For Your Own Good › Episode 90
From Cleaning Sneakers to $3M Wellness Retreat: 22-Year-Old Entrepreneur’s Story
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About this episode
Rajan, a 22-year-old entrepreneur, joins the podcast to share the incredible story of how he built a massive real estate and media business in less than a year. Find out how Rajan went from cleaning dusty sneakers for a maximum of $7,000 per month to building a $3 million micro-resort in Virginia (Royal Oak Retreat). He shares the personal story of why he turned down a return offer from JPMorgan and the one piece of advice from his father that convinced him to go all-in. #KassidyWarren https://www.instagram.com/kassidy.warren https://www.linkedin.com/in/kassidywarren #RajanChida https://www.instagram.com/chida.rajan/ https://www.instagram.com/royaloakretreat/ Rajan shares a masterclass in entrepreneurship and content creation, revealing: Why his 1 million views video was about a septic tank. The viral content strategy he learned from GaryVee and Mr. Beast. The mindset that allowed him to overcome being an "introvert" and embrace social networking. How the Live Oak Lake cap rate compression model inspired his entire business thesis. The financial breakdown of the Royal Oak Retreat. This episode is a must-watch for any entrepreneur, aspiring content creator, or investor who wants to learn the power of focus, authenticity, and taking massive action. Watch #ForYourOwnGood on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KassidyWarren
Key moments
- 0:11:01 “I never I never like drank alcohol.”
- 0:16:06 “how can I tell him you should do this when he just wants something different?”
- 0:21:15 “They valued that brand at $2 million which is why he sold for seven.”
- 0:24:35 “most people can't last a year.”
- 0:37:58 “then I met Zach who is working on a $40 million project,”
- 0:39:40 “I was like, "How did you raise $6 million?" Like he got the Aladdin under contract...”
- 0:40:31 “now I've got 5,000 followers, launched my community, and I'm actually helping people.”
- 0:43:55 “40 plus 40 80 grand cash that came from us and then a 90% loan to...”
Read the full transcript
Auto-generated from the episode captions; may contain small errors.
0:00:00I've got my boy Rajan, 22year-old that
0:00:02went from flipping dusty ass sneakers in
0:00:04his bedroom, building a real estate
0:00:06portfolio, one of the best wellness
0:00:07cabins in all of Virginia, taking over
0:00:09the internet, over 500,000 followers
0:00:11gained in less than a year. What can you
0:00:13tell millennials about creating content,
0:00:15put the phone on the tripod, and just
0:00:17hit record. You have to double down and
0:00:19keep documenting, keep creating. Can you
0:00:21get people to watch past the 3se
0:00:22secondond mark? You got to meet Gary
0:00:23Vee. I was introducing myself and I'm
0:00:25like, "Yeah, I'm doing this, yada yada,
0:00:26yada." And he's like, "Brother, brother,
0:00:28I've seen it." And when he said that, I
0:00:29was like, "No way." Do you feel like you
0:00:31have to apologize for being privileged?
0:00:33>> My parents came from nothing. Growing up
0:00:35in the village in India, like you really
0:00:36get a perspective on life. So many
0:00:38people there like live till they're 95
0:00:40100.
0:00:41>> So if they're happy and fulfilled, then
0:00:42why should Indians move to the US?
0:00:46What do you know about money and life
0:00:49and [music] business that the average
0:00:50Gen Z, average millennial, average adult
0:00:52doesn't understand? Every day I woke up,
0:00:54I was like, "Today is day 176 of
0:00:58building Virginia's number one
0:00:59location."
0:00:59>> Yo, yo, yo, Rajin, bro, this is my
0:01:02podcast. What are you doing? We don't
0:01:03get to do your little intro. Oh. Oh,
0:01:06where are we? Where are we? Today is day
0:01:08295 of building the best podcast in the
0:01:10world. And I've got my boy Rajan,
0:01:1222year-old that went from flipping dusty
0:01:15ass sneakers in his in his bedroom to
0:01:17building a real estate portfolio, one of
0:01:19the best wellness cabins in all of
0:01:20Virginia, taking over the internet. Over
0:01:22500,000 followers gained in less than a
0:01:25year. Rajan, what's up, bro?
0:01:27>> Nice to meet you, man. Nice to meet you.
0:01:29I'm so excited. We got a professional
0:01:31podcast studio. It's pretty much my
0:01:33first time doing it in a studio like
0:01:35this. I'm I'm pumped, man. I'm pumped.
0:01:36>> That's right. I take this [ __ ]
0:01:37seriously, man. I take it seriously. You
0:01:39are a 22year-old, just graduated
0:01:41college. You turned down a job from JP
0:01:43Morgan.
0:01:44>> You have turned a shoe flipping business
0:01:48into a real estate portfolio. What do
0:01:51you know about money and life and
0:01:54business that the average Gen Z, average
0:01:57millennial, average adult doesn't
0:01:58understand?
0:01:59>> Wow, that's that's a loaded first
0:02:01question. I think one thing I've made
0:02:03very clear on social media is that I
0:02:04don't know these things and like I I
0:02:07actually don't know like a lot more than
0:02:09probably my average viewer that's
0:02:11watching. I think a motto that me and
0:02:13Renzo like started this with on day one
0:02:15was that you don't need to be
0:02:17spectacular to do spectacular things.
0:02:19And I think we've proved that over the
0:02:21last about 11 months since starting this
0:02:23project. My whole philosophy has always
0:02:25been owning assets. So, ever since when
0:02:27I was buying shoes, I you know, I
0:02:29started at 17 and I was able to save a
0:02:32lot of money. Uh because, you know, my
0:02:34I'm very fortunate. My parents were able
0:02:36to pay for my school. I didn't have to
0:02:37worry about rent. So, every single
0:02:39dollar I made from the shoe business, I
0:02:41saved. And eventually I I had so much
0:02:43money that my dad was like listen like
0:02:45you can invest this in the stock market
0:02:47but at the end of the day like you can
0:02:49also own assets and that's when I got
0:02:51into real estate. So at 20 years old I
0:02:54was really lucky to UVA has a great
0:02:56network. That's where I went to college
0:02:58and I had a real estate agent there help
0:03:00me buy my first investment property. And
0:03:02from there was where I really saw the
0:03:04power of like owning an asset versus I
0:03:07was running a business which was really
0:03:08good but I was working in the business
0:03:10and not on the business and I was a
0:03:12oneman show. So I was basically working
0:03:13a job. Awesome. Loved it. Um shoes I
0:03:17still have love for it to this day. But
0:03:18owning like a real estate asset I saw
0:03:20brought like a whole new avenue to like
0:03:22oh wow like this is an asset that
0:03:24appreciates in value has cash flow and
0:03:26like I want more of this.
0:03:28>> Yeah. But did you know all that stuff
0:03:29going into it? like the the average the
0:03:32average 20-year-old doesn't know the
0:03:34difference between an asset and a
0:03:35liability.
0:03:35>> Mhm.
0:03:36>> But here you are, you already started a
0:03:38business because you wanted to. How did
0:03:39you know that this was going to be able
0:03:42to turn into something more than just
0:03:44cleaning shoes and flipping them and and
0:03:45selling stuff online?
0:03:47>> I didn't know at the beginning like I
0:03:48didn't know anything at the beginning. I
0:03:50was like I said, I was super fortunate
0:03:52to have my real estate agent basically
0:03:54handhold me through the whole thing.
0:03:55Like I remember we went to our first
0:03:57three showings and on paper I'm a
0:03:58finance guy. So, like from the modeling
0:04:00perspective, I was like, "Yo, this is
0:04:02this is awesome." Like cash on cash
0:04:04return and like it'll appreciate. It's
0:04:05really close to UVA, all this stuff. Um,
0:04:07but like the actual like physical side
0:04:09to it, we would walk through house. I
0:04:11remember one story very specifically. I
0:04:13was like dead set on this was going to
0:04:15be the investment property that I
0:04:16wanted, like it was going to make a
0:04:18great return. I was looking at the comps
0:04:19and all this stuff. And we walked
0:04:20through the house and my agent noticed
0:04:23that the hallways were very slightly not
0:04:26parallel. And I'm like, obviously like I
0:04:28wouldn't know what that means. and he's
0:04:29like, "No, there's something wrong
0:04:30here." Turns out there was a fire in the
0:04:32house and they'd redid the whole
0:04:33foundation, it was a huge insurance
0:04:34risk. Um, and that's something that if I
0:04:36went into that by myself without someone
0:04:39who's like experienced, I would have
0:04:40bought that house and who knows like
0:04:42what would have happened now. So, he
0:04:44really like saved me from doing like a
0:04:46lot of stupid decisions in my opinion.
0:04:48But yeah, like it was really having
0:04:49someone in my corner that knew what he
0:04:51was doing. Like he was an agent that
0:04:52owned investment properties himself. He
0:04:54had I think 10 properties when I started
0:04:56working with him. So, he knew the game
0:04:59from an investor's lens. Um, and I think
0:05:01that was super important cuz he just
0:05:02walked me through it all. Like, it's
0:05:04more than just the numbers. Like,
0:05:05there's like actual the physical asset
0:05:08itself. Like, on paper could look good,
0:05:10but you go into it and like you have to
0:05:12go through all these like little nooks
0:05:13and crannies and figure stuff out.
0:05:15>> Yeah. So, you know how to trust people,
0:05:16>> right? And I think that's something I've
0:05:18seen in you is you like surround
0:05:19yourself with really good people and you
0:05:21don't take it too seriously
0:05:22>> and and able to make decisions that that
0:05:24result in like just moving forward.
0:05:27>> And so tell me about the the shoe
0:05:29business
0:05:30>> because basically, you know, it's you in
0:05:32your room and we'll throw up a picture
0:05:33of you, you know, scrubbing the shoes
0:05:35with, you know, a stack of, you know,
0:05:36hundreds of pairs,
0:05:37>> but like tell me about what that was
0:05:38like. So it was
0:05:39>> coh,
0:05:40>> you had to go back home from school,
0:05:42everything was shut down.
0:05:43>> Mh. And then what happened and like how
0:05:46much money were you actually making
0:05:47flipping shoes?
0:05:48>> Yeah, so I started my senior year of
0:05:52high school. So I was 17 at the time and
0:05:56uh COVID had just hit. No, I started my
0:05:58junior year of high school. So yeah, I
0:06:00was still 17. And then my whole senior
0:06:03year was online because of COVID and I
0:06:05was like so bored. I didn't know what to
0:06:07do. Classic. uh came across a Gary Vee
0:06:10video and it was this episode called
0:06:12Trash Talk and he goes to like garage
0:06:14sales and thrift stores and finds stuff
0:06:16to like flip on eBay and I'm like wow
0:06:18this is like looks pretty cool. I
0:06:20started doing that when I I'd first I
0:06:22just gotten my license as a junior in
0:06:23high school and I started going to these
0:06:25thrift stores and started flipping
0:06:26everything and eventually I niched down
0:06:28to shoes because that's just what I
0:06:29loved from a money perspective. Like I
0:06:31think the most I ever netted in shoes
0:06:33was like seven grand, which as a college
0:06:35student like was so much money to me.
0:06:38But you stack that over 5 years, like I
0:06:40was making on average about like maybe
0:06:44anywhere in the range of like 3,000 to
0:06:467,000 um profit like every month. And
0:06:49you stack that over 5 years. And like I
0:06:51said, like I was very privileged like my
0:06:52parents paid for my school. I didn't
0:06:54need to pay for tuition. So I was able
0:06:56to stack like a good amount of money
0:06:57over the course of 5 years which was
0:06:59able to fund the acquisition of the
0:07:02investment property and then also this
0:07:03development that we're doing now. Went
0:07:05into that shoe business. I was a oneman
0:07:06show and I think that's like one reason
0:07:08why I didn't scale to probably the the
0:07:11level that I could have. I was sourcing
0:07:13the shoes. I was listing the shoes. I
0:07:15was cleaning the shoes. I was doing all
0:07:17the customer support. I was doing
0:07:18everything. It got to the point where I
0:07:20was cleaning so many shoes that I think
0:07:22my sophomore year like I had like an
0:07:24eternal cough
0:07:25>> because I was I had I was coughing 24/7.
0:07:29>> Oh.
0:07:30>> Because I was breathing in so many
0:07:31chemicals
0:07:33>> from cleaning the shoes
0:07:34>> and like I was around dirty shoes all
0:07:36the time that I was coughing the whole
0:07:38year. So I put my I put my entire life
0:07:42into it.
0:07:42>> Yeah. Was there a moment you're like
0:07:44[ __ ] this like I am not cleaning shoes
0:07:47anymore or like what because how many
0:07:49years did you do it for?
0:07:50>> I did it for five years. So I did it
0:07:51from 17 to about my senior year of
0:07:54college. So like 22. So my last semester
0:07:56is when I pretty much stopped.
0:07:58>> Okay. And you used that money to then go
0:08:00buy the your first property?
0:08:03>> Yeah. So I bought my first property at
0:08:0521. So my junior year of college. Um and
0:08:08that was a it was a $295,000 house. I
0:08:10put 20% down after closing costs. cuz I
0:08:12put in like 70 grand into it. Um, and
0:08:15then the development was
0:08:19November, so we got it under contract
0:08:21November of 2024, closed January of
0:08:232025, so this year. And that was me and
0:08:26Renzo combined, put 40 grand each, so 80
0:08:29grand total in cash, and then we
0:08:30leveraged the rest.
0:08:31>> All right. What I what I'm hearing is
0:08:33you made a decision to just start
0:08:35creating income, right, through the shoe
0:08:37business,
0:08:38>> and you recognized that this was not
0:08:41sustainable. Mhm.
0:08:42>> But it was the vehicle that then got you
0:08:44to go invest in assets and you even
0:08:46partnered.
0:08:48>> So like I want everyone out there
0:08:49hearing this whether you were in college
0:08:51or not, it didn't matter. Like any
0:08:52anybody could have gone and done what
0:08:54you did
0:08:55>> to create the the income that you did
0:08:57and anybody could have gone and and
0:08:59bought real estate with that whether
0:09:01they're in college, whether they have
0:09:02parents that are paying for stuff or
0:09:04not. But like nothing is forever. That's
0:09:08one of the things that I love about
0:09:09entrepreneurship is people get so stuck
0:09:11in the thing that they think they're
0:09:14going to do forever. Right. Someone
0:09:16might not start because they're like,
0:09:18"Oh, I don't want to clean shoes
0:09:19forever,
0:09:21>> but you know that you can do something
0:09:22else with it."
0:09:23>> Exactly.
0:09:23>> Right. And so, do you still have that
0:09:25investment property now?
0:09:26>> I do. Yeah, I do. It's uh five minutes
0:09:28away from UVA. Have a good tenant. It's
0:09:31basically just on autopilot. I have a
0:09:32property manager for it. So, that one I
0:09:34I don't really look at. Are you the only
0:09:3623-year-old that owns an investment
0:09:38property?
0:09:40>> I don't think so.
0:09:41>> I mean that you know
0:09:42>> that I know. Um now, no, but when I was
0:09:45at UVA, yes.
0:09:46>> Okay.
0:09:47>> Um through social media obviously like
0:09:48I've met like a lot of like younger
0:09:50investors, but when I was at school,
0:09:52like that was also one of the things
0:09:53like let's let's let's talk about it.
0:09:55Like I bought a house when I was 21.
0:09:56Like that was just like a huge like
0:09:58thing like at school for me.
0:10:00>> It was just like wow like how did this
0:10:01kid do it? because I was silently
0:10:03selling shoes for so many years and then
0:10:05all of a sudden like I I had this
0:10:06investment property and like I was also
0:10:08in a real estate club at UVA. So knowing
0:10:11that it just like I was able to get into
0:10:14like a lot more rooms at UVA by owning
0:10:16investment property. I was able to get
0:10:18in with like the real estate professors
0:10:19like all that stuff.
0:10:20>> Oh, so there's like professors teaching
0:10:21real estate.
0:10:22>> Yeah, there are. There are. Um I I'm not
0:10:25someone to rip on school at all. Like I
0:10:27had I had really good professors um on
0:10:29the real estate side. like I wasn't
0:10:31helped more on I I didn't learn a lot
0:10:33about development like I didn't it was
0:10:35all through Renzo like I didn't know
0:10:36anything about real estate development
0:10:37but from like an actual like modeling
0:10:39like finance perspective of real estate
0:10:42um I learned a lot through UVA
0:10:43>> okay so should everybody go to college
0:10:47>> should everyone go to college I should
0:10:49have went to college I I can say that I
0:10:51should have went to college when I came
0:10:52to UVA 18 I feel like you can't put a
0:10:55price on learning social skills and
0:10:58learning how to talk to people I could
0:10:59not have this conversation with you when
0:11:01I was 18.
0:11:02>> Tell me about that.
0:11:03>> I was uh I was very I identified as an
0:11:06introvert. Um when in reality I think I
0:11:09just didn't have the social skills to
0:11:11like connect with anyone. I had a really
0:11:13close group of friends um all throughout
0:11:15like elementary to high school. Like
0:11:18close group of like six six friends and
0:11:21obviously like I had acquaintances. I
0:11:23played sports in high school. Like I I
0:11:24had like people but not people I would
0:11:26hang out with. And when I went to UVA,
0:11:28it was a total culture shock for me.
0:11:29Like I never I never like drank alcohol.
0:11:31I'd never partied before. So like coming
0:11:33into college, I was like, "Yo, like I I
0:11:35don't like this at all." And it took me
0:11:36a year to get adjusted. But like with
0:11:38the help help of my roommate and some
0:11:40other friends, I finally like broke out
0:11:42of my shell and started, you know,
0:11:44socializing after, you know, sophomore
0:11:46year, junior year. And I found that I
0:11:48actually had a really good skill of
0:11:50connecting with people. It just took me
0:11:52so much time to build. I was a very late
0:11:54bloomer. And now that's why even through
0:11:56social, like if I see someone that's
0:11:58creating good business content, like
0:12:00I'll comment on their posts. I'll reach
0:12:01out to them via DM and I'll make that
0:12:03connection because for the longest time,
0:12:05I didn't have that skill. And I I wanted
0:12:08that. I wanted to create connection. I
0:12:10wanted I wanted to meet other business
0:12:12owners. I didn't know anyone in college
0:12:14that was doing something similar to me.
0:12:15And I'm sure there were people. I just
0:12:18didn't have it in me to go seek those
0:12:19people out. And now through content and
0:12:21going to college, I learned how to speak
0:12:24to people. You can't put a price on
0:12:25that. You can't put a price on learning
0:12:27how to speak to people.
0:12:27>> That's right. My belief is that most
0:12:29people actually do love and get energy
0:12:32and receive energy from people in
0:12:35environments. It it's all a range,
0:12:37right? But I think the label introvert
0:12:39has been used too much and it's just
0:12:41that people haven't become skilled,
0:12:42especially postcoid and like people
0:12:45getting isolated in social media, people
0:12:47just doom scrolling. I think we've
0:12:48forgotten that as humans, we all
0:12:50actually love interacting with people
0:12:52and maybe not all the same people all
0:12:54the time. But what I'm hearing from you
0:12:56is that you changed your environment,
0:12:58too. So, you went from whatever
0:12:59environment you were in that you were
0:13:01labeled as an introvert and then you
0:13:02went into college. Yeah.
0:13:04>> And discovered that maybe you weren't an
0:13:05introvert and you did like people and
0:13:07you enjoyed connecting with people.
0:13:09>> So, what what would you say to someone
0:13:11your age or even older that's isolated
0:13:14to get out of being an introvert or what
0:13:16they label as an introvert? I think you
0:13:18need to put yourself in spaces with just
0:13:20a volume of people where you're almost
0:13:22forced to interact with them. So, I
0:13:25joined a bunch of clubs. Um, and I
0:13:27started going to a lot of social events
0:13:29when I was like pretty uncomfortable.
0:13:31Like I I never done stuff like that ever
0:13:33in my life. Um, and in the beginning
0:13:35it's going to suck. Go back to your
0:13:37question of should everyone go to
0:13:39college? I can only speak for myself
0:13:41because it's such a nuanced question
0:13:43like everyone's scenario. I feel like
0:13:45you can't generalize everyone's
0:13:46scenario. I grew up super privileged. I
0:13:49know a lot of people are not. And I just
0:13:51want to be super transparent. Like I
0:13:53grew up privileged and my parents were
0:13:54able to pay for my school. Instate
0:13:56tuition at UVA is not is not cheap. I
0:13:58think it's like it's around $30,000 a
0:14:00year. Like that's a lot of money over
0:14:02the course of four years. That's 120
0:14:03grand. And
0:14:06I if I had to pay that, I'd actually
0:14:09don't think I'd be sitting here with you
0:14:11right now. Like my parents put me in
0:14:12that position. Um, so I can generalize
0:14:16to someone who's like very similar to
0:14:18me, but how many people are privileged
0:14:21or like very, you know, socially awkward
0:14:24at 18? Like it's just such a specific
0:14:26scenario that I can't generalize.
0:14:28>> Mhm. Do you feel like you have to
0:14:29apologize for being privileged?
0:14:31>> No, I'm open about it.
0:14:33>> I My my parents came from nothing. Like
0:14:37we talk about like, oh, we we come like
0:14:39my parents came from nothing. Like you
0:14:41go to the village where my parents came
0:14:43from in India and it's like my dad
0:14:46didn't have shoes until he was like 13.
0:14:48Like the first time he wore a shoe was
0:14:50at 13. Um growing up in the village in
0:14:53India like you really get a perspective
0:14:55on life. I feel like anything I achieve
0:14:57now it would not be more difficult than
0:15:00what they came from. Like they come from
0:15:02absolute dirt, nothing. Like brick
0:15:03houses, no electricity.
0:15:06Like it's it's just a different world.
0:15:08And I urge anyone that's watching this,
0:15:10like I feel like everyone needs to one
0:15:12day like take a trip to somewhere in the
0:15:15villages in Africa or India. Um, just it
0:15:19just gives you a new perspective on life
0:15:20and it made me so much happier actually
0:15:22cuz it's like these people that live in
0:15:24the village are so happy. Um, and I
0:15:27speak fluent like Thumbl, so like I I
0:15:29like talk to these people and I've like
0:15:31heard a lot of stories and
0:15:34they're just so content and that's why
0:15:36they live so long. Like so many people
0:15:38there like live till they're 95, 100.
0:15:40It's low stress.
0:15:43They're not a lot of high maintenance
0:15:46for, you know, what they want in life.
0:15:48Like they've live a very simple life.
0:15:49They live a very long time and they're
0:15:51grateful for what they have. Um, my dad
0:15:53was a little bit different. And I think
0:15:54he was just genetically born to I want
0:15:56something different. And he was able to
0:15:58come out from that and come to America.
0:16:00Um but most of my extended family is
0:16:03still out there and they're super happy.
0:16:06So happy
0:16:07>> and they're playing the game they want.
0:16:08>> So if they're happy and fulfilled then
0:16:10why should Indians move to the the US to
0:16:12start a new life?
0:16:13>> How can we generalize a statement like
0:16:15you should do this when there's so many
0:16:18different scenarios of people? It's it's
0:16:20just impossible. Like I can say like my
0:16:22dad should have done this, he should
0:16:23have done that, but the next man who is
0:16:26also living in the village might want
0:16:27something different out of life. So how
0:16:29can I tell him you should do this when
0:16:31he just wants something different? Like
0:16:32I I think everyone wants different
0:16:33things and they're also wired
0:16:35differently. A lot of it's genetic. I
0:16:36feel like a lot of the stuff that I do
0:16:38is just like genetically almost comes
0:16:39from my dad. Like why do I why did I
0:16:42want to sell shoes at 17? Like I I was
0:16:45already set up to go to great colleges.
0:16:47Like I would have worked great
0:16:49corporate. Like why did I I actually am
0:16:51not exactly sure why I was motivated to
0:16:53do that. Like why was I motivated at 20
0:16:57years old while I'm in college still
0:16:58doing school to go to a little 11 by19
0:17:01office and clean dirty shoes for hours
0:17:04on end and list them and sell them? Like
0:17:06I actually don't know why I was
0:17:07motivated to do that. I think when you
0:17:09have a purpose or a desire for something
0:17:12greater than yourself, even if it is
0:17:14money when you're young, but it's not
0:17:16the money, it's like you're going and
0:17:17discovering things about yourself, which
0:17:19is really cool. So, let's talk about
0:17:21social media
0:17:22>> because
0:17:24>> you went from what zero followers to
0:17:26almost 500,000 on Instagram in like nine
0:17:28months.
0:17:29>> Yeah, that's Yeah, that it's insane.
0:17:33>> Wild.
0:17:35>> Yeah. I I I honestly can't believe it's
0:17:38been kind of a fever dream what's
0:17:39happened in the last 9 to 10 months. I
0:17:43actually I I I kind of just like
0:17:45pinching myself. I'm not exactly sure
0:17:47what's going on, but I'm loving every
0:17:48second of it. I'm really trying to like
0:17:50live in the moment. Meeting the type of
0:17:51people I wanted to meet my whole life.
0:17:53I've been able to speedrun that pretty
0:17:54much in these last nine months.
0:17:56>> Yeah. It's one of my motivations behind
0:17:57the podcast is I just want to go meet
0:17:58cool people that are like doing the cool
0:18:00stuff like whatever that is. And so
0:18:04you gotta meet Gary Vee, right?
0:18:07>> So what was that like?
0:18:08>> Probably top five days of my life for
0:18:11sure. Um I like I told you guys, I
0:18:13started all of this the shoot thing
0:18:16because of Gary Vee. I watched when I
0:18:18was cleaning shoes, I watched Gary Vee
0:18:19videos religiously. I just have them in
0:18:21the background
0:18:24almost to the point it's almost like
0:18:25kind of weird like I they tell you like
0:18:28not to idolize another man but like I
0:18:30fully just
0:18:32he was like my hero right so when I saw
0:18:34the opportunity that I could you know
0:18:36have some one-on-one time with him and I
0:18:39was introducing this is crazy I was
0:18:40introducing myself and I'm like yeah I'm
0:18:42doing this yada yada yada and he's like
0:18:44brother brother brother I've seen it and
0:18:46when he said that I was like no way like
0:18:49Gary Vee like has seen my stuff. It was
0:18:52the greatest feeling ever. The greatest
0:18:54feeling ever. And the question I asked
0:18:56him was, um, I haven't I haven't made
0:18:59any money through social media. Like
0:19:00this stuff, like I I haven't I haven't
0:19:02taken a single dollar from it. I've
0:19:04gotten paid for like views on TikTok,
0:19:05but it's marginal, right? I haven't
0:19:07taken a single brand deal in cash. I've
0:19:08done nothing. And um my question to him
0:19:11was, you know, if I'm bas I am kind of
0:19:14selling something. I'm selling bookings
0:19:16with the cabin, right? Like that I have
0:19:18>> that's not real money though. That's
0:19:19like what I'm selling through
0:19:20documenting this journey is like I want
0:19:22to get the cabin fully booked out
0:19:23through direct booking and not through
0:19:24Airbnb. So I am kind of selling
0:19:26something. But my question to him was
0:19:29I feel almost weird. I've done it
0:19:31authentically for almost so long now
0:19:33that I almost feel weird like if I
0:19:35wanted to pitch anything or if I wanted
0:19:36to sell something, how would I how how
0:19:40should I do that? If I wanted to start a
0:19:42community, like it just almost feels
0:19:43weird cuz I've done it for so long
0:19:45without doing that. And he said they're
0:19:47going to know if you don't believe in
0:19:48the product you're selling if you fully
0:19:49believe in it. And he went through his
0:19:51stories of you know he'll he'll go on
0:19:54spurts of selling nothing and just
0:19:56providing pure value and then he'll drop
0:19:58something like V friends or all the
0:20:00products he's doing and then he'll go on
0:20:01a spurt there. It's like jab jab right
0:20:02hook. Um, I haven't read his book
0:20:04honestly, but I I get the concept where
0:20:06it's like I've been and he what he was
0:20:08telling me is that you've been jabbing
0:20:09for a year, which is like you've created
0:20:12the biggest trust in your audience ever
0:20:14and it's so valuable and I want to hold
0:20:16on to that. Like I want to hold on to
0:20:18that with with dear life. I I see so
0:20:20many people like flexing the money and
0:20:22all that stuff and I just want to be
0:20:24transparent. Dude, I'm broke. I don't I
0:20:26don't make any money through social at
0:20:28least not yet. Not not to say that I I
0:20:30won't pick up a check soon, but I
0:20:32haven't made any money through social.
0:20:34But in my mind, in my mind, I've made $2
0:20:36million in equity value in Royal Oak
0:20:40Treat. Um, one reason why the thesis
0:20:43behind it is there's a property called
0:20:45Live Oak Lake. And, uh, Isaac French is
0:20:48the developer behind that. He built
0:20:50seven cabins for $2 million. And 18
0:20:52months after he started operating, he
0:20:54sold those seven cabins for $7 million.
0:20:56So at 18 months he 3xed the real estate
0:20:58investment which you you don't you don't
0:21:00see that ever right and a huge part of
0:21:02that he went on a a podcast I think with
0:21:04the talking about the private equity
0:21:05company that bought him out and he
0:21:06talked about how they valued his real
0:21:08estate asset at $5 million
0:21:12but they valued the the direct bookings
0:21:15and the brand he had built through
0:21:16Instagram and short form and Tik Tok.
0:21:18They valued that brand at $2 million
0:21:21which is why he sold for seven. And I
0:21:23was like that's absurd. You're telling
0:21:26me he increased the value of a real
0:21:28estate asset through Instagram videos
0:21:30for $2 million. I have to double down on
0:21:32this. So that's why I really double down
0:21:34on creating content. I think Royal Oak
0:21:37Retreat, if we ever do exit, I'm not
0:21:38sure if we'll hold on to the asset or
0:21:40sell it, but if we I think the brand
0:21:42value that's been created is in the
0:21:44millions for Royal Luck Retreat.
0:21:45>> I love that you brought this up because
0:21:46I was gonna bring it up
0:21:47>> because I saw that you guys were
0:21:48inspired by Isaac. I've talked to Isaac.
0:21:50He's a buddy of mine. And yeah, the
0:21:52asset was valued at $5 million, which is
0:21:54good on its own.
0:21:55>> Mhm.
0:21:56>> But then the funnel of direct bookings
0:21:58>> to actual like cash collected, right?
0:22:01There was the Instagram page
0:22:03>> that actually generated money. It wasn't
0:22:05just followers. It wasn't just follower
0:22:07count. It wasn't just, oh, I'm on
0:22:08Expedia or whatever.
0:22:09>> He had an additional asset of the funnel
0:22:13>> and then they valued that at a certain
0:22:15value. And and I call that what I call
0:22:17that is cap rate compression. meaning if
0:22:18if if it's worth 5 million out of 10
0:22:20cap, they compress the cap rate because
0:22:23they had an additional piece of leverage
0:22:25that the buyer is looking at as
0:22:27extremely valuable.
0:22:29>> And so what I'm hearing from you is you
0:22:32actually listened to Gary, you actually
0:22:34listened to Isaac, and you took action
0:22:36on everything that you learned. And you
0:22:40shouldn't idolize people, but
0:22:43the power of social media is that now
0:22:44you get to surround yourself with the
0:22:47people that are teaching you and
0:22:49elevating you to the next level, right?
0:22:51Like I put Gary's videos on in the
0:22:53background. I put Dan's videos on in the
0:22:54background. Alex, Cody,
0:22:56>> all of these people, if you actually
0:22:57take their advice,
0:22:59>> you will change your life
0:23:01>> instead of surrounding yourself with
0:23:02people that are just going out drinking
0:23:03and partying all the time.
0:23:05>> So, I I like I really commend you on it.
0:23:07And it sounds so simple, but I want
0:23:09people to hear what you're saying that
0:23:11you consumed content and you actually
0:23:13took action and now here you are with
0:23:15500,000 followers. You're gonna you're
0:23:17going to generate money off your
0:23:18bookings. You're going to generate money
0:23:19from a community that you're going to
0:23:20start at some point,
0:23:21>> right? Yeah.
0:23:22>> Or something
0:23:23>> something.
0:23:23>> And then and then you're going to be
0:23:25able to grow that even more. So I just
0:23:27wanted to nail that point down.
0:23:29>> So with the content,
0:23:30>> so what else did Gary tell you or like
0:23:33what can you tell millennials
0:23:35>> about creating content? I get so many
0:23:37DMs about how do I start this, how do I
0:23:38start that. Like I actually have like a
0:23:40shell message that I send like all these
0:23:42people. It's put the phone on the tripod
0:23:44and just hit record because your first
0:23:47five to if you scroll down my videos the
0:23:49first five to 10 videos regardless I
0:23:51could like handhold them through the
0:23:53whole thing regardless it's not going to
0:23:54be good for the f at least first 5 to 10
0:23:57videos is not going to be good. And like
0:23:58like you said, right, like I took
0:24:00action, but for 5 years I didn't like I
0:24:02would just have the videos in the
0:24:04background and I would hear Alex say
0:24:06like you need to do higher leverage
0:24:07activities and you need to delegate and
0:24:09I never did it. In the last year I
0:24:12finally finally finally have had the
0:24:15balls to like actually put it on the
0:24:17line and do what these people are saying
0:24:19and this is what's happened. It's it's
0:24:20it's actually just a fever dream. I I
0:24:22really like being on this podcast with
0:24:24you, like talking to Gary Vee. And to
0:24:26answer your question, what I would tell
0:24:27millennials is just put the phone on the
0:24:29tripod and record. What Gary Vee told me
0:24:31also was like, you need to double down.
0:24:34You have to double down and keep
0:24:35documenting, keep creating because one
0:24:37thing I've also seen is that this is
0:24:38just a game of attrition, too. I've seen
0:24:41so many um business creators come and go
0:24:44who have so much like their projects are
0:24:46equally, if not more cool than what I'm
0:24:49doing. Um it's just a It's like how long
0:24:52can you last in the game? And most
0:24:54people can't last a year. Like I've done
0:24:56it for I've only done it for one year.
0:24:58I've only done it for one year. And I've
0:25:01already seen so many people come and go.
0:25:02I'm imagining when I go my next year
0:25:04like there will be even more people that
0:25:06drop off. So it's just put the phone on
0:25:08the tripod and be prepared to like you
0:25:10have to put in 12 months.
0:25:12>> Have to put in 12 months and you might
0:25:13not see anything.
0:25:14>> Yeah. And they tell podcasters like
0:25:15three years honestly. And that's if you
0:25:17are doing it the right way and not just
0:25:18like treating it like a hobby.
0:25:20>> Yeah.
0:25:20>> Right. the the circles get a lot smaller
0:25:23once you start actually doing it
0:25:25>> because just like you said the people
0:25:27that stay consistent and keep doing it
0:25:29less and less like we think it's
0:25:32saturated we think there's so many
0:25:33people out there doing stuff but no and
0:25:37like your example Royal Oak Retreat
0:25:41beautiful project incredible like
0:25:44incredible story and it's just a cabin
0:25:47in the woods in Virginia
0:25:49>> it's just a cabin in It's the It's the
0:25:51same design as Isaac's. We just We've
0:25:53just bought the plants.
0:25:54>> Exactly. And it's going to be beautiful
0:25:55and it's going to be incredible. And
0:25:57it's just a cabin in the woods.
0:25:58>> Yeah.
0:25:59>> But you figured out how to do
0:26:00storytelling. I watched a video of
0:26:02yours. I I used to work for the power
0:26:04company.
0:26:04>> Mhm.
0:26:05>> Boring engineer. Whatever.
0:26:08>> You told a story about the the power
0:26:11pole that got put in
0:26:13>> and the transformer and it was like a
0:26:15dating story.
0:26:16>> Yeah. Yeah,
0:26:17>> I watch and then there was a Pikachu
0:26:18element and I was like, look, he just
0:26:20took
0:26:21>> a really boring boring subject and made
0:26:23it really fun to watch.
0:26:25>> Like, how do you get into the
0:26:26storytelling element? What is it about
0:26:28storytelling that you can teach people?
0:26:29>> I'm so I'm so happy that you picked up
0:26:32on that. I'm so happy that you picked up
0:26:33on that. One barrier that's been broken
0:26:35in my mind in these last 10 months is
0:26:37that there's no topic that is
0:26:38uninteresting. There's no topic that is
0:26:40uninteresting. And if people aren't
0:26:42watching it, you're just not telling the
0:26:44story good enough. The first time I hit
0:26:45a million views on a video was talking
0:26:47about our septic tank. Like a [ __ ] tank
0:26:50first time. And it wasn't even at the
0:26:52site. It was me in my college apartment.
0:26:55I had a dirty piece of line paper and I
0:26:57slid it into the camera and I'm like, we
0:27:00have our four plots subdivided and I
0:27:02don't think the engineer the engineer
0:27:04thinks he can't fit it on this yada
0:27:05yada. It's just all in the visuals and
0:27:07the storytelling. I'm huge on the
0:27:09visuals. Um even more than the
0:27:11storytelling now. Like I will spend 30
0:27:14minutes because I one person I've been
0:27:16listening to a lot is Mr. Beast and what
0:27:19how he thinks about psychology
0:27:21>> and he talks a lot about this thing
0:27:22called the purple elephant
0:27:23>> and it's like people scroll and they
0:27:25want to see something that's like it's
0:27:28they want to see a pattern break and
0:27:29something that's different.
0:27:30>> Um and people see before they hear. So I
0:27:33really focus on how is my first shot
0:27:36looking? Like I'll put up a drone in the
0:27:38sky and I'll stand on the deck or I'll
0:27:40be like doing pull-ups like on the deck.
0:27:41Like I'll be doing something weird. It's
0:27:43all a psychology game and it's just how
0:27:47can you get that first person to react
0:27:49and watch past 3 seconds. Like that's
0:27:51like that's like the number one thing in
0:27:53in storytelling in any of the videos.
0:27:55It's like can in short form it's can you
0:27:57get people to watch past the 3se
0:27:59secondond mark because if they watch
0:28:00past 3 seconds they're way more likely
0:28:02to watch the whole video. Um, and a lot
0:28:05of that is in the first visual. So, with
0:28:08the with the uh the transformer and like
0:28:11the dating stuff, I can't exactly
0:28:13remember what my hook was on that, but
0:28:14I'm pretty sure I I in the hook I'm
0:28:16probably doing something weird like I'm
0:28:18probably
0:28:18>> I think you I think you were doing
0:28:19pull-ups in that one.
0:28:20>> No, I actually remember I I put a ladder
0:28:23on the deck and I was on top of the
0:28:25ladder and I'm like we just we just went
0:28:28300,000 in debt and then I and then I
0:28:30started the story. And yes, like you
0:28:31need to have a great story to keep
0:28:33retention, but the hook the hook is like
0:28:35the hook is everything there. Um, I
0:28:37don't know if I answered your question.
0:28:38I think I went out like
0:28:40>> I mean, yeah, basically like what are
0:28:42the other elements of storytelling too
0:28:43because I noticed that you take really
0:28:45simple things that was a dating example,
0:28:47but then there was like um uh I think it
0:28:50was a bridal party stayed at Royal Oak
0:28:52before it and
0:28:53>> it was literally like like I can imagine
0:28:55what happened. It was like they texted
0:28:56you and were like, "Hey, we need
0:28:57somewhere to get ready for the wedding.
0:28:58can we use your can we use your your
0:29:00cabin
0:29:01>> and you're like, "Oh, it's not done yet,
0:29:02but we'll set it up for you so that it
0:29:03looks good for photos."
0:29:05>> Like that. It could have been like a
0:29:0630se secondond conversation and you
0:29:07turned it into a storytelling video
0:29:09about the bride and about what you did
0:29:11with the bathroom and about the
0:29:12furniture that you put in
0:29:14>> and my mind and I think and and I'm
0:29:16going to say millennials again
0:29:17>> or people in general, I think they have
0:29:19a hard time feeling confident that
0:29:22they're going to be able to tell a story
0:29:23or that it's going to be interesting. So
0:29:25like what is it about creating the story
0:29:26that you've been able to to unlock?
0:29:28>> Yeah, I think it's just boiling it down
0:29:30to like the most easy to understand
0:29:32concept. So with the dating thing,
0:29:34right? Like a lot of people don't know
0:29:35about transformers and electricity, but
0:29:37everyone knows the concept of dating.
0:29:39Everyone knows the concept of dating. So
0:29:41I was like, how can I There's three
0:29:43parts to the electricity. There's the
0:29:45pole, there's a transformer, and then
0:29:47there's the cabin, right? There's three
0:29:49things. And I'm like, well, in dating
0:29:51there's a man, woman, and then sometimes
0:29:52there can be a therapist. And I'm like,
0:29:55what? I'm just trying to these are
0:29:58they're not complex concepts, but you
0:30:00want to I I'm big on like analogies and
0:30:03stuff. So that's why I did like the
0:30:04Pikachu one. Like everyone not a lot of
0:30:06people know like Airbnb building
0:30:08development, but everyone knows what who
0:30:09Pikachu is. Like everyone knows Pokemon.
0:30:11>> Um, so I I'm big on like analogies and
0:30:14I'll talk about like LeBron and stuff
0:30:15like every I'm I'm boiling it down. I'm
0:30:18trying to compare these topics to stuff
0:30:21that everyday people know. And I think
0:30:23that's a huge part of storytelling is
0:30:24that you want to get as many people to
0:30:27understand as possible. Like I can get
0:30:29really technical and talk about the real
0:30:30estate and talk about like the
0:30:32engineering, but I don't think as many
0:30:34people, especially me, like if you
0:30:36talked to me 10 months ago, I actually
0:30:37wouldn't understand what was going on,
0:30:38but if you talk to me in like very
0:30:40simple concepts, then then the
0:30:42storytelling is like very
0:30:44understandable, right? So that's like an
0:30:46analogy part. But like just for just for
0:30:48if I'm talking about like the bride and
0:30:50like that story, I don't know if I have
0:30:52like a formula. I'm trying to think like
0:30:54I actually don't have a formula that I
0:30:55can like give to people that's just like
0:30:57here's how I tell a story cuz I feel
0:30:58like every single one is kind of
0:31:00different and that's why my content is
0:31:02like very novel. It's like every single
0:31:04story is like a little bit different and
0:31:06that's why people enjoy it. So I don't
0:31:07really like have a framework on it. But
0:31:10the analogies part is like you have a
0:31:12complex concept, you relate it to
0:31:13something that everyone knows and you
0:31:16just tell the story like through that
0:31:18analogy
0:31:18>> and then you just do it too. And so
0:31:21you've been posting every day since the
0:31:23beginning, right? You posted the uh the
0:31:26video where you and uh Renzo were lying
0:31:29to everybody, right? [laughter]
0:31:30>> Yeah. about you coming from a priv
0:31:32privileged background and like uh you
0:31:34know real estate developers but that's
0:31:35where the line came from about um you
0:31:37don't have to be spectacular to do
0:31:38spectacular things and that was what 176
0:31:41days ago.
0:31:42>> Yeah. So I haven't I haven't been
0:31:44posting every day. Um there there are
0:31:47points where like I'll post every day.
0:31:48It's like it's more like episode 176.
0:31:51>> Okay.
0:31:52>> Um it's been about 10 or 11 months. So
0:31:56January 10th is when we made that video.
0:31:59And what what are we now? It's November.
0:32:01>> Yeah. November. In November. Yeah.
0:32:02>> Yeah. So, what is that? I'm sure that's
0:32:04like 200 actually something. 200
0:32:06something days, but
0:32:07>> about 295 because that's about when I
0:32:09launched the podcast, too.
0:32:10>> Yeah. Yeah. It's it's about
0:32:11>> Okay. But still, essentially, you're
0:32:12posting every day. I mean, more than 99%
0:32:14of the world.
0:32:15>> Yeah. Four to five times a week on
0:32:16average.
0:32:16>> And so, what what are the things that
0:32:18you do to like guarantee or like set
0:32:20yourself up for success that you're
0:32:22going to post?
0:32:23>> Yeah. I think a huge this this also
0:32:26needs to be like completely transparent
0:32:28is that I have Renzo and I know a lot of
0:32:30people don't and operationally he takes
0:32:34in the beginning we were like okay he
0:32:37knows a lot about development the
0:32:38Instagram wasn't even part of the
0:32:39picture like I was just posting shoe
0:32:41content I I I hadn't even posted about
0:32:44it so I think we were under the
0:32:46impression that we were going to manage
0:32:47the construction 50/50 and I was going
0:32:48to learn as I go and then the Instagram
0:32:51just took off like I was just posting to
0:32:53post just for fun. And it just took off
0:32:57and he was like, "Yo, this is bringing
0:32:58us so much opportunity. I'm already
0:33:00obsessed with real estate development. I
0:33:01love this. Just take a back seat. Just
0:33:03plug in like 10% until we launch. When
0:33:06we launch a property, you're going to be
0:33:07the full property manager. You're going
0:33:08to be like I've been closer. I've been
0:33:11posting a little bit less now because
0:33:14I've been like setting up like the email
0:33:16marketing and then also like setting up
0:33:18the website and like all the things like
0:33:19in the back end like when we manage, I'm
0:33:21going to be running that stuff. So now
0:33:23I'm like posting a little bit less. But
0:33:25the reason why we blew up so much is
0:33:26because I had Renzo actually like
0:33:28operating the entire business. Like I
0:33:30had that and my goal every he was like
0:33:32your goal should just to be post as many
0:33:35bangers as we can and get in front of
0:33:36all these people
0:33:38>> and that was my goal for 10 months and I
0:33:40did that and I had the freedom to. So I
0:33:41had the freedom to spend 6 hours on
0:33:44every video. That's how long it takes
0:33:45me. It takes me on average like 6 hours
0:33:48start to finish to make one Instagram
0:33:50reel. And I had the freedom to do that
0:33:52because I had Renzo. And I know it's
0:33:53very tough. I made content while doing
0:33:56shoes and you can see the quality
0:33:58difference there. Like there it's just
0:34:00like I just put the tripod up and it's
0:34:01just whatever I'm whatever I'm doing
0:34:02that day and I I'll chop it up very
0:34:04quickly. But the real estate content was
0:34:07super intentional. It's it's pretty
0:34:08edited. The story tell like I'll script
0:34:10out every video. I'm like very
0:34:12intentional about the shots. I can spend
0:34:1430 minutes setting up the first shot and
0:34:16making sure the angle's perfect because
0:34:17I have Renzo there to like I have him to
0:34:20fall back on
0:34:21>> because there are these creators like uh
0:34:22Higher Up Wellness uh Michael Smoke.
0:34:25Yeah.
0:34:25>> Uh Ask Cat GPT although she does a mix
0:34:28but there's these different creators
0:34:29where they'll just turn on the camera
0:34:31and start recording and and a lot of
0:34:32their stuff can get a ton of views just
0:34:34from talking to the camera. But then
0:34:37you're saying it does take you six
0:34:38hours. You got to set up your shots. And
0:34:40that's what I've seen too is that
0:34:41there's also a balance of like higher
0:34:44quality, higher standard.
0:34:45>> But what I've seen is, and you tell me
0:34:47if if this is true, is as the business
0:34:50owner, you have to think of yourself as
0:34:52a as a content creator first,
0:34:54>> right? And so you have Renzo, but you're
0:34:57a content creator first because that's
0:34:59what's going to bring in the leads.
0:35:00That's what's going to bring in the
0:35:01people. That's what's going to bring in
0:35:02the business.
0:35:03>> Yeah. Yeah. Um, it's funny. There's so
0:35:06many different formats that can do well
0:35:08on Instagram. There's so many like I've
0:35:10done it well with like the quick cuts
0:35:11and the angles and there's a guy I think
0:35:14in uh he's building this thing called a
0:35:165,000 euro house. His name is Justice
0:35:18Reed and all he does is like my 5,000
0:35:21house and he does everything selfie
0:35:23style and it's not very edited and a bad
0:35:25video for this guy's 10 million views.
0:35:26Like it's it's the most insane thing
0:35:28I've ever like there's so many people
0:35:30there's so many different formats and
0:35:31there's so many different types of
0:35:32people like Michael like Michael Smoke
0:35:34he just has such a presence on camera
0:35:36just has such a great presence I feel
0:35:38like I don't have the same presence to
0:35:40where I can just like talk to the camera
0:35:41so I have to do these other things to
0:35:43compensate for it I need to have cool
0:35:45angles I need to have these quick cuts I
0:35:46need to be more edited
0:35:48>> who knows like I can maybe I can get to
0:35:49that point one day but I also like
0:35:51making my style of video I think it's to
0:35:53say that like I can say hey here's how
0:35:56you should do the angles here. That's
0:35:57how you should say your words. And then
0:35:59there's another guy like Justice Reed
0:36:00who's doing it completely opposite to
0:36:02what I say and he does a lot better than
0:36:03me. And then there's other people who do
0:36:05it even more edited and cinematic than I
0:36:07do and also do it really well. Like
0:36:09there's just so many ways you can skin
0:36:10the cat. So many ways.
0:36:12>> Yeah, I agree. And you find what works.
0:36:13But the literally the only way to do it
0:36:14is by starting.
0:36:15>> Oh yeah.
0:36:15>> Literally the only way to do it is by
0:36:16starting. You're not going to be able to
0:36:17figure it out. I you can't like learn
0:36:19how to ride a bike just by reading about
0:36:21how to ride a bike or watching other
0:36:23people ride a bike. You got to go ride
0:36:24the freaking bike. I think the theory
0:36:26now is just that Instagram rewards
0:36:28novelty. Like that's as that's as
0:36:30specific as I can keep it.
0:36:32>> Even with podcast clips, I think people
0:36:34got really tired and are still really
0:36:35tired of like seeing people with
0:36:37microphones in front of their faces. And
0:36:38so like
0:36:39>> I'm going to go try to figure out
0:36:40>> what the novelty around podcast clips is
0:36:42and like how I can continue to create
0:36:43content, create these conversations that
0:36:46people actually want to watch and they
0:36:47actually want to want to see. So I do
0:36:49want to talk about Yanni and the dogs.
0:36:52>> The dogs. Like I I think that was
0:36:54actually the first video I saw of you
0:36:56guys was uh you were talking about the
0:37:00old historic building. I think it's in
0:37:01Chicago.
0:37:03>> So Zach is rehabbing a historic building
0:37:06in Kansas City. Yep. Kansas City. Yeah.
0:37:09Yeah. So there's a Kansas City building.
0:37:11There's a bowling alley. Uh isn't there
0:37:13like a liquor store?
0:37:14>> Yeah. His name's Corey. He's not he's
0:37:17not he's not in the Dogs. I haven't met
0:37:18him. I've chopped it up with him on the
0:37:19phone. That dude is super cool. I I
0:37:21really There's so many guys. But that's
0:37:22what I mean. You have now and then SUJ,
0:37:24we talked about like there's all these
0:37:26people you've influenced,
0:37:27>> right? Because you're storytelling.
0:37:29You're having fun and like but you're
0:37:31these young kids
0:37:33>> and I watch this video. You're these
0:37:35young kids that are speaking in the
0:37:36lingo of real estate. You know what
0:37:38raising money is. You know what debt is.
0:37:40You know what leverage is. You know what
0:37:41c cash on cash.
0:37:43>> And I'm like, how are these kids how do
0:37:45they know all this stuff? And then how
0:37:46did you guys also learn how to have fun
0:37:48talking about real estate?
0:37:50Like what is it about like how do you
0:37:52know all these guys and like what
0:37:53happened?
0:37:53>> It's all through Instagram. I I this is
0:37:56one thing I'm proud of and I will brag
0:37:58about is that I I think I've created the
0:38:01best and biggest network within like the
0:38:03business creator community because I I
0:38:05consciously made an effort to answer all
0:38:08my DMs. And then also when I saw someone
0:38:10make a video like in my style and they
0:38:11have a cool business, I'm like I feel
0:38:13like some people would be like, "Dude,
0:38:14he's like copying me." Bro, there are so
0:38:17many people that have cool businesses.
0:38:19They've been doing it longer than me.
0:38:20They just started documenting it because
0:38:22it's really cool. Like when I saw the
0:38:23liquor store guy make his videos, I'm
0:38:25like, "This is insane."
0:38:27>> Mhm.
0:38:27>> What What 233year-old takes on debt to
0:38:30buy a liquor store in Canada? That's
0:38:31insane. And then when I saw Yanni stuff,
0:38:33I'm like, "What what kid is rehabbing a
0:38:36bowling alley?" But at the same time,
0:38:38dude, there's levels to this. Like I I
0:38:40really thought um me what me and Renzo
0:38:42did was like a great risk and we took on
0:38:44300k in debt. And then I met Zach
0:38:46>> who is working on a $40 million project,
0:38:49raised $6 million in equity in one month
0:38:54to close on a on the on the Aladdin and
0:38:57then get backed by the government with
0:38:59his story. Like it was just insane. And
0:39:01he had to get people to personally sign
0:39:03on the debt. Like there's just levels to
0:39:05this. There's truly just levels to this.
0:39:06Well, but yeah, tell me about that
0:39:07because I work with people. I'm I'm 39
0:39:10years old.
0:39:11>> I spent the last seven years building up
0:39:13my real estate portfolio. I did the
0:39:15Airbnb route, buying hotels now.
0:39:17>> And I coach people and I talk to people
0:39:19my age, older that are so afraid of
0:39:23raising money, so afraid of taking on
0:39:25debt, so afraid of like taking a quote
0:39:27unquote risk. How have you guys been
0:39:29able to just like be like, "Yeah, cool.
0:39:31Let's do it." There's so many investors
0:39:33out there that want to invest in younger
0:39:34people, like young hungry people. And
0:39:36I've met them actually through Zach.
0:39:38Zach raised his equity check through
0:39:40Twitter. This is why I hopped on
0:39:42Twitter. I was like, "How did you raise
0:39:44$6 million?" Like he got the Aladdin
0:39:46under contract and had to raise 6
0:39:47million in equity in a month. And I'm
0:39:49like, "Bro, how did you do that?" He's
0:39:50like, "Bro, I just hopped on Twitter."
0:39:51I'm like, "You can raise six million
0:39:53through Twitter." So he found the his I
0:39:56think two or three partners in Chicago
0:39:58to fund the check. And Zach Moser's
0:40:00first investor
0:40:02is now in contact with me and Renzo to
0:40:04potentially do this this next big
0:40:06project. And yeah, how do we do it so
0:40:08young? Like I I just think I got lucky
0:40:10with the social media. I actually am not
0:40:12exactly sure how I would raise money if
0:40:14I didn't have the social media. Um just
0:40:17because like I've never gone to like I I
0:40:19think the game is like you go to the
0:40:20capital markets and you you raise money.
0:40:22I I have no experience in that so I
0:40:24can't really talk to that. I can speak
0:40:26personally from experience like if you
0:40:29go on the internet and you talk about
0:40:31what you know the right people will
0:40:34watch it and if you actually know your
0:40:36stuff like there will be people who are
0:40:37interested in in investing in you.
0:40:39>> That's right. Yeah. I have I think as of
0:40:42today I have about 5,000 followers
0:40:43>> and
0:40:44>> but if you also look at who follows me
0:40:47it's a very like it's lopsided like I've
0:40:50got a lot of big people following me
0:40:52>> but my content just hasn't popped off
0:40:54yet
0:40:55>> but with those 5,000 followers they're
0:40:56ride or die and I started a community I
0:40:58launched my community because I made the
0:41:00same mistake that you did. I didn't
0:41:02share anything while I was building my
0:41:03entire real estate portfolio. Yeah.
0:41:05>> And our our designs are crazy like like
0:41:07really good designs. who've done a ton
0:41:08of construction. Like I'm living a dream
0:41:11life of somebody out there, but I didn't
0:41:13share it.
0:41:14>> But now I've got 5,000 followers,
0:41:16launched my community, and I'm actually
0:41:18helping people. And so the lesson there,
0:41:20like, yeah, you've got 500,000.
0:41:22>> Like some you don't need 500,000
0:41:24followers to to go make money or to go
0:41:25help people or to go raise money. Like
0:41:27>> the real estate community is actually a
0:41:29lot smaller than you think. There's a
0:41:30lot of people that need help,
0:41:31>> dude. It's so small. And I realized that
0:41:33because I pretty much met all the
0:41:35biggest short-term rental developers
0:41:36within the first month of me making
0:41:38content. That's right. Which is insane.
0:41:40Actually, what people don't realize is
0:41:42once you start doing interesting things
0:41:44or like doing things for yourself,
0:41:45there's way more collaboration that
0:41:47happens cuz we all went through it.
0:41:49>> I went through the pain. I know what
0:41:51it's like to go through the permitting
0:41:52process.
0:41:52>> Oh my god.
0:41:53>> Yeah. Right. I know what it's like to go
0:41:55through the peritting process and get
0:41:57get stonewalled because you didn't you
0:41:58didn't go talk to them or like I know
0:42:00all the pains of everything and I want
0:42:02to I want to prevent people from having
0:42:03to go through that, right? And
0:42:05accelerate it and you become more
0:42:06successful than me and like that's what
0:42:08I want for the world,
0:42:09>> right? And so that's what you get to do
0:42:11now and you're at 22
0:42:12>> and like I'm 39 and just really getting
0:42:14started on this.
0:42:15>> So that's the same thing with the
0:42:17podcast game. Like people say there's a
0:42:19ton of podcasters. Everyone's got a mic,
0:42:20but I'm doing it differently.
0:42:22>> Yeah. And I see Rich Summers in San
0:42:23Diego. I see Shore Grand out in Boston.
0:42:26Like there's all these people and like
0:42:28there's no one out in Seattle. I'm out
0:42:29in Seattle. So guess what? I'm going to
0:42:30go be the Seattle guy, right? And you
0:42:32get to be the Virginia guy or wherever
0:42:33you end up. And uh I just think it's so
0:42:36special that that you're doing this. So
0:42:38I do want to ask about the numbers.
0:42:39>> Mhm.
0:42:40>> Because you took out 300k of debt.
0:42:44>> It's 200 the the loan is 276,000.
0:42:46>> And how much cash did you need to be
0:42:48able to take that $276,000 loan? We
0:42:50bought the land in cash for $37,000.
0:42:53Um, and we were able to, you already
0:42:56know the numbers, but just for the
0:42:57people watching, when you buy a house,
0:42:58you put down like a down payment on the
0:43:01house. In construction, you can use the
0:43:04cash value of the land as your quote
0:43:07unquote down payment. So, what happened
0:43:09was that uh we bought it in cash for
0:43:1137,000, but the bank only appraised it
0:43:13at 20,000. Um, and we wanted to get a
0:43:1690% loan to cost loan. Um, so we needed
0:43:21around I'm just rounding the numbers to
0:43:23like make it easier. So we needed like a
0:43:25$300,000 loan. Um, and in order to get
0:43:28that, we need what's the math on this?
0:43:30>> 30,000.
0:43:30>> We needed 30,000, right? So we had to
0:43:32bring an extra 10 grand to the table
0:43:34when we closed to get that equity value.
0:43:36Um, and then we got the whole project
0:43:38cost leveraged uh through the bank.
0:43:39>> Yeah. And this is really important
0:43:40because appraisers are the ones that
0:43:43will either make or break your deal. So
0:43:45you bought the land for 37, but they
0:43:46appraised it at 20.
0:43:47>> Yeah. And the reason they did that was
0:43:48that there's a public road. It was
0:43:50undeveloped, but the land is subdivided
0:43:52into four lots. Um, and they said this
0:43:55road, they can only appraise one side. I
0:43:58don't even know how this stuff works,
0:43:59but they're like, we can only appraise
0:44:00one side of like the cash value that you
0:44:02put down only works on one side. I'm
0:44:05like, how does that even make like how
0:44:07does that make sense? But you can't
0:44:08argue with the bank, right? Like I can't
0:44:09be like, no, like it's actually
0:44:10appraises for this much. Like you get
0:44:12what you get. So we had to bring an
0:44:14extra 10 grand in cash. Um, and the the
0:44:1680 grand cash that me and Renzo brought
0:44:18is made up of that. So, um, the 37 grand
0:44:22and then plus the 10 to close and then
0:44:25also this thing called FFN. So,
0:44:27furniture, fixtures, and equipment.
0:44:28That's stuff that the bank won't loan
0:44:30on. So, like hot tubs on a cold plunge,
0:44:32furniture, like all the so that's like
0:44:36another 40 grand. So, 40 plus 40 80
0:44:38grand cash that came from us and then a
0:44:4090% loan to cost loan 276,000.
0:44:44>> Okay. loan a cost.
0:44:45>> What's the value when it's all done?
0:44:49>> I think who knows what the bank will
0:44:51appraise it at. Um we're hoping like 350
0:44:54to 400.
0:44:55>> Yeah. So, you'll have you'll actually be
0:44:57underwater a little bit. Yeah.
0:44:58>> Yeah. Because of the FFN, which is
0:45:00common for Airbnbs, you know, in the
0:45:02beginning, you got to spend a little bit
0:45:03more to furnish it.
0:45:04>> Yeah.
0:45:05>> Uh but how much revenue do you think
0:45:08you're going to generate?
0:45:09>> Yeah. So, the comps, uh, the top comps
0:45:13in our area are anywhere from 120 to 160
0:45:16grand. Um, and that's just revenue,
0:45:18right? Like, it's not that's not that's
0:45:20that's topline profit or topline
0:45:22revenue. And I I think we can make a 50%
0:45:24margin on that. So, in the worst case
0:45:26scenario, I think we can hit 120 grand
0:45:28revenue. We've already gotten a lot of
0:45:30direct bookings, so I'm thinking we can
0:45:32smash that, but we're just being like
0:45:33conservative for now. So, I'm thinking
0:45:35120 topline revenue, 60 grand profit for
0:45:38the for each unit.
0:45:39>> That's right. And so your cash on cash
0:45:42then is about I'll just call it 100%.
0:45:45Yeah.
0:45:45>> Yeah. So you put 80 grand in total.
0:45:47Yeah.
0:45:47>> And then you're going to get 80 grand
0:45:49net if you if you hit
0:45:50>> I think we can hit 80 grand net and
0:45:52Yeah. Obviously that's
0:45:52>> So you're 100% cash on cash. Yeah.
0:45:54That's really good. Yeah.
0:45:55>> Yeah. Nobody's doing that,
0:45:56>> right? Nobody does that right now. It's
0:45:58like 30 to 40 at best for most stuff.
0:46:00>> And Live Oak Lake, that's I I really
0:46:02like that as a comp. Um they traded at
0:46:05an eight cap. So what is that? Around
0:46:06like a 12x multiple. So 80 grand times
0:46:1012. Let's do the math there. What is
0:46:11that? Uh
0:46:13>> uh one 1.2. We'll call it
0:46:15>> 1 some somewhere something like that. We
0:46:16we would love to sell at a basis of
0:46:18around 1 million per cabin if possible.
0:46:20>> Yeah. So you are banking on selling at a
0:46:23cap rate, not just at at appraised comp.
0:46:28>> Mhm.
0:46:28>> Yes.
0:46:29>> Yeah. Yeah.
0:46:30>> Yeah. See, no 22-year-old knows this
0:46:31stuff, bro. Like no 22 [laughter] year
0:46:32old no 23-y old knows this stuff. Like
0:46:34you're talking about stuff that people
0:46:35don't get. It's really Renzo's thesis
0:46:37like he he's the one that's like the
0:46:38visionary that taught me all this stuff.
0:46:40But this asset class in real estate is
0:46:43trading like no other. Like you you
0:46:44can't find a you can't find and
0:46:46obviously Isaac is like the top, right?
0:46:48Like he this it's like an anomaly. But I
0:46:52feel like we can replicate something
0:46:53like that just because we have the
0:46:55social following and going to have the
0:46:57direct bookings and we can get our NOI
0:47:00super like we can basically we are the
0:47:02market basically like people are coming
0:47:04in from all parts of the DC Maryland
0:47:07Virginia area to come stay at our place
0:47:10and that has real value in a business
0:47:11like we're hopefully hopefully we won't
0:47:14be on Airbnb. Obviously, I'm going to
0:47:16list it on Airbnb in the beginning. Um,
0:47:18but in a perfect world, eventually in
0:47:19like 1 year, two, who knows how long
0:47:21it'll take. We're not on Airbnb. We're
0:47:23completely directly booked and to buyers
0:47:26like but people who want to buy this as
0:47:29a class. They love to see that. Like
0:47:31that's like an actual hotel. Like they
0:47:32don't rely on Airbnb to take a cut from
0:47:35them. They're just 100% directly booked.
0:47:36>> Exactly. Because you're you created the
0:47:37demand. And so Isaac's thesis was we're
0:47:40in Waco. We're in the Texas triangle
0:47:42between Dallas, Austin, and uh Houston.
0:47:46Yeah.
0:47:46>> Yeah.
0:47:47>> Two and a half hours driving distance
0:47:48from each essentially. So, just like the
0:47:50DMV area, you're within a short driving
0:47:52distance of all those. Tons of money out
0:47:54here. You're in the woods. You're
0:47:56building uh things that don't exist
0:47:58right now. So, you're solving a problem
0:48:00because that's what people forget is
0:48:02>> they look at what's existing and they
0:48:04try to replicate.
0:48:06>> But you're creating a new product. Mhm.
0:48:08>> You are creating a new product that
0:48:09doesn't exist right now in this area and
0:48:12you're creating direct bookings. You're
0:48:13not dependent on platforms. You you are
0:48:14creating a business and so now it's
0:48:16going to trade like a business. It's not
0:48:17going to just trade like a like a
0:48:19property like a normal house that you're
0:48:21buying and selling. I think one caveat
0:48:22is that we're building something new in
0:48:24our area. We the whole thesis was that
0:48:27if we bring live oak lake to Virginia
0:48:28like we can't fail. That's like overall
0:48:30it's the thesis is obviously we don't
0:48:32have like a pond either, right? like we
0:48:34don't have a lake but if we can build a
0:48:36live oak lake style property in Virginia
0:48:39like we don't see that in Virginia we
0:48:41can't fail. So that was our thesis. So
0:48:42we h we we did copy live oak lake like
0:48:45Isaac French what he did it's the same
0:48:47design like you look at the cabinet it's
0:48:48it's literally the same thing. Um but it
0:48:51is also new in a sense that this market
0:48:53hasn't seen this product whereas like if
0:48:56we built it in Waco I'm sure it wouldn't
0:48:58do as well just because like there's
0:49:00already something like that out there
0:49:01but in in the DMV like there's not. So,
0:49:02I think that's why we're going to do
0:49:03really well.
0:49:04>> All right. And so, then you're going to
0:49:05build Royal Oak Lake. Like, what's
0:49:06what's next?
0:49:07>> I think there's a lot of different
0:49:09avenues we can go. We don't exactly know
0:49:11yet. We can do a big project. There's a
0:49:13there's a huge property called Bolt
0:49:15Farms. If you've heard of them, Bolt
0:49:16Farms,
0:49:17>> I've interviewed Southern Tory. They're
0:49:18my friends.
0:49:18>> Yeah. Um, we would love to take on a
0:49:21project like that. Try to create like a
0:49:23Bolt Farms equivalent in Virginia.
0:49:24That's like the land I was talking
0:49:25about. There's a land um next to Laray
0:49:28Caverns that that we're looking at that
0:49:30we might want to close on. But it's
0:49:32building something like that is very
0:49:34time inensive and it's I'm sure I
0:49:37haven't I've never talked to the Bolts,
0:49:39but I'm sure it's one of the hardest
0:49:40things that I'm sure it is the hardest
0:49:41thing they've ever done and I couldn't
0:49:43imagine the time and the effort and the
0:49:44pain they they went through to build
0:49:46something beautiful like that. Um, I
0:49:49think one thing that's been brought to
0:49:50my attention is that brand value is so
0:49:52huge and if we want to if we want to
0:49:53scale like our dream is to have a bunch
0:49:55of Royal Oak retreats across the East
0:49:57Coast, that's not really going to be
0:49:59possible us doing it one at a time like
0:50:02buy land, get it. I think the only way
0:50:03we can do that is like a franchising
0:50:05model. Um, whereas like we have the
0:50:07brand, I think one avenue we can go is
0:50:08that we go on Airbnb and we see
0:50:11underperforming properties that still
0:50:13fits the aesthetic of a Royal Oak. we
0:50:15come in. Um, we don't put in any of the
0:50:17capital, but the operator takes the
0:50:19brand Royal Oak Retreat. Like, that's
0:50:21also an option. I think there's a bunch
0:50:22of different things. We're not exactly
0:50:23sure where we're going to go. Um, I just
0:50:25think we're super focused on like we
0:50:27need to get this right. Like, none of
0:50:29that works. Like, building a building a
0:50:31Bolt Farms equivalent franchising. Like,
0:50:33none of that works unless we execute on
0:50:36this first one like to a tea. When we do
0:50:38that though, like the the sky's is the
0:50:40limit. like we could we could franchise.
0:50:41We could do a really big project. We
0:50:42have the money. We would have the the
0:50:44funding for it. There's a lot of
0:50:46different avenues we can go.
0:50:47>> Yeah. I think the thing to remember too
0:50:48about Isaac is that he sold.
0:50:50>> Yeah.
0:50:50>> He sold his his like capstone project,
0:50:55right? But he still gets the brand. He
0:50:56still gets the recognition. He still
0:50:57gets the acknowledgement and he gets to
0:50:59help people and still go on. And so
0:51:00there's opportunities to sell. And I
0:51:02think a lot of people in real estate,
0:51:04they don't think that they'll ever sell
0:51:05or they don't see the benefit. But um
0:51:08there's so many different things that
0:51:09you can be doing. So you
0:51:13turned down the job offer for JP. You
0:51:15were working for them, right?
0:51:16>> I did an internship last summer in
0:51:17Dallas and I had a return offer. Yeah.
0:51:19So I I was going to go back.
0:51:20>> So you were going to go back to JP
0:51:21Morgan
0:51:22>> and then now here you are.
0:51:24>> What is it 9 months later? 500,000
0:51:26followers.
0:51:27>> You're literally this weekend just
0:51:29finished
0:51:30>> Petri the first unit. Y
0:51:32>> you're going to build two more. like how
0:51:34did you know that this was the right
0:51:36decision for you?
0:51:38>> I didn't know but
0:51:41it it was really it was really my
0:51:43parents they just supported me through
0:51:45it all. Like my dad was the one. It's
0:51:48crazy because we have these like
0:51:49stereotypes in like Indian Asian
0:51:50households like you need to do things a
0:51:52certain way and like my parents have
0:51:54never pressured me to do anything ever.
0:51:56Um, and I remember when I had the job
0:51:59offer and I was like, "Hey, I think I'm
0:52:02I'm going to try to do both." Like when
0:52:04after I graduate, this was in around
0:52:05April. I told my dad, um, I think it'd
0:52:07be a good idea for me to do both because
0:52:09and the reason I was saying that is
0:52:11because it was so difficult for us to
0:52:13get a loan. And at the time, like we
0:52:14didn't have as many followers and like
0:52:16the funding the funding was an issue for
0:52:19the second unit. We didn't know how we
0:52:20were going to fund the second unit. Um,
0:52:22and I was telling my dad, "Hey, like I
0:52:24think it would be really valuable if I
0:52:25still had a W2 income, I could get a
0:52:27loan under my name, um, with the W2 to
0:52:30fund the second lot." And he was like,
0:52:32"That's probably the dumbest thing I've
0:52:33ever heard." Like, you if you're going
0:52:36to try to do both, if you're going to
0:52:37try to work the job and do the
0:52:39development, you're going to be bad at
0:52:40both. So, just choose one cuz it's
0:52:42already hard to do one thing really
0:52:43well. And my dad was someone who had
0:52:45already started a business that he sold.
0:52:47So he knows what it's like to really
0:52:50focus on one thing and the importance of
0:52:51that. So after he said that, I already
0:52:54knew I wasn't going to go back. I I
0:52:57already knew. So it wasn't really a hard
0:52:59decision for me to make. I knew it was
0:53:00the right decision. Obviously now, like
0:53:02sitting here now, I'm like, obviously
0:53:04this is the right decision. Um but at
0:53:06the time, how did I know it was the
0:53:07right decision? I didn't really know. I
0:53:09kind of just made it. That's like where
0:53:10my gut instinct kind of came in where it
0:53:11was like I didn't hate the job. I wasn't
0:53:15someone who was like, "Oh, I was
0:53:16miserable there." Like I didn't hate it.
0:53:18It was good hours. It was good pay. Um I
0:53:21wanted to do shoe business on the side
0:53:23with that and keep buying investment
0:53:24properties. Like I feel like I I would
0:53:26have gotten very wealthy doing that as
0:53:28well. Like I'm not going to bash
0:53:30>> JP Morgan or that like they were so good
0:53:32to me. Like I'm not going to bash them.
0:53:34>> Um but at the same time like I was I
0:53:37just felt like I was on a trajectory to
0:53:39where we got this under contract. Like
0:53:42it was going well. I the social
0:53:44following wasn't grow like growing at
0:53:46the rate it was now but I could see like
0:53:48a vision there and my dad was just like
0:53:49you got to choose one. So when he said
0:53:51that I was like okay I got it. Honestly,
0:53:54that piece of advice is probably some of
0:53:57the best advice that you've ever
0:53:58received
0:53:59>> because so many entrepreneurs, so many
0:54:01business owners, so many kids, so many
0:54:03adults, everybody, everybody that ever
0:54:05wants to do anything usually does about
0:54:07five things because they're scared of
0:54:11letting go of the potential opportunity
0:54:14behind any one of those five things,
0:54:16>> right? We fill our days with whatever it
0:54:18is that we want to fill them with or
0:54:20we're working our job to then go be able
0:54:22to buy the house or the property.
0:54:24>> But instead of taking that job and I
0:54:25don't know what they were going to pay
0:54:26you probably 150k or more maybe.
0:54:29>> It was it was 100 grand 100 grand.
0:54:30>> 100 grand in Texas is pretty good. Yeah.
0:54:33>> And so in in one property you're going
0:54:35to net 80. And I know you got partners
0:54:37and you know and all that but on one
0:54:38property net 80 once you're done with
0:54:40three what is that? Two what am I 240?
0:54:43>> Yeah. So, in a short time, you're
0:54:46already exceeding the level of income
0:54:48>> and
0:54:49you have the brand, the personal brand
0:54:52to back you up to be able to go do
0:54:53whatever you want for the rest of your
0:54:54life.
0:54:55>> And he's right. If you would have been
0:54:57at the job and you wouldn't you wouldn't
0:55:00>> the content my content really started
0:55:01popping off right after I graduated.
0:55:04>> So, and I was going to start my job
0:55:06right after I graduated. So, imagine I
0:55:09go there like the con like I'm not
0:55:11having this conversation with you right
0:55:12now. None of that happens.
0:55:14>> And you don't even know what's going to
0:55:15happen after this.
0:55:16>> Yeah.
0:55:16>> Like
0:55:17>> I I think you have an idea, but I don't
0:55:18think you have any idea what's going to
0:55:20happen.
0:55:20>> I don't. I
0:55:21>> And that's what's so cool.
0:55:22>> You've already met Gary Vee. You're on
0:55:24this podcast. There's going to be other
0:55:25people that see it. This is what people
0:55:26don't realize is
0:55:27>> you can't connect the dots looking
0:55:28backwards. You can only Sorry. You can't
0:55:31connect [laughter] the dots looking
0:55:32forwards. You can only connect the dots
0:55:33looking backwards. Right? So the story
0:55:35that we're telling is you connecting the
0:55:36dots. There's so many more dots ahead of
0:55:38you. the Garry's, the Alex's, like the
0:55:42stuff that you're going to build, you
0:55:43getting on stages, like there's so much
0:55:46ahead of you. And and this is one of the
0:55:48reasons that I started the podcast. And
0:55:49I know I'm talking a lot, but I want
0:55:51people to know that anything's possible.
0:55:53You can be any age, at any stage. You
0:55:55can start at any time. You can do
0:55:56whatever the [ __ ] you want.
0:55:57>> And it's all about making the decision
0:55:58and going all in on that one thing. So,
0:56:01your dad's advice of not being bad at
0:56:04two things is really the thing that
0:56:06everybody that is listening to this
0:56:08podcast right now needs to hear is like
0:56:10stop doing everything that does not
0:56:11serve your vision and go all in.
0:56:13>> Yeah. I mean, it's already so hard to be
0:56:15good at one thing. It was almost like
0:56:17arrogant of me to think that I could do
0:56:19the job and the development at the same
0:56:21time. Like it's almost a disservice to
0:56:23like other real estate developers who
0:56:24have like it would be a disservice to
0:56:26Isaac French honestly if I'm trying to
0:56:28recreate his product just like almost
0:56:30halfassing it. It would be like almost a
0:56:32disrespect to him. Like I had almost had
0:56:35I I I owed it to myself. I owed it to
0:56:38Renzo to go all in on this. And even
0:56:43let's talking about like even going even
0:56:44narrower like the reason I really blew
0:56:46up on social specifically is because I
0:56:49was able to take a backseat for the last
0:56:507 months on the operation side and
0:56:52solely focus on content outreach
0:56:55building like the biggest network
0:56:56possible. And I've done that is because
0:56:58I was able to every day I woke up I was
0:57:00like how can I meet more cool people?
0:57:02How can I make the best video and how
0:57:05can I build a bigger audience? Like that
0:57:07was my focus every single day for pretty
0:57:09much like the last around seven or eight
0:57:10months.
0:57:11>> I just got chills because
0:57:13I don't think you understand how tapped
0:57:15in to the way of being that you are. And
0:57:19what you just said is what I want
0:57:21everybody to know and everybody to
0:57:22understand is that that's how you go be
0:57:25successful is you have a desire to go
0:57:27connect with people and be better. You
0:57:29take advice. You're open. like
0:57:31everything that you've talked about in
0:57:32this interview, I'm just like I'm so
0:57:34glad that everyone's going to get a
0:57:34chance to hear this and hear it from you
0:57:36because you sort of just gave a master
0:57:38class in like how to be successful just
0:57:41by being a good person.
0:57:42>> So Rajin, this was great,
0:57:45>> dude. I could talk I could talk to you
0:57:46all day. This is awesome. This is
0:57:48awesome.
0:57:48>> I am so grateful to have you here. Uh
0:57:51let's run it back another time. My god,
0:57:53you can come.
0:57:53>> I got to come to Seattle. Yeah, we'll do
0:57:56we'll do a we'll do an event. We'll do
0:57:57an event.
0:57:57>> I want an excuse to come to Seattle.
0:57:59>> Yeah, we can bring Thatch, right?
0:58:05Dude, I just appreciate you so much. I'm
0:58:07so glad you said yes and that everybody
0:58:09gets a chance to see you and hear you.
0:58:10So,
0:58:10>> dude, thank you so much. This is
0:58:12awesome.
0:58:12>> And as always, everybody, I appreciate
0:58:14you. I love you. This has been for your
0:58:15own good. Peace. Peace.
The systems behind these conversations — the deal underwriting, the tax strategy, the operators doing it live — are in Escape Velocity.