"It’s all about choices and pivoting when necessary."
Ryan Stewman is a best-selling author, CEO of 5 companies, founder of Phonesites.com, full-time investor, and consultant to millionaires and celebrities across the globe. He’s been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, The Street.com, The Good Men Project, CNBC, and pretty much every other major business publication out there.
Ryan gives credit for his meteoric rise in business to his sales skills. He’s never had a salaried job in his entire life. He’s worked in commissioned sales since he was 13 years old. He’s sold well into 9 figures worth of products and services. “I believe that everyone can be great at sales, they just need the right thing to sell and the right people to talk to” – Ryan Stewman
At age 7 Ryan was adopted, by age 16 he had left high school, and by age 21 he was incarcerated for selling drugs. After getting out of prison Ryan turned his life around and made 7 figures in real estate. In 2005 Ryan was wrongfully raided by the local police. They trumped up fake charges and lost the case. They turned the case over to the ATF who reopened the case and sentenced Ryan to 15 months in prison to cover up for the mistake the local cops made. Ryan lost it all while inside. He walked out of prison in July of 2008 with $25 to his name. Flash forward 11 years and Ryan has built a self-made, 8-figure empire, from scratch.
He’s mastered the mindset it takes to win no matter what forces come against you. His rewire podcast is one of the most shared podcast screenshots on Instagram. Ryan rewires minds and changes lives. Give him the chance, he will change yours too.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Ryan Stewman: I am a best selling author, CEO of 5 companies, founder of Phonesites.com, full time investor, and consultant to millionaires and celebrities across the globe. I’ve been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, The Street.com, and pretty much every other major business publication out there. I’ve mastered the mindset it takes to win no matter what forces come against you and built my 8 figure empire from scratch and I now teach others how to do the same by way of my Apex Mastermind.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Ryan Stewman: It’s all about choices and pivoting when necessary. You can choose to be a quitter who just can’t win or you can innovate, pivot, and figure things out to keep going and growing.
Let me share a story from back in 2020 as a modern day example of this lesson.
I spoke with a guy in Missouri who owns a restaurant. He was starving for money and business. He had to close his doors and hadn’t made any money since. But restaurants are essential so I asked, “Hey man, you aren’t taking phone or online orders from people? Letting them pull up and grab to-go stuff?”
Him: No man. I don’t have a drive through
Me: Yeah I get that but you can still take orders and walk them out to the car.
Him: it’s not worth it and not what we do.
Me: Yeah but you literally have zero money now, this would make you some
Him: I’m just screwed there’s nothing I can do.
Me: The restaurants here are busy with to go orders, you should try it. St Louis is a big city and people gotta eat.
Him: no man I’m just struggling Me: ok man!
(An hour later I spoke to a restaurant owner in Utah who had less than 2,000 people in his small town.)
Me: You guys doing to-go orders?
Him: Yeah and we got a deal delivering to the DOT daily while they work out here. I hustled it up when we went under quarantine.
Me: That’s sharp man, good work.
Him: Oh, that’s not all. Big companies like Cisco have a surplus of toilet paper because restaurants aren’t open, so I’ve been putting my orders in and selling to the locals and outskirt towns at retail when I can buy wholesale.
Me: Hell yeah! I like you.
Two guys in the same industry. Both of them made a choice, one chose to pivot and innovate so he could keep going and the other chose to not find a way to win.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Ryan Stewman: Those who survived the economic impact of the pandemic did so because they had leads, a system, and online traffic. Those who didn’t survive, failed because they didn’t adapt soon enough. A business owner needs a machine that will crank out prospects day in and day out whether they own a brick and mortar business or not. The path to stability during an economic downturn is having a scalable system that produces leads, results and delivers your product 24/7.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Ryan Stewman: In 2020 we grew exponentially. In April of 2019, there were only 3 of us. In just 16 months we 7X’d our size. What’s crazier is that we haven’t run a single paid ad since March 2019. While lots of companies had to lay people off, I secured jobs and hired talent.
I promised my people in March of 2020 that I had their back and their paycheck covered, we ended up hiring awesome people who had lost good jobs. Many of the competitors in my industry dropped out due to the struggles 2020 brought to the table. I just kept being me and out working them. I refused to let the noise of the pandemic distract me from ensuring my business not only made it but thrived as well.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Ryan Stewman: In my lifetime I’ve seen hundreds of people fail because they were afraid to leave their comfort zones. If 2020 did anything, it took everyone out of their zone. The businesses that are still around today were able to thrive in uncomfortable situations and started taking calculated risks to ensure their survival.
My business was built on my ability to take risks and maintain a level of discomfort while in pursuit of success. When you’re willing to accept the worst case scenario, you’ve already won. Over the years I’ve often been asked “what kept you going when you faced all of the setbacks of the risks you take?” The reason I kept going is that those setbacks were worst case scenarios I was already willing to accept. So this year, I’ll continue to take risks to ensure that my business continues to grow as it has since before the pandemic.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Ryan Stewman: I don’t think we’re going back to “normal” anytime soon. Everyone has seen the convenience and efficiency of online life and I don’t think anyone wants to go back to the old way of doing things. We’ll continue to see a surge in online businesses, both B2B and B2C.
Online shopping will become the norm and we’ll see more and more businesses offering virtual meetings and remote work options. Zoom medical consultations will become standard practice. I think web 3 will only further this trend as we see more people taking advantage of decentralized applications and services. By the end of 2022, I expect that most people will be leading largely online lives.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Ryan Stewman: I spend between 13-14 hours in front of a screen, whether that screen is my computer or my cell phone; I work from both. You see, we have a saying in my circle, “48/7” which means we do 48 hours worth of work, 7 days a week. So, I work 48/7 and do in one day, what takes most two or more. If you really want to be successful, you have to be willing to work hard for it.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Ryan Stewman: If I’m trying to communicate with my team and I don’t relate to them, they’re not going to understand my viewpoint. I’ll just end up confusing them, and it won’t be productive. So, I always try to use stories when communicating with my team. That way, they can relate to what I’m saying and understand my point of view. Plus, it makes the whole process a lot more fun and enjoyable. And at the end of the day, that’s what communication is all about – understanding one another.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Ryan Stewman: I see the real challenge in business right now as growing and scaling without growing too quickly and letting my clients or employees down. I want to make sure that as my business grows, I am still delivering the same high level of quality and service that my clients have come to expect. I also want to make sure that my employees are happy and engaged in their work.
This can be a challenge when growing quickly, as there can be a lot of change and new systems to implement. However, I believe it is possible to grow and scale without sacrificing quality or employee satisfaction. By taking the time to carefully plan each stage of growth and by communicating openly with my team, I am confident that we can overcome any obstacles and continue to grow our business.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Ryan Stewman: I’m really interested in learning about mergers and acquisitions and also selling companies. I feel like there are a lot of opportunities there for entrepreneurs. I want to know how to do those things so that I can take advantage of those opportunities.
There are a lot of moving parts to mergers and acquisitions, and I want to learn about all of them so that I can make the most informed decisions possible. The same goes for selling companies. There’s a lot of strategy involved, and I want to learn as much as I can so that I can be successful. In short, I’m interested in learning about anything and everything that can help me be a better entrepreneur
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Ryan Stewman: It’s pretty simple if you’re one of those bosses that think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for” then you’re part of the problem. What those leaders need is a dose of honest reflection about whether they’re embodying the company’s values in how they treat employees day-to-day.
They need to listen more and talk less. They need to focus on the collective mission, not just their own success. They need to check their ego at the door and they need to ensure that they’re living up to their own standards of integrity – leading by example, not just by title. Otherwise, they’ll continue to drive good people away – and wonder why their businesses can’t seem to scale.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Ryan Stewman: I’m lucky to be in the position of having a business superpower. My superpower is the combination of commitment and consistency. While others were plotting about how they were gonna do it, I did it and figured it out along the way. Consistency plus commitment equals long term success.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Ryan Stewman: To me, success in 2022 means doing my best to be an example of success at all times. I want to have a positive impact on those around me, and I want to make a difference in the world. I know that success is not about making a lot of money or having a lot of things. It’s about living a life that is authentic, meaningful, and fulfilling. It’s about being the best version of myself that I can be so that I can help others become the best version of themselves.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Ryan Stewman for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Ryan Stewman or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
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