Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Hello, Houston. Trisha Stetzel here bringing you another episode of Houston Business Radio. Today’s guest is Tim Hewson, co-founder and CEO of USLegalWills. He has an online service that removes the barriers to writing a will and other estate planning documents, which is amazing. I’m so excited to have you on. He’s originally from the UK and now residing in Canada. Tim built the Legal Wills Company from an idea way back in 2001, and has built that into a service that now operates in Canada, the US and South Africa. To date, over half a million people have written their will using the service at legal wills. Tim, welcome to the show.

Tim Hewson : Thank you very much, Trisha. I’m delighted to be here.

Trisha Stetzel: I’m so excited to have you on today. So let’s start with this. Tell us a little more about Tim, and then I’d like to know what happened way back in 2001 and how you started this business.

Tim Hewson : Okay, a short history of me, because that’s probably not the most interesting part of the conversation. Um, but yes, you’re right. I’m from the UK, emigrated to Canada to work in high tech. Uh, I worked with a big high tech company called Nortel. Um, it was a darling of the tech industry, um, back around 2000 and then had a dramatic fall from grace. Um, so any of your younger viewers and listeners who may never have heard of it, but it’s worth reading up about what happened to Nortel, the Nortel story. Um, but, um, when I was working at Nortel, um, we, we kind of knew that the Nortel wasn’t going in a good direction at that time, but we used to go out for drinks, uh, after work regularly. A crowd of us would go out every Friday. And, uh, one time we did our regular weekly, um, after work debrief, and somebody brought up the topic of, you know what? I don’t have a will. Um, and, um, this person had children, they had a job, they had a house, and we went around the table. There were 15 of us around the table, and not one single person around the table had a will. And we all knew it was important. And we all kind of scolded ourselves for not doing it. Um, and we realized that, you know, it wasn’t necessarily for our benefit, it was for our families. And we’d not taken the time, made it a priority to do it. So as I say, we all had jobs and families and and we all knew it was important.

Tim Hewson : So immediately, myself and my co-founder, who was sitting next to me in that bar back in 2000, um, who we’re still working together now to this day. Here we are 25 years later. We’re still the CEO and the CTO of the company. But we immediately looked at each other and thought, there’s got to be a better way. Why? Why is nobody doing this? Um, what are the barriers? And, um, it wasn’t really cost. Um, but it was more a convenience factor, like when we were going to be able to make the time to coordinate with our families, coordinate with our spouse, to go to a lawyer’s office and sit there and talk to them, not really knowing what we’re going into the office to talk about. We weren’t really didn’t really know what it will entailed. Uh, and knowing that we would have to then go back the following week to review it, and then the week after that to sign it. It just. And then ultimately we thought it could probably wait. We we could probably do it next month or next year. We could do it in six months. It was never going to be a critical item that was going to be the top of the to do list. So everybody around the table procrastinated and nobody around the table had got it done. So we at that point we look for a better way.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that. So was this a bar napkin idea, Tim? I’m just asking.

Tim Hewson : It was. Yeah, absolutely. Because we it really was back in that time. I mean, people were putting a lot of things online, like traditional practices. It was a bit of a, a time, a.com boom, um, for coming up with an idea. And I mean, back then, it’s a bit of a nostalgia trip, but back then it was like all of the Super Bowl commercials were dot coms, right? They they’d all had, like, crazy funding. And it was like, I remember there was Pets.com, like there was a lot of these businesses who were worth, you know, half $1 billion and didn’t really have a business plan. Um, but ours was very much like, we we could do this. People could go online, answer questions, and we could create their will for them. That doesn’t seem that crazy an idea. And we did it. And I think it’s fair to say at that time, we were probably before people were ready, um, before people were ready to type in personal information, uh, into an online service and share those details. So it was a slow start, and that I think timing your idea with the market is, is really important. And I think we were ahead of where we needed to be our sales and our first year was slow. And as it turned out, it was fortunate because we could still. Ride the decline of Nortel. While we were building up the legal world’s business, we were able to kind of like do both in tandem. Up until such a time as Nortel officially died, and then we’d had enough runway at that point to be able to move directly into legal wells and do that as a full time job.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, I love that. Okay, so before we dive into the importance of wills, because we we know and you and I have had this conversation that that’s very important. I’d really like to talk about the business building. Part of this bar napkin idea sounds amazing. The first year sounds a little tough. That probably resonates with people who are listening or watching today. So let’s talk about that whole business building and funding and pouring yourself into trying to build this business and work a full time job for a little while. So what did that look like for you and your partner Tim?

Tim Hewson : So We. Yeah. So? So we didn’t get any external investment. Um, so myself and my co-founder, Henry, we decided, okay, what are we going to need here? Well, we should incorporate. There’s a cost there. We need hosting of the service, and then we’ve got a then between the two of us, we’re going to spec out what this service is going to look like. And we’re going to build it. Not me. Like Henry is the technology guy. He did the development. I was more like bouncing ideas and thinking of how we could do it. Um, so it’s fair to say that if it was our full time jobs in that first year, things would have been tight and we would have had to have really felt, um, real confidence in, in the story, like what we were doing. And it really didn’t matter how confident we were, but we needed everybody else to be confident in this as a service. Um, but we I think the lessons are that I don’t necessarily I like the way that we didn’t leap. And just because it would have been too stressful for us.

Tim Hewson : Um, but we also it was really important to us to take our first payment online how quickly we could get to somebody, actually, that we didn’t know. A complete stranger finding our website and having faith in our service and paying us money. And, um, that’s always. And I have a pet peeve about getting investment and then looking for an exit. I don’t like that. Like we never, ever went into this business thinking, how are we going to exit? Um, and like to me, like if I was starting a butcher’s shop around the corner, nobody would ask me of my exit strategy. Right? They it’s it’s a business. And we’re running a business. Um, and so we always, uh, put revenues back into the business. And, um, since the very early days, we’ve been revenue positive, cash flow positive. We’ve never taken a loan, uh, and we’ve never sought outside investment. So here we are, 25 years later. I own half of it. Henry owns half of it. And, uh, we still pull the money out of it when we need it.

Trisha Stetzel: Okay. Would you do it the exact same way all over again, Tim?

Tim Hewson : I think we could have built faster. Uh, so there’s always. There’s two paths you can get. We could have hired, you know, six software developers, five marketers, um, and been faster. And would we? We probably would have accelerated our revenues faster. And we’ve certainly seen other seen other businesses coming in with investment who have managed to do what took us eight years. They can do it in ten months or a year. Um, so would I have done it? I think given my personality, Henry’s personality, where we are risk averse, we’re not ones for taking a flier. And we’re not one. We like our autonomy that we’re not answering to any outside investors. We can make our own decisions. So there’s a lot to be said for it. Um, but there’s there’s pros and cons, so would I, I think I, I think I would have done it the same way, but I sometimes wonder.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Okay, so here we are 24 years later. What’s the secret sauce to business? Longevity?

Tim Hewson : Uh, the number one is, um, getting a good business partner who you really like and get along with and and respect each other’s, Others, uh, what each other bring to it, bring to the table. And we’ve got some kind of unwritten rules around, um, if if one of us feels strongly about something, we’ll go with it. If the other one doesn’t really mind, either way, we can live with it, because there’s going to be a time where I’m going to feel strongly and Henry can live with it. And we’ve just always we’ve never had, um, um, irresolvable difference of opinion and all of that time. So having someone that you respect, because the other thing is that, like your workloads aren’t always going to be the same, um, there’s going to be times where one of you is going to be putting in 100 hours, and the other one’s going to be sitting there thinking in the bathtub like, what’s a good idea? Right? Like, so you’ve got to be able to understand that you’re you’re doing different things and, um, not and being kind to each other.

Tim Hewson : Um, and not only that, there, during this time, we’ve each of us have had young children. We’ve had different demands on ourselves, what we can give to the business and what we can’t. So it is a journey, but definitely, um, the secret sauce is a good business partner, um, who you respect and you want to work with for a long time, and you don’t want to get rid of, um, and beyond that, it’s, um, not it’s being able to, um, have revenues, like, have. So you’re not stressed out about the fact that you’ve been working on this for 18 months and nobody’s paid you anything yet. Um, and a lot of businesses that, you know, the freemium models where people are like, we’re we’re going to look, we’ve got 100,000 users, but none of us have paid, but we’ve got like 25 paying users and things like that. We we never really taken that approach. Um, so having a sustainable revenue is, is another important component because we were never at any point we’d never really been worried about, um, having enough money.

Trisha Stetzel: That’s amazing. Well, how wonderful to have such a great partner and that relationship. So I know people are already wanting to know more about what it is that you’re doing. We’re going to dive into that in a few minutes. But even just to connect with you, Tim, what’s the best way for people to reach out or find you?

Tim Hewson : Uh, well, the website is US Legal Wills comm, and I’m, unsurprisingly, Tim at US legal comm. Um, so you can find that’s the easiest way to get in touch. Um, I’m not super active on on social media. I, um, but. Yeah, just email me. Tim. Comm is the best contact.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Fantastic. You guys can see it on the screen. If you’re watching the video, you can also catch that in the show notes and just point and click and send him an email and let him know that you heard him here on Houston Business Radio. So, Tim, one more question. Just about business building before we dive into wills and the importance of that and how that’s evolved. How has technology or has technology shifted or changed the way you do business here after 24 years?

Tim Hewson : So actually, I was thinking of a journey like you asked about the journey and how slow it was at the start and and what what moved that for us. And there were inflection points along that journey. And one of them was like tax software. It came after us, but became a de facto way to file your taxes that actually, um, familiarize everybody with that process of going online, stepping through a service, putting your personal information in and getting a result at the end. We pre-dated that. So us saying to everybody like, go online and put in all your information, trust us with it and we’ll write a document for you. It was a struggle until those things came online. And also one of the other inflection points was other services coming online that competed with us. And that’s another lesson because anytime there’s been a strong competitor, it’s raised everybody. Um, it hasn’t taken nibbles out of our business because us telling the world that you can do it online on our own and people saying, nah, you can’t. But when you have like 4 or 5 legitimate companies all telling everybody that this is a credible option, then it, it, um, helps the acceptability, um, for all of us across the board.

Tim Hewson : So there were so that’s not quite answering your question, but they were two major inflection points for us technology. How has it helped us? Well, I think that. So, yes, more people going online definitely helps, right? And, um, I don’t know whether I’ve seen as big a technology shift as we’re now seeing with AI. Um, and, you know, there have been incremental things, um, that all sound very kind of nostalgic now that have happened over the years. But I think where we’re going with AI and what it can do, we we’ve incorporated it in our support channels, um, our, even our call centers. Um, and so we’re going to see changes there and not just for us, but for the legal community in general. I think that law has we stumbled. Fortunately, we stumbled across an industry that really didn’t adopt technology very quickly. Lawyers don’t. They’re still sending faxes to each other like it. So it really helped us that they were not super active in adopting new technologies. But I think that AI is going to see, um, a real challenge to brick and mortar law firms. Like they’ve never seen before.

Trisha Stetzel: Sure, absolutely. Well, and I love that you’re adopting technology over time. And I also love that other technology actually boosted your business, even though it was outside of what you were actually doing. Uh, you.

Tim Hewson : Know, actually. And sorry to interrupt. Just sprung to mind. Um, but electronic signing of documents was was a huge one that we started in 2001. We thought everyone’s going to be electronically signing documents. And what happened was it was it was allowed for a long time. Docusign and all of that was allowed for a long time. But Wills was always explicitly not included. You couldn’t electronically sign a will. Covid happened. That created a whole bunch of problems. Um, for getting together with your witnesses, going to see a law firm. You couldn’t do any of that at the same time that people were thinking, what the heck is this global plague that I’m going to die from? I got to get my my affairs in order. Right? So there was, if you remember, like the early days of Covid, where we were getting pictures from China of people keeling over in the street and were saying, what on earth is this thing? Um, so Covid was another inflection point for us with allowing people to do more things online in terms of signing, remote witnessing and things like that. Um, and also people understanding that they might be mortal and this pandemic might pandemic might take them down. So it happened at the same time.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Wow. You know, it’s very interesting. I was listening to something the other day about the pandemic and how there are some good things that came out of it. Although, you know, looking back, it was an awful thing. Uh, but in the end, there are things that are actually going to move us forward in. Especially around technology and the way that we interact with each other. Right. Yeah.

Tim Hewson : And electronic signing of documents. And so I don’t want to belabor this point, but the the law was written for ink signing on paper in 1830. And it didn’t change. It didn’t change for like nearly 200 years. Uh, like you had to prove who you were by scratching your ink signature on a piece of paper that in 2025, that was not the best way to prove who you were. Um, and it’s only now that people are looking at digital signing and, um, you know, security traces, IP addresses and things like that as a better way to prove that you were who you are and you were where you were when you said you were there. Um, so it was crazy that that didn’t change until Covid prompted the change.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. Okay. So staying with the path of business building and ownership and what you’re doing. Who who are your clients? Who do you find are using the service?

Tim Hewson : Ultimately, we’re individuals are writing their wills. Um, so we’re not a we do some like B2B, um, partnerships who are then trying to provide the service for their employee benefits program or something like that. So they’re saying everyone should have a will. Here’s a great option for doing it. So some of our business partners are trying to do it for employees or clients as well. But ultimately it’s individuals, um, over the age of 18 or 19. Um, what we find is that, um, it needs some triggers for when you’re going to write your will. And those triggers could be I just dealt with an estate where the person died without a will. That was a nightmare. I’m not going to let my family go through what I’ve just been through. Um, that that certainly one that happens. Um, and then it’s people who. I’m going into surgery like 9:00 tomorrow morning. I got to get my will written. Uh, I need it right now. Um, and, um, so hopefully it’s not those situations, and it’s more people who are understanding that they, they are getting adult responsibilities, they’re getting married, they’re having children, they’re buying a house, they’re getting a job. And they realize that writing a will is a part of, um, adult financial planning. And we always try and communicate that this is not something that’s written on your deathbed, um, just a moment before you die. It’s the document that you write when you become an adult, and you update it throughout your life as your circumstances change.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. And depending on where you live, your the country, the state, the Date. The Providence Province, wherever you are, there are different laws. I know here in the state of Texas, if you don’t have a will, it’s a big deal when it goes into probate, right? And then the state gets to make the decisions for you if you don’t have your wishes written.

Tim Hewson : Yeah, yeah. So I would challenge anybody to know what the distribution plan is for their state. Um, if you die without a will. But it’s different across different states, and I don’t know of anybody who’s actually written out their wishes that match what the state would have done for their estate. It doesn’t make any sense. Um, so, yeah. And not to mention things like common law relationships and blended families and things like that. Uh, which again, check your state laws because they’re very, very different in each individual state. So don’t assume that. And one of the reasons why people don’t write a will is it’s obvious what’s going to happen to my stuff anyway. It’s just all going to go to my spouse. Um, even if that was the case, the process for doing it without a will compared to doing it with a will is is vastly different.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. All of this is so important. So let’s just reiterate the importance of having a will. We talked about the state maybe making decisions for you. And and the idea of the best time to write a will is, uh, now if you’re over the age of 18. But anytime your season changes, if you get married, if you, if someone moves in with you, you know, common law in Texas is six months, so you should, uh, be paying attention to things like that. If you have children, if you buy a house, if you sell a house, whatever that is. Right. We need to be paying attention to those seasons. So outside of that, um, knowing that the state could potentially make the decisions for us, what what are the other important ideas behind having a will?

Tim Hewson : Uh, how about naming a guardian for your children? Um, so if something were to happen, if you’re a single parent. Absolutely. If Absolutely something were to happen to you. Who’s going to be raising your children? And if you’re a married couple. If something were to happen to the two of you. Um, making that decision. So if you write a will you in your will, you can name who that person is. And what’s really interesting is when people step through our service, we can see the points where people stop and and save their work and, you know, walk away. Guardianship is is probably one of the most important. And people’s like, I know my sister’s expecting it to be her, but I don’t want it to be my sister. Um, what? How am I going to do this? And so people actually would rather not continue through the will writing process than confront that reality of, um, do I need to talk to her? Like. And actually, I mean, you don’t like you will is a is a private document, and it’s going to come to the surface after you’ve passed away. But having that named guardian and this isn’t it goes beyond like who’s your nearest relative? It’s like who shares your values and like who, who do your kids get along with? Like where do they live? And there’s a lot of nuanced, you know, do they have the same spiritual values as you like? There’s a lot that can go into that decision, and it’s got to be better that you make that decision than it land in a family court where a judge is going to say, well, how much do you make? How much do you make? Okay, well, you know, I’m going to grant the guardianship to you like it’s got to be better that you make that decision.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Well, and then you get to make that decision if you write it in your will. Right. That’s what’s so important. So.

Tim Hewson : Yeah. So so the actual way it works is that a judge is going to be granting guardianship. But like all things being equal, they’re going to look at the will and follow your guidance. Right. Unless you know the person you’ve chosen is now serving a prison sentence or something like that, something’s happened. Um, but all things being equal, it’s going to be the person that you named in your will is going to be. This is the person they want. That’s going to be the person whose name is Guardian. Um, so yeah, you make you should make the decision. And if it’s nothing else, if it’s not, um, the distribution of your bank accounts and assets, then the guardianships are really important one.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, last question. Why don’t people write their wills? What’s holding them back?

Tim Hewson : Uh, so there are a number of factors. And this has been like maybe a lifelong quest for me to really kind of remove these, uh, these misconceptions. Um, so the idea is I don’t need it yet. Right. This. That’s the. That’s the one. Like we have people coming. I actually took a phone call recently from somebody who said my mom needs a will. Fortunately, I don’t need one yet, but my mom, she needs a will. And the obvious question is when? When do you think you’re going to need one? Um, because it can’t be when the bus is coming around the corner about to hit you. Um, and oftentimes, you know, the number of times that people say, like, my mother, you know, she’s in a care home, she’s 98, she needs a will. It’s like you’ve left it too late. She doesn’t know, like what she’s doing at that point. So, um, the idea that I don’t need it yet doesn’t make any sense, because you’re going to write it once. And this is what online services change. Because I think before, when people wrote it with a traditional lawyer and it was costing them $1,200, and it’s like, I don’t want to have to do this once, so I’m going to wait until my life is settled down. Um. And nothing’s going to change, so. Your life never settles down. So it never reaches a point of stasis where you can say, now I can get my will in. Um. So online services do allow you to log back into your account and make those changes very conveniently and easily. It takes five minutes, and then you print off a new document, an updated document, so you don’t have to wait until the time.

Tim Hewson : Um, but it’s also the misconception of it. It’s obvious what’s going to happen to my things. We’ve discussed that that’s not going to be one this sense that like, I don’t care, I’m going to be dead. That happens. People say that and it’s like, you know what? If you care about anybody in your lifetime, you should care about them after you’ve gone because you’re leaving them with a real pile of doo. If you haven’t done taken 20 minutes, its 20 minutes is what it takes to get the will written, and using a service like. I don’t mean to make this an advertorial, but 50 bucks and you’re going to save them six months of anguish. Um, so yeah, this this idea that it doesn’t affect me. It’s just so unbelievably selfish because you’re leaving people with a real mess. So those are some of the main reasons. There’s also the other one I would quickly bring up is this, like, um, like the concept of death, like, you know, talking about death or is this going to mean I’m going to die if I write my will, as am I putting a hex on me? Um, there’s there’s things like that. And I think we need to, like, um, try and talk about it more in the context of financial affairs rather than death care. And when people say, oh, you’re in death tech. No, we’re not, we’re in fintech. Uh, that’s our business. Um, so that’s another one.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. You know, it’s it there’s a parallel here in the business that I’m in where people don’t want to set goals because they’re afraid they can’t achieve them. Like, come on, this is how we get where we want to go, right? Uh, just as with avoiding writing your will because you’re afraid of death, it’s a real thing, and I get it. But it’s so important for your family. If you don’t do it for yourself, you should do it for your family or the people that you’ll be leaving behind.

Tim Hewson : Yeah, yeah. And the other thing is, like, you can always see the will as an opportunity as well. Um, yeah. So it’s dull, you know. But you know what? People have reviewed our service and said, I really enjoyed the idea of like, I could give, like, money to my nephew. There’s a charity downtown that I work with. Um, I could my favorite guitar. My my son like you. You can be creative with it. And there’s nothing sadder than seeing you get celebrity stories like Aretha Franklin died without a will. $80 million estate. She could have set up the Aretha Franklin Scholarship, a foundation for aspiring young musicians. A her memorabilia could have gone somewhere. It was just such a wasted opportunity, um, to do something. And as it is, it’s just all being eaten up with legal fees and everything sold off late. So, you know, I do see, even if you don’t have an $80 million estate, there’s things that you can do that can really make your heart or fill your bucket, um, and make you feel that you’re doing some good in the world. And it’s an opportunity.

Trisha Stetzel: Amazing. Tim, this has been such a great conversation. I appreciate you coming on the show with me today.

Tim Hewson : I’ve enjoyed it. I appreciate your questions. And, uh, giving me a platform to talk about my nostalgic story as well, I appreciate that.

Trisha Stetzel: Love that. Absolutely. All right, you guys, the best way to find Tim is to email him at Tim at dot com. You can probably go to the website as well if you want to learn information. Us legal wills. Com that’ll be in the show notes as well. Again, thank you so much for being with me today Tim.

Tim Hewson : And thank you Trisha.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. And that’s all the time we have for today. If you found value in this conversation, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, a veteran or a Houston leader ready to grow. Be sure to follow, rate, and review the show because it helps us reach more bold business minds just like yours and your business. Your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.

Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Houston, Texas. It’s time for Houston Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.

Trisha Stetzel: Known nationally as the Financial Evangelist, Ryan is president of Main Street, an organization dedicated to bringing financial literacy and empowerment to underserved communities. A graduate of the University of Michigan Business School, Ryan began his career as a stock trader before turning his focus to financial education, leading workshops for unions, veterans, churches, students, and even the formerly formerly incarcerated. He’s the author of several books, including provision for abundance, and hosts Dollars and Cents on the Dare to Dream Network. His work has been featured on CNN, CNBC, and other major outlets. And his mission is clear make wealth building tools accessible and sustainable for everyone. Ryan, welcome to the show.

Ryan Mack: Sounds like a good guy. You just introduced their live up to it. Hope I listen.

Trisha Stetzel: I pride myself on having great introductions because we don’t do them for ourselves.

Ryan Mack: I understand.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Okay. Tell us a little bit more about Ryan Mac. Who are you.

Ryan Mack: Man? I’m just a simple guy from Detroit, Michigan. Grew up in Detroit. Um, a family man. I love Jesus. He’s a lord of my life. Uh, and I try to let him dictate where I want to go and. And who I want to help. Uh, I definitely want to have more, uh, I’ve always thought about. Even when I was a young child, my mother would say I would hold a quarter in my hand, and I would hold it for hours and hours and hours. She said, why, what are you holding for four hours? Just my quarters. I would hold on to money. So I’ve always been had the money focus. So when I went to versity of Michigan, I learned about financial education and and the business school got a degree in finance. When I graduated, I took a stock trading job, and then I got an offer for the largest Nasdaq trading firm, not equity markets. I took that, and then from that my aunt called and said, Ryan, what’s a stock? And that just messed me up because like, my own family doesn’t know what I’ve been doing for at that point about six years. So I’m like, so why don’t we just go ahead and and start teaching? So I started to write every week. I would write something once and once a and I would just start to teach. I would go to the different local public housing and go to the church, go sit on panels, whatever I could do to just take what I’m doing at the stock trading firm and give it.

Ryan Mack: And then I see, you know what? I’m going to financial planning and Merrill Lynch told me, I’m going to give you an offer. Great. Awesome. But then I went to sign the paperwork, and they said, Ryan, unless you work with high net worth individuals, everybody else is wasting time. I said wow. Because I was all excited to take your stuff to my church. I’m going to take it to the public housing. I’m going to take it to Ryan. I said, wow, I said no. So I, I decided to decline that offer. Then I didn’t have a job because I’d already quit tonight. So I said, wow, man. Uh, so I started Optimum Capital Management and that started my journey of, uh, but I, I’m awful at sales. I’m the worst salesman ever because I, I was talking myself out of sales all the time. No, you don’t need that insurance. No, you don’t need that. And ironically, the blessing and the curse of the recession 2007. At that point, I had been teaching every week kids, public housing, just teaching, giving away, giving away. I’ve done it so much that I got, uh, black enterprise kind of saw what I was doing, and one of my workshops had a friend of mine. She was a CNN producer. So all that, it was just it was God. It was all God that kind of pulled everything together to say, look, uh, you suck at sales, so let’s put them on television so he can make his own sale.

Ryan Mack: And so. And when the recession hit, I’d already been doing CNN. And at that point, they didn’t have enough talking heads. So CNN picked me up and Fox picked me up, and CNN, CNBC picked me up. And then at that point, I didn’t have to make sales because people were just responding to me. So then I started just taking the newsletters, turning them into books. So that just kind of just say, you know what? Let me just follow this road, let me see where it where it goes. Uh, so I love teaching and I love that light bulb when it goes off of that returning citizen. Or you say, formerly incarcerated. I’m in prisons every month where I go to the prisons and I teach because when they when these guys come out and women come out, I want them to be educated and empowered to be able to be self-sufficient. I’m the guy that has no like politically. I have no home because I’ve always felt that Democrats always wanted to do just have handouts. But then Republicans want to take everything away, and I don’t think either of them is necessarily the answer. So it’s like, I don’t have a home. So let me just do what I need to do and create self-sufficiency. And that’s what financial education is about. So, um, wherever I go, whoever wants to hear it, whether you voted for Trident or Bump or or Trump, Biden or Trump, I want to teach. So that’s my job. And that’s what God put me here for.

Trisha Stetzel: I love that, and I love that you’re such a giver and that giving created this space that you didn’t see coming, that was able to give back to you so that you could continue to spread the word. It’s so important for us to do that. Let’s talk a little bit about Main Street. So this is your business, right? Main Street. So tell me more about the mission behind Main Street.

Ryan Mack: Well, the mission is really it came about because there’s a need and there’s an old school way of teaching financial education, and it’s our way of teaching it. Um, I, I’ve, I have a lot of, uh, corporations that I’ve, I’ve felt that financial literacy is the best marketing strategy. If you can find yourself an effective base of people. Right. So using blended learning ecosystems, the old school way is I’m going to create some financial education content, make a website and pray that people use it. And if dust could accumulate on the website, most of these websites that these organizations that create have a lot of dust on them and no one gets heavy traffic. But then there’s a way to be able to create relationships using blended learning where you can actually like our largest client. Well, today is, uh, VFW, uh, 1.4 million members. And, uh, we also have a base of 450,000 members with 1199 SEIU. Oh, no, no, excuse me, AARP New York at 2.3 million members. We started really working with them. That’s our technically our largest client, but we’re able to hit these large audiences using a strategy that not only does the online curriculum but engages. We let the people lead. We survey them first, write the curriculum based upon the survey, do quarterly workshops based on that curriculum. We do economic hotline so everyone has access to, uh, asking questions.

Ryan Mack: You’re in the bed. I got a question. What happens if I cancel my credit card? You send that question over, you get a response back, and we partner with, like over 20,000 non-profits through, uh, 1199 SEIU, AARP, Springfield Pro. So if somebody asked me a question in Houston or Sergeant, wherever you’re at, I can respond to it and give them an answer. But then also look at the top five organizations in their area that can help them for free. And so, uh, we I’ve got a few folks that helped me manage that piece, that economic. It’s like the 411 for personal finance. And then we create content every week that the goal is to, as people ask questions, we’re creating uniquely tailored on demand content that responds to the populace and where they want to go. So we’re just excited that to have these conversations with these large organizations, um, Lord willing, the creek don’t rise. Walmart might be a partner. Next time we talk, we’ll see. Um, Flynn, Zito Capital Management, they’re coming on board. So a lot of these corporations are starting to realize that I can give you an audience. And we added it up in terms of almost 6 or 7 million people that all trust us. I’ve been teaching since 1998. So they trust me to teach. So let me give you them.

Ryan Mack: You put pay $1 million to put your name on a stadium. Why don’t you pay a small fraction of that and get access to a larger amount of people that actually can give you evaluated education. So that’s what Main Street does. We’re that bridge between corporate and community teaching, financial education and providing it with real resources where it’s like a win win Like Doug McMillan, I pitched him, I said, look, man, you’ll pay less on marketing, but you’ll get access to a larger audience. So you’re worried about market share. I saw your earnings report. Let’s figure out a way to be more effective and efficient at reaching large populace. That’s what Main Street is about. We’re trying to position ourselves as that bridge, and it’s been pretty good so far. It’s been a blessing. I love it. It keeps me busy as all heck. But hey, I love creating these videos, man, and answering people. And when I get like that response, I just had a call this morning. Formerly incarcerated guy. This guy say that this guy, man, I love this guy. My first conversation with a few months with him. But we talked and he was uh, he said, yeah, man, uh, talk for a while. I said, what’s your biggest concern? I gotta get to work. I said, well, why aren’t you working? Well, I can’t work. But the doctor said, I can’t get back to work yet.

Ryan Mack: Well why not? He said, well, you know, I got a 13 shots and, you know, uh, he got shot 13 times. 12 times. And the 113 shot grazed my neck. But I haven’t been able to get back to work just yet. He’s saying it and talking like he’s like a like it was a like a mosquito bite or something. So luckily I’ve dealt with that pop up and I didn’t respond. I said, okay, you know, let’s get. So I just talked to him again this morning and I always tell him, I said, man, your story inspires me. Let’s get to work. Let’s get moving. But those are the type of things when he gets. He was in a coma when his third child was born. He came out to coma and his child was he was born. And he’s happy to see his his baby. So now we’re working together. Those are the type of things I like to see, those connections, that type of because that’s Main Street, man. That’s to the stuff that all these knucklehead politicians forget about. All these folks that are out here worried about these talking points and what no, I’m talking to the real people. And that’s what I stay in that lane. I love it, man. I love that’s what drives me every day.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah. Well. And making a difference, right? Being able to tell those stories and and relating to other people who may have been through something similar or feel the same way, or were raised the same way, or went through the same type of, uh, growing up, if you will. Right. Uh, I think all of that is so important. So you and I were having a conversation, uh, the last time we connected, specifically about the VFW and, uh, how funding for these larger organizations. It’s not just the VFW. Right. But for some of these larger organizations, the funding is at a higher level. And these local, um, uh, entities, if you will, aren’t able to use the funding in a way that benefits them most. So can we talk a little bit more about that? I know you’re pretty passionate about it.

Ryan Mack: Yeah. I think that there’s a disconnect between local leadership and the organizations and then the boots on the ground, so to speak, where and now, um, not only VFW, I’m talking to many national organizations that are starting to realize that some of their federal funding is getting pulled. And so my whole thing is like, how come we haven’t tried before to look outside the business model of of golf outings and chicken dinners? Like, that’s not a sustainable business model where if you have a large base of people, those base people need empowerment. And there are many private institutions that are willing to spend money to get access to them through their services that they offer. So, uh, like VFW, I think now, um, I think I’m back on the I shouldn’t be talking, but whatever. I’m back on good graces with USAA. Who was was who was a who is a primary partner for VFW. And they didn’t like me at first because here comes this guy just teaching and doing all this education stuff. Like, we can do the same stuff. And VFW is like, no, you can’t do it. How we not what he does. So I’m like, look, we’re not we’re not in competition. Let’s work together, I said, because the funding provide. Let’s not to your point. Let’s not just give it to the national piece.

Ryan Mack: There are many local organizations and local posts in the 5000 posts of the VFW that are struggling. We got some of them that are like over $5 million buildings and doing well and like doing awesome, but that’s a small percentage. There’s the majority are doing just okay, but then there’s a large percentage of too large, my, in my opinion, that are just struggling to keep their doors open. So, uh, I’ll go back and forth to VFW all the time. I think your mission is great, but I think your population’s getting older. You gotta get new, fresh ideas and with new mechanisms of fundraising strategies. So right now what we’re we’re working on, I just put together a proposal last night of how we can use financial literacy through the VFW to raise money for veterans and also involve in peer to peer pedagogy strategies of having the veterans be the mouthpieces for financial literacy See raising funds in their local areas. So like this is led by the local I wrote a book for them. They’re going to publish it the quartermaster’s where um, and I hope that from that book we can ignite further conversation because one of the chapters was how you can raise funds, uh, and using outside if your business model is federal funds, that’s not a long term strategy.

Ryan Mack: That should always be a short term strategy. Get yourself on the foot and create a sustainable revenue model that doesn’t depend upon federal funding, because whether or not that federal funding continues, whether or not you don’t want to make your organization dependent upon that. So and that’s just I’m big on self-sufficiency. So, uh, we’re talking about that. I think many organizations in today’s climate are going to have to really start thinking outside the box. And I say golf outings and chicken dinners, because there’s one particular organization, I’m not going to drag them, but that’s all they do. They plan the year around these big event where they have a speech, they raise money, and then immediately they get busy planning the next chicken dinner. Yep. And they’re huge. And I’m like, yo, are you serious? Like, there has to be another way to kind of get ahead of the curve, because I’ve seen the books. They’re always behind the curve financially where they’re struggling to just keep up and they’re so busy, but they’re not doing business. And so I think there has to be, especially in today’s climate, where, I mean, whether you whether or not you like Trump or not, I don’t know what your position is, quite frankly, I don’t care.

Ryan Mack: But like Trump is trying to, he’s doing things that now are taking federal funds away from many national organizations and being hurt because of it. Again, that’s not me trying to make an assessment one way or another. That’s just factually what’s happening. And my argument with these organizations that are saying, well, my argument has always been, look, whether it’s Trump or whether it’s Biden or whoever it is, you can’t depend upon that to be your funding stream forever. It can’t be long. So my my role is what we try to do is try to help them do. And I raised about what, 4 million for operation Hope. That organization is a mammoth in terms of they’ve raised over 3 billion. So I raised like a small itty bitty piece John O’Brien brilliant. And raising money, raising funds. But that organization really taught me about how to use leverage corporate strategies, what’s their bottom line goals, and matching it with your constituent needs. There’s a intersect that organizations can do effectively, that can sustain them through a strong revenue stream that makes them not reliant upon federal funds, like use the federal funds to get you on your feet, but don’t rely on it. And then we can become self-sustainable, consequently help more people and have a stronger, long lasting impact.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Okay, so I know time is passing so fast. We’re a little more than halfway through.

Ryan Mack: But you got me excited.

Trisha Stetzel: No, no, no, it’s all good. Ryan, you have so many great things to say. But I know or and I know people are ready to connect with you. So how what is the best way to connect with Ryan Mack?

Ryan Mack: We have an economic hotline that’s available for everyone. 91780942319178094231. Text that number. And when you text the number, it goes right to my phone. It goes right to my partner’s phones. And, uh, if you have any question of any resource anywhere, it’s all free. We’re not this is not you’re not going to be uploaded to some 1999 a month charge. Everything’s free. Uh, we get my number one question to ask him in my in my classes is ask people, how do you get paid? So we get paid by the contracts and the organizations that we do 1 or 2 year contracts with organizations that pay us to teach their populace over time. So that allows me to offer the economic hotline free. So when people text that number, they ask questions and or they say, hey, I have a question and what are some resources in my area to get free help? So we got a lot of nonprofits, a lot of nonprofits out here struggling to. And this is, again, before this administration, over over years, I’ve noticed it overworked, underpaid, high, underappreciated, highly spirited, want to do good work, but they don’t have the resources in order to sustain it. So we just started galvanize, and with the help of AARP, Spring Forth Pro 1199, SEIU, others, and our personal network, we’ve kind of made a database of vetted nonprofits that we can look up via city and zip code. So when people hit us up, we send a list of top five that get some work done and they get some free help, and that way that helps them with free referrals. And it helps the people because they get ongoing help. And I mean, that’s that’s that’s biblical. The Bible says, bless us, Lord and father of our God, Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. So God gave us everything we need to be successful. We just gotta figure out how to use it effectively and put it all together to create empowerment for his people, and then we’d be all right.

Trisha Stetzel: Absolutely. Okay, so we’re just going to have to, like, keep talking for another hour. I’m kidding. I’m kidding, you guys. Uh, the information that Ryan just gave us will also be in the show notes. So you guys can grab it from there. Uh, they will also be some other information around Ryan that you can read about. Can we talk just a minute about your book, the one that I mentioned in your bio earlier? Yeah, I would love to talk about.

Ryan Mack: That was a labor of love. Um, I wrote another book. Living in the village took about three months, but provisions for abundance. God told me to write that book because, uh, there’s there’s been a a branding of the Word of God that’s been very negative as of late. And, um, the provisions for abundance is all about 365 days, where every single day there’s a, a topic, there’s a scripture that’s related to that topic. And then there’s words, my words talking about it. And then there’s a financial tip that relates to that topic and how to use that scripture. The Word of God is the most tangible financial planning manual ever created. And I think that the Bible, it’d be foolish for anyone to believe that God is not going to discuss and use those principles for money for you as we manage his resources. So it’s all about at the end of a 365 days, you read. It’s designed to read that you can read every day in seven minutes or less. And then after that seven minutes, you really want to contemplate and think, how can I implement and can I do that? Tip? Have I already done it? And I’ve got a lot of couples that are reading it together. I’ve got families that are reading it together. So the goal is to get people more in alignment. The hidden agenda is to get people to read the Bible more. That’s how God got me. He knows I’m tangible and I’m I’m a I’m a timeless Christian. I’m working on it. Pray for me because, you know, I need to. You need to put that nail in my side in order to make sure he’s real. God knows, like that guy needs to see some tangible. That’s how God.

Trisha Stetzel: Works.

Ryan Mack: I’m like, okay, cool, I got you, I got you God. But I want people to use the Word of God and to just implement it in their lives. It’s not just a to something that you just pray and meditate on. You can actually use it as a manual for your life. And I want people to use provisions for abundance in order to go back, read the word. And I tell people all the time, don’t just read me. The real expert is the Bible. So I’m just trying to get you to think about how that can be used, and then go read the word and spend some time and meditate on that word of God. Man. It’s it’s it’s life changing. It’s soul saving. Um, and I just thank God for it.

Trisha Stetzel: I love it. Where can people find your book, Brian?

Ryan Mack: Well, it’s provisions from. It’s on our website. If you go to Main Street Empowerment dot net, main Street empowerment Net is there. Uh, we’ve got all the books listed, but that one, if you buy directly from me or provisions for abundance there. Um, I, I’ve, I’ve got assigned every copy that I’ve, we send out. Um, but not that’s, that took me about that was almost three years because every day was a speech. Every day was its own speech. It wasn’t like living in a village was like, I did it in three months. Boom. But that was two and a half, three years, because every day I had to stop and then start fresh with a new concept that I hadn’t talked about before. I had to pray about it. So that was very, very, very labor intensive. But I’m it was a blessing for me to be able to finish it. But thanks for that question I appreciate you.

Trisha Stetzel: Yeah, absolutely. Labor of love. And it’s going to touch so many people and has already touched so many. Thank you for sharing that. Um, I am so excited about having you on. I have like 1200 other questions, but the next place I’m going to go is you brought up the idea of these nonprofits that are struggling, some of these, uh, smaller entities of bigger ones. And, um, from a business perspective, you know, I, I know and love and communicate with a lot of nonprofit organizations. And my lesson is always we need to treat those as businesses, because if we don’t, there’s no money for this service that we want to provide to the people that we want to serve. So we have to really focus on that. And so what you’re doing is bringing these organizations alongside of these private corporations or private businesses that can infuse money into these organizations to get them where they need to go. So can you talk a little bit more about these partnerships, or how you’re bringing these people together to create space where these nonprofits or smaller organizations can partner with bigger ones?

Ryan Mack: It’s so simple. Like, to me, I don’t understand. This is the thing. Like, I hope people don’t think I’m anti-government. But I looked at I look at the government like a cleaner of your house, right? If you can’t pay your rent, do you blame the cleaner? Right? No, the cleaner is the service provider. So that’s what I look at the government like that. So there is a role for the cleaner to keep your house clean. But if the rent’s not paid, that’s on you. Okay. So, yeah, make sure the cleaner is not doing his or her job. Then fire the cleaner, get another cleaner. But then you gotta pay the rent yourself and figure out a different way to make sure the money’s coming in, to make sure that the bills are paid. So I’m not anti-government. It’s just. I just think that we’ve overplayed the role of that. So, like, if you’re a Walmart, you know, got Walmart, target, Costco, all these organizations concerned about tariffs being passed on, they’re mitigating even I looked at Walmart trading over 40 times multiple, which is doing a phenomenal job of appeasing shareholders. But at the same time mitigating the cost of tariffs going to their customers. So doing a phenomenal job trading at high valuation. But they’re always concerned about market share. Target are not doing as well.

Ryan Mack: Costco doing really pretty well. But they’re concerned about market share. They’re concerned about getting exposure eyeballs. So they got digital platforms. They’ve created. They’ve shifted to a digital strategy where now I’m like, look, if there’s a value added component where these nonprofits can also provide, these nonprofits have the very people that shop in your stores every day, the very people that spend money in your bank, the very people that you want to create customers every day, the very folks that want to get. There’s a half $1 trillion industry in check cashing, payday loans, title loans, cash advances, refund anticipation loans, pawnshops that are pimping the crap out of poor people in urban and rural America all across this country. And they’re doing it perpetuating poverty for poor people, where if you just flip it part of what nonprofits who are reaching these very people and not just provide them with food, but give them ability to learn how to fish themselves. Now you’re funding those very potential customers that are going to go back into your stores creating empowerment. So it’s a cycle that where you got, what, 60, 70 million under under underbanked folks in this country. Now you’re creating a cycle of empowerment that allows retailers, banks, these large and small to be able to funnel customers to support your businesses. And if you’re concerned about market share, there’s an untapped market that these check cashing places are checking, cashing every single week.

Ryan Mack: So let’s get let’s make the line shorter at the pawn shop and make it longer at the banks because the banks have a vested interest. Demonize banks all you want, but the banks have a vested interest in making sure that the people make more money. Why? Because the more money you make, the more you put in there to save the savings, the more money they’re going to be able to trade. And so they have a vested interest in the empowerment of their customers. So let’s get them there, get them banked, get their credit scores jumped higher. You show me a credit score of a 500 credit score or less community. I’ll show you an impoverished community with high crime and a whole lot of drugs. You show me a credit score community of seven 4750 or higher. Uh, or maybe even maybe even 700 or higher. I’ll show you affluent business owners. I’ll show you banks, bank, bank. So it’s really about credit scores. It’s about financial education. It’s about making that, adding financial education to these nonprofits. Now you can say, as opposed to even raising money for grants. Forget the grant. Go after some, uh, marketing budgets for these financial institutions.

Trisha Stetzel: Mhm.

Ryan Mack: Now I can’t again rest. But laws don’t allow you to say hey Chase. Chase funded this so go use Chase. But if you put your name Chase brand on this, this. Oh we just partnered with them. They, they reach 1.2 million inmates per year on tablets. I’m like fifth, third. We’re talking about October 24th, fifth, third. Walmart. Why aren’t you why is it your name and your brand on those tablets when they come out of prison, who are they going to go first that they’ve been seeing every single day with that content. So now raises money because they’re a nonprofit. Walmart gets their brand out there. Chase any of the plug and chug that and they’re getting their name on a needed component. You want to talk about criminal justice reform. Idaho’s doing it, but they too doggone humble. And there’s nothing wrong with being humble. But I wrote an article called humble, impactful and Broke because y’all are humble. Y’all are impactful, but you’re broke. So let’s use it to start the criminal justice. Everyone wants to talk about criminal justice reform like a talking point. Solve it. And that’s the beautiful part. This don’t require any government. I didn’t mention the government one time in that Walmart comes in funds Idaho. You can plug and chug Walmart with any other nonprofit. Doing work at scale comes in funds it. People are empowered. Customers are created, dollars are circulated affecting the community. It’s to me, it just bewilders me how we’re not thinking this way.

Trisha Stetzel: There’s so much passion for this topic, and I appreciate you even taking the time to be on the show with me today. So as we circle around to the back end of our conversation, we’ve talked a lot about organizations, and I know that people are already interested at that, uh, or in that perspective and having a conversation with you. But let’s just in our last bit, talk to the individuals. So if you can leave our listeners with one piece of advice about building wealth and financial freedom, even for those who feel like it’s out of reach, what would it be?

Ryan Mack: I’m first John 318 all day our love must not be a thing of words and fine talk, but must be a thing of action and sincerity. Then you want to say, faith without works is dead, as James 217, but we gotta. Faith is the most empowering principle of finance, and nothing happens without faith. Okay, and faith mathematical equation have belief and have acting. So if you believe that you’re going to buy a home, I’m going to buy a home. I’m going to be a homeowner one day. Okay. That’s great. It’s great to have that belief. But what action have you corresponded with that if you’re renting, do you want to do you want to use your rent and say, if your rent is $1,000 a month, up to 1200 bucks a month and like that, act like that’s your mortgage, it’s 200 bucks a month extra. Let’s go. $200 goes into your savings account. If you call the plumber over and it fixes your sink, you act like you had to pay the plumber. Your landlord pays it, but you pay it, but you put it in your savings account. If you’re if your roof leaks on your rented apartment, you act like you had to take out a loan to fix that roof. So that’s faith. That’s faith in action and using a real money to put money in your savings account. So now you’re using faith to learn how to be a homeowner, or to be a or to be a business owner. Start acting like you run a business and all the things there’s many different. Faith is the most important component, but you have to believe it. You gotta act. If you don’t have both those things, you don’t have faith.

Trisha Stetzel: Wow. Uh, my head is exploding right now. It’s so simple. And that’s what I love about all of the things that you bring to the table. You take these really complicated things and bring them down to something so simple and so actionable and so reasonable that people can go do them and believe in them. And faith is the intersection of belief and action. That’s what I heard. I love that so easy. Wow. All right, one more time. The phone number that people can reach out and ask questions.

Ryan Mack: (917) 809-4231 text it any question or resource you want. It’s there. You will not be charged a dime. Ever. We don’t take money from individuals, only corporations who want to pay our bills.

Trisha Stetzel: I love it, Ryan, again, thank you so much for your time. This has been awesome.

Ryan Mack: I appreciate your platform and your passion and your spirit to helping people. It’s an awesome. It’s a godsend. I really appreciate you.

Trisha Stetzel: Thank you Ryan. That’s all the time we have for today. Guys. If you found value in this conversation that I had with Ryan today, please share it with a fellow entrepreneur, a corporation, a veteran, uh, or a Houston business leader. Ready to grow. Be sure to follow, rate and review the show. It obviously helps us reach more bold business minds just like yours and your business. Your leadership and your legacy are built one intentional step at a time. So stay inspired, stay focused, and keep building the business and the life you deserve.