RTBL 09 | Life's Best Moments Are Earned Not Given with Celina Eklund

Author: Seth Bradley | Attorney, Founder, Investor, Speaker
Published: Tue 02 Sep 2025
Episode Link: https://raisethebarradio.podbean.com/e/rtbl-09-lifes-best-moments-are-earned-not-given-with-celina-eklund/

Title: Life's Best Moments Are Earned Not Given with Celina Eklund

Summary:

Seth Bradley shares his unique journey from being adopted and raised in a blue-collar family in West Virginia to pivoting through medical school, business school, and law school before discovering his true calling in entrepreneurship and real estate investing. He explains how a mindset shift, exposure to high-level deals as a big law attorney, and a relentless work ethic led him to launch multiple businesses and build true freedom. The episode explores his beliefs around grit, personal development, hiring values-based teams, and designing a life around ownership instead of employment.

Links to Watch and Subscribe:

https://youtu.be/2Gcx4Ix8-zo

Bullet Point Highlights:

Adopted from Korea, raised in West Virginia by a coal miner and teacher.

Went from med school to law school before finding alignment in entrepreneurship.

Realized in big law he wanted to be the dealmaker, not just the attorney.

Now runs 7+ businesses including RaiseLaw, gyms, and startups.

Works 12-hour days by choice — building freedom, not trading time for money.

Core values: Accountability, Resilience, Transparency, Intelligence, Consistency, Awareness (ARTICA).

Married to Allison — also from WV, they now run gyms together in SoCal.

Major mindset shift came from Rich Dad Poor Dad in 2013.

Believes most avoid hard things because they’ve never seen the reward on the other side.

Emphasizes hiring based on culture and values over just skills.

Stays grounded through personal development and emotional regulation.

Focused on building legacy, not just income — ownership > employment.

Transcript:

Seth Bradley (00:00.462)

Welcome back to Revenue from Retention, the show where we dive into the stories behind success, the mindset, the pivots, and the purpose-driven decisions that create powerful transformations. Today's guest has a story that is inspiring, as it is also uncommon. Seth Bradley was born in West Virginia and adopted at birth and has been defying the odds ever since. He walked the path from medical school to law school only to realize that neither were truly aligned with his purpose.

After years of grinding, Seth made a bold leap into real estate entrepreneurship and never look back. Today, he's a thriving investor and a sought out after mentor, also soon to be father and the host of Passive Income Attorney Podcasts, where he teaches other high achievers how to break free from the golden handcuffs and build true freedom through passive income. This episode, we're going to dive into reinvention, identity and finding courage to live life on your own terms. So welcome to the show, Seth. So good to have you.

Oh, so good to be here, Selena. Thank you so much for having me on. Really appreciate it.

I love people with, I don't know if I've ever interviewed anybody that has like medical and law background per se. So it's neat to be able to like have, I love people that have so many, so much on their resume and it's like so colorful because you have so many experiences. So glad to have you here, but I ask everybody the same question before we dive into the podcast and I'm going to ask you the same. Why do feel like people should listen to your story? There's millions of podcasts out there. Why do you feel like people should listen to you?

Sure. You know, I believe that my story resonates with a lot of people. I like to frame it and I like to call it the blue-collar mindset. know, trading time for money, right? We've all heard that. We've all kind of been through that at some point in our lives, at least most of us. You know, getting caught up in comfort and lacking, you know, just lacking that knowledge of what's possible and like what's out there. And that's kind of how I grew up. Just a small twig, I was actually born in Korea.

Celina Eklund (01:56.652)

And then I got adopted in West Virginia. So I was there for about three months and maybe I made my way over to West Virginia via plane when I was three months old. But growing up in West Virginia, great place, beautiful place, not a lot of diversity, but also growing up with my parents who are incredible people, I love them so much and they were instrumental in making me who that I am today.

But that being said, they're just, you know, I was never exposed to entrepreneurship and real estate and just the, you know, these bigger concepts, right? Of like private equity and owning companies and raising capital. Like none of those things were ever even in my atmosphere ever until I got really to really until I got to business school and law school. So, you know, that blue collar mindset or, you know, just get the best job that you can possibly get and getting caught up in just

living that life and getting comfortable with it and not knowing what's possible that's out there, I think it's a relatable story.

That's cool. did, how did you, what was the thing that got you into education, into school first? Because like my family, my dad is like, no, we're all 25 plus years retired in the military. You're gonna join the military. And then my mom is like, you're gonna go to school. And I didn't really wanna go to school, but then somebody, there was one person, it was the one person that changed my life forever that told me about sales and entrepreneurship. Like I'll never forget that light bulb moment of like, oh, interesting. So like, did you have that?

Like that person that had the conversation with you or a professor that talked to you that brought you into like, you know, like going to school. What did that look like?

Celina Eklund (03:34.766)

Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, having that blue collar mindset, my dad's a retired coal miner, my mom's a retired school teacher. And they had that mindset like you need to go to college, get an education. And that's just the best thing that you can do for yourself. I'm still kind of of that generation, right? But and school was always really easy for me. I'll say that. So it was really easy for me. So and I never had like a passion for anything in particular. So I just kind of looked at like, what's the best

job that I can get. And to me when I was younger, that was becoming a doctor. So that's why I went kind of that med school route first before realizing that wasn't for me. And then that's when I went to this school and then law school and all that. And my parents were encouraging of all these things and they're actually very understanding of when I kept changing between the schools because I was still on at least, you know, that educational path, still higher education and striving towards. Yeah, curious. Yeah, striving towards something.

So I was always just kind of put in that again that kind of narrow mindset where that's the only path I knew I didn't know about entrepreneurship or didn't think it was like a possibility for me and for my life.

That's cool. I am. Do you have any other brothers or sisters? Are you the only one?

I do, have an older sister.

Seth Bradley (04:53.27)

And what's the age gap difference between you two?

About seven years. Okay. She's not adopted, so she's biological.

on the issue living california with where you guys are at

No, she's in Charleston, South Carolina. That's cool. Do you go up?

Celina Eklund (05:14.328)

Have not.

I don't, you know, I've talked to other adoptees in the past and that's always one of the core things. They all want to go and figure out where they're from and they feel like they're kind of missing something. I think that my parents did such a great job and loved me so much and I felt that throughout the process that I just never felt the need to kind of go outside of that. They were always just my parents and that's it. I didn't feel the need to find anything else.

Yeah, to like hunt back. My boyfriend, he doesn't know his dad. I think his dad left when he was like three or four years old, really young age. And so I've asked him this before too, like, do you think your dad will ever find you? And he's like, you know, if he finds me, great, but like, I'm not out there like actively searching into that. So, that's cool. It's neat to hear from, I don't know too many people that have been adopted like so young, so early. So it's good that you have that. And then also you have really good

your parents are like a form of mentorship and, you know, have been very supportive. So that's cool that you're able to carry it on. yeah, so let's talk a little bit about like entrepreneurship. And when we were, before we got on this podcast, we talked a lot about like, you know, leadership and the importance of like building people. So did you, when you met your wife, did I know that she is a big part in like business with you too? Like, did you find her through business or how did that whole thing happen?

Yeah, it's really interesting because she's also from West Virginia, but we didn't meet until we were actually in San Diego. So I moved to LA first in 2009 and then made my way down to San Diego for law school. And then she came out later and we met through a mutual friend who's also from West Virginia. So like West Virginia was the, you know, the commonality between us. So pretty awesome that we met each other, you 2000 miles away in San Diego.

Seth Bradley (07:10.722)

Wow, that's neat. so like, how did you guys both realize, we like business and we want to like do this together?

Yeah, I mean it took a while, right? So I ended up graduating from law school and we moved back across the country together back to West Virginia because at the time that was the best big law firm job that I could get. It was back home because I had some pull there. So she followed me back to West Virginia begrudgingly. She didn't want to do that, but she did. So God bless her. And then we ended up going to North Carolina for a little bit and then trying to find a way back out to California.

But at the same time, I was actually working for Big Law Firms at the time. again, entrepreneurship wasn't really on the table at that point in time. It was still, hey, let's just keep slaving away here, grinding, trying to work a way up to partner at the Big Law Firms. And she had actually went back to school for her second degree in interior design and started.

You guys are smart. Both of you are just geniuses. Holy cow.

Well, I don't know about that. Honestly, like nowadays, if somebody asked me, should they be going to college? I would have to have a deeper conversation with that person, right? Like it depends on what they're going to get into.

Seth Bradley (08:19.97)

Yeah, you're it's just crazy because times have changed so much like back then like you needed a degree to do anything and now it's more of like people are looking for like experience.

Yep, 100%.

Like if I, you know, if I'm looking to, you know, if I own a restaurant and I'm looking to hire like a bartender, like I don't care if you went to school for four years to get a science degree. I'm like, how many cocktails have you made? Do you know how to make a spicy margarita and a regular margarita? Like, do you know what ingredients are in it? You know, so it's kind of like, it's, it's insane to see like how things have changed over, over time.

Totally, It used to be like a minimum, right? Like you had to get a four-year degree no matter what you're doing. It doesn't matter. Like get a degree in communications or general studies or whatever, but you have to get a degree to kind of get to that next level or to get a good job. But it's just not like that anymore unless there's like a very specific skill set that you have to have a degree for. I don't believe in that system and that's coming from a guy who went to school for 11 years, which is insane to say out loud.

But if you're not going to school to be a doctor, to be a lawyer, to be a dentist, to be an engineer, things like that where you have to have a degree for it, it probably doesn't make sense.

Seth Bradley (09:38.274)

Yeah, I, it's funny that you said, you said just a little bit ago, you said that you're just kind of grinding and grinding, grinding, keep on going. And you know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel, but you don't see like the light yet and what, what that looks like. And, it's, it's funny how like when your intentions are in the right place and your heart is in the right place and you want to, you know, give back to other people and you're a good human being, like those things naturally, you know, come like they unfold.

for one another and that's neat that you guys have that vision of just like, put in the hard work right now. That way we can have the fruits for our kids later. And I think that that's where like a lot of people get caught up or give up is like, the result isn't tomorrow. And I'm sure that you see that with investing too. Like I can't just pick up my phone and be like, okay, here's a million dollars in my bank account. Like there's strategy that's involved, right? Like there's thought and processes and it.

Like you have to build certain things and go certain avenues. So with you guys like getting into investing now, what are some of like the bigger projects that you guys are working on or what it is that you focus on?

Yeah, I was gonna say before I get into that, mean, it does come down to relationships and networking and things like that where you just, you have to get out there and meet the right people and get exposed to the right people. I think that that's really key. I mean, I know for me, working in those big law firms, I was actually doing what I do now on the business side. I was representing clients to do what I do now on the business side. So they were buying large real estate projects. They were raising capital.

to buy huge apartment buildings and to buy companies and things like that. But it was funny because when you're in the weeds, you don't really think about you on that side of the table. You're always just like kind of in it and you're like, all right, well, my job is this small part, which is being the attorney on the job. But then later, like you have to take a step back and say, wait a minute, like I know all these things and I would actually be really good at this. Why wouldn't I want to be on the business side? And that's kind of the light bulb moment for me was just seeing

Celina Eklund (11:38.766)

take a step back and say, maybe I don't want to just be a vendor. Maybe I actually want to be that person that's buying businesses, that's operating large apartment complexes, that's doing, that's raising capital, doing those things. And I think it's funny, especially for attorneys, because that's just one example of a person that's in the weeds there every single day, but perhaps they don't necessarily own any real estate, even though they're a real estate attorney, or they've never raised capital before, even though they're a securities attorney.

Things like that. Another common example is like real estate agents, right? There's so many real estate agents out there. many. You know, they're supposed to be professionals. It's like, well, if you ask them, like, how much real estate do you own? You know, maybe they own their own house, but they don't own any rental properties. Most of them, I should say, don't own many rental properties. They're not actually in that business, which is wild because they would probably be really good at it if they could kind of take a step back and say,

Yeah, maybe I should get into this bit, the business side, not just the vendor side.

Yeah, it's so true. Find somebody that has been where it is that you want to go. It's kind of like, it's kind of like if you want to get like, like body modifications, right? So like Botox or like, you know, you want to get what's what's in for hair right now, hair extensions, right? Like you're not going to go to a hair salon and the freaking chick doesn't

have hair extensions in right or like the lady that you're go get Botox from like she doesn't even have Botox and you can clearly tell like she's not taking good care of her skin it's like okay wait what like I want to make sure like whoever I'm working with like they have that that track record.

Celina Eklund (13:17.662)

You gotta be careful with that talking about education, right? So it's it's awesome that there's all this alternative education out there with coaching and mentoring and YouTube University and Master, I like to call these folks mastermind scholars sometimes it's like, know, make sure that you are buying from the right people people that are doing what they said that they are doing and teaching what they what you want to learn, right? Like they're not just they're not just educators. They've actually done what you want to do.

It's really important and they're continuing to do that. Like they were successful at it and they were good enough that, you know, hey, I want to teach other people, but at the same time, that's my core business. My core business is what I'm teaching, not the education side because there's just a lot of people out there that you can waste a lot of money with. So that's kind of the downside to that.

That's true. like what is your, also talked about like the reason why we love entrepreneurship so much is because it gives you the ability to have freedom. You can go take a trip to Disney world with your family for three days, or you can, you know, fly wherever it is that you want to go because you're not working in the business. You're working on the business and you have other people that are helping run it too. So what is like that? I have a lot of people that are going to be listening to this that are

you know, wanting to get maybe out of their nine to five, or if they work a corporate job and they kind of like want to transition. like, what is your day to day look like for you? Like what does an average Monday through Friday look like for you? And like, what does that schedule, you know, represent you? How does it look like?

Yeah, I might be scaring some of your listeners away by telling them this, but my day is long. I have seven businesses that I run, at least seven, some people might say more than that. So I get up around six o'clock and I start working almost immediately. I used to have kind of this long, drawn out morning routine, but I'm kind of the Alex Hormozi cult now where it's like, how quickly can you get dialed in? And for me, I just grab a cup of coffee, I sit down, I put some headphones on and I get going.

Celina Eklund (15:17.31)

So I can get in that zone pretty quickly. But I'm working long hours. I mean, if I'm in the office and not traveling and not speaking at conferences and doing those sorts of things, I'm working six to at least six o'clock, like 12 hours straight. I might take 30 minutes off for a quick lunch, that sort of thing. And then I'll go get my workout. And it's six thirty across the street at one of my gyms. So it's long. It's very long. But alluding to what you said to earlier, if something did come up,

or if I did want to go on a vacation or take 30 days off, things like that that you might not have the flexibility or freedom to do with a W-2, you can. So I am choosing to work 12 hour days because I'm putting that time in for myself because I can see the vision for myself, my family, and my businesses. And it's different. It's different when you're putting that time in for the things that you believe in and the things that are important for you.

as opposed to working at W2 where all you're doing is counting the seconds as they're ticking down so you can clock out. And you're working for somebody else's dream. It's totally different. 12 hours working for myself versus nine hours working for somebody else is totally different. Totally different.

Do you, this is a side note, do you play the guitar? There's a guitar, I know people can't see this, they're only gonna hear it, but do you play music?

I used to. don't have as much time anymore, but I grew up playing guitar all the way through college and that sort of thing, but not so much anymore. But I do want to get back into it one day.

Seth Bradley (16:54.146)

Do you think that music has helped fuel your creativity and keep your brain fresh?

I think it always does. I think it always does. think that that's a completely different side of your brain that you can stimulate and I should probably get back into it because of that. I think it just kind of unlocks things for you.

Yeah, it's a, I'm reading this book right now. Well, it's like probably my third time reading it. He's one of my favorite authors, Seth Godin. He wrote the book, Lynchpin. He has a couple of different books. Have you heard of him before? for sure.

Marketing marketing king

my gosh, he's just, he's incredible. But I read different things and he talks about how to like not fit the mold, the purple cow, be the purple cow, not the black and white cow. And so like, I think like music is something that kind of helps fuel that creativity. But why, why do you feel like you love the grit so much? Like you don't have to work 12 hours every single day. You don't have to get up at six if you want to get up at, you know, 12 o'clock in the afternoon, you can, but what makes you so addicted to the grit and the hard work? Why do you like that? Cause most people

Seth Bradley (17:57.068)

want to run away from the stuff that's hard. They're not trying to put themselves in the tough stuff, which is rare. And I feel like that's how I found you is because I love tough stuff. Especially being a female, I love it when people tell me, you can't do that. And I'm a woman. So the odds are even smaller. like, hell yeah. Like that, like I'm all in. how do you, like, why are you so obsessed with business and wanting to grow so much?

Yeah, I mean, think there's a couple things. think number one, I just enjoy building. So like I enjoy being a builder and building businesses and learning about new things. I have a hard time saying no. Like I've gotten better at it and I think I'm actually pretty good at it now, but it took me a long time to get there. It probably got me to this maximum capacity before I started saying no, because I just love like diving into new businesses and learning about new things and

and ways to make money and build businesses and help people. But that's number one. I think that I just genuinely enjoy that. So I try to fill my day up with that. Now, sometimes you do get bogged down with some of the smaller things that you don't want to do, but try to avoid that as much as possible and still dedicate as much time to your highest and best and most fun, enjoyable use as possible. And number two, I think that a lot of folks

avoid the hard because they haven't been rewarded for doing it. I think that people that have been successful have seen that the hard stuff is the best stuff. Meaning like once you've gotten through that hard place and you just kept pushing and pushing and pushing and you had that breakthrough and you saw it and you were like, that's it. That's it. Like that's where I need to get. So when you see it again, when you see it get hard, you realize that's what you want. Right. That's when you realize

I just got to keep pushing and pushing and pushing and eventually I'll break through again. Whereas other people may have in the past ran up against something hard and said this is too hard and kind of pulled back. So they weren't, didn't get to see that, you know, that reward.

Seth Bradley (20:06.702)

How long have you been into the self-development space? Have you always been there? like personal, I should say personal development. Have you always been there? Is it something new or do you?

Yeah, I would say it actually started with maybe around 2013 when I got my first big law firm job and I realized once again that that wasn't necessarily what I wanted to do. So I started kind of looking around and learning about real estate and I read Rich Dad Poor Dad. That was kind of a game changer, which it is for a lot of people just with like mindset. So I would say that that book, even though it's not necessarily a lot of personal development there, but it is a mindset shift.

And that was probably the one that kind of got me going and got me to start reading more books and start thinking about things differently.

He lives here in Arizona. We've ran into him a couple of times. Yeah, he lives here in Scottsdale. or like going to the mall or restaurant like every now and then somebody in our company will come across him and he's a great guy. We have his book around our shelves too as well. Yeah, I wish I found self-development when I was like 18. I'm like, where was this? My brother is, there's a big age gap difference between the two of us, but he just turned 17 in January.

and he's been into self-development because of me since he was 15 years old. And, you know, I just want him to be so much further ahead when he's like 20, you know, and 21 and like he's making good decisions for himself. think that's so important. So I even watched like really old videos of like Tony Robbins. Love Tony Robbins. And it's neat to watch like his evolution from when he first started with the big baggy suits and he was doing, you know, one-off seminars.

Seth Bradley (21:52.31)

you know, way back in the day. And then now, like, I mean, he's at a point where he's starting to retire because his vocal cords are going out, kids are getting older. And it's neat to watch him grow because he, you know, if like he can do it, there's no difference between me and him. Like, I, the only difference between him and me is like, he just wanted it more than I wanted it. And he made it happen faster, you know, so.

You're doing that for your brother. I mean because that's again It's all about like exposure, right? Like the sooner that you're exposed to that or the sooner like you meet that person even if it's a sibling or whoever it is, right? That gives you at least that exposure. Maybe sometimes you Resist it like you might not want it at the time But at least it's kind of in your mind and then later when you're ready You know you you have that at least that idea and inclination in your mind So just being exposed to different ideas and networking with the right people

makes a huge difference. The earlier that it can happen, the better.

Yeah, I think that's when like the ego has to be put aside. Like you gotta, you gotta set the ego down. You know, you don't know it all and that's okay. And I think for men, maybe it's a little bit more difficult because guys want to act like, you know, they, they know everything. Women are like, no, what are all my resources? Like, I'm going to read all these baby books. Like I'm going to start, you know, watching YouTube videos on how to properly, you know,

do something for their baby like me. I've got a ton of women around me and I have like, don't have kids yet, but I'm just like, I tossed out our candles because the flame from the candles isn't good for your insides. So we got like this freaking new scent thing. We got rid of the microwave cause I'm like a little nervous of radiation for my baby. know, like I'm just like kind of like immersing myself, emerging myself like into the whole process of like becoming a mom. But that's like the cool stuff with, with resources, but that takes the ego to like put aside, you know.

Celina Eklund (23:38.078)

I agree. I think you're onto something there. I remember being in my 20s and I thought I knew everything and I never ask questions, which is sad to even say now. I wouldn't ask questions. I'd be like, I'll figure it out. I don't care. I'm not going to give you anything. It's crazy how not humble I was. I was really just like, I know everything and if I don't, I'll figure it out. I don't need help. And nowadays, I'm totally different mindset now.

I'm gonna share.

Seth Bradley (24:08.354)

I'm going to share my screen with you. And even though the people on the other side, they can't see this, we'll just kind of like walk through it. But I look at this chart every single day actually, and it talks about power and force. like whenever I'm in a situation or having a conversation with somebody, I'm like always trying to check what my level is. And so I'm just kind of walking through it because other people can't see this. So they're just hearing it.

At the bottom of this chart, it's like bright red. And then at the top, it slowly starts to go into it, like a yellow, a green, a blue, and a purple. And at the very bottom, it talks about shame, guilt. And that's how you're operating at a level 125, desire, anger, pride, 175. And then you slowly move up the chart. And as you get into the blues and the purple, you operate out of love and joy and peace and enlightenment. So you either have power or you have force that's coming out of your system.

And I'm just always trying to think like, how can I always operate at this violet purple? Because if I'm that way towards somebody, like they're going to have that reciprocity towards me versus like operating out of anxiety. And I think it comes to like emotional maturity. I think emotional maturity is really like a big part of this, but I wanted to share this with you because I thought that I look

at it every do you use that? Do you kind of look at this every day and then just kind of stop and take a moment and just kind of where you're at?

If I need like a reset, you know, if something bad happened or something that was unexpected or, you know, I'll give you like an example. Like my, text my dad on Saturday and I'm like, Hey, this is the venue where we're having our wedding at. You know, this is what's happening in March. And he just hasn't texted me back at all, you know? And I'm just like, I just think to myself, like you're my dad. You're also important part because you're supposed to be here at this wedding coming up and I haven't gotten a text back. immediately, I mean, I'm over here like boiling in like,

Seth Bradley (26:01.652)

shame and anger and I'm pissed off. And so like whenever I like lose that edge, I check myself and I'm like, okay, how do we go back over here? Maybe, you know, back to enlightenment, powerful inspiration.

you know, maybe he's on a trip right now and he doesn't have phone service or signal or, you know, maybe I just need to have more compassion for his situation. My stepmom got diagnosed with cancer last year. Who knows? Maybe it came back again. They're at the hospital. Like, you just kind of don't know what other people are going through on the other side. So I just like check myself on this list. And if I'm not, if I don't see the chart, I kind of take like a mental note of like, you know, hey, let's go back up to the top. It's okay. And everything's all figure audible.

I that. like my thing. So I just kind of wanted to like share that, but I'll text it to you after this so you can have it.

Sure, yeah, I appreciate that. That's awesome. That's awesome.

That's a, that's important to me. And I noticed another thing. I love watching people's patterns. That's what I'm, I am really, really good at is like studying people because you obviously have information and you want to take it from the people who have it to the people who need it too. So how have you learned to be like so coachable and open-minded? Like I can tell that there, you have a certain level where you can put your ego aside. And you know, I think that that's kind of like why we're on this podcast too, as well.

Seth Bradley (27:23.852)

you have a certain level of like open mindedness. Is your wife somebody that like grounds you with that to be that way or is that something that's always been in

She definitely helps, that's for sure. I would say it definitely hasn't always been in me. Like I said, I think that I was not humble enough in my 20s to be able to accept coaching and mentoring and advice. I wasn't as open as I used to be. I think it probably took a little bit of spinning around, meaning going to medical school and

dropping out and then going to business school and like, isn't good enough and then going to law school and I was like, okay, this is cool, but going to get in a great job and then realizing like, this isn't what I want to do either. I think it took a lot of that like kind of spinning around where it's like, hey buddy, maybe you don't know it all. Right. And then you had to have a little bit of self had to have a little bit of self reflection and say, all right, what, what am I missing here? And just be a lot more open to mentorship and coaching and

and people just that are, you know, that are, have the experience that you want to have and to have more life experiences and have done the things that you want to do already. And once you kind of open yourself up to that and realize like, man, this is a shortcut right here. Like this is the shortcut. You know, I think again, it comes with experience and exposure and results.

That's cool. So you and your wife now you guys have two gyms and you're opening up a third one soon in Southern California What's next up for you guys? What is a what's a thing that's up and coming? have the third gym You're gonna have a family soon, too So do you are you guys like building out like another team for your third location? Or what is what is like the next like six months to a year look like for you guys?

Celina Eklund (29:14.54)

We are, we are. So I've been kind of kicked out of the partnership for the gyms, so to speak, at least on paper, just because she wants to just, you know, it's her baby. So she wants to run with it, which is great. Even though I'm still doing the same stuff that I was doing before, I'm just not going to get paid for it. All good. No worries there, but we'll get it. I know, I know. So helping her get that launched, hopefully before the end of the year. And same thing with the family starting before the end of the year as well. So they'll

still loves you, don't worry.

Celina Eklund (29:43.97)

be going about at the same time, it looks like. And then, you know, with my other businesses just really growing my own boutique law firm and my startups as well. So a lot of, a lot of irons in the fire right now to keep going.

Do you guys have our culture where I'm at, like hiring is really important, the way that we bring on people. So do you guys have like a specific way of how you find your people, how to find the right people, like retaining employees? Because I mean, I feel like there's a lot of people that just kind of, you know, they're in it for like the paycheck, they're there for six months and then they're bouncing. So like, do you guys have a specific process of what you're doing for your upcoming third location?

Yeah, I mean, think you get better at it as you go, right? Like trial and error, figure out who, know, personality wise will work. I think you've really got to stick to who's going to fit in with your culture and your values and things like that. I mean, for instance, like we really value accountability and transparency and consistency. Awareness is another big one, right? So like making sure that the people that you hire on your team also value those same things. And if they don't.

it's probably not going to work out in the long run. So it's really important that culturally, that your values align. So that's the important thing. And we do certain things like we don't even hire out of the gate necessarily full time. It's, you're on a 90 day probationary period. We like to call it so that, hey, we have this exit. And especially in California, we've got to spell these things out very clearly with everyone.

I think you just get better at it and we've gotten a lot better at keeping employees and retention.

Seth Bradley (31:30.52)

Yeah, that's important. We, we always talk about having like an unrecruitable team, you know, like no matter what, if somebody came over here and tried to pay me a million dollars, like I wouldn't do it because this is my family and we've gone through the tough stuff. And if you can go through the hard stuff, like you can go through the easy stuff together. hiring, like we, whenever we go to hire too, we always meet the spouse, the kids, the whole family, because it's like the, the, person's going to be working there for 10 hours out of the day or eight hours out of the day. Like we want to ensure that the spouse knows that

they're at work working hard. And also like you don't want to treat it like it's they're just paying for a paycheck. Like this is a family, like we're doing life together. Like you made a commitment to work here. Like I'm going to make a commitment to making sure that we're increasing your bonuses or your salary or you you're upping the standard of the company. So that's super cool. I love that. Yeah.

What's a so so you guys have that that's coming up you're going to be starting a family that's so exciting What a what a good time in life for everything to be coming through together I'm I can't wait to to see your guys's baby on Instagram and and you know like Watch your baby start doing pull-ups in the gym. You know, yeah

Yeah. He's so cute. That's super exciting. Yeah, super excited.

And as we wrap up here, is there anything else that you'd like to leave off with or any other message that you'd like to put out for anybody that's listening to this too?

Celina Eklund (32:54.572)

Yeah, I mean, I would just say like stick with it, right? Like figure out where I'm trying to think what the best word would be. I don't like to say where your passion is, but figure out where you can where you can harness your energy and focus it somewhere and then stick it out and really push through. Like I said earlier, the hard when it gets hard, that's when you you don't stop. That's not when you pull back. That's when you push harder and you push through and there will be a breakthrough.

but you just gotta keep going.

yeah love that you are your new life is on the other side of you being uncomfortable have to go through that that uncomfortable face that's awesome well if i have somebody that's actually looking for a job or wanting to come to your heart of your team you know cuz i do have people out in southern california that are always like looking for new opportunities and also want to work with like like-minded people you know so

Somebody is looking for an opportunity like I'm not going to send him to Joe Schmo or have him go Google something right like I would love for them to be work directly with you. So what's the best way and point of contact that we can that anybody can get a hold of you?

Yeah, you can go to SethBradleyESQ.com, so like Esquire, S-SethBradleyESQ.com. That will be set up for you to kind of tell me where you, what your interest is with me and then we can kind of point you in the right direction. I do have a number of businesses, so that site is kind of set up to guide you to the right resource.

Seth Bradley (34:22.542)

Awesome. Well, thank you, Seth, so much for being here. And next time on our next podcast where we shatter limiting beliefs. Thanks for being here, Seth.

Thanks, Elena. Really appreciate it.

Links from the Show and Guest Info and Links:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DJ7TLuEz93X/

Celina Eklund’s Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/celina-eklund/

https://www.instagram.com/celina.eklund/

https://x.com/AiryJane1

https://www.youtube.com/@CelinaEklund/featured

https://www.facebook.com/CelinaEklundd

https://www.threads.com/@celina.eklund

Seth Bradley’s Links:

https://x.com/sethbradleyesq