Action Academy | Build Wealth. Buy Assets. Leave Corporate.

Latest Episodes:

Bezos Business Principles: The Top 3 Principles Jeff Bezos Used To Grow Amazon From $0 - 1.4 Trillion Aug 31, 2023

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Want To Build $10-30k+ / mnth of cashflow you OWN? Inside our community Action Academy [w/ over 700 members & $428M in deals done in 2025 alone ] we help high performers escape corporate America through buying small businesses and commercial real estate. Click this link to book a one-on-one discovery call with our membership director and become the next success story on our podcast!

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Results vary and are not guaranteed. $428M reflects aggregate member-reported acquisition value during 2025, not earnings or cash flow. Action Academy provides education and community, not legal, tax, financial, or investment advice.

Building Big Ass Fans (And Profits) : How Carey Smith Made $500,000,000 Through Selling Ceiling Fans Aug 30, 2023

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Carey Smith is the founder of Big Ass Fans that sold in 2017 for 500 Million Dollars. Today we discuss how he built, bootstrapped, and exited the company - where he wrote 50 million dollars of checks as bonuses to his loyal employees!
Contrarian entrepreneur Carey Smith founded Big Ass Fans in 1999 and served as its “Chief Big Ass” for 18 years. While other companies made and lost their fortunes, Carey’s business practices led to sustained, rapid growth averaging 30% annually. Inc. magazine ranked Big Ass Fans among America’s fastest-growing private companies for 11 years straight — a feat achieved by only 34 others.

Carey has earned national recognition for his common-sense business philosophies, such as selling direct, investing in silver-platter customer service and paying employees more than 30% above the U.S. average. Inc. named him “Economy Hero” in 2011 for refusing to lay off employees during the Great Recession.

By 2017, Carey had grown Big Ass Fans from six employees to more than a thousand and generated nearly $300 million in annual sales. He did so without investors, a rarity in a society that glamorizes venture capital and quick exits. That year, he sold the company for $500 million with $50 million going right into employees’ pockets.

Following the sale, Carey founded Unorthodox Ventures. He assembled a staff experienced in everything from engineering and supply chain to marketing and customer service with the goal of providing founders far more than money.

https://unorthodoxventures.com/members/carey-smith/

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How Traci Barrett Helped Grow HGTV To A Billion Dollar Brand (And Then LEFT To Start Her Own Business! Aug 29, 2023

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As one of the founding members HGTV: Home & Garden Television, Traci Schubert Barrett enjoyed the exciting and amazing ride of taking an idea and turning it into a billion dollar media empire. But almost two decades later, with a family and plenty of life ahead, success was no longer the beacon it once was.

What if there is more to our vocational journey than just success?

Traci took a risk and walked away from the comfort of corporate life to embark on a soul-searching journey – one that would answer her questions, validate her instincts, and change her life forever.

Traci is a business owner, entrepreneur, author, speaker, and coach. She has walked in your shoes. She has worked in corporate America, been part of successful start-ups, managed all size teams, owns a business, and is a working parent, juggling it all.

Traci knows what it is like to walk away at the top of your game to try a new adventure. As Founder & President of Navigate the Journey, she has walked alongside leaders and entrepreneurs to guide them on a path to discovering who they are, what they want out of their life and business, and how to realize their full potential.

https://www.tracischubertbarrett.com/

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The 12 Minute Life Of Andrew Carnegie: Lessons, Takeaways, & Thoughts On Wealth / Power Aug 28, 2023

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The Trillion Dollar Venn Diagram Of Success: How To Position Yourself In The BEST Niche For Maximum Income Aug 25, 2023

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The 2-Week Vacation Test : How To Build A Business That Can Thrive WITHOUT You w/ Austin Netzley Aug 24, 2023

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Austin Netzley is an entrepreneur that escaped the corporate grind with a mission to build a business that could thrive WITHOUT him. Now he helps others do the same!
https://2x.co/about

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The #1 Networking Technique That Will Make You Stand Out In ANY Room - GUARANTEED Aug 23, 2023

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This episode (replay 2022) is to date one of our most popular on this show!

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How Ryan Pineda Will Become A Billionaire (Without Getting Lost In His Business) Aug 22, 2023

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Ryan Pineda has been in the real estate industry since 2010. In 2015 with only $10,000 in the bank, he began flipping houses. Since then he has flipped hundreds of homes, purchased hundreds of rentals, and opened other multi million dollar businesses. He has amassed over a million followers on social media where he teaches others how to build wealth and freedom.
https://www.ryanpineda.com/

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