Brainwashed To Be Broke

High ticket sales are not harder because the number is bigger, they are harder only if your conditioning tells you to start small. Chad Ockstadt explains why selling a $5 million real estate deal can be cleaner than chasing a tiny offer. This conversation exposes the beliefs around sales, money, education, AI, parenting, and freedom.

Chad is an investor, business strategist, real estate dealmaker, and minority partner in a medical company. He has knocked around 100,000 doors and built opportunities through sales, marketing, AI, LinkedIn, podcasts, and pure pattern-breaking.

Chad explains:

■ Why starting small can become a hidden trap

■ How a $1.4M real estate portfolio changed his direction

■ Why AI is useless if you cannot communicate what it teaches you

■ The sales mistake that makes buyers say yes and disappear

■ Why he homeschools his daughter instead of trusting the system

■ What happens when drive stops coming from fear, and his honest answer

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:33 Why This Conversation Matters

01:43 The Knuckles That Learned Sales First

05:06 The Question That Broke The Door Pitch

09:44 Why Being Fake Kills Success

10:43 The Pricing Fear That Shrinks Deals

14:58 Do You Really Need To Start Small?

17:55 The Investment That Pays First

19:13 Can AI Replace Years Of Learning?

22:14 The AI System Sorting Real Estate Deals

24:49 The Medical Business He Never Planned

32:57 The LinkedIn Play That Opened The Door

36:46 The Podcast That Created The Opportunity

43:10 What Beginners Get Wrong About Sales

47:55 Why Yes Can Be Dangerous

53:47 The Sales Framework Hidden In Questions

58:21 Why He Homeschools His Daughter

1:00:23 The Money Strategy Nobody Taught You

1:08:21 What Drives Him Now

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Adam's socials:

Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com

X: https://x.com/adam_rother

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

#socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

Military discipline in business is not about barking orders, it is about staying mission ready when life ambushes you. JR Spear explains why entrepreneurship does not give you freedom first, it exposes your discipline, your beliefs, your conditioning, and your ability to stay calm when money gets tight.

JR Spear is a Navy veteran who served with Marines in Iraq, survived a suicide bombing in 2007, and went on to start, sell, and close multiple businesses. Today, he helps small business owners grow through one day events and servant leadership.

JR explains:

■ Why complacency quietly destroys business owners before crisis hits

■ The military framework he uses to prepare for chaos

■ Why losing one client can expose a broken business model

■ How ego blocks mentorship, growth, wealth, and freedom

■ Why school skipped money, business, and real life preparation

■ The emotional skill every leader needs when pressure rises

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:32 The Wake Up Call That Changed Everything

06:12 What Combat Taught Him About Business

10:10 Are You Ready for the Ambush?

14:17 The Insecurity Question Nobody Escapes

18:22 The Ego That Keeps You Stuck

22:04 Should Everyone Build a Business?

25:01 What Success Costs at Home

27:23 Why He Chose to Homeschool

33:48 Why School Avoids Money

37:09 The Business Lesson You Learn Too Late

39:50 Can You Stay Calm in Chaos?

40:03 The Skill Leaders Cannot Fake

42:02 Where to Find JR

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Follow JR:

Website - https://theonedayevent.com

Facebook - JR Spear

Adam's socials:

Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com

X: https://x.com/adam_rother

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

#socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

Scarcity mindset in business is not just about money, it is social programming that teaches you to chase, panic, and call gambling a strategy. James Neilson-Watt explains why wealth, freedom, relationships, health, and fulfillment all break down when your beliefs are built on not having enough.

James has coached over 1,000 business owners and says their companies have grown by more than $300 million. He also runs a small portfolio of companies while traveling the world full time with his family.

James explains:

■ Why “commission breath” quietly kills trust before the sale even starts

■ The difference between a real business strategy and disguised gambling

■ Why a business with no problems may already be dying

■ The question that breaks overthinking when “how” keeps you stuck

■ Why pain can start the mission, but it can never carry you forever

■ What social conditioning teaches us about money, marriage, kids, and freedom

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:15 The Belief That Makes Life Feel Scarce

03:37 Why Chasing Money Makes You Weaker

07:43 What Business Really Is

10:07 The Problem Your Business Should Have

13:08 Why Avoiding Problems Keeps You Stuck

14:38 The Truth About a Life With No Problems

17:17 Why Goals Are Not Enough

19:47 The Better Question Than “How”

22:59 What Actually Creates Leverage

25:23 How to Hear the Signal

27:15 The Work That Made Hormozi Famous

29:37 How to Reach Bigger People

31:55 The Pain That Started the Business

34:17 Why the Donkey Eventually Quits

37:09 The Education System Question

38:52 What Breaks Relationships Down

43:50 Where to Follow James

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Follow James:

Website - https://nielsenwatt.com

Adam's socials:

Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com

X: https://x.com/adam_rother

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

#socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

Entrepreneur mindset is not about being fearless, it is about doing the thing while your brain tells you it makes no sense. Ryan Lee explains why business ownership feels like jumping off a cliff, why confidence is borrowed before it is built, and why social programming keeps people trapped in comfort.

Ryan Lee is a landscape lighting business coach and founder of Landscape Lighting Secrets, after building and selling his own landscape lighting business. He helps contractors grow profit, freedom, and real business ownership.

Ryan explains:

■ Why logical people talk themselves out of risk before they ever move

■ The 30-day challenge that accidentally exposed him to the world

■ Why your family, friends, and old beliefs may pull you back

■ How money, religion, and conditioning shape your view of wealth

■ Why working harder can still make you lose at home

■ The honest difference between owning a business and owning a job

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

00:32 Why Your Programming Runs Everything

02:32 How Do You Know Which Beliefs Serve You?

04:45 The Problem With Goals

06:03 Why Entrepreneurs Are Not Normal

09:29 Why Business Feels Like a Cliff Jump

12:08 The First Time He Got Paid

13:51 The $18 Payment That Changed His Money Beliefs

16:36 Why Comfort Keeps Pulling You Back

18:20 Why Playing Small Makes No Sense

21:35 The Room That Pulls You Higher

24:58 Where Confidence Really Comes From

25:28 The Facebook Live Mistake That Changed Everything

35:46 Married to the Process, Divorced From Results

39:32 Why School Never Taught You Money

45:05 When Providing Was Not Enough

48:41 Are You Building a Business or Another Job?

50:31 Where to Find Ryan

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Follow Ryan:

Website - https://landscapelightingsecrets.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/landscapelightingsecrets/

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleecoaching

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ryanleebottoms

You can find Ryan's event, 'Light It Up Expo', here: https://lightitupexpo.com

Adam's socials:

Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com

X: https://x.com/adam_rother

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

Christianity and money gets twisted when people confuse a tool with a god. Cody Jefferson breaks down why money is not evil, why being broke solves nothing, and why real wealth starts with stewardship, not flexing. This conversation exposes the conditioning around school, screens, faith, fatherhood, AI, and freedom.

Cody Jefferson is a former pastor who spent 13 years in ministry, led across worship, youth, executive leadership, and communication, and now works in entrepreneurship, business, and leadership.

Cody explains:
■ Why the quote about money is usually taught out of context
■ How school conditions obedience before people ever enter work
■ Why screens may be training children to lose focus
■ The difference between pressure you chose and anxiety you invented
■ How he prepares his sons for an AI future nobody can predict
■ Why money can solve most problems, and what it can never touch

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:32 Why Cody Jefferson Came on Brainwashed to Be Broke
01:47 The Rural Oklahoma Story That Shaped Him
03:38 How Ministry Became a Leadership Crash Course
05:59 The Church Funnel Nobody Talks About
08:38 How He Learned to Communicate at Scale
10:30 What Screens Are Doing to Attention
14:30 Are Parents Losing the Screen War?
16:01 The Problem With Fake Masculinity
17:39 What Christians Get Wrong About Wealth
22:55 The Problems Money Can Never Solve
25:59 Why School Never Taught You Money
30:57 Why Dirty Hands Still Matter
35:57 The Pressure You Asked For
39:02 The Lifestyle Trap That Breaks Entrepreneurs
46:32 How to Raise Kids for an AI Future
51:02 The Books That Changed His Life
53:32 Where to Find Cody Jefferson

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Follow Cody:
Website - https://codyjefferson.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/codyjefferson/

Adam's socials:
Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com
X: https://x.com/adam_rother
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

Listen to Brainwashed To Be Broke:
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/brainwashed-to-be-broke/id1879032145
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6UzZfVwqPmNjyOYfDaxEGc?si=91c9a140c35247db

#socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

The employee mindset does not disappear when you quit your job. It follows you into your business, and most people never notice. Business coach Jackie LaCroix spent 12 years coaching entrepreneurs and found the same pattern every time: smart, driven people build a new cage and call it freedom.

Jackie LaCroix holds degrees from Johns Hopkins and Georgetown, launched her first company at 25, and now runs Million Dollar Empire, a mastermind built to help entrepreneurs create leveraged, automated businesses that match their life, not someone else's system.

Jackie explains:

◼ Why most entrepreneurs accidentally recreate a job instead of a business

◼ The childhood conditioning around winning and losing that drives panic-based decisions for years without you seeing it

◼ How confidence is actually built, and why mindset work alone is not enough

◼ Why she believes sales objections do not exist, and what is really happening when a prospect says no

◼ How she designed her business so sales and delivery run without her, and what most coaches will not admit about why they do not do the same

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

02:01 Why Smart People Build a Job Instead of a Business

05:30 The Moment She Decided to Leave Academia Behind

09:18 The Real Reason She Stayed in School So Long

12:20 The Difference Between Being Led and Being Told What to Do

14:36 The Habit That Makes It Impossible for Anyone to Stop You

16:02 How School Programs You to Stay Quiet and Stay Small

20:45 How She Learned to Stop Caring What Anyone Thinks

23:30 What Survives After People Try to Take You Down

25:00 Why People Attack Others When They Are Suffering

29:00 Are We Wired This Way or Were We Trained to Be

31:10 How the School Reward System Programs You to Fear Losing

35:18 What She Is Teaching Her Kids That School Never Taught Her

39:50 The Fundamentals That Will Never Change No Matter What AI Does

44:00 Who God Actually Is, in Her Words

49:10 Why Religion and a Relationship With God Are Not the Same Thing

52:08 How to Hear the Voice of God and Filter Out the Rest

01:01:10 How to Test Whether the Voice You Hear Is Good or Not

01:10:40 How She Thinks About Sales and Why Objections Are Not Real

01:17:40 Why She Built Her Business to Run Without Her

01:29:20 What Million Dollar Empire Is and Who It Is Built For

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Follow Jackie:

Website - https://www.jackielacroix.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jackielacroix

Adam's socials:

Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com

X: https://x.com/adam_rother

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

#socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming

Financial freedom conditioning has kept most people handing their money to Wall Street and calling it investing, when by definition it is pure speculation. Ryan D. Lee retired at 32, has never lost money in 15 years, and has paid zero taxes, by following rules already written into the tax code.

Ryan co-authored Retire in 10 Years or Less with Robert Allen and Robert Kiyosaki, and has helped thousands of people acquire over 4,000 single-family homes.

Ryan explains:

◼ Why Warren Buffett's two rules expose what most people are actually doing with their money

◼ The three financial IQs that separate wealth builders from income earners

◼ How a life insurance vault and rentals eliminated Ryan's taxes completely

◼ Why 1971 changed the rules of money and most people never got the memo

◼ The 2008 moment that forced Ryan to admit he was on the wrong path

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:13 What Financial Freedom Actually Means

02:07 How Wall Street Captured the Retirement Narrative

03:13 Converting Money Into Time

04:03 The Conditioning That Clicks In When You Try to Be Responsible

05:47 The 2008 Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything

06:17 Why Financial Education Is Kept Out of the System

07:49 Wall Street Is Not the Same as Investing

08:19 The Three Financial IQs You Were Never Taught

09:32 The Biggest Destroyer of Wealth Most People Ignore

10:45 The Real Definition of Investing

11:33 Are You Speculating and Calling It Investing?

13:41 The Dependency Economy and What It Costs You

14:56 The Ownership Economy: Take Back Your Time

16:00 Why Financial Statements Are Missing From Every School

17:58 How to Turn Fake Money Into Real Assets

19:18 What 1971 Did to Your Money

20:24 Your Expenses Are Someone Else's Assets

21:52 Where to Start With No Investment Portfolio

22:27 The Books That Rewired Ryan's Understanding of Money

25:07 How Ryan Actually Became Financially Free

27:35 The Vault Strategy: Life Insurance as a Private Line of Credit

29:16 How 17 Properties Built Enough Cash Flow to Walk Away

33:19 Good Debt vs. Bad Debt

36:48 Why the System Is Designed to Keep You Dependent

40:03 What Student Debt Really Does to Young People

41:41 The Game of Money Once You Stop Needing a Job

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Follow Ryan:

X - https://x.com/ryandlee

Website - https://retirein10years.com

Book - https://retirein10years.com/book

Adam's socials:

Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com

X: https://x.com/adam_rother

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

#socialprogramming #financialfreedom #moneymindset #conditioning #deprogramming

AI won't save your business if you have not slowed down to actually listen to your audience, and that is the uncomfortable truth the Queen of Social Media, Rachel Pedersen, exposes in this conversation. We have been conditioned to believe that the right tool, enough automation, and a flood of AI generated content will manufacture real connection. It will not.

Rachel built two multimillion dollar companies after starting on welfare, and she has tested AI against her own writing again and again. Every time, her manual work crushed the AI version. In the AI vs human content fight, the human weirdness, the specific story, and the real voice are what people actually crave. AI won't save your business when your outreach sounds like everyone else's pitch. Authentic content marketing still beats raw volume, and the founders who build a real audience first are the ones who win the next decade.

We also dig into the social programming under all of it: the money beliefs that keep founders stuck, why you can be a CEO and still wash your own dishes, and how falling in love with the boring process becomes its own deprogramming. AI won't save your business, but listening, naming your conditioning, and a voice that is unmistakably yours just might.

In this episode, you will discover:
- Why authentic content beats AI generated posts even when the AI sounds polished
- The simple test Rachel ran that exposed exactly where AI fails
- How being raised below the poverty line shaped her money beliefs and conditioning
- Why she keeps her three kids completely off social media
- The strange tricks she uses to do the work she secretly hates

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Adam's socials:
Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com
X: https://x.com/adam_rother
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

Guest:
Rachel Pedersen
Social media and digital marketing strategist, USA Today bestselling author of Unfiltered
Facebook: Rachel Pedersen
🔗 Free Resources: https://beacons.ai/themrspedersen
📚 Her book: Unfiltered

Chapters:
00:00 Meet Rachel Pedersen the Queen of Social Media
02:19 Raised below the poverty line in ministry
03:36 Pregnant at 21 and rejecting the default path
07:31 Will AI replace real human connection
08:25 Why human weirdness beats perfect AI content
10:31 The flood of fake AI pitches in your DMs
14:50 Testing AI against her own writing and it failed
19:42 Why you should never outsource your voice
21:44 Writing 3 million words a year without AI
26:52 The real story behind her book Unfiltered
39:47 Why she keeps her kids off social media
44:38 The money belief that keeps founders stuck
46:26 Falling in love with the boring process
48:13 Tricks to do the work you secretly hate
56:23 Finding new fuel after the pain is gone

#aiwontsaveyou #authenticcontent #socialprogramming #moneymindset #deprogramming

Most people walk through life believing their thoughts, their voice, and their choices are their own.

They are not.

They were written for you long before you were old enough to question them, and this episode is about tracing that writing all the way back to its source.

Adam Rother sits down with Mitchell Ryan, voice and embodiment coach, to pull apart the invisible architecture of social programming that most people never examine. They start where it all begins: school.

Not because school is simply bad, but because the structure itself trains a set of deeply specific behaviors. Asking permission before you move. Dreading Monday and living for Friday. Getting publicly humiliated in front of your peers the first time you got an answer wrong or spoke too loudly. These are not accidents.

They are conditioning, and the beliefs they install run quietly in the background of every decision you make about money, relationships, expression, and authority for the rest of your life.

Mitchell brings a precision to this conversation that most self-help content skips entirely. He makes a distinction early that reframes the whole discussion: not all programming is harmful. Language is programming. Culture is programming. Religion is programming.

The question is never whether you are programmed. The question is which programs are running you toward your own potential and which ones were installed to keep you manageable for someone else's system.

From there the conversation goes somewhere most people are not ready to hear. Mitchell explains that the people who build empires out of spite, to prove a teacher or a parent wrong, are still handing all their power to that person.

The empire is real. The freedom is not. True reclamation of personal power is not about rebellion. It is about reconciliation, recognizing the gift in the wound, and stopping the transaction entirely.

The episode then moves into what Mitchell actually works on with clients: the voice. Not as a communication tool, but as a direct readout of how safe a person feels to exist as themselves. He breaks down why the classroom shame most people experienced in childhood gets locked into the nervous system and never actually leaves. It shows up decades later as a monotone delivery, a hesitation before speaking, an inability to hold a frame under pressure, or a compulsive need to justify yourself in comment sections. That nervous system pattern is not a personality trait. It is stored conditioning waiting to be processed.

What Mitchell and Adam arrive at by the end is something that cuts against the entire self-improvement industry: the goal is not to build a better performance of yourself. It is to get safe enough in your own body that what comes out of your mouth is no longer filtered through what you think people need to hear. Speaking from the heart is not a metaphor. It is a physiological state that most people have never actually inhabited because they have been too busy managing how they appear.

This conversation will not tell you to be yourself. It will show you why you have not been able to, and it will name exactly what is in the way.

Guest: Mitchell Ryan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mitchell.d.ryan

Hosted by Adam Rother

Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/

If you have ever wondered why school doesn't teach you about money, this episode of Brainwashed to Be Broke exposes the social programming that keeps hardworking people stuck. Adam Rother sits down with affiliate marketing coach Sarah Thompson, a former healthcare worker who got a 15 cent raise and a pizza party for years of effort, then discovered passive income at 35 and felt like she had been lied to her whole life.

We dig into why school doesn't teach you about money on purpose, who profits when you stay financially illiterate, and why so many believe college is a scam built to sell a feeling instead of real skills. Sarah breaks down the limiting beliefs about money she had to unlearn, the scarcity mindset passed down from a loving family, and the money guilt that quietly caps your income. You will also hear why affiliate marketing for beginners may be the simplest path to passive income, how she turned a $7 training and a Canva checklist into thousands of dollars a day, and why busyness is a distraction the system rewards.

This is a conversation about deprogramming the beliefs you inherited about money, work, religion, freedom, and what you are truly worth.

In this episode, you will discover:
- Why school doesn't teach you about money, and who actually benefits from the gap
- How a 15 cent raise pushed Sarah to discover passive income at 35
- The limiting beliefs and scarcity mindset that secretly cap your income
- Why affiliate marketing for beginners can start with almost no money
- How money guilt and family conditioning sabotage wealth, even for good people
- Why hustle and busyness keep you broke while the system wins

If this conversation helps you see your programming more clearly, subscribe to Brainwashed to Be Broke, like the video, comment with the biggest belief you are questioning now, and share this with one friend who needs to hear it.

Adam's socials:
Website: https://www.brainwashedtobebroke.com
X: https://x.com/adam_rother
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rotheradam/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rotheradamlive
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rotheradam

Guest:
Sarah Thompson
Affiliate marketing coach and entrepreneur
Facebook: Sarah Day Thompson
Instagram: @makemoneywithsaraht

Chapters:
00:00 Intro and meeting Sarah Thompson
02:24 Discovering passive income during COVID
02:53 Why she felt lied to about money
05:00 The college or fail myth in high school
06:07 Why college is largely a scam
08:49 You don't need money to start a business
10:55 Why affiliate marketing is the easiest start
17:50 Her first affiliate product and lessons
22:26 The limiting beliefs that keep you broke
25:24 Money guilt and the scarcity mindset
33:39 Why busyness is a distraction not progress
38:29 Stop taking money advice from broke people
42:23 Money beliefs from childhood
50:08 Money, marriage, and respect

#socialprogramming #conditioning #moneymindset #freedom #deprogramming