TGP31 | Trading stories with Diego Baltazar

Cinderella story.

We always see the best. Nobody’s sharing their shitty failures online. We’re not looking at Facebook and Instagram to see all the boring, mundane tedium of our friends’ lives. We’re seeing their new cars, their exotic vacations, their $1,000 steak dinners.

And we often walk away feel like we’re missing out as a result.

They say we should always be kind to others because everyone is fighting an uphill battle or something. We’ve all got our challenges. But if we’re honest, if we’re listening to a podcast like this one, we’ve probably got it pretty damn good.

So what’s it take to succeed?

I was skimming Facebook the other day when I came across a standout update from an old Galant VR4 buddy, Diego “EvoDNA” Baltazar.

“There was once I time I was down on my dollar and out of luck, homeless and alone. Today I’m in a position where I’m able to help others through personal donations, pay rent on multiple properties, and just live. It took a long time to get here, and my path was skewed a time or two, but I made it. I may not have everything; but I have all I want.”

Three days later, we were recording the next episode of the podcast.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT IN TGP31:

• What’s Diego up to/doing these days?
• What’s a day in the life of Diego look like?
• Social media makes it easy for everyone to put their best, most over-hyped foot forward. We all see how good everyone else has it. But we seldom see the hustle, the grit that makes success possible. We hop in the WABAC and talk about how Diego found himself homeless and alone What happened? (And how long ago was this?)
• What was the catalyst for digging out? What kind of physical and mental obstacles did he have to overcome? How did he do it?
• How small did he start? How did he grow it? How did he keep at it?
• What have those experiences done for his perspective today? How do they impact his bear/bull approach to things? Any examples?
• We talk about investing a bit. Diego tipped me to RobinHood, maybe Stash, too. I tried following along, but man, that’s a slippery slope and he’s hard to keep up with! What’s his approach? What’s his plan? (Sell a million records and we makin’ the dash?)
• They say we’re 10 years into a bull market. Overvalued tech companies, peak real estate, cannabis is being legalized six ways from Sunday—and there’s still dudes in costumes holding signs on the side of the road offering to buy gold—there’s a market correction in our future for sure. And yet, it seems like the only people really getting ahead in today’s economy are savvy investors. What’s a gearhead on the sidelines supposed to do?
• Some of us don’t take action on our dreams because we’re waiting for the right circumstances. Increasingly, I’m thinking that’s another way of saying we’re too comfortable and we’re more afraid of effort than failure. Diego’s been through serious shit. What does he think?
• For many of us, being homeless is the worst thing that could happen. Diego’s been there. Done that. And clearly doesn’t want to experience it again—but is he scared of it? What scares him these days?
• And we close with something encouraging that might inspire someone listening from the sidelines to step up and take action. Diego’s learned some very important lessons some very hard ways. What would he tell someone out there who wants more from life but worries about losing what little he or she has right now?

Note: The audio may not reflect the correct episode number or link. Brian lost count of episodes so we had to re-number them. 

Remember, we care about helping our friends—not so much ratings and reviews. If you want to rate or review the podcast—knock yourself out—but please do us a kindness and share this episode with someone. Here’s an easy link to remember: thegearheadproject.com/tgp31