How Great Leaders Turn Vision Into Execution with Michael Mok

This is the Beyond the Story podcast, a show that goes way beyond the story. And now, Sebastian Frost! Michael, welcome to the show. Sebastian, looking forward to this. Been a while. Yeah, it definitely has. I'm looking forward to it as well. And, um, I know that we met through the great Dan Martell's Elite Coaching, uh, program, the, the great Dan Martell and the amazing Elite Business Coaching program that he has, uh, created. I can't tell you the— I lost count, Michael, on the amount of, uh, great humans that I've been able to meet, connect with, and build relationships. Because of that. But hey, that's what happens in community when you're in the right community, right? Absolutely. Like, I love the energy in that group. It is just off the hook. Literally, everybody has a superpower that's either tapped or untapped, which is why I love it. And you see the inspiration that's in them, like where you can go and where you need to take yourself to that next level, which is why I love being in the elite community. Yeah, me too. Me too. You know, Michael, I love to tell people stories on, on this show, and, uh, yours is no different. But for context purposes for our listeners, I always like to go back to the beginning of the story. Now, that's a different starting point for everybody, so you decide where the beginning is. But let's spend a few minutes going back to the beginning of the story for you. And, uh, how did this all start? And then walk us through The journey to what led you to what you're doing today? It started with my father giving me a gift that I didn't want. And it's a— you know how parents sometimes they gift you something that they want you to become in the future, right? So the gift that they— That they want you to become. That they want you to become. It's actually turned out to be a gift for himself. So this is a typical dad story, right? So my dad, one Christmas, he's like, I got you an erector set. Here's the thing. Up until that time, I said, Dad, I don't want erect. I want Legos. I want Legos and Legos, Legos, Legos, Legos. So the funny thing is like, what do I do for work now? I jokingly say that I do adult Legos, which just happens to be general contracting. So, don't give me the mechanical engineering erector set with all that stuff. I just want the end product to look beautiful, right? So, that's why I work with interior designers and everything. But what's really interesting is that you already know what you want to do as a young child, you just may not remember it. And I think that's the part that was really just hit me like 3 years ago is like, This is what I would— this is what I'm meant to be. Like, all the years of like pushing away and like doing other career tracks, like, and then finally it's like full circle. It's like, what do you do? Well, I'm playing Legos, it's just an adult form. So that's the story. Like, you know deep down, if you feel and listen to your heart, you know where you want to go. It's just sometimes we just— Listen to other people like my dad who wants to buy me an erector set. Yeah, no, it's been a while since I've heard that. Yeah, erector set. Wow. That was, I remember there was also Lincoln Logs as well too. Yeah. I'm thinking when you think like Lego alternatives. That's right. It's all fun and games till you step on a Lego in the middle of the night in the dark. Oh yeah. Especially like kids, it's like a freaking IED landmine, man. Yeah, no, it, it, it absolutely is. Hurts like hell. It definitely does. It definitely does. So let's talk about what you're doing and the work that you're doing right now and what, why, why, why did you go this route? I know that you kind of had a natural inclination when you were young, what you wanted to do to go and build stuff and create things, but let's talk a little bit more about what it's all about. What's it all about? Well, it's for me at the core of it, it's about helping families. Like really just helping families become more of their family. And what I mean by that is that the home is such a holy place for everybody. It doesn't matter if you're single or not, but it's your domain. And what I've learned is from working with families, it's like, it's probably the most important thing for them, a place for people to feel safe. Right. And that's, that's what we're there for. Right. As a general contractor, like you hear all the horror stories of how people behave in our industry. And that was actually kind of the genesis of the story is like my parents would used to hire general contractors and then handymen would show up and, oh man, it was just miserable experience one after another and after another. And you would hear mom and dad just go, like bicker at each other. Like, dad, you hired this guy. And mom's like, nah, it's her fault. Right? You can just imagine the interplay. And so our role is to create an experience that's like, place safe for mom, guys who are safe for mom. Like, I can just drop them off at my mom's house. My mom is my guinea pig. Like, send my guys over there. If it's good, we're good. And then all at the same time, because my father's technical, he's an engineer by training, and I have a biochemistry degree and I worked in biotech too. I have an engineering degree, like, you know, science degree. We also want to do things in a very methodical manner, right? So that's kind of the merger of how I think and how we present ourselves as a team, right? It's probably different than most GCs. Like, I didn't learn— okay, yeah, I did help my dad. Like, my dad's like, yeah, tape this wall and like paint this, right? As a kid. But I didn't come from like a construction background. I inherently came from a Lego-loving background. Then I had a science career. then rediscovered that I've like loved this industry because I went to business school and I'm like, I don't know what to do. And then you're just like bumbling around and somehow landed in this. Like, but it was like, that's the thing. Like God's plan's already like laid out for you. You just don't, you're just not aware of it. And I think that's the take-home message. Yeah, exactly. Um, and, and, and we could save ourselves a lot of time, frustration, and anxiety if we can embrace that idea. Yeah. It doesn't matter who you believe, like religious-wise, like it's already there. You just are not aware of it. Right, exactly. Exactly. Um, you mentioned the fact of being able to help families and that's really the fulfilling part, um, of that. Do you have some examples of experiences that have really stuck out where you said, you know what, I'm really doing Really doing work that matters, work that's fulfilling to me because of this situation. Okay. So I would say, all right, I'll go to our oldest client, family that we helped. She was 87 years old and this one really hit home because she had developed asthma. Like over a 15, 20-year period. Don't know why. So her house was falling apart physically. It was falling apart. Like the termites and the dry rot had moved in and the front of her house was collapsing. And her— I mean, you would drive up and it's like looking at the roofline and why is the garage depressed? It literally was actually depressed. Like everything was falling apart. There was tons of rot. So mid-construction, we were saying, hey, you know, most GCs, and they're like, we don't want to deal with the situation. It's like too much pain for us. So we opened up the wall in her crawl space in the basement, and I found literally like probably like 100+ square feet of black mold behind the wall. Wow. And then that's when I put like 2 and 2 together. It's like, how did she get asthma? Like, that doesn't just happen overnight. Right? And then, you know, that matters to me because growing up I had a lot of allergies with like whatever. We live in California, so it's prone for allergies. Opened up the wall and I was like, I had this moment, it's like, man, that's probably why she has asthma. You keep on breathing that in your playroom. Like, this was like their playroom. They had like where their billiards table and everything. That's going to affect her. Then her, her niece came over. It's like before the niece came and she's like, oh, I would get tons of allergies. After we cleaned it up and remediate, gone. And I think that's a health win, right? Now you can proceed and get better. And I think that was so powerful because you can actually heal a person's body. Like Given the person's in the right environment. Sure. Absolutely. Love that. Those are all, I mean, you never really think that you're going to end up, you know, in, in construction and building and creating things. And short of giving somebody a better place to live, upgrading their existing place or whatever, improving their life overall. Um, was that something you had been able to go, you know what, these are, this is why, this is what I want to be. This is why I want to do what I want to do. Or did that just, become part of the equation? It became part of the equation, but then I got— I became much more interested in it because it's pulling back this— my science interest, right? Because inherently, I still love science. There's a part of me that I still miss doing the science. And just to share with you, I was growing stem cells. We were doing gene therapy, like all the COVID vaccine stuff. We were doing that like precursor type stuff, meaning I was working on projects that probably led up to that type of product, right? And I was like, this is kind of cool. I can help people stay healthy. I value health and happens to be in construction. Like, it's kind of this merger of myself, like, as a person. And this came up just recently and it's like, oh, we're just not really just a construction company. We're actually helping make sure to maintain the health of the family. Which is really powerful because I think a lot of people don't know. Because I talk to my doctor friends— oh, my wife happens to be a doctor— and she's like, I don't know, they just show up and they're like, well, I got runny eyes and the allergies. But we don't ask like what's the condition of their home. So yeah, I think that's going to be powerful for people to really keep their family safe. Yeah. And it also is going to help you grow your business because you're doing things to really help people, um, but it's also fulfilling work at the same time. Funny how that works out, right? Yeah, I mean, that is— the fulfillment aspect is the most important thing that keeps you going. Honestly, the last 4 days I've been so under so much stress, I've been sleeping like maybe less than 4 hours. But it's that fulfillment that keeps you going. Yeah, because if you don't have it there You just could give up. Sure. Yeah. I don't think that, um, a lot of people have that. I think they just kind of go through the motions and, oh, you gotta have a job, gotta pay the bills, gotta do the, you know, norm versus, uh, doing work that actually matters, doing work that gives you that fulfillment, that creates the momentum that even if you slept 4 hours the night before, your feet still hit the ground and you're ready to rock and roll. Um, and show up fully and serve your business and your customers. Yeah. At the end of the day, like my, my vid— you asked me what my 10x vision is, right? Because that's what Dan Martell talks about. It's about making impact on the world and like, how can I make the most amount of impact in terms of families and health? So that's, that's what I love. That's what I'm interested in. So that's Gets me going and allows me to sleep 3 hours a night, but that's a bad idea. Yeah, it is. It is. Got to get a rest. Got to get a rest. Well, Michael, it's been good. It's been great to get to know you and hear more about your story. I love the fact that you're doing work that matters. Um, I share that sentiment with you. I do work that matters. I believe that starting a podcast can radically change your life and your business if you let it. And I'm qualified to say something so bold because I've lived it. I continue to live it. And now I have the unique opportunity of helping other people do that same exact thing. So continue to do the work that you're doing. It matters. It's making a lasting impact, not just impact, a lasting impact in both the people that you get to do business with, but also, uh, your life as well. Any final thoughts for our listeners? Yeah. So I'm going to share this with you guys. Everybody's a listener. You're gonna— I'm gonna gift you a checklist that you can keep your home safe from all these potential toxins. Um, it's going to be a Google Doc and I'm going to share it with you. It will be a link for you that I'm going to give it to Sebastian. No, I just want to say thank you, Sebastian, for the opportunity to share my story. And, um, love you, brother. You are awesome. Love you too, man. It's been great to— it's been great to chat with you. And by the way, Michael's Instagram is going— he did it wrong. Dan told us to do it differently. So, I'm going to help him out here. I'm gonna help a brother out. Okay? I'm going to put Michael's Instagram in the show notes. That's the description of this podcast episode. And you're going to message, uh, Michael with the word— That's right. With the word purpose. And he's going to reply back and send you that free gift. That way you get into his ecosystem and he gets into yours. Thank you so much, Sebastian. Absolutely. Thank you, my brother, and thanks for your time, man. Love you, man. Love you too, bro. Until next time, friends. Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of the Beyond the Story podcast. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show. This way you'll get updates as new episodes become available. If you feel so inclined, please leave us a review. We sure do appreciated. Signing off from the podcast, launchlab.com studios. We'll talk to you next time.