Jayson Waller was a trailer park-living high school dropout before he became the founding CEO of POWERHOME Solar, one of the most successful private companies in America. He is also the host of his own podcast ‘True Underdog’, where he shares stories to inspire millions around the world.
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Guest Resources
JaysonWaller.com – Visit Jayson’s website to learn more about what he has going on!
@JaysonWallerBam – Follow Jayson on Instagram!
3 Value Bombs
1) Today is day one, not one day. Make that change today. Don’t get discouraged looking at the top of the staircase. Get those small wins and eventually you’ll get to the top.
2) Have the humility and humbleness to admit that you don’t know everything, but that you’re willing to surround yourself with people smarter than you who bring other superhero powers to the table so you don’t have – and so you can be a great team.
3) You are your brand. You represent you and your company. You have to build the brand as best you can. Deliver on what you say what you’re going to do.
Sponsors
Thinkific: It’s time to stop trading time for money and start reaching more clients and making a bigger impact – with online courses! Try Thinkific for free today at Thinkific.com/eof.
CrowdHealth: A simple and better way to pay for your medical expenses. Visit JoinCrowdHealth.com/fit and enter code FIRE at sign up for a special offer! CrowdHealth is not health insurance, it’s a community-powered alternative. Terms and Conditions may apply.
Notion: An all-in-one team collaboration tool that combines everything you need to run your business effectively in one space! Get up to $1,000 off Notion’s team plan by going to Notion.com/startups.
Show Notes
**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode.
Today’s Audio MASTERCLASS: True Underdog Podcast.
[1:05] – Jayson shares something that he believes about becoming successful that most people disagree with.
- You need to churn and burn 20% of your staff. The bottom 20% are holding you back. The top 20% of your staff is doing 80% of the work, the next 60% of them are doing 20% of the work, the bottom 20% complain and find reasons to slow things down.
[2:54] – Starting from the bottom to building a national solar company.
- His parents did not finish high school. They worked multiple jobs and they lived in a mobile home.
- People made fun of their situation, calling them the Flintstones, but he considered it to be motivation. Those were things that he couldn’t control. You can’t control whether your family is broke.
- He learned from experience and failure.
- When you build a business, it’s like raising a child.
[5:08] – The role of renewable energy over the next decade and how Jayson plans to participate in that role.
- It’s our duty to look at renewable energy because there’s not a lot of energy out there.
- Renewable energy is cost effective, you’re not left in the dark, and you’re independent.
- We’re using so much more energy than we used to.
[8:34] – Jayson’s advise when it comes to building a brand that matters.
- You are your brand. You represent you and your company. You have to build the brand as best you can. Deliver on what you say what you’re going to do.
- Have the humility and humbleness to admit that you don’t know everything, but that you’re willing to surround yourself with people smarter than you who bring other superhero powers to the table so you don’t have – and so you can be a great team.
[11:24] – A timeout to thank our sponsors, Thinkific, CrowdHealth, and Notion!
[13:56] – Jayson’s book “Own Your Power” – he shares 8 principles for a no-excuses life.
- People can relate to his life story and his struggles.
- You, everyday, get to create your own map. Drop the outside influence.
- There’s no elevator in life. You’ve got to take the stairs.
- Don’t be held hostage and be stuck with people in your business. Protect yourself against that and build systems where your things are replicable in your life and in business.
- Scared money don’t make money. Bet on yourself.
- Love your haters.
[16:54] – What is a “No Excuses” life?
- It means that you’re not going to let your family members, or in-laws, or siblings, friends, or haters dictate what you’re going to do.
- Don’t listen to the noise. Focus on the play-by-play, small wins, day-by-day.
[18:18] – How does Jayson want to be remembered?
- He wants everybody in the company to have a life-changing event. The employees are the foundation of the company.
- Success isn’t money, nor is it a job title. It is filling that void and having gratitude and happiness inside, and having true fulfillment.
[19:20] – Jayson’s key takeaway and call to action for Fire Nation!
- Pre-order Jayson’s book Own Your Power on Amazon and get some freebies and a bonus chapter!
- JaysonWaller.com – Visit Jayson’s website to learn more about what he has going on!
- @JaysonWallerBam – Follow Jayson on Instagram!
- Today is day one, not one day. Make that change today. Don’t get discouraged looking at the top of the staircase. Get those small wins and eventually you’ll get to the top.
Transcript
0 (2s):
Lights that spark Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs On Fire brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network with great shows like being boss today, we'll be focusing on the true underdog to drop these value bombs. I brought Jayson Waller and EO fire studios. Jayson was a trailer park living high school dropout before he became the founding CEO of Power Home Solar. One of the most successful private companies in America. He is also the host of his own podcast, True Underdog, where he shares stories to inspire millions around the world. And today foundation, we talking about brand building. We'll be talking about eight principles for a no excuses life, and then we'll end on a legacy and so much more.
0 (48s):
When we get back from thanking our sponsors, Fire Nation is time to stop trading time for money and start reaching more clients and making a bigger impact. And you can do just that with online courses, try Thinkific for free today at Thinkific.com/EOF. That's Thinkific.com/EOF. Chances are you're no stranger to high deductible health insurance plans. Why is it that there seems to be no good options. Introducing CrowdHealth, visit JoinCrowdHealth.com/fit and enter code fire at sign up for a special offer. That's JoinCrowdHealth.com/fit promo code fire. CrowdHealth is not health insurance.
0 (1m 29s):
It's a community powered alternative terms and conditions may apply. Jayson say what's up to Fire Nation and share something that you believe about becoming successful that most people disagree with.
1 (1m 43s):
What's up Fire Nation. And thanks JLD I appreciate you, man. I, I think most people disagree that they want to have retention of their employees. And I get that. I understand like if you're ups or, you know, you're the post office or, you know, you're, you know, Microsoft and you're not really growing, you're doing the same thing and you want to sustain employment and have retention. I get it. But when you're growing a business, you're an entrepreneur. You're building it from the ground up. I believe in an 80 20 rule, I believe that you need to churn and burn 20% of your staff that you put KPIs in place that you're always putting them on a, on a pit plan. And that bottom 20%, I believe just holds you back. And so I'm a big believer of the top 20% of your staff does 80% of the work.
1 (2m 27s):
The next 60% does 20% of the work. And that bottom 20% is just complaining and finding reasons to slow things down. So the more you churn and burn that, you know, I built my company over five years up to over 2000 employees, but we're eliminating 20% of the staff all the time that, that, that isn't cutting the mustard. You want to have a strong bench and a strong starting team. And I think a lot of people like, oh, it's about retention. It is for those doing their job. It is for those that are giving the effort that, and what's required to get the job done. But for those that it's just a placement holder of I'm just checking in and clocking in and making a paycheck. And this isn't a lifestyle or career for me. You got to learn to move on from them fast
0 (3m 6s):
Churn and burn Fire Nation. You can't be afraid to always be trending in an upward direction and churning and burn is going to help you do that. Now, Jayson, you are a true underdog. My friend, I mean, you went from a mobile home to becoming a multimillionaire. So let's talk about how you started from the bottom. Now you're here all the way up to building this national solar company that you're rocking.
1 (3m 29s):
You know, I watched my dad struggle. Yeah. He didn't finish high school. Neither did my mom. And they worked multiple jobs. I helped them. And we live in the trailer Parker. I like how you worded it. Mobile home. I liked that it was polite way, but people would make fun of me in school, even my wife's family. And we've been together since high school. They didn't want her to be with me cause we lived in a chiller and they'd make fun of us, basically call us the Flintstones. And a lot of that was motivation. It was something that I couldn't control, you know, in today's world. People talk about, oh, well I can't control it. My race or race or my religion or my gender. They can't, you also can't control if you're broke and I was broke and people would make fun of me for being broke and it was hard and it was motivating. I use it as, as fuel to try to take the next level.
1 (4m 10s):
And I was able to communicate with people. I was able to enroll people. I think everybody's got a gift. You got to find out what it is. And I was able to, for people to believe in anything I believed in. So I started in sales, I crushed it. And then I felt handcuffed because of no education. And because of my age, I couldn't get promoted. So I started my own company, not knowing what to do. Lots of intimidation, lots of fear of the unknown. But I learned from experience and failure to continue to build that and build something I believed. And this is the third company I built from the ground up. But this is the largest by far. And I love it. It's like when you build a business, it's like, it's like a child, you know, I've got four kids. Well, I've got my company power home. So I really got five kids.
0 (4m 50s):
And I know all you parents out there, you feel the same way. I mean, if you're a parent, you had the children, you have the kiddos. And then you also have the business, which is very demanding, very temperamental. I mean, my dogs having a little temper tantrum this morning and it just kind of how it is. Sometimes you just gotta deal with the business, deal with the pets, deal with the kids. If you're going to build the business of your dream. Now I am Jayson. I don't know if you know this about me, but I'm actually a huge solar guy. I have 41 panels on my home here in Porto Rico. And I've got three Tesla power walls right in my garage. I am completely off grid down here. So, you know, loving that self dependence.
0 (5m 30s):
And of course, you know, getting to earn some money back from all the money we're sending back to the grid on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. What role does renewable energy play over the next decade? And how do you personally plan to participate in this role? Great
1 (5m 45s):
And congrats on having some energy. Independence is important. That's what most people don't realize. They're like, oh, it's about saving money. No, it's about controlling your costs and not being left in the dark and having traded independence. So kudos to you for, for going that direction. W Evie is here to stay. All these electric vehicles are coming out. I mean the electric comers got an 18 month waiting list. The, the electric Mustang sold out in 30 minutes. Things are crazy with electric cars because the cost of gasoline rises. You've got all these issues. People just want cool fast cars. I've got my first Evy recently, I'm in love with it, but you got to charge it. And we don't have enough power from the utility companies as it is. And we really don't have enough clean power as it is.
1 (6m 27s):
So it's really not only is it smart because we don't want to be left in the dark with all the power outages. And we don't want to have to pay premiums when we're charging our electric cars coming out at late at night. But it's our duty because there's not enough energy out there. So for us to look at some kind of renewable energy method, whether it be wind, solar, hydro, whatever, it's the right thing to do. It's cost effective. You control your costs. You're not left in the dark. Like you said, you're independent. You got rolling blackouts. You got all these things going on in Texas. And these polar vortexes in the Midwest power goes out. What are people going to do? You've got kids, you're working from home. You've got medication, things that you worry about. And we're going to continue to lay out that platform to really create energy independence here in the U S where most people have some kind of access to that where they're not relying on a really old-school grid.
1 (7m 16s):
That's broken from the utility company that never really works, right? And we need more energy. Anyways, we're using so much energy than what we used to. Where's it going to come from? Well, we have to do solar. We have to do wind and we have to do hydro to get it there.
0 (7m 30s):
So much power here, Fire Nation. And Jayson, you mentioned stuff like what's happening in Texas and rolling blackouts and hurricanes and tornadoes. I mean, back in 2017, there was a massive hurricane here in Puerto Rico, devastated the islands, my specific community, which came back online by the way, much faster than the rest of the island. But we were out of power for four months, even scarier than that, we were out of water for like three or four weeks, meaning that you cannot get water out of your tap. And we didn't have necessarily like a pond or a river to go to. And so like, that's scary stuff. Cause you know, listen, you can hypothetically live without power for a decent amount of time, but water is a couple of days. So now that I have my solar power, Jayson, I bought this newbie atmospheric water generator.
0 (8m 13s):
So as long as I have power, which I always will because of my Tesla Powerwall and my panels, I get eight gallons of water pumping a day through this water generator, just from the humidity in the air gas and takes humidity from the air. And it makes eight gallons of fresh water a day. So talk about being independent, protecting yourself and your family. I'm able to do that because of solar and no. And knowing that if another massive category four or five hurricane rips through here, my solar, my solar power is going to be power in my house, which is going to be powering my water generator. I've got 12 months of 50 year shelf, life food in my attic. I'm good to go for the foreseeable future. If something like that happens, it'll put me in a position to help who maybe aren't in that lucky of a situation.
0 (8m 57s):
So think about all of this as you're building up your plan going forward. Now, one thing that you've done that I'm really impressed with Jayson is a great job with your podcast, true underdog. So I want to talk about brand building, cause you've done that really well with this podcast. So what advice do you have for Fire Nation around building a brand that matters
1 (9m 19s):
Power home, solar, that company, I built that brand up. You know, we opened it up in 15 and we'll do 750 million in sales. And we got over 2000 employees. I mean, we are, we're probably going to go public soon. We've talked to some specs, we're looking at some things it's, it's great. But what I realized is they had me on TV commercials and I started doing some TV shows as an entrepreneur. I said, look, I want to, I want to do something great. So I tried the podcast thing, just messing around with it. And the podcast is true underdog. And I started it and I had some friends that played in the NFL and I had some business guys that I knew that didn't, you know, come from nothing and became something successful. And I told those stories and it took off. It just exploded. And you know, I got on shows like yours and other people's shows and told my story and that show became a top three entrepreneur podcast, you know, for apple and it started exploding.
1 (10m 8s):
And then that morphed to building the brand of, you know, you got the, you got the business of power home, you got the podcast. Well, let me write a book, let me give back. And so then I put the book out there and it all ties together. You know, if you are your brand, you represent you and your company. And you know, if I'm going to be the face of the franchise here at power home, then I've got to build the brand up as good as I can. And I've got to you deliver on what I say I'm going to do. And I got to be about it, not just talk about it. And you know, I'm very passionate. I'm very open and I don't have any thing that I hide from. I talk openly about, you know, where I stand on building a business where I stand on, on, you know, entrepreneurs, things like that.
1 (10m 48s):
And I share, and I think that that kind of energy in different realms between a podcast, a book and a business only help each other. And then I use a lot of coaches. I mean, I don't know everything. Like I didn't go to college. I didn't even know what EBITDA meant a couple of years ago. That's a true story. I have to learn, but I have enough humility and humbleness to walk up and say, I don't know this, but let me surround myself with people smarter than me that bring other superhero powers that I don't have. So we can be a great team because business and life are like a puzzle. And you got to put those pieces together in order to grow,
0 (11m 18s):
Our nation has so much power hair. I mean, humbleness humility. Do you have those two things that are going to allow you to go to a coach, to go to people that you look up to and admire and ask them for advice for guidance? Because a lot of people have been there done that. You can learn so much from them in Fire Nation. If you think we're even close to done dropping value bombs, we're talking about Jayson's first book, own your power with eight principles for a no excuses life. We're talking about legacy. When we get back from thanking our sponsors, looking for a single place online where you can access next level project management tools, plus organized documents, systems, apps, and more with your team.
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That's JoinCrowdHealth.com/fit promo code fire. CrowdHealth is not health insurance. It's a community powered alternative terms and conditions may apply. All right, Jayson, we are back. And as I mentioned before, the break, you wrote a book, you called it own your power. And this book goes through eight principles for a no excuses life. Talk about this book. Talk about some of these principles. Maybe your favorites let's hear it for Fire Nation.
1 (15m 23s):
I appreciate it. You know, when I won the 2019 entrepreneur of the year award, they told me, Hey, you've got to write a book. And I said, I've never read a book. Like, well, it's your duty? And I realized they're right. Like I'm like, I, people I'm. I can be relative to people. People can relate to my life. They've been there. Oh, I didn't graduate high school. I had a kid in my teens. Oh, I lived in a trailer park. Oh, you know, I didn't go to college. Oh, I, I struggled with, you know, you know, fear and insecurity. When I first opened my business, people can, can relate to me. And I think that that's the nice thing. So I created this book to kind of get people it's called own your power. No excuses, no BS. The time is now. And, and the chapters are like, make your own map. Like you everyday get to create your own map.
1 (16m 4s):
You can't have outside influence, go over that. And I tell a story of where I won that award. And I was really thinking how the F did I get here? And then I remembered when I went to see my first daughter born, my she's now my mother-in-law, but my wife's mom wouldn't let me in the hospital would under an alias name and I couldn't go see my kid born. So I went up there with a camera and I'm taking pictures and I'm 19 years old and I'm balling not knowing which kid is mine. And I made a decision that day, where two lights would change. My daughter came into the world and I was going to be, I wasn't going to let outside people influence who I was going to be. I was gonna be a great father in everything. And, you know, to make the story, even a little Wilder, my wife's mom at the time, my mother-in-law, she wanted to give our kid up for adoption. And me and my girlfriend at the time were fighting about it.
1 (16m 45s):
So all of these little things are I've personal and business stories in there that people can relate to and that's make your own map. And I decided that now, you know, I've got a great relationship with her and I've done everything that I wanted to do with, with her family. And, you know, I fly them out and buy them dinners and stuff like that. But, you know, and then I go through another principal. If there's no elevator in life, you've got to take the stairs. Another one don't be held hostage. How many times are you hiring a salesperson or you're hiring a vendor or you're hiring a company or you're in a relationship and you feel like I'm stuck. You know, I've got too many bills with this person. I've got kids with this person. Or, oh, this is my top sales rep. If, if I don't give into them, my company will crumble. I talk about, you know, how to really facilitate and protect yourself against that and build systems where your things are replaceable in your life and in business.
1 (17m 28s):
So you're not held hostage. And then one of my favorites is scared money. Don't make money. I talk about betting on yourself and love your haters. And so those are some of the principles I go through. And there's a lot of personal and business stories that, you know, I've entailed that I can share with people and how to get through things. And there's like worksheets at the end of each chapter. And that I've had some great interviews where I've taken some of the information I've learned on the podcast and stuck it in there from some of the people I've interviewed scared
0 (17m 54s):
Money. Don't make money. Fire Nation. Think about that. That is a phrase for the ages ends before we do move on. What exactly is a no excuses life? I mean, I know it pretty much speaks for itself, but I guess I want the Jayson phrase or the Jayson definition of what it means to live a no excuses life.
1 (18m 16s):
Well, it means that you're not going to let your family members or your in-laws or your siblings or your friends or your peers or your haters dictate what you're going to do, because all of the, all these people, there's some good people around you, but there's also some bad people around you that are jealous and insecure. And they want to watch from the sidelines and critique rather than make action and do things great. And this is helping you find a way to do the things great because everybody can talk trash and everybody can talk about what they want to do. And Hey, one day I'll do this. This is making day one start now. So it's not one day it's day one and no more excuses. Don't listen to the noise, focus on the day by day, the play by play the moment by moment, you know, small goals, small wins taking the stairs, not the elevator and making no excuses.
1 (18m 60s):
We all have challenges. We all have problems. We all have dealt with some kind of adversity insecurity, jealousy. We've all done that we all, some worse than others. My life definitely wasn't the worst by no means, but what was big and hurtful and strong for me was my problems I had to overcome. And that's what people need to look at is the glass half full and that they control their destiny and not let any kind of noise or outside influence really give them an excuse to not take that leap of faith, to be who they're intended to be.
0 (19m 28s):
Talk a legacy. How would you like your legacy to be remembered as an entrepreneur on fire?
1 (19m 35s):
Well, with our company now, I want to do some kind of public or event where everybody in the company can have a life-changing event. I think that that's important because the company is built on our employees and they're the ones that they're the foundation of it, and I want to reward them. But so that's part of my professional legacy on a personal legacy or as an entrepreneur and an influencer out there. I just wanna empower enough people to be better. You know, the world is a tough spot and it's not getting easier. And I just want to know that I've helped and empowered and encouraged enough people to do the right thing, to get through things and to be who they wanted to be. And I always say successes and isn't money, successes and job titles, successes, filling that hole in that void of having gratitude and happiness inside and having fulfillment.
1 (20m 24s):
And so if I can share and help people find that then to me, that's, that's a big enough legacy.
0 (20m 29s):
Jayson, let's end with a bang. I want to talk about own your power. I mean, you've already chatted about the eight principles, a lot of them, and of course a no excuses life, but a Fire Nation wants to learn more. Where would they go to pick up this book? What any other final call to action and may you have and ways that we can connect with you. And then we'll say goodbye.
1 (20m 51s):
Now you could do the pre-order at Amazon. You just put an own your power and you'll find it. There it's a Amazon pre-order for the audio book. If you do do a pre-order, you get a swag bag with some cool shirts, and you're going to get a bonus chapter of another book I'll do called bam building a movement. And you can visit me at Jayson Waller, bam, on social media or Jayson Waller, Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn. And then you can always follow the true underdog podcast. And you go to Jayson waller.com and get all of that. But yeah, I think to leave a message for everybody is, is listen. Today is day one, not one day. So try to make that change today. Don't get discouraged looking all the way at the top of the staircase, thinking you can't get there. Look at each step as a goal, get those small wins.
1 (21m 31s):
And eventually you'll get to the top
0 (21m 33s):
Near the average of the five people you spend the most time with. You've been hanging out with JW and JLD today. So keep up that heats head over to EOFire.com type Jayson that's, Jayson with a Y. J A Y S O N in the search bar. The notes page will pop up with everything we've talked about here today. And Jayson, I want to say thank you brother, for sharing your truth, your knowledge, your value with Fire Nation today, for that we salute you and we'll catch you on the flip side. Bam. Hey, Fire Nation today's value bomb content was brought to you by Jayson and Fire Nation. The ideato.store contests by.store domains is live.
0 (22m 15s):
You have the chance to win cash prizes up to $30,000 for sharing your online store ideas. Learn more at www.ideato.store. That's www.ideato.store. And I'll catch you there, or I'll catch you on the flip side. Fire Nation is time to stop trading time for money and start reaching more clients and making a bigger impact. And you can do just that with online courses, try Thinkific for free today at Thinkific.com/EOF. That's Thinkific.com/EOF.
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Killer Resources!
1) The Common Path to Uncommon Success: JLD’s 1st traditionally published book! Over 3000 interviews with the world’s most successful Entrepreneurs compiled into a 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment!
2) Free Podcast Course: Learn from JLD how to create and launch your podcast!
3) Podcasters’ Paradise: The #1 podcasting community in the world!