The UpFlip Podcast

Rod Khleif immigrated to the US in deep poverty, wearing Goodwill clothes and eating cereal with powdered milk. Decades later, he built a massive real estate portfolio—only to lose $50 million in the 2008 housing crash. But his story didn't end there.
In this episode of the UpFlip Podcast, Rod sits down with us to share the raw, unfiltered truth about building wealth, losing it all, and the exact psychology required to earn it all back. We dive deep into why single-family homes might be the wrong investment strategy, how to confidently scale into multifamily real estate, and why mastering your mindset is the ultimate key to business growth.
If you are tired of playing small and letting fear dictate your entrepreneurial journey, this episode is your blueprint for taking massive action.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
The $50 Million Seminar: Why losing his empire in 2008 taught Rod that commercial multifamily real estate is far safer and more scalable than single-family homes.

Goal Setting on Steroids: How to stop planning your weekend and start designing your life with crystal-clear, emotionally charged goals.

Crushing Limiting Beliefs: How to drag your internal fears into the daylight, realize they are just "BS," and mitigate the stress holding you back.

The Power of Proximity: Why upgrading your peer group and getting around people who think your "hard" is "easy" will drastically shorten your learning curve.

Fulfillment vs. Achievement: Why buying the mansion and the Lamborghini won't actually make you happy, and how giving back accelerates your success.

Stop letting fear keep you stuck. Tune in to learn how to reprogram your mind, mitigate your risks, and build true generational wealth!
Tags: Real Estate, Retail Goods, Business mindset, AI, Entrepreneurship, Passive income, Recession Proof
Resources:
Grow your business today: https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast
Follow Our Second Channel Here: https://next.upflip.com/spotify
Connect with Rod: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodkhleif

Natalia Zorina owns a fleet of 68 cars and generates over $3.5 million in gross revenue ($300k net)—but she says you can start this exact business tomorrow with zero dollars and zero vehicles of your own.
In this episode, Natalia pulls back the curtain on the highly lucrative world of car rentals and co-hosting. Operating in Miami—a market notorious for rental scams—Natalia has built a trusted brand with over 500 five-star Google reviews by doing things the right way. She walks us through the step-by-step blueprint of going from a single financed car on Turo to leveraging AI to completely automate her massive day-to-day operations.
Whether you want to make your daily driver pay for itself or build a multi-million dollar fleet, this episode breaks down exactly how to navigate the risks, secure funding, and scale up.
🎙️ What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
The Zero-Dollar Start: How to use the "co-hosting" model to manage other people's vehicles for a revenue split, meaning you can start earning without buying a car.

Navigating Risk & Insurance: Why you shouldn't fear totaled cars, and the exact due diligence required to ensure you are 100% covered when accidents or thefts happen.

The Depreciation Trap: Why buying a brand-new luxury car or electric vehicle will kill your profit margins, and the specific car you should buy under $30,000 to start your fleet.

Scaling with AI: How Natalia replaced expensive human labor with AI to handle 24/7 customer service, morning lead follow-ups, chargeback monitoring, and live fleet revenue analysis.

Tags: Side hustle, Entrepreneurship, Business scaling, Turo, AI, Tech Ventures, Passive income, Car Rental
Resources:
Grow your business today: https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast
Follow Our Second Channel Here: https://next.upflip.com/spotify
Connect with Natalia: https://www.instagram.com/natalyturo/

Most people only eat funnel cake once or twice a year at a fair, but Cheyenne loved them so much she would buy expensive amusement park tickets just to get her fix. Tired of driving out of her community to satisfy a craving, she launched a makeshift funnel cake pop-up shop in her front yard with just a tent, a fryer, and a $5 menu. Today, that front-yard Startup is Fun Diggity, a dessert brand generating $350,000 a year in revenue.
In this episode, Cheyenne shares her incredible Entrepreneurship journey, moving from a struggling college student (and former Miss Compton) to the founder of a highly profitable Retail Goods business. You will learn how she leveraged "YouTube University" to teach herself the food business, how she used hyper-local Digital marketing and Instagram to build a cult following without spending a dime on ads, and her step-by-step process for pivoting into e-commerce during the pandemic.
In this episode, you'll learn:
The "Sink or Swim" Launch: Why launching a makeshift, imperfect business on the 4th of July taught Cheyenne everything she needed to know about product-market fit.

The Social Media Differentiator: How posting daily, "uncut" behind-the-scenes videos of her cooking process separated her from faceless competitors and built a massive local community.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Cheyenne’s strategy for acknowledging self-doubt—especially regarding money—and using personal development to build the confidence to scale.

The Pandemic Pivot: How to transition from a physical pop-up shop into a packaged e-commerce product, including how to find and negotiate with a manufacturer for your first small run.

The Power of Authentic Networking: How passing out fliers in a Raising Cane’s drive-thru line led to a massive catering deal with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) and Kendrick Lamar.

Tags: Side Hustle, Retail Goods, Startup, Entrepreneurship, Digital marketing, Niche Markets

Resources:
Grow your business today:  https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast
Follow Our Second Channel Here: https://next.upflip.com/spotify 
Connect with Cheyenne: https://www.instagram.com/p/CNkhBQUs7dq/

Brian grew up in Detroit believing that if you mastered your plumbing craft, the money would automatically follow. He quickly realized the highest-paid technicians weren't the best wrench-turners—they were the best communicators. After mastering the art of persuasion, Brian stepped in as GM of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and skyrocketed their revenue to $6.2 million in just two years by tripling their average ticket size to $1,600.
In this episode, Brian shares his exact framework for Business growth in the Home Services industry. You will learn the psychological triggers that close deals, why you must avoid "cortisol-producing" words, and how to apply the Law of Reciprocity before the pitch even starts. Whether you are scaling a local crew or offering Business consulting, this episode is a will teach you how to confidently ask for the sale without feeling pushy.
In this episode, you'll learn:
The 85% Failure: Why the vast majority of presentations end without anyone asking for the sale, and the exact low-pressure script Brian uses to close.

Cortisol-Producing Words: Why saying "sign here" or "contract" subconsciously kills trust, and the specific replacement words (like "endorsement" and "paperwork") you must use instead.

The Law of Pre-Suasion: How handing out a simple dog-waste bag dispenser on the front porch leverages the law of reciprocity and drastically increases customer loyalty.

The "Palms Up" Hack: The single body-language adjustment—proven by TED Talk data—that instantly increases your trustworthiness and close rate.

Mirroring Objections: How to use FBI hostage negotiation tactics to effortlessly disarm the dreaded "that's too expensive" objection without getting defensive.

Tags: Home Services, Service & Consulting, Business growth, Business skills, Business leadership, Sales
Resources:
Grow your business today:  https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast
Follow Our Second Channel Here: https://next.upflip.com/spotify 
Connect with Brian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-burton-b1276415a/

Ray Vardy was a pre-med student drowning in $1,200 monthly payments for a Tesla he couldn't afford. Desperate to cover the costs, he tried renting it out on existing platforms, only to have the car scratched, smoked in, and, in one instance, used to rob a bank. Instead of accepting defeat, Ray leaned into Product development and built a software solution to automate the entire rental process. Today, that dorm-room project is Eon Rides, a nationwide managed marketplace with thousands of electric vehicles and 70% year-over-year organic growth.
In this episode, Ray breaks down how he built a massive tech Startup without knowing how to write a single line of code and without taking a single dollar of venture capital. You will learn why he believes traditional ads are dying, how to leverage AEO (AI Engine Optimization) to dominate search rankings, and the exact strategy he used to solve the classic "chicken or the egg" problem in marketplace Business growth.
In this episode, you'll learn:The Barter System: How Ray convinced a college friend to code the very first version of Eon Rides for free by trading lifetime access to the platform's cars.
AEO (AI Engine Optimization): Why Ray believes traditional SEO and paid ads are being replaced by ChatGPT and Claude, and how to optimize your landing pages so AI recommends your business.

The "Demand First" Marketplace Strategy: Why you should completely ignore supply until you have built a product that customers are rabidly demanding.

The Embarrassment Threshold: Why launching a product that doesn't embarrass you means you waited entirely too long to go to market.

The Anti-VC Route: Why getting rejected by 50 different investors was the best thing that ever happened to Eon Rides, allowing Ray to prioritize safety and unit economics over unsustainable hyper-growth.

Tags: Startup, Product development, Business growth, Entrepreneurship, AI, Engine Optimization
Resources
Grow your business today:  https://links.upflip.com/the-business-startup-and-growth-blueprint-podcast
Follow Our Second Channel Here: https://next.upflip.com/spotify 
Connect with Rei: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reivardi/