Introduction To My Blog

This is the start of my newsletter/blog to keep a documented journal on the way to achieving the BIG goals for my life. I’ve always felt like I’ve had something different inside of me, a burning desires to achieve and prove something. But it’s hard to verbalize why or what made me this way. Nevertheless it has become a part of me. I spend a lot of time trying to find the answers to what makes me tick so when I have more clarity, I will certainly share it here!

The main point of this blog is to stay connected with you and provide you a look at what is going on in my life. This will also help me organize my thoughts every so often but also provide an outlet to let you see what I have going on in my life. If you find yourself in pursuit of similar things hopefully you gain some insight on things that work and things NOT to do. If you find something interesting or can help in any way I welcome your feedback!

Quick Back Story

When I earned my MBA at the University of Louisville (2018) it opened my eyes to a bigger world of opportunities, specifically it awoken the entrepreneurial spirit within me. So when I left my job at University of Louisville Athletics in 2020 to take a job with Humana I had a strategic plan in my mind far greater than chasing a larger salary or wanting a normal 9-5 job outside of sports. I needed a 9-5 job that allowed me to work from home to use the time I got back towards pursuing different personal goals.

So What Am I Pursuing?

Pretty plain and simple - Additional Streams of Income to work toward financial freedom. Why do I want financial freedom? Because money is a tool that can be used for good. Money is a tool that can be leveraged to save time. Money is a tool that can be used to create amazing memories. Money is a tool that can give others opportunity and a better life. While money is important, it is not the main thing I am focused on. I am focused on building assets and working with others to help others achieve their desired success. I am using money as an easily measurable outcome of my achieved goals so this will likely be the only time I talk specifically about money in relation to something I am pursuing.

What I do know about myself is that I am a creator and an action taker. My passion is creating something, executing on the plan, and seeing the positive results from hard work and determination. My track record of creation and action taking?

• Founder and First President of the Rutgers Riot Squad (A Student Section Spirit Group for Rutgers University Athletics)

• Creator and executor of numerous themed days and events at New York Jets Training Camp

• Founder and First Faculty Advisor For The Ville’ns (A Student Section Spirit Group For University of Louisville Athletics)

• Creator and executor of countless themed days and events at University of Louisville Athletics Football and Basketball games

• Owner 5 businesses (3 failed, 2 still active)

Coach G’s Bar

One of my active businesses and my first attempt at a side hustle. I run the beverage sales at my CrossFit gym. In September 2020 we did not have a fridge for beverage sales at our gym, so I approached the owner of the gym to fill the void. I bought a commercial display fridge, stocked the drinks, and get payed for drink purchases. Our gym doesn’t have air condition so the summer months are a cash cow LOL

It’s been over 3 years of sales and Coach G’s Bar has sold thousands of drinks and is a nice sustainable small business that profits a few hundred dollars a month. Most of my drinks are on auto order and get delivered to the gym but other stuff like water and Gatorade I just purchase in bulk when I go to the grocery story.

Expansion Idea: I have an idea to expand to other gyms or health and fitness related places like Physical Therapy clinics but am finding a few issues. Extremely expensive technology needed for self service (like airport kiosks), time constraints and logistical route concerns refilling fridges around the city.

Trusted Home Goods

This is my other active business and has been in business since September 2021. TrustedHomeGoods.com is my e-commerce business that sells luxury home goods focused on the home entertainment spaces. We sell wine coolers, cigar humidors, kitchen appliances, grills, fire pits, dinnerware, kitchenware, ice makers, heating/cooling, safes, bathroom safety products, bidets, sinks, and much more.

We operate using the drop ship method, which is how many online stores operate these days like overstock.com, Wayfair.com, and BBQguys.com. The concept of drop shipping high ticket products is not new but there is tremendous opportunity if you find the right products, get the right help, and stay in business.

How it works:

• Find Product Niche (For Example Kitchen Sinks)

• Find all the manufacturers of Kitchen Sinks and reach out to them to sell their products

• Once approved you become an authorized reseller of their products

• List their products on your website for their Retail Price

• You launch google ads to drive traffic to those products

• Once a customer purchases a kitchen sink at retail price, you send the order in to the manufacturer and you personally purchase it at their wholesale rate.

• The manufacturer ships directly to the customer and you handle customer service. The difference between the retail price - wholesale cost-ads = net profit

Overall, we are still in business. It’s been a really difficult ride. The ecommerce space is so cut throat. But I have found a lot of success in some areas and a lot of failures in others. I can shed some light in these areas in another post

In Closing

I don’t want to make these too long so I’m going to cut this off here. Next month I will give some updates on what’s been going well for Trusted Home Goods and what’s not been going well. I can also talk a little bit about the failed business which are unfortunate but are great learning lessons. Also, I plan to share personal updates too!

PS Personal Updates about the Barbetto’s

Kara, Emmy, and I are doing well! After a long 3 year grind Kara graduated PT School last year and is a Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) working at ProRehab Physical Therapy in Louisville. Finally a 2 income family and it feels so good (2 incomes but still 1 car whomp whomp). It’s all good, I have a bike and I work from home so Emmy and I chill all day.

We’ve been working hard to hit our savings goals so we can start the next chapter of our lives. While we live in a condo that I’ve owned since 2015 we will be looking for a home in Louisville, KY this spring. We will keep our condo once we find a new home and will use it as an our first rental property! I have a deep passion for real estate so this will be the first of many rental properties as I plan to attack those goals over the coming year.

While I’m not typically someone who makes a “New Years Resolution” this year is a little different. It’s been put on my heart to attempt 75Hard. 75Hard is a 75 day program designed to test your discipline and will power. 75 hard is 5 simple tasks daily-

1. Follow a Diet (No Cheat Meals and NO ALCOHOL)

2. Drink a Gallon of Water each day

3. Workout Twice a Day for 45 mins each (One workout must be outside)

4. Take a Daily Progress Picture

5. Read 10 pages of a self development book

If you slip or miss any of these on any day…go back to day 1. I have a lot of discipline but I’ve never done anything like this. I usually have a nice weekend of food and drinks and go back to a disciplined week. But this year is different. It’s not just another year for me. This is the year I become so focused and disciplined on becoming the best version of myself, I will do whatever it takes to pull it out of me. So far, it’s really hard but I know that just like everything I will keep grinding. Some of the first few days it’s been below 30 degrees and I’ve been outside running in a weight vest and I feel like I can freggin do anything. I like that feeling. So here’s to doing what we love and becoming the best version of ourselves!