Adam Torres and Elena Cardone discuss the Grant Cardone Foundation.
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Show Notes:
The Grant Cardone Foundation Pitch Off Competition is helping young entrepreneurs launch businesses. In this episode, Adam Torres and Elena Cardone, Co Founder and Foundation Director at The Grant Cardone Foundation, explore the Grant Cardone Foundation and its work supporting youth.
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About Elena Cardone
Elena Cardone is a force to be reckoned with. Originally making a name for herself as a model and actress in Hollywood, she has since turned her sights to empowering others, using her unique skills and experiences to help them reach their potential. Running events like 10X Ladies and Operation 10X Badass, while hosting her show “Women in Power.” She uses these platforms to promote empowerment, growth, and the idea that everyone can be an empire-builder.
With her best-selling book “Build an Empire: How to Have it All,” Elena inspires others to reach their full potential. As an executive producer of renowned events like 10X Ladies, Operation 10X Badass, Build an Empire Mastermind, and her show “Women in Power,” she empowers individuals to thrive. Elena’s dedication extends to guiding aspiring empire builders through her curated curriculum and personal coaching sessions. Her recent partnership with EXP Realty reflects her commitment to helping people achieve generational wealth through real estate. Married to Grant Cardone since 2004, the couple has built an impressive real estate portfolio valued at $5.2 Billion. Elena Cardone’s unwavering determination and passion continue to leave a profound impact on the lives she touches.
About Grant Cardone Enterprises
Built by the number-one sales trainer in the world, Cardone Training Technologies has become one of the most trusted names in the sales industry. For over thirty years, Grant Cardone has helped companies expand sales, increase transaction profitability, and reduce turnover all by disrupting the status quo by implementing his proven, industry-leading processes, through management, and training technology.
Founded and led by CEO, Grant Cardone, a New York Times bestselling author, international social media influencer, renowned speaker, trainer, and coach to fortune 500 companies as well as a real estate mogul, Cardone Training Technologies takes a cutting-edge, disruptive approach to sales, marketing, social media and consulting to give businesses an opportunity to increase their revenue and expand their market share.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and if you’d like to apply to be a guest in the show, just head on over to missionmatters. com and click on be our guest to apply. All right, so today’s guest is Elena Cardone on the line, and she’s co founder and the foundation director over at the Grant Cardone Foundation.
Elena, welcome to the show. Oh, thanks for having me, Adam. I’m excited to be here today. All right, Elena. So I did an interview recently with Phil over at the Grant Cardone Foundation, and he had me all fired up for this pitch competition. I absolutely fell in love , with the concept and the idea, and I was like, I’ve been in love with it.
Phil’s ear about this. And I’m like, we want to support, we want to make sure that everybody knows about this pitch competition, because I think it’s special. And I think that the more people that know are the more that are going to be not, not able to just support, of course, the foundation, but also, I mean, just to get involved in this concept, like I want to shake the brains of other entrepreneurs out there , and let, let them know.
they can give back as well. So maybe just to get us kicked off a little bit here, Elena, maybe just start by telling us a little bit about the foundation overall for those that aren’t aware of it yet. Yeah. So the Grant Cardone Foundation was originally thought up by my husband, Grant Cardone, who, when he was 10 years old, his father passed away.
He died of a heart attack. And so he was raised by a single mother and it was difficult for him because he kept waiting for his uncle to step in and kind of show him the way and teach him the ropes and they never did. So, at that point, he vowed that if he were ever to become successful in life, that he would.
Be the uncle, so to speak to others that, that weren’t there for him. So now people call him uncle G in the circles that we run in. But really, this program is really to help under. served children in our communities that don’t have access to the right tools, knowledge. Maybe they don’t have the right role models to guide them to, to really understand how to create wealth, how to sustain your own and create your own future.
In spite of the cards that may have been dealt to you early on. So, that’s why we founded the Grant Cardone Foundation, so that we can give these children the skills and the know how to really succeed and make a difference and an impact in their lives. Yeah, and one of the things that I like and that I, and that I found that was just so impressive about the foundation and I just think it’s amazing is that you’re teaching kids the skills through things like education.
So, for example, like just bringing from the website as of July, I see over 16, 000, 10 X kids books donated globally 10 X kids university user accounts over 350, 000 South Africans reached over 1, 700 students brought to the 10 X headquarters for a mentor workshop. I mean, the numbers are outstanding.
And to me, what I see is like the potential for that, that ripple effect. Like you’re teaching people, you’re giving them a basis. That’s going to potentially, change their lives. Many of these kids, can you talk a little bit about just the strategy behind why you lead with education and what that means?
Well, knowledge is power, right? And so when you’re armed with tools and skills and life, nobody can take that away from you. So really that’s what we’re offering to these children that they wouldn’t have gotten other places. What’s that? Now , I’m in talks with several of the shelters, like emergency stabilization shelters where kids go for 90 days in the interim before they’re placed with their foster families.
So I’m really trying to get this , into shelters , and places where they can have lifetime access. So as soon as they come into the system and these other nonprofits that are willing to work with us , and be given this information, we’re not only giving it to the children, but to the staff members there that are responsible for the training and, and whatnot.
So , they will understand as well. So that these kids can have a chance to really have a understanding of the kids that are unfortunately having to go through the foster system, their parents, for whatever reason, aren’t equipped enough to even have them in the home. So, much less teach them life skills.
So I’m also working with, you know, delicate topic, but a lot of the sex traffic kids, mostly young girls, but boys as well. And there’s safe houses that they go to from when they are rescued. A lot of times they’ve never, they’ve never even been taught to read and write. So there’s programs out there in secret locations and, and other organizations that we’re working with.
Okay. So that they go through, they stay at these kind of safe homes for 18 months and go through an entire educational system and program. So we’re going to be getting into that system as well. So that when they actually recover and get treated that then when they are now going out into life, they are not just skill less, but they actually have the opportunity to not only, Succeed in the workplace, but actually thrive and our intentions is to help them soar above any competition from the skills and the knowledge that they will have gained through having the content that grants put out for everyone.
Yeah, think it’s amazing and , some of my listeners have heard this before in some of my background, but I mean, I’m from the southwest side of Detroit and when I was growing up there, , in the 80s, early 90s, , wasn’t, let’s just say the, the best place to be , and there were individuals that came into my life that I was lucky to have that were mentors and otherwise that were able to Teach me about business and allow me to build a life and a future.
And, , not all my friends and not all the people I grew up with had that same opportunity. Right. So they, not, not everybody was in a good place. And my mother, she was, you know, a social worker for, I don’t know, 50 plus years before she retired and she worked with the most. At risk use there were, it wasn’t uncommon.
She worked, she was a second employee at covenant house, Michigan. So literally employee number two, and that’s a pretty big organization. , and there wasn’t a year that went by where unfortunately she didn’t, , when I say lost, she was. Children and lost, you know, I mean literally lost due to violence and gang violence and you name it, unfortunately and so I kind of I grew up in that atmosphere and I seen what it can do on the negative side and the the worst of the worst side to losing, Family members and friends and things every single summer.
It was like a cycle was absolutely horrible But then i’ve also seen what the other side of it can do when you see You in this case, obviously, Grant Cardone Foundation wasn’t around back then when I was growing up there in that particular area, but I think, but we had some other organizations that helped in the way that they could and did.
And now I think about what Grant Cardone Foundation is doing on a global level. And by using grants, teachings and knowledge and books and all of the things that this entire ecosystem that’s been created, like I get excited because I know that even just conversations that I had as a kid made, made a difference.
You know, just a conversation. If I’m thinking about, man, if I had access to a platform and books and other things like that in a community, I’m like, these are the type of big ideas. I feel that that changed the world and that move us forward as a whole. So that’s why I’m such a big fan of this. Oh, yeah.
Truly, truly. That’s so exciting. Yes. Give me some. I want to maybe let’s jump around just a little bit here. And now I want, I do want to spend some time here. I know I only got you for so long. We’re not keep you on here for a couple hours. But I, I want to spend some time on the the pitch competitions and just some of the things you’re doing there because I think it’s groundbreaking. , I’m just so excited by it. When Phil was telling me, I’m like, what? This is for high school students and this is for young adults. And then I seen some of the decks and I was just and I think I’m going to be heading out there actually in August. But I’d seen some of the things that were going on and I just got tickled by this.
Cause I’m like, man, these kids. Kids are sharp. This is our next Elon Musk’s that are next. Like, who knows that are coming through the halls of Grant Cardone Foundation. So maybe let’s tell the tell the viewers a little bit about that, please. So, yeah, so we are lucky enough to work with a lot of the school systems as well.
And when they implement , the training, and so for the listeners that don’t know what it is, Grant has a whole Cardone University, which is just hundreds and if not thousands upon thousands of short little videos, two to three minutes from, from every aspect of it. sales, meet and greet, any objective, how to handle I need to talk to my wife.
I mean, closing, how to follow up, how to stay motivated. So these are all little short tips. Videos that grant has put out over the years. Now we put out a 10 X kids book that kind of simplifies that collection of data that he has done and then we’ve also Have our online program where we have hired kids That have listened to little Segment that grants put out there.
And so they’ve interpreted that and put it into their own words. So it’s, it’s literally an online program that’s grants material, but , it’s for kids by kids, which makes it even more impactful. the kids go with the school systems or with the nonprofits and they go through the program and they get certification.
Now they know , how to have a meet and greet, how to follow up., they passed all these tests. test to get this certain certification. So when the school system goes through the Grant Cardone program, then the kids, we fly them in from all over America at this point.
, and many real quick, Elena, before we get into the fly in part, I want to stick on that first part, the age group that they’re going in, like what age is this again? We have the 10 X kids roughly from around age eight to 18 or 21. What you just described to me is so insane because most people don’t go through things like that for life skills or otherwise, whether it’s entrepreneurship or otherwise till their twenties.
Like I don’t remember seeing that. of anything like that until at least my twenties and I was working at a huge company. So you’re over here, like, like describing my twenties for some like high schoolers and I’m like, I’m so thrilled by it. Oh, and I don’t want to glance over that. That’s amazing. It is amazing because when I was in school, I don’t want to speak for everyone, but I was bored by.
Science or math, even for me. I was bored, too. I was bored, too. Why am I learning this stuff? But now kids today with the social media, they see, well, oh, I want the shoes or I want to this or I want to work or. And so that when a child has a purpose and a reason for learning, it captures their interest.
All right. And so when they think, wow, , I can make a hundred dollars, a thousand dollars, I can help take care of myself, my family, these kids light up because not only that, now you’re giving them a sense of competency and confidence in themselves. And they really kind of blossom out of this, this shell or this many times the state of what their life, where they’ve come from, they feel like, wow, I have an opportunity now.
Whereas before they feel maybe not so much like, well, okay, life dealt me a hard hand here. So so this program has been really phenomenal and the kids, most of them have never been on a plane or stayed at a hotel and they come in for this great big. the ones that finally make it down. It’s usually to the, to the final 10.
And so they’ve crafted, they’ve come up with a concept. They have their slide deck of a business that they would want , to give it a go at. Sometimes they’ve already started it. Sometimes it’s just concept, but they work out. The marketing what’s their strategic plan, how they’ve researched what it would take so then they come in and they have about three minutes , to go through their whole slide deck and present the opportunity.
And then, of course, we judge them. We have a panel of judges and we look at a, how they’ve. Their presentation, but then also the concept and how much do we like this and, we award a first, second, third, sometimes a fourth or a runner up because sometimes it’s just too hard to pick.
From, but so then they’ll get the first 10, 000, 6, 000, 3, 000, whatever the amount is that we give to their cause so that they can develop it a little bit further. We check back in. So , it’s like a really, really. Fun, fun day that we have at the office when these kids come in because they give me ideas and inspiration.
It’s just phenomenal because really ignites my imagination and creativity. And so they’ll say an idea and then I’m like, Oh, maybe you should do this or that. But they are getting and they’re like, yeah, I’ll look into that. But they’re very receptive and they’re just, that’s amazing.
I’m telling you, it’s, really one of the highlights of everything that we do is, is seeing these Yeah. Yeah. When I, when I heard about it originally, and I was thinking about like that age group, and I was like, man, you, I don’t know if you remember, like, they used to do the, like, where, where do you wanna go?
I wanna go to Disneyland, forget that. I wanna go to 10 X HQ and, and pitch, come on. That’s what I’m talking about for these kids. I’m like, it’s amazing. Especially if you’re business oriented, especially if you’re like, if that’s your thing and you don’t see the rest of the world, but you see business, like I’m like, that’s the lifeblood.
It’s amazing. Totally. And so, and that’s what makes it so exciting and so relatable is these kids, a lot of time have the realization that they don’t, they don’t have this. Whatever a ballplayer celebrity actor a rapper, whatever they’re looking at as their role models, some of them have the realization, well, I can’t be that.
Everyone, no matter what you look like, no matter your race, anyone can get this entrepreneurial life set skills and apply them and actually change the trajectory of their lives. Like that’s for anyone can be an entrepreneur. Anyone. Yeah, I’m over here cringing a little bit, Elena, like, wow, you just described my childhood when I looked at my dad, and he’s from Puerto Rico, and I’m like, I’m not going to live, I’m not going to be over 5’9 give up the basketball journey, I need, I need to focus on business.
You didn’t know that, you didn’t know that, but you just described my childhood, A little bit, a little bit, a crystal ball over there. You know, , it’s just a very small amount of people that are going to, to make it and I don’t want to crush anyone’s dreams, but I’m a woman, the chances of me being an NFL star are like zero, that’s not going to happen.
I know that there was just a, and I don’t know for certain if you were on that last panel, so if you were not as a judge, because I know there’s multiple that are happening this year, but I know one just, I believe Phil just mentioned to me that one like passed recently, any of the presentations or the pitches that just stuck out, just to give the audience a little bit , of a flavor of like what is the end result of this? Like anyone that you care to speak on? Yeah, well, the winner she was a swimmer, , she gave a great presentation with a lot of knowledge, a lot of confidence, and so what she wanted to develop was one of these caps a swim cap that And I know they have swim caps out there, but she wanted to develop a swim cap that actually protects your hair, but also it has a built in between the layers one of these dye capsules that’s actually set up to monitor heart rates and so.
body goes into a panic or starts to drown or panic, that ink automatically explodes in the water and she goes, if you’ve ever seen it’s pretty quick before it makes a big old mark so that, people around can know somebody’s in trouble or the lifeguards or whatever, if you’re in a big situation.
And so obviously that concept has to get developed. So, I said to her, I said, okay why don’t you, or have you thought about this? , just because I love the idea so much. And, I didn’t do the research. Is this already out on the market? I don’t know, but I said, why don’t you do like a little latex bracelet, like a band that has the capsule in it.
Because that’s easy. You’re not doing the swim cap and the swim cap. Usually just for women. It cuts down your niche of the audience, but what parents at a water park or even at a kid’s party wouldn’t make their kid wear that band. So then you Sell them or rent them at all the parks and the capsules easy to replace, or you just throw it away and, , get a new one.
So so she ended up winning because she just did a phenomenal presentation and , it was great. Another gal, I think she came in third. She had these little charm bracelet ideas, . But everyone was on this app where they could share in this community and have their little charm bracelets with their own little charms and to help them through the adversity of what they’re going through.
Each one meant something different. So, and these are ideas that came from there. What I love about this, may sound obvious to anybody listening, but to me, it’s not, it’s like, this, these are ideas that came from these young entrepreneurs. Like, that’s amazing. Like, these are the, these are the, this is the next generation that’s going to be creating the next things that are in the market.
Like people don’t, I, I think I marvel at it sometimes, like those ideas came from somewhere and look at that. That’s amazing. That her idea can save lives. Like her idea can literally save lives. That’s crazy to me. Right. That’s what I think too. And another gal came up with an app where. It would tell you of all the different cultures how to make certain dishes so you could have all the recipes.
And she wanted it to be like a social chat for everyone to participate in this cultural food experience. And I said, Hey, why don’t you think about to help you with that, do like where you could do some sort of subscription, but everyone does like a random dish a day or a dish a week and everyone’s making the blah, blah, blah, the Japanese blah, blah, blah, or the Ecuadorian blah, blah, blah.
And then they chat about it and post the pictures of how it came out and this and that. And so. So I thought that was really cool that you could go to one place to have all these recipes of multi, because she wanted to bring like a multicultural environment together where we could come together through food and cultural diversities to understand each other and have more like a reality and affinity for each other.
So, I mean, I was blown away. I mean, absolutely blown away. This is great. Well I know I’ve, I’ve been talking to Phil and I told him, I was like and when we were talking about like, my mission matters, we absolutely want to support and continue to get the word out about the great work being done by the foundation.
And , for my own personal reasons as well, like I just, I’ve been given so much and through my mentors along the way. So if I can, Get this word out more to more people to be able to get more involved. Like I I’ll be doing my part. I feel, and that’s what I like to do. But , I was talking to Phil and I’m like, yeah, like I think we’re going to have to have some of the the kids, or I should say the young adults on the show.
Cause I want them I want to hear their pitches and Phil’s like, you want to have them too. I’m like, yeah. He’s like, I was like, yeah, I don’t just want to have the celebrities and the judges and this, that great, great, great. That’s fun. But my heart’s with the kids, like I want to hear the kids. I want to hear their story.
And I want to hopefully, you know, as their idea gets out there further than hopefully we get some. , other people that read , that reach out, that want to support and that want to continue to either back or otherwise support what the kid is. The young adults are doing in their ideas and support the next generation of entrepreneurs.
So I just. I’m just so thrilled by this. I’m going to follow back up with Phil. I’m like, Phil, Elena sold me. I want, who had the swim cap now to be, I think it’s now the band the band that’s going to have the capsule in it. The wrist band, like let’s go. I’m ready. Get them on the, get them on the, get them on the show, Phil.
Phil’s going to be like, Oh man, he just got real busy. I know. I’m like, wait, I need to become a 50 50 partner here. Let’s go. We got this. Oh, well. Elena, I first off, I just want to thank you for for taking some time out today. Well, first off, thank you for all, I know you’re co founder with your husband, obviously, and you both put a lot of, a tremendous amount of effort and work and also resources into the Grant Cardone Foundation.
So thank you for that. And you’re having all the children that you’re helping young adults that you’re helping. And thank you for making some time for us today. That being said if somebody wants to To follow up, learn more about the foundation in general, grant counter don’t foundation. com. Is that the best way?
Yeah, the grant card on foundation dot com. And then I I have a donation link, which is Elena card on dot com forward slash 100. I was on a mission to get our 1st 100 people to commit to 100 a month. So, if anyone wants to go wild, I would just love that. But of course, Any donation, we don’t we don’t reject or are not appreciative of.
We’re appreciative of every single amount towards helping children. So, thank you for having me today. This has been so much fun! Absolutely. I’ve enjoyed it as well. So thank you. And to the audience as always, thank you for tuning in. If this is your first time with us and you haven’t done it yet, this is a daily show each and every day.
We’re bringing you new entrepreneurs, new thought leaders, and new ideas that will hopefully help you along in your journey and inspire you to do great things. Things as well. So again, , hit that subscribe or follow button. Cause guess what? Tomorrow you can get a notification. There’s another episode coming out and Elena really appreciate it.
Can’t, I can’t wait to go out to 10 X HQ. I’m going to, head out there too. And I’m going to make a visit. So thank you again for coming on. For sure. Thanks.