77: Reggie Nelson

According to Gong.io's research and analysis of over 2 million sales calls using their artificial intelligence platform, they came across a stat that absolutely blew me away. I always knew this was true, but I didn't know how true it was. That by including someone else from your side in the sales process and in those meetings with your prospects, you increase your likelihood of closing the deal by 258%. Think about that for a second. 58% difference in close ratios of people that included other people in the sales process on their end versus the ones who wanted a loan. Sales is not a lone wolf thing. It's a team sport. So play it as a team. Now, the analysis does say you don't want them on that initial call call, right?

But any other meeting, it doesn't matter if it's the second meeting or the fifth meeting or the 10th meeting, as long as you bring someone else in, you're increasing your likelihood of closing that deal. So what you want to do is you want to leverage that. Now, obviously, solutions engineers, those are the ones that are easily fit into a certain part of the process. You still need to give them some structure about what they're there for and make sure you're getting something in return for what you're giving away, which is their time. But executives, business partners, anybody. Think about a way and your sales process and how many calls it takes and how you can introduce somebody into that process.

And ideally, use it as a give-get. So, for instance, hey, this qualification call goes really well. Maybe it's somebody from below the power line. Hey, it looks like this is a really good conversation. What are the next steps from here? Typically, on that next step, I like to bring in my executive or my solutions engineer so you can get a sense of really where our business is going or what the technical aspect of what we're trying to accomplish is. Would you be willing to bring in one of maybe your technical person or maybe one of your executives so that we can make sure that we expedite your education of this so you can have all the information you need to make a timely decision? Try to figure out, don't just give it away, try to get something in return and ideally participation on their end from multiple people.

But it can't be ignored that by bringing somebody in to the sales process at any point other than qualification to help you out increases by 258%. Make it happen. If you enjoyed this tip, check out more of Gong's research at gong.io slash john. Good afternoon, everybody. This is John Barrows with Making It Happen Monday. Hopefully, you all had a fantastic weekend. Today, I am actually overly excited about this interview that we have today for the podcast because I saw this gentleman on the BBC story about his background. And it really struck me. And I'd like to introduce everybody to Reggie Nelson. Reggie, say hi to everybody here. How's it going? Thanks for having me, John. Yeah, thanks for coming on, man.

I really appreciate it. And, you know, what caught my attention, so there was a, I don't, and first of all, I'd love to hear how somebody else found out about this story. Was your story about how you just kind of got out there and started, quote unquote, making cold calls to extend your career or to try to figure out where, you know, what you were doing? Because you were kind of sitting in a situation. So let's back up a little bit and talk about when you decided I got to do something different. Where were you? Were you in college or were you in high school? Because I couldn't get that from the interview specifically. Yeah, sure thing. So I was in college at the time. So I, well, college here is like...

University, yeah. No, actual college. So university is, university in London. College here is almost like back end of high school. So I was 16, 17. Yeah. So I was around 16, 17 when I made that decision. And because before that, what the video doesn't describe is I was actually playing football. So I used to play football at, well, soccer. Youth professional and youth semi-professional level. So I signed a two-year contract when I was 16 and halfway through the contract, I just said, you know what? I don't want to play football anymore. I want a career that's a bit more long-term, a bit more sustainable. And that's when I decided to pursue different avenues. I love it. So you were on your way.

I mean, you were, I mean, obviously that's used to your contract, man. That means you were pretty much at the top at that moment, right? Why, what made that decision? Why did you realize, I mean, was it you just knew that football wasn't going to be a long-term thing for you? Or you just wanted something different? So there was a few different factors that contributed to the decision. I think the main ones were, number one, I had friends that were playing at really high levels and when they got released or they didn't make the grade, they found it hard to either get into another club or they had no backup option because football was very much all eggs in one basket. Either you're going to pursue it wholeheartedly or, you know, you're going to do it on the side, but you have to have a different avenue.

And I said to myself, OK, if I'm going to pursue this wholeheartedly, if for whatever reason doesn't work out, say I break my leg or, you know, whatever happens, I don't have a backup. And that's what scared me. So I said, OK, you know what, I have to have a backup. That was the first thing. And then the second thing that I guess contributed was at the time I suffered bereavement. So my dad actually passed away when I was 17. And yeah, he passed away through alcohol abuse. And at the time, it was just me, my mom and my sister. And I had to think about, OK, what can I do that is, I guess, long term that will help look after me, my mom and my sister and provide a better life for myself. So all of these things, I guess, bundled up into one.

I just said, you know what? I love, you know, I like football, but I guess I'm going to need to sort of pursue something long term just for my own benefit. And so now you had no background in finance, you had no background in any of that stuff. You just kind of said, I know I got to do something different. And that's where you decided to start knocking on doors. Or did you have a little bit of a thought process on, I think I want to go into this area. And therefore, I'm going to go find people like that. Yes. So I had no background in finance. I didn't know how to spell finance, for example. I had nothing at all. But what happened was at that age, I was invited to a youth group in London. And which was just full of positivity.

I mean, I grew up on a council estate. So I didn't have the best of upbringings. You know, financially, we didn't have a lot of money growing up. In my area, you know, you didn't really see positive role models. So when I signed up to your football contract, it was almost like, OK, yeah, you know, these things are going to start changing. But when I made that decision, I remember a friend inviting me to a youth group. And they kept giving me positive messages like, you can do it, you can do this, you know, you have to believe in yourself. And they were giving me the tips and tricks that I needed in order to sort of stimulate me to push on in that. And there was one thing that I heard there, which was, if you want to see different results, you have to come out of your comfort zone and see something different.

And that was a trigger point for me. That's when I said, you know what, you know, that word just resonated with me. And I just started to think, OK, what can I do that's different, Reggie? What can you do that's different? What can you do that no one else would think of doing to help you get to where you want to be? And that was a starting point to, I guess, do what I did. Yeah. And so you so you literally went cold calling. So the story, I mean, this is what blew me away, right? Because you talk later on in the BBC interview where also just being a person of color was, you know, a challenge in and of itself. You know, your background, but then also just in business. And so you found the richest neighborhood in London and went knocking on doors.

Yeah. So I wanted to amass wealth. So I said, you know, what better way to amass wealth than to go and ask the people that have the wealth in their hands? So I was in college at the time and I researched in Google richest areas in London and it came up with an area in London. They call it Kensington and Chelsea. It's like a borough in London. And I went there and I just started asking people, you know, what skills and qualities did you have so that I can extrapolate that and use that for myself? Because one day I want to hopefully live in an area like this. And people were receptive. I mean, they were, some people were receptive to talk to them on the street. They were, you know, giving me some good advice.

But I guess when I was asking people, I didn't really get the tangible advice I was looking for. I was looking for someone to say, you know what, Reggie, if you do A, B and C, then you will be successful. And I didn't get that. So that's when I decided to go and knock on people's doors and just ask them the same questions and say, you know what? I mean, if they're at home, then they have to speak to me. Right. So that's the mentality I had. Like, either you're going to tell me to go away or you're going to give me advice. And it was either one of the two. So that's when I started to knock on doors. And that's when the door opened, excuse the pun. No, I mean, it's so, but I mean, so I talk about confidence, right?

Like I talk about how you need confidence to go out there. Right. But so many people don't have it. And, you know, what I train sales reps all the time is cold calls. And, and reps, like a lot of times are just afraid to pick up the phone. Were you nervous the first time you knocked on somebody's door and like what the reception was going to be? Yeah, I was. But what sort of gave me a bit more patience, can I say, was the fact that when I was asking people on the street, someone gave me 40 pounds, which is like $40. For asking me the question. So I really, you know, I was, I guess, boosted by that because I came to Kensington on nothing and I'm leaving every $40 or 40 pounds. So I was like, you know what, this is a bonus, right?

When I decided to go knock on doors, I guess I was, I wasn't nervous, but I was quite, what's the word I'm looking for? I was quite reserved because I didn't know what they would expect. I mean, I didn't go there in a suit and tie. I went there in jeans, trainers, in a jumper. I just went to knock on doors. So I guess I wasn't nervous. I mean, I wasn't like, oh my gosh, what are they going to say? But I was, I was very cautious. I was very cautious. I mean, I wouldn't argue back if someone said go away. I would just say thank you because I didn't want any, any sort of trouble. I literally just wanted skills and qualities and advice. So yeah, I guess I wasn't that, that nervous. I love it. Cause I, cause I used to do this, like, so I talk a lot about, you know, doing informational interviews, right?

If you, if you identify somebody of success and I used to do this in my career where, you know, I would find somebody who I thought was successful and then ask for just an informational interview. And it's amazing. You know, you, you think that people aren't really all that open, especially people who are quote unquote, that successful. They must be super busy. I think there's a, there's a gap of people who are on their way to being successful and really, really busy. And those are the ones, but then once they reach a certain level of their careers, one of the things I've always found is that people who reach a very successful point in their career, they want to help other people. They like, well, one of their favorite things to do is actually mentor young leaders.

And I mean, it seems like, I don't want to say lucky cause I don't really necessarily believe in luck. Uh, you know, I believe, you know, you make your own luck in a lot of ways. And it sounds like, I mean, not door number two, tell, tell everybody who opened up the door on door number two. The second door that you knocked on. Yeah. Um, so when I was knocking on the doors, so Jessica Leifert, so the video says door number two, um, but I was door number two on that particular street. So there was a few more doors for that, but when I knocked on the door, um, so a lady opens the door, she invites me in, um, after I gave her my pitch. Um, when she invited me in, she sat me down and started asking me, you know, what I'm interested in, what I want to do.

And then her husband walks in and her husband was, he was like the CIO of the largest asset management company on the planet. And, um, BlackRock, right? Like Quinton Price. I mean, is it cool if we say it, right? Yeah. Yeah. So, uh, I met Quinton Price. He's not a bad person to spend some time with. Yeah, exactly. So I met Quinton Price and, um, he was, he's probably the most genuine, he's my role model. Um, now, I mean, I've known him for four years now and he's someone that I look up to so much. And when, at the time, so four years ago, when I knocked on his door and I met him and, um, we started speaking, um, he invited me to BlackRock the, about two weeks later. So two weeks after I went to BlackRock and then, um, I spent the day there and, you know, I, I enjoyed it.

I said to myself, you know what, this is something I could see myself doing because like I mentioned, I didn't know anything about finance anyway. And so after that, I remember I, um, I messaged, cause I, I messaged Quinton. I said, okay, Quinton, is it okay if I get like a week of work experience just to see what it's like? You know, if this is something I want to do, then I guess this week will give me an indication. And he said, yeah, sure. He organised a week for me and then I spent a week there, loved it, had a meeting with Quinton, my mum, Nathan Higgins, who's actually over in the States now. He works for BlackRock in New York. And, um, we was in a room together and he just said to me, you know what, Reggie, if you want to work in this environment, he would advise me to go to university.

Now, university wasn't something I wanted to do. Um, I didn't want to study anymore. Um, football was all I actually knew. So I didn't even know how to, how to study and all the rest of it. So when he said that, I was quite pushed back. But then I actually remember why I started this in the first place. I came, you know, we went to knock on doors because I wanted advice. Now, if this gentleman's giving me advice, then I'm going to take it. So I enrolled into university. Um, I studied economics with a Mandarin on the side of the wall. So I studied. You didn't even go soft, like economics with a little focus on Mandarin, man. You doubled down on the complexity. I mean, I said, you know, I've got to study something that sounds or is complex so that people just take me seriously.

Yeah. That was the mentality because like I said, I wasn't the most academic or studious person whilst growing up. So I was like, okay, you know, my grades on paper might not be the best. So what can I do that? You know, people read it and say, you know, this guy must have something. So I said, I haven't done economics before. I haven't done math since I left school. Okay. What can I do? Okay. Let's do it. Economics Mandarin. And I did it. I did my three years. Um, and I loved it as well. I actually enjoy studying Mandarin and economics and, and obviously Mandarin. Um, throughout my university career, I did, you know, four or five internships within finance. Um, some for, you know, large hedge funds, some for, um, large fund managers in, in Europe.

And after that, I graduated, I actually graduated last year and, um, yeah, thank you, man. And, um, now I work in, in the city of London. So I work for an asset management firm, um, in London and I love it. I love what I do. Um, and that's, that's just a, you know, just a whistle-stop tour of what happened throughout and after I knocked on the doors. Man, I mean, I, I mean, it's an incredible journey. And you said something in the, in, in the interview where you talked with the, with the internship that you got with BlackRock, was that the 9,000 candidates, 115 people got it and only three people of color were, were part of that 115. Was that BlackRock or was that a different one? Um, I don't know if I'm allowed to say, um, cause there's a difference to say.

But, um, it was one of the internships I did, which, um, yeah, so there was 9,000 Africans on one of the internships that I did. Um, and 115 of us were successful. Um, I was one of them. Um, and so I looked around the room cause we had a training day in London and I was the only, oh, there was three of us of color, um, of, of black heritage anyway. And, um, that sort of, I mean, at the time I didn't really take any much notice of it cause I didn't know what the city of London was like. I didn't know, you know, what, what finance, what asset management, investment banking, what it was like anyway, in terms of culture or, or diversity for that respect. But, um, I guess there was something that at the end, you know, someone did point it out to me and I was like, oh wow, that is true.

There isn't that many, you know, black people here, um, but it didn't really, it didn't really faze me to be honest with you. I didn't really, I mean, I only found out on the last day because someone pointed out to me, if they didn't point out to me, I wouldn't have realized. And that person I pointed out to me was of an Asian heritage. So, I mean, I was clearly oblivious to it, but at the end I said, okay, this is something that I guess I might need to, you know, help to, to gear and push forward, which is what I'm trying to do now. I'm trying to sort of open up the doors and just open up the vision of people from, um, low economic backgrounds, not just of black people, but of, of all BAME and even white heritage just showed them that, you know, if you do want to work in a hyper-competitive environment, then it is possible regardless of what ever social ability or social background that you're from.

I love that, man. I mean, I, uh, I, I agree that inclusion, um, you know, companies, we actually just did a webinar, um, last week on called, we need to talk. And it was a little bit geared towards sales, obviously, but you know, in sales, there's the perception and, and actually you blow me away. Cause you, you literally, it sounds like you live one of my fate. You lived one of my favorite sales movies, which is the pursuit of happiness. You, you have to, yeah, so that pretty much sounds like I'm literally picturing you as Will Smith. You know, but unfortunately a lot of people in sales, you know, they look at the movies like Glenn, Gary, Glenn Ross and Wolf of wall street and boiler room as, as that.

Right. And, and recently there was a gentleman who, uh, you know, I won't name his name, but he, he said some stuff on stage that, that really just threw me in the wrong direction. It was mostly about how he objectified women. And he's a very well-known name in our, in my industry from a sales standpoint. And it sparked this, you know, I did this webinar or this LinkedIn post called, you know, we got to stop the quote unquote bro culture in sales, which is the, you know, like kill them and everything like that, which really ostracizes a lot of women and, you know, anybody who doesn't fit that, you know, bro mentality and it morphed in. So I had three women on the webinar with me talking about the things that happen within organizations that really don't, uh, you know, again, ostracize people, get them, like, make them not want to be part of this.

And the studies and the, and, and all the statistics say that the more diverse your team is, the more successful. Yeah, definitely. So let's talk about that. What are some of the things that you're doing to help, um, to help foster that, that diversity, if you will, are you working with the organization that helped you kind of have that confidence? Yeah. So I do, um, a lot may, the work I do is mainly on social mobility and, um, diversity and social mobility almost go hand in hand. And so it works perfectly. And what I'm trying to do is I'm just trying to mentor people from, um, a more disadvantaged background. Um, just again, show them that, you know, it is possible if you put your mind to it.

And a lot of the people that I do mentor are from a BAME background, which is black, Asian or a minority, minority ethnic. And what I do specifically is just help them with their soft skills, application, read over the cover letters, CVs. Um, whenever I go to do talks with BBC, or if I've been invited to a corporate law firm or to any TV station, I try to bring one of them with me just to show them what it's like. So, you know what, if you do apply yourself, then you can be here. And I remember, um, I was invited to the BBC to do a, an interview, um, and I, I brought this, this young man, he's 17 now and, um, he's grown up, you know, quite rough and he's got involved, he got involved in the wrong crowd and, you know, did some things that he regretted.

And he, he said to me, you know what, Reggie, I really want to take my life seriously. I want to do something positive. You know, you've inspired me, et cetera, et cetera. I said, you know what, come with me to BBC and, you know, just, just come and follow me. So we drove down there, I did my interview and afterwards, he said to me, you know what, Reggie, I'm going to be here next time. And that for me was almost like, I mean, I haven't, it was nice because now he can see that, you know, what's available to him and now he's going to go back to the area and, you know, if it's to stop hanging around with his friends, then he's going to stop hanging around with those, those wrong friends. He's going to apply himself.

Um, he recently just enrolled into, um, college as well to study IT and this is someone that, you know, got kicked out of school and got kicked out of, um, a college. And I was at another college studying IT. So all of these things, I guess it's part of the journey. That's something I want to do just to help these guys to really see what's available, help them. And hopefully, you know, even if it's not the corporate sector, just help them to make something of themselves. That's my plan. That's my goal. I love it, man. And that's the, you know, I think if you can, if you can make that one difference, right? If you can get through to that one kid who was on the wrong track and put him on the right track, it makes it all worth it.

Right. Definitely. Definitely. A hundred percent. What do you, what do you do? Um, so there's, there's this, the work on giving the confidence and the skills, um, you know, to the underprivileged to help them present themselves or whatever, get them, gives themselves the right mindset. Do you work with any organizations to help them open up their minds or, or, or eyes to people of color and people of, you know what I mean? Cause I, I try to do that as well, where it's like, Hey, there's obviously working with the people to say, okay, this is what to do to be successful. But then there's the, Hey, corporation or whoever, can you take your blinders off and you should start looking at these areas for these people, for talent.

Do you work with any organizations like that? Not necessarily. I don't really work with organizations per se, but I do get a lot of organizations messaging me saying, um, what can we do to increase diversity or what you've seen in a corporate space that we could possibly do in order to boost diversity. And, um, I just give my opinions either based on experience or what I see could change. And, um, because of the BBC video, I was actually invited to meet, um, our prime minister, uh, Therese, um, Therese May. So I met with her two weeks ago. Really? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I met her two weeks ago and, um, we just spoke about a new charter that she has. So she launched a new charter called the Race at Work Charter, which is an initiative to help boost diversity in the corporate sector.

Like you mentioned, a firm that has greater diversity has a greater way of thinking, greater strategies of thinking, and they perform better is proven, right? So she's obviously seen that her team, her cabinet's seen that, and they want to boost diversity in the corporate spaces. So she had this new charter that she launched two weeks ago. I was invited down, um, to be part of the round table discussions. I did a five minute interview once I'm with her afterwards, just to speak about the charter and, um, I guess the challenges and her biggest take homes from, from the event itself. So, I mean, those are the things that I'm doing and it's good to see that it's being spearheaded by people that have, you know, the influence and the power to actually change and to do something.

So I guess it's not just from almost my standpoint, it's from a higher standpoint as well, which is great to see. Absolutely. So, so then that kind of leads me to your, your goals, right? Your big picture goals. So my, I don't know if you saw when I sent over some of the information about us, but I hired, um, uh, a kid about a year ago, Morgan Ingram and he's black and, you know, he's that 25 year old kid who was, was really doing well. And we talk a lot about, you know, I've talked about women in sales, but we also talk about people that have color in sales and the challenges that they face and, you know, his original goal, um, and I'm trying to foster it as well as he wants to be the number one motivational speaker of all time, like the Tony Robbins level.

Right. And, um, I told him, look, give me a couple of years here with me. I'll show you how to run a business, go off and do whatever you want to do. And I, and I applaud everything about what he's doing. Cause he really does resonate with the younger, you know, kids who are coming out of school and those types of things. And so, you know, with your kind of dual track here with finance and economics, but also, you know, sounds pretty strong and on the motivational side of the house and the speaking track, what's, you know, what's 10 years outlook for you? Like where, where do you want to be? Uh, and, and what, what does drive you and those types of things to get to that point? Yeah. So what I want to do now is because of, um, the feedback that I've got from the videos and the other visual documentaries that I've done, um, just being able to help a lot of people is, or help a lot of young people in particular has really resonated with me.

So I started, I haven't watched yet, but I am, I started this initiative called KD3 or K3D, sorry. Okay. It's very new. You can tell I've got the name on this. Yep. Um, so K3D stands for, um, knock the doors down. So knock the doors down, K3D is, it's a way, it's an initiative just to help people that don't have the resources or not exposed to, um, the resources out there in order to help them knock the doors down, whether that be in a corporate space, art space, tech space, whatever it might be. Um, so it's going to be a website where they can go on and just, there's going to be different tabs, whether for investment banking, asset management, tech. Media, whatever it might be. And they're going to have different tips, tricks, interviews.

Um, there's going to be a forum on there where they can just engage and find out what it is like to be in that environment. And which is something I didn't have until I met Quinton. Right. And when I met Quinton, it made a whole world of difference. So I said, if Quinton could do that for one person, which is me, if I can find a way to expose it to different people, then there can be a lot more quote unquote Reggie's around. Right. So that's something I'm really going to start driving. And, um, I've got a few of my friends that are going to be helping me out. So I'm going to be pushing that and I want to start to actually roll it out 100% by, by next year. Um, so that's that also in, in terms of finance, I really want to grow in my, in my sector.

I work in asset management and there's a hierarchy level there. So I really want to grow in terms of my position. Um, fortunately I've had a lot of reception and positive feedback from my workplace. So I really want to get involved in a lot of the stuff that they do as well. Um, a book is on the cards. I really want to write a book. Um, I really, really, really, really, really want to write a book, um, sort of detail, just a deeper insight into my journey and just to help people see that again, it doesn't matter about your circumstances or how you grew up. If you do have a goal, you do have a target, you can make it happen. Um, so, uh, yeah, I see John, I put it in there. You can make it happen.

Thanks, man. I appreciate it. Yeah. So I think the key things that I'm trying to do now is just, um, K3D, um, grow, develop, learn in my sector finance, um, get this, this book on the cards and let's see what happens from there. I mean, I do a lot of TV and radio appearances anyway, so that's always going to be in and around. I do a lot of stuff on sociability and, um, obviously my mentoring again, these are things that stick with me. So they're inevitable that I'm going to continue to do that. Well, man, if there's anything I can do to help, especially on that kick the door down, because we're, we're on similar tracks right now in the sense that we're building a community to, you know, so I've always fought writing a book.

Right. So similar to you in the sense that, you know, I wasn't necessarily early on the best student out there. Right. Yeah. So I, you know, I graduated my degree in marketing and then I got into sales cause it was kind of the default profession. Yeah. And my thing is, you know, I, I, what am I going to write about sales that hasn't already been written? So I decided to write a book, um, but it's, it's a, it's a children's book cause I have a daughter, she's eight years old and it's literally, it's cause I want to be in sales when I grow up. Right. Cause nobody says that when somebody says, nobody says sales, they always have this negative perception of it. So I'm writing a book to help get kids into sales and show them how to do it.

Right. And in sales, as far as your tick the door down, you know, I'd, I'd love to work with you on maybe even a sales channel on that because it's lowest barrier of entry. Like you don't need a college education to be great in sales. Yeah. Um, and so if there's anything I can do to help with that, uh, you know, I'll be happy to, you know, uh, do any mentorship or anything like that, uh, for kids who are, who are interested in this field. Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I'll definitely put you down for that. Um, right now I'm just trying to different, like jot down a different, um, tabs and sectors that I'm going to be covering. So I will do the asset management. My friend will do investment banking.

Another friend will do tech. And if you can give some insight into, into the sales side, that would be amazing. So yeah. Thank you so much. Yeah, no problem, man. I mean, anything like, uh, like I said, you, that video itself just inspired me to reach out to you directly. I read, by the way, I, you know, you're the first person I've proactively gone after to come on to my podcast because usually I, you know, in my network, I'm like, oh yeah, sure. You know, let's get on together here. But, but your story just resonated with me so much because, you know, the idea of, of just going out there and again, making it happen and, and not waiting for somebody else and, and not, you know, coming up with excuses of why you can't do things, but making it in, and just going out and doing it, I think is not enough.

People have that, that, that drive and it's, I don't want to say it's not that hard because it is hard, but it's, it's, it's, it's, it's, it's hard. Don't get me wrong. I mean, I'll be lying if I said it's very easy. It's very hard. But one thing I will say is that it's available to everyone. It's just, I know this sounds cliche, but you also have to have that reason why you're doing it. I mean, my reason was, you know, I wanted a stable life for me and my family and to become successful. Your reason, John, could be different. Someone that's listened to this reason could be completely different, but if you have a strong enough reason why, then you will find out how to do it. I mean, when I studied economics, the first exam I did, John, I got 25%.

I failed. I failed my first exam. I was like, this is going to be a steep learning curve. After that, I figured out how, how to study, you know, how it works. I started reading textbooks, going to my lectures, bothering them. And then the next exam, I got 84%, which is an A, right? So it shows that when you apply yourself, if you do want it bad enough, you can, you can achieve it. So I understand what you're trying to say. It's not, it's not, you know, easy, but it's definitely, definitely, definitely doable. Yeah. I mean, again, with this, like our story, you know, similarities in the sense that when I, when I went to the university, I, I thought my dad was a engineer, right? A mechanical engineer.

And he was, and he taught calculus when he was getting his PhD. And so I figured I didn't know what I wanted to be. So first was an art major. And then I got into math and I was like, oh, I could be an engineer. My dad's an engineer. So I took pre, I took calculus for engineering majors and I, same thing. I got a 40 on my first test. Yeah. I panicked because I had never gotten that bad in school. And so I spent my first spring break here in the States when we have, you know, the university, we get the spring break while all my other friends were drinking out in Cancun and that type of stuff. I was home with my dad teaching me calculus on the whiteboard for seven straight years. And then I ended up passing that class.

And it was one of those things where I was like, yep, that sucked, but I had to do it to get through it. Exactly. Yeah. A hundred percent. A hundred percent. I mean, I resonate with that a lot. When I stood at 25%, I said, okay, now we get something different. Awesome. Reggie. Well, again, this has been a pleasure. I really appreciate you jumping on. I know you got a lot of things going on on your end. How can my, how can my audience find out and support what you're doing here? Is there any place that they can go, you know, outside LinkedIn profile and stuff like that? Yeah, sure. So I use Instagram and Twitter the most. So you can find me on Instagram at Reggie Nelson underscore 10 and Twitter again is Reggie Nelson underscore 10.

If you have any questions and I do try to reply to as many people as I can. So if you have any questions on my story or anything, you know, you can hit me up on there. K3D is going to be rolling out very soon. So keep an eye on that. If you follow me, then you'll see some stuff rolling out on that anyway. But yeah, these are the two things you can follow me on Instagram and Twitter. Brilliant. And when that K3D comes out, man, just send me the link. I'll make sure it gets promoted to everybody in the network and as much support as we can give. So again, thank you so much. Keep up the great work. Keep up the positivity. This has been a pleasure talking to you. Pleasure. Thank you so much, John.

Appreciate it. Have a great week. You too. Bye-bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.