You are RUNNING OUT OF TIME, This is What You NEED TO DO About It | Wallo267 on Impact Theory

Growing up in the ghetto, I always had to get approval to live, approval to think, approval to be accepted. That [ __ ] don't mean nothing to me. I just I just feel so good. Like I think I'm in my I think I'm at my best my the best feeling possible when I'm able to feel something and be able to react with my emotions and and to be able to embrace what I'm feeling and to be able to cry. I love crying on the aspect of life. It just feel good because I'm letting something out and I used to remember when I used to be feeling a certain way and I couldn't let it out because of the environment that said that wasn't cool or I would be soft. Everybody, welcome to another episode of Impact Theory. I am here with somebody that is going to make your brains leak out of your ears. This guy is extraordinary. He is the one, the only, Wallo267. Wallo, welcome to the show, my man. Thank you for having me, Tom. Dude, it is so good to have you. I am obsessed with people that have a no BS, no excuse mentality. I read your book, which we have here, The Mind of Wallo267. For people that don't know your story, you spent 20 years in prison, which seems impossible. Every time I heard it, I thought, "Okay, he got a 20-year sentence, but there's no way he actually did 20 years." But you actually did 20 years. 20 years. Yeah. You write a book, and I want everybody to understand this is after coming out of jail for 20 years, and this this was the part when I heard this in the book, I was like, "I know why he's as successful now as he is." This is a direct quote. All things you put in your mind of why you can't win or why you can't do this, "Oh, they racist. Oh, this. Oh, they hating." That's all [ __ ] Make it happen. Let me tell you something. Every key to every closed door on this planet is right here in your mind. All you got to do is believe in yourself and stop BSing, stop making excuses. It gives me the chills rereading it now. It really gave me the chills the first time I read it. How after what you've been through growing up North Philadelphia, what gave you that insight? That that insight to me is the difference between success and failure. Mhm. If you blame other people, even when it's real, even when somebody is actively [ __ ] you up, if you focus on them and what they're doing and the things you can't control, you will lose. But if you, even when someone is [ __ ] you up, you focus on what you can do, what you can change, what's in your control, you will win. But that that insight is hard. Where did Did somebody say something? You read it in a book? wasn't really about somebody saying nothing. It's just about once I was sitting in my cell and I realized that I used to I used to chase the police. What do you mean? I used to chase police out there like in Philly. I was a guy that used to do a bunch of dumb [ __ ] and wave to the police down. Yo, come get me because chasing police waved them down? No, no, but chasing the police doing dumb [ __ ] Like I would So it was like I can't blame the homies cuz they ain't got nothing to do with this. I can't blame Like when we go through something, we always looking for somebody to to blame for our existence in a [ __ ] up place. No, I paid for this train ticket to here. I paid for the train ticket. I got on the train. It was many stops before that I could have got off. No, I I went to final destination. I arrived here in jail. Oh, let's do it. I got to do this now. This is This is my reality. Okay, how did I get here? Wallau, I want to I'm going to push you on that because your punchline is so powerful. But it gets more powerful the more people know about your story. So, when was the first time that you were locked up? Uh June 30th 1990. I was 11 for a couple days. 11? Yeah, I was 11 Philadelphia, North Philadelphia, Philadelphia County. I got arrested for robbery and then a week later this was on a Saturday the Saturday later I got arrested again in September 19th, 1990 I got sent away for a year St. Michael School for Boys. Uh I did a year there came on a home pass back and forth. Got came home once I finished the year. Got arrested again went back for another year and I just was in in and out of the juvenile facility for 5 years. Okay so five five years of your youth did they ever try to help you teach you a useful skill guide you what happened was I became they put me in a habitual offenders unit. So I never forget it I had this uh probation officer named Ruth Marcus. She was a lovely lady. She always tried to help me in every type of way. She was real communicative with my mother and all that. She always tried to help me then they took me away from her. I got this other probation officer named Denise Valero. I think she wind up turning to FBI agent. She was no [ __ ] joke. Uh Denise was Denise was something different. Denise wasn't no joke like and even with her being no joke she still she still had conversations with me and I think she wanted me to win. She not I ain't going to say I think she wanted me to win. A lot of times when people bring run down on us and bring us that and bring us that friction we freeze up and we think they [ __ ] and all that. To me at the time she was a [ __ ] but when I think about it as I got older you know she just really she just really was trying to see me win you know. And uh but I was in there in and out 5 years in and out that juvenile system and then when I turned 17 I got locked up with two robberies two firearm violations and that's when I got 19 and had 52 years combined in two different sentences and uh like it was just like damn and then when I went to jail I'm like over the years it took some time because you grow you grow in there. I realized hold up. I spent more time incarcerated than I did free on this planet. [ __ ] me up. That [ __ ] me up. Like I'm saying sitting in the cell I'm like oh this this is some crazy [ __ ] So you just like all right, cool. I got to figure this [ __ ] out now. Now, what is the reality of this [ __ ] What did I do to get here? Really fast, I want to talk about that moment because so so far it seems like you have a litany of things that you could blame from culture determines what is cool. You're just trying to fit in. You're in an impoverished neighborhood. It's a neighborhood notorious for crime. So, you're already put in that there's sort of generational poverty issues all to take into account. There's a system that is not exactly preparing you for anything. I've heard you say that the juvenile system makes you feel at home in the penitentiary. It's like a training school. that joint was a training school. It's a prep. There there is a list of things you could blame. You're still not blaming them. For the person right now that is subconsciously or consciously spending their time focused on that stuff, I want to understand how how you think about there are real things that are [ __ ] you up. They're real. Yeah. But it still doesn't help you to focus on those. And I want to know what it is you've learned about life because you're a marketer. Like you you figure out how the game works and then you go, "I'm not going to judge it. I'm just going to say this is the best way to play it." And that's what makes you so interesting. So, what was the key insight about how the how life works that made you go, "Even though I have reasons, like these are real legitimate reasons for me to just stay broken, it's not a smart play. Why isn't it a smart play to wallow in that? Because uh it it it is just going to have me in the same place. I'm going to be in the same place. I might not be doing crime, but I'm still going to be living a loser lifestyle. Because I'm a complainer. I'm a you you not I'm American complain. I just complain complain. That [ __ ] don't work. I ain't got time for that [ __ ] Tom. I got Listen, let me explain something to you, Tom. I'm 42 years old, just turned it a couple days ago. Okay, bet. There's a big Is a big Is a big chance that 50 Now, 60% maybe 80 maybe 90% of my life is going already. I don't have [ __ ] time. Time is not waiting for me. Time is not my friend. And I'm not talking about your type of time. I'm talking about t i m e. Time don't like nobody. Time hate all of us. Time is trying to stay away from us. You think I'm going to waste the rest of the time that I got to be operating out here crying and complaining, blaming somebody? No. I know why I'm there because you know why? There was a guy It was plenty people that I know that came from the environment that produced me that I come from that didn't go where I went. So, what I'm complaining about? Oh, this happened to this Oh, that I was living here. What about all the people Listen, I know more people in the inner cities that's law-abiding, tax-paying citizens that never did nothing wrong that's living their life than I do this criminal. Now, um they might over-report crimes in my environment through the media, through television. So, you see it, so it makes it look like But, what is it like? 1.7 million people in Philadelphia? How many of them people you think is criminals? Not a lot. It's not a large percentage. So, I'm like, hold up. I could blame all this? I ain't got time for that because you think I got I got 10 years to be a blaming and complaining? You know how much You know how much time and energy people spend? The average person, and I'm just doing a ballpark figure, they spend years and [ __ ] years, maybe a decade, complaining, bitching, and whining, and still nothing change. I could be using that time to change my life. I could be using that time to brace the reality of life and the reality of the [ __ ] that I've done to put myself I paid for my ticket. I got on the train. It was many stops that came. I didn't get off at them stops. I went to the final destination of the [ __ ] that I was living in. I enjoyed being that. I was married to the streets of Philadelphia. I enjoyed that dumb [ __ ] So, I had to Okay, I went through the process of that dumb [ __ ] I grew up. I evolved from that. Now, it's time to live. Now, it's time to just be out here on a journey through life, experiencing new things, new ideas, exposure. And that's what I realized. It I wasn't A lot of us don't expose ourself to new things, new ideas. We're not open. Open to different, open to change. And that's what helped me. I became open to all this [ __ ] And so I'm like, "Okay, damn, that's different. Let me Let me try that. Damn, this Oh, let me jump out of a plane. Damn, let let me do this." Like some real [ __ ] And you know, and like while I'm here, I'm living this [ __ ] out. Cuz what I'm going to tell you some real [ __ ] Tom. When I [ __ ] die, it's going to be a party in that [ __ ] graveyard cuz my tombstone is going to be playing music and bouncing all around that [ __ ] graveyard. I'm not going to be laying dead because that dash that's between the year I was born and the year I die, that [ __ ] is going to be breakdancing off that tombstone cuz I'm leaving all that [ __ ] here. I'm leaving it here. So it's like, why the [ __ ] should I complain? I heard you say once that you only die once, but you live every day. I live every [ __ ] day. You see what I'm saying? You Think about that. That day that you die, once. See, a lot of times people put living as just one big thing. It's not no one big thing. It's things. It's days. Every day you're doing something [ __ ] different. Think about this. 50-something months ago, I was sitting in a cell waiting to go to chow, standing for count. Now I'm in the Hollywood [ __ ] Hills with you. Think about that. I walk right out of here and I look at the whole the whole LA. I can see every tire part of LA. Every movie I ever seen, everything I ever seen, is right down in there. Think about that [ __ ] man. I'm out here doing what I want to do. You know, uh you know, we go from prison to closing multi-million dollar deals and doing speaking all over the Come on, man. [ __ ] is You know why? Cuz I wasn't I wasn't going to be a victim of self. See, a lot of people be victim of self. They This victimization is self-victimization. Ooh, why me? Oh, this is happening. Why this is doing to me? Oh, I'm black. Oh, I'm this. I live in the ghetto. I'm I'm the [ __ ] I'm I'm I'm from deep in the ghetto. I come from the ghetto, Tom. But I'm out here making [ __ ] happen and I got to show these young kids in the inner cities of America, or kids period, not just the kids, but I I focus mainly on them cuz they still sponge, they're still impressionable, they're still trying to figure out life. And like a lot of times adults, they be locked in already on what they want to do. They just know how to disguise the [ __ ] that they claim that they want to let go of. They just know how to put a different uniform on it. Kids, they growing up, they impressionable, and their imagination is everything. And that's that's something that's very very important in my journey, my imagination. Yeah, so that this idea is really powerful. One thing that to lead up to that, so people really let this one hit when you say it. The inner cities breaks most of the people that it touches. Mhm. Every now and then though, someone comes out and they come out so with so much velocity. It was like for them trying to escape took so much energy and they built so much enthusiasm and intensity up that when they shoot out, they go really far. You can look at somebody like Jay-Z for an example of that. Now, prison breaks most of the people that it touches. But the people that survive, again, the same thing, never going back. They build up this energy and that escape velocity is [ __ ] crazy. Part of the reason I when I first started researching you, I was like, "Okay, he got a 20-year sentence, but there's no way he did 20 years." And the reason I couldn't reconcile it in my mind that you'd actually served 20 years is you were so positive, energetic, enthusiastic, focused on all the things you were going to make happen. There were There was no sense of loss or mourning. It was just like 20 years is a long [ __ ] time, man. No, but see, you got to understand this. I wasn't in jail, I was in Yale. I wasn't in prison, I was in Princeton. I wasn't in the state pen, I was in Penn State. [ __ ] do you think like that? Because, you know why? I took the time and I was like, "Okay, this is time for me to, you know, educate myself." It was this It was this book place that we used to order from called Our Hamiltons. I think it was out Connecticut somewhere and these you'll get books that probably like $20 for like $3. So, I used to get a lot of books. I used to read. I used to read magazines all the time. I used to I used to study the [ __ ] out of marketing because what I used to do is I used to always watch commercials. I remember one of my cellies used to be like, "Why the [ __ ] you always watching the commercials?" And outside of the commercials, I used to watch Anthony Bourdain. The reason I used to watch commercials so much was because I was always fascinated with like "Oh, when I went to McDonald's, that burger ain't never [ __ ] looked like that." So, maybe start with that. I realized it was an advertising agency that that was Then I started studying advertising agencies running up who Then I started studying I read a book by called Damn Good Advice by George Lois, one of the great ad men of his time. They did the the TV show Mad Men that was about him. This dude was an ad master. So, I'm reading this book. I'm learning about nanosecond messaging and all this stuff. I'm realizing the color red is the most powerful marketing I'm just studying commercials. I'm looking at things. I'm like, "So, the whole time I'm in here, I'm just reading. I'm learning. I'm laughing." And one of my homies said, "Man, Wild, you're the happiest [ __ ] in jail." I said, "Yo, man, I know why I'm here. Like, [ __ ] I'm not here I'm not innocent. It's sorry to anybody else. I know why I'm here. I know what the [ __ ] I done. I know why I'm here, but I'm not going to be mad. I got to Listen, I'm trying to I can see the end of this [ __ ] I'm looking at the end I'm chasing end of the tunnel. And when I get there, I'm going to be on point." So, it was like But But when we talk about imagination, let me tell you something. As a As a kid, your imagination be endless. "Oh, I want to fly. I want to do this." I'm talking about unbelievable imagination. Imagination is destroyed by family members, others. People kill ideas. You got idea killers out here. A lot of times these kids they can't grow into what they want to grow into cuz they they live in environments where their ideas is beat up and where it's like they got to suffocate their ideas and somehow they kill their ideas and they bury their ideas because they don't want to get laughed at or they ashamed of it. So, by me going to prison from 17 to 37, well, you know, experience life lived experience life will [ __ ] destroy your imagination. If you're adult, if I was out here and I probably live, had a kid, went through different adult relationships, jobs, this, whatever I was doing, got shot, whatever may happen. It started to deteriorate your imagination. By the time I probably would have hit 27, I'd have been done with dreaming. I probably would have stopped dreaming. By me going to prison, what it did is it froze the imagination that I had. So, when I'm in prison the whole time, I'm not living the life that most people be living and beating them down and wearing them down and becoming jaded and getting their ass kicked by life. So, when I come out 37, I'm still in there reading all type of [ __ ] And then, when it was 2000 and, you know, 2013, I got my hands on an iPod Touch and a wireless hotspot in jail. And when I got that [ __ ] [ __ ] I came alive. That's when I came alive when I seen technology. the potential? I seen the potential and I realized, okay, these people don't understand what's going on. I realized the stars They couldn't see what you could see. [ __ ] no. Humans I I really I'm looking at it and I'm looking at the people from my environment. I'm like, "Yo, okay. I'm in my cell. I'm on social media. I'm going down. Now, social media, the timeline, everybody is battling for attention. Attention is real estate. Attention is the new currency. So, everybody's battling for that [ __ ] So, I said, "Okay. You see this athlete, that's why they're watching cuz you're athlete. If you ain't an athlete, why would I care? If you're not a girl that's half naked on Instagram, why would I care? If you're not a rapper, why would I care?" That's what the average person say. I realized that social media gave it us gave everybody a stage. But, a lot of people don't know it's a stage to introduce people to their ideas, their outlooks on life, or whatever. And they also don't know how to capitalize on it. So, there's an interesting part of your story where you're coming out of prison, you don't have two nickels to rub together, and you've got to find a way to get local businesses to let you be basically their pitchman. So, that's already impressive. But, what I did was I went to these businesses, and I just did it for free to get my proof of concept. I had to get Listen, I had to show you I had to have some proof so I could take the proof of concept and be able to say when you go on my page and it would be able to say "Oh my god." Or just be able to say "Tom." I'd be like "Oh my god, I seen that that that commercial you did at the Rib Shack." "I want one of them. How much?" I never forget. It was a It was a place It was a you know, home health care is place. Uh They paid me like my first check. It was $500 to do a to do a uh commercial for them. And when I Like shot on an iPhone or what? Yeah. I just went there, tell my my friend to hold the camera. I said "Hold this camera." And I just did it. And it was like it was out of here. Like I'm telling you I did it 500 But, when they called me at That was That was the first time I really charged somebody 500. I'm like "Oh shit." I just was out of jail and I didn't know. I'm like "Oh [ __ ] there's a market for this." And then I just start charging And then the price just start going up. For 5,000, 1,500 And it's just walking up on somebody. You tell them you got a business All right, this is how much it cost. I'm looking at I'm doing my research on Google, finding out what's the price point. Okay, these is the price points. Uh boom boom boom boom bang. Okay, this is how much I'm supposed to get. Oh, I'm supposed to get $100 for 10,000 followers or what And I told them I told them I told them I told them I told them I told them I told them I told them I told them I told them to charge? Like how did you Google man. I'm Google I'm Google Listen, I'm a alumni from my I'm telling you I'm Google University and YouTube. I went to them universities. Them my Them my colleges. I got a degree. I got a degree in information from them two places. That's the easiest place people what you thought when you first heard about Google though. I lost my mind. I thought it I thought I I Listen, the kid I'm I'm walking in the in cuz Cuz you're in prison for a long time by this point. in prison. So, the young kid come in, I knew his pops, family, whatever. He telling me like, "Yo, uh there's this thing called Google." And I'm like, "Okay, yeah, all right." Yeah, you could look this up. I could look up anything. I was listening to him. Then when he said, "I can even look up Lou." You I said, "Why the [ __ ] would you be able to look up me and I've been in jail all this time? That don't make no [ __ ] sense. I'm not that stupid kid. I know I've been in jail. I'm not that slow, right?" Cuz I really believe So, I went and I wrote it down in my Book of Life. The Book of Life is something I wrote a bunch of stuff down that I got to check out when I get home from jail. Things I want to do, whatever. So, when I, you know, associate of mine give me the iPod Touch and a white clear wireless hotspot and I'm doing the research and I went on Google and I typed my name in and [ __ ] popped up. I dropped the phone. I was like, "Oh, [ __ ] The feds on me." They they ready to just ready to be a RICO act for cell phone in jail, right? So, I'm just I'm just like I'm thinking crazy as [ __ ] So, I'm paranoid. I'm like, "Oh, [ __ ] This is real." And it was over from then. Once I knew that I could go in here and research, I'm like it it cut the middle man out. Like with me it was like, "Okay, I don't need like Nipsey. [ __ ] the middle man." I don't need the middle man now because now anything I need to know, I don't have to waste the time to ask you to try to That's just like uh you know, when you're voting or something. Back in the day, you had to go off the stuff that you seen on TV about a candidate. Cuz you What you going to go to the library? Where you going to find out? Where Where can you fact-check? So, I went online. You go online now. You Okay, this is what this is about. This And that's what helped me so much. Anything that I wanted to do I'll go right on there. How do How do How do I do this? Or how do I'm talking about everything. Like I was getting my YouTube plaque. And I was telling uh Toom uh Toom uh Toom uh Bassa, I mean, great great friend of mine. I was from YouTube. I was telling him, "Yeah, I just went on there and just looked it up. Took me a couple minutes. God told me exactly what to do to get my YouTube plaque, my 100,000." I went and did it. It was done. I was there in a week. It was just that easy. Dude, here's the thing that's really fascinating about you. So, one you've got this imagination piece. You actually allow yourself to be childlike, to imagine a world that's like understand that you're in prison. There's nothing but walls and lockup and and just it would be all too easy to only see the heartbreak of prison. And yet through Anthony Bourdain, through commercials, through other people coming in that I know you used to like pin them down and ask them a lot of questions about what the world is. Like you you let your imagination roam and I don't think it's as simple as oh well I was in prison that froze my imagination. I think most people their imagination dies in prison. Yours didn't. So you you fan the flames of this imagination. You let that run wild. You got your book of life. You're keeping all these notes. But the key [ __ ] thing that I want people to take away from you is you never said oh but this isn't for me. It was always I can imagine it and I'm going to go make it real in my life. Everything for me is on this planet. Everything that I want to do is for me. That's why I's here. Everything that you want to do, you can do. That's why it's here. Here it's about are you willing to put the [ __ ] work? And when a person is you going to persevere to be able to is you going to stay down? Everything you want to do I don't I don't know what you want to do. If you say damn I want to be a chef. Is you want to put in the work to do that? Is you going to do the research? Is you going to study the greats? Or maybe not study the greats or you going to come with some new ideas and new approaches to being a culinary in the culinary field, chef, whatever. Everything is out here for everybody. That's why it's out here. Once you able to breathe you got all the tools you need. Yeah but getting people to understand that's really hard. So my last company Quest we had a lot of employees and about a thousand of them grew up in the inner cities. And I remember one kid like my whole thing was trying to get them to understand like that what separates you from success is a lot of execution. That's it. Nothing else matters. Like Kobe Bryant has one of my favorite quotes. Boos don't block dunks. You can literally hate a person. You can actually pay an entire team millions of dollars to try to stop this man from scoring a basket. They have every incentive in the known universe to stop him, but he's so good. He scored 81 points in a single [ __ ] game. So, at some point, your talent just shuts everybody down. I love that about life. Now, one of my guys came to me and was like, "Yo, Thomas, this is crazy. Like, you're making me rethink my whole life because my mom told me that the world doesn't want people that look like me to succeed." He was a Hispanic kid. And I was like, "Bless your mom. I bet she's the most wonderful person on the planet Earth, but that is terrible [ __ ] advice. And honestly, it doesn't [ __ ] matter. Even if, and this is like my obsession. This is why I love your message. Even if the world doesn't want you to succeed, if you're good enough, they can't [ __ ] stop you." And when you take out that middle man, and you've got a device like this that lets people build [ __ ] like literally, you're you're limited by your imagination and your work. And that's it. Now, I'm not saying that it isn't harder for some people. I'm just saying that it is possible. And that's what makes this collision for you of imagination and the whole world's here for me so [ __ ] magical. Everybody, you know what? Number one, the thing about the Kobe thing, like you were saying. I got a lot of, you know, like with me, one of my sayings is, "Haters is your marketing team. Let them work." Let me explain something to you. You know what haters do? They tell the world about you. They're free marketing. And what they do, if you're if you're really the if you're really the [ __ ] out here and you ain't playing no games, and you I'm telling you, you're kicking ass out here, when a hater tells somebody about you, and they go look you up and do something, you got new supporters. They introduce new people to you cuz they're always talking about you. So, they don't even matter. Like he said, "Boos do not block no shots. Yelling and heckling do not block no shots." They're going to have you leaving the game telling somebody how you [ __ ] hate me so much or whatever's going on, cool. To me, this is what we got to understand. Everything you want is out here. See, to me, the world is one big library, and everybody's a book. You got books on coding. You got books on mechanics. You got books on culinary. You got comic books. You got street novels. You got crime manuals. Read your books wisely. Choose them wisely. Watch what books you read, but every human being on here got a journey. And they know something that you might don't know. So, it's like everything is out here. But, what made it even more possible was that that world as a library I got it in my pocket in the phone. They gave me they put a computer in my pocket. They didn't [ __ ] up. You [ __ ] up. Because that's the only thing I ever wanted was a phone coming out of jail. I just wanted two phones. I didn't care about nothing else. Why two phones? Two phones because one I could be listening to my music on another I could be recording myself. You You know what I'm saying? Yeah. I'm a really emotional person. Like I love to feel. I love to cry. I love to uh just be soft. I love that because I was neglected from that growing up in inner cities of America because I was taught how to be tough. So, now as an adult it just feel good. It feels so good to be able to cry. Do you get backlash on that from the streets? No. No. I don't It wouldn't It wouldn't even matter. I don't I run my life, not the streets. You know what I'm saying? Like I dictate the life that I and I'm not looking for your approval to for to live. I did that too much. Growing up in the ghetto I always had to get approval to live and to prove to think to prove to be accepted. That [ __ ] don't mean nothing to me. I I just I just feel so good. Like I I think I'm at my I think I'm at my best my the best feeling possible when I'm able to feel something and be able to react with my emotions and and to be able to embrace what I'm feeling and to be able to cry. I love crying on the aspect of like it just feel good because I'm letting something got out and I used to remember when I used to be feeling a certain way and I couldn't let it out because of the environment that said that wasn't cool or I would be soft. Mhm. So, it was just like that [ __ ] was that [ __ ] is like everything to me crying and just feeling it just feeling the like it's hard to explain but it's like to be to not be able to do something for so long and then to grow to understand your emotions and your feelings is like that [ __ ] is like everything. I'm talking about that [ __ ] is everything to me. And to be able to feel cuz I I never could feel that one time. I wasn't allowed to feel when I was told that that wasn't tough. I mean I'm you know so like that [ __ ] is amazing. You know crying to me. That's that's sick like even especially in an era where so you've talked a lot about the bottom controls culture and so you've got these people that you were saying earlier forgotten but at the same time that's where our whole notion of cool comes from the streets hip-hop music all that. So even if you're not from the streets the element of cool to want to be cool to not be soft there's something amazing about somebody like you being who has the bonafides of having been from one of the roughest neighborhoods in America having spent time in prison and come out okay and for you to say that I crying is everything to me like that's [ __ ] powerful. I got a responsibility to educate the young people in a way because I'm exposed to more things and I know a lot from being exposed and I've been in some big rooms. I've been in some big places with some big people some big ideas some big environments. So I think it's my duty to educate them on life and living as I see it on the next level and be as being exposed. Exposure is everything and that's why a lot of people can't grow cuz they're being environment and like where I'm from the ghetto builds walls I jumped over the [ __ ] You see what I'm saying? I was able to jump over and I'm trying to get other kids you jump over that idea of what you supposed to be in this box of what you got to be in order to be whatever you think is cool or whatever. Cool is you. You've got a really powerful idea in your book that you talk about, which is you can't copy and paste your way to success. Talk to me about that in in the terms of that box of what you're supposed to be and how that sort of in and of itself is going to stop you. Think about this. Everybody got people that's interested in today's thing, whatever you into. So, you try to copy and paste, you will see somebody say, "Oh, I'm going to do that." No. No. Just because they want to that, don't mean you going to do that. Dennis Rodman, what I loved about him, all he did was [ __ ] with people. And he won. That was his style. That was his approach. He's going to foul you. He's going to whisper some [ __ ] in your ear. But outside of that, he's going to grab a thousand rebounds and he was necessary in order to win. He brought some real [ __ ] there. He knew when he got on the court, this is my position. This is what I can do that nobody else can do. That's why loved him cuz he was just different. He understood that. A lot of people don't want to do that. They want to copy and paste somebody else and try to emulate their whole situation and think they're going to win and be mad when they don't. You know, and that's the problem out here. You can't copy and paste, you know what I mean? You got to figure your life out because whatever you're doing is going to be some people that's going to Is Is Is a audience out there for everything. I'm realizing. So, you got to just stay focused. Don't be looking at nobody else too much. people though find out like what their flavor is? Like so many people, one of the number one questions I get asked is how to figure that out. Like, "Hey, cool. I buy what Wallo267 is saying, but who the [ __ ] am I?" Oh, you got to reevaluate yourself. You got to have a real conversation with self. Everything is in here. Everything you need to know is inside of you. Um and you got to get to know you. Sometimes you got to You got to remove yourself from people, places, and things that's not just not you not to allow you to embrace the reality and your individualism of who you are. And that's that's what's important. That's the most important [ __ ] ever. And it's already in you. People tell me how Why is you asking me? You know you. You know your journey. You know what's holding you back. You know the horrors of your life. You know the joys of your life. You know who your parents was, the house you brought grew up in. What affected you? Where is though you feel as though you stop growing, you stop living, you stop dreaming. What moment When was that? Go back and deal with that. Figure it out. You know what I mean? If you need a therapist, do that. Whatever. But you got to have a conversation with self about the reality of your journey. And once you connect with that, it's a wrap. When did you stop dreaming? That's a really powerful question. Yeah. Cuz [ __ ] stop dreaming and their imagination will die. Mhm. Relationships will [ __ ] you up. Rather friendships or regular love relationships. It's a It's a paralyzing The end of relationships can become paralyzing. Cuz it makes you doubt yourself? Yeah. And it makes you do all type of [ __ ] Now you asking questions. You asking all these questions. Person might don't want to be with you no more. Why? I'm not enough? Oh my god. Now you going into depression. All you thinking about all this [ __ ] Uh you know, y'all not together, marriages, all that [ __ ] That [ __ ] [ __ ] people up. It's devastating to people. Oh, was they cheating on me? Was I not enough? Did they want somebody else? All type It That's why I say, when did your dreams die? What happened in your life where you just stop and it snatched something out of you and you just start going into a different place. You start eating a bunch of [ __ ] now. Uh laying there. I don't want to All this dumb [ __ ] When did that happen? When did your dream Like cuz cuz you know, out here a lot of times you got idea killers out here. And sometimes the idea killers and the dream killers be yourself. It don't be nobody else. See, nobody can make you do something. Nobody. If they don't have no gun to you and no [ __ ] like that. You only doing this cuz you want to do it. You know what I mean? So, you got to figure out [ __ ] You can have ideas. You can listen to me, you can listen to this person, that person, but at the end of the day, you got to listen to self. Cuz you got to get up and figure it out every [ __ ] day while you're here, and you can't waste your time. If you waste your time, you're in [ __ ] trouble. Because guess what? I'm not wasting mine. Hell no, [ __ ] This whole idea of building yourself. So, as you're talking about people going through the end of a relationship and it's traumatic and it's got them asking all these questions, in that moment I know why it's so dangerous is they're repiecing themselves back together, right? So, the end of the relationship sort of broke them apart. They had a sense of identity as that pairing, whether friends or romantic. And when that shatters apart, now they're like, wait, who am I really? Maybe I am a loser, maybe I'm not worthy. And so, as they build back up that vision of themselves, it's usually worse. Is there You talked in prison this I heard you in an interview talking about prison and you said, you know, something happens to your mind when you walk by a guy getting stabbed until the other guy's arm gets tired. I had to go insane in order to stay sane. That's why I protected my mind when I was in prison. Because I would have ran up against some [ __ ] mentally. How did you protect it? I protected it because I had to go insane in order to stay sane, meaning I had to convince myself that all the [ __ ] that I'm going to see during this journey of prison is normal. If I didn't, I was in [ __ ] trouble. But didn't at some point you realize actually maybe that served me for a while, but now I have to do something different or did that mentality carry you all the way through prison? No, what it did is I learned how to uh after a while, I I removed myself from a lot of people in prison. A lot of things. I stopped having certain conversations, stopped being around certain people. If I've seen if I felt tension, I wouldn't go to the yard or all type of [ __ ] So, I wouldn't have to be exposed to a lot of more [ __ ] cuz in prison you can seclude yourself. You don't have to go to certain place You could You know, you could do your own thing. And uh but it was a time where as though it protected me. It really protected me because you know, prison is a scary place. And when I will first went to prison, I was scared to death. I know somebody was going to try to do something to me. You don't know cuz I'm only going off of TV and what I heard. And the the education of prison based off of the entertainment industry is so far off. It's so much more barbaric on TV, you know, than it is in real life. Like people be in there minding their business. A lot of times, but when that [ __ ] can go down, it go down. You you'll see some [ __ ] But I'm saying that's that's how I protected myself. It's like and then when it was time for me to go go home, I had to debrief myself. It's like coming, you know, coming out of war or some [ __ ] It was different, you know, but it's like What did that process look like? What did you actually do? I deprogram myself in order to reprogram to yourself, journaling, therapy? writing stuff down, understanding, processing, remembering what I seen, understanding that that [ __ ] wasn't right, whatever I may seen or seen somebody stabbed. So, it's like understanding certain [ __ ] and just like, yo, get your mind ready for the real world. I started removing myself from a lot of things that as it was time for me to go home so I could prepare myself to be embrace the reality of the real life. Reality of the human human connection and [ __ ] like that. So, you know, that [ __ ] was that's what that was about. And did you have like something specific in your mind where you're like, okay, this is cuz you talk about the real world and I look at your business career and what you've been able to achieve and it's this is not somebody who's sort of making it up as they go. This is somebody who's put a lot of research in, who've read books on marketing, who engages in their own branding, who went, you know, walking around the streets selling merch, understanding what it takes to sell. Like so, when you think about the real world, is it largely from a business perspective? Like when you say get ready for the real world, what does that mean? It's it's just it's not just about business. That's That's the That's not the biggest part of my life. It's just about living. Like uh getting ready for the real world was just living. You know, uh meeting my family, meeting them again cuz you don't like most of my time on Earth I've been in institutions. So, it was like I know my family, but we don't really know each other. So, you got to it's a reintroduction to family. Um get getting out here and seeing things, you know, and just and just living. You're working really hard to be successful. What would you say is like the most important thing to live life well? Is it pursuing something that matters to you? Is it family? Like what is that? To me, it's just living. When I say living, I mean doing what you really really want to do. Like I realized that not wanting and needing anything is having everything. When you get to the point where it's though you're not chasing no more, but I love the idea of taking a piece of paper, sitting down in a notebook, writing something down and saying, I'm going to start this. I love to create new [ __ ] And I do it that day. It's a day. And you call it yeah, I I need this LLC, I need this trademark, I need this logo done, boom. And just get it like to be able to bring something from nothing, put oxygen into idea, thought, that's everything to me. Walk people through the process. So, you you do this, you call somebody, but like you had to learn who the person is that you call. You had to learn about trademarks and copyrights. Like how did you begin to put this all together? but when I came home, what was so interesting, I went to Atlanta to wash my eyes. What does that mean? Um when I when I came home, a good friend of mine, childhood friend, is like a sister to me named Nadia. I used to call her when I was in prison, and she was down Atlanta. And Nadia used to always say, "You going to come down here, Wally? Everybody say they going to come." I said, "No, I'm going to come down here. I always see Atlanta on TV. I'm coming down Atlanta. I'm coming to the A. It's amazing down there, right?" So, one day I was in my grandmom neighborhood where I was born and raised, and she ride past. She said, "Wally, where you at?" She jumped out. She like, "Wally, you got to come down to Atlanta." I said, "Okay, I'm going to come down to Atlanta." And I made these shirts called I said, "I'm going to bring I'm going to make some new shirts. I'm going to come down to Atlanta." She's like cuz she had a consignment shop on Peter Street. And I said, "All right, I'm coming down there." He's like, "You can sell your shirts in my shop." I said, "All right, cool." I went. I created this this logo called Atlanta versus the world. Trademarked it and all that. But I wanted to trademark it later, but I took them down, printed it up. Said, "I'm going down there." And the reason I said I had to wash my eyes because I came back to Philly and the it's so poverty and it was so real and the violence was so on another level. I had to wash my eyes coming home to this. I don't want to be penetrated by just what I was seeing. I had to see some I had to see people doing good from the from the inner cities that look like me. I wanted to I wanted to be inspired even more. So, I went down to Atlanta. That's why I say washing my eyes. Atlanta washed my eyes for me to see, "Yo, this [ __ ] is real." People was making things happen that went in there successful. And I and and when I went down there, I'm right there on uh Peter Street. With Nadi, I'm standing in front of her shop. And one of the greatest people I ever met since I've been home. This is like a sister to me. I meet Shay Em Laws and Esquire. I'm sitting here in front of the shop. And I hear this lady sitting here talking. She tell me something, "Yeah, and" she was talking about copyrights. And I'm and I'm ear-hustling our conversation. I wasn't supposed to be but she was loud, I think, and I was like I think it was cool for me to be listening to her conversation. And she was like, "Yeah, cuz the trademark" I mean she was saying something about copyrights or something. So, I knew she was a lawyer by the way she was talking and how they was handling the gig cuz they got a Well, she was getting somebody It was It was It was a big artist, too. And she was making sure some business was done. So, when she stopped, I said, "Excuse me." I said, "Uh can I speak to you for a minute?" She was like, "Yeah." I said, "Uh" ooh." And I'm figuring like this is a IP attorney. I already read about it in prison with a IP attorney cuz I knew about trademarks. I used to read books on copyrights, trademarks, and patents. That was the thing cuz I understood, you know, to own something you got to have your IP. IP is everything in this game. You know that. You probably got a shitload of trademarks. So, she walked up. We did the talk. I'm like, she like, "Yeah, I'm an intellectual property attorney." I said, "Yes, I've been looking for you." She said, "You don't even know me." I'm like she from Cleveland, you know, she got that she come from the same environment as I do. So, I'm like, "Okay." I said, "Can we can I talk cuz you help" And she said, "Yeah, what you trying to do?" And I showed her my page. She's like, "Yo, I think what you doing is great." I I'm telling I'm only home like not even 90 days, I don't think, like two She's like She's like, "I think what you doing is great." I said, "Yeah, you know, uh you know, how much is a trademark?" She said, "Just call me." I called her, right? So, she said, "What is your trade?" I said, "I want to trademark my name Wallo 267. I want to trademark It's always money in Philadelphia." Cuz I thought it just rhymed. It's always sunny in Philadelphia, it's always money in Philadelphia. You know, it's the idea of encouragement like go ahead, make you some money. You know what I mean? Everybody want to make money. We not going to get that I want to make money. Everybody want to make money. So, next thing you know, I called her. I said I want to do She said, "Listen, you don't have no money to pay me. So, I like what you doing. I like what you got going on. My brother was in prison. I love your attitude. I love your energy. I'm going to do this for free." Wow. Shay Her name is Shay M. Lawson out of Atlanta, intellectual property attorney. And I said, "What?" I said she I'm saying on the phone like she crazy. Cuz she charged this and she going to do this for free? Who She done it. And ever since then I always got her the I've been then I I blew up and I was able to pay. Here you go, 3,000. Here you go, this. Here you go, you know, I was able to pay her for the what's name until this day. She called me the other day. That's like a sister to me. She's one of the people that believed in my journey. And that's how I understand, but it's like I knew from reading the books and all that stuff okay, got to get a LLC, got to and I still learn a lot of new stuff. Got to do this, let me get this okay, once I get LLC, bang, let me go and get the bank account, bang, I got the tax ID number, take that to the bank, let me get it, let me start operating off this card so for taxes, boom boom boom boom boom, all this all that stuff. So, you know, you just it's just easy and anything I don't know, I just Google. It's always somebody on Google. See, Google you I got so many friends on Google that I never met that just be telling me stuff that I want to know when I Google them and I just get introduced. Damn, this my friend now. This guy, he told me how to set up my Shopify. He know his stuff or she know so it's like it's easy to find this [ __ ] out, man, but people is like don't want to learn it. Like I want to know it if I pay somebody to do something for me, I also want to know that what they supposed to do so when I pay them, I know what the results I'm supposed to get. Right. So, this [ __ ] is easy. It take me like if I wasn't doing what I was doing, I'd probably be my company. I'd be a setup man. Set your whole [ __ ] up in a day. You know, go on GoDaddy, look for the name. Okay, is Impact Theory. Uh, damn, somebody got that. They got that but they're not doing the same category as what you're going to be doing. They might have Impact Theory. Uh, damn, won't we turn this E into a three? Uh, what what It's always I'm always thinking of a way to try to figure this [ __ ] out so we can have that universally the same name social media all the way around. I don't want to be changing it. That always drive me crazy, too. When I see a brand and the name is not universal everywhere, it's like, "Yo, why is your Twitter name different from your Instagram name?" and harder by the day while I'm Yeah, that's why you got to find unique names and write a bunch of names down when you got an idea. Literally, the So, I'm obsessed with this idea people learning the rules of the game. Like that if if if they're going to put something on my tombstone, it would be this. Tom explained to me that there is I'm having a biological experience so understand that you're in a body and that body [ __ ] with your mind. Yes. And then the other part is there's rules to this game and if you get good enough, booze don't block dunks. Like that's what I want people to get and I remember the first time I heard the way that 50 Cent was moving. And like the Vitamin Water deal and that with his check, he trademarked a bunch of terms and [ __ ] like when he got that original deal. And I was like, this [ __ ] Like he knows how to move. And when I hear somebody like you talk, I'm like, I really hope people are paying attention. You had the insight to learn about trademarks, copyrights, all that stuff to actually get in and do that stuff. And therefore, you have ownership over the the ideological real estate in your life. And I I am tempted not to tell this story because I don't want other people to do it. But I had a kid recently. He bought tombilyu.eth. And I thought, well, of course, tombilyu Nobody knows what .eth addresses are. Like it's the world's smallest subset of humanity. But because I talk about my involvement in crypto and I talk about my involvement in NFTs, this kid went out and bought tombilyu.eth. And Ethereum. Yeah. So, I reached out to him and said, "Hey, I'd like to buy tombilyu.eth. You know, do you have a price?" that for years though. Now, this [ __ ] goes, "I'll trade you for two calls spread out over 6 months with you." And so, he had that [ __ ] on tap. Like he knew exactly what he wanted. He knew exactly why he picked that [ __ ] up. And so, I agreed. And so, I was like, "Dude, I charge dollars for my time. So, for this kid to get that much of my time, what would have cost me like $4?" It's crazy. So, but he understood the rules of the game. That's the point. And when you understand the rules of the game, you understand how people are going to be moving. Now, all of the sudden, you can do things that other people can't do. But having somebody like you with your pedigree saying, "This is how you win." Like that to me is how we begin to pull that next generation forward. Because ultimately, my thesis is all the societal change in the world will never do what will happen if each individual takes responsibility for themselves and says, "I'm going to learn the rules of the game and I'm just going to play it better than other people." That to me like is the answer. But you know what you know you you you you know what? I understand Tom. A lot of people hear rules rules has always been a bad thing in our life. So when you even say rules of the game is like ah that's too much of time. I can't do this. I can't do that. And I understand it. We just talking about application. How to apply to the things that you say that you want. But the word rules scare everybody to where they like, "Oh my god, no a rule I can't do this." No we just telling you how to apply yourself to the next level and how to set yourself up for ownership. The game now as you know it is about ownership more than anything in the world. This dude said let me pay let me go on GoDaddy and pay $11 a year to leverage Tom. I'm going to get Tom on the phone for $11 a year. He bought that off of GoDaddy for $11 about. No that is only like $11 a year for the for the for a domain name. And he got how much how much of service is that? How much of service is that? He all together. So for me he'll get two hours of my time. Which would be six figures. So yeah he turned it would have been probably $4 cuz it's a dot eth address. So he turned $4 into about 150,000. Ownership. Yep. All he did was took a couple minutes. He he stalked your life said, "Damn I got to get to Tom." Oh I got him. Got him. Yeah it's [ __ ] clever man. Because he know the rules. This dude just knew the rules. Regularly how old was he? He looks like he's in his mid-20s. Young too. Look at this. He He know the rules, and that's what it's about. And you're going to give him, you know, six figures about $4 because he know the rules. But, one thing is is words Words scare us. Words. They're They're horrifying. And that word rules is horrifying, so people don't want to do it. They'd rather say, "Oh, let me pay you to do it for me." We don't know if it's going to be done right cuz you don't even know the rules and know what's supposed to be done. You know what I'm telling you what they have done for you. Mhm. So, it's a game changer. So, you know, nobody want to know the rules. I enjoy the rules. Yeah, man, that that to me is a big part of what makes your story so fascinating. It's just how much time you spent learning, and that you learn with such enthusiasm. There's one of my favorite quotes is Churchill, and he said, "Success is the ability to go from failure to failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm." And when I think about your story, I just Man, it's really incredible that it didn't break you. That, you know, all the different things you've had to go through, you're so enthusiastic, and you're so positive and upbeat, which one makes people want to be around you, which is another thing. From the moment you walked into my house, you've been energetic, enthusiastic, positive, like engaging, and that's that's really a part of your secret sauce. I see some of the most angriest [ __ ] on the history of life, I think. I didn't been around some of the most angriest [ __ ] and I didn't been around some angry people, and they enjoy being around me in prison cuz I'm just always talking [ __ ] like, you know. I was the guy that used to run around jail talking [ __ ] like, not in a threatening way, but like in a funny way, joking about [ __ ] whatever. And I I'm telling you what I know some I didn't have some old heads when I was in prison that can be in, and I'm telling you about in the top five angriest angriest [ __ ] in the history of life. But, they And I realized it age you. It beat you down. It uh depletes your energy. It's worthless. Why the [ __ ] should I be a part of that when I I'm breathing and I got a chance out here? I got to take advantage of every breath while I'm out here. I got to take advantage of my time while I'm here cuz I don't believe we going to be here for long. Think about this. There's a good possibility that in 30 years me and you might be out of here, Tom. Think about that. We might not make it to tonight. That's what I'm saying. So, why not live it out? Why the [ __ ] you think I'm going to be sitting here and that [ __ ] age you and [ __ ] you up? It [ __ ] your heart up. That [ __ ] [ __ ] your liver up. Just being angry. So, it's like why should I do it? I'm just going to live. You know? Yeah. Wallo, man, I cannot thank you enough for coming on, dude. No, thank you for having me. [ __ ] yes. Thank Daymond John, too. 100% yes, indeed. Dame. Daymond John, my listen, I listen, I love Daymond John. Daymond John DM'd me out of nowhere say, "Listen, man, we got to get together. Send me your number." And we he just been I'm telling you I came down to the inner cities. We walked around, interviewed him. He just been always great to me, always lending a hand and and he he exposed me to different things, man. He gave me exposure, man. I love that guy, man, you know? No, definitely. He seen it early. Respect to him. He bet on the right horse. But, dude, I think the message that you're bringing to people, that you're living, which is way more important to me than if you were just popping off about it, but that you actually live it. You're out there building businesses. You've got your Barstool deal, which [ __ ] crushed. Congratulations. no, they Listen, one thing about them that I loved about them they have They see it. They understand what's going to happen tomorrow. A lot of people don't understand what's going to happen tomorrow cuz they don't study yesterday. But, they study it. Shout out to Erica and Dave, Dave PA by over there, Jen. Everybody over there is doing their thing. Gaz, I'm telling you Deirdra, the whole staff over there Barstool, they get it, you know? So, you know, that's what it's about. Congratulations. Thanks, man. Dude, thank you for everything you're doing. I think it's [ __ ] brilliant. No, thank you for having me in this [ __ ] this extraordinary house in the top of What's this? Where was at? Top of Hollywood? The Hollywood sign right next door to this guy. This guy is [ __ ] he's killing it. I'm telling you I go right outside and slap box with the Hollywood sign. He's killing [ __ ] out here, man. This is real life, man. Thank you for having me, Tom. I appreciate you, man. Anytime you call I'm coming. Get ready. Get ready. I'll have you back anytime, brother. Yes. Thank you, man. Guys, I'm telling you this is somebody that is putting it to use. A lot of people can talk, not a lot of people are willing to do, and this man does. And the fact that he has all the excuses in the world that he could lean on and nobody would blame him. He doesn't because it doesn't work, and he has made millions of dollars out of prison. He spent more of his life in prison than out, and yet he's still out here making an extraordinarily successful business businesses. It's really breathtaking. I hope you guys learned a lot, and speaking of things that will help you in your journey. If you haven't already, be sure to subscribe, and until next time, my friends, be legendary. Take care. If you're never going to forgive him, then you're the one taking the poison pill hoping he's going to die or he's going to be affected. He says, "You don't forgive him for him. You forgive him so you can move on."