Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Cut the Tie podcast. I'm your host, thomas Helfrich. We're on a mission to help you cut a tie to whatever it is holding you back from success, and that success is defined by you. And today we are joined by Antoine Davis. Antoine, how are you Doing good? How are you? I'm good man, you know. Listen, you're in Atlanta, so I actually like you, because anybody in ATL is. You know that's we got a. It's a big city, so we have to move more people. If you were to take a moment, introduce yourself and what it is you do.

Speaker 2: 0:27

So my name is Antoine Davis, based here in Atlanta. I am a businessman, serial entrepreneur. I run a digital intelligence company called Fourth Park. We help companies facilitate their digital transformation. We work with a lot of organizations and brands across the country, helping them develop and manage their brand systems and web systems. We help clients look good online is one way that we say it. Secondly, I also own a real estate company called Enclave Co-Living, and I started this company back in 2018 within my hometown because the college was actually having a housing shortage and students were getting turned away because there wasn't housing available on campus, and over time, we ended up acquiring properties and converting them into co-living properties, so it was like the rent by the room model. If you're familiar with Pat Split, we're like a smaller version of that. So those are two companies that I run day to day.

Speaker 1: 1:21

Wow, that's really I mean. I love its diversity. I love it's diversity in the. In the how you're focusing on it sounds like you took a W2 job, made a digital career out of that and your own and then took a, took a need that you saw and solve that with it. I love the idea of we're at Peru because that works so well for Right. Right, it does.

Speaker 2: 1:57

Um, fantastic. So, uh, you have competition in both spaces. Uh, probably more so, I think in. Uh, actually, I want to hear from both. I graduated from Georgia State with a marketing degree and I think people have chosen us because of our level of excellence in terms of what we deliver. So, quality a lot of clients have come to us from word of mouth. So we get a lot of referral business people who we work with. They'll refer other clients. We work a lot with nonprofits. We've done a lot of work with a variety of nonprofit organizations across the country, so referral is just a big thing. But I think just quality, just the quality of our work has been a big thing with Fourth Park, with Enclave.

Speaker 2: 2:35

It's not that complicated.

Speaker 2: 2:38

I mean, we there is a need for, you know, people and I won't even necessarily say affordable housing, because we don't necessarily rent to like your lower income it's more like that mid tier working professional, college students, young professionals, travel nurses, people that aren't looking to deal with the outpacing cost of living but are looking for a place to. You know, what we say is like you know, we want to help people afford a quality of life while lowering their expenses in a certain way. So we hit that mid tier. There's a couple of steps above what PathSplit offers in terms of the audience that we appeal to and there's a demand for that. You know the cost of living has gone up and there are a lot of you know transplants. People will come into Atlanta that are staying temporarily. There are a lot of millennials and Gen Zers who are looking for a room to rent. They're not married, they don't have any kids, they don't want to deal with the cost of having to furnish an apartment. So there's actually a large demand for this kind of co-living model.

Speaker 1: 3:36

Yeah Well, I mean, if you could reduce your expenses, you free up the things that you want to do to live like travel, right, exactly, it's like, especially if you look at a place like I use this to shower, change, rest, and then I'm pretty much not here, like if that's a lot of people's model, like I'm, they're fine going to the coffee shops to be out for the day, and they don't have to be locked in a room. I mean, I get it right, you also don't want to be like I don't want to be living in a terrible spot. So having something a little nicer pays a little bit more, but less than all solo work meeting here, I get it. Uh, you know I. How do you personally, though, define success before we kind of get into? You know your journey a bit. How do you define the end games?

Speaker 2: 4:15

ah, success to me is, um, I feel like success is less of an external play. I think it's an internal uh with yourself. It's an internal conversation, internal decision. It's an internal goal, a metric that you set for yourself. You are trying to please and satisfy. At the end of the day, and as long as you feel fulfilled in what you're doing, that to me is true success. Whatever that goal is that you're setting, whether it's short-term, long-term, whether it's something small, even something big, I think it's. Success is what you define internally, and for some people it's different. Society has its metrics of what success looks like, but I think whatever you define on the inside is what's most important.

Speaker 1: 5:05

My take is, if you don't define it, someone else has and you won't recognize it as whole. It could be financial, it could be faith, it could be family, it could be health, it could be a mixture of those things and it will certainly change over time. But you need to be the one to define it, if you can exactly. Your journey is somewhat, uh, listless it's, it's somewhat indirected in a way that you didn't control, because it's going towards right, uh, a light that you didn't define as your north star, if you will. So, uh, in your journey, you know and it's out, you know you're, you know those listening young guy, uh, you know, like I'm not saying your grandpa level, but you're also not right for college either, but younger guy, yeah, but you've got two successful businesses running On your journey. What's been the biggest metaphoric tie that you've had to cut? What was holding you back that you're like I got to get rid of that?

Speaker 2: 5:58

Hmm, Well, I'll give you actually two, One that was many years ago and one that was that's more recent. So you know, I'm originally from Albany, Georgia, and I'm actually the first, I guess, documented entrepreneur on either side of my family my mom's side or dad's side and so for me the cutting the tie was from a family level, just kind of breaking the trend of let me go to school, go to college and get a job. I knew ownership for me was a big deal. Just in high school I just saw a lot of people not necessarily being in control of their time and their resources, just the ability to travel and do what you want when you want being the commander of your ship, you know. When you want being the commander of your ship, you know. And so when I got to college, I was on a journey of figuring out what was going to be my vehicle, that I was going to pursue or deal. That was going to be my tie cutting, because I knew I did not want to work a nine to five. I knew I did not want to, like you know, submit to someone else telling me and dictating to me what my life should be. I didn't want my pay to be limited either. So I started 4th Park and, to be honest, the name of 4th Park is a tie-cutting name.

Speaker 2: 7:09

In the fourth phase of my journey I went through this four-step process of kind of finding my why, my purpose, what I want to do, what industry I want to focus on, how do I want to leverage my skills. And it came out of the marketing space while I was in school but I started doing work with clients just as a freelancer. Then it turned into this company and I started right out of college. But in the fourth phase of that process I wanted to plant a flag and park. I'm going to build this shit, this is what I want to build. I'm going to launch this out in the world and I see a demand here and I think I can build value here. So in that fourth phase of my life I wanted to park that. So fourth park is the name of my business and it is a tie cutting, like symbol to the world of like this is me, this is what I'm providing, and I'm severing myself from the need of society telling me who I am, what I am, what I can do with the value I can bring it, how much I can get paid to do it. So that's one tie cut. A more recent tie cut happened, I would say, in the last, really this year, sort of top of this year. You know, I'm 38 years old. I don't look it, I feel like I'm 22, but I'm 38. I'll be 40 in two years, so I'm in a new tie cutting phase now.

Speaker 2: 8:19

Just in terms of like manhood, I think like there's a bit of just. I feel like to some degree this is my honest opinion I feel like society has emasculated men to some degree, Like we don't have the level of authority that I think we need in our communities. I'm not authority from a control standpoint, but just from a leadership standpoint. And as a man, there's certain things that I want to get to, not just on a business level, just on the inside, when it comes to my health and wellness, my fitness, my physique. I have a two and a half year old daughter.

Speaker 2: 8:51

I've gained a dad bod to some degree. I gained pounds over the last two years because I'm just like we got this child and I can't work out. So I just sometimes decide to cut the time, Like I'm not going to deal with this bullshit when it comes to my food and my health. I'm not even just pursuing happiness as a goal anymore. Like this year, I decided I want to pursue discipline, brutal discipline. You know, I feel like that warrior mentality. I lost a bit of that through just kind of, you know, being in business but just kind of forgetting these other aspects of like. How do I want to, as a man, show up in my community? How do I want to show up in my family? What type of legacy do I want to leave beyond just the money in the bank account, you know? So I've been really challenging myself to cut that tie as a man, to step up to that next level.

Speaker 1: 9:38

So, no, listen, I have a men's group that just started. That's on that topic Exactly so I'll follow up with you afterwards. It's an invite-only private group of men focusing on more than just business, but also what I call entanglement. So around you you have community, you have wives, you have your wife Sorry you have friends Assistance for life yeah, friends and you have community of church and whatever that's tangled, and they cannot truly give you sometimes honest feedback, answers at the chance of offending or distressing, and a lot of them aren't entrepreneurs too. So what I've created is a group of men that have come together to just be kind of.

Speaker 1: 10:18

You know, you can talk about religion without being disrespectful. You can talk about politics without being an asshole. You can talk about politics without being an asshole. You can talk about racism without being a racist. We can debate, we can grow as a business partners and not business partners, but a business network but also just get the real feedback you need. So, for example, you're on a, you're on a cut the guy journey. Mine started a few years ago. I'm 49. So mine was. I said 49. So mine was.

Speaker 1: 10:44

I said I think I'll be healthier and healthier the last 10 years of my life, whenever it is. If I just stop drinking, did lack. You're describing what's going to start happening, which is dad bod, you become a slowly boiled frog. Testosterone level you start dropping. I said, scoot out. We got out there, got that stuff replaced and now I'm very fit and almost 50. Then I would know is, like you know, professional athlete in my teens, like you know, like I'm very fit and almost 50. Then I would know is like you know, professional athlete in my teens, like you know, like I'm stronger now. Let's just say it that way. And then this year is about adhd for adults. I mean, I'm doing exactly what you're trying to go do is exactly what that group is for, and I think you're just prior to this, an incredibly big tight because you just you're setting up your next 20 years to be kick-ass Right For you Right, thank you.

Speaker 1: 11:24

If you bet for your daughter, because you'll be like no daddy's, confident and fit and you're going to see some abs out of daddy Right, that's one opinion. You're going to have a great journey to be on. So I'll share with you that stuff, maybe after this show here, because that might be something you the rest of it so, anyway, I love it All right. So you got your moments. You realize it. You know, you're, you're, you're, oh man, I need to do this, I've done that. You know, uh, the how matters, though you know, maybe, briefly, tell me what you're doing, though, specifically in this last time. What are you doing to make it happen? Cause there's one thing to declare it, there's another thing to get it done.

Speaker 2: 12:33

Yeah, so I can. Actually I'm not going to open it, but a couple of things that I do. I start my day with an alignment practice and I've been doing this now for about six months, but really locking in every day. I sit down and I write down Um, so it's basically on one side, on one side of the notebook. I'll do, I do this every day. So I sit down, I write, I do a gratitude list, I write down gratitude, I write down the list of things I'm grateful for in real time, and then on the left, on the, on the other side, I'll write down goals and I literally write down what my goals are Like. Some are short term, Some are just like in general, like where I see myself going in the end, and some have numbers to them or whatever from a financial standpoint. So this is like a gratitude and goals journal. I do every single day and I know it. When I'm done, I put it in my notebook, I mean in my book bag, and then the next thing I do, I have an affirmation that I read to myself after doing that and it's just like certain statements, just a reminder. And then another thing that I have that I do. That's a part of this whole alignment process is I wrote down 30 attributes of a sovereign man. So these are just 30 attributes of the type of man I want to be. So I have an affirmation that I read, but then I have this 30 attributes also, which is a separate thing, and I read through both of those. That just kind of gets my mind set for my day. So those are like tactical things that I do.

Speaker 2: 13:58

Also, from a workout level, I wasn't working out. I'm a digital internet guy. I'm running an internet business, so it's easy to sit on a computer all day. Now I'm working out three times a week Monday, Wednesday, Friday, religiously, and then on Sundays I cycle. I'm a cyclist, so I've been cycling for years, but I'm dedicated more now to making sure I cycle, Even when my cycling group doesn't cycle. On Sunday I cycle and it's a push, it's a workout. So that's four times a week I'm working out cardio and then just strength, endurance, strength, um, endurance, Um.

Speaker 2: 14:28

Then also from a health standpoint, I am increasing, um the amount of organic foods and products that I eat and use. So, um, you know, that's just kind of like an ongoing journey, Like I'm switching my deodorant out, you know. So I use a different type of deodorant now toothpaste. So it's not just what I put in my body, what I put on my body, the lotion I use. So I'm just thinking about health, wellness, like you know, mind, body and soul.

Speaker 2: 14:55

How do I practice that alignment day to day? Even down to the things I watch? There's certain YouTube influencers, people that I like pay attention to, certain videos I like to focus on. Even I have a playlist on my Apple Music that I play. That's also like alignment music. So these are just practical things that I just kind of have around me. I might not do it all in one day, but these are things that I have around me that I like govern myself by. Last thing I say I use this app. It's called On and I and it tracks like my habits, let me see what I have. So I have like each of the things I do in my habits and each day I check off like what I do for that day. So I've been doing that for months, just more.

Speaker 2: 15:41

So I'm trying to get to more like a brutal discipline. You know just the authority of it. You know what it's doing is. It's built my masculinity more. You know I'm way more confident and decisive, Like I'm way more decisive even in my household, just way more decisive and clear about what my yes is, what my no is, Even in business. It's like I'm more, I'm clearer in terms of how I want to engage and build relationships and I'm an introvert. So I naturally will stay behind the computer and just build and build and I've built a network. People know me in Atlanta for the things that I've done. But in this new season of my life I'm going out after like the type of relationships that I want. I'm scheduling dinners, I'm scheduling meetings, I'm stepping out more to become a key person of influence and being more intentional about that. So those are just like tactical things that I even see in my business and my personal life in terms of how those habits have like been changing my life over the last, you know, six months or so.

Speaker 1: 16:40

I love that. You know we do a here's one for your wife in the bathroom, a little tiny journal and what you, every day, every time you go in there, do, whatever you do but it's a private town, right what you appreciate and just leave it in the back of the toilet, what you appreciate about her and she goes in there. Now, that's, it's not my idea. We took that from some, some counseling, and I still do it. You, you do it every day, every time you go in there. It could be anything. I appreciate that. You, you know uh, you woke me up, I overslept by five minutes. Anything, it could be anything. The point is, you can tell you right then, and there, tiny little journal, it's someplace, it's always going to be there, put a pen in there, yeah, and you're both supposed to write in there, and I will tell you. It's uh, just conscious of time here. Tell me something in short what's your biggest lesson for for the listeners, ooh, um.

Speaker 2: 17:44

Biggest lesson for listeners, I would say, is, um, listeners, I would say is, I would say, one big lesson. The alignment practice probably is one of my biggest North Stars. How you start your day will determine your day and your days determine your weeks and your weeks determine your months. So I think there's a way of like how you arrive into your day. A lot of times we just wake up to the day and the day kind of is going on its own. We just kind of I don't know most people don't, I think have an actual practice or flow other than like showering and checking their phones.

Speaker 2: 18:28

But if you can set an actual alignment practice, a way that snaps you out of mediocrity or snaps you out of the monotony, the minutia, like an actual alignment practice, whatever you, whatever it looks like, it doesn't have to look like what I do, but having some form of a, a thing that you do every day, like I literally wake up every day and declare war on my day, that's kind of how I view it. Like I literally wake up every day and declare war on my day, that's kind of how I view it. Like I'm there, I'm declaring war on every distraction, you know, because I don't think this life is just by accident. Like I was summoned here by my ancestors, I'm an answer to a prayer, you know. So that's a conviction for me. So I don't want to waste my time, and one way that I make sure I do that is by how I start and begin my day. That alignment practice is everything. So that's what.

Speaker 1: 19:09

I would say I agree with you. So, being intentional about who you're going to be today, and the idea was atomic habits, 1% math, right, if you prove your 37.8 times better by a year. By the way, if you decrease yourself by 1% every day, you're 0.0025% worse, so you're less than 2.5% of what you were if you continue to go the other way. So just the difference between negative versus self. So people out there listen, if you see people continue making it, you don't feel like shit's going great for you. They're doing one percent and then, if you're going the other way, it seems like a vast thing. It's just quickly, you can quickly recover, just to start doing one percent towards something positive for yourself. Look, you're describing a good method to do that.

Speaker 2: 19:53

Who gives you inspiration? Oh, who gives me inspiration? Um, it's not necessarily a someone, it's more of a. I get a lot of inspiration from seeing people who have decided that they're going to, who've declared war Like not thinking of anything, seeing people who've decided, like I'm going to live this life in full throttle, full potential, full purpose. I'm on it, I'm alive, I'm here, I'm now, I'm present.

Speaker 2: 20:33

When I see people who are doing that, across any industry, any sphere of influence, that inspires the hell out of me, because it gives me the hope that this life isn't as horrible as we think it is, because there are some great people on the planet. You know, sometimes I literally will say prayers and I just am blessing the fact that certain people are here, like, thank God that such and such is here. Well, I'm grateful that this person is still alive. You know, there's certain people that I just see out in the world or in my network. I'm just grateful that you're here. Because you're in here, the world is going to be different, it's going to be better. So that gives me inspiration. It makes me want to show up. When I see others showing up, that's great.

Speaker 1: 21:09

If there was a question, I should have asked you today, and I didn't. What would that question have been and how do you answer it?

Speaker 2: 21:17

Oh, Hmm, this is kind of funny. Uh, maybe it would be like uh, have you I know it's kind of like a random question, because I haven't, and I am now have you traveled outside the country, which I'm sure you probably would have never asked me, that I would have never asked you that. What's the answer? The answer is no. But on June, the 9th, within a couple of weeks, I'm going to Dubai for seven days. It's my first actual international trip.

Speaker 2: 22:03

My passport arrives tonight, it's actually on its way. It's in Atlanta, it's on its way to the house tonight, and I'm going to be going to Dubai. It's my first international trip and it's to the place I want to go the most. And I think that question is important because I spent so much time head down working that I lost a bit of wanderlust and I have not like taken time to really like experience, taste and see other parts of the world. I've traveled around the US, but just like, definitely like making sure that I like break out of the country and see some things. I think that's going to give me a different lens and I'm 38. I should have been did this, but you know.

Speaker 1: 22:41

It's happening. It's meeting you where you are when it was, when it was supposed to happen for you right now. And, by the way, I great first pick, um, I've traveled quite a bit around the world. Uh, dubai is not the one I've been to yet, so it's, it's. Uh, I'm happy for you. Uh, enjoy it, you will. It will change your be what. You will be regretful for doing it. Thank you Listen. Shameless plug time for you, antoine. Thank you for coming on. By the way, who should get a hold of you and how do they do that?

Speaker 2: 23:16

So you can find me, you know, anywhere online at Antoine Davis, that's A-N-T-W-O-N-D-A-V-I-S. And if you want to learn about any of my businesses enclavecolivingcom you can learn about my real estate company, and then my agency. Fourth Park is the number four T-H-T-A-R-K. All one word. You can learn about us there as well.

Speaker 1: 23:40

I love it. Thank you so much for coming on today. You're inspiring and I really you're inspiring and I I hope others are inspired by you and just keep it going forward and um, we'll definitely find time to catch up in a few months again to see, see how you're, how you're progressing.

Speaker 2: 23:53

Yeah, Perfect man. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Glad I could come on.

Speaker 1: 23:57

Yeah, absolutely. And listen, anyone still watching listening. I really appreciate you being here. If this was your first time listening or watching, I hope it's the first of many. But get out there, get inspired, go cut a tie to something holding you back and go unleash the best version of yourself. Go achieve that success that you define for yourself.