The Passionate Few

💼 Grow Your Business w/ GoHighLevel? Get Your FREE 30-Day Trial NOW: https://www.gohighlevel.com/passionate/?fp_ref=omar-elattar-productions39 ✈️ Entrepreneurs & Executives - Ready to fly private or explore full-service aircraft management with HAVEN ASG? ✅ Book A Risk-FREE Call Now: https://havenasg.com/contact/ ✅ Want To Be Interviewed On This Podcast? → https://forms.gle/vS5X5cPdV1i2nMo79 In this episode, we sit down with Igor Pogany — AI educator, founder of The AI Advantage, and the man behind some of the world's most-watched AI tutorials on YouTube. Igor opened his channel the same week ChatGPT launched, grew a video from 90 views to over 5 million, and now teaches 65,000 learners a month how to use AI in their business. He also co-hosted an AI summit with Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosi that reached 600,000+ people. He opens up about growing up with a single mother in Slovakia, moving countries at 8 without the language, and the obsession that cost him a relationship. He also breaks down the three levels of AI, why most people jump to agents too soon, and how he published a full YouTube video using an AI clone while recovering from tonsil surgery. 💬 What We Cover: • Moving to Austria at 8 without the language and what that taught him about learning • Pirating Photoshop at 16 and becoming a freelance videographer at 20 • Teaching himself Python and blockchain when COVID wiped out all his client work • The ChatGPT video that went from 90 views to 5 million and hit Google's front page • Going all in after the viral video: book, course, community, newsletter • The obsession that cost him a past relationship • 65,000 learners a month at $38/month with a $1 first month trial • The three levels of AI: answering questions, working with you, working for you • Why jumping straight to agents is the biggest mistake most people make • Why Claude beats ChatGPT for human-sounding writing and one-shotting tasks • Context as the foundation: how to onboard AI like a new employee • The $5,000 API bill that proves the Mac Mini agent trend is a trap • How one message to his agent tested 180 prompts against 6 audience avatars • Why AI is better at repurposing content than creating from scratch • Roughly 10,000 hours studying AI since December 2022 • Publishing a full YouTube video with an AI clone during tonsil surgery • Tech stack: Claude for the script, ElevenLabs for audio, HeyGen for the avatar Follow Us: 📲 Omar's IG: https://www.instagram.com/omar_therockstar/ 📲 The Passionate Few's IG: https://www.instagram.com/passion/ 📲 Igor's IG: https://www.instagram.com/igorpogany/ 📲 Igor's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheAIAdvantage 🎧 Listen on Spotify: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro & Welcome 00:59 – What Igor Does: Teaching the 80% to Use AI 02:14 – The AI Advantage Community: 65,000 Learners a Month 03:34 – The Three Levels of AI 05:26 – The Biggest Lever: Better Decision Making 07:05 – Will AI Get Easier or Harder to Use? 09:36 – Claude vs ChatGPT: Why Igor Prefers Claude 10:32 – Growing Up in Slovakia and Moving Countries at 8 12:30 – Teaching Himself Python and Blockchain During COVID 14:07 – From 90 Views to 5 Million: The Video That Changed Everything 16:45 – Going All In After the Viral Video 19:23 – What Makes Great AI Content 21:43 – Level One: Using AI Like Google 23:07 – Level Two: Building Depth of Context 27:55 – The Context Framework: Identity, Goals, and Values 29:36 – The Biggest Mistake People Make With AI 32:24 – What an AI Agent Actually Is 34:02 – A Real Agent: The Taste Document Built From 1,000 Decisions 37:55 – The Mac Mini Trap: $5,000 API Bill, 95% End Up Where They Started 41:56 – Using AI With Transcripts to Find Blind Spots 45:10 – Will Big Players Absorb the Startups? 50:59 – Own Your Context or Big Tech Will Own It for You 52:11 – Context Buckets and Projects 54:32 – 180 Prompts, 6 Audience Avatars: AI at the Summit 59:24 – Repurpose, Don't Create: AI's Real Superpower 1:01:57 – 10,000 Hours Studying AI Since 2022 1:05:26 – How Prompting Makes You a Better Communicator 1:09:34 – Why Taste Is Hard to Automate 1:13:15 – Where to Find Igor 1:14:04 – Publishing a YouTube Video With an AI Clone During Tonsil Surgery 1:17:56 – Tech Stack: Claude, ElevenLabs, HeyGen 1:18:47 – Closing

💼 Grow Your Business w/ GoHighLevel? Get Your FREE 30-Day Trial NOW: https://www.gohighlevel.com/passionate/?fp_ref=omar-elattar-productions39 ✅ Want To Be Interviewed On This Podcast? → https://forms.gle/vS5X5cPdV1i2nMo79 In this episode, we sit down with Paul Rodriguez (P-Rod), ten-time signature Nike SB pro athlete and one of the most decorated street skateboarders in history. Paul opens up about going from zero to pro in five years, what it was like to get a "Welcome P-Rod" sign at Nike's campus at age 19, and why ten signature shoes later, the feeling still hasn't gotten old. He gets honest about the knee injury at 33 that put his entire career in doubt, working out five days a week for two years straight just to find out if his skating would ever come back, and the breakup that reignited the obsessive, all-in version of himself he thought he'd lost. This isn't just a skateboarding story. It's a masterclass on obsession, identity, fear, and what it actually takes to turn a dream into a life. 💬 What We Cover: - Going from zero to pro in five years and what made him different from every other kid with the same dream - Why skateboarding felt like a calling, not a hobby, from day one - Every trick is a puzzle: why progression, not the trick itself, is the real addiction - Traveling to over 100 countries through skateboarding and what seeing real poverty taught him about gratitude - Ten signature Nike shoes and the handful of athletes in history who've hit that number - Fighting Nike to get a signature shoe in the first place, and winning within weeks - The Nike signing story: being flown to campus at 19 and walking in to a "Welcome P-Rod" sign - Growing up watching his father, comedian Paul Rodriguez Sr., live his dream and what that normalized - His uncle funding his first board company, Mirage Skateboards, and pitching it to shops on consignment - Being named to Transworld's 30 Most Influential Skateboarders alongside Tony Hawk and Rodney Mullen - The lemon ranch gamble: converting his grandfather's 40-acre property rather than selling it - His knee injury at 33 and the moment he realized it could take two years just to find out if his skating would return - The breakup that reignited his obsession after a comfortable post-injury plateau - Rational vs. irrational fear and why failure at the pro level is a sign you're still pushing - Rich vs. miserable: why chasing money alone will leave you empty - His advice for anyone who hasn't found their thing yet: explore relentlessly until something consumes you - "What got you there will keep you there": the best advice his father ever gave him - Why he'd tell his 12-year-old self to start developing grit earlier Follow Us: 📲 Omar's IG: https://www.instagram.com/omar_therockstar/ 📲 The Passionate Few's IG: https://www.instagram.com/passion/ 📲 P-Rod's IG: https://www.instagram.com/prodskate/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro & Welcome 01:20 - Looking Back at 20 Years Pro 02:08 - The 12-Year-Old Still Inside Him 03:35 - Zero to Pro in Five Years 04:02 - An Obsession, Not a Hobby 05:20 - Passion Disguised as Fearlessness 08:22 - Progression Is the Real Addiction 10:57 - Still Skating After 20 Years and the Anxiety of What Comes Next 14:20 - Favorite Places He's Traveled 16:25 - What Seeing Real Poverty Taught Him About Gratitude 25:07 - The Nike Signing Story: Flown to Campus at 19 27:41 - Studying His Heroes and the Law of Attraction 29:26 - His Uncle Funding His First Board Company, Mirage Skateboards 32:01 - Paul Rodriguez Sr. and Growing Up Watching His Father Live His Dream 36:21 - Fighting Nike for a Signature Shoe and Winning 40:43 - From Skate Shop to Launching Primitive Skateboards in 2014 42:54 - Investor, Not Entrepreneur 44:10 - When Sponsor Demands Started Crowding Out Actual Skating 46:02 - Recovery as a Non-Negotiable With Age 47:11 - Fear as a Friend: He's a Scaredy Cat, Not a Daredevil 49:12 - Failure Is a Sign of Progress 52:00 - The Comedy Comparison: Even Seinfeld Had to Bomb First 54:18 - Safe Investments vs. Passion Investments 56:52 - Trusting Your Experts Over Your Own Instincts 1:10:47 - Only One Major Injury in 20 Years 1:11:29 - His Goal to Put Out a New Video Part 1:20:38 - Finding Your Thing: Explore Until Something Consumes You 1:28:41 - Realizing He Lacked Grit Because So Much Came Easily 1:36:24 - The Relationship That Reignited the Fire 1:38:30 - First Things First: Rapid-Fire Round 1:39:09 - Money, Passion, and the Best Advice His Father Ever Gave Him 1:40:31 - The Day He Turned Pro: A Voicemail From Eric Koston 1:43:22 - Biggest Career Highlight: Transworld's 30 Most Influential Skateboarders 1:47:19 - Seeing His Name on a Nike Shoe for the First Time 1:49:12 - Advice to His 12-Year-Old Self 2:00:03 - Five Days a Week for Two Years: The Rehab Regimen 2:02:15 - If Life Were Perfect 2:03:11 - Legacy: What He Hopes People Take From His Story 2:05:25 - Paul's Gratitude to the Fans

💰 Evan Rugen is revealing how he scaled Let's Get Funded past $100K/month, live and free. Seats are limited. Save yours → webinar.letsgetfunded.com Skool Community: https://skool.letsgetfunded.com 💼 Grow Your Business w/ GoHighLevel? Get Your FREE 30-Day Trial NOW: https://www.gohighlevel.com/passionate/?fp_ref=omar-elattar-productions39 ✅ Want To Be Interviewed On This Podcast? → https://forms.gle/vS5X5cPdV1i2nMo79 In this episode, we sit down with Evan Rugen for round two: CEO of Let's Get Funded, who went from a struggling real estate developer close to bankruptcy to building a $1 million per month business in just 36 months. Evan breaks down exactly how he discovered 0% business funding, how he used it to save his own real estate portfolio before turning it into a business, and the four-quadrant model that took him from $0 to $1M/month. He also gets into AI chatbots, stacking recurring revenue streams, the limit-transfer strategy that let him borrow $275K from Chase over five years without ever paying interest, and the mindset that keeps him pushing like the opportunity could disappear tomorrow. 💬 What We Cover: Going from a struggling real estate developer to $1M/month in 36 months How he accessed $200K-$300K in 0% business funding without tax returns or bank statements Using that funding to save his own real estate portfolio before building a business around it The consulting fee model and how the business actually makes money The four quadrants: advertising, setting, closing, and fulfillment 18 months to $100K/month, then progressively faster growth to $1M/month Case study: taking a former bottle-service worker to $20K/month in three months, then $150K/month AI chatbot as a major competitive advantage and early adoption before it was obvious Stacking recurring revenue: $97/month community plus affiliate income from credit monitoring referrals Starting with zero attendees on weekly calls and growing to 60+ through two years of consistency The limit-transfer strategy: cycling 0% financing indefinitely before the promo period ends Borrowing $275K from Chase across five years without ever paying interest Credit hacks: reporting rent payments, requesting limit increases, freezing interest on maxed cards Why giving away equity under $500K is a mistake when 0% bank financing exists Spending $8,000 a day on ads with a 7-8x return How bringing on his first fulfillment hire unlocked growth from $50K to $100K/month The pre-call trust video that cuts no-shows before every Zoom call ITIN and tax services as the next divisions to scale Free LexisNexis report (normally $6,000/month to access) for listeners who mention "Omar the Rockstar" Why urgency and spite are the two biggest drivers separating winners from quitters Follow Us: 📲 Omar's IG: https://www.instagram.com/omar_therockstar/ 📲 The Passionate Few's IG: https://www.instagram.com/passion/ 📲 Evan's IG: https://www.instagram.com/boweryboi/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: Timestamps: 01:52 – Intro & Welcome Back: Round Two with Evan Rugen 03:11 – From Struggling Real Estate Developer to Funding Insider 05:01 – Turning Personal Success Into a Business 05:30 – How the Business Model Actually Works 08:23 – The Four Quadrants and the Path to $1M/Month 11:23 – Who Succeeds in This Business 13:08 – Case Study: Taking a Former Bottle-Service Worker to $150K/Month 17:09 – The Monopoly Framework and Why Quality Sells Itself 18:29 – Stacking Recurring Revenue Streams 21:16 – Betting on AI Before It Was Obvious 23:29 – Zero Attendees to 60+ Through Two Years of Consistency 25:16 – Why Funded Clients Actually Pay and 1,000+ Five-Star Reviews 27:34 – How Fast Is Approval? Two to Three Days 29:09 – The Lawrence Taylor Story: Focus Over Noise 31:15 – The Funding Deal Math 33:01 – Running $250K/Month in 0% Cards for His Own Ad Spend 34:04 – The Limit-Transfer Strategy: Borrowing $275K Without Paying Interest 36:41 – Underused Credit Hacks Most People Don't Know 39:12 – Becoming the Money Guy in Your Circle 40:04 – Overcoming Self-Doubt and the First $2,000 Deal in 25 Minutes 41:12 – Debt vs. Equity: Why Give Away Ownership? 42:14 – How Close He Came to Bankruptcy Before Discovering Funding 43:33 – Urgency and Spite: What Separates Winners From Quitters 45:12 – Busier Broke, Freer Rich 46:02 – The First Key Hire That Unlocked $50K to $100K/Month 48:05 – What's Next: ITIN and Tax Services 48:49 – Inside a Funding Manager's Job 50:03 – Spending $8,000/Day on Ads With a 7-8x Return 52:08 – The Pre-Call Trust Video That Cuts No-Shows 53:06 – Treating the Opportunity Like It Could Disappear in Six Months 53:37 – The Two Moments That Convinced Him This Was a Real Business 54:20 – Where to Find Evan and the Bowery Boy Origin Story 56:17 – LG Silver Program and Free LexisNexis Report Offer 58:00 – Final Words and Closing  

💼 Grow Your Business w/ GoHighLevel? Get Your FREE 30-Day Trial NOW: https://www.gohighlevel.com/passionate/?fp_ref=omar-elattar-productions39 ✅ Want To Be Interviewed On This Podcast? → https://forms.gle/vS5X5cPdV1i2nMo79 In this episode, we sit down with Joel Mercado, an NLP practitioner, hypnotherapist, and business coach who has helped 100+ contractors generate over $100M in revenue. Joel opens up about growing up with a paranoid schizophrenic father, becoming homeless at 16, having a gun put to his head at 17, and spending his 20s drinking heavily to numb the pain. He breaks down how hypnotherapy helped him forgive his father after 13 years of estrangement, how he nearly lost his home and had his cars repossessed multiple times, and how his wife almost left him before he finally hit his real turning point. He also shares the mindset tools, frameworks, and coaching methods that helped him go from rock bottom to helping other business owners build multi-million dollar companies. 💬 What We Cover: - Growing up with a paranoid schizophrenic father: abuse, paranoia, and multiple personalities - Not seeing his father for 13 years, and how hypnotherapy finally healed it - Becoming homeless at 16 after dropping out of high school - Moving to Arizona at 20, too shy to even order pizza over the phone - Making $200K a year in his 20s, and spending every dollar of it - A gun put to his head at 17 during an armed robbery - A hidden drinking problem that lasted from age 16 through his 30s - Nearly losing his home, having cars repossessed, and hitting rock bottom - Working from a hospital bed on morphine after ulcerative colitis - His wife almost leaving him: his real turning point - The AVR sales framework and the MAVEN coaching methodology - Why 19 of 21 one-on-one clients hit seven figures last year - Why your subconscious processes self-deprecating jokes as literal truth - Losing 30 pounds and going fully sober for the first time since age 16 - Face everything and rise vs. fear everything and run Follow Us: 📲 Omar's IG: https://www.instagram.com/omar_therockstar/ 📲 The Passionate Few's IG: https://www.instagram.com/passion/ 📲 Joel's IG: https://www.instagram.com/joelmercadoofficial/ 🎧 Listen on Spotify: 🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts: Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro & Welcome 00:34 - Growing Up With a Paranoid Schizophrenic Father 02:10 - 13 Years of Estrangement From His Father 03:21 - His Mother's Belief in Him & His Brother's Influence 04:34 - Moving to Arizona at 20 05:12 - Cold-Calling From a Dirt-Floor Trailer to Sell Gym Memberships 06:05 - Becoming Homeless at 16 08:17 - The Tony Robbins Seminar That Changed Everything 09:08 - Selling $30K Solar Systems Door-to-Door on 100% Commission 11:02 - The AVR Sales Framework: Acknowledge, Validate, Reverse 15:45 - Why Most People Don't Believe in Themselves 17:35 - 19 of 21 One-on-One Clients Hit Seven Figures Last Year 18:31 - Why Business Strategy Alone Isn't Enough 19:50 - The MAVEN Framework 23:39 - A Hidden Drinking Problem That Lasted Decades 26:35 - His Wife of 17 Years as His Emotional Anchor 27:38 - Finding His Business Mentor 31:20 - Making $200K in His 20s and Spending Every Dollar 31:59 - Building the Painting Business From Scratch on Ramen Noodles 34:46 - Suicidal Thoughts at Rock Bottom 35:05 - How Hypnotherapy Helped Him Heal 36:28 - Healing His Relationship With His Father 40:12 - What NLP Actually Is and How It Works 43:37 - Your Subconscious Can't Take a Joke 50:41 - His Wife Almost Leaving Him 52:17 - Working From a Hospital Bed on Morphine 54:02 - Nearly Losing His Home to Foreclosure 55:23 - A Gun to His Head at 17 56:35 - His Real Rock Bottom 1:00:15 - Losing 30 Pounds and Going Fully Sober 1:15:17 - The Power of Journaling to Find Clarity 1:17:14 - Face Everything and Rise vs. Fear Everything and Run 1:18:16 - The Bison and the Storm Analogy 1:21:34 - First Things First: Rapid-Fire Round 1:23:12 - Legacy: One Plus One Equals Three 1:24:23 - The 1% Better Every Day Philosophy 1:27:01 - Final Words & Closing

💰 Evan Rugen is revealing how he scaled Let's Get Funded past $100K/month — live and free. Seats are limited. Save yours → webinar.letsgetfunded.com Skool Community: https://skool.letsgetfunded.com 💼 Grow Your Business w/ GoHighLevel? Get Your FREE 30-Day Trial NOW: https://www.gohighlevel.com/passionate/?fp_ref=omar-elattar-productions39 ✅ Want To Be Interviewed On This Podcast? → https://forms.gle/vS5X5cPdV1i2nMo79 In this episode, we sit down with Evan Rugen — CEO of Let's Get Funded — to break down exactly how he went from -$300,000 in credit card debt at 27 to unlocking $1.8 million in 0% interest business funding, all without ever handing over a tax return. Evan walks through the credit repair and business-credit system he built to save his own real estate portfolio, why he'll never pay a dollar of interest on that $1.8M, and the mindset blocks (plus a hypnosis session) that had to break before the money did. He also gets into the industries that lean on this kind of funding most, the red flags that get people denied on the spot, and why he thinks real income freedom starts at $50K a month. 💬 What We Cover: • From real estate developer to -$300,000 in credit card debt at 27 • The Covid-era credit hit that started his credit repair journey • The six levels: fixing credit, building your file, non-doc funding, bank statement loans, tax-return loans, and SBA lending • How he's accessed $1.8 million at 0% interest without ever providing a tax return • The Chase credit-limit "transfer trick" that keeps compounding his 0% access • Why business credit beats personal credit for real leverage • Getting non-US talent (Philippines, Colombia, Egypt) approved for American credit through an ITIN • Why Wells Fargo, Flagstar, and Chase are lending aggressively right now — and why • The biggest misconception that stops people from using 0% business credit • The three biggest red flags that get people denied by bank tellers • How LexisNexis identity verification can make or break a funding application • The realistic timeline to go from sub-500 credit to 700+ (2–6 months) • Real client stories: identity theft, a "dead business partner" on an LLC, and worse • Requesting credit limit increases before you need them • The three-trait pattern he's seen in every highly successful client • Getting hypnotized to fix his relationship with money — and what happened the next day • Why he thinks real financial freedom starts at $50,000/month • Inside the Let's Get Funded school community: free credit repair, ITIN help, and daily calls Follow Us: 📲 Omar's IG: https://www.instagram.com/omar_therockstar/ 📲 The Passionate Few's IG: https://www.instagram.com/passion/ 📲 Evan's IG: https://www.instagram.com/boweryboi/   Timestamps: 00:00 – Intro & Meet Evan Rugen, CEO of Let's Get Funded 00:45 – From Real Estate Developer to Credit Repair 01:04 – The Covid Car Purchase That Wrecked His Credit 01:51 – Level 1: Fixing Your Own Credit 02:40 – Level 2: Building Out Your Credit File 02:57 – Level 3: Non-Doc Business Funding & $1.8M at 0% 06:25 – The Chase Limit-Transfer Trick Explained 09:15 – Why Business Credit Beats Personal Credit 10:32 – Levels 4–6: Bank Statement, Tax-Return & SBA Loans 11:12 – His Worst Credit Score Ever (550 in 2022) 11:31 – Step 1, 2, 3 to Start Fixing Your Credit 13:11 – Craziest Credit Horror Stories He's Seen 14:40 – Realistic Timeline: Sub-500 to 700+ 15:52 – His Entrepreneurial Roots & Family Background 16:47 – First Real Estate Deal: $58K to $450K 18:47 – Funding $1M a Week in 0% Business Credit 19:16 – Best Banks & Cards for 0% Offers 19:41 – Getting Americans Credit Access via ITIN 21:33 – Why Wells Fargo, Flagstar & Chase Are Lending Aggressively 23:32 – The Biggest Misconception About Business Credit Cards 24:11 – Going -$300,000 in Credit Card Debt at 27 28:08 – The Industries That Use This Funding Most 31:24 – How LexisNexis Verification Can Make or Break You 33:32 – Line of Credit vs. Credit Card: What's the Difference 34:56 – Minimum Credit Score Needed for Business Funding 38:46 – The Biggest Leverage for Growing Your Score 40:22 – Best & Worst Financial Decisions With Credit 41:42 – Real Estate vs. Digital Recurring Revenue, Compared 42:46 – Inside the Let's Get Funded School Community 44:55 – The 3-Trait Pattern in Every Successful Client 46:26 – Overleveraging Himself & Hitting Rock Bottom 48:25 – Getting Hypnotized to Fix His Relationship With Money 52:59 – Investing in Himself Instead of Real Estate 54:32 – His First Hustles: Skate Lessons to Reselling Shirts 1:04:38 – First Things First: Rapid-Fire Round 1:06:47 – Best Advice to His Younger Self 1:11:08 – Final Words & Where to Find Evan