Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Bertholet.
Hi Eric, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I came to the US at 10 years old we bounced around different parts of California and eventually landed in LA I started as an entrepreneur when I was 10 yo, I asked my stepdad for a $1 for ice cream, and he said go make your own money, so I did and I had five jobs around the neighborhood doing everything from cleaning offices to picking up trash to folding hospital clothing, also made things at home and was selling them at school. So you could say the entrepreneurial bug started early with me. Fast forward some of my greatest ventures were others that recognize it in me before I did. Like my step dad was living in a sports village in Orange county and he knew a lot of people a lot of athletes and one of these athletes was looking for a massage therapist. I wasn’t one but my Dad decided to send me over there so I worked on this athlete and he said you know you are really good you’re very intuitive and you know what you’re doing you should consider doing this professionally, I was like for reals he’s like yes. So I found the massage school in Santa Monica at the 3rd Street promenade it no longer exists but that’s where it started in 96 and I still have this business today and I’ve had everything from famous a-listers Hollywood types music types to regular everyday people. Second one was photography of always enjoyed it and I had a friend of mine who decided to start a lighting business and so I jumped on board and he’s like hey you’ve got a great eye why don’t you take some photos of the lighting effects of the party before everyone gets here and I was like great idea. Our first breakthrough I would say or first clients was at the chateau Marmont on sunset for Bruce Willis and Demi Moore I believe it was for her birthday or his birthday was a very private quaint event at the chateau its a very amazing place that’s what started it all and from there we just skyrocketed and got to do so many amazing events for a lot of amazing artists and not just in the US for some we actually went to Costa Rica and other places. So that’s how my photography business really started was helping create a lighting company. And I still do photography today and I love doing it. I’ve lived on and off in Europe as well, Belgium and Portugal had another business with an American over there in the entertainment space, had art galleries representing artists from different mediums. We did a short films, we opened up several galleries in Antwerp and then eventually moved to Portugal and started doing it there. I’ve been back in the US since late 2023 starting 2024 I got introduced to financial industry and learning how to help everyday People understand they don’t have to be rich to become wealthy but by doing simple things didn’t get I had in a big way. So now I still do massage I’ll still do photography and now I’m also learning to put my money to better use where it’s protected from loss and no taxes legally. And to balance so many of these things out I also do various mediums of Art from murals, to paintings, jewelry, custom kilts and accessories.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes they’re definitely have been obstacles and challenges along the way I would say for my massage business and my photography business where I’m solely in charge there’s been no issues with that, but when partnering with other people for good products even and you think you know someone you don’t really know them until you see money coming and more that personality comes out when money starts coming in cuz then you get to see who they really are. Unfortunately I’ve had multiple partners in different businesses and then also being an entrepreneur and trying new things with people most of those things unfortunately have not worked out in my favor I think from 2019 to 2026 being involved for different partners and other ventures via someone I’ve lost somewhere around a half a million dollars so some of these were very well created scams and others was just partners blatantly screwing you over. So now having gone through all those experiences I’ve learned to kind of pull back reset and reevaluate my patterns of behavior and what I’ve realized is I want to help someone and I’m willing to take a risk and I’m hopeful. So I’ve had to tweak these parts of myself and that jump in on things so quickly anymore. The finance business I’ve gotten into the great part about that is if the people coming in don’t win the people at the top don’t win so it’s a much more even kealed business venture. One of the big things I’ve noticed between being an entrepreneur in the US and being an entrepreneur in Europe. European seem to fear Americans because of how we just want to make things happen sooner than later we don’t want to spend a lot of days and weeks and months having lunch and dinner meetings we want to talk about it and then start doing something and over there they just want to keep picking your brain because they’re looking for ways on how they think they can take advantage of you and your offering or product or services for themselves and their friends so that’s been a very interesting wake up. Whether we’re doing an art gallery or short film or walking people through their own concepts to success they would always bail out or find reasons to not pay you it’s been very interesting. They believe you should honor their services their price points and in turn they’ll tell you why your price ones are too high and your services are not right the mindset over there is quite shocking to me and I was born in Europe but I was raised in America so I have more of an American entrepreneurial mindset spirit. Whereas in Europe the system practically handcuffs you so that they know what you’re doing how you’re doing everything so they know exactly where and when they can take money from you it’s all about control. So let’s just say I’m happy to be back in the US building on a new opportunity.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I would say I’m more of an entrepreneur versus just a business person or an artist. Every opportunity bring a different kind of creativity to make something successful, whether I’m hired as a photographer on a movie set, wedding, special events or as massage therapist / personal trainer. You have to find solutions to issues that may arise or know how to communicate effectively to get what you’re looking for to create the best possible outcome for the project itself / the clients. Same as in my new venture and the finance world how we approach the customers / clients / part time business partners, we have a very different way of approaching versus the rest of the industry. When I’m working with any clients for the entertainment or Health and wellness or in finance I also want to get to know them beyond just their name and what they do for work because once I understand enough about their life and who they are, it gives me enough understanding and direction to give them the best outcome for what they’re looking for and that’s for anything I offer. One of the things I’m proud of being able to do is thinking quick on my feet and coming up with solutions, for example people kept asking me do I make kilts and for the longest time I said no and then one day I decided let’s make some kilts and I had a musician in LA we met each other in Beverly hills at one of the hotels that Monday nights does jazz night and it’s open mic so anyone can come in I’m walking out he’s coming in and he’s like bro where did you get that killed I want something like that so exchanged info a month or so later we got together so I made him a custom leather Kilt it’s a $3,000 killed made out of one hide and with a lot of custom accents included. And then he invited me to different shows he was doing and I would photograph him wearing The Kilt so this way I had some footage as well from the before and after. Another example is I had some funny thoughts in my head about some things and I was running it by but a friend of mine and he thought it was funny and I go you know I think that would be a great painting he goes yeah you should go for it so I’ve painted several of my paintings off of a funny thought and I’ve got a lot of good and funny responses from them. I’ve also created custom dragon pins for kilts limited edition for me and my friend. So the kind of come back to what I do is I’m an entrepreneur and one thing I’m good at is if something is needed or needs to be created and if I like it enough I will make it happen in a short time I go after it quickly. I think one thing that sets me apart from many is my passion and desire to want to create the best outcome for anything I’m involved in and I want to get it done with the best materials and creativity possible I don’t like anything that’s done cheap just to get something done. One of the reasons I started making leather belts with solid brass or solid stainless steel is because so much on the market is bad quality leather and mixed metal that feels cheap and a lot of name brands have them and charge a fortune for it my belts are a better product than most and sell for way lower but I’m still making a profit.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Sometimes mentors walk into your life and you don’t know it right away other times it’s one that you seek out. I also believe most everyone that has lived a life of creativity and challenges can mentor or share with you about things in life. I think most people think of mentors is how do I get better at sales closing deals and getting better at making money, and that’s the only part of the equation so I have several mentors one of them is in a wheelchair and his wife a wonderful couple his name is RJ and her name is Ali, and they got me into the financial industry without making it feel corporate, and in our organization we have people from all walks of life from many different countries so they all become mentors in their own way and you grab nuggets from each one of them that fits what you’re looking for or what you’re needing at the time to get better at what you’re doing. I’d say if you want some great mentors I would invite you to have a conversation with me and hopefully I can introduce you to some great people and some amazing mentors as well. Networking is definitely fun you get to meet all kinds of people and personalities and you get to see how people behave in real time who is genuine who’s putting up a front who’s unsure who’s nervous and networking group is like watching a movie about psychology it’s never dull.
Pricing:
- Custom Kilts start at $500
- Belts and jewelry start at $50 and up
- Massage Therapy start at $140 an hour and up
- Financial services are Free, customer doesn’t pay me the market place does out of their marketing budgets
- Artography price is based on what the project is
Contact Info:
- Website: https://forceone-elite.com/
- Instagram: ericbertholet_mrbe
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EricBertholetMrBE
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericbertholet369/?isSelfProfile=true
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRoyalKiltman/videos
- Other: https://www.kiltmanartography.com/
