Latest / The Hannah Hammond Show / I Lost It All Then Built a $100M+ Empire: How Justin Colby Built His Wealth & How You Can Too

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I Lost It All Then Built a $100M+ Empire: How Justin Colby Built His Wealth & How You Can Too · The Hannah Hammond Show

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Then you have mentors like my parents, I never wanted to be
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them. I have two children.
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They're incredible and like I want to love them in a way that
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I wasn't loved and I graduated UCLA.
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I've never had AW two job. I went directly into door to
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door sales, which is a great opportunity.
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From there I went into real estate.
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End of 2006 was not so great and so I ended up on a couch and my
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$100,000 Lexus was taken by the repo man and my $500,000 house
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is taken by the bank. And so that point of losing
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everything allowed me to do some internal searching and a whole
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lot of therapy to say I'm going to go create a fucking epic
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life. Those lessons to say, OK, I
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deserve more and I want more come out of a place of my
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childhood. My mom was an alcoholic.
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My dad was an alcoholic. My stepfather was an alcoholic.
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And I remember waking up in the back of a car in a parking lot
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because my mom had to sit in a bar all night and drink.
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And I was, you know, four or five years old.
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And that lesson I had to learn, unfortunately, through not being
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loved, seen, heard, felt comforted as as a kid should be,
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led me to who I am today as a parent and in a business owner.
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So I'm sitting here with Justin Colby, and I actually met him
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through one of the masterminds that I'm a part of called the
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family. And then we just have so many
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mutual connections and friends. And one of our friends is
1:16
sitting here today, Adam. And it was just time that we got
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together. So it worked out great that
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you're here in Scottsdale today. And thanks for being on the
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show. Well, thanks for reaching out
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and inviting me, and thanks to Adam putting us together.
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Adam Williams, everybody. Yeah, Adam Williams and Dana.
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And Dana, Adam and Dana, the power couple.
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Yeah, thank you. And Justin's amazing.
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He's a real estate mogul. He's been investing in real
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estate for almost 20 years now, done about 3000 deals.
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He has over 50 single family rental properties, a handful of
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apartment complexes, a storage facility I believe as well.
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He's a national best selling author.
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Flipping to Wealth is his book. You should definitely read it.
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And he's also the host of two of the top ten podcasts on Apple.
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So with no further ado, so like I mean, you're just incredible
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in all areas. So I'm super excited to like dig
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into your life and your story and, and you also do coaching
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and mentoring for people to learn how to wholesale flip.
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Fix and flip and buy and hold. I believe everyone should be a
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full what I call like a dynamic investor.
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I don't really believe and just do the one thing anymore.
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Like, yes, wholesaling is great, and that's where the masses go
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because they think they need money and credit.
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But you can fix and flip with none of your own money.
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You can buy and hold with none of your own money.
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I've been doing it for years. I still do it today.
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Although I have money now that I could do it with good credit, I
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still use other people's money to buy my rentals, to buy my fix
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and flips because it's just good business.
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Right. So the thing that I tell
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everyone is when you went and bought your home, your actual
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home, did you use the bank's money to do it?
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Well, yeah, but I put down 10% or put down 20%.
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OK, great. Well, when I bought my first
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home in 2006, which says how old I am, the banks were giving 100%
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financing. Literally, I got a Wells Fargo
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loan. I didn't.
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All I had to do was cover closing costs.
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I think I bought my first $500,000 home, my own home.
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So if the banks were willing to offer and everyone was willing
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to take it back in 2006, why would you ever treat investment
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properties any different than your own home?
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Because if people just have this like mental block when it comes
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to like borrowing private capital versus borrowing bank
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capital as if like there's worse or better, it's just still
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getting a loan, right? And so I just tell people be
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dynamic. Don't just do wholesaling, don't
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just do fix and flip. Don't just do buy and hold.
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Look at every property and say, what is the best potential of
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that property? And then figure out what am I
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going to do here, right? And for a lot of people, it
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might be a cash crunch personally.
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So then just look at your bank account.
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Do you like where your bank accounts looking or not?
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And if you don't then just wholesale it quickly and make
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more money, right? So that's what I really try to
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teach and educate in reilive.co's, the community.
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You guys can all go check it out and make sure everyone knows
4:01
came from Hannah cuz I want to know where you came from.
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Yeah, Yeah. No, I love that you say that
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because something I've always done is diversify, you know,
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vertically integrated along real estate, expert in real estate,
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but diversify as far as you know.
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I invest in real estate, I flip some real estate, I buy and
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hold. I own a brokerage.
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I broker commercial deals and residential deals and various
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asset classes, various representations.
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And that's always been, I feel very important because when the
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market pivots, which it does, and I'd love to dig into more of
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your story. You got started when the market
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was really high. Most people who did lost
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everything and then were scared of real estate forever.
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So but yeah, I like that that your diverse fight as well,
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because it really is. It's just a game.
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And then that way you can put all these puzzle pieces
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together. And then as the market shifts,
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there's other opportunities that come and go and then you can
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just pivot quickly and take advantage of that best
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opportunity at that current time.
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You brought up something I think most people need to understand.
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So I've done this for 18 years now, and I'm bald because
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because of it. But I say that just because
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really, I'm bald because of contractors.
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Yeah, all else. Oh my gosh.
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But I say that because people are like, that's a long time in
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a general sense. What have you ever done for 18
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years? Right.
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Like, besides school, there's not a lot of people who have
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done something for 18 years. So I've been able to kind of
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look at back at it. And really the the success has
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been because of my ability to adapt and pivot, which kind of
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is the same thing Like I bought was buying from auctions here in
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Phoenix back in 2007 and 2008. Well, everyone understood when
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the market tanked, the hedge funds came in here in Phoenix.
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We were one of the first markets.
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Well, a little guy like me with a couple 100 grand that I borrow
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from, you know, people, I can't compete and pay 100 cents on the
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dollar with a hedge fund. So all of a sudden my inventory
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drives up. So you always have to adapt and
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pivot. There's no one straight line
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trajectory to winning in anything, let alone in real
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estate, right? And so that's what I try to tell
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people is adapt and pivot over time.
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People are all worried about this.
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Interest rate is irrelevant. The interest rate to me is
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basically irrelevant because it's all about how you're
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acquiring the property. Right?
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Cash out refi's They still exist.
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I just put a portfolio of five of my properties under one loan.
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I took out 15 grand on a cash out refi on rental properties.
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Like it still exists if you buy, right?
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Right. It's all, you know, on the buy
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and I have a proper execution and have a good exit.
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And that's I have a private lending company and a debt fund
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and it's the same thing. People are like, Oh well, you
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know, why would someone pay 12% when they could get a bank loan
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at six? I'm like, well, you don't have
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45 days to close on a property. That's a good opportunity.
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So would you rather pay an extra five, 6% for a handful of months
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and save 20% on the property and have speed and ease and more
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time to find more deals? Or would you rather pay market
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value for property and then you make no money on the property?
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So it's just getting creative with the numbers and you know,
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when interest rates go up, property values tend to go down.
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And so it's it's always just finding solutions to make it
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profitable. For you, I think we have a fun
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you and I and those that know what we're doing.
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I think we have a fun 18 months. I think it's going to be
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interesting. I think everyone's looked at
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Trump as the savior. I think he will be over time.
7:14
I think his first 12 to 18 months, he's going to have to
7:17
just kind of play the course and try to rectify a lot of the
7:21
stuff that's happened. But I think going into his third
7:24
trimester, if that's even the right way of saying that that's
7:29
where his third year will be, where we will see like Trump,
7:33
the guy who was able to get back down to 0% interest rates and
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all those type of things. I think the first 18 months
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he'll just have to kind of tread water and get us there.
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In his third year, he'll he'll do it.
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Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think there's been so
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much money printed and so much circulating the economy.
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It's not just as easy as, you know, we have a new president,
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everything's perfect. Like there's consequences to the
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inflation that we've had and the a massive amount of money that
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was given out through COVID and stuff like.
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That I don't think people, I don't think, I don't think the
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news or the the government is being honest with unemployment.
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I think they're hiding some of the stats of that kind of stuff.
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I mean, I'm in this day-to-day just like you are like it's a
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lot of people out there hurting for money right now.
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A lot. And I just think for the people
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that know how to do this and are, if you're wanting to get in
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this game right now, I'll tell you to get in the game right now
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because if you know how to do this, there's going to be a lot
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of opportunity. And then even more so beyond so.
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What do you think is the biggest opportunity in the real estate
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market coming in the near future?
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I think there's a lot, I mean, I think you can make an argument
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for commercial. I think there's going to be some
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great opportunity for commercial.
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But I also think even just the normal single family homes right
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now, I mean, I just got hit up AI used to work a lot with the
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funds while I was here. The funds are coming back pretty
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heavy again for the single family space.
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Well, they're going to pay 110 cents on the dollar relative to
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someone even like myself. I can't pay what the funds pay.
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Their cost of capital is so low. So why wouldn't I just wholesale
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everything or the fund or double close?
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I'll close down and sell it back and I'll go make my 25 grand
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because they'll overpay on something I can't.
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So I think there's opportunity in commercial.
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I think that'll be a big play. That's where I'm going to be
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driving a lot of business for myself.
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But I think the low hanging for the single family will always be
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there, especially over the next at 18 months.
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Yeah. And if you were to start over
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again with no network, no money, no properties, anything like
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that, what would your advice be to somebody like to make their
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first $1,000,000 into real estate or just to get started in
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the business in general? Right now, great question.
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There's two network like crazy. Understand who are the needle
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movers and go get next to them right.
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Like me, for example, you like we actually buy real estate.
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We actually do the thing I like to tell people like go get next
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to us. Like I did a training last night
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for totally free. I literally did an hour of
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analysis on properties. We did four different properties
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that basically took 25 minutes on why is the deal, why it's not
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a deal. What is as is value.
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What is rehab value? Here's my buy box, my actual buy
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box. I was showing it on the zoom
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like here's why I would buy this.
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Here's why I wouldn't buy this. Getting next to those people
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with intention. Point number one, do that.
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But then the other thing is go create the opportunity.
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You provide me a whole lot of value.
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If you can go find me a deal to buy a lot of value and you'll
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make a lot of money doing it. I have members of my community
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that make a ton of money off of me because I show them how to do
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it. And then I go buy it from them
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and they I don't care how big the whole selfie is.
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They can make I'd one guy make $33,000 in November off of me.
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I don't care. Great.
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Here's your you know, the coaching paid for itself a
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bazillion times over, right? And so I say that to say, if you
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are a marketer, if you are a lead Gen. specialist, you don't
10:53
need to know everything I know or what Hannah knows.
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You just need to go find the opportunities.
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It could be with Realtors, it could be direct to homeowner and
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then find the people who can move on those properties,
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whether you wholesale them. And and everyone says start with
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wholesaling, OK, fine, you can, but go line that up for a couple
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deals and then you'll be able to go, you know, Sky's the limit.
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But the combination of knowing the right players and then going
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and finding them what they want, that's the easiest way to do it.
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Yeah, if you can find the deal, the money's always there.
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Right, the reason so great example.
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So the hedge funds dried up for the last what three years ish
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here 2 weeks ago. I get a call right before the
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Christmas holidays. Hey, we're buying again.
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We're buying in Vegas, we're buying in Phoenix, we're buying
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in Oklahoma blah blah blah. We've done a lot of business
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with you. Hey, keep finding us deals.
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We're buying again, same buy box, blah, blah, blah, like
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newer type homes. And it's because I aligned
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myself with the hedge funds that I get a call back.
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After 2 1/2 years of basically crickets, they call me back.
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It always boils down to people. I mean, you know that that's why
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we're doing this podcast. That's why you're going to be on
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my podcast. It's like I'm very intentional
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with 2025 about collaborating. There's more money to be made
12:04
with people than there is about spending money on marketing.
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You can make a lot of Money Marketing, I get it, but if you
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know the right people, the opportunities and the money that
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you can make is going to be way greater.
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So I really lean into collaboration, finding the
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doers, finding the people that are further down the road with
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you. If you have to pay for a coach,
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do it, but like go network and understand that like those
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relationships will open up way more doors down the road.
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Yeah, relationships have been everything for me and just
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serving people and not burning bridges and building more
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relationships and then seasoning the one that I have and I I
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actually have never done any paid marketing ever, no kidding
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in my whole career. I wish I could say the same,
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yeah. No, I'm not, I haven't.
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So it's just 100% relationships and referrals.
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Yeah, yeah. And but that's the that's what
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I'm saying. If I were to tell someone, go
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make $1,000,000, but lean into the people first, you've done
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well, right? And you leaned into people and
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you said, OK, let's go find a way to collaborate.
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Let's go find deals, let's go find business to be had.
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I'm at a place in my life financially where I would rather
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split the pie. And that's what REI live.co is
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all about is I'm going to help someone do more deals because of
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my resources and my ability to get deals, but then we're going
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to split the pie. You're probably getting your
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first deal. I'm getting my whatever number
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of deal. But I'd rather do that then go
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just do my own deal, make all the money and not be able to
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share it. So I want to to be able to
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collaborate way more, especially with the newer people to try to
13:31
actually help them reach the levels that they want to reach.
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But even at our level, like I want to collaborate with
13:36
everybody. I mean, mutual friend Andy,
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where I'm heading from here over to Andy Elliott's Zach keeps
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working. I'm going to tell you know, so I
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just want to be able to do more. And I think people need to
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really lean into collaboration, working with others.
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Yeah, I agree. And it's so much more fun.
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Like it's so fun to do it with each other and just to.
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So I like this rule. Make money, have fun, do good,
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do good by others, have fun doing it and make a whole lot of
14:04
money. I mean, if you could just do
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that, isn't that like the perfect kind of life for an
14:08
entrepreneur? Yeah, it's the dream.
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And so many people struggle, you know, I think in
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entrepreneurship, and this is a lot of what I talk about in a
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lot of my personal journey of excellence and fulfillment in
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the pursuit of both of those, right?
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So many entrepreneurs think that they'll find fulfillment through
14:25
their pursuit of success. And then every every time they
14:27
had a new success, they lack the fulfillment.
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And once you start to feel the fulfillment, it doesn't actually
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drive more success because you're like, this actually feels
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really good right here. I don't need to go chase more.
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Always chasing. I was just sitting down with a a
14:41
friend about this and we were talking about it is when's
14:45
enough enough? Right.
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And there's there's the a type alpha.
14:49
Never, I'm going to go more and I fine, I get it.
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But most people aren't that right.
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So Jen Gottlieb is a friend of mine and we were talking about
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like when you get to a place where you're genuinely
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financially do whatever you want, have that like and you're
15:05
happy. Pushing more just for the sake
15:07
of pushing more doesn't provide any more value.
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Now I I play that line because I still nowhere near the goals I
15:15
want to get, although I've done very well.
15:17
I would need to go way further for where I want to get going
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but it's not out of need now. It's more of AI don't want to
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call it legacy but like kind of what else am I going to go do?
15:29
Yeah, it's the love of the game. Yeah, I do love the game, right?
15:32
And by the way, the game is not always easy, right?
15:34
Like I've taken plenty of LS in 18 years.
15:38
I've taken an L just this last year.
15:39
That was just more of a relationship L.
15:42
We went down a strategic partnership that didn't work out
15:44
well. And that sucks.
15:46
But you know the game isn't for everyone either, right?
15:48
I want everyone to also know that and that's entrepreneurship
15:51
game. Not necessarily real estate, but
15:52
just being an entrepreneur. You got to be able to have thick
15:55
skin, tough stomach, like it is not always puppy dogs and
15:59
rainbows. None of us who have been on this
16:00
podcast shit gold everyday. Like this is like it's work,
16:04
real work. It looks glamorous, right?
16:07
This all looks amazing. But this is part of our work
16:10
because you and I know the value of people.
16:13
But anyways, it's not always just a direct uphill straight
16:17
line, right? You know that you and I've seen
16:20
it a million times, not emoji, but you know, the little image
16:22
of like the straight line to success and then all the
16:24
squiggly, Yep, right. I mean, that's the perfect
16:26
definition of what it takes to win as an entrepreneur.
16:29
Yeah, and it's, I always like the quote that life is like a
16:34
heartbeat. It's filled with peaks and
16:35
valleys, 'cause once it's flat lined, you'd be dead.
16:38
I like that. Yeah.
16:39
So just embracing the hard times, embracing the failures,
16:43
the lessons, the difficulties. But, you know, I think it's easy
16:48
for me, like success was an addiction.
16:51
It still is an addiction that I, you know, I, I always thought,
16:54
OK, I the 1st 100,000 I'll be happy.
16:57
The, the million, I'll be happy. The 10 million, I'll be happy,
16:59
right then it was just always like the next thing.
17:01
And now because I'm around so many older, wiser people and
17:06
these masterminds and these groups in my networks who are in
17:08
their 50s, sixties, 70s, and I realize they're all doing the
17:12
same thing still. Like they are still not happy,
17:14
they're still not satisfied, they're still not fulfilled.
17:16
And I'm like, I don't want to be 60 years old and feeling this
17:20
way, you know? And so that's what's caused me
17:22
to really start to become like, get really honest with myself
17:26
and zoom out and be like, what are my intentions behind what
17:29
I'm, what I'm doing? Like, is this truly coming from
17:32
a place of abundance? And love and passion and
17:34
creation and purpose and service and and fulfillment.
17:38
Or is it coming from a place of lack and need and scarcity and
17:41
fear and ego and all of these things that I don't want?
17:47
But it can start that way. And it does.
17:50
It always does. Most of it starts in that ego,
17:53
fear, scarcity. It did for me.
17:56
I was, I don't want to say homeless, but yeah, essentially
17:58
like I was living on my friend's couch.
18:00
You brought up the point of I got started in the real estate
18:03
tank. I tanked with it, right?
18:05
Just like so many others. I'd lost my home, I lost my car,
18:08
the repo man took my car. Like I lost it all.
18:12
And I was doing really well as a realtor at the time, but the
18:14
real estate market tanked, right?
18:15
So that's going to hurt me. So that desire like fuck this,
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this is not going to happen to me and I'm going to create a way
18:23
brought me 18 years later to where I'm sitting here on your
18:26
podcast right now. There's 18 years of history
18:29
there, but I don't think it's terrible to start out of a need
18:32
or scarcity or fear. I don't think that's a terrible
18:35
starting place as long as that's not your trajectory for your
18:38
career. Because it can be the biggest
18:41
motivator. Your pain can be your biggest
18:43
motivator, right? And so now you're more
18:47
enlightened. Now you realize the mistakes
18:48
maybe you made along the journey if because you stayed too long
18:51
in that, but that's part of the learning process, right?
18:55
Like, I don't know how long you've been in the business, how
18:58
old you are, but like, you're going to adapt and mature and
19:01
grow. Otherwise, again, what are you
19:03
doing? Flatlining.
19:04
You're dying, right? And so you're going to have
19:06
these learning iterations. I mean, I made a post today,
19:09
Blew my mind. I don't know if you saw it or
19:11
not. Demi Moore just won her first
19:14
award ever as an actress ever. She got up on stage and said,
19:18
I've been doing this for 45 years and I've never won an
19:22
award. And it just kind of blew my mind
19:24
that for 45 years she stuck at it.
19:27
She kept going TV commercials, movies, everything we're we know
19:32
her to be. And she just want, do you have
19:35
the maturity and longevity and drive and stamina to keep going
19:40
even though you don't get the accolades that you're really
19:44
kind of looking for her maturity, right?
19:48
I would argue was already there because most people have said
19:52
I'm the best actress and fuck this and blah, blah, blah.
19:54
No, you know, but her maturity said I'm just going to keep
19:57
doing what I love regardless of all the ego and all the other
20:01
things. And you know, I'm not named the
20:05
biggest act. Julia Roberts winning all these
20:07
awards, right? I just thought it was
20:09
impressive. I mean, it just takes a level of
20:10
maturity to keep doing something like that without having the
20:12
accolades and rewards and all those other things.
20:15
Yeah. And I think that's where the
20:17
passion comes into is like you, in order to sustain what you
20:22
have to go through as an entrepreneur, you have to have a
20:25
level of love for it. Like you can't, you know, that
20:28
was me trying to get in the construction business and
20:30
starting construction companies and having all these, you know.
20:33
Did you do it? Are you still doing it or did
20:34
you said Oh no? Yeah, no way.
20:38
I lasted like a year and a few months and I was like, I'm done.
20:43
Like I I don't care what I lose. I don't care what I'm making.
20:45
I don't care anything. I hate my life and I had no
20:48
passion for it at all. I was just doing it because it
20:50
was money, you know, and so there has to be in love with the
20:54
game. And if you don't love the game,
20:55
that was a big mistake I made in the beginning was I was just
20:59
chasing money. Like I became an engineer
21:00
because I knew an engineer and they had a lot of money.
21:03
So I was like, I just want a lot of money.
21:04
I'm going to become an engineer. Had no passion for engineering
21:07
and ended up quitting engineering.
21:08
That was the next thing I was a mining engineer in for CAT for
21:11
construction. So I'm like, oh, I'll start
21:12
construction companies because he's a billionaire.
21:15
Like this sounds cool, right? And absolutely hated it, you
21:18
know, and the one thing that was always consistent for me was
21:21
real estate. I always was doing real estate
21:23
and I always just kept going back to it, never quit it.
21:26
And and then just started to pivot into directions of real
21:31
estate that I really enjoyed, like commercial, you know, real
21:34
estate and just investing and value add and stuff like that.
21:36
So that passion is important. For longevity, you have to, for
21:40
any type of longevity, right 'cause again, you're gonna, it's
21:43
not always perfect, right? And so the life of an
21:46
entrepreneur is challenging to say the least, but so rewarding
21:51
because I, I just so fun fact about me, I graduated UCLA.
21:54
I've never had AW two job ever. I went directly into door to
21:58
door sales, which is a great opportunity.
22:01
From there I went into real estate, which we talked about in
22:03
2000 and five, 2000 and five, 2006 was great.
22:06
End of 2006 was not so great. And so I ended up on a couch and
22:11
my $100,000 Lexus was taken by the repo man, and my $500,000
22:15
house is taken by the bank. But those lessons to say, OK, I
22:20
deserve more and I want more come out of a place of my
22:23
childhood because I never went without in my childhood.
22:26
My family was, my mom was an alcoholic, my dad was an
22:29
alcoholic, my stepfather was an alcoholic.
22:32
I don't have incredibly terrible stories, but that's not an easy
22:36
childhood, right? I remember waking up in the back
22:39
of a car in a parking lot because my mom had to sit in a
22:42
bar all night and drink. And I was, you know, four or
22:44
five years old. I say that because I realized,
22:48
you know, when I did lose everything back to this like
22:50
point of like pain, I was not willing to create a life that
22:55
led anywhere near that. Right now, it's not about the
22:57
alcohol, but it's about like wanting more.
22:59
Like don't let the your circumstances or all the other
23:02
things dictate whether you can go achieve it.
23:04
Just go out and achieve it. And so that point of losing
23:07
everything allowed me to do some internal searching and a whole
23:11
lot of therapy to say I'm going to go create a fucking epic
23:15
life. And I chose real estate.
23:18
It's not for everyone. I just love real estate.
23:21
To your point, like name the billionaires and almost all of
23:24
them have a massive portfolio of real estate.
23:28
Some of them got created like a Trump.
23:29
It was created through real estate and others are like, it
23:33
is the best asset to put anything in.
23:35
So I'm going to go take all my fortune and put it into real
23:37
estate, right? Right.
23:39
So when did that drive begin for you as a child?
23:42
I mean, you know, I, I talk a lot about and study doctor
23:45
Gabriemate, who's a therapist, one of the most renowned
23:48
therapist on addiction and trauma and healing and all that.
23:50
And he says the primary trauma in most people is simply not
23:54
feeling seen, hurt or protected by their parents when they're
23:57
just a toddler. So it doesn't need to be extreme
23:59
abuse or things like that. And so, and because we don't
24:03
feel loved or seen or heard from our parents, that is what causes
24:07
that need for proving our worth or that deep rooted insecurity
24:12
where we have to prove it to others and to ourselves and
24:15
become so disconnected and kind of give up our authentic selves
24:18
to be loved by the people that are around us.
24:22
And even society in America is, is toxic in itself with how it's
24:27
so rewarding towards, you know, success and things.
24:29
So were you like a troublemaker kid or were you always like, I
24:33
was an overachiever, hyper overachiever, breeding rich dad,
24:36
poor dad at 13 years old. But then I know a lot of people
24:39
that were complete trouble, like, you know, gang members or
24:42
beating people up or whatever. And then they had a rock bottom
24:46
and kind of shifted. Like what was that like for you?
24:47
When did you realize I want to be successful and I'm going to
24:51
do whatever it takes to have a life that I want to live.
24:54
I. Mean the the moment of my own
24:56
adult rock bottom, right, where I lost my home and lost my house
24:59
was kind of the moment in terms of like, I'm absolutely a
25:04
statistic to the doctor talking about right.
25:06
My childhood was I wasn't seen. I wasn't again, I didn't have
25:12
some very overly traumatic. I wasn't sexually abused.
25:15
I don't have that story, thankfully, and I know a lot of
25:18
people do, but I also like that I made a post recently again
25:24
about mentors. You can pay for a mentor like
25:26
you or like me that have what you want.
25:28
And so you're going to pay them to Fast forward to the laptop in
25:30
front of the line to go get what they have because they know how
25:33
to do it. Then you have mentors like my
25:35
parents, I never wanted to be them.
25:38
I want to love them. I have two children.
25:39
They're incredible and like, I want to love them in a way that
25:42
I wasn't loved. And that lesson I had to learn,
25:45
unfortunately, through not being loved, seen, heard, felt
25:49
comforted as as a kid should be, led me to who I am today as a
25:55
parent and in a business owner. And so, you know, the
25:58
interesting thing is sometimes I look at it where I'm at and
26:01
where I could be potentially if I was like a shark killer beast
26:04
business guy and I don't give a fuck.
26:06
And I'm going to come after your throat all the time.
26:09
And those people are there. I just, it wouldn't be my
26:13
genuine, authentic self, right? And so because I have compassion
26:16
and empathy and that's not normal for most males, I think,
26:20
but I, I lean into like saying, Hey, I'm, I'm not perfect.
26:23
I make mistakes and, and not everything's perfect.
26:26
And I'm can be understanding it. And so the moment was when I
26:30
lost everything was the actual moment of saying I need an
26:33
awesome life because I deserve it.
26:36
This isn't what life's about, you know, sleeping on a couch
26:39
and not affording anything. But also I would tell most
26:44
people when you're shooting, when you're writing goals or
26:47
like people talk about write out your perfect day, write out your
26:50
perfect life. Like what do you want this to
26:52
like? It changes.
26:54
It's not a static thing. So if you write something today
26:58
about your goals and your life and what you want your life to
27:01
look like in three years, you might go back and read that and
27:03
be like, it's not really what I want my perfect day to look like
27:06
or what I want my like, because we grow, right?
27:10
And so we're not a static individual.
27:11
We're growing, we're developing, we're adapting.
27:14
And so I hope people can just understand that like, there's no
27:17
right, there's no wrong. Adapt it to what you really,
27:20
really want, right? Money doesn't solve everything.
27:23
It just gives us choices. And I just really like nice shit
27:27
and choices to go on 6 vacations every year with my family that
27:31
are very expensive and instead of going to Disney World the
27:34
normal way I hire the VIP host that walks us behind the
27:36
building so we don't have to. Like I want those choices so I
27:40
do. I get viewed as like money
27:42
hungry but it's not because I necessarily want nice things,
27:45
although I do. It's because I want the choice
27:47
to be able to do the thing, do the things I want to do.
27:50
Yeah, I'm the same way. And money's just a tool to have
27:53
freedom and the choices to live a life that you want to live.
27:56
And we have one life, so might as well have an amazing life.
27:59
And I think that's The thing is like that line of money doesn't
28:03
buy happiness. And it's like, well, money buys
28:05
me happiness all the time. It can't buy that internal like
28:09
deep rooted fulfillment and and joy and peace inside.
28:15
I saw your post you today whenever you talked about your
28:19
or car that's that post was brilliant.
28:23
That's right on the spot because you feel better getting into AG
28:26
wagon every day than getting into a Honda Corolla.
28:31
It's as simple as that, right? Like you just feel better about
28:35
yourself doing that. And so would everyone by the
28:38
way. But they would rather make
28:39
excuses for why they can't work and why they can't go make as
28:43
much money as Hannah and why they can't get the G wagon.
28:46
Because it's easier to say I can't, I can't, I can't and
28:49
here's why than to say I want to just be happy everyday getting
28:53
in my damn vehicle instead of getting in a vehicle.
28:55
I'm like, it's as simple as that.
28:57
The money gives you the ability to be happy everyday.
29:01
Not because you can go buy one thing, right?
29:04
It's because you have the things that make you happy.
29:07
Yeah. And the freedom then, that's the
29:08
big thing is the freedom to enjoy it.
29:09
Now, if you were buying AG Wagon just to try to show somebody
29:13
that you could afford it, but you're saving your life away in
29:15
a miserable career, in a miserable relationship, and
29:17
you're unhealthy and you're sick and you're like, that's
29:19
different, right? But if you're a thriving person
29:22
who's created a life of abundance and of wealth and of
29:24
freedom and you can go, you know, put it in sport mode and
29:28
haul ass on the freeway and get a feeling of adrenaline and just
29:31
love it and get a back massage and you're heated seats and
29:33
everything's so nice, then that's worth it.
29:36
Like that's something that's awesome and that's something
29:38
that brings joy. And some people don't give a
29:40
shit about cars and that's great.
29:41
But to each his own. There's different, you know,
29:43
like my horse, most people would never care about a horse, but
29:46
that horse is a lot of money more than the Doo wagon and, you
29:50
know, brings me more joy than almost anything in my life.
29:53
And so you can't have those experiences in life if you don't
29:58
have the time, the money, the health and the freedom to do so.
30:02
Yeah, so cool. And So what was the moment when
30:06
you hit the rock bottom? Moment where you lost everything
30:09
and you were pretty new? You know, you had massive
30:11
success, exponential growth and then huge sell off, right and
30:15
hit rock bottom. And that was a pretty long
30:18
period of really bad real estate market like the Great Recession.
30:23
Like how, how did you feel in that moment?
30:25
Did you lean into addictions? Did you go into deep depression?
30:29
Did you like, how did you cope? And how did you kind of bounce
30:33
back and weather the storm and that and not give up and not
30:36
just go back to a normal job or say, you know, screw real
30:39
estate, This is not for me. And 'cause you saw, you know,
30:43
you saw the best of it and the worst of it so quickly.
30:46
So I did not, I have a very and this is very hard to teach.
30:49
So as an educator, as a leader, like I have to try to do my best
30:54
to give the Tony Robbins at times to people because like not
30:57
always easy, but I have a very shoulder shrug mentality.
31:01
All right, what's next? What's my next move?
31:03
What's my next play? What am I doing next?
31:05
What? So I've always had that and
31:07
partly probably from my childhood, like, oh fuck, I just
31:09
came home. My mom's passed out on the
31:10
floor. OK, I'm going to go upstairs
31:14
and, you know, do my homework or whatever, right?
31:17
So partly that like shoulder shrug, I would, I would guess
31:20
came from that my ability to kind of like, all right, this is
31:23
it is what it is, right? So if you can lean into that and
31:28
and I think the other component would be is if people can lean
31:31
into it's never as good as you think it is and it's never as
31:34
bad as you think it is. It never is.
31:36
I don't care what it is. It is never as good as you think
31:38
it is and it's never as bad as you think it is.
31:41
So if you can realize like, all right, everything has a way out
31:45
or a way in or whatever the case is, you don't get overly
31:48
dramatic. So I didn't go through a
31:50
depression. I didn't go through this
31:51
dramatic. Oh my God, I'm going to go
31:54
become a alcoholic like my parents.
31:56
I didn't go through that. Now, I spent my 20s and 30s here
31:59
in Scottsdale and had way too much fun.
32:03
And so, but it wasn't because of like a depression.
32:06
It was just like, I want to go be a fuck boy essentially for a
32:10
decade. And that was a choice.
32:11
I chose it right and so, but what it what that dark time
32:18
allowed for me was space to say OK, what vertical again?
32:23
I never had AW 2 so I've never had a boss.
32:25
What do I want to go do? And this is God. 2007 is before
32:30
I think any flipping shows. Maybe Flip this house was on,
32:33
maybe, I don't know for sure, but it's like Myspace, I think
32:36
was around. There's no Instagram, there's no
32:38
TikTok, there's none of what we have today to create
32:41
insecurities and fear and oh, I suck and look at everyone else
32:44
and they're amazing and I'm not. I didn't have any of it.
32:47
So I really had space back then just like, what do I want to do?
32:53
And at the time I saw a YouTube video.
32:57
So YouTube was around in 2007 of this guy and I still know him
33:02
today with spotted hair and he was a short sale flipper and it
33:09
was a YouTube video on a property that he made some big
33:12
number flipping a short sell. And I'm like, holy shit.
33:16
Because obviously being real estate, I realized there's a lot
33:19
of financial pain. People are losing homes and
33:20
banks. How to figure this out?
33:21
And I'm like real estate investing.
33:25
That's what I want to do because as a realtor, I never liked
33:29
driving people around. I don't honestly, I don't know
33:31
many Realtors that do. They deal with it and they can
33:34
be good at it, but they don't love that part, right?
33:37
I didn't like doing open houses, etcetera.
33:39
And so I was like, dude, I don't want to be a realtor, but I do
33:41
love real estate and I know it creates billionaires and a lot
33:44
of money and blah, blah. So I saw this video
33:47
simultaneously the, the circuit of a real estate investing
33:52
seminar started coming out, right?
33:55
And I saw the video, in the video, there was an ad for a
34:00
product called Freedom Soft. So I called my grandfather
34:05
because I have no money for $1000 to buy Freedom Soft.
34:09
Well, when I bought it, they gave me two tickets to a
34:12
seminar. Shocker.
34:14
So I bought it thinking, OK, this is I'm going to get all my
34:17
short sale leads in because I'm a realtor.
34:19
I know how to da da and then I'm going to whatever.
34:22
So it was basically a serum. So I go to the seminar for three
34:25
days, which is a long seminar now, and they're selling $25,000
34:29
coaching and I call a friend and borrow $25,000.
34:34
My God, that's a good friend. It's a great friend, by the way,
34:39
and it speaks volumes of who I am and then who he is, right?
34:42
Like he trusted me at 25 grand, but he also was willing to give
34:45
it to me. God.
34:46
So that was kind of the scenario.
34:49
And then I said, well, shit, I got to get him his 25 grand
34:52
back. And then when you put yourself
34:54
in a corner, at least for most people myself, like when you're
34:57
in that corner, there's only one way out forward, like, you got
35:00
to get out of the corner. And so when I borrowed the 25
35:02
grand, it's like, I can't, there's no failing.
35:04
This is a friend of mine. Borrowing money from your
35:07
parents would almost. And I didn't.
35:09
My family never had enough money to borrow.
35:10
But you can always be like, oh, sorry, mom and Dad, you can't
35:15
really do that with a friend. I mean, you could.
35:18
Yeah. You want to lose a friend?
35:19
Right. And so I had to go make it
35:21
happen and it wasn't easy. And it took nine months to get
35:24
my first deal. And trust me, the the friend
35:26
conversation started to get a little squirrely, right?
35:29
Like, hey, dude, how's it going? Is my money coming back anytime?
35:32
So I'm like, I'm working on it. But then I started it, you know,
35:36
first deal led to an immediate second deal because the best
35:38
time to get your next deal is right after your first deal,
35:40
right? And then that started the
35:41
training of momentum. But you know, I would almost
35:46
advise people to put themselves, you don't have to go out and
35:48
borrow a bunch of money and put yourself in financial harm, but
35:51
I'd put yourself in a position that you don't have anywhere
35:53
else to go but to go when right. And if you can do that, I mean,
35:58
I don't know exactly everyone's scenario listening to this, but
36:01
like, if you can put yourself in this area, like I have to win
36:04
because of this scenario. So one of my first coaches told
36:09
me this, actually, you know, Michael Bernoff.
36:13
Yeah. So I love Michael.
36:14
So we used to share an office suite together.
36:16
Oh wow, that's funny. And he's in my.
36:19
Genius Network. Yeah, group.
36:21
And yeah, he's great. So he's incredible.
36:23
So we just got really, really close.
36:26
And my first mentor said it one way, but then he really says it
36:29
that I think a lot of people can understand.
36:32
So we were sharing an office together and I was thinking
36:34
about getting a Maserati. And he was like, you have to go
36:38
do that now because you told me that now I'm going to hold you
36:40
accountable to go get your Maserati.
36:42
And I'm like, damn, man, like what now?
36:45
Why? He's like, because if you put
36:47
yourself spending, because I think the payment was like 4
36:50
times the payment of what I was currently driving or something
36:52
like that, right? He's like, if you put yourself
36:54
in a financial position of needing more money, guess what?
36:56
You're going to go do make more money.
36:58
You're going to go make more money.
36:59
And again, I'm not trying to give advice like go put yourself
37:01
in harm way and go buy a Maserati and go do these things
37:04
and run up your credit card. So you have to go don't do that
37:06
shit, don't be dumb, but put yourself in a position that
37:09
you'd like, OK, I got to go win, right?
37:12
Because as humans, we will likely go win as long as you're
37:16
mentally strong enough. I don't think people talk enough
37:18
about the mental strength it takes in the fortitude and the
37:20
overcoming the negative self talk and all the other stuff.
37:25
But I'll tell you, it's always at another friend, close friend
37:28
and business partner. He said, when I started having
37:30
kids, I was going to make more money than I've ever made in my
37:32
life. And I'm like, OK, I get it.
37:35
You got to pay for kids. Oh, he was dead right.
37:38
Because there's something instinctual about like, oh, I
37:40
got to go provide not just for me so I can make sure I can eat,
37:44
but kids and life and vacations. And you get forced in this
37:48
position, like I'm going to go create a great life for them
37:52
now, not just for me, for them. And so, you know, it's that
37:56
position of like when you're in those dark days and you're
37:59
having trouble and like, there's light, but the light's only
38:03
going to shine on you if you're willing to open your eyes.
38:06
A lot of people would rather keep their eyes closed and put
38:08
their head in the sand. It's dark, it's tough, it sucks.
38:12
So I'm just going to try to ignore how bad this shit is.
38:14
But if you can open your eyes, you can actually see that there
38:17
is light coming out of another door that just opened for you.
38:20
You just actually have to go find the door and walk through
38:23
it. And that's where people break.
38:25
They don't, they don't have the mental strength, willpower,
38:28
fortitude, say, OK, I got to keep my eyes open because God is
38:31
giving me something that it's going to be a gift.
38:34
It is going to be the new door that I'm going to be able to
38:36
walk through. And so and listen, like I said,
38:39
18 years, I've taken plenty of L's financially, business
38:42
partners. I've had two business
38:43
relationships blow up. It sucks.
38:45
It's never fun losing a quarter $1,000,000 on a flip here in in
38:49
central Phoenix, right? Like losing multiple millions on
38:53
a development play out in Mesa, like I've taken lumps.
38:57
I just have the ability to keep my head up, keep my chest out
39:00
and say, OK, there's light here. It's not going to be easy or
39:03
fun, but I'll be able to get out of this darkness.
39:05
And every time I do, and every time I kind of rise up as a
39:07
Phoenix. Yeah, and I love the saying, you
39:12
know, I, I forget who says it, but I'm sure a lot of people say
39:15
it. But think of kind of what you
39:17
said. It's never as great as it seems.
39:18
It's never as bad as it seems. If we really so many people are
39:21
so afraid to take action that they don't take action.
39:24
And I don't think it's so much the fear of failure, but it's
39:27
the fear of embarrassment, judgement.
39:31
But if you think about like, what's the worst thing that
39:34
could possibly happen? And then if that happens, what's
39:37
the worst thing that could possibly happen from there?
39:39
Like you go down every scenario, if it's the absolute worst thing
39:42
that could happen, are you still going to like, what are you
39:44
going to be? What, what's your life going to
39:45
be like? Are you going to be OK?
39:46
Are you going to be alive? Is it going to be fine?
39:49
And the answer is yes. And so a lot of our fears are so
39:52
great, but it's just this anxiety inside of us.
39:54
But in reality, even if the worst thing possibly happened,
39:57
like you lose everything, you go bankrupt, you start over, you're
40:00
still going to be OK. Like you, you know you're still
40:02
there and you you have skills that you can go out and make
40:06
more. Money, like if I lost everything
40:07
today, I lost my properties, I lost my businesses, I had to
40:10
restart, I lost my networks. I have all the skills that got
40:13
me here today and I could go probably make $100,000 in 10
40:16
days without a problem. And so or whatever amount of
40:19
money, at least enough money to put food on the table, you know,
40:21
so I think that's what's so important.
40:24
And it's something for me is like I, as you make bigger moves
40:27
as an entrepreneur and you start to scale companies and delegate
40:30
and you take on more risk and more overhead and liability and
40:35
you're more exposed to lawsuit. You know, I filed 3 lawsuits
40:38
last week and I'm like, I hate this.
40:41
I, I always said I would never file any lawsuits.
40:43
And I'm like, well, you know, at some point in your business
40:46
there's gonna be. Lawsuits if you are.
40:47
Going and but just thinking of like I'm the same way as I don't
40:53
really have that anxiety anymore because it's like what's the
40:56
worst that can? Happen it is, it is.
40:57
It's really sound advice. So when I lost the multiple
40:59
millions out in Mason development play, my one of my
41:02
best friends and what I consider a Big Brother mentor, Kent
41:05
Clothier came out, literally flew out.
41:07
He heard my tone on a call. He called me at random, heard my
41:11
tone. It's like, hey, dude, I'm going
41:12
to bring a couple boys out. We're going to come hang out
41:14
with you in Scottsdale. I'm kind of thinking like
41:17
dinners, cocktails, fuckery and Old Town.
41:20
And it turned into like, hey dude, I know shit's going down
41:23
and talked to me. And literally the whole point
41:26
was what is the worst that can happen?
41:29
And he kept saying it and then I'd say this and he'd say, OK,
41:33
what's the worst that can happen?
41:34
And he did that exact exercise with me and I got to a point
41:37
where I'm like, oh, I'm fucking great, let's roll.
41:40
Because you just really realize like there is no worse like me.
41:45
And you at least, sure, people do some real fucked up shit, but
41:49
like, if you're doing good, your heart's in the right place and
41:52
you made a mistake, there's no real worst killing someone,
41:56
that's different. But like making a business
41:58
mistake, there's not a level of like, it's over, you're ruined,
42:02
you're done, you're going, you know, no one loves you and no
42:06
right. And so that is a great exercise
42:09
for people to put themselves through and just say, what is
42:11
the OK, what's the worst? If that happens?
42:13
What's the worst, right? And so that was great.
42:15
The other thing is I've been in several lawsuits myself and I'll
42:20
tell you settle every time. Not that you need this advice
42:26
but I'll tell you just settle. Like what plays into is the ego
42:29
of I'm right you're wrong and I recently just went through this
42:33
right, I'm right, they are wrong and I went through Christmas in
42:38
the holidays and I said fuck it meaningless.
42:43
Text them. Hey dude want to just get this
42:46
done? Settle.
42:48
Yep. So like today or tomorrow, I
42:51
should be getting an e-mail from the lawyer.
42:53
Yeah. Settling.
42:54
And it's because I got to a place in my life where I'm just
42:56
like, what am I fucking over? What now?
42:59
If it's like a $10 million swing, OK, I'm gonna probably
43:03
fight and do that couple 100 grand here there one way or
43:07
another. And I'm just like, I can, to
43:09
your point, if I work and do what I need to do, I can do it
43:11
in 30 days. Yeah, what am I doing?
43:14
So I would tell anyone, if you're ever out there listening
43:16
to this or getting like, I would try everything you can to not
43:20
right? And then just settle and get
43:22
your ego out of the way and say go make the money.
43:25
Unless it's some really big number or defamation or fine.
43:30
But. I'm the same way and that's why
43:32
I always would say I would never be in a lawsuit because it's not
43:35
worth because I've had tons of huge financial losses and
43:38
business partnerships were same thing as like I'm right, you're
43:40
wrong, but I don't care. I don't have the ego like I
43:42
don't want to waste my time because that's opportunity cost.
43:46
Like my time, my energy, my thoughts, my attention.
43:49
It's not worth. I didn't want to do it right.
43:51
And so then all of a sudden I realized like I basically am not
43:54
sleeping because my mind's running all night and you know,
43:57
the scenario is like, I don't even have bad feelings towards
44:00
the other side really. I mean, I really just don't.
44:03
I just there was classic miscommunication, classic guys,
44:07
you know, or lack of communication.
44:10
Classic and it led to this shitty scenario that we ended up
44:14
in and I'm like, who cares, right?
44:17
And and so I wasn't sleeping. My wife could tell I was
44:19
stressed out. Like it was just an obvious like
44:21
this is not and it was going to drag out.
44:23
Every lawsuit drags out because if both sides are stubborn and
44:26
any good lawyer is going to tell you to settle.
44:28
So if both sides don't want to settle, then fucking it just
44:31
keeps going. So I just tell anybody like be
44:33
done. And if that helps you in
44:34
whatever your 3 scenarios are, I would tell you immediately if
44:37
there's a number, if there's a way to get it done and not have
44:39
to do it, I'll tell you to do that just for you, not for
44:43
nothing else. Just like go clear your energy
44:44
for 2025. That was another thing I was
44:47
like, is this really the energy I want to start the fucking year
44:49
with? So I'm like, fuck it, and the
44:51
lawyer's going to send me a settlement agreement.
44:53
And yes, it is way less than I would have wanted.
44:56
I don't care. Move on, On to.
44:58
The next on to the next. Bigger, better things.
45:00
Yeah, I know. And a lot of people, I mean most
45:03
like mine are. I lend money to people and you
45:07
know two of them are fraudulent they.
45:09
Just took the money. Like friends, pretty, not
45:11
friends, but acquaintances, real estate agents like to ask me for
45:15
money, 'cause I have a lending company and I lend money.
45:18
But if it's, you know, 50,000 or 100,000 or something less than
45:22
that, sometimes I won't collateralize it if I trust them
45:24
and then they take the money and run.
45:26
So that's those situations. I mean, they're small, like
45:28
super, super small type situations.
45:30
If you feel valid, and I'm not going to take away from validity
45:33
of feeling like you need to go do that 'cause that's pretty
45:35
shitty. And but if there's a way for you
45:38
to just say fuck this. Yeah.
45:40
Then do that. Yeah, I just tell the attorney
45:43
to handle it and call me when he needs me.
45:45
But yeah, that is, you know, fraud, people who are fraudulent
45:51
and people who are liars and people who use people like, you
45:55
know, I get a little triggered just even saying that 'cause it
45:58
just is so sick. It's so wrong.
46:00
Like, that's not how you win in life.
46:02
And that's why you're, you know, in your 40s and you have nothing
46:04
and no one. And you're asking, asking, you
46:07
know everybody that you possibly can for money and you owe 100
46:10
people money. Like that's just not the way to
46:12
get ahead. No matter what position you're
46:14
in. If you be a good person and
46:16
you're honest and you have integrity and you don't deceive
46:20
and manipulate and screw people over, like you will be
46:23
successful people will help you. People want to help you.
46:26
And even if you're just getting started and you're looking for a
46:29
mentor, like you can find successful mentors for free.
46:32
Some like there's people out there that are older and have
46:35
done it all and they want to give back.
46:36
Like that's part of Maslow's hierarchy and needs, right?
46:39
Is that it feels so good to teach and to give and things
46:42
like that. So I think it's just the most
46:44
important thing over all else is be a good person and be good to
46:48
your word. That's why I have the big three
46:50
right? Make a lot of money, have fun
46:52
and do good. So the do good is everything you
46:54
just talked about, have integrity, right and do good by
46:57
people. So that's the big three for me.
47:00
Yeah, yeah, it's important. So what have you struggled with
47:08
on your journey throughout building your companies?
47:11
I mean, you have companies now you've built multiples, you
47:14
know, 7 figure revenue businesses and are obviously a a
47:17
huge success financially and all these other things and you're in
47:21
in really good shape. Like you stay fit and usually
47:23
people. It's hard to balance everything,
47:25
right? It's so hard to be have good
47:28
relationships and be a good parent or spouse and you know,
47:31
have amazing friends that you maintain and have be successful
47:34
and be good looking and follow a good diet and don't have any bad
47:36
addictions and all these things like has there been, at least
47:39
speaking for me, I've always struggled to keep that, that pie
47:42
balanced. Has there been any area of your
47:45
life that's been hard for you to maintain balance in or that
47:49
struggled that you've sacrificed throughout this journey?
47:52
The hardest for me right now, frankly, and it's not a bad
47:55
thing. It was just like, I don't know
47:57
completely how to balance fatherhood with business and
48:02
being a husband all at the same time because you can't be a
48:05
master of all three. Somewhere you're going to make
48:08
sacrifices. But I'm going to remove that for
48:10
the sake of the question. You know, I think the reason why
48:15
I talk so openly about like my late 20s and 30s essentially and
48:19
being a fuck boy is what the kiddos call it these days is
48:24
because that actually was what was needed for my soul and not
48:29
challenge them. Oh, you really need to party
48:31
three nights a week, fucking Friday, Saturday and all day
48:33
Sunday and drink like a crazy person kind of.
48:37
And it's not because I needed it because I was hiding something.
48:39
It was because I needed to just go through that and allow my
48:42
selfishness and allow these things.
48:43
And I just went through a pretty terrible breakup.
48:45
And like, I'm like, I can be selfish because I don't have
48:48
wife and kids. And so it was never a problem.
48:53
I didn't become an alcoholic. I'm not an alcoholic, but that
48:57
was the time that I needed. So I didn't become one.
48:59
That was the time I needed where I didn't.
49:01
So I know I'm not going to cheat on my wife.
49:02
That was the time I needed that I can really be intentional with
49:05
my kids and not feel like they're a burden.
49:07
So for me, that kind of really flushed out a lot of the selfish
49:10
tendencies that I probably would have been going through at 43
49:13
right now. And so, you know, I don't know
49:18
if I have a, a challenge of like how to balance my biggest
49:23
challenge, frankly is the kids side because you just want to be
49:26
so there at least I do right? Because my childhood.
49:30
So I'm like, I know what I don't want, but then I also want to be
49:33
able to provide this really epic where I can take 6 massively
49:38
expensive long vacations every year with them and, and I can.
49:43
So there's this balance of like, how do you do it all?
49:46
And I'll tell you, that's the hardest thing that keeps me a
49:48
little restless is like, I want to be more there for my kids,
49:53
although they're very young and there's not a lot more to do per
49:57
SE. I never miss a recital.
49:59
I never miss anything my 3 year old daughter does.
50:01
Like I never do that. But I think, you know, eating or
50:06
alcohol or any of that. I just think, listen, people
50:09
have real chemical imbalances. That is a very real thing,
50:15
right? But unless someone physically
50:19
has that chemical imbalance, which my mom was bipolar and
50:23
manic depressive, which is I can't even imagine.
50:28
I think it just has, you got to have the willpower to like, I'm
50:34
not going to overeat or I'm not going to go drink 8 beers a
50:38
night or whatever The thing is, right?
50:39
I just, you got to have some reasonable willpower.
50:42
The last thing I'll say to that is I also allow myself to go
50:49
have fun still, right? I allow myself to go out and
50:56
have 5 or 6 drinks and actually have fun enjoyment.
51:00
And then when I wake up the next day I go, I'm not sure I love
51:03
this. Then I can realize, OK, I don't
51:05
want to do that for a while. So giving yourself a little bit
51:08
like again, I've never had a problem meeting, but the idea
51:11
would be like, hey, if you're really good on your diet and you
51:13
eat chicken and broccoli every night, go have your cheat day,
51:17
right? Because then you'll realize, OK,
51:18
I'm bloated and don't feel great.
51:19
It tasted great, but like I'm groggy and don't feel them.
51:23
It like allow yourself some of that because I think most people
51:26
won't give themselves grace these days.
51:28
They got to be perfect on Instagram.
51:31
Everyone's perfect, Hannah, duh. Their bodies are perfect and
51:35
they're making all the money and they never have issues and their
51:38
marriage is amazing. Their kids never cry ever,
51:41
right? It's like, OK, so like, I just
51:43
think give yourself grace. Go do the thing that society was
51:47
old or I'm going to judge you. You're eating pizza and Donuts
51:50
or or go and party for a weekend if you want.
51:53
If you're single, like go do it, right?
51:55
I mean, the reality is like, this is life.
51:57
It's experiential. I just, I don't know how much
52:01
time we have, but I only fly first class.
52:03
Here's why. You never know who you're going
52:04
to sit next to. I've met the most amazing people
52:06
and built the most amazing network because of flying first
52:09
class. Very expensive.
52:10
I get it every time because of people.
52:15
But I say that because the last trip I took, I don't even
52:19
remember where I was going. But the guy sitting next to me,
52:24
he's a financial advisor and he's older, you know, semi
52:28
retired. And he gave me this quote that I
52:31
will quote for the rest of my life.
52:32
Invest in current living and I'll never forget that.
52:38
Spend the money, do the thing, have the fun party in Vegas.
52:42
Do it because it is your life and it is finite.
52:46
And if you don't go do it, then you're always going to have that
52:49
pit in your stomach. Or when the days are ending, or
52:52
I wish I would have. I wish I would don't do that
52:55
right? That will be your biggest regret
52:57
is the wish. I would a wish I would.
52:58
So go do the thing again. Like fuck society judging you
53:01
because you spent two days in Vegas at a pool party and drank
53:04
too much. Who cares about society?
53:06
If you want to go do that because that'll bring you some
53:09
level of joy for that moment, go do it.
53:12
Or hey, eat your Donuts or pizza or whatever, or hey, you know,
53:16
whatever The thing is. Don't overly judge yourself,
53:19
right? No one is perfect.
53:21
It isn't Instagram, it isn't perfect, it's fucked up, it's a
53:25
mess, it's crazy, it's wild. This is our life.
53:29
So invest in your current living and live.
53:31
I'm also not saying be an idiot. So I'm also want to make sure
53:34
I'm clear with my audience here. Like I'm not telling you to go
53:36
fucking party and do all the drugs and be an idiot for four
53:40
or five days. Like that's not healthy, but
53:42
like or eat Donuts every day of your life.
53:44
Not healthy. So I just there's a line and I
53:46
don't want to be too extreme and jump over it, but I just believe
53:49
in like you have one life and it's finite and it can be short.
53:53
So go enjoy it. Yeah, I think that's amazing and
53:56
it's so true. And you know, I was, I used to
53:59
be just the delayed gratification.
54:01
I'll do this when, right. I think so many people like even
54:03
retirement, they're like, oh, I'll travel when I'm 70 years
54:06
old and I don't have to worry more.
54:07
And I think it's just so backwards.
54:09
And all we have ever in our life is the present moment.
54:13
And and that line is an investment is supposed to do
54:17
something that is better for your future.
54:19
And so it's making the decisions and investing in the things for
54:22
your current living today that aren't gonna negatively impact
54:26
your future. And so like having the fun,
54:28
that's a positive impact on your future because you need to let
54:31
loose and you need to enjoy life and you need to have fun.
54:33
And you need to take the trip and, and do the party or have
54:36
the cake or whatever. And then you, you know, make the
54:40
decision the next day to eat a good nice diet that feels really
54:43
good for you. And it, and that's that where
54:45
that investing comes in and some investments you make and you
54:47
lose a little bit and then you learn from it and you invest in,
54:50
in something better the next day or the next time.
54:52
So I think that's really awesome advice and I was actually going
54:56
to ask you like, what's 1? I know you said you recently
54:58
heard that, but throughout the course of your life, like what's
55:01
1 quote or philosophy that you've lived by that's helped
55:04
you get to where you are and stay on track?
55:10
I mean, as generic as it is, is everything is up to you to
55:15
create. And that probably stems from my
55:18
childhood again because I basically had to feed myself and
55:20
get myself right? Like I just, I had to grow up
55:23
fast. And so it was just something
55:25
that, you know, wherever I heard it first, I don't know whether
55:27
it was Tony Robbins or whoever it was the first time.
55:29
It just has always resonated. And like, it is my choice to
55:33
create the life I want. It is also my choice to not if I
55:36
don't want to work as hard and I don't care about making as much
55:38
money, it's my choice. There's no wrong or right, but I
55:42
need to understand what I want. I need to understand what I want
55:45
my life to look like. And then I have to make the
55:46
choice to go in that direction. So that's just always, And you
55:50
got to take a lot of action to get there.
55:51
And if you don't want a lot, then you take a lot of unaction,
55:54
inaction. But like, if you want what I
55:55
want or what you want, like go fast, take a ton of action.
56:00
Shit's going to break while you're doing it.
56:02
But like, it's always up to you. It's always a choice that you
56:06
have to make. Yeah, love.
56:08
It and then the last question I'd like to ask this one is if
56:12
you could give advice to your 20 year old self, what would it be?
56:24
That's hard because I wouldn't be where I'm at if I made
56:26
different decisions. So it's one of those like, I
56:30
mean, if I have to give you an answer, I'd say maybe, you know,
56:35
be done with the fuckery a little earlier, but ultimately
56:40
like, listen again, I'm so hot, like I met my wife late because
56:44
of it, like and she's my wife and I dated girls while you know
56:47
what I mean. So it's like it's very hard to
56:50
say what advice I would say, if anything, and then I would say
56:53
really study and understand business above all else.
56:56
Like I went to UCLA and I have a diploma from UCLA and I've never
56:58
used it. I've never had AW two job.
56:59
It was meaningless. I got an English degree.
57:03
OK, well it does nothing for me, right?
57:05
So if I could have leaned into hey, go and study business
57:08
finances and real estate and you know how business and economics,
57:12
how that all works, I would have told them the 20 year old me
57:15
lean into that. So you have that skill set going
57:18
into your adult life. Awesome.
57:21
Yeah, Well, thank you, Justin. It is so very happy here.
57:23
And what's the best way for the audience to get a hold of you
57:26
and. Instagram's usually easiest.
57:27
It's really me. I really communicate with
57:29
people. So the Justin Colby, the Justin
57:31
Colby on Instagram is the easiest way.
57:33
If you're in the real estate and you're trying to get deals, go
57:35
to reilive.co and I'll help you guys get some deals.
57:39
Awesome. Thanks, Justin.
57:41
Right on. Thank you.