65 | Wealth Without Toil: A Christian Approach to Financial Independence with | Sebastian Uzcategui

Sebastian Uzcategui's journey from immigrant poverty to financial freedom wasn't just about building wealth; it was about discovering purpose. Growing up watching his parents work grueling 12-hour shifts with little to show for it, Sebastian realized early that traditional paths weren't designed to create true prosperity.

"The house was nicer, but the time was less. The quality of life was less," Sebastian explains, describing his family's disappointing discovery of the American dream. This revelation set him on a mission to find financial solutions that would break this cycle—not just for himself, but for the faith community that often struggles with the same challenges.

What makes Sebastian's approach unique is his biblical perspective on wealth. Drawing from Proverbs 10:22, he emphasizes that God promises wealth "without painful toil," suggesting that true prosperity isn't about endless hustle but about multiplying resources wisely. This faith-driven approach has helped him mentor over 1,200 people, many of whom come from communities traditionally excluded from financial conversations.

Perhaps most surprising is Sebastian's revelation about the stock market's origins. "When the stock market was initially created in the 1920s, it was designed for the average working man and woman to beat inflation," he shares. However, big investors deliberately complicated the terminology to scare away ordinary people, a gatekeeping practice Sebastian is determined to dismantle through accessible education.

Unlike typical financial educators who charge thousands upfront, Sebastian's Fox University allows people to learn, practice, and see results before paying anything. "I don't want people to trust me just to trust me. I want them to see authentic results," he explains. This service-first mentality has taken him from struggling entrepreneur to speaking at the United Nations about financial empowerment.

Ready to break free from financial limitation? Sebastian's message is clear: "Nothing changes if nothing changes, and there's nothing riskier than staying where you'

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Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Sebastian Ugatagi
• 3:18 From Immigrant Dreams to Financial Reality
• 6:52 Faith-Based Approach to Finance
• 9:36 Entrepreneurship Without Burnout
• 15:50 Public Speaking as a Growth Strategy
• 21:33 Investing Small to Build Wealth
• 28:34 Breaking Through Limiting Beliefs
• 33:26 Purpose Over Profit: Final Thoughts

Transcript

Intro: 0:01

You're listening to the Off Balance Podcast, where faith, family and business collide, hosted by Brooke Stemming, doctor of Business Administration, business Coach and Resilience Expert. Each episode features real-life conversations to help entrepreneurs like you build resilience and lead with confidence.

Dr. Brooks : 0:37

Welcome back to Off Balance. I'm your host, dr Brooks. On today's episode, we're talking about building wealth which can feel out of reach. For a lot of people, the stock market can seem overwhelming, full of risk and reserved for the rich, but what if we didn't have to be that way? Today's guest is here to help us see it a different path, one that's more accessible and grounded in purpose. My guest today is Sebastian Ugatagi, a faith-driven entrepreneur, full-time trader and founder of Fox University, where he helps people grow in financial freedom through mentorship and practical education. He's been at this since he was a teenager and his story is all about purpose, bold moves and serving others along the way. So please help me welcome Sebastian to Off Balance.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 1:20

Hi, it's good being here. Thank you so much. It really is an honor.

Dr. Brooks : 1:24

Sebastian, I am so excited to have you with us today. I gave our listeners the short version of your story, but I love them to hear it from you, so can you introduce yourself and share a little bit about who you are and the work that you do?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 1:38

Absolutely. I'm more than happy to. So. I come, of course, from a background deeply rooted in faith, and a lot of that stems all the way back to my family who came to this country. We're a family of immigrants, and I'm an only child, and we came here looking for the American dream, but all that we found was the same poverty from our home country, venezuela, just at a different level. The house was nicer, but the time was less. The quality of life was less, was nicer, but the time was less. The quality of life was less, and I realized, before we knew it, my parents were stuck in these never-ending 12-hour shifts almost every single day, leaving little time for anything else.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 2:12

And as I stepped more and more into the world of the church, I think so. That's a story that applies to way too many people, and even though we have so much in our spirit here in the church world, we have so little in the material world to actually execute on these things, and that is a tragedy that, from a young age, I wanted to change. So I educated myself a lot in the world of finance, in the world of entrepreneurship, which some other problems come into play there that we'll speak on shortly. But my purpose quickly became, after I found success with that, to spread that especially to the aspiring financially free Christian.

Dr. Brooks : 2:49

So when you transitioned to the United States, I can imagine you thought that this was going to be the land of milk and honey a lot of opportunities. But when you got here and you realized that it was the same as your home country, how did that moment make you feel in real time? How did that moment make you feel?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 3:02

in real time. I came here young, so I didn't get to register that until I saw how the system robbed me of my family. In a way, my parents, who were always very loving, kind, creative people, became only defined by one thing, and that was exhaustion. Over time I only knew them when they would come home to sleep to go back to work the next day, and a lot of people feel that same story. So I would say it was a very deeply disturbing revelation. But the more that I studied the system, the more that I realized there is potential here. We're just not doing the right things and because of a lack of education we're stuck in this trap. So again, my purpose became to educate people on what these tools are and how accessible they really are.

Dr. Brooks : 3:48

So let's build on that. How does that connect to the companies that you started?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 3:55

I have two big companies. One of them is focused on public speaking, but my primary one, and the one that I am most speaking on today, is my business in finance, which has seen a lot of success, especially ever since I dove into the church world. Now, the reason why I've seen so much success with my business of finance teaching people how to invest properly is because it was deeply rooted in purpose and again in faith. The issues that I came across when I was beginning to enlighten myself as a teenager about all the tools that we have in the system. The main issue was how difficult it was to learn. Everyone seemed to just be charging a ridiculous amount of money for basic information, right, and that I realized.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 4:34

I looked left and I looked right and it was pushing everyone away. Everyone in the world was being pushed away from learning about these things because it was being gatekept, it wasn't taught in colleges or in schools. We never enlightened to these things. So I made the sacrifice of frontlining that education, teaching myself everything the hard way, and then, with my business, I began to open those doors for other people to learn without ever having to pay until they see results, and that is a philosophy that has brought me so much success in my business and has set me apart so much.

Dr. Brooks : 5:06

Yeah, when it comes to stock market, like trading, it can be very overwhelming. So if someone is listening, they're trying to build for retirement, but they don't know how to start. What would that look like in practice for them?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 5:18

Well, starting off as an investor or a trader, it looks so much scarier than it is right. So one thing that I do, for example, to help people. I recently got flown out to Virginia to speak for a big church, for a church leader who I invest for and all the people there. They knew little to nothing about the market previously to me coming on, but through my speaking and my presentation I was able to give them all a very strong fundamental understanding of all these things, completely for free, really, at the end of the day. And so the main things that I said to them as beginners, to really give them a foundation is please, the most important thing is, just do your research, learn. You'll realize very quickly that this stuff is not as scary as it seems Now.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 6:04

As a matter of fact, when the stock market was initially created in the 1920s, it was designed for the average working man and woman to beat inflation. As inflation was rampant, the government created this method for us to be able to break free and have some kind of financial freedom. Now, something very funny that happened was, as big investors began to emerge, they deliberately created complicated terminology to scare away the average working man and woman, believe it or not, and to this day that takes effect. To this day, people are terrified of investing in themselves, even though it's way more effective, way more proper and liberating than working a job, all because people are scared away from it. So to a beginner I would say just have the audacity, have the bravery to take one step into the world of that. Begin to study a little bit and you'll realize that you can do it.

Dr. Brooks : 6:56

When it comes to faith and finances. The Bible talks about we would be the lender and not the borrower, and God also talks about rest, and what I recognize sometimes with entrepreneurs is we are so burned out. So what can financial freedom look like for us?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 7:12

Well, dr Brooks, I love that question because this weekend out in Virginia, I just got finished wrapping up a presentation on that exact thing. Now there's a very popular scripture. You may know it Proverbs 10, 22. This is one that everyone quotes God gives freedom, wealth and adds no sorrow. Right, we all know that one. But there's actually an alternative translation which I think, especially to the working entrepreneur, is far more adequate, and it says that God would add wealth without painful toil for it. Now, that's an interesting word Toil and wealth. Toil versus wealth.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 7:46

Now, what is defined as wealth, be it directly or indirectly, in the Bible is not necessarily cash, but the freedom to love our families, to follow in God, follow our faith. That is wealth. And sure, we need money to achieve those things to a certain extent, but the key to that is the toil part. Now, if you're an entrepreneur but you're working more hours, maybe even for less pay, than you would with a regular job, there's something that needs to change there. And going back to the great literature from Robert Kiyosaki, rich Dad, poor Dad.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 8:18

If you're familiar with the cashflow quadrants, being employed or self-employed aren't very different, but once you get to the other side, the key to wealth lies in being an investor, which is, instead of adding and subtracting cash as we do with our paychecks and our bills, it's just adding and subtracting. Instead of doing that, we begin to multiply what we have, and I think that ties into what you said about being the lender, not the borrower. What we have, and I think that ties into what you said about being the lender, not the borrower, being something that provides multiplies, as opposed to having to always toil and sweat and shed all these blood, sweat and tears for a system that doesn't leave us with very much at all after that. So it's a question of learning how to invest, even as an entrepreneur with a business. Think about how, think in exponentials, how can you put what you already have to scale and work for you?

Dr. Brooks : 9:06

I know. When I first started in entrepreneurship, I was still working my nine to five and what I recognize in entrepreneurship is almost, like the Bible says, toiling. I would get up early, stay up late. I didn't have a return on investment, so I had to step back from the drawing board. What strategies do you recommend for entrepreneurs those that are listening to help them evaluate where they are and to determine where they need to go?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 9:31

That's a really good question. I would say to you, as an entrepreneur, there is a time for what I call blind faith, which is you have to follow in your vision, right? You're not going to see return of investment at first, but it is something that later on you have to hold on to your vision, right? But there's also a time where you need to go back to the drawing board, like you said, and think okay, I need to make this viable. I need to make this viable ASAP, because at a certain point you're putting in a lot of work and not receiving too much for it. Right? I would say, in my journey at least as an entrepreneur that had to face struggling in my business for three years before ever seeing any success three years before ever seeing any success think creatively about where you're going to find growth. Don't blindly stumble into the same brute force solutions that may or may not work for you. In my case, for example, I spent over $20,000 out of my pocket trying to get Facebook ads to work. Not a single client came through. But then I began public speaking and within one stage, my business quadrupled. The amount of clients that I got from that was crazy. And then I got connections for other stages. That's what worked for me.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 10:43

But every entrepreneur, you have to realize that traditional marketing is dead. It doesn't work the same way that it used to. You have to be creative, you have to think outside of the box and you have to connect with people. Authenticity and you're a Christian. You're a Christian, which means that you're rooted in authenticity. You're thinking about how to provide. Make that the forefront of your business. Don't think in the way that other entrepreneurs think about take. You need to think about providing and how to make your client know what you're providing in a way that they can connect to Be authentic, be real and be creative. That's my best advice.

Dr. Brooks : 11:17

That ties lightly into my next question. The Bible also says that we perish from a lack of knowledge. When it comes to education, what can you recommend for those that want to grow in their finance?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 11:28

There's two big things that I would always suggest, and I may be a little biased towards some of them. I believe that everyone should read Rich Dad, poor Dad. That's one of the best books for understanding basic finances. But then I would say to you, there's a lot of the financial books out there that don't actually give you something tangible to work with. I would say, as far as education goes, try to find someone that teaches the kind of things that I do. Try to find someone that's affordable, first off, and authentic.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 11:54

Obviously, the world of finance is riddled with a lot of BS people, unfortunately, so you have to be careful. You have to find the right people that you trust, that are ideally also in the faith, because you know that they'll have your back, and they're usually people that can teach you more practically what you can actually do with your money. In my case, for example, I teach investments, long-term, short-term. I even do some investing on behalf of some church leaders. Those are the things that bring people direct and tangible results right off the bat, and it's very real knowledge and information. That's what I would say as far as finance goes.

Dr. Brooks : 12:27

Public speaking is a really good arena to be in. Will you still run Falk University?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 12:33

Yeah, absolutely. As a matter of fact, it's become more prominent since I've stepped into public speaking. Whenever I go out to speak, I have to select what my audience is going to be mostly inclined to. For example, sometimes I'll speak about my secondary business, which is a public speaking agency that puts aspiring speakers or even experienced speakers out on stages across the world. So that's one of the main things that I do.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 12:58

But I've never stopped doing finance, because it is a deep passion of mine, in order to get back to the church and to kill the generational poverty that has taken place in the church and instead replace it with an undeniable generational wealth, and that starts with education. But transitioning to public speaking was one of the best decisions that I've ever taken because, as a faith-based and purpose-based entrepreneur, there's no way to connect through ads. People just scroll past that. There's no way to connect deeply with someone unless you do speaking. All the entrepreneurs that we grew up watching what they did to get successful doesn't work anymore. The world is, frankly, oversaturated with faux entrepreneurs that are just looking for a quick buck, and we need to stand out with their authenticity and our voices, and that's why my secondary purpose has become to empower people in the world of public speaking.

Dr. Brooks : 13:51

I think it's great for us to be empowered, because sometimes we have these great ideas and we don't have the necessary means to get those ideas out. But we have someone that's listening and they're like I'm so traditional and I don't want to get into investing public speaking, running ads, whatever it is. What mindset shift can they adopt to transition into how the world is evolving?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 14:16

I would say, even if you don't want to get into public speaking, you have to be creative and think about new and ingenious ways to get your idea out there, right. However, I would even go as far as to venture as if you're going to be an entrepreneur, even if you're going to be just a Christian, a leader, a father or a mother of a household right, you need to refine your speaking. You have to In order to embody a vision. We're all visionaries. At the end of the day, we're all passionate, we're all dreamers. We all have an ideal life for ourselves, and in order to frontline that and to be the crusader that God has destined us to be for our dreams and purpose, we need to be articulate. We need to be able to communicate that.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 14:56

So, to someone who's having a problem transitioning into this, I would say find someone that is willing to coach you or even just watch YouTube videos. Typically, with some of my speakers, the people that I put out on stages and I work with. When I meet them, they have a lot of issues with their speaking, but within just a couple of sessions I'm usually able to fine tune and refine what it is that they're missing, and usually within just some simple exercises, they're able to very quickly improve the level of their speaking by 50%. I would even say that's really good.

Dr. Brooks : 15:28

You have spoken on many stages, from churches to schools to seminars. What's been the most memorable speaking and what did you teach about in the intersection of faith and finance?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 15:41

Well, it lines up pretty perfectly with that. I had spoken for a church, a really big church, in January it was for my spiritual father, and because of that speaking arrangement in January, it was for my spiritual father and because of that speaking arrangement I had been invited to go speak at the United Nations, and so I went to the United Nations with them. It was an incredible experience. It was specifically a CSW9, the Beijing Women's Conference on Women's Rights, and I got to speak there and just share a little bit about my experience.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 16:07

A lot of my clients are women, for example, especially black women in the church, or a lot of my clients in StocksUni, and so I was speaking about how, hey, I met a lot of these women who, prior to meeting me, were never included in conversations of entrepreneurship or finance. Now, that's strange. Why is it that we're automatically disqualifying these people and thus disempowering them, as opposed to doing the opposite? And why is it that we're automatically disqualifying these people and thus disempowering them as opposed to doing the opposite? And within the United Nations, one of the main topics of conversation was how do we further empower women, and my main conversation point was we simply need to have more conversations and enlighten them further to the tools that they could use. That was probably my favorite speaking arrangement so far.

Dr. Brooks : 16:47

That is such an honor to be able to go and speak at the United Nations. How were you able to prepare for your topic?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 16:56

This is what I tell all my speakers, especially when they get nervous thinking about how do you prepare for this stuff. I tell them let me put it this way when you speak to friends or family, do you feel like you have to prepare, or do you get nervous? Not really, because you're usually speaking on things that belong to you. You're speaking about yourself. That's it. You have to internalize your passion, your business and your faith so deep to the point that you could step on a stage right now and speak just straight from the heart. It's not just improvising or scripting. It's more of embodying your message so deeply, to the point where you don't really need to prepare, because a preparation has been done during the years of blood, sweat and tears that you've poured into your vision.

Dr. Brooks : 17:37

People say that they are a jack of all trades. I'm sitting here and I'm listening to you and you have knowledge in so many different areas. So if you have someone that's listening, how can they niche it down to become an expert in one of those areas but still operate in other areas?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 17:55

Right, I would say I don't think I'm too much of a jack of all trades, as opposed to, I have a few specialties Right, and each of those specialties were created through years of dedication until near perfection. And then I would focus on the next thing. There's something called shiny object syndrome, which is very common in early entrepreneurs, and what that is. You're getting distracted by a million different opportunities. For example, early in my career I was doing real estate. I had my real estate license at 18. I was doing Amazon dropshipping, I was doing stocks. I was doing a million different things and none of them were succeeding because I had to dedicate 100% to one thing first, and that's what I did. So, to answer your question, anyone that's having a hard time either deciding on a business idea or doing too many things at once and seeing no success, pick one thing to get good at and once it begins to fly solo, move on to your next specialty. No-transcript.

Dr. Brooks : 18:57

So the media can have us comparing ourselves to other people. So what advice can you give those listening to stay focused on their own journey?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 19:06

I have a hard time with that as well. I get very distracted. I have really bad ADHD, so I work at home, which makes it even worse. But I would say, no, you're absolutely right. And especially with this emerging kind of hustle culture right, where we see so many people doing so many things and they're doing so great, it becomes really intimidating and it has a reverse effect.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 19:29

What was once supposed to inspire us is actually just crushing to us, because we sit in bed and we're feeling about all these different things that we want to do and when there's so much focus on so many things, it's not inspiring, it's oppressive and it makes our goals seem so much further than they are. But, like I always say, you focus on one thing, you keep your feet to the, you keep your eyes on your feet and you just move forward and you'll realize how far you get over time. It's not about doing it all at once. If you get distracted with social media or seeing all the different things that there are around, just again, refocus on just one thing, even if you do nothing else. Just perfect that one thing and you'll realize that doing one thing is better than doing what most people do, which is nothing.

Dr. Brooks : 20:12

That is very true, but for those that are listening, they're like Sebastian, you are successful, you have arrived. Can you share your journey, because some people may look at you and think that this happened for you overnight?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 20:25

I love that question because, truth be told, there's a huge misconception when it comes to seeing success, and it is. We see the flower, but we don't see the roots right. We only see that one thing that stands out of the wealth, the traveling, all those things, but we never see that all of those things are a false byproduct of success. Real success is made in all those years of blood, sweat and tears that it took to get to where you are today. Everything else is just the reward for that. So, to share a little bit about my journey and what it took for me to get here, I was a struggling entrepreneur for a long time. I graduated high school and I got nothing no opportunities for college. My family was deeply in debt so we couldn't even afford it, even if I wanted to. But I knew that wasn't where the path lied for me. Despite my parents' wishes, I just began to frontline entrepreneurship on every source that I could find, like I said real estate, amazon, dropshipping stocks, everything. I just dove right in and it took me a long time and a lot of struggle, but I eventually began to see some success. However, at the same time and this is deeply integrated into my story and one of the things that I mainly speak about.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 21:35

At the same time, just as I began to see some success following my dreams and passion, after 17 years of long grueling shifts and losing everything my parents after long 12-hour shifts.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 21:49

For all those years, they lost both their jobs at the same time and got nothing out of it. They never invested during this whole time because they thought that it was risky, because they were so obsessed with this consistency that the job gave them and they never realized the riskiest thing that you can do is stay where you're at. That is the riskiest thing that we can do. The riskiest thing we can do is not take our lives into our own hands. So, thankfully, because I was beginning to see success, I was able to help them out of that and through that and continue to establish systems that would fund my family and others, thousands of other families. So I want to share that story so people can understand that it isn't easy first of all, but when you suffer today, you may just find that you don't have to suffer tomorrow. If I would have followed their steps and their dreams and their idea of consistency, we would probably be homeless right now.

Dr. Brooks : 23:38

I interviewed Stefan and he made a statement. He said being poor is risky and that sat with me. So you have someone that's listening and they say, Sebastian, I don't have the money to invest. How can they start small?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 23:53

That is a great question. So I actually just finished speaking about that, because a lot of the people at the church that I spoke to were not in a position to buy a house and put it up for rent or do Airbnb, and it's sad that we're taught that the only ways to invest are these massive tens of thousands of dollars to put down into things like stocks or real estate properties. But you don't have to do it that way. What I teach, for example, is primarily something a little bit more short-term. In the world of the market, where you can just set aside a small amount of cash, do short-term investing, and with the same small amount of cash that you set aside one time, you can scale it up over time, steadily, slowly, right, but it's still money on the side that you would otherwise not have.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 24:35

One of the people that I spoke to over this weekend was a lady telling me that, hey, I'm not making a whole lot of money and I'm deeply in debt. What can I passively do? Is it safe for me to invest? Should I? And I told her you have to. You are not in a position to not invest, because if you keep working and paying off your debt as a subscription that you can't put more money into when you need to or help pay it off faster.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 24:58

Guess what? That is a 30 year financial death sentence where the interest is going to eat you alive. You cannot operate that way If you are lacking money. What you need to do actively is think of ways to generate more to be able to pay off debt, and so that's what I'm doing for her. With short-term investing, you don't need $10,000. I suggest anywhere between 500 to 1,000, a one-time investment into your own account that you can now use to slowly scale up and over the span of even just. I've had people that have made $10,000 in a month, not to set that as a standard, but to just show you that there's so much prosperity that can be in place for you when you start walking in the idea of multiplication and exponentials, as opposed to this false consistency of a job.

Dr. Brooks : 25:47

I grew up with so many limiting beliefs. When it came to money, it was not talked about in my home. My parents did not share their finances with us. But when it comes to you, you have helped over 1200 people with their finances. What have you learned about teaching those financial principles to people of faith who may have grown up, like myself, with limiting beliefs around money?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 26:12

who may have grown up, like myself, with limiting beliefs around money. So, first off, I'm deeply inspired by these people because I'm seeing a shift in the world of the church where it is well, let me put it this way A lot of my clients are Black, older women, right, who you would expect to be the last people to be able to break out of those limiting beliefs because they've grown up their whole life, old school. But I'm seeing a huge shift, not just in the church world but in the general world of people realizing that the systems that we live in they're not for us, we are working for them and that has to change, right? I've noticed how deeply of a shift that has been happening and how many people have come to me looking for solutions and how brave they are. One of my clients is this retired black woman that has cancer and she obviously with retirement.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 26:58

It's not easy. Retirement doesn't work how it used to. Social security is down the drain. But this lady is the first one in my class, every single morning, just there ready to make money and it's so inspiring seeing someone who was disqualified from the idea of entrepreneurship, from investing, from success, just unincluded in all of these things, just have the courage to stand up and do it herself. So from working with people that have had so many limiting beliefs for so long, I love how my conversations are able to at least spark a flame in them, to have the courage to step into my world for a second and just explore, just having the audacity to explore a little bit. And I try to make it easy for them by giving them as much time as they need for free until they begin to see results.

Dr. Brooks : 27:47

Sometimes, when it comes to destroying those limited beliefs, the first thing that we have to do, I believe, is forgive ourselves. So we have someone that's listening and they just are so hard on themselves. I shouldn't have got myself in debt. I should have known better. What advice can you offer them to move forward?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 28:02

I would say that there's two big things. Right, there is nothing wrong with where you are, because it was simply a consequence of your programming from the system, but there is something deeply wrong with where you allow yourself to stay right. And if you've been suffering this long and you're being crushed by this weight, realize that it's not going to go away until you do something about it. You have to do something about it. So, for example, that lady that was telling me over this week and how deeply in debt she is and how she doesn't have the money to do very many things. I said to her yeah, you should be investing. You have to, because if nothing changes stupid sentence. But think about it for a second.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 28:42

If nothing changes, right, however you're living now, if you don't take that step, especially the step to forgive yourself, acknowledge what you've done and think about what you will do instead, without that, you're going to keep staying exactly where you are. So a quote from one of the most unlikely people you'd expect, but it's from Steve Harvey, of all people. He said if you're going through hell, why stay there? You're at the hardest part of your journey, right, there's no reason to stay there. Just keep it going and You're at the hardest part of your journey right.

Dr. Brooks : 29:15

There's no reason to stay there. Just keep it going and all that's left for you is up. So, when it comes to investing, if they want to invest with you through Stock University, what does that process look like?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 29:22

It's a very simple process and I focus very much on personal attention and care with everyone. So I give everyone, even like, my direct number to contact me at any time of the day. But the process is really simple. I make it really simple, I break it down. I direct them to, first and foremost, the video lessons on my website, which are deeply comprehensive. They teach everything from zero to 100, including which platforms to use, where to fund yourself, what to do all those different things right, and from there they have access to a wonderful community where I'm present every single day, teaching them more, showing them how to do everything.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 29:54

And most importantly, like I said, is I want them to be comfortable. So not only do I give them a whole month to learn, practice and profit before ever getting charged, to see the results. Before anything else, I don't want people to trust me, just to trust me. I want them to see authentic results and that's why I've even invested for some church leaders to show them that what I do works. Before they'll have me speak for their church and whatnot, but anyway, once they've had their month of learning, I even give them tools to invest with practice money.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 30:23

So it's not even real money that they're investing with. First it's like this trial account, where they can again practice with zero risk and only once they're comfortable do they fund themselves. Money that I never touch, by the way. That's all for them. I'm just teaching them how to manage it, and then they just start following along steadily with some of the opportunities that I'll send out, that I'm taking myself. So it is all the hand-holding process zero to 100. Very encouraging and deeply I focus on deep comfort for each and every one of my people.

Dr. Brooks : 30:52

You have shared so much with us here on today when it comes to your journey. You started your first business at 16 years. What role did your faith play in giving you confidence to pursue entrepreneurship at such a young age?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 31:07

Everything, everything, and, most importantly, it played two big roles. I think, if we're putting myself on a boat and the boat is entrepreneurship, faith was my anchor and my sail. It was what anchored me deep down into my purpose Whenever the winds got too aggressive and the temptations were strong to do whatever. It was such a deep anchorage into hey, remember that you're doing this for people and it's one of the reasons why, even today, I have the most affordable platform for everyone is because it's here for the people. It's a passion project.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 31:39

I'm making, first and foremost, my profit from what I preach, which is my investments, and the entrepreneurship is secondary. Right, it's all a mission statement. And then, at the same time, my faith was the wind to my sails, where it kept me going forward, even when I would lose vision, even when I had doubts. It just kept me deeply motivated when nothing else seemed to work and when I had no reason to right. Sometimes there's no light at the end of our tunnels, but we just keep walking and that's God imposing us forward and saying, hey, just keep going and you'll see that light soon enough. So faith was everything to me. And thank you for that question, thanks for anchoring us back into that.

Dr. Brooks : 32:18

You talk about financial freedom, but you also emphasize mentorship and service over profit. How are you able to balance being mission driven in a money driven world?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 32:29

First off, I would say it's by doing exactly what I said. So here's what bothers me about the world of finance, and it really is a crappy world. Like I said earlier, there's a lot of people that overcharge and, like you said, it's plagued, and this scares people away and that's what sucks. It's plagued by the pyramid scheme, by the Ponzi scheme. It's plagued by things like that, which was an obstacle for me to show people like hey, you're safe with me. That's why I do things like the free month and I'm so affordable and I build this personal connection because I have to. I need to show them that this is the right place in a crappy world and that they need this tool.

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 33:00

We do, unfortunately, right. We need to know about finance, we need to know about investing, but the way that I anchor myself in a money-driven world with purpose is because I don't need the money from the business. I practice what I preach and if I'm preaching about success and investment and I know that they're gonna see results, why would I charge them first? That is one of the main red flags in the industry is these guys that do trading, but they want to charge you $5,000 first. Wait a minute. Aren't you trading yourself If you're sure that I'm going to see results like why are you doing that? So I don't need the money from the clients, because I make my money primarily from what I'm preaching. And then, even then, I want them to have the free time first to see what I got, before anything else to see what I got before anything else.

Dr. Brooks : 33:47

I like the authenticity that you're sharing and you have been very open with us. As we wrap up, what is one message or a piece of advice that you want to leave with our listeners who may be navigating their own entrepreneurial journey?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 34:00

Keep in mind a lot of the time we get stuck in this linear cycle and you forget that it just takes one decision to break away from that. I spent three, almost four years struggling in my business with no success, to suddenly being catapulted way over six figures with just one decision, and that was to follow faith, become a public speaker and to continue to focus on purpose I'm a public speaker and to continue to focus on purpose, so my ultimate message is just going to tie into things Remember that nothing changes, nothing changes if nothing changes, and that there's nothing riskier than staying where you're at. So change something.

Dr. Brooks : 34:36

That is good advice and I am so just honored to have you on this episode today. I like that you lead with your faith, because sometimes in the entrepreneur's faith, those that have a higher belief, sometimes they don't bring that into that faith because they don't want to offend anyone. Thank you for not shying away from that and for really letting people know that is the principles that drive your interactions with people, that drive your decision-making. If someone wanted to get in touch with you, how?

SEBASTIAN UZCÁTEGUI: 35:04

can they do that? There's three big ways. You can go to StocksUnicom, S-T-O-C-K-S-U-N-Icom, SpeakUp Express, which is my business of public speaking, which is just SpeakUpExpress. But I also never afraid to share my number directly for people that want to ask me questions because, again, this is a purpose for me and even if my phone blows up, I like to speak with people directly and hear about what their struggles are, what their goals are. So that would be 407-952-4871. And, Dr Brooks, thank you so much for such a wonderful conversation and it really is refreshing in my world of I speak a lot for a lot of other stages, but it's so refreshing always to come back to the faith, to give back in this world specifically. So thank you for this opportunity.

Dr. Brooks : 35:48

You are definitely the first guest that ever gave their number out on this platform, so I will make sure that I have all your contact information in the actual show notes. So again everyone, thank you so much for listening.

Intro: 36:03

Thanks for listening. Please rate this episode and share it with your family and friends. To learn more about your host or to book a coaching session, visit wwwbrooksdemmingcom. Until next time, rise.