[00:00:06] Viktoriia Miracle: Hello. Hello, and welcome back to happy time happy money podcast and I'm your host Viktoriia Miracle and this interview you can find on not only on podcast app or Spotify, you actually can find it on YouTube and see us in person in real. If you are interested in that, just go on the link on under episode and watch it as well, not just listening. But if you're driving, don't do that. And today we have Steve Max that lives in Florida and 12 years in the leadership and 10 plus years in the work from home and entrepreneurship, writer and public speaker. Married and lives actually Miami not just Florida and his main focus is currently on cryptocurrency education.

[00:00:55] Hi and welcome Steve.

[00:00:57] Steve Max: Absolutely. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

[00:01:00] Viktoriia Miracle: So good to have you and you know, I always lock them when people, when I see leadership in the buyer, it's like so exciting as I've very excited, I'm very passionate about leadership work and I think it's, it is, it is something that we get to all focus.

[00:01:14] So why, well, hold on before that question, actually, I would love to learn more about you. And first, how did you got in all of this its such a huge experience and how did you start it on working from from 10 years ago when nobody was even thinking about it.

[00:01:32] Well, you

[00:01:32] Steve Max: know, I think it, it, it all really started. I was doing non-profit work for a long time, so I really had a heart for impacting people and, you know, seeing people become their best selves and getting out of bad situations, you know, I, I didn't go through, the best situations growing up. And so when I, you know, got older, I said, you know what, I want to help other people and so that really started everything. And then I got to a point when I was doing non-profit work that I realized I need to make more money, right. I need to be able to get to that next level and nonprofit work may not get me there. And so even though I had a heart for nonprofit work and I still do, I realize entrepreneurship was going to be a big deal.

[00:02:09] And so at that point I started to figure, you know, how can I earn money on a part-time basis and on the side. And that led me through a few different types of businesses, which now led me to obviously what I would consider the biggest opportunity now in this age, which is, you know, trading cryptocurrency and, you know, the digital world.

[00:02:28] So yeah, it started in nonprofit realized the need to make extra money joined entrepreneurship and, and been going at it ever since.

[00:02:36] Viktoriia Miracle: That's that's amazing. Well, so what, cutting back to our first, I, my first thought question that I wanted to ask, why do you focus on leadership through entrepreneurship.

[00:02:48] Steve Max: Yeah. So, you know, I've realized, you know, same heart that I had for non-profit. I realized, you know, people need leadership and guidance. I think, you know, we live in a world right now where, you know, most people that I know are being raised, with maybe single parents and a lot of different situations.

[00:03:04] There's not that intentionality. I think that there was before, in, in, you know, the world. So I think that people need leadership more than ever. People need coaching more than ever. And so I started looking at my business as a way to help guide and lead people to their better selves, right. So even though it's for-profit work, you know, I think we could have that, that heart of nonprofit, which is, Hey, I do this to help people.

[00:03:27] I do this to impact people. I help I do this to help people get to that next level. So yeah, leadership is important to me and helping guide people to the next level and doing it through business, I think is, is the way to go right now.

[00:03:38] Viktoriia Miracle: Let's open up a little bit, just leadership. Like what is it? Leadership and how do you understand that?

[00:03:46] Steve Max: Yeah. I think leadership is taking people to a place that they didn't know they wanted to go, right. So a lot of times, you know, people have ambitions, they have thoughts, they have ideas. But I think good leadership means you're able to kind of lead them into the direction of where they don't even know they want to get to and getting them there.

[00:04:08] You know, along the way and, and, and guiding people. So I think leadership is important because I think most people are lost, especially younger people, you know, you're, you're, when you get out of high school, you're trying to figure out what to do. They try to sell you on college. Most of us got college degrees, many people, you know, all these student loans for things they're not even using.

[00:04:29] So I think there's a lot of confusion right now in the world. And then you look at what's going on right now. Think about this, the job market is just different and also people are going to college. They're getting master's degrees and, and you know, all these things, and most of them are not able to even afford the degree that they got, with the jobs that they get.

[00:04:47] So I think right now more than ever, leadership is important to help guide people into what's really working, help mentor through what's not working and just give people solutions. You know, I think an unimportant part of leadership is just bringing solutions to people and, and helping them along the way.

[00:05:04] Viktoriia Miracle: I love that and I also think that they get to find their own solutions. The more you dig deeper into like finding the solution for a problem, the better, the better leader you become itself for yourself. Once you become a better leader for yourself, then you can do anything. And, you know, you said that.

[00:05:25] They are not able to afford when, you know, we getting with teaching, we're learning something, and then we're not able to even afford when we go to a job, the same job or alleviating expenses. That's insane and that's where crypto it's changing the world. Let's dive in into more of a crypto. So like, what is this the big deal about cryptocurrency?

[00:05:45] Steve Max: Yeah. Well, you know, I mean, you got to look at what's currently going on. So for, I don't know how long, right? The US dollar has been the staple currency for the majority of the world. You know, it's, it's what basically was always used to trade for oil, you know, on a global level and now what we're seeing is.

[00:06:04] You know, the federal reserves printing all this money, you know, there's all this money going out in the US all the time. So we're seeing things happen where the us dollars now deflating, you know, it's it's it's or I'm sorry. There's inflate. Yeah. So the inflation is, is massive. So what we're seeing is, and this really started, you know, when you look at Bitcoin, right?

[00:06:23] The first cryptocurrency. You know 2009, it was after the big financial collapse of 2008, you know, the creator of Bitcoin really had the heart set on. We need to do something that's bigger than the banking system. And he would, he started what we're seeing right now, you know, at the time of this recording, I mean, it's 2021.

[00:06:44] It's about to be 2022, right? And what we're seeing now is the fruit of what was started in 2008, 2009, which is now, you know, things are collapsing. Things are not looking good and crypto is that answer, right? And whether for good, or for bad crypto is revolutionizing everything. And we're seeing, you know, NFTs now the metaverse right.

[00:07:06] So the big thing about crypto is that it's the future. And the future is now and it's becoming mainstream right now. So I think people just need to really pay attention to what's going on.

[00:07:17] Viktoriia Miracle: I liked, you know, when you said it's the future. And I always say it's a future, but it's already present is that there's the future it's already happening. It's here. When people say it's like, it's far all, I don't understand. You know, it's not really main, like it's, it is already happening, like crazy. You can get a card and just spend crypto now. And I think of crypto.com in America and there's like few things, you know, and he broke open in Russia, one and old, the oldest part of the world also like catching up.

[00:07:43] So super exciting. Super exciting. You said about NFT and metaverse. So let's talk about NFTs. What, I know you, you were like deepen NFTs and you were like, there's a NFC market plays that as launching. So let's talk more about, okay. What is NFT?

[00:08:03] Steve Max: Yeah. So NFTs non fungible token, right? The idea is and this is how I've put it to people, right.

[00:08:09] Crypto has been around for awhile, but the thing about cryptocurrency is you've never been able to see it. You've never been able to feel it. You'd never been able to touch it. So it's always been just imaginary numbers, right? I mean the real numbers, but it's all on a computer screen. What NFTs are doing is that now we can visually see crypto, which is crazy, right.

[00:08:29] Or we can, we can see a visual representation of what's happening on the blockchain. So what's beautiful about this is that people that don't understand crypto can understand NFTs. And what I mean by that is when you buy your first NFT and you own it, and you see it on your computer screen or on your phone or on your, you know, your Apple Watch, right or your smart. Something happens, something changes and, and, you know, not that long ago, it happened for me. You know, I bought my first NFT. You know, it was a little bit more than a half Ethereum. And I said, did I just do this? But you know, when I bought that NFT and I saw it, something happened and I'll tell you what, I still got the original NFT it's deepen profits right now and I'll tell you it changes the game. So NFTs is going to change everything from ownership. So for instance, let me give you an example right now you buy a car, you pay that car off and there's a title loan or a title, a title that you have to get for the, for the car and the title document. You have to go into a place, you got apply for it.

[00:09:33] They give you a piece of paper. That piece of paper is lost. If somebody forges on it, they steal your car, they could sell it, right. So everything's based on a piece of paper, but what if that piece of paper is now an NFT? It cannot be duplicated, replicated, cannot be stolen. It's on the blockchain, right? And so now what if our documentations are NFT's.

[00:09:53] What if companies, right. I like to use the idea of the Wendy slurp, the Wendy's frosty. So back in the day, I mean, some people still do it. You could go to Wendy's for 99 cents and buy a card and you can get a mini frosty every time you go to Wendy's because you have this card. What if that's an NFT that they scan on your phone and you could sell that NFT in the marketplace.

[00:10:13] So the idea guys is NFTs are changing the world. Pay attention. It's not just art. I mean, you've got the metaverse with, you know, Facebook now. It's literally, you know, what I like to say is this, it's not about going to Mars. People will go to Mars, but more people will go in their computers. That's NFTs.

[00:10:33] That's the metaverse.

[00:10:35] Viktoriia Miracle: I love that. It was just so interesting. We were just speaking about going to Mars, like early with my friend. She was like, don't you want to go to Mars? I don't think I know. I feel like there's so much more to see here. Like, why will they want to get it to Mars? There's nothing in the Mars.

[00:10:53] I mean, I can see the Earth, but I mean, what can you do in Mars? The Mars is here. Mars. It's for real it's here. So what else can you do with, NFT's, let's just give more examples for people to understand.

[00:11:06] Steve Max: So imagine and it's crazy. We've been talking this for a long time, but imagine for yourself a digital clothing.

[00:11:12] So imagine that, you know, it's like a digital piece, right. But instead of you going in and buying different fabrics, different NFTs, come out, you know, say Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, whatever and the shirt changes. So you buy the NFT. But it's the same piece of digital clothing and the shirt changes to the clothing that was sold.

[00:11:36] So, Hey, listen, Louis V just came out with a brand new line. You don't even have to go to the store, right. You literally go online, buy it and whatever you're wearing changes, right. So just to give you some ideas, so your favorite brands can do clothing. The, the metaverse experiences. So now, you know, you're living in the metaverse people are going to be able to possibly even work from the metaverse.

[00:11:56] So imagine instead of going to the office, you put on your, your virtual reality or however it is that it depends out, and you're going to be sitting next to your coworkers in your house. But in the metaverse you're sitting next to people and people have their jobs in the metaverse guess what you need clothing.

[00:12:12] Right. So now in the metaverse you buy metaverse clothing, right? Those are all NFTs. I'll give you a great example.

[00:12:19] Viktoriia Miracle: That's like all look like a SpongeBob and they only declothing.

[00:12:24] Steve Max: I mean, you can have fun with it, right? It's I think imagination

[00:12:28] Viktoriia Miracle: You don't need to spend for any clothing. I just going to be a SpongeBob.

[00:12:33] Steve Max: So absolutely, you know, and NFT gaming, I think is an important thing to understand too. So, you know, for people that have played video games, you know, typically you play these video games, you get to certain levels, you collect certain things, but there's nothing financial. Now, all the things you collect, the characters that you, that you grow and develop, you can sell those.

[00:12:55] Right. So there's just a lot of opportunities with NFTs where I think people that think it's a fad don't understand it yet, but, but I it's here to stay that's for sure.

[00:13:04] Viktoriia Miracle: Nice. Yeah. I mean, I, we can speak about it's so much and I want to still kind of make it more. Like, what is your favorite entity?

[00:13:16] Let's just say, let's just give it more like tangible things that we can go and look at online. Like what is the ones that you were excited at the moment?

[00:13:26] Steve Max: So one of the favorites that I'm in right now, there's, there's, two projects specifically. One's called gambling apes. Okay. It's on open sea and they, they literally have online casinos.

[00:13:37] They just got their casino license and so basically if you own a gambling ape, you're going to be able to collect residuals on the profits of the casinos. And one of their casinos is going to be in the metaverse. We're going to be able to walk into it and you're going to be able to actually play in an actual casino, but it's all in a metaverse so.

[00:13:57] That is dope. It's like, you don't need to go to Vegas. You can just wear your glasses. Imagine putting this SpongeBob dress nicer, some nicer dress for vegan and then like walking in and just like scroll Russian roulette.

[00:14:12] Hey, exactly.

[00:14:13] Viktoriia Miracle: and hookers I'm kidding.

[00:14:16] Steve Max: You know, and and then there's another project, which is really cool.

[00:14:20] I know that Dubai is in your future. there's a project called billionaire apes. Okay. Yeah. Party eight billionaire club. Now, these guys are amazing. They're based out of Dubai, but you know, the developers are really, really amazing. it's still very affordable to get in compared to a lot of other projects, but I'm actually a crypto speaker for their community and they're going to be doing fusing soon and stuff. And you know, really their whole thought process is really about building a community of entrepreneurs. So, so I would say those are the two projects to look at, is the billionaire apes, party eight billionaire club and the, and the gambling age.

[00:14:55] So a whole lot of apes and monkeys.

[00:14:57] Viktoriia Miracle: Yeah. What was your first NFT? You said that you bought it and you still own it. And what, what is it?

[00:15:02] Steve Max: It's the gambling ape. So the gambling ape was my first NFT. Yeah.

[00:15:08] Viktoriia Miracle: And that is that it's cool, cool. So what cryptocurrencies you invest in, right. NFT's are NFTs cryptocurrencies that you're excited about?

[00:15:22] Steve Max: You know, listen, I think you can't go wrong.

[00:15:26] With the basics. So, you know, big on Bitcoin, obviously, you know, over a long period of time. That's, that's, you know, that's, that's granddaddy right there. Outside of some major shift in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin's always going to be big Ethereum outside of the challenge that it's having with the gas fees.

[00:15:43] Ethereum is, definitely, my biggest hold right now in crypto is Ethereum. And, and then, you know, a couple of smaller coins, which are so Bitcoins, you know, you've got Sodano. You've got XRP. Believe it or not. I still, I like the thought of I XRP. I, I see the future in it as an investor, right. I know there's a lot of crypto people that hate XRP, but here's what I'll tell you is, and it's the same thing with NFTs. You don't have to like something to make money on it. So XRP is one of those things that if it beats the SEC, a lawsuit that it has XRP is going to be massive. And, and right now it's very, very affordable.

[00:16:21] So, so those are some projects and then, you know, some smaller cap coins and I'm looking at, OMI also known as Ecomi fantastic NFT coin and a Atari. Funny enough, you know, game developer from seventies and eighties, you know, they they've got major stake in the metaverse that we're working. I believe its own metaverse casino also.

[00:16:41] So Atari's also has a lot of, lot of opportunity. So those are some coins. I think that everybody should be looking at it.

[00:16:48] Viktoriia Miracle: I don't know when I'm going to release those interests, but it's very interesting because I said, I shared with you today. I recorded the interview before you, and because I'm moving to Dubai and you guys go into hear that probably before that episode, that also another guests recommended Atari and Ecomi.

[00:17:04] That is so interesting. If you'll listen and you've listened to the other episodes and you're listening to this , . Right. It's something. If two people were commit the same two coins, I'm like, well, sure you guys got to get some, if you don't own any at the moment, definitely just go look at them, learn about the project and see if you like it.

[00:17:24] And that's what I always say, in crypto invest in something that you like, and you understand, like you understand where the going, you understand what you're doing because this way, when things are going to happen in the bad or good or up or down, you will understand. Okay. Do you want to still hold onto this tokens because you don't want to hold on for tokens for 20 years, right?

[00:17:47] We all in crypto to change the world, but also make profit and absolutely normal. But you cannot you know profit of someday. I mean, luck. There is a lot, but it cannot profit of something if you don't understand the product. And if you're not following the news and if you don't like the project, you're not going to follow their news.

[00:18:04] Yeah. It's definitely going to be into it to buy anything. So it's not, there is no financial advices here though. And this definitely the

[00:18:14] Steve Max: research guys do your own research. So these are the projects I'm looking at. You know, not making any recommendations.

[00:18:20] Viktoriia Miracle: Exactly. So I know also that you've done before retirement plans and everything like this. And how do you see and well, you know, what, how do you see that working out with the more let's say elder people, like more people that are, we could script it's very high risk. Yeah, it's very high risk and what I know people usually recommend is not to go and high-risk when you're like over 40 or something.

[00:18:46] So what, what do, what do you think about that?

[00:18:50] Steve Max: So here's, you know, interestingly, statistically, most people don't have enough to retire, right. So, I mean, you looking at like 95% of people aren't even close to retiring anyways. So here's my thought process on it. And again, you know, we'd go back to, we're not making recommendations.

[00:19:06] We're just getting people to think for themselves and, and everybody makes their own decisions, but here's what I would really think through. I remember when I was in the retirement world, I remember talking to specific family members and trying to put a retirement plan for them. And there was not a number that was possible for them that they could afford to invest and still hit retirement.

[00:19:28] And what I mean by that? If you don't have 30 or 40 years to invest, which none of us know if we have that, but if you're old enough right now, if you're in your sixties or fifties and you haven't started into invest for your retirement, it's going to be really challenging for you to even hit the numbers you need for retirement.

[00:19:46] So here's what I would say is I would probably come up with a budget. I would get educated by the way, make sure you get educated. Come up with a budget and allocate some funds into cryptocurrency into the new wave. Okay, doesn't mean put all your funds in there. It doesn't mean stop investing in traditional ways, but what it means is that you can diversify and you can put a certain percentage of your income or your assets into projects like NFTs, like digital land.

[00:20:17] I mean, listen, I know some people that teach very well. The minute that Facebook said that they're changing the meta, all digital land exploded. So what I would say, especially the older first folks is, look, you know, you want to pay attention to this because here's what I've been telling people. And, and, you know, and obviously I know we're going to talk about how they can follow me later.

[00:20:38] I mean, reach out to me if you guys need any help, but here's what I'll tell you is that because of Bitcoin housing and because of what's going on in the world right now without getting into details. The next four to five years, you could see tremendous gains if you pick the right projects, right. It doesn't mean everything's going to win.

[00:20:58] It doesn't mean everything's going to have profits, but if you pick a few of the right ones, right, you have a tremendous opportunity for upside because some of these projects and coins, you're looking at 10 X, 20 X, 50 X, a hundred X. I mean, you know, there's a coin that I'd rather not even mention. But if you put a hundred dollars into it a year ago, right?

[00:21:15] It's one of these meme coins. I don't mess with meme coins, but you can make money on them. If you were to put a hundred dollars into one of them just a year and a half ago, you'd be sitting on millions of dollars. So pick the right projects. There's a lot of opportunity, doesn't matter how old you are. Just don't put all your money into random stuff, because I think that's a scary thing to do.

[00:21:33] Viktoriia Miracle: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We, we joked about, you know, and she boon Flocky on this podcast like I said, cause I, I don't, I, I accidentally kind of like a hundred dollars, a flogging made like 500 out of it and I'm like, I'm done. I'm good. I don't want to like, hold on to it because there's so much hype and. Yeah, it's definitely, they put something that you like, you don't care to lose.

[00:21:53] You know, they be like, if I lose this hundred I'll I won't be upset. I don't think so. But yeah, if I put there a 5,000 and it's not going to work well, I'm definitely going to be upset. So don't put, yeah, don't risk. It's like full on crypto market. It's for you. You don't want to be in, you don't want to be in debt in emotional state when you invest.

[00:22:15] Steve Max: Yeah, absolutely.

[00:22:16] Viktoriia Miracle: Very logical. Yeah. Super cool. Thank you very much, so much awesome information and value for the audience. And thank you for coming on today, Steve, where audience can find you and learn from you?

[00:22:31] Steve Max: Yeah, absolutely. So, the best place to find me is on Instagram. My name is maxthementor.

[00:22:37] Okay. @maxthementor on Instagram, that's the best way right now to find me. And there's a lot of fake profiles. There's a lot of weird stuff out there, so I'll make sure it's M A X T H E M E N T O R and a yeah. If you shoot me a message pretty good.

[00:22:52] Viktoriia Miracle: It will be in the show notes. So that makes sure you just go there and, you know, click on those.

[00:22:56] So that is definitely. One thing also yeah, on crypto to market. Good. So you mentioned, you know, there is a lot of people that are messaging you and saying like, you know, let's exchange some crypto or give me like a loan, the a hundred dollars they're playing on atory of people that there are kind of getting fake profile from.

[00:23:16] So if you ever, ever in crypto market getting message DM from someone offering you something in terms of financial things before you actually know them, like if, you know, civil will say, Hey, there's this project like, do you want to go in? I'll be like, sure. You know, because I know him and I'll be like, cool.

[00:23:35] I can take a look at, but like, there is no way there is a real people will message you and do any financial business before knowing. It's a hundred percent scams. So be really careful. I don't think that yet. So I think it's a good place to say.

[00:23:51] Steve Max: Real quick, Viktoriia. I just want to add to that. I think unimportant thing that I tell people is this, you know, get educated for yourself and be very cautious of people, especially new people.

[00:24:01] You don't know, random people telling you send me funds and I'll trade for you. I'll invest for you. Here's what I'll tell you is I don't do that for people. I, I educate, I share with people what I'm doing and people make their own decisions and I think that's the best way to go. I've heard too many people get burned, sending funds to people, and then either they lose the funds or they disappear.

[00:24:22] So anyways, that's my 2 cents on that.

[00:24:24] Viktoriia Miracle: Just to remember, there's no magic trader. If trader can do a 1% a day, he doesn't need your money. Probably from 1000, he's making almost a million in a year. So just think of it, why he will want to message you and ask for money. Just, yeah, just make a logic thinking.

[00:24:42] Why will anybody message if there are so magical and they can make their own money out of the air and from nowhere. So why to ask for a hundred or a thousand or $10,000 from anybody. Yeah, I've heard bad stories.

[00:24:59] Thank you so much again for coming and for all of you. Thank you so much for watching or listening. Look, if you want to watch, I know people telling me, I didn't know where to watch it. It's Viktoriia Miracle on YouTube. So if you want to just get through like, you know, on after play on your ears, on the sport.

[00:25:16] Go there and watch it and always appreciate the subscribe, like, and comment and yeah. Do reach out and follow Steve and he's just mastering NFT and all the crypto and if you're in Florida, they totally go follow him. So good to meet you and yeah, I'll see you next week. As it is on the next episode.

[00:25:36] Bye.