Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Ep 38: How to Start a Successful Business - Derrick Christy, CEO of Approved Mortgage

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Elevate Ep 38: How to Start a Successful Business - Derrick Christy, CEO of Approved Mortgage · Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden

• 0:13
  Welcome to the Elevate Podcast powered
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  by Braden. This is your front row seat
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  to the stories of local leaders, both
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  nonprofit and for-profit, who are
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  shaping our community. Every episode
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  brings you leadership insights, lessons
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  from challenges, and practical
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  strategies you can use today. And yes,
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  we'll keep it real and have some fun
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  along the way. If you're ready to
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  elevate your leadership, hit subscribe
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  and follow us on LinkedIn for updates
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  and behind the scenes content. Now,
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  let's dive in. Hey everybody, Jason here
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  with another episode of the Elevate
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  Powered by Braden podcast. And these
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  episodes are just amazing, a lot of fun.
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  As you can see from the studio, we've
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  had an awful lot of folks in with the
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  books and different things in here and
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  got a great guest today. Someone that
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  I've just got a chance to meet over the
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  last month or so. But Derek, welcome to
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  the show.
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  >> Thank you so much, Jason.
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  >> And Derek, where are you at today?
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  >> Uh, right now at at Braden.
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  >> That's right. At at the Braden office.
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  And so, but you're the CEO of
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  >> Approved Mortgage.
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  >> Approved mortgage. All right. So, we
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  know you're there today and that's where
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  you're at as part of your journey. Where
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  are you from originally? Uh originally
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  on the south side of Indianapolis in uh
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  Greenwood.
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  >> Greenwood. Okay. Right. Where was high
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  school?
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  >> Uh Synergrove High School. Okay. That's
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  where I met my high school sweetheart.
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  So I we we're married today.
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  >> That's right. That's right. So let's uh
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  let's talk through that a little bit. So
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  what was a high school Derek doing? What
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  did that look like for you?
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  >> Ah that's interesting. Uh at that time a
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  lot of weightlifting and uh yeah. So
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  really dating my today wife. So,
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  >> so weightlifting, were you were it for
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  sports or what was the weightlifting
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  for? Just for fun?
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  >> Uh, I did play football, but I was just
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  always into, you know, muscle and
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  fitness at the time.
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  >> Muscle and fitness at the time. All
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  right. And you met your wife in high
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  school. So, you and I talked about that
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  before. I did as well.
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  >> And, uh, so, so high school when you
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  finish up with your four years of school
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  down there.
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  >> What's going to come next for you? Is
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  college next?
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  >> Uh, yeah. Went to UPI locally. So I I
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  wanted to stay close to home and uh
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  already had a small business and so you
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  know just just went to IPY and
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  >> uh stayed in that Indianapolis and
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  surrounding.
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  >> All right. Now now wait a second here.
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  So you wanted to stay close to home
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  IUPUI but you mentioned something else
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  already had a small business. Yeah.
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  >> So what were you doing in high school
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  that was you know your business? So, I I
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  worked at McDonald's like lots of young
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  kids, you know, getting started and uh
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  you know, we we ended up meeting a good
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  friend, um Brian, he and I worked at
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  McDonald's and we said, "Oh, we're going
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  to start a business." So, we started a
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  small cleaning business. We didn't need
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  a lot of skills, you know, for cleaning.
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  I had a lot of skills.
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  >> And so, yeah, we met. We were in this
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  management at at McDonald's. And then we
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  said, "Hey, we're going to strike out
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  and start this cleaning business." And
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  so, yeah, that's that's what we did
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  initially. And we got I think up to
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  maybe 30 employees or so. So me it was a
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  good experience.
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  >> No kidding. All right. So wait a second.
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  So you're high schoolish just finishing
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  going into college and you start that
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  first business.
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  >> So the entrepreneurial spirit was that
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  in you kind of as a young kid. Where did
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  that come from?
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  >> I you know it's a question I always ask
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  myself. But I mean I my my dad owned a
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  couple businesses and so I just think I
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  was always kind of that free spirit.
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  Okay. I wanted to do it on my own. So,
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  >> Gotcha. All right. So, so you're in
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  college. What are you studying? And I
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  >> Business.
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  >> Okay.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> And so, you finish up there in four
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  years and and does the cleaning service,
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  do you guys kind of sell that or keep
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  going?
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  >> Yeah, we sold it uh after a couple of
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  years.
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  >> No kidding. Yeah.
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  >> So, an exit of a first business while
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  you're in college?
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  >> Uh it was not that impressive.
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  >> Hey,
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  impressive.
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  >> Hey, it was impressive enough that if
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  you know somebody wanted to buy what you
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  built, think about that. That's
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  terrific. Right. So, as a young kid, 20,
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  20ome year old. Yeah.
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  >> Right. You've sold a first business. All
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  right. So, coming out of school
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  >> studying business, what was going to
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  come next for you? What did you think
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  you were going to do? I thought I'd
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  probably be a wealth adviser.
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  >> That's where I thought I thought I'd be
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  in Chicago, maybe a stock broker at that
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  time. They call them wealth adviserss
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  now, but
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  >> Okay. A stock broker then. So,
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  >> okay. So, you thought you were going to
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  go that route. Why Chicago? I don't I
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  think we we had a honeymoon there and I
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  just think it was in my mind. Okay. Uh
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  you know, but but we we stayed here. I
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  got you. And I ended up in financial
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  services. I just wasn't a stock broker.
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  Well,
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  >> okay. All right. So, out out of college.
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  So, you guys get married in college. So,
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  yes. Okay.
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  >> Yeah, we did as well. Yeah. So,
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  congratulations. You don't hear that
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  story very much anymore.
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  >> Yes. True.
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  >> That was a long time ago for us. Uh but
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  a lot of fun. Okay. So, get into wealth
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  advisory. And so what's that role look
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  like and and how long are you doing
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  that?
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  >> Well, so I accepted a job instead, a
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  little bit of a little bit of a
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  diversion in financial services, a
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  credential insurance company of America.
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  Okay. So that's that's where I landed
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  for just one year and then I started my
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  own um I did learn a lot there you know
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  from a perspective but only worked there
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  for a year and um probably thought I
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  knew knew it all you know so I no I had
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  a lot more to learn but then I started
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  uh approved mortgage you know in in
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  >> No no no kidding. So those are the
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  origins of of approved go back how long
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  ago was that?
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  >> So the company has been in business now
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  for like 33 years.
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  >> 33 years. That's awesome. So, when
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  you're working at uh the job over there
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  and thinking about starting your own
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  business, what did that process look
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  like for you? How how did you were you
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  seeking out some mentors? Uh did you
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  just think, you know, I I can get this
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  started. I've done it before. What did
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  it look like for you?
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  >> You're taking me back. I I would say a
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  lot of what I did was I I listened to,
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  you know, if you remember the name Zigg
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  Ziggler.
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  >> Oh, yeah.
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  >> Uh so Zig Ziggler to Tony Robbins. Um,
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  you know, there were certain people I I
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  listened to, Tom Hopkins, and I, it's a
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  really old name. He he incidentally, he
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  was the number one uh realtor in America
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  at one point. And so I would learn, you
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  know, from from those thought leaders.
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  And um and then I read a book called The
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  E-Myth, the old book, you know, uh
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  Michael Gerber wrote that book. He
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  talked about working uh on your
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  business, not in your business. And so
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  had a lot of good, you know,
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  foundational things that I learned. And
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  uh I didn't incidentally I didn't
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  graduate from college. I was what's I've
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  been blessed with in life is being a
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  little bit stubborn um and uh a lot
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  impatient.
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  So So
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  then I got right into business.
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  >> Yeah. Sure.
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  >> After just a couple years in college.
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  >> No kidding. Very similar. You and I
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  stories are similar up to this point.
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  All right. So but approved mortgage.
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  What was the the original thought like
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  when you put this together to say I'm
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  going to get going in my own business?
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  Yeah. What what did that look like? What
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  were you what problem were you out
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  trying to solve?
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  >> Well, I I always, you know, was just I
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  just geared toward financial services. I
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  liked seeing the way money worked and
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  what better way to get a, you know, uh,
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  direct look into the dream of America's
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  home ownership. Yeah. So the fact that
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  you know I could could be a part of that
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  contribute toward people's dream that
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  was what really energized me.
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  >> Okay. Yeah.
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  >> So so trying to help those or the people
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  out there get into a home right because
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  that's the American be and to be able to
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  do that. So that's 33 years ago right
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  that you get started. And how has the
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  the business evolved? You know,
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  obviously it's made a lot of changes
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  over the years and you've seen a lot of
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  different ups and downs in the markets
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  since then, right? So, talk a little bit
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  about how the business has changed over
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  the years. You know, I talked about that
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  with my son-in-law because he he's in
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  the he's in the company. He's one of our
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  top, you know, lot officers
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  >> and um and so I take him back to the
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  very beginning when we had a typewriter.
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  >> Oh wow.
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  >> We literally started on a typewriter. I
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  mean, I was cutting edge. I bought a
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  computer and we got a software. We
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  started doing everything. Before that,
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  you had to have somebody type up the
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  information. She a secretary and she had
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  to type up the application, you know,
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  and then after maybe six months, I think
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  I I bought a computer, but nobody used
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  computers. It was amazing. No kidding.
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  And so, yeah, we vacated the typewriter
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  and went straight to computer. So, yeah.
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  So, so that um you know, technologies
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  continued to evolve throughout the
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  industry. I I remember we we used to
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  have to um wait for an appraisal and
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  they would have to like FedEx it to your
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  UPS, what have you. And so we bought, we
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  said, "Well, we're going to invest, you
• 8:48
  know, thousands of dollars in this color
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  printer." Nobody had color printers, so
• 8:52
  we could print from the email. This was
• 8:55
  cutting in.
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  >> Oh, wow.
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  >> The appraisal. Nobody printed. It was,
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  you know, kidding.
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  >> Yeah. I was like, "You mean I can have
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  it right now versus in two days?" Sure.
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  you know, but so just things continued
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  to evolve and you know, now you know
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  what to
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  >> with all everything
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  >> internet now AI and
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> Yeah. So over 33 years, you've seen an
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  awful lot of change in that business.
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  And so when you started the
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  organization, was it just you when you
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  got started?
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  >> I I think myself and then um and then uh
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  I hired, you know, one person, you know,
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  secretary to type those type those
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  things out and then uh and then just a
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  couple of loan officers. Okay. So, a
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  couple loan offers. All right. And so,
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  you know, when you start your
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  organization as the as the leader, h how
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  do you think about maybe culture inside
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  of your business? And and how do you
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  think about obviously you your your
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  original goal was to help people get a
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  piece of the American dream, right? And
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  then own a home.
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  >> As you think about like your thoughts on
• 9:54
  that and and running the business, how
• 9:56
  do you think about driving culture in
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  your organization? Culture is very
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  important. I I probably um just with
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  people that were aligned you with me
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  probably much the same today. I have a
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  lot of complimentary people. Um you
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  know, not everybody's the same, but um
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  but yeah, I I think we had to, you know,
• 10:14
  bootstrap things. We didn't start, you
• 10:16
  know, with very much money. I think I
• 10:17
  started the company actually with about
• 10:19
  $12,000.
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  >> Yeah. Yeah. So I mean we were we were
• 10:23
  and we were buying like with that one
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  computer folding tables you know but but
• 10:28
  yeah I think we were much alike you know
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  hardworking kind of scrappy and uh you
• 10:33
  know trying to get every every deal you
• 10:35
  know closed uh and that and that culture
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  in the company is one of our core's core
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  value of of our company is versatility
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  enthusiasm versatility so we we we have
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  a lot of different programs we don't
• 10:47
  like to say no at approved mortgage
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  >> yeah right that's a good I like that
• 10:51
  idea So what what are the core values?
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  You mentioned versatility.
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  >> Yeah. What what are the core values?
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  Think about that.
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  >> Loyalty uh and that versatility just
• 11:01
  that progressives, you know, being being
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  uh you know that continually the adage
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  of you know just continually be
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  improving just 1%. Yeah.
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  >> Compounded is is dramatic.
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  >> Yeah. And I like the idea of
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  versatility, right? So being able to
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  play different roles and not saying no.
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  Coming up with a way to be able to say
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  yes. Okay. As you look back 33 years
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  ago, there are folks out there and there
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  there's a couple of camps. There's a
• 11:26
  couple of people there's folks out there
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  that are entrepreneurs like yourself.
• 11:30
  There's a lot of wantreneurs. There's a
• 11:32
  lot of folks that maybe want to get out
• 11:34
  there and do something. Sure.
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  >> As you look back, like you said, you
• 11:37
  started the business with $12,000 33
• 11:39
  years ago and now we're, you know, here
• 11:41
  now in 2026. What advice might you give
• 11:45
  somebody that's thinking about
• 11:47
  potentially going out on their own,
• 11:48
  throwing their hat in the ring? What
• 11:50
  might you say to those folks? Boy, it's
• 11:53
  it's really uh being a continual
• 11:57
  student. You know, it's a funny thing.
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  >> I I I feel like I'm very educated,
• 12:02
  >> but I don't have a college degree.
• 12:04
  >> I've never stopped learning.
• 12:05
  >> Yeah.
• 12:06
  >> And uh I think that's really important.
• 12:08
  It amazes me every year in distance you
• 12:10
  I'll go to a common or I'll meet someone
• 12:12
  or I'll continue to study online.
• 12:14
  There's so much information online
• 12:15
  today. Uh and it makes me realize how
• 12:18
  much I don't know.
• 12:19
  >> Yeah. Of course. Yeah.
• 12:20
  >> Yeah. But so so the folks out there,
• 12:21
  it's actually really good advice that
• 12:23
  the continuous study, right?
• 12:26
  Understanding what's going on. Always
• 12:27
  being willing to understand new things.
• 12:30
  >> And the more that you learn, and I I've
• 12:32
  learned this as well,
• 12:34
  >> the more that you go out and learn, the
• 12:35
  more you realize there's a lot of stuff
• 12:36
  I don't know. That's right. I feel like
• 12:38
  I know a lot of things and then I get
• 12:40
  introduced to some something else. I'm
• 12:41
  like, "Oh, wow. That's actually very
• 12:43
  interesting." Yeah. Allows me to broaden
• 12:45
  my horizon a little bit.
• 12:46
  >> And I what you were saying, I I see that
• 12:48
  contrast of when I was the when I was
• 12:51
  that solo, you know, entrepreneur
• 12:54
  >> owning one business and and you know, I
• 12:56
  was learning and and everybody has to
• 12:58
  start there. You know, you have to you
• 13:00
  have to start from ground zero. That's
• 13:01
  right. And so, but you know, then you
• 13:04
  know, I just I just know that gap, you
• 13:06
  know, that that exists.
• 13:07
  >> Absolutely. Yeah, it's great advice. And
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  so, you know, looking back 33 years ago,
• 13:11
  this is a question I've always asked
• 13:12
  folks, too. What might you have done a
• 13:14
  little different? You know, knowing
• 13:16
  hindsight is 2020. Are there some things
• 13:18
  that maybe would have changed early on
• 13:20
  or or maybe invested somewhere else or
• 13:22
  done something differently back in those
• 13:24
  old days? you know, I I capitulate on
• 13:26
  that because, you know, sometimes, you
• 13:29
  know, they talk about focus and doing
• 13:31
  one thing
• 13:32
  >> and I never did that. Yeah. I I've done
• 13:35
  a lot of different things. I've I own a
• 13:37
  lot of different businesses and I
• 13:39
  continued to to um
• 13:43
  in invest in in a variety of things and
• 13:45
  diversify. And you know, a lot of times
• 13:47
  you hear people like um you know, maybe
• 13:50
  Jeff Bezos or Mark Zuckerberg, you know,
• 13:53
  they did one thing and and they did it
• 13:55
  very very well. So I always wondered if
• 13:57
  I channeled my effort and did just one
• 13:59
  thing, but I I've had a lot of fun. So
• 14:01
  I've
• 14:03
  Yeah. Wouldn't wouldn't change anything
• 14:05
  now, right? Because at the end of the
• 14:06
  day, the riots's been worth it out.
• 14:08
  >> Yeah. All right. So, but going back
• 14:10
  through this too, right? So you start
• 14:12
  the business and just like me, you got
• 14:14
  married young, right? And so you and I
• 14:16
  just got married young. So that whole
• 14:18
  time, are you raising a family during
• 14:19
  this time while you're running the
• 14:21
  business as well?
• 14:21
  >> Yeah. You know, that's one thing I'd say
• 14:23
  to young people, too. I did start young
• 14:25
  and that's a great time to start because
• 14:28
  I didn't have much to risk, you know, be
• 14:30
  failed, but
• 14:31
  >> big deal. I I didn't have much money to
• 14:33
  lose anyway. I had no $1,000. That's the
• 14:35
  most I was going to lose. Yeah.
• 14:36
  >> So I I would say it was a great time for
• 14:39
  me to start when I was young. Well, we
• 14:41
  we were newly married. I didn't have a
• 14:42
  lot of risk. But then once you have a
• 14:45
  child, then that totally changes the the
• 14:47
  I ain't got a lot to work for.
• 14:48
  >> Yeah. Then you go, I got to be
• 14:50
  successful. So I really felt the
• 14:52
  pressure be being responsible for
• 14:54
  another human being.
• 14:55
  >> Yeah.
• 14:55
  >> Uh when we had our first first child
• 14:58
  just a year after we were married, it's
• 14:59
  like, oh, that's that's that's a big
• 15:01
  responsibility. Uh for basically being a
• 15:04
  young kid myself, you know, I was my
• 15:06
  early 20s.
• 15:07
  >> And so um so that motivated so that was
• 15:10
  that was good. having a family motivated
• 15:13
  me and so that really gave me the drive
• 15:15
  and the commitment.
• 15:16
  >> Yeah, that's great advice. You know, you
• 15:19
  have the title of CEO, but when you take
• 15:21
  on the title of dad, responsibility
• 15:23
  changes quite a bit.
• 15:24
  >> That's right.
• 15:25
  >> And so, like you said, start young.
• 15:27
  >> Yeah.
• 15:27
  >> Well, what have you really got to lose?
• 15:28
  I mean, you'd had a job before. You
• 15:30
  probably could have gone back and gotten
• 15:32
  a job somewhere else to take care of
• 15:34
  yourself and take care of your wife and
• 15:36
  so, but then once you get the dad role,
• 15:38
  you know, things start to change a
• 15:39
  little bit. the hustle gets in there.
• 15:41
  So, how many kids do you guys have?
• 15:42
  >> So, we have two. So, we have two. We
• 15:44
  were blessed with it. Then a second
• 15:46
  child. So, awesome. So, yeah, I've got a
• 15:48
  I've got a son. Uh, so he's he's 34. And
• 15:51
  then I've got a daughter that's 27 now.
• 15:54
  And I've got two grandkids. So, my son
• 15:56
  has two kids. They're they're four and
• 15:57
  seven. So,
• 15:58
  >> that's awesome. So, are they around
• 16:00
  here?
• 16:00
  >> Yeah. So, they live like seven minutes
• 16:02
  from our house. Our son does. And then
• 16:05
  our daughter uh lives in Florida. She
• 16:07
  always said she was a little girl. When
• 16:09
  I get, you know, grow up, I want to live
• 16:10
  on the beach. She's living her dream,
• 16:12
  too. So, yeah. Living on the beach in in
• 16:14
  Hollywood, Florida.
• 16:15
  >> Awesome. And so, we know about uh the
• 16:17
  organization, but tell us about approved
• 16:20
  mortgage. What are you guys doing and
• 16:21
  what do you guys do today? What's the
• 16:22
  business look like?
• 16:23
  >> Yeah. So, like I talked about uh
• 16:26
  variety. So, we offer every loan program
• 16:28
  that that is available in the
• 16:30
  marketplace in in the US. So,
• 16:32
  conventional loans, FHABA, USDA, I mean,
• 16:36
  we do nonQM. So, there's really not a
• 16:38
  loan we don't do. We do some commercial
• 16:41
  lending, uh, some SBA, you know, loans.
• 16:44
  So, if we have a lot of we have a lot of
• 16:45
  self-employed borrowers, so we really
• 16:47
  understand self-employed loans. And so,
• 16:50
  um, they're more complex. Um, and so we
• 16:53
  we feel we're equipped to to help
• 16:55
  business owners with their mortgage. And
• 16:57
  then sometimes we help them on the
• 16:58
  business side, too. So, they might own a
• 17:00
  building or they might own a business.
• 17:01
  that might need capital or funding to
• 17:03
  grow their business. So, you know, we
• 17:04
  help them, you know, with smart debt.
• 17:07
  >> Really? So, so I mean I mean
• 17:08
  surprisingly said you don't like to say
• 17:10
  no. It sounds like you have every
• 17:12
  opportunity to say yes to almost
• 17:13
  anything anybody brings to you.
• 17:15
  >> We do. We do. And we have a sister
• 17:16
  company. We have Ben Franklin Insurance
• 17:19
  investments. So, we can help you know
• 17:20
  with the insurance and and bring that
• 17:22
  same value independent mortgage banker
• 17:24
  like we are have the same type of
• 17:27
  philosophy with the independent you know
• 17:28
  insurance agency as well. So, so we can
• 17:31
  help them in a lot of different areas
• 17:33
  and with so many different choices of
• 17:34
  lenders or carriers, we usually majority
• 17:37
  of the time can beat, you know, anything
• 17:39
  that they can find out there in the
• 17:40
  marketplace and save a time doing.
• 17:42
  >> Wow. No kidding. So, clients for you,
• 17:44
  are they Indiana based? Can they be
• 17:46
  anywhere?
• 17:47
  >> Yeah. We started out in Indianapolis,
• 17:49
  the core business, and then we continue
• 17:51
  to grow throughout Indiana now. Uh, you
• 17:54
  had five states applied for a six state
• 17:57
  real right now.
• 17:58
  >> Oh, excellent. That's great. Yeah. All
• 17:59
  right. Now, you mentioned other
• 18:01
  businesses, right? So, obviously, we
• 18:03
  know where you are today at Approved,
• 18:04
  but talk about the other businesses.
• 18:06
  >> Yeah. So, I got to know real estate
• 18:08
  because I was financing residential real
• 18:10
  estate all day long. And then we we
• 18:11
  bought our first office building. Okay.
• 18:14
  >> Mortgage bought an office building in
• 18:16
  1998. We bought it in in a separate LLC,
• 18:20
  which is usually a good thing to do,
• 18:21
  wise to do.
• 18:22
  >> And then we had that office and we
• 18:25
  wanted to expand. And we have a 57,000
• 18:27
  foot office building. Typically, you
• 18:28
  know, we bought uh the land and built
• 18:31
  the building. Uh I guess that was back
• 18:32
  in 2003. So, it's been a long time now,
• 18:34
  23 years ago.
• 18:36
  >> And so, so then we had this office
• 18:38
  space. And so, an opportunity came up in
• 18:40
  I think it was 2006 where we had a $26
• 18:44
  million um package of real estate for
• 18:46
  retail. And so, I thought, oh, I told
• 18:48
  you I'm a little bit big in
• 18:49
  diversification. So, oh, this is a way I
• 18:51
  could diversify this portfolio. I got
• 18:54
  this office space now and I could buy
• 18:56
  this retail package. And so that kind of
• 18:58
  launched a company, Horizon Property
• 19:00
  Group. And then so we own uh different
• 19:03
  different properties um office, retail,
• 19:07
  apartments uh and development.
• 19:09
  >> Yeah.
• 19:10
  >> Ground in that in in that company,
• 19:12
  Horizon Property Group and and each one
• 19:14
  of those is separately owned, you know,
• 19:16
  again in an LLC.
• 19:18
  >> Gotcha. So a lot of divers
• 19:20
  diversification you said. So, you know,
• 19:22
  started in one area, but then started to
• 19:24
  grow and and kind of matches a little
• 19:26
  bit, I think, of your personality. Like,
• 19:28
  you don't like to sit still. You like to
• 19:29
  go get things done. You like to move
• 19:30
  quick. And so, the business is making an
• 19:32
  awful lot of sense.
• 19:33
  >> You know, I'm curious. Started 33 years
• 19:35
  ago, you had a typewriter,
• 19:38
  >> right? And then move to a computer
• 19:39
  within six months, something like that.
• 19:41
  Today, in the age of AI, things are
• 19:43
  changing within weeks, days, hours,
• 19:45
  those types of things. So I'm curious,
• 19:47
  you know, in the businesses today, how's
• 19:50
  how's technology evolving? Are is
• 19:52
  technology helping, you know, drive the
• 19:54
  business forward? What's technology look
• 19:56
  like in your space?
• 19:57
  >> Yeah, technology. One of the things
• 20:00
  we've invested a lot in in hosted
• 20:02
  software uh before I get up to a point
• 20:04
  where you had like 130 servers in in the
• 20:07
  office u which is kind of crazy. Uh but
• 20:09
  but we we diverged from that uh
• 20:13
  philosophy inhouse. had two data server
• 20:16
  rooms and we really have gone to more of
• 20:18
  a hosted environment. Okay. And and we
• 20:20
  we are generally with the one or two you
• 20:24
  know market leader in terms of uh CRM
• 20:26
  and that's really transformed like just
• 20:29
  in our business in Horizon property
• 20:30
  group we we went with a company by the
• 20:32
  name of Appfolio. Um they're really
• 20:34
  built for the multif family uh uh
• 20:38
  vertical, but we use it even for our
• 20:41
  commercial properties and it just makes
• 20:43
  it a great experience for our tenants to
• 20:45
  apply um for them to be able to make a
• 20:48
  payment, get all their statements
• 20:49
  online. Uh we we use it for all of our
• 20:51
  accounting, our leasing, our property
• 20:53
  management, our investors that that
• 20:55
  invest with us. Uh so they have an
• 20:58
  investor portal where we can share, you
• 21:00
  know, all the new properties coming out.
• 21:02
  So
• 21:02
  >> Sure. So yeah, so we we continue to
• 21:04
  invest in in that type of technology in
• 21:06
  terms of the the CRM and then uh and
• 21:09
  then well AI we we are spending a lot of
• 21:12
  time you know going down that road and
• 21:14
  I've got a technologist on staff. um
• 21:17
  he's got you know six basically these
• 21:21
  agentic you know these these AI agents
• 21:24
  uh working for him and before
• 21:27
  >> we would have you know uh we'd have
• 21:30
  multiple uh web developers junior
• 21:33
  developers and now I mean he's done like
• 21:36
  three million lines of code I mean with
• 21:39
  the because of the six AI agents and
• 21:41
  done in six months what would have taken
• 21:44
  six years.
• 21:44
  >> Yeah. Wow.
• 21:46
  >> Yeah. So, so embracing it. It sounds
• 21:48
  like you're embracing the technology to
• 21:50
  be able to leverage it. I mean, at the
• 21:52
  end of the day, you're really you're in
• 21:53
  the people business, right? Right.
• 21:55
  You're out to help people get to their
• 21:57
  goals and their dreams. Leveraging tech
• 22:00
  to do so allows you to be more human.
• 22:02
  Sounds like that's the path you're going
• 22:03
  down. It's great to hear that from a
• 22:05
  technology perspective. The other thing
• 22:07
  we talked about, we were together the
• 22:08
  other day is community. And obviously, I
• 22:11
  know you're large into the community and
• 22:12
  and things that you support. I'm just
• 22:14
  curious as you think about community,
• 22:16
  what's that mean to you?
• 22:18
  >> Yeah, with the community where we're
• 22:20
  we're pretty involved. So, I've been on
• 22:22
  some boards there. Uh there's a
• 22:25
  community foundation there. I've been
• 22:26
  with the Chamber of Commerce, the Aspire
• 22:28
  of Johnson County, uh Rotary Club. So,
• 22:31
  I've been involved in in the community
• 22:33
  and different organizations. I I know a
• 22:35
  lot of the you know, business leaders
• 22:36
  there, mayors, you know, uh friends, you
• 22:39
  know, there. And so um so yeah, it feels
• 22:41
  good to be connected and then you know
• 22:43
  we we give back to those organizations
• 22:45
  there and we've been a supporter for
• 22:47
  some char some charities as well as some
• 22:50
  ministries. Um so I attended Emanuel
• 22:52
  Church of Greenwood and so um they're a
• 22:55
  unique church in the in the area. They
• 22:57
  are a uh um secret church and they've
• 23:01
  got about 14,000 attended at Easter
• 23:04
  service. They're on Wow. uh fantastic
• 23:08
  pastor and the staff around him. He's
• 23:10
  got a great culture.
• 23:11
  >> Okay.
• 23:11
  >> And so Danny Anderson's pastor there and
• 23:13
  he's awesome.
• 23:15
  >> Yeah. So southside, but always you've
• 23:16
  always been on the south side.
• 23:17
  >> Yeah, always been on the south side.
• 23:18
  Yeah.
• 23:19
  >> And so that that's that's a good place
• 23:20
  to be and family's close by obviously a
• 23:23
  daughter down in Florida. And when you
• 23:25
  think about community as well, are there
• 23:28
  any advice as you think about you're a
• 23:31
  business leader and and giving back to
• 23:33
  the community? any advice you would give
• 23:35
  to folks that are, you know, maybe
• 23:37
  thinking about where could they start to
• 23:39
  pour in or what might they do to get
• 23:40
  involved in the community? You know, I I
• 23:43
  reached a point in time in my career
• 23:45
  where I really had my head down. I was
• 23:47
  working really hard and not getting out
• 23:48
  of the office and and uh I think just
• 23:52
  getting out of the, you know, getting
• 23:53
  out and meeting people, you know,
• 23:54
  creating those opportunities and then
• 23:56
  whatever your passion is, you know, then
• 23:58
  then it will align.
• 24:00
  >> Yeah.
• 24:00
  >> Uh so, yeah, I think you got to get out
• 24:02
  and meet people. got to shake hands.
• 24:04
  >> Yeah, great advice. Right. But I think
• 24:05
  we get we get locked into the daytoday.
• 24:08
  >> Yeah.
• 24:08
  >> And and we're we're really feeling like
• 24:10
  we're investing in the business. We're
• 24:12
  investing in these things, but we miss
• 24:14
  out on some of those other pieces and
• 24:16
  having a bit of a well-rounded, you
• 24:18
  know, opportunity to go out and support
• 24:19
  the community. Like you said, you'll
• 24:21
  find something, right, that interest
• 24:23
  you. It could be anything out there.
• 24:24
  There's a lot of nonprofits that serve a
• 24:26
  lot of different pieces of the
• 24:27
  community. It's great to hear though
• 24:29
  that you're involved in and doing those
• 24:31
  types of things. So, as you think about
• 24:33
  with where you are today in the
• 24:34
  businesses, what what comes next? Like
• 24:36
  what what are you going to continue to
• 24:37
  do? Are there new areas you think you're
• 24:39
  going to pursue or what comes next for
• 24:41
  you?
• 24:42
  >> Uh we we have, you know, right now uh a
• 24:46
  nice real estate portfolio, but we are
• 24:48
  going to continue to grow that with with
• 24:50
  other investors. We've started a real
• 24:52
  estate fund. That's the most recent
• 24:54
  thing in the last uh in this year in
• 24:57
  2026. And so uh we're intentional about
• 25:00
  you know going out finding you know
• 25:01
  quality assets with you know pooling
• 25:03
  funds together can buy a lot higher
• 25:05
  quality asset uh doing that together as
• 25:08
  to you know going out and doing that
• 25:10
  solo. So we're we're intentional about
• 25:12
  buying you know assets only things that
• 25:14
  are you know going to you know be at a
• 25:17
  15% IRRa per year greater. So we're
• 25:20
  being very selective about you know what
• 25:22
  we pursue today. But yeah, I think I
• 25:24
  think that's uh that's that's something
• 25:26
  on the real estate side we'll continue
• 25:28
  to do and AI continuing to grow AI and
• 25:31
  and really to being able to process um a
• 25:34
  lot. We probably push, you know,
• 25:35
  millions of pages a year of documents
• 25:37
  and and so being able to to help us uh
• 25:40
  securely protect PII and and read uh
• 25:44
  those documents, make that uh process
• 25:46
  more efficient for our clients. Our
• 25:48
  model was a stress-free, hassle-free
• 25:50
  mortgage and I think the AI will
• 25:52
  continue to to improve that along the
• 25:55
  way.
• 25:55
  >> Yeah, absolutely. So, if you could go
• 25:57
  back, right, we'll go back. Let's go
• 25:58
  back to high school. You started a
• 25:59
  cleaning business, right? Yeah.
• 26:01
  >> And so, as you as you think about it,
• 26:03
  there's a lot of the the younger
• 26:06
  generation out there today, high school,
• 26:08
  thinking about going to college,
• 26:09
  thinking about what's going to come next
• 26:10
  to them, you know, starting a business
• 26:12
  while you're in high school. whe there
• 26:14
  what what encouragement might you have
• 26:16
  for those young individuals you know to
• 26:18
  to do something like that because I
• 26:20
  think today you know if you're a kid
• 26:22
  like you you worked at McDonald's right
• 26:24
  there's opportunities to go work there's
• 26:25
  Culver's and all those other places out
• 26:27
  there but you ended up starting
• 26:29
  something if you were going to maybe
• 26:31
  encourage like you've got grandkids for
• 26:33
  example right so they're going to go
• 26:34
  through high school in maybe 10 years
• 26:36
  what what encouragement might you give
• 26:38
  them and what they could do during those
• 26:40
  high school years that might be
• 26:41
  beneficial to them
• 26:42
  >> we talked a little bit about that study
• 26:43
  But also the human connection, you know,
• 26:46
  is, you know, going out somebody that's
• 26:48
  already been successful in maybe the
• 26:50
  field you're interested in. Yeah.
• 26:52
  >> And asking them to meet. Very few times
• 26:55
  does some do somebody does somebody say,
• 26:58
  uh, no, I know I won't meet with you. If
• 27:00
  you kind of tell them, you know, why you
• 27:02
  admire them or, you know, hey, I I want
• 27:05
  to I feel like I can learn from you. I
• 27:06
  mean, generally people will give you
• 27:08
  some time. if you can if you can uh uh
• 27:11
  go directly to that person. I would say
• 27:13
  that might be my advice to a young
• 27:14
  person is, you know, don't be masked. Go
• 27:16
  out go out and ask for help. Ask for
• 27:18
  that mentorship.
• 27:19
  >> Yeah, that that's actually great advice.
• 27:21
  And in Indiana, I think we're in one of
• 27:22
  those places where especially
• 27:24
  Indianapolis, if you ask, generally
• 27:27
  people will say yes. Yeah, we all want
• 27:29
  to help each other. We all want to see
• 27:30
  people be successful. And in most cases,
• 27:33
  I think you're right. If you're a
• 27:34
  younger kid, Yeah.
• 27:35
  >> you call somebody up and say, "This is
• 27:37
  why I respect you. this is some of the
• 27:39
  things that I've I've researched. I'm
• 27:41
  interested in this. Could I get some of
• 27:43
  your advice? Most people are going to
• 27:44
  say yes. I agree. Yeah. That that's
• 27:46
  terrific. And so, you know, awesome
• 27:48
  story. By the way, I I I it's excellent
• 27:52
  to hear the story of, you know,
• 27:54
  entrepreneurship at a young age, working
• 27:56
  through college, actually not finishing
• 27:58
  school, getting right into the business
• 28:00
  and seeing the success and then, you
• 28:02
  know, the growth outside of your core
• 28:04
  business, but then also getting outside
• 28:07
  of the office and being part of the
• 28:09
  community and hearing how you're doing
• 28:11
  those things. It's a it's a nice
• 28:12
  balanced, you know, environment for you,
• 28:14
  I think, and matches what you're trying
• 28:16
  to grow and what you're trying to do.
• 28:18
  So, obviously we know you're busy with
• 28:20
  all that kind of stuff. Sure. But when
• 28:22
  you're not working, what's fun look
• 28:24
  like? What are you doing for fun?
• 28:26
  >> Well, I was playing a lot of pickle
• 28:27
  ball, but uh I to maybe too much. I got
• 28:30
  tennis elbow. So, uh
• 28:31
  >> now Yeah. So, so everybody's picked up I
• 28:33
  bet I've talked about pickle ball on the
• 28:35
  show more than about anything else.
• 28:37
  Sorry. So, playing a lot of pickle ball.
• 28:39
  I've heard knee injuries. I haven't
• 28:40
  heard tennis elbow yet.
• 28:41
  >> No. No. I know knee or back or what have
• 28:44
  you, but um yeah. And and I think you
• 28:47
  have to be careful when you're mixing
• 28:48
  in. So I I I still continue to do
• 28:51
  strength training. And so I think you
• 28:52
  have to be a little bit, you know,
• 28:53
  probably went a little too heavy on the
• 28:56
  curls and and so just mixing that in
• 28:58
  with too too much, you know, pickle
• 29:00
  ball. But okay. Uh but no, I I I like I
• 29:02
  like to stay active. Um so I think
• 29:04
  that's a big part of being successful. I
• 29:07
  think taking care of your body. Yeah.
• 29:09
  >> Um you know, helps to keep living. Uh
• 29:12
  you know, so we try to eat we try to eat
• 29:14
  well. very intentional about our diet,
• 29:17
  uh about working out and uh we kind of
• 29:19
  do that as a family, you know, so we we
• 29:21
  go out do walks on the beach and and try
• 29:23
  to stay active, you know, swimming in
• 29:24
  the pool,
• 29:26
  >> laps and so yeah, just what whatever we
• 29:28
  can do to stay active. I like that. So
• 29:30
  you mentioned the beach, favorite beach
• 29:31
  vacation here recently.
• 29:33
  >> Uh well, we have a place in in
• 29:35
  Hollywood. We're at Trump Hollywood and
• 29:37
  and uh it's very different for us. You
• 29:39
  know, we live in a residential home, you
• 29:41
  know, in Barbersville, Indiana. and you
• 29:43
  know there it's a 42 story tower. So
• 29:45
  it's it's very different but uh
• 29:48
  >> uh yeah but it's a great great locations
• 29:50
  you step out you know on on the beach
• 29:52
  and you know go for a walk and couple
• 29:54
  miles five miles whatever you want to do
• 29:56
  and um so there's lots of activities
• 29:59
  there so my my aura ring you know the
• 30:01
  activity jumps way up when I'm in
• 30:03
  Florida each month so yeah that's
• 30:05
  awesome you know Derek it's been
• 30:07
  terrific getting to know you and to
• 30:09
  learn about the business and it's it's
• 30:11
  great to hear your advice you know kind
• 30:13
  of in each step of the way for
• 30:14
  individuals out there and you know one
• 30:16
  of the things you'd said and I think
• 30:18
  people don't do enough is ask people for
• 30:20
  help right and uh in general people do
• 30:23
  want to help them so I you know I
• 30:24
  appreciate you being on the show
• 30:26
  appreciate your story it's it's uh it's
• 30:28
  terrific getting to know you thank you
• 30:30
  >> yeah likewise