Nearing 13 years into my entrepreneurial journey, a multi-million dollar empire, starting, operating and owning five companies, employing a robust team serving tens of thousands of customers all started by never wanting to be poor again. The goal was, retiring my mother, who worked tirelessly to keep a roof over my head. As I write this article today, more than anything else, I am excited to have that retirement in motion allowing the one who gave me the tools to create my life, the rest, she is long overdue.
Business started for me just after separating from the military in 2008, serving two tours in Iraq, leading men in combat, receiving the purple heart (here’s the link to my podcast explaining the crazy story). Serving for the most powerful Army to ever walk the earth and one of the single most distinguished and prestigious divisions of the Army 101st Airborne Division as a grunt.
Fun Facts: I’ve competed nationally in the fitness industry, ranked top 3 in the world for my class in Jujitsu, nutritionist by trade, hold five degrees two in business, including an MBA. Am a burger snob, prefer champagne, a foodie at heart and father a boujee Pitbull who is basically a human. No serious she’s human, it’s odd.
Twelve years into my journey, I began trading watches for fun / an additional source of income. It’s essential to understand how part-time this is for me; less than 30minutes a day is spent on watch trading as my other companies have priority until they are automated to the point of complete-time freedom, which is close. Next, I’m going to break down my watching trading journey as I close in on my one year mark of August. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good
I’ve always enjoyed beautiful things. When I was poor, I wanted nice things and knew one day I would have them. When that day came, I felt like a fake in business; I hid my success, hid my income, and lived un authentic as I could in fear of others judgment. The irony is, once I started breaking through those blocks, I began to allow myself to have more beautiful things, like timepieces. I began with Breitling’s and quickly moved into AP’s within a couple of months. I know you’re still wondering what’s ironic, well, as I began having beautiful things, in this case, timepieces, I also felt un authentic selling high-end timepieces as I had just got started and didn’t know the visual difference between a 42mm or 44mm Ap until the day came that I sold my first one the AP Camo to an end retail client off EBay asking me what size it was. The moral of The Good story is, timepieces helped me move past hiding my success, wealth, fear, judgment, and blocks personally along with business. I am grateful, as it’s opened the flood gates of many things, too include higher degrees of wealth, connections, and opportunities.
The Bad
I’ve found that there is bad in the journeys of business, and timepieces. The Problem here is, what I find anyway, or better said in my perspective, is, I’m a very ethically sound person, businessman, and watch trader. I say Problem as I see it as so. However, you may not, as this is the premise to perspective. My ethical living started young, business was next, then, watch trading. My father a two-tour Vietnam Ranger veteran gave a lesson I’ll never forget: “Chris, if everything is taken from you in this life, all you have left is your word, never break it.” This lesson is taught in the courses and spoken upon often; however, in the watch trading industry as a whole, I see it about 50/50. At first, I thought maybe they were mistakes or flukes. However, I was wrong; it’s rampant, and in my opinion, pathetic. There’s always a silver lining, though, depending on how hard you want to look. The good part of The Bad is that now I only deal with those who keep their word not only in watch trading but also in other business. It’s super easy to spot, more than many might think, especially for some as experienced in sales, negotiation, and business as I.
The Ugly
What watch trading has revealed, hypocritical actions CAN be respected or not stood up to out of fear. Same with business, there goes a saying, “fuck your feelings this is business.” HOWEVER, I never miss a chance to call people out, including top performers. Why? If you allow people to get away with and slide, you’re doing them and injustice. Holding them accountable for their actions is robust and helps them realize their mistake or at least give them the opportunity anyway. It’s fair to point out my favorite author is Dale Carnegie. What he has taught me is Tact, which is what I always use in life, business, and approaching tough conversations. As a 35-year-old man, I can careless who it is; if their wrong, I tell them, tactfully providing them the opportunity to learn from their mistakes (awesome podcast on this topic) I’ve never backed down and never will. To date, I have addressed a 3 star general in combat & my state governor to help them realize mistakes made. Those are the most notably anyway.
I keep it real for everyone but, most importantly, myself. Watch trading has added a few tools to my belt and am happy for the connections I’ve made and continue to. As of lately, I’m averaging 40% returns and only deal with end-user clients, face to face as I don’t even list publicly much anymore as my network is doing very well for me. A big thank you to all who have taken the time to chat, help, and work with me; you guys are fantastic.