The Day I Said ‘No More’

In the unmistakable timbre of Morgan Freeman’s voice crafted by artificial means, I welcome you to a compelling episode of the list building lifestyle show. I am your host for today’s introduction, lending the warmth and depth of a voice you’ve grown to recognize in today’s episode, Igor Kheifets will take us on a profound journey. He shares how he transformed challenging moments into opportunities for greatness. Transitioning from a restrictive job to leading his own online business. We’ll hear about his experiences with helping customers dealing with hard situations at work. And the big step of starting his business Igor’s story shows us that we all have the power to change our paths and achieve big dreams. So, get ready listeners for an exciting journey with Igor wherever he challenges a chance to grow. Welcome to the list building lifestyle show.

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I’m Igor Kheifets and this is the list building lifestyle. The podcast for anyone who wants to build a wildly profitable email list working from home. If you’d like to make six figures travel the world and help people improve their lives in the process. This podcast is for you. I also invite you to claim a free copy of my best-selling book, the list building lifestyle confessions of an email millionaire at www.igorsbook.com. Get the free book plus $3,000 bonus package that includes my best capture page templates, email swipe files, and traffic blueprints, visit www.igorsbook.com for details. And now it’s time to claim your list building lifestyle.

1:46  

I remember the day when I quit. I was working in the store. So, I was working two jobs. And it wasn’t enough to like on its own to pay the bills. It was like a part time gig, right. And it was this one day where I was helping out the customer to get a webcam and the phone. The store phone would be ringing off the hook. And I kept ignoring you on purpose. Because you know, I figured that the customer would appreciate the fact that I would give them my end uninterrupted attention, right. Plus, you know, it was really hard to explain to people what a webcam does, for some reason and how it works. And they were really afraid they wouldn’t be able to connect it on their own. Because at the time, you still had to do these CDs where you would connect it to a USB port and then you had to install a driver. So that takes time to explain right? And then the phone keeps ringing off the hook and it keeps ringing keeps ringing and it’s annoying. It’s distracting. And then the phone in the store stops ringing and my cell phone starts going off. And you know, just I had it on vibrate and it was vibrating like crazy. Just nonstop, nonstop nonstop. I’m thinking maybe it’s my mom, maybe something’s wrong. So, I pulled it out. I look at the screen. And that’s my boss. I’m thinking Well, if he is, he must. I mean, there’s probably something going on. Maybe there’s like a fire in the warehouse that I’m not aware of. So, I flip it open. And I say hey, I’m with a customer this urgent and the guy’s name is Mickey. And Mickey was like, if I ever call you need to pick up the phone right away. I was like Mickey? Yeah, but I’m with a customer right now. Is this urgent? He’s like, no, you listen to me. If I’m balling, it’s urgent, blah, blah, and he starts yelling at me. I’m saying, Mickey, can I call you back? I’m with a customer. Let me finish with the customer. They’ll call you back. Okay, so he hangs up on me. I wrap up the sale, and end up selling a webcam and a few other things. So, I felt really proud as far as bringing value to the store, right? Because even then I realized that my value is not necessarily being there to open and close it. It’s actually to make some sales because how else am I going to keep my job if the guy’s not making money? And then and then I dial him and I was like, Yeah, what’s up? Like, why the commotion, like what happened? And he goes on this 15-minute tirade about why I’m supposed to pick up the phone and why he’s like the old like the old scene I and the god and the, and the Jesus and the Moses and then Muhammad and one coming, you know what I mean? Like, he’s the most important thing in the universe, and I’m supposed to drop everything on my knees and pick up the phone and wait for instructions. 

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Now, I did not appreciate being talked down like that. I’ve never appreciated that. Although I went through my fair share of that bullshit in the army in the military academy. Even growing up, obviously, my parents, you know, they’re not the sweetest, you know, they’re very, very hardcore and disciplined. And, you know, looking back now actually appreciate it. Because I don’t think I am hardcore enough with my kids. I’m probably too soft. Especially my wife with my son. You know, she’s appreciated being soft on him like he can manipulate her anyway he wants and my daughter can do the same for me. I mean, she appreciated just looks into my eyes and be like Dad. And I was like, yes, here’s appreciated the world on a silver platter. Take it Um, but you know, with that guy I just didn’t like I just didn’t like being treated that way. I didn’t like being talked down that way, given the fact that I was doing a pretty good job selling stuff for this a-hole Because there was another guy who was working for him. He was he would usually work in the afternoons. His name was Ezra as a sales record was nothing. I mean, I beat Ezra by a wide margin. And I was making more money for this store Than Ezra ever was, I was probably making more money in a week, as far as my sales for the store Than Ezra was doing in the whole month. And yet here I am getting this scolding, right. I said, you know what, Mickey, I quit. Because at the time, I’m already hitting those $200 days, $300 days, in fact, you know, there was a lot of downtime in this store. I was just sitting there doing nothing. So, I would like be on the computer, because the computer stores so had a computer. Okay. So, I would log into my click bank account, and I would look at my commissions. And I felt really good about myself at the time. And I was like, you know what, I don’t have to take the shit from anyone, especially from this asshole. So, I just said, you know, what doesn’t work for me, I quit. And he’s kind of gone quiet for a sec realizing what he did. And then he said, Okay, I’ll have Ezra come in an hour later, Ezra shows up, I give him my store key. And I wish him farewell. And then later that night, Mickey actually called me. And he wanted me back. Now all he had to do really, if I’m honest with you, just admit that he was a dick and apologize to me, just I mean, it didn’t have to be like him begging me, it was just something like, hey, Igor, look, I had a bad day, or has too much to drink or my, you know, had a fight with my wife or something. And be like, just I was, I was too harsh on you, I’m sorry. If you said that I’d be, I’d be back in the store. I kind of liked that job. Anyway, it wasn’t necessarily very difficult. I enjoyed talking about computer parts, I enjoyed the fact that I had a computer there. So, I could, you know, write some emails while being there. And but he didn’t, he just wanted me back. But he would refuse to apologize. So, I never went back, I kept another part time job. And I just focused on my business. Now, the following three months were really scary, I’ll be honest with you. 

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Because there was, you know, when you’re building a list, or when you’re doing any kind of side hustle, there’s no guarantees, right? There’s no, there’s no feeling of solid ground, beneath your feet, especially when you’re starting out. And at the time, while I’m making money with my list, it’s still new, relatively new, like you go through a lifetime of having a job. And you kind of feel like the job is what gives you that solid feeling of safety, and then you get rid of it. And now you don’t have that solid feeling of safety, but you’re making more money than you were making on a day job. So, it’s, you know, part of you is excited, but the other part of you is worried and concerned because now you’re thinking, what if, what if the campaign I’m going to mail tomorrow is not going to work? What if I’m going to lose my list? What if this stops working, you know, that’s a big concern. I was really afraid, like every day would be, I would wake up in the morning and check my Commission’s and if there were no commissions in the morning, the day was ruined, I was panicking, I was constantly on edge. And I was really just afraid of the moment when I’ll have to go look for another job. So, but thankfully, I stayed focused, I might have used that fear to, to continue to develop my list. And you know, I started scaling, I started going from like, $200 a day to $500 a day, you know, and beyond, and very quickly, within maybe a year, year and a half I was doing really well. And even then, I still didn’t believe just that I was actually making it happen. I thought I hit the jackpot of some kind that is going to stop working at some point. But it didn’t. It just kept on working, kept on working, kept on working and just I kept scaling and I kept scaling and still in the back of my mind I still had those ideas. You know what , I’m just gonna keep working at it until it stops working. You know, I still didn’t believe it’s gonna work long term. But you know, five years into it, seven years into it, obviously that fear went away and it came. I guess it went the more I gained confidence in me being the one making it happen. Those ideas more than fear subsided and eventually just disappeared altogether. So, from the moment of me properly building my list with email drops to the moment of actually making money with it to a point where I feel comfortable enough to tell my boss to piss off, that’s about six months’ time yeah. 

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Thank you for listening to the list building lifestyle, get access to the previous episode’s transcript of today’s show, as well as other exclusive content at listbuildinglifestyleshow.com. Also remember to claim your free copy of my best-selling book at www.igorsbook.com. It explains how I made millions with list building starting from scratch. Plus, I’ll give you $3,000 worth of free bonuses, including my best landing page templates, email, swipe files and traffic blueprints. Go to www.igorsbook.com now to claim your free package