Christine Schlonski [0:02]
Hey gorgeous. This is episode number 198 with the wonderful Rennie Gabriel.

Rennie Gabriel [0:09]
Hi, this is Rennie Gabriel. You are listening to the Heart Sells! Podcast with Christine Schlonski. Enjoy.

Christine Schlonski [0:17]
I’m so super excited to have Rennie on Heart Sells! Podcast today to share his story and his success with us. He went from broke at the age of 5o to multi-millionaire in a few years while only earning $5,000 per month. His story is inspiring and uplifting and what I love about Rennie’s work right now is that he actually lives on his investment income and donates 100% of the profits that he earns from his book from his training and coachings to an organization called www.ShelterToSoldier.org and we will find out more about this in the conversation. So I hope you enjoy and you will be as inspired as I am. Hi, Rennie! I’m so excited to have you on Heart Sells! Podcast today. Welcome.

Rennie Gabriel [1:11]
Thank you. Thank you for having me on, the pleasure.

Christine Schlonski [1:14]
I was so looking forward to this interview because you have such an incredible story to share that I’m really, really excited because we kind of teased about it the other day, but it’s not really teasing. You went actually from picking up bottles to get some cash in your pockets, broke so to speak at age 50 to multi-millions now, like, how does that happen?

Rennie Gabriel [1:47]
It happens with a change of attitude in terms of what’s possible, and not doing it by myself. One of the reasons I had a couple of business, a business failure, and a couple divorces is I was trying to do too much on my own. What I discovered was wealth creation is a team sport. It’s not a solo sport. That makes, that was one of the major shifts that occurred. And oh, by the way, and it wasn’t just the bottles, it was also canned.

Christine Schlonski [2:23]
Sorry for missing that part.

Rennie Gabriel [2:27]
It’s half the income to buy food for the family.

Christine Schlonski [2:30]
That’s true. I love these inspiring stories. Because often, and we all have blocks, we all have challenges and sometimes beliefs that are not serving us. So listening to others who have made a huge change in their life and become really, really successful and are so heart centered as you are. Because as I already said in the intro, you donate 100% of what you do right now to the organization’s www.ShelterToSoldier.org which helps rescue dogs and service animals.

Rennie Gabriel [3:13]
Let me talk about the charity so any of your listeners who want to go online and find out about it can do it, www.ShelterToSoldier.org and what they do is they rescue dogs from high kill environments. If the dog has the right temperament and the right size, it becomes a service dog for soldiers who’ve come back with post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injuries and because service members are coming back and committing suicide at the rate of almost one an hour. They may be certified to get a service dog but it doesn’t mean they can afford $25,000 or $30,000 to buy it. They can barely function. And this charity is rescuing and saving two lives at a time, the dog that would have been euthanized. We’re killing about 1800 dogs a day. When it’s paired with the soldier and the soldier is trained on how to use the dog as well, not one soldier committed suicide is received their service dog. So this charity is saving two lives at a time. That’s why I can give, or that’s why that’s my motivation for doing the work I do at this point because I don’t have to work. They get 100% of the profits from my online work, my coaching and stuff like that. It’s my honor to donate to them.

Christine Schlonski [4:42]
Yeah, awesome. And I just love it when you have the power to decide what you do with your money.

Rennie Gabriel [4:51]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [4:52]
And if you have to work or if you don’t have to work and then when you want to work, it changes the whole dynamic of your life.

Rennie Gabriel [5:02]
Absolutely. I support other people to create work as a choice instead of a requirement. And the objective isn’t to create financial freedom, that’s what occurs. The objective is to create more philanthropists.

Christine Schlonski [5:19]
And to give people choices, right?

Rennie Gabriel [5:22]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [5:22]
I feel when we have choices, we are just happier.

Rennie Gabriel [5:25]
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, happy is nice, but it’s also self-centered. I’m looking to support people who want to be giving back.

Christine Schlonski [5:33]
Yeah, well, if you’re happy, you are more likely to give back then when you’re totally caught up in your problems and challenges and don’t know what to do the next day.

Rennie Gabriel [5:42]
You’re right. I agree with you.

Christine Schlonski [5:44]
Yeah, there’s this beautiful saying I don’t know who said it, “Hurt people hurt people.” I find that so true when you look at people just snapping at each other. They have some kind of hurt and I added to that, “Happy people make people happy.”

Rennie Gabriel [6:03]
That makes a lot of sense. You need to write that down and claim it.

Christine Schlonski [6:09]
There is a hashtag already. But I just like this philosophy. So what you’re doing with your work as you help people to go to that space so they can care about others because they can take the focus of pure survival, and start giving back. So I really, really love that. But let me ask you because you said you had a business failure. You had a couple of divorces. But now when we talked, you seem so confident. Has this always been the case? Or was this a journey?

Rennie Gabriel [6:45]
No, it was absolutely a journey and it involved seminars and workshops and therapy and masterminds and all of the things that involve getting support from other people. One of the things that I noticed as an example when it comes to changing attitudes, or solving problems there, oftentimes people will sit and dwell on the problem, they spin it around and they had, you know, they replay the tapes over and over again. And what I found is that, in a situation where you’re talking to someone else, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman, but you’re talking about what it is that’s concerning you and it’s actually falling out of your mouth. All of a sudden, the reality of it hits you, the solutions show up because you actually dropped it out of your mouth and you got to hear it bouncing off of someone else. And even the other person doesn’t contribute. All of a sudden you’ve got a new insight.

Christine Schlonski [7:53]
Yeah, I totally agree. That’s why we all have coaches and mentors, right? Because that’s what happens. I love that, that you also say it is a team sport, becoming wealthy as a team sport because often what I see so many entrepreneurs, they’re trying so hard and they give everything but they still don’t really get to the place where they want to be, especially when it comes to selling. What have you found on your path to this massive success that helped you to become a better salesperson?

Rennie Gabriel [8:34]
I think the key to me was not just selling something, but selling something that you really believed in and was important to you. You know, there are people who sell photocopy machines and they’re people who sell hair cutting supplies or whatever. And you know, they earn a decent living at it doesn’t mean they’re passionate about it. Doesn’t mean it touches their heart. It’s sort of like, okay, you sell a photocopy machine. What does that doing for the business? What is it doing for another individual? I mean, what’s it really doing? And there are, I mean, hey, photocopy machines make businesses more efficient, and they can be more profitable on and on and on. But if it’s not really important to the salesperson that’s going to be conveyed. The person that you’re talking to can see if you are really committed to what you’re doing or not and if your heart is in it or not. People who are in tune with what’s going on around them can tell whether or not someone else has their heart into it or not. I’m sure Christine that you’ve experienced this, where someone’s talking to you, and you can feel, they don’t really care. They’re using the right words but they don’t really care.

Christine Schlonski [10:01]
Yes, yeah, totally. That’s why I created Heart Sells! Podcast and do everything around heart selling, so that people can learn how to sell this ease and grace and from that authentic space where they can really care. I mean, that’s you said, people will feel that. If I don’t feel good in a sales conversation with someone who wants to sell something to me, and it’s not a product or service that I need, I’m not going to work with them because I know they’re not going to take great care of me.

Rennie Gabriel [10:37]
Yeah, they’re going to make one sale and they’re moving on. One of the things that, people that I work with have told me is that they are surprised by the level of support that they get. And the point is, that’s what I’m, therefore. I am there to support them to accomplish what’s important to them. And it’s not a job for me. I don’t have to do this. It’s really, I want to reach out. I want other people to know they are being taken care of, they feel taken care of, and they’re going to prosper. And the results that my clients get is a demonstration that, “Yes, that works.”

Christine Schlonski [11:18]
Yeah, totally. So now you are in that space where you don’t need to work anymore. It’s not a requirement. It’s something you want to do. But many of our listeners probably feel like they can’t work long enough or fast enough to get to space where it feels more comfortable. What can you suggest they do to, maybe because you said attitude at the beginning to change the attitude or to change the mindset and really tap into this wealth mindset?

Rennie Gabriel [11:52]
One of the basic, most foundational, most important areas is to use a concept that’s 5000 years old. When you and I are dust, this concept will still be working. It was written about in a book called The Richest Man in Babylon. And there are two sides to this. It’s called pay yourself first. And what it means is, you must treat yourself like you deserve to own some of the money you’re earning. And the way that’s done is you pay yourself first, instead of money going to the rent or the grocer or the utilities or car payments or transportation or whatever. A certain amount of money is set aside for you to keep for the rest of your life that you will be able to invest later and it will generate an income so the money is working instead of you working. So the first thing is to pay yourself first. And the second thing about that is, that wealthy people ask questions when they hear familiar information. Here’s what I’m getting at. I run across people over and over and over again who say, “Oh, pay yourself first. I’ve heard of that. That’s not new to me. I know that or maybe even I’ve done that.”

Christine Schlonski [13:18]
I have done that.

Rennie Gabriel [13:20]
Okay, well, here are the differences.

Christine Schlonski [13:22]
I’m hearing that. I have done that means I’m not doing it anymore.

Rennie Gabriel [13:27]
Yeah, that’s right. What I’m getting at those a wealthy person, when they hear familiar information, they don’t make statements like, “I’ve done that.” They asked questions like, when will I return to doing that? Or where should I be putting the money? How can I best invest it? Who can support me with it? They asked questions like, what when, where, how or who. By the way, they don’t ask why. Why is not a question that produces answers that move people forward. But the other questions do. So that’s the difference in the attitude. Wealthy people ask questions when they hear familiar information. So they want to know how can they implement it. And they are paying themselves first. They’re not paying down debt first. They’re not paying other people first, they’re paying themselves first. So those two attitudes are intertwined. And that is what supported me to create the level of wealth that I have today.

Christine Schlonski [14:34]
I love the book, The Richest Man in Babylon, I’m going to put it in the show notes as well because I think it’s really, really valuable for people to read that. Just coming back to the concept pay yourself first, because that’s totally something people struggle with, I would say, and I know that I’m struggling with it. When you have people that have a business that’s more like a roller coaster. It seems so difficult to just take a certain amount of money and think it’s in the book, it’s 10%, and put it away because then it’s still there and you have access.

Rennie Gabriel [15:12]
Yes. It’s like training muscles. When you’re working with your own body, and I’ll use this analogy, you have the opportunity to diet to lose weight, and you have the opportunity to lift weights so that you can build muscle. I look at paying down debt, and we’ll get to the roller coaster part of it soon. Paying down debt is like dieting. If you want to build muscles, dieting is not going to do it. You actually have to lift weights. And most people start with what they can lift at the time and then they build up. So the book talks about 10%. Well, maybe someone has to start at 1%, 2%, 3%, 5% instead, and work their way up to 10%. That’s number one. Number two is, I give you the example of an attorney. I have gotten together with him and I was suggesting this is one of the things he needed to do. And he would say, “I can’t pay myself first. The income from the practice goes up and down, and I might have $6,000 of bills to pay, but only $5,500 came in”, and I say, “Okay, fine. So let me ask you this. If from that $5,500 that came in, you set aside $500 and now you’re $1,000 short and paying your bills. What difference does it really make? Your short either way, but now you’ve actually set aside money that’s yours and you’ve shown that some of this, and I’m saying you deserve to own some of this money earned.” So we were talking about the book The Richest Man in Babylon, and the concept that’s 5000 years old. It’s like treating yourself like you deserve to own some of the money you’re earning as I said, and I’m comparing it to dieting versus building muscles. I mean, when a business owner is on a roller coaster with their income, they still need to treat themselves, like they deserve to own some of this money that’s coming in. And they don’t have to start with 10%. Like it says in the book. They just have to get started, whether it’s 1%, 2%, 3%, 5%. It’s that act of building muscles and you can’t build muscles if you’re dieting, which is paying other people. You can only build muscles by lifting weights, which is treating yourself like some of that money is yours to keep, you save it. Ultimately on debt, invested. Maybe, maybe when things are tough, you might have to reach into that part of the money that you started saving to pay something that’s really vital. But if you hadn’t saved it, you wouldn’t have it even dip into.

Christine Schlonski [18:08]
That’s a very good point.

Rennie Gabriel [18:11]
Let me give you an example of an attorney that I worked with. He was saying that the bills generally are, let’s say, $6,000 a month for his practice. He might only have $5,500 of revenue that comes in. Well, let me use another example. The example I used with him was, he had $5,800 says, “I’m already $200 short and paying all my bills. How am I going to pay myself first?” They said, “So then just take $200 or $300, set that aside. So now you’re $500 short on paying your bills. Before you were $200 short on paying your bills. What difference does it make? You’re still short, but now you actually have some money that’s yours to show. You’ve got something to keep from all this work that you’re doing. Before you had nothing to even show for it. He actually started doing that. The funniest part about it is, this is what I love when he started treating himself like some of this money was his keep, his revenue started increasing. He was no longer just a conduit for the money coming in and going out like a lot of small business owners. He was now benefiting from that money that was flowing through because he was siphoning off some of it to keep for himself. That helped his income grow in the business.

Christine Schlonski [19:41]
Yeah, I love these concepts. So when people actually become better in sales, when they don’t forget to make offers or invitations, when they dare to ask for what they want to ask for and not just, for half of it or a quarter of it, when they really go for, for what they desire. Obviously, that needs to be backed up by the value they deliver, then they, well, they need to start putting something aside so they can build wealth.

Rennie Gabriel [20:17]
Yes. I’m going to add something to that. I know you’re aware of this. It’s not just asking for what they want, but actually letting the person know that they’re speaking to why this is important to that person, how they are really there to support the person that they’re talking to. Because I remember a meeting I had many years ago that I was talking to someone about changing careers and joining me in the work I was doing, and I don’t remember what kind of work, I think she was working in a restaurant. She was earning an okay living but it certainly didn’t light her up and I was talking to her about changing careers joining me and selling artwork. I was really pushing hard because I truly believe this was going to be in her best interest to change careers. This is a hundred 30 years, 35 years ago. To this day, she still thanks me for getting her into the art business because she loves it. To this day, from that day forward, she stayed in the art business in one form or another, either representing artists, representing printers, representing people who framed art. I mean, in some way it was always tied to providing art to people and enhancing their lives in that way. 35 years later, she’s thanking me for pushing her into that, and I did, I pushed her into it because I saw for her that was what was really need.

Christine Schlonski [22:01]
Yeah, you said something very important. And that is the reason why so many people actually choose the past to be an entrepreneur. You said something that lights you up.

Rennie Gabriel [22:14]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [22:15]
So now our listeners, most of them have something that lights them up, that they love to do. But when it comes to the selling piece, they really have a tough time. Have you always been a good or great salesperson? Was that always easy? Can you take us a little bit behind the scenes so that people can understand that it might be a learnable skill and get some insights.

Rennie Gabriel [22:48]
Yes, it’s absolutely learnable. I recall it when I started. I wasn’t poor at it. It was terrible. I just I would educate people to death. I literally had someone fall asleep while I was talking to him. I was that bad. I realized, “This isn’t working, what do I need to do?” I started talking to people who I respected, who were good salespeople. I actually would bring them with me to help so that they could see what I was doing wrong and what I was doing right. He said, “Well, one of the things I see that you’re doing right as you really care, one of the things I see you’re doing wrong, is you’re educating the person to the point where they can’t take it anymore.” One of the things that were pointed out to me in one of the interviews was, this person actually indicated they were ready to buy, you didn’t see it, and you kept on talking until they no longer wanted to buy.

Christine Schlonski [24:02]
You talk them out of that, of the deal.

Rennie Gabriel [24:06]
Yeah. He woke me up to how important it is to pay attention to what’s going on with the person you’re talking to. It’s not all about me educating the person. If the person’s got enough education, they’re ready to make a decision. Then let them.

Christine Schlonski [24:25]
Allow them.

Rennie Gabriel [24:27]
Yeah. When I started I was terrible. I took counselor selling courses, I took all sorts of training courses to become better at it. To pick up on the signals I went to seminars and workshops. I watched the videos. I listened to people who were good at what they were doing. Stories were an integral part of what I started doing. The industry I was in was selling life insurance. A lot of people don’t like life insurance. They said, “What do I care about benefiting when I die?” There were a whole lot of things I needed to learn. One of the things was stories. I remember after I learned how to sell better, and a partner I had didn’t. He had a client who wanted to know the internal rate of return of an insurance policy. He had written about a page and a half or two pages that he was going to send to them, to explain why they should buy this insurance. I said, do not dare send that. I got together with these business owners, they had a large manufacturing company, and I gave them a story. I talked about using insurance as a way of paying taxes that are due and painting a picture for them. I took one of the crash helmets from the manufacturer’s bicycle. I put it on the ground. I said, “Visualize this as a rat hole. The money you throw down here is the Internal Revenue Service. Once it goes down there, you are not going to stick your hands down it and get it back. This is an ugly, disgusting rat hole. The money that goes down here, you will never see again. What would you prefer to throw down this rat hole, an apartment building you bought from your business profits, or an insurance policy that you don’t care about?” The insurance policy. He wrote out a check for $35,000, which was the premium for the policy, that was it. It had nothing to do with internal rates of return. It had to do with what it is they wanted us to pay taxes, real estate that they owned, or this insurance policy. I learned to be a better salesperson. My partner was so impressed that I told them a story to make this sale. But I don’t really think he got it. He still had the attitude of when someone wants to know what time it is, I will explain how the watch works.

Christine Schlonski [27:11]
Yeah, so I can understand that point of view. I think so many people get caught up in talking about details, which the other person doesn’t really need. They want to know, like, where will I be when we’re done working with each other?

Rennie Gabriel [27:28]
What’s this gonna do for me?

Christine Schlonski [27:29]
What’s the destination? They don’t care how they get there, like about the details.

Rennie Gabriel [27:36]
They don’t care how the plane was manufactured or how far apart the seats are.

Christine Schlonski [27:43]
Well, some do care.

Rennie Gabriel [27:46]
Yeah, but the bulk of the people they just want to get to Hawaii or Europe or Africa. They want the destination. Any plane will get them there.

Christine Schlonski [27:58]
Yeah. Awesome. Thank you so, so much for being here today. For sharing your wisdom. I can’t wait to get you on to the next interview to dive even deeper into how selling better can create tremendous wealth if you have a system to pay yourself first, one piece of it, right?

Rennie Gabriel [28:19]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [28:20]
So people can actually find you in all the links on the show notes page. But also if they want to go to wealth on any https://wealthonanyincome.com/free-gift you have an amazing gift for them.

Rennie Gabriel [28:38]
Yes.

Christine Schlonski [28:39]
Tell us real quick what this includes?

Rennie Gabriel [28:42]
I’ve got $1,000 worth of business building tools, how to get more of their best clients, of three page summary of my award-winning best selling book, and all they really have to do is just go to https://wealthonanyincome.com and they will see the link on the homepage, it says, “Free gift,”

Christine Schlonski [29:01]
Wonderful, thank you so, so much, and I’m looking forward to talking to you next time.

Rennie Gabriel [29:06]
Thank you, Christine.

Christine Schlonski [29:08]
I hope you love this episode as I did and that you are inspired and motivated. Hop on over to https://christineschlonski.com/ Find the podcast tab and get all the show notes to Rennie Gabriel as well as his amazing gift and link to his wonderful TEDx talk. Hop on over to https://christineschlonski.com and while you’re over there, sign up for the empowerment notes. These are notes right into your inbox about empowerment, all the things I’m not really sharing on social media, and all the updates to Heart Sells! Podcast. Thank you so much for tuning in. Make sure you are listening to the next episode with a wonderful Rennie Gabriel. It’s all about paying yourself first. Have a wonderful day wherever you are in this beautiful world. And I’m saying bye for now.