Ep. 4 Quantum Leap from Bankruptcy to Branded Artist of Love with RubenRojas
Updated: Jan 27, 2023
Bethany Londyn 0:00
All right, I have the fabulous Rubin Rojas and I am so beyond excited to have him here today because Oh, my goodness, this is gonna be the fourth episode. And also he is all about love, which you'll find out here shortly if you don't know him yet. And one of the ways we met had to do with the number four, which meant love. So How about them apples? I have known him for quite a while. And so I have witnessed this, this quantum leap that he has taken apart in with his love art business. We used to play art, however you want to say that we would be let's do art today. And sure enough, his his business has taken off in so many ways. I actually have that love painting behind me that I don't instead I'm wearing his T shirt. So let's jump on in.
Ruben Rojas 1:06
Hi, Robin. Hey, are you doing?
MASSIVE MANIFESTATIONS
Bethany Londyn 1:09
Good. I would love to hear. Of course, we want to get into your quantum leap. But let's show let's share some of the manifestations the the leap that you have had like where I mean, you just you just did the NFL. Just work with the NFL. So for being an artist and working with the NFL. I mean, that is like everybody's dream, right? So yeah, share more of your manifestations because you've been on TV, like so many things.
Ruben Rojas 1:45
I guess to put it easy, right? To quantify it. I throw a lot of stuff out there. I just say it. So you know if you want to speak things into existence, as they say, and you've got to believe it, but just repeating it and repeating it and repeating it. And you know, there's still a lot of things that are yet to happen, that will eventually happen, because I keep thinking it and repeating it. And eventually part of that is that someone's going to hear besides you hearing it. You know the cool thing about
Bethany Londyn 2:16
heating it. Are you telling people I'm going to be in the NFL? Are you telling yourself just what is repeating me.
Ruben Rojas 2:23
Like, I'll give you one of the ones I'm working on right now as like the Olympics are coming to Los Angeles, I have a few goals with that one being like I want to design the Olympic uniforms for our team because America gets to show up and needs to show up and has to show up with love. Like we're not showing up that way. And imagine if all these athletes are coming out in red, white and blue love. I've mocked up uniforms like couple years ago, and I keep showing it to people and sharing it and talking about it. Eventually one person's like, Oh, I could connect you to the IOC or I can get you here I can get you there. Well you know Ralph Lauren has that contract and like it doesn't have to be my name on it designing it. I just want to design what it looks like whether allow Ralph Lauren produces it or whoever that's besides the point. So it's just saying it over and over and over. You know, like with the NFL or with BMW or Nike, I always talk about Nike, like your dad worked at Nike like I want to do an Air Jordan one. Love collab with them. You see all the you see J Balvin. Now coming out with two of his shoe, so I know it's possible. I know as a sneaker coach culture, let's go tinker. Can you haven't good tinker. Before he
Bethany Londyn 3:43
tinkers parties, house parties will make it happen,
Ruben Rojas 3:47
Bethany can make this quantum leap happen. So it's just talking about it and doing it. You know, the cool thing about the NFL is like, I played football and I played a couple years of college football and then I competed at every level of CrossFit. So as an athlete, an athlete mindset, I'm like, yo, I made it to the league. Maybe I'm not playing on the field, but I'm playing in the league with the league and we're playing on a bigger playground, just the game of football, like, we're inviting people to choose love. So that's how this happened. I just I just throw it out there and I gotta believe it. Like I believe Elon Musk is either gonna let me paint a rocket somehow, or we're gonna put art in his rocket. And we're gonna send a piece of art or the first mural to Mars like, the chances of me painting it on Mars and ever making it back probably not, you know, I've got a kid and a wife and a family. I got things to do here but sending a pre painted mural up there could be kind of cool. So I don't know what that's gonna look like, but getting it out there and I've toured space. Yeah. Worked out with a guy that works. He's a rocket scientist. So it's like, little things just start happening and eventually it's like he's going wha Reuben. Elon said yes, you could put
Bethany Londyn 5:02
I know people at Tesla that work on the launches. Yeah. So yeah. Oh my goodness. So you guys listen to how he's, he's expanding and expanding and expanding. Like, I think that's part of the key here is he is constantly growing from one thing like for me, as an artist, I want to paint a whole bunch of different things like he has really fine tuned and expanded what the word love can be on. from paintings to cars. You got BMW, he has he's sponsored by BMW, he drives around and what an x phi that has love all over it. And you've done another BMW recently, like, how did they find you? Were you already talking about putting it on a car in general? Or were you talking about like how you just were just now putting it specifically on a BMW? I'm just curious.
Ruben Rojas 5:58
It's all organic. So I always talked about like, really cool to pixel cars, like driving around all over the place. People see it everywhere on the freeway. You know, it's actually a reminder for me, I'm like, if I get a little roadways, wait, I'm driving a car that has love on it like, yeah, relax. So that happened organically, someone messaged me, they wanted to buy a printer or a painting or something for their friend for her birthday during the pandemic. And I'm like, oh, it's close by, I'll just deliver, I'll just deliver it, don't worry about it. And I went and delivered it knocked on her door, met her presented it like hey, and I happen to be the artist. Here you go. She happened to work at BMW, you know, and then later, she just, I guess, Googled me looked it up, sent me a message. So a lot of these things happen that way organically. So it's throwing it out there and believing in it. But it's also just showing up for the opportunity of when it happens or you come across the person, they actually see that you're being exactly what you're putting out there. And then when they Google you, they're like, oh, this all matches up. Like you're being the thing you're showing up as the thing you're walking the talk, all the things. So I think all of that is part of it. So it's not just let me throw it out there. It's throwing it out there and doing the work and executing. That's it.
Bethany Londyn 7:26
Okay, so let's, let's backtrack, you guys. So I know Rubin when we were just playing around with art he was doing he was teamed up with this company, beautify earth or nonprofit and they were throwing graffiti on the walls. And he was my life insurance guy. So, so what happened from life insurance guy to taking that quantum leap, which is continued to quantum leap as an artist, which is obviously as you're sharing now, there's so many takeaways. So what yeah, what would you say? Because you've constantly he's constantly been on my back to Quantum Leap and be full 100% energy healer and I still am tapping in real estate because I'm like, I love real estate too. But yeah. Tell us, is there a moment? Is it was there a mindset thing? Did someone say something to you so curious?
Ruben Rojas 8:24
Well, then I have to backtrack to a little bit of the origin story. Perfect. So we go way back. I went to school to study to become an orthopedic surgeon. So I have everything leading up to med school. And I didn't go to med school. Because of a couple of reasons, but the easiest, the main thing is I my buddies, come try out real estate made 18 grand my first month in real estate, half a million in debt. 10 more years of school. All that stress stressed out Who knows when I was what, where I would be for 18,000. What could be the next month? Oh, the next month happened to be a little bit more than then a little bit more than a little bit more. And I'm 2223 24 Right? At that age. I mean, even now a lot of us get lost in the fact that we should define our success and who we are, what we are not but what we show. And during those times. I mean, I'm Colombian, we're already ostentatious. I'm a male in Los Angeles. I was single like making a lot of money. Of course, I want the nice car and the rims and the gleaned out watches and all these things. And there's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with liking nice things. The issue and the problem was defining who you were filling in any gaps and holes in your self love and your self worth and your belonging by buying these things. And that's the big problem I see in the world right? We don't feel good enough. Pretty enough. Worthy. We don't love ourselves, we're not kind to ourselves. So we find all these things right plastic surgery, every pill under the sun to try to get skinny, buying things to make us like, Oh, hey, cool watch cool purse to find our validation and then I'm making a lot of money I get through this point I lose it all in 2008 the recession. I go bankrupt, get rid of the houses, do all the things. Lost it all strategically, though, like, Yes, I did go bankrupt. And I sold off a lot of things. And it wasn't super frivolous. I was still small, I saved half my money, which allowed me to carry on for a few years, there was a lot of things in their pre bankruptcy as the spiral started go down. But for the next year, I found myself, you know, living basically back at home moved in with my brother because we had a family condo, which was a great opportunity and figuring out how do I rebuild?
Bethany Londyn 10:52
Is that where I went?
Ruben Rojas 10:54
When? Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Um, and, you know, I'm just figuring this stuff out. I'm like, What am I gonna do with my life? And where am I gonna go, and eventually, people like, go down to finance. So I became a financial adviser selling life insurance, investments in retirement, great business, great things for people that people don't think they need. Start making money. So Validating my success with money again, I'm like, oh, no, we're back in this thing, again, five years into it, you know, Leaders Conference, and Rookie of the Year, all these things. But I'm miserable. And I'm depressed and I'm not happy. And I'm like, I don't want to be doing this. And I started doing everything under the sun to avoid my life led me to do so work on myself. That led me to my first mural that led me to finding my artist self. That's always been there. As a kid, I've always painted I've always drawn I used to do book covers in high school. So it wasn't like I was never an artist. And I'll
Bethany Londyn 12:04
pass on that real quick. I want to ask more, because I always love to dig into the childhood. So were you supported as a child doing art? Like, were you encouraged? Or it was just something you did? Were you made fun of? Or are you just like, what's the story there?
Ruben Rojas 12:21
Was it not encouraged by my mom put us in oil painting classes and charcoal painting class? Would whittling like all the so every weekend, we create electronics and robotics like no, we had tons of stuff to keep us busy. What it was it was never told to go do that for your career path or for your life path? Or that was a difference. You know, I think it's like be a doctor, go be a lawyer go into banking go into insurance go into the traditional route. So yeah, it was encouraged in the sense yeah, go have fun with art, but it wasn't like to be an artist. Plus, back then it was pre everything now, there was no creator economy. So it's aren't wasn't or had the opportunity has now for you to do it the way you want to do it. You know, it was more traditional. And I was good at science and all that too. So that that kind of just went down that path with school.
Bethany Londyn 13:15
Medical. Yeah.
Ruben Rojas 13:17
So once I painted my first mural, I did another I did another. That was like, 20 1314 1516 I'm still doing finance 2017 Because I'm like, how am I gonna make money at this thing? It's a nonprofit, it's you know, what we do in beautifier. It's like, Hey, give me 200 bucks to cover with some paint to paint this thing. And I'm there for a week painting like, it was because I loved it, and putting the message out into the world. And finally, 2018 I'm, I can't do this anymore, because I'm sabotaging my finance career, because I don't want to do it. So why would I try to succeed at it anymore. But I'm not letting art take off. Because I don't know what it's like to go all in. So in 2018, I'm like, I'm out, stop going to the office. And I had no choice but to make this thing work. So it kind of just took that
Reinforcing the message of living through love
Bethany Londyn 14:12
was economy running in your mind. And you're just like, I'm over it. No one said anything. This was an internal conversation. And you're like, done.
Ruben Rojas 14:22
Yeah, some of my clients and like, you should be doing that thing. Not this thing. Like we'll be okay. So that reinforced some things is I'm really loyal to my clients and my customers and everything that I do. So, I mean, that was part of but that wasn't it. Yeah, I just had to do it.
Bethany Londyn 14:42
You just knew you had to do it. And you followed that truth. You're getting louder.
Ruben Rojas 14:48
Then worst case, I could have gotten back to finance right. Or I'm still insurance license. I let all my investments that go because you have to practice it to keep it. But yeah, I'm not going back. I'm not looking back. Funny though, people ask me for advice all the time, and I'm like, oh, but when I was in the business, you thought I was selling you something now you just want my knowledge.
Bethany Londyn 15:10
Yeah, so people wait. So people still hit you up?
Ruben Rojas 15:14
Oh, yeah. I mean, I still I mean, I practice for myself. Like, I have all my insurances, and I have all my investments, and I fund my Roth and my, like, we have to track practice all of that. So, yeah.
Bethany Londyn 15:28
So okay, so you took the leap, and you're like, This is the only way there's no turning back. I'm moving forward. And were you painting and putting stuff just was at the murals, right? Were you. It was an it was an Instagram thing.
Ruben Rojas 15:45
Murals, murals on Instagram, I did a lot of paintings, but I hadn't really started sharing the paintings yet. Just kept doing it, and I kept expanding it. And then 2020 I'm like, I should do some T shirts, and then started the clothing line as you're wearing it. And I'm wearing, you know, done sculptures. Now. We have a podcast now. So all of it is mediums of creating, and reinforcing the message of living through love. And a lot of those other mediums are essentially the artwork, like, the artwork is the bread and butter. That's what really, you know, brings the income and where I want to go, like I want to be at a museum, or multiple museums, I want to get to Jeff Koons level. And we're
Bethany Londyn 16:30
getting the Andy Warhol when they sent you yesterday.
Ruben Rojas 16:33
Exactly all of that, right, but hopefully not when I'm dead, you know, as far as the value of me, but get to those levels of influence with my art, but everything else I'm doing is a reinforcement of the lifestyle of the message of inviting people to choose love. And live through love. So,
Bethany Londyn 16:50
yeah, no, it's I mean, it's such a beautiful message. I'm curious, though, as any entrepreneur, especially in artists, when we are told, what is the artists struggle like that you can make away being an artist? So how did you combat those? Those kind of beliefs that I'm sure we're out there somewhere? Because there's Are you getting coaching? Like, what was the sport? You're married? I mean, is there something that really encouraged you continuing the drive? Or is it you're just really your own best coach?
Ruben Rojas 17:24
What are the conversations that I had with myself that like, a come to Jesus conversation? It's like, I had to look back and take inventory of everything in my life. I've always been a hustler. I've always been an entrepreneur. Like in eighth grade, I started a business like, because there was things that I wanted that I didn't want to ask for. So I haven't like let me go figure out how to make money so I can get the things that I want. What were you doing a few things. It was like designing book covers, there was a shoplifting there was yeah, those are the there's been some illegal stuff, you know, there's been
Bethany Londyn 18:03
there's hesitation there. Okay.
Ruben Rojas 18:05
How much of that do we want to put out now it's true, though. It's all practice. Look at anyone you know, trading sports cards and comic books and different things like that. So it wasn't
Bethany Londyn 18:15
like one thing was just like an array and anything to get some
Ruben Rojas 18:19
cash. Yeah, provide value for monetary gain, so that I can get what I want for myself. So it's always been a self starter self learner, but in everything so then I basically said Ruben, you've always been able to take chances jump off cliffs and figure it out. Why are you hesitating here? Is it because now I'm older? Is it cuz I mean, I've what still wasn't married? I had a girlfriend at the time, but like, what is it? You know, doing it with a kid and like, I have a kid now like, this has to work. But there's nothing else that I can do you know, and we want to keep growing the family and keep making everything happen. So it was just realizing like I've always been a self starter, I've always been able to succeed if I put my mind to it. So why not continue to bet on myself? Where was the self doubt? That didn't have me jump sooner? So it was like you gotta bet on yourself.
Bethany Londyn 19:16
So is this like you sitting with yourself meditating? Is this journaling? Is this like you screaming in the car comes Jesus like,
Ruben Rojas 19:23
with me in my head? So I guess if you're in your head, you're meditating. Okay, but it wasn't like I was sitting in breathing. But no, that was that was part of the conversation was like, at the end of the day, I believe in taking as much personal responsibility as possible. There's a lot of things we can control. And if we only focus on we can control more often than not, then we're going to be in a better place, right? I can't get mad at myself for trying. I could get mad at myself for not trying. Right? We can control our word so we get Have our word and we break it, that's us breaking it, that's something we can control that you could choose whether you want to break it or not break it. So there's very few things, how we use our time. We can't control how people experience us. Take a step when taking my work, I just gotta keep putting it out there until they realize, right, we invite them to choose it. Yeah, you know, so. So there's that.
We can’t control how people experience us, but we can control our word.
Bethany Londyn 20:28
Alright, so I work with, you know, I talk with a lot of CEOs and work with them. And I feel like the number one thing for them is the pressure of support, if they're married and have kids with motion, most of them do, like all of them really, is the pressure of having a family and providing. And this weighs them down, it weighs them. And they're just they have decision making fatigue. And then it's like the employees and everything. So for you, I feel like you'd use this to support you. I don't know, would you? If you look at like the correlation of your up leveling in your business? Is there any correlation with like, let's say z being pregnant? And having a child on the way? I'm curious?
Ruben Rojas 21:10
Are you asking if that made me work harder or bigger? Now, a lot of people ask, like now that you have revenue, how has your work changed? I mean, it hasn't changed, nothing has changed. Other than that, it's way more important. It's more important for the world. But because I have a kid that's going to live in the world when I'm gone. It's more important because I have a family that I'm supporting. But it's not the thing that made me drive or work hard. And if I miss, I think it's because my mission and vision is so big. Those are things that, you know, if I get down and out and burnt out in the corner, or have a moment of depression or whatever, then I look at like, Oh, look at my beautiful wife and my beautiful kid and this family that I'm building. Let's keep going. So it's fuel, but it's not a motivator, in the sense of like
Bethany Londyn 21:59
your way down at all by either like other people or when they have
Ruben Rojas 22:03
no, I mean, it's, it's it's stressful. But how can I let something weigh me down when I chose it?
Ruben Rojas 22:12
Right, I chose this leg, like, I gotta keep moving forward. It's a choice. Like we're here. We chose this. And, of course, nothing's perfect. And there's ups and there's downs, but it's like, I've chosen I know where I want to go. And where I keep going, you know, sometimes a little slower getting there. Sometimes it's like, wow, we just took like 18 jobs. But yeah, love it.
Bethany Londyn 22:34
And I've seen your posts, you say I consciously choose this again, every single day. You write that? Okay, beautiful. Well, my takeaway, I would say is really expanding what you can do, because we all have limits to ourselves. And it's like, okay, I want to be a known podcast host. And maybe that's like my limit. It's not, but I'm just sharing. So what you've done is you've really taken it to like the nth degree and continue with like the Mars story in the Olympics. It's just so amazing. And you're expressing it, you're vocalizing right now here, and with others, and that's like, so phenomenal. But now I would love like connecting the dots backwards, which I've been working on with you. I'm curious what you would say the three takeaways for quantum leaping
Ruben Rojas 23:29
are. Made you have to, I don't believe that you have that clarity in your vision because our vision becomes clearer and clearer as we do it. I think you need to have a trajectory of where your vision is going. Right? You know, I started with murals and like, oh, let's paint murals everywhere and put them in different cities across the world. What went next? Well, my next How did I make that bigger? And then eventually, I figured out like, oh, all this is lifted well, like so I think it's like, have a mission and a vision. But realize that it'll become clearer as you continue down the path and it can shift and it can change, you know, not saying this is gonna happen, but tomorrow, maybe I'll never make another piece of art again, and I become something else who knows? And it's okay, as long as I'm still on that vision. So that's one.
Bethany Londyn 24:21
That's a great one, though, because a lot of people I think, don't take a step forward because they're like, I need to have be clear and have this all dialed. So that's beautiful.
Your purpose is to live your life the way you want it.
Ruben Rojas 24:32
Purpose. I think purpose is also overused, but it's a question it's good question as like, what's my purpose? Why am I here? Why am I alive? Why I am valuable? I am I'm worthy. Your purpose is to live your life and maximize your life however you deem fit. Your purpose isn't to live out your parents dreams. You know, I think now even more as a parent, I'm like, whatever Remy becomes he becomes and I'm not going to live vicariously through him in the sense of like, oh, I only went to college football, oh, you're gonna go to the NFL and like, push him all the way through, like, you know, I'm not gonna validate me as a person through my kids accomplishments. You know, I've read some books, I've heard some other people talk about this subject matter. And I just want him to be his own best, perfect little dude. And the only way I can ensure that, in controlling it is how I show up in the world. So if I show up live loving myself, he's going to see oh, that's how you love yourself. I can't say hey, Remy, go love yourself, go in the mirror and say I love you. But you can't do that. It's not that what it means. So I think that is, is a point to so
Bethany Londyn 25:45
I'm like, that'd be really cute Instagram, though. Just saying.
Ruben Rojas 25:49
Yeah, I did do give me a love letter. Video that you'll get to watch one day. But yeah, your your purpose is to live your life. How you want to live your life. So like, it's like, oh, unless I'm the president of the US. I didn't fulfill a purpose. Yeah, according to who? You know. So anyway, so those two things clarity in your vision, your vision could change that perspective, purpose. And the last one. It's choosing love. It's not easy. I'm not talking about romantic comedies and Valentine's Day. You know, romance is great. And passion is great. Those are different things. But choosing love is hard. I still have a hard time doing it. You know, I still get pissed off and want to flick somebody off. I'm like, I can't do that. Like that's a we're human, and we're fallible, and we have a motion that they can spiral out of control. And it's hopefully practicing to choose love to help bind ourselves again. Whether it's relationships with ourselves, with our spouses, with our kids, with our friends, with our employees, with our businesses with the world, it doesn't matter. So choosing love. So yeah, those are my three things.
Bethany Londyn 27:09
Love it. Don't worry about the clarity on our purpose. And choose love. Amazing. You are always such an inspiration. I always love spending time with you. Even if you're throwing my feet to the fire. Only because you love me. Oh my goodness.
Ruben Rojas 27:32
I can do for permission. You do. I'm like, Hey, do you want some feedback? Can I give it you're like okay,
Bethany Londyn 27:41
okay, that's funny. I don't remember that. But I'm sure you did. At WebPart I remember the other part, the part that has meaning. Yeah. So where can people find you learn all about you buy your gear, your art. Go to your events, all the things.
Ruben Rojas 28:03
At Rubin Rojas Rubin. rojas.com just Google Rubin Rojas. The podcast is called Live to love. Yeah.
Bethany Londyn 28:13
Did that TV show ever come out?
Ruben Rojas 28:16
There? Yeah. There's a pilot. It's on Discovery. Plus,
Bethany Londyn 28:20
I got it. I need to watch it. What's that called? Public artists. Public artist,
Ruben Rojas 28:26
the watchman public artist means I'm the host not the artist.
Bethany Londyn 28:31
Yes, he's the host on that and work with us envision him working with the Olympics. Let's hold that vision so that it manifests and that there's some love all over the rocket? Not the rocket. What is it?
Ruben Rojas 28:50
Could be the rocket could be admired could be a care package. Who knows? Something out in outer space.
Bethany Londyn 28:56
Yes, yes. Yes. Love it holding the vision. All right. Well, you are such a blessing and inspiration and I appreciate you taking some time out of your day to join the Quantum Leap your business and life podcast and looking forward to the next quantum leaps.
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