Welcome back to Making Bank. On today's episode, we have Larry Brinker Jr, who is an award-winning entrepreneur, impact investor and mentor. He serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Brinker, a group of family owned and operated commercial construction service companies responsible for several billion dollars in construction projects. The company played a critical role in the transformation and revitalization of Detroit. He also serves as the CEO of the Brinker Family Asset Management Company.    Don’t miss this episode of Making Bank with Larry Brinker Jr.   (1:20) 2nd Generation Entrepreneur Larry is a 2nd Generation entrepreneur who was raised in the environment of entrepreneurship by his Father. His father started off as a carpenter but then he moved to owning companies. Larry has owned restaurants, nightclubs, music production studios etc. Entrepreneurship has always been in his DNA.   (2:17) Success Lessons  Preparation plus opportunity equals success. You have to have the preparation. You have to have the opportunity. When you get the opportunity, you have to work extremely hard to be successful. Don’t waste any opportunities and work every time one comes along your way.   (5:11) Capitalizing Opportunities You can get an opportunity, but it's what you make of that opportunity after it, which really sets the course going forward. If you waste it, if you don’t work hard for it, no matter how many opportunities you get along your journey, it won’t matter. However, even if you get just one but you work extremely hard for it, you will bear the fruit of it. So always capitalize on your opportunities.   (9:27) Spotting Opportunities Always remain humble. Always be open with your time to someone. Never think you are more important than the next person. Recognize that we are all the same and there's a different level of how you can relate to people that makes you comfortable giving the time. Then you can spot opportunities easily.    (13:54) Biggest Challenges Building a team that is strong and smarter than you is a crucial move in the business world. However, the biggest challenge is trying to get non entrepreneurs to think like an entrepreneur. Not everyone is all about the grind. Most people want a day job and that is it. That is not the life of an entrepreneur. Biggest challenge is finding people who will stay motivated to work as much as you will.   (18:01) Working With Passion Whatever you do, have the passion for it because if you have the passion for it, you're going to work harder, the money and the success will come. If you do something only for the money, you won't have a passion. You're not going to work as hard, and typically you're not gonna be as successful, and you definitely won't be as happy either.    (21:35) Building Your Team  One thing that is super important for entrepreneurs is to not only build your team the right way, but to trust your team and give your team accountability. Give them the autonomy to feel invested in what they're doing. Give your team the autonomy to feel like they're invested, and then don't be a micromanager.    Links: @Larry Brinker, Jr www.larrybrinkerjr.comwww.brinkergroup.com