E197 - From Homelessness to Leadership: How Faith and Authenticity Drive Success w/ Anthony Cutno

Rob Tracz: What's going on and welcome back to another episode of Surviving the Side Hustle. I'm super excited today because we've got a interesting guest. ⁓ guest is someone whose story literally stop you in your tracks. He's a Marine veteran, speaker and founder of Divine Warrior's Dimension, which is a growing ecosystem focused on identity, accountability ⁓ and especially for veterans, men and purpose-driven entrepreneurs.

from homelessness to community leadership, from survival mode to building a collective. This conversation today is gonna be all about resilience, authenticity, what it really means to build something bigger than yourself. Anthony Cutnow, how are you doing? Welcome to the show.

DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: I'm doing good and thank you for that introduction and that you got it exactly right. So I have nothing else to change about that. But yeah, you got everything exactly right. Rob Tracz: Perfect, perfect, awesome.

I'd love to just hop right in then if could. know we talked previously. So before we talk about business, I want start with ⁓ you as individual. So where did your really begin?

DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: business journey really began, it started when I was actually homeless. I was homeless at that particular time, staying with my dad. And then maybe a while after that, I was on the street for like a few days a week. And then one of my friends who actually, she's ⁓ a, and we, grew up together like my sister, but I went to the Marine Corps after her and enforcement for her, wasn't able to finish boot camp, she got hurt.

But when she found out, just called, checked on me and then I stayed with her and her husband for a little while before going on. When I was staying with them is when I actually officially did the paperwork for the actual business. During that time transitioning from my dad to the streets or staying with her is when the business and speaking actually started. I didn't go looking for it.

I didn't want to start it. I had no intentions of starting a business. I looked into it and dabbled, did research and everything about it. But I honestly just wanted to be retired and chill with my family and stuff.

But the business started. But I wanna say God actually did it and then the Marine Corps on top of that because the that I got the actual ⁓ literal call, was outside in the yard in my dad's smoking, talking to cursing God, talking to God, how me and him talk. And literally, literally minutes later, 10 minutes later in that range, I got the phone call. from Sauron Sauron Major Clay.

And he was talking about me to my ghostwriter and writing coach, Dr. Reed, Dr. Oliver Reed. somehow, someway I came up in the conversation and Sauron Major telling him about me and stuff like that.

And they called me on the phone. And literally, like I said before that, was smoking cussing God, like why this, why that, know, all that stuff like that. And he answered. He answered minutes later.

talk to Dr. Reed for a little bit, I'm sorry, Major. And then the next day or a couple of days later, I'm sorry, Major. called me again and told me to go to a He-Man event, which is running.

Now we all running together at that time. was wrong. was Dr. Reed doing it.

And they was doing the He-Man event in Haightville, Atlanta, which is in College Park, Georgia, which is where I was at. And so I went to the event. I didn't know anybody. That was my first time meeting Dr.

Reed and I'm there by myself. Sorry, Major wasn't there yet. And so I'm sitting there in the audience just watching the speakers, talked, just observing and looking to see what was going on. And then Dr.

Reed was on the other side of the auditorium. And you know how you can feel somebody looking you, staring at you. And so I did that and he like, and I'm like, he like. Rob Tracz: Yeah.

DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: and basically getting denied to go on the stage because there was one seat left on that stage that they were doing a panel. And that one seat, if I remember right, was the first seat, or like this next to first seat, something like that. And so I didn't have, again, nothing, no intention of nothing. So I went up there, sat there, and there was a panel.

And whatever I said, when it was my time to talk, whatever, I still don't know what I said. I honestly don't know what I said, but it resonated. And then on the stage with me was Jose Escobar, who's the CEO for Connect the Leads Academy, which is currently from that till right now, he's my mentor. I'm going through his mentorship program.

And then it was... Rob Tracz: you DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: R.U. who's another speaker, poet, and then a couple other people.

I can't remember everybody's name. Those are the two I remember. Emilio, yeah, Emilio was there. Emilio Romano, he was there.

so, story short, so we can get going. After we got done, that's when... I got introduced to Jose Escobar and a couple other people and stuff like that. from that day forward, all way up until now, which was three, four years ago, that I became my entrepreneur.

That's what started under the guidance of mentorship of Jose and a couple other people. That's how my business started off until this point now. And it just been morphing and forming on its own. I've been learning more, speaking more, getting that stuff like that.

People been coming to me. They was like, can't handle with this. I'm like, okay, cool. Now I'm a publisher.

I have a publishing company now. I'm like, okay, I'll figure it out. Can't handle with this. Okay, now I'm a speaker coach.

Cool, all right. I don't have to deal with this. came to me, okay, I'm a branding coach, I can help you with this. So it morphed on its own and then me reading more in the Bible and reading more of the, right now I'm doing the Bhagavad Gita now and just learning and stuff like that, it just morphed and grown and obviously on my own stuff, doing things, learning stuff and that's how it started.

And then the name, and that's how the name came about. Rob Tracz: Hmm. So it sounds like you're wearing a lot of different hats now in your current day with your business ⁓ switching between different types of coaching that you're delivering and different services that you're providing for a lot of other people. And I know in a previous conversation that you and I had, you've told me that you've lived in New Orleans, you ⁓ lived Dallas, and now you live in California.

So ⁓ what, if what has lived DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: then Yeah. Rob Tracz: or what lesson have you learned from living in all these different places that helps you now wear these different hats that you do? DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: It's that, that's life. ⁓ I no control of how things went, how things responded and happened by me ⁓ going different And during that entire time, like me originally from New Orleans and transition, that stuff, that entire time, this entire time that I've been in business up until maybe a so ago when I was in Dallas.

⁓ because I was homeless and ended up in Dallas. And then now I'm here, I'm here in California. That was two years ago, three years ago. So majority of the time I've been in business, I've been homeless.

on a personal side, been dealing with all that stuff. However, on the business side, the business has been still growing. It's still been moving, it's still been, you know, going through whatever stages and... For me, it's, and in my health, my personal, my health and everything else, know, doing everything we're doing, it's literally been God.

I can't, it's not me. I haven't done anything special. I don't do a lot of things, you know. I literally just.

live on faith in God. That's how I got here. That's how it started. That's my story.

That's how I was born. Literally, that's my birth. That's stages in my life that's gonna happen. So when I this, I think I you, I've died a couple of times while in business and other stuff like that.

I say this lot and I should get it. get it a license or something that when God has a purpose for you, not even death can stop that purpose. And I'm a living, breathing example of that. Cause I'm literally not supposed to be alive.

I'm not supposed to be talking. I'm not supposed to be doing a lot of things that I'm doing. When people meet me, they have no idea that all this stuff is going on. They have no idea that when I'm smiling, speaking, I'm in pain.

I'm suffering I'm going through seizure that time ⁓ I'm still functional. I'm still talk. I'm still alert I'm still breathing I still wake up every day and stuff like that like right now I'm not stirring I talk with the stutter but for whatever reason when I'm speaking and stuff I don't stutter I don't control that I don't do any tricks or ⁓ so is God everything is God and If you don't believe in God you believe in somebody so it's whoever you believe in so what I gotta say, just God, keep faith in God and don't be stupid about it.

Rob Tracz: Yeah, I feel like a lot of people go through a lot of ⁓ hardships and they don't really take a second back to kind of reflect and see where things are going. And they ⁓ guess they don't get the kind of blessing that you've received. do you think that you're pushed forward to kind of share this message and continue to help all these different people? DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: That's a good question.

I'm like that I've never been asked that. So for me is is I honestly truly believe that I am a reincarnation of some apostle. I want to say a block of a prophet some type of I'm of the 144,000 or something. I don't what it is.

I can put it's undeniable sight, you know, when you your third eye is open and you can't do so many things is you have to accept what what it is or what it could be. So for me, it is then I got to say when you have a purpose, not even death can stop it. No, ⁓ birth, died during actual birth. You know, I've died a couple times in my life.

I've been a John Doe. I didn't know one of my cousins had to remind me that I got shot and stabbed. didn't remember. I got the scars, met the scars, and he was like, that's from that.

I'm like, for real? So is, and then by me joining the Air Force and then getting kicked out of the Air Force and then three days later going to the brain core and how that happened and me having, know, my my brain and the seizures and this and that and all that stuff. it's... and how things happen is the connections, you know, say one of my issues is that the individual on Lekta, we're all individuals, but we are the same, we are connected and know, ⁓ the greater But for me, I say is, again, God, I don't know what my exact purpose is.

I think I know, I believe what it is because things happen, you know, they say, you take this away, you take that away, you take this away, you know, I exactly what it's called, deduction. For me, speaking is the only thing I can do. I can't work, I can't be out with my VA, social security, retirement, disabilities, all that stuff. I can't be outside long, can't be standing up long, I don't sleep a lot, the headaches, migraines, I have seizures while I'm talking, not just a half month or a while ago.

I had to get permission from my doctors to do certain things. I can't go hard in the business, I can't do all these certain things. So for me, it's literally speaking. That's the only thing I can actually do.

You know, I can do it from home. I can do it from the stairs with a chair. So a message in my life, my example, my father, my mother, you know. So for me, it's deliberately just to be a living, breathing, biblical example to somebody that no matter what you're going through, you know, with me is my brain.

You know, our brain is the hard drive for us. My actual brain is damaged, you know, so it's, it affects the rest of my body and so on and so forth. Domino effect, it's that. I think I'm literally here just to be an example to somebody, anybody.

I don't want a lot of money, even though, you know, we need money to do things and stuff like that, you know, if it happens, it happens. And for me, you know, other people get on me about it. They're like, no, you need money. It's there for me.

I want to make money to give it away. I honestly truly do. If I make a million dollars, I want to give $900,000 that away and I'm gonna keep 100. And everybody else can have what they need to do.

That's really me. That's my mindset. So I'm not money hungry. So I don't have that.

I'm not self-centered. So I don't have that. ⁓ You know, I am fully aware I am a imperfect, perfect man. So I have that I know my faults.

I talk about my fault. I'm not ashamed of my fault. So more can I do than be my genuine, authentic, not supposed to be herself? You know, if somebody gonna get something from you.

Rob Tracz: Yeah, no, think that's a lot of like you covered a lot of powerful things there. I want to touch on how you say that you're not money hungry. And I can see how that kind of helps you in many ways because you're maybe not as distracted with devices or ⁓ other desires or ⁓ You're just kind focused on the impact that you're kind of creating. But I want to flip it the other way.

How do you think ⁓ not being money hungry has kind of slowed down your progress with your business, if it has at all. DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: It has. It has. And that is it.

For me, it's, I say I don't have that financial drive. You know, I'm not good at sales, but when I was a recruiter, I could sell the Marine Corps easily. You know, but selling myself, talking about myself, like right now I'm struggling with going on social media. I know I have to do it.

I know it's one of the things for business, but I'm not good at just talking about myself. So. You know, that, that, that me. And then, you my pricing, you know, they say you got a price, right?

And all that stuff. I actually feel ⁓ uncomfortable with, you high, high prices. Cause me myself can't, can't pay that. And the people I want to help, they can't pay that.

So, and then, you know, like I say, I give money away, you know, even in my own life, I don't really look at money. I look at money as a tool, which ⁓ Now it's a good thing, but I know it's a bad thing also because what we look at too is tools and I put them up and use them whenever, know, forget about them and all that stuff like that. So translating it to business, does do that. So ⁓ I would say that ⁓ that is a positive and negative because I do know you need money to survive.

Money is an obligation. You need money to make money, money to do this, pay this person, blah, blah, all that stuff. But You know, not having that money drive mindset for me, yeah, it hasn't been hinderance, but also at the same time, I don't focus on that because as you can see, you see it, how I dress, you know, do everything like that. You know, I'm not poor, I'm not struggling, but also shows that ⁓ it comes to the people like me, people that do relate to me and live...

Simular lives and stuff like that. They see that the gene that I am legit genuine I'm not a fake what you see online is what you want to see in person, you know I'm not gonna be all smiles and Cheery and motivated on camera, but when you see me, I'm cussing fucking doing on it like, you know I don't live that life the life and I Whatever people see on the social media. That's not living a person. Well, how I talk what I talk about this and that That's my life.

That's literally my life. You know, I smoke weed. That's my vice. Majority of my money goes to these and it goes to weed.

And that's it. Other than that, you know, that's it. Other than that, I talk about God daily. I talk about this.

I talk about that. So what you see is what you get. And with me and my family and friends know it. I literally give my last dollar.

If I got 20 and you need 10, I'm gonna give you the 20. If you need five and I got 10, I'm gonna give you five or I'm gonna give you just 10 and I'm gonna do whatever until then. Because, you know, people know when I say you need it more than me and that's how I look at it. So if anybody does have a problem with how I look at money and my pricing, then.

To me, is wrong with you. You not being authentic to your customers and what you saying. Rob Tracz: Yeah, powerful stuff to kind of share there because was of my mentors once said something the lines of because people are always talking like, yeah, I'll give money when I want to make more money than I can afford to donate and give back to charity and all these other things. And one of my mentors was saying, like, if you can't afford to give a little bit when you don't have a little bit, you're definitely not going to give any bit once you start having a lot of it.

So you got to and people are always talking about. DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: Yeah. Right. Rob Tracz: doing more and more and more.

it's, refreshing to see how authentic you are because we live in this like world today that often rewards a lot of the hype and like the sales tactics and not really true authentic selves. And, ⁓ and remember you saying on our first conversation that you literally just be yourself and ⁓ that's marketing. So what's, driven to be so authentic? Like how, why do you, How do you fight that off where so many other people maybe tend to put up this fake identity or facade to kind of portray themselves as having more than what they actually do?

DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: is that know what it's like to be around fake people ⁓ to move off of what they say and what they promise, then when you get it, it's not what it is. Then my life, know, my personality will allow to fake, because I honestly truly would be uncomfortable. You know, I honestly truly will like tried it. ⁓ tried it.

can't can't do it. I can't. ⁓ literally do it. You know, my my family is the I would say my family is the same way my small circle people that, you know, talk to me and stuff.

They're they're like me. you know, I my my my will not allow me to, you know, I cannot I cannot when it comes to business, you know, we talk about business. I cannot sit up there and tell tell somebody give me $1200 $5000 and are you and in the end, are you going to walk away is with a pamphlet another another another pricing for my next whatever and you feel the same way you get the same thing from everybody else. I can't do that then how I grew up, how I was raised, my own personal beliefs, me being in the Marine Corps, seeing what I see, me being actually homeless and nobody helping, but everybody know I'm homeless and all you got for me is words, you know, so, then seeing how us veterans are treated as food when it comes to business ⁓ seeing how brand new entrepreneurial people.

⁓ You know they struggling and you're going to take that last, knowing you taking that last and all you're going to give them is this and the next price for it. I can't do that. I can't. been on that side.

I've seen that side. So again, I know where I'm going if I dump the seed because the demons done told me where I'm going. ⁓ I'm like, okay, if that's where I'm going. But I know what my purpose is and I know what the other side looks like and what it is to have almost a million dollars and what it is to have zero dollars and everybody around you know that you're struggling and again, nobody help me but they got words, they got do this, do that.

I'm like, no, you see me, you know where I'm at, you know where I've been and everybody else so. You know, I done lived in the hoods with the little silver school matches as your bed and this and that. I done did all of that. I've been homeless as a kid, as an adult, a couple of times.

So, no, I can't do it. I literally can't do it. And I don't work with my ass like that. I'm not friends with it.

Again, I can't. I just can't. Rob Tracz: so we through a mutual connection because of Jose and you said that you are doing with Jose and I know that his group, he's kind of growing the CLA community it's continuously getting bigger and bigger and larger. And I could see success that you're kind of developing ⁓ as a result of proximity connecting and pushing yourself out there and continuing to do more and more and more.

And as you are continuing to DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: Yeah. Rob Tracz: grow and so is your business and the different ventures of your business, what would you say was has been harder for you? Originally believing in yourself or learning to structure and scale the things that you're doing? DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: It's the learning.

It's the learning how to structure and scale it. It's that. For me, it's that. I know I've been told many, many times by people in business, and then just how I started.

And then you bring up Jose. He's been the main one. He's been the main one. My SIR major got me into it.

He me the brain core side it comes to leadership and everything. But business-wise, He has been my example. His like-mindedness, helping me when he was like, no, I'm not, you like, just get on the flight and we'll figure it out from there. And this and that, it's his motivation.

I don't know what that man sees in me. I honestly truly don't know. Like I say, from hate Ville till now, he's the one like, come here, do this, do this, do this, do this. he literally made it impossible for me to say no and to grow and to be like, okay, I can do this.

You know, so it's example is literally me. It's literally what I'm trying to do. So for anybody else, I want to say, find a like-minded mentor. You're going to know.

I didn't, I got blessed. I didn't have to go through a few different people, but you're to go through a few different people. And if that person that you wanting to mentor, I think you can or wherever it is, if that person does not it impossible for you not to grow, that is not a ⁓ If all they're going to do it to take your money when it comes to their mentorship program and You're not growing and they're not doing this and this. They're not in it.

They're not in it for the genuine. They just want the money and say, I got these many clients. Give me a real bank. Give me a...

No, that is not it. you know, like between our conversations and stuff, he has been the example when it comes to business that I want to be hand portrayed. And when it comes to the CLA, You know, everybody in there has to go through him. So if you're in CLA, it's because you are like-minded like him and is it.

So because you cannot join CLA without having a conversation with him and knowing him, he will tell you no if he don't see it. Rob Tracz: Yeah. I you're building something that's so layered. You kind of hinted on it before about the the speaking, coaching, branding and community.

How do all these different ⁓ aspects or of business, I guess, how do they all connect together? What's like the through line between them all? DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: you is that you cannot do one without the other and have to be spiritually minded and ⁓ business oriented to actually be what my institute that you brought that I'm building. It's for me, I want to be the gap filler from that single mama.

that 20 year old kid that wanna get into business or that person that been in the business and they struggling, they looking for something new. I wanna be that gap filler. Cause again, I'm not money hungry, you know, and my goal is to actually back to what was given to me and to do what was to me and to answer again. be the example that you can come from homelessness, depressiveness, trauma, whatever it is to helping others, whether you help a couple people, you help a lot of people, and don't be about the money, because the money's gonna come, it's gonna come slow, it's gonna come fast, but it's gonna come sooner or later eventually.

And so, When you see other people starting out where they started from, that's, they're growing as you love them. That's what I want to be, that gap filler. You know, be like, take a bunch of already established entrepreneurs, people, ⁓ and their money to where their mouth is and test them. Like, these are them people.

You say you help these people? You say you support these people. You say you came from this. You say you do this.

You say you spiritually and la la la la. Okay. These are them people. They can't pay you $15,000, $5,000.

But however, no, we can make it affordable when you got enough with people. Again, in an individual collective, I'm going to do something. I'm going to license that or something. You get an individual collective together.

Everybody wins, everybody goes. You got a bunch of people trying to make money off of everybody else. It's not it. It's not going to happen.

So for me, that's where the publishing and all that comes in that to get all these people. And I call it, I call them the divine words Institute. Get all these people in there. and take all these up and coming entrepreneurs, people struggling, especially in this economy is going on.

Everybody losing their jobs right now. Everybody about to be about to try and be an entrepreneur. Everybody about to try and be an entrepreneur. Well, Amazon just laid off what, something people or whatever.

You know, so and then I was watching these some other companies just did it. So everybody and their mama about to be a struggling entrepreneur. Rob Tracz: haha DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: So, you know, all these well established, they're see these people as straight up chump and they will be trying to get them for everything they got when they ain't got nothing to give. So I want to be that person that be like, look, we're gonna get together just like the Marine Corps, smuzzle all the branches, we use less everybody else, get it together and we gonna come together, we gonna help these people, we gonna tell them you ain't ready or you is ready.

You need help with this, whatever the case may be. So that's essentially what it is. Rob Tracz: Nice, nice. And so is the Divine Warrior's dimension the collective, is it two separate things or is it one part of the same?

DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: It's one part of saying so vine words that mentioned that's the company, the Institute and collective. That's everything within I call it the ⁓ hybrid of it because that's that's what I want to I want that to be a nonprofit. That's why I said I wanted to make money and give it all away. Like I really do.

I really do. I just want to make money and give it all away. Obviously. Again, I'm put disclaimer.

Obviously, I know you have to make money to know not to spend money staying in Atlanta. But however, do you really need seven million dollars? Do really need all you really need all this stuff? Or do you just want to say that you have it?

So when you can really take all that money and help help people that really need help and still make money at the same time. Rob Tracz: Yeah, that's powerful stuff. And ⁓ someone is listening to this right now, ⁓ do they know that right fit for the divine dimension, like the collective and all these things, how do they know that they're a good fit for it? DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: If you listening this, you gonna know if you're good fit if you got a little bit offended by what I said or you got you love everything what I said.

That's how you know you're right fit. Because you got a little bit offended or all the way offended. Then you know that you doing something wrong and you know what I said hit you in the wrong spot and you are uncomfortable and you're trying to find something to make yourself feel good about what you're doing. And if what I said didn't affect you, then hey, you are a perfect fit.

Rob Tracz: That's awesome. And so how do people get in touch with you if they are interested in getting connected? DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, look up my name, Google, and you'll be able to find me. And then on your social media, I'm on there.

So you click my name on there and go on there. The website is there. If I were to mention dot com, that is actually going to be the website going to be changing over. But it's up there right now.

social media, look up my name, you're to see my face. only gonna find me and my daddy, that's it. So those are the only people you gonna find when you put in my name. Rob Tracz: Well, there you go, guys.

Make sure you give him a follow Anthony Cutnow on all the social channels and shoot him a message if you're interested in getting connected and hear about the different projects and things that he's working on. But, dude, I got to thank you for coming on today. It's been like a crazy pleasure. I love that you've been able to share a lot of your experiences and some of the insights that you have and your and also the things that you're building and working towards.

I know once things start to get rolling and that momentum starts to roll. It's difficult to find time to kind of sit down. So I appreciate you carving out the time to come on today and talk with the audience and everything. But before I let you go, I want to ask you one final question.

If people only remember one thing about Anthony Cutnall, what do you hope that thing is? DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: that I'm myself the time everywhere I go in front of anybody. done it. Kings, queens, presidents, I'm myself all the time.

Rob Tracz: Wow, I love that. Authenticity shines through creating some incredible stuff, working with some awesome people and building truly remarkable. So ⁓ I appreciate you again. Thank you so much for coming on today.

DEVINE WARRIORS DIMENSION: So thank you for having me.