Built From Experience: Why I Co-Founded BRX

By Josh Byrnes, Co-Founder of BRX Wealth Solutions

For me, BRX isn't the result of having everything figured out.

It's the result of wanting to.

I'm 22 years old, and like many people, I grew up believing financial stress was simply part of life. My parents were open with me about money, debt, and the reality of living paycheque to paycheque. As a kid, I thought that was just what adulthood looked like: you worked, got paid, paid your bills, carried some debt, and repeated the cycle.

When I started earning my own income, I wasn't much different.

I could spend money just as quickly as I made it. Fast food, toys, quads, sleds—whatever caught my attention. I was earning money, but I wasn't building anything with it.

Looking back, I didn't yet understand the difference between earning an income and building wealth.

Discovering a Different Way to Think About Money

Everything began to change when I discovered entrepreneurship.

The idea that you could build something of your own, create opportunities, take greater control of your future, and use ownership to create freedom completely changed the way I thought about money and life.

I became fascinated by how businesses were built, how investments worked, how people acquired assets, and how wealth was created over time.

That curiosity quickly became an obsession.

I immersed myself in books, podcasts, research, business, investing, real estate, and personal finance. But eventually, I learned something even more important:

Knowledge alone isn't enough. You have to put it into practice.

So I started building.

And I failed.

More than once.

I tried ideas that didn't work. I made decisions I'd make differently today. I changed directions, learned from my mistakes, and kept moving forward.

Every setback became part of my education.

Over time, I realized some of the greatest lessons don't come from reading about someone else's success. They come from experiencing failure, adapting, and being willing to try again.

Money Is Something You Need to Understand

As I continued learning, nearly everything I was studying came back to one idea:

Money isn't just something you earn. It's something you need to understand.

How you protect it.

How you manage it.

How you invest it.

And how you use it to build businesses, acquire assets, and create opportunities.

That realization eventually led me into financial consulting.

Today, I'm a licensed Life and Accident & Sickness Insurance Broker and Financial Consultant. I work with individuals, families, and business owners to help them better understand their financial picture and make informed decisions with confidence.

Whether it's protecting income, planning for retirement, investing, managing risk, or building a stronger financial foundation, I believe financial decisions should support a person's larger goals—not exist in isolation.

I'm not interested in simply recommending products.

I'm interested in understanding people.

Everyone's situation is different. My role is to help connect the pieces, identify opportunities, and build strategies that make sense for where someone is today and where they want to go tomorrow.

Why We Built BRX

Together with my business partner, Mathieu Reay, I co-founded BRX with a vision that extends beyond traditional financial consulting.

Financial consulting is where BRX begins, but it isn't where we believe the story ends.

We see BRX becoming a headquarters for building businesses, acquiring assets, investing capital, and creating long-term value—a company built around ownership, entrepreneurship, and financial education.

As BRX grows, we want to document that journey.

The businesses we build. The investments we make. The opportunities we pursue. The lessons we learn. And, just as importantly, the mistakes we make along the way.

One of the principles behind BRX is simple:

Document, don't pretend.

We're not here to claim we've mastered wealth creation or discovered some secret formula.

We're here to build something meaningful, learn through real experience, and bring people along for the journey.

This Is Only the Beginning

I'm still early in my career.

I'm still learning.

I'm still building.

And I'm proud of that.

I believe some of the most valuable lessons come from being willing to ask questions, take action, admit when something didn't work, and never stop improving.

If sharing that journey helps someone understand their money differently, build a stronger financial foundation, or recognize opportunities they didn't think were possible, then BRX is accomplishing exactly what it was created to do.

This is only the beginning.