Pimp My Life: From Starving Immigrant To World Renowned Traffic Legend

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Hi, my name is Igor Kheifets and this is the List Building Lifestyle, the only podcast
which delivers cutting edge conversion strategies from the online trenches straight to
your earbuds. Download the transcript of today’s episode and all future episodes at
listbuilidnglifestylesshow.com. I also invite you to grab a free copy of “The Wealthy
List Builder’s Survival Guide” at listbuildinglifestyleshow.com/survival and now
once again it’s time to claim your List Building Lifestyle.

Jonathan: Welcome back List Builders to another edition of the List Building
Lifestyle with Mr. Igor Kheifets in a coffee shop.

Igor: Oh is that is where I’m supposed to say something like, “Oh hey!” [laughter]

Jonathan: So wait a second, you’re living the List Builders Lifestyle again
usually you’re in a quiet place. The last few episodes I swear I’ve heard kids
screaming are you water boarding people out there that are scamming our marketers
or what the hell is going on?

Igor: Dude, you would not believe, I’m in a coffee shop and I have no where else
to go.

Jonathan: [laughter] I’m a vagabond.

Igor: It’s just as simple as that you know. Yeah, I’m just like that I have no
where else to go. A buddy of mine, I used to record these episodes over at his
place in his like office space and he won’t let me do it anymore because he needs
it and I feel kind of bad fighting him for it. Back home, when we record which is
usually at the time Ericka comes back home from kindergarten. It’s impossible to
record because she is running around and screaming and my wife is screaming and
everybody is screaming. That’s how it usually is in the Kheifets household,
everybody is just screaming all the time.

Jonathan: Yeah.

Igor: So I figured you know what let me get lost in the noise. Something about
being in a coffee shop full of people which is not always the case in this
particular coffee shop, you know it’s actually quite dead most of the time. But
being in the coffee shop with people and having all this background noise of
people walking around the shopping mall and there is little fountains around me so
you can hear the water running which sometimes makes you want to pee but you know
most days you just hear the water running.

Jonathan: [laughter]

Igor: It allows me to get lost in that noise and I don’t know about you but the
other thing I love is people watching. I just love watching people how they just
sort of walk around with their shoulders kind of slouched and their head down and
really hating their life and having no purpose. It really reminds me that I should
be thankful for what I do and it just inspires me to keep pushing harder and
harder because it’s easy to lose motivation once “you made it.”

Jonathan: Man, that’s funny and the words that you use there, in particular are
funny to me, the no purpose because that’s one of the things that Cupcake says
attracted her to me was that I look like I have purpose when I walk. Because you
walk around and look at these people and they got no where to go and nothing to do
and they are not going to win at life so they are just going to slump around and
move slowly. [laughter]

Igor: Yeah, yeah.

Jonathan: It’s good to hear, man. So what do you have in store for us today?

Igor: Well actually I was hoping you were going to tell me because I’m kind of out
of ideas. We’ve have done 129 episodes, dude. That’s 129 things to talk about.
It’s 129 conversations. That’s 129 ideas that I had to come up with and so now I’m
like you know what you come up with an idea.

Jonathan: He’s turning it around on me. Alright. So I think that we should talk
about your purpose a little bit more. Maybe we’ll just go with that Igor. I mean
what is it that drove you like alright so let me frame it properly. You say that
some of your best customers are the guys who are about to have a kid and have this
new found motivation so is that how you finally figured it out? How did you push
through those tough three or four years where you didn’t make any money?

Igor: Well, man, it’s really weird because I’m not like most people. I’ll tell you
that right up front. I’m very different in that regard. I could visualize myself
living a really bad life I didn’t change it quickly. So even though, I was
working, I had a job at the time and I could say that I have this whole life in
front of me but instead somehow what I envisioned for myself if I didn’t change
was this really grey life of me ñ actually let me go back and let me say this. The
one thing that was really common for virtually every single guy in our community
was as soon as they made it, as soon as they kind of moved out of their parents’
home or sometimes even before that but as soon as they hit puberty what they would
do, they would go get a job and save money to buy a used car. So they would buy a
piece of shit car that was okay, I mean in terms of mechanical issues. It wasn’t
too bad. They would start pimping it.

Jonathan: [laughter]

Igor: I mean everybody was ñ yeah when I was growing up we had the Pimp My Ride on
MTV with 50 Cent. You know what I mean? So everybody would start pimping it by
putting different rims on it, giving it a paint job, putting different seats on,
putting put a big stereo in it.

Jonathan: Oh God.

Igor: Really their life revolved around getting a car. Now as soon as they got
that car, you would see them walk differently. You would see their posture change.
You would see their attitude towards life get real, real good because they felt
like they had accomplished a major milestone in their life. I was looking at that
and I felt sick to my stomach. I felt really bad about these people because if
that is what you aspire in life towards, I mean you’re pretty much setting
yourself up for a pretty shitty life because nobody out of these guys had the
balls to dream about owning a Rolls Royce. Nobody even could dream about owning a
Lamborghini, nobody. They didn’t even think that was possible in fact the real
borderline, the edge of what was possible for them and I know because I’ve had a
bunch of these conversations with these guys is they would own like a Toyota Camry
or something that would be like the ultimate “I made it achievement”, milestone,
checkpoint or whatever. So looking at these guys if I didn’t change, I could
foresee myself spending the rest of my life thinking about that stuff, literally
just living a life where my purpose would be to buy a used car and then three
years later try to figure out how to get a cheaper car and pay off a portion of
the debt until at one point I wouldn’t be able to exchange it and I would have
come up with a huge like lump sum to pay off my car and then I would get into this
whole game all over again simply because you need a car to move around. Right?

Jonathan: Yeah.

Igor: And of course if that is the level of the problems that you’re trying to
solve in your life, I mean it’s really easy to imagine how the rest of your life
is like.

Jonathan: Yeah.

Igor: It’s really mediocre. It’s really bad.

Jonathan: That’s one of the things that I like to say which might be a little crud
and I don’t know where I first heard it but “Rich people have plenty of problems
every day facing problems, poor people only have one problem, life.” I would
rather have the rich people problems firstly. So let me dig deeper into that. Your
dad was actually an employee wasn’t he? Didn’t you grow up where job life seemed
the only way to go? How did you end up moving into this entrepreneur space?

Igor: Well, yeah. My dad was an employee especially after we moved to Israel. I
mean that’s all he could do and he would have to settle for the lowest paying jobs
like security guard without a gun in the convenience store, watching for
shoplifters which was really humiliating to him because he’s an officer, he comes
out of – he went to an army school in Moscow. So he graduated an officer. He
retired from military as a major. Now can you imagine somebody you retired from
the military as a major who commanded an entire unit, I mean I’m sure if it’s a
unit or a like a battalion or whatever but he had a bunch of people under his
command, I’m talking 50 to 100 people or so. He was responsible for looking after,
taking care of, making sure they’re fed, making sure they’re like on schedule etc.
and doing these odd jobs like an assistant cook in a hotel or where your job is to
cut tomatoes. I mean he went to this job one time and for the entire fricking day,
he would cut tomatoes. Can you believe that?

Jonathan: That’s unbelievable.

Igor: That was his job cut fricking tomatoes into the fricking _____. That was an
odd job, he settled for the most part of security jobs where he had to watch for
shoplifters and stuff like that. His most recent security job like the last one
before I was able to help him retire completely basically supporting him and my
mom as well that last job was a security guard position at the same facility where
I worked as a security guard. In fact, I never ever told this story to anybody but
I used to steal work hours from my dad because we worked in the same facility. We
were written down as two separate employees obviously and I would actually call
him up and say can I get your weekend hours this week because I’m really tight on
cash.

Jonathan: Wow.

Igor: It doesn’t mean that my dad wasn’t tight on cash, it was always tight, he
was always living not even pay check to pay check. He was always sinking deeper
and deeper in debt. But everybody was hoping for me to come in and save the day at
some point and the time I started getting some traction. My business started
making $10 to $30 a day but I still needed some extra income and I would call him
up and I would say, “Dad, can you give me your hours?” And obviously, him being my
dad, he would say yeah sure, go ahead and I would take his hours. I would
literally take food out of my dad’s mouth to feed my own family.

Jonathan: The thing about that and something I see also in my life is my dad ñ
well my dad wasn’t educated and didn’t do anything but he always went to work
whether he liked the work or didn’t like the work to make sure that we were taken
care of. So I’m kind of seeing a common thread there where your dad had to humble
himself to be able to take care of you guys and maybe he was betting on Igor being
the Czar of Solo Ads but maybe he is just a good family man. So what has that
example done for you?

Igor: Well, it wasn’t easy because sure I can respect him being able to step over
his ego and kind of do it but I have seen the other side of that struggle because
when he would come back home, he would drink and he would always ñ now I look back
on that time and it was almost like he was pushing me to accomplish more than he
was able to but I am grateful for him to make the decision to move the family over
to Israel because as a result as I was able to become who I am today because if I
were still back in the Ukraine I wouldn’t be able to use PayPal to receive
payment. Something as simple as just getting paid would not be possible if I was
still leaving in a third world country such as Ukraine that would be really
difficult so not to mention all the other dangers and risks that came with so it’s
a duality for me. I mean I believe he could have done a better job and it may
sound harsh but it is what it is. I don’t necessarily feel that he did the best he
could. He could have done much better. He could have done much better and this is
me just being real with you guys. I know that I’m being critical but that’s how I
am. I mean today we are perfectly fine, we have a great relationship. Like I said
I support my family financially and it’s a different time but then it was hard for
the entire family, trust me because at one point about six months after we
emigrated he had to go and undergo an open heart surgery because he worked too
hard in the beginning. Instead of going to a Hebrew school to learn the language,
he went to work immediately and my mom as well to make some money because he was
always money oriented. He was never really super duper successful but he was
always thinking about money so he and my mom, they went to work at a factory that
was making computer chips here in our hometown which is now closed by the way. It
went bankrupt at some point. But he worked for six months and then they rushed him
into surgery. They saved his life but for the next year and half he couldn’t get
job because he was still recovering from surgery because nobody would hire
somebody who like ñ I think at the time he was closing on 50 or just over 50 and
he didn’t know the language or had any skills for the modern day marketplace. I am
sure by the way very common even to this day. A lot of the clients that reach out
to us for traffic tell me very similar stories. So we ended up struggling really,
really bad and sinking deep in debt going off of just my mom working until the
point when she lost work. She got fired. She was so exhausted from working every
single day for 12 hours that she walked into the factory facility with a cigarette
in her mouth. She literally forgot to take it out. I’m not sure what she was
thinking. She got fired. From that moment, she couldn’t find a job for another two
years. So we were literally going hand to mouth at that time.

Jonathan: Let’s go back to that. You say that your dad could have done a better
job and I’m sure that a lot of us actually think that way but I know something
about you which is you are motivated by the stick and not the carrot. So was that
a motivator for you to do better?

Igor: Yes, absolutely. For awhile it was kind of reaffirming that life sucks and
I’m unlucky but eventually it served as the ground into which the seeds were
planted and those seeds grew into the Igor you know today. The Igor that doesn’t
tolerate failure, the Igor that doesn’t accept defeat, the Igor that doesn’t
accept poverty and that considers poverty as sinful probably as any other sin.

Jonathan: [laughter]

Igor: Poverty to me is a disease. Its ñ I fear poverty. I fear poverty as if it’s
death. So yeah, that’s definitely a big reason why because during those years I
really felt it means to be the poor kid, what it means have your entire class go
on a field trip and you’re not going because you were too embarrassed and ashamed
to ask your parents to give you the money which at the time was $30 or something.
Now I know they would find the money to give me but I didn’t want to this extra
burden on them because I felt I was a burden as it is being a kid. Being somebody
who needs to eat and wear clothes so I basically didn’t tell them and I pretended
to be sick every single time that my class went out on field trips or museums and
stuff like that. So that is just one example of how I had to just adapt. So by
sheer chance of an argument with a friend, I was able to get my hands on a copy of
“Rich Dad, Poor Dad” which is first book that really told me that become rich, you
need to act a certain way and you need to think a certain way and you don’t have
to buy into the idea that you have to be born rich to be rich. When I got that I
was ready for it. I was ready for pretty much anything or any resource that would
tell me what I wanted to hear and I couldn’t allow myself to believe. So
naturally, I went into the space, the space that I am in right now. The space of
business opportunity where people just like me, who struggle financially are now
seeking a better way or seeking a way out of a really miserable existence and so
let this be a testament to you guys listening. If you’re still in that place at
which ever stage in your life, if you’re in that place financially and
emotionally, let me be your testament and an example that you could start out
broke and frustrated and clueless and make it to a point in your life where other
people seek your advice and mentorship to show them the way to financial freedom.

Jonathan: I like it. So I want to take one more sidetrack here. You grew up a
certain way. You did the work on yourself to be better and I’m wondering how this
shows up at home. How does this show up with your family? What are you doing
differently so that you’re not like your dad?

Igor: Oh that’s a great question. Well first off, I say no to my daughter. I don’t
want to spoil her too much although it’s still too late. I do say no to my
daughter but I don’t say no to my daughter as often as I got no said to me.
Second, I make sure that my money is visibly spread around the house at all times.
So if you walk into my home, you will see money whether coins or bills everywhere
in the kitchen, in the living room, in the bathroom, in my bedroom, everywhere you
go you will see money because I want Ericka to know that money is abundant
resource that its not something that is scarce which is the way I grew up because
ever since we moved to Israel which was 17 years ago, the one thing that was made
clear to me not because my parents told me that but because that was the
environment I grew up that money is scarce and you have to make a decision. Like
there was one month when we had to choose between buying groceries with less than
$100 that was left in the bank account or on a VISA card or something, yeah we
were already living like in debt so we were sinking deeper in debt every single
month so the allowed debt we were less than $100 away from hitting the threshold
for the month and we had to choose either we pay the electric or we go and we buy
some food for the week. Well, we chose the food and thankfully not sure how my mom
I think she just begged and pleaded with the electric company to not shut us down
but that’s not ñ I don’t wish on anyone to have to make such decisions. I don’t
like this idea that in today’s society in such an abundant universe, in such an
abundant world where we have so much technology and so many resources that one has
to choose between food or shelter or food or like light. It doesn’t make sense. It
doesn’t make any sense.

Jonathan: Alright so money spread around the house, interesting. I never ever
thought about that. I think that is our time for today. Thank you for being candid
and open and playing along here, Igor. That was fun and I’m sure you’ll hear from
the List Builders on what they think. Thank you guys for tuning in. We’ll be back
next time.

Thanks for listening to The List Building Lifestyle Show, make sure to subscribe on iTunes
or Google. Play to never miss an episode because who knows just one conversion tactic
we share on the show might double your list and double your business. Download the
transcript of today’s episode and all future episodes at listbuilderslifestyleshow.com and
don’t forget to claim your complimentary copy of “The Wealthy List Builder’s Survival
Guide” at listbuildinglifestyleshow.com/survival . This is Igor Kheifets until next time we talk, have a good one.

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