35 chairs in a one Honda Civic

Stakeholders — how to get the best out of your team

Horchata ice cream? Sign me up!

The entrepreneurial spirit if North San Fernando Valley (specifically, the City of San Fernando).

Latino entrepreneurs! Arepas el Chamo in San Fernando Valley

They demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit, not to be held back by rules and expenses. Yummy Venezuelan food.

Strengths and weaknesses

Don’t worry about your perceived shortcomings, that you don’t seem to have talents or charisma that others have. Here’s why…

He fought cancer while building a business

When Adelso Lemus was expanding his business and felt pressured to cover ballooning expenses with sales, he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.

“The doctor was gently telling us that they were going to see what they could do,” Adelso told God Reports. “I didn’t want to do chemo because the last time I had cancer it jacked me up.”

From his hospital bed, he watched his family huddle.

They weren’t weeping; they were strategizing. Who would do what to cover Dad’s extensive responsibilities in the business? Adelso and his family sought what they always wanted in times of trial: a turnaround, for good to come out of the bad.

“I wasn’t thinking I was going to die,” he says. “I just needed to work this through and get back to the business.”

Adelso miraculously survived the cancer. His 10-year-old business of specialty tres leches cakes now grosses $1 million in revenue.

He shares his life philosophy on a radio podcast “The Flipside” which encourages listeners to not despair but to find how “all things work together for the good,” as the Bible says.

Adelso, 54, lives in San Antonio, Texas. He got saved as a youth in Albuquerque when he saw a formerly “fried” pothead” all cleaned up and alive.” It was an unexpected surprise, and the young man invited Adelso to church. He didn’t want to go, but his friend hounded him and he broke down. Of course, Adelso ended up receiving Jesus and transformation.

He grew zealous for the things of God and even prepared himself to enter ministry. He was part of the church-planting mission that emphasized evangelism and discipleship and not Bible school degrees.

He and new-convert Veronica got married “Jesus people style,” the way the hippies did in the Jesus Movement of the 70s, without expensive ballroom-like details and during the Sunday morning service. They were in love with each other and considered the fact that Jesus didn’t have any money.

Adelso and Veronica marched off to Panama, where they were missionaries for nine years. It was a wild time of scrambling to make ends meet. Adelso became very resourceful as he adeptly negotiated equipment and building rentals without having enough money to do so. Navigating financial hardship with resourcefulness became a skill he carried forward in life and it became the hallmark of his business.

“It hardened my hide to be able to go through what I’ve gone through in the business,” he says.

When his 25th wedding anniversary approached, he was on staff at John Hagee’s Cornerstone Church. He decided to save as much money he could every week to honor his wife with a big bash to renew their wedding vows. He wanted to make up for the skimpy beginnings of married life.

How would he cobble together the money for the event? His sister gave him a secret recipe, a tres leches cake with a non-traditional flourish, pineapple. It was off the radar, but when he took samples to some local restaurants they were curious.

“Tres leches with pineapple?” one proprietor said. “That’s weird.”

He tasted it.

“The way they responded in the restaurant was really positive,” Adelso explains. “I wanted them to taste it to see if it had any potential. They really liked it. I just chased the dream because of the reaction that I got. It was a genuine surprised reaction. I thought, Wow, they really liked it. It made me realize that this was something I could possibly do on the side.”

He started at home, but you can’t cook at home for commercial ventures for long.

The preparation for a wedding renewal turned into a full-time business. He needed to rent space at a bakery. At a cooking conference where he impressed with free samples, an acquaintance tipped him off to a 2,000-square-foot San Antonio bakery that could rent him space in the evenings.

The only problem was that she wanted $800 a month and all he could offer was $350. Read the rest: Adelso Lemus fought cancer while running a growing business

Hone your people skills to get rich

The Watts Towers (and riches)

Before you quit…

Comfort was killing me

Get IN the way of the blessing

Hard Rock Hotdogs

The entrepreneurial spirit

Assets, not liabilities

How LA Grind coffee was born

Vanessa Punche was a LOYAL Starbucks customer. So she was maddened when a Philadelphia Starbucks manager called the cops on two African American patrons who were simply waiting just a few minutes for a business associate to show up before they ordered in 2018.

“That really sparked the fire under me,” she says. “If you did that to people who look like me, you did that to me. It’s like a form of slavery. One group of people can sit in a store and work freely and then another class can’t do that without being arrested.”

Vanessa, 56, an Angeleno, didn’t just stop patronizing Starbucks. She quit her job at UCLA and launched a coffee-making business, LA Grind, which has a brick-and-mortar location at 1412 S Redondo Blvd Los Angeles CA 90019 and a coffee truck.

WOW! THE HOUSE BLEND COFFEE WITH LAVENDER AND OTHER SECRET INGREDIENTS!

A good thing came out of something bad. “I turned it into a positive,” Vanessa says.

The switch from UCLA administrator to entrepreneur has had its ups and downs. Business was booming with Cameroon-sourced coffee; she had a prime spot with her truck at the LAX ride-hailing spot.

Then Covid struck. She turned to cracking out her online sales. Now post-Covid, Vanessa is back to navigating the waves of clients and events around Los Angeles. She caters with her truck. She has needed to rely on her family (she has three adult children) to staff, since payroll has taken its toll on viability.

“I did a lot of stuff scared,” she admits about the entreprenuerial adventure, the risks of trying to cover bills and woo clients. But now, “there isn’t any turning back,” she adds. “Some days are better than others.”

Two business models

Questions about the right financial plan? Reach out to Mike Ashcraft California financial professional

Hire yourself!

Young entreprenuer is cleaning up the soap industry with natural competition

Adriana Gasaway became an entreprenuer by accident.

During the quarantine, she started mixmashing ingredients in search of more natural body butter. Ever since she took medical classes at West Coast College to get her ultrasound degree, she had an aversion for the long list of chemical ingredients with questionable health impact.

Her first creation was mango body butter and her friends loved it. She kept cooking up stuff and now has 3 different scents to her body butters and four soaps: mango, milk and honey, charcoal and coffee. She’s added sea moss to her repertoire which she vetted herself by traveling to Saint Lucia to check out her supplier. It boosts the immune system.

She started hawking bars and butters at events and at Earle’s Restaurant in Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. An entrepreneur was born. The career in ultrasounds got sidelined.

“I like this better, although it’s good to have something under my belt to fall back on,” she says.

With an unrepressible effervescence, Adriana was promoting her products on July 17 at the Amazing Grace arts festival. Customers were drawn by the smile and the sweet voice. They walked away with bars of soap in their bags.

Only 23, she’s young big dreamer. According to her dreams, the future holds financial stability, owning a house, having a family.

“This is what I put all my energy into,” she says. “I really like meeting new people and hearing the feedback on my products. It gives me energy.” Here’s her website A.C.E. Naturals and her Instagram page.

So far, she’s paying her own rent with her business. Tomorrow, she’ll take over the world.

Opportunity

Learn about finance while making money.

Stop wasting money

Get out of debt. Get rich.

Balance

Get out of the hole

Looking for an opportunity? My company is looking for a few energetic visionaries.

Fight on!

Quitters never win, winners never quit.

Get rich for your kids

What’s the greater danger for Christian kids in America — getting spoiled or being neglected?

Stuck in a loser’s mentality? The Israelites teach us the dangers…

Want a winning mindset? Let’s talk.

3 Reasons Why Christians Biblically Should Get Rich

Christians get rich. Find out why?

3 Reason Non-Christians Succeed More than Christians (sometimes)

Think Biblically. Make money.

3 Reasons Why Christians DON’T Get Rich

How Christians can break out of poverty.

3 Reasons Christians Should Get Rich

Business owners have the best tax breaks. Find out more.

Get rich SLOW

Nebuchadnezzar’s statue: Prosper for people not to show off

Does money bring happiness?

Does money bring happiness? Find out more.

Take a break

Sunday gives us the principle of taking a break. But six days a week of work should bring prosperity. Find out more.

Fear not (in business)

Overcome your fears. Make money.

The Beauty of Being in Business is…

You can start a side hustle and make money. Let’s talk.

12 basketfuls

Hey, let’s talk about how God can pour out blessings on you.

Ulysses Grant’s wisdom for entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs WATCH for opportunities

Interested in an opportuniaty to learn and work in finance? Let’s talk.

Success is a poor teacher. So too is failure.

Get money smart.

Luck in business and investing

Learn simple financial strategies that lead to riches.

Spouses who support entreprenuers

We couldn’t do it without our supportive significant other

MSIs

What are MSIs? Why do you need them?

Hint: Multiple Streams of Income
You need them in case one stream dries up. Or doesn’t produce enough.

Get your own MSIs.

Stress and boredom are opposites. Both extremes are unhealthy

Break boredom, challenge yourself. Let’s talk. Click on the link.

Don’t stop making strides

Begin making strides.

The role of PURPOSE in success

Hint: It’s gotta be bigger than you just making a lot of money.

Live a purpose-driven life. Start today. Click that link and set up an appointment. We’ll talk.

Grit, more important than talent

Develop grit. Here’s how to become a financial professional. Set up an appointment with me!

Frugal: How penny-pinching can help you retire comfortably

Stop wasting. Start investing. Find out more. You set the appointment. You talk to me.

4 daily habits to put your mind onto success

Your story

Your affirmations

Your why

Your vision board

Dare to dream. Let’s talk, set an appointment at this link Christian financial professional in Calif.

Ed Mylett, $400M entrepreneur, Christian

Ed Mylett lost the game for his eighth-grade basketball team. But first he lost his shorts.

He lost his shorts when the whole team pulled down their sweats for warmups. He ran through the layup line and only after missing the hoop realized he was also missing his shorts. In fact, all he had on was a jock strap (he was going to a baseball camp in the evening).

The entire auditorium erupted. His coach and team formed a circle around him and escorted Ed out to find some shorts. The shy kid who only played basketball because his dad forced him was so shaken that when he was fouled in the last seconds of the championship game, he missed two free throws that would’ve given his team the victory.

It was the worst day of his life, but surprisingly, it became the best day of his life.

In the evening at baseball camp, Eddie was slugging balls into middle field when none other than Rod Carew spotted Ed and offered to mentor him. The encounter with Carew instilled confidence that allowed Ed to eventually play college baseball.

While a freak accident kept him from MLB, Ed, became successful as a life strategist consulted by athletes and celebrities. He’s also a social media influencer.

Ed’s journey to Christ and outsized success began in Diamond Bar, CA, where he grew up in a small home with an alcoholic father, who he worried might turn violent at any time. Ed’s childhood mishaps are now the subject matter of his motivation speeches.

In addition to the missing shorts story, Ed tells of “Ray Ray,” the “punk” neighbor kid who got the whole school to taunt him with “Eddie, spaghetti, your meatballs are ready.”

Ray Ray was a bully and his next-door neighbor, he recounted at a World Financial Group convention.

One day after getting licked like always by Ray Ray, seven-year-old Eddie went home to cry to Mom, who hugged him and consoled him.

But when gruff Dad heard the crying and clomped out, he ordered Eddie to go over and beat up Ray Ray immediately. Failure to do so would result in going to bed without dinner.

Scared, Eddie knocked on the door of the tattooed, shirtless dad of Ray Ray.

“Big Ray, my daddy says I have to come over here and kick Ray Ray’s butt or I can’t come home for dinner,” he said, terrified. Maybe he hoped Big Ray would exercise parental wisdom and pan the fight, but that’s not the kind of dad Big Ray was.

“I like that kind of party,” Ray Ray’s dad said. “Let’s get it.”

He immediately called his son: “Ray Ray, little Eddie here wants another piece.”

So with Eddie quaking, the boys squared up. He had never beaten Ray Ray.

Ray Ray lunged at him.

“By some force of sheer blessing of God, I got this little dude in a headlock and I’m, giving him noogies,” Ed remembers. “I didn’t really know how to hit him, but I was noogying the hell out of this kid’s head.”

Finally Big Ray pulled them apart. “He got you,” he told his son and ordered both to shake.

Eddie went home to eat. What else? Spaghetti.

It was a story of facing your fears and overcoming difficult challenges.

But there’s one more detail to the story. Eddie was 7 while Ray Ray was 4.

His mom, he related, had heard him tell the anecdote once omitting the age difference and insisted he should be more forthcoming.

“Why is that even relevant?” Read the Rest: Ed Mylett Christian

Obstacles become opportunities

There will be times when you want to give up and throw everything in. Don’t. By turning challenges into opportunities, you find success you were never capable of achieving.Your ability to take calculated risks and your incurable optimism will take you to great heights. — Richard Branson