Rene Garcia shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Rene, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
I personally believe that the majority of people are struggling with self-worth, confidence, and financial issues. I also believe it’s not dependent on social status because celebrities, athletes, and your average person all go through the same struggles. If you don’t know how to manage your money, if you don’t develop healthy habits when it comes to health and fitness, your self-worth and confidence are hit hard and you enter a never ending cycle of negativity, until you make the decision that enough is enough.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Rene Garcia and I am the founder of the Rebuilding Project. The company was form in a period of my life that was chaotic. I had a great job, making a six figure salary, and I had side-hustles to supplement my income. What I lacked was financial discipline. My position was cut due to budget cuts, and it took a while to find employment, and not necessarily find employment because I had job offers, but more so to get started. My starting date was delayed. As a result, I started to go late on credit cards, and I had to scramble to find ways to pay rent and mortgage.
I used the period of downtime to really focus on what I enjoy doing, and that is bodybuilding. I enjoy the process of losing fat and building muscle. I can remember the feeling of confidence that came from being able to stick to the plan, despite all the chaos around me. It made me feel unstoppable, and more importantly, it kept me grounded. I told myself, that it’s never too late to start over and rebuild my life.
Fast forward to today, the Rebuilding Project is officially live, focusing on fat loss and muscle building, but more importantly developing an unstoppable mindset.
The vision for the business is huge. Online coaching is a vehicle, but the mission is to impact the World through giving back. And that starts with us, my clients. You can’t pour water into someone else’s cup, if your cup is also empty.
The company is unique in the sense that during tax season, I also do taxes for clients all over the US. As a business owner, I understand taxes and write-offs, and everyone needs to do them every year. It’s another way of giving back, by ensuring that all my clients are confident that their taxes are being done as accurate as possible.
From Government Contractor to Online Coach and Tax Preparer, it is the Rebuilding Project of my life, and those that want to be a part of the company to rebuild their lives.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: Who taught you the most about work?
My dad taught me the most about work. He is the hardest working person I know. He is one of the smartest and most skilled people on this planet, with the ability to do almost anything with his hands.
My first memories of my dad’s work habits were back in the 1990s, when we first immigrated to the US. My dad had a bachelor degree that in the US, did not get valued. As the man of the house in a foreign country, with a wife and child (me), my dad had to act and start making money. He worked at 3:30 AM delivering newspapers, then by 6 AM he worked in the kitchen at a Mexican restaurant (Anita’s), and in the evenings he would deliver pizza. At first he didn’t have a car, so he would drive a bike, until he was able to purchase a used car, which was the beginning of that next level.
Fast forward a few years, my dad owns a successful Air Conditioning and Heating business, and despite making good money, he maintained the work ethic of getting up at 4 AM, and working till late at night.
It is during my period of trying to figure out my next move after being laid off, that I relied on that work ethic. On the go from 7 AM to 10 PM. Oddly enough, I launched my business at 10:00 PM.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Anyone that is successful has to suffer first. There is no way around it. Life is very interesting in that it tests you first so that you are ready for that level up. It is during periods of suffering that you learn who you really are, how you handle stress, chaos, and how you treat people.
For me personally, it showed me that mentally I am very strong, and that fitness played a huge part of keeping me grounded. If it wasn’t for my dieting and training, I would have no structure in my life. I would most likely stay in bed all day, start eating foods that would make me gain weight, and get into a depressive cycle that would be very difficult to break. Instead, I turned that energy into creating my own business, and I am ensuring that I never depend on someone else for a paycheck.
Suffering taught me how resilient humans can be, but it all starts in the head. Your mindset.
Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friends would say that loyalty is what really matters to me. If you are my friend, I have your back always. I will be the person there in every moment of need, at any time, at any place. For me, the important thing is to be useful, and to be a resource of any kind to my friends. If I can provide any sort of help, does not matter the situation, I have fulfilled my friendship duties.
Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when I have helped at least one person a day. That can be monetary help, an act of service, listening to someone talk about their day, or serving as a bridge to connect one person to another. There are many ways that helping someone can look like, but that is when I know I have done my job for the day. After that, peace physically looks like turning on the fireplace and sitting in silence, with my dog by my side. No phone, no one talking to me, just me and my thoughts at the end of the day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.therebuildingproject.com
- Instagram: the_rebuildingproject
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/therebuildingproject
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1AJvkmQNpJ/?mibextid=wwXlfr
Image Credits
Photographer – Arsenik Studios
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