weekends with your family. If that’s what happiness means for you, then DO THAT!

I spoke to my cousin, and this is what I mean about how things begin to gravitate towards you once you put it out there intentionally or not. But I spoke to my cousin today, and he mentioned how he was sick of his corporate job, he wanted to quit. He makes a good living 6 figures+ and has a family, good work/life balance but no motivation for what he’s doing anymore. Some call it a mid-life crisis, I call it realizing that money doesn’t equal happiness. And in fact, he would probably be a lot happier making less money but doing something that’s meaningful, purposeful or simply something he enjoys doing every day as opposed to waking up and dreading another day at the office. We spoke for over an hour today about what his next step will be and I’m SUPER excited for him and know that he will figure it out soon enough. Most importantly, his life and those closest to him will get to be a part of that change, for the better.

I want to be clear in my messaging and make sure I’m not motivating people to do the wrong there here. If you’re one of those people who is tied down by maybe things such as a car payment, a mortgage, a family, etc. Then start working on your passion or what you REALLY want to do on the side. On the weekends, or waking up a few hours earlier to begin building something until it’s finally sustainable, and you can quit and do what makes you happy.

Last thing, it doesn’t have to be career changing either. My friend Ricky has been shooting some really fucking cool videos about cars and how he takes them apart, hooks them up and doing fun shit with them. We spoke the other day about what’s your plan with all of this that you’re doing? And he said “Nothing really man, I just enjoy doing it and it’s fun. If it turns into something great, if not I’m having a ton of fun along the way with people who I’d be hanging out with anyway”.

That’s awesome.

Just find what makes you happy, as cliche and annoying as it is… YOLO, so your two actionable takeaways from this post are below.

1. Write down the 5 happiest moments/days in your life.
2. Take the FIRST step forward to finding out what it is you love to do or not to do, because by the process of elimination you will eventually find it.

Keep hustlin,

#hustle17

Happy Birthday my love. It’s funny how each birthday we try to make it more special than a previous one with some type of “first” or “last time” event that comes with it. This one doesn’t need to be the first anything although it can be many. The only importance for me about this birthday is that it will be your LAST birthday with your own last name!

Almost 3 years ago to this exact day we first began hanging out. I can’t thank you enough for not only being my partner but being my best friend. It’s such a cliche term and I remember the first time I told you that you were my best friend, the water works came right after. I know I took a while in saying it, but I wasn’t ready until then to be an open book with you about everything that I am.

I’m so lucky to wake up and sleep next to my best friend every single day. There’s such an importance in that for the both of us. The real need for each others touch, each other’s voice, it’s not something fabricated it’s something tangible and real that we both need to have in order for our days to feel complete. You’re so amazing for needing that. I love you for it. You’re such awe-inspiring woman on your own that I have to thank God everyday that you seek, respect, and desire me just as I do with you.

I love your appreciation for words. Which is why I write these words. These words are not simply put here to express but rather to remind you of my feelings towards you. These words will live on forever, and if you ever have to think about why I love you, here it is.

Best friend on this birthday, I really want you to understand what my love embodies for you. It’s more than any gift can show, words ever express and physical touch ever feel. My love for you goes beyond the depths of understanding. It’s not normal, and I love that it’s not normal how much I love you.

Aren’t we suppose to be passed the honeymoon stage? Aren’t we suppose to be fighting more? Aren’t we suppose to have more problems? I laugh at the status quo and I’m glad that you’re next to me when we wake up each day to challenge it within our personal lives and our relationship.

People can tell us what’s to come, but the problem is they don’t understand who we are or how we are. They don’t understand the childish games we still play, they don’t understand the meaning of our inside jokes, they don’t understand cereal nights, they don’t understand our mannerisms (yeah I’m going to bring the gallon of OJ and the whole case of crackers and the whole tub of cream cheese!) This is what makes us, us.

I love us.

I love you.

I love you this day the same as I did last year and everyday in between and everyday after.

My love feels like it hits a cap with you at times, almost as if there’s no way I can possibly love you more. Then you say something that blows my mind or you do something that’s so selfless that makes me want to become a greater man. As you teach me everyday unconsciously I take mental notes to improve in my ways. You always find a way to do it again which causes my love for you to grow. It never ends.

You’re such a great person.

Fiance.

Sister.

Daughter.

Aunt.

Friend.

I can’t wait to make you the mother of my children and start our own beautiful family. I’m so lucky.

In this game of life we wake up and play everyday is not easy, however you make it feel a whole lot easier. In fact you make me feel like I’ve won already. I WAS that guy who got the woman of his dreams that goes so much beyond physical attraction. I have a person whom wine night/balcony nights can go into in depth conversations about the world, about our future and about things of self interest.

In the end these are just words that express mentally how I see you. Just as you stand over me each morning and pray all I can say is…. Thank you. Happy birthday linda. I hope you have an amazing birthday and thank you for allowing me to share another year with you. I love you.

03.09.16 | #StoryOfUs

It’s funny, somethings that seem very small to us (guys) aren’t small to women. As we began to drive towards our location for our engagement photo shoot I quickly realized this. As Stephanie looked over to me with a silent stare, I could tell she was worried that I hadn’t given this the importance that she had.

Sure it’s easy to think as I did that, this was just a photo shoot and that it was just “things” couples did prior to getting married. Then I put myself in Stephanie’s shoes. Her past, our relationship, everything that has led to this beautiful moment and then I saw what was happening. We were taking pictures that would last a lifetime, pictures that would reflect this moment in time. This moment in our relationship, it went well beyond pictures and it was then that I felt silly for thinking it was just a photoshoot.

I guess before diving into that day I should fill those in on the actual night that we got engaged and the backstory behind it.

It starts back in May of 2015 when I was leaving on a cruise with my family and younger brother for his 18th birthday. It was a cruise to celebrate, and be apart of a BIG moment at least for anyone turning 18. We did the weekend cruise that made it’s stop in the Bahamas. It was there, roaming around the city that I first laid eyes on the beginning of Stephanie’s ring. I already knew I wanted to marry her, it was more of a timing thing. But when I saw the ring at one of the jewelry stores there I saw the one that she had always wanted. She had pointed it out to me 5 months prior to me on a cruise that we went on for the New Year.

So I did it. I bought the ring!

Little did I know that I would wrestle with this ring more than most do I’m sure. I liked the ring, I just didn’t love it yet. So I took it to Miami with my older brother to another jeweler which was where he bought his ring for his wife. There I found the stone that I loved, the purity, the clarity, the color. It was just the perfect stone. So I asked them to keep the original stone it had and make this stone fit on the original ring I bought. They complied.

I would return a week later and pick up the newly assembled ring. The stone was perfect, I was in love. However, now I felt that the ring needed a little more of her vintage liking, it still looked to modern for her/my taste. Knowing clearly what she had wanted, I took the ring to ANOTHER jeweler this time in Boca Raton. Here I looked around and was disappointed to not find anything to my liking, until the saleswoman offered me a book where rings can be customized and a few hours later she showed me what would eventually become Stephanie ring design. I fell in love, told her I needed this ring she said perfect no problem and would have the ring ready for me.

Through this whole process I had never picked a day, a time or a location again I always KNEW I would marry her, just didn’t know when. With an urge to have both of our families there and not peak her interest as to why everyone was getting together I found the perfect date. My birthday.

The beautiful thing about my birthday is that the day before is my brother’s wife’s birthday, the actual day of my birthday is shared with my mom and also by Stephanie’s brother. The PERFECT day for her to not suspect a thing and have everyone be there.

I called Area 31 and reserved a private dinner room for my closest family and friends. The reason for Area 31 not only it’s a beautiful location but it holds a special meaning to Stephanie and I as it was where I “officially” asked her to be my girlfriend. So why not make it where I ask her to be my wife. Here is a picture that I took of her where fireworks just happened to go off in the background, it was a night though that had a special spark. It was the beginning of the rest of my life, even then I knew it to be true.

So with all the women in the family taking a role in this from having her sister in law take her to the bathroom, to having my mom, her mom, my sister in law and cousin hold up the signs asking the big question! We were ready. Everyone in place waiting for her to walk in and like something out of a movie, the waiter walks in behind the closed doors and everyone freaks out!!

Talk about adding more nerves as to what was really about to happen!

Then she pulled open the doors, everything in that moment froze. As cliche as it sounds, time does stop, everything else around her became blurred. My focus solely on her. Her heart jumping up, her eyes wandering in disbelief, it was a surreal moment. I took a knee. Asked her that question, to which her response was only something she would say.

“Stop. Babe oh my God. Babe no. Babe stop.”

Then tears. Then I hugged her and felt us becoming one in that moment.

I’m not sure what my wedding day will hold for us as far as feelings go but that day was surreal is all I can say. It was amazing, and it will truly be a day that I will never forget.

So that’s the backstory! Now back en route to our photoshoot. It was special, but I found it to be more comical than anything. Have you ever tried to pose as if you’re not being photographed? I know it sounds very easy but for whatever reason it took us maybe 30 minutes or more to get comfortable with these pictures being taken of us. I tried my best to relax Stephanie into a more natural state yet here I was wandering my eyes not even sure where to look.

“Do I look at the camera? Do I look away? Do I look serious?”

I continued with amateur questions until the photographer told us, listen I know you guys. Just be you, this was when I started to just crack jokes and make Stephanie laugh. It was in her laughter that I found calmness and myself. Not caring about the camera anymore and just falling in love with that smile and laugh that is contagious.

The picture turned out amazing and they caught some candid moments of what our relationship is really like. Full of love and joy. Not the ones that just look like they are happy on camera, no this was real and authentic what our relationship is like every other day of year. It turned out to be a magical day, even if the weather was bad, even if the ideal garden spot we wanted wasn’t available.

Most people I think would have been frustrated with the circumstances, weather, etc. Not her. She took it all in with a smile and a positive attitude another reason to fall more in love with her.

So here are a few pictures from that special day. I can not wait to marry her, but to do so we need to plan a wedding! So as I finish this I’m being eyeballed with the “you better hurry up because it’s wedding planning time!”

By now everyone has heard of start up companies and their stories have made buzz all over the world. From lawsuits worth millions of dollars to companies that transcend the world through a platform or service. Some popular start ups that you may have heard of are Facebook, Snapchat, Uber, Instagram. And there are so many more that you’ve never heard of that have in a few years gotten billion dollar valuations!

I love the growth story of Air BnB because it accurately reflects what the start up life is about. AirBnB like a lot of start ups when they’re young are low on funds. This is truly a make it / break it point for a lot of companies. You’ve been trying to prove your model for a few months and have been losing money, not making money or worse, both. Companies will try a couple of different options at this stage but the fact of the matter is either you’re going to hustle and find a way or you’re not and die as a company. It’s that cut throat.

AirBnB was in this exact situation, not making money and time had been passing. They needed to raise money ASAP or their dream along with their company were going to die. So they got creative and created limited edition cereal boxes which they sold at conventions for $40 a pop. What cereal boxes did they create? It was 2008, and well these apparently became pretty popular. Popular to the tune of 30K which is what they made off the selling cereal boxes! (Pivot and sell cereal boxes instead of AirBnB??? Lol jk)

Pretty cool though huh? The best part about this story which is what holds true for so many start ups is this wasn’t what got them the initial funding/partner that sprung them into success and a multi-billion dollar evaluation!! BUT it did buy them time. Time to continue to figure it out and chase a wild dream. A dream that they put everything as risk for. Start ups are a beautiful thing when they work out, but there are many dark sides to it. But yeah, that’s AirBnB’s quick story of how they stayed alive and got funding that eventually blew them up to the TEN billion dollar biz it is today. Now I will tell you a little bit about our lives… (spoiler alert: no billions yet)

This is typically what an evening at our house looks like. Stephanie on her iPad answering emails, setting up her next day at work at her start up. And myself on the laptop working to juggle my Soccer Shots franchises and my start up which I Co-Founded with two of my best friends – Biznobo. The last 48 hours were kind of crazy for Steph and I. We both made what I would say are significant strides as a start up today! Thank God 🙂

The quick backstory is that we’re both currently apart of start ups that have a countdown clock to expiration. This is a very very real thing. There is X number of months left for the company that Steph is apart of to prove it’s validity as a business model before it goes under.

Well, today they made big steps in getting one step closer to the point that many start ups dream of. Getting acquired!! An acquisition sometimes are the sole motive for why start ups are created. Then there’s people like Snapchat who get offered 1 Billion Cash buyout from Facebook and you turn them down! Lol, that story is always crazy to me!

But to dive in a little bit deeper, Stephanie has always worked for corporations and been very successful at it, so much so she managed a million dollar business! That’s no small feat and what goes into that is tough, the best thing that worked in Stephanie’s favor was that this corporation had it’s structure and processes down packed and allowed her room for creativity. The perfect set up IMO for someone like her. Now? Now she must come up with EVERY single detail, color, letter, quote and mission statement for her start up that she is apart of. Oh and there’s nobody to call to for support or to guide you on how to do something, in fact she is that person and she must guide all her employee’s through her expertise and experience. Big change.

Stephanie deals with a much different set up now. She has to manage a remote team of 30 that’s spread out across the country. This is no small task, and you can imagine the frustrations from someone who is used to physically managing and motivating people. Either way, she makes it work. Through the arguments, the long drives to and from work, the stress of not knowing if she’ll have a job a month from now, mixed with the planning of a wedding and bills on top of that. There’s a lot of not so fun stuff that are associated with start ups. And this is really only scratching the surface.

Nonetheless, my personality (much more start up like mentality) lend a helping hand, her family and friends supports her through encouragement and maybe most importantly the word of God reaffirms her. Reaffirms her through life that she is EXACTLY where she is suppose to be right now. What’s the long term plan? Shoot, I wish we knew but what we do know is that God is in control. And that mixed with her work ethic is more than enough to get through any circumstance. So we’ll see what the next month brings whether it be an acquisition or they continue to build on the success and traction they’re now beginning to have!

My side: I feel like start up life was built for me! Long hours, week sprints to get something done, betting on yourself and your team to overcome the odds. I love it! Every side of it is so appealing to me and it’s not for the faint of heart! I want to mention in regards to Stephanie that I am so proud of how open minded, how adaptive and great she has become through this process. She really has grown so much as a business person and personally as well. This has made our relationship deeper and more thought provoking than ever before.

Anyways, my start up life started back in June 2013 when I bought my first Soccer Shots franchise. I moved to Boca Raton, FL with my buddy to start it up and we would do coaching at night to compliment our income since we weren’t making much money. I’m going to highlight a few moments and turning points for me that change everything really and take you to where I am today.

Quick note: I might have been and might still be the youngest buyer of a Soccer Shots franchise ever and on top of that I had ZERO college experience. But much like AirBnB you hustle, hustle, hustle and figure out a way to convince people to bet on you. To this day I’m not sure how I made it happen, but in a cocky way I guess I kind of always knew it was going to happen. What God has planned for you nobody can take away, and I really just wasn’t going to take no for an answer. I convinced three owners to take a shot on a kid with no job experience (besides playing Pro Soccer), no college experience but damn did I show my hustle and desire to want this. So I got my franchise in June of 2012 and so one of my other very good friends and I moved in together and decided let’s build this bad boy up!

1 1/2 months in: We’re living at his sisters 2BR apt with her roommate sleeping on the floor and using FAU’s color printer to get stuff printed out. Having papers all over the living room floor, trying to get our business off the ground while still looking for a place.

6 months in: I made about 8K and spent it all, either from paying staff, royalties and really just managing money poorly. So after 6 months the business account was at $128.

9 months in: I meet with a fellow owner who really just inspires me. I talk to my co-founders (just friends at the time) who motivate me, I begin to take an interest in reading more books about entrepreneurs. The book that’s helps me “get it” Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh.

12 months in: We start to get traction and begin growing.

15 months in: I get fired from my night coaching job that was supplementing my income (long story). Take a week to get a security license and work Soccer Shots all day and work security guard shifts from 11PM – 7AM so that it wouldn’t interfere with my Soccer Shots schedule while making enough to money to keep the business growing fast.

17 months in: We become a 6 figure business.

22 months in: I purchase a 2nd franchise

Today: We have 6 figure run business that I oversee and I have staff that leads it and is still growing. I work about 6-8 hours a week on Soccer Shots now as the majority of time is dedicated to Biznobo.

So where does my current venture land? How does it even come about if everything was going good. Well, Biznobo comes to life in a cliche Miami setting. An evening over drinks. My Co-Founders came to visit me in Fort Lauderdale and we hit a popular taco spot near my home. Not expecting anything, just catching up we get into talks of business and how we wish we could all do something together which is where Danny (one of the Co-Founders) pitches to me joining him and Alex (the other Co-Founder) in this new venture. Long story short, we discussed all the details and decided we can make it this work and we have to give it a shot! So I come on for an equity / no salary stake. And one month later they move into my building together so none of us have to commute to work and turn their apartment into our start up office space. Oh yeah, you read that right by the way no salary. I’m planning for a wedding too, so don’t ask my fiance how she feels about this!

It’s now been 3 months going on 4 @ Biznobo and work weeks don’t really exist. This is the true feeling of a start up. Some people can’t deal with this feeling of no structure (although it is actually structured internally but it’s the way we work). It usually goes something along the lines of “We need to get this done and we have one week to get it done before our meeting that we just got with this big company!” and the team proceeds to put in something ridiculous like 100 hours of work in 5 days.

To tell you that today we just finished a 30+ hour day where nobody really slept if at all, straight into our meeting and made a BIG LEAP as far as start ups are concerned. We’re leveraging a really big influencer/company to be on our side and work together with us. FYI, this is a company that makes 50MM+ per year yet, they’re interested in working together with us.

Do you see why I love start ups?! Where else can you find that?!

So yeah, that’s just a cool update on where we currently are as far as work goes and we wanted to share that today. It happened almost simultaneously and it was just amazing to see us taking big steps after a lot of hard work. I leave to San Diego on Monday for a conference which should be another big step for us in hopefully solidifying some partnerships. And Stephanie leaves on Tuesday to Virginia to go oversee the current operations of two of their clinics.

Lastly, I just want to be clear we’re not those people who want to stay in start up life. Our dreams, goals and ambitions are very clear. Get OUT of start up life as fast as possible and get to the point of a real viable successful company. But we just wanted to share with you a little bit about us and how are lives are kind of crazy right now. We still make time for blogging, taking pictures, spending time together, cooking dinner, going to the gym, reading, spending time with family and friends, reading the bible and pretty much anything we want. The trick to this is and the only real way this works is that you have to understand there is time where things will have to be sacrificed. And that’s okay, we will make time for everything that is important to us. Our favorite trick/tip is we always try to do everything that we do consciously and with intent. If there is purpose behind your every action, your actions will be true and hold weight therefore making them more authentic and enjoyable.

If you made it this far, I appreciate it. Closing the laptop now! Night…

– StoryOfUs

Well, as I lay in bed with the sparing time that we do get to spend together I started expressing to Stephanie how I wish I could do more. Be more active, write more, and just do more of what I wanted really. She agreed and said she wanted to join me… As we laid in silence for a bit, I toggled through the ideas in my head as to what would be a common interest for us to do. Something that we can make sure we make time for and do so together. We came up with two different things, one from her and one from me.

Her: We should dedicate time every night to reading a few chapters of the word (bible). And discuss them afterwards with our thoughts towards it.

Me: I wanted to start this, a place where I can write (I used to write in my own blog for a few years) and meanwhile she can take pictures to add.

Anybody that knows Stephanie, KNOWS she lovessssss taking pictures. Anybody that knows me, knows that I enjoy writing/reading this could be a place where I can spend some time with Stephanie and do that.

The StoryOfUs is merely that, it’s posts that will connect our readers to our lives. Whomever was a reader of my former blog knows that I try to be as raw and as authentic as possible. Stephanie and I have agreed that if we’re going to do this we’re going to share the good experiences and share the bad experiences. People might ask “why would you want to publicize anymore of your life when there’s already Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat” and the list goes on and on.

Well, I really believe you can touch people in a different way with words. More than just a post and more than just a picture. Which is why I’m in love with words. People don’t understand the power of words sometimes. Words are music, words are thoughts, words are feelings, words are everything in a sense. It’s a way where we can express ourselves clearly and at the same time effect one another.

I know this because, I am inspired by words everyday. I hope to inspire YOU through my words and Stephanie’s pictures as this blog progresses. So yeah, we’ll share the fun stuff and we’ll share the not so fun stuff, because at the end of the day this is a place not to judge but rather to feel like you’re either…

A) Not the only one going through that.

Or

B) You get inspired by what we share.

I’m not sure where we’ll start with our next post, but I did want to explain the why behind this. Our first picture to share is our header on the page. Stephanie took it on our yearly family (my immediate family) cruise in 2015.

#StoryOfUs