March 6, 2026
From Fyre Festival to Redemption: Billy McFarland on Prison, Entrepreneurship, and Starting Over
On this episode of Stories Worth Hearing, host John Quick sits down with Billy McFarland, the entrepreneur widely known for the story behind the Fyre Festival, for an open conversation about ambition, accountability, and redemption.
Billy shares how his entrepreneurial journey began long before the headlines. As a middle school student, he bought a server and started a small website domain hosting company, discovering early on that he loved building things, solving problems, and creating opportunities online. That early curiosity for technology and business set the foundation for a life driven by entrepreneurship.
In this conversation, Billy also reflects on the most difficult chapter of his life, serving time in prison. He shares what that experience taught him about humility, responsibility, and the importance of learning from mistakes. Rather than allowing that moment to define his future, Billy talks about the idea of redemption and the determination to rebuild both personally and professionally.
Billy also offers advice for entrepreneurs who are just starting out, sharing lessons about taking risks, staying resilient when things go wrong, and maintaining the drive to keep building. He discusses what motivates him today, what keeps him pushing forward, and how his perspective on success and leadership has changed.
Today, Billy is focused on building new ventures and working toward the next chapter of his entrepreneurial journey.
Learn more about Billy’s current ventures:
https://1wyre.com/
https://bzmholdings.com/
Stories Worth Hearing is hosted by John Quick and features powerful conversations with individuals whose life journeys offer insight, inspiration, and lessons worth hearing.
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Welcome to Stories Worth
Hearing.
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I'm your host, John Quick.
Every once in a while, you meet
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somebody whose life story
reminds you that success,
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failure, and redemption are
often much closer together than
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we think.
Today's guest is somebody whose
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name became known around the
world through the Rise and Fall
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of Fire Festival.
But this conversation is not
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just about headlines, it's about
the full story behind them.
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My guest today is Billy
McFarland, an entrepreneur who
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started building companies at a
remarkably young age.
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In fact, Billy got his start
back in middle school after
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buying a server and launching
his own website domain hosting
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company.
From there, he went on to pursue
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bigger and bigger ideas.
In this episode, Billy shares
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the mindset that drove him as a
young entrepreneur, the
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experiences that shaped his
life, and the difficult chapter
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that ultimately led him to serve
time in prison.
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We talked about what that
experience taught him, how it's
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changed his perspective, and
what redemption looks like when
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someone is trying to rebuild
their life and reputation.
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We also talked about the drive
in him today, the lessons he
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would give entrepreneurs just
starting out, and the ventures
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he is now focused on building as
he works toward a new chapter.
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It is an honest conversation
about ambition, accountability,
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and the belief that people can
grow beyond their worst moments.
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This is a story about second
chances, and it is definitely a
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story worth hearing.
Well, Billy, super excited to
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chat with you.
We kind of missed each other a
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couple times, but glad you're on
it.
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Thanks for coming on the show.
Thank you, John, Great to be
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here.
Excited to chat today.
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That'll be fun to hear your
story.
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I think I've, you know, I've
listened to your story from afar
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like most people have through
documentaries and those kinds of
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things on Hulu and Netflix.
And so it'll be fun to kind of
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get to know you as a person and
have folks that listen to this
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show get to know you a little
bit.
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So take me back way.
Back to.
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You know what first got you
interested in realizing that
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starting businesses is something
that intrigued you and that you
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were pretty good at?
So I grew up in the early days
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of cable Internet.
I just remember specifically
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being in fifth grade and around
Christmas time, my house, along
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with the majority of the houses
in the suburb I lived in in New
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Jersey, all got like cable
Internet for the first time.
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And it kind of felt like it was
like literally this wire to a
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whole world out there where
there were no parents, there
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were no rules, and there were no
boundaries.
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So like the early days of the
Internet became that like day
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one introduction or catalyst
into the world of
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entrepreneurship.
So what was the actual first
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business that you ever started?
Do you remember, was it like 1
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when you were a kid or did you
wait till like you're in college
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to start one?
What was the first business that
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you ever started that was like a
real business?
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My first business was a web
hosting company that I started
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in a middle school where I
bought a physical server,
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installed it in my house, found
a way to upgrade my Internet
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line and charge people 5 bucks a
month to basically have their
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website go online.
So scrubbed a lot of local
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businesses, served a lot of, you
know, small businesses around
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the US.
And that was my first intro to
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like what it was like to do
customer service to, you know,
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have some revenue and to really
have like the responsibilities
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of a business.
So that you're kind of like the
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early on, you're your own
GoDaddy or Namecheap basically.
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Yeah, what way back when?
I think this is obviously far
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before cloud hosting, far
before, you know, Amazon AWS and
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everybody needed it.
What's called the time a web
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host to get online.
So I was providing this web
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hosting services.
So what do you think about like,
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you know, nowadays kids, you
know, they want to become the
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CEO day one.
They forget the kind of hustle
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and grind step that I think
folks that grew up when you or I
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maybe grew up, I'm probably a
little older than you, but you
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know, we didn't have all the
luxuries of having the instant
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Instagram and Snapchat and all
these tools right in front of
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us.
That lends itself to people
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making money as creators.
What do you think the biggest
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difference is between somebody
that, like yourself, who hustled
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and grinded early on without
those tools, and somebody today
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is Is there an advantage to
going your route as opposed to
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what kids are introduced to
today, or is there a
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disadvantage?
I think the difference now is
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that kids and, and even, you
know, me, we're exposed to the,
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you know, the .0001% of the
extremes through social media.
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And whether that's the most
successful entrepreneurs, the
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least successful or the biggest
failures, people who are making
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the most money, people are
making the least money.
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I think social media gives you
access to the extremes in the
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world that by default most of us
wouldn't be able to see without
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it.
So I think in some ways that's
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motivating because you see
what's possible.
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I think in other ways it creates
this feeling of entitlement that
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I think I've seen a lot with the
with the younger workers where
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because they see someone who's
that outlier, that extreme
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success, they believe that
because they're smart and
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because they work hard that they
should have that too.
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So I think this weird dichotomy
where you can see what's
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possible, that's motivating.
But at the same time, I think
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it's understanding that just
because someone else you know is
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the best doesn't mean that you
deserve that on day one
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yourself.
You know, for folks that have
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lived under a rock for the last
five years, you started a music
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festival brand Fyre Festival.
And I'm, I'm sure there's more
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to it than that, but talk to me
a little bit about how that
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first came to be for folks that
have been living under a rock
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and haven't turned on Netflix or
Hulu before.
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Tell me a little bit about how
the heck you came up with that
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idea.
So.
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I think I'm most well known,
unfortunately, for what was the
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Fyre Festival, which initially
was an attempt at hosting a
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music festival on a small island
in the Bahamas and finally came
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to life through a new name
called Phoenix this past
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December in the Caribbean off of
Honduras.
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Prior to Fyre Festival, I'd
started numerous businesses back
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to the web hosting company.
I had a lot of failures, a lot
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of small wins, and those kind of
compounded into what Fyre
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Festival became.
And the idea was to take
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entrepreneurs, talent, a fashion
designers from New York or Miami
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or Alaska, wherever they live,
bring them to a remote island
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that they probably wouldn't have
even heard of without us and
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really try to help foster these
different connections and bonds
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that negatively happen when
you're stuck in an island for
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three days.
We miserably failed in terms of
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the execution of the first Fyre
Festival.
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However, the marketing for it
was either good or bad,
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depending on on who you are.
And that's created this monsoon
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of media and press around the
name fire.
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And you know, hopefully gives me
an opportunity going forward to,
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to build businesses.
Yeah, You hear Tom Brady talk a
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lot about how, you know, his
biggest lessons in any of his in
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his life have been his failures,
like what he learns in his
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failures as opposed to what he's
learned in the Super Bowls of
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his life that he's won.
What was it like for you having
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the Fyre Festival and as you
just put it, you know, failed in
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some ways.
What were some of those lessons
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that you've learned because most
people in your shoes would just
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kind of like go about their
life, you know, maybe become a
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Walmart greeter and you'll never
hear from them again.
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That wasn't in your DNA but
didn't seem to slow you down.
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It seemed like you got back up,
learned, learned from it and
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kept going.
So what were some of those
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lessons that you learned from
Fyre Festival?
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2 being lessons and they
contradict each other a little
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bit.
So I think first is that life is
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all about the people.
It was once again the roller
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coaster ride of entrepreneurship
and I kind of hit pretty fast
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accelerating point in my early
20s where had a couple of small
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wins and they were compounding
and resulted in this company
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called FIRE where at the peak we
had over 700 employees and it
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was growing really fast and
raised a lot of venture capital
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etcetera.
And it literally went from
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feeling like we're climbing the
mountain at record speed to
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having absolutely nothing
overnight.
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And that was a really weird
experience.
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And when I lost where there was
the money, the team members, the
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friends, the thing I missed the
most were the people.
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It wasn't the experiences.
It wasn't like the luxurious
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adventures.
So I missed having that core
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group of of friends and family
who I could really like be there
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with.
So I think that kind of reset
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the focus to wanting to grow
life in the future for like a
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small core group.
And then I think also what was
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the motivating part is that like
no one really fucking cares,
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right?
Like I get questions all the
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time.
Like how can people trust you?
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Like, how can you continue to
work?
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And in reality, just nobody
cares.
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If I can find a way to do
something interesting or provide
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some value or make a connection
or be entertaining, people will
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tune in.
And if I can't and then they
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won't, right?
So I think like your merit means
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more than anything you've done
in the past.
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But at the same time, it only
matters if you have that core
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group that you're really trying
to to grow and exceed with.
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Is there somebody that you've
kind of looked up to along the
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way?
I'm sure you've had your fair
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share of very successful mentors
and folks that have been in your
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life, but has there been kind of
that one or two key people in
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your life that's believed in you
regardless?
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That's a good question.
I think what's been hard for me
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is that most of the people who
invested in FIRE had backed my
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previous businesses.
So I had known them for a number
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of years before they invested
and obviously lost with the Fire
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festival investment.
So I feel like that's my, that's
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my biggest source of guilt, but
it's also my biggest source of
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motivation.
And there's a handful of them
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that left their marks.
I mean, in various ways.
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I think it's wanting to repay
that belief and, and repay that
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trust.
And I think kind of the
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interesting factor for me is
that when things failed, the
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people that were the most
supportive behind the scenes
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were actually the biggest
investors.
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So the ones that lost the most
are the ones that kind of gave
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me that hope and that motivation
to to keep pushing forward.
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And nobody's nobody's coming to
save you.
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Something I've learned as well.
You got to do it on your own.
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You come back and you start
another business and launch a
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new music festival.
Talk to me about the idea behind
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that.
I'm sure that you had your fair
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share of people writing you
thinking you were crazy to do an
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1/3 music festival, but I
actually tuned into some of it
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looked like it was fairly
successful and, and, and
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everybody had a good time.
Talk to me about wanting to do
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another one and having it be
able to execute it and have it
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be successful.
I'm sure that felt awesome.
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I think it was really hard to
find my footing post release
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from prison.
I went to jail when I was 26.
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I finished in my early 30s and
I, I felt like when I started
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fast out of the gate now, it was
basically in last place and
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started like literally with
nothing.
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So thing was a weird feeling.
And as it took some time and
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some small projects that are
both good and bad along the way,
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I kind of got the sense that I
just needed to prove that we
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could do it.
I needed to improve that, the
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intentions behind FIRE where it
was really pure, but I also want
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to show that it could be a net
positive for a lot of people's
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lives.
But making the festival happen,
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we actually failed again.
We tried to do FIRE festival too
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in Mexico.
We announced a festival there.
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And after the media went crazy,
Mexican government released a
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statement saying they've never
heard of FIRE.
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So that was kind of like a a
crazy slap.
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And I guess that was like a
shit, is this going to happen
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again?
I mean.
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I was getting calls from my
probation officer being like,
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what?
What the fuck are you doing?
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Like, how are you scheduling a
festival?
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They don't know you exist.
And it's like, how do I tell
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them that we just got scammed by
the Mexican government without
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saying that?
So it was kind of like a weird,
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weird situation that passed.
We found a great home on this
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island called Utila.
It's in the Caribbean off of
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Honduras.
Really, really unique place,
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like the best coral reef I've
ever seen.
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There are no cars, so everybody
gets around by like golf carts
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or ATVs or dirt bikes.
And ultimately became the this
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great host, what we called the
Phoenix Festival to rise from
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the ashes.
And we did that just in
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December.
So it's it's been 3 months since
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the Phoenix Festival finally
happened.
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And are there more festivals in
the works?
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What's what's kind of on the
horizon for you?
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00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,480
Absolutely.
So long term, I'd love to have a
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hotel where I can do these
permanent Phoenix or Fire as
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kind of adventure weekends and
experiences.
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But the festival's itself will
be a big part of that.
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It'll be a big driver for media
for guests to come.
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So our next one will be back in
the same location on Utila and
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Honduras.
So going back a little bit, you
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know, you said you'd went to
prison.
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Most people don't have to do
that.
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Talk to me a little bit about
did you have like an oh crap
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00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:39,840
moment like a week before you're
headed to federal penitentiary?
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00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:43,120
Talk to me a little bit about
what that was like and, and how
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00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,160
the hell do you bounce back from
something like that?
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Because again, most people
don't.
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There's something unique inside
of you that's just like, refuses
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to give up.
I think it was.
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That's a crazy experience to
say.
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I mean, you, you're in there for
a number of years, right?
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00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,960
Three years.
Four years, four years.
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The the hardest part for me to
think one of the other lessons
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is my life had been this
constant desperate Sprint up
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00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,800
until fire.
I'd wake up, I'd get bills to
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00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,160
pay, and I had to find a way to
pay them to keep this dream of
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the festival alive.
And I'll never forget the moment
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when I was sentenced.
I was sentenced to six years.
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And it's like hearing six years
when I was 26 years, 25 or 26
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years old.
And at the point, I was
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literally like living by the
second, living by the minute.
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And during that period of time,
I just couldn't fathom how long
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that was.
I think I was trying to get my
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mind in terms of how long life
is and trying to justify why
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00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:37,800
that was probably fair and
really getting my head around
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the scope of time that I had to
had to serve.
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So do you?
Does your motivation, what
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00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:44,560
drives you?
Is it you wanting to be
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successful?
Is it you wanted to prove your
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00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,280
critics wrong?
Because again, it's like you
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00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:52,880
don't have if people are paying
attention to you now and still,
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which I'm sure they are, you
seem to not have an off button.
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00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:57,960
What?
What the heck drives you to keep
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going when most people just give
up?
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00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,120
That's a great question and my
definition of success has
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00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,520
certainly changed pre fire and
post fire.
288
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,520
I think pre fire it was like I
was like the kid exploring the
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00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,480
playground where fire my
previous businesses.
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00:14:12,480 --> 00:14:15,240
They they gave me the means or
the doors.
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00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,200
The introduction is to see it
was possible in the world and it
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00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:19,600
was kind of like this fun
challenger.
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00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:21,160
I wanted to see like what else I
could do.
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00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:25,800
I think success now is I really
remember the, the bad days in
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00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,040
jail where, you know, I didn't
have a penny, family or friends
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00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,120
were calling me and I just
couldn't be there to help them.
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00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,200
And like, unrelated to, to
finances, right?
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00:14:33,240 --> 00:14:34,480
It's like not being able to be
there.
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00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,880
I think the idea of being like
hopeless and powerless is the
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00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:41,320
scariest thing in the world.
So I, I want to be successful
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00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,280
enough where I can never be in
that fetal position again, where
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00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,640
I have some ability to help my
family, help my close friends.
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00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:52,000
And it's really like be there as
a man and, and not be someone
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00:14:52,000 --> 00:14:53,720
who's like lost and forgotten
and worthless.
305
00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,640
So what is a what does a legacy
look like for you?
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00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,280
You know, let's say it's 40
years from now and you're
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00:15:00,280 --> 00:15:03,120
sipping my ties on the beach.
What do you think you would look
308
00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,400
back on and say, ma'am, I'm glad
I kept going.
309
00:15:06,400 --> 00:15:08,320
That was a success.
What does that look like for
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00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:09,920
you?
There's like a list of people
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00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,960
that I feel like I owe some of
them are financial, some of them
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00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,080
are trust, some of them is just
like pure, you know,
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00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,400
relationship based like family,
etcetera.
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00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:21,160
And I think it's having those
people be able to look me in the
315
00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,680
eye and and vice versa in 40
years and being like, hey, you,
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00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:26,480
you did it.
And like you paid us back.
317
00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,920
And once again, not only
financially, but you paid us
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00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:30,240
back for the mistakes that you
made.
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00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,280
And I feel like that would be,
that would be the, you know,
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00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,920
satisfaction of life.
Has faith played a role in any
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00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,160
of this to you?
Have 4 of you gone about this on
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00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,520
your own grit?
You know, most people or a lot
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00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:46,160
of people find faith in moments
where they have nothing else
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00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,280
left really to choose or lose.
Was that did that play a role in
325
00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,880
your kind of redemptive?
Story I think it has for
326
00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,120
different periods.
I think I've continued to
327
00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,840
oscillate in the spectrum of
what I believe and what I don't
328
00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,880
believe and like what I think is
right and what I think is wrong.
329
00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,760
So I think I'm still learning.
If prison was interesting
330
00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,720
because there are a lot of like
very religious people of all
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00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,960
ends of the spectrum.
So getting to see and learn and
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00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,080
like, what are you like breathe
in different religions at the
333
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,280
most extreme level every day was
kind of a wild experience.
334
00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:20,880
So yeah, I think it's something
that like I've I've tried to
335
00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,800
take from all sides and trying
to find my own views.
336
00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:25,960
And I think it's probably a a
still ongoing journey.
337
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,840
So one of the things you did
that I found fascinating was you
338
00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:35,600
sold your, I think your life
rights or the firebrand on eBay
339
00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,160
and it went for a pretty penny.
Talk to me a little bit about
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00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,360
what how that idea came to be
and and what, what does that
341
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,160
mean for the person who bought
it?
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00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,800
Are they going to be doing a
documentary on you or any
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00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,440
details you can share?
I'd love to hear.
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00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,520
So the reason why we chose eBay
was we thought and made the
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00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,600
least sense, Which we I think
correctly believe would create
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00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,240
the biggest media storm, right?
Like fire was a social media
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00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:02,600
first brand.
So why not pick a legacy
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00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,359
platform to sell that brand on?
And, you know, we thought that
349
00:17:05,359 --> 00:17:07,119
would drive a lot of interest
and we think it did.
350
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,200
The after the situation in
Mexico where we scheduled the
351
00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,079
music festival and the local
government there just got scared
352
00:17:14,079 --> 00:17:17,160
by the press and they distanced
themselves and basically went
353
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,359
back on on fire.
We thought that me plus fire was
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00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:22,520
too much for these locations to
handle.
355
00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,240
So we felt like that we could
keep the the theme of it alive
356
00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:28,359
and just change the name.
And ultimately that worked.
357
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:30,920
The owners of fire are a company
called Limewire.
358
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:32,360
I know they have some plans for
it.
359
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,040
Oh, Limewire bought it.
That's cool.
360
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,600
Limewire bought it, so I'll
leave those plans with them.
361
00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,560
However, we did finish filming a
Fire 2 documentary that was
362
00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,400
separate from the Limewire sale.
I hope that air sometime like
363
00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:45,800
later this year.
But that included all like the
364
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,320
Phoenix event in Honduras, the
failure in Mexico.
365
00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,400
So a lot of interesting stuff in
the doc.
366
00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,440
That's cool.
So what's some advice you'd give
367
00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,600
for young entrepreneurs that are
going to be listening to this?
368
00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,800
A lot of folks that listen to my
show are aspiring entrepreneurs,
369
00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,520
maybe entrepreneurs that haven't
quite cracked the code yet.
370
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,920
What's some advice you'd give to
folks starting early on in their
371
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,600
entrepreneur journey?
It's corny, but you have a lot
372
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,760
of time.
And I think all the bad
373
00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,400
decisions I made in my 20s that
but the prison that led to, you
374
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,680
know, letting people down were
the lack of understanding of
375
00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:22,600
time.
I felt like I needed it all like
376
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,320
right then and like right that
second and that was wrong and
377
00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,600
not in what, 12 years later?
I wish I understood that the
378
00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,520
value of time and starting from
scratch now with something I
379
00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,640
wouldn't have had to do if I was
a little bit more patient with a
380
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,680
couple decisions.
I think it's really important to
381
00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,000
move quickly, but move quickly
within reason and and realize
382
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,840
that you can't build something
great or acquire a lot of
383
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,440
success or build a massive
network all in one day and it
384
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,160
takes time.
What about tools at their
385
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,400
disposal?
Something that you've done that
386
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,680
I've noticed is, you know,
utilizing social media and
387
00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,920
getting very personal and
vulnerable on there and kind of
388
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,120
giving people a peek behind the
curtain.
389
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,480
Is that naturally kind of just
who you are or is that a
390
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,520
strategy that other folks could
kind of pick up on?
391
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,360
Because I think there's
authenticity is what people
392
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,240
really, really want in life for
the most part.
393
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,440
And being corporate and cookie
cutter is not something that I
394
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,080
think does well on social media.
So tell me a little bit about
395
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,320
your strategy on social media,
because it seems to be like a
396
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:32,440
day in the life of Billy and.
Things that's pretty cool will
397
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,160
change.
We got to a point where
398
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,680
everything became over polished
HR speak, right?
399
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,320
Whether it's people like writing
their diatribes on LinkedIn or
400
00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:45,560
people posting like perfectly
edited videos of their life on
401
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,240
Instagram to make them look like
prettier than they are,
402
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:49,720
wealthier than they are, happier
than they are.
403
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,800
I think things became so over
polished that subconsciously we
404
00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,760
started to tune that out and we
started to like the opposite,
405
00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,960
like really simply like the
Instagram algorithm favors like
406
00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:02,960
raw selfie videos over heavily
edited, you know, pieces of
407
00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,640
content.
So I think as things became too
408
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,000
pilot, people started to
naturally gravitate towards that
409
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,320
more authentic like look where
we're showing our raw issues and
410
00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,800
and floss.
So I'd highly recommend that for
411
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,440
marketing.
So you mentioned you have a fire
412
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,920
to documentary coming out.
Anything else on the horizon
413
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,480
that folks should be aware of?
I want to be mindful your time
414
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,800
here.
Talk to me about any of your
415
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:30,360
projects that you got on the
horizon.
416
00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:32,800
Would love to hear about it.
So I do a lot of marketing work
417
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,400
for brands, I help them connect
with talent and create
418
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,080
activations around that.
So that's a day-to-day.
419
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,440
I have another TV project on the
works outside of the documentary
420
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,640
side and really looking forward
to building the next festival
421
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,000
and hopefully hotel in the
Caribbean.
422
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,840
So trying to really focus on
what we love to do and bring
423
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:50,720
some people together.
Nice.
424
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,400
Well, folks listening in, I'll
put all the links in the podcast
425
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,960
description.
Billy, I really appreciate you
426
00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,000
joining us here for a quick 25
minutes.
427
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,440
We wish you nothing but success.
You're welcome back anytime and
428
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:02,800
thanks so much for coming on the
show.
429
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,080
Thank you, John.
Appreciate it.
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,200
Welcome to Stories Worth
Hearing.
2
00:00:02,200 --> 00:00:05,120
I'm your host, John Quick.
Every once in a while, you meet
3
00:00:05,120 --> 00:00:08,160
somebody whose life story
reminds you that success,
4
00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:11,680
failure, and redemption are
often much closer together than
5
00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:14,120
we think.
Today's guest is somebody whose
6
00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,720
name became known around the
world through the Rise and Fall
7
00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,440
of Fire Festival.
But this conversation is not
8
00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,560
just about headlines, it's about
the full story behind them.
9
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:26,880
My guest today is Billy
McFarland, an entrepreneur who
10
00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:29,960
started building companies at a
remarkably young age.
11
00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:32,960
In fact, Billy got his start
back in middle school after
12
00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,080
buying a server and launching
his own website domain hosting
13
00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,200
company.
From there, he went on to pursue
14
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,280
bigger and bigger ideas.
In this episode, Billy shares
15
00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,040
the mindset that drove him as a
young entrepreneur, the
16
00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:47,240
experiences that shaped his
life, and the difficult chapter
17
00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:49,560
that ultimately led him to serve
time in prison.
18
00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,680
We talked about what that
experience taught him, how it's
19
00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,920
changed his perspective, and
what redemption looks like when
20
00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,640
someone is trying to rebuild
their life and reputation.
21
00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,480
We also talked about the drive
in him today, the lessons he
22
00:01:03,480 --> 00:01:06,480
would give entrepreneurs just
starting out, and the ventures
23
00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:09,640
he is now focused on building as
he works toward a new chapter.
24
00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:13,120
It is an honest conversation
about ambition, accountability,
25
00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,280
and the belief that people can
grow beyond their worst moments.
26
00:01:16,560 --> 00:01:19,720
This is a story about second
chances, and it is definitely a
27
00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:22,320
story worth hearing.
Well, Billy, super excited to
28
00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:24,320
chat with you.
We kind of missed each other a
29
00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:25,920
couple times, but glad you're on
it.
30
00:01:26,320 --> 00:01:28,760
Thanks for coming on the show.
Thank you, John, Great to be
31
00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:30,280
here.
Excited to chat today.
32
00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:32,040
That'll be fun to hear your
story.
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00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:35,800
I think I've, you know, I've
listened to your story from afar
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00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:39,840
like most people have through
documentaries and those kinds of
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things on Hulu and Netflix.
And so it'll be fun to kind of
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00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:45,720
get to know you as a person and
have folks that listen to this
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00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:46,960
show get to know you a little
bit.
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00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,000
So take me back way.
Back to.
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00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:54,600
You know what first got you
interested in realizing that
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00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,640
starting businesses is something
that intrigued you and that you
41
00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:01,760
were pretty good at?
So I grew up in the early days
42
00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,520
of cable Internet.
I just remember specifically
43
00:02:04,520 --> 00:02:07,920
being in fifth grade and around
Christmas time, my house, along
44
00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,680
with the majority of the houses
in the suburb I lived in in New
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00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,480
Jersey, all got like cable
Internet for the first time.
46
00:02:14,040 --> 00:02:17,480
And it kind of felt like it was
like literally this wire to a
47
00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:20,200
whole world out there where
there were no parents, there
48
00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:21,880
were no rules, and there were no
boundaries.
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00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:25,080
So like the early days of the
Internet became that like day
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00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,320
one introduction or catalyst
into the world of
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entrepreneurship.
So what was the actual first
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00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:34,840
business that you ever started?
Do you remember, was it like 1
53
00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:37,360
when you were a kid or did you
wait till like you're in college
54
00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:39,960
to start one?
What was the first business that
55
00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,480
you ever started that was like a
real business?
56
00:02:42,960 --> 00:02:45,680
My first business was a web
hosting company that I started
57
00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,000
in a middle school where I
bought a physical server,
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00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,560
installed it in my house, found
a way to upgrade my Internet
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00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,760
line and charge people 5 bucks a
month to basically have their
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website go online.
So scrubbed a lot of local
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00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:01,040
businesses, served a lot of, you
know, small businesses around
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00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,800
the US.
And that was my first intro to
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00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:06,600
like what it was like to do
customer service to, you know,
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00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:09,360
have some revenue and to really
have like the responsibilities
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00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,600
of a business.
So that you're kind of like the
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00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,760
early on, you're your own
GoDaddy or Namecheap basically.
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00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:19,680
Yeah, what way back when?
I think this is obviously far
68
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before cloud hosting, far
before, you know, Amazon AWS and
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00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,520
everybody needed it.
What's called the time a web
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00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:28,120
host to get online.
So I was providing this web
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00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,920
hosting services.
So what do you think about like,
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00:03:30,920 --> 00:03:34,880
you know, nowadays kids, you
know, they want to become the
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00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,760
CEO day one.
They forget the kind of hustle
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00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:43,440
and grind step that I think
folks that grew up when you or I
75
00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,640
maybe grew up, I'm probably a
little older than you, but you
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00:03:46,640 --> 00:03:50,080
know, we didn't have all the
luxuries of having the instant
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00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:54,120
Instagram and Snapchat and all
these tools right in front of
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00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,520
us.
That lends itself to people
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00:03:57,520 --> 00:03:59,920
making money as creators.
What do you think the biggest
80
00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:04,080
difference is between somebody
that, like yourself, who hustled
81
00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:07,160
and grinded early on without
those tools, and somebody today
82
00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:11,320
is Is there an advantage to
going your route as opposed to
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00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,760
what kids are introduced to
today, or is there a
84
00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,519
disadvantage?
I think the difference now is
85
00:04:16,519 --> 00:04:22,120
that kids and, and even, you
know, me, we're exposed to the,
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00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:27,360
you know, the .0001% of the
extremes through social media.
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00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,040
And whether that's the most
successful entrepreneurs, the
88
00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:34,200
least successful or the biggest
failures, people who are making
89
00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:36,120
the most money, people are
making the least money.
90
00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,480
I think social media gives you
access to the extremes in the
91
00:04:39,480 --> 00:04:43,240
world that by default most of us
wouldn't be able to see without
92
00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:45,360
it.
So I think in some ways that's
93
00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,400
motivating because you see
what's possible.
94
00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:52,320
I think in other ways it creates
this feeling of entitlement that
95
00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:55,400
I think I've seen a lot with the
with the younger workers where
96
00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:58,440
because they see someone who's
that outlier, that extreme
97
00:04:58,440 --> 00:05:00,960
success, they believe that
because they're smart and
98
00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:03,280
because they work hard that they
should have that too.
99
00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,120
So I think this weird dichotomy
where you can see what's
100
00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,120
possible, that's motivating.
But at the same time, I think
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00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:12,040
it's understanding that just
because someone else you know is
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00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,280
the best doesn't mean that you
deserve that on day one
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00:05:14,280 --> 00:05:16,520
yourself.
You know, for folks that have
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00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:21,560
lived under a rock for the last
five years, you started a music
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00:05:21,560 --> 00:05:25,640
festival brand Fyre Festival.
And I'm, I'm sure there's more
106
00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:28,720
to it than that, but talk to me
a little bit about how that
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00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,400
first came to be for folks that
have been living under a rock
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00:05:32,400 --> 00:05:34,680
and haven't turned on Netflix or
Hulu before.
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00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,560
Tell me a little bit about how
the heck you came up with that
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00:05:37,560 --> 00:05:38,800
idea.
So.
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00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:41,720
I think I'm most well known,
unfortunately, for what was the
112
00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,600
Fyre Festival, which initially
was an attempt at hosting a
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00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,840
music festival on a small island
in the Bahamas and finally came
114
00:05:49,840 --> 00:05:52,080
to life through a new name
called Phoenix this past
115
00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:54,280
December in the Caribbean off of
Honduras.
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00:05:54,840 --> 00:05:57,400
Prior to Fyre Festival, I'd
started numerous businesses back
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00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,960
to the web hosting company.
I had a lot of failures, a lot
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00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:04,000
of small wins, and those kind of
compounded into what Fyre
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00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,720
Festival became.
And the idea was to take
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00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:13,080
entrepreneurs, talent, a fashion
designers from New York or Miami
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00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:16,200
or Alaska, wherever they live,
bring them to a remote island
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00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:20,160
that they probably wouldn't have
even heard of without us and
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00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:22,960
really try to help foster these
different connections and bonds
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00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:25,880
that negatively happen when
you're stuck in an island for
125
00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:28,560
three days.
We miserably failed in terms of
126
00:06:28,560 --> 00:06:30,720
the execution of the first Fyre
Festival.
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00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,240
However, the marketing for it
was either good or bad,
128
00:06:33,240 --> 00:06:37,440
depending on on who you are.
And that's created this monsoon
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00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:39,560
of media and press around the
name fire.
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00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,240
And you know, hopefully gives me
an opportunity going forward to,
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00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:45,000
to build businesses.
Yeah, You hear Tom Brady talk a
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00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:50,040
lot about how, you know, his
biggest lessons in any of his in
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00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,720
his life have been his failures,
like what he learns in his
134
00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:57,240
failures as opposed to what he's
learned in the Super Bowls of
135
00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,720
his life that he's won.
What was it like for you having
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00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:05,360
the Fyre Festival and as you
just put it, you know, failed in
137
00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,480
some ways.
What were some of those lessons
138
00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:11,480
that you've learned because most
people in your shoes would just
139
00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:15,480
kind of like go about their
life, you know, maybe become a
140
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,400
Walmart greeter and you'll never
hear from them again.
141
00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,600
That wasn't in your DNA but
didn't seem to slow you down.
142
00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:27,240
It seemed like you got back up,
learned, learned from it and
143
00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:28,680
kept going.
So what were some of those
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00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,600
lessons that you learned from
Fyre Festival?
145
00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,360
2 being lessons and they
contradict each other a little
146
00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:35,880
bit.
So I think first is that life is
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00:07:35,880 --> 00:07:38,000
all about the people.
It was once again the roller
148
00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,920
coaster ride of entrepreneurship
and I kind of hit pretty fast
149
00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:45,040
accelerating point in my early
20s where had a couple of small
150
00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:47,680
wins and they were compounding
and resulted in this company
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00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,600
called FIRE where at the peak we
had over 700 employees and it
152
00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,280
was growing really fast and
raised a lot of venture capital
153
00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,560
etcetera.
And it literally went from
154
00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,440
feeling like we're climbing the
mountain at record speed to
155
00:07:59,440 --> 00:08:01,120
having absolutely nothing
overnight.
156
00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:03,760
And that was a really weird
experience.
157
00:08:03,760 --> 00:08:06,560
And when I lost where there was
the money, the team members, the
158
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:08,760
friends, the thing I missed the
most were the people.
159
00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:11,480
It wasn't the experiences.
It wasn't like the luxurious
160
00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:13,480
adventures.
So I missed having that core
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00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:16,120
group of of friends and family
who I could really like be there
162
00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:17,920
with.
So I think that kind of reset
163
00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,400
the focus to wanting to grow
life in the future for like a
164
00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:25,160
small core group.
And then I think also what was
165
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,840
the motivating part is that like
no one really fucking cares,
166
00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:29,880
right?
Like I get questions all the
167
00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:31,920
time.
Like how can people trust you?
168
00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:33,320
Like, how can you continue to
work?
169
00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:35,400
And in reality, just nobody
cares.
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00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,159
If I can find a way to do
something interesting or provide
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00:08:38,159 --> 00:08:41,280
some value or make a connection
or be entertaining, people will
172
00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:43,159
tune in.
And if I can't and then they
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00:08:43,159 --> 00:08:45,920
won't, right?
So I think like your merit means
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00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,120
more than anything you've done
in the past.
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00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,000
But at the same time, it only
matters if you have that core
176
00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,400
group that you're really trying
to to grow and exceed with.
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00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,400
Is there somebody that you've
kind of looked up to along the
178
00:08:56,400 --> 00:08:58,000
way?
I'm sure you've had your fair
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00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:01,680
share of very successful mentors
and folks that have been in your
180
00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,920
life, but has there been kind of
that one or two key people in
181
00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:08,320
your life that's believed in you
regardless?
182
00:09:08,880 --> 00:09:11,040
That's a good question.
I think what's been hard for me
183
00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:15,920
is that most of the people who
invested in FIRE had backed my
184
00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,120
previous businesses.
So I had known them for a number
185
00:09:19,120 --> 00:09:21,840
of years before they invested
and obviously lost with the Fire
186
00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,360
festival investment.
So I feel like that's my, that's
187
00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,600
my biggest source of guilt, but
it's also my biggest source of
188
00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,840
motivation.
And there's a handful of them
189
00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:31,200
that left their marks.
I mean, in various ways.
190
00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:35,000
I think it's wanting to repay
that belief and, and repay that
191
00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,920
trust.
And I think kind of the
192
00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,160
interesting factor for me is
that when things failed, the
193
00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:42,880
people that were the most
supportive behind the scenes
194
00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:44,240
were actually the biggest
investors.
195
00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:46,600
So the ones that lost the most
are the ones that kind of gave
196
00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:49,360
me that hope and that motivation
to to keep pushing forward.
197
00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:53,040
And nobody's nobody's coming to
save you.
198
00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:56,000
Something I've learned as well.
You got to do it on your own.
199
00:09:56,360 --> 00:10:02,760
You come back and you start
another business and launch a
200
00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,720
new music festival.
Talk to me about the idea behind
201
00:10:06,720 --> 00:10:10,680
that.
I'm sure that you had your fair
202
00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:13,880
share of people writing you
thinking you were crazy to do an
203
00:10:13,880 --> 00:10:17,240
1/3 music festival, but I
actually tuned into some of it
204
00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,400
looked like it was fairly
successful and, and, and
205
00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:23,160
everybody had a good time.
Talk to me about wanting to do
206
00:10:23,160 --> 00:10:26,520
another one and having it be
able to execute it and have it
207
00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:28,320
be successful.
I'm sure that felt awesome.
208
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:32,920
I think it was really hard to
find my footing post release
209
00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,560
from prison.
I went to jail when I was 26.
210
00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:39,680
I finished in my early 30s and
I, I felt like when I started
211
00:10:39,680 --> 00:10:43,200
fast out of the gate now, it was
basically in last place and
212
00:10:43,560 --> 00:10:44,840
started like literally with
nothing.
213
00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:48,680
So thing was a weird feeling.
And as it took some time and
214
00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,800
some small projects that are
both good and bad along the way,
215
00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:56,040
I kind of got the sense that I
just needed to prove that we
216
00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,080
could do it.
I needed to improve that, the
217
00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:01,360
intentions behind FIRE where it
was really pure, but I also want
218
00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,160
to show that it could be a net
positive for a lot of people's
219
00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:05,800
lives.
But making the festival happen,
220
00:11:06,240 --> 00:11:09,360
we actually failed again.
We tried to do FIRE festival too
221
00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:12,200
in Mexico.
We announced a festival there.
222
00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:15,440
And after the media went crazy,
Mexican government released a
223
00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,080
statement saying they've never
heard of FIRE.
224
00:11:17,360 --> 00:11:20,680
So that was kind of like a a
crazy slap.
225
00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:23,600
And I guess that was like a
shit, is this going to happen
226
00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:24,240
again?
I mean.
227
00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,280
I was getting calls from my
probation officer being like,
228
00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:27,960
what?
What the fuck are you doing?
229
00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:29,200
Like, how are you scheduling a
festival?
230
00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:31,360
They don't know you exist.
And it's like, how do I tell
231
00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:34,160
them that we just got scammed by
the Mexican government without
232
00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:36,640
saying that?
So it was kind of like a weird,
233
00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,560
weird situation that passed.
We found a great home on this
234
00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:43,440
island called Utila.
It's in the Caribbean off of
235
00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:46,040
Honduras.
Really, really unique place,
236
00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:48,080
like the best coral reef I've
ever seen.
237
00:11:48,080 --> 00:11:50,880
There are no cars, so everybody
gets around by like golf carts
238
00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:54,120
or ATVs or dirt bikes.
And ultimately became the this
239
00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,040
great host, what we called the
Phoenix Festival to rise from
240
00:11:57,040 --> 00:11:59,160
the ashes.
And we did that just in
241
00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:01,040
December.
So it's it's been 3 months since
242
00:12:01,040 --> 00:12:02,440
the Phoenix Festival finally
happened.
243
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And are there more festivals in
the works?
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What's what's kind of on the
horizon for you?
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Absolutely.
So long term, I'd love to have a
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hotel where I can do these
permanent Phoenix or Fire as
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kind of adventure weekends and
experiences.
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But the festival's itself will
be a big part of that.
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It'll be a big driver for media
for guests to come.
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So our next one will be back in
the same location on Utila and
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Honduras.
So going back a little bit, you
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know, you said you'd went to
prison.
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Most people don't have to do
that.
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Talk to me a little bit about
did you have like an oh crap
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moment like a week before you're
headed to federal penitentiary?
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Talk to me a little bit about
what that was like and, and how
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the hell do you bounce back from
something like that?
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Because again, most people
don't.
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There's something unique inside
of you that's just like, refuses
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to give up.
I think it was.
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That's a crazy experience to
say.
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I mean, you, you're in there for
a number of years, right?
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Three years.
Four years, four years.
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The the hardest part for me to
think one of the other lessons
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is my life had been this
constant desperate Sprint up
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until fire.
I'd wake up, I'd get bills to
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pay, and I had to find a way to
pay them to keep this dream of
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the festival alive.
And I'll never forget the moment
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when I was sentenced.
I was sentenced to six years.
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And it's like hearing six years
when I was 26 years, 25 or 26
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years old.
And at the point, I was
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literally like living by the
second, living by the minute.
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And during that period of time,
I just couldn't fathom how long
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that was.
I think I was trying to get my
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mind in terms of how long life
is and trying to justify why
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that was probably fair and
really getting my head around
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the scope of time that I had to
had to serve.
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So do you?
Does your motivation, what
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drives you?
Is it you wanting to be
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successful?
Is it you wanted to prove your
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critics wrong?
Because again, it's like you
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don't have if people are paying
attention to you now and still,
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which I'm sure they are, you
seem to not have an off button.
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What?
What the heck drives you to keep
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going when most people just give
up?
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00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:03,120
That's a great question and my
definition of success has
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00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:05,520
certainly changed pre fire and
post fire.
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I think pre fire it was like I
was like the kid exploring the
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playground where fire my
previous businesses.
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They they gave me the means or
the doors.
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The introduction is to see it
was possible in the world and it
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00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:19,600
was kind of like this fun
challenger.
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I wanted to see like what else I
could do.
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I think success now is I really
remember the, the bad days in
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00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:29,040
jail where, you know, I didn't
have a penny, family or friends
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00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:31,120
were calling me and I just
couldn't be there to help them.
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00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,200
And like, unrelated to, to
finances, right?
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It's like not being able to be
there.
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I think the idea of being like
hopeless and powerless is the
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scariest thing in the world.
So I, I want to be successful
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enough where I can never be in
that fetal position again, where
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I have some ability to help my
family, help my close friends.
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And it's really like be there as
a man and, and not be someone
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who's like lost and forgotten
and worthless.
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00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,640
So what is a what does a legacy
look like for you?
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00:14:57,640 --> 00:15:00,280
You know, let's say it's 40
years from now and you're
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sipping my ties on the beach.
What do you think you would look
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00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:06,400
back on and say, ma'am, I'm glad
I kept going.
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That was a success.
What does that look like for
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00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:09,920
you?
There's like a list of people
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that I feel like I owe some of
them are financial, some of them
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are trust, some of them is just
like pure, you know,
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relationship based like family,
etcetera.
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And I think it's having those
people be able to look me in the
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00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:24,680
eye and and vice versa in 40
years and being like, hey, you,
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00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:26,480
you did it.
And like you paid us back.
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00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:28,920
And once again, not only
financially, but you paid us
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00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:30,240
back for the mistakes that you
made.
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00:15:30,520 --> 00:15:33,280
And I feel like that would be,
that would be the, you know,
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00:15:33,320 --> 00:15:36,920
satisfaction of life.
Has faith played a role in any
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00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,160
of this to you?
Have 4 of you gone about this on
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00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,520
your own grit?
You know, most people or a lot
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00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:46,160
of people find faith in moments
where they have nothing else
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00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,280
left really to choose or lose.
Was that did that play a role in
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00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,880
your kind of redemptive?
Story I think it has for
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00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,120
different periods.
I think I've continued to
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00:15:57,120 --> 00:15:59,840
oscillate in the spectrum of
what I believe and what I don't
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00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:01,880
believe and like what I think is
right and what I think is wrong.
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00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,760
So I think I'm still learning.
If prison was interesting
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00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,720
because there are a lot of like
very religious people of all
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00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,960
ends of the spectrum.
So getting to see and learn and
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00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:15,080
like, what are you like breathe
in different religions at the
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00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,280
most extreme level every day was
kind of a wild experience.
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00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:20,880
So yeah, I think it's something
that like I've I've tried to
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00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,800
take from all sides and trying
to find my own views.
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00:16:23,800 --> 00:16:25,960
And I think it's probably a a
still ongoing journey.
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00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:29,840
So one of the things you did
that I found fascinating was you
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00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:35,600
sold your, I think your life
rights or the firebrand on eBay
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00:16:35,600 --> 00:16:38,160
and it went for a pretty penny.
Talk to me a little bit about
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00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:41,360
what how that idea came to be
and and what, what does that
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00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,160
mean for the person who bought
it?
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00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,800
Are they going to be doing a
documentary on you or any
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00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,440
details you can share?
I'd love to hear.
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00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,520
So the reason why we chose eBay
was we thought and made the
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00:16:52,520 --> 00:16:56,600
least sense, Which we I think
correctly believe would create
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00:16:56,600 --> 00:17:00,240
the biggest media storm, right?
Like fire was a social media
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first brand.
So why not pick a legacy
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00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,359
platform to sell that brand on?
And, you know, we thought that
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would drive a lot of interest
and we think it did.
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00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,200
The after the situation in
Mexico where we scheduled the
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00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:14,079
music festival and the local
government there just got scared
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by the press and they distanced
themselves and basically went
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00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,359
back on on fire.
We thought that me plus fire was
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00:17:20,359 --> 00:17:22,520
too much for these locations to
handle.
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00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,240
So we felt like that we could
keep the the theme of it alive
356
00:17:26,240 --> 00:17:28,359
and just change the name.
And ultimately that worked.
357
00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:30,920
The owners of fire are a company
called Limewire.
358
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:32,360
I know they have some plans for
it.
359
00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:34,040
Oh, Limewire bought it.
That's cool.
360
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,600
Limewire bought it, so I'll
leave those plans with them.
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00:17:36,600 --> 00:17:40,560
However, we did finish filming a
Fire 2 documentary that was
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00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:43,400
separate from the Limewire sale.
I hope that air sometime like
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00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:45,800
later this year.
But that included all like the
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00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,320
Phoenix event in Honduras, the
failure in Mexico.
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00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,400
So a lot of interesting stuff in
the doc.
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00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,440
That's cool.
So what's some advice you'd give
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00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:57,600
for young entrepreneurs that are
going to be listening to this?
368
00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,800
A lot of folks that listen to my
show are aspiring entrepreneurs,
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00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:05,520
maybe entrepreneurs that haven't
quite cracked the code yet.
370
00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:08,920
What's some advice you'd give to
folks starting early on in their
371
00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:11,600
entrepreneur journey?
It's corny, but you have a lot
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00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:13,760
of time.
And I think all the bad
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00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,400
decisions I made in my 20s that
but the prison that led to, you
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00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,680
know, letting people down were
the lack of understanding of
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00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:22,600
time.
I felt like I needed it all like
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00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:26,320
right then and like right that
second and that was wrong and
377
00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:29,600
not in what, 12 years later?
I wish I understood that the
378
00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,520
value of time and starting from
scratch now with something I
379
00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:35,640
wouldn't have had to do if I was
a little bit more patient with a
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00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,680
couple decisions.
I think it's really important to
381
00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:41,000
move quickly, but move quickly
within reason and and realize
382
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:44,840
that you can't build something
great or acquire a lot of
383
00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:47,440
success or build a massive
network all in one day and it
384
00:18:47,440 --> 00:18:51,160
takes time.
What about tools at their
385
00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:53,400
disposal?
Something that you've done that
386
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:56,680
I've noticed is, you know,
utilizing social media and
387
00:18:56,680 --> 00:18:59,920
getting very personal and
vulnerable on there and kind of
388
00:18:59,920 --> 00:19:02,120
giving people a peek behind the
curtain.
389
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,480
Is that naturally kind of just
who you are or is that a
390
00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:09,520
strategy that other folks could
kind of pick up on?
391
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,360
Because I think there's
authenticity is what people
392
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:16,240
really, really want in life for
the most part.
393
00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,440
And being corporate and cookie
cutter is not something that I
394
00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:24,080
think does well on social media.
So tell me a little bit about
395
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:27,320
your strategy on social media,
because it seems to be like a
396
00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:32,440
day in the life of Billy and.
Things that's pretty cool will
397
00:19:32,440 --> 00:19:34,160
change.
We got to a point where
398
00:19:34,160 --> 00:19:38,680
everything became over polished
HR speak, right?
399
00:19:38,680 --> 00:19:41,320
Whether it's people like writing
their diatribes on LinkedIn or
400
00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:45,560
people posting like perfectly
edited videos of their life on
401
00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:48,240
Instagram to make them look like
prettier than they are,
402
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:49,720
wealthier than they are, happier
than they are.
403
00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,800
I think things became so over
polished that subconsciously we
404
00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:56,760
started to tune that out and we
started to like the opposite,
405
00:19:57,280 --> 00:19:59,960
like really simply like the
Instagram algorithm favors like
406
00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:02,960
raw selfie videos over heavily
edited, you know, pieces of
407
00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,640
content.
So I think as things became too
408
00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:09,000
pilot, people started to
naturally gravitate towards that
409
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:13,320
more authentic like look where
we're showing our raw issues and
410
00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:15,800
and floss.
So I'd highly recommend that for
411
00:20:15,800 --> 00:20:18,440
marketing.
So you mentioned you have a fire
412
00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:22,920
to documentary coming out.
Anything else on the horizon
413
00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,480
that folks should be aware of?
I want to be mindful your time
414
00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:28,800
here.
Talk to me about any of your
415
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:30,360
projects that you got on the
horizon.
416
00:20:30,360 --> 00:20:32,800
Would love to hear about it.
So I do a lot of marketing work
417
00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:35,400
for brands, I help them connect
with talent and create
418
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,080
activations around that.
So that's a day-to-day.
419
00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,440
I have another TV project on the
works outside of the documentary
420
00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,640
side and really looking forward
to building the next festival
421
00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:46,000
and hopefully hotel in the
Caribbean.
422
00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,840
So trying to really focus on
what we love to do and bring
423
00:20:48,840 --> 00:20:50,720
some people together.
Nice.
424
00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,400
Well, folks listening in, I'll
put all the links in the podcast
425
00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:55,960
description.
Billy, I really appreciate you
426
00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:58,000
joining us here for a quick 25
minutes.
427
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:01,440
We wish you nothing but success.
You're welcome back anytime and
428
00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:02,800
thanks so much for coming on the
show.
429
00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:05,080
Thank you, John.
Appreciate it.