As The Leader Grows with Ken Joslin

Travis Winfield | Leadership Through Tragedy

• Ken Joslin

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Travis Winfield takes us on a powerful journey from his 24-year Navy career to becoming a successful real estate entrepreneur with a mission to revolutionize how military families experience real estate transactions nationwide.

The conversation begins with raw honesty as Travis shares the profound impact of traumatic experiences during his military service, including losing a sailor under his command and the subsequent suicide of his commanding officer. These events shaped his understanding of mental health challenges facing veterans—a critical issue with 22 military members taking their lives daily. His vulnerability in discussing his PTSD and healing journey provides rare insight into the unseen battles many veterans face after service.

Travis's entrepreneurial path perfectly illustrates the ancient wisdom "he who chases two rabbits catches none." After attempting to juggle multiple businesses simultaneously—a real estate team, brewery ownership, non-profit leadership—he experienced complete burnout compounded by personal losses. This breaking point became the catalyst for his most important business lesson: the power of singular focus.

The heart of our conversation centers on Travis's visionary creation—Military Operator Real Estate (MORE)—addressing a critical gap in the veteran experience. While military-focused financial institutions like USAA command 92% market share among veterans, no trusted national brand exists in real estate. MORE's mission creates a network of military-affiliated agents who understand the unique challenges of military life, while also tackling employment challenges for military spouses and transitioning service members through innovative GI Bill-approved training programs.

Travis's story brilliantly demonstrates how entrepreneurship can solve systemic problems while creating sustainable business models. Whether you're a veteran considering your next chapter, an entrepreneur seeking clarity, or simply someone who appreciates stories of reinvention with purpose, this conversation will leave you inspired to find the place where your experience, passion and opportunity intersect.

Welcome to the ATLG podcast I am your host Ken Joslin, former pastor turned coach & host of CREATE, the #1 Faith-based Entrepreneur conference in America. My mission is to help faith-based entrepreneurs become the best version of themselves by growing in our Core 5: Faith, Health, Relationships, Business & Finances. You can get more information as well as join our FREE Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/676347099851525

Speaker 1:

Welcome to another episode of as the Leader Grows. I am your host, ken Jocelyn, and I have got an unbelievably amazing friend from all the way over on the left west coast I said left coast, the left coast, which it is the left coast. A good friend, travis Winfield, travels 24 years 24 years in the Navy yep, 24-year Navy veteran. I tell him all the time when people ask me, hey, were you in the Navy? No, I Navy veteran. I tell him all the time when people ask me, hey, were you in the Navy? No, I'm intelligent, I was in the Air Force. So we can kick it like that a lot. Dude Travis, welcome Thanks man.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for being a part.

Speaker 2:

Dude, it's my pleasure, ken. As I've told you many times, man, I put a lot of my growth and stuff attached to just coming across you man Like I. That's the really key is that it's like you're just this natural connector man and I can literally kind of draw lines to where, like it all comes back to Ken Jocelyn man.

Speaker 1:

And I love it, dude. Well, I appreciate that, dude. Well, let's talk about, let's talk about the journey for you 24 years in the Navy. I'd really like to start like let's go back a little bit, walk me through that journey. I mean, I served four years, two older brothers in the Air Force, 124 years in the Air Force. Tell me a little bit about that journey. What were some of the things that you really really enjoyed? What were some of the things you didn't really care for in that journey?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I mean it all starts. I think I have a typical story where, you know, I was actually supposed to be a pilot and go to college to be a pilot, but I fell in that category where, you know, we didn't. I didn't grow up with much man. I, you know, I like like the typical story. Grassroots could rub two pennies together.

Speaker 2:

And when it came that decision to, when I graduated high school, what do I do? Well, my parents made just enough where they couldn't qualify for financial aid, but not enough to actually send me to college. So they had to make that tough decision saying, look, you're kind of on your own, so, not knowing anything about the military, never know, I was the first one in my family to ever even consider the military and I just me and my best friend we raised our right hand and joined, and I originally joined the Navy to be an air crew, sar swimmer. But then, you know, they looked at my medical record and said, oh, you had a sight. And you sighted, oh, let's get you out and do something else. So then I joined and they made me do a job I didn't really want to do. But you know, hey, they said that was your issue, not theirs't stand that. So then I found my calling and I went through, became a mastered arms, which is a basically a law enforcement officer in the Navy, did that for over 20 years and probably, like a lot of people have said, like I only plan to do four years. But then you know things happen and you know like, well, you get that paycheck on the 1st and 15th and and then it becomes a safe place in the military. You kind of they kind of wrap you in a bubble and you know they protect you from a lot of the stuff in the outside world, which is fantastic, but in a lot of ways.

Speaker 2:

But it also comes with its own trials and tribulations. So you ask about the journey. Man, look, like with anything, the military has its ups and downs and after spending again a full career in the Navy, it's it. Really. I don't know if I would have been ready for entrepreneurship for the rest of my life had I not gone through that journey of the military, because it instilled discipline that I didn't have and it instilled attention to detail. I didn't have it instilled. You know, following processes and procedures, even though I'm not the greatest at building them, and we've talked about that.

Speaker 2:

Once you're in the military it teaches you how to follow systems and processes, and so for my journey it was a lot of ups and downs. To be honest with you, I was. I was not the model sailor that you see in front of you I was. I had to go and you know I got disciplined a few times my first tour in the navy.

Speaker 2:

You know always joke, and throughout my career I was always got accused of my mouth outranking me because I didn't say I did Right.

Speaker 2:

I mean, and it's because I think it might have something to do if you have that innate, maybe, ability to be an entrepreneur year, you have a tendency to not filter your mouth as much.

Speaker 2:

And although it can work great on the outside world in certain scenarios, it doesn't work great when you're in an organization like the military where they say that you know you're there to defend democracy, not practice it and so and so when you know. So I spent that and I had my ups and downs, but I did ultimately do a career and I retired as a command senior chief in the Navy, as a command senior chief in the Navy, and you know it was a blessing and I don't know if I could have be anywhere. Where I'm at today, I could not have achieved without having that experience. And so when I got out of the Navy gosh, it's going to be nine years. It just passed nine years in June. That's crazy to think, but in just in the past nine years it's that journey through the military has allowed me to apply all those different leadership and discipline and systems of processes.

Speaker 1:

Before we jump into the last nine years in your journey and where you're at right now as one of the top real estate agents and the new business that you guys have launched to be able to more, to be able to help military veterans walk into real estate, to be able to help military veterans walk into real estate, talk to me about maybe what's one or two of the moments throughout your 24-year Navy career where it was a growth moment for you, where you can look back and go, ah, this moment, here's what happened and here's how I grew.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, well, I think the first one would be back. Of course, in my first tour where, you know, I was mouthing off to my boss, I was at E3, e4, and I was telling my you know E6, e7 to go F themselves because I was pissed off at things. That doesn't go over well. And so I went to in the Navy we call it disciplinary review board three times and I went to X, y twice. Thankfully I didn't go to the cat was masked. But those times have taught me how to know my audience, and not everything needs to be said when you feel like you need to say it, and you need to sometimes control what you say when you say it. Not saying that I was necessarily wrong with some of my stuff, don't get me wrong. I still believe I was right with what I said when I said it. But how to approach it, knowing your audience was a big turning point for me and I think the biggest one too, and I think I've told you this story. I do suffer from PTSD from the military, and that's because there's things that you learn in the military you see, in the military you can never unsee. Learn in the military, you see, in the military, you can never unsee. And my particular story and I'm just one of many, many, many people who have had experiences in the military, but the one I think was the most impactful for me or not impactful, but had the biggest changes when I was stationed overseas in Sicily and I had a sailor who I gave the day off. I was the chief at the time and I gave my sailor the day off to go hang out to go play paintball and he happened to be going with one of my supervisor's 20-year-old son, so the one guy was in the Navy, the other one wasn't. That goes to show you how age doesn't really matter. Well, they went out to play paintball. Next thing, you know, we get a phone call that there was an accident right outside the base and it turned out that both of them they were driving in a convertible they went to go past the vehicle and this is in Italy and unfortunately you had a head-on collision. Then both were killed instantly and we were the ones processing the scene and it was very challenging because, you know, here I'm the supervisor, if you will, on scene and everybody knows everybody. So it was very emotional, very dramatic. People didn't even want to take pictures because they're like that's my friend that's sitting in this car like pretty messed up. So we get through that.

Speaker 2:

And then they assigned me to be the casualty assistance calls officer or the CACO. Do you remember the CACO role? That's the role they assign you to go escort the remains back to the home. They have different roles of Keikos around, but I was the one assigned to go bring the remains of my sailor home. While the day before I left, I go to tell my boss, the assistant security officer you know what my plans were and I said, ok, well, when does the memorial service? Because my team that I worked with wanted to mourn. Well, he's like, oh, well, it's going to be on Friday, and that was the day we were working. So I got very irate. Probably should have been written up for insubordination. I cursed him out and I literally stormed out of his office, got on the plane and headed to Naples with the body of my sailor. Unfortunately, that was the last time he was ever seen. Next thing, you know, they found out he was missing. This is my assistant security officer and two days later they found him. They hung himself on the side of Mount Etna.

Speaker 2:

I tell you all this because for me it actually talking about it does help.

Speaker 2:

Every time I do it's just a little more healing.

Speaker 2:

I do suffer from what's called selective amnesia.

Speaker 2:

I guess I cannot remember the name of my sailor, and I've been told it a hundred times. To this day I still can't tell you his name. And so that one really was a tough one, and it made me put life into perspective. It made me put a lot of things in my life perspective and prioritizing my family and everything else. And then, of course, I dealt with a lot of survivor guilt, if you will, because I was the last one and I was the one that was yelling at my boss. And next thing, you know, he unfortunately took his life, and so that was probably the next biggest thing that happened to me.

Speaker 2:

And then, of course, you deal with different leadership that now, once you have that kind of wound in the military, it gets activated really quickly. So after that experience I learned that my stress threshold was a lot slower than it used to be, and so now I've learned to deal with mental health, and it's one of the most under-talked-about issues in the military. There's a reason why, like you know I'm sure you know the statistic, 22 military members a day on average take their own lives. So that's a very near and dear to my heart and to the point where you know, remember that 22 a day challenge where people were just doing pushups online to do that. I never did that trend, but I do honor my service members every morning by doing my 22 pushups every day before I go, before I get ready. So, all that being said, yeah, that's probably the biggest thing, that just my life.

Speaker 1:

What did you learn through that? Just? I mean, I know you talked about just the value of life, travis, the gravity of life, like how quick can you can be here one minute and the next minute be gone.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's that. It also taught me how to identify people who are maybe on the edge, because I didn't recognize it with my boss at the time and so now, of course, I have survivor guilt that maybe I might have precipitated that action that he took. I've learned to, you know forgive myself on that now through a lot of healing. I've learned that therapy helps. I've learned that therapy helps. I've learned that talking about it helps. It sucks to have to talk about it, but it's so needed, and I think that not being people who kind of swallow their pride to say I can get through this, I'm a man or I'm a woman, I don't need to. I think that it's just a very unspoken issue that we really need to address in society.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I do too. I think that's you know. I think we go through those seasons and we may not understand it at the time, but we can look back and go, wow, now I understand how short life can be. Number two I can. I can really understand that I don't tomorrow's not promised. I can really understand that tomorrow's not promised. Nope, I've got to give today everything I have to get in order to be able to fulfill what God's called me to fulfill. So, 24 years in the Navy, you get out. You've been doing real estate now for how long.

Speaker 2:

Well, I started doing real estate about five years before I retired. So I was dabbling in real estate while I was on active duty and I made the decision to retire and go full time in the real estate while I was on active duty and I made the decision to retire and go full-time in the real estate. And it's funny how and that's another good lesson that I learned is that when you chase, you know one of my great mentors, james Becker. He always told me he who chases two rabbits catches none. That's a famous Confucius saying.

Speaker 2:

I've very stubbornly learned that if I can just stay focused on one thing, it'll do it. So I retired to focus on the one thing and that is real estate, and it did really well. Once I put all my energy into it, it started growing. But unfortunately sometimes we don't learn the first time, even though I always preach, saying hey, if you're going to make a mistake, don't make the same mistake twice. Well, I'm a living, breathing example that you can sometimes do that.

Speaker 2:

And so I started seeing squirrels after I retired. So then I got the full-on entrepreneurial bug when I retired, right, realizing that the military is, like you know, has this like little box. They keep you in. You have to follow these systems and processes and everything you do, but in the entrepreneurial world, the world is your oyster, right? You can do anything in the military or outside of the military, as long as you have the desire to do it. Unfortunately, I started chasing other rabbits and then I started, you know, going into, you know I was volunteering and like five different non-for-profits and the next thing, you know, I decided it was a great idea to buy a brewery, and you know, and that's where I just basically siphoning money from a successful business and putting it into a, you know, a money suck business.

Speaker 1:

What was the point in there, travis, where you realize I can't do both of these. I'm going to focus on real estate. Was there a single moment or a specific moment that happened? Not not?

Speaker 2:

when I first retired, it was just focused because I was building my business from from scratch. Really, I think later on I did learn that there was, you know, and I think I told you this you know, even when we first met, it was like kind of, in this, in this window I I went to, I went through a time period in 2022 where I was running a national, running a real estate team. I became part of a brokerage called Central Residential, which was supposed to have been the nation's first military focused real estate company. I was running a non-for-profit called the Enlisted Leadership Foundation and, again, if I wasn't busy enough, I decided it was a great idea to buy a brewery.

Speaker 2:

Well, what happens with that is, when you overwhelm yourself, the weight will overwhelm you, and what I had to learn the hard way, unfortunately, is that I didn't listen to my body, I didn't listen to the stressors, I didn't listen to some of the stuff that it was telling me. And so, in 2022, after I was burning the candle at four different ends, and then life happens right. Does life ever sometimes get easier? Well, I lost my stepmother who. Four different ends, and then life happens right. Does life ever sometimes get easier? Well, I lost my stepmother who helped raise me, I lost a horse that we had, we lost a friend, that neighbor, and then, literally, I watched, I was sitting there and watched my grandmother pass away right in front of me. Now she had an incredible life, but that, all of those experiences now add, it's that kind of that straw that breaks the camel's back. Those experiences now add, it's that kind of that straw that breaks the camel's back. It was to the point where I literally came back from that funeral and I shut down, bro and I'm an extrovert, right, I'm talking I shut down, I didn't leave my house, I was crying in the corner of my room on a daily basis and I but I refused to be a victim.

Speaker 2:

So I tried everything. I was going to therapy again, I was taking medication, I was going on long cold walks, I was trying Reiki, I started praying even, and the bottom line is, I did everything I could to push through it. Now then, now you fast forward. I think we met later that year and when I got around you, that's when my faith journey started and I first started dabbling in, when we were in out in Utah, and then that really helped get me out of my funk is just finding something I could focus on.

Speaker 2:

And I made a fundamental decision. I had to remind myself remember, sometimes you got to be reminded of lessons in life and I had to be reminded just to put focus on one thing. So I made a decision I resigned from my brokerage I was part owner in, I moved my team over and that's where we actually met, where I moved my team over to a mutual friend of ours, brent Gove and James Becker and then I sold the brewery and I just resigned from everything except for what I thought was important and that was building a business for my son. So the Winfield Group is a real estate team that I built with my son. He joined a couple of years after I started it. I could not have done it without him and I've been very blessed that as of last year, I actually turned over everything to him, and it was all because these lessons learned that you were just mentioning and I was able to kind of turn everything to him. And now the blinders on all folks and one thing at a time. Now.

Speaker 1:

So let me ask you a question, so I know you. You mentioned back coming to one of our masterminds that we did in Sundance, utah, a year and a half, almost two years ago.

Speaker 2:

Like I think October 22,. I think it was 2022 or yeah, it was the first one. Yeah, yeah, that's right, that's right 23. Yeah, when 23 was the first one.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that's right, that's right. 23,. Yeah, when you and Sebi came and got in that room, tell me what were some of the takeaways for you guys. I know you said I need to focus on one thing, but how did you then make that decision to go? Okay, I know you started the business for you and your son, but how did that help you guys in your transition of I need him to run this so I can run with this other thing that God's put in my heart?

Speaker 2:

Well, it was, it was. It was at the time it was supposed to be one in the same right. I had actually rebranded my team to be Military Outfitter Real Estate and when we were there, you know you, you brought some incredible people to that thing, like Dan Martell, and, and and a bunch of other people that opened up our eyes. My eyes to that, you know there are. I can still achieve my dream, but I was kind of looking at it in a smaller and too small of a scale. So, and the other thing I learned and I learned more at the next event that we did together and I'll talk about that here shortly.

Speaker 2:

But, yeah, that first event was really kind of it just opened my eyes. It made it made a lot of connections, which you know. We've, of course, met some mutual friends while we were there and, and it's funny how, like I told you before, after that event, there was a lot of input, information that came through it, but what it did was it triggered key moments and key relationships. That it's. I can literally draw lines that connect from that very first time at Sundance.

Speaker 1:

That's why, you know, in my planner I put the quote, my quote, on the bottom right-hand side of every day and it says get in rooms with people who think bigger than you do, cause it's just so important to get. It happened to me with Grant, happened with me. There's a lot of friends. I mean all the way through my life is when I get in a room. Proximity is a cheat code. It raises your belief lid of what's actually possible in your life. So you guys leave there year and a half, almost two years ago, you go back, you guys are one of the top performing teams at EXP in Southern California and then you get this crazy idea to do this military operated real estate company Walk us through that journey, bro.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's been interesting. So again, the idea was just to be rebrand the team, but then I had this epiphany that occurred Gosh, I kind of lose track of timing, but it all started last year when I was, quite frankly, getting a little bored with what I was doing, and so I made an application to go get a government job for the job that I did in the Navy eight years prior. But then I woke up my wife's sitting there goes is that really you want to go work for somebody else again? I'm like, yeah, that's a stupid idea, but it did those. It sparked the thing that you know what I need to follow through with my vision of building the nation's first military focused real estate brand synonymous with USAA or Navy Federal. And so what I did is that first step was I said you know what, son, I am so proud of what you've accomplished. We're going to bring back the Winfield Group, because that is the brand that is, we're both Winfields and that's going to. We're going to bring that brand back. That's what I started with and that's where I keep going. So we brought that brand back and I basically turned over day-to-day operations to him and so he's been running it and that turned me over to now.

Speaker 2:

I had a lot of free time to just I, you know frigging brainstorm and think of what I want to do with this idea. Now, fast forward February or end of January, I go join you in Create down in Atlanta. That truly was the biggest pivot, for a couple of reasons. Number one while I was sitting in that room listening to you talk, listen to some of all these amazing speakers that you had there, I said you know, out of all this time, I've always had my faith in God, but I never wrapped around it. I've never read the Bible. I've only kind of gone off of what I've heard from people and talked to people about. And I just made a decision there. I said you know what? I'm going to open my heart to God. And it's crazy to look back on this. This was only what six months ago. It's crazy to look back on the fact that just six months ago I opened my heart to God and I was kind of to be honest with you.

Speaker 2:

When I showed up there, I was kind of lost. I had this great idea. I sat down with you, for example, and over a breakfast, and I kind of laid out my whole idea like diary of the mouth and then, you know, you and your team helped kind of put it at least into an idea or a concept and it inspired me. And that's when I, literally while I was at Create, I just said I think you even said you know we were really leveraging AI and staying part of it, and I said, you know what, let me just put it out there and I put out just to social media world hey, I'm looking for a partner. I don't need this is a leap of faith partnership. This is not a paid business. This is, this is we're going to build something together, but I need an integrated.

Speaker 2:

I laid it all out because I told you I was like I'm the great idea fairy, but I don't necessarily know how to build it. Like I I use the analogy a lot I love sausage, I know what it should look like and taste to this podcast, because that's really really important. Right, it's true, because you know, even back in Sundance, you even did an exercise for us to determine if you're a visionary or a integrator. Well, I learned very clearly I am a very, very high D personality, visionary, and I have all the strengths and all the weaknesses of that. So I decided I needed to tell Sebastian, who had been my right-hand guy, who'd been collecting all of my crap, if you will, and trying to make sense of it. But I said you know what, you just need to do real estate. And that's it. I'm going to focus on this other idea.

Speaker 2:

So then I came across, crazily enough, it was one of my past clients. I sit there and his wife saw my post and said hey, travis needs some help with something. He calls me out of the blue. And, bro, it was like God came down and slapped me in the head and said this is your guy. And I'm like, wait a second, this guy doesn't even know real estate. I sold him his house, I bought him his house, all this. But man, I'm gonna tell you what. That was the biggest, best decision. I knew what the sausage should look like and taste like, but I didn't know how to make the sausage. Well, I literally gave him the manifesto that we designed together and it was two weeks after create. He literally took my idea, made a 15 page PowerPoint on how he envisioned our business coming to reality. I'm like, dude, where do we sign this up? We literally became business partners. We brought on some other key people, like Tristan, and it could not be more excited. So here's the lonesome of what we're doing.

Speaker 1:

Let's talk about the importance, because when I hear you say that, I hear the passion in your voice, I hear the excitement in your spirit, you're fired up. But talk about the importance, travis, of really fleshing out and being in an environment or around relationships where you can really voice the vision that's on the inside of you and finding somebody to help you really get that vision like. Okay, here's what it looks like, because you can't have the integrator until you first have the vision. Yeah, talk about that process and the importance.

Speaker 2:

Well, the vision is very easy, right? Well, it's not easy, but it's like you can have. You can look three, five years, 10 years down the road and that's where I can visualize a sausage. And what is the sausage where I'm talking about? Well, if you first take, you know, a market center or something, an idea, and you look at the fact that right now, in real estate specifically, you know, there is no military focused national brand that you can, and, being an Air Force veteran, like right now, I'm going to use this little test Are you a member of Navy Federal, usaa or both?

Speaker 1:

None, neither one of them. What am I in? I guess I'm in USAA. Yeah, you are right.

Speaker 2:

Do you know that between those two companies with banking and insurance, they own 92% of the market share for veterans around the country 92%, if you like? Lending Veterans United? Love them or not, they are the number one VA lender in the country. But now you look at the real estate space. There's no actual national brand that you can trust and know that you're gonna have a good agent, no matter where you're getting transferred in the world, that you're gonna have a real estate agent you can trust. You're playing Russian roulette right now every time you get into a new area where you're PCSing to to help somebody with one of the largest financial decisions of your life. So the idea that I had was I wanted to build that brand. Now I'd. So the idea that I had was I wanted to build that brand Now. I tried it twice other times, trying to build a brokerage. But then we had the epiphany that why do we need to ask real estate agents to change brokerages when we can to be client-facing? That's going to connect the veteran to the military-affiliated agent.

Speaker 2:

Now here's the key part of it. The hill that I am going to die on. Is that as simple as this? You don't know what it's like to serve unless you've served. And so, ken, you did four years, but you've served. We can speak that language.

Speaker 2:

So the number one prerequisite to be part of our network is you have to be military affiliated, meaning you're either a veteran or a military dependent who's lived a military life. That's it. That's the only way to get it. So we are building the special forces of real estate agents that are absolutely passionate about serving those who've served.

Speaker 2:

And then you couple that now the consumer when they come to our network, they can have the trust to know that every single agent on our network has a military affiliation and they've been trained to a certain level of expertise to help represent to the maximum ability of that agent, no matter where they're getting stationed. And that is the construct of the idea and the vision. And so now that's what I had in my brain for over a decade, and it took an integrator to take that idea and now build the systems and processes and the business plan and all that stuff and blow it out. And it's incredible man Watching now seeing people be able to extract my ideas and all I gotta do is talk like this and they go oh, okay, and then they go and build it. It's unbelievable what a difference maker when it comes to business building.

Speaker 1:

So good. So you so number one. You're building that, that network around the country, but you're also giving people that are in the military an opportunity to be able to go through some of your training to actually become a real estate agent, so they have an on-ramp after they exit the military. Talk a little bit about that vision and where your passion lies in that.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I kind of stumbled across that idea with my daughter and my daughter wanted to get into the business and then shortly thereafter she realized it wasn't for her but it still sparked the idea. And the idea was this so, first and foremost, there's one program out there called Skill Bridge and we're already approved for that, and that's where a service member who's on active duty in their last three to six months while on active duty they can apply and if they're approved they can go intern with a company for the last three to six months, where they're getting paid by the government still, but yet they are working for the company. So they kind of have a headstart into that next profession they want to do outside of the military. That's the first program. But the real game-changing program is that we've now I realize that we have all these education programs, like you know, the GI Bill or the Voc, Rehab for disabled veterans or Dependence Education, Assistance Programs for those dependents of disabled veterans.

Speaker 2:

These programs for the longest time there was a misconception that that's just to go to college, but that's not the case. There's also an apprenticeship program. So now MORE is the only approved apprenticeship program in the country, currently only in California, but soon to be nationally, where a veteran, once they transition out, they can enroll in our program and I can continue to get them a housing stipend for up to 18 months while we teach them how to build their business in real estate, Because real estate has one of the largest failure rates of all industries 87% of real estate agents get out of the business in the first five years so our goal is to help fix that.

Speaker 1:

That's so good. I love that. Tell me where you're at right now in that process of the training platform plus the platform of helping military people who are agents, who are former military, around the country. Tell me a little bit about how those two platforms are developing, kind of what your passion and vision for that is over the next 12 to 24 months, and how our listeners who may be in that same category can get connected with you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely Well. So we are still a startup. We are literally in the middle of what's called our first cohort. So basically, what I did was I hand selected about 60 real estate professionals all military, affiliated around the country and key, critical, high concentration military areas. Now, eventually we'll be everywhere, but this is where we wanted to start and then so we're in the middle of that right now, and what's awesome about that is because I don't believe in building things in a bubble. I may know what made me successful in the real estate, but I'm not naive to think that my way is the only way. So what we're doing is we're building the content and then this first cohort they are providing us direct feedback on what we can do to improve things you know not. You know things that we can do to make the course better. So then, when we're done with it by the middle of September, we're going to have this. This training is going to have the consciousness roughly of about 60 people, including me and my partners who started it, and then they go and refine it.

Speaker 2:

Once we've finished in September, mid-september we are launching to the public, meaning the consumer, around the beginning of October. The exciting part about that is because, no, I couldn't go say, hey, veterans, come hire more agents, but I didn't have any agents trained. So right now we're getting that first cohort trained. Then, after we launch, we'll be bringing in more agents to get certified around the country. So our certification is called the More Certified Agent MCA, if you're going to know the little reference to that. That goes back to the Beastie Boys right MCA. But we're going to have multiple different certifications. We're going to have an ability for these people to be connected. So we'll be putting a big marketing system to let the veteran know that if you want a more certified agent, you come to our website and we'll connect them.

Speaker 2:

The other exciting endeavors that we have going on right now is that we're helping solve I've always wanted to help solve the military spousal employment crisis we have, because you think about every military spouse when they get moved, they can have a great job for three years and they didn't get moved, they got to start all over and then some of them are raising babies while their spouses serve in the country.

Speaker 2:

Or maybe they're active duty, that want to be involved in real estate, but they got to go serve the country and they can't really put all their time and effort into real estate. So we've come up with what's called the More Ambassador Program, which will allow all these agents to become referral agents. And they just become the brand ambassadors and they connect. They also connect people and then we can pay them a referral fee and help bring extra income to their household. And then we have a few other incredible different programs. Our certifications will have different levels so that the real estate agent can actually grow and quote, unquote, get promoted, just like in the military, and eventually they've been coaching programs. But the bottom line is we are developing the white glove standard for all veterans to trust real estate agents again, because we know that we have a reputation second only to used car salesmen right, I love that man.

Speaker 1:

Travis. What's the best way for people to get connected with you and get some more information on more, some more information on your real estate brokerage that you and Sebi are doing in Southern California and how they can connect with you guys and help you make a national difference?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely Well. If you're in Southern California, you can absolutely connect with our the Winfield Group real estate team. We cover all of San Diego County and Riverside County and we're actually going to be looking to expand even further with that team.

Speaker 1:

Again, that's being led by my incredible son, sebastian, who you know. You know he does not act like a young adult does he, he just does, man, he is an old soul.

Speaker 2:

Let's say For sure, for sure. So you can reach us by even going to the website called the Winfield Group sorry, thewinfieldgrouporg is our website, so it has thewinfieldgrouporg and on that website you'll see phone numbers that you can call the whole nine yards and email us. And then for military operator real estate, we are still a startup, so one of the stuff you see, you're going to see us on social media and then we also have a website called militaryoperatorrealestatecom. You can go to that website, get some basic information. That website is still under construction as we are talking about it today, but it's being constantly built out for it. And again, you can look for us to officially launch to the public in probably around the 1st of October. That's awesome, man, dude.

Speaker 1:

I'm so proud of you. Instagram for you, or Shadi, yeah.

Speaker 2:

Travis Winfield man, I'm the only one that's still I try to make. I'm still in my dress white uniform from the Navy when I retired because it's just something that you know I'm kind of used to, or I have my real estate one. But, yeah, travis Winfield is not too many of us out there so I'm relatively easy to find. So you can find me on Instagram, facebook, the whole nine yards, yeah.

Speaker 1:

I love that, guys, thank you. Thank you, travis, for being a part till 70.

Speaker 2:

I miss it and I want to finish real quick, man, I got to give you a shout out because, again, I know I kind of touched on this, but, ken, I need to say thank you, all right, because, man, you know, we met through my son actually, because y'all met at another mastermind, and then he's like my son was like, hey, dude, you got to meet Ken. Man, for anybody who's listening, if you don't realize that just having a relationship with Ken will be, can make a connection that will change your life and go into his. Events like create will change your life and go into his events like Create will change your life if you apply what they teach, along with following your path to God. Because, by the way, I am now halfway through the Bible for the first time in my life and I was inspired by you, my friend. So, again, if you're listening to this and you're on the fence of whether Growth Stack Drive will be a difference in your business, give it a shot. You will not be disappointed.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for that, dude. I'm proud of you. I'm honored to be your friend and to take this journey with you and Sebi, your beautiful wife, your family. It's just been a really special treat. So next time we get together tequila on the rocks with a slice of wine, we'll be ready to go bro. I love you, man. We'll be ready to go bro.

Speaker 2:

I love you, man, love you too, man Take care brother.

Speaker 1:

Hey guys, Thank you so much for joining us on another episode of as the Leader Grows. I am your host, Ken Jocelyn. Cannot wait to connect with you guys next week right here with a new episode.