IAM1059- Founder Runs an Inspirational Online Store

Chris Cade is the founder of The Miracles Store (www.themiracles.store), an inspirational online store where you can get uplifting shirts, hoodies, and coffee mugs with positive quotes on them. 10% of the profits help women and children rise up from domestic violence.

Chris is also a certified Firewalk Instructor by Sundoor's Peggy Dylan (she taught Tony Robbins how to firewalk), he's swum with wild dolphins in the Bahamas, bent spoons with The Monroe Institute (have you heard of the CIA “Stargate” program?), left a six-figure job to become an entrepreneur, and he is a grateful full-time single father.

• CEO Hack: Book- The Power of Less
• CEO Nugget: Don't leave the corporate world too early (ii) Be honest about  yourself
• CEO Defined: Being in a position of service

Website: https://www.themiracles.store/

Amazon Books: https://www.amazon.com/Chris-Cade/e/B00SS55JBO

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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[00:00:28.69] – Intro

Are you ready to hear business stories and learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and level up your business from awesome CEOs, entrepreneurs, and founders without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gretch values your time and is ready to share with you the valuable info you're in search of. This is the I am CEO podcast.

[00:00:56.50] – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I Am CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Chris Cade of Biz Latin Hub Group. Craig, it's great to have you on the show.

[00:01:05.90] – Chris Cade

Absolute pleasure. Looking forward to having a chat.

[00:01:08.50] – Gresham Harkless

Looking forward to it as well. And before we jump into the interview, I want to read a little bit more about Chris so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Chris is a seasoned business professional in Latin America. He is the managing director and cofounder of the Biz Latin Hub Group which specializes in the provision of market entry and back office services. Chris holds a degree in mechanical engineering, which honors in with honors, and a master's degree in project management from the University of New South Wales.

Chris is also a military veteran, having served in the Australian military on numerous occasions, overseas missions, and also a former mining executive with experience in various overseas seas jurisdictions. Chris, great to have you on the show again. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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[00:01:52.20] – Chris Cade

Sure. Let's go.

[00:01:53.50] – Gresham Harkless

Let's do it then. So to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock a little bit here a little bit more on how you got started, what I call your CEO story.

[00:02:02.50] – Chris Cade

Sure. Look. Talking about myself, I guess it's a reasonably good point to start. Well, I come from a small town originally, in Australia. So just for a little bit of context there, the original school I went to only had four people in my grade. Wow. So let's call it rural. So look from there, ended up, joining the military, as you've already mentioned there. Long story, but sort of a family history of that. So I went off to, I guess, Australia's equivalent, of US West Point, did my military service, served overseas on quite several jurisdictions, in the world, and decided that I'd been in the military for long enough after about eleven years.

Ended up in the mining sector, worked in Australia, got transferred across to Canada, worked in Canada for a while, and found myself down in Peru. And for those who don't know where Peru is, it's where Machu Picchu is in South America. Got bored with that, decided to go back to my roots, put a backpack on, and went backpacking. Found myself, North of there in a country called Columbia. Was there only about two weeks, and ended up finding myself heading up a large multinational engineering company. Wasn't planned, just kind of happened. Did that for a while, then decided it was time to do something for myself.

So I went off and set up this group. And I guess a few years later, now the group sort of expands across sixteen countries. So we're probably the largest of what we do across, Latin America, and we have a few other offshoots, in Asia Pacific as well. So that's more or less my story. You know, to be fair, it was more by chance, luck, and opportunity than any sort of particular plan.

[00:03:42.90] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. But it makes sense. I often say the harder harder you work, the luckier you get. And sounds like you've definitely been very active and been there for those opportunities because a lot of times people will get the ball and they fumble it, but you took it in. Sounds like you're running with it.

[00:03:55.80] – Chris Cade

Well, look, in most cases, it's about seizing the opportunity you get. You know, the reality is, yes. You know, for every opportunity you don't take, maybe another one may present itself. But, look, at the end of the day, we only live one life. And it's a matter of hopefully trying to make as many right decisions, and getting as many right as possible. And hopefully, it leads you somewhere that makes you happy, whether that's with lots of money or whatever the case may be.

[00:04:20.00] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And whatever and however we define that happiness is key. So we make sure we're making decisions in alignment with that.

[00:04:28.50] – Chris Cade

Exactly. Look, not everything in life is about money. I mean, look, money allows a lot of things. Let's not kid ourselves here, but it's not the be-all and end-all for a lot of people. Now, if that is your thing, that's fantastic. Go for it. Conversely, you know, if it makes you happy because you're serving the community or doing something else, well, that's good too. It's just a matter of, when those opportunities present themselves, taking it, and sort of furthering your cause in that direction.

So too many times in life people do not make the decision that's best for them because of these preconceived ideas or what they're supposed to do or should do, etcetera, in life. So anyway, that's the randomness of my life, I guess. And it happens to, you know, take me to Latin America. Although, at this present time, I'm sitting in Miami. So, there you go.

[00:05:16.30] – Gresham Harkless

There you go. But the world is so small nowadays and super connected with all these ways that we have it connected. You can be in many places at the same time. But, so I know you touched on a little bit, you know, the Biz Latin Hub group. Could you take us through a little bit more about that and how you serve the clients you work with?

[00:05:34.10] – Chris Cade

Sure. Look. Keeping it very simple. You know, at the end of the day, we are an integrated, accounting firm, law firm, and recruitment firm. So, it's not traditional in a lot of markets, to have those sorts of services integrated, but that's what we are. We have a presence in every major market within Latin America. And as I said, we have a small presence in the Asia Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand. We pretty much work with clients, generally, foreign multinational companies, to enter and do business in the region through understanding the market and navigating its complexities.

As you can appreciate from a cultural, from a legal point of view, even from a, you know, a business way of operating, the region is quite different. And therefore, we sort of help them through that path and provide all those enabling services to bring it to fruition.

[00:06:23.10] – Gresham Harkless

And, would you consider that to be what I like to call your secret sauce? The thing you feel kinda sets you apart. Is it that ability to see the forest for the trees and be able to help support clients in the best way possible?

[00:06:33.80] – Chris Cade

Sure. Look, at the end of the day, that ability to help the client particularly to understand and to and to apply and to navigate, yes, is, our philosophy or our value proposition per se. But with that said what puts us apart is the fact that more or less we are the only integrated firm, in the region And the fact that we do offer very much a regional approach. So we can work with a lot of clients, particularly a North American group. Let's say their Fortune five hundred wants to enter the region. They're not looking to find a provider in one country and then another one, another one. They're looking for some way of being able to integrate that not only on a country-by-country level but on a regional level.

So when that's pretty much where we do it. And look, what I guess we're uniquely positioned that we do put a strong focus on doing what we do in English as well. You know, it's it's depending on the jurisdiction you go to or the region. I know you mentioned before you were gonna be traveling through Mexico And a tourist area, yes, English is very common. However, in a lot of other countries in the region, English is not common at all. So that's sort of something we add to there. And what we do is fairly tailored to the client's needs.

[00:07:44.19] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. That makes so much sense. But I think, being able to kinda understand what your clients are looking for is at the the heart of it. And being able to kinda I guess, definitely in this term, to be able to translate and understand that in so many different ways is huge.

[00:07:57.39] – Chris Cade

Yeah. Exactly. It's about understanding what the client's there, what they wanna achieve, and then putting the pieces in place to enable that exactly. And hopefully, with as little hassle as possible, which you can't get away from. Complications are doing cross-border sort of activities, but we're there to try and make it as seamless as possible.

[00:08:19.89] – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you hopped into a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

[00:08:30.30] – Chris Cade

I guess I'll relate this to the business I have at the moment. And we work with a lot of clients, more so nowadays, very large internationals, but particularly earlier on, we worked with a lot more smaller individual entrepreneurs, etcetera. And I guess it does link in a little bit to the last response, but I guess that would be this sort of advice to any sort of budding entrepreneur, business owner, future CEO, whatever you call itself. And look. It's about understanding your finances. And that means understanding the numbers of your business. Look, I've seen too many businesses, and business owners that they will go out.

They will have a good business. However, in itself, even when it's successful, it's a failure. You can't just have a great business, manage it well, and offer a fantastic service if, at the end of the day, there's no margin. Clients aren't going to pay. And it's very frustrating, you know, just to see people who put their heart and passion into growing something. However, it's never going to achieve their aspirations or what they're trying. And unfortunately, some people and, you know, I've been one of them, and I'm not sure about yourself, Gresh, but inside your own business, you can get yourself into a little bit of a bubble.

And perhaps it's a little bit hard to put your head out to look at it a little bit, pragmatically or with a fresh set of eyes. So the first thing I would say to anybody is, look, before you go down the path of committing so much of your life and energy and money and everything to it, it's just to make sure that the numbers make sense based on what you're trying to achieve. And if they do it's not all about making huge profits. But if they do make sense and the business at the end is sustainable in achieving your outcomes, well, that's fantastic. Off you should go. But if it's not, well, there's no point kidding yourself. It's a matter of, looking, taking a step back, perhaps pivoting on your business plan, or perhaps making the hard decision and killing it and moving on to something else.

[00:10:25.60] – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to ask you now my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO, and we're hoping to have different quotes-unquote CEOs on the show. So, Chris, what does being a CEO mean to you?

[00:10:35.29] – Chris Cade

Look. Interesting question. And, look, I guess, there are many, many different interpretations of such. Look, I would say being a CEO, it's a mindset combined with, I guess, a position or responsibility. I mean, yes, you can be a leader. You can be leading teams. But that doesn't mean you're a CEO. You can be a manager. But that also doesn't mean you're a CEO. To me, I guess, a CEO is somebody who leads and manages a team. Sure. But they're also someone who, I guess, sets a strategic direction. And then more importantly, they have the relentless drive to get themselves, their team, their company, whoever's involved, their stakeholders to achieve that objective. So it must be more than a leader or a manager.

It's gotta be a driving force in their own right, and also pragmatic enough that they can assess, and understand with confidence and are also humble enough, to change directional pivot when needed. I mean, at the end of the day, being the CEO doesn't mean you have to always be right and have all the answers, but it does mean you always have to lead. And I guess that's the difference. You know, you can outsource a task. You can, you know, delegate a task, but the responsibility of a CEO is still with them regardless. So I guess that's my interpretation. I'm sure others have very, very different interpretations depending on their viewpoints and context, etcetera. But I guess that's pretty much where, you know, my opinion is.

[00:12:09.29] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. I appreciate that. I love that mindset, coupled with the position and the responsibility and just all of the aspects you talked about as far as, like, being able to have that humility and all of those things because I think as we even talked about business and being able to make decisions, as you all help people do, it's not a siloed decision. It's ultimately, like, what people are trying to do to better their business.

So as leaders, it's we need to understand that, you know, it's not just, oh, I'm just going to do and be the CEO because I have this on my, my wall or whatever. It's because you are creating that mindset, fostering that environment, and doing so many things that it takes to end up being a quote, unquote CEO. So I love that, perspective and definition.

[00:12:52.29] – Chris Cade

Yeah. Look. You know, at the end of the day, CEOs, are generally paid well. They're generally looked after. But conversely, it is a lonely position for many. At the end of the day, you are accountable and responsible for setting that direction and achieving that objective. Yes, you'll have managers underneath you and leaders underneath you. And, yes, they will have their part to play within that. However, if someone fails, you fail. You know, and that's it. You've gotta bring it and your team. You have to be that force that drives them along.

So that's really what, I believe a CEO is. Now I'm sure there are many, many examples out there who happen to be in a position of CEO, but in my opinion, I'm not because they don't have the mindset of such. Conversely, we probably have people who are not in CEO positions, which in their own right, they are acting in that way. But, you know, it's one of those things that, I think everyone should strive for if it's within their, you know, their aspirations in life. But conversely, you know, if you're happy doing something else, that's also good too.

[00:13:57.70] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. At the end of the day, you can choose that happiness and however, it manifests itself. But I love, you know, that perspective and that reminder as well too. So, Chris, truly appreciate that. I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional that you can let our readers and listeners know and, of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find about all of us and things you're working on.

[00:14:19.60] – Chris Cade

Sure. Look. Yeah. I guess first up, thanks again for having me. It's been an absolute pleasure. Look. You can reach me through the biz Latin Hub website, which I'm sure you'll include the details there, or reach out through me through to me personally through LinkedIn. It's always a pleasure to meet new people. And I guess just sort of finishing off, from my perspective, I'm very glad that I've managed to leave my homeland and travel the world and have to do business in different parts of the world and support clients doing such a  that this for their in endeavors as well.

And I highly encourage people that, have that enthusiasm to want to do that sort of thing too, you know, to get up and go do it. I mean, at the end of the day, you know, sometimes you do need to do more than talk, and acting is, is definitely in usually your best interest.

[00:15:04.00] – Gresham Harkless

Yeah. Absolutely. And just like Craig said, we will have the links and information in the show notes, and I appreciate your background and you sharing it with us and reminding us how important it is to go out and venture out and try different things because I think that not only does that help us and give us that happiness, that enjoyment at that time, but I think it's also something that we can catalog and use when we're making certain decisions.

And I think the people who have those varied experiences and those perspectives are the people who do and can understand how to find the solutions that we'll need today but also in the future. So, Craig, thanks so much for doing that and sharing that with us today, and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

[00:15:40]- Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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