The Secret To Success with CJ, Karl, Jemal & Eric Thomas

This episode was never meant for the public. It was recorded exclusively for our Patreon community — the people who are already in the inner circle. But we're pulling the curtain back and letting you see what S2S really looks like when the pressure is off, the cameras are still rolling, and nobody is performing for anybody.

This is the crew unfiltered. No script. No agenda. Just ET, Karl, CJ, and Jemal being exactly who they are.

From 80s hip-hop debates to the first game they ever ran, to ET getting real about why he stopped giving his expertise away for free — this episode has everything the highlight reel never shows you. And then Pops pulls up and drops the origin story of how ET and CJ found each other — the moment that started all of this.

If you've ever wondered what S2S looks like behind closed doors — this is it.

In This Episode:

The 80s hip-hop playlist that shaped who they became — LL Cool J, Eric B & Rakim, Babyface and more

The first piece of game they ever ran (ET's Babyface line on Dede is legendary)

Why ET stopped giving his time and expertise away for free — and why you should too

The "selfish vs. self-focused" conversation that will change how you think about your time and money

A special visit from the Cooking with the Cooks family

Pops pulls up and tells the untold origin story of how ET and CJ connected

Timestamps:
Chapters

00:00:00 Opening: The Public Was Never Supposed to See This
00:03:39 Throwback Music Session: LL Cool J and the Golden Era of Hip-Hop
00:09:58 Baby Face and Early Game: The First Piece of Wisdom
00:15:00 The Football Team Get Naked Story: When Confidence Was King
00:17:18 The Michael Jordan Clip: Being Selfish Is How You Win
00:18:05 The Shift: How ET Stopped Giving Everything Away for Free
00:22:02 The Mastermind Testimony: When People Pay, They Apply
00:24:16 Valuing Your Time and Expertise: The CJ Partnership Model
00:32:59 The ETA Records Story: Giving What's Earned, Not What's Expected
00:37:35 Pops Enters the Building: The Man Who Started It All
00:41:04 The Origin Story: From Prison Visit to Twenty Years of Partnership
00:43:43 Closing: Behind the Scenes Access and What's Next

Key Takeaways:

The difference between being selfish and being self-focused — and why it matters for your money and your time

Why giving your expertise away for free is a disservice to yourself and the people you're trying to help

The unplanned moment that created one of the most influential mentoring relationships in the world

What the S2S Patreon is really about — and why this content exists

🔒 This Is What Patreon Members Get Every Week Unscripted conversations. Behind the scenes moments. Live Q&As. ET's speech streams. This is the version of S2S where nothing gets cut. If you want in: 👉 Join the S2S Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/S2SPodcast120

🔔 Subscribe so you never miss an episode: 👉 https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel?sub_confirmation=1

📲 Follow us on Instagram: @s2spodcast

🎙️ Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/secret-to-success/id123456789

About the Secret to Success Podcast

The Secret to Success (S2S) Podcast is hosted by Eric Thomas (ET, The Hip Hop Preacher), Karl Phillips, CJ Quinney, and Jemal King. For over a decade, S2S has been one of the most authentic voices in personal development — not because of polished scripts, but because of real stories, real conversations, and real results.

Every episode pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build wealth, sustain relationships, grow businesses, and become who you were created to be. No hype. No filters. Just four men who've lived it, telling the truth about how they got there.

New episodes every Thursday. Patreon drops every Tuesday and Wednesday.

Somebody talked you out of your dream before it ever had a chance. Maybe it was a parent. Maybe a friend. Maybe someone you trusted. And the worst part? They didn't even know they were doing it.

CJ takes his son Trey to a skateboard store and watches a 6-year-old fall twice in front of a crowd, get back up, and look at his dad like it was nothing — because CJ realized he was about to pass his own fear to his son. Fear of something he'd never even tried.

ET traces his version, leaving comfort in Huntsville to chase something bigger when everyone said he already had enough. Jemal gives a raw testimony — real estate, the daycare, the businesses — every significant venture required blind, childlike faith. The one that didn't? Becoming a police officer. His whole family was already there. Everything else? Trust God with nothing upfront. And Karl brings the financial lens: your side hustle doesn't just need to make money. It needs to make sense.

This one will make you think about who you've been taking advice from. And whether they've ever actually been on the skateboard.

📌 TIMESTAMPS
Chapters

00:00:00 Opening: Karl's Multi-Million Dollar Real Estate Deal and the Five Pillars
00:01:44 Welcome and Team Introductions: One Week Until the Chicago Conference
00:05:47 The Skateboard Story: How Trey's Childlike Faith Teaches Us to Get Back Up
00:08:45 Most People Were Talked Out of Their Dream Before It Started
00:12:33 Who Is Your Skateboard Instructor? The Importance of the Right Mentors
00:35:59 Unless You Become Like Little Children: The Scripture That Changes Everything
00:40:15 Show Up to the Conference as a Child, Not as an Adult
00:44:03 ET's Stone Mountain Story: Choosing to Be a Shepherd, Not a Competitor
00:51:15 For I Know the Plans I Have for You: God's Spiritual 529 Plan
00:56:45 Why This Conference Is Different: Three-Exing for God's Work
01:02:33 Jamal's Testimony: From Audience Member to Keynote Speaker at His Own High School
01:07:17 Make Your Side Hustle Make Sense: The Million Dollar Uber Ride
01:09:24 Closing Prayer: Lazarus, Come Forth—Breaking Free from the Weeds

🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS
→ The person who talked you out of your dream probably never tried it themselves
→ A child sees what's possible. An adult only sees what's impossible
→ You're not afraid of the risk, you're afraid of what people will think when you fall
→ Show up as a student, not a teacher
→ Your side hustle shouldn't just make money, it should make sense

⬇️ Kalm Down with Karl When something is coming at you, you slow down. But when you have something to run toward, you speed up. What are you running toward?

💰 Mal's Millionaire Moment Jemal breaks down every venture he's ever built and the one thing they all had in common. Zero evidence it would work when he started. Just blind, childlike faith.

🎟️ 1% CONFERENCE, CHICAGO APRIL 16-18, 2026
Eric Thomas and world-class speakers including
- Sarah Jakes
- Jameis Winston,
- Inky Johnson,
- Wallstreet Trapper,
- Earn Your Leisure, and more.
3 days. 12,000 people.

Total transformation.
Day 1: Women's Day,
Day 2: Men's Day,
Day 3: VIP Family Day Tickets: https://etonepercent.com

🔔 NEVER MISS AN EPISODE
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel?sub_confirmation=1
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/secret-to-success/id123456789
Instagram: @s2spodcast

Patreon: Behind the scenes access, live recordings, exclusive Q&A, and ET speech streams. If you're serious about this, this is where you need to be: https://www.patreon.com/c/S2SPodcast120

ABOUT THE SECRET TO SUCCESS PODCAST The Secret to Success Podcast, hosted by Dr. Eric Thomas (ET), CJ Quinney, Karl Phillips and Jemal King, is one of the most impactful personal development podcasts in the world. Each week the team breaks down real conversations around success, discipline, wealth, leadership, relationships, and entrepreneurship. If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, this is the podcast for you.

What if everything you've built so far — your career, your
income, your wins — happened without you even really trying?

That's exactly what Jemal King discovered in 2006. Four daycare
centers. Real estate. A millionaire — completely by mistake. And
the question that hit him harder than the money itself: if I
could become a millionaire by mistake, what could I become on
purpose?

Jemal breaks down his full story — from building without a coach
to discovering the value of community, to realizing most people
quit the moment they start seeing results. ET closes with his
challenge: stay 365 days. Then three years. Then five. Because
the levels you haven't seen yet only unlock after the time is paid.

Karl brings Kalm Down with Karl and Mal drops the Millionaire
Moment — the rebar that holds everything together, and why your
degrees and hustle aren't working without it.

Most people have no idea what they're actually capable of. This
episode is the proof. It's not about talent or luck. It's about
going on purpose.

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🔥 IN THIS EPISODE
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- Jemal's millionaire by mistake story — daycare centers, real estate, and the moment everything clicked
- Why most people quit right when they start seeing results
- Grinding alone vs. grinding with the right community
- Kalm Down with Karl — Do you see what I see?
- Mal's Millionaire Moment — you've been building without the rebar

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📍 CHAPTERS
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Chapters

00:00:00 Opening: Character Chasing Over Clout Chasing
00:01:45 Welcome and Team Introductions: The Real Cost of Proximity
00:02:45 Most People Don't Want the Smoke: The Accountability Circle
00:04:44 The Five Pillars Aren't Easy: Why Character Beats Entertainment
00:06:13 Twenty Years Together: The Power of Longevity and Consistency
00:08:01 Managing Power: When You Were Little in Your Own Sight
00:14:29 The Tobe Story: When Accountability Feels Like Warfare
00:17:09 Tom Izzo and the Transfer Portal: Why Most Coaches Are Scared
00:17:54 The Responsibility of the Circle: Carrying Each Other's Names
00:20:00 Conference Reveal: Why This One Is Intentionally Different
00:26:06 The Jemal Story: From Millionaire by Mistake to Millionaire on Purpose
00:24:58 The Value of Information: Would You Come for a Thousand Dollars?
00:32:41 Community Over Solo Grind: The Dubai Yacht Energy
00:35:48 I Don't Go to Red Carpets: ET's Intentional Isolation
00:37:49 Character Chasing vs Clout Chasing: The Pillar vs Sand Analogy
00:52:52 Wall Street Trapper Joins Live: The One Percent Money Mindset
00:56:00 Kalm Down with Karl
00:57:53 The Rebar Principle: What's Missing From Your Foundation
01:00:45 Closing: ET1% Conference Final Call and Patreon Family Shoutout

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🎟️ 1% CONFERENCE — CHICAGO
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
CHICAGO | APRIL 16-18, 2026
Don't just attend. Ascend. Eric Thomas & world-class speakers
including Jameis Winston, Inky Johnson, Wallstreet Trapper, Earn
Your Leisure, and more. 3 days. 12,000 people. Total transformation.
- Day 1: Women's Day
- Day 2: Men's Day
- Day 3: VIP Family Day
Tickets: https://etonepercent.com

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🔔 NEVER MISS AN EPISODE
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel?sub_confirmation=1
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/secret-to-success/id123456789
Instagram: @s2spodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/S2SPodcast120

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ABOUT THE SECRET TO SUCCESS PODCAST
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The Secret to Success Podcast, hosted by Dr. Eric Thomas (ET),
CJ Quinney, Karl Phillips and Jemal King, is one of the most
impactful personal development podcasts in the world. Each week
the team breaks down real conversations around success,
discipline, wealth, leadership, relationships, and
entrepreneurship. If you want to succeed as bad as you want to
breathe — this is the podcast for you.

You can see exactly what you want. You probably always could. So what's actually stopping you?

This episode opens with a story CJ wasn't sure he should tell. A 4-hour TSA line. Atlanta airport in complete chaos. And a woman with no badge, no uniform — just the nerve to say: get out of that line. What followed wasn't just a funny airport story. It cracked open one of the most honest conversations this crew has had about why people stay far from the rooms that could actually change them. Not because they don't have access. But because they know exactly what comes with it.

The crew gets real about the price of true accountability — what it costs to be in this circle, what it felt like when ET was going in on CJ, and why that fire is exactly what separates the ones who last from the ones who fall off. ET closes Part 1 with a warning from the life of King Saul — when you forget where you came from, the power you worked so hard to get becomes the very thing that destroys you. You can see exactly what you want. The question this episode answers is why you still don't have it.

Part 2 drops next week — Jemal reveals how he accidentally became a millionaire, Karl brings Kalm Down with Karl, and Ma drops the rebar moment.

If you can see it but you still don't have it — this episode is your answer.

🔥 IN THIS EPISODE

- CJ's wild TSA story — and the stranger with no badge who changed everything
- Why the people closest to greatness are usually the first ones to walk away from it
- "You want the perks, not the accountability" — the hard truth about circles
- Character chasing vs. cloud chasing — ET's 20 year philosophy
- The Saul Warning — what the Bible says about power outgrowing character
- Why the next level won't unlock no matter how hard you work
- ET's surgical analogy — why God has to separate you from
everyone you love first

📍 CHAPTERS
Chapters

00:00:00 Opening: Become the Savage Before You Attract the Savage
00:01:30 Welcome and Team Introductions: The TSA Miracle Story
00:11:17 Ask ET: The Wandering Eye Dilemma
00:20:12 The Chicago Conference Reveal: Why We're Separating Men and Women
00:24:49 The Becoming Principle: Why Maul Is Sitting at This Table
00:36:09 Personal Development Is the Price of Admission
00:39:37 Don't Be a Two, Be a One-in-Waiting: The CJ Partnership Model
00:41:57 The Homework Assignment: Go Back and Watch the Growth
00:49:48 The Surgery Analogy: Why God Separates You Sometimes
00:52:44 The Hard Truth: Proximity Without Accountability Means Nothing

🎟️ THE 1% CONFERENCE - CHICAGO | APRIL 16-18, 2026
Don't just attend. Ascend. Eric Thomas & world-class speakers including Jameis Winston, Inky Johnson, Wallstreet Trapper, Earn Your Leisure, and more. 3 days. 12,000 people. Total transformation.
- Day 1: Women's Day
- Day 2: Men's Day
- Day 3: VIP Family Day
Tickets on sale now: https://etonepercent.com

🔔 NEVER MISS AN EPISODE
📲 Subscribe to the YouTube channel for weekly episodes that transform, not just inform:
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel?sub_confirmation=1

🎧 LISTEN ON APPLE PODCASTS: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/secret-to-success/id123456789
Follow on Instagram → @s2spodcast

🔥 Join our Patreon community for exclusive content and behind-the-scenes access:
👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/S2SPodcast120

🎙️ ABOUT THE SECRET TO SUCCESS PODCAST

The Secret to Success Podcast, hosted by Dr. Eric Thomas (ET), CJ Quinney, Karl Phillips and Jemal King, is one of the most impactful personal development and mindset podcasts in the world. Each week, the team breaks down real conversations around success, discipline, belief, financial growth, leadership, relationships, entrepreneurship, and personal development. If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe — this is the podcast for you.

New episodes drop weekly.

You’re not losing because you lack talent.
You’re losing because you’re focused on the wrong thing.

Most people obsess over results — the money, the body, the relationship, the success.
But winners don’t worship outcomes.
They build systems.

In this episode of the Secret to Success Podcast, we break down why focusing on the result keeps you stuck — and how shifting to solution thinking changes everything.

If you’ve been:
• Starting strong but falling off
• Setting goals but not seeing progress
• Working hard but not moving forward
• Believing… but still stuck at the 6-yard line

This conversation is for you.

We dive into:
• The difference between victim thinking and architect thinking
• Why belief determines your level of commitment
• How focusing on solutions restores power over your life
• Why consistency without the right system is rehearsed failure
• The mental shift that separates dreamers from disciplined winners

You don’t rise to your goals.
You rise to your systems.

If you’re tired of chasing results and ready to start designing them, this episode will shift your focus.

Chapters:
Chapters

00:00:00 Opening: Evict the Thoughts That Aren't Paying Rent
00:01:27 Welcome and Team Introductions: Five Pillars Fitness Challenge
00:07:00 Fair or Foul: The Airplane Snoring Incident
00:20:52 The Conference Difference: Solutions Over Information
00:25:20 The Three Types of People: Which One Are You?
00:24:41 From Victim to Architect: The Power of Solutions
00:33:32 The Intentionality Factor: Accidentally Broke vs Intentionally Wealthy
00:37:49 The Middle Part: Why Commitment Is Everything
00:39:49 Chemistry Class: The Solution Formula
00:41:24 Focused on the Answer Instead of the Solution: The Math Lesson
00:52:22 Belief Comes Before Action: Do You Really Believe?
01:01:55 Leverage: Knowing Who You Are Opens Every Door
01:04:49 The 1% Conference: Invest in Yourself

🎟️ TAKE ACTION

🚨 Get your ticket to the 1% Conference:
👉 https://etonepercent.com

Join us live and learn how to build the systems that produce lasting results.

🔥 Join our Patreon community for exclusive content and behind-the-scenes access:
👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/S2SPodcast120

📲 Subscribe to the YouTube channel for weekly episodes that transform, not just inform:
👉 https://www.youtube.com/@S2SPodcastChannel?sub_confirmation=1

🎙️ ABOUT THE SECRET TO SUCCESS PODCAST

The Secret to Success Podcast, hosted by Dr. Eric Thomas (ET), CJ Quinney, Karl Phillips and Jemal King, is one of the most impactful personal development and mindset podcasts in the world. Each week, the team breaks down real conversations around success, discipline, belief, financial growth, leadership, relationships, entrepreneurship, and personal development. If you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe — this is the podcast for you.

New episodes drop weekly.