Transcript
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Kwame
What's up, everybody? Welcome to today's episode of Beyond Influence. I am Kwami Appiah, your host. We are missing out on our co-host today, Scott. So I'll do my best to do justice to this conversation because we were both very, very excited to talk to our guest today. Our guest is not only a startup founder and very accomplished within the business world, but also happens to partake in something that is very close to home for me as a Netflix reality star.
We are very, very excited to learn a lot today from Chris Allen. Chris, how are you doing today, ma'am?
Chris
Just two Netflix guys chopping it up for me.
Kwame
Yeah, right. We're basically just about to have a whole reality TV conversation. You know.
Chris
We talked about some business on the side.
Kwame
Yeah, exactly. So, how's it going? How is, how's the week starting today for you?
Chris
It's good. I mean, you know, this is the first week in four weeks where I don't have episodes of our show dropping. So it feels like life is starting to go back to normal a little bit. Starting to get, you know, a little bit of the. Let's take stock of what the world looks like after Million Dollar Secret.
What opportunities do I have? And for me, it's just all about them. I think I put up a status on my Instagram today. Work continues. Like this is all I've been building up to. It's over now. The work continues.
Kwame
I can dig it. Yeah. I've seen, you know, I've seen some follower growth for you within the reason I think we followed each other. Maybe just not too long ago, maybe a few days ago. And since then, there's been some follower growth there. So there's definitely some notice coming around. How does it feel to kind of start getting a good bit of trickle following in?
Chris
Yeah, it's interesting because, you know, you look at it, I think, I was probably one of the smaller contestants in terms of just awareness. You know, I was not super out there with my social media. I was very business-focused. And we did have some other folks on our show with a much larger following.
So they're all aware of those sorts of things. They know, you know, how to put together a TikTok, how to do, you know, how to just go out to a restaurant and make content out of it, right? This is all new for me, right? I was created for a brand, not for myself. And now there is this large influx of people who are just interested in what I'm up to on a day-to-day basis, things that seem pretty mundane to me.
So I'm getting used to it. It's obviously awesome because obviously, folks that follow me are interested in my journey. They're for one thing, they, you know, they want to see when I'm up and, yeah, you know, they're there because they are invested in my journey. I take that, I'm extremely humble about that. I mean, I'm genuinely humbled by the interest, and I hope to provide some value for the people.
Kwame
That's awesome. Man. You know what? We're obviously getting a little bit dialog in the beginning of this, and I want to make sure that for all of our listeners out there who are taking a moment to listen, today's conversation, you know, I've given a little bit of a tiny spiel about you, but I want you to tell them you know who you are in a quick bio.
Yeah, so that the world can know a bit more about Chris today.
Chris
Yeah, sure. So I would just keep it real quick. I was a finance guy. I came up through the finance world all through my 20s. I did like the Excel Brian De type jobs in finance and, you know, making good money, but burned myself out super quickly. I made it to 27, and I feel like it's pretty good. I went back to business school and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.
I just knew that I liked business, and I wanted to be involved in some way. And, while I was there, I met a co-founder, Minhas, from Uruguay, and his family grew up drinking coconuts and knew people who drank alcohol and coconuts. And that was around the same time that the white cloud was coming up. And he came to me and said, Hey, you know, I come from a family of beer distributors.
That's sort of what my family does. He said, Hey, I know you know this world. I had this idea to basically do a White Claus doing, but do coconut water, and try to make it as healthy as possible, targeted at the health-conscious people who want to party. So that applies to 7 a.m.. So that was right before Covid.
I wasn't sure I was going to do it full-time, but then Covid hit, and I had that existential crisis that everybody did and said, hey, let's just go for it. So we sent it. Yeah. Had a lot of success with the business. You know, your cruise lines, Caribbean, you know, markets across parts of the eastern United States, and then started to get a little bit more geared up into the beverage world and the marketing side of the beverage world.
I said, hey, you know, like, I think there might be an opportunity for me to turn myself into a personality. Started casting for reality shows, and there's a bunch of real, like, near misses in reality. We're all like, I had opportunities. It wasn't the right timing, whatever it might be. I had frankly finally given up on it.
I really had. And, just out of the blue, this opportunity came up for a $1 million secret, and they told me what network it was on. And from that point on, I said, just tell me where it is. Like, literally send me the boarding pass. I'll fly anywhere in the world like that.
Kwame
That is awesome, man. We'll be good. Now that we have a segue our way into that part of the conversation, let's, let's dive a little bit more into Million Dollar Secret. I know it's a newer show on Netflix. And there's been kind of this genre, this push within the kind of challenge game show that's got a very sophisticated approach.
It's got like 1 or 2 target people, and then everyone else is trying to figure out who that person is. You know, you have shows like traders, you know, things like that. And I feel like this, there's a lot of alignment within these shows. And I feel like people really, really love this genre. You know, it's really freaking super cool.
It's challenging. It's thought-provoking. And while you're at it, you have these really cool people who have really big personalities as well. So with that being said, you are, you know, a participant on, on Million Dollar Secret. I'd love to know a little bit about how it all started, how, like, you know, obviously. So you started casting for shows, right?
And then you got the opportunity. How did that all unfold? Because I'm sure when you first got the, you know, initial steps going, you were still like, okay, maybe this might not work out. Maybe this is, you know, I'd love to know how that introduction phase went.
Chris
Yeah. Such an interesting question. And I think, you know, a lot of the shows that I had been cast for over the years are asked to interview for our love-related shows, not unlike the one that you went on. Right. So yeah, it's, it's sort of where I was geared up to do it. I was kind of like, okay, you know, obviously have things going on in your dating life.
You know, you're like, well, this is not a good time because I'm dating somebody, right? Or whatever it might be. Yeah. So, you know, I had those near misses, and then 20, 23, I had a really long casting process with Big Brother. And, those are the types of shows that I really kind of grew up watching: Big Brother, Survivor, and alliance-based shows.
And I got really, really close to Big Brother, and it was at a time where I really could have used it for my business, to be quite honest. It was really a very critical year for us, and I cut the final cut at that point. I said, okay, I've tried this, you know, I'm done. We're not going to do this anymore.
It just didn't work out for me. I got really close and one of the casting directors that I had on a prior, actually a dating show that I decided was not a good fit for me, reached back out in the spring of 2024 and said, hey, there's a concept that I have that I think is perfect for you.
It's a strategy show. And I want to see sort of your business brain play out in this, in this, strategy type world. You know, would you be interested, obviously, when you found out it's Netflix, that sort of raises the stakes a little bit. I was super interested in it because we were not told a lot about the show by.
We were. We did not know what show we were going on in episode one of our show, our host comes down the stairs and tells us the rules of the game. That is when we learned what show we were on. We did not know anything other than 12 people $1 million, and there's going to be some backstabbing involved.
That's all we knew.
Kwame
So awesome.
Chris
I was. I was all about it once I heard, I mean, obviously like that first day you hear the rules and then you go, you know, have a night of sleep and everybody's just like, okay, now I know the rules. I'm going to write out all these different strategies, but we literally learned it on camera.
Kwame
Yeah. Wow. That is, I really love that. So yeah, I guess that is a fact that a lot of people don't know when they watch these kinds of shows. I feel like people think the cast members go in prepared, and they have these strategies in mind. But I feel like for a lot of these first seasons, reality shows that deal with strategy, it's almost, it's a working title until you start recording.
Chris
Our title, our working titles, were different from the title of the show that actually, people actually know it by now. You. Yeah. I think it's so interesting. It is like a fan of Survivor and Big Brother. A lot of the people who end up on Big Brother and Survivor are Big Brother and Survivor super fans.
They have encyclopedic knowledge of, oh, I'm in a situation like, you know, Joe in season 18. Maybe if I do this sort of alliance, I'll be able to get out of it, right? We did not know the rules of the game, and as a result, I think what people are sort of responding to with Million Dollar Secret is that it's a little messy.
The strategies are not worked out, and we make some pretty big mistakes. And that's because we didn't know which show we were going on. We were not super fans. Even if you had studied the traders, the gameplay mechanics are totally different because we only have one millionaire.
Kwame
So yeah, that's a really good point, man. I think there's a lot that goes into these shows to make them dynamic once you get past season one. Yeah, right. Because season one will always have the most ambiguity. It's like, what am I doing? How do I make this work? How do I not make a mistake?
And then from there, like, even when I think about it, I've always wanted to be on the traders. I've been, you know, I will apply till the day I die. And I've spoken to a couple of the casting producers, so hopefully it works out at some point. But ultimately, every time that I watch traders with my wife, we're always thinking like, oh, this, this is a situation that has happened before, and it seems like they're playing off of it.
And most of you know, the interview style situations that people get into, they're like, yeah, yeah. You know, I've seen traders do this before, and it's been a mistake. Right. And so there's a lot of knowledge and background knowledge, and understanding in the show. And so I love the first season. You are the original. You know, that's got to feel good.
And, you know, in terms of your participation in how things went, you know, how do you feel about your success on the show?
Chris
You know, it's funny, I think my game, for those who have watched it, was so clean up until it wasn't right for me. I went through the first five eliminations of the house, and I'm like, I'm breezing through this. I remember we had that last break day, right? You know, as you probably know, we took a break, right?
And then we go into sort of the final week. And I remember sitting there thinking, you know, we have a straight run through to the end. I'm like, I think I can win this show. I really think I could win. I didn't go there thinking I could win. It's a 1 in 12 chance. But I went through the first five eliminations.
I had strong alliances, and I was never once at the elimination table. Nate, as somebody to be under consideration, be, you know, voted out. And I'm like, okay, I have a lot of stock built up. If I get the million dollars at some point, I think I have a little bit of trust that I can kind of just evade scrutiny.
Yeah. But then, like my house of cards that I had built just fell down on me in the course of like six hours. And the viewers of episode six of our season will know what that was like, because it went from basically, and all eyes were on one other person. And then every move that I had made and every decision 50- 50 call that I had went the opposite way all at once.
I got a couple of unlucky breaks here, and then it was like I was under fire, and then I was out before I could know it, like I legitimately was like the prior eliminations. I didn't even pack my stuff. Now that I'm clean, right for this one, I'm like, okay, I'll do it. But I still don't think I'm going home.
And then I went home.
Kwame
Yeah, that's a tough one. I think in strategies like, like there's an interesting alignment there with life, right, where you could be so consistent and so good for so long. And then, you know, one little crack, one little breakthrough, one little unfortunate slip, and then the next thing you know, you're tumbling down a hill.
Chris
Yeah, yeah. And what's so interesting about Million Dollar Secret two is that there's a, there's a logline at the show. Right. One person in the house has $1 million in their room. Their bedroom, basically. Yeah. And you have to figure out who it is, vote them out in order to take the money out of their box and put it in somebody else's box.
Right. But that wasn't exactly the way that our game played out. There was a lot of like, well, we don't know who it is, or if we do know who it is, maybe we just know some from the players out there. Maybe we like to be high up in some alliances that have a numerical advantage. Just kind of now the other side down if we can get.
Yeah. Right. And the bigger thing is you have to think about your relationship and how you relate to everything a person in the house, in order to think about how this, if this situation played out, would affect my relationship? Do I have this relationship right? And for me, I made a split-second decision that harmed my arguably harmed my main alliance in the House.
And ultimately, that snowballed into fracturing all of my alliances at once. And, I didn't think that through because you had to think in terms of like, second-order effects in a game like this, where you have a touch point, every single person in the house. So it's a lot of foresight that's required. And unfortunately, we don't get to think before we go into these scenes.
They just sort of happen, and you're like, okay, make a decision. I hope it plays out for me. And then, you know, obviously, when the viewer watches it back to like, you know, you say, well, you know, it's hard when you're in the moment.
Kwame
Yeah. I mean, hindsight is 2020. Yeah. You know, no, no, no matter what for you or for the viewer, anytime that you're watching something over, you have time to think, you know what I mean. You have time to really digest everything that's going on. And I think about these moments myself, right when I watch Love Is Blind Over, I'm just always like, bro, what in the world?
Right? Like, you have these moments, you're like, you. Those moments, the cartoon moments, you like stupid, stupid.
Chris
It's funny too, because I'm sure you probably like how I've felt this way. I'm sure you do too. Where? Like, if you watch back your episodes, you can remember being in that moment really clearly, but you don't remember what you were thinking to leave you in that specific place. Again, I remember what that was like. I remember the view out this way.
I remember I was talking to you, but like I don't remember my thought process.
Kwame
Yeah.
Chris
Yeah. I wonder what Chris is going to do next.
Kwame
Oh, man. It's great. It is great seeing yourself go through something of that degree and realizing how that version of you, because, you know, I'm sure you, you, who you are now, is different from who you were then. Definitely. Right. And it could be just a 1% difference, but that 1% might have done something different at that point in time.
And so there's a lot of critical change that goes on, especially when you go through an experience like this. I think, you know, I don't want the entire world to become obsessed with applying for reality TV shows. But I do think being on a reality TV show has a really, really special experience tied to it that really helps you grow in a big way.
And if I could in some way take that experience and embed it in every single person that I ever meet, I think it would change a lot of people. And hopefully for the better. I mean, I think it changed me for the better. When you're going through the experience, you're going through the experience with other people as well.
And I think that creates a special kind of social process that you gain from it. Right? Social learning. You learn a lot more about the sociology of things, but habits, about people, about yourself, about others. So there's a lot of benefit as a whole. And it's funny because you went on, you know, you went on this show to get this experience, and I'm sure you gained so much more from it.
And so, all in all, it paid off in such a big way. So I'm glad that, you know, you went through it and you're here now and yeah, you know, I think going through and watching the episodes, you know, some of the challenges were really interesting, you know. And so what I wanted to ask you is what was your what do you think was the most difficult challenge for you?
Chris
Yeah. And so the viewers of the show will know there was a balloon challenge in episode five where we shot balloons at, basically like, our opponent's head stuck inside of a puppet head. I had a board, probably, I would say maybe 40, 50 feet away. And what the viewer probably can't notice in doing that is, it was really hard to do, and a lot of us failed at it while we were just practicing.
So that's why I'm covered in paint. In a scene, you see it pink all over my face, all of my clothes. Everybody was just really kind of learning their way through it, and it was a freezing cold day. We filmed in Colonia, Canada, on the water. Rainy. None of us had dressed for the rain, so we were freezing.
And, we struggled to hit the targets. And, you know, I ultimately ended up hitting the winning shot of that challenge. That was definitely the hardest one. They were all difficult. You know, I got chased by a rabid dog. You know, I felt that I qualified.
Kwame
Yeah, that was like episode one.
Chris
It was episode one. It was the first thing we did. I was like, what kind of show are we on here? Because we didn’t know what. The dog was literally going to just, like, attack us. We didn't know that and went for something on our belt. So, I mean, I was like, whatever it might be. I also got disqualified from a challenge for trash-talking too hard, which is interesting. It's I, I can't say I'm surprised that happened, but.
Kwame
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the trash talk for me, right? I'm. I like to consider myself a pretty humble, pretty, gentle human being. I'm. I'm someone who wants to make sure everybody has fun. But trash talk is probably one of my favorite things to do. You know, when you're in competition and I love trash-talking, especially when I've built rapport with someone, because at that point in time, I'm not making an enemy.
You know, I'm just having a good time.
Chris
Yeah. And the person whom I trash-talked on the other team was Jamie from our season. And she was my teammate. And I think almost every other challenge, she was my teammate, including places where we had teams of 2 or 3. So it was my first time to kind of go against her. She baited me into it, and it was just like, I just went too hard.
But you know what? Listen, like all's well that ends well. Like you said, the whole experience of being on the show was by far the greatest experience of my life. I'm so excited to be sort of in your position a few years, a few years hence and say like, okay, let's look at this perfectly captured version of myself from a few years ago during this incredibly momentous period in my life, and be like, look how far I've come.
Look what I learned. Like, look at the challenges that I've overcome since. So for me, like I said, the work is just beginning.
Kwame
Yeah, that's awesome, man. I mean, all's well that ends well. You're in a great spot right now. If you could do anything differently looking at it now, I mean, I know you've kind of given me a breakdown of the tough moment that you had that really got you out of there. But as you watch and you have those moments, you're like, you know, Chris, you could have done this.
You could have done that. Is there something where you're like, this is the one thing that I would have changed?
Chris
Yeah, for sure. And honestly, I think this is kind of instructive about what you were saying about how you wish that everybody could have the opportunity to have the reality TV experience, just for what it means for personal growth. Right? Yeah. I found it really instructive. Obviously, I love when people see me and they like me and they respond to me, right?
But like, as you know very well, there's a whole other contingent of people who see every little thing that's wrong about you, and they point it out to you, like you try not to see it, but you do see it. And for me, I actually think it's a really interesting thing. So let me look at myself in a pressure cooker and let me see what parts of myself come out that I don't like, and use this as an opportunity to reflect and actually respond to feedback.
Right? I don't necessarily just say anything negative. I'm not going to look at it. And for me, something that I've always dealt with, maybe it's like the Ivy League guy in me or whatever it might be, is overconfidence, like anyone's going to be like, oh, yeah, I can do that. I can do that. And then you get to the challenge, and it's like, the challenge has hands, you know what I mean?
Like, it's tougher than I thought. So yeah. In the show, I was definitely too confident toward the end that I was sort of untouchable. And watching that back, I'm like, yeah, I should have been way more guarded, way more humble about the fact that I was competing in a level game with everybody else. And as a result, like, frankly, it's something I've worked on for years, and clearly I'm not done yet.
I mean, I saw it come up, bite me in the ass at a really, really important time in my life. So, those are, you know, definitely, you know, listening more, talking a little bit less, and being more humble. Those are things that I'm working on.
Kwame
Yeah. Yeah, I like that a lot. It's, it's, it sums it up really well. I think it sums it up for most people going through their day-to-day. Most people in interactive situations, as well, you know what I'm saying? I feel like listening more is definitely something that can help all of us in a big way.
In you, you know, you said it. You're an Ivy League guy. You seem like a confident guy. You seem like you're okay with putting yourself out there. And I feel like for a lot of us, that is okay with being out there, sometimes it also comes a lot with, if I'm going to be out here, I might as well make it worth my while.
And when I'm out there, making it worth my while means going up and introducing myself and saying these things, and at times making my opinion be known. And, you know, it takes a bit of learning to understand that sometimes making your opinion known is probably the least important thing that you need to do at that moment. It's more about figuring out what's going on around your surroundings and then understanding how that guides your opinion.
Chris
Yeah, it requires a tremendous amount of self-control, too, I think. Like that's something that is good to practice in normal life situations, but really hard to do when you're in the situation of competing for $1 million against a bunch of other, you know, really, hard-wired people. Right? So, you look at that and you're like, yeah, the situation does bring out some things about myself that I need to work on.
And also, it's a great way to sort of reveal those things, too, because it's a lot easier to do. I think in your normal life. So now it's like, yeah, I had the hardest experience possible of working on these sorts of things. Let me take it back to my normal life. Let me take you back to my business life.
Let me take you back to my personal life, relationship, family, all those sorts of things. So yeah, like I said, I'm excited for the growth to come from here, and I'm excited that Million Dollar Secret is not the end of our lives. It's the first sort of chapter of the rest of our lives.
The waypoint on the journey.
Kwame
Yeah, yeah, I love that. I actually just finished listening to one of the conversations that we had with one of my favorite influencers, slash creators. His name is Nick Kosir. He's the dancing weatherman. You may have seen him at some point. You know, he's got a suit on and he's out in Times Square doing dances, and he's accumulated quite a large following, right?
2.4 or 2.5, I think now mila lion on Instagram and about 9 million on TikTok. And I think what he said there was that that really stuck with me, or stuck with me right before I hopped on this call. I was listening to that, actually, and he said, Whenever you become famous or go viral, that's not like, that's that's not that's not it.
You know, that's not everything, then that's when the journey really starts. Right? And so now that you've gone through this thing, you know, that's not it. You haven't achieved your pinnacle. This is when the journey really starts. So I think it's a, you know, a culmination of things that really come back. And I love you. Realization and perspective on it, man.
You know, when you think about how this all comes together and now applying it back to your life, your image, and then your brand and your product, you know, we're going to circle around a lot of conversations, but I know that Oceana is a big conversation topic. You know, something that I really want to touch on because, you know, you're brilliant, mind.
You've released something, you've put something out into the world, and it's a product, and it's, you know, having some success. You know, I'd love to know the concept, the persona, I think. I guess, yeah. Let's revisit persona as a product. Right. How would you matriculate, and then where are you headed now, especially with your experience? I mean, that's a secret.
Chris
So I mean, obviously, I think, you know, the beverage world is really difficult. And I think we learned that to talk about overconfidence is like, yeah, oh yeah, I can make the white cloud of coconut water. And when you get out there, you realize that just about anybody can approach black brewing capacity with a co-packer.
And to slap a label on it and get it to market. Now, we had certain advantages, right? We had connections in the distribution space that we had. My co-founder had experience working in Anheuser-Busch, so he basically knew how to do this for peanuts. Yeah. But the easier part for us was getting to market, which is actually the harder part for a lot of other beverage startups.
We were able to get it on a lot of shelves. We were able to, you know, create a brand. We were able to connect with distributors and retailers and get it, you know, the cruise lines and islands and things like that. The harder part for us was getting people to care. And because we were distributed in retail, we weren't able to necessarily target our consumer quite as well because we were raw.
You know, it's like, for example, I remember I had this experience, we were like we ended up at a corner store. We ended up in a corner store in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Right? Yeah. I remember being so like, okay, we launched it where I lived. Then we kind of grew up there. And then I was like, wait a minute, now that means I need to turn the product off the shelf in Grand Rapids, Michigan, at an independent retailer where it's mostly older men who shop there.
Yeah. How am I going to do that? And then I kind of realized that, like scale and awareness and scale in beverages, especially in your traditional retail, is really important, right? It's not necessarily quite as simple as that because we can't distribute directly to consumers. Right, how do I approach things that, you know, we'll be able to get me awareness and scale?
So one of those things is reality television personality marketing, influencer marketing, and those sorts of things, I think, are really useful. Because you can't do digital advertising when you have somebody click through the ad and get it delivered to a door, you know, liquid is really difficult. So one of the things that we want to do, and I think it's really interesting, we kind of like took the foot off the gas a little bit, while we waited for to see what the show would look like and then try to create something in the next chapter for the brand that makes sense for the audience that I that I would attract and the audience I'd be able to bring out. So, one of the really interesting million-dollar secrets is a global show. And most of my fans are on AWS. So, alcohol is obviously really difficult to ship across the border. So I would say that the next thing that we do will likely be nonalcoholic. Is, is probably likely something that we can ship around the world a little bit easier, something that I can find the fans that have sort of joined this journey now, you know, whether that looks like a mixer or prebiotic, whatever that might be.
I think that's definitely sort of where the consumer is going in beverages. And I think that's sort of like me responding to the audience. Right. Because ultimately, one of the things I, one of the things I remember in business school, I paid a lot of money for the degree, and I remember I remember a few things.
Not a lot is that you need to create a product that the consumer wants. Yeah. And the consumers that have followed me are generally global, health-conscious people. And, you know, alcohol works. It's really interesting. Kind of like the thing is, I think there are things we can do, sort of outside alcohol, that make a lot more sense.
Kwame
Yeah. Okay. Now that makes a lot of sense. So funny bringing up the conversation that I just had. Nick Holzer, someone who's been sober for quite a while now, mentions that in a lot of conversations. And, you know, one of the conversations we had on Beyond Influence was with a beverage company that was named Mixology and rebranded as Smashed, which is actually, really, really now a successful, nonalcoholic beverage.
Yeah. And so it's funny, that is a conversation topic that keeps coming up because it's been that, you know, alcohol was a big catalyst for good times, you know, for being in the party, being in the mix. And I feel like as generations go on and as you see Gen Z kind of they're not big alcoholics, like, you know, previous generations, they're very much so, like, how can we do it without that aspect of things?
And so I do think that there's a balance. I'm a drinker, not like a big drinker at all. I drink maybe like 1 or 2 drinks a week, if that, you know, you know, like, like last night I got back from my soccer game and I was insanely sore. So I popped open a model, and I had a drink, you know?
Yeah, you know what I'm saying? So I love the belief that I could come home and pop open something that doesn't have alcohol in it as well, and have that same kind of nourishing, relaxing, you know, tranquil kind of drink in it. And so I love that nonalcoholic beverage space. I love that it's really, really trending, really popping off right now.
So I think it's a great angle to go at, man. So what would look like success for you in this next iteration of the Oh Center?
Chris
Yeah. Well, I tell you this much, I want to be a multifaceted entrepreneur. So I want to be able to create, you know, content around the journey of where we go as well. So I think that the main thing is, first of all, in order to be successful as a beverage brand, it's very personal.
It's a very personal industry, food and beverage, because you're consuming it in your body. Right. So you need to feel connected to the brands that you're associating with. So for me, if we can create a community and brand around us and center and around, you know, any future projects as well, that you know, I feel like the cans are meeting the consumer need.
I'm feeling like they're connected to the brand because of me and my journey as well. And I think that there's like a little bit of a connection between the consumer and the founder and the brand, because now, obviously, I'm out there. I think that would be successful. I want to create products that are always leaning towards the better for your side, health-conscious.
That's like why we did coconut water instead of, you know, for example. Right. So, coconut water will always be at the foundation of what we're doing because it's a miracle, a miracle liquid that the earth is medicine. It's a huge passion of mine. I've obviously been in space for many, many years. And then what I really want to do is take this opportunity where, like, I've been an entrepreneur before, reality TV now I, I'm an entrepreneur after reality TV, and I get the opportunity to create content around the journey of creating businesses because that, yeah, on what the product is, whatever the product is, whether I'm creating, you know, coconut water or something else is the journey of entrepreneurship. Is my passion right? And helping people do it in a way that is sustainable for them mentally and physically, because it is not always that way. And it wasn't like me before I went on a $1 million secret. I ground myself, DuPont, basically. And I want to be able to help people, illuminate the journey, illuminate the highs and the lows, and, you know, make it something that, because I think everybody kind of wants to be a business owner.
A lot of people really want to be entrepreneurs, right? They don't know how to market. And then when they do it, they're still chasing the dream, and they're just sort of burning the candle at both ends, like, okay, let's illuminate what the journey's really going to look like. Yeah, I can be an instructive example, and I can talk to people who have done that as well.
And we'll talk about what real entrepreneurship looks like.
Kwame
Yeah. So, how then, I guess, you know, it seems like this is something that you're passionate about, you know, just to touch on, you know, what it is and where you plan to take it. You know, ultimately, it seems like you have a very deep interest in, like, the health of founders. Yeah, right. The health of people who want to go out there and start something on their own.
You know, I guess what is the fascination? And I guess ultimately, what does it look like to see success within that realm for you? Like, yeah, you.
Chris
I want to do this because this is the angle of content that I'm most passionate about, most interested in, and frankly, like the opportunity, the miracle of getting cast on a reality TV show is worth it for the opportunity to potentially give back and effect some change in this area. Right? Yeah. Just, you know, if you look at society, any great innovation that has been created, right?
It probably came from a startup. Yeah. So we need it as a society, as a global society, we need startups badly in order to help the world move forward. But the journey of entrepreneurship is a high-wire act, and it can come with tremendous highs and it can come with tremendous lows. And a lot of times you feel those in the same hour, not much less, the same day.
Right? So, you look at the statistics around founder mental health, they're pretty jarring. I think you talk about three-quarters of entrepreneurs reporting mental health issues of some kind, which is significantly higher than the general population. So I find it really troubling that this avenue that the world badly needs to continue driving innovation, creating new products that we all love, putting new things on the shelf, creating new technologies, is so fraught for the people who are actually creating them.
Well, and it shouldn't have to be that way, because I think for me, I found entrepreneurship an incredibly isolating experience. We should be breaking down barriers for entrepreneurs, talking to each other, creating communities, and having these difficult conversations. And like, I don't like that the sort of standard entrepreneurial content is like Rolex-wearing Rolls-Royce driving. Let me sell you a course I like because that's like maybe one-tenth of 1% of people who actually get there.
The real reality is like, you know, I have a family and I can't pay myself this month. How am I going to make ends meet? Because, you know, we didn't close this deal, right? How was my day? How would my family go about banding together and supporting it? It's really, really difficult, but I think we need to talk about those things and not necessarily just glorify entrepreneurship as the key to your dream life.
It can be. But along the way, you're going to be stepping over broken glass.
Kwame
Yeah, yeah, I think.
We as a society are so glued to instant gratification that it feels like the more others show our project to us, the more we desire it. And when you look at the exact theory that you're talking about, most of these entrepreneurs' scales are, let me show you my fancy watch and my fancy car, mostly rented.
And it's going to be something that, you know, invites you to come by my course, which is ultimately how I'm actually making my money to go rent this vehicle. And so we really have to reframe and think about what true entrepreneurship is, that it's not about, you know, a big house, fancy car. It's about freedom, right? And ultimately, freedom that is built up off you, off of your work and discipline.
It takes a very, very long time to get there. I won't lie, I think I have a bit of an Instagram instant gratification mindset, and a lot of things. Like a kid, I always wanted a Lamborghini. And like the more money that, you know, comes my way, the more that I think about this Lamborghini. So much so that I almost thought about buying one for myself on my birthday, just 15 days ago.
Yeah. And ultimately, that I know, like, it could happen. You know, I'd have to go on a ramen noodle diet for a few weeks. But what I really need to start thinking about more is. I've gotten to this point, and I see the potential of being able to do that thing that I've always wanted to do as a kid.
And so, how do I then build on that potential so that if I were to secure that thing for myself, it wouldn't take away from my quality of life?
Chris
Yeah.
Kwame
Yeah. Our instant gratification is tied to things that take away from our quality of life. I want to do this really, really, really nice thing, but my life is going to get really, really hard for quite a while, and we need to figure out a way to reframe our mind so that regardless of this amazing thing that we get to do for ourselves, we've had enough patients to know that we have built a foundation around us that will not take away from how we function, the things that make us happy, the things that make us normal.
Chris
Yeah. And even if you like, let's say you start a company with the goal of getting rich overnight and buying a Lamborghini, right? You're going to enjoy the Lamborghini when you're driving the Lamborghini, but for the rest of your life, you're not behind the wheel of the car, right? But the real goal is not necessarily to buy yourself a Lamborghini, right?
We'd love to have it. I mean, I fully support getting it right, but it's what, like, is a life that you created when you're not behind the wheel of that car, a life that you want to live in. Right? And if entrepreneurship is such a myth finder that you know your daily existence is a grind, then it may not be worth it just to get the car right.
What you want to do is pursue sustainable entrepreneurship and freedom where you feel valued for your work, where you feel like there's a linkage between your input and output. And also, you enjoy the process of creating whatever is next for you in your business. Right? So like that, that can be sort of invigorating, right? If you do it the right way.
But yeah, I say these things as somebody who has the foresight of having five years as an entrepreneur, I would know, I was not living that mentality for most of the time that I was doing this.
Kwame
Yeah, yeah, I really like that. I think sustainable entrepreneurship is a really, really good way to look at a lot of things, regardless of what you're going after. Like whatever your goal is, it has to be sustainable because you do make a point of instant gratification is very, very, very temporary, right? If I have a Lamborghini, I might be able to drive that Lamborghini once a week, right?
Is my 90 hours of work worth one hour of enjoyment per week? Probably isn't right, but right. But can I scale it back to where I create a life for myself? Where I'm working 40, 45, 50 hours a week, something that makes more sense. And sometimes you grind a bit more, right? Like people who are successful, they work hard no matter what, no matter which way you put it.
But ultimately, you do want to give yourself a place where you have some understandable work-life balance because you want to be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor. And that's a big part of it. So, sustainable entrepreneurship, that's a great term. We want to focus.
Chris
On sustainable and community entrepreneurship. Community two is the other one is like a lot of this is like the lone wolf mentality of like, I'm just going to grind. I'm walking the world out until I get my goal right. But one thing that's really missing from being an entrepreneur is like, a lot of people go to an office and work with other people who have the same job as them, and they can ask questions, and they can be like, oh, I had a problem with this thing, right?
The entrepreneurial community is hard to find. I was only able to find really 1 in 5 years that I was doing this. I really felt like I could actually go to them and be like, I'm having this problem. Is anybody else having this problem? Hearing about other issues, hearing about people's struggles? It makes you feel like you're not alone.
So building community into your work as well, I think super important.
Kwame
Yeah, 100%. Man, you know, you dropped a lot of dimes for us, Chris. I think, you know, in this conversation, as we get closer to the end, I want to know and tie back together all of these different aspects of who you are. But you got an opportunity to go through business school, to start a business, to be on, you know, a reality show.
And all of those things are coming together and pointing you in a direction that you'd hope to be in. And so you are really manifesting a good part of where you want your life to go. And I think that that's a really awesome thing for you, man. So now that you are here, I've obviously seen you're putting out a bit more content now that you're getting more in tune with the influencer marketing side of things.
And, you know, having worked later and being head of influence here, it's a big topic for me. So with that being said, now that you are getting more exposure to the world around you within the influencer marketing scope, do you have any brands that have already approached you? Have any agencies that have already approached you? Like? Have you gotten any opportunities to possibly partner with anybody already?
Chris
Yeah, no, actually I haven't. So if anybody's interested, you know, I'll be making all the content that I was just talking about. And, you know, there's a healthy amount of fitness and, just kind of like, messing around that, like, you have to have fun and laugh, too. No, actually, because, you know, so funny about it is that this is, like, overnight.
I mean, we're talking about this two weeks into the million-dollar secret game. So I have some feelers out there. I'm obviously not going to do anything in beverage, but I love food, fitness, mental health platforms, things like that. Those are places that I want to be. I want to work with.
So, yeah, I look forward to it. And honestly, like, as somebody who runs a brand, I'm excited to be, should somebody think that I'm worthy of doing this, a spokesman for a brand? Because I would take care of somebody else's brand the same way that I would with my own. Because I've been a business owner.
I know what it means to have your brand's name in somebody else's now. So. Yeah, yeah, I'm excited to see how that translates.
Kwame
For sure, man. And I think, I mean, the good thing about where you are right now is like, even for us who have gone through what you know, is, I would say, one of Netflix's top five biggest shows ever. You don't really get all the views. I would say about one-fifth, maybe one-fourth of the audience watches it within that, like those release dates.
A lot of people like to wait till it's down to binge it through, and so I could see a lot more of your fandom coming within, I would say, the next few weeks. Now that you know, there's no new releases coming out. So, so look out for that now, do you have, you know, an ad, one ideal brand, 1 or 2 ideal brands that you would say that you would jump for joy if they did reach out to you to work with you.
Chris
Well, you know, obviously it's not going to surprise anybody who just listened to this conversation, but I think, like, BetterHelp would be awesome because I just like to be involved with all sorts of platforms that are creating space for people to talk about their mental health and talk about. Yeah, how that, you know, reverberates through the rest of their lives.
But it's not all just conversations about that, too. I also love fitness. And, I was, you know, one of the cool things about our show is we had to take tech. We were assigned animal totems, and I got a wolf. So I love the brand Dark Sport. The gym clan. And they have, basically, a wolf as their mascot.
I would love to sign up with the gym brand. So where I spend most of my free time there. So it's kind of like I love to take up some other hobbies, but this is all I got right now, so.
Kwame
Yeah. No, I can dig it. That's awesome. Man. I love that alignment. Right. Once again, another little manifestation concept. So, you know, as we get closer to the end of this, to kind of button things up in terms of your desires and your direction and where you want to go, do you have any mantras or quotes?
Do you think that you live by that you would, you know, want to kind of embody as a human being, but also pass on to the rest of the world with people listening?
Chris
Yes, definitely. You know, and I used to write because obviously we didn't have our cell phones, $1 million, but I used to write at night. I would get the dryer. I think a lot of us did. I kept a quote in my book, which is my favorite quote, really, probably ever, which is from Arnold Palmer, the golfer.
And the quote is about golf, but I apply it to life, which is you must play ball, Lee, to win. Right. And I thought about it in the context of the game that I was playing. But I also think about it in terms of life, which is in order to get the things that you want, I think taking risks in a smart way, playing boldly in life, whether that be like admitting you have a crush on somebody, keeping a set of keeping it in, whether that means, you know, I'm going to take the business idea off a napkin and build a prototype, see if we have something here.
Right. Let's say, you know, I want to connect with an old friend rather than just kind of wishing what it would be like to invite them for coffee. Yeah, yeah. Telling people how you feel about them. Right. Play boldly to win, doing interesting things in life and seeing where it takes you. That's kind of been my mantra thus far.
It's yeah, it's worked out at times, and other times it hasn't worked out. But I think it's something that I'll continue to live by: if you must play boldly to win.
Kwame
Yeah, that is awesome, Chris. Well, hey man, it has been a great conversation today. You know, excited for you and everything that's about to happen. Obviously, the show is, I think, a huge success. And I think it's on its way to being even more of a success as people really, really start digesting it, and learning about how cool it really is.
And, you know, how social media is, it takes just a few really, really wild viral posts about how crazy Million Dollar Secret is. And then the next thing you know, everybody's on it. So yeah, excited for you, man. It seems like you've got a lot going on for you. And it's not just this show that you went on. You had a really, really successful life prior to it, and you are on your way to even more successful things after.
So thank you so much for joining me today on Beyond Influence, man. It was a pleasure having you.
Chris
Well, it was awesome and I'm so glad I got a chance to chop it up and talk about business with another Netflix guy. Man, I feel like we had a lot of fun with, you know, commonalities in life. And, I'm excited to see where our journeys go from here. Maybe, we'll end up at the Trader's Castle together in a couple of years.
Kwame
That would be super cool, man. I love it. You are a big manifestor. So I'm crossing my fingers that both of our powers of manifestation lead us there. So once again, thank you so much for joining us today. Chris, thank you, everyone, for tuning in today. We are very, very excited to continue on with this.
So we will bid you farewell for today. We will see you next week. Thank you for tuning in. And bye-bye.