The Most Dwanderful Real Estate Podcast Ever!

From Cornfields to Coastlines with Property Pioneer Frank McKinney - Fan Fav

• Dwan Bent-Twyford • Season 4 • Episode 356

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When a corn-fed Indiana boy with a knack for real estate meets a Florida property wizard, you're in for quite the tale. Frank McKinney, the maverick of real estate development, joins me to unravel a story of audacious identity and ironclad values, offering a wealth of wisdom for those yearning to carve a path as distinctive as our haircuts. We revel in the power of authenticity and explore how a strong sense of self can fuel extraordinary success in the fluctuating tides of the property market.

Imagine stepping out of your comfort zone, trading the security of the known for the thrill of a house flip. That's the essence of our discussion on risk tolerance, as we recount the journey from stable careers to the high-stakes world of real estate investing. We share our first-hand experience and the psychological gambles we took, emphasizing that the ability to embrace risk is not just instinctive—it's a muscle honed by experience. Our conversation weaves through the transformative nature of those leaps of faith and the profound lessons learned from both victories and setbacks.

Concluding our exchange, we touch on the integration of aspiration and charity, and how true fulfillment lies not just in accruing wealth but in the richness of giving back. Frank and I reflect on the conscious efforts to strike a balance, challenging the notion that one must wait for success before extending a helping hand. Through anecdotes and laughter, we invite you to join us in a lifestyle that celebrates personal growth, the joy of sharing blessings, and the ever-important quest to unleash one's full potential.

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Make it a Dwanderful Day!

Frank McKinney:

Cameras right here.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Hey everybody, welcome to The Most Dwanderful Real Estate Podcast Ever. I'm so excited that you're here today because I want you to meet my friend, Frank McKinney. Hey everybody, how are you, dude? I'm right here in Delray with you Good to see you, yes, I came down from the tree house, which is where I work from which we should have done this from the tree house. Next time we'll do that.

Frank McKinney:

And we're sitting in my hometown, in yours. I just learned that Dwan's lived in this neighborhood for 23 years. I had no idea.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, right here, bro. Really super long time. So, as you know, since I have a guest, this is inside the minds of today's millionaires. Now, frank doesn't know this. I've been recording talking to a lot of investors over the last couple of months and I've decided to make you my first guest.

Frank McKinney:

I'm the guinea pig.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You're the first guest.

Frank McKinney:

I'm the human petri dish.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That's it. Well, I figured, here's the deal. First of all, you get wild crazy hair, so who can't, who doesn't love that? And secondly, if people hate investing inside the minds of today's millionaires, I can blame it on you.

Frank McKinney:

And they love it, I can blame it on you and I will wait for my royalty check if they love it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So I've actually. No, you know what that was really funny is I've been doing, and for all of you that have already interviewed not that you're not Dwanderful, but I really prayed about who my very first guest should be. And God brought you to mind over and over and over, and I was like you know what, let's see Frank will come over and do one of these, and so part of the reason I selected you it says I have known you for a very long time. We've been in the same circle for a long time, but I know you to be a godly man, a good family man, a good real estate investor, and you're always true to Frank McKinney, you're true to yourself. You don't change for people. You don't change for the times. You're not. You know you just. You know what I mean.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You're just like such a solid guy. And I know that because I don't for a fact, as you know, I've been around with you. I thought what a good first guest.

Frank McKinney:

We'll make sure I live up to those expectations.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Something but you know how people can kind of. You know, times get tough and some investors might get a little on the sleazy side or you know, whatever I just I know that you're just like a super good, solid guy and I love the fact that you love God, you love your family. Like you, you have a good balance, and part of what I'm always trying to teach everybody is to also have good balance in their life. It's not all about money. I mean, money's great, but money's not everything, and so I thought you would make a first guest a great guest. So cheers to you.

Frank McKinney:

Cheers. I hope you're honored by the position. This works perfect with the hair color. Hey, these are Frank McKenney glasses. You can't but you can't? I have water out like a little glass.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Look at us. It wouldn't make a sense.

Frank McKinney:

No, we should try to turn this to wine, but it's not going to work right. There's only one.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I've got wine.

Frank McKinney:

No, no, no, no, no, no no, no, I'm a lot less and I'm a lot less exciting than I look. I don't drink smoke, do drugs gamble woman eyes oversleep, overeat water's fine with me.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Sure, and yeah, my husband doesn't either.

Frank McKinney:

That's the way we stay young looking and healthy yeah that's it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That's it. So cheers everybody Drink some wine. It's how we start our show.

Frank McKinney:

Wow, that is it. You guys have no idea. This glass is quite heavy. This is real real deal.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, man, I had to pull out my big guns for Frank McKinney. You know it's funny, as crazy as Bill looks, people always think he's like you know, dragging all that just like you. And Bill's never. He's like. Never smoked, never been drunk one time in his life Doesn't womanize nothing. I mean he's like the most innocent virgin kind of man I've ever met. Like how do you look like that and you're like this?

Frank McKinney:

but he really is, yeah you don't judge a book by its cover. You know I believe in personal branding and this is what you see. Here is I actually put up a post today of myself when I was like a teenager and I remember in high school I would wear white leather pants to class, and you know. So I, when I got into business, I had a choice to make Do I compromise myself for corporate America, for real estate, and look the part, or do I accentuate my estimates, Do I amplify who I am and make a brand out of that? And I did that. I mean, I've been in the real estate business over 30 years as an investor. You know I'm not a broker or anything, and it's worked. You know what I mean. I've built a wonderful career out of not compromising, not co-opting myself for anyone or anything.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And that is one of the reasons I wanted to have you on as a guest. I remember the first time that you know. You probably don't remember the first time that we met, but first time I met you you were speaking for David Dweck and you walked in in a big old fur coat with your blonde hair and I looked at you and I thought, and I got it right there, he's got balls, I mean. And I was like, because I was sort of on the, I was also speaking, but I was very much in the. You have to look like a speaker. You got to wear a suit, you're a one above. I thought I don't want to do that. I want to wear a wilder clothes and hair. I don't want to wear a suit. And I was like on the verge of kind of deciding like what. And I thought you know what? That guy can stand up there in a fur coat in Florida with that crazy hair. I can stop wearing suits. So you kind of inspired me, without knowing it, to stop wearing suits.

Frank McKinney:

Well, I hated it. It's part of brand. See, there's a method to the madness and personal branding. And if you got a pen and paper or if you're recording this, take note. Personal branding is the art of amplifying your essence to the point where your customer is either current or future, becomes subliminally intoxicated with you first, then your product or service. You're not a bottle of Coke or Pepsi or an Apple product, you're an individual and we're in a crowded space called real estate. And how do you amplify your essence to the point where your customers the ones you want or the ones you have become subliminally intoxicated with you first, then your product or service. That's the art of personal branding.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It is. I wish I had known that earlier, but I was working with a mentor helping me learn to speak, teaching me training and telling me you had to be conservative, you had to wear a suit. I ended up with like 30 custom made suits and there's really super conservative hair. I just remember the kind of the mirror one day and going I love to speak, I love to teach, I love to train, I love real estate. I hate the way I look, yeah, so you kind of I can't stand it.

Frank McKinney:

That's very interesting. Now, if you're listening to this, which you are because you're watching, she felt uncomfortable being something that she wasn't, and that was your kind of really your inner child saying uh-uh, this is, I like speaking, I like presenting, I like selling all these things that she said, but she didn't like the person she was trying to become.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I hated the way I looked.

Frank McKinney:

Yeah, so that I had a similar experience. In one of my books I wrote about Before I was a real estate investor. I got my real estate brokerage license and I went to try to learn real estate by selling. I was like I was one of the youngest to get a real estate brokerage license, like 19 years old, and I went to a place and who was going to hang my life? I was going to hang my license there and they said when I walked in the door, called me the wrong name, called me Carl. Carl, congratulations on passing your test.

Frank McKinney:

Now go get a suit, get a tie and get a haircut. Dwan, I had just gotten that done. I walked in in a suit that I thought was nice. I had a tie and I got a haircut. And the guy told me to go get this. And I looked at him and I said Fred and his name wasn't Fred because he mispronounced me. He called me either, I won't be working here. And I went to 7-Eleven and I went and I bought a Slurpee and I gave the clerk the Indian clerk, I remember. I gave him my tie, I went out and I sat on a park bench, I drank that Slurpee and said never again will I sell out, will I co-op myself for somebody?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And I never even hung my license. I didn't do anything with my license, I got it. Cheers to you, man.

Frank McKinney:

There's for the Slurpee.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Well, it is about standing your ground, and so I remember I mean it was like 20 years ago.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And now everybody there's in the suit thing and you gotta look like a speaker. And I showed up at an event and I had on jeans, on like a super rock star, blingy blingy shirt on my hair, dyed my hair black and figurings and they were like you can't speak in that. I was like this is what I'm speaking in from now on. So I had people that would start writing in their contracts Dwan has to wear a suit and she won't be able to present.

Frank McKinney:

And I was like if I have to wear a suit and not coming.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So after I canceled some places and said, well, then don't happen, I don't care, then they were like, okay, and then now do any of the women wear suits to speak? Nobody, they don't wear what they want.

Frank McKinney:

If you're comfortable with a suit, wear a suit, but remember the part I said about it's amplifying your essence. What sets you apart is the part that you've got to bring. And if what sets you apart is wearing a suit and being concerned, that's great. You know it didn't work for me, it didn't work for Dwan. So spend time either with the mirror, looking in the mirror and answering that question what is my essence, what is my personal brand? What can I amplify that's gonna set me apart? And if you can't answer it to the mirror, get a little focus group together and ask that person what makes me different. And what I don't wanna hear is customer service.

Frank McKinney:

I take care of the customer. No, no, no, you need to find out if it's something physical. I remember I coached a lady who was an opera singer beautiful opera singer, who wanted to get into real estate, and I said her name was Cynthia. Cynthia, last initial, m. Cynthia, you're gonna sing at your listing appointments. You're gonna sing when you get to the door. Because her voice was and we printed her cards the operatic realtor. Operatic realtor killing it. 10 years later, this woman is killing it because of that little branding piece that we took that's so neat, that is so interesting, yeah, and what a neat thing to do.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It really makes you stand out.

Frank McKinney:

It was her thing, it was her essence. She amplified it, yet she didn't wanna be on the stage singing anymore. She wanted to sell, she loved real estate and we made her a little brand.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Wow, what a neat idea. So for folks that don't know, you tell them a little bit about your all, that you do so many things. We could talk for two hours about all the things that you do, but give us, you know, like the five minute what's. Who is Frank McKinney rundown.

Frank McKinney:

Well, for this hour. I'm here to help you, you the listener, you the viewer. I'm here for you. It's not about me, it's about having one and I have a conversation that would qualify me to take an hour of your time. So to give you my qualifications to take an hour of your time. I'm from Indiana, just a corn fed country boy, oldest of six. I came to Florida with a $50 bill and a one way plane ticket when I was 18, went to four high schools in four years, had no benefit of formal education, 1.8 GPA out of high school. I landed in South Florida. At the time the program Lifestyles and the Rich and Famous was on TV. Now, for these young people, you have no idea what we're talking about.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love that show.

Frank McKinney:

But it for young people. It's like MTV Cribs, if you remember that show that was on TV. So it's the voyeuristic look inside the Lifestyles Rich and Famous and I would watch that show at night in my little apartment as a maintenance worker on a golf course and I got to see people living it by day. I'm from Indiana. I'm from a corn fed little town.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'm from Ohio in the country.

Frank McKinney:

So you know, when you come to South Florida, it was a big awakening. I'm like I want that lifestyle. How am I gonna get it? So I went from a maintenance worker on a golf course to a tennis instructor and I was making 100 grand a year as a tennis instructor, 21 years old, going into communities that were just being built in the late 80s the C Ranch Creek Club, the Boca Maria Club, the Sanctuary, big money clubs and I ran the tennis programs there and at that time I was making 50 bucks an hour. So you can do the math 50 times.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That's so much money back then and that's before the.

Frank McKinney:

IRS existed, that's like, oh my God, I didn't know anything about taxes. So that's 100 grand a year, pre-tax, post-tax. That's why I was able to buy a Ferrari when I was 21. But yet there was a limit, Dwan, to how much money I was gonna make on that tennis court. I have friends that are still teaching now in their mid to late 50s, that are maybe making 10 grand more than we were making back then. I earned my PhD in entrepreneurship and my masters in real estate on that tennis court, asking rich people how did you get here? How were you able to afford this multi-million dollar house? You've got the beautiful car in the garage, you've got a beautiful wife, you've got 2.2 kids. You got a yacht out back. How did you get here? You're living the lifestyle as a rich and famous and I want it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Exactly.

Frank McKinney:

And I got to asking these people so I would tire them out after a one hour tennis lesson. I tire them out in 45 minutes so they couldn't finish and they had to sit next to me. Ah, the devious mind.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Well, no, it was the only way I could earn my degree on the tennis court.

Frank McKinney:

I love it and they shared with me. Frank, I was a doctor, I was an inventor, but I took my discretionary income and I put it into real estate. Now, when you hear that story once, it's just simply entertaining. I heard it over and over and over again Nobody's a born real estate investor. That's right. We are made and these people were doctors and all these other things, but they were living in the multi-million dollar house because of their real estate investments, not because they're doctors, so you heard it for years.

Frank McKinney:

I heard it for about a year and a half before I finally said one of my students said to me Frank, why don't you do it Like, why don't you buy a little crack house, a little foreclosure? And so in 1980, I don't want to say I bought my first crack house in 1987. I bought it, sold it for a $7,000 profit and to me it could have been monopoly money, meaning my concept was validated Like I didn't care. I made seven grand. I bought an undervalued commodity let's say this is a paper cup and I turned it into a beautiful crystal cup. I was validated for buying a piece of crap and turning around and making money. So I did so. For those of you who are just new to the business, I didn't do a house worth more than a hundred grand for five years.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, that was about my price range too.

Frank McKinney:

Entry level homes. So since the Roman era the entry level buyer and the ultra-wealthy have been around. You could make money anytime in any market, at the entry level and at the high and low, because there's always going to be wealthy around. So I did a bunch of transactions, I did hundreds of small transactions and then in 1992, we were early for church because I missed the daylight savings time. We're driving down A1A and there was a house on the ocean.

Frank McKinney:

This was me and Nilsa, my wife, who I've been married to for 30 years, driving and saying honey, this has two weeks of uncollected newspapers out front, it has two months of uncut grass, it has broken windows, it has everything that a crack house had in the bad neighborhood, but it's on the ocean, it's on the beach.

Frank McKinney:

Why can't we do what we've been doing for five years? All we're doing is adding one zero to the purchase price, one freaking zero. So we were paying 70 grand at the most for a house. This was 700 grand I sold everything, but that's a big step.

Frank McKinney:

I didn't know where in between I jumped from 100 to that house was 2.2 million. When we got done with it and sold it Made a little bit of money. Actually, I got greedy and I held out and I made a mistake, but we made a little money. That was in 1992. I just retired from creating oceanfront artistry, which is what I do. I design, I build on the direct oceanfront on speculation. We've sold 40. Our last sale was our 44th oceanfront investment with an average selling price of $14.5 million all on speculation.

Frank McKinney:

So you did 44 of those 44 oceanfront transactions, Now 38 houses and six were like flips land deals that I didn't go anything on, but they were all on the beach from 92 until 2020. 28 years, that's all I did, and so the lesson there is the real estate was the path we did. My first house I sold for $49,900 and I made $7,000. My last house wasn't my most expensive. I did sell a $50 million house on speculation that had 32,000 square feet, 30 bedrooms, 24 bathrooms, 30 bedrooms and a 15-car garage.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That house is beautiful.

Frank McKinney:

It's a massive house in Manalpanel the three acres.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, I saw all the videos and you would do an open house and I was like, ah, why am I not in Florida right now? I want to go see this house.

Frank McKinney:

And so it's really. It's kind of like a postage stamp in real estate, investing in real estate. If I were to mail Dwan a check for whatever $500, $5,000 or $500,000, that same stamp would deliver the check right. Investing in real estate. My approach to a $50,000 flip or a $50 million mansion yes, it varied with the finishes and the level and the marketing but the concept is still the same.

Frank McKinney:

Yeah, it doesn't matter. It matters what changed for me and what has to change for you, and I wish I brought my new book I'm writing, called Aspire. We're going to talk about that because that is the culmination of my life. Is you have to? There's a whole section in that book that talks about embracing fear and dealing with the side effects associated with taking a risk. I was inherently a risk taker, and so for me to jump from that $50,000 house to a $2 million house and to a 10 and 20, all the way to a 50, embracing risk embracing and that's kind of a throwaway statement. Let me rephrase that Fear is associated with the thought of taking a risk, not the actual taking of the risk.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So that's a really good point. Think about it. It's the thought.

Frank McKinney:

It's the thought.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And that's what stops everybody.

Frank McKinney:

So you're thinking that's a little out there, frank, a little esoteric. Get simpler for me. Okay, get on a roller coaster. When you're on a roller coaster and that bark hops down on your lap and you're ready. You're going clickety, clackety up the hill. What happens to your heart? It's pounding. You're terrified. You're wondering why did I do this? Oh, I want to get out of here. Why? It's the thought about what's going to happen.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love roller coasters.

Frank McKinney:

But what happens when you go over the top? Fear goes away, joy, excitement, exubilation.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Adrenaline is going crazy. Adrenaline, let me get it.

Frank McKinney:

Let me get to the back of the line and do it over again.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Exactly.

Frank McKinney:

That's what you got to do with your real estate career. You've got to take that first step and realize that the fear you're feeling is only the thought of taking a risk. Once you take the risk, the fear goes away.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, that's exactly true. One of the things I teach all my students is I say listen, I know your first deal you're so nervous, but once you do the first deal, it's like I promise you something in your mind happens and it gets easier. And everyone says the same thing. They're like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, they do that one deal and then they call me and they go. Well, I don't know what I was so worried about. It wasn't that difficult it is. It's the thought.

Frank McKinney:

It's the fear it is, it's just the thought of it. And for those, remember what we just said you're not a born real estate investor, so you're doing, you're a nine to five or in some form. My nine to five was a tennis instructor. People ask weren't you terrified doing a $50 million spec? The answer was yes. Fear is a good thing and we can get into why it was a good feeling to feel. But my biggest risk, my biggest fear, was that first $50,000 flip because I gave up a $100,000 tennis teaching career.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Well, true.

Frank McKinney:

And bought a crack house and used my own money to do it, and that was like, oh my God, what am I doing? I'm holding no picture that I'm a tennis instructor in Florida. I'm holding a beautiful woman around the waist teaching her how to hit a forehand and a back hand. I mean, my life was good in these places and I gave that up to buy a crack house. That was so.

Frank McKinney:

I mean, if you've been into a crummy house, you've been in this year there was so many termites, cockroaches and rats running around that when I opened the front door, the whole header collapsed into my big 1980s hair back then and my eyes were covered with wings of her, like I couldn't see, I couldn't smell anything. Well, when I saw her I gave all that up, all that tennis stuff up for this. But don't as you meant. You know, your risk tolerance is like a muscle, so mine's a little. Well, my risk tolerance is huge, but my muscle's a little. And imagine going to the gym and exercising this as your risk tolerance eventually gets stronger.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yes, it does.

Frank McKinney:

And able to stand greater pressure.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yes, it does it does? I always tell people when someone brand new is like, hey, I want to be an investor, and you know they tell me all this, I want, I want, I want, I want, I want. I always ask people. I say you know a scale of one to 10, one being low and 10 being off the chart, and that's your actual risk factor in life.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And some people go, oh, you know, I'm like a three or four, I'm conservative, and I'm like, well, you know, you got to think about real estate investing. It's not. You can't ponder a deal for a month because another investor will get it. And if your risk factor is really low and you're terrified to lose money, you're probably not going to really enjoy the actual activity of real estate investing. And the people that are like, oh no, I'm like eight, nine, 10, I'm ready, I'm going to jump in with both feet I find that people like that do better because their risk factor is higher and they know if they fail, they learn to lessen Instead of like, oh my God, I failed, it's the end of the world, I have to quit.

Frank McKinney:

But my, my hope is that people watching that are the threes, the twos, the threes and the fours.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Do it anyway.

Frank McKinney:

No, you start out in the gym with a five pound weight, don't you? You don't start with a 50 pound weight and curl it. You start with a five pound weight. So you start with a very small investment. You will eventually move from a I call it. I call it the risk continuum. Where on the risk continuum, do you fall?

Frank McKinney:

I love that and if and some people are afraid to get out of bed in the morning because the ground is too cold and other people want to, you know jump off a building and parachute. Where in there do you fall? And I think, inherently, most people are like three, fours and fives it's okay, but exercise your tolerance for risk and you'll move up the continuum.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Exactly, and that's one of the reasons, folks, that I have people like Frank on and and why I do the podcast is to teach you and educate you, and especially this section inside the minds of today's millionaires is so people can see what. What is it in in Frank's brain that said, okay, I'm going to buy this 50,000 dollar house and go for it, versus the people that are on the fence on the fence on the fence on the fence. And part of why I educate you all every week is to help you have enough knowledge and enough education and then be exposed to enough people like Frank to say you know what? I'm going to go for it, I got nothing to lose, because the thing that you lose if you don't do it, I think it's just that nine to five all your life, and I feel like you lose a piece of your soul.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah so imagine still like nine to five, you're teaching tennis. Now you're just what you're still doing. I wouldn't even feel like the soul would be sucked out of you.

Frank McKinney:

If I, if I, if I love tennis which I love tennis, I love teaching tennis but if that was my passion and that's what I still want to do, then I wouldn't feel that way. But I knew, talking to those people that I was teaching tennis to, who were living the life that I wanted, because when you're young you're materialistic and you're consumeristic. I've moved on. I'm now. I've moved from rich to enriched and there's a big difference between the two.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I want to talk about that because I love that statement.

Frank McKinney:

It's so true, but when we're young we don't know different. We want a Ferrari, we want, you know, beautiful wife, we want a house and all that. And I realized that tennis probably wasn't going to give it to me for my whole life, you know. And real estate, because I saw people living it. It did it for them.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

What.

Frank McKinney:

And you know why can't it do it for me?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Why can't it do it for you Exactly? So I don't know how much you know about my initial first deal, but I actually got fired from Denny's. Do you remember that Denny's on Oakland Park Boulevard, the big Denny's in?

Frank McKinney:

Fort Lauderdale Sure there was.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Well, you were done at the same time. So you were probably clubbing and going to yesterday's and yeah, so I was working at Denny's and I got fired on third shift. And then I got fired from a bunch of jobs in my twenties and every single person says you're in subordinate. You give all the owners and bosses too many ideas. You tell people how to do their job better and I was already like you know, if you just did this and this and this, this would run better. And some people had to run their businesses. I was like they said so people did not appreciate all of my knowledge, and it's not even that I had the knowledge, but I was able to look and see and go well, if you just changed these couple things how you do better and your business. Anyway, I got fired Too much back talking, apparently. But I.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Then I got married, I had Ayla, and so now I'm 30 years old and my ex and I split up. She was only eight months old. So I said, okay, now I've got eight month old baby so I can go back and get a job, or I can try and do something on my own and if I fail I can go back and get a job. But even and now I'm granted, I'm 30, so I didn't start as young as you, I'm already 30, but I was smart enough at 30 to know that if I took that job I'd probably keep it till she was 18, which would put me at 50 almost. I thought, wow. And then I thought, if I try something on my own and I fail, I can still get a job. And so my biggest fear was daycare, because I thought, hey, I waited until I was 30 years old to have a child. I don't want to raise her on daycare, I want to raise her. I want to be that mom, I want to be the room mom, the Girl Scout mom. I want to do that.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And I met a couple of investors and they go we always fix up houses. We buy them and fix them up and sell them. So, with me being as naive as I was and these were my only exposure I thought that meant decorating. So I said I'm gonna buy a house, I'm gonna decorate it, I'm gonna sell it. I love to decorate. That's what I'm gonna do. So, with about three launches, with these two guys and a little bit of advice, that's why I took my plunge. Never did I have an idea what rehabbing actually meant. Never, it didn't even occur to me. I'd fail. It didn't even occur. I thought, well, I love to decorate, I'm a great decorator, I won't fail. That I mean shoot, I love to decorate. This will be a breeze easy way to make money. I made 22,000 bucks on my first deal.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

When you did three times as good as I did Over on Boynton Beach but it changed my life because at that time I was like I've never had that much money, I've never seen that much money. I'm from the Midwest. I don't know anyone that makes that much money in a year. And I was like, oh my God, I'm rich. I can't believe it. And it was with me every day and boom. And so I would move into them, rehab them, sell it and move and move, and move and move. And then eventually, when she started kindergarten, I was able to stay.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I lived in Boca for a while, ended up here, but I didn't have even a thought a failure, because I didn't understand the terminology. I didn't understand what it's doing. If someone would say, you're gonna fix this house up and tear out the kitchen and put in this and the appliances, do the roof, and I would have been like, well, I can't do any of that stuff. I mean, who am I gonna get to do that? So I ended up a home depot, every day taking classes, and I rehabbed my first house by myself.

Frank McKinney:

No, you did the actual work yeah.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I did the actual work. It'll be late in the night. I'm screwing in cabinets, I'm making screens, I'm cleaning, I'm doing it and I had to hire the carpet, a few things, but I painted it inside and out. I mean, I did everything. I even pressure washed the roof, which was terrifying, and I pressure washed the swimming pool. I was full of spiders, which was super terrifying, because I got my hair and I made that money and I was like, wow, that was fun and I loved it and I made so much money. I'm gonna do it again and that was it. But I think you and I kind of started with some of the same areas. Let's start over in like Boynton and up in West Palm.

Frank McKinney:

Yep, northwood area, west Palm which was now it's on fire.

Frank McKinney:

Well, I'll give you a good example. Right here in Delray Beach we did Bankers Row. Bankers Row wasn't Bankers Row. Most of you people don't know where that is, but picture make it Crack Row, crack House Row. We were buying houses in downtown Delray Beach for 30, 40 grand. I bought a real nice one for 75 grand. I liked it so much my wife and I moved into it when we got married in 1990. That house that I bought for 75, sold for 250, back in like 92, just sold for $2.2 million. I mean just to show that, yes, had I gone Rip Van Winkle for 20 years and woke up on that house, I could have sold for $2 million and not done anything.

Frank McKinney:

But what Dwan's speaking to and this is something that I hope you're tuning in, you're focusing on we are going to have regrets in life. There's no such thing as a life without regrets. Wouldn't you rather regret what you did, not what you didn't do? So, in other words, if she got fired from Denny's, got a new job, didn't said you know, I don't like this, I'm gonna start in real estate and it didn't work out, but yet she tried it. She would never have known had she not tried it and she went back to the job and lived happily ever after with daycare and your hurt kid turned 18. I have regrets in my life, but I never want to regret what I didn't do.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yes.

Frank McKinney:

I, just I should like eventually, you and I our combined age is 120 years, by the way.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, I combined age. Listen, 100 of it's on his side. I'm gonna say I'm 28, 29, I'm 100. I'm 100.

Frank McKinney:

But when we're sitting on the rocking chair on the front porch talking about life, I don't want to say I wish I would have done that. $50 million spec.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yes.

Frank McKinney:

I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I did other projects that didn't make money. I've lost a lot of money. I lost tens of millions of dollars during the crash of 2010 or whatever.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, that crash was tough on everybody.

Frank McKinney:

But I was in the game.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah.

Frank McKinney:

I wasn't on the tennis court, I was in the game.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That's what you gotta do, and even after the crash you stayed in the game.

Frank McKinney:

I didn't you know what. And the reason I stayed in the game Dwan is because there's another lesson for real estate investors Debt is a four letter word. Debt in our house as a speculator who puts tens of millions of dollars on the line is a four letter word. The F word and the S word can be spoken, but we don't say the debt word because be careful Now there's responsible debt and there's irresponsible debt, and we don't have time in this podcast to get into the difference. But I made sure I didn't take on too much debt and the debt that I did have wasn't at a super high interest rate, so that when the crash came and I had to hold on to things a little bit longer. Yes, I lost a lot of money, but I didn't lose everything. I didn't go bankrupt Because of my reverence to debt and my fear.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And you know it's funny. I know so many investors, it was funny. You know people hiring to be the coach or the mentor and they're supposed to listen to you and when you do the crash is coming. I mean, you know all the interest only allows like, and he's saying in real estate, investor Newt was coming and we told hundreds of students listen, you gotta get out from underneath your houses or get some of them refinanced or consolidate. You know, like, if you have 50 rentals, how many can you sell to pay for the rest? Like, get ready for this thing. And so many of our students listened and really prepared and did really well. But a lot of people like no, no, no. I heard, yeah, I'm gonna refinance and pull equity out and keep buying stuff. Price was gonna be low. But I know one guy that lost like a hundred rentals and his own house. I was like, did I not tell you?

Frank McKinney:

It's because of one simple word agreed.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And he's like, yeah, but I thought I could get everything in cheap. I was like, yeah, but all the prices fell. The rent fell, this fell, that fell. And he's like I don't know what to say. And I said, well, listen, here's the good thing. I said you literally had a hundred rentals. So buy a hundred more, do it again, do it again, but then see people get the fear factor. I was like no, no, no, no, no. But once you've done it, once you can learn how to do it again.

Frank McKinney:

I mean, how many people have been successful out there that we look up to that have been bankrupt before? I mean it happens. So you've learned. At the point I guess we're trying to make we're both making it is if you're doing something else other than real estate. Once you learn the craft and it is a craft, by the way, it's not a business, it's the craft of real estate you will have your ups and downs. You're gonna lose money. On some deals you may lose a ton of money may use all your money but you'll know how to do it again.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So I gotta tell you a funny story. You'll appreciate this. So, sharon, she was my partner back when I first started. We were together for about 10 years and so Sharon and I we had done a couple, I had done a few rehabs, she'd done a few rehabs, we started working together. So we went when you said this earlier, maybe you start laughing we bought this house and we walked in and there were bugs everywhere.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So we're just like pushing the bugs, thinking, well, where does that detent this house, whatever? And as it turns out, this was my first experience with termites. The house was so full of termites they were flying around all over the place and, for whatever reason, we missed getting some sort of an inspection or something. And I mean the trusses on the roof, the whole house, the cabinets eaten to death by termites. And this is the house. We were gonna make something like $40,000. Like, oh my gosh, you're gonna make 40 grand. Well, by not knowing about the bugs and the termites and it went across the fix all that. That was one deal. I think we made 600 bucks.

Frank McKinney:

No, at least you didn't lose it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And we were like, wow, we didn't lose anything, but it was monthly. You know, six months later, when you go to 600 dollars check, you're like, seriously, I just put in like all that money and I thought, well, okay, we didn't lose, but it was a good lesson.

Frank McKinney:

But how long did they take you?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh my gosh, it was like a six month deal.

Frank McKinney:

Six month deal so if you were in college that's the one year basically of college, that's about 50 grand that you would pay to learn how to do something they still, after six months, got paid $600 to learn a tough lesson. So why not get in the game?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It was, and I bought a house one time that had fire damage. Well, so I thought, okay, the bank fixed it, replaced all the stuff. And I remember leaning, standing up and leaning on the wall and it's like you're gonna kind of stand back and assess the house, and I fell through the wall into the other room. I was like what? And all the drywall was like counter from the water.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I didn't know about water damage, I only knew about fire damage. So that was another good lesson. So it's just funny how all these things happen. But you know, you just keep going. You're like, okay, so this house needs a lot of drywall replacement, but it's okay. I made the last one. I thought so there's a lot of deals, too, where I don't necessarily lose a ton of money, but there's a few deals that I basically did free when it was all said and done. But I never let anything set me back. I thought, okay, just add this to my list of stuff, don't do it again. And then you're like, okay, get more checklists, get more inspections, get more of this, get more of that. And you just keep going.

Frank McKinney:

Eventually, your margins increase because of your intellect level increases.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's been a long, long, long, long knock on wood. It's been a long time since I lost any kind of money on a deal, but I taught that up too. At this point I've got 30 years of experience as well.

Frank McKinney:

You're right, you have experience.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And so you know. So to give people like that, I always like to find out what people were like before. Like before, you were frightening the Kenny. So like 15, what was 15? I was frightening the Kenny doing when? Was your mind? What were you?

Frank McKinney:

doing. You know what? It's funny because if you're watching this and you have a young kid and you're concerned because they have poor grades or poor attention span and you're thinking that they have ADHD and you want to put them on medication, thank God that wasn't around when I was young, because I guarantee you I had or have ADD, adhd, maybe you name it I had it all when I was younger. I see that as a gift, I see it as a blessing, because even though I went to the four high schools in four years and got bounced from one to the next and it was like but were you bounced because I just the attention span wasn't there.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's like all over the place I got horrible grades, not because like the grades that sorry thanks.

Frank McKinney:

There's my principal calling from my high school, Frank, yeah. Yeah, he's in my area.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, he's good, he's good. You still teaching. How's that going for you?

Frank McKinney:

What I realized was, even when I was 15, I realized at some point in my life I'm gonna, I'm gonna want to count money. So I did really well in math and I I learned early that if you write this down, write well, comma, speak well, equals well respected, hmm. And so I did very well in my English classes and I've written seven books in six genres. So I love writing. Everything else bored me and so so, and I had little enterprises on the side that I was making money, that was an illegal way to make money and got caught a few times and that bounced me from one event of Well, I mean I was in a boarding school in Colorado that I absolutely loved.

Frank McKinney:

I Love this boarding school. Matter of fact, to go to class and go to like the equivalent of 7-eleven I would. I would ride a horse and tie it up out front. Yeah, it was awesome. It was my junior high school and and that taught me independence. I Remember calling my parents on Thanksgiving saying I sold my plane ticket, I ain't coming home, I love it here and I just love being around. The thing about sending, if you do have a kid that acts up.

Frank McKinney:

Be careful the boarding school you send him to, because he will or she will be around people just like them. I was shipped to a boarding school with a bunch of people just like me, which was a huge mistake Because of how we kind of just thought the same way and I got kicked out of there with a couple months to go and I was heartbroken. I wrote a letter saying I will change. Please allow me to come back for my senior year. They didn't allow me to and I had to graduate from another public high school in Indiana. Had I graduated from there in Colorado, I would have never met Nilsa never, would have never come to Florida. I would probably still been in Colorado. So we've been neighbors there too.

Frank McKinney:

Yeah, yeah, right, but I just feel that you know those formative years when you have children, don't worry so much. It's what I, and I do talk to parents that have troubled kids how, how did you raise them between, like the ages of one and seven, or eight or nine? When they're formative, brains are really taking hold and my parents did a great job. So I eventually got that phase behind me and what caused for me to do that was Taking out the metaphorical eraser of life, turning around to the chalkboard of life and erasing what was, and getting on that plane and coming to Florida at 18. I was too many. I was in juvenile detention seven different times and by the time I was 18.

Frank McKinney:

I knew it was jail next, right, so yeah, no more juvenile and I, my parents said they call me Mickey. Mickey, yeah, I think it's best that you leave and you go to Florida and you kind of get your act together. I just never came home. I mean literally one-way plane ticket. And I have been home, of course, to visit and stuff, but that was that was 18. Yeah, yeah, I came when I was 19 and who wants to go back to Ohio, or I grew up in.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Ohio, they had the blizzard of 78.

Frank McKinney:

Yes, I went sledding in that, okay so.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I was work, as I'm a couple years older than you, so I was working a job and I was Blizzard 78 and that year I wrecked my car twice, I fell on the ice, I cracked my head and I said to my dad I said literally I said when this shit now, so I'm moving to Florida, he's all you won't do that I said no you won't last.

Frank McKinney:

You come for a week. You're gonna come home, he did.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I was like you know, and so honestly in June, like everything mouth, I was like, listen, I'm gonna go to Florida. So I came to Florida I said, drove my car, I'm gonna go stay a few weeks and see how I like it. I went right down to Fort Lauderdale, I rented a little efficiency, I got a job waiting tables and I stayed. And so every few months I parents were like when you come back, I'm like no, you don't understand.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'm staying, and then now you know, I ended up without my family moving down. I'm on, and a whole bunch of people and my sister lived here for a while because a bunch of people ended up moving down I was like, listen, I'm not, there's nothing for me. I'm high, I'm gonna get a factory job, living the style like one. Yeah, what am I gonna do there? Yeah, and now, granted, I came down, I turned 21 and 1980.

Frank McKinney:

You were 20.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

But I was. I was at the working in the nightclub, the cocaine, the champagne, like I was all in on the crazy life. I had 21. But when I got older, have my baby settled down, you know, I think I don't think I would have been mature enough to do real estate before I had a law, because I was too much club scene and partying and oh my god, it's great, you know, because you're coming from like Indiana. To Fort Lauderdale it's like holy cow, fort Lauderdale is amazing.

Frank McKinney:

It was, but we, when I were on our own, though, and there was no like I couldn't fall back on my parents. You couldn't fall back on your parents. We had to get mature fast, and I there's a saying I live by even to this day Sacrifice today for better tomorrow. Sacrifice today for better tomorrow. Even to this day, I sacrifice today for a better tomorrow, and I Sounds like a walking quote machine resist temptations, because they suck the life out of progress and success.

Frank McKinney:

They do, they do, and so I, like Dwan, were both a lot more exciting than we look. You know, that nerd in sheep's clothing was what my wife is Is is a result of being disciplined, of jettisoning off things that were Bringing me down, that were causing me to self-destruct. I started seeing a therapist about five years ago which I wish it was 15 years ago and she says, frank, you have an addiction to excitement. And when I told her about my past, I actually agree with that.

Frank McKinney:

Well, but there's it for those of you who are watching this and for you and your kids. I Found a destructive outlet for that addiction to excitement from the age of about 13, coming to Florida and it wasn't Florida, could have happened anywhere. But when I changed my environment, I Found a constructive outlet for a destructive tendency. When we just talked about I build houses on speculation and sell them for $15 million Without a buyer in mind. You better believe it's like putting a needle in my arm and getting exciting.

Frank McKinney:

Yeah, I found a constructive outlet. I didn't have to change. I never Freaking. Oh, frank Mickey change, he said I'm the same guy. I just found a constructive outlet for what put me into a destructive environment when I was younger. That's all you do if you have that tendency and your kids have that tendency. Find a constructive outlet. Don't change, redirect, reignite and rewire what's already inside. I give commencement speeches at a lot of treatment facilities. I've never been in one, you know, for treatment, but I go to have to speak at one and that's what I tell the people leaving that day. You're not going to change. You have a little synapse in the brain that says you're addicted to drugs or alcohol. That ain't changing. Use it as a gift though. Yeah, there's a way to redirect that into something constructive. The challenge for somebody leaving treatment, or someone like me, is trying to find that constructive outlet, and Thank God I found it, because I would have been dead.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, you know it's funny as I hear you talking about that bill. My husband is very much all of those like a DD AC. Oh, he's very much like that. Like every report card he has says Bill talks too much, he can't keep his hands himself, he's disruptive, just every single thing. But he found a lot of real estate and he loves the rehabbing. We actually sort of bought a town about 14 buildings in a town. So he's the. I'm taking all his extra energy and you know, trying these old buildings into like just beautiful, we're in Iowa and.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Iowa. So I am so sorry folks. I thought I had my phone.

Frank McKinney:

Bill calling saying he's not that ADD. Why are you selling me under the bus?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

here he is he is, he is, he is and so. But if he doesn't always always have a project, he's so unhappy.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, you gotta be engaged, so he so for him, like now we're restoring these old buildings back to the way they were like in the late 1800s and the early 1900s. So we're doing. He's like all in on restoring and I thought, okay, okay, he's got 14 buildings, I'll keep him busy for a couple years, but we have to find something else for every day, because then he just like paces around, he's like an animal and we happen to be down here. When COVID started and you know there's no projects down here, really, because the house is nice and down and everything I thought he was gonna lose his mind. It's like dude, listen, you've got to find something to do, I'm gonna kill you, yeah like over.

Frank McKinney:

That was hard.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So what you tell me about because you just were talking about this mindset, new spying stuff Tell us about your, your new book and your new venture.

Frank McKinney:

Oh, so this book. It's really the culmination of you know what I've learned over my career? And also I left During COVID my treehouse and I did a 6300 mile pre-release tour interviewing Americana For information in my book. So the title of the book is aspire single word, aspire with an exclamation point how to create your own reality and Alter your DNA. As I look back, I realize, okay, I have lived in my own world that I created for myself since I was a very young person.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah, and.

Frank McKinney:

And the other thing. Okay, so that's me a great Frank. I can walk the talk. What's unfortunate nowadays is how I'm witnessing your reality, Created for you by someone or something else, and I call one of the. One of the sources is the screens screen number one, screen number two, your computer screen, screen number three, the television and other people's input into your life. So I, I work from a treehouse and I work alone. I perp. I've been in my treehouse almost 20 years. I create my own environment.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

We should have done this in your tree, out my tree house, so it would have been great.

Frank McKinney:

Next one Fine, we'll do the next one when the book comes out. The book will be out in a couple months, so I want you to again think about, think about that title and that subtitle. Let me get into the title, if I could. I'm gonna bring it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I definitely want to hear about it. I've been following the whole story and it's really what?

Frank McKinney:

if you so, why aspire? Why not motivate, frank? Why not inspire? Because of the following motivation washes off and goes down the drain with soap at night. So if we as a species and I have science in my book to back it up, but if you know f science, this is something that I know from just my own experience and want to motivation Does not last. It was never meant to like, we weren't meant to stay motivated. That's why we beat ourselves up, because we can't say on a diet, we can't stop, we can't go to church as much, we can't stay in the Bible, we can't. It's a, it's a maddening cycle, and the more we fall off the motivation wheel, the tougher we are on ourself.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

True most.

Frank McKinney:

So motivation washes off and goes down the drain with a soap at night, for me and for you.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So quit beating yourself Is right that down, because that is so true then.

Frank McKinney:

Then we move from motivation to inspiration. So have you ever read an inspirational book or watch an inspirational movie and you're inspired for about two weeks? Yep, inspiration lasts about as long as a bad sunburn. In other words, it dissipates after a little while. Motivation goes down the drain, with the soap at night gone. Inspiration lasts about as bad as long as a bad sunburn. Aspiration will alter your DNA, and In my book I take the reader through these exercises to help them identify. What legacy do you aspire to leave behind? Who do you aspire to emulate? What do you aspire to do this time next year that you can't even comprehend right now? That when I aspire, I aspire to be a handful of things in my life. I wanted to be a real estate artist. I am. I wanted to be a best-selling author, although I never went to college and I had a horrible GPA. I've written seven books in six genres. I wanted to run a charity in the poorest country in the world, haiti.

Frank McKinney:

We've built 29 self-sufficient villages in 17 years I wanted to run the toughest foot race in the world of the Badwater Ultra Marathon, which is a hundred and thirty five mile race through the Death Valley Desert in summer in 120 degree heat, non-stop. I converted my mind first, and my body, into an ultra marathoner and I wanted to have a family. I want to have a family and stay with that family, because mine was kind of, you know, busted up a little bit right five things in my 20 years out of our hundred twenty years, though, I Accomplished through aspiration, and so that what I want the book. Well, I don't want the book.

Frank McKinney:

The book will be much. It's a, it is a mindset book, but it's one that teaches you how to apply aspiration to create your own reality, because you know the reality that you work, you work in that you've created for yourself and you've built. Nope, no, no, very few people can relate to that. You do it, you've done it and it's a beautiful. She just walked me through her house and told me how she lives here. It's a fantastic reality and ultimately, what it does, guys, is it changes your DNA.

Frank McKinney:

Yeah so if you watch and I want you to this is not my line. I wish it was my line if you and I'm not a big movie buff but if you watch the movie Rocket man, which was this story of Elton John.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah.

Frank McKinney:

Elton John was born Reginald Dwight. His manager turned to him and said you must kill the person you were born to be to become the person you want to be. Think about that. Kill the person. So I was born into a family of bankers. I was supposed to be a third generation banker. My grandfather was a banker. My dad was a banker. When I was young I kind of dressed like a banker. I'm like no, no, I killed that person when I got on that plane at 18 and became what you see right here. I wanted to be a real estate artist. I wanted to express myself artistically. I can't sing, I can't play an instrument, I can't sculpt. I'm starting to paint but I'm not very good. I want to do it three-dimensionally. So kill the person you were born to be to become the person you want to be. That is so life transformational.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It is powerful because I grew up in Ohio and graduated high school in 70s and at that time my parents wanted for me to go get a job and work in a factory and work for the man until I retired. And I was like so I got a factory job. I worked there for three weeks and I said, oh my God, if this is my life seriously, lord, just kill me right now, because I can't do this. And that's how you killed it.

Frank McKinney:

You killed the person.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

It's very graphic but it's very true. I killed the person. I was born.

Frank McKinney:

She was born. People have mistaken this. I was born to be a real estate. No, she wasn't. She was born to be in a factory. She killed that person and became the pink haired Dwan Twyford, who is a real estate goddess she became. She wanted that and became it. So in my book Aspire, I want in that creating your own reality and changing the DNA. I am no longer the person that I was born to be. I have now become the person I want to be and that's what I want for you.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love that. I love that, I love that. That's true. Yeah, I killed that factory worker girl. I was like oh no, hell, no, I don't know. I remember thinking why would my parents want that for me, right? Why would they want me to work in a factory for 40 years? That's because they did they hate it. Why would they even want me?

Frank McKinney:

to do that. That's all they knew. That's all they knew.

Frank McKinney:

They wanted the best for you and that's all they knew. But the part people have a hard time grasping is wait. No, but Dwan was born to be a real estate investor. No, she wasn't. She was born to work in a factory. I was born to be in a banking business. If that's what you want, then of course you're great. You were born to do what you want to do. I was born to do something I didn't want to do, and she was born to do something she didn't want to do. She killed off that person, that character, and created her own in the form of your real estate empire.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love that. So for someone watching and they're like oh man, frank, I hear you, I hear you, I'm doing whatever. I really do want to be doing this. How would somebody really? Because you're talking about an entire shift of mindset that could have been passed down through generations at this point, generations. So what is the first step of? Person to take to be like. I'm going to do what Frank said I'm going to kill off this person over here. I'm going to become this. I don't know what to do.

Frank McKinney:

first, so I'm going to make rules. Even this book is about being very simple. There's no stress. There's 25 chapters, but if you take something home from just one chapter out of all 24 and you throw the rest away, great Chapter one. And if you follow well, you follow D'Wanna Social, follow me.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'll follow you. How do they find you?

Frank McKinney:

So just go to an Instagram. I'm the Frank McKinney clubhouse. Is the new thing? We're on there. We're, you know, facebook. I just put up a post today. This is going to air next week, so go back and look on. You know, like a week before, right, okay, so I had talked about the first step and this is fun. Who do you aspire to emulate? Whose footsteps do you aspire to put your foot in and kind of absorb a little bit of their DNA into yourself? And I look back and I posted some of my people that I emulated, that I looked up to. They don't even have to be real people. I loved Willy Wonka growing up.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I did too.

Frank McKinney:

I wanted to be him.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I thought you're Wonder Woman.

Frank McKinney:

You get to be her, you absorb some of her into, you are Wonder Woman with for real estate.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I am Thank you. I will accept that from you. You are.

Frank McKinney:

And I wanted to be. When it came to people asking I've been interviewed on, you name it. I mean I've been on Oprah twice but you name it, I've been there. They've asked what's the best book you've ever, the best business book you've ever read? I said Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And they're like what? That's the name of Willy Wonka, right, yeah of course.

Frank McKinney:

And I said wouldn't you want the brilliance of Willy Wonka? Look at the intrigue, look at the frenzy that he created, look at the marketing genius that he created, the exclusivity of visiting the place and the golden ticket. And he's a billionaire. That's a brilliant mark. So I thought, wow, when I get older, I want to be him, I want to absorb you. Come to some of my grand unveilings. They're very, very Wonka-esque.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

There are that last one was oh, I hate it, I miss it, it was amazing.

Frank McKinney:

And I also aspired to be Robin Hood. I would play in the woods with my bows and arrows with my friends and imagine I was Robin Hood and I wanted to steal from the rich. Guess what? I'm a modern-day Robin Hood. I've built villages in Haiti for 12,800 children. I don't steal from the rich, I sell to them. But there's people at $3,000 a square foot think that I do steal from the rich.

Frank McKinney:

But I take the money and we go to Haiti and we build self-sufficient villages. So that little piece of Robin Hood I absorbed. That's the first step. Who do you Now? Those are fictional characters. I have real characters. I have Richard Duos, which is one of my mentors I looked up to.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So do that exercise Well you know, if y'all don't know who to emulate, start with us.

Frank McKinney:

We can start with her. We like Frank we like me.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Take the step. Know that you know you have a better life. Raise your risk factor, take the plunge. How about that bridge Do?

Frank McKinney:

it.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Y'all know where to start. You're going to start right here.

Frank McKinney:

But that part when you say wait a minute. Like you just said, this has been passed down from generation to generation. How do you break the cycle, start to find out who you look up to? For me and you didn't go to college either, I'm understanding it was me on that tennis court teaching these people. They were no names, Like they weren't celebrities or anything. They were rich. I aspired to have that lifestyle. I want to absorb you into me. How do I get there? And ultimately, it was real estate that taught me how to get there.

Frank McKinney:

So that's the first question, and once you've kind of made your list of people you emulate, this is a little deeper and this should take time. What legacy do you aspire to leave behind? That is a very important question. If it's a beautiful tomato garden and that's all you want to do, that's great. If that's what you want to do with passion. For me, what I build on the ocean, these beautiful mansions will be rubble someday. They'll be dust. They'll be torn down because not because they were built crappily, because the land underneath them will render the physical structure obsolete. The value will just keep going up. The legacy that I aspire to leave behind is what we're doing in Haiti. That's generational impact we're making on these families. So those two simple exercises. Who do you aspire to emulate? What legacy do you aspire to leave behind? And the rest, you'll have to buy the book in real time, because there's a lot more in there.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to read this book. I follow all your stuff. I love your bad water races. I always envision you crossing the bridges on A1A dragging that tire. I'm like Frank's a nut.

Frank McKinney:

Have you ever seen me out there doing that, or no?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

No, I've never actually done it. A couple times like hey, I'm gonna be here and there and I've actually tried to catch it a couple times I never have I was like, well, one of these days I'm gonna catch it and be like, hey, some water or something. But I just love how you share and you share your passion and and you share, you know, your relationship with God and your family and just all the things that you do, because so many people don't.

Frank McKinney:

Right.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And people that do want to aspire to do better. They do need to have people to look up to. But then you've got to Like how do I do that?

Frank McKinney:

Yeah.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You know, is this legit, right? Yeah, yeah, so we're getting ready to wrap, so can I wrap? Can?

Frank McKinney:

I have a wrap thought before we go to the Bible study.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

That's a separate thing.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

But I first of all, I want you to give us the so the end of every podcast.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

You all know we do a life equity and the five equities of life, and this is just something I created where I feel like you know, what does it take to make a whole person?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And we all have different aspects in each part of our life, and I find for me, and I'll probably for you to, the way your mind works, it's easy for us to get out of balance with too much going on, with focus too much on this or too much on that or too much on whatever. And so the five equities are financial, spiritual, physical, mental and family, and pretty much everything falls under your family, your family, your friends, you know whatever, your physical, you know your mind, like pretty much our life falls under a category. So I always like to give an assignment and have people work on it for a week, and if I say, hey, this, this assignment helps, you feel better like, do it for two weeks or three weeks and make it a new Habit. And so first I want you to give us our. I'm going to have Frank give us our assignment this week.

Frank McKinney:

Okay, so I'm going to make a statement that I'm going to give you the assignment.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Okay.

Frank McKinney:

The statement is and I'm not meaning to contradict one but our lives were never meant to be in balance. We as a human being, as a space species, were not meant to be in homeostasis. So quit beating yourself up over the fact that sometimes I have to give more attention to my real estate business. When Dawn was raising her daughter, she had to, she was. Her life was totally out of balance. But it was fine because she was raising her daughter or she was pregnant. Her life was out of balance. I've never in balance. I'm sorry, I don't believe in that.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I get what he's saying. So I don't think I mean like just like it's all got to be perfect all the time. But I feel like people, especially people that are new investors or they're like, it's just all about, well, when I make money, then I'll do this. Yeah, no, and it's like no, you can't wait till you make money to be charitable or to take care of your health. You have to take care of everything.

Frank McKinney:

Like stop waiting for the goal to start the thing Right, Cause you'll just keep pushing the goal post down.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

And then I see, you know you've got a ton of money and like you're sick and your family relationships are terrible and you haven't had to go in two years. So, I'm talking about that kind of balance, like keeping it, you know, just not getting so focused on this, this point or the destination. I guess that the journey is a mess.

Frank McKinney:

Right, so we wouldn't be able to say that at 30 years ago or 20 years ago.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh no, we're qualified to say that. Oh no Lord no.

Frank McKinney:

So your homework or your what is it?

Frank McKinney:

A life equity A life equity assignment is as follows In the Bible there's a passage from the gospel of Luke, chapter 12, verse 48, that says I'm going to paraphrase it To whom much is entrusted, much is required, to whom much is given, much is expected. As you focus on your own issues, your own challenges, your own troubles, your own future, covid, whatever's on your mind, I will challenge you to share. Each one of us listening to this, watching this, has been blessed with the ability to succeed at some level. But those blessings were never meant for your soul benefit. They're meant to share with others. So my challenge to you is for the next week at least once during the week, if not every single day, find an outlet for you to go and share your blessings with someone less fortunate than you.

Frank McKinney:

Go to the local soup kitchen. Volunteer for an hour. Drive around until you find somebody holding a will work for food sign and ask them their name. Don't give them any money. Give them a gift card to Starbucks for $5. That way you know they're not going to buy drugs with it. You can go to a retirement home if they'll let you in and volunteer there. You can go to a hospital. Do one act where you are sharing your blessings with someone less fortunate, and you'll understand this and it's the last section of my new book how you can put together your professional highest calling, which is what you do for a living you know real estate with your spiritual highest calling, and the mistake that I made and maybe the mistake that Juan made was I didn't understand there was a spiritual highest calling.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I knew the professional side Not in the beginning.

Frank McKinney:

Now I know that what we're building in Haiti, for example, gives my life purpose, gave my career purpose. So, if you're not religious, don't let the fact that this, to whom much is entrusted, much is required, bother you. It's a great life mantra. If you are religious, it's a Bible passage having to be a great life mantra Go out and live it.

Frank McKinney:

You have been entrusted with a lot, yes, but like Juan said, it's not just treasure, it's the first two T's time and talent. Time and talent treasure. Go share the time, go share some of your talents. Before you even think about sharing your treasure, for a week You're going to feel like a different person and then it's going to start to put together and dovetail your professional and your spiritual highest calling.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I love it. That is a great life equity. Yeah, Folks listen back, pay attention and do that.

Frank McKinney:

You can even go with another example I did a couple of years ago. I went to my local utility department and I went there and I watched people come up to pay their water bill in person and I just sat there and I would jump in line and say, you know, I could tell this was a lot of money, you know, like this is a big payment. Oh, pay their bill or do the same thing. Now they have self-checkout at Walmart. Go and this is profiling. Yes, it is profiling, not hard to do. You can tell it's somebody who have to scream in kids and they need some help. Jump in front of them and it's a check, ready to put their credit card in the self-checkout, pay for their groceries.

Frank McKinney:

What a great thing to do Simple, it's easy.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I actually have done that many, many times Pay for the groceries and the person behind me, because you're like. You just know you can see them.

Frank McKinney:

What's on their?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

face and I'm like girl, I've been there, Take care of it.

Frank McKinney:

I've been there and you move on.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Oh, I love it. Okay, what's your final parting word that we want people to know First, of all, though, that was actually going to be it, that was it.

Frank McKinney:

Okay, that passage, so it was perfect, it is perfect.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

So on Instagram you're at the Frank McKinney, the Frank McKinney yep. And Facebook is. Is it Frank McKinney?

Frank McKinney:

He's Frank McKinney. He's put it in. You'll find me. You'll find him and his website link will be in the um in the words the aspirebookcom.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

Yeah.

Frank McKinney:

The aspirebookcom. The aspirebookcom. The aspirebookcom, you will be able to see the trailer, which very few books have trailers. We made a trailer that I invited you to come to at 2am, but you were scared, or what did you say?

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

I'd surgery, you'd come. I was like, I was like look at that. I was like Catherine, how like that.

Frank McKinney:

Come to, come to or go watch the go to the aspirebookcom and you'll see um the trailer for the book, you'll see the outline for the book, you'll see when the book's going to be released, and then while you're there you can go to see other stuff, like my website has been called Disney on a desktop, because the stuff that you can see the houses we built the Haiti projects, my running, you know all that stuff. Uh, frank dash McKinneycom the aspirebookcom I love it Well guys.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

uh, let's give a two thumbs up for Frank. It's really been a pleasure having you on the call. You are very inspiring, very motivational, and I want to thank you first for coming and I'm just really proud that you're my first guest. I'm like this really sets the tone for I hope so, but the big swap is because Frank is here.

Frank McKinney:

I hope you don't go out here in one episode I was like oh my God, that guy.

Dwan Bent-Twyford:

What was that about? He was really bad, no you're wonderful and I I appreciate you and all your effort and I really love the fact that you share and your heart's so good and you, you do so much for other people, which is what I always tell people. You know, do for others, do for others, you know. So, all right guys. So, uh, we'll be here next week, same bat time, same bat channel. And remember, the truth is in the red letters. All right Now everybody.