Real estate, personal branding, and the world of business was calling Andrew Cordle, known as AC. He saw just how successful people were who entered the business world and the world of real estate, so that is where he began his story and his first step into the realm of business, which led him to the world of personal brands.
“As I began my self-education in the game of money I realized that many of the people who were the biggest successes had used the vehicle of real estate to amass their fortunes. I actually sold my very first business that I started right out of my dorm room while I was in college and used that as the seed money to start out in real estate investing. I did very well and began to earn more money more quickly than I had ever dreamed. But the 2008 economic crash decimated my business and I had to reboot and start over. That was really when my vision began to crystallize about going all in on my personal brand. The people I observed that did the best throughout the crisis in ’08 all had a strong personal brand. It was then that I doubled down on establishing myself as an expert in branding, networking, and business development, and the AC family of brands is a testament to those years of hard work,” AC explains.
AC’s pursuit of business was started early on. He saw that his parents were able to provide a decent life for his family, but he wanted to do more. Like many of us, he hoped to build upon the success and be more successful than his parents.
“My motivations were very simple, I wanted to succeed in a way that my parents never could because they never understood the game the way I came to understand the game. My “why” became this burning desire to utilize the talents and abilities I had developed for business to win at the game of money to the extent that I could provide for my family in a way that my parents would have in their wildest dreams and if only they had understood money the way I did. I work everyday so that I can translate the profits I generate from my businesses into the fuel that provides for the lifestyle I desire to provide for my family,” AC remarks.
At first, AC struggled to get his business off the ground. He struggled to find the confidence to keep going after he had to move in with his parents when the recession in 2008 hit him hard. He was able to overcome these difficult moments to become an incredible businessman.
“The biggest obstacle I’ve overcome is my own fear and self-doubt when I was living in my parent’s basement dead broke after the crash in 2008. I had homes foreclosed upon, lost properties, had cars repossessed, and lost my marriage all as a result of a financial collapse. My business and credit were in ruins and I was honestly hiding from the world for a while down there in my parent’s basement. But something stirred inside of me, I’m a fighter and a problem-solver, and that drive I had just wouldn’t die no matter how much the rest of my life was in ruins all around me. So to pick myself up from that loss and that pain, and to choose to rebuild and to relaunch my business career was a huge obstacle to overcome. I had to overcome my own fear and self-doubt before I could focus on rebuilding a FICO score or rebuilding a bank account balance,” AC states.
Now, he has built up a brand that has spawned into other incredible businesses. His success stems from the fact that he has been able to build himself up so much. From there, he is able to branch out and do all of the things he wants to. That is how he was able to create his amazing endeavors such as AC Sports.
“My business is really myself, my personal brand, if you will. I build my brand first and foremost, and everything else flows out of my brand. I view my businesses as extensions of who I am, and of what my passions are as an individual. I started each aspect of my business because it naturally followed a personal strength of mine, and by extension of my brand. AC Sports exists because of my passion for collecting and following the teams I love. AC Capital helps people solve funding problems because I am a natural problem solver in business and I love nothing more than putting together just the right elements to get a deal done. The Money Is Show is my outlet to engage with other high-level successful people so that our viewers benefit from listening in on our authentic conversations. Each and every other unit of the Andrew Cordle Brand would have a similar story behind it,” AC stays.
To find out more about AC, you can follow him on Instagram here and check out his website here.