INTERVIEW: Glenn Stearns is ready to go ‘Undercover’
Photo: Glenn Stearns, star of Undercover Billionaire, learns to print logos on t-shirts at RJ Messenger’s silk screening shop. Photo courtesy of Discovery / Provided with permission.
Billionaire Glenn Stearns is ready for perhaps his greatest challenge of all time. He has decided to go undercover for a new reality series on Discovery and attempt to build a million-dollar company from scratch. His adventures are part of Undercover Billionaire, premiering on the network Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 10 p.m.
The bar is set quite high for Stearns. He can’t rely on his current capital for the new company, and he also must build this new business within 90 days.
His starting dollar amount? $100.
His place of employment? Erie, Pennsylvania.
The network has even given Stearns an alias. He’ll be Glenn Bryant, a regular guy who has always dreamed of his own business. Now it’s his job to bring together a team and see his dreams fully realized.
Stearns (the real one) formed his own mortgage company at the age of 25. Stearns Lending LLC eventually reached nearly $1 billion a month in funding while experiencing record growth, according to Stearns’ official website. He’s been there and done that, and now he’s looking to do it again.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Stearns, a father of six and grandfather of two, about the new series. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What interested you in taking on this challenge?
What interested me was to see if I could do it again and to see that my past success wasn’t just luck. Also, I wanted to prove that we live in a land of opportunity — a place with hard-working people. I was also interested in surrounding myself with great people and showing you can achieve anything with the right team.
Were you nervous or confident that you could make a million-dollar company so quickly?
I was extremely nervous. I knew that given enough time I could build a business. But 90 days to put all that together? Well, I soon discovered that’s quite a compressed timeline. I thought the odds were probably going to be stacked against me.
What is the key to success in generating revenue and building a business empire?
The key to success, I’d say, is surrounding yourself with positive people. You need to constantly re-invest in the business. And you need to share a vision with others to inspire and motivate them to do things they never dreamed they’d ever do.
Did you like having the cameras following you around?
For the first few days, I thought it was cool. Then I forgot about them. And then when things didn’t go my way, they were extremely annoying.
Do you believe today’s economy is strong? Are we headed in the right direction?
I believe the economy is strong, yes. And without getting political, I think we still live in a country that’s full of a lot of opportunity.
After earning so much money, how do you remain grounded and humble?
Shoot, you know, I’ve never taken myself seriously. I feel blessed that I’ve been able to do so much. And I don’t like to surround myself with fake and arrogant people. I like to stay with the balcony people who lift you up, versus the basement people who pull you down.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Undercover Billionaire will premiere Tuesday, Aug. 6 at 10 p.m. on Discovery. Click here for more information.
