March 27, 2019

Meet Antonio T. Smith, Jr. of The ATS Jr Companies in La Marque, TX

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Antonio T. Smith, Jr..

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
My story begins as a six-year-old kid abandoned by drug-addicted parents. After running away from temporary foster homes, I settled in a city dumpster outside of what used to be called the Golden Globe building in Galveston, TX. At six, I found pain in this trash can, loneliness in this trash can, abuse, sadness intense hunger and the overwhelming feeling that everyone forgot about me was also found in this trash can. Yet, I got out that trash can. I remember one night looking up at the stars as the top of the trash can was up as it was a hot summer night and my eye catches this blinking star and then I realized that star was actually a plane. I can remember thinking it would be so much better if I was on that plane. I wouldn’t have to be here hot, sweaty and forgotten. It intrigues me to understand that I eventually left the trash can that kept me trapped for most of my childhood because somewhere around eight or nine years old I put my mind on that airplane. I’m here to tell you, the body will always follow the mind. In my adult life, I read a story by Spencer Johnson called “Peaks and Valleys” about a kid stuck in a valley. At first, he loved his valley. His valley was a safe protection for him, but eventually, the valley felt more like a prison. As he looked up from his valley, he saw a mountain top and decided within himself that the valley no longer served him. So one day he begins to climb that mountain. The path was rough, the journey broke his body, but he made it to the top. Today I teach people, just like my trash can and just like this kid’s valley, if you put your mind in a location far greater than where you are now, by scientific default the body must follow. I put myself through school. Since I was homeless, I was arrested for being a homeless kid I was rapped and molested because homeless kids find themselves in predator situations. Yet, I always knew my situation was never my destination. As soon as I was old enough, I became a military intelligence sergeant for the United States Army. It was in the army as an Intelligence Analyst that I would learn the business skills that I use today. It was in the trash can that I learned the survival skills that make me prosperous today. In the army, I learned how to do presentations on enemy movements and possible avenues of attack that the enemy would use to attack the prosperity of America. It was my job to inform the Colonel how to keep his unit and his country in prosperity from the attack of the enemy. I do this very same thing today. I just do this for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and entrepreneurs. It wasn’t until 2012 while interning for Pastor Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church that I realized I could use my military training to help out major organizations. Lakewood had three ministries within their church that were not operating to its church standards. When this was brought up in a meeting I was attending, I told the top leadership at Lakewood Church I could fix the problem as I had remembered doing the same thing for the United States Army. As promised, I fixed those problems and created a ministry inside of Lakewood Church that still exists today and during a celebration meeting for my accomplishments, I realized right then and there I could see things within troubled organizations and see solutions that no one else could. It is amazing to think how I helped so many businesses today because I first helped Lakewood Church raise the standards of its ministries to the vision of Pastor Joel Osteen. That’s how I got my start. I took the pain from my childhood and my experience from being military intelligence and created a multi-million dollar business with it.

Has it been a smooth road?
There is nothing about success that is smooth and to add to that, there is nothing about millions that will ever be smooth. For starters, success also means terrible conditions. This is something most people don’t understand and this is also something that most people refuse to accept. In order to have success, one must also have terrible conditions, confront them, surround them, and prevail against them. This is the very meaning of success. Success is to overcome terrible conditions, it is to overcome break downs and shortcomings and it is to overcome what most people call failure. To have success is to also have terrible conditions. You need the terrible conditions in order to be successful. In the same manner, you need obstacles in order to be a leader. One can not exist without the other. Likewise, money is just energy. In order to get millions of money, you must exert millions in energy. If you ever see a millionaire, immediately accept two things. First, that millionaire has served over a million people. Secondly, that millionaire has exerted enough energy to attract a million dollars. I would love to tell you this was easy for me but it wasn’t. I lost friends and family members didn’t agree with my journey so they became enemies. I lost the ability to pay my bills on time and a few times I lost my mind. I once heard that the army wife is the hardest job in the world. I agree with that. I also agree that the CEO position is the loneliest job in the world. Most people have been programmed by society to conform to security, but security is an illusion. The only real security one could ever achieve in a capitalist society is massive wealth. Only then can one find true freedom when they don’t have to worry about freedom at all.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
On the surface, The ATS Jr. Companies, a top personal development, and training company, offers people from small business owners, to managers, to entrepreneurs, to stay-at-home moms, and college students reliable, high-quality resources through coaching, motivational speaking, and free and paid resources. The company mission is to help clients develop the strategy, motivation, and accountability required to succeed in their business and personal lives. We provide personal development and training through one-on-one coaching services, group coaching services, personal and development and empowerment course, seminars, conferences, mindset calls, books and more. We aim to teach people how to plant better seeds into their lives in order to reap better harvests.

All of this is a great summary of what my company does, but it doesn’t capture the full picture, only the big picture. We create opportunities for people to explode their annual revenues no matter where they are. From sales funnels to marketing, we are a one-stop shop for big and small businesses and new and seasoned businessmen and women. My client roster includes several million dollar companies while we have worked with billion dollar companies in the past. At the heart of the company, we collect data just like Google, Facebook or Amazon. In the public eye, my company is powered by keynotes and conferences and anything that attracts attention. However, my company does so much more. We create million dollar business systems and educational programs and give away more business resources than anyone else on the planet.

I most know for two things. For starters, I am in the process of creating a division one college. That’s all I will say about that for now. most notably, I have created a platform that plugs the regular entrepreneur inside of a million business system and teaches them how to duplicate what I have created so they may be able to take it back home to their own companies. I currently have 54 employees on most continents of the world.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
In my case, my city is perfect for my business because there is no company in existence like mine. I have two offices, one in Galveston and on in LaMarque. There are few companies that do some elements of what I do but they’re just elements. If I had to start over, I would do it all over again, exactly the way I did it but ten times faster.

If someone was just starting out, I would not recommend you starting in Galveston or LaMarque, you don’t have money, like I already had, or a big name, like I already had, neither personal development or professional development companies will do well in Galveston County for many different reasons. I have a roster of over a hundred monthly paying clients and thousands of clients who have paid in the past and less than half of one percent of those clients have come from Galveston County. This isn’t to say anything bad about the quality of people in the county for I know tons of fantastic people within it. What I do simply doesn’t fit the current trends of Galveston County. I just had enough fortitude and was able to spend enough money in marketing to create a new trend and a new demand for my product. If you can’t do this or if your current budget is small, I do not recommend starting a business like mine in Galveston County. It would be wiser to begin in Houston.

There are a few things our city can do to improve. Most importantly is our perception of wealth. It is sad how many people an’t recognize true wealth or the dialogue of wealth in my county. In truth, my county is not even up to speed with 21st century businesses. We use 21st century technologies every day but if they aren’t coming from Silicon Valley, our county misses the opportunity to catch up with thriving cities like Houston.
This is evident by the type of businesses that survive in our county. When you think of all the businesses that survive in Galveston County, If you take away the Fortune 500 businesses that are dominating Galveston County every other business operates in the Industrial Age model and not the Information Age model. Unfortunately, and I say this with great respect, Galveston County is still in the Industrial Age in respects to business and entrepreneurship while customers of consumerism, with all the information age technology we own and use everyday. Basically, the Information Age phones in our pockets keep us entertained but we have not figured out how to allow them to keep us empowered when it comes to business.

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