Transform Your Business by Transforming Your Identity | Mike Agugliaro | 307

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Mike Agugliaro is the Co-Founder of CEO Warrior, the world’s highest level coaching and training organization for home service businesses. Mike mentors and coaches plumbing, HVAC, and electrical service business owners on how to generate massive leads, calls, revenue, and profit. He is also a sought-after speaker, a podcast host, and the popular author of several books, including The Secrets of Business Mastery and Secrets of Leadership Mastery.



Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: 

  • Why Mike Agugliaro created CEO Warrior after growing and selling a multimillion-dollar company
  • The importance of staying ten steps ahead in your business strategy
  • Mike shares the secret to his success: finding his one true identity
  • How to achieve personal and professional transformation—and become the leader you want to be
  • Where to connect with Mike Agugliaro

In this episode…

Do you want your business to be transformational instead of simply transactional? According to Mike Agugliaro, the Co-Founder of CEO Warrior, the secret to creating a business that has a greater impact is embracing your own transformation—personally and professionally.

So, how can you achieve this transformation today? For Mike, the turning point in his career was when he forged his personal identity with his business identity. By discovering his one true identity, Mike was able to transform his career and achieve success without fear, anxiety, or external expectations holding him back. Now, he wants to help other business owners and entrepreneurs do the same.

In this episode of Growth to Freedom, Mike Agugliaro, the Co-Founder of CEO Warrior, joins host Dan Kuschell to share the secret to his business success: finding his unique identity. Listen in as Mike talks about his experience selling his company and creating a transformative community for business owners across the nation. He also explains how he achieved personal and professional transformation—and how you can, too.

Resources Mentioned in this episode

Sponsor for this episode

Thanks for listening to this episode of growthtofreedom.com.

Are you struggling to get a steady flow of new clients every day? Or maybe hit a plateau or hit a wall in growing your business? Well, let’s help you solve this problem today. Let’s review your business and have a conversation. You can do that for free today at breakthroughstrategycall.com. That’s breakthroughstrategycall.com.

In addition, if you’re looking for a simple way to implement some of what we’ve been talking about in today’s episode, I want to encourage you to get our free small business toolkit. You can get that at activate.breakthrough3x.com. That’s activate.breakthrough3x.com.

If you’d like access to the special resources and all the show notes for this special episode, make sure to visit growthtofreedom.com.

Episode Transcript

Dan Kuschell 0:04

Welcome to this segment of growthtofreedom.com. A quick question for you. Do you believe that you can build a business that’s a force for good, that can have a greater impact, have a greater reach, help more people, as well as be a mentor to mentors, right to not just be transactional, but to be transformational if not transcend transcendent in a marketplace? Well, guess what, you’re gonna meet somebody who’s done just that not once, but twice. And he’s someone who still does it today helping hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of clients all over the world, in a unique niche industry in the service business, him and his partner, Rob, they went out and built a service business over $30 million a year, over $200 billion over a handful of years before selling to a large private equity company, and then started coaching others in the service age, back plumbing, electrical and more, and showing them literally what they did to build the systems, the processes and operating system for massive growth and massive impact. You someone I consider a friend, he said, Well, we’ve worked together and had a lot of fun, you know, shattering records and breaking the mold, so to speak, and challenging the status quo in the industry and someone who leads by example, right? He walks his talk every day. He is someone who values the quality of family life as much or more as his business life and he doesn’t look at them as opposites. He doesn’t look at balance he look as how do you do both at the same exact time? His name is Mike Agugliaro. Oh, and, Mike, welcome to the show. How are you bud?

Mike Agugliaro 1:40

Good, I am super excited to be here. First, to spend time with you with a friend of mine, I consider you such a good friend. And also to spend time with a mentor because you’ve mentored me through so many different projects and growth and in all kinds of stuff. So I’m honored to be here and 300 episodes, what a what a gift to the world of the impact you have made. And I hope everybody that’s watching this look, Dan is like one of those guys like he does not have to do this. He does it because he wants to impact and change people’s lives not because he has to. So I’m like, so honored to be here today.

Dan Kuschell 2:20

Thanks, Mike. And I want to dive right I want to make this about you. Right. And I mean, you’ve got so much wisdom. I mean, I’ve got your books here. And I’ll save that for later. But you know, you’ve got books, you’ve got courses you’ve got, you’ve published 17 books, or probably now more since the last couple weeks since we’ve talked programs, you’ve got your amazing events that transform people’s lives in so many different ways. So I just want to give people context, like why are you doing what you’re doing today?

Mike Agugliaro 2:48

Yeah, you know, I? Well, first off, I’ve been on my own very, very young and I learned how to how to deal with being going through struggle, right and being pretty angry. And and then I started a company back in 1994. And thought look, then I could do it better than my boss is doing it. And I found out that it really wasn’t that easy. I mean, we did it wrong for like 10 to 12 years struggling, I didn’t know how to hire, I didn’t know how to do marketing. I didn’t know how to do anything. And eventually I figured it out. And then once I figured it out, I grew a company from under a million to over $32 million a year in less than 10 years, we did 200 million over a 10 year period, I had 200 employees 165 service vehicles all over the state of New Jersey. And then just three years ago, I sold it to a $40 billion private equity company. And what happened is through my journey, Dan, I found out that, like I was growing and I would get together with my friends and be like, hey, how’s business going? And they would go, you know, tough to hire people tough to do this. And it became a point that I was talking to my wife, my beautiful goddess of a wife, Jennifer, we’ve been together since we’re 15 years old. And I was saying somebody, somebody’s got to step into this service industry and be brave enough to change the whole industry. We work in over 40 different industries plumbing, HVAC, restoration, carpet cleaning, the list goes on and on. And I just made it a movement that I’m not gonna settle for watching the industry be treated the way it is. I mean, you got the hardest working essential workers in the world that are wondering how they’re gonna put their kids through college or telling their kids Well, we can’t by this. I mean these are the people that keep your your lights on your plumbing working. You’re so you’re comfortable and safe. And that’s what I did. I made a decision that it was going to be me I was going to strap on the the thickest skin that I’ve had. And I’m going to go at this thing and I’m going to create a movement in an industry that was starving for it and need it and you know what then, since I had sold the company $32 million company just like you, I was stepping in to do it not because I had to, because I wanted to.

Dan Kuschell 5:08

Yeah. And you and it shows in your work in. I mean, like, I’ve shared this with so many people, I just want to say it here, Mike puts together and his company put together the highest value programs in the world, anywhere in any industry. By the way, you know, if you’ve attended, you know, some of the best events in the world, you know, Tony Robbins experiences and they’re awesome. Go to Mike’s. And don’t be shocked if you walk away going, Oh, my gosh, this is the best thing times X that I’ve ever been to in my life, and it will help you personally, it’ll help you professionally, it’ll help your business. And that’s why when Mike and I got a chance to work together, I was like, Oh my gosh, what a goldmine that is here, right? And it’s fun when you can work with programs that are delivering such amazing, amazing value. Now, before we get into some of the strategy stuff, you know, Mike, you know, the world’s changed, right? The world changed in the last six, nine months since, you know, COVID hit. And now we’ve got a change in the the administration, if you will, like what are some of the big mistakes that you feel you see a lot like we’ll call I don’t know, if we call them rookie mistakes, or just their blind spots for people if they just aren’t aware of them. You haven’t built companies that have grown in soul, there’s a lot of, you know, hidden, you know, hidden blind spots, if you’re just not aware. So what do you see or perceived to be like, a few of the biggest mistakes that most people are making right now?

Mike Agugliaro 6:26

Yeah, well, first off, let’s talk about change. We act like it’s brand new, like things have been changing. Like, I’m what I call level 50. That’s a more powerful way to say 50 years old, because it’s level 50 is 50 years of wisdom. And so I’ve been through the y2k, the 9/11, the recession of 2008, like, like things have been changing all the time. It’s just changing different. So I think the biggest thing that people are making not only the mistake today, it’s been the mistake. Like I was saying this a year and a half ago, that something is coming in 2020. Now not because I’m no stir dominance or something? How could you think an election year with Trump and everything that was happening like that you were not going to enter the octagon? Now? Did I predict that there would be a pandemic? No, did I know that there would be something serious going on? I didn’t know if it would be a pandemic or it’d be terrorist attacks, or who knows what it was gonna be? You knew it was coming. Okay, so now we’re at this point. Today, we’re dealing with this COVID thing. We’re dealing with people, one industry is making more money than they’ve ever made in history. And another one is, is going away. But this has happened all through time. My question for all of you is, are you just staring at today? Or are you thinking about the future and tomorrow, and I’m not talking about this big future? I’m talking about strategy strategy I just watched and I don’t know if you watched it, Dan, this Queen’s Gambit thing. I hope it’s nice here.

My question for all of you is: are you just staring at today or are you thinking about the future and tomorrow? - Mike Agugliaro Click To Tweet

Dan Kuschell 8:10

Absolutely. My wife got me hooked on it.

Mike Agugliaro 8:13

Forget it. You’re hooked. You binge watch it. And when it’s over, you’re you’re jonesing for something else. And the whole thing is this thinking not one step ahead. Not two but 10 steps ahead. And this is not something. Look, if you don’t have the skill set to do it, you surround yourself with the best in the world to do it. And that’s something I know I’m passionate about as you is like we’re not foreigners, to investing in really smart people to help us see things think about things in a way we might not be looking at it right now. But here, let’s let’s just put this stake in the ground. If you just adapt or adopt this one thing of thinking, not today, but tomorrow, not New Year’s Eve not waiting. I mean, damn. Okay, what are your resolutions going to be this year? This is the most jacked up confused, you’re like, what are you going to say this year for your resolution? See, I telling everybody there is no resolution this year. It’s a revelation that has to happen today. It’s I must think ahead and change myself who I am by company for tomorrow. And you know what, Dan? Just like yourself, you’re so smart, too. And anybody watching this? I’m not blowing smoke Dan, and I’ve been friends for a long time. It doesn’t matter what industry you were in if you were strategic. Forget about the the food for Oh, I pivot and this and that new norms? No, the fact is you already made good decisions and you didn’t have no pain. I didn’t consider no suffering pain. All I did was all that happened for me was, well let’s do a different and let’s do it different quickly. For everybody, you know,

Dan Kuschell 9:54

that’s amazing. Like and you know, it’s funny, you know that the idea of you know, people bidding, and also the new norm and all these buzzwords that he will throw throw around. And again, change is the one constant thing we have, right? And life and business goes in all these different cycles. And yes, we’ve talked about, you know, how things were shifting and you were telling your audience like, a year ahead of most people that I know, in your niche, you know, Hey, watch out, get yourself set, here are the things to get in place. So, you know, if people have the optics and they start to look at, yeah, okay, I gotta start jumping 9349 steps ahead, kind of like a chess player would you know, like the Queens Gambit? What are 1 to 3 strategies you see, like right now today, and as you describe it into the future that like, if someone’s not doing they’re just missing it? What are what are a couple of those that pop up for you?

Mike Agugliaro 10:48

Look, I I always have to go back down and you hinted to it a little bit in the beginning. I have to go back to who you are, and how you are and what you do. It goes to your identity. And I know a lot of people they have this thing. Oh, it’s all about mindset mindset. Well, if it was all about mindset, and I always make this joke so everybody don’t get your you know, your underwear and and upward stuff like, like Think and Grow Rich and amazing book most read book in the world. I think one of them I guess, why isn’t everybody rich? What What was the maybe it was the wrong book for a lot of you to read. Here’s the fact is, number one strategy is you have to pick the identity that you need to become because you want to, and most people are living this fake identity. They’re when they go out in public, they dress the way they think they need to be. They talk the way they think is acceptable for others. Otherwise, if they don’t, they’re there. They don’t fit the sheep world. They fit the wolves, right. It’s just like me, I’m a full tattooed guy. I’m a tattoo artist, I tattooed myself, like, but I did it because I wanted to do it. I didn’t do it to impress anybody. I don’t hide it. You know. And I remember there was a time My grandfather was never into this. My mom was like, never shown you have a tattoo until one day I said grandpa like I’ve tattoos. And he wasn’t happy. But But what did you want me to be? My identity, your your identity. And and I’ll give you a little deeper thing of this real quick because I think it has value for everybody. When you look at identity, just look at what you just thought about. Well, as soon as we you started watching this or yesterday and ask yourself whose thought is that is that your thought or your mom’s thought your thought or your neighbors thought your thought or your managers thought, because when you get down to this, you have two identities, you probably got to consider smashing into one, you have your business identity. This is your every day when you go to your job, your career, what you’re doing, how you act, how you behave, then you have your personal identity. That’s who you are on Saturday morning, when you get up and you run around, and maybe you got little babies and you’re blowing bubbles on their belly. And then there’s this disconnect until you collide it and say, You know what, I’m going to build this one identity, I am going to write down who I want to be how I want to be where I want to be. And this is not this perfect day exercise perfect life exercise. This is a a you exercise. And I always give people a conversation like this. And I always give them a challenge my instructor gave me. I’ve been doing martial arts for over 35 years now. And my one instructor says I’m going to give you the hardest thing you’ve ever went through in your life. And I’m like, back then I was, you know, 19, 20 I’m like, Bring it on, right? Like, I’m thinking like we’re gonna punch things again and bleed. And he’s like, here it is. You’re gonna stare in the mirror at yourself for 20 minutes, no distractions, no interruptions, try not to blink or blink as little as possible. And then I’ll see a class next week. And I’m like, stare in the mirror. Big deal. Well, any of you watching this, I challenge you to stare in the mirror for 20 minutes. eyeball to eyeball you will have every conversation you never thought you will see exactly who you are, you’ll probably scream you might even cry because I went through all of that. And at the end of it, I made a decision. I need to change me. This is the number one and look growing a company to 32 million growing CEO Warrior which is and I will say it proudly the top training and implementation organization in the world. For service companies over 40 different industries I found out you could give people all the marketing you want all the operational systems. You could give them the golden book to build a company.

You could give people all the marketing you want, all the operational systems. You could give them the golden book to build a company. But if you don't give them the identity it takes to build that, they won't get there. - Mike Agugliaro Click To Tweet

But if you don’t give them the identity it takes to build that they won’t get there and guess what? The identity changes over time. How do I know any of you that have children That’s called forced identity change. When you go from a husband to a father, or just the man to a father, you get what’s called forced identity, you now have somebody you would die for. And, and and and you’re going to work for and you’re going to live for. That’s a good example of what it has to be. And if you look at some of the greatest people in the world, famous people in the world, they had forced identity change, the car accident, lost their arms and legs are born with no arms and legs. That’s forced identity. Well, guess what, if you woke up tomorrow and said, let me choose this identity. And I’ll give you one more thing, Dan, and I hand it over. And I hope this has massive value. Think about a caterpillar, for God’s sakes, this thing has to crawl, right? Maybe it hangs in a tree in hopes it doesn’t get eaten by bird, maybe it’s got to crawl across a road and not get run over or pulled apart by a little kid of curiosity. And then this thing one day goes, can you imagine I’m gonna crawl into a cocoon, and I’m gonna grow a wing outside my body. And even once I grow one wing, I’m gonna grow another one. And if that’s not good enough, I’m gonna break through the shell and watch me, I’m gonna fly. But why it’s in the cocoon, it’s open, it doesn’t get eaten or something. This is the transformation that people should consider right now as soon as possible is how can you grow these wings and take on this new identity, which means you got to shed fear shed anxiety. I mean, look at the world today, talk about this, what’s going on? And and I hope it’s okay to mention this one part, another one of my friends, Joe Polish, you know, he has this Genius Recovery. And, like, I’m just looking at this addiction thing. This is, this is creating a whole new identity, because now we’re allowing you to have we’re gonna force the addiction on you. We’re gonna make everything legal that we can. This is no good. Consider right after you listen to this, sit down for a minute, get rid of all distractions, step on your phone, whatever you got to do, say to yourself, who do I want to become right now today, and do find whoever is going to help you do it. And just go forward? Because it will change your life forever. And I know it because I’ve done it. And I’ve managed to stay with my beautiful wife since we’re 15. So I didn’t figure out everything but I figured out this part.

This is the transformation that people should consider right now, as soon as possible: how can you grow these wings and take on this new identity? - Mike Agugliaro Click To Tweet

Dan Kuschell 17:29

And would it be worth for you to apply what Mike is challenge you to do the exercise? What would it be worth for you to recalibrate your identity to you know, go from Caterpillar to transform to butterfly, I dare you, I double dog dare you to take Mike up on his challenge. Now, Mike, if people want to reach you get connected with your resource either. Even if they’re outside of your industry outside of the service, I would encourage you to go check out Mike’s stuff. It’s the best in the world. And you’ll find a way likely you if you’ve got you know something going on, especially if you’re a business owner, you’ll figure out a way to parlay it into your industry. Even if you’re outside where can people go to get in touch and learn more about what you’re up to?

Mike Agugliaro 18:12

Yeah, good. You can go to CEOwarrior.com and check out what we got going on. But yet then that once you find me on Facebook and send me a private message, say hello and let’s let’s become friends tell me you did the exercise and you cried and yelled, tell me what’s going on in your life and just connect with me. You know, I’m not looking for you to buy anything from you just get connected. And if I could serve you in any way, just raise your hand and say, Hey, can you assist me and maybe I could just be a good year. For some of you. I want all of you I just wish you the most amazing life you can ever have. And the good news is, you can have it right now today, you just got to go get it.

Dan Kuschell 18:52

Go and get it. So I encourage you to take action with what Mike has shared with you today. tune in on your identity. I get clarity on Who do you want to become? Do the mirror exercise? And guess what? If you’re having trouble in that third minute, fourth minute, picture, Mike over your right shoulder, me over your left, and we’re just got our arms around you going you got this, you got this, you got this because you do it. The whole new life is waiting of success, of impact of contribution. Take action, seize the day. And guess what you want to come back to this episode and pick up some of the tips that Mike shared with you make sure to go to growthtofreedom.com/300. That’s growthtofreedom.com/300 our celebration of 300 episodes 30 years of business, some of the top mentors, teachers, experts and friends that are here to help you because you’re just one breakthrough away and I just can’t help but think what does that breakthrough look like if you apply what Mike just showed you and shared with you today? Take action, seize the day. We’ll see you on the next segment. Thanks for listening to this episode of growthtofreedom.com. Are you struggling to get a steady flow of new clients every day? Or maybe hit a plateau or hit a wall and grow your business? Well, let’s help you solve this problem today. Let’s review your business and have a conversation. You do that for free today at breakthroughstrategycall.com. That’s breakthroughstrategycall.com. In addition, if you’re looking for a simple way to implement some of what we’ve been talking about in today’s episode, I want to encourage you to get our free small business toolkit. You get that at activate.breakthrough3x.com, that’s activate.breakthrough3x.com. If you’d like access to the special resources and all the show notes for this special episode, make sure to visit growthtofreedom.com.

 

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