Original subtitles

[narrator] Previously on Undercover Billionaire...

[man] Tell me when. Whoa! Whoa! [bleep]

[narrator] The 90 day challenge is halfway over,

and all of the entrepreneurs have struggled

to turn $100 into a $1 million business.

I don't want to hear any more

[bleep] litany of what you're doing.

I don't. [knocking on desk]

[narrator] In Pueblo...

I am Louis Curtis. I am Louis Curtis.

I am Louis Curtis. I am Louis Curtis.

[narrator] Grant has been scrambling for real estate partners...

Who's interested enough to put some money in this deal?

[narrator] ...and promo clients...

Hey, Jeff.

Hey, Crystal. Hey, Margaret.

Give me a call back when you get a chance.

[narrator] ...and netting the same results,

zero.

- [narrator] In Fresno... - That's super [bleep] up.

[narrator] Elaine has staked everything

on one historic building...

[Elaine] I don't think it's a big secret that the building needs some work.

- It's really run-down. - It's old.

[narrator] ...and finally scored the money

to move full-steam ahead

- with massive renovations. - [laughs]

$150,000 in the bank!

[narrator] In Tacoma...

Do you guys need any day help?

Give me a budget.

I can make that work.

[narrator] Monique keeps getting pulled in different directions.

I like the taste.

You like that? Yes!

[narrator] But can now focus all her energy on debuting

her wellness business to the public.

We don't have equipment.

[bleep] I'm so frustrated.

[Monique] It's a lot.

[narrator] All three face the evaluators in just 45 days.

[Glenn] Is the American dream still alive?

I'm Glenn Stearns.

To prove it, last year I made a bet that I could go undercover,

and build a million-dollar business in 90 days.

I'm too old.

I have to go to the hospital.

It was the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life.

- Whoo! - [all] Underdogs!

[Glenn] Now, three successful entrepreneurs

are stepping forward to take on the same challenge.

To keep things fair, they're going undercover

in cities they've never been to.

With only $100,

a cell phone with no contacts and an old truck.

All they'll have are the business principles they used to become successful.

At the end of 90 days,

all three businesses will be independently evaluated.

[Grant] If it's a penny short of $1 million,

I'll put in $1 million.

[Elaine] Win or lose, the people who get me there will be rewarded.

But they don't know it.

[Glenn] In three different American cities,

with millions of dollars on the line,

these trailblazers will try and prove the American dream is still alive.

[Grant] Hey, buddy.

Come here, buddy. Come here.

Hey. Hey.

How you doing?

[Grant] I've been in Pueblo for 46 days.

I got a roof over my head, money in the bank.

I partnered with Matt Smith,

and I got something big going down.

That's gonna wake up this town.

I'mma put this town on the map and blow it up.

I'mma lean on two things that I know like the back of my hand,

real estate and promotions.

But I'm more than halfway through this damn challenge.

Time is money,

and I'm running out of time.

I got nothing to show for my efforts.

No real estate, no investors, no clients.

[Paul] Hey, Louis, sorry about that.

That's all right, buddy. I...

I know you're out there making things happen.

[Grant] I didn't hear back from anyone

at the barbershop that I pitched as an investor,

so I'm definitely feeling the pressure.

But I know that if I can get this deal locked in,

I can land some serious investors.

So, I called the broker, Paul,

to apply some pressure on him

to see if we can get this deal done.

Time is our enemy right now.

[Paul speaking]

Yeah, well...

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, but he has...

He has no experience as a seller.

And I need to close this deal in my time frame.

Thanks.

[Grant] I lost out getting my investors in my real estate deal

when I pitched the guys at the barbershop.

Some deals go down easy,

some deals go down a little harder.

Matt thinks the same thing.

So, instead of wallowing,

I just shift my focus

onto the other way of building my million-dollar business,

the promo company.

[man] Good to see you, brother.

[Grant] I gotta get this million-dollar promotions business

as fast as possible,

and to do that, I have to meet the team

Matt has already hired.

Hopefully, we can work together.

I got to see what I got to work with.

- What's up? - [Grant] Hello. How you doing?

- Good. How are you? - Good. Good.

- I'm Louis. - Meridyth, Mia.

[Grant] Meridyth and Mia

have only been hired to do marketing for Snooze and Snap,

and pretty much all they're doing is social media.

I need to shift their position.

So I gotta convince them and Matt to go bigger. Way bigger.

And to come on a wild journey, building a new company

based around my way of promoting any business or any brand.

And that's about being extremely, extremely aggressive.

You understand what I'm talking about?

Real aggressive.

This is gonna be new for Pueblo,

new for Meridyth, new for Mia

and new for Matt.

[Matt] Introduction-wise,

both CSU Pueblo, both top of their class,

both just unbelievable marketing.

Content-wise, they just put out some amazing stuff.

Louis, a guy with energy and excitement

that's gonna help take us to another level,

and I don't care if we're selling candy at Safeway,

he's gonna take us to another level.

So, you know, I'm just excited

to see how we can all work together.

Okay.

[Grant] We're gonna build a marketing company.

It's gonna be a sales company,

it's gonna be a promotional company.

Whether it's ads we're buying on Facebook or Google,

or organic stuff that we do.

We do what they don't do, won't do, can't do

and never get around to doing.

The next step is to be able to do this

for other public businesspeople.

And the sleeping businesses out there,

they can use a helping hand.

In turn, we charge them for that,

we help them grow,

and we wake everybody up in this community a little bit.

The new generation, we're so used to social media and Facebook,

and how do we get this audience,

which, it's a lot easier,

but the old guerrilla marketing still works,

and there's still a huge need out there.

So, using Louis,

what he comes from, what I come from

and then combining with the new generation of social media,

I think that's the goal here.

Here's how I look at marketing, okay?

All the young people are going to social media,

it's left a vacuum with traditional marketing,

which is a phone call, an email.

"Come see us", stand in the street.

"Come on over here." Crazy stuff.

Like, the concept is omnipresence.

It's like, boom, I got hit here.

Oh, I got called here, I got an email,

"I saw something on Instagram."

Like we wanna bing this guy,

to where he's, like, "Everywhere I go, I see you."

Dude, enough is never enough.

How many times do you have to be taught this lesson?

You're coming up short everywhere.

If you want your business to scale,

then get aggressive by utilizing every single promotional tool possible,

so the world knows who you are,

even if you're not selling to that part of the world.

Promotional events, phone calls, letters, emails, you name it.

By taking advantage of every outreach possible.

The only thing you do by not doing this,

is you lose sales, you lose possibility,

you lose expansion

and you lose the dream.

[Mia] Yeah, I think one of the walls that we keep hitting

is making sure that people don't feel harassed.

Or, or, we lean into that.

It's, like, lean into almost the cheesiness way of it.

So, you want us to become notorious,

- is basically what you're saying. - [women laugh]

- Yeah. - It's a numbers game.

[Grant] Being cheesy means,

I'm going back to the old routes,

to the traditional loud, noisy,

tried-and-true methods.

You know what I'm talking about.

A piece of paper on a windshield,

an email that's loud and noisy, okay?

A video that's crazy and whacked-out.

Money follows attention.

Once I get the attention, then I can have the quality message.

Quantity and cheesy beats quality every time.

[Grant] You just lean into the taboo.

I want you to make cheesy

sales push, aggression.

"Come buy something right now."

[Mia] One thing that I absolutely hate is like

the cheesiness, you know,

Like, I do not wanna do anything cheesy.

I want it to be, like, genuine and legitimate.

And then this whole meeting was flipping that on its head.

What I'd like to do is just, like,

add to what you're doing.

There's gonna be a third company here.

So, you got Snap, you got Snooze,

and then there'll be a marketing company.

You want to do this?

- Heck, yeah! - Yeah.

- [Grant] Cool? - [Mia] Cool.

- That's awesome. - [Mia] Sweet.

Don't worry about me, okay?

I'm not that aggressive all the time.

- Right! - He's making a sale.

[Mia] Even though we don't know this guy, Louis,

I think that, like, we're meant to take risks, you know.

Matt definitely took a risk on us.

It's not us trusting him, it's us trusting Matt.

So, if he trusts him, I will run with it.

So, what do you want us to get started on, like, right away?

[Grant] I wanna build a team of aggressive,

almost, like, Pueblo outliers.

Here's the challenge.

These girls are 40 years younger than me.

Okay, no offense, but they're not used to hearing "no"

a hundred times on a telephone call.

They're not used to making calls,

direct calls or cold calling

or getting in front of corporate CEOs

that are like, "Get out of here."

They have to learn the ways

of pushing aggressive promotions.

No one in this town is doing hardcore guerrilla marketing.

And I'm telling you,

it is a lost art, and it's extremely effective.

Louis, this guy knows what he's doing.

- Oh, yeah. - He's no rookie.

[Grant] Glad to have you guys on the team.

We're gonna be doing some great things

[yawns] [bleep]

Man, lying takes a lot of energy.

That was a great meeting,

but look, the hardest thing here is being an imposter.

To not be Grant Cardone feels shady and it feels inauthentic.

I should be walking out of that meeting excited,

and I'm walking out exhausted.

It takes so much energy for me to lie.

Like, I'm sitting in there,

I have all these little games I'm playing in my head.

I have to walk into the meeting

and literally say to myself, "I am Louis Curtis.

I am Louis Curtis. I am Louis Curtis.

I am Louis Curtis. I am Louis Curtis."

I'm spinning the plates of building a business

and playing liar-man,

and it's just extremely painful and draining.

This ain't easy, man.

I miss my kids, I miss my wife. I miss my life.

I miss just being me.

And not having to...

Work up this facade...

This other guy.

But I signed up for this

and I just got to count...

I gotta count on success.

Success is my fuel, it's what drives me.

But I don't know if I can pull this off.

Man, it's just too much.

[Elaine] Can't take a shower,

so do the old "French shower."

[laughs]

So, I'm halfway through my 90-day challenge,

and what I need to do is use the rest of my time very carefully

to get the 11,000 square foot Shepherd's Inn completely remodeled.

It's gonna take an impossible amount of work

to get all of my revenue streams up and running.

I like to call them "tranches."

The 24 rooms upstairs have to be completely remodeled

for all of us who live here and for future hotel guests.

Amanda's to-go bar has to be built out

so that she can serve alcohol.

The dining room transformed into a fully-operational grocery store.

I've got to convert the old garage into a really cute coffee shop,

and I'm gonna convert the original dark bar

into a really bright, super-booming deli.

So, that means I've got to get the refrigeration equipment for the deli

and the grocery store here as soon as possible,

and I need to hire a real contractor.

I don't know what this is, but...

That is parts of the heaters that are sitting on the front sidewalk.

- [Chris] Can I step on it? - [Russell] No.

- Hey. - I won't break it.

- Hey. - [Elaine] I put Chris in charge

of a really big task.

He was to get all of the refrigeration equipment installed last week,

and he didn't get it done on time.

The refrigeration equipment for the deli and the grocery store are still not here.

I'm so frustrated with Chris.

I know he's a great guy,

and I know he's gonna be absolutely invaluable

to the Shepherd's Inn down the road.

But the reality is, what he was supposed to do isn't done

and we need it a week ago.

So, I want to just make sure that we are crystal clear

on when the equipment's being delivered.

Where are we on that?

I've been talking to Scott today,

and he's still... he's back in Yuba City,

but he says he's pushing Mohammed like crazy,

and he goes, "Mohammed is where we're running into a jam."

He goes, "I'm pushing him, I'm pushing him..."

I totally appreciate that, but come on...

I was pretty down, you know,

about the conversation that I had with Elaine

and it hit me hard.

He says, "If he cannot do it, I have another guy."

I said, "Okay, that sounds good, but please give me an update."

- I mean... - [bleep]

But it's trying to push what I can for the project

the same time I'm trying to do the behind-the-scenes stuff.

Okay, well, you're gonna need to push harder

- because we are so behind. - Yeah.

- So... - Okay.

I got to go, 'cause I got to go to work.

[Elaine] Even with everything going on, I still need money

for my living expenses and little things.

And so, I'm gonna work at CMC Farms with Lisa and pick grapes today.

Chris is my biggest challenge. No, I'm just kidding.

We just do business...

We have different business styles

and one is successful and the other one isn't.

Not that I want to point the finger,

but it's just a business style.

We have to be tight as a team.

Really thinking about what are your objectives?

How are you going to get there?

How are you going to avoid every obstacle or go through it?

What is going to come up?

What is not gonna come up?

What's unexpected?

It's, like, that takes concentration.

He's not doing that.

And then I want to, like, take his head off of his shoulders

and kind of get a really good hold between the nose and the mouth

and bowl him down the alleyway.

I'm so mad.

- Hi. - [man] Hi.

- How are you doing? - [Monique] I like those pants.

[Monique] Tacoma has been really welcoming to me.

At first, I was a little unsure

about being dropped into a new place,

but this feels like the perfect spot

for my wellness company to grow and thrive.

I did have just a couple of questions.

Okay, I hope I can answer them.

It's not my best skill set,

- but I'll do my best. - [laughs]

[Monique] Right now, I'm looking at renting a commercial kitchen

so that I can produce more of the wellness shots.

- This is nice. - [man] Yeah.

So, I have two more shelves

- I need to get in here. - [laughs]

[Monique] This is like a dream.

Kitchen's pretty. It's got good bones.

It's really easy to clean.

This is like a dream.

- Thank you. - Bye.

[Monique] I'm not ready to sign on the dotted line just yet.

I love how you can get everywhere in 20 minutes or less.

But it's good to see what's available,

especially since I have an idea

for getting Rooted's name out there in a big way.

I'm heading over to Wright Park to scout the location of an event

that I registered for called Bite of Black Business.

I like that pick-up truck.

I'm excited from that.

[laughs]

It's a collective of business owners

that was born out of the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality

to help support Black businesses here in Tacoma.

I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to raise brand awareness

and sell my product for the first time

to the largest Tacoma community.

[phone line ringing]

[woman speaking on phone]

Hi. May I speak to Alex, please?

Hi. How are you doing?

This is Monique Lenai.

How are you?

I'm well, thank you.

I had a couple of questions about being a vendor there.

You know, I'm already registered, etcetera,

for my juice shot company, Rooted.

I was gonna...

I'mma actually just do a visual drive by

and kind of see what the space is looking like.

Okay, how much space do we get?

Right. Okay.

Okay.

And then, I'm trying to get an estimate

of how many juice shots I should pre-make.

How many people do you think would be there throughout the day?

You go, girl. Yes!

So, I'm excited for the Bite of Black Business

because A, the organizers are younger than my oldest son.

And to see their passion of wanting to make sure

that small businesses in Tacoma are still thriving during a pandemic,

I think they are the solution and I like that type of environment.

[Monique] Well, you should be proud of what you're doing.

It's great for us as Black business owners

- so I'm actually... - [Alex] Oh, yeah?

...super appreciative. Yeah.

And I'm over here by Wright Park.

Where exactly do you all set up? Like...

Okay, perfect.

Okay.

I like to be what I call preventative.

[laughs] I like to think of how

every possible thing can happen

so that I can prevent anything happening negative

as much as I can possibly control.

I can't control everything,

but I'm definitely gonna try to prevent

and plan as much as possible.

I need to go and look at the location.

I want to know the way the foot traffic is happening.

I want to think about the design of the Rooted brand experience.

Right here, looking...

And I would be facing and looking at the hospital, right?

Okay.

That's the best location.

'Cause you got the street traffic,

you got the foot traffic.

So, what I'd like to do is,

you know, definitely I'll come early on Saturday.

Okay. Thank you.

Have a good day.

Okay, bye-bye.

Okay, I got this.

[Grant] Here we go.

- [trimmer buzzing] - Oh, it's happening now.

Maybe I just do the sides.

Just go mohawk.

What about that? I like that, dude, you know.

You know, Louis Curtis showed up in Pueblo with a shaved head.

I don't think anyone will think

Grant Cardone will cut his hair like this.

[Grant] Well, I'm in it now.

Then I'll let my hair grow out because of COVID.

I'm halfway Louis Curtis,

halfway Grant Cardone,

and that's not gonna work.

I got a meeting with a new promo team

and I got to get back to going all-in on Louis Curtis

and stay that way until the end.

It's like reverse Samson.

I cut my hair and I get stronger.

Be obsessed or be average.

You got to go all in.

People don't know you for your work ethic, they don't know you.

And it means you're not working.

Obsession.

That quality where you lock in like a hungry dog on the back of a meat truck

is the only way highly-successful people become highly successful.

Being obsessed is a full-time job.

No weekends, no vacation, no breaks.

And for me, no hair.

Well...

Besides, if anyone's gonna make a million-dollar business in 90 days,

it's gotta be Louis Curtis,

not Grant Cardone.

Look, I'm 47 days into this million-dollar challenge.

I have no clients, no prospects,

and I'm feeling like I got to change things up pretty damn quick here.

Look, I'm gonna be seeing the promo team soon today.

I got a fresh cut to make sure Louis Curtis's head is in the game.

Oh, I do have honey.

I've got $150,000 to spend that cannot be misspent.

The only way that's gonna work

is if I get a real contractor in,

somebody that I can trust, that I can work with,

someone that really understands math,

that can bid and that will get the job done

for what they said they can do it for.

Clean this crap out of here.

I originally needed $250,000.

And I only had a $150,000 commitment out of Russell.

So getting this done will mean I'm gonna have to come down a little bit

and shave it up and get rid of some things that I really want.

- Hiya. - [Dave] Oh, hi.

- [Elaine] How are you? - [Dave] Good, how are you doing?

- I'm Elaine. - David.

- Hi, David. Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, too.

- Hi. Alan? - I'm Alan.

[Elaine] Russell introduced me to two friends of his, Dave and Alan.

They're contractors.

I'm really excited about it because they're friends of his.

And this is an incredible undertaking

with no time and no money. Recipe for disaster.

It's very helpful if the people that he brought in are the people we use

because if it does go sideways, at least I can say, "These are your friends.

You need to help me with your friends."

[Elaine] We need to be open in 43 days.

- Got it. Okay. - All right.

So, what's this area gonna be?

This is gonna be a grocery store.

So, in the middle we'll have our meat.

We have to run power to all of them, which we'll obviously need you for.

Okay, so this is the deli.

So, I need to tear all of this out

- and put it all back in as a deli... - Mmm.

- And raise the floor. - Gotcha.

This is in pretty rough shape.

- And you need help with that too? - Mmm-hmm.

My vision is to have deli cases in the back of the bar,

which we're gonna need power for.

And then, we're gonna put the sandwich stations

behind the bar underneath the back of the bar.

And that's gonna need to be all retrofitted.

- Okay. - Yeah.

Going this way, what I would love for you guys to do...

So, we're gonna fence this off to the building,

and then we're gonna fence off to the side and create a gate on the walkway.

I'd love to see it filled with decomposed granite and grass,

and really cool old picnic tables.

- [Dave] Okay. - And then shelter from the sun and shelter from the rain.

And then that, I wanna be the most bad-ass coffee shop in town.

People come in or they just order at the window?

Whatever. The windows could be open for now,

and then later we can actually

- have people go inside. - Yeah.

- But it's gonna take an army to just clean it and... - Yeah.

Okay, so going back this way...

My first impression of Elaine is she wants a lot done yesterday. [chuckles]

- She's got big ambitions. - There was a lot of information given.

I think we should just go straight upstairs.

That seems to make the most sense to me.

[speaking indistinctly]

Yes, all right.

So, there are 24 rooms. 19 rooms have these alcoves.

What I was thinking would be really cool is to just put two-by-four around

- and sort of stick in in there and make a wood deck. - Mmm-hmm.

And then either tile it or stain the deck,

and just drop the sink into that and put a board on the front

so it still looks like it's floating but it feels like a non-floating sink.

What about just white subway tile?

[Elaine] Well, it's a hotel room, so something with color

or what might be really nice, honestly, is to mirror it.

Right.

[Elaine] Okay.

So, this room, basically, is gonna be the to-go bar.

And what we're doing is we're getting a bar,

so that's gonna go across the middle of the room.

I don't know how many days it would take to do that, but we gotta do it.

Okay.

What's needed by Elaine is it's all gonna be needed to be done yesterday.

What do you think, Alan?

[Elaine] Normally, I would get three bids. There's no time for that here.

I've given them a laundry list that made their head spin. I'm quite certain.

I'm hoping because they're Russell's friends that they take the project. Period.

I think they're a little freaked-out.

So, okay?

Well, I think we can make it happen.

[laughs] I think this is the hardest one out of all of them.

I think we might take this project on.

I've known Russ a long time. He doesn't ask for favors very often.

Actually, never. He asked, so I came.

We like the Shepherd's Inn. We wanna see it become something different.

And I think the ideas that she has in mind for this place

are on track to be successful.

- Think we're good? - I think this is something we can do.

- Okay, you do? - Yeah.

- Okay. Are you sure? - Send us the list.

I am trusting Elaine to spend the money appropriately

and within the budget that we have.

But I will be keeping an accounting of everything going in and out.

- [Russell] Thank you, guys. Take care. - [Elaine] Thank you so much.

[Elaine] Right on, right on, right on.

[Monique] Now that I have this huge opportunity

to launch at the Bite of Black Business event,

the seed money I received is going to go faster that I anticipated.

I need to look to the next round of investing,

which means jumping into my home turf,

the venture capital world.

Hi, Michael, this is Monique. How are you?

- I'm doing well. How are you going, Monique? - I'm good.

I'm reaching out to Michael Brown,

and investor that Tuana put me in touch with.

I'm touching base with him to see if he'd be open to investing in Rooted.

So I'm new to Tacoma, and I'm building a wellness company.

And I'm doing, like, a mobile truck concept

that I will eventually franchise.

Yeah. So, you know,

traditional concept of a start-up, right?

I'm looking to build a team here.

But I wanna do this lean, right?

So I'm taking on strategic investments.

And didn't know if that's something you're interested in.

Tuana spoke super highly of you.

Okay.

This is super exciting to me,

and the crazy thing is that this wellness company,

it's affordable, accessible to all

instead of this concept that wellness is just this luxurious concept

because, actually, it's a human right to have natural food and products.

And trying to make sure we get back to the basics

of natural fruit and vegetable straight from the farm.

Michael makes sense as a strategic investor for Rooted

because for 20 years he and his business partner

built up a very successful company in Tacoma,

and they see value in overlooked founders

like women and people of color.

It's 5.3% of the global economy, the wellness community is.

And it's just growing.

And it is trillions of dollars' worth of the industry.

So the market opportunity is really there.

And, more importantly, I'm trying to help our community in particular

so that we stop this cycle of no generational wealth, no legacy.

You know, so this is super important to me.

I would love to, like, kind of,

you know, go do the whole pitch for you.

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

I want Rooted to be a lifestyle brand

that grows and grows for years,

way after this 90-day challenge is over.

Securing an investment from Michael would help do just that.

Okay, okay. Bye-bye.

I'm halfway through my 90 days,

and I have to secure an investment now,

so I can get a commercial kitchen

and take this company to the next level.

I'm super excited.

[Grant] What's up, Matt?

- What's up, my man? Good to see you as well. - Good to see you, Matt.

[Grant] I'm meeting with Matt and the Snap and Snooze promo team

to go over their social media strategies.

If we're gonna promote to other businesses and ask big money

to promote their businesses, it starts at home.

Our social media has to be on point

so we can lead by example and show these other companies

what we can do for them.

- We're going in here today. - Okay, good. Okay.

Oh, my gosh.

Louis has been pushing to make sure that I'm the face

of at least the current businesses I'm involved in.

With this one, I'm open to whatever makes it work.

If Louis wants to be the face, we'll put his face all over this town.

[laughs] And I'm okay with that.

- [woman] That's Jes, by the way. - [Matt] You've met Jes.

- Oh, hey, how are you doing? - [Jes] Good. How are you doing?

When I was here the first time, you offered me a Zumba lesson.

Yeah, I was trying to get you

- to take my classes. - [Matt] She's done a little bit of everything.

- She's a hustler. - She hustles, she calls.

She does all of our collections and billing.

- She does all of that stuff. - Oh, wow.

[Grant] Look, even though I want me and Matt's new promo company

to go way, way beyond just posting on social media,

the companies that I call on are gonna look at what we're doing at home.

To be on point, we have to lead by example.

I need to show other companies what we can do for ourselves

and then therefore what we can do for them.

Look, we do it all.

We do it before school, after school, and we do it at recess.

[Grant] So, do y'all just wanna talk about what I saw

when I went and looked at the pages?

So, what I observed,

you know, without offending anyone. I don't wanna offend anyone.

You're doing a good job, but you're not using social enough.

I was actually looking at YouTube

- if that's where you're going. - [Grant] Yeah, yeah.

Um, and it was a really long interview style video.

Yeah, here's your video.

-This got one like. [scoffs] -Yeah?

It was me.

- Yeah! - [all laughing]

So, like, this video right here,

- somebody else shot this, right? - Yeah.

This is a 15-minute video. Should have been made into at least 15 videos.

Mmm-hmm.

- Google owns YouTube, right? - Yeah.

So, they're gonna push YouTube up to the top of this thing.

So, when they plug in mattress,

if I go to mattress in Pueblo, they're not going to Facebook first, guys.

They're gonna go search in Google.

"Mattress Firm Pueblo.

Pueblo Sleep Solutions." I don't see you.

Okay? Now I'm gonna go to video.

I mean, we just buried this.

We gotta start like we're trying to fill the Grand Canyon up with bricks.

So that means hundreds of videos, not six.

If they don't know you, they can't flow you.

I didn't build my business or my brand or my name

by uploading a handful of videos.

I did it across every distribution channel possible,

all so that I could get my name in front of the public that I wanted to buy from me.

Look, if they don't know you, they ain't gonna flow you.

Tomorrow, we'll create a bunch of videos, we'll get some YouTube.

Look, he says, "Okay, we'll make videos tomorrow."

That's what every company's gonna do.

Tomorrow's gonna come.

Next day, next day, next day.

And the next thing you know, you got your business running with no YouTube channel,

no Facebook, no Instagram.

Personally, I think we should make tomorrow today.

Louis Curtis, he's definitely a mix

of a monkey and lion personality.

He wants to have his hands in all these different barrels.

He's just very strong-willed and passionate,

and a little bit short-tempered.

I just kind of wonder, like, what the heck's going on.

I think we could hit 20 to 30.

- Twenty? - Twenty videos today?

[Grant] You guys are going crazy.

[humming softly]

- [cell phone vibrates] - [bleep]. Dang it.

They're moving.

They're moving forward with a different group from Kona.

[Matt] What?

No way.

I gotta hear all about this.

[Grant] Um...

- Hey, guys, thanks a lot. - [Matt] Thank you.

- Okay. - [woman] Yeah, thank you.

I know it doesn't seem like we got much accomplished but we did.

Thanks, guys.

So, the seller got scared 'cause I...

He's like, "You got too aggressive."

I needed him to sign off on Saturday, and he's like,

"The guy needs time." I said, "What? I don't understand."

[bleep] The apartment deal is dead. That was gonna be my score.

[cell phone ringing]

There's Paul right there. Paul's calling in.

- Hey, Paul. - [on phone] Hey, Louis.

Hey, buddy. Thanks for your time. I appreciate it.

Man, how does another group come in right after me and scoop this deal up?

He got some other tours and interests coming in,

and it's not as much pressure in terms of buying.

Yeah.

- Yeah, that's where we're at. I don't know. - But...

But if they needed more time, like...

Yeah, I'm just like

over here just cracking on myself saying, "What did I do wrong here, man?"

No, I'm with you. I think what it was you just, you pushed it too hard.

I think now it's too late because this other group is, already, you know...

Yeah. So, did he get more money? Did he get more money?

No, I can't go into the specifics of it,

but no, it's not more money.

[Grant] It's almost never price.

Sales are often lost over unspoken objections.

I lost this deal not because of price.

This deal fell apart because I pushed too hard, too fast.

It was not about the price, it was not about the terms.

Remember this. It's almost never price.

I know that deal's gonna make some money there.

I'm sick. I'm sick about it.

'Cause I know, I know there was $3 million of profit on that deal.

I'd be lying if I wasn't a little worried in the back of my mind,

but in the same sense that, you know, I'm a firm believer

that everything happens for a reason.

I don't know what happened, man. Whatever.

It wasn't the price. That's weird. It's the pressure.

This is what I'm feeling like right now.

I'm feeling like I let Matt down.

And he thought he could depend on me.

I let him down. He believes and trusts me.

And now that's gone, I can't even feel good about myself anymore.

I didn't think I ran at the guy too hard.

I made him a great offer. It was in writing.

Like, I've never had a deal fall out 'cause I rushed in too hard.

Just underestimated it. I thought it'd be easier than it's gonna be,

you know, it's just...

I was thinking with what we have. Like, I couldn't...

I'm unable to really get out of Grant Cardone.

And...

But I can't be him.

I'm telling you, I'm going [bleep] crazy.

The only thing I asked him for was, "So, just get back with me by noon tomorrow."

And that's what blew the guy off.

We learn from it.

Like, this is [bleep] up. It is so [bleep] up.

I might have just picked the wrong business.

I hate losing deals.

And I'm like, what the [bleep] did I do wrong, dude?

Why do I keep doing everything wrong in Pueblo?

Hey, hey, hey, what's happening?

I have a lease right here.

- You have... - The lease.

Russell's about to go through something he's not prepared to go through.

And that's because there's a big remodel that's gonna happen.

And along with the demolition of all these old things,

there's a lot of demolition of a lot of emotions

and lot of history and a lot of story.

And the lease changes that whole dynamic.

If someone was able to come in,

pay me a generous amount of rent every month,

I wouldn't care what they did with the building.

But it would have to be a long-term lease.

What that does is that gives Russell passive income.

That gives him security that I'm in it for the long haul

and that he can count on money that's gonna come in every month, no matter what.

How did you get a copy of it? Did you download it off of the...

The thing that was sent to me, I pushed print.

I tried to push print here. You guys didn't have the cord.

Well, anyways, here is a copy of it.

[Elaine] It's really important to me that I get this done

Because it also helps me shore up

the longevity of the business because it's a long-term lease.

Just so we're clear, this is for the Shepherd's Inn,

so the 11,000 square foot brick and mortar structure.

So, the hotel, the deli, the kitchen and the grocery store.

The building, the whole thing.

- It's just for the building itself. - Yep.

And the terms are $10,000 a month starting in January.

The free rent is the time in between now and January 1.

Delay when you pay.

I don't have any money, and I cannot afford rent on this building.

In signing this lease, it means I can pay Russell.

Once we start making money, he starts getting rent.

Commercial leasing is completely different than renting a home.

There's all kinds of commercial leases.

But this is not uncommon at all.

When you don't have cash on hand, always negotiate paying later.

- Okay. - And when the lease terminates,

- it has options to renew, okay? And, then, yeah... - I like it.

I'm willing to try something new.

I'm putting all my faith in Elaine because I see her visions,

and I'm all in. I think it's a good idea.

- I'm excited. This is a big step for us. - Yes, it is.

[Elaine] The reason I did a five-year lease three times,

that guarantees the Stone family $120,000 a year

for the first five years, the second five years and the third five years.

Being in business is risky.

Crossing the street's not 100% safe.

I mean, driving a car is not 100%... Nothing's 100% safe.

What are you risking? Money?

You can't make it the object. It's not the object. It's the reward.

So, to get to that reward, you have to put something into it,

you have to take calculated risks.

- I wanna celebrate. Do you wanna celebrate? - Yes.

- Can we have a glass of wine? - Yes.

Thank you for this. I'll make a copy and give it to you.

[kisses]

[whooping]

A month-and-a-half ago, I didn't even know Russell.

And it was all about this million-dollar goal business.

That's all I was, like, focused on, focused on, focused on.

[Elaine] That's so awesome. Oh, my gosh.

But now I've been entrusted with the family jewels.

I've been given their business to bring to a new place.

This is a lot of responsibility.

And I take it on because I know I can do it.

- Here, cheers. - Cheers.

Thank you. Thank you for the lease.

And I hope I can give it the honor and justice that it needs.

I like that. I like a dry chardonnay.

Try to leave that back in as low as you can.

Right, okay.

Just like that.

[Elaine] Finally, it's the first day

that our contractors Dave and Alan are starting.

I'm so excited.

[Elaine] Please don't kill him. He's my favorite contractor.

[laughing]

Now that I've got the SBA loan, it's time to get this done.

The whole inn is gonna get a major makeover.

We're trying to make it look a little bit more contemporary...

By day 90, this place needs to be fully operational.

All the construction contractors gone.

Deli open, grocery store open, coffee store open,

hotel open, and the to-go bar rocking and rolling.

This is the only way I have a shot

at getting to $1 million by completing each one of these tranches.

I wanna knock a hole in that wall and pull that thing out

because this has been going on since I've showed up here.

We literally have a million things to do on a shoestring budget,

and that is so overwhelming.

I've got workers ripping out carpet,

throwing out couches, dragging out appliances,

taking out heaters and heating units and sinks.

Just straight-up trash.

- [man] I'm glad I drank that Red Bull. - Right?

[Elaine] Because it took so long to get the money, it put us way behind.

We're going a million miles an hour, and we've gotta get everything

smoothly moving forward.

Delays can jeopardize our opening date, which is just unacceptable.

There's no time to waste when you have a schedule like we're trying to meet.

[Monique] The Bite of Black business event is just days away.

But right now I'm going to meet with Michael Brown.

We spoke over the phone the other day and I gave him a soft pitch,

which then led to this in-person meeting

with him and his business partner Don Hyun.

They're local Tacoma investors

who fund businesses owned by women and minorities.

- Hey, Monique. - Hey, how are you?

We're good. How you been?

It's gonna be so strange to be on the opposite side of this table.

But to get Rooted going...

Nice to meet you.

...I will absolutely need additional investments,

and I am hoping they buy into my vision.

- Oh, this is beautiful. - [Michael] Yeah, thanks.

Yeah, so our office is kinda below here.

We have a little boathouse we work out of.

- Oh, nice. - And then, this is kinda the place, though.

- Cheers. - Cheers.

You gotta let Don know what this is, though.

-[laughing] -So, this... Okay. This one is...

This one is ginger, carrot, blueberry, cherry

and a little dash of mint just to blend it all.

[Don] Well, cheers.

- [Monique] Cheers. [laughs] - Yeah.

It's good.

[Monique] For me, wellness came into my life

a few years ago when I just wasn't feeling well.

And so I started cold-pressing ginger and turmeric.

And it literally changed my life.

So I wanna share that.

You know, I came from L.A. to Tacoma.

And one of the biggest issues in Tacoma is health equity.

And considering now that we are, just as a nation,

at the most unhealthy we've ever been,

you know, my goal is to try to bring us to as close as...

You know, consuming as close to harvest as possible.

Starting with the juice shots, grocery stores, coffee houses.

And the second phase of it will be trying to reimagine the ice cream trucks.

That's the long-term goal.

And then, you know, the third phase would be franchising it.

From my perspective, retail model space is competitive,

so the fact she's going after it from a different angle is good.

It's COVID right now, so...

I actually have other people on our network

who have taken product that they used to, the traditional route,

and now it's like home delivery,

and they've increased their revenues 2-3X.

So the fact that she's already thinking down those lines,

to kind of circumvent some of the competitive landscape, I think is great.

Have you had conversations with some of the potential clients,

- and they've tried it, and they said, "We'll take this?" - Oh, yeah. Yeah.

- Oh, yeah, yeah. Mmm-hmm. - Great.

- I did that the first week. - Uh-huh.

So, if you had, like, a thousand of these today,

- they'd be gone? - They would be out.

Yes. And if I sell these for $5 a shot,

- my margin is 52%. - Okay.

So, for us, we invest in underrepresented population.

That's a place where we feel passionate about,

and so we've invested in several businesses

that are either run by women or minority-owned ownership.

So we're willing to offer 25K investment for 25% of the business.

- Well, wait a second. - [chuckles]

How do you come up with the formula that you came up with,

the 25 for 25?

[Michael] So, this 25 for 25 idea is like, here's 25k...

It's enough to move the needle.

It's also enough for us to get a feel for each other

and see if you're serious and you're moving down the path.

Yeah.

- I have been struggling with, like, the numbers right now. - [Michael] Mmm-hmm.

Especially since I struggle with, you know, teaching women, in particular,

- to give over 25% of their company. - Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Because what I'm saying is that

- my company is only worth $100,000. - Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

- Clearly, I do need an investment. - Yeah.

But $25,000 for 25% of my company, that's not an option.

[Monique] The biggest thing in business, especially women in business

is we have to be okay with knowing our worth, charging our worth,

and being comfortable with that.

We have to ask for the money.

Women, Black women in particular, still only make 62 cents on the dollar.

Men can walk in a room with a T-shirt and flip-flops on,

and they're getting valuated at millions of dollars.

And so, as a woman, I'm already undervalued,

I'm already, you know, just underserved,

and it's like, "Do I take money right now, or don't I?"

Like, I'm really struggling with that, right?

What percentage of the company for how much? Or what's the valuation?

[Monique] It's definitely more than $100,000.

And so, in order for us to start changing these narratives,

our companies have to be valued higher and better.

If it means I have to struggle a little bit more, then I'll have to do that.

I actually respect what the two of you are doing,

and so I wanted to make sure I had the conversation lightly, not offensively.

No. Well, I mean, it seems like you have a clear vision,

you communicate it really clearly.

You know, you give off this sense of leadership.

- With you in the room, there's a confidence around us. - Right.

"Okay. Hey. Great."

Like, you're probably gonna make something work, you know.

- You know what I mean? - I'm definitely gonna make something work.

- Not probably. - Yeah. [laughs]

I'm definitely gonna make something work.

- Now, that's a fact. - Right. So...

- [laughing] - [Monique] It was so nice to meet...

Do you want me to leave this here or...

- Yeah, yeah. - Are you sure? Okay.

[Monique] As excited as I was about the offer,

I said no to the 25,000 for 25%.

This is a billion-dollar industry

with a trillion-dollar economic input,

so I wasn't willing to bet $100,000 of that. No way.

In real life, me and my business partner, Erica, we do checks of $250,000,

and we still don't get 25% of someone's company.

You know, I'm not willing to do such a large equity stake for anybody.

Just not gonna happen.

So, Rooted's debut is this weekend at the Bite of Black Business.

It's my first opportunity to show that this is absolutely

100% a conscious capital business model.

I need sales, I need buzz, and I need traffic.

This has to be a proof of concept for potential investors

proving that this is more than a $100,000 company.

I'm building a billion-dollar brand.

Oh, my God.

Well, this isn't gonna be that hard to fix.

It's amazing.

Russell has been using the garage at the back of Shepherd's Inn as storage.

It's one of the cutest little buildings.

And it's a storage facility.

I think it's gonna make an amazing, cute little coffee shop.

[Elaine] Can we tear that all out?

Take that whole thing out.

[Elaine] When the warehouse next door fell through, I lost a tranche,

so I changed lanes.

Potentially, a coffee shop could be a faster

off-the ground revenue stream.

So, now I have to-go bar tranche,

hotel-hospitality tranche, coffee shop, tranche.

All of these things are businesses within the business

that all add up to more than $1 million.

More than $1 million.

An average coffee shop in downtown Fresno,

does a quarter-million dollars a year.

One of seven possibilities is gonna get me 25% to my goal.

I've got to get Dave and Alan started on the coffee shop

along with everything else that's going on.

I'm so excited about this building.

[Amanda] All of this stuff is going in the trash.

- [Elaine] Have you gone through that with Russell? - No.

You definitely don't want to throw something away without asking him,

'cause you have no idea what he's got up there.

Russell and his family are both very attached to the inn emotionally.

He keeps parts to stuff.

He can't let go of things. Look at this place.

Just looks like Sanford and Son.

Hopefully I can take some of the junk that's in here and earn some money with it.

- Um, so... - [objects clattering]

So, if there's anything in there you need...

We just need the propane tank and the floor drain.

And that little stock pot burner.

Everything else go... [mimics whooshing] Gone.

[Elaine] Okay. Everything goes.

Wait, what's that thing up there in the back?

That's a fancy coffee-making machine backed there in the corner.

So it might work.

- [Elaine] This big, huge one right here? - Yeah.

It might look cool in your coffee store.

[Elaine] It's like it's meant to be.

Okay, so we'll keep the coffee machine,

- the propane tank... - Yep.

- ...the floor drain. - Floor drain of what?

- This is the floor drain. - Okay, got that.

- 'Cause we're gonna drop it right in here. We need one. - Okay.

[Elaine] I've seen hundreds of construction jobs, thousands of problems,

and all different kinds of budgets throughout my career.

Then, out here is the old deep fryer.

So, this thing is making me crazy.

I'm having to rely on my skillset from when I was very, very young.

On the ground, no money, trying to create something out of nothing.

[Elaine] I don't want to even touch it. It smells, like, so bad.

- Here goes Super Dave, just checking it out. - Ooh!

- Is it... Is it... - Oh, God. [laughs]

- Whoa! - Let me see.

- It's, like, half-full. - Ew!

I told you.

- Dave, are you okay? - [Dave retches]

- [Russell laughs] - [coughing]

[Dave] Oh, I can't believe you guys already recovered from that. I'm done.

- Talk about it. - [Dave exhales]

[Russell laughs]

[Elaine] Obviously, the fryer has to go.

Do you have key to the lock on the door?

- Nope. - Okay.

I've never seen this lock before in my life.

[Elaine] In the corner, behind everything, is an old barn door.

You can see the hardware.

I wanna see if it opens, or if it's functional.

[Elaine] What is it?

[Elaine speaks indistinctly]

- The light! - [Elaine] How adorable is that?

[Elaine] This is a completely separate entrance.

That gives the coffee shop great visibility.

And because of the great visibility, we have a signage opportunity.

And that is a slam dunk.

Right here, like, having a cup of joe.

I know! The cars coming, and just bringing them their coffee.

- This is gonna be so nice. - What a gem.

Look at it. This building is so pretty.

- Wow! - Thank you.

- It really is just... - [Amanda] So cute.

[Elaine] There's a lot of red brick.

I'm honestly thinking about painting it white

and then put the Shepherd's Inn thing up on top of it, that's inside.

[Elaine] There's not a month left,

and I've got a lot of work that I need to add to Dave's list.

And what I'm really worried about

is he's gonna lose it with me and not wanna do it, and not wanna help me.

It's a lot to ask.

I mean, my $150,000 is so stretched,

but I need another tranche to get to my million-dollar valuation

and to ensure that the whole place thrives for a really long time.

- That will look good. - Right?

- That will look really cool. - Uh-huh.

[Elaine] Yeah.

[Grant] I got myself some seeds.

I'm coming off a fresh $10 million loss

in a real estate deal that I had in my hand

in a game that I know better than anyone else.

So, now I gotta go for two other things that I know how to do...

Promotions and cars. I'm running out of time.

So, I'm on my way to Southwest Motors.

One of the biggest car dealers in the state of Colorado.

They could use some marketing formula that they're not doing,

which is the coulda, woulda, shoulda.

You could do the follow-up, you know you should do the follow-up,

and if you would do the follow-up, you'd make more sales.

There are well-known business people here in town. I've been here a long time.

I like to do 2,500 to 5,000 phone calls and emails a month for him.

I gotta get my game on, my energy up.

You can make money or you can make excuses, but you can't make both.

Southwest Motors.

Look, I racked up my first million dollars in the auto industry, okay?

I was marketing for car dealerships.

This is the way for me to pivot back to my roots.

I'm choosing an option that's familiar to me,

therefore operating from a position of power.

- How's it going? Good to see you. - [Grant] Thank you.

- Appreciate your time. Yeah. - We can go upstairs and talk.

[Grant] I'm ready to close a big client, my first one,

and prove to Pueblo that Louis Curtis is the new badass in this town.

- So, I appreciate you making time for me. I really do. - Yeah. Absolutely.

You know, I'm new to Pueblo, so I'm trying to make connections

with people that are doing stuff.

Well, the thing about Pueblo is, we're a small town.

If you treat people good, they'll treat you good.

What advice would you have for me, coming here to start a business?

To do the things that businesses don't do, like the calls, the emails,

pick up the phone, interrupt the sequence,

call them and say, "Hey, Mike wants to know why you didn't want the truck."

A lot of small businesses need that, so there's a market for it.

Breaking into it is hard because most of those businesses have small budgets.

- And we spend almost exactly $100,00 in advertising. - Uh-huh.

We try hard not to waste money,

but it sure would be nice not to spend that much money on advertising.

[Cardone] Look, Mike spending 100 grand on advertising,

I want that money in my pocket.

I just gotta convince him to hand it over to me

So, you keep 700 cars. How many do you sell a month?

We sold 430 in 30...

Damn. Is that all Pueblo?

- No, it's out of state. - Or you sold out...

- We sold them all over the place. - Uh-huh.

How do you stay in touch with all those people?

Do you, like...

Steven runs Internet. He has a girl that does an awesome job.

That helps him. And the two them are staying on top of people.

Look, I'm sorry.

- Anyway... But we'll talk to you about it. - Okay.

- Good talking to you. - Hey, thank you. I appreciate your time, okay.

Appreciate it. Pleasure seeing you again.

- I'll give you... Thank you. - All right.

More often than not, I have failed.

My idea didn't work.

Doesn't mean it cost me money. It means I didn't sell it. I didn't get it done.

I didn't get it through. He never called me back.

We didn't put the deal together.

While my businesses have never failed,

I have failed 10,000 times in front of customers.

But I'm not used to getting shut down that fast, that quick.

This has really, really...

Really connected me with what the everyday family goes through

on a daily basis.

Where's my next paycheck coming from?

How do I manage the little bit of money I have?

How do I find time for my kids?

How do I find time for my wife?

How do I find time to take care of myself...

and then get up the next day and do it all over again?

I got so much to do.

I can't breathe.

I'm saving my bananas 'cause they're going bad.

They make good protein drinks.

I want my Kona deal back, guys.

I know I didn't get Konaka,

but the truth is, Konaka put me in front of a lot of people

I wouldn't have been in front of otherwise.

I wish my business with real estate in this city was successful,

but I need to move on.

I need to keep working on the promotion business.

Reeling in those clients.

How do I make banana bread?

I'm not trying to just build a million-dollar business in 90 days.

Remember, I'm trying to build an empire in 90 days.

I told Matt I wanted to get ten to 20 local businesses that would hire us.

[Siri] ...cups all-purpose flour.

Oh, [bleep].

- I need flour. - ...with a teaspoon of baking soda.

Yeah, I ain't doing that [bleep].

So you gotta have a lot of ideas.

I just know most of them are bad.

That's where I think I need to land

ten-twenty clients paying me $5,000-$10,000 a month

to get to that million-dollar valuation.

I'm the best.

The best in the world.

I've lost four deals.

You're not gonna know I lost those four deals,

because the one deal I hit, it's gonna be, "Wow!"

I'm gonna talk about the one deal I did, not the four deals I lost.

So wrong I'm being put through this, dude.

Torture. It's [bleep] torture.

And what are you having for dinner?

Cauliflower.

This is gonna cost me $1 million if I fail,

but as an entrepreneur, as a business owner, as a household,

you have to be willing to go through failures.

[sighs]

I'm gonna get my own cooking show out of this.

Watch. You guys think I'm kidding.

[Elaine] The little coffee shop is a jewel in the rough.

It's finally starting to get cleaned out,

and every time I look at it, it just looks better and better.

The upstairs hotel, although it's moving slowly, it is moving along.

I'm trying to keep the downstairs as construction-free as possible.

That way I can take meeting and I can keep things moving forward.

Chris will finally, eventually, I hope,

get his deli equipment and grocery store equipment installed, soon.

Hey, you guys.

- Elaine. - Hi.

James and Sam are kind of the website e-commerce team.

We hired them to build a website

so that it would be up and running

when Shepherd's Inn finally opens its stores.

That being said, I was able to negotiate a great deal

whereby I only gave them a $5,000 deposit

and I get a backend deal with them on sales.

- So, we got all the pages up now. - Okay.

All the tabs are up, they're all linking back to each other.

Each website is going to the other website.

[Elaine] We're building this website, and it got me thinking.

We should definitely put all these tranches under one name, one brand.

We really need something new and fresh.

Shepherd's Inn is great, but we've come up with this new idea.

Shep's Club.

'Cause it's short, and it's easy to remember, and it's relatable.

Who doesn't want to be a club?

I'm gonna kinda link them all. It's gonna be our Shep's Club.

[clattering]

Hold on one second, okay?

[bleep]

[Elaine] Hey, you guys.

[bleep]

Tiny, stop sanding.

Chris? Don't go in there...

Chris?

Dave, Alan!

I'm asking you nicely not to go in the kitchen.

When I say, "Don't go in the kitchen," don't go in the kitchen.

Go... Get out of there.

The contractor is on his way.

Are you [bleep] kidding me?

He's like a five-year-old.

It's not a negotiable thing. Get out of the kitchen. Get out of the kitchen.

- [Howell] Even though cem... - Get out of the kitchen.

[Howell] Okay. Cement's falling from the ceiling.

You stay out of the kitchen.

The whole thing's gonna come down.

I'm making hand-written note cards for all the amazing people

who have been so kind to me since I've been here.

To let them know how much I appreciate it.

[cell phone ringing]

Hello.

[man over phone speaking]

Yeah, speaking.

Hey, Aaron. How are you?

My plan is to give Rooted a huge debut to the public

at the Bite of Black Business event in just five days.

I'm doing the Bite of Black Business at Wright Park on Sunday.

And, you know, everyone else is gonna have, like, basic tables,

and I wanted to, like, kind of create a modern farmhouse vibe

as I'm selling the juice shots.

Ooh, I like how you're thinking, Aaron, already.

You are inspiring me right now.

I was gonna say, "Can I stop by in about 30 minutes?"

Okay. Thank you so much.

Okay. Bye-bye.

- Hi! - Hi. Oh, you look so pretty.

Oh, that's very nice of you.

- Hi! - I wasn't really prepared.

I don't look like you, but... Mwah.

Sloan is one of my investors and advisors.

She's helping me gather materials for my Rooted pop-up

at the Bite of Black Business event this weekend.

I want to maximize foot traffic around this pop-up

so we can increase sales of our wellness shots.

This brand, Rooted, has to be a fun brand.

And that's what's will be new for people, and feel different.

And so that's what I was telling them,

like, I can't just show up with a table. I'm not doing that.

- [Sloan] Right. - That's not gonna work for me.

There is going to be a ton of other businesses and vendors

at this Bite of Black Business event,

so Rooted needs to stand out.

Save some electricity.

Wait. Is Jessica still here?

I have something for you.

Have you met Sloan?

You have to meet...

- Sloan is one of my investors. - [Sloan] Hi, Jessica!

- You look familiar. Nice to see you. - [Jessica] Welcome.

- Here, babe. - Thank you!

- I'm just so grateful to you, and just so humbled, like... - You're so sweet.

- Thank you. That was so nice. - From day one,

instantly, she took me around, introduced me to, like...

She's just been so important to this process,

so I'm just appreciative. Thank you.

[Jessica] Thank you!

[Monique] To have such a supportive group of women

not just support financially,

but help me in resources and network...

- Thank you. I'll let you know how it goes. - Thank you. Nice to meet you.

[Monique] ...and help me align myself with the different things that I need

is really important. It's priceless. There is no price tag for it.

I love this.

These small business owners are so nice here.

It has warmed my heart to meet people that put humanity first.

[Sloan] And it is after hours.

[Monique] Right. Oh, yeah. Exactly.

I'm hoping that Aaron will create some cool pieces

that draws attention to my pop-up on Saturday

and become part of my Rooted brand experience.

- Oh, man, this so amazing. Thank you for having us. - Yeah. Welcome.

I'm so excited right now. [chuckles]

So, my shop is really messy. Stella.

- [clicking tongue] I'm sorry. - Aw, Stella.

- [Sloan] It's not a mess. This is not a mess. - [Aaron] It's a mess.

- It's so messy. I appreciate you saying that. - [Monique] It's not, Aaron.

This is like where creative people can get thinking in here.

[laughs] So, this is a piece that we had at stocklist.

- Yes. Okay. - Off the wall.

- [Sloan] Yeah. - Yes.

Opens in the back, you know. It's dusty, but...

[Sloan] Hi! Hi!

You know, visually, you could build a simple stand for it.

- This piece right here... - [Monique] Yes, you get it. You get it.

- Yeah. - ...is also something we could work with.

Oh, wow, this is a cool toolbox... Chest.

Wow.

Oh, this is so amazing.

We used them at farmers' markets and...

You know, this is... Like, this is perfect.

How much would this stuff cost to rent?

Uh, it would cost you nothing.

- What? What? - Yeah.

Listen... Dude...

People starting up their businesses need a lot of assistance.

For other business owners to offer that, you know, it's really important.

- [Monique] I appreciate that. - Yeah. Absolutely.

- [Monique] Thank you. Yeah. - Yeah.

[Monique] I'm so excited that Aaron is loaning me three panels,

an antique dresser and a large display case.

- Thank you. I'm gonna give you a hug. - Oh.

[Monique] This kind of support is so amazing,

proving more and more people in Tacoma

are believing in me, and my vision for Rooted.

Your shop is beautiful.

- [Sloan] Yeah. - Thank you for saying so.

[Monique] Thank you. Thank you for having us.

You're welcome. Thanks for coming.

[Alan] Okay, cement's falling from the ceiling.

You stay out of the kitchen, the whole thing's gonna come down.

Okay.

I was sitting in the meeting and I heard a really loud crash and break.

Nobody goes in the kitchen.

Hey, Dave.

Of course, I immediately turn my head,

and I saw the little bit of dust.

And I was like, "No!" I knew.

I knew. I've experienced it before.

Did all this fall down?

Yeah. And the problem is, they... Don't go in.

Please.

I know it's an old building and there was a leak

that had been in there probably many, many years ago.

That leaked, and they fixed it

and it leaked, and they fixed it.

So in this case at Shepherds Inn,

the ceiling in the kitchen is an inch thick of cement.

Do it, like, but I don't see how

you can shore it without taking it down.

You can't.

- What a bummer. - [Elaine] And it's so heavy.

Any time you start to vibrate and shake something,

you're going to have things

that should have been fixed, come apart.

And if the ceiling were to fall down,

It would destroy everything in the kitchen,

and probably put anybody in there in the hospital.

The most important thing to me is that nobody gets hurt.

Nice little tiny itty baby warning.

And there was no one in there when it happened.

- Thank God. - No one's taking it seriously.

But that's the whole ceiling.

No, that's bad. No, that's bad.

It's for sure all the way over there.

Let's get everything out of here and cover everything.

Dave and Alan figured out what the problem was,

and they fixed it upstairs.

And basically, this is going to be

a reverse shoring installation,

which will save us from having to take the whole ceiling out.

Essentially, what we're going to do

is run two by fours across

and then support them laterally

so that the ceiling is supported.

It's a really good plan, and it's the only way we can afford to do it.

Why don't you just throw another one there?

Here's sixty capped in there.

I'm not going to let the ceiling interrupt our schedule at all.

[Alan] They took the shower valve apart,

but we can fix the problem.

Turn the water back on, make sure nothing leaks.

- [Dave] All right. - [Alan] Okay.

Now we got it fixed, so we can correct the problem downstairs.

Make it safe and secure.

- [Dave] Excellent. - [Alan] Yeah, right.

Hey, don't go in the bathroom right now,

until we get this done.

[Elaine] Can you board up that bathroom, please. And lock it.

- Yeah. - I don't want you to come through.

It's seriously not okay.

Okay, So let me ask you this, Scott,

because I was looking at the cases that I wanted

and I'm like, "Yeah, we'll just take those."

No matter how frustrated I got with the Chris situation,

Russell and Chris are such good friends,

and I'm in too deep, and I'm...

I've got too much invested in Chris to pull the plug.

It's maddening.

It's infuriating.

The biggest issue is that when I give him

something to do, he not only takes it on,

he takes it on with enthusiasm,

but then he doesn't do it.

And then when I ask him about the progress on it,

he basically tells me it's coming along

when he hasn't even started it.

That is a big problem,

if you can't rely on someone

who's told you, "You can rely on me."

Okay, Elaine, can I patch Scott through?

He says he's got some good news.

[Chris] Elaine was really, really upset with me.

She chewed me out.

Instead of getting hurt or getting angry,

I used it as a learning tool.

[Scott speaking over phone]

Perfect.

Oh, my gosh. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Chris has an uncanny ability

to make you feel like he's got everything under control.

And then he tells you that he's getting it done

when he has no plan to get it done.

And this is very frustrating.

It's extremely frustrating.

- [Scott] Okay. - Okay. Thank you. Bye.

- All right, we're getting it. - Oh. What a relief.

All right, Kenny and I are gonna haul garbage.

Reward exceptional, not average.

I have a very long history of being underwhelmed.

If someone exceeds expectations,

that's when you get a cookie.

We would all be running around giving people praise

for not getting anything done.

And some people work like that

because people have brought them up that way.

But it doesn't work in the real world.

If you hire somebody, you're hired to do a job.

If they don't do the job, they get fired,

and if they do do the job, they get paid.

Now, if someone does more than that scope of work

and exceeds what you've given them in terms of the trade value,

that's when you get the atta boy.

That being said, I'm so [bleep] happy

we finally have deli equipment.

Thank God.

Whoo!

So this is what I'm going to borrow from Aaron.

So I want to create, like a fake bars, kind of, concept...

- Okay. - [Monique] ...with a modern...

Tomorrow is the Bite Of Black business event at Wright Park,

and this is going to be Rooted's coming out party.

There's a lot to do to properly present Rooted

for all of the people that are expected to show up.

Jessica is a friend of Aaron's,

so she's here today to support me,

while I work out the details

for the Bite of Black business event.

[Jessica] I would do, like...

- So people can see into you. - Oh.

And you're drawn in and attracted to whatever you're doing in here,

and see your cute self and...

[Monique laughs] I'm so excited right now.

- Thank you for helping me with this. - Of course, you're welcome.

I still have so much more to do.

Okay. The pop up is handled,

and now it's on to the wellness shots.

To make the hundreds I must have for tomorrow,

I need a bigger, better commercial juicer.

And luckily, I found a used one online.

It's only $200, which is a steal.

I'm driving 90 minutes away to Issaquah to pick it up now.

Hey, Alex. How are you?

I'm good. I'm actually getting ready for tomorrow.

Alex Fardell is the provider of the produce for Rooted.

So all of my produce is three hours away?

Okay, Let me think about this,

because I actually have to have

all the juice shots made tonight.

Plus, I have to pick up a new juicer.

Okay. Thanks, Alex.

[sighs]

So now I don't have my order.

This is a huge step back.

Not getting produce from Alex

means paying 36 to 40% more for it at a grocery store.

I need to make hundreds of juice shots

for the thousands coming to the Bite of Black business.

Man, I sure hope this goes good.

Which means, I hope I get some money.

Now that my real estate deal is blown up and imploded,

I have to focus all my energy

on building the promo business.

I was doing research and found a company

called Advantage Home Mortgage

as a potential new client for our promo company.

How you doing?

Good to see you, buddy.

[Matt] Good to see you as well.

[Grant] So I called to set up a meeting.

It turns out Matt Smith knows the guy Vern,

so I'm going to meet with him today.

Verb Larson.

This is probably the... I would say

the number one mortgage company in Pueblo.

And they just dominate the mortgage side of the world.

Good guy.

- You think he'll do some with us? - Yeah.

- On a scale from one to ten, what are you? - Nine.

- You think it's a nine? - Yeah.

But I think that about everything.

[Grant] I need a win here.

I need a win. And I need to win bad.

And I need to show Matt that we can deliver.

- Vern Larson. - How are you doing?

- Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you.

-We're going back there, I think -A little more room.

[Grant] I told Matt I'd be the brains behind the business.

I'd be the arm, the strength, the power and the glow.

All he had to do was put up the money.

So the stakes are higher than ever.

I got a fresh haircut.

I'm feeling good. I'm feeling positive.

But I'll tell you, I ain't leaving here without a client.

It's crazy year in real estate.

[Vern] It's a crazy year. Yeah, we're doing well.

That's what he was saying on the way over here.

How much you've done.

And you're the king of mortgages in Pueblo and...

Oh, yeah, he is.

If there is a king, it's this guy.

So long story short, Lewis is coming from LA

- Okay. - Lewis is probably the most

outside the box thinker I've ever met in my entire life,

in marketing, in production and so many different things.

- Uh huh. - And so what we do is,

we do what you can't do, don't do and never get around to doing.

Take care of all your social media pages,

every one of them, including the ones you don't use, or have.

We create video content

and written content around that.

- All right. - And basically put your name on it.

Okay.

So the place to go is to start telling stories, not ads.

Stories about your company,

about how you joined with re-Max.

What's the average price of a home here?

What's the average loan?

How you can get one done in 30 minutes.

How you get an approval.

We would put all those stories together.

- Okay. - And you would just basically,

like, this is what I want my story to be

and give it to us to do that.

I mean, you're not doing a lot right now, marketing wise.

- No. - [Matt] 'Cause you used to be on TV all the time.

His commercials used to play every day on Facebook,

used to be all over the place.

[Vern] Yeah, we did a lot of, you know,

just off the wall, like funny stuff.

Rememberable stuff, I didn't...

Never had a huge budget to work with, so...

So what do you think? Is this something you'd want to do?

- Hmm? - To a point, you know.

How much money did you make last year?

- Me? - Yeah.

I can't say that.

You told him, I mean...

You tell him, you can tell me.

So what? He just spends five grand a month,

twelve months in a row, spend sixty grand.

- Yeah. - Sixty grand a year to do this right.

Ugh.

[Grant] Hey, you want the sale?

You've got to shake him up.

You got to wake him up.

But mostly you've got to ask hard questions.

You've got to take those scary questions

and put them right in his face.

Look, I've been in 50,000 meetings in my career, at least,

with guys just like this. Nice guy, hears you out.

But it's nearly impossible to sign him up.

He's a lookie loo. He's a waiter, a thinker.

He's a putter upper, until you put him on the hot seat

and you ask him hard questions.

When you ask hard questions,

you find out who you're dealing with.

- Just five grand a month. - Ugh.

To be everywhere, on every channel

- that you know will work just longer than TV will. - To make you money.

We would pretty much take over

all of your content, plus new videos

and new content on every, you know, weekly basis, for the year.

Right.

Um...

All right.

Just... Let's do it.

Welcome to the team.

Every day I feel a little more comfortable

moving forward on this business

that we're adventuring off to.

[Grant] I came into this town with $100, man,

I picked up 60K today.

That's strong.

When I come out here to buy a house,

- I'll do my deal with you. - Better.

[Grant] That's what I'm talking about.

First guy to sign on the dotted line to give us the dollars.

But I'm excited, they're excited,

we're off to a great start,

but we need to keep momentum going.

We've got to find the ones

that will pay us, that will sign up,

that will become clients and part of our portfolio.

And the faster we can do that, the more successful we are

at picking the right people that will play with us

is going to accelerate the speed at which the company can grow.

Good way to start a day, sloppy as it was.

Sloppy, sloppy win.

Okay,

[Monique] I literally have to problem solve right now.

Like, I have so much to work out.

So many things are not happening right, right now.

I don't have my product. I don't have the juicer.

Like, the last thing I care to talk about is the problems.

I have to actually solve them right now.

But I have a solution,

and that's what I've got to do.

I'm literally going to have to go out here tonight,

find a store in Issaquah

and buy up every watermelon, ginger root

and blueberry that they've got.

But my immediate plan is to get the decorations

because time is ticking.

Hey, Alex.

You are amazing.

The good news is Alex says he can get me my produce.

Yeah, and I'm going. We're going there anyway,

so I can get them when I come up.

Okay. Thanks, Alex.

The better news,

he was coming back towards Tacoma

from Entiat and can meet me

in the same spot in Issaquah,

which is where I was going to meet

the lady with the juicer.

Oh, man. I'm just gonna go grab this from this lady,

and then I'll be right back.

She's sitting over, she's parked over here somewhere.

- Oh, yeah. - Oh, I see her.

Alex is literally going the extra mile

to fix his company's mistake.

It shows that he's an honorable business person

who truly cares about his customers and clients.

Those are exactly the kind of people and companies

I like aligning myself with.

- Well, let me... - [woman speaking]

I trust you. Yes, ma'am. [laughs]

[indistinct chatter]

Thank you.

So essentially, this is your mint, sixty count.

- Okay. - This was the eleven count watermelon.

- Okay. - Then obviously, we've got a bunch more cases.

Okay, I got some cash for you too, so I can pay you.

Okay, so there's my forty for supply.

- The other ten for the other stuff. - Yeah.

Okay. Perfect. Thank you.

- I'm so appreciative. - Yeah.

[Monique] I bought my juicer.

You know what I thought about is,

getting another cheaper one.

God forbid something were to happen to this one,

or, you know, just anything,

then I just can't not have juice shots made.

Geez. Look at this rainbow.

This is why I don't stress in life,

like, I mean, I get overwhelmed.

That's different.

But I don't give up.

Look at that. It just stopped raining and the sun is out.

Big old, beautiful rainbow.

It's like no matter what that's about to happen,

gonna make the best of it.

That's just what the reality is,

that when you're a small business owner,

as much as you want things to go

exactly how you think they should,

they don't, just got to go with the flow.

[Elaine] We're finally getting the refrigeration equipment delivered,

and that is critical to opening the deli.

Thank you so much for being, like, on time.

No worries.

[Elaine] I tasked Chris with finding and ordering

all the refrigeration equipment

for the deli and the grocery store.

The deli cases were so much easier to get

because they were new.

Because it's new, I got it sooner.

It was more than I wanted to spend.

But the used stuff was not an option.

We have everything in there.

We'll uncrate out here

so we don't make an entire mess in there

and we'll just take one down at a time

and it's pretty tight squeeze through these doors

about to go straight in, all the way back, and then to the left.

So exciting.

[Elaine] So the deli cases are where we're gonna display

all the meats and cheese and everything.

They'll be full in the back.

Underneath, behind the bar,

will be the sandwich prep stations.

The deli is going to probably be

the most profitable center of Shep's Club,

and because of that, it's going to be well worth

the investment that we spent

on these new sandwich stations.

Wow, check it out.

Those are beautiful.

Oh, it's so nice.

Chris really came through on this task

and got me what I needed.

Now he's gotta secure

all of these grocery store used units,

and once he gets those done, I've gotta haul ass

and get all my construction done

and get this baby open.

Are you in? You loaded?

[Anthony] We're unloaded we're unboxed.

So three sandwich stations.

[Elaine] These definitely look too tall.

Do you have your tape measure?

- I don't. - [speaks indistinctly]

These are six foot, seventy two inches.

[Elaine] No, I want to measure the height under the bar.

- They won't go underneath. - No, they're supposed to go underneath.

They need to go under here.

That was the whole plan.

It's so tight behind the bar that the sandwich stations

have to slide underneath it.

If they don't slide underneath it,

we won't have enough room to work.

Let's see what we're talking about here.

Let's see how much of a problem we have.

About a inch and a half. [bleep]

Chris bought equipment that doesn't fit.

Honestly, he must've measured it incorrectly.

These units are not returnable.

So somehow I've got to make it work.

I'm not sure if we can get smaller casters.

I don't know if we can lower them some other way.

Maybe just take the bottom off.

At this point, what I need to do is solve the problem.

We need about an inch and a half to two inches to get under there.

- I just need to figure it out. - Okay.

- To make sure they're going to fit. - Fit underneath.

So you've got, you've got about...

You need a little bit of space, you know.

Chris is my right hand person,

and I cannot solve all problems on my own.

But he does not understand schedule.

He literally gets out of his lane

and completely forgets what the other hand was doing.

It's driving me crazy.

With this not having stuff is really seriously bad.

I can deal with the budget,

I can deal with a lot of things,

but the hiccups, the not doing what you said

you were going to do have huge consequences.

And I cannot afford to be slowed down like this.

It needs to go all the way in, or it won't work.

[indistinct]

[Elaine] On top of managing the 11,000 square foot remodel,

I'm realizing that I have to much closer,

much, much closer manage Chris.

And I'm really starting to wonder

if he's the liability

getting to my million dollar valuation.

Chris is just imploding on me.

This is so weird.

It was a mad rush to get everything I need

for the event tomorrow.

And now I'm getting started juicing later than I wanted to.

Thousands will be at Wright Park,

but my strategy is to make only 200 shots so that I sell out.

Now I just have to figure out

how to use this new commercial juicer.

I'm so confused.

Okay.

[object clattering]

[bleep]

This is not straight.

Tomorrow is about selling some shots, right?

It's about introducing the brand.

It's about people seeing me now as Rooted.

What it feels like to me is that after tomorrow

we can then move on to, like, the real phase.

I actually feel like tomorrow

I will meet some people who, like,

do want to take some time

to be a part of a startup company in a major way.

I don't know about this one.

Let's see how this one works.

It doesn't work.

Yo, I... Uh-huh.

No, it doesn't work for real.

I'm being so serious right now.

I need to figure that out right now.

Can we just cut for a second so I can...

I wanted to test it, and now I did, so...

I'm learning all types of things tonight.

Oh, my God. Are you all serious right now?

Business lesson.

Like, leave me alone with this right now.

I'm literally... I'm trying to figure this stuff out.

[scoffs] Business lesson.

Y'all sound crazy right now.

This is like my... This is too much right now.

You all understand, I have a lot at stake tomorrow.

All this production stuff is too much for me to consume.

And like, I literally have no help right now.

You all have no idea. I'm so tired.