Can Ugly People Get Rich Too? | Ask. Mr. Wonderful #12 Kevin O'Leary

Oh that, that's gonna require a sip of wine. Leah, that's a really tough question. [Music] Okay, so we're gonna have a really interesting session of Ask Mr. Wonderful today because of one of my most, I guess, favorite places. I'm in an FP Joran watch boutique. Now, I don't know if you know the brand FP Joran. It's one of the greatest watchmakers on earth. Think of Picasso while Picasso was alive. So when you buy an FP Joran, you're buying a Picasso painting before he's dead.

Anyways, I thought it would be a great inspirational place to answer some questions. By the way, I bought a new watch today, this blue FP Joran, and I'm just, I'm going to start crying. I love it so much.

I'm 28, located in Vancouver, without a degree. I have two years of experience in college and a few years working as an experienced in sales. My question is, what would be my best shot of making it into the financial industry? Am I too old to give it a shot?

Aaron, you're never too old to give it a shot. But let me tell you something. First of all, let's deal with the first part of your question. I tell people the way it is because in business, it's kind of binary; it's black and white. Either you make money or you lose it, and you shouldn't lie about that because the market's gonna come and bite your hiney anyways if you don't get it right. I just tell them the truth. If they don't like it, too bad. I'm trying to save their money, not their feelings.

Now, let's move on regarding you. Here's what I've learned in life: it's really good to apprentice and learn from masters that know a lot more and have experience that you don't have. If you like financial services, you've got to go work for somebody in financial services. You have to be an intern somewhere. They're gonna treat you like crap, they're gonna pay you nothing, but you're going to learn something. If you can spend a year working for a company that you aspire to actually be a manager in or accelerate in, that's a great outcome for you.

Now, is that insurance? Is it in the credit industry? Is it for a bank, an investment banker? I don’t know. It's really what you want to do because it sounds like you want to kind of pivot into the world of finance. The only way to play the game there, Aaron, is to go work in it and learn how tough it is. And by the way, they take guys like you and they work you 20 hours a day, pay you nothing. It's brutal, but you learn so much.

Do it for a year to 18 months and then you can launch yourself. So look, if you have the interest and the desire, and it sounds like you do, listen to what I just said: go be an intern, and good luck to you. And by the way, stop your whining when you haven't had any sleep and you're doing seven days a week. Remember I told you it was gonna be that hard, but it's worth it. You'll learn.

I'm insecure about how I look, and it's handicapping me from reaching my full potential. I just want to improve myself and be better until I can take my business to the next level, but I'm too self-conscious to take photos or even meet new people because of my acne. Do you have any wisdom to provide me?

I really can't. I can't maintain what I'm doing. You know, Erik, I love the fact that you're being honest about this issue. It clearly is bothering you. Let me tell you something about how people look: I don't care if you're fat, you're skinny, you're bald, doesn't matter. It's can you perform? Can you execute? If somebody gives you a task, can you deliver? Believe me, they don't care how you look.

Now, let me tell you something: that acne, you can get that fixed. There are some great solutions on the market. It involves a little diet and a pill you have to take every day. But maybe, in your case, if it's bothering you so much, you can deal with it. But don't ever think that's gonna hold you back. People don't care. What they care about is can you work, can you execute, can you meet targets in business? That's all that matters.

I don't care how you look; can you deliver? Believe me, I've got people looking pretty crazy, pretty eclectic, covered in that, in tattoos, fish hooks all over them. I don't give a you know what. I like about them; they're consistent deliverers. They know how to make their targets. They're very, very strong in executional skills, and if you can do that, nobody cares if you have acne. But if it's bothering you, go get it fixed. It's not that hard to do, and there are great solutions. But I like the question; that was a good one.

Next question is from Aaliyah. So what would you say to someone who wants to pursue their passion in the arts who's also very talented, dedicated to what they do but doesn't want to risk the starving artists stereotype?

Oh, that, that's gonna require a sip of wine. Maliha, that's a really tough question. Let me just savor this Montrachet, a crisp Chardonnay in the French style, not oaked at all, just really crispy. One second. Now, this is something that's very difficult for everybody in life. You have to make a decision: pursue your passion. If it's the arts, that's often not a place where you can make enough money to eat; a big problem.

The key to success in life is finding the balance—to find something you love doing that you can actually get paid to do. Now, there are jobs in the arts that can actually help you make a living—curating in a museum, for example. Tough gig to get, pays well, but really passionate for the people that love to do that. They've become specialists in an area like Renaissance art, or sculpture or whatever, or contemporary art, and they pursue that dream and they find a way to make it work.

If you really want to pursue the arts, you've got to get a job. Now, you know, people ask me all the time what's the solution to that. In ancient times or even medieval times, there was the concept of patron—a person that would take you under their wing and pay for you to be the expert in the arts. There are equivalents in modern times where you go work for a family that may be collecting art, and they respect you as some of them can help them curate their decisions.

I'm telling you how to get a career in the arts—not easy—but if you're really good at it and you can find it, bake it all—a family that's collecting art that wants you to help go do the hard work of going and finding and dealing with dealers and trying to find pieces that would fit the curated a shion's of that family. I'm just giving you some suggestions. I'm throwing it out there. But that's how you could actually make a living in something you love.

The concept of the medieval baked at home, which started in Italy, actually, when families like the Medici family would say, "Look, we're going to support the Arts, and we need people to work for us to go find great artists that we can actually fund." Same idea in modern times. I hope I've helped you with that. I'm kind of inspired thinking about it myself; it's kind of interesting. I use—it's a great job if you're an artist. You know, after all that, I need another sip of wine.

Yeah, anyways, good luck with that one. What's next?

Next question is from Sean. So I had saved up money for a down payment for a house. What would you consider a safe, reasonable percentage of my income that should go towards a mortgage? I was told by someone that it shouldn't be any more than 70% of what I make a year.

Sean, this is a great question and very important for everybody involved in deciding to purchase a home. Now, the biggest mistake people make when they buy a home is they buy a home too big because they're now servicing something and using over half their income after tax. Remember, you're servicing the mortgage after-tax income.

So if you're, the average salary in America is $56,000 and you got to eat, and you have to have money to do other things with, the best way to get into homeownership is to never let the mortgage be more than 30% of your after-tax income. Don't go crazy. Start with 2,000 square feet, 1,500 square feet, something small. Maybe a condo, maybe a, you know, a semi-detached. Something.

The biggest mistake—and I nearly did this to myself when I was young—I bought a big home, really big. I couldn't afford it, and I had to rent it out to all my friends from college, all through the bedrooms. And my girlfriend said, "Why are all these people living with us?" I said, "Well, honey, I can't afford the house. I paid too much for the home." I made the mistake myself; I should've bought something a lot smaller. Start small, pay down the mortgage, sell it, buy something a little bigger as your salary goes up.

But my rule is very simple, Sean: not more than 30% of your after-tax income. Otherwise, you could really screw yourself because sometimes you lose your job, for example, and that really gets crazy. You know what? The house can be an anchor, a ball and chain, a piece of land around your feet; that's crazy. 30%, that's the max.

Next question comes from Grayson. I'm a manager at 19 years old. Lately, I've been running into some problems with some staff being insubordinate when asking them to do simple tasks. I'm not sure how to go about disciplining them. What makes it a bit awkward for me is that I'm probably the youngest person in my organization or one of the youngest. So often, I find people disregard my authority. How can I go about this the right way?

Raise up, 19-year-old manager. Born to lead, my friend. That's what it sounds like to me—19 years old. Here's the key to being a successful manager. People don't have to like you; they have to respect you and you have to respect them. Two great managers in life— and I've gone through this in my career—you don't have to like the people that work for you, but you have to show them respect and they have to reciprocate that.

In managing companies, it's all about respect and it's primarily setting goals for people and asking them to buy into those goals and agreeing with you that those are achievable and giving them at least three months to go achieve them. So I wouldn't get worried about the social impact or the concerns about being a manager at 19. It doesn't matter how old you are; it's irrelevant.

What matters is if people are willing to follow you, respect you, listen to you, work with you, and set goals together that you both achieve. If you can do that at 19, you are a friggin' rock star, my friend, and I have a sense that maybe you are. But remember, it's all about respect—respect something that you don’t have experience with because when you're 19, you don't have any of that.

So if you meet somebody that's working for you that's a lot older, respect what they know that you don't. It's all about respect.

Last question comes from Clayton. You mentioned the idea of watches as investments. Do you consider every personal interest, like watches, an investment, or do you also go for things that maybe aren't intended to grow in value?

Clayton, what an amazing question. You know, I started my life always saying, "Why would I buy that if it's not a great investment?" And for a long time, that's how I've led my life. I always say, "I'm not buying that because it's not a great investment; stock increase in value." But then you get married, and things change because sometimes your wife wants to spend money on things you don't think are a very good idea, and you try and talk them out of that.

Or your girlfriend, or your significant other. But sometimes it's not all about the money; it's about sharing with somebody and letting them do what they want to do with their time, and you may be supporting them. And lately, in my life—and you know, I'm not a spring chicken anymore—I've realized that everything I spend my money on can't be a great investment, but it can support somebody's own dreams or interests, like my kids or my wife or whatever.

And I've gotten a little loosey-goosey about it. Now, I realize sometimes they spend money and it's just a total waste, or is it? You know what they call that? They call that marriage; they call that family; they call that kids. You can't just piss away everything you've made, but you have to be a little flexible.

As you get older, you got to kind of start thinking a little bit about it's not all about just dying with as much money as you can possibly make, although that's how I started thinking in my early days. Now, so by making sure I keep my family happy and my friends and family too, I just say to myself, once in a while, I do this for myself—these watches. These are great investments.

Now my wife said to me, "Why do you own more than one watch?" I don't have an answer. That was a wonderful episode of Ask Mr. Wonderful. Every single new weapons get crazier and more interesting. I'm loving it, and I hope you are. Let's do it again soon. [Music]