In this episode of the Be Wealthy Podcast, Brett Tanner sits down with his longtime CPA, tax strategist, and trusted advisor Brian Muia for a deep dive into entrepreneurship, wealth-building, and advanced tax strategy.

Brian shares his journey from growing up with limited resources to building and exiting multiple businesses, including companies in software, steel recycling, and accounting. He breaks down how early lessons around hard work, leverage, and replaceability shaped his entrepreneurial mindset — and why building a business that doesn’t rely on you is the key to true freedom.

The conversation goes deep into passive income, leverage, exits, subscription-based businesses, and the latest tax strategies from the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Brian explains how smart planning around depreciation, Section 179, QSBS, and opportunity zones can dramatically accelerate wealth creation for entrepreneurs and real estate investors.

This episode blends real-world business lessons, mindset, and highly tactical tax insights every serious entrepreneur should understand.

1. Hard work is the foundation — leverage creates freedom.
2. Entrepreneurs must learn to replace themselves to build sellable businesses.
3. Wealth is the ability to choose what you work on.
4. True wealth isn’t money — it’s control over your time and focus.
5. Leverage people, systems, and capital early.
6. Businesses grow when you stop doing everything yourself.
7. Passive income takes time — not shortcuts.
8. It can take 10+ years to truly remove yourself from operations.
9. Subscription businesses attract buyers.
10. Recurring revenue models are highly attractive to private equity.
11. Tax strategy accelerates wealth.
12. Smart planning can preserve millions in capital for reinvestment.
13. Replaceability increases business value.
14. If the business can’t run without you, it’s not sellable.

00:00 – Welcome and introduction to Brian Muia

02:30 – Brian’s upbringing and early money lessons

05:15 – How wealth and freedom are defined

08:00 – First entrepreneurial business and learning leverage

13:00 – Work ethic, discipline, and John Wooden lessons

17:00 – Building a business that doesn’t rely on you

21:00 – Systems, leadership, and becoming replaceable

26:00 – Pivoting, iteration, and entrepreneurship reality

30:30 – Major business exits and scalable thinking

35:00 – Opportunities in trades and subscription businesses

40:00 – Why tax strategy matters...

In this episode of the Be Wealthy Podcast, Brett Tanner sits down with his longtime CPA, tax strategist, and trusted advisor Brian Muia for a deep dive into entrepreneurship, wealth-building, and advanced tax strategy.

Brian shares his journey from growing up with limited resources to building and exiting multiple businesses, including companies in software, steel recycling, and accounting. He breaks down how early lessons around hard work, leverage, and replaceability shaped his entrepreneurial mindset — and why building a business that doesn’t rely on you is the key to true freedom.

The conversation goes deep into passive income, leverage, exits, subscription-based businesses, and the latest tax strategies from the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Brian explains how smart planning around depreciation, Section 179, QSBS, and opportunity zones can dramatically accelerate wealth creation for entrepreneurs and real estate investors.

This episode blends real-world business lessons, mindset, and highly tactical tax insights every serious entrepreneur should understand.

1. Hard work is the foundation — leverage creates freedom. Entrepreneurs must learn to replace themselves to build sellable businesses.
2. Wealth is the ability to choose what you work on. True wealth isn’t money — it’s control over your time and focus.
3. Leverage people, systems, and capital early. Businesses grow when you stop doing everything yourself.
4. Passive income takes time — not shortcuts. It can take 10+ years to truly remove yourself from operations.
5. Subscription businesses attract buyers. Recurring revenue models are highly attractive to private equity.
6. Tax strategy accelerates wealth. Smart planning can preserve millions in capital for reinvestment.
7. Replaceability increases business value. If the business can’t run without you, it’s not sellable.

00:00 – Welcome to the Be Wealthy Podcast

00:45 – Meet Brian Muia: CPA, Tax Strategist & Entrepreneur

01:30 – Growing Up Without Money & Early Entrepreneurial Lessons

03:00 – Learning Work Ethic From Family

05:00 – How Childhood Money Beliefs Shape Wealth

06:00 – What Wealth Really Means Today

07:00 – First Job Lessons: Waffle House & Talking to Strangers

08:15 – First Business: Cleaning Bricks for $1 Each

11:00 – Learning Leverage by Hiring Friends

12:45 – Never Mistake Activity for Achievement

15:00 – Hard Work vs. Working Smart

17:15 – Building a Landscaping Business

18:45 – Creating a Fully Passive Business Over Time

19:30 – Why Entrepreneurs Must Replace Themselves

21:00 – Leadership, Systems, and Being the “Bad Guy”

24:00 – Why Passive Businesses Take Years

26:00 – First Big Exit: Software Built From Excel

29:00 – Why Entrepreneurs Must Understand Numbers

32:00 – Second Exit: Steel Recycling & Betting on People

35:00 – Why Trades Are Massive Opportunities

37:00 – Subscription Businesses & Private Equity

40:00 – Returning to Accounting & Tax...

In this powerful episode of the Be Wealthy Podcast, Brett Tanner and co-host Katelyn Mitchell break down one of the most important — yet most overlooked — components of building a wealthy life: time. This episode isn’t about money tactics, investing, or business strategy. It’s about designing a future you’re truly excited to live.

Brett shares the life-changing exercise that transformed the way he approaches each year, each season, and each relationship — an exercise built around understanding the finite nature of time and intentionally planning a life by design, not by default.

Together, Brett and Katelyn explore the emotional weight of realizing how much time remains with loved ones, how to build meaningful rituals that last, why wealthy people think in longer time horizons, and how to architect a year that aligns with your highest priorities.

This episode will shift the way you plan your life, measure success, and invest your most valuable resource: time.

1. Time is your most valuable asset. Money is replaceable — time isn’t. Wealthy people plan far ahead to maximize meaningful experiences.
2. Your future should guide your present. Big decisions today should be influenced by the life you want 10, 20, or 30 years from now.
3. You have fewer moments left than you think. Whether with friends, kids, or aging parents, the math of time creates urgency and clarity.
4. Rituals create lasting connection. Build traditions that survive changing seasons of life — especially with family.
5. Not all time is equal. An hour of intentional connection is far more valuable than an hour of proximity.
6. Freedom comes from discipline. Planning your year doesn’t restrict you — it unlocks the ability to live a purposeful life.
7. Your life is the sum of your choices — nothing more, nothing less. When you choose with intention, you create a life without regret.

00:00 – Intro: Designing a wealthy life through time

01:00 – Why wealthy people think further into the future

02:15 – Time as your most important resource

03:00 – The truth: Money can’t buy time

04:00 – The three resources: Time, Money, Talent

05:00 – The mindset shift most people never make

06:15 – The “weeks of your life” exercise

07:30 – How projecting into the future changes the present

09:00 – The number of days you have left — and why it matters

10:15 – Seasons of life: Why timing determines opportunity

12:00 – Why certain experiences lose value later in life

13:30 – Life design through intentional rituals

16:00 – The ocean swim metric: Designing your own “success measures”

17:30 – The Super Bowl example — only so many left

19:00 – Katelyn’s story: Cheating the system to gain time with her father

24:00 – What people regret at the end of life

25:30 – Spending 90% of your time with kids before they move out

27:30 – Why meaningful rituals outlast proximity

29:30 – “Two lives — the second begins when you realize you have only one”

31:00 – Your life = the sum of your choices

32:00 – Warren Buffett’s 5/25...