Escaping the Drift with John Gafford
From Humble Beginnings to Nine-Figure Success: Chris Lee's Entrepreneurial Journey
Tue, 25 Feb 2025
Entrepreneurial powerhouse Chris Lee joins us to share his incredible journey from a humble childhood in Washington State to achieving multiple nine-figure business exits in the home services industry. Chris opens up about the foundational lessons learned from his schoolteacher father and growing up in a competitive sports environment that have shaped his exceptional work ethic and values. Throughout the conversation, he paints a vivid picture of how these early influences have driven his passion for instilling similar values in his own family, illustrating the profound impact of his upbringing on his path to success. We also explore the complex dynamics of entrepreneurship within high-trust religious communities, particularly among the LDS population in Utah, and the delicate balance between ambition and transparency. Chris candidly shares personal stories, including lessons learned from a former business partner's involvement in a Ponzi scheme, shedding light on how good intentions can sometimes spiral into deceit. Through discussions on mastering sales via understanding personality profiles and the emotional rollercoaster of financial setbacks and recoveries, listeners gain insights into the resilience and adaptability that are crucial for navigating the entrepreneurial journey. In a thrilling narrative of risk-taking and success, Chris recounts how embracing new opportunities and betting on oneself can lead to extraordinary achievements. He reflects on his experiences under industry titans like Todd Peterson and credits strategic foresight and innovative approaches, such as leveraging Facebook marketing and Zoom sales, for propelling his company's growth to $233 million in revenue. The episode concludes with a powerful message on the importance of self-investment and a fearless approach to entrepreneurship, leaving listeners inspired to pursue their own paths with courage and determination. CHAPTERS (00:00) - Success Stories (08:25) - Trust, Ambition, and Entrepreneurship in Utah (15:37) - Mastering Sales Through Personality Profiles (27:22) - Lessons From Failed Entrepreneurial Partnership (33:24) - Overcoming Financial Loss and Building Wealth (37:59) - Journey to Entrepreneurial Success (51:09) - The Power of Risk-Taking Entrepreneurship 💬 Did you enjoy this podcast episode? Tell us all about it in the comment section below! ☑️ If you liked this video, consider subscribing to Escaping The Drift with John Gafford ************* 💯 About John Gafford: After appearing on NBC's "The Apprentice", John relocated to the Las Vegas Valley and founded several successful companies in the real estate space. ➡️ The Gafford Group at Simply Vegas, top 1% of all REALTORS nationwide in terms of production. Simply Vegas, a 500 agent brokerage with billions in annual sales Clear Title, a 7-figure full-service title and escrow company. ➡️ Streamline Home Loans - An independent mortgage bank with more than 100 loan officers. The Simply Group, A national expansion vehicle partnering with large brokers across the country to vertically integrate their real estate brokerages. ************* ✅ Follow John Gafford on social media: Instagram ▶️ / thejohngafford Facebook ▶️ / gafford2 🎧 Stream The Escaping The Drift Podcast with John Gafford Episode here: Listen On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7cWN80gtZ4m4wl3DqQoJmK?si=2d60fd72329d44a9 Listen On Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escaping-the-drift-with-john-gafford/id1582927283 ************* #escapingthedrift #chrislee #entrepreneurship #success #utah #trust #ambition #sales #personalityprofiles #financialloss #wealth #risktaking #resilience #adaptability #facebookmarketing #zoomsales #strategicforesight #businessgrowth #risk #selfinvestment #vegas #mailinglist
Chapter 1: What inspired Chris Lee's entrepreneurial journey?
And so I got introduced to door-to-door sales and went and did this summer program. First year I go out, sell for three months and I make 65 grand.
I'm like, what are we selling?
Test control.
And now, Escaping the Drift, the show designed to get you from where you are to where you want to be. I'm John Gafford, and I have a knack for getting extraordinary achievers to drop their secrets to help you on a path to greatness. So stop drifting along, escape the drift, and it's time to start right now. Welcome back to the program, everybody.
This week in studio, it's one of the advantages of being in Vegas. I've said it a million times because when you have an event like right now, ClickFunnels Live is going on down at the Strip. And just bringing all the ballers in. And when the ballers roll in, it's kind of easy for us to book. Not going to lie. If we were in Topeka, Kansas, this kind of thing wouldn't happen.
And today for you live in the studio, if you are somebody that you're interested in sales, you're interested in home service businesses, you're interested in getting better, man, getting your life to the next level. I have a dude in studio today. He is a graduate, an alumnus, if you will, of Harvard University. He has multiple six-figure exits. Not six, seven, no, nine. What am I talking about?
The math is wrong. Yeah, no, multiple nine figures. Everybody just turned off. They seriously just shut this off. Multiple nine-figure exits in the home services industry. And he's here today to share that wealth of knowledge with you guys. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the program, this... It's Chris Lee. Chris.
What's up? Excited to be here.
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Chapter 2: How does trust influence entrepreneurship in Utah?
Yeah, dude. Glad we could swing you through. Yeah, this is great, man.
I love Vegas for the same exact reason, man. I've been able to do so many great podcasts. Yeah. It's incredible.
The only problem, the only challenge is you're going to be omnipresent everywhere. Yeah.
like a week and a half because i'm gonna have you out brad's gonna have you out i mean every you're just gonna be out you could be everywhere great i love it yeah it's gonna be getting like launched in the stratosphere which is awesome so let's start a little bit man let's go back because i always like to start these things with the nature versus nurture man for sure let's let's start there tell me about how did chris lee grow up or were you made were you crafted tell me that you did the hero story or the villain like story
Dude, I would definitely say made. You know, I grew up in a great household. No money. My dad was a school teacher. Mom was a stay-at-home mom. Seven kids. Seven? Seven, yep. Where do you rank on the... So right in the middle. So six that were from my parents, and then we raised my cousin as well.
And so, you know, we didn't have a lot, but because of it, we had very strict rules around money and how we created it and everything else in the house, right? My dad was a very disciplined investor, believe it or not. He was able to put away half of his $65,000 a year check into investments. Yeah. And so with it, we had rules in the house.
When you're 12, underwear and food on the table was all you got. Everything else you had to pay for.
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Chapter 3: What are the key sales strategies related to personality profiles?
So what was the first hustle as a kid?
So nine years old, delivering newspapers.
Okay, solid.
Every 365 days a year. You know, had to wake up early. And so did that... I wasn't like an entrepreneur by trade at all growing up because I didn't know any better. Right. Like as a school teacher, like he knew the system, he knew, you know, 401k invest as much as possible. Right. Real estate was out of the picture. All these things are out of the picture.
And so, but my dad, he was a football and wrestling coach at the high school. And so grew up in a very sports competitive environment. What part of the world is this? Washington State. Washington State. Okay. Yep. I actually live about 30 minutes from where I grew up because I have like so much love for the way that I was raised that I wanted to raise my kids similarly. Same way.
And I've moved all over. I've lived in Vegas before. I've lived in San Diego, Arkansas, North Carolina, Minnesota, Chicago. Me and my wife have moved 14 different times over our career.
Bro, it's so funny, man, because as a kid, all I wanted to do was get out of the 8,000-person town I grew up in. All I wanted to do was get out. Yeah. And now when I go somewhere, it's like kitschy like that, right? Like there's a little town that I love called Franklin, Tennessee, which is just south of Nashville. I love that little town.
And every time I'm like, man, this just reminds me so much of the place I grew up. That's why I love it. I'm like, dude, I'll never move back to where I grew up. But I get it, dude. You long for that nostalgia of your youth because it was a much simpler time then, man.
And it wasn't even just like the simplicity. Like I was taught to work hard and I wanted to raise my kids on a farm and So I didn't grow up on a farm, but I grew up working on farms. So I was delivering newspapers, driving tractor, you know, working odds and ends jobs, just finding ways to make a buck.
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Chapter 4: What lessons did Chris learn from a failed partnership?
But the at least was, so what it was, it was an ad for Cutco Knives. Yeah. Okay. And so sells. And then I quickly realized that I had the gift of gab and the ability to go and sell products.
So let's talk about, so you went to work for Cutco Knives at 18 years old.
Yep. So I'm between my junior and senior year, I'm old for my grade and I go into farmhouse wife's home and I could walk out with a thousand dollar check and making 25% of that.
So let's talk about the training program for Cutco knives. Cause I've heard like when I got into sales, right? When I first got into it out of the bar business a million years ago, my buddy said, you got a choice. You can sell Kirby vacuum cleaners or you can sell cars. Either way, you'll have a PhD in 90 days. Yeah. I was like, all right.
But I've always heard that Cutco knives had a great like sales training program. Is there anything that you learned then? Or no, you're shaking your head like no.
No, Cutco's always had a great recruiting program in my mind. And they sucked at the follow-up. Like they teach you how to like go sell all your friends and family. And then there was like no follow-up, at least from the area where I was at, as far as like, what do I do next? And so I went through all my networks, selling them all the knives I could. And then nobody told me what else next to do.
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Chapter 5: How can entrepreneurs overcome financial setbacks?
And so I ended up quitting just because like my manager was like no show or whatever else. But like I said, it changed my life realizing that I could bring value to an hour rather than just trade hours for dollars. Yeah. And so like that, that was where it all kind of started.
So you're set. So Kaka, where do you go after that?
So graduate high school, and I go on a mission for my church, serve a two-year mission, knocking doors for free, paying to be there.
See, the Mormon church, that's the sales training, dude. That's the sales training. Because do you have any, like, I mean, how can you go on a mission and have any resistance knocking on a door after that? Yeah, right, right, right.
I mean, yeah, that's tough. So that, yeah, I mean, that's tough. And I was good at it. You know, I was a really good missionary. But, like, I think what made me get a lot out of my mission was, like, my parents made us pay to go. Like, they didn't help us on our missions. We had to save $10,000. $10,000 was a lot of money back then. Back then.
And that's what I paid to go on my mission and take care of me while I was gone. Um, and so like I was out there for all the right reasons, knocking on doors, doing, doing all the work, but yeah, it was, it was a great training program. Learned a lot from it.
Are you still active in the church? I am. All right. Let me ask you a question because I saw this not too long ago and I'm sure running in the circles that you run and you run in some of the same circles I am. You've heard about recently some issues in Utah with some people getting arrested. Yeah.
And I want to say the attorney general of the state of Utah said Salt Lake City is ground zero for Ponzi schemes.
Yeah, it is.
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Chapter 6: What risks did Chris take on his path to success?
Chapter 7: What are Chris Lee's views on self-investment?
Well, that's how it's like in real estate, man. That's how I know instantly like a flippers in trouble when it's like, well, I'm going to refi this house and pull out the equity to then cover the, you know, finish the repairs on this one. You're like, oh, dude. You know, you got to look at those projects as singular, insulated things.
When you start pulling dollars out of one to chase another one, the whole thing is going to tumble. And I've taken some big losses on investments that went like that.
Yeah. You know, as a believer, you know, in the scriptures, it talks about the truth shall set you free. Yeah. Right. Like when you own the truth, good or bad, you live free. you don't have to remember as much. Yeah. You're going to remember as much and whatnot. And so, yeah. So when guys don't own the truth, then the, this kind of crazy stuff happens.
And again, because that population is high level believers and high trusting people, they're easily duped.
And what's probably, it's probably of all of the, if you call it American type religions where, you know, Baptist, Catholic, whatever, Bob bothered, you know, where you, a lot of the people, you know, go to this church to that church. I would say that's the most connected, uh,
like of families and whatnot like they're like they all know each other they go to each other's houses they hang out i mean they're very i mean do you look at uh i don't know i didn't tell anybody recent statistics just came out right like utah is very strong in family right 76 percent of families stay stay married like i mean they got a lot of really good things going on in utah but the negative things be from the like the basically you get polar opposites wherever you have extremely good you're going to have some pretty gnarly things yeah
that have taken advantage of it.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah. I mean, it's a bad combination of trust and just trust you. Yeah, it's such a tough thing, man.
And again, you have all these incredibly trained salespeople, right? Like all these guys have learned the art of persuasion. Oh man, they spent two years. Right. This whole population. And so for all the, like, there's still a lot of good, like Utah is ground zero also for entrepreneurship.
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