Stripping Off with Matt Haycox
Welcome to 'Stripping Off with Matt Haycox,' where we bare it all on business, money, and life. Get ready to peel back the layers of success with entrepreneur, investor, funding expert, and mentor with over 20 years of experience building and growing businesses, Matt Haycox.
Tune into steamy conversations with industry titans, celebrities, and successful entrepreneurs as they strip down their stories of triumphs, setbacks, and the raw realities of their journey to the top. Matt is going down on business, money, and life, and will take DMCs to new heights!
Stripping Off with Matt Haycox
Learning It My Way Cost Me Two Heart Attacks and £100 Million: Dariush Soudi's Journey from Refugee to Multimillionaire
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In this powerful episode of Stripping Off with Matt Haycox, I dive into the extraordinary life story of Dariush Soudi. From early tragedy in Iran to arriving in Dubai with nothing but grit and resilience, Dariush’s journey is packed with life lessons on resilience, entrepreneurship, and the 'gladiator mindset' it takes to succeed in the face of adversity.
Dariush’s story isn’t just about achieving financial success—it’s about creating a lasting legacy, challenging the labels society puts on us, and showing up with unstoppable determination. As he says, “The more people we serve, the freer we become.” Tune in to hear how he overcame countless obstacles, the personal values that fueled his climb, and how he’s helping others today achieve their own goals.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How to cultivate resilience in the face of adversity: Dariush’s story of losing everything and bouncing back will inspire you.
- The importance of a purpose-driven mindset: Dariush talks about creating a legacy that goes beyond material wealth. He reminds us, “I just had this inner belief that if I work hard enough, things will happen.”
- Insights into mentorship and personal growth: Why lifelong learning is key to success and fulfilment.
- How to channel setbacks into powerful comebacks: Dariush’s experiences offer a roadmap for anyone feeling stuck. As he says, “I want to walk into every battle, every meeting, like my life depends on it, like a gladiator.”
This episode is essential for entrepreneurs, aspiring business owners, and anyone ready to adopt a 'millionaire mindset' to turn dreams into reality.
Timestamps
0:00 - Intro
1:19 - Dariush’s Childhood
6:32 - Future and Career Prospects
10:46 - Why did your family move to England?
11:15 - Aging Well, Feeling Good
13:03 - Skiving A-Levels
14:03 - Going into Sales & Working Hard
15:09 - Biggest Mistakes You’ve Made in Sales
18:46 - Dariush as a Parent - Anger Issues, In and Out of Prison in England Growing Up
20:07 - Dubai Jail
25:28 - Sales Career in Dariush’s 20s
30:59 - Dodgy Business Partners and Heart Attacks
36:19 - Arriving to Dubai with No Money
39:48 - The Origin of ‘Gladiator’
41:59 - Selling Events
48:26 - An Audience from All Walks of Life
50:04 - Dariush’s Talking Points on Stage
51:53 - Gladiators Summit 2
59:
Who Is Matt Haycox? - Click for BADASS Trailer
Are you ready to unlock your full potential and take your business to the next level? I’m Matt Haycox—entrepreneur, investor, mentor, and your go-to guy for no-bollocks advice on business and personal growth.
With over 25 years of experience building and funding businesses across industries, I’ve faced it all—wins, losses, and the ultimate comeback story. Through my podcasts, No Bollocks with Matt Haycox and Stripping Off with Matt Haycox, I cut through the bullshit to bring you real, actionable strategies and raw conversations with entrepreneurs, celebrities, and industry leaders.
Whether you’re looking to scale your business, secure funding, or avoid the mistakes I’ve learned the hard way, my goal is simple: to help YOU create YOUR success story.
Want more? Subscribe to my No Bollocks Newsletter and get weekly insider tips on entrepreneurship, strategy, and business growth—because learning in 10 minutes is way better than wasting years on an MBA.
Ready to make moves? Let’s go—your success starts here.
Welcome to another episode of Stripping Off with Matt Haycox, the show where I go down on business, money and life with successful entrepreneurs to uncover what it takes to get to the top. And in today's episode we've got Dariush Soody. Now Dariush's story is one of relentless resilience, from humble beginnings in Iran to building businesses across continents. You'll hear how he's battled through immense hardships, transformed losses into opportunities and built a life dedicated to service, growth and mentorship. As he says, the more people we serve, the freer we become. And Darius shares how his gladiator mindset has helped him rise again and again on what it means to walk into every meeting, into every battle like your life depends on it.
Speaker 1:If you're an entrepreneur ready to level up, grab a pen and paper, take some notes, because this episode is going to ignite your inner fighter, darius Soody. Welcome to the up. Grab a pen and paper, take some notes, because this episode is going to ignite your inner fighter, darius Soody. Welcome to the show, buddy. Thank you, man, appreciate it. I'm looking forward to having the original gladiator himself here Russell Crowe's. Nobody without his gladiator.
Speaker 2:Do you know Russell Crowe? I think he's a year younger than me. Oh really, he doesn't look it now.
Speaker 1:He doesn't. I mean, he looked unbelievable, but also that shows how time quickly passes for us, doesn't it?
Speaker 2:24, 25 years ago, 98 or something, wasn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, crazy and he was, so he would have been late 30s, but yeah, he's in his 60s now isn't he? But he's not aged like a gladiator.
Speaker 2:No, he enjoys his life as an. Australian as an Aussie.
Speaker 1:You weren't always a gladiator. I think you've got a story, like myself, of ups and downs and bounce backs and recovery, so I know bits of it, but not enough. So I'm looking forward to hearing this myself as well. But let's go back to the beginning and let everybody know where life began and how we got to where we are today.
Speaker 2:It began in Iran. I was three and a half when my father died. He was 29 years old. My mom was 23. My sister was 30 days old. They didn't tell me for a year.
Speaker 1:They didn't tell you he died yeah.
Speaker 2:So for one year because they weren't educated. They just thought let's avoid the pain for the kid. So every day, isis is outside my house waiting for my dad to come, because he said he'd gone on business. And then, actually, it's funny enough, I hadn't shared that with anyone until now. So Isis is outside the house every single day waiting for my dad to come, and then one night they dress me up and we go to this place and I'm sitting and everybody's crying and my granddad was there. He'd taken custody of me. I said sitting and everybody's crying, and my granddad was there. He'd taken custody of me and said why is everybody crying? He goes because there's your dad. He's dead just like that.
Speaker 2:So something inside me thought that fuck, I can't even trust my family because even they can lie to you. I think that's something that still is in me, right? And you were four and a half five years old.
Speaker 1:Do you remember this still to this day?
Speaker 2:Yes, I was sitting on his lap and everybody's crying and there's a grave. I didn't know what a grave was. I've never been to one before. There's a picture on the wall. It was my dad, so it was his year anniversary. And then, two and a half three years later, my grandfather died in front of me. He got up, he was burping, he had a bit of chest pain when had a shower hot shower, which you are supposed to when you're having a heart attack came and slept and never woke up. And then that day they took me up, pick me up I'm thinking about seven and a half seven and then put me in the next door neighbor, and ignored me all day. So I can hear the screaming, the shouting. I look out and my granddad's been taken on a stretcher with a white sheet over him into an ambulance and nobody even bothered because they were just into their own world.
Speaker 1:Where was your emotion in this? I mean just with your father, for example, when at first you're waiting for him to go home, you think he's away. I mean, were you? Were you sad missing him?
Speaker 2:at this point and then I guess, second, I think it was a mix of emotions. I remember hating everyone for lying to me for so long. It was like how can you be so? How can my family lie to me for so long? Right, because I'll be. Where's that coming? He's on a business trip. He'll be here soon. I'm sure they were hurting, just didn't know how to deal with me as a child.
Speaker 1:And you say he was on a business trip. What was the financial situation for you back in those days?
Speaker 2:He was an entrepreneur. He was leveraged, but my granddad was rich, considerably rich. He was a mayor of a city those times, before his mullahs came in. He worked for the Shah of Iran, the king of Iran, and he was like an enforcer. So what happened is the king will say go to this town and destroy all the dodgy stuff that's going on, put law and order in place. So he'll go in.
Speaker 2:I remember him as this very authoritarian big guy, old man. We had two dark circles here because he used to pray all the time. He was a very religious man. He has very hard circles here because he used to touch the stone every day and he died and he was only 54, right, and I'm 58 now and I'm like, oh my God, I also saw him as an old man, but he wasn't. So every few years the king will say I go to this town, go to this town and he'll go and fix things. And when he died and the revolution came, they actually want to dig my, because my granddad's buried on top of my dad, and they want to dig their grave up and turn him into toilets Because he put all those religious guys in jail.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:Because they were stealing people's money. About 20 years ago, 18 years ago, I went to Iran to pay my respect to my grandma, who was passing. And they said do you want to go to your dad's grave? I said, sure, I hadn't been. And when I turned up, 30 odd people turned up to see me. So who are they? They don't know me. So they're saying respect to your granddad because he changed their lives. And then when five and a half thousand people turned up at his funeral and we found out later on that he was helping people and never telling anyone, he was paying people's family education, and they all turned up and I thought that's my, that's the legacy I want to leave behind. Hey.
Speaker 1:Matt here. Thanks for listening to stripping off with Matt Haycox, but did you also know I've got another podcast, no bollocks, with Matt Haycox both of these very different. If you're enjoying the deep dives with the guests that I have every week on stripping off, then you're gonna love the quick, short strategies and tactics I give you on no Bollocks. This comes out nearly every day. Make sure you go and check it out on iTunes, spotify, youtube, wherever you listen to your content, and I'll see you in a future episode. And back in those days 7, 8, 9, 10, where did you think the future lay for you?
Speaker 2:I didn't think actually anything, it was just more like I didn't have a good childhood at all.
Speaker 2:Because of the emotional aspects, emotional and also, if you imagine, my mom was in her 20s, right, and she was a beautiful woman, still is a beautiful woman, and she had lots of frustrations because of me and my sister. She couldn't really live her life. So I guess there's a lot of anger inside and they take it out on someone, right? So I was the one that she took it out on. So it was like a lot of verbal abuse, a lot of physical abuse. I just couldn't wait to leave home Because I knew there was something better and bigger outside, but it was miserable.
Speaker 2:I wasn't allowed to play with my friends Be careful, you're going to get this, something's going to happen to you Because they experienced so much sadness so early. It was just scarcity, mentality and miserable mentality which I just thought. You know. I want to go out and play with the kids. No, no, be careful, they're not good kids. Be careful, be careful, do no, I want to go and play with the kids. I want to. No, no, be careful, they're not good kids. Be careful, you be careful, do that? Do this? Just make sure your education goes. Education, education. My aunt who brought me up with my mom and my grandma. She was a headmistress of a school, so it was all education and I just didn't like education, I didn't like anything, and I was even as a kid I was like when is this going to serve me? Yeah, I don't want to be a teacher, I want to be. How did you do with your results?
Speaker 1:Were you someone who doesn't like education barely passed?
Speaker 2:not smart, not a smart kid. Nothing, no interest in anything. Sports I loved sports and music. As I got older, when I was really feeling miserable, I'd go into my room, lock the door, play music. So even now, in solitude, I create music. I have a studio, I create music. So, our event. I'm hoping you'll join us.
Speaker 1:I'll be there. All the music is mine. Oh, really, yes. What do you play? How do you make music? I?
Speaker 2:mix things. I have visions in my head. Being Iranian, I think we're very good at hospitality, so I can see the emotions of the crowd before it happens. So I know how to turn the lights off, which music should come. We've got 71 entertainers and drummers so I know exactly where they should enter, how the lights should go on, where the music should play and it really moves people, exactly where they should enter, how the lights should go on, where the music should play and it really moves people. Yeah, creativity, I think, is my escape.
Speaker 1:And where did you think your career was gonna be back in these days? You wanted a creative hospitality. I didn't even think of a career.
Speaker 2:I was 14, I went to my mum and said how do people get jobs? Because I don't know, go and ask somebody else. I really didn't know. Honestly, matt, uh, I'm dyslexic. So I knew I was good with numbers and people said you know, you're a good talker, become a salesperson. So I knew I wasn't going to education. So I left school at 15, and actually 16, because I took my a levels, got three o's and went into sales, got fired from some In Iran, in England, oh, so I was going to say 78, I was 12,.
Speaker 2:We went to England. Okay, I was bullied nonstop for two years. I was the first foreign kid at this school, couldn't speak a word of English, so I couldn't.
Speaker 1:I was going to say did you speak?
Speaker 2:English, not a word. And then that's why I couldn't go home and complain to my mom, because she was always miserable and depressed right, I don't want to add to her depression. She married my stepfather, who was an alcoholic and he was a horrible, nasty creature. So I had it everywhere. So I wouldn't go home to complain, I'd just step up, right. So I learned English without an accent. So people often can't tell that I'm a foreigner because I support Liverpool, right. But when I supported Liverpool in Iran, I'd say Liverpool because it's spelled with an I and I'll get beaten up for that at school. So I thought you know what? I've got to concentrate so much on my pronunciation so I don't get beaten up. Everything was survival rate.
Speaker 1:Why did your family move to?
Speaker 2:England, prosper, do better. We went to 77, to Brighton. We stayed there three months. We got back the year Elvis died. I remember I was like who the hell's Elvis? And then we got back to Iran. We went to do the same thing in 78. Revolution started and we stayed. It was mayhem, so we just stayed. It was the best thing ever. But then I look back, then I was like God, my mom was 31. Nothing, you know really nothing.
Speaker 1:It's funny when you're kids and you look at the older people who look or to you feel so old. I mean I'll remember being well, whatever, certainly a teenager, but you know 18, 19, 20, whatever. I'm looking at 40-year-olds, 45-year-olds, thinking they're finished.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:And honestly I mean, I'm 43 now and I feel younger now than I did when I was 22.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I think because we expect to live longer, more quality of life and stuff like this. I remember my grandma walks around with a bit of a hunch in her back and she was 62. Yeah, three years older than me. I'm like what the hell?
Speaker 1:I guess it was probably almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy back then as well. And now, even if you're not going to live longer, because people expect to live longer and because obviously healthcare is better and anti-aging and all the other things that goes on, I guess, whether it's psychological placebo, you know, call it what you want you know, probably 20, 30 years ago you want to walk around with that hunch because you kind of want to feel sorry for yourself, that you're at the end of your life, whereas now you're thinking I'm always at the beginning of my life because you know, you know I've got another 10 years, you're absolutely.
Speaker 2:Also, I was thinking like we never in the history of the planet, we've never been in a state of abundance ever Because we always had to until the factories came along. For the first time in the human race, we can actually sleep and make money. We can go on a laptop and make money. Abundance comes. So people have got so much opportunity. So why do I want to die Because? So why do I want to die? Because, oh, I had this repetition of the same shit in my life, so I must fucking die. Now I'm like well, I haven't discovered Amazon yet. I want to go to the Antarctic, I want to do. You know, there's so much to do now. So I feel this you're absolutely right. And also there's lots of possibilities. You know, I have a huge bucket list still to fill.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so yeah, let's talk about that. I mean, you can tell me what was on it Anything. So, teenager, you finish your A-levels. You didn't do very well, did you stand for A-levels?
Speaker 2:I did my A-levels but I didn't show up. Okay, so I went through the process and I skied for a year, no other reason, just lazy, really. I used to be a squash player, so I used I had two, three games of squash, game of football, every single day, every day, every day, every day. I was number one in my town, but not because I was any particularly good. I should have been coached. I could have been international, but they used to call me the tiger.
Speaker 2:I never quit and I used to bounce off walls and I never stopped running. So I think that not quitting is something that still stays with me. But then I reached a limit whereby younger people were beating me because they were coached right and I had too many bad habits. So, yeah, I went to. Uh, my mum caught me not going for a year, so to a piece that I went to college the last year, got three O's and then retook them and got a couple of passes. But then I just went straight into sales, selling photocopiers, fax machines you name it Kirby vacuum cleaners, everything. I've sold the original sales training ground.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember. Could you sell, were you a natural salesperson?
Speaker 2:No, no, I just worked hard. So what I say now is that if you're a shit salesman selling a shit product, if you knock on enough doors, some idiot will buy your product right. So I just worked hard when my friends or colleagues were in the pub. I lived in manchester. I was in northampton knocking on doors on a friday afternoon at six o'clock but did you have anyone teaching?
Speaker 1:because I mean, I mean, yeah, look I'm with.
Speaker 2:no one's ever taught me anything. It's always been self-taught. Then my ex-wife introduced me to Tony Robbins and into personal development. Then I started reading Before it was just hard work and learning sitting in the car going. Where did I go wrong with that one? How can I improve that one? And then I realized some of the shit that I did was actually being taught in America. Right yeah, reading somebody's how to overcome objections, I just did it, naturally.
Speaker 1:I mean, if you look back to then, what do you think? A couple of the biggest mistakes you were making in sales were that you had no one to coach you out of.
Speaker 2:I should be where I am now 20 years ago. So learning in my way cost me two heart attacks, loss of 100 million pounds and 20 years of my life. Yeah, but then would I be so humble and live in gratitude if I had it too easy. You never know, but I'm always a seeker and they said you know, you're this and you're that. So I'm in work in progress. I'm still learning more than ever before. Right, and also now we're a bit spoiled, because before, if I want to learn anything, I had to either know someone who was rich and successful or go to the library. There was that one book somebody told me about. Now we can sit on the toilet, on the bus. All the information we need is in the tip of our hands, so fingers. So, um, yeah, I can't wait to consume more information, learn more. Um, but those days it was tough but but those days were you not?
Speaker 1:I guess my thought would be that, as someone who'd had a the life of hard knocks, of of being bullied, of fighting, of, you know, of skipping school, etc. That you were probably, probably averse to wanting to learn more. I don't know what the word is, not like an arrogance, but I'm stubborn. I'm going to do this on my own. Was the Tony Robbins a big eye-opener to you?
Speaker 2:Do you know what it was? It was the case of age. The moment I found out my dad had passed, I was told it's your responsibility to take care of the family. It was that sense of responsibility that kept me going. I didn't think about the future. I thought I'd live forever. But one thing I did, though I started counting. So by year 1990, I'll be so many days old. By year 2000, I'll be so many days old If I live to be 76, I only have so many days left.
Speaker 2:So I was always very, very aware of time, so I didn't waste it. Okay, and I was always productive. I had to do something because I don't want to waste it, because I've. I've watched young people die in front of me and they had limited times. You know limited lives. When I see people, it breaks my heart and I'm thinking well, you guys are walking around like you're going to live forever, right, and you just don't know that you're going to have regrets when you're old, that you just wasted your time. So it was just in me and it was just like I have to provide. It wasn't about personal growth.
Speaker 2:So I had to earn money, and then I realized that was my mom telling me I was no good, I was useless. This, this, this, all the abuse. So I think inside of me was like fuck you, mom, I'm going to show you. I'm going to show you that I am not the useless person you say I am. Yes, I'm not going to. So I started being driven as a reaction of proving my mom wrong, because whatever you say, even last week, she's a lie, so hopefully she's not going to watch this.
Speaker 2:Even last week I launched. My book sold out in a day. My book sold out in a day. And I said, hey, mom, I was talking to you a couple of days ago and she was going about how wonderful everybody else is and I thought you know what? I'll just throw something on in the, in the pot. And I said, mom, by the way, my book came out and, uh, you sold out in a day. So who would buy your book? You know not. Wow, amazing. And what's it about? Because immediately she's thinking am I in there, you with me? And I was like here we go. Never in my life I've ever had somebody who can literally get under my skin and say, wow, I'm proud of you, you're amazing.
Speaker 1:How does that make you act as a parent? Do you ever worry about or I'm sure not now, but did you ever worry about repeating that same process to your kids? Or did it make you go the exact opposite way?
Speaker 2:I haven't been. I don't think I've been a perfect dad, because you can never have perfection because I think there are many times I'm very inside. Even today I'm a very angry guy and there's that anger inside brewing you seem so chilled and relaxed.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but then if I snap.
Speaker 2:It's really dangerous and it's calmed down over the years. But in England I was in and out of jail for beating people up all the time and I don't care if I lose an eye, get stabbed, I didn't care when everybody goes red. It was something inside. I think it was just anger coming out as I get older. I'm like the results of that anger it's not going to serve me well. I was in my 40s, sat in jail for beating somebody up. I was in my suit and my in jail for beating somebody up. I was in my suit. My knuckles were all bleeding. I'm like I've been here six hours because they used to put me in jail to calm me down and I was thinking there's more to life. It's an embarrassment. Yes, I'm sitting here as a business owner because somebody crossed me behaving like this, so I just made a decision to just curb it a little bit, right, I think. In Dubai I've lost it three times, that's it you've not been to a Dubai jail yet.
Speaker 1:You want? Oh, really, yeah, you want.
Speaker 2:How do they compare?
Speaker 1:to the UK ones.
Speaker 2:It's really strange. If it's the UK, I'm claustrophobic. So in the UK they put you in this and there's no bar. There's no, what do you call it? Metal bars, metal bars. Yeah, it's a green room. You're locked in and with a metal toilet, right, and I get claustrophobic. So really I could die in there. And you're knocking and everybody else is knocking and don't answer the door, shitheads, right. So the British police and I'll tell you why I say the British, because I had really bad experiences with the British police here I went in and there's like 200 people in one big cell and they're business cards.
Speaker 2:They're trading Midday. A person comes with a trolley. They get the cash out the best sandwiches.
Speaker 1:And then at five o'clock, poor people have got cash in the jail.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had my briefcase, internet and my laptop working and there was like locals there, accountants, lawyers, and they've been before. So they were telling me what to do. And at 10 o'clock somebody came in and said, mentioned my name, said not guilty. I said, of course you got my case. No, no, wait till your paperwork's done. So I had the lunch. At six o'clock they come in and then the gentleman came in with a list and he goes Abdul, 20,000. So Abdul comes out, gives it 20,000, off, he goes Asghar, 10,000, 10,000 in common went. I was like this is good business. So they were ready with the fines, they're paid and I didn't get a fine. Obviously I was not guilty and left. But yeah, it's totally different. But you know what? I liked it in a way that you're not effed. You know like when you've got no views, no light, no anything, you can mess with your head. Right Over there you're talking to people and they still treat you with respect. Right, I felt respected, although I was in jail in Dubai. Nobody knows about this.
Speaker 1:All the exclusives. Do you know what?
Speaker 2:happened. Do you know how I ended up in jail? This is interesting. We had a client interesting. We had a client, we had a website company and these clients were from Yemen, two dark ladies. There isn't I'm saying dark, they were black yeah and I was in England.
Speaker 2:My wife was giving birth to our second child, so I'm in a really good place and I hear these two ladies coming and started abusing the black employees of mine. It just like didn't make sense, right, and they threw bottles of water at them and everything In the office, in the office, and no reason. These are the nicest guys and they were supposed to come at five. They came at eight in the evening. My staff stayed behind.
Speaker 2:You know, I was hearing about this and it was a great service. Obviously, they had issues, so I sent them a message and I said uh, please, there's a full refund waiting for you and we'll give you all the codes. We don't want this energy. They didn't like it. They felt rejected. So they go to my bank and they say this guy's, this company's, dodgy. And so bank manager phones me up and said what's wrong with these two women? They're very wild. So I sent him a text message saying um, mrs, so and so we're giving you a full refund. We give you a code. You haven't lost anything, you've gained. You can take a website somewhere else and I'll give you a full refund. I never bitch behind anybody's back, so please don't talk behind our back wrongly and I sent it that's a threat.
Speaker 2:They take that like a threat, so I get in and the police call me and say, can you come? And I knew it was about them. So I go in with a whole file of our conversations, everything to show that everything's okay. And they got their money back. And I sat there in the police station and the guy pulls out this piece of paper with the word bitch circled, and I said I don't bitch behind people's back, but they took the word bitch, translated it in a female dog.
Speaker 2:You call bitch, translated in a female yeah, female dog. You call them a female dog. So I had to. 18 months I was in and out of court and my lawyer was saying you, could you know? If you found guilty, they're going to pack your bags and send you home. And I just built a business for myself, you know, for, uh, for a final time. So there's lots of uncertainty and this, this particular day, I've been like they did not once they turned up in court. So I've been there like 10 times ruining my life. Yes, not once. They were on holidays, they're chilling out. And then nine times you got adjourned. The 10th time I went thinking it's going to get adjourned and they go, can you sit over there? I said yes and then took me downstairs to jail, yeah, to jail, yeah, so for 12-13 hours until they came in a tent and not guilty. I thought let's get me out there's. No, no, sit down. Till 6-7pm I was there and then he found not guilty and that was it.
Speaker 1:End of that and you never heard from him again. Never heard from him again.
Speaker 2:But then I had it was costly and, of course, the worrying, because our kids are at school here. If you're found guilty, you pack your bags, your passport and you go back. I had kids at school and business, so there was a lot of uncertainty that I didn't appreciate. So I tried to be very careful. I don't text anything to anyone anymore, right, even if it's because you could be trans. I had three international translators saying I don't bitch behind people's back. It's an english terminology. You're not saying you're a bitch. And even to the last day I was like how's this gonna end? Crazy, isn't it?
Speaker 1:so you're getting a lot of firsts here so you're in your 20s, you're doing the selling. Were you selling for yourself or for other people? No, what happened?
Speaker 2:was what was my first company. It was computers, so PCs just come in. And because before it was all big rooms of servers and I saw an opportunity that, oh my God, we can take these servers down into desktop machines, and I met someone who was an engineer and we started putting little desktop machines together and I went knocking on doors and it did really well. And then we were first before Dell came to the country I was going to say it's this circa 1990 kind of time.
Speaker 1:The reason I say that. So I was like 9, 10, 11 during this time, but I think it was one of my music teachers, my guitar teacher, I think he was at school. His side gig was building computers for people. And I mean anyone who's born from 2000 onwards or from kind of 1990, their computer experiences will just be walking into the shop and buying a computer or particularly, you know, ordering a Mac online or something now, but back in those late 80s, early 90s, I mean that was like being a computer builder was big business. It was like exciting, wasn't it? It was like the pick and mix.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we had motherboards, the slots, soundboards, memory slots, graphics cards yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember it well Graphics memory slots, this graphics card yeah, yeah, yeah, graphics card. Three and a half inch, five and a half inch disk drives. So, yeah, our returns rates were very high because I didn't know what the hell they were doing. Right, I just had a production line and I was selling, but 50% of our computers kept back, come back in first three months. So I had other things that I learned from those experiences, and then photocopiers I got into. And then I met my second wife. She was a beauty therapist and I was doing okay, but I knew this and also, very interestingly, after a couple of years, people didn't respect you as a computer assembler like they did two, three years before, because everybody was doing it. It's like when social media comes out, you as a computer assembler, like they did two, three years before, because everybody was doing it. Yeah, it's like when social media comes out, you're a social media manager. Wow, before you know it, every time they can hire the social media management, right. So I felt like nobody was giving me the credit I deserve. So I need to get out.
Speaker 2:I met my second wife. She's a beauty therapist and I went to a beauty show and first thing I said to the woman who was selling this product I said what's your usb? And she goes what smells good. The box is nice colors. I was like that's not good enough. What's their benefits? Right, and nobody knew. So I said to my wife at the time, michelle, I said I think I can do quite well in this industry. So we flew to america. We got a couple of products that they were very results oriented rather than stick it on, it smells good, peels the skin peels, um. And then they did very well. We kind of like saturated the uk, saturated europe, really did well.
Speaker 2:And then I quit the computer business. At the same time she had a beauty salon above a post office, but then out of town david lloyd centers. Yeah, they were doing really well. I said to her I quit the computer business. At the same time she had a beauty salon above her post office, but then out of town David Lloyd Centers, they were doing really well. I said to her we should have an out of town health club. She goes, try it. So I went and got a lease one and in the first year we got like 10,000 customers go through. But nobody became a member, right. And I was like, look, I've had 10 000, okay, I haven't been able to keep them. A lot of people coming and going and not becoming members. I need you because you're a farmer, I'm a hunter, right. So after a year she joined and it just took off. Then we had seven uh, in over 17 years we had seven clubs, 30 000 members, 600 staff and they were doing really well it sounds.
Speaker 1:It sounds like there's a. There's a next bit in the story that they were doing really well. Yeah, what happened?
Speaker 2:um, we got divorced. Uh, we had properties and stuff in dubai. She came here, she met a man, uh fell in love after our divorce and I said stay, I look after the kids. So I I got some marketing. I had a couple of other companies then. One was called 3d kids. I don't know if you've seen these glass blocks with 3d images inside them I think I know like they burn holes in these glass blocks absolutely yeah and um.
Speaker 2:I was at dubai airport. I became a. I met my second wife then, but I was nearly a single dad. I inherited my first two children and um. We're at the dubai airport and they said, dad, look at these crystal blocks. And they had the images done 3d inside the glass. I was like, wow, I can keep this forever. This is incredible, because photographs are 2d. This is 3d. I can keep this. As I sat there for a couple of hours.
Speaker 2:The machine was never used. I'm like this is really clever, but why is it not used? And they're paying all that rent. So on the flight back I do a business plan. I said the problem is that they're not going to the schools where the customers are. They're sitting and hoping that somebody stops by.
Speaker 2:So I wrote a business plan, contacted the manufacturer, bought a machine and got cameras all over the UK and within six months I was in every single kindergarten. Oh really yeah. And I saturated the market with 3D kids. I ran out of money. The machine that could only print like 12 blocks an hour couldn't print anymore. It was 120,000 euros. The cameras were 20,000 euros. So I ran out of cash. So I thought, oh, franchising.
Speaker 2:So I got myself six franchises in a very short period of time. One of them was from Liverpool. The guy was dodgy and he would like pay me cash. He said don't email me, don't message me, call me. You know. All the signs were there, well, and I was just so busy I didn't see it and I knew the guy must have been dodgy. It has nothing to do with me, whatever he does with his money.
Speaker 2:One night at the house there was a knock on the door. I opened the door, him and three other men broke into my house and my kids are in the house and they put a knife to my neck demanding money and I said I don't have it. They said we know where your company is, we know your kids school and if you don't give it we'll kill you all. So that night I sent my kids to dubai because I was scared for the safety and I got a police escort, packed my q7 and I drove because I had three properties in spain. My angela, my second wife, wasn't my wife at the time. She was in spain and I drove through england tunnel, france, spain, in 48 hours where in england were you?
Speaker 1:in the manchester, cheshire?
Speaker 2:cheshire, south manchester and my next door neighbors are wayne rooney, david beckham, uh, yeah, all these footballers. But I was targeted and it was when I phoned the police. They found his fingerprints on my doorbell, my address, in his car. He was arrested. Now this is what pisses me off. Because they pleaded with the police guilty. He gave two assailants, him and somebody else. He didn't even give them the other two names and they did a deal. I had to go to court, sit in front of them and they did a deal behind the scenes Six months house arrest. So they only got a tag. Oh, is that what they call them?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, something around the ankle so when I came here long story short.
Speaker 2:I had a heart attack. I was very honest. I told people the stress of it all you had the heart attack here or back in England.
Speaker 2:In England, I was about to fly to one of my businesses in Canada. I had this pain. Phoned up my first wife. I said listen, I've got this pain and the kids by this time were in Dubai. She goes whatever you do on the way within show hospital, go and check it out. I went in and said you've had a major heart attack. So and I was there they said you're probably gonna die, it's not good. And I was lying there and I was thinking okay, if it's death, fuck it, it's gonna come to us all. I couldn't stop crying because I was on my own man and I thought, if I survive this, I want to be with my loved ones. So I want to take my new wife and take her to Dubai to be with my kids.
Speaker 2:And I was very honest. I told everyone I had buyers for the business. They paid me 10%. They didn't pay me the 90%. They said sue us, fuck you, sue us Right. And if I was going to sue them it would have taken years. I went to Spain, did a house sale, left the keys on the kitchen top and walked away with doors wide open. My house was in Spain Came to Dubai. Taxman came after me, the bank came after me paid Dubai. Taxman came after me, the bank came after me, paid everybody off. And then the reason the new buyers gazumped me, they didn't know. I was very honest to say September, then 2000,. I bought the ticket, I'm going to Dubai, so they took advantage. But at the same time I had a dispute with a VAT in England for £30,000.
Speaker 1:This is on the kids business, on the 3D kids business.
Speaker 2:No, no, that was going going it was the health clubs and uh, yeah, the health clubs were always the flag, but they were the biggest. Yeah, and what was the brand? Uveda?
Speaker 1:u-r-v-e-d-a after aeroveda aerobatic treatments okay, so I took the a off.
Speaker 2:I've got stories to tell you. On that side. It's really really. You know, they say like you never, it never rains your pores. Yeah, that year was a bad year and I remember I was really, really down and then michael jackson died. It's really weird. So so I go. I was sat in a park and I couldn't stop crying. I was like what the hell?
Speaker 2:and michael jackson was like. You know, it was like because I grew up with Michael. It's really weird. Everything was just magnified and it was raining and it was just like what is this about? So I couldn't wait to come to Dubai and start again.
Speaker 2:So what happened was if you're in a dispute with a government body, like the VAT or tax it's an old English law, I didn't know this they have to announce it in the London Gazette. So as soon as it goes in the London Gazette, the lawyers of my purchase of my business saw it. So they said let's screw this guy. Okay, I had in one of my accounts. I had 750,000 pounds. The dispute was 30,000 pounds. That account still froze in Royal Bank of Scotland Can you believe it? And they were coming after me for the loan payment. I said but the £700,000 sitting in that account pay us our loan payment.
Speaker 2:It was just like weird. You know, it was like from every angle. It was coming at me. Did you ever settle that case? Yeah, because what happened was I couldn't trade, the bank account was frozen. I was trading cash. So we'll be getting our customers to pay cash from the cash I was paying salaries, rent, this, this it was just too much and also staff starting. What the hell's going on, right? So I just, I just walked, I just said it done. I burned my boats and paid everybody off, didn't go bankrupt. I wish I had done, because I could have walked away with something right. I came here with $700 in my pocket, totally broken.
Speaker 1:Literally, you had no money when you arrived in Dubai.
Speaker 2:Nothing, nothing, totally goosed.
Speaker 1:And how did you feel at that point? Because I'd just come out of a heart attack.
Speaker 2:So my ex-wife had an apartment and she had a maid's room. So I said to her do you mind if I live in a maid's room? She goes? No, you can have your own bedroom. I said no, this is my punishment, because I felt I've let people down and for literally for a week I never got out of bed Because I was just recovering and started knocking on doors, selling everything you could imagine. How long ago. Is this? Now 2009.? And then I just knew, matt, I was just going through a fucking bad winter of my life because I knew I was a good human being. I knew I worked hard. I knew if you do great things, eventually good things will happen. I just had this inner belief Everybody gave up on me, everyone, you're a loser, you're this that that? I just had this inner belief that if I work hard enough, monetarily, things will happen, because I've always been a decent human being. Yes, I always want to serve, but I was just going through a cold winter.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and when did it change? What was the first good business success in Dubai?
Speaker 2:My first deal Because I was going in saying now what happens is I teach this stuff now? Okay, and before 2009,. Everything was booming. So it was, for. I called myself a sales consultant because I've been selling all my life, right, so I thought I can add value to some company out there. But when you go in and they're all making money because I have a business card and everybody's going to Dubai, they're not gonna. Who needs a consultant? Right? But the good thing was opportunity came when the recession hit. Suddenly, people weren't making money, suddenly, the phone wasn't ringing. So I'll go in and say what's your USP? They didn't have a clue. I said if I can increase your sales by this amount, would you give me a percentage of that increase? And that's how I made my money. So I go in, I train the salespeople.
Speaker 2:I had a recruitment program that I used in my own companies. I brought that here, a seven-step recruitment process. Then people found it amazing. So I charged $7,000, durham's, which is about $2,000 per hour and people started paying me, got fully booked after six months.
Speaker 2:Got my own place, the address which is not too far away from here. Got a studio apartment and one bedroom. I had vision boards. I had cards everywhere reminding me what I had to do to get what I wanted, and every single goal I set I hit every six months, literally, and I was like then I thought I'm a fucking gladiator, right, because I should be dead, I should be defeated. Yes, but then you know what drove me mad Was my kids looking at me because I couldn't afford to send them to school. So every day I come home they were looking at me like I was so embarrassed to be their dad and I thought I've got to get this out. So whenever I was older, I never had a peer group, nobody helping me. I always sat in an appointment thinking if my 11-year-old son was here, would he be proud of me, and I made them my kind of like invisible judges and I thought if they would be proud of me.
Speaker 2:I'm doing the right thing. And then I built it down. I'm doing very well, more than ever before and you just used the word gladiator then.
Speaker 1:So you know I'm a gladiator. Yeah, was that the first time that you used that word to yourself was has that been a, a concept you've you've looked at through your I always have an emotional attachment to Rome.
Speaker 2:I used to go and just sit in the Colosseum for hours when people were getting tours. I was like I could see myself living in Rome and I wasn't like an emperor or anything, but I felt like maybe in my past life or some kind of, I fought in this arena, right. So I always had a history, especially Rome. Then, after hang on a second, we're all born well. Most of us are born poor in like financial slavery, okay, and the more people we serve, the freer we become, right. The only difference between 2000 years ago and today is that we just dabble with life.
Speaker 2:If you dabbled in the arena, you get killed, right. Which one do I want? Do I want a quick death or do I want a prolonged, agonizing, slow death? So I thought you know what. I want to go out there, because I can't afford to walk out without a deal. I want to walk into every battle, every meeting, like my life depended on it, like a gladiator. And I look around and I think people get up in the morning and the first thing the bank manager says don't worry, 80% of businesses go bust in the first year and after that, 20%, 80% of that business goes bust. I'm like. You're building people for defeat every single day, right. You're conditioned to lose in life. You're conditioned to pay your taxes and die poor, right.
Speaker 1:So this was within me and I always.
Speaker 2:One thing my mom taught me is never be jealous, and I always thought, even before I knew personal development was like what's Matt doing that makes him fly first class? I need to copy what Matt's doing, you know. So I was always inspired by wealth. I was thinking well, he's got two arms and legs, maybe he's smarter than me, he's better looking than me, he's stronger than me, but I can work it okay. So the questions I asked always gave me the answers. That makes it I was never. I don't have one ounce of jealousy in me.
Speaker 1:I'm very aware of that, but successful people in different areas really inspire me and when did you start to um, I guess serve others with the information that you'd been learning? I know you were doing it throughout your career but, quite specifically, when did you start putting on events, building the Gladiator brand, doing the podcast? Is that a recent thing or was that part of a business model or just part of giving back?
Speaker 2:There's not one single time I've had a business model or a vision to go to a certain direction. Seven years ago, one of my students. I've had so many miracles in my life.
Speaker 1:When you say student, like sales students Sales students.
Speaker 2:Yes, Entrepreneur he was in the events business and he said to me Darius, you have a good story, do you fancy sharing it? I said sure, and it was 160 people in this event and he gave me the last slot of the second day dead man slot. Everybody wants to go home, and so I was dead enthusiastic and gave me an hour. I was there three hours and all the other speakers were pissed off because they're all professionals, right, and I'm there and in the room I think about. Off because they're all professionals, right, and I'm there and in the room. I think about 190 people were there. When I finished there was more people in the room than when I started, because they could hear people crying, dancing, hugging each other. And somebody opened up a Facebook page and I got thousands of followers. I was like, hello, maybe my shit works right. And then people called up and said would you speak? Would you do this? And I thought you know, if I have this following, maybe I can hold a classroom of 20 30 people in a room. They can pay me for what I teach them, because selling my time I'll never get rich, but if I have bigger and bigger rooms, yeah, I could get wealthier, and for just one hour instead of one hour per person. So it worked.
Speaker 2:And then I was doing seminars my own classes called gladiator mastery one weekend every two months, 100 people, three thousand dollars a piece, but then nobody could sell the ticket price. So when there was a query about why should I pay three thousand dollars? The call will come to me, and it was exhausting selling hundreds of tickets myself. And it's like you're a brain surgeon, yes, but then you run behind the counter, write the prescription there you go to the till. I felt like those losers who pretended they were brain surgeon experts scaling businesses. Well, I couldn't scale my own, so I stopped. May 2023. I stopped exhausted and my events were.
Speaker 2:When I say events, the maximum I had was 110 people. Two day events, 8am till midnight. 8am till midnight, saturday, sunday, I used to get blisters in my feet, back aches it's a long event, that's it yeah, and it was me just me talking right, and the feedback was really good.
Speaker 2:So I stopped May 2023. But then I just thought, screw this, I'm rich now. I don't need this. I'm going to book loads of holidays and trips and stuff like that. But the phone kept ringing. It was saying when is your next event? What are you going to do? And I'm like I'm not going to do another one, I'm not going to do another.
Speaker 2:One thought what was my pain? The pain was the ticket price was high. Well, I thought it was value, but selling it was on the phone. What if I dropped the ticket price? So it's just somebody goes and pays online. They don't have to call me. What if I get the best venue in dubai? What if, instead of speaking for 24 hours, I'll call a few of my friends I've met in my life? I feel they got a lot to contribute. Everybody said, yes, they'll come and speak on my stage, right? So I, april the 27th, had my first event and I sat down with my poor staff and I said hey guys, we've got this event going on. It's gonna be called gladiator summit. What do you think? Okay, nobody really shares your vision that was this April, right, yeah?
Speaker 2:and then I said look guys, the worst nightmare for me is put this all up and nobody shows up. I don't mind them, I've kissed them on the goodbye and we're not selling anything, right? So, whatever happens, I'm going to lose. We're not selling anything. We don't have any sponsors, nothing. I just want to see if this gladiator movement legs. We sold out in four or five weeks and with five weeks to go, we were refusing tickets because our license in the room was limited to 500 people. We squeezed another hundred. Um, and then people were coming saying it's the best day of my life. This is incredible. We're hugging each other.
Speaker 2:Event finished, the 7, 9, 30, 10 people weren't going home and we were coming back to me Dorish, when is your next one? I was like I'm was thinking of having another one and I said if you have another one, we'll bring our friends. So, very next week I drove to, I looked at venues, looked at the World Trade Center, popped 2 million dirhams down. I said I'll take you for three days. How big is it? Two and a half thousand people Already sold 1,500 tickets With five weeks to go. Amazing, right. And now my phone's ringing.
Speaker 2:World-renowned, not particularly. I like them or don't like them. I don't have an opinion, but world-renowned speakers are speaking on my stage. Isn't that weird? Some of them are paying me to speak. It's my second and you know.
Speaker 2:They said why don't you hire an event manager or event company? Because nobody can see what you can see. Right, I feel if I hired an events company it would have been just like other people's events and then it was going to be like very heavy business sales event. And I hired this gentleman, a friend of mine, called Munir. I said, munir, I believe in you, and he'd done like one hour emceeing. I said, would you emcee all day for my Gladiator Summit coming? He goes yeah, yeah, yeah, I will. And he came to me and said, daria, do you mind if I have my intro? I said, sure, we play.
Speaker 2:And it was music and it was up and down. I said I didn't see the summit becoming a bit of a music thing going on. But he planted a seed right. So over the next week I wrote a whole show and then we had entertainers and stuff like this. So even our AV company said I didn't realize it was a musical production. Yes, so every single thing, because I done 100 tony robbins seminars and all the joe dispenser, all these people. This beats them all matt. It's a whole production designed to the second. Right motion creates emotion. I create a big space you can't imagine like two and a half thousand people in one space. But they don't have egos. They're all loving each other, supporting each other, they're dancing, they're crying and what's what's a typical uh attendee for you, I mean, is it?
Speaker 1:is it all walks of the business life, all walks?
Speaker 2:the funny thing is, although one of my fears was because gladiators, people see these guys with six-pack killing each other 65 to 70% of my followers or students are women, because I feel in a white man's world, the women are catching up now and they want to try harder, work harder, to have their independence again and they don't have much ego. They just want to achieve a goal and they're more open to learning. They're more open to new ideas, to change. So 70%, I mean, if you want to pick up women, come to one of my summits right, because I was thinking if I was single, you know, it's incredible because I'm honored.
Speaker 2:I really am honored that all these people are becoming part of the tribe and I suffer from this. What do you call it imposter syndrome. So I asked my team. I said you sold 1,500 tickets. Do a survey why people are coming. And over 50% are coming to hear me speak and I'm here. Is that weird? I honestly thought I wouldn't be even on the list. It'd be Brad Lees and Vishen and all these people. There were two, three, four, five, six in the long distance. So I'm thinking maybe my message. Even today I've got like 6 million followers on social media and I was like this actually means something. I'm changing lives.
Speaker 1:What will you be talking about? Do you tell stories and, I guess, inspire people from your journey, or do you give specific tactical advice as well?
Speaker 2:Sure, everybody is going to get specific tactical advice. The first one I spoke for two minutes. I had not slept for 48 hours because I didn't have any discipline over my speakers. They were coming like five in the morning with a new presentation, so we were dancing around. It was my first event. I've never done anything like this, so I've got no sleep for 48 hours. I couldn't see, I couldn't think what I was going to talk about, so I wrote on a piece of paper. My hand was shaking, shaking, I couldn't see it. So I spoke for about 30 seconds, maybe a minute, and I got off this time around now, knowing people won't want to hear me speak, I want to speak for 15 minutes. I'm still giving the bigger platform to my speakers. All I know is I speak from the heart. Okay, so when I got up, I'm going to not cry. When I got up.
Speaker 1:We'll get more views if you cry yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:They're used to it. When I got up the first time 27th of April, in my 30 seconds all I said was I want to get my son on stage, ali, 30-year-old son. I said when he was at school he didn't have a normal childhood because between breaks it was cold calling for me to make sure dad was busy, okay. And now we stand here today and because of this young man, because he hadn't been, he didn't have, when his friends were playing football. He was on the phone, cold calling, you know, and if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today and turn around. The crowd were crying yes, because it was from the heart.
Speaker 1:And that was it.
Speaker 2:And even now people say to me I remember I couldn't stop crying when you shared your vulnerability.
Speaker 1:And there are obviously a lot of effort to put these events on. You think this could be the final one, the pinnacle for you, or you want to keep going?
Speaker 2:Truthfully, I wasn't going to right. But now it's really weird, Matt, because if I thought I was going to be an event organizer, it's not add value to my life. But what's happened is suddenly I'm getting calls from Grant Cardone. I'm getting calls from Sheikh of Sharjah, sheikh of Dubai you the guy. A lot of people want to speak on my stage, okay, so suddenly I become everybody's favorite guy. Second, for whatever reason, my stature has gone up in other people's views, so I'm being called into the Royal Highness's office to advise them on certain businesses. Same guy A year ago I was calling these offices.
Speaker 2:There's a major developer with two and a half billion dollar project coming to our office tomorrow asking for my advice on branding and things, and I never invited it. So I'm thinking if these events send my brand up the scale, I might as well do another one, but I'll never do another one at this scale. It's too big, because from 500, 600 to 2,500 is 20 times more work. It's now four times more work. Actually, logistics of a lot is huge and I'm going to lose about about 2 million dirhams. I will lose around two million dirhams, but then the byproduct of this is far greater than the money.
Speaker 1:I mean that's the thing. And you know, when we talk about personal branding, I mean you just can't use the words lose in that context, can you? Because I mean if you want to say lose, you have to say investment. But then when we look at investment, the roi from that. And that's people have always say to me you know what? Like why do you do these podcasts? Or what do you do? What do you earn from that? What have you been paid for that? And I mean they can't get the heads around the fact that I haven't been paid, never mind the fact that I may have paid to do something. But then the, the knock-on effects of that, of the, of the platform, of the opportunity that ultimately turns into business, into more opportunity to integrate a quality of life, it's unquantifiable and intangible so true, so true.
Speaker 2:And sometimes you don't even realize it, it happens. You think, oh hello, a byproduct what I just did. One of the thing was that most people are used to being sold to when they go to an event. At the end of the first one they were like and you're not selling anything. I said no, and that authenticity of giving and loving has paid me back 10 times more, and now the biggest event organizers in the region are calling me to join my forces.
Speaker 2:This is my second one and it's not even happened and people are calling me saying can we do some joint ventures together? Incredible, so just be. My thing is be authentic. Be authentic, be real. Put your ego aside, you know, and be honest. Don't give a shit about what people think. Although it can hurt, stick to your values. A friend of mine, I'll just give you something that I'm just going through. Right now I work with a financial company and they are big sponsors of my event. For the first time, I'm going for sponsors so I don't financially lose so much more money.
Speaker 2:And I passed some leads to this to this uh company and the sale. I've watched the sales people sell and they weren't very good. Okay, I trained them seven years ago and helped them grow, but somewhere along the way in this five, six years of me stopping now they lost their way. So I went to the owner. I said hey, listen, I know you're not broke and I know you're doing very well, but I feel I can enhance because I'm all about contributing. Right, and we had an opportunity for some of these amazing leads to invest in your company, but we missed out because of these reasons. And he said would you want to train my staff. I said, sure, so how much do you charge? No, I love you, I believe in it, I'll train you for free.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I'm in this good place and I walk in and in every single training class, seminar, anything I go, there's always one or two people who want to mess you up. Okay, and I'm giving my time, 40-year sales experience for free, and two, three people are constantly fighting Okay, and I couldn't understand this. And then afterwards and it's everywhere I go it happens One or two people just resist Before you even walk in. They don't like you. Then I realized that and I checked the numbers and they're the worst salespeople in the room. Always, always, always, the successful ones are taking notes. They want to learn. So I thought you know what these assholes? Right, they're making themselves an excuse for failing and they accept it.
Speaker 2:So this guy comes along and says hang on a second, let's wipe that label. Right, you can be successful. They fight till they die for that label they've given themselves, and I know in 20 years they're going to die an unfulfilled life. And that's what bothers me that most people don't want to help themselves to have abundance. And I haven't.
Speaker 2:For the last three nights I haven't slept very well, and I haven't for the last three nights. I haven't slept very well and I'm thinking don't go in that market again, because you're too fragile, you care too much. You know I'm not doing it for the money, I'm doing it for the love of it and I'm getting resistance. So no matter if you're a gladiator or not, you are going to get hurt. People will steal from you, lie to you, challenge you, confront you. Just stick to your values, have your clear boundaries.
Speaker 2:I had a meeting this morning with my staff and I said you know what? Maybe I took you for granted, but having this last three days experience with these people, I just know how amazingly lucky I am to have this culture in our company, where we respect each other, we take a bullet for each other, we have each other's backs right, but out there, people are killing each other. Yeah, it's a dog-eat-dog world savages out there, and it doesn't have to be, because most people think if I win, you have to lose. Right, and rich people real rich people, truly rich people think you can be rich, he, he can be rich, I can be rich. It's enough for everyone, right?
Speaker 1:and we'll put the. We'll put it in the show notes on the podcast, but just for people who want to attend the event, because this podcast will be out well in advance of the event. When is it? Where is it? How do people get tickets?
Speaker 2:Thank, you 16th and 17th of November at the World Trade Centre in Dubai, gladiator Summit 2. And here's the weird thing, matt the same weekend, gladiator 2 is being launched. Released.
Speaker 1:Never, never intended it.
Speaker 2:We booked it back in April, I didn't have a clue. Gladiator 2 is coming out this Same weekend as the launch of Summit. Gladiator 2 is coming out. So we got approached by Dubai Holdings and they said would you be interested for hiring the Coca-Cola Arena next year? Right, and by the way, we own Roxy Cinemas and let's do a joint venture with your followers and let's give away hundreds of tickets to cinema. So on the evening of the 14th, I'm hoping that, quite confident that we'll have a whole cinema to ourselves.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm going to be there, you are going to be there, you're going to have VIP tickets to the front with all the speakers.
Speaker 1:Darish, before we go, I've got to ask you. Just before we started recording, you kind of sat down, you were a bit like oh you know, I'm tired, I'm grumpy, and you said what do I do all this for? I asked myself what do I do all this for? I could just give it up. So what's the answer? Why do you do it? Why do you suffer the struggles and why do you not just go and sit on a desert island and put your feet up?
Speaker 2:on the beach. I should tell you, even when I tell you this, the hair stands on my arm. I don't have to work a day for the rest of my life. Okay, my past. I earn more money when I'm on holiday than I'm in dubai, because dubai I spend. When I'm on all inclusive, I'm not spending, I'm just earning. So I asked myself this question and, god or universe, I'll give you one example. I went to babel champs, same, took a weekend with the family, quality life, no phones ringing. I'm going to stop this, god. Why am I doing this again? These cards to go from the hotel to the restaurant and the guy goes are you, mr Dariusz? So he goes.
Speaker 2:I lost my mother through two months ago and my wife died a week after. Your, your podcast and your videos keep me alive. I'm like what the hell? And God just sends them to me. At the weirdest times when I'm questioning myself, I get letters and emails saying you changed my life and I'm like this is god saying don't give up. Yeah, because you are affecting people's life, because my legacy is what happened to my grandfather that hopefully thousands of people will show up and say he changed our lives, to my kids and along the way, I've got 3 000 videos. So the next generations hopefully some of them will keep on the straight and narrow knowing that their great granddad was a good human being well, darish.
Speaker 1:It's been an absolute pleasure to talk to you, buddy. I'm sure there's many, many more lives ahead that are going to be changed in the years to come, and I'm looking forward to being a part of it by coming to the event.
Speaker 2:I can't wait. Thank you for your time and I look forward to talking again. I honour you, man. You did have to invite me to your podcast. You did I. Thank you so much.
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