0119: Who Are You Surrounding Yourself With? with GoBundance CEO Dirk Van Reenen

Intro [0:00]

EA Interviews Episode 119. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:09]

Have you ever wanted to start a business? How about grow a business? How about be around successful people? I am so excited because I have Dirk Van Reenen on the show. And he is not only an author, a speaker, and consultant, but he is the CEO of GoBundance, which holds people accountable in his new book, Tribe of Millionaires. He’s going to be sharing these secrets. He’s been a CEO to multiple companies in excess of revenue of $800 million. He is very successful. Knows what he’s talking about. And I’m not going to say too much. So if you see me just smiling, it’s because I just want to be listening and learning. And I’m bringing him here for you. We’re going to thank our sponsor, and I’m going to bring up Dirk Van Reenen. 

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Mario Fachini [1:12]

Dirk, it’s great to have you on the show. How are you doing? 

Dirk Van Reenen [1:15]

Mario, thank you so much for having me on the show, man. I’m having a great afternoon. Thank you. 

Mario Fachini [1:20]

I got a question for you, how did you get started with all of this? What inspired you to start your company? 

Dirk Van Reenen [1:28]

I think for me, I don’t know exactly where it came from. But from a young age, I knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. That I wanted to be a business person. And it’s just kind of something that that I wanted to kind of walk out there and do it. And I think for me, it didn’t start at all the way it is today. There’s a lot of things I’ve had to walk through but it’s just been an evolution of just a process and a journey. 

Mario Fachini [1:53]

What age did you get started? 

Dirk Van Reenen [1:58]

In high school, I did a few kind of like venereal type stuff. Like, I had a little lawn mowing business. And definitely worked hard on the summers. I wasn’t the kid that really got to go on much trips or vacations. My family, I’m actually an immigrant from South Africa. So at 14 years old, we moved to the United States and didn’t have much. So I was always, you know, from a young age knew that if I wanted something, I had to figure out how to work and get that. But my first business actually, about, when I was 20 years old. And I went into the ski and snowboard industry with the ski shop. 

Mario Fachini [2:35]

And where’d you do that at? 

Dirk Van Reenen [2:39]

So that was actually in Amarillo, Texas. And some of it bled over to Northern New Mexico. So there you may think, “Okay. There’s only mountains in Texas.” But there’s actually quite a few ski shops in Amarillo because it’s a big thorough way for all of your Texas and Oklahoma and Louisiana type skiers that are all driving up to the mountains. So it’s actually a pretty big thoroughfare place and quite a few ski shops there. 

Mario Fachini [3:07]

And that’s an important lesson you’re sharing and I want to talk about that a little bit. Because a lot of people think you have to be in a certain spot to be successful. But like the gold rush back in the 1800s, you know, the people who profited the most were the ones selling the shovels. So maybe you don’t need the mountain right next door. But how many people did you see coming through there? 

Dirk Van Reenen [3:31]

Yeah. I mean, we were only actually opened like six months out of the year. But in the wintertime, most weekends we would actually rent out of all of our gear. We had probably 250 pairs of skis, 40 snowboards, and we were running out every weekend. So there’s a lot of people that came through there. And like I said, we were one of several businesses. But people just prefer to kind of stay there. And we made some concessions, like you get two free travel days to kind of still travel to the mountains and back. And we do nice things, like go ahead and put people’s ski racks and their cars for them and fit their skis, all that kind of stuff. So we just made it easy for people to just pull off the highway, interstate, running the shop. It’s a good place to stretch your legs. Get all their ski gear. And then when they get to the mountains, they don’t even have to go to the shops anymore. 

Mario Fachini [4:17]

Well, it sounds like you definitely understand the supply and demand and adding value and serving people. So how would you say that experience helped you with the future stuff you’ve been doing and really got you started with GoBundance? 

Dirk Van Reenen [4:34]

I think one of the things I realized is that, in business, people love to do experiential type things. So it’s not just about doing a transaction. It’s how the experience of the transaction makes you feel. And I think that companies that have really nailed it in growth and culture and scalability in a big part have really figured out how to create more of an experience around their transaction. So I think that was a good example for me in that industry. Because people didn’t want a transactional. Like the whole thing they want to be experiential. People love to go skiing. It’s a very fun leisure type sport. And this is one of those things that people want to just have a great time. So everything that we did was really centered around treating our clients and customers in a way that really made them feel good and they enjoy the experience. And we made the experience fun for their kids, you know, all kinds of stuff. So, I mean, it’s really served me in just how we do business today is the same thing. It’s like everything we do in business today, we want to create a great experience. It’s not just about the transaction. 

Mario Fachini [5:38]

So what type of people do you attract for GoBundance? And who is a great fit for? 

Dirk Van Reenen [5:45]

Yeah. So GoBundance started in 2014. And it was really launched as a mastermind group for millionaire entrepreneurs. And GoBundance came into existence because there was a few guys, David Osborn, Pat Hiban, and Tim Rhode, that had been really meeting for probably about ten years before that. And they were all entrepreneurs. They’d all become wealthy. But they kind of did this journey together. They held each other accountable. They went on trips together. They really challenge each other in multiple areas in their lives. And then they started realizing that there were other people that wanted the same thing. They wanted to experience the same thing. So what we found is that there’s a lot of people that start business. There’s a lot of entrepreneurs that they take control of their destiny and they start something. And maybe for the first couple of years, I mean, you’re working things out, you’re having failures, and you’re struggling. But as you just stay in there and you become more successful, what happens is you become isolated. Which is kind of weird because you would think that the moment you become more successful and make more money that you would actually just kind of have a lot more autonomy and freedom. But what you find is that you’re no longer as much in connection with the people that you used to be in connection with. Because now your life has really transformed in a lot of ways. And a lot of people are very isolated in, “Okay. Where do I go to kind of create the new level of connection for the kind of people that are experiencing what I’m experiencing?” And because a lot of times if you’re sitting around the table, maybe even with your extended family or your friends, they may be talking about some stuff. And you want to talk about, like, you’re doing this multimillion dollar deal or you’re about to buy something or sell something or you’ve got this $300,000 cash flow nightmare in your business. You can’t talk about that stuff without kind of sounding like an ass. And all you’re wanting to do is authentically connect with somebody and share your joys or talk to somebody about your struggles and see if they can maybe mentor you and help you through that. So they said, “Look, let’s create a tribe for people like that, people that feel isolated that have become successful and that really want to experience life at a new level.” So they launched GoBundance and we’re up to 220 millionaire entrepreneurs now. And we also launched the women’s division this year. And we’ve got 40 ladies now in GoBundance Women. So it’s really cool to see that, man, this is something that as it’s forming out and creating more connection more value, there’s people that want to be a part of something like this.  And the network within it is just incredible. But one thing we realized is it’s for kind of that lone wolf that’s tired of being a lone wolf. And they really want to start running with a pack. So that’s why GoBundance was created. 

Mario Fachini [8:31]

Well, I’m glad you started it. Because I found working with clients and speaking to audience, there’s a lot of people that they are successful and, like you’re saying, they are alone. And they really do have a heart of gold and want to connect with people. They just don’t know where to go. 

Dirk Van Reenen [8:47]

Right. Yeah. And just to clarify, I didn’t actually start the tribe. I was actually brought in earlier this year as the CEO to really scale the tribe. So I just want to give credit to David, and Pat,Tim, and then also Mike McCarthy that came in. And he was the CEO before I took over. So those guys have done an amazing job in getting the tribe to where it is today. 

Mario Fachini [9:07]

Well, you’re growing it now. 

Dirk Van Reenen [9:09]

I am growing it now. Yeah. So our goal is to really be able to fill out more nationwide. And the cool thing that we’re seeing is we’re starting to see kind of pockets of areas where there’s more and more GoBundance members. So they can actually connect on a biweekly or monthly basis just to get together in their towns and do some really cool things and help each other and hold each other accountable. So it’s definitely growing. And we’re really working on kind of filling out and making it more accessible to more people. 

Mario Fachini [9:41]

So what would you say is the biggest transformation you’ve seen from someone that’s come in to GoBundance? 

Dirk Van Reenen [9:50]

Man, we’ve seen a lot of transformation. I mean, we’ve seen people that, you know, it’s taken them 10 or 15 years to really kind of get to that millionaire status. And all of a sudden they joined GoBundance.  And they all of a sudden start finding out that there’s so many other things that they’ve neglected along the journey of becoming a millionaire. So, we’ve seen incredible transformations in health because age defying health is one of our pillars. We’ve seen people just flourish in their relationships. And one thing that is so cool to see from the guy side is, when you could sit around with the other guys, you’re literally sitting around in a room with millionaire entrepreneurs and you’re talking about, “Hey, how can we be better husbands to our wives? And how can we better be better dads to our children? And be better leaders to our people?” So just transforming the way you’re showing up in relationships as well. A lot of people are rapidly growing their net worth because now, again, there’s a lot of deal flow within the group. So there’s people that can help you to pull your money. Or there’s always opportunities coming up where you can invest in. Now, there’s business partnerships have formed within the group. So a couple guys get together, they got ideas, and now they got resources, and everything. So we’ve seen people literally go within this GoBundance ecosystem from one of the top guys, probably, 40 million to over 100 million dollars in net worth. We’ve seen guys that were 280 pounds, in terrible health, but making in business, become fit, and start being like running Ironman triathlons. We’ve seen people’s marriages just blossom relationships with their kids. So it’s incredible to see the transformation when people realize that there’s so much more to life than just grinding it out and trying to make money and run a business. 

Mario Fachini [11:40]

That’s fantastic to hear. Because, you know, the money is great but if you don’t have the relationships or if you have the relationships and no money or especially your health, if you don’t have health, you don’t have anything. 

Dirk Van Reenen [11:52]

Yeah. Absolutely. And I mean, that’s such an important thing. Tony Robbins talks about that a lot too. Is that, look, you don’t have success if you don’t have health. Because I mean, it doesn’t matter how much money you have, when your health starts going, everything else goes with it. And I think that’s one thing in general that most entrepreneurs and business owners that I had come in contact with don’t really regard their health as a top priority. So that’s really something that we focus on and build a lot of conversation around and have accountability around as well. 

Mario Fachini [12:22]

Well, that’s good. I’m glad you’re doing the holistic approach and making sure that they’re successful on all levels. 

Dirk Van Reenen [12:29]

Yeah. We approach it – there’s a term that’s kind of been coined in our tribe and its whole life millionaire. And it’s this idea that your net worth means nothing if these other things don’t exist. So when you can really start kind of focusing on that and start seeing that it’s really cool when you have more resources, when you have more money, when you’re having success. But when you can even take that, and your health is great, and your relationships, and you have an amazing adventures, and your level of contribution massively increases, then life just becomes sweeter. And especially doing it going through that whole experience with other people that are experiencing the same thing, it’s really fun. So I would encourage everybody on their path to becoming successful, think about if you want to be a millionaire, be a whole life millionaire. 

Mario Fachini [13:16]

What would one success story be that stands out to you? 

Dirk Van Reenen [13:23]

I think probably one of my favorite stories, there’s a gentleman in our in our tribe named Dan Grieb. And Dan was one of these guys who’s still in the real estate field. I think he’s doing a lot of coaching as well. But I think he got to the point that, literally, he was almost 300 pounds and working all the time. Just really giving so much to his business. And in joining GoBundance, he really sort of finding some guys that sort of challenging him on his health and how much time he’s spending with his family. And through that process, over a couple of years, he went from this guy that wasn’t really fit at all, wasn’t really having that much additional time for family, adventure, and travel. And through this process, I think, now he’s done something like four Ironman, completed, like, four of them. And he’s businesses doing amazing. He’s part of a really big startup coaching company now. Relationships are flourishing. The time he’s spending with his family. Things like that are really encouraging when you look at it. Because there’s a lot of people that in the ordinary grind of life, even if they’re being successful, those transformational moments don’t come easily. Because most of the people that are around you may not be focusing on the same thing. So that’s one that really kind of sticks out for me if somebody that’s just transformed their health and their relationships. And everything in business and success follows. 

Mario Fachini [14:53]

What have you noticed with your book so far? How exciting has that been since you launched it? 

Dirk Van Reenen [15:00]

The book has been really cool. So I got a copy of it here. I’ll tell you the first really cool story about the book. When I first got the full transcript, it was July 4th. And I remember, I needed to kind of read it. And I thought, “Okay. I’ll read a little bit here and there.” I mean, I usually like to read about an hour max. I’m not a person that sits down and reads for, like, four hours. And I ended up reading the entire book in one sitting. I was like, “Oh my gosh. Man, this turned out really well.” It’s just written like a fable. It’s an incredibly gripping story. So I started kind of sending some of the copies to my team, having them read it, getting feedback from them as well. And we’re all kind of working on the book together because there’s multiple authors. And when I got the first copy, I got a copy about ten days before the official release. And I went to my 10 year old son and I said, “Hey, Jax. We got the book done. Here’s the really cool thing, if you read this book in the next ten days, you’ll be one of the first people to ever read this book even before it hits kind of the public sale.” And so he kind of took that on as a challenge. Because I’m always kind of encouraged him to read certain things and to really kind of challenge his thinking on things and really develop the way that he does think about things. So he read the book and he loved it. And the cool thing is, in the book, it talks about these little cards, the effect cards. And actually from our summer event where we did a pre-launch for our members, I brought some of the cards home. So every time he read a chapter, I would give him the effect card just like it says in the book. So he was really blind to it. But the cool thing was that he started talking about it at school. And he would come home and he would say like, “Hey, I was talking to my teacher about Tribe of Millionaires and talking about the importance of the people in your life and how they influence you.” And just really quickly, you could tell that he was grasping the concepts because it’s written in such a simple format. And probably about two weeks after that, he said, “Hey, Dad. Can I talk to you in your office?” And I said okay. And after dinner, we went and sat down in the chairs in my office. And we’re sitting kind of there and he said, “I’ve made a really important decision with my life.” And I was like, “Okay. Wow. This has got to be serious because he’s asking me to sit down officially in my office and he’s got an announcement.” He said, “I’ve decided to become an entrepreneur.” And I was really excited. It’s something that I’ve never wanted to push on him. But I’ve always wanted to encourage him. And him following kind of he’s pursuits. And he’s been really purposeful in some things he’s done., I asked him why he made a decision. He said, “Well, when I read the book and I realized how much people really affect your life, I started thinking about all the people that you hang out with and your friends and the people you do business with. I started realizing that some of the people that I like the most as adults are people that that you do business with and that have become your friends. I’ve realized that it would be really cool if I can do the same in my life. And have that kind of level of relationship with the people you do business with, your friends, you can travel with them, all kinds of stuff.” But it was cool to see that for my son, it made an impact. And I posted that on Facebook and we had quite a few people that bought the book all of a sudden for their kids. It wasn’t just about them anymore. And we’ve had some amazing stories of people that have given this book to a teenager or a kid or even adults as well. That all of a sudden for the first time in their life they’ve realized that something they’ve never actually really dove into is understanding how the people in their lives are actually influencing them. And that’s really what the book is about. It’s about the six effects of, essentially, your tribe and the people that you spend time with. It feels like a subtle or almost kind of an invisible influence. But it’s one of the most powerful influences. And if you’re not aware of it, then you’re living your life as actually being influenced by the people that are around you. So it’s cool to see people really kind of taking a pause now and starting to think about, “Okay. Who am I spending time with? What kind of kind of conversations am I having? Is there accountability in my life? Is there actually anybody in my life that’s holding me accountable to anything? What kind of purpose am I living?” So it’s cool to see when you put something like this out there and people don’t just kind of read it and say, “Hey, that was cool book.” But they say, “Wow. Like I’ve really had to kind of stop and think about who are the people that I’m spending time with and how am I showing up for them as well.” So it’s been cool to see that. 

Mario Fachini [19:51]

Well, that sounds like a success story in and of itself. Because not only for the adults that are changing their lives, because people get on different paths and you end up in different places. We’ve all done it. But as you get older you go, “Do I really want to stay here?” And then making that change when you’re older. But it’s equally, if not more impressive. I love hearing stories about the kids. And I’ve always encouraged people to get them started young. You said your son is ten? 

Dirk Van Reenen [20:18]

He’s ten, yeah. 

Mario Fachini [20:19]

So he’s got eight more years until he’s 18. And then even then, that’s still young. I mean, you still have all your 20s to build the business up. I mean, he’s already got – I remember when one of my clients who I still have from over ten years. And I started my first company at 12. And when I was 24, it was like the next day, I went into a meeting. And I was like, “Yeah. I’ve been doing business more than half my life.” And he was like, “Half of what?” 

Dirk Van Reenen [20:52]

So you had the same company from 12 to 24? 

Mario Fachini [20:54]

Twelve to 18. I sold that to start this one. 

Dirk Van Reenen [20:58]

Wow, that is awesome. That is awesome. 

Mario Fachini [21:00]

So I have a passion -I thought I got started old. But I was smiling even more because he was ten. Get them started young. I’m so happy to hear that. And that the parents are buying the book. Where can people find the book? 

Dirk Van Reenen [21:17]

Yeah. So we’re actually giving a free book away, if you go to TribeOfMillionaires.com. We’re actually giving a free book way. Just pay the shipping. You can also find it on Amazon. If you just go to Amazon and look at Google, Tribe of Millionaires. So that’s where you can get a copy of the book. 

Mario Fachini [21:33]

Yeah. For sure. I want to make sure people get that. And we’re going to be talking about that more in the second half. But that’s really exciting to hear. Because how many people – the younger you get them started, the more they’re going to be better off when they are 18, 28, 38, 48. And hopefully they don’t have to do a 180. But for the adults who do, good for you. 

Dirk Van Reenen [21:56]

Mario, here’s the interesting thing is I think most people, if you have kids, you’re kind of acutely aware of this influence effect. And you want to tell your kids like you’re aware of who they’re hanging out with and who they’re spending time with. And you’re kind of cautious about whose house they go to, or who comes over to your house. Because you understand that that influence effect is so real. And I think somewhere around maybe the age of – I don’t know – 16 to whatever, you just kind of lose perspective of that. So I talked to parents that they’re so aware of that with their kids. But then I asked them, I said, “Hey, how aware are you of the influence effect in your life?” And I think it’s so important for us to look at how we’re doing that with kids. But I think as adults, it’s easy to kind of recognize that in kids. But when we look at our own life, we think we’re immune to. And we’re absolutely not. So one of these things that I think is just, as soon as you get somebody started, for the rest of your life, if you pay attention to who you’re spending time with, it’s going to really determine the overall trajectory of your life in every way. 

Mario Fachini [23:05]

I agree. Because growing up, it’s watch out who you’re hanging out with, you know, this person, that person. And then afterwards, it’s just like you don’t really think about it because maybe they’re a client, maybe they’re a prospect, maybe they’re a friend, maybe they’re whatever. And you just meet so many people. Like you’re saying, the more successful you get, you think you’re in front of all these people. and you have everything around you. But unless you’re working on it, you really can get isolated. And then when you pop back out, who are you hanging out with? Because can you talk about anything or is it just surface level stuff? That’s never fun. 

Dirk Van Reenen [23:41]

Yeah. That’s exactly right. It’s just one thing that we’re really trying to bring awareness that to help people understand, you could be working as hard as you want. And trying to work as smart as you want to work. And putting as much time and effort and energy into something. And yet if you don’t have the right people around you influencing you in the right ways, your effort is greatly diminished. So you have to get around people that can actually multiply everything that you’re doing. 

Mario Fachini [24:11]

Yeah. That’s a good tip there. Because a lot of people don’t realize, they think life is linear. And when it comes to business, you can grow it exponential. 

Dirk Van Reenen [24:22]

Yeah. And again, people that grow exponential businesses are people that hang out and get influenced by people that have built exponential businesses as well. If you look at any successful person has done significant things in business, they’ve got so many people that are influencing them on a continual basis, you know, by who they’re talking to, what they’re reading what they’re listening to, all of that. And it translates into your personal life 100% as well. 

Mario Fachini [24:47]

Well, you’ve shared some great Expert Authority insights. I can’t wait to hear more. We’re going to thank our sponsor and come back for the Imperfect Action Round. 

SPONSOR Business Book Checklist [24:54]

Why every business needs a book including yours? Would you like to save five plus hours with every prospect, generate more leads, and profit in your business now? Visit BusinessBookChecklist.com and learn how you can implement this in your business today. 

Mario Fachini [25:08]

And we are back with the Imperfect Action Round. Dirk, are you ready to take imperfect action? 

Dirk Van Reenen [25:15]

I am, yes. 

Mario Fachini [25:19]

First question, what is the fastest path to the cash in your experience? 

Dirk Van Reenen [25:24]

The fastest path to cash. I think the first thing is if you at least get clear about the first solid point that needs to get reached, immediately take an action, and starting to move towards that. I think too many people try to figure out the entire plan and don’t take action. So as soon as you get it clear at least about the first mile marker, immediately take action. 

Mario Fachini [25:44]

Excellent. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way they can fix it? 

Dirk Van Reenen [25:54]

Man, this one can go a lot of places. I think the number one thing that I see our type of clients doing is, number one, they think that they have to do it all. And they think that they need to learn a new skill or they got to figure something out instead of going to the who. And the fastest way to fix that is for them just to change the mindset of don’t ask the question why or even how but immediately just start asking the question who and find the right person that can help you work. 

Mario Fachini [26:21]

That’s very, very true. That’s a great answer. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value? 

Dirk Van Reenen [26:33]

Oh, man. I would say just care about your clients. Like, authentically care about them. If you do that, even though you make mistakes and you screw up, if you really care about them and show them that you care about them, you’ll retain them at a much higher level. 

Mario Fachini [26:48]

Very good. What is a book that’s made the biggest impact on your business? 

Dirk Van Reenen [26:56]

Okay. So for me, I got to go with two on this. Like one, for me personally, I think, Think and Grow Rich has been like one of the most significant books I’ve ever read. This year has been the seventh time I’ve read that book. And every time I get new insights from it. So for me, an ultra classic book. But I mean, it is just incredible for me. For my business, a book that’s really been powerful for us is the Four Disciplines of Execution, 4DX. Because it’s really helped us bring in some solid systems on how to bring a team together and cohesive on breaking down goals from the top down. 

Mario Fachini [27:30]

That sounds good. I’ve never heard of that one. Who’s the author? 

Dirk Van Reenen [27:34]

Stephen Covey. 

Mario Fachini [27:35]

Okay. That sounds real good. Where can people learn more about GoBundance and you? 

Dirk Van Reenen [27:43]

Yeah. For GoBundance, it’s G-O and then bundance.com. So I’ll just say Google GoBundance. go to our website. We’ve got a lot of information about GoBundance. For me personally, you can go to Bergflow, B-E-R-G-F-L-O-W.com. And that’s our primary training consulting company. 

Mario Fachini [28:04]

Excellent. Well, it’s been an absolute pleasure. And I appreciate you for sharing. 

Dirk Van Reenen [28:10]

Awesome. I really appreciate being on the show, Mario. Thank you so much and take care. 

Mario Fachini [28:15]

All right. Expert Authority World, we have another great episode. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a great day. And God bless. 

SPONSOR Business Book Checklist [28:23]

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www.EAInterviews.com [28:38]

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