Welcome my fellow extraordinary Americans in today’s show, we have our guest, Michael Hinkle. Michael is a very successful and experienced Navy veteran, serial entrepreneur, CEO, keynote, and podcaster. He’s the president of Skill Mill, CEO of Anchor 907, and the Co-host of the award-winning Podcast diapers and deployments he served 31 years and retired as a command Master Chief for Medical Forces Atlanta. In his role, he executed oversight of medical, dental, and other health care services to approximately 1,000,000 patients via. 26,000. Staff and an annual budget of $1.3 billion across 100 hospitals, branches, clinics, and medical faculties in the eastern United States, Europe, and the Middle East 

He has founded and co-founded four companies in the past three years including a defense contracting company, a real estate development company, an HR technology company, and a fishing apparel company quickly turned into a consulting company. His latest venture is. In Homer, AK. He and another Navy veteran are building a workforce housing campus that will House 120 workers. The campus is on track to get equipment for the 2023 summer tourist season. 

Michael grew up very poor and was the first person in his family to graduate high school and then college. He fought against the odds, served his nation, and embodies the pioneering, innovative, and entrepreneurial spirit. That makes us extraordinary Americans, and I’m honored to have him on this show. Michael, are you there?  

I am here, my friend.  

Michael, I’m doing good.  It’s really an honor to have you on this podcast. Like, I’m really glad that you took the time. To do this.  

Well, I love coming on podcasts man. It’s fun. You know, I have my own podcast. I just like the conversational podcast format. I love it.  

So, Michael, I know that you’re a serial entrepreneur. You’re a Navy veteran. You’re a CEO, and you’re a podcaster. Can you tell the audience a little bit more about yourself and your background? And how do you get started?  

Overall, you know, I grew up in a little town called Newtown, WV, and I had two brothers and a sister, you know, four-room house, no indoor plumbing to 8th grade, you know, very modest beginnings. And my cousins came back from … They’d been overseas. They were in the Navy, and I remember being over there. I was 16 years old, and they came back, and they were telling me stories of, you know, going overseas and doing all these crazy things. And they had a little bit of money. And I was like, where’s this recruiter guy, I’m going to need to talk to him. 

So, I joined the Navy at 17. I turned 18 in boot camp and now I have a beautiful wife and two beautiful kids. My oldest is an Auburn grad. My youngest is going to be an Auburn grad that is just an amazing life friend, an amazing life.  

No, that’s awesome. Like, I know I remember. I talked to you once and you told me you were telling me about how you grew up poor. And then, as you went from there to become really successful like you made, you became financially free overall. And then you found it’s all these companies and everything. 

So, can you tell the armies more about your overall strategic goal or vision like the entire transition? From going from 99% to 1% and how did you do that?  

I don’t think I’m in the 1%. I tell you, every day is a struggle with business, and you know that, right? You’re one day away from bankruptcy and business, it Seems like all the time. For me, it was a slow process and mindset change, now I grew up. Go to college, go to the military, get a paycheck, pay your bills, save some money for retirement, grow old, and die. I mean, that’s just kind of. My mindset is right and that’s the way I thought about Money for the longest time. It wasn’t till about four years ago that I started thinking differently about it. How I was going to be, you know, financial independence and financial wealth and we call it generational wealth for your children. Right. And I never thought about that. I never thought I could do that. Anyone can do it, by the way, you just have to have some sacrifices and some goals.

We started a skilled meal with me and my friend Noelle, and that’s really what started me down this path of thinking Man, I can do business. And the more I started talking to people. The more I realized; Money always holds me back. Right, that’s when I always thought I needed money to Start a business in today’s world. Is just not true. You know, my latest project will go Into that later; But I did not have the money for this project. I found the money because I Had a plan. So, if you’re listening, just know that money should not be the reason that you don’t start.  

So, a lot of people in the audience would say that it takes money to make money and all of that, right? What would you tell the people that believe in that monster; it takes money to make money.  

In most statements, right. There’s truth and fiction. If you have money, it’s a hell of a lot easier to make money. Let’s be honest, you know, I can go out and put 75,000 down on a house. The bank pays for the rest. My renters pay for it. You know, if you have money, it’s easy. 

But if you have a good plan, a good business plan, even if you start slow with almost no money, I think a website these days is probably $30 you know a month, and a domain name. Some domain names are $2.00 a year, some are 20. You know you can launch a business in today’s world for a couple of $100. 

So don’t let money be the reason for some things you will need financial backing for if you have some big real estate Deal but Like I said, the latest thing that I’m doing. I had, you know, a serial entrepreneur. You called me and that’s. I guess that’s kind of true. I don’t think of myself that way, but I keep starting businesses. And one of these days is going to be successful, but. I have $0.00 invested in my latest company and it’s going to let you know it’s a multi $1,000,000 company already in a year.

Wow. OK. So, Michael, I have got to let you know that, like, your idea of like, success and really probably different from most people’s idea of success and failure. Like they’re just going to see things differently, and it’s all like a relative term, right? I think most people would see you as relatively successful to them. And but like, yeah, as you’re saying, like, it’s all like a relative. There are always going to be some people more successful than us… 

But Michael, what was it, 1 mindset shift you had in that in the like over the Last four years? That led you to where you are today compared to like all the other years, like when you were just in the military. And like you had the old mindset, what was that ship and when did that happen? 

It really happened after I got out of the military because uh, you know, I had my pension. And here’s an advantage. I have that most Americans do not have. I do have a pension. So, I Have a safety net. So, after I had worked my 31 years and got my pension and was able, you know, I can pay all my bills if I never go to work again. 

So that part of my life is set. So now, I could focus on maybe trying to start a business and creating some wealth in other places. Mind you, I did not pay myself for these businesses forever, and of them, I’m still not paying myself yet, and that’s fine. It’ll pay off later and I’m OK with that.

At that point, I started thinking about building assets and you hear of them your whole life. But the easiest way to describe it is, you know if you have $70,000 and you go buy a new car. And you pay cash for the car, you know, three years later, it’s worth $30,000. Right. And that’s it. But if you put 70,000 down on the House. Borrow the rest of the money from the bank. Someone else rents your house and pays your mortgage. You know, three years from now, the house is going to get your $70,000 back and you go pay cash for the car and you have tax breaks. I mean, all those things, right that everyone knows. I just never thought it was possible for a normal person like me, that’s all. 

Wow, Michael, I mean you Say that everybody knows what most. People don’t know that right now. I mean I’ve talked to a lot of people on my podcast and we always talk like we sometimes get into the conversation about consumer debt and how people are just buying stuff with money that they don’t have to impress people.  

Guilty. I’ve done it.  

No, I know, right? I mean it’s like the 99% mindset, but like the entire part of extraordinary America is to transform the 99% into 1%. 

So, we have to know what the strategy and the way of thinking of the one percenter are. And like right now in the 9% like there is a lot of consumer debt, right, people have become financially enslaved because they are buying the car with this debt and then they have to now go and do jobs and like in order to pay that in order to pay that back. But here you’re thinking of a new way and all of that. 

What would you tell somebody that wants to transition from that way of thinking of just paying directly for the car, then how would they get to that transition point and transform to like what you’re doing right now?  

I will tell you it will not happen by tomorrow. It happens slowly right over time, and you just have to think about money differently. And I’m still guilty, right? I still will go out and buy stuff. Just do not need it. Right. It happens to everybody. 

Just for Christmas, I bought it myself, my wife’s not going to listen to this too later. You know, I’m going to do it. I need a drone. Hell, no. I don’t need a drone. And I got that new Oculus system, right? I don’t need all that stuff, but sometimes I just, you know, you have to have it, but you have to start thinking instead of purchasing a car, what kind of asset could you buy that would make the car payment? Does that make sense?  

Exactly like you’re thinking in terms of assets like most people are thinking in terms of cash instead of assets but like most people are thinking in terms of liability, they’re not, they’re not utilizing debt in order to like create assets that would like to pay for itself and then eventually make them financially free. So that and that’s like it’s like one of the biggest mindsets that I want my audience to know, you know? It is pretty important to this world.  

It’s hard, too, right? So, you’re not going to live forever, and you want to have things, and that’s OK there has to be a balance, right? You can’t. I’ve known people who have $1,000,000 in the bank and they drive an old beat-up car, and they don’t live right and then I know people that live beyond their means which used to be me.

Every person is completely different in this life. That’s short. You really have to do what makes you happy. If buying 70,000. Dollar car and being in debt. Doesn’t stress you out and you never want to create generationally. Don’t let anyone judge you for it, right? But if you do, you’re Gonna have to make some sacrifices. You’re going to have to listen to some podcasts, and watch some YouTube videos. Any education that you want in this world is out there, and it’s free. You can learn anything you want online, so if you want to make this happen, get educated. Your mind’s not going to shift overnight. I used an app called Headway last year. I think the biggest difference for me in the last year was probably that app. My goal was 300 books and short books like 15/20-minute overviews of a book. And I met that in the first part of December. 

So, I did 300 Books and you do it while you’re walking while you’re working out. You just have to constantly feed your mind. It’s like a muscle feeding it the right Information. And it only takes one book. Or one podcast or one person to change your life, but you never know when you’re going to meet him, where you are going to get the book, or where you are going Until it clicks.  

That is, that is so inspirational. I would like to take a look at Blinkist and audible and we can actually like go into that. It’s like an app and then we can read books. Whenever and it just gives all the. Major points and all that. But I agree with you. You have to always be in an education and self-improvement state and always be reading. And knowing more and like listening to more podcasts and all. Of that, because that’s the only way we’re going to get the education necessary to set ourselves Free altogether, yes.

And you know, you talked earlier about success. I’m going to start writing a book. Next year. You know, I compartmentalize success, right? You’re either not as a whole person, you’re either not successful or you are successful. That’s not the way life is. You can be successful in your marriage but not successful in your financial world, right? Or a successful father, but not a successful husband, I mean. You know, in my mind, I compartmentalize different parts of my life as successful and not successful. Overall, I consider myself successful, right? But there are parts of my life that I am not. So, you constantly have to feed your brain.  

No, totally like that’s one of the reasons I brought into the podcast cause you’re seeing both, you’re seeing both the worlds like you’re seeing the world of like the 95 or 99% where you call it and then the world of the one to the 5%. They have different worldviews. And then there’s like, a transition period, which is kind of almost like purgatory. Right.

It’s almost like, these two worlds are separated and then there are pros and cons in each world, in this world, it’s like ignorance is bliss. You don’t know any better, but then there’s like that state in the middle where you’re like, ****. I mean, I need to know more.  There’s a whole other world I Know it’s possible. You know like. I thought it was not possible now. It’s possible, but then you’re not there yet. And you’re in the middle. And now you’re seeing the way 1%ers are living. And then you want that lifestyle, but you don’t have one. 

But then at the same time you like, not quite in the 99% where like you’re like, right in the middle. As you’re in between I know that I’ve experienced that, and What is that experience like for you?  

You know, you know they say your parents get smarter every day. And my dad passed away when I was 30 and Every day he Gets smarter, right? And he used to tell me. They thought differently than normal people around, you know, I guess. But he said you may not ever be happy. Mike and I said what? You know, it’s a horrible thing to say, your son, he said. Well, he said you’re so poor it doesn’t matter. Or so rich, it doesn’t matter. He said, if you get trapped in between, it’s hard to find happiness. Yeah. Whoa, yeah.  

Like that is. So deep 

And for a while I was so poor it didn’t matter. I was pretty happy, and I’ve been in the middle a long time my friend, so I’m going to call myself out.  

Yeah. No, I think that’s one of the reasons I bring it up; Is that because a lot of people like deep down, they’re afraid? They have the fear of success, but they’re afraid of the middle path where, you know, is like the journey of 1000 miles. 

You’re going from one city to another, right? The city that you have, like you’ve known this city your entire life, but you have to get to that other City to expand and improve your life, but now you’re on this journey across this desert and it sometimes feels lonely. The entrepreneurial journey is relatively lonely compared to.  

Oh my God, yes. Every day is a battle, isn’t it?  

Like, what would you tell people that want to make that journey but they’re afraid of, the loneliness that comes with it or that metamorphosis and that uncomfortableness that comes with this entrepreneurial journey?  

I would always tell people to take care of me. Your bills and your family first, right? And if you can afford to go out and do a side hustle, don’t quit your job tomorrow and be like I’m going to be an entrepreneur today. That is not the way life works. As I said, I didn’t pay myself for a long time and I still don’t pay myself mostly now. Right? Sometimes I’ll take some money, but. It’s hard, but it’s worth it, right? You know. You have. If you’ve always wanted to do something. Remember what I said, life is short. You just need to go do it right. Nike “just do it”.  

But that’s so cliche.  

It’s true though, right? I mean, I just. I have to get out of my own way a lot because it’s easy to sit around. And say you’re going to Do stuff and not do it. You know I have. I have gotten things done. I’ve sharp. Sure, you’ve heard of that book. I have folders, right? Right here beside me. And there’s a folder. You know, things one day, folder right and that frigging book I’ve been talking about. Has been in my one-day folder for years. That folder is coming out January 1st, right? 

So, it’s time to quit talking about it. And it’s going to be as simple as picking up a pen or my computer and starting entrepreneurship is no different. I knew this much about business, and you talk about being broke as ****, man. They told you about this when you first entered the military, and of course, I didn’t listen. I paid. I went and bought a Mustang. Right, because every young 19-year-old needs a Mustang with, you know, a fast car with super insurance rates is high and the E1 of that financing is right outside the base and paid like I don’t know 29%. You know, the transmission went out, and had to get a credit card right away to fix the transmission. Had to get tired, so I got a credit card at Sears, and I got into Credit card trouble that quickly. Right. 

And if you’re out there and you’re listening and you’re in that kind of trouble. Slowly dig yourself out. That’s all you can do, day by Day and then you see the light and you just have to chip away at it and then do a side hustle. Man, do ships do Uber? There are so many ways to make 20 bucks an hour that are easy to make. If you have a car that runs, you can make 20 bucks an hour. Right. and how much Netflix are you watching? A week. Multiply those hours by 20. And tell me you can’t start a business or you.  

Can’t get money, but Netflix feels so good. Uber doesn’t.  

Know that choice well. That’s a choice though, right?  

Yeah, I had this exact same conversation I think with another person that I was interviewing, and then, uh, there they told pretty much similar lines. Like if you’re going to do Netflix, you’re not going to be, you’re less likely To be successful, yeah.  

Well, I disagree with that statement, though. Here’s why moderation.  

Right.  

I watch shows with my wife every night. We have a 2-hour window. That’s my time, right? And me and her Sanam. We watched TV. For two hours or so. Now, if you’re sitting down and you’re binging 60 hours a week. My friend, you’ve got to reprioritize your life.  

What you said was so funny.  

It’s true. Hey, we’ve all done it right. How many Saturdays have I spent lying down in my pool watching Football and drinking beer, right? A lot of them. It happens. You have got to have fun. You’re going to make choices if you make a choice that you never want to start a business. You never want to be rich, and you’re going to be happy with your life, and that’s your choice. Then you should be happy with that choice if that’s not the life you know you have. You live the life you’re willing to build, right? Whatever choices you make, you’re going. To make me happy with them and to live. That life. But if you’re not happy where you’re at, you’ve got to make changes.  

No, I mean, I totally agree with that. I’m glad that you said that because yeah, it is needed. To be said. But, Michael, what is the biggest lesson you learned in your entrepreneurial journey? They like the one the number. One top lesson that you learned especially. During the last four years.  

I would just say. Time management. You know, I spent so much time and clear goals I can’t say clear goals enough. If you don’t know where you’re going, you are never going to get there. You’ve heard all these things, right? And everyone’s heard them. 

And then you sit around all day and at the end of the day, you’re like what the hell did I Get accomplished? And you look up and there’s nothing. I have a whiteboard in front of me. There’s nothing on the whiteboard that you said to you. We’re going to get done. Then you accomplished exactly what you set out to do that day. Nothing, right? 

So just have a clear goal. Have time. And be where you are. And I think I said this to you when? We were in Tennessee, right? My motto has always been to be where I am, but I wasn’t good at it, probably until my 40s, right? If I’m at Home watching TV with my wife. I want to be in that seat with her watching television, thinking about work. If I’m at work, I want to be at work. I’m thinking about home. I want to be where I am with my mind focused 100% on where I’m at. That’s hard to do. Took me a long time, but the only way to do that is to be productive when you are at work or when you do have a goal to get that **** done. 

So, when it’s 5:00 o’clock or whenever you want to get off work. Your mind is off work too, not just. The body has clear vision. Get your **** done. And then be where you are.  

Like, it’s like time Management is completely true, right? You have to manage your time in a certain way. But it’s so difficult to do it, especially when you’re transitioning from, you know, like doing like a career job and like, like a lot of people have difficulty with managing their time because it’s.  

I do.

Because it’s all about discipline, right? And like, that’s like the ‘ key to success, right? It’s like you have to be disciplined and to be structured, you have got to get things done in a certain period of time. And like most people, they don’t have That level of discipline to do that.  

I don’t have some days right I think everyone got to for most days. I just want to move in order to move forward. You have to have a goal and you have to have a vision and you have to manage your time effectively and clear your mind.  

So, Michael, what was the greatest challenge you had to face in a while like you were working on your business and how did you overcome it?  

My greatest challenge was me. I call it laziness or just ineffectiveness. Just not doing the work that it took, really. To get things done. OK, goals, not smart goals and kind of justice chipping away at the days instead of grinding at the days. if you Want to make time or you want to make money or whatever it is. And you have. A clear vision of when you want that. It’s probably going to happen if you don’t. I just spent a couple of years there. You know that. The apparel company is a great example. I started it. I did Shopify, I kind of half. It didn’t really make any sense. But I learned a lot, right? I put that behind me and moved on. I will say I’m pretty good at failing and being like that. Well, **** that didn’t work. Right. And you got to be good at failing honestly at business, I think you know that.  

No, I love that. I love that you mentioned that because as you know a lot of people are afraid of failure, but like. The way you see it in other entrepreneurs is that it’s just a stepping stone to success. It’s data collection. You have to fail.  

You got to learn and then. You just gotta keep failing and failing. Till you start succeeding. But most people hit that. Roadblock and then they fail. And they’re like, oh, I’m done. OH, my environment is crap.  

Guess who’s not good at guessing who’s not good at selling T-shirts?  

And you know why though? This is cliche too. Everyone tells you this, but I wasn’t really into it. It wasn’t. Really a passion of mine. Right. It was more like a way to make money. If you’re searching for money, don’t go into business. Just friggin collect your paycheck and don’t even start right. You’ll be miserable. Fact, but if you Find something you think, man, this is going to be fun. Right. Well, now you have business.  

I mean, that’s like the one common theme that I find with everybody I interview are you have to be passionate about what you’re doing and like, you got to make your passion or like, like it starts out with a side hustle, but that they you monetize it and then you make it grow big. But it’s really difficult for people for some reason like they are. It’s almost like our society has trained us to be robotic to like. Basically, serve other people’s dreams, but instead, it should have been geared around how to fulfill our own dreams and monetize that so that we can live the best life possible.  

If someone explained entrepreneurship to me as pretty simple. They said, Listen, the reason you have to have. Passion is someone who can either pay you 40 or $50.00 an hour to work for 40 hours a week. Or you can start a business and work for yourself for about 120 hours a week and get paid about 20 bucks. An hour or maybe 10? Uh, but if you love it, I’m like, ****. That’s true. That’s true. I work 100 hours a week, so I don’t have to work 40 for somebody else. Isn’t that some ********?  

I mean, I mean, but like, you know, like right now like one of the reasons I started. This podcast is because a lot of people are working 60 to 80 hours a week, like two to three jobs. They don’t even. Love their jobs. They’re just trying to make ends meet. So, what are you saying? Is that at least you’re passionate about? Like a lot of people, they’re doing all those hours, but they don’t need to. It’s almost like a zombie apocalypse or something.

I got to be honest though, I’m not working that much now. I told you about balance and everyone says it’s not possible. It is possible. I probably put in about 30 to 40 hours A Week and try not to work on weekends at all because that’s my family time, so I could get rich a hell of a Lot faster If I wanted to. Not that important. Because I still have a child at home. You know, you have to have some balance.  

No, totally I think you have a family and you’re also doing business; a lot of people would be afraid to even start a business and like to start ventures because they have to pay for their family and their kids. And there’s a lot of responsibility.  

It’s hard.  

So, what you’re doing is actually a huge risk. I mean like you have to take big risks in order to do that, cause you’re like. A family. And then it’s like what? If, like you find, actually fails and all that stuff right.  

Yeah, that’s always in the back of your mind. But you know, there’s certain I set boundaries too. And you should set boundaries. If you are starting a business, you know I’m calling tripwire. I was never going to put my house up. As collateral for a business loan, I was never going to do anything to affect my retirement. Money, because that part of my life is completely separate from my business life. If a business goes bankrupt, I will not. When you go to put your house up for collateral. And getting this big *** loan on a project you’re not sure about and Interfering with your family. Things get different for me. Some people will do that. Some people are really at risk, which is no big deal to them. You know, I’m kind of risk averse. Not completely. Does that make sense? I mean, or there are boundaries. I won’t cross.  

I don’t know myself because I don’t have a family but a lot of people, if they had families like their wife, would tell them not to do this business, don’t risk it. What if you fail like there’s a lot of circumstantial pressure that most family men would have, but you’re somehow like you have somehow, like, averted those Circumstantial pressures, in a way, or Maybe like your family was Supportive.  

Well, it’s. It’s a conversation that you have with your family. I was very honest with my wife and told her what I would not risk. I mean, if you’re married, then that’s your partner. Then you got to be on board with her or him like 100% or it’s not going to happen. And of course. You’re afraid to tell people you are starting a business. So many friends will tell you it’s not going to work, and you know you don’t know if it’s jealousy or you don’t. Know if it’s just their being. They want you to be “beat down” in the pit with them working.  

The crab, the crab bucket mentality. Like they yeah, like. It’s like everybody’s down together, yeah.  

I have been lucky again when it comes to friendship. You know that part of my life is very successful. I have a group of friends. Are very close to me that you know, not business owners, but mostly military friends. And you know, I still have the same best friends since kindergarten. 

So, I have a really good strong friend group that didn’t do that to me, but I had some friends who did, of course. But you know what? They don’t pay my bills. So, they have no say in what I do.  

Right on.  

If they make them start making my house note, maybe they will give it to me.  

The advice they’ll see is like I want my audience to know that if your friends are not helping you financially, why are you letting them affect your life? You’re like you need to like the only people you should like to give chances are people that love you and conditional

The opinions of others who really don’t care if they live or die to affect their lives, and it’s crazy. Like why would You do that, don’t care about what they think because they are not going to affect you. They’re not going to pay your bills.

They probably won’t even show Up to your funeral so… Look around and figure out if you pass away tomorrow, who will come to your house the next day and make sure your wife and kids are OK. Those people matter. Everyone else doesn’t matter.  

Right, I totally agree with that. So, on a different note, Michael, you know America is the land of the free and a place where dreams are made. Do you agree or disagree with that?  

I completely agree, and that’s all. It’s all about motivation and how hard you want to work? I mean, I had nothing right. It is the land of opportunity. Look, how many people come here and make you know we talk about money and wealth and all that but do not just take all that stuff away for a minute. And look how many people come here and make a great life for themselves and their kids and live in a nice, comfortable home, right? They won’t starve. Those things may sound simple to me, but I’ve been around the world and Have a house with air conditioning and a refrigerator full of food. There are people all over the world that would kill for that, so be thankful for what you got and what you can have here.  

Michael, I totally get it. Like I myself came here as an immigrant, right? When I became a naturalized citizen, I saw the contrast. But a lot of people are over here like natives over here like they already grew up in that environment of abundance, or like relative abundance, where, like, you know, the consumer that you get all this stuff, and they don’t really… They don’t appreciate what you’re saying, you know.  

It’s horrible. I hate the American welfare system. I hate the way that we give people things now. No one should starve to death. Everyone should have affordable health care. All those normal things. I mean, everyone doesn’t need a new car. Right. I mean you got to work for a living if you can. I hate the way that some people are spoiled… parents, right? It’s their fault too. 

If your kid doesn’t know the value of work, guess what? It is not your kid’s fault. It is not the teacher’s fault. It’s not because they’re millennials. It’s not Because of what year they were born. It’s because of what happened at your house. That’s our responsibility to teach our kids that. What we have is not normal.  

Well, like, you know, like in today’s society, as we give them like, they’re giving their kids participation trophies and all of That. 

You earn a trophy. You know what? If everyone gets one value, does it have value in their life? And here’s where people fail. You know if you’re told your whole life. You can be an astronaut, right? And you’re great. And you can do anything you want. And your parents know that you have asthma, and you can barely walk 10 feet. Who are you doing a disservice to your Kids, they are not going to be an astronaut. 

Be honest with people you know. I forget what book someone said. You can’t judge your fish by its ability to climb a ladder. I mean, you can’t be anything you want, but you can be successful. Fact, right? So, I don’t believe in participation trophies. I don’t believe in telling kids they can do anything they want. Within reason, of course. Yeah, it’s ********, is what it is.  

No, I mean I would, I would, what you’re saying makes sense, but like a lot of people like, you know, like the crap as we talk about the crap book, like, really let’s Say you want to be an entrepreneur, you want to be a businessman. They’ll tell you the exact same thing. So what? Well. Like that, we have to know when to differentiate one from the other, right? Like what? What Does that look like for you?  

I think you’re asking about emotional intelligence, so you know you, you do have that little voice inside of you. I think everyone does and they know when someone’s being just an ******* or someone’s giving you. Some pretty good advice, and I think you’re just. Afraid to listen to it? Right. If someone’s telling me it’s not going. We’ll say that someone’s telling you this T-shirt thing is not going to work because they’ve done it three times. And here’s a list of reasons. And here’s my financial data. You probably want to sit down with this guy and be like hey. Here’s where you made a mistake, or I’m glad you told me that because I won’t make all those mistakes, or someone just like, oh, this. She’s never going to work. Why, man, I don’t know. You’re like, OK, and probably not listening to this one, you know, but I don’t know. As you get older, it’s just the experience of listening to the right people. And you know who they are. Is there no magic form you can read That is in a book?

Well, Michael in my, in my life, I’ve had a lot of people that pretended to be friends. Like they, they, they Posed to be a good friend, but literally, they’re like a hidden enemy. Sort of thing. Like they just, they’re, like, deeply jealous and they want to bring you down so that like, it’s difficult for people to differentiate between one or the other. But yeah, I see what you’re saying.  

It’s easier for other people to see too. If I hung around you for a week. And saw your friends. I would automatically know who’s there For the right reason, I think. Right. It may be easier for me to spot, so if you have a really good friend telling you too that hey, you know, so and so is a hanger. They’re just here in case you get rich. Kind of cut bait with that one, right? I don’t know. It’s always been easy for me to spot People that are genuine. 

No, I mean, yeah, it does take a level of like, emotional intelligence, but it also takes experience as well.

Michael, you know, a lot of Americans like, they want to realize the American dream, but a lot of people, they’re not able to like. What do you Think is the biggest hurdle that Americans face when it comes to realizing the American dream? And how would they overcome it?  

Education is the biggest hurdle. They don’t teach you about any of this in school. Everyone, like, gets an IRA. Yeah, well, you know, that’s not going to solve your problem. They don’t teach you about finances in school because of the way the banking system is. They don’t want everyone if everyone knows. About that well, one percenter, you know what they do? Everyone can be 1 percenter. Education is your friend. You know, they can take away your house. They can take away a lot of things, but they can’t take them away. Your education. Once you know something, you know it. So, educate yourself at a young age.  

That is, that is deeply motivational, yes. No, I agree that education is key. They could Take away everything, but they cannot take away knowledge That you’re that you’ve attained, you know.  

Yeah, they say the first million is the hardest. That’s the one I’m still working on. So then if I get good at it, I Can lose it, then I get another one, right?  

Oh yeah. So, let’s say like right now, a lot of Americans are facing in, over the period of 2022, they faced a lot of inflation and combined with consumer debt, like it’s making them poor, poor like from your perspective. How should most Americans go about the current situation in the nation?  

There’s only one thing you can do. It’s about cash flow. You either need more money or you need to cut back on your expenses. Those are your two options. Because inflation is not going away right now. Oh, a loaf Of bread, you know. How much does bread cost?  

If it was a dollar, it’s probably 2 Now I mean and if you have the same amount of income and your expenses are going. You probably can’t have steak twice a week, right? You’re probably going to have to eat hamburgers or. I mean that that’s a fact. Unless you go out and find a way to get more money, there’s just no way there’s. No magic.  

Yeah, that, that’s there.  

Houses… my daughter just built her house, you know, interest rates. Oh, my God. Interest rates. On the houses for. For we grew up with… when I was younger It was nothing to pay 8 or 10%. But you know, they hadn’t been that way in years, but. You know it’s down to 2.9% at one time, I think. I don’t know, great, but now. It’s up to you 7 and think how much that increases a house payment that’s four or $500.00 extra a month for a modest, you know. $250,000 home or $300,000 home. That’s an extra five, 600 bucks a month.  

I mean in that case like I was talking to another person on the show and then they mentioned that you utilize your house as a rental property and then you get people to rent the places, and then like, the house pays for itself. And over time, the house appreciates. 

So, it’s all about the right strategies. And then I also mentioned that it is OK if you have to go to precious metals. Because it could in order to Protect your purchasing power, gold, and silver. Historically have been able to protect your Purchasing power in the low. The term, I mean now this cryptocurrency, so the whole ball game has changed. So, we don’t know how. It’s going to be in the future, but historically, gold and silver have already caught up with inflation eventually.  

Well, you just mentioned all that stuff. That’s one of the problems, right if the young investor or even a new investor, no matter what your age is, because I was a new investor. People will tell you to invest in gold, invest in silver, go buy real estate and buy Bitcoin. People will say never buy Bitcoin. Whatever you do, don’t buy any gold and silver stock market. You can find any advice you’re willing to listen to on anything, so you have to do your own research and be comfortable with your own investment real estate… Now I’m going to tell you about my life when it comes to rental properties. She doesn’t want any rental properties, all she thinks about is. There was a horse living in a garage in Saint Mary’s. This person rented out their house and they moved the horse into the house. She said, “You have to deal With tenants like that, right?  

What? Well, what, somebody. Yeah.  

House into the garage? Yeah, you can imagine how the garage looks and smells, but then that’s her vision of that right? She’s like I had. No rental property. So very uncomfortable with rental properties, right? Bitcoin I have Bitcoin. I’m comfortable with Bitcoin and it is freaking going up and down, and the reason I’m comfortable with it is because of the money that I have in it. I don’t have much in it. Is money that ‘s like going to Vegas. It’s there, and if it’s all Gone tomorrow. I can still eat. That’s why I’m comfortable with it. If I was counting on Bitcoin. I’d be screwed. Right. I’d be a wreck. I wouldn’t go to sleep because it fluctuates so much. 

So, you get a ton of advice from a ton of different people and want to buy and every person that Comes on your podcast has a different view. You have to figure out what you want to invest in. And then you have to invest in it. I mean that’s just it’s that easy.  

No, I totally, I mean like education, like doing your own research. It has to be like you have to do your own diligence, diligent research, and like figure, figure it out.  

And you may be completely wrong. All right, you may invest in me. Dang, I messed that up.  

Right.  

Yeah, but, but what is certain, though, is that yeah, there is there has been inflation and that there has been like people are like they have to figure out a way to adapt, you know, otherwise they’re not going to be able to like to pay their bills and a period of time cause you know I was doing research on monetary systems and every Fiat currency has so far gone to 0. Historic, you know? the US dollars right now? Yeah, Fiat. Currency. So how long before? Like the monetary system changes.  

I don’t know. We will be in a digital currency world. You know, in my kid’s lifetime, definitely.

not many people know what that looks like. It is an unknown Future and Almost a wild wild West situation, like when life comes to life.  

It looks like you are holding up your arm and then, you know, taking one of those Walmart scanners and you’re like. You’re losing points. Of your bank account, yeah. Yeah, it sounds, uh, funny, but. You know, you never know. You will not be exchanging currency, but you know, like in my kid’s lifetime. I think that’ll go by the wayside and it’ll be digital. That’s my personal opinion.  

But I think the future is digital. As well, but I don’t know if it’s.

Going to be. Bitcoin or another state-sanctioned cryptocurrency but. At some point. That will be the future.  

Thank you.  

You know it can’t be an Unregulated currency, then how would they control us?  

See, now that’s the thing, right? Uh, that’s one of the biggest fears I would have is like, you know, like they can utilize our cryptocurrency to basically see what we’re doing and how we’re using our transactions, all that it’s so yeah, it’s a really exciting but scary thought At the same time.  

You know it is. You know what, though? Change is the only constant, so I’m ready. Bring it on. And we’ll see Bitcoin go up a little bit before they flatten it out. I Need some more money.

So, Michael, can you tell? Me and the audience. A little bit more about your podcast like. The diapers and Deployments and a little bit more about the premise of how it got started.  

With skill mill, my veteran hiring company HR tech Slash HR technology company we were really looking for a way to reach a better community and everyone’s like, you know, start a podcast to a Ted talk now. And I’m going to do a Ted talk next year. At some point. I think we’ll see. But I was like a man podcast that, you know, and no one else. You and Serena should start a podcast. Serena was in the Navy. You have what’s called embezzlement. And for the audience, I didn’t know about that.

So, when the ship would go out to sea, and at that point, it was all males on submarines, so when we would all go out to sea. One of the spouses, one of the wives would volunteer and it’s called a nonbuzz man and she would basically be the liaison between the ship and the wives. 

So, if they needed something they knew they could reach out to her, and maybe she could help them and put them in the right direction. You know, she wasn’t going to babysit their kids, but she probably knew a phone number for them to babysit or she could get them to help if they needed help, right? She knew all the right Phone numbers she knew. All the right contacts. She’s an amazing person. Well, my own buzz man was Serena. And we’ve been friends ever since, so we decided we were going to start this podcast together. And we said diapers and deployment. It’s because she said. You know, you were always deployed, and I was home changing diapers, which was so our view of the military is completely different. I was the one down range and doing all the things right. But Serena, her husband, was also an Active-duty member. 

She was the one that was Taking care of the kids. And doing all the wife’s stuff at home. And so, she had to deal with a completely different part of the military than we did all the medical and all the paperwork and, ask most military guys if their wives were at home and ask them where the kid’s Social Security was. Card and there’s like. Where does the kid go to the doctor? I don’t know. Yeah, that was me. My wife handled all that stuff. So, we bring guests on that podcast that help our servicemen and women in some way right? They have a program, or they support them. We bring them on the podcast, and we just talk to them. They are about life. And how they’re helping the veteran community. 

That is that. Is amazing, Michael, I think we need more of that, especially for our military, our military people. Yeah, like they go through a lot and like they do need stuff like this which helps them out and all of that. So, what you’re doing is amazing.  

We learn stuff, honestly, every bucket. We learn things that we didn’t. Know there are so many people out there that help. So many programs, if you want to start a business, we talk about business. If you want to find some emotional support. If you want to go fishing. You know, for therapy, whatever you want to do, somebody out there is doing it and there’s support. For it, there’s, you know you. It’s out there. I’m just telling you.  

No, that’s awesome. Like, yeah. So, Michael, I know that like is there like a project that you’re doing upcoming I know you talked to me briefly about it like in the year 20 training that you’re going to do like a project at like is, would you like to give the audience a glimpse of?  

So, I and my veteran partner Michael worked together in Pensacola years ago and then we got back together because my wife and he were working together for the Small Business Administration remotely during COVID. We started talking and he lived in Alaska and honestly, we started a company so we could help veterans. That was the premise. Right. 

Well, let’s serve again. So, let’s start a company. Uh, maybe we can do some defense contracting and get some kind of project going up there. Well, Fast forward it’s been almost two years, but the only contract we got was we actually had a couple of people on. We had a janitorial contract for in Homer, so we had some employees that cleaned bathrooms and that kind of got us A little bit of money right in the door and we were going to Get a building through the federal surplus supply system –Long story, but — we’re going to use this building to house some veterans because Homer is an amazing place. And in the summertime, a lot of tourism was like, wouldn’t it be cool? To bring veterans down in the summer and let them experience homework, that’d be awesome. Well, Fast forward. We got access to 9 buildings. We had this big, huge business plan. We were going to turn it into workforce housing because we realized in Homer that there’s a severe shortage of workforce housing and this is across the United States by the way. 

So, Homer’s the 1st place we’re doing. This, but I’m not stopping there so the average person can’t afford to live the average worker. You know someone, the person. That’s best on your tables. The person that’s waiting on you, those people, you need those people That they can’t afford to live with. The prices are so ridiculous, and everyone bought all the good properties, and they turn them into Airbnb’s for tourists. Well, with a lot of Tourists and no people to work will tell. We’re going to do it. 

So, we utilize the federal surplus plus system. We got these buildings, we got the land, we got a business plan and by June our goal was may but probably June 1st we’ll have 120 beds, 60 private rooms, and some bunk houses. We’ll have a place that sleeps 120 workforces. It’s called workforce housing. So, we’re going to solve the crisis, the housing crisis, for the workforce.  

That is awesome, Michael. Like, you’re like that is like a really amazing and noble thing that you guys are doing. Like I really hope they become successful because, yes, there’s a crisis that comes to affordable housing and that’s nature altogether.  

Well, and we don’t. We’re trying to keep the prices. Right? And that’s the thing. We could take these and turn them into Airbnb’s and Make money and you know that’s not why we did it. So, you know, if you do things for the right reason. The money will come eventually, but we’re excited that we want them to live in a nice place, right? Not just… You’ll have 18 people sleeping in one house. Yeah, just trying to make it right. Rent is expensive. I don’t know how much it is where you live. Where I live here. And it’s way more expensive than home where I think it’s probably, you know, two or 2000 bucks a month for a small place, some with no indoor plumbing. But down here, a single person trying to rent a 2-bedroom apartment, it’s probably $1400 a month. Then if you’re making 15 or 20 bucks an hour, it’s hard to come up with $1400. A month just for rent.  

I mean, the rent has been increasing. Overall, like everywhere you know, I think part of it. Is inflation but uh like it’s. But it’s overall. Just been increasing, but the wages have not been increasing in proportion and that’s the big problem altogether.  

Yeah. Well, our goal is to keep it very reasonable right now, I think we have a price that is under $800 a room for, you know, for long-term rentals and various, you know for summer rentals only a little higher, but. We’re excited. June 1st. Man, I’m hoping it’s full.  

Awesome, Michael, I definitely recommend my audience to check that out, you know, because it’s, it’s brilliant what you’re doing. So, Michael, where can our audience go to connect with you and get to? Know more about what you’re doing.  

Of course. LinkedIn. Michael Hinkle they could e-mail me. michael.hinkle@skillmillskillmil.com or they can e-mail me at michael@anchor907.com. That’s about it. Facebook page. You won’t find much, and you know you can go to the skill Mill website. Or Facebook and LinkedIn, because we put out a lot of stuff, I did a blog for a long time. Then I quit about six months ago and I’m going to start blogging again in January. So it’s a pretty cool blog, I think, and if the writing sucks, you can blame me because I do it all.  

Yeah. I mean, no one’s going to blame me. For anything like because it’s. So, it’s more about the mission and helping others. But Michael, I’m really honored. I’m really honored to have you as a guest on this podcast. You’re really amazing. Like you’re truly patriotic and you have the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that makes America extraordinary. I definitely hope that you come back at a later time on this show in the future.

I’d love to, and once we get up and running, I’d love to come back and tell you how successful it was. If I’m eating ramen noodles again, OK.  

So, I want to conclude this show by telling my fellow extraordinary Americans. That hey, look, there’s an extraordinary with each and every one of us and it’s our duty. To awaken it. And unleash it until next time. Bye for now.