Welcome back to the podcast George Wright III with your daily dose of inspiration, motivation, and education. And I'm joined in studio with Jed Morley, the infamous Jed Morley. How you doing man? I'm doing awesome. How you doing buddy? Good. I'm glad our schedules could actually intersect. It's only taking about three weeks to get this done. Right? So listen, I'm super excited to have Jed here. He's one of my partners. He's a very, very successful entrepreneur. For those of you that don't know Jed, I'm going to give you a little bit of background on him. As the CEO and managing member of PlatPay, it's a premier industry processor. In addition to that, he's co-founded a new company we're going to talk about, which is Payment Cowboy. He's been around for a while, but really moved into the fintech space. But he's an author, owner, editor. He's part of the Authority Magazines group with Valiant CEO, and he's a trusted advisor for CEOs in all areas of business growth and we're going to be talking about payment processing, authority, digital tech, and everything that grows a business. So Jed, give us a little bit, we don't generally get into a ton of background, but you have such a diverse background. So give us just kind of the backstory on what brought you to this point in your career. Just give us kind of where you came from. So I'm going to just jump way, way back really quick. So I'm number 8 of 13 and I tell people that because as I go back to everything I've done in my life, it really stems from that biological spot in my family. You know, having a dad that was an entrepreneur, having older siblings and younger siblings, I got to watch them make a lot of really interesting choices throughout their lives, you know, from becoming businesses, politicians, doctors, and all kinds of things. So having the chance to see what they did really allowed me to kind of get a head start over a lot of other people. So that's been one of the biggest things is probably having a family full of entrepreneurs and that whole group to bounce things off each other has really helped me. And it's made you hustle too. Like you've been quite a hustler. You had kind of started out into the real estate industry, right? Yeah, I did. How quickly did you get into real estate? So I got to give a shout out to one of my buddies. You know, I was a lumberjack up in Alaska right before I went on a church mission, right? And the cool thing there was when you first leave on your own, it was my first time away from home, you're working, you know, 12 to 14, 16 hours a day, seven days a week. This was in Alaska, right? Up in Alaska. Yeah, helicopter logging. And it was a really great time. The cool thing about that was as you learn to hustle, as you say, right? It is you have to stand on your own feet and you got to move. And then I've learned one thing. If you move, you can always course correct. As long as you're making action happen, it's a lot easier to get things done. Yeah, it's crazy because I've had that come up. That topic's come up a lot recently because so many entrepreneurs, businesses, business owners are trying to get clarity around their business and they don't realize that execution brings clarity. Clarity doesn't come until you have execution. So I think that's totally true. So you are one of the main figures in the payment processing space. And so I want you to just kind of bridge in a little bit into why you went into that space in the first place. Yep. So I'll summary back to your real estate question. Yeah. So for 30 years, I was a real estate broker developer. I traveled the country doing real estate and a lot of the bigger credit national tenant stuff. The heart's part for me on the real estate was I was a sole performer. I was developing when the market would ebb and flow, you know, you felt everything. And so I was really looking for something, honestly, that I could grow and scale. And it was interesting because of my real estate background, I was looking at car washes and storage units. And I came across a payments company. My brother-in-law asked me if we wanted to buy out some partners, create this payments company. The only question I actually even knew to ask was, does it have residual? Because you didn't know anything about payments at the time. Yeah, right. And so I jumped in, we bought this company, and we were able to grow it on Inc. 5000 multiple years in a row. It was just super fun. And it was kind of the wild, wild west of the early payment days. You know, there weren't a ton of people in it, not a lot of rules. And so with that, because I've been around it long enough, now two decades, you've seen a lot of change. And it's been a phenomenal industry to be a part of. Yeah, it is interesting because it's one of those industries where you see what businesses are doing or not doing because you're watching the revenue. And so to a certain degree, you learn what's working and what isn't working, and you're exposed to a lot of different industries. And so payment processing is an area that you've seen the trends in the monetary system as well as businesses themselves come and go. What made you decide to sort of pivot into this brand of payment cowboys? because I want to talk a little bit about that, but also I want you to kind of talk a little bit about what the state of the payment processing space is now, because you hear payment processing, people are like, I got a merchant account, but you do things a little different with PlatPay. Tell us a little bit about what's different there, and we'll kind of bridge into payment cowboys. You bet. Yeah, I think the biggest thing is the whole payments industry is changing so fast, right? Everything, if you look at the way movement of money is happening today, it's different today than it was a year ago and five years ago and certainly 10 years ago. And when Stripe came out, you know, 15 years ago or so, they were brilliant with the seven lines of code and start taking payments. Things have changed so much that we've looked at and said, instead of being a little sales organization, which we've been for years, we've really developed our own tech to see what's happening behind the merchant scenes, to analyze fraud, to analyze data, knowing that the data play is by far bigger than even the movement of money and the payment play. And so we can, you know, we can really analyze the risk, itemize with the transactions. But I think the key that you brought up that's really unique about what we do is because we have so many clients and so many verticals, we see what's really working. And because we're good at looking at those trends, now we come back and say, we're not just looking at your payments. We're looking at what's really working for marketing, branding, strategy, and the overall growth in the industry. and that's been really unique from us, you know, from our perspective is to see those brands that are successful. There's a lot that claim they are, and we know that they're not, and then there's those that really are, and we track and see what's working. Yeah, it really is hard to tell who's doing what nowadays, but you can't hide the numbers. The numbers are the numbers, and it is interesting because most people, when Stripe came out, a lot of people are like, look, I can turn on a merchant account tomorrow and start working with it, but you've probably seen a lot of businesses. If we take a minute, we'll go into some of the data. But before that, what are some of the mistakes that people are making with payments right now when they just assume, hey, I can just connect a merchant account. And these are entrepreneurs that are growing their business, maybe not at a high level yet, which you do a lot with. What are some of the mistakes they're making by just turning on a Stripe account or just working on a basic payment structure without literally looking into some of the problems that are going to come up later on down the road? I think almost every day we get this exact kind of conversation where somebody's like, hey, I've got this product. I'm going to sell this product. And so they go to the easiest place to get their payments. Right. And so whether it's the big nameless, faceless company, company, you know, it's Stripe, PayPal, Venmo, whomever. Right. And the challenge is it's easy to set up the processing, but without knowing the risk. And the funniest thing is, if you look at it, a lot of the peptides and the GLPs and all the different things, It's easy for someone to see a marketing piece and have no idea how hard it was for that payment to actually get there and how to avoid the risk and stuff. So one happened to me this last week I was down in Dallas sitting there next to this Western retailer And the funniest thing is is the guys tell me his biggest gripe is he on Shopify And he like look, Shopify is great. They're super simple. He goes, but I don't get paid for five. They have a five day float. And he goes, it kills a little business because I do transactions on Friday. I don't see that money until the following Friday. And so when you stop and look at this, they're so broken. And there's so many systems that are out there that you look at and go, I'm gonna give this company all of my value, my, I mean, they're my partner, and yet I have no say in any of it. And I think that's probably the biggest thing, the differentiation between us and someone else is we literally are your kind of partner. We help you understand what are the risks, how to set it up, how to make it easier, how to get funding quicker, how to do, you know, so- All the things that happen as you grow your business, right? So when you first start a business, you think I just gotta get money in the bank and I get it processing. As you start to grow, you realize that every percentage makes a difference. Every amount of data makes a difference. And you alluded to the fact that now you guys have a pretty hefty tech platform that allows you to analyze the data. And why is that important? Like what does that do for a business when it looks at the data at a real-time basis, it sounds like, but also at a granular level? Well, again, back to that same merchant, if you're waiting five days to get your money, The biggest thing for us is we can settle same days next day. We can look at it and say, okay Was the buckets of interchange what you were supposed to be build build correctly? And I can tell you with certainty that a very very high percentage is not and so Just an example down there with a restaurant and I'm saying okay think about this When is the last time you went to the restaurant you paid your tab? And then the merchant gets the statement at the end of the month and that 120 bucks included the tax and tip and everything else, but you've already paid all those things or they're not taxable. And yet you've got this bill that you've got to pay for. We reconcile and give you an amended 1099 and that changes everything. Because that's, you know, 20 to 30% savings. When you stop and look at the numbers, the payment piece is the smallest piece. When you look at all the fees and all of the other options. Yeah, it all adds up for sure. And if you're doing, and when you start to do volume, that makes a massive difference. Massive difference. So your company pivoted into a space that sort of bridged into another business of yours, which is Authority, when you created Payment Cowboys. And you did that with a world champion rodeo, bareback rodeo winner, champion, Casey Field. So how did that come about? Why did you decide to do that, by the way? Well, you know, I think the greatest thing was is I am a rodeo guy. We love it. And I've been part of Fiesta Day's board and stuff. And that's one in Utah, right? And the craziest thing was is Casey and I would sit and talk at the rodeos. And I knew that as a six-time world champion, at some point you're going to retire. And most rodeo guys aren't world champions. And most are broken, broken by the time they're 30 years old, you know. And so Casey and I talked about it. I said, Casey, you know, I've built this magazine. We've built all these articles. How about I help you build your brand and tell your story when you're done, you know. So you're going to come off that plateau at some point. And what do you have? And he's like, I have nothing. I have no education. and I have nothing. And so I really just started mentoring and coaching with Casey and saying, hey, let me help you build this. Payment Cowboys became a way for me to say, look, I can actually give back to the cowboy community, the Western community. And so as we built this, it was awesome. Well, now I've got Luke Branquino, a five-time world champion. We've got all these brand ambassadors and partners of ours. And when you take the tech that we have in PlotPay, and then you put it behind the branding strategy and marketing that all these cowboys and brands want, it really adds up because they have nobody that's there in their industry that's helping them. And so they have the nameless, faceless guys that are actually funding things that are actually anti our industry. And so we're saying, no, we can donate a percentage back to the cause, the purpose back into those Western way of life, giving them the best of the best in tech. And now it's their brand and their strategy. It's been really fun. Yeah. I've been fascinated by it because it's really, there's a lot of lessons in this. One is that your relationships, you're a relationship guy. You've had great relationships with your payment business. And relationships a lot of times lead to opportunities, right? So that's the first lesson. The other is that you're doing something you love. And so you're able to grow your business through relationships, through what you love. And then in the end, it ultimately helps to scale your company. And so with these brands and these international brands and things. And so it's very interesting to me that you can, I mean, who would have thought taking rodeo or athletes and payments. And so it's a really good lesson. I think that for entrepreneurs out there thinking, how do I expand my business? It's pretty innovative to just go with your passion, go with relationships. How important is relationships to you with building your business? Because I think you've done a good example of having that in multiple areas now. How central was that? Or are you just a relationship guy by nature? Has it been at the forefront of kind of what your strategy is and what you do in business? Yeah, so I mean if I can say anything it's like going clear back to when I was a lumberjack or when I started selling real estate I can tell you e-pipe one of the other companies I work with I met my partner 25 years ago in a real estate project and then I leased to him and we didn't see each other for 20 years And when I see him he tells me what he's doing I tell him what I'm doing and all of a sudden there's this energy and everything I've ever done has been relationship driven And so to me, the most valuable capital or assets I have are relationships by far. Yeah, it is huge. And I think sometimes people get so far down in the weeds of their business, they forget that. One of the things that I've really seen recently, especially with a lot of the stuff that I'm doing business with, is that the marketplace is crowded. It's really hard to get attention. Getting visible attention for your business in order to grow is tough. And so authority has become the name of the game because everyone has AI now. everybody sounds like an expert, but this is something you've been working on for a while. You put sort of a strategy and play a while back to build your own authority, which is why you started the magazines, which is why you now have interviewed. I want you to give a little bit of the landscape of that. I want you to speak to why you think authority is a real game changer for people right now and what you've done to build your authority. And then I'll tell our audience a little bit about what you have done. So why is authority a big deal right now? And why Why did you decide to use that as a strategy going on many years now? Well, I think authority is super important, but more important is the relationships that you can have when you have authority. And so to me, as we mentioned, relationships are super key. And so way back when, right before COVID, I really wanted to get our brand out there more. And I went through some strategy sessions and realized that we had a terrible brand and it was just in a crowded space. My name, there's multiple guys with the same name in Utah. They're all my cousins. And related, right? And related, yeah. And so, they're really good guys. So I was just going to say that also helped me look at it and say, okay, what am I going to do that makes me stand out a little bit different, especially in verticals or areas? And you have a payment company, so you wanted to create that trust and that credibility, right? Exactly. And so I started interviewing people and it was really focused around. And so the great way to do this is you can do it with interviews, you can do it with podcasts you can do it with a lot of different ways You have to create whatever that value add you going to give the people And again go to masterminds and I highly recommend every one of these that are important at phases of your life or your business You know, I started interviewing people and it really became very paramount to me that when I'm doing these interviews and now I'm setting up an interview with the guy who literally was the founder and designer of AWS and I've got him in my Rolodex and for you old young people that means in your phone, right? Right. where I can call this guy and we can literally talk about AI. This is five years before AI was even a thing. And we're talking about deep level of machine learning and AI. And I'm like, I shouldn't even be in this conversation, but because I'm the authority, I'm the guy that's interviewed this guy, me and Matt become friends. And it goes on and on. Now, I don't know very many guys that don't know who Kathy Ireland is, you know, but I get the chance to interview Kathy Ireland and her publicist is like, nope, you got 30 minutes, got to stick to the script. We hit it off in such a way that afterwards, we're friends, we're talking, she's telling me all about her family and her kids and just amazing things. Invites me to come down, speak at her, you know, at her event, bring the magazines. And so when you stop and look at what you're doing, I think there's two ways to look at authority. A lot of people look at it today and all these influencers, these young kids want to be Mr. Beast. Like an influencer. Yeah, exactly. And there's nothing wrong with that. It's just, I don't want that. I look at it for me and I say, hey, I want to be the most important person in the room I'm in. I don't care about the online or other things, you know. Well, and I think being a celebrity is one thing, but being a celebrity that has trust and credibility and relationship is something else, right? Without a doubt. And that's what you've been able to do. Like Kathy Island is a great example. When you have individuals, and I do think that authority is something that not only helps you grow your business, people want to be influencers, right? But it helps you attract opportunities and also separate you from the competition. And you've attracted a lot of opportunities. You take Kathy Ireland, right? You take these different opportunities. Come here, FinTech is another good example. Talk about that for a minute. Yeah. So, I mean, again, going into an area I had no idea. I've never been to a banking conference and I get invited, me and Casey Field to go to this banking conference and it's completely banks, all banks. And because we're the authorities, we've got the magazines, we've got all the media, they interview us, they have us up on stage. And when we're done, now we're consulting with dozens of banks and cores, and it's changed everything about our business because now we can literally look at what the industry's doing unlike all the rest of our competitors that are in the acquiring side of the payment space. Now we're talking to banks and the issuing and the core and all these other fintech things. So again, to us, we see deals that never would have happened if I didn't have the authority. And it really boils down to the trust and credibility, right? Which is authority. And that's really been the greatest thing. And what's been so interesting is I've gone into these meetings with our publications and our magazines and our articles. And every time I leave, somebody wants us to interview them, help them build their society. And so it's been crazy. In fact, we have a bank right now that I'm not going to name drop today, but they are massively successful, growing. one of the biggest country music stars is on their board and doing a bunch of stuff, and they've just asked me to interview him. And so when you stop and look at this, there's a lot of places that you can take your authority and grow the brand. Yeah, it's interesting. One of the reasons I wanted to highlight that is people know they want to have a personal brand. You've done a good job of that. People know relationships are important, but when you pull those together and you create authority, it becomes a blueprint. And the blueprint that you operate from is that you now have a great brand with relationships and trust. And so when someone goes to meet with you, you don't have to explain to them who you are and what you do and everything. If they Google you, your LinkedIn account has gone to millions of views. You've published articles from hundreds and I think thousands of interviews, which is another topic, right? Because you've created some great automation for that. But now you have a blueprint that grows your business and you've also created a legacy asset because people have personal brands, but when you have authority brand, you have an asset that's going to continue to come back. do you not get calls like every other day just from people you maybe don't even know but they've found out that they want to be in your magazine or something like that i mean yeah so the fun part about this is it really has taken on a whole life of itself you know we've got amazing lead generation and follow-up and people that want to get on our systems and talk to us about podcasts and you know so now i'm literally starting to coach a few people and helping them because they've seen what we're doing and they're like man i really want to do the same thing. How do you do this? And I think that's probably the biggest thing is really when you've become successful at building a system and you've automated the system. And so now I can literally see what's working just like I do in the payment space. And again, a lot of this stuff all drives back to, is it really working? Do I really see the numbers? Because if you don't, then you better ask yourself, why are you doing it? And I think in our case, we look at this and see why are things working? How are they working? How do we monetize it? How do we make it a little bit better, but every day there's new opportunities. And I mean, just today I'll share one again. It's super fun. I was down in Dallas last week at a place that I'm at this big Western outlet and the cowboy Christmas is a massive thing. They take over Vegas. I get introduced to the guy that's in charge of that by three different people. And so then I go sit down with him at a table and he and I start talking and now they're literally asking us to come down, be a part of their event, do payments, do all of these things. And it becomes super interesting because we built the right technology. Now our story is so compelling because you look at how many lives we're touching, what we're doing. And so it becomes a natural fit where they're saying, hey, we have more Western people come during that Christmas break in Vegas. We want to partner with you guys. And guess what? At the end of the day, George, every bit of this is this. I love what I do. I I don't, I love what I'm doing and I'm working harder now than I ever have because I'm seeing it bless so many other people's lives. Yeah, it's been awesome for me, but it's not about that. It's like, how many people can I really help? What can I do differently and better? Yeah, it really is. And you've been a good example of a success to significance. I think if there's entrepreneurs, business owners, there's a lot of founders out there right now. They're trying to find the best deal possible. They're trying to find the right channel. If there's anything to take from this episode, it's, you know, follow your passion. execute, right? Because clarity is going to come from execution. And the path you've gone, who would have thought would be from, you know, real estate to payments into authority and even into digital tech. And we don't have a lot of time to talk about it now, but you have a amazing digital tech company, which you use, which is mobile video landing pages that help people to be able to increase their conversion. It's almost like you've indirectly, inadvertently gone from watching the revenue to building and growing companies with authority to helping them convert more sales. What would you say right now? Because I want you to talk just for a minute about AI and the fact that the marketplace, not just payments, but the marketplace is changing like crazy. People can build an app, start a company, buy themselves overnight. Where do you see the problems and where do you see the opportunities right now for people? You're looking at a lot of different businesses from a pure bank account standpoint. Where do you see the problems and Where do you see the opportunities with the current market? So that's a deep question for me personally. On a spiritual level there a lot of things that really matter to me right When it comes down to payments And especially the day and age in which we live right Yeah So for me I really I think people need to be really clear on what they trying to do and where they trying to go because AI is great but I really think you know, when you stop and think, everybody's talking about the cheat codes or the prompts, right? Yeah, yeah. I think if you really break it down, if you're not clear on who you are and what you're trying to build, what's the real fundamental or foundation of what you want, Yeah, you can get lost in really cool tech and you get lost in all the AI stuff. I think you really kind of be really clear on who you are and what you're trying to do. And then it becomes easy because AI is great. It allows you to get there quicker. But I think the real thing is, is if you aren't taking the time on your own, like, you know, your daily mastermind. I think if you're not taking the time to meditate, to pray, to think about the things that really matter to you, all the rest of stuff is noise. And I've seen one of the things that has happened more than anything else for me is traveling in the circles, seeing the people, doing the things. There are so many rich people that are lost and I really truly think the most important thing in life is finding purpose and value. The authority is important, right? It helps you get there. But if you're taking the right actions, you'll get there a lot quicker than if you are taking the wrong actions. And I really mean that in a really important way because I just see... I know you mean that in an emotional, spiritual life fulfillment way, but also in a pure business way. That's true, too. It is. Because here's the thing. I've seen it. Because of AI, it used to be that if you picked the wrong path and you're just chasing the money, it's a heavy lift. Nowadays, you can go and then you can get a year or two down the road and realize you're not doing something you love. You're not happy. You're maybe not even doing the right thing. Whereas with AI, it'll accelerate that quicker. And so it's easier to get sucked into a path you're just not happy with. you're not fulfilled with. And in the end, you're around a lot of very wealthy people. And like you said, there are a lot of people that are not doing stuff that fulfills them, that makes any kind of impact or difference. So you're saying, be real clear on what it is you want, what you're looking for. At a mentor of mine early on, I used to, you know, people used to always say, what do you want to do? What do you want to do when you get out of school, when you do these things? And he used to always say, it doesn't even matter. What do you want your life to be like? Who do you want to be? Once you have that set, the rest will lead. So I think that's really good advice. So let's say somebody is doing something right now they're not enjoying, they're not, and this is kind of more of a personal feedback from you, and they're stuck, what do they, where do they start? Like what advice would you have for somebody who's like, I'm stuck in business, maybe I'm not getting where I want to be, or maybe I'm not even in the right path, what would you advise them with? Because you've got a lot of experience in this area, and that's something you think you're pretty passionate about as far as finding what you want to do in life. Yeah, I had a kid come over riding horses at my house a couple weeks ago and he brought up this exact thing. He's kind of stuck in his career. He's trying to figure out where to go. And so in our conversation, I asked him kind of where, what is it that you want to be? You know, where do you want to go? And in that conversation, I suggested a book he should read. And then I said, after you've read that book, text me and let's talk about what you come up with. Within that next call, I was able to literally connect him with the right guy. And he has made a 180 pivot. He's literally, he didn't see where he really wanted to go or see how to get there. And I think sometimes, here's the greatest thing, if you aren't happy but you know who is or who you want to be like, surround yourself with those guys. Go find them, go be them, because you really are, right, closest to the five people you hang out with. And so I just look at them and I think, then get in different circles. Like masterminds and things like that is a perfect reason. Read the books. I think so often, here's one of the things that really drives me crazy with AI. You can look at somebody that's successful and you can even get all the cheat codes and you can tell it to go make it all, right? You're still not that person. And so even though you have all the slicks, the reals. Right, you can accelerate the real learning. And or the person. And so if you're not that person, then are you really going to be able to do the things? And so I've seen, you know, I see a lot of the different FTC and different things, violations and stuff because I'm around finances and FinTech and all that stuff. And you're looking at a lot of that stuff ramping back up with violations because a lot of guys are making a lot of stuff and they're making a lot of claims that aren't really there. So be authentic. You know, and so I think some of that really boils down to are you who you really say you are? I love that. And be authentic. That's interesting because you're right. It's easier than ever to build a business fast. But are you building you to go along with the business? One of the reasons with the Daily Mastermind podcast and now I'm a host of the Franklin Planner podcast, it's about what matters most, being intentional with your life. But in the Daily Mastermind, it's about personal development and business mastery because your inner game creates your outer game. But also, you know, your identity is going to shape not only your business, but your impact. So I know that you've been a good example of that. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about before we take off? I'm glad you spent some time with us and I got a bunch of stuff in the show notes I'm going to put for everybody. But what else is on your mind that's important? You know, I would say this. Again, this is back to personal, right? I do what I do because it's really intentional for me. I everything I've tried to do is include my life or my wife in my life who is your life Yeah, and my kids and really when it breaks down to everything I was not a horse guy that people don't know this about what yeah, no not a horse guy in fact, I wasn't into horses until I was 40 years old and my daughter had anxiety and That was the very first time I really got into horses and I saw what a horse did for her and it changed her life And so I've become a AQHA top 10 breeder. I've done all of these things and really it's changed my life And I can tell you one of the greatest things is if you can find that meaning and purpose every day Yeah, fill your bucket so that you can give back to other people And that's really the goal for me is like look at the end of the day. It doesn't matter what I do Yeah, but how many lives that I bless how many people that I touch? What can I do differently to bless other people? And that's literally I've learned through a lot of trial error mistakes I've lost business a lot of losses Yeah It hasn't been like a straight the chart hasn't gone up into the right right so yeah And so I really think the key is just be authentic But really look at who you are and are you every day? 1% better than you were the day before and it's not a it's not a big long. It's not a sprint It's this long journey So make sure that every day in your business, in your personal life, you're doing those little micro things that will get you where you want to go over a period of time. Yeah, because consistency will make it happen. So daily rituals, surrounding yourself with the right people, following your passions. These are all things that I think are excellent topics. So thanks for being with us here today, man. I appreciate you. What is the easiest or best place for people to connect with you? George Wright. This is true. We do branding. Listen, if you're listening to this episode, do me a favor. If any of it has inspired or motivated you, make sure you share the show. I'll put some links down in the show notes. You can connect with various businesses and things that Jed has. But really it was more of a conversation about success, about developing who you are. And remember that it's never too late to start living the life that you were meant to live, but you gotta take execution and you gotta take action and you gotta do it in the right way. So that's our message for today. Hope you have an amazing day. Thanks for joining us. you
