Author: Henry Murphy

I had to sit down and write this blog today. Why? Because I was so inspired by the call we had last night in The Ground Up Academy.

One of my mentees, Sherrod White, came through and broke down the real pros and cons of making $55,000 a month with his brand I Refuse to Be Normal. The session was nothing less than amazing. Everybody who was on that call left encouraged and inspired, not just by the success, but by the transparency. And for me personally, it hit deep.

It reminded me of why I started this Academy and why it’s so important to me and my wife. Our heart is to help entrepreneurs, specifically e-commerce entrepreneurs, take an idea and turn it into something sustainable. We do that by giving the tools, the insight, the strategy, and the mentorship we wish we had when we were starting out.

For me, it hit in 2018. I’ll never forget it. We had a solid year financially, but I got to the end of it and couldn’t really account for where all the money went. That moment stuck with me. I looked back over all my years in business and realized I could’ve gone further, faster, if I had somebody to walk with me and help me through the process. That’s why I do what I do now.

Back to the call, Sherrod laid it all out. He talked about how he started with just two shirts, same design, different colorways. That was it. No big collection. No bells and whistles. Just a clear brand, a strong message, and consistency.

He walked us through the climb, $5K months… $15K… and eventually hitting $55K. But it wasn’t just the numbers. He gave the real behind-the-scenes:

• Early mornings at 5AM and some nights ending at 1AM

• Customer service challenges—not just falling behind, but navigating returns, and having to process returned items before backed-up orders

• The pressure of growing fast without systems

• Running out of inventory

• And not putting parameters in place just because certain items were selling well

He stressed how important it is to know your why, to build on foundation principles, and to never stop telling your brand story, especially on social media.

He also shared why he chose Shopify as his platform of choice and broke down the benefits of using their built-in credit card processor, small detail, but big impact when you’re scaling.

This is the kind of conversation that doesn’t just sound good, it helps you make better moves.

We also dropped a Proof of Concept Checklist inside the Academy along with a few other resources for our students. Because at the end of the day, our goal is simple: help entrepreneurs build real businesses that last.

We’re just getting started.

God Bless The Entrepreneur®️

Have you ever looked at a business and admired it, like, really admired it, and said, “I want my business to be like that”? If you think that way, that’s amazing. But now let’s work backwards.

What do I mean? Well, you’ve got to ask yourself the question: How did they get there? What did they do to build what I’m looking at now? Because it’s not enough just to say, “These designs are fire, I want that too.” That’s surface-level. You’ve got to go deeper.

This is what reverse engineering is all about.

It’s the process of studying something successful, like a brand, a business model, or a product, and breaking it down step-by-step so you can understand how it was built. Once you understand the how, you can learn, apply, and rebuild it in a way that fits your own business.

You want the brand? Cool. Now look at everything:

• What does their email marketing look like?

• Which email goes out first? Second? Third?

• What are they actually saying in those emails?

• Cheat code: Sign up for the email list and learn.

• What about text message marketing?

• Sign up for that list too and watch how they nurture you over time.

If you’re into street fashion, don’t just stop at the look of the product:

• What’s the weight of the shirt? What’s the blend?

• Where are they sourcing their blanks? Are they using wholesalers in America, or overseas manufacturing?

• Who are they using for samples?

And content—pay attention to it.

• What content is working for them?

• What’s getting traction—reels, stories, blogs, YouTube, product demos?

Here’s another cheat code:

You can go to the Facebook Ad Library (yes, it’s real) and see what ads any brand is currently running. Just search their name and boom, you get a glimpse into what they’re promoting and how they’re targeting their audience. That’s free game.

Now, how does their website function?

• Is it built on Shopify?

• Is it mobile-optimized?

• How are they driving traffic to it, ads, influencers, SEO, organic community?

Then dig into the mission and values.

• What’s driving them?

• How are they connecting their story to the hearts of their audience?

That’s reverse engineering at its core.

It’s not stealing. It’s studying.

It’s not copying. It’s learning.

It’s not cloning. It’s building smarter, with a blueprint that already works.

God bless the entrepreneur ®️

It’s ironic that I’m doing a whole series on the ant when I used to be such a lazy person. I was just telling my uncle about a season in my life where I actually shot dice for a little bit,yes, you heard that right. It’s funny looking back and trying to take something meaningful from certain seasons. Even then, I created a system. I won’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say it worked, and it was built on laziness. Still, by the grace of God, I was able to bring that same gift for systems into my business.

Consistency is everything.

And I’ll be honest, as a human being, it’s hard sometimes not to move with emotion. It’s hard to stay focused when it feels like everything around you is falling apart. But here’s the truth: if you’re not consistent, you’ll never know what you’re really made of. You’ll never know what’s possible, how far your business can go, or how deep your endurance runs.

My brand, Unapologetic Urban Gear®, tested me in every way. There were so many challenging seasons. But I knew if I stayed consistent, if I showed up even when it was hard, fruit would come. And it did. But it wasn’t overnight.

Sometimes I had to come off the road just to ship orders. Sometimes I had to print the orders myself. It was just me. That’s why Part Three of this series was so important,because I learned that you can’t do it all alone. You need a team. But even when you’re building that team, momentum comes from you showing up day in and day out.

Momentum is powerful. But it only comes from consistency.

And you have to keep an eye on what you’re doing. Your input matters. You need to constantly evaluate how effective your actions are, adjust your input, because that’s what determines your output. That’s how you get better in business. That’s how you build something real.

Let’s recap this four-part series:

Part One: Self-Discipline

We looked at how the ant moves without a boss. As entrepreneurs, we must master self-discipline. When you’re in charge of your life and business, no one’s coming to tell you to get up and grind. You have to do that yourself.

Part Two: Preparation for Seasons

We learned that the ant stores up for winter during harvest. It understands seasons. Entrepreneurs must do the same, we must plan ahead, especially when times are good. Winter is always coming.

Part Three: The Power of Teamwork

The ant doesn’t work alone. It functions in unity with its colony. Entrepreneurs must stop trying to do everything by themselves. Nothing great is built solo. You need people moving with the same mission.

Part Four: Staying on Mission

The ant doesn’t get distracted. It executes with purpose. And if we want to succeed in business and life, we have to do the same—remain consistent, stay focused, and push forward even when we don’t feel like it.

There’s so much to be learned from such a small creature. But that’s God’s wisdom, He’ll use the smallest thing to show us the biggest truths.

Look at the ant.

And don’t just look,learn.

God Bless the Entrepreneur®

I never believed in the phrase “solo-preneur” , now I get it.

You probably will start off doing everything in your business yourself , from packaging orders to answering emails to running your own social media. And at first, it feels manageable. Maybe even empowering. But if you’re not thinking about building a team, you’re already capping your potential.

Better yet, let me say it like this , you’re stunting your growth before you even give it a chance to expand. You’re setting up limitations when you should be thinking about multiplication.

Nothing sustainable is done without a team.

And isn’t it mind-blowing that the ant already understands this? That it’s built into its DNA to work with others? There’s no solo mission in an ant colony , they move in unity, not chaos. They move with shared purpose, not selfish ambition.

But truth is, that same thing is built into us too. God made us for community. We were designed to build with others, to rely on the strengths of those around us. So when you think about your business, think about your team, yes , but also think about the community you’re called to serve. The values you share. The vision you’re working toward. The destination you’re aiming for.

I’ve built quite a few businesses over the years. And I’ll be real with you , the ones I tried to do completely by myself didn’t last. I worked myself into the ground. No days off. Burned out. And here’s the thing: the money didn’t even make me feel better. Because when you’re building with the mindset of “keeping it all,” that’s exactly when you start losing it.

I learned that the win is in the we.

The growth is in the group.

And the mission gets clearer when everyone’s locked into the same objective.

So whatever you’re building, think team. Think together. Move so in sync that every person is pulling their weight , not just to check a box but to push the whole thing forward.

The ant gets it. So should we.

God bless the entrepreneur®️

We don’t know what we don’t know.

When I moved into my building, I thought I knew exactly what I was doing. You couldn’t tell me nothing. Carpet was being laid. Walls were getting painted. Hardwood floors were being put down. The kitchen was getting ripped out. TVs were going up all around the building , and this was all before we even brought in one piece of furniture.

I had just moved into this new space, and I was excited to get everything done. I wanted it all,  and I wanted it fast.

But when I look back, I had to ask myself:

Why didn’t you do it in steps?

Why did you try to take on everything at the same time?

Why weren’t you thinking about winter?

And as soon as I said it, I thought about that phrase from Game of Thrones:

“Winter is coming.”

It’s simple, but it hits hard. Because winter is always coming. That’s one thing about the ant , it understands seasons. And as entrepreneurs, we have to do the same.

The ant doesn’t wait until the cold hits to start storing up. It moves early. It prepares during the good season for the one that’s coming. It doesn’t waste its harvest, it works while others chill. And that’s exactly what Proverbs teaches us:

Proverbs 6:7–8 (ICB):

“The ant has no commander, no leader or ruler, but it stores up its food in the summer. It gathers its supplies at harvest time.”

Preparation happens in the good times.

That’s when we build the systems.

That’s when we set up the automations.

That’s when we start tightening the backend.

That’s when we save, plan, and structure.

That’s when we document the process, delegate the duties, and create space for growth.

All the things that seem boring , they are the things that keep you from breaking down when winter shows up.

Because when winter comes , whether it’s a slow sales season, a dry creative spell, or a personal storm , it’s too late to start building. That’s survival mode. And survival mode is not where your best work lives.

We have to be like the ant.

We have to store up now.

We have to think ahead.

We have to stay ready, so we don’t have to get ready.

The ant never panics. It just prepares.

God bless the entrepreneur.®️

Ever since I was a little boy,  I was about to say “lad” (must’ve been that movie I watched last night). I got off. OK, back to it.

Ever since I was younger, my dad had me reading Proverbs. And when you’re young, you don’t always think that stuff is sticking. But the Word of God is different. It goes deep. You might not realize it right away, but it’s planting seeds. You’re meditating on it day and night, and one day, that Word just shows up in your thinking, in your decisions, and in your grind.

One verse that came back to me recently was:

“Go to the ant, you lazy person. Watch what it does and be wise.” , roverbs 6:6 (ICB)

When I was a kid, I got the general idea. The ant works hard. Cool. But now as an entrepreneur, that simple principle hits way harder.

I remember leaving my job and realizing I didn’t know what to do with my time. I had been managed for so long, told what to do, when to do it, how to do it — that when it was finally just me? I was lost. No one was checking for me. No clock-in system. No deadlines. It was just me… and time.

I didn’t have a schedule. I had gotten so used to working 50 hours a week and building my business in the middle of the night that that became life for me. Now I had all the time in the world, but no structure.

If you’re an entrepreneur, I’m pretty sure you’ve experienced this. And if you haven’t yet , you will. That’s why it’s important to get ahead of it. Build a schedule. Set systems. Because self-discipline becomes your boss when no one else is managing you.

That’s why I love the ant. It’s the perfect example.

When you’re running your own business, there’s no supervisor walking by your desk. No manager following up on your assignments. You’re responsible for your own motion. You’ve got to get up and do the work , even when no one is watching. Especially when no one is watching.

The ant doesn’t need a boss to tell it when to move or how to plan. It just moves. It prepares in the summer for what’s coming in the winter. It knows the seasons will shift, so it doesn’t wait for permission to start.

God, in His wisdom, used something as small as an ant to teach us something massive. And Solomon, with all his wisdom, told us to study it,  not just look at it, but really observe it.

When you really do that, you start to realize:

• You need systems.

• You need discipline.

• You need structure.

• You need wisdom.

And you don’t need someone to hand it to you. You can build it. Just like the ant.

This is Part One of a four-part series. We’re going to look deeper into this ant and pull out every bit of wisdom we can. Because sometimes the biggest lessons come in the smallest packages.

See you in Part Two.

God bless the entrepreneur ®️

Have you ever seen someone do something and said to yourself, “Man, that’s easy. That’s simple. I got this.”

Well, that happened to me.

I’ll never forget my first heat press. I got my transfers in. I had my shirt, my heat press, and I said to myself, “I’m ’bout to kill this.”

Man, let me tell you, I messed up so many shirts it was ridiculous. What seemed easy was a little more complex than I thought.

I remember being at this conference watching the college dudes heat press the shirts, and it looked so effortless. But the truth is, when you watch someone do something, you rarely see the process, you just see the polish.

You don’t know what it took to get to that technique you’re admiring.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I eventually got it down to a science:

heat + time + pressure.

The more I did it, the more I progressed. The better I got.

And the better I got, the more I could teach it.

Eventually, I was able to remove myself from the business and build a business.

What’s amazing is that everything works like this, especially in entrepreneurship.

You never become perfect at it. But you do get better.

It becomes second nature the more you do it.

I think content is one of those things you never truly become perfect at. But man, you can get good. You can actually become great.

But it takes doing it again and again and again, and when you think you’ve got it, keep going.

I talk about content because I primarily teach e-commerce to people who are building brands. So it’s important to me how I communicate.

And if you’re reading this blog, chances are, you’ve got a business too.

And if you have a business, you’ve got to keep getting better at creating content.

Now maybe you’re not even at the content phase yet.

Maybe you’re just trying to figure out how to work Zoom and be the moderator in your own meetings.

You can get good at that too.

One day you’ll look back and see how far you’ve come, how far you’ve progressed.

Perfection is an illusion. But greatness is within reach.

I hope this blog finds you.

I hope it finds you right in the middle of a moment or season where you’re thinking that perfect is the standard.

I’m here to tell you: you can never be perfect, because it’s a moving target.

We should always aim for excellence, because excellence is not perfection.

But practice?

Practice makes progression.

God bless the entrepreneur ®️

Today started off like blah. I just couldn’t get it together.

I’m staring at my calendar like, How am I going to get all of this done?
But there was one thing staring me dead in the face, connecting the automations for my email flow in Kajabi.

Now yesterday, I was super proud of myself. I had written a full email flow, and it actually sounded good. I was like, Yo, I did that. But today? It was time to connect everything, and I had no idea where to start.

So I tapped in with ChatGPT (yes, her), and she helped me find exactly where I needed to go and what I needed to do. I’m like, OK, cool. I got this.

But man… that one automation took me two hours.
And I kept asking myself:
• Why is the MB link showing at the top and not where I placed it?
• Why is this footer not changing?
• Why is this section still showing even after I deleted it?

I’m sitting in Starbucks talking to myself, troubleshooting in real time. People might’ve been watching me, but I didn’t care. I was locked in. Engulfed.

And my wife? She was right across from me, working on her own entrepreneurial stuff. That made me smile. That gave me fuel.

I got up, went to the counter, refilled my coffee, sat back down, and told myself:
“I’m up for the challenge.”

What About You?

What’s in front of you right now that you need to finish?
What’s something you’ve been avoiding that’s been sitting on your calendar, waiting for you to tackle it?

Tell yourself: “I’m up for the challenge.”

Listen,
You might not finish it today.
You might not finish it tomorrow.
But if you keep showing up every day, you will get it done.

Here’s the truth: some things take figuring out.
It’s not always plug-and-play. It’s not always smooth.

But when you stick with it, you gain clarity.
And once you get it? You got it.

Today, I got through two emails. Tomorrow, I’ll finish more.
Because I started today.
Because I figured some things out.

That’s progress.
That’s the process.
That’s the challenge.

Keep your head up. Keep going.
You’re up for the challenge too.

God Bless The Entrepreneur®️

We live in an amazing time.

There are no gatekeepers like there used to be. Once upon a time, if you wanted to reach people, you had to go through the big three: radio, television, or billboards. I can remember distinctly planning out how I was going to use all three, way before I became an entrepreneur.

And while thinking big was a plus, here’s the good news:

You don’t have to think like that anymore.

Now we have something more powerful, more personal, and more accessible, platforms.

Platforms Are the New Stages

We can take platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn, and show up daily to give value. No gatekeeper. No permission slip. Just hit record, post, and serve.

If you genuinely care about people, if you show up to help solve their problems, the algorithm will work in your favor. It’s designed to connect value to the people who are looking for it.

Here’s a look at how many people are waiting on those platforms every day:

• YouTube – Over 2.5 billion monthly users

• Facebook – Over 2 billion daily active users

• Instagram – Over 500 million daily active users

• TikTok – Over 1.5 billion monthly users

• LinkedIn – Over 1 billion users globally

The audience is waiting on you.

It Won’t Be Pretty at First

Let’s be real: when you start, you’ll probably be trash.

You’ll be awkward. You’ll fumble your words. Your lighting will be off. Your mic might be trash. Your edits might be clunky.

But that’s OK. Because this is a skill.

You’ve got to figure it out. You’ve got to practice. You’ve got to create a system, how you come up with content, how you record it, how you edit it, and how you repost it across your platforms.

The good news? This is completely doable. And if you stay consistent, you won’t just get better, you’ll get amazing.

Go All In

That’s one of my favorite songs from Flame and KB: All In.

You can’t halfway this. You’ve got to be willing to do the work. You’ve got to push through when it feels like nobody’s watching.

I remember watching this girl on YouTube Shorts talk about consistency. She showed how her numbers fluctuated and kept showing up anyway. Then she hit a milestone and received a YouTube award. That inspired me.

I said to myself, Let me try this.

I was already creating content, but I had been slipping on YouTube Shorts. So I challenged myself. I went at it for about 45 days. I saw the numbers move: 50 here, 100 there, 500, then 3,000, it was wild.

That experience reminded me:

Communication is the highest form of value.

Final Thoughts

Become excellent at communicating.

Get in front of the camera.

Serve.

Practice.

Refine.

And repeat.

This skill will take you further than talent, further than connections, and further than you imagined, because when you leverage platforms, you’re not just making noise…

You’re making impact.

God Bless The Entrepreneur®️

Build it and they will come.

That’s a lie before God.

OK—I might be being a little dramatic, but I’m serious. You can create something amazing, something that could literally change the world—but if nobody knows about it, it stays with you. That podcast you’re working on? Great. But if you don’t get on social media and promote it, if you don’t tell people about it, only you and your mama gonna hear it.

The Myth of “Build It and They Will Come”

The phrase “Build it and they will come” came from the 1989 movie Field of Dreams. In that film, it was a kind of divine moment, a supernatural promise that if you step out in faith and build something meaningful, the people you’re hoping for will find you.

But here’s the thing, that was a movie.

Real life doesn’t work like that.

Real business doesn’t work like that.

And entrepreneurship definitely doesn’t work like that.

In real life, value without visibility is just a secret.

You’re Building It, But Are You Showing It?

You might be the creative working on a jewelry line. You’re putting together some of the most amazing pieces—your style is unmatched. You can see who it would look good on, and you can imagine how they’d feel wearing it. But if you don’t show it? It goes nowhere. Nobody knows, and that dream slowly disappears, vanishes right in front of your face.

Or maybe you got that fire clothing line. Every design you put together is dope. You’re doing full photo shoots, cinematic reels, your website is polished, your branding is tight. Your messaging is on point. If you would just tell the story behind that design, it would connect with people in a way you never imagined.

But you figured, “I built it… they should show up.”

My Own Wake-Up Call

At one point in my life, I thought the same.

I built this amazing compound, it was fire. Inspiring.

And truthfully, in the past, I had worked hard to promote what I was doing. But this time? I figured people already knew what I did, so naturally they’d show up.

Wrong.

That was pride. Straight up. I knew better.

I had to humble myself and change my whole approach. That meant posting on social media consistently, bringing in meet-and-greets, dance battles, whatever it took to get people to the location and see what we were doing. Only then could I make the offer.

And listen, that was for a physical space.

But everything I said above? The podcast. The jewelry line. The clothing brand?

Same rules apply. If you build it, they won’t come. Not unless you show up and let people know you exist.

Stop Hiding Your Gift

If you’ve built something dope, let us know.

Tell us the story. Show us the process. Help us connect.

This idea that just being talented or anointed or gifted is enough?

It’s a trap. In today’s world, people don’t stumble across greatness, they’re guided to it.

Final Thoughts

Let this be your reminder:

Don’t just build, promote.

Don’t just create, connect.

Don’t just hope, hustle.

You don’t have to be the loudest voice in the room, but you do have to be present. Make it easy for people to find you, hear your story, and experience your gift.

Stop hiding behind “I’m not good at marketing.”

You’re good at creating? Then get good at communicating.

No one can benefit from your gift, unless they know it exist

God Bless The Entrepreneur®️