Born Joseph O’Brien in Liverpool, England August 1989.

Liverpool was a tough working class city in Northern England.

It’s difficult to make it out of Liverpool but Joe had a way out - His Great Uncle John Rafferty.

John Rafferty was an uber successful salesman in the hair industry who moved from Liverpool to Vancouver, Canada in the late 70s for a better life with his wife and two sons. His Uncle John then later moved to Newport Beach, California after John and his first wife separated, John moved to Newport Beach the year Joe was born.

John Rafferty was Joe’s hero growing up, he showed Joe that the American Dream was possible for a working class lad from Liverpool.

Joe had always wanted to follow in his uncle's footsteps and be a salesman living in Newport Beach and have an American family like his Uncle John.

It was August 2015, Joe was unemployed, sat in the unemployment center in Liverpool going nowhere in life he said to himself ‘‘I am destined for big things in life I wasn’t put on this planet to do absolutely nothing, God wanted me to make a difference’’

Two weeks later he found a job advertised for a Personal Banker for Barclays Bank Call Center, he got the job at Barclays and the rest is history.

One year later Joe was flying to Newport Beach for a two week vacation to finally visit his Uncle John and his American cousins in August 2016, something he had wanted to do since he was a kid.

He dreamed that one day he’d live in Newport Beach, he’d be working in sales and have an American wife and kids. This dream was manifested in his teenage years.

After a vacation of a lifetime in August 2016, Joe had to think of a way back to California for good , car sales it was. He always wanted to be a salesman just like his uncle John so he decided he would get 2016 out of the way and that 2017 was the year he truly began his journey to America.

Joe decided to become a student of the game of selling and since January 2017 he has read over 100 books on self help, sales, psychology, business, marketing, branding and entrepreneurship. 

Before getting into Car sales at the start of 2017 Joe set a final end goal to become the next Tony Robbins/Grant Cardone. The end goal was to inspire people in America that if an Average Joe from Liverpool, England can achieve the American dream then so can you.

Joe was just starting his journey and writing the first chapter of his new life, but Joe set out to be the best salesman of all time and within 6 weeks of selling Suzuki’s & Citreons in The UK he was the number one salesman at his first dealership.

During that time he had started to research car dealerships in Orange County, California and came across the biggest Mercedes Benz dealership in America called Fletcher Jones, Joe said ‘‘that’s where I am going to work” Joe set up a LinkedIn profile and started to send requests to Fletcher Jones employees, the first connection he got was Bradley Cooper and six months later Joe had 50 connections on LinkedIn at Fletcher Jones.

April 2017 Joe was headhunted down Mercedes Benz of Liverpool after selling cars for only six weeks and this is where California Joe was born. Joe started at Mercedes Benz of Liverpool in May 2017 and all Joe would talk about is California, California, California, he was manifesting his dreams.

One day his colleague JP Flannery said ‘‘Here comes California Joe’’ A light bulb switched on and Joe said ‘‘California Joe is a personal brand, that’s what I am going to be forever known as from now on, when people think of car sales they’re going to think California Joe’’

California Joe was preparing to fly back to Newport Beach in August 2017 and he was flying back as a man on a mission, he had arranged an interview with the sales manager James Sarvey at Fletcher Jones Motorcars after selling cars for only 6 months.

Joe sat down with James Sarvey Monday August 14th 2017 and told James ‘‘California Joe is going to be the guy who is going to run the show, I will be face of Fletcher Jones’’ James believed him and said ‘‘You need to meet Garth Blumenthal the GM at Fletcher Jones he loves British people’’

Fast forward to The summer of 2018 California Joe was absolutely relentless, he was flying back to Newport Beach for a month long vacation at the end of July 2018 as The Number one sales in 115 dealerships.

Joe had connected with Garth on LinkedIn in the spring of 2018, Garth was no longer at Fletcher Jones but Joe was determined to meet up with Garth.

Three days before Joe flew back to California in the summer of 2018, Joe thought screw it shy kids don’t get candy, he messaged Garth on LinkedIn and asked for his number so they could get coffee when Joe was in town, Garth duly obliged and gave Joe his number. 

He called Garth 4th August 2018, Garth was a fellow immigrant like Joe who was from South Africa. Garth said ‘’Is that a Northern English accent you’ve got Joe?’’ ‘‘Yes, how do you know Garth?’’ asked Joe. ‘’My grandparents were from Liverpool’’ Garth replied.

That was the reason he had to meet Garth.

After their first meeting in Newport Beach 2018, Garth believed in Joe and 12 months later he was flying back to California on a work visa to work for Mercedes Benz of Temecula, the dealership that Garth owned.

There are no such things as A self made man or woman in life, there are unsung heroes in the background who believe in you. 

If it wasn’t for Garth there wouldn’t be Cali Joe Consulting, Garth believed in Joe, Garth is also responsible for Joe meeting his wife. Garth invited Joe out for dinner the night he met his wife Brinkly in June 2020.

Joe has now been married for 5 years to Brinkly who was born and raised in California and has a daughter Brooke with his wife.

Joe wanted to live in Newport Beach, work in sales and have an American family, he manifested his American Dream.

Joe has come from humble beginnings to achieve the American dream

Whether you’re looking for one to one sales coaching, whether you need help growing your business or you’re looking to get out of a rut, Cali Joe Consulting has a proven track record and can help you to get to the next level in your personal and professional life.