Episode 57 - Oscar Capel - Hey, Don't Come in. We're Closed. We're Not Working Anymore. You No Longer Have a Job.

[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to from caving in to crushing it, the podcast for those who find themselves immersed in adversity and choose to write their story instead of having others write it for them. I'm Drew Deraney, and I'm your host, Oscar. It's good to see you, my friend. [00:00:23] Speaker B: It's always good to see you, Drew. [00:00:26] Speaker A: Yeah, this is great because we've gotten to know each other for probably about the last, probably three years, and we've been bumping into each other in all different areas, whether it was when we were master networks together or relaxed teams and whatnot. And I consider you like a brother to me. And when I have a question, my go to guy is Oscar Cappell. So I wanted you on for a variety of reasons. As the audience knows, I bring men or women on who have gone through challenging times in their lives and have made a decision not to retreat from adversity and instead really use that adversity to make them a stronger individual and allow them to really help others. And you've done that in many, many different ways, so I'll get right to it. I know you've gone through a lot in your life, and I'd like you to think about at least one defining moment, or the key defining moment in your life that really caused you to pause. And whether it was a subtle, defining moment that you noticed or something like a two by four hitting you upside the head, really made you realize, hey, Oscar, there's a better way to live, and I'm going to change what I've been doing. So if you could share that with us, we'd really appreciate it. [00:01:46] Speaker B: Sure. And it's not hard to figure out that moment, because it happened just a few years ago. I was a dental technician working in the field over 30 years. I had the chance to run a lab down in Costa Rica for five years. It was really good. Unfortunately, when we came back to the US and the owner passed away and his wife took over, and she was the bookkeeper, and she was a really good bookkeeper, which is if you don't pay your bill on time, we will charge you extra for the maintenance. Unfortunately, that caused us to lose accounts to the point where I'll remember it forever. It was a Sunday afternoon. I get a phone call from basically the new owner saying, hey, don't come in tomorrow. We're closed. So I was used to that because we've had electrical problems, water problems, all sorts of stuff like that. And I said, okay, no problem. What's going on? She says, we're closed. I'm like, what do you mean? We're not working anymore? You no longer have a job. Wow. So that point, first, it's like, hold on. I wasn't prepared for this. I was prepared for retiring in a few years and everything going, and I basically got a head start on the 40 million people that lost their jobs during COVID which is, you think you have a secure job until something happens. So at that point, I said, well, when your back is up against the wall, your next step is forward. So I said, what can I do to join into the gig economy? Because everybody was having side hustles that produced some income. And I said, I have to do that because after over 30 years of being in the dental business, I really had no other skills. I didn't have bookkeeping skills, I didn't have computer skills, I didn't have office skills. Like, all right, no problem, I'll just transfer over. And one of the reasons we were in Costa Rica is we were getting a lot of competition from one man labs. So the big labs had. I not only did I not have a job, I didn't have an industry to go back to. [00:04:16] Speaker A: Wow. And you were living in Costa Rica. What year was this? This is right before COVID Well, I. [00:04:23] Speaker B: Was living in Costa Rica, and then unfortunately, we got so big that Costa Rica couldn't. They couldn't supply us with the raw materials. In the dental lab, you need a lot of raw material to produce even one little crown. So we had to close up there and come back to the US. And then he started outsourcing, kept some stuff in house, but at that point, it was working nicely until he passed away. And then it just started. I think one thing I could say is, if you're in a job and you see the writing on the wall, believe it. We try to rationalize, well, this isn't going well, but it's going to get better. And deep down inside, it's not happening. And you kind of lie to yourself. [00:05:17] Speaker A: Right. I understand that. [00:05:20] Speaker B: So that was the defining moment where I said, all right, I have to work for myself. I have to find something that I can do for myself. And that's one thing I would say to people, get that side hustle going. Get whatever it is that you can going. Because we're in the gig economy now. Everything's online. You can do whatever you want. Get that plan b going. [00:05:45] Speaker A: So let's speak about plan b. Did you have a network? Did you have an idea where you were going to go? Do you have to start from scratch. [00:05:52] Speaker B: I basically had to start from scratch. What I realized was I had been a customer with legal shield and ID Shield for years. Okay, got my will done. Got all this stuff done. I had them write what I call a motivational letter to Toyota and got $500 back that they had told me, there's a door, don't let it hit you on the way out type of thing. And found out the great thing it is to have a law firm on your side. And I said, I used it. I know people that are using it. I think I'll be able to sell this and offer it to people so they can have the advantage of, again, having a law firm in your pocket 24/7 right. [00:06:40] Speaker A: Hey, for those in the audience who don't know about legal shield and ID shield, can you give, like, a basic 101 of what that organization is and does? [00:06:48] Speaker B: Sure. The best way to explain it, it would be blockbuster versus Netflix. [00:06:55] Speaker A: Okay? [00:06:55] Speaker B: Where your blockbuster lawyers that have been around forever, charged by the hour, and Netflix comes along and says, hey, pay us a little bit every month and you can watch as many movies as you want. Same movies, same quality. And that's what legal shield did. They're out in Oklahoma and they contract one law firm per state. So you have a state specific giant law firm on your side. The one we have in New York is Feldman, Kramer and Monaco. And they're great because when we sent a letter to Toyota, their Letterhead, and on the side of the letter is 100 lawyers names and their specialties. The manager, like I said, told me there's a door. Don't want to hit you on the way out. I got to call Mr. Cappell. We're sorry for the misunderstanding. Isn't that amazing how that can to have that lawyer? And again, people don't realize there are legal issues all the time. [00:07:54] Speaker A: Yes. [00:07:56] Speaker B: And having that advantage is fantastic. And again, you're driving. You get into an accident at two in the morning, get a hold of that lawyer. [00:08:04] Speaker A: Right? [00:08:05] Speaker B: Hey, absolutely. I've been in an accident. I've been stopped. I had my identity stolen, and I'm being pulled over, and they think I have warrants out for my arrest. What do I do? [00:08:15] Speaker A: Right? [00:08:15] Speaker B: So things like that. And that's what we offer, that peace of mind of having a law firm. One of the things I like to say is the Miranda writes, you have the right to remain silent. You have the right to an attorney. It's 08:00 at night and they're reading you that right. Who is that attorney that you're calling. Good point. Will they answer the phone? [00:08:38] Speaker A: Absolutely. All right, so because you were a member you had already been involved in, so you knew what they could do, you decided, hey, you know what, this can be how I can work for myself, right? [00:08:48] Speaker B: And from there it came into, all right, how do I get this out to as many people as possible? And that's where networking comes in. And that's like my number two thing is get yourself a network of people that you can talk to and you can exchange information and give more than you get. I love, when I meet someone, the first thing I do is I'm taking notes on what they're saying and I'm matching up in my head the people I know that could help them with whatever it is they're doing. So by the end of the conversation I'm like, hey, you were saying that you have this great house and you're going to be painting. I know three great painters. I'll give you their numbers. Use any of them, none of them whatever. But here are the people I know that I know trust and like and give them a try. [00:09:45] Speaker A: Great. So you started out with that with legal shield, and I know you have added to your portfolio. So as that progressed, it started to work. You started getting people. [00:10:00] Speaker B: Recently. And again, I'm looking more for service than product. [00:10:05] Speaker A: Okay. [00:10:06] Speaker B: So I recently got my insurance license. [00:10:11] Speaker A: Good for you. [00:10:12] Speaker B: Now, I am an insurance agent and I realized that insurance isn't life insurance is cool. It's not just for when you die. That's like term death insurance. But there are permanent insurance products that gain a cash value which you can actually borrow against at a rate far lower than the banks. Exactly. And I'm learning all these things. So now I'm the swiss army knife guy. My business card is just going to say professional problem solver and then we'll take it from there. [00:10:53] Speaker A: I love that. I love that. Now. So putting that under your belt, that helps you because these are things that people need and may not be thinking about it. And then they're every day and then all of a sudden something happens and they're like, oh my gosh, I need a. So the more of those you can put under your belt, the better off you're going to be. Now, there is one thing you're involved in that there's no way people think about. God forbid something happens and you're wearing a shirt. I know the audience can't see it because we're just on audio right now, but it says our on your shirt. What does that mean? And what's your involvement with that organization? [00:11:30] Speaker B: Sure. Our is operation Underground Railroad. They exist to stop sex trafficking, especially of children in the US and around the world. My involvement came through legal shield, our line of sponsorship. Alex, I can't remember names now. Alex and Linda out in Arizona found out about our and said we're going to pledge $10 for every new customer that we have, send it to our to help fight trafficking. And last I checked, it was over $200,000 that we were able to collectively give to our. You've probably heard about it because it's been in the news because of the movie sound of. And, you know, again, it's a movie that it's not political. It just touches on the problem with human trafficking. And it was actually a series on PBS years ago and brought it to light. And now it's hitting the market now, and for some reason, it's hitting a nerve with some people, and they're trying to discredit the movie any way possible. But all it's doing is it's bringing more information out there. But they are not the only organization that does this. And Tim Ballard, actually, this movie was produced and ready to release years ago, but it never was. And Tim Ballard, whose story it is, says, I don't want our mentioned in the movie because there are so many services out there that are doing the same thing. I don't want it funneled to one. Just find the one that speaks to you and do what you can. Volunteer time, money, or whatever. I'm one of two New York ambassadors. [00:13:34] Speaker A: Okay, wonderful. [00:13:35] Speaker B: And that's what we do. And what we do is just let people know that this is going on. There are 8 million children a year disappear. [00:13:44] Speaker A: Unbelievable. [00:13:46] Speaker B: And it's not getting any better. Wars will bring that number up. Border crossings bring that number up. [00:13:54] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:13:54] Speaker B: All these things. We're getting flooded with it, and we are gaining momentum in people and awareness. So I'm proud to be part of it. [00:14:06] Speaker A: That's wonderful. Yeah. The first step is awareness. And then once you have that awareness and you're providing people with knowledge, we can guide them to who they can go to. Once they're aware something's happening. I know this is pervasive, and I believe that the people who are fighting it are the people who are involved in it, obviously. Why else? I mean, with something like this, if those people have children, I would not understand. Why would they would discredit, you know, and Tim Ballard used to be working homeland security. Right? [00:14:38] Speaker B: Right. And that's the way it started. He went to a training on trafficking, and he said, okay, how do we rescue these children? And they said, well, you can't because we're federal agents and we're bound by laws, international laws, so we can't go into another country. And he was talking about someone that's faced with a dilemma, with a backup against the walls. Like, I know these children need to be saved and I can't do it if I'm working for the government. I think in one of the interviews, his wife says, I forgot exactly what, but she says, I won't let my salvation be ruined because you didn't take action and because I know about it. And he quit a job that talk about security. [00:15:30] Speaker A: Oh, yes, absolutely. [00:15:32] Speaker B: Government job, pension, everything else. Threw it all out. And he says, we'll live in a tent if we have to. [00:15:38] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. [00:15:40] Speaker B: And that's how we got started. That's how we got started. There's a story that puts a lot of people's, well, I'm having a little bit of problem. Try telling yourself you have a wife, several children, and you're going to throw all your income out on chasing something that you really want to do. [00:16:04] Speaker A: And that's usually what it takes. It takes a person like him to do something like this. The fact that there's a spotlight on it is a good thing and it's a movement. Now, the border issue is scary because it just gives a lot more opportunities to those people who are human trafficking. But thanks for working on that, Oscar. I know you were the one of the ones to bring it to New York, that chapter. Right. That local. Right. So now you got legal shield, Id Shield, you've got the insurance thing, you got our. What else are you working on? [00:16:46] Speaker B: Working on a house. Yeah. [00:16:48] Speaker A: All right. Well, I think those three things will keep you busy in helping the community. [00:16:54] Speaker B: One more thing. We had a flood here on September 1, two years ago. [00:17:00] Speaker A: Oh, that's right. Yeah. Tell that story. That's an awesome story. [00:17:03] Speaker B: Well, I live on the Heath coat hill, and the operative word is hill. [00:17:10] Speaker A: Okay. [00:17:10] Speaker B: And we got hit with like three or four inches an hour of rain. [00:17:15] Speaker A: Now you're in New York, right? [00:17:17] Speaker B: I'm in New York, correct. And we have two rivers on the side of where we live, and one of them has a reservoir. And the week before Ida hit, we had Hurricane Henri and that filled the reservoir. And these are old, old reservoirs. So when you, you know, everybody says, well, we opened the floodgates. That's exactly what they did. They opened the floodgates to keep the reservoir from overtopping and just completely falling apart. And all that water, the rainwater, the river water plus the dam water hit mamarineck and we got up to 14ft of water in some sections. [00:18:00] Speaker A: Goodness. Okay, wow. [00:18:02] Speaker B: And the call went out from the fuller center, which a lot of people know as habitat for Humanity. The fuller center went out and said, we need volunteers. And I joined up with them. And I worked for a year and a half to restore mameranic. And it was all hands on deck and volunteers from everywhere. I learned a lot and using it to fix the house that I'm living in. But it was incredible to see the first days that we had set up the tent. People would drive by, just drop food, drop clothes. It was just an amazing. Everybody really responding to the emergency and it took a year and a half to rebuild and get the 500 families back in their houses. [00:18:54] Speaker A: Unbelievable. It is amazing. The human resolve is incredible. And what's going to be good to see. And I feel the groundswell that the bringing everybody together needs to start happening regardless if there's emergency or not, take care of each other when things are okay. And I believe slowly that is happening because things have changed in this country since COVID even during. And I thought Covid was going to unite this country, kind of like September 11 when the terrorists came. I really thought it was going to unite us. And I think it was kind of planned to divide us. And we need to acknowledge that if that's the case and we need to start putting us back together. And you're a big reason why we're being put back together. So I thank you for that. Oscar. Any other awesome stories about what you're doing now that you want the audience to. [00:20:00] Speaker B: You know we have a mutual friend, Phil Reed. [00:20:05] Speaker A: Yes, sir. [00:20:05] Speaker B: And I'm doing a show with Phil Reed. It's called focus on you. And he's got a channel all over the place on Spotify and all these things. He's an incredible. He's a ringmaster trying to get all these plates spinning. And again, we're reaching an audience. Basically, the focus on you is focusing on people that are making a difference and how they can help. Busy people do a lot of things for a reason. [00:20:36] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely. You work in service and I know that. And I think more people need to do that. So I want to ask you a couple of questions. [00:20:49] Speaker B: Sure. [00:20:50] Speaker A: Before we wrap up and I'll give you an opportunity that you may or may not have had before. So you're sitting down with young seven to ten year old Oscar, and you want to give him some advice about life. What are you going to tell him? [00:21:08] Speaker B: I would tell him, when you're about 18, you're going to meet someone that's very intelligent and is going to tell you to do things, and you should actually listen to him. And I think the thing is, listen to people that are older and wiser because, like they said, youth is wasted on children. And it was a guy that was next door where I got my first job, and he was an insurance agent, and he says, hey, we need to get you a policy that will grow cash. And I did that. I set it up. But then I needed a car, so I cashed in my insurance to buy the car. And I realized that I would have probably about $2 million in compound interest money by now had I continued doing what he said, oh, boy. And I didn't. So if I would talk to the seven year old Oscar, I would say, listen to people that are older and wiser and pay attention and save yourself a lot of time, money and know, get that learning curve down. And I think that's one of the things I'm doing now, is going to younger people and say, hey, what does your future look like? What do you think your future is going to look like? And I'm filling in that spot that I passed. [00:22:44] Speaker A: Know, I love that advice, oscar, because it's very important that young, I'm specifically going to talk about young men have mentors and role models that they could listen to because we don't know what we don't know. And I'm glad you're filling that void for very, very important switching hats. Now you have an opportunity of sitting down with young Oscar, the young businessman entrepreneur, and you want to give him advice about business. What are you going to tell him? [00:23:15] Speaker B: Number one, read the best books out there on business, I think. And grow rich is an absolute must read for everybody. We should read that in grade school, get that mindset going. How the brain works. There's a great program by Bob Proctor called you were born Rich. It's available on YouTube. It's free now. It's been remastered. It's dated. You know, the way they speak, the way they dress, it's hilarious watching the hairstyles and clothes, but it is a blueprint on how to get your life going correctly. We talk about all the time the subconscious mind that is running our life. And for people that don't understand, at seven years old, the program is set into your head on what you're going to be like. The rest of your life. Now, would you ask a seven year old for advice? [00:24:18] Speaker A: Surely not. [00:24:19] Speaker B: Okay. But that seven year old, the programming in our head is what is being used to judge what the next step is. All right. I should start a business. Yeah. You're not supposed to talk to strangers. [00:24:37] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:24:37] Speaker B: Okay. I'm not going to do that. It's like, hey, I'm going to do that. We can't reach that shelf. We shouldn't do that. Money doesn't grow on trees. Everything that we've learned at seven year old. So that program you were born rich by Bob Proctor basically says you can't override that program. [00:24:58] Speaker A: No, you cannot. [00:24:58] Speaker B: But you can keep putting new stuff in so it gets lower in priority. [00:25:05] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:25:07] Speaker B: I would recommend those two things. Read people that have made it and read their stories that they all had to struggle. Nobody that made it really big was ever handed anything. And as a matter of fact, story after story of people that have made it make grillions of dollars, they pass it on to their kids and the kids blow it. [00:25:37] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:25:38] Speaker B: Because they didn't work for it. And I don't know if I sent you that thing on the butterfly. I remember there's a great little video that says a butterfly, when it's in the chrysalis, it has to break out and it has to push against the chrysalis. It's a struggle and it hurts and it's not easy to do, and it has to really struggle to get and then blow up the wings so it can fly. They said that is absolutely necessary for the butterfly to become a butterfly. Says, if you break that chrysalis and let the butterfly out, it will fall and die. Did not struggle to get out of that chrysalis. [00:26:22] Speaker A: Okay. That's a great analogy. [00:26:26] Speaker B: Don't wish for an easier life. Wish for a better you. [00:26:29] Speaker A: That's true. I mean, also, what we're not taught when we're younger is that failure is a gift. We're taught not to fail. Right. You go to school, you don't want to fail the test. I learned in my 50s that failure is a gift because it makes us realize that we can do better and it challenges us and we learn from it and move forward. To be taught to be afraid of failure has, I think, stunted the growth of many a human being. [00:27:03] Speaker B: So I look at fail as an acronym for first attempt in learning. [00:27:09] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a good one. [00:27:11] Speaker B: Yeah. You got to break an egg to make a cake. [00:27:16] Speaker A: I like that one, too. Absolutely. [00:27:24] Speaker B: Let's get back to that. We're taught not to fail. Why? Because the school system is set up for very obedient cogs in a machine. [00:27:34] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:27:36] Speaker B: So all of the things that make you unique is beat out of you as a child so you can become a good, obedient worker bee. Look at the guys that are self made millionaires. They dropped out of college. [00:27:55] Speaker A: Yes. [00:27:56] Speaker B: I don't need this programming. We can go down the rabbit hole of how the educational system just creates robotic workers. And that's it. [00:28:09] Speaker A: Yeah, it's true. In the audience, you can check the facts with what I'm going to say right now and make sure I'm right, because I believe I am. I was told, and I read that it was like during the agricultural revolution, you had the farmers really would learn how to make things better. And they were it. They were what we needed in the country. And then the industrial revolution came, and the engineers needed workers, and they didn't like that. The farmers would make suggestions on how to make things better. So they said, well, we got to find a way to get them to raise their hand and just listen to us and do what we're told. And that's how our education system as we know it now was created. That's why hands have to be raised, because they force the farmers to raise their hands and speak when spoken to and all of that. And I think that's when it all started, the education system. And you're right, critical thinking is taken away from us. And that's why I say avoid compliance and complacency like the plague, because that robs us of the truth. I think that's one good thing that came out of COVID because there's always a silver lining out of a bad situation. Many of us realized that we could recreate our brain, question everything. Yeah. Every 15 minutes, we can reinvent ourselves. So, yeah, don't believe what you're told. Look into it first. That's why I want you to check my facts, folks. [00:29:49] Speaker B: Trust, but verify. Right? [00:29:50] Speaker A: There we go. Well, Oscar, people now have learned the essence of Oscar Cappell. They're going to want to reach out to you in many different ways with how they can. What's the best way to reach you? I know I'm going to put stuff in the show notes, and I really meant to promote you myself. I didn't want you to have to promote yourself, and I forgot to ask you beforehand. So what's the best way to get to you? [00:30:13] Speaker B: My email is easy. It's info. [email protected]. O-S-C-A-R-C-A-P-E l.com phone number 646-578-7097 you can shoot me a text if you call me first. I probably won't pick up the phone because there's 8000 scammers out there. That's what I do. I make sure that doesn't happen. So if you call me first, I won't pick up. But if you text me, I will get back to you. [00:30:42] Speaker A: Yeah, and another good thing is you guys can go look at the website for legal shield. Also operation Underground Railroad. Learn about those organizations and maybe that'll help you be able to formulate the questions you want to ask Oscar when you do get in touch with them. [00:30:57] Speaker B: Yeah, operation Underground Railroad is ourrescue.org. That's there. And again, my simple ADHD brain wants everything simple. My website is oscarcapel.com. [00:31:10] Speaker A: Yeah, that's easy enough. Absolutely. Well, Oscar, I want to thank you for coming on. I'm grateful that we're friends and that we've been introduced and now we're in the same community and like minded people who want to serve and help others. We need to unite and join forces and we're doing that. And again, thanks so much for coming on, my friend. And thanks for being who you are. Don't stop, please. [00:31:35] Speaker B: Thank you for giving me a platform and for being in your circle of friends, which is more important than even circle of businesses. [00:31:44] Speaker A: Absolutely. Well, you're like my brother, so thank you, sir, for being who you are. All right, everybody, take care of yourselves and be well. Thanks so much for listening. If you enjoyed the episode, please subscribe and give us a review to help others find it. If you find yourself immersed in adversity and would like to find support from other men in times of struggle, please become a member of my men's supporting men collaboration Tribe by emailing me at [email protected] expressing your interest and I'll get in touch with you. Speak to you soon. Bye.