Redefining Success with Multimillionare Keaton Hoskins

Well, I have been sitting on this very special episode of entrepreneur school for a few weeks now. And I'll be honest, after I finished recording with this guest, I was so pumped. This like feeling so excited, so energized, so inspired. And I hope that that's how you leave this conversation feeling as well. It's truly it was a great honor to be able to speak with Keaton Hoskins, aka the muscle, from Instagram, who has built many successful multimillion dollar businesses and is at that, like, truly next level financially, if you follow his Instagram, you will see that this man owns a helicopter, etc. Which feels very sort of disconnected from my reality down here in Cochrane, Alberta in my basement. While I'm recording this, Keaton definitely did not know that he was on my podcast, but that's okay. And Eric just loved that we had this conversation talking about redefining success. It's something I feel that as entrepreneurs, there's a in just in society, there's this belief that we have that success really equates to the financial results that you have in your bank account. And he shares so openly and honestly about his journey to becoming a millionaire, and all of the regrets that he has from along the way. So I hope that you love this episode, as much as I love recording it, and rewatching it. And at the end, if you stay tuned all the way to the end, I'm going to make sure that I tell you a little bit more about the story of how this came to be. So if you want a little bit more insider information, make sure that you listen to the whole thing, Enjoy.

This is the Entrepreneur School Podcast where we believe you can run a thriving business and still make your family a priority. This show is all about supporting you the emerging or early stage Entrepreneur on your journey from solopreneur to CEO while wearing all of the other hats in your life. My name is Kelly Sinclair and I'm a brand and marketing strategist who started a business with two kids under 3am, a corporate PR girl turned entrepreneur after I learned the hard way that life is too short to waste doing things that burn you out. On this show. You'll hear inspiring stories from other business owners on their journey, and learn strategies to help you grow a profitable business while making it all fit into the life that you want. Welcome to Entrepreneur School.

Okay, Keaton Hoskins, welcome to Entrepreneur School, I am actually so pumped about this conversation. One, you just did an epic event recently with the likes of Ed, my lead and Gary Vee and huge speakers. So it's great to be in your presence. And you're amazing. And you have built so many incredibly successful businesses. So I'm really excited to hear about, you know how you did that. And how you do that, as a parent, you have four daughters. And so let's have a chat about it. So the first thing I really would love to dig into is, you know, I think we have this societal definition of success and what that looks like. And it kind of sets us up for failure a little bit in terms of like, we have this vision of it has to be all this money and all this fancy stuff. Can you talk about, like, how success how you define success and how that's maybe shifted over time as you were first starting out as an entrepreneur and now getting to the point where you, you know, you own a helicopter? And

Absolutely. And you know, there's a lot to that goes into that it isn't as simple necessarily. It's why they call it a practice, right? Being present, and, and has that shifted for you. Like, if you think back to when you first were getting started in business before you had all the things and the money and everything like that? Did it look different? Was it more challenging? Maybe it

Wow. Yeah. Well, so many, so many things. And I was getting all emotional going, yeah. Like, how many times has a parent put themselves in a position where they're like, Oh, I know, I don't have time to watch a movie with you. Because I have to, like finish this thing for work. And, you know, like, all of this sort of those little choices that we have to make on a daily basis about this or that. And without thinking about sort of the impact that will have later if we reflect back on those choices that we made.

So you know, when it comes to like business, and achieving financial success, let's just call it financial success and not be a broad definition of what success is. One thing that a lot of people think about is like, goals, right? Like, we got to set goals, we've got to be ambitious, we got, you know, put up a fence post out there that we want to get across. Now, how do you like reconcile that, like the setting of goals and the desire for things and achievements with the presence along the journey?

Well, so you know, one of the things you talked about when we first got on the call, and again, it's an honor to meet you, I you know, I didn't know anything about you, or the podcast, but you talked about success in family and in business, and all those things. And the truth is, and I know I'm gonna kick against a lot of opinions here. The truth is, is there is balance in life, and everybody that says otherwise, he's just a coward and isn't willing to put in the work. Like people will say, we can't have balance and success. And that's bullshit. Like, people will say, Well, if you want to be successful, you got to just focus on one thing, you don't do anything else. And that's not true. It's just really hard. It's really hard to put time into yourself, into your family, into your friends into your business, I mean, in all of those things, you got to be able to do it, and then it's possible. But it's really, really hard. And so I say, This is what I tell people when when talking about this, you know, being present and the whole thing. So I teach, I have a mentor program called limitless society, that's what the event was, and everything else. And I teach by principles, and it's based around balance, right? The five principles of success, whatever you want, however, you want to label it, and it's really simple. You have to number one, be physically healthy, mentally healthy, emotionally healthy, and then spiritually healthy. And if you do those four, you're financially healthy. The problem is, is that most people focus on one financial health, and they fuck off the rest of it. And the rest of it is really what's most important. And that's the problem. When you read, you meet somebody who's rich, and they're miserable, because they've only done the one and they didn't do the rest that are really, really important. So for those who are seeking real success, and again, if you're just looking to be rich, I'm not the person to talk to, there's so many other people who are so much more rich than I am. But if you seek the exact life that you want, there will not be another person on this planet that will know better than I do. I'm not the richest. I'm not, but I am one of the very few on this planet, who literally have every single piece of their life that they want. My family, my friends, my health, my money, all of my successes. It's all together. Now you're right. I'm not a billionaire, and maybe one day I will be. But my success is the balance of all of those staples that I said and all four of those first ones are way more important than the fifth. And if you focus on those four, the fifth always follows one of my favorite quotes is Jim Rohn. Talks about if you work as hard at your job, or other way around, if you work as hard on yourself as you do at your job, you'll become way, way, way more successful. But so many people just work on their job because it's money. Right? Yeah. But true success is progression in all things. And that's where you, I mean, really, for those who are listening, that's where you need to buy yourself. He's in personal development in all those categories. And then, and then the last one, the least important that everybody puts out front, then you become financially successful, right. And then the only other thing I would say, and just because you asked, I have spent, and I say this, because I've made the mistakes, I have spent the first 10 years of my career. So from when I was 20, to 30, chasing success, I spent it chasing it, and I imagine you probably chased it too. And then you find out and this will be the best piece of information I can give anybody ever. Success is not pursued, it's attracted. And you can only attract it by becoming attractive to it. And the way you become attractive to it is by working on yourself, your personal growth and your personal development. And when you do those things, success comes and I'm talking financial, spiritual, mental, emotional, physical, all of those things. And then it comes in you realize, oh, shit, I've been pursuing it, like I could chase it. And what I should have been doing is working on me to become attracted to it. And then it comes. Exactly.

So I was gonna say what you're saying is that the financial success is really the outcome of you working on those other things. The byproduct?

Yeah, yeah, I love it. And again, the reason I love sharing this is because I was an idiot. And I thought that I could chase it down, and I just burned everything to the ground. And then I looked at that bank account, and I went, What the hell am I doing? My kids don't know who I am. I'm divorced, I have no happiness inside of me. And I haven't been president for 10 years, I passed away 10 years. So my bank account could show that number. There's no success in that zero.

That is just like, thank you for that transparency. Because I do believe that, what, what a lot of us feel is like, Well, when I get to x, then I'm going to feel differently, I'm going to be able to act differently and behave differently. And then I'll be able to, you know, have these moments, you know, I, I actually started my business when I lost my mom to breast cancer. And these are the things that make you really aware of time, and how precious it is and how you don't have you can never get it back. And so on a daily basis, just remembering like how to prioritize that. It's

I love that that is so beautiful, you know, once a one of the things that I teach, because people ask like, how do you get mad perspective, the one you just said, the most beautiful perspective in the whole world you just labeled. And it's a really simple principle, Marcus Aurelius taught, he said, You should contemplate death on a daily basis. And the reason he said that is because death puts us in perspective, and what happened, your mom got cancer, and her death became part of your perspective. And that perspective changed everything about who you are to your core. Because you realized, when she goes, nothing I will have accomplished really matters. The only thing that matters is the present moments that I had with her. That's when life like really finds true meaning for us. And that's when we actually shift into who we're supposed to be. And the problem is, and this is what I'm going to spend the rest of my life doing is most people and this is Ed, my let's quote, most people think everybody else is going to die. They don't think they're gonna die. And that's why when that shift happens, and you go, I'm gonna, I'm gonna die one day. And I don't, I don't want to just be rich. I want everything that this life has to offer. And the only way for me to have that is to be present in the moments that that light has given me. I can't imagine. I can't imagine a greater hell than standing with God, and Him showing you your life and a glimpse and saying, look at all of these beautiful moments that I created for you. And not one time did you stop and just be present in that moment that I created for you? And you're gonna look back and go, Man that that time was my father was so important. That time was my mom was so important and he He's gonna say yeah, but your bank account looks so great, doesn't it? It doesn't matter. What matters is that I gave you your mother until you were 20 or 25. And you didn't take the time in the moments to have that I gave you. And I can Guaran damn tee you if I asked you for all your money back for more time with her and oppressive moment with her, you go here, take it all. So again, you asked that question, what's true success? It's being present in the moment that we're given 100% It's just being present. And money helps. Yeah. blesses you. Yeah.

So was there a specific moment for you like that? You can think of that, where there was a turning point in either your perspective of this or your awareness of this?

Yeah. So my speech at the event, I spoke about my father, my father, he died when I was 21 years old, he actually was sick most of my life. And I was a Mormon missionary. And I decided that I was going to go on a mission. And when I decided that most people don't know this about missionaries, missionaries go all over the world. And they don't really speak to their families, because they kind of stay focused on the work. So you really only write letters, you don't do phone calls. You don't if they didn't have FaceTime back then obviously. And when I decided to go, I actually had a conversation with both my mother and my father, and they said, Hey, dad probably won't be here. When you get back. And you need to understand what you're signing up for. We support you, but we need you to understand, right? My dad actually ended up living about 90 days after I got home. And when I got home, and he fought like hell, in fact, that's what my speech was on. At the event. It was my father's fight while I was gone, and then all the way to when I got home. And when I got home, and I watched him die, he actually died in my arms, he, my mom called me at three in the morning and said, Hey, I need you to come home. And I need you to tell your father, it's okay to go. So I came three in the morning, I put my hands on my dad, and I just said, Dad, you've done what you needed to do. And I'll take it from here. I love you like you need to let go, you need to stop fighting. And then he passed away a few hours later than you were and 21. I was 21 years old. I had the absolute honor of carrying my father out of our home and putting him in an ambulance. And when I carried him out, the people there were like, how did this guy lives so long, like his body stopped a long time ago. And I knew what it was, I knew he had made me a promise when I left, he's like, I'll be here, I promise you, I'll be here. And and he fought for that 100% Like his body quit way before it died. And I realized, on his deathbed, and those last few hours, I realized, like life is not what we think it is. It's it's much, much shorter. And it gave me a powerful, powerful perspective about what truly is important. My father was a nine to FiVER, he was the CEO of a big company who was very successful in in that realm. And the last two years of his life, they kicked him out the board kicked him out because he was too sick. So the safety net, and all the things that he taught was total bullshit. He told me go to college, get a degree nine to 540 1k. And then he told me that was the safe route. Well, the last few weeks of his life, he told me the regrets he had was to not have me chase my dreams. And I said, Dad, you don't have to worry about that. I'm not going to do nine to five, I can't, I can't work for anybody. I've watched what has happened to you and I can't live this way. So as he died, I specifically remember sitting in my living room. While he was actually there. I was kind of allowing my siblings to mourn the fact that our father had passed. And as I sat there, I specifically remember the impact and the the actual twist and change of perspective. And it was really, really simple. And it was it was Keaton, you don't really know how long you have. And you may only live until you're 47 like your dad. And if that's the case, then you should get every single thing out of this life that you seek. And this life has zero rules. There's no rules. And then I specifically remember a saying that I live and die by now coming to me. And it was I would rather sink on my own ship than I would sell on somebody else's. Meaning I will never be able to work for somebody, I have to start building businesses, I have to start doing that. And so with the mixture of two things, I can't work for somebody and life is too short. I put that into my mind. That's one of the reasons why leaving that home That day, I said, I will be a millionaire. Because I will not be in this position, I won't do it. And the other reason it was so important to me, and again, the reason why I've learned what I've learned is I made a commitment to my father to take care of my siblings and my mother. And I knew what that meant when I made that commitment, because he was so worried the last conversations we had, he said, I'm so scared to leave. Because I want to make sure your mother and your siblings are taken care of. And I'm, you know, I said that, don't worry about that. I got this promise you I got this. And so when he died, in my mind, I thought, you got to be better. You have to be an entrepreneur, you have to provide, you know, we talk all the time about Edie my let and he talks about being the one right? Why knew that had to be me, I didn't even really have a choice because my father died and my family needed somebody to step up. So that's why I became so obsessed with success. By the time I was 30, because I knew in my mind what my plan was. And all along the way, I bought some of my siblings, their first houses, things my father would have done, I paid for my youngest sister, she was 12, when my father died, I paid for her first vehicle, something my father would have done. And then and then a man, eight months ago, I the most the greatest experience I've ever had, I brought my mom in here, this is my office. And I sat her on my couch, and I said, Hey, Mom, I made a commitment to dad that I would take care of you. And so from here on out, you're no longer going to worry about money. I'm going to retire, you know, you can do whatever you want. But you no longer have to worry about money, I gave her a debit card. I said you don't need to know anything, you just need to swipe it. You don't need to follow anything. I'm not giving you cash. I'm literally just saying you're free. You're free from the worries of that. Because that's what that needed me to do. And from here on out, you live the life you want to live, you do whatever you want to do, I don't care what it is you do whatever you want to do, don't check your bank account. You don't. I'm taking care of it. And the reason again, that that was so crucial to me is because that was a commandment in which I had made to My Father on his deathbed that I was able to make happen. Now here's the thing. Again, you know, you talk about success. Listen, I'm pretty successful financially, I'm okay, for 37 year old, I've done some good things. I'm probably not in a position to just go ahead and hand out millions and millions of dollars to my mom and say, hey, just do whatever you want. But what was important to me as somebody who really sought success was that, hey, Keaton, in this present moment, you are really, really blessed. And I know you want more money. But I think it's really important right now that you start retiring mom now like she's 58 years old. Let's let her have her life. She's my mom's She's crazy. She'll probably live to 100. But like, like, give her the next 40 years to never have to worry about money ever again. And being being in the current moment. And being present is really the only thing that allowed me to do that. And so again, just to circle back with what you asked, like, if success and financial success is what I saw, I never would have done that with my mom. I would have said no way I'm gonna keep that money because I want to pack and back and back that bank account. That's not success. Success is being a 36 year old young man saying Hey, Mom, you don't have to worry. That success to me.

Yeah. Oh, sad took me like a full emotional roller coaster reliving my own experience with my mom's death obviously, too. But one thing that you did mention in there was talking about, like chasing your dreams. And that's an interesting topic to discuss. Because there's that sort of limitation, I guess, that we sometimes feel like Oh, well. I need things that are safe and secure and like I will dream within what feels realistic, rather than like something of feels entirely unattainable and setting that for yourself.

You know, it you know, I keep referencing back this last weekend. Literally my talk what I spoke on, and why Ed my let was so happy with what I when I spoke on. It was it was that that's what my father taught me. My dad wasn't a dreamer. He like I said he was a nine to FiVER, but when I when I left on my mission, I had a conversation Even with him in the kitchen, and for the first time in my entire life, I was 19 years old, I saw him have a dream like a real dream. And I knew I knew it was a dream, because it had finally created a vision in him. And one of the things I spoke on was that there's two things that we do in our life, we dream and we daydream, and we give up dreaming at about 10 years old. And we switch. Daydreaming and daydreaming just wastes time. And dreaming creates visions. I learned at 19 that even an old man, or he was old at that time. And so I guess only 10 years older than we are now. I learned at that time that a real dream creates a vision. And so when he sat down with me at the kitchen table, and he said, Hey, I know what the doctor said, I know what your mom said, I'm going to be here when you were when you get home, I realized that that was a legit dream, the first real dream he had, and I'm not kidding. He was hooked up to oxygen. Like he was sick. I didn't think my father was going to be there when I got home. So when I saw him say that, I knew I knew it was a dream. And I saw the vision, the vision was created in him. And so you know, when I left and I went on my mission, and I would get letter after letter from my mom, like, I don't know how long he has, I just don't know how long he asked. And then every week, week, by week, I would get another letter from him. And it would say the same shit, hey, work, stay focused, I'm doing what I need to do. And the third piece to what I spoke on and what she taught me the most important part to the dream. And the vision is that you must then execute on the dreams that you're given. And that's what my dad did, he would is so funny, he would get up with his oxygen tank, and you would walk around the block. Like he was just doing enough to keep his body alive. So he could be there when his son got home. Right? And that's what I spoke on. That's what he taught me. And you know, for your listeners, like when you're hearing this, you should question, am I daydreaming? Or am I dreaming? And if I'm dreaming, what is the vision? And if I do have the vision? Am I executing on it every single day? And if I'm not, why am I not? Because for me, a 47 year old man whose body was done, it was done by I told you I carried him out of my living room. And literally the nurses, they were like, I could hear them. Obviously I didn't think I was listening. I could hear them. They said this guy this guy's body gave up a long time ago. And we don't know why he's still here. And I specifically remember answering that question to me. They, you know, because I heard him. We don't know how. And I remember saying I know why he's still here because he had a dream and a vision that was really clear that he executed on every single day to get here. The reason and this is the one thing I left out. The reason my mom called me and said I need you to come at three in the morning was because she knew the dream was still so clear in his mind that the body had shut down. And the mind would not let go. So when I came at three in the morning, I put my hands on my dad's shoulders. And I literally I whispered to him, I said, Dad, you've accomplished the dreams that you set out for let go. You did everything let go. And then he passed away. And it wasn't merely because his mind would not let go of the dream and the vision. It was so clear. And so for me like, again, and this is the whole thing of what I teach in limitless society is, if you don't dream, you got to figure out how to start dreaming again. And how do you decipher between dreams and daydreaming? Well, it's the one that creates the vision. And then as soon as you are blessed with the vision that you got to execute. And that's the other piece that we even as entrepreneurs we fall short on, we have a dream and a goal. And then it turns into a vision and we start the business. And then we don't execute on that which we set out to do in the first place because it's too hard because we're too scared because we're too nervous because we're we don't want to risk. But the truth is, is that the only way through all that darkness into our dream is to execute on the vision that we have. And again, that's that's the only thing I ever learned. It's the only thing I needed to learn from a dying father.

A film like you just have to trust yourself right? Then and that it's not nobody here saying that that's an easy thing to do. And you know, all of that experience and all that perspective and the constant like getting pulled off to the side because you're you know, going down a rabbit hole and bringing yourself back to the present and it's a journey. It's what I'm hearing you say it's what I've experienced as well in six years of running my own business and That's what I would love to, you know, make sure that we're clear about with anybody listening to this? Well,

Yeah, absolutely. And so as we wrap up, because there's been so many amazing stories and lessons in what you've talked about. So thank you so much. Do you have one thing that you want to say piece of advice, inspiration, whatever, to help an entrepreneur to get started?

Yeah, I would say the most important piece of advice that I would tell somebody who wants to start a business like an actual somebody who's like ready to do this, and I know this is going to be deep. So hopefully you don't mind. I love it. You should go, you should, you should go back to whoever you remember yourself. Being at your youngest age, you know, I remember is about as early as six years old, you should go back to that person. And you should ask that person if the person you are today is who they need. And if you can answer in all honesty, yes, it's exactly who that person needs. Then you're good. You're ready to rock and roll. If it's not, then you have a lot of work to do until you are ready to become the entrepreneur you need to be. Most people struggle. And this is a very common denominator. Most people struggle with confidence. And the reason they struggle with confidence is because they are not the adult that their younger self needed. So when I was six years old, my dad was always sick. We always struggled with money. I love my father. He was not a leader. He wasn't he was a follower. That's why he was a nine to fiver. When I was six like I I was always scared, I was scared about where money was going to be, I was scared about where to turn when chaos hit, I was scared, I was just there, I was always scared. I needed, I needed somebody to step in and be a leader. I needed somebody who was financially strong, I needed a spiritual giant, I needed someone who would be present with me. And really, really important moments, I needed somebody who would say they were proud of me. And again, I'm not I'm not speaking ill of my father, there was just a lot of shortcomings. And the man I am today is 100%, the man that I needed when I was six years old. And that's why I crushed in any business I do. Because I'm a leader. I know how to finance. I know how to make decisions. I'm good, I'm passionate, I have empathy, sympathy, I'm hard. I'm Stern, I have boundaries, all of those things that it takes to be a great leader and business owner. And so now I can do those things. It's so crazy how trauma and issues of us growing up is the same reason why we're not successful in our business. And even people listening to this, who aren't really willing to go deep aren't going to make the connection. They're gonna say, Well, I'm, I'm not selling what I need to be selling. That's why my business sucks. And the truth is, if I dive in with you for five minutes, I'm gonna realize it's because you're not a good leader. And because you can't set boundaries, and because you haven't been honest. And that's who you're six, or seven, or eight, or whoever you remember, that's who they need. And you're not being that. And so for me, when you ask that simple question, like, what is the one piece of advice, go back to the youngest version, you can remember, and have a conversation with that person. And then you come back in real truth, and tell me are you who they needed then. And if you are, you're ready to, you're ready to kick the shit out of business. And if you're not, then identify what you are not, and work on it like a savage, until you become that. And then when you start a business, you're gonna laugh about how easy it is. It is so easy. Just that, huh?

Well, that's exciting, exciting. There's obviously a lot of work to do to get to that point and awareness and acknowledgement. And I hope that people will feel empowered to explore that from having listened to this conversation. And thank you so much for sharing everything that you have today. Please, go and check out Keaton at the limitless society, I will put all of the links, how to find him on all the places in the show notes. And I just really appreciate you being here today.

Absolutely, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

So here's a little behind the scenes of how this episode came to be because one I did not know who Keaton Hoskins was before. This episode, I was actually pitched as a podcaster. It's fun to get pitches, I get quite a lot of them or different guests. And I quite honestly ignore most of them. Because generally, they're not good they are. PR companies are podcast pitching agencies who are just trying to get their people on as many shows as possible. I mean, they don't take the time to actually listen in, figure out what's a good fit, and why it would be a good fit for a particular show. So I generally ignore most of them. And I'm going to be honest with you, I have never interviewed a man on this show before. I have just it just so happens that it's been all women and I dedicate the show primarily to moms. But when I saw this name come across my desk, I looked into it a little bit more. And I was intrigued by this person, given that they have a very big audience. He has like 1.5 million Instagram followers, and I'm thinking, wow, okay, I believe is worth exploring this further. And then when I looked into Keaton, and I saw that he has four daughters, he has another one on the way Actually, he is a family man. And he has been a successful entrepreneur. And I thought it would be really great to get the perspective from the other side of what it looks like to parent in business and also have the opportunity to talk to somebody about success and how they think about that differently as someone who's kind of quote God through it all. So anyways, I got this pitch and I was like me, and then I was like, Okay, fine, let's talk. And finally we got this schedule that I started following him on social media and seeing, he's calling up these huge events with his limitless society with people that I totally admire, like Ed my lead gen Galt lead. I'm just blown away to have kind of had this a bit Ready to get into this residence and connection and create a relationship with this person now, who who knows where it could lead? Because quite honestly, I will tell you, he is doing another event coming up in the spring. And it's going to feature a lot of huge speakers. And I want to go, I want to I want to be on that stage someday. So what does that look like? Right? It means it means being open to possibilities and creating relationships like this. So it's just a little bit of the behind the scenes story of how this came to be, which Keaton didn't really know. As I didn't even know he had people who are pitching him to be honest. So that's awesome. And I am glad that it all kind of worked out in a very magical, universally instituted way. It worked out in a very simpatico it was all synergy. I'm really glad that it worked out in this way. So send me a message. If you listened to this episode, I want to know what you think about it. See you next week.

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