Interview with Tax Specialist Duke Alexander Moore about progress over perfection, making viral videos on social media, and helping others become creators.
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00:00 Welcome to Restaurant Influencers presented by Entrepreneur.
00:03 My name is Sean Walchef,
00:04 founder of Cali BBQ and Cali BBQ Media.
00:08 In life, in the restaurant business,
00:10 and in the new creator economy,
00:12 we learn through lessons and stories.
00:15 We launched this show with the goal of
00:17 talking about the business creator economy,
00:19 not just in the hospitality business,
00:22 but in every business.
00:23 We're grateful to Toast,
00:24 our primary technology partner at
00:26 our barbecue restaurants in San Diego.
00:28 They power so many of
00:30 the guests that we have on the show.
00:32 Today, we have a very special episode
00:34 because we talk about the business creator economy,
00:38 we bring on lots of creators.
00:41 It is also exciting because
00:44 not all creators are business owners.
00:47 Today's creator is not only a creator,
00:50 but he is also a business owner.
00:52 This is a man that's playing the game within the game.
00:55 His name is Duke Alexander Moore.
00:57 You can find him @dukelovestaxes.
01:01 He's got 3.5 million fans on TikTok.
01:04 IG has got 153,000,
01:06 Facebook 6.5, YouTube 26,000,
01:09 X15, LinkedIn 3,000,
01:13 and he's on threads as well.
01:14 Duke, what's up, man? Welcome to the show.
01:16 >> First of all, that was a fire intro.
01:20 Just want to let you know,
01:22 if you're working, talk about part-time.
01:24 Sometimes I speak in engagements.
01:25 >> Bring me. I'm a hype man.
01:28 >> I'm going to be hooking it up like that.
01:30 Yeah, but you made me want to dance.
01:31 I feel like I could dance.
01:34 That was an amazing intro.
01:35 But thank you so much for having me on the show.
01:39 Super excited. A creator that own a businesses,
01:43 and what's amazing about our business
01:45 is that we specialize in creators.
01:46 One thing where I was telling them is like,
01:48 "Hey, dog, you have this creator business,
01:51 but you got to take that money and make out of the income."
01:53 We also help creators start and launch businesses as well.
01:57 I'm excited for this.
01:58 >> I love it. I'm very fired up.
02:00 We're going to start with our favorite random question,
02:02 which is, where in the world is
02:04 your favorite stadium, stage, or venue?
02:08 >> Dallas-Texas American Airlines Center
02:10 because it's right there and it's walking distance.
02:13 >> Okay.
02:14 >> I can't complain.
02:16 Drake's going to be here in September,
02:19 I believe 21st or something like that.
02:20 It's walking distance.
02:21 The reason why it's my favorite,
02:23 I don't have to park, I can walk.
02:25 I think that's why it's my favorite, it's right up the street.
02:27 It would have to be Dallas-Texas American Airlines Center.
02:30 >> All right. Dallas-Texas American Airlines.
02:33 How many does it seat? Do you know?
02:35 >> 20,000, 30,000.
02:39 >> How many?
02:41 >> Do you know where the Mavericks play?
02:42 >> Yeah. Airlines.
02:45 >> Probably 18, 20,000, I would say.
02:49 >> 20,000, baby.
02:51 >> Boom. Look at that.
02:52 >> I've seen the NBA Mavericks and the Dallas Stars.
02:55 >> Yeah.
02:55 >> Okay.
02:55 >> 20,000 people.
02:56 >> All right. We're going to talk to Mark Cuban,
02:58 we're going to talk to entrepreneur,
02:59 talk to Toast, talk to American Airlines.
03:01 We're going to throw a creator first conference.
03:05 I'm talking TEDx style.
03:07 We're going to bring the best creators and
03:08 the best business owners all together at one place,
03:12 American Airlines. You're going to walk across the street.
03:14 I'm going to hype you up.
03:15 I'm going to bring you center court.
03:17 >> There we go.
03:17 >> I'm going to say, "Duke,
03:19 I need you to tell me the story.
03:22 Bring us to the lowest point of your life,
03:24 to where you are now."
03:26 You have a video that has 3.4 million views.
03:30 One of your most popular videos where you share the darkness.
03:34 Bring us to the darkness and show us the light.
03:36 Mike is yours. Go.
03:37 >> Yeah. First of all,
03:40 thanks for saying that. That's one of
03:41 the hardest videos I've ever made.
03:43 My thumb was trembling and shaking as I pressed post.
03:48 It's very challenging.
03:50 I was almost sweating.
03:52 I've had my dark times as well.
03:56 I've been through a bankruptcy.
03:58 I've been through a bad breakup,
04:01 which is I was with someone for six years,
04:04 which it was tough.
04:06 I realized other people have a tougher,
04:08 like maybe they've gone through a divorce.
04:10 Maybe they've gone through a breakup where
04:12 they've had kids.
04:13 It's very important to understand that, okay,
04:16 I've had this little showing on,
04:18 with success on social media,
04:19 but I'm also a human being that bleeds too.
04:23 I can relate to a lot of the things that you guys can relate
04:25 to such as a breakup from being there alone,
04:30 crying, and going things like that.
04:32 Had my battles with depression,
04:35 never thought I would make it out of that.
04:37 There's been suicide attempts,
04:39 a lot of failed and thankful failed suicide attempts.
04:42 That was actually the first time I got arrested.
04:44 I didn't know you could actually get in trouble
04:47 for attempting to take your own life.
04:49 So I found that out the hard way.
04:50 Did a lot of inpatients hospitals
04:53 that were like you are like under care.
04:55 They take all your shoelaces,
04:56 they put you in the gown,
04:56 they give you the crazy hospital socks,
04:59 like all that crazy thing.
05:01 And it just blows my mind
05:03 because I never thought I would be out of that.
05:05 But somehow I am.
05:06 My depression's gone.
05:08 My anxiety is gone.
05:10 Like I said, I've been through a bankruptcy, an eviction.
05:14 I was homeless.
05:15 I would never, and I don't want to like to of course
05:17 like get the wrong picture with homeless
05:19 'cause I was never like,
05:20 I've only stepped on the streets like twice,
05:22 but I wasn't like homeless, homeless to the point
05:24 where I'm like, you know, like with a sign outside.
05:26 And I just don't want people to get the wrong picture.
05:27 I want to be very transparent.
05:28 It was just homeless.
05:29 I didn't have a place to call home.
05:30 So it was like, I was either like sleeping in my truck
05:33 or the girl I was dating at the time, her name's Maggie.
05:35 I would stay with her or jump between like friends
05:37 or like crash on couches or things like that.
05:40 But I would say like,
05:41 both had some more like the kind of sleep,
05:43 lay my head or this in my truck with a friend.
05:46 And then my truck got refilled.
05:48 I'm like, damn, you know,
05:48 you either took my truck in my home.
05:50 Damn, what do I do now?
05:52 So that was challenging.
05:53 Oh my gosh.
05:54 Like even just talking about it now,
05:56 it's just, I have no idea how I made it
06:00 in the situation I'm in right now.
06:02 So this is going to inspire to anybody.
06:05 I would like them to know that your current situation
06:08 is not your final destination.
06:10 There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
06:13 The crazy thing about this light and this time
06:15 is just that we don't know when.
06:17 We don't know when is our time.
06:18 It could be tomorrow.
06:19 It could be next week from now.
06:20 It could be a year from now.
06:22 I would just encourage those to never give up
06:24 and keep trying and just completely understand
06:27 that eventually it does go away.
06:31 The caveat is we just don't know when.
06:33 Just keep trying, keep working, understand it takes time
06:35 because if I can get through it, so could you.
06:39 - Tell us where you are now.
06:40 Tell us about the business.
06:42 We have so many entrepreneurs that listen to this show,
06:45 people in the hospitality space,
06:46 creators that want to build a business.
06:50 Tell us about the business that you've created,
06:52 your tax business.
06:54 - So yeah, so I've created a tax firm.
06:57 And so we specialize in content creators and entrepreneurs.
07:02 Our main goal is to help them save on taxes
07:05 and stay out of trouble with the IRS.
07:07 It's more like a membership concierge basis
07:09 tailored to their needs.
07:11 We have a little bit over,
07:13 let's say 1100 to 13 recurring clients on an annual basis.
07:18 And then we have these memberships,
07:21 what I was just telling you about the concierge basis.
07:22 I think we have probably like 50 to 60 members
07:25 who are on this higher tier package
07:28 where we're helping them save a little bit more on taxes.
07:31 So I say those figures are really good.
07:33 We've crossed seven figures this year.
07:37 We're already at the seven figure mark right about now.
07:40 And then, so that's been neat.
07:41 And it's been a whole like game changer.
07:44 I've also created a second business called Tax Takeoff.
07:48 And so this one actually launches August 25th
07:51 and actually launches this week.
07:53 And so we're doing a lot of pre-orders right there.
07:56 And we've actually secured about 40 members so far,
08:00 raised a little bit over 30,000.
08:01 And so the reason why I do the pre-orders,
08:03 especially anyone listening,
08:04 like trying to start their own business
08:05 and their entrepreneurship journey,
08:08 one of the things that it requires is of course,
08:11 like passion and drive to really be successful
08:14 in entrepreneurship.
08:15 Because when the motor goes away,
08:18 bro, you gotta have passion.
08:19 It's very easy to get motivated.
08:24 It's very difficult to keep that up
08:26 when the motivation drives.
08:28 So like some person listening to this,
08:31 oh my God, I'm motivated to go start,
08:32 but keeping it up and passion, that's what takes time.
08:35 Not only does it take that, but it does take capital.
08:38 It takes money to build some type of business,
08:40 whether you're getting a loan,
08:41 whether you're getting the help of friends.
08:43 And so I can never get a loan, bro.
08:45 I can't, 'cause of bankruptcy.
08:47 It's very difficult.
08:49 If not the interest rates through the roof, I get denied.
08:51 So I gotta get creative in how I can like fund businesses,
08:55 either through like brand deals as a creator
08:57 or like what I'm doing with Tax Takeoff
08:59 is like I'm discounting the price by 75% in return.
09:03 There are ROIs like, hey, you're gonna have lifetime access.
09:05 You're gonna do things like that.
09:06 So for the past like month, we just been like,
09:09 hey, like, hey, let's, and we raised a little over 30K,
09:11 which has helped us like build this studio and so forth.
09:14 And then for other things I do,
09:17 I consult a Fortune 500 company with their social media.
09:21 So there's consulting there to get speaking engagements,
09:23 which is, I love those, like speaking on the stage
09:27 we were kind of talking about before.
09:28 And then the chorus, I'm a creator.
09:31 So those are all my income streams right now.
09:34 So it's went from like zero to negative to bankruptcy
09:38 to like seven figures,
09:40 which has been a complete and interesting turnaround.
09:44 Now, were you a creator first or a business owner first?
09:47 I don't know.
09:51 I don't know.
09:53 I feel like I'm always an entrepreneur first
09:55 or business owner because, yeah, I would say that.
09:57 Because even though I was young, dude,
09:59 I was like making CDs.
10:00 I would make CDs and like sell those out,
10:02 you know, when I was in like, like in elementary school,
10:05 like I was a CD guy, like kicked me out.
10:07 I was a line where I was a line wire again
10:10 and trouble with my parents for downloading illegal music.
10:12 But I was like, let's make this bread.
10:14 Like I was selling like $5 a pop,
10:17 but I've always had an aunt.
10:19 It's very interesting because I didn't even know
10:21 like that's what I was doing.
10:22 Like an entrepreneur, like small business owner.
10:24 It's just like genuinely want to help people.
10:25 And I genuinely want to like, in return,
10:27 they will pay me.
10:28 I'm like, this is cool.
10:29 At that age, I didn't know it was like,
10:30 you know, entrepreneurship or small business.
10:31 Even like one way, one like,
10:33 seller eliminates it.
10:35 It's natural.
10:36 It's not nothing I would like study.
10:38 I will, of course I have to study now
10:40 to go to the next level,
10:42 but it's something that always had naturally in me.
10:44 And then also creating content
10:45 has always been naturally within me.
10:47 Like I've been doing that since I was like 13, 12 or 13.
10:52 I would like create content on like YouTube.
10:54 I was on Vine.
10:56 I was also, I did a lot of also like
10:58 in front of the camera work as a model
11:01 when I was like 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, those ages.
11:03 So did work with JC Penney, Neiman Marcus.
11:06 So I would say it's like,
11:07 they kind of tend to tie like hand in hand.
11:12 I would say I was an entrepreneur first
11:13 and then a creator,
11:14 but I would consider myself an entrepreneur first
11:16 and creator second.
11:18 - When you think of the creator economy
11:20 for yourself personally,
11:22 when did you realize you could monetize on the content?
11:26 What was the aha moment?
11:28 - What was it?
11:30 When, I think one brand reached out to me
11:35 and they're like, "Hey, can we pay?"
11:37 I think it was ZipRecruiter.
11:38 Oh no, I remember it was Bazooka Bubblegum.
11:42 They reached out to me and they're like, "Hey."
11:44 - On which platform, on TikTok?
11:46 - It was TikTok.
11:47 It was TikTok probably before I'd get hit a million.
11:48 They're like, "Hey, can we send you some bubblegum
11:50 "and you can talk about it?"
11:52 I was like, "I didn't even know you could get paid for this.
11:54 "I didn't know what the heck I was doing."
11:57 And they sent me some bubblegum
11:58 and I was like, "You can find this one."
11:59 I think that was the first brand
12:00 that actually reached out to me.
12:01 I was like, I was so intrigued
12:03 just about receiving something.
12:05 It wasn't even like monetizing.
12:07 It was just about receiving something in return.
12:09 So I would think that was first time.
12:10 And the second one, I think it was a ZipRecruiter.
12:12 I worked with them and I'm like,
12:14 "Oh, you can get paid for doing this."
12:15 And then it wasn't the aha,
12:17 the aha moment wasn't necessarily getting paid.
12:20 I would say the aha moment would be like
12:22 figuring out your worth
12:23 and what you're going to charge for these brand deals.
12:26 That was like the aha moment.
12:27 So I think the first brand deal was doing like 500,
12:30 like $750.
12:31 And I'll see the other creators,
12:32 like much less following me, much less engagement.
12:35 They're like, "Dude, you should be charging like,"
12:37 I had maybe one or two million followers.
12:39 "Dude, you should be charging like five, 10, 7K."
12:40 I'm like, "Bro, ain't nobody gonna accept that."
12:43 And then they started doing that.
12:44 And I'm like, "You gotta be kidding me."
12:47 And then in 2021, this is so interesting.
12:50 This is actually public on,
12:52 I believe like either Business Insider,
12:54 I did an interview with them.
12:55 In 2021, I had my first like big brand deal,
12:58 which was like throughout the year,
12:59 I think my first year was like $500,000,
13:01 half a million dollars in brand deals for 2021,
13:05 which I used that to then start like Duke Tax
13:08 and fund Duke Tax.
13:09 So the aha moment was figuring out what my rate was.
13:14 I would say that is.
13:15 - But doesn't the rate evolve
13:17 as you get more experience as a creator
13:19 and you figure out what exactly the brand wants?
13:24 'Cause it's great to do a one-time video,
13:26 but it's even better to have a long-term relationship
13:28 with the brand.
13:29 - Long-term person, you're right.
13:31 Long-term is so much more important.
13:33 It is right.
13:34 And so now I'm at the point where I have a team that does it.
13:37 My team helped me with that.
13:38 I no longer like do that, which is so great,
13:40 but I couldn't agree with you more,
13:41 like prioritizing longer, like brand deals,
13:46 is a lot more important.
13:49 - Do you do any tax deals with food creators?
13:54 - Tax deals, like what is it?
13:58 - Tax advising?
13:59 Like do you have any tax, any food trainers?
14:01 - Oh, heck yeah.
14:02 - Let's get into it.
14:04 Give us some tips.
14:06 Tips for-
14:07 - Food creators, that's my favorite to work with.
14:11 So we have-
14:12 - Let's go.
14:13 - Ice Cream Cooks.
14:14 I don't know if you guys are familiar with him.
14:16 He has a little bit over, I think,
14:17 three million, three,
14:19 run that right on TikTok, his name's Ice Cream Cook.
14:22 And so he has some major,
14:24 yeah, I can share.
14:26 I can't share how much he make 'em,
14:27 I can share his work 'cause clearly it's public.
14:30 He's done some brand deals with like Kroger,
14:31 with like the Tapia company and things like that.
14:35 So it's very interesting for our food creators
14:37 because their write-offs are a lot different
14:41 than anyone else writing off food.
14:43 So anytime that you are purchasing food
14:46 for business purposes,
14:48 generally it's only 50% deductible.
14:50 You must meet two rules.
14:51 One, it's only 50% deductible.
14:53 So if you spend $100, you can only write off 50.
14:55 Two, you must be eating with somebody
14:58 or like a company, somebody like me,
15:00 with a business partner,
15:01 or three, you're traveling.
15:02 Those are really the three rules.
15:03 But for our food creators,
15:05 we're throwing that out the window
15:06 because for our food creators,
15:08 this is not necessarily considered a meal.
15:11 For our food creators,
15:12 this is considered more of a supply expense.
15:14 It's more like a job supply.
15:16 It's no different from buying a keyboard
15:19 for you to perform your job.
15:21 So we have to separate what is generally a meal
15:24 for our food creators and what is a supply expense.
15:27 And so for our food creators,
15:29 if they're purchasing meals or they're purchasing food,
15:31 it's generally 100% deductible.
15:34 A lot of accounting and tax firms
15:35 just don't understand how food creators work.
15:37 And I had to learn this by myself,
15:39 like working with food creators, like,
15:41 "Oh no, you know what?
15:42 That is more of like a supply expense."
15:44 So I would say anyone who's a food creator,
15:45 make sure you're separating generally
15:48 what you are using for food to create content.
15:51 And then what you're also like eating your meals.
15:54 So that is probably like the hottest tip
15:57 for our food creators, that your meals,
15:59 you are the only people in the world
16:01 that could have meals by yourself
16:04 and write off 100% of your taxes.
16:06 - That's amazing.
16:07 Tell me about the studio that you built.
16:09 - Oh yeah, I wish I could tell you.
16:11 So we built the studio,
16:13 but that's gonna be for our tax education community,
16:17 which is gonna be Tax Takeoff.
16:19 And we're gonna be having like people over,
16:22 like guests over, we'll also start our own podcast,
16:24 but it's gonna be like an education studio.
16:27 I'm also excited-
16:28 - Are you launching a show?
16:29 Are you launching a show too?
16:31 - It's got, I love it.
16:33 So our, I love you're onto it.
16:36 So I think, this is my opinion,
16:40 but I feel like the future of courses are dead.
16:42 - Yep.
16:43 - Oh, course, buy my course, buy my course, they're dead.
16:46 No, forget my opinion.
16:47 Are we allowed to cuss on this?
16:48 - You can cuss, this is for entrepreneurs,
16:50 but we're all business owners.
16:51 If we don't, yeah, come on.
16:52 - Oh, cool.
16:53 - Yeah, we're good.
16:54 - I love courses, okay.
16:56 - Yeah, exactly.
16:57 - No, the courses are great,
16:59 but I feel like they're dying.
17:00 And so what's more important right now
17:03 is building a community.
17:04 - Yep.
17:05 - So the community, the community base is so important.
17:07 Back in 2020, 2021, the whole big idea was like,
17:11 how large can I get my following?
17:13 That was cool, that was the shit.
17:15 Now it's how deep can I get my following?
17:17 How well can I connect with my community?
17:20 So this is gonna be more of a community-based studio.
17:23 So it's cool 'cause we'll have some of our members,
17:26 we call them members, our clients come over.
17:28 We'll talk about that, we'll talk shit with them.
17:30 We have people who are actors and actresses.
17:33 And they're like, "No, Denzel Washington."
17:36 But they've been on Blacklist, as a matter of fact.
17:38 - Not yet.
17:39 - Yeah, not yet, yeah, yeah, progress, not perfection.
17:41 And so that's what I'm super excited about that.
17:43 And then I love that you mentioned that
17:45 because we're partnered,
17:45 we're actually working with YouScreen.tv.
17:48 And I love their vision because they're all about,
17:52 hey, have it, like a membership.
17:54 They believe in everything I believe in.
17:56 And their whole style is like,
17:58 it's giving you that Netflix style.
17:59 It's giving you a YouTube style.
18:01 So when you log in, it's actually completely branded to you,
18:04 but it looks like you have your own like Netflix subscription.
18:07 You can download an app on your phone.
18:09 And if not, it's your branded app.
18:10 So it'd be tax takeoff that someone searches
18:12 in the app store and downloads.
18:14 You can also watch it on Apple TV
18:16 because it's an interesting statistic out there
18:18 that people are more watching YouTube on TV
18:21 versus on their actual phone or mobile devices.
18:24 And that's me, I go into YouTube app,
18:25 more people and more and more people are watching it on TV.
18:29 So now we're launching our own tax takeoff.
18:31 It's going to be like on television.
18:33 So it's all about being on the go
18:35 and being in this community base.
18:37 And so it's going to, yeah, it's going to be a studio.
18:39 It's going to be shot like in an educational style,
18:42 but like with a studio, like vibe and like here,
18:45 like it's almost like,
18:46 like they're watching like their favorite
18:47 like series on Netflix.
18:49 - That's awesome.
18:50 So is it going to be a public facing show
18:54 or it's only for members?
18:56 - Only for members.
18:57 And so we're thinking about having some type of free stuff,
19:00 like just kind of like, you know, like entice people in,
19:03 like, hey, this is kind of what you get.
19:04 And it's mainly it's only it's geared
19:07 towards tax professionals.
19:08 So that's another thing when building membership
19:11 to make it like niche important.
19:13 - I have a funny question for you.
19:15 Is there another tax professional on earth
19:17 that's actually a content creator or are you the only one?
19:20 - No, there's others.
19:22 - How many are there?
19:23 You've won the Forbes top five financial creator.
19:26 You've won ad week 2023 finance creator of the year.
19:30 I mean, how many people are making tax?
19:32 There's not a lot of people making tax content.
19:34 - There's not a lot, but there's some, there's some.
19:37 I now know that's on, there's some on TikTok
19:39 maybe they just don't have a like a large following,
19:41 but there's some I follow.
19:42 They're good.
19:43 I've learned from them.
19:44 Sometimes they learn from me.
19:46 It's like, there's a couple like Laura Lynn.
19:48 She's called not, I love her.
19:50 Hers is called not the spicy accountant
19:52 because you know, she's an accountant.
19:53 But when you call yourself an accountant on TikTok,
19:56 like she was like, so her ad is not the spicy accountant.
19:58 She has some very good information out there.
20:02 Nick CPA has some, another good information.
20:06 But what's really challenging is to make sure
20:08 the information that you get is like accurate.
20:10 So I would say like, there's people with 8,000 followers.
20:12 There's probably, they just know so much more about taxes
20:14 than even myself, but they, maybe they don't have like
20:17 the entertainment like aspect.
20:19 So there's a couple that may not just be as big,
20:22 but they're as accurate.
20:23 And at this point, that's, what's more important.
20:27 - Can you talk to, talk specifically to anybody
20:30 that's in the tax field, accounting field,
20:32 you know, especially in hospitality.
20:34 There isn't anyone in hospitality that's talking about taxes
20:37 like nobody is talking about taxes.
20:39 And you know, that's why I was so excited to have you on
20:42 because there's so many different parts
20:44 of the hospitality business that aren't celebrated,
20:47 that creators aren't creating content.
20:49 And I know we're just early.
20:50 I know eventually someone's going to be making
20:52 insurance content.
20:53 Like they're going to be talking about
20:54 general liability insurance,
20:56 like stuff that no one thinks that it's going to talk about,
20:58 but everyone needs, everyone pays for.
21:01 Talk to the people that are accountants, that are CPAs,
21:04 that have knowledge, that are just waiting.
21:07 They want content to be perfect.
21:09 You know, one of the things we talk about
21:11 is that everyone wants quality content.
21:13 Quality content never happens.
21:15 It's like in the barbecue business.
21:16 We never made good barbecue
21:18 until we made a lot of bad barbecue.
21:19 We didn't make good podcasts
21:21 until we made a lot of bad podcasts.
21:23 - Right. That's so important.
21:24 I'm so glad you said that.
21:25 So yeah, that's another thing that we can talk about
21:27 because I just spent like 15,000 on a studio,
21:29 but I would never do it if I didn't have the recipe,
21:32 like the formula.
21:33 Now that I figured it out,
21:34 then you want to throw some money in there.
21:36 But the whole time,
21:37 this is super important to understand
21:38 is progress, not perfection.
21:40 That is the main,
21:41 could you think you have it figured out
21:44 until you see your comment section?
21:45 You're like, oh, damn.
21:47 Like I could have done this, I could have done that,
21:49 and so forth.
21:50 And once you figure that out,
21:51 that's the main important thing.
21:52 Another thing that I like to say,
21:53 it's like progress, not perfection.
21:54 There's no such thing as failure.
21:56 There's only feedback.
21:58 So you may have like negative comments.
22:00 People are not attached to those comments section.
22:03 You got to use that as improvement.
22:05 So a hundred percent,
22:07 I would not focus on quality in the beginning.
22:10 And even the caveat with creating content like that,
22:15 generally on my end,
22:16 the more I try to perfect the content,
22:19 the worse it performs versus like,
22:21 all right, I'm finna just like, just run in and like do it.
22:24 It performs a lot better.
22:26 So anytime I'm sitting there,
22:28 I'm like, I feel like I'm like doing too much.
22:29 I'm like, fuck, shit.
22:31 I just spent 30 minutes doing one.
22:33 And like, you, you, you, you,
22:34 you check how tired, fuck, this is not gonna perform.
22:35 Damn it.
22:36 I still post it, but I have that feeling.
22:38 I know when I'm taking way too long on a video,
22:41 shit, I just took 30 minutes on this one part,
22:43 not gonna perform.
22:44 Versus if I were to just go out there
22:45 and just pick up the phone and record.
22:47 So I would not focus on,
22:50 I would not focus on like quality, quality, quality,
22:52 because it's only going to impede your time.
22:54 It's gonna set you back more than it can set you forward
22:57 because you need feedback to grow.
23:00 Feedback comes from repetition
23:01 'cause you do not have it figured out
23:03 until you get feedback.
23:05 And it's not about what you like.
23:07 If you really wanted to like do well,
23:10 of course, add your own twist to it,
23:11 but listen to your audience.
23:13 This is how you build what we call a community.
23:15 Listen to your audience, get feedback
23:17 and just kind of grow from there.
23:18 So I would not focus on like making it super quality
23:21 unless you really have like a recipe down.
23:25 - Huge news, Toast, our primary technology partner
23:28 at our barbecue restaurants in San Diego
23:30 and the primary technology partner
23:32 of so many of the guests that we have on this show
23:35 have announced they are expanding
23:37 their business offerings with Google.
23:40 So now if you search on Google Maps
23:43 and you sign up for Toast Tables or Toast Waitlist,
23:47 you will have the opportunity
23:49 to improve the digital hospitality experience of the guest,
23:53 allow them to book through the maps
23:55 into the Toast reservation system.
23:58 One of the biggest difficulties that restaurant guests have
24:01 is when they search for your restaurant
24:03 and they want a table,
24:05 they do not have an easy solution to book a table
24:08 or to get on a wait list.
24:10 This is huge news for the restaurant industry,
24:12 huge news for guests and huge news for you,
24:15 the restaurant owner.
24:16 Check out Toast Tables today
24:18 and find out the new integrated solution that they have.
24:22 This is something that we've wanted for a long time.
24:24 How do you integrate reservations, wait lists
24:27 into your point of sale?
24:29 Toast has done it, check it out.
24:31 So we're gonna bring the audience in,
24:33 I'm gonna get some free coaching here.
24:35 We have a barbecue business, we have a media business,
24:38 but I am right now broadcasting for entrepreneur
24:42 from my house.
24:44 Do you advise that I write off a portion of my mortgage
24:49 as my house studio,
24:50 since this is where we're conducting our media studio?
24:53 - Yeah, cool.
24:56 And yeah, absolutely.
24:57 So you own the house or you like to rent?
24:59 - I own the house, yes.
25:00 - Cool.
25:01 - Well, the bank owns the house technically.
25:03 - Yeah, I love it.
25:05 And then let's just talk about,
25:07 I'll tell you exactly what to do.
25:08 Let's talk about your entity structure real quick.
25:10 So you have a media company
25:13 and then you have a restaurant.
25:15 - Everything currently runs through our barbecue business.
25:18 - Do you DBA at all, like with the media company or just?
25:21 - Yes, we have a DBA for the media company, sure.
25:24 - Okay, love it.
25:25 So what you and the person you may work with
25:28 probably started doing this,
25:29 you're gonna have to establish something
25:30 called an accountable plan.
25:32 An accountable plan is a reimbursement
25:33 between yourself and your business.
25:35 It's no different if you were to have a W-2 job
25:38 and you're like, "Hey bro, like dog, I just spent,
25:41 bro, I was, okay, let's say you're a construction guy,
25:43 like bro, I need this data ready while I go to work, right?
25:45 Can you reimburse me?
25:47 Hey, remember that flight you told me to take to New York?
25:49 Can you reimburse me?"
25:50 So an accountable plan is an expense
25:53 and arrangement between yourself, you and your business.
25:57 So in order for you to take the home office deduction,
26:00 because home office deduction
26:01 is taken on something called form 8829.
26:04 That form is only available on personal tax returns,
26:06 but your separation between your personal things.
26:09 So in your case, you just need to make sure
26:10 you set up an accountable plan
26:12 and you would just be reimbursing yourself.
26:15 I'm gonna say a weird word,
26:18 for the depreciation taken on your home.
26:21 I hope I don't lose you.
26:23 Which is like- - You're all good.
26:26 - It's gonna be 39 and a half years in your case.
26:28 So you're gonna have to take the value,
26:30 okay, you're gonna have to take the value of your home
26:33 plus improvements, divide that number by 39 and a half.
26:36 And then, 'cause it's business property,
26:39 you're gonna divide that number by 39 and a half.
26:41 And then you're gonna figure out
26:42 what is the percentage that you actually use your home
26:45 for business versus personally.
26:47 So let's say you have a studio,
26:48 let's just say you're, let's just lose math purposes.
26:50 So your home is a thousand square feet,
26:53 the office that you're in is a hundred square feet.
26:55 So 10% of your home is used for business,
26:58 whereas 90% is personal.
27:00 We can never take a deduction for personal expenses,
27:02 but the 10% that we can.
27:04 So this means that we're not writing necessarily
27:06 off a 10% of your mortgage,
27:08 we're writing off 10% of the value
27:09 of your home plus improvements minus land.
27:12 So that's essentially,
27:15 so your wifi is gonna be 10% deductible in your case.
27:18 Your insurance is gonna be 10% deductible in your case.
27:22 The interest that you're paying on the law
27:23 is gonna be 10% deductible in your case.
27:25 And then this last thing, I was like,
27:26 I can go on all day.
27:28 So there's direct expenses and indirect expenses, okay?
27:31 So the indirect expenses has to do with 10%
27:34 that I just mentioned, the 10% that you can do.
27:36 But there's not, that's indirect.
27:38 Now there's direct expenses.
27:40 So that means stuff that you actually like,
27:43 for example, I'm in my home office right now.
27:45 So there's a balcony, look, all that's all,
27:48 I can write off a hundred percent.
27:49 The walls I painted blue.
27:50 Since these are directly related to my home office,
27:54 then it's a hundred percent deductible
27:55 that you do not have to follow that 10% rule.
27:58 So you have a picture right there, you have a plant,
27:59 you have a microphone with a nice background behind you,
28:03 fuck that 10% rule.
28:04 We're using a hundred percent
28:05 because those are directly related to your home office.
28:08 It's just expenses that you use both business
28:12 and personally where we have to follow
28:13 what's called that 10% rule, like indirect.
28:16 And you gotta do that through and accountable.
28:19 - That's amazing.
28:20 And that kind of advice you give in your membership plan.
28:24 - Yeah, in our membership.
28:26 So we do it for them.
28:28 So with our memberships for our clients and members,
28:31 we do that for you.
28:32 So that's what's called our tier two membership.
28:35 It's on our website, duke.tax, our tier two membership.
28:37 And that's just one of many,
28:39 like they're all in the top of my head.
28:40 That's just one of many, but yeah, we do all,
28:43 we set up your accountable plan, which is just a legal,
28:46 this is a, I can't even say legal, 'cause I'm not a lawyer.
28:48 It's just a binding document between you and your business.
28:50 We set all that up.
28:52 The purpose of the membership,
28:53 boy, you just get back and relax.
28:55 We got you.
28:57 That's the purpose of the membership.
28:58 - Tell me, why is branding so important?
29:02 When did you come up with the handle?
29:04 - So Duke loves taxes.
29:07 I don't know.
29:08 - Do you love taxes?
29:09 - Yeah.
29:10 Did you see what I just did for the past two?
29:13 - I did, I saw that.
29:14 - You just saw my face light up.
29:16 I can talk about this all day long.
29:19 Yeah, I love learning.
29:21 I don't like preparing a tax return.
29:23 So I don't prepare, I don't like doing the work.
29:25 I like the creative side.
29:27 Me being already a creative person,
29:28 I like studying taxes and coming up with new ideas
29:32 because tax planning and tax strategies
29:35 always have to do with your personal goals
29:37 and your business goals.
29:38 So they're all tailored to individuals.
29:40 So you may hear things on social media
29:42 that could work for one business and not,
29:44 because it's all tailored and it's all custom.
29:46 For example, hold on, I told you like,
29:48 oh my God, you can run 100% of your food,
29:51 but that's only for like food content creators.
29:53 So it's always tailored to that individual.
29:55 So that's why it's a little bit more expensive
29:57 when you want like a tax plan.
29:58 That's why we charge like a minimum of like 6,000
30:01 because you're sitting down, you're actually doing it.
30:03 But if you just want the general stuff
30:05 that you hear on social media, okay, cool.
30:06 We can do that too.
30:07 But if you want to sit down and talk to me,
30:09 get creative with it, that's what we do.
30:10 Average savings are like $14,000.
30:13 Now back to like the branding and social media,
30:16 I make sure my handle's like consistent against all.
30:19 I don't even remember how I came up with it.
30:23 I just remember, oh damn, 'cause I did,
30:26 that was my original, I know,
30:29 my original at was just my name, like Duke Alexmore.
30:32 And then I forgot his name, I wanna say,
30:35 but I'm like, oh, it's so important to have.
30:37 And I just learned this again.
30:39 It's very important to have like a verb.
30:40 Like I like having verbs in that, like Duke loves taxes,
30:43 'cause it gives it more like a,
30:45 and actually it makes you remember.
30:47 It's very hard for me to remember someone's name.
30:49 Like name, but I like saying like their at,
30:52 like Duke loves taxes,
30:53 or there's someone like Sean loves real estate.
30:56 Like I have a friend named Sean, I can remember that.
30:58 But people who just use their names,
31:00 it's a little bit more harder to remember.
31:01 I'm not saying like they're not the shit or whatever.
31:04 It's just like as you're meeting people,
31:06 like Duke loves taxes,
31:07 then you know the question they ask all the time
31:09 when I tell them that, all the time,
31:12 do you really love taxes?
31:13 You did it too, so I was like, all the time.
31:16 It just never, it never fails.
31:17 So it makes it just more memorable.
31:19 - I even have it like branded like on this chair right here.
31:22 - There it is, right on the chair.
31:24 That's the same profile you use across social.
31:26 - Yes.
31:27 - What's on your head?
31:29 - Actually. - What's on your head?
31:31 - A towel, a towel.
31:32 - Why is a towel on top of your head?
31:35 - I don't know.
31:37 You see, I don't know, it works.
31:38 - Was that in the original version or is that?
31:40 - Yeah, that's the original.
31:42 This is the OG.
31:43 - Does the taxes make you sweat or what's up with that?
31:46 - No, it's just, I was watching a video on TikTok
31:49 and someone was like imitating a person
31:50 they wore a towel on their head.
31:51 I'm like, fuck, they can do it, so can I.
31:53 And I did it and it took off.
31:55 I never stopped in.
31:56 - It's fantastic.
31:57 - So, and now I got, now my towel videos,
31:59 they got a little bit more advanced,
32:00 but this is the legacy photo.
32:02 But since we're speaking about entrepreneurship
32:04 and talking about this, let me tell you one thing
32:06 you guys don't wanna do when you're starting branding
32:08 and starting your logo.
32:09 Don't fucking, don't choose a logo with seven colors
32:12 because the more colors that you have,
32:14 the more to that shit is gonna get
32:16 when you start doing branding and merch.
32:19 Dog, they're like, oh, you got seven colors.
32:21 Okay.
32:22 - Yeah, the charge per color.
32:23 - I guess they don't want, yes.
32:26 And then if you have one or three colors, bro,
32:29 you gotta do a minimum of 50, bam.
32:31 It's only 10 of us.
32:32 Nah, you gotta, and it's expensive.
32:34 So anyone going out there and branding
32:36 and getting your logo, keep that shit simple.
32:39 Don't have seven, you know what?
32:41 We had to change our logo.
32:42 We actually just changed it recently.
32:44 Yep, 'cause it's too expensive.
32:45 When it comes to branding and merging, it's.
32:48 So that's gonna be our legacy one.
32:49 So I'm glad you brought that up, but it's easy on web.
32:53 But when you start to start branding and merging,
32:56 and like, once you, dog, it's expensive
32:58 and they will hit your ass part per color.
33:00 Like it gets really, in minimum orders, so.
33:04 - So I was just reading one of the email newsletters I get
33:07 and they said the popularity of two characters
33:11 and one light bulb.
33:13 I was like, what is two characters and one light bulb?
33:16 And I'm like, son of a bitch.
33:17 I'm actually interviewing a guy
33:19 that does two characters and one light bulb.
33:21 You are the same person,
33:23 except you do two characters in your sketch videos
33:26 and each character, you have a light bulb moment.
33:29 So tell the audience that isn't familiar with your content.
33:33 Why do you have, why do you make split personality videos
33:36 and why do they perform so well?
33:38 - Love it.
33:39 So one of the tasks I used, I had to figure this out
33:42 because so, okay.
33:45 So when you look at the spectrum of like,
33:47 the videos that do well, perform well on social media,
33:50 finance and economy stuff performs like the least,
33:53 like the least well.
33:55 The thing that's on the top are like movies and sports,
33:59 gaming, those are like the top three,
34:02 especially anything with food.
34:04 And like, I know you're into food.
34:05 Those generally, you just make a video
34:06 like cooking food, like recipes.
34:08 Those are always going to generally,
34:09 if you put two side, they're gonna perform well with them
34:12 versus they're gonna always outperform
34:14 in most cases, finance and economy.
34:16 Notice that.
34:17 So what I have to do is I have to take something
34:21 that's on the top and mix it in.
34:23 That way it does well.
34:24 So my videos, I'm always trying to like,
34:26 to make sure I have food.
34:27 I'm like, I'm cooking or some type of food
34:29 that way I can get the point across.
34:34 So my goal when I create content
34:36 is I have to keep it engaging and entertaining.
34:38 So I'm always trying to tell two stories
34:40 instead of me sitting there like,
34:41 "Hey, fam, make sure you file your taxes."
34:44 And things like that.
34:45 Instead I'll have like, my other character
34:46 like eating some Cheetos.
34:47 "Why I gotta file my taxes?"
34:50 Yeah, and then it just makes it like more engaging.
34:53 But this is why you gotta file your taxes.
34:55 You're gonna go to jail.
34:56 "Let me get some more pickle."
35:01 And it just, it keeps that flow going.
35:04 'Cause you're always like,
35:05 "Oh, what does that person wanna say?"
35:06 It was like, especially if I,
35:08 like sometimes in one video, like,
35:09 "Oh, like bring out a pickle.
35:11 Why is the pickle jar bring out?
35:12 They don't bring out the tahini.
35:13 Why are they bringing out tahini?
35:14 Don't bring out honey."
35:15 You're like, "What's going on?"
35:16 So it's telling two stories to keep them engaged
35:18 because I want you to watch to the end
35:19 to see what the final product of the food I'm cooking
35:22 or making or preparing.
35:23 I haven't done this in all videos.
35:24 It's just rare cases.
35:25 I want you to see the final product.
35:26 I want them to get to the end for two reasons.
35:28 One, because of the information I'm putting out.
35:31 And two, for you to see the final product,
35:32 whatever I'm cooking or eating.
35:34 And so this is how I learned like to keep it like
35:37 more engaged to always tell like two stories.
35:40 - Tell me about the difference
35:41 between one of the most important things
35:43 that we hope anybody that's listening to this show
35:45 takes away is, it's easy as a restaurant owner
35:50 to create business to consumer content.
35:52 As a barbecue brand, it's obvious that we should be making
35:55 videos about our brisket and our ribs and our mac and cheese
35:59 and our wedding beans and all the amazing things
36:02 that you can get at our restaurant.
36:03 Well, one of the things that we've done
36:04 is that we also make business to business content.
36:07 So that's why we make videos of us unboxing
36:10 our toast point of sale technology,
36:12 working with all kinds of different brands
36:15 to do stuff that most people go,
36:18 Sean, why would you make that video?
36:19 That doesn't make any sense.
36:20 Well, we know why we make it
36:22 because there's other restaurant owners
36:23 that also consume our content.
36:26 For you, you're playing a different game,
36:30 which is why I wanted to have you on this show.
36:31 It's like, you're not only making that B2C content,
36:34 you're also making B2B content
36:36 and you're inspiring other tax accountants
36:40 to also create content
36:42 because you know that that will also help them
36:45 build their business.
36:46 What kind of advice do you have to somebody
36:48 that's just starting out making B2B content?
36:51 - Don't be scared.
36:53 Show them insights, show them all the secrets
36:55 and people are going to want more.
36:56 Don't gatekeep, just bring them in,
36:59 bring them to the journey, bring them to the process.
37:02 It's very interesting concept when the more you give,
37:05 like people are more like,
37:06 "Oh my gosh, I'm finally getting this for free."
37:07 Like, could you imagine if I,
37:09 let's say this is if you're like
37:11 having some type of education community as well.
37:13 So I just say like,
37:14 like spit game and get it out there
37:17 and bring people through the inside.
37:20 One of the things that it's just,
37:22 I guess scary that one of the things that we get a lot
37:25 is just, "I'm scared, dude.
37:26 I'm scared to be in front of the camera, me too."
37:28 And the thing is,
37:30 everyone, anyone that you look up to
37:33 has always started where you're at now.
37:34 Everyone has started at zero, everyone.
37:37 And so I used to be very afraid.
37:39 So I believe like they have,
37:42 and at least in my experience,
37:43 they have the drive and motivation to create content.
37:48 They just have the anxiety or nervousness
37:52 to like getting in front of a camera or press, record.
37:56 So it's like, "Hey, just start with your hands
37:58 or start with the voiceover, just get fucking started."
38:01 I think that that is just the most important thing.
38:04 Figure out a way to get started.
38:05 Even if you have all black screen
38:07 where you're just having a voiceover,
38:08 you don't want to, I don't know, show your toes,
38:10 show your wrist, show your shoulder,
38:12 show them a tax return.
38:14 Show them like, "Oh my gosh."
38:16 That is the biggest thing.
38:17 I believe people want to get out there
38:19 and genuinely want to get out there and create content.
38:21 It's just the nervousness that comes behind it.
38:24 - Yeah, I think one of the powerful things you just said
38:26 is show them the tax return.
38:27 It's show things that most people don't see on social media.
38:31 - Yeah, exactly.
38:34 - It's having the courage to share the story
38:36 of the things that we think no one cares about,
38:38 but we all have those insecurities.
38:41 And the more that you share those,
38:42 that's when you get that deep community
38:44 that you're talking about.
38:45 - Right.
38:46 Bring them on inside.
38:47 Come here, come here, family, hold your hand.
38:49 This is how I do it.
38:50 - So when you look at the next year
38:54 with what you're building,
38:55 what's going to make this a successful year going into 2024?
38:58 - What's going to make things a successful year
39:02 is that once our tax takeoff community,
39:07 our tax take community is more of a word of mouth
39:09 versus marketing.
39:10 Anytime a business is word of mouth, we got it in.
39:15 So as long as we're hitting our goals,
39:17 I think by October, we're going to be at,
39:21 right now we're at 40.
39:21 I believe we're going to be at 60 in October.
39:24 And once we're doing less marketing
39:26 and more word of mouth to the point where we're like,
39:27 hey, we're filled out, that's going to be a success.
39:30 That's success number one,
39:31 because I can say like, oh, I want it to be the best.
39:34 I want it to be great.
39:35 I want to be good.
39:36 But all of those are a good sign
39:38 that when your business is word of mouth,
39:40 that it's just different KPIs you have to do.
39:42 So our goal is just how do I make this thing
39:45 more word of mouth?
39:46 Because if you can have it word of mouth,
39:47 it takes care of everything.
39:49 That means you have a good product.
39:50 That means you have a good service.
39:51 In your eyes, it would be like, you have a great recipe.
39:54 So it's never about like, oh, I want to make this the best.
39:56 I want this to make this a word of mouth business.
39:59 So once people start, hey, I heard from this,
40:01 I heard from this friend,
40:03 I think that would signify success.
40:06 And then the next step, so in Duke Tax, I have Duke Tax.
40:09 That one's coming great because I'm working in that less,
40:12 less and less and less and less.
40:13 It's almost, it's a team of 16 other crazy people like me,
40:17 ready to take care of your bookkeeping,
40:19 your taxes and so forth.
40:20 So this allows me to venture out
40:21 and start something else versus tax takeoff.
40:24 So I would love to just get that ball rolling
40:27 with the convert amount.
40:29 I believe that's gonna signify success to myself.
40:33 And then what it would be like ideal is that the results,
40:38 that if you're purchasing this tax takeoff,
40:41 that you're receiving results.
40:42 And so that, and I'm just copying this stuff
40:44 that we have from Duke Tax.
40:45 With this real life results, I can easily say,
40:47 hey, if you're on our tier two,
40:48 on average, we're gonna save you $14,000 in taxes.
40:51 I know it because we've done it.
40:52 This results, people are like, oh my God, yes,
40:54 it happens almost in tears.
40:55 It works.
40:56 So, and it's word of mouth now.
40:58 So it's like, 'cause we work with a lot of creators.
41:01 In food creators, we do have a couple
41:03 of restaurant clients as well,
41:05 but we work with a lot of creators.
41:06 And so it's very hard to market to creators
41:09 or run ads 'cause they're just like,
41:10 it's just very difficult.
41:11 So that's become a more word about business.
41:13 And to me, that's been success.
41:15 I was like, I would like to take the same thing
41:17 of providing results in others word of mouth
41:19 for tax takeoff.
41:21 - That's awesome.
41:22 So every single week on Wednesday and on Friday
41:25 on the social audio app Clubhouse,
41:26 you, the listener, someone that's listening to the show
41:29 or you're watching the show,
41:31 we invite you to come on stage and share your story.
41:34 If you're a creator, if you're in sales,
41:35 if you're in marketing, if you're in hospitality,
41:37 if you own a restaurant, come up on stage on Clubhouse.
41:40 It's a great way for you to ask me any questions
41:43 that you have.
41:44 And it's a great way to potentially find yourself
41:47 on Entrepreneur.
41:48 Some of the greatest guests that we've had on this show,
41:51 they appear on Clubhouse.
41:52 It's part of our digital hospitality community
41:54 that is our deep community.
41:55 And we would love to have you there.
41:57 Every week we do a social shout out
42:00 to somebody that has doing something really cool and unique.
42:03 And this week goes to Avi Gandhi on LinkedIn.
42:07 And I follow his newsletter, Creator Logic.
42:10 I welcome you to subscribe to Creator Logic.
42:13 And the reason why I say that
42:15 is because that's how I found Duke.
42:18 Duke is doing his thing.
42:19 Avi is doing his thing.
42:21 Rising tide lifts all ships
42:23 and I'm grateful that I found Duke through Avi.
42:26 And Duke, I want to give you an opportunity.
42:29 You get one person that you give a shout out to
42:32 on Entrepreneur.
42:34 Who's somebody in your world?
42:35 Duke loves taxes.
42:36 One person that gets a shout out and why?
42:39 - It's going to have to be someone named K Smith.
42:44 I believe he's doing something great.
42:46 He has the true drive of an entrepreneurship
42:50 as far as like always asking questions and so forth.
42:53 He does a lot with the debt consolidation community.
42:56 A lot of people are experiencing debt.
42:57 So he's helping a lot of people give out to that.
43:00 So it's going to have to give a shout out to K Smith
43:04 and helping people get out of debt
43:05 and creating an impact to others.
43:07 - That's awesome.
43:08 And then real quickly, I need to know,
43:11 we believe in smartphone storytelling.
43:13 So one of the biggest obstacles
43:15 to people becoming their own media company
43:17 or producing content is they think
43:19 they need fancy studios like you have
43:21 or fancy studios like I have.
43:23 All you need is a smartphone in your pocket.
43:26 - You don't.
43:27 - All you need is a smartphone in your pocket.
43:29 - Yes, please, please, please.
43:31 Like if you're on,
43:32 if you guys have ever seen that movie Men in Black,
43:34 you know that little flash?
43:36 - Yep.
43:36 - You need to do that anytime you see something
43:38 with the studio because I will tell you something,
43:39 comparisons to kill of all joy
43:41 and comparisons to kill of all setbacks.
43:43 Just get started.
43:45 Everyone, all of us,
43:46 you're watching something you're going to make it.
43:48 So it's no different from you watching LeBron James,
43:50 you boom, like doing a donkey.
43:51 Then, ah, I should have, no, fuck, dude.
43:55 Start with the phone, get started.
43:56 I started with a fucking,
43:58 a fucking cassette player like way back in the day.
44:01 It's always the progress.
44:03 And then you perfect it because,
44:05 first of all, you want a studio?
44:06 You know how difficult it is to learn it?
44:08 Like the lighting, the camera,
44:10 it's a whole different thing to learn.
44:13 And I have slowly learned it over the years.
44:15 So learning your equipment,
44:16 fucking learning the camera, the settings,
44:18 the ISO settings, the aperture, the waves,
44:21 and like the, why is it?
44:23 No, just pick up your phone.
44:25 Your phone's gonna all be like, get started.
44:27 Once you have something that's working,
44:29 once you have a recipe and a formula,
44:31 then maybe you should look into that.
44:33 But I would not be looking at my first like three years,
44:35 like getting like all professional and stuff like that.
44:37 I would just honestly just start with a camera,
44:39 with a phone.
44:40 - Okay. - That's the
44:41 difficult to this day.
44:42 - These are your, I need to know these quick questions
44:45 about your smartphone usage.
44:46 Are you iPhone or Android?
44:48 - iPhone, all day, every day.
44:50 - Which version?
44:51 - The 14.
44:53 - 14, Spotify or Apple Music?
44:57 - I don't know, YouTube Music.
44:59 Are you kidding me?
44:59 YouTube is the only music. - YouTube Music.
45:01 - I don't know, a lot of people,
45:02 y'all are asleep on YouTube Music.
45:04 - Okay, all right, I got you on record now.
45:06 - Every single song, every song.
45:09 And you know what?
45:11 Apple Music used to not have, they've gotten better.
45:12 Apple Music, Spotify did not used to have every song.
45:15 And then YouTube was free.
45:17 - Can you write off YouTube Music?
45:19 Does it work?
45:20 - So it depends, it all depends.
45:23 So if you're-- - Does it work
45:24 for Dukes Love Taxes?
45:26 - Yeah, it works 'cause we power our events
45:29 with YouTube Music.
45:30 We have events, we have studios.
45:31 - There you go, fantastic.
45:32 - If you're playing Spotify at your restaurant, whatever,
45:36 those are all deductible expenses as well.
45:38 - Do you listen to podcasts or books on tape?
45:41 Or books?
45:42 - I listen to,
45:46 I read books.
45:47 I do a lot of, actually I listen to a lot of Jim Rohn.
45:49 So I listen to like the old people.
45:51 And so-- - Nice.
45:52 - Like Jim Rohn is like, that's, dude, I just,
45:55 I don't know, man, I'm so fascinated by the guys.
45:59 Like, wow, dude, like,
46:00 when we talk about comparisons to Laura Jordan,
46:03 I'm like, how can I speak like that guy?
46:05 So my dude, my go-to is just popping up some Jim Rohn.
46:09 - Do you prefer text or email?
46:10 - Text.
46:12 - How many emails do you get a day?
46:14 - You know, 30, 40.
46:17 - Are you inbox zero or do you keep them on read?
46:20 - Oh, oh dude, I have a recipe.
46:23 So can I share my screen?
46:25 Oh, I can't share it 'cause I can't show you the emails.
46:28 But okay, I can show you something.
46:30 I don't know if I can share my screen.
46:31 Oh dude, I have a, okay, cool.
46:33 Yeah, you see, I was creeping on you.
46:35 - Oh, good.
46:36 That's good.
46:37 Creeping on me is a good thing.
46:39 - Yeah, so I have this thing right here.
46:42 Insta, this is tech email.
46:43 - I'll right click and I'll open all six.
46:46 And so what this is,
46:48 it automatically runs a filter in my email.
46:50 And like, guys, you go to your search box
46:52 and type in is colon or semicolon,
46:55 whatever the one with just two dots, unread.
46:58 So it only pulls up messages that are unread.
47:02 I just go through that every single,
47:04 every single like maybe like-
47:06 - Do you do it on a MacBook?
47:08 Or do you do everything from your iPhone?
47:10 - Yeah, this is the Mac.
47:11 Yeah, oh, it has to be Mac.
47:12 It's like, you see my, these are all,
47:14 so this is my morning routine right here.
47:16 And I'll just go through this like every morning,
47:18 boom, check social, check net,
47:21 text news, that's 14 tabs.
47:23 - There we go.
47:24 - Yeah, yeah, I love it.
47:25 - What is your favorite app on your phone?
47:28 - Lark.
47:32 - What?
47:32 - Lark is a business app.
47:33 It's a business app.
47:34 - What do you do with that?
47:35 - Oh, people, y'all are sleep,
47:37 people are so sleep, I'm gonna put y'all on.
47:39 So Lark Suite is a collaboration tool app
47:42 and they are changing the game.
47:43 It is Zoom, it is email, it is Notion,
47:48 all of these platforms that you're paying for
47:50 individually in one.
47:52 So it's very similar to like a Slack
47:54 or a Google Workspace and it's on steroids.
47:56 And I didn't even find out about it
47:58 because I did like a brand,
47:59 I did a partnership with ByteDance
48:00 and ByteDance is, you know,
48:01 the people who create TikTok.
48:03 And they're like, "Hey, we gotta do something on Lark."
48:05 And they had me download it.
48:06 I'm like, "Damn, this is the shit."
48:08 And it's free.
48:09 There's a team of 16 of us and like, it is code.
48:11 So I would say it's so weird.
48:13 That's probably like my most used app.
48:16 My favorite app is probably Lark
48:17 'cause she was just communicating with my team.
48:19 They're like my family.
48:21 - Do you prefer photos or videos?
48:24 - Videos.
48:25 - And what is your least favorite app
48:28 that you have to have, that you have to use?
48:30 - Damn.
48:32 My least favorite, I don't like Apple Music.
48:37 I don't know why.
48:37 Every time I look at it, I'm like, "Oop."
48:39 But sometimes I have to use
48:40 because y'all be sharing me those music.
48:41 Like, "Oh my God, let's see the song."
48:43 I'm like, "What?"
48:43 (laughing)
48:46 I have to use that when they're sending me
48:48 song recommendations.
48:49 It's gonna be Apple Music, you know?
48:51 - That's awesome.
48:52 Where, what's the best place
48:54 for the deep community to find you?
48:56 I know you're on all the platforms.
48:57 We'll put links in the platforms,
48:59 but anybody that's gotten this far into the show,
49:02 they're part of our inner circle,
49:04 the rising tide of digital hospitality leaders.
49:09 - Yeah, connect with me.
49:11 Go to workwithduke.com,
49:12 workwithduke.com if you're interested in services.
49:15 But if you just wanna connect a little further,
49:17 shoot me a DM on Instagram.
49:19 I can manage my DMs on Instagram.
49:21 I'm pretty good with that.
49:22 TikTok, mm-mm, don't even try it.
49:23 It's dukelexaxis, but yeah, yeah, don't do it.
49:28 - That's awesome.
49:29 - But Instagram for sure.
49:31 - Perfect, yeah.
49:31 If you guys wanna connect with me,
49:32 it's @SeanPWalchef, S-H-A-W-N, P-W-A-L-C-H-E-F.
49:38 I wanna hear from you, no matter what platform.
49:41 I'm on all of them.
49:42 I'm weirdly available,
49:43 but Instagram's probably the easiest.
49:45 So follow Duke.
49:47 Duke loves taxes.
49:48 If you are a creator
49:49 and you have questions about your taxes,
49:53 definitely hit Duke up.
49:54 And if you're a restaurant owner, also hit Duke up
49:57 because I'm sure there's plenty of business out there.
50:01 Really, really grateful for your time, man.
50:02 Thank you for sharing with our community.
50:05 - Absolutely, thanks, brother.
50:06 Thanks for having me.
50:06 - The best way that you can help us with the show
50:09 is to subscribe and write a review.
50:12 We love the opportunity to connect with you,
50:15 no matter where you are on the globe,
50:16 no matter what restaurant you are running.
50:18 Please send us a DM on social @SeanPWalchef.
50:23 If you are interested in toast,
50:25 if you wanna improve your digital hospitality,
50:27 please send me a DM.
50:29 I will get you in touch with a local toast representative.
50:32 We appreciate you listening to the show.
50:34 The best way that you can help the show
50:36 is share it with a friend
50:37 and we will catch you all next week
50:39 or we will see you on one of the digital playgrounds
50:42 that we call social media.