Innovative Real Estate with Three Squared, Inc.
As specialists in efficient residential and commercial prefabricated design, Leslie Horn, Breck Crandell, and Jill Ramirez of Three Squared, Inc. share their greatest insights, tips, and case studies from their years of experience in the industry. They'll be giving you their best advice through, trainings, guest features, and Q&A segments so you can turn your innovative vision to a reality.
Innovative Real Estate with Three Squared, Inc.
Client Case Study: Pour Choice with Dacoda and Aaron
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What are two things that create eye catching commercial projects? Unique and innovative design and a wicked cool business model as proven by entrepreneurs Aaron Chavez and Dacoda Londhair.
In this episode we sit down with our clients Aaron and Dacoda to talk about their unique vision for an automated taproom project called Pour Choice. They also share how developing a project is not always linear and the importance of being open to changing plans.
Here's what you'll learn in this Episode:
- Introduction to Aaron and Dacoda
- The journey of creating a unique business model
- Finding investors and funding
- How to be prepared to get a city's support
- Project Highlight of the Week: Pour Choice
Ready to move forward with your project? Contact us here and we will put you in contact with the right member of our team.
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Welcome to the Innovative Real Estate Podcast with your hosts Leslie Horn, Brett Crandall, and Claire O'Lilla. We're here to make your life easier as a real estate developer and teach you everything we've learned about designing and building innovative homes, multifamily, and mixed-use structures. On this podcast, we'll be giving you our best advice, trainings, and QA segments so you can learn from our years of experience and make your innovative vision a reality. What's up, everyone? Welcome back to the Innovative Real Estate Podcast. We're your hosts, Claire. And I'm Leslie. And we've got on two more guests this week. We've been loving having on our clients to provide some behind-the-scenes looks at developing uh commercial, single-family homes, Airbnbs, all the things. And today we've got on a bit of a throwback guest feature. Two of our clients from summer of 2018. We were recording this in May of 2023. And we wanted to do a catch-up on what they've been up to and a bit of a behind-the-scenes look at honestly what it takes on the journey of entrepreneurship. And um, we're really excited to catch up, share a bit about the project that they were working on, where it's at now, and what they have going on in the works these days. So without further ado, we've got Dakota and Aaron. And we always start off these episodes with a project highlight of the week. This is a throwback. We're gonna have all the links in the in the podcast description if you want to check out renderings and the video of the design that they're talking about while they're describing this project. But Dakota and Aaron, give a brief intro to yourselves and to this project, poor choice.
SPEAKER_04Take us away, Chavez.
SPEAKER_03Oh man, nothing like a good intro to get you going. Uh yeah, uh, Aaron Chavez uh basically have been friends with Dakota since middle school. And I mean, we're in our 30s now, so we've known each other forever. And we started up this idea of putting something together and utilizing materials that would really make sense for um kind of our target of reduce, reuse, recycle that idea. And it's a huge thing, especially in Southern California. Um, you know, this whole idea and project and everything behind it was something that we wanted for ourselves. So, like we were looking at building this. We're like, you know what? What do we want that we know our friends are gonna want as well? So we started looking into this, and Coda and I, you know, after having a couple beers idea, I was like, all right, we like beers, so do other people. What can we do with that? So I think that's a little bit on our background. I'll let kind of Coda explain to you his background as well.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Uh so my name's Dakota. Um, I am not in um commercial development, uh, but this uh area started to find me just out of passion. Um, like Chavez said too. Anytime in our lives, we we have so many visions uh that we usually just put aside. And we Aaron and I had this big vision to create an outdoor communal space uh for us to enjoy and then for others to enjoy. We're like, how cool would it be if we could take shipping containers, repurpose them, and then bring in self-automated beer taps? Because we live in San Diego, which is like one of the craft beer capitals in uh the United States. We're like, Well, what if we could get the best craft beer across Southern California, bring it into our place, have it self-automated. So you get to choose your own journey and have these repurpose containers that are there that have their own story as well, because they've been, you know, overseas and you know, they have dents and dings and they have their own journey. So having that all together was just a really cool vision for us. But what we really wanted to do is create a space for people to come and enjoy each other and just facilitate connection. Cause I think the more that we're diving into social media is the more that we're becoming compartmentalized and we're all in our own little bubbles. Like we need more outdoor spaces where we can sit with each other and have just have a human conversation. Uh, and it always helps when you're doing that with a beer in your hand. I love it.
SPEAKER_00Isn't it funny how many of these projects start out with the phrase, how cool would it be if that dot a hundred percent.
SPEAKER_04I think it and when we're thinking about that too, it's always like every business I think I've gotten into, I've been like, man, I wish this existed. And then that is that thought. And then you fall, whenever you follow a thought and you just keep following it along, then you get clarity. And then we just kept following the thought. What if, what if, what if? And then clarity, clarity. And then it's like we could see it. And then we came to you guys, and then you actually built it out, and we're like, oh, that's exactly what it will look like. Like all we need to do is just hit the go button, which is just the cash injection, and this thing exists, and it just started with a thought in our heads.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, the old cash injection.
SPEAKER_02The old cash injection. And so let me ask a couple of questions and then we'll we'll we'll move on from that. Because back in the day in 2018, um, there was there were you guys had a great business plan. You had everything modeled out, and you were now in the process of looking for land. And uh you had your eyes targeted on a couple of properties, in addition to a funder. Um, talk just a little bit more about that whole process and decisions to pivot and and you know where you're at now. Maybe not all in one sentence.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Um, I yeah, go ahead, Aaron.
SPEAKER_03I was just gonna say the the whole land aspect is a whole that's probably the biggest challenge that you'll come into. So, like anyone that's looking at building a project from scratch, looking for someplace to put this thing, you have to look at what's the foot traffic? Is it going to make sense here? How do I get in contact with the owner of this land? And where we were looking, which was in Oceanside, it's a lot of these people have been holding on to their land for you know 40, 50 years, like two generations have just been holding it because they knew it's the last frontier. Like, let's be real, Southern California is getting built out all along the coast. It's really hard to find that. I mean, if you go visit Oceanside today, like Breck, if you came back and you looked at it, it's so different. And it's there's all these big money investors that were able to get in and they can buy these big plots of land that people were sitting on because they have millions and millions to throw at it. So it's it was really hard to kind of find someone and be like, hey, look, this is the project. We're here to make the community better. Like we're trying to get rid of these used car lots that are just sitting here, these empty parking lots. I'm like, what nobody wants to look at this. This is an eyesore. Let's put something that's fun for the family. We love dogs, we want dogs there. I have a baby, I want my baby to be able to go there. I mean, I've I have them kicked out of bars for bringing my baby in. I will be honest, like three or four already. So it's like one of those things where we were looking for something like that, and it was such an obstacle to get in contact with these guys. And it definitely helped to have like a friend who was in the commercial real estate business to kind of help facilitate those conversations. But again, it was, you know, where do we start? Where do we want to put this? Do we want to really stick with Oceanside and or do we want to look at where's another up-and-coming market? And there are definitely things that like Coda and I have talked about where we look at places that could be good fits for it now. And a lot has changed in Northern County just because a lot of people have moved up this way. It's been uh trying to buy a house or buy anything, it's it's um it's been hectic. So, like even through COVID, like watching people go through the house buying craze and where they're building new coffee shops, where there's new bars and all that. So I would say the land aspect was really tough. And then I mean, Coda, if you want to elaborate on that, go for it.
SPEAKER_05Well, I want to inject something here too, because it was it was part of the business model that I thought was really fascinating about poor choice was its flexibility because you weren't necessarily tethered to ownership of the property. Now, this is a fascinating conversation because at the time, and uh yeah, actually, uh to your point, Aaron, I was I was out in Oceanside uh earlier this this year, and uh holy smokes, it's like there's cranes everywhere, it's just everything's just developing up, and it's no longer, you know, like two-story buildings, it's like six-story buildings everywhere. It's pretty, it's pretty wild. Um, but it I mean, good, good for the good for the area. But what was cool about your your concept was that you, which is very unique in our line of work, and we've we've touched on this with a couple of other projects, but your project was actually mobile. You could take apart the containers and move them to another location. That was fascinating because you could have set up on one of these empty lots, this parking lot that's really not generating any cash flow, and you could cash flow that property for the owners as well as yourself, so that they had an actual purpose. You'd be paying rent on this property in order to activate this space. And then if down the road, you know, somebody comes to them and wants to build, you know, a six-story apartment on this land, you guys could mobilize and actually relocate your project. So I thought it was absolutely it was it was genius. So uh so maybe maybe that'll spur a little bit more of this this conversation. And I think what makes this uh still a potential project to happen in the near future.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think I think that's a really great point too. Like having a semi-permanent structure. And when you're talking to these landowners too, uh, like Breck was talking about, A, the city might own the land, right? And that the city owns the land and it's an eyesore uh in the community and they want to basically gentrify the area, having a company like ours to come in to fill that space and occupy it, it will bring other people in. Um, so that that's a huge piece of it. And then also um with what Breck was saying, too, like if you could activate that lot, right? So if you own a small parking lot and you could have a company like ours come in, get cash flow on that lot until you sell it off. Let's say that the market's not great. So you're like, man, I want to cash flow this for the next two or three years until there's an uptick in the market. Now then there's an uptick in the market two to three years down the road, then you sell it to some big investor, and then guess what? We just pack up and move because it's semi-permanent structures. So having that, I think we're we're always looking at like, how can we get into a space that would make it very mutually beneficial for the person who owned the land, whether that be the city or just the actual owner of the land, because it was so tough for Aaron and I coming in, having not had any experience in this. I mean, could you imagine sitting down and having a conversation with somebody and being like, here's our vision, here's what we want to do. And we're just, you know, two babyface kids uh with a big dream. And then they're just like, well, what's in it for me? Like everyone's always in the back of their head. They're like, what's in it for me? Uh and when we can say, like, hey, we're not gonna be in here permanently, we're just gonna occupy this space and cash flow you until you're ready to sell. It was so much of an easier conversation. Um, looking back at it, what I wish I would have focused on was a dealing with the city is a big component of it. Aaron and I actually made a lot of headway there. Um, and they're actually pro us, which was amazing. But there's things like you have to have enough parking spaces, which we figured out. It's like, oh, our lot's gonna fit a lot of people in there. So there has to be parking spaces. But the city at Oceanside, through just constantly going back there, we're like, hey, we believe in these guys, we want to help them out. Um, so they're gonna let us kind of basically not follow all the rules, technically speaking. Um, but it was the city and then the money. Those are like the two biggest things. But if you talk to the city and you have a dream, it's not gonna work. If you talk to the city, you need to have a plan, right? You need to actually have a schematic blueprint design that says, here's exactly what it's gonna look like, here's how it's gonna flow, um, and here's the dimensions, and it's ADA compliant, everything before they even have a conversation with you. So it's almost like the cart before the horse. You kind of have to do both at the same time. And when you're talking to investors or landowners, you can't just have something drawn out on a piece of paper. So having things like the Proforma done, all the blueprints done really helped our case. And then it really is just the funding, getting a series of funding into place, which really, as a founder, you want somebody who's almost full-time active in the fundraising world.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. That's so true. Um, great point you made. Great point. A lot of people do go into municipalities and they have a back of the napkin picture. And the level of professionalism and conversation and preparedness that you had going into the city was really um pat on the back right there. That was um astounding. And it just created credibility immediately.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. And I think having partnered with you guys as well brought so much more credibility because shipping container projects, I think in the last 10 years, you've seen a big swing in them. I think there's going to be even more of that uh happening. So you guys are in an awesome industry. But when we could point out, like, here's our team that's behind us with investors and the city, here's what they've done in the past, here's what they've actually executed on, and they believe in us too. So that having those people on your team to bake in credibility uh is super important. Um, and the same with like investors too. You can get somebody that has either like high clout or um credibility or net worth to come in on your team as an advisory position or on your board that's injected some capital, it's going to be so much easier to raise.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, that was a big that's a big plus. That's a big gift you just gave everybody listening on this podcast. It's really truly in setting up a business and setting up, you know, leadership and in your company. It's it's there's so many little factors that go into the end result. Starting with your business plan, starting with, I mean, all of those components. Well done. Well, well done. And that's how you approach all of your journeys.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, absolutely. And Chavez and I actually met with uh the guys who are downtown San Diego. They own a shipping container, courtyard bar place. The only difference between us is it's not self-automated. So that was just a component we wanted to bake in. Uh, but they had a very similar model, and we met with them and drew a connection with them because we wanted to give them like, you know, one to five points of equity so that they could sit on our board so that when we went into meetings, we could bring one of them with us who've already done this in the same actual ordinance. Um, so that was big. And uh, I think without that, that would be really hard to accomplish as a new developer. I think I forget it was Brecker, somebody who's talking about it, but as a new developer, you need to have people on your team with experience.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. So aspiring developers, I hope you're listening because we're we're a useful piece of the puzzle as architects and designers, right? Like we can visualize a project, we can bring that dream that's in your head to a manifest reality. You know, we can we can make it uh a digital reality for you first. Um, so you know, when when I met with Dakota and Aaron, we uh we actually built a model of you know what what we were going to uh to be working on. We built a digital model that we were able to you know create visualizations and 3D views of. That's just one piece of the puzzle, though. That's not going to build your business. And if you're trying to become a developer, if you're trying to um you know have the wherewithal to be able to pull off projects like this yourself, then you have to build up that entire business. And that's exactly what Dakota is just referencing is like he had to understand all of the moving pieces in order to get to the point where we could talk about an architectural project. But I think all too often these developers come to us and they just think that they need the drawings so that they could show the city and then you know mystical money will fall from the sky uh into their lap and allow them to build it. That's clearly not how this works, and you have to prove yourself financially. And a lot of that financial proof is even if the the harsh reality is, even if you prepare everything and you've got all your ducks in a row and you understand the financial documents, you understand the business-related documents, you might not be able to pull it off yourself because a bank doesn't trust you. They're like, sure, you you might look good on paper, but what else have you built? You know, it's the old you need 10 years of experience in order to get this job, but you need the job to get the experience. I mean, that is the reality of development.
SPEAKER_04I mean, so true.
SPEAKER_05And for and for builders too. I mean, the same thing. It's like they're not gonna, you're not gonna get approval to build a project if you've never built that kind of project before in the past. So you're if an owner developer trying to make your first apartment building and you think that you can build the thing yourself, like I got some news for you. You're you're gonna have to partner with somebody that can bring that experience to the table, which will slingshot you into becoming your own entity in your own right down the road. But I don't know, did you guys ever get that feedback when you were going through this process together? Were you told, like, hey, we'll we're in on this project? If do you ever run across something like that?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, go ahead, Aaron.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, it it's definitely one of those things where when you talk to people, it's like the conversation starts, and you can tell they're already like kind of writing you off on their end. And you know, they're like, Okay, cool, sweet project. Who are you? Like, why are you here? And so, I mean, that was the whole point of like meeting with these people who had projects that were similar, that were successful in them, is having some input from them and being like, All right, did you start this yourself? Like, did you have someone back you? Like, how did you get your end with the city? And it seems like everyone kind of did have someone in their corner, whether it was very visual, like they were part of the team, and like it was on their website, and they're like, Hey, here's the CFO, here's our project developer, like that sort of thing. Or it was, yeah, this guy, like I've known him for years and he liked this project idea, so he was helping me do this, and so he came to a couple meetings, you know. So it's it's just one of those things where if you have someone with that experience and you can get them in your corner, that's gonna save you so much time and effort. Otherwise, you could get lucky and win the lottery and have a bunch of money and then whatever, like you can do whatever you want, kind of thing. But yeah, that's not realistic, you know, like not everyone has 500 to a million dollars just laying around ready to roll. So it's yeah, it's definitely that. I mean, the the whole idea of like the bank loaning you money, it it can be as simple as like buying a house. Like when you're trying to buy a house, when they dig in on you on your finances, like that's they're really looking into you and they're like, Is this guy real on paper? Like, can he actually afford this house? It's the same idea of, hey, can you actually build this project? Are you going to be able to finish it?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I think it's the way that I look at it too. Anytime that you're meeting with uh investors or anything like that, they look at uh investors look at everything like a puzzle piece, right? And they're trying to create a picture. So they're trying to get as much information as you from possible to create their picture to see if it fits in their financial model. And they everyone has different financial model mappings of how the world works and what success looks like to them. But when they come in, they say like right away, they're like, What is your background? What is your experience of execution and who's on your team? Those are the three most important things. If you don't have background in this space, if you don't have experience of execution in this space, and you don't have people on your team who've been there done that, uh, yeah, you have three strikes. Uh, and you better, you better be a really articulate person with just a grandiose vision. Um, but you know what the cool thing is, like Aaron and I could have still accomplished this and we made so much headway. And we're at this point where it was this tipping point where it's like, we're this is about to happen. And we had a lot of people that knew that we were serious just because of the amount of work that we put into this. Uh and at that point in time, it's like we're either going to do this or not. And I think life happens, and you know, things were happening in my life at that exact moment in time where I had to branch out and ended up going to South America. But I think everything happens for a reason. Um, and when we switch the perspective of things, things happened to me rather than things happened for me. And I was like, wow, this the way that this pivot happened, I think happened for us, for me in Chavez. And then lo and behold, a half year, year later or something, COVID hits and just wipes so many people out. And then Aaron and I were looking at each other like, holy crap, could you imagine if we would have taken a half a million dollars from people and then COVID hits, and then now we get caught with our pants down. Um, and I don't know if we could have weathered that storm with that look like, um, but it really just changed my perspective and framework.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, if we, I mean, our entire business model was the idea of like, hey, you want a beer, you can grab it yourself. And I don't know if you remember in COVID, you couldn't touch anything. They were like, Don't look at me while I pour your beer, kind of thing. So it was it was one of those like if we had got that going, it would have been a tough one. Like we would have had a pivot quick. I'm sure we would have figured it out, but yeah, it you know, it's to Coda's point, everything does happen for a reason. And so, I mean, that's why this project is still lives on. It's one of those things that we're like every now and then we'll be sitting around and we'll be like, Man, if only we could just go down the street, grab a beer at pork choice.
SPEAKER_04Like, yeah, yeah. And and as we network with people too, I'd tell Chavez, like, I I being in the business world and entrepreneurship and taking that journey, like, I meet a lot of high net worth individuals. And I'll tell you right now, like, your your network is your net worth. And the more people that you can meet and draw actual human connections with that have deep pockets will only be in your benefit, especially if you're gonna always have their best interest in mind. And I Was just list last weekend in Cancun for an awards award ceremony with the top loan officers in the entire North America, right? These guys are making like 15 to 25 million dollars per year. I'm like, well, what good connections. And I always bring this project up to people. And every time I do, people's eyes light up. Then I show them the videos and the blueprints, and they're just like, okay, like this, it still excites people. And if your project doesn't excite you or other people, like there's another red flag.
SPEAKER_01So true.
SPEAKER_05I'm really excited to put this one back up and uh you know resurface it on the internet. So uh we'll we'll definitely post that video that's that we worked on together. Um, and I really hope that it does like inspire some people because it was a really cool project, it was a fun design. Uh, we still to this day have not done the archways in the containers. Um I mean that would have been like your claim to fame on that one. Um we'll definitely inspire somebody on this one. But okay, so before we start to you know wind things down on this conversation today, and this has been really just a wealth of knowledge shared with you know the with the rest of the internet. So thank you guys for being such open books on on your journeys here. But you know, it's it's been a few years since uh since we met each other, and uh, and obviously this project, you know, still be in the back of everyone's mind, but you're on to other things. So just uh tell us what what are you up to and where are you going from here? Because I think it's just fascinating. And you guys are both like a duo. Um, you know, you guys are are amazing in your collaboration, but individually, I mean you're both just fascinating people. And uh I'm glad that we've been able to stay in touch all these years.
SPEAKER_03Oh yeah, I can't wait for Coda to go into his.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. I'll end it out with that. So go ahead, Jonas.
SPEAKER_03Oh man. All right, Coda, he's he's always an interesting one. This guy's uh a man of many tricks. So um, I mean, back when we were talking was pretty recent for me moving to California. And I had just started my own um health insurance brokerage, you know, something that I kind of branched off of from Colorado. So it's like I'm still working between those two states. I've added a couple other states to the line as well, and uh just really focused on growth for that. And it's been really good, surprisingly, through COVID, it has blown up. Like I can't tell you how many new clients I've been getting just through COVID. And it's been a really good experience because my favorite part about having this brokerage for myself and being self-employed is the people that I'm meeting. Like, I'm meeting all these business owners and figuring out their stories and like how did they start their business? Why did you pick this business? Like super random industries, and I end up talking with them and it's like biopharmaceuticals. I'm like, I have no idea what you guys do. And then they start to explain it to me. So it's like I learn all these new businesses, and just meeting those types of people and their stories kind of helps you think in your mind, like, okay, those are the steps they took, or like, how did they get this coffee shop rolling? Like, oh, they just went for it, and like it was all or nothing kind of situation, or there's other people that have kind of those soft landings, but it's been a huge focus on that and growing that business, adding property and casualty to the line, looking at different ways that I can make my life easier and other brokers and looking into like, hey, can I develop a software kind of thing? So there's there's always something kind of turning in the back of the head like, how can I make this easier for myself so I can have more time to do fun stuff? Like, I want to build this project, like poor choice. Like, how do I make myself be able to fund my lifestyle with my family and then still work on the fun projects? And you know, like this last year, I added a new edition of the family. So we just had a beautiful uh baby girl, her name's Murphy. Um, Total Monster has no hair. I don't think she will have hair until she's two. So we'll see how that goes. Um, and it's just been living life. I think even before when I was with you, I wasn't married at that point. We got married, we eloped in Alaska, which was absolutely epic. We got uh we eloped on a glacier, and then a couple of like a year later, um, Kendall's mom wanted to have a party, so we had just this ridiculous party. And Coda was there, she was dancing, he showed everyone his cool dances. He jumped, he jumps really high in the middle of those dances.
SPEAKER_05But yeah, well, congratulations all the way around, Aaron. I mean, a lot of great developments. Uh, you know, the marriage, the kid. I mean, that's that's really amazing stuff. And uh sounds like you're gonna continue to grow your personal business, which you have invested in, and you've got this laser focus, which which I really, you know, I so admirable um, you know, to have that kind of focus and to just be able to commit yourself to the to the one thing that you know that you do well, but to also find opportunities within that. And I love that conversation because we were talking offline a few minutes before this call um about like making making people's lives easier. It's like if you do something two or three times and you're like, why do I do this in individual compartments? Why can't we just streamline this? Why can't we get the different document signing, you know, softwares to talk to one another, all these other you know, ideas that we are bouncing around? Really familiar, you know, to our uh our our loyal listeners here. We just did a podcast a few weeks ago about streamlining things like that, but it was it was specific to like our profession, to architectural. It's like, how can we actually streamline our professional practice in a way that will net benefit anybody that's doing this? How can how can we lower the barrier to entry in the same way that like AI is you know allowing us to automate certain porn portions of our job? Why can't we get all these things to talk to one another? So I mean, I just thought it was a really, a really cool topic. And there's a lot of great minds thinking alike in that space. Um, and so you know, we can always throw back to that episode that we had with Francisco Lenderos talking about making our our lives easier. All right, Dakota, drum roll. Let's see what you've been up to.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, 20 things. Um, yeah, I think so. Yeah, for me, it's just like I'm so curious about just like life and business and people. That's why I dive into a lot of different arenas. Um, but when Chavs and I take it did a pivot from this project, like guys, like only you can know when to pivot, right? There it you have to feel it and it has to be like heart-centered. Like it's time to shelf this. And that doesn't mean a that you're a failure or that it's never gonna happen. It just means you're gonna put it on the shelf and you could come back to it later. So have some grace into that and don't beat yourself up over it. Uh, that was a lesson that took me a long time to learn. Um, but when we did make that pivot, I went, I was going through a lot of uh trauma in my life, as we all do. Everyone has their own story, which I think is important to kind of honor. But I left everything that I knew behind. And I went to South America and I traveled there and I just was trying to find out who I wasn't, not who I was. So I just started ripping off all the layers that I had put onto me um through other people, through myself, through all the BS that we go through. And I found out like, okay, like where is my energy? Like, where does that reside? And like what is in alignment with like who I truly am? And then when I came back, um, I ended up going through more trauma because usually when it rains, it pours. Um, and that was when the incident happened, Chavez with Jeff. And uh, that's that's a story for another time. Um, but our really close friend got uh very paralyzed um and changed his life and my life, and it allowed me to look at life through a different lens. Anytime trauma happens, it changes your lens of the world. And I was like, man, I just need to have a forward-thinking thought. I was lost, confused, depressed, um, not really knowing what to do next. So I was like, anything that's a forward-thinking thought, I'm gonna do. And that was ending up uh becoming a multi-location general manager of a fitness club because I had my background in fitness, so it's easy transition for me. General manager was the next totem pole because I was a sales manager at CarMax with Patrick, who's Leslie's brother, and we had a great time and I learned so much from him, and he's a still a mentor of mine to this day. But when I left there and started this journey of just like forward thinking thought, like I would challenge everyone when they're feeling stuck in life to just think what's the best next step? And is it forward thinking? So then running these fitness clubs, I had another what if uh kind of epiphany. And then I started a guilt-free uh donut company. So it's a sugar-free protein donut. It's like, what if you could get your protein source from a donut from a guilt-free treat with zero grams of sugar? And it was just like nobody had these, and um, other people had them, but they didn't taste great. And I was like, well, what if it could taste good? What if you could eat your favorite sugary treats and they weren't bad for you? Um, then we build this business and it was amazing. And I had a quite a journey with that. And again, too, another pivot takes place and uh kind of put that on the shelf. And then I went into um building a coaching company. And the coaching company was very heart-centered. We work with entrepreneurial men um in different spaces uh to help them get realigned with their energy, their mindset, their relationships, and their wealth. Like I'm telling you, especially an entrepreneur guys, like life is coming at you in full force. You're gonna get punched in the face again and again. And if you don't have energy rituals to balance you out, you're gonna burn out your nervous system so fast. Um, and it's really hard to look at yourself in the mirror when you don't even want to wake up that day. So making sure that we are around people, we're having these deeper conversations, I think is very, very important, especially because men like to hold everything in. And I'm trying to change that stigma uh with Mashes of Fate, which is our men's coaching program. Uh, in addition to that, um, in the finite world where it's just more business forward, uh, we have a uh software system that basically has tech automations for follow-up sequence sequences for gym leads. So if a lead comes in for a gym, we want text automation nurturing to happen so that we can get that lead into the front door of a gym. And we do that through software so we can help people at scale. Um, and then the vertical integration in that is credit card processing. Uh that's something I'll probably do till the day I die is credit card processing because everyone processes and everyone needs a payment processor. And we have the ability to give people lower rates than anyone else because it's not our main company. It's just something that we do to help people out. Um, so all of that together, it's a busy life, but I'll tell you what, uh, I still have a ton of fun. I still mind my energy rituals. I meditate, I do breath work, I have, you know, my fitness routines, and I have people like Aaron who are always in my corner, always supporting me. And we could have real conversations with each other. So that's my soapbox. Uh, that's a little snippet of it.
SPEAKER_02Lovely. Amazing.
SPEAKER_00That is amazing. We might have uh some listeners on here with some very busy lives trying to develop projects who need some energy balancing.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00So we'll be sure to link your guys' Instagrams in the podcast description. Everyone listening, I'm so happy you were able to stay on for this episode. Again, we just we love to pull the curtain back and share a little bit of behind the scenes of people who are actually making things happen and taking the right steps forward because so often people don't have those steps in the right order and it really trips them up. So we're happy to share your experience. We're really grateful for your time. We'll definitely link your stuff in the show notes along with all the renderings and the video of poor choice for anyone who wants to check it out. And with that, if you're listening to this and you want to reach out to our team, you want to get things started, then definitely check out our contact form. You can share a little bit about your project and we'll match you up with the right member of our team to help you get started and make sure you're heading the right direction. Dakota and Erin, so good to catch up. Thank you guys. Appreciate you. We'll catch you next time. We hope you enjoyed this episode. And if you found it so valuable, you want to connect with us one-on-one, click the link in the description to tell us all about your project so we can help you get started.