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In this episode, we delve into the world of entrepreneurship and the challenges that come with it as we welcome Ryan Diaz, a former MMA fighter who has transitioned into the business world. Ryan's journey is an inspiring one, as he shares his experiences of conquering opponents in the ring and the hurdles of entrepreneurship.
Ryan draws parallels between MMA fighting and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of consistency, discipline, and self-care in both domains. He underscores the significance of building strong relationships with employees and highlights his efforts in helping others succeed in their business ventures. Ryan discusses the practical aspects of entrepreneurship, including hiring new employees, making investments, and going the extra mile for the team, such as providing visas and accommodations.
However, the episode also sheds light on the challenges faced in the business world. Ryan discusses dealing with tardy employees, competition, and the critical role of having robust paperwork to protect the business. This episode offers an unfiltered perspective on the realities of running a business and how lessons learned in the ring can be applied to entrepreneurship. It encourages listeners to step into the ring with Ryan and uncover the champion within themselves.
Embrace the thrill of the fight and the grit of entrepreneurship as we welcome the extraordinary Ryan Diaz, a former MMA fighter turned business gladiator. This episode promises an immersive experience into the mind of a man who has conquered not just opponents in the ring, but also the challenges of the business world.
In our invigorating chat, Ryan shares his inspiring journey from the world of MMA fighting to the fast-paced realm of entrepreneurship. He reveals the inherent similarities between the two and the importance of consistency, discipline, and self-care in both arenas. Gain valuable insights as he discusses the significance of developing a close-knit relationship with employees and his experiences in helping others succeed in their own ventures. Ryan unearths the reality of enterprise, from taking on new hires to making substantial investments, and how he went the extra mile for his team - even to the extent of providing visas and accommodations.
But it's not all rosy in the business world. Lean in as Ryan recounts the challenging aspects of entrepreneurship: handling tardy employees, dealing with competitors, and the importance of safeguarding your business. He highlights the value of having robust paperwork for employees to protect the enterprise from potential threats. This episode offers a gritty, unfiltered perspective of the realities of running a business, and how the lessons learned in the ring can be applied to entrepreneurship. Let's step into the ring with Ryan and uncover the champion within you!
Speaker 1:
Hello and welcome to Underdogs, bootstrapers and Game Changers. This is the real side of business. This isn't Shark Tank. This isn't. I Got a Million Dollars to start my first business. This is for those of you that are starting with nothing and using business to change their stars, motivating people who disrupted industry standards. I think back to the younger me who first started in business. I felt like business was beyond my station. That was for the guy with the rich dad and all the connections. But I was wrong. It's for the person that wants it. My aim with this podcast is to take away some of the imaginary roadblocks that are out there for you. I want to help more underdogs, because underdogs are truly who change the world. One last thing before we jump into episode one. This is part of our content for good initiative, much like bully this and redefining heroes. All the proceeds from the monetization of this podcast will go to charitable causes. So join us for episode one with Ryan Diaz, as we talk about the other side of employment that never is talked about. So our first guest is going to be Ryan Diaz, and I want to give you a little background on Ryan so you understand how his journey developed into the business world. Originally, ryan was a KOTC Bantam Weight World Champion, an AFC Bantam Weight World Champion, hook and Shoot North American Champion, two-time PNW Champion, fearless MMA Champion, canadian Muay Thai Champion, intercontinental Muay Thai Champion, adcc Veteran and over 50 professional fights all over the world. So, understanding Ryan's background and his passion for martial arts, which started at 13 years old, you can understand. The next step for a lot of fighters is to give that passion back, and I remember having a discussion with Ryan and he once told me that he hoped to be the coach he never had. So enter the MMA gyms that Ryan started including. He started DCS Combat Sports in Vancouver, as well as being a partner here in local Arizona area with the lab. Today we're going to talk to Ryan about his journey through business so you out there in the audience can understand a little bit more. Hey, ryan, welcome. Thank you so much for having me Tyler. Yeah, absolutely. And Ryan and I just so you guys know as the audience we've been personal friends for a long time and I think what he's done with his gyms has been amazing, totally welcoming community in the MMA world, and a lot of people don't know that the MMA community is amazing community with beautiful people that are not just what do you want to be like?
Speaker 2:
What's the common perception that most people think of?
Speaker 1:
MMA people, but really they're amazing human beings Like.
Speaker 2:
I always tell people this you meet the richest guys in the world, the toughest guys in the world. The richest guy doesn't have to tell you he's rich, he doesn't have to act like he's the richest guy, he's just is rich. Same with tough guys they don't need to go walk around, act like they're tough or, you know, tell you they're tough. They're just tough, yeah, you know. And so like outside of like doing their job, like for fighters, outside of fighting, like you don't have to be this mean person. Like you can be a human being, a normal person.
Speaker 1:
Oh, absolutely, and I can speak firsthand. So one of the first things I always tell new entrepreneurs when I'm talking to them is like what's your workout routine? What is your stress reliever? Because you're going to need one, and for me it's been MMA and lifting weights. I needed it.
Speaker 2:
Well, even just for any successful business person like I, read a lot Totally, like obviously number one, you got to read, yeah, got to sleep. Yeah, eat healthy. You got to exercise Totally, you know.
Speaker 1:
I mean, that's what's funny is like so people have to do that for a fight, right, and you also have to do it for business.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, you have to be prepared, just like you were prepared for the ring in a lot of ways for your business, like you have to, like you have to take care of yourself, like you have to be in top physical and top mental shape.
Speaker 1:
You know you were around fighting before, like the UFC, like phenomenon and everything else. I think one question that would be super interesting for people before we like walk on the way that you started your business is like what's harder Business owner or professional fighter?
Speaker 2:
So I always tell everyone one of the biggest differences between my life as being a fighter and being a business owner when I fought, everything was about me my diet, my training, my sleep, oh, my injury, oh you know. Oh, I got to do this, I got to do that. It was all about me. Then, when it became to the gym, it's almost everyone but you. But you have to do the things that we talked about, cause if not like they always talk about this on an airplane how can you help someone unless you help yourself first? So like, if if you are a business owner and you're not in a good place and you're whatever you're doing say you own a retail store how are you going to be able to sell somebody something when you're not even happy about the thing that you have on your own?
Speaker 1:
It's imperative to knowing that and you know, like you're first. So this is one of my and you're the same way you know, and so we're going to. I want this discussion to kind of center around employees, because that is the hardest part of business, you know. And then the other thing is, like the world tells. The world tells this story of like all business owners are awful, nobody cares, cause you've got the Amazons and things out there that are mistreating their employees, but we never talk about the small business world, you know, and where a lot of us, these people are family to us. You know like these people are close to us, we work with them every day. If you have to fire somebody, you have to look that person in the eye and fire them. They're not just a number. Hey, so-and-so, go get rid about 50 people today. You know it's not the same way in the business world, and that's one thing. That's so hard. But, like back to what you're saying around, you have to make the business the priority, because one thing I did quite often is I would care about these employees so much and they wouldn't care about the business and I'd give them another chance and another chance and another chance. You and I remember, yeah, and what I realized, you know, looking backwards, because business is a learning process, right? What I realized looking backwards is that was not fair to my good people, the people that were always there. That was not. You have to. You owe it to the business. You have to take care of the business and the business needs to take care of the good people, right? So if you're taking care of the bad people, then that is punishing your business and the good people.
Speaker 2:
Well, what is the number one job of a business owner Is to take care and watch out for the business. Sure, so there's gonna be times when owner has to make a bad decision and people might look at hard decision like hard decision. Yes, sorry, hard decision, and to many people's eyes that might be the wrong one. Yeah, but you people don't realize that that business owner is actually doing the best thing for the business. Yeah, you know, it's just like being a parent. Sometimes you, you know, hey, you can't smoke, and then the kid doesn't understand why he can't smoke. You know, but like yo, I'm, you're not allowed. Yeah, you know. Okay, that was a terrible excuse. Like example, but like eating McDonald's. You know some parents like, hey, no, you are not going to McDonald's. Yeah, you know, like, and they're doing that for the best of their kid. Yeah, like you know, maybe that's not the best example, but this is an example I've got one for you show up on time.
Speaker 1:
Yes. People like, oh, it won't matter if I'm a couple minutes late. It's like well, yeah, it does, because you know now we're behind on what's going on for the day. We have a schedule to keep you know like you need to show up on time.
Speaker 2:
Well. So that's the problem. That's the thing a lot of people don't understand, especially being a business owner. Yeah, you have like, and then this is a business podcast it. They have to understand that no one will care as much about your business as you, and that's just the number one thing.
Speaker 1:
And beyond that, I would tell business owners or want to be business owners you have to. Nobody's gonna care about it as much as you. That's absolutely. But also, you need to remind yourself you have to. This is your number one priority, because this is what feeds everybody. Right?
Speaker 2:
Yes, so well, and then you talk about employees, because the number one, like in work me and my staff, like my management staff I've been talking about this a lot is you have to hire the right people, yeah, and in whether you take the time and you do the extra during the hiring process, that is one of the most important things.
Speaker 1:
It's imperative because you'll get Nice human beings like us that don't love firing people right it's a really hard thing for me to fire people, because then I start thinking about their families, they start thinking about them having to go get another job, all these things right. It's a really hard thing to fire. Sorry, I just want to finish, because nobody talks about the kind-hearted business person in the world, the one that, like, loves their people. Right, you know, and what I would. I would implore you to think of when you, when you think about the employees that aren't taking care of you, is you still owe it to everybody else at that place?
Speaker 2:
well, for me like I, like I, I, I, my employees, I got so many. I got anywhere between 1570. That's instructors, front desk staff, like cleaners, whatever. Yeah, the thing is even for me. What I've done is I've always like I've talked to you about this before is that you know I had I learned one of the best lines I've ever learned in my life and it was because somebody, when I was younger, helped me so much. He helped me make, help me make money, and he was a lot older than me and you know I and he helped me get along or help me succeed. Yeah, and then I asked them years later, asked them why did you help me? You didn't need to. And he said, ryan, you know why is because it's lonely at the top. Yeah, you want to bring your brothers and sisters with you? Yeah, and that stuck with me for a long time. So a lot of my employees what I do too, is like say, for example, I've taken on, like I've taken people I've probably done at least six where I've I brought them into the country, got them visas, got them PRs, let them even stay, like, stay with me for free, lodging free, and I take care of them as much as I possibly can like. Even last week I took one of my tie guys to his first hockey game ever.
Speaker 1:
He's so happy for it. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:
You know, like, and then we do with these things where. And then what I look at too is that you know they bring their families like, say, for example, I have a few tie guys where they bring their families over. Yeah, you know, and like, I want to do something good for people, I want to do that, you know. And then you talk about and we just said it right there you got to find good employees and you know it's hard because you want to be this nice person and like, you did it, yeah, but then things is at the same time, you have to do what's best for the business, yeah, and then at the same time, it's like you got to make these tough choices and doing these tough things, and sometimes, being as a business owner, you don't get to be the the cool and nice guy. You know what I mean? No, and so it's hard, you know.
Speaker 1:
Well and I actually kind of digress for my original point when I was getting to that it's like you, as a kind-hearted person, need to vet more, right? Because you're you know yourself, right? I mean, I'm speaking for myself and I know you're similar to me Because we know each other so well. But it's like we need to vet people even more because we're gonna have a hard, hard time making that decision to let them go.
Speaker 2:
Well, so I'm dealing with this situation like this right now yeah, I brought, I brought an individual from Thailand over. Yeah, let him stay at my house for free, I let him. I Got him visas, we paid for his visas to come into the country. Yeah, it got to the point where even we got his family into the country. Yeah, you know, like I even did little things, I let, like I let even his family or him, used my address so he, his children, you know how school works. Yeah, it's all about where you live. Yep, so I let him use my address so his children can go to the best school in Vancouver. Yeah, and then when you vet, like you think, okay, hey, you know what these people like. Hey, this is your friend, you do whatever you can for them. Yeah and then you know, you give them a job, you give them opportunities and everything. And then even, like you know, you talk about vetting and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, they you know, everyone. This is one thing about life and people in general is everyone has to always think about them Self like it's just natural, sure, you know? I mean, everyone wants to watch out for them Self. Yeah, but so.
Speaker 1:
I wouldn't say everybody does that. I know you and I don't do that man.
Speaker 2:
I have seen and I've heard the stories. Like you are very gent, a very kind person and very caring, like I Appreciate man, some of the things that the stories that you've told me before, like, it's insane, like. But back to employees. It's like I know what this happened to you, like. And then all of a sudden you have an employee that starts thinking more about himself Then, and then they start to see things that aren't there, like oh yeah, like, oh, this person's making so much money and but they don't see the behind the scenes things where it's like yo, it isn't like that. Like we're working hard, we're borrowing all this money. Like we're selling, like my mom had to sell her house.
Speaker 1:
They'll continue. They only see variable stuff, they only see the variable cost. Right? Oh, we sell a membership for $200. Let's say, yeah, and we know our cost on that is 50 bucks. So they're like oh, he's making 150 bucks each time. You know what? They forget fixed cost. Yes, we have to have an overhead, we have to have lights, we have to have everything.
Speaker 2:
Well, even the investments, yeah, the initial investment to put the money in. And that one thing that people don't ever think about and this is what every business owner needs to remember is that you, you have taken a risk Totally, because now you have opened this business and you're taking this risk, and not only that is your time.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, all the liabilities are on yes you know. Not only that, but after you like sell it down the road, then like you have some liabilities there potentially you know the, the liabilities you know, and the time and the heartache and everything else you're putting into and probably not taking salary In the first couple years.
Speaker 2:
You know and then just even like so back to the story was that this individual now he's he went behind my back After he applied, after knowing that he was gonna get a PR in the country. Yeah, he went behind my back and started plotting and and and did this and started planning on opening his own gym Yep, a mile away. Yeah, you know, violating a non-compete, a non-silence, non-disclosure, and the thing is is that I'm learning, is that which really sucks for business owners is that the law actually goes behind the employee more than the employer.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah, especially when they're in the business, absolutely.
Speaker 2:
Well, and that's insane, because then now this individual goes around it's and then makes lies and makes because I'm a business owner and you know, all of a sudden, now we got these big facilities, everyone forgets that I'm a human being. Yeah, everyone forgets that. Hey, you know what I got feelings, and they don't see the hard work that you know that we have to do. For example, like you know, we talked about this before, but, like, part of my job is to put up fires every day. Yeah, and we're constantly dealing with all these things, but I'm not gonna let everyone know because, like, that's not what you're supposed to do and you don't do a business like that. Yeah, you don't let anyone know the problems that you're having. You want to create a positive environment in your business. So then what happened now is he goes, and then I find out, and then all of a sudden, he goes and opens a mile away. He puts a sob story out that says oh yeah, you know, ryan didn't pay me enough. I worked so much from. I did this, I did that. He cut my pay. But in reality, the thing was, is that you talked about this, you got to come to work. Yeah, you know, this individual missed 82 days of work in one year. Yeah you know, like, what do you want me to do? I can't pay somebody that doesn't come to work. Sure, you know. And then just when you own and that's why you talk about vetting employees yeah, he's because you want good employees. You don't want somebody like him who shows up or gives us a call 20 minutes before a shift and say, hey, I can't come in today. Yeah, you know. And then all of a sudden, like you're in a bad spot, yeah, we're terrible. And then it makes it worse is on social media. That night you see him out out to dinner. Oh, like you know how, like it's hurtful.
Speaker 1:
Well, and that's what I really want to get across, because the common perception, like I said in the beginning of the episode, is All business owners are ruthless. All business owner they they'll get the big corporations and what they do to employees. That is not the small business world. Well, small business world is family and this is really hard and, honestly, you I know you're the same way as me this hurts on a different level than we're losing the business. This is like, yes, it's. It's like getting in. It's like a member of your family cheating on you, your wife cheating Well that's funny that you talk about we're.
Speaker 2:
For some reason, people don't look at us like a small business, no more. No, because because I've all of a sudden I got a thousand plus students or a couple thousand and then plus these. You know it was we at the beginning of our of the new gym. We advertise this as a multi-million dollar facility, but the people don't understand how that gets calculated. Yeah, the building is worth multi-millions. Yeah, but we had to mortgage it and then we have partners on the building to buy this building. It's not like we just had six million dollars or ten million dollars and threw it into this thing.
Speaker 1:
Well, you know, and it's like you and I talked to like have been talked before about how DCS started in the garage. Yes, it's like I started my business the same way. You know, I lived off fifty dollars a week. We didn't even have hot water to do dishes with or anything like that. Our stove was a little toaster oven, you know. But then you get a couple locations and you know you have clients like the WWE and you know things, or you for the UFC fighters and stuff, and then they figure, you know like, oh, they've got it. You know, yeah, and when? Really, honestly, for me, I can only speak for me my employees always made better wages than me. You know, it's like so like you're taking care of them more than you're taking care of yourself.
Speaker 2:
I'll never forget the beginning days when we didn't know if anyone was gonna come and show up to class, we didn't know if we were gonna have customers. We had to sit, stand out front of our gym hand out flyers because we wanted people to come. Yeah, you know. And then there was a time where I like, we find like we never had private lessons before because no one knew us. Yeah, then finally we started getting like, I started getting private clients. Yeah, opposed to not just having Students in class. Sure, and there was a point in time where we didn't have enough money, where I had to do extra Privates to make sure that my staff gets paid. Yeah, you know, and the thing is that nobody hears about that stuff right?
Speaker 1:
No, they. They see now that you're how many years in business now eight now yeah. Yeah, years in business.
Speaker 2:
They see the glorious thing that you're doing now and that you're doing all the coaching, all the UFC fighters you know, and the ring, and that and that goes to show like, you know what they this perception, but then people forget the little things like hey, you know what I have feelings and it hurts, yeah, like, what really hurts more than anything is like you do so much for people. And this was what was a crazy thing is that we confronted him, me and one of my managers confronted him and asked him like, hey, like, and he's sitting there telling about everything he's done for us, and I go hey, I knew you were gonna sit here and tell me everything that you did, but you forget what we did for you. And you know what he said to me. He goes what did you do for me? I couldn't believe. I'm like your family's here because of us, you know, and it's just it's sad.
Speaker 1:
You know we have to get to, uh, we need to talk about paperwork. So the audience understands, um, at some point. But I was watching a show over the Easter weekend. It's just called Outlast, yeah, and I didn't expect to like it. But it's all these, like the people that they drop off in um, uh, laska, right, and they would have to be on a team to win, and they don't give them any food or anything really, they just have to survive and they're on these teams or whatever. And you're watching this psychology fold out, right, and these people are. I don't want to ruin it for everybody, but these people are, like, doing horrible things. Like at one point I'm sorry, I have to spill this out they steal somebody's sleeping bags, right, you can die out there if you're sleeping. Bags are sold just so they can win this game, right. But you know, in their minds it became everybody else's fault, right? Yeah, they came up with reasons to hate them, and that's what I find in life too. It's like people will come up with reasons to hate you so they can do bad things to you.
Speaker 2:
Well, that's the well that didn't. People lost their humanity, yeah, and that's sad is because they, like you just said, it's like they start to think like, hey, I have to do this to survive. So you know, what Is it? You or me kind of thing? Yeah, but he's got it. I can take this because he's got it, and that's that. That man, I can't believe. You just said that because that was one of the things he said to me. No, I know I've been through it he goes, he goes to me goes hey, you have, like, because he started poaching, or like he signed a non-compete, non-solicit, non-disclosure, yep, and part of the non-solicit is not to take members from our gym, yeah. And then I talked to him about like hey, you're stealing students from our gym and he only says to me is like, you have so many you shouldn't care, yeah, and I'm like yo man, that's stealing, stealing is stealing, no matter what. You can't do that Like you don't remember the things that we went through to get here, to get these students. We went through hell.
Speaker 1:
And we can only tell. Like we only have so much time. We can only tell a small part of the story for probably all you did do for him.
Speaker 2:
And.
Speaker 1:
I know because I've been in the same boat and I wasn't smart enough to have the paperwork you had the very first go around. So my employees talk about showing up late. They would show up late. These two guys made friends in my business, you know, and then it was very small, we didn't have very many employees in the first while, right, and so it really impacted the business and they would show up hours late, you know, and sometimes so I switched the company hours. You know me, I'm up at three o'clock in the morning. You're crazy the best thing for me would be have the place open at four o'clock in the morning. Yeah, I'd clean the whole business before they would get there, waiting for them to get there, excited for them to get there. They walk in half on over, you know, and like like kids, right. But I switched the office hours. It still can't make it, you know. And then one day they finally told me well, what are you going to do? We're late. Like well, you can't be late. You know it's disrespectful and we need the business to run, is like well, what are you going to do about it? You can't work without us. And they went and they opened their own business. We went on to open.
Speaker 2:
Well, that's why you talk about you know paperwork. Yeah, they got it like you got a outline, and this is one. They were my closest competitor, well, so this is the crazy thing is that you think they're your friends and this and that and as family and as um at business advice to any business owner out there, you got to do everything by the book and everything paper trails of everything. So, when it comes to employees, you got to have an employee contract yes. Got to outline wages yeah, got to outline hours. You got to have a policy about tardiness yes, and it's like this guy here he missed 82 days of work in any normal job. He gets fired. But, because he's my friend he doesn't.
Speaker 1:
You know, and that's the main difference between small and see, these people were my. I didn't know them before they came to work to me, but they became family, right, and that's what people don't realize. And if you're new out there to business, this sounds like if you're in business for a while and you've been in big business, then it's like sounds silly to you. But if you're new to business, you're like why would I need paperwork? My buddies are the ones I'm going to hire and it's even more important with your buddies.
Speaker 2:
Well then, that's, that's why it's more important than with your buddies, because then that way it's clear, clarified, right off the get go. Sure, you know, and it's sad because you just don't know people sometimes, and out of nowhere, people will change their mentalities and, like what we talked about and then you just talked about your show is. Then, all of a sudden, people started thinking of survival, yeah, and they think that they have to do these terrible things. No, they make up things.
Speaker 1:
Just survive. Yeah, they make up things.
Speaker 2:
Like even like my guy is trying to say that, hey, I got to do this, or support my family, yeah. Well, the thing is that people forget is like yo, like I have 50 employees, yeah. Like now if you take, yeah, and then if you take people, and then I have to cut salaries, how can you tell me that one life is more important than the other, kind of thing? You know what?
Speaker 1:
I mean.
Speaker 2:
It's not and it's just like your survival story, right? Yeah, so it's hard. You got to. You got to make sure that you have the right like. That's why we talk about this and you talk to any big business out there or any business. It's always about your employees. You have to vet them properly. You got to make sure you hire them properly and get the right people.
Speaker 1:
And take care of them. Obviously.
Speaker 2:
Well, the good one.
Speaker 1:
Well, I mean, you take care of everybody and you hope you get good employees, but you have to. The good employees will affect, or the bad employees will affect your good employees because they're like, why are you giving so and so another chance? Look how hard I'm working. You know, you really got to think. That's what I came down to eventually, is it was selfish not to think enough about the good employees. Right, you have to think about the amazing employees working so hard that that's impacting them. The bad ones, it's not you having a heart for whether they. You said it right.
Speaker 2:
You have to make sure that the good employees are taken care of. But you have to understand something A bad employee is like a virus yeah, it spreads. So, like you know my employee that I had, he created a bad work environment where he was showing up like he wasn't showing up to work, so other people started to think, oh, he's not. And then when, even when he was in class, he was more about you know, the social aspect, talking to people and on his phone. And, like he's my friend, he's not supposed to be on his phone during class, but I don't know. Well, I've told them a million times and then what? And then all of a sudden, because of that, now everyone else tried to do it. So that's what it is, you know. But back to the whole thing is just like yeah, it's very hurtful.
Speaker 1:
There's. There's information out there, but there is no true book you can follow on every bit of this stuff. In fact, I want to say that it was my lesson learned, my lesson, my first lesson learned was what led to the paperwork. And then we started doing paperwork on all our employees and I'm 99% sure I was the one that told you to make sure you have paperwork before you started your business.
Speaker 2:
It's just hard though, too, because, like we just talked about now, the law isn't on the employer side, it's on the employee side, and what makes it harder is that when an employee is disgruntled, like nowadays especially nowadays, where people are empowered and are entitled they become a victim. Yeah, and then now, because who right now looks like you know who's who has a better off they think that I'm better off Yet he plays a victim, says that, oh, he wasn't paid enough, oh, he did so much, and yet you don't look at it from the other side, where it's like oh man, we brought him here to help us and we brought him here we, we spent all this money to get him here, we've done all this stuff for him, like, even like little thing, like my mom gave him a free car, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:
Well, I think I don't think people would realize most of the time if the employee was an amazing employee too. I didn't buy the best in them. If they said, tyler, I want to be my own, get that 100%. I am the first one standing there to invest in them, to help them. And how much easier is that business road going to be for them now.
Speaker 2:
So that's so funny that you do that. I would never stop anyone from opening their own gym. And the thing is is that there's a right way and a wrong way to do things. And the funny thing was when we found out, we had to talk with them and we said hey, why don't you just, why don't you stick to your non-compete and open five miles away and guess what? We'll help you, we'll give you clients, we'll help promote you, we'll give you even all our trade secrets and everything. And yet he didn't want to do that because his business plan was to steal. He even said it to me. He said to steal 10% of our students. Yeah, and in his words, you have so many. Yeah, you don't. You know, you shouldn't care.
Speaker 1:
Well, and you know, at the end of the day you can go after him because it said paperwork, but that's a bigger pain in the ass.
Speaker 2:
And it's hard.
Speaker 1:
You'll have to make really decisions there whether to let it go. I usually think you know that winning the war is more important than winning the battle. In the past I've had a lot of employees go out and open businesses on me. Those guys that I mentioned became my closest competitors and in the end they didn't end up stinging me much at all.
Speaker 2:
You know, we went on, we continued to grow the number one thing that you learning from this and this is going to be a good advice to any business owner out there is you focus on yourself. You know, like I'm not, a lot of people are like, oh, is he mad? I'm not mad, I'm hurt, yeah you know, even more hurtful than that is that he put a sob story out and there were members that I had at my school that had been with us six, five, six years and they they want, everyone wants the bad guy and everyone wants a good guy. So now, all of a sudden, I got put as a bad guy and they didn't even ask me my side of the story. So you know, it's great that we talk about this, because no one's heard my side. Everyone just and what's really hurtful is everyone just assumed that he was the victim and that he was the one that got wronged. Yet no one ever looks at the business owner as a human being, no more, you know. And then everyone forgets that I have feelings too, and I'm so hurt, Like I'm hurt from him. I'm hurt from a lot of people, not only because they believed him, but I can see that people want to take us down and it's like why? What did we ever do? Like I'm a hard, like I worked so hard for what we do? Like we, I work 16 hours a day, seven days a week. You know, I don't drive no Ferraris or nothing like that. I don't try to show off money Like I don't. And then the other thing is is that people don't understand? Is that it's so hard for us? My mom put her house for sale so we could keep this thing going, and then now he's stealing from all of this.
Speaker 1:
You know, I know it's a hard story to go through and you know, I wish we had way more time to tell it too. But I mean, I think what I would really like to get across is, like there is this and I know I've said a couple of times in the episode like there is this common perception that business owners are ruthless. And I think I mean I hear your story, I know who you are too and I know the way this kind of stuff went down. You cared about somebody, you get them involved with them and then in the end, you know they don't care about you as much. You know, and so, and so be aware of that, as you know, you're not going to be that as business owners or soon to be business owners out there is, like there is those of us in the world that our businesses are our family, you know, and we make actually bad business decisions because we care about them. You know, if you were just making business decisions all the way along, it'd be pretty easy, right, you know, but when you actually and that's the perception, that's not doesn't get told at all for the small business people we care about our people, their family, we feel responsible and know that we're the reasons they put food on their table Right. If that ends tomorrow, you feel for that person and so well, the hardest part is when you're a business owner.
Speaker 2:
You have, when you're at the business, what are you doing? Yeah, running the business Totally. You don't have time to go spend 10 minutes, uh, socializing with this person, then that person, then that person yeah, you know what I mean. So people don't get to see the person that you really are. No, you know, and they don't man behind the curtain at that point, and then all of a sudden, you become the man or whatever you would they want to call it, you know. And then all of a sudden, you're just this corporate business. Yeah, you become a corporation. You're not a human being, no more. And then all of a sudden, it's like you know, people just want to take you down and I don't understand that.
Speaker 1:
I mean, I, I can speak for this and vouch for this, and unfortunately we've run out of time today, you know, and so we could maybe have another discussion around it. But you run a family place as far as I'm concerned, and that means the students, the employees, you know, I've seen it from the outside and I think you do an incredible job for the community. Thank you so much. You know, cliff and I do a series on bullying, you know, and so, like we've talked about bullying before, you've given tremendous insight. He's actually on an episode of our podcast.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, make sure you guys check that out.
Speaker 1:
Yeah and uh and it's really important. It's not just a fight, jim, you know, it's a community changer.
Speaker 2:
Well, it is like for us, like I know there's not a time, but we do things to the community, like we talked about this on that episode. I don't like I'm not that person that wants to show off what I've done, but we do free women's self-defense courses. We do anti-bullying seminars for free for kids. We have a kids, a youth karma class where youth troubled or troubled youths are there to train for free because we want them off the street. We have kids parents that bring their kids in and be like, hey, we need, they need martial arts. And I'm like, hey, bring them in, they don't have to pay. We but I don't advertise this. You know what I mean.
Speaker 1:
No, I know you're doing incredible work and you know, um, we should get back you on a different show, you know, and we'll talk about a different journey Today. I hope that we got across to everybody out there there that I really want to beat this misconception that all business people are heartless and we don't care about our people. We absolutely care about our people and, in fact, um, you know, employees are the hardest part of business Hands down. There is no harder part of business than employees, and when you're, when your love for them gets in the involved too, makes it even harder if you're not a ruthless business person. So, um, so I hope that helped you today. Um, Ryan, thank you for coming in.
Speaker 2:
You know, absolutely.
Speaker 1:
Uh, check him out. Dcs in Vancouver, the lab here in uh Arizona, you can watch him quite often. Uh, he's in the corner and use UFC fights. Um, great, all around guy. Uh and uh yeah.
Speaker 2:
Thank you so much, Tyler. We'll get you back again.
Speaker 1:
We'll talk about a different subject. Thank you All. Right, thank you all for tuning in. We'll get back to a different subject next go round. Thank you for joining.
MMA Coach and Entrepreneur
Ryan Diaz, an emblem of commitment, discipline, and unparalleled prowess, has firmly established his name in the annals of martial arts. As the founder of DCS Vancouver and a pivotal partner at the renowned MMA LAB in Arizona, his contributions to the sport are both immense and multifaceted.
Born with an innate passion for combat sports, Diaz swiftly rose through the ranks to earn some of the sport's most distinguished titles. With the KOTC Bantamweight World Championship, AFC Bantamweight World Championship, Hook n Shoot North American Championship, 2-time PNW Champion, Fearless MMA Champion, Canadian Muay Thai Champion, and the Intercontinental Muay Thai Championship under his belt, it's evident that Diaz isn't just a competitor - he's a force of nature.
Over his illustrious career, Diaz has stepped into the ring for more than 50 professional bouts, traversing the globe to showcase his talents. From the vibrant streets of Japan to the sunny beaches of Hawaii, from the opulence of Abu Dhabi to the coastal beauty of the Philippines, he's fought in some of the world's most prestigious events. His resume boasts appearances in leading events such as ONE Championship, Strikeforce, Superbrawl, Hook n Shoot, TKO, KOTC, S-Cup (Shootboxing) Japan, Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling Championships (ADCC), and Shooto Japan.
Diaz's relentless drive wasn't just confined to competing. An eternal student of the game, he has spent significant periods training in martial arts hotbeds like Thailand, the Philippines, Arizona, and… Read More
