Latest / Elevate Podcast: Powered by Braden / Elevate Ep 71 Part 1: Justin Padgett, President at Valeo Financial Advisors, LLC
Transcript
- 0:02Welcome to the Elevate podcast, where
- 0:04every leader has a story. We bring you
- 0:06conversations with influential leaders
- 0:08who are shaping our local communities.
- 0:11Hear about their path to leadership and
- 0:14experiences that define them and how
- 0:16they're driving meaningful impact today.
- 0:19Hey everybody, Jason here with another
- 0:21episode of the Elevate Powered by Brain
- 0:22podcast. Now, this one's going to
- 0:24actually be a first where I'm actually
- 0:26talking to a couple of individuals that
- 0:29have worked together for a number of
- 0:30years in an organization, but I'm not
- 0:32talking to them at the same time. Going
- 0:33to be talking to them a couple of
- 0:35different stories and sharing their
- 0:36backgrounds and their journey, uh, both
- 0:38from an organizational standpoint and
- 0:40then kind of some new things they have
- 0:42going on, but this one's going to be an
- 0:44awful lot of fun. But, so Justin,
- 0:45welcome to the show.
- 0:46>> Yes, absolutely. Thanks for having me.
- 0:48All right. So, before we go back to your
- 0:49genesis, let's kind of tell everybody
- 0:51who you're with today, company and
- 0:53title, and then we'll get started. So,
- 0:54yeah, company and title.
- 0:55>> Yeah. Uh Justin Padet, president of
- 0:58Loyal Financial Advisors.
- 0:59>> Awesome. Great building there in
- 1:01Caramel. Beautiful facility. I know
- 1:02that's awesome where you guys are today,
- 1:04but it isn't where you started. So,
- 1:06let's go back to the beginning. Where
- 1:07you from originally?
- 1:08>> Yeah, from uh northwest side of
- 1:09Indianapolis. Okay. So, grew up out past
- 1:11Eagle Creek um Reservoir. Uh went to
- 1:15went to Pike High School. All right. And
- 1:17uh uh it's unique spot. I mean Pike ice
- 1:20Pike Township is one I think the largest
- 1:23um s from a size perspective. So we
- 1:26relived okay
- 1:27>> we lived in kind of a unique corner
- 1:29where you could hit a golf ball to
- 1:30Indrix County uh and go to Brownsburg.
- 1:33You could hit a golf ball in Wayne
- 1:34Township, go to Ben Davis, but we were I
- 1:37think some like 13 miles from the actual
- 1:39high school where where we live. So
- 1:43unique uh unique uh experience. And mom
- 1:46and dad still live there. So still get
- 1:48to get back over there.
- 1:49>> So you get to go back to back to the
- 1:51home where you been.
- 1:52>> Yes. That's awesome. By the way,
- 1:53>> from about uh first grade on where
- 1:55they've been.
- 1:56>> That's cool. All right. So Pike Pike
- 1:58High School. What were you doing back
- 2:00then? What were you thinking? Did you
- 2:02have an idea where you were going to go
- 2:03and what was going to come next?
- 2:05>> Sports. Uh that's that's, you know, sort
- 2:07of the original business, you know.
- 2:09>> So what what sport? Competitive. Uh
- 2:10basketball, baseball were kind of the
- 2:12two biggest focus. a lot better at
- 2:14baseball but like basketball a lot more
- 2:17like brothers you know I was I was
- 2:18better at baseball too I mean I love
- 2:20basketball you know one of those day I
- 2:23could be Michael Jordan and I'm like
- 2:24[sighs] no I can't but really I can't do
- 2:27that that I said I can't do it right
- 2:29>> sports right you know you know kind of
- 2:31school you know you know gravitate to
- 2:33what's interesting and that's such a
- 2:35shame theme in my life you know I I will
- 2:39uh early stages in high school and
- 2:41whatnot you know yeah you got to perform
- 2:43in to get to college from that instance.
- 2:45But what what is interesting like kind
- 2:48of a police detective mind so I'm always
- 2:50trying to figure things out and kind of
- 2:51word in that in that fashion and that's
- 2:53really what what high school was. High
- 2:55school was also uh I mean you know you
- 2:57know we we lived where we lived was
- 3:01interesting because it was a lot of the
- 3:03Indianapolis Motor Speedway u me
- 3:05mechanics
- 3:06>> all have houses here and this is also
- 3:08when the the speedway was more than a
- 3:11few weeks it was you know five or six
- 3:13weeks.
- 3:13>> Yeah it was it was a month of May.
- 3:14Correct. Monday plus. And everyone was
- 3:16hubbed here. And what all of those
- 3:19parties needed in the summer because
- 3:20they were on the racing circuit was to
- 3:22get the grass cut, right? So, so first
- 3:25spreadsheet I ever did, right? You know,
- 3:27with Microsoft Works, right, was was
- 3:29back running and and taking the lawn
- 3:32mower down road to go our ass, you know,
- 3:36up and down for everybody that just
- 3:37wasn't there, right? Because circus with
- 3:40the speedways. So,
- 3:42>> so that that was good, you know. Uh, you
- 3:44know, first job job with Noble Romans,
- 3:47right? Or Yeah. Great. Great pizza.
- 3:49Tossing pizzas, right? So,
- 3:51>> so did you learn to throw pizza on the
- 3:53air? Oh, yeah. Stupid human human trick.
- 3:55>> Every now and then I could pull it out
- 3:57and uh
- 3:58>> you might be the first on the show that
- 3:59could say that I can throw seats. That's
- 4:01awesome.
- 4:01>> Yeah. So, uh, no no better arm and wrist
- 4:04workout than Friday night on a busy
- 4:06pizza restaurant to uh to to work on
- 4:09that front. But that was, you know, you
- 4:11get to work with a diverse, you know,
- 4:13group group of of folks, gift the
- 4:15backgrounds. Uh they out of the out of
- 4:18the store, they ran an assistant um
- 4:20manager training program. So I don't
- 4:22know, 16 17 years old, I was helping run
- 4:24and at one point at you know, even
- 4:26before I think 18 was running that
- 4:28management program for for Nova Romans,
- 4:31teaching people how to run the
- 4:32restaurant. It was just it's a
- 4:35everything in life. What I always think
- 4:37is a is a combination of what you've
- 4:39done in the and that was just
- 4:41>> unique fun experience and not not a
- 4:43pretty cool trick to bring out at
- 4:45parties. Heck yeah. Toss a towel around
- 4:46like a pizza.
- 4:47>> Yeah, you may have to come back on the
- 4:48show and teach us how to do that. So,
- 4:50all right. So, Pike High School,
- 4:51baseball, basketball, working at Noble
- 4:53Romans. You did mention though a lot of
- 4:56people cut grass.
- 4:57>> Yes. Not everybody talked about using a
- 4:59spreadsheet or that stuff. So, maybe
- 5:00that's going to foreshadow some things
- 5:02that are coming in.
- 5:03>> For sure.
- 5:03>> So, you finish up high school. What's
- 5:06interesting? Where do you go next?
- 5:07>> Yeah. Um, I knew I wanted to study uh
- 5:10business, right? I couldn't know exactly
- 5:12what I wanted to do. That's a natural
- 5:14gravitation down to IU Bloomington
- 5:17between there and my Ohio. My best
- 5:19friends went to my Ohio, which is good.
- 5:21Probably didn't go there. May not have
- 5:22may not have finished up very well.
- 5:23Different trajectory in life, but uh had
- 5:26a had a good spot. Had a um good family
- 5:29friend um who was u in a his dad was in
- 5:32a fraternity down there, so connected
- 5:34into that. So, it was kind of the seal
- 5:36the deal. Okay. And from then,
- 5:38>> um, it was experiences, right? The Kelly
- 5:40School of of Business is incredible
- 5:43opportunities that that it provides. I
- 5:45joke that I I think I've got the most
- 5:47majors with the worst GPA. Uh, at Kelly
- 5:50School, I actually joked with the dean
- 5:52this summer at an event spoke at him
- 5:54with and said, you know, but it was all
- 5:56about the experience. I go back again. I
- 5:58probably get a whole lot better grades
- 6:00for it. But it was just, you know,
- 6:01thirst for knowledge and just kind of
- 6:03pulling all those in. So, finance,
- 6:05international studies, legal studies,
- 6:07uh, major and got a minor in psychology.
- 6:09Um, for my own kid, minor in psychology
- 6:11was probably what I used used the most
- 6:13today and maybe used the most in the
- 6:15respective career.
- 6:16>> Yeah.
- 6:16>> Because we're we're we're humans and you
- 6:18have to interact and and deal with deal.
- 6:20>> Well, you're in the you're in the people
- 6:21business.
- 6:21>> Yes. Finance, all those different types.
- 6:24Whatever business you're in, ultimately
- 6:26you're really in the people for sure.
- 6:27And so, I could see you leveraging that
- 6:29that probably the most of everything you
- 6:31do.
- 6:31>> Yeah. 100%. and and we're in we're in
- 6:33the advice side of the people business,
- 6:35>> right? And if you're providing advice to
- 6:36someone,
- 6:37>> you have to have a firm understanding of
- 6:39where they're coming from, what their
- 6:40makeup, what their background, where
- 6:42it's going, regardless of how right your
- 6:44answer is,
- 6:45>> you know, so you may have the right
- 6:46answer, but if not played right and in
- 6:49the right situation or not delivered
- 6:50correctly or not actually built up
- 6:52correctly, good luck. Yeah,
- 6:54>> those are a boil on the water and people
- 6:55will look at you with the most logical
- 6:57the exact answer that would be AI or or
- 7:00what the what the test would say and
- 7:03they're not going to take it because
- 7:04you're not you're not doing the other
- 7:05part of it.
- 7:06>> By the way, it's just great advice in
- 7:07general, right? Obviously, we know a
- 7:09little bit about what you guys do for a
- 7:10business standpoint, but just anybody
- 7:12out there.
- 7:13>> That's exactly right. We're all in the
- 7:14people business. So, having a
- 7:16conversation, building no like and trust
- 7:18relationships, those things are
- 7:19extremely important.
- 7:20>> Absolutely.
- 7:21>> All right. All right. So, you finish up
- 7:22at Kelly School of Business. You kind of
- 7:24study a little bit of everything.
- 7:25>> Yeah.
- 7:26>> What do you think the future's going to
- 7:27hold and where do you go?
- 7:28>> It was a unique future because like we
- 7:30graduated about 6 months after 911,
- 7:32right? So, so talk about a a
- 7:36unbelievable tragedy. It's amazing. You
- 7:39know, I think we just hit 25 years,
- 7:40right? Almost ages this story, right?
- 7:43And ages myself, but um but the job
- 7:46market was atrocious, right? Because no
- 7:48one knew what was going on, right? and
- 7:50it erect the stock market, erect
- 7:52multiple industries. It was uh it just
- 7:55you know what what are we going to do?
- 7:57>> And um and what led and drove that uh is
- 8:02something that's near and dear to my
- 8:03heart are internships on where I wanted
- 8:05to go, right?
- 8:06>> So um first internship was I Township
- 8:09Assessor's Office, right? You know, it
- 8:11used to be in the in the state of
- 8:12Indiana, how you assess property value
- 8:15is you went into commercial properties
- 8:16and ask how many bathrooms they had and
- 8:18what your square footage and they used
- 8:20that to extrapolate what the value of
- 8:22your building was.
- 8:23>> No kidding. Bathrooms and square
- 8:24footage.
- 8:25>> Yeah. Early two 20 early 2000s is when
- 8:28market value actually came in. Okay.
- 8:30>> So, what a unique experience to walk
- 8:32into businesses in part 100 and your
- 8:34first question is how many bathrooms do
- 8:36you have?
- 8:36>> Yeah.
- 8:36>> You know, so I don't need to use one. I
- 8:38don't need one, but I need to know how
- 8:39many.
- 8:40>> Yes. Exactly. This is on my list to
- 8:41check here. Um, you know, good great
- 8:44experience. I realized that that service
- 8:46wasn't wasn't in my future. The next one
- 8:49had a whole lot of connotations to how
- 8:51my story has evolved. Okay.
- 8:52>> Uh, with Duke Realy.
- 8:54>> Uh, I uh was in an industrial leasing
- 8:56office with Duke Realy and there's
- 8:59>> uh the the the city, the state, the
- 9:02Midwest, maybe the country doesn't give
- 9:04um Duke realy enough credit for the
- 9:06actual scope, size, wake that they
- 9:08provided.
- 9:09>> Yeah. uh but the amount of of uh real
- 9:12estate and entrepreneurs, developers,
- 9:16various different skill sets that all
- 9:17evolve from that respective group you
- 9:20could name. And there's a host of the
- 9:22different sponsors that we'll get into a
- 9:23little bit with our TBO group are are
- 9:26from Duke. So that experience put a
- 9:28nugget in in my noggin to be like this
- 9:30is interesting. We've got something
- 9:32something unique here. What can I do
- 9:34maybe that in the future? following
- 9:36internship with Northwestern Mutual
- 9:38which was it's just is a form of
- 9:40financial services and it was you know a
- 9:42great experience not what I wanted to do
- 9:45you need insurance you need risk
- 9:46management yeah in your plan but it but
- 9:49it's not necessarily how how I thought
- 9:52it should be delivered or consumed right
- 9:54so so coming through those internships
- 9:56I'm like all right well a I don't have a
- 9:58whole lot of options because there's not
- 9:59a whole lot of jobs
- 10:00>> yeah sure
- 10:01>> but where can I find something that you
- 10:03could you could um you know provide hide
- 10:06um an impact on on people and humans.
- 10:09You could use the skill sets that
- 10:11spreadsheet back in the long knowing
- 10:13days to really help with analysis and be
- 10:15able to dig in because you want to give
- 10:18the right answer to people, right? Of
- 10:19course, why would you want to give
- 10:20advice of the wrong answer to someone?
- 10:21>> Yeah. Because you only do that once.
- 10:23>> Yes.
- 10:23>> If you give good advice and you continue
- 10:25to do it, you build a relationship, you
- 10:26can do it for a long time.
- 10:27>> And it's it's it's a drug. It's
- 10:28endorphins, right? You give good advice,
- 10:30so sure you're like, "Oh, you just keep
- 10:32you want more. You want to do it more.
- 10:34You want to do it." That's that's
- 10:35actually really kind of a good tip, but
- 10:36I don't want people to miss. It's like a
- 10:38little bit of a drug for the endorphins,
- 10:39right? You you provide some information
- 10:41to somebody, they go out, they do well,
- 10:43you see how they do, right? That comes
- 10:45back to you in a form of information. It
- 10:47is like a drug. Yes.
- 10:48>> That's really cool.
- 10:49>> And I've always said there's a network
- 10:50effect in what we do. That's incredible.
- 10:53And the more that you can work with
- 10:55incredibly talented um individuals and
- 10:58diverse situations and do work there, it
- 11:01translates very much so into other other
- 11:04clients, other advice situations. It's
- 11:06amazing the network effect that you can
- 11:08have with that and that is that's really
- 11:10powerful.
- 11:11>> Well, it's the ripple effect, right? You
- 11:12create one ripple and then he goes out
- 11:14there. It's very very interesting. All
- 11:15right. So So you asked the question.
- 11:17Yeah. Answer.
- 11:17>> No, but the question the answer was
- 11:20terrific. And I think there's another
- 11:21piece I want people to miss as well. The
- 11:23internships like you said, Northwestern
- 11:25Mutual.
- 11:25>> Yeah.
- 11:26>> You you you didn't think it was the way
- 11:28it should be delivered. Those types of
- 11:29things. What a great experience though
- 11:31because it's okay to learn as this isn't
- 11:33something that I don't want to do. Yes.
- 11:35>> Because that information comes over into
- 11:37something I actually want to do and the
- 11:38experience I want to create.
- 11:40>> So what a great opportunity to do that.
- 11:42So you finish incredible on both sides,
- 11:44right? Sorry to interrupt you, but it's
- 11:46like it's you get the experience from
- 11:48the perspective of I get to get to dip
- 11:50my foot in the water on this career,
- 11:52this job, this role. Y
- 11:53>> the employer gets to evaluate, you know,
- 11:55if you're just interviewing someone, you
- 11:57may have, you know, two hours max that
- 12:00you've had with with someone to say,
- 12:01does they do they make sense or not for
- 12:03organization? We're going to make
- 12:05significant financial, you know, offer
- 12:07to this party, right? How about spend 90
- 12:10days with them, right? See see how they
- 12:12ultimately interact. You know, we're
- 12:14we're got, you know, this last summer
- 12:16had 27 interns.
- 12:17>> 27.
- 12:18>> 27. 19 of those were on the the
- 12:20financial advisory side. Wow. Host of
- 12:22others through our tech group, tech
- 12:24team, and and then marketing group and
- 12:27investment team and then the TPO group
- 12:29on the real estate front that we had.
- 12:31>> And of those 19, you know, made offers
- 12:34to 12 at 11 to sign. I mean there's uh
- 12:38if we didn't have our internship that we
- 12:40started in 2009. So it's been that's
- 12:42long window. You don't just you don't
- 12:44scale to that level uh we would be a
- 12:47much different company and and would not
- 12:49have had near the impact that we're
- 12:50having today.
- 12:51>> Yeah, I like the idea and it's kind of
- 12:52like a courtship, right? You have a
- 12:53chance to court a little bit and
- 12:55understand is it good on both sides
- 12:57because it should be mutually beneficial
- 12:58>> because like you said, you're making an
- 13:00investment to those individuals. All
- 13:01right. So you go through those things.
- 13:03You're at IU. Y
- 13:04>> you go through the internships. Where's
- 13:06the story go next?
- 13:07>> Yes. So, uh, I had a had a another
- 13:09fraternity connection, um, uh, gentleman
- 13:12about 20 years older than me that took a
- 13:15chance, um, on, you know, someone. And
- 13:18so, I work about five days out of
- 13:19school, walked into a, uh, in our
- 13:22industry, there's a term called fee
- 13:23only. And what fee only means is that
- 13:25the only compensation we receive is
- 13:27directly from our clients. And if this
- 13:29table is the industry, there's a small
- 13:31little square. What is fee only?
- 13:33>> I register at the SEC as such. and kind
- 13:35of how you hold yourself out and how you
- 13:36really interact with clients and in the
- 13:39marketplace. Um he had a smaller shop
- 13:41that and joined him fantastic place to
- 13:44learn. Spent four and a half years there
- 13:46wasn't a sales culture uh which I'm
- 13:48thankful for. It was a learning culture.
- 13:50So then I wrote plans, financial plans
- 13:53for a host of different types of of of
- 13:56um types of clients, right? You know,
- 13:59Eli Lillly executives, right? You know,
- 14:01physicians, um you know, different
- 14:03different um uh you know, parties that
- 14:06are just just employees that have been
- 14:08great savers over a long period of time.
- 14:10>> Sure. What what I gravitated to after
- 14:12that after those couple years really in
- 14:15were the entrepreneur business owners.
- 14:17>> Really? uh they they were the creators
- 14:19in my in my opinion. They they were set
- 14:22across from them and they had the most
- 14:24unique financial statements and what
- 14:26they were investing in and what they
- 14:28were working through. Um and they and
- 14:30they tend to be the most the most
- 14:32intelligent side of of the other that we
- 14:34would we would interact with. So that
- 14:36again police detective you kind of
- 14:38wonder why what's going on how do we how
- 14:39do we how do how do I work with this
- 14:41group and why is our industry so bad at
- 14:44working with this group right you know
- 14:46because they don't have liquidity right
- 14:48>> uh and so the industry says I'm going to
- 14:50go take your your your dollars
- 14:54>> and I'm going to you know go into my
- 14:56cave and and whip up what what we're
- 14:58doing with it and then come back and
- 14:59show if you don't have anything to take
- 15:01to the cave what are we going to talk
- 15:02about what right you know and what I
- 15:04what I saw is the the entrepreneurs
- 15:08craved advice.
- 15:09>> Uh and and you have to you had to
- 15:12understand their business though to get
- 15:13the credibility to provide any advice.
- 15:15Yeah, of course.
- 15:16>> You're you're making a recommendation on
- 15:17a property insurance and you don't
- 15:20understand what what they've got going
- 15:21on in their business. You know, or
- 15:24should you care, right? You report it.
- 15:25So, understand their business. And then
- 15:27once you do that, you understand there
- 15:29are so many things that you could help
- 15:30advise on. Y
- 15:32>> and let's not work with one of them.
- 15:33Let's work with a lot of them. Yeah,
- 15:35back to that network effect because and
- 15:37and most most um entrepreneurs in
- 15:40general have very, you know,
- 15:42stereotypical effects, control, right?
- 15:44They they they they struggle with giving
- 15:46control, right? They they struggle
- 15:48sometimes with relationships, right?
- 15:50Because they a lot of them are type A. A
- 15:52lot of them are driven. You've got to
- 15:53build you've got to run through fires
- 15:55sometimes to start businesses and to
- 15:57deal with the level of stress, chaos,
- 15:59and risk going on. And that can burn a
- 16:02lot of relationships around you. search
- 16:03back to the psychology piece. There's a
- 16:05lot of relationship relationship
- 16:07management for you know you know my my
- 16:10son-in-law is driving me nuts in the
- 16:11business. Right.
- 16:12>> Right.
- 16:12>> You come back from Thanksgiving and
- 16:14there we need to talk about the estate
- 16:16plan. Right. Right. All kinds of pieces
- 16:18like that. And you and you really Yeah.
- 16:19that it is it is uh even
- 16:22>> whatever this is 20 plus years 25 years
- 16:24later it still blows me away how
- 16:27unbelievably underserved it is in the
- 16:29financial service. No kidding. uh and
- 16:32and with the amount of of small
- 16:34businesses, which is a huge term, but
- 16:36successful growing private businesses
- 16:39that exist and have existed, um it is
- 16:42it's been great for our business and I
- 16:44think it's great for our future because
- 16:46it's still
- 16:47>> it's still a what are you bringing to
- 16:49the cave type of an industry that we're
- 16:50that we're
- 16:52>> uh we're fine that is it exists because
- 16:54it's still allows us to really thrive.
- 16:56>> Yeah. No kidding. All right. So you
- 16:58really enjoy that during this this four
- 17:00four and a half years. How does the
- 17:02story get from there to go to Valo?
- 17:04>> Yeah, in uh late 2006 um it it it made
- 17:07sense and and to to transition over to
- 17:10grow a practice and the practice they
- 17:12wanted to grow um was it with the
- 17:15entrepreneur business.
- 17:16>> Okay.
- 17:17>> And um so transitioned at that point in
- 17:20time Valo at the time we had about 350
- 17:23million of assets under management which
- 17:25is really small. I was employee number
- 17:26eight
- 17:28>> and just just kind of came over and said
- 17:30you know um this is what I want to build
- 17:32and want to grow and you know you when
- 17:35you transition from a firm like that you
- 17:37know you at that age you weren't able to
- 17:39take any clients working them you're
- 17:40starting over so you're start you're
- 17:42starting with nothing building a new
- 17:43practice
- 17:44>> yes so you're just so how do you
- 17:46interact and how do you work with in
- 17:48with entrepreneurs you got to go play in
- 17:50the space and play in the lane you know
- 17:52fast forward a year and a half or so in
- 17:542008 2009 hits. So, you talk about just
- 17:57absolute absolute chaos. Everyone's got
- 17:59a story on where they were and what
- 18:01they've done and how it affected their
- 18:03life, both business or in person.
- 18:05>> Um, and what I saw as a uniqueness is
- 18:08that um, commercial real estate was
- 18:11broken.
- 18:12>> Um, because commercial real estate prior
- 18:13to that window of time, the banks lent a
- 18:17lot, sometimes way too much relative to
- 18:20what would need to be finance a project.
- 18:22Yeah. um mezzanine debt existed which is
- 18:25basically like an investment at a high
- 18:27interest rate yield for a small sliver
- 18:30because it's the last level of risk that
- 18:32probably the developer or the acquirer
- 18:34should be taking y right that got
- 18:36absolutely that industry got and it
- 18:38still has struggled to come right
- 18:40however many
- 18:41>> 16 20 years later right it's come back
- 18:44so I saw an opportunity in hindsight
- 18:46it's 2020 right you don't exactly see
- 18:47these things at the time but I saw an
- 18:49opportunity to say right all right we
- 18:51have growing clients they're entrepor
- 18:52reneurial. They want to invest in real
- 18:54estate, you know, on both a localized
- 18:56and just something they can tangibly see
- 18:58and understand because most
- 18:59entrepreneurs struggle with intangible.
- 19:00It's another stereotype. So, what's
- 19:02really intangible? The stock market,
- 19:04right? Yeah. Right. Risk per market on
- 19:06what goes up or down for sometimes no
- 19:08particular reason. Long-term trends that
- 19:10tends to work, but short-term trends
- 19:12>> pull their hair out. They're like, "This
- 19:13makes this is not how my business works.
- 19:15How the world did people actually invest
- 19:17in this?" So, they wanted um you know,
- 19:20private investments. Um there's a the
- 19:23industry calls them alternative
- 19:24investments. I've struggled with that
- 19:26because I worked with farmers back in
- 19:27the day and they said I would describe
- 19:30alternative investments and they looked
- 19:31at me and said that investment sounds a
- 19:34lot more normal than the alternative
- 19:36investments you're talking about with
- 19:37these stocks, bonds, and mutual. So So
- 19:39from that point on I'm like that's what
- 19:41a what a biased way of calling that,
- 19:43right? Or alternative investments. Well,
- 19:45it's a matter of perspective. They're
- 19:46just private investments.
- 19:47>> Private.
- 19:48>> So So how do we how do we invest in in
- 19:50those particular pieces? So, uh, and so
- 19:53I I was like, our clients will want to
- 19:55put equity in this if we build a really
- 19:57strong process around it.
- 19:58>> Okay?
- 19:58>> U, because they don't want to just get a
- 20:01forward of an email of a developer and
- 20:03acquire looking for something. They want
- 20:05you to put some real thought behind it
- 20:07and why this versus that, why this group
- 20:10versus that. So, I spent year and a
- 20:11half, two years getting to know the the
- 20:13real estate community. I joke it was
- 20:15easy because they were reading the
- 20:17reading the Wall Street Journal in the
- 20:19morning and fighting banks in the
- 20:20afternoon. So, so there was time they
- 20:22they would take the meeting. Um, but I
- 20:24was the only you kind of financial guy
- 20:26hanging out with all the real estate
- 20:27crew. Okay.
- 20:28>> Maybe back to some of those Duke days,
- 20:29>> right?
- 20:30>> Um, but uh learning all right, who's
- 20:32going to be a great steward of capital
- 20:34for our clients?
- 20:35>> Who is someone that you know,
- 20:37>> you know, would just drive too fast on
- 20:39the highway, you know, and that over
- 20:40time won't work, right? You know, was a
- 20:43good mix of what we wanted to do, who
- 20:45had the right ideas and because what I
- 20:47knew was entrepreneurs and business
- 20:48owners. So how I underwrote what is now
- 20:51TPO at the beginning was who are good
- 20:53financial you know stewards business
- 20:55owners operators of these businesses
- 20:57right still can't read a survey still
- 20:59don't know what some of the inner
- 21:00workings of real estate are but if you
- 21:02know how to read and underwrite
- 21:04individuals and peoples and
- 21:05organizations
- 21:06>> you you win most of the battle right you
- 21:08know for it so what do we know was wrong
- 21:10with real estate and coming out of that
- 21:12was big funds right big fees the actual
- 21:15developers and sponsors put no money in
- 21:17the deals prior prior that window based
- 21:19on the why would you and that economic
- 21:21structure everybody telling about crier
- 21:22now in the future that what happened is
- 21:25banks came down right and there was and
- 21:28mezzanine was gone and said that
- 21:29industry is blown up there's a gap right
- 21:31so what do you do in that gap you need
- 21:33equity that's right and the sponsors are
- 21:35like well we're putting out fires of
- 21:36different things or there's generational
- 21:38transition we don't have the level of
- 21:40equity to fill a 20 30% gap here right
- 21:43in that spot so insert the underwriting
- 21:46and what we would do to then bring those
- 21:48opportun unities to our clients. So, we
- 21:49did, you know, and we had to go direct.
- 21:51I don't like funds. I don't like betting
- 21:53on blind. Back to the control thing. I'm
- 21:55probably the same myself, right? I'd
- 21:56rather know what we're investing in.
- 21:59>> Um, and we'll do some moment in time
- 22:02funds, but it's really we want to know
- 22:04what we're investing in so we can know
- 22:05what we underwite.
- 22:06>> Yeah. No.
- 22:07>> And and so we did our first direct deal
- 22:10May of 2009.
- 22:12Bleak period, right? Banks were just,
- 22:14you know, running away. It's not a knock
- 22:15on banks. I mean, it was chaos, of
- 22:18course. So over a, you know, 30-day
- 22:19period, um, John Wardman, partner and I,
- 22:22we really worked to raise raise capital
- 22:24through our client base. And then we
- 22:26were like, all right, this is
- 22:27interesting.
- 22:28>> So, and that deal just
- 22:29>> literally just sold this last year. I
- 22:31think it was a six multiple and a 20 uh
- 22:35mid20s higher R since 2009, which is a
- 22:38long time to clock. So,
- 22:39>> yeah. Right.
- 22:40>> Um, that was that was just that was
- 22:42exciting, right, to do that. And then
- 22:44okay, let's how do we build more of
- 22:46this?
- 22:47>> And to John Worman and John Trot's
- 22:49credit, the two founders uh and with
- 22:50Rick Evans, but especially John and John
- 22:52uh at Valo said,
- 22:55>> build it, but build it to scale
- 22:58>> and don't end up on the front page of
- 22:59the IBJ. [laughter] And I was like,
- 23:02check, you know, let's make make this
- 23:04happen. And so what that started is a
- 23:06window of time for about a decade. um
- 23:09you know call it 2009 to 2019 Dart where
- 23:13I joke um and it was it was chaos uh
- 23:17just from a from an hour's perspective
- 23:18because it was we said six to six was
- 23:20the Valo side and building the building
- 23:22that entrepreneurial practice them and
- 23:24six to midnight was the real estate side
- 23:27>> and just when we started growing from a
- 23:29total amount of equity that we would
- 23:31participate in you know 20 million a
- 23:33year 40 million a year 60 million a year
- 23:35it got to the point at 2019 19 where we
- 23:39were um really scaled but didn't have
- 23:42the right economic model that we built
- 23:44around it. Didn't have the right level
- 23:46of true support to support what we had
- 23:48let alone where we wanted to grow. It
- 23:50was says the volunteer fire department
- 23:52and the city's on fire. Right. So, so,
- 23:55uh, through the great help of a of a of
- 23:57an ally and and somebody who was
- 23:58actually the sponsor on the first deal
- 24:00we did, Dennis Dye, we kind of went, uh,
- 24:03um, for a year and said, "How do we do
- 24:05this in our fee only structure or set
- 24:08for the SEC because what basically you
- 24:10can't it can't be a transaction fee,
- 24:13right? It can't be any of those pieces."
- 24:15So, how do we structure this so that
- 24:17>> and how do we build the team in so that
- 24:19there's a cost recovery model that
- 24:21really didn't exist for the prior
- 24:22decade? Uh and where we came to is
- 24:24really a software as a service model,
- 24:26you know, which is huge in technology.
- 24:28Yeah. Um be because what we really were
- 24:30for these groups as it evolved over time
- 24:32was less of a capital raiser for them
- 24:35and more of an entire investor relations
- 24:37arm,
- 24:38>> right? Because these groups are really
- 24:39good at real estate, right? If I showed
- 24:41you some of the pictures of some of the
- 24:43initial reports and some of the initial,
- 24:45you know, chaos with K1s and cashiering,
- 24:48you'd be like, whoa, you know, why would
- 24:49you even work with these groups? because
- 24:50they are phenomenal at the real estate
- 24:52that they do, you know, and the radiuses
- 24:54that they work on.
- 24:55>> Um, so we were that investor relations
- 24:58arm for them.
- 24:59>> Um, to the point of like this last year,
- 25:01we've just we distributed 13,000 K1s to
- 25:03our respective clients, right? It it it
- 25:06got to a point where that was a real
- 25:08full-time job. So, we charged $60 per
- 25:11per investor per quarter to the
- 25:13sponsors. So, the sponsors paid our
- 25:15group really for a cost recovery of the
- 25:17overhead. Yeah. which allowed us to go
- 25:19bring in um quality talent. Yeah.
- 25:21>> Um to both run and grow that because I
- 25:24had this full-on advisory practice,
- 25:26right? I had and then this real estate
- 25:28piece and it was just it was it was
- 25:30broken.
- 25:30>> Like you said, you're doing it for six
- 25:31to
- 25:32>> Yeah. You do that for a decade, right?
- 25:33What what your health is doing. It's not
- 25:36for the family. It's not, you know,
- 25:37you're accomplishing a lot,
- 25:39>> right? But you're running yourself into
- 25:40in the right spot. So bringing on we
- 25:42were able to bring on Max Schilling uh
- 25:44who's who's a fantastic
- 25:46um talent at the time because I didn't
- 25:50work with them directly and I call him a
- 25:52fantastic partner to
- 25:54>> u just somebody that's uh just an
- 25:56incredible steward of what we were doing
- 25:59in the past but also how do we how do we
- 26:02make the right changes that it still
- 26:03rhymes with the what what it was prior
- 26:06>> and and and to um help bridge him and he
- 26:10did his did a fantastic job himself
- 26:12bridging into those sponsor
- 26:14relationships. call sponsors, the owners
- 26:16and operators of the real estate that
- 26:17that do that. But
- 26:19>> uh and did a fantastic job and then
- 26:21built um with you know Josh Jack our
- 26:23team, Kelly Monte, chief investment
- 26:24officer, chief operating officer and
- 26:26just built scale around that and and
- 26:28what that's become um a it was a great
- 26:33um it was great opportunity that we
- 26:36could provide our clients. So that be
- 26:38sure something we were known as to be
- 26:39able to bring in.
- 26:40>> It worked right. you invest in, you
- 26:43know, industrial real estate and multif
- 26:45family housing is about 80 plus% of your
- 26:48investing over that window of time,
- 26:50right? You know, but the what we shop
- 26:51with with our phones, right? Goes from
- 26:543day shipping to three hour shipping and
- 26:56three minute shipping seems like at some
- 26:58point in time. Yeah.
- 26:59>> And just the you see it here where we're
- 27:00sitting today, just the um continued
- 27:03evolution of how where people live, how
- 27:05people live. That's right. Further
- 27:07urbanization of how how folks folks
- 27:09live. um accepting or demanding of more
- 27:12quality of where they live and more
- 27:14flexibility, you know, either from in
- 27:16both ends of generation. So, those two
- 27:18two themes just just absolutely worked
- 27:20over that window of time. Uh and we've
- 27:22been really proud about the the what
- 27:24what we've built and grown um to to that
- 27:27to that point. From a scale perspective,
- 27:30you know, we've done about 1.5 uh
- 27:32billion of total equity.
- 27:34>> Oh, wow.
- 27:34>> Um so, from the first three mill $3
- 27:37million raise of 2009 Yeah. total of
- 27:40that is there the other part from a
- 27:42state of Indiana from a perspective you
- 27:44know we you know from a total project
- 27:46side we've done about three and a half
- 27:47billion of projects here in the state
- 27:49that's terrific 800 million of equity
- 27:51that that our clients have participated
- 27:54so uh I know the huge theme here is
- 27:56community
- 27:57>> and I think it's an under
- 27:59>> sometimes an underconsidered
- 28:02value of community is the economic
- 28:04development that you that you can make
- 28:05and have
- 28:06>> absolutely
- 28:07>> because there's one thing to earn
- 28:08dollars on something, it's another thing
- 28:10to both earn dollars and what does that
- 28:12do in almost a network effect to
- 28:14communities as far as that respective
- 28:16growth piece. So, so that that's
- 28:19exciting um you know piece of it. So,
- 28:21>> so we got this parallel thing well where
- 28:24uh you know TPO takes off at that point
- 28:26in time once Matt came in and and by the
- 28:29way he came in January of 2020. Um and
- 28:33and I don't know I don't know what what
- 28:35folks believe in uh to each their own
- 28:38but you know believing in a higher being
- 28:40to say to have Mac come into our world
- 28:42uh my world and Voy's world and
- 28:44ultimately TPO's world at that window of
- 28:47time three months before CO hits
- 28:50>> was incredible otherwise I don't know
- 28:52what would have happened they said we
- 28:54had that volunteer fire department going
- 28:56and that would have been a we would have
- 28:58not been able to participate in much
- 29:00during that of which those were some of
- 29:02the investments we've ever done,
- 29:04>> let alone um shepherd the assets that we
- 29:06had into a to a great spot. So, piming's
- 29:09everything. Yeah, one of those things
- 29:11for it. So, that gets rolling. Max
- 29:13building and his team are rolling. I'm
- 29:15sitting there with the with
- 29:16entrepreneurial practice about three
- 29:18four years ago sitting in the most
- 29:19complicated clients uh most complicated
- 29:22um sort of meeting structuring estate
- 29:25business meeting and I said to myself as
- 29:27a board right 42 years old mediocre golf
- 29:31and I'm like I'm like what's next right
- 29:34because I can't do this for 20 more
- 29:36years
- 29:37>> yeah right
- 29:38>> um and and because I won't because I
- 29:40respected the respected all of the
- 29:42entrepreneurs that I worked with so know
- 29:44that I wouldn't be giving them what I
- 29:46had given them over the prior window of
- 29:49time.
- 29:49>> Yeah.
- 29:49>> Um,
- 29:50>> and that's self-awareness. You know, you
- 29:52know, one of the themes that I try to
- 29:54preach to our group, you got to be
- 29:56self-aware, right? And you got to look
- 29:57yourself in the mirror every every every
- 29:59year and say, "What am I not good at?
- 30:00What I need to get better at?" You need
- 30:01to look yourself in the mirror at
- 30:02moments like that and be like, "I got to
- 30:04find something to do." Yeah. Right. Or
- 30:06or I'm not I'm just not
- 30:08>> adding the value and being a great
- 30:10steward for these families that I care a
- 30:12ton about. and and thankfully I had a
- 30:15fantastic team around me that could
- 30:17could take that over, but also what was
- 30:19what what what dragons could I go fight,
- 30:22right? And it made sense from a Valo's
- 30:23perspective um to transition into the
- 30:26president role at that time. Yeah.
- 30:28>> Uh we we had grown at, you know, 25%
- 30:31annualized for 20 years.
- 30:32>> Wow.
- 30:32>> So I always joke we had duct tape
- 30:34holding all stuff. So we had to really
- 30:37focus on the systems, processes, things
- 30:39we needed to build. Yeah.
- 30:41>> So that we could not only sustain where
- 30:43we were at
- 30:45>> but also how do we build the platform
- 30:47that we continue to grow grow for that.
- 30:49How do we build a quality executive
- 30:51team, you know, which was really built
- 30:53of uh really really talented
- 30:55individuals, but it was kind of a hybrid
- 30:57role for them. They were an adviser and
- 30:59then they spent time on this or spend
- 31:01time on this and then they were an
- 31:02adviser.
- 31:03You need full-time folks either from the
- 31:05ranks or outside of this place to really
- 31:08to really be able to scale and grow
- 31:10this.
- 31:11>> What a terrific story. And I really like
- 31:13the transition in your mind. You would
- 31:16be you wouldn't be be doing a disservice
- 31:18to the individuals you'd worked with for
- 31:20so long if you continued in that role.
- 31:23But you have an opportunity now to be
- 31:24able to bring a team together to to
- 31:26create a a foundation or shore up the
- 31:29foundation for the continued growth.
- 31:31It's actually a great transition into
- 31:32one of my questions that I've got for
- 31:34you. Right. So, you've been now in the
- 31:35business for a number of years. And one
- 31:37of the things we ask our leaders is we
- 31:39like to learn a little bit more about
- 31:40the, you know, kind of the evolution of
- 31:42technology. So, how's tech evolving in
- 31:44your space? And maybe where do you see
- 31:46it going in the near future?
- 31:47>> Uh, you couldn't pick a more evolving 12
- 31:50months,
- 31:50>> right?
- 31:50>> Um, you know, I think the the
- 31:54maybe only connotation to that that's
- 31:56affected our world was in CO. Um, and
- 32:01you know, video conferencing did not
- 32:03wasn't a thing. Yeah. Financial
- 32:05services. Um, I remember you you'd be
- 32:08the weird person if you had your camera
- 32:10on, right? Everything was conference
- 32:12calls. Okay. And there there was so much
- 32:15multitasking and half paying attention
- 32:17and repeating of questions and whatnot,
- 32:19which in hindsight, but that was the
- 32:21norm. That's how it was how it was done.
- 32:23And so, what do you do when you can't
- 32:26travel? You can't communicate. came with
- 32:27it with your team in your clients and
- 32:29other things. And I always say the best
- 32:32thing about it's very terrible, but the
- 32:35best thing about co is that grand
- 32:36grandparents needed to talk to their
- 32:38grandkids. Yeah.
- 32:39>> So their their adoption of technology
- 32:42skyrocketed,
- 32:42>> of course,
- 32:43>> otherwise they were they they couldn't,
- 32:45right? So and now we Mac and I joke if
- 32:49you don't have your camera on on your on
- 32:52your on your video on on you're lying to
- 32:55us, right?
- 32:55>> Yeah. Turn home. like what are you
- 32:57hiding? You know, it's amazing how it's
- 32:59evolved five or six fear issues, right,
- 33:01to where that is. But so that was that
- 33:03was a big piece of wrecks. This this
- 33:06last is is just AI. It's an overused
- 33:09term. It's an overused piece, but I
- 33:11think the ability candidly to um to
- 33:15develop software that fits your specific
- 33:17need. We've done a lot way back um
- 33:21because of the complexity of the clients
- 33:22that we work with. We've developed a lot
- 33:24of software
- 33:25>> and that is challenging
- 33:27>> uh is it's like you're you're you're in
- 33:30you know you're you're in you know the
- 33:33far east part of Mexico right speaking
- 33:36Spanish right but that dialect's a whole
- 33:39lot different than the far west side
- 33:40where you're trying to translate that to
- 33:42a developer or someone else. Yeah.
- 33:44>> This dialect clash is just expensive. it
- 33:48takes forever in time. And what's been
- 33:50what's beauty now and and what what um
- 33:53folks I think um we've embraced
- 33:57um is how to do that but build that
- 34:00yourself and where that starts like
- 34:01anything starts is is the foundation and
- 34:04if you don't have your data right
- 34:06>> uh we did a data lake thankfully it was
- 34:08I heard first heard the term like what
- 34:11what the dealer
- 34:13I think John Troder our office said you
- 34:14know I want a data lake house right
- 34:17>> you know for it was just like what is
- 34:18what is this
- 34:20>> u but uh the forethought of the of the
- 34:23of parties we had again back to building
- 34:26executive team and not knowing what was
- 34:29coming
- 34:30>> but to have the ability to understand
- 34:33control pipe your data um it takes what
- 34:36is that from a real estate example of
- 34:39what you can develop now it used to be
- 34:42you were just the developer that found
- 34:45the land
- 34:46>> and then you had to rely on everyone
- 34:48else subindustries and sub pieces in
- 34:50order to do it. And now you can utilize
- 34:53those pieces to to work on those items
- 34:56yourself getting your data right making
- 34:59all work. It's not seamless. Uh but you
- 35:01really need the utilities, right? And
- 35:03and and so so much focus now should be
- 35:07on your utilities and that analogy. Um I
- 35:10think people are are working too much on
- 35:12the on the UI and how it looks and
- 35:15they're not making it actually
- 35:16functional. Uh but it's it's
- 35:19unbelievable on what it can do from that
- 35:21perspective. It's unbelievable what it
- 35:23can do as a as pairing with intelligent
- 35:27humans,
- 35:28>> right? Um I'm not convinced
- 35:31>> um that it is it it will
- 35:33>> destroy or revolutionize or completely
- 35:36alienate, you know, professional
- 35:38services organizations because I still
- 35:41think there's a connection point with
- 35:43humans that is real. Yeah. Um, and it's
- 35:46something that we try to teach um, try
- 35:49to promote, teach to everyone we work
- 35:51with,
- 35:52>> try to teach it to my to my two girls.
- 35:54You got to learn the foundations.
- 35:56>> Yeah.
- 35:56>> Right. Because if you don't learn the
- 35:57foundations, how are you going to know
- 35:59if it's right or wrong?
- 36:00>> That's right. Yeah.
- 36:00>> Right. So, I think that is that is an
- 36:02important piece. But that has been
- 36:04>> that what we've been able to do in 12
- 36:08months would have in past worlds cost us
- 36:13$5 million. Yeah. probably taken three
- 36:15and a half to four years.
- 36:16>> Yeah.
- 36:16>> And we've done it in 12 months. And if
- 36:18I'm fair to the cost with the
- 36:19opportunity of our team and whatnot,
- 36:22>> maybe cost half a million dollars.
- 36:23>> Yeah. It's amazing.
- 36:24>> I mean, and it's it's it's unreal if you
- 36:27got a right team around you, you got the
- 36:28right partners around you to be able to
- 36:30do that. And you're not going to be able
- 36:32to know everything. You got to have good
- 36:33resources and partners to be able to
- 36:35execute on that.
- 36:35>> Yeah, it's a great answer. Love that. By
- 36:37the way, so now shifting gears,
- 36:39completely different type of question.
- 36:41You've talked, if I listen to your
- 36:42story, you talked about community
- 36:44throughout kind of all different parts
- 36:46of your story and throughout your
- 36:47journey, but really the question we ask
- 36:49is what's community mean to you?
- 36:51>> Yeah, I think community is um it's a
- 36:54social legacy that you have to um own. I
- 36:57mean, we we all are um blessed, right?
- 37:01My daughters uh uh both work and run a
- 37:05group called Medlife where they go and
- 37:07do you know medical uh you know out
- 37:12outreach work and set up clinics in
- 37:14remote areas of South America and
- 37:15Africa, right? And they were in Ecuador
- 37:18this summer. um they're they're going to
- 37:20Peru this next summer and like that what
- 37:24that what they get to see in that which
- 37:26is the reality of the you know winning
- 37:28the the lucky lottery as far as where we
- 37:31are
- 37:31>> and if you don't have that mindset that
- 37:33you owe something back
- 37:35>> to what has been really good to you
- 37:38>> then I don't think you should you should
- 37:40really be a part of a community right so
- 37:42that to me is incredibly incredibly
- 37:44important u we we as a u as a firm
- 37:48wholeheartedly believe that and put
- 37:49around it. We have a give program. The
- 37:52give program is if you have a plan to
- 37:53give 5% of your income away, the firm
- 37:56will match a third.
- 37:57>> Oh wow.
- 37:57>> If you get to 4.9% the firm matches
- 38:00zero. So have a plan and execute on it
- 38:02and give it away. You know it's I I it
- 38:05frustrates me community and groups that
- 38:08you know I use the term there's some
- 38:10organizations out there that can be
- 38:12financial orders, right? You know the TV
- 38:14show, right? they just accumulate
- 38:16dollars but never give it out to make
- 38:18the impact that that would do. And um
- 38:21one one of the things we we're we we've
- 38:23done a lot of work with uh is what's
- 38:26called um NFP for NFPs, not for
- 38:28profofits for not forprofits. And we've
- 38:30we've uh promoted this to to a few
- 38:33community impact organizations that we
- 38:35work with or that we want to work with
- 38:37to say, hey, we'll manage the dollars of
- 38:39your endowed funds
- 38:40>> and then we will we will uh charge a fee
- 38:43and then we'll give that fee back and
- 38:46whatever makes sense. Most of those come
- 38:48from endowed funds. Do you want it to go
- 38:49back to the endowment? Do you want it to
- 38:51go to your operation fund? Yeah. Use it
- 38:53as fundraising for your for your new new
- 38:55parties. Whatever. My goal is to get,
- 38:57you know, we have 120 advisors of Valo,
- 38:59every 120 of them to to I don't care
- 39:02what it is, whatever community impact
- 39:04organization you're passionate about as
- 39:06take on one and then we'll go find other
- 39:08firms to join on with us in order to do
- 39:11this because the the impact that these
- 39:14organizations have
- 39:16>> and how you can really give by taking a
- 39:18cost away from them, which is our skill
- 39:20set
- 39:21>> that you can ultimately provide is is is
- 39:24super exciting. And so I I love to
- 39:26disrupt. Yeah. I love to just be like
- 39:28that why are we charging why why in the
- 39:30world are folks charging market rate to
- 39:33you know giving charities or above
- 39:35market rate to giving charity. Oh yeah
- 39:37right. Let's go fight that and let's
- 39:39figure out a way to do it. So that's
- 39:41that community is
- 39:43>> being involved being engaged and uh and
- 39:46disrupting and calling out things that
- 39:48aren't right.
- 39:49>> You know by the way it's it's terrific
- 39:50to hear one get to 5% you'll match up to
- 39:53a third. That's awesome. Do 4.9, you're
- 39:56going to get zero. So, have a plan and
- 39:57execute. Love that. The nonprofits, 120
- 40:01advisors, like you said, each each one
- 40:03of them, there's not there's not a right
- 40:05nonprofit. They all are serving a
- 40:07community about doing something.
- 40:09If you're passionate about one of them,
- 40:11go find a way to help them. So,
- 40:12>> now you got 120 of them you're
- 40:14supporting. Yeah.
- 40:14>> By the way, that's just awesome.
- 40:16>> Yeah. Yeah. When I think back through
- 40:17your story, right, growing up in Pike
- 40:19baseball and basketball, deciding to go
- 40:21to IU and having three different
- 40:23internships and and going a couple of
- 40:25different ways and finding out that
- 40:27early on you used to go ask how many
- 40:29toilets, how many square feet you have
- 40:30to figure out the valuation, those kind
- 40:32of things.
- 40:33you know, going through IU and and then
- 40:35and then getting into the space, finding
- 40:38things that you really enjoyed, working
- 40:40with entrepreneurs, carving something
- 40:42off, and then, you know, working in from
- 40:446:00 to 6 with those individuals. Then
- 40:46from 6:00 to midnight, kind of working
- 40:47on 2.0, and then eventually seeing that
- 40:50and having an opportunity to to make a
- 40:52change and bring somebody else in, which
- 40:54we'll get a chance to share his story,
- 40:56too, is going to be great to hear that.
- 40:58But they hand that off and now that
- 40:59that's off and running and and doing
- 41:01those great things and you have an
- 41:03opportunity to be the president of the
- 41:04organization and help, you know, build
- 41:06teams to be able to help your
- 41:08individuals support your clients and
- 41:10what you guys do. It's just a terrific
- 41:12story. Yeah. Right. The easiest question
- 41:14I got for you the day, if you're not
- 41:16working, what are you doing for fun?
- 41:17>> Uh family is key, right? I'm the I'm the
- 41:21social chair for our family, right? Uh
- 41:24so vacations,
- 41:26um unique cur, you know, curated type
- 41:29events of things to do.
- 41:31>> Sure.
- 41:31>> Uh we're going our our our nephew goes
- 41:33to Alabama. We're going down to the
- 41:35Alabama Georgia game on the 10th.
- 41:37>> That be a blast.
- 41:38>> Going down to our beloved Hooers in
- 41:40Bloomington to for IU Ohio State and
- 41:43then the following week going up to Ann
- 41:45Arbor for uh at the big house for IU
- 41:48Michigan. So just just I I I love to
- 41:52create time and create memories.
- 41:54>> Um and you know outside of that you know
- 41:57like I said play golf mediocre at it but
- 42:00love it. Love college sports that that
- 42:03whole environment and arena just a huge
- 42:05huge fan of that. Um and then you know
- 42:08occasionally throwing a little fly
- 42:09fishing you know to keep the mind keep
- 42:12mind sound.
- 42:13>> Uh it's awesome. So it's and just you
- 42:15know fantastic. I would be remissed to
- 42:17not say just family, both my immediate
- 42:19family now and the the the the
- 42:21influence, work ethic, everything that
- 42:24my mom and dad had is was just
- 42:26incredible. So family is number one.
- 42:28>> Yeah, it's awesome. I love the idea of
- 42:29doing those things with your kids,
- 42:30creating opportunities, you know, at the
- 42:32big house or down at IU or going down to
- 42:34Alabama and allowing those folks to be
- 42:37able to experience some emotions while
- 42:38you're all together because those
- 42:40emotions become snapshots with become
- 42:42memories and those last forever. Y
- 42:43>> So kudos to you, my friend. appreciate
- 42:45you being on the show.
- 42:46>> Thank you. Thank you for all you're
- 42:47doing. Very much appreciate it.
- 42:49>> Thank you for listening to the Elevate
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- 42:59driving change and elevating
- 43:01organizations across our community.