Meet Glenn Lundy, a husband to one and a father to seven (yes, seven.) Glenn is many things. He is a spiritual man, a dedicated father, and a passionate motivational speaker. He has overcome a lot in his life including a period of homelessness and, while that is an important chapter in his life, he doesn’t let it define him.
After hitting rock bottom during the most difficult time in his life, Glenn decided to rise up and change his life. He began studying self-development and carving out a powerful morning routine.
He is now an automotive professional, motivational speaker, and the host of the wildly popular Facebook live show, #RiseandGrind. This is his story.
What was life like before you started Glenn Lundy LLC?
Over a decade ago, I was homeless for a short period of time in San Diego, California. During that difficult time, every day was the same. I would wake up wherever I was, usually sleeping on the bus. I would spend the day scouring the street for change for a muffin or some food—I was never the type of person to ask for money. And then I’d spend the rest of the day looking for enough change to get back on the bus that night so I’d have a safe place to sleep.
The most difficult aspect of being homeless was that I became invisible. I remember waking up on the beach one morning and there were families walking around and people jogging and going about their day. But nobody would make eye contact with me. It was as if I wasn’t even there. I understand the reasons for this but it just felt awful to feel so invisible.
Ultimately, this experience led me to the point of trying to take my own life by swimming out into the ocean. I wasn’t a very good swimmer, so I figured if I went out far enough, it would just be the end. Luckily the tide pulled me back onto shore and, as I lay there, looking up at the stars I realized some things:
I realized how small my problems really are compared to how big the world is.
I realized that my own choices and actions that got me to the point I was at.
I realized that I was the only person who could get myself out of the situation.
It was then I decided to rise up, start studying self-development, and make the choices and take the actions necessary to change my situation.
It was at that moment, I decided to live fiercely rather than die comfortably.
During my studies, I learned that every successful person has a powerful morning routine. So, I started waking up a bit earlier, making a gratitude list, outlining goals, not touching my phone first thing in the morning, doing some physical activity, etc.
As I transformed my morning routine, I transformed my life.
I met my wife and I got a great job in the automotive industry as a general manager at the second largest used car franchise dealership in the country.
Describe the moment when you decided to quit your job and start a business?
I truly believe if people change the way they start their day, we can make a massive impact on the planet. To get through adversity in my own life, I had developed a powerful morning routine and I wanted to start teaching other people how to attack their morning in a healthier way. These days, most people start their day by jumping on their phones, grabbing their cup of coffee, and engaging with the violence and politics happening in the world right now. And that’s just not the way to set yourself up for success.
So I just started going live on Facebook every morning and talking to people. It’s crazy how quickly it transformed over the following 10 months. It got so big that I was asked to host Hustle and Grind Con in Orlando, Florida, standing next to some of the best motivational speakers in the world, like Eric Thomas and Danelle Delgado.
At that conference, I remember having a conversation with Danelle. She looked me right in the eye and she said: “Glenn, you are an asset. No matter what room you walk into, you bring experiences and gifts with you that are only yours.” That really resonated with me.
After returning home, I went to a week-long Christian leadership conference at my Church.
At that time I had been with the dealership for eight years and helped build the business from the ground up. It was something that I easily could have done for the rest of my life, I really enjoyed it. But I went back to work on Monday morning completely transformed.
As I was speaking with my boss that day, all I could hear in my head was: “You are an asset. You are an asset.” A lightbulb went off and I knew it was time for me to create Glenn Lundy LLC and build my own legacy for my family. Right in the middle of that conversation, I quit.
I went home that day at 9:30 AM and told my pregnant wife that I just quit my job and that we were going to start a business. And then, the craziest thing happened: My wife—who I thought was going to freak out—smiled the biggest smile. And that was it.
Now here we are one year later and we’ve had some great successes.
What does success mean to you?
Right now, we’re getting roughly 50,000 views a month on our Facebook live show and our Facebook group has about 30,000 members or so. Of those 30,000, 28,000 of them have been active members within the last 28 days. I’m constantly making sure that they’re active, they’re involved, and we’re serving them as best we can.
But, for me, true success is making a connection and impacting peoples’ lives. Even if it’s just one person. I take time to respond to every person who comments and I’ll make a point to say hello and call out viewers’ names during the show. I really want people to feel visible. Because I know what it feels like to be invisible.
One father of two sent me a message and said that he had lost his job, and hit rock bottom and was sitting in his car with his gun. He had gone on Facebook to write a farewell post to the world. When he went on Facebook, the first thing that popped up was a #RiseandGrind episode where I had said his name. So he watched it again and he told me that gave him strength to go on just one more day. And that one day helped him remember that he matters. He is an asset.
There are so many stories I have like this. And this is why I do what I do. This is what success looks like to me.
How did you discover Clearbanc?
The only thing concerning me about growing my business was the risks I was taking and their potential effect on my family. I was taking risks with my family’s money. My kids’ money.
When I came across Clearbanc, I knew I found a partner who could help me grow with less risk. It really seemed like a dream come true. I had my funds in two or three days and the process was incredibly smooth.
I’m a pretty fast runner but now, with Clearbanc, I can sprint.
What does the future look like for Glenn Lundy LLC?
#RiseandGrind has become more than just a Facebook live morning show, it’s a movement. We quickly realized our audience wanted swag and products to support them through their journey. The first product I developed was a planner to help people with their morning routine.
We launched the planner on Black Friday of last year and did $50,000 in sales. So we will continue to produce products like that and t-shirts and hoodies that serve our audience and help them to address the challenges they are facing and make them feel part of the community.
Now that we have more flexible funding, we are developing a whole new product line that is being released this Black Friday. It’s important to front-load inventory to fulfill the rush of orders in a timely way, so we are using our Clearbanc funds to go into Black Friday Cyber Monday feeling confident we have the inventory to meet the demand.
We also plan on ramping up our Facebook advertising big time to scale and help even more people.
Learn more about Glenn Lundy LLC and the #RiseandGrind show here.
We are always blown away and humbled by founders like Glenn. Clearbanc offers flexible, founder-friendly funding to support e-commerce founders throughout their entrepreneurial journeys. We love helping our founders win! Could you be our next success story?
