Author: Andrew Rodarte

Last week I celebrated 52 years on this earth.

And before I get into anything else – THANK YOU. 

For all the birthday messages, the love, and the support. Not just this week, but throughout the years. 

I do my best to read and respond to them all, and I don’t take a single one for granted.

Now here’s the thing about birthdays.

Most guys my age spend them looking backward. Reliving the glory days, talking about who they used to be.

I use mine to take inventory.

Because we’re all headed to the same place. 

The only question is whether you arrive there with lessons…

…or with regrets.

So in honor of another year on this earth… 

HERE ARE THE 9 BIGGEST LESSONS I’VE COLLECTED OVER FIVE PLUS DECADES:

1. Don’t Measure Success By Short-Term Setbacks

You’re going to have brutal weeks, months, even years. Use them to make you stronger.

Every hard season I’ve been through the debt, the betrayals, or the businesses that didn’t make it made me sharper on the other side.

2. Your Habits Determine How You Look And Feel, Not Your Genetics

Diet. Sleep. Stress. Hydration.

That’s the whole formula to a healthy life.

People want to blame their genes or find the magic pill, but your daily habits are writing the story of how you age.

3. Life Only Gets More Expensive

Inflation. Interest rates. Aging parents. Kids’ education.

It all stacks up, and one income stream leaves you exposed.

Build multiple streams of income and invest broadly so that you can buy yourself peace of mind before you need it.

4. Trust Your Gut About People

Your intuition flags the wrong people long before you have the evidence.

Every time I ignored that quiet warning, I paid for it later.

5. You’re More Resilient Than You Think

Everyone is fighting something. You’re not the exception.

But the universe rewards the ones who refuse to sit in victim mode.

You can push through more than you know – I promise you that.

6. Show More Grace And Patience

Never accept mediocrity from yourself or the people around you.

But you can hold a high standard and still show compassion.

Took me too long to learn those aren’t opposites.

7. It’s Never Too Late To Start Something New

I started jiu-jitsu at 48. Now I roll on the mats in my private gym and catch extra lifts with my son at night.

Not because I have to…

…because that’s how I want him to see me. Not as a man who peaked, but one who’s still climbing.

8. Eliminate Alcohol

Cutting it out changed my mental clarity, my sleep, and my ability to think sharp under pressure.

If you’re serious about your next level, this one’s not optional.

9. Self-Work Is Self-Worth

Healing from your past through counseling, faith, and doing the deep work removes the limiters you’ve unknowingly placed on your own success.

This one changed my life more than any business strategy ever did.

Look, at 52 I don’t feel like an old man. In energy, strength, and mental sharpness, I feel like I did in my mid-30s.

And my birthday wish is that you can take one of my hard earned lessons and apply them to your life so you can build a life worth living.

Talk soon, 

Bedros Keuilian

P.S. If you’re doing $150K a year or more and you’re ready to skip a decade of lessons learned the hard way, I made this video for you.

The funny thing about being human is that we get to experience it all.

We get to build things, break things, fall in love, raise kids, chase dreams, and make a thousand choices that shape who we become.

And somewhere early in my human experience, I learned something about myself…

I don’t operate in a straight line.

And neither do you.

Now I’m not talking about who you take to bed, or whatever you guys identify as at those furry conventions.

(I don’t judge dude lol)

I mean as humans, we don’t move through life in a straight line.

Nobody does.

I share this with you because life and business both have ups and downs.

One month you’re celebrating a record-breaking profit. The next you’re scrambling to make payroll and wondering where it all went.

And yet when you open social media, somehow everyone online seems to be moving in one direction – up.

Which brings me to the real point of this…

The biggest lie told in entrepreneurship – the lie that success is a straight line.

That if you just work hard enough, stay consistent enough, and follow the right gooroo’s 7-step framework, it’s up and to the right forever and you’ll slingshot yourself to success.

Open Instagram and it’s everywhere:

– Everyone’s ‘crushing it’

– Everyone’s posting about how they ‘manifested’ their dream life

– Everyone just closed their biggest month ever and can’t WAIT to tell you about it

Meanwhile you’re in a down week – or a down month – wondering what the hell is wrong with you because you’re the only one not crushing it.

Except you’re not.

Because nobody posts the other half of the graph.

I’ve built and invested in multiple businesses and coached hundreds of entrepreneurs over the past two decades, and let me tell you…

…the dips never stop coming.

You think when you hit your imaginary number they’ll finally stop.

They don’t.

The dips don’t stop at $200K.

They don’t stop at $2 million.

Hell, they don’t even stop at $200 million.

The problems just change costumes.

Now here’s what separates the entrepreneurs who make it from the ones who quit…

It’s not that they found the straight line.

It’s that they stopped expecting one.

They keep their head down through the dips, trust what they’re building, and keep moving even when the graph looks ugly.

So if you’re in a down month right now and the numbers aren’t where you want them, pay attention because I want you to hear this:

There’s nothing wrong with being on the part of the curve nobody posts about.

But you’ve got to…

Stop comparing your dip to everyone else’s highlight reel…

Trust what you’re building…

And keep f#@king going!

You got this.

And remember, every single one of us who’s built an empire has been exactly where you are.

Talk soon,

Bedros Keuilian

P.S. The dips aren’t as difficult when you’re not going through them alone.

If you’re done white-knuckling scaling your business by yourself, then join my here:

>>> https://apply.bedroskeuilian.com/scale-syndicate

I’ve been in this entrepreneurial arena for over two decades. 

And I’ve seen more people enter it walk out than stayed.

See, entrepreneurship isn’t a career where you clock in, build toward some pension, and call it a life.

I look at it like a professional sport.

And if you know anything about professional sports, you’re not guaranteed anything.

It’s brutal.

Ask any entrepreneur they’ll tell you: 

There are more losses than wins. More days where everything falls apart than days where everything lines up. 

You see, arena doesn’t care how bad you want it. It will test you in ways that make you question everything.

Most people don’t make it through that.

But if you’re reading this…

…you did. Or you’re doing it right now.

Because it doesn’t matter if you’re running a $200M empire or still grinding at $200 a month.

The fact that you’re still in it means something.

I’ve watched enough people quit to know what separates the builders from the ones who walk out.

It’s not about talent…

It’s not about timing…

Sure as hell isn’t about capital…

It’s just staying in the arena one more day while everyone else is heading for the exit.

You put your head down long enough…

…and one day you look up and realize you’re still one of the few remaining.

Not because you got lucky.

Because you didn’t stop.

And that’s all this ever was.

So if you’re having one of those days – or those months – where you’re wondering why the hell you’re still doing this, I want you to know:

You’ve got more in the tank than you think.

And I believe in you.

But you’ve got to… 

KEEP SHOWING UP AND REFUSE TO BE THE ONE WHO STOPPED.

You got this.

Talk soon, 

Bedros Keuilian

P.S. If you’re doing $150,000 a year or more in your business and want to be around the few that remain who are building something real, this video will show you how to be a part of it.

When I first started winning in business, I thought life would get easier.

I figured once money wasn’t a problem, I’d have more freedom to do what I want, when I want.

But things didn’t go that way.

Because the more the business grew, the more protective I became of my time and energy.

I started saying no to things I used to say yes to.

Nights out I’d skip because I had a launch to finish. 

“Quick calls” I’d decline because I knew they’d turn into 45-minute pitches. 

Events, favors, “win-win” opportunities… 

I started turning them all down.

And people noticed.

I got called selfish. 

Cold. 

Difficult to reach.

And an a**hole more than a few times.

I share this with you because what nobody tells you about climbing the ladder of success is that the higher you go, the more disciplined you have to become.

Success doesn’t just invite in more opportunities.

It also invites in more distractions.

And they don’t show up looking like distractions. They show up looking like quick calls, favors, and “win-win” opportunities from people you actually like.

You can take a few that work for you — but most of them pull you away from what really matters.

That’s why your circle will tighten as you grow.

And it’s not because you’re better than anyone…

…but because you need to protect what you’re building.

You do this by:

• Creating more rules that protect your time
• Building habits that sharpen your focus
• Leaning on routines that keep your body and mind strong

This is why I believe having a little healthy paranoia can actually serve you.

Not the anxious kind. The type that helps you stay sharp.

That keeps your priorities front and center. Here’s what that looks like for me:

• I say no more than I say yes.
• I block time every day for training, recovery, and staying clear-headed.
• I don’t explain my boundaries anymore. I just stick to them.

Because the more responsibility you carry, the more intentional you have to be.

You’re not here to say yes to everything.

You’re here to lead.

And leadership starts by protecting your energy.

Call me an a**hole for it.

I’ll take that.

And if people are calling you one for the same reasons… 

You’re probably doing this right.

Talk soon,

Bedros Keuilian

P.S. If you’re ready to join the rest of us ‘a**holes’ then click here to come to our next meetup.

I live by this motto: “How you do anything is how you do everything.”

It’s something I try to live by every single day.

How I organize my desk before my first call of the morning, how I treat my waiter when I order a steak at my favorite steakhouse, even how I dress when I step out of the house…it all matters.

Why?

Because those small actions reflect the standard I hold for everything else in my life and business.

I share this with you because people who cut corners in one area of life will cut them in every area.

If you tolerate sloppy meetings with your team, you’ll tolerate sloppy work from them. 

If you skip your own follow-ups, your sales team will skip theirs. 

If you don’t track your own KPIs, nobody else in the business is going to track them either.

The standard you set for yourself becomes the ceiling of everything in your business.

And remember, your personal life isn’t separate from your professional one. They’re two sides of the same coin.

If you let things slide at home, it WILL bleed into how you run the business. Every choice you make, every habit you form, every “I’ll get to it tomorrow” is either pushing you closer to the business you want or pulling you further from it.

So keep the bar high in everything you do.

No exceptions.

Because when you demand excellence from yourself in every aspect of life and business, that’s when scaling stops being a struggle.

That’s when you become your 2.0 self. The version of you who runs a real business instead of just working in one.

Talk soon,

Bedros Keuilian

P.S. If you hold yourself (and your business) to a higher standard, then I made this for you.

I’ve been given a lot of things over the years from friends, clients, and potential clients.

Surfboards. 

Whiskey (even though I don’t drink). 

Steaks.

A compound bow. 

A chess set. 

S*x toys (I don’t judge you freaks out there, but that went straight to the trash lol).

Even a degree from my buddy Patrick Bet-David (that’s a story for another time).

But if there’s one thing in my office at HQ that gets used the most. 

And it’s the most unglamorous thing in the room – a small 2ft x 3ft whiteboard.

When a big problem shows up in my business, I write it on that board. 

Then I sit down on the couch across from it and work through it until I’ve got a plan.

I share this with you because I’ve been in the game long enough to identify the problem pretty quickly now.

What I normally do (for myself, my 1-on-1 clients, and Scale Syndicate members) is go through five specific things.

I broke these down with my Scale Syndicate members at our last meetup, and I want to share them with you here – along with what to do about each one.

1. Your offer isn’t making people feel stupid for saying no.

Most entrepreneurs build their offer around what they’re proud of – not around the specific pain their customer is desperately trying to escape. 

Strip everything back and ask yourself one question – what is the #1 painful outcome my customer is trying to avoid? Build your offer around eliminating that outcome, not around what you can provide. 

2. Your leads only show up when you do.

There’s a massive difference between doing marketing and having a marketing machine. 

Pick one platform where your ideal client already is. Build one repeatable content format. Show up for 90 days before you evaluate anything. Your lead gen machine isn’t built by doing everything – it’s built by becoming excellent at one thing.

3. Your sales process is leaking deals somewhere and you have no idea where.

Most entrepreneurs can’t tell you their conversion rate, where deals fall off, or what their most common objection is. 

Record your sales calls. Listen back. Find the exact moment where the energy shifts and the prospect checks out. That’s where you’re losing them. 

4. Every time the business grows, something breaks.

This almost always looks like a capacity problem. It’s actually a delegation problem.

Before your next push, write down every task that runs through you in a week. Circle the ones that only you can do. Hand off everything else with a documented process. If you can’t write down how it’s done, you can’t hand it off. And if you can’t hand it off, the business can’t scale past you.

5. You’re leaving money on the table from people who already trust you.

Acquiring a new customer is the most expensive thing you do. Most businesses pour everything into acquisition and then let those customers walk out the back door with no next step, no offer, no reason to stay.

Meanwhile, your easiest revenue is sitting right there – in the people who already bought from you. Map your customer journey. After your core offer, what problem does your customer have next? What do they naturally need 30, 60, 90 days in? 

Build a simple path that takes them there. Every dollar you make from an existing customer costs you less than a dollar from a new one.

Look, this is just the surface – a framework to help you identify where the real problem is living in your business.

Once you know which of these five is holding you back, that’s when the real work starts. 

You go deeper, you build the plan, and you execute.

If you want the shortcut and want me to help you personally work through it, that’s exactly what we do inside Scale Syndicate – monthly calls, a Q&A section where you can get answers to help scale your business. Plus quarterly meetups where we sit down and game plan the next 90 days for your business.

>>> apply.bedroskeuilian.com/scale-syndicate

Talk soon,

Bedros Keuilian

So many entrepreneurs today have a story about why their business isn’t where it should be.

Back in the early days of my entrepreneurial journey I had a plethora of stories I’d tell myself about why mine wasn’t either.

I kept telling myself the market was too tough, the team wasn’t right, the timing was off, and that nothing was ever going to break the ceiling I kept hitting.

The problem is, the more we tell ourselves these stories, the more we reinforce the belief that our business is just stuck exactly where it is.

What you don’t realize is you still hold the pen.

There are thousands of empty pages in your entrepeneurial book and you can rewrite it.

But you have to tear out the pages that others (and your own limiting beliefs) have written for you.

You have to get rid of the chapters that tell you “my industry is different” or “I can’t afford to hire” or “this is just how it works for businesses like mine.”

If your business isn’t where you want it right now…

…you need to realize you still hold the pen, and you can start writing how this story looks from this moment forward.

So what’s stopping you?

Usually, it’s the work you haven’t gotten to yet.

The work of fixing your offer, your sales process, your lead generation, your team…whatever your “thing” is.

And hey, I know it’s uncomfortable doing that work.

It’s hard to look inward at your business (and yourself), especially if you’re going to have to admit the parts that aren’t working.

But the very fact you’re here and reading this tells me you’re already on the road to change.

It tells me you’re someone who’s committed to building a real business, not just making excuses for why yours is stuck.

You just need to make it through the deeper work.

From my experience, the best way to do that kind of work is with others.

Others walking the same path as you, and with a coach who’s already lived it and knows how to take you from where you are to the business you actually want.

With that being said…

Are you ready for the growth, the profits, and the freedom your business is capable of?

If it’s a yes…

…then on Tuesday, July 7th at 5PM PST, I’m running a live masterclass on Zoom that you don’t want to miss.

>>> Get the deets here

Your next chapter of business is waiting.

Can’t wait to see you there,

Bedros Keuilian

One of my closest friends is a retired Navy SEAL named Jason Redman.

Jason served his country in combat, was severely wounded in Iraq, came home and became a New York Times bestselling author, and now coaches high-performers on leadership for a living.

One of the biggest things I’ve learned spending time around Jason and other SEALs over the years is this…

…on every SEAL mission, every operator has ONE job.

Each man has his specific role. 

The breacher breaches doors so the team can enter. 

The medic stabilizes the wounded so they make it home. 

The pointman scouts ahead so the team doesn’t walk into an ambush. 

The sniper covers from above so the rest of the team can move.

If the medic decides to start breaching, or the pointman tries to play sniper, the mission falls apart. People get hurt. Everyone loses.

Each operator stays in his lane and trusts the next man to do his job at the highest level.

I share this with you because most founders I talk to are doing the exact opposite.

They’re trying to be the breacher AND the medic AND the pointman AND the sniper.

Running into every fight like they’re Rambo.

They’re in every meeting, approving every social post, rewriting their VA’s emails, picking the new project management software, and closing every sales call themselves.

And by the end of the week they’re exhausted, the business hasn’t grown, and they have no idea why everything still feels stuck.

As the founder and CEO of your business, you have ONE job and it’s actually three letters:

LMS.

L – LEAD your team.

Delegate the work. Set the expectations. Define the KPIs. Then trust your people to execute the same way a SEAL trusts his teammate to clear the next room.

M – MARKET your business.

Build compelling offers. Drive paid and organic traffic. Track your ROAS. Improve the metrics every single week.

S – Make SALES predictable.

Build a sales process that turns leads into customers reliably. Document it. Train your team to run it without you in the room.

If what you’re working on right now isn’t an L, an M, or an S then you’re trying to do somebody else’s job on the mission.

Stay in your lane. Delegate everything else.

And if you’re tired of running your business like a one-man army and ready to operate with Navy SEAL Team Six level precision instead…

On Tuesday, July 7th at 5PM PST, I’m teaching the exact frameworks I use to run my own brands live on Zoom.

I’ll be going over how to:

• Get leads that show up ready to hand you their card
• Build a sales process where prospects close themselves
• Create systems that run your business while you’re at your kids soccer game
• Hire a team that brings you solutions, not problems

Plus a live Q&A at the end where you can bring your specific business challenge and we’ll troubleshoot it together on the call.

>>> Click here to reserve your spot for the Scale Syndicate Masterclass

See you there,

Bedros Keuilian

People have been telling me that my whole entrepreneurial life.

During the 2009 Great Recession, when I doubled down on marketing for Fit Body Boot Camp instead of cutting costs – spending problem.

During 2020 when I invested in inventory for Trulean instead of playing it safe during COVID – spending problem.

When I bet on myself, my team, and my vision instead of hoarding cash and waiting for the “right time” – spending problem.

Here’s the thing nobody who said that understood…

Each one of these ‘spending problem’ moves has been part of the reason why I’m in the position I am today.

And I share this with you because the entrepreneurs I see stuck at the same revenue number year after year aren’t failing because they spend too much. 

They’re failing because they’re too scared to spend on the right things.

Now there’s a difference between reckless spending and strategic spending.

One is buying sh!t that makes you feel like you’re moving (really it’s just feeding the ego). 

The other is betting on what you KNOW will multiply your output.

I’ve never confused the two.

And every financial advisor, every podcast, every Dave Ramsey disciple pointing at my decisions like it was the reason I wasn’t further ahead?

They were wrong.

You see, that math doesn’t apply to entrepreneurs like us. 

We don’t have a fixed income. 

We have a revenue lever we can pull harder at any given moment. 

The second you start treating your business like a household budget that needs trimming, you’ve already lost.

Here’s what I know after building and investing in over a dozen companies and generating more than $200 million in sales. Three things fix a money problem:

1. Fix your income machine before you touch your expenses. Unpredictable revenue is a systems problem, not a spending problem. Lock in the machine, make the revenue predictable — then look at what it costs to run it.
2. Spend on what multiplies your output, not what feels productive. The newest AI tool, the third CRM this year, the course you already know but won’t execute on – that’s procrastination with a receipt. The spend that moves the needle is what I focus on with every Scale Syndicate member from day one.
3. Stop cutting costs. Start raising your floor. When FBBC money was tight, I doubled down on marketing. When High Tech Trainer failed, I didn’t retreat – I built the next thing faster. The immigrant edge my family gave me wasn’t “save every dollar.” It was “find a way to make more.”

That’s the operating system of every entrepreneur I’ve coached who broke through.

And I hope one of these can help you break through.

Talk soon,

Bedros Keuilian

P.S. If you’re cutting costs instead of building the machine that makes more – Scale Syndicate is where we fix that.

Apply here: apply.bedroskeuilian.com/scale-syndicate

Back in 2014, I was on top of the world.

Fit Body Boot Camp was growing. 

My coaching business was taking off.

And I FINALLY decided it was time to put a flag in the ground.

Buy a building so I could have an HQ, host masterminds, bring in coaching clients, and run my whole operation under one roof.

So I found a building in Chino Hills.

Signed the papers. Wired the money. Felt like a damn king…

…then I drove over to check on the place one afternoon and noticed something I’d completely missed during the walkthrough.

Right across the street from my brand new building?

The California Institution for Men – a state prison.

I share this with you because it gave me the best accidental lesson I’ve ever gotten about entrepreneurship.

Now look – I kept the building. 

I wasn’t going to let a little irony cost me a real estate investment. 

I ended up getting an even bigger space nearby for the actual HQ. 

Turning the original building into my private gym.

And every single morning when I drive to work out, I can see the watchtowers and the fence from the parking lot.

You know what I think about every time I pull in?

How many business owners are sitting in a prison just like that – and they built it themselves.

Here’s what I mean.

You wake up, and there’s 47 things on your to-do list. All of them urgent, all of them for YOU to handle.

You do the marketing. 

You do the sales. 

You do the fulfillment, the customer service, the payroll, the HR, the vendor calls, the client babysitting.

You take a week off and your revenue takes a week off with you.

That’s not a business, brother. That’s a job with extra steps…

…and YOU are both the warden AND the inmate.

The warden because you run the place. Make all the rules. Approve every decision.

The inmate because you can’t leave. You can’t step away for a week without the whole thing falling apart. 

You can’t scale past what your two hands can personally produce.

A real business runs on documented systems and a team that executes without you hovering over every detail. That’s the difference between owning a job and owning an asset.

But here’s the thing nobody tells you about building systems…

…you can’t build them alone. Because when you’re trapped inside the prison, you can’t see the walls.

The entrepreneurs who break out the fastest do it by getting in proximity to people who already escaped – who can show you the holes in your operation you literally cannot see because you’re too close to it.

Talk soon, 

Bedros Keuilian

P.S. If you’re doing everything yourself and your revenue is tied to your hours then you might want to join me in the Scale Syndicate.

Scale Syndicate is a six-month group mastermind where we guide you to build the systems, the team structure, and the profit-obsessed playbook that gets you out of the day-to-day for good. Spots are limited. 

If you’re still trying to figure out if you’re ready – you’re ready. 

Apply here: apply.bedroskeuilian.com/scale-syndicate