Welcome back to the show, my fellow extraordinary Americans. Today’s guest is Adam Cortez. Adam is a business builder and creator from Silicon Valley. He has starred in over a dozen companies and has worked with hundreds of startup founders, small business owners, and enterprise clients in multiple capacities. He’s currently the partner of Arc Creative co. The digital marketing agency STEINGARD Financial, a bookkeeping company, and Net Worth, A networking collaboration company; he currently lives in Osaka City, Mexico, and enjoys exploring the world while meeting new people with interesting ideas worth sharing. \

He’s extraordinary, and I’m glad to have him on the show. 

Adam, are you there?

I am.

Adam, thank you so much for taking the time to be on this show. You’re a serial entrepreneur specializing in marketing, taxes, and accounting. Can you tell me and the audience more about yourself, your background, and how you got started?

So, here’s the quick and dirty: My mom is a teacher, and my dad is a small business owner who grew up in Silicon Valley. 

And so, it’s just something around you, starting businesses, being involved in the tech culture and all of that. You know, I remember going with my dad to networking events and, you know, networking, and his group of friends were all business owners, and he would go to dinners and lunches and all that stuff. And I used to go to work with him all the time. 

When you’re in that environment, it becomes a part of you, right? So, when people ask how you got started, how do you do this? It was just second nature, right? It was just what we did. 

And so, I started in high school. I started my first company as a sophomore in high school, doing web design so that I would build a website for a long time, and I think just part of that was just the fun and curiosity of what it took to start a business with a couple of friends. We did a bunch of different things to create a YouTube channel. I did tech reviews at that time, and you know, it was about having fun and learning because there were no stakes then. There was nothing that. It was as if it failed. It failed. There was no big deal, but that taught me about taxes, about paperwork, about keeping paper trails, about how to, you know, manage my money.

So, all these real core skills were what we were. Because we had hands-on experience and grew up in a place that didn’t tell us, no, right? We just got to play. And so, the location is a big part of my upbringing and why I am the person I am today.

Man, Adam, you’re one of the few lucky ones with a proper environment where people support you and your business goals. I guess it’s because many people are surrounded by people who do not support them or because they’re in environments with different mindsets and thinking. I want to say this to stress because, like a lot, many people are having difficulties with starting a business because of the environments around them. But Adam, one of the things that I wanted to ask you is, in addition to this, what was the main drive and motivation factor that allowed you to start all these different startups? What drives you? What motivates you?

Good question. 

To me, it’s like an adventure. It’s like, oh, what can I do next? There’s a level of boredom, definitely, AD, that is incorporated in this right of like, oh, let’s try this thing. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. And if it does, great. Fantastic. We can, you know, do the next thing. And I think that’s how all my businesses have started. Let’s try it. If it doesn’t work, it fails great. Try the next thing, try the next thing. And I’ve gotten.

I’ve been lucky enough to have had enough things that have worked for me. It’s panned out, so. Many people starting a business worry about money, income, and what will cover their bills. And once you have that income covered and can start playing with other things, you’re not worried about those bills. Uh, everything else kind of flows, right? 

So, none of the businesses I’ve been making ARCs for are the baby, the ones that I’ve been working on forever. Right. That’s my money maker. Everything else has been. If it works great, and if it does, there’s no stress. There’s no negative energy that goes into it. It’s this fluid motion of. Let’s see if it works, and then it does because there’s no pressure. 

So, I think for me, the reason I’ve done all these things I’ve been able to is because there is no pressure for it to succeed, and when it works, it’s great. And then you, you’re excited, and clients are happy. And that’s to me; that’s the best part when. That pressure is off to make it. I have to work. No one else, other than me, wants it to work. And when it does, it’s fantastic.

But I don’t see it like you make it sound easy and amazing. But many people have financial, like emotional attachments or money, and fear finances. Like, let’s say they lose much money. I’ll put them into a spiral. 

What is your perspective on taking a financial risk when starting a business?

I just watched another podcast a couple of days ago that was talking about this, too, and it’s kind of my stance as well. Is today. There is a low barrier entry to start a business. Start a business for a couple of 100 bucks, right file the paperwork down at the city. Get your tax business tax license. You got yourself a business, right? Open up a bank account—EINs are free. 

You could do the basics to start a business. Many people like to focus on the nitty gritty. What logo? What’s the business name? What’s the URL? What are all these things that don’t matter? Whether you can push a product or an idea quickly enough matters. Or can you get enough people interested quickly enough? 

So, my background is in marketing. 

So, I have that benefit for my skill set. I know how to market anything if you give me any ideas. But anyway, this other podcast talked about pushing an idea out to your following and seeing who’s interested. If you get enough people interested, cut that by 50% more or less, and you have your first set of users, so there are ways to start. Businesses that don’t have. A huge financial risk that is going to hurt you now.  

So, many people who are scared or afraid to start a business are starting the wrong business. Because most of it can be just an idea, you can get some information, get some info out there to the world, and get people interested. 

And then, with that. Interests build the product, sell your product. Make some money. It’s very watered down. This advice could be better, but it is the way that I build most of my businesses is based off of. Would this something that my people, my lists, and the network I’ve been building for the last 15 years want to use? If so, I can market it. If so, I can make money off of it.

That’s it. It’s the right perspective for entrepreneurship and business, as you are trying to determine what the audience wants, whether there’s a need, and then create the product accordingly. 

And yeah, it just requires a different type of thinking. And here’s the interesting part, right? Business has different components, like, do you have the taxes and you have the accounting, you have sales, you have the management, you have the product creation.  

So, many factors are involved in play, and many people feel overwhelmed. So, from your perspective, how did you organize all these factors in your business?

I’m very Aosta. When it comes to organization, whether it’s my calendar, how I organize my contacts, or my CRM organizing documentation in a business, as I have, I have my internal system to spin up a business quickly. Because I’ve been doing it so many times that now I have a system in place.

Yeah.

Honestly, I should create a call to action that I give away, and you know that’s another thing I could probably do, right? Hey, there’s an idea, but I feel like it’s just that repeated, a process that I’ve done so many things a certain way that I know I can reuse in another business and the businesses I’ve created. They all kind of complement each other, right? It’s things that people do for business, right? Marketing. As a business owner, we’re already doing bookkeeping, networking, and everything else. We’re already bookkeeping. 

We have to understand bookkeeping and marketing to know that we need to hire a marketing company at some point to do that part of the business for us because, hey, you’re the idea guy. You can develop the idea but need someone else to market it. 

It is part of Knowing your strengths and where to hire so that the job gets done.

And that’s the thing with me now: I only try to do some things. It is: who can I hire? Who can I bring in who can do most of the work so I can keep creating? I can do the fun part of the business, which is what I like doing, and so if You can find that. That system is for you, and you know what your strengths are. You can utilize those things. That’s when you realize that you can do a lot, whether that’s your time management or your organizational skills or whatever, you can, you know, just fine-tune what you need to do to make it work.

There’s so much to ask here, but one of the things I wanted to ask is that it’s a fascinating concept because many people want to start a business but need more self-belief to manage all the different things. 

One of the things I was asked was what your biggest lesson was… What was your biggest revelation regarding how to make a business successful during your entire journey, starting all these different businesses?

That is a loaded question.

OK, there’s that. There’s a little backstory, but I grew up in Silicon Valley. Right, we’re fed. How are we supposed to run it, build a business, or build a startup? Get an idea, set up a prototype, go after funding, get investors, and get a seed round.

 Do these things and then get more investment, get more investment. Get yourself IPO now that you’re successful. Today, many of those startups have failed, and Bird has failed. These food apps need to be fixed. They need to make revenue delivery or drive all this stuff, right? There are many issues. The Ranos had issues, right? All these companies that are in tech have these problems. Because they weren’t focusing on revenue and what they could bring into their business, they were focusing on other things, such as fundraising.

 So, to me, the premise of whether my business will be successful or not is: Can I generate revenue? How fast can I generate revenue? Who in my network will utilize my idea? 

About it to other people, right? Or do I need to get into another network to discuss what I’m doing because I’m not in that network? I’ve never been on that network before, right? So, when I started the bookkeeping company, I joined bookkeeping groups. I started talking to more CPAs and never needed to do that with my marketing. Company. Building my network was. Integral to building all these businesses. 

So, what do I look for when it’s successful? Can it generate a steady cash flow? And continuously, can I put people in place with the skill set to do the job, like bookkeeping? I could hire bookkeepers, which made me profitable and took the weight off my shoulders of having to do the work. Now I know how to do the work. I know how to be a bookkeeper. I did the training myself. 

But I don’t need to do it. I can hire it out just like I can do the marketing I can do—the website building. I don’t have to do it myself. I think those are what I look for. What can be successful is what I need to learn. Who do I need to know, and then can it make money? Can it make money continuously? If those three things? Bill writing. We’ll move forward with the project.

No. What you’re saying is true? You have to take all those things into account. What you told me about Silicon Valley that’s pretty interesting. A lot of these businesses feel like they end up not working out.

And some businesses work, but they are focused on certain things. But, from your perspective, the reason I’m asking is because most businesses that start. Like there’s a saying that they failed during the first five years, but the 10% that do, like the five to 10% that do, they’re doing something different, and, in your perspective, what do you think they are doing differently compared to the most other business?

There’s a bit of luck in all of this, right? That’s a kind of a given about what happens. I think also you have to take yourself seriously in business. 

And what I mean by that is that it’s my responsibility as the owner to ensure it will work. It’s going to be difficult; it’s going to be hard. Word. You’re going to screw up quite a bit. I kind of love those emojis, but you’re going to have problems. 

Problems are always going to happen. How do you deal with those problems? How do you deal with success? How do you deal with people calling you a fraud? Are people calling you a liar? People do not like the way you talk, dress, or speak. How you handle all those situations, I think, is one of the most important pieces. 

And I think the ones that do it right can pivot, restructure, and reorganize, like my marketing company, which has been around for years now. Marketing changes every six months, and we see marketing companies go under every six months. What are we doing differently? We have conversations about how it’s changing. 

And what do we need to do to keep up with those changes and pivot the business? OK, now it’s not about SEO. It’s about a mixture of AI and SEO without backlinks. Now, Google ads aren’t working. We have to do YouTube ads. Facebook ads are working, but Google ads aren’t working right.

So, we’re switching clients differently. Tools that they use to make money: Which of these? Things all pivot. That we make as business owners. And for some people, it’s scary. And for us, it’s just part of the business. 

So, I think there’s resiliency that needs to be built. That’s a muscle that business owners need to build like it’s going to get hard, it’s difficult. It’s not owning a business is not. Rainbows and unicorns like it’s it. There’s, there’s a lot of fun moments. I love it. I love entrepreneurship. 

But there are many nights where you’re like, man, will this work? Am I going to be broke again? Am I going to lose all my clients tomorrow? Google dropped a new bomb on us, and we don’t know if it will work. I 100% like those Knights exist, but I think as an owner, if you wake up in the morning, we’ll figure this out today. That’s the. I think that’s what sets us apart. Those that that survive, that that earmark. Yeah, it’s rough.

No, what you’re saying is right, like it’s not. It’s not an easy path, but one of the things that I did realize over my life is that I’m an even when I’m interviewing others. There’s a system called time compression where you could have the right environment, a community, an organization, or something like that. 

And then you have mentorship combined with that. And what I see is that it seems like in Silicon Valley, you had some aspect of it, and it helps compress time and gives you positive support. Of like where it’ll increase. Your chances of being successful. Much of it comes down to mindset, and negative self-beliefs might affect how we do business. But I don’t know, I don’t know. If you have a different opinion on that,

Oh, 100% I agree. I’ve had plenty of mentors. There are plenty of coaches and plenty of support systems that have. Guide you down the right path. Or at least try to and then. It’s up to you to listen; most of the time, you don’t listen. Because you think you have the best way, you will realize you don’t, and then you must readjust, right? But yeah, I think there’s much to say about having support and that support network. Right, Silicon Valley gave that to me in many ways. One of the things we haven’t touched on was. When I left Silicon Valley, I started traveling for about five years before I landed here in Wahaca—and spent much time in Europe, Mexico, and Latin America. But they didn’t have mentorship at that time. 

But I had good conversations with people in different parts of the world telling their stories, just like mine, and what you learn from other people and what they give you from learning about different cultures. You know their parts of the world and how they live and how. They’re all of that mentorship, those little Nuggets of wisdom. The things that remind you that you’re not the only one. One on this earth. All of that’s very supportive in making decisions and helping you decide whether this is the right way to go or not. 

And so, I think about many things. That I’ve done. It’s kind of based on what I’ve whom I’ve talked to, the friends I have, and the mentors and relationships I’ve built over the years. Here’s I’m going to sidetrack a little bit. When I moved to Wahaca, we had COVID-19 right when I moved to Wahaca in February of 2020—got my place. I stayed here and ended up getting married. Everyone was like, you know, you should go home to the States, figure it out. And I said I will stay here to see what happens. The United States didn’t have toilet paper. Right, like. You guys had. Your problems with what was going on. On over there, but what was?

That was the most ridiculous thing. There have been a lot of ridiculous moments in my life, but that was one of the, I mean, people are dying, and all you care about is toilet people. Right. Come on.

Toilet paper. Yeah, right. Europeans had the days, so they were fine, you know, so. Anyways, like? No, I think I’m just going to stay here, and I did meet my wife, my now wife. And you know, we moved in together and all of that. And that’s another story for another day. What do I say about it? You saw that resiliency about Mexico, the people here, and what happened during COVID. 

And business owners, business ownership. They did whatever they could to make money because they had to survive. People were not giving up. They had to survive, and so they did whatever they could. They used whatever tools were available to sell food from their kitchen. Did you deliver food to your house because you were in lockdown? Whatever it was, they found ways to make it work. 

As a community, everyone stayed afloat, and it was hard. It wasn’t easy, and many other things happened during that time, but it is motivating to be a business owner in that environment and see people be resilient. That’s amazing to be a part of. And that makes it easy when looking at our jobs in the States or the companies we build in the States and all this stuff, man.

We have much stuff at our disposal. You know we have technology; it’s easy to start a business. We’re just talking about taking a couple of 100 bucks naps and the fingers a couple of times for lots of paperwork. We’re good to go. It’s not so easy in other parts of the world, and other parts still need to figure it out. 

So, I think we take it for granted. But we must build that resiliency to work hard and make something great.

No, one of the major themes I realized, like interviewing people and my own life, is that resiliency and perseverance in business lead to success. Like you’re going. To fail many times, you will get it right in the 6th or 7th time. 

You know, you just have to keep going, and then you just have not to give up. And many people like, because of their negative self-beliefs and negative ideas about money, never don’t. They don’t make it, but you have to understand that you have to understand that resiliency will get the job done eventually.

I mean, you cannot lose if you don’t quit you.

Right, right, exactly, 100%. But you have to give it all you can.

But you know, your lifestyle, like the five years of being a digital nomad and then going to different places and still running your business, is something that many people would want to do because many people are stuck in their location. They have to go to a job and then do stuff. 

So, how did you get to that position where you could go? From one place to another, you still have cash flow and all that.

I did it because it was …  I’ve always been a marketer in some way, shape, or form, and I’ve always done marketing in some way, shape, or form, and so on. I was already working remotely, in coffee shops wherever I was home. I joined their networking club and worked on the top floor of the renter building in San Jose. I joined a club and all this kind of stuff.

 So, on its own, I was already remote. I didn’t have a boss to talk to, and no one told me I had to go to an office. I gave myself an office. I remember. When I decided to go to Spain for the first time, I realized I needed to make more money and sell all my stuff. 

So, I got to speak to people around the US and went to 45 states, speaking about several locations where we work.

 And so, we didn’t realize we were remote at first. We didn’t. I didn’t realize I was doing something that everybody else wanted to do. I was just doing what? What I needed to do was make some cash and have fun. Travel the world. And my joke was when the COVID kind of hit was, man, we’ve been remote since before. It was the cool thing to do, right? We just were doing it out of necessity. We had contractors all over the place, right? We had contractors in the Philippines and India, and we just did it because we. 

That’s how we were doing work. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it, so now that it’s fast-forward, we’re in, you know, 2024, and we’re still remote first. We still do everything remotely, and our team is all over the place. We communicate through Slack, click-up, and all this other stuff. The tools have gotten easier to use, and the systems are easier to follow; I think That is the team. 

Understand how to use the tools better because they’ve been using them. It’s for a while, right? Also, the clients care less, which is the best thing. COVID for most of our business styles, as they will work with you now no matter what they’re willing to contract to work out because. COVID made it easy to do that. Why wouldn’t they? So why not hire a marketing company that will do all the marketing stuff in my business for $10,000 a month when I would have to be higher? And people internally for five or $6000 a month plus insurance, benefits, and PTO. Or wouldn’t I work with them? Now we really can’t work in them because the world’s remote. Great. 

So, for us, it was… You’re just how we always did business. And then now it’s a lifestyle. It’s. It’s what worked for our business structure, and I run businesses that fit it. I think I would never start a business. 

It required me physically to be somewhere else or somewhere permanent because I don’t. I wouldn’t say I like living that life. I don’t think anybody I know likes or enjoys being in that life. I like comfort. I like having a place to go home, but I like to travel, have fun, go on vacations, and bring my laptop. And if I have to work a few hours, I work a few hours.

I have one thing I would like to add to this, and I would like my audience to know the concept of outsourcing. It has many positive and negative connotations, depending on what you like, whether you’re a business owner or not. 

So, if you’re outside the US because of inflation, the price is rising, and it’s like if you’re hiring. People like to go from other places, and it saves much money. 

And one of the things I realized is that if you’re. If you’re living in a place where the cost of living is lower, and then you’re, uh, and then you and then you’re servicing clientele who are like in people in the states, you actually like, make much money and then save much money at the same time. But I don’t know, like from your perspective as a digital nomad, who’s someone who’s living in Mexico, and you know. Hiring people from different countries, what is your perspective? On all of this.

I think there’s much benefit, right? Like you just said. There’s much benefit, right? We save money; work gets done. I think that’s the biggest thing, right? Our clients are happy. The work got done that they want it done. Based on who we hire, we know that the job will get done correctly because we trained them or they already came with the skill set. And we’re getting it for a price that. We can afford it. 

So, there’s this bad connotation coming from social media: You should hire this type of person or hire internally, or you should hire someone in the states, or you should, you know, you’re not supporting your economy or this and that bunch of things that people say whatever, as a business owner. I think that as business owners, our job is to figure out how to keep our business alive and afloat, how to do a job, and how to keep our clients happy. 

We’re going to do what it takes to do that. Now you’ve got. There’s a difference between small businesses that will do what they can to stay alive during hardships and corporations, right? We could talk about corporate greed and paying the CEOs too much, but that’s another conversation. 

And I agree, like when they do stuff overseas or take advantage of culture and society on a grand scale, that’s damaging. Uh. When I hire someone overseas from the Philippines, my graphic designer, who has a little family.

And I didn’t say we’ll only pay you for this. I asked her. What’s a fair wage for you? For us to pay you. What makes you feel comfortable getting compensated for your work for us? He gave us a number. Great. We can afford that number. We’re going to work with you. She’s been working with us for a year and a half now. She’s able to feed her family and take care of them. Her family where? She lives. We get a job done. Our clients are happy, right? 

So, I think we’re supporting other cultures. We’re supporting other families with what we can do and what we can afford. And I think there’s a positive in that we’re not a factory-working company that’s, you know, sweatshop labor and all that other stuff. 

No, it’s different. We have a connection to the people we’re working with. You know, when we lay people off, it can be challenging. It hurts; it stings. They’ve been working with us for a while. I don’t want to lay people off. It has been a while since we’ve done that, but it’s different—different emotion. I’m not just clearing house to clear House because we overhired. It’s completely different. 

So, I think for businesses that need to hire overseas. Buy overseas, right? People want jobs everywhere. People are trying to get whatever they can. Remote work has allowed that. Why not utilize it?

So, the one thing that came to mind was that I had a conversation with one of my business friends when we were going to a seminar in California and then went on a trip to Baja, California. 

You told me, I know, a couple of people here that they do one to two seminars. For example, they do a seminar course and go to California, then to San Diego. And then after that, they come back. They cross the border, go to Bar California, and then find that living costs are drastically lower than in California. 

And I was just like, wow, like, you can all like, you can go for a long time without you can if you budget your money properly, you can live the life because if you go like the cost of living is so low. 

And then I just thought about it. I’m like that. How did California become so expensive? Like, yeah, they’re making money there, but if you can somehow live somewhere else where the cost of living is less, then you have clientele in a place like California and are making good money. That’s like life, you know.

Right. And there’s. Uh, there’s going to be backlash on this. This conversation at some point, because it’s a conversation happening in Mexico right now about, you know, the gringos are taking over the white people that are taking over in Mexico, and it’s they’re colonizing again. My wife and I talk about my wife’s Mexican. She’s from here. She’s walking. Yeah. 

We have conversations about this a lot because people like to complain. All of them, you know, Mexico City has a problem. People are getting pushed out, rents are increasing, and basic gentrification, right? Let’s just call it what it is.

The Mexican land owners that own the properties that they’re renting out to the gringos. They’re the ones renting them out. They’re the ones selling them—the properties. We had a friend who came here and rented a property. We took her and saw the property—nice place, brand new. There’s a brand new property. They just finished building. We were in there for about an hour during the showing, and as four other couples came in, the lady said just wait, we’re going to show the house to other people. We want to talk to you. 

OK, so I showed the house. A couple of other Mexicans, doctors, lawyers, people with money. They left. And the lady says, yeah, we’re going to rent it to you because you’re white, you’re European, so you’re going to take care of the place, our people, they’re going to destroy it.

So, we’re going to rent it to you. We’ll raise the rent because you have the money to pay more, but we’ll rent it to you over them because you want it. And we know that when we get it back in six months. It’s not going to be destroyed. And I’m like, damn, that’s crazy, right? They’re discriminating against their people, or they’re prioritizing the other culture over their own.

1. You know, me and my wife again. We talked about this kind of phenomenon that’s going on down here, and it’s so, yes, it’s wild and sad. It’s gentrification. And. But the Mexican people, they’re doing it to themselves. The Mexican people are screwing over the Mexican people. Is it right? No. Is it what’s happening? Yes. 

And so, there’s another tangent on the segue we’re going into on that note. Yeah, it’s way cheaper. For me, living here means staying in California, right? I got a four-bedroom, four-bath house. It’s three stories. I pay 700 bucks a month. I pay nothing. What would I spend, $3900 for a place like this? And in San Jose, California, right? If you could find something that big.

Wow. Out of, like, we went to look at some places when we went to bar California, like on the beach with the mountains on the backside of this beach, and there are like these. They are like mansions. Then we asked them about one of the prices, about 150,000 to 200,000. And then if you go to, if you’re like going to like a neighborhood in America, that’s the. That’s the average price of a house. We’re talking about a mansion by the freaking ocean with mountains. It’s like the most beautiful thing ever. Yeah, this is a strategy that many people use, like where they live in Mexico.

 But then, but then they are. Making money in America is so much easier, and the cost of living is so much lower than that. Plus, if you’re hiring from outside the Western world, like the and the, you’re saving a lot on cost. Then, the clientele comes from the Western world, like America, Europe, and everything. And then that’s a very good strategy for your business.

Right, right. And that’s technically what I do, right? That’s the same kind of system, and it’s not like I’m taking advantage of it. I’m putting money back into the country, right? I spend money on food. Here, I go to the grocery store. We have a house, we have a maid, and we have a cook who comes and cooks and cleans for us. We’re supporting the local economy just like anybody else would. More than anybody else would probably. You know, so we do our part. I understand when people complain that we’re gentrifying and taking over the country, but this is not. I married a local. I am still trying to figure out what else you want me to do. You know what? I mean, like, I’m here. Man, there’s nowhere else for.

Me to go. I mean, I don’t. I don’t see it in terms of gentrification, like you can go wherever you want. It’s like we’re ultimately like one people like these. All these are just separations based on people’s ideas and separation. Like Europeans, this and that, like we’re ultimately part of one human family.

So, I wouldn’t see it that way. It’s more; it’s more of like a what, what’s working best for us at that moment.

Right.

Of time, you know.

Right. And I think that’s happening everywhere, right? We’re seeing Americans leave in drones. I mean, I just saw a video recently that discussed the statistics of Mexicans. The number of Mexicans who used to go to the United States compared to the number of Americans who are going to Mexico now is about double that of the Americans leaving.

I guess the wall was actually to keep Americans from going to Mexico, right? Because.

And this. Go ahead. Sorry.

No, no. Go ahead. Yeah, it is ironic because the concept was to keep Mexico out. Now, we realize that it’s far more convenient for Americans to go to Mexico than to have clientele in America for their business. 

But it brings me to this point, Adam. The thing is, in America, there’s much inflation going on. Prices are rising consistently because the Fed is just printing trillions and trillions of dollars, and it’s just getting tougher and tougher to do business in America because of the obvious things of yacht money and the loss of purchasing power. 

So, it’s not like people want to do that; our government and the back have created the conditions.

It’s right, and it’s this when we. I saw it coming. When they started printing checks during COVID-19, we knew it would happen. And then it happened, and we went, why did it happen? We knew it was going to happen. But here, here’s something. 

So, when I was traveling, every place I went as a guy, I could live there. Life here is great. I could live here and everywhere where you have that conversation with yourself. Man, I could. I could do it. And many Americans who were traveling had the same realization: this life would be sweet here. 

And then when COVID I. And then dissipated, and we figured out, like, oh, man, this man’s life here sucks. We’re not happy, we’re not happy. 2nd traffic all the time. Five hours a day, 4 hours a day, depending. On where you live. Why would I want to do that? Why would I want to live that kind of life? I’m not spending time with you. My kids are not spending time with my wife. Or maybe I don’t like my wife. I want a divorce now like there’s all these. Different things and. And so, why not? Why not move? Why not go somewhere that would make me happy? Yes, the grass is always greener, but why not try it? 

And So, what we’re seeing is all these people trying it now and going damn. The quality of life where we were was really bad. Like these people, these groups understand what life should be about—culture, family, music, art, dance. 

And now they see this other side of why we are working so hard. Why are we? This is the opposite of what we discussed when we started this podcast about me starting all these businesses and working hard. But I also played, had much fun, and did all these things to see these cultures and live in a culture that is more about family and community—that and so on. You know, I think. 

And you have to take a step back and realize what’s important for your life. What drives you? What’s that focus to keep you doing what you’re doing? And if you feel unaligned, you know why you’re seeing many of these people move and find a different place to live. First, people left New York and San Francisco to go live. Countryside somewhere. And then I added.

The taxes are too high, Adam. If you’re a business owner, you know their taxes are ridiculous.

It’s wild.

You can’t. You can’t do that, yeah.

It’s wild. Yeah, it’s, it’s just, it’s wild. I’ve always stayed put. We’ve had this conversation with my parents. Like, are you going to move back? Are you going out to the Saints? No desire? None. There’s no desire to come back. I like to visit. I like to go on vacation there. I like to visit friends. I enjoy traveling there and visiting Hawaii, New York, Chicago, and more. But to live? No, I’m good. I’m happy here.

Adam, as an immigrant myself, I can tell you I’ve seen other cultures, especially Indian, Arab, or even Mexican culture. These cultures are more family and community-based, and like the ideologies in America, there are many ideologies in America.

We wish you a happy New Year.

About the destruction of families, combining that with inflation, rising prices, and people living paycheck to paycheck, and like you’re not able to make. Let’s meet people who cannot get out of there. 

So, people must look at themselves and see what’s happening in America. They must realize that inflation comes from where they’re just printing much money. That’s why making prices right is forcing businesses to outsource. On top of that, there’s a lot of family destruction—ideologies that make it hard to have a family in America.

A woman who has a baby and a mother needs more PTO. They need to be supported by the company they’re working with, more or less. They are more likely to get fired or something stupid, right? And we’re seeing tick-tocks about that now. That’s been happening forever. They’re discriminated against, you know, because they needed to take time off to be with their new family. 

America doesn’t… America’s corporate structure doesn’t care about that. They don’t care about the family. They don’t care about—your needs. You’re caught in the machine, do your job, and get out, right?

You’re right. It’s about, you know, this destruction of the family in some way, shape, or form. And I’m guessing that in the Indian household, the Mexican man stays home until you get married. Why do you need to leave? We’re going to take care of you. You have everything covered until you get married. 

Why do you need to leave the household, and even then, guess what? Your parents will probably move in with you when they get older because you’ll have to care for them. After all, they need support. And that’s the family culture there, right? We’re talking about that with my parents and my wife’s parents. OK, what are we going to do? What kind of property do we want to have? 

So that when our parents get old, they have a place to go to. They can die peacefully and live a decent life, and for the end of their life, enjoy their retirement with, you know, their retirement. But you know the core value here is family, and we don’t see that in the United States from the majority, right? It’s get out, get out when you turn 18. I’ll turn back.

Run away. I was coming here. As an immigrant, I have understood many things I like adapting to. Especially if it was an interesting experience, I wanted to ask you about your company, Steingard Financial. What is it? How did you start it? It was the premise of. Are you starting that?

Yeah, that was a. I was ******. I have done bookkeeping for myself for a while, as every business owner kind of goes through that cycle, so I’ll do it myself. Then I’m going to hire out. I hired out, and we got our books back at the end of the year. Our numbers were crazy. Hey man, our numbers need to be corrected. It should be. They’re not. 

So, I started poking through them, and there was an extra like. $1,000,000 on the books. I am trying to remember you asking a Question.

What?

Never ask me a single question; just get a monthly update saying books are done. Books are done. Was it reconciled, or wasn’t it? I fired him. And while I was fixing the books for tax season because I had to now, at this point, after paying him to do that job. I was like, you know, if I can. Do this. Can I do it better? You know there are better communication styles, and we can do this way, way better. And that was the whole premise. 

So, I started the company because I was ****** *** and wanted somebody to do better bookkeeping. My best was doing the bare minimum of what a business should be doing: communicating with clients and getting the job done. Right, it’s pretty basic. Here’s what I’ve learned. 

This is my second tax year. We started slowly, and I wasn’t in a hurry. I wanted to get things right, ensure I was certified, and learn how to do it right. And I wanted to do a good job because this company is more about integrity than anything else. 

So, we started getting clients, and all the clients felt the same way I did. They’re ******, irritated. Things needed to be done correctly. Numbers were inflated. Numbers were deflated, right? Everything that could be wrong was wrong. Folks were never reconciled. Some statements were never imported because the bank fee was disconnected. And no, you know, the bookkeeper never said. Please give me a bank statement like an import. Things all this kind of stuff. 

And we see it every single time. We get access to every new client we bring on or somebody we talk to, and we get access to their books to see. It’s the same thing over and over again. That’s the validation point: I did the right thing by starting this because this was that. That’s what this is about. It was about having high integrity when walking into this type of business. 

It was even being in groups, talking to people in groups, and learning how they do things. And they give you an answer. And you’re like, man, that’s sloppy. There are better ways to do this again. Why are you guys doing it this way? 

But anyway, that was the that was the reasoning behind it. But as of today, you know things are really good, and our core values are that integrity piece. And. We’re finishing up books for this year. We just have a couple more sets for a couple of clients. Finishing up attacks, you’re strong, and It’s fun. I enjoy it; I enjoy it more than marketing because the clients are happy when you’re done with their work. After all, it’s done correctly, and they will get money back, know what they need to pay every year or know that they are up to date, month to month. They know what their income is, or the projections are right. It’s just done right. And to have clients. I feel that need is getting done, and they’re getting the right information in real time. Now, you can’t. There’s nothing that beats that.

Adam, that’s awesome. If anybody’s listening to this and wants somebody to help them with their taxes or whatever, I suggest they come to you. Are there any projects you’re doing right now that you want the audience to glimpse?

Yeah. So, for Steingard, if you’re anybody that needs their books done right now, the right time is ticking. You’re going to need to file if you still need to finish. You probably have to file an extension. That’s OK, and that’s not a problem. But we do much historical cleanup, right? 

So, it would be best if you had a full year’s and two years’ worth of work to catch up on anything. If you need help, come talk to us. We’ll make it as painless as possible because everybody has a motion around their money, and it’s a big deal.

So, we want to ensure you feel heard and seen while doing it and get what you need. Is it to be completed the right way?

Awesome, Adam and Adam. How can the audience connect with you to get to know Ken and learn more about you and your work?

I just put my link up, but I think my Instagram handle is Adam Robert Cortez at Adam Robert Cortez. I think it is. I got to. I’ll send it to you. 

So it’s on the link Instagram thing, and then I have in my bio a link to all of our businesses, my contact links, all of that fun stuff. So, everything is there if you want to book a call with me or learn more about what I’m doing. And. And yeah, that’s how we stay connected.

Awesome, Adam. I’m so glad you took the time to do this podcast with me. Like a lot of the things that we’re talking about, business is so relevant. Yeah, I hope you take the time to return to A later on the show.

Yeah, I’d love to.

I want to conclude this episode by letting my fellow strong Americans know that, hey, look, there’s an extraordinary with every one of us, and we must awaken it and unleash it until next time. Bye for now.