From Loss to Legacy: Daniel Batista’s Inspiring Wellness Journey | Ep. 22

Introduction to Daniel Battista and FluLess 0:00

The wellness space is a growing industry and the only way that we can continue growing is to help as many people as possible. Meet Daniel Battista, the visionary founder of FluLess. Daniel is dedicated to empowering individuals to enhance their well-being through innovative solutions. Get ready to be inspired by his insights on achieving optimal health. My wife, I've grown to the man that I am because I had the right woman by my side. Now, was she part of the business right from the start? No. So that's the cool part.

Okay. Let's talk about you, your story, how you got started and where you're at today. I'll tell you. You have the balls to walk into home after home, after, home with a virus that is killing people. We were probably one of first concierge COVID testing companies in my head. How many people you think you test? We took care of over... We're trying to follow your path. Pick my brain on it because, listen, my path is not the easiest path... Welcome to another episode of a healthy point of view podcast.

Today we got a special guest, Daniel Bautista with flueless. I've seen this guy from the start and I just told him the other day I reached out to him and says, dude, you gotta come on the podcast, we gotta talk. There's a lot of people out here that are going through what you went through trying to get to where you're at. You're, making all of the different steps of success that I'd made. So it reminds me a lot of when I first started. Daniel, welcome on the show. Thank you, man. I appreciate it.

To your viewers, thank you so much for the opportunity for you guys to tune in. Um, I guess my mission here today is just tell my story vibe with you a little bit. And figure out how it is that we can both grow from each other, man. We're in the best space that there is. I mean, the wellness space is a growing industry. And the only way that can continue growing is learning from people that are, it's what it above and far away from where you are but where it you want to go, so I appreciate you. leading the industry and just paving the path for guys like us, man.

Absolutely. We're trying to make it big, but still sticking to the root of it, the purpose, which is to help as many people as possible. Help as people. That's what we're here for. And that's the only reason why we've been here with you, because I feel your authenticity. I know you really appreciate it. So I want people to kind of understand more about you, right? And for you to tell a little bit about your story, how you started as an EMT, paramedic, firefighter, you did your thing. You ended up in the emergency room.

And then it brought you all the way to like, man, I remember being on social and I'd see these little cars with all this germs up on it. I'm like, what's going on here? But it was catching attention, right? It caught my attention. So let's talk about you, your story, how you got started and where you're at today. I'll tell you. The cool part about it is my wife, I am where I I have to give her the credit. She's definitely going to watch this, but I've grown to be the man that I because I had the right woman by my side.

Absolutely. And it is my job to protect my family and make sure that I do what I got to do to make her happy. Now was she part of the business right from the start? No. So that's the cool part. Okay. I had to step up to try to keep up, to her level. When I met her, I was a paramedic working in the emergency room. It was volunteer firefighter for Isla Morada, incredible time there. Um, ended up working the ER, had make a full-time career move. So I started working as a paramedic in the ER, met this incredible, beautiful woman.

She checked me about two months after dating and she was like, hey, listen, this is exactly how it goes. I'm here, you're here. To this day. So what'd she say to you when she went to Europe? Before she was to go? Oh, before she's went Europe, she told me straight up. She's like, hey, when I come back from Europe this is over. Before any of the medical stuff, I was a bartender and a DJ and personal trainer. I mean, still to this date I feel like I'm one of most confident people that I know. That just was the stab of, it was like.

When she tell me, they're literally I am here and you're here. And I said, oh man. This is the one for me. She basically told you it's time to level up. Exactly. So I had no choice. It's I leveled up, I was 28 years old, she's 30 years and I said there's no way that I'm going to let this opportunity go.

Wife, Career, and the Origin of FluLess 4:20

Now today, 10 years later, she runs Flueless, man. She's the backbone of this company. That's amazing. I usually would say, now she works for me, and then she would check me and she says, well, I signed your checks and I'm like, okay, fine. Yeah, there you go, right? No, but that's an amazing story, story man, because when you really start thinking about it is, it could have gone two different directions. She goes and she tells you you need to level up, goes to Europe, and then you could've just shrugged your shoulders and said, all right, I'll just go find another one.

But now, look at it 10 years later, You guys got this wonderful business. It's the business that's putting food on the table, not just for you two, but your beautiful family that you have. You're doing many great things together. you guys are changing people's lives.You told me earlier backstage that that, you know, your collabing with other people in the industry. Your helping other physicians take care of their patients. I mean, that a beautiful thing. I think the best thing to take from that story is when somebody tells you a hard truth, they're telling you because they love you.

And if you don't see that opportunity and realize that that's that, oh shit, I gotta make a change right now. If you let too many of those opportunities pass by, then that when you end up becoming a nothing. It's those moments when have to put your pride aside and be like, what did you just say to me? damn that hurt, but it's true. Right. And only people that really love you and carry have the balls to tell you to your face that you got a man up, you gotta level up. later on, you have that aha moment of this was the day that I decided to change.

And see, that's the importance of surrounding yourself with the right people, right? People that are gonna make sure you level up. But at the same time, your an opportunist. I can tell you're an opportunities, why? Because an opportunity sees these different type of opportunities and makes adjustments and changes to be able to take advantage of those opportunities. Something like that where she basically gave you the heads up. That's the universe. that's God. I was about to say that man. Feeding right through somebody else and telling you, hey, I'm letting you know, Daniel, that you need to level up and I am letting through this resource that I have walking on earth.

And they picked the one that it hurts the most too, man. God knows how to do it, he's like, you know what, and I guarantee you, it was, You didn't get it from this one. And then I sent this and you didn' get. So you what? Let's put it on a beautiful face, an incredible body, amazing soul, And I couldn't ask for a better personality. I want it back. Yeah, I want it back and then you got to work for it to keep it. That's the best part man He sets you up. He set me up but listen you did it You did?

It so so listen the the upside as of right now is a positive upside and we're gonna maintain that but it's not always been nice and peach. There's been ups and downs throughout the process. So let's talk about that. The business struggle is real. No, life struggle. When you add business to it, for some reason, it is like adding cayenne pepper to a meal for no reason. Things were all right. Let's just stir it up. She sees the love of my life. I end up becoming a nurse. We have our first child. The happiest person in the world.

Little Dex was born, a beautiful child, one of the loves of our life, and unfortunately, God knows why he does things as well. We lost little Dex. DeX died of SIDS at four months old. It's been enough time where I can see the blessing in a lot of it, which is very, very difficult. I'm an opportunistic person when it comes to being happy. And I will always figure out how to change my mind or the way I look at things so that I can end up in a happy place. Dex, we got a crazy phone call. I got phone from my wife that she wants me to go to the daycare because this happened at the care.

Very calmly, I tell her, hey, listen, there's nothing that can do there. I'm going to meet you at the hospital. Whatever happens, this is going into the hospitals. So I was able to go to the E. I able be in the ER. Um, I am blessed that I an emergency room nurse for enough years that have been through these types of emergencies. so I not stuck in this moment I can see past this and see, okay, how is this going to end? And I was blessed enough to be bedside while they were working him. And, I told my wife, this was the same exact way that I this is something that I'm gonna carry for the rest of my life.

This is not your decision. We're gonna walk in there and we're going to tell them to stop. I already had seen in my head, I had already seen what the future was for us. Either it's gonna be six or seven months, i'm going switch back and forth with my wife, this going destroy our relationship, have a two year old son at home, This going be a burden on our happiness period. I made the decision that, hey, this isn't what we signed up for when we wanted a baby. Nobody asks for a respirator at a babyshower.

Right. It doesn't work like that. These are things that just happen to people. So I was blessed with the opportunity to be there and make that decision. And it was the best decision I've ever made in my life. What some people would see as their downfall that life is over after this, I can say that was day one of our new life. Because when you turn that page, it's blank, man. You're the one that gets to write the story. And I'm not writing a story that hasn't been written. My thing is there's people that have been through this and worse and have come out happier and more successful.

than what they were before. I automatically put myself in that group. Why? Because there's no reason for me to think that I can't be happy like them. You force yourself into a happiness and your your biggest downfalls will end up being your strength. It's just hard to see it when it's happening, man. What a decision. Danny, that's a very tough story to even take in. For you to actually go through that, your mindset, just with anything in life in general, you look at things differently. Oh, absolutely.

I mean, I almost think that anybody that has worked in an emergency setting, whether you're a paramedic, where you work in the emergency room, or whether your a doctor, firefighters, all of us unfortunately but fortunately have seen enough where we could think properly through emergencies. So I guess it comes with the space, but you've earned that That skill, I guess, to be able to make decisions and think clearly during any type of emergency. And because of it, it's the best decision ever made in my life.

Did you have the business already flueless when that happened? So, yes. So we already had...

Loss, Resilience, and the Pandemic Pivot 12:40

We had already just started the business about a year before that. So we started in 2018. The reason why we even started a business, I never thought that I was going to be a Business Owner. We were, as a nurse and my wife working with her position in the Department of Transportation, we made pretty good money. Our CPA was like, you guys got to open a businesses so we can start just playing the tax game. And from that, it blew up in our face. I the relationships that my wife had, her professional relationships, to be able to work with the companies that she was working with to provide them some of the wellness services that we have.

And so I was blessed starting the business. We started on the upper hand. well, we're not gonna make money for the first four, five, six months. Started to build this from the beginning. We had connections with people where we can be able to take care of their employees. So I named it. This is crazy though, man. Listen to your story. Because all the different entrepreneurs that are out there, they go through this journey of ups and downs. And people go to struggles. But your wife is still working her full-time job.

You're still workin' your full time job, You got the new business that opened up, right? Which is already putting stress on your relationship. Absolutely. And then on top of that, you have your child that passes away. Most people, or try to say a high percentage of people would lift their hands up in the air and say, You know what? It's time to just have easy living. I lifted my hands in Asgard. And by looking and following you, the answer was a little bit different. The answer, was like, hey, no easy living, I'm gonna go ahead and tackle this and make something bigger out of it.

Absolutely, and I tell a lot of people, that I am a man of God. I think the only reason why it is that we can be happy after this, you have to look up to a higher source, to get you out this. Because I was given the opportunity to be happy, that's why I feel like we have the success that we've have. Because, I take it all in to provide happiness to the people that haven't gone through something as bad as I have, but I can use my story to show you pretty much, you think you got it bad, it can be so much worse.

Stop drowning in that glass of water. Right, right because you can empower a lot of people with that message. Yeah, and and it affects a whole lot Of people I remember when when we first lost a baby, I Six months into it, people are like, you don't understand. I'm going through all of this. And I was like please tell me how bad is it? Give me the details. Hey, listen, six months ago, I lost a baby, which is the worst thing that ever happened to me. But I am able to tell you right now, i'm in a very good position.

i am incredibly happy and blessed and there is no reason for you to not be as happy as me, right? So then I feel like Given that blessing, now I take my happiness and figure out how can we give back to the community. And working as an emergency room nurse just wasn't cutting it. I mean, not to brag or anything like that. Why give that to community? Well, I call it the Community, but I just say give it back the people. So I figured it out real quick that I wasn t in the place that was supposed to be.

and I ll explain. It s one of Miami s They're the neighborhood hospital for some of the most urban neighborhoods out there. It's a pretty bad neighborhood, what we take care of. So it's the pork and beans. Yeah, it is a busy hospital. They should actually have it on like a movie or one of those shows, right? It is gangster. I can just say that. But working there, Two years being a nurse, I won a Daisy Award, and the Daisy award is pretty much, it's an internationally recognized prestigious award that you have that is given to nurses.

And the only way that your able to get this is patients have to write letters about how you are, of your skills, the way you treated them. I've had a pile of 70 of these letters from really ghetto people that almost can't write, but they had the necessity to let the hospital know, hey, this guy's doing it better than most. That's awesome. And then that's where I realized, well, I'll quote Grant Cardone. He says, if you are the person doing the best in the room, you're in wrong room. Wow. So not only did I realize that, Unfortunately, four months after Dex died was the whole pandemic.

So then when the pandemic came, then that's when it really turned into, what am I gonna do with my life? I had just- Were you working in the hospital during the- I was working during a pandemic, I working the ER until April 29th, two days after- That must have been a movie in that hospital. Ooh, so it got really political, which is what I didn't enjoy. When they came around and said, you're going to refurbish your N95 after five shifts, that's when I was like, what's going on here? I can't protect myself.

working here under these conditions, and then think that I'm going to take this back home to my wife. Because when this first started, it was like, you catch this, your dead. Right, right, yeah. That's how it is. And it's PPD, gowns, full, everything. All day long, in and out of this stuff, taking care of patients. I am going home, To my wife that has just gone through the death of a child. I'm going through. The same exact thing. How am I going to protect her? So, um, my mission was to get our hands on the COVID test.

And when we got our heads on a COVID tests, that's when everything fell into place. It was, it just blew up. You were doing a lot of the cover testing, like mobile. We were probably one of. First concierge COVID testing companies. Um, in my, how many people you think you test? So we took care of over 3,500 COVID positive patients. We only lost two. And not to brag or anything like that, but my question is, what was going on in hospitals? Hmm because we were seeing patients for 45 minutes giving them vitamin infusions taking care of them and I'm gone and Our patients were doing well That's when we realized we're serving a purpose here We're doing the right things for our community for family for friends And I really do feel like when you do things with the Right Intention they work out for you.

I mean we had people talking smack I can't believe that you're taking advantage of this and blah blah and it's a very Don't forget for a second, we're risking our lives to take care of people in their homes. Do you have the balls to walk into home after home, after a home with a virus that is killing people? Do feel like the whole pandemic gave your business better opportunity to scale? Oh, 100%. I think COVID was one of the biggest opportunities for us where we would be able to show people how it is that the wellness space can handle things like this, how is it that putting the right vitamins in somebody's body is going to strengthen them enough to be over something like.

I mean, most of people that were dropping dead were people obese, nutrient deficient, vitamin D deficients, right? When we talk about nutrient deficiency. And people that had all kinds of chronic illnesses that could have potentially been avoided. So, so in our case with liquid Vita, the pandemic post pandemic, we noticed that a lot of people were a heck of a, lot more health conscientious. Oh, which is fantastic on a business standpoint. And I think it all happens for a reason. I Think the wellness industry is growing because we're doing right, we are doing it right by whatever entity there is out there.

We have a purpose to make sure that people have access to natural supplements that are going to help them with longevity, with being healthy. Yeah, I agree with that. So, man, you've definitely, what a journey, by the way, whatever journey. You gotta have some kind of support system. What's your support? Damn, that's a hard question, because I'll be honest with you, and you wouldn't think that this is how it went down. After we lost the baby, we pretty much lost all of our support systems. I feel like...

What do you mean by that? I feel like our friends didn't know how to deal with us. How do we talk to you guys? How did we have fun when you just went through this? And me and my wife were the whole opposite. I mean, four days after we lost the baby, I told my way, we got to get out of the house. We went to the zoo. took my kid with us and it's like, hey, if we end up just staying in here, dreading life, we're never going to go back to some type of normality. You got to get out of that mindset. We healed ourselves so much faster than anybody around us would have.

When I went I was gonna go back to work after three weeks. I mean, the worst part of this whole thing was the reality of life goes on. Right. And the hardest day of the whole things was, The first day that I went back from work knowing that, I'm gonna be away from my wife for 16 hours. Your support group is there for a week, two weeks, something like that, and then you're just old news, man. That's just how it goes with every loss. I mean, if a grandmother of the head of a household, a grandma from a family of 40, 50, 60 people, when she dies, How long are people mourning her?

Yeah, that's true. A week, two weeks, and then you keep on going. And then we're... You're yesterday's newsman. They actually say statistically proven that people will actually stop talking about that generation after a couple of generations. It's just done, it's gone. And right now we're talking about mourning after an actual death. But even post that, life moves on. And it's hard for some people to actually fathom that but it is the truth. That's where you said it earlier, having that strong connection with the higher power you know that you'll be fine.

Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, as crazy as it is, you came into this world by yourself. You can die by herself. Make as many connections that can with the right people so you can enjoy it while you're here. And if the people that... So I see it this way. With success comes change. And I don't know if you've been through this, but I mean, I would expect most successful people I talk to. Life is always changing for me. Always. Your friends, you don' have to get rid of the ones that aren't supposed to be next to you.

They get of themselves. Right. As crazy as that sounds. You know, your circles change and I got a lot of friends that I grew up with from a young age and, and i'm still close with them, But I just, i don''t hang out with him every day. You know i'm saying it's like it has its place, you know But my circles that I hang out with and it not that i've better than anyone It's just the conversations change. Yeah our goals What we want out of life. It has to feed to the bigger picture exactly, right? exactly now what I did get out this and I mean, I hope most people are going to get this from that it your biggest downfalls can be the biggest life-changing moment for you where you're going to end up doing better for yourself, for your family, it could be a pivotable moment.

Building the Brand and Scaling the Business 25:00

Absolutely. For people. I mean, I think people should take their loss and really dig deep into what they can get out of it. Right. Because I got out a loss that I never want to be in an emergency situation and not be able to get through it monetarily. Having to go back to work three weeks later lets me know I wasn't in the right position. I couldn't take care of what was the most important thing. What can I learn from this to make sure that I end up being a better version? Right. And make a positive impact also.

Exactly. That's one thing. Like right now we're on this podcast. Hundreds of thousands of people are going to tune in and tap into this. You know, at least they're going see one reel out of this Podcast. People are gonna see it. Right? So now you're being able to take that moment, that experience and share it with the world, which a lot of People don't have, don' even have the balls to do that. So I appreciate you doing that I think our stories are stories for a reason and the only way that you can make any kind of change and impact is telling your story and showing people, not that your a superhero, but A, you CAN be happy and I'm a genuinely happy person.

I'm not sitting here faking the funk, I love life. So let's talk about this journey, because we got a lot of stuff that happened early on, and you were mobile, you started off mobile. We started of mobile and my idea was, let me be as loud as I possibly can. Which you have been. Oh, of course. One of my mentors says, only the squeaky wheel gets to grease. And we've all been taught in Spanish, you want to be calm. You want be seen, not heard. And it's the whole opposite, man. The loudest person. These days, the loud person gets attention, and attention these days is the new currency.

I commend you. It almost seems like you definitely have Liquivita. I feel like with the amount of content that you're putting out it seems like Sam Tejada is the new brand. It's not just what's behind you, it's the person himself that has built this and now people can start following you. I wish I would have known that a lot earlier actually. So it took me about It was a bug. Cause I've seen the change. I have seen that change and it's Sam Tejada. The logo is right down here. And really it happened about two to three years ago where I was already about eight years into the business and I hired a publicist and the publicists said, you have a beautiful brand, but it is a faceless brand.

And when I got into the business, I actually wanted that because I was a one-man show. I wasn't doing this as a side gig on my days off from the fire department. It was actually physically the guy running around, starting the IVs, going to people's homes, basically what you've done. But the problem that I had with that when started wanting a scale is that every single one of my high-profile clients, which was lot, they wanted Sam Tata. And I said, yeah, can't do that. How am I gonna delegate? I have the slickest answer to that and it's so wrong and everybody's like really tell them uh damn bro what's the guy from amazon who's owner who was that the owner of amazon uh jeff bezels i tell people jef bezel doesn't drop the packages off at your house yeah that's true that goes man and people oh you love jeffer no but you have to understand that i need to learn my place really good friend of mine his dad as a pretty big air conditioning company, and one day he told me, you gotta let go of the toolbox, man.

I was like, oof. It's absolutely true. And it's difficult because you want, I love that bedside aspect.I love making that connection with people. But then the problem is, they get married to you. They want that. The problem with that is I actually heard a quote around that time where I said, you know, I really want to scale this. And I told myself, said I got to work on the business, not in the bussiness. I kept on catching myself working in business. So eventually, a young lady that I met at an event, Lisa Samella, she was our first employee, still with the company, an ICU nurse.

I brought her on board and it was still tough. It was tough, I would bring her in to come take care of the patients. I had an IV lounge inside of an existing clinic that they gave me some space there and nobody wanted to let her do the IVs. So then I switched up my pitch on pitching her to the clients. where I was telling the clients before they even met her says, man, I found this ICU nurse. Her IV skills are better than mine. Unbelievable. And I made sure I was a little bit rough on those IVs until she took over, you know?

So they could feel the difference. Yeah, full disclosure. So. I actually have a few clients that's exactly, hey man, but you're employees are kind of like softer than you. Cause I gotta go. And then I did that on purpose. and I brought her in and made that sure that I elevated her above me. So she could take over. And at that point in time, people felt comfortable and I was able to work on the business. So again, it was my strategy to build up the company brand because I didn't want the focus to be on Sam Tahata.

But now when it went to having all these different locations and we're eight years in, I'm trying to figure out how do I get this business to now scale better SEO, better visibility. He says, dude, you got to get on camera. You got start talking about what you're doing. Got to show the leadership. People know Liquivita, but people don't know who's behind Liquavita. So then that's where that publicist is actually the one that told me about the book that I launched, How to Win in Modern Wellness. I was telling the publicist about my story and the relationships that I have and that i've built from day one and then that's when the Publicist said, you know what, You need to actually put that out in the air.

You have to go ahead and take all those relationships, put them together and show people what you've been doing in this industry. And I committed, man. I was like, you know what? I'm going to do it. You know? And that's where the Sam Tejada brand started to come to fruition. And now, Sam tejadas, the guy behind the Covita. But at the same time, I want to make sure I am elevating other people throughout the journey, not just me. So I'll tell you my my chunk of that. and I appreciate that you are like that and you're so you so outgoing with it, that You are putting that information out there that that brand of yours of we're a wellness space together.

Because you changed my mind on how it is that our industry works. I mean, not that I was ever a selfish person thinking, oh, I want all these patients for me, but you really do have that. We're going to grow this together way faster than we will by ourselves. And I think the wellness base is so big, nobody can monopolize it. There's enough meat on the bones for everybody to eat. There is too much meat because a lot of people don't want to make the change. Let me ask you, how do you deal with, I want run it by my doctor.

Oh, like when clients say that? Yeah, man, that is probably one of the biggest things. And not just, you won't hear that from the younger people, but the older generation, it's difficult to tap into that market. That's a good question. So the old generation is a generation that had a PCP, right? Primary Care Physician. Now it is kind of unheard of. Your insurance company doesn't even require you to have a primary care physician. The days of having that primary care doctor where that was the same doctor for the grandmother, for parents, the kids, and even probably their future kids is gone.

So you're probably not going to see too much of that, but the individuals that want to run it by the doctor, at the point in time they run what we do by their doctor. Number one, their doctors are not gonna have any clue of what they do. I'm not by myself. Preach, brother. They're probably going to recommend against it because they know nothing about it. Exactly. And I actually tell our patients, because we do a very, very comprehensive blood analysis. The blood work we is anywhere no less than 19 pages, sometimes up to 80 different pages.

And I'll tell patients that come in that says, well, I think my regular doctor should take a look at it. I says well let me make sure I print out a very clear copy. Let me know what they say. 99.9% of the time that that happens, they come back, the patient, and they actually say, my doctor doesn't understand what this blood work is. He said that I need to go back to whoever did the bloodwork so they can tell me what the results are. Because that's what it is. People going back to the allopathic world to discuss functional medicine, unless that doctor has any sense of what we're doing, you're not gonna get anywhere with it.

And people have to understand that. He's probably offering some of the stuff that we do. Which then, we can have a very fruitful conversation. Or maybe you can get these services done by your doctor. or I can work with your doctor to make sure we optimize your health the right way. But it's an uphill battle. We deal with it with a lot of chronically ill cancer patients that are going through chemotherapy, radiation, that want to do life. That's one of our, also the biggest, I mean, the one we clash the most with.

And we've seen the best results. Even just hydrating a patient after chemo, hydrate them, and something as simple as Zofran and Pepsi through the IV. It makes such a difference, but the doctors want nothing to do with it. No, they don't, because they know anything about it, and this is what we're trying to deal with in the industry. We're tryin' to work hard to actually get some good studies published on what do, right? Because when you actually have controlled studies that are published in some of these medical journals and whatnot, and the patient can go ahead and take a study on high dose of vitamin C that's gonna show the positive outcome of reducing oxidative stress, showing that it's enhanced, and this group of patients going through chemo or radiation, it enhanced the outcome, of the treatments they're doing for chemotherapy, radiation and that its safe to do it while you're doin' those treatments.

Now that doctor has no other choice but to recommend it, right? Because it something that there's actual research behind it. So, I think, looking ahead towards the future is having good data, good scientific data to back up what we're doing. And the masses have to know about it. Right. Then at the point in time that they want to go talk to the doctor, we empower them. Hey, take this with you. Take the study to your doctor and have them look into it because once they read it and the outcome is positive, then we are golden.

You'll have that patient forever at that point. The future needs to come so much sooner. I think we have such a huge task ahead of us of protecting the people that we love, our community, the patients. And the only way that were going to be able to do that is by educating. So, I mean, it's where content, real good content comes into play because it seems like social media is such huge outlet to put out whatever it is that you want. But it gets lost in the assentate is the nice cars, the bullshit of money, and the few people that are out there educating, I think those are the ones that gonna make that big of an impact on our world.

The thing too is when you look at social media, like right now, what you're seeing is you've got a lot of MDs, DOs even some chiropractors and some naturopathic doctors, that are actively putting out some really good content for people to take that deeper dive into their health or make certain changes. But then what I'm seeing here now, too, is now you're getting some of these PhDs that PhD's in nutritional science and whatnot. You got one guy, Dr. Joey, another guy Lane Norton, that their main focus is debunking all of the other people that have doctorate degrees in other areas, which, They use a lot of science, which I think is a positive thing, but at the same time, they're going a little bit too crazy with the content, where now it's almost like now you got these people that have doctorate degrees against each other.

Functional Medicine, Content, and Industry Debate 38:20

You know what I'm saying? And they are all making each look horrible, and they aren't supporting eachother. They do no harm. Right. But you're not doing any good. When you are fighting with each other. They think they're doing good because the thing is they are going after the likes, they looking after, going to the followers and then they try to capitalize off of that, doing the little academies or whatever it is that they doing. If we want to see the positive change in the health and wellness arena, because everybody is in health wellness, including the PhDs, if we wanna see positive changes, people have to collectively come together.

The PhD's that have a strong background in research, help some of these other guys that are the MDs that actually treating the patients, maybe run some that research and work together and get that shit published. You know what I'm saying? But right now, I just say it today. People are just going crazy. The Dr. Joy guy posted something about a chiropractor saying something some Doritos and because Dorito's in the ingredients has a bunch of stuff that you can't pronounce, he trashed the shit out of this chiopracter where I am like, Well, chiropractors, number one, have a very strong nutritional background because it's part of their curriculum.

The guy's speaking on things to try to look out for his patients, look for other people. At what point in time is it okay for you to even try and debunk this doctor about saying Doritos is not healthy because at the end of the day, even after watching your content, if you are right, Doritos is never gonna be healthy. Not even in the government food pyramid that nobody agrees with, including himself, are you gonna find Dorito's. So for me, it's like people really have to unite, come together, and let's tackle this together.

Let's stop being at each other's strokes. My personal opinion. I agree with you, man. I really do feel... I think the best thing that could ever happen is I thing there has to be more of the nutrition in med school. There has be to more...I think doctors need to go a little deeper in nutrition. They also have to a go little bit deeper vitamins and supplements and how it is that those things can help They're patients. It sucks that they're educated on how to fix problems with pills. Right. You've got doctors.

And that's, that curriculum, man, you know, who feeds and funds those curriculums, big pharma. It's sad though, because it puts doctor, the really messed up part is they, it seems like the formula to be a doctor these days is cover your ass. it's not about what's best for my patient. You've got an A1C of 6.1. 6.2, you're clinically diabetic, I have to document that I gave metformin to you or whatever medication it is that you are going to use to be able to counter your diabetes. But what happened to, hey, listen, we're going check your blood work in six months again, and we are gonna check it in three months.

I need you to diet, drink more water, cut out the carbs. And I'm working with a nutritionist. You have go see this person. So you can be able to figure out what your new diet is going to be so you could be successful and we don't put you on the medication that is Going to do this this that that's to you listen if people the risks of what's gonna happen when you put them on them at Foreman how now your liver and kidneys are They're up for grabs for some type of disease. Now we're going to have to put you on another medication.

Once we take out your kidneys, now we are going have put on some blood pressure medication, if that doesn't work, you're gonna end up in dialysis all because you didn't change your diet, start exercising and drink more water. Which, you know, the unfortunate part is that out of 30 minutes that should be given to the patient, seven minutes the doctor actually sits with the patients, and the other 23 minutes they're just too concerned, charting, documenting, writing everything to cover their ass. It's unfortunate.

And Big Pharma is so involved when they say they care about the people. And I'm saying this publicly and I don't care where it goes. I just got a letter, or actually one of my franchisees got letter last week and then they forwarded it to me just a few days ago from Eli Lilly, big pharmaceutical company. So the letter said, you need to stop distributing and selling and marketing. The drug Trisipatide, because we own the intellectual property of it, and you can't do anything with it unless you're getting it from us as a commercially available drug.

Trasipitide is a compounded medication. You got all of that with that. The peptide. That's where I'm going with it, right? So Terzipitide, which we know is the generic chemical name of Mencerone's Upbound, Which Eli Lilly owns both of those. They don't even want us to use that name, Right? That is like Tylenol going after everybody selling acetaminophen. Right. or Motrin going after everybody that is selling ibuprofen. It's like, dude, yeah, it's not how it works. And isn't it three years? Our attorneys will respond to it and stuff.

Listen, at the end of the day, I don't sell the drug. I sell a program that might offer the drugs, might offers some supplements, nutrition, counseling, and all that other stuff, so I'll sell that program. So I dunno what they're going to after, because I'm not a pharmacy. But at end the of day to get a letter from Big Pharma, right, For the little guy, the small business immigrant guy who came from the Dominican Republic who's just trying to help people out. I think it's a little fucked up. It's really messed up what they're doing.

They're showing you their flex. Now what really really sucks is that this is going to cost you money. Yeah, it'll cost me money. That's the part that sucks. This is how they stop us, because they know that they can fight in court so much longer than we can. But then it's just as easy as find out what they really have, find that what their licensing really has to do with find what formula they're talking about, and then find your formula is the same as that one. Yeah, I mean, it's just it is crazy to see how they just want to suppress everybody.

Multi-billion dollar company. Let's go after the little guy like Sam Tejada. Retired fireman, I like to help people. We're making people lose weight and you're mad about it? What's the big deal? But those are just some of the things that you just see in the industry. But I don't want it to be about me. Let's talk more about, because we're getting close to that time towards the end of this show, but I want people to really kind of understand more of how you got to where you are at today and what are some the next steps that want to take.

to be able to achieve some of your goals of what you have. So I'll tell you about the transition. We're in the Transition now. It was mobile, mobile because the opportunity was Mobile. And I think the only way that you could be successful in business is changing with the times. Is there a need for mobile? Absolutely. But now that concierge part definitely comes with a price which not everybody is going to see feasible for them because the necessity of it isn't here anymore. So when COVID was here, a lot of people didn't want to go to the hospital.

somebody coming to my house, there's value there. Now, we didn't make tons of connections and we make sure that we follow up and build those relationships with all of these people. But we did also see the need for a brick and mortar where we can have more access, cheaper prices, where people can come to our office. And now, what we want is people to feel that that location is a home where they can feel good. We've definitely transitioned to more of what it is that you guys are doing, blood work, finding out exactly where it's that we start so we can make goals that are going to be accountable for when we do bloodwork again and we see where we're making the changes.

genetic testing, we're definitely trying to do a whole lot more for the preventative side because it seems like it's really starting to work for people. Preventative care has definitely gotten cool. That's the key. The preventive type of modalities, the different surfaces, that diagnostics. So I like that you're doing that. Exactly. And we have those patients and I'm sure you have patients that we are their quote unquote Doctor, yeah, we're the person that they come to to be able to tell them how it is or what they need to do to Be able To make themselves feel better and then the cool part is Being able, to, do that without the use of all of these chemicals right so are you guys only doing ivy therapy as treatments are You, guys, doing other treatments now too So we have 11 different IV therapies.

Um, we're doing blood work. We have a testosterone program for men. And then we a little niche of business that we do with schools and stuff like that, which is definitely something that um, We're trying to scale that part of the business a whole lot as well. Awesome. But yeah, man, the whole point now with the brick and mortar is understand that part of the business, make SOPs for it so we'd be able to scale it, whether it be another location here in Florida or start looking somewhere else, we're trying to follow your path.

And it's so cool to be able to talk to someone. Pick my brain on it, because listen, my path is not the easiest path, and there's a lot of things that I'll tell you not to do, there are things I tell that you should do. You know what I'm saying? I take care of a few patients. We have a family that they have really big... Businesses that they scaled out to um, and and when we told them that we wanted to think about getting into the franchising They gave me all three of them gave Me the same answer and I would expect that you're gonna tell me the Same answer.

They said you better have a real good lawyer Okay, of course. You better. Have a really good. I mean you scaling business in general You want to make sure you have good lawyers, but you know franchizing is a it's a whole nother beast It's another world I think partnerships would be the first step that we take and then go and I started that way I start doing like joint ventures and even licensing agreements, but If I if if I had to know if i knew everything that I know today and i went back to day one I would actually choose either franchising or do nothing at all and just do corporate stores.

The joint ventures is really, the partnerships and stuff is what really led me to franchises because franchisings protected us a heck of a lot more. Franchising allows your system to be well defined of what is, what and who's responsible for what. You know, now you're protected by the FTC, all the franchise laws. Every state has different franchise law as well, too. But franchising, even the accounting behind franchizing, what you can say and not say when you are in the world of franchisin', it's completely different than regular business.

So you feel like you have more control of the business when your a franchise? To a certain extent, there's other things that you feel like you don't have control of. Even me trying to sell a franchise. I've never sold anything in my life where I can't tell you the profit you can make. And I'm restricted as the franchisor to be able to do that. So we've had to get very creative to be able to show people all of the nuts and bolts of Lickovita. So franchising is interesting, but it has a huge upside.

Multiplier, if you decide to sell one day, it's up there. There's a lot of structure behind franchizing. So at the point in time you think you're going to get there and want to make that decision, we'll sit down and we will have a very, very thorough conversation about it. I appreciate that man. Just think about what this is. This is almost like McDonald's coming up to Burger King in the beginning and be like, Let's talk about what you're going to do here, bro. I'm not trying to step on your feet, but I'll move a couple of things out of the way so it makes it easier for you.

Not for real. Which is incredible, man. And you don't see this in a lot of industries. It brings back the wholeness of it's because what we're trying do is do well by other people. Even when it comes to growing your business. But listen, this is the thing too. I've gotten to know you, even if it's through a lot of the content that you're putting out there, you do want something positive, right? And what I want in the industry is more of that. And how do you... How does someone like you have the ability to grow more?

You have to invest more in yourself, more into your business. So if you are going to go ahead and take $100,000 and invest into you business to continue to growth the industries in a positive way,

Franchising, Growth, and Final Advice 51:40

I want to make sure that you take that $100,000 and you use it in the best way possible because it's going to help the overall mission that I have. So if you took that hundred thousand dollars and I'm just going go start franchising and then you do all this stuff and burn that 100,00 and it didn't do nothing for the industry. It's a negative effect for everybody. Yeah, but if I see that happen in front of me, that's like neglect. I'm neglecting something for the industry. That's me being irresponsible, not making a few minutes available to sit down with you and tell you, hey, watch out for this.

This might be the way that you should invest that money into the So the industry has a positive impact with what you're doing, right? Because it's going to help us all. So that's why I do what I. Do. That's. Why I contribute to the American Ivy Association every month. And that. Is why. I can. Tribute. My. Time. A. Volunteer. For the. American. Ivy. Association. Because. The. Industry. Needs. You know. the Industry needs people to guide people in the right direction. If not. It's the wild wild west.

People are just trying to like figure it out on their own. Like. Let's get together and make it happen together. It's awesome, man. It is the whole energy you got going on. I think it takes a person to win enough so that you can be happy for other people's successes, and that's one of the best things that I've felt in success is I have learned how to celebrate other peoples wins. When you win, I'm winning too. See that's what Winnergy is all about. It's about winning together, right? It is not about just winning by ourselves because who wants to win by themselves and then be lonely?

You know, you got to sit there with the trophy by yourself. Like, no, let's go celebrate. You at the point of time that I am winning and I popping bottles, I want everybody else popping the bottles with me. Regardless if it's bottles of multivitamins or something, whatever it is. A celebration is a celebration. But like you said, why not celebrate together and applaud you for the effort that you put to be able to have that milestone. I agree. And in the end, it's see that for what it is. It's a milestone, dude.

Here in South Florida, when you look at Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach County, it's a very, very competitive landscape that we're in. Oh, this is big fish eat little fish, and you get in my way, you'll get ran over. This is like ground zero for a lot of the wellness stuff. You know, if you looked at all the bigger companies, Forever Young, Liquivita, 10X, like everybody's here, right? Even Revive, uh, ya know you got the drip bars here. Everybody's in south Florida. So, um, we see it, You see, I see.

It. What's next? Oh man, so definitely we want to scale to another location. And I really do feel like we got to get a couple more people in that office so we can start pumping more money into scaling that business. So the funds are there. It's just we need to train the right people to have the culture of the business, to be able to carry the brand to where it is that we want to go. And yeah, probably when the heart people is the hardest part of this business. It is people are because I can wreak of awesomeness.

But the problem is when I send you out there, are you going to. Have that same awsomenes? Yeah, they have to, be an extension of what you're already providing into the organization. Exactly. So I get it. Definitely scaling the. Business. We want another location. Um, we. Want to Master the location that we have right now and keep on going from there man so for the viewers and the listeners that We have a lot of people that have been through what you've been to right worked in the hospital as a nurse or paramedic and want to get out of that traditional allopathic world What is the number one piece of advice that you can leave these people off with?

I Oh man, my number one piece of advice is this. Whatever it is, it's already been done and somebody has carved that path for you. Unfortunately, your fear doesn't let you see that. But the second that you get over that fear, you'll see where you're supposed to be when you've taken that leap of faith and you invest in yourself and your dreams. So is it hard? Absolutely. your nine to five is going to end up turning into seven to 12. Don't think that you're going get into something. And that ain't 12 in the afternoon.

No, no, this is 12 o'clock at night. So you have to put in work to see the results. It's so much more work than what you think and you really have I think to be successful these days You gotta kind of get out of your eggshell and you gotta go out there and actually make some noise and get what you want these Days, you you got to fight for it. I agree. There's a lot of noise And there's lots of people trying to do the same exact thing You just have to show them that not only are you gonna do it better but show Them where it is that you're coming from so that they make that connection so you have that success but If you've got that dream, God didn't give it to you for no reason whatsoever, man.

That dream is yours and you're supposed to be doing it, so just do it. I appreciate that, brother. And I'll tell you one thing with what you said. The upside of hitting that level of success is going to more rewarding doing the seven to 12, right? And busting your butt to get there is going to be a heck of a lot more rewarding than working that nine to five and just maybe getting a little award or whatever it is. At the end of the day, when you put in that work and you achieve and hit those goals that you want, nothing's going be more rewarded than that.

But life has always been like that the messed up part is that we're giving out too many participation awards Everybody's a winner, right? That would be started with that You got to earn the winner. How about that? Yeah, you got a earn that way to have that winner You have to actually have a winter. Yep, but if it's turned into everybody's winner unfortunately, it''s not like and that's where That's where you find the difference between success and people faking the funk. Social media has made a lot of people look successful and that's not how it goes.

The real deal is these people aren't showing you their heads, banging their head on the pillow at night like, oh shit, what am I going to do tomorrow? Oh crap, this didn't work. What's the next thing? What really happened? So I think you have to first work on yourself to be a successful business owner. You have the work of yourself and realize that it's not going be easy, but But as long as you have clarity on where it is that you want to go, you'll make it. And that's it, brother. I appreciate you coming on the podcast.

Appreciate you. Awesome. It doesn't get any better than this, man. This is the man right here. Tune in. There might be people doing it bigger than him, but nobody's got a heart like him. And nobody cares about the industry like you do. So I appreciate the sincerity, the authenticity that you bring when you put this stuff out there. Thank you. Daniel, so if people want to find you, how can they find Oh, man, definitely. Well, if you're in Miami, first of all, the little cars that have the green virus on top of them, there's a pink one running around there, too.

That's us. But if don't see one of those cars, you can either find us on social media. We're underscore flueless underscore. So that's F L U L E S S. It's black circle with white letters on it. Or if not, I mean, if it's that you got to get taken care of, you're in our neighborhood, it is 833-FLULUS. I love it. One way or the other, and I always tell everybody, even if you have questions, call. We're not going to be mad that we talked to you on the phone for 30 minutes and we don't do business with you.

Absolutely. So, one way or the other, you can reach us. One of our team members is going to be more than happy to take care of any type of question or concern that you have about any of services. Guys, and you guys will see everything down below. We're going take all of their stuff on there. Check them out. That's right, man. I appreciate it. Awesome. All right. Thanks for tuning in on a Healthy Point of View podcast. Make sure to subscribe, like, share, follow, do all the great fun stuff. Just wait until the next one.

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