Latest / Power Moves Media / Power Moves Ep. 7: Chad Morton on Trust, Execution & Entrepreneurship

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Power Moves Ep. 7: Chad Morton on Trust, Execution & Entrepreneurship · Power Moves Media

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome to Power Moves on Lick 106, where we explore ideas, strategies shaping business, entrepreneurship, and economic growth across Prince George's County, the DMV, and beyond.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: I am Alexander Austin.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm Rose Johnson.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Here's what's ahead on today's show.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: We're sitting down with entrepreneur, filmmaker, and business leader Chad Morton, co-owner of Maverick Realty, and CEO of Smash Entertainment to talk about why competence builds trust, how doing what you say you're going to do has shaped his career, and why execution may be one of the greatest competitive advantages in business.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: And stick around until the end because we'll wrap things up with On Our Radar, where we share business and community events happening around the DMV that you'll want to add to your calendar.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, let's start with some exciting news right here in Prince George's County.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, yeah.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the state of Maryland recently announced the development partners for the Bowie State Mark Station Transit Oriented Development.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: Whew, that's a mouthful.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: And transit-oriented development sounds like planning jargon, but this project has the potential to reshape how people live, work, and do business around Bowie State University.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, for the listeners who may not be familiar, what exactly is transit-oriented development?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it's it has a lot of different um references to it, but essentially when you think about uh opportunities like the Mark Train or New Carrollton Station, where you want to develop in around major um transit-oriented uh areas.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not saying that, you know, as because of the title, but that's exactly what it is.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so when you think about where you may have uh large uh institutions planning routes, and then you'll have places where you can work, and then you'll have even parks and recreation around these centralized stations or locations.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I actually participated in um two development um studies where we had to build a city.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: And so part of it is how close are you to the metro, how close are you to hospital, how close are you to downtown, how close are you right to major suburban areas.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: And so these development projects will include commerce and housing and park recreation at the same time.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that uh Mark Train Station with Bowie State is at this campus of Bowie State is going to be amazing.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: I saw the renderings, it's gonna be a beautiful, beautiful project.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: I agree.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: I have seen the renderings as well.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I know a lot of what people are are looking for or what developers are talking about are walkable communities.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, to be able to walk out of your doorstep and to have services like dry cleaning or convenience stores or grocery shopping, the list goes on and on about things that will be right there in your community.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm really looking forward to what that's gonna look like and the long-term economic opportunity.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: City of Riverdale has that.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, Highsville has the Garmin District and the Ars District, right?
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: So it's it's taking that design and saying, hey, we can do this in pockets around the county.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, now you you got all of these lively places you can go and visit and just kind of enjoy your time here in Prince Roach County, which I I think would be great.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um so happy to see it.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and so speaking of areas that do have development like that, College Park is an amazing example of transit-oriented development.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so speaking of College Park, there was something historic that happened today at the University of Maryland.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and so the Ravens for the first time had a training camp at the University of Maryland.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I was so, so privileged and honored to be a part of it, to be able to see it taking place.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it was a community forward event.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: It was free for however amount of tickets they were giving out.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: And so at the top of the event, they did have uh a training camp for kids the ages of six to 12.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: And there were a few organizations that brought, you know, they brought droves of kids out to come and partake in it.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I did get the opportunity to speak to Dr.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Pines about what this all means for the university, what it means for Prince George's County.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, he talked about uh being in talks with the Ravens for, I don't know if he said 16 or 18 months.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: And right, right.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: And so this has been something that they have been talking about, you know, we have we have some changes happening here in the county with our sports team.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so with all of that, you know, it does leave opportunity for other sports teams to get some more fans.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_01: First and foremost, I had a difficult time finding Prince George's County residents that were also Ravens fans at that game, but that's a whole different story.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: I personally know one who he is a Ravens fan.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: He's a 14-year-old.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so I know at least one.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that's me too.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so that's exactly it.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there were a lot of younger people that were there that were excited about the Ravens.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then what I did also talk to Dr.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Pines about past having the Ravens play at the stadium.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: What could that partnership look like when we're talking about pathways, right?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: Pathways for jobs, pathways for players, pathways for economic development.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: What could that look like?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: And so he said that that those were parts of the conversations that he's having as well.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: And so I'm really excited about what this could all mean as far as the economic impact for us here in the county.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, you know, when you think about it, uh imagine if we could create a place for training camp.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: Mm-hmm.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: Right?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, right?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's not that far, it's 45 minutes away.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we have a facility, we have the infrastructure already here, University of Maryland, Bowie State, right?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: The Half-Fields, um, still got the stadium, right?
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: While it's here.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_02: So this, you know, this could be kind of a re-engineering uh football in the area, especially on the campus of the University of Maryland.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I, you know, we think about other teams like the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Steelers are there, right?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: You think about the New York Jets.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: At one point, they were on Hofster University.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_02: And so you you kind of have a lot of these college professional mixes where there's training and things happening, and it and it could create more revenue, like you said, for the local economy.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and let me tell you, I did stop at a restaurant afterwards, um, one that had been posting on their social media platform saying, you know, asking people to come and they they need more business.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so we were just chit-chatting while I was there.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_01: I was chit-chatting with one of the owners, and she was asking, she's just like, well, what is going on today?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: Because normally Saturdays are pretty quiet, and I got an SOS text saying, you got to come in because you know, something's going on.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: There are all these people showing up.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_01: And so I told her that the game was taking place, and she was like, Wow.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: And so just imagine for that one business, for that one Saturday, the impact that it had for them, what it could do for the rest of the area.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's right.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I love to see it.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And so this all brings us to today's guest.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: Chad Morton has built businesses across education, real estate, film production, and sports entertainment across every industry.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: One principle has remained constant.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: How do you earn trust before you have a long track record?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to talk about what it looks like in practice, why your reputation matters, and how consistently doing what you say you're going to do can become one of your greatest business assets.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: At some point, every successful entrepreneurial had to convince someone or someone had to take a chance on them before the awards, before the recognition, before the long, the long list of clients, and someone had to believe that they could deliver.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: Our guest today has built a career by doing exactly that.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: I had the opportunity to watch Chad Morton build over the years, not just one business, but across multiple industries.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: And if there's one thing I've noticed, it's that Chad has never waited for opportunities.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: He's prepared himself for all of the opportunities that have come before him.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: And when they've come, he's always been prepared and ready.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's one of the reasons why I wanted him to join us today for today's conversation.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: And Chad wears a lot of hats.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, he's a co-owner of Maverick Realty.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: He's the CEO of Smash Entertainment.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: He's an author, a speaker, a podcaster, a filmmaker, and a father and a husband.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: He's busy.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_02: He's busy.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_02: Whether he's building business or creating content or developing new ventures, one thing remains consistent.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: His commitment to excellence and his belief that success comes from exceptional work and exceptional service.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Chad Morton, welcome to PowerMoves.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much for having me.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_04: It is my pleasure to be here with you and Rose.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_04: Thank you so much.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: Chad, we're so glad that you're here.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, when people see where someone is today, they don't always see everything that it took to get there.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: And looking at your background from education to real estate, filmmaking, and now sports entertainment, it's clear it wasn't a straight path.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: So let's start at the beginning.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Take us back.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us a bit about your journey and how you got here.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I came down to DC as a school teacher.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_04: And it's so ironic.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_04: I talk about this with one of my partners, Gary Clark, who was on that Super Bowl team from Washington the day after the Redskins, the then Redskins, won the Super Bowl, was my first day teaching school in Prince George's County.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_04: And um, I started off just as an educator, you know, I and a coach.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_04: I coached football, I coached wrestling, and I coached tennis, and I enjoyed it a great deal.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_04: But there was a hunger in me to do more.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_04: And I loved education, I loved teaching.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_04: I still think about going back as a history teacher.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_04: There's so much going on right now that will be his history.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_04: We're making history, seems like every day.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_04: But you know, as I would talk to my kids, and I had 10th, 11th, and 12th graders, and talk to them about you can do anything, you can go anywhere.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_04: There were dreams that I had, and I said, you know, I've got to answer to myself.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_04: I'm giving this information to these kids, and I need to take that advice and go.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_04: And when it came time to go out and blossom, um, I just did.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: Nice, nice.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: And as you were sharing your story, one thing that stood out to me um is every step of your career required someone to to believe in you, including you, right?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Before before you really knew the full story.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and that really brings us to today's conversation, right?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_02: You came to DC.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um and can you talk a little bit about in the 90s, right?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_02: Like, you know, how much were you making in the nineties as a teacher?
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_04: All right, we talked about this.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_04: So again, my my final year, which I think was years six or seven, in the system, my check was eight, no, yes, eight hundred and twenty-two dollars every two weeks.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_04: Every two weeks.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_04: All right, so you gotta stretch that paycheck out.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_04: Now I know the 90s the living the cost of living was a lot less expensive, yeah, but I didn't go too far.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_04: That was that was, you know, being 100% honest, that was definitely one of the motivating factors where I had to get out and begin to do something else.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_04: Get out and start to make uh create my own future.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_04: What I wanted to do was get into a position where my hard work and my effort and overtime will result in a greater income to me, to be in control of that faith, as opposed to, you know, doing all I can, but still being at a plateau that I had no control over whether it went up or down.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And so, Chad, you were you were teaching and you know, something just you wanted something different.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to us about what that looked like and and going through those motions of wanting something different.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I will say, and I will reiterate the the story where one of my greatest mentors comes into play where I was just, you know, desperate.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_04: I again loved what I was doing, but I had little to no money.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_04: And I was looking in the 90s just for something.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_04: Back then, multi-level marketing businesses were all the rage because they were new and people didn't really know the you know the ins and outs of the business.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_04: But, you know, the presentation sounded well.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_04: And I went to a presentation, found a post-it at uh 7-Eleven, I believe it was, and went to a presentation and listened.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_04: It wasn't all that interested, but I love telling the story how a man came up on stage in a$5,000 suit and three thousand dollar shoes and talked to the speaker.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_04: He was not the speaker, and I just gathered the courage from being so broke, show up to this man, and I said, Excuse me, sir.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_04: The most odd, the oddest thing you could do.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_04: I said, Can you teach me how to make money?
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_04: And he just laughed and said, What makes you think I got money?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, sir, look at you.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_04: He walked outside, he laughed, and I guess that was it.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_04: You know, that that broke the ice that got him.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_04: We he walked outside and we talked for a little bit and he said, Okay, tomorrow we'll set up a meeting and we'll talk more.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_04: And and from there grew my partnership with the great John Mutt, who's uh still alive today, 94 years old.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Chad, that's that's interesting to say that because today's segment is really focused on competence that builds trust.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: And what you just shared with us is an example of where competence may have have more weight than the resume, right?
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like you said, you said, hey, just finished college, got a teaching job, didn't have any money, but you walked up to a gentleman and said, Hey, can you teach me the way?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: And then he just opened the door.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_02: And he didn't say, Where'd you go to school?
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_02: He didn't say skills.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_02: He said, Meet me here at this time.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_04: And and to piggyback on that, so in the 90s, your college degree was much more important.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm and I'm for those who are 50 and over, we're going back to Cosby Show, different world.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_04: You go to college, you get a degree, then you become a professional, and you're in that vein.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_04: And it was great.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_04: That was awesome.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_04: But as we've progressed, and as because we're going back to pre-internet, no internet, none of that.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_04: So there's no YouTube, no cell phones, no Instagram, none of that.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_04: You get a professional um education so that you can work a professional position.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_04: But I found out early on in the 90s that it didn't always result in um a higher paycheck.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_04: It didn't always result in a higher income.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_04: That wasn't it.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_04: And I had to relearn okay, what do I need to know and do in order to create opportunities for myself?
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_04: And that first opportunity was going to talk to John Mudd, who was a great and tremendous mentor.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_04: But I was too broke not to have courage.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_04: I needed, I needed something.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_04: And he was there.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, you know, I'm here for a reason.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_04: It wasn't for the the presentation because I wasn't interested in that.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_04: But I was interested in what this man had to say because he just he just had a magnetism about him that that let me know that look, I'm here.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_04: This is why I was here.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I absolutely love what you just said about being too broke to not have courage.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, a lot of us have different factors, different reasons for why we start to feel that squeeze and want to pivot and move on to something else.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I myself, when I started to feel that squeeze, and it was time for me to move on from the career that I was doing, I just really had no idea what I wanted to do next.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: And the issue was that I was making good money.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: I was making good money.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, people thought I was crazy.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you're you're really gonna walk away from this job with nothing lined up.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the one person that truly believed in me and was like, listen, I got us, go ahead and do it was my husband.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: My number one investor, my husband, he was like, he encouraged me month after month.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Just if you're not happy there, you feel like you're not progressing, just leave and you'll figure it out.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: And so to that point, you know, I really loved that you had someone that was able to take you under their wing and show you the ways.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so what what kind of work?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_01: You said MLM, um, like what industry?
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: Well, we we were we got into real estate.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_04: John would buy homes and rehab, rent some, sell some.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_04: We had partnerships with different partners.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_04: I learned the whole game from the bottom up, and I knew nothing about it going in, which eventually led to me to go get my real estate license.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: And then, as my wife and I have now built our own real estate company, but it all started with John Mudd, who was a school teacher himself in the 60s, and I guess that's where we clicked.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_04: He was a school teacher and a wrestling coach, just like I was, and went through the same realization back in the 60s and uh built up this tremendous business and was able to take me under his wing to learn with him as well.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_04: But I I would like to share with the audience is that you know, our days, however many days we have on this planet, we don't know the number.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_04: All we know is that at some point we're gonna reach our expert expiration date.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_04: So if you know that going in, why not go for it?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_04: Like what's what what is when you look at it like that from that perspective, what am I holding back for?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_04: Everybody here at some point's gonna die.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_04: So if you really want something, go for it, give it a shot.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_04: It's better than being at the end and saying, I wish I I wish I would have tried.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: If you are just tuning in, you are listening to Power Moves on Lit106.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: And today's guest is Chad Morton, co-owner of Maverick Realty and CEO of Smash Entertainment.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: And we are talking about building trust before you have that resume that shows your work.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so, Chad, you know, going into Realty from education and uh purchasing real estate, purchasing a home, for some, that is one of the biggest purchases they may make in their lifetime.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_01: And so that definitely requires a huge level of trust in the team that they're working with.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: So talk to us about what it was like in the, you know, you're in the beginning of real estate, you're working with John Mudd, and now you have to be able to gain clients and get them to trust you with their huge purchase.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: What was that experience like in building that trust?
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_04: When you start off in, I'd say any business, but let's use real estate as the primary example.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_04: So in real estate, as a new agent, your youth doesn't matter so much as your experience.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_04: People want to know that you've done this before and that you're competent.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_04: So if you're young and inexperienced, both of those things and some jobs will work for you, but in real estate, it really works against you.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_04: Like you're young, you're inexperienced.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_04: People want somebody who knows what they're doing.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_04: So you make up for that with effort.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_04: You make up for that like a seasoned agent might say, Well, look, I'm done at 6 o'clock.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_04: A new agent who needs to earn that trust and earn that business says, You could call me at midnight.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_04: You could call me at 2 a.m.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_04: I'm available 24-7 because we have people who work late.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_04: We have people who need you on weekends, et cetera.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_04: An agent that's making money, a seasoned agent might say, Hey, I'm taking Saturdays, Sundays off.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_04: A new agent says, anytime, anywhere, out anywhere.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_04: You what they must do is get the business, get a customer, a satisfied customer, that will then go ahead and give them more business.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_04: So you, the only way to make up for your inexperience is with tremendous effort, tremendous amount of action, Tony Roberts would say.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_04: Tremendous action can overcome anything.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_04: That means you are out front doing what others won't do.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_02: And I so I want to segue.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: On that, right?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: You talked about young real estate agents, right?
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_02: And so I was telling Rose that I had the pleasure to meet two giants, right?
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_02: I had a chance to introduce Chad Morton, who I feel is a giant in the real estate industry and just in general, to Gary Clark, who's also a giant, right?
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_02: They both were in real estate.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I told Rose, I said, I said, hey man, you know, I was I was having a conversation with Gary Clark.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: I said, I think you need to meet Chad.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: Just something said, I think you all just need to sit down and meet.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was, I think it was a week after our gala, um, at the at the Gaylor, and they met for the first time, and I saw a business develop in front of it.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like the first meeting.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, they talked, they related, and they and they just built something amazing on the first meeting.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I was, I was very fortunate to just sit back and just one, be proud that I was able to connect two great people.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: But two, to witness, I literally witnessed an entire business being developed in front of me, which I thought, hey, I would do that one day.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: But now I see the DNA and the blueprint to do it.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm like, man, this was meant to be, and they are a great partnership.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: And so, Chad, can you talk a little bit about, you know, that first meeting and where you guys have kind of taken your enterprise today?
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I will say, first of all, I gotta give a shout out to uh my real estate partner, Gary Clark, who's just a tremendous, should be in the NFL Hall of Fame.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_04: He's in the Washington Redskins slash Commander Hall of Fame, a two-time Super Bowl champion.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_04: And I was just excited to meet him on a football level.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_04: But when we started to talk business, as Gary has developed some tremendous businesses post-football, and we started to talk about, you know, similarities in what we do, you know, the synergy was just there.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_04: And when you're, you know, you get to my age, which is post-50, and you know, same with Gary.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_04: When you see when like minds come together in business, then you put something together and you make it happen, and it happens fast.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_04: It doesn't take a lot of time, it doesn't take a lot of feeling out, because you're past the point you gotta earn.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_04: John Mudwoods used to say, and I give you all these John Buddhisms for you to take with you.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_04: He used to take off his hat and he'd say, You see these great hairs?
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_04: See these great hairs?
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_04: All right, that's my wisdom.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_04: All right, you gotta trade years for these, he used to say.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_04: You can't just get them.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_04: You gotta trade years for wisdom.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_04: But now, with the wisdom of being 50 plus, I knew that there was an opportunity there.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_04: It was time for us to discuss it, and it didn't take long for us to put something together that um we're looking to build into something incredible.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_04: Nice.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_04: Nice.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I absolutely love that that you were able to um find a partner.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, it's hard for me to just find a partner to bounce ideas off because I have trust issues.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Not trust you, not trust you.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, after um being in real estate, then you made your way into entertainment.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: Talk to us about that, about going into the entertainment industry and what that looked like first getting into it.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_04: Well, I, you know, I always wanted to get into entertainment.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_04: Always.
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_04: But I'll I'm taking everybody back to the 80s again.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_04: Graduated in 1989 from the University of Pittsburgh.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_04: I wanted to get into film and television back then, but but that was you'd have a better chance saying, I want to go to the moon, you know, and then breaking into the business, you know, as a young person of color without any contacts in the 80s.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_04: But tried to uh do it, applied to UCLA Film School, got accepted, but also got the job down here, asked for advice from many, many friends and family, and all came with the same thing.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_04: Take the job, which I did and don't regret it.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_04: It was good advice for 1990, 1991.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_04: But we fast forward and take the story full circle all the way around.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_04: You know, life goes on, you have children, my oldest son goes to college, we never had the talk because you're working, you're working, you're busy.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_04: And at graduation, we have the talk.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_04: And I say, son, what do you want to do?
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_04: He knows nothing about my past, nothing about UCLA, nothing about any of that.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_04: He says, Dad, you're gonna think I'm crazy.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, I'm the guy to hit with crazy stuff.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_04: What is it?
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_04: I want to go to Hollywood, and I wanna, I think I can write movies and television, and you gotta believe me, Dad.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_04: I know I can do it.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_04: I looked at him, I never forget that look, and he said, Dad, you gotta trust me.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, Son, stop talking.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_04: We're going.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_04: Um, two days later, we're on a plane to LA.
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_04: We're at the Hollywood Hotel, uh, cheapest hotel in town that I put on my credit card.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_04: I said, make it happen.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_04: He right now is working on uh the number one network comedy in television.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: So very excited and happy for him.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_04: And that inspired me to say, you know what?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_04: Let me kick start my own dreams that I had.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_04: Started with our first film, uh What Death Leaves Behind, which is we did a 25 City tour in theaters, uh, ended up at Sundance Film Festival, then on Amazon and Tubi, and The Realtor, which we finished uh last year.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_04: And uh we're on Apple TV and on Tubi.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_04: But just like with real estate, I didn't know much or anything about the film business.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_04: But I started to prepare myself, started to study, and once you take, if you take one or two steps in faith, you take one or two steps, good integrity, faith, and with hard work, I promise you, the pieces that you need will start to come to you because the entire crew, I knew none of them before I started the film.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_04: I just started going to festivals, watching how films were made, talking to people, and just like magnets, that energy, that energy will attract other people with that energy, sound people.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_04: I met a fantastic, incredible director, Mr.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_04: Scott Hamilton, who's just going on to do great projects for Netflix, et cetera, et cetera.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_04: And we just put together this team, we put together the story, and we got it out there.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm so excited about that business and to see it now blossom in Prince George's County as a world-class studio, is now in Laurel in Prince George's County.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_04: I can't wait to get up there and start getting to work with them on our next feature film.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_01: Definitely, definitely, definitely.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I can't let you get away that easily, Chad, with we're getting into the entertainment industry, and now you have these movies that are on Tubi and Amazon.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_01: We gotta hear the meet in the middle.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_01: What was that journey like?
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_01: Because you said you got in and not really knowing much about it.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_01: Your son inspired you.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: So, what did it look like, that road to getting that team together, to making the movie, to getting it distributed?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_01: What was that process like?
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_04: Well, okay, well, it's crazy how that story started.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_04: I started first I wanted to just do television projects.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_04: And I didn't think big enough in terms of movie.
• 29:20
  SPEAKER_04: I said, let me do a 30 to 45-minute show.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_04: And uh I met with a sports agent.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_04: A friend introduced me to a sports agent.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_04: We talked and we had many discussions, and after multiple discussions, he said he thinks he can get some of his ex-players to back the show, put up the money so that I can make it.
• 29:41
  SPEAKER_04: I waited for that call.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_04: Two days, four days, eight days go by.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_04: Late Saturday night, I get the call late, late, late, late at night.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_04: I answer the phone excited because I recognize the number.
• 29:54
  SPEAKER_04: I'm thinking, we're ready, let's go.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_04: And the gentleman said, I'm sorry to tell you, it's gonna be a no.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_04: And at that moment, I was crushed.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_04: And I just had the energy to say why.
• 30:08
  SPEAKER_04: And he said, You know, my guy said, if you really wanted to do this, you just get the money yourself.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_04: But I respect you and I wanted to give you that call.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_04: And as I'd mentioned to Alex um earlier, that was the greatest no in my life.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_04: At that moment, I needed that no as much as I needed any other inspiration in business, because the rest of that night I didn't sleep.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_04: And I said, I'll never be in a position where someone else can dictate what I can do.
• 30:39
  SPEAKER_04: It must come from me.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_04: And when you recognize that the person that you gotta rely on is the man whose teeth you brush, the man or woman whose face you wash, that person that you see in the mirror, that's who you gotta count on.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_04: That person can't let you down.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_04: And I was determined to make sure that that person I saw in the mirror didn't let me down, and we were able to raise the funding as the next project sort of just fell in my lap as our first film, What Death Leaves Behind, was based on true events.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_04: A little scary.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_04: So I hope you get a chance to see it on um you could catch it on Amazon Prime.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_04: It's a little scary, but it fell in my lap.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_04: I started writing the script.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_04: I started going to meet people at film festivals and start answering ads.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_04: And back then it was Craigslist, just looking to put together a crew, and we would have phone meetings, then meetings in person at coffee shops, and that's how it began, just organic.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_04: And once we got the crew, then we I met an incredible producer, uh, Mrs.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_04: Rachel O'Forey, who was able to put together the right team for us and help me with the auditions, and we just took it from there.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so one one one thing, Rose, that I noticed in this conversation is Chad said, it's gotta come from me, which means for our audience right now, if you're listening, self-funded.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: That that right there deserves a round of applause because you showed yourself, but not only yourself, but everyone around you, that you believe in it more than anyone else in this world.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_02: And you're willing to put your money up and put the money where you know you can get the ROI, and you've produced no pun intended, but you've produced a byproduct of that.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_04: And and, you know, especially now, and I will say like Instagram and TikTok will make people think, well, I could do anything in 24 hours in my bedroom and my pajamas, and then just be a millionaire.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_04: And, you know, it was um the great Les Brown who said, everything that's hard isn't worth it, but for sure, everything that's worth it is gonna be hard.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_04: That doesn't mean don't do it.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_04: That just means it's not gonna be overnight.
• 32:50
  SPEAKER_04: It's gonna take work.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_04: It's gonna take some sleepless nights, it's gonna take some times when you may doubt even yourself.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_04: You may doubt a little bit, man, can I really make this happen?
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_04: But even in those moments, you just have to keep going.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_04: You don't have to necessarily believe what the end will be.
• 33:09
  SPEAKER_04: All you gotta do is know I'm gonna make it to the next step.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_04: I don't have to think when I was starting and I was, we were going back and forth with the script and we didn't have the actors we need.
• 33:18
  SPEAKER_04: I didn't think, man, this movie's gonna go in 25 cities and we're going to Sundance.
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_04: I said, man, can I make it to tomorrow and come up with$500 to rent this room to have auditions?
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yes, I can do that.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_04: If I can do that, then I can get to the next day.
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_04: That's all it is.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_04: One step, then the next step, then the next step.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_04: Then the end will come.
• 33:40
  SPEAKER_04: But you've got to believe in yourself.
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_04: And especially now, if we're talking entertainment, people think, man, I've got a great idea.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_04: The old Hollywood is over, where they're just gonna take a great idea and poof, they're gonna make your movie and it's gonna be spectacular.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_04: First thing they're gonna say is how many followers do you have?
• 33:56
  SPEAKER_04: Who's attached to the project?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_04: How many followers do they have?
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_04: That's the first conversation.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_04: How many Instagram followers?
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_04: How many TikTok followers?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_04: Um, how many people on Facebook?
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_04: Then the actors and actresses, you'll notice today in the entertainment business, you might say, Why'd they cast this person?
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_04: Why'd they cast that person?
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_04: Because they have a whole lot of followers.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_04: That's all it is now.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_04: Now, I'm not saying you have to do that to make your film.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_04: I'm saying if you want somebody else's money, you're gonna have to do that.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_04: If you want to do it your way, you better be ready to self-fund it.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_04: But either way, it's gonna take your work and your effort.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_04: There's nobody who's gonna save you.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_04: But the good news is you could save yourself.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_01: Amen to that.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_01: Amen to that.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I really um what I've heard throughout this conversation at the top when we were talking about how much you made as the teacher in the 90s, and then coming to a point where one, you could pay for, you could pull out your credit card to pay for your son to be over in LA.
• 35:01
  SPEAKER_01: And two, you could then fund your own film.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, imagine if you didn't do that pivot and take that step out on faith to say, look, this is not working for me anymore, and I got to find something new because there are people that they'll feel that and they don't know what else to do.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_01: And so they just continue to do what they were doing, and it is what it is, you know, get your 2% raise, maybe your 2.5% raised.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_01: And uh there are so much greater things waiting for you when you trust in yourself.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so even when you got into the film industry and you didn't have you yourself didn't have that resume, but you had something inside of you that have been there.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_01: It have been there at like a like a little a little fire burning from in the 80s until your son said to you, I'm going to LA, and you're like, I'm coming with you.
• 35:58
  SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna let him take that.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_04: I'm gonna still right here, but you know, it was Les Brown who said, uh, you just gotta, like you said, step out on faith.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_04: If somebody asks, what do you, what qualifies you?
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_04: And Les said, the fact that I'm here, and that's it, what qualifies you to be here to do this?
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_04: The fact that I'm here.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_04: This entrepreneurship, I hate to paint this rosy picture as if it's for everybody.
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's not necessarily for everybody.
• 36:24
  SPEAKER_04: If you're willing to make the sacrifices, and there are sacrifices.
• 36:28
  SPEAKER_04: There's gonna be sacrifices of your time, sacrifices of your sleep, sacrifices of your finances.
• 36:34
  SPEAKER_04: That's a part of it.
• 36:35
  SPEAKER_04: If you're willing to do that, you take these great risks because you want the great reward.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_04: Everybody doesn't want that, and there's nothing wrong with it.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_04: There are those who are happy with what they're doing, and there are those, if you if you want a little bit more and you're willing to risk it, you're willing to put in the work, you know, then you can go for it.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_04: But as we all know, nothing is guaranteed except for one thing.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_04: At some point, we're all gonna check out.
• 37:00
  SPEAKER_04: So what I want to do, what will satisfy me and as an individual, is any dream that I had, I don't want to leave that stone unturned.
• 37:12
  unknown: Yeah.
• 37:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_02: I so I this um this reminds me of another gentleman that you introduced me to when you talked about that no, right?
• 37:22
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, Dennis Riley.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_02: Dennis Riley was still still doing, he's still selling.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but Dennis had a saying rose, and I I use this the moment I met Dennis to this day.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_02: He said, he said, Alex, and he said the safety chat, there's 13 no's to a yes.
• 37:41
  SPEAKER_02: And it is statistically happened every single time.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_02: And he used to say, and really what he was talking about was the psychology behind it, right?
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: He was saying every time he got to a no, he got more and more excited because he knew the yes was right around the corner.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_04: John Mudd said the exact same thing.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_04: Yep.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_04: He said, Excited when they tell me no.
• 37:59
  SPEAKER_04: That means the yes is coming.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_04: It's coming, right?
• 38:01
  SPEAKER_02: And so I have literally applied this principle in literally everything I've ever done.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe it's 13, sometimes it's 11, sometimes it's 20, but I know on average, between 13 no's, I'm gonna get to that yes, right?
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so, Chad, we, you know, we're talking directly to the person listening today, right?
• 38:20
  SPEAKER_02: They they might have just started the business or thinking about starting their business, they don't have the client list, they don't have the decades of experience.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and when you when you don't have that track record that we're talking about, right, what what do you think or what should change about the approach or what should be the psychology of someone entering into this space, right?
• 38:41
  SPEAKER_02: Of business ownership.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so let me tell you if you, whether it's real estate, whether it's catering, whatever business you're in, and you don't have the clientele, I'm gonna give you a radical answer.
• 38:52
  SPEAKER_04: And actually, John taught me this one.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_04: You're gonna find somebody who needs your service and you're gonna do it for free.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh-oh, wait a minute.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Hold on.
• 39:01
  SPEAKER_02: Say it again, Chad, because you now that word can be good in some areas and taboo in another.
• 39:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you say freeze.
• 39:08
  SPEAKER_04: You want to build a name, you go out, you find a client in that particular service.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_04: Sir, I believe in myself so much that I'm gonna do this for you at no charge.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_04: All I ask is that when I'm finished, if I did a good job, you put it out to all your friends and family.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_04: I promise you, if somebody doesn't have to pay you money out of just sheer guilt, they will give you the most spectacular reviews ever.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_04: You got to get out there and prove yourself.
• 39:40
  SPEAKER_04: And if nobody's clamoring for your business, then you've got to build that business to make them clamor to it.
• 39:47
  SPEAKER_04: But you're looking for you're looking for somebody to hire who's gonna turn you down if you're ready to go for free, Alex.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 39:54
  SPEAKER_02: Love that.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's actually exactly how I built my platform, going to different events and just interviewing people.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_01: I put it out there and tag the business or send it to them.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_01: And so, Chad, if you were starting over today with no network, no reputation, what's the one concrete thing you'd actually do in your first 90 days?
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_04: First 90 days in real estate?
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_04: Or wherever you are now.
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, so to keep it in real estate, in the first 90 days, I'm gonna have to outwork everybody.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_04: I will tell you the great Ryan Sirhat, who's got Sirhat brokerage, million-dollar listing fame, he started 20 years ago as a former soap opera actor.
• 40:43
  SPEAKER_04: No deals, no name, no money.
• 40:46
  SPEAKER_04: He said he would sit in a Starbucks, look for somebody pregnant, then run up and give them this cards.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_04: Hey, you're pregnant, you might need a bigger apartment, might need another place.
• 40:54
  SPEAKER_04: But here's what he did, which goes into what I would do.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_04: He saw an ad for Million Dollar Listing.
• 41:00
  SPEAKER_04: We want the top agents in New York.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_04: And he went up and he went to that audition.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_04: Now he was an actor.
• 41:05
  SPEAKER_04: And they said, Why should we hire you?
• 41:07
  SPEAKER_04: He said, I'm the best.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_04: I've done this, I'll sell a million homes, I do this.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_04: And they said, We love this guy's energy.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_04: Ryan had never sold one home, not one home.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_04: He signed up for a million dollars.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_04: He hadn't sold, he sold zero homes.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_04: The first thing you have to recognize is that if you're going to be at the top of your field, it requires sacrifice.
• 41:29
  SPEAKER_04: If it was easy, everybody would do it.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_04: That's right.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_04: If it was easy, the reason everybody doesn't do it is because it's hard.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_04: And there are things that people aren't willing to give up.
• 41:40
  SPEAKER_04: And you got to be honest with yourself.
• 41:42
  SPEAKER_04: Am I willing to give up?
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_04: You know, sometimes I might miss practice.
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_04: I might miss that baseball game.
• 41:49
  SPEAKER_04: You know, is it worth it?
• 41:51
  SPEAKER_04: You've got to have that honest conversation with yourself and definitely with your spouse for those who are married to make sure, like, this is the path and this is what's what it's gonna take.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_04: And let's decide whether collectively, if it's a family or individually, if it's just you, if you're really willing to pay that price.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_02: Think about that first home and the commission he got.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_02: Now everything he does is above that.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_02: Like he it just like, I mean, I just think about like your first, that first check.
• 42:21
  SPEAKER_02: You can't go backwards now.
• 42:23
  SPEAKER_04: No, and and I will let me piggyback on the question Rose had and just bring it home.
• 42:29
  SPEAKER_04: So when I got, I'm I had um some good friends of mine, and they had a condo in Georgetown, and it was like one and a half million, and I had never sold anything close to that.
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_04: And they said, Ted, we we want you to sell our home.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_04: And I was trying to sell it, I listed it, and 30 days came and it wasn't selling.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_04: It didn't sell, I didn't really know how to package it, and I called them.
• 42:51
  SPEAKER_04: I never forget, I called them and I said, Listen, hey, I love you guys, I can't get it done.
• 42:56
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not the guy for you.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but I've researched the top real estate agents in Georgetown, and I've got their three names and their emails, so you can call them and they'll get it sold for you because it was I'd love to get the money, but these are my friends, and I don't want this thing sitting because of me.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_04: And when I got done giving them all these excuses, they said, Nah, we're gonna stay with you, you can do it.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_04: I said, Okay.
• 43:25
  SPEAKER_04: It was just like that no, Alex.
• 43:27
  SPEAKER_04: It was just like that no from Jem.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_04: I couldn't sleep.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_04: I said, I will sell this condo.
• 43:31
  SPEAKER_04: If I gotta walk up and down the streets of Georgetown in my drawers and a sign, I will I can't, I must sell this now.
• 43:40
  SPEAKER_04: So, you know those three top agents?
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_04: I called one of them and I said, Listen, I'm gonna make a deal with you.
• 43:45
  SPEAKER_04: You teach me how to sell this real estate in Georgetown at these prices, I'll split the commission with you.
• 43:50
  SPEAKER_04: Let's be a team.
• 43:52
  SPEAKER_04: We make a deal.
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_04: He shows me what to do to stage the property.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_04: We have a giant.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_04: New brokers open.
• 44:01
  SPEAKER_04: Then we have an open for the public.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_04: And within five days of my official teaming with this gentleman, we had it under contract.
• 44:11
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_02: Learned how to do it by going to the best.
• 44:17
  SPEAKER_02: You talked about earlier, you know, partnership.
• 44:20
  SPEAKER_02: And I've heard it resonate in different segments, right?
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_02: You say, hey, I got two older friends who I, you know, I just did, I wanted to do right by them.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't want to let them down.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_02: And so you approached them and they said, no, you're the guy for us.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 44:33
  SPEAKER_02: They were your partners in this.
• 44:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, they they would not allow me to fail.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_04: They would not, well, I should say, they would not allow me to quit.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_04: You know, quitting's easy.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_04: You know, you you could try something, you could try a business, you could try, and then you could always say to yourself, I tried.
• 44:50
  SPEAKER_04: You could tell your friends and family, hey, I tried.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_04: At least I tried.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_04: At least I tried.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_04: But they made quitting was not an option.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_04: You're going to sell this condo.
• 44:59
  SPEAKER_04: You are going to do it.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_02: I I heard something recently, um, and someone said in business, it's never good to eat alone.
• 45:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so just thinking about the innovation saying, hey, if you teach me how to do this, I'll split it.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_02: So what they were able to do is teach you how to fish.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 45:15
  SPEAKER_04: And you've got to, when you're like right now, I'm exceptionally busy.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_04: This gentleman was exceptionally busy.
• 45:22
  SPEAKER_04: So I can't come to him with nothing.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_04: All right, you know, here's a big listing, we're gonna go half.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I'm gonna lay it on your lap.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_04: All right, we need to work together, but I've got to bring something to the table.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_04: And what I think a lot of young people, you know, mistake is like they say, well, you know, someone should just come help me.
• 45:40
  SPEAKER_04: Nobody owes you anything.
• 45:43
  SPEAKER_04: You have to give them some value.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_04: What is the value you're gonna give?
• 45:47
  SPEAKER_04: Even when I first met John and we were just doing work and I was running, I would drive for it.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_04: I'd say, look, I'll drive.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_04: And wherever we went, I was the driver.
• 45:56
  SPEAKER_04: That way you don't have to do nothing but sit down, take a nap, talk on your cell phone, relax, because you you have a driver.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_04: I must provide value.
• 46:05
  SPEAKER_04: And to the young people watching this, you may need, seek, want a mentor.
• 46:11
  SPEAKER_04: Don't go with your pockets empty.
• 46:13
  SPEAKER_04: And that doesn't have to be muddy.
• 46:15
  SPEAKER_04: What is the value you can provide?
• 46:16
  SPEAKER_04: You might be able to give them tips on social media.
• 46:19
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 46:20
  SPEAKER_04: How to get better hits on Instagram.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_04: Something that will help them.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_04: Something that will take so when you take time from their incredibly busy day, you're also showing, look, I'm willing to do this in exchange for that.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_01: I love it.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_01: You're dropping so many nuggets, Chad.
• 46:37
  SPEAKER_01: There's uh when you're when you're new to something, outwork the next person.
• 46:43
  SPEAKER_01: Outwork them.
• 46:45
  SPEAKER_01: And then and then there's bring value when you are in that learning stage.
• 46:52
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, you and Alex kind of talk very similar.
• 46:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I know that Alex mentioned to me that you um are one of his mentors.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so, Alex, I see your little mind tricks, your uh, your your 11 nodes.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, that's why he keeps asking me the same thing when I say no, because he's like, she's gonna say yes this 12th time.
• 47:13
  SPEAKER_01: No, but this has been such a powerful conversation.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so now we are at the my favorite part.
• 47:21
  SPEAKER_01: And before we get into it, if you are just tuning in, you are listening to Power Moves on Lit 106, and we are talking to Chad Morton, co-owner of Maverick Realty and owner of Smash Entertainment.
• 47:35
  SPEAKER_01: And we are at the Power Move.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_01: This is my favorite part of the show.
• 47:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it's we ask every guest this question.
• 47:44
  SPEAKER_01: Chad, when you look back over your journey from building businesses across multiple industries to creating opportunities in real estate, film, and sports entertainment, I'm sure there have been a lot of defining moments, and you've mentioned several of them uh so far in this conversation.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_01: But if you had to just choose one, what was your power move?
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_01: That decision, that risk, that opportunity, that moment that changed everything.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I know you guys know the answer to this, but I'm gonna say it again.
• 48:16
  SPEAKER_04: It was um meeting and marrying my wife.
• 48:19
  SPEAKER_04: My wife, Darlene Morton, who is my partner in all of my businesses, in everything I do.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_04: We shared a vision.
• 48:27
  SPEAKER_04: You know, I was wise enough at that point in my life when we got together to really have a deep discussion with her about you know what I want and what what does she want.
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_04: And those two things aligned.
• 48:40
  SPEAKER_04: And we we talked about what the sacrifices would be as a family, you know, what we're gonna have to give up and how hard we're gonna work.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_04: And she was right there and ready to go.
• 48:53
  SPEAKER_04: And it's one thing to to talk about it, it's another thing to be about it.
• 48:56
  SPEAKER_04: And she was she was a boss.
• 48:58
  SPEAKER_04: And I s would say to anyone out there, you know, young or old, uh, male or female, your selection of a partner, if you so choose, and go that route is absolutely head and shoulders the most important decision you'll ever make in your career.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_04: A great partner can take you to the heights, a bad partner can ruin you.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_04: And so I was very fortunate and very lucky that I got the right partner.
• 49:28
  SPEAKER_04: Very blessed that that happened.
• 49:30
  SPEAKER_04: And if it was not for that, then the six all the other success that I discussed were gonna pass.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_01: That's amazing.
• 49:38
  SPEAKER_01: Listen, I know your wife.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_01: What is what is your wife's name?
• 49:41
  SPEAKER_01: Darlene.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: Darlene.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: Darlene.
• 49:43
  SPEAKER_01: I know Darlene is gonna be so happy when she hears that because you know, whether you're talking about a spouse or a business partner, any type of partnership, that requires the level of trust we're talking about here.
• 49:57
  SPEAKER_03: Absolutely.
• 49:58
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes before you've had the opportunity to show your track record, you know.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_01: And so this has been an amazing conversation.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_02: 100%.
• 50:08
  SPEAKER_02: And it's your and the other thing, Rose, I was gonna say to that, is marriage is a business.
• 50:14
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 50:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's a business.
• 50:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so you're gonna learn a lot of your business lessons in that one-on-one dialogue relationship.
• 50:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_01: And if you don't think it's a business, uh, are you guys watching what's going on with uh Malcolm Jamal Warner's estate?
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_01: I, you know, we don't have to get into it, but just saying.
• 50:32
  SPEAKER_04: Just saying.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_04: It's a business that you want to make sure you keep it going.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 50:36
  SPEAKER_04: You don't want that business to fail.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_04: It's too big to fail.
• 50:40
  SPEAKER_04: All right.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_04: You gotta think it through.
• 50:44
  SPEAKER_04: Too big to fail.
• 50:45
  SPEAKER_04: It's gotta work.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 50:47
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Chad, before we let you go, I mean, again, this we can keep talking, man.
• 50:51
  SPEAKER_02: There's so much information.
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_02: But before we let you let you go, if our listeners want to learn more about you, your work, and connect with you, where can they find you?
• 51:00
  SPEAKER_04: Okay, for real estate, ChadmortonRealtor.net.
• 51:04
  SPEAKER_04: That is ChadmortonRealtor.net and smashentertainment.net, Chadmorton at Smash Entertainment.net, or you can find me on Instagram at Chadmorton.
• 51:15
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 51:16
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll make sure to link all of that information on our social media pages as well.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 51:22
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you both.
• 51:23
  SPEAKER_02: Chad, thank you for joining us.
• 51:25
  SPEAKER_02: This this has been it's been powerful, man.
• 51:27
  SPEAKER_02: I and I think you just reminded us uh that trust isn't built by having all the answers or the longest resume, right?
• 51:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's built by being prepared, doing what you say you're going to do, and consistently delivering when the opportunity comes.
• 51:42
  SPEAKER_04: Well, if I could leave the audience with one thing, just remember you don't have to believe that you're gonna get all the way to the end.
• 51:50
  SPEAKER_04: Just make it to the next step.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_04: The next step.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_04: That's it.
• 51:55
  SPEAKER_04: Can I get here?
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_04: I don't know about there.
• 51:57
  SPEAKER_04: Can I get here?
• 51:58
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 51:59
  SPEAKER_04: Dang, I can get here.
• 52:00
  SPEAKER_04: That's it.
• 52:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's it.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's it, man.
• 52:04
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you again, Chad.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_01: We appreciate you sharing your journey and your experiences.
• 52:08
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you both.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_01: Anytime, I appreciate you.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_02: Now, before we go, it's time for On Our Radar.
• 52:14
  SPEAKER_02: Our quick look at business, community, and cultural events happening around the DMV.
• 52:19
  SPEAKER_02: The 2026 Prince George's Chamber of Commerce Excellence in Business Awards Gala, held on Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, at MGM National Harbor.
• 52:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's one of Prince George's County's premier business events celebrating the entrepreneurs, the companies, nonprofits, and leaders making an impact around the region.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_02: You can learn more at www.pgcocala2026.org.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_02: www.pgcocala2026.org.
• 52:53
  SPEAKER_02: Rose, what's caught your attention?
• 52:55
  SPEAKER_01: Well, I have to say that the gala is also one of my favorites as well because we get to honor businesses that are doing amazing things.
• 53:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I also do have a few events that are perfect if you're already thinking ahead to Labor Day weekend.
• 53:09
  SPEAKER_01: Prince George's County has plenty happening.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_01: Afro Plus Fest returns to Northwest Stadium September 4th through the 6th, with three days celebrating African and Caribbean culture through music, food, fashion, art, and black-owned businesses.
• 53:24
  SPEAKER_01: Follow at the Afro Plus for tickets and updates.
• 53:27
  SPEAKER_01: And while you're enjoying the holiday weekend, don't miss the Downtown Largo Festival on Saturday, September 5th.
• 53:33
  SPEAKER_01: Spend the day enjoying live entertainment, food, family activities, community organizations, and small businesses while celebrating one of Prince George's County's fastest growing communities.
• 53:44
  SPEAKER_01: Follow at Downtown Largo Festival for details.
• 53:48
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're looking for even more events, hidden gems, and things to do around Prince George's County and the DMV, be sure to follow me at the Spotlight DMV on all social platforms.
• 53:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm always sharing what's happening around the region so you don't miss out.
• 54:03
  SPEAKER_01: Alex, where can folks connect with you?
• 54:06
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you can find me on Instagram at AlexanderKAustin.
• 54:11
  SPEAKER_02: You can find me on LinkedIn at Alexander K Austin.
• 54:14
  SPEAKER_02: You can find me at the Chamber at Prince George's Chamber.
• 54:18
  SPEAKER_02: Also on LinkedIn and Instagram and soon at AlexanderKAustin.com.
• 54:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that is what's on our radar this week, and that is all the time we have for today.
• 54:29
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for joining us.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_01: Be sure to tune in every Tuesday at 3 p.m.
• 54:34
  SPEAKER_01: right here on Lit106 for PowerMoves.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Alexander Austin.
• 54:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm Rose Johnson.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see you next Tuesday on PowerMoves.