Special Guest Expert - Elijah Stepp: Video automatically transcribed by Sonix

Special Guest Expert - Elijah Stepp: this mp4 video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Brian Kelly:
So here's the big question. How are entrepreneurs like us who have been hustling and struggling to make it to success, who seem to make it one step forward only to fall two steps back? Who are dedicated. And driven. How do we finally break through and win? That is the question. And this podcast will give you the answers. My name is Brian Kelly. And this is the Mind Body Business Show. Hello, everyone, and welcome. Welcome, Welcome to the Mind Body Business show. We have airplanes flying already. I love it. Hey, I am so excited to have you here. We have a fantastic show lined up for you because of none other than Eli Step. He is here. He is in the wings. He is waiting. He is scratching at the monitor saying, Let me in. I'm ready. I'm ready. I'm ready. And we'll be bringing him on very, very soon. Real quick, the mind body business show, what is it all about? It is a show that I had developed with you in mind. Who is that? That is the entrepreneur, the business person that's looking for the next tip, for the next value statement that's going to take their business to the next level. I have interviewed hundreds of people over the years now going on five years on this very show, and they're from all over the world and very successful entrepreneurs and from them. I personally have learned an immense amount of things that have helped me in my business to propel it forward. So I know without a shadow of a doubt that tonight will be no different, because I'm getting to know Eli here right before the show. We had a chat before that some months ago, I think. And he's an amazing guy who's doing amazing things. And I know you can learn a lot from him and take what he says and put it into action and see results. That is what this show is about. And it's about what I call the three pillars of success, mind, body and business. So mind representing mindset. Now, I used to or a back a while ago, I studied for a period of about ten years only successful people.

Brian Kelly:
And what made them, you know, more successful than perhaps myself. And I thought, well, what is it? And I kept seeing these three things float up to the top. And they are the very three things that construe the the title of this show mindset to a person. Each of these individuals had a very powerful and a very positive and most importantly, flexible mindset and body. Literally meant that each of these individuals took care of themselves, both nutritionally and physically and business. Now business is very multi, multifaceted. It includes things like, well, one must master skill sets of a wide variety of skill sets in order to build a thriving business and then to not only build it, but then to maintain it, grow and scale it. And these skill sets involve things like marketing, sales, team building, systematizing leadership. I could go on for quite some time and being astute as you all are, that you are watching here and listening to this very show, you know that mastering any one skill set of any kind can take an ungodly amount of time. I forget what the number was, but to be called an expert in anything I think required 10,000 hours of focused effort. I think that was the number. That's a lot of hours. Same thing with mastering any kind of skill set. The good news is you don't have to master. Not even every one of the skill sets I just mentioned. And there was what? Don't know, five that I just mentioned. One of those will take a long time, let alone all five and then many more beyond. The good news is if you just master one. That's right. Just one skill set out of. In fact. Let me see. Yes. It was one of the ones that I mentioned just a second ago. If you mastered just one skill set, you can leverage it to bring in individuals that have mastered the other skill sets. Now, these are skill sets you may have not yet mastered or may never master because it just takes too doggone much time to do so. So if anyone wants to know what that that skill set is, go ahead, let me know or I won't.

Brian Kelly:
I won't tell you. I'm kidding. I'm going to tell you that one skill set is. Leadership. Yes. When you have mastered the skill set of leadership, you can now bring in individuals who have mastered those skill sets that you have yet to and leverage their skills and lead them in building your empire and your business. It's pretty awesome. So even if you don't have a team yet, get in the habit of leading yourself as if you were a member of your own team. There we go. I'm going to leave it at that for that part of this show. And another wonderful thing, absolutely beautiful thing that I learned about very successful people is that to a person, they are also very avid readers of books. And we're not just talking any kind of book, but the right books. And with that, I want to segway very briefly and then we'll bring on Eli Segway very briefly to a little segment I affectionately call Bookmarks.

Announcer:
Bookmarks Born to read. Bookmarks. Ready, Steady. Read. Bookmarks brought to you by reach your Peak Library.com.

Brian Kelly:
Yes, There you see it. Reach your peak Library.com. And that is a website that I had built with you in mind once again. And yes, I know it sounds a little cheesy, but it's true. It is a website that I put together that comprises all of the books that I personally have read and vet. Now, a quick aside here for those of you watching this live, even if you're listening on audio podcasts right now, is what I want to do is give you just a small piece of advice, if I may, and that would be rather than succumb to that urge to go typing in that URL somewhere and clicking and looking at it while this show is going on, while you're listening, while you're watching, rather than do that, I would implore upon you, I would almost beg you to instead get out a notebook and a pen and take notes, write down the URLs, the web addresses, the books. We get many book recommendations on this show, Write them down and then visit those resources after the show is over. Now, why do I say that? The reason is because I had years from speaking on the stage of experience where there were times where I noticed I would be coming up to the really juicy part from stage and I'm about to bring it and I know what the juicy part is. It's my presentation and I know it's going to impact the lives of these individuals. And sometimes I would see someone get up and walk out looking at their phone. They got that all important text or maybe a phone call. They were on silent mode or they had to go to the restroom. The thing is, is the magic happens in the room. So stay in the room. Stay focused. Stay with us. I would just absolutely hate for it if you were to take your gaze and focus somewhere else right at the moment that Eli just lays down that one golden nugget, that one value bomb, that one smart bomb, that one bomb of wisdom that only he knows about that you just missed. I would hate for that to happen. So that is my soapbox moment. Please take notes instead of typing them in your browser right now.

Brian Kelly:
So do that. Reach your peak library. Let's get that out of the way. It's a good thing. It's a really good thing. So again, it's a website that I put together that has only the books that I've read and that have had an impact on me both or not both, but necessarily professionally, personally or both business and personal life. And yeah, you'll see them scrolling up the screen there. That is a collection there. They're in there in no rhyme or reason. You'll see a lot of Grant Cardone altogether, but they're not put in by author name necessarily. I just had them added by my team as I finished reading them. I'm way behind on updating this, but there are plenty in here. So if you are an avid reader or if you're not an avid reader, it doesn't matter which go here. You can look and find that next great read knowing that at least one other successful person has vetted it. What does that do? That optimizes your chances of not wasting your time on a bad book? I'm not going to guarantee you're going to get everything out of it. I got out of it. We're all individual, but I think you'll understand the point. And by the way, if you have your own bookstore that you prefer to purchase your books from, just find the title here and go buy it there. This is not here to make money from. It is here to be a resource for you that gives you the ability to succeed faster than you are currently. That is really the main and only reason for it. And speaking of the main and only reason for it, the main and only reason for this show is to bring on incredible, incredible and amazing guest experts like Eli Stepp, who is going to be coming on. Well, I'm going to say right about now, let's bring him on, shall we? Here we go.

Announcer:
It's time for the guest expert Spotlight savvy, skillful, professional, adept, trained. Big league qualified.

Brian Kelly:
And there he is, ladies and gentlemen. Yes, it is the one. It is the only Eli step. Woo hoo! Yeah. Welcome to the show, Eli. How are you doing, my friend?

Elijah Stepp:
Doing very well, thank you. It's so great to be here, Brian. Certainly appreciate it.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, my goodness. And we're going to have some fun. I'm going to now introduce you, Eli, if I may, in a manner that you are so deserving of because you have a great short little bite. Thank you, by the way, for making it so short. I appreciate that because we are going to get deeper into who Eli Step is as we go through this wonderful interview tonight. So Eli Step is a US Army veteran. I'm going to pause right there. Thank you for your service, Eli. Mr. Step. I appreciate that. And he's also over 40 year business aviation professional. He is a personal development and fitness advocate, and he's also president and founder of Biz Jets Incorporated Advisory Services and co-founder of Biz Jets USA Magazine. He serves the business aviation industry in multiple roles, as you can already tell. With that, I give you the one and only Eli step officially and firmly welcoming you to the show the mind body business show. So amazingly wonderful to have you on, Eli.

Elijah Stepp:
Thank you so much. It's great. Great to be here.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, man. And I know it's like, hey, you just told me that same thing. Why do I have to repeat? Thank you again. I just love hearing. Thank you. That's why I do it. I'm so kidding. So one of the things I like to open up with is literally about the first word of the title of this show, and that's mind and mindset. And I love this one. I'm so curious about successful people like yourself. You know, you've gone through and successfully done your time literally in the Army. You've then taken. I'm sure you've got a lot of disciplinary training from that that helped bridge you into the corporate world and or entrepreneurship, either one. I don't even know that if you went to corporate world first, but at least I know for a fact I have interviewed many military vets and they all have that one thing in common, and that is supreme discipline when it comes to anything they do in their lives. I'm not saying you're perfect. No one is but highly disciplined compared to the rest of the people I've interviewed, for sure. And I always look at that as a great plus, a great plus in addition to the fact that you helped our country. And I appreciate that to no end. But when it comes to mindset, when you get up in the morning, Eli, knowing that you have a business of your own, knowing that there is going there are going to be these arduous steps ahead of you in the next day knowing that you're going to hit those speed bumps, those setbacks, those those things that kind of knock you for a loop. What is it that is going on in your big, beautiful brain the moment you wake up and you're about to roll out of bed? What keeps you driven? What is going on in your mind to keep you going and keep you serving day in and day out?

Elijah Stepp:
Well, in all honesty, no matter how the day before went or what the challenges are of the day, I have a bit of a mantra before I roll out is I feel great at least seven times. I feel great. I feel great. I feel great even when I don't. And then getting up, you know, and being grateful. But I start the day with a bit of prayer and at least a 20 to 30 minute meditation. And that really works wonders. There are times during the meditation maybe it doesn't feel as deep, but every time it settles the nerves and you know, I can start my day.

Brian Kelly:
I love it. And you know, there are so many successful people like yourself that I interviewed that have some kind of routine each and every morning. Not everyone does. Not every successful person does, but the majority do. And I love that that you get up and you say, I feel great. I've interviewed someone recently that said I slept great, even if they slept horribly. And they said it made a massive impact on their day because they didn't set it in their subconscious that they had a bad night's sleep and then they were just groggy all day. It actually energized them. And so this I'm saying this to let people know that even though it seems so subtle what you just said, Eli, it works. It's proven. I've just interviewed too many people not to, you know, to prove me wrong. And then, you know, being grateful, that's huge. You know, I, you know, get up and being grateful for even the small things. Thank you, God, for allowing me to be the only one that sees this exact angle of that picture on the wall right now, because I'm the only one that can see that. And it's unique and beautiful to me. Just little things. Thank you for letting me see. Thank you for so many things. You could go on forever. And that just sets up your day. And then prayer. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Amen to that. And that's about all we need to say. Two prayers.

Elijah Stepp:
Also. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt.

Brian Kelly:
No, go ahead, please.

Elijah Stepp:
Yeah. Now, I also wanted to add, I have seven affirmations or declarations that I wrote a long time ago, and I repeat them every day. And it's basically freedom, gratitude, confidence, positivity, improvement, enjoyment. And I've got to memorize and, you know, it takes about ten minutes. It's really good that that's helpful also.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, man. And I've known, you know, I've been I've had so many folks on like yourself that do these various things. And I would start implementing them and it was like, I don't know if you've ever been if you've been to networking seminars, you know, like entrepreneurial seminars physically on site and there's a big sea of people. Why was one of those seminar junkies? I went to them over and over. I mean, everyone I could get to. And that is what started happening to me when I started interviewing people and going, I'm going to try that one. I'm going to try this one, I'm going to try this one. And I started I got to the point where I'm not holding on to any single one of them and it's not. But I would notice as I would employ each one of them individually the next day or that day, I would see tremendous results. It's amazing. It's amazing. Have you ever missed one of those steps? I'm sure you're a human being and you had you got busy. You had to get out of the house quick. You couldn't do your your 10 or 15 minutes. Have you ever missed a step and then look back and go, Man, I feel that I missed that step because the result of my day show it.

Elijah Stepp:
Definitely. You know, there are days where you go through and you don't get to do all the affirmations or decorations or really the meditation. That's when I really noticed the difference. It just makes all the difference in the world that that exercise as well. Oh, oh, oh, yes.

Brian Kelly:
The mind and body. I love it. I always say the mind and body are a team and more importantly, the mind and body are your team. And if any member of any team is suffering even the slightest amount, the team as a whole suffers. And that's what I love to bring those two together. So thank you for bringing that into the fray. What is your philosophy on fitness, on staying, you know, in motion? It's not about being, you know, getting all buff like Arnold was back in the heyday. But it is truly about staying healthy and energized and invigorated. I know this personally, being a former certified personal instructor, but for you, what have you noticed when you actually do get up and move and exercise? What does that do for you throughout the day?

Elijah Stepp:
One continuous movement is really important and you know that It doesn't mean you have to move at, you know, fastest speeds ever or whatever, but the continuous motion and continuity of going day after day for a while was involved with Beachbody as a Beachbody coach and did P90x and all those other things. It was very motivating. And once I stopped that, I kept going to the gym. I get up at 4 a.m. every day, do my prayer meditation, and then go to the gym. And my gym includes, you know, basically, you know, 2 or 3 sets of push ups depending on the day. One one's arm day, one's back, day one's, and then it hit the treadmill for a steep incline for about 20 minutes, 15 to 20 minutes, then the elliptical for 15 to 20 minutes. And before you know it, you burned 600 calories for the day, which is wonderful. We're all trying to have a good body, but the mental aspect is the best. I'll be honest with you, there's times at night I'm worried about something and everything and, you know, oh, the world's coming to an end over this issue. And after that workout, all is well, all is calm. And so it's not just the physical part, but the mental part.

Brian Kelly:
That is phenomenal. I was p90 P90 certified as well. Awesome. Went to Santa Monica and went through the certification process. That was quite a wonderful ride. That's how I got my son involved into fitness was at home, basically. He was just becoming of age to play tackle football and I didn't want him lifting weights. I heard all the horror stories about how it's bad on joints for real young kids, but this was all body weight as you are very well versed in. And I thought, this is perfect. And I saw the infomercial and I went to my son. I said, Look, I'll make you a deal. I'll get this only if you work out with me. And he said, Yeah, I'll do it. And he did. And he is now he works out more than I do, and he goes to the gym and all that. I still have my desk somewhere. I don't know where they're at.

Elijah Stepp:
I have mine too. And insanity also became an insanity instructor.

Brian Kelly:
And like yoga, that was the first time I personally ever experienced, like, doing yoga because I always had this, like, just striking all these poses. What? I've never sweat so much doing nothing. I'm telling you, life.

Elijah Stepp:
I gained an extreme respect for yoga. Yes. Program. Yes.

Brian Kelly:
I mean the human pretzels of the world. I acknowledge you and appreciate you. Because I got to tell you, though, I was the most limber of my life when I was doing that. I hit the golf ball farther. I wasn't stronger. I was just more flexible. It doesn't take strength to hit a golf ball far. It just takes flexibility. I've learned. And technique, of course. But anyway, great. I'm so glad to hear that you are also part of the P90x community back in the day and Beachbody and all that. That was fun ride and Tony Horton was awesome.

Elijah Stepp:
Yeah, Yeah.

Brian Kelly:
Fantastic. So great. You're in the physical fitness, you've got the mindset going. What got you, what drove you down the path? You were an Army veteran and then you became interested deeply in aviation. What made that happen for you?

Elijah Stepp:
In all honesty, I would like to say I was the kid that watched airplanes since he was three years old and was always inspired. In all honesty, at the end of high school, I didn't want to see another classroom for a long time, so I decided to go into the military at the time and I wanted something civilian related. So a turbine engine technician was available with the US Army and on helicopters and that was it. But, you know, once you get into that mode, you get your blood. And now, you know, was right into it. Loved going on trips, loved working on aircraft. And it's a real thrill to know that you put it together and you get on and ride it. You know, you have such confidence to put that together. And that's one of the most thrilling things over my career. It's been a great career. I love it.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, that's phenomenal. And we have someone I think, you know, Pamela Anderson Williams says, Hey, Eli, happy to see you. Here she is joining the show.

Elijah Stepp:
Paula, great to see you.

Brian Kelly:
I love it when we have friends come on.

Elijah Stepp:
And she's a great marketing person. I'll give her a shout out. She's she does some marketing for my business. She's wonderful.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, fantastic. Fantastic. Always good to to give out praise where praise is absolutely due for sure. I'm a big proponent of that as well. I can tell you're a phenomenal leader just by just by that act right there. What you just did that is phenomenal. And kudos for doing that now. I opened the show by talking about one of the things was the importance of reading and reading books. Do you can you think of one business related book that you would say has risen to the top and at least right now, for the time being, until you read the next great one? Is there one business related book that you can recall that you would say has actually inspired you the most or is just flat out your favorite book in general?

Elijah Stepp:
You know, I was waiting for this question because one is very hard. I'll tell you one recently, and I've got 2 or 3 listed here, I was ready for this part, you know, But Secrets of a Millionaire Mind by T Harv Eker. And I know it sounds like it's all about money, but he really goes through about you have a mindset about finances. You don't realize he does a great job of breaking that down and helping you realize it. You know, and I'll just mention a couple of others real quick. You know, obviously win friends and influence people. Dale Carnegie, Start with why Simon Sinek Big improvement on my life. I love that book, Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins. And then, You know, Secret of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles. I couldn't limit it to one so but the most recent one I've I've consumed like at least ten times on audio was the Secrets of a millionaire Mind. It's just great. And I listened to my audio books while I'm doing weights and it just makes a big difference.

Brian Kelly:
Wow. So I think we must we must have been separated at birth, man. We're like twins. There's so many things. Common. Secrets of millionaire mind. As soon as you said that, I'm like, Yes. And I listen as well on Audible and during workouts especially. I like to do it during the cardio because I'm doing actual resistance training. I want to concentrate on the muscle that I'm resisting a little bit more, but I'm always on the cardio or and or the drive to and from wherever I'm going in the gym and that kind of thing. So yeah, all great ones. I mean, when friends influence, people start with Why? Goggins I just read my first Goggins book and it wasn't that one. It was the more recent one, and I can't remember the title of it. Um, right. Goodness. It was, it was amazing. Yeah. What he's been through and you know how he was doing all these marathons, these massive runs, and his body was breaking down. Jeez. And he would just keep going and just unbelievable. And it's very inspiring. I never want to I personally never want to endure that, that kind of pain. And this was a lot self-inflicted, but done for a purpose, not just to be painful. And the book, he explains it very well in there. And you learn a lot from these people that otherwise you wouldn't even realize. But yeah, Secrets of Millionaire Mind is one of my top. There's a gentleman by the name of Jeff Fagan, who I've interviewed, interviewed on the show. He's become a friend of mine. He was the original CEO of TR Becker's first big company. Um, I forgot the name of it.

Elijah Stepp:
It was a huge.

Brian Kelly:
Seminar company and I can't even remember the name of it, but he worked with them for, I think it was six years or something Jeff did, and he literally burned out because he said Becker's work ethic was ungodly. And the neat thing about it, though, Jeff carries around a physical copy of Secrets of a millionaire mind, like a lot of us would carry around a Bible, and it was tattered and hand soiled and and dog eared and post-it and just completely full of his notes he carried everywhere with him. So it is a very impactful book. So.

Elijah Stepp:
Yeah, absolutely. You know, and I've got them written down as far as you know, he has those mantras in there. You know, you put your hand on your heart and said, My inner world creates my outer world. I have a millionaire mind. He has like 12 or 15 of them. I've got them all on my phone. I say them daily, too. I love it.

Brian Kelly:
I remember those. And yeah, that is one of those. That's a great. So you've listened to it multiple times. I want to ask you this question. So the first time you listen to it, compared to the last time, the most recent. Was. Did you get the same exact thing out of it?

Elijah Stepp:
Oh, well. So, no, you know your mind. And I've read this and heard it and I believe it, You know, you'll catch certain things when you listen to it. Then your mind is caught that already. Now you're catching other key things. There you go. Not recommend any good book and listen to it at least three times. I've listened to his book 12 times and he recommends you either read it or listen to it once a month for a year. Well, I did 12 times in, like four months. Oh, wow. Now go back to it again soon, you know? But it was just that good to me. I mean, um, and it's the breakdown, though, of, you know, we have these mindsets that we need to break before you can move forward. And he helps you understand it.

Brian Kelly:
And it's so true. I've done I've actually asked this question from stage of the audience and say, How many of you have ever read a single book? More than one time. Most of the place raises their hand. And I said, Of all of you, how many of you would say that the book changed for you? Every hand went up and I said, Well, wait a minute. And I'd pick up a physical book. I go, So imagine this. Is that book. Did the pages change inside? And they're like going, No. Um, did someone get ripped out? No. Well, the book didn't change. What changed? And they got it. And they raised their hand and said it was me because they were ready for the next step. You just said it so eloquently that you just. You got it. And the next time you didn't need to get it again. Now you're open and ready for the next lesson. And that's the other thing is I learned is repetition is the key to mastery. You know, people say, why would you do it over and over as kids? I'd watch Bugs Bunny cartoons 50 times over my life and I could almost recite them without watching them. But, you know, that's that's not something that's really fueling my mind, depending on which one it was. Right. Right. But a great a great habit. What you're doing is and proposing that others do is to read a book more than once. If it was impactful the first time, it's going to be even more and exponentially more if you do it more and more because you do get more each time. And it's amazing. It's amazing that that happens. People go, Why do I want to read it again? It's like, Why wouldn't you? There's every reason to do it. So phenomenal physical fitness. Okay, Um, I'm curious. Uh, like, one of the things I love to ask about business owners such as yourself, is what I call the lifeblood of any business. And that is this wonderful concept known as marketing. And we all must be successful at marketing to a degree or our business is not a success.

Brian Kelly:
It's, you know, when people are companies are laying off certain departments, most of them, the great majority of them irrationally lay off the marketing group. I'm like, What do you just cut off your own leg? They are the only ones keeping you going. But for you, you know, when it comes to marketing your business now what you did maybe ten, 15, 20 years ago, most likely is not working today like it did back then. And then what's working today most likely won't be working ten, 15, 20 years out in the future. But right now, if you were to pinpoint one, one of your most successful strategy stages for marketing, whether it be referral based word of mouth, social media, being on podcasts, whatever happens to be, what would that one go to for you right now? Would you recommend others take a look at employing as a strategy in their business?

Elijah Stepp:
Well, as far as what I'll call mass marketing and I'll explain what I mean by that in a minute. But as far as mass marketing, for me, social media marketing is key. The best. It's cheap and it's a gift to a 63 year old like me because I was never a computer coder. I don't do any of that stuff. And when those marketing tools came out like that, it was just a gift. I can go ahead and put together something myself and can put ads out. I can put tiktoks. I mean, even even though I'm a little bit older, I'm on TikTok, I'm on Instagram, I'm on all of them. And, you know, so I was being creative. And of course, I don't have all the time to be creative all the time, but it's fun to do that. And then I've hired ABC Marketing, which was Paula Williams, that came on in a while ago, and they'll do some of that for me. Coming out three times a week, I've partnered with two companies. One is Apex Aviation in Las Vegas. They do aviation maintenance on an eclipse aircraft and the other is Fly Air Inc. And they've developed an app where you can speak into it and it'll bring you the charter flights you just asked for, you know. But anyway, I've partnered with both of those and we do co-branded marketing and ABC does that for us. So that's the math part. And the reason I say mass marketing, because individual marketing is what I'll call when you go to a conference, you introduce yourself, What do you do? What do I do? What can we do together? Hey, you send an email or I'll be glad to give you a shout out. That individual marketing, even though it's not on a mass scale, can be very effective. I have been to Grant Cardone conferences more than once, you know, so I've met him and I've met JT Fox recently, Joseph Nanterme, the gentleman in Milwaukee that puts on conferences and every one of those conferences you do get get information, don't get me wrong about that. But part of it is the people you get to meet and you get to market yourself and what you do.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. And that that's the one. So I've seen marketing strategies that work back in the day, you know, over a decade ago you could do mass emails and those would work phenomenally well. You could literally make a lot of money on emailing today. That doesn't work as good as it did. You have to now establish some kind of rapport, know like and trust factor relationship. But what did work back then and what worked and works today and what I believe will work all the way out in the future is that latter part you just talked about, which is relationship marketing, which is building unique individual relationships, one human being at a time. And yes, it takes a lot more time. Yes, it takes a lot more effort. And it's not as efficient as use of your time unless you find 1 or 2 out of all these that that becomes that one person. It doesn't have to be that one person that becomes your client. They can have resources or they can know other people might be interested in your product or service. They might be someone you could co-brand with like you've done. Eli It could be any, any number of things. And doing this live show, that is exactly what's been happening for me. Yeah.

Elijah Stepp:
I mention that too.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. Developing relationships with people like you. And we know, you know, they say you can choose your your friends, but you can't choose your family. Have you ever heard that before, Eli? I'm sure you have. Well, I have bad news. I have bad news for you because you are now part of my family.

Elijah Stepp:
I appreciate that. Thank you very much. One of the other things I'll mention, too, about marketing and and when you said relationship marketing is there's a company called promptings, it's send out cards. And basically you can I have a package with them, $97 a month. I can send all the cards I want. So again, there's a comeback in some of these things, like getting a real card in the mail, and that one's very effective as well.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah, it's interesting doing this live show I've had I'm not I'm not like trying to set you up to do anything here, but I get all kinds of gifts that I don't even expect. They're like, Hey, what's your mailing address? I'm like, I wonder what that's all about. Okay, here it is. I kind of know them, but I get their books, I get cards, like you said, with wonderful thank you messages. I get little gifts. Little one of them sent me a padlock because it was part of their their their brand. So they have a little media kit. And it's really cool because then I learn while I'm receiving these gifts and it's pretty awesome. I've got a bookshelf. One shelf is full of the books I've gotten from guests who have authored books. And yeah, it is. It's very wonderful and it's humbling at the same time. And and that's the thing is you develop deep, deep relationships using shows like this, deeper by far than a networking event, which I've been to many of those where you get 15, 20 minute breaks, you're not going to build a deep relationship, especially when their time might be being vied for by others at the same time, you're trying to get it. It's just it's so much easier to do it this way and much more methodical. But relationship marketing to me is the number one form, even though it does take the longest amount of time to develop. And get the relationships. At some point you start getting business from it. It's not immediate usually, but it's a different tactic. And mass marketing is another great way. I mean, that's what this show is all about, is getting you, Eli, to the masses. More people can see you, become aware of you. They're all going to love you. You're just a likable guy and that's a big part of it. They're going to enjoy what you do. So I want to get into what you do a little bit here and ask you kind of point blank, what is it that you do for your business? Who is your target market like, Who is your ideal client that you serve? And then finally, if you have a success story or two that you would like to share, I'm sure everyone would love to hear that as well. So if you wouldn't mind, I'm going to put up your website on the back here.

Elijah Stepp:
And appreciate that. Thank you.

Brian Kelly:
We'll share that. Yeah, absolutely.

Elijah Stepp:
Basically, you know what the. I'm sorry. Go ahead.

Brian Kelly:
No, I was just going to say go ahead and give her all you got.

Elijah Stepp:
So basically, you know what? What I've just started I've been in business, aviation industry a long time. And unfortunately, it gets a lot of negative press. And I just started just because I wanted to promote business aviation in the positive light. A lot of people don't know it like 15,000 flights a year in business. Aviation go to humanitarian efforts. You know, there's a bunch of them. If you go to no pain, no gain.org, there's a bunch of information on there that will tell you what all business aviation does. And lately you've been hearing about, you know, pollution and things like that. All of the aviation industry, I believe it's only 2% of carbon issues and business aviation is only 0.2%. And everybody in the business, aviation aviation is contributing to offset their carbon offsets. You know, so but anyway, I started the business for that and it was basically just promote it and do advisory services from people. I know over the years in the business, whether they're buying an airplane, doing maintenance, things of that nature. But my success, one of the success stories is a friend of mine introduced me to another friend of mine and he said, Well, I'd love to go on a flight. You know? I said, Well, we can do it if you'd like. You know, let's get a group together. And we all got together. It was a networking event. It's not the destination. So we flew from Vegas over to Los Angeles, had lunch at the beach. They wanted to go to a cigar smoke shop. We did that and came home. But the thing was, everybody there was accountants on that airplane who are now my accountants. There were solar people on that airplane. You know, there were entrepreneurs. And now we are connections that, you know, it's a networking event. So that's a success story. And even though I can't say, well, that made me tons of money, it really didn't. It kind of broke even. But it was a trip that those relationships are worth much more than if you made a bunch of money on a particular trip. So that that's one success story.

Elijah Stepp:
The other was in-flight magazine contacted me and wanted to do an article. So we were on the cover of September 2020 of Inflight magazine. And then I came back and said, Let's partner and do a magazine of our own. And they agreed. So I was really excited about that. So we, you know, came out with Jet Magazine, a quarterly publication. We've got eight coming up on nine issues. And then just a really quick cheap plug, shameless plug here. Another friend in aviation is a veteran and we just came out with Veterans Transition Advocate magazine. I know that's not the show's about, but we're very excited about that. And, you know, now it's branching out to teams of people that have served. And, you know, veterans are coming out and they're transitioning. And that's what that magazine is about. So those are the two success stories. If you wouldn't.

Brian Kelly:
Mind, please hold that up one more time so we can see you.

Elijah Stepp:
Thank you. Thank I appreciate the opportunity. We were fortunate to get Nick Trotta, who is a former Secret Service Secret Service agent who's very passionate about, you know, veterans causes. And he was kind enough to do an article and now he serves on a board as well. So we've got some power behind us on that. I love it and I love.

Brian Kelly:
I love anything and everything to do with veterans. I mean, if if I get the you know, if I get to choose between working with a vet and a non vet, I almost always am jaded toward the vet like instantly and automatically appreciate that. Yeah. And I mean you guys and gals have all put in the time and it, you know it doesn't mean everyone's been on the line and their lives are at stake but many are. My dad, he was in the Air Force. He never flew in an airplane. That's what he wanted to do. But he didn't get that opportunity. So he ended up soldering parts and fixing parts and building parts for avionics back in the day a long time ago. But I have nothing but respect for him and everyone that sat behind a desk or pushed paper or phones all day because that was your time and you devoted it to this country. And I appreciate that no matter what.

Elijah Stepp:
Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, I was in impeached time so I didn't have to serve in conflict. But I really want to promote and get back to the I have so much respect for those that have went in in harm's way. I'm so grateful.

Brian Kelly:
And you know what? Even when you enlist, you don't know if you're not going to see combat, you know, there's a risk that you will. And so, you know, you put you're literally putting your life on the line by, you know, signing on the dotted line. And I have nothing but respect. I know there's different reasons different people do it. It doesn't matter to me what the reasons were. The fact is they did it. You did it. And I appreciate and respect that.

Elijah Stepp:
Well, thank you.

Brian Kelly:
And I think more people should express the same rather than what I've heard of others doing. I just I'm not going to go there because that's horrible. Um, so you've been doing this business for a while, and I'm, I'm sure that along along the way, you've never made a single mistake when it came to business. Not one. Yeah, exactly. So what I find are the more successful individual is the more mistakes they've made along the way. And they make them faster. That way they can realize what never to do again and focus the energy on something different. And they get to that level of success quicker by literally making more mistakes. So if you were to coin it a mistake and you can think of going back through the business that you've been building over the years, what would stick out as what you would say would be the biggest mistake you can remember that you ever made? But the important part is and the more important part is what did you learn from it that helped you going forward?

Elijah Stepp:
Oh. Well, probably spending too much money on putting something together that you feel is going to happen on a regular basis and it doesn't happen on the regular basis. You know, so basically having some cash flow available and maybe didn't work out that way and then you're kind of spending more money than you intended to. Um, I had another business back in the 90s which was going to be providing contract people to aviation outfits, and that was a little bit tough too, and that one did not make it. So I would say probably the answer to that is whatever you think is going to happen, be sure that you do the research that's going to happen on a regular basis for the income that you expect.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. Or put the things in place that need to make that happen. Like, you know, consistent, constant marketing, sales, calls, outreach, bring in a team and get some help so that you can ramp up those efforts. I mean, I don't know anybody I've ever talked to that has spent too much at one point. I'm always reinvesting too much back into my business because I just want to continue to improve it and make the experience even better. Sure, I can so relate to that. And at the same time, you kind of spooked me. I was like, Man, I wonder if I'm doing that right now. I think I always am. It's just I love what I get to do and I put everything into it just as it was a loved one. And so it's a lot of fun.

Elijah Stepp:
To be honest. With you. I love this, too. It's so I'm, you know, the consulting or the advisory part and the magazine, every time you hear somebody do what you know is you're passionate about or love or whatever, these two things, they've just been wonderful. And I still provide some, you know, work for a major company that does aircraft maintenance, tracking and things of that nature. And that keeps me in tune with the business as well. But I just love it.

Brian Kelly:
So there's been a very healthy debate about that very topic that I've discussed with many people on this show. And that is, you know, there are some that are at the camp that you need to be passionate and love what you do. Now, that doesn't mean you're going to love every second of every day there that just impossible. There are going to be those things that you don't want to do, like bookkeeping unless you like that kind of thing and things that are not fun. But there are others of the campus saying, No, don't worry about passion. Just go after what's going to make the money and go after the marketplace. You know, where the marketplace is solid. What are your feelings on that, having been through what you've been through thus far?

Elijah Stepp:
I think it's a little bit of both. You know, you need to to like what you do. And I do. And I kind of fell into the publishing part, and I've really loved that. You know, I've written articles and everything and I love, you know, giving advice that is helpful to others, you know, or helping them out in the situation or researching their maintenance records or, you know, things like that. I absolutely love that. But like you say, you do have to go after the money, so you're just going to dry up, you know? So yeah, and that's one of the and those things I mentioned earlier about what I do when I said, you know, freedom, gratitude, you know, happiness and those seven things I mentioned earlier, I know some very wealthy people that are not hitting all of those. You know, they're either not happy or they're not, you know, and everything. So it's kind of balancing those things along with it helps as well. Yeah, I like.

Brian Kelly:
To I've just, you know, I'm not actually that far behind you in age. I'll be 59 here very soon. And I think I'm behind you. I don't know. I don't even know.

Elijah Stepp:
But 63. You're right. I'm 63.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, right around the corner. You could be my very slightly older brother. That's awesome. Um, but yeah, for me, having been on the planet long enough now, I tend to lean toward the passion side of things to start it. You know, I want to make sure you're passionate, you love it. Then also be sure you can monetize it. That there is a marketplace that does want what you offer as a service or a product or what have you. But I agree with you that they are both absolutely necessary and on the end of money and making money. Have you ever fallen into the trap of not valuing your own services or products enough and not charging enough for them, realizing that you need to be charging more?

Elijah Stepp:
Definitely. I'm kind of doing some reevaluation about that right now. And the other part, you know, doing that and the other part is really being sharing enthusiastically what you do. You know, we all tend to maybe be a little embarrassed to put herself out there or things like that. But yeah, there's no doubt about that. I've I've been to a place where if it's just a question, you know, obviously you know somebody in the business, but you want to go through this, it's really maybe what I would have done for $100 now would be a thousand, you know, because if you're going to take the time to do it and really go through it, you know, and if the people really want it done and you are qualifying who you're working for too, when you do that.

Brian Kelly:
Absolutely. And an interesting thing is when you raise the price point, people value it even more and they will buy more of it sometimes. And it does the opposite of what people might think. And the other part I know from my standpoint was, you know, when you have a skill set and you've had it for a good part of your life, you take it for granted and you think, If I can do it, why? Why couldn't Eli do it? Why couldn't somebody else do it? And then so by saying those things to ourselves, we devalue it and then price it accordingly, which is wrong. And what I love is I want every entrepreneur that's actually providing a service, something that serves others. I want every entrepreneur to charge top dollar and make top dollar because the more money they make, the more they can scale their business and help and serve more people. So it's a wonderful, self fulfilling entity. Money is important. It's not you know, money is not the root of all evil. It's for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It's always misquoted out of the Bible, and it's not. It's just where are you focusing? Are you focusing on money or are you focusing on your savior, which is your your focus? And that's what all that that phrase means, really. But money is very important and we are all blessed. And I want Eli to make an insane amount of money so that you can serve more people and get the word out about aviation like you just did about the misnomers we keep hearing about the carbon footprint and all that. Yeah, it's just that gives you guys a black eye and it's not it's not warranted. And I'm glad that you have backing and the data to say, you know, it's different and it's actually a good thing to have this service.

Elijah Stepp:
Yeah, Yeah. Appreciate that. Um, David Meltzer. Don't know if you know that name, but he, um. He was the actual person on Jerry Maguire, the movie. He was the real person behind the sporting agency back then, and he's kind of an indirect mentor of mine. He comes to Vegas every once in a while. I'll get a here and speak and do a standup. But his thing is, and I love it, it says, make a lot of money, help A lot of people have a lot of fun and you put it like that. You don't even have to feel bad about making money. If you've got that little guilt thing going, forget it. Make a lot of money, help a lot of people with that money have a lot of fun while you're doing it. One of my favorite things. I love it. He shared that with me.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah, Nothing thrills me more than seeing the results that I had something to do with in a client where they've improved their life, their business. They made more money, they're happier. They've achieved something they never did before. That fuels me. If I didn't have to earn an income, that's I would just do it, you know? I would just do it for that alone, for the gratification of helping another human being.

Elijah Stepp:
Absolutely.

Brian Kelly:
In any way they need it. You know, any way I can help. I'm excited to do that. Oh, my gosh. I just looked at the time. See, we're having too much fun. Eli, the time is flying by.

Elijah Stepp:
You've made it very fun. I appreciate that.

Brian Kelly:
And it's really, truly due to you. And it always is the guest that comes on. You're. You're a joy to talk to and you're providing so much transparent value. You know, you're not holding back on anything. And I appreciate that about you. And that's. What do you think about that? I like that topic about transparency. What do you think about leaders Who are they? Exhibit some degree of transparency that let people in to know that they truly aren't actually all perfect like social media would make them out to be, and that it's okay to show your faults, to show that you are human. What are your thoughts on being transparent when you're a leader of a company?

Elijah Stepp:
Oh, my gosh. Think it's everything for me? You'll see people on like Gary Vaynerchuk, on on social media. He's one of those guys. I mean, he'll he'll give it to you straight what he thinks, but he doesn't act like he's perfect. And then you CEOs say don't do accounting. That's why hire accountants or don't do this. That's why I'm not good at that. You know, that's transparent enough to say I'm not doing that. You know, And and they share their mistakes. You know what they did? What went wrong? You know, things like that. They failed. Their story is everything. And, you know, so my thoughts on that are transparency is great. We appreciate it.

Brian Kelly:
Yeah. And so you said you hit another topic about, you know, when we're going through, especially when we're younger male adults, our ego factor is much higher. And then we learn as we get older that in order to be successful, we need to bring that that thing down, that ego quotient down. And the more we do and the more we look for help and the more we admit our mistakes and the more that we are transparent with the fact that we're not perfect. That's when I found the success started to really start hitting. And I thought, well, I can either have this great ego and always be right or I can be happy. You know that saying about with marriage, you need to be right or you can be happy. And it's true. It's so true. And it's the moment I reached out and got some help, that was it. That was the switch that said, Oh, my gosh. And then, you know, being in a position to say, I need help where, you know, most younger dudes, like when I was younger, there's no way I was ever going to do that. It's like, I can do this.

Elijah Stepp:
Yeah, same here, Same here. Yes. There's a saying. There's a saying in one of the books I've listened to is like, You can be right or you can be rich. If you're right all the time, you're probably not going to be rich. It's so.

Brian Kelly:
True. I think as humans, we're wired this way. We're wired to always want to be right. You know, it's interesting, I think, to a person, I don't think there's a person on the planet that can escape it. It's just how much can you suppress that need to always be right And and then have a better need, which is a bigger goal. A bigger need is to provide more for your family rather than just be right for yourself as one example. So. Oh, my goodness.

Elijah Stepp:
Well, and to my goodness. Some feedback you received along the way too. You know, like you'll get feedback that you really don't like some one time got feedback. You don't have the killer instinct for sale when I was in a sales position. Okay. You know, or you're talking you're among the crowd of these well known people. You're acting like the help. You're not acting like a leader. You know, things like it's like, oh, wow, that hurts. But, you know, those type of things can motivate you and make you reflect on yourself honestly. Okay, maybe I need to improve in some areas. So that's for the ego when you're young too. So when you get a little older, you can handle it better.

Brian Kelly:
That's true. You just reminded me of a I have a friend of mine, my gosh, he's an amazing guy. When I spoke from stage, this this gentleman would be all the way in the back taking notes and then he would provide me feedback and I could, you know, when you're speaking from stage, you can see everybody and everything, no matter how big, how expansive the room is, you see it all. And I'll be up there talking and all of a sudden I see this hand go up. His name is John Kurth. If he's watching. I love you, brother. He put up his left hand, shake his head vigorously, and then start writing notes. And I'm in the middle of talking on the stage, going in my head going, Oh, crap, what did I just do? You know, I know I'm going to hear about that one. Right. But the cool thing is, is he did not hold back. And I love him for that because if he held back, I wouldn't have improved because he didn't hold back. I improved vastly. Yes. The comments hurt in the beginning. In the beginning, until I started brushing that ego off. And then it got to the point, literally, Eli, if for any reason he couldn't make it to one of my segments because we would speak for a mentor of mine. So we got segments of his seminar if, if he couldn't make it. I felt cheated not by him, but cheated out of the opportunity to improve more. I looked forward to hearing what I needed improving on versus, you know, thinking, Oh crap, he's going to tell me I stink, which he never said those words, but he did. You know, he was very direct. And because he was, I never made those mistakes ever again. And I appreciate him for that. So what do you think about getting.

Elijah Stepp:
To know.

Brian Kelly:
Mentors in your life but the right mentors? Have you been through several mentors of yours that you can recant and look back on and go that one? That one was the best one?

Elijah Stepp:
Oh, absolutely. And some of them were what I call indirect mentors. You know, people older. I say older. I mean people that were more mature than you that you went to church with or, you know, I served as elder where I went to church in Illinois, and one of them pulled me aside because, you know, I don't know people, but we had a communion meditation. They talked about blood that was spilled. And he came to me and pulled me aside. He said, never say it was spilled. It was shed because it was done on purpose. Like, whoa, what a critique. And I really appreciated that. So, you know, I've. Had mentors both spiritually and in business and, you know, just give me a feedback because they love me and sometimes it's hard to hear.

Brian Kelly:
And that that's proof right there that you remembered that that vividly. And yeah, same I have vivid recounts of specific advice as well but so that's that tells you he was an impactful person in your life in a positive way even though it didn't feel that great at that moment. And that's the beautiful thing is learning to take and be educated from those who these are the people that love you the most. That's why they're the most direct with you. It doesn't feel like love that moment, but that is truly what they're coming from. They're trying to help you and they're doing something most likely that is uncomfortable for them, which is telling you like it is right to your face. And if you take it and absorb it, you will improve and kick butt. Oh my gosh. So we do have a gift to give away to everyone. I normally run an ad spot. I didn't do it tonight because I was too into it with you, Eli, And that's a good thing. One of the things I had scrolling on the bottom is anyone that is here live watching us live, you can win a five night stay at a five star luxury resort compliments of Reach Your peak company that sponsors this very show. And it's not just one of those. We'll take you into the basement and water drip torture you and and put you on a timeshare has nothing to do with that. It is a bona fide vacation stay. And there are many resorts all over the world you can choose from. And we're going to give that away here in just a moment. And the other thing is, Eli, we are now near the end. And what I love to do at the end of every single show is I love to ask this one profound question. And it came kind of by chance. I've done this show now almost five years, and in the beginning I would ask it here and there during the show, and I started really tuning in and realizing, my gosh, these answers are just incredible and they're profound. And I thought, you know, I'm going to end every show with this one question and I'm glad I've been doing that for years now.

Brian Kelly:
And it's been phenomenal. And I know your question or your answer is going to be phenomenal as everyone else's has. And so we're going to do that. But real quick, before we do that, I'm going to let everyone know that's watching us live. You must be watching live How to win that five night stay at a five star luxury resort. Again, compliments of Richard Peak. I'm going to put it up on the screen and I will read it out for you that are watching live. And I want you to do this. Do not go to the URL I'm about to share with you until the show is over. I don't want you to miss Eli's last incredible answer on this show. I truly mean it because I've had so many, so many profound answers that you do not want to miss it. So as long as you promise this, raise your your right hand, that's your other hand. And say, I solemnly swear that I will write this down and will be monitoring. My team will be monitoring after the show is over. You have like a half hour once we're done to get that entry and it takes no time. Are you ready? Here we go. Write this down. Get a pen, get a paper and put it up on the screen. What you want to do is you want to go to this web address. It's R.I.P. Dot. I'm forward slash vacation, all lowercase. So it's R.I.P., which stands for Reach Your Peak dot. I'm forward slash vacation. Write that down and then go visit that right after we sign off for the evening. And I can't wait to see who the winner is going to be. I love giving this prize away. It's a lot of fun. And Eli, you've been a lot of fun, but it's time for that question. And the cool thing about this question is what I will say is there is no such thing as a wrong answer. It's not a test. In fact, the exact opposite is the case. The only correct answer.

Elijah Stepp:
Is yours.

Brian Kelly:
Because the answer will be unique to you. It's personal in that way, but only because it's unique to you. And if it takes you 10s to come up with the answer or even a minute, that's just perfect because that answer is yours and it's perfect. If it takes you a microsecond. Still perfect because that's your answer. And now if after all that build up, are you ready for the question?

Elijah Stepp:
I hope so.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, you are definitely ready. I know it for a fact. Okay, here we go. Eli step. How do you. Define. Success.

Elijah Stepp:
For me being happy. Doing what you want to do when you want to do it. While helping others.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, I love it. I love it. I've had some that go on for five minutes. I have others that are a couple of sentences like yours. And here is the beautiful part. Eli To date, I've done this a long time. No two people yet have answered it the same exact way. That is why it's so profound. And I will also add to that, because you're you're part of the group now, and that is not a single person named money. As the reason or their definition of success or riches or wealth. Some inferred that it would give them the freedom to be, you know, to define success, being be with their family. But money was not the definition of success. That's what I love every person I've had on here. That is what the true definition of a successful entrepreneur and individual is to me. I know this now, doing this show for so long and you just right down the middle striker, as they would say in baseball, right along with the others. I appreciate you. I appreciate your authenticity, your integrity, your service to our country, the fact that you lead by example. Thank you for everything. You've been a phenomenal, phenomenal guest on this show, and I can't wait to see what holds in store for the two of us going forward in whatever way that means. I truly do.

Elijah Stepp:
Agree. Well, thank you so much, Ryan. It's been great to be here. It's been a lot of fun and thanks for making it so comfortable.

Brian Kelly:
Oh, you're very welcome. You helped with that. I got to tell you, you're a wonderful, wonderful person to interview. We'll have to do this again for sure. All right. That is it. Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the amazing Eli Stepp, I'm your host, Brian Kelly of the Mind Body Business Show. We will be back again very, very soon. I cannot wait. Be sure to go to the mind body business show.com. Click on any of the buttons on where and how to watch and fill out that form. You're going to get a discount card for hotels just for doing that. But you'll also get notified the moment we go live the next time, which is roughly a week from tonight. We do this on a weekly basis. That way you won't forget and we'll give you a link. You just click it and you're already here watching and then you can qualify to win that five night stay that we give away every single show. All right. That's it for us tonight. So long, everybody. Thank you once again, Eli. I appreciate you, my brother. And we will talk to you once again very, very soon. So please do two things. Everyone go out and serve more people and serve them robustly and with great passion. And number two, to a person, please, everyone be blessed. Take care for now and so long. Thank you for tuning in to the Mind Body Business Show Podcast At www.TheMindBodyBusinessShow.com. My name is Brian Kelly.

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