How Being In The Wrong Room Can Cost You Millions

Ever wondered how sheer proximity to mentors, peers, and inspiring environments can transform your life and business? Prepare to unravel the power of proximity with us - Raya and Trae - as we share our own captivating journeys and discuss the various levels of proximity that have propelled our business and personal growth. 

From the indispensable lessons we've gleaned from free resources on YouTube, to the life-altering experiences at high-ticket masterminds, we delve into how being in the right place at the right time can open a world of opportunities. We also share an intriguing principle that we call the "33/33/33 Principle," and discuss how tweaking these percentages can accelerate your career growth. Our venture into a specific mastermind turned into an investment opportunity in a tech company, a testament to the infinite potential that proximity holds. Tune in, and let's explore how finding the right people to be around can help you reach new heights in your life and business.

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The Power of Proximity

Raya 0:02

I'm Raya .

Trae 0:03

And I'm Trae .

Raya 0:04

We'll share our own experience building and selling a seven figure business , owning multiple successful brands , and share the stories of other entrepreneurs who are incredibly successful in business .

Trae 0:16

This is Billion Dollar Vision , the podcast where we educate current and future entrepreneurs to expand your vision , give you strategy and help you take your business far beyond what you thought was even possible .

Raya 0:28

Your future is limitless and it begins right here , right now .

Trae 0:33

Let's go . Welcome back to another episode of the Billion Dollar Vision podcast . I am Trae .

Raya 0:47

And I'm Raya .

Trae 0:49

And on this episode we are going to discuss one of the questions that we both get asked a lot , which is what is the number one tool to help grow your business , or to help grow your personal network or your net worth ? What is that number one tool , Trey and Raya ? And the answer to that is proximity . And , with that being said , I want to pose a question to you , Raya what does proximity mean to you , and how has it changed your life ?

Raya 1:26

So proximity has completely changed my life and when we're saying proximity , we mean proximity to mentors or peers that are at a higher level than you or where you want to be one day . And for me personally , it started back in like gosh 2014 , 2015 . When I was going through the hardest time in my business , where I had just gotten kicked out of my first storefront location . I owned a spot at the time and I was 24 at the time , getting kicked out , not knowing what I could do . Every other , like retail location , was like triple the price and what truly got me through that time is listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos of honestly , I just needed motivation . At the time . I didn't even need business strategy , I was just like I needed pure motivation and listening to that truly got me not only through that rough time like I really do call that , like my dark night of the soul moment in business , which I think every entrepreneur goes through at one point in their business journey and it really helped get me from like six figures to multiple , multiple six figures . I went from like 100,000 to 300,000 just from listening and inundating and brainwashing myself from entrepreneurs who were motivational and successful , but I was unhappy . I was numb to everything at the time . I was numb because it's almost like when you go through really tough times , you just kind of I don't know what happens . It's like you're body and brain just goes into like let me figure this out . And for me I just almost like numbed all emotions , like I could like look at a puppy , look at a baby , and just not feel anything at the time , which was weird , cause like I love puppies and babies . And it wasn't until I took a chance and I invested $100,000 , I mean not 100 , sorry that's today , that wasn't then A thousand dollars to go to unleash the power within with Tony Robbins and , like then you know , paid flights and hotels . It was like 3,000 all in , but that was the first time I actually paid to be in proximity . I paid to be in the room with other like-minded people and paid to be in the room with a mentor I had only listened to on maybe podcasts or YouTube .

Raya 4:10

And I came back from that first event and my life completely changed because I won , felt emotions again like overnight . I came back with business strategy and grew my business , which it wasn't even a business event and I realized I had like found my tribe , like I found my people that understood like life differently , that looked and viewed life differently than most of society does , and that was the first event that got me addicted to traveling to these events , and the addiction really came from the people . Like nowhere else could I find this community of people that thought like me , that were visionary , that dug deeper , that didn't have surface level conversations , and from 2015 , my first event to 2018 , when I became a platinum partner and invested like $85,000 versus my first thousand in that three year timeframe , I went to like 17 events and built , got to a million dollars in business , was happier , was ? It transformed my life . But part of that was the mentorship and being in proximity with the mentor right .

Raya 5:38

But also at these events there was people that were way further ahead in business than me . I was like this little salon owner , like waxing salon owner , and I was hanging out with multi-millionaires . Like that does something to you , it makes you think different , it makes you think in possibility , it up levels your life in so many ways , and so that was , for me , the start of it , and now we have a lot of other mentors that we can talk about that are more specific , but it really never stops . But that's the start of it for me . What is proximity mean , or what has proximity done in your life for you ?

Trae 6:27

So proximity has been a game changer and a life changer for a number of reasons . And I just look at even with us , like , had I not lived in the same building as you right , it's a good chance we probably would have never met , right ? So proximity , from that standpoint , has been a life changer In terms of , like investing into knowledge . I used to invest in my time into all the free resources on YouTube . Man , if you don't have the money to invest to go in person to an event , I highly encourage you to consume all the free resources that you can , because in order to achieve anything in life , you don't necessarily you may not know anyone who's actually done what you want to do , but if you know them personally , but if you can actually see someone and consume their information , read about them , take on their thought process , take on their Some people even go down to taking on their speech , that person's speech pattern , taking on their beliefs , read the books they believe they read . You can . It's a lower level of proximity , but you can still change your life and so , as far as believing anything is possible for me , I began to listen to Eric Thomas when I was in college , and this was in the early stages of YouTube , but he didn't have very much out but me and one of my friends in college we used to just listen to the same videos we had out over and over and over .

The Power of Proximity

Trae 8:25

Fast forward to now . Even then he started his own podcast and I would listen and listen and listen . But even in some of the darkest days of my life I always knew that things were possible because I listened to what Eric Thomas' story is right Go from homeless high school dropout living in abandoned buildings eating out of trash cans , got a four-year degree in 12 years . Now he has his PhD and a multi-millionaire speaker , right . So when you hear someone who came from that , it lets you know that anything is possible . Fast forward all the way to now , where we've met Eric Thomas . We've met Eric Thomas We've seen A few times now . Seeing his team , everyone that's around him and being around them lets me know that we can live on a much greater level . Seeing him as a father , seeing his team members as fathers , seeing them as husbands , how they interact with their wives it's encouraging , right ? So proximity that's just one example .

Trae 9:44

Proximity has changed my life and changed my view .

Trae 9:49

I was already a big dreamer before . But even being around Jamal King , seeing him speak in person , hearing him talk about leaving a legacy , leaving something behind greater than what you can even see for yourself or what you may even realize right , and seeing him actually doing the work and building a legacy for his grandkids and great grandkids and for people he won't even meet , it's given me a different level of purpose in life . I've met people at those events . We've gone to plenty of different things in person now , but I've met people at different events and , like Ray had said , when you're able to have like-minded conversation with people , it's different from a surface level conversation that you may typically have with your everyday friends . It's just different . It's really , really different . But that's what it's meant to me , it's been a life changer and a waymaker because without the proximity , without seeing some of these things , like I said , I was a big dreamer before , but going in person and meeting people and being able to put practical steps and strategy to the dreams and goals , it's been unbelievable .

Raya 11:19

It's also yeah , I agree , and it's also been . It opens opportunities that you may have not had otherwise .

Trae 11:27

Correct .

Raya 11:28

And so last year we were in a mastermind and because we paid a lot of money to be in this mastermind , the person who runs it had an investment opportunity . He started a tech company and he was doing a friends and family round for investing into this company that he wants to sell for a billion dollars , and so that opened the opportunity for us to make an investment in that tech company , which I don't think we , or I know we wouldn't have had that opportunity before .

Trae 12:00

Yeah , to touch on that , and the tech company's name is Fremlo F-R-E-L-L-O , and I agree 110% . When it comes to investments like that , typically if you don't know the people especially when it comes to the seed round that it's not a public thing per se , so you won't necessarily know about it or know how to invest in it . So we were blessed and we were very fortunate to meet Chris and fortunate enough that he thought enough of us to want us to be investors and so and it also gosh .

Raya 12:38

It actually opened up so many opportunities .

Trae 12:42

But what did ?

Raya 12:44

Just from investing in that mastermind Opened up . Lewis Howell's opportunity where we got to go meet him in LA .

Trae 12:50

That's true .

Raya 12:51

Where we met Rory Vaden , which opened up opportunities for guest speakers that we have in our program that are very , very hard to get Cause . I've tried by myself for years and couldn't get this right Until we met Rory through Lewis , through the mastermind . And also an opportunity to invest in something next year to be a part of a group of people that , being in the room , being at dinner with these people , we could get investors for our company just by being in the room .

Trae 13:25

We can get investors , we can get other investment opportunities . Most importantly , we can build the relationships right . So 20% of your success is gonna come from the work that you put in . 80% is gonna come from the relationships that you build . So like you can read as many books as you wanna read , but without having the relationship , sometimes things just won't work right . You can have an idea for a tech idea or any other idea , but unless you have the relationships and actually go to events and meet people , you won't meet that investor right who can invest into your dream and into your idea . You won't have the opportunities . So we're saying all this to make sure that if you can only afford free , that's fine . Make sure you're going to all the free events that you can , but also make sure that you're saving up your money to attend end-person events , because it can literally be life-changing , you're right . So from that one mastermind we have Met our trademark lawyer .

Trae 14:42

Met our . Yeah , so met our trademark attorney , met our , met we got to meet Lewis Howes spent an exclusive dinner with him . Went to an exclusive dinner with Lewis Howes , and we would not . I'm sure that we would not have heard about the opportunity of how to spend the time with Lewis Howes had he not spoken at that mastermind right . And so from that , like you said , we met Rory Vaden . We now have two guest speakers for our program for meeting Rory Vaden , which it all ties back into the investment .

Trae 15:25

The investment with Chris Harder , yeah , with Chris Harder and his mastermind , which is phenomenal . So , yeah , I mean , proximity is probably the most . I think it's the most important thing . It's probably the least talked about . There's a lot of people who talk about business strategies and you can have all the strategy you want , but if you don't have the network to make some of this stuff happen , it just won't . It just won't happen at all .

Raya 15:55

Yeah , but there's also you can . It doesn't have to be multi-thousand dollar masterminds .

Raya 16:01

You know , there's programs online that can also . Honestly , there's probably a program for every niche . So if you are in a certain industry , there's a program to show you how to get further , faster , right , and so it could be a couple thousand dollar investment and Usually the trade-off is like nowhere close to the investment . And so , like , for example , in our program where we specifically teach beauty business owners how to grow their business , we're asking for a few thousand dollars to show you the path , how to either build a six figure business , multi , six , seven figure , depending on the program . But if there's no comparison in the trade-off , right .

Trae 16:45

Yeah , sometimes there is a comparison , but I can say this for the testimonials that we see right , so we have in our seven figure teams program , we have platinum partners . We had 20 platinum partners , right ? So those 20 platinum partners were actually put into their own Slack group with us . They got one-to-one coaching , they got exclusive strategy not to say that the regular members didn't get it , but they just got it on a more intimate basis .

Raya 17:19

More access .

Trae 17:20

Yeah , they got more access right , and so you know .

Raya 17:25

For double the investment .

Trae 17:26

They paid a few thousand dollars for , yeah , they paid double what general mission pay . They paid a few thousand dollars in some of the testimonials that we get from them , or people who are now having 30 , 40 , $60,000 months or $30,000 weeks right , so it .

Raya 17:46

There's no comparison .

Trae 17:47

There's no comparison . And so , like I said , it doesn't have to be like she said , it doesn't have to be a mastermind . But I know even to some people a couple of thousand dollars may seem like a lot and that's true , not diminishing that . But if you do , like a hard , deep dive , searching to your life , you can find a way to get the money , to make the investment and from there it could literally take your life from business , from here all the way up to here , with you just taking the chance and you just believing that it's gonna work and you putting yourself in the right rooms and having the proximity .

Raya 18:29

Yeah , and it really . You know , that's exactly how I started . Was that ? First Tony Robbins event was a thousand dollars , not including the flight and travel , but I paid for event by event , one at a time . I paid . You know , it was first a thousand and then it was five , and then it was 10 . And then I kept going individually until I literally did every event twice and then I joined the Platinum Partners for 85,000 . But that's what helped me get there . I couldn't pay 85,000 dollars for to be in his highest level mastermind day one , but I did have to invest something that a lot of people wouldn't be willing to invest . Right , like a thousand dollars at the time was a stretch for me , and then 5,000 was a stretch 10,000 , but you being in the rooms or learning from the right people , the right mentors , will help you get there .

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Trae 19:52

Quick question how much was it to pay for all of them ?

Raya 19:56

I had already spent 85,000 .

Trae 19:58

That's all about this , but

(Cont.) The Power of Proximity

Trae 19:59

I loved .

Raya 20:00

I mean , I love being in the room so much with these people . I didn't have that back in Tampa , so this was before Tray and I had met is when I was traveling the world with Tony Robbins Like becoming a better person and better business owner , and I didn't have those kind of relationships here in Tampa . And once you have those types of conversations it is very hard and hear me out . I'm like 27 at the time , like in that age range during this time 28 , 27 . Most people my age are like going out at night with their girlfriends and like doing women parties , which I would love . But I became so particular about the conversations and like who I was spending time with and I didn't know any entrepreneurs in Tampa and so I would rather be at home by myself , like with my laptop and like listening to the people I like to listen to , than with a bunch of like surface level girlfriends that talk about other people and like dumb shit , to be honest , like I won't hang out with them .

Trae 21:09

I don't know if we're a profanity podcast .

Raya 21:11

Sorry , can we Jay connected that for us .

Trae 21:15

I hope so .

Raya 21:15

Okay , sorry , yeah , sorry about that . But I would tell Tray , like it bothers , like I just can't have those conversations , like they're just I'm on another level , and not to diminish them , it's just another .

Trae 21:32

Yeah , no , it's not .

Raya 21:33

Another level in consciousness .

Trae 21:38

It's another level on your journey .

Raya 21:39

Right , I'm not above them , I'm just a different conscious .

Trae 21:44

It's another level on your journey and it's not above anyone . It's just sometimes , if you're in two different lanes , you're in two different lanes . You know what I mean . The paths are going different directions , right . And it's not to say one path is better than the next , because somebody could be working a nine to five at Walmart and be the happiest person in the world right . It's success at what most people don't look at .

Trae 22:10

To touch on your point right . It's not to say you're better than anyone . It's just you're willing to think differently and , honestly , you're taking a more stressful path than most , because when you're going for greater and you're going for more and you especially be on your own business , it's a lot . It's not a guaranteed paycheck , right . It's not a started nine off at five and you just turn off the switch . It's not the way it is . So , yeah , it's just a different path . Not to say it's great , it's better , the reward could be greater right , but it's not to say that it's better than anyone . I want to be very clear , but I want to touch on something you just said what are women party ?

Raya 22:58

I don't know . Like the age where you're not like , you're not partying , but you're like getting together , getting together with your girlfriends .

Trae 23:08

See this is like how what type of parties ? What type of parties it is .

Raya 23:12

Like girlfriend parties I don't know , like where you invite a bunch of girls over to your place and you all just hang out , Like if there's women listening they'll understand . But I started to realize anytime I would be invited and I actually went like I just- .

Trae 23:28

What did y'all do Would ?

Raya 23:29

rather be home .

Trae 23:30

What did y'all do with the girlfriend party ?

Raya 23:33

Eat and talk and drink , but I didn't even really drink either . So , and also , I'm so obsessed with becoming better . I'm so obsessed with business Like a lot of times being in proximity with the right people , who and whether this is for entrepreneurs . So for us it's entrepreneurship . But whatever thing you're into , you could like talk about business , like at a party or out at dinner and like it's normal and people are super into it , and at these , like you talk about business and people just don't yeah you sound crazy .

Raya 24:11

People don't care , they're like it is Friday or Saturday . Why are you talking about work , right ?

Raya 24:16

They call it work , cause like that's what it is to them . And so I became so obsessed with traveling cause I didn't have that here in Tampa , like so I would like go and seek it . It was almost like a high for me because I needed it in my soul , and so now I'm really grateful to have a partner that I can talk about these things . And I heard something really interesting recently with I think it was it might've been Alex and Layla or Mozi talking about it , but you know they talk .

Raya 24:45

Someone mentioned that most people seek balance in their relationship where you know you can't talk

The Importance of Proximity and Relationships

Raya 24:52

about work after a certain time or you know work stays at work and you know relationship is separate . But when you're obsessed with what you do and you're on a mission and you have a vision , it does blur the lines . You know like sometimes we do talk about working in bed , but it doesn't like turn me off or anything . Like sometimes I'm not tell Trey when I just like literally cannot talk about work . But we're so vision driven that I don't think there's like necessarily balance . I don't think there's ever gonna be balance when you're an entrepreneur and I think that's okay , because most people don't understand the obsession that you need to have to build a big a business , bigger than most people even think is possible .

Trae 25:44

There can be balance , but the opposite of balance is out of focus , and then , when you're in focus , you're out of balance , right ? So typically , when you , when you're trying to build something , and Especially when you have a billion dollar vision , you're gonna be so in focus that , yes , there's , you are gonna be out of balance . So it's not a we don't operate in balance necessarily where it just turns off like that , when , when , when we wanted to , we're constantly thinking of new ideas , new ways and , yes , sometimes it can be overwhelming when , when your brain doesn't turn off but to get , yeah , when . To get back to the original topic , proximity . It's . It's so important for you to be in proximity and I I've just now thought it is , so it sounds , based on what we said , there's different levels of proximity . There's there's free content , right , you can consume , and Consuming that is very important because a lot of people put out a lot of good free content right .

Raya 26:59

Then there's your , your Program level and it gets you to help be able to go to the next level .

Trae 27:06

It yeah , it gets you to be able to go to the next level , right . Then there's the the like a course or program level , where it could Be someone's course but you're not necessarily around them . You may learn from them once a week or consume videos , but you could be in a Facebook group with other people in your industry . And then there's that in-person event level and then followed by mastermind level . But , yeah , the the whole , the whole purpose of this episode is to make sure you understand the proximity .

Trae 27:39

For me , like I said , I think it's underrated . A lot of people talk strategy , a lot of people talk business tips , but if you can get yourself around the right people , things will start clicking a whole lot more . And once you get yourself around the right people , then you'll start to realize that Other people that you may have been around or may be around may be the wrong people For this season of your life . Right , it's not that they're bad people , but you want people that are gonna be able to help propel you From where you are to where you want to be .

Raya 28:12

Yeah , I heard a quote once and it said Love your family and friends , but choose your peers .

Trae 28:19

Where'd you get it ?

Raya 28:20

I don't remember . Okay , it definitely clicked , like it clicked for me , absolutely .

Trae 28:26

Absolutely . This is not as they say . This is not elementary school . You got name tags and that place name name plates at a table and you got a sit where your friends are chosen for you . This is actually real life and business where you can go out and seek and build the relationships that you want to help Change your life and and create that financial freedom , create that wealth mindset and Achieve all your dreams .

Raya 28:55

So , with that being said , if you have anything to say , I'll close it out last thing , I Remember Jarek Robbins learning from him the 30 , 30 , 30 principle , or 33 , 33 , 33 . If you do them , 33% of the people that you surround yourself with should be people that you can help right , like a former version of yourself . 33% should be at your level , like your peers , right , and then 33% should be further ahead . What I'll add to that is if you're in a season of your life that you want to get further faster , you just make the numbers prior smaller , right . Make me help a smaller amount , because once you grow , eventually you'll help more people . But you make the people ahead of you number bigger , right . So you might spend 65% of your time with higher level mentors or peers , 30% with peers at the same level you only got 5% left .

Trae 29:58

I was just making sure it's 5% With maybe former friend .

Raya 30:02

You're not former like friends From your past that you know you love . But you just don't have that kind of time right now because you're on your mission .

Trae 30:12

There you go , and that is how we will end this episode , and we will see you on the next episode of billion dollar vision . We appreciate you for joining us .

Raya 30:28

Remember it all starts with your big vision .

Trae 30:32

Stay determined and always keep your billion dollar vision alive . Please , wherever you are listening , subscribe and leave us a five star review .

Raya 30:40

It would mean the world to us . See you next time .