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Beyond The Brand is the podcast for purpose-driven entrepreneurs, creatives, and professionals who know their brand is about more than just business—it’s personal. Hosted by Brand Strategist Rod Brinson, this show dives deep into the mindset, habits, identity, and emotional intelligence that shape the way you show up in the world. From solo episodes to powerful conversations, Beyond The Brand explores what it really takes to build something meaningful—starting with the person behind the brand. Because if you’re not growing, your brand won’t either.
Okay. And we are live, ladies and gentlemen. Normally set to go on a Tuesday, but today, we're going live on a Wednesday. I wanna focus on a couple of different things today, but primarily, we have a guest speaker. This guy's amazing.
Rod Brinson:Like, we talk on a regular basis. I know him through and through. I know he's solid. And we've built a rapport in a way where you, like, kind of connect with people and you know that they are who they say they are. That's what my guest is today.
Rod Brinson:So thank you guys for joining. I'm very much so looking forward to the conversation. I think it's gonna bless you. I think it's gonna be amazing because Tommy, my guest, Tommy Venicey has gone through the fire. He's come out on the other end way better than you can imagine.
Rod Brinson:And I know sometimes we look at ourselves and we find ourselves in the fire and it's like, how am I gonna deal with this? Right? Whether it's in business, whether it's in life, whether it's in our home life, or whether it's, you know, in, you know, the corporate America, there are always things that you have to deal with, always things that you have to kinda go through. And so what does it take to build something that will last? That's always the question because a lot of people can build something, but everybody can't build something that's gonna last, something that's gonna be a part of their legacy, something that's going to feed generations to come.
Rod Brinson:So that's what we're gonna talk about today, And I'm gonna invite you guys into the conversation with none other than multi talented entrepreneur, Tommy Venicey. Let me go ahead and. Tommy, what's happening?
Thomie Venisee:Rod, my man, Rod B, how's it going?
Rod Brinson:Man, you already know. It's going amazing. Had a a masterful day. I I look at things differently today, man. It's like, I wanna conquer the day.
Rod Brinson:I don't even look at, like, next week, this month, next year. It's like, let me just tackle today, right? Right. In a, in a, in a masterful way. So, yeah, that's what I've been doing today, man.
Rod Brinson:I've been tackling today. How's your day going?
Thomie Venisee:Hey, mastering my day, man. Each day going in, trying to conquer it as well. Okay. Yes. And look.
Thomie Venisee:Indeed.
Rod Brinson:When it comes to conquering days, man, you've you've had some days of conquering in your track record, man. Like, like, I could spend the next thirty minutes just talking about some of the things I know about your history and like where you've come from and what you've done but give the people that don't know you just a slight taste of some of the things that make you qualified to speak on this subject, Built to Last.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you for having me on your platform. Glad to be able to be here and share with the people. But for those that don't know, Tommy Vinici, just a guy from a small city called Albany.
Thomie Venisee:I grew up in South Georgia, rural Georgia. Most people know Atlanta, but they don't know much about the rest of the state. We do other cities. But grew up in a very rural area, somewhat segregated space and left Georgia, South Georgia, and moved to Alabama. And II don't know that there was much change in the culture but it it was definitely a space that I had to adjust to only to to leave there and and move out of the country and only speak in one language that, that in itself is, quite a task.
Thomie Venisee:And, joining the corporate space, I worked in financial services, banking and wealth management. Started my corporate career in a space that didn't look or feel like what I was used to. So, I mean, you talk about childhood to adulthood from the classroom to the boardroom, there have been ongoing things that I've had to endure and overcome. And I'm sure we'll be able to jump in and dive a little bit deeper, but it has been something that is not new to me, but now is not something that I run or try to shy away from. I actually embrace it and look for those opportunities to, to test myself, to be totally honest.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah, that's And, and really see what Tommy's made of.
Rod Brinson:Okay. Man, okay, so you hit on a couple different points there. I want to like put a pin in a few of them and come back to them. But the first one I want to kind of jump on, you said you lived overseas. A lot of people are stuck in their own little zone in their hometown or they might sprout out just a little bit.
Rod Brinson:They might travel and visit other cities but you actually moved to another country.
Thomie Venisee:That's right.
Rod Brinson:And you said it was you you were only speaking one language and it wasn't a native language.
Thomie Venisee:Hey and it wasn't even standard American English. It was down South Georgia Southern accent. Right. Which is which is for some even in The US is a task. But but yeah so I I I did man.
Thomie Venisee:So went to college and after college had an opportunity to, engage in athletics, which is what took me overseas. So I was in, in North Germany, Hamburg, Germany played for the Hamburg devils, American football there. And it was just a huge eye opener because, again, for one, didn't know or understand the culture. At that point, had never been out of The US, were around individuals that I had to, within a day or two, get one, understand the playbook, understand the quarterback, understand the coordinator, understand the coach, understand how to jump on the train, understand how to order food. I mean, there was just all these different variables and, and go and perform.
Thomie Venisee:The first play, first game, first pass, was a touchdown. So, know, opposition were you playing? You said it. Okay.
Rod Brinson:All right.
Thomie Venisee:Okay. Wide receiver. Yeah. So, you know, it's all those things. And that was just one of many, Rob, where, you know, you have those butterflies in your stomach and you have that nervous energy, or you may even have sweaty palms, but you still go out and do your absolute best and reward it for your efforts.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah, it was a lot of fun, a lot of fun.
Rod Brinson:So what I'm hearing you say is like for the professional out here who's working a nine to five and you know they're going for a promotion or you know they're trying to you know advance their career when they when they get the proverbial sweaty palms and the nervousness it's like a moment to embrace it and kind of push through and then just stay strong in who they know themselves to be in hopes that they do get that first touchdown on that first pass, right?
Thomie Venisee:Yeah, because we all know that greatness is on the other side of that. For, for, I speak for myself, for a long time, I, I thought confidence was the absence of fear. But I, I know now confident, with confidence, there could also be a little bit of uncertainty, but you're to move forward and progress anyway. And, I've learned to continue to do that regardless of a yes or no. I'm giving my all and, and I'll let the outcome or results take care of themselves.
Thomie Venisee:So I do everything that I can to prepare and put myself in the best position. And even that doesn't necessarily, you know, eliminate that feeling because you can still have it. All of the prep in the world. I love to speak publicly. I love to go out and do things here in the community.
Thomie Venisee:And I still get nervous every time I go and speak. And could prepare regardless of how long, still had that feeling. But I now see that as the good energy that I need to go ahead and push through. So I look for those opportunities to put myself in that position because I know the best time is going to show up.
Rod Brinson:I love that, man. Like, I think a lot of people run from uncomfortability and they run from, a moment that might make them seem weak or not really most poised and as sharp as they could be, it's in business, whether it's in relationships, whatever it is when we're challenged or when we find ourselves in a tight spot where it's like man I don't know how this is going to work out or things are really looking tough or I got to go on this stage and speak or I have to pull my camera out and talk like there's a moment where we have to make that decision to push through that fear and that through that nervousness and what what I hear you saying is that on the other side of that is where you find the greatness, where you find the results that you're looking for. So that brings me to, you know, one of my questions that I got for you. Like when it comes to people building something that will last again whether it's a career, whether it's a marriage, whether it's you know a business, like what do you think is like some of the key elements like to be able to do that?
Rod Brinson:I know people talk about grit, they talk about customer service, they talk about you know showing up and working hard, know showing up early stay late type of thing. Was like tell me about a moment where you felt like giving up on something but you were able to kind of push past that and see success on the other side of it.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah so I told you about you know, a successful moment, but there've been so many times, Rob, where there've been unsuccessful moments and, you know, sometimes they could paralyze you and put you in a position of fear, a reservation, or hesitation often where you're paralyzed and you're just not able to move forward. For me, I've had that happen quite a bit, quite often, personally and professionally. I share it with you and I appreciate you being a listening ear. I've had recently probably the most significant personal and I'll tell you about professional as well, but probably the most heart wrenching personal matter that I had to deal with. So, as you know, my wife was diagnosed with cancer at a very interesting time in our lives during COVID.
Thomie Venisee:So we couldn't go anywhere. I couldn't go in the doctor's office with her. I couldn't go to surgery with her. I couldn't, there were so many things that no one could do. But now I'm faced with this challenge where the, the person that I feel I often love more than my myself at times, there's nothing that I can do for her.
Thomie Venisee:Only for us to come out of that, God, you know, we thank God for, for, you know, his, his healing mercy and allowing us to come through that. Yeah. Only to fast forward two years where I can have her be around her, embrace her, be that, that provider, caregiver. And we go through the same thing. And the question is like, wow, like, God, I wanted to be close to her and go through this with her, but you didn't have to bring it back to
Rod Brinson:show me.
Thomie Venisee:To show me again. And and you know, it it is it is things that often push us in in one direction Rob but at other time, the things that pull us and what what I I learned discovered, the things that'll push you, it'll only take you as far as your energy is willing to go. But the things that pull you, whether you want to go or not, and I know we've all seen that neighbor or the citizen that's walking the dog and the dog don't want to come and then yanking the dog and kind of pulling them. That's what it is for me, man. There are things that I have internal.
Thomie Venisee:So, you know, a lot of it, I say my faith, I say my family, that pull me even when I don't want to go, Even when I don't have the answers. Even when uncertainty is right in front of me and there's nothing that I could do to change the situation. There's a deeper pull. There's a deeper desire. There's a deeper fire burning that's making me go anyway.
Thomie Venisee:Because I know if I go anyway, there's a result on the other side of that anyway that I just, the universe, faith, god, whatever you want to call it, however you see yourself positioned there, there's something on the on the other side of that anyway.
Rod Brinson:Wow, man, talk about resiliency. Like, okay, like I just want to clarify, you said you went through the cancer treatments and the battle with her during COVID. You guys were able to make it through that thankfully and you're thinking, all right, Coast is clear. I can live my life and experience my wife. We can thrive.
Rod Brinson:Then all of a sudden, it came back. So you're back in the same position where you're fighting cancer or she is and you're there to support her through it.
Thomie Venisee:That's tough,
Rod Brinson:man. And I think like you hit something on the head with the push and the pull piece. When we're being pushed to do something, like you said, you can only go as far as you can go as far as your you know endurance will take you, your mindset, but when you're being pulled you have no choice for the most part because your why is bigger than you, bigger than that, it's bigger than how tired you are, So like when you think about that piece as it relates to other people who might be going through similar situations whether they are dealing with their own health issues or something with a significant other, yet alone losing a job or not being able to get as much business as they once did and now they are struggling to pay their bills. How do you speak towards that person who has a why that is stronger, they have a family to take care of, they have all of these aspirations in life, they want to travel the world and do stuff too, how do they build up the ability to just deal with the thing that they are dealing with day in and day out without seeing the end of it, without knowing you know, what's going to happen on the other side of it.
Rod Brinson:What do you say to that person who's just like, I'm ready to give up?
Thomie Venisee:Yeah, look, they can, but that won't be the best result on the side of anyway. I'll tell you for for myself and it's a habit now but growing up, one of my favorite athletes was was Michael Jordan and Michael Jordan. We all know his history and what he's done and how he's performed.
Rod Brinson:Hold on real quick. We don't all know that. Some people still think LeBron is the GOAT and I'm just going to set the record straight. Okay? I'm with you, man.
Rod Brinson:It's Jordan. Alright, we can go back to your story, I just want to point it out. All of us don't know that. Alright? He is the goat.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah. You you you mean the same one that defensive player of the year, Olympic gold, same year, finals MVP, final champion,
Rod Brinson:six out of six. Right. Change the entire marketing strategy for the world. I mean, yeah.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah. So one thing that I learned that he did and for myself, I did it for a long time until I no longer had to because many will say, well, I don't have a why or I don't have faith or I don't well, for whatever reason, they don't have a why. Know, Jordan would create before the game. He would find a reason. He would find something.
Thomie Venisee:In a lot of cases, it would be 100% manufactured. Am I saying go and create something that doesn't exist to pull you? If that's what it takes, maybe. As long as no one's being injured, maybe. But you, me, we have to find something that gets us going.
Thomie Venisee:If it's reading a book, if it's creating a resource, if it's family member, if it's whatever it is, you have to create it and you can have more than one. So, for a long time, I thought I only needed one. Like if I had this one thing, this one thing will always push or drive me and it'll be sustainable. But I realized it had conditions because my family, know, if it had conditions, that may change. If your family didn't treat you as great as they may always treat you, you may be looking for something else and that's okay.
Thomie Venisee:So there are oftentimes where, and I'm just being honest where I would have to create a reason. I would have to find a why. When I worked in banking and I mentioned this earlier in my career, I was one of maybe two in many occasions where I was the only one that looked like myself in the room. We get outside of the room, I'm the only one that looks like myself in the region. We get outside our region, I'm the only one, I'm the only one.
Thomie Venisee:There aren't any others. Right. So whether, you know, Jane or John Doe knew it or not, I'm competing with them and all they're doing is showing up at work every day and they have no clue that it's a burning desire every day when I walk in that building. Rob is not going to beat me today. I don't care what Rob says, I don't care what Rob's pull or push is, Rob will not beat me today.
Rod Brinson:And this is gonna be corporate Right. Now, you're hitting on some points I just have to like pull out. Like, would you say that some of that came from like your days in Albany where you know money wasn't always right with the family and like you know it's like you built that up as you went along but even beyond that it's like a small chip on your shoulder. I don't know if you're trying to prove something to yourself or if you you know you want you aspire to have these things so it's like you know the football piece was there but also you got a track record. Yeah.
Rod Brinson:You're doing well in corporate. You got the real estate piece, which we haven't even dived into yet. Right. Like what's propelling all of this success that you're seeking and beginning to enjoy?
Thomie Venisee:Yeah, so bring up a good point. A lot of it is legacy. Know, thankfully, had others that came before me that set some foundations and gave me somewhat of a blueprint or maybe a playbook to follow. You and I had the opportunity to speak and I told you if anyone's ever seen the movie, The Green Book, the families that a lot of your civil rights leaders would go to stay with or eat with or fellowship with, that was my family. So the Albany movement, everything that happened during the civil rights, that timeframe, it was very prevalent in my city.
Thomie Venisee:And I'm a lot younger than some of my relatives, but I had some of the same experience. And it's just amazing that you would think in this day and time, we would be so far removed from some of these scenarios. In many cases, we were not. So I did always carry that chip on my shoulder. I was taught that you have to be twice as good as the next person.
Thomie Venisee:There are things that you have to do that some of your peers will not. There'll be places that you want to go that you may not get that opportunity unless you do these two or three things that they did not have to do. So a lot of that was ingrained into me before it was even positioned in front of me. I had already been told, or at least given some of the trials or tribulations that I may have to face in a corporate setting, that way I could prepare. So my father was also a banker.
Thomie Venisee:I had other family members, other males in my family that worked in financial services. And they prepared me for what was to come. And you hear that it will not be easy and that you'll have to do more. And you never know what that more is until you get blessed with that opportunity to see the both sides of the blessing, good and the bad.
Rod Brinson:That's interesting that you bring that up because and I didn't mean to cut you off all that you were wrapping up. I I came from the opposite background, right? My my my father, my uncles, my brothers, they were all truck drivers and so it was generational truck driving history and my dad was very adamant about me learning about computers. All he would say is, boy you need to go to school, need to learn about some computers. And I'm like, okay I'm 10, can I just play this video game right now?
Rod Brinson:Know, lo and behold that's the track I went down, that's all he knew. Like he didn't go to college. I was a first generation college student, you know what I mean? And so going to college and taking that track and doing a computer thing or whatever, I still didn't have any kind of experience in the real world where I was in the situations you were in where I'm the only you know person of color or minority or maybe it's just two of us. I went to an all Black look, I'm born and raised in Atlanta.
Rod Brinson:It's literally Wakanda, you know what I mean? Grady Memorial Hospital. To an all Black elementary, all Black middle school, high school, then I went to HBCU, Florida A and M, and then when I got out, my first real job in banking, which you said you're in financials as well, was with a predominantly black staff. Our department was 98.5 black. We had like three white people and so you know I to, I didn't have to adjust.
Thomie Venisee:I was
Rod Brinson:just being myself the entire time and then I got a rude awakening shortly after that at my next you know opportunity at a different organization and it wasn't a bad you know racist type thing it was more so just like oh this is how the world works. Yeah. You know so I had to adjust on the fly in my late 20s to understand corporate America and how the world works outside of Wakanda because you know we protect it by that shield it works a little different inside the shield
Thomie Venisee:you know. That's right, that's right. It's interesting though. I honestly, I think my four, you know, generation has a different experience, or their reality of experience is slightly different. For my father and for my uncles, their reality is, you know, this is what we've had to face when we were your age, we now have an opportunity.
Thomie Venisee:But if you want to keep maintaining or grow that opportunity, these are the things that you have to do in a corporate setting. If you want full autonomy to do things on your own, because there's only so much that you're going to get in this space, you need to do your own thing as well. So, they were teaching me hard work, how to function and structure in a corporate setting, but they were also teaching me to be an entrepreneur, have your own, grow your own, build your own, because you don't want them to be able to take this away. So, theirs was more of a survival tactic, mine is more thriving. Like, you have an opportunity to really grow and blossom and bless others.
Thomie Venisee:So, what they put in me or instill may have had a different intention, but what it birthed and grew and has allowed me to do is amazing. Amazing. That's
Rod Brinson:good, man. Look, you're talking my talk because I think sometimes we look at the way our parents raised us and what they taught us, even our grandparents were those who didn't grow up with parents and whatnot, and we might feel a little disadvantaged like, oh man, they didn't really give me this or that. They gave us what they had to do. That's right. And they knew survival tactics because that's what they had to do, but to your point, even with that knowledge even though it was meant from one direction it actually had a different purpose behind it and a different engine under it to drive us to a different lane.
Rod Brinson:With that said man I want to kind of navigate to how you got into real estate on this process right because you're obviously going down the corporate track you're obviously growing in that direction but as you say you're building something on the side for yourself what brought real estate into the picture out of the blue?
Thomie Venisee:Man, so you're going back to legacy, man, you're right on point. So real estate surprisingly, my grandfather who was a sharecropper when he passed, well, just before he passed, we moved him from his house, which that was big mama's house. Everybody goes to the big mama's house like granny, everybody goes to her house. We have Thanksgiving, everyone goes to her house. But when he was, you know, just prior to transitioning, he had to move out of his house and go stay somewhere else, which is when I found out he didn't own this house.
Thomie Venisee:This wasn't his house. He he grew up or he was raised in a time where African Americans couldn't own homes. They didn't have the ability even not not because they didn't want to. They were willing and they were able but they were restricted from being able to own property. So, when I saw that happen, I said, that will never happen again.
Thomie Venisee:Not in this family. Like, if nothing else, we're going to have a house. We're to own some property. Right. And so that birthed the interest and that interest, man, it just grew into a vision for something much larger.
Thomie Venisee:So, you know, purchase one property, one property turned into so many other opportunities. But again, it was from that legacy and that reality that, that was, that I once saw that I wanted to see perhaps different than I had in the past. And that was a driver for me because I didn't see this for myself. I saw this for my grandkids. I'm like, what are they going to look at me and say, this was granddaddy's reality but this is how we're going make it our own.
Thomie Venisee:Not that there were any untruths because it was all factual. But those don't have to be their reality.
Rod Brinson:So, it sounds like you like graduated from chip on the shoulder, I need to get out of this small town and do something big for my own life to legacy based decisions where it's like this will not happen to my family, we're going to set something up and establish ourselves so that when I'm no longer here you know my children and nephews and nieces will be able to say hey look at what he did for us and now we have something we can thrive off of.
Thomie Venisee:Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt. I realize what, you know, once you get a chance to go out and see what you can be, if that doesn't drive you, I don't know what will. So when I left, what I didn't say when I was in Europe, unlike here in the in The United States, typically, coaching and corporate, meaning the office staff, they're totally separate. Everything on the field is on the field and you have nothing to do with what's going on in the back office.
Thomie Venisee:While I was there, it was actually quite the opposite. You get a chance to see the owners every day, you get to see the season ticket holders every day, you get to see your corporate partners. Actually, that's where a large portion of your pay comes from, corporate partners. So, got a chance to see legacy money, like face to face on a daily basis from a large group of people and this was foreign to me. I like, I didn't know about, I had not heard about legacy money or things or houses, not houses, not a house, but homes that they have to split between siblings Or, you know, there were just so many different things that I was exposed to that I had an interest in, and I realized it's attainable.
Thomie Venisee:Right here in front of my face, and people that have obtained this, the things that they've done, that isn't all foreign to me, but am I willing to go and do it anyway?
Rod Brinson:You brought up a key word and I feel confident whether somebody is catching this live or on the replay it'll benefit them to hear more detail on that. You said the word attainable and I think that you know two things add into people being able to see that something is attainable. Number one is being able to see it Right? You know, traveling and seeing the world and getting exposed to different things that you're accustomed to gives one the imagination and the visibility to have the vision to say, hey, I can do this too type thing, right?
Thomie Venisee:Which is
Rod Brinson:why I think, you know, agree with him or not, know, Barack Obama winning the presidency was a part of that. People were able to see this is attainable even if they themselves couldn't see themselves becoming a president one day, they could see it for future generations. The second part about that attainable word is having the belief that you could do it, right? You had a thought and you saw some stuff and you said, you know what, I can do this. So for the person who's out here who doesn't necessarily have $100,000 sitting to the side where they can go invest into a property or buy some land and begin that journey where you were able to see some success in that way.
Rod Brinson:What's your advice to them? They want to get into real estate. They want to flip homes. They want to get some rental properties. Like, how can they begin that process just working a nine to five and you know, stacking their coins and doing their own little thing?
Thomie Venisee:Well, there there's a couple ways that they could do it. One, they could reach out to Tommy and he could help those that are just seeking to find their way, start very small. A lot of the things that I've been able to do and grow, I started relatively small with someone else that I could see, trust and believe their expertise. And for me, that was a quick, easy way to get in low risk. All I wanted was insight and education.
Thomie Venisee:I really wanted to figure out what my place is because before you step into certain rooms, if you don't know the language, you may not get in anyway. I don't care. I don't care who you are. I don't care how much money you have. I don't care what exposure you have.
Thomie Venisee:If you don't speak the language, if you can come in with some level of experience where someone in a very quick few seconds can see how they can add value to you or you can add value to them, it doesn't really matter.
Rod Brinson:Yeah.
Thomie Venisee:It doesn't matter. So, me, that's where I began and that's where I would recommend someone else begin. Find someone that is doing what it is that you would like to do. Get in the same spaces and rooms that those individuals are in. So, one, if there's a language that you want to learn, fully embrace yourself with that language.
Thomie Venisee:Where can I hear more? Where can I see more? Where can I touch more? Get in that environment. Where can I go where I'll have more people that are doing what it is that I'm actually wanting to do?
Thomie Venisee:What are they doing that I'm not doing? Because I want to speak their language. I want to be where they are. But when I get there, what are they doing? And that was, you talked about moving overseas, that for me was, one, I think because I'm from Albany and I just had, I say the hood, you just had great deductive reasoning skills, but, when I go, I want to look and see what everybody's doing before I start touching and talking.
Thomie Venisee:I want to see how people move. I'm like, okay, I see that. Okay, I see that. And then start asking questions. And I think the curiosity will help lead people in the right direction.
Thomie Venisee:I've done so many different things real estate, but it wasn't all trial and error. It was someone else helping me along the way, coaching me telling me what pitfalls I could potentially avoid, giving me advice, books that I can read, podcasts that I can listen to, conferences that I can attend. Properties that I can actually look at. The the great thing about real estate is transactions are public record. So, you can go and see who owned, previously owned it, how much they purchased it for, all the specs and everything that's needed or required, when the permits were issued.
Thomie Venisee:I mean, you can find out everything that you need to without having to physically, or financially put money into a deal. So that's one way that I would encourage someone to pursue real estate but not even real estate any endeavor.
Rod Brinson:Yeah that's literally what I was sitting over there thinking I'm like as you're talking like there's no realm in life where having a confidant, somebody who has experienced the knowledge, the wherewithal and the talent to be able to show you, guide you, teach you and impart the knowledge that they have gained over years, right, whether they did it through reading, watching videos, learning from somebody else, it fast tracks your ability to grow in the same direction and it's not to say you can't do it without that but it's definitely going to be slower, you're going to hit a lot more bumps. I don't know if you ever seen that little video of the girl who's sliding down the slide at
Thomie Venisee:her knee. Yes, yes, You
Rod Brinson:don't want to do that,
Thomie Venisee:right? No, no.
Rod Brinson:You want to watch that little girl and go, okay, I'm not going to slide like that, and then the little boy who been on the playground for twenty years, he could tell you, yeah, man, you don't want to slide down that slide. Come to the backside. Let me show you the slide you want
Thomie Venisee:to go at. Yeah. I I I say that not real estate and and any other endeavor, do those, know, starting out, I think that your curiosity will lead you in the right direction, but only do that for a season and be open and willing to graduate to the next level. And that's what I had to do at a certain point because there's so much that you can read where you're just on this, you become a real estate philosopher. Like you just read, just reading information for no reason.
Thomie Venisee:You're not developing anything, building anything, you're just becoming a smarter real estate guru with with no no no work done. So I I would also put time frames or seasons because there's cycles in in just about everything and if you hesitate, you you you reserve, you may miss a cycle and there's certain things that you learn in those cycles, not just really, again, this is anything. Technology, music, sports, marketing, branding, all of it. There's cycles and opportunities to catch waves. And when or if you miss one of those, what you're exposed to, what you see, what you gather may give you some of the narrow view of the full scope of what you could gain.
Thomie Venisee:For instance, for those that jumped into real estate during the recession, yeah, you saw great home prices, you thought everything was wonderful, and we'll do this and there'll be that price again in the future. It'll never happen again. That was a one time opportunity. Won't be won't ever happen again. If you're in business and you you're looking to do something and and administration changes.
Thomie Venisee:There's an opportunity that was once presented and it'll never happen again. But there's something that you may be able to learn that you can now apply and move as you go forward. So I say, you know, with that curiosity that you have, that interest, those people you connected to, make certain that you're given time frame and create a season for yourself where you're like, okay at this point I need to graduate and move on to the next level?
Rod Brinson:Man, graduate and move to the next level. Like you said it at the beginning of that spiel and it registered something in my brain because too often we just want to move to the next level. We don't want to graduate, right? We don't want to do what's necessary to get that diploma and walk across the stage.
Thomie Venisee:You know what's required for that? What? Test that you're going have to pass more than once.
Rod Brinson:Yeah. It's going to
Thomie Venisee:be a test that you're going have to pass more than once. But the great thing is, hopefully once you take that test and pass, you don't have to take that test again. So, yeah, so, you know, into that space knowing this is where I want to be, at least this is where my interest lies, this is what I'm looking to to gain out of this potential process or within this season. Whether you accomplish it or not, you may be looking for a 100% and only get to 70, That's still passing. Go to the next level.
Thomie Venisee:It's it's time to graduate and move on. You you got you have to move on and and continue to progress. And don't be afraid to go to the next level.
Rod Brinson:Yeah. Like I think a lot of people are afraid to go to the next level because they recognize the amount of effort and energy and resilience it's going to take to build something that can last, right? They focus on the comfortability, they focus on what they know, right? Oh well I know this over here and this is comfortable for me so I can stay right here. And all of that is perfectly fine, but I say all the time to my clients and people that I coach, do you want to build a skyscraper or do you want to build a ranch home?
Rod Brinson:Both are perfectly okay, right? There's nothing wrong with a ranch home but I I deal with people who want to build skyscrapers. And then, when I challenge them to go as deep as necessary because you have to dig deep to build a skyscraper. You can't have a 72 story building sitting on top of the ground, right? The foundation has to go even deeper sometimes than the height that you want the skyscraper to go.
Rod Brinson:And when you're digging, you're not just digging up dirt, you're going through bedrock, you're going through sand levels, you're going through all type of terrain and it's not simple, right? And it takes time and nobody can see it because it's under the earth. Yeah. Everybody wants everybody to see everything they're doing when they haven't even graduated to that level to be able to gain processing what it takes to build something like a skyscraper. That's right.
Rod Brinson:So to your point man, I think that too many people you know want to take the easy route they want to you know I don't know about you but a few times I was taking tests it was like okay you can you can fast track this and just take you know these many questions right here and get through this. If you pass, good. It's like trying to take the bar and you haven't even read the book.
Thomie Venisee:That's right.
Rod Brinson:No, you need to study, you need to learn, you need to fall, you need to get back up. All of that is a process that will teach you something. Like you said, whether you get 100 or 70, it's still passing and it's something that you can gain from that but I want to pivot really quick and you know make sure we're talking about things that will absolutely you know continue to pour into people because I feel like this is really good. You know, when it comes to a person who doesn't really have a strategy, they don't really have any direction right now, they're trying to figure it out. They kind of have an idea of what they want to do but they don't really know.
Rod Brinson:They're just surviving at this moment. Like what are some simple ways people can start to like be more strategic with their time, their money, their energy, their efforts so that they're not just out here getting with any old coach that ain't going teach them nothing or signing up for some program where they're not really going to learn the biggest thing, right? Like how can they be strategic in their approach to finding the right people to connect with so that they can gain that energy and learn from them in that way?
Thomie Venisee:Yeah. One of a few things that I always encourage, first is a second of solitude for you to assess yourself because the coach, the mentor, the class, the course, the workshop, the conference is only going do one of a few things. It's going either confirm or validate what you already know, tell you a lot about what you don't know, or help you go somewhere where you can grow. It's even like, you just realize, dang, I thought I knew something and realize that you don't. Or there's something that you know and like, okay, see, I knew I was on the right track.
Thomie Venisee:I knew I was doing the right thing. Or it's going to push you in a position to actually now start seeking deeper thought, deeper interest, deeper curiosity. But I think that needs to start first with yourself. That's just, that's my personal view. I think everyone should have.
Thomie Venisee:And even if you don't know what that means, because there are all times where we look at ourselves and we're observing to see all these true values, things that I want to remove or replace or do something different, and we may not know. So, I would say first, start with a self assessment. How do you see yourself? Where do you see yourself? How do you see yourself that way?
Thomie Venisee:And then from there, I would go one person aside, one step further. Ask Rob, Rob, how do you see me? When you see Tommy and we talk, what comes to mind? What do you think? How do you feel?
Thomie Venisee:What are you seeing that I'm not seeing? So you have assessment of yourself, you have a one arm's length assessment where this person, either your spouse, your sibling, your parents, sometimes even your kids because they see things that none of us see. Where now we had two levels of assessment that we could see ourselves And then after that, some professional, some corporate, some design or structure assessment, I would recommend that as well. That it's going do the same thing. It's going to either confirm what you already know, tell you something that you probably didn't or give you some energy to go figure out what either one.
Rod Brinson:The synergy is crazy because you're speaking on the subject that I talked about earlier today during my call with DocuSign. The title of the call was The Power of Perception and Taking Control of Your Own Story and Your Narrative. Talked about the difference between perception and reality. A lot of people go with you know, oh I know who I am, know this is me and you know I'm gonna be true to myself, I'm gonna be authentic and all this other good stuff and all of that is great but perception doesn't care about what you know about yourself. Perception is in the eye of the beholder.
Thomie Venisee:That's right.
Rod Brinson:The person who can give you that raise, the person who will give you their business for your entrepreneurship. That's right. The person who you're trying to date, who is like, I ain't trying to date you, right, their perception of you is what matters more than reality. And I've even heard it said that you know perception is reality, but the way I look at it is perception is a filtered version of reality and that person who has the filter is filtering off of biasness, they're filtering off of experience, they're filtering off of background, childhood, and even the mood that they're in that day, So instead of focusing on who you know yourself to be, do the inner work that you just mentioned. Go investigate and find out what other people think about.
Rod Brinson:I did a fun exercise in that call where I did a little pre work. I got my family to use two emojis to describe me, right? So I did my emojis to describe myself and then I did two emojis what I think they would describe me as and then I got their emojis to describe me. So that's just a fun little exercise for y'all to do. Ask somebody to tell you how do I come off to you?
Rod Brinson:Who am I to you like you just mentioned? Like I literally said the same thing to the crowd today. So it's crazy that you mentioned that, man. I think that synergy is definitely there.
Thomie Venisee:Oh, without a doubt. Without a doubt. Because one thing that we're all doing is we're uncovering who we really are on an ongoing basis. We're, you know, we're looking at five years ago, looking at two days ago, looking at ten years ago, in often cases, using that as our barometer. Can go because of this.
Thomie Venisee:I can do that because of this. I can obtain this because of that. Those are, which for me, are fleeting things that are not always accurate. But what I think they do a great job of is letting you know your abilities as well as your skills, which aren't the same. Most look at our abilities or skills the same, versus what you just inherently, this is who you are.
Thomie Venisee:So, I think those assessments are good, but going that next step, going to that next level, Rob, I think that often takes an outside view. And again, we talked like what centers you, what pulls you in a specific direction? Is that positive? Is that the direction that you should be going? Because there are things I'll say for myself, there are things that I could do, Rob, but there are things that I shouldn't be doing.
Rod Brinson:Right. Right. And it's not always bad things or illegal things either. Sometimes it could be good stuff but it's just not what you should be doing. Uh-uh sorry to jump in but I you just struck a chord with me because in this walk as a full time entrepreneur there are some dark days.
Rod Brinson:There are some times where it's like you don't know where the money coming from or when to look left or right. You know one day you're on top of the world the next day you're wondering like why am I drowning right? It's just a part of it but I will say that there are times where it's like okay you know what I don't care what's going on I'm gonna put my head to the ground I'm gonna pray about it and I'm gonna push forward but at the end of the day man like those are some very excellent points and sometimes it takes another person's outside opinion because you can't see yourself the same way somebody next to you can right you can look at that mirror and guess what you can lie to yourself with your words but your energy will never
Thomie Venisee:that's right
Rod Brinson:Your energy will tell the truth every time and so whether you think you're getting away with it or not you can't fake something and get to the level that you're trying to get to which is more than likely better than where you are today.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah. One thing I can appreciate that he retract before he transitioned my dad, you know, you grew up, don't talk to strangers, don't worry about what others had to say, you know, worry about yourself, don't worry about anybody else in your space. And he's like, no, talk to strangers. Go out and meet people and talk to them. Go and ask silly questions.
Thomie Venisee:Go out and see what's important to other people and try to add value to them before you try to add value to yourself. Those things alone were some very key foundational things. Again, this was somebody just trying to survive and move forward, passing on things to me that I now do, strategically. I make certain when I go somewhere that I sit in a certain position. When I go to, to, amongst the crowd, I make certain I speak to X amount of people.
Thomie Venisee:I make certain I have a three or four level conversation. How are you doing? Fine. Done works for me.
Rod Brinson:Yeah. Right.
Thomie Venisee:That was a weekend. Great. That's the first level conversation. We have not had any dialogue about anything of substance. Let me pause you right
Rod Brinson:there though because some people will say, oh that's not me, he must have charisma and courage to do that. More of an introvert I'm shy like what would you say to that person who's more reserved and thinking I don't know if I can do that?
Thomie Venisee:So I felt this in my Shanahan before I even knew that it was true, but we are all introverts and extroverts in different spaces. I thought that I was for a long time an introvert because at certain times I like to be by myself. Right. But I know in the other spaces, the life of the party and I love to have fun.
Rod Brinson:Right.
Thomie Venisee:So, we all have, we all have both first, we all have both. But we have to also train ourselves when the, either the introvert or the extrovert is appropriate. So, I did not like speaking, I did not like sales, I did not like public speaking, I did not like getting in front of individuals and to, that is the only way I could get a paycheck.
Rod Brinson:Yeah. That's something driving you. Yeah, that's
Thomie Venisee:something we're pulling me because the bills weren't going to pay themselves. Baby don't care what happened at work, you know, earlier that day. They just know they want to eat. So, I've had to force myself to say, Okay, I know that I don't like to always be around certain crowds. I know that I don't always like to speak.
Thomie Venisee:I know that I always don't like to be out in front. But, on the other side of anyway, if this is what it's going to give me, I'm going to do it anyway.
Rod Brinson:Right.
Thomie Venisee:I'm not trying it, I'm doing it. Whether it's successful or not, that's not for me to worry about right now. I'm doing it anyway.
Rod Brinson:So and that's the point right there man like when people say they want something and they know the path to get there requires them to be more outspoken to be in front of the camera to go up and shake hands at the in person event to get in the room to know the language to speak while they're in the room, all of that stuff right. When they say they want something that's attached to all of those things their actions prove to me that they actually want it. Yes. Because if you're not taking any steps that direction regardless of how shy you are.
Thomie Venisee:That's right.
Rod Brinson:Regardless of what experiences you have, do you really want it? That's right.
Thomie Venisee:You'll be surprised how many, I mean, large figures, major leaders, they're truly introverts. But in their space, their field, in their industry, within their function, oh, you can't turn them off. Right. Light it up. So you ask what do individuals need to do or how does this person that is trying to figure it out get to that next space or get to that next level?
Thomie Venisee:I think that one or two things, What frustrates you that you that in the either in the workspace or in the home space, it doesn't like when it happens, it doesn't make you feel good. Like you want to change it or you want to do something different. That may that just may be your thing. That just may be your calling. That just may be the thing that you need to go and fix.
Thomie Venisee:That just may be your your item or if if if it's not that, if it's not that, but you know that there's something else, that you have a burning desire to do, you have a burning desire to be, do it anyway. For me, I didn't know what I would do with myself in a corporate space or in an entrepreneurial space for a long time. I just knew what I wanted. And it didn't matter what, you know What
Rod Brinson:route you
Thomie Venisee:had As long it was legal, as long as no one was being hurt, it didn't matter. I was willing and open to do that until I graduated that and realized that there's more than things, there's more than obtainment for myself, there's more to life than some of the things that I was going after. But, that was me graduating that space and saying, Okay, I need to be doing something different. There's more for me in this space. There's more that I could contribute.
Thomie Venisee:There's more that I know is burning within Tommy. And Tommy needs to get that out and give it to the world.
Rod Brinson:Man, that's so good. I love that and I feel you man. I'm the same way. A corporate guy all day. I've been an entrepreneur all my life as well just part time but something in me just kept pulling to say, hey, you need to do this thing over here and that something was God right but I was still just like ignoring it and then I kind of got forced into action and I made a decision to pursue this because on the other end of this is the thing that I truly want which is time back with my family which is generational wealth, which is blessing other people and helping them to bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
Rod Brinson:Right? Their business is here, but they want it to be here. How do they get there? Like Those skill sets and those things that I'm passionate about I'm now able to do at full scale because I made a decision to be uncomfortable. Think that too many people get caught up in a life of comfortability and they're afraid to venture out and do the thing that they really want to do because they just want something that's sure.
Rod Brinson:They don't they don't want to like we are people of probability. We look at the man who got ate by the lion and we say, I'm not going down that path in the jungle. You know, I'm gonna take this route, right, or I'm gonna go with a pack of people so I can fight the lion. Well that's who we are, right, we learn and we adapt. But and we're wrapping up here but I do feel a need to ask this question like for the person who's watching whether they're watching live or watching the replay and they feel like they're stuck in survival mode just trying to make ends meet like what's one thing that they can focus on right now to start building something that lasts?
Rod Brinson:Like what would you say that one thing they should focus on? Like let's just say hypothetically they have the right mindset, they know the dream, the thing that they want to follow, but they're stuck in between a hard rock and a hard place trying to figure out life day to day and pay bills. What would you suggest that they concentrate their energy on?
Thomie Venisee:That's good. That's good. You do a good job, Rob. Have to first say that that's very good. For, I'll speak for myself and then I'll speak to the audience.
Thomie Venisee:For me, that has happened more than once Rob. That's happened personally, as I mentioned before, that's happened professionally. That's happened in my social circles. That has happened so many times. And, for each one of those situations, when it occurred, the very first thing that I did was look internally at my faith, because I know that, at least what I'm taught in my faith is those times will happen but there is also something on the opposite side of that as well.
Thomie Venisee:So, II know that there are two sides to every blessing and and we we typically go after we're excited about the good but not as excited about the uncertain or the the suffering that that may come with it. So, for for me personally, I always look to my my faith to help one, provide me clarity, help provide me some leadership and some balance, because I'm always looking to never get too high in a scenario and never get too low in a scenario. And that has always sustained me, always, without failure. Without failure. It's no question.
Thomie Venisee:And we don't have to go deep. You and I, we shared these conversations, so, you know, some of those things. For someone that may be on the line that is trying to figure out, like, do I get out of this rut? How do I turn the corner? How do I transition from this step to the next step?
Thomie Venisee:And it is very cliche and it may not be the sexiest thing that we may be looking for, but I would say take one step, connect with one person, ask one other question, and then expand on that by one. So you take one step. If you want to be in real estate, take one step today in pursuing that. If you want to go back to school, take one step into pursuing that. If it's getting a promotion, take one step into doing that, you may not know what that step is, which is why I said connect with one person that you know has done that.
Thomie Venisee:Connect to one leader that you know coaches that. That's good. Connect to one mentor that you know has at least seen or experienced that. Because in our pursuit what happens to us quite naturally and that's how we're wired, If we pursue and we see immediate failure, you think something is bad or wrong or perhaps I'm doing the wrong thing or God, prayed to, you know, for this or to this particular thing and it didn't work, so I guess that's my sign. That's not always the case.
Thomie Venisee:So, taking that one step, we also may need that one extra person to help pull us up when we can't pull ourselves out of that space. We may need that one individual to make a connection for us that we couldn't make on ourselves. We may need someone to turn that mirror and say, Hey, I know you're inside of the picture and these are all the things that you see in your space, but this is what I see.
Rod Brinson:That's so great.
Thomie Venisee:And then that one question, and can't tell anyone what that question may be. It may be to your spouse, it may be to your kids, it may be to your boss, it may be to your mentor, it may be to your coach, whomever it is. But there's one question that you haven't asked or one thing that they need to put or pour into you that will change it all.
Rod Brinson:Wow.
Thomie Venisee:One, one, just one. And it and and what will change it all. And I I don't know what that is. I can't speak for everyone, know, for those looking to marry, they're like, will you marry me? I mean, is just one simple question, it's not, it's not deep, it's, no one uses a different question, no one tries, it's the same, every, well let me say, everyone I know they ask the same question,
Rod Brinson:will
Thomie Venisee:you marry me? Very simple. But it changes your whole world. That's so It changes
Rod Brinson:your whole world. I never thought about it like that but you hit some very interesting points but just one step and it is cliche from a standard of people say it all the time but it I would say is less popular from people actually actioning right people look at that one step and go oh that's not going to do nothing it's a thousand steps to get where I'm going what's this one step going to do but to your point that one step is something to build off of it's something quantum leaps
Thomie Venisee:quantum leaps happen incrementally. Quantum leaps happen incrementally. You don't, you don't go from laying in the bed to whatever that end goal is.
Rod Brinson:Right.
Thomie Venisee:Something has to happen first before that quantum leap occurs and usually that's that one step.
Rod Brinson:Wow. Quantum leaps happen incrementally. I mean that that just brought me to one last thing I'll say before we wrap up. You know I see this image all the time of and okay don't bash me for this name okay so Elon Musk building the rocket to go to Mars and all this stuff they always show like I think it's called a Falcon something. They show the first engine that he built.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah.
Rod Brinson:It's all complicated. There's wires and pipes everywhere and all this other stuff and you know this thing blew up a thousand times but then they show it next to the current engine which is a lot more sleek, lot more compact, know it's working properly to the point where they can you know reuse this rocket over and over again but it started with an idea and then it followed through with action and that action was just one step. So one step, one person and the one question I was not anticipating you saying that because can't man I got so many instances in my life where I asked one question that turned everything on its head.
Thomie Venisee:Yeah.
Rod Brinson:You know and you will be surprised at what you can benefit from by doing what you just gave so that's some golden stuff. Yeah. Look if you don't copyright it I'm gonna put it in a book and trademark it. One step, one person, one question by Rod Brinson. He got it from himself.
Rod Brinson:Nobody told him.
Thomie Venisee:Go ahead blow up and then we'll come back on the back end. Make it real nice, man. Well, listen, man.
Rod Brinson:This has been amazing. I appreciate you coming through yet again. Obviously, we've connected offline. I wanted to give the people some of the the jewels and the gems that you dropped with me. Yes.
Rod Brinson:Privately. And you know I feel like other people can benefit from some of the things that you offer. And I know you you know you're doing several different things right now. You and I still gotta talk about your brand and what we're to do with that. But for the meantime if there's somebody on this line who wants to connect with you and maybe book some time or get you to coach them or whatever it might be that you might offer, how can they get in touch with you?
Thomie Venisee:Yeah, so Tommy Vinici on all platforms, all social media, you can find Tommy Vinici, that surprisingly there aren't any other in the world. I've gone look high and low and there's not another Tommy Vinici. There's some Tommy's, there's even some Vinici's, but not, not like this. Or just go to our website, tommyvinesee.com. Would love to be a resource for the audience.
Thomie Venisee:There's a lot that we can discuss, a lot that we could talk about, a lot that we could do. But I love to be, you know, a listener ear for someone's question. I don't know what their question is. I don't know how may be able to help, but I'm certain if nothing else, I'll be carefully kind and try to do everything I can to add value to him. You've added value to me.
Thomie Venisee:I hope I added value to to this group. But would love, love, love the opportunity for us to have some dialogue.
Rod Brinson:Oh for sure this is the first to many man so I'm excited about it yeah so if you guys want to connect with Tommy like he said he's on all the social channels I just posted hisuh.com in the comment here Definitely connect with this guy. I'm glad to know you, man. Glad to call you my brother and I'm I'm excited about what we're doing and and how many other people we're going to be able to pour into so that they can build something that will last.
Thomie Venisee:Yes indeed look forward to being a blessing brother thank you.
Rod Brinson:Alright man go take care of your wife enjoy the family and enjoy your evening we'll talk soon.
Thomie Venisee:Thanks Rod.
Rod Brinson:Alright peace.