Ep. 20 | Cracked screens to creative success - Emmanuel Martinez-Lahut

Emmanuel Martinez Lahut shares his insights on the practical aspects of entrepreneurship and content creation. He discusses learning from financial mistakes, growing a business from a problem at a young age, and becoming an investor years later. Emmanuel's journey comes full circle as he explains his current role at Topbin90 and his work with starting Indy Media, where he focuses on creating impactful media solutions and strategic business growth. The discussion also emphasizes the crucial importance of clear communication and engaging with diverse audiences, highlighting their impact on business growth.

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Hello everybody, and welcome to episode 20 of Shakin Hands. I'm your host, Jack Moran. You can find me on Instagram at Blue Collar kid that has blue collar k e h d. Today on the podcast, we have Emmanuel Martinez-Lahut, the founder of Indie Media. What's going on? Am I try and thank you for having me here. Yeah, absolutely. Glad to have you. I always like to start off by saying, like, give a little background on what you do, what your business is, what you're currently doing. Gotcha. So I would say, I'm a serial serial entrepreneur. So I started in the electron to repair industry, which, you know, involves cell phones, tablets, computers grew that into pretty much three locations. From there, I moved to Charlotte. Well, now from there I started a marketing company where I was running ads for local businesses and for a city, which is like an hour away from here. Not too far. Shows nobody knows about it. After that, I pretty much moved to Charlotte, met George, and then with George. We were on top in 90. the sports media company. And what we do is, you know, we cover the Charlotte FC team, you know, national teams that come here to the Bank of America. for example, we covered, Copa America here when the the fire broke out, you know, we provided some of those viral videos. I mean, we're not proud of it, but, so, I mean, that's what we do. I mean, we get to interview players, talk to coaches, and meet a lot of really cool people, in the process. How would you transition to that from doing the electronic repairs? So, I mean, I transitioned into marketing and in marketing, I realized that I really enjoyed making content marketing involves a lot of content creation and a lot of people don't really see the value in it. They just make a graphic and they just boosted. But that's that's not really where the value is. I mean, people want to see something interesting, something cool, something funny, something educational. so when I was making this content, I realized that it looked like, you know, I want to get into, like, just producing media where, like, I started a YouTube channel or something. So I moved to Charlotte because it was already part of me and my wife's plan to move into Charlotte and then meeting Horry. I mean, through, you know, the meet, Instagram, because, I mean, that's where you see all the Charlotte live systems in just one day. He just posted a story like this. Anybody know any business like you have any business background? And I was just messing around. I was like, yo, what's up bro? We're like, yes. And he was like, okay, cool is meet at, the People's Market. That's this is my this is where he meets everybody. And that's very much how it started. Just from there, my role was essentially the CEO of the company, you know, pretty much me and him kind of bounce ideas. We share ideas. You know, I kind of have to be the bad person. Like, you know, when when it comes down to, like, like, let's say they want to do something like, no, that makes no sense for the business. And then on their own. So our audience doesn't know who Rory is, whose work? We're here. Where are you? Gonzalez? He is the founder of type B 90, and he's also a co-founder, seventh Peak marketing. and I mean, if you're a local, you've probably seen his videos. He did go a little viral on TikTok, which is you should look at his TikTok when they, yeah. No, he's a cool dude. Is the tallest under in I've ever met. Tallest, biggest. I just it's crazy. Yeah. So what is the formula for producing good content that you found? I mean, formula me it just really depends on what you're doing. Right? So like when it comes to to sports, like saga specifically, I mean, people really want to see goals, and people want to really see the fights. They want to see the fans. So those three things. So I mean, if you can capture those three things in one video, it's always good. but it's it's very like very specific. So those three things are very specific to it. but I mean, when it comes to other content, you just really want to have a nice vlog. You want to be able to, you know, to capture your audience in like the first five seconds. Right. So which of these, like, you throw out, which are you going to talk about in like a better be something interesting because people people are not online to like, you know, people or they want to be entertained. That's why they're online. They want to watch something entertaining, something funny or something that, you know, provides value with, like, you know, some something educational. And so that initial hook is really important. Is there, a formula to that hook? I mean, I, I've never put it down on paper, but it's just I don't know, we just do it. I mean, I'll have to look back and analyze myself on that aspect because, you know, it's a good thing you asked me that because now I can go back and be like, yo, what? What is the formula for this? Why is it working for us? Yeah. So you told me before we got on the podcast that you had started the start of these electronic companies when you were like 16 years old. Is that right? Yes. What was it like building a business at that age? It was. It wasn't that bad for me, fortunately, because my mother's always been in, you know, she's also always been an entrepreneur. She was, her my stepdad were general contractors. And from there, they got into the, retail business, pretty much. They open up a it was a store where they had, Latino products, you know, so like a typical Mexican store from there, as she got into the restaurant business and I mean, just growing up, I would just be involved in all these things. So I would watch, I would learn. And when the time came, essentially the way I started was because I broke my phone and I had already maxed out my claims for the year, so I couldn't just get another phone. And she was like, well, I'm not buying your phone. You know, I figure it out. So I was like, Will I fix it? So fixed it. And then a bunch of other friends were like, yo, can you fix my phone? As well as like, okay, we can do that. So he got to the point where it was just taken away. My weakness. All I need to start charging you guys for this, because this is getting out of hand. So that's how I started. I went to I went to my mom was like, mom, can you help me? Like, I want to start a shop. I want to do this is what I want to do. And she was like, yes, we can do it. So like, I know nothing about this industry, so let's research. And so that started I mean, fortunately like within her, her space that she had, there was an empty spot where I could open up my shop. And that's how that started. So what did you learn in those early stages of your entrepreneurial journey? To not spend all the money that you need to put aside for taxes? that's some great advice. Did you run into an issue with that? yeah. I mean, I was 17, pretty much all the money that was coming in, I was spending it. I mean, I wasn't thinking about the IRAs yet. You you're 17. Yeah, but yeah, that's that's that's why I've been. I mean, it's, it's an early. It's a good mistake to make when you're that young, right? You know, not a ton of consequences at 70 and at a time, you know, I mean, gladly. I had a, you know, mother like to help me, help me out, you know. Yeah. Right. And so you told me that you exited that business pretty early. What was that experience like? so I was, pretty much went to school, and it was just going to be too much to deal with. so I essentially I sold the business and just, you know, just moved. And then when I left college, I was like, well, I don't because because I dropped out of college, you know, I dropped out of college. And people see it a lot. Some people see it as a bad thing. I personally didn't find a job in it because I, winning, wanted to be a dentist. And then I realized I was like, do I really want to be a dentist and be here for eight years? And then I was like, I don't want to do that. So I dropped out while I was figuring out what I wanted to do. So I opened another story that I didn't really want to go and work for somebody. So I just opened another story since I had some friends and that just kind of took over. But then when I went back to college again, I sold that as well, because again, it's just too much. retail business is a lot of like, you just got to be on top of everything. And if you're not, you're going to have a lot of losses. But, what did I learn? The, the biggest take from it is I learned how to talk to all kinds of people because you're interacting with them. They're coming in, you know, you and you have some characters working in selling, telling you how their life kind of like smashed their phone on the floor. you know, just crazy stories, you know, that really helped me out, like today. Like, if you see me industry like, I'll talk to anybody. I mean, my my father in law, like he said that I could talk to. Well, what do you think the key is to connecting with a wide range of people? Just listening. I feel like listening is the best way you can connect with people. Because if you really want to connect with somebody, telling them all the things you're good at and all the things you have and don't have doesn't really help you get to know them. I mean, obviously you have to share your, your, your part when the time comes. Like, you know, when you're meeting people and you really want our connection with them, you just really got to listen. that's I mean, that's what I found in my personal, you know, it's friends. And so you also told me that after, like, running some of these businesses, you started kind of investing in them and being like, you know, kind of on the outside, not as much of an operational standpoint, maybe more strategic. Strategic. What, what was that kind of process like? So we had some friends that I met, playing soccer in Raleigh and essentially they they were also, you know, in the business realm. And they had they were in conversation. They just realized how profitable I was. because, I mean, a service is very subjective. Like, you pick the price that you're selling your service and compare it to a product. So like, yes, there's like an overhead of like what you're spending on like parts and stuff. But the service that you're providing, you can price it or whatever you want. For example, like we've had a lot of people that like would come in with, a broken phone and they just really wanted the information in, in like pictures from the seas, relatives, all that kind of stuff. There's really not a price for that. And I'm not saying that like we would take advantage of that situation is more like, okay, well there's so there's this demand. How can we price it accordingly so that we make, you know, a good chunk of profit and they leave a happy customer because we also don't want to like scare them away for the future. We want to make sure they come back. So in conversation, they just realized it was profitable and were like, yo, can you help us start this? What do we need? And essentially I just told them how to do like pretty much giving you the the entire blueprint. And they're like, yeah. So that's how that started. And they don't even manage their own stores. Now, how is that different being the investor from running the business? It was it was pretty good because I had I know I could trust my friends. it's people I mean, you never want to get into business with people you don't trust, obviously. But for me, it was really easy. I mean, I would just every three months I gave my, my cut from it. essentially they get their to, you know, and it's it's pretty simple. It's a pretty simple process because it's not like we're dealing with 20 different stores, which is dealing with two. Gotcha. Yeah. So I mean, it's pretty straightforward. I mean probably go saying, you know, we'll gross goes in the net and then we split the net profit. So how do you delegate and manage employees. Is there a strategy that in this in that industry particularly you really can't unless you really find somebody who's really good at sales, a great technician or, and a great manager. So you need those three to be like to be able to delegate that kind of work. And that's one of the reasons why I wanted to get out. It was really hard to find people to fill in the spots, so I would find myself at the store. Instead of being able to employ people, I would just find myself at the store every time something would happen. I'm just like, I need some free time. I was there because, I mean, in the startup phase, are there seven days a week, 12 hours a day? And I just I couldn't do it anymore. And so you talk to me a little bit before this about this new venture that you're, pursuing, with, people with creative services, and basically. So I'll let you explain it like the brokerage model. Yeah. So, I mean, being it taught me not to just just open my eyes to the amount of talent that there is in just in the city. Right. And if there's that amount of talent in this city, I mean, there's there's more out there. So what I did is me and me and my buddy Francisco, who also works, with us at Tommy Knight. He does all the photography and all the video work. he oversees the group of photographers and videographers that we have. And meeting him pretty much had this idea like, well, how can we provide a platform? How can we provide value to these other photographers that don't always get to come to the games? So essentially, we came to the conclusion like that we could create this agency where essentially they would be able to like showcase their their talent, that would be able to showcase their portfolios instead of having to. Yes, they can have their own individual portfolios, but so they were chosen as a showcase their portfolio on our website, and we will be in charge of getting them business. And from there I obviously to, you know, run the operation. We could we would get a small cut of it. But the main thing that we want to focus on is we want to be able to create our own content for whatever we do. So I very similar to being 90. So we know we have a pool of talent. We can pool from there, usually pretty available. And that's why we wanted to start this. Yeah, I think it's a really good model and especially for someone that wants to leap into entrepreneurship. I think this type of model is a good business to start. You know, you found a demographic of people. We talked about this before, creatives, not necessarily the most sales heavy demographic of people. so to be able to bring them that deal flow is super valuable for them. So they can do what they're good at, which is being creative. And then I think, you know, that's you guys have recognized a good need in that. But for any entrepreneur or someone trying to start a business, that model is super powerful. If you can get good at sales and sourcing deals for whatever that niche industry is, that's the most difficult thing for a lot of people. Is sourcing deals. And so if you can source those deals and provide them to people, it's very powerful, very valuable. But also you a lot of leverage because you're controlling, you're have the face to face with the client. So it's a, it's a safe business. It's pretty safe. And there's not a lot of capital required. No net or net initially, just kind of like, you know, website, all that kind of stuff. You know, I will see other good stuff, but, but yeah, I mean, essentially you want to be able to take the, the work that they're not great at, which is, you know, sales and let them focus on what they're good at. Yeah. And so you said also that you at some point were doing some marketing and running ads. What kind of ads are you doing? I'm just like cool. It does. Yeah. Gotcha. So I mean, I still do that to this day, essentially. You know, there's there's people that really don't they're not this is mostly restaurants or like mechanic shops that don't have the time to do their own digital marketing. So we just pretty much go in there and tell them, like, hey, this is what I can do, this, how much it will cost. This is pretty much the goal. If we don't reach that goal, we can reevaluate my services. And essentially a lot of people, after they see the value in it, they just continue to, you know, have I have me on retainer and and continue to do the digital marketing and in running ads on Google in Facebook, those have been like the places where I've been mostly focused on like giving matter. yes. Matter. What do you think the key is to a good digital strategy? Just really knowing your audience. I mean, when I sit down with a customer, I, I mean a client, I really ask them. One of the things I'm focused on is like, who do you usually seeing here was, was that was the customer that you aspired to have. And based on those two answers, I can usually create a profile for this individual. I mean, you know, obviously age goes into it, you know, there's some some of them even religious background, you know, consider it easy to really get to know your customer. And some of these business owners, they don't always know their customer. So you have to sit down with them and just really like define. Yeah, to make them realize who their customer is as well. Why did you pick this journey it into the journey of entrepreneurship as opposed to the 9 to 5 lifestyle? It it just happened, to be honest, it was an accident. I mean, I like I said, I wanted to go to school to be a dentist, but after I realized, like at the age of 16, I was already running a successful business, I just realized that I, I was like, there's no way that like a 16 year, so you could be making money like that and and then. Right, so you have to go to school to make the same amount of money as a dentist. So that's kind of what made me realize that I didn't really want to be a dentist. The idea that I came on, I was like, why do I want to be the dentist when I can just go and get my, you know, master's in business, get the licensing required to open a clinic and hire a dentist. So that was kind of like the mentality that just made me continue pursuing entrepreneurship. What would you say is one thing that you wish you knew when you were 16 that you know, now don't get into the repair industry. It's just very time consuming. I mean, I have a location for a city and, I'm you learn a lot from it. And yes, I've learned so much from it. I mean, I'm passionate about it because, I mean, at this point, you know, the third party repair is fighting with Apple to be able to repair, you know, are devices, your devices. It's something that it is. It just feels good to be able to know that you're doing something that brings value to someone else's life is I mean, our prices are reasonable for us to stay afloat, but we're also providing value, like everybody just leaves happy everybody. They don't feel ripped off when they leave our store compared to when they go to competitors. Right. and for us, that that's a good feeling. Right? But it's just very time consuming. I mean, if you really want to have the freedom that you want to have, just, just just get a job. 9 or 5 is cool. You know, they you have don't do that. Yeah. I mean don't that one in particular is very time. This is almost like a restaurant, you know. Wow. Yeah. What are you chasing after or how do you define success for yourself, for me? For myself? Success is more of being able to spend my time where I want to spend it with who I want to spend it, and having to worry about my business. Right? Just because sometimes I will go on vacation and I'll still be getting phone calls and I'm just not really on vacation anymore. I'm still working. So success for me is just when I can do that. Because that means that I've done everything right. I've hired the right people, I've delegated, you know, all the other small roles I need to be, you know, passed around. And to me, that's that's kind of what's that's that's what success looks like for me. Right? Being a will live your life with no worries, unlike your job or like anything else around you. It's good advice. Just as like a final like wrap up. What advice would you give to someone that is maybe on the fence, deciding if they want to become entrepreneurs or maybe just started on the entrepreneurial journey? Yeah. What advice would you give them other than, don't get into the electronic business? if you really want to do it, I would say go and share it with somebody. You know, most people are like most business owners. They're pretty chill. Just, just, I mean, whatever it is, coffee shop, you know, a clothing company, whatever it is, just find a mentor. Just find a mentor. or, you know, and just kind of have them allow you follow them around for, like, a week, and they'll pretty much tell you the kind of lifestyle that they're living. And, you know, if that's the left, whether you want thing, great, go for it. I mean, don't be scared to do it. You find out if that's what you want to do. Long run. Right? Yeah. Where can people find you if they want to reach out or if they're interested in your services? where can they, hit you up? Yeah. So, I mean, I'm pretty active on Instagram. The the place one of the most active. It's Jamal underscore there. You will also find, you know the links to you know our websites for in the media in my LinkedIn as well. Fantastic. Well I appreciate you coming out. It's been really insightful. Thank you. Thank you. All right guys. Well that concludes this episode of Shaking Hands. I'm your host, Jack Moran. You can find me on Instagram at Blue Collar kid that is blue collar KEHD. If you guys enjoyed today's episode, please tune in next time for some more interesting guests and conversations. Soon! So, so.