Adam Torres and Don Booth discuss the Grant Cardone Foundation Pitch Competition.
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Show Notes:
Listen to coverage of the Grant Cardone Foundation Pitch Competition in Miami, Florida.In this episode, Adam Torres interviews Don Booth, CEO & Founder at American Institute of Nondestructive Testing, explore the Grant Cardone Foundation Pitch Competition and the entrepreneurial spirit.
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About Don Booth
With over 20 years of experience in the nondestructive testing (NDT) industry, Don is the CEO/Founder of American Institute of Nondestructive Testing (AINDT), a leading provider of online, blended and traditional classroom NDT training. He hold ASNT Level III credentials in four NDT methods.
Before founding AINDT, Don worked as an NDT technician and API inspector for more than 8 years, performing various types of NDT inspections for refineries, pipelines, and other industrial clients. He have also been involved in providing technical instruction and mentoring to other NDT professionals and students, sharing his expertise and passion for this challenging and rewarding career. His mission is to empower the NDT community with the best training, resources, and support they need to succeed and advance in the NDT industry.
Full Unedited Transcript
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres and today I am at Grant Cardone’s headquarters in Florida and I just got done watching a pitch competition. Let me tell you, the contestants were absolutely amazing. I was able to snag one of the, one of the judges, fellow judges.
It’s also a previous winner. So first off, Sarah, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you for having me. Oh my gosh. So just let’s start this story from the beginning here. I know I don’t have you for too much time, but talk about your experience with the Grant Cardone Foundation and your, your previous winner.
Tell us about it. Okay. So I was on your program by a complete random situation. There’s a youth employment program that we do in DC and I just happened to get their site and we’re here. We’re talking about social emotional learning and ownership and they go, Right out of business plan. I just look at them like I’ve never done this before but okay and in my head It was this a hypothetical idea.
Yeah, they go. Oh, we have a surprise for you guys What is this? We didn’t know about the pitch competition Yeah a couple weeks into the program and then we just got super excited I worked for moguls at the time. I was able to actually come here to Miami for the first DC used pitch to next kid’s pitch off.
Yeah. Hold on. I was able to come here for the first ever to next kid pitch off and experience this entire thing, the very like rough draft version of it. And I placed second and I won 7, 000 for my eco friendly clothing brand, Beware Apparel. So then I came back to Zumani because once you are with them, it’s really family.
So I was just like, can I come back? I was actually studying abroad for most of the summer, but I came back for that last week. To pitch code unofficially, just kind of help out, give feedback, share my experience, and then do with them. It’s kind of as, Moral support from someone who is doing it right by alongside them.
Yeah, and so Then I kind of just sent for sure text one day and asked if I could come back as official staff And it kind of just and then she tells me we’re at work one day and she just goes They want someone from Tumani to judge and I know I can’t do it, but I would love for you to come back So if you’re free for the Miami trip, let me know and I made the decision to come here I’m supposed to leave for college and be here to support, but I was able to actually follow along the entire journey.
So I saw all of these business ideas when they were just ideas. And I got to follow the process and coach that process and even learn from them because I’m always in. It was just such a great collaborative space to be in. What was some of your, first off, thank you for sharing that. What an amazing story.
Now you’re going to college, you’re an entrepreneur and working with you as a judge today was such a pleasure and honor. And you’re so seasoned and professional. I was like, man, I wish I had that. I’m like, come on, Sarah, you, I learned a lot from, from you today. What was some of, everybody that’s at home and couldn’t be here today, what was some of your favorite parts or highlights from today’s pitch competition?
To say that for me. I was actually nervous coming in as a judge just because I had already worked with people for so long. I was like, what is this? And then they’re like, Oh, yeah, you’re gonna be with all these people who are actually people you need to network with. And I’m just like, Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah, but it was an amazing experience on so many fronts.
I was able to network and just meet people who had great mentorship and words of wisdom for moving forward. And I’m currently in a transition stage with my business. Reinforcement that I am on the right path and I have that space and grace to move things as they need to be. It can’t be perfect the first time, but then also to have worked with these students for five weeks on their businesses and then see them.
I’ve never seen them pitch like that before and I watched the pitch a hundred times at least. Yeah. You got to see like game on, pressure, energy, you got to see it all. So great. And then I was able to really give them before it was more. oriented towards the pitch. I was able to just give them the advice of just how I felt about their business concept as a whole and have that real conversation with them.
And I’m just so good for all the possible, their businesses, potential partnerships with them and just cultivate and create those relationships. Amazing. Last question, top one to two pitches or whatever you want to comment on. I know all your babies, you work with all of them. So we’re not saying, but just top idea or two that stuck out to you.
That for. The uniqueness of it, definitely Trinity, because she plays first, but because she is in a industry that I didn’t even think of when we were thinking of businesses. And it’s esports, esports. It’s esports, gaming. I don’t know anything about it, but I do know that there is an issue. I didn’t realize that.
I didn’t, I couldn’t think about what the solution was in my head. It was just like, oh, well, that is racism and prejudice are a thing in life. And she goes, no, this is how we fix it in this specific community. And she had such a clear and beautiful plan for that. Yep. And then a lot of people thought that I was going to say this anyway, because this is also doing a clothing brand, but he’s approaching it from, when I think I actually said this when giving him his feedback, that we see people being inclusive via plus size and just adding size ranges, but really taking that.
And making it personal to each individual, which is so important in fashion and also really keeps the person at heart It doesn’t feel like he’s a company trying to gain points in diversity by saying. Oh, well, we have these exercises And he’s addressing a real issue and it’s super creative and fun. All right So last thing I want you to do sir I want you to look into the camera and tell everyone why they should be supporting grant cardone foundation and the pitch off competition All right.
So If you weren’t just moved by the story I just told, this story is for everybody. We’ve had kids not pitch the first year and then come back and realize, hey, I missed this opportunity. I need to be here. I need to do this. You should support the Grant Cardone Foundation because his work goes deeper than the money, goes deeper than the business aspect, the real estate, anything he does.
It all comes home to pushing that message and returning everything he does he wants to give to other people in 10x. What he’s giving to people. Amazing. Thank you for that. And thank you for coming on the show. 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, hit that subscribe or follow button.
This is a daily show each and every day. We’re giving you new content, new ideas, new stories, and we don’t want you to miss it. So again, don’t forget to hit that subscribe. Sarah, thank you again so much for coming on the show. We’ll start recording. All right, we’re going to start looking at the camera, then we’ll move and then we’ll look at each other.
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters. My name is Adam Torres, and today I am at Grant Cardone’s headqu where we’ll start recording. All right, we’re gonna start looking at the camera, then we’ll move, and then we’ll look at each other. Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of Mission Matters.
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And today I am at Grant Cardone’s headquarters in Florida. And I just got done watching a pitch competition. Let me, we’ll start recording. All right. We’re going to start looking at the camera. Then we’ll move on. Then we’ll look at each other. Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode.