Dom Rubino Shares His Unique Journey of Entrepreneurship & Building Empires

Pamela Bardhi
Hello, everyone, and welcome to another episode of underdog. Today I have an incredible guest here with me, Dominic, how are you?

Dom Rubino
I’m great. How are you? Pamela?

Pamela Bardhi
I’m doing the lovely, so grateful to have you here today. Dominic, you are a rock star, you have started so many businesses. You’ve got your podcasts, you’ve got all these amazing things happening in your world. And now I always start off with the most loaded question, because I love it. Are you ready for it?

Dom Rubino
Well, we’ll see what the question is.

Pamela Bardhi
What inspired you on your journey to where you are today?

Dom Rubino
You know, I don’t know. I did an exercise once. I’m in a business club and they have these interesting exercises to start the meetings. And somebody opened the meeting by saying. Hey, everybody write down what the quiet voice in your head says when you’re not talking, you’re doing something else. I’d never thought about it before and when I’m quiet, the only thing I hear in my head is somebody yelling, go like, Oh, that’s all I hear. Like, just charge. And so you know, I came from a European background like you did. I’m Italian, you’re Albanian. But my parents weren’t aren’t entrepreneurs. I don’t know, I’m just a wacko.

Pamela Bardhi
We’ve talked a little bit about chaos and all the madness and all of that. Now, as an entrepreneur, it always starts early. So question for you what you want to be when you grow up?

Dom Rubino
You know what I still don’t know. I came to entrepreneurship through sales. And I remember I think it was in grade seven, the school gives you these boxes of chocolates to take around to sell door to door. Well, my school gave us licorice. So we sold licorice door to door and I didn’t know they gave us this big box and in the box were other boxes. And I thought my job was to sell all the boxes. So I did and then we went back to school. The teacher said everybody handed your money in your boxes, and I said my box is empty. But here’s the money.

She’s like everybody else had sold one or something. So that was where it kind of first started. But I’ll tell you my first company ever like my first formal company was a business called, the yo Whoa, whoa, light coat. I installed Christmas lights on houses. In the Pacific Northwest on cedar shake roofs with a staple gun, I shouldn’t even be alive. That was my first formal company. The first company I sold was a pool cleaning business. And I sold that by accident.

Pamela Bardhi
So this Christmas one with the Christmas lights. So how old were you when you started that one?

Dom Rubino
I was in grade two. Well, in grade 12 I was driving, I had a Toyota pickup truck. If you ever saw Back to the Future, the Mirage Toyota pickup truck like he had that was my truck. I had a ladder on the top and I just started by saying what can I do that other people don’t want to do? And what tools can I use that other people don’t have?

I realized people are afraid of ladders. And I was too dumb to know I could be afraid of ladders and my dad has a horrible class one. I don’t think it’s even a class of ladder. He probably got it at a flea market. The thing was rickety as heck. But I just strapped it to the roof and I started knocking on doors and I said do you want me to install Christmas lights? And that was how it started.

Pamela Bardhi
So how many houses did you end up doing?

Dom Rubino
Well, I mean, I was a student and I didn’t know what I was doing. I still had two jobs at the time, I was a bartender, I was a lifeguard. And I don’t remember how many jobs I did. But when I did the math at the end of the first season, which is the end of Christmas. I made 37 bucks, I was in the black $37 I was so happy. But I knew I had lost money. And I don’t know why I did, I just had to do it.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s so I love the questions you were asking yourself. You know what I mean? Something that people don’t want to do. I mean, that’s like, that’s how you know you’re an entrepreneur at heart, I mean, honestly, I just do that stuff. Yeah, that’s incredible. Now as a kid, did you have a dream to become anything when you grew up?

Dom Rubino
The only thing I can remember is I wanted to be a veterinarian. But not really like I really didn’t have a goal like that. I was just telling you my story about taking my son because we’re renovating a rental property right now. So while we’re working on this property, my son’s 12 he didn’t want to be there. And I’m like, Listen, when I was a kid, I remember getting ready for soccer. I’m getting my uniform on and my dad comes to my bedroom door and says go get changed. Today you’re painting a house, okay. I didn’t know what painting a house meant. All I knew is I wasn’t going to place a locker, I was the captain of my soccer team.

So I just got changed into dirty clothes. And I went to my uncle’s house and Italian Colin went over to his house. It was a rental property and I learned how to paint. That was it, I didn’t really know what I wanted to be when I grew up. But which, by the way, led to some pretty weird stuff. Because I still went to university, but believe it or not, I have a degree in archaeology. It doesn’t make any sense, so it’s called a Bachelor of Arts with a focus on forensic anthropology. So I would have ended up working with police or crimes to look at crime scene remains and identify the bodies.

Pamela Bardhi
Oh, hold on. So how did you get from installing Christmas lights to pools to that archaeology? I would just love to hear, so to back up just a little bit. First off, you’re Italian. I’m Albanian, I’m across the way from you. We’re very much like I used to live in Rome when I was little my cousins still live there. I totally get it. You know, what’s really cool about foreign parents is that they throw you into the fire.

Dom Rubino
Oh, no kidding. Yeah, you’re gonna sink or you’re gonna swim. But either way, we’re gonna watch you.

Pamela Bardhi
Yep. Like, I’m gonna, I’m gonna do what that was to me. Like, when I started when I was 10. At my father’s, you know, I was like, Dad, I want to come, I want to work. He’s like, okay, instead, the front end, just talk to people and just see what they love you for and all that, you know? And then no training? Just, you know, stay at the front counter.

Dom Rubino
Yeah, yeah, there’s no straight lines. But I haven’t worried about it. I mean, I guess I did. Early days. It’s easy to talk about successes, but failures, I probably learned I have learned more from the failures I’ve had, then the successes. So my successes sound great, but my failures, just sound weak and dribbly. And like just don’t stop, keep going, you’re gonna fail. Guess what? You’re gonna fail, go fail, and then get up and do it again. Because losers stop with the first try. Was I split that maybe came across harshly? It’s the truth.

Pamela Bardhi
Yes. So Dom I’d love to hear sort of your career path, how you went from again, the Christmas lights to the pool to then argue, oh, yeah, we can talk about some of the failures and successes along the way. But that is one hell of a path. And I really want to learn all about.

Dom Rubino
Okay, so I started the Christmas light company because it was kind of fun. And I love Christmas, by the way. I love Christmas. Like nobody loves Christmas. So I did that and then I thought, well, I did okay with that during the winter. What can I do in the summer because I was a lifeguard already. I put out advertisements to clean people’s pools and so I started cleaning people’s pools. Now, remember, we’ve gone through Christmas now this was the summer after and I bought a pump like a pump to just clean the pools. And so I’m at the pool store. It’s actually the hot tub store buying chemicals. I’ve got my hands full of stuff.

This is the end of the pool cleaning season. Remember, I’m still a lifeguard. I’m still a bartender and cleaning pools on the side. Some guy behind me in line says, Hey, you want to sell your company? I’ve got junk in my hands. I turned around and said, Yeah, 30 grand. And I exchanged business cards with them. That was it, I got a phone call from him. And he goes, will you take 28, but in his life where I live, I live in Vancouver, Canada, there’s an island called Vancouver Island. Many people know that if you’ve gone on a cruise it is beautiful. But he was getting divorced on Vancouver Island and wanted to restart his life here. He was a pool guy on Vancouver Island, he happened to run into me at the store.

So he got all the money from selling his house and stuff like that. He just wanted to start again, so he got a couple of accounts for me. I gave him my pool pump and the pole. And that was it, I got $20,000, I went back to you then I started University. Yeah. Drink the money. Listen, I was a first-year university student. It is so easy to start a business and sell it by standing in line. And I was making great money as a lifeguard and on bartending. Like money didn’t come, I worked all the time. You know, I would sleep by passing out at home like just absolutely fall asleep exhausted, but then get up and do it again.

Pamela Bardhi
And you just thought of it like a random number in your head. 30k and that was it.

Dom Rubino
I had cool chemicals in my hand, I just turned around to it. Yeah, 30 grand, I don’t know that number doesn’t even make sense. It doesn’t make any sense at all. But he said he came back and negotiated. And that was it.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s insane. Oh my gosh. Wow.

Dom Rubino
Yeah. Anyways, it never got easier than that. That was the easiest sale I’ve made. But then I went to university and you know, I just sort of just bubbled through the universe. I don’t really remember University, not because I was doing anything crazy. But I was just always trying to start companies or start businesses.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. So when did you declare your major of archaeology? Because I would love to know how you found it interesting. Was it like CSI or something?

Dom Rubino
Actually, yeah, Indiana Jones had just come out on TV or in the movies, but my family is really big into hunting and fishing. So in it There, they got to be Yeti, but the forest police, you would call it right. And so my whole family here is into hunting and so just that hunting and outdoor lifestyle. Lends itself more to Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and understanding more about them and how they hunted is just super interesting to me. So I gravitated, I got better marks in those classes, so I took more of those classes. That was it and then before you knew it, I sort of looked at my sheet and I’m like, Oh. I could declare a major and so I did. And that was it.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible.

Dom Rubino
I made a mockery of university, I didn’t do it that way, I did it, I just spent money and time, I was there for seven years, but I’m not a doctor. Like it took me forever.

Pamela Bardhi
Oh, like, what? So throughout your journey, what have you had sources of inspiration or mentors or people who really shaped you in your world throughout your journey?

Dom Rubino
Yeah, so one of them is my uncle who I worked with as a framer. Again, summertimes. I remember one of the things he told me which I actually really admired at first, I was hurt. But on the first day on the job, I show up, and I’m like, hey, uncle, Julio, and you go, stop. Don’t call me your uncle. They’re gonna rip you apart. These guys. My name is Julio, and don’t talk to me at all. I’m like, Holy, this is my favorite uncle. And he told me to disown me and ignore me. He goes because these guys are gonna rip you apart if they know you’re my nephew and so I just worked hard.

And I never called him my uncle, which is still weird to me and is one of my favorites. Pamela, I have hundreds of families, so for him to be one of my favorite uncles. It’s a big thing. He was certainly an influence. For me watching him work, always happy working, always happy swinging a hammer, carrying wood, whatever, but working hard. So that was an influence. And my parents really even though they both worked in unions, they were just workers, but they worked. They wouldn’t accept not giving your best. So I think those kinds of things influenced me.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. And so from university past that point, what was your trajectory like past that? Because you’d mentioned you’re like, I didn’t really learn much.

Dom Rubino
Disaster, I thought I was going to become a real estate agent. So I tried that for a bit, I didn’t like it at all. And then I have a natural affinity for sales. I love selling and so I was trying to sell my services as a realtor. And I was going after this specific vertical called fizz bows for sale by the owner. Yeah, anybody who knows real estate would understand a fizbo. It’s the hardest thing you could do to go to somebody who hates real estate agents and try to convince them to list their home with you. So I’m sitting in front of this family, and I’m doing my pitch. My presentation and the guy looks at me goes, do you like what you do? I do like yeah, three-pronged approach. We’re going to list you though, like this.

So he was a headhunter and a recruiter. He put me through an interview process and I got a job with Sprint, the telecommunications company. And it took me seven interviews, but I got a job and suddenly, I was a corporate guy. I was with sprint for seven years after that. When I left I was the manager of the prairie region. So the Midwest region sales manager, that’s how I got through all that. But, boy, there’s a lot of pain in there. There’s a lot of eating barbecue sauce sandwiches because I had no money. No commissions. It was tough.

Pamela Bardhi
Wow. And you are just getting into the corporate role, but at least you. It seems like you enjoyed it a little bit more than the real estate agent stuff.

Dom Rubino
Oh yeah, I didn’t like being a realtor. I didn’t like it at all, It wasn’t for me, I love real estate. Don’t get me wrong. It sounds like you’re a real estate mogul. You’re doing what other people dream of. I love that part. But I don’t want to be a real estate agent. And I know you’re one of those too, but I just it’s not for me.

Pamela Bardhi
Oh yeah, no, I totally get you. I don’t like anything that’s super sales on my end, too. And it’s like, I know Mine is like a referral basis to I’m like, I don’t like the whole. You know what I mean? Fishing, fishing for clients, or anything like that. Like, yeah, if you’re referring to me, like, let’s go, let’s get it rocking and rolling, but like to cold call and get like the sale stuff. I’m like, yeah.

Dom Rubino
Let’s jump forward on that. There are many versions of my life that took a path, but I’m actually a professional sales trainer. I used to work with a guy named Brian Tracy, who’s a very big name in sales and sales, improvement in business, and business improvement. And so I was his business partner. I bought the rights to franchise his business coaching concept around the world. And so that was the company just before this one. Now, when I bought it from Brian, we had six franchisees, and then over 13 years, I built it up to 237 units, and I sold it,

Pamela Bardhi
Rockstar. So how’d you go from sprint to going back into your own businesses?

Dom Rubino
See, I told you, there’s no straight lines, so I left the sprint, I was messing around in corporate for a while I started selling us junk on eBay. I was getting burned out as a corporate guy. So I would go to garage sales and flea markets and those storage blockers and I’d buy whatever I think, I could sell on eBay. I would sell this stuff on eBay. And then we weren’t making very good money. But my cousin and I started we had all this junk and we started in my uncle’s two-car garage, the same Uncle Uncle Julio? Yeah, the guy who was the framer, had a two-car garage, it was empty. So we rented it from when we started loading it with crap and we’re selling it on eBay. But there’s a whole bunch of things going on.

Our feedback rating was dropping and so I got frustrated. And I said to my cousin, listen, we got to change this business, this business doesn’t work. So I started reading a lot of books and I started reading how to run a business properly. How to turn around a company while it’s already running, instead of just shutting it. And then that’s when I learned about business coaching, this is back in 89 or 90 and so I went to a coffee shop and we’re not talking about a nice place. This was half a gas station, half a coffee shop and I sat there and I wrote out those questions again, how can I? How can I run a business that does this, this and that, how can we sell products that people can understand easily, can ship easily, etc.

And so I narrowed it down, we were going to sell books, we were going to sell magazines. Or we were going to sell records, like LP records. So whatever happened, I narrowed it down to books. And then I said, Okay, well, if I want to sell books, and this is the average sale cost of a book because the internet existed at the time. I could check on Amazon or on another website or eBay. See how much a book could sell for and I said, Okay, I need 250,000 books in inventory. But Pamela, this is classic Dominic, I got bored, I got tired of the coffee shop. So I didn’t do the volume calculation for how much space 250,000 books takes. I just got bored.

So I left there and went to my cousin. I said this what we got to do so we started selling books. I’m going to go faster here. From books, I started selling over-the-counter medications from over-the-counter medications, we brought on a pharmacist. And then I turned into a mail order pharmacy from Canada selling medications to the United States. So this is one of the success stories that make it all sound easy.

When I sold that business. We were doing 120 million in sales, I had a call center of 120 people which because of my telecom background, I knew how to run call centers and how to manage call centers. And then I had 40 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians working on it so I sold that. That’s when I bought the global franchising rights from Brian Tracy. I sold that three years ago after running it for 13 years. See, there’s no straight lines. I’m sorry, It might sound confusing. It makes sense to me. But you can’t plan it. You can’t map it right. It’s,

Pamela Bardhi
I love the journey, I love the step-by-step because I know there’s so much to it. And it’s never a straight line and that’s what I love. That’s awesome. Wow, isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that amazing? To be on? You cranked out to 120 million in revenue, but you don’t what’s really cool. And for anybody who’s listening right now, you know that job you took on and at sprint. Most people would be like, why the hell do you do that? Like what is that for, but truly like to look at because of your knowledge of what you learn there. You’re able to apply it to your new business that then generated 120 million.

And this is what I love about stories like this, where there’s no straight lines. Because you realize that one part of your journey is attached to another without you even. Yeah, and that’s why I tell people I’m like, just start somewhere, because wherever it is that you’re meant to be. There’s never a coincidence, because whatever job, no matter how minuscule. It may look to you, it has a purpose for your future to get you that even if it’s not your dream job. Take it because something there will apply in the future. Don’t just discount, you know, jobs, any job because you just don’t know who you’re gonna meet, don’t know what you’re gonna learn. What you’re gonna you know what I mean? And like every piece of your journey has been applicable,

Dom Rubino
You can work to learn or you can work to earn, I like to work to learn, like, what did I learn there? I just got my nose broken on that deal. Oh, my God, what did I learn? Because I don’t want to do that again. It was horrible, I lost money, I lost my pride, whatever I lost in that deal. Like I better learn from this. There’s no use doing that again and so I like to learn from it. And then I try to make money along the way.

Pamela Bardhi
You’re amazing and now you’re your own business coach, and you’re fantastic. And you’ve got your podcast and profit tool belt cabinet. Yeah. All these amazing things. That’s so through your franchise with Brian. And then you went off and you know you’re doing your own thing. Yeah,

Dom Rubino
Yeah. So even if you go back to the days of that sprint. What sprint really taught me how to do was bring the corporate structure of metrics and KPIs and knowing what to ignore and what to pay attention to. So they kind of trained me as a business coach, the very beginning of it. After I left sprint, and while I was running the bookstore that became a pharmacy. I also became a business coach. And so the business coaching, I learned how and so my specialty in business coaching is turnaround.

There’s different specialties you can be as a business coach like anything. And I’m the guy who can show you how to rebuild the plane while you’re flying. That’s my specialty in the world of business coaching, and I like small to medium businesses and I like working with medical Julio, I love contractors. So when I decided, I’d sold the business with Brian Tracy, this is just now three years ago like I got to do something that I love. I don’t want to travel anymore. I’m so tired to travel. So I host two podcasts for the construction industry and I help construction owners all over the world.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. I love it. You’re in your niche and I always say riches are in the niches, my friend.

Dom Rubino
You’re right. Yeah, you’re so right. Know the niche and then just hammer it

Pamela Bardhi
Oh yeah, because if you know your avatar, I mean, you know exactly how to market who to market and how to sell lemon.

Dom Rubino
Right, if you’re good at bathroom renovations, don’t do fences, do the bathroom. Reto, right. And if you’re good at fences, maybe don’t do bathroom renovations, either, like. Whatever, whatever your specialty is, own it and be really good at it and you’ll figure out how to have a great business, make great money, enjoy your life.

Pamela Bardhi
Amen, I mean, I see your uncle’s been a big influence in your world, which is so fun and cool. So fanatical now, in the sphere of business coaching now. Because you’ve seen you built your own businesses and then you’ve also helped other people build businesses. What are some of the key points of advice that you would give in creating a business I mean. It could be broad or could be specific to the construction, whichever one you feel

Dom Rubino
So there are so many places to start. But first, I think, get your own ego off the table, be ready to be a student. Because what got you here makes you great, but if you want to get to something different. And it’s not always revenue, family, you know that it’s not always about money. It’s about time, it’s sometimes about taking care of your parents, you need a business that can give you balance. So you can take your daughter to dance after school, like whatever you want to do.

Whatever that is, okay? Now, make the business fit and don’t do it the other way. So figure that out. But then go out there and be ready to be a student and to learn. You asked me what secrets I have. My book is called construction, millionaire secrets. There’s 20 secrets in there. That’s not the purpose of today’s meeting. But there’s a book where I wrote down the big things I learned in boardrooms and in construction trailers all around the world. Just get out there and learn. Please don’t assume that you know it all. And then don’t assume that you don’t know at all. It’s a fine balance, go out there and test things and see Oh, that didn’t work. I better try something else. Hey, who can I ask?

One of the things that I’ve learned now and this is going to be my third or fourth iteration of a business is I’m just hiring smart people. I’m done with trying to do it myself. And I know Pamela, you and I, just before the call. We’re joking because I was cleaning out a rental apartment this weekend. I should have hired a guy every minute I’m there. I’m like, why didn’t I hire a guy? And I’m shoveling broken drywall into a bucket. We named the bucket Steve like, we just had fun with it. My son and I, but what are we doing? Anyways, I now believe I should hire the right professional.

Hire an engineer, hire somebody who’s a home inspector who knows what they’re doing. Give me the right information, hire a coach. I’m not saying to myself, just hire the information. Because you can buy that info faster than you can learn it on your own. It’s a waste of time and money, hire the right accountant. You may have to get rid of your account, get the right account.

Pamela Bardhi
Amen. Now to the entrepreneurs listening that may be struggling with that whole piece of outsourcing. Like what you’re about right now. Because that’s the hardest thing for an entrepreneur to do is to let go and bring in more people I know, I’ve struggled with that. I’m still working on it day by day. Yeah, it’s a hard thing to do. So what would be your best piece of advice in terms of that. Because that’s one of the keys to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Back away from your business and let people who are better than you do their job.

Dom Rubino
It’s so funny, you say that because that’s the direction I’m taking right now. So I brought on to practice leaders in my business. One of them that just does accounting, and one of them that just does marketing. Because what I found is when I’m showing people how to turn around their businesses, there’s gaps. They’re very good, technically, they know how to weld or they know how to do steel roofs or they know how to do flat roofs, they know how to shingle, whatever. Or they knew how to do cabinetry.

But what they don’t know is marketing, which is fair. Because they didn’t grow up wanting to be a marketer. They grew up wanting to be a cabinet maker or working cement, whatever it is. So I have a marketing specialist on board. And I have an accounting specialist on board those two things. Those are like your generals going into battle when you have those generals in place. You can grow the business any direction you want. Because when you need data, you go to the accountant, when you need action, you go to the marketing person. So the marketing is like your horses and your tanks and all that stuff.

And the person in the back is your accountant saying, you know, we only have food for three more days. Or whatever the battle plan is. So you need those generals in the background. Helping you so you can steer the ship, so that’s my goal now is I want to make sure. People have the right information right there to make the right decisions for them. So I’ve changed my practice now to bring in Raul and Mark to help me with that.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s fantastic. And you’re basically letting them do their things. Basically, you just gotta let go of the reins.

Dom Rubino
You let go of the reins, but you still tell the horse where to go. Right. So you say to the marketing person. In this case, Mark, you say mark, this is what I want to create. Mark, here are the numbers that we’re going to measure success by what does success looks like? This is the corporate-speak, this is Dom at sprint. Now, this is corporate Dom talking. What good looks like, let’s put that on paper.

Once we agree to that, I’m going to hold you accountable. And that’s how we’re going to have this meeting. Same thing with the accountant and then let them go. I’ve hired good people and trust them. When they screw up, hold them accountable. If they keep screwing up, let him go. There’s just no other way to shorten that sentence. But that’s how it works. That’s how I see it.

Pamela Bardhi
I love it. So basically, you outsource the items in your business that basically you can then train them out. And then from there, I’m not excellent.

Dom Rubino
Yeah, measure, measure, measure. And I said, let them go too quickly. I don’t mean let somebody go. If they don’t hit their metric, I work with them. But when I’m running a business for $500,000, I have a certain set of systems. I’m actually running the perfect half $1,000,000.05 $100,000 business. It’s perfect, It’s already running at 500,000. But it’s not the perfect million-dollar business. I need different systems, I need different processes, I might need different people, which is very difficult.

Because the person you hired when you were at zero revenue. Who lent you their truck, when yours broke down, who took you to the job sites. When you’re only doing 250 grand a year, you all those people a little bit. They’re good people and they got you to 250 or 500 grand, but they’re not going to get you to a million. And so you have to make some tough decisions. But you can make kind and honorable decisions as you grow the business.

Pamela Bardhi
Love it. Yeah, I mean, just basically putting those systems in place. And that’s what’s going to take you to the next level. Because I find that a lot of entrepreneurs, it’s like the solo printer. What would you say to them, specifically, the most important thing in Tom’s book for the solo quick.

Dom Rubino
Keep going, keep learning. If you’re listening to Pamela’s podcast, thumbs up, keep listening to Pamela. Because you’re amazing. You’ve got a great story. You’re very inspirational. That’s a magnetic force I can work towards. So to anybody listening to this show, keep listening to the show. And Pamela, please don’t be offended. Go listen to other shows. Like if you’re listening to Pamela’s show, go find somebody else who you find successful or who inspires you. Or at least makes you think a little bit differently, even if maybe they kind of get under your skin. But listen to them and then take action. And it’s a slow process, but you’ll get there.

Pamela Bardhi
I love it. Tom, thank you so much for sharing that. And now look, what’s new in your world, Dominic, what’s the next six to 12 months looking like in your world?

Dom Rubino
Well, you know, I’ve hired these two practice managers mark and roll. I’ve also hired a guy named Dakota, who helps me manage them. So that’s going to be a big shift in my business. I’m putting a lot more emphasis on my marketing and on my internal systems. Because like anybody else, I’m really good at this level of business. But I want to grow it to another level of business. And I want to teach other people around me how to help more people be successful and I can’t do it one on one.

Like one on one, I can maybe work with 15 or 20 people in the world. It’s become so apparent I have two podcasts and the amount of traffic I get, like people asking for help I spend more time saying no. And I shouldn’t really, I should have other options for them. So that’s for me, I’ve got to find out if I’m really going to help people. I’ve got to change what I’m doing to help more people.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s fantastic. Yeah, I mean, have you thought about, digital courses and all that? All that good stuff?

Dom Rubino
Yeah, that’s all I have digital courses, but also bringing on mark and rule is what helps, you know, my, the sweet spot for me is businesses. They’re doing like a million to maybe eight or 10 million. Yeah, because those guys, those guts, people, they need those generals. They need a marketing general and they need an accounting General, they maybe need me in the operations, whatever. But they just need new people on their team to help them grow to where they need to go.

Pamela Bardhi
 I’m so happy to hear that the demand is there and everything. That’s amazing.

Dom Rubino
Everybody wants something more and again, pallets not always money. The most compelling, actually the most heart-wrenching story I’ve ever heard. You know, I’m having a conversation with people. I’m like, how can I help you? How do I want to make more money? Okay, how many times have I heard I want to make more money?

But then I asked a few more questions and most people were pretty shallow. I want to make more money so I can do this, I want to buy a newer truck, a bigger boat, prettier cottage, nicer Lake, all that stuff. And then one day, this guy said to me, Well, my mom’s old and she’s in a home. We can’t afford more. She’s in a shared room with three other ladies. So she’s in a quad it’s called and one of the other ladies in this shared room has dementia.

And she’s up all night yelling and screaming because my mom can’t sleep. She raised me and I need to make more money so I can get her a private room, she deserves that. Man, that guy was the best client ever because he knew his why like his Why take care of my mom. Now I want a bigger truck. I mean, no offense if you want a bigger truck, that’s great.

But what’s your real Why? If your daughter wants to skate at a national level, and you have to fly to Philadelphia every two weeks to do that, that’s why you gotta do that. So once people understand what’s really driving them, everything else falls to the side. They’re just like I said, it’s magnetic. It pulls me to that.

I get pulled to shores and shows like yours I get pulled to a goal like that. There’s no pushing. It’s so easy. You’re just following it. Get my mom her own suite. How simple is that? But this guy couldn’t do it. And slowly I helped him do it. That’s incredible.

Pamela Bardhi
That’s incredible. No, you’re why that’s the number one thing. The number one thing I mean? Once I figured out my why and was attentional about it, that’s when the game changed. Because it will ask you, yeah, of course. What’s your WHY?

My family, my parents, and my brother. They made a huge sacrifice to come to the United States with nothing. And my thing was, I want to make sure they don’t ever have to worry about a bill ever again and their lives because of what they did for me. To come with a newborn, my brother, and me at five years old with none of our family here.

Didn’t know how to speak English, barely had any money, and didn’t have a job lined up. That’s scary. Like you literally they put it all on the line for us to have a better life. So it’s like a course I have. You know what I mean? Like you, so driven. I’m like them. You’re absolutely correct that your why literally floats, floats you forward like it becomes less about everything else. And just all you can see is that

Dom Rubino
It pulls me forward, pulls me like the center of my chest just pulls me. Yeah, my parents, my dad tells me he goes, I came home from work one day, I went to apply for a new job. And I came out, took my jacket off and hung it up and somebody had spit on it.

He didn’t know it was on the back of his jacket, because I just want a job. But he walked through the shop and somebody spit on him because he’s Italian. And at the time, Italians were the dirtiest, mangy asked, why would you hire an Italian. He didn’t know until he got home. He’s like, who spit on me. And he really was when I walked through that shop, somebody spits on me. But you know what, he’s probably the greatest worker you’d ever get. He’s one of those Italian guys that when you put an assistant with any fires. People before minutes, come over and say, Joe, you’re not actually allowed to fire people. You’re like a senior fabricator. But you’re not allowed to fire people, he would say, this guy’s an idiot, but great, great work.

You know, he was a welder. I think it’s the same panel in my family. And maybe to go back to the question you asked answered earlier. Yeah, I’m the same as you. That came with nothing. I wouldn’t have the guts to do that. If you ask me right now to move to Paraguay and start again. Huh? Why? Paraguay? Okay, yeah, what am I going to do there and who do I know and where am I going to live? What does it look like? And what’s the weather?

What Would Dominic Older Self Tell His Younger Self

Pamela Bardhi
Yeah. They were like, my dad was like, most help. And he’s like, nope, we’re gonna go to the US and have a better life. Our kids. We’re not staying here. Nope, nope. So what an amazing thing and your parents, my parents, like we’re built this way because of them, which is absolutely incredible. Oh, lots of them. And Dom, my favorite question for you is, what would your older self tell your younger self, based on what you know now?

Dom Rubino
I do everything with passion, I sleep with passion, I eat with passion, I work out with passion. I’m in this interview with you right now with passion. Like everything’s just like the moment, my older self would probably say, dude, you got to chill out. At the same time, my older self would say help more people. Like, I’m glad you help some people.

Whatever I do, I don’t want to leave with a whisper, I want to, I want to make sure that when I go, this is actually what I want. And I know COVID has impacted this. But when I die, I want the church to be packed and flowing out on the street, not for people happy to have gone, but from people going down that he was a good guy. And they turned to each other. They don’t even know each other in the crowd you go, you know, Dom helped me with this or that and somebody else says. You know what Dom helped us with. That would be the greatest accomplishment of my life if I just helped a bunch of regular people amazing.

Pamela Bardhi
And I think you’re doing that already. Dom Truly, I mean, I think you are, you know, slow or you’re trying to figure out how to expand your reach and you’re getting there, my friend. You’ve already helped seven people and you’re well on your way to help more and more. So that’s fantastic. I love that I love your message of chill out to my name. Because I was always looking to the next thing and the next thing and the next day. I was very rarely in the now and I still sometimes I’m that way. And I try to reel it back and I’m like, Listen, you got to enjoy the present. It’s a gift for a reason. Wow. Thank you, Tom. Thanks so much for sharing that day. You gotta know where to find you, Dom. Where Can everybody find this?

Dom Rubino
Unfortunately, these days with the internet if you can’t find me, you’re not looking. Because my marketing guide mark is really good if you’re in construction trades. And I know Pamela you probably have lots of people in the construction trades listening to you. I have a show called Prophets toolbelt. So you can listen to the show there, Watch the YouTube videos. And then if you’re in cabinetry or finished with trades, I have a cabinet maker Profit System.

Pamela Bardhi
Absolutely. No, please do it. Construction. millionaire secrets. Dominic Rubino, you guys got to check that out on Amazon. Love it, love it. You are incredible. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I absolutely loved it. I’m so grateful to have you, my friend. Thank you so much.

Dom Rubino
Thank you. And just a reminder to anybody who loves Pamela. She’s on my podcast too. So you can hear me grilling her on the hot seat on my show too.

Pamela Bardhi
Dom, Thank you so much.