Flipping Off Podcast: Recent Episodes
New Wealth Advisors Club
Founder Melina Boswell sits with her two sons David and Andrew Boswell to discuss the topic of legacy. After their father, the Founder of NWAC, Dave Boswell passed away in 2018 they were faced with a life changing decision. Fast forward 5 years later, after countless lessons learned and new experiences they give an update … Continuing The Legacy – Episode 115 Read More »
Interest rates on the rise, housing prices steadily declining, banks failing! Are we in a recession? With so much uncertainty in this market, where do we go? How do you prepare and set yourself up to be successful and thrive in such a changing market. Melina Boswell sits down with Oscar Solares to discuss whats … 2023 Market Update – Episode 114 Read More »
Melina Boswell sits down with Christian Rios and discusses the nitty gritty of what it looks like to set affirmations that you actually believe, and the power that has for you to step into 2023. Listen closely and be ready to take notes, as they get into very specific take aways for you to utilize … BEcoming WHO You Need To Be For Success In 2023 – Episode 113 Read More »
We are back with season 2 and we couldn't be more excited to share the knowledge and experiences we have faced over the last 2 years.
In this episode you will hear from active investors and our opinions of the current state of the market and what to expect in the near future.
Strap in for Season 2 to be full of rehab fun, squatter horror stories, creative acquisitions & a whole lot more!
Melina and Davey Boswell sit down to wrap up season five, and share some new episodes and programs they’re excited to announce in the near future.
Podcast Transcription Melina: Brionna is how you say your last name, right?
Kendra: My last name is actually Lingerfelt.
Melina: Lingerfelt?
Kendra: Yeah. Brionna is my middle name.
Melina: Oh, I didn't know that.
John: Lingerfelt.
Melina: Lingerfelt?
Kendra: Yeah, it's very German.
Melina: That's very German.
Kendra: Lingerfelt.
Melina: So funny.
Intro: Welcome to "Flippin’ Off," a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.
Well, hello, hello, everybody. Melina Boswell here in the studio with John Slater.
John: Good morning.
Melina: And Kendra Lingerfelt.
Kendra: Hey.
Melina: I did not know that, isn't that so funny?
Kendra: Yeah. I don't show it much but, yeah, I usually go by just Kendra. Brionna is my middle name.
Melina: That's so funny. That's how I always know you, so... Well, welcome.
Kendra: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Melina: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So this is Kendra's first time being in the studio.
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: And today we just wanted to take a little bit time to introduce you to our audience, all of our listeners, club members, and prospective club members, and whoever else ends up randomly finding us out there in podcast land. So, first of all, I wish everybody could see how pretty you are because you're so pretty.
Kendra: Oh, great. Thank you. I'm working that oil, I'm minding my business.
Melina: I mean, you know, you've got to work what you've got, right?
Kendra: Thank you.
Melina: So, not only that, but also, it was actually John's request to highlight you, which I immediately said yes. You know, and I didn't really know what the conversation was going to be about, but I thought it was super important to highlight you. One of the things that I've been feeling strongly about recently is having more people as guests on the podcast because, like, who wants to listen to me all the time? Bleh, right? I always feel like, "Who gives a shit what I have to say?" Nobody, right? So if you don't mind, I'm going to just ask you a few questions and let people get to know you. So first of all, tell us, you joined the club about one year ago.
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: When was your first RPP? Do you remember what month it was?
Kendra: January.
Melina: Oh, January.
Kendra: I'm coming up on my one-year anniversary.
Melina: January of 2020.
Kendra: Yeah, according to me. The things I didn't know.
Melina: I know. When all things were bright and all things were calm.
Kendra: Literally. I came in with such excitement, obviously, and then really had to pull through there.
Melina: Holy crap.
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: Yeah. It's super awesome. And so here we are in December of 2020 and now we are looking back at this last crazy year. And it's so interesting because so many people are, like, can't wait to get rid of 2020, you know? There's a million... Everybody is like, "Get it out of here." And, you know, I hate to say this, and you even said it earlier, but there's so much to be thankful for, you know, from COVID, from 2020 and COVID. And I don't know, maybe people have heard me, but I did start a gratitude journal just to COVID.
Kendra: Right.
Melina: And just thanking COVID for all the different things that it's given to me. Did I tell you that? Did you know that?
John: No, no.
Melina: Yeah. I try to write something every single day that COVID has brought me that I'm thankful for. Because otherwise, I really think we could be like melted down, like complete, you know? Because it's a whole new world that we live in, right? And in my mind, being grateful and having gratitude is how you reframe it, right?
Kendra: Absolutely.
Melina: You can immediately reframe it. So why don't you tell us a little bit about before NWAC? Like, what you did, what you did for a living and, you know, a little bit about you.
Kendra: So, I mean, let's take it way back. I'm originally from Tennessee. I moved to New York City the moment I turned 18 that I was allowed to. I went to film school, I, you know, did the whole theater acting thing, then moved to LA five years later, still did the acting thing, and I was also a bartender. So that's pretty common, you know, the instant gratification.
Melina: Actress posing as a bartender?
Kendra: Yeah. I mean, yeah. Well, I mean, it's the instant gratification of walking home with cash and you have this idea of a flexible schedule. I quickly learned it wasn't. You know, you have an audition at 10:00 a.m., you have to be at work at 10:30. It's like that tight. And work is in Santa Monica and it's really tight, so I was like, "This isn't it. I need to figure it out." And real estate investing was always something I wanted to pursue, but I said, "Hey, you know, I'll figure that out when I'm 30." And I was like, "Well, why don't I just do it now and then by the time I am 30, I'll be really good at it?" So...
Melina: Right. So, like, how did you learn about real estate investing, was it TV or...?
Kendra: Probably. Yeah, probably HGTV.
Melina: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kendra: Like, I love Joanna Gaines.
Melina: Of course.
Kendra: Like, I can do that.
Melina: Oh, yeah.
Kendra: It's amazing.
Melina: Yeah, totally.
Kendra: But, you know, I think more so of the TV networks that is relatable to real estate investing is more so "Hoarders" and then we flip it over to HGTV. Yeah, sure. So that's a little different perspective for me now.
Melina: In the real world.
Kendra: Right, right. So I actually had a bartender friend who, you know, was successful in real estate investing so I asked him and I got into another real estate investing group. So I went and it was perfectly fine. It was just fine and I knew I needed the education and I knew I didn't want to do it alone. So I remember after signing up, I called my mom and I was like, "You know, I know these aren't my people but it's a step, you know? Let's just see how it goes."
Melina: So how did you know they weren't your people? Like, did you have red flags, and if you did, what were they?
Kendra: I did have red flags. Yeah, there was one guy who was cool. He was fine. He had a good personality, he was funny, but then it just didn't seem genuine. They were talking about helping people but I was like, "Really? Are you, though?" I'm like, "Is that really your intention?" Just, in my heart, I didn't feel. I am very intuitive, so I was like I'm not mad at them, they're doing their thing. Obviously, they're having success and it's perfectly fine. I just know this isn't my forever home, and that's okay.
Melina: Interesting, interesting.
Kendra: That's okay. So I jumped in classes there. I had no idea what was going on, no idea. There was no ease-in process, there was no... I remember saying, "I just need a vocabulary sheet. I don't know what you guys are talking about, like, please help me." Like, and nothing, so I just had to attend and eventually I just faded out, so I was like, "I can't keep up."
Melina: Because you just felt overwhelmed?
Kendra: Yeah, I felt overwhelmed. Absolutely. But I kept looking. I figured my route would have to be, become a real estate agent first, and that's the basis. You know, learn that way. And so I started. You know, I took courses to become an agent, didn't learn anything. I really didn't.
Melina: Super irrelevant.
Kendra: I was, like, "Why am I here?"
Melina: Right.
Kendra: Like, you're just reading this PowerPoint, I can do that at home. And then I started looking, "Maybe I should just become a real estate agent's assistant?"
Melina: Oh.
Kendra: And so I started looking to become an assistant. They were literally looking for assistants. They were like, "I don't want you to become an agent, I want you to assist me for the rest of your life." So I was like, "That's not going to work either."
Melina: Not for me.
Kendra: Literally. And so eventually I met Christian and then he introduced me to the club. And, literally, as soon as I walked in, I was like, "Oh, yeah, these are my people." And I know there's a lot of people out there who are probably the same way. My productivity flies through the roof when I'm around people that I like to be around. Whether we're talking about real estate or not...
Melina: Sure.
Kendra: ...I just like being around you, and you have experience in something I'm looking to pursue, and I'm ready to do it. So, absolutely, no-brainer. I remember I told Christian, he was like, "How are you doing, Kendra?" I was like, "No-brainer, yeah." And like, "Let's go."
Melina: No-brainer.
Kendra: Really. Really.
Melina: That's awesome. So, yeah, because you... Oh, yeah, it's so funny. So then you came to RPP in January and it was at the end of the month, right? It always is. It's usually, yeah. And then March we got shut down. Like, we got locked down.
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: And I know, for me, when COVID hit and the lockdown happened, a lot of people got super, like, scared, and down, and depressed, and I felt so inspired. Do you remember, John?
John: I know.
Melina: Like, I was invigorated.
John: I was scared.
Melina: I know.
John: I was one of those, "Oh, my God, no. What's happening? What's going to happen," you know? And it took me a couple of months to change my mindset about what COVID meant and what COVID produced for us, you know?
Melina: Right. I don't know why I was super clear. I was like, "Oh, my gosh, this is going to create so much opportunity." I knew that it was. I was like, "Ooh, opportunity, opportunity, opportunity." I always feel like whenever there's a quick, like, interruption, you know, an interruption absolutely shakes things up. And whatever there's things that are shaken up, then that creates something beautiful on the other side. That's how I see it. So I just knew that this... You know, and I felt the rumbling happening for a few months, right? I kept on saying, "There's a rumbling and I don't know what it is, but I feel this rumbling deep in my spirit and I know that there's something happening in the world and I'm just, kind of, expecting it to take place." And then it did and I was like, "Woohoo!" And I just knew, you know, that... I know that on the other side of chaos is clarity, breakthrough. I know that. And as much as it sucks to have that kind of smack in the face, that interruption, it's what creates, you know, opportunity for those of us, if we're looking for it. So I know when COVID first hit, I, like, jumped into the club and I started just doing everything online. I started Zooming and I...
John: Yeah.
Melina: Right? We started, you know, having morning coffee every morning, I started doing one-on-one coaching with people via Zoom, you know? And, I mean, there was days where I would start coaching at, you know, 9:00 a.m. and I wouldn't stop coaching until 6:00 p.m. And I was booked like every 30 minutes, you know, I was just like one after the other, and I know you and I had a coaching session during that time. And so tell us about... Because I remember you were struggling, if you don't mind sharing a little bit about how... And I'm not like, "Look how awesome I am because I saw COVID is a good thing." It's only because I'm old, you know? It's just lots of experience, and so... Yeah, I've already been through it so I already know. And so, but tell me, because I think the way COVID affected you, I think, is how it affected most people, right?
Kendra: Right.
Melina: So if you'd share a little bit about what that was like for you, what happened? I know you wanted to, you know, but, kind of, explain what happened for you?
Kendra: Yeah. So my intention when joining the club was, you know, maybe even keep bartending for a little while and just grow. Like, I just came in, I just wanted to grow. I didn't want the next year to be the same. You know, New Year's is my favorite holiday so...and I was just tired of every New Year's Eve being the same. I'm ready for the future, but looking back on the past, I wasn't really proud of it. So going in, my intention was just to grow. So I started February off, like, hard. Like, I was knocking on every door, I was just like, I want to talk to everyone. I think the thing in the club that clicked with me is just have conversations, just help. And I was like, "I can do that. Like, I talk to people the time, what do you mean?" So I had as many conversations as I could, and then come March, I was like, "Oh, dang." Like, you know? Like... But I thought it wouldn't last very long. I was like, "Okay, we'll read some books, you know, we'll listen to some podcasts, we'll get our mind right." But it kept going, it didn't stop. And I started venturing out. I was like, "Maybe I can do some virtual wholesaling in Tennessee. Maybe I can do something else, you know, just make a quick buck just in case." Because bars shut down. I didn't want to go back, but it was like, I couldn't go back now so I have no choice.
So, literally, I started trying to virtually wholesale. And not that it can't be done but it wasn't the same. It wasn't, you know, "Just help people." It was, "Just make money." So I did have a breakdown that did lead to a breakthrough. And, yeah, I was super grateful to have you, Melina, to be able to talk with you about it. I don't even know why. I mean, just being locked in my house all day. And I love to decorate, my house is super cute, but I was sick of those walls. I was ready to just get out there and actually help people again because I feel like that was the real growth that I needed, it wasn't just a growth in my bank account that I needed. But, you know, I just had my cry and just took a second, and I just had to think, you know, "Kendra, what would you normally do in this situation? You'd probably, you know, go be a waitress somewhere instead, because if restaurants open, you would want that instant gratification of walking home with cash in your hand. So let's try to do the opposite of that and let's just try to stick in and, you know, stick it out."
So I was super grateful during that time to have people, even virtually around me, that are going through the same things, like, I'm not alone and all we have to do is just stick it out. And what if things don't change, what are we going to do? We have to, kind of, adjust and play the offense was a huge thing for me. I literally wrote that on a piece of paper and taped it onto my wall, in front of my desk, "Play the offense." And I just had to adjust my perspective on things. And so I showed up, I stayed in. I didn't cry as much. It still wasn't easy. It's still ain't easy right now, even today. But just staying in is where the real growth happens, and I'm so grateful for where I am today. Yeah, January 2020 Kendra would be like, "Yes, girl." Yeah.
Melina: Yeah?
Kendra: Yeah, absolutely.
Melina: Because you said the words you said, which I really loved before we walked in. You said something about 365 days. Can you say how you said that because how you said that was super cool? I really liked it.
Kendra: Coming into the club, I'd wanted me, in 365 days, to be different than the day I walked in. And that's 100% true, 100%. So it wasn't about money. And I think that's what connected me with New Wealth so much, that it wasn't about, "Let's make this amount of money." Of course, having goals is great, but it's an inside out transformation, and that's what I was ready for.
Melina: Yay.
John: I mean, for me, there's so many different parts to this conversation today.
Melina: Right?
John: I've introduced newer members of our community that are out there working hard and brought them into this room, you know?
Melina: Yes, definitely.
John: And, you know, now listening to Kendra, it's, you know, for anybody that's brand new that's saying, "What is real estate? How do I get into real estate?" Or even out there trying right now, or you hear what Kendra said, it was, "These were not my people." And that's okay. Find your people.
Melina: Right.
John: You know, and when you surround yourself with the right kind of people, it creates a different level of thinking. The fact that for the first two months of COVID, I was, "Oh, my God, what's going to happen?" And then, "Oh, my God, I'm way busier than what I was pre-COVID. I've got more leads coming across my desk." And one of the reasons for that was people like Kendra that actually took it to work. You know, Kendra found two short sales during COVID.
Melina: Say what?
John: We have two short sales during COVID.
Melina: Wait, this stuff works? No.
John: Yeah. Two home owners in foreclosure, very different reasons. Two homeowners in real need. And she built an awesome relationship with these people by, you know, conversation and a desire to help. And we have two short sales in the pipeline because of her ability to stick in it. You know, because I think a lot of people are finding themselves in that position of, "I've worked this regular job for the last 5, 10, 20 years, and COVID now has made me sit back and think about my future." Versus somebody like Kendra who just squeaked into real estate right before COVID and could have quite easily stopped.
Melina: Right. It's interesting, I really loved that you said, "What would Kendra do?" And then you said, "I don't want to be that, so whatever the opposite is, that's what I'm going to do."
Kendra: Let's try that and see what happens, because you know what happens when you're doing the same thing over and over, you know the outcome.
Melina: Absolutely.
Kendra: Let's try the opposite and just see.
Melina: Yeah. It's an interesting thing, it's the idea of your comfort zone, right? And we always say, "Oh, it's my comfort zone." And then there's always the question for me, like, "Is it really that comfortable?" And it's really not, right? It's just what's familiar.
Kendra: Yeah. You know the outcome, so you're like, "Okay, if I eat this cheeseburger, this is how I'm going to feel after. I've been here."
Melina: Totally.
Kendra: "I get it."
Melina: Absolutely been there, you know? Yeah, that's a super good analogy.
Kendra: "I can handle that. I can handle the bloat."
Melina: Yeah, yeah, "I can I do that." Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly, the bloat. Exactly. Yeah. But you know what it is.
Kendra: Right.
Melina: That's why we say, it's like, you know, your own poop, right?
John: Mm-hmm.
Melina: Like, it's stinky but you know it. So, you know. I think that we are wired to, in our flesh, to go back to whatever is comfortable and familiar regardless of what the outcome is.
Christian: Hi, this is Christian Rios. As many of you know, I have been a member of New Wealth Advisors Club for over 7 years and got started when I was 17 years old with absolutely no real estate experience. One of the biggest lessons I have learned from being in the industry is the need for authentic relationships. If you're looking for an actual team locally in Southern California with all the resources needed to close deals, register for one of our free workshops by visiting www.joinnwac.com. Thanks for listening to "The Flippin’ Off Podcast."
John: You know, Kendra, I don't know if I ever shared with you. But, you know, when you said at the very start, just give me a vocabulary script.
Kendra: Right, totally.
John: You know? And, Melina will share, when me and Celine sat, we sat in training, you know, seven years ago and we were so lost. We were so lost. And, you know, you shared with me, "Hey, I was getting the information but it was just too much information." And Melina broke it down for us, very simple. Take the training that we give you and learn how to find a lead, that's it. Learn how to have a conversation with somebody. You don't need to know about the tax and legal side of a corporation at this stage. It's just gray noise for you, you know? So I've seen this transition and, I know I wanted to ask you, do you feel strongly that, hey, maybe the first 6 months, 12 months of real estate was, kind of, going through the motions, but, actually, COVID was what really got you into a more serious mindset and took you to where you are today? You know, do you feel that that's really what's changed for you? You know, now you see the future of full-time real estate in you, Miss, because you did do the opposite of the things that you would normally do.
Kendra: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I feel like if COVID hadn't happened, sure, the momentum would have stayed strong. Would I have reverted back to the instant gratification of getting tipped cash tips, you know, at a bar?
Melina: Totally.
Kendra: But COVID really, the lockdown in particular, made me be-do-have as we say, which, it took me a long time to understand that because I was like, "Do-be-have." You know, "Do the work, you become rich, and you have nice things."
Melina: Right.
Kendra: But Melina always implements be-do-have. And I feel like the lockdown really allowed me to become the person that I wanted to be. I kept thinking, "Kendra, a year from now, who is she, what is she doing, when does she wake up, you know, how does she show up for other people? How can I be that? What do I have to do?" I have to show up to the club, I have to surround myself with people who are also being that. And that lockdown really allowed me to take a step back and look internally and see how I can become. Versus, you know, I love karaoke, I probably would have been at karaoke a lot more often had there not been COVID. I would not have been checking myself, absolutely not.
Melina: I so appreciate you saying that because I was going to ask you. Like, I'm so happy to hear you say that because I was thinking when I was listening to you, I'm watching you and I was thinking, you know, you're super mature, growth oriented, and so I was curious, "Who in your life or what in your life brought you to that, like, to think that way?" Like, "I need to..." Like, what happened?
Kendra: Okay. Well, I mean you can't tell but I'm biracial. I was born in the South to a teenage mother at a trailer park so I never grew up with things specifically. But, you know, you hear a teenage mother and that's just, you know, you think your life is over, right?
Melina: Right.
Kendra: Especially being 16, having a kid, what do you do now? So my mom, she is a fighter, like, for real. We did not... I did not grow up... I say we, I grew up with my mom.
Melina: Yes, definitely.
Kendra: She was a kid, I was a baby, like, we grew up together. I was at her high school graduation with her.
Melina: Wow.
Kendra: Yeah. So we grew up in not very great circumstances, but I remember watching her transition, you know, moving out. She was the oldest of five, so moving out, getting her own place, a lot of nights she would cry, I think, just of uncertainty, just not knowing what to do next. She worked at a grocery store for a while. She ended up getting her bachelor's degree in nursing.
Melina: Wow.
Kendra: She is incredible. She actually joined me out here in California. She lives in Monterey now. Just, you know, living her "Big Little Lies" Reese Witherspoon life now.
Melina: Nice.
Kendra: And she is the epitome of perseverance for me. And when I hear people have these beliefs that their current situation, they can't do things because of their current situation, I always think of my mom. Because if you all saw this house that we grew up in, it was not. It was not good. And just being in high school, having a child, you know, having a mixed-race child even at that time, in '92, you know, there was probably a lot of stuff that she got.
Melina: In Tennessee?
Kendra: In Tennessee, yes. In Tennessee. Small town, Tennessee.
Melina: It's different than California.
Kendra: Sure. Yeah, absolutely.
Melina: Very different.
Kendra: Absolutely. But, yeah, seeing how she grew allowed me to think, "I can do anything, literally anything." And even growing up myself, you know, I got made fun of for big frizzy curly hair and I hated it for a long time, and then as an adult, I was like, "You know what, how about let's flip the script and I'm going to get paid for my hair now." And I sure do. But sure do.
Melina: That's what I'm talking about.
Kendra: But, anyway, yeah.
Melina: Seriously, cheers for the natural hair, man.
Kendra: Thank you, thank you.
Melina: Yes.
Kendra: Thank you. It took me forever.
Melina: You know, I always comment on it. Beautiful. Love it.
Kendra: It took a long time to get here. But, yeah, my mom definitely has shown... And I wish she would tell her story more but I'm happy to do it. Just when people get down, when life just brings us situations, it's a part of living.
Melina: That's right.
Kendra: When you think it's failure, you think it's over, like you can make it whatever you want it to be.
Melina: Right. You can't change the incoming, the only thing you can change is how you choose to reframe it...
Kendra: Exactly.
Melina: ...and turn it back out, right? That's all you can do. So you can look at it and go, "I have this crazy hair." Or, "It's super unique and people are interested because I'm so interesting looking. And, I can get paid for this, I'm going to do that."
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: That is the reframe. That is the reframe because you can't change the circumstances, you can only change the way you respond, right?
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: That's where all the power is.
Kendra: Yeah. I feel like I had to learn that at a very young age. I remember thinking, you know, "How I grew up all these confusing situations in my life that people older than me have set up and that's fine, that has nothing to do with me and my future, it can be whatever I want it to be." And even thinking back now, like, "You were too young to be thinking that." But I think my environment, my circumstances caused me to think that way, and to this day, I always am thinking about possibility. I think that's why New Year's Eve is my favorite holiday, because I'm like, "What's next? Let's do it."
Melina: Yes, yes. I love that.
Kendra: Thanks.
Melina: Super powerful. Thank you for sharing that.
Kendra: For sure.
Melina: Because it's insightful and I think that, you know, people want to do business with people.
John: Yeah.
Melina: That's where all the power is, is really getting to know somebody, and what makes them tick, and what makes them who they are. And it is, you know, our past. It's our past circumstances. That's entirely what it is, and so I'm super proud of you. Not that I should be proud of you. Not that I have any right to be. But I'm super proud of you as a woman and as a mentor. I'm very, very proud of who you are.
Kendra: Thank you.
Melina: Your thought process is very inspiring to me because, you know, you're very intelligent, you're very insightful, and being growth oriented is something that very few people actually embrace. And I think sometimes when you... It's probably the most frustrating thing about our lives, you know, as humans, it's when we are dealt a shitty hand that we end up growing, you know?
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: There is that picture of the lion. There's two lions, right, and there's the one lion who has been taking care of his whole life. He's in the cage and, you know, he's meek, and he's, kind of, super skinny and his skin is, kind of, dark. And then you see the lion who had to fight for his food and he's just like this big, beautiful, powerful lion. And I feel like that is the truth. It's true for out in the wild and it's true for human beings as well. So that's how I see you. I see you as the second lion, just, like, roaring full of power and possibilities, right?
John: Absolutely.
Kendra: Right.
John: And, you know, we know there's immense amount of opportunity in the business that we have. You know, but it's, we always talk about, you know, finding that relationship, finding people that we want to work with. And when I speak to people looking to join the club, you know, they say, you know, "What is it you're looking for?" And I always say, "I'm looking for somebody like me, you know? I'm looking for somebody that has that level of commitment, that's prepared to go work that little bit harder than the next person." And now hearing your story, because I didn't know anything about Tennessee and, you know...
Melina: Right. Yeah, me either.
John: ...your childhood and etc. And, oh yeah, that makes sense.
Melina: Right?
John: It makes sense why you're at this next level now of talking to newbies looking to join our club and saying, "Hey, come work with John, and Christian, and Melina, my mentors. You know, let's go do some business together." But, "Hey, I need you to have that same attitude, that same perseverance." Maybe not the same experiences.
Melina: No, they can look different, right?
John: It can look very different, but it's, you know, we always talk about this business, it's is simple but not easy. And you have to be prepared to work that bit harder to achieve what it is that you want. So I can see why now you're... I'm just thinking of some of a couple other people recently that you've invited to get involved in our team and get involved in the training and, "Oh, yeah." You know, they fit so well, and I can see how you connected with them on the phone as well when you had that conversation and introduced them to the club. So I look forward to what that looks like because it's continuously building and it's continuously evolving, and, you know, let's revisit this podcast in 365 days.
Melina: Oh, yes, I was thinking of that.
John: There is that challenge.
Melina: I was thinking that. And, yeah, I think that's so good I couldn't even wait. And so I do have one question. Actually, I'm going to ask you, John, too.
John: Yeah.
Melina: But, like, right now, Kendra, what are you the most excited about?
Kendra: Oof. The most excited about? So I feel like I'm, kind of, at a point right now, like, even sitting in this chair, I... Well, a few weeks ago I was thinking, "I feel, kind of, overwhelmed." But I had to adjust how I was thinking and I'm like, "Everything that I'm overwhelmed about, I asked for it, so, really, I'm in abundance of everything that I asked for."
Melina: Yes. Yes.
Kendra: So...
Melina: Wait, you don't get to just lay in bed and it all just falls into place?
Kendra: Right. No.
Melina: No.
Kendra: I am a millennial but I'm not that, you know? I've grown past that.
Melina: Yes.
Kendra: But, yeah, what I'm looking forward to is more growth. My word of the year is clarity. Just getting clear on...
Melina: That's your '21 word?
Kendra: Yes, my '21. My '20 was relentless. But even as you said, that's easy for you.
Melina: I did say it.
Kendra: It generally would be, but hello, COVID.
Melina: Hello, COVID. Agreed, agreed. Okay, so you showed up as relentless this year, there's no doubt about it. Did you find yourself, like, you know, when COVID hit, did you find yourself, like, "I'm relentless"?
Kendra: I had to sit in my closet and say, "Be relentless, be relentless, be relentless."
Melina: Okay.
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: And I didn't mean to take that away from you when I said, "Oh, that's easy for you."
Kendra: No. I mean, you're not wrong. But, if it weren't COVID, that's what I'm saying. Like, if it weren't COVID, I would have potentially gotten distracted and gone elsewhere. So stay relentless on this path...
Melina: Wow.
Kendra: ...it just showed up very differently...
Melina: It always does.
Kendra: ...because of COVID.
Melina: Yeah.
Kendra: But, yeah, I had to sit in my closet and say, "Be relentless." And that's where the conclusion came of just, "Hey, do opposite of what you would normally do."
Melina: Wow.
Kendra: That's it. And, I mean, you're not going to die. Like, doing the opposite of what you would normally do, like, it's not that serious, it's just an experiment. Look at it as an experiment and just see what happens.
Melina: Be curious.
Kendra: Yeah. Because you can always go back. I even think now, like, if my life goes to shambles, I can always jump behind a bar again.
Melina: Absolutely. Absolutely. Such good way.
Kendra: I will always know how to make a margarita.
Melina: Exactly. That's exactly right, that's exactly right. That's such a good way. I think about that a lot. It's so funny that you say that, I forgot I used to think that way. I used to think that way all the time until I just got to a place of, "I'll just go make more money."
Kendra: Yeah.
Melina: You know, now I just know I'll never not be able to find a deal. You know, but I remember in the beginning I was always like, "Oh, I can always go back to paralegal work." Always, that can always be, you know, my fallback. And I would never do it, right? So I'm glad you said that, right? You too, John. Like I can see Johnny's wheels turning. Did you ever have that conversation?
John: Yeah.
Melina: Oh, yeah.
John: Yeah.
Melina: I'm sure.
John: You know, I don't want to change anything that's happened in my life. You know, I wouldn't go back and change anything. I'm here because I'm here and I'm here for many, many reasons. But, oh, to have had a mindset the same as what Kendra has now if I could go back to that time. You know, I did a lot of different things and, you know, no regrets, obviously. But I didn't have a strong mindset, I was a person that went through the motions. I got up every morning, and I did my work, and I came home, and I did this, I did that, and I never really, you know, dreamed about my future. I didn't dream about what it looked like to be something else, you know, and circumstances forced me to change things. But, you know, your question, you know, what is there to look forward to or what is it to look forward to? And for many, many years now, I see people's Instagrams and Facebook and they say, "Oh, my God, where did the weekend go? It's Monday morning, oh, my God," you know? And, "Oh, my God, thank God it's the end of the week." And, you know, even now, I hear people say, "Oh, thank God, we're coming to the end of 2020. Let's just get rid of 2020." And it's, well, that's, kind of, like my Monday morning, Monday is just Monday, it's just another day. It's not a, "Oh, my God, it's a workday," because I run my own business, I work whenever I work, and I work as much as I need to work so...
Melina: You mean you're always never working?
John: Yeah. I worked yesterday. I was on the phone at 7:00 last night with a homeowner looking to sell on a Sunday evening, not chilling out.
Melina: Right, hallelujah.
John: But today, you know, once we finish the podcast, I'm, pretty much, done for the day. I've got a couple of things. I want to take it easy today because I can.
Melina: Right. Isn't that the best?
John: I'm not looking forward to, you know... I think, instantly, people say, "Oh, I'm looking forward to the end of 2020." Well, no, bring it on 2021, let's see what you've got.
Together: Right.
John: Because this mess isn't disappearing 1st of January. It's not, "Oh, my God, 2021, no more COVID..."
Melina: Oh, no.
John: "...no more insecurity." No, it's still going to be there and it may get worse and it may get better. So, you know, for me, I enjoy that continued growth. We're always learning, we're always building, and what another great opportunity to see somebody like Kendra sat here. You know, I saw, you know, Amir. And actually Amir, who sat in your chair, I don't know, two years ago, three years ago, he actually played a big part in, you know, your early coaching.
Kendra: Yeah, he did.
John: You know, working with you, taking you out, talking to you, you know? Hey, what are you up to, what are you doing, what strategies, etc.? So that's... Oh, I don't know. Does it get old to say that's the way our club works? It's, you know...
Melina: I don't think it...
John: No. You taught my mentor, my mentor taught me, I taught, you know, Amir, Amir taught you, now I'm coaching you, Melina is coaching you. It's just a continuous family of coaching.
Melina: Very exciting.
John: So I look forward to, you know, the new faces that we see this next year.
Melina: Yeah. Can you see that now?
Kendra: Oh, definitely. Definitely. And I like to think, even when there are times that, you know, you feel down or that you don't want to put in the work today, one thing I think in my mind is, I have to show up for other people now. And if I don't feel like it today, it's hurting them. You know, they're expecting me to show up. And I think that's a really powerful mind shift because you can show up for yourself and that's all well and good. But there are going to be times you don't feel like it or there are so many other things you would rather do. But when people are depending on you, whether it's homeowners, whether it's new people, yeah, you need to show up for them because if I were to stay behind that bar, I'm not really...I'm serving people, but I'm not serving people, you know?
Melina: Right.
Kendra: I'm not helping their life. So that had to click in my head that I have so much. I have skills and talents and we all have different skills and talents to give people, and we have to show up for them in the right way to actually put it forth in the way we're supposed to.
John: It's an exciting year ahead, too, for many reasons. But, you know, let's lock it in the calendar for 365 days from now to have this next...
Melina: For sure. For sure. Now you know what that's going to look like.
Kendra: Let me write it down.
Melina: Yeah, exactly, write it down.
Kendra: I did get a really great planner so I'm excited.
Melina: You did? Good, good, good, good, good, good.
John: Yes, yes.
Melina: Yeah. You know, I want to tell you something, for me, you know, just hearing you say that this click in your mind of other people depending on you, and even though you want to do other things you don't because they are dependent on you. I just want you to know that that is the words of a true leader. That is leadership defined, in my opinion. And so I don't actually believe I've had anybody else sit here, like, as new as you and say those words out loud, and I believe that is indicative of where you are headed.
Kendra: I appreciate that.
Melina: So I appreciate you because you have no idea how much that served me. Because, yeah, you know, it served me because I needed to hear that. I needed to hear that today because it inspires me, it encourages me to know that you're just now getting that. And it makes everything worthwhile for me because, guess what, that feeling doesn't go away.
Kendra: I appreciate that. I mean...
Melina: There's just more people.
Kendra: Yeah. Yeah.
Melina: And more zeroes.
Kendra: Absolutely. But you guys instilled that in me or nurtured that. I feel like it was always there but you guys nurtured that. And that just goes to show, all you have to do is show up. Like, that's it, and the change will happen and people will pour into you when they see you showing up. Like, all you have to is show up.
Melina: Boomshakalaka. All right. Well, congratulations, honey, 365 days. And that's not to say that you won't be back before that. What we're saying is, in 365 days, we're going to have a recap of this. So, maybe we'll play this, and then we will do a recap of where we are December 21st of 2021. Ooh, 12/21/21.
Kendra: It is a big manifesting day.
Melina: It is.
Kendra: I don't know if you guys have heard that?
Melina: No.
Kendra: It is. Jupiter and Saturn are supposed to align perfectly, and it's a huge manifestation day.
Melina: Wow.
Kendra: We haven't seen this day since 1600s, apparently.
Melina: Wow.
Kendra: I'm like, "Hey, I'm manifesting."
John: We'll be here, we'll be here.
Melina: We will be here. We'll absolutely be here. Absolutely. All right, everybody out there. Take care. And we are NWAC, and we are flipping out, flipping off.
I'm Melina Boswell, your host of the "Flippin’ Off" podcast. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we'd love for you to subscribe. Give us a five-star rating and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the "Flippin’ Off" podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Google podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you'd like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you've heard, we'd really appreciate it if you'd follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tell us the stories that you'd like to hear.
Tim Jackson is our senior producer. Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.
Podcast Transcription Intro: Welcome to "Flippin' Off," a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.
Dave: What's up, everybody? Good morning. Good afternoon. Good night. Wherever you are. Dave Boswell here, Davey Boswell. I got a good friend of mine in the house today, Carlos G... Is it... Actually, tell me right now. What is the right way to pronounce it?
Carlos: Guerra. I've heard, like, "Guerra," and I've heard "G Carey."
Dave: Yeah. So say it. It's Guerra?
Carlos: Gerra.
Dave: Guerra. Guerra. Just like Gerra, like, there's no U.
Carlos: No.
Dave: I think the U confuses me.
Carlos: Guerra…Hispanic. Guerra.
Dave: I wanna say, like, "Geera."
Carlos: Gerra.
Dave: Gerra. Like the U-E Guerra.
Carlos: Yeah. That's why I just go CG. Just, like, CG.
Dave: CG. Nice. Anyway, Carlos Guerra, a good friend of mine now. He's... How long have you been at the club?
Carlos: It's been a year and...a year and a half now.
Dave: About a year and a half. Awesome. So, the reason for today's podcast is just to go through Carlos' story and talk about some of his struggles, his experiences, what got him into the mindset to actually even begin looking for the club. And recently... I will just let you guys know now. Recently, Carlos closed a deal. How long were you at the club before you closed your first deal?
Carlos: Oh, God. Five months, six months. First deal.
Dave: So, within five or six months, Carlos... And what was the profit you made on that first one?
Carlos: First one, it was a net of 102, but given expense...
Dave: Your split.
Carlos: Twenty-eight.
Dave: Twenty-eight grand on the first one, in five months. So, Carlos has a bit of... He's seen a bit more success than most people do within their first six months or even within their first year generally, which is awesome. That's what we wanna see more of. And we just wanted to show that it's possible, and give an example of, you know, somebody who's been through that process already, and show maybe what kind of mindset it takes to... I don't wanna say luck, because we all know luck doesn't really exist, or luck does exist, I guess, but it's only when, you know, preparation meets opportunity.
Carlos: Right.
Dave: So, I guess, you know, maybe talk about a little bit of what kind of mindset you were in when you were, you know, looking for the club, and then if that shifted at all for you when you found the club. So, maybe we'll start with where are you from? What's your, little bit of your background?
Carlos: Background. Well, I grew up in Long Beach. Just overall background, I come from biomedical research operations, so heavy on the science, heavy on the analytical. Spent 10 years doing hands-on research. So, what you see in the news, those individuals with the lab coats working on testing…doing operations on rats, was one, and then I slowly transitioned to more of a leadership opportunity with the medical school that I was in. And I think the entrepreneurial mindset came from there, because I was given opportunities to test certain things and build a research enterprise when there wasn't any, and trained students, trained medical students to do research, to think analytically, to train them, and then to do publications in a more, like, presentations with scientists and then get grilled on that at the same time.
Dave: It's intense.
Carlos: But...
Dave: It sounds intense.
Carlos: It is. And, like, science is no joke. And then from there, I decided to go more of a leadership route more than the hands-on. So, I went to graduate school, got my MBA, then I got an offer at City of Hope. There I learned how to manage funds, like, major funds for an institution. And then I started consulting with physicians, going over their funds that they had for their clinical research, their projects, their team. So, it was more of the overall scope of the institution and operations from that.
Dave: Okay.
Carlos: And then transitioned into real estate.
Dave: Yeah. So, you were always interested in real estate while you were...
Carlos: It's funny because there's four things, four life events that happened that ultimately helped me transition to real estate. First, as we shared intimately, like, the loss of my father. Things that happened in 2008, 2009. I think that affected everybody. The third was when I bought my first home. And I'll tell you a little bit more about that one. And then having my daughter. The last one was a major point for me to transition into real estate, and I never thought I would be transitioning into real estate.
Dave: You never thought you would?
Carlos: No. No. But it was a big proponent. She was a big proponent.
Dave: Your daughter.
Carlos: Yeah. To make the final leap.
Dave: Is that because of time?
Carlos: Yeah. Time has value, dude.
Dave: Yeah, absolutely.
Carlos: And seeing the amount of little time I was spending, and chasing something that I thought I was gonna be in for a long time, and then not having that fulfillment was like, "Okay. What am I really doing?" So, that's when I decided to take a leap of faith. Everything that I'd built up to, for 10 years, you know, going to school, graduate school. All that.
Dave: It's a grind.
Carlos: It's a grind. And then I was like, I'm not happy, I need to see my daughter. And at the end of it I was like, I resigned.
Dave: So, you actually quit.
Carlos: I quit. Yeah, everything I built up for. Because I was, like, unhappy. And at the end of it, I needed to spend more time with my daughter. And then it was a Facebook ad that I found. And it was Frank.
Dave: So, you had not tried to get into anything else, any other real estate clubs or seminars or anything?
Carlos: No. It was just... I was up at night, thinking, "Okay. What's my next step? What do I have to find locally for me to be around my daughter, but at the same time provide some type of income?"
Dave: So, you didn't know that it was real estate?
Carlos: Nope. I didn't know it was gonna be real estate.
Dave: Interesting.
Carlos: The thing that... The third aspect, when I was buying my home, I was more hands-on with that, because the first home that my parents bought was in Victorville. And they just... They didn't do the research. And coming from a research background, I was like, "Okay. I'm gonna be very hands-on with the process of this. So, I would be looking at different areas, the market cap, and then the tax rate in different ones. And then, "Okay. What does it sell right here? What's the sell right there?" I was doing more research than the realtor I was...
Dave: Yeah, way more, for sure.
Carlos: Way more.
Dave: Yeah.
Carlos: And then I made an Excel list of, "Okay. This property has sold...has been on market for this amount of time versus this other property has this, this, this, you know, score 1 to 10. Okay. Made decision right there. We're going…
Dave: That's awesome. Okay. So, you said there were four different events that... And your daughter being the main one. Maybe a little bit backing up, and obviously, as honest and transparent as you wanna be. You can get into as deep as you want to, but maybe tell me a little bit about, like, how those other events shifted your mindset, because your dad passed away when you, how far into school were you?
Carlos: I was in my second year of just undergrad at Cal Poly, pursuing science. And he was a big proponent of education. Like, he...
Dave: He was about you going to school.
Carlos: Yeah, yeah. Because he showed me during the summers that, you know, what the value of a dollar is, like, literally working with him, going to work, getting dirty. All that lessons during the summer.
Dave: What did he do?
Carlos: He was a maintenance guy, the maintenance supervisor.
Dave: …old-fashioned labor.
Carlos: Mm-hmm. We would flip the apartments that he had to get ready. So, he renovated, painted, do electrical, the plumbing, all that.
Dave: Okay.
Carlos: I learned that aspect from him.
Dave: But he pushed you to go to school?
Carlos: Yeah.
Dave: He really wanted you to not do that work or what do you...
Carlos: He showed me, like, "This is the life that I'm having to do for you to have opportunity. Take advantage of this right now since I'm providing this opportunity for you to have. And that way, you're not struggling in the future." And once he passed away, unfortunately, in a car accident, I was like, "Crap."
Dave: Yeah. Shit.
Carlos: Shit.
Dave: Fuck.
Carlos: Yeah, dude. It was a tough time.
Dave: Yeah, I get it, man.
Carlos: At 21, now becoming a head of household. I didn't even know what the freaking life insurance was, dude, at that point because he was the man of house. He took care of everything. And then now I have my mom. She's in a mental state that, it's like, "Okay. I have to be strong for her. I gotta be strong for myself. I have to figure all these things out now that I have to provide direction." And that's where it was really the beginning of, "Okay. Now I'm the man of the house. I have to make these major decisions." And along the way, I didn't have that mentor, like, guidance-ship that I was looking for. And then 2008 happened. I learned that lesson pretty hard.
Dave: So, how did that affect you? I know it affected a lot of people.
Carlos: It did.
Dave: 2008 being, for those of you who don't know, the big crash of the market, the real estate market. A lot of people lost a lot of money, and it affected you.
Carlos: Yeah. We lost a lot of money.
Dave: Okay.
Carlos: What they paid for and what we let the house go for. Seventy grand.
Dave: Yeah.
Carlos: Seventy grand. And basically, we trusted a realtor that I shouldn't have, and we didn't know what the situation was, and then we ended up renting because she just wanted out because it had too many memories and too much of my dad.
Dave: Sure.
Carlos: So, that's where I was like, "Okay." I didn't know anything about real estate, but that was my first lesson about it. And then that's why I was hands-on when I was looking for my first home to purchase, because I was like, "Okay. I'm gonna learn this process."
Dave: Make sure it doesn't go wrong.
Carlos: Exactly.
Dave: Do it right. Okay. Makes sense. So, and then fast-forward, you saw this Facebook ad.
Carlos: Mm-hmm. It was late at night. And then it was Facebook ad in terms of the real estate club, and then submitted the online form, and then I got a call from Frank.
Dave: And what kind of mindset were you in when you sent that in, you send your info? Were you just skeptical, like, "I might as well just see"? Were you hopeful about it, or how were you feeling when you were...
Carlos: I was getting an interest because I was researching again.
Dave: So, you started doing research again.
Carlos: I started doing it.
Dave: Yeah, of course, you did.
Carlos: And then I came across NWAC and then I was like, "Okay. What are they about?" And then read the reviews, went through the website, and started getting informed of who's in there and what do you guys do and how you guys do it. And then, yeah, I was like, "You know what? Let me just go through… see what's going on."
Dave: Yeah. So, when you came through the three-day event, and you were gonna...getting ready to start looking for deals, what... Did your mindset shift from... Did a light bulb go off for you during the three-day or... You know what I mean? Like, did it click for you? Because you closed the deal pretty quick.
Carlos: Yeah. Basically, like your mom said, you provide a business in a box, by trial and error of what you guys already have been through. And there was a moment there in RPP that I had with your mom. I call it the Peter moment, because we connected in a way that she knew that I was apprehensive, but I was gonna do it.
Dave: I knew you were apprehensive, for sure. Yeah.
Carlos: I was quiet for the last two days.
Dave: Very quiet. I didn't know about you. And I didn't know about you at all. I was kind of like trying to figure out what was going on with this guy. Super quiet.
Carlos: Mentally it was, like, you know, what I was thinking I was gonna be doing for the rest of my life. Now transitioning to you guys opening my eyes to other possibilities, other opportunities, but at the same time having the opportunity to be around for my daughter. That was a big proponent.
Dave: A big deal.
Carlos: Yep.
Dave: The wheels just turning. That's why you were quiet.
Carlos: Yeah. Very...
Dave: Analytical mind just moving. That's cool.
Carlos: Mm-hmm. Absolutely, dude.
Dave: Okay. So, now you start looking for prospective leads, you start prospecting for leads. What were your conversations like at first?
Carlos: It's funny because the first door knock I ever did, I was... There was someone outside. It was in Yucaipa. And I noticed that she was having a hard time. Something was going on. It was a pre-foreclosure. I did actually a little of the marketing piece of introducing who I was, my picture, a little bit of my background, and why I was there. I left it with the homeowner's sister. And that turned out to be something that Patti went to go talk to the homeowner. And...
Dave: With, intentionally for you, or just, like, randomly she went as well?
Carlos: No, no. Intentionally went because he contacted me after.
Dave: Oh, got it.
Carlos: And then I wasn't, you know, well versed in terms of his options.
Dave: Sure.
Carlos: So, I referred him to Patti.
Dave: Right.
Carlos: Patti then went over there and, you know, she did her thing as she does. She's very good at what she does. And that homeowner ended up doing chapter 13, ultimately. We couldn't help him out.
Dave: And real quick, for anybody who doesn't know Patti, she's crazy awesome. She is super outgoing and, honestly, just one of the most genuine people you'll probably ever meet. She really just cares about... When she starts talking to you, she has one thing in mind, and that's just you. And she really doesn't care about anything else. She has no, like, motives or, you know, there's no... There's no strings attached. She's not looking to accomplish anything other than, you know, serve whatever that person's needs are. So, that's why she's very good at what she...
Carlos: Absolutely. And that's where we connected really quick. And based on how she saw how I was approaching homeowners, she mentored me. She mentored me. She basically showed me how she does things...
Dave: That's awesome.
Carlos: ...and how... And then that's where it clicked. I was like, "Okay. The next door, the next door." I got a little bit better with the conversations, a little bit more comfortable. And then that first deal that happened, it was persistence with those homeowners.
Dave: So, tell me a little bit about it. How did it go?
Carlos: So, at first they were apprehensive. And then I started noticing, oh, they said that they are doing a loan mod. Then, I know, in RPP...
Dave: So, what was the first meeting like? Let's just go to the very first meeting.
Carlos: First meeting?
Dave: Yeah. The very first time you met the homeowner, what was the conversation like, or what was that encounter like?
Carlos: They were like... They were a little bit apprehensive, because they were like, "No, we already have it covered in terms of a loan mod." But then the little things I was noticing, the body language, the circumstance that they were living in. I started asking more questions. And then, based on that conversation and that apprehension, like, they have everything covered, and I started asking more pointed questions, diving into it, and realized that they were getting scammed. They paid $3,000, $4,000 to get a loan mod.
Dave: Ahh, boom, there you go. So, you told them, "You're being scammed. You should never have paid for that." And gained instant trust.
Carlos: Yep.
Dave: Cool. Awesome. Perfect. Great. Okay. So, that was... How long was the relationship from the time you started talking to them to the point where they were all finished up?
Carlos: I think that took probably four visits, three to four visits within a month's time.
Dave: Okay.
Carlos: A month's time.
Dave: So, that's quicker. That's honestly quicker than most of these transactions and most of these processes, but that's awesome. They were able to get it dealt with. So, what was the details in the house? They were in foreclosure. Somebody scammed them. And so did you guys take care of that?
Carlos: Yeah. We definitely took it where we called the lender. Your mom and I, we got on the lender. We got on a call with them. And they haven't received one bit of documentation.
Dave: Oh, man.
Carlos: And that's when they have that self-realization as well. And then, looking at what the documents and providing them the…] information, that's where your mom made the offer of helping them out. And then based on the realization that they faced, and now that offer, they were like, "Okay. Let's do it. Let's go for it."
Dave: Yeah, it's a no-brainer. That's amazing. It happens when you're just willing to help somebody.
Carlos: Right. And we looked at it holistically. And that was a big aspect that they were having people come up to them just offer them, like, "Look, we'll give you $25,000 cash," but not really diving deep into what they really needed.
Dave: Yeah. They're just throwing numbers at them.
Carlos: Exactly.
Dave: Nobody has any idea what to do.
Carlos: Without explaining.
Dave: They're terrified.
Carlos: Exactly.
Dave: Yeah. Feeling like they're getting scammed again.
Carlos: Exactly. So, their approach was very methodical, but very holistic. And that was, you know, what encapsulated a lot of trust in that partnership before.
Dave: That's awesome. Do you think you would have been able to do something like this without having gone to NWAC?
Carlos: No. Absolutely, no.
Dave: Yeah.
Carlos: The way that your mom approached the situation, the way that she brought me in, and then adding the components of Oscar, then Tim, the creative thinking, that's where I love that conversation, because of the analytical side, the way they're performing it, and how it made sense. And it was a win-win situation for a lot of individuals.
Dave: Right. For everybody. Yeah.
Carlos: And it just made total sense, and I was like, "There's no way I could have thought of this at that point." Now, there's a lot of more tools and resources that I have that I can have that conversation pretty easily.
Dave: Yeah, absolutely. How's it been since then? Have you been consistently door-knocking? Do you fall off a little bit after the first one? Or how has it been? You can be honest here.
Carlos: No. No. To be honest, I was like, there were things in the pipeline. That's the thing with this. I decided to do it full-time.
Dave: Yeah.
Carlos: And with full-time, your success is really dependent on you.
Dave: Right.
Carlos: But at the same time, you have to recall that this is not an easy business. It could take a mental toll on you one day, and then you're gonna have to wake up the next day and then have more conversations. And you have to be kind of ready for those conversation, because you're dealing with a new individual with different circumstances. And you're the individual that has the knowledge, but also the resources to help them, whether they realize it, not at that moment in time, but they will realize it.
Dave: Eventually.
Carlos: Eventually.
Dave: Yeah. It's a matter of getting them, or getting to that place with them.
Carlos: Yeah. In total, I mean, there's been five deals, but within that, the net was... It was a lot for this year.
Dave: Yeah. That's awesome. That's really exciting. That's awesome.
Christian: Hi, this is Christian Rios. As many of you know, I have been a member of New Wealth Advisors Club for over seven years, and got started when I was 17 years old, with absolutely no real estate experience. One of the biggest lessons I've learned from being in the industry is the need for authentic relationships. If you're looking for an actual team locally in Southern California with all the resources needed to close deals, register for one of our free workshops by visiting www.joinnwac.com. Thanks for listening to the "Flippin' Off" podcast.
Dave: That's awesome. That's really exciting. That's awesome to hear. Yeah. That's really cool.
Carlos: Yeah, dude. Yeah, like I said, this business is something that if you really are gonna put 100%, you're basically putting your life with it. You have to really be consistent, disciplined, but at the same time, be prepared that you need to face things that you haven't faced in the past that need to be addressed. And this year has been a crazy year for everybody. And for the first time, you could say in 13 years, I was able to stop for a little bit.
Dave: Take some time?
Carlos: Take some time. Even though there were things in the pipeline, I needed to take some time for me and address certain things that I haven't, because after the death of my dad, I just always been on the go, dude. Go, go, go.
Dave: You don't stop.
Carlos: You don't stop. So, yeah, dude. I'm not gonna lie. There's times where I was depressed and I had to deal with that. So, yeah, I now take medication for it.
Dave: Do you?
Carlos: Mm-hmm. I take medication for depression. I have my counselor. We talk about things. But at the same time, I enjoy just being in front of the door and actually have an agenda and conversation with the homeowner.
Dave: That's a big deal.
Carlos: It is.
Dave: That's really cool.
Carlos: Because that adds a layer of fulfillment that, you know, I didn't have in my past.
Dave: It's so cool. But coming from somebody who... I mean, how many years of school did you go through?
Carlos: I will say six, seven post-high school.
Dave: So, you went on a grind through school to be able to have a successful life.
Carlos: Absolutely.
Dave: And I mean, with your degree, I mean, just, you can make well over six figures a year.
Carlos: Yeah. I left a six-figure job.
Dave: Right. And for perspective, I mean, I think that's everything. When you look at the average Joe, the average Jane, like, most people are just trying to get to a point in life where they're financially stable.
Carlos: Right.
Dave: And they can hear it from somebody, you know, who was completely stable, beyond, I would say, past financially stable. And so, you were pretty successful. And it just goes to show you really can't find that fulfillment in money. It just doesn't. It just doesn't do it.
Carlos: It's a byproduct in terms of, you know, years and years of investing in yourself, but thinking that you were gonna be fulfilled doing that role. And now, transition into real estate, then you find yourself, okay, being fulfilled, but learning, basically, how to fish. Basically, learning how to make your own income. And there's no cap to that. It's only capped by how much effort you really put into it.
Dave: It's so true.
Carlos: That's it, dude.
Dave: That's exciting too, when you think about that, really. And that's honestly one of the things that keeps me going and gets me really juiced up about what I do is the possibilities of what could happen. And sometimes that can even be paralyzing for a lot of people. Sometimes, like, the fear of success, it can paralyze people, and I find myself in that place at different times. And I have to struggle with that. But...
Carlos: Yeah. But here's the thing. Here's the beauty about it. I wasn't alone during that process. There were people that were coming in that I've been able to partner with, that I've been able to learn, that I've been able to have a genuine conversation with and a genuine relationship-building off of that, that now transcends to me even mentoring individuals that reach out to me.
Dave: Right.
Carlos: So, it's like you're paying it forward and then people notice. I'm not one that likes to brag in terms of success.
Dave: Sure.
Carlos: Anything monetary, anything like that. I see success as I have time for my daughter. That's success to me. I have time for my family when I wasn't really focusing on that. I was chasing titles. I was chasing positions and ambitions and salary.
Dave: Right.
Carlos: But then coming to a realization that, you know, this has more value. This will have a long-term value for me, myself and my family.
Dave: And how's your relationship now with your daughter? How has that been?
Carlos: I get the chance to just have her, you know, wake up, make breakfast, play around. Now with those whole COVID thing, just teaching her, like, the letters, writing it out, set curriculums up, for her to be ready. But I know her upbringing will be very different now because of real estate.
Dave: Absolutely.
Carlos: That more of that entrepreneurial mindset, to look at things very differently, to look at things creatively, rather than just where I grew up, where my dad was like, "No. School, school, school." School is great, but it's not gonna teach you life lessons.
Dave: That is so freaking cool, because she's really gonna get both sides of it. She's gonna get the best of both worlds. Yeah. Mike Tyson. The best of both worlds. Having, coming from your dad pushing you to be... She's gonna see everything that you did. She's gonna see the good things about you going through school and then she's gonna see how it was important for you to spend time with her and she's gonna see that she has value. And she's gonna see the value in herself because you gave her that. I think it's so awesome what you're doing, man. And I think your story is inspirational and it's very relatable.
And that's the reason I wanted you to get here to share this. I just know that so many people are at a point in their life where they are not fulfilled no matter what they're doing. And I think it's so important to hear from somebody who has made money, like, who's been there and has made the money without having to become an entrepreneur that... You did the grind. You've made the money. You could have done that. And it wasn't right for your life. And so I think it's so big. It's so big for your family, for your future, and for you.
Carlos: Yeah. No, absolutely. I mean, it is possible. And I know I've spoken with individuals that have been doing this a while and it's just the mindset. Everybody has things in our life that they look at setbacks, and they hold on to that so long that it doesn't allow them to fully progress. But that's where mentally, I had to do a mental check for myself, because I've always been on the grind. I always had to go, go, go. I need to make this happen. I'm driven. And if you tell me, "No, you can't do it," I'm just gonna prove you wrong right there on the spot. I will. And that's just the mentality that I was raised with and the grit that I had to have, because...
Dave: Yeah. And in fact, I'm pretty sure we told you not to quit your job…
Carlos: No. But I mean, I came to NWAC after.
Dave: It was right after. Yeah.
Carlos: It was right after.
Dave: I think it was, like, right after, because I was like, "You quit?"
Carlos: Yeah. I was like, "You know what? I did it." But then this opportunity came up with getting to know you guys.
Dave: Yeah.
Carlos: What you guys are about. And then building... Basically, you guys... I see it this way. You guys are a ship that you guys have your captains, your leaders, and then you guys take us out to sea for three days to learn the aspect, then we come back, then you guys give us our own little boat, basically, our own little boat to basically go out there to fish.
Dave: That's awesome.
Carlos: But you guys are there as well to protect us from the sharks.
Dave: Right.
Carlos: And at the same time, look at every fish that we catch, and see what we can make of it.
Dave: That's an awesome analogy, or metaphor. I'm not sure that's... That's awesome.
Carlos: And then there's always gonna be that lifeline there. If I need help on something, I have a questions. I look at things very differently. So, that's... It's funny because I was thinking about this this morning, like, "How am I gonna reference this?" And then...
Dave: That's awesome.
Carlos: I was Baby Shark... I was doing Baby Shark with my daughter, dude. And I was like, "You know what? Sea, boat, sharks. You know, it makes sense."
Dave: That's epic. It does, too. I mean, that's perfect. That's exactly what it is.
Carlos: Yeah. And now when things come up, like, there's an appointment that I have this coming Saturday with a student that mentioned, like, "Hey, look, I wanna learn from you, see what you're doing, and basically improve." I have an appointment on Saturday.
Dave: That's so cool.
Carlos: And even if, like, they say something I don't know, I was like, I always have my go-to is Oscar.
Dave: Yeah.
Carlos: Oscar is like... I always like breaking things down, like, "How far am I in terms of my approaches," or the solutions that I think I'm thinking of, basically, providing, versus how he thinks of things. And it's... There's a lot of similarities there.
Dave: Yeah, absolutely. I would agree. Do you think anybody can do the business?
Carlos: Yeah. If you really have the wherewithal and the mindset for it.
Dave: Yeah. Mindset is gonna be the biggest part.
Carlos: Yeah. Big. Anybody can change in terms of the way they approach certain things, the way they talk, the way they might think, but that's where mentorship is a big aspect.
Dave: That's right. I was gonna go next to... Carlos went through the six-week... Twelve-week? Six-week.
Carlos: Twelve.
Dave: Is it 12 or 6?
Carlos: The mentorship with your mom.
Dave: A mentorship with my mom is six. Or maybe it's 12. I can't... I'm having a major brain fart right now. Is it six? A six-week mentorship. I can't remember. You went through the mentorship program and... Tell me a little bit about that. And why did you feel like you needed to do that?
Carlos: For one, I needed to really see where this could take me, like, really look into it very prospectively, invest in myself for the first time outside of academics. And what your mom provided was an encapsulation of breaking things down for you mentally in terms of everything that you compartmentalize, you need to unpack that.
Dave: Mm-hmm.
Carlos: You really need to unpack that.
Dave: You need it front of you.
Carlos: Exactly.
Dave: You needed it all out. Yeah, I totally get that.
Carlos: There is something to be said about revealing things and discussing things and walking through things, rather than just, "Okay. It's real estate. I can learn this, this, this." But at the same time, walking through, unpacking certain things, and how it correlates to the success that you've had in the past and the success that you have in the future, it's kind of setting another foundation to prepare you what's ahead. And that's where I was like, "Okay." For the first time, I was able to unpack, privately, during this time of COVID, the passing of my dad. Because I wasn't... There's one person told me I was not able to grieve the way I should. And sometimes you need to take things out for yourself to reveal and go through that pain to have that self-realization, because, as we both know, parents are big proponents in our lives.
Dave: Yeah. Yeah.
Carlos: So, yeah. The mentorship helped me definitely align certain aspects of my life that I needed to get in order.
Dave: Yeah, absolutely. Sorry I lost myself a little bit.
Carlos: No. No. I know, it's... Yeah, dude.
Dave: It's heavy. So, yeah, that's really cool. I think a huge part is being willing to, like, going through mentorship, because you can listen to all the information and you can hear it, and it can go in one ear and right out the other.
Carlos: Right.
Dave: So, it really takes, like, being in the right mindset to go through the mentorship and then take advantage of it and do the things. I just see Carlos as somebody who... I really see you as somebody who's just, like, a really good representation...like, just a really good student, like, somebody who, you know, like, you do what you're supposed to do. You get the information in front of you, you analyze it, decide whether or not it's valuable or makes sense, and then you go ahead and do that. And you don't waver on it. You just do what you're told. And it's a perfect example of if you do what you're supposed to do and you kind of follow the steps, then the things... But it's easier said than done. Right?
Carlos: Yeah, I know. The first year was, like, I was more like, "Let me learn as much as possible." Always there in the classes, learning, asking pointed questions, digging into the mind of Tim, digging into the mind of Oscar, Chris Albin, just asking pointed questions because I was so curious. And then now, this year and a half, the second year, going into the second year, I've been like, "Okay. Let me see what this guy is doing. What's working for him...
Dave: Nice.
Carlos: ...or working for them?"
Dave: Nice.
Carlos: So, closing... Okay. So, I was provided an opportunity to close my own deal outside. And I learned a lot in that process. The network that, you know, basically, Empires, and just talking to them, you know, just be prepared too, when you're facing, you know, these opportunities what you learned in the past, the foundation. Yeah. And now, I'm starting to think, "Okay. I'm taking a little bit of this, a little bit of that." Just forming my own way of, like, pursuing real estate, but at the same time, going back to always having that comfort of knowing I can go back and just get a double check.
Dave: Yeah. It's so cool.
Carlos: That's critical in this business, because you know who to work with, and you know who not to work with.
Dave: Right.
Carlos: You'll realize that pretty quick.
Dave: Yes.
Carlos: And that's where that safe haven I feel like, with NWAC, with Oscar, with your mom, going over deals. It makes sense, especially as you're starting off.
Dave: So, cool, man. Very cool. Anything that you'd wanna share with anybody that you wanna...somebody who's thinking about coming to the club and not sure, maybe on the fence, or anything or any encouragement?
Carlos: When you asked me to do this podcast, I was surprised, but at the same time, I really thought about, like, the message that I wanna translate and the impact that a decision like this can have life-changing effects, but at the same time, doing something with intent. So, there's self-development books I've been reading during this time. And there's a passage here from "Life Principles," from Ray Dalio. Successful individual. And then this really… in terms of where I was at that point. And I think this will help relate to a lot of individuals in terms of even getting into this business.
Dave: Awesome.
Carlos: Okay. So, at some point in your life, you will crash in a big way. You might fail at your job or with your family, lose a loved one, suffer a serious accident or illness, or discover that life you imagine is out of reach forever. There are a whole host of ways that something will get to you. At such times, you will be in pain, and you might think that... I'm sorry. That you don't have the strength to go on. You almost always do. However, your ultimate success will depend on how you realize that fact, even though it may not seem that way at the moment. So, this is why many people who have endured setbacks that seemed devastating at that time ended up as happy or even happier than they originally were after they successfully adapted to them. The quality of your life will depend on the choices you make at those painful moments. The faster one appropriately adapts, the better. No matter what you want out of life, your ability to adapt and move quickly and efficiently through the process of personal evolution will determine your success and your happiness. If you do it well, you can change your physiological reaction to it, so that that way...so that what was your pain can become something you crave.
Dave: Wow. So, how is that... How did that apply to you, or in the biggest way, would you say?
Carlos: It made me reflect on the choice that I made during that difficult time, of losing my dad, quitting a job that I wasn't happy with, having that time with my daughter, and adapting to what was right in front of me. And that was an opportunity to have a better future. Here I am now.
Dave: Yeah. Yes, you are, man. Killing it, too. Killing it. That's awesome, man. You're an inspiration for a lot of people, for sure, so... Including me.
Carlos: Thank you.
Dave: So, thank you for sharing with us, man. That's awesome. Where can people find that?
Carlos: So, Ray Dalio, "Life Principles," Audible, Barnes & Nobles…
Dave: Nice. I'll have to check it out. It's good stuff. Carlos, I wanna thank you very much for joining us today and sharing your story and pouring your heart out. Your story is awesome. Thank you for being an integral part of the club and for showing up as a leader and who you've been. It's really awesome. And it makes what we do at the club... It just reassures me and all of us that, like, what we're doing is powerful and, like, what we provide is valuable. So, I just wanna thank you for that very much, man.
Carlos: Thank you for asking.
Dave: Guys, I think that's gonna be it for today. So, it's been fun. And we will see you next time. With Carlos and Dave, we out.
Carlos: Out.
Melina: I'm Melina Boswell, your host of the "Flippin' Off" podcast. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we'd love for you to subscribe, give us a five-star rating, and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the "Flippin' Off" podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you've heard, we'd really appreciate it if you'd follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and tell us the stories that you'd like to hear.
Tim Jackson is our senior producer. Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.
Podcast Transcription Intro: Welcome to "Flippin' Off" a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference. We were just talking about changing the...
David: We need a new bumper and... Yeah. We wanna change that. It's a new life.
Melina: It's a new life.
David: What's up, everybody? Good morning. Good afternoon.
Melina: Good evening.
David: Good evening.
Melina: Good day.
David: Good night. Good day. David Boswell and Melina Boswell joining in today. We finally have mom back in the house.
Melina: Is everybody clapping?
David: Yep. That's applause.
Melina: Yeah.
David: Shoot. Mom's been gone for... How long has it been? She went on a... What's a good way to describe? I wanna say like self-realization, but I don't know if that's the right word. It's like a... What would you call that experience?
Melina: Well, what I would call it is definitely, yeah, some self-reflection, internal, maybe grounding. Right? And I kind of...
David: For sure.
Melina: I kind of make jokes about it. So, I walked 801 miles in 54 days.
David: Yeah. That's insane. That's actually insane. And the walk is the El Camino Real?
Melina: El Camino Real.
David: So, what exactly... How did it start? Who walked it? What...
Melina: So, it was the California mission walkers. And actually, I think... And I haven't... It's a funny thing. I don't ever listen to my own podcast. Do you? Do you ever listen to your own?
David: Never.
Melina: Never. Yeah, you're so my son. It's a weird thing to... I hate listening to myself. I'm like, "Who cares? Who wants to even hear anything I have to say?” I don't wanna hear myself.
David: I honestly feel like that.
Melina: You do.
David: That's how I feel all the time. But then I went onto YouTube, like, a week ago and I found myself stuck and I watched the entire episode of when we did with... What is the lady's name? I feel like an ass for forgetting her name. I know. I should...
Melina: Diane.
David: Diane. I should have walked into this one.
Melina: See. We're so scripted.
David: Yeah. Diane. But I... I don't know. I've been in kind of... It's been blurry every... The whole past couple of years have been a little blurry, so when I found the video I started watching and I got into it. I thought it was good.
Melina: Yeah. How about that? We don't suck.
David: No, we don't suck. That's what I thought. You don't totally suck.
Melina: You don't totally suck. Awesome.
David: So, anyway, the California mission walkers.
Melina: Right.
David: So, there were pilgrims, right? It was like a pilgrim walk.
Melina: Yeah. It's a pilgrimage. Yeah. So, bottom line, I wanted to... I was gonna... I knew a few things about myself. I was looking for something…
David: Okay. Hold on, though. So, what is the walk?
Melina: What is the walk? So, it is actually walking all 21 California missions.
David: What are the missions?
Melina: The missions are... They are actual missions that were planted by the Catholic Church. Actually, it was started by Junipero Serra, and then they were an interesting thing. They are all up and down California. So, you'll see along the coast, you'll see mission bells. And they were created really with the intention of colonizing. That's really what they were about. And they did it under the guise of religion. So, they proselytized to the indigenous people. So, we were occupied by Spain at that time. And Russia was actually looking at the coast of California, the California coast. And if you think about it now, I mean, the California coast is, I mean, aside from the beauty that we have unbelievably rich soil, so much...
David: Produce.
Melina: Oh, yeah. Are you kidding? And so when the Russians came over and started looking at the terrain, the Spaniards got super smart and said, "Oh, you know what we're gonna do? We're gonna build missions." And missions provide sanctuary, religious sanctuary. So, they began to colonize and they recruited the indigenous people and converted them to Catholicism. That's really what it was. And so, you know, there's a million different perspectives. Well, there's two probably strong perspectives of how that happened just like I think there is with everything else in life. And I think it's interesting to me in the climate that we're living in right now, politically speaking, right? The country is so divided. I mean, also let me say this. The country is so divided according to the regular... That's what everybody's telling us. The country is so divided. The country is so divided. And my experience is that it's not necessarily...we're not that divided.
David: Yeah.
Melina: So, there's this narrative out there that people buy into. And some of the things that concern me is that we don't embrace what our history was. So, the mission building was, do I believe that Father Serra had the right intentions when he decided to build the missions and proselytize and convert people to Catholicism? I absolutely believe he had the right intentions. Did he go about it in all the perfect ways? Obviously not because he has a belly button, and anybody that has a belly button...
David: Yeah, like everybody.
Melina: Yeah. They screw up. So, you have some people on the side of, "Man, the poor indigenous people, they were forced to convert their religious beliefs to Catholicism in order to survive," which may be true. Then you have the other people say, some indigenous people could say, "Thank God for father Serra because they converted us to the truth. He taught us, you know, the right ways to live. They taught us..." So, it just depends. It's all perspective. And all of it is true. And it hurts my heart to imagine I think the worst thing we can do is erase even the ugly because there was ugly. I think if we don't, then, you know...
David: You can't learn from it either.
Melina: Absolutely. So, part of the pilgrimage is, you know, I walked from mission to mission. So, I started in San Diego and walked all the way up the coast in some inland to every single 21 missions up to Sonoma, which, ironically, I'm born and raised in California. I've never been to Sonoma.
David: Yeah. Me neither.
Melina: I know. It's because you're my kids, so if I've never been... Never been there, never been to Napa. So weird. And actually, there was parts of California, literally, I felt like a total, like, jerk because I...
David: Yeah. Don't know your own place.
Melina: Yeah. I was like, "Oh, my gosh. Am I really still in California?" because I felt like I was in midtown Ohio.
David: Yeah, it did look like it up there.
Melina: Yeah. It was incredible. Just beautiful. There's so much beauty in California.
David: Small and country and...
Melina: Yeah. Like where everybody knows your name for real. Those small-town USA absolutely is in...especially in Central California. Salinas Valley, all of that.
David: It was beautiful.
Melina: Yeah, it was super beautiful. Lots of farmland. Like I walked through the salad bowl. That's an actual place.
David: What's that?
Melina: Do you know that? It's a salad bowl. Yeah. It is like you're walking through kale and... You know the spring mix?
David: Yeah.
Melina: You're walking literally through the spring mix. That's a place. All that greenery, it's all there.
David: That's awesome.
Melina: It's yeah, really, really incredible. And smelling celery, smelling like, "Oh, that's kale. Oh, that is spinach. That is..." Really.
David: So, what was the purpose when you decided... I know you were talking about possibly doing the walk in Spain, something you wanted to do.
Melina: Yeah, I wanted to do it. I wanted to have a pilgrim experience and I wanted to push myself physically. And so when I couldn't go to Spain because of COVID, I started googling pilgrim walks in America, and that's how I found this walk. And I think I shared this in the last podcast which was that, you know, a lady posted on... When I googled, I landed on a website of a nonprofit called californiamissionwalkers.org. That's what they are. They're an organization and nonprofit. They then, you know, directed me to this Facebook page, I get on this Facebook page, and I start looking, and two ladies post, "Hey, we're gonna walk all the missions and we're gonna start in San Diego. And so anybody who wants to join us come and join us." And so that was my... That was my intention. I decided, "Oh, I'm gonna do that." My original plan as I was reading through and understanding the missions, you know, the missions weren't. They weren't built straight up the coast. So, in other words, you don't start in San Diego. And then the second one built was San Louis Ray, and then it was San Juan Capistrano. That's not the way it was. They were built randomly. But the walk is a continuous walk from mission to mission, so San Diego to Sonoma, right? So, I thought, "I'm gonna start from Sonoma and walk down to San Diego." And I thought I would do it sometime in November and December because in my mind I was thinking about weather, colder and then still warm down in Southern California, but these ladies were doing it different, so I thought, "I'll hop in and do one leg with them." So, maybe walk one mission and that would take about a week. And so I don't know. By day three... Well, first of all, day one, I pulled a hamstring.
David: Day one.
Melina: Day one, I pulled a hamstring.
David: Yeah. Just getting broken.
Melina: I think I sent you pictures. I sent pictures to my family of... So, yeah. But by, I don't know, the second or third day one of the girls there that I was walking with, Kim, says to me, "You have to finish this with me. You have to walk all the way." And the one thing that I don't ever back down to is a challenge. Competitive much? Yes, absolutely, I am. And so what I learned is that there's only been five people ever that have walked from San Diego to Sonoma, only five people, and, of course, three of them were men. And so I thought, "Well, I'm gonna be in the top 10. I'm gonna be in the first 10 that do this and I'm gonna be... And I'm a woman and I'm gonna walk with two other women." And so that was kind of the goal that was set in front of me, a challenge, I guess. And I knew that I wanted... I needed to have... In order to have, like, an emotional or mental breakdown, I had to physically be broken. And I actually said that, which I wanna, like, take it back, take it back because I ended up pulling a hamstring day one. I didn't really feel it. I mean, I felt it when it happened, but by day two, and it was like 584 degrees outside too. So, it was super hot.
David: It was hot. Yeah. When you started it was hot.
Melina: Yeah, September, it was, like, blazing hot. And California was on fire.
David: Yeah, that's right. Smoking.
Melina: Yeah. And literally... Yeah. When I made the decision I was gonna do it, I kind of told you guys, "I think I'm gonna finish this," and you guys were like, "Okay, cool." And then the injury. And so I literally had to walk with sticks. I had to use walking sticks. And I was using walking sticks like crutches. You don't know that probably.
David: No.
Melina: But I was actually using walking sticks like they were crutches because I was in so much pain, so I wouldn't... You know what I mean? I would lift it and then I would lift myself.
David: That's brutal.
Melina: And, yeah. So, it was an average of 15 miles per day. So, some days it was, like, we didn't take... We took one day off in the entire 54 days. A day off would be, there was, like, three days in a row where we said we were super tired and super in lots of pain, injuries. And we said we're gonna take three days and walk only eight miles for three days. And that was like... That was a day off for us. But there was days we did 20 miles, 22. The longest day was 26, almost 27 miles.
David: Yeah, that's a long time. That's a long walk.
Melina: It was a long walk. Yeah. So, it was hard. It was painful. It was...
David: What was the hardest part do you think? Was there a point you felt like you were gonna quit?
Melina: Yeah. There was several times. And it was usually... It was like the last two miles. So, maybe I'd be at mile 15 and I knew we were walking. We'd be at 17 miles for the day. And that was our intention. And we literally walked hotel to hotel. Right? And then from hotel to mission.
David: The mission.
Melina: And so it was usually like the last couple of miles where my feet hurt so bad. Blisters were out of control. My legs hurt. My... everything hurt and I just really wanted to quit. And there was times when I would literally say, "Just keep walking. One more step. One more step. One more... Just do this one more." And then I started giving myself permission. I started saying things like, "You know what? If you get home, you get to the hotel tonight and you decide you're done, you can be done. Grace. I'm gonna give myself grace. And if I wake up tomorrow morning and I just don't wanna do it, then I'm not gonna do it." And I think that kind of mental conversation, then I would always wake up in the morning and the truth is, I would wake up in the morning and I would be in so much pain. You should have seen me. You probably would have cried if you saw me because I looked like my dad.
David: You couldn't really walk.
Melina: Couldn't walk. Yeah. I mean, I would literally roll out of bed and it would take me a minute. I would step my feet down and I would shuffle like little tiny steps like my dad does because the pain was so intense. And I would... Yeah, it was bad. I mean, it was bad. Super bad. Hard. Hard. And blisters.
David: Bad.
Melina: Yeah. And my ankles... Like, my feet still aren't the same.
David: Grew, right?
Melina: They did. They grew a whole half a size.
David: And width.
Melina: Yeah. Which absolutely sucks. And my vanity is still intact, though, so that's good because there was a couple of times where I was like, "Oh, hell no. I'm not going to have my feet looking ugly. I have cute feet. I need to keep my feet looking cute." It's true, right?
David: Yeah.
Melina: Yeah. So, I got two pedicures.
David: While you were walking?
Melina: Yes. Yeah, when I'd be at places. Yeah, it was very strategic. Like, I got to get my feet taken care of. Absolutely.
David: Sure.
Melina: And I kept them... I stopped often to take care of my feet. Change socks. There is days when especially in the heat of the day, like, in the Salinas Valley where, you know, we would stop, I would go through four pair of socks in a day to keep my feet healthy because, you know, without healthy feet, everything just falls apart. So, yeah.
David: We were saying kind of that, you know, you went on the walk and then you realized you still had to come back. So, is that... How do you... Do you feel like you got what you needed to out of it? Is there still more? Do you need to keep going or do you feel refreshed like you can start again?
Melina: Yeah, I do. I think it's super interesting because, you know, it was like I came home and I was like, "What the hell? Everybody is still here? All my stuff is here?" I don't feel like... I'm not a different person. And all my pain, all my grief, all my caca it's all still here.
David: Right.
Melina: It's still here. And so that's the ugly truth, right? That's sort of... I don't if it's ugly. It's just perfect, I suppose. But maybe I had some idea that I was gonna be changed and I was gonna be different and maybe I would transcend. And there was some absolute changes that happened, you know, from the beginning, like, being injured. And I walked with those crutches for probably 10 days, and then I finally... Maybe after 12 or 13 days, I was able to ditch the crutches, and then I never used walking sticks again unless I needed to use it as a weapon for protection, which I did. I was thinking about that yesterday. I was talking to a friend and I realized, I think there was four different times I had to pull out Kim's walking stick which is a taser.
David: What?
Melina: Yeah. I don't think you even know that.
David: Pull them out for what?
Melina: For, like, to be... Yeah, for protection, for, like, defense.
David: What happened?
Melina: So, I think the first time... Well, the first time I grabbed the stick was we were... David's face. I wish you guys could see David's face right now. I don't know if I wanna tell him. Anyway, so, here's what happened. I was at... We were walking and we were in kind of a crappy area of town, like, kind of in, like a downtown area. Probably not the safest. And we came walking through and there was these two guys. And they were... You could tell they were like... It was like... There was drug dealing and stuff going on and as we were walking through, so I was like, "Let's..." It was just me and Kathy, actually. So, I was like, "Let's go. Let's go." And so I saw one guy looking at us, and so I buckled up my backpack. And by the way, I'm carrying everything I own on my back, right? So, I'm wearing my backpack with all my clothing, like, everything, my toiletries, everything is on my back, right? So, I'm carrying, like, a 20-pound back. So, I buckled up. And Kathy was actually in front of me. And she had her walking sticks. And so I grabbed her stick and I said let me just have it. And he whistled. I actually watched him look across the street and then I heard him whistle and I watched his eyes, which forced me to then look across the street and I saw another guy and then I saw him whistle and then there was a guy like up here. So, at some point, I realized I'm in the middle of this, like, triangle, right?
David: Yeah.
Melina: So, I grabbed Kathy's stick and I looked at him right in his eyes and I turned around, looked at the other guy, like, right in his eyes, like, I see you. So, I pulled my phone out and I just kind of gave them this look, like, and I looked at Kathy and I said, "Get in front of me. Walk faster." She had no idea what was going on. So, I grabbed her stick and I just made sure. So, I took my phone out, kind of like to say, I've got my phone and I'll do whatever I need to do and I had the stick and made eye contact. And they probably followed us for, like, maybe four minutes, even that which seems like an eternity.
David: Yeah.
Melina: But that was it.
David: They just walked behind you.
Melina: They just... Yep. Just walked, kind of following. And I just made sure I kept on making eye-contact, I, like, let them know, I see every single one of you. And when I did then they just kind of fell off to the side. And then the second time was we were on... We were in Salina... I think it was in S... We were near Bradley, California, which is in Central California. We were on this long road called Jolon Road, which is near Hunter Liggett, Fort Hunter Liggett, right? So, it was just out in the middle of freaking nowhere.
David: Yeah.
Melina: And so some guy we watched him come by and he was super... He was slow. It was just me and Kim walking and it was hot. And he came toward us and he was slow, and then...
David: Walking?
Melina: No, he was driving. And we kind of watched him and then, I don't know, maybe five minutes later he came back. When he came back by we both instantly, like, our spidey-sense went up and so I grabbed her stick and then we watched him. And then he came back a third time. So, when he came back the third time we called one of the gentlemen that was part of the Facebook group actually was supporting us through this area. He was camping somewhere else but he was there to kind of support us because it was, you know, out in the middle of nowhere. So, we called him on the phone and we just said, "Hey, this guy has come by three times and..." But we never saw the guy again. So, I was okay. So, that was a second time I took the stick out. And then the third time it was when we came up on a bunch of vultures. Yeah.
David: Like actual birds?
Melina: Oh, yeah. Okay. So, roadkill. I don't know how to tell you about roadkill. I saw so much roadkill. Like, every wild boar. Yeah. But we... And vultures we would see but this was unique because there was... This was a brand new kill, like, it was a doe and she was bloody.
David: Oh, wow.
Melina: Bloody. There was blood everywhere.
David: Jeez.
Melina: And so looking around what I didn't know that we weren't on a road because, usually, it was always that we would see carcasses that got obviously hit by vehicles because we're kind of walking on the road. Well, this had a huge fence. So, there was no way that a car hit this doe. So, then the question was, right, how did this doe die? That was, like, the biggest... And of course, Andrew is telling me, "You gotta watch this video of this wild cat that comes..."
David: Yeah. Oh, yeah. That freaking, the mountain lion...
Melina: You know what I'm talking...
David: ...chasing at that deer.
Melina: Yeah, exactly. So, thankfully, Andrew was with me that was because Andrew walked a few days with me, the last, actually, one week Andrew walked with me. So, Andrew went way up ahead and he had the same... So, he... That was creepy, because we were looking around going, "Well, I wonder what killed that doe."
David: That's weird.
Melina: Yeah, that was pretty wild.
David: That's not too big of a deal.
Melina: No, none of them were that big of a deal honestly.
David: Sounds about right.
Melina: Yeah. Not that big of a deal.
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David: So...
Melina: So, what was the most difficult?
David: Yeah. Did you think you were gonna quit ever, like, actual... Did you ever really contemplate quitting?
Melina: No.
David: That's good.
Melina: No.
David: That's good.
Melina: No. I just don't quit. Kim's husband flew up a couple of... So, we had different people fly in or walk or drive in to meet us at different times and walk certain legs with us, right? They would maybe walk a day. Jasmine, for example, she came. Every single week she drove. So, the first time my first week she drove to San Diego and walked with me. Yeah. And then so she walked with me. Like, her goal was to walk with me every week once a week with me and Kim, and she did. And she... As we were talking to different people she couldn't believe. I think it was the second week. She said, "I can't believe how much better you're walking." And I was like, "I didn't even think about that." So, Kim's husband, Tom, came up, and after he walked with us for a few days, Kim asked him, "So, do you think that we're gonna finish this?" And he said, "I think the only thing that will stop the two of you is an injury or a fire, like, a real injury."
David: Yeah, for sure. That's awesome.
Melina: Yeah. And that's kind of that was both of our mindset. I met this person, Kim. There was four of us that started this walk and Kim and I are the two that finished. And we were two completely different people, but yet unbelievably kindred in our spirits, you know, strangers. Starting out as strangers on September the 12th and by November the 3rd, we were... Well, you were there, we walked to the last mile holding hands and sobbing our eyes out. It was pretty incredible. So, I think that it would have taken a very serious injury, like, something... One of us would have had to break something.
David: Yeah. Like, not be able to physically walk.
Melina: Like, literally not be able to do it. But we both had injuries. I had my hamstring and Kim had the top of her foot was injured, probably fractured.
David: Jeez. It's crazy.
Melina: Yeah.
David: It's hard on the body just walking consistently. Like, that's really tough on the body.
Melina: It was very, very hard.
David: And definitely challenging.
Melina: Yeah. I think when people would say that to me, "That sounds like so much fun," I was like, "Really? It sounds like fun?"
David: Christian coming with the ball, bouncing the ball around mile 1 and mile 12.
Melina: Christian brought a ball. That was so fun.
David: Can I get an Uber? Is Uber here?
Melina: Yeah. They were gonna come walk again. Never did.
David: Shocker. It's one and done. Got it fixed.
Melina: Yeah. Yeah. That was actually the day I think that I... That was my birthday. So, Kevin, Christian, and Jasmine all came and walked with me on my birthday. And they drove up to Simi Valley. I was up in Simi Valley by that time. It's kind of crazy when you realize, you know, how far you walk, like, I actually walked here, you know. Really bizarre. And when Andrew drove me home, I asked him, "Hey, can we go home on the 101 because I really wanna be able to see where I walked. And it was mind-blowing, like, just mind-blowing.
David: Yeah. It didn't take too much long on 101, driving?
Melina: Right. No, probably 30 minutes added to the drive, but it was worth it for me just to be able to see...
David: Yeah, I bet.
Melina: ...all the places that I walked and what that was actually like.
David: It's crazy.
Melina: Yeah. So, I don't know. Did I get what I wanted? Yesterday, I had this feeling of... Like, what popped up in my head was I'm thinking about things that people have said to me, right? Like, right when dad died, ginormous trauma. And people in their, you know, own way of encouraging me of loving me, right, was saying things to me like, "There's... God gives beauty for ashes. There's something beautiful on the other side of this. Wait until you get, you know, the other side. It's gonna be beautiful." And I literally was driving yesterday and I said out loud, "Am I on the frigging other side? Am I there? What does the other side look like?' And it's almost as if there was this false hope or almost like this target that I thought I was going to arrive at, but it doesn't frigging exist. And actually, it doesn't exist. Like, yeah, you're on the other side. You were on the other side on March 15th.
David: Yeah. Actually, yeah.
Melina: Isn't that right?
David: Yeah. It's all... Life is really just a big bundle of seasons. It's like where are you right now?
Melina: Yeah. I was having a conversation with Amir last night and, you know, he's been in a bad way. I'm just gonna be honest. He's been hiding from me. Actually, hiding from me. It's just hilarious. Kind of like you. And he finally showed up. And don't give me that ugly look.
David: Shut up.
Melina: And he's like... And I just told him like, "I'm just as jacked up as you are. Do you think I'm not jacked up? I'm totally jacked up." And, like, I'm a little wacky. I know that. We all are.
David: Yeah. Yeah. It's true. It's true. Would you... You wanna do it again or something like that again?
Melina: Yeah, of course. Yeah. I am... A couple of things I've thought about. Some things I got super clear about myself is that... And I swear I've said this before, and I feel like God might be going, "Yeah, okay. We can take another lap. You need another lap? Go ahead, take another lap." And I'm like, "I don't wanna take another stupid lap." But...
David: There's something about, like, doing those things you don't want to do that you think you know you should. And just the reward that you get after it and the feeling that you get, that energy.
Melina: Yeah.
David: It's healing and it's... I think that's the kind of thing that you need to be able to push forward, like, what I and Spoon we were talking about yesterday, like, little things to look forward to, little things to press toward. I think there's something very powerful in sacrifice, you know, when you sacrifice what you want for an outcome, you know, like, what you want. You sacrifice your comfort and what you want in that moment for an actual...you know, an outcome. It always pays off, I think. It's like anything. It's like lifting weights. When you sacrifice your time and your energy, comfort for...
Melina: Yeah. I think I did a video. Yeah. And I think it was, like, right at the halfway mark or just over halfway. And I swear, it took me that long to finally go, "Just give up being comfortable. Give it up."
David: Be okay with being uncomfortable.
Melina: Totally.
David: Like, embrace that.
Melina: Embrace the uncomfortability.
David: You can't grow otherwise. You really can't. You'll stay stuck.
Melina: Well, actually, yeah. Yeah. It's like being in the ocean and trying to fight against the waves in the ocean. It's just a waste of time. What you're doing is a waste of your energy. You are not going to win. So, what happens when you just...
David: You submit.
Melina: ...like, that's what you're supposed to do. You just submit to the process...
David: And go with it. Go with it.
Melina: ...and then all of a sudden you're up on top of the water.
David: Yeah.
Melina: Totally fine.
David: Riding the wave.
Melina: Right. Isn't that interesting?
David: Yeah. It's so much... Life is so much about... It's about waves. That's why I have this damn thing on my arm to remind me that it is constantly up and down and to just go with the flow.
Melina: Yeah. Do you think, like... I think about things like I thought a lot about this, like, the box. Right? And I think, you know, we've had this conversation personally about even how I raised you, right? And what I believed was, you know, the box that I was introduced to, right, is... My parents raised me with, like, no box. My parents were super...
David: Whatever.
Melina: Whatever, you know, and a lot of raising of myself and, you know, whatever. And then, you know, I was introduced to this beautiful, shiny, clean, and neat box. And I'm just gonna call it... I hate to say this. But I'm just gonna call it, you know, evangelical Christianity. That's the truth.
David: Yeah.
Melina: That's the truth. Right? And so, for me not having any kind of structure, you know, growing up I saw this as, "Exactly. This is like so..." And I'm a good rule follower. Give me the rules, I check all the boxes. Yeah, I'm there. I'm a doer. I make my bed every morning, period. Right? So, I'm a rule follower. Give me that and I'm like, "Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Check that box. Check that box." And that is what I did. And this season in my life now I'm realizing that box is... First of all, it is offensive to put God in that box. It is not the truth. And even to think for a minute that God is contained inside the book of the Bible is offensive. And I think, you know, what I'm realizing now and not that I don't... And by the way, I love Jesus. I love God. Like, that's... I'm not saying anything like that. What I'm saying is I've come to the realization that God is so much bigger outside than what's in the Bible because I've experienced such trauma in my life and such pain in my life that I now know that He's much bigger than that. He is so much bigger than we even think. He is so much more powerful, so much more present, so much, like, smarter.
David: Yeah. I think that's why they're basic instructions.
Melina: Yeah.
David: I mean, that's how I feel like.
Melina: Yeah. It is basic instructions. And that's pretty much it. But that isn't the end-all, but...
David: That's not it.
Melina: No. But I raised you that way.
David: Yeah.
Melina: And now what's happening is, like, that box that I painted and raised you in, now, suddenly, I'm living way outside the box and you're looking at me going like, "Who the F are you?" Right? And then now there's this new weird season where we're trying to navigate that. And I'm saying, "No, my faith is stronger than ever. I feel closer to God than I ever have." And also I can say things to God like, "Not now. I'm kind of pissed at you." Like, you know. And I've never, never have I ever felt like that. Even in some of the deepest trauma I've never questioned him like, "Well, why this?" Never. Even, like, when dad died, you know, the first, I think, you know, real loss that I experienced in my life, I never felt angry at God, I never felt like I questioned him or question like, "What are you doing?" But I'll be honest. Now I'm like, "What the heck, man?"
David: Yeah. Yeah, that's the thing for every person, like, we all experienced trauma. We all want... We all have goals in this life we want. We all wanna make money. We wanna do real estate. We wanna, you know, be successful and have a nice family and not be lonely, have nice things.
Melina: Belong.
David: Belong to something, someone. We don't realize that we all have those goals, but then you just get your legs chopped off out from underneath you and bad things happen to really good people. And in fact, bad things happen to everybody.
Melina: Yeah.
David: And then life is so much about what, at least for us, like...
Melina: What happens to us? It's basic.
David: Yeah. I guess that's probably true, but I don't know. I'm sure, you know, bad... I know bad stuff happens to a lot of people and there's people that...
Melina: A thousand percent.
David: Yeah. I can hear some people's stories and be like, "What? Nothing has happened to me." So, it's really just about kind of pivoting. I think life is so much about pivoting and going with that flow.
Melina: Riding that wave.
David: Riding the wave.
Melina: Yeah. Without guilt.
David: Yeah. Yeah. Just taking each season.
Melina: Yeah. It's crazy, isn't it?
David: Mm-hmm.
Melina: I think part of me wanting to do this walk is being like looking for... I think what I was asking for was a spiritual breakthrough. So, really, if I'm honest, what I was saying is, "Hey, God, could you like fix some shit for me, please, because the stuff is jacked up? So, could you fix it?" Maybe that's what I was really saying. It's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I think that's the truth. And if I go out there, it's just gonna be me and you and... I always do this with him. That's why I said. He's like, "Okay. Another lap. Okay. Go ahead. Fine." And right now I'm like, I'm hold please. Just stay back over there for now because I'm maybe not hearing him or it's just the same song being repeated in my head and I just gotta be like, "Oh." So, it turns out the way I'm wired and the way he created me is to lead people and to create stuff. I build stuff. I build businesses. I build people. That's what I do. And no matter where I go, that's what I do. So, I was... For 12 days on my walk I was super quiet and I was walking in the back quiet, not saying anything, you know, just, like, literally one step at a time. Also, I was injured, so that forced me to shut up because I had to work through a lot of pain. And then at some point, it was like, if I don't lead, things are gonna fall apart. So, somebody has to lead and somebody just has to naturally take the lead and do the hard stuff and say the hard things. And it's not always popular.
David: On the walk, you're saying?
Melina: Uh-huh.
David: Interesting.
Melina: Yeah. Yeah.
David: Funny how that kind of translates to life as well.
Melina: Entirely. That's what I mean. I'm looking for some breakthrough, and then that's what ends up happening. I show up to be exactly who I am.
David: Yeah. Just brings you back to your perspective, your normal true perspective.
Melina: That's what I'm saying.
David: It's all it's really about, right?
Melina: It is.
David: Getting back to that, you know, because you get clouded. When things happen to you, that's what I was gonna say before is, you get so clouded up. As kids, I remember as a kid, it was so much more clear, you know, and the older I get and the more bad things happen and the more events unfold in front of. Your perspective on life and how it should be just starts to change, you get callous, and you get tired and depressed, and you're like all of the things in life hit you and you get to a point where you're just, you know, you can become despondent. So, I think it's necessary to do things like you're talking about, like, this crazy walk or pushing yourself to different limits or talking to somebody in a bus that you never would. Whatever it is. Get out of your freaking comfort zone and do something different and wake yourself up. Wake up. Right? I don't know. That's what I hear. Right?
Melina: Entirely.
David: Yeah.
Melina: I mean, yeah, it's super easy to get... Really, if you think about it, what that is, is you're just... Yeah. You're allowing yourself to be victimized.
David: Exactly.
Melina: You become a victim of your circumstances.
David: Right.
Melina: That's not who you are. That's not how you were raised.
David: Mm-mm.
Melina: That's not what we do.
David: No. No, absolutely not.
Melina: But you do have to do something completely absurd.
David: Yeah, you do. You do. Sometimes you do. Otherwise, you really can just get stuck in that fog. Sometimes it takes a shock and all.
Melina: Yeah. And you can't get out of it.
David: Yeah.
Melina: Well, you can, but you don't know how.
David: Yeah.
Melina: Yeah. That's the danger, I think, with people and even with myself. And I think that maybe the older you get and, like, maybe even more intense the... You said you get your knees busted open. Even the more intense the trauma becomes, then, you know, you have to do more ridiculous things like walking 100 miles in 54 days, because why not?
David: Yeah. Well, it has a lot to do with loss, I think, too. When you lose people in your life and then all of a sudden reality changes in front of you and mortality becomes... It looks entirely different and you realize, like, "I'm gonna die one day. What am I doing here?"
Melina: Oh, yeah.
David: You know that...
Melina: A big question.
David: Yeah. Like, people, their biggest regret on their deathbed is what they didn't do, like, all the shit they didn't do.
Melina: Exactly.
David: But when are you gonna do it? When are you gonna do it?
Melina: Right.
David: You don't know how much time you have. You always hear that you don't really know how much time you have, but you really don't. When are you gonna do it?
Melina: David, I gotta tell you. It's the first time ever. Like, old people always say, "Life is short. Life is short."
David: Yeah.
Melina: For the first time in my life, I actually get that.
David: No. I get it right now. I'm not gonna lie. And that's why I think it has a lot to do with the loss you experience and, like, you know, the things that you experienced in your life because I totally feel I'm gonna be 50 so soon, like, I know it. I freaking know it. I know how fast 10 years just went. It's what I'm saying. But it is what it is.
Melina: It is. It absolutely is. And it is. It is. Yeah.
David: Just do everything you can when you can and don't have any regrets. No regrets.
Melina: Oh, my God. Just do it. I wonder how many slogans we could come up with right now.
David: No regrets with the day. No regrets.
Melina: Just obey. Live, love, laugh.
David: Oh, man. That's too good. I think it's awesome that you did this. I'm glad you're home and safe. If you wanted to encourage people to do the same thing.
Melina: It's so funny you say that because one of the things I feel called to do that Kim and I believe are doing is I feel called to lead a walk like this for people. The thing about walking is that anybody, pretty much anybody can do it. You know what I mean? If you can walk, you can really push yourself. There's something beautiful about the journey that happens. And one of the things I've been considering Kim and I have been tossing around, is leading people maybe, like, you know, a three-day walk between two missions.
David: Yeah, that'd be rad.
Melina: Right? So, people can say, you know, "I'm in Southern California. So, I'd like to walk from San Diego to San Juan Capistrano." And you could hit three missions doing that. And you'd probably put... I'm gonna guess. I don't know for sure, but, like, right around 100 miles. And you could do that. And absolutely. And that's a huge feat. It will hurt you.
David: Challenge you.
Melina: It'll challenge you, yeah, but it'll also be incredibly rewarding. And there's something to doing it more than one day.
David: Absolutely.
Melina: Right? So, it is like...
David: A hundred 100%.
Melina: Yeah. Kim's husband said... It was so funny the day he flew in the first day. He flew into Santa Barbara. At the end of the day, he met us actually at the mission there and then we went to the hotel. And we're checking in and he says and ask the clerk, "Hey, is the gym open?" And the guy goes, "No, it's closing." He's like, "Oh, man." And Kim goes, "The gym? Aren't you walking with us tomorrow?" He's like, "Yeah, we're walking. So what?" And we start laughing, "Oh, you're so cute." Right? So, at the end of that day, it was so funny. We walked, like, probably 16 or 17 miles that day. And then at the end of the day, we went back to the hotel and we were out by the pool because we were... I don't know. My feet looked like, you know, Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble all together or like a big giant bear claw that you see. You're just so swollen. And so he was too and we were, like, laying out, we were in the pool. And I said, "So, how are you feeling?" He's like, "Dude." He goes, "You know what? I can't even wrap my mind around." He goes, "You guys are gonna get up and do this again tomorrow."
David: Oh, man. Yeah.
Melina: And then the next day, and I was like, "Oh, buddy, this is day..." I don't know what day it was, maybe 20 something. And he was like, "Yeah. I really can't wrap my mind around that." So, there's something to not just one-day walking, but doing it again, and then again, and then again. So, I think it needs to be a minimum of three days for people to have a walk.
David: Yeah. You have to mentally prepare for that. You're not... It's not like... You can get away with just going one day and walking, and then, like, "All right. I'm done with that."
Melina: Right.
David: But you have to prepare for three days. That's a different animal. So, I probably agree.
Melina: It is. So, I think that's something that I'm throwing around.
David: Cool.
Melina: I think if there is... I think people would enjoy it, you know, and I'd like to... I would want you guys to do it. I would wanna do it with my family, you know, people that I love first so that you can experience it and see what happens...
David: I think that it's right for people... It's gonna be right for people at that specific time because if you... Yeah, you want me to go because you want me to experience what you experience and that process, but I think somebody has to be ready...
Melina: Right.
David: ...and I really want...
Melina: Invited.
David: Yeah, like, really wanna do something like that and be ready to push themselves in that kind of way.
Melina: Yeah.
David: I think it's really special and it's really cool. So, you're gonna do that?
Melina: I think so. You think I should?
David: I think you should do it, whatever you want.
Melina: Obviously. I should know.
David: Well, I think that passing that wisdom that you got from the experience is important.
Melina: You know it's funny. I closed on three houses when I was walking. I walked a property, like, via FaceTime. Spoon took me into a property and I walked it FaceTime. And then I had her drive the comps. So, I saw him on FaceTime and I was like, "Oh, man. This is super awesome." I was able to really work the entire time. I Zoomed into... Like, I think I Zoomed into a club meeting once and I Zoomed to RPP.
David: We bought a house in Idaho.
Melina: That's right. We bought a house and we closed on a house in Idaho. Yeah, we talked. It was perfectly... I was perfectly capable of doing all that. So, yeah.
David: Yeah. I think it's awesome. I'm proud of you. And I look forward to seeing what is going to come of it.
Melina: Yeah. I'll be at RPP this weekend, so I'm kind of excited. I guess, you know, when I first got back, I was like, "Oh, shit, everything is still here and you people are here and I'm here and all my feelings are still here. My frigging bed is..." You know what I mean. Everything is still there. And then, you know, over the last couple of weeks because I've been home for almost two weeks now, I think, little by little, you know, new inspiration is coming. I'm feeling more and more inspired as I go each day.
David: Yeah. Just your whole everything is better.
Melina: Really?
David: Yeah. Just better. You just don't seem, like, you're freaking freaked out and stressed out like you're at the edge of your wits. That's how you seem to go for the walkie, like, you needed to go walk. So, definitely, a lot more at peace. It seems like you're back to a little bit more of yourself just kind of relaxed, like, you're not antici... Or not anxious. Not as anxious, anticipating something.
Melina: One of the probably best lessons that I got on the walk was to just slow down.
David: Yeah. I get that. I could see that.
Melina: Yeah. I definitely learned to slow down.
David: Yep.
Melina: My mind is like... It's difficult to shut my mind down. And I know you understand this.
David: Big time.
Melina: And when I don't respond or maybe react to all the thoughts in my head, you can react one of two ways. You can react... And I know, for me, I react usually one of two ways, which is, A, I get super stressed out and I try to do a whole bunch of different things to react to all the thoughts.
David: That's what you were doing before you left.
Melina: Yes. But then the second option is numbing it.
David: Yeah.
Melina: Right? Like, those have always been my two options. I'm like, "It's going too much. I need wine, like, right now." Do you know what I mean?
David: You did that too.
Melina: Absolutely.
David: That was the first stage.
Melina: Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. And so now I'm more, like, it's easier for me to... And I think based on the walk a lot of this was that I said these things. I think I said to Kim one day, "You know, what do we really..." Because in the beginning some of the people we were with were super like, "We gotta get here. We gotta get there." And I was like, "Why are we in such a frigging hurry? What do we have to actually do today except for walk? We just have to walk and then get to our destination. So, who cares?" And we were thankfully, we walked all the way through daylight savings time, so we were leaving early in the morning. So, as we got further in, we had to leave later. Anyway, that was a whole thing. But once I started just kind of putting things like that and just slowing down and breathing and just "Take one more step. Just one more step. Just take this one step. And you know, if you can get to the end of that block right there, just get to the end of the block. And if you need to stop, then just stop." And there were several days where I did that. I just had to get to the curb and I would just be like, "Hey, I gotta sit for a minute because my feet are throbbing so bad. They're on fire."
David: Honestly, what I keep hearing over, it's just, like, habits and behavior and things that you do, they really take an effect on your mental health and just your overall being as a person, like, how you're showing up. And it's, like, anything that you do consistently, you end up acting that way or performing that way or... You know what I mean? I mean, you keep a consistent mindset...keep a consistent negative mindset, you end up negative, like, just negative as hell. Anybody around they're just like, "Why is that person so negative?"
Melina: Right.
David: And honestly, like, before you left here, we were bickering about stupid shit, you are stressed out. It was just ridiculous, you know, the mindset that you were in. And everybody's gonna have to go through that at some point and others. I think it has so much to do about, what are you gonna do? How are you gonna deal with it? What are those steps you're gonna take to deal with wherever you're at and that season in your life right now? And I think it's really, really awesome how you dealt with this and where you're at right now. I think people are gonna be served to hear how it went and what you went through.
Melina: I appreciate that. You've never told me that before.
David: There it is.
Melina: Right there for everybody to hear. Yep. About that.
David: Well, anything else you wanna give these friendly people?
Melina: You know, if you have questions, I guess, you know, about the walker, about anything, I'd say hit me up. Ask whatever questions you wanna ask. I'll probably... I'll more than likely I'll post this and then I'll just, like, to answer any questions. And David has... You have a film of the last day.
David: Yeah. We're gonna put together a video. I've got a bunch of good footage of the last mile of the entire trip.
Melina: And actually the last morning
David: The last morning at the hotel. Yeah. And then, basically, that day into the very last mission, the endpoint.
Melina: Yeah. That was really emotional.
David: Yeah, it was really cool.
Melina: Yeah.
David: Lots of tears and...
Melina: Yeah.
David: It was awesome.
Melina: Super crazy.
David: Yeah, it was really powerful.
Melina: Yeah. And maybe we should have Kim come down for a podcast.
David: Totally. That was the plan. That was the plan. I think it'd be awesome to recap this and...
Melina: I'm gonna be with her next week.
David: Okay.
Melina: We could even do something when we're gonna be in Palm Springs hanging out. So, we could definitely do something.
David: Let's do it. All right, guys. Well, that's gonna be it for today.
Melina: Yeah.
David: As always, if you have any recommendations about podcasts, hit us up on our... Let's see. It'll be davi... You could just hit me at davidboswell.nwac@gmail.com. You can check us out in newwealthadvisorsclub.com. Check out our social media and YouTube page. And as always, if you're interested in becoming a part of the club, then check us out and send us a message and we'd love to meet with you soon. But yeah, I think that's gonna be it for now, guys. Thanks a lot. Take care.
Melina: Goodbye.
David: Bye.
Melina: I'm Melina Boswell, your host of the Flippin' Off podcast. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we'd love for you to subscribe. Give us a five-star rating and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the Flippin' Off podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you've heard, we'd really appreciate it if you follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tell us the stories that you'd like to hear.
Tim Jackson is our senior producer. Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.
Podcast Transcription Intro: Welcome to “Flippin’ Off,” a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.
Davey: What's up, everybody, Dave Boswell here. Davey Boswell, David Boswell, whatever you prefer. I got my good buddy, Rob Lavin. What's up, Rob?
Rob: Hey, how you doing?
Davey: Rob has become a really good friend of mine. So I wanna tell you guys a little story today, how we met, and what his experience has been inside of the club. And hopefully, you guys can relate to him and see yourself in the same kind of situation. So, if we go back just a little bit. In March of 2018 was when my dad passed. And so we moved here, not really knowing where my brother and I were gonna fit in inside of the club. And so we just kind of put our heads down and started working really hard on everything, just kind of all over the place, like little Tasmanian devils just everywhere trying to figure out where we belonged. And I wanted to understand the club in all aspects, right? Understand the business from inviting people in, to what that process looks like. What kind of reputation do we have when we're talking to people, there's a lot of bad reputations out there when it comes to real estate investing. A lot of companies have poor reputations of scamming people. And so it's important to me that we don't have that kind of reputation that people don't see us that way. So I wanted to be involved in every aspect and see what it really looked like. So one of the first things I started doing was making phone calls to prospective people, people who are looking at joining. And Rob here was one of the first of three people I think I talked to, and it was kind of...what's the word? Oh, man, I don't know what the right word is. But it was not a good example of what those conversations generally go, because if Rob and I had such a good chat, wouldn't you agree?
Rob: Oh, yeah, totally.
Davey: Yeah. I mean, what was your experience? So just to like, put it in perspective, for me, I'm trying to have conversations with people as straight up as possible and let them know, like, how awesome our club is and what we really do. Most of the time, on the other end, people are super skeptical and wondering what the heck is going on. So maybe you can share a little bit from your perspective, like where you were at in life at that time, why we were even on the phone.
Rob: Sure. Yeah. Well, I wanna say about three days before that, Jane and I had been at another intro of a well-known guru. And she was like, "Really?" She says, "Come on, Rob." And I said, "Just entertain me today." So we went and, for sure, it ended up being the same. I had been in part of those, probably three or four the big ones.
Davey: Yeah. So I didn't do a good enough job of introducing who you really are. Rob is actually...Rob and his wife Jane are business owners here in the Inland Empire. They are owners of a branch of State Farm Insurance people, I don't know, what's the right way to say that?
Rob: Yeah, yeah, Jane, she's the State Farm agent. I run the whole general manager business side of it. So I decided some years ago that I didn't wanna be the agent. But we found that we meshed really well, and we ran the business well with me running the whole business side of it.
Davey: So they have a business in...your office in Corona right? You have a building in Corona?
Rob: We were in a suite in Corona and the opportunity presented itself where we just recently moved.
Davey: Yeah, awesome. We're gonna get to that for sure.
Rob: Yeah, I don't wanna blow that yet.
Davey: Yeah. So things were going pretty good, right, and you decided you wanna get into real estate investing. Was it recently or was it previously before?
Rob: Oh, the best way, David, I can explain it is that it was a dream of mine. So growing up with my dad really showing me everything about flipping houses, real estate investing as just a kid and I saw my dad doing it, just himself. And I saw the drive of an immigrant who came to this country really searching and looking for the dream. And I always used to think to myself, what would this be like on a bigger scale, really scaling this in a group environment? But I was okay with that. But they were just embers, I would get this wind of hope that would come by anytime I would go to these seminars.
Davey: When do you think you started going to the seminars?
Rob: Oh, I wanna say early '90s.
Davey: It's been a while.
Rob: Yeah, mid-'90s. So, but I was going as like, just a senior in high school, maybe with a friend of mine. And so the dream was always there. And I would get these, you know, my embers would light up and say, "Oh, wow, this is gonna be the opportunity." And just to be let down again was always,...it was like a breakup, honestly, it was like a breakup. And so after that, in September, after leaving that intro, the dream really just fizzled. And I went online...this is no joke. Jane could confirm this. And I went online, and I was looking at real estate investing groups. And I came by...ran by NWAC and I'm like, "Who's this group?" I was just really interested and I saw the video of your dad.
Davey: The one downtown?
Rob: Yeah. In his suit, and just something really connected. I said, "He's genuine."
Davey: Yeah, the no-BS meter was there.
Rob: Totally. And I sent in my email inquiry, and you called me like the next day. And we chatted and we hit it off, we just had so much in common. And so that was kind of like, kind of, a mild second confirmation. And I never forget, I asked you, I said...I thought the ultimate, ultimate like, deal-breaker, right, would be okay, if I can meet the head honcho of this organization, then I know it's just gonna be another letdown." So I asked you, I said, "Hey, I'd really like to meet the CEO, the head honcho, the boss." And he's like...you said, "Well, that's my mom." And you just assured me because I said, "You know what..." You said, "I'll get back to you." You called me back the next day and you said, "Hey, you've got an appointment with my mom at 10 a.m. on Thursday." I remember the day. And when Jane and I went in, and we met with Melina, man, I want to say it was probably a couple hours, and everything was just genuine, hit it off. And I said, "This is the place where we need to be."
Davey: Yeah, that's funny. That's not the normal process, by the way, you don't get a meeting with my mom.
Rob: Right.
Davey: Definitely that's not the normal. But we had such a good conversation that I was like, I really wanted my mom to meet you guys too, just because we don't wanna set ourselves apart from the...like, or above anybody. We're looking to do business with like-minded people, people who are just like us that, we're not...I don't know, it's easy to get, like, a big head for people in that kind of situation, or my mom's situation, especially, her time is really valuable. So it's easy to get a big head. But when you meet like-minded people, it's you wanna do business with them, we will still wanna do business with people we like and so when we had that conversation with you, I was like, "These people are so cool." Like, there are people we really hit it off. So since then...by the way, had you done any deals? You said you've been in since the '90s, have you done any transactions or real estate transactions before?
Rob: No, other than just doing it with my dad. That was the only level and I had wanted, really my dream was just to go further and to really leverage what they teach you about using the group, a group of people to leverage and to really get your business off the ground.
Davey: Yeah, for sure, for sure. So since we had that first meeting, and then the meeting with my mom, Rob's been a club member since then. So September of 2018. We're now in October of 2020. So it's been two years.
Rob: Yeah. Just a little over two years.
Davey: And how do you feel now? What's your look back now, how do you feel? Your recap.
Rob: Wow, my recap.
Davey: We've almost got a deal. We almost did a deal.
Rob: Almost. Almost.
Davey: Yeah, so close.
Rob: Almost. But we're in one right now with Oscar.
Davey: Oh, are you?
Rob: Yeah, it's signed.
Davey: Let's go. I didn't know that.
Rob: Yeah, it's supposed to be signed either today...We did the walkthrough on Thursday with the GC.
Davey: That's awesome.
Rob: So yeah, it's there. It's a done deal.
Davey: That's awesome. Where's that at?
Rob: Off Van Buren in Riverside.
Davey: Cool. Cool. So tell us, like, your experience. That's awesome to hear that you're in a deal now, I didn't even know that. So that's good news.
Rob: Yeah.
Davey: We were almost in one. But what's been your overall experience since?
Rob: So, a recap has been our experience in just since the first RPP we did, which solidified our decision and just meeting the rest of the seniors, advisors, and mentors, and everyone, and just everybody in the group, we knew it was home for us. And I don't use those words lightly. So we were just looking, really to like, how serious are we gonna really pursue this business? Because I've been in the world where I was earning a paycheck. I was an engineer for 14 years. And so I knew what that was. And I knew what it was to juggle and be an entrepreneur in running a business. So Jane and I were just trying to find the balance. And the opportunity presented itself, as I said, probably in May or June. And we had been on a month to month for a couple years. And we just felt...
Davey: At your building?
Rob: Yeah, and it's funny, because, to me, it's about open doors and closed doors. And I know I've talked about that before in our close group. And just to see another open door that came about in May, and Jane and I had been talking about it, and we went and approached your mom. And we said, "We're really not tied down to where we're at. And we'd like to move the business in the back offices."
Davey: Is that how it actually happened? Is that what you did?
Rob: That's exactly how it happened. We went in to talk about that other deal. And...
Davey: I thought my mom said something like, "We're not really tied down." And my mom's like, "You wanna rent an office?"
Rob: That's exactly how it was. Jane brought it up. And she says...
Christian: Hi, this is Christian Rios. As many of you know, I had been a member of New Wealth Advisors club for over 7 years and got started when I was 17 years old with absolutely no real estate experience. One of the biggest lessons I've learned from being in the industry is the need for authentic relationships. If you're looking for an actual team locally, in Southern California, with all the resources needed to close deals, register for one of our free workshops by visiting www.joinnwac.com. Thanks for listening to the Flippin’ Off Podcast.
Davey: And My mom's like, "You wanna rent an office?"
Rob: That's exactly how it was. Jane brought it up and she says, "Let's go for it." She says "I'm all there." She says, "Talk to Oscar." And we were just kind of like taken back and we're like, "Whoa, okay, like, we've really got to commit to this." Although we were, but...so we moved our residents from Corona, we moved, physically, our residence to Riverside. And five weeks later, we were moving our business. And your mom's like, "You moved to Riverside? I didn't know you guys moved." "Yeah, we're close to you. Off Orange Terrace."
Davey: I did not know that you actually moved your house. Was that always in the plan?
Rob: No. During boot camp, I was really overwhelmed one night. I think it was during the last night.
Davey: Really?
Rob: Yeah. And your mom was calling us up. And I said, "I can't express how really overwhelmed I've been in the last three or four months just to see how everything's been coming together. And it's got to be for a purpose." And so when your mom's like, "Insurance, the future NWAC Realty Group, and we're planning on lending everything." And she's like, "Let's do it." And we're like, "Are you sure?" And she's like, "Yeah, let's do it." She says, "If you guys are looking to move." And Oscar, he just confirmed a few other things. And I had a chat with you one day, remember in the back shop. So our experience has been, honestly, that we actually used the move, and I'll reveal this. We said, "You know what, if we can move the business, our insurance business, we can get our real estate investing business off the ground," and it's almost kind of forcing yourself to commit. So the two offices are for insurance and the other one is for future LPS.
Davey: I love it. I love it. So for anybody who hasn't been to the club, there's 10,000 square feet of...at one time was a warehouse. It's been renovated into multiple offices. So we have about 16 offices all throughout the building. And then there's one major training room. And so for the most part in the past years, real estate investors occupy all of the offices. But then over the last couple of years, it's fizzled out a little bit. So about half of the offices are occupied. So the back half are kind of just, they're vacant. And then that we have an entire other entrance to the building, we have two entrances, one on one side and one on the other. And it's now become a State Farm office. But we like using the back, we have our food pantry in the back. So when Path of Life comes and people come to get food, they're back there, people are always in and out when we have our three-day events. A lot of the staff, not staff, but the volunteers and people that are working the event, we go in and out of the back. So it was always a...we talked about renting it, renting the back part, but we didn't want some company back there that we didn't like, you know, it's still our building. So I had talked to a few people that wanted to possibly rent it, and we ended up just not doing it. So for Rob and Jane to come, and now Rob's back there doing woodwork on the walls, like that's right up my alley. I love that stuff. It's been so awesome having you guys there. It's been really cool. So I had talked to my mom about it way before. I think I said something to you one day, I was like, "You guys should just move here."
Rob: I think you did. I think you did. Yeah, for me, it's not a race. And I just mentioned that just recently. It's about the journey and the people you bring with you. Totally. And during boot camp, I think it was our closing papers, just to kind of recap a little bit on what you were...where we're at now and how do we feel. For me, it became almost a dream that I was living on the sideline watching other people live out, kind of like watching your football hero play the game, and you're on the sideline, and wondering, "Am I ever gonna have an opportunity to really live this myself?" And to see where I'm at, and where Jane and I are at, it's a dream come true. And I would encourage people...I can't make any excuses. The training we've had and we've received from the club, it's next to none. I mean, to truly say that we have a vested interest in you, your business, and with the people here, I mean, you guys met every bit of that. And just the people itself, the character, the quality of people, they truly are interested in your success. So it's about investing in yourself and just really pursuing and pulling the trigger. And not just thinking, "Can I really do this?" You can do it. I'm living proof, Jane's living proof. We've been business owners for 20 years, and to use the move of our company to say...because we're both on-page in really doing this real estate investing full time." So, I mean, the insurance is kind of an annuity for her, she's not gonna stop that business. And we don't have any plans, but it's just happening.
Davey: That's so awesome. I love that you said that because the real point of this conversation, this podcast, is to...I really want people to understand that real estate investing is a lifestyle, it's about what you decide, like, how you want your life to look, it can't be about making a quick buck. And so many people that come through the doors are looking...like the same question asked every single introduction, "When am I gonna get my first deal? What's the percentage of people that are actually successful in this business?" It's like, I wanna put that in a plaque. You know what I mean?
Rob: Yeah.
Davey: It's a lifestyle change, like, you moved your business, your company, and now you moved your residence over here because this is, like, the lifestyle that you wanna live, you wanna be a real full-time real estate investor. But you own a business right now and you're still running your business and you adapted that to work. So, with this story, I want people to understand, if you want to set yourself up for success and leave a legacy, a lifelong legacy, something that your kids can participate in, then you have to make a real lifestyle change, like, there's no other real way to do it. Even for me, working 9 to 5 in Idaho and being consistent, I did just fine. I didn't have...you know what I mean? I made a lifestyle change. I had to make an entire change to live the life that I wanted to. It's not like I...you know? And it's crazy, some days I still...it's a few years later of not working an everyday job and I'm like, "Crap, I have to do something today." Like, "I have to...like, I gotta get moving today," because I finished all of my normal things and I know that I'm gonna get paid on this, this, and that. But then if you don't continue to move forward and continue to set yourself up for new things, then there's nothing gonna be there, there's no paycheck waiting for you, you know. It's about a lifestyle change. And that comes so much with mindset, where's your head at? Which are all the things that we focus hard on in the club. And so I just think you're a perfect example, both you and Jane are a perfect example of what it looks like to make a lifestyle change in order to make this happen.
Rob: Definitely. Definitely. And in the MMM we're doing, we're going over the Jim Rohn book, "The Power of Ambition." And for me, it's always been, if you have hope, that hope is what drives your ambition. And it's funny because my word for this year was belief. I don't know if you remember, but back in December, it was like, "Hey, have you got your word yet, buddy?" And I'm like...I was struggling between a few words. And I said, "It's got to be believe," because I wanted this to really happen, I wanted this to be real for us. And that's why I'm so overwhelmed that the choosing of that word has led us to where we're at now.
Davey: So cool.
Rob: So I still get chills. Seriously, I get chills. I have sometimes some sleepless nights because I'm just excited. And the demeanor, I mean, my kids, my daughters have even noticed the change. And she just said, both my daughters have said, "We see that you guys are not here a lot, but we see the change, and we see where you guys are going with this." And now even my youngest daughter, she heard...the first time we were on the way home from San Diego about a year ago, and she heard Melina talking on a motivational Monday and she's like, "I like her." And they've both have listened to a lot of the Zoom meetings we've been on. And so they see how we're leading by example. And we want them to know that you can truly be what you wanna be. And in real estate, they know how important that has been in our lives, has been in the back of my mind, real estate investing, for the longest time. So they've seen just a whole change of atmosphere, demeanor in our house. Sometimes a little chaotic, but just because when you're running two businesses, but they're excited for us, and that's what gets me excited. And I can't say enough, I mean, words can't describe just the people in the club, you guys, Andrew, Oscar, John, everybody, I have so much respect for them. I kind of grew up with, "Just sit here, shut up and learn." And I just have so much respect for them for the time they put in and just the outpouring that they give us, that you guys give us, and truly, there isn't any excuse that I can have in not making this successful. So, right now we're just living it, and we're working it, and Jane and I, you know, we're going to be doing this a lot more serious, so once things are kind of settled at the office.
Davey: Are you guys gonna flip that house on Van Buren?
Rob: Yeah, it's an equity split with the owner. And it came down through a friend of Jane's, she was at our house over for dinner. And we were talking about what we have been doing. So actually, it's a family member.
Davey: Holy cow. Nice.
Rob: Yeah. So her niece called her and said, "This is the situation, and there's a house that we have here," and they live in Vegas. And they said, "Well, you need to call Rob and Jane." That was right out of her mouth.
Davey: How about that.
Rob: So just a few conversations. And we got Oscar involved. He's got a tech background. So we just thought Oscar was the perfect fit.
Davey: That's awesome. That's so cool. That's so cool. I'm so glad you guys are in one. We should do a podcast on that. We should talk about that next time.
Rob: Definitely.
Davey: And we should do video. We should definitely start doing videos so we can capture the process and all that.
Rob: Yeah.
Davey: Definitely. When are you guys get to kick it off?
Rob: Well, the tenants have been out for a couple of weeks. He's gonna sign probably today. I wanna say that it probably will start this week.
Davey: Let's go.
Rob: Yeah, I've got text messages. He's just like, "Come on, man. Let's go make some money."
Davey: Make sure you let me know. So I can get my camera out then.
Rob: Will do. Yeah,
Davey: All right, guys. Well, I think that's gonna wrap it up for today. Again, if you have any ideas for podcasts or anything you wanna share with us about these podcasts, shoot me an email at davidboswell.nwac@gmail.com. If you're interested in joining the club, you can check us out at newwealthadvisorsclub.com. And as always, we look forward to hearing more from you guys, and seeing more of you, and capturing more of these deals, and these awesome stories from so many people that are to come to the club in the future. So take care, guys, we're out of here. Later.
Rob: See ya.
Melina: I'm Melina Boswell, your host of the Flippin’ Off Podcast. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we'd love for you to subscribe. Give us a five-star rating and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the Flippin’ Off Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you've heard, we'd really appreciate it if you'd follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tell us the stories that you'd like to hear.
Tim Jackson is our senior producer. Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.
Podcast Transcription Oscar: I still think we should have like an open mic night or something of the sort.
Davey: Let's do it.
Oscar: I think there's some talent that we don't know about.
Davey: Like music, or should it just be like a talent show?
Oscar: Just whatever, yeah. Like a New Wealth Advisor School's got talent.
Davey: That'd be sick.
Melina: Welcome to “Flippin’ Off,” a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.
Davey: I'd be damned. I'd be damned. Oscar said we should do a New Wealth Advisor's Club has got talent.
Oscar: Hey, you know, stranger things happen. A lot of talented people in the club.
Davey: For sure. That'd be super cool. What's going on, everybody? David Boswell here. We've got Oscar Solares today.
Oscar: Hey there, folks.
Davey: Just the boys today.
Oscar: It's a boys' day.
Davey: Just a boys' talk. Yeah, the goal for us is to talk about... Well, actually, we're going to title it "Opposites Attract." The idea and the fact that real estate and entrepreneurship brings people together that, I like how you just said, the trajectories would never align or would never intersect if it were not for what we do and how even myself and Oscar are two totally different guys. I mean, we've got a lot of similarities for sure, but the way that our brains really work down to the core are totally different. I wouldn't say we're totally opposite.
Oscar: No, it's interesting, right, because we've had conversations and I'm like, "Man, I see so much of me in you, right, when I was your age and all that." So it's interesting, but then I see so much of me in your brother, right, in Andrew. Right. So it's like I'm like you guys put together type of thing. So yeah. It's interesting, and I never would have met you guys obviously had it not been for the club. I never would have met the people that I've partnered with inside the club had I not... Because, you know, my background is completely...it's polar opposite, you know. John's a soccer coach, man. I was the guy that brought my kids to him type, you know what I mean?
Davey: Absolutely.
Oscar: I would never... I wouldn't hang out with him.
Davey: No, no.
Oscar: It's not for any other reason other than, you know, he was hired to do a thing and I participated in that type stuff, so it's...yeah. But I'll do business with him all day long because I know him now.
Davey: Yeah. And it's just cool that, you know, the club provides that opportunity for people to come together with similar mindsets that, you know, that would really never... How else would they? You know, you just wouldn't. You would know John is the soccer coach and... But it turns out that those are some of the best partnerships.
Oscar: Yeah, yeah, you know. So the thought that comes to mind is you look at our club members, right? We now have 400 or whatever it is now, and there's so many walks of life, right? We have everything from waiters to doctors and everything in between, attorneys, DAs, we've had all walks of life in the club. And we have a common thread, if you will, and that's real estate, right? And initially, we'll all agree that it's real estate and money, that's kind of the initial thing. And then we start to realize, "Oh, wait a minute, there's a different connection here," right?
Davey: Yeah, absolutely.
Oscar: So it's an interesting dynamic. But again, right, like… an oncologist, what are the odds of me hanging out with an oncologist and having conversations about anything, right?
Davey: Totally. Yeah. Definitely. Christian is somebody for me that I've... Like there's no way we would ever... Like he's not athletic, he's not in extreme sports, he doesn't...
Oscar: You know he was a wide receiver in high school, right, and a corner.
Davey: What like freshman year?
Oscar: No, I'm serious.
Davey: And everybody plays freshmen football or what?
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: Like really?
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: I didn't know that.
Oscar: I had the same reaction, but...
Davey: I want to throw a football to him and see what happens.
Oscar: I think he was a better defender. He was a better DB.
Davey: Yeah, that makes sense. I'm not hating Christian or Amir, you know what I mean?
Oscar: Yeah, yeah.
Davey: We just don't... Okay. I'm talking about everything except for business, right, without the business mindset and without... Because when it comes to business, we align very closely, we have the same thoughts and ideas. But if it weren't for this business, there's no way I would have a conversation with him that would...unless I guess it was centered on business, like we wouldn't spark up a conversation next to each other at the mechanic shop or something, you know, like he wouldn't be there. He would probably get his car towed, you know what I mean?
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: You know what I mean? Just saying like we're just so different yet I absolutely love working with them. And the truth is, they can handle and do things that my brain doesn't want to do. And that's the opposites attract thing.
Oscar: Absolutely.
Davey: For business and for...you know, it's really about having different strengths, right? And so for me, I was just talking to my wife about this, or I really noticed that as far as parenting goes, and this is most men and women, I think, but as far as parenting goes, I'm more of the rod, you know, and she's more of the heart, right? I think she's the love...you know. And I struggle with it when it comes down to, like, things that the kids should do, that they, you know, that they're supposed to just do and they don't do it. And it makes me upset and I want to bring the rod out. But, you know, but then she's got enough of the heart to stop me in, you know, where I need to and make sure that I see it from the right perspective, and that's parenting and that's, you know, opposites attract in a relationship, but people think of it that way with their significant other, but I don't think it's thought of enough in business.
Oscar: Yeah. You know, earlier on in our marriage, it started out as a joke, right? But the more I said it, the more I started to realize how true a statement it was. Because I used to jokingly say, "Hey, our marriage works because we treat it like a business, you know. We're like business partners in this." And she's got her strengths, I've got my strengths, I got my weaknesses. We put it all together, you know, we have to be transparent, we have to be honest, we have to follow the rules, we have to do all those things, right? So as I started to now drift into the business world, I was like, "Holy crap." That's, like, really what happens in a marriage. It really is a partnership, right, like truly a partnership, and it has all the qualities and all the necessities of a business partnership as well. Yeah, like you, right, I'm kind of the rod when it comes to the kids, but poor kids, our kids, I feel sorry for them because Rebecca is a bit of a rod too. So it got rough for them, but yeah, I agree with you, man. There is those dynamics that are key, very key.
Davey: Yeah. Don't get me wrong, sometimes we're both the rod. We both have to look at each other and go, "Okay."
Oscar: Who's going to pull back? It's the way it works, you know, that's what it is.
Davey: It's true. And when it comes to business, just being able to really implement, you know, like I have lots of good ideas, but getting them done and accomplished is more of the struggle for me for whatever reason. It just is what it is, you know, and I think it's because my brain will keep spitting out ideas. It'll just like I'm so much in the vision that you gotta remember to stop and implement the vision as well and then pick it back up. And so for me, having the right people around me has been critical, you know, in moving forward and getting things done is constantly being able to look at myself and be like, "Okay, I'm lacking there because I see other people, you know, thriving in that position." And so it's just awesome that the club gives the opportunity for so many different people to come under one roof with the same mindset. And seeing, you know, the business, like Patty and Monica.
Oscar: Polar opposites.
Davey: Totally opposite people.
Oscar: Like polar opposites.
Davey: Yeah. You got Monica who is... How would you describe Monica?
Oscar: Straightforward, direct, strict, gonna set the rules, play by those rules, or don't play with me at all.
Davey: Yeah. Like no room for error outside of the margin.
Oscar: It's like this is the way it needs to be.
Davey: Yeah. And then Patty, how would you you... So you've known both of these...
Oscar: Yeah. Patty is adventurous, out in the open, doesn't care, usually says things before actually thinking about it, right, it's just words come out and then... But she's really good at what she does as well, right, and she's very personable, you know. She quickly develops rapport with people.
Davey: Absolutely.
Oscar: Just really quickly.
Davey: She has the gift to woo.
Oscar: There's things... Yeah, she does. What did you say, woo, was again?
Davey: Woo, winning others over.
Oscar: Yeah. So her ability to woo is incredible, right? Because I've seen her do it with homeowners at the very first time she ever meets them and just breaks them down, like boom. And then I've seen her when she's on the phone with banks on behalf of owners and her ability to adjust, right? So she can be really nice until you tick her off and then she's like, man, I am woman, hear me roar, right? It's like, yeah, she just goes straight for the jugular with people and, and handles it. Not in an evil way, just like, "I gotta get this done for the homeowner."
Davey: Yeah. Actually, the way Patty operates, sometimes it's hilarious to me how she is so straightforward and blunt that it's actually shocking. Like it's that shocking all factor that she gives people.
Oscar: I think that's what it is. Yeah, absolutely, I agree with you.
Davey: You are so stunned that you can't help but respect her.
Oscar: Don't let your daughter come back to that so we'll just sit out and talk.
Davey: Yeah. Yep. And I think Monica is the discipline as well in there, you know.
Oscar: And she's learned to manage, it's almost like an FBI thing. She's the handler, right, for Patty. She's learned how to manage it and pull her back and push her in the right direction when it needs to be and all that stuff.
Davey: Absolutely. And that's what it takes, two different sides. Like Monica could never be who Patty is and vice versa, there's just no way.
Oscar: And it's really...like, when you meet them in person, it's evident that the only reason they ever met was because they had something in common at the club.
Davey: I should have had them here.
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: I messed up.
Oscar: No, I think that's going to be a great one to stand alone because that's...
Davey: They have a deal, they just...
Oscar: Yeah, they have a deal, they've been working, and the dynamics work, and it's a really good example about this conversation, right? So maybe that's the followup one, I don't know.
Davey: Yeah. I think that would be awesome, right?
Oscar: Yeah. They're fun, they're fun.
Davey: Yeah. Two totally different people come together to actually accomplish what all of us are trying to do. This is what everybody who comes to the club wants to do is exactly what those two are doing. And had they not come to the club, I think they'd probably both say the same thing.
Oscar: They never would have crossed paths, ever. Absolutely never. It just wasn't a part of it.
Davey: And one of the coolest things about the club is we kind of force people to like, first of all, in the three-day event, you force people to talk to each other. Not only talk to each other, but get out of your seat and go talk face to face, which, you know, doesn't happen anymore anywhere.
Oscar: No. And you know, we tell them too, right, there, because everybody, we all carry a facade, you know, a mask and we break through it, you know. You have to break through it because, you know, they've heard Adrian talk about things and how it's mindset and all that and how you show up and all those things, right? That's what it is. You have to show up a certain way otherwise, you know, the mentality you can't have because I just got this communication last night, right? They ended a communication with me with, "I am who I am wherever I am always."
Davey: Say that again.
Oscar: "I am who I am wherever I am always." Right? And I was like, "Yeah, that doesn't work," right? Because who you are in the all the previous communications, that's probably not good, you know. So we're going to have to tackle some things and work through things and all that. But, I mean, it's cool, not that they're a bad person. It's just how they see themselves as different, right? Can they have a lot of success? Absolutely. Because very similar to Patty, right, outspoken, carries herself a certain way, good sense of humor, all that stuff, right? So it's just...you know. And Patty had to go through stuff too. She had to work on things, yeah, like all of us, right, we all have to.
Christian: Hi, this is Christian Rios. As many of you know, I have been a member of New Wealth Advisors Club for over 7 years and got started when I was 17 years old with absolutely no real estate experience. One of the biggest lessons I have learned from being in industry is the need for authentic relationships. If you're looking for an actual team locally in Southern California, with all the resources needed to close deals, register for one of our free workshops by visiting www.joinnwac.com. Thanks for listening to the Flippin’ Off Podcast.
Oscar: Like all of us, right, we all have to.
Davey: Right. Have you ever seen that movie, "Shallow Hal?"
Oscar: Oh, yeah.
Davey: It's so funny because imagine if life was actually like that. Imagine if you couldn't see anybody's appearance. Like what kind of relationships would you have? Like, you know, who would you have in your life? Like imagine how different that would be. Imagine if you approached every conversation that way. When we say opposites attract, it's because of whatever that deep-seated thing is that makes people connect, you know. And being at the club and being forced to be in conversation with people that you normally wouldn't because, you know, you both have the same goal, like some of the most incredible relationships come out of that because they're not worried about, like, that appearance about somebody who is kind of weird and weird to you that you would never talk to because they talk kind of funny or they talk too loud and you're quiet and...you know what I mean?
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: Imagine if everybody had the same tone in voice, imagine if everyone had the same mannerisms, like how different would your conversations be? Like, what if you could relate to people, right?
Oscar: Yeah, yeah. You know what it took me back to is, I don't know if you've seen this video online, but they show these little kids running at each other and they just give themselves this big old hug. And they're obviously, you know, different backgrounds, different ethnicities, the whole bit, right? But that's who we are as kids, right? If we could stay in that same, which is what you're saying, right, is if you could just put everything else aside and it's just another person in front of you, and able to understand that, man, what a world, what a world. And that's our bubble. That's the bubble that we operate in, is that all are welcome, right? It doesn't matter, race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, disbeliefs, whatever, it doesn't matter. It has nothing to do with anything other than are you willing to do the right things for the right reasons, right?
Davey: I think we should do, like, I don't know. It's another teaching point for people to operate that way, you know, in this business. Because, think about it, whenever you talk to somebody for the first time, we are constant...we're all judging. Like we're judging so much. Whenever you have a first conversation, every single question, it's usually about gauging where they are, where you are, you know what I mean? And I really try to not. When I have conversations, it's just because I've been brought up this way now, but I really try to just have a conversation and hear about people's story. I just want to hear about what they've been through. But so much of the time when I talk to people, I can sense them sizing me up, gauging me, trying to figure out like what...you know what I mean? If I think I'm better or however, but imagine if... Now, I'm still a little boy inside, so have a freaking conversation, that's how I feel. That's what I want to say to people sometimes when they're so blatantly judging me and like what they think I've been through, like, "Dude, I'm just a little boy too. We're little boys."
Oscar: No, really, he is, you know. And I don't know if you remember this, but I tell them that Fridays...of the Friday morning of the initial training that they go through for the club members, like, "Look, you're sitting there sizing me up, and I'm standing here looking at all of you and trying to read you and size you up as well, right, because I need to figure out who's coming in and what you guys are going to be all about and what do we have to work on, right?" Because they don't believe it, right? They don't see it, but you and I see it. We kind of read people pretty well when they walk in through the doors.
Davey: Sense it.
Oscar: Yeah. We sense it, and it's, you know, there's that discernment that kicks in and you know who you need to have. And it's not about, "Oh, you're a target." It's more of, "Hey, let me go serve you," right, "Let me pour into this person differently than I'm going to pour into the other person because I see something there."
Davey: Yeah. I think it is so cool to overcome our natural tendencies to want to be like that. And if we could do it to more... Like every time we have an event or new people come into the club, that's how we try to operate, that's how we show up, right? And I would just love it if one day, like that was the standard across the world.
Oscar: Yeah. That'd be awesome. Man, it shifts so many things.
Davey: Imagine.
Oscar: Shifts so many things, right? Because, you know, we've all grown up in different areas of the world and neighborhoods, and yeah, we see it all. But that's the cool thing about where we are, right? Our bubble is you walk in and it's white people walk into the office and you'll hear them say words like, "This feels different. I don't know what it is, can't put my finger on it yet, but there's something different about you guys. There's something..." There's this feeling that people get when they walk in. It's different, you know.
Davey: Yeah. It's true. It's true. It's authenticity, you know what I mean? It's people being genuine and you never get that anywhere else, you really don't.
Oscar: And now, and I guess for everybody listening, don't confuse that with perfection. There's a difference between being authentic and aspiring to be perfect because you're never going to be perfect. We're all gonna make mistakes. Things happen, you know, all that stuff, right? There's miscommunications, there's a lot of things that go into play, but at the end of it all is, was it intended with malice?
Davey: Right.
Oscar: Right? Or was it bad recollection? I don't know. Whatever that was, right? So, yeah, just know that... I guess the best way I can say it is everybody is welcome. Everybody is welcome.
Davey: Absolutely, that's 100%. Everybody is welcome at NWAC, but I would encourage people like to really challenge yourself, to have conversations with people where you could treat it like you were in "Shallow Hal," like you couldn't see their face or you really aren't judging where they've been, or like find out like what really makes people tick? Like what's that pain point that people have or, you know, what is the thing that people light up in their eyes when they start talking about it that you may even relate to? I would really challenge people to like step outside yourself and like really, you know, really listen, really listen.
Oscar: Yeah. You know, the other thing that goes hand in hand with that for me is, if you can be open that way and add that you don't know everything, right, and there's always something to learn. There's always something someone's going to say that you're just going to...and be open to having the thought process behind and even inquisitive, like, "Hey, why did you say that?" So, you know, with time, we've gotten really good at we listen to the words that are said, how the sentences are structured, right, the tone that's used, all these things because all of that has some sort of meaning. So I always...you know, people that I coach and I encourage them, it's like, "Look, man, pay close attention," you know. Your mom, Melina, used to say or has always said, "Listen so hard that it hurts." And then most people are, you know, like, "What am I listening for? I'm listening, but what exactly am I listening for?" And I tell people it's like, "Man, you have to listen to all those things I've already said, and sometimes you're listening for the things they're not saying," right?
Davey: Absolutely.
Oscar: But you could only do that when you walk in and, like you said, right, it's like "Shallow Hal," eyesight "Shallow Hal," right? It's like no judgment whatsoever, and then mindset is open enough to know and be just transparent with yourself that you don't know everything. And if you thought you did, you're gonna be proven wrong anyways, and then learn from everything.
Davey: Yeah. Like the person you're speaking to has knowledge that you don't have because they were somewhere at a time when you weren't there and they learned from somebody awesome that you didn't get the chance to. So, like, you really should approach every single person like they have something awesome inside of them that I want to get, like, I want that too. And every single person, if you treat it like that, you know, if you really treat it like you're trying to gain something from the conversation and gain some knowledge or really find out what makes that person tick, your conversations look entirely different.
Oscar: Yeah. Yeah, you know, recently I had this conversation with some of the younger folks and I posed the question, right, it's like, "What value are you as a man or a woman bringing to that other man or woman? What value are you bringing?" If you can't formulate any quick answer to what value you're bringing, then you need to work on yourself before you even consider, right? It's similar to the conversations that I've had with my kids, right? It's like, man, you know, you have to look for certain things, but you have to show up a certain way. You have to deliver certain goods. You have to bring value to everything. And that's how we approach our transactions, right, is what value do I bring to that homeowner? If I bring no value, you need to just sell it. Let's go, right? But if I'm going to bring value, different, because now I'm going to be compensated for that value.
Davey: Yeah. And then there's the opposite side of people who are that way, that maybe don't feel like they have enough value or aren't willing to share it.
Oscar: Yes.
Davey: It's the opposite. It's the total opposite.
Oscar: So how do we work with those folks? How do we get them to shift that?
Davey: I think, for one, it's edifying. Like if you have people that are maybe a little less spoken or they're not...a little less in confidence, just edify them, bring them up, and like let them know things that you notice or see, point those things out and let them know how much you appreciate it, and then ask them to expand on it or whatever it is, you know what I mean? Because humility is awesome, but then there's like people that are just not confident and don't know what they don't know or don't know how great they really are, and so then that's the whole other side, is bringing that out of them and then getting them out of their shell and, you know, watching them blossom into somebody else and then passing that wisdom on.
Oscar: Yeah. No, I agree with you, man. And, you know, another thing is, as people, it's real easy for us to identify with a negative, right? "I'm no good at this. I failed at this, I missed this," right? All that stuff that we face. So when I sit with people and what I ask our senior guys to do and gals to do is really walk through the other person's journey and identify where they had success, right, and pull that to the forefront because I immediately want them to shift out of that negative side and go into that, "Man, I have done some good things. I have had success." Because then you can drill into, "Well, how did you have that success? What was that? What was that skill set? What was that mindset?" You know, "How did you contribute? What resources did you use?" All those things.
Davey: Right. Exactly.
Oscar: And now like I'm in a position to say, "See how good you are? You just didn't realize it because you were so focused on all the other junk."
Davey: Yup, absolutely. That's so cool.
Oscar: Right. So yeah, you're right. But you've got to draw it out of people. And I think that's why... I'm not going to say I think, I believe that's why we have the success that we have because this entire conversation has been about how do we treat people? How do we do best for them? How do we serve them? And all of that together is what lets people from different walks of life really find each other.
Davey: Absolutely.
Oscar: Right. Because when you're closed off, you don't see anything, right?
Davey: Oh, not at all, nope. I have a challenge for everybody. This week at work, or wherever it is, sitting in line at the gas station for coffee or what or Starbucks or wherever it is you go, have a conversation with somebody that you normally wouldn't, somebody that you would never talk to. Try to have a conversation with them, and a conversation, I think, it has to have some meaning, right? I think like try to have a conversation, spark up a conversation, and find out a couple of points about them and...
Oscar: So not just a, "Hey, how's it going?"
Davey: No, no, no. Have a conversation with them, but it has to be somebody that you normally wouldn't. Like it has to be somebody that you wouldn't...that you don't just jive with, you know, you don't do the same things. You don't dress the same. They could be homeless, you know. Have a conversation with somebody that you normally wouldn't and spark it up and ask them a question or...you know what I mean? Step outside of your comfort zone and try to have a meaningful conversation with somebody that you never would, and you know you wouldn't. Every single one of you knows that person that you never would talk to, you know. I think you'll be surprised to see how rewarding that experience can be.
Oscar: I love that. I love that challenge.
Davey: You're going to do it too?
Oscar: Yeah. Why not?
Davey: Let's do it.
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: So in the next podcast, we'll come back and we'll talk about how that went.
Oscar: Yeah. Yeah. It'll be fun.
Davey: Cool.
Oscar: You know, it reminds me of "How to Win Friends and Influence People," right, Dale Carnegie, I believe, was the author. Book written in the '30s, and his whole premise was like, man, you should be able to talk with the janitor just like the CEO.
Davey: Yep. Right.
Oscar: And everybody in between, that's really the foundation of it. So, yeah, if you haven't read that book, read that book, get yourself ready, and go accept Dave's challenge. So I think you'll be surprised. You'll be surprised at the growth that you have when you do that.
Davey: Absolutely. Awesome. All right, guys. Well, thanks for joining us. Again, if you have any podcast ideas or topics that you want to hear about, if you want to be on a podcast and share your story, anything like that, any ideas we'd love to hear it all. Email me at davidboswell.nwac@gmail.com. If you've never been to the club and you're curious about what it takes to become a member or to join us, or if you just want to come down and check it out and see what we're all about, see if we're really real, you can check us out at newwealthadvisorsclub.com or you can email myself, and, yeah, we will look forward to meeting you and seeing you soon, hopefully, kicking some butt together.
Oscar: Yeah, it'll be fun. We'll have fun too. We'll have a lot of fun.
Davey: Lots of fun, lots of fun.
Oscar: For sure.
Davey: Absolutely. Anyway, guys, thanks for joining us and we'll see you soon.
Oscar: Take care.
Davey: Later.
Melina: I'm Melina Boswell, your host of the Flippin’ Off Podcast. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we'd love for you to subscribe. Give us a five-star rating and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the Flippin’ Off Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you've heard, we'd really appreciate it if you'd follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tell us the stories that you'd like to hear.
Tim Jackson is our senior producer, Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.
Podcast Transcription Melina: Welcome to “Flippin’ Off,” a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.
Davey: Oh, man, is this the first time mom hasn't been here, like for a podcast?
Oscar: As far as I can recall, yeah. Yeah. Might be the first time.
Davey: But she's ever not at least been there for one of them.
Oscar: Yeah, like in the facility?
Davey: Uh-huh.
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: Yeah.
Oscar: Yeah.
Davey: Wow. That just barely dawned on me.
Oscar: She's probably out on a walkabout right now, right? It's about that time.
Davey: Two hundred miles in.
Oscar: It's crazy.
Davey: What's up, everybody. What, Adrian?
Adrian: No, I said her and Jasmine. Jasmine went out again today with her.
Davey: Oh, nice. She's been having people pop in and out. It's been awesome. What's going on, everybody? Dave Boswell here. Davey Boswell. David Boswell. Whatever you like. I got Oscar Solares in the house.
Oscar: Hey there.
Davey: And Adrian Bradley today.
Adrian: Hey.
Davey: Today's topic, really, we're just going to be talking about, what is the daily grind of real estate? What...? Oh. I shut that thing off, huh? What does the daily grind really look like? What is real estate investing really all about? You know, you see on Facebook and Instagram, people, they like to highlight what the life looks like with cars and planes and all kinds of fancy stuff. And most of the time, they make it look a lot more grand than it is. A lot more, a lot flashier. It's really a show, I think, you know? And being somebody who's in it all the time, this is all I do, it's nothing like that. You know, it's really just nothing like that. I mean, I guess if you wanted to bring all... You know, that kind of, "If you want to wear a suit everywhere you go," I get, you know, I don't know, it's just... What do you think?
Oscar: Yeah. I agree with you. So they make it very glamorous, right? The lifestyle, the whole thing, and they tend to sell the dream, right? Because we're all after it. I mean, we all want to succeed. We all want to do things and all that. And it's no different for anybody here, right? Adrian, no different. The shift, I've always said is like, "It's not all that." And it just brought back, I just read an email this morning, that the first words were, "I'm never going to flip houses again." Right? And this is a successful guy, flipping houses and doing all of that. Like, "Never gonna flip houses again because of this, this, this and this," right? And it's like, yeah, so, my gut reflex and response was, "Yikes. Let me know how I can help."
Davey: You have a bad experience or?
Oscar: Just challenges, you know, with cities and permits and all that, right? It's... But that's the game. That's the part of it. So, yeah, I love the topic. Because I know, Adrian, you've been around a little bit now and have been through some ups and downs. And in the journey, if you will, in the effort that goes into it, the consistency... As a matter of fact, we just talked about consistency last night, on the coaching call.
Adrian: Oh, you did?
Oscar: Yeah. About, and you did a session on follow-through and follow-ups, right? So, there's a reason we do all that stuff, right, to keep people actually moving forward. It's awesome.
Davey: Absolutely. Actually, I wanted Adrian to be here. Because when it comes to the grind and what the grind really looks like, you are somebody who I look at and go, "Okay, that girl grinds, like, she's on the grind. She gets it done. She handles her business." And that's... You know, we really want people to model what you do. So, I wanted to bring you in so people could understand what that looks like, but what does your schedule look like? You know, we can talk about some of that. And actually, Adrian, is... Is this your first flip that we're closing right now? Or no? Not your first one?
Adrian: No. Well, let's say flip. Yes.
Davey: Yeah. Your first flip. Not your first deal.
Adrian: No. First flip, yes.
Davey: But your first actual flip?
Adrian: Yes.
Davey: Which I rehabbed in Victorville, Victorville, California. Bought a $300,000 house and we just finished the rehab. And while we were at the end of the rehab, somebody approached the front door and came and talked to my contractor saying, "Can I buy this house? I want to buy this house." Apparently, houses in Victorville are just flying off the shelves, people, they can't keep them on the market. So, she actually said that she had bid on other properties, and at asking price, and then was outbid by other people offering more just because that's the market right now. So, we're in escrow.
Adrian: Yes. Thank you.
Davey: Yes. Absolutely. So, and it's not your first deal, though, so she's closed quite a few deals. Adrian's made a little bit of cash, definitely made some money. Yeah, it's been an awesome thing. So why don't you tell us, like, what does your morning look like, through your day? Like, what does an average day in the life of Adrian look like in real estate investing, in that aspect?
Adrian: Well, first is getting my mind right. So I wake up, and we have a group called Morning Coffee. We have that from 7:45 to 8:30 in the morning. And that's just to get our mindset and about our faith, our faith in God. So that's how my morning starts, every morning with that, and then prayer. And then after we get through with that, I start on, you know, whether I'm skip tracing this day, or I'm doing cards, or I'm calling homeowners. And basically, that's what I'm doing all day. If I'm not going out, I'm door-knocking with somebody.
Davey: So do you balance out through the week, like days that you do cards and days that you do follow-ups and days that you're knocking? Do you balance them out through the week specifically? Or do you kind of just decide what you're going to do that day or how does that work?
Adrian: You know, see, I'm not a person that does a schedule saying, "Monday and Tuesday, I'm doing this," "Wednesday and Thursday..." I'm a person that, okay, if somebody calls me that I door-knock with and say, you know, we...How about, it could be Tuesday, and I'm already, you know, gonna do it. You know, maybe I said, "Okay, when I got up this morning, I'm going to just do calls and, you know, do cards today." But if I get a phone call, it's like, "Can we go out today?" Well, I'll go out door-knocking and then when I come back, I'll do it and I might continue the next day. So I don't have a set schedule. But I'm always doing something that has to do with real estate.
Davey: Right. That's awesome. Yeah. And like, that's probably most people, Don't you...? I mean, I don't think... There's probably fewer people that actually live by a schedule, like, live by their calendar. I mean, I'm that way. And then there's people probably like Oscar...
Oscar: And Christian.
Davey:... and Christian.
Oscar: Christian is, like, through the roof compared to... No, he's all about, "You know, you're an entrepreneur, now who's your boss?" And then your calendar is your boss and it dictates everything that you do for the day. And I'm kind of a hybrid, right? There's things that I keep scheduled. But I know that in this business, like you said, there's things that come up, right? And the last thing you want to do is put something off, but that's why I calendar the things that I know that I can shift, I have to get done, but I can shift. And then I leave open space for all the stuff that's going to show up, right? Like the email this morning. Like our contractor calling me right on Skyline, right and saying, "Hey, I need a decision on this," or, "I need you to go swing by, do that." So, that's the stuff, right, that happens all the time.
Davey: Yeah. It's constantly... Yeah, constant... What were you going to say?
Adrian: I'm sorry.
Davey: No. Go ahead.
Adrian: Yeah. Because like this morning, my plan was to do Morning Coffee. And then after I finished Morning Coffee to head out towards... You know, today's my dad's birthday, so I was going to Yorba Linda. And on the way to Yorba Linda, I had pulled a list last night when I got home to go look at some vacants out towards that way, you know, but then I got the text from you, you know, and so I just pivoted. I said okay, Morning Coffee, then this, and then go do the vacants and then go to my dad's, you know, so it's always changing.
Oscar: You see, that's the thing I like about Adrian. It's that, because we teach that, and she really has taken it to heart that, "Man, I'm going to go here, so I'm going to prepare myself to be there, but I'm also going to take advantage of being there and look for these things and do these things."
Davey: She is the only one I know who really doesn't like that. One of the only people I know who actually does that. So awesome.
Oscar: You know, that's the way you have to think, it's... So, I think that's where the shift happens from having to put everything on your agenda to be forward-thinking and say, "I'm going to go do this." That was probably on your agenda to do, right? Go visit dad. That's where I'm going. Let me prep the night before, get my things going, and then be there. So, and she's kind of pretty tenacious at follow-ups and all that, too. So, that's a big thing.
Davey: …what it takes.
Adrian: Yeah, because my family still, they still haven't... I've been, this is what my, going on my sixth year and they still haven't bought into this business. You know, it's crazy.
Davey: It seems crazy.
Adrian: And, like, if they're with me, and we're going somewhere and I'm like, "Stop. That house is vacant. Wait, let's go... Back, back up. We got to... "And that just irritates the heck out of them. But I'm not gonna stop it, you know, because I see a vacant property and Oscar knows I love vacant properties.
Oscar: Yeah. For sure. It's paid off for her, so.
Davey: That's what I see. And like vacants, definitely. So the property in Victorville, tell us how... maybe, do you remember the first day you walked the property or the first day that you went to the house from printing the list to the very first time you went?
Adrian: Yes.
Davey: Tell me about that.
Adrian: Well, it was... I love vacants and property tax auction properties.
Davey: That's your wheelhouse?
Adrian: Yeah. So this was a property tax auction. So I had sent... You know, I do handwritten cards. So I had sent... It was getting time for San Bernardino County's property tax auction.
Davey: So where did you get the property tax auction, that information? How did you know that?
Adrian: From the county of Riverside on their website.
Davey: And so you just go there onto the website and search out that information yourself?
Adrian: Yes. Because I've learned when each county has, when theirs is coming up. So I'm on their list to automatically send me that the list is published now, you can go get it. But I always know now, since I've been doing it for a few years, exactly when it's going to be published, so I can go because when it's published, they don't necessarily send you the email right away. So I usually go like a week before and check. And so what I did was I mailed out a card to him, you know, asking about the property and if he intended to pay the property taxes, or was he interested in selling, and I had mailed the card out, say, like on a Friday, and on that Tuesday, I got a call.
Davey: Wow. And it was from...who was it from?
Adrian: It was from Olufemi.
Davey: Olu actually called you?
Adrian: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Davey: Okay, cool. Cool. So, Olu, he was the owner, the homeowner, the guy who was living there, but it was vacant at the time, or wasn't it?
Adrian: No. He was living there.
Davey: He was, that's right. He was living there. That's right. Okay. And so he called you and said...
Adrian: "Yes, I'm interested, how much will you give me?" Yeah. And then that's when I said, "Well, you know, we need to come look at it first and see what's going on with the property." So then that's when myself and Xiaomi, because I was working with Xiaomi at the time. So I called Xiaomi, and let her know what was going on, if she wanted to go with me. So then that's when we made an appointment to go out the following week. And we went there and took pictures and everything of the property and talked to him, and tried to see what was in his head, what he was thinking and everything. And he didn't want a cash offer because he knew it wouldn't be as high as he wanted. So that's when we decided to partner with him.
Davey: He was definitely trying to get as much as he could out of it?
Adrian: Right.
Davey: Yeah. That's so awesome. And then, so when was that? Do you know when you first...
Adrian: Yeah, it was a year and a half ago. Yeah, it was a year and... February of 2019.
Davey: That's awesome. So numbers-wise, the house was paid off, right?
Adrian: Right.
Davey: So, the house is paid off. And to break it down, there was a property tax auction, so he didn't pay, how much did he owe in taxes?
Adrian: It was $15,000, and some change.
Dave: So the house is paid off. He owes $15,000 in taxes. And so because, even though the house is paid off, the taxes are getting ready to take the house.
Adrian: Right.
Davey: Wow.
Adrian: Because, you know, because when his father passed, the taxes weren't paid, and nobody paid the taxes anymore. And I don't think he understood that he needed to pay the taxes because, actually, there was somebody else that was the administrator of the estate.
Davey: Not Olu?
Adrian: Not Olu. Yeah.
Davey: Yeah, that's right. And so, it took about a year to get... Well, let's say, maybe eight months...
Adrian: To get the other person on board.
Davey: To get the other, the administrator of the estate, to get them basically on board with the whole process. So it took eight months. And then, finally, we were able to start the rehab, and took us about a few months, so a whole year to go through this process. And I mean, to break it down over a year, I think the house is worth $300,000, right?
Adrian: Yeah.
Davey: Or the offer was $310,000, something like that.
Adrian: Right.
Davey: So, there's a little bit of spread involved in that one. Took some time, but the persistence paid off, I think.
Adrian: Right. And Oscar understands this. My properties, I don't get unless they're a year old. I don't benefit, you know.
Oscar: Wow. I was just reminiscing, too, on... And it's interesting because I had a little insight into the transaction. I know that even after the administrator of the estate was on board, getting things done with him was like pulling teeth, right? Because a busy guy, never available. His staff is, you know, interfering, or I don't know if he put them up to it or not, whatever, right there, they're kind of blocking and tackling stuff. And so there was a lot of delays.
Adrian: That doesn't stop you.
Oscar: There's a lot of delays, right. But that just, again, goes back to my earlier comment of her tenacity, that it's like, "No, I'm not gonna quit. I'm not gonna stop, you know, we're gonna get this done. We're gonna figure it out." And we got done. So, proud of you.
Davey: So the administrator...
Christian: Hi, this is Christian Rios. As many of you know, I've been a member of New Wealth Advisors club for over seven years and got started when I was 17 years old with absolutely no real estate experience. One of the biggest lessons I've learned from being in the industry is the need for authentic relationships. If you're looking for an actual team locally in Southern California with all the resources needed to close deals, register for one of our free workshops by visiting www.joinnwac.com. Thanks for listening to the “Flippin’ Off” Podcast.
Oscar: Not gonna stop, we're gonna get this done. We're gonna figure it out and we got done, so, proud of you.
Davey: Yeah, it was... So the administrator was somebody, you know, the person in charge of signing all the paperwork was somebody who was like a friend of his, of Olu's family, right? Or was it his uncle or was a friend of the family?
Adrian: Well, they call him "uncle" because the African culture.
Davey: Yeah, that's right.
Adrian: But it was his dad's friend.
Davey: His dad's friend. And so his dad made his friend in charge of the... Because he's a doctor and savvy and knew that his son wouldn't be taken advantage of, right? And so...
Adrian: The three sons, yeah, that they weren't really responsible.
Davey: Right. Right. So, it took pulling teeth to get to this doctor guy, he was... Actually, at one point, I remember we thought we were gonna lose it, right? We were just gonna walk away from the entire thing saying we could not get a hold of this guy in order to... So, Adrian, actually, both of you, Oscar went down...
Oscar: I went to his office.
Davey: Oscar went to his office, waited for him.
Oscar: I went to his office with letters, I had his staff sign for the letters and I did all kinds of stuff to get his attention, yeah, so.
Davey: Oscar tried. How many times did you go back?
Adrian: Me and Xiaomi went four times and sat there from... One time we sat from, like, 9 to 4, and just sat there waiting. And, you know, a couple times, three hours.
Davey: Oh, my God.
Adrian: And then he would come, his staff would come and tell us, "Well, you know, he has to finish seeing his patients. And then once he finished with his patients, he has to run to the hospital, do a surgery, so he can't see you today," you know.
Oscar: I got the same thing, and it sounds like, "Okay, so he's got to come in and out of the building." I know where the hospital is, right? And there's only one real path to get back to the building where his office is at. So I'd park outside and I'm eating, you know, I felt like I was on a stakeout or something.
Davey: You were.
Oscar: It was nuts, man, but that was good. But that's what it takes, right? Is that, because most people would have just sent letters, and sent letters, and then given up.
Davey: Exactly.
Oscar: But no, you gotta, you know, tenacity pays off.
Davey: Persistence. She kept going.
Adrian: At one point, I forget who it was, just said, "No, leave him alone right now." And I was like… send a text, another text, you know?
Oscar: Okay. I'll leave him alone.
Adrian: And then that's when he finally, I remember because that's when you got involved, too. And I said, "No, I'm gonna send one more text and see," and I sent a text and then late at night, it was, like, about 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, he responded.
Davey: It's crazy. It's crazy, but it's worth it in the end. That's how you get the good deals, right?
Oscar: Yeah, you got to persist, you got to persist.
Adrian: Yeah.
Oscar: Put in the time, the effort. But, you know, it all starts... I love what she said about, when you asked her, "Hey, what does your day start like?" And it's all mindset, right? It's resetting yourself, because we all go through our own stuff every day, right? Sometimes every hour. It's the way it is. So, if you're able to reset yourself every morning, then you're now centered to take the day on. And you're better off. Does it mean that it's going to be a perfect day? No, right? Because there's some power curveballs that come at you sometimes, right?
Adrian: Oh, yes. Yeah. Because there's some days I don't even want to do it. You know, because I got drained the day before, something like that. But I know that homeowner might go to somebody else or somebody else might talk to him.
Davey: And that's a good question...that brings me to another good question, I think. What are the things that keep you going, like you just said, when you decide, when you're feeling those days, "I just don't want to do anything today. I don't feel like door-knocking. I don't want to talk to people"? You said that homeowner could go to somebody else. Yeah, and you just lose that deal. It could be that day that somebody else decides to get up and go get it.
Adrian: Exactly. Yes. Yeah. Because I'm not... I wouldn't call it stubborn.
Davey: Oh, you wouldn't?
Adrian: No, I wouldn't call it stubborn. But I'm just a type of...
Oscar: She didn't even say it with a straight face, man.
Adrian: Yeah. I'm just like, the days that I really don't want to... I just want to, you know, just chill for a couple hours or something. And then I say, "Well, no, I've been working on this for, like..." Like, I have a property, a vacant property I've been working since 2016.
Davey: Wow, really?
Adrian: Yeah. And the guy, "I don't know, I don't want to sell. No, I don't want to sell. No, I don't want to sell. Leave me alone. You know, don't bother me." But I still kept sending him cards. And then finally, one day recently, I said, "Jasmine, come on, let's go. We're gonna go back to his house where he lives." So, we went there, like, it was either last week or the week before, and he just looked at me when he opened the door.
Oscar: Like, "Dang."
Adrian: And he said, "You know what? I do want to sell but I want to sell to a cash buyer only because I want to sell it as is." And I said, "That's what I've been telling you for four years."
Davey: Four years?
Oscar: Come to mama. I got you.
Adrian: Yeah. And I said, "Here's my card, remember all these you've been getting in the mail?" And Jasmine's looking at me and just laughing because I'm like, you know, the dialogue that me and the man were having. And he said, "Yeah, I remember." I said, "So, I'm here." He said, "Okay. I'll be ready soon. And I will give you a call." I said, "Well, if you don't give me a call, I'm gonna be back here."
Davey: So proud.
Oscar: I'm sure he was really aware of that fact after four years.
Davey: Did he find it funny?
Adrian: He started laughing. He kind of chilled after, little bit and started laughing, yeah.
Davey: Is that the first time you met him in person?
Adrian: Yes.
Davey: Oh, man.
Adrian: Because he never would open the door before.
Davey: He's probably just like, "What, woman?"
Adrian: And his garage was open this time, his garage has never been open. The garage was open.
Davey: That's good.
Adrian: And he answered the door.
Davey: Yep, that's so true. You could just catch somebody on bad days, maybe four years, you caught him on the wrong day every time or whatever it was, you know, but just that one time. That's crazy. Watch that turn into something.
Adrian: Yeah, I'm gonna make it turn into something.
Davey: Let's go. Oh, no. Hey, turn it down. He'll make it.
Oscar: Good. That's what it should be, yeah. That's good.
Davey: That's awesome. Yeah, I want people to have a clear understanding about what this business really looks like and what it takes to actually get it done. And it has nothing to do with what you look like. It has nothing to do with your abilities, it really has everything to do with just how you're going to show up. How are you going to show up for people? And so every time we have a new three-day event, and there's new faces coming in, people want to know, "How do I get my first deal? How do I get my first deal? How do I get my first deal?" That's always the number one question, right? And we say the same thing, it really comes down to the conversations that you're having with people like, how are you showing up? Do people want to work with you right now? Like, in your everyday life, are they drawn to you? Or, like, do you draw people in? Do you have the gift of woo, you know, of winning others over, or do people avoid you at all costs? You know, and just the very first time we talk to people, I can tell when they're asking questions like, "When am I gonna get my first deal? Like, how do I get... You know, what do I have to do?" They're so distracted from actually just having good conversations. And it's hard to get people to understand what it takes. So what does it take for you to have good conversations?
Adrian: I'm getting out of my own head. And Oscar will tell you also, at the very beginning, I was always...and I still am a little bit like that. And that's not stubborn. I was the type of person where I didn't want to be bothered with people. And I think because...
Oscar: Sorry.
Adrian: I know. That's really weird. In this type of business, but don't want to be bothered with people, right? But I'm just always one that I was okay by myself, you know, and I didn't want to be in the mess. And I think once I got all that out of my head, it was just me, and my issues and everything, I was able to become more successful in this business. Because actually, a lot of these homeowners...even, you know, the homeowners in foreclosure, vacant properties, tax auction, whatever, I have a lot in common with them more than I was able to realize before. And so now that helps me, and it helps me to talk to them and helps them put down their guards and everything where I had my guard up all the time. So how do I expect them to put down their guard when I'm walking to their door with a guard? Yeah.
Davey: So, what is something you say to people? Do you have somewhat of, like a line you'll say to people that will drop their guard, or, like, maybe not a line, but a perspective, the conversation, where you want to take the conversation or how you want to start it?
Adrian: Well, generally, just if I'm knocking on the door for a foreclosure, just basically, if they have their guard up, I just try to, like how we're taught, like find things and be genuine about it, though, like, find things that you see at the house or that you know about that you could speak with them about. I'm like, so I'm gonna be like, if they have a dog, I love dogs, I have dogs. And I'll ask them about their dog. You know, and then they start to ease up when they say, "Oh," you know?
Oscar: Oh, you're a person?
Adrian: Yeah. You know, you love dogs. Or just relate somehow with them, or just like how we're taught. It's just the simple things, but just be genuine about it. Don't just make something up.
Davey: Right. Yeah. Yeah. So much of the time, people just want a friend. People really just want somebody to talk to. Somebody who will listen, and not even really talk back. Most of the time, people just want to talk and want to be heard.
Adrian: And then like, when I send out cards, the handwritten cards, I get a lot of feedback from people saying, "The reason why I called you was because you took the time and wrote the card out." And then one time, this lady said to me, "You took the time to write the card out, and not only did you have a mistake, you crossed it out and just continued writing," you know, and she said, "That's a human."
Davey: That's a person.
Adrian: Yeah.
Davey: That's so cool. Any more, or more and more, I should say, we're losing the human aspect of business. Like, you know, everything is automated now. You can fricking DoorDash, like, you're not ordering... So many, and restaurants aren't a thing anymore almost, you know. And so, anytime I think people can get that human connection.
Oscar: I think it's huge right now.
Davey: Right now, more than ever.
Oscar: I think it is. Because there's so much isolation and all that that's going on that, you know, we're meant to interact with each other. That's what we were created for. So, the lack of it causes issues for us. So, you know, you start getting into the whole mindset stuff that everybody's dealing with. And yeah, I think there's value in being able to really be okay to walk up to that door and have that conversation and not make it about yourself or the house. You know, just be there to serve. That's the big thing is be there to serve them. Because you don't know, you don't know what's going on.
Davey: Yeah. Absolutely. And so much of the time when people have conversations with people that they don't know, or they're getting ready to go talk to somebody that they don't know, you get so uncomfortable and so in your own head about it that it shows up, that's how you show up, and that's how people see you. So, I like to pretend that I already know somebody before I meet them. And when I'm getting ready to, I pretend that I already know who they are. Or at least I would act the same way I will act when I'm talking to one of my best friends. Does that make sense?
Adrian: Yeah.
Davey: It really has an effect on people that... Because that's, honestly, that's probably one of the specific ways I think I've been able to make friends over the years is I treat them like they're already my friend, you know.
Adrian: Right. You're not coming rehearsed?
Davey: No. You're just showing up genuine and treating them like a friend or it could be a grandparent to me or you know what I mean? Somebody that I respect. Either way, I treat them like that person is already in my life.
Oscar: And that is so contrary to what everybody hears, right? Everybody's like, "Hey, what's the script? Here's a script, read this script, stick to the script." And, you know, people at birth aren't scripted.
Davey: No.
Oscar: We're just people. So how can you show up scripted, you know? I get, you know, an opening line, "Hey, this is who I am, this is my partner," all that stuff. But after that, it's like, you have talking points maybe, but no script. Because people know the BS.
Adrian: Yeah. And then when you go, if you have a partner with you, I've found that the partner has to be almost the same as you. Because if you're not standoffish, and they're standoffish, it doesn't work to me, because that's why I used to go by myself a lot. And I know I would get from Oscar and Melina, "Don't go by yourself."
Oscar: That's because you're standoffish, though. And wouldn't want anybody else. Nah, I'm just kidding.
Adrian: No, you aren't. You're serious. You are not just kidding. Because I was. Because I was. Yeah. And I wasn't because I could... I remember before when I would go by myself, and somebody would just peek through the door, and I said, "I understand that you don't want to open the door because I'm a stranger." I said, "Because I don't even open my door to people that knock and I don't know who they are, so I understand." I said, "But I'm not here to sell you anything, I'm here to help you."
Oscar: Nice.
Adrian: And that would help me. You know?
Oscar: Yeah. Absolutely.
Davey: I'm ready to open the door, what? What's going on?
Oscar: I don't care what you're selling, I'm buying.
Adrian: Yeah, but you know what I'm saying?
Davey: Yeah. Absolutely.
Oscar: It is. But it's hard to find those people to work with, right?
Adrian: Yes. It's very hard.
Oscar: It's really hard to find people that you align with well. There's just so many variables that go into it, personalities, experiences, all that stuff, right? So, goes back to mindset. And why everybody has to work on it and continually work on it.
Adrian: Yeah. And that's why it's been a gift to have NWAC, the club and everything, because otherwise, I would have still been the walls up and everything and stuck and not want to participate with other people and every... You know, and just be the Adrian I was six years ago, you know, but now... And then I wouldn't have grown within the club, the way I've grown either. You know, now, I enjoy helping other people, other students. Before I was like, "I can't be bothered." You know?
Oscar: Wow.
Adrian: It was all about me. You know, I got... I'm retired, I got into this because I want to have a better life. I want to be able to... You know, but getting these deals and getting paid on these deals isn't what it was for me when I first started because when I first started, it was to have money, money, money. Now, it's to have money for, you know, my nonprofit. That's my why.
Davey: It's a lifestyle now. Now it's your lifestyle. It's your life. This is the life that you chose.
Oscar: That's cool. I love to hear those words come out of your mouth, that you've changed and now you're...you know, the money isn't the thing, that you're really there to serve and help others achieve things and do things. So, it's cool. You're on record now, so that's awesome.
Davey: It's the most rewarding, right?
Adrian: Yes. Yes.
Oscar: It's the juice.
Davey: It really is. Really is. That's the best part is seeing other people succeed and giving back, like that's the most rewarding part. It's like they say, it's way more fun to give a gift than to receive one, right?
Adrian: To receive one, exactly, yes.
Davey: After you've made enough money, you realize, "Oh, my God, I'm just going to spend this money, too."
Adrian: …You'll just spend it to help others.
Davey: Absolutely, what are you spending it on now? So true. So cool. Well, I think that about does it for this episode. Adrian, thank you so much for joining us.
Adrian: Thank you.
Oscar: It's awesome.
Davey: I hope that if you're listening to this that you take some wisdom from Adrian. She is one of the most humble people I've ever met, but one of the most hardworking go-getters at the same time, and that's why we wanted her to be here. I think she's a staple in this business, in our company, even. I think she's a, you should be a mascot for what it takes to get the job done. Really, I wish if more people approach the business the way that you do, we would see a lot more success. And not just in real estate, but in people's lives mainly. I think you know that.
Adrian: Yeah. Thank you for having me.
Davey: Absolutely. So, guys, once again, if you have any podcast ideas or any topics you want to hear, email me at davidboswell.nwac@gmail.com. If you're interested in coming to the club, check us out at newwealthadvisorsclub.com. And yeah, we look forward to seeing you guys soon and we will talk again soon. Bye now.
Oscar: See youse.
Adrian: Bye.
Melina: I'm Melina Boswell, your host of the Flippin’ Off Podcast. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we'd love for you to subscribe. Give us a five-star rating and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the Flippin’ Off podcasts on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you've heard, we'd really appreciate it if you follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tell us the stories that you'd like to hear.
Tim Jackson is our senior producer. Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.
Podcast Transcription Melina: Hey, the music is on.
David: Check one-two, check.
Spoon: Hey, guys.
Melina: Yeah. Check one-two. The music is on. I'm getting ready to introduce in just a second.
Spoon: She's getting ready.
Melina: Welcome to “Flippin’ Off,” a purpose-driven podcast about flipping houses and making a difference.
David: I'll start.
Melina: All right. Well, this is a...
David: Hey, what's up guys? Sorry, I was actually looking at a picture of Rosario's work.
Melina: Oh, nice. Excellent.
David: He just put an icemaker in.
Melina: Oh, cool.
David: So, anyway, welcome, everybody. It's been a little while. We took a little break recently and it was a much-needed break. We needed to take some time to just kind of recollect. I think everybody needed some time to get a clear idea about what it is we're gonna do and the direction we're going. We've got a lot of new things to share. This podcast is gonna be really just a conversation about where we are as a club, as a family, and where we're headed, right?
Melina: Yeah.
David: So, yeah. How are you feeling?
Melina: It's so funny. I feel like...First of all, I'm not wearing my headphones right now, which is a funny thing, which helps me to feel more like we're having a conversation. It's interesting, the headphones, when you have them on, you feel like you're in performance mode. And I think I'm done being the performer. So, there's a lot to share. I was just thinking about the last podcast we did, I think, what have we been off now for maybe two or three months? Is that about right? Something like that. Yeah.
David: Pretty close.
Melina: It's just 2020, right? It's just been the most absurd year of all. It's been...yeah. And I was thinking if I was gonna describe 2020 in a few words, what would it be? Anyway, welcome back, guys. And we probably have everybody...so everybody knows who's in the room right now, part of this podcast. So, we've got Oscar Solares.
Oscar: Hello, everyone.
Melina: We have Adriana "Spoon" Uribe.
Spoon: Hey, guys.
Melina: We have Christian "The Rock" Rios.
Christian: Hey, guys. Yeah. I like it. I like it. Let's go with that.
Melina: We have John "The Brit" Slater.
John: Hi. Welcome.
Man: That was awesome.
Melina: Thank you. Thank you. And Andrew "The Squirrel" Boswell.
Andrew: Combat squirrel.
Melina: Combat squirrel. Combat squirrel. So, David, you really wanted to talk about the name of this podcast. Just so everybody knows, this is kind of how these things happen. David said, "I think the name of this podcast should be 'Traditions That Transition.'" So, could you share a little bit about what your thoughts were?
David: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I was just gonna go there, actually. For me, these podcasts, it's been something I haven't wanted to just pull out content out of nowhere. We got kind of to a place where we were dealing with a lot of things and so it was difficult to even have normal conversations. And so to try to pull out any kind of fluff and talk about, you know, real estate or things, it was just becoming difficult. So, for me, this podcast is very relevant to our...
Melina: We're already feeling emotional.
David: Yeah. It's very relevant to our everyday lives right now, and so I felt for us to come back and really talk about what's important and what route, you know, where we really are just makes the most sense. So, "Traditions That Transition." So, every year for the past 40-plus years, we've had a tradition in our family that my grandfather and his buddy started back in the '50s. And it's an annual dove hunt river trip, so down to Parker, Arizona. And it's honestly one...it was a staple in my family. My brother and I got to go when we were 12. It's something we look forward to, the hunt for...I don't know. Since we were 8 or 9, we were being told about the hunt, and so we were always really excited and anxious to get going. And then we finally got out there and it was just as much fun as we all anticipated. And the tradition carried on through years.
Melina: I think it's important to share, like, the actual tradition because it's like a really, really big deal because I am my dad's only daughter, his only kid, right? So, it's really for boys.
David: Yeah.
Melina: Boys only.
David: Right.
Melina: And so since I'm my dad's only kid, and I'm a girl, I literally since I could remember...
David: Park girl.
Melina: Yeah, park girl. Tried to convince, coerce, badger my dad into letting me go. In fact, there's pictures of me even when he'd be getting ready for the hunt, like, I'd put on all of his camo gear and, like, was holding his shotgun. I have on everything. And my dad was like, "Yeah, you still can't come." So, I have never been allowed to go. So, the tradition is that the boys, it's on their...It was your 11th birthday, right?
David: Twelfth.
Melina: Twelfth birthday, you get a shotgun. On their 12th birthday, they get a shotgun and they get to go on the hunt that year that they get the shotgun, but they're not allowed to shoot.
David: We shot the first year.
Melina: You did?
David: Mm-hmm.
Melina: You went the year before, though. You went the year before, the year before you got your shotgun. That's right.
David: Yeah. The first year we went, 11, but we didn't shoot.
Melina: Yeah. So, you're not allowed to shoot. You have to bird dog and you have to actually watch...you have to be the bird dog and you have to learn and all the etiquette.
David: I was actually thinking about that and I do think the reason that happened was because I was almost...I was gonna be 12 that year.
Melina: In November.
David: In November, but the hunt is...
Melina: September 1st.
David: ...on September, so they kind of just let me come because I couldn't hunt until you...you can't hunt until you're 12, but I was gonna...So, it just worked out that we went that year. Anyway.
Melina: Anyway, so, the point is, is that only boys get to go.
David: Right.
Melina: And so then there's other traditions when you shoot your first bird.
David: Yeah, yeah. Well, there's also you have to bird dog everybody's birds the first year. So, not only do you have to retrieve your own birds, but you get to bird dog everybody, all the other guys. And then this might be a little graphic for some but part of the...I mean, if you hunt at all, it's no big deal, but...So, yeah. You gotta bite the head off the dove. That's pretty much how it goes. So, I mean, you clean and field dress your birds either way. Everything comes off.
Melina: If you could see John's face. Oh, I have pictures of both of my boys biting the head off, I mean, literally biting the head off the doves.
David: Yeah, yeah.
Melina: It's a beautiful tradition.
David: It's just a part of the tradition in order to come on the trip.
Christian: So, were you able to go before Andrew or did you guys go...?
Melina: Yeah.
David: Mm-hmm.
Christian: Okay. So, once you're 12 then Andrew was able to go too.
David: Yeah. I was a few years ahead of him.
Andrew: And then I waited and then I went the next year and bird dogged and then I went...
Christian: So, David is making Andrew jealous for price...two years.
David: That's one of the perks, I guess, for being an older brother.
Melina: And meanwhile, I'm hating every minute of it.
David: So, yeah. The tradition, in order to go, you have to...Like I said, you field dress the birds after you shoot them and get them prepared to cook. But part of the gnarly tradition is you gotta put the head in your mouth and off with it.
Melina: That's exactly what it sounds like.
David: So, it's not only, like, a time for family, but it's, you know, traditions in that aspect, and then the rest of the time is just kind of guy time hanging out just kind of getting away. Yeah. To maybe shift a little bit, in my younger years, it wasn't really...Okay. So, here's the truth. What I realized is that every year in spite of how awesome the river trip is and how much fun we all have, there's a group of people that it's not so fun for. That's my wife, my kids. And it actually was that way since I got married. It was always difficult on them. It's not the worst thing in the world but they didn't like it. They don't like me leaving. It's not comfortable for your spouse when you're doing things like that. Trust has to be involved, obviously, but either way just being gone for that amount...it's usually like a 10 to 14-day trip. So, just being gone for that amount of time, it's taxing on a family. So, this year specifically, you know, our grandpa, he's 83 and so he's...To tell you the truth, this year he wouldn't have been...had it not been for Andrew and I just kind of basically dragging him out. He's got an old '70s Bluebird motorhome that is a staple in the park that we go to every year. And so it doesn't have air conditioning. It's an old diesel and it is about 165 degrees in the desert. And poor Andrew has to drive the Bluebird through the desert. We put Papa in the truck with me, pulling the boat. And so it's a mission to get down there. It's a lot of work, but we're so grateful for, you know, the tradition being passed to us that Papa still wants to go and we're gonna do...you know what I mean? We're able-bodied. We're gonna get him there. So, we jumped through all the hoops to get down there but this year, and I think because we've taken on so much more of a role in planning and specifically this year because of COVID and because of some family illnesses, my grandpa's buddy wasn't able to come. His name is Larry. And Larry is always at the river. He's there before everybody and then he's there after. Before everybody comes and still there after everybody leaves and he just books his trip for, you know, outrageous days.
Melina: Like 20 days, I think.
David: Yeah. And this year, he wasn't there at all. And it's just...I mean, the campfire stories, even though we don't have campfires at the river, it's too hot, but we sit around and, you know, BS, and the stories from Larry are just...It's a great time. It's super epic. It's stuff you don't hear anywhere else. Larry was actually a prison guard in...where is it? Somewhere in, I think, Barstow. Do you know?
Melina: Lompoc.
Andrew: Lompoc.
David: He's a prison guard in Lompoc. Lompoc? Lompoc. Lompoc. Lompoc? All right. Okay. So, the stuff that guy hears, comes up with, it's different every year. It's just chaos. It's awesome. But he wasn't there this year. His son is there usually like most of the days with him but this year his son came for like four days. And so I had a lot of time with Papa. I was there for a little bit by myself. I had a lot of time to just kind of think about the trip and what it's gonna look like in coming years as my grandfather's too old and tired to come. How is this gonna look? I realized, like, how difficult it is on my family and how much I hate being there without my family. But the deal always was... So, I asked my grandpa, "Why is it that no women or kids are allowed?" I mean, I get that, you know, it's during Labor Day weekend, and it's not the greatest place for kids. It gets a little crazy. There's people drinking all over the place. So, it's not the most ideal place for kids, still there's a bunch of kids out there. So, as we started talking about it, he was like...Well, actually, I told my grandpa and he said, "That was always Larry's idea." Larry is a prison guard. He's just...we love Larry to death. He's an honest man, but he's a dirty man at the same time. He's a dirty, dirty dog. And so that was...
Melina: He wants to say what he wants to say and doesn't wanna...He won't speak in front of women.
David: That he cares and loves about. Yeah. And he doesn't want...yeah, he never wanted those women to be around when he was acting like a dog. And it was all just talking. He was all just words. He would never do anything totally outrageous. It was mostly to say the most...
Andrew: It's just a bunch of guys who get drunk and tell stories on the beach. You know what I mean? It's not a big deal.
David: Yeah. Let's say the most outrageous things.
Andrew: Yeah, exactly.
David: That your wife shouldn't hear.
Andrew: It's just...yeah. That's all.
David: But at the end of the day, that's not who I am. That's not who my brother is. That's not even who my grandpa is. Right? But traditions kind of form based on who's around. And so I started thinking about...Actually, I asked my grandpa the question, like, "What would happen if it changed? What if my wife and kids were here? What if some of us did start bringing our families for, I don't know, a few days or bring the family the whole trip and then it's just maybe the guys that go out on the hunt alone for a couple of days?" I don't know. "Why can't this tradition change?" is basically how I started looking at it for everybody because I will never let the river trip go, right? We're never gonna not go to the river and do this dove hunt and make our hats and, you know, have the camaraderie and everybody pulling up their campers and just having a riot. But how do we change it for it to work for everybody? So, that's kind of how this conversation started. We've got a lot of things that are changing inside of the club. And the truth is since Dad died in 2018, we've been figuring out what the hell we're gonna do this whole time. We've just basically had our heads down and grinding and doing deals and partnering with people and coaching people and doing all the things that we normally do, but the truth is Mom's exhausted. It kind of feels like a never-ending hamster wheel at times. And so we're at a place where we're ready for this...I'm ready for this tradition to transition. That's kind of how I feel. And I think we're all on the same page. I think it's just a matter of working out the kinks and kind of figuring out where we're going. I think we have a really good idea now, but just a matter of going for.
Melina: Yeah. So, I appreciate...that was a beautiful segue, actually. You don't wanna end the tradition. You wanna keep it alive, but there needs to be some transition in the tradition. And how do we do that while honoring the tradition? And I think you're right. I think that's what we've been doing in the club. The truth is the last two-and-a-half years for me have been...I took 30 days off after Dad died. Right? So, Dave died and 30 days later we did an RPP. And I literally haven't stopped since. And there's been so much that has gone on that I personally have had to carry, you know, to make sure that I felt confident that the club would continue to exist. I needed to, I think, prove that to myself and to everybody that we could...I wasn't even sure, to be honest. I wasn't convinced that the club would run without Dave. And so, I was so committed to making certain that that would happen. And I'm glad I did. And the club is thriving and doing well. But the truth is, I am officially burnt out. I am officially...I have burnout. And that's difficult for me to admit because, you know, I've always...I always make the joke that I will outrun you on the treadmill, right, that you will never outwork me. I know I've said that so many times and I am to a place now in my life where, like, I'm getting off the treadmill. I'm just tired. And it's a different kind of tired. It's emotional. It's spiritual. It's physical. It's all those things. And so I finally just got to a place where I had to admit it, like, yep, I'm burnt out. And burnout is like a...it's an actual diagnosis and there is symptoms that show up when you have burnout. And so when I started to see the symptoms show up in myself, I said...I just put my hand up and said, "I'm burnt out." So, through lots of really honest conversations and, you know, trying to figure out what that looks like...The challenge with burnout is that if you don't catch it, you quit. Right? And you can actually sabotage stuff if you're burnt out. And so I just put my hand up in the air when I started to see warning signs. And so we've now collectively as a group sitting here at this table, we have been working through what it looks like to transition. And so, I guess this is our official, kind of, launch of the new of the transition of our tradition. I think the thing that makes the clubs so amazing is our culture, which is based on tradition. I'm a very traditional girl. I love tradition. So, this is how I raised my family and this is how I've born the club with very specific traditions. Like, in the inner circle, you know, of the club, there's traditions where we pray before every single event that we do. We pray together. We round up. We round down. We talk through. We make sure that every person is touched and every person feels seen and loved and cared for when they walk in. Lots of traditions like that. You'll never walk into my office and not have fresh goodies. I'm always gonna have coffee and water and something sweet for you. Those are traditions that I have insisted on implementing inside of the organization, inside of the club. Music has to be on. Lighting has to be right. The office...the room must be always cool and it must be spotless. It has to be organized. It has to be...We strive for real excellence. And those are traditions that have built the club.
David: Absolutely. Those are ones that, like, never go away...
Melina: Right.
David: ...because they never leave.
Melina: They should never leave. But...
David: Or really even change.
Melina: No.
David: They really just...We might adapt a little bit, but, like, those are the things that never change.
Melina: Right. And so then you have...that's right. Those are traditions that are the core, that make the organization what it is part. The other part of that was that it was, you know, in the beginning, Dave and I were figuring this out, so because we're the ones that created it, everything was centered on what Dave and Melina do, and over time we learned how to...As we did deals, we started sharing and...I guess the club has been built on what Dave and I have...what we accomplished, right? We are the story. We are the story because we were broke. We had no way to make money. And so we had this idea. And we implemented and we just worked like hell. We just drove, drove, drove. And that's the story. And so over the years, you know, people look to you. People look to you for guidance, for mentorship, for coaching, for what do I do? And the burden has now become too much. That's the truth. And I know longer...I guess over the years, one of the things that's been very important to me is to raise up leaders. And I've been saying it for years. I keep on saying, you know, I have a shortage of leaders. I have a shortage of leaders. And so it's been ironic for me over the last...I guess over the last two-and-a-half years, probably over the last six months, specifically for me, have been particularly painful, you know, because I think burnout started to really set in, right? And everything that I thought I knew in my life isn't. So, for somebody like me who's like a real planner, you know, I plan things ahead and I...As much as I'm shoot, ready, aim...I know they're all laughing. They're shaking their heads like, "No, she doesn't plan." Well, I actually do. I just don't get into the details, into the weeds too much, but I'm definitely a planner. Absolutely. I'm clear on things like where I'm going and what my life will look like. I am a planner in the big picture. Big picture planning, absolutely. Detail planning, not so much.
Andrew: I can see where we're going but I don't know…
Melina: That's a perfect way to say it. I don't know what time we need to leave, and I'm not exactly sure I care. Anyway. So, now there is going to be a transition of those traditions. There would never be an event where I didn't open the room, right? Like an RPP. There's never...I've never missed an RPP in 12 years, 13 years. I'm going on 13 years. I've never once missed an RPP. And I'm guessing hundreds. I'm guessing...I don't know. Somebody do the math. I'm sure Oscar has probably done the math. Do you know how many RPPs?
Oscar: RPPs. It's a little tough. It's a little tough because we used to do 14, and then we whittled it down to 9 eventually. And then we went back to 12, and then we went...Yeah. I mean, it's 10 years, that's 120.
Melina: There you go. So, imagine that.
Oscar: It's easily at about 140.
Melina: Right. So, never...And so now it's going to transition and that's not going to be the thing so much.
David: Yeah.
Melina: So...
David: Yeah. I think...I mean, and those little things will work out along the way too. I think one of the biggest things was that the club originally was...Like you've said, I've heard you say so many times that you wanted everybody to be doing deals and then, unfortunately, like, people just stop working. They don't work as much. And so it became difficult to really push different people out there, you know, or to highlight other people that are doing things because in the beginning, there wasn't a lot of other things happening other than just what you guys were doing and what your core group of people were doing. But now, I mean, there are deals left and right in the club. There are people doing their own things. There are people that have come learned at the club and then left and now doing their own thing. There's so many, you know, rabbit trails to the club and what it's done over the years. And so our goal, or one of my goals is to highlight those people now rather than focusing on, you know, one group of people or just Dave and Melina all the time because, I mean, it'd be a lot easier to do that, but it's exhausting for one person. You can't keep doing...one person...it's not sustainable. So, the goal is to...everybody needs a piece of that. Everybody needs a little piece of fame. Everybody should be able to be highlighted and that just boosts the club even farther because the truth is, that's why it's all happening. It started with you guys. And the club is what it is now. And people are really seeing so much fruit because of that. So, the goal is to highlight that. And you're saying this is like the sixth...
Melina: Sixth iteration.
David: Sixth version, basically.
Melina: Yeah. Yeah, 6.0.
David: How's that feel for you guys? Oscar has seen version one.
Oscar: Yeah. It makes me sound a little prehistoric.
David: Oh, gosh. I can barely breathe. Okay.
Oscar: I think it's exciting, actually. It's exciting that we're able to shift and we're able to pivot. When we went to Hawaii, that was really version five. So, we're just continue to build and expand and grow. And I love the fact that we're talking about transitions because it is about that. It's about transitioning different things, right? It's not just roles and responsibilities, but we're also required to pivot and shift how we do things. We're doing a lot of things virtually now versus in-person. And now the dilemma is like, "I don't know. People kind of like this virtual stuff, but we kind of miss seeing people in person." So, we got to find that balance, but that's part of it. So, it's exciting to be in version six. It's good. It's a good place to be. It's a good direction that we're going in. And there's some shifts. Absolutely. Right? I can speak for myself. I've seen and been around Dave and Melina for, you know, 11, 12 years now. And some of the things that we've done in the past could be challenging to let go of just because it's such a routine. It's just...it's done. This is the way it goes. This is the way it goes. But at the same time, I'm clear that there's things that have to change because demographically speaking, the people that we cater to, they're changing, right? So, we can't continue the way we've been. It's time for us to really shift gears. And that's good. Looking forward to it.
Christian: Hi, this is Christian Rios. As many of you know, I've been a member of New Wealth Advisors Club for over 7 years and got started when I was 17 years old with absolutely no real estate experience. One of the biggest lessons I've learned from being in the industry is the need for authentic relationships. If you're looking for an actual team locally in Southern California with all the resources needed to close deals, register for one of our free workshops by visiting www.joinnwac.com. Thanks for listening to the “Flippin’ Off” podcast.
Oscar: Looking forward to it.
Melina: Yeah. Spoon and I were just talking the other day. You know what we realized? She was at the very first RPP. So, she's actually never missed an RPP either. Isn't that crazy? So, the...yeah.
John: I think when you think about the journey over the years, you know, one thing that we forget or a lot of people don't realize is the growth that has to happen or the growth that does happen in individuals because of what you and Dave created to say...I don't know. Let me explain it this way. For me being able to stand up on stage and present was given...I was given that opportunity because you guys always made sure you poured into everybody else to create that growth. So, we're not just transitioning here where Melina says, "I need a rest right now," and we're all scrambling around because really, you guys have equipped us with the tools that we need whether it's, you know, we're talking about Spoon right now, she was at the first RPP. She knows the inner workings of absolutely everything. Well, now she's gonna put that into practice. She's like, "I thought I was just gathering this information for no reason." Well, now there's a reason. Look at Andrew's journey from being there as a young kid to taking time away, doing his own stuff, you know, growing in himself to, "Oh, by the way, you're move to Hawaii because, actually, you are capable." You're capable because you've been around Mom and Dad for so many years to see how things are done. So, now, it's a natural transition to step into that leadership, that operations role, that ability to continue the tradition but just slightly different. As we say, it's a transition, but it's just slightly different.
Andrew: I just wanna say, well, for me too it was...As I started thinking about this over the past month or so, I realized that I had a mindset shift about the club when I was in Hawaii because it was different, right? Like, Dad's gone, Mom doesn't live in Hawaii, right? So, Mom's not at every single event. It's on me and the Bongco’s at every single event. So, I didn't realize this until after, but definitely my perspective on what the club is as a whole and how it runs changed through Hawaii because we had to do it there. You know what I mean? We got you guys for trainings and everything every once in a while, which was awesome and a huge help, and that's the kind of thing that can be done but the club needed to run on its own in Hawaii without Mom being there every day. And so watching that, like, take place and watching that form and the Bongco’s are some of the most phenomenal people I've ever met in my life. But between them and then the club members that have come in, in Hawaii, Hawaii is doing fine by itself right now. You know what I mean? I moved back. We're not there. Hawaii is still going. Mary Ann is working her tail off and she's driving the bus really, really good. And club members contribute. People contribute. I guess, for me, it was an eye-opener that the club really just can run and that it is...what's being created, the traditions will carry on. And for me, I had to come to grips with myself that the traditions are actually not the tradition that...really the only one that, like, needs to stay is our culture. And that is the little things like the snacks and the coffee and everybody. You'll never walk into the office at an event and not be greeted. You'll be greeted by more people than you wanna talk to if you're an introvert like me. That is actually the tradition in my mind and that is what has to stay, but I don't...I mean, businesses evolve and transform and grow and, you know, you can't...Joel always says, you know, you have to always be thinking the next step. You can't be stagnant, especially with a business because there comes to where there's like, each thing you go through has its own stage of life, right? And when you come to that end of life of one specific thing, you have to be moving on to your next thing, otherwise, you get stuck and then your business will die. And I think that...actually, I know that we have so much experience and knowledge and everything that we need within the club to keep it going as long as we keep our tradition of the mission at the forefront of our minds, like, the club will never go anywhere.
Melina: I was thinking of that. I was thinking it's mission.
Andrew: It's totally mission. That's really the only tradition that actually matters. And there's a lot of little stuff obviously encompassed in that, but that's actually the goal. And the cool thing, and that's actually what is so important is that that's what people grab on to and that's actually why the club will keep going is because that's what makes everyone want to contribute to it.
Christian: Yeah. And for me, this whole conversation and what I love, and like Oscar said, it's like I'm excited too and I'm more excited just because everyone kind of found their lane and everyone's focused on their lane. And that's kind of how, you know, I tie this conversation together because, you know, we've been talking about our APs, like, solid, you know, accountability partners to our junior coaches to our senior coaches. And I go back to when you and Dave really started the club. It was you guys, like, doing everything. And one of the last boot camps for entrepreneurs that we just did, it's like one of the chapters was you have to be a good quitter. You have to be a good quitter if you want to be a good entrepreneur. And to me, like, what you're doing right now, Melina, is you're kind of showing the path of, like, freedom, you know, and, like, getting recharged and knowing that we're all gonna, you know, stay in our lane and we're gonna grow the club and even take it to greater places. I like to think of, like, you know, when Walt Disney passed away, like, what that team did, they grew it tremendously. So, I think, you know, it's gonna be cool when you come and you speak and people are gonna be like, "Wow. Look, there is Melina." And it's just gonna be so powerful, the places you've traveled to, the cultures you've seen. "Guys, I learned this from this country, and this is what they do here." So, I'm just excited for, you know, the journey and I think that we're gonna go to cool places.
Melina: Yeah. Should I talk about my next journey, my next adventure? I don't even know if you know exactly, but my next adventure actually starts tomorrow morning. Oscar found out yesterday. So, yeah. I'm going to...My next adventure is I'm going to walk all 21 missions in California. So, it's 800 miles and it is...yeah. And it starts from the southernmost oldest mission in San Diego all the way up to the tip of California in Sonoma. So, I am starting tomorrow morning doing my first mission walk and this is gonna be...My thought was that...I just didn't know. My plan was that I was going to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. And that's the last missionary trip that St. James took. And it ends actually at his burial. And so, since I can't do that because of COVID, and also nobody was comfortable with me going to Spain by myself and staying in hostels, and so I decided...yeah, and my bad knee. So, I do need a knee replacement, apparently. So, anyway. So, the alternative for me is walking all 21 missions. And what I've learned is that there's only been a few people who have actually walked all missions in one walkthrough. And I've read different numbers. I just know not a lot of people have walked all 800 miles straight through. So, I don't wanna say how many numbers because I don't know, but it's very few. And so, of course, you know, for me, I was like, "Well, then, that's what I must do. I must walk that 800 miles and walk all the way through," which is...Yeah, I know, this is how...You are bred by me, so clearly...
Andrew: …stairways that he was gonna take us eight hours and he had a crew like the day before who had done it in six-and-a-half. I went to David and said, "Well, we're up and down in six-and-a-half." …there's no way.
David: Sorry.
Melina: Go ahead. And so what did you do?
Andrew: We did it in six-and-a-half.
Melina: There you go.
Andrew: It was a little rough, but we did it.
David: Barely. I almost died.
Andrew: He was fine.
Melina: Andrew told me today that I'm gonna be like you walking the stairway.
David: Because of hydration, that's why.
Melina: He was like, "You should have been hydrating for the last three days." I'm like, "I'm always hydrated."… Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Oscar: …Nothing happened.
David: I was dehydrated.
Melina: Yeah, yeah. Right. Anyways, yeah, exactly. So, I am going to...I'm gonna do the first leg, the first mission walk starting tomorrow morning. And it'll probably take me four days. So, it's about 60 miles. And I'll do it in about four days. So, that's my plan. And I just made a decision that I was just gonna do it, so I'm doing it.
David: It's doable.
Melina: It's totally doable.
David: Yeah.
Andrew: We got her all set up with socks and a good pack. And we bought her, like, 12 pairs of socks at the store the other day because she didn't have any socks.
Melina: Yeah, $350 on socks.
David: Did you get like a polyester blend or...?
Andrew: No. I made her get good socks.
David: Are they wool socks or...?
Spoon: Wool. Merino wool.
Andrew: Yeah. They're made...For anybody who's done a lot of walking in the military knows that you have to take care of your feet.
David: They gotta breathe.
Andrew: Yeah. That's what...yeah. Whenever you stop, you're gonna air your feet out, change your socks. Yeah, she's set. She'll be fine.
Melina: You should have seen this at REI. Spoon, what did you say last night? What did you tell me?
Spoon: About your new hobby?
Melina: Oh, yeah.
Spoon: Or how much you spent?
Melina: Both. Whatever you said. Whatever you said. We were talking about REI. Go ahead.
Spoon: We were just talking about how your new hobby is kind of expensive. It's just walking and it's super expensive.
David: God. Every hobby is expensive. Every hobby, like, manufacturer that sells that they know it's a hobby and they know you want nice shit and…
Melina: And she tells me last night, "You spent 1,000 bucks at REI." I go, "What?"
Spoon: And that didn't even include your bag.
David: Okay.
Melina: I'm like I had one...I had a little paper bag of stuff. What do you mean I spent $1,000?
Andrew: Good socks are expensive.
David: Good socks and good shoes and...
Melina: That didn't include shoes, man.
Andrew: Well, good socks and a good bag.
David: A good bag. Oh, yeah.
Andrew: The bag is really expensive, even socks are expensive.
David: I mean, you can spend...A dirt bike bag is like 500 bucks. You can spend money on a good bag.
Andrew: Yeah, especially when they get bigger.
Spoon: See. See what happens with your new hobbies?
David: They do.
Spoon: They're very expensive.
David: They all know it's a hobby and they...
Spoon: I actually said, "I hope you like this because, like, this wasn't worth it for four days."
Andrew: Like Dad buying the top-of-the-line paintball gun and it's been sitting in the garage for 10 years.
David: Yeah. Yeah. What are you gonna do, you know?
Melina: Yeah. Exactly.
David: That one time was awesome…
Andrew: He went in, shot us a few times with a bunch of paintballs and he was done.
Melina: Anyway, the walk. I'll talk a little bit about the walk, which was...Well, here's my intention. Some people might hear she's burnt out and yet she's gonna go walk. And so the intention of my walk, and it's very intentional, is to have a breakthrough. The thing I know about myself is that I am very strong. I'm strong-minded. I'm strong-willed. I am strong physically, emotionally, spiritually. And I'm somebody who, like, works diligently and I have a lot of self-discipline. And so...which is why I think it took me so long to officially burnout is because probably it has a lot to do with my strong will. And so what I know about myself is that in order for me to have an actual breakthrough, I need to be broken down. So, there's this idea of, you know, if you need to have a rebirth or you need to build something new, there has to be some deconstruction that happens before you can reconstruct or reinvent. And in order for me to deconstruct, for me personally, it's going to require me to be physically challenged, emotionally challenged. And I believe that walking for 20 miles several days in a row will be the thing that will force my deconstruction. And so that's what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a breakthrough spiritually, emotionally, intellectually. And it's for...it's not only for me, but for all of us. That's the truth is that I...When you find yourself in a leadership position, responsible for hundreds of people and what looks like their futures...because that's what happens when people come to the club, right? People have this idea that they're looking for "financial freedom." And I think the thing that I'm able to show people is that financial freedom is already in the palm of your hands. I believe that people who walk into my club, I tell them all the time, "You're already financially free. You just don't know. And I know you're financially free simply because you're here. You are here at the club. You have the ability to be here, so that tells me you're financially free. Now, you've backed into your life and you have some other idea of your life, right? You have some other picture of what you want it to be. And I think a lot of that is just based on media and a bunch of crap, frankly, but... and I think it's okay to like money too. And I think financial wealth is...well, I know it dramatically impacts your quality of life. But what I know is that money isn't the thing that brings you joy. It doesn't bring you peace. It doesn't bring you wholeness. It doesn't bring you...It's actually very fleeting and it can be very deceptive. And so what I want is for people to understand who they are wholly. And I mean wholly with a W and without a W. And that's how I want people to begin to see themselves. And so I believe that I have equipped you guys and others to now feed and care for people walking into the club, which means for me as CEO, as the leader of the head of the organization, it is now time for me to go up another level. And ironically, you know, going to the next level requires deconstruction. So, it is kind of hilarious that I'm here doing a podcast today, feeding people and leading people, and then we'll be on a call, a featured call with a hard money lending company, you know, and leading, leading, leading, and tomorrow morning I'm going to strip off all of this and, you know, put on my tennies and go trek. And I believe that's what real leadership is. I believe real leadership is you never stop growing and you do whatever needs to be done. And I'm guessing I'm gonna be washing feet on my walk of somebody. I feel pretty confident that's how it's gonna look for me. As much as we say I'm a planner, I'm also shoot, ready, aim. And that's what it looks like. So, that's why, you know, I just...I ordered a book and the book came and I was like, "I think I'm gonna do this." It was, like, there's three things you have to do. Number one, get good shoes. Number two, have 100 bucks in your pocket. And number three, just go. And I was like, "Screw it. I'm going. I'm out. I'm doing this. I'm starting Saturday morning."
Christian: You're like, "I'll put 200 bucks in."
Melina: Exactly. I'm like, "I have a credit card. I have all that. I think I can do this. I'm like ready to go." Otherwise, you know what was happening is I was getting ready to get ready. And dude, that is, like, the worst thing you can possibly do is, I mean, I'm telling everybody all the time, "Don't get ready to get ready." and I was sitting there doing that. And when I decided I needed to take some time off, you know, in my head, I was like, "I'm gonna daydream and I'm gonna sleep in. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm just gonna..." Seriously, really that's what I thought. And I did for, you know, a couple of weeks and it turns out, this is not life for me. So, it was fun, but I just gotta be about my business. And so making the decision.
Christian: Yeah. And I heard something the other day where it goes hand in hand with what you're saying. It said, "Don't be a person...Don't be somebody that somebody asks you, 'When are you gonna go? When are you gonna go? When are you gonna start?' Be a person that says, 'Man, when are you gonna stop? When are you gonna stop working? When are you gonna stop traveling? When are you gonna stop doing X, Y, and Z?'" And I think, you know, for people listening, you know, ask yourself. Don't be a person that people ask you, "When are you gonna start?" And I took that away from you, Melina, is just go. Just go.
Melina: Just go do it.
David: I love that. I love that. I love that about you, Christian. That's so true. That is actually who he really is, like, I see you show up like that in multiple ways. That's one of the things I've grown to love about you so much is that you do just go for it. You don't really...there's no waiting. You say you're gonna work out, you go freakin' work out. That's how it is. Even if it lasts a short amount of time, like, either way, you went and did it. That's very cool. I think something that measures a leader, like one of the biggest things that measures a leader in my eyes is, like, how many leaders do you bring up around you? And I think it's mostly about that. And Mom is always saying, "We have a shortage of leaders. We have a shortage of leaders." And yeah, that's true, but it's actually not as true as you think. There's a lot of leaders around you. And the fact that you keep saying it keeps bringing more damn leaders if you notice.
Melina: Oh, I didn't think of that.
David: Yeah, I mean, it's true.
Melina: I had no idea that would happen. No. No plan.
David: Over the year...Yeah, you can see, like, they're surrounded by leaders.
Melina: I know.
David: I'm just saying for me. I'm not trying to say you didn't think that, but, for me, I've noticed, you know, that's true even though you keep saying and acting like we don't. They just keep popping up. People keep showing up and doing what they need to do and that's really cool to see. And so it's a true testament to the leader you are.
Melina: Thank you. One of the things...I'll let you in on a little secret.
David: Okay.
Melina: One of the things...Some of the maybe crap I talk is when I say things like, "I have a shortage of leaders." And when I challenge, it's...I say things intentionally, meaning to challenge people. So, I say things like, "I'll put my marriage up against anybody else's marriage any day." That's a challenge, not because I want to be better, it's because I want people to feel challenged. I want people to be like, "Well, I wanna be that because that's what I really want." But if you tell people, "You're great, you're this, you're that, you're a leader," they don't do it. People rise to the occasion. So, real leaders will rise to a challenge like that when I say I have a shortage. And what I know is for the leader sitting in the room, when they hear that, there's something that sparks inside their gut.
David: Absolutely.
Melina: Isn't that right?
David: Absolutely.
Melina: That's why I say it.
David: Right.
Melina: Because I want you to be like, "Well, screw that. I'm the leader."
David: Exactly. And you can see that over the years of doing that consistently, I mean, they just keep showing up in so many different ways. It may be temporary, but either way.
Melina: That's right. Well, that's the goal. It's always the goal.
David: So, I think like...at least for me, I think...So, everybody knows, like, the club's not going anywhere. We're gonna...
Melina: Really important to hear that.
David: Yeah. We're gonna be continuing. So, that's the beautiful thing about having Andrew home. And Andrew and Oscar kind of sing the same songs and walk the same way and shit.
Oscar: You sound jealous.
David: A little bit. A little bit. No, it's really good. It's perfect, actually, because Andrew and Oscar are gonna be, you know, at the office a lot focusing on a lot of the day-to-day things that happen and keeping the club going as we all know it and, yeah, operations. And not only keeping it going, but transforming it at the same time. And with the two of them, they can really push to do new things that are gonna be super beneficial for the club and to have Spoon there all the time...It's the best thing that can be done for Mom to step away because everybody has to rise to the occasion. Everyone at this table is gonna be rising to their peak. And as long as we continue to do that and stay consistent, there's no freakin' way the club's not gonna just explode into new places. My whole goal is to...Everything I wanna do is online. I wanna see us all over the world. I wanna see us over the entire globe online. I wanna have a bigger presence in every real estate investing club there is and I want people to know why we are who we are, and how awesome we are, and the footprints that we are trying to create everywhere. And that's because it has nothing to do with us. I want people to be seen everywhere because of the club. And I think with COVID and with being able to do things online, I think the opportunity is just massive. It's untouched at this point. So, that's what I'm gonna be focusing strongly on is capturing new content and pushing us out as far as I can get us, as far as we can go online, and as far as that can take us, you know, just hopefully staying consistent and seeing what kind of new opportunities pop up.
Melina: Does anybody else have anything that they'd like to add? Spoon or Oscar, go ahead.
Oscar: Yeah. So, just to piggyback off David because, you know, we've had some conversations...So, what I heard him saying and sharing with you right now is that the target is that we're going to become, not want to, but going to become the elite, real estate education provider nationally and globally at some point. That's just the bottom line. And that doesn't mean just the real estate investment, it means continuing education for real estate agents, growing people with strong ethics and morals, and all the stuff that the industry honestly lacks. Right? Whether you're an investor or you're a real estate agent, or whether it's escrow or whatever it is, right? All those pieces have to work together well. And I think we're primed now to really take it to that level and raise the bar for everybody else. So, whoever is listening to this that's out there that considers themselves competition, you've been called up.
Melina: Spoon, what do you wanna add?
Spoon: I don't have anything to add.
Melina: Sure you do.
Spoon: No, I really don't.
Melina: Why don't you just share a little bit about what your perspective is of the new iteration, 6.0, since you've been here from day one? Why don't you share what...If you were to describe the newest iteration, 6.0, what would you say about it?
Spoon: Look at you all.
David: You got this, Spoon.
John: Be honest. Don't be so shy.
Melina: What do you think?
David: How do you feel about how everything is happening right now? What are your thoughts? Like, you know there's a lot of change. I know you're emotional as hell right now. I can see you're fighting them back. So, you get to be honest.
Spoon: Super fantastic. It's gonna be awesome, guys.
Oscar: That's it?
Spoon: That's it.
David: Stop it.
Spoon: It's gonna be good.
Melina: What do you mean? What's good about it? What do you see happening or what's your vision of it?
Spoon: Jesus. Why are you all looking at me?
David: I hope you guys can sense how uncomfortable she is.
Andrew: I love it. I love it.
David: It's so awesome.
Spoon: …It's super uncomfortable.
Melina: Go ahead.
David: I'm not cutting any of this out.
Andrew: This is the best part.
Spoon: It's not even recording anymore.
David: Leave it count.
Spoon: Go ahead, Spoon, we're waiting because I don't think we're gonna take the mic off you.
David: No way.
Andrew: You're not...
Melina: You're not getting out.
Spoon: I don't have anything to say. We just gonna do. We're just gonna go keep working.
Melina: Yeah. Can you share about...yeah, go ahead.
Andrew: How confident are you that the mission is going to keep going? Do you think that things can run perfectly? I mean, they can run the way that they are.
Spoon: Absolutely.
Andrew: Why is that? Why are you confident in that?
David: What's wrong with you?
Spoon: What's wrong with me?
David: Yeah, what's wrong with you?
Spoon: Nothing is wrong with me.
Melina: Welcome to my dinner table.
Spoon: Exactly.
Andrew: Love you, Spoon.
Melina: Go ahead. Go ahead. Yeah, why, that's a good question.
Spoon: It's already been said today like we've all been prepped. And Christian said, we've all like found our lane in doing what we're supposed to do, and it's not Melina in every lane. And I think we also, to move forward, we have to not jump into other people's lanes and have trust with each other that we are gonna handle our lanes.
Christian: Where's your lane?
Spoon: Money.
Christian: That's what I was gonna say. Like, aren't you excited?
Spoon: No. I feel incredible pressure.
Christian: That's cool. You rise to pressure. Otherwise, you'll just sit and do nothing like me.
Melina: That's so true. That's so true. Actually, all three of you. All three of you. Literally, if you don't feel pressure, you guys just do nothing.
Christian: I'd work better under pressure.
David: No. It's not only...
Oscar: That's like this entire table.
Melina: Yeah.
David: It's also entrepreneurs.
Christian: It's also an inspiration. That's actually what's really behind it.
Spoon: What?
Christian: Inspiration. Do you feel inspired? I know you feel inspired.
Spoon: Yeah.
Christian: Because I know we're all happy to take things off of her plate and let her do her thing, especially you because you're with her every day. And I...
Spoon: And my whole role is taking shit off her plate.
Christian: I know. And now you get to do it on a bigger level. And not only that, but in your own lane doing what you actually are comfortable and want to do.
Melina: That's so funny. Spoon's job description, take shit off Melina's plate.
Spoon: Fill the holes. Fill the company holes. Fill the holes.
Christian: It might be.
Melina: Yeah. It's true. That's actually...
David: That's what it's worked out to be.
Melina: That's what makes it so complicated.
Christian: Yeah.
Melina: Right.
David: Yeah. So, not everything is perfect. We're not perfect. We definitely...
Melina: We could have a reality TV show and I know people would never stop watching. If you really knew what was going on behind the scenes, if you saw, like, oh my gosh.
Spoon: It's just me and Andrew quiet and David and Melina just talking all day.
Melina: Me and David talk constantly.
David: I know. It would be a freakin' complete silence otherwise and awkward. Awkward.
Christian: But I think...
Oscar: Christian...
Christian: Yeah. With everyone really here at the table, it's like this is how we're gonna move forward, really, you know, strongly because if Spoon wasn't here, like, I would be nervous. She has a really big role and I feel comfortable. In her opinion she's really, like, level headed she can see the bigger picture kind of like Melina and, you know, her lane might not be to be on podcasts moving forward, but...
Spoon: Honestly, when we sat down I was like, "We don't need to bring this extra chair in the room right now. I could go sit outside."
Christian: No. But honestly, Spoon is...You're needed and we can't do it without you.
Andrew: There would be a giant hole in everything without Spoon.
Oscar: To add what you just said, Christian, is that she's also really good at asking the question and things that come up. She's really good at...Because everybody has a tendency of hanging out in the weeds and problem-solving. And she's really good at stepping back and say, "Well, what about..." And asking that question that...So, it's good. She's a great resource to have around. Don't get a big head about it, but you're a good resource to have around.
David: Absolutely. Absolutely. I had something I was gonna say. Spoon totally threw me off-topic.
Spoon: You're welcome.
David: Yeah. I totally...
Spoon: Get used to it, buddy.
Melina: Yeah. I think for me, you know, it's this feeling of, like, when I see you guys, I think, you know, it's a beautiful thing to know that the younger generation is stepping in and that you guys...I'm so clear that you guys are fully capable of taking the club where it needs to be. I just know that. And I think enrolling the people that we have now to rise up as well. And I think that is pretty freaking amazing.
David: Yeah. You know what I was gonna say actually was that I said, for anybody listening who's been to the club and who's experienced the club, that feeling that you get when you come that nobody can describe and nobody really understands why it is, like, that's the thing that we wanna put out in front of the whole world. That's what we want every single person who sees an ad about us or hears a podcast or hears a story about a deal we did or a homeowner that we helped, like, that's what I want them to get, is that little feeling of, "What the heck? That's different. That's really cool. What is that?" That's gonna be our...That's my main focus is getting that pressed out, trickled out.
Melina: I love that.
David: So, I think that's good. Anybody have anything else they wanna add? Yeah.
Melina: I feel like I'm probably not gonna be on a podcast for a while. That's my feeling. And so...
David: So, we definitely want to have podcast ideas. I said this before in a previous podcast, but let us know what you guys wanna hear. Do you wanna hear about real estate? Do you wanna hear about our deals? Because we have lots of deals going on. I could sit here and talk about freakin' deals all day. We really wanna iron out what our listeners want to hear and what kind of content you guys want to see in the future. Just let us know. Just write us a...you can go to the...what's the best way, Facebook page? Facebook page...
Oscar: They're not gonna go to Facebook page if they see this...I mean, they can post on the YouTube channel, they can post and let us know...
David: Leave comments.
Oscar: Yeah. Leave comments on the podcast.
Spoon: What is it? Comment, subscribe, and like, something like that?
David: Yeah.
Oscar: Yeah. Something like that.
David: Like all of our social media and blah, blah, blah.
Christian: I mean, they can email us all direct too, oscar@newwealthadvisorsclub, christian@newwealth, david@newwealthadvisorsclub. Just add newwealthadvisorsclub.
David: If you...
Melina: First name.
David: Yeah. Yeah, first name. So, mine is david@newwealthadvisorsclub.com. If you guys have any ideas about podcasts that you'd like to hear, any kind of content you'd like to hear, videos, if you have a deal you're working on and you'd like to get some video content done that, you know, you've come through the club and you've learned some things through the club and now you're in a deal, like, I wanna capture that on video, we wanna show you. We wanna showcase you. We want you to be able to talk about what you're doing. We wanna be able to highlight all the people that are actually working and doing things in the business now. So, send me an email, david@newwealthadvisorsclub.com. I'm gonna actually really look forward to hearing from you guys. So, don't skip out. If you have anything at all just shoot me an email.
Melina: I feel like I just wanna say New Wealth Advisors Club is a group of people committed to empower and encourage all people to realize their core purpose in life. With this realization, we believe everyone can live an inspired life full of enthusiasm as they, in turn, inspire others. I'm Melina Boswell, I'm flippin’ off.
I'm Melina Boswell, your host of the Flippin’ Off podcast. I really hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we'd love for you to subscribe, give us a five-star rating, and tell your friends all about us. You can find more episodes of the Flippin Off podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever else you like to listen to awesome podcasts like this. If you like what you've heard, we'd really appreciate it if you'd follow us on Facebook and Instagram and tell us the stories that you'd like to hear.
Tim Jackson is our senior producer. Luke Jackson is our editor. Brothers. Josh Mauldin is our producer. Sound design by Frequency Factory. Our executive producer is Mind & Mill. This was all created by Dave Boswell for New Wealth Advisors Club.