Rey Perez is renowned as a global branding expert, offers a fresh perspective on business and entrepreneurship, emphasizing the importance of philanthropy and socially conscious practices. Join Jim and Rey as they discuss his current sabbatical in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, where he is realigning his business to prioritize purpose and impact over financial success. Rey invites us to explore his socially conscious business partnership program, shedding light on how businesses can integrate philanthropy into their core values. Furthermore, he shares his upcoming plans to shift his business model to place giving and philanthropy at the forefront. With 2024 on the horizon, Rey talks about the significant opportunities that lay ahead and the potential for reshaping the landscape of entrepreneurship.
If you're eager to gain insights from a leader who is redefining success in business, this episode is not to be missed.
About the Guest:
Rey Perez is a Best Selling Author, Award-Winning Speaker, Podcast, Radio Show & TV Talk Show Host, Elite Business Coach, and Philanthropist who leads Mastermind Groups and Business Growth Seminars Globally.
He has shared the stage and worked with some of the biggest industry icons such as Les Brown, Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, Kevin Harrington, and Sharon Lechter, just to name a few.
Leveraging nearly two decades of sales and marketing experience Rey and his team of experts create world-class celebrity brands for top entrepreneurs and professionals who want to dominate their niche or industry.
Rey entered the field of marketing and promotions while spending several years promoting high-end VIP Events in Miami’s South Beach Nightlife Industry. He quickly discovered the immense benefits of engaging potential consumers through the power of video marketing and social media to expand his reach and impact.
Connect with Rey
Website: https://iampyourbrand.com/
Website: https://reyperez360.com
About the Host:
Jim Padilla is the founder and CEO of Gain The Edge - a done-for-you provider of industry-leading sales systems and unicorn sales professionals which he co-heads with his wife and entrepreneurial partner-in-crime, Cyndi Padilla.
Through their unique blend of laser-targeted selling systems, inspirational team-building expertise, and 60+ years of combined sales experience - Jim and his wife have generated over 1/4 bn in sales for a long line of high-level, visionary entrepreneurs.
Jim’s mission is to help purpose-driven thought-leaders untangle themselves from the day-to-day minutiae of seeking leads and sales for their business so they’re free to amplify their impact.
When Jim’s not making dollars rain down from the sky, you’ll regularly find him at the driving range - hitting a bucket of balls. Jim credits his time on the driving range as the main source of his best ideas.
Recently relocated back to California, Jim & Cyndi are immersing themselves in family time with their three daughters & four (soon to be five) grandchildren.
Connect with Jim at https://jimp360.com
If you want to see more great content like this, make sure to subscribe and ring the bell so you will get notified whenever we post a new video. And don't forget to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts.
Hey, welcome back to the Opportunity Makers podcast. Jim Padilla here and always, always so glad that you stopped by. And, you know, in the opportunity makers conversations that we're always having. We're looking at world class leaders, people who've done big things in the marketplace, people who've scaled and exited people just playing games at a bigger level, you tend to see the world a little bit differently. I'm just doing everything I can to bring you a different lens to look at a marketplace through everyday a different lens to look at the world, a different way to see things so that it's not about problems. It's not about inflation, and restrictions in the marketplace. It's about opportunities to serve people. And the more problems that exist, the more ways there are to serve. And the more problems that there are to solve simply, hey, Kay opportunities. And the conversation that we're having today is with a good friend of mine, Rey Perez. And he is known as a global branding expert as a world class brand. And I promise you speaking, for him first, firsthand, he's world class, but he does. But this conversation isn't about branding, as much as it is about finding new ways to be of service in the marketplace, finding new ways to create opportunities, and solve problems for the people that you care about. And this is about being philanthropic, about being a, a socially responsible, socially conscious entrepreneur, and not just serving out of profit that is made. But the being the leading edge, that in your service, letting your philanthropy, betting your social causes, will lead the way and create the opportunities for your business. And there's a lot of good insight and wisdom here things that you're going to take some great nuggets from it. And I just want to encourage you, hopefully this tip the scales for you and find another way for you to show up powerfully and vulnerably. With true purpose and cause and a sense of real, what's the word I'm looking for fulfillment, real fulfillment in your business, in being able to ensure that people really see your heart, your cause, why you do what you do, and so that they can line up and want to do the things that you do because they believe in it. as well. Instead, then you get to a place where you don't have to start convincing people anymore to buy from you. And you have people lining up at the door wanting to be part of your cause. And your mission, can wait for you to dig in, and learn more about it. And tell me what you think I want to hear some feedback, make sure that you're connecting with me in the show notes, like this podcast, please rate review and subscribe, pick one up, don't do all of them, just pick one want to rate and review it. Awesome, I'd super appreciate that. And if you subscribe, you'll be able to be notified as the new episodes come out every week, Thursdays, as we have not missed and it was him in planning on this thing. And we are going to be ramping up the volume because we have more another podcast that we're launching our sales team ready podcast, make sure that you're checking that out, because that is specifically around sales, and scaling strategies with marketplace experts. And soon to be coming out is our Christian men and business men in action podcast that we're going to be sharing a lot more about purpose, cause and philanthropy in the marketplace. So we appreciate you being here. Enjoy the episode. And I look forward to hearing from you.
Jim Padilla:All right, everybody. So awesome to have you back here. And you just heard all the formal introduction, the bio and all of that. But now here hear from my good friend, Rey, the man himself. And as you can see, he's, he's looking a little bit different these days than your standard entrepreneur is as they're conquering the world. He's actually literally in a place of moving throughout the world conquering the world right now and changing the way that he is doing business and life. And so Rey wants you to take a quick minute and just tell people who you know your your words, who you are. And where are you right now and why? Well,
Rey Perez:first of all, you know, thank me. Thank you, Jim, for inviting me to be on podcast until we appreciate it. And yeah, I am in a place right now of transition in my life and in my business. And I'm physically in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. And I'm taking a mini sabbatical from my business to kind of re structure reframe, and reposition our focus in what it is that we do in the area of branding and marketing for entrepreneurs. As the number one global branding expert, when you go to Google and you type in global branding expert, you're gonna see my face, my videos, my websites, everything pop up all on page one and page two. And it's something that I've been very focused on for the last decade. And as I've been going through my personal entrepreneur journey, and I've had different levels of successes that I've reached in my business, both financially and accomplishment driven, I realized that even though it's amazing to make a lot of money and have lots of nice cars and penthouses and all that kind of stuff In the end of the day, it's temporary. And it's not really self fulfilling. And one of the things that I started doing in my own business is shifting the perspective of what drives us. And I went from just like making money, hitting our goals, pay KPIs, and just, you know, always just business driven and focus to more purpose and impact focused. And that's something that's really important to me. And that's kind of why I'm on this little sabbatical journey to kind of really figure out, what is it that I want to do in life, not just to make money, but that I want to do in life that makes me fulfilled from the inside makes me have purpose makes me have my passion and my drive. And historically, it's all been around the area of personal branding for entrepreneurs, their brands and their businesses, whether it's graphic design, whether it's social media, web development, landing pages, funnels, videos, events, talk shows, you name it, that's what our agency does. But now it's like, how do we do that? To support entrepreneurs to make more impact, and really live out their God? Fulfill purpose in life?
Jim Padilla:Yeah, amen. And, you know, example, is it for those watching on the video. This is part of the branding packages that that Rey's team has done for us, as well as our website, and many of our assets. And you'll notice, it's not just about branding, it's about, it's about bringing us to the forefront, and it's about really integrating who we are into the business and raise still, you know, you're examining that right now. It just, you're just shifting who you are now. And so you're you're bringing your purpose, your impact your philanthropy, front and center, and then letting the practical mind.
Rey Perez:Exactly. And it's interesting, because, you know, over Look, we all have brands, whether we choose to promote it, or we choose to work on it or not, is a different story. But we all have a brand. And the brand is based on what people say about you when you're not in the room. And obviously, I do a whole three day workshop where I teach on how to build your brand identity from the visuals to the verbal and the value. But we all have a brand. And that brand can evolve over time, based on your purpose and your drive. And for me personally, that's something that's really made a difference. You know, I used to always wear custom suits and vests and the whole nine and now I'm wearing like, Cabal like beads, and I'm wearing you know, and it's interesting, but I've gotten to a point where, like, I'm not worried about that anymore, because I've achieved a certain level of success, I've done that all I accomplished it. So, you know, my advice to any listener or viewer is, when you're growing, as you're scaling, you will go through phases, you will go through different areas, it's not the same for everyone. And always remember, it doesn't matter how much money you're making, or how big your businesses, everyone is going through different levels in their business, someone can make more money, but have less influence. Or someone can have a lot more influence, but maybe making a lot less money in their business. One is not better than the other one is not good or bad. It's not wrong or right. But you have to understand that as you're growing and scaling. It's not just about making money. As you grow your influence, you can do so much more than just make money, you can make a difference. You can make an impact. You can create causes, you can create organizations, you can create support groups. And that's something that I've realized that if you are making money, and your business, you are doing well financially, you might want to consider starting to invest a little bit in your personal brand, so that you also can increase your influence. And you see a lot nowadays chin what these quote unquote influencers, right, it's become an actual thing, like celebrity has been in the past, the new celebrity is an influencer. That's the new terminology with our social media world that we now live in. So the way you dress, the way you look, the way you know, all of this starts to evolve as your purpose and your driving your focus in your business thoughts as well.
Jim Padilla:Yeah, you know, and you mentioned a minute ago that you can do more than just make money. So it is not an either or it is both because if you truly want to make the greatest amount of impact, then you do need to be fiscally responsible in your business and earn revenue so that you have more resource and more choice that you can do and then you can really put that to work for you whether it's building wells, in the Congo, building orphanages in Appalachia or anything else that you're focusing on, you know, like with us, it's all about, you know, we're, you know, our opportunity cities and working with inmates and ex cons and in really, really wiping out eradicating recidivism. And I learned that the more I talked about that publicly But more people are interested in it, then if there's a lot of people that want to help, and our service is important in what we do, but when they hear that people really want to get on board, they want to get behind it, because they know it's truly impacting great things in the world. And everybody's got some purpose or cause, you know, and I know, that's where you're leaning. And you're really leaning heavy on socially conscious businesses. And so, you know, what does that look like? And how is it that people have to have a certain level of status before you and I know that people are thinking that well, once I make my money, and once I do this? You know, what's your perspective on that? Yeah,
Rey Perez:that's a great question. And, and I want to highlight our socially conscious business partnership program in just a moment. But it is true, there is no level of financial success you need to have, or status, to be able to be on path and purpose. And to be a giver. Like, I believe, like, we should start as that. And like, even if you go all the way back to the Bible, right, you know, like the wealthy people used to come and give their money. And then the peasant lady who only had two pens came and gave one? Well, you know, that's like, everything she has, it might be less than what the rich person gives, but it's still comparable is 10 times more. So, you know, I think once you're a giver, you're always a giver. I think if someone says, oh, I don't have the money, I'll give when I have the money, they're never going to because if you can't give now, what difference does it make if you have more, but from a business perspective, I truly believe that it's so much more valuable to lead with purpose than to lead with with finance. So what we started shifting about five years ago in our company was, instead of having a company financial year goal that we wanted to set, instead, we shifted to creating a financial parity goal that we wanted to give. So we want to donate $100,000 in cash. And then we also say how much in services because there's a difference between donating 100,000 in services, and 100,000. In cash. One is not better than the other, but they're different. And it's important to clarify that, right. So we have $100,000 cash donation goal? Well, we take 10% out of everything we give back. So and that's separate than when I came to the church. So we need to make a million dollars, if we want to give 100,000. So it's very different to say our goal is to make a million dollars, because our commitment this year is that we want to give $100,000 back to charities. So what I chose to do a few years ago was to create my own charity, not because I wanted to have my own charity, but because I wanted to give my entrepreneurial clients an easier way to give back to become a socially conscious business. So my nonprofit is called influence with love. And the reason I call it influence with love is because I truly believe as your level of influences raises in the world, you want to leverage and use that influence with love to do good things, right? Because you could use that influence for negative things as well. And in addition to influence them with love, because my business on the world of branding and marketing is all about creating more influence for our clients, right? That's like what we do as a business. I said, Well, I'm telling my entrepreneurs that they go to be getting back. And it is a benefit not only to them, but to their in their marketing. What if I just gave them an opportunity of how to do it. So it makes it easier for them. And that's where our nonprofit came out. And we support underprivileged youth. We teach them entrepreneurship skills, we mentor them. We don't just serve in the United States, we serve all over the world. We've been in here in Mexico, Guatemala, we've been in son, seminar, Dominican Republic, we've been in Colombia, and some multiple locations across the United States. And we you know, we're serving youth, and, and children. And I wanted a way that every entrepreneur client that either works with me is my client, or has interaction with me whether through my TV interviews, my radio shows, my podcast interviews that I'm doing right now with you, anywhere that they see me, they can have an opportunity to give back and receive because it goes back to the Bible, the best way to receive is through giving. So I said what if I can allow entrepreneurs to give back to our nonprofit organization, and receive marketing materials and content that they can use or their business to show the world that they're socially conscious to show that when someone buys their products and services or supports their business They're also supporting a good cause. So it's not just giving back to the nonprofit, it's also receiving marketing content, which has a monetary value to it. People pay me 1000s and 1000s and 1000s of dollars for marketing. So I said, What if I can get them to donate, do a good thing, and receive marketing assets that they can use for their business, they can use it as a tax write off, and they can use it as a marketing budget as well, so that they're benefitting themselves, while they benefit the kids. And that's why we launched our socially conscious business partnership program, allowing entrepreneurs the opportunity to give back makes it super easy for them, but also receive, we have a point system, they can give with their time, their talent, or their treasure, it's not all about financial commitment, they can donate their services, they can donate their time, and we acquire points between those three, whether it's your time, talent, or treasure, or all three are a combination of all three, you get points, once you hit a certain level of points, it unlocks this marketing content that they can use for their businesses from having a seal on their website, or their email marketing, to having promo videos, social media posts, we even have when they get to a certain level, they'll we have this big check that we write how much they've donated so far, and they get to take a picture with the big check. And then we create social media posts, and a whole email marketing campaign to show the world that this car business is conscious, they've given back $5,000 into charity, and that puts them in a light that supports them. But they're also getting back to the kids. Does that make sense? That's
Jim Padilla:super cool, is super cool. It's not exactly a trend. But I'm starting to see other companies really catch on to this is a really good way to you know, we used to call it a GT give back in the edge, give back at our events, you know, you, you donate towards the cause that we are supporting, and then we met unlocks a service that we can provide for you, so that you're gaining some even if you're only doing this for the selfish motive, if you want the service, that's great, because you're getting a greater value in return than what you're gonna give out anyway.
Rey Perez:Exactly, I started. In my three day event called the Business Growth bootcamp, I give out what's called Digital dollars. And it basically gives people the opportunity to use these digital dollars towards our branding and marketing services. So what I would do at every single one of my events is that I would give people the opportunity to donate to influence with love.org, up to $1,000. And I would match whatever amount of donation they chose to get to the charity, I would match it in digital dollars. So basically, if they wanted to use our services anyway, they were going to pay for it, they can just make a donation, and then making use of services. And that's what I mean by you can donate your time, talent or treasure. So my talent and branding and marketing is my service, I can donate my service. And that allows me to raise money for charities. So we give our clients the opportunity to do the same, they can donate their services, other clients can donate to get those services they would have paid for anyway. And now it's benefiting the good charity as well. And it's a win win for everyone, because then the person who provided the service gets the marketing content to use for their business. So it's win win win all through it.
Jim Padilla:Yeah, that's super cool. And everybody wants to give everybody knows deep down that that's, that's what lights them up. That's where that's where your fulfillment comes from. And I think too many times, everybody feels like they have to have some beat charity to get their own 5013 C going. But there's a lot of ways to be able to partner up and sync up with other people who are already doing the work. And maybe your $1,000 or $100. While it's incredible, and whatever you can donate. But if you can, that can be a part of somebody else's bigger contribution that can do more with it. And just, you know, what, there was this saying that, you know, anything's possible in the world if you don't care who gets the credit. So as long as you were able to just contribute in some small way towards something that's already in motion, you can just sit back and say, yeah, man, I made that happen. You know, I was part of that. You know, there's like, Tony Robbins, like, his goals aren't his contribution goals aren't monetary, they're family, how many families and I'm going to feed this year, million families or 10 100,000 families or whatever, obviously, it takes money, and it takes but that's all and it all sets revenue goals, but you can contribute in small portion, and all of a sudden, you're helping to feed families around the world.
Rey Perez:Right? You got it exactly what the concepts this kind
Jim Padilla:of pivot a little bit on that. But you know, with that same concept, what's the what's the mindset and the perspective because you know, one thing we talked about on the opportunity makers podcast is that it at the end of the day, the more people you help, the more compensation cups, it's just a byproduct of doing good typically. So what is the mindset and the perspective as you are moving through the world and shifting in a perspective of obviously, if you're doing philanthropy, then it's all about service. And so how do you do that in a way without compromising, generating revenue still being a good financially responsible business owner, but leading with service, like, where did what's the thought process there? You know, what do you have to do to get yourself from worrying about chasing leads and chasing clients?
Rey Perez:That's a great question. Because the reality is, there could be the mindset of, if I'm focusing on charity, or giving back and doing this, and I'm not focusing on my business, and that can cost me revenue. And it isn't a possibility. But I will say this, I think, in business, and in life, and you know, being financially successful, a good portion of it has to do with what it is that you're doing the skill set that you have. But I think the bigger portion of it is the mindset that you carry. Because I truly do believe what Henry Ford said, Henry Ford said, which is whether you think you can or you can't either way, you're right. I 100% solely believe in the law of attraction, whatever you think about whatever you focus on, whatever you give energy's exactly what you're gonna get. So I believe that if you focus on your philanthropy, and you believe that by doing good in the world, and by doing something that that's more purpose driven and impactful, you're going to impact more lives, and you're going to bring more revenue. And I believe that's going to happen. Now, if you worry about that, it's not going to happen, then I believe that's probably not going to happen for us. And I know it's kind of like, yeah, watching the secret again, right. But I've experienced in my own life, and I've experienced many other clients and, and mentors, and coaches and business partners do the same thing. So I think, number one, is focusing on your mindset, having a growth mindset instead of a limited mindset. Number two, is having good structure. I do believe having a good structure for what you do, is always beneficial. Why? Because everything that I do with my socially conscious business partnership program, everything I do with my nonprofit, ties back to my business, because I talk about what I'm doing purpose driven. But I'm also letting people know what I what I do for a living in my business, as I talk about what my purpose and goal. So I'm not just sitting here, only talking about the charities and nonprofits, I tie everything together. And I think it's very important to have a structure where you know, you're on path and purpose, you know, you're doing something good, but you're still connecting, what produces you revenue, and what grows your business, that connection is very important. And then three, I think it's really where your heart lies. I think, you know, if you really care, and you're not just doing it from a marketing perspective, or a business perspective, you know, I do believe that energy is felt, I do believe that people's sincerity, their passion, you know, their integrity, I believe that goes through. And I honestly, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, I think you're gonna attract the right customers, the customers that number one, have the same heart felt cause and direction. And they're going to be connected to you because of that art energy that that you have, I believe that there's more traction in this frequency than in any marketing material or content you can ever have. And I believe that grows tribes, and grows followers. And it grows a lot of referrals and introductions, because people love to introduce someone that they know, that's a friend or family member or colleague to someone that's doing good in the world, they want to do that. So the more you're doing good, the more people want to highlight you, they want you to be a more podcast, they want you to come speak at their event come to their office, they want to share you with people. So I think the combination of those three is what is, you know, a good outline of how to still be successful in the business while you're being on path and purpose with your charity.
Jim Padilla:Yeah, you know, it's something that I think people, I think we know it intuitively, but I think it's it bypasses people because they think it looks more complicated than it needs to be. And, you know, when you are, it's all about the like, like Simon Simon said, you know, it's people like us do things like this. And if you share, here's who I am, then you're going to attract all the people who think that's a great thing, or see themselves as somebody who does that too. And they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves. So just you started as you know, and it's interesting because it's one of the things that I hear so much in marketing and sales these days. You got to learn to speak the language of your buyer and you got to speak their words and all that and I've come to I've come to experience and and see the results of not exactly like I think it's more right now it's up to you just be the best version of yourself. And you'll attract the people who resonate. And then you know, heck with the rest if you get if they do instead of trying to be targeted, like who's my ideal client how I get into arrays mind, how do I talk arrays language? How do I know I just share me. And if Ray likes me, Ray's gonna want me,
Rey Perez:you're gonna attract the right people agreed. That actually happened with religion, like being able to like be openly sharing my faith, my Christianity, and within my business. Some people feel like, Oh, if you do that you're going to lose some people on the beginning. 15 years ago, I felt that way. But now I realized, I'm not going to lose anybody. I'm going to attract the people that I want to attract. I'm going to attract the exact people that are in alignment with me. And the ones that aren't, I don't want to work with anyway. So everything's perfect.
Jim Padilla:So what's your what's the big opportunity unfolding? For you? I know, as you're, you're still kind of in this process, you're on a sabbatical? What do you see be emerging for you in 2024, to be able to really make this philanthropy and socially conscious business movement take off? Well, first
Rey Perez:and foremost, I'm writing my fourth book. And it's called Scaling the mountain of success, the spiritual journey of an entrepreneur to reach a million. And this book is probably going to be one of my best books. And it's my journey of how I've gotten to a level of reaching seven figures, and realizing that there's more to life than just making money and having fancy things. And the sabbatical that I'm doing a when I get back in January, I will write the final piece, which is my experience, after these two and a half months of traveling, and really focusing on building a business that is more purpose driven than then financial driven. And even though I've been doing everything I'm talking about, it hasn't been like, the number one thing that I've led with, it's been a purpose, it's been a portion, it's been something that's been a part of it, it hasn't been the thing. So really, what's next for me, is to solely lead with giving with philanthropy through my socially conscious business. And that will be the forefront of everything I do. And the branding, the marketing, the video production services, the agency will be behind the charity, the nonprofit, the socially conscious business. And that's the new business model that I want to shift into over the next two and a half months.
Jim Padilla:Awesome. So 2024 is going to be amazing. How do other people participate with you?
Rey Perez:All the best way to connect with me is on my personal site, ReyPerez360.com. This is also one of my companies is a SaaS company, a software that I created to connect entrepreneurs together to put all your state of stuff in one place. And if you're listening to this podcast, if you're watching the recording, when you go to ReyPerez360.com, there's going to be a contact button in the top right hand corner. If you click the Contact button. It says send text, send me a text with your full name, your best email and tell me that you heard me on Jim's podcast, the opportunity makers podcast, and I will send you my entire live presentation normally leads and increase sales through the power of building your personal brand. And I will give you my entire lead capture script verbatim with all my tools and strategies. All you got to do is just send me your full name, best email, click that send text, let me know you're on this podcast. And that's my gift to any listener that is listening to this interview today. Awesome.
Jim Padilla:So I can tell you just vouch for you. You know, I mean, obviously, I've been blessed to be able to interview a lot of people. And we've had a lot of amazing clients. I've been watching Ray on this journey for the last five years now. And he's living it everything he's doing. He's like, he's just literally walking through and just the just to see, you see him right now. You know, he literally just walked away from this beautiful, incredible penthouse in Miami that oversees just one of the greatest views that I've ever seen, you know, his incredible cars and toys, and hobbies, and just really going all in on purpose first, purpose first and not giving up making money but just leading with purpose. And it changes what you who you're known for it. That's really the thing he's like, do you want to be known as somebody who's a great business expert, that's awesome. That's a good start. But you want to be known as somebody who's changed in a world that moves the needle massively, and that changes everything. And that brings fulfillment purpose, and allows you to still grow your business. So lean into this, this is something that's not going to be I think it's gonna be a big trend. And I believe that right now, it's an advantage in your business. And pretty soon I think it's just going to be necessary, because that's how business can be done. Yep,
Rey Perez:I agree. 100%
Jim Padilla:All right. So go see ReyPerez360.com. And as always, you know, anything you need from me any questions, any feedback, go to gym p 360. scan the code that's there if you're watching, and let us know one feedback, one know how this is resonating with you what your takeaways are from this and who else do you want to see on the podcast so that we can get behind the scenes of what's going on with them and share with you all of the opportunities that exist and remember that every single problem here Every single thing that is discouraging you everything you're worried about stressed about concerned about is nothing but a sea of opportunities problems waiting to be solved and you've got this and we've got you so thanks as always for trusting us to be part of your success team and being here when you could literally be anyplace else on the planet we'll see you on the next one